Almond Cake With Cardamom and Pistachio

 

Eden made this for Passover.

• INGREDIENTS
• 
  
• ½ cup vegetable oil, plus additional for pan
• 7 large eggs, separated
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon almond extract
• 4 ½ cups plus 1 tablespoon/420 grams almond flour (see tip)
• 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
• 1 to 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
• 3 to 4 tablespoons finely chopped pistachio nuts, for garnish

PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 9-inch round or square pan and set aside. Using a stand mixer, whisk egg whites until stiff but not dry, and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine egg yolks and sugar, and whisk to blend. Whisk in almond extract and oil. Add almond flour and cardamom. Gently stir a third of the whites into the batter, then gently fold in the rest until just incorporated.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and finish cooling on a rack. To decorate, dust with confectioners’ sugar and chopped pistachios.
4. 
   
   
   

Indian Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes [Aloo Gobi] with Cucumber Scallion Raita

1 (1 3/4-lb) head cauliflower, cut into 3/4-inch-wide florets
1 1/4 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons minced fresh jalapeño, including seeds
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup water

Put oven rack in upper third of oven and place a shallow baking pan on rack. Preheat oven to 475°F. Toss cauliflower and potatoes together in a bowl with 3 tablespoons oil, cumin seeds, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Spread in hot baking pan and roast, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is tender and browned in spots and potatoes are just tender, about 20 minutes. 

While vegetables are roasting, cook onion, garlic, jalapeño, and ginger in remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until very soft and beginning to turn golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add ground cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in water, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of skillet, then stir in roasted vegetables. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.

Cucumber Scallion Raita

1/4 cup finely chopped English (seedless cucumber)
1 thinly sliced scallion
3/4 cup yogurt
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix!

Chana Masala

from Smitten Kitchen Adapted from a Madhur Jaffrey recipe. The major changes I made were simplifying the addition of spices, adding more tomatoes and oh, the recipe calls for a tablespoon of amchoor powder, which I did not have. I looked it up and learned that it was dried unripe mango powder which is clearly a sour flavor, so I upped the lemon juice i used instead. The dish had a nice sour snap at the end, so I will presume this is a good swap.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I used a quarter of this because my cayenne is extremely hot)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tablespoon amchoor powder (see note)
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 cups tomatoes, chopped small or 1 15-ounce can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
2/3 cup water
4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon (juiced) (see note; I used a whole lemon to swap for the amchoor powder)

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, amchoor (if using it), paprika and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice.

Challah Stuffing

 Link: https://smittenkitchen.com/2019/11/challah-stuffing/

• 1.5 pounds challah bread (storebought or 3/4 of one of these), cut into generous 1-inch cubes

• 1/2 cup turkey drippings or melted unsalted butter, plus more for greasing pan

• 2 cups small-diced celery (from about 3 large ribs)

• 2 cups small-diced leeks or yellow onions (from about 2 large leeks or 1 large onion)

• 1 tablespoon each minced fresh rosemary, sage, thyme

• 1/2 cup packed, chopped flat-leaf parsley

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

• 3 cups vegetable, chicken, or turkey broth

One day, two days, or even the night before: You can either spread your challah cubes on a large pan or even loosely pile them in the baking dish you’ll use for the final stuffing and leave them to dry anywhere you can find a surface. Oh you didn’t do this and you need to make the stuffing right now? Spread them on a baking sheet and dry them in the oven at 300°F until firm but not brown.

The day of, at any point, or an hour before you want to serve the stuffing: Heat oven to 350°F. Generously butter a 9×13-inch baking dish. I always forget to do this. Don’t forget. It will absolutely stick if you don’t. Add challah cubes to the dish.

In a large frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add celery, leeks, half the salt and pepper, and cook, stirring here at there, until the celery is mostly tender and onions are translucent and sweet, about 10 minutes. Add sage, rosemary, and thyme and cook for one minute more. Sprinkle over challah cubes along with parsley. Use your hands — it’s so much easier this way — to gently disperse the vegetables through the challah, being careful not to let all the vegetables fall through to the bottom.

Add remaining salt and pepper to broth (although if your broth is very salty, maybe you will want less) and pour it over the challah. Challah is very tender, even when stale, so it doesn’t need soaking time. Cover pan tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes, then increase the oven heat to 425°F. Remove the foil and drizzle challah with remaining 6 tablespoons of melted butter, you don’t want to skimp on this. Return the pan to the oven and bake the stuffing for another 15 minutes, until the top edges are crisped and it’s nicely browned on top.

Serve right away or reheat when needed at 350°F (foil-on because it’s already well-browned. Other ways to make this ahead: You can just bake it for the foil-on portion the day before and blast it at the higher heat before you serve it, although if it’s coming from the cold fridge, it may need 20 minutes, not 15.

Carrot Cake

 Grossy Pellossi dream carrot cake.

Cake:

1 ½ cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 cups flour*

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup walnuts

1 20 oz can crushed pineapple, strained

2 4oz jars carrot baby food

Frosting:

16 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

Preheat oven to 350º.

In a large bowl, stir all cake ingredients with a wooden spoon.

Grease a Bundt pan with cooking spray and pour in the batter. 2 round pans make a lovely layer cake, and a 13x9" sheet pan makes a lovely sheet cake. 

Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. 

Cool completely on a rack.

Frosting - Beat the cream cheese, butter and sugar together in a stand mixer.

Add 2 teaspoons vanilla and beat 4-6 minutes, until fluffy and white.

Use a bit of frosting to hold cake in place, then flip it out onto a stand or plate. Frost casually. Decorate with whole walnuts on top for extra nostalgia. 

Place cake in the fridge and let it get cold. I find it’s best after as much time in the fridge as possible, and It's shelf-life is amazing! Like eat it on day 4 for breakfast kind of shelf-life.

Any Fruit Crisp

from Grossy Pelosi. Link:https://www.danpelosi.com/post/any-fruit-crisp 

Topping:1 cup flour*½ cup regular sugar ¾ cup dark brown sugar1 cup oatmeal1 stick of salted butter (unsalted also works, just throw in a pinch of salt)
Filling: Zest of 1 lemon (or orange or lime)Juice of 1 lemon (or orange or lime)¼ to ½ cup sugar, depending on how naturally sweet your fruit is2 tablespoons flour*Fruit: You need enough fruit to fill your baking dish, so just eyeball it. This recipe is very laid back in terms of how much fruit and what kind of baking dish you use. Frozen fruit works perfectly here, just defrost fruit before starting the recipe.
Some ideas for fruit combos! Mixed berries, Peach and raspberry, Stone fruit with thyme, Straight up blueberry, Strawberry rhubarb, Apple cinnamon, Cranberry apple cinnamon
Combine the fruit with the lemon zest, lemon juice, ¼-½ cup sugars, and 2 tablespoons of flour. Once coated, place fruit into your buttered baking dish.
Combine 1 cup flour, both sugars (½ cup regular, ¾ cup brown), and 1 cup oatmeal with your hands. Cut the stick of butter into small squares, and use your hands to incorporate butter into the dry mixture. Make clumps of topping mixture with your hands, and place clumps on top of fruit mixture until your fruit is mostly covered.
Bake your crisp at 350º for about an hour (or longer for crispier).Once it's done, I like to let mine cool a bit which allows the juices to settle. Serve it up with greek yogurt and honey on top or go all in with a scoop of ice cream fresh out of the oven! Crisp can be made ahead, same day, and reheated in the oven. Just be sure to pull your crisp out a few minutes before the timer’s done as it will get a little more browned when reheated.

Citrusy Glazed Carrots

Link: https://www.danpelosi.com/post/aunt-janet-s-citrusy-glazed-carrots

From The Amazing Grossy Pelosi

4 lbs carrots olive oil¾ cup dark brown sugar ⅓ cup orange juice 1 tablespoon orange zest 6 tablespoons salted butter
Preheat your oven to 400º. Peel and cut your carrots into 4 pieces, once in each direction. Coat your carrots in olive oil and place them on a baking sheet. Roast at 400º for an hour or so, tossing them halfway until they are as dark and crispy as you deserve. Set your carrots aside. A note: This is great step to do in advance. You can roast carrots and keep them in the refrigerator until you are ready for them. Just be sure to put them on the counter so they come to room temperature before the next steps!
In a large pan, add ¾ cup dark brown sugar, ⅓ cup orange juice, 1 tablespoon orange zest, and 6 tablespoons salted butter. If you only have unsalted butter, just add a pinch of salt. Over medium heat, whisk the HECK out of your ingredients until they reduce into the goopiest glaze you have ever seen that begins to bubble. Add your carrots to the pan, tossing them in the glaze to coat and reheating them as needed. After a few minutes in the glaze over medium heat, your carrots will be glossy and glowing and delicious!
Place your carrots in your serving dish, pouring all extra glaze over the top of carrots ensuring they are just the most decadent thing you have ever seen in your life!!!