Buttermilk Cranberry Cheese Coffee Cake

I don't think of myself as particularly thrifty person except when it comes to food. Maybe it's because I grew up with homemade noodles, pickles, and french fries (why buy it when you could make it seemed to be the food philosophy of my parents). I also spent a year on food stamps in grad school, which means I've always been a "waste not want not" type of cook. So when I made butter the other day (see here for my post on that) I decided to bake up the buttermilk in a coffee cake instead of simply drinking it. Couple that with some leftover cranberry relish and ricotta cheese that needed using up and I produced this yummy coffee cake.

I'm not big on baking or desserts so this was somewhat foreign territory for me. After browsing online I found a recipe here that I thought could stand up to a cheese and fruit filling (and not all sink to the bottom as one writer warned). It's made with whole wheat flour which gives it a much denser consistency and when I make this again I'll definitely swirl the whipped cheese filling into the dough since I think it can handle it.

My palate is more savory than sweet so the cranberries worked well with the sweetened ricotta cheese. Using ricotta cheese in desserts is a traditional Italian approach and I have loved it ever since I tried my first ricotta filled canoli. You could probably substitute a cream cheese filling, thinned with some milk if you wanted to forgo the ricotta.

Buttermilk Cranberry Cheese Coffee Cake

Oatmeal Crumb
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, divided
1/4 cup white whole-wheat flour, or whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, or cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Cake
2 cups whole-wheat flour, or whole-wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup nonfat buttermilk, (see Tip)
1/4 cup canola oil (or safflower oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 1 1/2 cups homemade cranberry sauce (your can substitute fresh berries)
10 oz ricotta cheese, hand whipped with 2 tablespoons sugar until fluffy

To prepare oatmeal crumb: Combine butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup oats, 1/4 cup flour and 1/2 teaspoon cardamom (or cinnamon) in a food processor. Process until the mixture is crumbly. Turn out into a bowl and add the remaining 1/2 cup oats and walnuts. Combine with fingertips or a fork until blended.

To prepare cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8-inch-square pan with cooking spray. Sift 2 cups flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon cardamom (or cinnamon), baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk eggs and 1/2 cup brown sugar in a medium bowl until well blended, gradually whisk in buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in 2 additions, stirring each time to thoroughly blend the ingredients together.

Spread half the batter in the prepared pan. Dab whipped ricotta cheese over top. Dab cranberry sauce over cheese. Sprinkle half the oatmeal crumb evenly on top. Spoon the remaining batter over the crumbs and gently spread in an even layer. Top with the remaining oatmeal crumb. Bake the coffee cake until browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Hugs!

Phyllo Greens Pie

Working with phyllo dough is one of those ingredients that seems to scare so many people. Lucky for me I once had a roommate who grew up with her mother making homemade phyllo (and I waxed poetic about it in this post). I have made it one of my culinary missions to educate people about the simplicity of using phyllo for savory dishes. It is so easy once you give it a go that I have turned to perfect strangers in grocery store lines and explained the basics.

While this is basically the same recipe from the first post, those photos left a lot to be desired. Here's a new photo of a pie made with an abundance of fall kale and the cooking technique that I mention of pouring eggs over the uncooked pie instead of mixing it in with the filling.

The great thing about this pie is that is tastes delicious, not matter how perfectly (or not) you think it looks. It's a great introduction for getting over your fears of how to work with this unique pastry and it moves beyond the dessert realm!

Phyllo Greens Pie

1/2 roll phyllo dough, defrosted
spray can of cooking oil (like Pam)
1 bunch greens (kale, Swiss chard), cleaned, chopped
1/2 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
6 oz goat cheese
1 cup parmesan, grated
3 tablespoons ricotta cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
pepper

Take phyllo dough out of freezer at least 12 hours prior to using. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent. Add chopped greens and cook until wilted. Remove from heat. Stir in cheeses, dill, pepper and salt to taste. When ready to begin assembly of pie, roll out sheets on clean dish towel and cover with another clean towel.

In 8 x 11 baking pan, spray bottom with oil and lay down two sheets of phyllo. Do not worry if they tear, just arrange them to fit within the bottom of the pan (if the edges go up the side, just fold them down to fit the bottom of the pan.) Spray the sheets with some oil and add another two sheets and spray them as well. Dab filling across the sheets in a layer that is more of a spotted layer rather than an even one. Lay another two sheets of phyllo on top and spray with oil. Then add another two sheets and spray with oil.

Dab filling on top, particularly in the pockets where there is no filling below. Lay another two sheets down on top and before spraying with oil press down with your hands to level the pie out. Continue layering sheets with oil and filling until all filling is gone and make sure to leave 4 sheets for top level.

Spray top sheets with oil and then cut the pie in squares as you would with a finished baked pie, carefully cutting through the raw phyllo. In a bowl add the milk to the beaten eggs and pour over the top of the pie, turning the dish to try and evenly distribute the liquid, making sure to wet down the tops of the phyllo pieces. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until it is browned on top as the picture illustrates. Allow to cool 5 minutes and cut along precut lines and serve. This is all really good cold.

Hugs!

Tortilla Soup

Tomatoes and corn are defining ingredients in Mexican cooking and they come together perfectly in the deceptively simple and delicious tortilla soup. Using a few Mexican specific ingredients - a dried poblano pepper and roasted cumin seeds - creates a complexly flavored soup that you can make in less than 30 minutes. Add avocado, cilantro, cheese and the crunch of corn chips and it's a party in your mouth!

Tortilla Soup

1/2 onion, minced
1 stalk celery, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 dried poblano pepper with seeds (AKA ancho or pasilla)
1 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 cup canned tomatoes (or 2 cups canned is fine)
1/2 cup chick peas
1 1/2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/3 cup cream
salt
pepper
corn chips
1/2 avocado, cubed
shredded cheese
cilantro, minced

Saute onion, garlic and celery in olive oil until translucent. Add poblano, broken up into pieces and saute another 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, chick peas, cumin and oregano and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes until well melded. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Stir in cream and puree in batches in a blender. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with corn chips, avocado and cilantro and cheese if you like.

Hugs!

Italian Frying Peppers with Garlic

I have always been a huge fan of green peppers, but only raw, not cooked. I eat them like apples and have ever since I was a kid. Although I was teased mercilessly in high school for bringing raw peppers in my lunch bag, I still continued to eat them.

It never even entered my mind to change how I ate green peppers until I was confronted with what seemed like an invasion of frying peppers called Padron peppers. Suddenly the farmers' markets and the local produce stores were inundated with huge mounds of little crinkley green peppers that people were buying like mad. Swept along in this tide I decided to try them, pan frying them in olive oil until charred and then sprinkling them with good salt. What a delight! They were both crispy and sweet, salty and savory, all in one bite. And the real fun about the Padrons is that every tenth pepper is just a tad hot, making it a kind of spicy pepper roulette!

While the padron peppers are not yet in the farmers markets here in Los Angeles their cousin, friarelli, are, and I scooped some of them up for a tasty dinner. Friarelli, aka Italian frying peppers, are both green and red and unlike Padron pepper are always sweet. They make a great appetizer or light lunch with some toasted bread as I ate them here.

Friarelli with Garlic

1/2 lb Friarelli (Italian frying peppers)
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, smashed
salt

Heat skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil and allow to heat up. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add peppers and toss to coat with oil. Cook peppers until slightly charred. Add salt and toss and serve.

Hugs!

Pico de Gallo and Cheese Quesadillas

Unlike some famous celebrities with a knife fetish I have a chopping fetish. I love to chop vegetables. I find it soothing, rewarding and meditative. It's not that I'm a meticulous cook - far from it - but I love the sensation of cutting vegetables, herbs, whatever. I've only recently recognized this consciously but looking back over the years it's clear that my go-to items for a quick meal generally involve some knife work.

Case in point is pico de gallo with cheese quesadillas. Dicing up some roma tomatoes, green onions, garlic and some cilantro if I had it was the perfect study break when I was in grad school. Frying up some quesadillas literally took about 3 minutes and then I would have a satisfying, kind of healthy, quick meal.

Pico de gallo is the same as salsa fresca, meaning fresh salsa. I used to simply refer to it as salsa until someone educated me about the fact that salsa is always cooked, which is party of the reason it is so saucy as opposed to the chunky version I whipped up in the kitchen. I love the freshness of tomato with some garlic and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice. You can also add minced hot chilies or jalapeno, which I do when I have it. Otherwise, it's like a tomato salad in your mouth with the quesadilla as the willing vehicle!

Pico de Gallo

6 roma tomatoes (or 4 regular size tomatoes) diced
2 green onions, chopped, green and white parts OR red onion diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 jalapeno, deseeded for less heat, minced
1 tablespoons cilantro, minced
juice from half lemon
salt
pepper

Combine all in bowl and mix well. Pico de gallo is best eaten within 24 hours of preparation but allowing a few hours for the flavors to marry enhances the flavors.

Cheese Quesadillas

4 flour tortillas
1 cup cheese (any combination cheddar, monterey jack, mozzarella) shredded

Evenly distribute the cheese between two tortillas leaving at least 1/2 inch border. Cover each with another tortillas. Heat a large skillet over medium heat (if it isn't nonstick, add about teaspoon olive oil per quesadilla). Cook quesadillas over low heat until they begin to brown, flip and cook other side. If they puff up, just gently push down. Remove from heat and cut into quarters or eighths and serve with pico de gallo.

Hugs!

Harira - Moroccan Chick Pea, Lentil and Tomato Stew

Since I now live in a Mediterranean climate I've started looking beyond the more common cuisines of that region and have fallen in love with Moroccan cooking. My first foray was to make a lamb tajine and I loved how slow cooking dried fruit like dates, figs and apricots provides a sweetness that tempers the spiciness typical of that dish. Clearly, drying fruit was the best way to preserve the harvest and transport it as the nomadic peoples of Northern African did for centuries until modern kitchens were invented.

Harira is best known as the dish that Muslims use to break their fast during the month of Ramadan and I can see why. With chick peas, lentils, pasta or another grain plus the spice of harissa and the tang of preserved lemons this is one stew that I could eat day in and day out.

This is one of those legume dishes where you really need to cook the chick peas from scratch because there's a special ingredient for this stew that is added at that early stage of the process: cinnamon. Even if you think you are not a fan of cinnamon (as I think of myself) you need to trust the wisdom of generations of Moroccan cooks. The cinnamon is the bass note in this complexly flavored stew.

A final note: While I am a huge fan of substituting ingredients when you don't have them or don't want to spend the money on what seem like luxury gourmet items, it is so worth it to make your own harissa and preserved lemons if only to have them in your refrigerator for Moroccan dishes such as harira and tajines. Not only do they last indefinitely refrigerated but the depth of flavor that they add is unique. Making them at home requires very little investment of time or money and as the Northern hemisphere approaches citrus season this is the perfect time to make some preserved lemons to last the year! recipes for harissa and preserved lemon


Harira - Moroccan Chick Pea, Lentil and Tomato Stew

1 cup chick peas, soaked and cooked with 1/2 stick cinnamon, 2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon turmeric
8 threads saffron, ground in mortar and pestle
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups tomatoes (1/2 28 oz can)
1/3 cup brown lentils
2 cups water
1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, minced
1/4 cup Israeli Couscous (rice or pasta would also make good additions, cook accordingly)

To Add At the Table
Minced cilantro
Harissa (1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon added to individual bowls) or 2 teaspoons cayenne
Preserved lemon for garnish (1 to 1/2 tablespoon added to individual bowls) or lemon juice added to individual bowls to taste

Soak and cook chick peas with half stick of cinnamon and two bay leaves as instructed here. In sauce pan cook onion and ginger in olive oil over medium high heat until softened. Add cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, saffron and salt and blend in, stirring to incorporate. Add cilantro, parsley, and tomatoes and cook another 5 minutes. Add water and bring to boil. Add lentils and Israeli Couscous and cook 20-25 minutes until both are tender. Add chick peas along with 1/2 cup reserved liquid and cayenne if not using harissa and simmer for 7-10 minutes. The harira should be more stew like than soupy. Add more water as needed or boil it away if there is too much. Remove from heat and serve with cilantro and lemon juice to pour if not using preserved lemon.

Hugs!