Walnut and Dry Fruit [Freezer] Coffee Cake

When I started writing this I was at a loss as to how to accurately describe this wonderful Walnut and Dry Fruit Coffee Cake. I always have one of these cakes in my freezer, yes the freezer! I make a batch using small silicon loaf pans or small aluminium pans, freeze them and then simply thinly "slice" when I have unexpected guests or I feel like a quick taste of something sweet and chewy. If you don't have walnuts around you can use pecans or a mix of walnuts and pecans. I didn't have light raisins at home so I used only dark raisins, you can use some dried cranberries also. The important thing to remember is to keep the total amount of dry fruits the same so the cake has a nice balance of textures and colors. This is a freezer cake that is certainly worth having around.

[Super easy]
Preparation time:

(if you have all the ingredients) 10 minutes + 50 minutes baking time

Grease 3 long aluminum (disposable) loaf pans or 7 small loaf pans (see picture below)

Dark raisins, cake flour, walnuts, chocolate chips, sliced dry apricots, eggs, sugar and in the center cinnamon, salt and vanilla sugar

Ingredients

6 eggs

18 tablespoons (a bit less than 1½ cups) of sugar

450 grams (about 4½ cups) of walnuts and/or pecans (slightly broken)
120 grams (about ¾ cup) of light raisins (light)

80 grams (½ cup) dark raisins [note: I only used dark raisins]

100 grams (a bit less than 1 cup) dried apricots (diced or sliced)

300 grams (about 1½ cups) chocolate chips

18 tablespoons (a bit less than 1½ cups) cake flour plus a pinch of salt
Optional: ADD  about 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar

Preparation

In a VERY large bowl:

u Mix eggs and sugar until well blended (by hand)

u Mix together the nuts, raisins, chocolate chips (in a separate smaller bowl)

u Add the nuts, raisins, chocolate chips to the egg and sugar mixture

The dry apricots, raisins, walnuts and chocolate chips are coated with 

 the egg, sugar, cinnamon, salt and vanilla sugar mixture - 

the mixture will look glossy and a bit bubbly

u Mix until well coated.

u Add the flour to the wet mixture

Don't be afraid to add the flour to the wet mixture! 

u Mix all the ingredients until well-coated with flour

Coated with flour the ingredients look pasty 

u Divide the mixture into the prepared pans (I usually don’t grease my pans)
u Gently drop the pans on the counter this helps the mixture to settle into the pan 

Before baking 

u Bake at 150°C for 40 or 50 minutes, depending on the size of the pans

      – test with toothpick – it should come out almost dry but not too dry

After baking 

u Cool the cakes completely - cakes may look dry but they are not

u Place your aluminum pans with cake directly into freezer bags

u Remove cakes from silicon pans; put the cakes directly into freezer bags

u Freeze overnight 
u Do NOT defrost before slicing!

u To serve slice VERY THIN SLICES (see below)
     [I suggest using a strong sharp knife or cleaver]

  Thin slices - about 1/4 inch thick

          Lovely nuts and dry fruit                   

It's nice to be back - I am looking forward to hearing about your success with this coffee cake and to hearing your comments and suggestions at capricorncooks@gmail.com 

Potatoes Baked in Olive Oil with Za'atar

This recipe is dedicated to my vegetarian nieces (and friends). I started writing this last week but I had second thoughts because this is so easy to make. This is the kind of recipe that has a number steps but in-between each step you are free to do something else. I often make this when I am having a large dinner party – the potatoes can be parboiled the night before and stored in the refrigerator. 

[Rating – easy]

Preparation time: 

10 minutes to peel and cube the potatoes

12-15 minutes to parboil the potatoes

35-45 minutes in the oven (depending on how crispy you like the outside)

(Left to right)
 Kosher Salt, Peeled Potatoes, coarse Black Pepper,
Olive Oil and  Za'atar

Ingredients: 

3-4 white potatoes peeled and cubed

Olive Oil – about ¼ cup – or enough to coat the potatoes

Za’atar* (I am referring commercial Za’atar here)

Kosher Salt and Coarse Ground Black Pepper

Preparation: 

• Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes
• Fill a medium size pot with slightly salted water
• Add the cubed potatoes and bring the water to a boil (don’t cover the pot all the way because the water will bubble over) 

Cubed Potatoes in a pot of water

• Boil for about 10-12 minutes
• You can tell the potatoes are parboiled because when you poke them with a fork they will still feel firm
• Remove and drain the potatoes

Potatoes draining

• Place them in a baking dish

Potatoes in a baking dish*
(this can be made in a toaster oven if you use a metal pan)

• Add enough Olive Oil to coat the potatoes (gently mix the potatoes to coat)
• Generously sprinkle with Za’atar – use as much or as little as you like
• Season with Kosher Salt and Coarse Black Pepper
• Bake 35-45 minutes in a medium-hot oven until the potatoes begin to brown on the outside. [Mix once or twice to make sure all the potatoes get crispy] 

Potatoes Baked in Olive Oil with Za'atar
(notice the nice crispy edges!!!)

These are really finger licking good!!!

Note: 

--This recipe can be doubled and tripled according to the number of people you are feeding, just use a larger baking dish and increase your additions accordingly. 

--The potatoes tend to shrink when they are baked so don't hesitate to fill the baking dish. 

____________________

*Za'atar (Arabic: زَعْتَر‎ za‘tar, also Romanized zaatar, za'tar, zatar, zatr, zattr, zahatar, zaktar or satar). Za'atar is both a family of herbs and an herb, Thymbra spicata, with a slight minty tendency, in the marjoram/oregano family. Commercial Za’atar is mixed with sesame seeds, dried sumac, thyme and often salt, as well as other spices. It is frequently used in Middle Eastern cuisine as both an herb and a spice mixture.

Grandma Bertha's Latkes

I remember sitting at my Grandma Bertha's kitchen table and watching her grate the potatoes, onions and carrots by hand. I love the simplicity of this recipe - no flour, no baking soda or fancy seasonings - just simple basic ingredients.

[Rating – easy]

[Serves – This makes about 12-16 Latkes depending on the size]

You will need a food processor or a hand vegetable grater.

Preparation time: 

15 minutes – to peel the potatoes (place them in a bowl of cold water so they don’t turn brown), carrots and onion.

15-25 minutes to fry the Latkes, depending the how many you make

Ingredients:  

3 medium sized potatoes (peeled)

2 carrots (peeled)

1 large onion

3 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ to ½ cup Canola Oil for frying

 Eggs, onion, carrots and potatoes

Preparation: 

• Use the small grating blade on your food processor
• Add the carrots, potatoes and onion until everything is grated (processed)

Onion, carrots and potatoes - processed

• As you take the mix out of the processor – give a squeeze to remove any liquid - also check for large pieces of carrot, onion or potato that were not processed 
• Place the squeezed mixture into a medium size mixing bowl
• Add the eggs
• Add salt and black pepper to taste

Onion, carrots and potatoes - with eggs, salt and black pepper

• Mix everything together

Onion, carrots, potatoes, and egg - mixed together

• In a large frying pan – add about half the oil – heat the pan
• Drop a small tendril into the oil to see if it is hot enough - it should sizzle
• Drop 4 spoonfuls into the hot oil
• [There will be little tendrils of potato escaping from your Latkes they will NOT be perfectly shaped]

Latkes frying

• Fry about 4 to 6 minutes on each side.
• Remove and drain on paper towels
• Continue until all the mix is fried.
• Latkes can be kept warm in the oven.

Latkes 

Serve with:

Cold applesauce; Sugar and cinnamon; Sour cream or yogurt.

[Add chopped chives to the sour cream or yogurt]

Additional Options:

You could substitute sweet potato for white potato - but is that really a "Latke"?

You could add grated nutmeg or chopped garlic or chopped parsley or chopped mint - but is that really a "Latke"?

Send me your favorite Latke recipe and your comments to: capricorncooks@gmail.com.

Happly holiday!!!

Quick Left-Over Dinner #1 - Trout and Mushrooms with Pasta in Cream Sauce

I was not planning on blogging this meal but it was too easy to prepare and it tasted too good not to share – so here goes. I used what I had at home. As you can see - everything came out of a container or the freezer.

Left-Over Trout 

[Rating – very easy]

[Serves – 4 ]

Preparation time: 

15 minutes if you heat everything up [this includes the 5 minutes you need to pull things out of the frig]

[20 minutes if you need to cook the pasta]

Ingredients:  

About 150 grams of curly pasta or any left over pasta (2 to 3 cups cooked pasta)

4 pieces of left-over trout or any cooked fish – broken into pieces

7 cherry tomatoes cut in half (that's all I had in the house!! you can use more)

A handful of frozen green beans

A handful of frozen peas

1 cup left-over braised mushrooms (½ can of sliced mushrooms or more)

1 generous tablespoon chopped garlic 

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 cup (250 mil) cooking cream (10% fat)

¼ to ½ cup of grated Pecorino or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (depends on what you have around)

Optional – pesto sauce 

Frozen pesto

Pesto (30 seconds in the microwave)

Preparation: 

·        Cook the pasta as directed – drain and set aside

In a large frying pan:

·        Add peas

·        Add green beans

·        Add mushrooms

·        Tablespoon of garlic

·        Gently stirring together just until they heat up and thaw out

Mushrooms, frozen peas and green beans

·        Add the fish (broken into bite-sized bits)

Trout fillets crumbled

·        Add the cherry tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes cut in half

·        Stir together

·        Add the pasta into the mixture – mix well

·        Pour the cream over everything

·        Add the black pepper

·        Stir everything together until the cream begins to bubble

·        Add grated cheese and sprinkle with kosher salt to taste

The Transformation of the Left-Over ingredients!!!

From the frying pan onto the table.

Trout and Mushrooms with Pasta in a Cream Sauce

Of course you could bump this up by serving a green salad, garlic bread and a glass of red wine!!! We added a bit of pesto sauce from the freezer (see Sept 16 2011 blog) - which gave this left-over meal an added kick. 

Needless to say there were no left-overs!!!

Next week – Grandma Bertha’s Latkahs - Enjoy!!! 

Pasta and Broccoli in Olive Oil with Anchovies and Almonds

This recipe comes with a story. About a year ago an Australian Chef was cooking on a television cooking show. He was making Pasta with Broccoli in Olive Oil. What caught my eye was the fact that he added a few anchovies to the olive oil and sort of let them melt into the oil. He swore the anchovies would not overpower the taste of the sauce but would add richness and depth to the Broccoli and Olive Oil. To make a long story short – my oldest daughter and her boyfriend were joining us for dinner and that seemed to be a perfect time to try this recipe. Needless to say it was a great success, served it with garlic bread and a simple green salad and it has been a favorite meal ever since. By the way, the original recipe had zucchini and additional herbs. This recipe is quick and simple. 

HINT: up until about 2 months ago I always discarded the thick broccoli stems, found out one day that my youngest daughter and my youngest sister both loved the stems – so now they are peeled, sliced or chopped and used.

[Rating - easy]
[Servings: 4 servings as a main course or 6 servings as a side dish]
Preparation time:
15 minutes to cut and chop. 20 minutes to cook.

Ingredients:

Half package of spaghetti or any long pasta [of course, you can use any type of pasta you prefer, I like to stab a piece of broccoli and then wind the pasta around my fork]

1 medium size head of broccoli (about 2½ cups of florets and about 1 cup stem, peeled, and cut into small pieces)

2½ cups of Broccoli florets

1 cup broccoli of stems - trimmed and chopped 

4-6 cloves of garlic - sliced

4-6 tablespoons Olive oil

1 tablespoon of Chili flavored oil (optional)

2-4 small anchovies

2-3 tablespoons of almonds slivers

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Kosher salt

Grated Parmesan Reggio or Peccorino Cheese

(top) salt and black pepper; olive oil; anchovies and chili oil; sliced garlic(bottom) Pasta

Preparation:

·  Cook the pasta as directed [cook until al dente]

·  Gently melt the anchovies in the oil [see below]

Olive Oil - anchovies just added

Olive Oil with melting anchovies

· Add the garlic and the broccoli stems

· Stir occasionally for about 5 to 8 minutes until they begin to soften

·  Add the broccoli florets

·  When broccoli starts to soften
·  Add the black pepper and the slivered almonds 

Almonds slivers

·   Stir together for about 10 minutes 
  [or until the broccoli florets start to soften]

·   Add the pasta into the pan with the broccoli mixture – mix well

·   Place on serving dish

Almost ready

 ·  Generously add grated cheese and sprinkle with kosher salt to taste

Grate this over the Pasta and Broccoli for the finishing touch
{Thank you Peter and Loredana for this thoughtful gift}

Pasta and Broccoli in Olive Oil with Anchovies and Almonds

Serve with a simple green salad and garlic bread.

Note: a few grains of kosher salt enhances the flavors without making this dish too salty; the almonds give the recipe a bit of a crunch; the chili flavored oil adds a whisper of a tang while the anchovies add depth to the sauce – without overpowering the flavor of the Broccoli. If you are lactose intolerant then leave out the cheese and add a few more grains of kosher salt.