It's Fall

There is a chill in the air and the leaves are changing color - It's Fall in New England!  I really don't know how I lived without one of the best seasons for 20 years of my life.  Fall brings pumpkin coffee, comfy sweaters, boots, pumpkin cream cheese, apple cider, and apple picking!

The girls and I wandered out to Honey Pot Hill Orchards in Stow, MA for a day of picking apples, enjoying apple cider, and devouring apple cider donuts - YUM!  My favorite part was eating apples right off of the tree.  There is seriously nothing better than a fresh picked apple - so juicy and crunchy.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it. 

We left the orchard with almost 30 pounds of apples... Time to cook and bake! 

I originally planned to bake an apple cake as well as homemade applesauce, but I was enjoying the fresh apples for snacks so often that I was left with only enough apples to make applesauce.
Boyfriend loves this applesauce and does a little happy dance every time he eats it - it must be good if Boyfriend likes it!

Here's my recipe for baked applesauce:

INGREDIENTS:
5 tablespoons water
1/4cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon fresh NH maple syrup (for a sweet New England twist!)
4 lbs apples, peeled, cored, and halved

METHODS:
Preheat oven to 375*
Combine all ingredients in a large Dutch oven; toss to coat.  Cover and bake for 1 hour, or until apples are tender, stirring once after 45 minutes.

Happy Fall!  

A Berry Fun Summer

One of my favorite summer activities in New England is berry picking.  Six years ago boyfriend and I picked 10 pounds of blueberries at a farm in New Hampshire.  When we got home he stated that he did not have to go back berry picking for 10 years - 1 year for each pond we picked... only 4 more years until he will accompany me again.  

Thank goodness for girlfriends!  Pen Pal and I ventured up north to Turkey Hill Farm in Haverhill, MA.  The farm is owned and operated by Dave.

Dave worked in the insurance industry for his entire career.  He always had a passion for fresh fruit and vegetables, and began growing blueberries as a hobby.  A few years ago, Dave retired and decided to make growing berries his full time gig.  He spends his days roaming the fields with customers, sharing picking techniques, and educating them about the plants' country of origin.  His passion for farming is evident in the large smile that is permanently plastered on his face.  Pen Pal and I were so inspired by his story that we vowed to always follow our passions and dreams.  

There are golden raspberries, red raspberries, blueberries, and fresh flowers grown on the farm.  

Pen Pal and I left the farm with 5 pounds of blueberries and 3 cartons of raspberries.  We had every intention of picking four full baskets, but those darn thorns made the raspberries a literal pain to pick.

After the picking, comes the fun part - cooking with the berries. 

Pen Pal and I made a delicious berry infused lime margarita.  We blended the berries with sparkling limeade, lime rind, and a splash of 100% cranberry juice.  Added some patron tequila for a tasty, refreshing afternoon beverage.  YUM!  The whole fruit in the cocktail was an added bonus.  

After consuming the majority of the fresh berries, I decided it was time to bake with them.  I made a summer berry tart.  See recipe below. 

Summer Berry Tart:

Ingredients

2 cups blueberries

1 cup raspberries

1 cup golden raspberries

2 cups strawberries

1 cup oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 stick of butter

Methods
Preheat oven to 350* 
Mix the berries and pour them into a sprayed pyrex pan
Mix dry ingredients together and cut butter into the mixture
Spread the butter and dry mixture evenly over the berries
Bake at 350* for one hour, or until berries are bubbling and oats are browned


Serving suggestion: My favorite way to enjoy any fruit crisp is to add it to Greek yogurt for breakfast.  I mixed this summer berry crisp with nonfat blueberry Greek yogurt - 5 stars!

Copy Cat

Last week my friends Kitchen M, CAL, and I went to Mustard's for dinner.  Since we all work in Napa we like to take the opportunity once a month or so to discover new restaurants in wine country.  The fact that all 3 of us are dietitians, foodies, and food bloggers,  makes for a photo-filled, nutritious, and giggly meal.

After a mishap at 'Go Fish', the three of us decided to dine at a restaurant that did not smell fishy - literally!  We figured we couldn't go wrong with a restaurant that's known for their 'Honest American Fare' - Mustards Grill.   

Per our usual dining experience, the three of us chose a bunch of appetizers, entrees, sides, and desserts that we MUST try.  One appetizer especially caught my eye as it included two of my all time favorite ingredients: garlic and goat cheese! 

Warm Cabecou Goat Cheese, sundried tomato relish, roasted garlic, grilled bread

The combination of these ingredients was fab.  I don't particularly like sundried tomatoes...although this dish may make me a convert.

It's been oddly warm here for February, but it has made for some beautiful sunsets.  Such a beautiful night for dinner with wonderful friends. 

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As every football - loving American is aware,  Sunday was the superbowl.  As you can see from many of my previous posts, I will do just about anything (even cook) to avoid watching football on a Sunday afternoon.  Well, this super Sunday was no different - It was time to cook.

I could not get the delicious appetizer from Mustard's off my mind, so during my 35 mile, 2.5 hour bike ride on Sunday morning I plotted how I could run to the store to collect the necessary ingredients to make the yummy appetizer before kickoff.

Ingredients:
2 heads of garlic
goat cheese
sundried tomatoes
1 loaf of bread (I prefer seedy bread)

Method:

Cut off the tops of each head of garlic to expose all garlic gloves

Wrap the garlic in foil and bake at 400* for 45 minutes.

Cut the loaf, plate the sundried tomatoes, goat cheese, and roasted garlic

Assemble and Enjoy!

This appetizer is SO easy to make and SO SO SO delicious.  The roasted garlic disappeared within minutes.  Next time I may have to purchase 3 heads! I think I'm enjoying sundried tomatoes more and more each time... or maybe I just like them with garlic and goat cheese, who knows.

The unfortunate part of this dish being so easy and quick to make was that I still had plenty of time to watch football... Thank goodness it was the Super Bowl.  No more football till next year!!  WOO HOO

Passover Friendly Foods

Passover is a Jewish holiday that lasts for 8 days when we remember the exodus from Egypt. The most significant observance related to Passover involves the removal of chametz (leaven) from our homes. This commemorates the fact that the Jews leaving Egypt were in a hurry, and did not have time to let their bread rise. It is also a symbolic way of removing the "puffiness" (arrogance, pride) from our souls. For more details and explanations about Passover please visit the website. I'm pooped from educating my co-workers all week! So on to the good part: FOOD!

My good friend Gayle sent me an awesome Mandel Bread recipe that's kosher for passover:

Ingredients:

3 eggs

¾ cup sugar

½ cup oil

1 ½ cup matzo cake meal

1 tablespoon potato starch

Methods:

1. Beat eggs and sugar until thick and lemony looking.
2. Stir in oil
3. Fold in cake meal and potato starch
4. Add chocolate chips
5. Form 2 long loaves on greased cookie sheet
6. Bake at 350 forf 30 minutes
7. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar when taken out of oven-slice it and put back for 10 more minutes-if want crispy pieces

The Mandel bread recipe is super easy to make and so delicious too!

This year, we went to our dear friends' home for Passover Sedar. Here is a picture of the beautiful sedar plate:
...and the parsley and salt water to symbolize all those tears
What's passover without matzo?!
My absolute favorite passover treat: Charoset.

Recipe for Charoset

This fruit, nut and wine mix is eaten during the seder. It is meant to remind us of the mortar used by the Jews to build during the period of slavery. It should have a coarse texture. The ingredient quantities listed here are at best a rough estimate; I usually just eye-ball it. The recipe below makes a very large quantity, but we usually wind up making more before the holiday is over. Other fruits or nuts can be used.

• 4 medium apples, 2 tart and 2 sweet
• 1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
• 1/4 cup sweet wine
• 1/4 cup dry wine
• 1 Tbs. cinnamon

Shred the apples. Add all other ingredients. Allow to sit for 3-6 hours, until the wine is absorbed by the other ingredients. Serve on matzah. Goes very well with horseradish. Courtesy of Judaism 101

Matzo ball soup
The infamous gefilte fish - GROSS. This year I was able to get through the first bite.. but the second one induced my gag reflex!
Must have many many glasses of red wine at the sedar.
Ronnie's famous Macaroons. Simply the BEST!
Her almond apricot cookies - these are good too, but it's hard to compare anything to those macaroons.
Happy Passover! And thank you to the C's for another great sedar together!

Olive Oil Pound Cake

RD Tip: Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat (a healthy fat). Per the American Dietetic Association's position paper about Functional Foods, there is some evidence that eating about 2 tbsp (or 23g) of olive oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the monounsaturated fats. To achieve the benefit of olive oil, it should replace a similar amount of saturated fat and not increase the total amount of daily energy intake. This pound cake is a perfect example. Rather than using a 'pound' of butter (a saturated fat), this recipe substitutes the bad fat with a healthier monounsaturated fat - olive oil.

In August my friend, Kitchen M , made some olive oil pound cake and brought it into work for us all to enjoy. Like everything Em makes, it was absolutely to die for!

During my trip to Israel we visited the Golan Olive Oil Mill. The store was not much different than what you see in Napa Valley, but the owner was such an amazing salesman, that I just HAD to buy something. Although they had a bunch of foofy olive products for skin, hair, face, etc., I decided to go for good 'ol olive oil.

I bought the bottle that is in Hebrew because I thought it looked cool and that it would be a great souvenir.

Since the bottle is in Hebrew, I had to take a picture of the English one so I could translate it.

This is the Gold Label Olive Oil called Tabha. It is the first cold press Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This olive oil is unique because it is extracted without the pit. It is clear, delicate & light and an exclusive product of the "Golan Olive Oil Mill"

This olive oil was quite a pain to get home. Since I am a chronic over-packer, my suitcase was a little heavy on the flight back to the US. I made it from Ben Gurion airport to LAX alright, but I knew there was NO way they would let me travel back to SFO with such a heavy suitcase. My good friend Shelby was nice enough to keep my olive oil in LA and mail it to me. When she came to visit San Francisco last weekend I was sure to have some fresh baked olive oil pound cake for her to thank her for her kindness.

I searched online for an olive oil pound cake recipe, but couldn't find any. I remembered Kitchen M's post about her bread, so I immediately checked her blog for the recipe. Since Kitchen M didn't post the recipe on her blog, I don't think I can post it on mine either. She was nice enough to share her yummy recipe with me, and if any of you would like it, I would be more than happy to e mail it to you also.

I made the cake at home for boyfriend to try and BOYFRIEND LIKES IT! It's a miracle! I took half of the cake to work the next day and everyone there loved it also. The mixture of orange zest, olive oil, and sherry wine create a sweet, yet light citrus flavor that's so addictingly wonderful.

My mom has an annual Valentine's day party which she spends days baking for. Since I have a new found love of baking, I decided to help her this year. I made two of my olive oil pound cakes for her party and it disappeared! This recipe is absolutely a keeper!

Happy Birthday Boyfriend - Banana Fosters Cheesecake

Last weekend was my boyfriend's birthday. He is not a chocolate cake kind of person like I am, but he LOVES the banana cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. As a loving girlfriend, I figured I would try to make a banana cheesecake for him even though the thought is not appetizing to me whatsoever.

For some odd reason I chose a recipe that calls for the cake to be baked in a bath. This one was a lot tougher to bake than the flour-less chocolate cake because it called for some odd baking instructions. I tried my best...

INGREDIENTS:

Crust:

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup finely chopped pecans

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Filling:

1 2-oz packages reduced-fat cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 large eggs

2 cups pureed bananas (from 4 bananas)

1 cup low-fat sour cream

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

Topping:

1 cup low-fat sour cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 17oz jar carmel sauce

2 tablespoons dark rum

2 bananas, peeled, sliced

Preparation

For crust:

position rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350*F. Wrap outside of 9-inch diameter springform pan with 3-inch-high sides with heavy-duty foil. (I had to finely chop the nuts in the food processor)

Combine flour, pecans, butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix well.
Press mixture onto bottom of prepared pan.
For filling:

Using electric mixer, beat cream in large bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar. Beat in cornstarch. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until just blended after each addition. Add pureed banana, sour cream, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Beat until just combined.

Transfer filling to crust-lined pan. Place pan in large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to roasting pan to come up 1 inch up sides of springform pan. Bake until center of cake is just set, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove cake from oven. Maintain oven temperature.

Meanwhile, prepare topping:

Mix together sour cream, sugar, and vanilla in small bowl until well blended. Spread topping over cheesecake
Bake until topping is set, about 10 minutes. Turn off oven. Let cake stand in oven until cooled to room temperature, about 2 hours. Refrigerate cake until well chilled. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Cut around cake to loosen; remove pan sides. Transfer cake to platter. Warm carmel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring often. Mix in rum. Drizzle some sauce decoratively over cake. Arrange bananas top cake and Enjoy

Overall, I think this cake came out pretty mediocre. It took FOREVER to bake and cool. I had to make it 5 days before his actually birthday just to ensure it would be done on time. The taste was decent, but boyfriend said it was not "banana enough". Next time he wants banana cheesecake I may just go out and buy it from Cheesecake Factory... I will have to find a new cake for next year!

Happy Birthday Boyfriend!

*If anyone has a better banana cheesecake recipe I should try, PLEASE share!

Recipe courtesy of epicurious: July 1996

La Bete Noire - "The Black Beast"

This take on a flour-less chocolate cake definitely lives up to its translation: The Black Beast

**DISCLAIMER** While this cake is incredibly rich, chocolatey, and delicious, as an RD, I do not recommend consuming more than a tiny wedge. Note the nutrition facts are not included for a reason...

This cake is gluten-free and a great dessert choice for those with a gluten intolerance.

Ingredients:

Cake

1 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, diced

18 ounces (2 1/4 cups) bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped

6 large eggs

Ganache

1 cup heavy whipping cream

8 ounces (1 cup) bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped

lightly sweetened whopped cream

Preparation

For cake:

Preheat oven to 350*F. Butter 10-inch-diameter springform pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment round; butter parchment (I used cooking spray). Wrap 3 layers of heavy-duty foil around outside of pan, bringing foil to top of rim.

Combine 1 cup water and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Whisk sugar syrup into chocolate; cool slightly.

Add eggs to chocolate mixture and whisk until well blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan.

Place cake pan in large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cake pan. Bake until center no longer moves when pan is gently shaken, about 50 minutes. Remove from water bath; transfer to rack. cool completely in pan.

For ganache:

Bring whipping cream to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat.

Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Pour over top of cake still in pan.
Gently shake pan to distribute ganache evenly over top of cake. Refrigerate in pan until ganache is set, about 2 hours. Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake; release sides. Whip cream and add 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar.
Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake; release sides.

Cut cake into wedges and serve with whipped cream
This cake is mouthwatering, rich, and delicious! It is best served cold and if you leave it out of the fridge for too long it can get mushy. It is so satisfying for chocolate lovers and is perfectly paired with cold, skim milk. This is a great dessert for entertaining or even as a weeknight indulgence, but may not be the best choice for those watching their waistline... check out those ingredients again! But then again, those ingredients are what make it taste so wonderful. Always remember: portion control!

ENJOY!!

Recipe courtesy of epicurious: September 2006