Monday, January 21, 2008

Rolled Cookies


This was the most distinctive feature of my childhood's holidays - rolled cookies, made with my grandmother's recipe. Later on, the cooking marmalade, so necessary for the filling, disappeared from the stores, and that was the end of it. We tried substitutes, like dried apricots with walnuts, but this just was not the same.
However, I do not live in San Francisco for nothing. Thanks to the local specialty stores and farmers markets, I have been able to come up not with one, but with three different substitute options. In Parkside Farmers Market I found dark and gooey bricks of baking dates, and bright-orange sheets of pressed apricots. In Los Gatos Gourmet I've got a brick of quince paste - hard, sweet, and just a little bit tart.

Ingredients (for 32+ cookies):
3,5 oz butter or margarine, melted
4 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
4 tablespoons sour cream
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (mix it into 2nd cup of flour)

For the filling:
baking dates, or pressed apricot sheets, or quince paste

Method:

Mix butter and sugar, add eggs and sour cream. Mix well. Gradually add flour. The dough is going to be very hard, so it is better to empty your mixing bowl onto a large cutting board. Knead the dough for a while, form it into a ball. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Divide the dough ball into 4 parts. Pull out your large cutting board, or just use a table or a counter. Using a rolling pin, roll each part into a round. With a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut each round into 8 wedges. I usually roll out each wedge a little bit, to make it thinner. If the wedges' outer ends look rugged, cut off the rugged part - you can use the leftover dough for extra cookies.

Here comes the filling. Basically, you would need stripes of whatever you use - baking dates, or pressed apricot sheets, or quince paste. Put the filling on the wide end of every wedge. Press lightly into dough. Roll wedges from wide to narrow, as you would do with Rugelach cookies.

Arrange cookies on a baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden. The smell would tell you that the cookies are ready!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Torta di Miele


We were having Italian-themed dinner with friends, and I was set on trying out a recipe from the book I was reading, True Tuscan by Cesare Casella. The author is quick to point out that “Tuscans have never been into sweets the way the other Italians are”. Still, he had to come up with some desserts for the book, because, seriously, how can you have a dessert-less cookbook? So, he claims that the recipes he uses are “both new, yet completely rooted in [Tuscany] traditions”.
My choice was Torta di Miele, honey cake. I was drawn to it by the combination of honey, walnuts, and figs.

Ingredients:

12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
¾ cup honey
2 eggs
1 ½ cups flour
1 cup dried diced figs
½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Method:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour a 10- by 3½-inch loaf pan.
Using mixer, cream together butter, sugar and honey.
Add eggs, one at a time, and continue beating until they are incorporated.
Add the flour and mix until it is just combined, stopping occasionally to scrap down the sides of the bowl. Fold in dried figs and walnuts. Pour the butter into prepared pan and bake for 40 or 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
You can serve this loaf warm, or let it cool. To store any leftover cake, cover with plastic wrap and keep at room temperature.

Verdict:

I had to bake it for two hours straight, and the edges were slightly burned. But overall, it was a good thing: very sweet and nutty, and even better on the second day. I am not sure that toasting the walnuts was that necessary: I love the taste of them raw.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Moussaka... well, almost


We were dining with out-of-town friends at the Pride of Mediterranean on Fillmore Street. This evening, the restaurant happened to be out of grilled haloumi cheese, which I wanted to try, so I ordered moussaka instead. It was delicious, soft and flavorful. The eggplant was heavenly, and the onion was crunchy and soft at the same time, and it complemented the texture so well. I was so excited, that I didn't even realize how quickly my plate became empty.

How complicated this can be? - I asked myself, when I got home. Well. First of all, it turned out that the real moussaka is made with meat, specifically with lamb. But there was no lamb this evening, I was pretty sure. I googled the vegetarian moussaka recipes. No luck. Lentils? Tofu? Bechamel sauce? There was none of this. In fact, I did remember only two ingredients: eggplant, and onion. Maybe there was some tomato paste, too.

So, time to experiment! Using this recipe from Epicurious as a starting point, I turned on the oven and pulled out the vegetable drawer.

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant (I don't think Japanese eggplant would work)
1 large red bell pepper
1 medium yellow sweet onion
2 tablespoons of tomato liquid from the can of Trader Joe's "Whole Tomatoes No Salt Added"
2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil + some sprayed olive oil

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut the eggplant, onion and pepper into wedges, 1 x 1,5 - 2 inches. Spray the large and deep baking pan with olive oil. Arrange vegetables on the baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 40 minutes. I stirred once during this time, but I don't think it was that necessary.
After 40 minutes, take the pan out and pour the tomato liquid over the vegetables. Mix everything and return to the oven. Roast for another 20-25 minutes.

Verdict:

The result had different texture from the restaurant dish. But the taste, the flavors were very close, and this recipe is definitely a keeper. And it is simple, too. No spices, no salt - it tasted great just like that.

Still, something tells me there is much more in the Pride of Mediterranean's moussaka. Next time, I would definitely ask.