Granola Honey Cake

There are some ingredients you buy that you immediately know you need to figure out a way to put them into a recipe. That was me with Trader Joe’s new Granola Butter. I bought a jar, tasted it, and basically couldn’t stop eating it. It’s made with oats and has this delicious maple-vanilla flavor that tastes like the best part of granola. A few spoons in and I realized, this would be amazing on honey cake.

So I started thinking about how to make a honey cake that highlights the granola idea. Instead of simply putting granola on top, I used ground oats and whole rolled oats right in the cake, giving it that tender crumb that I love in a good oat muffin. Then I topped it with a layer of the granola butter and finished it with a crunchy oat crumble.

The result is a honey cake that’s a little different from the traditional version—oaty, warmly spiced, creamy and crunchy all at once.

Granola Honey Cake

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup oat flour (see note)
½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
½ cup packed brown sugar
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup neutral oil
½ cup honey
2 large eggs
⅔ cup strong coffee, cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tsp orange zest, optional

For the Oat Crumble

½ cup reserved dry mixture from the cake
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons neutral oil

For the Topping

1 jar Trader Joe’s Granola Butter (may sub Lotus butter or any frosting!)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, oat flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Before adding any wet ingredients, remove ½ cup of the dry mixture and set it aside for the crumble.

To the reserved mixture, add 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 2 tablespoons neutral oil. Mix with a fork or your fingertips until coarse crumbs form. Spread on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 12–16 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until golden and crisp. Allow to cool completely. The crumble will crisp further as it cools.

To the remaining dry cake ingredients, add the oil, honey, eggs, coffee, vanilla and orange zest, if using. Whisk just until combined. Do not overmix. Pour the batter into a greased and parchment-lined 8-inch square baking pan. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until the center is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.

Allow the cake to cool completely. Once the cake is completely cool, spread Trader Joe’s Granola Butter generously over the top. Scatter the cooled oat crumble over the granola butter.

Cut into squares and serve.

NOTES:

For a similar creamy topping, use peanut butter or Lotus Biscoff cookie butter straight from the jar. You can also substitute your favorite frosting.

If you don’t have oat flour, simply blend old-fashioned rolled oats in a high-speed blender or food processor until finely ground. For the 3/4 cup you need for this recipe, blend about 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp old fashioned oats to make 3/4 cup flour.

Related Recipes:

Hawaij Honey Cake with Labneh Frosting – Busy in Brooklyn
Parsnip Honey Cake with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting & Rainbow Carrot Chips – Busy in Brooklyn
World’s Best Honey Cake – Busy in Brooklyn

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Rosh Hashanah Dipping Oil

I’m not usually one to follow trends (I’d rather be a trendsetter!), but anything that’s a vehicle to drive myself through a loaf of crusty sourdough is my jam! Dipping oil was making the rounds a few months back, an Italian verson no less! with olive oil, balsamic, grated tomato and parmesan. I never actually made it, but I did drool over it, and clearly it hasn’t left my mind.

When I was thinking about something creative to do with simanim, the dipping oil came to mind, and I realized it’s the perfect opportunity to blend some of the symbolic foods that we eat on Rosh Hashanah, with minimal prep and tons of flavor! My leek, jalapeno and date confit has become a staple on so many Shabbos tables, and this gives you the same feels, minus all that olive oil and cooking time!

Rosh Hashanah Dipping Oil

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
2 tbsp silan (date honey)
1/4 cup sauteed leeks
1/4 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 1/2 tsp sumac
1 1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
1 tsp flaky salt
zest of 1/2 lemon

Method:

To make the sauteed leeks, chop up 1 leek and saute in extra virgin olive oil with a pinch of salt, until soft and tender. Mix all the ingredients together in a large, shallow platter and mix right before serving.

NOTE: Aleppo pepper is a Syrian chili pepper that is fruity, a little smoky and mild. If you can’t find it, you can replace with any red pepper flakes of your choice, just reduce the amount depending on the spice level (if using traditional red pepper flakes from the supermarket, use 1/4-1/2 tsp). You can also substitute with diced Thai red chili.

Related Recipes:

Apple & Honey Garlic Confit
Leek Jalapeno Date Confit
Simanim Stuffed Leeks
Simanim Ceviche
Simanim Carpaccio
Simanim Plov
Hummus Simanim
Simanim Fritto Misto

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How do you put love into a sandwich?


For my daughter, Esther, who left for seminary yesterday.

How do you put love into a sandwich?
How do you have it say I’ll miss you more than words
Not because of how you help me every Friday
Peeling the potatoes or making the basil dip
Not because you take your sister to the library after school
Or because you babysit when I’m out
and make chocolate chip cookies for late night snacking

How do you have it say I’ll miss you because
You light up the family chat
and you’re my favorite concert buddy
I’ll miss how your eyes light up when you try a new dish that I made
Or when You surprise me with an amazing word at Boggle
I’ll miss your sarcasm
and how you always know the right thing to say

How do you put a prayer in a sandwich?
For everything I ever wanted for myself I want for you and more
To show you that even more than I’ll miss you,
I want you to have this opportunity for yourself to learn and grow
and realize just how amazing you are
and to give the world a chance to experience it too.

 

How to put love in a sandwich

2 slices whole grain sourdough
extra virgin olive oil
flaky salt
arugula
sour pickles, sliced into strips

Meat:
1 lb. London Broil
extra virgin olive oil
Montreal steak seasoning

Rub the steak with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning. Broil or grill over high heat for 6-8 minutes on each side. Rest for 10 minutes and slice thinly against the grain.

Marinated Onion:
1 small red onion, thinly sliced into half moons
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Mix and marinate for as long as you have!

Sundried Tomato Mustard:
3-4 sundried tomatoes packed in olive oil, minced
1/4 cup whole grain mustard

Mix!

To assemble:
Toast the sourdough in a pan with olive until crispy on both sides. Sprinkle with flaky salt. Smear with sundried tomato mustard, and then pile high with arugula, pickled onions, pickles, and meat!

Related Recipes:

The BEST Meat Sandwich

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The Lamb Chop That Converted a Lamb Hater

I have never been a lamb person, and if you’ve been here for a bit, you probably know that. The two single foods I have an aversion to? Lamb and goat cheese, and for similar reason – they taste like barn. Yup. BARN. Like one of my followers said: it tastes like licking a barn wall.

I get it. I really REALLY do.

Then, last week at my Busy at the Belvedere pop-up, something happened. One might call it a nightmare. My boss delivered a box of lamb chops to the restaurant, and said, “I want you to use this for your appetizer of the week next week.” I had already decided to make cherries the star ingredient of the week’s menu, and it made for a natural pairing. But how could I cook something I would never actually eat?

So I decided to get out of my comfort zone and cook a lamb dish that I WOULD WANT TO EAT. And that meant figuring out exactly what I didn’t like about lamb and finding a way to change it.

The answer, at least for me, was in the marinade.

I seasoned the lamb with garlic, lemon zest, cumin, celery seed, olive oil, salt and pepper and let it marinate for several hours. The lemon and garlic brighten the meat, the cumin adds warmth, and the celery seed brings in a subtle, savory herbal note.

And the celery seed wasn’t there by accident. I wanted the lamb to have a flavor connection to the celery root purée and the fresh celery salad on the plate. Celery seed is incredibly concentrated compared to fresh celery. It has a deeper, earthier, slightly grassy flavor with a faint anise-like quality. Used sparingly, it gives the lamb a subtle celery backbone without making it taste like you dumped celery salt all over it. It also happens to be a great spice for rich meats. Its herbal, slightly bitter character helps balance the richness of lamb and gives the marinade another layer of savory depth.

And no, celery seed doesn’t magically remove the gaminess from lamb or tenderize it. The marinade isn’t performing some kind of culinary exorcism. The salt, aromatics, lemon and spices, combined with proper cooking, are what helped create a more balanced flavor.

Most importantly, it worked. I liked the lamb. Actually, I really REALLY liked the lamb.

The chops were juicy and deeply flavorful without having that aggressive gaminess I had always associated with lamb. The cherries brought sweetness and acidity, the celery root purée was silky and earthy, the fresh celery kept everything bright, and the pistachios added crunch.

I had managed to make a lamb dish that I would actually want to eat. And that got me thinking about food aversions in general.

I recently heard that when babies are introduced to a new food, it can take as many as 18 exposures before they decide whether they like it. Eighteen! We expect a baby to taste broccoli once, spit it out, and somehow make a lifelong determination about broccoli. Yet as adults, we do exactly that.

We try something once. Maybe we have a bad experience. Maybe it was poorly prepared. Maybe we tasted it at the wrong age or simply weren’t ready for it. And then we declare: “I don’t like that.” We write foods off all the time.

Now, I’m not suggesting you force yourself to eat something you genuinely hate 18 times. Life is too short for that. But I do think there’s something to be said for being willing to try again. Because sometimes you don’t hate the ingredient. You hate the way it was prepared. Sometimes you haven’t found the right combination. And sometimes, apparently, you just need to cook the lamb yourself.

This dish was my experiment in doing exactly that. I took an ingredient I had avoided for years and built a plate around flavors I already knew I loved: cherries, celery, pistachios, lemon and herbs. And somewhere between the first bite and the last, I realized I had officially converted myself.

Maybe I’m not a lamb hater after all. Maybe I just needed the right lamb chop.

Marinated Lamb Chops

8-10 lamb chops, 1–1½ inches thick
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried thyme (may sub rosemary)
1/2 tsp celery seed
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, grated on a microplane
Zest of 1 lemon

Mix the celery seed, cumin, thyme, salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic and lemon zest. Massage the mixture into the lamb chops. Cover and refrigerate for several hours.

Grill the chops for 2 minutes per side and finish in the oven for 2-3 minutes or until medium rare.

Celery Root Purée

2 lb celery root, peeled and cut into chunks
1 leek, white and pale green part, chopped
2 celery stalks, diced small
1 small shallot, diced small
2 tbsp olive oil
1½–2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

Sweat the shallot, leek and celery in olive oil over medium-low heat without browning.

Add the celery root, salt and enough stock to almost cover. Simmer gently, covered, until completely tender, about 20–25 minutes. Blend the vegetables until extremely smooth.

For restaurant service, pass the purée through a chinois or fine sieve. You want it smooth enough to swipe across the plate without breaking.

Cherry-Celery Salsa

2 cups fresh cherries, pitted and diced
1-2 stalks celery, finely diced
1 small shallot (or 1/2 small red onion), finely diced
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp honey
1 tsp sumac
salt and pepper, to taste

Mix and dress shortly before serving.

Red Wine Cherry Reduction

3 cups fresh cherries, pitted
1 large shallot, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp lamb fat (or olive oil)
½ cup red wine
1½ cups lamb or beef stock
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste

Sweat the shallot and garlic in lamb fat until soft but not browned. Add the cherries and simmer for 8 minutes, stirring often. Add the red wine and reduce by about half. Add the stock, honey and thyme. Simmer until the cherries are very soft and the liquid has reduced to a glossy sauce consistency.

Blend in a high powered blender and strain through a fine mesh sieve.

Pistachio-Sumac Crumble

1 cup chopped raw pistachios, toasted
2 tbsp flaky salt
2 tbsp sumac
zest of 1 lemon

Stir to combine.

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Celery Tabboule

I bought the most beautiful bunch of celery at the farmers market in Liberty on Friday and, honestly, I had no idea what I was going to do with it. But it had SO many gorgeous celery leaves that I started thinking about tabboule, and suddenly it made perfect sense. I used the celery leaves as the main herb, added the celery stalks for that fresh, crunchy bite, and made it with Boostcous instead of traditional couscous. And let me tell you… this was a VERY good idea. It is SO delicious.

As you know, I’ve also been working in a restaurant all summer, which means I’ve been eating a lot of restaurant food, not always making the healthiest choices, and I am definitely starting to feel it. So I’m taking this as my little jumpstart back into eating food that makes me feel good.

I love that Boostcous gives me 18g of protein and 11g of fiber per serving, but it still feels like I’m just eating a really good couscous salad—not some sad “healthy alternative.” It cooks in minutes, has a great texture, and I honestly love it cold in a salad like this.

I also made it the other week for dinner risotto-style with peas and my kids loved it! It’s definitely going to become a staple around here.

Celery Tabboule

1 box boostcous, cooked according to package directions
3 stalks celery, diced small, leaves reserved
1/2 red onion, diced small
1 heaping cup baby tomatoes, diced small
1 jalapeño, seeded and diced small
2 cups chopped fresh herbs (I used mostly celery leaves, and some parsley, cilantro and dill)

Dressing:
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove grated garlic
1 tsp za’atar
1/2 tsp sumac
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Add all your ingredients to a bowl, pour over the dressing, mix it together and get diggin!

VARIATION: if you cant find boostcous, you can sub 1 cup of cooked bulgur, farro, couscous, brown rice or grain of choice.

 

Related Recipes:

Cauliflower Tabboule

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