Baking Bender and Crumb Cake

Recently, I've been on a baking bender. I've made peach shortbread, apple shortbread, biscuits, banana bread, chocolate chip cookies, pound cake, loaves of bread and crumb cake. My husband and I have been countering the onslaught of calories with extra trips to the gym, and I've been adding additional miles and hills to my runs. I'm experiencing an odd combination of muscle soreness, dehydration, burgeoning love handles and rapid mood swings. I'll feel great for about an hour after I've consumed a cup of coffee, a slice of pound cake and a cookie for breakfast. It's hard to get back to that original morning high as I spend the rest of the day looking for cheap scores of Hershey miniatures and chocolate kisses. I plan on rehabbing for a bit and working on recipes for soups and stews.

The highlight of the baked goods bender was my crumb cake. If you ever had a thing for Entenmann's crumb cake, you are going to love this recipe. The best crumb cakes are equal parts crumb to cake. The ratio on this cake actually favors the crumb. It's not quite a one-to-three (cake to crumb) ratio, but it's tipping the scales in that direction.

I adapted this recipe from Cook's Illustrated. It's straightforward. If you need to buy an 8" x 8" baking pan, do it. You'll definitely make this cake again. Also it's a good pan to have. Lots of recipes call for this size specifically, including cornbread, brownies, blondies and granola bars.

Crumb Cake

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Line an 8" x 8" pan with tinfoil. You'll need two sheets of foil, cut to fit the bottom and sides allowing about 2 inches to hang off the edges.

Crumb Topping
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and warm
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cups dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup cake flour

Stir sugars, butter, salt and cinnamon until it forms a paste, then add flour until it forms a cohesive ball. Set aside

Cake
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoon unsalted butter softened
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
Powdered sugar for dusting

Whisk the dry ingredients together. With hand mixer on medium add butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Then add buttermilk and eggs, keeping mixer on until fully incorporated.

Spray baking dish with non-stick spray and spread batter out evenly. The batter is very thick and it won't want to spread, but be patient and work it to the corners gently. It'll happen.

Start taking pieces of the crumb ball and form little boulders of deliciousness. They don't need to be perfectly smooth but they should be about the size of marbles. As you make them start laying them on top of the batter. You'll want to cover the entire surface. At the end you'll be adding these little boulders on top of each other, not in a full second layer, but pretty close.

Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Remove and let rest for 30 minutes. Use tinfoil sling to remove from pan, and let sit for another hour on a wire rack. Then dust heavily with powdered sugar.

Don't serve sick people sick food (and Stuffed Peppers)

When I was 12 my grandfather had a stroke. He spent eight weeks at a rehabilitation hospital 45 miles from our house. My mom was there every day, my dad on the weekends, and my brothers and I were there most days after school. We loved our Grandpa. He was gentle and kind, and we hated seeing him sick. My Dad called him "Pop." They were close. My Dad had lost both his parents when he was in his twenties. They logged many hours together working in our yard -- chopping wood, trimming hedges, clearing brush, planting trees and maintaining our expansive vegetable garden. My brothers and I would chip in too. Afterwards my Dad on occasion would take us to the local watering hole. My brothers and I would sip cherry cokes and play Pac-Man at the one video game in the corner of the bar, while my Dad and Grandpa grabbed a beer.

Visits to the hospital were rough. There were so many patients, like my Grandpa, in recovery but in terrible pain. Scott, the guy in the room next to my Grandpa, had spent the better part of a year in a coma after being hit by a truck and dragged for a mile. He was 18 years old. When we were not around he kept my Grandpa company. He was in a wheel chair and his body was shrunken from months in bed. His parents were there every day and like Scott they were warm and thoughtful. I can only imagine how they must have felt the day their son finally opened his eyes.

It was a long drive back home so we spent evenings having dinner in the hospital cafeteria. You would assume it would be bad. Institutional food can be disgusting, but not at this hospital -- it was delicious. They weren't breaking new ground but the food was flavorful, warm and familiar. They served typical American fare: stuffed peppers, roast chicken, meatloaf, pot pies, open-faced sandwiches, vegetable medleys and fruit pies and crisps. All of it fresh, not that Sysco nonsense. In "Carla Hall" speak, this food was made with love. Eating and talking about the roast chicken or strawberry rhubarb pie was a pleasant distraction and needed reprieve.

Fast-forward 20 years: When I had my son Simon, I was in the hospital for 5 days. On day 3 my husband told the nurses to stop bringing the food, not that I ate it the days before but the smell of it in our room was making us ill. It was a very nice hospital in a nice area, so why where they serving me such slop? Am I in prison? Did I do something wrong? I thought I just had a baby. Each morning they would bring in a tray of watery eggs served over a greasy slab of ham with a side of pale fruit and a half-frozen English muffin. I have a vivid memory of my husband lifting the cover off the tray and saying "Oh man," pause, "Yuck," as if he saw a squashed bug on the floor.

It's a terrible thing to serve patients bad food. Don't patients and their families have enough to deal with? Let's try not to make them more sad and sick with bad food. You think the road to recovery includes cups of green jell-o with chunks of canned fruit? I'm not a doctor, but I'm also not an idiot. Consuming godawful food can't be good for you. This needs to be national movement. Let's get Michelle Obama and Alice Waters on board. It's even more important than trying to get overweight but otherwise healthy Americans to eat less and seasonally.

As I discussed the topic with my husband we came up with a few catchy slogans for the movement:

"Don't make people more sick and sad with your disgusting food, assholes"

"Stop serving bad food because it's making everyone vomit"

"Stop making sick food for sick people"

I like the first one best. I'll be making t-shirts so if you want one, send me an email or post a comment.

I'm not going to attempt to solve this problem in this post. I am going to complain, call for a movement, and share a recipe that is great to make at home and would translate well if made and served at a hospital cafeteria.

Stuffed Peppers

3 cups cooked white rice
1 lb ground beef (chicken, turkey or lamb works too)
4 cups medium dice of onions, carrots, and red pepper. Use whatever combination you want, or whatever you've got in your refrigerator
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, strained
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flake
2/3 cup cubed (small) fontina cheese
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce (either homemade or a quality one from the supermarket)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
5 or 6 medium-sized green bell peppers, tops cut off, seeds and white membranes removed. Pick peppers that are the same size, and ones that have a flat bottom. They need to sit upright. (If you are one of those people who thinks green bell peppers are evil, then don't use them. Use red, yellow, orange, purple or whatever is your favorite.)

You don't need to do this in a dutch oven, but I did because I love my 6-quart Mario Batali dutch oven. You could also do this in a Pyrex dish or any other oven-safe pot, pan, or roasting dish. You want the peppers to fill the space completely. The peppers should be nestled in next to each other so that they don't topple while they bake.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

Coat bottom of dutch oven with a drizzle of olive oil and place peppers in dutch oven, cut side up. Season peppers with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes.

While peppers cook, saute your vegetables in olive oil (1 tablespoon). Cook until soft and lightly brown. It'll take 15 minutes. As they cook add salt, fennel seeds, oregano, paprika and red pepper flake. Once vegetables are cooked add in the beef. Break meat up with wooden spoon and let cook until there is no more pink.

In a large bowl combine cooked rice, beef and vegetables mixture, diced tomatoes and parsley. Mix with large spoon until everything is incorporated. Taste to see if it needs additional seasoning.

When peppers are done, fill them with the rice and beef mixture. Don't be shy, really pack them. When each one is filled, sprinkle with cubes of fontina and top with a ladle of tomato sauce. Place them back in the oven for 30 minutes.

Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

The Fabulous Host of My Very Own Cooking Show

So, it's finally happened! After years of mentally narrating my own every move in my little kitchen, I hosted my very own cooking show. And I think it went really well. I was poised, the audience was responsive, the recipes were smooth and complete and I effortlessly conducted demonstrations while cleverly producing finished products from the oven behind me on set. It was awesome.


Mind you, it wasn't televised and the audience was a my aunt's very captive garden club, but it sort of counts? Right? OK, so no, it's not a cooking "show" if there is no filming involved but it was fun and I think everybody had a good time. See, I was invited to give a cooking with herbs demonstration to the lovely Crofton Master Gardners' Club. And I did. And they are either the nicest group of people I have ever met or they confirmed for me once and for all what I have long suspected: I am charming, witty, skilled with a knife and just a plain old natural.

No? Well, I didn't accidentally curse or cut myself, and that's a victory I think. There have to be points for that. And Beth will attest that on my worst day I am WAY more charming that that smug Michael Chiarello. And I'm nowhere near as scary as that creepy Sandra Lee. OK, fine, I'm a different, less spine-tingling-ly-stepford kind of scary. Plus,I have a no-catch-phrase policy that I think gives me a (less annoying) edge over Rachel Ray. No, I don't like her. I get her appeal, but that is Beth that likes her, not me. Crap...that probably just got me black listed from having a show on Food Network for a few lifetimes. So, while my real television debut is probably a ways off (like, never) I'm pretty much ready should the opportunity knock. I mean, I already have my own chef's coat. That's half the battle, I think.


Here are the herby recipes I shared with my new fans. They are all really easy as I was afraid to attempt anything I couldn't finish in such a public forum. As I told my audience, in most cases, you can swap out an herb I have used for one that you prefer or have a plethora of on hand. But they're pretty good just as they are so this is a good place to start. Let me know what you think...it might be good for my ratings, even if they're only in my head.



Herbed Shrimp Cocktail with Bloody Mary Cocktail Sauce
An easy, interesting twist on the classic

Ingredients:
For shrimp:
2 lbs large (U-25) shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 large lemon, divided
about 12 - 18 whole peppercorns
salt & red pepper flake, to taste
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
Zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup fresh chopped herbs (I use 40% tarragon, 20% flat-leaf parsley & 40% chives)

Instructions:
In a steamer or stockpot, bring about 4 cups of water, seasoned with the juice of 1/2 the lemon, kosher salt & red pepper flake to taste and whole peppercorns to a gentle boil. Add shrimp to steamer basket or a fine mesh metal collander fitted to your pot and place over - NOT IN - simmering water. Cover and steam shrimp, uncovering only long enough to shake the the shrimp once or twice to allow for even cooking, until shrimp are just cooked. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Drizzle immediately with olive oil and toss to coat...shrimp should be coated, not sitting in oil. Add oil slowly...you can always add more, but it's tough to take it out! Immediately, while shrimp are still warm, add fresh herbs and the zest of 1/2 of that lemon. Toss completely to coat evenly with herbs. Salt lightly with kosher salt if you wish. Chill shrimp for at least 2 hours or overnight before serving with cocktail sauce (below).

For cocktail sauce:
1 1/2 c. ketchup
1/4 c. prepared horseradish
2 T. Wostershire sauce
1 - 2 T. Rose's Lime Juice (to your liking)
dash of Tabasco
fresh cracked black pepper (to taste)
2 T. vodka (optional)

Combine all ingredients and stir well. Chill at least 2 hours before serving with shrimp.



Grilled Skirt Steak with Not-particularly-authentic-but-entirely-delicious Chimichurri Sauce
Chimichurri is an Argentinian sauce similar in texture and method to a pesto. To me, it tastes like summer.

Ingredients:
2 - 3 lbs. beef skirt steak or hangar steak
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
kosher salt & fresh black pepper to taste

1 c. fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley leaves (heavy stems removed)
1 1/2 c. fresh cilantro leave (heavy stems removed)
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
zest of one large lemon
2 - 3 T. fresh lemon juice
1 or more cloves garlic
Red pepper flake, to taste
1 - 2 tsp. kosher salt, to taste
fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
1/4 - 1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil

For the Chimichurri Sauce, place the nine ingredients from parsley through black pepper in a food processor or blender. Pulse quickly a few times to get things started. As ingredients begin to shift, slowly drizzle in olive oil until you acheive the consistency of a thick pesto. Taste and correct seasoning to your liking. Chill at least an hour before serving with steak (as below), pork, or maybe even a hearty steak-like fish, like swordfish. If stored in an airtight container, this will easily keep for a week, perhaps longer.

For the skirt steak, cut the steak into grill-able lengths (6" - 8") and, in a glass baking dish, season liberally with red wine vinegar, salt & pepper. Chill, uncovered, until you are ready to light the grill. Then, take it out of the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature while the grill heats. Heat grill to the high end of medium-high (I dunno...I make it up as I go along, people). Place the skirt steak on the grill and turn down the heat a bit and grill for only about 3 - 5 minutes per side (turn it just once if you can) for medium rare. Remove from heat and allow to rest about 7 - 10 minutes before slicing into 1/2 strips. Serve with Chimichurri Sauce as above. Delicious.



Basil-Lemon Simple Syrup Three Ways
Use this simple syrup to make a granita, refreshing lemonade or as a base for a cocktail. This method is also lovely with mint. Try mixing different herb and citrus combinations!

4 c. water
2 c. turbinado sugar (aka Sugar in the Raw)
1 cup fresh whole basil leaves, divided
The zest (just the yellow part, not the pith) of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan and add the lemon zest (please note: you are going to want to remove the lemon zest from the syrup, so don't use your microplane this time. Using a sharp knife, slice 1" pieces of zest from lemon, taking care not to end up with the pithy white part of the rind). Gently bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Don't walk away from this...you do not want it boiling over onto your stove. Once sugar has dissolved completely, carefully transfer syrup to a stainless steel bowl sitting in an ice bath and add 1/2 cup of whole basil leaves to steep as syrup cools.

While syrup is cooling, place the remaining 1/2 cup of basil leaves in a blender with 1/2 cup lemon juice. Pulse to combine until the leaves are fully incorporated into lemon juice and the mixture is pourable. Feel free to use an extra squeeze of lemon or a few drops of water to get everything combined. Place a fine mesh seive over a compatibly sized bowl and pour pureed lemon-basil mixture through, pressing the solids left in the seive to release juices. Add the strained liquid to your cooled simple syrup.

To make a lemon-basil granita, perfect for accompanying fresh fruit as a dessert, pour the mixture carefully into a jelly roll pan (a flat, stainless pan with at least 1" sides) already placed safely in your freezer. Freeze for a minimum of 4-5 hours or overnight, scraping occasionally with a fork once freezing begins to create a flaky, "snowy" texture.

To make basil lemonade, fill a tall glass with ice and pour the cooled mixture to about 1/3 - 1/2 way up the glass, depending on desired sweetness and concentration of flavor. Fill the rest of the glass with sparkling water or club soda, stir gently and enjoy.

To make a perfect summer cocktail, pour 1 oz. simple syrup mixture into a cocktail shaker with 2 oz. of your favorite rum or vodka. Shake to combine and pour into an appropriate glass filled with ice. Top off with a splash (or more, to your liking) of club soda and enjoy.

Thanks to all of my new friends in Crofton for having me! I had a blast!

America's Test Kitchen and (Chocolate Chip Cookies)

First, let me be clear about the Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen empire: I love the magazine, the cookbooks, website and show. Recipes are precise, descriptions of techniques are detailed and include pictures and diagrams. My only problem is they are patronizing. The show leads with Christopher Kimball, the editor, talking about some all-American dish -- macaroni and cheese, roast beef, baked ziti, buttermilk biscuits, etc. He then proceeds to crap all over the way most home chefs make it. Kimball declares: "Whenever you taste baked ziti at your stupid pot lock dinners, it's almost always disgusting." Kimball sighs and continues, "Well, today we are going to show you fools how to make a baked ziti that's worth eating." I'm exaggerating, but only a little. (Here's how he actually describes the typical dish: "Overcooked ziti in a dull, grainy sauce topped with a rubbery mass of mozzarella.") My baked ziti could use some improvement but I think it's pretty tasty. "American's Test Kitchen" has never let me down. When they reinvent recipes the results are wonderful, but do they need to be such jerks?

Can you imagine a show about another regional cuisine that starts off by crapping on the way the average local cook prepares that very cuisine? Think how absurd it would be if Mario Batali had started off Molto Mario with a rant about how terrible the gnocchi was on his last visit to Italy. Of course, that could never happen because no Italian has ever made a bad meal, but let's pretend for a moment. I'm not disagreeing that American home chefs could use a little help, but don't break our spirit. If you want to attack someone, go after the real "bad guys," like Marie Callenders, Tysons, Stouffers, Lean Cuisine, etc. These companies are fooling everyday Americans into thinking that defrosting and reheating their food is simpler and healthier than roasting a whole chicken in your oven.

Listen up Kimball, ease up on us home chefs. We may have more to learn but that doesn't mean we aren't already making tasty food for our families and friends. Including baked ziti.

In honor of ATK's love of American food and hate of home chef's' execution, I'll be making a version of their chocolate chip cookies. I came to know this recipe from Mehan's Kitchen, which adapted it from an issue of Cook's Illustrated. These are truly the best chocolate chip cookies ever. Instead of using softened butter, this recipe uses brown butter. The cookie itself tastes like caramel.

What's more American then chocolate chip cookies? Well, I guess apple pie, that's first. Chocolate chip cookies are a very close second.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips (use whatever you like, dark, milk, semi-sweet)
3/4 cup chopped pecans, walnuts or whatever nut you like or skip this altogether

Preheat oven to 350.

Whisk flour and baking soda first in small bowl. Heat 10 tablespoons of butter in sauce pan. Stir constantly. Butter will bubble and then brown. You will start to see brown flecks when the browning starts and then it will take a few more moments.

Remove from heat and pour hot brown butter in a large bowl. Add the rest of the 4 tablespoons of butter, and stir until melted and slightly cooled. Then whisk in sugars, salt and vanilla. Once smooth add in eggs. Beat until the batter is shiny and looks like caramel. Then fold in flour in increments. Then add chocolate chips and nuts.

Line baking sheet with parchment and measure 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons portions for each cookie. Arrange 12 cookies on baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes.

Makes 24 cookies.