t o m a t o e s & t e q u i l a

I know this is really silly of me, but it never occurred to me that I would be baking at a high altitude in Colorado. The hubby and I live at around 7,000ft - I can barely walk to the end of the driveway without needing a water break.

About two weeks ago I decided to bake my tried-and-true chocolate chip cookie recipe. This recipe is so good we served these cookies at my wedding (I will share it at some point). Not even thinking about my new altitude, I busted out a batch in no time...only to have the flatest cookies I have ever made emerge from my oven.  Duh - I live at 7,000ft! What am I doing!??!



Next I tried Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies from SmittenKitchen.com. In California, they were round and soft and wonderful. In Colorado, flat, flat and more flat. And I even adjusted the cooking temperature, etc. which I read about online.

At this point, I was seriously fearing that I may never successfully bake again, and this would truly be a tragedy for me (though my waisteline would be happy).

So this weekend I attempted my third-round of high altitude baking with another SmittenKitchen.com recipe- Gingerbread Apple Upside Down Cake...and....Success!! I added some additional liquid (buttermilk) and increased the cooking temperature and voila! Cake!

Topping
4 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing pan
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
Pinch of salt
4 apples (about 1 3/4 pounds), peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch wedges

Batter
1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup dark molasses
1/3 cup honey
1 cup buttermilk (I added an extra two tablespoons due to the altitutude - liquids evaporate faster so adding more helps things from drying out)
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping:
Preheat the oven to 325°F (350°F for high altitude).
Grease a 10-inch (or 9-inch) cake pan.
Melt butter in a small saucepan.
Add brown sugar and simmer over moderate heat, stirring, four minutes, then swirl in salt. Remove from heat and pour into the bottom of your cake pan.
Make circles of overlapping apple slices on top of the caramel.
Chop any remaining slices and place them in the gaps.

Batter:
Using a mixer, blend 1/2 cup butter and the sugar on medium-low speed. Increase the speed to high and cream until light and fluffy.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, molasses, honey and buttermilk.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon.
Alternate mixing the flour and molasses mixtures into the butter mixture, adding the next once the last has been incorporated.

Pour the batter into the pan. Bake at least 45 to 50 minutes (I baked for an hour) or until a wooden tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Let cool on a rack for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out onto a platter.

The hubby and I are finally getting settled into our new home in Colorado. We are getting acclimated to our new surroundings. Colorado is beautiful, we have a view of Pike's Peak from all the windows in our house - not many people get to view a 14,000 ft. peak each morning. There are some odd things too - I have been exploring the local grocery stores here which are basically what I am used to. They have Safeway and Whole Foods (very common in California), but the major grocery store is King Soopers. I was impressed by their Asian food selection (there must have been at least 5 kinds of Udon noodles), but have also been perplexed but some food items. Upon discovering a pre-made prosciutto and mozzarella "loaf," I look at the hubby and said, "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." I have officially entered the middle of the country. No worries though, I am happy to be here and despite an over abundance of beef products and soft-drinks (an entire two aisles of juice and soda!) I was impressed by the range of products that were offered.



I am also getting accustomed to my new kitchen and tonight was the first night I made a real meal - its been ages and the therapeutic rhythm of chopping was incredibly relaxing - it helped this house feel like home. And for our inaugural meal I prepared an super-homey, super-comfy meal...Carbonnade a la Flamande. I love this dish. It reminds me of being at home and in Belgium at the same time. I had the real deal in Brugges, Belgium last spring and it knocked my socks off. It's easy, rich, homey and robust.


CARBONNADE A LA FLAMANDE RECIPE
(Adapted from Cooking Light, Dinner Tonight)

3/4c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
2 1/2 lbs. boneless chuck roast (trimmed and cut into cubes)
2 strips of bacon. diced
2c. chopped onion (I used 1c.)
1 tbl. chopped garlic
1 (14 oz.) can beef broth
1 c. water (if using a slow cooker, as I did, omit the water - you don't need this much liquid)
2 tbl. brown sugar
2 tbl. red wine vinegar
2 tbl. tomato paste
2 tbl. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. fresh thyme (I didn't have this on hand and so didn't use it - it wasn't missed)
2 bay leaves
1 (12 oz. bottle) dark beer (the darker the better)
2 tbl. chopped parsely

(The following instructions have been adapted for a slow cooker)
Combine the first five ingredients in a zip-top bag and shake to coat.

Heat and extra-large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook for 1 minute. Add beef and cook until browned.  Remove  beef mixture from pan.

In the same pan, add onion and garlic. Add beef broth to pan and scrap bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Pour onion mixture into slow cooker and add beef mixture on top of onions.

Add next 7 ingredients (brown sugar through beer) to slow cooker and stir to mix.

Set slow cooker to 4 hours on low (add more time if cooking more meat).

15 minutes before serving, cook egg noodles according to package instructions.

To serve, pour beef mixture over noodles and sprinkle with chopped parsley.