Marmalade Cake, Eggplant Boats, and Bobó de Camarão

Marmalade Cake
This is my Americanized take on a Jamie Oliver recipe:

                                

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease or spray the bottom and side of a 9” springform pan or other loose-bottomed cake tin. For a taller cake, use an 8” springform pan.

5 Oranges – I prefer Honeybells
1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar (Demerara if you can find it)
1-¾ cup White Sugar, divided
1/3 cup Marmalade Mixture (see below)
4 large Eggs
¾ cup Self Raising Flour
¼ cup Almond Flour

Freeze 2 oranges for at least an hour.  Grease or spray a 9" springform pan or other removeable-bottom cake tin.

Marmalade
Chop 3 oranges into thumb-sized bits, and take it all – skin, pith seeds -- for a spin in the microwave until finely pureed. Transfer to a microwave-safe glass bowl and stir in about 1 cup of sugar, to taste.  Add 3 Tbsp of this to the cake batter (below).    When the cake is almost done, microwave the orange/sugar mixture for 8 minutes, and reserve.

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Thinly slice (1/8” more or less) the frozen oranges (much easier to slice them thin when partially frozen) into rings. Sprinkle the base of the greased baking pan with the brown sugar and arrange the orange slices on the base. Mince the leftover orange pieces including skin and pith and reserve them for the batter.

Cream the butter and white sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat in 3 heaped tablespoons of the orange/sugar mixture and the reserved minced leftover orange bits, followed by the eggs. Fold in both flours and a pinch of salt.

Carefully pour the cake batter into the tin. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until golden and firm to the touch.

Remove the cake from the oven and rest for 5-6 minutes. While it’s still warm, remove the springform side, flip the cake over onto a serving plate and very carefully lift off the detached springform bottom to reveal the orange slices in melted sugar.

You can, of course, serve the cake just like this; which is what Jamie Oliver has you do.  But. That's just an elegant handmade Upside Down Cake with a bit of orange flavor.  

It's really much nicer with a marmalade frosting!  See the photo at the top of the page.

Use a spatula to carefully spread fresh hot marmalade on the cake.  Then let it rest at room temperature for an hour or so until the marmalade sets up, before serving. 

Before it hardens, transfer the leftover marmalade to a screw top jar (but don't lid it until the marmalade cools to room temp).  Store in the fridge for up to six months.   Lots of things you can do with marmalade other than have it on toast!!

Eggplant Boats
Called Aubergine or Brinjal elsewhere in the world, Eggplant in many shapes and recipes is a favorite of ours.  I've been making these "boats" for decades, can't remember where I got the idea for this Technique (not a recipe) using the large purple or purple/white stripped variety.

You can make them vegetarian, or as we often do, add a can of tuna or salmon; or even some frozen "salad shrimp".   Diced ham is good too.  Spice them up however you like.  I often use curry masala blends,  taco seasoning, or Italian blends. 

Use a knife and spoon to "gut" the eggplant halves leaving about a 1/4" thick shell.  Chop up the "guts" and cook them  with onion, tomato, bell peppers, celery, mushrooms, whatever you like for veg, and add the meat to make a stuffin .   Use panko or other breadcrumbs to tighten up the stuffing at the end as it can be quite watery.  Top with your favorite cheese(s) and bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes to get everything heated through and the cheese(s) melted.

Half of a larger eggplant makes a good 'single serve' dinner which you can elevate with a side salad if you like.  Small halves make good lunch entrees.  

Bobó de Camarão (Brazilian Shrimp Stew)
This dish was recommended by a Brazilian acquaintance who knows I love to cook, and knows I've made other Brazilian dishes like Feijoada and Moqueca.  This shrimp stew with it's coconut milk "sauce" is similar to Moqueca, but has the yuca root for added nutrition and thickener.  

1 Onion, diced
2 tsp Oil
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1 lb fresh Yuca root, peeled, shredded*
1-1/2 lb large Shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 Tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup Red Bell Pepper, diced
1/4 cup Green Bell Pepper, diced
1/4 cup Yellow Bell Pepper, diced
Hot peppers (fresh diced, or dried) to taste
1 Tbsp grated Ginger
1 can Coconut Milk (not cream or water)
1 Lime, juiced
1/4 cup Green Onion, sliced
1/4 cup Cilantro or Parsley, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste

*If you absolutely cannot find yuca, you could substitute peeled, shredded new potatoes or other waxy potatoes, but it won't quite be the same.  Yuca adds a silky texture to the dish which potato won't quite do.

Marinate the shrimp in the lime juice.

Saute the onion and garlic in a dutch oven or large covered pot. Add the bell peppers and tomato and cook until soft. Add the ginger and cilantro if using.

Pour in the coconut milk, and 2 cups of water. Add the shredded yuca. Stir and simmer covered over low heat until the yuca is cooked and mostly 'dissolved' into the liquid – 20-30 minutes, stirring regularly.

After 10-15 minutes add the green onions and the hot peppers, If the mixture starts to get too thick, and stick, at the bottom of the pan, add another cup of water.

Lastly, add the shrimp.

Cook another 10 minutes or so, until the shrimp just turn pink. Overcooked shrimp are tough and chewy. Serve over white rice and garnish with fresh cilantro if desired.

 

Picnic Pie, Mexican Casserole, Salmon Rissoles, Irish Supper with Soda Bread. extra credit

Picnic Pie
We've been watching the Britcom crime series Pie In The Sky, which features a detective (famous for his savory pies)  who is trying to retire from the polis and run a restaurant.  It inspired me to create this vegetarian "picnic pie" in the British style -- with a hard-ish  "short-crust" pastry crust which allows the pie to be free standing, not the soft crust of American fruit pies which have to be kept in their baking tin to avoid collapsing.  In the UK, such pies are often a feature of summer picnics "on the lawn" hence the name Picnic Pie.

Short Crust Dough
Simple as it can be.  Keep everything cold!

2 cups AP Flour
8 oz Butter, cold, sliced into pats
1 tsp Salt
2-4 Tbsp Ice Water
2 Eggs, beaten separately

Cut the butter into the flour & salt mixture.  I prefer to use my hands.  Add 2 Tbsp ice wter and stir with a fork.  Add another 1 or 2 Tbsp of water until the dough barely comes together.  Drop in onto a floured surface and knead a few times to form a ball.  Wrap in cling film and put the dough in the refrigerator for half an hour to chill.

Roll 2/3rd the dough out 1/4" or thicker, into about an 18" circle. 

                                           

Drape the disk over your floured or sprayed springform pan and tuck the dough into the pan, smoothing things out across the bottom and up the sides.  Let any excess flop over the outside edge. 

If you don't have all your filling ingredients cooked and cooled, put the pan and the remaining dough back in the fridge. until you have enough goodies to fill the pie.

Filling
Literally the sky's the limit here.  There are some Brit standards such as steak and mushroom, steak & kidney, cheese and onion, etc.  The "trick" is to use pre-cooked ingredients.   This is where your microwave will come in handy.  I used about a dozen small smashed new potatoes, some leftover rice, mushrooms, carrot coins, sauteed onion, sweet potato, sugar snap peas, and Garam Masala spice blend for a bit of"curry" flavor.  Only the snap peas were raw.     You can also "cheat" by using thawed and drained bags of frozen mixed vegetables.   Toss the ingredients with a beaten egg.  You can, if you choose use a small -- less than a cup -- amount of thick gravy (jar, powder mix or handmade) to help flavor things and hold things together.  Not too much or too thin of gravy mind, you want to serve nice slices of pie, not falling apart wet wedges...  

Fill the chilled crust, then roll the remaining dough out and cut it out a circle that just fits inside the top (set the filled pan on top of the rolled out dough and trace aound the bottom). 

 Pinch the top and side together all around, then cut a couple 1" slices in the center of the top.  Brush with another egg (beaten).

Bake the filled pie about 45 minutes at 450F until you get a golden brown crust. 

 Let it rest for 15 minutes or so before removing the springform side and slicing into wedges.

Mexican Casserole
I wanted something "Mexican" flavored, but not the usual tacos, enchilandas etc.  This fit the bill perfectly.  Great flavor!

1 Onion, sliced thin
1 Red Bell Pepper, sliced thin
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1-1/2 cups Corn kernals
1 can Black Beans, drained & rinsed
2 large Sweet Potatoes, shredded large or spiralized
1/2 cup Medium Salsa
2 cups Shredded Cheese, divided
Taco Seasoning
Sazon Tropicale spice blend
Optional toppings -- diced tomato, green onion, avocado, sour cream, etc

Saute the onion, bell pepper and garlic with Taco Seasoning to taste, until just tender.  Reserve.   In the same skillet saute the corn with Sazon Tropicale until it's turning golden brown.   Combine peppers, onions, corn and salsa.

In a baking dish alternate layers of shredded (raw) sweet potato, sauteed veg and cheese.  Repeat.

Bake covered at 400F for 30-35 minutes. 

Rest for 10 minutes before plating.  Add toppings as desired.

Gourmet Salmon Rissoles
For Christmas I got this wonderful gourmet smoked salmon from our friends Susan and Patrick.  Fabulous stuff!  Just had to make these gourmet rissoles for a Sunday Brunch.

14 oz Smoked Salmon, fresh or canned
1 cup Panko
4 Green Onions, sliced, including tops
1 Tsp Lime Juice
1/4 cup Parmesan
1/4 cup Bleu Cheese Dressing
1/4 cup diced bell pepper
1 Egg

In a laerge bowl combine everything bove except the egg, bleu cheese dressing and fish.
Drain and flake the salmon if using canned,  Chop the fish fine if using fresh.  Add the fish, dressing and egg to the other mixture and stir to combine well. 

Mold into 2/3 cup patties and fry in a splash of oil for 6-8 minutes per side. 
 10 minutes or so, then slice and slather with butter!

Irish Roasted Supper 
Contrary to popular belief, the ordinary Irishman/woman didn't eat beef -- corned or otherwise.  It was just too expensive.   Beef was the provenance of the English/Irish overlords. This one-pot dish is more representative of what the commoners ate, although I've tarted it up with oregano,  black pepper and a squirt of lemon juice.  Take away the potatoes from potato-blight, and you can see how/why so many Irish starved during the Great Famine of 1845-52!

Cabbage, sliced into 1" wedges
New Potatoes, quartered
Salt
Pepper
Lemon Juice

Spread everything out on a baking tray, spritz with oil, season, and bake/roast @400F for 30-45 minutes until starting to brown a bit. 

It may not look like much in the photo, but it sure is filling, and tasty in a simple, clean way!

Irish Soda Bread
It wouldn't be an Irish celebration without soda bread.  I made my first loaf back in 2016.  Although whole meal flour would be the most common, I made this one with half Whole Wheat and half AP flour.

2-1/2 cups AP Flour
2-1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
3 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
2 cups Buttermilk or whole milk with the juice of a lemon

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Let the milk and lemon juice curdle while you measure the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Make a well and begin adding the 'buttermilk' while stirring with a fork.  When it's all incorporated, dump out onto a floured surfce, and knead the dough a couple minutes into a shaggy loaf, adding a bit of flour if necessary. 

Form into a ball and plop it onto a baking sheet, letting it flatten.  into a dome shape.  Us a sharp knife and cut a 1/2" deep X across the center of the dome, to help with the expansion as the loaf cooks.    Bake about 45 minutes until the internal temp is 190-220F and the crust is nicely browned.  The loaf should 'thump' hollow if you don't have a thermometer.   

Let it cool a bit before slicing.

Extra Credit Recipe
Take the leftovers from your  Irish Roasted Supper, chop them up.  Add a little bit of everything, plus about 67 cups of water and some Bistotm Gravy Crystals to thicken, and make this  Potato & Cabbage Soup!

Pancake Tuesday, Koshari, Chorizo con Patatas y Queso, Mushroom-Manchego Tart

Pancake Tuesday
The traditional "last day before Lent" is in the middle of the Anglo-Saxon cyswuce -- cheese week. I decided to make Stafforshire Oatcakes.

75 gr (2.6 oz) Fine Oat Flour *

75 gr (2.6 oz) Whole Wheat Flour

150 ml (1/2 cup) each Milk and Water

1 Packet Quick-Rise Yeast

Pinch salt

Lemon wedges and confectioner's sugar, or some shaved extra sharp white cheddar (or manchego) for toppings.

Warm the milk and water to blood temp.  Add together the flours and yeast packet and sugar. Pour in the warm liquid (you may not need it all) and make a reasonably thin batter.  Cover and let it rise in a warm place for at least an hour, until nicely risen.

At this point the batter is too thick, so stir in some additional milk and/0r water to thin it out to "crepe" consistancy.

Use about 2/3 cup of batter for each oatcake.  Cook on a lightly sprayed griddle or skillet on medium heat, about 3 minutes per side.  You should get 8-10 oatcakes about 8" in diameter.   Serve savory, with cheese, or sweet with sugar and lemon.  Oh, what the heck -- have some of each!

Koshari
This is a traditional Egyptian street food and family recipe.  Make it from scratch, or like I did using leftover lentils and rice and adding the other ingredients in proportion.  Serves 2:

1 cup cooked Rice  --warmed up
1 cup cooked Lentils -- warmed up
4-6 Tomatoes for sauce
1 can Chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 cup dry Cavatappi macaroni or elbows or shells 
1 large Onion, sliced into strips and dusted with flour
1-2 Tbsp distilled White Vinegar
Cumin -- to taste
Coriander -- to taste
Red Pepper Flakes -- to taste

Cook the pasta to package directions.   While that's going on:

Stem the tomatoes and puree them (the tomatoes, not the stems) in your food processor, until not quite smooth. 

In a small pot heat the chickpeas until warmed.

Caramelize the onions in a skillet until crispy and blackened but not burnt.  Reserve.

Transfer the puree to the same skillet, add the vinegar and spices and cook for 5-6 minutes to marry the flavors.

Layer the rice, lentils,  and chickpeas.  Follow that with the pasta, then pour the warm tomato "gravy" over everything.  Finally, top with the caramelized onions and serve.

Chorizo con Patatas y Queso
Sally got a wonderful block of Manchego cheese and I wanted to find something special to make with it.  This Spanish tapa was just perfect.  Being vegetarians we wouldn't normally 'do' chorizo, but Tofurkeytm  makes a wonderful chorizo-flavored substitute indistinguishable from the real thing... 

When you're buying real chorizo sausage, you want the hard Spanish chorizo which is like salami, not the softer Mexican chorizo which falls apart and becomes just a flavoring...

Chorizo -- removed from casing and fried
Potatoes -- bakers, sliced 3/4" thick and roasted fork tender (30 mins @400F)
Manchego -- slice thin 
Escalivada -- roasted red bell peppers, onions and peeled eggplant (1 small Japanese will do)
Salt, Pepper, and Spanish Paprika to taste

The original recipe calls for you to dollop each potato slice with shredded manchego melted in cream, but I wanted to celebrate the cheese alone.  So I just "shredded" it with my vegetable peeler into long, wide strips.

On each potato lay down the cheese, top with the escalivada, and finish with some sauteed chorizo.

Mushroom-Manchego Tart
More Manchego magic.  Manchego with sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onions and thyme is a flavor-match made in culinary heaven! 

Chickpea Crust
This is my 'go to' pizza crust, just more of it, to make a thicker crust.

1-1/2 cans Garbanzos (save the rest to add to the filling, or for another recipe)
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning blend -- I love Olde Thompson's Everything Italiantm
2 cloves Garlic
2 Eggs
1/3-1/2 cup Parmesan
2-1/2 Tbsp Corn Starch

Filling
12-16 oz sliced Mushrooms
1 large sweet Onion
"some" Spinach 
3-4 oz Manchego
1 Tbsp dried Thyme

Take the chickpeas, corn starch, garlic and seasoning for 10-15 pulses in your food processor.  Add the eggs and Parmesan and pulse/spin into a soft dough.  Press the dough into a 12" tart pan with a wet spatula.   Par-bake the crust at 450F for 20 minutes.  Cool.

While the crust bakes, slice and caramelize the onion is a large skillet.  Reserve.  In the same skillet saute the mushrooms until just beginning to color.  Toss with the thyme and reserve.  Wilt the spinach, covered, in the still warm skillet.  Slice the cheese into wedges, like I did, use a vegetable peeler to make large shreds, or use the large side of a box grater.

Assembly
Lay the wilted spinach down in the bottom of the crust.  Top with the caramelized onions (and leftover chickpeas if any).  Layer on the sauteed mushrooms.  Top with the cheese, and bake again, at 400F for 20 minutes.  

Rest the tart for 5-10 minutes, then slice and serve.

Note:  Check your local grocery stores and megamarts.  Here, I can actually buy 7.75 oz  "half cans" of various veg including chickpeas, black beans, corn, green peas, etc.  I keep a few of each in the pantry for applications just such as this.