Practicing what she preaches: savory vegetable torte

You are all probably sick, or close to sick, of Annalena writing things like "all you need are a few techniques and you can do just about anything." The advice is directed toward cooking, but it's probably generally applicable (and she shall say nothing more). I bring this up this morning because, following her own advice, Annalena used some techniques to change a sweet recipe into a savory one, thinking about Ms. Patti Jackson all the time. (and she knows why).

Recently, you all saw me republish the simple summer fruit torte recipe. I know you liked it, because I learned that I can now follow "hits" on this site. It's up there with the recent favorites (although braciole continues to outdistance everythng by a factor of 8. Hmmmm). So, in thinking through the recipe, Annalena thought "I wonder if we can change this to savory." Perhaps the thinking was influenced subconsciously by the tomato upside down cake of about a month ago, but in any event, it happened, and it worked.

It seemed a logical thing to do. The ingredients: butter, flour, eggs, baking powder, are all there in just about any baked good. So, the question was: can you leave out the sugar, make something good, and will it rise with the denser vegetables in it?

In terms of the density of vegetables, I didn't really see a problem. If the veggie is dense, you can add less. And indeed, my first inclination was to use a can of those chopped green chili peppers you find in the "ethnic" section of the supermarket. As I looked in the fridge at the bags of vegetables that were not being eaten, however, I thought to myself "try broccoli. After all, broccoli quiche...," and indeed, the recipe was sounding to Annalena as if it were some kind of cross between a scone and a quiche. I knew that the vegetables would want "something," and that "something" was cheese. The cheese served both as a flavor agent, and also as something which would give bulk. There was one other change that I needed to make, as I found when I was mixing the thing together, and you'll see that below. Ok, gang, let's go make some food.

As with the fruit torte, preheat your oven to 350. Take that stick of unsalted butter you left out overnight to soften, and dump it into a bowl. Use the wrapper to butter an 8 or 9 inch cake pan. Shred about a generous cup of cheese . What kind of cheese? Well, think about the vegetable you're going to use. For example, had I used the chilis, I would probably have gone the way of monterey jack. Tomatoes? Oh, heavens, many things. Broccoli seemed to call out to cheddar, but I had a started piece of garrotxa cheese, and I used that. It tasted a bit bland to me, so after I shredded my cup of cheese, I grated a quarter cup of parmesan. This was a good thing.

Meanwhile, I steamed three cups of broccoli florets. I think the steaming was a good idea, but this would probably work if you used raw vegetables too. Don't be limited to broccoli: there were greenbeans, squash, and leafy greens in the fridge, and they all would have worked.

So you have your veggies and your cheese, and that lonesome stick of butter in the bowl, right? At this point, when you make the sweet version, you add the sugar. Well, now, you're going to add the cheese. Stir it all up and when you've got a gooey well mixed mass, add THREE large eggs, rather than the two for the sweet cake. I found that with the two eggs, I was getting a mass that looked really heavy. Three was a good choice. Now add the veggies, and then the cup of flour and the tablespoon of baking powder. Dump the whole thing into your cake pan, stick it in the oven, and bake for 45 minutes or so.

This smelled absolutely wonderful: like cheese muffins. Some of the cheese came to the top and browned, and it was so luscious looking that, had we not just polished off a very large dinner, Annalena would have helped herself.

There is no question about it, this is rich, with the cheese, the butter, the eggs, but remember: small portions and a salad on the side.

We are going to eat this after a performance of the Mahler 2nd in a couple days. It's the perfect thing for an easy meal, and I think it's what my farmers are gonna get for lunch this weekend.

Try it, and as you vary vegetable and cheese combinations, do let Annalena know. She will be very curious with what you turn out.