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For the recipe you’ll need apples (your choice or a varietal mix), lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt, butter, honey, flour, oats, sliced almonds and shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened). The apples are cut into chunks and tossed with lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. The topping is made with melted butter, honey, oats, flour, almonds, coconut and a pinch of salt. The apples are placed in a 9x13-inch baking dish and covered with the oat mixture and baked for 45 to 55 minutes. Warm from the oven, the Breakfast Apple Crisp Granola was delicious. It was like eating an apple pie minus the crust. However, when I ate it cold for breakfast topped with plain Greek yogurt, the cold apples weren’t appealing to me. I prefer anything baked with apples warm, preferably topped with vanilla ice cream. My husband, who lovingly eats whatever I make, wasn’t a fan of the apple crisp granola, though he did like the taste, just not for his breakfast. I must say, I make a terrific carrot cake. My brother, who traveled a bit when he was working, would always try the carrot cake if it appeared on a restaurant’s menu. He would return home and say that mine was still the best. My cake has a dense crumb and is moist. My search led me to The New York Times/NYT Cooking and a recipe by Martha Rose Shulman for Flourless Carrot Cake, which sounded intriguing. Ms. Shulman described it as a lighter version of carrot cake. After reading the comments from other cooks, I decided to give it a try. For the recipe you’ll need unsalted toasted almonds, raw brown sugar (turbinado sugar), baking powder, salt, cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, lemon zest, eggs, organic white sugar (I used regular sugar), vanilla extract and grated carrots. The cake is baked in a 9-inch springform pan with a circle sheet of parchment placed on the bottom of the pan. You to coat the pan either with oil, or as I did with baking spray. The pan is coat before placing the parchment in the pan and then coat the parchment itself. You can go through the process of making your own almond meal in a food processor, however, I used almond meal that I purchased at Costco. I pulsed the almond meal along with turbinado sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon zest. The eggs can either be mixed in a stand mixer or with a handheld mixer. To the eggs you’ll add vanilla, followed by the almond mixture and carrots. It bakes for approximately one hour or until it’s firm to the touch and pulls away from the side of the pan. I couldn’t wait until the cake was cool enough to eat. What a delightful, easy cake. It had a delicate crumb with a subtle carrot flavor highlighted with a hint of lemon in the background, something I might omit in the future. The cake was light tasting, perfect with a cup of coffee or tea. There is no cream cheese frosting for this cake; however, I did dust it with a bit of confectioners’ sugar for presentation. The last recipe I made last week involved a delicious flank steak from Perrotti’s Quality Meats and tomatoes from Dreyer Farms, both in Cranford, New Jersey. While I have a few recipes for flank steak, I wanted to try something different, isn’t that what a food blogger? I found on The New York Times/NYT Cooking a recipe by Andy Baraghani for Harissa-Grilled Steak with Juicy Tomatoes. It just so happened that I had a tube of harissa paste that I purchased from Wegmans, along with full-fat Greek yogurt, fresh garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, red onions and red wine vinegar along with the beef and tomatoes for the recipe. Pita or lavash can be served along with the steak. The flank steak is coated in a marinade made with the harissa, yogurt, garlic and a tablespoon of oil. It’s spread on the steak, which has been patted dry, and seasoned with salt and pepper. It can sit on the counter while you prepared the onions, or do as I did, prepare earlier in the day and chill in the refrigerator. The onions are cut into 1-inch wedges, tossed with oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. I grilled the onions at the same time as the steak and removed when nicely caramelized. The steak cooked for approximately 4 to 6 minutes per side or until it reached an internal temperature of 135°. What a wonderful meal. My husband and I weren’t too hungry the night I made this and it was perfect as a light supper. I half expected the steak to be spicy from the harissa paste, but found it subtle when blended with the rest of the marinade ingredients. The onions were tossed with wedged tomatoes dressed with oil and vinegar and seasoned with salt and pepper…scrumptious! This preparation was easy and made for a flavorsome meal. Breakfast Apple Granola Crisp From the website “Smitten Kitchen,” Deb Perelman Ingredients 3 pounds* of whatever apples, or mix of apples, you like to bake with, peeled, cored and cut into medium chunks 2 tablespoons lemon juice 3 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 teaspoon cinnamon Salt 1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter 1/4 cup honey 1/2 cup flour 2 cups oats 1/2 cup sliced almonds 1/2 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened, as you wish; I used unsweetened) Preparation
Flourless Carrot Cake “Carrots: Digging Deeper for Fall Flavor” By Martha Rose Shulman The New York Times, November 8, 2010 Time: 1 hour Servings: 10-12 Ingredients 1-1/2 cups (1/2 pound) unsalted toasted almonds 1/4 cup raw brown sugar (turbinado sugar) 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest 4 large eggs 1/3 cup organic white sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups finely grated carrots (about 10 ounces) Preparation
Tip: Advance preparation: This cake is a good keeper if wrapped well. Refrigerate for up to 5 days. Donna’s Notes: Based on comments from other cooks, I used ground almond meal purchased at Costco. I found the cake to be moist, with a hint of the lemon zest in the background. In my traditional Carrot Cake recipe, pineapple is not an ingredient thereby eliminating that hint of citrus.
Harissa-Grilled Steak with Juicy Tomatoes By Andy Baraghani The New York Times/NYT Cooking Prep: 5 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes) Servings: 4 Ingredients 1/4 cup concentrated harissa paste (preferably tubed or canned; see Tip) 2 tablespoons full-fat Greek yogurt 4 fat garlic cloves, finely grated 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1-1/2 pounds flank steak Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 medium red onions 1-1/2 pounds medium tomatoes, cut into wedges 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar Flatbread (such as pita or lavash) Preparation
Tip: If you only have jarred harissa, try marinating the steak overnight to extract as much flavor as possible from the chile paste. This recipe is intended for outdoor grilling, but if you want to give it a go indoors, be sure your kitchen is well ventilated and be ready to crack some windows. The grilling of the marinated steak will generate smoke.
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