Hello blog. Life has changed a lot around here thanks to a little thing called a baby, and as expected I haven't been doing much cooking, let alone baking, in the past couple of months. But I'm very happy to be back playing in the kitchen, even if circumstances keep me from attemping anything remotely time-consuming, for fear I would start it and not be able to finish it until, oh, 3 a.m. I must say that mise en place has gone from being a helpful principle to proving absolutely necessary: if I prep a bit here and there throughout the day, by dinnertime all I have waiting is an assembly job with maybe a little cooking. Which means if all hell breaks loose around dinnertime, as it tends to do, my husband can handle the final steps with just a bit of instruction called out over the baby's wails. :)
Well, fall has fallen, as they say (...or not), and when I bought seven pounds of apples at the farmers market the other day I was hoping to whip up a fantastic autumnal apple dessert with some of my loot. After a (shorter than usual) cookbook scavenger hunt, I settled on the upside-down apple cake out of Cooking for Two 2011, that endless fount of inspiration and joy for the leftover-averse (not that we are). It was even better than I hoped. The cake was tender and outrageously buttery, and the apples hit the perfect balance between raw and mushy, thanks to the somewhat odd instructions to briefly saute two different-sized groups of apple slices before baking the whole thing. My only caveat is to put something underneath your pan, because the batter overflowed a bit toward the end of baking and made a mess on my freshly cleaned oven. (as in, cleaned the day of baking. But nothing a little Barkeeper's Friend couldn't fix.)
Upside-down apple cake
adapted from America's Test Kitchen: Cooking for Two 2011
Serves 2 with a huge appetite, or 3 more likely.
Tip: get the 6" cake pan at Michael's or Joann's with one of those ubiquitous 40% (or 50%) off coupons. Then it's like $2 and you don't feel at all guilty for purchasing something with limited use. Though this recipe alone is worth getting the pan.
2 Granny Smith or Golden Delicious apples, peeled
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/3 c. packed brown sugar, plus 2 Tbsp separated
1/2 cup (2 1/2 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350 and have a rack on the next-to-lowest level. In case of spillage, put a foil-lined pan on the lowest rack. Spray a 6" cake pan with Baker's Joy, or grease and flour.
2. For the apples: slice in half pole to pole and remove cores. Cut one apple into 1/2" slices, set aside. Cut the other into 1/4" slices. Melt the butter in a 10" skillet over med-high heat. Pour off about 2 Tbsp into a small bowl or ramekin for use in the cake and set aside. Add the 1/2" apple slices to the skillet and cook just til they begin to caramelize, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the 1/4" apple slices and the 1/3 cup brown sugar and cook, stirring constantly, til the sugar dissolves and all the apples are coated, about 1 minute. Scrape into the cake pan and set aside.
3. For the cake: Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. In a medium bowl whisk together the granulated sugar, the remaining 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, and the egg until homogenous, about 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in the reserved melted butter until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla, then gently whisk/fold in the flour mixture, ensuring that no streaks remain.
4. Scrape the batter on top of the apples in the cake pan and smooth the top. Bake until cake is golden brown and toothpick comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then run a paring knife around the edges and invert onto a wire rack. Cool completely or til just warm, about an hour, and then serve with spiced creme Chantilly: whip about 2 Tbsp of heavy cream to soft peaks, then sprinkle in about 2 tsp. confectioners sugar, a dash of cinnamon, and a drop of vanilla extract. Perfection.
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Now that dessert's out of the way, onto the eggplant marinara(s). The (s) is because these are sort of individual ones meant to be appetizers, but I served two each as a main course and loved them. M is not crazy about eggplant (I'm not either except when it's fried and topped with tons of cheese and tomato sauce), but he said he'd eat it again. The recipe is at Epicurious. I used panko instead of fresh bread crumbs, which worked fine, and Newman's Own cabernet marinara is quite good. Hilariously, one reviewer noted that he thought the ricotta was "unnecessary." Personally I would never trust a person who called any cheese in any context "unnecessary," but judge for yourselves after you make it whether this would be the same with one less cheese. It's really good.
P.S. One more thing. My mom introduced me a while back to roasted okra. Oh. My. I should do a post on this, except it isn't more than olive oil, salt, pepper, and trimmed okra, roasted for 15 mins at 400 or 425 if more browning is desired. Then taste and see that, unbelievably, okra does not have to be fried in order to be divine. Lucky for me it's $2/lb at an awesome stand at the farmers market. I bought the purple variety and it turned dark green when cooked, like magic.
