Ciderhouse Rules

Some of my best fall memories revolve around the apple. When I was young, my mother worked at the historic Slater Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Each fall they had an evening craft show and tours of the old mill. All of the rough hewn pine beams and leaded-glass flooding the room with twilight created great ambiance, but what really permeates my memories is the smell of mulled cider, sipping a cup with folk music dancing in my ears as I rambled under, over and around the antique gears and looms.

Fast forward to eighth grade, when a passion for poetry had taken hold, and a writing retreat to Maine with childhood friends and cherished teachers. A football game in crisp air, then pulling ingredients from coolers and packing up dinner to take to a bonfire on the beach, shared with a thermos of cider under a ceiling of glitter. I never knew stars until that night.

And all of a sudden I'm a freshmen in college, awkward and lonely, stealing away to the neighborhood cafe for a steaming cup to help me plow through chemistry. Dashing home for weekends of apple picking, homemade caramel apples, apple sauce, apple pies...

Four years later, visiting my best friend in New Hampshire, the realization that this man had lapped me for most important person, but trading cider donuts and bushel bags none the less.


Apple cider has been one of the most central beverages in my life, and I don't even want to guess my lifetime consumption. I know that right now it averages about a gallon a week September through March. Although I don't think you can beat ladling out warm mugs of spiced nectar, cider donuts and apple crisp come close. In celebration of all things apple, I hope these recipes warm your body and your heart.

Cider Donuts (cake type) modified from Peabody's recipe


2/3 cup maple sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 Tbsp dark rum
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup apple cider, reduced to 1/4 cup over high heat
1/3 cup buttermilk
3 3/4 - 4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
vegetable oil for frying

2 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup apple cider

Cream butter together with maple sugar. Add maple syrup, rum and vanilla and mix well. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add in buttermilk and reduced cider.

Sift in all dry ingredients, starting with 3 1/2 cups of flour. Stir to combine. If dough is too wet, add more flour (you need to be able to roll it out without it being sticky. Turn out on a floured countertop and pat to an even thickness (about 1/2 inch). Use a juice glass of the desired diameter to cut out donuts. Use a small cookie cutter of your choice to cut the holes in the middle (or a shot glass works well).

Fill a deep pan with oil until it's about 3 inches deep. Heat oil to 375 degrees F. Fry 3-4 donuts at a time, flipping when first side becomes amber in color, about 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove to a cooling rack over paper towels. Repeat with remaining donuts and donut holes. Let cool.

Meanwhile, make the glaze by whisking together confectioners sugar and cider. Use a chopstick through the middle of the donut to dunk each one in glaze. Return to cooling rack to dry.


This makes about 16 donuts. I recommend you only make these for a crowd, because you've gotta eat them the same day.




Gluten-free Hazelnut Apple Crisp


6-7 large macoun apples
2 tsp lemon juice
zest of a lemon
1 Tbsp Chinese five spice powder
1 tsp freshly ground cardamom
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cornstarch

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
2/3 cup hazelnut meal
1 1/2 cups hazelnuts, toasted, skins removed and chopped coarsely
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick of butter, melted

Peel the apples and slice about 1/4 inch thick. Toss with lemon juice. Add zest, spices and cornstarch and toss to combine. Empty into a greased 13 x 9 pyrex baking dish.


Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl and mix with fingers to combine. Sprinkle over apples and press down lightly.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until topping has crisped and apples are bubbly but not yet completely soft. Enjoy warm with a dash of maple syrup, over oatmeal for breakfast, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert.

For The Love of Lime...

Back to school tomorrow, although I won't be seeing any of those pesky teenagers ;) until next week. Another year with its own challenges, its own rewards and a whole new hundred and fifty smiling (or not so much) faces to keep track of. I love teaching, but I'm not really a fan of the beginning of the year. I never was good at introductions. Things go slowly at the beginning, before my students know what I want and how they need to do it, when they're testing me with their every move to see what they can and can't get away with. It's an uncertain time because they don't know what to expect from me and I'm not sure what I'll get from them. You develop such a relationship with kids over the course of the year, so you really know them, well enough to predict their next move. By the end of the year, I feel like my classes can almost teach themselves. Everything works together like one big machine (or at least most of the time).

Working with ingredients is much the same. New ingredients are intimidating, unpredictable. You brave it, trying a bit of the new stuff with tried and true flavors, feeling it out until you know its flavor, how it behaves, if it plays well with others. And over time, you develop your favorites, ones that you turn to time after time (OK - so I try not to do this with kids, but I'm definitely biased with flavors). My teacher's pet is lime (Ok - and vanilla and basil - why else would I have named my blog this way?). Lime lends a fresh finish to sweet and savory concoctions. It gets along best with mexican and thai flavors, tropical tastes like coconut, mango and macademia, pumps up berries' sweetness, and lends bright character to baked goods, such as these cardamom lime sweet rolls.


So on the eve of uncertainty, of course I turned to my favorite team player. Since I firmly believe in dessert first, and this is in fact the order in which I cooked, photographed and ate my lovely limey creations, I will start you off with a delicate lime cookie. If you stick around for dinner you'll get a yummy grilled garlic lime chicken, with coconut lime rice and corn on the cob. This food deserves the limelight!


This type of cookie has many aliases, russian tea cakes or mexican wedding cakes, meltaways or liar's cookies (because your shirt will give you away!). When I was growing up my mom made a gluten free version that always came out looking rather grey, so we called them moldy mice, a name that I've now realized is not all that appetizing to people outside our family. I think I like Dorie Greenspan's name the best, so these will be called powder puffs. These are traditionally made with pecans and can be made with or without citrus zest. L happens to love lime as much as I do, and it paired perfectly with buttery rich macademias, and earned the title of his favorite cookie!

Key Lime & Macademia Powder Puffs


1 cup macademia nuts, toasted until golden
1/4 cup sugar, divided
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of ground green cardamom
1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter at room temperature
zest of 5 key limes (or one regular lime)
2 Tbsp key lime juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup confectioners sugar

Grind nuts with 1 Tbsp of sugar with short pulses of a food processor, until they form a chunky paste. Add flour, salt and cardamom and pulse until well combined. Transfer to a small mixing bowl.

In the bowl of the food processor, combine butter and sugar. Pulse until creamy and pale. Add lime zest and juice. Pulse to combine. Add dry ingredients back in and use short pulses to mix until just combined (scraping the bowl as needed). Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350. Line a large cookie sheet with Silpat or parchment paper. Ball up dough into small, bite sized spheres and place on cookie sheet (don't worry about spacing them too much, they don't spread a lot).

Bake 13-16 minutes or until slightly golden. Let cool on sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. When just slightly warm, roll in confectioners sugar.




Garlic Lime Chicken with Grilled Red Onions


4 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp orange muscat vinegar (or other fruity vinegar)
3 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp crushed garlic
1 packet Baja Citrus marinade seasoning (McCormick makes this)
2 lbs. bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (you can use boneless but cook them for less time)

Combine marinade ingredients. Marinate at least 3 hours in the fridge.

Preheat grill on high. Start chicken on hottest part of the grill (if it flares up you may have to move it or turn down the heat). Cook over direct heat 5 minutes / side. Move to indirect heat, and continue to cook with grill lid down until the internal temperature reads 165 F on an instant-read thermometer (carryover will take it up almost another 10 degrees), about 30 minutes. Baste chicken periodically with marinade during cooking. Grill a halved lime alongside chicken (only about 1 minute on either side).


Grill onions in an oiled grill pan until charred, but still crunchy in parts. Transfer to a plate, top with chicken pieces and a squeeze of grilled lime.

Grilled Corn on the Cob


1 ear corn / person

Peel back husks and remove silks from corn. Replace husks back around the corn, removing the tougher ones on the outside.
Preheat grill to high and brush with oil. Place corn in husks on grill and cook, turning regularly, until husks begin to burn. take off grill and let cool.


Remove husks and knobby end part. Brush with some of the chicken marinade and return to grill over direct heat until lightly charred.



Coconut Lime Rice


1 13.5 oz can coconut milk (not light)
2 cups chicken broth
zest of one lime
2 kieffer lime leaves
2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chile powder
1 3/4 cups basmati or jasmine rice

Mix together all ingredients except rice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Add rice and return to a simmer. Turn heat down to low and pop a lid on it. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, about 20 minutes. Add chopped scallions or cilantro if desired (I didn't have any).



To serve:


Make a bed of rice on the bottom of a plate. Pile on grilled onions and chicken, place grilled corn alongside. Squeeze a grilled lime half down over the whole dish. Finish with a dash of salt.

Plumtastic

I am the queen of procrastination. I have several assignments due by noon tomorrow for my immunology masters course, and instead of working on them (I haven't even started), I'm making, and then blogging about making, and then eating, plum cake! Some time tonight I will freak out that I'm never going to get it all done, dinner won't get made (that's OK - there's still vibrant yellow soup in the fridge), and L will once again ask why I do this to myself. But for now, I'm gonna enjoy my cake!



My local farmstand always has these adorable cherry-sized baby plums around the beginning of june. They're so jewel like, with shiny colorful skins in their little woven baskets, that I'm always compelled to buy them. Problem is, I don't actually like plums that much for out-of-hand eating. So they decorate my counter until they're super soft, then I finally decide to make something with them. Last year, I made plum sherbet popsicles, which were good, but not outstanding. This year, I tried a plum cake. Not the usual halve-the-plums-and-let-them-dimple-the-top-of-your-cake kind, but rather an uber moist treasure-trove loaf studded magnificently with bits of plum and toffee. Oh what a cake! Large, meltingly soft crumbs full of flavor, with a crunchy crust at the edges! It makes me happy, very happy! This is so much better than doing homework!

Plum Loaf Cake



1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup Splenda (my attempt to feel better about eating even more cake this week - feel free to sub sugar)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
zest of one small lime
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 pint very ripe cherry-sized plums, pitted and separated into small pieces (skins on)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup vanilla yogurt (full or lowfat)
2/3 cup Skor toffee bits
coarse turbinado or other raw sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a large loaf pan (preferably nonstick).

Cream together butter, sugar and splenda. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each one. Add extracts, zest and cardamom and stir to blend. Add in plums. Don't be worried if they get mashed to a pulp when you blend them in. Sift together remaining dry ingredients. Add 1/3 dry ingredients, then 1/3 cup yogurt, then the second third of dry ingredient, the rest of the yogurt, and finally add in toffee and remaining dry ingredients. Mix until just combined (don't overmix!) The batter should be just a little on the dry side of a normal cake batter.

Pour batter into the loaf pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, or until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack.



Serve warm as is or with caramel sauce and powdered sugar or a little vanilla ice cream.

Celebrating the 4th and Coming to Terms with My Own Independence

July 4th has always meant spending time with family. Growing up in New England, in historic Massachusetts, Independence Day was a big deal. My parents would load up the car before dawn and we would camp out on the dewey grass of a friends yard in Bristol, RI, waiting for the longest running 4th of July parade in the country to begin. The festivities would wind down, and we'd hop on our bikes, my little brother strapped into a trailer pulled along behind, and head to Colt State Park for a picnic. After a nap on a blanket in the shade, we would take the sailboat out and anchor it in the harbor to watch the fireworks. I was rocked to sleep by the waves and the sounds of bell buoys clanging in the distance.


















I'm feeling a little homesick lately. Maybe it was the boating and kayaking and being on the water all last week. Maybe it was the brief trip back up there. Maybe it's just the hard knocks lately that have made me realize that, like it or not, I'm a grown up now and no one's going to carry me through life. We were supposed to have family visiting this weekend, but they canceled, and I've been in a funk. The best way I know to pull myself out of that is to spend the day in the kitchen. So I've made some treats that remind me of home, and make me thankful for the diversity and freedom of this great country.












Yes, I'm using apples and cranberries in the middle of the summer. But what else is so quintessentially New England? When I lived in the northeast, I went to a quilting event where we had an appetizer of brie smothered in caramel, pecans and dried cranberries and baked until gooey. We used apples to scoop up the creamy goodness. I came across this beautiful buttery brie at Wegmans today. It made a fabulous nostalgic lunch when melted in a slightly spicy quesadilla with tart apples, salty pecans and sweet cranberries.












New England Inspired Quesadilla

1 tsp butter

2 large jalapeno and herb flour tortillas
1 medium tart cooking apple, such as granny smith or macoun, sliced thin
4 oz medium-ripe buttery brie, sliced thin
2 Tbsp dried cranberries
2 Tbsp toasted salted pecans



Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Place tortilla in pan, top with apple slices, then brie, sprinkle cranberries and pecans on top. Sandwich with another tortilla. After cheese has slightly melted and bottom tortilla is crisp and golden brown, invert a plate over the skillet and flip. Slide quesadilla into pan, uncooked side down. Cook until cheese has melted, apples are slightly soft and other tortilla is crisp and brown. Use a pizza cutter to cut into slices.

Serves two.



I grew up not to far from New Bedford, Emeril's hometown. I felt like I was the only one in town who wasn't Portuguese, and I was envious of their big, loud families, massive church feasts and mouthwatering food. Living in the bay state, and a quarter mile away from the ocean state, seafood ruled. One of my favorite dishes was clams with chorizo (cerise up there) in a lovely spicy broth that you mop up with crusty garlic scented bread. Dinner is served...



Spicy Portuguese Clams with Chorizo

1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 large sweet onion, chopped
6 oz. chorizo, diced
2 large garlic cloves, sliced thin
1 cup sherry
1 bottle clam juice
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (I like garlic, basil & oregano seasoned ones or fire roasted)
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp dried thyme
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
50 littleneck clams, rinsed and kept alive on ice with room to breathe
1/4 cup lightly packed chopped flat leaf parsley

In a stockpot, melt butter with olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions and saute until soft, then add chorizo and saute for 3 minutes. Add garlic slices, cook one minute. Deglaze with sherry and allow some of the alcohol to cook off. Add clam juice, tomatoes and seasonings and bring to a boil. Add clams, reduce heat and cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until shells open. Toss with parsley. Serve in bowls or deep plates with slices of buttered garlic tuscan bread to sop up the broth.

10 Days Later...

Wow - I hope someone's still out there! I have (somewhat sadly) been out of my own bed and my kitchen for a week and a half! I wish I could tell you about my glamourous travels in exotic places. The truth is I've been spending long hours cramped into a Civic navigating from one exhausting experience to the next. Not that it wasn't fun. I just feel like I could sleep for a week! Too bad I left my pillow at the hotel!



More details and photos after the recipe...


Since I've had no time to cook recently, I'm glad it's time for the June Daring Bakers big reveal, and I can finally show off my hard work from weeks ago! This time we played with a lovely flaky dough, plaited neatly around the filling of our choice. I created a sweet braid (perfect for my morning treat) and a savory (to satisfy L's snacktime cravings). This was the first time I've ever made a laminated dough and it was so surprisingly easy that I'm now toying with the ideas of homemade croissants and puff pastry.

Rich and buttery almond frangipane finds the perfect counterpoint to sweet-tart cherry jam....


Spring onions, blue cheese and bacon cozy up to sliced pears....


Danish Braids

Danish Dough (modified from The Secrets of Baking By Sherry Yard



Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough, enough for 2 braids

Beurrage
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.

Detrempe
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup 1 % milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, extracts, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky note and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Turn out the dough onto the floured surface with the open ends to the right and left. Repeat rolling out in the opposite direction as before. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. Repeat folding as before. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.





Cherry Frangipane Braid



1 cup toasted almonds
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. all purpose flour
1 tsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp. butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg
1 tsp water
coarse turbinado sugar

2/3 cup highest quality cherry jam

1/2 danish dough recipe

Pulverize first 5 ingredients in the food processor until no chunks of pesky nuts remain. Add egg and extracts and pulse enthusiastically.

Make and egg wash by whisking egg and water until well blended.

Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.

Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a pizza cutter, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.

Spoon the frangipane down the center of the rectangle, thicker along the sides than in the middle, forming a cavity for the jam. Spoon jam into cavity. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.



With a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid with egg wash. Sprinkle with coarse turbinado sugar.

Spray cooking oil onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.




Gorgonzola Braid with Bacon, Pear and Spring Onion Jam

1 recipe spring onion jam from The Kitchen Sink
1 cup crumbled gorgonzola
4 slices hickory smoked center cut bacon, crisp cooked and crumbled
1 large bartlett pear, peeled and sliced

2 Tbsp sesame seeds
coarse salt

Prepare and slice dough as before. Spread spring onion jam down the middle, sprinkle on cheese and bacon, top with pear slices. Braid as described above.



Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and salt. Proof and bake as directed above.




And now a little about what I've been up to...




I've received a research fellowship for the summer studying oyster immunology. My 6 weeks in the lab start tomorrow, and they were preceded by an intense week of workshops and lectures on Solomon's Island on Maryland's western shore.



This included kayaking in the Chesapeake Bay, water testing in historic St. Mary's, trawling for fish, dredging for oysters and examining the health of submerged aquatic vegetation.



I slept in a great hotel with comfy beds, met some new friends, including a wonderful roomate, and enjoyed dinner out at a couple great restaurants and a few not so good ones. If it weren't for the long hours (7:30 in the morning to 10:30 at night), it would have been almost a vacation.



Along the way I was introduced to the pleasures of geocaching and learned a lot about the state of the bay, including much I can bring back to the classroom.













After the week was over, it was 3 hours home and then 8 up to Mass to visit family, including an oh so cute nephew! I already miss seeing them all, but I'm glad to be home in my own bed tonight!