Happy New Year! Kitchen Tips from the Kitchen Goddess What’s cooking? Cranberry-Apple Cobbler

Did you think I’d forgotten about you? Never. But I’ve been crawling through my research – trying desperately as I do every year to get my *&#@ together as a nod to the “fresh start” mentality of early January, and it’s been slow progress. As you know, the Kitchen Goddess is a relentless reader of cookbooks, food magazines, newspaper articles about food, and various online food-related newsletters. As a result, she accumulates a treasure trove of tidbits about cooking, kitchen equipment, and food itself.

So here we are, past the midpoint of January, and I’m still clearing the piles from my desk. But I’ve come across many of these gems – on sticky notes, as sidebars to other writing, at the bottom of grocery lists,... pretty much everywhere. And it occurred to me that I could rid myself of some of these random pieces of paper by passing along the information in a post. That way, at least I’ll know where they are when I need them for reference.

Some of this may not be news to you. Or not interesting to you. In which case, you can skip down to today’s recipe for a dessert that will be just the thing on a cold winter evening. But for the rest of you who, like the KG herself, never tire of kitchen arcana, here goes.

1. Eggs separate more easily when they are cold, because the proteins in the whites hold together more tightly when cold. But whites whip higher and firmer at room temperature. So if you have a recipe that calls for separated eggs, make that the first thing you do when you start the recipe, then you can let the whites sit in a bowl on the counter until it’s time to whip them. If you’re putting the whole egg into a recipe, like for cake batter, it makes no detectable difference (according to the friendly folks at America’s Test Kitchen) in the taste if the eggs are cold or room temp, although some pastry chefs claim that room temp eggs produce a lighter texture.

2. And while we’re on the subject... If you’re boiling eggs – hard or soft – you’ll find that the shells come off easier if you bring the water to a boil before submerging the eggs. Also, older eggs don’t stick to the shell as much. So if you’re buying your eggs from the farmstand, hang onto them for a few days before you try boiling them or whipping the whites. According to food scientist Kenji López-Alt, for perfectly cooked eggs, plunge the eggs into boiling water for 30 seconds, then reduce the temperature to a simmer for 11 minutes. (Six minutes for soft-boiled eggs.) [Kitchen Goddess note: López-Alt says 11 minutes, but I found that not to be quite enough. And then I ran out of eggs. So I will get more eggs and try again at 12 minutes and let you know. At dinner tonight, my friend, Elaine, said she does all this and cooks them for 13 minutes.]

Remove the eggs immediately into an ice water bath – which will keep that dimple from developing in the round end of the shelled egg, and helps with the shell removal. Chill eggs completely – 15 minutes at least and maybe even in the fridge overnight – before peeling. Peel under running water.

Now there’s no perfect method for achieving perfectly cooked, perfectly peeled eggs, but apparently – and the Kitchen Goddess is waaay too lazy to conduct all these tests herself – the factor that López-Alt (who does have the patience for testing) found made the most difference in how cleanly eggs released from their shells was the temperature at which they started: “A hot start produces easier-to-peel eggs.” And that goes for cooking the eggs in boiling water or in a steamer.

3. Potatoes, on the other hand, need to be started in cold water. Why? Because potatoes are very dense,  so they need long, gradual heating to cook evenly.




4. How long have you had that tin of baking powder? Ever wonder if it’s still good? Most sources will tell you that six months is the limit, but I think that may vary depending on where and how you store it. Worry no more. Take a small bowl with ½ cup of very hot water (tap water is fine), and stir into it about ¼ teaspoon of your baking powder. If the powder bubbles up immediately, it’ll still make your cakes and cookies rise.  If your baking powder doesn’t fizz, toss it and get a new can.

To test baking soda, you needs to add an acid to get a reaction, so use the same method as for baking powder but add ¼ teaspoon of vinegar to the water before adding the soda. As before, vigorous bubbling tells you the soda is fine to use. Even if it’s flat, you can still use it to clean your kitchen or brush your teeth.

5. Something new on the sugar front: toasting sugar. Take a cup of sugar, spread it out in an ovenproof skillet, and bake it for 2+ hours at 300º. For the photo here, I roasted mine for 2½ hours. What happens is magic: through a process called thermal decomposition, the sugar caramelizes without melting. As a result, the toasted sugar tastes less sweet, but takes on a subtle, slightly caramel flavor that’s like sugar umami. I haven’t used it yet in anything but my coffee, where it totally took the edge off without making it terribly sweet. Mmm-mm. Stella Parks, professional baker and delightful blogger (bravetart.com), stumbled on this idea by accident, and says it’s terrific in meringues, berry pies, banana bread,... She says you can substitute it 1:1 in any recipe. Try it and let me know how you use it.

Toasted sugar after 2½ hours. With a small bowl of untoasted sugar for contrast.

Parks also writes for the Serious Eats website, where the original – and much longer – explanation of the toasted sugar phenomenon is here. And as a side note, the toasted sugar is not only less sweet, it has fewer calories, less sucrose, and a lower glycemic index.

So aren’t you glad you kept reading?

And now for today’s treat, which I made before I learned about toasting sugar. You can be sure I’ll be trying it that way next time.


* * *

My book group meets once a month, and because most of the others are working professionals, no one has time to eat dinner beforehand. So we structure it as a potluck. No assignments, no agreements as to who’s bringing what; so you can never tell what the mix of dishes will be. But no one seems to care, and most of the time it’s a pretty even distribution of protein, veggies, and dessert.

This month, though, we got salads and desserts. Which also didn’t bother anyone, since more salad means you can enjoy more dessert. The Kitchen Goddess took this cobbler – it’s winter, after all, and what better time for apples and cobbler – and while she doesn’t see these evenings as competitive events, she was pleased to note that this dish appeared to be the favorite dessert. (FYI, what you see in these photos is a doubling of the recipe.)

Cranberry-Apple Cobbler

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library: Fruit Desserts

Serves 6.

Ingredients
For the filling:
1½ pounds tart, firm apples (I recommend Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and cut into ½-inch dice
8 ounces (about 2 cups) cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons candied ginger, chopped

For the biscuit topping:
1¼ cups (163 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup milk (whole, low-fat, or skim – your choice)
grated zest of 1 orange

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375º.

Combine the apples and cranberries in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar and candied ginger, and transfer the mixture to a large frying pan. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat until the juices come to a boil, which should take about 10 minutes.

While the fruit is heating, make the biscuit topping. Place the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, and salt – in the bowl of a food processor, and give it 5-6 good pulses, to mix and aerate the ingredients. Add the butter and continue to pulse the mixture until it takes on the consistency of coarse meal. Add the milk while you continue to pulse, until the dry ingredients have been completely absorbed, but do not overmix. The dough will be wet.

Remove the fruit from the heat and scrape it into an oven-proof casserole. Drop the dough by large spoonfuls on top. Don’t worry if there are spaces between dollops of dough, as these will allow the fruit to bubble up and create a nice mosaic pattern.

Kitchen Goddess note: If you have a nice large cast iron skillet – or something like a Le Creuset braiser – that can go from cooktop to oven, there’s no need to transfer the fruit mixture to a casserole. Just make the entire recipe in that pan.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Holy Cranberries, Martha! It’s a Holiday Salsa What’s cooking? Cranberry-Jalapeño Salsa

The Kitchen Goddess is ever on the lookout for a good recipe. Last weekend, in the middle of the shopping and the wrapping and the constant effort to remember what I still have to buy, a little Christmas miracle came my way.

I was wandering through Williams-Sonoma looking for a gift, and one of the salespeople was helping me. After a while, it became clear that they didn’t have what I needed, even though she knew exactly what I was looking for. So as I was thanking her for her efforts, another store employee came up to us and said to her, “I wanted to thank you for bringing that great cranberry salsa to the party. It was delicious!”

My ears perked up. “Cranberry salsa?” I said. “You have a cranberry salsa? That sounds really good. Can I get the recipe? And do you serve it with chips?” Yes, yes, and yes.

And that is how I came to find this delightfully colorful, delectably festive salsa that you will want to serve to those friends who drop by during the holidays, or the folks waiting around for Christmas dinner to be served, or maybe just to yourself and your spouse as you address your holiday cards. It satisfies all of your taste buds – a slightly sweet, salty, tart combo of flavors, with a hint of heat and a bit of crunch from the berries. It takes almost no time to prepare because most of the action happens in your food processor. (Ok, there’s a little work: the lime zesting and the ginger grating and the jalapeño seeding. We must suffer a tiny bit for art.)

So here it is – from her to me to you. Happy holidays!

Cranberry-Jalapeño Salsa

Adapted from a recipe by Julia at Williams-Sonoma at the Short Hills Mall in New Jersey.

Makes about 3 cups.

1 bag fresh cranberries
juice and zest from 2 limes
2-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
1 large jalapeño (seeds and ribs removed), diced*
4 green onions (white and light green parts only), sliced
1 bunch cilantro (about 1½ cups), roughly chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt*
½ cup sugar*

Put all but the sugar into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the salsa reaches a consistency you like.

Remove the salsa to a bowl, stir in the sugar, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve with tortilla chips.

Kitchen Goddess note: As with most dishes, this one can be made more or less sweet, more or less salty, or with more or less heat. You may want to add some of the salt and taste before you add it all. Same with the sugar. A restaurateur friend tells me the heat of a jalapeño comes from the ribs, so if you want more heat, leave some or all of the ribs in. And whether or not you do, be sure to wear rubber gloves when working with jalapeños.

Sides that Sparkle: Day 2 in a Marathon of Side Dishes What’s cooking? Spiced Butternut Squash with Pecans and Cranberries

Butternut squash is one of those veggies I discovered late in life. Some 20 years ago, I was combing my cookbooks for a soup to make, and in the first Silver Palate Cookbook – for years my go-to source for almost any entertaining – I spotted the recipe for Curried Butternut Squash Soup. The curry, the apples, the butternut flavor so close to sweet potatoes and yet so far in caloric content (half the calories!).

But that’s a recipe for another day. Today, the Kitchen Goddess has found an even easier way to serve butternut squash, with a mildly exotic flavoring featuring a spice mix from Ethiopia. Earthy and warm and colorful, and while you may not have the exact seasoning – it wasn’t in the KG’s cabinet, either – she has concocted a reasonable substitute that worked very well.






One reason butternut squash seemed like a good candidate was that my grocery store had it already peeled and diced (!). Normally, I wouldn’t mind doing the peeling and cutting myself – the Kitchen Goddess is always skeptical of the freshness of such offerings – but it was moving off the shelves so well that freshness didn’t seem to be a problem. And normally, I don’t have four days of veggie dishes to concoct in addition to what I’m cooking for Thanksgiving, so I appreciated the shortcut.

I use a melon baller to scoop out the seeds.

So even if your grocer isn’t as accommodating as mine, don’t let that talk you out of a great dish. I’ll admit that peeling butternut squash is a workout. But well worth the trouble. Just be sure to remove enough to get past the green veins just under the skin.

Another nice thing about this dish is that it works well at room temperature. So you can make it and just let it sit out while the rest of the dinner is under way. Or you can make it the day before and reheat it in the microwave. If you do that, save the dressing in a jar and pour it on when you’re ready to serve.

Spiced Butternut Squash with Pecans and Cranberries

Adapted from Chef Marcus Samuelsson in Food & Wine, November 2014

Serves 6.

2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into ¾-inch dice
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1½ teaspoons berbere (see Kitchen Goddess note)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup pecan halves
½ teaspoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
¼ cup fresh orange juice
¼ cup dried cranberries, chopped

Kitchen Goddess note: I would guess that not many of you will find berbere in your spice drawer. The KG made her own. Mix the following together well, and save what’s left for another day:
1½ teaspoons cayenne pepper (or 1 tablespoon Aleppo pepper)
2½ teaspoons sweet paprika
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon sweet curry powder
⅛ teaspoon grated nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
1/16 teaspoon ground cloves

Preheat oven to 450º.

Lightly grease a large, rimmed baking sheet or line it with baker’s parchment. In a large mixing bowl, toss the squash with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and 1 teaspoon of the berbere spice mix. Spread the squash onto the baking sheet, and season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

Roast the squash 30 minutes, until tender and beginning to crisp.

While the squash is roasting, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the pecan halves and cook, stirring, for 5-6 minutes, or until the nuts become fragrant. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon of the salt, and the remaining ½ teaspoon of the spice mix. Once the pecans become fragrant, toss them in a bowl with the sugar/spice.

In another small bowl or jar, combine the orange zest and juice, and slowly whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season to taste with kosher salt (I added about ¼ teaspoon) and several fresh grinds of black pepper.

Transfer the squash to a serving dish and scatter the pecans and cranberries over the top. Drizzle the dressing over the dish and serve warm or at room temperature.

Look for another new side dish in tomorrow's continuation of the marathon...

A Bit of Cranberry with Your Pinot What's cooking? Cranberry Sauce with Pinot Noir

My current favorite cranberry sauce recipe calls for two cups of pinot noir. You can get a buzz just from the fumes as it cooks.

In addition, however, I almost always have to make that classic relish – from cranberries and oranges and sugar – regardless of what else is on the menu. When I was little, probably in elementary school, my Aunt Marcy – long known as the cook in the family – began a tradition of letting me help her make it every year. Those were the days before food processors, so we used a big, clunky meat grinder – the kind that clamps onto the table and then drips juice all over the floor. At least, that was the way it went when I helped. Somehow, I managed to keep my fat little fingers out of the grinder part, which seems like nothing short of a Thanksgiving miracle to me at this point.