Carrot Pineapple Cake

Last weekend, I thought it would be fun to make carrot cake in the morning. So I went to the store and didn’t buy carrots. Nice going, Kat.

After I returned to my senses and the store, I updated a cake from my mom’s recipe files. So what’s my new spin on a classic? Less sugar (half brown, half granulated, please), a mix of oil and butter, toasted walnuts, coconut, some nutmeg, bourbon-soaked golden raisins (HOO-AHHH!) and a drizzle of bourbon over the cake once it’s out of the oven. To top it off, I whipped up my very own bourbon salted caramel frosting. Sound good to you, amici? Let’s make cake!

CARROT PINEAPPLE CAKE

½ cup golden raisins
¼ cup Maker’s Mark
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup corn oil
1/3 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 ¼ cups finely shredded raw carrot (about ½ a a pound bag or four carrots)
½ cup crushed pineapple with juice
¼ cup Baker’s coconut
½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted (or try it with pecans, even nicer!)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Soak raisins in Maker’s for at least a couple of hours. Once they’re plumped, reserve the bourbon. Of course, we’ll use it later!

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

In a stand mixer or with an electric mixer, beat eggs, sugars, oil, melted butter and vanilla for 2 minutes at medium speed. Reduce speed to low and mix in dry ingredients in three parts. Add, carrots, pineapple, coconut, raisins and toasted walnuts (or pecans). Mix till all ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into greased 9″ square pan.

Bake at 350 degrees about 35 minutes.

Drizzle some—or all—the bourbon used to soak raisins over hot cake. Not sure you want to use it all? CLINQUE! Cheers to you and your carrot cake! CENT’ANN’!

 

Almond syrup

As a nut for all things almond-y, I wondered where I might find the very best almond syrup. It’s comforting to know the answer is right in your very own kitchen! All you need is sugar, water and almond extract or bitter almond oil.

I’m sure you’re already familiar with almond extract. LorAnn bitter almond oil is its bolder, much more concentrated cousin! Bitter almond oil is truly almond flavor to the extreme and must be used sparingly. Abandon all thoughts of “heaping” measurements here and keep in mind a little goes a long, long way. Take it from someone who ruined a whole pan of bread pudding learning that lesson the hard way.

ALMOND SYRUP

1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1/8 teaspoon bitter almond oil or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Combine sugars and water in a small saucepan. Stir as you bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add almond flavoring (oil or extract). Let syrup cool, then store in the fridge.

Now, what delicious things shall we almond up? I love an almond latte, but I also have an orange marzipan tea that the syrup complements purr-fectly. You can add it to seltzer to make an almond soda. In fact, I mixed it with Polar coconut cream seltzer–talk about almond joy!

I leave you now to get cookin’ and get nutty on your own. You’ll be so glad you did! Because homemade almond syrup is…the kat’s ass! 😉

 

Fried Italian Long Hot Peppers

It’s been a while since Jimmy sent some hot peppers my way. I figured it might be time I make my own and return the favor…even if he did call me stupid last week for not buying a car here in town. But I digress.

Here’s a recipe that’s really more common sense than a recipe. Ready?

1. Put on a pair of disposable kitchen gloves. Ahh, perfetto!

2. Rinse a half pound of Italian long hot peppers. Note: if you don’t like heat, stop right here. Just use bell peppers instead because long hot peppers are no joke. They’re fire, and for the hardcore among us. If you’re not coughing while you’re slicing them, you bought the wrong kind! They don’t call them the Russian roulette of peppers for nothing–some are hotter than others!

3. Remove the stems, cut each pepper in half, then in half the long way.

4. Remove pith.

5. Thinly slice about half a medium-sized sweet onion.

6. Coat the bottom of a large frying pan with olive oil.

7. Turn the burner up to medium heat.

8. Add peppers and onions.

9. Toss and turn the peppers and onions as they cook.

10. Peel two good-sized cloves of garlic.

11. When the peppers and onions are almost finished cooking, push the garlic through a press and add to the pan for one last minute or so of cooking. You know the drill: don’t let it burn!

12. Remove from heat.

13. Time to eat! How about a pepper and egg sandwich? Maybe with your favorite hot Italian sausage–mine is Longhini.

How about a nice Italian combo? Try Genoa, prosciuttini and provolone. Or add to your favorite sandwich to heat things up.

I’m feeling smarter already. And I’ll share, Jimmy is the same man who recently told me, “I hope you live to be a hundred–and I never die!” I’m 45 years old. He’s 82. You do the math. Gotta admire the man’s spirit. And he does make a mean batch of hot peppers. These are just as great as his. 🙂 CENT’ANN’, Jimmy!

We’ll love you forever, Jimmy. I miss sharing hot peppers (and so much more) with you. Gone, but never forgotten.

Buon appetito!

 

Apricot Almond Bread Pudding

Looking for a sweet ‘n easy way to start your day? Apricot almond bread pudding coming right up! Ultra-almond-y, custard-y inside, with a toasted almond, slightly crunchy sugar top! I adapted this from my favorite, tried and true chocolate bread pudding recipe.

ALMOND APRICOT BREAD PUDDING

1 baguette, sliced into 1-inch cubes (2 mini baguettes = 12 oz. in today’s batch)
canned apricots, slice each half in three slices
1.5 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup (½ stick) of butter
½ cup sugar (I used ½ light brown, half Sugar in the Raw)
3 eggs
2 teaspoons almond extract
½ cup sliced almonds for top

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Arrange half the bread in a buttered 8 x 8″ baking dish. Distribute sliced apricots evenly across the bread so each serving will have a few pieces.

Heat the cream, milk and butter. Add to the eggs, sugar and almond extract you’ve beaten in a separate bowl.

Pour this mixture over the bread. Sprinkle evenly with almonds and 2 teaspoons sugar in the raw.

Place this pan into a larger (9 x 13″) pan filled with an inch or so of hot water. The water should come no higher than two thirds of the way up the side of the pudding pan. Bake 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the edge of the pan comes out clean.

Serve warm or cold–it was breakfast today, but would be a great dessert! To take it over the top, pour a little heavy cream over the top. 🙂 Or add whippy cream. Whatever you do, enjoy!

 

A Goodfellas Pasta Fazool for Jimmy

My mom called a bit ago with some feedback that made my whole day. Jimmy said the pasta fazool I sent over was just like his mom used to make. WOW!

You’d hafta know Jimmy to understand the depth of that compliment. Jimmy is 82–an old school, hardcore, 100% Sicilian, no bullshit kinda guy. He fought in Korea. He can build things, fix things, has traveled all over the world. He’ll tell you like it is and then some.

Despite his gruff exterior, he’s also the kind of guy who puts out a special dish of seeds for “his” chipmunks in my mom’s driveway and used to take my dog out for hot dogs on the Pike. He also makes killer hot peppers and sends them to me. And chicken soup. Sometimes he even puts Hershey kisses in my containers when he returns them.

Now, I’ve had Henry Hill’s cookbook on my coffee table since this summer: The Wiseguy Cookbook–my favorite recipes from my life as a goodfella to cooking on the run. Goodfellas is one of my favorite movies of all time. Henry weaves all sorts of tales of his crimes and general mischief throughout the recipes. I had been leafing through it on and off and noticed his pasta fazool called for both beef broth and chicken broth. Hmm. Interesting. I’ll hafta try that sometime.

I rarely follow a recipe to the letter, but thought it would be cool to make Henry’s recipe as written. I started prepping the vegetables and, as usual, I drained and rinsed the beans. Then I read the recipe more closely. “Stir in beans and their juice…” Henry! WTF?! I say that with respect, man. I’ve heard you speak and know you and the F-word were well-acquainted. Why would you do that?

Oh, well. I did want to do this your way, but not with all the glop and preservatives from the can, so I’ll just add more liquid. Your recipe called for 4 cups of chicken broth, 2 cups of beef–and the dreaded “bean juice.” I changed that to 3 cups of beef broth, 2 cups of chicken, 2 cups of water and 1 cup of dry white wine.

So here we are–Henry Hill and yours truly in the kitchen. It’s BYOO-dee-full! And more, much more than this, I did it “My Way.” Let’s do this thinG–for Jimmy!

A GOODFELLA’S PASTA FAZOOL
from the recipe files of Henry Hill and Hope Simmons

And you’ve gotta know Henry must have said it just the way I typed it phonetically above, though, yes, it’s pasta e fagiole. Trust me, no one says it that way ’round heah.

2 slices slab bacon, cut in 1-inch pieces (local amici, PLEASE go to Meadow Meat)
1 large sweet onion, diced
8 garlic cloves, pressed
1-2 large stalks celery, sliced thin
1-2 large carrots, peeled and crinkle-cut (you know!)
2 15-oz. cans small white beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups beef broth
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup dry white wine
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Pecorino Romano (1/4 to 1/2 cup)
1 cup uncooked small pasta (I used Sclafani cavatelli)
Freshly ground black pepper
Dash cayenne pepper

I used a Dutch oven, but you could use a large pot. Add bacon, cook over medium to low heat, stirring (do not brown). Add onion and cook, stirring 5 minutes until translucent. Add garlic, celery and carrot and cook 5 minutes more, stirring.

Raise heat to medium. Stir in beans, beef and chicken broth, water, wine, bay leaf and rosemary. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add pasta, black pepper and cayenne. Cook according to the package directions for the pasta you choose, till pasta is al dente. Stir in cheese.

Serve to your friends and family. And keep smilin’! CENT’ANN’!

Janey and Jimmy (August 2011)

And now, I must close with the correct musical accompaniment.

 

Roasted Tomato Soup

There’s nothing like a snowstorm to send many of us (who, me?) straight to the kitchen. I crossed my roasted tomato vodka sauce recipe with Tyler Florence’s soup recipe and am happy to share the result with you. It’s rich, delicious and warms up the house like nobody’s business. Make sure you have some nice bread on hand (plain or to grill with cheese) and let’s get cookin’!

ROASTED TOMATO SOUP

3 pints grape tomatoes
6 gloves garlic, peeled
1 large sweet onion, cut in half, then sliced
Olive oil to coat your baking dish
1 heaping teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 cup vodka
2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons salted butter
3 bay leaves
sprigs of fresh thyme if you have them
zest of one lemon

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Layer the onions, tomatoes and garlic cloves into a large roasting dish. Toss with olive oil and a generous teaspoon of Kosher salt.

Roast for 20 minutes. Use tongs to move everything around, then roast for 10 more minutes. Add vodka to roasting pan after taking them out of the oven.

Transfer everything in the roasting pan to a large stock pot . Add chicken stock, bay leaves, thyme and butter. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until liquid has reduced by a third. Remove bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Season with freshly ground black pepper and add lemon zest.

Remove from heat and blend the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. You can drizzle with a bit of heavy cream when you serve to take this straight over the top, but I promise this soup is super-rich and flavorful on its own. It would be lovely to garnish with fresh basil or parsley. Enjoy with your favorite bread or maybe even a grilled cheese. Stay toasty, amici!

 

Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

Somebody gimme a cheeseburger! So sang Steve Miller in “Livin’ in the USA!” And so I was inspired to create a comforting bacon cheeseburger…in a bowl. STAND BACK!

If you love a cheeseburger, this soup is calling your name. And since there’s nothing like your favorite brew to go with, we’ve got beer in the mix, too. Of course, you can use all chicken stock if you prefer. But, boy, this is goooooooood!

BACON CHEESEBURGER SOUP

4 thick strips slab bacon, in small cubes
1 pound ground chuck
¾ teaspoons Kosher salt
large sweet onion, diced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped (yes, of course, I used a crinkle-cutter–by now you know the rules!)
1½ pounds red potatoes, scrubbed and diced (no need to peel)
1 red pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, diced (remember to wear your gloves if you have sensitive paws like me!)
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup beer*
¼ cup flour
3 tablespoons butter
1½ cups whole milk
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese (I used Cabot Seriously Sharp)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (I love Grey Poupon Harvest Coarse Ground, but choose your fave)
1 tablespoon  hot sauce of your choice (I used Frank’s Red Hot)
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Optional for garnish:
Vlasic Zesty Dill Stackers, chopped
Extra shredded cheddar

*Not crazy about beer in your soup? Just use three cups of chicken stock instead of two.

In a large saucepan,  cook bacon till crispy. Drain excess fat on a paper towel and set aside. Save the bacon drippings for when it’s time to cook the onions, celery and carrots. You’ll need about two tablespoons—just enough to coat the bottom of the saucepan.

Cook ground chuck. Strain off fat and set aside. I put mine in a bowl with the bacon.

In bacon drippings, cook onion, carrots and celery over medium heat—maybe 8-10 minutes.

Add potatoes, broth, beer, red pepper and jalapeno. Bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer 10-12 minutes (till potatoes are tender).

In a small saucepan, melt butter and whisk in flour to form a roux. Stir roux, then cheese, into the broth and veggies. When the cheese is all melted, add mustard, hot sauce, milk, ground chuck and bacon. Stir to combine, then remove from heat.

Garnish with a little extra shredded cheddar and chopped dill pickles for the complete bacon cheeseburger experience in a bowl!

 

Cranberry Sauce with Maker’s Mark and Vanilla

I woke up on Black Friday and decided to make cranberry sauce with vanilla. This is what happens when you’re supposed to be “as non-weight bearing as possible” and you go out for Thanksgiving dinner. You wake up the next day and realize there’s not enough cranberry sauce leftover. That’s gonna be a problem.

But I do have cranberries that I had bought to make muffins. And cranberry sauce is very easy to throw together. Sugar, some freshly squeezed orange juice or just plain water, vanilla. Wait. Bourbon has vanilla notes. Who needs just plain water? I have some lovely candied ginger in the house from Sundial Gardens, too. Problem solved.

CRANBERRY SAUCE WITH MAKER’S MARK AND VANILLA

½ cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar in the raw
¼ cup Maker’s Mark
12 oz. bag fresh or frozen cranberries
2 coins of crystallized (candied) ginger, minced fine
zest of one orange
¾ cup liquid (I squeezed 1/3 cup of juice from an orange, added enough water to make ¾ cup of liquid)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla (stir in at end)

The basic recipe is a cup of sugar, cup of water, a bag of cranberries. Where that road diverges in the wood and the path you take from there is completely up to you. 🙂

Combine the sugars and bourbon. Add all the remaining ingredients except the vanilla. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugars.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 15 minutes. The cranberries will burst and the sauce will begin to thicken. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract.

Your house will smell ah-MAYZ-ing! I love the smell of bourbon bubbling with brown sugar (and cranberries) in the morning!

And so will you. No more turkey at your house? Same here. Thankfully (HA, get it?) this tastes oh so good on its own, or might be nice spooned over a nice slice of pound cake, stirred into yogurt, baked with brie and puff pastry or crescent dough. So many possibilities–let me know what you decide.

Hope you’re having a warm and happy holiday weekend, amici!

 

Hot Apple Pie to drink!

On chilly days like this, there’s nothing like a steaming mug of hot apple pie. Mug? Yes, you read that right. Anything that holds 8 oz. of liquid and can take a trip in the microwave will do the trick nicely. Amici, ’tis the season for Tuaca–vanilla citrus liqueur that adds just the right flavor to hot apple cider.

Here in the Land of Steady Habits, we have lots of local cider choices. I’m partial to Woodland Farm, way, way up in the hills of South Glastonbury. If you’re lucky, my canine pal Sophie will greet you when you go.

HOT APPLE PIE

6 oz. apple cider
2 oz. Tuaca
whipped cream
cinnamon and/or nutmeg to sprinkle on top (optional)

Ready for how easy this is? Grab a mug you can put in the microwave. Fill with cider and Tuaca. At my house, the “quick minute” setting works perfectly. See if a minute in the micro at your house works the same.

Top with whipped cream, cinnamon and nutmeg. Because what’s not to love about a little “Whipped Cream” to make the day a little brighter? One day, it’s gonna be jazz hands on Main Street with my girlfriends and me, dancin’ it up to this tune. With a vivid imagination, and an adult beverage or two, anything is possible! 😀 Cheers to that! And to all my girlfriends dancing along virtually! CLINQUE and CENT’ANN’!

 

Salad Olivier (Insalata Russa/Russian Salad)

The year is 1976. It’s the summer before my ninth birthday. There I am, smiling away (not much changes, right?) in Nanny and Poppy’s backyard on Silver Lane. In front of me is a freshly made batch of Nanny’s potato salad, still warm.

Dig our tablecloth on the picnic table, by the way. Is that a stylish touch or what? We weren’t wealthy, but we always had at least three things: each other, good food and a little bit of style.

My mom has that funny expression on her face. And that’s my uncle Greg on the other side of the table. It’s the first time I ever had Nanny’s potato salad. I remember liking it so much, we took some home. The next day, my mom dished out some out for me. Cold. “Aren’t you going to heat it up?” I asked.

So, that’s where it starts. Warm potato salad. It’s not just my childhood memory of how I think things should be. Thirty-seven years later, warm potato salad still sounds right to me.

I recently learned of Salad Olivier–a.k.a Insalata Russa or Russian Salad. How about that? Potatoes and carrots and peas and diced pickles! Doesn’t that sound good? Well, aren’t you going to heat it up? 🙂 It’s traditionally served cold, but it sure tastes great warm with the best wurst from Noack’s to go with! And, by now, you know the drill. Of course we’re gonna crinkle-cut those carrots.

SALAD OLIVIER OR INSALATA RUSSA (RUSSIAN SALAD) A LA KATTY

2 pounds red potatoes, scrubbed, unpeeled, diced
2 cups frozen peas
3 carrots, peeled and crinkle-cut
1/3 of a large sweet onion, finely chopped (sauté in bacon grease or olive oil if you’re short on bacon)
about 1/4 cup of pickles, diced (I used Vlasic Stackers Zesty Dill—3 Stackers slices, very zesty indeed!)
black pepper to taste

Dressing:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 a fresh lemon, squeezed
¼ cup parsley, minced
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
2 teaspoons Penzey’s horseradish powder (yes, a random ingredient, but I like it–so add it if you have it!)

First, saute the onions. It’s handy if you’ve already made a trip to Noack’s. In addition to the best wurst, they also have killer bacon. Save the bacon drippings from breakfast and sizzle up the onions till nice and soft and golden. Set aside.

Now, may I suggest boiling the potatoes in a large stockpot of salted water? It’s really preferable to filling them to the brim of a pan that’s not quite big enough and watching them boil all over the stovetop. Oh, not like I know from personal experience or anything. Cook just till fork-tender and drain.

Meanwhile, same as the potatoes (badadas), boil the carrots till fork-tender. Add 2 cups frozen peas to the pan when the carrots are almost done—just throw ‘em in for about a minute or two.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a large bowl. Then fold the sauteed onions, warm potatoes, carrots and peas into the dressing. Don’t delay–serve right away with your favorite wurst. Or eat it cold if you must. Just heat up my portion, OK?

Let’s surry down to a stoned soul picnic with the family. ♫ Red yellow honey, sassafras and moonshine. ♫ I can only get there in my mind’s eye now, but if I could make it happen, I would definitely bring this potato salad. Warm. On a picnic table with a tablecloth, capisce? See you there!

Janey and Nanny