Blue Cayenne

 Since 2020, Americans have consumed between fifteen and nineteen pounds of apples per person per year. Whoa! 

Time to amp up your apple consumption if you haven’t been doing your part. 

This apple cake is tasty as a simple breakfast cake with a steaming cup of tea or delicious served at the end of lunch or dinner with a dollop of whipped cream or, better, a scoop of your best vanilla ice cream. 

This recipe is from one of Renato Poliafito’s five cookbooks, Dolci! American Baking With An Italian Accent. You can order the cookbook through your local bookstore or at Amazon here. The photography, both food and scenic, is especially beautiful in this cookbook and the recipes are delicious.

Poliafito is a two-time James Beard-nominated chef and the owner of  Caio, Gloria Bakery and Cafe in Brooklyn, where this Apple Torta is a fall favorite of customers. Of his recipes, famed cookbook author Dorie Greenspan wrote “The recipes are roadmaps to making every day more delicious.” Who could want more than that? 

This Apple Torta is reminiscent to the traditional Italian torta di mele

Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen: 

Need a delicious way to eat your greens? 

This Mediterranean Greens and Phyllo Pie is just what your need. This recipe makes a large pie and, with a little reheating in the oven to crisp the phyllo layers, lasts for days. 

This recipe is from Martha Rose Shulman’s cookbook Mediterranean Feast: Vegetarian Recipes From The World’s Healthiest Cuisine. You can order the cookbook through your local. bookstore or on Amazon here.

Shulman is the author of twenty-five books and has written extensively about food. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Saveur, and Bon Appetit. She has also appeared on The Food Network.

Here is another Shulman recipe, this one from the New York Times. Here’s the link: Pears Poached in Red Wine and Cassis.  Put these two recipes together for a glorious meal. 

Here is the recipe for the Mediterranean Greens and Phyllo Pie  as I prepared it in my kitchen. 

This started out as a recipe post. Sadly, it has become a eulogy to a gifted chef. 

Greg Malouf has died. 

He and his former wife, food writer Lucy Malouf, did much to introduce the western world to the delights and subtleties of  Middle Eastern cooking. He was often credited with being “the godfather of Middle Eastern cuisine.” 

Greg Malouf was a celebrated Australian chef. His familial background was Lebanese. He operated several important restaurants in Australia, London and Dubai.

This recipe is from Greg and Lucy Malouf’s cookbook A Chef’s Travels in Turkey. 

You can find this cookbook through your local bookstore or on Amazon here. This cookbook was first published in 2008, so you may have the opportunity to pick up a good used copy.

In addition to being a fine cookbook, the description of travel throughout Turkey is excellent. This cookbook is one of a series of Malouf cookbooks  including Saha, Moorish and New Middle Eastern Food. You may well find yourself captivated by this series and travelling (at least in your kitchen) to the far-flung areas of this fascinating region. 

Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen.