Apple-Almond Cream Cheese Tart

I forget exactly how I found it, but I am never going to forget it. I think I was looking for something other than pie or crisp to make with the apples I had picked one autumn, and decided to give this recipe from Joy of Baking a whirl and threw some almond extract in. It exceeded my expectations in every way. This is one of those things that is greater than the sum of its parts. It is now one of my very favorite things to make with apples and I try to make it every year in the fall.

Notes:

• I have also made this in a regular 9 inch round pan but it is harder to get out and the crust texture is not quite as crisp somehow. It does still taste good though.
• The original recipe has directions for making this with a food processor but I did not have one at the time so I adapted it for making it without one. I imagine a food processor would speed things up a bit.
• Cortland and Regent apples are my favorite apple varieties to bake with, but any firmer baking apple will work nicely.

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RECIPE:

Apple-Almond Cream Cheese Tart
adapted from Joy of Baking
Serves 8-12

Crust: 
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp pure almond extract

Filling:
8 oz (1 package) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure almond extract

Topping:
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2-3 large apples, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices (about 3 cups)
1/3 cup (35g) sliced almonds
2 tbsp powdered sugar (optional, for serving)

Preheat oven to 450°F. Place rack in center of oven. Grease a 9 inch round springform pan, or line the bottom with parchment paper.

Make the crust: Place the flour and sugar in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Add butter and almond extract, and then, using a dough blender or a fork, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until dough just begins to come together. (I find that after the butter gets into small enough pieces, you can also use your hands to help the dough come together.) Press the dough into the bottom and about 1 inch up the side of the pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap, and set aside in the refrigerator.

Make the filling: Beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer in a bowl with high sides until smooth. Add the sugar to the cream cheese, and beat again until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla and almond extracts, and beat until mixture becomes smooth. Take out the crust from the refrigerator, remove the plastic wrap, and pour the filling into the crust, using a spoon or spatula to spread it evenly. Cover and return the pan to the refrigerator.

Make the topping: Stir together the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the sliced apples and toss to coat. Remove pan from the fridge, uncover, and arrange or pile the apples evenly over the filling. Sprinkle the sliced almonds over the apples.
 
Bake the tart: Place a baking sheet underneath the springform pan or on a lower oven rack to catch any leaks. Place springform pan in the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Immediately reduce the oven temperature to 400°F and bake for another 25 to 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown, apples can be easily pierced with a fork, and filling is set. Take out pan from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature, with a dusting of powdered sugar if desired. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

I've always been ambivalent on zucchini cake and bread, but this is one I actually get excited about eating. Once upon a time we lived next door to some really awesome people who got to be our friends, and they shared this cake with us one August. She didn't remember where she got the recipe, but no matter -- I liked it so much that I immediately went looking for something like it and came across this one on Epicurious. I made it for a potluck party soon after and I'm pretty confident I found the same recipe because it was just as good as what my neighbor made for us. The chocolate chips and walnuts on the top really make it special.

Most recently, I made it and shared it with my current neighbors to thank them for something nice they did for me. :)

Notes:

• The recipe says to make it in a 9x13 inch pan, but I have successfully made this in 8x8" glass and metal pans, bread loaf pans (usually around 9x5"), and bundt cake pans, as well as in cupcake tins (about 25 minutes I think). Shorten the baking time, watch closely and test it as you would the regular cake until you figure out how long it takes.
• If you have a particularly large zucchini, you may want to peel it anyway because the skin on really big ones can get tough. Also make sure that you scoop out the middle to remove large seeds before you start grating. (This may be obvious to some people but the first time I made zucchini bread I didn't know that I should do that and the bits of seeds in the bread were unpleasant.)

Verdict: This is one zucchini dessert that's worth your time.

RECIPE: Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Soba Noodle Salad

Last month I was at a wedding in California catered by The Bodega and it was like every food they touched turned to delicious gold. The absolute best fried chicken sandwich I have ever had in my entire life (simply called "The Bodega Sandwich", fried buttermilk chicken, smoky aioli, and herby slaw) and crispy grilled brussels sprouts that I still dream about all the time.

Unfortunately I live thousands of miles away from their food truck and my friends have since moved from the San Francisco area to Los Angeles, so I have no idea when I'm going to be able to eat their food again. But that's not stopping me from trying to make everything I loved about that meal to get as close to that feeling as I can.

The Bodega posted a cold soba noodle salad on their Instagram (@thebodega_ca) a few days ago and it looked so good I had to try making it for myself. I'm sure theirs is better since they've made it enough to perfect it, but this one was refreshing and tasty on a hot day.

It also brings to mind a number of zaru soba meals I had in Japan, but that's a dish for another day.

Notes:

• Other vegetables that I think might taste good in this: kohlrabi, celery, daikon
• Adding some kind of salad greens to this might be yummy too!
• You could substitute some marinated grilled chicken for the tofu. Marinate the chicken in the dressing for 1-2 hours before cooking it.
• You will likely have extra salad dressing left over. It goes great on all kinds of vegetables.
  

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RECIPE:

Soba Noodle Salad
by The Matcha Chronicles, inspired by The Bodega in Petaluma, CA
Dressing recipe from Just One Cookbook
Serves 4

15-19 oz medium firm or firm tofu, drained
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into thin coins
About 6-8 small or 5-6 medium radishes, sliced thinly into rounds
2 cucumbers, sliced thinly in rounds and cut in half
Juice of 1 lime
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
12 oz dried buckwheat (soba) noodles
6 tbsp tahini
4 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise (Kewpie brand)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp mirin
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Fresh cilantro, for garnish
Black or white sesame seeds, toasted, for garnish

Drain tofu and pat dry with paper towels. Slice into pieces about 1 by 2 inches by 1/2 inch thick. Dry fry in a single layer in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat until lightly browned. Set aside.

Place carrots, radishes, and cucumbers in a medium bowl. Sprinkle lime juice and salt on and toss to combine. Let stand for about 15 minutes, then drain the liquid.

While vegetables are standing, cook the soba noodles in boiling water according to package directions, then drain and rinse in cool water until they are chilled. Set aside.

Make the dressing by whisking or blending tahini, Japanese mayonnaise, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sesame oil together until smooth.

Divide soba noodles, tofu, and vegetables among 4 plates. Drizzle salad dressing over the top of each salad, and garnish with cilantro and sesame seeds. Serve immediately. If saving for later, keep the prepared ingredients separately in the refrigerator, and assemble immediately before serving.

Raspberry Pie

Raspberries are one of my favorite fruits. Until I was about 20 years old, I had only ever had fresh raspberries from the grocery store in the little plastic clamshell boxes. Expensive, few, and precious, a special treat. But now they are even more special because for me, they are steeped in the generosity of others.

My life experience with raspberry pie began rocky. My mom made a raspberry pie one time when I was a child, thickened with tapioca. I distinctly remember this because the tapioca didn't get thoroughly cooked and it was grainy and had white flecks. Then I met my husband, and he told me his grandma's raspberry pie was one of his very favorite desserts, despite not liking fruit pie in general. Early in our relationship, he went to visit his grandmother in the summer, and in typical grandma fashion she sent him home with a huge pile of fresh raspberries that she grew, the largest amount of raspberries I had ever seen in one place, way more than one could possibly finish before getting tired of them or the fruit going bad. I made a pie for him with my mom's strawberry pie recipe (which I like) but with raspberry ingredients. Half of it rotted in the fridge and I was a little sad but I have to admit that even I thought it was just OK.

We were still dating the next summer, and that year he decided to bring me to the annual family reunion to meet his grandmother. I was nervous but everyone was kind, especially grandma. She had brought raspberry pie since the raspberries were in season. It was in a 9x13 pan, and the filling was about twice as thick as a regular pie. I loved it and I told her so. From then on, she'd be sure to bring frozen raspberries to reunions to give to me, and she wrote up her recipe for the pie and gave it to me because she knew I liked to cook and bake too. A couple of times, the reunion was not going to happen because she and her boyfriend were planning a long vacation but she invited us to their farm (her boyfriend's dairy farm, but they also grew fruit and vegetables for their own use) to pick the raspberries while they were away, so someone could enjoy them (I'm thankful I got to be the one to do that).

One summer, she invited us to visit and pick raspberries while they were there, on my birthday. We picked fruit for about an hour, and she had of course made a pie and lots and lots of other food. They also gave us furniture they didn't want, and we got to play with the farm kittens. She even dug up some rhubarb and raspberry plants for us to plant in our yard now that we had one. It was a beautiful, relaxing day.

Unfortunately, since then grandma has not hosted a reunion and has had to move away from the farm into assisted living due to her health, and there's no one to care for the raspberries. My raspberry patch had a rough, slow start (my own fault for planting it where I did initially) but has finally established itself, though it still doesn't produce anywhere near enough to bake with.

However, the thread of love and generosity through raspberries continues to grow longer. My neighbors across the street inherited a large raspberry patch that gives their family more than they care to eat, and they share with me.

In the spirit of all this generosity, I try to share this pie with as many people as I can. The year she moved to my city, my sister and I ate nearly a whole pie by ourselves in a weekend while she hunted for apartments. I have brought this pie to work potlucks a couple of times, to rave reviews. Another year I made one, and the next day the electricity went out. The pie has to stay cold because of the gelatin in it but it was 90 degrees and humid outside. Around the 24 hour mark, the neighbors without electricity got together in the evening to while away some time, and we shared this pie so it wouldn't go bad (nobody complained about getting to eat pie). Another summer, my dear friend visited me for lazy vacation time after her bachelorette weekend and we picked raspberries and made a pie together. Picking goes a lot faster with two people, and you have someone to curse the mosquitoes with too. ;)

Grandma C's recipe makes use of ingredients and techniques I wouldn't normally consider to be quality cooking (Jello mix and an oil-based no-roll crust, for example) but the result tastes so good that I can't mess with it. The contrast of textures (crumbly crust, smooth gelatin, soft fruit) and balance of sweet and tart is what really makes this pie good.

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RECIPE:

Fresh Raspberry Pie
from my husband's Grandma C (Sandy)

Crust:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup (100 g) vegetable oil

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together flour, salt, 2 tbsp sugar, oil, and milk until combined. Pat into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown, pricking any bubbles with a fork or knife to release air. Remove from oven and place pan on a rack to cool. When it is almost or completely cooled, prepare filling.

Filling:

1 cup sugar

1 ½ cups water

2 tbsp cornstarch
3 oz (1 small box) raspberry flavored gelatin
4 cups (about 1 lb/450 g) fresh raspberries, washed (or 4-5 cups / 20 oz frozen raspberries; see notes)

Place 1 cup sugar, water, and cornstarch in a saucepan. Whisk to combine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking often so it doesn’t burn. Let boil for about 3 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in dry gelatin until well combined; this usually takes about 2 minutes. Gently fold in raspberries and pour into pie shell. Refrigerate until set, about 3-4 hours.

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Notes:

• If you REALLY have a lot of raspberries to burn and a crowd to bake for, double the recipe and make it in a 9x13 inch pan a la Grandma C.
• One thing I have done to improve upon this recipe is making it work with frozen raspberries. Homegrown raspberries are best, of course, but frozen ones from the grocery store would likely work too since they're often harvested and immediately frozen at their freshest. Though the texture might not be as good, I think I may like the taste better than fresh raspberries (not to mention much less expensive...nothing like a $50 pie that also doesn't taste good). If using frozen berries, thaw overnight in refrigerator (or carefully defrost in the microwave) and reserve juice/liquid that comes out after thawing. Add 1 tbsp lemon juice to filling; decrease water in filling by 1 cup and use juice from thawed berries in its place.
• You can also make this with fresh strawberries and strawberry gelatin. I do not recommend using frozen strawberries.
• I usually end up with a little extra filling. You can pour it into small bowls or glasses, put it in the refrigerator to set, and eat