Almond and Sweet Cherry Galette

With cherries in season, I got inspired to make some kind of cherry galette or crostata. I sought out my copy of The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and lucked out that it had an Almond and Sweet Cherry Galette recipe.

Of course, Deb's recipe involves making pie dough. I have little experience making pie dough and it was not successful. Many years ago, I tried to make a pandowdy with homemade pie dough and the fruit mixture turned out too watery and the pie dough wasn't great. I haven't tried making desserts involving pie dough since.

So, I considered cheating and buying pre-made pie dough to eliminate any anxiety of messing up the dough, and ultimately the galette. But the home cook in me decided to suck it up and make the pie dough.

Despite my inexperience, one thing I always hear about pie dough is to use cold butter and ice water. So I was nervous about my dough getting warm and used refrigerated water from my Brita pitcher, added ice, and let it sit in the fridge to get ice cold right until I had to use it. I even chilled a glass mixing bowl in the freezer beforehand to keep the dough as cold as possible while I formed the dough after the food processor. (Sorry, no pictures to share of making the dough as I moved quickly to get it into the fridge to chill.)

In the end, I was so happy with how the dough turned out! The dough browned nicely and had a flaky texture that I liked. I think some pie crusts can become gummy but this was not. I would definitely use Deb's pie dough recipe again.

Once I got past the pie dough, the rest of the galette recipe is very easy. Prepping the cherries just involved washing and removing stems. The cookbook mentions that some people believe that leaving the cherry pits in imparts an almond-like flavor. So I chose to follow the recipe and leave in the pits because it made prep easier. I actually think there was a slight almond taste from the pits, so I didn't mind it.

The almond filling is quick to make. So simple there's not much to say about it.

Almond mixture, finely ground before wet ingredients added

I kept the rough edges when I rolled out my pie dough and like the rustic look. But you could trim off any rough edges to make perfect round shape or fold edges under for cleaner lines. I didn’t have turbinado/raw sugar and just used granulated white sugar to sprinkle around the edges.

I enjoyed how cherry and almond flavors went together. The pie dough had a nice crispy crust on the bottom and top edges and was flaky. The cherries did not release much juice which I think helped keep the crust from becoming gummy. Another great Smitten Kitchen dessert that isn't too sweet.

I really like a galette because it’s fairly easy and looks impressive.

My Rating (out of 5): 5 for the pie dough; 4 for the galette

Luke's Tail Cart

I'm loving the little Tail Cart by Luke's Lobster in Battery Park next to the Seaglass Carousel. Grilled lobster tail skewers are a perfect bite for hanging out by the water. It's my new favorite food on a stick.

Two regular tail skewers (and a shadow claw)

Luke's Lobster launched Luke's Tail Cart earlier this summer selling grilled lobster tails, which is not on the menu at their regular shacks. (If you still haven't heard of Luke's Lobster, check out more about them and their sustainable practices. I've been a fan of their simple, delicious lobster rolls since they opened their first shack in NYC's East Village.)

The Tail Cart menu is short and simple...grilled lobster tail skewers, free sauces, and a couple of desserts for your sweet tooth. They offer regular size skewers (1 for $6/2 for $11) and large size skewers (1 for $10/2 for $19). Each skewer is half a lobster tail, which makes it easier to eat from the shell. There's even an infographic on how to eat your tails.

Dipped in Maine blueberry balsamic sauce

Both of my regular skewers were perfectly cooked through but still tender. I tried both the lemon butter and Maine blueberry balsamic sauces. While lemon butter is classic, I highly recommend the blueberry balsamic sauce. It was delicious.

Grab some tails and enjoy views of the Statue of Liberty or the park's gardens.

Lady Liberty looking further away that it did in real life

My Rating (out of 5): 4

11.11.2016 Update: The Tail Cart has moved locations a few times since I visited and is changing what they are offering, perhaps for seasonality or limitations on how food can be prepared at the location. After Battery Park, the cart went to the new Whole Foods in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and is now moved to the Whole Foods in Tribeca. So check out their site to find out the cart's latest location and menu.

Cauliflower Tots Recipe

Remember when no-carb diets like Atkins and South Beach were "in" several years ago and cauliflower mash was all the buzz as a mashed potato substitute? Well, these days with vegan, gluten-free, and grain-free diets, I see cauliflower getting renewed attention as a substitute for pizza crust and rice. And Trader Joe's has gotten in on the trend by selling packaged cauliflower "rice" (frozen and fresh).

I picked up a 1 lb. bag of fresh cauliflower "rice" because I wanted to try it but wasn't sure how. Of course, making my own cauliflower rice would be less expensive. But I like the idea of buying a pre-chopped bag because I think the cuts would be more even, and I didn't want to risk some of the cauliflower turning into paste or puree at the bottom the food processor.

A few days later, a recipe for cauliflower "tater" tots came across my email, and I serendipitously had all the ingredients at home already. This recipe is baked, not fried. Nor is it grain-free or vegan. I made some modifications to accommodate what I had on hand.

The tots bake with a nice outer crisp but the inside is soft with the cauliflower giving a little bite just like a tater tot. I love having fun with food and this would be great for parties.

Cauliflower Tots Recipe

Time: 10-15 minutes prep; 55 minutes cook
Yield: Makes about 52 tots (about 6 servings as an appetizer or side)

Ingredients

• 3 cups cauliflower rice, uncooked
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and ground black pepper
• Nonstick spray
• 1 bunch of scallions, minced
• 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
• ½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 large egg, lightly whisked
• 1 large egg white, lightly whisked
• ¾ cup panko bread crumbs

In this photo, I'm using a jalapeño instead of ground cayenne pepper.
And the parm cheese is not pictured.

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400°F.

In a nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high hat. Sauté the cauliflower rice for 2 to 3 minutes, and season with kosher salt and black pepper. Most of the cooked cauliflower should have lost its opaque white color but not mushy. And the salt helps pull out some of the moisture. Remove from heat and let cool. Once cooled, press the prepared cauliflower rice with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel to absorb excess moisture. Transfer to a large bowl.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray it generously with nonstick spray. The spray and contact with the baking sheet is what gives the tots color. If you don't have nonstick spray, use a vegetable oil to coat the parchment paper.

Add the scallions, parsley, cheese, garlic powder, cayenne, egg and egg white; mix to combine.

Add the panko bread crumbs and mix to combine. Season with salt and black pepper. If the mixture does not bind well when forming the tots, add more bread crumbs as necessary. I needed more bread crumbs and eyeballed about 1 tablespoon more.

Scoop 2 teaspoons of the mixture and form it into a cylindrical shape. (If you want larger tots, 1 tablespoon works but I wouldn't go any larger than that. And of course, you'll end up with a fewer number of tots.) To shape the tots, I found that making a fist around the mixture helped the mixture stick together. I pressed the ends to flatten them out. Then, I lightly rolled the tot in my palm to smooth any bumps. Keeping my hands wet with water kept the mixture from sticking to my hands. I rewet my hands every 3-4 tots. This was the most time consuming part of the recipe. (I wonder how the mixture would work pressed through a large round piping tip into long strands that can be cut in to tot size.)

Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all the mixture has been used. Spray the surface of the tots with nonstick spray or brush with a vegetable oil.

Bake for 17 to 20 minutes until they’re golden brown on the bottom. Flip the tots and bake 10 to 15 minutes more to get the other side all golden. Serve warm, with your favorite dipping sauce. Ketchup really adds to the tater tot taste and an aioli makes it gourmet for a party.

Cooking notes: When I first made these, I had half of a jalapeño pepper left over from another dish, so I used that instead of cayenne so it didn't go to waste. I deseeded and deveined the jalapeño and finely chopped it. The tots were not spicy from this amount of jalapeño, so using cayenne pepper adds more heat. I also only had 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and used 1/4 cup of Parmigiano Reggiano to make up for missing cheese. So you can adjust the amount of cheese to your liking and use other cheeses.

If you want the color of the tots to be less green, you can use less scallions. There were 10 scallions in the bunch I used, so you can really see them throughout. As the tots bake, they flatten a bit on the baking sheet but the shape holds up for the most part.

I love how these turned out and couldn't stop eating them because they are bite size!

Mashed Potatoes with Kale

I know some people have kale fatigue and are sick of hearing about it, but I still enjoy it. So I was very intrigued when I found this Mashed Potato with Kale recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.

I made this dish for the first time for Christmas yesterday and it smells and tastes great! Don't let the kale fool you...I wouldn't call this a healthy dish with all the mascarpone, Parmesan, and butter.

Mascarpone cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano, kale, onions, garlic, unsalted butter

I didn't have enough butter for all of my dishes so I left the butter out when boiling the potatoes (just added butter in the assembly steps). I only had regular chicken stock instead of low-sodium chicken broth, so I cut back the Parmesan to 1/2 c., salt to 1 tsp and black pepper to 1/2 tsp in the assembly steps so the dish wasn't too salty. And it just seems like a lot of salt in the recipe to me, so it's always easier to add salt than take out.

Sweating onions & garlic

Adding cooked kale to mashed potatoes  

The result was creamy mashed potatoes with a twist of texture from the kale. I thought it was still very flavorful even though I cut back on some of the salty ingredients. This recipe makes a LOT and I think you can get more like 8 servings out of it. I took some of the leftovers and divided into big scoops of individual servings, then froze them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Once frozen, I placed them all into a freezer bag. Updated note: I reheated the servings I wanted in a microwave straight from the freezer and thought they were still pretty good for frozen food.

My Rating (out of 5): 5

Orecchiette with Sausage and Kale Recipe

I was craving this pasta dish after seeing a version of it on TV and searched the web for comparable recipes. There weren't as many recipes that turned up to my surprise and none that really grabbed my interest. I found a similar recipe by Michael Symon and made a couple of changes to make the following version. I really enjoyed how the lemon zest and juice added another dimension of flavor. And the butter gives the dish some silkiness.

Orecchiette with Sausage and Kale

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
• 1 Lb orecchiette pasta, preferably DeCecco
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, separated
• 1 Lb sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (if you like more heat, use 1/2 teaspoon)
• 10 - 16 oz Tuscan kale, washed & chopped with stems (1" wide)
• 2 cups pasta water, separated
• 1 tablespoon Lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons Lemon juice
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Italian parsley, finely chopped

Directions

Bring 5 quarts of water to a boil with 3 tablespoons of kosher salt. Cook the pasta until very al dente, about 8 minutes (or 1 minute less than the package instructions for al dente). Stir occasionally to make sure the orecchiette doesn't stick together. Remove the pasta to a bowl with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Do not rinse the pasta. Reserve 3 cups of pasta water before discarding.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large Dutch oven or saute pan over medium high heat. Add the sausage, breaking it into pieces with a wooden spoon, and brown until pink is gone, about 5-6 minutes. Add the kale and red pepper flakes and cook down for 2 minutes.

Add 1 cup of the reserved pasta water and simmer for 1 minute. Add the cooked pasta and simmer until pasta is done, about 2 more minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and zest, cheese, butter, and 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil. Taste and season with additional salt if needed. Plate and sprinkle the parsley on top, then serve.

If you have leftovers, refrigerate the remaining 2 cups of reserved pasta water to use to reheat leftovers the next day. Sprinkle some of the pasta water when reheating, but don't poor too much or the pasta will get soggy. You likely won't use all of the pasta water.

I like to buy pre-chopped kale and Trader Joe's comes in 10 oz. bags. If you buy whole kale leaves in bunches, 3/4 to 1 lb. is fine. You can also use curly kale if Tuscan kale isn't available.

I like to be able to control the spice level so I use sweet Italian sausage and red pepper flakes. However, you could substitute with hot Italian sausage and leave out the red pepper flakes.

Homemade Fritos® Bean Dip

One of my favorite party foods to make is 7-layer dip, and I like to use a recipe that calls for Fritos Bean Dip.  When I lived in suburbs, I never had issues with finding this product at the big grocery stores and made one stop at the store.  Unfortunately, it can be harder to find some big brand products like the Fritos Bean Dip because NYC grocery stores just don't carry everything.  I've probably only made 7-layer dip once since I moved back to the city, and I really wanted to make it for an upcoming party.  Surely there would be at least one store that would carry it, so I was determined to find Fritos Bean Dip, or even another brand, in a national retail store.  I checked Target (who has it online but showed out of stock in all NYC stores), Walgreens, Kmart.  I even checked Food Emporium and Pathmark, which is huge like a suburban grocery store.  When Pathmark didn't have it, I knew I wasn't going to find it in the city.

I already had the rest of the 7-layer dip ingredients, so I set out on Google to find a recipe for homemade Fritos Bean Dip.  The top search results basically had the same recipe with slight differences in measurements.  I used this copycat Frito Lay Bean Dip on Food.com as a guide.

I already had everything in my pantry except refried beans, jalapeños, and onion powder.  Since I'm using the beans in the 7-layer dip, I made some adjustments when making the bean dip and wasn't concerned about any sacrifice to flavor.  If I were having the bean dip alone (but I probably won't), I'd try to follow the recipe exactly.

My adjustments:
- Used no onion powder.  Since I didn't have this at home, I chose not to buy any because I haven't used onion powder on a regular basis.  And, I bought Ortega Refried Beans (Traditional version) which has onion powder, garlic powder, vinegar and other spices.  (Old El Paso was the other brand available at the store and doesn't include some of the spices that Ortega does.)
- 4 oz. can of diced jalapeños in water.  The store only had one large jar of jalapeños in vinegar brine that cost over $3.  I also don't cook with jalapeños often and the jar would go to waste.  So I found a small can of diced jalapeños in water (no sliced options available).  I eyeballed an amount of diced jalapeño that would equal 4-5 slices.  I barely used any of the can and have a lot left over.
- Substituted 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar for the jarred jalapeño brine.  Since I used canned jalapeños in water, I could have added more vinegar to boost flavor.  But I started with small amounts so I can add more vinegar to my taste.  Plus, the Ortega refried beans has vinegar.
- Used 1/4 teaspoon of granulated sugar.  I just prefer to start small and add more to taste so it doesn't become too sweet to me.

This is how it turned out.  Consistency was smooth and spreadable.  Flavor was good with mild heat.  I've only had Fritos Bean Dip when making a 7-layer dip, so I leave it to aficionados to rate how close the copycat recipe comes to the original.

Pinto beans (used in refried beans) are not the most appetizing color so I apologize if it looks unappealing.  (Please don't hate these photos like Martha Stewart's!)

I made the bean dip a day ahead so the flavors can meld before I make the 7-layer dip.  I pressed plastic wrap on the surface of the dip just to prevent any drying or a skin from forming.

My Rating (out of 5): 3

Snap Pea and Cucumber Salad

With a hot summer still going strong, I wanted a new, no-cook dish to get my veggies in.  I also like simple.  I had no particular vegetable in mind and just randomly looked online and this salad spoke to me.

Snap Pea and Cucumber Salad from Giada De Laurentis

This recipe is so easy to make and is super fresh with the sugar snap peas and dill.  The dressing is very simple and flavor really comes from the lemon juice and zest.  It brings out the brightness and fresh flavors of the vegetables rather than overwhelm.  

I've had dill in dishes, but I don't think I've ever cooked with dill before.  So this salad appealed to me as an opportunity to do so.  This recipe uses a good amount of dill with 1/4 cup.  I think dill has a lemony & mild flavor so it wasn't too much.  And most of the dill ends up sticking to the plate rather than making it to your mouth, so you want a lot to taste the dill.  

Persian cucumbers are great because they really don't have any seeds and require less chopping because of their petite size.

I wanted a little more dimension to the salad so I added cubed ricotta salata cheese.  It's similar to feta in texture but has a milder flavor and is not as salty.  I first had this cheese in a salad at an Italian restaurant and really liked finding an alternative to feta.

I never really noticed dill's flavor before, so I'm glad I tried this salad & hope to learn of more ways to use it.

My Rating (out of 5): 3

No. 16: Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Holiday cupcakes have arrived at Crumbs Bake Shop.   While many of them look fun from the decoration and colors, flavors seem basic with vanilla or chocolate.  I picked out the Peppermint Hot Chocolate to at least get that peppermint candy cane taste.

From the website: "Chocolate cake filled with peppermint buttercream topped with peppermint cream cheese frosting mixed with crushed peppermint candies and edged with crushed peppermint candies."

The cream cheese frosting had very few specks of peppermint candy in the frosting and tasted more like plain vanilla.  The buttercream filling also did not have a minty flavor.  Any peppermint flavor came directly from the crushed candy on the edge of the frosting.  This gave the cupcake enough peppermint flavor.  But how they make the cupcakes doesn't quite live up to the description on the website. *sigh*

The Peppermint Swirl from the 2012 holiday season was better.

Size: Signature

Picked Up At: Columbus Avenue

My Rating (out of 5): 3

Parmesan Fennel Gratin

I'm slowly accepting that fall is here so I'm getting into all the root vegetables and squashes available right now.  I wanted to do something with fennel, and with a quick search, I picked out Ina Garten's Parmesan fennel gratin on Food Network's site.

Ina Garten's Parmesan Fennel Gratin

I like that the fennel is oven-braised in chicken stock and white wine to soften the vegetable.  The anise or licorice flavor of raw fennel becomes very mild as the fennel cooks.  So if you're not a fan of raw fennel, I suggest trying this preparation at least once before swearing off fennel entirely.

Using panko crumbs for this is key to get a nice, crunchy topping.  Each time I make this, I may bake the dish for more or less time than the recipe suggests to make sure the topping gets golden brown and toasty and the fennel is tender they way I like.  To get maximum topping coverage and crunch, I prefer to lay the fennel down on one of the cut sides rather than with the pointy end facing up.  This way there's more surface to hold the topping.  All the wedges don't end up fitting in one baking dish but I don't mind baking in two dishes at the same time.

I noticed a difference between the Food Network video and the written recipe on how much salt to use.  In the video, Ina uses 1 tsp of salt and makes a larger batch than the written recipe.  So I used 1 tsp of salt for 3 fennel bulbs instead of 2 tsp stated in the written recipe.  I thought 1 tsp was fine since the chicken stock and Parmesan cheese also add salt to the dish.

Even though there's Italian parsley in the topping, I also chop some of the green fennel fronds and sprinkle over the top before serving to add some fresh color.  Great dish for an everyday meal or even Thanksgiving.

This is from the first time I made this recipe.  My kitchen lighting is terrible so color tone isn't captured they way I'd like.

My Rating (out of 5): 4

Roasted Edamame

If you put a bowl of boiled or steamed edamame pods sprinkled with salt in front of me, I'd be a happy girl.  I love these beans just with salt.  But when I saw this PureWow recipe for roasted edamame, I wish I had thought of it sooner.

Roasting the edamame helps dry out water, making the pods not as soggy or mushy as they become when boiled.  What I really liked about this PureWow recipe is the lemon zest.  Roasting with the lemon zest really added a nice zing to the flavor.  I didn't have pimenton (smoked paprika) so I just sprinkled regular paprika which still gave this dish a slightly smoky flavor.  I can only imagine how good it would be with smoked paprika.

I will definitely make this again.  Next time, I'll lay the thawed edamame on a towel to drain more water before roasting, or roast for longer than the recipe suggests to get more char and color on the edamame.

My Rating (out of 5): 4

No. 15: Sweet Pete’s Salted Caramel

Finally!  More Crumbs locations have re-opened.  This is my first cupcake under new ownership of Marcus Lemonis and Fischer Enterprises.  The variety of cupcakes offered seemed smaller than I remember at the Union Square location.  Some of my favorites were not available so I decided to try one of the new flavors named after the owners's other businesses such as Dippin' Dots and Sweet Pete's candy.

The Sweet Pete's Salted Caramel cupcake looks different than the Salted Caramel cupcake I've had in the past.  (See previous Salted Caramel post here.)  I only heard of Sweet Pete's through news updates on Crumbs, so I am not familiar with their products.  I presume that Sweet Pete's makes some kind of salted caramel candy and those candies are used in the Crumbs cupcake?

Over the last few years, the change to mass manufactured cupcakes at Crumbs was noticeable, but I still liked the cupcakes.  However, today I really noticed the mass production in the look and taste.  The Sweet Pete's Salted Caramel cupcake tasted a bit stale.  The frosting had started to dry to where the mini chocolate chips fell off easily.

Unfortunately, the salt and caramel flavors were missing in this version.  There was a slight caramel flavor in the frosting, but not enough to taste like I was eating salted caramel.  No salt came through at all.  There was a skimpy drizzle of caramel on the top.  Because of the chocolate chips and chocolate cake, the overall flavor was just chocolate.  Instead of chocolate chips, more caramel sauce or even crushed or chopped Sweet Pete's caramel candy would have been better (assuming that's a product).  The texture of the cake was okay, but nothing noteworthy.  It wasn't dry or noticeably moist either.  Just ok.

Size: Signature

Picked Up At: Union Square

My Rating (out of 5): 2