Andi & Gabriel's Wedding Recipes

For our wedding in July, we gave guests small jars filled with cardamom or smoked paprika as favors, and promised to post some of our favorite recipes using these spices, as well as recipes for desserts served at the wedding. Here are the links, enjoy!

Cardamom

• Cardamom Cinnamon Rolls
• Freshly ground cardamom is best for this, but an equal amount of preground cardamom can be used
• Chai-Spiced Snickerdoodles
•  A good fall snack - great with tea!
• Chewy Ginger Cookies with Cardamom and Black Pepper
• An imaginative and exotic cookie
• Chocolate Bread Pudding with Cardamom Whipped Cream
• A decadent dessert that makes enough for a crowd
• Apple Cardamom Upside-Down Cake
•  A simple fall or winter dessert
• Rhubarb Muffins with Cardamom Streusel
•  My favorite make-ahead breakfast for houseguests
• Moroccan Chickpea Barley Salad
•  An exotic yet comforting vegetarian meal

Smoked Paprika

• Seared Cauliflower with Couscous and Almonds
• Quick, healthy, delicious "health food"
• Quinoa, Chickpea, and Spinach Salad with Smoked Paprika Dressing
• My favorite filling summer salad: perfect for a picnic!
• Catalan Potatoes Bravas
• Part of the first fancy dinner I made for Gabriel
• Sweet and Spicy Nuts
• We made these for a murder-mystery party that Gabriel wrote :)
• Grilled Shrimp and Sausage Skewers with Smoky Paprika Glaze
• A great dinner party dish
• Spicy Squash Salad with Lentils and Goat Cheese
• Another healthy vegetarian main course

Desserts

• Andi's Almond Cake
• Mango and Raspberry Curds
• Used in the smaller ceremonial cutting cake
• Coconut and Chocolate Macaroons

Mango and Raspberry Curds

For filling cakes or spreading on toast or dipping cookies in or eating plain.

Each recipe makes at least 1.5 cups of curd, more than enough to fill a cake.

Mango Curd:

Ingredients
2 champagne mangos (the smaller yellow ones) peeled and pitted to yield approx 13 oz fruit
1/3 cup sugar
1 lime juiced (just shy of 1/4 cup)
pinch of salt
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into smallish pieces

Directions
1. With a food-processor, blender, or stick blender (my preference), puree the mangos with the sugar, lime juice, and salt. (If you only find larger, red/green mangos, you may want to press the puree through a sieve at this point and discard the solids.)
2. Add the whole egg and yolks and blend until uniform.
3. Transfer this mixture to a small-medium bowl that will sit steadily on top of a saucepan.  Fill the saucepan with a few inches of water and bring to a simmer.  Place the bowl on top of the saucepan.
4. Whisk the puree until it's thick and an instant read thermometer measures ~170 deg.  Then remove from heat (and take the bowl off the saucepan, being careful of the hot steam) and whisk in the butter one piece at a time.
5. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours until set.

Raspberry Curd:

Ingredients

1 heaping cup of raspberries (defrosted if frozen)

1/3 cup sugar

1 lemon, juiced (just shy of 1/4 cup)

pinch of salt

1 whole egg

2 egg yolks

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into smallish pieces

Directions

1. With a food-processor, blender, or stick blender (my preference), puree the raspberry juice/puree with the sugar, lemon juice, and salt.

2. Add the whole egg and yolks and blend until uniform.

3. Transfer this mixture to a small-medium bowl that will sit steadily on top of a saucepan.  Fill the saucepan with a few inches of water and bring to a simmer.  Place the bowl on top of the saucepan.

4. Whisk the puree until it's thick and an instant read thermometer measures ~170 deg.  Then remove from heat (and take the bowl off the saucepan, being careful of the hot steam) and whisk in the butter one piece at a time.

5. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours until set.

Coconut and Chocolate Macaroons

adapted from David Lebovitz

Ingredients
4 large egg whites
1¼ cups sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp honey
2½ cups unsweetened coconut (see note)
¼ cup flour
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. In a large skillet, mix together the egg whites, sugar, salt, honey, coconut and flour.

2. Heat over low-to-moderate heat on the stovetop, stirring constantly, scraping the bottom as you stir.

3. When the mixture just begins to scorch at the bottom, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Transfer to a bowl to cool to room temperature. (At this point, the mixture can be chilled for up to one week, or frozen for up to two months.)

4. When ready to bake, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

5. Form the dough into 1 1/2-inch mounds with your fingers evenly spaced on the baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until deep golden brown. Cool completely.

 6. To dip the macaroons in chocolate, melt the chocolate in a clean, dry bowl set over a pan of simmering water (or in a microwave.) Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Dip the bottoms of each cookie in the chocolate and set the cookies on the baking sheet. Refrigerate 5-10 minutes, until the chocolate is set.

Makes 30 macaroons.

Andi's Almond Cake

adapted from Amateur Gourmet

Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar
7 oz tube or 8 oz can almond paste
4 egg yolks
1 tsp almond extract

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Butter the sides and bottom of a springform pan and, optionally, line the bottom with parchment paper.  Butter the paper.
2. Mix sour cream and baking soda in a small bowl.  Sift flour and salt together into another bowl.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, or in a food processor, or in a bowl with a hand-held electric mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar.  Add the almond paste, a little at a time, and beat for 8 minutes.
4. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Blend in the almond extract and sour cream mixture.
5.  With the beaters on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture, and mix just until blended.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth out the top.
7. Bake about 1 hour.  The cake is done when you press the top and it returns to its shape, and the cake pulls away slightly from the side of the pan.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Spicy Squash Salad with Lentils and Goat Cheese

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients
3/4 cup black or green lentils
6 cups peeled, seeded and cubed butternut squash or sugar pumpkin (1-inch cubes) (from about a 2-poudn squash)
3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp hot smoked Spanish paprika (or 3/4 tsp regular smoked paprika + 1/4 tsp cayenne)
1/2 tsp coarse salt
4 cups baby arugula (optional)
5 oz crumbled goat cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced mint leaves (optional)
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar, plus additional to taste

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Toss squash or pumpkin cubes with 2 tablespoons oil, cumin, paprika and salt. Arrange in a single layer on baking sheet and roast 20 minutes. Flip pieces and roast for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until tender. Cool.
3. Meanwhile, soak lentils for 10 minutes in a small bowl, then drain. Cook lentils in boiling salted water until tender but firm, about 30 minutes. Rinse with cold water, then drain and cool.
4. Combine lentils, pumpkin, any oil you can scrape from the baking sheet with arugula, if using, half of goat cheese, mint, vinegar, and 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper and extra vinegar, if desired. Divide among plates and pass with remaining goat cheese to sprinkle.

Optional: If you’d like to toast the squash seeds, simply clean them off, rinse and pat them dry and toast them in the oven on an oiled baking sheet, sprinkled with salt.  Serve them over the lentils.

Serves 6 as an appetizer, 3 as a main course.

Grilled Shrimp and Sausage Skewers with Smoky Paprika Glaze

adapted from Bon Appétit

Ingredients
3/4 cup olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, pressed or finely chopped
2 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
5 tsp smoked paprika
4 tsp Sherry wine vinegar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried crushed red pepper
12 uncooked extra-large shrimp (13 to 15 per pound), peeled, deveined
12 1-inch-long pieces andouille or other fully cooked smoked sausages (such as linguiça; about 16 ounces)
12 cherry tomatoes
12 2-layer sections of red onion wedges
Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Directions
1. Whisk oil, garlic, thyme, smoked paprika, Sherry wine vinegar, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper in medium bowl to blend for glaze. (Or shake all in a mason jar.) Transfer half of glaze to small bowl and reserve for serving.
2. Alternately thread shrimp, sausage pieces, cherry tomatoes, and sections of onion wedges on each of 6 long metal skewers. Arrange skewers on large rimmed baking sheet. (Can be made up to 6 hours ahead. Cover and chill skewers and bowls of glaze separately.)
3. Coat grill rack with nonstick spray and prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush skewers on both sides with glaze from 1 bowl. Grill until shrimp are opaque in center, turning and brushing occasionally with more glaze, 6 to 8 minutes.
4. Arrange skewers on platter. Serve with remaining bowl of glaze.
Makes 6 skewers.

Sweet and Spicy Nuts

adapted from Macheesmo

Ingredients
- 1 Cup brown sugar
- 1 Cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/8 tsp cayenne (optional)
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 Egg whites
- 1 Tbsp water
- 1 pound walnuts
- 1 pound pecans (you can use all pecans or walnuts or many other nuts if you want)

Directions
1. Take all your dry ingredients except the nuts and mix them up in medium bowl.
2. In a large bowl, whisk up the egg whites with a tiny bit of water until it’s frothy, but not stiff at all.  Then toss in the walnuts/pecans and stir really well so the nuts are very evenly coated.
3. Add in the sugar/spice mixture and stir until the nuts are very evenly coated.
4. Lay the nuts out on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
5. Bake at 300 degrees for maybe 15-20 minutes.  Give them a stir every five minutes or so and keep a close eye on them.  When they are done, let them cool and break them up into bite-size chunks. Try not to eat them all immediately.
Makes 2 pounds of nuts.  You could easily half it, but why?