Remembering my Dad

I'm remembering my Dad today. Remembering the hugs and the "I love yous."

Missing him always but especially on this day, his 20th yahrzeit.

This was one of his favorite desserts.

william vail's favorite Apple Brown Betty

•  4-5 pie apples such as Granny Smiths, Rhode Island Greenings or Golden Delicious
• 1-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 cups diced homestyle white bread
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel the apples and remove the cores. Cut the apples into bite sized pieces. Pour the lemon juice over the apples and place them in a baking dish. Combine the bread dice, brown sugar, melted butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl. Toss the ingredients to distribute the ingredients evenly. Place the bread mixture on top of the apples. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and crusty. Let cool slightly, but best when served warm.

Makes 4 servings

The Birthday Dinner Dilemma

It's my daughter Gillian's birthday today. A round numbered one. And she asked if, instead of going out to dinner at some fancy shmancy joint to celebrate, whether I would make a special dinner at home.

Of course!

With the fancy shmancy china and silverware and different size wine glasses for different wines for different courses.

Of course!

So, okay, I have the china and silverware and wine glasses. All I have to do there is make sure I have candles for the candlesticks, iron the napkins, fill the salt cellars, set the table and so on. Ed will take care of the wine.

It's all good.

BUT WHAT SHOULD I COOK?

Something new and glamorous? Fancy shmancy?

Or old favorites like Pearly Meatballs? Fried Chicken Wings? Sticky Spicy Chicken Wings? with pre-dinner cocktails.

Should I make a soup? Like Beet Soup with Orange and Mint (even the name sounds fancy doesn't it?).

For the main course I'm thinking maybe lamb. Everyone in the family eats that. But she really does like turkey. Unfortunately turkey is not the universal family favorite, so maybe no? Plus -- Gillian is our family carver, so could I really ask her to do all that slicing and deboning for her birthday dinner?

Another dilemma is that Gillian is not such a big dessert person. Or at least what people consider the usual kinds of dessert. This dessert thing would be easy if the birthday person was my son-in-law Greg. He likes chocolate cake.

Ed would always welcome chef Raymond Oliver's Normandy Ice Cream (coffee with Grand Marnier).

For me, birthday dessert is always apple pie. 

We are celebrating in a few weeks, so I have some time to finalize the menu plus make sure I buy those candles. 

If anyone has suggestions -- I am all ears.

In the meantime, should I also make some candy? Like chocolate dipped dried fruit?

Chocolate Dipped Dried Fruit

• 2-1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons orange-flavored brandy or rum
• 50 pieces (approximately) dried fruit such as crystallized ginger, apricot halves, candied orange peel (about 6 ounces)

Melt the semisweet chocolate, unsweetened chocolate and butter in the top part of a double boiler over barely simmering water. Let the ingredients melt, remove the top part of the pan from the heat, pour in the brandy and stir to make a smooth, uniform mixture. Dip each piece of fruit in the chocolate mixture, shake off the excess and place on waxed paper or parchment paper to dry.

Makes approximately 50 pieces

Nectarine or Peach Crisp

Peach Crisp

Autumn may be here, officially speaking. But I couldn't resist the gorgeous nectarines at a local market. I bought a dozen. Large. 

I let them ripen for two days on my counter and they had that end-of-summer ripe, sweet perfume. I couldn't wait to polish one off, anticipating the juicy flesh on my tongue, savoring the last essences of summer.

They were mealy. Dry. Huge disappointment.

But I hate to throw food out.

Ed wanted me to poach them. It seemed like a good idea because poaching not-so-good fruit can enhance their flavor.

They were so big that before poaching I decided to cut them in half, remove the pits and poach the halves. But when I cut them they were full of brown spots. Beyond poaching.

Huge disappointment. But I hate to throw food out.

So I cut around the brown spots and from 12 large nectarines had enough flesh to make a crisp for 6 people. 

Now, that was not at all disappointing. In fact it was just perfect. I added just a bit of honey and enough lemon juice to bring out the best of what was left of these nectarines.

Here's the recipe, for when you have not-so-good peaches or nectarines (you could make this crisp with pears too), and I bet it would be especially delicious if your fruit started out wonderful too.

Peach/Nectarine Crisp with Oat Crust

Crust:

• 3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter (or substitute)

Filling:

• 6 large peaches or nectarines
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add the butter and work it into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside. Peel the peaches and discard the pits. Slice the peaches into a bowl. Add the flour, honey and lemon juice and toss the ingredients. Place the mixture in the baking dish. Scatter the oat mixture on top of the fruit. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Makes 6 servings

Easier Than Pie Fruit Galette

If you're ever in need of a recipe for a gorgeous, fabulous tasting dessert that looks as if you fussed to create a culinary artistic masterpiece when it really was one of the easiest desserts you ever made -- here it is.

Plum galette.

Even the name is fancy. But this one is a cinch to make and guaranteed to please.

President (Empress, Italian-prune) plums are coming to the end of their season, so get them while you can. Use them for lots of recipes, like Plum Tart or  or Clove and Lemongrass Poached Plums.

Or for this easy puff pastry tart. It's a lovely dessert for family, company, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Shabbat or any old time.

Plum Galette with Orange and Rosemary

(If you can’t find frozen dough pastry squares in the frozen section of your supermarket, buy regular puff pastry sheets and cut the sheets into squares.)

• 6 puff pastry squares (4-inch)
• 3 peaches or 6 President or Empress (or about 8 Italian prune) plums, cut into wedges (about one pound)
• 3-4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh orange peel
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the pastry squares on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Prick the dough in a few places. Arrange equal amounts of the fruit on top of each square, leaving a border of 1/2-inch. Mix the sugar, orange peel and rosemary. Sprinkle equal amounts of the sugar mixture on top of the fruit (using the extra sugar if you have a real sweet tooth). Pinch the dough border to make it slightly higher and closer to the fruit. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 6 servings

Banana Spice Cake

Break-the-Fast desserts aren't typically gooey or loaded with sugar or dripping with icing. This is the time for lighter treats. Babka and Zimsterne cookies rather than chocolate cake with caramel sauce. 

So I made banana cake for the upcoming holiday.

To go with the rugelach, mandel bread and butter cookies. 

This version is moist and gently spicy to give it a hint of autumn. It's also rich and sweet without being heavy and cloying.

Freezable too. 

Banana Yogurt Spice Cake

• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the pan
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 very ripe medium bananas, mashed
• 1 cup plain yogurt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a (10-inch) 8-cup bundt pan. Mix the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves together in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed, beat the sugar and eggs for 2-3 minutes or until well blended. Add the vegetable oil and vanilla extract and beat for one minute or until thoroughly blended. Add the bananas and yogurt and mix for 1-2 minutes. Add the flour mixture and mix until the batter is thoroughly blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove to a cake rack to cool completely.

Makes 12-16 servings

Our Favorite Cookies

Aunt Fanny's Cookies

It wouldn't be my house if there weren't some of these in the freezer for the holidays. During Rosh Hashanah and of course, for my Break-the-Fast. These are my Mom's famous butter cookies. They are probably the most-loved, most-baked cookies in my (and once, my Mom's) repertoire.

When I was growing up I didn't know they were butter cookies because my Mom made them with shortening. After I got interested in cooking I asked her why she called them butter cookies and she explained that during WWII she couldn't get butter, but everyone wanted the cookies, and so -- 

We tried them with real butter and never looked back. Except for when I need something dairy-free, and then, of course, I go back to the shortening. These cookies are fabulous, either way, though, to confess, I like the butter ones much better.

Here they are, fresh from the oven.

In our family we never actually called them butter cookies, not because of the shortening but because the recipe came from my father's Aunt Fanny. So everyone in the family called them Fanny's (recipe), which is scrawled out as "Fannies" in all the old family recipe collections.

I don't know if anyone in my family is named for Aunt Fanny, but these cookies give her kind of the same immortality.

Fannies

• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, cut into chunks (or one cup cold shortening)

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 large egg yolks

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• lekvar, jam, nut butter, etc.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat them in an electric mixer set at medium speed for about 1 minute, or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the flour and mix another 1-2 minutes, or until the ingredients are almost blended. Add the egg yolks, salt and vanilla extract. Mix the ingredients 1-2 minutes, or until a uniform dough forms. Scoop pieces of dough and shape them into balls about 1" in diameter. Flatten the balls between your palms. Press each circle with your thumb to make an indentation in the center. Place the cookies on a cookie sheet, leaving an inch of space between them. Fill the thumb print spaces with a small amount of lekvar, jam, etc. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown. You can freeze these cookies for 6 months.

Makes about 60

S'mores for all Seasons

S'mores Chocolate Chip Cookies

Summer may be almost over and with it the picnics and going to the beach.

And s'mores over the campfire.

But I had this eureka moment the other day when I thought about incorporating the s'mores ingredients into a chocolate chip cookie. 

I made several versions, some stacked, some stuffed, some with cut up marshmallows, some with shaved chocolate.

But they were all too thick, too soft, too just not right.

This one is exactly what I had hoped: crispy, chocolate-y, marshmallow-y and just the right amount of graham cracker crumbs to give it extra sweetness and a gorgeous golden glow.

S'mores Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces chocolate chips
• 1 cup mini-marshmallows 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Beat the butter, coconut oil, brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and well blended. Add the eggs and beat the mixture until well blended. Add the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, baking powder and salt and blend them in thoroughly. Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough and place each scoop on the cookie sheet, leaving room for the cookies to spread. Tuck the marshmallows beneath the dough as much as possible. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Makes about 48 cookies

Banana Bread with Blueberries

When I saw purple prune plums for sale last week I realized that summer is almost over. This plum variety is usually a September fruit but everything seems to be growing earlier or quicker this year or maybe it's just that I'm growing older and life is flying by faster.

Fortunately the peaches are still lush and sweet, the tomatoes juicy, so there's that.

But fall is coming and alas, the blueberries are past prime. I bought a couple of pint boxes and found that their up-to-now summer flavor has faded.

I decided the leftovers were best used as a secondary player, not the star. And at that they were perfect.

 

Banana Bread with Blueberries

• 2-½ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the pan
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 very ripe medium bananas, mashed
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a (10-inch) 8-cup bundt pan. Mix the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and lemon peel together in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed, beat the sugar and eggs for 2-3 minutes or until well blended. Add the vegetable oil and vanilla extract and beat for one minute or until thoroughly blended. Add the bananas and yogurt and beat them in. Add the flour mixture and beat until the batter is well blended. Fold in the blueberries. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove to a cake rack to cool completely.

Makes one bread, serving 12-16

Honey Poached Plums

When my kids come for a few days I buy a ton of fruit. And then usually have to shop again during the visit to get more, because there's none left. 

When my kids don't come I buy much less fruit but never run out of it. In fact, the fruit I buy frequently sits there in the fruit bowl, washed and waiting. Then gets too soft for actually eating out of hand and winds up in a banana bread or cold, summer fruit soup or some other recipe that works well when fruit is past its prime.

Like these plums. They looked so good when I bought them. Alas, they were not as compelling this week as the chocolate covered cherries or the chocolate covered almonds or the NoMoo Cookies I bought.

However -- when I poached them in a little honey, added a few cardamom pods and some orange peel, well, then the plums seemed more like real dessert and therefore more welcome. Especially when drizzled with boiled down poaching juices and accompanied by yogurt (plain, mixed with some of those boiled down juices) and chopped, roasted almonds.

So the fruit did get eaten after all. No leftovers.

Honey Poached Plums with Yogurt and Roasted Almonds

• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 cups water
• 12 slightly crushed cardamom pods (or use 2" cinnamon stick)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh orange peel
• 6 large plums
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 to 2 cups plain or vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds

Place the honey, water, cardamom pods and orange peel in a saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Wash the plums, cut them in half and remove the pit if possible (if not it will be easy to remove after poaching). Place the plum halves in the poaching liquid. Mix in the vanilla extract. Let rest until the liquid cools, at least 2 hours. Remove the plums and set them aside. Bring the poaching liquid to a boil over high heat and cook for 4-5 minutes or until thickened to the consistency of maple syrup. Let cool. Place 2 plum halves per person on dessert plates. Mix a small amount of the boiled down liquid into the yogurt and spoon some of the yogurt next to the plum halves. Drizzle the plums with the remaining poaching liquid. Scatter the nuts on top of the plums and yogurt.

Makes 6 servings

Variations on a Recipe Theme

Lois Held, a colleague of mine in the food business, posted a recipe for Sour Cream Plum Cake on Facebook the other day. The photo of the cake looked so fabulous that I couldn't wait to try it.

So I did. Except I didn't have all the ingredients, so I varied it a little and it came out just fine -- as fabulous to eat as her photo looked. My cake may not be as gorgeous as hers because as I took it out of the oven to cool on the rack, I dropped it -- fortunately I was able to catch it, although a hunk or two came off. I patched it together for the photo.

Thanks here to Burn jel for that marvelous stuff that's now on the burns on my hands.

The cake has a light, soft and fluffy texture. Not overly sweet taste. Perfect for a post-dairy or fish dinner.

And hey! It's National Cherry Day, so there's an extra reason to bake this one.

 

SOUR CREAM CHERRY CAKE

• 1-1/2 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 3/4 cup sugar, divided (1/2 and 1/4)
• 2 Tablespoons orange flavored brandy
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel
• 2 cups halved, fresh cherries
• Powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch spring form pan. Combine the sifted cake flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. Beat the cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium for about 2 minutes, or until softened and fluffy. Add the sour cream and beat for a minute or until thoroughly blended in. Transfer the cream cheese mixture to a regular mixing bowl. Wash the mixer bowl, add the egg yolks and 1/2 cup of the sugar and beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until thick and pale. Add the cream cheese mixture, brandy and orange peel and beat at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until blended. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a whisk attachment, starting at medium speed, then gradually increasing to high speed for 1-2 minutes or until foamy. Add remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Fold the flour mixture into the cream cheese/egg mixture. Fold in the beaten egg whites. Pour the batter into the prepared spring form pan. Scatter the cherries on top of batter.

Bake for 45-60 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a cake rack for 5 minutes. Remove the sides of the pan. Just before serving, sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 8-10 servings

NOTE: can add grated lemon rind if desired. Or use vanilla extract. Or both.