Shhh! Sweet Pickles and Secret Restaurant Recipes

So, the other day the book Secret Restaurant Recipes (from the World's Top Kosher Restaurants) arrived at my door.

Hmmm. Did I request this? Win this? 

I'm trying to get all my holiday ducks in a row so I can actually take a few days off, so I've been a little scattered. And some days I just don't remember what I emailed to whom.

In any case, I didn't pay for this book, and I'm fairly certain it came from the publisher and not some secret admirer.

These restaurant-compilation books are always fun because the recipes are usually so varied. Not only different restaurants and chefs, but they're choosing a small sample of their recipes. There was everything from salad to dessert, and a lot in between. Simple and complicated. Common ingredients and not so common.

One recipe that caught my fancy was a recipe for sweet pickles from a restaurant called Milt's Barbecue for the Perplexed in Chicago.

For one thing, I used to live in Chicago. And for another, I love pickles of all kinds.

These pickles looked a lot like the bread and butter pickles that my mom made when I was a kid, with a few interesting differences. For one thing, I had to blend an onion, which then became part of the pickling liquid.

But just like the pickles my mom made, and some of the ones I've made since then, these included turmeric, which turned the liquid a brilliant yellow and colored the pickles and onions as well.

The recipe was supposed to make 1 quart of pickles, but I decided to cut in in half. Refrigerator space is at a premium right now, and I simply figured that a pint would be a good enough test.

So, I cut everything neatly in half ... and ended up with a quart-and-a-half of pickles. Hmmm. That's odd. My first thought was that we understood English cucumbers to be different things, and I had way more cucumber than I should have.

But that doesn't seem likely, since the ratio of pickle to onion seemed right in my jars. If I had used that much less cucumber, I would have ended up with pickled onions with some cucumbers thrown in.

And that wouldn't be right.

I suspect that what happened was that someone took a restaurant-sized recipe and cut it way back to an amount that could be made in a home kitchen. And then they looked at the giant bucket of restaurant quantity pickles and figured that if if was divided, it would be about a quart.

When I made this, I left out one thing - it called for 1 teaspoon of pickling spice, which would have been 1/2 teaspoon when I divided it. My pickling spice includes large shards of bay leaves that wouldn't have fit in a half-teaspoon, along with mustard seeds that are already in the recipe, and some scattered allspice berries. I figured that if I tried to get a half-teaspoon of pickling spice, I'd end up with mustard seeds and not much else.

These pickles were really good, similar to the ones mom made, but with a little more onion flavor. And although these are called sweet pickles, they have a good bit of tartness, too. Which is perfect for me.

I'm looking forward to seeing how these change over the next few weeks.

Sweet Pickles
Adapted from Secret Restaurant Recipes (from the World's Top Kosher Restaurants) 
by Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek
From Milt's Barbecue for the Perplexed; Chef/owner Bryan Gryka
Note: according to the book this makes 1 quart; based on my result,it should yield 3 quarts

The square-ish container is by OXO.

2 yellow onions, divided
1 cup white vinegar
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons pickling salt
1 teaspoon pickling spice (I omitted this)
3 English cucumbers, sliced

Cut the first yellow onion into small chunks and add it to a saucepan along with the vinegars. Use a stick blender to puree the onion. (You can also puree the onion in a food processor or blender)

Add the sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, turmeric, red pepper flakes, pickling salt, and pickling spice. Bring to a simmer.

Put the cucumbers in a stainless steel bowl. Slice the second onion as desired and add it to the cucumbers.

When the vinegar mixture comes to a boil, pour it over the cucumbers and onions and give it a stir. Place a plate or another bowl on top of the cucumbers to weight them down a little to keep them below the liquid and set aside until it has cooled to room temperature, then transfer to jars or other storage containers. Cover and refrigerate.

These are ready to sample as soon as they cool, but they're better after 24 hours (particularly the onions) and they'll continue to pickle over the next week or two.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher.

A different sort of root beer float (and some Kosher and gluten-free goodies)

I get some pretty interesting press releases. One of them said:

Gluten Free products have become a popular trend, and is a diet not just followed by consumers with Celiac disease or another gluten allergy. I thought your readers should know that Manischewitz, the leader in Kosher foods, has expanded its line of Kosher products that are Gluten Free. Since Gluten Free products are acceptable for Passover, these new releases coincide with the holiday which begins on Monday, March 25 and most are available year-round.

Well, okay then. I'm not following a gluten-free diet, and I'm not Jewish, but for some reason this intrigued me. I like niche foods, and the Manischewitz brand it pretty familiar to me. I remember my mother buying noodles and horseradish ... and maybe something else as well.

So I said, sure, send me some stuff and I'll have some fun with it. I had no idea what to expect.

First, let me say that one of the good things about having my husband home is that we can taste things together. The first thing we tore into was Guiltless Gourmet Exotic Root Chips (all natural, Pareve, soy, and lactose free).

There were four different types of chips in the bag - sweet potato, taro, yuca, and batata. There were pink chips, brownish chips, and some potato-chip-colored chips. I think the sweet potatoes were the browninsh ones. To be honest, they all tasted pretty similar, but there were some different textures which, along with the crazy pink color, made these more interesting than standard chips.

I thought the biscotti was interesting. These familiar cookies are available for Passover in two flavors - chocolate walnut and cranberry pistachio I sampled the cranberry pistachio. First, these cookies are a LOT smaller than the ones you get at coffee shops. But that's okay. You can eat two.

I've eaten biscotti ranging from very dry and  tooth-breakingly hard to sort-of moist(ish). These were definitely dry, but they were more shattery than hard. While they'd be fine dunked in coffee, you could eat them easily without dunking.

Bob's comment was the best. "Hey, these have cranberries in them, but I like them anyway." Yeah, he doesn't usually like cranberries. How about that? And then he had them with coffee and gave another thumbs-up. He's still surprised that he likes them. And I like 'em, too.

I also got a lovely jar of roasted almond butter, which was part of the gluten-free category. I have to admit that I'm a sucker for nut butters. I like them ALL. This one was a little sweet, but what I liked about it most was that it was extremely smooth. Some of the new brands of "artisan" butters are sort of lumpy and almost gritty. Hey, I can make not-smooth nut butters at home. This was super-smooth.

The last items were part of the Guiltless Gourmet line of snacks - Flaxseed Crunch Bars. These munchy-crunchy bars are available in two flavors, almond cranberry flaxseed and cashew cranberry flaxseed. They're vegan and gluten-free. They were a nice change from the usual granola-heavy snack bars that are so common.

But hey, you come here for recipes, right? Here's one I'll bet you won't see coming.

I brainstormed this idea one night, and it sounded fabulous, even though I'd never actually tried these flavors together before. The next day, I wasn't so sure it would work. But I figured I'd try it anyway.

And woah, was I happy. These flavors worked incredibly well together. And that whipped cream is positively dreamy. Give it a try. You won't be sorry.

Root Beer Coffee Float with Almond Whipped Cream
Recipe © by www.cookistry.com. Do not republish without permission.

For the almond whipped cream:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon almond butter
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

For the root beer float:
1 or 2 scoops coffee ice cream (recipe here)
Root beer
Almond whipped cream
Chocolate shavings, for garnish (optional)

To make the almond whipped cream:
Mix the  cream, almond butter and powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk gently until the almond butter is mixed into the cream, then begin whisking harder until you've got whipped cream. It's not quite as light as a regular whipped cream, but the flavor is amazing.

If you don't like root beer floats, this whipped cream would be stunning on waffles or on a sundae. Or on cake. Or pie. Or a spoon.

To make the root beer float:
Put one or two scoops of ice cream into a glass. Pour the root beer over the top. It will foam up a bit, so pour slowly, let the foam subside a bit, and then continue filling the glass. Top with the whipped cream. It will sink, but that's okay. The idea here is to have streaks of the whipped cream as you sip through a straw. Finish with the last little bit of root beer to get that thick foam to the top, and garnish with the chocolate shavings.

Note: I don't claim that this recipe is Kosher. To be honest, I haven't a clue if the additional ingredients I used were acceptable or not. I do claim that it's pretty delicious, though.

Walnut Streusel Coffee Cake for a Virtual Baby Shower

My friend Rachel from Rachel Cooks is having a baby soon, and what could be better than a virtual baby shower?

Well, how about a virtual baby shower with actual food?

I spent quite a bit of time trying to thing of something to "bring" to a virtual baby shower. Appetizers? Snacks? Fruity drinks? 

I almost posted a cocktail, but that's not exactly fair to the mom-to-be.

Then, a new cookbook arrived. It usually takes me quite a while to decide what recipe to make first when I get a new cookbook, but this time, it was easy. A coffee cake recipe looked absolutely perfect. Okay, a lot of things looked really good, but I had all the ingredients for the coffee cake, and I thought it would be a great thing to bring to the hospital for the nurses.

I have my priorities.

The book is Kosher by Design Cooking Coach by Susie Fishbein, and it's one of eight books in the Kosher by Design series. This one isn't just a cookbook, it talks about kitchen equipment, technique, and even how to plan for leftovers for the recipes. So, for example, you can make stuffed cabbage one day and use the leftovers for soup the next day.

There are lots of recipes. Lots and lots of them, from bulgogi to brioche and from Cajun quinoa to Yemenite beef soup. I'm looking forward to trying more of them, but first I had to make the coffee cake.

This coffee cake has a layer of graham cracker walnut streusel running through the middle, and it's got a crumb topping. The recipe calls for baking in a tube pan ... but of all the things I have, that's not one of them. I considered making the cake in a bundt pan, since it's the same shape. But then the crumb topping would be on the bottom, and that just seemed wrong.

So I decided to bake the cake in a 9x13 pan instead. It worked perfectly. I also made a little goof on the topping - you're supposed to mix the sugar with the warm butter first, then add the flour. I mixed the sugar and flour, then added butter. Oops! But it still worked okay - probably better if I did it right.

The recipe calls for using dairy products (butter and milk) or option for non-dairy (margarine or nondairy whipped topping). I opted for the dairy products.

If I was going to an actual baby shower, I'd be happy to see this coffee cake among the offerings. I hope Rachel (virtually) likes it as much as I did when I had it with my (actual) coffee this morning.

Walnut Streusel Coffee Cake

Adapted from Kosher by Design by Susie Fishbein

Walnut Graham Streusel:

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons melted butter

Crumb Topping:

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup finely ground walnuts

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup melted butter (kept hot)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Cake:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/3 cup canola oil

3 large eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 10-inch tube pan with a removable bottom.

In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the streusel topping. Stir well and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, ground walnuts, cinnamon, ginger, and salt for the crumb topping. Pour the hot butter in and stir to melt the sugar into the butter. Add the flour and mix well. It's suppose to form a firm ball (I messed this up, but it still worked.)

For the cake, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl, and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and oil until it's creamy. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. Lower the speed and add the flour mixture. Raise the speed and beat until you have a smooth batter, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Lower the speed and beat in the milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract.

Spread half of the cake batter in the prepared pan and smooth out the surface. Add the walnut streusel evenly over the batter. Add the rest of the batter, and smooth the top.

Break the crumb topping into large chunks - 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces - and sprinkle these chunky bits over the batter. 

Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, or with moist crumbs.

Cool the cake completely before cutting.

Note: I baked this in a 9x13 pan and it took about the same time to bake.

Want some more baby shower goodies? 
Check out these wonderful blogs for more great recipes.

Brandy from Nutmeg Nanny is bringing S'mores Popcorn
Barb from Creative Culinary is bringing White Chocolate "Quilted" Cupcakes
Sarah from Sarah's Cucina Bella is bringing us a Apple Asiago Prosciutto Bites
Milisa from Miss in the Kitchen is bringing White Chocolate Biscoff Muddy Buddies
Amanda from Fake Ginger is bringing Snickerdoodle Scones
I made Walnut Streusel Coffee Cake
Cassie from Bake You Day is bringing Salted Caramel Cashew Popcorn
Jessie from Bread & Butter is bringing Primal Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Sommer from A Spicy Perspective is bringing Turtle Pumpkin Ice Cream Cake
Susan from 30A EATS is bringing Southern Cheese Straws
Deborah from Taste and Tell is bringing Blue-Layered Jello
Carrian from Oh Sweet Basil is bringing Mini Blackberry Pies
Carrie from Bakeaholic Mama is bringing Salted Caramel Popcorn Bars
Stephanie from Steph's Bite by Bite is bringing Baby Blueberry Pies
Mackenzie from Suzie Freaking Homemaker is bringing Cucumber Sandwiches
Shelby from Diabetic Foodie is bringing Cranberry Citrus Meatballs (Slow Cooker)
Tara from Chip Chip Hooray is bringing Itty Bitty Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Liz from The Lemon Bowl is bringing Hermit Bars - Chewy Molasses Cookie Bars
Krista from Budget Gourmet Mom is bringing Baby Blue Cheese Burgers
Jennifer from Mother Thyme is bringing Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Kita from Pass the Sushi is bringing Sweet Potato Soup with Maple Cream
Shelia from Eat 2 Gather is bringing us a Chicken Salad
Brandi from Bran Appetit is bringing Bourbon Toffee Popcorn
Jamie from Thrifty Veggie Mama is bringing Roasted Butternut Squash and Sage Pesto Crostini
Marnely from Cooking with Books is bringing Curried Salmon Phyllo Cups
Erin from The Spiffy Cookie is bringing Sweet Potato Pie Dip with Pie Crust Dippers
Heather from Farmgirl Gourmet is bringing Dark Chocolate Cashew Brittle Cookies
Kathryn from London Bakes is bringing Mini Onion and Feta Pizzas