Sasha's Kitchen: Tea Party Strawberry Sodapop Cupcakes with Poprocks for Ovarian Cancer Research

Breast cancer and ovarian cancer are both causes dear to my heart. In fact, my beloved mother is a breast cancer survivor. So, when Foodbuzz and Kelly Confidential announced that they would be donating money to ovarian cancer research for each entry in Top Nine Tea Party Takeover on Foodbuzz, that gave me even more incentive to create the perfect cupcake recipe for a tea party. Kelly Confidential is a great organization that is sponsoring Electrolux and Kelly Ripa's virtual tea party for a truly important and cause - sponsoring ovarian cancer research. If you enter the tea party promotion on Kelly Confidential's website, they will donate $1 for each entry to this terrific cause.

These cupcakes are, of course, pink, both because they are tea party inspired, and as a tribute to women everywhere who are fighting ovarian and breast cancer. What could be cuter and better for a tea party than strawberry sodapop (or even strawberry champagne) cupcakes with crackling strawberry poprocks on the top, my all time favorite candy? I absolutely love everything about tea parties - they just bring out the feminine little girl cuteness in life. That's probably why Manhattan's Alice's Tea Cup - a tea party restaurants, is one of my favorite tea party spots.

Nothing is better for a tea party than these pretty pink cupcakes. They are fabulously strawberry flavored, and are the perfect match for a cup of tea with milk and honey for your next all-girl gathering. Perhaps you'd also like them alongside my Alice In Wonderland cupcakes for the ultimate tea party?

Oh, and what could be more perfect for a tea party than these cupcakes - mini strawberry sodapop cupcakes with poprocks! I was sure to keep enough batter to make a tray and a half of these too!

So, go PINK for your next tea party, pink for ovarian cancer research to put an end to this deadly disease.

Sasha's Strawberry Sodapop Cupcakes with Poprocks
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup seltzer with strawberry syrup (or Champagne with strawberry syrup)
1 stick of butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup fresh strawberry puree

Sasha's Strawberry Poprocks Frosting
1 stick of butter
4 oz cream cheese
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 T strawberry syrup
3 T seltzer or Champagne

To make the cupcakes, beat the butter and sugar for three minutes on medium speed in your mixer, until smooth. Beat in the eggs and the seltzer, which you can make strawberry flavored with Hershey's Strawberry Syrup. Alternatively, if you prefer to go all out for your tea party, replace the seltzer with Champagne - by all means! Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Alternatively beat in the dry ingredients and the buttermilk, until combined. Then add in the strawberry puree, which you should make from fresh strawberries.  Fill your full size and mini cupcakes trays with the batter- I filled one one and a half mini trays and a dozen regular size cupcakes. The large cupcakes bake for about 35 minutes at 350, the minis take closer to 20 minutes or so. They are done when a toothpick comes out clean, before they start to brown.

For the frosting, in your mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter and confectioner's sugar until smooth and frosting like. Combine 3 T of seltzer and 1 T of strawberry syrup and beat that in as well.  Using a fluted tip, pipe the frosting onto each cupcake (or mini cupcake) using a frosting bag. Top with plenty of cracking poprocks and serve with delicious organic teas. Party time!

Sasha's Kitchen: Tea Party Strawberry Sodapop Cupcakes with Poprocks for Ovarian Cancer Research

Sasha's Kitchen: Blood Orange Creme Brulee

Ah, creme brulee old friend, where have you been? We have not seen each other in awhile! So yes, it has been awhile since I have made and posted a recipe for creme brulee, but it has been in the works for sometime. I have wanted to do a citrus inspired creme brulee, maybe meyer lemon flavored. But, I decided that it was finally time to try a blood orange creme brulee. I devised this recipe that has exactly the consistency of a properly made creme brulee, but has the tangy orange flavor of the blood orange. The result was a wonderful, tangy creme brulee that was a pretty peachy color. This is a great party recipe, as the recipe makes about eight creme brulees (unfortunately I only had four dishes), and you can let each guest brulee their own with the creme brulee kitchen torch, after going over safety rules of course.

Sasha's Blood Orange Creme Brulee
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
7 egg yolks
2 cups of heavy cream
1 cup blood orange juice (you could also use blood orange puree)

To make the creme brulee, combine the sugar, heavy cream and blood orange juice in a saucepan. Heat over low heat and stir until sugar is dissolved, and the mixture bubbles slightly around the edges. Beat the egg yolks in a bowl. Remove the cream mixture from the heat and add in the egg yolks. Meanwhile boil a large pot of water.

Add the mixture to each of the brulee dishes and place in a large high walled pan (I used a broiling pan). Fill the pan with the hot water about 2/3 of the way up the sides of the creme brulee dishes. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Chill for at least two hours - even overnight is fine. Top with a bit of granulated sugar in a thin later (superfine sugar is even better for this) and brulee, following the instructions of your kitchen torch.

Sasha's Kitchen: Blood Orange Creme Brulee

From Amasea's Kitchen in Sun Valley: Super-spicy cauliflower soup

This is soup that made my lips hurt.

Before I went to boarding school (my choice, I wasn't a juvenile delinquent...at least, not much :) I had a really good tolerance for spice. I ate Thai food at Seattle Thai restaurants, where the stars were in Asian terms and not ours: 4-star Asian is like 40-star American. But at a boarding school, they can't spice things very highly, or add particularly engaging ingredients, due to allergies and moderate palates. I made do with Tabasco, but it's just not the same.

So after four years there, and four years in college, which was nearly as bad, my palate had degraded. A lot (but not alot). I've been a wuss ever since.

Lately though, in part thanks to my husband, who really enjoys some heat in his meals, I've been rebuilding my tolerance. And this is the rather extreme result.

I got a medium-sized head of organic cauliflower at Atkinson's, our local market, and steamed it until it was soft...too soft, actually, I got distracted by coverage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I put that, and two-ish big chipotles (the dehydrated ones, in adobo sauce) in my Cuisinart.

In a separate nonstick pan, I sauteed one medium white onion and four large cloves of garlic, fairly finely chopped, with some olive oil, salt and black pepper, and about a tablespoon of white sugar. Once they were browned, I added about half a cup of College Inn Thai Coconut Curry Broth (which, incidentally, I have fallen in love with) and cooked that down so the onions and garlic were soft. That mixture went into the Cuisinart with the chipotles and cauliflower, and was pureed until the mixture was nearly smooth. I added another cup or so of broth and about a tablespoon and a half of lime juice, and heated it all back up again.

What's in the picture above is the teeny bit that remained once I realized I needed to take a picture to tell y'all about this awesomeness, with a side of Chenin Blanc and some sourdough baguette slices. And all that's left of the soup is my still-burning lips and a portion I froze for my husband, who's out of town...because I know he'll love it!

From Amasea's Kitchen in Sun Valley: Super-spicy cauliflower soup

Sasha's Kitchen: Simple Spinach Pear Salad

This is a recipe for a simple, yet beautiful and healthy salad. Baby spinach is just about one of the healthiest greens that you can include in your diet, which is why I chose to include it in this salad. Usually pear salads are made with greens like watercress, or endives, but in my opinion, baby spinach works much better. The combination with the goat cheese is delicious. I recommend sauteing the pears a bit, which gives the perfect residual sweetness to the salad, which balances nicely with the spinach. To prepare the dressing for the salad, simply use balsamic and canola to make a vinaigrette. Top the spinach, almond slivers, pears and goat cheese crumble with the dressing.

Sasha's Simple Spinach Pear Salad
baby green spinach
2 anjou pears, peeled and sliced
crumbled goat cheese
slivered almonds
balsamic vinegar
canola oil

Sasha's Kitchen: Simple Spinach Pear Salad

Sasha's Kitchen: Four and Twenty Blackbirds & A Guest Recipe from Europe

There's a new pie place in town. Recently I had the pleasure of visiting Four and Twenty Blackbirds, on the border of the South Park Slope and Gowanus.  It was fabulously delicious and I can't wait to go back. This pie in the sky, pie spot, has different pies for every season (I can't wait to try some of their fruity pies when I go back in the summer!), as well as a daily changing array of pies to choose from. When we went, we tried the Salted Caramel Apple Pie (pictured above) and the Black Bottom Oatmeal Pie (pictured below). Other winter pies include Buttermilk Chess, Salted Honey and Chili Chocolate pies. And a whole array of lovely fruit flavors await us in Spring and Summer. These pies are delicious and this is a spot worth venturing to the edge of Park Slope to try.

In addition, I am sharing a recipe from a reader of A Kitchen In Brooklyn - Anna, and old friend of mine now living in Strasburg, France. Here's the recipe below, as well as a description of its family origins.


This recipe originated in my mom’s kitchen (or maybe my grandma’s, don’t remember). It is not
something you are likely to find in a cookbook or a TV cooking show. It is something that I make when I am nostalgic for my mom’s cooking.

It is definitely not fancy French cuisine, but I did add some ingredients to make it more…interesting, if
you wish. But it remains a dish from the kitchen of a poor family (in former USSR everybody were either poor or in the government :-) whose motto was “tasty and cheap.”

Now to the recipe!

Anna's Chicken Gizzard Stew
1 kg chicken gizzards (buy already cleaned, if possible) you can also use hearts or a mixture
2 large onions
2-3 medium carrots, grated (you can add more if you like your stew more on the sweet side)
3-4 small celery stalks
1 cube of chicken or beef soup (I use from “Rapunzel” and it gives fantastic results)
¼ cup dry white wine (Riesling or similar)
3-4 bay leaves
5-6 whole English peppers
Salt and ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

If you have a pressure cooker – use it! You will save a lot of time. If not, I like to use my “Staub” cocotte, which keeps the juices in even after a long cooking time. In fact, the trick is to use gizzards from young chickens to shorten the cooking time, otherwise it may take a while.

Warm a bit of olive oil, add chopped onions and fry until golden but not browned. Add carrots and
chopped celery and cook until softened, mixing from time to time. Add a bit of hot water to cover and a
soup cube of your choice, mix until dissolved. Add wine, whole English peppers and bay leaves. Then add the gizzards and cover with cold (!) water. If you’d like more sauce, add more water (not more than the maximum allowed for your pressure cooker). Be careful not to overdo it, otherwise you will have a soup and not a stew! Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for operating the pressure cooker. Start your timer AFTER the pressure has been built. Cook between 25-35 minutes, depending on the gizzards (whether from old or young chickens).

Adjust spicing to your taste after opening. We usually eat it with buckwheat kasha and some pickled
gherkins on a side!

Bon appetite!

Sasha's Kitchen: Four and Twenty Blackbirds & A Guest Recipe from Europe

Sasha's Kitchen: Mardi Gras King Cake Cupcakes

Just in time for Fat Tuesday, I made these Mardi Gras themed King Cake cupcakes. King Cakes are associated with Mardi Gras, and I have had them in the past (usually brought by a co-worker or what not) as a large round nutmeg flavored cake, dyed with tricolored purple, green and yellow icing.  The cake usually has a small trinket of a plastic baby hidden somewhere inside.  Last year for Mardi Gras I made some New Orleans beignets reminiscent of the Big Easy.  But this year, King Cakes, made into cupcakes it was! I am excited to report that I am going to be taking my first Saturday class at the Brooklyn Kitchen in a couple weeks - and New Orleans brunch is the theme of the first class I signed up for (the second will be on pickling, I have decided). 

For these Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday cupcakes, I made a nutmeg King Cake flavored cupcake. The frosting is just vanilla frosting dyed Mardi Gras colors, with some green sugar as well.

Sasha's King Cake Cupcakes (1 dozen)
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
3 large egg whites
3/4 cup skim milk
1 stick of butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice

Frosting
1 stick of butter
4 oz cream cheese
3 cups of confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla
food coloring

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a cupcake tray with cupcake liners. Combine the dry ingredients and set aside in a bowl. In the basin of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar for about three minutes until smooth. Whisk in the egg whites. Beat while alternating between adding the milk and the dry ingredients. Mix until combined and smooth. Fill cupcakes about 3/4 of the way full and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until done and a toothpick comes clean out of the center.  Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Beat the ingredients for the frosting on high for about three minutes until if forms a nice frosting.  Dye one portion purple and the other portion yellow using gel food colors. Use a spatula to spread on the cupcakes and put some green sugar in the middle.

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Sasha's Kitchen: Mardi Gras King Cake Cupcakes

Sasha's Kitchen: Southern Pimento Mac & Cheese

Mac & cheese is that perfect comfort food when the rest of life seems just too complicated and too much of a mess, at times. I have my own signature mac & cheese that I love, but could not resist a recipe that I came across in Bon Appetit for some southern style pimento mac & cheese.  Pimento cheese is a southern style cheese made with cheddar and pimento-type peppers, basically blended into a paste. More or less, that is the basis behind the flavor of this mac & cheese recipe. I adapted the proportions a bit from the original recipe to get things to my liking, but this is adapted from the recipe in this month's Bon Appetit.  I used some lower fat cheeses and a bit larger proportion of pasta so my version is perhaps just a tad bit healthier. Still tastes amazing! I had pimento for the first time  few months ago when I was in Atlanta, and this dish is really true to taste.

Southern Pimento Mac & Cheese
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
3 T butter
2/3 cup parmesan cheese
3/4 cup drained peppadew peppers in brine, 1 T brine reserved
1/4 tsp ancho chili powder
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups light cheddar cheese, grated
1 1/4 cups whole milk mozzarella
1 box (16 oz) mini-shell pasta

Bring 1/2 of a cup of water, 1 1/2 cloves of garlic and the bell pepper to boil. Then lower heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Toss the panko in a skillet and brown lightly over medium heat (about 5 minutes). Transfer to a bowl and combine with 1 T of butter, and 1/4 cup of parmesan, and set aside.

Put the bell pepper/ water mixture in a blender. Add the peppadew peppers and one tablespoon of the brine, and also the rest of the garlic, ancho chili powder, grated cheddar and remaining parmesan.  Blend until smooth, and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 400 and butter an 8 cup baking dish. I used one of my lovely Emile Henry ones.  Cook the pasta until al dente. Stir the pimento sauce in, and add the shredded mozzarella, stirring to combine. Spoon into baking dish and top with the breadcrumb mixture. Bake about 25 minutes until the topping is crisp.

In the mood for more Southern Food? I made some Mardi Gras cupcakes today . . .

Sasha's Kitchen: Southern Pimento Mac & Cheese

Sasha's Kitchen: Anti-Sweet Heart Cookies

I happen to love eating Necco candy hearts around Valentine's Day. I have been eating them each year since I was a kid and its funny how they change over the years, sometimes incorporating new technology. This year, I saw one that said "tweet me." Anyhow, apologies for not doing this in time for Valentine's Day, but as a bit of a spoof on these sweet heart candies, I decided to do some "bitter heart" cookies with funny sayings like "Bite me," "Unfriend," "One Night Stand," "You Smell," "Go Away," and "Just Lust." Pretty silly, I know, but its a sarcastic take on a hallmark holiday. Sometimes you just need to laugh a bit and these will certainly accomplish that.

Did I also mention that they taste delicious? Perfect butter cookies with royal icing!

Sasha's "Bitter Heart" Cookies
4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
Bag of royal icing mix from New York Cake
gel food coloring

Beat the butter and sugar until smooth in your stand mixer. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Then add the dry ingredients and beat until it forms a smooth dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour. Roll out the dough and cut into heart shapes using a heart shape cookie cutter.


Bake the cookies at 350 for 15 minutes, one sheet at a time. Allow to cool.

Mix the royal icing mix according to the package instructions (with water). Divide into three portions and dye with a drop or two of gel based food coloring in pink, purple or orange. You could also use other colors that those Necco hearts come in, of course like yellow or green!

Coat the cookies with the royal icing doing your best to spread the icing evenly. I used a small spatula to do this.  Allow the frosting to harden for about four hours, or overnight. Then, using a black food marker (another awesome thing from NY Cake), write all your surly, sarcastic or inner-high school bitchy sayings on the cookies. Enjoy - they taste great even without the sarcasm!

Sasha's Kitchen: Anti-Sweet Heart Cookies

Sasha's Kitchen: Clementine Souffle

I never thought to make a clementine souffle until I had one at Capsouto Freres, home of the best souffles in Manhattan. It was so amazing that I figured that I would come up with my own recipe for a souffle that captures the delicate sweetness of the juicy clementine. This recipe makes four individual souffles, and it is just perfect - delicious and with just the right amount of clementine flavor, but not overly sweet.


Sasha's Clementine Souffles
6 clementines, juiced
2 eggs (whole)
4 egg whites
2 T flour
1 tsp cornstarch
1/3 cup plus 2T sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Preaheat the oven to 400. Mash the clementines and squeeze out the juice. Discard the remaining fruit and keep only the juice from the six clementines. Add the flour, sugar and eggs and thicken over low heat. Add the cornstarch and allow to thicken for an additional minute until a cream like mixture.  Using the whisk attachment of the mixer, beat the egg whites on high for about 3-5 minutes with the cream of tartar until fluffy with stiff peaks.  Fold in the egg whites to the juice mixture with a spatula. Add to souffle dishes sprayed with Pam or butter and sprinkled with a bit of sugar.  Bake at 400 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes until they rise nicely. Eat right away. Yum!

Sasha's Kitchen: Clementine Souffle

Sasha's Kitchen: Chilled Pea Soup

Another great Brooklyn recipe from The New Brooklyn Cookbook that I love so much. This recipe is from The Farm At Adderley, a great farm-to-table restaurant out in Ditmas Park. It's a bit of a schlep to get out there for a meal from Manhattan or even Park Slope, but boy is it worth it - one of Brooklyn's best restaurants.

What I love about this recipe for chilled pea soup is how easy, simple and healthy it is. Most of the delicious soups I have made or have had out have heavy cream, or at the very least chicken broth, or some combination of the two. This recipe captures the essence of the fresh peas that I used to create it. Sure fresh peas are not in season right now, and I am sure it would have been even better if they had been, but I was able to get good quality, non-frozen english peas from Fresh Direct.

Farm At Adderley's Chilled Pea Soup with Fresh Lump Crabmeat
6 T Canola Oil
1 small onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups of fresh English peas
1 tsp of sugar or 3/4 tsp agave nectar
1/2 pound lump crabmeat, about 1 1/2 cups loosely packed, picked over
grated zest of 1/2 lemon, plus 1/2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
grated zest of 1/2 lime, plus 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 medium clove garlic, minced
1 or 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Heat 3T of the canola oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and add the diced onion. Season with salt and pepper, and cook until translucent but not brown, which will take about five minutes.

Prepare an ice bath. Bring a large pot of water with salt to boil and add the peas to the boiling water. Blanch in the boiling water for two to three minutes and then transfer to the ice bath for one minute, before draining. Combine the peas with the onion and a cup of water in a blender, and puree until smooth. With the motor running add the rest of the canola oil, and season with salt and pepper. If you used fresh peas like I did, add the sugar or agave nectar.

In a medium bowl, combine the crabmeat with the zests, and lemon and lime juices, as well as the oilve oil. Season with salt and pepper. If you prefer you can cook the crab (I confess, I did), or you can simply place two tablespoons of the crab mixture in each bowl of chilled soup.I served with some bread and a lemon wedge.  Enjoy!

Sasha's Kitchen: Chilled Pea Soup

Sasha's Kitchen: Chili Con Carne

So, I have not been feeling great this week, hence the lack of cooking and lack of blog posts. But, I figured I could share one that was a winner that I have not yet had the time to write about. 

Last time I wrote about chili, it was my recipe for turkey chili which my husband and I both really enjoyed as our first foray into chili making. This time, we tried out a recipe for Chili Con Carne from Bon Appetit, which I followed with a couple of modifications. It was also delicious and another terrific meal with plenty of leftovers. I made half of the recipe in the link (which is posted below) and it was still enough for us to get two meals out of it. Yummy!

Chili Con Carne (based on Bon Appetit recipe)

2 T Canola Oil

2 pounds lean beef chunk, cubed

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 of a head of garlic (about eight cloves), peeled and diced

1/4 cup ancho chili powder

1 T cumin

1/4 tsp allspice

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cloves

6 oz dark beer (I used Guinness)

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes in juice

1 tsp dried oregano

1 T tomato paste

3 T masa (or pureed frito chips, which worked just fine)

grated Shelburne Farms 2-year Cheddar

chopped fresh cilantro to taste

chopped fresh tomatoes, to taste

fat free sour cream, to taste

pinch of pepper to taste

1 cup of water

Heat the canola oil and sear the beef cubes, half at a time. Cook until browned, stirring, for about three minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Add a bit more canola oil if needed, and saute the onion for about 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another two minutes. Add the ancho chili, cumin, allspice, pepper, and cloves and stir until fragrant, another minute or two. Add the beer and stir for a minute, before returning the beef to the pot. Then, add the tomatoes, a cup of water, oregano and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover partially with lid ajar. Simmer for about 1 1/2 to two hours, until the meat is tender. Cool for about an hour.

Then, simmer again over medium heat. Stir in the tomato paste and pureed fritos/masa, which will thicken the chili. Simmer until thickened, uncovered, for about 20 minutes, adding a quarter cup or water or so if the chili becomes too thick.

Top with cheddar, chips, sour cream, and diced tomatoes.

Sasha's Kitchen: Chili Con Carne

Sasha's Kitchen: Lemon Blackberry Thumbprint Cookies

Thumbprint cookies are easy to make, and always rewarding and delicious. They are so cute in that there is a thumbprint in the center of each cookie with your favorite flavor of jam or pie filling. They kind of remind me of hamentaschen with respect to how they taste, although they obviously look different.

I had received some of ShopRite's blackberry preserves awhile back as part of the ShopRite blog panel, Potluck, that I am involved with. I knew right away that they would be perfect for making thumbprint cookies, but it took me a bit of time to get around to it. The blackberry preserves for these cookies are perfect with a bit of lemon as a flavor combination, so in devising this recipe, I decided to add a bit of lemon zest and lemon juice to the cookie dough. This provided a subtle lemon flavor to the cookies that went just perfectly with the blackberry preserves.

Sasha's Lemon Blackberry Thumbprint Cookies
2 1/3 cups of flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 sticks of butter
3/4 cups of granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest, finely grated
1 tsp lemon juice
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
Blackberry preserves

To prepare these cookies, in the basin of a stand mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar on medium high for about three minutes. Then, mix in the eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. The mixture may curdle slightly, but this is not a big deal, and I promise it will work out in the end. In a bowl, combine the baking powder and flour and beat into the mixture until it forms a dough.

Prepare two cookie sheets. Form the dough into small balls and press flat, but not too thin. Each should be about an inch in diameter.  Using your thumb, make an imprint or indent into the center of each cookie. Fill this indent with some of the blackberry jam - about half a teaspoon at the most. Only use enough to fill the indent and don't overdo it or it will not bake nicely.

Bake each sheet of cookies (this recipe makes about two dozen) one at a time in an oven preheated to 350 for 20 minutes. Allow to cook and enjoy!

Sasha's Kitchen: Lemon Blackberry Thumbprint Cookies

Sasha's Kitchen: Saffron Risotto Balls with Tomato Chutney

Risotto balls are one of my husband's favorite treats, and this was no exception. This recipe is loosely based on a recipe I found in a cookbook, which called for coloring the balls with yellow food coloring. I figured it was much better to use saffron, the most expensive spice in the world, which creates a wonderful flavor for the rice, as well as a lovely yellow color. I served the riceballs with some spicy tomato chutney (leftovers from serving with chicken for the night before) and the combination was so perfect, that I am sharing the recipe for the chutney as well. However, just about any chutney would be perfect with these.

Sasha's Saffron Risotto Balls (makes about 18)

1/2 lb arborio rice

1/6 cup cream

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup freshly grated hard mild goat cheese

1 T sugar

pinch of saffron threads

1/4 cup bread crumbs

canola oil

Cook the risotto according to the package instructions, along with the pinch of saffron threads. Then combine the cooked risotto rice with the egg, cream, grated cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Divide the mixture into one inch balls. Place the breadcrumbs on a plate. I used the bread crumbs that ShopRite sent me and they worked perfectly for these delicious treats. Next, heat 4 T of canola oil in a skillet and cook, turning occasionally until completely (and evenly) browned on all sides. Drain the excess oil on paper towels.

Below is the chutney recipe, loosely based on the cookbook, with several modifications (including about half the amount of sugar as recommended).

Bengali Style Tomato Chutney (loosely based on the recipe in the cookbook At Home with Madhur Jaffrey, a terrific Indian/regional cookbook)
2 T olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp fennel
2 cups canned tomato puree
1 small can cherry tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
3 T raisons

Combine the oil with the cumin, fennel, tomato puree, cherry tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, pepper flakes and salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook on low, uncovered, for about 15 minutes. Add the raisons and cook for another ten. The chutney should be thick and have a glazed appearance when done.  I found multiple uses for this chutney, both on chicken and with the saffron rice balls. Yum!

Sasha's Kitchen: Saffron Risotto Balls with Tomato Chutney

Sasha's Kitchen: Hanger Steak with Bordelaise Sauce, Whipped Potatoes and Creamed Spinach

Recently, my mom gave me the book The New Brooklyn Cookbook as a gift. I was quite excited because this had been on my short list of cookbooks since it came out last year. I absolutely love dining out in Brooklyn, and although Manhattan has some great food and more restaurants, I don't hesitate to say that Brooklyn has some of the best food in the five boroughs if not the best. Living here has been a real foodie paradise, which I have truly enjoyed.

The cookbook has several recipes hand-picked from each of Brooklyn's best restaurants, many of which I have been to (including some favorites like Rose Water, Al Di La, Applewood and Farm on Adderley), and some which I have yet to try.  The first recipe that I tried from this book is from Dressler, located in Williamsburg.  I live in Park Slope so I don't make it to Williamsburg too often although I am well aware that they have some incredible foodie spots. Dressler is definitely one that I can't wait to try (especially after the success of this recipe).  Brooklyn has four Michelin-starred restaurants, and Dressler (located across the street from Peter Lugar's Steakhouse, another Williamsburg classic) is one of them. I can't wait to try it, but for now here's their delicious recipe for Grilled Hanger Steak with Horseradish Whipped Potatoes, Creamed Spinach and Sauce Borderlaise. This is the perfect meal for Valentine's Day!

This is a great dinner recipe - every aspect of this meal was just perfect! I cut the recipe in half, as it serves six, but below is the full recipe.

Dressler's Grilled Hanger Steak with Horseradish Whipped Potatoes, Creamed Spinach and Sauce Borderlaise


Sauce borderlaise
2 T canola oil
1 small carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch dice (about 1/4 of a cup)
4 celery stalks, cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 spanish onion, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch dice
6 garlic cloves, diced
2 cups dry red table wine (I used Malbec, not the driest of wines, but it was great with this recipe)
4 cups veal stock (I used beef stock because my mother was visiting and she does not eat veal)
1 fresh sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
6 whole black peppercorns
coarse salt

Whipped potatoes
1 1/2 lbs idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 T unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 T creme fraiche
2 T horseradish (I used Golds)
coarse salt and black pepper

Creamed spinach
2 T unsalted butter
1 shallot, peeled and diced
1 pound fresh spinach, stems removed, washed and drained
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 T flour
kosher salt
pinch of cayenne
pinch of nutmeg

Steak
six 10 oz hanger steaks, trimmed of fat (I obviously used three and cut the entire recipe in half)
Salt and pepper for seasoning

First I made the French borderlaise sauce. Heat the canola oil in a medium sauce pan and add the celery, carrot, onion and garlic. Saute until the vegetables are caramelized, which takes about 15 minutes. Next, add the red wine (don't use cooking wine here, but quality table wine)and reduce until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Add the stock, thyme, bay leaf and peppercorns and bring the solution to a boil. Then, reduce to a simmer and cook until the sauce is syrupy and coats the spoon, which takes about an hour. Strain the sauce and set aside.

While the sauce was simmering, I made the whipped horseradish potatoes. These are genius - the combo of the horseradish and the potatoes made for some of the best whipped/mashed potatoes that  I have ever had.

Place the potatoes (prepped first) in a pot and cover with cold, salted water. Bring to a boil and cook at a boil until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Combine the milk, cream and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to low. Cover to keep warm. Drain the potatoes. Rather than mash with a ricer, I beat the potatoes in my stand mixer to whip them. Add the warm milk mixture and combine in the mixer. Fold in the creme fraiche and horseradish, and season with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm.

To make the creamed spinach, which has long been one of my favorite steakhouse side dishes, melt 1 T of the butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and saute for two minutes until translucent. raise the heat to high and add the spinach, stirring until wilted, which takes about three minutes. Drain the spinach in a colander for 10 minutes.

Melt the remaining butter in a heavy-bottomed pot. Add flour and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly for about four minutes. Slowly add the warm milk mixture to the flour/butter mixture and whisk constantly until it thickens, which only takes about a minute. Season to taste with salt, cayenne and nutmeg. I made the creamed spinach slightly spicy with the cayenne pepper, which was just wonderful.

Season the steaks as desired - I used salt and pepper. Grill the steaks in a grill pan over medium heat as desired. The book suggests ten minutes for medium rare, but we like outs medium-well so we grilled them much longer. Grill on both sides, and when they are done, allow to rest for five minutes. Then slice the meat against the grain into 1/4 inch slices.

Serve the steak with the potatoes, creamed spinach and drizzle with warm sauce borderlaise. Happy Valentine's Day!

Sasha's Kitchen: Hanger Steak with Bordelaise Sauce, Whipped Potatoes and Creamed Spinach

Sasha's Kitchen: Ratatouille

I had never made ratatouille before, but I figured I would give it a try, even though it is February and I do not have a garden full of fresh homegrown or farmers' market vegetables to make it with.  Plus, I absolutely  love the Disney/Pixar movie. Such a great culinary classic movie!

I searched though quite a few recipes in my search for the perfect ratatouille, and ultimately I based by recipe on this recipe for grilled ratatouille from Bobby Flay of the food network. Of course, it not being the summer, I broiled rather than grilled and it was pretty delicious. I chose to serve the ratatouille over penne, and it was great. I can't wait to make this vegetarian classic this summer with local farmers' market veggies. This makes quite a bit - probably enough to serve six, so we had plenty of leftovers.

Sasha's Ratatouille (based on Bobby Flay's Recipe)
2 yellow zucchini, chopped into 1 inch slices
2 yellow zucchini, chopped into 1 inch slices
1 medium sized eggplant, chopped into 1 inch slices
2 red bell peppers, pared and chopped
2 yellow bell peppers, pared and chopped
1 red onion, chopped into medium sized pieces
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup of Olive Oil plus two tablespoons
4 cloves garlic, diced
salt and pepper to taste
2 T chopped fresh oregano
1/4 cup chopped parsley
three sprigs of fresh thyme
penne or angel hair pasta

Place all of the cut up vegetables (minus the tomatoes) on a baking sheet lined with foil, or a broiling pan. Add about a half cup of Olive Oil and toss to coat the vegetables. Season and cook at about 400 for about 30 minutes, until the vegetable start to brown a bit.  Add the tomatoes (each sliced in half) and the herb and garlic. Serve on top of angel hair pasta or penne.

Sasha's Kitchen: Ratatouille

Sasha's Kitchen: Chocolate Devil's Food Cake with Whipped Peanut Butter Ganache

Chocolate cake - what could be better, right? For me the ideal chocolate cake is one that is quite chocolatey, but not overly rich. I like something that is a little bit on the light side, so that it isn't overkill. That's what I love best about a traditional chocolate devil's food cake. Now devil's food cake is traditionally made with a chocolate ganache, which is great, as I love chocolate ganache. I found a recipe for a  chocolate devils food cake in Rose's Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum but decided to top it with a whipped chocolate peanut butter ganache recipe that I found elsewhere in the same book. Now, if chocolate ganache is good, the whipped chocolate peanut butter ganache was amazing and was the perfect combination with the cake. The recipe below was used by me to make two cakes (I am not good at trimming cakes and stacking them to make layer cakes, as all bakers have their shortcomings, so I just made two cakes). Apologies on the picture quality - my camera ran out of batteries!


Rose's Devil's Food Cake
1 oz unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup plus 1 1/2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups cake flour, sifted and leveled off
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks of butter
2 9 x 2 inch round cake pans

Preheat the oven to 350. In a medium bowl, whisk the chocolate and boiling water until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and cool for about an hour at room temperature.

Combine  the eggs, yolks, sour cream and vanilla in another bowl.

Add all the dry ingredients to your stand mixer and cut in the butter and mix at medium speed until crumbly. Add the egg mixture and beat on medium speed for a minute and a half until smooth. Then, with the mixer on low speed, gradually add the chocolate mixture.  Beat, raising the speed, for about 30 seconds until fully incorporated. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and bake cakes for about 30-40 minutes until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed in the center. Allow the cakes to cool before trimming and/or frosting.


Rose's Whipped Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache
8 oz dark chocolate
6 T creamy peanut butter (Jif)
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, stirring constantly. Take off the heat and whisk in the peanut better until melted and combined. The  whisk in the heavy cream. Place mixture in basin of your stand mixer and beat on high with the whisk attachment. You will get a nice, light, fluffy and thick ganache after a few minutes. Spread on the cakes using a spatula and enjoy!

Sasha's Kitchen: Chocolate Devil's Food Cake with Whipped Peanut Butter Ganache