apple coffee cake

We made apple coffee cake with some of the apples we picked last weekend and it’s delish! An old friend taught me this recipe and it’s a big hit every time I make it. 

For the cake: 

1 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c sugar

1 T. cinnamon

5 1/2 T unsalted butter, room temp

1 egg, beaten

1/2 c milk

2 apples, peeled and sliced

For the crumb top: (mix in separate bowl)  

3/4 c flour

3/4 c brown sugar

1 tsp salt

4 T unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 c oats

1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease parchment paper and place in baking dish

2. sift flour, baking powder and salt

3. mix 1/4 c sugar w cinnamon and set aside in separate bowl

4. In separate bowl, mix 1/4 c sugar w butter

5. Beat in egg and add flour mixture and milk slowly

6. Spread half batter on parchment

7. l;ayer the apples and sprinkle with 1/2 the cinnamon sugar

8. Add rest of batter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar

9. Cover with crumb top

10. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes

11. Reduce heat to 350 and bake another 25 minutes

Submitted by cookiequest

WOW this DOES sound delish! Thanks for the recipe. I still have lots of apples, even after all my pie baking. Will definitely make this cake. YUM

Apples?

Hi - we went apple picking this past weekend but we didn’t pick greenings. The orchard had cortland, empire, fuji and gala. Of course they are all mixed up now and we don’t know which is which. Can you bake apple brown Betty with apples other than greenings? If so, what changes?

Submitted by Gillyf (Gillian@redfive.com)

Yes, of course you can use almost any kind of apples, except, I would say, Red Delicious, which are truly flavorless and in any event, don’t bake well. It might be a good idea to use a variety of apples, that would give it a nice flavor. The apples you picked are a bit sweeter than Greenings, so, if you like sweet desserts I would say don’t change anything about the recipe. But you could also cut down the brown sugar by a tablespoon or two.

IN addition, different apples soften (or not) differently, so the texture of these, when cooked, may be firmer than Greenings. No matter. Granny Smiths stay firm too and the dessert is still wonderful.

Guess what I am saying is that this is a very forgiving recipe, as is apple pie. Use whatever you have, try different apples each time and you’ll taste the difference as well as feel the different texture, but it will all still be delicious.

My Father's Favorite Apple Brown Betty

I bought so many Rhode Island Greening apples from a local farm (42 pounds — the last of their supply for the season) that this year I’m going to use them not only for my usual 12 pies (which I make, bake and freeze in order to have one pie each month until next year rolls around) but for some other goodies too.

I love the smell of apples baking. It’s a nurturing aroma that makes me feel warm and safe even as the days get darker sooner and there’s a chill in the air outside.

I need 36 pounds for the pies, so, what else?

Apple Brown Betty, of course! I just read that today is National Apple Brown Betty Day

http://bit.ly/cZfWbY.

Apple Brown Betty was my Dad’s favorite dessert and my mother had several different recipes for it. None better (or easier) than this one:

Apple Brown Betty

• 1/2 cup butter

• 5-6 pie apples (such as Rhode Island Greenings, Granny Smith)

• half a lemon

• 4 cups diced homestyle white bread

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

• pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Melt the butter and set it aside. Peel, core and cut the apples into bite size pieces, placing them in a baking dish (1-1/2 quart). Squeeze the lemon juice over the apples and toss the fruit to coat it with the juice. Place the bread, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl and toss to distribute the ingredients evenly. Pour in the butter and toss ingredients again to coat the bread with the butter. Arrange the buttered bread mixture over the apples. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is browned and crispy. Let cool slightly but serve warm.

Makes 6 servings

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Kugel Cookoff

I am going to be a judge at a Kugel Cookoff! Well, that’s good and bad news. Good because kugel, or good, old fashioned noodle pudding, is so fine. Bad because if this is anything like the cheesecake contest I once judged, or the apple pie contest, local baking contest — etc., etc. — I am going to consume MILLIONS of calories!!

It’s not so easy to work off those MILLION calories when you reach “that certain age.”

But, I am actually looking forward to this. First I am going to talk a little about kugel. People think of it as a Jewish specialty but it’s really just noodles with eggs and maybe cheese or vegetables, and it could be sweet and creamy or chewy and salty. The whole thing is baked until the middle is set and the top is crispy.

Lots of people from lots of ethnic groups eat it but don’t call it kugel. When my kids were little I often boiled egg noodles, mixed it with eggs and carrots or green beans or broccoli or mushrooms and grated cheese. I found it was one of the more efficient ways of getting my daughters to eat more vegetables. I never called it kugel, but that’s what it was. It was a more than once weekly dish at our house.

I don’t know what to expect at the contest. But here’s the information: the event is sponsored by the Stamford, CT. JCC at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday October 10, 2010. The entrants will bring their kugels, whch have been cooked elsewhere, to the JCC. The judges will then taste each one and make judgments about taste, ease of preparation, appearance and originality.

So, everyone who shows up at the event gets to eat lots of kugel. And guess what? After the feast there’s going to be a Kugel Workout! at the JCC fitness center.

How do you work off a MILLION calories??

Another bonus is that recipes will be provided and anyone who makes a kugel the next week can bring it to the JCC on October 17th. All the new homemade kugels will be donated to local homeless shelters.

For more information, call 203-322-7900.

Old Fashioned Stuffed Cabbage

For me, Stuffed Cabbage is like hot dogs, blooming onions and caramel corn. Foods I love to eat but don’t, except for once a year because once I take that first bite I over indulge and stuff myself and then feel awful the next day.

Right now is Stuffed Cabbage time.

I never actually tasted stuffed cabbage until after I was married. It was something the women in my husband Ed’s family would cook. My grandmother made Stuffed Grape Leaves, which are similar, but the leaves are tangier and her sauce more sour than the typical one for Stuffed Cabbage.

Over the years I tried to develop a recipe that Ed would like and later, would appeal to my sons-in-law, who like the dish sweeter than I was used to. This year I got it right, according to everyone in the extended family, and that’s saying a lot because we are an opinionated bunch.

Here’s the recipe:

Stuffed Cabbage

• 1 large head of green cabbage
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 medium onion, grated
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup raw white rice
• 2 tablespoons matzo meal or plain bread crumbs
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 12-ounce bottle chili sauce
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bring a large pot half filled with water to a boil. Cut out the hard center cabbage core. Remove the large cabbage leaves. Place the cabbage leaves plus the smaller remaining cabbage in the boiling water. Cook the cabbage leaves for about 3 minutes, or until they wilt. Cook the remaining cabbage core for 3-5 more minutes, or until you can easily remove the leaves. Cut off the hard stem portions from the large leaves so that they can be rolled easily. Set the leaves aside.

ALTERNATELY: if you plan ahead you can freeze the entire head of cabbage for 24 hours (or more). Thaw the cabbage and the leaves will already be wilted and you can avoid cooking them.

In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, grated onion, egg, rice, matzo meal and salt and pepper to taste. Place a mound of this mixture in the center of each leaf (more on the larger leaves of course). Enclose the meat by wrapping the cabbage leaves, envelope style. Place the stuffed cabbage leaves, seam side down, in deep baking dishes. (I separate the large rolls and smaller ones.)

Heat the vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes or until softened. Stir in the brown sugar, chili sauce, lemon juice and raisins and cook for 3-4 minutes. Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls. Cover the pan. Bake for 2 hours (or, to cook ahead, bake for one hour, freeze, thaw and bake for an additional hour).

Makes 18-24

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

Whenever I make macaroni and cheese, the sauce breaks.  Even though it tastes good, it looks curdled.  What am I doing wrong?

Submitted by bubby (leslie@sussmail.com):

Hi Bubby. Sorry you are having a problem with macaroni and cheese. It seems as if it is always the plainest foods that cause problems. Here are some pointers that might help:

1: evaporated milk and UNSWEETENED condensed milk (most of the condensed milk we see in the supermarket is sweetened) have stabilizers added, so it helps keep the sauce ingredients together.

2: same goes for American cheese; adding a bit of American cheese to the mix can stabilize the sauce too.

3: or use whole milk (rather than skim) because fat serves as a stabilizer.

4: use young cheeses such as asiago, non-aged cheddar, havarti, muenster, non-aged gouda, and so on. These have more water content than aged, older, drier cheeses and melt more easily, keeping the mixture stable.

5: shred or grate the cheese so that it melts more easily when you add it to the hot white sauce. Only add a little at a time and mix it in thoroughly before adding more. If you add cheese all at once there’s more of a tendency for the sauce to separate.

6: Although most people use cheddar, it’s better to use another cheese (or cheeses) in addition because cheddar alone can be grainy.

I hope this helps. Let me know!

Bulgur Wheat Mujadarah

Has anyone else noticed that people may or may not eat a particular food depending on what it’s called?

I know there’s a lot written about this but I saw it for myself yesterday, when I had a party at my house and served buffet style. One of the dishes was Mujadarah (there are lots of ways to spell this Middle Eastern dish). Everyone seemed taken by its name and helped themselves to some, which was terrific because it turned out to be one of the favorites of the day and people came back for seconds and more and there wasn’t a morsel left for today. :(

Only a couple of people asked what it was and when I explained it is made with bulgur wheat and lentils they hesitated.

Just say Mujadarah and people will eat it. It is a special dish. Not only delicious, but easy to make and you can cook it a day or so ahead of a party. It is also a vegetarian dish that is fabulously nutritious (high protein and fiber).

I once read that Mujadarah is the dish that the biblical Esau found so tempting that he sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowlful. Recipes for this so-called “Esau’s Pottage” abound. Some of them contain meat or meat stock or vegetables. My recipe is fairly plain and simple. I make the onions at least one day ahead because the thick, rich juices leech out of the caramelized onions after a few hours and I pour these into the cooked bulgur and lentils for extra flavor. 

Make extra. This stuff goes (at least when you call it by its proper name).

Mujadarah

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 3 large yellow onions, peeled and sliced

• 3/4 cup lentils

• 3 cups water or stock

• 1 cup bulgur wheat

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• salt to taste

Heat 4 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions  and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes or until the onions are soft and brown. Spoon the onions into a container and cover the container. Refrigerate when cool if not serving the dish immediately. Place the lentils in a saucepan and cover with the water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat, cover the pan and cook for 18 minutes. Add the bulgur wheat, stir, cover the pan and cook for another 5 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Let rest in the covered pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a bowl. Stir in the remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil. Add the parsley and toss the ingredients. Add the cumin and salt to taste. If serving immediately, stir in the onions with any accumulated juices. If serving at a later time, stir in the onions and juices, cover the pan and reheat in a covered baking dish in a preheated 350 degree oven.

Makes 4 servings

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Carrot Salad a winning "experiment" for company

When I have company everyone sort of gravitates to the kitchen. I have a nice size kitchen, so it’s okay, but yesterday, when nearly all of my 40+ adults and several kids were gathered around the center island, where I had laid out a buffet of food, no one was actually eating, I asked one of my son-in-law’s friends to be the first to DIG IN and fill up a plate for himself.

He said he was more than willing to get the ball rolling.

I love when people are in my kitchen yakking, having a glass of wine or beer and looking at the food. But after cooking all that stuff I really really wanted them to start eating it!

So Joel get a plate full and believe it or not, then everyone else followed.

There was lots of food but the biggest hits were the challah (recipe on my website: www.ronniefein.com) — I made two enormous 4-1/2 pound breads. And also the Grand Finale Cookies (recipe in my book Hip Kosher but I added extra chocolate chips per the many requests from my children).

The spinach pie (also in Hip Kosher) was a hit, in fact, my daughter Gillian’s dog, who will eat anything she can and tries to jump up on tables, chairs and what have you to get near anything edible, actually succeeded in reaching two large pieces of spinach pie and polished them off, so I guess she liked it too.

Another winner was this carrot salad, an “experiment” on my guests, even though my mother always told me never to try out new recipes for company.

Carrot Salad

2 pounds carrots, peeled and shredded or grated

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 large clove garlic, finely chopped

1-1/2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon harissa (or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper)

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

salt to taste

Place the shredded or grated carrots in a bowl. In another bowl, mix the cilantro, garlic, paprika, cumin, harissa and cinnamon. Stir to mix the ingredients and spoon over the carrots. Toss the carrots with the cilantro mixture. Pour in the olive oil and lemon juice and toss ingredients. Sprinkle with salt to taste. Let marinate for at least 2 hours. Best served at room temperature. Makes 8 servings

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Maple Glazed Chicken

If you need a good entree for Sukkot, or for any family dinner or even a good company dish, think chicken.

Chicken is like a basic black dress. You can dress it up or make it plain, season it with almost any herb or spice and cook it by almost any method. It’s a good main dish for family but also suitable for company. Eat it cold. Eat it hot. We’d miss a lot if we didn’t cook chicken.

Here’s an easy chicken dish that’s perfect now as the weather gets cooler and we turn to fall foods. It’s a little sweet (maple syrup and orange peel), but also has a little heat (mustard and crushed dried red pepper). This dish doesn’t take long to prepare and it is easy to transport so it’s great if you’re bringing food to a sukkah or just planning an end of season picnic. Or having a meal at your kitchen table. You can make it ahead up to the actual cooking or cook it completely ahead if you want to eat the dish at room temperature.

Maple Glazed Chicken

• 4 large bone-in chicken breast halves or whole legs (or one quartered chicken)
• 6 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange peel
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (flakes)
• salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Rinse and dry the chicken pieces and place them in a baking dish, leaving space between each piece. In a small bowl, combine the maple syrup. Dijon mustard, olive oil, orange peel and red pepper flakes. Stir well, then spoon the mixture over the chicken. Turn the chicken to coat all sides with the glaze. Sprinkle with salt if desired. Place chicken skin side down. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn chicken skin side up. Cook for another 15 minutes, basting occasionally. Raise heat to 450 degrees F and cook for another 10 minutes or until browned on top and cooked through. Serve with the pan juices.

Makes 4 servings

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Cranberry-Maple-Cashew Pie

In the Jewish world, this is holiday season. The new year has begun. We’ve been repentant (hopefully!) and now it’s almost time for Sukkot, when we remember the 40 year period that the ancient Hebrews wandered in the desert after the Exodus. Sukkot is a most joyous holiday that comes after the introspective and solemn Days of Awe.

It’s like the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas only instead of putting up and decorating a tree, we build a sukkah in our backyard (or a smaller, representational one in our apartments). You can eat and sleep in a sukkah. It’s like camping out.

My family never built a sukkah when I was a girl. The closest I ever came to camping out was one night when my cousin Leslie and I were allowed to sleep under a bridge table set up in her kitchen. My aunt Beck threw a chenille bedspread over the table to enclose us. We didn’t have sleeping bags and the floor was hard. We lasted about 2 hours and then went to bed. But we still talk about it years and years later.

Of course, like most Jewish holidays, Sukkot brings with it some really terrific food. It’s a harvest holiday as well as one of remembrance, so it’s time to cook with the fresh fruits and vegetables of the season — like pumpkins, winter squash, nuts, cranberries, apples and so on — and prepare dishes that are warm, colorful and comforting as the cold weather approaches. Pumpkin soup. Baked Cranberry Stuffed Squash. Sauteed Eggplant with Yogurt and Pine Nuts (there’s a recipe in my book, Hip Kosher), Apple Crisp. Hazelnut Cake.

If you want to eat in a sukkah, it also has to be food that’s easily transportable and not too messy: pieces of chicken, stuffed peppers, Carrot and Parsnip “Fries” and Couscous with Dried Cranberries and Toasted Almonds (both of the last two recipes also in Hip Kosher).

One of my favorite Sukkot desserts is Cranberry-Maple-Cashew Pie. It’s a riff on Pecan Pie, but my daughter Gillian is fiercely allergic to pecans, so I made this one up as a replacement. Here’s the EASY EASY recipe:

Cranberry-Maple-Cashew Pie

• 1 cup maple syrup

• 1/3 cup light corn syrup

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 3 large eggs

• 3 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup halved cashew nuts

• 1 cup fresh cranberries

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the maple syrup, corn syrup, sugar, eggs and melted butter and blend the ingredients thoroughly using a whisk. Stir in the flour, salt, nuts and cranberries. Blend thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and crusty.

Makes one 9-inch pie

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