Thanksgiving Virtual Potlock

Hi Everyone! In honor of my FAVORITE holiday - Thanksgiving - I am having a virtual potluck. If you are making a fun dish that you think the blogosphere needs to be aware of (or just feel like participating) than this is for you!!! I know this is short notice, but I kind of just thought of it. I know there are a bunch of readers of this blog that will be making interesting and delicious Thanksgiving recipes. I know that Randi is hosting Thanksgiving this year and I will be preparing at least two dishes.

So, the details - If you have a blog and want more traffic - send a picture of your dish and the link to kitchensuccess at gmail dot com. If you do NOT have a blog (or did not blog on the dish you made) and still want to participate (which you should!!!) just send a picture and a sentence or two about what you made to the same address. Send your entries by November 30th to be included!

Thanks!
Georgia

Honey Give-Away Results and Apple-Ginger Upside Down Cake!

Honey Give Away

As you may know, last month I submitted an entry to the Royal Foodie Joust hosted by Jenn at The Leftover Queen. I made Pumpkin Flan with Guinness Caramel for the orange and black challenge. Unfortunately, I did not win :( There were a lot of great entries, and I will have to try harder next time! You can see the winners here.

In conjunction with the post, we had a contest to give away a jar of raw honey from the bees at my school, Temple University. The honey is delicious, and a great prize! In order to win, all you had to do was leave a comment. And now is the moment you are all waiting for - the winner! And the winner is....

Christine!!!

And, no, I was not guilted into picking her (although she did mention such things in her comment). I used a random number generator (Random.org) and she was selected at random. So, congratulations Christine, enjoy your winnings!


For the rest of you, please keep commenting, and we will be having another give away soon.

Now for the blog...

Apple-Ginger Upside Down Cake

I saw this recipe in the New York Times a few weeks ago and put it on my "to make" list. I love love love upside down cakes (how can you not?) and this one really looked like a great seasonal dessert. Andrew and I have probably been eating a few too many desserts lately - he made me an awesome cake for my birthday (which he promises he will eventually blog on), which we had to eat of course. So, I knew that I had to bide my time and wait for a good excuse to make this cake. Luckily for us, a good excuse came around and our friends Mike and Tamara held a pot-luck dinner last week. Great! I could make the cake, and then only have a piece or two or three. But, NOT the entire thing.

Wow, was this good. It also took about two seconds to make. Well, maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but it was really quick. The apples were soft and caramelized and the cake was almost like gingerbread! People loved it and one guy who normally hates ginger came up and told me how great it was. "Not too sweet, just right!"

In the future - and there will be a future - I will add more spices and a little more sugar. Nevertheless, this was another winner. If you need something to make for Thanksgiving, I suggest giving this recipe a try. People are sure to love it. I could also see making it as a breakfast cake. Haha, breakfast cake. Yum.
Apple-Ginger Upside Down Cake
Adapted from Karen Bates at the Philo Apple Farm

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter

1 cup dark-brown sugar

4 apples (about 1 3/4 pounds), peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch wedges.

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup dark molasses

1 cup buttermilk

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Very softly whipped cream.

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease the rim of a 10-inch cake pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter and then place it in the pan. Set the pan over very low heat and melt the butter across the bottom of the pan. Add the brown sugar and distribute evenly.

2. Make circles of overlapping apple slices on top of the brown sugar. Chop any remaining slices and place them in the gaps.

3. Using a mixer, blend 1/2 cup of the butter and the sugar on medium-low speed. Increase the speed to high and cream until light and fluffy.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, molasses and buttermilk. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Alternate mixing the flour and molasses mixtures into the butter mixture, adding the next once the last has been incorporated.

5. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool on a rack for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out onto a platter. Serve warm or cool with very softly whipped cream.

Serves 12.

Last Chance & Lentil Spinach Salad

Today is your last chance to enter our Local Honey Giveaway. Comment on this post with a valid email address and the winner will be picked tonight at midnight EST!


Another great blogger whose recipe suggestions I love to try is Lindsay and Taylor of Love and Olive Oil. Not too long ago they posted a delicious looking Spinach and Lentil Salad with Blue Cheese and Tart Cherry Vinaigrette and I just had to try it asap.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the puy (green) lentils they raved about, but even with just regular brown lentils this salad was tops. Some gorgonzola and bacon crumbles made it especially fantastic and dynamic. Lentils pack great protein and fiber - an ideal substitute for meat.

This recipe originated at Epicurious.

4 to 6 servings

3/4 cup green lentils
7 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
8 bacon slices (about 6 ounces)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped shallot
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup dried unsweetened tart cherries (about 3 ounces)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 1/2 cups baby or regular spinach leaves
1/3 cup blue cheese (about 2 ounces)

In a heavy saucepan cover lentils with water by 2 inches and simmer until just tender but not falling apart, about 15 minutes. Drain lentils well in a sieve. Rinse lentils under cold running water to stop cooking and drain well. In a bowl toss lentils with 2 tablespoons vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. (Lentils may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. Bring lentils to room temperature before proceeding.)

In a skillet cook bacon over moderate heat until crisp and with tongs transfer to paper towels to drain. Crumble bacon.

In cleaned saucepan heat 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cook shallot, stirring, until golden brown. Stir in water, cherries, sugar, and remaining 5 tablespoons vinegar and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by about half, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a slow stream until emulsified. Season vinaigrette with salt and pepper.

Add half of vinaigrette to lentils and toss well. In another bowl toss spinach with half of lentil mixture, half of bacon, half of cheese, remaining vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste.

Divide remaining lentil mixture among 6 plates and top with spinach mixture. Sprinkle salads with remaining bacon and cheese.

Inspiration Everywhere

Don't forget to comment on this post to try and win our Local Honey Giveaway! The winner will be drawn on November 7th (Saturday).


Recently I've been aggressively increasing the number of recipes on my "to try" list from blogs I read on a regular basis. Ever since making the ginger soup with chard at 101 Cookbooks I've been really inspired to make some more of Heidi's recent recipes. Her Broccoli Cheddar Soup called out to me. Though I may have made some adjustments, mostly out of laziness or a missed ingredient when grocery shopping, this recipe turned out amazingly.


With a mild broccoli taste, smooth cheddar and mustardy kick both in the soup and in the croutons, I wanted to eat my way through the entire pot. I highly recommend giving this one a try when you have friends to eat it with you. As Heidi points out, re-heated Broccoli soup is much less appetizing. The homemade croutons baked with mustard are an idea I simply love and can't wait to try again in the future.

See the recipe at 101 Cookbooks, and definitely give this one a try.

Also, I am now the proud owner of a kitchen aid mixer (finally!), so prepare to see a lot more baking from me in the near future. Thanks Mom!

Winter Lentil Soup

UPDATE - The honey give away is still open, so read the Pumpkin Flan post and comment to enter!

Fall is usually my favorite time of year. The blue skies, red leaves, brisk weather make for one awesome season. However, this fall has been a mix of rain, humidity and frost. Not so much of an awesome season. Today is looking up and hopefully we will get a few days of true autumn and not transition directly to winter.

The one culinary benefit of this yucky weather is it makes me crave soup. And squash. I found this recipe in Real Simple and was immediately drawn to the combination of lentils, tomatoes and leeks. How much more comforting can you get?

Andrew had never eaten lentils before (I know, the nerve!). When we were at my parent's a few months ago, my mom had made some tasty lentil soup but someone, and I have NO idea who, ate the leftovers before he could try any. Needless to say, after a poor description of what they taste like (legume-y), I decided he would like them and we would eat this soup.

I made a few adaptations and cooked it up in one of our new Le Creuset dutch ovens (one of the extraordinary benefits of getting married - registries). I subbed butternut squash for the original sweet potatoes, spinach for kale and added a little crushed red pepper. Although we had ambitions to bake bread, we ran out of time, so I picked up a loaf of freshly bakes Garlic Tuscan bread from the big Weg. (Wegmans for the uninitiated).

YUM!!!! This was excellent and will definitely be something we make again. The flavors were great and it had just a bit of kick. Perfect for a lazy, rainy day.

This recipe is also getting shared at Magazine Mondays, hosted by Ivonne of Cream Puffs In Venice. One magazine recipe down, a million to go...

Winter Lentil Soup
adapted from Real Simple Magazine

2 leeks, white and light green parts only (about 4 cups)
1 bunch baby spinach
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
6 cups water
1 lb butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
3/4 cup brown or green lentils
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup red wine
grated Parmesan (optional)

Slice each leek in half lengthwise, then slice each half into 1/4-inch-thick half-moons. Place in a large bowl of cold water and swish to remove any grit. Drain and pat dry.

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook for 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, for 5 minutes.

Add the water and bring to a boil. Stir in the spinach, butternut squash, wine, red pepper flakes, lentils, thyme, salt, and pepper. Simmer until the lentils are tender, about 45 minutes. Spoon into individual bowls. Sprinkle with the Parmesan (if using).

Pumpkin Flan for the Royal Foodie Joust (and HONEY GIVE-AWAY!)

We have never participated in the Royal Foodie Joust before, so I figured it was about time! It is a monthly event put on by Jenn, the Leftover Queen, where she provides some basic ingredients and you have to be creative. This month's challenge was inspired by Halloween and the dish had to include an orange squash (pumpkin or other) and a dark beer. Fun!!! I immediately thought of a custard type dish like crème brûlée or flan. Flan won out as I don't have the right equipment for crème brûlée....boo.

This dessert was sort of a disaster in the beginning...but overall turned out pretty awesome! Mainly a disaster because I had invited over a few of my classmates for "tasty pumpkin flan with Guinness caramel" on Sunday and didn't look at the recipe until noon on Sunday...oops. I briefly panicked when I read that it needed to chill for 6 hours and thought about cancelling. But, how could i cancel on flan??? How!!! Andrew ran to the store and got the ingredients we needed and we got to work. He made the flan part (super easy, just toss everything into the kitchen aid) and I worked on the caramel. The recipe called for 2/3 cups sugar and 1/4 cup water. I figured I could just substitute the water for Guinness and call it a day. Wrong.

The "caramel" foamed and was weird and then when I finally thought it looked sort of right it hardened as soon as I poured it in the pan. Needless to say, it did not coat the bottom. I tried again with water and sugar and it looked great until all the water evaporated and it was just one big gloppy mess in the bottom of our brand new all clad sauce pan. I again panicked and threw in enough water to redissolve the sugar. I poured it all in the bottom of the pan, poured on the flan mixture and crossed my fingers. After that I texted my friends and telling them to come later in the evening and hoped that the freezer would do a good job at setting up the flan.

And you know what? It worked! The flan turned out to be super super yummy, the caramel on the bottom was perfect and it set up great! Success! I also made a Guinness syrup to pour over the top. It was pretty, but a little bitter...the flan was better without. Oh well...
ALSO!!! This week we are doing a give away to a lucky blog reader. Up for grabs is a jar of raw honey from the bees at my school. You can read more about the arboretum where they live here. To enter to win, please leave a comment and I will draw randomly! The drawing will take place on November 14th.

Pumpkin Flan
recipe from Gourmet

1 1/3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
2 cups canned pumpkin puree
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 cups heavy cream

In a small skillet combine 2/3 cup of the sugar with 1/4 cup water and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring and washing down any sugar crystals clinging to the sides with a brush dipped in cold water until the sugar is dissolved. Cook the syrup, swirling the skillet, until it is a deep caramel, pour it into a warm 2-quart glass loaf pan, tilting the pan to coat the bottom evenly, and let the caramel harden.

In a bowl beat the eggs with the remaining 2/3 cup sugar, beat in the pumpkin puree, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cream, and pour the custard into the loaf pan. Set the loaf pan in a deep baking pan, add enough hot water to the baking pan to reach halfway up the sides of the loaf pan, and bake the flan in the middle of a preheated moderate oven (350 degrees F) for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the flan cool and chill it, covered, overnight. Run a thin knife around the edge of the loaf pan, invert a platter over the pan, and invert the flan onto the platter. Serve the flan, cut into slices, with the cinnamon whipped cream.

More On Chard

While I was in Senegal the average temperature was 90 F, with a heat index that made it feel like 100. It was hot. And there was nary an air conditioner anywhere. While I was baking away, Fall was descending on the mid-atlantic. Though normally Fall seems time to wear cosy clothes, drink apple cider and eat pumpkin-related items, right now it just feels downright COLD. Seriously, I'm freezing.

So when I got home I instantly began looking for some new soup recipes. Luckily 101 Cookbooks had a delicious looking soup that featured not only my love, ginger, but CHARD! I knew it was meant to be.


I made the mistake of not adding the ginger when I put in the other veggies, so I had to let it sit a little longer, which of course caused the veggies to lose a little bit of their consistency, but it was still delicious. The extra lemon juice at the end seemed bizarre, but really gave the soup a kick - I ended up adding a little extra.

For this great recipe, check out Heidi's post for this Green Soup with Ginger.

Senegal Restaurant Food

I've just recently returned from a trip to visit some friends doing research in Senegal, and was fortunate to eat in some really tasty restaurants while I was there. Unfortunately, my camera had already died when we were eating more traditional meals at home, though I'll see if my hosts have some pictures they can send my way.

I have another chard themed post I'm working on (camera needs to charge!), but I thought I'd share some of my trip/food photos. Enjoy!

Pie, Pie, I Love Pie - And Tarts, Quiches, Etc.

I was quite pleased to see that Randi was on top of blogging these last few weeks. As she mentioned in one of her posts I was a little bit pre-occupied. I got married September 19th - left for Paris and Greece for two weeks - and have been generally a bad blogger lately. Pre-wedding planning and stress takes up a lot of time and although I wasn't blogging, I was cooking! Now that the wedding is over (and it was great!) I can dedicate more time to posting about the delicious things we make and consume.

In Front of the Parthenon

A small aside: We ate our way through Paris, Athens and Santorini. I lived my foodie dream a lunch consisting of cheese and baguette at a cafe overlooking the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. I highly suggest all three of these locations for travel!

Grilled Kalamari in Fira, Santorini

I digress...We FINALLY got to go back to our regular routine of Saturday morning farmer's market shopping yesterday. I was inspired by Randi's previous post on Swiss Chard and Leek Tart (and did remember the awesome chard we had at our wedding) so wanted to make something similar. Unfortunately, there was no Swiss Chard to be found...but we did pick up some great sausage, cheese, and other goodies!

Knowing we would have to head back out to the store, I looked at Randi's recipe to see if it was a) something I definitely wanted to make and b) included any ingredients we had on hand. Ultimately, we decided to look for a recipe that was more quiche-y. I stumbled across a recipe from Jenn at The Left Over Queen that looked great. A quiche with swiss chard, cheddar and APPLES! Which was great, because apples are tasty, and we have more than we know what to do with right now!

Jenn raved about the recipe (even though she is not an apple lover) - and that was good enough for me. The following is a direct quote from me during quiche consumption:

"Oh My God, Jenn is a GENIUS!!!"

This quiche is absolutely 100% super duper tasty! It sounds a little strange at first, but the flavors are spot on. I might use a little more cheddar next time (or throw some on top) but it was sheer perfection. I had to stop myself from eating the entire dish! Andrew and I made this together as our first "hey, we're married!" meal and it was a lot of fun. Not too time consuming either.

(The only major difference was that I made a whole wheat crust - yum)

Andrew Cutting the Red Chard

Demonstrating Our New Bad-Ass Shun Utility Knife!

Doesn't It Look Good???

The link to this recipe is here.

Yeah, yeah, I'm lazy - oh well. Jenn's blog is awesome anyways and you should check it out!

A Dessert Worth Atoning For

Yom Kippur started tonight at sundown, and though it seems stupid, my family always eats a big meal the evening before the day of fasting. I suppose the idea is to keep you full while you fast for 24 hours, but in reality it likely stretches your stomach out, creating more hunger. Regardless, we eat a big meal the night before the fast and a small, light (typically dairy-based) meal to break the fast.

I'm going to be making another Leek and Swiss Chard Tart to break fast with, but I told my mom I would make a dessert to go with dinner before the fast begins. My mom had already made a pistachio loaf, and she requested I make something chocolate to suit my dad's tastes.

empty, blind baked

Chocolate? Ugh. Maybe your jaw dropped reading that "Ugh," but unfortunately chocolate doesn't really do it for me. I like it, I'll eat it, it's good, but I just don't get excited about it. And I really don't know what things a chocolate lover might get excited about.

full, pre-made the day before

Well, I had an extra pie crust, so I thought what about Chocolate Cream Pie? Something like that has to exist, right? And then I went on a food mag search and found Gourmet's Chocolate Pudding Pie. I used a pre-made crust cause I had one to use, but this recipe comes with a recipe and there are tons of others out there that make great crust. The one from the Lemon Meringue Pie is one of my favorites.

with whipped and a sprinkle of cinamon
not the cleanest cut, but tasty

Chocolate Pudding Pie
from Gourmet August 2009

For pastry dough
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

For filling
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
4 oz bittersweet chocolate (not more than 60% cacao), finely chopped
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup chilled heavy cream

Make dough:
Blend together flour, butter, shortening, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps.

Drizzle 2 Tbsp ice water evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated. Squeeze a small handful of dough: If dough doesn’t hold together, add more ice water, 1 Tbsp at a time, stirring until incorporated. (Do not overwork dough or pastry will be tough.)

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather all of dough together, with a pastry scraper if you have one, and form into a 5-inch disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.

Make pie shell:
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into an 11-inch round, then fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim edge, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang under and crimp edge decoratively.

Prick bottom and side of shell all over with a fork, then chill shell 30 minutes. While shell chills, preheat oven to 375°F with a baking sheet on middle rack. Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights.

Bake on baking sheet until pastry is set and edge is pale golden, about 25 minutes. Carefully remove weights and foil, then bake shell on baking sheet until pale golden all over, 15 to 20 minutes more. Cool shell.

Make filling:
Whisk together cornstarch, 1/3 cup sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a 2-qt heavy saucepan, then gradually whisk in milk.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, then boil, whisking, 2 minutes (mixture will thicken). Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate and vanilla until smooth. Pour filling into cooled shell and chill, its surface covered with wax paper (if you want to prevent a skin from forming), until cold, at least 2 hours.

Just before serving, beat cream with remaining 2 Tbsp sugar until it just holds soft peaks. Spoon onto pie.