I found a very helpful technique that works with roasting any type of poultry

This year for Thanksgiving, I tried J. Kenji López-alt’s suggestion for cooking the turkey.  In years past, I’ve tried several techniques for cooking turkey.  I used aluminum foil to cover the breast for about 1/2 of the cooking time (results—just ok).  I used an America’s Test Kitchen suggestion for starting the cooking of the bird in the roasting rack/roasting pan upside down for the first half of cooking at 325° F, then carefully rotating the bird to finish breast side up for the rest of cooking (result—it does work, but it is awkward to rotate a hot bird in the middle of cooking).  The upside down start does accomplish a major benefit, it jump starts the cooking of the dark meat and protects the breast from overcooking.

The main problem for the traditional method of using a roasting pan and rack is the lack of circulating air (and heat) to the underside of the poultry, as the high walls of the roasting pan inhibit this air flow. So, Kenji’s ideas make logical sense.

He has you spatchcocking the turkey by removing the backbone with poultry shears, flipping the bird over and removing the wishbone, then breaking the keel bone by pressing down hard on it from the breast center.  Heat the oven to 450°F, remove the top 2 oven racks, and on the bottom rack, put a baking steel or baking stone on it.  Then, put some aromatics (onions, carrots, celery) in a foil lined half sheet pan.  Place the spatchcocked turkey on a wire rack that fits with the half sheet pan, and place it on the filled half sheet pan.  Put the sheet pan/wire rack/turkey on the baking stone and cook for about 75 minutes, or until the leg or thigh registers 165° and the breast is at least 150°.  The cooked aromatics are then added with any drippings to the stock being created with the neck, backbones, gizzards, celery, onions, carrots, thyme and bay leaves.

In theory, there are 4 advantages to using this method.

1. 1. Flat shape provides even cooking.  Spatchcocking presents a level surface and even though the legs/thighs are more exposed as they are on the edges of the pan rather than in the center, that’s ok because they need more cooking time or more exposure to heat.  The dark meat cooks faster also for being thinner and flatter than the breast.
   2. All the skin is on top.  This results in juicier meat and allows all the skin to get crisp.
   3. The thinner profile allows one to use much higher heat and a much shorter cooking time.  Instead of the spherical shape of the usual cooking of a turkey (which prevents cooking at a higher temperature with the concomitant risk of burning).
   4. Cutting out the backbone gives an important addition to the creation of the stock.

There is one aesthetic drawback (which I have already discarded for the past ten years), and that is that one does not have the presentation of the star of the show for your Thanksgiving guests.  Big deal!  For the purpose of making life much easier, I started cooking the Thanksgiving turkey on Wednesday about 10 years ago.

OK, so much for theory, how about results?  This year I spent a lot of money on a heritage cage free vegetarian fed fresh turkey.  For some reason, it was very very hard to cut out the backbone.  Also, the skin had a few remnants of black feathers which I needed to remove.  At 13.19 pounds, the leg ends stuck over the edge of the sheet pan wire rack after spatchcocking and flattening.  I did not use my baking stone in the oven, and I put a sheet of heavy foil on the bottom rack to catch any drippings.  After 70 minutes, the turkey registered done in the dark meat and overcooked in the breast.  The skin was beautiful and crisp all over the bird.  I removed the bird from the oven and let it rest for 1 hour.  I then started to break down the bird for carving.  I found undercooking with red areas at the joint of the wing attachment to the breast and the thigh attachment to the carcass and the thigh to the leg.  This is not acceptable.  Putting the bird back in the oven would overcook the rest of the meat.  So what I did was to move the legs and much of the thigh meat, and cut much of the breast meat off the carcass with the exception of the area near the red meat junction point.  I put the carcass back in a 325° oven to finish those undercooked arears.  I was not happy.

So I went looking for solutions. I found a great idea from my teacher of French cuisine, Jacques Pépin.  On YouTube, there is a video of him making roast turkey for Thanksgiving.  First of all, he removes the wishbone from the bird (Kenji does also).  Then, using a heavy cleaver, he chops off the ends of the turkey legs (which will allow shrinkage of the end and exposes the tendons).  When the bird is cooked, the tendons pull out of the leg easily.  He then cuts the skin down to the joint at the articulation of the leg to the thigh, and the same for the articulation of the wing bone to the body of the turkey.  This allows air and heat circulation to those joints to prevent undercooking of the meat in those places.  I would add the making of the same kind of incision for the articulation of the thigh to the turkey body.

In terms of the taste of the bird, I found no advantage to the heritage turkey.  I can’t justify the difference in cost at all.

I will try this method of preparation the next time I cook a whole bird, whether a roast chicken or a turkey.  I’ll update this post with the results.

Happy cooking!!!

Not just for Thanksgiving, a recipe for well balanced mashed potatoes with the right amount of garlic

Just in time for Thanksgiving, Julia Levy published a recipe for “perfect garlic mashed potatoes” at Serious Eats.  I made them, and I agree that it is a well conceived and tasty side dish for any time of the year.

So, I decided that it was a good recipe to share.

Perfect Garlic mashed Potatoes

Perfect Garlic Mashed Potatoes

By Julia Levy and Leah Colins

Published November 20, 2024

Every year, my family has a list of “must have” dishes for the Thanksgiving table, and creamy, garlicky mashed potatoes are on the list every time. Starch loaded with butter, cream, and big garlic flavor—what could be better?

As universally loved as garlic mashed potatoes are, they still can cause hushed arguments in the kitchen. Should the texture be more fluffy or silky, what is an acceptable amount of cream and butter, and just how garlicky should the potatoes be?

I like mine to be rich and creamy thanks to plenty of butter and heavy cream, a bit peppery, and loaded with sweet—not harsh—garlic flavor. Unfortunately many versions are unpleasantly gloppy from waterlogged potatoes, lack garlic flavor, or, worse, suffer from an aggressive raw-garlic afterburn.

To nail down a recipe of perfect garlic mashed spuds, we asked our test kitchen colleague Julia Levy to figure out a formula that works every time. They’re special enough for a large holiday meal, but easy enough to whip up any night of the week.

For sweet garlic flavor, roast—don’t toast—the garlic. Many garlic mashed potato recipes offer quick and efficient methods of incorporating garlic into the mashed potatoes, but those methods come at a price. Some recipes, for example, call for sautéing slivers of garlic in oil or butter, which can brown the garlic but often with the risk of introducing acrid flavors as the garlic scorches in the fat’s high heat. Other recipes have you boil the garlic with the potatoes or in the cream to soften it; this removes its harsh edge but does little to develop the garlic’s flavor beyond “cooked”.

In our opinion, there are few substitutes for the sweet, complex flavor of slowly roasted garlic (garlic confit is another approach we like, but it’s fussier and slower). When roasted, garlic’s sharp edges give way to a rounded, almost candied sweetness that is at once mellow and intense. Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, the browned, softened cloves take on a creamy, paste-like texture and can easily be squeezed out of the skins (squeezing from the root end up) into the potato mixture.

Use yellow potatoes. When it comes to mashed potatoes, not all spuds are created equal; some are highly starchy with a drier, cottony texture, while others are much more moist and silky. Yellow potatoes, such as Yukon Gold, fall into the sweet spot that exists between those two extremes, starchy enough while being satiny soft. They have thin skin, shallow eyes, and creamy, moist flesh that’s best described as naturally buttery, nutty, and slightly sweet. In the potato world, yellow potatoes fall into the “medium starch” category; they have just enough starch to soak up plenty of rich cream and butter and avoid a watery texture, while still producing a wonderfully silky result.

Skip boiling, and bake the potatoes instead. Too much water can contribute to gluey, gummy mashed potatoes. Starch granules exist inside all potato cells. In raw potatoes, these granules are hard and tightly packed. When you boil potatoes—the most common cooking method when making mashed—the starch granules absorb water, swell, and eventually burst, creating a sticky gel. With no fat present at this stage in the process, there’s nothing to stop that gluey, starchy mess for becoming even stickier as you further agitate the potatoes during mashing.

The best way to avoid waterlogged potatoes? Skip boiling them altogether and roast the potatoes whole instead. This cooks the potatoes fully without introducing extra water, leaving the starch available to soak up as much cream as possible—and with all that fat present, gluiness is much less likely to develop.

For this recipe it’s not only a better cooking method for the potatoes, but it’s also practical; the potatoes bake until tender at the same time the garlic roasts right next to it in the oven. It’s a longer cooking process, but it’s all completely hands-off.

Avoid overmixing the potatoes. For super-creamy mashed potatoes, it’s worth investing in a potato ricer or food mill, which are both able to turn the cooked potato into a soft and smooth mash without too much risk of over-mixing (although poor-quality and/or too-small food mills do run some risk). If you don’t mind a chunkier mash, a handheld potato masher is fine, but you’ll want to be wary about overmixing. Whatever you do, skip the food processor and stand mixer—unless garlicky elastic potatoes sound like a good idea to you.

Ingredients

• 1 head garlic (2 to 2 1/2 ounces; 60g)
• 1/4 cup (60g) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, divided, plus more for serving
• 2 1/4 pounds(1kg) yellow, medium starch potatoes such as Yukon Gold (about eight 5-ounce potatoes), scrubbed
• 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy whipping cream, plus for as needed
• 2 teaspoons (6g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt use half as much by volume or the same weight
• Freshly ground black pepper, for serving

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 400°F (205°C). Remove the outer layer of papery skin from the garlic head, making sure to leave the entire head intact. Slice about 1/4 inch off the tops of the garlic head so the cloves are all exposed. Place garlic head on a piece of aluminum foil large enough to wrap the garlic, and set 1 piece of butter on top of the cut side; enclose it with the foil.

2. Using a paring knife, score potato skins lengthwise around the middle of each potato. Arrange potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet. Place wrapped garlic the same sheet pan. Bake potatoes and garlic until potatoes are fork-tender and garlic is deep golden and soft, about 1 hour. Set garlic aside to cool slightly while preparing the potatoes. Let potatoes stand until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.

3. While potatoes are still hot, carefully remove the skins using a paring knife; discard skins. Set a ricer or food mill over a large bowl and pass potatoes through. Alternatively, transfer potatoes to a large bowl and mash with potato masher, being careful not to overwork. Add remaining butter pieces and squeeze roasted garlic cloves (discarding skins) into potatoes; mash mixture with a large fork or potato masher until well combined.

4. Microwave heavy cream until steaming, about 30 seconds. Slowly add warm heavy cream and salt, folding into potatoes until creamy and smooth. Adjust consistency with additional warmed heavy cream as needed to desired texture. Season to taste with more salt and pepper, if desired. Serve immediately with pats of butter on top.

I will admit that this is not the easiest mashed potato recipe out there.  Just mashing the potatoes with a potato masher would require a modicum of effort, and using a food mill or a potato ricer makes this step just a little easier.  Do not think of using a food processor or blender to squish the potatoes unless you want a gummy mess.  The roasting of the head of garlic does a great job of mellowing the harshness of raw garlic so the garlic is not overwhelming the mashed potatoes.  I suppose one could use milk instead of heavy cream, but I would not recommend it.

Since there is a fair amount of energy expended to rice or food mill the potatoes, this is not a dish likely to appear on the table frequently.  But for a nice dinner, it is a wonderful side dish.  Enjoy.

Snickers Cake, an extravagant dessert from “Cupcake Jemma”

I needed to come up with a new dessert to make for my cousin’s Death by Chocolate party. I don’t like to bring a dessert that I have brought in the past; that would be too easy. So I started looking at my files, and in my cookbook library, and internet postings. One recipe that caught my eye was from Jemma Wilson’s vlog on YouTube. I’ve mentioned her on my blog in the past, as she has good postings on dessert techniques and excellent recipes. She is no amateur, she owns Crumbs and Doilies in Soho, London and is a published cookbook author. I saw her recipe for the “epic” Snickers cake, and I was definitely intrigued. I am not frightened by complexity, and this recipe is not easy!

You know my dislike of commercial products, so when the recipe calls for marshmallow fluff, I researched to find a recipe to make it from scratch, even though it would be a lot easier to just go out and buy it. I will admit that I didn’t make my own peanut butter (lets not go crazy here). The cake is made of alternating layers of chocolate sponge and peanut butter sponge, with a peanut butter buttercream in between. In addition, there is peanut butter nougat on every other layer and the top of the cake, with a rich chocolate ganache enrobing the entire cake. A wet caramel sits on the top of each chocolate sponge layer in a little well created in the center of the buttercream. The end result is 8 layers of sponge, 9 inches in diameter and 6 1/2 inches tall. Not a dessert for a small dinner party!

Epic Snickers Cake, a creation of Cupcake Jemma

• Difficulty: involved, time consuming, requiring skills
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For the Peanut Sponge…

• 315 g soft unsalted butter
• 315 g caster sugar
• 125 g peanut butter
• 5 large eggs
• 315 g self raising flour
• pinch of salt
• 4 tbsp milk

For the chocolate sponge:

• 290 g plain flour
• 310 g caster sugar
• 55 g cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 large eggs
• 200 ml cold coffee/water
• 200 g buttermilk
• 175 ml vegetable oil

For the caramel:

• 200 g caster sugar
• 120 ml water
• 245 g double cream
• 1 tsp vanilla

For the peanut nougat:

• 60 g butter
• 225 g caster sugar
• 70 ml evaporated milk
• 240 g marshmallow fluff
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 75 g peanut butter
• 150 g chopped salted peanuts

For the peanut buttercream:

• 150 g soft unsalted butter
• 80 g peanut butter
• 340 g icing sugar, sifted
• 3-4 tbsp milk

For the ganache:

• 300 g 50% dark chocolate
• 150 g unsalted butter
• 150 g double cream

Extra peanuts for sprinkling!

Instructions

You will need 4 9 inch cake pans, 2 for the peanut sponge, 2 for the chocolate sponge

1. The peanut butter sponge should be done first, as it takes longer and has to sit out.  Beat the butter and the sugar together, and the peanut butter is added at this point as well (she used chunky pb). Beat on high speed for 10 minutes with the beater of a stand mixer until light and fluffy.  Then add the 5 eggs one at a time, beating for 3 minutes with each addition.  Sift the self rising flour directly into the bowl of the mixer, with a pinch of salt, and put back on the mixer to fold in the flour on low speed.  When it is mostly come together, add the ¼ cup of whole milk.  Take the bowl off the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is mixed in.  Grease and line the bottom of 2 cake tins and divide the batter evenly between them.  Level with an offset spatula.  Bake in a preheated 170° C oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
2. For the chocolate sponge, start by sifting all the dry ingredients together (the all-purpose flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt) into a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, add the vegetable oil, 3 large eggs, coffee or water, and buttermilk and beat them together with a whisk.  Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk them together.  Divide the batter into 2 greased and lined cake pans, and bake at 170°C for 20-to 25 minutes.
3. To make the caramel, use a large saucepan and combine the sugar and water together.  Heat on medium heat to make the wet caramel until it reaches a nice amber color.  Take off the heat and add the cream and vanilla mixing all the time until combined.  Put aside.
4. For the nougat, melt the butter on medium low.  Add the sugar and evaporated milk, and stir continuously for 15 minutes.  The sugar will dissolve and the mixture will thicken.  Turn the heat off, add the marshmallow fluff (use a oil greased spatula so the fluff doesn’t stick), the peanut butter, the salted peanuts, and the vanilla extract.  Stir to combine completely.  Put in a plastic container to cool until needed.
5. For the peanut buttercream, beat the butter and the peanut butter together in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle for 5 minutes on medium high speed.  Add half of the powdered sugar and mix in, then the last half of the sugar.  Add between 3 to 4 tablespoons of whole milk to get the right consistency of the buttercream.  Transfer to a plastic container and cover the top with plastic wrap.
6. The ganache needs to be a spreadable consistency.  Melt the butter and the chocolate together in the microwave with 30 second blasts on high power mixing after each until all combined evenly.  Adding the cream will cool the mixture quickly and gets to a spreadable consistency quickly.  The ganache will continue to cool to be perfect when needed.
7. Trim the dome off of each cake layer, and divide each layer into 2 halves.  Put a cake board onto a turntable, and place the first layer of chocolate sponge in the center of the board (be careful as the layers are thin and can split easily).  Top with buttercream, and then make a well in the center of the buttercream with your offset spatula.  This gets filled with a thin layer of caramel.
8. Carefully center a peanut sponge layer on top of the 1^st layer, then add buttercream to coat the top.  Take a pair of latex gloves to deal with the sticky nougat, and grab small nuggets of nougat to place on the top of the buttercream almost to the periphery of the cake.
9. Continue to build the cake with alternate layers of chocolate sponge/buttercream with well of caramel and peanut sponge with buttercream and blobs of nougat, with the last layer of peanut sponge not getting a buttercream/nougat treatment.
10. Use the ganache to create a crumb coat of the sides and top of the cake.  Refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes.
11. Do a finish layer of ganache for the sides and top of the cake, and make a pattern on the sides with a large offset spatula, making 3 inch horizontal swipes (moving ½ inch to the right on the next horizontal swipe).
12. Using a piping bag with the caramel, make overhanging lines (start at one edge of the top and let it fall down the side, then make a line of caramel across the top to the opposite edge and make a drizzle down the side there as well.  Make similar lines of caramel to create a linear pattern on the top, with drizzles down the sides of the ganache.
13. Put the gloves on again, and create a layer of nougat of even thickness to cover the top of the cake.  Fill a piping bag with the rest of the ganache and pipe linear lines 90 degrees rotated in orientation to the caramel drizzles to decorate the top of the nougat and down the sides of the cake.
14. Scatter salted peanuts on the top of the cake.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To make homemade marshmallow fluff:

• 1/3 cup water
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup corn syrup or honey
• 3 large egg whites
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Place water, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Stir to combine.
2. Insert a candy thermometer into the pot and heat over medium-high. Do not stir from this point on as crystals will form.
3. Wipe down your mixer bowl, with either lemon juice or vinegar to ensure the bowl is completely grease free.
4. Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer.
5. When the sugar syrup reaches about 225°F, start whipping the egg whites to soft peaks. Approx 3-4mins.
6. When the whites are ready, the sugar syrup should be at 240°F. Remove from the heat, turn mixer to medium and very slowly and carefully pour the sugar syrup into the whites in a thin, steady stream. Care is needed to pour syrup so it does not hit the arc of the spinning whisk but not down the side of the bowl itself.
7. Once all of the syrup is in, set mixer to medium/high and continue whipping. The whites will deflate at first, but they will thicken and fluff up.
8. Continue to whip for 7-8 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and fluffy.
9. Add in vanilla and whip until the fluff has cooled completely.
10. Use right away as a frosting or filling or transfer into an airtight container and store for up to 2 weeks at room temperature.
11. This provides more fluff than is needed for the peanut butter nougat.

You will note the use of exact weight measurement instead of volume. This is needed for accuracy. Let us touch on some of the British details and their US equivalents. Plain flour is all-purpose flour. Caster sugar is superfine sugar, but you don’t need to blitz granulated sugar in a blender or food processor, regular granulated sugar works fine (I use pure cane sugar and make sure it is well mixed in). Bicarbonate of soda is baking soda. You can make your own self rising flour by adding 1 tablespoon of baking powder to every 1 cup of all-purpose flour. An alternative to buttermilk is to add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to a cup of whole or 2% milk. Icing sugar is what we call powdered sugar.

The baking temperature and timing should be 340 degrees F with the oven on the convection (fan) setting. If you don’t have a convection oven, try 350 degrees F for 28 to 30 minutes. In any event, test for cake doneness with a toothpick.

Unless you have a dairy farm nearby, you can forget trying to find double cream in the US. It is 48% fat versus the 36% fat found in US heavy whipping cream, However, the US heavy cream will work just fine.

So, that means you don’t need to find exotic ingredients for this cake. You do need to be careful with handling the delicate sponge layers. Carefully trim the cake tops to get an even top (something I neglected to do in my assembly) and be sure to refrigerate the sponges before trimming and halving the layers. You might need to make 1 1/2 times the amount of peanut butter buttercream if you like a layer cake with a greater thickness of buttercream between the layers (and that would allow for a buttercream layer on the top of the final peanut butter sponge, which would be covered by the crumb coat and final ganache coat.

Regular peanut butter brands like Skippy and Jif have a lot of sugar, and this cake is already plenty sweet. I used natural peanut butter which must be mixed well before using, and it does not matter if it is chunky or smooth. The cake can be made in one day but I like more refrigerator time. One other trick I used was to flatten out the remaining nougat that is to used for the top of the cake into a 8 inch circle centered on the cake top after the crumb coat and final coat of ganache sets up with time in the fridge. The drizzle of caramel goes on first, then the nougat disc, then the ganache drizzle. I did not think any further adornments with peanuts was needed or desired.

This cake is difficult, but the result is spectacular.

French Apple Cake, a delicious fruit dessert

I must admit at the start that over the years, I have become increasing much less a fan of Christopher Kimble, particularly over his handling of his split from Cook’s Country/America’s Test Kitchen.  I now find him sanctimonious and prissy, as if only he knows the right way for access to cuisines and that the recipes he finds are the absolute best.  Now, having said that, I still can find some recipes from the Milk Street show on PBS that I think are worthy.  This recipe for French apple cake is one of them.  I have several recipes in my files for “French Apple cake” (including one from America’s Test Kitchen), but I elected to make the Milk Street version and I am very happy with the end result.  The recipe itself is fairly easy to make, and the cake is very tasty.

Unlike the “jewish apple cake” discussed in an earlier blog, this cake is not parve as it uses butter.  I suppose one could substitute oil for butter, but the result would not be the same, since the step of browning the butter imparts a certain wonderful characteristic to the batter.  As always when a recipe calls for brown butter, it is best to use a stainless steel skillet to visualize the browning process, and care must be taken to not burn the butter (the hint of listening to the pan when the sizzle stops during the heating is a great help to know when you are done).

French Apple Cake

• Difficulty: easy
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Notes:

Use about a little over 3 pounds of apples, as you will lose about 30% of waste between the core, the top and bottom of the apple and the peal.  I used a combination of honeycrisp, gala, and cosmic crisp apples, but as long as you are not using too sweet or too tart choices, I don’t think the type of apple will make that much difference.  One could use only golden delicious for the recipe, and the cake would be fine.

Don’t use a spatula to scrape the browned butter out of the skillet—simply pour it into the bowl. A skim coat of butter in the pan is needed for cooking the apples. And don’t slice the cake until it has fully cooled; if it is at all warm, the texture at the center will be too soft.

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples
• 1 pound Braeburn/Golden Delicious/Honeycrisp apples
• 11 tablespoons granulated sugar (divided)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons Calvados or AppleJack
• 2/3 cup (95 gms) all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon Turbinato or demerara sugar

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 375°F (conventional not convection).  Coat a springform pan with baking spray (or butter and flour).  Prepare the apples by cutting off the top and bottoms, pealing off the skin, and slicing 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch slices.  Put the slices in a bowl.
2. Use a 12 inch stainless steel skillet to melt the butter over medium heat, swirling the pan periodically.  When the milk solids are golden brown and has a nutty aroma, immediately pour the brown butter into a heatproof bowl, but do not scrape the pan with a spatula.  Add the allspice to the butter.  While the pan is still hot, put the apple slices in the pan and stir with a silicone spatula.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and the salt to the apples, and continue to cook over medium heat.  The apple slices will exude a fair amount of moisture as they soften, and the cooking of the slices will take 15 or more minutes until all the moisture has evaporated, and the slices will slightly brown.  Remove the pan from the fire and add the liquor (so you don’t accidently start a fire), then return the pan to the heat and cook for about 60 seconds until the liquid has evaporated.  Transfer to a large plate and spread in an even layer, let it cool for 5 minutes and then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and the baking powder.  In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla and 9 tablespoons of sugar.  Gradually whisk in the brown butter until well combined.  Using a spatula, add the flour mixture to combine (the batter will be fairly thick).  Add the cooled apple slices and fold into the batter until all the slices are coated with the batter.  Pour into the prepared springform pan, and spread the batter evenly with an offset spatula.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of Demerara or Turbinato sugar on the surface of the batter.
5. Bake for 40 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 2 hours.  Refrigerate the cake in the springform pan.  The cake can be served cold or allowed to warm a little towards room temperature (the cake will be too soft to slice well at room temperature).  A nice counterpoint to the cake is to serve with either vanilla bean ice cream or crème fraîche.

I think you will find this a very tasty dessert.  If there is any interest in the other recipes for “French” or “German” apple cake that are in my files, let me know.  I would be happy to share them with you.

A recipe for a German Chocolate Cake that is one of my favorites

Our family has a tradition in regards to birthdays.  The birthday person gets to pick their birthday cake.  In my wife’s case, she always wants the same cake, a trusted banana cake recipe out of the “Joy of Cooking” tattered copy that we have had for years, but we kept fiddling around with the frosting.  Initially, it was something similar to the Duncan Hines frosting one can buy at the market, but we soon realized we could do a lot better.  We tried a fudgy option next, and that was better, but still not right.  A frosting from the King Arthur flour website worked, but still we wanted something better yet.  Finally we found a recipe from Sally’s baking addition that was a varient of an American chocolate butter cream, and we been using that ever since

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/favorite-chocolate-buttercream/ with great results in pleasing my spouse.

This year my son decided wanted to have a cake that my daughter had just made for a party she had at her house.  So I made him the wonderful Frasier cake (see my prior blog post)https://trustforce.wordpress.com/2024/08/17/technical-challenge-from-season-3-the-great-british-bake-off-mary-berrys-frasier-cake/.  My daughter’s requests have varied, even to the point of wanting a pie!

Now, as readers of this blog may have surmised, for me, I always like to try something new, and for my birthday cake wish, it could be anything, but not usually something easy.  It must be somewhat of a challenge to make, and have a “wow” factor as well.  The recipe source could be Jaques Pepin, Julia Child, Rose Levy Berenbaum, America’s Test Kitchen, NY Times Cooking, Serious Eats, Dominque Ansel, or a clone of a restaurant’s dessert.  I’ve made many of them.  However, I have a special desire for that combination of dulce de luche, pecans, coconut and chocolate that makes a German Chocolate dessert.

I have published this recipe before, back in 2013 in the Summer Baking Spree, but I never gave it the prominence of a post of its own.  It is one of my absolute favorite desserts, and I love to have an excuse to make it.

Inside Out German Chocolate Cake

• Difficulty: medium
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Inside-Out German Chocolate Cake

By Mary Laulis

January 29, 2022

Photo by Isa Zapata, Prop Styling by Stephanie De Luca, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boystova

The name “German chocolate cake” has nothing to do with the dessert’s country of origin (which is the U.S., by the way) and everything to do with Sam German, who didn’t even invent the cake named after him. German was a 19th-century chocolatier who created and lent his name to a particular chocolate baking bar sold by the Baker’s company that was used by Mrs. George Clay of Texas in 1957 to create a famous chocolate, coconut, and pecan cake recipe that ran in the Dallas Morning News that same year.

This cake is not quite that cake, but it’s not far off. A classic German chocolate cake will often proudly display a crown of sticky-sweet custard (or sweetened condensed milk) mixed with pecans and toasted coconut on top. Here, the nutty mix serves as the filling, set between three layers of rich chocolate sponge. It’s finished with a chocolate glaze in two steps: First, a cooled glaze is spread all over the outside to cover, then a heated glaze is poured over the top to give the cake an impressively glossy, smooth covering. The recipe comes from Mary Laulis, founder of Bridge Street Bakery and Mary’s Fine Pastries. It was printed in Gourmet  in the “You Asked For It” column, after a reader requested the recipe, having tasted the fantastic chocolate dessert in Laulis’s shop in Waitsfield, Vermont.

“I had the pleasure of spending a few days in the quaint town of Waitsfield, Vermont, where I stopped at the Bridge Street Bakery,” says Morella Dewey of Ramsey, New Jersey. “Owner and chef Mary Laulis was delightful, and her “inside-out” German chocolate cake was absolutely fantastic. I would love to prepare this dessert for family and friends, so I hope you can obtain the recipe.” The chef uses Valrhona cocoa powder in her cake, but other Dutch-process cocoa powders work equally well. The filling is made from sweetened condensed milk that is cooked in a water bath in the oven until it caramelizes. While the milk is baking, you can prepare your glaze. Special equipment: 3 (9-inch) round cake pans

Editor’s note: This recipe was originally published in the March 1999 issue of ‘Gourmet’ and first appeared online December 31, 2014.

Recipe information

Difficulty= medium hard

• Total Time

4 1/4 hours

• Yield

Makes 12 servings.

Ingredients

For cake layers

1½ cups sugar

1½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt

¾ cup whole milk

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

¾ teaspoon vanilla

⅛ teaspoon almond extract

¾ cup boiling-hot water

For filling

7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut

4 ounces coarsely chopped pecans (1 cup)

14-ounces can sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

For glaze

2½ sticks unsalted butter

10 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

Special Equipment

3 (9-inch) round cake pans

Preparation

1. Make cake layers:

Preheat oven to 350°F and oil cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with rounds of parchment or wax paper. Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk together whole milk, butter, whole egg, yolk, vanilla, and almond extract in another large bowl until just combined. Beat egg mixture into flour mixture with an electric mixer on low speed, then beat on high speed 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and beat in water until just combined (batter will be thin). Divide batter among cake pans (about 1½ cups per pan) and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of pans and rotating them 180 degrees halfway through baking, until a tester comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes total.

Cool layers in pans on racks 15 minutes. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove parchment or wax paper and cool layers completely.  When cool, move to the refrigerator to cool and firm up (needed to help with the spreading of the filling to protect the layers from tearing).

2. Make filling:

Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

Spread coconut in a large shallow baking pan and pecans in another. Bake pecans in upper third of oven and coconut in lower third, stirring occasionally, until golden, 12 to 18 minutes. Remove pans from oven.

Increase oven temperature to 425°F.

Pour condensed milk into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate and cover tightly with foil. Bake milk in a water bath in middle of oven 45 minutes. Refill baking pan with water to reach halfway up pie plate and bake milk until thick and brown, about 45 minutes more. Remove pie plate from water bath.  See note for alternate method.

Stir in coconut, pecans, and vanilla and keep warm, covered with foil.

3. Make glaze while milk is baking:

Melt butter in a 3-quart saucepan. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate and corn syrup, whisking until chocolate is melted. Transfer 1 cup glaze to a bowl, reserving remaining glaze at room temperature in pan. Chill glaze in bowl, stirring occasionally, until thickened and spreadable, about 1 hour.  See note for alternate glaze quantity.

4. Assemble cake:

Put 1 cake layer on a rack set over a baking pan (to catch excess glaze). Drop half of coconut filling by spoonfuls evenly over layer and gently spread with a wet spatula. Top with another cake layer and spread with remaining filling in same manner. Top with remaining cake layer and spread chilled glaze evenly over top and side of cake. Heat reserved glaze in pan over low heat, stirring, until glossy and pourable, about 1 minute. Pour glaze evenly over top of cake, making sure it coats sides. Shake rack gently to smooth glaze.

Chill cake until firm, about 1 hour. Transfer cake to a plate. Do Ahead: Cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Cooks’ note:

For easier handling when assembling cake, place bottom layer on a cardboard round or the removable bottom of a tart or cake pan.

Steve’s comments and important notes:

This is one of my favorite cakes to eat, but it does require more effort than usual. However, the results are definitely worth it.

You can find several methods for making the sweetened condensed milk into a caramelized “toffee” on the net. One involved putting the contents of the can into a 9 inch pie plate, covering it with aluminum foil, and placing it in a hot oven in a water bath for a couple of hours. I have done this in the past, but there is an easier way to make the “Dulce de Leche.” It is the same method that Jemma Wilson recommended in her Cupcake Jemma You Tube channel–it simmers the can of sweetened condensed milk for 2 1/2 hours (cover the can with cold water in a pan by at least 2 inches, turn the can on its side, and heat to a low boil, reduce to simmer for 2 1/2 hours). There is a slight risk of the can bursting, so watch the water level and add water as needed. Remove the can and let cool before trying to open (at least 1 hour).

I saw another method to create dulce de leche from a post of America’s Test Kitchen. It takes a 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk, the scraping of seeds from one vanilla pod and a 1/4 teaspoon of salt. The 3 ingredients are combined into a 16 ounce mason jar with the lid not overtightened. The jar is then placed in the water bath (fully submerged) of a sous vide set for 185 degrees F for 12 to 16 hours. No worries about the can exploding or cooking a can lined with BPA. Just be sure the the water level is maintained.

The amount of glaze in the recipe is barely enough to cover the cake. To make a little more glaze, use 12 ounces of chocolate, 3 sticks of butter and 3 tbs+ 2 tsp of corn syrup in the same manner.

Technical challenge from Season 3, The Great British Bake Off—Mary Berry’s Fraisier Cake

I became addicted to the BBC program The Great British Bake Off (which, by the way, can still be seen from seasons 1 through 7 on the Roku channel)  Seasons 5 through 11 are on Netflix as The Great British Baking Show.  To my mind, the program became much less fun when the producers pulled the show from the BBC and went over to commercial TV (ITV channel 4), and lost the talents of cookbook writer Mary Berry and comedians Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins.  Love Productions made the move because Channel 4 offered a lot more money, and Perkins said they found out about the move from a TV report.  Giedroyc and Perkins did not make the move, saying they were “not going with the dough.”  Paul Hollywood stayed on, and Prue Leith replaced Mary Berry, but it was not the same.  But enough of that, you can always read more about the personalities on the show on the Net.

The format of the show had 2 days of cooking based on a theme (bread, cakes, cookies [biscuits in British parlance], and others).  The first challenge was a signature bake where the contestants make a favorite recipe (like their favorite cake).  The second challenge was a technical one, to prepare an item based on a pared down recipe from one of the judges.  The next day, the bakers had to make a “showstopper,” an elaborate creation based on that week’s theme.  Of the challenges, the technical was often the most difficult, as the bakers might have no prior knowledge of the bake, and as the instructions left out critical information, the bakers needed to rely on their own experience to figure out things like bake times, or temperature, etc.

In season 3, the semifinal had 4 remaining bakers make pâtisserie.  The technical was to make a Fraisier cake.  The cake’s origin dates back to a cake created by Auguste Escoffier at the end of the 19th century that included fresh strawberries.  The 4 bakers had to use a Mary Berry recipe that omitted a fair amount of critical information.  For example, instead of detailing how to create a genoise sponge, the recipe just stated to make a genoise sponge.  Well, I’m going to give you the full details on how to make this delicious and beautiful cake, named after the French word for strawberries, fraises.  We are going to use the full Mary Berry recipe, with all the tips I know.

Fraisier Cake

• Difficulty: medium
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Fraisier cake (with a recipe for homemade marzipan).  The use of the marzipan is totally optional, and not necessary.  I topped my cake with whipped cream piped rosettes, and a few sliced strawberries,

An incredibly pretty French cake filled with delicious strawberries and crème pâtissière. Tricky to achieve but certain to impress.  The crème pâtissière is made into crème mousseline with the addition of butter to the custard.

Preparation time

less than 30 mins

Cooking time

over 2 hours

Serves 8 to 10

Equipment needed:  9 inch springform pan

Makes 1 x 23cm/9in cake

Ingredients

· 125g/4½ ounces caster sugar

· 4 free-range large eggs

· 2 lemons, zest only, finely grated

· 125g/4½ ounces self-raising flour, plus extra for flouring

· 50g/1¾ ounces unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus extra for greasing

For the crème pâtissière

· 600ml/20 fluid ounces whole milk

· 1 large vanilla pod

· 4 free-range eggs, plus 2 free-range egg yolks

· 180g/6¼ ounces caster sugar

· 1 tbsp kirsch

· 100g/3½ ounces cornflour

· 150g/5½ ounces butter, cut into cubes and kept at room temperature

For the lemon syrup

· 75g/2¾ ounces caster sugar

· 2 lemons, juice only

70 ml water

To finish the cake

· 200g/7oz marzipan

· 200g/7oz dark chocolate, for decoration

· 600g/1lb 5oz medium sized strawberries

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Grease and flour a 9 inch springform pan or use baking spray.  Make a 9 inch circle of parchment paper to place in the pan and spray it also.

3. Place the sugar, eggs and lemon zest in a large bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Using an electric hand whisk, whisk the mixture over a medium heat until doubled in volume and pale in color. The mixture is at the right stage when it forms a ribbon trail when the whisk is lifted out of the mixture. Remove from the heat.  A better alternative method is to use a stand mixer to whisk the sugar, lemon zest and eggs together on the highest speed for 5 minutes.  This will get the proper ribbon stage and does not overbeat.  If you overbeat, you will not get the volume needed for the genoise sponge.

4. To make the equivalent of UK self raising flour:

Use US All-purpose flour.  Add 2 teaspoons of baking powder to each cup of all-purpose flour. UK self-rising flour doesn’t contain salt, so you shouldn’t add it unless the recipe specifically calls for it. You can also add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda if you’re baking with buttermilk, yogurt, or cocoa, as these ingredients need extra leavening. Make sure your baking powder is fresh, as old baking powder can prevent cakes from rising.

5. Sift in two-thirds of the flour and gently fold into the whisked mixture with a metal spoon or spatula. Add the remaining flour and fold again. Try to keep in as much of the air as possible. Make sure all the flour is incorporated into the mixture.

6. Melt the unsalted butter, and let it cool to room temperature while you are whisking the egg mixture.  After the flour is folded into the egg mixture, gently fold in the cooled melted butter. If the butter is too hot, it will cause the mixture to deflate. It is the addition of the butter that makes this sponge a genoise.

7. Immediately pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the sides of the cake begin to come away from the tin and it is pale golden-brown.  On the masterclass Mary said to use 160 degrees C fan for 35 minutes, but I got good results with conventional oven at 350°F for 35 minutes.  The cake will spring back when pushed by a finger.

8. When cooked, allow the sponge to cool a little bit in the tin, then turn out onto a cooling rack. Be careful as this sponge is quite delicate. It should be just under 5cm/2in in height.

9. To make the crème pâtissière, pour the milk into a wide based pan, split the vanilla pod along its length using a sharp knife, and scrape the seeds from the pod.  Add the pod and seeds to the milk. Bring the milk up to the boil, then take it off the heat.

10. Whisk together the eggs, sugar, kirsch and cornflour in a medium sized bowl until blended.  US equivalent of cornflour is cornstarch. Mix the cornstarch and sugar together with a whisk first to prevent lumps, then add the eggs, egg yolks and liquor. The extra egg yolks help enrich the mixture.  Kirsch can be replaced by the liquor of your choice, such as rum, Grand Marnier, Limoncello, etc.

11. Remove the vanilla pod from the milk and pour the hot milk through a sieve into the egg mixture. Whisk to combine. When first pouring the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisk continuously to prevent the eggs from scrambling (thus tempering the eggs), then add the rest of the milk whisking continuously.  I did not use a sieve, as I wanted any vanilla seeds to be incorporated. I just removed the pod remnants from the milk prior to the tempering of the eggs and the use of the rest of the milk.

12. Once all the milk is added, pour the custard back into a clean saucepan and set over a medium heat. I used the same saucepan I had used to heat the milk and vanilla. I have a heavy copper saucier pan that is prefect for making crème patisserie, as the slightly sloped sides grants easy access to get the whisk into the sides and bottom of the pan.

13. Stir the custard constantly until the mixture thickens. The mixture will take about four minutes to thicken, but when it does it happens very quickly, so you need to really keep stirring to prevent lumps. Whisk until smooth.  Use an infrared thermometer to reach 170-175°F and immediately remove from the heat.  Keep whisking to prevent lumps.

14. Cook the mixture until the crème is very thick, so that it can be piped and it will hold its shape. Stir in the room temperature butter until thoroughly melted and combined. If you didn’t add the liquor yet, it can be added at this stage. If the mixture looks a bit curdled after reaching the right temperature, don’t worry. The addition of the butter will smooth it out (the butter temperature matters as if too cold, it will not blend in well, too warm, it will be oily–the butter should be slightly softened at room temperature).

15. Allow to cool slightly, pour into a shallow dish, cover with parchment paper and chill in the fridge for about an hour until really cold and set firm. This chills it faster as it cools over a larger surface area – alternatively you could fill the piping bags with it at this stage and leave overnight to chill.

16. Place the ingredients for the lemon syrup in a small saucepan with 70ml/4½ tbsp water. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves, then boil rapidly for two minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.  I found it is not necessary to add water, just heat the sugar with the lemon juice and stir to dissolve the sugar.

17. Meanwhile, roll out a thin disc of marzipan to fit a 23cm/9in circumference circle. It is best if you draw around the 23cm/9in base of another loose bottomed tin for the perfect circle. For best results and a perfectly flat surface, chill it in the fridge until it is needed.

18. Slice the sponge in half horizontally, creating two slim discs of cake. The cut must be as level as possible as it will be visible in the finished cake.

19. Place a strip of acetate plastic around the inside of the springform tin after buttering the sides of the springform pan.  If you don’t have the acetate plastic (available online), line the base and sides with cling film or parchment lined foil.

20. Cut the geniose in half horizontally.  Place one half cut side up in the bottom of the cake tin. Then liberally brush the sponge with half the syrup. With the back of a spoon, gently squash the edges of the cake down so that they are pushed directly against the sides of the tin, creating the defined edges necessary for the Fraisier cake.

21. Rinse, dry,  and trim off the green tops of about 12 strawberries, then cut them vertically in half.  Try and make sure they are all the same height.

22. Place the cut sides of the strawberries against the plastic on the inside of the tin, pressing down into the sponge. The strawberry halves should be sitting snugly beside each other, so it looks like a little crown inside the tin.

23. Take the chilled crème pâtissière out of the fridge and spoon two thirds of the crème into a piping bag, fitted with a 1cm/½in nozzle.

24. Pipe a swirl covering the exposed sponge completely in the bottom of the tin.

25. Then pipe between each of the strawberries so the gaps are filled right to the top with the crème pâtissière.

26. Set about 3-5 strawberries to one side for decoration, then hull and quarter the rest of them and place on top of the crème, so it raises the inside of the cake by about an inch.

27. Pipe another swirl of crème pâtissière on top of the cut strawberries to cover the whole surface. Then smooth with a palette knife.

28. Place the other disc of sponge on top of this, with the cut side uppermost, so it has a completely flat top. Brush with the remaining syrup.

29. Gently press the top down quite firmly, so that the cake and filling push against the acetate to create the distinctive smooth and defined sides of the Fraisier cake.

30. Lay the chilled marzipan circle on top of the cake and put the whole thing back in the fridge to set.  Make some pretty decorations of your choice with melted dark chocolate.

31. Instead of marzipan, cover the top of the cake with heavy cream sweetened with sugar and vanilla, or agave syrup and whipped.  Use an offset spatula to make a thin layer of the whipped cream, then pipe some rosettes of cream along the cake edge, and in the center.  Decorate with strawberry quarters.

32. Refrigerate the cake.  When ready to serve, remove the cake from fridge and serve immediately.

34. Very carefully release the spring tin/loose bottom and remove the cake from the tin and from the acetate or cling film.

35. Place onto a serving plate and decorate with reserved strawberries, chocolate decoration and a dusting of icing sugar. Serve chilled.

Homemade Marzipan:

Ingredients

• ¾ cup + 1 tbsp (90 g) blanched almond flour (see notes)
• 9 tbsp (70 g) powdered sugar or powdered Erythritol (see notes)
• 1 ½ tbsp (20 ml) water or a liquid sweetener (see notes)
• 1/4-1/2 tsp almond extract (optional but very recommended)
• ½ tsp rose water food grade (optional)

Instructions

I recommend using a kitchen scale for this recipe.

• First, process the almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor.
• Add the water (or your favorite liquid sweetener), almond extract, and rose water (optional) and pulse a couple of times until the dough holds together and forms a ball.
• If the dough is too dry and doesn’t hold together, add a tiny bit more water (or syrup). Make sure to add just a little until a thick dough is formed. If it’s too sticky and wet, add more almond flour.
• Take out the marzipan ball and knead it on a clean surface for about 30 seconds. You can now shape it into a log, wrap it up in cling wrap and refrigerate it. It will firm up slightly in the refrigerator.
• If you use agave syrup or corn syrup, you should be able to store it in the fridge for up to 2-3 weeks (probably even longer) or up to 3 months in the freezer. If you use water, use it within 10 days.

Notes

• Almond flour: Instead of almond flour, you can use 90 grams of whole almonds. Cover them with boiling water. Wait until the water is lukewarm, then slip off the skins with your fingers. Drain the almonds really well (pat-dry with a tissue) and process them in your food processor. You will need less water, maybe just 1/2 to 1 tsp. Add more if the mixture is too dry. I recommend using finely ground blanched almond flour for convenience.

One might think that with all the lemon zest and lemon syrup that this cake would be over the top with lemon flavor, but surprising, it is not!  The cake presentation has a definite “wow” factor, and it is light and delicious.  Make this cake, it is absolutely worth the effort.

Crispy Fish Fillets—a foolproof way to cook fresh fish

Recipe from J. Kenji López-Alt and Serious Eats

https://www.seriouseats.com/the-easiest-crispy-pan-seared-fish-food-lab-recipe

Cooking fish is not necessarily easy.  Should I sauté it, should I roast it in the oven, can I get good results each time?  Worry no more thanks to Kenji and Serious Eats.

This recipe is a snap! The fish cooks perfectly every time, and it works for most any kind of fish fillets, even ones with variable thickness. The cooking time in the oven will depend on the type of fish and its shape, so using an instant read thermometer is key to success.

Why this method works: Removing the skin from the fillet gives a flat surface for the breading process and becomes the presentation side. Creating a coating on one side of the fish protects the fillet from overcooking and drying out. The coating insulates the fish from the direct heat of the pan, and cooking at a medium fire with closely watching the browning of the coating layer prevents the coating from burning. By finishing the cooking in a low oven after turning the fillets over allows the fish to finish cooking gently and evenly.

Equipment needed—Non stick oven safe skillet, instant read thermometer.

Helpful items—infrared thermometer, fish spatula.

Crispy Fish Fillets

• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

• 4 thick white fish fillets or steaks (such as halibut, striped bass, sea bass, or swordfish), 5 to 8 ounces each
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups panko-style breadcrumbs (see note)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable, canola, or peanut oil
• Lemon wedges or tartar sauce (either store-bought or homemade) for serving

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). Remove the skin from the fillet if not already done by the fishmonger. Pat fish dry on paper towels and season generously with salt and pepper. Place flour, egg, and breadcrumbs in 3 separate shallow bowls or plates. Season each gently with salt and pepper. The fish fillets Working one piece at a time, lift fish and dip, presentation-side-down, in the flour, followed by the egg, followed by the breadcrumbs, pressing down firmly until a thick layer of breadcrumbs adheres. This might require dipping the panko side in the egg wash again and re-dipping in the panko. Place fish breaded-side-up on a clean plate and repeat with remaining fish. Let rest for a few minutes.

2. Heat oil in a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Let the oil come slowly up to 350°F. Add fish pieces, breaded-side-down and cook, swirling and rotating them around the pan until deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. Carefully flip fish and transfer to oven. Cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the deepest part of the fish registers 140°F (60°C), about 5 minutes (a knife or a cake tester inserted into the fish should show no resistance). Serve immediately with lemon wedges or tartar sauce, or make a lemon-butter sauce to serve with the fish.

Notes: You can substitute almond flour for the white flour, and could use finely ground nuts instead of panko for a different taste result. Macadamia nuts or almonds would be a good choice.

Use a neutral oil, such as grapeseed, avocado, or safflower so that the choice of the oil does not impact the end result. Start with a cold pan and just use medium heat. Let the oil come to temperature (between 325 to 350°F) before adding the fish.

Make a quick lemon butter sauce with 2-3 tablespoons of unsalted butter and 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice combined in a small saucepan. I like the addition of a small diced shallot as well. Chopped flat leaf parsley makes a nice touch at the end.

Steve’s Shrimp Scampi

I know that there are a lot of recipes for Shrimp Scampi.  Despite what you might think, these recipes are American in origin, not Italian.  In point of fact, the term scampi in Italy refers to the use of a crustacean found in the Mediterranean Sea that is a prawn, complete with claws, that looks like a small langoustine.  Now, since there is little availability in the United States for this miniature lobster like crustacean, we use shrimp instead.  The typical recipe uses garlic, parsley in a sauce that has a white wine reduction, mounted with butter at the completion of the sauce and may be served by itself or over pasta.

First, a word about shrimp.  Most of the shrimp found in the US is farm raised from Indonesia, Vietnam, or other Asian countries.  Beware, as farm raised shrimp can vary widely in quality and clean growth practices.  Some are fine to use, but do some research.  Try to buy only shrimp labelled IQF, which means individually quick frozen, and the only ingredient listed should be “shrimp.”  This is of paramount importance, as you should avoid all of the shrimp that have preservatives listed in the ingredients.  If you are lucky enough to live in an area where shrimp are caught, like in the Gulf of Mexico, then it is wonderful to buy shrimp fresh.  I lived in New Orleans during my fellowship, and I was in seafood heaven, with fresh oysters, shrimp, and beautiful fish for the asking!  But, for the most of us, fresh shrimp is not to be found.  The shrimp on display in the fish case in the supermarket came from the freezer (hopefully that day).  It is better to buy the shrimp still frozen in the bag and defrost it yourself, so you know when it was defrosted.  Ignore terms like “jumbo” or extra-large, the only relevant measure for shrimp is the number of shrimp per pound.  I tend to buy 16-20/pound or 21-25/pound for most recipes.  For grilling, I buy larger—13-15/pound.

I look for wild caught shrimp from Key West, Florida, or Gulf shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico, with the only ingredient listed being “shrimp” and are IQF.  It will be more expensive, but it is worth the extra money.  I saw some black tiger shrimp at Whole Foods that are from Indonesia and farm raised, but have no preservatives and were 16-20/pound, so I might try them in the future.  I bought some nice pink wild caught 21/25 shrimp today, and I looked in my recipe files and on YouTube to see how I wanted to make Shrimp Scampi with pasta.  I decided to create an amalgam of several different recipe approaches (a little from America’s Test Kitchen, some from Ina Garten, and some from Martha Stewart).

• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound large (16-20 or 21-25 per pound) shrimp, in their shells
• 1 cup white wine
• 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 2-3 tablespoons finely minced tarragon
• 1 medium shallot, finely minced
• Additional EVOO as needed
• 1/2 pound thin spaghetti
• 3 to 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

1. By buying shrimp in the shell, I am able to make a shellfish stock to enrich the flavor of the end product.  After defrosting the shrimp in cold water, I use a shrimp scissors to cut the dorsal portion of the shell, which also exposes the digestive tract to be removed.  It is then a simple matter to remove the shell and pinch the meat from the tail. Put the deveined and peeled shrimp in the fridge, and make the stock.  Take 1 tablespoon of olive oil and over medium heat, toss the shells in the oil until the shells blister (about 2 to 3 minutes).  Remove from the heat and add 1 cup of white wine and stir.  Return to medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat, and drain the shells from the liquid, pressing down with a wooden spoon on the strainer to recover as much liquid as possible.  Discard the shells, and return the “stock” to the pan, and reduce it by 1/2.  Let cool, and add more olive oil to the stock to make at least 1/2 cup of liquid.

2. Mince 6 cloves of garlic finely, and mince 2 tablespoons of tarragon. Finely dice a medium shallot.  Use some red pepper flakes (the amount determined by personal preference, but don’t go overboard).  Add these to the stock/olive oil, and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, but monitor the heat as you don’t want the shallots and garlic to get brown.  Let the mixture cool (speed it up by putting it in the fridge).  When cooled enough, pour this marinade over the shrimp and let it sit for 30 minutes in the fridge.  The shrimp pick up a lot of flavor with this step.

3. Pre-heat the broiler.  Use a pan that can withstand the heat, and place the shrimp in one layer in the pan with the marinade to cover (a 12 inch skillet like an All-clad is perfect).  Put the pan about 6 inches from the broiler and cook undisturbed for 5 minutes.  The right cooking time is very important, as the shrimp can go from undercooked to overcooked in a fraction of a minute.  Larger shrimp require a few seconds more, the reverse being true for the smaller varieties.  As a gauge,  5 minutes works for the 16-20 per pound size, but this timing might need to be adjusted for the heat strength of your oven’s broiler.   

4. Remove from the oven and serve over pasta or rice.

I used 1/2 pound of thin spaghetti cooked al dente, and transferred the pasta to the skillet with the cooked shrimp.  I then used some of the pasta water to help finish the sauce, and mounted the sauce with 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter.  To get a more concentrated amount of pasta starch from cooking the spaghetti, I used a trick I learned from watching J. Kenji Lopez-Alt.  Use a 12 inch skillet filled with about 1 quart of water (no more than 2/3rds up the side of the skillet).  Bring the water to a boil and add the 1/2 pound of spaghetti.  Cook until the pasta is al dente.  Using tongs, transfer the pasta to the scampi skillet and toss vigorously.  Use 1/2 cup of the pasta water to help create a sauce, using more if needed.  Mount the sauce with 3 to 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter (the residual heat of the scampi will melt the butter into the sauce).  Mix well and serve (a typical portion will have 6 shrimp).  Salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy.

Steve’s Shrimp Scampi served on spaghetti

A Lemon Bar dessert with the right balance between sweet and tart

Last month, I saw a recipe from Lisa Donovan at the NY Times cooking site, and I thought, “Ghee, I haven’t made a lemon bar dessert in some time.”  I have several lemon bar recipes in my archives, but this one didn’t use a typical shortbread crust.  I will say that although Lisa  promotes these bars as a pecan crust, the nut flavor is a bit subtle.  I made the recipe as written, but next time, I plan on altering the nut to flour ratio for the crust.

Lemon Bars with Pecan Crust

• Difficulty: easy
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Source:  Lisa Donovan https://www.n ytimes.com/2024/04/03/magazine/lemon-bars-recipe.html

Equipment:  9 by 13 inch baking pan, stand mixer, whisk, spatula

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 1 1/4 cups (284 grams) unsalted butter {2 1/2 sticks}, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup (40 grams) pecans, toasted and finely ground
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:

• 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (from 2 to 3 lemons)
• 1/2 cup (64 grams) all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 4 to 5 lemons)
• 6 large eggs at room temperature

Confectioners sugar for dusting, just prior to serving

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a 9 by 13 inch baking pan with baking spray and line the pan with a parchment paper sling.  Spray the sling with baking spray.
2. Toast the pecans for 10 minutes.  Transfer them to a mini food processor and grind the nuts to a fine consistency.  Put the butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Using the paddle attachment, cream the butter mixture until fluffy, scaping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula several times.  Add the flour, pecans and salt and mix until combined.  Remove the bowl from the mixer and use the silicone spatula to ensure the mixture is all evenly combined.  Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan and spread it evenly into the bottom of the pan, being sure to press the mixture into the corners and to get an even layer of mixture (one can do this with your hands).  Place the pan in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.
3. Place the pan in the 350 degree oven and bake for 25 minutes (golden edges).
4. While the crust is baking, make the lemon filling.  Combine the lemon zest and the sugar in a medium bowl and mix with a whisk.  Add the flour and cornstarch and mix well.  Add the lemon juice and whisk vigorously.  In a separate bowl, whisk the 6 eggs until frothy.  Add the sugar mixture and whisk until everything is incorporated.
5. As soon as the crust is finished baking, remove the pan to place it on a half sheet pan.  Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.  It is not necessary to wait for the crust to cool, so immediately pour the lemon mixture onto the crust and return the pan on the sheet tray back to the oven and cook for an additional 25 minutes.
6. The filling will be set and solid.  Remove the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 2 hours.  Lift the slab out of the pan by using the parchment paper sling and transfer to a cutting board.  It is not necessary to remove the parchment paper as you can cut the bars and they will glide off the paper easily.  Cut into squares of your desired measurement (I made 1 1/2 inch squares).  Serve by dusting with powdered sugar, or refrigerate to serve later.  Use the powdered sugar only just before serving.
7. The squares can be refrigerated or frozen to be eaten at a later date.

Now I remember my Mom’s friend Judy had a bar with a walnut based crust.

Cheese Cake Layer Cookies

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—–CRUST—–

1/3  cup  Butter

1/3  cup  Light brown sugar, firmly packed

1     cup  Flour, sifted

1/2  cup  Walnuts, finely chopped

—–FILLING—–

1/4  cup    Sugar

8     oz      Cream cheese

1     large  Egg

2     Tbs    Milk

1     Tbs    Lemon juice

1/2  tsp     Vanilla extract

Procedure

1   Crust: Cream butter, then add sugar and mix well. Add flour and walnuts and mix well. Reserve 1 cup of mixture for topping. Press remainder in 8x8x2″ pan and bake 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool, then proceed with filling.

2   Filling: Blend sugar and cream cheese until smooth then add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Spread cheese filling over baked crust. Top with crust mixture remnant, and bake in 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Cool and cut into 2 inch squares.

Servings: 20

Preparation Time: 1 hour

Recipe Type

Cheese, Cookies, Desserts, American

Source

Author: Judy Trybek (friend of Steve’s Mom)

So, a traditional shortbread is 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter and 3 parts flour. Lisa’s crust is not a true shortbread as it has a disproportionate amount of butter, which in my view is not a bad thing (100 grams sugars, 284 grams butter, and 300 grams flour). To make Lisa’s recipe more pecan evident, I think I will try 100 grams finely ground pecans and 200 grams AP flour the next time I make these lemon bars, leaving the rest of the crust unchanged. I’ll update this post with the results.

My favorite side dish, a variation of the famous Chicago Berghoff Restaurant’s Creamed Spinach

I love creamed spinach.  Unlike most kids, I like spinach, but I really loved creamed spinach, although we never made it at home growing up.

As a child, my parents frequently took us to the Berghoff restaurant in downtown Chicago, and no matter what entrée I had, I always had the creamed spinach as a side dish.  The recipe for the creamed spinach was often requested, but the restaurant never gave out its closely guarded secret.  I was always on the lookout for a substitute, but I never found a recipe that compared.  There were some close seconds, like the creamed spinach at Wildfire in Lincolnshire, or Ruth’s Chris steakhouse or Gulliver’s restaurant in Southern California, but the gold standard was still the Berghoff’s.  Over the years, I found a bunch of different recipes for creamed spinach, and I created a recipe that I thought came close to reproducing the Berghoff recipe by a lot of experimentation.

 For a short time in 2006, the Berghoff closed, and the Chicago Tribune tried again to get the restaurant to reveal its secret recipe for the vegetarian side dish.  They refused and this made me unhappy, but the owners said the restaurant was going to print a cookbook with many of its famous recipes in it in 2007 but did not promise the spinach recipe.  The restaurant decided to reopen, but I was very surprised that when the Berghoff Cookbook did come out in 2007, it did contain the real recipe for their creamed spinach.  Over the years, the recipe had changed as it originally had finely ground bacon in it, and this was removed to accommodate health concerns but the recipe was otherwise completely there.

 My variation restores the use of bacon, but as an optional garnish, and I fry some crispy shallots as a 2nd garnish.  In any event, I will share my version of the iconic creamed spinach and I hope that you will love it as much as I do.

Berghoff (Chicago) creamed spinach

• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

2 cups half and half 1 cup whole milk 1 1/2 tsp chicken base, or 1 cube chicken bouillon 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce 1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp granulated garlic, (see note) 1/4 tsp celery salt 4 Tbs unsalted butter (1/2 stick) 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3 packages frozen chopped spinach, 10 ounces each, thawed and squeezed dry (2 1/2 cups) as needed salt as needed freshly ground white pepper as garnish Ground nutmeg as garnish cooked crispy crumbled bacon Directions In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the half and half, milk, chicken base, tabasco and seasonings to a simmer. Remove from the heat and keep warm. In another medium-sized saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk well to combine. Cook this mixture to 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often to create a golden light brown roux.  Slowly whisk the heated milk mixture into the butter mixture, a little at a time, whisking constantly until smooth. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until it thickens. The sauce will be very thick. Stir in the spinach and simmer for 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings. Serve while hot. To serve: Place the hot creamed spinach in a bowl, sprinkled with an extra touch of ground nutmeg on top. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon of crisp, cooked, crumbled bacon, if desired. Note:  Granulated garlic is dried granular garlic, not the same as dried minced, dried chopped or garlic powder. It has the best flavor of all the dried garlic products, in our opinion. Some supermarkets carry it in the gourmet spice section, and it’s available from spice shops. Variation: To make the recipe with fresh spinach, you will need 4 bags of 10 ounce fresh spinach, trimmed, washed, not baby spinach. Working in four batches, wash one bagful of spinach at a time in a basin of cold water. Drain in a colander. Place the batch in a 6-quart pot over high heat, over, and steam. While the spinach is steaming, repeat the process with the other 3 bags, putting each on top of the spinach in the pot (it will shrink down considerably). Cover and steam until the spinach is wilted and cooked. Drain in a large colander. Press down on the spinach with a spatula to extract as much water as possible. Transfer the spinach to a cutting board and chop finely. Line the colander with a lint-free clean kitchen towel. Put in the chopped spinach, bring up the ends of the towel, and, as soon as it’s cool enough to handle, twist the towel to form a sack and squeeze dry. You should have 2 1/2 cups of cooked, chopped, squeezed spinach. Stir the spinach into the cream mixture and simmer for 5 minutes. Adjust the seasonings. Serve hot. Servings: 8 Steve’s comments– Be careful with the nutmeg as a little too much overpowers the dish. In a skillet, fry up 3 to 4 pieces of bacon, turning frequently until crisp.  Remove the cooked bacon.  Thinly slice 1 to 2 shallots, toss the slices in flour, and fry the shallots in the bacon fat (be careful not to burn the shallots).  Crumb the bacon and use the bacon bits and fried shallots as a garnish. If using frozen spinach, one can take the spinach directly from frozen and add a package at a time to the thickened sauce.  The water in the frozen spinach will cook off, and you can avoid the necessity of squeezing out the water (just keep stirring the spinach to melt into the sauce and evaporate its water.  Since most of the frozen spinach now is in 8 ounce packages, I use 4 of them. If there is any interest, I have a bunch more creamed spinach recipes, but I think this is the best by far.  Enjoy!

Posted in side dish, vegetables | Tagged Berghoff restaurant, best recipe, creamed spinach, iconic, side dish, vegetable | 4 Comments

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