Coconut Pie with Warm Rum Fig Caramel Sauce

"Hunger is the best sauce in the world."

~Cervantes

The fresh fig season here is so short that there are years I don't even see them at the market.  When I spotted some today, I had to buy them even though no recipe was in mind.  Think...think...think....AHA!  Back in March, to conclude dinner at Bonefish in Tampa, the Mister and I had the most wonderful warm coconut pie with rum raisin sauce.  We decided to share since we both love coconut, but then each raced to get the most bites because the rum raisin sauce was so darn good with it!  

Here is my attempt to duplicate it, substituting fresh figs for the raisins.  The warm, sweet, buttery, boozy sauce goes so deliciously with the coconut pie.  Either one could stand on it's own as well.  You could use the sauce on pound cake or ice cream and this pie is delicious warm or cold; as is, or with a dollop of whipped cream.  

I found the pie recipe on Allrecipes and after reading the reviews, made a few changes of my own.  It was easy and came out perfect.  The custard filling didn't run at all.  It was really delicious and will be my go-to coconut pie from now on!  For the fig sauce, I started with a recipe from Food and Wine but used stewed fresh figs instead of plumped raisins.  A little tweaking with butter and salt and I was transported right back to Florida...Ah, food memories.

Coconut Pie 

4 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup cream

1 1/2 cups coconut

1 (9-inch) pie shell  [I'll include my pie crust recipe at end of post if you need it]

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter, softened

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Beat eggs slightly, stir in white sugar, salt and extracts.  Gradually stir in milk and cream.  Add 1 cup of the coconut to the filling, and reserve remaining 1/2 cup for the top.  Pour filling into unbaked pie shell.  Bake pie for 35-40 minutes, or until knife inserted into center comes out clean.  Cool pie completely.  Before serving, mix 1/2 cup coconut with soft butter and brown sugar.  Sprinkle on top of pie.  Broil 3 or 4 inches away from the heat, for 2 - 4 minutes.  Keep your eye on it, because it will burn quickly.

Warm Rum Fig Caramel Sauce

9 fresh figs, stems removed and halved

1 cup water (for stewing figs)

3/4 cup dark rum

3 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

Combine figs and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes; drain.

Pour rum over figs, bring JUST to the boiling point, then remove from heat and set aside.

In a heavy medium saucepan, combine the sugar and 1/2 cup water and cook over moderate heat until a deep amber caramel forms.  Remove from the heat.  Slowly and carefully add a little of the heavy cream to stop the cooking.  Add the remaining heavy cream and stir in the figs (and rum) salt and butter.  Serve warm.

Sauce can be refrigerated for 1 week.  Reheat gently, stirring occasionally, before serving.

In case you are interested, here is my pastry crust recipe for the 9-inch pie shell.

PASTRY for 9-inch PIE

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Crisco (shortening)

5-6 tablespoons ice cold club soda (or gingerale, or water)

In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt.  Using two knives (or pastry blender), cut in shortening until particles are the size of small peas.  Sprinkle flour mixture with water, 1 tablespoon at a time, while tossing and mixing lightly with a fork.  Add water until dough is just moist enough to hold together.  Too much water causes dough to be sticky and tough.  Not enough water and it is difficult to roll out and edges crack.

Form dough first into a ball, then flatten into a disk.  Place on well floured surface.  Sprinkle top of dough with  a little flour.  With a rolling pin, roll dough out into a circle 1 inch larger than your inverted pie plate.  Fold dough in half.  Lift carefully, place in pie plate and unfold.  Trim dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of plate.  Turn dough under at edge and flute using two fingers.

German Crumb Cake, Brooklyn Style

"For a really good crumb cake, you need to have yeast dough."

~Carla (ask.com)

Almost every week growing up, we would have an Entenmann's crumb cake.  I loved those things, and it wouldn't last long in our house.  We made sour cream coffee cake all the time, but it's not the same (although I love that, too!).   Well, years ago, while reading a women's magazine in a doctor's office, there it was.  A crumb cake recipe of German origin, typically made by emigrants in the Brooklyn section of New York.  And guess what?  That little baked-good company my family helped keep in business was a German bakery opened in yes, Brooklyn N.Y. in 1898.  I found what I was searching for!  A couple years ago, I couldn't locate the clipping, and had to do some research to duplicate it, because, although I could remember the ingredients and procedure, I could not remember the exact amounts.   Cook's Illustrated had a recipe that was close, I just had to change an ingredient and tweak the procedure.  

When you read through the recipe, don't be thwarted by using the lemon juice to curdle the buttermilk, that is the magic element that gives it that distinct flavor.  Don't worry, it doesn't end up tasting like lemon or sour or anything like that.  It is just fabulously delicious, moist, buttery and perfectly crumbed.  The cake I made this morning is already gone, except for the one piece I hid for myself for tomorrow morning (don't judge me).  

Also, although it is a yeast dough, it requires no kneading and is just as easy as any sour cream coffee cake, it simply needs time to raise.  Conveniently enough, you can do the second rising in the fridge overnight, and bake it fresh in the morning.  That's what I did!

German Crumb Cake 

Adapted from a Cook's Illustrated recipe

Batter:

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup, plus 1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 large eggs, at room temperature (this is very important)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 cup butter, melted

Crumb Topping:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 teaspoon vanilla

Confectioner's sugar for dusting

In a small saucepan, heat buttermilk until warm to the touch.  Be careful not to let it boil, or get too hot (over 115 degrees) or it will kill the yeast.  Stir in sugar and yeast.  Set aside for about 5 minutes to proof the yeast. It should start to get foamy, which means the yeast is working.

Add lemon juice to yeast mixture and let stand until curdled, about 1 minute.  In a large bowl, add 3 3/4 cups of flour and salt.  Add yeast mixture, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla.  Beat with electric mixer on low until just combined, then continue beating on medium until dough is silky and elastic, about 5 minutes.  Dough will be very sticky.  Leave dough in bowl and sprinkle with two tablespoons flour.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

 Pulse together topping ingredients in a a food processor until many large clumps form.  Transfer to a bowl and chill, covered, until ready to use.  

Grease a 13x9-inch baking dish.  Stir down dough, then spread evenly in the prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle dough with half the crumb mixture, then cover dish with plastic wrap and let rise in a draft free place at warm room temperature until almost doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  (OR place in the fridge to do this second rising overnight.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sprinkle remaining topping evenly over the cake and bake 50-60 minutes, until topping is golden brown.  Cool cake in pan on a rack until barely warm, then dust lightly with confectioner's sugar and cut into squares.  

Pierogies with Fried Cabbage and Bacon

"If you lived on cabbage, you would not be obliged to flatter the powerful." To which the courtier replied, "If you flattered the powerful, you would not be obliged to live upon cabbage."

~Diogenes, ancient Greek philosopher's advice to a young courtier

A few weeks ago, we caught an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives where they were cooking cabbage with bacon and onion.  It was filmed so vividly we could practically smell it and the Mister and I looked at each other like "oh yeah....we've gotta have some of that."  The bug was planted.  He and I love cabbage.  I usually stir-fry it with some garlic salt, fennel seed and a little balsamic vinegar, but this looked even better.  I fished around online until I found something from All Recipes that sounded about right.  

Now, Audrey loves pierogies so that was my choice to round out the dinner.  Little did I think she would eat the cabbage, and I was greatly surprised when she poked her head in the pot and mentioned how good it smelled and that she would try it, and later, that she liked the cabbage dish better than the pierogies. That it was the first time she ever enjoyed vegetables so much.  There you have it.  The best endorsement I can give you.  

I purchased the potato and cheese pierogies fresh at the market, boiled them for one minute, then sauteed them in a little butter for a few minutes on each side, until they were lightly browned, then set them in the oven to keep warm while I made the cabbage.

Fried Cabbage with Bacon

From All Recipes.com

6 slices bacon, chopped

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

I large head cabbage, cored and sliced

2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon paprika

Place the bacon in a large stock and cook over medium-high heat until crispy, about 10 minutes.  Add the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion caramelizes; about 10 minutes.  Immediately stir in the cabbage and continue to cook and stir another 10 minutes.  Season with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. 

Great served with pierogies and sour cream.

Serves 4.

The Irish Mother: Raisin Bran Granola Cinnamon Buns

The Irish Mother: Raisin Bran Granola Cinnamon Buns: "Now for the tea of our host, now for the rollicking bun, now for the muffin and toast, now for the gay Sally Lunn!" ~William Shakespeare ...

Raisin Bran Granola Cinnamon Buns

"Now for the tea of our host, now for the rollicking bun, now for the muffin and toast, now for the gay Sally Lunn!"

~William Shakespeare

In June, Gale Collier (of Oregon) won the 2011 Festival of Breads amateur bread baking contest in Kansas with a recipe for quick raisin granola breakfast rolls, in the quick and easy category.  I set the recipe aside to try in the fall since it reminded me of something you would find at a Bed and Breakfast in Vermont.

Well, yesterday I started to make them and only then noticed it was a bread machine recipe, so I had to play with it since I don't use a bread machine.  While converting it, a thought occurred to use the dough for a more wholesome cinnamon bun.  They came out great and were especially delicious sliced, toasted and buttered.  Although they reminded me of a cross between a bowl of oatmeal and a cinnamon roll, Audrey wasn't buying it.  She clearly prefers the original, old fashioned cinnamon roll.  

I liken it to comparing ice cream to frozen yogurt.  Is frozen yogurt good?  Yes.  Is it as good as ice cream....um...no.  A classic cinnamon bun from Cinnabon has about 880 calories.  One of these raisin bran granola cinnamon buns would be about *500.  That's a significant difference, but for me it was the whole-grain boost that got my attention.  I liked them enough that I would make them again for sure and thought they were worth sharing with you.  The sinful ones will be reserved for special occasions, such as Christmas breakfast or brunch, where they are a tradition.  
If you have a bread machine, feel free to follow the link to the original directions.  

Raisin Bran Granola Cinnamon Buns 

Dough:

1 cup raisin bran cereal

1 cup cinnamon raisin granola

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon honey

2 cups buttermilk, at room temp, or warmed gently

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups bread flour

1 1/3 cups wheat pastry flour

1 package active dry yeast

Filling:

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Topping:

1 cup granola, crushed

1 egg white, beaten

Place raisin bran and granola in a large plastic bag.  Using a rolling pin or meat mallet, finely crush cereal.

If your buttermilk is cold, place in a saucepan on low and gently warm it (not to exceed 110 degrees), just til it is warm to the touch.  Do not let it get too hot or boil!  Stir in butter, brown sugar and honey and yeast; set aside.

In a large bowl, add crushed cereals, 2 1/2 cups bread flour, 1 1/3 cups wheat pastry flour and 1 teaspoon salt.  Stir in wet ingredients.  On a large cutting board or kneading surface, add 1 cup of bread flour, spread out a bit.  Turn dough onto the flour.  Sprinkle more flour on top of dough and knead for 5 minutes, adding more bread flour as needed.  Place dough in an oiled bowl and turn to coat all sides.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free room.  Let rise for one hour or until doubled in bulk.

Grease a 13x9 inch baking pan.  Punch down dough and pat 12x12 inch square.  Spread square evenly with butter and then sprinkle on the brown sugar and cinnamon, distributing evenly.  Roll dough up and pinch end to seal.  Slice roll into eight equal pieces.

Beat egg white in a shallow bowl.  Placed crushed granola in another shallow bowl.  Dip each roll top and side in egg white and then in crushed granola.  Place in prepared pan.  Cover pan with plastic wrap and let rise for an hour or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake rolls for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.


*caloric data calculated thusly:  One batch of original rolls makes 16 rolls at 194 calories each.  The same amount of dough made 8 cinnamon buns, so they would be 388 each, plus an extra 112 for the butter and sugar filling.

Beef Empanadas with Black Bean Dipping Sauce

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song over hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

~J. R.R. Tolkien

I'm a little behind.  I seem to be making a lot of recipes that I discovered in June.  I suppose it could be worse.  They could be the recipes I discovered in 1996 and have been meaning to get to.  Seriously... I have a big backlog.  This one was a great discovery.  It was in the June edition of Bon Apetit.  

Football season caught me by surprise last weekend, but this Saturday, I'll be prepared!  We love to have little gatherings on game days, and food always plays a part in the good times.  

I was skeptical of the bean dipping sauce, but went with it anyway.  It was surprisingly good.  Even Audrey, who begged off while I was serving it, dipped her finger in for a taste and changed her mind.

For something that looked rather plain, these empanadas evoked quite a response from my two dinner co-horts.  The Mister exclaimed "DAMN!" or rather, "daaay-yum."  When I said I thought they'd be great for game day,  he responded "you'll have to make dozens."  Audrey was equally effusive in her comments, even regarding the bean dip, concluding with "These are a new favorite.  You need to make them again."  And I just might...this Saturday for the Notre Dame vs. Michigan State game (go Irish!).

Beef Empanadas with Black Bean Dipping Sauce

Recipe from Grace Bay Club in Turks and Caicos, as presented by Bon Apetit

Makes 12.

Beef Empanadas

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1/2 pound ground beef

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/3 cup fresh cilantro (I didn't have any, so I used parsley)

[I added 1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar to mine]

Salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 17.3 ounce packages frozen puff pastry (3 sheets) thawed

3 large egg yolks, beaten (for glaze)

Dipping Sauce
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup sour cream

2 Roma tomatoes, seeded, chopped and divided

2 large scallions, chopped, divided

salt and pepper

Beef Empanadas: Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Add beef and garlic; cook, stirring often and breaking into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until beef is cooked, about 3 minutes.  Add tomato paste, cumin, and cayenne.  Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring often, to let flavors meld, about 4 minutes.  Add cilantro; season to taste with salt and pepper.  Let filling cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Cut each pastry sheet into 4 squares, for a total of 12.  Lightly brush edges of squares with glaze.  Spoon filling into the center of each [I chose to add a little grated cheddar at this step], dividing equally.  Fold edges over, forming triangles, and press to seal.  Crimp edges with a fork.  Divide triangles between sheets.  Brush tops with glaze.  DO AHEAD: Can be prepared 6 hours in advance.  Cover and chill.

Bake until tops are puffed and golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Dipping Sauce

Meanwhile, puree beans and sour cream in blender until smooth.  Transfer to a medium bowl.  Stir in half of tomatoes and half of scallions.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle remaining tomatoes and scallions over.

Pumpkin Spice Cake, Made Healthier

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion."

~Henry David Thoreau

If you stop here often, you'll probably notice a couple recurring themes.  They both happened to come together for this recipe.  One is that I hate to waste anything, the other is that I'm updating recipes to include more whole grains.  Last weekend, when I cleaned out the pantry and spice cupboards I found a can of pumpkin about to expire.  I left it out to remind myself to use it and handling all the spices brought this cake to mind.  My recipe is nearly 25 years old.  It's a spoon cake that is so moist and delicious you can't believe how easy it is.  At the bottom of this post, I'll give you the circa 1987 recipe, but first I'll give you the healthier version of it.  I added half wheat pastry flour and cut the white sugar by adding some honey and molasses, giving it a slight gingerbread undertone.

White flour uses only the endosperm of the wheat grain, whereas whole wheat pastry flour uses the entire wheat grain, so you're not exactly making it whole grain, but it does increase the nutritional value of the cake. It darkened up the crumb a little, but didn't make it heavy or grainy.  Next time I'll try it using all wheat pastry flour.  This cake is really packed with pumpkin and when you consider how rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals pumpkin is, you may want to have it as a snack more often.  After all, it's almost guilt-free cake. It would be great with raisins and nuts, but I left them out, so Audrey would eat it.  You could omit the cream cheese frosting and simply give it a dusting of confectioner's sugar.  That would make it easier to pack in lunches and more acceptable as breakfast treat too, although the frosting wouldn't stop me at breakfast.  

Pumpkin Spice Cake, Made Healthier, a recipe by Margaret Murphy Tripp

1 large bundt cake or 13x9 inch pan

1 29-ounce can of plain pumpkin

1 cup oil

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup honey

2 tablespoons molasses

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups wheat pastry flour

1 1/4 cups white flour

1/4 cup crystalized ginger, chopped fine

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a large bundt pan, tube pan or 13x9 inch pan.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, add the first 8 ingredients and whisk together.  In a medium size bowl, add the remaining ingredients and stir together.  Add dry ingredients to wet and stir together just until combined.  Pour batter into prepared pan.  Make sure you have 1/2 inch room at top of pan.  If there is extra batter, use it for mini-loaf or a couple muffins.  Bake cake for 60-75 minutes or until a knife or cake tester comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes, then turn out of pan (if bundt cake).  Cool completely.  Dust with confectioner's sugar or spread with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened

3/4 of a one-pound box of confectioner's sugar

In a medium bowl, cream together butter and cheese.  Beat in confectioner's sugar.  

Original Pumpkin Spice Cake, circa 1987

3 cups pumpkin

3 cups sugar

1 cup oil

2/3 cup water

4 eggs

3 1/2 cups flour

1 cup walnuts

1 tablespoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl stir together first four ingredients.  In a medium bowl, stir together remaining dry ingredients.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, stir just until moistened.  Pour into prepared pan.  Bake for one hour and 15 minutes to one hour and 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into center comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes, turn out of pan (if bundt cake) and let cool completely.  Dust with confectioner's sugar or frost with cream cheese frosting.

Salmon Cakes with Garlic Chili Aioli

"When you feel neglected, think of the female salmon, who lays 3,000,000 eggs but no one remembers her on Mother's Day."

~Sam Ewing

Three weeks ago, I had some company for one of our favorite dinners, salmon steaks with teriyaki barbeque glaze.  A couple people couldn't make it, therefore, at the end of the night I had two beautiful, one-inch thick salmon steaks.  I hate to waste anything these days, so this recipe for salmon cakes immediately sprang to mind.  I remembered seeing it on the wonderful blog, One Perfect Bite in July.  Mary, the blog author, has great recipes and is extremely prolific.  I don't know how she does it!  The garlic chili aioli sauce is my own recipe that I threw together that night just to go with the cakes and it was so good, I had to write it down.

Crab cakes are something I love to order in a good restaurant, but I've never had salmon cakes before.    Put aside all preconceived notions (I had bad ones).  These were amazing.  There were only two things I did differently from Mary's recipe.  One was that I used salmon steaks that had been grilled (instead of poached) and refrigerated overnight.  The other was to coat the patty in bread crumbs before pan-searing them.  If you do this, be sure to use homemade or plain panko breadcrumbs.  The batter for these is very wet, and it's supposed to be.  They firm up as you cook them. The key is always to use as little breadcrumbs in the batter as possible, so don't be tempted to add more.   The salmon should be the star.  I stirred them very, very gently so there would be big flakes in them and they came out, well, I know I said this before, but amazing.  Everybody loved them, and the garlic chili aioli, too.  After dinner, the Mister exclaimed they were better than crab cakes and said "note to self: BUY EXCESS SALMON."  Last week, a few days before we lost power, we did just that.  Only this time we grilled the salmon specifically so we could have these the next night.  That's how good they are.  Definitely NOT leftovers....way too good for that!!!  But if find yourself with extra salmon...hey...treat yourself.  You deserve it.

Please visit Mary's blog here for the recipe for salmon cakes.

Here is my recipe for garlic chili aioli:

Garlic Chili Aioli

a recipe by Margaret Murphy Tripp

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cloves of garlic, minced or run through press

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic chili sauce (found in the asian food aisle)

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

Stir together all ingredients in a bowl.  Serve with salmon cakes, crab cakes or in place of mayo on a sandwich.  Heck, live on the edge...dip your fries in it.

Welcome to the Dark Side

"Anyone who says they're not afraid at the time of a hurricane is either a fool or a liar, or a little bit of both. "

~Anderson Cooper

Life at our house for 5 days

Hurricane Irene slams into the East Coast, Aug 28 2011
Photo by NASA

If you're wondering why the blog has stalled in silence this past week, you can blame Irene.  Hurricane Irene. 

Sunday morning, August 28th, we were expecting her and lost power about 6 a.m. just as we were getting up, curious to watch the storm the media had hyped all week.  Watching out the window, it didn't seem too bad, really.  The action seemed to wrap up mid-afternoon, so we went for a walk around the neighborhood.

Tree down

Tree down across the road (one of many!)

Snapped telephone pole

Ka-POW!  This tree looks like it exploded!

Tree on a power line, (the bugger!!!)

Now that's torque, Baby!

Still windy by the ocean

We lost power at 6 a.m. on Sunday, and it was not restored until 2 a.m. Friday.  FIVE WHOLE DAYS....Lordy.  Wandered into Panera on Monday morning for coffee, because of all things....I NEED coffee....real-good-coffee, or I get cranky, I admit it.  But when I read in the paper what the folks in upstate New York and Vermont were going through with all the flooding, I knew we had it easy comparatively and that we should just suck it up and not complain.  I tried really hard to stay positive, but by Wednesday I was starting to lose it.   SO happy to be back with you :-).