Going on a short break....

Hello blog followers,
Since there appears to be a small readership developing for this blog, I thought I'd let you know that due to various travels I probably won't be updating the blog for the next few weeks.

But fear not! I will be back and cooking shortly!

Hazelnut and Chocolate Cake

This is a recipe by chef Oren Becker, which was published in Hebrew on Ynet.
It appears there as a Passover recipe, but it's also a great gluten free recipe.

I made this cake initially without the topping, but it was a little dull-looking, so I added the ganache topping and then drizzled it with white chocolate to make it prettier.

Hazelnut and Chocolate Cake 

Ingredients (for one 10-inch cake): 

For the bottom layer: 
- 4 egg whites
- 10 tablespoons of sugar, divided into two sets of 5 tbsps each
- 1.5 cups (140 grams/ about 5 oz) hazelnuts
- 15 grams/about 0.5 oz walnuts, finely ground

For the second layer: 
- 240 grams/8 oz bittersweet chocolate
- 75 grams/2.5 oz unsalted butter
- 1/4 tsp instant coffee powder (optional)
- 4 eggs
- 8 tbsp sugar

For the Topping (optional): 
- 100 grams/3.5 oz bittersweet chocolate 
- 0.5 cups heavy cream
- 30 grams/1 oz white chocolate

Preparation: 

1. Line a 10 inch round cake pan (preferably a deep spring-pan) with parchment paper.  (This will make it easier to take the cake out at the end, although it isn't necessary). Preheat oven to 170 C/350 F.

2. Put the hazelnuts in a small pan and cook over a small flame for a few minutes until golden, or roast them in the oven for about 10 minutes until the same. Allow them to chill slightly and then grind them in a food processor. Combine with 5 tbsp of sugar and the ground walnuts.

3. Using a mixer, beat the egg whites with 5 tbsp of sugar until you get a stiff foam.

4. Gently fold the nut mixture into the foam. Pour the foam into the cake tin and even it out. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the cake is a deep golden color. Remove from the oven and immediately work on the next layer.

5. In a double boiler or in the microwave melt the dark chocolate (from the second layer ingredients) with the butter, until smooth. 

6. In a mixer beat the eggs, sugar and coffee until you get a stiff foam (this takes a while, since these aren't just yolks). 

7. Gently fold the egg foam into the chocolate until you get an even colored cream. Pour the chocolate cream over the first layer of cake and return to the oven for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

You can serve the cake like this, but if you want to make it even richer and also more beautiful, you can create this ganache topping:
1. Heat the heavy cream to a boil and then pour over the dark chocolate (from the topping ingredients). Stir until the chocolate is fully melted. Pour the chocolate over the cake, even it out and then freeze for at least 30 minutes to allow the chocolate to set.

2. In a microwave-safe bowl melt the white chocolate until smooth (do it in 30 second increments). Using a fork drizzle the white chocolate over the ganache topping. Allow to set in freezer or refrigerator.

If you prepared the cake in a spring-form pan you can gently remove it from the pan to serve. If not, just serve in the pan.

Enjoy!
  

Potato and Goat Cheese Patties

My go-to vegetarian Passover dish is the (already published, but I just added a snazzy new picture) cheese cutlets. However, someone just suggested this potato dish to me as an alternative option and I just knew I had to try it.

It is definitely not the kind of food you should eat every day (wouldn't it be great if we could, though?) but it is absolute decadent deliciousness: the crispiness of the crumbs, the creaminess of  mashed potatoes and at the center the gooey salty goodness of goat cheese.

This is a very free-form recipe, so the ingredients are all approximate.  Note that the mashed potatoes must be cold, so ideally you want to put them in the fridge overnight or used leftover mash.

Potato and Goat Cheese Patties

Ingredients: 

- 3-4 large potatoes, cooked and mashed into a pretty smooth mash, then refrigerated until very cold. 

-  1 log or package of fresh soft(ish) goat cheese 

- 2 eggs

- about 1 cup of breadcrumbs (regular or GF) or matzo meal. I recommend using seasoned breadcrumbs, or adding some dried herbs to regular breadcrumbs/matzo meal in order to give it an extra zing. 

- Canola or vegetable oil for deep frying.  

- Salt and pepper

Preparation: 

1. Slice the goat cheese into thin disks or small chunks (it will get messy, don't worry about it). 

2. Beat the eggs in a bowl. Put the breadcrumbs on a large plate, and prepare another clean plate for the rolled patties.

3. Season the mashed potatoes well with salt and pepper and stir. Take a ping-pong sized ball of cold mashed potatoes in your hands and flatten it on the palm of one hand to make a disk. Place a chunk of goat's cheese in the center of the disk and then "wrap" the potatoes around it. You will probably need to take an extra bit of potatoes in order to "close" the patty. You want to make sure that the cheese is completely enclosed in the mashed potatoes and isn't peeking out. 

4. Dip the patty in the egg and then roll it in the breadcrumbs until it is coated. Repeat these two stages until you have made all of the patties. 

5. Heat the oil in deep pan/deep-fryer until very hot (about 375 F/190 C). Carefully fry the patties in the oil, turning them if necessary to make sure that they are fried on all sides. When they are a deep golden-brown remove from heat, drain on paper towel and serve hot. 

Asparagus Soup with Crumbly Parmesan Biscuits

When I saw this recipe in Food and Wine magazine, I knew I had to try it - and what better time than at a dinner party with friends?

So I made the soup, with a few small modifications which I will note here, and then I tried to make a gluten free version of the parmesan crackers by simply replacing the flour in the original recipe with gluten free flour. The results were a disaster: a large pile of rather expensive parmesan grit.

Not one to give up, I went to the book Great Gluten Free Baking, where I found a recipe for stilton and rosemary biscuits (biscuits here in the British sense of cookies, not in the American sense of rolls). I promptly replaced the stilton with parmesan, the rosemary with thyme and added one more egg yolk in order to sort out the liquids, and the results were great: a delicious crumbly cracker that practically melted into the soup.

So here I give you my version of the soup and my gluten free version of the crackers, but of course you can try the original. You can also, of course, serve the soup without the biscuits.

Asparagus Soup with Crumbly Parmesan Biscuits

Ingredients (for 4-6 portions): 

For the soup:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 pounds asparagus, cut into 1-inch (2 cm) pieces
- 4 cups of vegetable broth
- handful of mint leaves
- handful of flat leaf parsley
- 3/4 cup light cream (you can also use heavy or whipping cream if you prefer, but in a soup I see no reason to add all that extra fat)
- 1/2 cup frozen baby peas, thawed
- Salt and freshly ground pepper


For the biscuits: 

- 75 grams (about 3 oz) grated parmesan cheese, preferably good quality
- 75 grams (3 oz) butter
- 100 grams ( 3.5 oz) white rice flour
- 1 tablespoon polenta or yellow corn flour
- about 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 egg yolks


Preparation: 

For the Soup: 

1. Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the sliced onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the onion is soft - about 6 minutes. Add the asparagus pieces, cook for another minute, and then add the broth and simmer about 10 minutes or until the asparagus is soft.

2. Chop the parsley and mint finely and add to the soup. Puree the soup using a hand-held blender or in batches in a regular blender or food processor. Make sure it's very smooth and you get all those asparagus pieces.

3. If you used a regular blender to puree the soup, return it to the pot. Add the cream and peas and reheat the soup. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with the parmesan biscuits, or by itself.

For the biscuits: 

1. Place all of the ingredients except the egg yolk in a food processor and whiz until combined (you can also do this by hand in a large bowl, but it does work a bit better in a food processor). Add the yolks and continue to whiz/mix until the mixture comes together as a soft dough.

2. Roll the dough into a sausage shape, about 15 cm (6 inches) long (if you need, use a bit of rice flour to prevent sticking, but I didn't find that necessary). Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200 C/400 f.

3. Unwrap the dough and slice into 20 discs. Place the discs on baking sheets which have been lightly greased or have parchment paper on them. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden. Cool completely before trying to remove from the sheet. Note: the biscuits will be quite crumbly in texture. This is a good thing. It allows them to almost melt into the soup, leaving just a slight crunch and a lovely cheese flavor. But do be careful with them or they will fall apart.



 

  

Kneidalach (Matzo Balls)

In my family, Pesach is not Pesach without kneidalach in clear vegetable soup. When I was a teen I used to help my mother make these, and I found myself wondering why it is that the balls sink when they are put in the water, but somehow float when they are cooked. I asked my physics teacher about this, and after asking some of his colleagues he told me that apparently the cooking changes the chemical composition of the matzo balls, altering their relative density to the water or something like that. So there you go - this is not just cooking, it's also science!


Like most traditional foods, each family has its own version  and the "correct way" to make kneidalach is subject to much contention.

One source of disagreement is the appropriate size for a matzo ball: some people like to serve a bowl of soup with one huge matzo ball at it's center. Other people like to make them delicate and petite. I like them somewhere in the middle, so I roll them to just under the size of ping-pong ball (they do grow later). But if you prefer them larger or smaller, by all means do it your way.

The second major source of disagreement is the texture: some people like their kneidalach to be really light and fluffy, and this is often the more "gourmet" approach. However, I admit I fall with the crowd that likes the kneidalach to be soft (never hard!) but dense. I just find them more satisfying this way.
However, if you prefer your matzo balls softer, don't give up on this recipe. Instead, before you add the eggs simply separate the whites from the yolks and beat the whites to a stiff foam. Then add the yolks to the matzo meal and fold the egg white foam in as well. 

Finally,  a small holiday tip: since cooking for a large family meal is often time consuming, I like to do it in little bits. Therefore, I always cook my kneidalach a week or even two before the Seder, after which I immediately freeze them. On the morning of the seder I simply pull them out of the freezer and allow them to defrost. Then I quickly reheat them in the soup or the microwave, and they are ready to serve.
 

Kneidalach (Matzo Balls) 

Ingredients (for about 14 medium balls): 

- 1 cup matzo meal 

- 2-3 tbsp of canola oil (this is actually optional. They work pretty well without it) 

- 2 eggs 

- Pinch of salt 

- Vegetable broth or bullion powder for cooking (optional)

Preparation:

1. Put the matzo meal in a large bowl. Add the salt, oil and eggs (again - if you prefer a fluffier matzo ball, separate the eggs and beat the whites to a foam, then fold them back in), and stir. 

2. Begin adding lukewarm water - add a few tablespoons, then stir. Then add a few more and stir. Continue doing this until the mixture sticks but is also a little loose (you don't want a really hard mixture at this point). Allow the mixture to sit for about 20-30 minutes. This will allow it to set and make it easier to work with. 

3. Meanwhile, heat up the cooking liquid. You can cook the matzo balls in the soup in which you'll serve them, but I prefer not to do that because it murks up the soup. Instead, I use boiling water with a few tablespoons of vegetarian bouillon powder. If you prefer, you can also use boiling vegetable broth, or simply boiling water with a little bit of salt. 

4. When the liquid is boiling, take a bit of the matzo meal mixture in your hands and roll it into a small ball (as I said, I like to roll them into a ball slightly smaller than a ping-pong ball). Carefully put the ball in the boiling liquid. Continue to roll the balls and add them to the liquid (how many balls at a time depends on how large a pot you are using. For a medium pot I put about 5 at a time). 

5. It is generally understood that the matzo balls are cooked when they float to the surface of the water. However, I like to leave them in there for about a minute longer, just to make sure they are properly cooked. When they are ready, take them out with a slotted spoon.  I recommend tasting the first one to come out of the water: this allows you not only to gauge how well it has cooked, but also to make sure that the mixture has enough salt in it. 

Traditionally these are served in a clear soup such as chicken or vegetable soup. However, they are also delicious served as a side dish with some fried onions.

Pasta with Spinach, Peas and Goat Cheese

Reorganizing the cookbook collection this week was a good idea, because it reminded me of all these great cookbooks that I somehow forgot I had. This includes The Great Vegetarian Cookbook , which absolutely lives up to its self-congratulatory title.

This recipe is from that book (with slight modifications), and it's a lovely spring recipe, fresh and delicious.

Pasta with Spinach, Peas and Goat Cheese 

Ingredients (for 4-6 portions):

- 500 grams/1 lb pasta 

- 4 tbsp of olive oil 

-   100 g (a couple of large handfuls) of snow peas (mangetout), edges trimmed

- 250 grams (about equivalent to one bag) fresh spinach, shredded or sliced

- 250 grams (8 oz) peas. If you use fresh, precook them. If you use frozen, defrost them. 

- 400 grams (14 oz) soft goat cheese (crumble it if it's in one chunk) 

- salt and pepper 

- grated parmesan cheese 

- finely chopped parsley to garnish (optional) 

Preparation: 

1. Prepare the pasta per the instructions on the package until al-dente. Drain, place back in the pot and drizzle with half of the olive oil, mixing well, to prevent sticking. 

2. Heat the remaining oil in a large pan and add the snow peas. Stir fry until they are softened (but not wilted). This should take about 2 minutes. Add the shredded spinach and continue stir frying for another minute or two, until the spinach wilts somewhat. Add the peas. 

3. Add the pasta to the pan (or you can add the vegetables to the pasta pot, whichever is more convenient for you), and place over medium-low heat. Add the goat's cheese and stir so that the cheese coats the pasta and the vegetables are mixed in. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

4. Garnish with grated parmesan and fresh parsley.