Cinnamon- Apple Cake

I hate to admit it, but I'm feeling a bit stressed about the over-abundance of wonderful produce this time of year. My head is swimming with dishes to make and treats to bake with all the seasonal goodness. And I want to get it to you before the best stuff is gone.

Apples are here to stay. But Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, are coming up soon. Like this weekend.

So in the interest of timeliness, I really want to share this apple cake now. It's something I've been making for years, either for the Jewish holidays or just because it's so good.

It's rich with cream cheese, but rustic and craggy with apples and cinnamon. Love it for dessert, but I have also been known to have a slice (or two) after breakfast.

It's a lovely alternative to the traditional honey cake at Rosh Hashanah, which I never really liked (it's true, Mom). And it's perfect with the break fast meal after Yom Kippur.

I can also assure you that this cake makes a welcome addition to any fall meal, regardless of your religious beliefs.

Cinnamon-Apple Cake

adapted from Cooking Light

1 3/4 cups sugar, divided

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla extract

6 oz. block-style cream cheese, softened (it's ok to use reduced fat or fat-free)

2 large eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

(if you don't have this, you can use more all-purpose flour)

1 1/2 tsps. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsps. ground cinnamon

3 cups peeled and chopped apple, Rome, Golden Delicious or a variety you like

Preheat oven to 350.

Coat an 8" springform pan with cooking spray or butter generously.

Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, butter, vanilla and cream cheese in a mixer, at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Whisk to mix thoroughly.

Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until well blended.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add 2 Tbsps. of this mixture to the chopped apples, then stir apple mixture into batter.

Pour better into prepared pan, then sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture.

Bake for one hour and 15 minutes, or until cake pulls away from the sides of the pan.

Cool completely on a wire rack .

Note: You can also make this in a 9 x 9 square baking pan. Reduce cooking time by 5 minutes.

PS - A dollop of whipped cream, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream, wouldn't hurt.

Off to College and a Salad

I apologize for the recent absence from posting.
It's been a crazy and emotional week (or so) as we took our first born to college for the first time.
Lucky girl - at a beautiful school surrounded by mountains and a huge blue sky in Colorado.

Move-in day, while exhausting for all, could be viewed with humor.
As fresh-faced 18 year olds, glowing with anticipation, hauled boxes and bags, their parents straggled behind, schlepping even more stuff.

Dads, who in their "regular lives" are successful captains of industry, vice presidents of this or that, entrepreneurs, are suddenly superfluous and embarrassing. At least until the tuition bill comes.

 Mothers, stylish and competent at home or in the office, are feeling frumpy and melancholy for their younger selves. How can we possibly be old enough to have a child in college?

Girls, accustomed to private bedrooms and good water pressure, have to get used to shared space and shared bathrooms.

Boys check out the girls, who check out each other. The brave and confident introduce themselves at every opportunity. Life long friends?
Maybe. Maybe not.

The whole scene could be a case study for Anthropology 101.

And the kids who have food bloggers for parents?
Despondent at the thought of cafeteria food.

We treated our girl to a last supper at Osteria Marco.
Delicious chewy-crusted pizza with sausage and house-made ricotta.
Caprese with perfect ripe tomatoes.
And a beet salad, that inspired this recipe.

Like several of my other recipes, this one has easily interchangeable ingredients.
Switch hazelnuts or almonds for the pistachios. Sunflower seeds would be good too.
Use any kinds of greens you like.
Don't care for goat cheese? Try feta or gorgonzola.
And if you shudder at the thought of mixing fruit into your savory salad - just don't do it.
I'm also not going to give you exact measurements, because it's easy to add as much as you need for however many people you're serving.

Roasted Beet, Pistachio and Goat Cheese Salad


Arugula, or other leafy greens, such as a mesclun mix or spinach

Fresh beets, roasted and cut into chunks
To roast, trim off beet green stem. Wrap each beet in foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until a knife can be easily inserted into the center of the beet. Times may vary according to size of beets.
When the beets are cool, unwrap and peel off skin. Note: Use clean rubber gloves, or put your hands inside plastic sandwich bags to avoid staining your fingers bright pink.

Pistachios, or other nuts.
 If using almonds or hazelnuts, I would lightly toast them first.

Pink grapefruit sections
Do you know how to supreme a grapefruit? Watch this.

A couple of scallions, thinly sliced

A handful of chopped parsley

Goat cheese, whatever type you like

Start with the greens on the bottom of the salad plate or bowl. Add cheese, then beets, grapefruit and nuts. Sprinkle with chopped scallions and parsley.
Just before serving dress with a light vinaigrette, and toss.

You can make individual salads to serve at a dinner party, or layer everything in a large shallow bowl and serve family-style.
Even if your family has suddenly gotten smaller.

Feelin' Groovy: Psychedelic Slaw

Even though I was a mere child in the '60s, I do have some fond memories.

My white go-go boots.

Arguing with my uncle over who was better, the Beatles or the Monkees.

Babysitters who taught me to iron my hair.

And Peter Max. I loved the bright colors and playful designs of his Cosmic 60's period.
The big smile. The iconic Cosmic Star Runner - you know, the guy with the flowing yellow hair wearing bell bottoms and carrying a flower. The stars and planets.
The only way to describe such art was groovy, a new word for a completely new look. It was like waking up from the long black-and-white nap of the '50s to find the world had been given a fresh coat of brilliant color.

Where am I going with this?
Psychedelic Coleslaw, so named for the its mix of flamboyant colors. Pretty to look at and very fresh. So groovy you may experience a flashback.

Psychedelic Coleslaw, adapted from the Surreal Gourmet


1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

2 tsps. toasted sesame oil

1 1/2 Tbsps. fresh lime juice

1 Tbsp. honey

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, or hot sauce (more or less, to taste)

2 Tbsps. sesame seeds, lightly toasted

2 carrots, peeled and coarsely grated

1/3 head purple cabbage, cored and sliced into the thinnest ribbons possible and separated

1/3 head green cabbage, cored and sliced as above

1 yellow pepper, seeds and membranes removed, very thinly sliced

1 red pepper, as above

1/2 medium sweet onion, or 1 shallot, finely sliced and separated

2 Tbsps. peeled fresh ginger, finely grated or minced

1 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

Optional:
1/4 daikon (a large white Japanese radish), peeled and coarsely grated

In a small bowl, whisk together rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, lime juice, honey and cayenne. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all remaining ingredients except sesame seeds and toss well. Then toss with dressing. Just before serving, sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Note: Do not prepare more than a couple of hours in advance because the purple of the cabbage could seep into the other ingredients.
 On the other hand, no one will really mind, they'll be so blown away by the flavor.

Easy as Pie

First, a very warm welcome to my new subscribers! Thanks so much for reading. Please feel free to comment. It's much easier than you think.

Look at the bottom of each post. In tiny letters (thank you Blogger, where I guess the median age to be about 25) it says "Comments", perhaps with a number in front of it.

Click on "Comments" and a box will pop-up where you can write me a love note. Or a question.

Or anything that you feel I would like to hear - as long as it's not rude.

Check "Anonymous" if you'd like to be. Or put in your name, or some cool pseudonym, where it says "Name/Url". The url is optional. That means you don't have to have your own blog or website, but of you do, here's where I can find out about it.

It's recently been brought to my attention that some subscribers are reading their new Mignardise posts in their email. Which is fine, if you have just a little time and very good eyesight.

But if you really want the whole Mignardise experience (and who wouldn't), click on the post title and you will be immediately transported to the beautiful Mignardise site. There you'll be able to read the post in a larger font and peruse my fascinating sidebar. Plus the photos look better.

Speaking of easy, it doesn't get any easier than this pie. It's embarassingly simple.

Yet so tasty and refreshing. I've made it twice already. It's from one of my favorite food blogs, StickyGooeyCreamyChewy. The author, Susan, writes a nice little piece about how we shouldn't be afraid to make such humble food from ingredients that aren't organic, artisanal, local or otherwise special. Plus her photos are way more spectacular than mine.

Frozen Lemonade Pie

from StickyGooeyCreamyChewy

1 large store-bought graham cracker pie crust

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk, chilled

1 12 oz. container Cool Whip, thawed

1 6 fluid oz. can frozen lemonade concentrate (keep frozen)

In a medium bowl, place Cool Whip and condensed milk. Fold gently together.

Add frozen lemonade concentrate and continue to fold gently. Do not let mixture become soupy.

Pour mixture into pie crust and allow to freeze for several hours or overnight.

It's that easy.

Rock 'n' Roll Never Forgets

We interrupt this summer produce orgy to bring you something completely off subject, but on my mind.

Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce and I go waaaay back. Back to the 70's.

I'm not from New Jersey so I can't claim I ever saw him play in a bar.

But I did see him play several shows in Boston in the mid- 70's, around the time Born to Run came out.

Then he played at my college in 1978.

There was a boy who was looking to impress me at the time, so he camped out overnight to be one of the first to get tickets.

The tickets cost $7 and there we were in the 5th row.

Bruce and the E Street Band put on an unforgettable show, with energy like a match in a fireworks factory.

I fell in love that night - not with the boy who waited out in the cold but with the rocker in the black leather jacket.

I saw him again a few times after that, including a show in Zurich, Switzerland.

It didn't matter that the songs were in English.

Bruce is universal.

Do you remember when we all wanted to be Courtney Cox, plucked from the audience by Bruce, to dance with him in the Dancing in the Dark video? Why couldn't that have been us?

Last night, I saw my old flame again and friends, he was ON FIRE!

It's probably been 20 years or so since the last time Bruce and I got together.

He hasn't changed a bit.

He's aged so handsomely (60!). Abs still tight, biceps pumped and head of hair intact.

Sad to say, his audience has not.

We danced awkwardly next to our teenage kids, who were kind enough to accompany us, even though they only knew a few songs.

Looking around, there was much upper arm flab waving in the breeze, along with our fist pumps and overhead clapping. Receding hairlines and streaks of gray were abundant.

But we knew every word and sang along. Through three hours of Bruce's hard-rocking guitar and rough-edged voice. Bruce and The E Street band never sounded better.

I was sorry to see it end at 11 pm.

But it was past my bedtime.

And probably his too.

For those of you who come here just for the food, this is for you:

Shrimp shumai from Ming Tsai's Blue Ginger, where I had lunch with two old friends. Please note, none of us have jiggly arm flab.

I Am a Farmer's Friend

Of all my summer favorites, nothing beats a perfectly ripe tomato plucked from the bin at the local farmer's market.

You thought I was going to say "plucked from my garden", didn't you?

Well, you should know that I cannot grow a single thing. Nothing.

Even when I buy just a little pot of herbs to sit in the window, where I could snip them at will - it's just wilt and die.

Houseplants too.

Can't grow a single thing.

But, oh man, am I ever a friend of the farmer!

You'll find me every Wednesday morning at the Portland Farmer's Market in Monument Square, paying for all the stuff I should be growing, but can't.

Here's what I got today...

Tomatoes, corn, radishes, cukes, red onions, shallots, cilantro, a jalapeno pepper and zucchini.

And lots of cherry tomatoes.

I've got a long list of things I want to make with all this swag.

But considering the current heatwave we've been having, it's gazpacho tonight.

Cool and refreshing, a cinch to make and so good for you it's crazy.

This is one of those recipes that you don't have to follow exactly.

No yellow pepper? Use a red one.

Don't care for V8? Substitute with tomato juice.

(I haven't tried it, but I think the spicy V8 juice would be awesome.)

Give it a whirl and see if your body temp drops a few degrees.

Gazpacho

1 garlic clove, minced

1 large or 2 small cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced

1 small red onion, diced ( or for a sweeter flavor, try a shallot)

2-3 large, ripe tomatoes, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup flat leaf parsley leaves

3 cups V8 or tomato juice

3 Tbsps. red wine vinegar

Garnish: feta or goat cheese, croutons

Place the garlic, cukes, onion, tomatoes, yellow pepper, parsley, juice and vinegar in a large bowl and stir well to combine.

Remove 2-3 cups and transfer to a food processor or blender. Blend until almost smooth and return to bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour before serving.

Garnish with cheese and croutons, if desired.

What about the rest of the haul?

Check back soon...

Recipe for a Delicious Movie

Take one well-seasoned actress and mix thoroughly with a fresh young star.

Next, add French scenery, such as Paris bistros, markets and cafes.

When they are well-combined, sprinkle with humor and charm.

Butter all parts generously.

I might be the last food blogger in America to see "Julie and Julia". But I'm probably not the only one who smiled through the whole thing, thoroughly entertained by every chopped onion and close-ups of the "publish" button on Blogger.

I recently finished reading My Life in France, so I was able to fill in all the missing details in the movie. I highly recommend the book. Julia Child's sweetly comic personality really shines through. We get to see her not just as the French chef, but as a human with doubts, regrets, desires and frustrations.

I read Julie and Julia a few years ago and very much enjoyed that too. Some people have complained that Julie Powell is self-centered and irreverent.

To that, I say "so what?" Welcome to the world of food blogging!

I found Julie funny and clever. Try the book for yourself - you might think so too.

I don't own a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but I do have a more recent cookbook called The Way to Cook. It's updated, so Julia sanctions the use a food processor or microwave. I do not plan on cooking my way through it, but I'm inspired enough to try a few recipes. Many of them seem so simple, that they are really more of a technique than a recipe. I'd like to work on a few of the sauces. I think it would be handy to have those stowed away in your memory.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Meanwhile, I'm guessing we'll see a whole lot of boeuf Bourguignon hitting the blogosphere soon.