Monthly Archives: April 2013

salted-caramel pineapple upside down cake

Posted in cake, dessert by

I won’t bore you with the details, but I’ve been having some car issues lately and as a result have had to borrow cars from assorted friends and family while mine has been in the shop.  Thank goodness for friends and family!

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My dad was kind enough to loan me his car for the better part of two weeks so I wanted to do something nice as a thank you.  I’ve heard him talk about how much he likes pineapple upside down cake for a long time so decided to try my hand at making one.  Only I didn’t want to make a normal one, I wanted to try one that was a little more gourmet.

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This cake starts with boiling up some butter with some dark brown sugar until it bubbles up and gets really thick.

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After you take this off the stove you add some dark rum and a little coarse salt.  Once it cools you pour the caramel mixture into the bottom of a greased cake pan and then add pineapple rings and chunks.

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The cake itself has a little cinnamon in the batter which adds a nice spiciness to the whole ordeal.

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Word to the wise: place the cake pan in a rimmed baking sheet to catch any overspill.  I did not and wound up having to scrub my oven down the next day.  Not fun!

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The cake came out great and my dad seemed to enjoy it which hopefully made up for the fact that he had to drive his old truck for longer than expected… The power of baked goods!

Salted-Caramel Upside Down Cake (found in Country Living magazine www.countryliving.com)

  • 1 cup dark-brown sugar
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons dark rum
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1 medium pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into rings; 1 ring  cut into chunks

Coat a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray and set aside. In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat brown sugar and 1 stick butter, whisking occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook until caramel thickens and turns a deep brown, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in rum and 1 teaspoon salt. Pour caramel into prepared cake pan and swirl around to coat. Set aside and let cool completely, at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk  together flour, baking powder, remaining salt, and cinnamon. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium, beat together granulated sugar and remaining butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla; beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in half the dry-ingredient mixture and 1/4 cup milk.  Repeat with remaining dry-ingredient mixture and milk.

Arrange pineapple rings atop caramel in cake pan. Fill in spaces  between rings with pineapple chunks. Carefully pour batter over pineapple and smooth, using a rubber spatula.  Tip: Place cake pan in a baking sheet to catch any overspill.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the sides of the pan to loosen the cake; invert onto a large serving plate.

Madison, Wisconsin area dining guide

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When I moved to Wisconsin from New York City I knew I would miss a few things– my friends, Central Park in the fall, spending an afternoon lost in one of the many wonderful museums, and most definitely the food.  I wasn’t expecting anything even close which maybe is why I was open-minded and consequently very pleasantly surprised by what I discovered in Madison and the surrounding area.

My favorite thing to do on a Saturday morning was to hit the Madison Farmer’s Market which is one of the largest growers-only farmer’s market in the country.  It’s a fantastic market and one of the highlights is that food carts and trucks set up around the capital square where the market takes place and sell prepared food so you can munch as you shop for produce and such.  Every week I would visit the guys at Caracas Empanadas who make some of the best empanadas I’ve ever had.  It didn’t hurt that they were super friendly and always smiling even on the coldest Wisconsin market morning.

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If I felt more like sitting down in a restaurant after the market I would hit up Marigold Kitchen around the corner.  They always had tasty scramble specials with whatever was in season at the market and delicious fancy coffee like I like.  Cause I’m fancy.

While we’re at the capital square, let me take you around it:  Graze is a beautiful, modern restaurant with floor to ceiling windows (and the ceiling is VERY tall) with delicious modern, local, seasonal food.  For the best cheese curds in town and just all-around great bar food (with excellent salads, who knew a bar could have great salads!?) head down the block to the Old Fashioned.  Around the corner from there check out the massive beer list and awesome poutine at Cooper’s.  Rounding out the best of the square head over to Nostrano for some inventive seasonal food.  I ate quail there for the first time and it was a very tasty experience.

Away from the square another notable brunch place that is a little off the beaten path, though well worth the trip, is Crema Cafe on the other side of Lake Monona.  They’re always cooking up interesting seasonal specials like the cinnamon apple waffles I consumed there last fall.  So warm and cozy while it was so the opposite outside.

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Willy Street is another great food destination with lots of varied dining options.  A Pig in a Fur Coat has wonderful small plates in a cozy environment and I knew I loved the Weary Traveler when I saw that you could get bacon in your vegan chili.  Also, their bad breath burger isn’t a misnomer and is so worth it.

I was worried that there would be a lack of ethnic restaurants in Madison but there were a surprising amount of Asian establishments which made me very happy.  In particular there are a number of southeast Asian restaurants, largely Laotian, my favorite of which is Lao Laan-Xang.  I’m an especially big fan of their acorn squash curry.  Further down Willy Street is a Japanese udon and dumpling place called Umami.  I had pork buns at Momofuku Ssam Bar when I lived in New York and I think Umami’s were just as good, no fooling.

Also on Willy Street, Lazy Jane’s Cafe make some very tasty croissants and scones and is a great place just to chill out with a chai tea and some baked goods.  That’s my kind of morning.

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I’m pretty sure I ate at every Indian restaurant in greater Madison and honestly liked them all but I think Swagat on High Point Road is the tops.  Haven’t had a dosa like that since a visit to Little India in Jersey City.

Not to be forgotten is Monroe Street as it has several good restaurants, but worth mentioning is Brasserie V which has an impressive beer list and the best mussels in town.

Now I’m going to take you west and south of Madison to some of the adorable small towns tucked away in the rolling green hills:

Sjolind’s Chocolate House in Mount Horeb (a town known as the “troll capital of the world”) is my favorite bakery in the entire state of Wisconsin.  I lived in Mount Horeb and visited Sjolind’s at least twice a week.  It was my Cheers.  Their quiche, cinnamon rolls, turnovers, scones, and yes, chocolates, were such a nice treat in the midst of some very long weeks.

Down the road from Mount Horeb is a tiny town called Blue Mounds where for a brief moment in time there was a wood-fired pizzeria/bakery that was far too good to last but definitely worth mentioning.  Naked Elm made pizzas with fresh ingredients from local farms and it was fantastic.

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Below is a picture of the Al Ringling Theatre in Baraboo, a town that is well worth a visit if you ever find yourself in the area.  There’s a circus museum there and also a great kitchen store that I literally spent hours in one day.

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New Glarus has some great beer but it’s also worth venturing a little further down the road to miniscule Monticello where you will find the Dining Room at 209 Main, a restaurant that would have a month-long waiting list were it not in a small-town in the middle of a rural area.  A very pleasant surprise.

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Bob’s Bitchin’ BBQ in Dodgeville has some truly amazing barbecue and is run by one of the nicest, hardest-working guys I’ve had the pleasure of knowing.

South of Dodgeville in Mineral Point there is a delightful little Japanese restaurant called Kusaka.  I’ve never been to Japan but my understanding is that Kusaka’s food is the equivalent of Japanese comfort food: rice, noodles, curry, homemade gyoza, and an awesome seafood pancake with fish flakes that wave as if they were alive when the dish is brought out (don’t be frightened; they are delicious and definitely not alive.)

My very last meal in Madison was breakfast at 4 & 20 Bakery on the way to the airport.  The biscuits and gravy were epic and you really can’t go wrong with any of their baked goods, savory or sweet.  And they make some very pretty (and tasty) coffees.

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Recounting all of this wonderful food makes me want to plan a trip back!  I’ll have to see what I can do…

two brunch dishes courtesy of Martha

Posted in breakfast by

Since it has been so long since I’ve posted I thought I’d give you two recipes for the price of one.  Bargain!

Amongst other tasty delights for Easter brunch I made a spinach and fontina cheese strata.  I’d never made a strata before but it was so easy I’m not sure why it took me so long.  A strata is a cross between a bread pudding and a lasagna, in other words, cheesy carb-y deliciousness.

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I began by cooking down some spinach and onions in a little olive oil, slicing pieces of a slightly stale loaf of French bread, and grating cheese.  (Apologies for the poor quality of the photos.  I forgot my camera so used my phone.)

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Then, like you would do with a lasagna, you start to layer everything up.

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Then you mix up some milk and eggs and pour them over the whole shebang.

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One of the things that is great about this dish is that the milk and egg mixture needs to soak into the bread for at least eight hours which means you can assemble it the night before you serve it thereby making it a breeze the next morning when you want to serve it.  You just add a little more milk and egg mixture and bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Unfortunately I did not have a photo of the strata after it baked but I can assure you it was golden and bubbly and lovely and well-enjoyed by all.

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The second recipe I am sharing with you is a bit of a cheat as I shared a similar recipe with you previously.  But one can never have too many candied bacon recipes…

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This is even simpler than the strata.  You lay bacon strips over cooling racks placed in parchment-lined baking sheets and then sprinkle with brown sugar and freshly cracked black pepper and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes until crispy.  Voila!

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It was the first dish we ran out of at brunch!

Spinach-And-Fontina Strata (from www.marthastewart.com)

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt, divided
  • 2 pounds spinach, stems removed and leaves coarsely chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • Unsalted butter, for dish
  • 1 pound challah loaf, sliced 1/2 inch thick
  • 8 ounces young Italian fontina cheese, grated, divided
  • 1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (1/3 cup), divided
  • 8 large eggs, divided
  • 2 2/3 cups whole milk, divided
Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Fill pan with as much spinach as will fit; cook, stirring, adding remainder a handful at a time as space allows. When all the spinach is wilted, stir in pepper and nutmeg. Drain spinach in a sieve. When cool enough to handle, squeeze excess moisture from spinach by hand.
Butter a 3-quart baking dish. Place a third of the bread in a single layer in dish. Top with half the spinach mixture and a third of the cheeses. Repeat layering with a third of the bread, remaining spinach mixture, and a third of the cheeses, then top with remaining bread.
Whisk together 6 eggs, 2 cups milk, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and carefully pour over bread. Cover with parchment, and gently press down with hands until egg mixture soaks through top of bread. Cover parchment with foil, and refrigerate at least 8 hours and up to 2 days.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, remove strata from refrigerator, uncover, and let stand 30 minutes. Whisk together remaining 2 eggs and 2/3 cup milk, and pour over strata, gently pressing between layers of bread with a spoon or spatula to ensure that egg mixture seeps to bottom. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake until puffed and golden brown in places, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.
Brown Sugar Glazed Bacon (from www.marthastewart.com)

  • 16 slices (about 1 pound) bacon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground pepper
  • 1/3 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 10-by-15-inch rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper; place a wire rack on top of each sheet. Arrange bacon in a single layer on the two racks. Evenly sprinkle with pepper and sugar.Bake until bacon is crisp and browned, rotating sheets halfway through, 30 to 35 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels.

spring has sprung

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My sincerest apologies for the long delay between posts, though a lot has happened over the past two months: namely, I left Wisconsin and moved to Indiana for a new job.  Though I never previously imagined myself as a resident of the state of Indiana it puts me exponentially closer to my home state of Michigan which is very exciting.  Also, I’ve already identified a handful of very good restaurants in the greater Fort Wayne area.  Who knew.