Recipe for Apple-Blackberry Upside Down Cake

Topping:

1 cup of firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sliced apples

1 cup blackberries 

Cake:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
6 tablespoons cake flour
6 tablespoons ground almonds
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

¼ cup Calvados apple brandy

Calvados Whipped Cream:

2 cups whipping cream

2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

1-2 tablespoons Calvados apple brandy 

Make the caramel topping. Take brown sugar and butter and combine and melt in a saucepan on medium heat until sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbly, this should take several minutes. After sugar melts, don’t stir. Pour mixture into a 10 inch diameter stick-free cake pan with 2-inch high sides. Arrange apple slices and blackberries in a single layer on top of the caramel mixture. 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Whisk the flours, almonds, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the sugar and butter together until light. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add dry ingredients alternately with sour cream and apple brandy in 2 additions each, beating well after each addition. Pour cake batter over caramel and pineapple in pan. 

Bake until tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto a platter. Using chilled beaters in a chilled metal bowl, beat the cream until fluffy with the sugar and Calvados. Serve cake warm or at room temperature with whipped cream. Serves 12-14.

Recipe for Thai Chicken with Garlic and Basil

1 1/3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin slices

2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc mam)

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon water

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 large onion, cut into thin slices

I tablespoon sriracha pepper-garlic paste

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

Juice of 4 limes

1 1/2 cups lightly packed basil leaves 

In a medium bowl, combine the chicken with the fish sauce, soy, water and sugar. In a wok or large nonstick frying pan, heat the oil over moderately high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in the siracha, garlic and ginger; cook, stirring, about 30 seconds longer. Remove the chicken from the marinade with a slotted spoon and add it to the hot pan. Cook until almost done, stirring, 3-4 minutes. Add the marinade and lime juice; cook 30 seconds longer. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 cup of the basil. Serve with jasmine rice, topped with the remaining 1/2 cup basil. Serves 4-6.

Chef Brett’s Marfa ‘Big Game’ Buffet

By JOHN DeMERS

Falling between my first mystery novel, Marfa Shadows, and my second, Marfa Rocks, coming out this spring, this weekend’s Super Bowl cries out for a couple recipes from my hero, Chef Brett Baldwin of Mesquite restaurant. 

The fact that I made up both the guy and his Far West Texas restaurant hardly means he can’t come up with a great menu for Super Bowl. Or, as the NFL insists that all of us non-sponsors call it – The Big Game. Imagine if Disney (long a champion of the legal remedy) insisted winners announce excitedly: “I’m going to that big theme park in Florida that isn’t Universal or Sea World!!” 

Brett actually likes to watch the football game, having played halfback for the Marfa Shorthorns way back when he was in high school. So both of his main food contributions, which he serves in a back dining room at Mesquite since his house is too small for major company, are finished in advance. 

For a main dish, Chef Brett cooks up one of his favorite brunch buffet dishes – Frito Pie Fritatta, a spin on the Italian response to the oh-so-French quiche. Here in Texas, Brett observes, there aren’t many things that aren’t improved by the addition of Frito Pie. For dessert, he borrows his popular peach upside down cake from summertime and spins it into an apple-happy winter classic. 

Since none of our Texas teams is playing, Brett isn’t sure who he’ll root for in The Big Game. He says he’ll probably just root for big tequila and beer sales in the bar at Mesquite while the game is on the big-screen TV. 

FRITO PIE FRITTATA 

2 pounds lean ground beef

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 cup diced onion

½ cup finely chopped carrot

1 1/2 cups chopped green chiles, such as Hatch (fresh or canned)

1 can cooked navy beans

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup plus ½ cup chunky tomato salsa

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Pinch red pepper flakes

1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped

12 eggs

½ cup plus 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

½ cup plus 1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

½ cup chopped green onions

Fritos

Chopped raw onion 

Brown the ground beef in a large pot, then drain off as much fat as you can. Add the garlic, onion, and chiles and saute with the beef for 5 minutes. Add the beans, chicken stock and salsa, and bring to a boil over high heat. Season with the chili powder, cumin, oregano, garlic and onion powders, pepper, white pepper, red pepper flakes, and cilantro. Lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for approximately 1 hour. 

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Make the frittata by beating the eggs until frothy and folding in the ½ cup of each cheese, bell pepper, green onion and remaining ½ cup salsa. Pour mixture into a large, deep casserole or baking dish – the eggs should reach no more than 1/3 up the side. Bake until set, risen slightly and almost cooked through, about 20 minutes. Remove dish from the oven and top with Fritos, chopped onion and the chili. Cover with the remaining 1 cup of each cheese. Return to the oven until the cheese melts and turns golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Serve hot with additional Fritos for fancy garnish. Serves 10-12. 

APPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

 Topping:

1 cup of firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sliced apples 

Cake:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
6 tablespoons cake flour
6 tablespoons ground almonds
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

¼ cup Calvados apple brandy 

Calvados Whipped Cream:

2 cups whipping cream

2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

1-2 tablespoons Calvados apple brandy 

Make the caramel topping. Take brown sugar and butter and combine and melt in a saucepan on medium heat until sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbly, this should take several minutes. After sugar melts, don’t stir. Pour mixture into a 10 inch diameter stick-free cake pan with 2-inch high sides. Arrange apple slices in a single layer on top of the caramel mixture. 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Whisk the flours, almonds, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the sugar and butter together until light. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add dry ingredients alternately with sour cream and apple brandy in 2 additions each, beating well after each addition. Pour cake batter over caramel and pineapple in pan. 

Bake until tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto a platter. Using chilled beaters in a chilled metal bowl, beat the cream until fluffy with the sugar and Calvados. Serve cake warm or at room temperature with whipped cream. Serves 12-14.

Recipe for Moroccan Braised Lamb Shanks

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

2 (1 pound) lamb shanks

1 (14.4 ounce) can chopped canned tomatoes

1 1/4 cups chopped dried apricots

1 1/2 teaspoons harissa

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons slivered almonds

1 cup quick-cooking couscous

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and cook until they release their aroma for about 1 minute. Stir in the onions, garlic, and sweet potatoes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally so potatoes don’t stick. Put the lamb shanks in the pot and brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Add tomatoes, apricots, and harissa. Season with salt and pepper. If mixture seems a bit dry, add a splash of water. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and cover. Simmer until meat is tender and falling off the bone, one hour or more, depending on the size of the shanks. Stir occasionally. 

Heat a small skillet over low heat and add the slivered almonds. Stir and cook until almonds are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Place couscous in a large bowl and slowly pour in lukewarm water until just covered. Let sit until water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Toss couscous with 2 tablespoons olive oil and toasted almonds. Transfer to a serving dish. Spoon the lamb over the couscous and serve. Serves 2.

Recipe for Tuscan Beef Stew

For stew 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 red onion, cut into medium dice 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces 3 stalks celery, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 2 pounds stew beef, such as boneless chuck, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch cubes 2 1/2 cups dry red wine 8 sprigs fresh thyme 3 medium tomatoes, halved 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper For polenta 1 tablespoon olive oil 4 cups vegetable stock or broth 1 cup polenta (coarse cornmeal)  In heavy, large saucepan over moderately high heat, heat oil until hot but not smoking. Add onion, carrot, and celery and sauté, stirring occasionally, until light golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add beef and sauté, stirring occasionally, until brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add wine and thyme, stir well, and bring to boil. Add tomatoes, salt, and pepper, then lower heat to moderately low, cover, and simmer, stirring every 15 minutes, until beef is tender, about 2 hours. While beef is simmering, make polenta. Pour olive oil into large serving bowl and swirl to coat. Set aside. In heavy, large pot over moderately high heat, bring stock to boil. Lower heat to moderate and slowly add polenta, stirring constantly. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until polenta thickens and pulls away from sides of pan, about 10 minutes. Transfer to oil-coated serving bowl and keep warm. To serve, when beef is tender, use tongs to remove tomato skins (if desired) and thyme sprigs. Transfer stew to large serving bowl. Serve polenta alongside. Serves 6.

Recipe for Grilled Tomato and Jalapeno Soup

3 to 4 fresh jalapeños

15 ripe Roma tomatoes

1 extra-large sweet onion, sliced into large rings

3 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped

Extra-virgin olive oil

Juice of 2 limes

1 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon Creole seasoning blend 

Slice the jalapeños in half, cut off the stems, and remove half of the white veins and seeds.  Grill the tomatoes, jalapeños, and onion until well charred on the outsides.  In a large soup pot, lightly simmer the onions, tomatoes, jalapeños, and garlic with a touch of olive oil and 1 ½ cups of water for 1 to 2 hours.  Puree with a stick blender and strain. Add lime juice and season with salt and Creole seasoning. Serves 4-6.

Recipe for Il Sogno’s Osso Bucco

Il Sogno, San Antonio

In honor of this weekend’s radio show featuring our interview with chef Andrew Weissman of Il Sogno, we serve up his rendition of the Italian veal shank classic. 

¼ cup vegetable oil

8 (2-inch-thick) center-cut pieces of veal shank, bone in

3 cups dry white wine

3 onions, diced

3 carrots, diced

½ cup garlic cloves, peeled

1 quart chicken stock

1 (15-ounce) can San Marzano or other crushed tomatoes

1 bunch fresh sage

3 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 325˚ F. In a large roasting pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat until it starts to smoke, then add the shanks until they are caramelized top and bottom. Remove the meat from the pan and deglaze with the wine, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Add the onion, carrot, and garlic. Return the meat to the pan. Pour in the chicken stock and enough water for the liquid to cover the bones. Add the tomatoes, sage, and bay leaves. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and cook in the oven for 4 hours, until the meat is falling off the bone. 

Once meat is cooked, pour the pan juices into a separate pot and reduce by about a half over high heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve each osso buco in a warmed bowl, ladling liquid and vegetables over the top. Serves 8.

Recipe for Holiday Beef Wellington

When fellow writer Holly Beretto asked me how to make Beef Wellington to wow her crowd at Christmas, I decided to defer to a master. We went to visit Chef David Denis at Le Mistral, who patiently walked us through this recipe in his just-published cookbook, “Energy Cuisine.” 

1 (6-pound) center-cut beef tenderloin

1 pound prepared puff pastry

1 cup dried morels or other mushrooms

1 egg yolk, beaten

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 pinch black pepper 

Sauce:

1 cup dried morel mushrooms

¼ cup cognac

1 cup veal stock

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon chopped shallots

1 teaspoon unsalted butter

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 pinch white pepper 

Preheat oven to 350 F. Rehydrate the morels or other dried mushrooms in a bowl of water for about 10 minutes, then drain them. Salt and pepper the tenderloin. Pan sear the tenderloin, then let cool. Chop the morels or other mushrooms. Melt the butter in a sauté pan and sauté the morels over low heat until all the water cooks out. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool. 

Lay down the puff pastry, about ½” thick. Put the mushroom “duxelle” on top of the puff pastry, place the tenderloin on top of the duxelle and roll the pastry around it. Brush the pastry with the egg yolk. Place the Wellington into the preheated oven and bake until the inside meat temperature reach 125 F. Take the Wellington out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing. 

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Saute the morels and shallots in butter till they turn golden. Carefully flambe with Cognac and cook until dry. Add veal stock, reducing by ½. Add cream, then reduce by 2/3. Season with salt and pepper. Serves slices of tenderloin with morel sauce spooned over the top. Serves 4.

Recipe for Holiday Cornish Hens

2 large Cornish game hens, thawed if frozen

1 large onion, with skins, roughly chopped

2 ribs celery, with leaves, roughly chopped

2 carrots, roughly chopped

Water

1/2 cup dry white wine

3 bay leaves

2 tablespoons plus 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup long-grain white rice

1 cup wild rice

2 tablespoons butter

Chopped green onions for garnish 

Place hens, onion, celery and carrots in a soup or stock pot with enough water to cover. Add the white wine, bay leaves and seasoning. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat and let simmer until the hens start to turn a little brown, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. When the hens are light brown, transfer them to a large roasting pan. Lightly coat with the olive oil and sprinkle with the Creole seasoning. Place in the oven and roast until golden brown, 25-30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, strain the stock left from the hens. Measure 3 ½ cups of the liquid (adding water or chicken broth if needed) into a pot with a lid and stir in the white rice and wild rice. Add the butter. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer until both rices are cooked through, the wild a bit chewer than the white, about 25 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Season to taste with Creole seasoning, or salt and pepper. When the hens are golden brown, remove them and cover the bottom of the pan with the rice. Set the hens on top of the rice and garnish with the green onions. Return pan to oven briefly to reheat rice, if necessary. Cut the hens in half lengthwise and serve with rice mixture. Serves 4.

Too-Much-Asparagus Risotto

These days, when every prime steak or seafood house sells you expensive side dishes huge enough “to share” (as in, with Napoleon’s Grande Armee), it makes sense to have something wonderful to do with leftover asparagus. In the wake of a gargantuan dinner at the hip new Eddie V’s at West Ave, we cooked up something that wasn’t hip or new at all. This will make you happy you had those leftovers. 

8 cups chicken broth

1 cup dry white wine

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup finely chopped onion

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 cups Arborio rice

2 cups cooked (1-inch) pieces asparagus

¾ cup grated Parmesan

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

In an electric kettle or medium saucepan with a lid, combine chicken broth and white wine and heat just to simmering. Keep warm. In a large 3 to 4-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and “sweat” until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until the grains are translucent around the edges. Be careful not to allow the grains or the onions to brown. 

Reduce the heat to low. Add enough of the wine and chicken stock just to cover the top of the rice. Stir or move the pan often, until the liquid is completely absorbed into rice. Once absorbed, add another amount of liquid just to cover the rice and continue stirring or moving as before. There should be just enough liquid left to repeat 1 more time. It should take approximately 35 to 40 minutes for all of the liquid to be absorbed. After the last addition of liquid has been mostly absorbed, add the asparagus and stir until risotto is creamy and asparagus is heated through. Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan and lemon zest. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serves 8-10.