Molly Killeen’s St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake via The New York Times

I'm technically graduating from grad school this month, which means that my student loan is entering its grace period, which means that I had to take this mandatory exit counseling session for the loan I took out before I exited. (By the way, this is my new favorite non-euphemism for graduating--exiting. Congrats, exit-or!) (I know, I know--not all exit-ors necessarily graduate.) Anywaaaay, as the last step, I had to make a budget for my life, only there was no section for gourmet-food-blog-related expenses, so I just added it to food. No biggie, right?  Well, let's not get into specifics here. Let's just say, I was over budget.

So this attempt is a dedication to balancing the budget. Thanks to all the leftover unsalted butter in the refrigerator from Thanksgiving, I had everything on hand for this recipe and you probably do too.

Molly Killeen's version:

 Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

our version:

I am a huge fan of mildly sweet desserts, and so when I read Melissa Clark's article about this two-layer cake with a bottom layer that sounded more like bread than cake, I was totally sold. 

I hadn't baked in a while and forgot about the foresight needed when it comes to room-temperature ingredients. My solution was to put both the milk and butter on top of the hot toaster oven for a few minutes though I didn't feel great about the partially melted butter.

This bready/cakey layer needed to rise for three hours, which would have meant me putting it in the oven around 9pm. Instead, I remembered something from a previous baking attempt (battle challah?) about allowing bread to rise in the refrigerator overnight--that it actually made for a slower, more complex rise. (I might be making this up about the complex part, but I feel like it's true?)

In the morning, I was convinced that I'd ruined it. It was supposed to have doubled in size, but it didn't  look like it had risen even a quarter of its size. I braced myself for failure, put the bottom layer on top of my warm stove (in hope that it might rise) and continued onward with making the top layer--the layer that puts the gooey in this recipe's name.

I took my time, cleaning up as I went along, and guess what? By the time I pulled the cover off the bottom layer, it looked a little puffed up--probably not doubled, but certainly puffed.

Slightly less braced for failure, I poured what was destined to be the gooey layer over the bready layer and put it in the oven.

Uhm. Allow me to explain in terms of The Twilight Saga. Eating this cake is a lot like being a teenager who falls irrevocably in love with an extremely good-looking vampire. You know it's not good for you, but you just can't help yourself. (So I got into The Twilight Saga. So what? Matt started it.)

RECIPE via NY Times:
3 tablespoons milk at room temperature
1 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

For the topping:
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling.


1. In a small bowl, mix milk with 2 tablespoons warm water. Add yeast and whisk gently until it dissolves. Mixture should foam slightly.

2. Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar and salt. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat in the egg. Alternately add flour and the milk mixture, scraping down sides of bowl between each addition. Beat dough on medium speed until it forms a smooth mass and pulls away from sides of bowl, 7 to 10 minutes.

3. Press dough into an ungreased 9-by 13-inch baking dish at least 2 inches deep. Cover dish with plastic wrap or clean tea towel, put in a warm place, and allow to rise until doubled, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. To prepare topping, in a small bowl, mix corn syrup with 2 tablespoons water and the vanilla. Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat in the egg. Alternately add flour and corn syrup mixture, scraping down sides of bowl between each addition.

5. Spoon topping in large dollops over risen cake and use a spatula to gently spread it in an even layer. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes; cake will rise and fall in waves and have a golden brown top, but will still be liquid in center when done. Allow to cool in pan before sprinkling with confectioners’ sugar for serving.

Ethiopian Eggplant Stew

I'm not a big fan of eggplant. It can tasty a little bitter, and the texture sometimes makes me quiver (I have texture problems). But, since I did pick up some discount eggplants at the grocery store I needed to find a dish to use them up. The result was actually very good (and the kids didn't even realize they were eating eggplant!). I also thought I would try a new method for the onions that I have seen in several Ethiopian recipes--dry frying them for 30 mins until a deep golden colour. If you want to skip this step, just saute in oil for 8-10 mins.

INGREDIENTS
- 2 large red onions, halved and sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1" piece of ginger, minced
- 1 tbsp allspice
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp berbere (or to taste)
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1/4 cup margarine
- 1 medium eggplant, diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1 tomato, small dice
- 1/4 cup red lentils
- 1 1/2 cup water (more, of needed)
- 2 cups chopped green beans
- salt, to taste

METHOD
1. Heat a large non-stick pan (cast iron preferred) over medium heat. Add in onions and fry for 30 mins, stirring regularly, until a nice golden brown. When onions stick to much, deglaze the pan with a splash or two of water.
2. Add in garlic, ginger, and spices and mix well, until spices are fragrant. Add in margarine. When it melts, add carrots and eggplant. Fry for 5-7 mins, until eggplant begins to soften.
3. Add tomato, lentils, water, and beans and mix well. Bring to bubbling, then loosely cover and let simmer. The lentils will cook in 20 to 30 mins, but I cooked mine for about an hour, until the eggplant was really soft. Add water, if needed. Season to taste and serve with injera.

Vegetable Cutlets : Step-by-Step Recipe

Vegetable cutlets have never really interested me as a child. Back then, I used to eat red meat and if a certain dish was available in both vegetarian and non vegetarian options, I go for the latter usually. Since then, things have changed a lot and I only cook vegetarian now, keeping TH in mind. Since anything fried get a thumbs-up from him, vegetable cutlets were no exception!

*Disclaimer*- the pictures in this post are going to be less than nice. I made these on a whim one night and all pics were taken in the kitchen (yes, the same one I keep cribbing about for lack of windows or good light).

Except for the first picture. This one was taken on the bright spot near the living room window right after I steamed the vegetables - 1 potato, 2 cups of mixed vegetables like peas, carrot, beans and sweet corn and one onion sliced long. Steam until the vegetables are cooked through yet not mushy. You can alternately pressure cook them 1 whistle.

I know I said step by step recipe for vegetable cutlet but the patties are very straight forward. You can scroll down for the recipe to make the patties. The assembly is what I wanted to focus on in this post.

First, we need bread crumbs. If you live in a fancy place, you will get to buy bread crumbs but that's too silly for me (don't ask me why), so I made my own. Here's what you do.

Heat a skillet until just hot and place a bread slice on it. Don't use any butter, oil, etc. Just dry-toast the bread slice on both sides until lightly browned.

Powder it in your blender or mixer and voila, bread crumbs!

Now we need a sticky coating that comes between the vegetable patties and the bread crumbs so that the bread crumbs will stick to the patties. The most common one is egg whites and that's what my mom uses. I have made this recipe completely vegetarian so here's what you can use instead of eggs whites in to coat the vegetable cutlets.

Take 3 tbsp maida / all purpose flour.

Add about the same amount of water.

Mix well to form a thick-ish paste.

Make patties of desired size (make sure its not too thick, about 1/2" thick patties are best) and place them gently on the maida paste.

Coat both sides well.

Place this on the prepared bread crumbs.

Coat both sides well. Just drizzle bread crumbs on the patty so that you can avoid turning it around too much and breaking it.

Repeat with the rest of the vegetable mixture. I got about 12 cutlets with the amount of vegetables mentioned above.

I refrigerated the patties for an hour just to firm them up. This is optional. After that, pour enough oil in the skillet to drown the cutlets half way. Heat it up until just below smoking point and lay the cutlets carefully in the oil. Make sure the heat is just medium so that the outside doesn't burn and inside remains undercooked.

Flip over when one side is nice and brown. Cook both sides until crisp.

Drain on a kitchen towel and serve with ketchup, mashed lightly in a wrap, with curd rice - there are tons of options!

Oh God, this picture is killing me! I really should stop taking pics in the night.

Here's the recipe, all in one place.

Vegetable Cutlets Recipe

Makes: 12

What I Used:

For the patties:

1 potato

2 cups mixed vegetables cut into small pieces

1 small onion, chopped fine

2 green chillies, chopped fine

1/2 tsp red chilli powder (adjust according to heat level desired)

1 tsp chaat masala (or garam masala for a different taste)

A pinch of amchur / dried mango powder

1/4 tsp coriander powder / malli podi

1/4 tsp roasted jeera powder / cumin seeds

A handful of finely chopped fresh coriander leaves / kothamalli (optional)

Salt to taste

2 tsp oil

For the coating:

3 tbsp maida mixed into a paste with 3 tbsp water (approx.)

2 slices of bread, toasted dry on a skilled and powdered

Oil to shallow fry

How I Made It:

1. First, make the patties. Steam cook or pressure cook the vegetables until soft yet firm. Heat oil for patties and add the onions. Fry until soft and transparent. Then add the chilly powder, jeera, coriander, amchur, chat masala and green chillies. Mix well for 30 seconds.

2. Mash the potato well and add with the other vegetables. Let the mixture cook until well incorporated (about 2-3 mins). Add the coriander leaves, if using, and mix well. Add salt just before shaping into patties, otherwise the mixture will sweat and loosen up, making it hard to form the shapes.

3. Place each patty in the flour-water mixture and coat well. Then place on the bread crumbs and coat well.

4. Shallow fry until golden brown on both sides. Serve hot with ketchup, curd rice or mashed up in a wrap or sandwich.