cardamom lingonberry hamantaschen

today was hummus day on set for #mollyontherange! i shot hummus, all of its tasty accoutrements, and a few other hummusy things that i am so excited about. for the first time in a while, my constant shoot day snacking hasn't left me feeling like butt afterwards because the last few shoot days were sprinkle cake day, mac and cheese day, and, i can't remember the rest... but today there were vegetables and beans so i feel great! there'd be a lot of tooting tonight if we lived in a world where girls farted.

i am so very glad that the days are getting longer up here. it makes shoot days a lot less stressful because i have more time to get my ducks in a row and tweezer on the parsley and shoot everything i need to without fearing that the sun will go away prematurely. outside, however, all of the snow has melted and it's kind of goopy and gross. macaroni love it though! once again they can go on their little adventures to the back reaches of our lawn, poop everywhere, and take dirt baths in the soon-to-be rhubarb patch. they're so happy. except one, who has just become **broody**. so she's on vacay in the broody buster. tomorrow i'll bring her today's leftover pomegranate seeds and cucumber slices. eggboy says i shouldn't spoil her because then she'll want to be broody all the time. but i'm thinking it's like the price is right and matzoh ball soup, those things are awesome for two days, but then you just want to go outside and poop with your friends. 

hooray for purim being right around the corner! what a fun holiday. we're not totally sure what we'll do to celebrate since grand forks isn't really purim party central, but eggboy still has his noisemaker from like two years ago so maybe i'll just read him the meggilah, let him buzz buzz buzz and then we'll hit the bars. sound good? cool. here are some scandinavian-inspired hamantaschen! ooooooh mash-up. 

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cardamom lingonberry hamantaschen

makes about 22 cookies

ingredients

1 c unsalted butter, room temperature

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour

powdered sugar, for dusting

about 1 c lingonberry jam

clues

in a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and cream cheese until combined. beat in the egg yolk and then add the vanilla, cardamom, and salt. beat in the flour to form a dough. divide the dough into two parts, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

preheat the oven to 400ºf. line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.

dust a work surface liberally with powdered sugar and roll out half of the dough until it's 1/4" thick. cut out 3" circles and spoon about 2 teaspoons of jam in the center, fold the edges up to form a triangle shape and pinch the edges firmly. transfer to the baking sheet. repeat with the remaining half of the dough, adding more powdered sugar as needed. bake until lightly browned. begin checking for doneness at 10 minutes. let cool slightly, dust with additional powdered sugar, and enjoy!

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-yeh!

spiced beef matzo pie

we've just returned from a fantastic few days spent in florida for my youngest cousin's bat mitzvah, which, like all bat mitzvahs, made me want to go to wayyy more bat mitzvahs (and maybe have my own 90s-themed one someday?). because the parties are just like weddings but with many more mozzarella sticks, less mushy emotions, and tons of glow in the dark shit. and when done correctly, they have added bonuses like a t-shirt airbrushing station or sting-ray petting zoo. i'm not even kidding! this party last weekend was at the tampa aquarium and we were given the opportunity to engage in such things as eating a mini pizza with one hand and reaching into a sting ray tank with the other. then we did the hora and filled our bellies with sour patch kids and charleston chews. it was so great. 

after the bat mitzvah we drove our little red cozy coop rental car down to sarasota to stake out a place for retirement. and also because my friends george and sam were presenting a concert of reich and muhly and all of the music i adore, so we basked in the sweet sounds of that and then stayed in costume to party like college kids, eat fish around a bonfire, and ketchup with old friends (whose birthdays i still need to memorize...). during the day we walked over two bridges, past a baby dolphin, to the bookstore downtown where i bought brooklyn because i've been wanting to see the movie soo badly but it never came to our theater! so lame. so i guess i'm doing things the old fashioned way. although since the new season of house of cards is out i don't know that i'll have any units of free time leftover to read. 

other than that, now that we're back home i've been hurry scurrying quick like a bunny to meet the photo deadline for my book because it is right around the corner. today was soup and cake day, tomorrow is casserole and more cake day, and next week we are staging a holiday a party! good thing the chrismukkah bush is still up... uhh, hehe, oops...

and because soup day and casserole day just weren't enough, we also have pi day on monday! yayyy! *applies stretchy pants* pi day is great because it allows me to reminisce on all of my fun mathlete years back in the day, but it can also be intimidating because i'm quite clumsy with pie dough. i am no michelle or samantha or yossy. and probably have no place living on a farm in this regard. but! i recently learned about mina, which is a passover pie with sephardic roots that uses matzo instead of pie dough. it's often layered, like a lasagna, with lamb or beef or vegetables. but in zahav it's made in a round pie pan and then flipped onto a plate. i loved the look of that so i took that route as well. i also love what mike solomonov says in his headnotes, about how tasty it is when the fatty juices from the meat soak into the matzo. the result kind of makes me think of what a beef fatty ritz cracker would taste like if such a thing existed. 

the filling here is spiced with a bunch of cinnamon and cumin and will make your house smell better than thanksgiving. it's pretty rich so you'll be glad it's wrapped in matzo and not pie dough, and, with passover right around the corner, you officially have two great reasons to make this. so go on, flag down the matzo truck 🚚 🚚 🚚 🚚 🚚!!!! 

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spiced beef matzo pie

makes one 8-inch pie

ingredients

2 tablespoons flavorless oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
Kosher salt
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1/4 teaspoon allspice
Black pepper

5-6 sheets matzo
egg wash: 1 egg lightly beaten with a splash of water
Fresh parsley or micro greens, for serving

clues

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat and add the onion, carrots, and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the beef and sprinkle it with the Aleppo pepper, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, 1 teaspoon salt, and a few turns of black pepper and cook, breaking up the beef with a spoon or spatula, until it is fully cooked and no longer pink. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. 

Grease an 8” cake pan and set it aside. Soak the matzo in warm water for a few minutes until it has softened. Line the bottom and sides of the cake pan with the matzo pieces, breaking it up as needed and packing it down firmly. It will look a little rustic and that’s ok. Use a paper towel to blot away excess moisture once the matzo is in the pan and then pour in the beef mixture and pack it down firmly. Cover the top with soaked matzo, pressing the edges to seal, and then brush it with a healthy coating of egg wash. Bake until browned, about 30 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes and then invert onto a plate. Top with parsley or micro greens and serve. 

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-yeh!

pictured: plates, cheese stone, and linens from farmhouse pottery

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ricotta stuffed whole wheat challah (and everything else that i ate over labor day weekend)

one uncrustable pb + j // at adult summer camp, to soak up the fireside marshmallow vodka and to fuel a late night game of heroes' quest with my new camp friends. i was the wizard! i named him frank and killed an ork with my sword and we totally crushed that game. 

one breakfast beer // if you've ever been sad that your summer camp days are behind you, just sign up for adult summer camp and then embrace the nice bearded guy at the breakfast buffet who is dispensing fancy breakfast beer from a keg.

another uncrustable pb + j // in the car on the way to minneapolis!

a pile of cherry tomatoes from our garden // also in the car on the way to minneapolis and while considering the idea that cherry tomatoes are nature's gushers. would you agree?

a vegetarian jimmy john's sammich // i think i'm becoming a vague vegetarian.

coconut bacon // no really, i actually think i'm becoming a vegetarian.

a roasted cauliflower and chickpea taco // prepared by none other than a couple cooks!!!! **happy dance** 

an ottolenghi's black pepper tofu taco // i brought tofu to a party. who am i. 

a boozy beef banh mi taco // melissa made beef and when melissa makes beef you stop entertaining the idea of becoming a vegetarian. 

pie, cookies, one luxurious bite of a morning bun // the details of which i must keep secret because they were test runs of recipes for sarah's book (!!!!) ohmygah, you're going to absolutely *need* that book. 

a variety of swedish pancakes // savored in #thefauxhouse over blog shop talk, glorious blog shop talk <3

one bite of many different glam doll donuts // with my brunch club ladies! 

a pile of salad // from whole foods on our drive back from minneapolis. our options were: stop at the state fair for dinner of fried things on a stick or stop at the whole foods for vegetables and more vegetables. we chose the opposite of yolo-ing on that one but now we have really fantastic hard-to-find-in-our-little-town vegetables for the week and i am so excited about it. 

ricotta stuffed whole wheat challah // i made these mini loaves of challah for the drive to summer camp on friday night! they were kind of in celebration of friday pizza night, because when you eat cheese stuffed bread with a fresh tomato, you basically have pizza. 

you can go a few different directions with these little loaves. i made a few personal-sized rolls and a few that are perfect for sharing with a friend (or perhaps... a date!). you could also make one large loaf, but that's not as fun. i tossed a bunch of za'atar into the dough to add extra flavor, and topped them with pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds for protein and prettiness. the seeds also add such crunchy textural fun to a fluffy challah and creamy ricotta party. these loaves are round because rosh hashanah is coming up (!!!), and yeah, with the whole wheat and seeds and everything they're definitely healthier than last year's marzipan challah and brown sugar challah, but you should go check those out too because the more challah the better the new year!

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ricotta stuffed whole wheat za'atar challah mini loaves with pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds

makes 8 personal rolls or 4 medium shareable loaves

ingredients

dough:

2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) active dry yeast

3/4 c warm water

1/4 c + 1 teaspoon sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

2 c all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 1/4 c whole wheat flour

1/4 c za'atar, optional

2 large eggs

1/3 c flavorless oil, like canola or vegetable

filling

1 c ricotta cheese

additional shredded cheese (optional... i like using a sprinkling of parmesan cheese)

kosher salt

eggwash + topping

1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water

pumpkin seeds

sesame seeds

kosher salt + black pepper

clues

dough:

In a medium bowl, combine the yeast, warm water, and 1 teaspoon sugar and give it a little stir. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, until it becomes foamy on top. 

Meanwhile, in a large bowl or the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together the salt, flours, za'atar (if using) and remaining sugar. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and oil.

When the yeast is foamy, add it to the dry mixture immediately followed by the egg mixture and stir to combine. Knead, either by hand on a floured surface or with a dough hook for 7-10 minutes, adding more white flour as necessary (but try not too add too much), until you have a smooth and slightly sticky dough.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature until it has doubled in size, about 2-3 hours. 

to shape:

Divide the dough into 4 or 8 parts, depending on how big you'd like your loaves to be. Pat them out into long rectangles (about 2 1/2" x 9" for personal rolls, 2 1/2" x 18" for medium loaves) and then spread with a thin even layer of ricotta. top with a sprinkling of additional cheese, if desired, and a sprinkling of salt. Roll up the rectangles the long way so you have long skinny snakes and and pinch the edges well to seal in the cheese. Roll the snakes into spirals to get round loaves and then let them rise for 30 more minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375ºf. 

Brush the loaves with a thin even layer of egg wash and then sprinkle with pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, salt, and pepper and bake until golden brown. Begin checking for doneness after 25 minutes. Let cool slightly and enjoy! Preferably with a fresh tomato. Do the challah/fresh tomato double fist.

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-yeh!

photo credit to alex for that second to last photo (of what melissa titled "the real housewives of food blogging" 😂), and photo credit to eggboy for the photo of me with a wooden spoon that i whittled at camp!!!! 

mini ricotta + parmesan cheesecakes

but molly, don't you hate cheesecake?

hated. i hated cheesecake. i used to love it, and then i overdosed on it by way of those little individually wrapped cheesecake bites that were big in the 90s, and then i didn't eat it again until 2010 when jeff forced a bite of ricotta cheesecake on me. it was fluffy and not at all tangy like the cream cheese cheesecakes of my youth. it blew my mind, ohmygod it was so good.

and then what happened?

i went back to hating it because baking cheesecake at the town bakery was a real bitch. it required a lot of steps, a lot of bowls, a lot of patience that i didn't yet have, and it wasn't as fun to decorate as the other cakes. (no offense to the cheesecake at the town bakery, people go gaga over it.)

but this cheesecake requires some patience, no?

it does, kind of. but i understand it now. i understand that in order to avoid cracks in a cheesecake, you need to cool it down gradually. you can't just take it out of the oven and wham-bam flip it onto a cooling rack. you have to caress it out of the oven, gently do this, gently do that, sing it a song, and then let it chill. but (!!) because these cheesecakes are miniature, all of that cooling down business is sped up, and if you want to eat one before the whole process has completed, you can and no one will notice because it's not like you have to take a slice out of one big cake. also (!!!!!!!) only one bowl is required. one!

why now? 

shavuot is coming! and on shavuot, we eat dairy.

why is this cheesecake different from all the other cheesecakes?

i follow this stranger on social media who recently made a mention of a *parmesan* cheesecake that he had in barcelona and it was so umami-y and good. that inspired me to add parmesan to my long-time-coming foray into ricotta cheesecake. i don't remember the stranger's name or his handle. (if you're reading this, barcelona cheesecake man, thank you!!) additionally, correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't think that authentic italian ricotta cheesecakes normally have a crust. but crust! it's my favorite part. so i added one, and it takes up almost a third of the entire cake, a ratio that i am ok with. 

describe this cheesecake in 19 words.

fluffy, creamy, light, slightly sweet, cute, a good beginner's cheesecake, lemony, polite, and with a subtle aftertaste of parmesan. 

thank you.

thank you!

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mini ricotta + parmesan cheesecakes

makes 22 cheesecakes

ingredients

crust:

18 large rectangles (that is, 36 squares, or 2 full  pouches, or just under 10 oz) of graham crackers

a good pinch of kosher salt

10 tb unsalted butter, melted

filling:

1/4 c flour

1 c sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 c shredded parmesan

30 oz whole milk ricotta

zest of one lemon

juice of 1/2 lemon (or of a whole lemon, if you like it extra lemony)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

4 large eggs

assembly:

1 c jam

clues

preheat oven to 375 f. line 22 cupcake tins with paper liners, grease them, and set them aside.

crust:

in a food processor, process the living daylights out of your graham crackers. add the salt and process a little more. we want a nice fine crumb. with the processor running, drizzle in the melted butter and process for a few seconds until the mixture clumps together. spoon the mixture into your cupcake tins (roughly two tablespoons of the mixture per tin) and then use a glass or spoon to press it down firmly and evenly. if the mixture is sticking to your glass or spoon, spray it with a little cooking spray. 

set the cupcake tins in the fridge while you make the filling.

filling:

to make the filling, you're gonna use your food processor again. don't worry about cleaning it out, it just has butter and graham cracker residue in it and that is ok.

add the flour, sugar, salt, and parmesan, and pulse it a few times to combine everything and break up the parmesan. add the ricotta, lemon zest, lemon juice, and extracts, and process it until smooth. two minutes-ish.

with the processor running, add the eggs one at a time, processing a bit after each one.

spoon the mixture into your cupcake tins. it can come up pretty high, up to about 1/4-inch from the top of the tin. bake for 20 minutes, until the outer edges are set but the centers are still a little jiggly. turn the oven off, open it about halfway, and let them be for about 45 minutes. remove them from the oven and let them cool completely at room temperature. chill them for an hour or two, or overnight. 

spoon on your jam.

enjoy!

these will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

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-yeh!