european chocolate cake, hold the flour

an extremely good european-style rich chocolate cake for either snacking or serving dinner guests, this one is entirely flour-free and remains moist for a few days. served with a thick layer of whipped cream and fresh raspberries or sliced sweetened strawberries atop that, it makes for a nice presentation.

since there is no wheat flour in this recipe, it is gluten-free and can also be made dairy-free by using a parve margarine. if you can't or don't eat eggs, well you're out of luck here! this one has 4 of them.

instead of using wheat (all purpose or cake) flour, potato flour/starch is used. commonly used in european (and jewish passover) baking, potato flour is the starch of floury type potatoes which acts to bind and thicken baked goods.

potato flour can be purchased in a variety of places, such as large grocery stores, european specialty stores, jewish grocers, and health food stores. it is very inexpensive and keeps forever.

the texture of potato flour is silky like that of cornstarch however it does feel a bit different. it can be used for cakes, cookies and sometimes as a component in breads.

baked as an 8 inch cake, the batter can also be put into small ramekins which have been lined with parchment paper to make removal easy. of course, you'll have to adjust the baking times, testing along the way to see when they've baked completely (most likely approx 20 - 25 min). though i've never tried it, i'm sure they could also be baked in paper cups that one would use to bake cupcakes or muffins.



european chocolate cake

makes one 8 inch cake

ingredients:

6 oz (150 g) semi sweet chocolate or 18 tbsp choc chips
1/2 c (4 oz /100g) butter or margarine
4 eggs, separated
1/2 c (4 oz / 100 g) sugar
1 tsp (5 gr) baking powder
1/4 c (2 oz / 50 g) potato starch
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
pinch of salt

method:

separate the eggs and place the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another and let them come to room temperature.

meanwhile preheat the oven to 350F (180C).

prepare an 8 inch spring form pan and cut a round of parchment paper. grease the sides of the pan very well. set aside.

in a microwaveable bowl, melt the butter. it should be fairly hot.

place on the counter and add the chocolate chips. if using squares of chocolate, make sure they are chopped up to make melting easier.

mix well until completely melted.

place the mixture in a large bowl and add the vanilla, sugar and the eggs. do not add the eggs if the chocolate mixture is still hot or you will cook them.

mix well to blend.

add the potato starch, in two additions, into which you've blended the baking soda. again mix well.

in another bowl, mix the egg whites until foamy. add a pinch of salt and continue to mix until it is the texture of whipped cream and holds peaks.

add the egg whites, by hand with a spatula, by increments, to the chocolate mixture blending well after each addition. be careful not to be too rough as this is what helps give structure to the mixture while it bakes.

once well mixed, place the batter in the pan and smooth the top.

bake for 45 minutes. it will look domed, as if it has risen in the center; it has not — it is, in actuality, flat (see below)*. as it cools further, the top will crack more.

remove and let sit about 10 minutes. remove the spring form and continue to cool completely.

*you will notice that it will look like it has risen in the center, this is just a very thin layer. just push it down — the top of the cake will look flaky; this is perfectly normal for this type of cake and probably one of the best things about it (you'll have to try the recipe to see what i mean).

the cake slices nice and cleanly and is perfectly sweetened.

serve with powdered sugar and/or whipped cream. the cake will remain moist for a few days.

enjoy!

kitchen essentials — fitting parchment paper to your pan

very often cakes require a layer of parchment paper to be placed at the bottom of the pan. cutting the rounds to fit one's pan is a tedious and annoying job. usually, it is done by measuring out the dimensions with a compass or placing the bottom of the pan on the paper and tracing the round and then cutting it out.

an alternative to this is just as easy and quick and requires no tracing or snipping with a pair of scissors. this method works best for pans like spring form ones with a shallow edge. it also uses a knife. if your concerned about damaging your pan through the cutting process, then you may as well opt for the traditional way of doing it. i've not had any problems using this method and not incurred any damage to mine.


fitting parchment to spring form pans

method:

remove the spring form part of the pan and place the bottom on your counter.

cut a piece of parchement a little bigger than the bottom of your pan. place the parchment over the bottom of the pan.

with one hand hold down the parchment in place and with your fingers of the other hand, crease all around the inner edge of the pan well with your finger nail. if the paper slips, just fit it back into place following the edges of the crease you've made.

once the entire circumference has been creased, take a very sharp knife to cut. holding the paper down with one hand in the center, cut directly into the crease at the edge of the pan, turning as necessary.

make sure to cut well as you go. if it is still attached in small spots, then cut it out with the knife following the crease.

place in the bottom of your pan and use as required.

the parchment will stay flat if you dab a bit of butter or margarine underneath it or directly on the bottom of the pan.

no cooking allowed!

this stew-like meal, called (a)dafina, is the sefardi counterpart to the ashkenazi sabbath dish called cholent. since no cooking at all is permitted on the jewish sabbath (from sundown friday night until a little after sunset saturday night), those who are observant must prepare virtually all foods in advance, a job which can be a bit challenging and even stressful at times, especially when coupled with the holidays directly preceding or following it.

dafina is really the spanish - moroccan version of a group of like dishes called hamin or hamim — slow and long cooked stews which are prepared and half-cooked before the sun sets on friday evening and left to finish cooking on their own overnight. in days gone by, people brought their dafinas or hamins to the local jewish baker's oven to sit overnight in the spent daily fire, cooking in the embers which were slowly going cold. of course, the bricks of the ovens helped to retain enough heat to keep the dishes hot enough and cooking to be ready for the next late morning.

today, people continue making these same dishes which are hundreds of years old but in their modern day ovens which are set to a low heat (and left on for 25 hours to keep food warm) or on a plata (hotplate) or blech (thin sheet of metal covering the stovetop burners). these dishes can also be very successfully made in a slow cooker (i.e. crockpot).

basically, hamins and cholent are the same thing — meat of some variety (beef, chicken, lamb) cooked with an assortment of beans and/or lentils & grains and root vegetables. the important thing is that ingredients which can all stand up to long cooking be used. there are no steadfast rules to what is used; often, the recipe varies from week to week depending on what's available and what one is in the mood for. in fact, they can also be made completely vegetarian & vegan by removing the meat & eggs elements. it can also be made gluten-free by removing the baked wheat and using only rice.

where the sefardi version differs from the ashkenazi one, here in the case of adafina, is that chickpeas are included along with a variety of spices not seen in a cholent. as well, the texture of the sefardi version is soup-like and not thicker and more viscous as is the ashkenazi version. different hamins from different countries do not necessarily include chickpeas and will have different spices and ingredients. what is common to sefardi versions is the use of eggs.

the eggs are slowly cooked overnight and result in something called huevos haminados. though cooked together here with the dafina, these can also be made parve (neutral - no dairy/no meat) by cooking on their own in other ways. the eggs are sometimes eaten at breakfast time or served as part of the first course of the dafina meal.

another ingredient specific to the spanish / moroccan version is the use of what is called blé or wholegrain wheat. along with rice, this ingredient can be cooked as shown below in ovenproof plastic bags or separately in little casseroles. i only use parboiled rice as i find the density of the grain will stand up best to the long cooking and remain quite firm.

the long cooking process serves to caramelize and deepen the flavour of the meat and softens it along with the chickpeas and eggs to a buttery texture. the long cooking of the rice and wheat also leaves them exceptionally good — especially in the case of the wheat whose texture becomes something which cannot be achieved by any other cooking method.

i am posting this not because i expect, or think, the average person reading this will run to his/her kitchen and try it. rather it is more as an explanation and demonstration of the continuity of culture and food traditions which are centuries old. to be honest, both cholent and hamins are dishes which most people either love or detest. after 16 hours of cooking, it often looks a frightful mess and charred on top — quite inedible. the truth of the matter is, as we say, dafka: quite the opposite in spite of what you may be thinking ..... it's quite edible. in fact, it's quite good! ;)



dafina (adafina) · חמין) דפינה)
spanish-moroccan sabbath stew

makes a small dafina (2 - 4 ppl)

ingredients:

3/4 c chickpeas, soaked overnight
6 - 8 good sized pieces of "cholent meat"*
2 veal or beef bones or marrow bones
8 - 10 baby potatoes
1 large onion or 2 medium, sliced somewhat thinly
6 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole (or whole head of garlic unpeeled)
1 egg per person
3 to 4 dates

optional vegetables: root only - cut in serving sized pieces — turnip, sweet potato, carrot {add these 15 minutes before dafina finishes cooking on stovetop}.

*the meat you use must be able to stand up to 12 to 16 hours of cooking without becoming tough; it must also have a layer of fat on it.

**to add non meat proteins (vegetarian/vegan), one can use extra firm tofu or seitan pieces.

seasonings & spices:

1 to 2 tsp salt (depends on size of dafina)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp black pepper (or to taste)
1 heaped tsp paprika
1/8 - 1/4 tsp hot paprika
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp (or more) cinnamon (or part of cin stick), cumin, coriander powder
1 bay leaf
1 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp saffron threads (do not omit)

6 c water + 2 more (approximately) - see recipe description

for the wheat:

(you can also double the amounts — i only make 1/2)

1/2 c wheat grains ("blé")
1 c water
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp turmeric
1 small green chili pepper, chopped or whole (opt)
2 tbsp oil

for the rice:

1 c parboiled rice or long grained type
2 c water (or a little less 1 3/4 c for firmer rice)
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
1/8 - 1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 - 3 tsp chicken soup powder
1/2 - 1 tsp paprika
3 tbsp oil

method:

place the chickpeas in a roasting pan (small in this case) with the onions, garlic*, eggs and meat. add the spices on top of the ingredients. make sure the eggs are sitting on top of the chickpeas or meat and not directly on the metal of the pan as they may crack like that.

*if using the whole head of garlic add it when you add the rice and wheat and leave it whole. just add it on top of the ingredients (not submerged) or you can wrap it in foil, cutting off a 1/4 inch of the top of the head of garlic bulb & pouring a little olive oil over it first before closing up.

add COLD water (6 cups) and bring to a boil over medium heat.

cook the dafina covered, on the stovetop in the roaster, for a good hour and a half over medium low heat and skim any of the impurities that come from the chickpeas and meat. take note that it may smell pretty gross from the bones and meat as it cooks initially, LOL. it will taste perfectly fine once it has finished cooking overnight.

make rice and wheat packages

wheat package:

rice package:

important: for both, make the knot near the top leaving space for expansion. this is very important. also you MUST make several small holes near the top of the bag with a pin so the bag will have air vents — the bag fills with air as it cooks. otherwise, the bag may pop while cooking.

add rice and wheat and add extra 2 C boiling water. make sure to taste the dafina before it bakes to see if you have enough salt and spices.

bake @ 250 F overnight in a tightly covered pan. the custom is not to stir at all & if more water is needed (if you check before going to bed or early in the morning), you add already hot water from a hot water urn. if you don't observe the rules for preparing food for the sabbath, just add boiling water from a kettle. don't add too much, however.

after baking, if you've never made this before, it will look somewhat frightful! at least the top of it, that is. it will be very dark and even looked burned but it is not. this is the caramelization of the sugars (in the starches), the result of a long slow cooking. underneath it all, it will be a golden brown colour.

to serve the dafina, the procedure is:

the "soup" of the chickpeas with the broth

(and the egg).

then the main dish of the meat, the potatoes along with the rice and the cooked wheat.

les briks au thon

served as a either a snack, light supper or lunch, les briks au thon (spicy tuna enclosed in thin pastry) is a popular, muslim and jewish, north african item which is much loved. they can be made very mild or quite spicy, the latter requiring the essential harissa. what makes them unique is the use of diced preserved lemons which are tangy in addition to being somewhat sour and salty.

essential to making them is the round thin pastry sheets called brik which can usually be bought at markets catering to middle eastern food and/or sephardic jewish clientele. they are larger than a dinner plate and have a thicker texture than that of phyllo. in the absence of availability of brik, one can use spring roll wrappers but the brik will have to be shaped differently and much smaller than shown below. if using spring roll wrappers, i'd suggest using hard boiled eggs which have been chopped rather than the whole raw egg as it just wont fit in a spring roll wrapper properly.

brik take no time to make once your filling ingredients are ready. the way i cook them uses very little oil and they are ready in only a few minutes with quite decent results.


brik au thon

spicy hot harissa, sour preserved lemons, salty wrinkled black moroccan olives and several briny capers, along with the simple addition of some tuna and an egg make a wonderful filling — all encased in a crispy wrapper. serve with some wedges of lemon and perhaps extra harissa if you're daring, this makes a light delicious meal or snack.

makes 2

ingredients:

3 sheets brik pastry, 2 whole & 1 cut in half
1 can tuna, packed in oil or water
1 wedge preserved lemon
several moroccan (wrinkled type) black olives or kalamata
1 tbsp capers in brine or salt (washed well)
1/4 onion, chopped small
parsley leaves, whole or chopped
harissa paste, to taste
1 egg per brik
salt and pepper

egg wash, optional (not necessary in my opinion)

method:

prepare the lemon and chop the olives. make egg wash, if using.

place the ingredients on a plate near your workspace.

in a LARGE non stick frypan, add 2 to 3 tbsp vegetable or regular olive oil and heat over medium heat. the pan must be hot when you add the brik or it will suck up a lot of oil.

with the pan heating, cut 1 sheet of brik in half. place 1/2 a sheet in the middle of 1 full sheet as shown below. this is done so as to make a more stable wrapper — think of it as an insurance once you bend the brick over. if the brik is slightly dry, it will snap and leave a spot where it may seep. it also prevents the filling from cooking too quickly before the rest of the pastry is fried.

place the tuna, preserved lemon, olives, onions and capers in the center of the pastry.

add salt and pepper to taste and harissa paste. you can add the parsley, too.

make a little well and carefully break a whole egg, pouring it in the little well.

if using the egg wash, paint a semi-circle around the top edge. i don't use any as the pastry will seal itself with the heat when frying. if your new to this then use the egg wash.

carefully transfer the pastry to the hot pan and cook each side for 3 to 4 minutes. it should be golden brown on each side.

if you like your egg a little runny then cook for 3 minutes per side.

serve with wedges of lemon.

enjoy!

kitchen essentials — how to prepare cured citrons confits

in an earlier posting, i showed how to prepare north african preserved lemons or les citrons confits. after their month long preservation, they are ready to use — unless you use the quicker 7 day method which, i guess, is good in a pinch. they are at their best after resting at least a month however, and improve with time.

in order to use these little flavour-packed lemons, they must be washed off well with warm or hot water.

once well rinsed, place them on a cutting board and remove the pulp. some people keep it, removing the seeds, however i much prefer just the softened cured rind.

after discarding the pulp, cut the lemon rind into long strips the size you need them.

cut each of the strips into a dice whose dimensions are called for in your recipe.

voilà, they are now ready to use.

enjoy!