Three Many Cooks

Serves up to 24

For the Cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons each: finely grated lemon and orange zest
1/4 teaspoon each: ground cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg
1/2 cup each: golden raisins, dark raisin, and dried cranberries
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1 1/2 cans (8 ounces each) almond paste, divided

For the Almond Buttercream
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 box (1 pound, 4 cups) confectioner’s sugar

Grease a 13- by 9-inch metal pan with vegetable cooking spray. Line pan bottom with parchment. Grease with vegetable cooking spray and the dust with flour, shaking pan to coat evenly. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.

Rub flour, salt, baking powder, zests, and spices by hand in a medium bowl until well incorporated; set aside. Mix dried fruits with a couple tablespoon of the flour mixture; set aside. Beat butter until fluffy; beat in sugar until creamy smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until well combined. Beat in remaining flour to form a smooth batter. Stir in dried fruit; spread half the batter in prepared pan.

On a floured surface, roll 8 ounces of almond paste into an approximate 13- by 9-inch rectangle; lay over batter in pan. Spread remaining batter over almond paste.

Bake until and golden brown and a toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean, 50 minutes to an hour. Turn onto a wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, mix milk and extracts. Beat butter and sugar until well blended; beat in milk mixture to form a smooth, creamy frosting.

Divide remaining almond paste into 12 portions and roll into balls. Frost cake, placing balls around cake perimeter. Garnish as desired with small spring flowers.

Cut into small pieces and serve.

Serves 12

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
16 pitted kalamata olives, chopped coarse
1 thin baguette, sliced thin
1 log (about 10 ounces) goat cheese, sliced crosswise into 3/4-inch thick discs

Place oil and garlic in a Dutch oven; turn heat on medium and cook until garlic starts to sizzle and turn golden. Add tomatoes and olives, bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low, and continue to simmer until sauce is thick enough to mound on a spoon, 10 to12 minutes.

About half hour from serving, adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Place bread rounds in a single layer on a wire rack; bake until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Arrange in a basket.
Turn tomato sauce into a 9-inch round, square, or similar size ovenproof pan; top with goat cheese discs. Bake until bubbly, about 10 minutes. Turn on broiler; cook until goat cheese lightly browns, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Serve.

Makes about 4 dozen

If you like, top these corn tortillas with Coffee-Braised Pulled Pork, a little dollop of sour cream, and a sprinkling of cilantro. If you’re lucky enough to have a tortilla press, now’s your chance to use it! If not, you can just roll them out.

2 cups masa harina
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups water

Mix masa and salt in a medium bowl. Add water; mix thoroughly to form a soft dough that just holds together (if dough seems dry add more water by the teaspoonful).

If you’ve got a tortilla press: Line the both sides of a tortilla press with parchment. Working 1 at a time, measure 2 teaspoons of dough, press dough into a thin 2-inch round. Repeat with remaining dough balls.

If you don’t: Working one at a time, measure 2 teaspoons of dough, rolling it into a rough round. Repeat with remaining dough. (Can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated 2 days.)

When ready to serve, heat an ungreased dry griddle or large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches (you should be able to fit about 12 in a large skillet) cook tortillas, turning once until spotty brown on both sides, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes total. Keep warm in a clean kitchen towel while cooking remaining tortillas. Top as desired and serve.

Serves 2

Large ice cubes
1 large lime, cut into 8 chunks
Bombay Sapphire Gin, stored in the freezer
2 bottles (6.3 ounces each) Q tonic or 1 bottle (10 ounces ) Shweppe’s tonic water

Fill two 12-ounce insulated plastic glasses with ice cubes. Rub each glass rim with a lime chunk; squeeze remaining juice over ice. Add about 1/4 cup of gin  to each glass. Top each with tonic water. Drizzle or “perfume” each drink with a teaspoon or so of gin serve immediately.

Serves 4

We served Osso Buco over this, but this is a great vehicle for any hearty stew or sauce. They sell goat’s milk at most grocery stores–but if you can’t find it, you can just substitute whole milk, half and half or even heavy cream. You can make this with quick polenta, but once you’ve had the real stuff you won’t want to. (I swear!)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup polenta (not quick-cooking)
A couple of ounces gorgonzola (until you can taste it, but it doesn’t overpower)
Hefty handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Splash of goat’s milk
Ground black pepper

Heat oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add onion; sauté until soft. Add water and salt; bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, slowly whisk in the polenta. Reduce heat and simmer gently, stirring very frequently (using a long-handled spoon as polenta bubbles and pops, and can burn), until creamy tender, adding water as necessary, 30 to 40 minutes. Stir in cheeses and milk. When cheese has melted, adjust seasonings, including pepper to taste. Serve.

Makes 2 dozen

I didn’t have any problem rolling the lefse on a heavily floured work surface, but if you do, try rolling them on a heavily floured tea towel wrapped over a large cutting board.

3 pounds medium russet or golden potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon fine salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
Butter, cinnamon sugar, fried bacon and scrambled eggs for rolling

Bring potatoes to boil in a covered Dutch oven or soup kettle. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Drain, peel, and mash the hot potatoes, flavoring them with the butter, cream, and salt. (To peel hot potatoes, hold them with a potholder and use a knife. If using a ricer or food mill, no need to peel them) Cool mashed potatoes to room temperature. (Can cover and refrigerate up to 3 days; return to room temperature.)

When ready to make lefse, stir flour into potato mixture to form smooth stiff dough; divide into scant 1/4-cup portions and cover with plastic wrap.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Stack 2 damp tea towels nearby. On a heavily floured work surface roll a portion of dough into an approximate 10-inch round, flipping and flouring the dough as you roll and re-flouring the surface to prevent dough from sticking. Drop rolled dough into hot skillet; cook until light spotty brown on bottom side and top side has lost its raw look, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Place lefse between towels, stacking them as they’ve cooked. Repeat with remaining dough, rolling one out as another cooks—a rhythm will develop as you work. (Lefse can be cooled to room temperature and stored in zipper-lock freezer bags up to 1 month.)

When ready to serve, set out butter, sugar, and cooked bacon. Heat a skillet (or griddle if serving a crowd) over strong medium. Working one at a time warm lefse quickly, passing them around as they are ready. Serve, letting each person roll up with bacon or scrambled eggs or spread with butter, sprinkle with sugar, and roll.

Here’s the perfect solution for when you don’t have the drive to start from scratch.  This recipe can easily be halved – use a small saucepan.

Serves 4

2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 quart light vanilla soy milk or 2 cups 2% milk mixed with 2 cups water

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 170 degrees.

Mix oats, soy milk or milk and water, and salt in a large saucepan.  Cover and set in oven until milk is absorbed and oatmeal is cooked, 4 hours minimum and up to 12 hours. Stir then dish up and add your favorite toppings.  I love mixed dried fruit, glazed pecans (if you haven’t yet found these at your store, do!), and brown sugar.

We were going to post the recipe for my Cakey-Fudgy-Chewy Brownies this week (we even took a photo and everything!), but our friend Jamie over at My Baking Addiction (http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/amazing-brownies-a-giveaway/) published our recipe and gave us a shout out on her site this week. So, we’re giving her a little link-love back.

Go to her site for Pam’s Cakey-Fudgy-Chewy Brownie recipe. You’ll be glad you did! Her site is beautiful, and the brownies really are incredible.

Serves 4

The tenderloin–the strip of meat attached to a boneless, skinless chicken breast—slows down preparation and complicates cooking. Pull them from each breast half, remove their tendons and sauté them separately.

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon oil
4 boneless chicken breast halves, trimmed of fat and tenderloin removed and pounded with the dull side of chef’s knife until more or less even textured
Salt and ground black pepper
1/4 cup flour measured into a pie plate or other shallow pan
Pan sauce (recipes follow)

Heat butter and oil in an 11-to 12-inch skillet over low heat. While pan is heating, sprinkle chicken breasts and tenderloins on both sides with salt and pepper then dredge in flour.

A couple of minutes before sautéing, increase heat to medium-high. When butter stops foaming and starts to smell nutty brown, arrange chicken breasts, skinned side up, and tenderloins in skillet. Cook, turning only once, until chicken breasts are rich golden brown, about 3 minutes per side (tenderloins will be done a little sooner). Remove chicken from skillet.

Make one of the pan sauces that follow by adding 2/3 cup liquid to the empty skillet; boil until liquid is reduced to about 1/3 cup. Tilting skillet so that reduced liquid is at one side of the pan, whisk in butter until sauce is smooth and glossy. Spoon a portion of sauce over each sautéed chicken breast and serve immediately.

Curried Chutney Pan Sauce

Liquid: 6 tablespoons low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
Flavoring: 2 tablespoons prepared chutney, such as Major Grey’s
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
Fat: 1 tablespoon butter

Measure broth, vinegar, chutney, and curry in a 1-cup Pyrex measuring cup. Follow instructions for making a pan sauce.

Orange-Dijon Pan Sauce With Rosemary

Liquid: 1/2 cup orange juice
Flavoring: 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
Fat: 1 tablespoon butter

Measure juice, mustard, and rosemary in a 1-cup Pyrex measuring cup. Follow instructions for making a pan sauce.

Lemon-Caper Pan Sauce

Liquid: 6 tablespoons low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Flavoring: 2 teaspoons drained capers
Fat: 1 tablespoon butter

Measure broth, lemon juice, and capers in a 1-cup Pyrex measuring cup. Follow instructions for making a pan sauce.

Serves 12

People always love this dish and want to know what makes it so light. It’s Wonderbread! Wonderfully wan, it becomes one with the custard. Don’t settle for anything milder than extra-sharp cheddar.

1 quart half and half
1 dozen eggs
1 teaspoon salt and several freshly ground black pepper
12 to 14 slices cheap fluffy white bread, such as Wonder Bread
12 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 3 cups)
1/2 cup thin-sliced scallions (about 3 medium)

Whisk half and half, eggs, and salt and pepper to taste until smooth.

Spray a 13-by 9-inch Pyrex or ceramic baking dish with vegetable cooking spray. Line pan bottom with 6 slices of bread, fitting in additional bread, cut into strips, to form a tight fit, which keeps the strata from puffing dramatically, and then sprinkle with half the scallions and cheese.  Pour 1 cup of egg mixture over the topped bread. Make another layer with remaining bread –-adding extra strips of bread if necessary–scallions and cheese. Slowly pour remaining egg mixture over bread. Cover with plastic wrap, then weight the casserole with 3 one-pound cans for at least 15 minutes.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Bake until custard is just set, about 50 minutes. Without adjusting oven rack, turn on broiler; broil until strata is spotty brown and puffy, about 5 minutes longer.

Remove from oven, let stand for 8 to 10 minutes, and then serve immediately.