flour Archives - Pamela Salzman

Cauliflower fritters recipe

“Wow.” That’s what I said a few days ago when I woke up and it was December. DE-CEMBER. I’ve got no holiday card in the works yet. I went to the movies on Black Friday and I worked through Cyber Monday which means I am waaaaaay behind on my Christmas and Hanukkah shopping. The only December task I have checked off my list is getting Mr. Picky’s suit let out so I wouldn’t have to go out and buy him another for Christmas Eve. But I’m not worried about Christmas quite yet since that’s a good 3 weeks away. Hanukkah, on the other hand, starts on Saturday. This Saturday!

As you might have learned from reading this blog, my family is Italian and my husband is half Jewish and half Puerto Rican which means a lot of holidays and a lot of food! But thankfully, and I mean that, I am off the hook for preparing the annual Hanukkah dinner and gift exchange with my husband’s family. My mother-in-law has that one mastered so she will be making dozens of potato latkes for us to enjoy when we celebrate this weekend. Traditional foods on Hanukkah include anything fried in oil to symbolize the miracle oil in the temple in Jerulsalem. For most, this means potato pancakes (latkes) and doughnuts. Ugh. Not the most healthful foods on the planet. I usually indulge in a latke or two since my mother-in-law makes the absolute best. But the Jews love a holiday and many of them last 8 days, Hanukkah included. So my kids and my husband nudge me to make latkes a few more times during the week. They know better than to ask me to make doughnuts.

To mix it up a bit, I always cook up zucchini latkes at least once during Hanukkah and the kids love them, especially Mr. Picky. This year I am also going to make these delicious Cauliflower Fritters during Hanukkah because to me they taste kind of latke-ish, they’re cooked in oil, they’re made with CAULIFLOWER and my family is obsessed with them! There may not be any potato in there, but I bet you could grate a fresh potato and fold it in there and call it a Cauliflower Latke! I’ve seen many recipes which use cauliflower in place of potatoes or rice. Cauliflower is rather neutral in flavor and mashes up nicely to a soft texture so you really have no idea there is cauliflower in these patties.

What I love about these Cauliflower Fritters is that the batter can be made earlier in the day and the fritters made just before you are ready to eat. My husband loves them on top of a pool of warm marinara sauce, Mr. Picky squirts mustard on his, and I like to eat them with a crisp salad. Since there is flour in the batter, I treat these fritters as if they were a starch and I make another vegetable side dish for dinner. Once you taste these, you’ll be making them all year long!

Cauliflower Fritters

Pamela, adapted from skinnytaste.com

5 from 1 vote

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Ingredients

4 cups steamed* chopped cauliflower, about 1 medium head (you can also use frozen, steamed cauliflower, defrosted)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or gluten-free flour I like King Arthur Multi-purpose Gluten-free Flour (you can also use all-purpose flour)
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 large eggs beaten
½ cup grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese optional if you're dairy-free
¼ cup fresh parsley or chives finely chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
About ¼ cup hot water
Unrefined olive oil for cooking fritters

Instructions

Place the cauliflower in a large bowl and add the flour, garlic, eggs, cheese, parsley, salt and a few grinds of pepper and combine. Add hot water a little at a time to make a batter that looks like egg salad. I mush everything together with my hands.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add about 2 tablespoons oil or enough to coat bottom of skillet. When oil is heated, take a ¼ cup of batter and form into a patty. Cook in the oil until golden brown on the bottom. Flip fritter and cook until golden brown on the second side. You can likely fit 6 fritters at one time. Repeat with remaining batter.

Notes

The batter can be made ahead and the fritters can be frozen, too.

*To steam the cauliflower, cut it into large florets and place in a vegetable steamer over boiling water, steam, covered, until the cauliflower is tender, (about 7-10 minutes), then roughly chop, measure 4 cups, and place into a large bowl.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Perfect Apple Pie Recipe

I am teaching Apple Pie in my Thanksgiving classes this month and I thought I really should share the recipe with you too, my dear readers. Perfect for Thanksgiving or if you’re hunkered down watching Election Day coverage tonight. What is more American, classic and delicious in the fall than a homemade apple pie? It just oozes love and hugs, don’t you think? My boyfriend in college was so smitten when I made him an apple pie, I think it’s one of the reasons he asked me to marry him! Still works!

In addition to pumpkin pie, apple has been on my Thanksgiving table every year since I’ve been married. I make it the way I like it, not too sweet and not overly spiced, so you really taste the apples. At this time of year, there are so many varieties of apples with different flavors and textures, and everyone has his or her favorite. But I think the secret to the best apple pie is using a few different types of apples. When I make apple pie, I like to choose a sweet, a tart and a soft variety. The flavors are more complex and texture is fabulous.

Do plan ahead when making any pie, especially if you are making the crust from scratch, which I definitely think you should! Pies take a good hour to bake and I think they benefit from cooling a bit out of the oven. The juices settle and thicken up and I think apple pie tastes better warm, rather than piping hot, but I know some of you will disagree.

If you are looking to do some of the work in advance, you can make your crust a few days ahead and refrigerate it or a few months ahead and freeze it. You can also combine your dry ingredients for the pie filling ahead and keep the mixture in a covered container in the pantry. Unfortunately, you will need to peel and slice your apples just before filling your pie, but it’s a fun activity to do at the kitchen table with your child or friends. I bake two apple pies on Thanksgiving morning, but I make sure they are out of the oven before the turkey needs to go in. When the girls were younger, they would always help peel and slice the apples while we watched the Macy’s parade on television. It’s a lovely memory of time together in the kitchen, but it’s just a memory since the girls haven’t woken up before 11:00 am on Thanksgiving in a few years. Although I’ll admit, the smiles on their sleepy faces as I pull those pies out of the oven is still just as precious.

PERFECT APPLE PIE

MAKES 1 9-INCH DOUBLE-CRUST PIE

3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (this gets used in the filling) + more for dusting countertop

1 recipe for double pie crust

1 large egg yolk

1 Tablespoon heavy cream, half-and-half, or whole milk

1 pound tart apples, such as Granny Smith

1 pound sweet apples, such as Fuji

1 pound soft apples, such as Golden Delicious

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ cup organic cane sugar + extra for optional sprinkling on crust

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon sea salt

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Roll one disk of pie dough on a lightly floured countertop, regularly checking to make sure disk is not sticking to counter. Roll into a 12-inch round. Fit pastry into a 9-inch pie plate. Roll second disk in the same manner. Transfer to a baking sheet and refrigerate pie shell and 12-inch round until ready to fill pie.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and cream.
Peel, core and slice apples crosswise into ¼-inch slices. Transfer to a large bowl and mix in lemon juice, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Combine well. Arrange apple mixture in pie shell and dot with butter.
Place the rolled out disk on top of the apples and press down gently. Press together the dough at the rim of the pie plate to seal. Tuck top dough under bottom dough and crimp around the edge as you like. Brush the top of the pie with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar, if desired. Cut three slits into the top center of the pie crust to allow steam to escape. If pie dough is feeling very soft, place pie in the freezer until firm.
Place pie on a baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking until the crust is golden and the juices are bubbling and have thickened, about 40-50 minutes more. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool. Pie can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 days.

apples butter cinnamon flour nutmeg sugar

How To Make Pie Crust

I am a total sucker for seasonal fruit desserts, and pies are no exception, especially in the summer and fall. But we know each other well enough by now to know that I’m not a big dessert pusher. I think overdoing sugar and refined foods like white flour can really compromise your health. But, during the holidays when the apples, pears and pumpkins are at their peak, I rationalize it all by adding a hefty dose of love to my pies!

What is nice about seasonal fruit desserts is that the fruit should be naturally sweet enough that we don’t need to add too many sweeteners to make them taste fabulous. Typically, I use 4-6 Tablespoons of sweetener in a whole pie which can serve 8-10 people, and I don’t think that’s over the top. Many cakes call for 2 cups of sugar just to provide you with a reference point.

Looking on the bright side, I love how “homemade” pies are. The fruit is peeled and cut by hand, and if you make your own crust, that too is rolled and shaped by your loving hands. In fact, I think pies look better and more special when they have that imperfect crimping and uneven glaze – a telltale sign that this came out of my kitchen.

Many people have told me that making pie crust looks intimidating. But if you’ve ever made and rolled out cookie dough, it’s actually easier than that! Even though I have a pie recipe posted on the site, I thought it would be helpful to include a step-by-step post for how to make pie crust. Here are a few tips to help:

Necessary tools You don’t need much, but a food processor or a pastry blender are very helpful. If you have neither, I have used 2 knives with success. On the other hand, besides an empty win bottle in a pinch, I haven’t found a good substitute for a rolling pin, which you’ll need to roll out the dough.
Cold Keeping everything cold is half the battle in making excellent dough. If the butter warms up, it can make your dough too soft and it can melt on you. Butter can be cut ahead and put back in the fridge. Even your flour can be refrigerated. And it is essential that the water you add is ice cold. Some people like to make their pies in the morning, before the kitchen heats up. And keeping this tip in mind, if you have to take a break from making your crust, or if your pie is ready to go in the oven but it seems a little soft and sticky, place everything into the refrigerator to firm it all up.
Butter I know there are many people who can argue that a combination of butter and shortening or butter and lard make the tenderest, flakiest pie crusts, but you couldn’t pay me to eat Crisco or hydrogenated oils and I don’t have access to organic lard from grass-fed cows, so that’s not an option. Organic butter is a natural, whole food and I’m ok with it in moderation.
Flour Here’s the problem. I hardly ever use white flour. It’s refined and processed and basically a dead food with no nutrition. I love using whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flours whenever I can in place of white flour, but not in pastry dough. Whole grain flours tend to result in a much drier, more crumbly dough which isn’t very easy to roll out. It also tastes more “whole wheat-y” which my family doesn’t care for when they’re eating an apple pie. If you must include some whole grain in your dessert, you can make the dough with half white and half whole wheat pastry flour. I used to make half my pies like this for Thanksgiving and my sister-in-law and I were the only ones who would eat the wheat ones. What’s the point of that? Another option is to use white spelt flour, which is more water soluble than wheat flour, is a little more digestible and has a sweeter flavor. White spelt flour makes very nice pastry. If you just can’t go there, fruit crisp is always an option!
Water Pie crust recipes should give you a range for how much water to use because it’s impossible for every cook to be working under the same conditions. Moisture is something that will vary in the air, flour and butter that we use. Always start with the lower range of water listed and increase as needed.
Don’t over mix Pie crust is not like cake batter. You actually do NOT want to completely blend the butter into the flour. In fact, it is ideal if you have little pea-sized pieces of butter in your dough. When the crust bakes in the oven, the heat will cause the moisture in the butter to steam up, creating the wonderful flakiness you want.
Give it a rest This is a step you don’t want to skip since it accomplishes two important things. Allowing your dough to chill out in the refrigerator helps the gluten in the dough relax so you don’t have tough pastry and it also firms up that butter again (see second tip above.) 30-60 minutes is enough time to do this, however you can absolutely refrigerate the dough for a couple of days or freeze it for a few months, if necessary.

Rolling it out If your dough has been in the refrigerator for more than an hour, you may need to let it sit on the countertop for 15 or 20 minutes so that it will be easy for you to roll out. If the dough starts cracking, it’s likely because it’s too cold. Lightly flour your countertop and your rolling pin and start rolling from the center out, regularly checking to make sure your dough can always move around on your countertop without sticking. If you really have a hard time rolling out the dough, you can stick it between two pieces of plastic wrap and roll it out that way. To know if you’ve rolled it out enough, invert the pie plate over the rolled out dough. If you have a good two inches beyond the rim of the plate, you’re good to go.

Moving the dough to a pie plate It sounds trickier than it is. I usually gently fold the dough in half and transfer it to a pie plate that way, but you can also roll the dough around the rolling pin and then unroll it onto the pie plate. Fit it into the plate.
Blind baking Sometimes a recipe will tell you to prebake the pie crust before filling it. This is common with liquidy fillings such as custard or pumpkin, or if you cook the filling separately and you won’t be putting the pie in the oven. With the crust inside a pie plate, prick the crust all over the place with a fork. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the crust and fill the parchment with pie weights or dried beans (the beans won’t be edible after you bake them, though. Just keep them for the next pie. I’ve been using the same dried beans since college –swear!) This prevents the crust from puffing up.
Finshing It doesn’t have to be perfect. Do your best and have fun. I seal the top and bottom crusts together and use my thumbs and pointer fingers from both hands to pinch the dough. Or an easier method is use the tines of a fork and press the crust all along the rim of the plate. Lastly I cut a couple slits in the center of the top crust so steam can escape and you won’t have a watery pie. Glazing with an egg wash makes the pie look beautiful, but if egg is out of the question, you can use a little cream.

Although I have made many pies in my day, I still love learning how to do things better. Please share your favorite tips and tricks for making pie crusts and pies. I’d also love to hear what desserts you are all making for Thanksgiving!!!!