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Wet mixture: 40g toasted walnuts, roughly chopped 1 tbsp butter for frying 1 large onion, diced 2 stalks celery, finely diced 3 eggs 2 teaspoons brown sugar 130g strained yogurt (I originally used part sour cream, but I found the result too rich) 4 tablespoons chopped parsley, cilantro, basil and/or dill Dry mixture: 110g AP flour 1 to 1.5 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder Spices: 2 teaspoons paprika Dried chili to taste 2 teaspoons coriander seeds, ground 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, ground 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, ground 1 teaspoon dill seeds, ground 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground 1 teaspoon thyme Optional: 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast or a pinch of MSG Fry the onion in butter until well browned. Add the celery and cook until softened. In a large bowl, mix the wet mixture ingredients and vegetables. Mix the dry mixture ingredients and spices in a separate bowl. Heat a large pan over medium-low flame. Coat it with melted butter. mix the dry mixture into the wet and mix until well combined. Don't over mix. Pour into the well heated pan and cover it. Cook for apx. 9-12 minutes until the bottom is browned (but not dark). Flip and cook for another 5-7 minutes until cooked through. Flip again, and just prior to serving, re-crisp the bottom over medium flame. Serve hot, along with strained yogurt or sour cream, and tomatoes. - Spices can be adjusted to taste. - By removing the onion, celery, nuts and spices, you will be left with a base recipe that you can flavour in many ways.

I developed this recipe for a friend who wound up with many cans of Solo brand apricot filling and was wondering what to make with them. I adapted this recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Sour Cream Coffee Cake, found on page 90 of the Cake Bible. The apricot filling works it way down through the cake and winds up near the bottom of the pan, making an attractive top later when the cake is inverted. Please use some sort of ring pan that holds at least 9 cups. You may substitute butter for the toasted almond oil, but remember that the oil adds flavor. I specifically developed this recipe with the home cook in mind, regular salted butter, and AP flour work well here. To reduce the sodium, use unsalted butter. Ingredients 113 grams (1 stick) salted butter 26 grams toasted almond oil 200 grams sugar 6 grams vanilla extract 4 egg yolks 160 grams regular sour cream (do not use low fat or fat free) 50 grams almond meal 175 grams all-purpose flour 2 1/2 grams baking powder 2 1/2 grams baking soda 12 ounces (1 can) Solo Apricot Filling 12 Servings Preheat the oven to 350° Spray a 9+ cup tube or Bundt pan with non-stick spray or grease with an oil & soy lecithin blend. Lightly toast the almond meal in a frying pan on the stove top until it has a light beige color and has a mild fragrance. Allow to cool. Cream together the butter, oil, and sugar. Add the vanilla and egg yolks, mix until the mixture is even and creamy. Add the sour cream and mix well. Add the cooled almond flour and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the liquid mixture and mix until it everything is evenly incorporated. Do not overmix the batter. Place 2/3 of the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Place the apricot filling in an even layer on top, keeping a small space between the filling and the pan's edges. Place the remaining batter on top and smooth to create a relatively even surface. Bake for approximately 50 minutes at 350° or until the top is dark brown and springs back to a light touch. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Invert the pan onto a serving plate. Cool and serve. Be cautious about serving this hot, as the apricot filling can cause serious burns. When fully cooled, cover or wrap in plastic wrap to store. Will keep for several days in a cool, dry place. Nutrition (thanks MasterCook!) 324 calories, 15g fat, (7g sat fat, 6g mono-unsat fat, 1g ploy-unsat fat), 5g protein, 43g carbohydrates, 175mg sodium, 101mg potassium, 58g calcium 42% calories from fat, 52% calories from carbohydrates, 6% calories from protein

Note: this cake is somewhat on the sweet side, this is part of what makes a honey cake in my mind, but you may cut down on some of the plain sugar in the recipe. If your sour cream is higher in fat than specified, replace some butter with milk. 145 g flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (5 g) 3/8 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon dry ground ginger 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (3-4 sticks) 1/8 teaspoon ground all spice (3-4 grains) 1/4 teaspoon salt It is best to use freshly ground spices. 200 g sour cream 15% fat 3/4 teaspoon instant coffee 1 large egg 110 g Honey 35 g dark brown sugar 80 g white sugar 40 g oil 20 g melted butter 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Optional: a handful of raisins, soaked in water Optional: 15-17 g almonds sliced (not chopped) For syrup: 2 teaspoons honey 25 g warm water (5 teaspoons) preparation Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Grease one english cake pan. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, dry spices and salt. In a large separate bowl, put about a tablespoon of sour cream. Heat the cream in the bowl a little, put in the coffee and mix until it melts. Add the remaining cream and the egg. Add the honey and the two types of sugar, oil and vanilla extract. Add raisins if desired. Mix well. Sift the flour mixture into the bowl with the liquids. Using a spatula, mix lightly and fold the mixture at until you get a smooth, fairly liquid batter. Make sure to collect the flour from the bottom of the bowl. Pour the mixture into a pan. Sprinkle the almonds uniformly. Put in the oven and bake for 37-40 minutes, until the cake is high, dark brown, and an inserted toothpick existing crumbless. (the cake should Crack while raisin) Mix the hot water and the honey to form a syrup. Using a teaspoon, evenly and slowly pour the syrup over the cake while it is warm. Allow to cool completely and store in a tightly sealed container or wrapped in plastic wrap. Serve with tea

This egg preparation (with spices removed/adjusted) can be used instead of tofu in many dishes, if you happen to dislike tofu. In this recipe, one could use paneer instead of the egg cubes. Ingredients: For the eggs: 1 tsp fenugreek, soaked in water to cover 5 eggs 70-90 g yogurt 3 tbsp toasted peanuts hot chili to taste black pepper (optional) a pinch of MSG salt to taste For the sauce: Butter for frying 1 largish onion, diced in large pieces (~ 2 cm wide) 1 large tomato, diced into medium pieces (~ 1 cm wide) Hot chili pepper, to taste 2 tbsp ginger, minced 3-4 kaffir lime leaves 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp sweet paprika or other ground chili 1 tsp "curry powder" (mine is mostly turmeric, with some cumin, fennel, pepper and fenugreek) 70 g yogurt 60 g full fat coconut milk (coconut cream) 1/2 tsp garam masala chopped cilantro black pepper salt For the tadka: 1-2 tsp butter 1/2 tsp mustard seeds 1.5 tsp coriander seeds, crushed a pinch of asafoetida (hing) - I love hing, so I use more Method: Make the eggs: Heat oven to 200 deg C. Oil a frying pan or baking pan, and heat it in the oven. Meanwhile, blend together the egg mixture ingredients. Pour into pan and bake until fully set, but pale. Let cool, and cut into 3 cm wide cubes. Make the sauce: Saute the onion in butter, until golden. Add tomato, chili, kaffir lime, ginger. Cook 5 minutes until the tomato is softened, but not falling apart. Add cumin, paprika, curry powder. Remove from heat. Add yogurt, coconut milk, garam masala, cilantro, pepper. Add salt to taste. Fry the tadka spices in butter and add to the sauce. Add the egg cubes and simmer until heated through.

Best eaten at room temp, with flat breads to scope it up. 1 tsp fenugreek, soaked on the water to cover 40 g ground coconut 70 g yogurt (choose one which is is not very tart) 30 g milk or water 1 tsp brown sugar 1 tsp tamarind paste (tamarind strength varies greatly, best add gradually by taste) 1 tsp chopped curry leaves 1/4 tsp cinnamon apx. 1/4 tsp black pepper Tadka: 1-2 tsp butter 1/4 tsp mustard seeds 1/4 tsp fennel seeds 1/4 tsp cumin seeds A pinch of asafoetida Mix all of the ingredients (other than the tadka ones) and let soak for a a while. In a blender, blend until smooth as desired. Fry the tadka spices in butter until crackling. Pour over the prepared chutney.

Hey everyone! I wanted to share my recipe for a quick and easy pasta recipe, perfect for a weeknight meal. This pasta has sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, goat cheese and lemon zest. It's creamy and totally delicious. But more importantly it's super quick. I made mine vegetarian this time but you can easily add a piece of grilled chicken or sausage to bulk it up a little. Here are the ingredients: 1/2 pound of any kind of pasta you like (I like using long spaghetti like linguine, fettuccine or angel hair) 4 tablespoons of sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped 2 handfuls of fresh arugula 3 ounces of goat cheese 5 quarters of marinated artichokes, chopped 1 cup of your favorite white wine 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest 1/2 yellow onion, chopped 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder OR 2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped 1 cup of reserved pasta cooking water In a sauté pan, pour some of the sun-dried tomato oil in on medium-high heat. Once hot, put in the chopped yellow onion. Let sweat for a few minutes until translucent. Chop the sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes and add it to the pan. Cook for 3 minutes. Pour in the white wine. Let it cook until it has reduced by about half. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, add a good handful of salt (you need to season your pasta water, it's super important!!). Cook the pasta until al dente. Once it's cooked, drain the pasta but reserve a cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the pan with the tomato/artichoke mixture. Then add the cooking liquid. Cook for a few minutes in the pan until thickened. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the goat cheese, lemon zest and arugula. Toss until everything is combined and the goat cheese has melted in to make a creamy sauce. I really love this recipe. It's great for lunches or dinner and can be easily adapted. I hope you all enjoy! Don't hesitate to ask questions!

This is a recipe that I came up with when I was making choux au craquelin and wanted to fill them with a pastry cream. I had made the pastry cream using the egg yolks but didn’t want to let the egg whites go to waste. I decided to make the egg whites into an Italian meringue, which I thought would be fairly stable. But rather than folding it in to preserve that stability, I was impatient and whipped the pastry cream into the meringue. The result was this loose, soupy mixture that I couldn’t get to stay in a cream puff if I tried. So I gave up and, rather than throw it away, stuck it in the freezer to save it for another recipe. One day I got curious and decided to give it a taste. That was the single best bowl of ice cream I had ever had. I knew I had stumbled onto something, so I’ve tried it with many other flavors and it works almost every time. The texture is kind of somewhere between a gelato and a semifreddo, and for some reason it takes forever to melt. Just remember to abide by this formula and you will always have success: Pastry cream: - 8 oz (1 cup) whole milk (or you can use 6 oz milk + 2 oz heavy cream, 6 oz half/half + 2 oz milk...anything but skim) - 3 extra large egg yolks - 2 tbsp cornstarch - 2-4 tbsp butter, sliced 1. Place butter slices in bowl and set a wire strainer over top. Set aside 2. In a medium saucepan, place your milk (+/- cream) and bring to just below a simmer 3. Meanwhile, in a heatproof bowl set over a towel, whisk egg yolks and cornstarch together until smooth 4. When milk has heated, temper into egg mixture, whisking constantly 5. On medium-low heat, add the custard to the pan and whisk constantly for 3-4 minutes. Custard will go from loose -> shiny and thick -> matte and set. Do not stop whisking as long as mixture is on the heat 6. Once custard is set, scrape out of pan into bowl with strainer. Push mixture through and scrape remaining custard off the bottom of the strainer. Stir the custard into the butter constantly until butter disappears. Set aside. Meringue (apologies in advance for switching from standard to metric): - 300 granulated sugar - 75g water - 100-115g egg whites (from 3 extra large/jumbo eggs) 1. Place egg whites in bowl of a clean stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Set aside. 2. Over medium-high heat, place water and sugar in saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. 3. Turn heat down to medium-low. When mixture hits 115˚C, turn on mixer to medium-high to make egg whites frothy. 4. When syrup reaches 118˚C, remove from the heat and pour into egg whites between the edge of the bowl and the whisk. Do so in a steady stream to avoid splashing. 5. Once syrup has been added, turn mixer to high and whisk until you reach stiff peaks, about 6 minutes Bringing it together: 1. Once meringue is stiff, pour in custard over the top. Turn on the mixer with the whisk attachment to high speed and whisk for 1-2 minutes 2. You’ll know you’ve finished when you pull the whisk out of the mixture and a string of the cream follows it. If you still see peaks when you pull of the whisk, keep beating until flattened and loose. 3. Pour mixture into a bowl and place in a freezer to set up for at least 6 hours. Then, enjoy! As you can see, it’s a straightforward process that is egg-neutral and has a lot of area for customization. My only recommendation is that whatever add-ins you choose, make them 6 oz. That’s just how I did it the first time and every time and the proportion always works. Here's a few variations on the theme that I've done, as well as stupid names I came up for each of them: - Salted Chocolate: add 6 oz of bittersweet chocolate to the butter and mix into custard base. Also add ½ tsp of salt - White Winter: Add 2 tsp vanilla extra/paste to milk and bring to just below simmer. Add 6 oz good-quality white chocolate and 1 tsp white pepper to butter and stir into custard base - Glacé Guac: Add 6 oz mashed avocado and zest of a lime to the butter and mix into custard base. Substitute fresh-squeezed lime juice for water in meringue - Raspberry Romance: Add 1 oz pulverized freeze-dried raspberry and 5 oz homemade raspberry jam1to the butter and mix into custard base. Add 1 tbsp rosewater to meringue 3 minutes into whipping - Lemon Leisure: Grind 1 tbsp lavender buds with spice grinder/mortar and pestle and steep in milk while bringing to just below a simmer. Add 6 oz homemade lemon curd2to the butter and mix into custard base - Citrus Sunrise: Grind 2 tsp fresh cardamom in mortar and pestle and steep in milk while bringing to just below a simmer. Substitute fresh squeezed grapefruit juice for water in meringue. Once custard and meringue are mixed, fold in 6 oz candied grapefruit peel3, chopped - Country Cornbread: Use 4 tbsp butter for custard base and add ½ tsp of salt. For meringue sugar syrup use: 154g honey, 125g sugar, 34g water. Once custard and meringue are mixed, fold in 6 oz gluten free cornbread4, cubed - The Diplomat: add 6 oz dulce de leche and 1 tbsp of soy sauce to custard base, substitute 3-4 tbsp of brown butter - Waterme-ricana: Add 1 tbsp liquid smoke and ½ tsp cinnamon to custard base. Use watermelon juice for meringue liquid and add 6 oz chopped grilled watermelon after combining custard and meringue - Chocolate Chunk: Substitute 30g cocoa butter for the butter in the custard base and add vanilla bean paste to steep. Use 6 oz coarse chopped bittersweet chocolate - Cocoa-Sesame Swirl (pictured below) is the most complex flavor to date. I take the ice cream base and split it in half, one half being sesame-strong, the other half being chocolate-dominant: To make the sesame half, add 2.85 oz of tahini and 0.15 oz untoasted sesame oil to the custard base, and substitute 35g cocoa butter instead of regular butter. A few grinds of fresh sea salt is optional. Heat the mixture in a double boiler to melt the cocoa butter. You will add one half of your pastry cream base to this. To make the chocolate half, make a black sesame praliné with 1.50 oz of black sesame seeds and 1.50 oz of sugar (praliné refers to the process of taking a caramel-nut bark, praline, and grinding it until a paste forms). You should get about 2.50 oz of paste, to which you will add an additional 0.50 oz of cocoa powder and 35g cocoa butter as well as a few grinds of sea salt, not option. Heat the mixture in a double boiler to melt the cocoa butter. Add the remaining half of the custard base to this mixture. Make two separate meringues (this is more accurate and time consuming than making 1 meringue and dividing it in half. But I have 2 stand mixers so :P) and and mix in your custards to each batch in the usual way. I added a little black gel food coloring to the black sesame half. Add dollops to a bowl and swirl with 2-3 figure-8's. 1. Raspberry jam: Take 12 oz frozen raspberries, 2 ½ cups sugar, juice of ½ lemon, and 2 tbsp cinnamon and place in medium saucepan with high walls. Bring to boil on medium-high and then reduce heat to keep mixture at steady boil, around medium heat. Using instant-read thermometer, heat mixture to 215˚F , which should take about 15 minutes. Check gelling by dropping some jam onto chilled plate and look for jam to set up rather than run. Optional: sieve jam to remove seeds. 2. Foolproof lemon curd recipe can be found here 3. Candied grapefruit peel: This recipe is not exact at all. Take grapefruit peels and clean all grapefruit flesh and membranes away from pith. Chop into strips and place into medium saucepan. Cover with water, bring to a roiling boil and boil for 10 minutes. Empty water and repeat 2 additional times. After 3rdboil, measure water needed to cover peels and add the same amount of sugar (to create a simple syrup). Bring mix to boil over medium-high heat, then back head down to keep consistent boil for 45 minutes. Peels should be opaque and look like gems. Drain syrup and lay peel down on wire rack. Sprinkle granulated sugar on both sides and allow to air-dry overnight, best at 24 hours. Store in an airtight container. 4. Gluten-free corn-cake-bread: Based on a genoise sponge: grind coarse cornmeal in food processor and pass through fine mesh sieve to get 125g of fine cornmeal. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Whip 4 room temperature extra large/jumbo eggs (~230-250g) with 125g granulated sugar and 10g honey on high speed until you reach the ribbon stage. Fold in fine cornmeal and 1tsp salt, then 15g melted and cooled butter. Make sure not to be too aggressive so as not to lose volume. Pour batter into 9-inch cake tin lined on the bottom with parchment. Bake for 25 minutes at center rack, remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Run palette knife around cake edge, invert, and allow to cool completely. 5. Easy dulce de leche: put can of sweetened condensed milk in slow cooker and cover with water; place on high for 8-10 hours

Slice a medium sized sweet onion a little less than ¼” thick, shake the rings in a bag with 1 ¼ cup AP flour. After removing the rings from the flour, dump the flour into a large bowl, add an egg and just about a cup of milk, whisking, and looking for a batter a bit thinner than pancake batter. Give the rings a swim in the batter, turning with a fork to coat thoroughly. Drain them on a rack over a cookie sheet (that I cover with an old newspaper). Put about 1 ½ cup of seasoned breadcrumbs in a bowl and add a good amount of garlic powder and Tajin and mix well. When ready to fry, gently toss the still damp, but well drained rings in the breadcrumbs, turning to coat, and fry in a generous amount of peanut oil starting at 375F and trying to add only enough to drop the oil to 350 F, and fry until golden. Remove them from the hot oil, store in a 175 F oven, over an absorbent paper until they are all done, salt to taste and serve. HC

This recipe produces about 2.5 liters of soup. It can be doubled. Ingredients: 200g (1 cup) dry red lentils (soak overnight for faster cooking) 1 liter of water for cooking the lentils - Some butter 2 onions, diced 2 carrots, diced 1 hot chili, de-seeded and diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 large tart cooking apple, peeled and diced 2 tomatoes, diced - 2-3 tbsp ginger, minced - Dry spices: 2 tsp curry leaves 1 tsp "curry powder" (mine is consisting mostly of turmeric, fennel and fenugreek) 1 tsp cumin powder 1 tsp sweet paprika 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp turmeric 1 tsp thyme 1/2 tsp cardamom powder (fresh, otherwise you may need a tad more) 1 tsp sugar (I use brown) - 150-200 ml (apx 3/4 cup) coconut cream (unsweetened) 3/4 liter up to 1 liter of stock or water 1-2 tsp wine vinegar (or some lemon juice) chopped cilantro optional: toasted cashew / pistachios / coconut chips, croutons or crackers for garnish optional strained yogurt for garnish Directions: Cook the lentils in a liter of water until fully tender. - Meanwhile, fry the onions in butter until golden. Add the carrots and fry until starting to soften. Add chili and garlic. Saute until aromatic. Add apple and tomatoes, cook until softened (~5 minutes). If the vegetables aren't fully cooked to your liking, add water and cook until they are. - Using a blender, blend smooth the ginger, 1/2 of the lentils and 1/4 to 1/3 of the vegetables. Mix it all back together in the pot. Add the dry spices, and remaining ingredients (coconut cream, vinegar, cilantro). Add 3/4 to 1 liter of stock/water to reach desired consistency. Bring to a low boil, taste and adjust. It should be gently spicy (hot) and gently sweet. It shouldn't be tart, but add vinegar or lemon if it tastes flat or overly sweet. Make sure you can get a good hint of the cardamom, it's what makes this soup for me.

Wine Digestif / Apéritif 1 cup of water 3-6 tablespoons of honey 1 cinnamon stick 7-10 pepper granules (red and black) 3-4 leafs of Pelargonium graveolens ~ 1 liter of wine. Boil the water for 5 minutes with cinnamon stick and pepper granules. Add the leafs of Pelargonium and furthered away the cooking pot from heat source. Wait until the water is cool enough to add the honey (max 60°C). Stir it well to make a sirup. Mix the sirup with the wine.

For cheese & spinach burekas (4 rolls): - 8 filo sheets - melted butter (2 tbsp or so), mixed with a little water filling: - 200g spinach, chopped (can be subbed with chard, or omitted altogether) - 200g feta - 150g kashkaval - 150g ricotta - 2 eggs (leave some for egg wash) - Salt to taste, if needed - Cook the spinach until wilted (I use a microwave). Squeeze to drain it completely. - Mash the filling ingredients together. - Brush the filo sheets with butter, then stack them in pairs. - Divide filling between the four double-thick sheets, spreading it across one long edge of each. - Roll each around the filling, making sure to fold the edges towards the center in order to lock the filling inside. Avoid rolling too tight. - Using a serrated knife, slice the top of each roll, in order to allow for it to be cut into pieces after it's baked and crisp. - Egg wash, sprinkle sesame or other seeds. - Bake on a baking sheet (over parchment) at 190C, until browned and crisp - 30 minutes or so. - They can be frozen prior to baking. No need to defrost. For eggplant & cheese (4 rolls): - 8 filo sheets - melted butter (2 tbsp or so), mixed with a little water filling: - One medium eggplant - 200g feta - 150g kashkaval - 150g ricotta - 8-10 tbspn toasted seeds (sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, nigella) and or chopped toasted walnuts - 1 egg (leave some for egg wash) - Salt to taste - Peel the eggplant and cut it into 5 or so slices. - Brush with oil and bake/grill, or pan fry, until brown and tender. - Cut into rough cubes. - Mash the rest of the filling ingredients together, and fold the eggplant cubes inside. - Shape and bake the same as the spinach burekas.

400g wide pasta/noodles, best to use one made with eggs 4 baking apples (600g-700g) (I use Gala, as I find Granny Smith to be a bit too tart here). Peeled and cut into strips 80g-100g raisins, or chopped dried apricots 70g (1/3 cup) sweet wine (or whatever not-tart wine you have on hand) 1-2 tablespoons butter 70g-80g toasted walnuts, roughly chopped 90g dark brown sugar 1.5 tablespoons cinnamon 2/3 teaspoon salt 5 eggs In a large bowl, soak raisins in wine. Add butter (unmelted), walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Cook the noodles until al-dente. Drain well and mix the hot noodles in the bowl until coated with the butter and sugar. Let chill a little (so that the eggs won't cook), then add the eggs and apples. Mix well. Pour into a spring-form pan, or a casserole pan. Gently flatten making sure to push down any nuts you see, to prevent them from charring. Bake in a 190C hot oven, for 30 minutes or so. Remove from the oven, brush the top with butter (1-2 teaspoons). Optionally sprinkle some sugar on top for added crunch. Bake for 25-30 additional minutes, until the top is well browned and crisp. Serve immediately, or bake to re-crisp just before serving. Reheats well in an oven (or in a MW, but you'll lose the crispness). I make it every year for nearly 10 years. 2021 2020: 2019: 2018:

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Boston Cream Pie ================ Source: Woman's Day Old-Fashioned Desserts - 1978 (minor changes) 1/3 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 egg 1-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla . Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until creamy. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add alternately with the combined milk and vanilla. Turn the batter into a greased and floured 9-inch round layer cake pan. Bake in a 350° oven for about 30 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly touched in the center. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool completely; Place the cake on a serving plate and split horizontally into two layers with a serrated knife. Carefully remove the top layer. Fill with the chilled Cream Filling. Replace the top half and pour the warm Chocolate Icing over the top, spreading only to the edges. Chill. (When allowed to stand for several hours, the filling seeps into the cake, making the cake and filling seem almost as one.) Cream Filling 1/2 cup sugar 3 egg yolks 3 tablespoons flour 1 tablespoon butter 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 cups milk Combine the sugar, flour, and salt in a saucepan. Gradually stir in the milk. Cook over low heat, stirring until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil, stirring for 1 minute. Beat the egg yolks slightly. Gradually stir in about half the thickened sauce. Return to the heat and cook. stirring 2 or 3 minutes longer to take away the flour taste. Remove from the heat and blend in the butter. Strain into a bowl. Cool for a few minutes, then blend in the vanilla. Cover and cool, then chill. Chocolate Icing 2 squares of chocolate (I use between 4 to 6 ounces of semi sweet chocolate) 1 cup sifted icing sugar 2 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoons hot water 1 teaspoon vanilla Melt the chocolate and butter the microwave on medium low power. Stir until smooth, and blend in the icing sugar and hot water. Stir until smooth and slightly thickened (do not beat). Stir in the vanilla. Use immediately. Optional - Spider web design. Just mix up a little melted butter, maybe a teaspoon and add powdered sugar to it a long with a drop of hot water and vanilla and make it thin enough to squeeze out of a bag. I just put it into a small zip lock and cut off one of the corners. Just a small cut. And then once the chocolate has been spread, I pipe the white icing in circles. And immediately take a tooth pick and draw a line from the centre to the edge to form the spider web.

Roughly based on my recipe for lemon cake. This makes one not very large cake in a 25x10 cm (10x5 inch) pan. Please tell me if you make it - I really hope that you will like it! For pecan mixture: 35g toasted pecans, finely chopped (you want them large enough to have texture in the cake) 35g dark brown sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp cocoa powder Topping: A handful of whole or chopped raw pecans Maple syrup for glazing (apx. 4 tsp) For batter: 140g white flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 large eggs 170g light brown sugar (I substitute with a mix of half dark brown sugar and half white sugar) 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 medium apple (not too tart - I used a Gala apple), peeled and cut into small dice (apx. 150g) 200g sour cream 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste/extract optional: A small amount of maple flavor extract optional: A few drops of almond extract Method: Heat oven to 170 deg C (340 deg F). Grease the cake pan. Mix together the pecans with cinnamon, cocoa and brown sugar. Set aside. Prepare 2 mixing bowl: one of them should be quite large. In the smaller bowl, mix flour and baking powder. In the large bowl, beat the eggs with sugar and salt until the sugar is melted and the mixture is aerated. Mix the sour cream, apple, cinnamon and extracts. Sieve flour and baking soda mixture over the liquids. Fold from the bottom up just until uniform. Do not over mix. Pour half of the batter into the greased pan. Sprinkle the pecan mixture evenly. Pour the rest of the batter on top. Cover with the raw pecans. Bake for apx. 50-60 minutes. A skewer should come out cleanly. The cake should rise and get a tan color. Avoid over baking. Brush the cake with maple syrup. Let cool a little. I find the cake to taste best when it's slightly warm. Serve with tea or coffee. Keep covered or wrapped in nylon. You may heat it briefly, if serving on following days.

@Smithy Your request gave me the imputes to finally word-process the recipe. My DW use Excel, which drives me to distraction. Mom's Apple Raisin Walnut Cranberry Pie 4 baking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1 cup golden raisins 1 cup walnuts 1 cup fresh cranberries 1/4 cup flour 1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons margarine or butter 2 pie crusts to fit a 9- or 10-inch pie pan Heat oven to 425F. In a large bowl, mix the first four ingredients. In a small bowl, mix the flour and sugar together. Sprinkle the flour/sugar mixture over the large bowl, mixing lightly with fingers. Place first pie crust into pie pan, pricking with a fork. Pour the fruit mixture into the pie shell. Dot with the margarine or butter, then cover with second pie crust, crimping edges together and making sure top crust is vented. Bake at 425F for 15 minutes, then turn down oven to 350F for about 45 minutes. *** I use Braeburn apples ***

~175g matzo (5 matzo), broken into rough pieces 2 large leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly slices 4-5 scallions, chopped 5 eggs 250g milk 150g kashkaval cheese (or similar), grated 100g feta, crumbled 1 tbsp lemon juice, or a little vinegar 1/2 tsp baking powder A pinch of MSG (skip it if you avoid it) Plenty of black pepper Chili pepper, to taste Salt to taste (depends on the saltiness of the cheese, apx 1 tsp) The mixture can be made a day ahead. Place broken matzo in a large bowl. Heat the milk and pour over the matzo. This allowes for faster soaking, don't bother heating it if your making the mixture a day ahead. - Meanwhile, saute the leek until very tender. Mix into the matzo. - Make sure the matzo are not hot before mixing in the eggs and other ingredients. Pour into a well battered casserole dish. Lightly flatten. Bake in 200 C for 30-40 minutes, until nicely browned. Brush/top with butter mid-way baking for added crispness. - I find the dish to taste better, and be more crisp, once reheated. If you wish to, let it chill for at least 30 minutes or overnight before baking it again just until hot and crisp.

Matzo brei can be savory or sweet, and generally can be grouped into two forms. The first has the broken matzo cooked in a pan while stirring, producing a scramble of individual eggy pieces. The second is made by cooking the mixture into a pancake of sorts. My recipe is of the second type, which over the years I opted to bake in a cake pan, allowing me to have a wetter mixture and requires less work. I never tried to, but I'm pretty sure that this will work well with flatbreads instead of matzo. Dry the flatbread well in a low oven and weight them when dried. Base batter: ~ 280g matzo (8 matzo), broken into rough pieces 6 eggs 420g milk 150g water (reduce if cooking as "pancakes") 1 tsp baking powder Basic sweet version: Add: 5 tsp dark brown sugar or silan (date syrup) 1 tsp cinnamon 1.5-2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper optional: 2 tbsp milk powder optional: chopped walnuts, dates, raising, or other nuts and dried fruits By itself, the sweet version is not really that sweet, I usually serve it with one or more of the follwoing: Haroset Sour cream (or cottage cheese) and honey Maple syrup or silan Basic savory version: You can add whatever you think will suite stuffing or baked pasta. Cheeses - feta, Kashkaval, Swiss, etc. Vegetables - browned onions, leek, spinach, chard, mushrooms, etc. 2-3 tsp salt (2 should be enough if you add salty cheeses) Here's my favorite savory version - with leeks and cheese. Method: The batter can be made a day ahead. Place broken matzo in a large bowl. Heat the water and milk and pour over matzo. This allowes for faster soaking, don't bother heating it if your making the batter a day ahead. Let chill before mixing in the eggs and other ingredients. Let soak (an hour or so, at least). Once the liquid is mostly soaked, mix well and pour into a well battered cake pan, casserole dish or loaf pan. Bake in medium heat (180 C) for 30-45 minutes, until nicely browned and set. Brush the top with butter mid-way baking for added crispness. Serve hot. Reheats very well in oven or microwave.

A sweet spread often served during Passover. Serve on matzo, with matzo brei, or on toast. There are endless version. This is the one I make in recent years. 1 tart apple (Granny Smith), peeled and chopped, apx 150g 20g raising (skip if you can't bare them even when ground to a paste) 100g pitted dates / date spread (often vacuum packed, make sure it has no added sugar) - 40g toasted walnuts, chopped - 2 tbsp sweet or dry wine 1/2 tsp cinnamon a little black pepper a little nutmeg optional: rose water (strength vary, add to taste, maybe 1/2 tsp) optional: 1/4 tsp dry ginger a large pinch of salt a little lemon, if needed, to taste Cook the apple with the dates and raisins until the apple is tender. Add half to all of the nuts, and all flavoring ingredients. Blend smooth (or rough, if you prefer). Add remaining chopped nuts.

I think of Panang curry as being an interesting Thai curry - not just because it's delicious, but I can't think of another Thai curry that is like it. Most Thai curries that I can think of are pretty thin - almost soup consistency, however, Panang curry is thick, so that it coats whatever it touches. With that in mind, the way I make it is not dissimilar to how I'd make Malay or Nyonya curries which typically have a similar texture. There are probably a million ways to make this curry, but this how I've been doing it lately. I usually don't have the time to make my own curry paste, so I use a store bought. If it's possible to get, I prefer the Nittiya brand of curry pastes - it comes refrigerated (it freezes well too) and has the closest flavor to what I've had in Thailand. Unfortunately, it's really hard to come by - when I go to the Thai store, they say they bring it in every few months, and when they do, it's gone in the same day. Of course, this prompts me to wonder why they don't bring in more, but also, I can't make it into that store all that often, so lately, I can never find it. 2nd place, that I've tried, is Maesri - in the can. Although the ingredients between the can and tub versions look the same, for some reason the can tastes fresher, although I've never tried them side by side. Maesri does not add shrimp paste or ground peanuts to its Panang paste, so you need to add them yourself... also, keep in mind that Maesri's Panang paste and red curry paste seem extremely similar... I think the Panang paste has a bit more ground cumin and coriander seed than the red paste, but I wouldn't swear by it. So, I add my own - and I also use some Mace, which is what a Thai cooking teacher told me in Chiang Mai years ago... Finally, a note about coconut milk. I'm not too fond of the canned milks - they typically have stabilizers added, which make it really hard for to use. For a long time, I was using an unbranded frozen coconut milk that I found in the Thai store, as well as the Indian store near me. The only label was that it was made in Thailand and brought in by East Distributors or something like that. It was good, but quite expensive. Lately, I've been using the Aroy-D coconut milk that comes in a shelf stable carton. Evidently, there are a couple different versions made, so make sure you check the label. I've found them on Amazon - a six pack of 250ml cartons - on some of the versions the label says 100% coconut milk - that's the one you want... other versions have stabilizers or homogenizers added. I give it a good shake before I open the carton. Anyway, my recipe is based on convenience sizes - I don't think the quantities are super critical... I typically make this with skinless boneless chicken thighs - I use 4 normal thighs worth of chicken. This goes well with 1 carton of coconut milk, and 1 can of curry paste. Ingredients: Curry paste: about 1t whole cumin seeds, toasted about 1T whole coriander seeds, toasted 1 piece of whole mace, very lightly toasted about a handful of roasted peanuts - unsalted preferably about 1t shrimp paste 1 can Maesri Panang or Red curry paste - probably about 3-4 heaping Tablespoons 4 normal sized boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1" cubes (roughly) a few squirts of fish sauce a couple teaspoons veg oil (I use a homemade garlic oil (made from peanut oil) that I keep in my fridge) 250ml (about 1 cup) coconut milk, divided about 1T palm sugar about 10 kaffir lime leaves, ribs removed, torn into pieces. (nb - if your lime leaves are a little tough, you might want to finely shred rather than tear into pieces) Method: 1. Marinate chicken with the fish sauce and oil for about 1/2 hour 2. Grind cumin, coriander and mace in spice grinder until very fine 3. Add peanuts and pulse the spice grinder - if you go too fast or to far, it will turn into peanut butter and muck up your grinder 4. Add shrimp paste and ground spice/peanut mixture to curry paste and mix well. Sometimes you need to mash the shrimp paste a bit to get it to incorporate 5. Pour about 3/4 of the coconut milk into a 4Q saucepan, and then add a bit of water to the remaining coconut milk to bring it back up to about 1/2C 6. On medium - medium/high heat, bring the saucepan coconut milk to a boil and reduce until thick, stirring and scraping the bottom often to prevent scorching. 7. Add the curry paste to the coconut milk and stir to completely incorporate, stirring/scraping constantly 8. Add the kaffir lime leaves and palm sugar and continue to cook until you start seeing the oil bubble out of the edges of the paste. The paste should be considerably drier by now 9. Add the marinated chicken, and stir to completely coat with the paste. Cook until you don't see any more raw chicken (it's probably about halfway cooked through by now) 10. Add the remaining coconut milk/water and stir to combine. Simmer until chicken is cooked through. 11. Taste to adjust seasoning. If more salt needed, add fish sauce. If more sweetness needed, add palm sugar.

1.5 kg eggplants, peeled 100g well toasted walnuts 2.5 tsp coriander seeds 1-2 tbsp lemon juice 1/5-1/3 cup water 2 tsp carob molasses, date molasses, or dark brown sugar 3 tbsp chopped cilantro (optional) hot chili to taste freshly ground pepper, generously 1-2 tsp salt pomegranate kernels, for serving Cut the peeled eggplant into thick (2 cm) slices. Generously brush with oil from both sides. In a 220 deg C oven, bake until dark brown on both sides. Toast the coriander seeds until aromatic. Blend together all ingredients (other than the pomegranate) until smooth. Adding water as needed. Taste and adjust salt, lemon, chili. Serve at room temp, with pomegranate kernels on top. Eat with crisp warm bread, or pita chips.

This feeds 4 at my place. Ingredients 400g dry pasta - I prefer to use y "open" pasta e.g. conchiglie, orecchiette, pipe, castellane; but most short or long pasta shape will work. 130-150g walnuts, lightly toasted and roughly chopped For walnut sauce: half of the walnuts apx. 20g Parmesan 1/4 cup (60g) milk 1/4-1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp honey (optional) freshly ground pepper to taste a generous grating of nutmeg For ricotta: 200-250g ricotta cheese A good ricotta should be naturally sweet enough, but if not, you can add some honey a bit of lemon zest (optional) a little grated nutmeg (optional) salt to taste pepper to taste To serve: More grated Parmesan remaining half of walnuts a small drizzle of honey, per serving (optional) Method Toast the pasta in a 150 C (300 F) hot oven, until reddish-brown. If it starts to crack, that's the time to stop. Make sure to toast evenly, otherwise it won't boil evenly either. Mix together the ricotta mixture, set aside. Blend the walnut sauce ingredients together until smooth. Add a bit of milk if needed. Cook the pasta in salted water until it's to your liking. You will find that toasted pasta takes a while longer to cook. Meanwhile, bring the ricotta to a warmish serving temp. A careful short pass through the microwave does the trick. Mix the pasta with the walnut sauce, adding from the cooking water as needed. Taste and adjust. Plate the pasta. Place dollops of ricotta on the plate. Finish with chopped walnuts, Parmesan and honey.

4 large servings. The fried pasta adds another crisp texture to the toothsome pasta and tender chickpeas. Ingredients: 180g dry small chickpeas, soaked overnight in salted water 3 bay leaves ~ apx 380g dry pasta (tagliatelle is traditional, but short pastas also work) - or - fresh pasta from 350g flour (I opt for egg based pasta) oil for frying ~ 1 large onion, finely diced 1 small carrot (or half of a big one), finely diced 2 large stalks of celery 2 tbsp tomato paste 4 cloves garlic, minced hot chili flakes, to taste 2-3 tsp thyme 2-3 tsp rosemary optional: 1/3 tsp cinnamon optional: 1 tsp dark sugar (I use date molasses) 2-3 tbsp lemon juice Plenty of freshly ground black pepper, for serving Parmesan, for serving Method: If using dry pasta, soak apx 80g of it in cold salted water for an hour. Then drain and dry it well. If using fresh pasta, set aside apx 160g of it, and cut into shorter pieces. Fry the pasta in shallow oil until brown and crisp - or - mix generously with oil and bake at 180dC (medium heat) until brown and crisp. Season slightly with salt and pepper. ~ Cook chickpeas in salted water (or better, stock) with bay leaves, until very tender. Pressure cooker is recommended. Drain and set aside. Cooking liquid can be reserved for cooking the pasta. ~ In a pot or tall pan, cook onion and carrot with some butter or olive oil until the onion browns. Add the celery and cook until it is softened. Add the tomato paste and cook for a couple of minutes. Set the vegetables to one side of the pan Add some butter or olive oil to the cleared pan, and fry the garlic, chili, thyme and rosemary until aromatic. Mix in the cooked and drained chickpeas. Add cinnamon (optional), sugar (optional). It's optional, but recommended, to blend smooth a third of the mixture. ~ Cook the (not fried) pasta in salted water (you can reuse the chickpeas cooking liquid). Mix with the sauce, adding from the cooking water as needed. Add lemon to taste, and salt to taste. ~ Serve, topped with the fried pasta, and a grating of Parmesan and pepper. 2019 2017

Traditionally served as part of a brunch/lunch spread, along with sweet dill pickles. It can be also served as a dessert, I suggest having it along with some creme anglaise, sweetened ricotta or whipped cream if doing so. - 400g dry spaghetti - 250g sugar - a few tbsp of water - 50g butter - 80g milk (or water) - 5 eggs - 1 tsp salt - 1 to 1.5 tsp cinnamon - 1.5 tsp dry ginger - 2 tsp ground black pepper - a narrow and tall non stick pot, silicon mold or well greased aluminium pan. Choose a tall and narrow one for an impressive tall result. Prep: - Optional but recommended: toast the dry pasta in a low oven until light reddish-brown (careful, it can easily go too far). This will lend the kugel an impressive dark-brown color and better texture. - Cook the pasta al-dente. Drain well. - Meanwhile, make a caramel out of sugar and water. If using a non stick pot for baking, you can make the caramel in it. - Cook the caramel to an amber shade. If it is too dark, the result will not be sweet enough. You can add more sugar if it happen to darken too much. But make sure it's not burnt. - Remove from heat. - Add in the butter and mix. - Mix in the milk. - Mix the pasta into the caramel sauce. - Make sure that the pasta isn't too hot, then mix in the milk, eggs, salt and spices. Mix well. - Transfer to the baking pan/mold, or keep in the pot if its non stick. - Cover well with aluminum foil, as air tight as you can. - Bake for at least 9 hours and up to 16 (I haven't tried longer) at 90-100 deg C (195 F). - You can put a few eggs in the oven as well to make haminados eggs, which are excellent in sandwiches. - Before serving, pour 1/4 cup of boiling water on top of the kugel, then let it absorb for a short while. - Remove from the pan and slice to serve. - It reheats well in an oven or microwave. See also the more familiar apple kugel:

This is similar to Italian polenta. Bests served along sour cream, stews (of beans, mushrooms, or meat - for examples search for "tokana") and red wine. You have two options of serving it, resulting in different textures. If eaten fresh out of the oven, it is lightly set but creamy. If chilled overnight, it will solidify and resemble polenta made in the same fashion, at this point it eats more like cornbread. Ingredients for quick stock - you can use 500ml of a pre made vegetable or chicken stock instead, you can also use store bought stock: 6 bay leaves 3 all spice berries, cracked a few celery stalks or a large bunch of celery leaves (I have leaves left after using the stalk for mirepoix) optional: 1/2 carrot, chopped 550ml (2.5 cup) water or stock Ingredients for mamaliga: 250g of cornmeal 200ml (1 cup) milk 2 eggs optional: apx 100g of crumbled brained ewe milk cheese (e.g. feta) apx 80g somewhat aged cheese, ewe milk cheese is preferred (Burduf will be traditional, I use Manchego and and some smoked mozzarella) I appreciated the addition of smokiness, so if you don't include smoked cheese, maybe throw in a bit of smoked paprika or bacon salt to taste pepper some fresh thyme (optional and not traditional) Prep: If making a quick stock, cook the water, bay leaves, all spice, celery and carrot - covered, until flavors are extracted. A pressure cooker makes quick work at that. Drain the stock, add the milk and cornmeal. Cook while stirring and scrapping the bottom until it is thickened. Let cool a little and mix in the rest of the ingredients. Pour into a buttered casserole dish. Bake at high heat (210C) until the top is set, apx 30 minutes. Place a few small pieces of butter on top and let them melt. You can chill it overnight to end up with a firmer texture, or resume baking immediately to end up with a softer creamier (but still set) texture. Bake until the top is crisp and well browned, ~15 minutes, or longer if it was chilled. Serve with stews, sour cream and wine. This image is of it baked without chilling, as you can see, it is fully set, but not firm. And this is after crisping again the next day. Firmer, not as creamy. Can be eaten like cornbread.

Makes 8 large buns. Make the dough 1-3 days ahead of baking. Dough: 380g AP flour 20g whole flour (or more AP flour) optional: 10g dried onion flakes (1 heaping tablespoon) 3g dry yeast 20g sugar (I reduce 10g and add 30g malt syrup) 9g salt 275g room temp water 15g butter, cubed Onion mixture: 2 large onions (350g), finely diced 15g butter (~1 tbpsn) 20g poppy seeds 1/2 tsp salt 3 tsp water Dough prep: Dissolve the yeast in the water. In a mixer (or by hand), mix all of the dough ingredients until a dough forms. Knead for ~5 minutes, then let rest for ~10 minutes. Repeat kneading a total of 3 or so times, until the dough is strong. Cover and refrigerate overnight and up to 3. On day of baking, prepare the onion, mixture: Set aside ~2 tablespoons of the chopped onion. Lightly caramelize the remaining onion in the butter. Add water, salt, poppy seeds and raw onion that was set aside. Chill. Shaping and baking: Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper. Dust you working surface with flour. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Shape each into tight balls. Place each on a dusted towel or surface. I prefer working with semolina rather than flour. Cover and let rise until almost doubled in size, fluffy and very relaxed - for 1.5-2.5 hours. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 240 C. Dust each with semolina and/or flour, lightly flatten, and gently stretch the center, similarly to shaping a tiny pizza, but retaining the air around the edge. Place each on the parchment lined baking sheet, 4 per sheet. Portion the onion mixture on top of the center of each. Bake until fully rised, and lightly browned, possibly with slightly darker spots. Remove onto cooling rack. Brush with butter. Let cool for ~15 minutes. Before serving - return to a hot oven (temperature no critical) and bake for 3-7 more minutes, until they gains a little more color. Serve with cream cheese.