Scallion Potato Cake

This scallion potato cake is a quick fix when you're craving latkes but want something you can throw together more effortlessly. It's the perfect size for a simple side for two.

I saw a picture of it in Ad Hoc at Home and had to make it soon after. It has a crispy, salty exterior and a soft interior layered with flavorful scallions.

Scallion Potato Cake (adapted from Ad Hoc at Home)
(Print this recipe)

Ingredients

2 or 3 scallions
1 pound russet potatoes
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Canola oil
Kosher salt and black pepper

Preparation

Trim the ends of the scallions off on a severe diagonal, and discard. Then thinly slice the scallions on the diagonal, and set them aside.

Fill a large bowl with cold water, and then set up a food processor with the coarse shredding blade.

Peel the potatoes and shred them in a food processor. Then immediately transfer the shredded potatoes to the bowl of water.

Swirl them and rinse them, and then dry them in a salad spinner or with paper towels.

Place the shredded potatoes in another large bowl. Spoon the cornstarch around the sides of the bowl, and toss the potatoes with it.

Heat some canola oil in a 10-inch skillet until shimmering. Add half of the potatoes to the pan, and gently spread them into an 8- or 9-inch circle, but don't press them down. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Reserve a little bit of the scallions for garnish, and sprinkle the rest on top of the potatoes.

Carefully spread the remaining potatoes over the scallion layer, and season with salt and pepper.

Cook for 6 to 7 minutes to brown the bottom.  The potatoes should be sizzling; if they aren't, add more oil.

Then flip the cake to brown the other side. I do this by placing an inverted baking sheet on top of the pan and flipping the whole thing over and then sliding the pancake off of the baking sheet back into the skillet.

Cook until the bottom side is browned and crisp.

Cut the cake in quarters.

Stack the wedges on a platter, garnish with scallions, and serve hot.

We enjoyed the scallion potato cake with pan-roasted halibut and broccoli, but I think it would go well with chicken or steak too. And I won't judge if you just want to make it for a snack, all on its own.

What's your favorite way to prepare potatoes? (Or one of your favorite ways -- the list is endless for me!)

Share Our Strength's Taste Of The Nation And Asparagus Veloute

Have you heard of Share Our Strength? Share Our Strength is a nonprofit organization that aims to end childhood hunger in America. In its own words, "Share Our Strength’s highest priority is to make sure that every child in America gets the nutritious food he or she needs to learn, grow and thrive."

It does this through raising awareness, creating programs that focus on food and nutrition, and fundraising. One of the fundraisers Share Our Strength hosts is called Taste of the Nation. Since 1988, Taste of the Nation has raised more than $73 million for organizations in the United States, Canada, and abroad, including more than $1.4 million in Boston alone.

This year's Boston Taste of the Nation event will be held on Thursday, April 14, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., at the Hynes Convention Center. Many of Boston's best-known chefs, restaurants, and mixologists will be participating in the event, including Jody Adams, Andy Husbands, Hamersley's Bistro, and Sel de la Terre. General admission tickets are $90 in advance/$100 at door, and VIP tickets are $150 in advance/$160 at the door.

Area charities that will benefit from this year’s event include The Greater Boston Food Bank; Food for Free Committee; Cooking Matters, formerly known as Operation Frontline -- Massachusetts; and Project Bread/The Walk for Hunger. I have donated to Share Our Strength in the past and supported friends who have done Project Bread's Walk for Hunger.

This year, I've been invited to cover Taste of the Nation as media, and I look forward to being part of something so meaningful right here in Boston. I'll be sure to report back with everything I learned and experienced, and I encourage you to attend as well.

If you're wondering what sort of food you might encounter at the benefit, check out the recipe below from Chef Rich Garcia of 606 Congress. Michelle, Meghan, and I gathered at my house last Friday and whipped up this veloute together. We all agreed that it would be great served as a shooter, since the garnishes pack a ton of flavor but the soup itself is pretty monotone. A lot of garnish paired with a small bit of soup would be just right.

Spring Asparagus Veloute With Pickled Radish And Crispy Garlic (adapted from Chef Rich Garcia, 606 Congress)

Ingredients
1 pound green asparagus (ends trimmed)
1 quart heavy cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup champagne vinegar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 radish, washed and sliced into matchsticks
4 garlic cloves, as large as possible, peeled
1 cup olive oil

Preparation

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and add asparagus. Cook until tender, about 4 minutes, and then transfer to an ice water bath.

In a small pot, bring cream to a simmer.

Place asparagus in blender or food processor with cream, and puree until smooth.

Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, and strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Let cool.

To make the pickled radish, in a saucepan, bring champagne vinegar and sugar to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Place radish in bowl, and cover with the vinegar mixture. Let cool in liquid.

To make the crispy garlic, using a small knife, slice the garlic very thinly. Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat until very hot. Line a plate with two paper towels. To test the temperature of the oil, add a slice of garlic. When it sizzles, add the rest of the garlic, and cook until just crisp and light golden brown; this will only take a few seconds.

Use a slotted spoon to keep the slices from sticking together as they cook, and transfer them to the paper towels to drain once they change color. (The oil can be strained and reserved for use as garlic oil.)

To serve: Place the chilled veloute in a bowl, and garnish with pickled radish and crispy garlic chips.

Hazelnut Macarons With Chocolate Ganache Filling

Along with the cocoa macarons with espresso buttercream that I shared with you yesterday, Jen and I also made these hazelnut macarons with chocolate ganache.

Hazelnut Macarons (adapted from Joanne Chang and Fine Cooking)
(Print this recipe)

Ingredients

1  cup (100 grams) almond flour
1/4 cup (25 grams) hazelnut flour
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) confectioners' sugar
4 egg whites (120 grams), at room temperature and at least a day old
4 tablespoons (50 grams) sugar

Preparation

Line a clean, flat cookie sheet with a Silpat, and set it aside.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and place rack in middle of oven.

Sift together almond flour, hazelnut flour, and confectioners' sugar, and set aside.

In a spotlessly clean stand mixer bowl, whip whites on medium speed until they are foamy and you can start to see the tines of the whip leaving a trail in the whites, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Add 1 tablespoon of sugar, and continue to whip for about 30 to 45 seconds. Add another tablespoon of sugar, and whip again for another 30 to 45 seconds. Repeat with the third and fourth tablespoons of sugar.

When all of the sugar is mixed in, whip the whites for about another minute or two until they become glossy and shiny. Remove from mixer.

Fold in about half of the nut flour/confectioners' sugar mix; when most of it is folded in, add the rest of the dry mix. Fold until mixture is smooth and a little stiff -- it should drop smoothly off of the spatula.

Using a piping bag and a small round tip, pipe out small rounds of macaron batter about 1 inch in diameter. Try to pipe straight down and quickly pull away when you are done to minimize peaks. Pipe until you’ve used up all the batter.

Rap the cookie sheet several times to flatten out the mounds and to pop any bubbles that might be in the batter.

Let cookies rest for about 15 to 30 minutes, until they are no longer tacky to the touch.

Place in oven, and immediately turn oven down to 300 degrees. After 8 minutes, rotate the cookie sheet. Depending upon your oven, cookies take from 15 to 20 minutes and are done when they turn very light golden brown. Remove from oven, and let cool.

Remove cookies from Silpat, and fill with chocolate ganache (recipe below).

Cookies may be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.

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Chocolate Ganache (adapted from Joanne Chang and Fine Cooking)

Ingredients

6 1/2 ounces (180 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces (or use chocolate chips)
3/4 cup (180 grams) heavy cream

Preparation
Place the chocolate in a small, heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, scald the cream over medium-high heat (bubbles start to form around the edge of the pan, but the cream is not boiling). Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for 30 seconds, then slowly whisk the chocolate and cream together until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Let cool to room temperature.

The ganache can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature before piping.

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Note: You'll notice that our cocoa macarons look a little better than the hazelnut ones. I really want to blame the rain for this. When we made the cocoa macarons in the morning, it wasn't raining, but when we made the hazelnut ones in the afternoon, it was. Macarons are known to be temperamental, and the humidity can definitely have some effect.

Jen and I have another baking date this weekend, so we'll have more goodies to share with you soon!

What dessert or baked good makes you nervous when you think about attempting to make it?

Cocoa Macarons With Espresso Buttercream

So even though Jen from Beantown Baker and I got together almost a month ago to bake together, we only told you about one of the recipes we made so far -- the chocolate hazelnut baklava. The other recipes we attempted together were cocoa macarons with espresso buttercream and hazelnut macarons with chocolate ganache. We had a great time whipping these up, piping them, cheering when they came out right, filling them, and sampling them.

Joanne Chang (chef/owner of Flour Bakery + Cafe) created these recipes for a recent issue of Fine Cooking. You can find the original recipes as well as a step-by-step video of Joanne making the macarons over on Fine Cooking's website.

Joanne shared some macaron-making tips along with her recipes. Here are the ones I found most important:

• Use a scale. If there's one thing I've learned when baking, it's that scale measure is much more accurate.
• Use a flat, clean cookie sheet.
• Separate the egg whites from the yolks, and store them in the fridge for at least a day before trying this recipe. (I did this 3 days in advance.)
• Make sure the eggs are at room temp when you start this recipe. 
• Whip your egg whites until they are stiff and glossy. Do not underwhip.
• Touch the cookies before baking them, and make sure they are no longer tacky.

I've tried making macarons twice before, and both times, I failed. When I saw Joanne at the Mother's Day in March event earlier this month, we talked about these recipes, what worked about them and what we might have struggled with, and I thanked her for these foolproof tricks and recipes that actually worked for me! Even though I'm not working at the bakery anymore, I appreciate that I still have opportunities to learn from Joanne and that she cares so much about everyone having success with her recipes.

If you've struggled with macarons in the past or if you've never attempted them before, I hope you'll try these recipes. The cookies themselves are not difficult to make. You just have to make sure to carefully follow all the steps... and whip those egg whites well!

Photo courtesy of Beantown Baker

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Cocoa Macarons (adapted from Joanne Chang and Fine Cooking)
(Printable version)

Ingredients

1 cup (100 grams) almond flour
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) confectioners' sugar
4 egg whites (120 grams), at room temperature and at least a day old
4 tablespoons (50 grams) sugar

Preparation

Line a clean, flat cookie sheet with a Silpat, and set it aside.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and place rack in middle of oven.

Sift together almond flour, cocoa powder, and confectioners' sugar, and set aside.

In a spotlessly clean stand mixer bowl, whip whites on medium speed until they are foamy and you can start to see the tines of the whip leaving a trail in the whites, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Add 1 tablespoon of sugar, and continue to whip for about 30 to 45 seconds. Add another tablespoon of sugar, and whip again for another 30 to 45 seconds. Repeat with the third and fourth tablespoons of sugar.

When all of the sugar is mixed in, whip the whites for about another minute or two until they become glossy and shiny. Remove from mixer.

Fold in about half of the almond flour/confectioners' sugar mix; when most of it is folded in, add the rest of the dry mix. Fold until mixture is smooth and a little stiff -- it should drop smoothly off of the spatula.

Using a piping bag and a small round tip, pipe out small rounds of macaron batter about 1 inch in diameter. Try to pipe straight down and quickly pull away when you are done to minimize peaks. Pipe until you’ve used up all the batter.

Photo courtesy of Beantown Baker

Rap the cookie sheet several times to flatten out the mounds and to pop any bubbles that might be in the batter.

Photo courtesy of Beantown Baker

Let cookies rest for about 15 to 30 minutes, until they are no longer tacky to the touch.

Place in oven, and immediately turn oven down to 300 degrees. After 8 minutes, rotate the cookie sheet. Depending upon your oven, cookies take from 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool.

Remove cookies from Silpat, and fill with espresso buttercream (recipe below).

Cookies may be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.

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Espresso Buttercream (adapted from Joanne Chang and Fine Cooking)

Ingredients

3 egg whites (90 grams)
¾ cup (150 grams) sugar
12 tablespoons (168 grams, 1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 6-8 pieces
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation

In a small metal or other heatproof bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg whites to make a thick slurry.

Place the bowl over (not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and heat, whisking occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the mixture is hot to the touch. It will thin out a bit as the sugar melts.

Remove from the heat and scrape the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Whip on medium-high speed for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the mixture becomes a light, white meringue and is cool to the touch.

Turn down the speed to low, and add the chunks of butter one at a time. The mixture will look curdled at first, but don’t worry. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 to 4 minutes until the buttercream is smooth. Add the espresso and salt.

Buttercream may be used immediately or stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Remove from fridge about 3 to 4 hours before using, and using the paddle attachment of the mixer, paddle the buttercream until it becomes smooth enough to use.

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Come back tomorrow for the hazelnut macaron recipe!

Have you ever tried making macarons before?

Maple-Dijon Brussels Sprouts And Noodles

I've gotten into the habit of buying brussels sprouts every time we go to Whole Foods. I know they won't be around for too much longer, but they're the one and only aspect of winter I am trying to carry with me into the spring. By the way... Happy Spring!!

Usually, I'll get them home; quarter them; saute them with some olive oil, salt, and pepper; and then go to town. They're absolutely perfect like this, and why mess with a good thing, right?

Well, after weeks of this, I decided it was time to do something a little different with them. I had a whole bunch of mustard in the fridge after making that pan-roasted lamb with mustard pan sauce and thought some sort of mustard-roasted brussels sprout dish would hit the spot. I searched for recipes and found maple-dijon roasted brussels sprouts on Closet Cooking. This recipe served as my inspiration.

I only had a 1/2 pound of brussels sprouts, but I also had some leftover buttered egg noodles in the fridge, so I still made the same amount of maple-dijon vinaigrette but turned a brussels sprout side dish into a main course noodle dish -- perfect for two lunch-size portions. I also switched out the cider vinegar for sherry vinegar and stuck with my method of sauteeing the brussels sprouts instead of roasting them, which would have taken a lot longer.

The end result was a sweet and tangy noodle dish studded with caramelized brussels sprouts and crunchy almond slices. This is a dish I know I'll be making again -- even if I have to wait until next winter for more brussels sprouts.

Maple-Dijon Brussels Sprouts And Noodles (adapted from Closet Cooking)
(Print this recipe)

Ingredients

1/2 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

Vinaigrette
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste

1 1/2 cups cooked egg noodles, tossed with butter or olive oil
2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted

Preparation

In medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add brussels sprouts, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frquently, until well-browned and cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Drizzle in more olive oil as needed (the brussels sprouts tend to soak it in).

Meanwhile, prepare the vinaigrette: In a large bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, maple syrup, mustards, garlic, and salt and pepper.

Toss the brussels sprouts, noodles, and almond slices in the vinaigrette.

Serve hot.

What's one aspect of winter you're going to miss now that it's spring?