This one definitely takes the cake...

Apple cake has always been a popular dessert in my extended family. It's one of my sister's favorite desserts, and we all look forward to my aunt's apple cake every Rosh Hashanah.

Sorry, ladies, but I've trumped you all with the apple cake featured in my cookbook :-)

Now, interestingly enough, I've never been a huge apple cake fan. Apple pie, yes, but not so much apple cake. But it was the introduction of ingredients such as brandy, walnuts and a healthy portion of cinnamon in this particular recipe that made me rethink my whole take on this dessert.

I made Janna Gur's Apple, Cinnamon and Walnut Cake this past Sunday night as part of a post-Rosh Hashanah dinner for A and a couple of friends. Due to a hectic workweek, I was unable to cook or bake anything for Rosh Hashanah proper, so I was happy to at least have the opportunity to try out this recipe a couple of days later.

Once again, I was quite pleased with the end results -- and for me, that was a surprise because I'm not a fan of parve cakes. Personally, I don't think a cake is really a cake without butter ;-) But, Ms. Gur has indeed proven me wrong, because this cake was sweet, moist and fluffy!

Apple, Cinnamon and Walnut Cake
Recipe courtesy of The Book of New Israeli Food: A Culinary Journey, by Janna Gur

Ingredients (for a 10-inch diameter springform pan)
5 large baking apples, peeled and cored (Note: I like to use Granny Smith apples. Also, four apples will do. Three go into the cake, whereas you use one to two apples for the top)
Juice of half a lemon
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil (Note: I used vegetable oil)
5 tablespoons brandy or calvados (Note: I used brandy)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

For dusting
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut three apples into 1/2 inch dice. Slice the remaining two apples into eight wedges each, sprinkle with lemon juice and set aside.
3. Sift the flour with cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
4. Using an electric mixer beat the eggs, sugar, brandy and vanilla extract until pale and thick, about eight minutes.
5. Lower the speed and gradually add the oil and then the flour mixture.
6. Fold in the diced apples and chopped walnuts and pour the batter into a well-greased baking pan. Arrange the apple wedges in the center of the cake in a flower pattern. Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top.
7. Bake for 60-70 minutes until the cake is golden and a toothpick comes out dry with a few crumbs adhering.
8. Cool for 10 minutes, release from pan and cool completely on a rack.

I'm back! I'm back!

Yes, yes, I know, I disappeared for a period of time longer than the length of the kitchen re-do. I'm bad. I'm naughty. I have no real excuse other than my usual one of getting caught up in life.

But, tonight I finally pulled Ms. Gur's cookbook back out from the depths of obscurity (well, technically that's not true -- I made shakshuka and pita again last weekend for a delicious brunch with my friend E) and not only tried a new recipe, but I broke the cardinal rule of cooking by making a new dish for dinner guests =-O!

Luckily for me, A, my friend M and her husband, M (LOL!) were more than happy to be my test eaters -- and they were not disappointed!

Tonight's dish was Chicken Albondigas in Tomato Sauce, which I served with a side of couscous and broiled zucchini. Albondiga is basically a Spanish word for meatballs, and according to the cookbook, this recipe comes from Jerusalem Sephardic cuisine. Judging from the spices used, I'm inclined to agree with the cookbook's theory.

Now, I mean no disrespect to my Ashkenazi heritage, but the Sephardim have the Ashkenazis beaten when it comes to flavorful recipes that don't make you feel like you've eaten a heavy sack of starch. I've never been a fan of kugel, kreplach, etc. But give me a recipe that contains tomatoes, spices and chicken and I'm a happy woman!

So the albondigas came out great, which I chalk up to the tasty mixture of spices such as turmeric, garlic, onion and paprika -- and the addition of soy sauce and cumin gave the sauce an extra kick. Plus the recipe itself is in on the simple side. The only really time-consuming element is chopping up/shredding the onion, garlic and potato. I was frustrated that the chicken was burnt a little bit, but no one semed to mind. It still tasted delicious, but I think I have to still work out the best heat setting for the pan. Plus the meatballs themselves didn't really hold together well -- perhaps you need to use more than six tablespoons of breadcrumbs to make everything bind.

Chicken Albondigas in Tomato Sauce
Recipe courtesy of The Book of New Israeli Food: A Culinary Journey, by Janna Gur

Ingredients (serves 4)
The Chicken Dumplings
10 1/2 oz ground chicken (breast or deboned thighs)
1 potato, finely grated and squeezed (Note: The food processor was a big help here)
1 onion, grated (Note: Again, use a food processor if you can)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg
6 tablespoons breadcrumbs (Note: I may try more next time)
1 teaspoon turmeric
Salt and coarsely ground black peppers

The Sauce
3 tablespoons oil
1 onion, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups crushed tomatoes
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons paprika
1 level teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons sugar
Salt and coarsely ground black pepper

1. Prepare the chicken dumplings: Mix all the ingredients, knead thoroughly and roll into balls the size of walnuts. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2. Prepare the sauce: Saute the onion until translucent. Add the garlic, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, soy sauce, spices, sugar and 1 cup water and bring to a boil.

3. Add the dumplings to the sauce and cook covered over a low heat for 30 minutes. Gently shake the pan form time to time but do not stir. Serve with white rice, mashed potatoes or lots of bread. (Note: I went with couscous and veggies -- no complaints!)

Squeezing one more in before the kitchen re-do...

Illness has claimed my time of late -- as well as a planned reconstruction of my kitchen. I hadn't even planned on posting for the next several weeks as cooking is about to be rendered impossible, but ever since my contractor postponed the start of the work another week I figured I might as well try one last recipe before my meals with A are provided by our local diner/Chinese/pizza/Thai/Indian/Insert-popular-ethnic-cuisine-here establishments.

I actually had wanted to try this chicken dish about a week ago for Easter lunch with A's family, but the aforementioned illness took me out of commission that weekend. No joke, as soon as I hung up with the contractor yesterday, my first thought was, "Now I can make that chicken with olives dish!"

It's a pretty simple recipe -- complete with my favorite Mediterranean flavors (tomatoes, olives, garlic). I like how the chicken is infused with the savory flavors of tomato and garlic by simmering everything together in a large saucepan. Even though the recipe says to cook the chicken for 30 minutes, next time I might even try cooking everything a little bit longer for a more intense flavor. The flavor was discernible, but I feel like it could be heightened even more.

Another observation I have about the dish is that I'd definitely save it for a special occasion with lots of people (there's always next Easter! Or even Rosh Hashanah). It felt a little much just for an ordinary weeknight dinner for two people.

Serve over couscous and a side of veggies and you have the makings of a fine holiday meal!

(I know, I know, my food presentation sucks. I promise I'm working on it!)

Chicken With Olives
Recipe courtesy of The Book of New Israeli Food: A Culinary Journey, by Janna Gur

Ingredients (serves six)
6-8 chicken parts
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 tomatoes, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 lb green olives, washed thoroughly and pitted
Salt and finely crushed black pepper
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a wide saucepan. Add the garlic, saute for one minute and add the tomatoes. Cook for about three minutes, add the tomato paste and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

2. Arrange the chicken parts in the saucepan. Add the olives and pour in the remaining oil. Season, taking care not to use too much salt (Note: Good advice. The olives provide a lot of salt to begin with). Pour in the chicken soup, making sure the contents of the pan are covered with liquid, and cook for 30 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Add the parsely and cook for another five minutes.

3. Serve over a mound of couscous or steamed rice. Note: I used whole-wheat couscous purchased at Trader Joe's. Delicious!

So if all goes according to plan the gutting will begin in a little more than a week. I promise I'll be back posting as soon as we have a usable kitchen. Until then, happy cooking! Send me fun recipes in the meantime so I can have something to look forward to!

Salad With a Kick

One of the few things I already knew about Israeli cuisine before reading The Book of New Israeli Food: A Culinary Journey was that salads are a core element to most menus. And as Ms. Gur even states ever so simply in the book, "Israelis insist on a salad with almost every meal." Can't say I take issue with that philosophy!

So the good news was I was relatively familiar with the basic Israeli salad of finely chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and fresh herbs -- trouble is, I really, REALLY don't like cucumbers :-/

If I try to make Israeli salad WITHOUT cucumbers, I feel the salad will be missing a vital component. It would be like American Idol without Simon Cowell (heh, well, we're going to have to get used to that eventually). 

I promise I will bite the bullet soon and make a full-on Israeli salad -- who knows? I may just like it! The picture of the juicy, succulent-looking veggies look too good to resist. But until I get up the nerve to bite into a cucumber, luckily my cookbook provides plenty of alternative salad choices.

Tonight I tried a Celery and Kashkaval Cheese Salad. And we have another winner! It's a delightful mix of crispy, crunchy celery strips with a tangy dressing of lemon juice and olive oil topped off with anchovies and the previously noted hard-to-find (and never-tasted by me or A before) Kashkaval cheese.

I managed to find the Kashkaval at Sahadi's, and I am pleased to announce that I have a new favorite cheese :-)

Kashkaval, while not an "Israeli" cheese (the one sold at Sahadi's is from Bulgaria), is a mild sheep's milk cheese that offers a nice balance to the zest of the celery salad. Plus it's great to nibble on its own! The recipe says you can use Parmesan if you can't track down Kashkaval, but if you can, I recommend going the extra mile for the Kashkaval. I have a feeling the tang of Parmesan isn't going to help balance out the already salty flavors of the salad.

Celery and Kashkaval Cheese Salad
Recipe courtesy of The Book of New Israeli Food: A Culinary Journey, by Janna Gur

Ingredients (serves 4-6)
1 bunch celery (one with young, light-colored stalks)
Freshly squeezed juice of 2 lemons
Coarse sea salt
10 top-quality anchovy fillets, diced
1/4-1/3 cup olive oil
3 1/2 oz ripe Kashkaval or Parmesan cheese
Coarsely ground white pepper

1. Discard the coarse outer stalks of the celery bunch and cut the inner stalks into thin strips. A vegetable peeler can be used to shave the stalks lengthwise.

2. Mix the celery strips with the lemon juice and some salt. Be careful with the salt -- the anchovies are salty already!

3. Mix the anchovy fillets with the olive oil and add to the celery strips.

4. Using the finest grater, grate the cheese over the salad, sprinkle some ground white pepper on top and serve immediately.