Miscellaneous Things Worth Making from Last Week: a Smoothie, a Torte, and a Happy Kitchen

This is one of my favorite views of the new kitchen. Sunlight pours into the back windows in the afternoons. The flowers are yellow now, the cake stand filled with the remains of an Easter Root Beer Bundt Cake. The mood perseveres. I love to sit in a clean kitchen with a cup of tea while the baby takes his afternoon nap.

Last week, two recipes worth noting fell through the cracks. One is a simple, but nice breakfast smoothie. (I would make smoothies for breakfast far more often if it didn't bother so much to leave the blender out.) The other is an apple torte that is flourless and kosher (if you don't use regular port like I did)- my first attempt at either and quite good.

           
                      Banana Breakfast Smoothie


Recipe By: Vegetarian Times March 2009

-= Ingredients =-
2 Frozen bananas ; broken into 1 inch chunks
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup Frozen blueberries
1/4 cup Granola
1 tablespoon Honey

-= Instructions =-
Place all ingredients in blender and process until completely smooth. Thin to desired consistency with 1/2 to 1 cup water.

                     Flourless Apple-Pecan Torte

Recipe By: Martha Stewart Living March 2010

-= Ingredients =-
2 Sweet red apples (6 ounces each) ; peeled, cored, and sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 tablespoon Fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Unsalted butter
3/4 cup Granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons Sweet kosher wine
Vegetable oil cooking spray ; for pan
6 large Eggs ; room temperature, separated
1 1/4 Toasted pecans ; finely ground
1/4 cup Matzo cake meal
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Confectioners Sugar ; for garnish

-= Instructions =-
1. Toss apples with lemon juice. Melt butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add apples, 1/4 cup granulated suger, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; toss. Cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add wine. Cook until almost absorbed and apples are syrupy, about 3 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 9 inch springform pan with cooking spray. Whisk together  yolks and 1/4  cup sugar with a mixer on medium high speed until pale and thick, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl; fold in apples, pecans, matzo cake meal, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
3. Whisk egg whites, salt, and remaining 1/4 cup granulated suger in a clean bowl of a mixer until stiff, glossy peaks form. Working in 3 batches, gently fold whites into batter. Pour into pan. Bake until top is brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool.
4. Run a knife or a spatula around edge  of torte. Remove from pan. Garnish with confectioner's sugar.