Category Archives: Recipes

Gingerbread apple upside-down cake

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Sarah| Comments Off


This is probably the last thing you want to look at after Thanksgiving. Or maybe not. I guess it depends on how much leftover pie you have in your fridge.

I made this gingerbread apple cake several weeks ago, and the photos have been languishing beside those from dozens of other meals. Despite my silence on this blog, we have actually been eating three meals a day here. And, occasionally, dessert.

This cake would make a fabulous dessert for a holiday party. Look how pretty it is! Usually, at least some part of my cake adheres to the pan when I’m trying to flip it. I’m left with a falling-apart cake and a bunch of crumbs and must decide how to resurrect the thing. How do you think frosting got invented anyway? It’s a cake rescue device.

Anyway, this cake came out ready for a magazine photo shoot. And it was delicious. It kept pretty well in the fridge, too. Why are you still reading? Go buy some apples!

This recipe comes from the Smitten Kitchen blog.

Topping
4 T. butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
Pinch of salt
4 apples (about 1 3/4 pounds), peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch wedges

Batter
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup dark molasses
1/3 cup honey
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/4 cups flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. cinnamon

For the topping:
Preheat your oven to 325 and grease a 10-inch cake pan. Melt four tablespoons butter in a saucepan and add brown sugar. Simmer and stir about four minutes. Add the salt. Pour the caramel into your cake pan, and arrange the apple slices in a layer on top. I had to overlap some of my slices.

For the cake:
Using a mixer, cream half-cup butter and sugar until light and fluffy. In a bowl, mix the egg, molasses, honey and buttermilk. In another bowl, blend the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Alternate adding the two mixtures to the butter mixture in your mixer. Pour the batter into your cake pan, and bake 45 to 50 minutes. Mine even took a bit longer than that. Let your cake cool on a rack for 10 to 15 minutes, then flip it.

The original recipe suggests serving this with a bit of whipped cream, but you could go all out and use vanilla ice cream if you prefer. We did.

Comments Off

Posted in Desserts, Recipes

Greens bruschetta with fried eggs

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Sarah| Comments Off

Can healthy comfort food exist? Is the term an oxymoron? I usually avoid that sort of thing, believing that if I am going to eat a chocolate chip cookie, then I am going to eat the real thing with butter and a lot of sugar. I am not fooled by the fakers with their applesauce and agave nectar. That’s not to say that healthy cookies are bad. They can be good. But only if that is what you seek.

I think this greens bruschetta is getting over into the comfort food area. It’s garlicky and belly warming. But I still felt good about eating it because of that pile of green beneath the egg.

I adapted my recipe from this one at The New York Times.

1 loaf multigrain bread
1 or 2 garlic cloves, depending on your tastes
1 bunch swiss chard or other greens
2 eggs
2 slices fontina or Gruyere cheese

Slice the bread about a half-inch thick and toast it. Then rub each slice of bread with a garlic clove that has been halved. Next, mince the garlic and chop the greens. Heat some olive oil in a skillet and add the garlic. Saute about 30 seconds and then add the greens. Cook for a minute or two, until the greens are wilted. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon the greens onto the toast, and top with the sliced cheese. Crack your eggs into the same pan. Fry the eggs, breaking open the yolks if you’re paranoid about food-borne illness like I am, though I’m sure this tastes better with runny yolks.

Slide your eggs onto the cheese and put the whole thing under your broiler for a couple of minutes until the cheese melts.

I’m sorry that I don’t have a better to picture to share, but I think Greg is tiring of taking photos before every meal. The man actually expects to eat his food while it’s hot. Can you imagine?

Comments Off

Posted in Mains

Salmon with lime butter

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Sarah| Comments Off

Is this a healthy recipe? I’m not sure. I was all set to tell you about how Greg and I have been eating healthy, and I planned to provide this dish as proof. But I can’t think of a way to defend the butter here.

Anyway, Greg and I really have been eating healthy. I am still trying to get off the baby weight. And after all of the fretting I’ve heard from new moms on this topic, I will just say that it is much, much harder to take off the weight when your baby dies. I have seven pounds to go, and I am going to get back into my regular jeans, goshdarnit!

Enough ranting. This salmon recipe comes from Gourmet magazine via Epicurious. Not only is it easy, but that butter will cover up any mistakes you make with the fish, such as way overcooking it, like a certain someone did.

I scaled the original recipe down for our family.

1 pound salmon fillets
zest of one lime

1/2 large garlic clove, chopped
1/8 cup lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted

Season salmon with salt and pepper, then cook over a grill or in a grill pan indoors. When the salmon is done, sprinkle it with lime zest.

For the lime butter, puree garlic, lime juice, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor. Add melted butter and blend until well mixed. Spoon the butter over the fish. And maybe onto your side dishes, too. Or just right into your mouth.

You’ll have to excuse the not-very-precise photo below. The fish close-ups that we took were a little wonky. On a side note, Eleanor has decided that she likes broccoli. I can’t be serious, right? But I am. We are eating broccoli EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Comments Off

Posted in Mains, Recipes