Chocolate Apricot Babka

Servings: 2 loaf babkas
Prep Time: 2 hrs
Inactive Prep Time: 5 hrs
Source: “The Art of the Dessert,” by Ann Amernick

Ingredients
FOR THE DOUGH:
2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 oz or 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast, or 1 cake (0.6 oz) fresh yeast
1/2 cup whole milk at room temp
1/2 cup eggs (whole eggs or just yolks)
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, preferably high fat, at room temp, plus
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
Flour for dusting
CHOCOLATE-APRICOT FILLING:
6 oz ( 3/4 cup) apricot preserves
3/4 cup dry poundcake crumbs
2 oz unsalted high-fat butter, melted
4 oz good bittersweet chocolate
STREUSEL TOPPING:
6 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, diced and chilled.

Directions
1. To make dough, combine flours, salt and all but 1 tablespoon sugar in mixer fitted with dough attachment and mix on medium speed. In a small bowl, stir yeast with one tablespoon warm water and reserved tablespoon sugar just until sugar and yeast have dissolved. Reduce mixer speed to low, add yeast mixture, milk, eggs and vanilla. Beat until dough is shiny and elastic, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Add one stick butter by spoonfuls until thoroughly incorporated, then beat on low speed for about 5 minutes. When finished, dough should be silken and rich like very thick ice cream. Transfer to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside. When dough has doubled in size, after 2 hours, flour a cutting board and your hands. Then push dough down on board, cover well with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours or overnight.

3. To make filling, purée apricot preserves in a food processor until smooth. In a small bowl, combine cake crumbs, preserves and butter; mix until smooth. Set aside. Grate chocolate by hand in large holes of a box grater or in a food processor. If using a food processor, pulse into large chunks. Set aside.

4. To make streusel topping, in a small bowl mix flour, sugar and cinnamon. Add cold butter and using your fingers, mix together until crumbly. Set aside.

5. To assemble, line one Bundt pan or two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch loaf pans with parchment paper, not letting paper come more than 1 inch above top of pans. Remove dough from refrigerator and divide it in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll one piece of dough into a 12 x 8-inch rectangle.

6. Using a metal spatula, spread half the apricot filling over dough within 1/2 inch of edges. Sprinkle with half the grated chocolate. Beginning with long side, roll dough up tightly and fold in ends. Twist babka lengthwise to create a spiral, holding one end of babka in each hand. Place twisted babka in half the prepared Bundt pan or in a loaf pan, pressing dough firmly into pan. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Brush babka top with melted butter and sprinkle with half the streusel. Repeat with second half of babka dough. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let loaves rise at room temperature until they reach top of pan or about doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

7. Heat oven to 350° and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Allow babka to cool for 30 minutes before cutting. Slice babka and serve.

Lucy’s Chocolate Minis

Servings: 3 doz
Preheat: 350°
Source: Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich
Richer than a cupcake but lighter than a brownie. These two-bite chocolate cakes are perfect just as they are, but you can also doll them up with frosting. Don’t substitute standard-size muffin pans, because they don’t bake properly as full-size cupcakes.

Ingredients
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp (4 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp natural nonalkalized
cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
14 Tbsp (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
4 oz bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), coarsely chopped
1 1/3 cups (9.33 oz) sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 lg eggs

CHOCOLATE GANACHE
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (no more than 62% cacao), finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream

Directions
Line 3 miniature cupcake pans with 12 cups each. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven.

Place the butter and chocolate in a medium to large heatproof bowl set directly in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until the chocolate and butter are melted and quite warm to the touch. Remove the bowl from the water bath. Whisk in the sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well to blend each before adding the next. Add the flour mixture and whisk just until smooth and blended, not longer. Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the batter into each muffin cup-the batter will come almost to the top of each liner. Bake for 14 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Rotate the pans from front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. Cool the cakes on a rack. May be kept in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE
Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate. Stir gently until all of the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Cool the ganache at room temperature (without stirring) until it is thick enough to spread or pipe. May be covered and refrigerated for at least 1 week.

To soften chilled ganache, set the bowl in a larger bowl of hot water or microwave on low for a few seconds at a time until soft and spreadable. Spread about 2 1/2 teaspoons of ganache between two 1 1/2- to 3-inch cookies or pipe into thumbprint cookies.

Bean Sprout and Red Pepper Potato Salad

Servings: 8
Source: Gourmet 6/1979

Ingredients
3 pounds boiling potatoes
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
6 ounces fresh bean sprouts
2 large red peppers, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/3 cup snipped chives

Directions
Steam potatoes for 25-30 minutes until just tender, let them cool slightly, and cut them into 3/4-inch cubes.

In a bowl combine the potatoes while they are still warm with mayonnaise, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and pepper to taste, tossing the mixture gently with rubber spatulas, and fold in bean sprouts, drained, and red pepper pieces.

Chill the salad, covered, for at least 2 hours. Transfer the salad to a salad bowl and sprinkle it with chives.

Baking Powder Biscuits

Servings: 14
Preheat: 425°
Source: Baking with Julia
recipeNotes: Among bakers, one hears the expression “”She has a good biscuit hand.”” Like pie crusts, biscuits are a measure of a baker’s talents and a pastry in which bakers take particular pride.

To have a good biscuit hand is to have a light touch and restraint-a biscuit dough is so soft that it invites poking and prodding, kneading and mashing, when it should be just barely worked. The golden rule with biscuits is to stop doing whatever you’re doing to them two beats before you have to. So, when you’re rubbing the shortening and flour together and there are still some chubby chunks of shortening-stop. When you’re tossing the flour-and-butter mixture with the milk and the dough looks only just moistened-stop. And when you turn the dough out onto the counter and knead it just to work it into a mass, count each knead, get to ten, and-stop.

Before you start, have a small juice glass at the ready for cutting out the biscuits. Have a small scoop of flour nearby to aid in kneading and flattening the dough. And have a bench scraper available for easy removal of the dough from the bowl and clean-up. Storing Biscuits are best just out of the oven, but they can be kept covered at room temperature for a few hours and warmed for about 5 minutes in a 350°F oven before serving.

Ingredients
2 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter or solid vegetable shortening
1 cup milk

Directions
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 425°F. Grease a 9- by 12-inch baking pan and set it aside.

Mixing the Dough. Put the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl and stir with a fork just to mix. Add the shortening, roll it around in ,the flour mix to coat it, and break it into 4 or 5 pieces. Rub the flour and shortening together with the tips of your fingers, making little crumbs and letting the crumbs fall back into the bowl. Keep rubbing the flour and shortening together and tossing the contents of the bowl until most of the shortening is mixed with the flour. Don’t worry if you still have a few largish pieces. Add the milk and stir with a fork to moisten the flour. Again, don’t worry about getting everything thoroughly or evenly mixed. You’ll have a sticky mass of dough.

Kneading the Dough. Flour a work surface and your hands, scoop the dough out of the bowl, and drop it onto the counter. Knead the dough ten times-no more, even if its malleable texture tempts you. Pat the dough into a circle about 9 inches across and, using a 2-inch round biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out the biscuits. (You can, of course, make the biscuits larger or smaller to meet your needs. And you can always press the scraps together into a 1/4-inch-thick circle and cut out additional biscuits.)

Baking the Biscuits. Transfer the biscuits to the baking pan, allowing them to touch each other if you want biscuits with soft sides, and placing them apart if you want crisper sides. The biscuits can be brushed with melted butter before baking, an optional but nice touch. Bake the biscuits for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are golden on top. Serve them warm.

Flea Street Cafe Stir Fry

Servings: —
Source: Jessie Cool
Serves 4 as an entree when tossed with 1 lb. of buckwheat noodles

Ingredients
2 Tbs. canola oil
1 medium onion sliced thin
1/8 tsp. chili flakes
1 1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
2 Tbs. tamari
1 Tbs. fresh garlic chopped
1 Tbs. fresh ginger chopped
1 lb. mixed greens
salt to taste and toasted sesame seeds to garnish

optional: 1 lb of tofu

Directions
Over medium heat, in a large saute pan, saute all ingredients except stir fry for 5 minutes. Add stir fry. Toss for 2 to 3 minutes. Cover, turn off the heat. Let sit for 5 minutes. Season and serve as is or tossed with cooked noodles.

Red Beans and Rice

Servings: 8
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 3 hrs
Source: The New Orleans Cook Book
This is the way red beans and rice were cooked in the old days -loaded with meat and steeped in a rich, natural gravy. You must include a large ham bone, whose marrow gives the beans that creamy texture and distinctive smoky flavor. Many supermarkets now carry only pre-boned hams, and you may have difficulty finding ham bones. Ask your local packer which butchers still bone their own hams and buy the bones in large batches. Ham bones freeze well, and a good supply in the freezer will enable you to prepare red beans the right way whenever you wish. If you have any left over. red beans freeze beautifully. Just add a little water and perhaps a pinch of salt when you reheat them.

Be sure to use baked rather than country or smoked ham in this and all other New Orleans beans dishes. Smoked ham is too salty and will unbalance the seasonings. Pickled pork is pork shoulder marinated in brine for over a week; New Orleans markets regularly carry it, but elsewhere you probably will not find it. A good substitute for pickled pork is salt pork; with salt pork eliminate all other salt in the recipe.

Ingredients
2 lb. dried red (kidney) beans, soaked overnight in cold water to cover
2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. thinly sliced green scallion tops
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
1 1/3 Tbs. finely minced garlic
2 Tbs. finely minced fresh parsley
1 lb. seasoning (baked) ham, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 lb. pickled pork (page 9), cut into large chunks
1 large ham bone with some meat on it, sawed into 4- to 5-inch lengths
1 Tbs. salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper pods
2 whole bay leaves, broken into quarters
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/8 tsp. dried basil
2 qt. cold water, approximately
Boiled Rice (page 17 ~ double the recipe)

Directions
Drain the soaked beans in a colander and put them, along with all the other ingredients, into a heavy 8- to 10-quart pot or kettle, adding just enough of the cold water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer on low heat for 2 1/3 to 3 hours, or until the beans are tender and a thick natural gravy has formed. Add about 1 cup of water toward the end of cooking if the mixture appears too dry. During cooking, stir frequently and scrape down the sides and across the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon or spatula to prevent scorching. (If you use a heavy pot and very low heat – just high enough to keep the barest simmer going – you should have no problem with beans sticking to the pot during cooking.) Stir the entire mixture thoroughly just once about every half hour.

When the beans are cooked, turn off the heat. To serve, ladle about 1 1/2 cups of beans, with meat and gravy, over a portion (about ~2/3 cup) of boiled rice.

Sour Cream Bran Muffins

Servings: 12
Prep Time: 45 min
Source: Gourmet | October 1991
This is the Rolls-Royce of bran muffin recipes.

Ingredients
* 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
* 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
* 1 large egg, beaten lightly
* 1 cup sour cream
* 1/4 cup dark molasses
* 1/2 cup raisins
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup miller’s bran (available at natural foods stores, specialty foods shops, and some supermarkets)

Directions
In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream together the butter and the brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, beat in the egg, the sour cream, and the molasses, and stir in the raisins. In a bowl whisk together the flour, the baking soda, the salt, and the bran, add the mixture to the sour cream mixture, and stir the batter until it is just combined. (The batter will be lumpy.) Spoon the batter into 12 well-buttered 1/3-cup muffin tins and bake the muffins in the middle of a preheated 400°F. oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are golden brown and springy to the touch. Turn the muffins out onto a rack and let them cool.

Chocolate Sauce – Brendan

Servings: —
Prep Time: 10 min
Everybody knows that the best dessert in all the world is Chocolate Sauce over Vanilla Ice Cream, preferably Haagen-Dazs. This chocolate sauce is also used for ice cream desserts such as Pears Belle Helene.

Ingredients
1 C of high-quality whipping cream, not ultra pasteurized
1 C of Nestle’s dark chocolate chips, or a higher-quality semisweet chocolate, or 3 oz semisweet chocolate mixed with 1 oz unsweetened, or semisweet chocolate mixed with bittersweet chocolate, cut up. It is not necessary to gild the lily with expensive chocolate unless you have an over-indulgent palate and heavy pocketbook.

Optional:
liqueur: 1 tbs.
strong fresh coffee: 1 tbs.
vanilla: 1 tsp
almond flavoring: dash

Makes 2 cups

Directions
Using a heavy bottomed pot, stir the cream with a wire whisk until it just barely shows bubbles around the edge.

Gradually add the chocolate, stirring continuously for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and let cool, or pour it over ice cream and eat immediately.

Cranberry Bean Soup

Servings: 6
Source: Saveur in Issue #21
If fresh cranberry beans are available, omit overnight soaking.

Ingredients
4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 small yellow onions, peeled and chopped
2 small carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
3 tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley
3 tbsp. finely chopped fresh basil
1 1/2 lbs. plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
2 cups dried cranberry beans, soaked overnight
1 bay leaf
3 fresh sage leaves, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery and cook until vegetables are soft, 15 minutes. Add garlic and 1 tbsp. each of parsley and basil; cook for 10 minutes.

2. Add tomatoes, cook 10 minutes more, then add beans, 4 cups water, bay leaf, and sage. Simmer soup over medium heat (adding water if necessary) until beans are very tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Add remaining parsley and basil, season with salt and pepper, and serve.”

Lighter Lemon Bars

Servings: 16 (2-inch) bars or 25 smaller bars
Preheat: 350°
Source: Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy by Alice Medrich
Tart lemon filling sits atop a crunchy cornmeal cookie, instead of rich shortbread crust. Superbly tart and tangy, which is just the way I like them.

Ingredients
FOR THE CRUST
2/3 cup (3 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1.375 ounces) yellow cornmeal
Pinch of salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup (2.33 ounces) sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon nonfat yogurt
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

FOR THE TOPPING
2/3 cup (4.625 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
Grated zest of 1 large lemon, preferably from an organic or unsprayed fruit
1/2 cup strained lemon juice, preferably from an organic or unsprayed fruit
1/4 cup (1.125 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

EQUIPMENT
An 8-inch square metal baking pan, the bottom and all 4 sides lined with foil. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven.

Directions
To Make the Crust
Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl and mix together thoroughly with a whisk or fork.
In a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat at high speed for about 1 minute, or until the mixture begins to form a mass. Beat in the egg yolk, yogurt, and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed just until combined. Scrape the bowl and beater. Knead the mixture briefly with your hands to be sure all of the flour is incorporated.
Press the dough evenly into the pan. Prick it all over with a fork. If the pan is lightweight, place it on a baking sheet to prevent the crust from burning on the bottom. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the surface is deep golden brown.

To Make the Topping
While the crust is baking, whisk the sugar with the eggs and the egg white until well blended. Grate the lemon zest directly into the bowl. Whisk in the lemon juice. Whisk in the flour.
When the crust is brown, turn the oven temperature down to 300°F. Slide the rack with the pan out and pour the topping over the hot crust. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until it barely jiggles when you shake the pan gently back and forth. Cool on a rack. Chill before cutting into squares.
Serve cold (my favorite) or at room temperature, dusted with powdered sugar. May be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 days.