Whoopie Pies

Courtesy of Epicurious.com

I love the idea of whoopie pies. They’re a cake, a cookie, a sandwich, and kind of a cupcake all in one. Whichever dessert you prefer, this one covers it. Sort of a crowd pleaser, if you will. While the traditional flavor is chocolate with vanilla buttercream, there are plenty of other variations that are just as tasty. Pumpkin. Gingerbread. Golden Vanilla. Red Velvet. Peanut butter. Chocolate Chip Cookie. The fillings are typically buttercream, cream cheese, marshmallow fluff, but they can be a whole host of other flavorings.

The list goes on and for good reason. It’s a simple concept of two mini cakes sandwiching a filling. The cake batter can be just about anything as can the creamy inside. Consider a strawberry shortcake version by adding strawberries to the vanilla buttercream and a little red food coloring to the golden vanilla batter. That’s just pink heaven right there. Or, make the chocolate cakes with a mint cream filling adding crushed peppermint sticks. Perfect for the holidays. These are just two examples of how creative you can get with the recipe.

Doing a little digging, it appears the whoopie pie is a Northeastern phenomenon. Often held as a New England tradition as well as a Pennsylvanian Amish favorite, it also happens to be the state treat of Maine. No joke. I wasn’t even aware that certain states had declared favorite foods, but whatever works. There is debate as to the birth place, but either way it is a Northern dessert harking back to probably the early 1920s.

I searched through a bunch of different recipes for whoopie pies, so this recipe is a representation of the most common ingredients and methods. One thing I will add about the buttercream: make sure you use more confectioner’s sugar than milk. My cream was initially too thin. It sort of oozed off the sides of the chocolate cakes. That’s not what you want. Ideally, the buttercream should be stiff enough to hold up the top cake and remain intact. Just add more confectioner’s sugar if you feel the filling just isn’t the right consistency.

The other misstep I made with this recipe was in the cooking process. I baked the cakes at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. That worked to actually cook the batter all the way through. But, the rest of the cake was continuing to rise while the upper layer had already baked causing it to crack on the top. You want a smooth cake mound. So, the next time I might try to go low and slow. I’ve changed the recipe here to reflect that. Take the temperature down to 350 degrees and bake for 15-18 minutes on the middle rack in your oven. Using a cake tester, make sure it is baked through. If not, just pop it back in for another minute or two.

Here’s the recipe:

For the pies:

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. granulated sugar

3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 lg. egg

1 c. buttermilk, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the buttercream:

1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

4 c. confectioner’s sugar

1/4 c. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, buttermilk, and vanilla. Combine well. Gradually, add the dry ingredients until fully incorporated.

Using two large spoons (like a serving spoon or soup spoon), make a rounded mound of batter and place on the parchment, about 12 per pan. (Note: an ice cream scoop is often suggested to use here. But unless you have one with a scraper on the inside, it doesn’t quite work. You need something to push the batter onto the parchment.) Bake for 15-18 minutes or until done. Cool on a rack. 

For the buttercream, cream butter until smooth. Gradually, add the confectioner’s sugar. Mix until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla and thoroughly combine. Add more sugar if consistency is too thin.

You can spread the buttercream on the cake or use a disposable pastry bag and pipe the contents onto each cake. Top with the other half.

Serve and enjoy!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

This is quite possibly my favorite dessert. That’s not to say that there aren’t other desserts out there equally as yummy. But this one is sumptuous, yet simple with only a few ingredients to its name. Fine quality chocolate and egg whites are the stars of this recipe. While it’s gluten-free because of its lack of wheat-based flour, that aspect is almost irrelevant because its texture is so dense and chocolatey. 

There are a number of theories as to the cake’s origin. Most of them revolve around a mistake in leaving out the flour. Some say it originated in Italy, others France. Still others refer to its “Chocolate Decadence” days from a California restaurant in the 1980s. A New York Times article in 2011 focused more on the flavor than the history and broke it down this way: “It is a wonderful showcase for good chocolate…[and it compares] to cheesecake, where the chocolate takes place of the cheese.” 

One of the best recipes I have found for this cake appeared in Bon Appetit in 1999. I have made it a number of times since then. Now, this recipe not only calls for a ganache glaze—which for supreme chocolate lovers is just about enough chocolate in each mouthful—as well as gold leafing (can anyone say overkill?). While the ganache makes this cake truly decadent, I find it’s an easy addition to skip. Very often, this cake is topped with just a dusting of powdered sugar, which frankly I prefer. The simpler, the better. Feel free to add a little fruit—a few raspberries, a decorative strawberry, or even roasted, caramelized blood orange slices and call it a day. 

Here’s the recipe for both cake and ganache:

For cake:

12 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 sticks of butter (3/4 c.) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

6 large eggs, separated

12 TB sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

For glaze:

1/2 c. whipping cream

1/2 c. dark corn syrup

9 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Chocolate shavings or gold leaf (seriously optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 9-inch springform pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper and butter paper. Wrap outside of pan with foil.

Stir butter and chocolate chips in saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and cool.

Using electric mixer, beat egg yolks and 6 TB of sugar in a large bowl until mixture is very thick and a pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Fold lukewarm chocolate into yolks and then fold in vanilla. Clean beaters and whip egg whites in a separate bowl forming soft peaks. Gradually add the remaining 6 TB of sugar to the whites, further beating until stiff peaks form. Fold whites into chocolate and yolk mixture, then pouring batter into the prepared pan.

Bake cake until top is puffed and cracked and a cake tester comes out clean, approximately 50 min. Cool cake on rack. Gently press down crusty top once it falls to make an evenly thick cake. Loosen from pan and remove sides. Invert and peel off parchment.

In a saucepan, bring cream and corn syrup to a simmer. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Place cake on a rack over a baking sheet. Spread the glaze smoothly over the top and side and then freeze for 3 min to set. Pour remaining glaze over cake smoothing it out and chill for 1 hour in refrigerator until firm, 1 hour. Garnish optional. Serve at room temperature.

Chicken Marbella

Courtesy of The New York Times

Chicken with dried fruits in wine. That’s basically the recipe that got its fame from The Silver Palate Cookbook first published in 1982. But then cut to 2005 when renowned chef Ferran Adrià, who put the now defunct elBulli on the gastronomical map, gave his version of this chicken dish with dried apricots and sour cherries. In 2018, Israeli-British chef Yotam Ottolenghi produced his latest cookbook, Simple, with his version of the Silver Palate recipe. 

Ottolenghi uses dates instead of the prunes the Palate calls for. Adrià uses port with a cinnamon stick rather than the dry white wine of the Palate recipe. Ottolenghi and Palate call for green olives and capers. Adrià replaces those with citrus zest. Regardless of ancillary ingredients, this is a basic recipe of chicken with dried fruit with a savory foil to balance the sweetness. It is meant to be marinated ahead of time and then cooked in its own juices to further infuse those flavors into the meat. You could switch out the chicken for lamb or pork in this recipe. But I think the chicken is the best canvas for this kind of flavor profile.

While many attribute the recipe to the cuisine of southern Spain and the town of Marbella, it actually has its origins in the Silver Palate. The cookbook’s main recipe creator is co-author Sheila Lukins. She has claimed that the Mediterranean was an inspiration for the dish, but a dish she can call her own. And it was so good, two top chefs put their creative energy into it.

Here’s the recipe I used:

8 chicken thighs

Juice of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 lime

Juice of 1 orange

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 c. dried oregano (or 1/2 c. of fresh oregano)

3 TB pomegranate vinegar

1/2 c. olive oil

3 TB capers

3 TB pine nuts

1/4 c. Medjool dates, quartered

1/4 c. dried cherries

2 bay leaves

1/2 c. dry white wine

2TB parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

In a separate bowl, combine the chicken with 1/4 c. of olive oil along with the lemon and lime juices, bay leaves, and 1/8 c. of the dried oregano. Also add a 1/2 tsp. of salt. Let sit for as little as 2 hours and as much as 24—the longer you marinate the better. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk together the vinegar, white wine, orange juice, garlic, and the remainder of the olive oil and dried oregano. In a baking dish, place the marinated chicken and dried fruit. Pour the liquids over the chicken. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Serve immediately on a platter garnished with parsley.

Seafood Chowder

When the weather starts to turn gray and dismal, there’s nothing more satisfying than a hearty bowl of soup. It’s like a little ray of sunshine in your bowl. As a lifetime New Englander, seafood chowder is something I can’t get enough of. Don’t be surprised if you catch me eating even in the summer.

The best part of seafood chowder is it’s really just New England clam chowder. But, you can add whatever fish you’d like. Lobster. Shrimp. Langoustine. Crab. Scallops. Clams. Muscles. Cod. Halibut. Frankly, anything that swims. 

Chowders typically start with a roux of butter and flour. But, there are plenty of chowder-type soups and stews that are more broth-based and just as hearty. Think bouillabaisse—it’s a seafood blend with fennel in a tomato broth. Try another tomato dish with Manhattan clam chowder. And, the Rhode Island version also has no roux, just clam juice as its base.

For this recipe, I used not only a mirepoix of onions, carrots, and celery but a flavor point that started with bacon. Cooking the chopped bacon off and using the rendered fat, I could soften the diced veg nicely. Adding thyme and parsley, I snuck in a little knob of butter. Sifting the flour over the top, I stirred it to thicken. Adding chicken stock and a little wine, the base was now ready for an infusion of milk and cream. Corn kernels made the dish come alive as I’m sure peas would have been a good addition (if my kids didn’t hate peas). You could even leave this dish alone with just the corn and call it chowder. The sky’s the limit!

Here’s the recipe:

1/2 c. bacon, chopped

1 large onion, diced

2 large carrots, diced

3-4 ribs of celery diced

1 c. corn kernels

1 c. lobster

2 c. langoustine

1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. white wine

2 c. chicken stock

2 c. milk

1 c. cream

3 TB fresh thyme

3 TB fresh parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, heat the bacon over medium heat until browned and the fat has been rendered. Remove the bacon using the fat for the onions. Once the onions have become translucent, add the carrots and the celery. Cook until soft. Add the flour to thicken. Stir in wine and chicken stock until all the flour has been incorporated. Add the milk and the cream. Once the chowder has started to come back up to temperature, add the remaining ingredients and cook for another 15 minutes.

Serve with a side salad and crusty baguette for a hearty lunch!

Mushroom Galette

Sure, a picture of the WHOLE thing would have been nice...

When you hear that little French word, “galette,” you might think more of dessert than you would a main meal. But, this rustic tart form is pretty versatile. It can be as sweet or as savory as you’d like to make it.

While generally the dough is rolled out like a flat pancake, it folds over the top of whatever filling you desire. My favorite dessert has always been an apple galette. Far quicker and easier than an actual pie, it still has that apple pie taste and surely a good pairing for a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

While a galette is lovely served at the end of a meal, it can be the meal as well. In this dish, I used a combination of caramelized onions and shitake mushrooms. Once the mixture is cooled from the sauté pan, spoon onto the rolled out dough and fold the sides over the top adding a little egg wash for a nice golden brown.

 Here’s the recipe:

For the dough:

2 1/4 c. flour

1 c. butter, diced

1 egg, plus 1 egg and water for egg wash

1 TB white wine vinegar

Ice water

For the filling:

1 c. shitake mushrooms

1 c. thinly sliced onions

1 TB butter

1 TB olive oil

1/4 c. fresh thyme

1/4 c. parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place the dough ingredients in a food processor and pulse until fully combined. Place on a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes. Wrap ball in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

In the meantime, heat skillet on medium high and then add butter and oil. Once melted, add the onions, thyme, parsley, salt, and pepper. When the onions have become soft and translucent, add the mushrooms, cooking down until the liquid has reduced. Set aside and cool.

Roll out dough onto a floured surface. Make sure the dough is evenly distributed and wide enough to fold over (approximately 10-12” diameter). Place the filling in the middle 2/3 of the dough. Fold the tops over leaving the filling in the middle uncovered. Brush egg wash on the dough before popping it into the oven.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve immediately. 

Bourbon Balls

My first foray into any kind of holiday “ball” recipe did not go as planned. Wanting to give friends and family a yummy treat, I came across a recipe that sounded wonderful. It had rum in it. What’s not to like?

The problem was, as I soon found out, that the recipe was extremely dry. In order to make any ball, you’ve got to have enough moisture to form the dough. It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking rum, bourbon, whiskey, or cognac. Pick your poison, but the end result is still the same. Not enough liquid, no ball. So, I kept adding rum. And more rum. And more rum. Those balls were enough to knock you on your ass just by smelling them.

This year, I tried the Mast Brothers’ Bourbon Balls recipe. Simple ingredients: vanilla wafers, pecans, cocoa powder, bourbon, and confectioner’s sugar for dusting. I wanted to make sure that I had enough liquid, so I zested and juiced two clementines to give it a little more sweetness and a citrus kick.

With the unsweetened cocoa, the raw flavor was dark and a little bitter. The dusting of sugar on the outside is a must to offset that nicely. These are perfect end for a dinner party or to have on hand for cocktail party munchies. The best part is they can be made ahead, so no stress when you’re working on other parts of your meal before the guests arrive.

Here’s the recipe:

4 c. vanilla wafer cookies (one box)

1 c. pecans

1 c. Confectioners’ sugar

1 TB. cocoa powder

1/2 c. bourbon

Juice and zest of 2 clemetines

Mix cookies, pecans, 3/4 c. sugar and cocoa powder in a food processor. Add bourbon and clementine juice and combine. Roll mixture into small balls. Roll in sugar to coat.

In Defense of Brine

In a pre-Thanksgiving article in the New York Times, wet brining was declared passé in favor of dry brining. But was either one really in? Isn’t it just a matter of choice based on what you think tastes best? 

Every Thanksgiving, I get a turkey from a farm in my area about 20 minutes away the day before so the bird can spend a full 24-hours in a wet solution. With enough water and ice to cover in a cooler, I add a bottle of white wine, chicken stock, a handful of bay leaves, 1/4 cup of black peppercorns,  4 large garlic cloves, an herb bundle of rosemary, thyme, and sage, a 1 cup of kosher salt and a 1/2 cup of sugar. After the brine, I rinse out the bird patting it dry. I salt it inside and out drizzling it with a heavy hand of olive oil. I stuff a halved lemon and more fresh herbs inside. With the grill on high, the bird is breast side down for a half hour in a racked roasting pan. Turning the heat down to medium and flipping over the bird breast side up, cook for another few hours depending on weight. (Our 20-pound bird usually takes about four hours.)

What we get is a tasty, moist mouthful of meat, not sawdust. Would I get that kind of juicy morsel if I dry brined with salt, butter or oil, herbs, spices? Probably.

It’s not about what you do to the bird, it’s that you do it at all. Plain meat of any kind—beef, poultry, pork—when unseasoned just doesn’t taste good. Sure, you can cook it well. But it still won’t taste right without all of that salt, fat, and acid to enhance the flavor.

Wet or dry, you are essentially marinating your meat. It’s just your choice how you’d like to do that. If the goal is a juicy turkey, this is a great way to get it.

Here’s my recipe for wet brine:

75 qt. Rubbermaid cooler, lined with a large contractor bag

1 20 lb. turkey, fresh and preferably organic

4 1 lb. bags of ice

Enough water to cover turkey

1 bottle of dry white wine

4 c. chicken stock

1 c. kosher salt

1/2 c. turbinado sugar

1/4 c. bay leaves

1/4 c. black peppercorns

6 large garlic cloves, smashed with peel removed

1 lemon, halved

Fresh sprigs of rosemary, thyme, and sage

Place turkey in cooler lined with contractor bag. Fill it with enough water that it just covers the turkey breast. Put in two bags of ice, reserving the other two to sit on top of the cooler to not only secure the lid but to keep it cool during the brine. Pour in wine, stock, salt, sugar, bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic, and herbs. Let sit for 24 hours. Then, remove the turkey from the brine and dispose of the liquid. Pat turkey dry and salt the inside. Drizzle outside with olive oil and coat with salt and pepper. Place in roasting rack breast side down for first 30 minutes on high, lower heat to medium turning bird over, and cook for another 3- 3 1/2 hours until meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.

Bon appétit!