Leek Fritters à la Ottolenghi

Are you getting bored with my posts about new cookbooks? Be honest and let me know in comments if you are. But for today, I hope not, 'cause I have yet another one. And it's a doozy.

The other day I noticed I had run out of Nielson Massey vanilla extract and this gave me the perfect excuse to visit the Williams Sonoma store in the mall. Cross my heart, that was all I was going to buy, not that I didn't walk through the entire store, per usual, but vanilla was supposed to be extent of my purchases. Then I got waylaid by this adorable bunny kitchen towel.

Who could resist? It makes me smile. Besides, it will be the extent of my Easter decorations this year 'cause my grand kids won't be here and it's not worth dragging the Easter box out of storage just for me. Then I found the most adorable bunny dishes AND bumble bee dishes with matching tumblers. 

So cute. But I sure don't need them, so they were admired and easily resisted. (Really, WS is NOT paying me for this post!) I paid for my two items and started to walk out. And there it was. In a basket near the door. A cookbook called PLENTY by  Yotam Ottolenghi.

Let's face it. I'm a sucker when it comes to cookbooks like this one. Would you look at that cover? I already have Ottolenghi: The Cookbook and love it, so I thought I'd really like this one. Usually, when I want a new cookbook it goes on my Amazon wish list OR I buy it used when available. But not this time. I turned around, bought it on the spot, and then went to the nearest chair in the mall and sat down to look at it. Me and all the old men holding their wives' purses. Honestly. I'm pathetic.

So...it's all veggies. Don't you love it? And oh... the photos! Not glamorously posed, but naturally. A real treat to see. I couldn't wait to tell you about it. And show you a few, right from the book (BTW: that's my writing, not theirs):

(I seem to have gotten carried away with stuffed things! LOL) 

So are you drooling? What to try first? A dilemma. And then I came across leek fritters. They reminded me a little of Faith's veggie fritter recipe we all loved around here and still make over and over. But these were so much better, if not as quick to make. Rather more like a pancake. It will be well worth the effort, I promise. I can't begin to describe the flavor. The spices are perfect, not too strong, exactly right.

So here it is:  Yotam Ottolenghi's Leek Fritters with a lovely yogurt/cilantro sauce....delicious.

Leek Fritters

From Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

Ingredients for the sauce:

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 cup sour cream

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup parsley leaves, chopped

2 cups cilantro leaves, chopped

Ingredients for the fritters:

3 leeks (1 pound total, trimmed weight)

5 shallots, finely chopped

2/3 cup olive oil

1 fresh red chili, seeded and sliced

1/2 cup parsley, leaves and fine stalks, finely chopped

3/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg white

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon self rising flour (see bench note)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 egg

2/3 cup milk

4 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Bench notes: 

• To make self-rising flour if you don't have any at hand: mix 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 and 1/4 teaspoons baking powder and a pinch of salt.
• This was much like making pancakes. You wait until the bubbles appear on top, then flip.

Method for sauce:

Process all the ingredients together until a uniform green. Set aside.

Method for fritters:

Cut the leeks into scant 1 inch thick slices. Rinse clean and drain dry. Saute the leeks and shallots in half the oil for about 15 minutes until soft. Transfer to a bowl and add the chili, parsley, spices, sugar and salt. Allow to cool.

Whisk the egg white to soft peaks and fold into the vegetables.

In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, whole egg, milk and butter to form  a batter.
Gently mix the batter into the egg white/vegetable mixture.

Add a couple tablespoons of oil to a pan over medium heat. Spoon about half the vegetable mixture into the pan, making about 4 large fritters. Fry them 2 to 3 minutes on each side until golden brown and crisp. Remove to paper towels and keep warm. Continue making the fritters adding more oil if needed.
You should end up with eight large fritters. Serve warm with the sauce on the side or drizzled over.

Blackberry and Tomato Crumble

My Michigan family was visiting recently and my sweet DIL mailed me a "thank you" cookbook after they returned. Angie's an excellent cook and she loves looking through my cookbooks. I bet she looked to see if I had this one....I didn't and was really thrilled to get it.

As you can see, it's Avec Eric  and the only way I can describe it is to say it's a cookbook/travelogue/scrapbook. With LOTS of photos of Eric. But that's OK with me; laid back and handsome Eric Ripert is a favorite of mine and his restaurant, Le Bernardin in NYC, is  as near perfect as you can get. I've eaten there and can state that unequivocably. As one reviewer stated:  "it is a high church of reverently prepared fish."

What I found unusual about this cookbook was the way the chapters were labeled. Not according to food groups as one expects, but location. Eric has this to say in his introduction: ".....you really have to get out of the city and visit the source to appreciate what it takes to cultivate and produce the food that ends up in our markets.....you have to walk the fields, talk to the farmer, see the animals and taste everything in its purest form."

So Eric takes us with him on his travels....to California, to Italy, to the Cayman Islands...where he finds inspiration for his restaurant, his home and hopefully, for us. The directions are not fussy, the recipes easily within the reach of everyone and they include wine pairings and notes. It was a pleasure to read.

Because spring is already here (Hopefully summer can't be far behind!) I chose this recipe first because just looking at it made me think of summer. It was in a chapter entitled Star Ingredients, which I certainly think these are. I like savory/sweet desserts and everyone loves fruit for dessert. The syrup for the tomatoes and blackberries made me close my eyes and go mmmmmm....such flavor! The cookbook had a scoop of ice cream or sorbet on top and I just happened to have some vanilla bean sorbet in the freezer. It was the perfect touch.

Blackberry and Tomato Crumble
From Avec Eric by Eric Ripert

Crumble Ingredients:
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold, diced
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
pinch of fine sea salt


Fruit Ingredients:
1 pint small grape tomatoes
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
3 tarragon sprigs
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 pint fresh blackberries
lemon zest strips and tarragon leaves for garnish
Sorbet for garnish, optional


Crumble Method:
Stir all the ingredients in a large bowl until it forms a pebble-like consistancy. Cover and chill for one hour.
Preheat oven to 325 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Spread the crumble mixture on the parchment paper and bake for 10 - 15 minutes until golden brown. Cool.

Fruit Method:
Bring a pot of water to the boil, drop the tomatoes in for 20-30 seconds. Remove to ice water and peel the skin.

Combine the sugar and water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add the basil, tarragon, lemon zest and juice and the seeds from the vanilla pod. I tossed the pod in as well for good measure. Cover and allow to infuse until cool. Strain the mixture.

Rinse and dry the blackberries. Place the tomatoes and blackberries in the syrup. Chill for at least 1 hour. Drain, but reserve the syrup.

Arrange the fruit in 4 bowls and top each with a spoonful of the syrup, along with 3 or 4 tablespoons of the crumble. Garnish with lemon strips and tarragon and top with a small scoop of ice cream or sorbet.

Mango Upside Down Cake with Basil Ice Cream

For those of you not familiar with South Florida restaurants, let me introduce you to Michael's Genuine. It opened in 2007 down in the old Design district in Miami, on 40th St. (A while back, I wrote a brief history of this unique area HERE. ) Michael's is a contemporary American bistro run by Michael Schwartz, a Philadelphia native who launched the pioneering South Beach restaurant Nemo in 1994 and refers to his newest restaurant as “a chef’s interpretation of a great neighborhood place.” Michael was also named as Best Chef South at the James Beard Awards in 2010. Read more about Michael HERE.

Michael's new cookbook is hot off the presses and I was practically first in line!

The recipes are familiar if you've eaten at his restaurant and very doable for the home cook. I've made two so far and can't wait to try some of the rest.  Here's the first: a mango upside down cake that is unexpectedly light because the egg whites are beaten separately and folded into the batter.
You'll find that basil, an extremely aromatic herb with a scent of pepper, anise and mint, makes a delightful ice cream. The taste is sweet with a hint of savory  and is a marvelous accompaniment to the cake. The caramel top studded with mangoes makes a lovely presentation.  
I hope you enjoy Michael's recipe!


Mango Upside Down Cake with Basil Ice Cream
From Michael's Genuine Food by Michael Schwartz

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

3/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar

Two 1 pound mangoes (most mangoes are about that weight), peeled, pitted and cut into 1/2 inch slices

1  1/2 cups all purpose flour

3 tablespoons cornmeal

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup plus1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 large eggs, separated

2/3 cup buttermilk

Basil Ice Cream (recipe follows)

Method:

Put a 10 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat and melt the butter. Then add the brown sugar and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture looks like caramel, about 5 minutes. I didn't leave the stove (and I stirred more than occasionally) as things like this tend to burn quickly. 

Swirl the pan around so the caramel covers the bottom. Remove from heat and arrange the mango slices in a neat circle, overlapping the slices, remembering this will be presented as the top of the cake. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Place the butter in an electric mixer and beat. Gradually add 1 cup of sugar and beat until light, about 4 or 5 minutes. Add one egg yolk at a time and then the vanilla.

Add half the dry ingredients. Then add the buttermilk, beat until mixed, followed by the rest of the dry ingredients. 

Beat the 4 egg whites until frothy, add 1 tablespoon sugar and beat until stiff peaks.

Add a bit of the whites to the batter to lighten it, then add the rest and fold in. It's OK if there are still some white streaks. 

Pour batter over the caramel and mangoes and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Allow to stand for 5 minutes. Then loosen the sides with a knife, place a large cake plate over the cake and flip it upside down. Cool before serving with basil ice cream.

Bench Note:

I didn't use a cast iron pan. I melted the brown sugar in a saucepan and then heated a glass pie plate in the oven and when the caramel was done, I poured it into the hot pie plate and spread it around.

Basil Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

8 large egg yolks

pinch of salt

Method:

In a food processor, combine basil and sugar until finely ground. It should end up looking like pesto.

Combine the cream, milk and basil sugar in a large pan. Scrape out the seeds in the vanilla bean, add them to cream and then add the vanilla bean pod. Simmer gently  until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Do not allow to boil.

In a bowl, whisk the yolks until light and thick. Temper the yolks with a little of the hot cream, then add everything to the pan and whisk until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Do not allow to boil.

Pour custard through a fine seive and then cool over ice cubes. (I just let it cool in the pan, then poured it into a bowl and placed in the fridge overnight.)

Churn in your ice cream maker according to directions.

Creamed Tomatoes on Toast

When I was a kid, we went home for lunch. No school lunches back then. We lived in a little town called Algonac in Michigan. Dad drove us to school in the morning and again after lunch but we walked home, weather permitting of course. It was about a mile. I've often thought since: my poor mother. The entire family (including my dad) came home for lunch. She had to plan three meals a day. And she fussed, too. It wasn't just a bunch of pb and j's on the table. We had hot lunches....and some kind of fruit or pudding. I always remember stewed prunes being served with mac and cheese. Who knows why that one particular lunch stayed in my mind?

So here I am, with just me to worry about, still looking around for innovative luncheon ideas. We tend to get repetitive, don't we? Probably the time element. I even wrote a post about it a while back. But every once in a while, a friend may be coming over, or I feel like rewarding myself and I really want something special. What to make that's fast and delicious??  In the summer when tomatoes are at their best, my favorite company go-to sandwich is a tomato sandwich à la Ina Garten. I like her dressed up version. But for speed (and just for me) I take those lovely, garden-fresh red tomatoes, add some butter lettuce, real mayo and plunk it on some fresh country bread. Heaven, for sure.

Unfortunately, it's officially still winter so I'll save those two sandwiches for summer. Even when we can get lovely tomatoes this time of year, they just don't taste the same as the ones you get in the summer at the farmer's markets. Then I ran across this super recipe in Simon Hopkinson's book, Roast Chicken and Other Stories. I really love this cookbook. Last August it was listed in the top 10 cookbooks by the London Observer.  I've started reading it again, wondering how I missed this gem of a recipe the first time around. 

This dish is simple with tons of flavor. You don't have to have perfect summer tomatoes, either. I love the garlic in the cream. (And watch it, it boils over in a flash.) I used the full 1 1/2 cups of cream called for. Way too much. It was still good, but 1 cup would have been better. As it turns out, I didn't use plum tomatoes either, but bought the nicest tomatoes I could find. The dish was every bit as good as I expected. Lovely on a chilly or rainy Saturday.

Creamed Tomatoes on Toast
From Simon Hopkinson's Roast Chicken and Other Stories

Ingredients:

8 ounces heavy cream (the original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
6 ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise and cored
Salt and pepper
12 basil or mint leaves, torn into pieces (I used basil)
4 slices of French country bread, grilled or toasted and brushed with a little olive oil

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Simmer the cream with the garlic and reduce by one-third. Put the tomatoes, cut-side uppermost, in an ovenproof dish and season them with salt and pepper. Strain the cream into a bowl and stir in the basil or mint. Lightly season and pour over the tomatoes.

Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cream is reduced and is thick and the tops of the tomatoes are slightly blistered. Meanwhile, have ready the toast on 2 plates and spoon a few tomatoes onto each slice. Spoon some residual cream over the top. Serves 2.

Paper Lemon Cookies

My sister Sharon is, and always has been, crazy for lemon desserts. Aside from lemon meringue pies (our mother and grandmother were absolutely the best pie makers ever) and lemon angel pies, she also loved our Aunt Mar's lemon cookies. Crisp, buttery and lemony, Sharon and I attempted to replicate them, but had no success......we both finally came to the conclusion she left an ingredient out of the recipe when she passed it on.

Our Aunt Mar (who was my father's mother's sister and lived across the street from us our entire childhood) had a serious relationship with lemon flavoring. It found its way into nearly all her desserts. Cookies, cakes, muffins and puddings. Didn't matter what, she added lemon flavoring. Not extract and never real lemons, mind you, but that old fashioned lemon flavoring. I'm not complaining, she was a fine home cook. She made everyone in our family (and probably the entire neighborhood) her famous sponge cake with 7 minute frosting for every birthday. Lemon flavoring in that cake too, along with vanilla. I make it to this day, but use lemon extract. (Can you even buy lemon flavoring any longer?) Aunt Mar's little house even smelled like lemon inside. 

Anyway, our Mother used to bake some meringues, fill them with her version of lemon curd and top them with whipped cream. I also recall something called Lemon Sunshine that consisted of lemons, gelatin, sugar, eggs with the whites beaten and added last. I have the recipe someplace. An airy lemon parfait, sort of.

My sister and I. (I'm the one with skinned knees.)

So recently when Kim from My Kentucky Home posted a recipe for Lemon Meringue Muffins, you better believe I copied it and emailed it to my sister in Michigan immediately.  She's probably made them already. I'll make them for company the end of the month.

As is the way, just because I seem to be thinking lemon everything right now,  I was reading through one of Marion Cunningham's cookbooks and came across this delight: Lemon Paper Cookies. I couldn't resist. Thought I'd try them first before I sent the recipe on to my sister. She's really going to like them and her sewing group will want the recipe for sure. They turned out delicate, lacy AND lemony. Perfect with tea or coffee for an afternoon treat.

Bench notes: The recipe suggested cutting them less than 1/4 thick. I found that next to impossible so settled on 1/4 thick and they turned out perfectly. 
Also, 2 hours in the refrigerator was not enough. It's a very fragile dough. I ended up putting it in the freezer for a bit and then cut my slices quickly with a very sharp, thin knife. Otherwise they tend to break into pieces. But never fear, you can push them together and they still turn out beautifully.


Joyce's Paper Lemon Cookies
From The Supper Book by Marion Cunningham

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons grated lemon rind

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 cups allm purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Optional: raw sugar for sprinkling on top (I did not use)

Method:

Cream the butter and sugar. Add then vanilla, zest and lemon juice. Beat until smooth.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter/sugar mixture and mix well.

Turn out on a piece of waxed paper and form the dough into a cylinder about 12 inches long 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap tightly and refrigerate 2 hours, or freeze until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350. Don't grease the cookie sheets. (I used parchment paper)

Cut 1/4 inch slices with a sharp knife and place about 3 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Place unused dough back into the refrigerator. Bake 7-8 minutes, watching carefully the last couple minutes. They should be lightly golden. Allow to cool slightly on the baking sheet, then remove to racks to finish cooling.

Nina Simonds' Scallion Pancakes

I've been hearing about scallion pancakes for ages, have enjoyed them countless times, read a while back about them on Dorie Greenspan's blog and have always wanted to make them at home. But this is one of those recipes I kept putting off as I knew it would take an entire afternoon after reading Dorie's comment about patience.

When I think of Chinese cooking, breads don't usually come to mind. But of course, they do make breads...for one, think of steamed pork buns.....and another, these scallion pancakes. They are a unique flatbread in that they are pan-fried, but made from a dough that's kneaded and shaped rather than  poured. You don't use a wok, you use a non-stick skillet for frying. 

Beause I have a copy of A Spoonful of Ginger, I went to the original recipe and finally spent a rainy afternoon making them. If you're going to give them a try (and oh so worth it) read through the recipe carefully; it's not that they're hard, they're not. Easy as pie actually, using simple ingredients you probably have in your kitchen right now. It's just there's a lot of resting between steps and you want to allow time. And once you have your little patties, you can refrigerate or freeze them for future use.

Flaky Scallion Pancakes
From A Spoonful of Ginger by Nina Simonds

Ingredients:

3 cups cake flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons corn oil

1 3/4 cups boiling water

1/4 cup or more all-purpose flour, if necessary, for kneading

1/4 cup toasted sesame oil

3/4 cup minced scallion greens

3/4 cup canola or corn oil

Method:

Stir the flours and salt in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.  Add the corn oil and the boiling water, and stir until a rough dough forms.  If the dough is too soft, knead in about 1/4 cup more flour.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, or until smooth, kneading in more all-purpose flour as necessary.  Cover with a cloth or wrap in plastic and let rest for 30 minutes, or longer if possible.

On a very lightly floured work surface, roll the dough into a long snakelike roll about 1 inch in diameter.  Cut the roll into 24 pieces.  Keep the unused dough covered with a damp towel as you work.

With a rolling pin, roll out one piece of dough, cut side down on the work surface, into a 5-inch circle.  Brush the top with a little sesame oil and sprinkle with some of the minced scallion greens.

Roll up the circle like a jelly roll and pinch the ends to seal.  Flatten the roll slightly with the rolling pin, and coil it into a snail shape, with the seam on the inside.  Pinch the end to secure it and set aside on a lightly floured surface.  Prepare the remaining pancakes, and let them rest for 30 minutes uncovered.

Reflour the work surface and roll each coiled pancake out to a 4-inch circle.  Place them on a lightly floured tray.  Let them rest for 30 minutes uncovered, or longer if possible.  Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

Heat a large, heavy skillet, add the oil, and heat to 350 degrees F.  Put a few of the pancakes in the pan, not touching, and fry over medium heat, turning once, until golden brown and crisp on both sides, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove with a spatula and drain briefly in a colander, then transfer to absorbent paper.  Arrange the cooked pancakes on a cookie sheet and keep them warm in the oven while you fry the remaining pancakes, reheating the oil between batches.  Serve immediately or keep warm in the oven.

Makes 24 pancakes.

Serve with dipping sauce of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil:

General Dipping Sauce for Japanese Gyoza, Scallion Pancakes (or just about anything)

Ingredients:
2 parts soy sauce

1 part rice wine vinegar

½ part sesame oil or chili sesame oil

1 part sugar (optional)

Method:

Combine ingredients and serve. 

Jack Bishop's Savoy Cabbage

It's always fun to keep you posted about new cookbooks from time to time, but here's one cookbook that isn't new, has no photos to drool over, hasn't gotten a lot of attention in the press and isn't going to win any awards. It should though. It's just about the most complete and knowledgeable book on veggies I've seen. Vegetables Every Day. A virtual encyclopedia of vegetables. Everyone should have a copy in their kitchen library. You'll love it- the author doesn't miss a trick, or a vegetable. The basics. You name it, it's in there. Along with some really excellent recipes.

Jack Bishop is the editorial director of America's Test Kitchen. He joined the staff of Cook's Magazine in 1988 and helped with the launch of Cook's Illustrated in 1993. He established the tasting protocols used in America's Test Kitchen and has authored dozens of articles for the magazine and is a prolific book author.

I've had the cookbook for quite a while, bookmarked lots of recipes and have been trying one after another. I posted one of his recipes quite a while back- crispy fried artichoke hearts. Fabulous. But labor-intensive, as all artichoke dishes are because everyone wants to get to the lovely center. The recipe is HERE. 

Always keeping Bishop's book in mind when I'm in the vegetable section, I spied a gorgeous head of savoy cabbage at Whole Foods, grabbed it, took out Bishop's book for inspiration and made this wonderful side dish.

Savoy Cabbage with Pancetta and Onions
From Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop

Ingredients:

1 head Savoy cabbage (about 2 1/2 pounds)
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 medium onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Bring 4 quarts of water to boil in a large pot. Remove any tough or damaged outer leaves of the cabbage. Quarter the cabbage through the stem end and cut out the core in each quarter. Slice the cabbage crosswise into thin strips. You should have 12 cups. Add the cabbage and salt to taste to the boiling water and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and set the cabbage aside.

Heat the oil, pancetta and onions in a large Dutch oven or casserole over medium heat. Cook until the pancetta is crisp and the onion begins to brown, about 6 minutes. Stir in the cabbage and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted and browned, about 12 minutes. (Make certain to brown the cabbage well. It's fine if it starts to stick to the bottom of the pan a bit. When the stock is added, it will deglaze the pan.) 

Add the stock and bring the liquid to a boil. Cook just until the liquid in the pot evaporates, 3-5 minutes. Add salt and pepper and serve immediately. Serves 6 as a side dish.

Zimtsterne: Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies.....Week 7

(I bet that Week 7 made you gasp!)

There's no point in telling you these cookies were simple to make. They weren't. But they ARE a true European Christmas cookie; interesting, frustrating,  unusual and yes, tasted wonderful, but will I make them again? Well....maybe. And compared with some of the other photos I found online of these, all I can say is: I had a bad baking AND camera day. Oh well, I'm going to post this anyway. They were worth the trouble.

First of all, Breakfast, Lunch, Tea, The Many Meals of Rose Bakery is a gem of a cookbook.

 

And that's where I found this recipe...they called it Almond, Cinnamon and Meringue Biscuits. But what they really are is Zimtsterne, or erstesternen ("first stars"), a reference to the heavenly signs indicating the end of a fast day. They are traditionally served by German Jews at the meal following Yom Kippur. You can read more about them here, here and here. European bakeries make them only during the holidays, rather like my mother's favorite Christmas cookie, Springerle. And they are usually made in star shape. I made them round. For one thing, I didn't have a small star cookie cutter and for another working those star points with that dough and meringue was beyond me. Perhaps with practice.....

This is what David Lebovitz says about them (and he doesn't make his own, he buys them):

"There’s just something about these chewy little stars, spiced with lots of cinnamon, then brushed with a glaze of royal icing that provides just the right bit of creamy sweetness in contrast to the chewy cookie below."

So here's the thing. The dough is difficult to work with and I made two different batches, correcting the original recipe a little to make it slightly easier to work with. Still....not the easiest cookie dough to roll out. But as I said, after the first bite, it was worth the effort!


Bench note: many recipes call for 1/2 cup candied citrus peel which I omitted 'cause I just don't like it.


Zimtsterne
Adapted from Breakfast Lunch Tea, The Many Meals of Rose Bakery
 

 Ingredients:
3 1/3 cups ground almonds (I used almond flour)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
juice of 1/2 lemon and grated zest of 1 lemon
4 egg whites
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Method:
First, make the meringue. Beat the whites until they form stiff peaks. Then very gradually add the sugar. When the mixture is very stiff, beat in the lemon juice. Set aside 6 ounces of the meringue for the topping, covering with a damp cloth. Place the rest in a bowl.

Add the ground almonds, cinnamon and lemon zest and mix by hand. Mix until you have a dough-like paste. If it is too sticky to handle, add more ground almonds, by the tablespoon, until it is manageable. If the dough crumbles or falls apart, add a few drops of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of the reserved egg whites. When the dough has reached the proper consistency refrigerate for one hour.

Butter a baking tray and line it with parchment paper.

Then dust a pastry board lightly with granulated sugar. Shape the dough into a flat round and dust the surface lightly with sugar. Roll the dough out into a rectangle 3/8 inch thick. Add more sugar on the board as necessary.

Cut into desired shapes and place on the baking tray.

Remove the cloth from the reserved egg whites. Use a metal spatula to smooth an even coating of the meringue over the entire surface of your cookie, just enough to cover it completely with white. To smooth the surface further, dip the spatula in hot water and run it across the glaze.

Leave to dry on the prepared tray for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake the biscuits for about 10 minutes until the bases are lightly golden. The tops should remain white and the bases must be soft and moist. And BTW? Keeping the tops from  browning is another tricky part!

Pear Amaretto Crumble Cake and the Giveaway Winner!

We're back and we had a wonderful time! I'll do a post soon on the trip.
I find out tomorrow about the wrist. Keep your fingers crossed for me....I am sick and tired of this cast!
Will be visiting all of you ASAP.

******************************************************************************

I hate to say this in print, but September is nearly upon us. Good grief. And in September I am hosting a coffee and meeting for 40 women which means gracing my table with muffins and sweet breads. I'm getting really bored with my old standbys so have been searching for some new and unusual recipes. And did I ever hit the jackpot with my new Ottolenghi cookbook. What a gem!

I found two to use, but the Pear and Amaretto Crumble Cake was my first experiment. Doesn't that sound wonderful? I made two small cakes with the recipe and gave some to two of my most trusted critics...they'll be totally honest.

This crumble cake is moist, has the most marvelous flavor and is filled with lovely sweet fresh pear chunks. Comfort food. Fabulous with tea or coffee. And I got enthusiastic seconds from my friends. So that's #1. I still have one more to try in this book and then I think I will also serve financiers. And maybe some really delightful creamy lemon bars for those serious sweet lovers.  Do you think perhaps I should add some healthy fruit?

Pear and Amaretto Crumble Cake
Ottolenghi, The Cookbook

Ingredients for the cake:
melted butter and fine bread crumbs for the baking pans
1/2 apple, peeled and diced
1 pear, peeled and diced
1/4 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur
1- 3/4 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon cloves
generous 1/4 cup almond flour
3 eggs
2/3 cup sunflower oil
1- 1/4 scant cups sugar
1/3 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for the crumble:1 1/3 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
7 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

Method for the cake:
Preheat oven to 340°.

Grease two small loaf pans and then sprinkle with fine bread crumbs


Mix the apple, pear, walnuts, lemon zest and Amaretto. Set aside.


Sift together the dry ingredients, including the almond flour.Separate two eggs and mix the two yolks with the whole third egg. Beat the sugar and sunflower oil for about a minute. Add the 2 yolks and the whole egg. Add the dry ingredients, followed by the fruit mixture. Stop the machine as soon as everything is incorporated.


Beat the eggs whites with the salt until stiff peaks form. Fold into the batter carefully. Divide into the two loaf pans and top with the crumble. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.


Method for the crumble:
Mix the flour, sugar and butter together in a bowl only until the butter is incorporated. If you beat it too long, it will turn into dough. 

Last but not least, The End of Summer Giveaway Winner: The lucky winner is: Sam from  My Carolina Kitchen. Congratulations, Sam! Please email your mailing information to bsmithw@gmail.com so I can get your delicious fruit jams in the mail today!