Welsh Cakes for Dewi Sant

Welsh cakes (pice ar y maen in Welsh) are traditionally cooked on a bakestone (a maen in Welsh) which is a cast iron griddle about ½-inch thick. These scone-like cakes resemble crumpets and are about 2 inches in diameter and about half an inch thick. Welsh cakes are usually dusted with sugar, and served hot or cold. They are a common treat eaten on St. David's Day which is celebrated annually on March 1st with many Welsh people wearing a daffodil or a leek (or both) on their lapels.*

St. David is the patron saint of Wales, but little is actually known about his life. He was a Celtic monk thought to have been a tall, gentle man who was unusually strong despite his frugal diet. He was believed to be the descendant of a Ceredigion Prince and of the legendary King Arthur. St. David traveled widely throughout Wales, Ireland, England and France and he founded several churches and a monastery in Wales and eventually became an archbishop.

This recipe calls for soaking dried fruit in hot black tea similar to recipes for the emblematic Welsh fruitcake, Bara Brith. It adds a distinctive flavor that lends to the authenticity of these folkloric delights and screams “Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant!”

• 1/2 cup mixed dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, currants)
• 1 cup hot strong black tea (we suggest English Breakfast or Earl Gray)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1/4  teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• Splash of milk, if needed
• Marmalade for serving if desired

Mix together the dried fruit and cranberries in a large bowl, then pour the hot tea over. Cover with cling film and leave to soak overnight. Drain the fruit and discard the tea.

Cut butter into the flour to combine. It helps to cut the cold butter into smaller pieces first and then toss them separately into the flour making sure they each get covered in flour before you start “cutting.” There are several ways to cut the butter and flour together. I prefer to use a pastry blender made specifically for this purpose. My mom uses two butter knives moving them in opposite directions (kind of like a sharpening motion) actually cutting the butter. A fork works too, but care should be taken not to over “mash” the butter.

Add the sugar, spices, dried fruit and then the egg. Mix to combine, and then form a ball of dough, using a splash of milk if needed. Roll out the pastry until it is a ¼’ thick and cut into 3’ rounds with a biscuit cutter. If you don't have a biscuit cutter you can use an empty tin, vegetable or tuna can.

Rub the griddle with butter and wipe away the excess. Place the griddle over the burners and wait until it heats up, then place the Welsh cakes on the griddle. They need to cook about 2-3 minutes each side. Each side needs to be caramel brown before turning although some people I know like them almost burnt. Turn cake to brown the other side.

Remove the cakes from the griddle and dust with powdered sugar while still warm. Some people leave out the dried fruit, opting to split the cooled cakes and sandwich them together with jam.

*The daffodil is a national symbol which is in season during March and the leek is Saint David's personal symbol. Welsh troops were able to distinguish each other from opposing English troops dressed in similar fashion by wearing leeks. Interestingly, the association leeks and daffodils have similar names in Welsh: Cenhinen (leek) and Cenhinen Pedr (literally "Peter's leek" for daffodil). 

College Cooking Series: Chapter 1 - Here We GO!

Moments after you receive your college acceptance letter(s), you start planning for the big move to campus. You start the shopping list: towels; extra-long twin sheets; coffee maker; hot pot; toaster oven; microwave; but, do you really need these items?

Many colleges and universities require freshman students to live on campus which typically means living in a dorm room and eating in the dining hall. If that is the case, then you won’t need much in the way of cooking equipment (which you won’t have room for anyway). In fact, many colleges prohibit small appliances in dorm rooms for safety reasons and will immediately confiscate any unauthorized items.

Once you are out of a cramped dorm room, you are most likely to be off the meal plan as well. While cooking meals for yourself may sound intimidating, it doesn't have to be hard or time consuming. The biggest “trick” to becoming a good cook is knowing how to read! If you can read directions on a package or a recipe, you are more than halfway to being a chef. Like everything else, practice makes perfect; the more you cook, the better you get at cooking.

There is no reason for you to eat ramen noodles every night, to fill your pantry with boxes of fluorescent orange mac and cheese, or to be on a first-name-basis with the pizza delivery guy. With the right tools and trusted standbys, cooking on your own can be done quickly, cheaply and, most importantly, can be healthy (or at least healthier.)

This is the first post in a weekly series geared specifically at high school seniors and college students preparing for apartment living. Over the next weeks, we will cover the appliances, pots and pans, and utensils you will need to set up your college kitchen. We will expound upon how to stock your cupboards, explain some fundamental cooking techniques, and even give you a few simple recipes to get you started on your way to sustaining yourself in a healthy and economical way. In the meantime, we have a homework assignment to get you thinking about learning to feed yourself.

Homework: Begin reading the food packaging of food items you frequently eat. Read the nutritional information and pay special attention to preparation instructions. Think about how you would prepare these dishes if you were on your own. Let us know in the comments, what meal you think you will cook the most at school. 

Chicken in Curry Cream

This one of the first recipes I made for Dom when we were dating. He did most of the cooking and I knew this was something he would never make himself. This easy skillet chicken is flavored with curry powder, cream, and a little rum.

• 4-6 boneless chicken breast cutlets
• ¾ cup butter 
• 1/3 cup Coconut flavored rum (Malibu or Cocoribe)
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 cup heavy cream

Place the chicken breasts between 2 sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap and hit with glancing blows, working from the center to the edge using a meat mallet or a rolling pin to flatten the cutlets to ¼” thickness.

Sauté chicken in butter on medium heat for about 10 minutes each side until juices run clear. Remove chicken to a plate and set aside. Add rum to the pan to deglaze it. Cook until the alcohol burns off and the liquid is reduced by half. Mix curry and cream together and add to the pan. Simmer on medium heat for another 10 or so minutes. Add the cooked cutlets back to the pan to reheat and coat fully with the curry cream sauce. Serve with rice or couscous and a favorite vegetable for a fabulous family meal.

Red Velvet Madeleines

There is nothing like having teenagers to make you feel old. I made reference to a “cakewalk” and was treated to a volley of eye rolls. Come to find out neither even knew what a cakewalk was. Also known as a “prize walk,” a cakewalk is a hopscotch-meets-musical-chairs raffle in which numbered squares are laid out in a circle for ticket holders to walk around in time to music, which is played for an irregular length of time and then stopped. A number is then called out, and the person standing on the corresponding square on the floor wins a cake as a prize (hence the name).

While growing up in the country, our rural church would have an annual fundraising carnival at which the cakewalk was THE event. The primary reason for its popularity was the community confectionist, Juanita Gunnells’ cakes and candies. She would always donate a German chocolate cake, a red velvet cake, and depending on the weather divinity or peanut butter fudge.*


I was always fascinated by the unnaturally-red, red velvet cake whose color was explained as a chemical reaction between the often-used buttermilk and the red anthocyanin found in cocoa powder. In reality, the red coloring was added to hide the fact that a minimal amount of cocoa powder was used especially during World War II when beet juice was used to add color to red velvet cakes.

Since Dom is not big on cakes, but enjoys a good cookie or pastry, I decided to try a red velvet variant. I had found a French madeleine pan at an antique shop that I was dying to use, so it was providence.  Dusted with confectioner’s sugar, these made a romantic-looking Valentine’s Day treat!

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons red food coloring
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour (yes, it really does make a difference)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine the sugar, eggs, yolks and vanilla in a mixing bowl and beat at medium-high speed with an electric mixer for 5 minutes or until thick and pale. Add butter and food coloring to the mixture, and beat until well-blended.

Whisk together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt, and then fold in the egg mixture. Spoon the batter into 2 well-greased shiny madeleine pans, filling three-fourths full (about 1 tablespoon per madeleine). Since I only have one pan, I baked mine in batches; placing the batter in the refrigerator between batches.

Bake at 400° for 8 to 10 minutes or until the centers of the madeleines spring back when lightly pressed. Immediately remove madeleines from the pan to prevent sticking and cool on a wire rack. Cool completely (about 20 minutes) and dust with powdered sugar just before serving, if desired.

*Because of the high sugar content, divinity absorbs moisture from the air on a humid days and can end up a gooey mess.

It's Not Chocolate; It's Cacao

This post was originally written for inclusion on the Virginia-Highland Civic Association website on February 13, 2013:
  
Valentine’s Day always conjures images of roses and chocolates. The Valentine’s Day gifts of our youth were usually foil-wrapped, milk chocolate cones produced by The Hershey Company. Today chocolate is as widely varied as wine, micro-brewed beers or designer olive oil from coveted Belgian chocolates to handcrafted specialty chocolates.

Most Atlantans do not realize how lucky we are to have a true chocolate maker in our midst.  A chocolate maker buys and roasts cocoa beans and grinds them into chocolate, while a chocolatier uses existing bars (called couverture) to create their confections. Kristen Hard, owner and founder of Cacao Atlanta, is both the first bean-to-bar chocolate maker in the Southeast and the first female bean-to-bar producer in the U.S. There are approximately 20 chocolate makers currently in the United States; conversely, there are hundreds of chocolatier.

One might envision the life of a chocolate whisperer as being that of champagne-sipping glamour rather than the muck-trudging adventures Kristen endures to secure her carefully-sourced cocoa beans including an overnight stay in a broken-down car in the Peruvian jungle while four months pregnant. With a mischievous smile she adds, “It was worth it to bring home the best beans for our customers.” Once she has the beans at her 3000-square-foot “laboratoire” in Inman Park, she roasts the beans, removes the shells and breaks them into small pieces. A paste is then formed, refined and kneaded to develop flavor, and at last the chocolate is tempered and poured into molds.

Kristen’s latest marvel is the “Love Bar” which is a 75% dark chocolate bar created from Hispaniola cocoa beans.  The beans have been fermented and dried in the sun on a small, family-owned estate in the Dominican Republic. This bar is wonderfully full-bodied; not overly sweet with natural undertones of raspberry and coffee. Other seasonal offerings include the Valentine’s Day Sweet and Spicy Box of Love (with 12 flavored artisanal chocolates including cayenne passion fruit, strawberry pate de fruit, white chocolate rosewater, Aztec aphrodisiac, raspberry thyme, and almond marzipan) as well as chocolate flowers to celebrate Spring. Kristen is excited to be doing her three-foot chocolate rabbit again this year for Easter and will feature a selection of irresistible Easter eggs and bunnies.

And for those of you who would like to do more than woo your sweetheart with a box of truffles this year, it is not too late. You can immerse your sweetie in the world of chocolate at one of five 40-minute classes taught by Kristen herself on Valentine’s evening. The class will feature a brief educational talk, three ounces of chocolate to craft your own confections, hot cocoa, cookies and pastries. Classes are held at the Inman Park factory store. For more information, please visit http://www.cacaoatlanta.com/events.

Curative Rice and Asparagus Frittata

For the last few weeks, everyone in our house has suffered from a cold. All of us in various stages of sniffling, sneezing, coughing… you get the picture. So following the old "BRAT" rule, we have been consuming quite a bit of bananas, rice, apples and tea. Which for a day or two is fine, but you can only eat so much plain rice and applesauce before you long for something with some flavor and substance!

Eggs are very easy to digest and are high in protein not to mention that they are wonderfully versatile. Admittedly, at first the idea of an egg frittata seemed a bit odd, but rice pudding and tamago sushi came to mind and my doubts were quashed.

In addition to being a good sickbed comestible, this unfolded Italian omelet is perfect for brunch or a quick weeknight dinner. This tasty frittata has a particularly pleasing texture, light and toothsome at the same time with a nice crust on the bottom, especially when cooked in a heavy cast-iron skillet. It also lends itself to many delicious variations. Any manner of leftovers (vegetables, mushrooms, sausage) and herbs can simply be folded into the mixture with the rice before cooking or topped with cheese* or a fresh salsa before being served.

• 2 teaspoons butter
• 4 eggs
• ¼ cup milk (or other liquid such as broth or tomato juice)
• 1 cup cooked rice
• ½ cup cooked vegetables (optional)
• ¼ teaspoon dried herbs (of your choice, if using)
• ½ cup shredded cheese (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Beat eggs until frothy and add milk, rice, and filling ingredients in medium bowl until blended. The filling(s) should be cooked, not raw and cut into pieces that are fairly small and drained well. Herbs, and salt and pepper should be added and well mixed.

Heat butter in 6 to 8-inch pan or skillet over medium-low heat until melted. Pour in egg mixture and cook over low to medium heat until eggs are almost set, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Preheat broiler.  Remove the skillet from the burner and place under the broiler (if your pan does not have an ovenproof handle you should wrap it completely in aluminum foil). If desired, sprinkle with shredded cheese, bread crumbs or even crushed chips. Broil about 6 inches from heat for several minutes until the eggs are firmly set and no visible liquid egg remains and cheese is melted or topping is lightly browned.

Transfer the frittata to a serving platter and serve or cut into wedges and place on individual serving plates.

*Cheese and other dairy products can be difficult to digest and contain casein which is a mucus-forming agent. Casein is the dominant protein in foods such as milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream and butter. Its gluey texture and histamine-creating properties cause increased mucus production and nasal congestion.

Venerable Salmon Alfredo

While the word “lent” actually comes from the Old English word: lencten meaning “springtime,” the term most commonly refers to the 40-day fast in penitential preparation for Easter which has been observed by many Christians since apostolic times. This time of fasting and alms giving is meant to remind the faithful of Christ’s fasting in the dessert. Traditional Lenten rules stipulated that only one meal a day was allowed in the evening, and that meat, fish, eggs, and butter were forbidden. These rules were gradually relaxed.

Present-day fasting laws are very simple: On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, the faithful have only one full meal (abstaining from meat) and smaller snacks to keep up one's strength, and; on the other Fridays of Lent, the faithful abstain from meat. We get in the habit of having fish on Fridays and often continue to have seafood on Fridays long after the Lent period has ended especially as the springtime weather turns muggy and hot.

Not being big fans of the frozen, pre-breaded fish by-products commonly included in TV dinners since the 1950s, we are always looking for ways to avoid getting into a Lenten rut. Earlier in the week, Dom had fired up the Big Green Egg and grilled some cedar-planked salmon of which there were some leftovers. This creamy salmon alfredo is rich and flavorful. We might not mind getting in a rut if this dish becomes a regular on the Friday menu!

• 1 pound pasta of choice (we used farfalle)
• 1 ½ cups low-fat milk
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons cream cheese (light is fine)
• ¾ cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 pound salmon, cooked (smoked or canned)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Capers, drained and patted dry (optional)

Prepare a non-stick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium. Add shallot and cook until soft. (You may add a few drops of water to help soften if needed.) Sprinkle flour over softened shallots and mix well. Add milk a little at a time and mix until flour has completely dissolved. Cook on medium heat stirring continuously for 8 minutes, then add cream cheese and mix until incorporated. Simmer for 2 more minutes before adding Parmesan cheese and salmon. Reduce heat to low and simmer until pasta is done.

Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes. Be sure to check the package instructions as the times may vary depending on the type of pasta (e.g. the farfalle package says 12 minutes rather than 10.) Do not overcook the pasta or it will be soggy and break apart when tossed. Drain the pasta without delay in a large colander remembering to save some of pasta water to help hydrate the pasta and sauce if needed later. While some recipes may tell you to rinse the pasta in cold water, we do not recommend it as cold pasta does not absorb the sauce as well.

Transfer the cooked, drained pasta to a mixing bowl and pour the salmon sauce over the top. Gently toss the pasta and sauce together to combine fully without breaking up macaroni. If the sauce seems thick and hard to mix, add some of the reserved pasta water a ¼-cup at a time. Serve the salmon alfredo immediately with a garnish of drained capers and an extra sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese.