Recipes: Crunchy Caramel Pecan Coffee Cake and more

Jean Gordon asked if anyone had a recipe for the spicy mussels served at the gone-but-not-forgotten Restaurant St. Michel in Coral Gables, Fla. Henry Lambert replied with the recipe here, which has just the right degree of fire in a garlicky sauce that begs for crisp baguette slices to sop up the juices.

“I don’t know if this is the recipe she sought, but it is a nice twist on the classic French recipe for moules marniere,” Lambert says. “The recipe is from a cousin who was a sous chef at the restaurant for a time, but I don’t know if it is the same dish that was served there.”

The recipe may seem daunting, but it will take longer to scrub the mussels than to cook it.

Spicy Mussels

Makes 6 servings

5 dozen mussels 1 tablespoon olive oil

2 to 3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 to 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper

1 bunch green onions, chopped fine

1 large ripe tomato or 3 to 4 Italian plum tomatoes, diced fine

1 1/2 cups dry white wine

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 teaspoons thyme

6 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

1. Scrub the mussels well to remove beards. Place the oil in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot with lid and heat over medium flame with the garlic and both peppers. Saute until fragrant, stirring, about 30 seconds. Add the onion and tomato; saute 30 seconds more. Add the wine, bay leaves, thyme, butter and mussels. Cover, bring to a boil and cook over high heat 3 minutes. Stir gently and replace lid. Cook 2 to 3 minutes longer, until mussels open, shaking the pan often while holding the lid in place. Discard any mussels that do not open. Spoon mussels into soup plates along with cooking liquid, discard bay leaves. Sprinkle with parsley.

Per serving: 360 calories (46 percent from fat), 18.5 g fat (8.5 g saturated, 5.7 g monounsaturated), 86 mg cholesterol, 25 g protein, 13 g carbohydrates, 1.4 g fiber, 684 mg sodium.

Q. I hope you can help me find a much-loved recipe I’ve somehow misplaced. This was a Pillsbury Bake-Off winner many years ago, a coffee cake that had a caramel pecan crunchy topping. It also has coffee in it. — E.S., Menomie, Wis.

A. I found the recipe in Pillsbury’s Best of the Bake-Off Collection (Wiley, 2009), a facsimile of a 1959 cookbook that featured 1,000 recipes for breads, main dishes, cakes, cookies, pies and desserts. I didn’t really taste the coffee in the cake, and think it can be skipped if you don’t have instant coffee in the pantry, but the caramel pecan topping is first-rate.

Crunchy Caramel Pecan Coffee Cake

Makes 12 servings

Filling:

2 tablespoons butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 slightly beaten egg

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup chopped pecans

Cake:

2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon instant coffee

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup shortening, melted

1. Prepare filling: In a saucepan, beat the butter, sugar and egg; blend in the milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the pecans. Set aside.

2. Make cake: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9-inch-square or 12-by-8-inch pan.

3. Combine the flour, sugar, coffee, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl; whisk to mix well. In another bowl beat the eggs with the milk and shortening. Add to the dry ingredients, mixing until moistened. Scrape into prepared pan. Spread filling over top and cut through with a knife, swirling to marble.

4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until cake tests done. Per serving: 301 calories (42 percent from fat), 14.3 g fat (4.2 g saturated, 5.8 g monounsaturated), 51.7 mg cholesterol, 4.7 g protein, 39 g carbohydrates, 0.8 g fiber, 294 mg sodium.