Kitchen3N

Recipes and food fun from Apt 3N

Raspberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

img_0488 I recall as a kid, I would get visibly angry if upon cutting into a cake at someone’s birthday party, the interior revealed a pale cake with fruit wedged between the layers. I mean c’mon! Save the fruits for the healthy afterschool snack. If I’m dressing up and buying you a present, the least you can do is serve up some decadent chocolately goodness. I mean as I kid I wasn’t on the hunt for swiss chocolate or anything, heck I’d be happy if they served the Entenmann’s double chocolate cake over any of those cakes from my childhood. The one exception I make: raspberries. But only when smothered in chocolate, no less. Chocolate and raspberry will forever be one of my favorite flavor combinations. fullsizeoutput_6a2aThe chocolate/raspberry mousse cake from my local bakery was a long time favorite of mine, until my palette changed and only my homemade chocolate cake will do. So I created this homemade version, using swiss meringue buttercream instead of mousse as they are similar in texture and sweetness. In traditional Naureen style this is chocolate ganache dripping all over the cake, the perfect accent to the raspberry and chocolate layers underneath.

This recipe makes enough to frost a three layer 6 in round cake in the semi naked style.

Ingredients

  • 6oz. fresh raspberries
  • 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 3 egg whites
  • 18 tbsp room temperature unsalted butter, cut into tbsps
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

  1. In a small saucepan over medium heat combine raspberries, 1/2 cup sugar and lemon juice. Stir and allow to come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat to low and allow to reduce and thicken, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and mash with fork. Allow to cool.
  2. In another small saucepan bring a small (about 1in thick) amount of water to simmer. In the bowl of your stand mixer or in a large heat proof mixing bowl, whisk together egg whites with 3/4 cup sugar.
  3. Place over the simmering water and whisk occasionally until the sugar has dissolved and mixture is quite warm to the touch (you shouldn’t feel any granules when you stick your finger in). Remove from heat and start beating with the whisk attachment at medium speed. Beat for a few minutes, until the mixture cools down to room temperature and the mixture is thick and glossy. When the bowl no longer feels warm (test the temperature by placing the back of your hand on the side of the bowl), start adding the butter, 1 tbsp at a time. It will look weird. Feel free to stop and scrape down the bowl.
  4. Continue beating at medium to high speed until the mixture looks curdled. Keep beating until it comes together into a homogenous, smooth buttercream. Lower the mixing speed and add vanilla and cooled raspberry compote. Use immediately, or store in the refrigerator, covered for 2 weeks. To use after thawing, re-beat with a whisk attachment until smooth.

Pastry Pillows

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I’m baaaaaaaack! After recovering from hosting Thanksgiving dinner, I’m back in the kitchen making some of my favorite things: small bites, filled with butter, sugar, then topped with more fat and more sugar. Yeah! Just in time for the holiday season, I’m whippin’ out my trusty old “100 Best Cookies” catalogue from Better Homes and Gardens that I got way back when I used to live Poughkeepsie (2010). I don’t celebrate Christmas, but I love all the holiday baking that comes along with the season.
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I’ve also been watching a whole lot of The Great British Baking Show so I’m super inspired by all the different creations I see on the screen. What shall I bake next? A Stollen (a German holiday bread studded with dried fruit with a marzipan center)? A chocolate twist bread? Chocolate revel bars? I’m enjoying the down time to explore cakes’ buttery brethren – though I’ll be back in the kitchen baking cakes as of tomorrow =).
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I was fascinated by this recipe. Most pastry dough requires skillful combining of cold butter and flour in order to achieve flaky texture, but this fool proof dough creams together butter and cream cheese and mixes in flour. Somehow they puff up in the oven and look like glorious buttery pillows. The best kind of bedding I’d say! I did something sneaky and subbed mini chocolate chips for the jam in some of my later pillows. Hope you enjoy these as much as my friends and family have!

Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens “100 Best Cookies” 2010.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, at room temp
  • 8oz cream cheese, at room temp
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup apricot preserves (or any other fruit preserve you like)
  • 1/4 cup almond paste (I used marzipan)
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • Pearlized, coarse or granulated sugar for sprinkling

Directions

  1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, or in a medium bowl using an electric hand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed for 30 seconds. While that mixes, whisk together flour and salt in a small bowl. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture to the butter/cream cheese mixture. Mix until just combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Divide the dough in half, place each half onto plastic wrap and flatten into disks. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm enough to handle.
  2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl beat egg with water. Set aside.
  3. Lightly flour your work surface and roll out your dough to 1/8in thick. I like to transfer my dough to a parchment paper lined baking sheet at this point so I can cut out and remove scraps without messing up the shapes. Use a 2in square cookie cutter to cut out an even number of squares. Removed scraps, roll up and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate. Place a scant 1/4tsp preserves and a scant 1/4tsp almond paste on each square. Use a pastry brush to apply a small amount of egg wash around the borders. Set aside.
  4. On a separate work surface, roll out the second dough to 1/8in thickness. Cut out the same number of squares as the first dough. Carefully lift each square (I use a small offset spatula to help with this) and place on top of a square containing apricot/almond. Smooth out the tops so the edges line up with the bottom squares. Crimp the edges closed with a fork. Brush with egg wash (lightly) and dust the tops with pearlized or granulated sugar. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Repeat with scraps.

Tropical Green Smoothie

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I just realized that it’s been 2 years since I lost the baby weight. I realize it because I’m slowly putting the weight back on (oh no!).

It’s hard being smaller than your natural dress size! I look at all the women in my family, and post childbirth, we are all at least a size 8 and pear shaped.

I’m 5’1 and for the longest time after my second kid, I was stuck at 129 pounds. Inspired by my Barnard classmate, Asiya Khaki, photographer and beach body coach, I decided to get in shape. I started doing 25 minute interval training workouts with FitnessBlender. I cut out sugar almost entirely. Subbed quinoa for rice in pretty much every meal.

I lost 17 pounds. It was amazing. My core looked better in my late twenties than it ever did as a teenager.

And then Ramadan came, and I couldn’t really stick to my 3 small meals plus 2 snacks a day anymore. And the tons of water to curb my sugar cravings. So things got out of whack.

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I’ve put 5 pounds back on since hitting my lowest (112). I still keep up with the exercise at least twice a week (trying to make it 3 times a week). But I’ve gotten back to some bad habits. Late night work = late night snacks. Busy schedules means less time to make my quinoa salad. More often than not I’m finishing up the kids pasta for lunch. And dinner.

And though I am eating carbs again, I still try to keep up with the nutrition. I buy a big bag of avocados early on in the week. I try to ensure everyone’s got a serving of vegetables at every meal, and fruits at their disposal any time of the day.

In short, this smoothie is not for you if you are looking to lose weight. If you are looking for a nutritious, tasty drink to sub for a meal, definitely give this a try!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup loosely packed mixed baby greens
  • 1/2 cup fresh fruit like pineapple, mango, banana
  • 1/4 cup greek yogurt, full fat
  • 3/4 to 1 cup pineapple or orange juice

Directions

  1. Add the greens, fruit, yogurt and 3/4 cup of the juice to the blender. If it doesn’t start to come together, add the extra 1/4 cup of juice. Enjoy immediately.

Citrus Quinoa Salad With Dates, Almonds, and Mint

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Ramadan is coming up! I figured I should add a few more Ramadan friendly recipes to the blog, for those of us who are looking to depart a bit from the usual fried foods iftars. During these long summer days when we’re denying ourselves food and liquid for 15 hours straight, we need to treat our bodies well! This is a dish you can feel good about eating, that’s not going to make you crash before the long night of ibadah (prayers) you have lined up.

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This recipe is based on one from Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table. I know a quinoa salad is not the first thing you think of when you consider French cuisine, but she’s filled her cookbook with things she makes for her family, without strictly adhering to a particular cuisine. In our hyperconnected world, it’s kind of impossible to resist influences from other regions. She’s got a Moroccan Tagine and carrot salad, small plates from her American upbringing, French pastries and traditional stews from her current residence. And she’s kind of an authority when it comes to food so I trust her with my quinoa!

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I’ve taken a lot of liberties with her recipe though. First was to change the prep method for the quinoa. For some reason the package directions always tell you to cook it covered over low heat for about 15 minutes. That always gave me soggy quinoa. My way gives perfectly cooked and fluffy quinoa every time. Second, I nixed the ginger powder for cinnamon since I hate ginger and thought cinnamon would compliment the citrus. Third, I increased the fruit to nut ratio for my sugar loving palette. She suggests using any kind of dried fruits, nuts and herbs. I combined the dried fruits, nuts and herbs I thought would work best (dates, almonds and mint). You could also do raisins, pine nut and parsley. Or apricot, walnut and cilantro. It’s a vibrant, tasty way to prepare your quinoa that uses up the plethora of dates we often have lying around during Ramadan.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups quinoa
  • 1 cup medjool dates, pitted and diced small (about 7 dates)
  • 1/2 cup slivered almonds
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
  • salt and pepper
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • juice of 1 orange
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (recommended: Trader Joe’s California Estate EVOO)

Directions

  1. In a small saucepan, bring 3 cups of water to boil. Add quinoa and lower the heat to medium low. Cook for 12 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally. After the 12 min are up, turn off the heat and put the lid on. Let steam for 3 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Set aside.
  2. Toast the almonds on a dry skillet over medium heat. Stir occasionally. When the nuts are light brown and fragrant, take off the heat and let cool.
  3. Chop the mint and combine with the dates and nuts in a large bowl.
  4. Make the vinaigrette: combine the orange juice, lemon juice, cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and olive oil in a jar. Put the lid on and shake vigorously.
  5. Add the quinoa and vinaigrette to the large bowl. Combine everything and taste for seasoning. Add more salt and pepper as needed.

On Pomegranate

IMG_2876 It’s pomegranate season, y’all! Just kidding. I’ve been watching too much Pioneer Woman.

But seriously, it’s pomegranate season (somewhere in California). Have you noticed them stacked by the entrance at your local grocery store? Have you picked one (or a couple) up and taken them home and painstakingly popped out each seed, only to watch the beautiful mound get depleted in seconds? If you haven’t, then you must. Right now. And don’t give me the excuse that your store doesn’t have them. I would find them at my local Hannaford when I used to live in Nowheresville, NY (aka Poughkeepsie). They seem to come in late September and lasted through the fall. It’s such a refreshing change up in the fall fruit line up from the usual suspects: apples, pears and pumpkins.

I’ve never used them in a recipe – my husband and son usually get to the very last seeds before I could even attempt to put them in anything. They are so delicious – tangy and complex. Usually I’m partial to sweet fruits, but this is an exception. Do you have any favorite recipes? A friend of mine mentioned using pomegranate molasses for a braised lamb or chicken dish (this recipe looks promising). Pomegranate molasses is actually made from reduced pomegranate juice and is apparently more acidic than sweet. I am looking forward to trying it on some of my qurbani meat this weekend. As for the kernels themselves, I’ve seen them used in plenty of salads, over ice cream, and this intriguing recipe I have to try: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/pomegranate-glazed-acorn-squash.html

A word of warning: these babies discolor your cuticles. And not a beautiful ruby stain. An ugly, greenish tint. I don’t know why. So if you’re particular about that stuff, wear gloves.

Fun facts:

  • My grandmother’s helper is a sweet lady named Bedana (a Bengali word for Pomegranate).
  • One of my favorite protagonists of all time is Anarkali (Hindi for Pomegranate), from the movie Mughal E Azam. Based on a true story, Anarkali was a dancer in the Mughal Emperor’s court, who fell in love with the Emperor’s son, Salim. This led to a not-so-great father-son relationship and [SPOILER ALERT] a not-so-favorable outcome for her.
  • The whole beating the pomegranate with a spoon bruises the seeds. I’m not a fan. I am however, a fan of this nifty demo on peeling pomegranate.

 

Mango Time

For most people, this time of year means cherry blossoms, longer days, warmer weather, or taxes. For me, it’s mango season. They hold a permanent place in my fruit bowl during the warmer months. There has been a steady trickle of the fruit with each and every visit from nana or nanu, since the first day my daughter uttered the word “am” (bengali for mango). And when the season’s first real ones came in, that trickle became a waterfall, with literally boxes of the golden treats coming through the door every week. Not complaining here. In fact, I feel kind of guilty. We have access to an exceptional source: Jackson Heights. Not sure why, even at the specialty grocery store here in Forest Hills, I haven’t found the quality or quantity available in my old hood.

There are three types of mangos available on the market (disclaimer: no scientific nomenclature here):

MangoTime.001The traditional ones most Americans think of when they think of mango. Big, round, partially red, partially green. They have a bright, sometimes tangy flavor accompanying the sweetness. Buy them, let them ripen on the counter for 3 days and wow – deliciously delicious.

MangoTime.002Secondly, these have become more popular in recent years. The smaller, more oval, yellow guys (some places call them champagne, others call them Alfonso). They have a more mellow flavor than the other two. The seed is very small so there’s more flesh to enjoy.

MangoTime.003Finally, these big green guys hail from Haiti. You didn’t see much of them before but due to their bright, unique flavor, people are asking for them. You can find them more and more at your local grocery. They are a bit fibrous for some and like the other mangoes require some ripening on the counter before diving into.

General signs of readiness:

  1. As with most produce, give it a smell taste. If it smells like a mango, dig in.
  2. Slight wrinkles
  3. Black dots all over, sometimes with a little bit of dried sap at the top
  4. Gives slightly when you squeeze it

IMG_0905Ways to enjoy:

  1. The way they do back home: bite off a small piece at the bottom and suck all the pulp and juice through it. It gets messy.
  2. My favorite way: peel it with a knife or vegetable peeler and just go at it over the sink with all the glorious juice running down your arms.
  3. Score it: hold it upright on your cutting board and cut in the same plane as the seed, getting as close to it as you can. You’ll end up with two hemispheres that you can score with a knife (either into cubes or spears) and dig out with a spoon. This way is best if you have small mouths to feed.
  4. In a lassi. This is essentially a South Asian smoothie. I added some milk to thin mine out. Sweeten according to the batch of mangoes you have. Here is a basic recipe:

Ingredients

  • 1 cup plain yogurt (not greek)
  • about 1.5 cups diced mango or mango pulp
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup ice (optional)
  • a dash of salt
  • sugar or simple syrup

Directions

  1. Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until ice is crushed and the lassi is smooth. About 2 minutes. IMG_0908

Berries n Sour Cream

I think everyone has found themselves in the following situation: item X was on sale so, naturally, you stock up and reap the benefits of your frugality for weeks to come. Except, sometimes, this item doesn’t have a great shelf life. So you can start putting it in everything you eat, or just suck it up and toss it at some point. That’s what happened when my husband bought several tubs of sour cream (originally for spinach and artichoke dip for my daughter’s birthday party). After the last chip had been dipped, I started putting it into everything I could think of–mashed potatoes, sour cream pound cake, even pancakes (which did not go so well). I still hadn’t exhausted my supply when said hubby asked if we had any whipped cream to eat with some strawberries we had lying around. Inspired by sheer laziness, I came up with the following: berries with (sweetened) sour cream.

This stuff is good enough to serve to company. The macerated berries are even good by themselves if you’re looking for a lighter version. I know the cinnamon in it sounds crazy – but  trust me, it works!

Ingredients:

Berries:

  • 1.5 cups chopped strawberries or mixed berries
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tsps sugar
  • dash of cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Sweetened sour cream:

  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 2 tbsps powdered sugar

Directions

Combine berries, salt, sugar, cinnamon and balsamic vinegar in a bowl. Let the ingredients sit while preparing the cream (at least 5 minutes).

Combine sour cream and powdered sugar (crystallized sugar just won’t dissolve). Stir well.

Scoop the berries into serving bowl. Top with a generous dollop of the sour cream mixture.