sialiaskitchen

[sialiaskitchen]

Vanilla Honeycake

(very moist and delicious)

Mix together the wet:

1 egg

1/3 cup applesauce

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Then, in a separate bowl, mix the dry:

1 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Then slowly stir the dry into the wet and mix until smooth, but do not overbeat.

Pour into a greased and floured brownie pan and bake gently.

Start with a 350°F oven for 10 min, then drop the oven to 325°F for 10 min and check to see how things are going. It should look like a cake but still be jiggly in the center by now. If so, drop the temperature to 300°F and let it bake just until the center sets. This might take 5 to 15 minutes, depending on your oven and pan. Finished cake should be about 200°F in the center if checked with a probe thermometer. Probe might come out slightly gooey, that's OK.

Take it out of the oven and let it rest an hour or two. It will firm up while resting.

Also, cold cake will make prettier slices, and not melt the frosting.

For frosting:

Mix mascarpone and honey to desired sweetness. Shmear on cake.

Good with sliced pears, or other fruit of choice.

[sialiaskitchen]

There was leftover wine, and a perfectly lovely box of pears on the counter, so poached pears in spiced wine & honey syrup over the Autumn Cake it is.

Wake up, Get Happy Coffee and Whisky Honeycake

Mix together the dry:

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

In separate bowl, blend the wet:

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup cold black coffee (decaf is fine)

1/3 cup vegetable oil (light flavored olive is best)

1 egg

1 Tbs whiskey

Then mix the wet and the dry, put in well greased pan and bake 350F until 205F interior /toothpick comes out clean. 45 to 60 minutes.

This is a small amount of batter. A tube or bundle shape pan is recommended, but I didn't have a small one, so it domed a lot. Still tasty.

Recommend serving with drizzle of honey and shmear of mascarpone or cream cheese.

(If you accidentally overbake and it tastes dry, mix a little water or whisky and honey together and pour over it, let sit until syrup is absorbed .)

Whipping the mascarpone with the honey and frosting it also a good idea.

[sialiaskitchen]

Was out of both whiskey and coffee, so I used cabernet sauvignon. Didn't quite have the kick I wanted so I added ginger and a bit of red&black pepper.

Used applesauce instead of the zucchini, and also threw in some pureed dates because I was low on honey.

What the heck, I'm making coffee, whiskey honeycake without two of the three title ingredients.

But still delicious.

Just needs a new name.

Maybe we'll just call it Autumn Cake.

Wake up, Get Happy Coffee and Whisky Honeycake

Mix together the dry:

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

In separate bowl, blend the wet:

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup cold black coffee (decaf is fine)

1/3 cup vegetable oil (light flavored olive is best)

1 egg

1 Tbs whiskey

Then mix the wet and the dry, put in well greased pan and bake 350F until 205F interior /toothpick comes out clean. 45 to 60 minutes.

This is a small amount of batter. A tube or bundle shape pan is recommended, but I didn't have a small one, so it domed a lot. Still tasty.

Recommend serving with drizzle of honey and shmear of mascarpone or cream cheese.

(If you accidentally overbake and it tastes dry, mix a little water or whisky and honey together and pour over it, let sit until syrup is absorbed .)

Whipping the mascarpone with the honey and frosting it also a good idea.

[sialiaskitchen]

No Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Layered Tower

melt peanut butter and chocolate together very gently

sweeten to taste

spread on Graham crackers, or tea biscuits, or saltines,

stack them up

coat with more melted pb&chocolate

refrigerate until firm

slice and serve cold

[sialiaskitchen]

If you are hand kneading bread dough and want to skip the "Gooey Mess" stage and get right to the "feels like smooth clay" part of the kneading

The thing is: hot water dough is sooooo much nicer to work with than warm water dough, but boiling water is too hot for yeast.

So take 1/3 of the liquid of the recipe and make it just lukewarm enough for yeast, with a tablespoon of the flour and a teaspoon of the sugar. Let that rest to get the yeast started.

Meanwhile, in a separate, large bowl, put all the rest of the dry ingredients EXCEPT for 1/2 cup of the flour, then add the rest of the liquid at "just below boiling " and stir it all together, but don't knead yet. Walk away and let it rest 10 minutes to hydrate, gelatinize, and cool. Then come back and touch it to see if it feels "warm as a puppy " (or cooler), and if so, add the yeast liquid to the dough, mix well, and then knead. (kitten or baby warm also acceptable)

Use reserved 1/2 cup flour to coat the dough ball while kneading.It should all work in and keep things from getting gooey. If the doughball still feels too tacky, rub a little oil on your hands.

Knead until glossy and smooth. Dough is ready when it can be stretched thin and transparent without tearing.

Leave to rise and follow rest of your recipe assembly and baking instructions.

You are welcome

[sialiaskitchen]

Some assembly required:

If you wrap knish dough around babybel cheeses and bake about 10 minutes 400F convection, it comes out really crispy outside and creamy inside.

Dough:

3 cups flour

2 TBS Sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup oil

1 cup hot water

Knead until glossy and smooth, cover and let rest 2 hours.

Stretch translucent thin and wrap around a filling. If wrapping multiple layers, brush w oil between layers.

Behold: Babybuns!

[sialiaskitchen]

If you wrap knish dough around babybel cheeses and bake about 10 minutes 400F convection, it comes out really crispy outside and creamy inside.

Dough:

3 cups flour

2 TBS Sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup oil

1 cup hot water

Knead until glossy and smooth, cover and let rest 2 hours.

Stretch translucent thin and wrap around a filling. If wrapping multiple layers, brush w oil between layers.

Behold: Babybuns!

[sialiaskitchen]

Pan-fried Chinese eggplant with garlic and hint of salt in olive oil

Use as topping on rice, shawarma, falafel, humus, or pizza. Also good on crusty roll with melted cheese, tomato sauce, and basil leaves.

Optional: add Chinese chili paste, to taste.

[sialiaskitchen]

leftover shepherd's pie knishes so very tasty.

also did a few wrapped in bread dough for that sesame seed bun feel.

[sialiaskitchen]

Any leftover casserole or stew that was good the first day makes good grilled cheese sandwiches or knishes the second day.

hallo. in the spirit of my sandwich post of yore i am asking you: what is your favorite and-or most reliable dinner to make and eat? this month i would like to learn at least one new recipe

bonus points awarded for good leftovers

if it's a depression meal that's understandable but not very helpful for my selfish dream of not eating depression meals

bonus points also awarded for a vegetable such as the noble brogoly 🥦

[sialiaskitchen]

Nearly Sorta Kinda Hummus

(aka roasted garlic and chickpea spread)

Soak 1 cup of dry chickpeas in water with 1 tsp baking soda mixed in overnight (or all day while you are away at work/school/etc)

Drain and cover with fresh water in oven safe pot with a lid.

Put the pot on a drip pan of some sort to prevent boil overs from dripping on your oven floor. Put the whole set into a cold oven.

In another pan put a whole head of garlic rubbed all over with olive oil. Use 2 if you really love roasted garlic.

This setup can sit there until you are ready to cook. This is great if you have a programmable oven, or a housemate able to turn on the oven at the right time for you.

When the oven gets up to 350°F, set cooktime 45 minutes. When garlic is fragrant, take it out before it burns (about 45 min) Let it cool while the chickpeas finish, and peel by clipping the tips off and then squeezing into a bowl.

Check to see if chickpeas are soft. Probably not. They are likely to need another 15 min to half hour.

When chickpeas are very soft, use a slotted spoon to take them out and put in bowl with the roasted garlic. Add a hefty drizzle of good tasting olive oil and a little salt. Mash until smooth and blended. Yes, a blender works great for this, but a spoon should also work.

Adjust salt to taste. Add a little of the bean water from the cook pot if needed.

Serve with a little more oil on top. Optional shake of Zatar or paprika or drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Why is this not hummus? No tahini, no lemon.

So texture is less like a creamy sauce/dip, and more like a thick spread like peanut butter.

Very delicious, slightly different. Also easy, cheap and healthy.

[sialiaskitchen]

Current favorite is mayacoba or black beans or flageolet beans cooked in chicken stock, with a few legs or wings thrown in and lots of fresh garlic. Simmer 1 hour, then add veg of choice and simmer until veg is just cooked, season to taste. (salt, pepper, onion powder, maybe some herbs)

(If you soak the dry beans for a few hours in water that has a little baking soda in it, then drain & rinse before adding the stock, they are much easier to digest.)

(Easiest simmer is in oven 325°F. put a drip pan under the pot to catch any boil over. )

(fav veg at the moment is spinach-- only needs to hit the hot broth to wilt and is good to go. But use what you like. A pile of sautéed onions would probably be great. Handful of baby carrots could go in at the 45 min mark )

hallo. in the spirit of my sandwich post of yore i am asking you: what is your favorite and-or most reliable dinner to make and eat? this month i would like to learn at least one new recipe

bonus points awarded for good leftovers

if it's a depression meal that's understandable but not very helpful for my selfish dream of not eating depression meals

bonus points also awarded for a vegetable such as the noble brogoly 🥦

[sialiaskitchen]

Mayacoba Beans with Spinach in Chicken Broth

soak beans in water w baking soda several hours

drain, rinse

cover with chicken broth

add several sliced cloves of garlic, some onion powder, salt, pepper, and a bayleaf

(optional extras if your broth isn't top quality: add a few chicken wings and or some plain, unflavored gelatin to make it richer)

bake 350F for 1 hour from the time it comes to a boil

take off heat and stir in a handful of fresh, clean spinach leaves. Let them rest in the warm broth until wilted.

adjust seasonings, serve.

[sialiaskitchen]

You can use any filling you like but here is mine:

Stab and then microwave a few Yukon gold potatoes until soft. Cool them until you can safely handle them.

Peel if you like at this stage. Or don't.

Mash them with about equal amount of ricotta cheese to the amount of potato you have, add a splash of balsamic vinegar or a spoonfulof sourcream or buttermilk (something tangy), then add onion powder, salt and pepper to taste BUT make them taste a bit stronger than you would eat if you were just eating a bowl of plain mashed. Mix in a big handful of shredded cheddar (or similar melty cheese).

You can add wet things like milk or cream if you like, but the idea is to keep the mixture dry enough to hold together in little football shape, so do not go too wet.

Passover Pierogies, my mutuals.

3 parts cake meal to 1 part potato starch, mix in enough cream cheese to make a crumbly paste, stir in 1 beaten egg and then knead. Add a drizzle of water if needed to make a smooth soft dough. Knead smooth.

Break off a walnut sized ball, roll smooth, dust with cake meal mash flat between two pieces of plastic wrap.

Add an oblong of well seasoned mashed potatoes

fold over and crimp to seal

Simmer very gently, 3 minutes, with lid on so steam is trapped. Stir gently to make sure they aren't stuck to the pot . don't crowd the pot. When they float, they are done.

You are welcome.

[sialiaskitchen]

Passover Trifle or Charlotte (whatever)

Crumble stale macaroons into a bowl. Pour vanilla pudding over them. Chill an hour or several.

Could also use leftover passover cake or cookies. Anything slightly dried out and crumbly.

Could swap whipped cream or sweetened condensed milk for the pudding.

Would be good with berries.

[sialiaskitchen]

Taco night at last.

I have been waiting since before Purim.

Family verdict: should have made lots more tortillas.

Yay!!

Is it too early to post Passover recipes? Is there anyone out there observing

Ashkenazic rules (but gebrocht ok) who wants to know how to make soft, flexible matzomeal tortilla?

I assume Sephardi would just use masa, if available. So kitniyot eaters are probably being smug at me, and enjoying beans and rice with their Passover tacos.

But if you happen to need a matzomeal tortilla, here's the thing: matzomeal behaves exactly like masa. Treat it the same and you get tortilla.

[sialiaskitchen]

Passover Chocolate Frosting

3 parts powdered sugar

1 part unsweetened cocoa

generous dash of vanilla

tiny pinch salt

a goodly glug of neutral flavored vegetable oil or melted butter just enough to mix through the dry ingredients and get a lumpy thick paste

a drizzle of water, stir then maybe a little more until the frosting gets smooth and creamy. If it goes too loose and wet, add more powdered sugar.

Taste and adjust as needed.

spread or pour over :