Ragazzi, Annalena could not come up with a title that she thought was clever here, so please bear with the old bird. The question mark is there, however, because Annalena has absolutely no idea if this recipe is an authentic, Guatemalan recipe, or not. What she does know, is that it's good. It's very comforting, it's filling, and .... it's easy. Also, for those of you who are concerned about this (aren't we all), it is ridiculously low in fat. So, Annalena shall ship it off to her bud Emily, who has become the cook of Napa. You will enjoy this one, Annalena is sure.
So let's go. First, you need three pounds of chicken, on the bone, without skin. Get a mix of thighs and breasts here. When Annalena did her shopping, she had no trouble getting skinless breasts on the bone. Thighs were another matter: skinless and boneless? No problem. Skin and bone? No problem. Bone and no skin? Not to be had. Well, if you can't remove the skin from a chicken thigh, uh....
Ok, so you have your three pounds of chicken. Put this in a pot, together with a pound of tomatillos, which have been hulled (you can still get them from your farmers market. Make haste though, and buy extra. Freeze them for this recipe), at least one, and as many as you want, of halved jalapeno peppers. Take out the seeds unless you really want a spicy dish (please wear gloves when you do that, ragazzi). Add a teaspoon or so of salt to this, and then, six cups of water. You're going to make a spicy chicken broth, by bringing this to a boil, and then reducing the heat and simmering, for about 30 minutes. At the end, separate the chicken and the veggies from each other, and let them, and the broth , cool.
Meanwhile, or afterwards, slice up a small bunch of scallions, 3 large cloves of garlic, a large, or two small, green peppers , and put this in a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. (Note that this is the one, and ONLY time, you will be adding oil to this recipe). Fry this up until it softens, and picks up a little color. Put these cooked veggies together with the veggies from the stock and now - here's the fun part - rip up a couple of corn tortillas, and throw those in, too. Also, you need to add a half cup of peeled pumpkin seeds (pepitas), and a quarter cup of sesame seeds. If you are so inclined, you can toss these in a dry pan until you get the aroma of toasted nuts.
Now, we're going to make our sauce. Scoop out three cups of the water in which you cooked the chicken, and combine it with the cooked soup veggies, and the veggies from the frying pan, the tortillas. In sum, everything but the chicken gets put together.
Now, put quantities of it into a blender, and puree it. If you are a fan of cilantro, at this point, you should toss in a half cup or so of chopped cilantro. Annalena left it out. You're going to get a fairly thick, green puree . You won't be able to do this all at once. Annalena needed to do three batches. Taste it, and add salt if you need it, which you probably will. Take the remaining stock out of the pot, and put your puree in. Bring it to a simmer, and cook it for about five minutes, while you shred the chicken off of the bones. No precision here, kids, just get it off the bone. Rough is better (it certainly is, isn't it?). Then add that back to the puree, and cook for another five minutes. Again, adjust the seasoning.
You have a whole lot of leftover broth here, so if you feel the thing is too thick, thin it. Or, use it to make some rice , but essentially, you won't be using it in this recipe. You should make some rice , however, to pour this dish over, and then sit down, and lap it up.
Gluten free, low in fat, and spicy. Reminds Annalena of some of her friends, but that's her.
So, with apologies for the less than cute title, Annalena gives you a dish out of your usual milieu (look it up)< and wants you to try it. It's really, REALLY good.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Not Greek to me: potato, cabbage and cheese pie
Ragazzi, cruciferous vegetables reign! Yes, this is their time, no question about it. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, mustard, etc. To those of you who might wonder: why do they call them cruciferous vegetables? it has to do with their flowers. If you look closely, there is a formation of a cross in their center (get it? Cruci...). Someone once told Annalena that they get their name because no matter how long you cook them, they're crunchy. Well.. that's not true, as we'll find out here.
It seems to have been an especially good year for these vegetables at Annalena's CSA: she thinks that they have given her a cabbage every week for the last six weeks. Now, Annalena is versatile in the kitchen, but there's only so much she can do with cabbages. So, she was delighted when the woman who runs the CSA sent some cabbage recipes.
This one, a Greek dish, is "patatopita me lakano kai moustarda" And we can take this apart. "Pata" seems to be a universal for potato. "Pita" is a universal for bread, or pie (think pizza). Let's leave "me" and "kai" alone for a minute, as well as "lakano." "Moustarda" sounds familiar, doesn't it? Yup, mustard. It's a new word. So, from this we know that "lakano" means cabbage. "me" and "kai" clearly are connectives, and we have "potato pie with cabbage and mustard."
A bit of a misleading title, sneaky Greeks... the major vegetable in this dish is cabbage, with a lot of onion. And cheese. The "glue" of the dish. There's a fair amount of slicing here, but it's all good, it's all easy, and the result transcends the parts. So, let's get going.
First, you need a pound of potatoes. Try to use Yukon gold, and try to use bigger ones. Maybe 3 or 4 to a pound. Peel them, slice them into quarter inch slices, and then toss them with a tablespoon of oil and some salt. Put them in a single layer on a baking dish, and then put them in a 450 degree, preheated oven. Leave them for five minutes and then come back to flip them.
In that five minutes, you need to start slicing onions. You will need six cups, which is about six small or medium onions. Use a measuring cup. Peel them, make a horizontal cut, and then cut vertically to get half moons. When you've got six cups, move to your cabbage. You need about four cups of this, but here, you can just start with a two pound cabbage. Make a vertical cut, and then cut out that big core. Then cut the halves into quarters, and using vertical slicing, shred the cabbage, as if you were making coleslaw.
Your final big task: about half a pound of a melting cheese. Gruyere rules here, but fontina will work. If you use fontina, Annalena suggests freezing it for about 5-10 minutes, because you're going to grate it. You'll have more than you thought you'd get, but that's ok.
Remember those potatoes? By now, you've flipped them once. Let them cook another five minutes, and then flip them again, for another five minutes.
When the potatoes are done, put them to the side, and lower the oven to 350. Now, let's cook our other vegetables. Put two more tablespoons of olive oil in a big pan, and add the onions. When they begin to sizzle, start stirring. At first, not much will happen, but then the volume will reduce markedly, and you'll get a bit of color. At that point, take them off the heat, and stir in four chopped cloves of garlic, and about a teaspoon of cumin, be it ground or whole seed. Now add a big tablespoon of dijon mustard. Put all of this in a bowl, and...
Use the same pan to cook your cabbage. Another tablespoon of olive oil, and then a tablespoon of chopped thyme. If you only have dried spices, or if you don't have thyme, don't sweat it. Oregano is good here, so is marjoram. Cook until the cabbage reduces . You'll see that very easily. Wilting is a good way to describe this.
Taste a strand of your onions and your cabbage and then add salt and pepper, keeping in mind that you'll be combining them.
Get a spring form pan if you have one (8-9 inches) or a deep cake pan if you don't. Grease it, all over, and then we start layering. Put a third of the potatoes on the bottom. They won't cover , but that's okay. Now add half the onions, and then half the cabbage, and then half the cheese. Repeat this a second time, and you'll have some potatoes left over. They go on the top.
You put the whole thing in the oven. If you're using a spring form, Annalena suggests you put it on a baking sheet, because some of the liquid is going to leak out. You bake this for half an hour. It will smell WONDERFUL.
Take it out of the oven, and run a knife around the perimeter right away. Then, when it's almost cooled completely, do it again. If you've used a springform, release it. If you haven't, then get a plate big enough to cover your pan, bravely take it all into gloved hands, and flip it to get the cake out. Chances are, there won't be a problem. If some potatoes stick, you'll know where they were, and you can just put em right there.
You could eat this as a main dish, or you could serve it next to something on the light side, because this is substantial. And you can feel virtuous. We won't talk about the cheese.
It seems to have been an especially good year for these vegetables at Annalena's CSA: she thinks that they have given her a cabbage every week for the last six weeks. Now, Annalena is versatile in the kitchen, but there's only so much she can do with cabbages. So, she was delighted when the woman who runs the CSA sent some cabbage recipes.
This one, a Greek dish, is "patatopita me lakano kai moustarda" And we can take this apart. "Pata" seems to be a universal for potato. "Pita" is a universal for bread, or pie (think pizza). Let's leave "me" and "kai" alone for a minute, as well as "lakano." "Moustarda" sounds familiar, doesn't it? Yup, mustard. It's a new word. So, from this we know that "lakano" means cabbage. "me" and "kai" clearly are connectives, and we have "potato pie with cabbage and mustard."
A bit of a misleading title, sneaky Greeks... the major vegetable in this dish is cabbage, with a lot of onion. And cheese. The "glue" of the dish. There's a fair amount of slicing here, but it's all good, it's all easy, and the result transcends the parts. So, let's get going.
First, you need a pound of potatoes. Try to use Yukon gold, and try to use bigger ones. Maybe 3 or 4 to a pound. Peel them, slice them into quarter inch slices, and then toss them with a tablespoon of oil and some salt. Put them in a single layer on a baking dish, and then put them in a 450 degree, preheated oven. Leave them for five minutes and then come back to flip them.
In that five minutes, you need to start slicing onions. You will need six cups, which is about six small or medium onions. Use a measuring cup. Peel them, make a horizontal cut, and then cut vertically to get half moons. When you've got six cups, move to your cabbage. You need about four cups of this, but here, you can just start with a two pound cabbage. Make a vertical cut, and then cut out that big core. Then cut the halves into quarters, and using vertical slicing, shred the cabbage, as if you were making coleslaw.
Your final big task: about half a pound of a melting cheese. Gruyere rules here, but fontina will work. If you use fontina, Annalena suggests freezing it for about 5-10 minutes, because you're going to grate it. You'll have more than you thought you'd get, but that's ok.
Remember those potatoes? By now, you've flipped them once. Let them cook another five minutes, and then flip them again, for another five minutes.
When the potatoes are done, put them to the side, and lower the oven to 350. Now, let's cook our other vegetables. Put two more tablespoons of olive oil in a big pan, and add the onions. When they begin to sizzle, start stirring. At first, not much will happen, but then the volume will reduce markedly, and you'll get a bit of color. At that point, take them off the heat, and stir in four chopped cloves of garlic, and about a teaspoon of cumin, be it ground or whole seed. Now add a big tablespoon of dijon mustard. Put all of this in a bowl, and...
Use the same pan to cook your cabbage. Another tablespoon of olive oil, and then a tablespoon of chopped thyme. If you only have dried spices, or if you don't have thyme, don't sweat it. Oregano is good here, so is marjoram. Cook until the cabbage reduces . You'll see that very easily. Wilting is a good way to describe this.
Taste a strand of your onions and your cabbage and then add salt and pepper, keeping in mind that you'll be combining them.
Get a spring form pan if you have one (8-9 inches) or a deep cake pan if you don't. Grease it, all over, and then we start layering. Put a third of the potatoes on the bottom. They won't cover , but that's okay. Now add half the onions, and then half the cabbage, and then half the cheese. Repeat this a second time, and you'll have some potatoes left over. They go on the top.
You put the whole thing in the oven. If you're using a spring form, Annalena suggests you put it on a baking sheet, because some of the liquid is going to leak out. You bake this for half an hour. It will smell WONDERFUL.
Take it out of the oven, and run a knife around the perimeter right away. Then, when it's almost cooled completely, do it again. If you've used a springform, release it. If you haven't, then get a plate big enough to cover your pan, bravely take it all into gloved hands, and flip it to get the cake out. Chances are, there won't be a problem. If some potatoes stick, you'll know where they were, and you can just put em right there.
You could eat this as a main dish, or you could serve it next to something on the light side, because this is substantial. And you can feel virtuous. We won't talk about the cheese.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Changing weather, changing tastes, changing dishes: coq au riesling
There is no question, ragazzi, that we are in autumn/summer. That's what Annalena calls it, when she can come back from the market with cabbage, tomatoes, raspberries, grapes, peas, and cardoons. She didn't bring the cardoons home, but she thought of it... hard. Yes, this is harvest time. The weather feels cooler, and those things we associate with autumn are upon us, but summer is holding on. Contrary to Elinor Wylie (go read "Wild Peaches"), summer is NOT too beautiful to stay this year. She's holding on.
All of this notwithstanding, we begin to want heartier food. But we also want the comfortable that also shows us something new. And this, ragazzi, does the trick.
You've had coq au vin, haven't you? Maybe some of you have even had it with the traditional rooster, and the thickened blood (Annalena has not). Usually, however, we get a braise of chicken in red wine, with pearl onions, some bacon or salt pork of some kind, and maybe mushrooms. When made well, it's a darn good dish. It is not hard to make either, but people are afraid of it. Please don't be. We're going to walk through a variation on the dish, using riesling wine, which produces a chicken dish with a wonderful tan color, loaded with flavor. You ready to try? C'mon. You're gonna be SO glad you did this.
Let's get prepped first. You need to chop up a carrot, an onion, a celery rib, and a couple of shallots. Now, "medium" is how all of these are described, without any mention of what "medium" means. You all know that infuriates Annalena. The fact is, in this recipe, the amount is just about irrelevant. If you have really small carrots, or really small celery ribs, use two. And if you have a food processor, after you've scraped the carrot, and peeled the onion and shallots, cut the veggies in chunks, put them in the processor, and pulse about a half dozen times. You're there. Put that aside.
Now, in a big measuring cup, combine a cup and a half of chicken stock, and the same amount of a dry riesling. Keep in mind that a dry riesling, is going to taste sweeter than other dry white wines. Taste it, if you can, and if it's something you would be comfortable drinking with food, that's what you'd use. If it's something you would have with dessert, move on.
You will need to slice up a pound of mushrooms at some point. Sooner rather than later is Annalena's motto, but these are going to cook last, so don't sweat it. Also, collect a half cup of creme fraiche and finally: the coq. In this case, you need four pounds of mixed legs and thighs, skin on. Pat them dry and salt them liberally, as far ahead as you can. You want these guys dry, and the salt to permeate.
Notice we have no bacon here, and no pearl onions. No destroying your manicure peeling those things that nobody likes.
Put two tablespoons of vegetable oil in an onion safe casserole pot. You know the type: the ones Le Creuset makes. When it's hot, add the chicken pieces, skin side down. Don't touch it for at least four minutes. Get a nice brown color. Then flip it, and brown the other side. You'll probably need to do this in two batches. You'll be ok. You won't need any more oil, because the thighs are going to render off their fat (would that Annalena's thighs would render off THEIR fat). Put the chicken aside as it's done.
Annalena's recipe then calls for you to dump all this oil, and start with two tablespoons of clean vegetable oil. Annalena begs to differ: you have all this wonderful chicken flavor going on, so why dump it? Leave a couple of tablespoons in, and then add the veggies. Cook them at medium. You should stir them every minute or so, until you have a bit of color on them. Dump in your stock and wine, and add a few sprigs of thyme if you have them. Increase the heat, and stir, to pick up any brown yummies on the bottom of the pot. When this comes to a boil, let it cook for a minute.
Almost ready: put the chicken in amongst the veggies and stock, cover the pot, and put it all in the oven at 300 for about an hour. The chicken will cook to a very tender texture.
Remember those mushrooms? Well, while the chicken cooks, get a frying pan and add another couple tablespoons of fat. Butter is better here, but oil will work. Raise the heat to HIGH and DO NOT TOUCH THE MUSHROOMS FOR FIVE MINUTES. They will brown, and release their liquid. They will surprise you with how much they shrink. Then cook for another three minutes, and move them to a bowl to cool. Add some salt and pepper.
Ok, now you have your chicken cooked, and your mushrooms done. Here's where things can get a little testy, because you have to strain off fat. No recipe ever tells you how to do this. The way Annalena did it, is she separated the chicken from the sauce, and poured everything into a heat proof measuring cup. Then she let it sit for an hour. The fat came to the top, and then she added ice cubes. The fat congeals around the ice, and she can just pick up the cubes, and defat the sauce, about as much as she could.
We're going to reduce this now, and this is how you do it. Take a look at how much liquid you have in the cup. You want to reduce that to about 1.5 cups. So, pour 1.5 cups of the liquid into your casserole. That's the liquid level you want. Pour the rest in, raise the heat to medium high, and let it boil away, for about 4 minutes. Turn off the heat, because the bubbles are deceiving. Keep checking against your mental image of the 1.5 cups. When you're there, off the heat, stir in half a cup of creme fraiche. You may get some globules, but be patient, and keep whisking. Then, add in the chicken and the mushrooms, and... there it is.
Traditionally, this goes with noodles, or gnocchi, and you can do so. Large cuts of pasta work as well. You can brighten the flavor with lemon, and/or fresh herbs of your choice. If you can, make the dish ahead of time and serve it the next day: it's even better.
You probably don't have a riesling in your house, so go and get a bottle. And drink what's left with the chicken. You'll add this one to your repertoire, without question. Annalena is certain.
Next up: cruciferous vegetables return, and first, we're going to make a Greek dish that will remind some of you of the Irish dish colcannon, and then... we're going to make sauerkraut.
All of this notwithstanding, we begin to want heartier food. But we also want the comfortable that also shows us something new. And this, ragazzi, does the trick.
You've had coq au vin, haven't you? Maybe some of you have even had it with the traditional rooster, and the thickened blood (Annalena has not). Usually, however, we get a braise of chicken in red wine, with pearl onions, some bacon or salt pork of some kind, and maybe mushrooms. When made well, it's a darn good dish. It is not hard to make either, but people are afraid of it. Please don't be. We're going to walk through a variation on the dish, using riesling wine, which produces a chicken dish with a wonderful tan color, loaded with flavor. You ready to try? C'mon. You're gonna be SO glad you did this.
Let's get prepped first. You need to chop up a carrot, an onion, a celery rib, and a couple of shallots. Now, "medium" is how all of these are described, without any mention of what "medium" means. You all know that infuriates Annalena. The fact is, in this recipe, the amount is just about irrelevant. If you have really small carrots, or really small celery ribs, use two. And if you have a food processor, after you've scraped the carrot, and peeled the onion and shallots, cut the veggies in chunks, put them in the processor, and pulse about a half dozen times. You're there. Put that aside.
Now, in a big measuring cup, combine a cup and a half of chicken stock, and the same amount of a dry riesling. Keep in mind that a dry riesling, is going to taste sweeter than other dry white wines. Taste it, if you can, and if it's something you would be comfortable drinking with food, that's what you'd use. If it's something you would have with dessert, move on.
You will need to slice up a pound of mushrooms at some point. Sooner rather than later is Annalena's motto, but these are going to cook last, so don't sweat it. Also, collect a half cup of creme fraiche and finally: the coq. In this case, you need four pounds of mixed legs and thighs, skin on. Pat them dry and salt them liberally, as far ahead as you can. You want these guys dry, and the salt to permeate.
Notice we have no bacon here, and no pearl onions. No destroying your manicure peeling those things that nobody likes.
Put two tablespoons of vegetable oil in an onion safe casserole pot. You know the type: the ones Le Creuset makes. When it's hot, add the chicken pieces, skin side down. Don't touch it for at least four minutes. Get a nice brown color. Then flip it, and brown the other side. You'll probably need to do this in two batches. You'll be ok. You won't need any more oil, because the thighs are going to render off their fat (would that Annalena's thighs would render off THEIR fat). Put the chicken aside as it's done.
Annalena's recipe then calls for you to dump all this oil, and start with two tablespoons of clean vegetable oil. Annalena begs to differ: you have all this wonderful chicken flavor going on, so why dump it? Leave a couple of tablespoons in, and then add the veggies. Cook them at medium. You should stir them every minute or so, until you have a bit of color on them. Dump in your stock and wine, and add a few sprigs of thyme if you have them. Increase the heat, and stir, to pick up any brown yummies on the bottom of the pot. When this comes to a boil, let it cook for a minute.
Almost ready: put the chicken in amongst the veggies and stock, cover the pot, and put it all in the oven at 300 for about an hour. The chicken will cook to a very tender texture.
Remember those mushrooms? Well, while the chicken cooks, get a frying pan and add another couple tablespoons of fat. Butter is better here, but oil will work. Raise the heat to HIGH and DO NOT TOUCH THE MUSHROOMS FOR FIVE MINUTES. They will brown, and release their liquid. They will surprise you with how much they shrink. Then cook for another three minutes, and move them to a bowl to cool. Add some salt and pepper.
Ok, now you have your chicken cooked, and your mushrooms done. Here's where things can get a little testy, because you have to strain off fat. No recipe ever tells you how to do this. The way Annalena did it, is she separated the chicken from the sauce, and poured everything into a heat proof measuring cup. Then she let it sit for an hour. The fat came to the top, and then she added ice cubes. The fat congeals around the ice, and she can just pick up the cubes, and defat the sauce, about as much as she could.
We're going to reduce this now, and this is how you do it. Take a look at how much liquid you have in the cup. You want to reduce that to about 1.5 cups. So, pour 1.5 cups of the liquid into your casserole. That's the liquid level you want. Pour the rest in, raise the heat to medium high, and let it boil away, for about 4 minutes. Turn off the heat, because the bubbles are deceiving. Keep checking against your mental image of the 1.5 cups. When you're there, off the heat, stir in half a cup of creme fraiche. You may get some globules, but be patient, and keep whisking. Then, add in the chicken and the mushrooms, and... there it is.
Traditionally, this goes with noodles, or gnocchi, and you can do so. Large cuts of pasta work as well. You can brighten the flavor with lemon, and/or fresh herbs of your choice. If you can, make the dish ahead of time and serve it the next day: it's even better.
You probably don't have a riesling in your house, so go and get a bottle. And drink what's left with the chicken. You'll add this one to your repertoire, without question. Annalena is certain.
Next up: cruciferous vegetables return, and first, we're going to make a Greek dish that will remind some of you of the Irish dish colcannon, and then... we're going to make sauerkraut.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Szilvas pite or: Hungarian plum (or prune) cake
Ragazzi, Annalena is just bursting at the seams with tales and recipes for you. You will have to be patient, as she gets the stuff down. Annalena is a busy woman, as are many of her readers. And that is why you are going to love this recipe.
Annalena has no knowledge of Hungarian whatsover: however , she can tell that "szlivas" means plum. How can she do that? Well, ragazzi, she knows that slivovitz is plum eau de vie. And since it is made in the region near Hungary, it is a good assumption. "Pite," seems to vary from region to region, meaning bread, pie or cake. Think "pizza," or "pita" or "pitta" for example. See what she means?
Well, Annalena saw this recipe and had to make it. Indeed she did. And while the cake turned out wonderfully, she has to remind everyone yet again: WRITTEN RECIPES CONTAIN MISTAKES. If she had followed the instructions for making this cake, she would have had a burned cinder at the end. She will explain herein, how to save the thing. Or, to do what she did.
First, let's get our ingredients together. You will need, for the cake, a cup of flour, all purpose and unbleached, a teaspoon of baking powder (NOT soda), and a half teaspoon of salt. Put that all in a bowl.
Now, in another bowl, add two large eggs, a cup of sugar and a cup (you can get away with a six ounce container: Annalena did), of yogurt. She used Greek non fat and she recommends you do the same. Mix this all together, and then add a third of a cup of vegetable oil.
Have you noticed we haven't used a major appliance? And we won't. Except for our oven.
If you want a big, flat cake, get a 9x13 pan and grease it with some butter. If you would prefer a thicker, softer one, get one that is 9x9, and grease it all the same. Now, take your flour mixture, and stir it into that mix of egg/oil/sugar/yogurt, until the thing is uniform and you see no unmixed flour. Scrape this into whatever pan you use, and spread it as evenly as you can (this is harder in the larger pan).
After you have done this, it is traditional to slice the small dark plums we call "Italian plums" or "prune plums" in half, and put them, cut side down, onto the batter. You will need about 10 of them for a 9x13 inch pan. You will probably need less for the 9x9, or you can go with the 10 and crowd them. When you're done, sprinkle the top with some good quality cinnamon. Sugar, too, if you like.
Now, into a preheated, 375 degree oven. According to the recipe, the 9x13 needed 50 minutes to bake. At 20 minutes, Annalena's cake was looking done. At thirty, it was brown, and DEFINITELY done. So, notwithstanding recipes, if it LOOKS finished, you are finished. PROBABLY, since a 9x9 has a thicker base, you would need the full time.
And speaking of time, how long do you think it took Annalena to make this? Well, with the 30 minutes of baking time: 45 minutes in all. You can handle that. Treat your loved ones to a breakfast treat.
Oh, yes, and if you decide to go untraditional, well, no law says that you MUST use prune plums. Use what you like, and make sure that the pieces are small enough. For example, use slices of pear or peach, or apple. Use whole berries if you like. And please keep in mind that cinnamon, while wondrful, does not go with everything.
Annalena will be back before you know it ragazzi. For now, "let them eat cake."
Annalena has no knowledge of Hungarian whatsover: however , she can tell that "szlivas" means plum. How can she do that? Well, ragazzi, she knows that slivovitz is plum eau de vie. And since it is made in the region near Hungary, it is a good assumption. "Pite," seems to vary from region to region, meaning bread, pie or cake. Think "pizza," or "pita" or "pitta" for example. See what she means?
Well, Annalena saw this recipe and had to make it. Indeed she did. And while the cake turned out wonderfully, she has to remind everyone yet again: WRITTEN RECIPES CONTAIN MISTAKES. If she had followed the instructions for making this cake, she would have had a burned cinder at the end. She will explain herein, how to save the thing. Or, to do what she did.
First, let's get our ingredients together. You will need, for the cake, a cup of flour, all purpose and unbleached, a teaspoon of baking powder (NOT soda), and a half teaspoon of salt. Put that all in a bowl.
Now, in another bowl, add two large eggs, a cup of sugar and a cup (you can get away with a six ounce container: Annalena did), of yogurt. She used Greek non fat and she recommends you do the same. Mix this all together, and then add a third of a cup of vegetable oil.
Have you noticed we haven't used a major appliance? And we won't. Except for our oven.
If you want a big, flat cake, get a 9x13 pan and grease it with some butter. If you would prefer a thicker, softer one, get one that is 9x9, and grease it all the same. Now, take your flour mixture, and stir it into that mix of egg/oil/sugar/yogurt, until the thing is uniform and you see no unmixed flour. Scrape this into whatever pan you use, and spread it as evenly as you can (this is harder in the larger pan).
After you have done this, it is traditional to slice the small dark plums we call "Italian plums" or "prune plums" in half, and put them, cut side down, onto the batter. You will need about 10 of them for a 9x13 inch pan. You will probably need less for the 9x9, or you can go with the 10 and crowd them. When you're done, sprinkle the top with some good quality cinnamon. Sugar, too, if you like.
Now, into a preheated, 375 degree oven. According to the recipe, the 9x13 needed 50 minutes to bake. At 20 minutes, Annalena's cake was looking done. At thirty, it was brown, and DEFINITELY done. So, notwithstanding recipes, if it LOOKS finished, you are finished. PROBABLY, since a 9x9 has a thicker base, you would need the full time.
And speaking of time, how long do you think it took Annalena to make this? Well, with the 30 minutes of baking time: 45 minutes in all. You can handle that. Treat your loved ones to a breakfast treat.
Oh, yes, and if you decide to go untraditional, well, no law says that you MUST use prune plums. Use what you like, and make sure that the pieces are small enough. For example, use slices of pear or peach, or apple. Use whole berries if you like. And please keep in mind that cinnamon, while wondrful, does not go with everything.
Annalena will be back before you know it ragazzi. For now, "let them eat cake."
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