Walnut Cake

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Kristen

When I read about this cake in Bon Appetit, it didn’t look like much, kind of like blondies, but the list of ingredients got me hooked, screamed cake at me and my mouth positively watered. A big part of what I love about cooking and baking is reading. I’ve always loved to read and get the biggest thrill (read geek) from reading recipes.

A few words about the almond meal/flour: it’s a bit pricey and all over the place price-wise and also there’s really no difference between almond meal and flour. Three different stores I visited (a supermarket chain store, health food store and farmer’s market) had it priced very differently (anywhere from 5 to 13 dollars for a 1 pound bag). This cake is all about the nutty-moistness and they (the nuts) truly are the standout stars so I committed and bought the almond flour, walnuts and vanilla bean. Vanilla extract can be substituted for the vanilla bean, but this is a nut cake so there’s no substitution for the nuts. Go for it – you’re worth it!

I chose to eat it with a dollop of whipped cream sprinkled with Turbinado sugar. Mmmmmm…freckles of Turbinado sugar on whipped cream. How delightful.

I couldn’t believe how beautiful this misty morning was.

Everything is waking up.

It’s hard to believe these will be lilacs soon.

Look at how tiny this guy is! He made his way home shortly after this photo was taken. I wanted to raise him as one of my own, but…I went inside, comforted by the fact that he was on his way to his mommy, and ate more cake.

Walnut Cake

18 – 24 servings

Ingredients

1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for cake pan

3 Tablespoons raw sugar

7 Cups walnut halves

3/4 Cup all-purpose flour**

1 1/2 Cups almond flour or almond meal (available at supermarkets, specialty markets and natural food stores)

3/4 Cup granulated sugar

6 large eggs

3/4 Cup heavy cream plus extra for serving (1-2 cups)

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (any plain yogurt can be substituted)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whipped heavy cream for serving

**For gluten free diets, substitute almond meal/flour for the all-purpose flour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13x9x2″ metal or glass baking dish. Set aside.

Pulse walnuts in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Remove 2 Cups of walnuts and set aside. Add the all-purpose flour and continue to pulse until walnuts are very finely ground. Add almond meal/flour and pulse to blend. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat 1 Cup butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, cream, yogurt and salt. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds from the inside or add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat until well combined. Add ground walnut and almond meal mixture and beat just to blend. Gently fold in chopped walnuts. Pour batter into prepared baking pan, smooth top and sprinkle evenly with 3 Tablespoons raw sugar.

Bake until cooked through and tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50-55 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool. Pour heavy cream into a bowl and mix on high speed until firm and fluffy. Serve the cake with a dollop of whipped cream topped with a sprinkle of raw sugar.

Credit: March 2012 issue of Bon Appetit. Recipe courtesy of Nadine Levy Redzepi.

Wheat Berry Salad with Dried Cherries

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Kristen

What is a wheat berry? Wheat berries are whole wheat kernels, full of protein, fiber and other vitamins and minerals, that look like brown rice and are easy to prepare: they’re boiled in salted water. Once boiled, they plump up a bit and become chewy and nutty, but not starchy. This is what they look like in their raw state:

I really enjoy their texture and when I watched Ellie Krieger make her version of this salad, I was inspired to try it with a twist. I already had the dried cherries from my last kitchen adventure and thought how a nice splash of balsamic vinegar would brighten up the cherries and the entire salad even more. I also love Anne Burrell’s recipe for Warm Wheat Berry and Mushroom Salad.

It’s March 1st and the crocuses are blooming. Spring is on its way.

Inside I’m listening to American icon and Philadelphia Flyers legend Kate Smith on the turntable (yes, a vinyl record album purchased for 99 cents!). <sigh> She’s singing:

I wish you bluebirds in the Spring
To give your heart a song to sing
And then a kiss, but more than this
I wish you love

Wheat Berry Salad with
Dried Cherries

Makes 6, 1 Cup servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cups hard wheat berries or kernels

3/4 Cup chopped walnuts

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 Cup dried cherries, chopped

1 scallion, white and green parts, chopped

1/2 Cup chopped flat leaf parsley

3 Tablespoons olive oil

3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fill a medium sized saucepan 3/4 with water and add the wheat berries. Bring to a boil, and cook uncovered for 1 hour. Drain, set aside in a large bowl. and add the walnuts, celery, dried cherries, scallions, parsley, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Credit: Inspired by Ellie Krieger’s Wheat Berry Salad

Biscotti!Biscotti!

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Kristen

I’ve had this bag of dried cherries for a bit and thought how great it would be to use them for Valentine’s Day. Hmmmmm…time to try the recipe for Cracked Pepper, Dried Cherry and Chocolate Chunk Biscotti. I grew up on biscotti that was usually anise, which has a mild licorice flavor, or lemon flavored, but this new recipe sent a definite, “wow gotta try that!” to my brain.They are fabulous and taste even better than they look: dark, rich and delicious. The brunette version of the blonde anise seed or lemon variation. First, let me say that my texture preference for biscotti is more cookie-like than the hard-snap. I use butter to achieve that.The less fat, the drier and hard-snappier they are. I looked at a number of recipes (and there are a lot of them) and this is a perfect cookie to be adventurous with. You could add orange zest, almonds or pistachios, or even something savory like rosemary. For the skeptics: the black pepper creates more of a “nice” rather than a, “that black pepper tastes good” flavor. Go for it!

In addition to my undying love and devotion and the biscotti dynamic duo, Rob also got these. XO

You may also want to try these since they are heart-shaped after all!

Biscotti (With 2 variations)

Makes about 3 dozen

2 Cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 stick butter

1/3 Cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients and set aside. In a separate bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping the sides after each addition. Add the vanilla.

Add the sifted ingredients in two batches and with the mixer on low speed, beat after each addition just until the flour disappears. Do not over mix.

The dough will be sticky. Divide the dough in half and with lightly floured hands, roll each half into a log (about 1 1/2″ wide and 15″ long) on one of the baking sheets with about a 3″ space in between. Bake until lightly firm and shiny about 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool about 10 minutes.

Place one log on a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, carefully cut the log into 1/2″ thick slices. Lay the slices back on the baking sheet in a single layer. Slice the other log and lay these slices on the second sheet.

Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Turn each slice over and bake an additional 10 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool completely.
Anise Seed Variation
Add 1 teaspoon of anise seed to dry ingredients.
Cracked Pepper, Dried Cherry and Chocolate Chunk Variation
Add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper to dry ingredients. After the dry ingredients are incorporated into the creamed butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla, fold in 1 coarsely chopped bar of bittersweet chocolate (about 4 oz.) and 1 1/4 cups chopped, dried cherries.

Credit: Recipe for Cracked Pepper, Dried Cherry and Chocolate Chunk Biscotti courtesy of Gifts Cooks Love: Recipes for Giving by Diane Morgan and Sur La Table

Not Your Grandmother’s Chicken Soup!

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Kristen

This chicken soup looks sweet and innocent and well, like any other homemade chicken soup (see above photo) but…it’s not. Imagine your grandmother dabbling a bit with the goth look. Don’t be afraid: she’s still the sweet grandmother you know and love, but she’s wearing black boots, black nail polish and/or lots of black eyeliner! Ok, so this is chicken soup and looks like it, but there’s definitely something different and that’s what makes it so great. I’ve made chicken soup every way you can think of: boiling whole chickens, roasting the carcass and then boiling that – you name it, I’ve done it. Then why make this? Because it’s just different enough while still being chicken soup and it’s easy. And then you ask, what makes it so different? Cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon, and red pepper flakes. Oh, and the easy comes into play since you don’t have to strain anything. So, I found myself again last week looking at snow and warming up just thinking about that soup… Continue reading →

No Knead Bread

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Kristen

Last year has overlapped into the New Year and good things continue. This bread is both the perfect recipe and theme for my first post of the year: Simplicity. Over the years, my intensity level has come way down and I’m less focused on perfection and “getting it right”. From that perspective, not much can really go wrong! Who knew how much fun relaxing could be? The first time I made this bread, it was easy, delicious and gone in a few hours. YUM. I can’t believe how good it is. The last time (which was the second time) I made it I increased the salt a bit and well, *wow*. Before I knew what was happening, I’d cut both ends off and eaten them. There’s been a lot of internet activity about this bread phenomenon since 2006. Check this one out. So, make the bread, sit back, relax and enjoy. Happy New Year. Continue reading →

Pirate Kitchen

Culinary Adventures on the High Seas of Life

Walnut Cake

Walnut Cake

Wheat Berry Salad with Dried Cherries

Wheat Berry Salad with
Dried Cherries

Biscotti!Biscotti!

Biscotti (With 2 variations)

Not Your Grandmother’s Chicken Soup!

No Knead Bread