VEGAN GERMAN APPLE CAKE

    I am always baking up something and I always bring whatever I make to work for Erik to consume. Erik is one of my favorite types of people, a human food vacuum. Whatever you give Erik he will eat (except meat), which is great because nothing I make, especially baked goods,   goes to waste. Erik is super duper tall and slim, so I don't even feel bad about making him fat because he can eat ridiculous amounts of food and never seems to gain a pound. Its perfect. 

    His gorgeous wife Carrie is a vegan, so she doesn't get to enjoy a lot of my baked goods, so I made this Vegan German Apple Cake with her in mind, hoping that it would make it home to her without Erik sucking it down. It did and she enjoyed it very much. 

   I got this recipe from the Joy of Vegan Baking, which is actually in Erik and Carrie's possession so I had to have Erik scan the recipe and email it to me. Its is the easiest cake to make, super light, a perfect dessert with some ice cream and really great for breakfast with some hot coffee.

The Other Brooklyn

     I am from Queens, (let this be clear) but when my grandparents came here from Sicily, they first settled in Brooklyn, in Bushwick to be exact. And Rocco went to Bushwick High School when it wasn't cool to live in Bushwick. Very not cool. I remember this awesome orange Bushwick HS Reunion T Shirt he used to have. Beacon's Closet would pay big bucks for that one these days.

    Back in the day there was a funny phrase that distinguished two different areas of Brooklyn. If you lived in the northern area, where Knickerbocker Avenue is, where a lot of Italian immigrants lived, you lived in "Brooklyn." Then there was, "The Other Brooklyn," way over in the South part of the borough, which referred to Italian neighborhoods like Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge. Nonna still says, "He lives in l'altro Brukulino." On the other hand, if you lived in Bensonhurst, you considered that to be "Brooklyn" and you called Bushwick, "The Other Brooklyn." Its all a matter of one's perspective.

    Like when I was a kid on the block in Queens I had a friend named Jen. I called her "Jennifer Down the Block," to distinguish her from myself who was "Jennifer Up the Block." When I called her "Jennifer Down the Block" one day she said, "No, you are Jennifer Down the Block!"

We  still have not resolved that one.

CARROT CUPCAKES

     I made some sweets for my sweet. Carrot cupcakes from Eats Well With Other, who adapted it from Smitten Kitchen. I topped them with regular cream cheese frosting with some fresh lemon zest instead of Maple Cream Cheese. I also didn't have enough apple sauce so I replaced it with olive oil. Yes, olive oil. And they were as moist and delicious as can be.  Next time I will use fresh grated ginger and some orange or lemon zest in the batter to freshen them up. 

    I also wanted to make some cute carrot designs but wanted to avoid Yellow No. 5, which as a kid after eating cheetos and grape soda made my throat close up and I broke out into hives, so I experimented with a few colorful things from my pantry and garden. 

   For orange, I used a combination or saffron, turmeric and cinnamon. And for the green stems, I used mint leaves. I ground everything up in a mortar. The colors were a lot more natural in a nice way. They also had subtle spice hints, which were a fun surprise.

Pasta with Leeks, Pine Nuts and Toasted Bread Crumbs

    I don't come up with new ideas for dishes often, but when I do and its a hit I like to break down the brainstorming process. Hunger and craving are steps 1 and 2. I'd been dreaming about Nonna's specialty dish, pasta with sardines, which is topped with delicious browned bread crumbs. But, the CSA packs my fridge with veggies, not sardines and I had a bunch of leeks. I went on my google reader and came across a post titled, "Leek Pasta: who loves ya baby?" Pasta with Leeks. (On a side note: No wonder why Gourmet magazine went out of business. Food bloggers are in mourning but we are to blame. Who needs Gourmet when there is a wealth of glorious free food porn and recipes!?)

    Leek Pasta equals genius, but Judith's recipe calls for heavy cream and cheese and frankly dairy and myself are lover's at war and I am a sad loser. Picture me running longingly toward a bowl of fresh whipped cream. I am mouthing, "I love you! Let's be together again." Just as I am about to take that sweet cream into my loving and forgiving embrace it smacks me in the face then punches me in the gut, double time. Its so wrong, so I am trying to walk away quietly. 

    Then there it was leeks and bread crumbs, some toasted pine nuts and pasta and it was delicious and dairy-free! I don't need you after all, cream!

    I sauteed some shallots and garlic with peperoncino in lard (substitute butter or olive oil here). With lard, if you got it flaunt it, right? I cut the leeks into little rings (after soaking them in water; they are dirty!) and sauteed them. Salt and pepper. I got everything nice and caramelized then added some pine nuts and toasted them. In a separate pan, I browned some bread crumbs in olive oil or butter while the pasta was boiling. I only had angel hair but I would recommend spaghetti. After draining the pasta, I coated it in a little olive oil, added the leeks on top and the toasted bread crumbs on top of that. Some pecorino romano or parmesan cheese would be delicious to finish this off. There I go again, taking that dairy back. Some parsley would be nice, too. 

    So fresh and so vegan minus the lard! But, dairy-free is all that matters to me.

CAULIFLOWER CASHEW ANISE SOUP

    I am not really a cook book person. I have this thing about having too many books, so I usually either take my cook books out of the library and make photo copies of recipes or when I need a quick recipe I look in Grandma's tin, online or I just freestyle it. A little onion and garlic is the start of something special every time.

    I got Padma Lakshmi's Tangy Tart Hot and Sweet cook book from a Secret Santa one year (Thank You Dasha!) and I didn't open it for a while, but when I did, it was like an entire new world of Indian flavors opening up to me. Now I am no longer scared to sautee cumin seeds, make chutneys and grate ginger into everything. 

   A while back I made this excellent Sauteed Cauliflower with Anise and Cashews from the cook book. Cashews for the record are not my favorite nut, but with a little heat and spice they come alive. And now its soup season and Cauliflower Soup is an all time favorite, so I experimented with adapting this recipe for pureed soup. I am very satisfied with it. The smooth cauliflower texture combined with the crunchy ground cashews is remarkable on the taste buds. 

  Try it. Its such simple revamp for Cauliflower Soup.

Original Recipe from Padma Lakshmi's Tangy Tart Hot and Sweet:

Sauteed Cauliflower with Anise and Cashews

2 to 3 TBSP canola oil

1 tsp anise seed

3 or 4 long dry chilies

1 C diced shallots

1 1/2 TBSP minced ginger

2 1/4 lb Cauliflower broken into small florets

1/2 tsp salt

1 C cashews

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. When it is hot, add the anise seeds and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Roughly break up the chilies, add them to the anise seeds and stir. After 5 minutes, add the shallots, ginger, and cauliflower. Add 1/2 C. of water and salt and stir. Cook for 10 minutes.

3. Stir in the cashews and cook for an additional 10 minutes or so uncovered, until all the moisture is gone, stirring occasionally. The cauliflower will reduce greatly in size and should have some charred brown bits at the edges. The cashews should also be toasted brown. SERVES 4-6

Cauliflower Cashew and Anise Soup 

    I wanted to get the flavor of the browned cauliflower and cashews so I basically followed the recipe exactly with a few modifications before I turned it into soup. I used olive oil obviously instead of canola oil and I used peperoncino instead of the hot chilies. I also added some ground nutmeg for fun. I followed the recipe then added enough water to cover the cauliflower plus a vegetable bouillon. I diced up a red potato, skin on, and added that for thickness and depth. I simmered it for about 15 minutes, then I pureed it with the hand blender. What a tool! I served it with fresh cilantro which really took it to another level flavor wise.

LAMB TAKEDOWN

The Lamb Takedown was on Sunday. I love any type of competition, anytime, anywhere, but I was kind of tired on Sunday. I wanted to just sit at home and do nothing. But I had already paid $15 for my ticket and there were goody bags. I love goody bags second to competitions so I headed to the Highline Ballroom on Manhattan's West Side and I am happy I went.

They gave out awesome "I Love Lamb" fake tattoos!
There were 20 competitors, chefs who were given 15 lbs of lamb meat from the American Lamb Board (thanks y'all) and they created delicious bite sized lamb dishes. There would be 2 first prize winners, one judged by "the experts" and another judged by the audience. Host Matt Timms was so hilarious. He kept everyone amped on lamb the whole day.
For $15 bucks I ate a whole lot of lamb. Three giant plates to be exact. It was so worth it. Stand outs to me were the sexy lamb stew, the lamb tacos and the vietnamese lamb sandwiches. Don't ask me who? what? or when?

After a while everything started to kind of meld into one lamb taste, but not in a bad way. There were so many different dishes I just couldn't keep track. For a more thorough analysis visit Underground Dining. Yvonne kept really good track of everything and took great photos. I was just like, "Lamb? Where? More lamb? Yay!"

This chef topped his lamb dish off with a fig and some yummy creamy sweet sauce.

This chef made the sexy lamb stew I liked and said something about lamb being a major aphrodisiac. Whatever takes you there.

Visit THE TAKEDOWN to see who won.

Naturally Risen

    Tonight is the Pizzalicious Meet-Up in the BK boro and I am super duper honored to be invited. If Anthony's was still open, that is Una Pizza Napoletana, the best pizza place to ever have existed in the entire universe, I would have stomped my foot like a big brat in order to convince the crew to have the Meet-Up there, but since its not I will just put this video up as an ode to that delicious heavenly pie that is no more but hopefully will someday be again. 

    Michael Evans, who is the most talented visionary and artist I have ever known, directed this video. He does an exceptional job of capturing the ebb and flow, the toil and the sheer love and obsession that went into making that delicious pizza I miss so much.

NATURALLY RISEN from michael evans on Vimeo.

And if you like this video and are in a giddy crazy mood, be sure to watch the Rocco video. Rocco need hits!

deutschen Nacht

     To kick-off Oktoberfest bestest and oldest friend Monica and I hosted German Night. Monica, who must legally change the spelling of her name to "Monika" because its way more authentic and Ks are cooler than Cs, raided her Oma's recipe book and her parent's house for beer steins, German music, a German board game and even a collectible Oktoberfest German Barbie! 

      So with German blood flowing through everyone's veins but mine (I really felt outnumbered) plus lots of German beer, we set out to group cook a delicious German feast. Ja!*

     I put out some radishes with salt, a typical snack served with beer during Oktoberfest. I also served some bleu cheese with honey (not German but I couldn't find German cheese) and really dark rye bread.

     Tim made an appearance in my head and prepared some some of the most delicious Kartoffelpuffer (Potato Pancakes) I've ever had. Some potato pancake pointers: drain them really well over a strainer or a cheese cloth and wear onion goggles because it can get brutal grating them. Tim was crying like a baby. Then to kick him while he was down, Monika asked him to open a bottle of Riesling, because he has wine opening skills. All of a sudden the the cork pushed into the bottle and sprayed him in his already irritated eyes. (It wasn't Tim's fault though, I have a bottle opener that should be recalled). He was a trooper and still fried those delicious pancakes up to perfection and I would expect nothing less than excellent frying skills from Tim. We ate them with berry apple sauce and sour cream.

     For our main event, Monika prepared Omi's Huhner Goulasch (Grandma's Chicken Goulash - recipe to follow) made with cornish hens and lots of onions and paprika. Monika got brutal on the poor cornish hens. I turned my back for one second and she cut them in quarters like a true German butcher's daughter. Arnt taught her well. 

    There's Monika (above) working the knife and if you look in the background there is a vile blue bottle of germaphobe spray that she sprayed on everything that the raw chicken remotely came into contact with, even her own hands! I was like, "Noooooooooo, Mooooonika!" She even offered to spritz Tim in the eyes to soothe his onion/wine irritation. I think she gargles with the stuff in the morning. 

    As a side I made Rahmspinat (Creamed Spinach) with boiled eggs on top. Tim though it needed to be creamier so I just poured in more and more half and half and butter to taste. I also didn't make the cream sauce separately and it was a lot easier and still great.

   I thought it would be barbaric to eat some organs, so Monika fried up some chicken hearts in butter and shallots. It was the first time I ever ate a heart and it will not be my last. It tasted like yummy dark meat, my favorite kind. Thanks to that Julie and Julia book, I am not scared to eat any weird organ as long as its drowned in butter.

    For dessert, the challenge was Altwiener Apfelstrudel (Traditional Viennese Apple Strudel). Neither Monika nor myself had ever attempted this before. I was scared. I did some research and found out a few things. Phyllo dough is not a proper way to make the strudel dough. I set out to make it by scratch. I have never made dough before. Ever. It actually wasn't that hard. Some flour, water and salt. Knead and let it sit in a ball in "neutral" oil for an hour. I interpreted that as olive oil since thats the only kind I had and I secretly wanted to insert some Italianess into German night. 

   Strudel takes a long time so I made the dough in the morning and left it in the counter all day. When the dough is ready, brown bread crumbs in butter. I was super excited about this. I had no idea that strudel had buttery bread crumbs in it. Let that cool.

    Next peel and slice all those apples into tiny slices and let them sit in nutmeg, sugar and cinnamon while you prepare the dough. I used Gala Apples.

    To make the dough super thin the technique is to kind of keep lifting and pulling it at the ends until you have a 2X3 thin sheet of dough that you roll the strudel in. Transfer the dough to a floured towel, much like flipping a cake onto a plate. Then butter the dough up. (I got a my first pastry brush that day!) Spread the bread crumbs on that. Then the apples. Then the rolling and more buttering. I made slits on top even though the recipe did not call for that and somewhat regretted it because it was a little drier than I would have liked. Bake at 400 for 20 min then 350 for another 40 min. Let cool then sprinkle powdered sugar on it. 

   After I served all the Germans the strudel with fresh whipped cream on top, I sat quietly waiting for their reactions, hoping they'd like it. Germans aren't always the most exuberant of people, they weren't going to get up and do a polka over some strudel, but I think they liked it. German night was a sheer success. Next time, Jaegerschnitzel!    

Omi's Huhner Goulasch Ingredients: 4-5 onions chopped 1-2 tbsp. paprika 2 Cornish hens - cut up into 4 pieces each 4 tbsp. olive oil 3-4 boulien cubes 2 cups of water, enough to almost cover the chicken 2 peppers cut into chunks 1 package egg noodles Method: Cut up onions and saute with paprika, olive oil & boulien cubes. Once browned, put in Cornish hens. Add water and peppers. Let simmer for approx. 1/2 hour. At the same time boil noodles, drain and then add approx. 4 tbsp. sour cream. If sauce is not thick enough, add cornstarch with a little water.

*Disclaimer: I am using an online German to English translator for this post, so everything will probably be wrong