Friday Recipes

Enjoy!

BUCKWHEAT BERRY STRIPED CAKE

This is from Melissa Clark in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Melissa wrote, “A combination of buckwheat and whole wheat flour gives this deeply buttery cake a character that is nutty, rich and complex, while a little almond flour adds tenderness. Baking it in a shallow tart pan instead of a cake pan allows the colorful berries to rest on top of the batter rather than sink to the bottom. It’s prettiest in a 10-inch tart pan, where the pattern will be at its most striking. But if you don’t have one, a 9-inch pan also works. We arranged the berries into stripes here, but feel free to create any design you like. Serve this on the same day as you bake it, preferably within 6 hours of baking. It doesn’t keep well overnight.” Yield: 10 servings; Time: 45 minutes.

This was featured in “The Trick to Keeping Berry Cake Beautiful” and can be viewed by clicking here.

Ingredients

1/3 cup almond flour

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 stick butter, softened, more for buttering pan

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1/4 cup buttermilk, sour cream or whole milk yogurt

1 cup mixed berries, such as strawberries, blueberries or raspberries, more as needed

1 tablespoon turbinado (or use granulated sugar)

Confectioners’ sugar, for serving

Whipped cream or crème fraîche (optional)

Preparation

Heat oven to 375 degrees and butter a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Line the bottom with a round of parchment, and butter that as well.

In a large bowl, whisk together almond, all-purpose, whole wheat and buckwheat flours, baking powder and salt.

Using an electric mixer, beat together butter, sugar and vanilla extract until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Beat in buttermilk. (The mixture will look curdled, and that’s O.K.) Stir in flour mixture until just combined.

Scrape batter into prepared pan, smoothing and leveling the top. Place berries on top of batter and sprinkle with turbinado or granulated sugar.

Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool to room temperature on a wire rack and unmold. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and serve, with whipped cream if you like.

KOREAN MEATBALLS AND NOODLES

This comes from Florence Fabricant, also in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Florence wrote, “This kalbi meatball recipe, adapted from the cookbook “Koreatown,” is easy and quick enough to consider for midweek dinner. It offers the sweetly peppered, slightly funky flavors typical of many Korean dishes, and gives new personality to everyday spaghetti and meatballs. My favorite utensil for making ground meat mixtures, by the way, is an old-fashioned potato masher. The book suggests wrapping the meatballs in lettuce, but I tossed them with noodles in a sauce that exploited the brown bits left in the cooking of the meatballs.” Yield: 4 servings; Time: 45 minutes.

This was featured in “A Second Look at Washington Syrah” and can be viewed online by clicking here.

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef, preferably short rib and chuck

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/3 cup chopped peeled Bosc or Asian pear

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 tablespoon grated ginger

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large egg, beaten

1/3 cup dry bread crumbs, preferably whole wheat

6 ounces udon noodles or linguine

2 tablespoons gochujang, or ketchup seasoned with 1 teaspoon hot sauce

3 scallions, trimmed and slant-cut

Preparation

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place beef in a bowl.

Combine honey, black pepper, sesame oil, vinegar, pear, onion, ginger, soy sauce and half the garlic in a food processor or blender and whirl until well blended. Mix with beef. Add egg and bread crumbs and mix again. Form into 1 1/2-inch balls and arrange on the baking sheet with a bit of space between them. Place in the oven and bake 20 minutes.

While meatballs bake, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add noodles and boil 5 minutes for udon, about 8 minutes for linguine. Reserve 2/3 cup of the pasta water, then drain pasta.

When meatballs are done, transfer them to a bowl and scrape pan juices into a sauté pan. Heat on medium, add remaining garlic and cook briefly until it starts to color. Whisk in gochujang, then pasta water. Simmer about 3 minutes, until sauce reduces and starts to thicken. Reduce heat to low, add noodles and toss in sauce. Add meatballs and mix gently. Transfer to a warm serving dish or individual bowls, scatter with scallions and serve.

HONEY PISTACHIO ICE CREAM

This comes from Anita Schecter, About.com’s Middle Eastern Food expert. Anita wrote, “As much as I love all desserts, nothing quite makes me swoon as much as the combination of sweet and salty. It's why chocolate covered salty pretzels and I are old friends and caramel sauce only interests me if it's got a good hit of sea salt. Candied or chocolate covered nuts are good but way more awesome if the nuts are salted.

“And so, as fond as I am of pistachios, pistachio ice cream and, basically all things pistachio, store bought pistachio ice cream is usually too sweet and one note for me. I'm missing the balance of the salt.

“Fortunately, I can easily remedy this situation by making my own and by using roasted and salted pistachios. You can make this with sugar only and omit the honey, if you like, but honey vanilla is another favorite flavor of mine so I decided to combine the two.

“When it comes to homemade ice cream, you can use a cooked custard base, which contains eggs. Or you can go for a straight dairy only option which doesn't require cooking. Because I wanted little bits and pieces of pistachios in my finished ice cream, I went with a no-cook method. If I wanted to strain them out, I would have cooked them with the base mix.

“I should also note that the color of pistachios, while definitely green, is nowhere near the deep green shade you find in store bought pistachio or even mint ice cream. You can certainly add some green food color to your ice cream if you really want that bright green shade. But I prefer to keep it all natural so my ice cream is still mostly beige but with green flecks from the bits of pistachios.

“This recipe is easy and simple and results in the perfect hit of sweet, salty and creamy. A perfect treat for a hot summer day. Enjoy!”

Prep Time: 12 minutes; Cook Time: 40 minutes; Freeze: 240 minutes; Total Time: 292 minutes; Yield: 8 (1/2 Cup) Servings

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1 Cup whole milk

2 Cups heavy cream

1/2 Cup honey

1/4 Cup sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla (vanilla paste is best, if you have it)

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup shelled roasted and salted pistachios

Preparation

In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, heavy cream, honey, sugar, vanilla and salt. Add the pistachios to a food processor and pulse a few times until the nuts are very broken down but not powder or paste. Add to the bowl.

Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions for use. Churn for 40 minutes and freeze for at least 4 hours before serving.

BEEF TACO SALAD

This comes from Judy Kim on Delish. According to Delish, “Judy Kim is a NYC-based food stylist, recipe developer, and photographer. She also writes recipes for her website The Judy Lab."

For this recipe, Judy wrote, “Try a healthier twist on Taco Tuesdays.” Total Time: 20 minutes; Prep Time: 5 minutes; Level: Easy; Yield: 4 servings.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef

kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp. Taco Seasoning

2 tbsp. tomato paste

vegetable oil

2 corn tortillas, cut into 1/4" strips

2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped

cherry tomatoes, halved

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 c. shredded Cheddar

1 c. Pico de Gallo

sour cream

1/4 c. Chopped cilantro

Directions

Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Brown beef using a wooden spoon and break up meat into small pieces. Add 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, taco seasoning, 2 tablespoons water, and tomato paste. Cook through, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.

In a sauté pan add about 1/2" of vegetable oil. Heat until hot but not smoking. Fry tortilla strips until golden brown; transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Season tortillas with salt just after removing from hot oil.

Assemble salad in 4 bowls with romaine, tomatoes, black beans, and warm taco meat. Top with cheddar cheese, pico de gallo, and sour cream. Garnish with cilantro and crisp tortilla strips.

BARBECUE SAUCE

This comes from a long-since-forgotten-email-list.

1/2 cup Karo light or dark corn syrup

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup prepared mustard

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

In 1 1/2-quart saucepan combine Karo corn syrup, onion, ketchup, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Stirring frequently, bring to boil. Reduce heat; boil gently 15 minutes or until thickened. Brush on chicken, ribs or beef, turning frequently, during last 15 to 20 minutes of grilling. Heat remaining sauce to serve with meat.

GRILLED PEACHES WITH MAPLE HONEY MARSCAPONE CHEESE

One of the email newsletters that I receive is from Delish. They find recipes from a variety of places; this comes from Joyful Healthy Eats. It starts off, “A sweet healthy dessert that will leave you feeling satisfied and guilt free, fresh Grilled Peaches with a Maple Honey Mascarpone Cheese topping!” Prep time: 3 mins; Cook time: 3 mins; Total time: 6 mins; Serves: 12 peach halves

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

6 peaches, halved

canola oil

1/2 cup of almond slices {as garnish}

Maple Honey Mascarpone Cheese:

8 oz. of mascarpone cheese

1 tablespoon of maple syrup

1 tablespoon of honey

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Instructions

In a small bowl, mix together mascarpone, maple syrup, honey, and vanilla extract until combined. Set aside.

Heat grill to medium high heat.

Brush peaches with canola oil.

Place flesh side of peaches on grill.

Grill for 2-3 minutes on flesh side. Remove from grill.

Serve peaches with a tablespoon of mascarpone and a tablespoon of almond slices.