Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp

There are so many senses that bring back memories: sights, smells, tastes. Seasons bring back memories for me too. When the weather gets warm I immeditately think back to the summers of my childhood on Martha’s Vineyard.

Unfortunately, I have to work during the summer now and I don’t have long sunny days filled with going to the beach, running around outside, and farmer’s markets. But even so, as soon as I walk out of the office and the warm breeze hits my face, it brings me that feeling of calm and happiness that I used to feel back in my carefree Vineyard days.

Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp

There were certain recipes that, for some reason, we only made during these summers. Maybe it’s because they’re warm weather foods, but maybe it’s because we wanted them to be forever associated with our wonderful summers.

Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp

So as soon as the temperatures reach the 70s and the air gets sticky and hot, I bring out my mom’s recipe boxes and pull out our usual summer rotation of recipes: Brad’s Salsa, Michigan Blueberry Pie (I’ll have to make that soon and post it!), and especially her Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp- the epitome of a summer dessert.

Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp

This dessert is best served with a hefty scoop of vanilla ice cream that melts into it. There’s really no better way to end a warm weather meal! When I take a bit of this and close my eyes, I’m instantly transported to our deck in Martha’s Vineyard, bathing suit still damp, covered in sand, sleepy from a long day in the sun and a belly full my mom’s best summer recipes.

Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp

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Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

4 cups sliced rhubarb
4 cups whole, stemmed strawberries
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups flour, separated
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup regular oats
3/4 cup chopped nuts (any kind)
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold, in small pieces

Preheat oven to 275. Butter a baking/casserole dish (9×13 is fine).

Combine fruits, sugar, 1/3 cup flour, cinnamon. Put in dish.

Combine 1 cup flour and rest of ingredients with fingers until crumbs form. Sprinkle over fruit.

Bake 35-45 minutes.

Honey White Challah

I’ve been so busy lately that the Daring Bakers completely slipped my mind and I hadn’t done it for a couple months. I finally remembered to check on this month’s challenge and was super excited when i saw it was challah!

The braided challah, which is made with eggs, is the Jewish Sabbath‑and‑holiday bread. It is surrounded by folklore and tradition and loaded with symbolism. On festive occasions a blessing is said over two loaves, symbolizing the two portions of the manna that was distributed on Fridays to the children of Israel during their Exodus from Egypt.

Honey White Challah

Challah is made in various sizes and shapes, all of which have a meaning. Braided ones, which may have three, four, or six strands, are the most common, and because they look like arms intertwined, symbolize love. Three braids symbolize truth, peace, and justice. Twelve humps from two small or one large braided bread recall the miracle of the 12 loaves for the 12 tribes of Israel. Round loaves, “where there is no beginning and no end,” are baked for Rosh Hashanah to symbolize continuity. Sweet challahs with honey or raisins are baked during the festive season to bring joy and happiness.

The name “challah” is derived from the Hebrew word used for “portion” in the Biblical commandment “of the first of your dough you shall give unto the Lord a portion for a gift throughout your generations.” Jews were biblically commanded to separate from their doughs one twenty‑fourth and give it to the kohanim (priests) every Sabbath. (source)

 Honey White Challah

Honestly, I didn’t really know (or remember) the significance of challah although I’m sure I was taught it in Hebrew School.

I’ve actually made Challah before but was really excited to give it another shot. Since Nate likes bread with his dinner on a daily basis, I knew it wouldn’t go to waste.

While Nate was in California last weekend, I whipped up some of the dough and let it rise in between my wedding crafts (i made our cake topper!). It was super easy, and having the first rise in the fridge overnight was a huge time saver.

Honey White Challah

The Challah recipe I used was a honey white version and it came out just slightly sweet and as doughy and delicious as my favorite grocery store version. If you live near Shoprite supermarkets, they happen to have the absolute best challah. Anyway, this was pretty darn close!

I should have added raisins but couldn’t be bothered at the time. Luckily it wasn’t dry at all and was able to hold up on its own.

Blog-checking lines: May’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge was pretty twisted – Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to make challah! Using recipes from all over, and tips from “A Taste of Challah,” by Tamar Ansh, she encouraged us to bake beautifully braided breads.

Honey White Challah

Honey White Challah

From Tammy’s Recipes

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makes 2 gigantic loaves

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups (360 ml) warm water, separated
1 Tbsp. (15 ml) (15 gm/½ oz sugar
2 Tbsp. (2-2/3 packets) (30 ml) (18 gm) (2/3 oz) dry active yeast
½ cup (120 ml) honey
1 Tbsp. (15 ml) oil (light colored vegetable oil, or olive oil if you prefer)
4 large eggs
1 ½ tsp. 7½ ml) (9 gm) (1/3 oz) salt
5 cups (1200 ml) (700 gm/25 oz) all-purpose (plain) flour, plus more as needed (up to 8 or 9 cups total)
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp. water

In mixer bowl/large mixing bowl combine ½ cup warm water, 1 Tbsp. sugar and 2 Tbsp. yeast. Allow to proof approximately 5 minutes until foamy.

To the yeast mixture add the remaining water, honey, oil, eggs, salt and 5 cups of flour. Knead (by hand or with your mixer’s dough hook) until smooth, adding flour as needed. Knead for approximately 10 minutes.

Transfer dough to a clean, oiled bowl, turn to coat or add a bit more oil on top. Cover bowl with a kitchen/tea towel. Leave to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 ½ hours (**optionally you can have the first rise in the fridge overnight, which is what I did to save time. The next morning, remove from fridge and allow to come to room temp then move on to next step).

Punch down the dough, divide it into two sections. Use one half to make each loaf (shaped or braided as desired).

Place loaves on parchment lined or greased baking sheets, cover with a towel, allow to rise 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Brush tops loaves with egg wash. (Sprinkle with seeds or toppings here if wanted.)

Bake loaves 30-40 minutes until done.

Cool on wire racks.

Storage & Freezing Instructions/Tips:
Once cooled, challah loaves which will not be eaten right away (or in the next couple of days) should be bagged in heavy duty freezer bags. Remove excess air from the bag before securing it tightly (tying a knot or using tape). Put the bagged loaf/loaves into the freezer as soon as possible to ensure fresh taste; frozen challah will keep approximately three months.

chocolate souffle

Pardon the iphone pics…

Nate went to California this weekend with his mom, to visit his brother who lives there. I wish I could have gone but I hate having to take a red eye and having such a long flight for such a short trip.

I knew that I should spend the weekend doing some wedding-related projects, but I also decided to sign up for a souffle baking class! I’ve made a chocolate souffle before but I figured I could use a few pointers, and I had a coupon for half-off. I can’t refuse a deal!

The class was through DessertTruck Works. Dessert Truck used to be an actual truck that drove around NYC, dispensing tasty treats out its window. I guess their business grew so much that they decided to open a store. I saw them on the Food Network once in a Throdown with Bobby Flay…and they won!

chocolate souffle

My friend did it with me and had a great time. We got to catch up and eat chocolate…what could be better ;)

I did learn a few things. There are 3 different types of meringue: French, Swiss, and Italian. They differ in that French is the least stable is is simply whipped egg whites with sugar. Swiss is slightly more stable because the whites are cooked with the sugar over a water bath. Finally, Italian is the most stable and involves pouring a boiling sugar syrup into the whites while they’re being whipped.

French meringue is therefore the simplest, quickest and easiest. Because the teacher wanted to show us how to make souffle without any fancy appliances, we had to whip the egg whites by hand. My friend and I switched off whipping and my arm is still SO sore! I told the teacher that she should have an exercise class that consists of different cooking techniques. Kneading dough without a KitchenAid made my arms and abs extremely sore the last time I did it!

chocolate souffle

I also learned that you should run your finger around the inside rim of the ramekin so that the souffle doesn’t get stuck on the sides as it begins to rise, and thus has an easier time rising. This will prevent slanted souffles and also cracks on top. Good to know :)

Souffles were a perfect recipe for a 1.5 hour class because you assemble and cook them in a very short amount of time. They only have to bake for 10 minutes when made in small ramekins.

I highly recommend this recipe. It was the perfect texture, not too sweet and very chocolatey. We got to eat it with a Creme Anglaise they had that was perfect with it.

*They gave this recipe out and already had everything measured for us, so sorry it’s in grams instead of cups. If I make it again I’ll update the recipe.

Chocolate Souffle

From DessertTruck Works!

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makes Five 4 oz. ramekins

Ingredients:
approx. 4 Tbsp of softened unsalted butter (for ramekins)
approx. 1/2 Cup of granulated sugar (for ramekins)
250 g egg whites
120 g granulated sugar
3 g cream of tartar or lemon juice
150 g 70% dark chocolate
35 g egg yolks

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Using a brush, generously brush the interior of the ramekins with softened butter, ensuring that the entire interior is buttered. Coat the butter with sugar, knocking out any excess sugar.

Using a double-boiler, melt the chocolate over simmering water, stirring occasionally.

Place the egg whites, the cream of tartar or lemon juice and a pinch of sugar in a large bowl. Using a whisk or an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, whip the whites and gradually add the rest of the granulated sugar. Whip the whites until you get stiff peaks. You now have a meringue.

Stir in about one-third of the meringue into the melted chocolate. Then fold this mix into the remaining meringue, making sure you use a rubber spatula at this point.

Now fold in the egg yolks into approximately one-third of the chocolate-meringue mixture. Fold in the rest of the chocolate-meringue mixture into the mix with the yolks.

Spoon or pipe the souffle mix into your ramekins. Level the tops of each ramekin so that the souffle mixture is even with the top of the ramekins.**Note, at this point you can refrigerate or freeze your souffles for baking at another time. If you refrigerate them, just take them out of the fridge 15 minutes before you plan to bake them.

Run your thumb along the inside edge of each ramekin rim. Bake the souffles on the middle rack until they have risen, formed a crust on top, but are still jiggly in the center, approximately 10 minutes.
Serve immediately.

While going through my grandpa’s recipe collection, I came across a recipe for a sort of Mulligatawny. At least, that’s what the recipe called it although I’m fairly certain it’s not very authentic.

In case you don’t know, a Mulligatawny is a a curry-flavoured soup of Anglo-Indian origin (as per Wikipedia).

There are many variations on the recipe for mulligatawny. In the West, the soup typically has a yellow colour and contains chicken or other meat, and it is often thickened with rice.

This recipe said to add both chicken and rice, but since I knew it was something Nate wouldn’t want to eat anyway, due to the spices, I eliminated both and kept it light for me.

This is definitely a shortcut way to make this soup, but it was way tastier than I was expecting! The apple adds a nice sweetness and the hot sauce plus spices give it a real kick and make it full of flavor.

While this soup isn’t hearty enough to be a full meal, it would make a delicious first course. It’s always nice to change it up a bit in the kitchen, so if you’re in the mood for something different, give this a try! I garnished mine with a dallop of sour cream and it was perfect :)

Quick Mulligatawny Soup

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Serves 6-8

2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 package (10 oz) frozen mixed veggies, thawed
2 Tbsp flour
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce, or more to taste
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 quart water
1 can (10.5 oz) condensed low fat cream of chicken soup (or chicken with rice soup, if you want rice)
1 cup chopped apple
optional- 1 cup diced cooked chicken

Melt butter over med-high heat in a large soup pot.

Add onion and mixed veggies, saute just until onion is tender.

Stir in flour, curry powder, salt, hot pepper sauce and cloves. Add water, soup, apple (and chicken if using).

Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 min or until slightly thickened. Serve with additional pepper sauce if desired.

Rosemary Buttermilk Tea Cake

I hate wasting food.

Before I met Nate I would try to serve myself small portions of food, but with my eyes being bigger than my stomach, there would always still be too much for me on the plate. Since I hated wasting food, I would force myself to eat the last few mouthfuls rather than wasting it. (Don’t ask me how I developed this behavior since my mom never enforced the “clean plate” rule!)

Luckily Nate’s active lifestyle gives him an endless appetite. Now, rather than forcing myself to eat something, I just put it on his plate :) This solves the problem of having little bits of meal leftover, but it still doesn’t solve the problem of leftover ingredients.

Obviously if a recipe calls for buttermilk, or fresh rosemary, you will have copious amounts left. I had both ingredients sitting in my fridge (courtesy of some baked buttermilk rosemary chicken) for over a week because I refused to get rid of them.

I knew those two ingredients happened to be a perfect combo for something sweet and so I finally got myself to mix them together into a lovely cake.

This cake is light (in texture, not in calories), not overly sweet, and perfect for brunch with a cup of tea! The rosemary flavor is strong, but I love it that way. If you’re not as big a fan of rosemary, feel free to cut back.

I couldn’t stop myself from eating this. It’s so buttery, soft and flavorful.  I honestly don’t know what a tea cake is, but this is what I’d imagine :) The perfect thing to go with your Mother’s Day brunch!

And with your leftover buttermilk and rosemary, you can perhaps invent something even better!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!!!

Rosemary Buttermilk Tea Cake

This photo doesn’t have an accurate portrayal of the cake’s texture. I took pics of it straight from the fridge, but out of the oven or at room temp it is fluffy and light and wouldn’t show fork marks!

Rosemary Buttermilk Tea Cake

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Serves 8

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp lemon juice
zest of 1/2 lemon
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped (you can use less if you’re not a huge rosemary fan)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 or 10″ pan with cooking spray. (*Note, the 9 inch will be taller than mine. I should have used a 9″. A springform would be perfect but a regular cake pan is fine)

Cream together the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the lemon  juice, zest, and rosemary and continue beating until batter is smooth and combined.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in another bowl and add alternately with the buttermilk to the butter and sugar mixture.

Beat until smooth, then pour batter into your greased pan, smoothing out the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake cake for 40 minutes until edges are golden and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let cool and serve room temperature or slightly warm.

You could make a glaze for this cake if you wanted by mixing some milk with powdered sugar, but I thought it was sweet enough as is, especially to be served with brunch.

*Note, if you must make this the day before and refrigerate, make sure it comes to room temp or warm it up before serving. It’s not the right texture when cold (although weirdo Nate likes it better cold and dry).