Apple Sharlotka

From Smitten Kitchen. This is the simplest cake ever...european tasting, probably because we aren't familiar with Russian food. Perfect for fall. Sometimes we add cinnamon. 

Butter or nonstick spray, for greasing pan
6 large, tart apples, such as Granny Smiths
3 large eggs
1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
Ground cinnamon, to finish
Powdered sugar, also to finish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Butter the paper and the sides of the pan. Peel, halve and core your apples, then chop them into medium-sized chunks. (I cut each half into four “strips” then sliced them fairly thinly — about 1/4-inch — in the other direction.) Pile the cut apples directly in the prepared pan. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, using an electric mixer or whisk, beat eggs with sugar until thick and ribbons form on the surface of the beaten eggs. Beat in vanilla, then stir in flour with a spoon until just combined. The batter will be very thick.

Pour over apples in pan, using a spoon or spatula to spread the batter so that it covers all exposed apples. (Updated to clarify: Spread the batter and press it down into the apple pile. The top of the batter should end up level with the top of the apples.) Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a tester comes out free of batter. Cool in pan for 10 minutes on rack, then flip out onto another rack, peel off the parchment paper, and flip it back onto a serving platter. Dust lightly with ground cinnamon.

Serve warm or cooled, dusted with powdered sugar. Alex’s family eats it plain, but imagine it would be delicious with a dollop of barely sweetened whipped or sour cream.

Honey Lime Enchiladas

This particular cut-and-paste is from 6 Sister's Stuff, but I got this recipe from Cindy Nordfelt at Whipple Park. I always heavily edit...evaporated milk instead of cream, whatever I want that is sweet instead of honey, ww tortillas...so basically it isn't the same at all...but anyway, sweet citrusy enchiladas.

INGREDIENTS

Marinade:
• 6 Tablespoons honey
• 5 Tablespoons lime juice
• 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Enchiladas:
• 1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded
• 1(16 ounce) can green enchilada sauce
• 8-10 flour tortillas
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Whisk together marinade ingredients and toss with shredded chicken in a Ziploc bag or airtight container.
2. Let chicken mixture marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, but preferably a few hours.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
4. Pour 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9X13-inch baking pan.
5. Fill the tortillas with chicken, saving marinade, and shredded cheese, reserving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas.
6. Placed rolled tortillas into prepared pan.
7. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with heavy cream and leftover marinade, if any, and pour on top of enchiladas.
8. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
9. Bake for 30 minutes, or until brown and crispy on top.

Lemon Custard Cake

I saw an instagram picture of this and had to make some. Peter helped. It hit the spot! Custard-y, cake-y, lemon-y...the whole family loved it but there just wasn't enough! Maybe next time I will experiment with a bigger batch. Or maybe we should eat less dessert.... In any case, you would need to double this for company.

• 3 eggs, seperated
• 1 cup sugar (we used 3/4 cup)
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Butter a 2-quart souffle dish. An 8x8 glass pan would work as well.
3. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Set aside.
4. In large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, egg yolks, lemon juice and zest.
5. Add milk and flour and mix until well combined.
6. Gently fold in beaten egg whites.
7. Pour batter into the buttered dish. Place the dish in a pan of water, with water coming up the sides of the souffle dish at least a ½ inch). Place inside the oven and bake until the cake is set, about 45-50 minutes (the very center will still be slightly jiggly, it will set up as it cools.)
8. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
9. This is delicious warm or cold. Store in refrigerator.

From 5BoysBaker

Mom's Fluffy Lemon Cheesecake

I've always loved fluffy cheesecake, which Mom used to make for RS functions & dinner parties. I have many memories of taking a half-eaten pan out of the fridge and shaving off several horizontal swaths to eat rather than the more obvious route of cutting myself a piece. As far as whole-food eating goes, this has a trifecta of 1980's processed ingredients (graham crackers, cream cheese, jello (although I used unflavored gelatin). But it does have the comfort/memory factor.

11 graham crackers (or 1.25 cups of crumbs)
1/4 c butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375. Use food processor to crush crackers into crumbs, add butter. Press into 9x13 pan and bake for 5-7 minutes. Place hot pan in refrigerator to cool.

1 envelope unflavored gelatin (2.5 teaspoons)
1/2 c boiling water
1/2 c fresh-squeezed lemon juice (two lemons)
8 oz cream cheese (1 brick)
1 c sugar (or a little less)
lemon zest from two lemons (or 3-4 strips of zest using a peeler)
1 can evaporated milk (very cold: put in freezer for 30 min or so)

Dissolve gelatin into the hot water. Add the lemon juice and then pour the lemon/gelatin mixture into the blender. Add cream cheese, sugar, and zest. Blend until smooth.

Add cold evaporated milk to a stand mixer with a wire beater (or use hand mixer). Beat until peaks form (usually 3-4 minutes). You can add a few teaspoons of lemon juice to make this stiffer. It should resemble whipped cream.

Gently fold the blender mixture into the whipped evaporated milk. Pour the combination onto cooled graham cracker crust and refrigerate for 2-3 hours (or as long as you need to).

Middle Eastern Chickpea Nachos

We LOVED this dinner (3 out of 4 kids). So fresh and different. It's from Smitten Kitchen (though with heavily simplified instructions because she always includes complicated alternatives).

It has four parts: toasted pita chips, spiced chickpeas, cucumber "relish", and yogurt sauce (I'm obviously not a food photographer...so sue me :-)

Serves 6 generously, if eaten nacho-style

For the chickpeas
4 15-ounce cans chickpeas (or prepare from dried)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon paprika or sumac
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
Few gratings fresh lemon zest
Salt to taste
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (she has different instructions for dry peas)

Heat oven to 375°F (190°C). In a large, heavy pot such as a Dutch oven, heat olive oil in the bottom of the pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook for 5 minutes, until they begin to soften. Add garlic and saute garlic and onions together for 3 to 4 minutes more, until everything is wilted. Add spices, zest and salt and cook with onions and garlic for one minute. 

Add drained soaked or canned chickpeas and broth. Bring mixture to a boil and boil for one full minute. Place a lid on the pot and transfer it carefully to the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes.

While the chickpeas bake:

Pita Chips 

6 or so store-bought pitas (we used whole wheat from Aldi)

Separate the layers of pitas and cut into wedges. Arrange on a large baking sheet and brush lightly with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake alongside chickpeas for 10 to 15 minutes, tossing occasionally to ensure that they toast evenly. Let cool.

Cucumber Relish/Salad

Chop a handful of whatever decent-looking tomatoes you can find in March, and 1 large or a few smaller cucumbers into very small pieces.  Mix vegetables and dress to taste with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Lemon Sauce:

Whisk in the juice of a whole lemon, 1 minced garlic clove and 4 tablespoons water until smooth. Whisk in 1 cup plain yogurt, about 1/4 at a time, until smooth. Season with salt. Adjust all levels to taste. 

Serve and let everyone assemble: Start with a handful of pita chips, heap on the baked chickpeas, dollop on the yogurt sauce, tomato-cucumber “relish” salad.

Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns

This is obviously cut an pasted straight from King Arthur Flour, except I used 2.5 cups of whole wheat flour and 1 tablespoon of vital wheat gluten. I let it mix with the dough hook in the kitchen aid for a minute or two, then added white flour by the quarter cup until the right dough consistency was reached (it ended up being about 3/4 cup). These are SO YUMMY.

1. 3/4 to 1 cup lukewarm water*
2. 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
3. 1 large egg
4. 3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (or white whole wheat + gluten + white, see above
5. 1/4 cup sugar (we used less)
6. 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
7. 1 tablespoon instant yeast
8. 3 tablespoons butter (to brush top at the end)
9. 
   
10. Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a soft, smooth dough.
11. Cover the dough, and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours, or until it's nearly doubled in bulk.
12. Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 8 pieces (or 12 for smaller buns) Shape each piece into a round ball; flatten to about 3" across. Place the buns on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for about an hour, until noticeably puffy.
13. Brush the buns with about half of the melted butter. 
14. Bake the buns in a preheated 375°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden (12-15 for smaller buns). Remove them from the oven, and brush with the remaining melted butter. This will give the buns a satiny, buttery crust. 
15. Cool the buns on a rack.
16. Yield: 8 large buns.

Tomato Soup

Very simple recipe that comes from who-knows-where. We usually make whole wheat french bread to go with it.

1 T canola oil or butter

1/2-1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans diced tomatoes

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup whole milk, evaporated milk, or cream

Heat oil or butter in a medium pot or saucepan over medium-high heat and sauté onion until soft (4 or 5 minutes). Add minced garlic and stir until fragrant (15 seconds or so). Add tomatoes and broth, bringing mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for at least 20 minutes. Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender (or allow to cool a little more and puree in regular blender). Stir in milk or cream. Salt and pepper to taste.

*We've also done this with both dried and fresh basil (the former added with the tomatoes, the latter during the final few pulses of the puree)