Dorie’s French Yogurt Cake Glazed with Lemon Basil Jelly

On Memorial Day, while I was planting lemon basil in my garden, I remembered that I’ve been wanting to make a French yogurt cake from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from my Home to Yours. What’s the connection? She glazed her cake with lemon marmalade and I’ve been thinking that a glaze is the perfect use for the jelly that I made last summer from lemon basil. That jelly is truly delicious, lemony and kind of grassy, as you would expect from herbs.

 The cake, made with a combination of flour and ground almonds, is typically formed in loaf pans. Like pound cake, this is perfect for the season’s first strawberry shortcake. I happen to like what I call amiable cakes, simple, tasty and easy to make. I used two medium loaf pans instead of the large one that Dorie’s recipe called for.

Glazed French Yogurt Cake from Dorie Greenspan

1 c all-purpose flour

½ c ground almonds

2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 c sugar

Grated zest of 1 lemon

½ c plain yogurt

¼ tsp vanilla extract

3 large eggs

½ c canola or other flavorless oil

Glaze:

½ c lemon basil jelly or marmalade

1 tsp water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter two medium (4 x 7-inch) loaf pans.

Whisk the flour, almonds, baking powder and salt together.

Work the lemon zest into the sugar. Add the yogurt, vanilla extract and eggs, and whisk vigorously until very well blended. Whisk in the dry ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold in the oil.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until the cake is golden brown ad a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a rack and cool for 5-10 minutes, Unmold and cool to room temperature right side up on the rack.

Melt the jelly or marmalade with a teaspoon of water and brush on the cake.

(I glazed the cake upside down but normally you would glaze the top.)

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Two Kumquat Jams: Rhubarb and Strawberry

This is the year of the kumquat for me. I haven’t posted the sweet preserved kumquats with spices yet and I finally figured out how to poach kumquats to make candied kumquats that hold their shape (the answer is slowly and not for too long). However, kumquats have been a regular feature around here for months, served in salads, a garnish for vegetables and as a condiment with shrimp.  After what I thought was a very successful Mango and Kumquat Jam a month or so ago, I tried my hand at Strawberry-Kumquat Jam and Rhubarb-Kumquat Jam. With gorgeous but skinny rhubarb stalks from the farmers; market, I set out to make the Orange Rhubarb Jam with Ginger that I made last year. However, there were no oranges in the house, only a lot of kumquats. Kumquats are not citrus fruit contrary to popular opinion, but they have similar characteristics. 

Both of these recipes came from the excellent Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders, a hefty and yet charming book published last year. The rhubarb, cut into matchsticks about 1 ½ inches long, required a 24-hour maceration period to get the sugar somewhat dissolved and the juices flowing. With the addition of thinly sliced kumquats (the most time-consuming part of which was digging out the seeds) and some lemon juice (which helps the gel), the jam was ready in no time. I omitted Saunders’ orange flower water, and get the cooking time down. Of course I also halved the recipe and reduced the sugar.

 The strawberry jam had double the amount of kumquats and needed no extra maceration time. Apart from the preparation of the kumquats, this also provided quick gratification. The result was a wonderful combination of the sweet, smooth strawberry base and the piquant bites of kumquat.

Rhubarb Kumquat Jam adapted from Rachel Saunders

1 ¼ lb rhubarb, cleaned, trimmed and cut into 1 ½-inch long matchsticks.

2 c granulated white sugar

4 oz kumquats, seeded and thinly sliced into rounds

¼ c freshly squeezed lemon juice

Macerate the rhubarb in the sugar for 24 hours, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.

Prepare the jars and water bath canner (if you’re canning this). Place a saucer in the freezer for testing the getl.

Place the macerated rhubarb, kumquat and lemon juice in a large wide pan and slowly bring the mixture to a boil. Boil vigorously for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally in the beginning and constantly at the end to avoid sticking. Test the gel and when done, ladle the jams into the warm prepared jars.

Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes after the water comes to a boil. Remove the lid, turn off the heat and let sit for five minutes. Remove the jars to a counter to sit undisturbed until cool.

Makes three 8-ounce jars or six 4-oz jars.

Strawberry Kumquat Jam adapted from Rachel Saunders

1 ¼- 1 ½ lbs strawberries (heaping quart)

2 c granulated white sugar

12 oz kumquats, seeded and thinly sliced into rounds

2 tbsp lemon juice

Place all of the ingredients into a large wide pan and slowly bring the mixture to a boil. Boil vigorously for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally in the beginning and constantly at the end to avoid sticking. Test the gel and when done, ladle the jam into the warm prepared jars.

Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes after the water comes to a boil. Remove the lid, turn off the heat and let sit for five minutes. Remove the jars to a counter to sit undisturbed until cool.

Makes three 8-ounce jars or six 4-oz jars.

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Turnip and Greens Soup

What in the wor(l)d? This is a simplified version of a classic French soup known as “Potage Untel” as Julia Child referred to a similar concoction. In today’s world, to find the origin of “Untel,” we go to Google. And guess what, we find out more information than we ever wanted to know about Intel and the various “soups” it’s immersed in. But no explanation of Potage Untel. Is “untel” a person, place or thing? Our digital world should allow us to broaden our words, but just as the industrialization of food led to fewer varieties, is our language going the same way? Hmmm.

Upon further investigation, it appears that in French “untel” or the feminine “untelle” means “so-and-so.” As in whathisname? Or as in that scoundrel so-and-so?  This particular soup is a mystery of flavor and everyone is surprised when told what it contains. Could that be the origin of the name?

I will make it soon with young turnips and their greens, or now with the last (thank heavens) of wintered-over turnips plus spinach. Julia Child thickened her version with farina (Cream of Wheat) and added cream. Since I was serving this to a gluten-free dairy-free audience, I braised the turnips in a vegan spread instead of butter and omitted the cream and the farina. To introduce body and creamy texture, as well as mellow the turnip, I added a yellow potato.  Versatile, quick and tasty, this is a great recipe to have on hand.

Turnip and Greens Soup

5 medium (2 ½-inch) turnips, peeled and cubed

1 medium yellow potato, peeled and cubed

1 tbsp butter or substitute

Water

Salt

2 c (or more) chicken broth (or vegetable broth)

1 small bunch spinach leaves, stripped of stems and washed well (or use turnips greens)

Optional: 1 tbsp farina

Optional: 2 tbsp cream

Braise the turnip and potato in butter (or substitute) and lightly salted water to come about 1/3 of the way up the depth of the vegetables. When the turnip is tender, add the stock or broth and the spinach and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 5 minutes. If using farina, add it with the spinach. Puree in a food processor. Add the cream if using and serve hot.  Makes 3-4 servings.

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Strawberry Ice Cream

I made an awesome orange-strawberry sorbet the other day, not documented but hopeful, although it was icy. I was surprised, since it had added an abundant amount of orange zest and Grand Marnier liqueur and a reasonable amount of pulp. Every frozen concoction goes through the exercise of texture, so-called mouth feel (not my favorite expression). So, with another abundance of strawberries, I went in the opposite direction, to ice cream.

I haven’t made strawberry ice cream, or for that matter, any ice cream, in ages. So, looking back through records, I see gelatin base, the addition of egg yolks, and just cream and fruit.  This time I went back to the gelatin. You can tell it’s there but it’s not intrusive like those gummy additives in commercial ice cream.  This is good, believe me.  

Strawberry Ice Cream

1 ½ pts strawberries

1 ½ tsp gelatin

¼ c cool water

1 ½ c heavy cream, divided into ½ c and 1 c measures

¾ c granulated sugar

Clean and hull the strawberries. Cut them in half if large and buzz them in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Dissolve the gelatin in the water. Bring ½ c of cream to the scalding point (just before it boils) and combine it with the gelatin. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Let cool slightly and add the remaining cream and the strawberries. Chill thoroughly and process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Makes about 1 quart.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Saucy and silky in texture, slightly tangy, aromatic and deep red, this strawberry rhubarb jam pleases our food-related senses. I tend to prefer strawberries combined with something else: last year red currants and also rhubarb; the year before, Balsamic vinegar and black pepper.  This recipe is similar in technique to last year’s Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam with Cardamom, except that I diminished the sugar and changed how I prepared the berries and ‘barb.  Last year, I simply macerated the ingredients with sugar for 3 hours to draw out the juices before cooking the jam.

 

This year, I followed a technique from Jeanne Lesem’s Preserving Today, an early 1990s publication that I found a year ago this month at a second hand store in Cambridge after a certain graduation party. I always enjoy any publication that claims it has preserved the past and updated the technique. Some are just period pieces and others really have something to offer.

 

After macerating the fruit (I know, rhubarb is a vegetable that we treat like fruit) for 6 hours, you transfer it to a shallow pan and boil it rapidly for 4 minutes. Poured into a glass bowl, the mixture is left to sit overnight, which Lesem claims plumps up the fruit. She was right. The next day, the juice is drained from the fruit and boiled for a few minutes. Then the fruit is added and boiled some more. The result was a terrific consistency, which probably would not have occurred by boiling alone.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam technique adapted from Jeanne Lesem

1 qt strawberries (heaping quart)

½ lb rhubarb (2-3 stalks)

1 ¾ c sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

Clean and hull the strawberries. Clean and dice the rhubarb into ½-inch pieces. Layer both with sugar a glass bowl, adding the lemon juice along the way. Cover and let sit for 6 hours.

Pour the ingredients into a shallow braising pan and bring to a boil, cooking it rapidly for 4 minutes. Remove to a heatproof glass bowl and let cool. When cooled, cover the bowl and let the mixture sit overnight.

Prepare the canning jars and set a saucer in the freezer for testing the jam.

Drain the juice from the berries and rhubarb, reserving the fruit, and bring it to a boil in a shallow pan. Boil for 4 minutes, add the reserved fruit, and boil for another 2-3 minutes or until a small drop placed on the frozen saucer tests for gel. Ladle the jam into the prepared jars and process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes after the water returns to a boil. Turn off the heat, remove the canner lid and let sit for 5 minutes before removing to the counter to cool, undisturbed.

Makes 3 half-pints (8 oz jars) and extra for tasting.

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Spring Vegetable Lasagna

Light and fresh are not typical descriptors of lasagna, but made with strips of oven-roasted zucchini, ricotta seasoned with spinach and arugula, a few fresh tomatoes reduced with red peppers, and local raw milk mozzarella, this dish was decidedly spring-like.  Since the zucchini was young and a little floppy, I added a single sheet of thin durum wheat lasagna noodles at the bottom and between layers. I prefer the short wide noodles over the long ones. The noodles were barely noticeable but helped maintain the lasagna’s shape. 

I used a Pyrex glass baking dish that measures about 6 x 8 inches. It comes with a plastic lid and therefore is very useful. This recipe serves 3-4 and is very flexible in the ingredients being used.

Spring Vegetable Lasagna

Base:

2 medium zucchini, ends trimmed and cut lengthwise into ¼-inch slices

Olive oil

Salt

4 short wide good quality lasagna noodles

Sauce:

2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

Olive oil

½ red pepper, diced

6-8 fresh plum tomatoes, chopped

Pinch of salt

Filling:

1 handful of spinach

1 small handful arugula

1 c ricotta cheese

1 egg, slightly beaten

Pinch of salt

Topping:

1/3 – ½ c grated mozzarella cheese

Make the base. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly brush the zucchini slices with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Roast them in the oven until browned on one side, flip and cook a few minutes more. Remove from the pan and let cool on paper towels. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the lasagna noodles until not quite al dente. Remove, rinse lightly with cold water to stop the cooking and cool and dry them on paper towels.

Make the sauce. Saute the garlic in the olive oil over low heat until aromatic. Add the pepper, turn up the heat a little and cook for a couple of minutes, Add the tomato and a little salt and cook until the vegetables are softened but not dissolved.

Make the filling.  Wash the spinach and arugula, shaking off the excess moisture. Cook them in a shallow pan in the water that clings to the leaves until wilted, about a minute. Remove the leaves to a colander to drain and cool. Squeeze out the excess moisture and chop them finely. Combine the greens with the ricotta cheese and egg, stirring to distribute the greens. Add a pinch of salt.

Assemble the lasagna. Lightly coat the bottom of a 6×8-inch baking dish with tomato sauce.  Place one lasagna noodle in the center, lengthwise. Place half of the zucchini slices crosswise on top of the noodle. Spread half of the ricotta on top, Repeat the layers.  Place a lasagna noodle on top of the last layer of ricotta and top with the tomato pepper sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella.

The dish can be prepared ahead and refrigerated for a day or so before baking.

Bake the lasagna. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the lasagna for about 40 minutes or until bubbly, Let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Makes 3-4 servings.

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Spaghetti with Pesto of Radish Greens, Mint and Walnuts

The ribbing in my household over my statement that I have rarely met a vegetable I didn’t want to roast is rivaled only by my interest in pesto. I mean “pesto” in the generic sense of a mix of ingredients that is pounded. The word comes from the Latin “pinsere,” which led to various iterations and ended in the word pesto, plus variations. Variations include “pestle,” the object used in a mortar to crush the greens. Well, that briefly sums the origins of the idea, and begs the questions of pesto’s being associated only with basil.

 

I of course make pesto made from basil, the most common iteration, but also from arugula, garlic scapes, dandelion, dill, parsley, cilantro, lovage, you name it, and in the spring, radish greens. I lightly puree herbs and other raw greens to keep in little paper tubes in the freezer over winter, but when spring comes, I crave the freshest greens served raw and only lightly dressed. I do not, contrary to tradition, see oil as a major ingredient in my pesto. I like it well chopped but slightly rough, complemented by garlic when appropriate, nuts to thicken, a little salt maybe, possibly some citrus zest and/or grated cheese, and enough oil to bind but not to overwhelm. Micro salad. Here, with well washed and tender radish greens, I used only a couple of walnuts, a little walnut oil, a tad of garlic, a pinch of salt (another over used ingredient in most pesto) and a few sprigs of mint. In retrospect, I would have preferred green garlic to the tiny clove.

Served with whole wheat spaghetti and thin crispy sliced radish bulbs, this was a delicious and refreshing spring meal.  The pesto would also be delicious with steamed new potatoes.

Pesto of Radish Greens, Mint and Walnuts

Greens from 1 bunch of very fresh young radishes (1 – 1 ½ c)

8 medium large mint leaves (I used spearmint)

1 tbsp fresh walnuts

2 tsp walnut oil

Optional: 1 tsp vegetable oil or light olive oil

1 small clove garlic, minced (1/2 tsp or less)

¼ – ½ tsp salt

Serve with:

1/3 – ½ lb whole wheat spaghetti, cooked and tossed in a little olive oil and salt

2-3 radish bulbs, very thinly sliced

Whole mint leaves

Carefully wash and dry the greens, picking them over to select the most tender leaves. A few tender stems are fine. Place the greens (which can be slightly damp) in a food processor with the mint, walnuts, oil, garlic and salt, and process until well chopped. Add a little more oil if necessary.

Toss with warm spaghetti and garnish with thinly sliced radishes and mint leaves. Or with steamed new potatoes.

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Simple Asparagus and Leek Soup

A Bowl of Spring

The weather’s ugly, cold and wet, and yet
Burstings of spring and just sprung leeks
Mean warmth will be here soon, in weeks
From straw, asparagus is green anew
And begs to join a springtime stew
We will prepare, and warm the bowl
For simple soup that wakes the soul 

Asparagus and Leek Soup

1-2 leeks, cleaned, trimmed and sliced

2 tsp butter or oil

1 bunch asparagus, about one pound, cleaned and chopped

1 small floury potato, such as russet, peeled and cubed

2 c homemade chicken stock

Salt and pepper

Sweat the leeks in a little butter or oil over low heat. Add the remainder of the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Cook slowly until tender, 20-30 minutes. Puree and season to taste.

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Pickled Asparagus with Curry Spices

After a few seasons of trying, I am gradually improving my pickled asparagus and this one looks like it will be the best yet. Last year I made curried pickled asparagus using ground spices and while the taste was good, the powdery substance created a slurry that I thought was unattractive. So this year, I decided to use whole spices. The top three spices in curry are typically coriander, cumin and fenugreek, plus turmeric, which is a root vegetable. We can get fresh turmeric here, but I used powdered since I had it on hand. I added a few fennel seed for sweetness. 

Usually I pickle the tops of asparagus, but this time I tried the bottoms. I had made five pounds of asparagus to serve with an orange and dark sesame  mayonnaise for a large cocktail party in New York Saturday evening. The asparagus had been picked that morning and was so fresh that it blanched in an instant. Since I was arranging the stalks like bouquets in glass vases and since they were finger food and couldn’t be too long, I cut them all to about 6-inch length, leaving 3 or so inches behind. The entire stalk was fresh and green and there was no woody base. Not wanting anything to go to waste (the trimmings went into soup), I decided these would make swell pickles, just the height for 4-ounce canning jars. My first task in this canning exercise was to sort the asparagus stalks into groups with similar diameters and then to cut them in identical lengths. 

(Off the subject… the asparagus was picked by a farmer and sold by the bunch at the farmers’ market. I wonder whether the excessively long woody part you find in grocery stores is there because it’s keeping the stalks from drying out because of the long “shelf” time or because it’s okay to have waste since they’re being sold by the pound.) 

One of the difficulties with pickling asparagus is that it expands when it’s canned. It also tends to float. While it’s preferable to cram the stalks in the jars tightly, if they’re too tight and/or there’s not enough headspace (the space between the contents and the lid), there could be several problematic developments. One is siphoning, when the liquid leaves the jar during the water bath canning process (remember, the lid is not fully sealed to a vacuum until the end.) This situation leaves the stalks exposed to the air in the jar since they are not being covered by liquid. That isn’t a danger in a completely sealed jar, but the contents can spoil so it’s best to refrigerate the jar. Also, if the stalks are packed too tight, there could be air space trapped inside. The stalks might therefore float above the liquid into the headspace after canning. Also not a great preserving result, so refrigeration is the solution again.

This time, my stubby little stalks floated slightly, but not above the liquid line, since I did not pack them too tightly, poked the jar (careful not to get the asparagus) to get rid of air bubbles, and left ½-inch headspace. So far so good. After four weeks, I can crack them open to sample the spice level. Since the local season is so short, I may end up making notes for next year, which is why it has taken a few seasons to get through this process.

Pickled Asparagus with Curry Spices (yields five 4 oz jars)

Asparagus stalk bottoms, trimmed to fit slightly more than 1/2 inch from the top of jar, in enough quantity to fit the number of jars x 1.25 (they shrink when cooked)

¼ tsp each coriander seed, fenugreek granules, cumin seed, fennel seed

1 c water

¼ tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp salt

1 c white vinegar or white wine vinegar

Prepare the jars and the water bath canner.

Prepare a large pot with ice water.

Fill a large shallow pan with water and bring to a boil.  Separate the asparagus into batches according to thickness. Plunge each batch of asparagus into the boiling water for about a minute. Do not overcook. Plunge the cooked asparagus into ice water and drain immediately.

Lightly crush the spices.

Pack the asparagus and spices into the warm jars, relatively tightly.

Stir the turmeric and salt into the 1 c water and cook at medium heat until dissolved. Add the vinegar, bringing the liquid just to a boil. Immediately pour over the jarred asparagus. To cover, but leave ½-inch headspace.  Insert a chopstick gently between the asparagus stalks to release any air bubbles.

Clean the rims, cap the jars and place in a water bath canner. Process for 10 minutes after the water comes to a boil. Remove the lid, turn off the heat and let sit for five minutes before removing the jars to to rest undisturbed until cool.

Cure for 3-4 months before testing for taste. If the jars don’t seal or if the liquid siphons and/or asparagus floats in the head space, refrigerate them. Otherwise, the pickles will keep for about a year.

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A Cookie for Circle of Women

This past weekend, I volunteered to prepare the food for a reception and art auction attended by 150+ people in NYC. It was a benefit for Circle of Women (CoW), a non-profit organization that was started and still functions as a student-run organization at Harvard with affiliates at other colleges and also high schools. There is a national board of recent graduates, which hosted the fundraiser.  CoW builds secondary schools for girls in developing countries and creates contexts for college students to learn how to run non-profits. Current and past projects include schools in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In our opinion, one school will affect one community and one community can make a world of change. www.circleofwomen.org

The menu was largely made up of substantial appetizers given that the event lasted for three hours, 6:30 – 9:30. I didn’t want to make a full dessert setting, so I opted for simple cookies. I have an all-purpose sugar cookie that is sturdy enough to withstand being made and served in volume and light enough to be snappy rather than doughy. The original recipe was a Christmas cookie intended to withstand complicated cut-outs and multiple rollings, and came from my mother, although my grandmother made a similar version. The recipe, source unknown, was so scrambled that I completely rewrote it. At Christmas, we flavor the cookies with anise and frost them with anise-flavored confectioners’ sugar icing, but at other times of year, we sprinkle them with sanding sugar or cinnamon sugar.

I had so many requests for the recipe that I’m sharing it here. Made in multiple sizes of circles and sprinkled with yellow sugar crystals (obvious reference to  CoW’s signature color), these cookies were flavored with lemon juice and lemon rind. The crunch of the sugary topping seemed to make the flavor pop.  A few people remarked they were hard to stop eating.

CoW Cookies

1 c butter, softened

2 c granulated white sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp lemon zest (grated rind)

1 ½ tsp baking soda dissolved in 2 tbsp milk

4 ½ c all-purpose white flour (divided, see instructions below)

1 ½ tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp salt

Sanding sugar

Cream butter and sugar together, Add the eggs, lemon juice and zest and the baking soda dissolved in milk.

Sift 3 cups of the flour with the cream of tartar and salt. Stir the flour into the batter. Add enough additional flour to make a dough that can be rolled. (I find that I need all 1½ cups.)  Chill the dough for at least an hour or up to two days.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Separate the dough into four sections and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/16-inch thickness.

Cut into shapes and sprinkle with sanding sugar (colored sugar crystals).

Bake on ungreased cookie sheets for 7-8 minutes, or until just turning golden.  Depending on the thickness of your sheets, the cookies could take more or less time but watch them since they turn brown quickly at the end.

Makes about 100 1-inch to 1 1/4-inch cookies.

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