Cooking the Candle 79 Cookbook

Sofrito-Seared Seitan

Oh. Wow!! I really can't believe that this dish came out of my kitchen. It was so unbelievably good! And not too labor intensive for a weeknight! While the rice was cooking, I got everything else done. What a light and flavorful sofrito!!
I have to be honest, I deviated a little from the recipe. I didn't marinate the seitan (got home too late). Instead I seared it in olive oil for a few minutes to brown the outsides. Then I poured the sauce over it and simmered for 15-20 minutes. Totally delicious.
Also, I got the book out and realized I forgot to buy cilantro, and the recipe calls for 3 (!) tablespoons. So I added a teaspoon of ground cumin and chopped up about a tablespoon of fresh chives, just because I had them sitting around. Perhaps not totally authentic (at all!?!), but I don't think it suffered.
And maybe you could make this version for that person in your life who hates cilantro (doesn't everybody know at least one?).
We ate it with brown basmati rice and avocado as suggested, and I made a green side salad, just to get a few more veggies in there.
The recipe is on page 87.

Lacinato Kale Salad

Thanksgiving was a whirlwind. We cooked, we ate, and none of us took any pictures. But we had a fantastic time with family and friends, and then we collapsed n the couch and I made V. watch Star Wars with me.
Last night, our friends invited us for Thanksgiving 2.0 (the upgrade) at their house, and we did it all over again (minus the Star Wars). I had offered to bring a kale dish, but the one thing I realized on Thursday was that it really makes the cook scramble if people show up at the last minute with several dishes to be warmed. So I opted to bring a kale salad.
We first had something like this at Il Buco a few years ago, and I've been making this version of it ever since. Even the kale skeptics (I know....it's hard to believe they exist) tend to enjoy this one, because it's covered in lots of parmesan cheese.
Lacinato kale is also known as tuscan kale, or dinosaur kale. Maybe because it looks like dinosaur skin:

Lacinato Kale Salad


De-stem, wash and cut the kale into small pieces or strips. Drizzle with olive oil and massage the oil into the leaves. Make sure you have enough oil to coat all the kale, without making it overly greasy. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top and massage that in as well. Taste it. you want the lemon flavor to come out without making it too acidic. Add a generous amount of salt and fresh black pepper. Taste again. Grate parmesan or grana cheese and fold it evenly into the salad. You will determine how much is the perfect amount for you. Let the kale be the star, but add enough cheese to really flavor it. Serve soon after making.

Cooking the Candle 79 Cookbook

Home-Style Pancakes

At 7.45 am the food co-op was already so packed with Thanksgiving shoppers that it took me 25 minutes to get through the check-out line. I thought I was being smart by getting there early. Me and all of the rest of Park Slope.
On the upside, I worked up an appetite and came home to make pancakes. My first vegan pancakes. They didn't have as much spring to them as non-vegan, and I actually liked them better. My German mother only ever made crepes when I was growing up, and these seem like the perfect middle ground between those, and the fluffy American pancakes that V. grew up with. Completely delicious!! (Recipe is on page 134).
Neither one of us was crazy about the idea of mixing blueberries into soy butter, as called for in the recipe. Instead, I cooked 1 bag of frozen blueberries with 1 cup of maple syrup and we poured that on top (well, not all of it). Yum! And we can eat the left-over sauce over ice-cream!
Also, feline supervision helps, if you can get it.

Cooking the Candle 79 Cookbook

Black Bean and Roasted Poblano Soup


Welcome to Paradise.
This is what Joy Pierson, co-owner of Candle 79 will say to you if she happens to be in the restaurant when you arrive.
So picture yourself sitting in a cozy booth with people you love, drinking organic wine (or an organic mango mojito), and knowing that no animals were harmed in the making of the meal you're about to enjoy. And then you taste the food and it completely blows your mind because you had no idea vegetables could taste this good. Obviously you knew they could taste great. But this is a whole other level of legumes! Pretty close to Paradise in my book. It might be even more paradisiacal (yes that is the correct adjective for Paradise...who knew?) if Paul McCartney were sitting at the next table. And it was your birthday. And he noticed and came over to sing "Happy Birthday." It could happen. I'm just saying. It's Paradise after all. And it's New York.

So the Candle 79 Cookbook came out two weeks ago. I have known I was going to cook my way through it from the day they announced it, well over a year ago. Because I think Angel Ramos is the most talented chef I ever met (not to mention an absolute sweetheart), because everyone I know agrees that if we could eat at Candle 79 every day, we would all be vegans (and that seems like a really good thing), and because I've seen "Julie and Julia" as often in my thirties, as I saw "Dirty Dancing" in my teens.
Let me just say though, that I will take my time with this project. Because I can't make a recipe a day (nobody here to eat it, no time). Because there are oh so many other things I also have to absolutely cook.  Because there are several recipes that require seasonal ingredients. So be patient. We will walk, not run! (this insight must be a symptom of moving to Brooklyn...everybody in Manhattan runs)!

I started small in terms of effort, with black bean soup and cashew creme fraiche (page 35).
It was great for dinner last night. And still excellent for breakfast this morning. The rest is going in the freezer.

PS: This was the first time I cooked a poblano pepper. It's from Puebla, Mexico, and it's part of the chili family. The green ones are mild, though very flavorful, more like a bell pepper (which in a pinch, you could replace it with, though it wouldn't be nearly as exotic and cool). You should have seen me trying to roast mine over the little gas burner on my stove. Not quite the flame of a restaurant kitchen. It took a while, and I kept jumping when the skin burst with a little sizzle, but it came out black and bubbly and made the kitchen smell very good. Next time though, I might roast it in the oven.

Marzipan-Pignoli Cookies (and a truffle experiment)

We had friends over for dinner again last night, and I wanted to have some bite-size cookies around to serve with coffee and tea. These are a cross between Italian pignoli cookies and German Bethmaennchen (almond Christmas cookies). They're quite chewy and have a delightlful almond fragrance. If you want the pine nuts to feature more prominently you can cover the entire cookie in them. Or omit them entirely and replace with blanched almonds.

On a side note, after I made these, I went to Eataly in Manhattan to buy my first fresh white truffle. It was like having a little golden nugget in my pocket! 

I just wanted to unwrap it on the subway and sit there and sniff it. But that would have been pretty creepy. 

I made a light pasta with asparagus, and we shaved it over the top. Unfortunately it didn't have much flavor at all. Either we didn't have enough, or it wasn't as fresh as it could have been. Probably both. So I'm a little disappointed, but I'm still eager to try again with a black truffle. 

Marzipan Pignoli Cookies

1 can marzipan (300g)

150g powdered sugar

150g ground almonds (I used Bob's Red Mill)

a shot of dark rum

2 egg whites

2 tblsp. honey

1/2 cup (or more) pine nuts

In a bowl, using your hands, knead together the marzipan, powdered sugar, ground almonds, 1 egg white, rum and salt.

Keeping your hands slightly damp, roll the dough into small balls and place on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Flatten slightly with you thumb. Brush each cookie lightly with egg white and press the pine nuts into it.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake 15-20 minutes, until golden and browning slightly on the bottom.

Let cool before removing from sheet pan.
Store in an airtight container, or eat immediately.

Spiced Apple-Plum Jam

This weekend we still had apples left from apple picking. They really needed to be used or thrown out, so I made jam. It was my first time, and I almost talked myself out of it because it seemed intimidating to sterilize jars, and I have heard so many stories of my mom's friends trying to make jam and having it turn out way too runny. As with everything kitchen related though, you just have to do a little research and follow instructions, and it turns out to be perfectly simple. We also had some prunes left from making plum cake, so I combined the two fruits and added some spices. It's great for afternoon tea with scones, especially when it's cold outside.

Spiced Apple-Plum Jam

Fresh prunes, cut in half and de-stoned

Apples, peeled, cored and cut into pieces

How much fruit you use really depends on how much you want to peel and chop. I don't peel the plums, because it's a royal pain in the butt, and because I think the skins add a little texture to the finished product that's perfectly good. I used about 1/3 plums and 2/3 apples, which is a good ratio for a firmer consistency jam.

For every 2 lbs of fruit, I used:

2 cinnamon sticks

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1 cup of sugar or more (this depends on how sweet you like it, and you just have to taste it as it cooks)

I put everything in a big pot and let it cook down, on low heat, stirring occasionally. I had some pectin handy, but it turned out that I didn't need it. The jam came out the consistency of chunky apple sauce, so it was fine. If you like it a little firmer, you could add some pectin, following the instructions on the package.

While the jam cooks, wash the jars well and put them in the oven at 235 degrees for 20 minutes. Leave them in the oven, so that they are hot when you put in the jam (this will prevent the glass from cracking). Wipe any jam from the rims and then screw the lids on tightly. 

This is all I did. I let everything cool and then refrigerated the jam.

If you are making a huge amount and are worried about spoilage, you can submerge the filled jam jars in boiling water for 5 minutes. I only made 3 jars, which I knew were getting eaten soon, so I didn't bother.

Vegan Butternut Squash Gnocchi

Remember the dinner party for the friend who can't eat fat right now? This was the entree I made. Gnocchi are incredibly simple to prepare, but they do require that you pay attention to what you're doing. If you overwork them, they will get tough and chewy. 

I made these in the morning and then let them sit in the fridge (on a cutting board with parchment, not touching) for a few hours before cooking.

We served them with tomato sauce (because of the whole no-fat thing), but I think they would have been even better with some crispy sage, olive oil, garlic and salt.

Vegan Butternut Squash Ravioli

1 large butternut squash, seeded, peeled and cut into even-sized pieces

salt

fresh black pepper

about 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

about 1/3 cup cake flour

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the squash out on a sheet pan and bake until soft (25-45 minutes, depending on the size of your pieces).

Mix the two flours.

Puree the squash in the food processor (you might have to do it in 2 batches). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Flour your work surface and place the squash on it. Using a bench scraper, start to work the flour into the squash (this ensures that you don't over-mix). You might not need all of the flour. Your dough should be sticky, but workable.

Divide the dough into 6 portions. Roll each one into a rope, about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

Using your thumb, roll each piece against the tines of a fork, to score it and sort of curl it. Lay out on parchment paper.

When ready to cook, boil some water with salt. Cook the gnocchi in batches. They will rise to the surface when they're done (2-3 minutes). Remove from the water with a slotted spoon. Plate and top with your favorite sauce.

No Mascarpone Tiramisu

In Ghana, where I grew up, there was no mascarpone. So I am not a traditionalist when it comes to tiramisu. In fact, I think my mother's no-mascarpone tiramisu is the best I've ever had. The consistency is a a little denser, and even creamier than what you typically get in restaurants. I make this rarely because it is, hands down, my favorite dessert, and I will eat ALL the leftovers on the day that I make it. Had some for lunch (to make sure it was good), had mine and half of V's portion at our dinner party, then got caught in the kitchen around 1am, spooning the remainder out of the bowl. And then I lay in bed the next morning, bemoaning the fact that there was none left over for breakfast. "What's wrong with that?" you say (unless you're my husband, then you say "all that cream an sugar is terrible for you." He doesn't have a sweet tooth. He doesn't get it!). What's wrong is that I strongly believe in moderation. I think it makes us happier in the long run. However, this thought never occurs to me when there's tiramisu in the fridge. So I don't make it very often.

Store-bought ladyfingers work perfectly well, but I couldn't find them, so I made some. It's really quick. Don't worry about it if your local grocery store doesn't have them either. They don't even have to come out looking pretty, because you will soak them in coffee.

I had forgotten that the recipe calls for raw eggs and I had a moment of trepidation, so I called my mother. She said "oh please! You ate raw eggs throughout your childhood. Just make sure they're fresh."

This recipe makes about 10 servings (or 1 or 2 if you're like me)

No Mascarpone Tiramisu

Brew 2 cups of very strong coffee and let them cool. Maybe add a splash of liquor (I've used rum and Cointreau, but I'm sure anything that would be good in coffee would be good here).

For the Cream:

1 lb cream cheese (reduced fat is fine, though it'll hardly make this any lighter. But we can pretend.)

4 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 pint heavy cream

zest of 1/2 lemon

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Whip the cream and keep in the refrigerator. In a mixer, beat the cream cheese with the sugar until soft. Fold in the whipped cream, vanilla and lemon. 

In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. You can add the cream of tartar when the eggs get to a very frothy stage.

Using a slotted spoon or a spatula, fold about 1/3 of the egg whites into the cream mixture. The gently fold in the rest, making sure everything is well blended. Taste it and add more lemon zest if necessary.

Ladyfingers

4 eggs, separated

2/3 cup granulated sugar

7/8 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. If you have a convection oven you will want to stick the corners down with a bit of batter before baking.

Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. While the mixer is on, slowly add the sugar. Your egg whites should be stiff and glossy.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, until they are pale and thick.

Sift together the flour and baking powder.

Fold half of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Fold in the flour. Fold in the remaining egg whites.

Transfer the mixture into a large piping bag with a large round tip. Alternatively, use a large zip lock bag with a hole cut in the corner.

Pipe 3" strips of batter onto the parchment, leaving at least 1" of room between them. Bake about 8 minutes, or until they turn golden.

Assembly

You can make these in individual bowls, ramekins or glasses. Or you can use one large bowl.

Start with a layer of cream on the bottom. Soak each ladyfinger in coffee, and then spread them out in a layer on the cream. Add another layer of cream. Then another layer of coffee-soaked biscuits. Keep going until the bowl is full or you run out. 

Just before serving, dust with cocoa powder.