Kitchen3N

Recipes and food fun from Apt 3N

Cherry Almond Cake

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I know, I know. I’m actually posting a non-chocolate recipe. There are few things that I enjoy as much as I enjoy chocolate. Vacations. Lobster truffle mac and cheese (just discovered at cute Sunnyside spot Côté Soleil while out to dinner with the talented and endearing Moni Begum of Moni’s Kitchen). Moroccan almond cookies made by La Rose Kitchen. Actually, any almond dessert is fabulous. Rainbow cookies. Marzipan (yup, straight up). Stollen (German holiday sweet bread with marzipan filling).

So cherry almond cake was a no-brainer. Last week I had made a cherry frangipane (fancy word for almond filling) tart. Recipe from NYTimes. It was SO good, but since there’s already a perfectly good recipe out there, I wanted to share a less-fussy version of the dessert for those who may not have the time or desire to make pâte sucrée, chill it, roll it out, fit it, trim it, blind bake it, then fill and bake once more.

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The answer is this single layer cherry almond cake. A standard beginning of creamed butter and sugar with the addition of 2 tbsp of almond paste that has been sitting in my cupboard FOREVER. Thickened with an egg, flavored with almond extract. Finally beefed up with a cup of flour, leavener and salt. I greased and lined a 9 in cake pan with parchment. Then I poured in the batter, smoothed out to the edges, dotted the cherries throughout for an even distribution, topped with slivered almonds and sugar, then baked for about 45 minutes.
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I used defrosted, drained frozen pitted cherries for this. Fresh cherries would have been out of this world, but I wasn’t about to try to pit 14oz of cherries! Fresh or frozen, it’s a delicious cake, but I would decrease the sweetness next time around. I adapted it from a Cooking Light recipe (I increased the fat content so could use a lower sugar content). Feel free to try it either way!

Ingredients

  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 tbsp almond paste
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar (would decrease to 1/2 cup next time)
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract (might increase this to 1/2 tsp next time)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp cloves
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 2 tbsp slivered almonds
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 14 oz pitted cherries
  • powdered sugar for sprinkling

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9in cake pan with cooking spray, Cut out a 9in round piece of parchment and line the bottom of the pan with it. Spray with more cooking spray.
  2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and clove. Add salt and stir to combine.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a medium bowl using an electric hand mixer, cream butter, sugar and almond paste until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes at medium low speed. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add egg and almond extract, continue beating until the egg is incorporated, then scraped down the sides of the bowl again. Add half o the flour mixture, then the milk, then the remaining flour. Mix until incorporated, then pour into the prepared cake pan. Dot the top with cherries, almonds and an even sprinkling of the remaining granulated sugar.
  4. Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes until top is golden brown.
  5. After cooling, sprinkle with powdered sugar to serve.

Pistachio and Spice Roasted Rack of Lamb

IMG_4736Ramadan, the Islamic month during which Muslims around the world fast from sun up to sun down, is winding down. The last ten days is a time of great spiritual importance. Extra prayers, remembrance and mindfulness of acts of worship are highly stressed. My interpretation is that it’s a way to encourage keeping up the momentum, since Ramadan is 30 days long, and many start off the month with a lot of vigor, but find themselves struggling to keep up with the extra prayers and fasts as the days go by. IMG_4723Another important part of Ramadan for me is the communal iftar (evening, break-fast meal). One of the things that drew me to Islam as a child and again as a college student, is the community. When I attended my first ICNA convention as an almost 10 year old, I wore the headscarf for the weekend, per etiquette. And I recall descending on the escalator to the main convention hall and being amazed at seeing so many Muslims in the same room. For the first time I felt like I was part of something larger. Growing up in Queens, my childhood was characterized by my otherness. I was always one of two Bengali Muslim kids (no black, white, arab, SE asian or any other muslim kids in my neighborhood). We were all a rag tag team of immigrant kids – the only cohesive element being our physical classroom or schoolyard. IMG_4726So when I first felt that sense of community, it was exhilarating. I kept the headscarf on (with its ups and downs) since then. This was reinforced as a student at Barnard. The iftars hosted by Columbia Muslim Students Association was another reinforcement. A group to whom I didn’t have to explain my evening ritual of breaking the fast. A group that actually shared the values I was brought up with. IMG_4730I know we live in a society that in name celebrates individuality and uniqueness. But growing up in a society that is so different from your native one, is exhausting. How many times have I had to answer the question

  • Can your husband or father see your hair?
  • Do you sleep with the scarf of your head?
  • Do you shower with it? (admittedly this was a much rarer question, asked by the not-so-high scorers in my junior high class)
  • You can’t even have water while fasting?

IMG_4731So while I celebrate multiculturalism and pluralism as much as the next person, and in fact I think I’m the better for my experiences, it is really fortifying to be with members of one’s own group. That’s why I love hosting iftar. Why I love ending a long day of fasting with people I love. With food I love. In remembrance of our common purpose of pleasing our Creator. IMG_4732On to the food! This was actually the first time I’ve made rack of lamb. I took a risk by making something for the first time for a group and not even sticking to a recipe, but using a spice rub recipe by Deb Perelman and a cooking technique by Ina Garten. The spice rub recipe is from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook. She uses it to encrust individual lamb chops and after an initial sear on the stove top, then finishes it in the oven (I’ve made it before here). As for Ina’s rack of lamb recipe, she does a traditional rosemary/garlic combo, then roasts the whole thing in the oven at 450 degrees F for 20-25 min. IMG_4733I smeared the spice rub on and let it sit at room temperature for about an hour before sticking it in the hot oven to allow the flavors of the spices to get into the lamb. I then roasted it covered for 15 minutes. After 15 min, I removed the foil, drizzled some olive oil and allowed to cook for 15 minutes longer. This got it to medium rare. If you’d like it done further, insert a meat thermometer into a good meaty portion of the meat and cook until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F for medium or 170 for well done. IMG_4734The lamb was from Honest Chops over in East Village. Perfect flavor every single time. IMG_4737I made Kabuli palau for the first time – and Afghani chicken and rice pilaf with carrots, raisins and nuts. Homemade naan. Roasted tomato and burrata Caprese salad (why aren’t there good tomatoes in the farmers markets yet?? Perhaps because it hasn’t been hot enough). Mashed potatoes. Watermelon/mint salad because Ramadan and watermelon go together like two peas in a pod. Pioneer Woman’s Kale Citrus Salad and Strawberry Lemonade. My only edit to the lemonade was that I made a Meyer lemon infused simple syrup with two cups of the sugar, 2 cups water, and the peel of 1 large Meyer lemon. Divine. IMG_4740My mom made cumber raita (yogurt, grated cucumber, smoked salt) and savory pancakes. My good friend Nargis made delicious boulani, a potato stuffed turnover. And because iftar is an evening meal, this was the best lighting I could capture for my photos. Wishing a blessed last few days of Ramadan to those observing!

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Ina Garten.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup shelled pistachios
  • 3 tsps chaat masala
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 4-5 dashes of cayenne pepper (stick to 2 dashes if you can’t handle heat!)
  • 5-6 pounds rack of lamb
  • salt and pepper
  • olive oil

Directions

  1. Add first 5 ingredients to the food processor and process until pistachios are ground and spices are well blended.
  2. Line a baking sheet with aluminum. Take lamb out of fridge and remove any impurities from the surface, rinsing under running water if necessary. Place on baking sheet, fat side up, and pat dry. Liberally sprinkle salt and pepper all over the meat. Rub spice mixture onto the fat side and let sit for 1 hour.
  3. After 45 minutes, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
  4. Once the oven is hot, drizzle lamb with olive oil and cover meat with foil and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the foil  and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Cook longer, if desired, with a meat thermometer inserted into the meat reads 160 for medium or 170 for well done.
  5. Take out of oven and let rest for 15 minutes. Slice and serve with yogurt dipping sauce.

Rice Pilaf (Palau)

IMG_1777Begin rant: I’ve got social media fatigue. I even convinced myself at one point that it was a productive use of my time, because wasn’t I mainly reading news articles and stuff? Recently, that answer became a glaring NO. Buzzfeed compilations, vine videos, 20 ways to know you’re from this city or that farm or truly ghetto. And my feed is just filled with shares of blog posts from self declared intellectuals who think they have such pearls of wisdom. I learn more from my moments of quiet reflection, when I’m running or washing dishes, than I have after reading a dozen of said articles. The handful of books I’ve read on marriage and relationships have given me important tools – many of which I’ve seen recycled time and again in those pieces. I can probably count on one hand articles of merit I’ve found through social media: Anne-Marie Slaughter’s famous article Why Women Still Can’t Have It All, NY Times’ The ‘Busy’ Trap, Nicholas Carr’s How the Internet is Making us Stupid, and The Extraordinary Science of Junk Food. So, my resolution is this: read more books. Reflect more. Check-in less. With this as an exception. IMG_1757End rant. On to the food. I know a lot of my (handful) of readers are on their own for the first time, either newly married, or going to med school (ok, that probably covers all of my readers). That’s why it’s important for me to cover all the bases of Bengali cuisine. And this rice pilaf (palau) is the quintessential dish for entertaining. Any time you have company, the main decision  you have to make is: biryani or palau + curries? Plain rice isn’t considered special enough, even though some of the best meals I’ve had consisted of plain rice, served with a plethora of spicy/tangy bhortas, curries and daal. Actually, ask any Bengali and they will probably prefer the homey meals to these elevated, reserved-for-guests spreads.IMG_1758Even apart from the traditional spread, this pilaf would make a fine accompaniment to any roast poultry dish. Which is why I was eager to share it with you in advance of Thanksgiving, in hopes that you might give it a try in lieu of your usual rice or carb. IMG_1759Onions get caramelized and lend a sweet component.  Toasted rice and browned butter give it depth. The whole thing gets hit with a wonderful concoction of aromatics: garlic, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaf, providing the warmth and flavor. IMG_1761And the whole thing comes together pretty quickly, as long as you let the rice soak in some water while you get the onions going. The peas are optional, and often not included in Bengali rice pilafs (more common in North Indian cuisine). But I like to add them in to convince myself I’m feeding the kids something healthy. IMG_1774I served this alongside another classic for-entertaining-only dish: chicken korma, a sweet and savory chicken cooked in a curry/cream sauce, and spicy shrimp bhuna. And of course, salad! You definitely need a side salad to cut the richness. Followed by ice cream sundaes with homemade hot fudge (the recipe for that coming soon!).  Pretty darn good if I do say so myself.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups long grain basmati rice
  • 1 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
  • 1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)
  • 1/2 large Spanish onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger (alternately you can use 1 heaping tsp of garlic/ginger paste)
  • 3-4 cardamom pods (or 1/2 tsp ground cardamom)
  • 1 cinnamon stick (or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 1 cup peas (optional)

Directions

  1. Pour the rice into a bowl and rinse the rice 3 times in cold water to get rid of excess starch. I know a lot of people say not to do it, since you lose some of the nutrients, but this is the way it’s been done for ages, so just do it. Add enough water to come up to the top of the rice, and let it sit. Set aside.
  2. In a large pot, add the oil and butter and heat over a medium high heat. Once the bubbles subside, add the onions. Stir occasionally and let brown. This will take at least 10 minutes. Once brown, add garlic and ginger. Stir. Then, working quickly, drain the excess water from the rice and add the rice to the pot. Stir constantly, to toast the rice in the butter and to redistribute the onions and garlic throughout the rice. Once everything is nice and toasty (about 5 minutes), add 6 cups of water (rice should be submerged in the water, with the water coming up about 1 in over the rice). Add the cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer over low heat. Cover.
  3. After letting it simmer for 10 minutes, check for doneness and seasoning. If the rice is just about cooked through, add the peas, if desired. Stir gently (or fluff with a fork if not using peas) and cover, turning off the heat. The rice will continue to steam off the heat.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

IMG_1680This is one of the rare cakes I love as much as a chocolate one. It’s not overly sweet like many caramel cakes I’ve had. It’s a super moist bundt cake that gets most of its flavor (and moisture) from chopped, pitted dates boiled in water. I know – that in itself does not sound appetizing. But it works. It’s not heavy on the butter (there’s only half a stick in the whole cake) so the whipped cream on top adds the right amount of richness. FInally, the nuttiness in the toffee sauce just takes it over the edge.  IMG_1669Though I’m not sure why it’s called a pudding. It’s a cake, I swear. I was first asked to make this many Thanksgivings ago for dinner at a family friend’s. I’d never had it. Never known about it. I was handed a recipe, so I made it. And it. Was. Just. Divine. IMG_1670I remade it recently for a ladies’ luncheon (yeah, I live in the 1950’s). Needless to say, it was a hit. So you can imagine my surprise when I served my husband a piece of the leftovers…only to hear that he didn’t care for it! Just not a fan or caramel/toffee. Oh well. Tomato, tomahto. IMG_1673It’s perfect for post Ramadan if you have a ton of dates leftover and have run out of uses for them! I use Medjool dates. They’re nice and plump and sweet. IMG_1675I poke a few holes through the top with a toothpick to let the syrup soak through.   And let me just say how much I love bundt cakes for entertaining. They always look so beautiful and with half the effort of a layer cake. No layer breaking or leveling or aligning. Just pop it out onto a nice serving plate and drizzle with icing. The cascade over the curves and in between the ridges always makes for a show stopper.

But let me interject here. The popping out part has not been so smooth for me (punnnnn!). I’ve had to stick back parts of the cake that stuck to the top of the bundt pan and try to cover it with icing. I don’t know if you’re in the same boat, but I’ve actually had better luck recently! I don’t know if it’s because of the generous buttering of the pan that I do by hand (and subsequent flouring) or if it’s the fact that I’ve been letting it completely cool (overnight) before turning out. But I’d suggest you try both! IMG_1684

Recipe from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temp, plus more for greasing the pan
  • 1 1/2cups (or 6 oz) chopped, pitted dates
  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted, plus more for the pan
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt (I suppose the briny flavor complements the toffee better than table or kosher salt, but use whatever you have on hand)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs

For the sauce

  • 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. In a medium saucepan, bring water and dates to a boil. Turn off heat and add baking soda. Take off the heat and let cool.
  3. Butter and grease your bundt pan.
  4. Whip butter in stand mixer or using an electric mixer. Add the sugar in slowly. Then vanilla. Then add 1 egg. Mix to combine. Add half of the flour mixture and half of the date mixture. Add the second egg. Finally, add the remaining flour mixture and date mixture.
  5. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  6. For the sauce: bring the sugar, cream, and butter to boil in a small saucepan. Continue to boil while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for 3 minutes. Turn off heat, add vanilla, and voila.

To serve: top with a dollop of whipped cream and a drizzle of the toffee sauce. Alternately, break off chunks with your hand in your groggy, kids-woke-me-up-too-early daze and eat to comfort yourself, as a sign that the day WILL get better.

Ladybug cupcakes

For my daughter’s first birthday, I decided to use her ladybug halloween costume as inspiration for the theme. The result: garden party, complete with ladybugs and butterflies galore. Most aspects of the party were standard fare: food, family, friends and goody bags. However, I wanted to share the centerpiece/dessert for the afternoon, ladybug cupcakes:

I started off with Martha Stewart’s recipe and in fact followed her directions for the ladybugs themselves (7 oz of marzipan, half tinted black, half tinted red then roll into dozens of tiny balls to make about 36 ladybugs). However, as a chocolate lover, could not bring myself to serve only vanilla cupcakes with swiss meringue buttercream as directed (though I was ECSTATIC to get the SMB down on my first try during the trial run). On the flip side, anyone who has entertained South Asians knows you can’t serve just chocolate for dessert and get away with it.

My compromise? Gina’s Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting II from AllRecipes.com. I realize I’m not sharing anything incredibly original or authentic here, but thought I’d share the idea for those who might appreciate a cupcake with a little extra umph. The cream cheese frosting piped well when chilled slightly…though my partner in crime (Moury Sultana – part time baker, full time med student) and I ended up using zip loc bags to frost when we couldn’t find the right tip for my piping bag!!

 (photo courtesy of Vijai Kalathur)

The perfect cup of (milk) tea

IMG_4899Every South Asian is familiar with the following scenario: impromptu guests late in the afternoon. While you scurry to make your place somewhat presentable, you run through the inventory of sweet and savory snacks to serve. Then they say, “Oh we’ll just have some tea and be on our way.” Easy enough. Throw some water, milk and tea bags in a pot. Simmer, then sugar. Wait, is that 50/50 water and milk? Or am I supposed to use evaporated milk? How long should I simmer again? Aw, crap, the milk’s bubbled over.

A decent cup of milk tea (cha if you’re bengali, chai if you’re not, venti skinny extra foam chai latte if you’re a gringa) should not be a challenging endeavor. But when you’re on the go-go-go and Barista B. is serving up your caffeine fix every morning, you might forget the proper ratios, simmering times and techniques. After being consistently disappointed that the tea I concocted each morning did not live up to the $1 cup of tea from the local bengali joint, I decided to experiment with a few different techniques and ingredients to come up with a foolproof, delicious-every-time cup of cha.

First you need a really good tea (if you try this with Lipton, you WILL be disappointed). My tea of choice is PG Tips. The flavor profile is robust; it really stands up well to milk. Any good quality tea sourced from Assam or Darjeeling is ideal. I use 1 tea bag per person (1 tsp loose). Teas that are not as strong (Ceylon comes to mind) will require 1.5 tsp per person.

Second – evaporated milk. I’ve tried all reduced fat milk, half water, half whole milk, sweetened condensed milk. Nothing delivers quite as consistently as evaporated milk.

Third – a measuring cup helps.

Keep in mind, this will make 2 generous cups (not those teensy tea cups). Adjust sugar according to yourpreference. So, here we go:

Ingredients:

  • 2.5 cups of water
  • 2 bags/pyramids of strong tea (PG Tips, Tetley, etc.)
  • 1/4 cup evaporated milk
  • 2 heaping tsps sugar

Bring the water to a boil. Add tea bags and reduce to a simmer (you still want to see bubbles bursting, just not violently). Add the evaporated milk and set your timer to 5 minutes. This will allow the flavors to develop and the liquids to evaporate a bit, intensifying the flavor and richness. Add sugar and pour through a sieve.

Scaling up: this recipe scales well. To adjust simmering time, keep an eye on the hue. When the liquid has reduced a bit and the color looks like the picture, you’re good.

Spicing it up: add a pod of cardamom and/or cinnamon stick per 2 people if desired