Damn Delicious

Blackberry Gin Cocktail

2012-01-20T15:15:00.000-05:00

Blackberries. Sloe Gin. Anything else need to be said, really? This is sweet but sophisticated.

Blackberry Gin Cocktail

In a bowl, muddle a half-pint of blackberries with 1/2 cup superfine sugar. Whisk in 1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice. Strain and discard seeds and blackberry mush.

To make the cocktail, fill a lo-ball glass with ice and add about two fingers Averell damson plum gin. Add half an ounce cognac and approximately 2 tablespoons raspberry puree. Top with seltzer.

Serves 4.

Apple-Pear-Cranberry Coffee Cake

2012-01-15T18:16:00.003-05:00

If you are like me, your fridge still contains half a bag of cranberries from Thanksgiving.

"Oh shoot, I should have frozen these. Don't they last only a month in the fridge? Oh well, they don't look so bad. [They are happily turning into Craisins.] I don't see any mold. Hmm, what can we do?"

You may also have bought a few very late season apples from the farmer's market that turned out to be more mealy than crisp, and perhaps you didn't get around to making that pear, blue cheese and walnut salad at Christmas, so you have a squishy, browning pear mingling with the celery in the crisper drawer.

"Hmm, I wonder if we put all together we can make something - I'm sure the texture won't matter once they're cooked." Rummaging in the cupboard and cookbooks ensues.

I'm sure by now you're thinking, "I am never eating at her house." Don't worry, I'm not some kind of crazy hoarder, and we do throw food out. But if it's salvageable, why not? One reason I love baking is you can turn something totally unappealing into something delicious - the magic of chemistry.

Here's a bundt coffee cake I made, with apple and pear in the filling and a cranberry swirl. It's very moist, with a strong taste of the fruit. It's a mix of several different recipes, mostly The Joy of Cooking mixed with a little Cook's Illustrated.

Apple-Pear-Cranberry Coffee Cake

Cake
1 apple and 1 pear (or 2 apples/2 pears)
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt (I used 1 cup yogurt, 1/4 cup sour cream)
1 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs

Filling
About 2 1/2 cups cranberries
3 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp lemon, lime or orange juice
pinch table salt
pinch ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Butter and flour a bundt or tube pan (don't skimp - this is a very moist cake). Pre-heat the oven to 350 deg.
Make the filling first: combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the cranberries begin to burst and the cornstarch has made the liquid jelled and glossy, about four minutes. Set aside to let cool.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Combine yogurt and vanilla in a small bowl.
Peel and chop apple and pear into 1/4 inch pieces and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter together until light colored, a few minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.
Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the sour cream mixture. Stir until smooth, then fold in the apple and pear.
Scrape 1/3 of batter into the pan, then top with half of the filling. Add another third of batter and the rest of the filling, then top with remaining batter. Take a small spoon and dip it to the bottom of the pan, repeating five or six times around the pan, to marble the filling.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for five to 10 minutes, then invert on a rack to cool (be sure to tap the pan all around to make the cake come loose). Cool before serving.

Free-Form Plum and Apricot Tart

2011-07-28T20:42:00.006-04:00

Question: How do you make fruit un-healthy?

Answer: Add two sticks of butter to it.

As much as I love reading Cooking Light and eating sensibly, there's something so satisfying about boatloads of butter. Somehow it feels a little bid badder to do it in summer, with so many fresh things around.

We signed up for a fruit CSA again this summer and came home this week with apricots and plums. They are tiny little things, and while I enjoyed one at lunch, they really begged to be cooked. More carnivorous chefs than me would probably make apricot chutney or jam to go over roast chicken. I can't help but indulge my sweet tooth.

I pulled together a free-form apricot and plum tart, one of those where you roll out the dough and fold it over the fruit, leaving the top open. I thought I'd be clever and cook the fruit down first. Bad idea. The filling became super soupy; meanwhile the butter crust started melting in the heat. Sigh.

In the end it was a lot more trouble than it was worth, and I wish I'd just saved the fruit compote to serve over vanilla ice cream. (Certainly more appealing than having the hot oven on for 45 minutes.)

Do you have a good recipe for a free-form tart? 'Cause I need one.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake, Redux

2011-07-08T09:02:00.003-04:00

A few summers ago I made this wonderful buttermilk cake originally published in Gourmet (ah, Gourmet - moment of silence, please). For the Fourth of July this year, I decided to try it again. This time, instead of strawberries, I made it with blueberries and raspberries - and voila, patriotic cake!

It's as good as ever.

Experimenting with Desserts

2011-05-07T10:00:00.002-04:00

A few months ago at a party we met a guy who's opening an ice cream store not too far from us. He doesn't know it yet, but he and I are going to become best friends. He's going to let me taste all the new flavors before they go public, and he's going to love my peanut butter and jelly sandwich ice cream idea (I won't get royalties for that, but I'll get a free pint whenever I want it). Ah, the dreams of the sugar-obsessed.

(Edited to add... The ice cream shop is Ample Hills over in Prospect Heights. And they've (sort of) done the PB&J thing. Go check it out!)

This brilliant ice cream maker (chocolate-stout ice cream with chocolate pretzels? Sign me up) is also an ace baker - he brought some amazing blondies to the party, barely cooked through with giant buttons of white and semisweet chocolate oozing out.

They inspired me to make some of my own using the butterscotch chips I bought on a whim a while back. I didn't try the amazing-sounding malt blondies from the Baked cookbook but stuck with the uber-simple Joy of Cooking recipe. These turned out butterscotchy, chewy, and a bit too sweet for me. They were unfortunately kind of one-note - next time it'll be the Baked blondies.

I got in such a baking mood that I decided to try out some meringues (the blondies recipe leaves you with an extra egg white). I've forgotten how amazing meringue tastes and how beautiful and glossy it is.

Here's the meringue recipe I used - "sugar kisses." I loved this one because it only makes 2 dozen cookies and uses only 2 egg whites. The sad part is that I couldn't get it to hold its shape very well - I'm not sure if that's me or the recipe, but it was the same all three times I made it, so I am thinking recipe?

The first version I made had blue food coloring (they were to match a theme for a party) with green sugar sprinkles, and if I had been throwing a birthday party for a four-year-old boy, they would have been perfect - they looked just like dinosaur eggs. Not so much for a bridal shower, though. So I tried again. The second version was a disastrous experiment with mint flavoring - do not make a mint meringue. Don't. Please. Yuck. I did salvage the resulting minty fluff by whipping it into a batch of brownies (mint brownies are much better than mint meringues). The third batch was white(-ish - the oven kind of browns them), vanilla flavored, and topped with crystalline blue sugar. Though still egg shaped, at least these looked pretty and tasted good. Success? Success.

I made the recipe as printed in my cookbook, which is a bit different from the online version:

I mixed in a teaspoon of extract at the very end, after the meringue was almost holding a stiff peak. I didn't pipe the cookies but plopped them by the tablespoon onto the sheet. I also sprinkled some sugar over the top before baking and put them in a 250 deg. oven for 60 minutes, followed by about 1 1/2 hrs in the oven with the heat turned off and the door closed.

How lucky I am to work at an office of people who will take some of these treats off my hands...

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2011-05-01T11:28:00.005-04:00

Next up in our food adventures: growing our own.

I planted cherry tomatoes ("bloody butchers"), parsley, basil, peppers (a mix of ancho, jalapeno, Hungarian wax, and others), and a red potato which has been growing like gangbusters in our little bathroom greenhouse. I am envisioning salads & salsas come summer.

Our Summer of CSA - Week... ?

2010-10-31T19:11:00.003-04:00

Where does the time go? It seems to have flown by in a flurry of weddings, writing a lot for work, getting the house in order, and enjoying the last of summer and our beautiful fall.

In between, of course, lots of cooking. We made two kinds of butternut squash soup - one with ginger, one with apples, both delicious. We hosted a birthday party for my mom and cooked her a grand French feast: coq au vin, haricots verts, Yukon Gold potatoes, plenty of wine and champagne, and flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sorbet for dessert. Heaven, all of it.

We've also had more kale than we know what to do with; I've taken to making smashed potatoes and kale, kind of two steakhouse sides in one, which feels rich and special though it's easy as any mashed potato could be.

Last week came a bag of concord grapes, which turned in grape sorbet, which has since sat in our freezer. I guess a sorbet on its own, especially at the end of October, isn't super appealing. My dream is to make peanut butter ice cream, swirl it with the grape sorbet, and sandwich that between two shortbread cookies. Sandwich ice cream sandwich! Alas, see first sentence. Where does the time go?

One thing I've been cooking a lot of in the past month is apple crisp. Boy, we had a bumper crop of apples with the CSA. Pounds of them. And pears! I made one apple cake, didn't like it too much (nor did the hubby), so went back to crisps.

I love this recipe - it's superb with tart apples, but they don't have to be super crisp or fresh. I made it mostly with Macintoshes, which tend to disintegrate, and it's like eating apple sauce with a crumble topping. Make it with a mix of apples for the best flavor. We also received some hard, tart, very red-skinned apples (Rome? Winesap?) which were great.

Best Apple Crisp

Filling

1/3 cup light brown sugar (less if you like - and make your own!)

2 1/2 tbsp flour

2 tsp cinnamon (5 or 6 shakes)

Shake or two of salt

8 cups peeled, cored, and coarsely sliced apples (or mix of apples & pears, but use a little less sugar)

Juice of half a lemon (about 1 1/2 tbsp)

1 tbsp cognac, bourbon, rum, or brandy

1 or 2 tbsp apple cider or juice (give or take - depends on juiciness of apples)

Topping

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup rolled oats (I've been using quick - accidental purchase - and they also work here)

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

5 tbsp butter, cut into small chunks

(Optional: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. I love adding them, husband doesn't.)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Find an 8 x 8 glass pan, deep-dish pie pan, or similar-sized casserole dish.
In a large bowl, stir together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt until blended. Stir in the apples, lemon juice, cognac, and apple cider and toss until the apples are coated with the brown sugar mixture.
Spread the filling evenly in the pan and bake for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the topping: in a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, salt and nuts, if using. Add the butter chunks and blend in with your finger tips or a pastry cutter until they're well incorporated. You can add more butter if you like, but don't add less than 5 tablespoons - the topping won't hold together and will end up mushy after baking.
Sprinkle the topping over the apples until no apples peek through. You might have a bit left, depending on what size pan you use.
Increase the oven temperature to 375 F and bake for about 25 minutes more, until the filling is bubbly and the topping is nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes before you serve (lets the filling set up a bit, and keeps you from burning your mouth!).
This is great served with vanilla ice cream / creme fraiche / plain yogurt / whipped cream.

- Adapted from The All-American Dessert Book by Nancy Baggett

Our Summer of CSA - Week 13

2010-09-09T20:53:00.003-04:00

We have apples. Lots of apples. It must be September. Oh yes, we have peppers and pears and lettuce and carrots and eggplant and corn and tomatoes and basil, but mostly we have apples. So, besides eating one a day to keep the doctor away, what to do? Why make apple cake, of course.

This cake is so easy, it would be a great one to make if you're cooking with a child or someone else who's just beginning. Spicy, moist, and just right on the first real, cool day of fall. Happy New Year, everyone.

Apple Spice Cake

1 cup flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk (sub: 1 tbsp white vinegar and 1 cup plain milk)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped apple (about 1 apple)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Lightly grease and flour an 8 x 8 inch pan, or line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 deg.
Whisk the first seven ingredients (flour through salt) together in a large bowl.
In a separate small bowl, mix together the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture and stir together until combined and smooth.
Mix in the apples and walnuts.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a rack about 10 minutes. Slide a thin knife around the cake to detach it from the pan, and invert it onto a plate. Peel off the parchment paper, if using. Let cool right side up on the rack.
Serve with vanilla ice cream or brandied whipped cream, or just on its own.

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking.

Our Summer of CSA - Week 12

2010-09-06T09:04:00.003-04:00

This week brought us a very manageable bounty. As I unpacked the bag, I thought, "Okay, we can do this! We can eat all this food before the end of the week!" It helped that we had some not-so-perishable goodies in there: a bunch of apples; poblano, Italian and bell peppers; and a small eggplant. We also lucked out with some beautiful green chard, which I cooked the first night we brought it home so we could enjoy it before it started to wilt (which it did pretty soon) and a huge bunch of basil, which we turned into pesto, of course, and which my husband also made into Thai basil chicken (recipe via Cook's Illustrated). We also had two amazing nectarines and some pears, which we made quick work of - no need to cook them when they're so delicious on their own - and two yellow tomatoes, which we chopped up and tossed with our pesto pasta.

As part of a deal I made with a friend, I'm making at least one healthy recipe per week - of course, I like to think I make more than one anyway, but this way I'll be thinking about it more. So with our beautiful green chard we made one of my favorite soups, Chard, White Bean and Potato ragout, which we've already made once this CSA summer. It's very low-fat and full of fiber, protein, and whatever goodness comes in green chard. It also tastes delicious.

We also made a really stunning side from Fast, Fresh & Green: Stir-Fried Swiss Chard with Balsamic Butter. It has the smoky flavor of Chinese cooking, and feels pretty sophisticated. I've adapted this from the original recipe, which had browned pine nuts in it.

Stir-Fried Swiss Chard with Balsamic Butter

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp dark brown sugar

12 oz green swiss chard

1 tbsp peanut oil

2 tsp finely chopped garlic

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp sesame seeds

1/2 tsp salt plus a pinch more

In a small bowl, combine balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and brown sugar.
Rinse and dry chard leaves and stems well. Remove leaves from stems. Chop stems crosswise into 1/4 inch pieces.
Heat the peanut oil in a large (12") nonstick or cast iron skillet - you'll need it, as the uncooked chard is quite bulky. When the oil is hot, add the chard stems and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until they're shrunken and beginning to brown lightly, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and stir fry until just fragrant. Add the chard leaves and 1/2 tsp salt and using tongs, toss until the leaves are just wilted (45 seconds). (Here is where I overcooked mine a bit because I didn't have enough room to maneuver in my 10" pan).
Scrape the balsamic mixture into the pan and stir, then remove the pan from the heat. Add the butter and toss and stir until it's melted. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Our Summer of CSA - Week 11

2010-08-27T15:01:00.006-04:00

It's not my fault that we skipped so many weeks. We went off and got married, so we were kind of busy. Instead of cooking from our local upstate farm, we cooked California produce and fresh fish caught in Hawaiian waters. We drank New Mexican champagne and ate Afghan food. And all the while, for four weeks, friends took our CSA produce home and made their own delicious meals.

We were also a little lazy, and in the last two weeks since we've been home, haven't been so good about cooking creative things. We've made a lot of salad - the same salad - over and over again. We ate apples and nectarines. We grilled corn on the cob. But this week, we're back in the groove. It helps that week 11 was a particularly delicious week. I filled our canvas bag with apples, peaches, potatoes, onions, fresh soybeans, corn, and a butternut squash. The soybeans were so surprising, though they shouldn't have been - they go hand in hand with corn as the most cultivated crop in America. But somehow, I don't associate them with small family farms. So, we learned something this week, as we seem to every week with the CSA!

I took the opportunity to make a bulgur wheat and edamade salad that I saw in Cooking Light ages ago. A friend and I started a little challenge between ourselves: to cook and blog one healthy meal per week and take one long walk per week. We both want to keep ourselves healthy and strong. It's not that we don't normally cook healthily, but this way we'll be able to share our best recipes of the week with each other.

This salad certainly fits the healthy criteria: soybeans, bulgur, tomatoes, herbs. And so summery and seasonal. I added half a red pepper and a stick of celery because we had them in the fridge. I also left out the dill. I've made tabbouleh before, and the recipe I use is very herby and very lemony. This is a more relaxed salad, meant to be eaten in a big bowl for lunch. It's important to let the salad sit before you eat it, as the wheat will absorb the extra moisture and get softer - it's purposefully underdone coming out of the pot.

Our Summer of CSA - Week 5

2010-07-17T13:02:00.004-04:00

Oops. Week 4 got away from us. It's hard to cook with all this produce, harder still to blog about it. We had many more greens and made a lovely and homey version of lentils with spinach using bulgar, black beans, and mystery greens. We ate peaches and plums out of hand. We made more French green salad with radishes, and we cooked up white bean and potato soup with leeks. We hardly had to throw anything away, which was refreshing.

This week saw fewer greens we didn't recognize, which was also refreshing. We made Cook's Illustrated pesto pasta salad with a beautiful bunch of fresh basil - so wonderful smelling, just like summer. We plan to make a kale and chickpea stew this evening. A huge bunch of fresh cilantro still sits in a glass of water in the fridge, waiting for summer rolls with shrimp and radishes. Our green squash wait for couscous with tomatoes and basil and Bittman's zucchini pancakes. Peaches we've been eating as dessert at lunch time, and plums I turned instantly into plum ice cream, which is tangy and rich and could not be easier or more delicious. These little red plums, with their floral notes, are much better cooked than eaten raw. Here's David Lebovitz's recipe, from The Perfect Scoop:

Plum Ice Cream

1 lb plums (about 8)

1/3 cup water

3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar (to taste, based on how sweet plums already are)

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp kirsh (I left it out - just helps soften ice cream)

Slice the plums in half and pit. Cut into eighths and put them into a medium, non-reactive saucepan with the water. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Let cool to room temperature (speed this process up by putting the pan in the fridge or freezer, though let it cool on the stove at least 5 minutes first).

Once cool, puree in a blender or food processor with the cream and the kirsch until smooth.

Make sure the mixture is chilled thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream maker. Makes about 1 quart or so.

Our summer of CSA - week 3

2010-07-03T13:40:00.006-04:00

This week we had some great stuff waiting for us in our bags. On the fruit side, we got a big sack of sour cherries. From the vegetable farm, we received beets, lettuce, basil, and a mystery green we haven't been able to identify. The young ladies who pass out the bounty told me what it was, but I've completely forgotten the name. They said we could eat it like spinach, either cooked or in a salad. It has a slightly more sour, lemony flavor than spinach, however, and not nearly as bitter as kale or collard greens.

Our lettuce was a big round head, very crispy and crunchy. It was a perfect base for lemony tabbouleh. A simple pesto pasta salad (recipe courtesy Cooks Illustrated) used up our small bunch of basil. And beets, well, how could we not make borscht? This recipe is adapted from Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.

Roasted Beet and Carrot Borscht
About 2 pounds combined beets and carrots, peeled & quartered
Greens from the beets (if you have any)
4 tbsp cooking oil, like corn or canola
salt and pepper
1/2 large white onion, finely chopped
small bunch of fresh dill
1 lemon
4 medium white potatoes
sour cream or yogurt for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375. Put the beets and carrots in a roasting pan, drizzle with 2 tbsp oil plus salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Toss to coat the vegetables with oil. Roast until a thin-bladed knife goes through with little resistance, about 30 - 40 minutes. When cool enough to handle, roughly chop the vegetables as finely as possible.
Put the remaining 2 tbsp oil in a soup pot or large saucepan and turn on the heat to medium-high. Add the onions and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring often, until soft. Turn the heat to medium-low and continue to cook until golden and very tender, 10-15 minutes more.
Meanwhile, put a saucepan of salted water on to boil. Rinse and de-stem the beet greens, if there were any. When the water's boiling, throw the greens in. Blanch for one minute, then remove to a bowl of ice water. Squeeze out the water and roughly chop the greens. Then scrub the potatoes and add them to the boiling water, whole, and boil for about 20 minutes until tender.
Add the chopped beets and carrots to the soup pot with the onion, along with the stems of the dill (tied together with kitchen string), and add about 6 cups of water. Turn the heat back up to medium high and bring the soup to a boil, then put back down to medium-low, cover, and stir occasionally, until the soup is well colored and the beets are tender, about 10 minutes.
Remove the dill stems from the pot and add the juice from the lemon. Taste and adjust other seasonings as necessary. To serve, cut the potatoes into large chunks, adding one potato to each bowl. Ladle soup over the top, then top with freshly chopped dill and a bit of sour cream. Serves 4.

Our summer of CSA - week 2

2010-06-26T11:49:00.003-04:00

This week's CSA bounty included a lot of greenery: collards along with swiss chard, parsley, and something I finally identified as watercress. We also received some lovely raspberries and a small paper bag full of cherries. The fruit was easily dispensed with, but we pondered how to handle the rest in this hot weather, which doesn't make one like to turn on the stovetop, let alone the oven.

First up was tackling the watercress, since we learned via the Internet that it's fairly delicate and wouldn't last a terribly long time. Luckily I still had some radishes left from last week, and these, along with butter and some incredibly creamy goat cheese from Formaggio Essex, made a terrific foil for the tangy cress in a baguette sandwich. Serve with some sparkling water and - voila. Very French. We also found that buying a nice head of lettuce made watercress and radish salad an appetizing option as well.

Next we tackled the collards. A variation on this recipe, previously posted on the blog, was a great way to keep the stove use to a minimum. In the variation, from my new cookbook Fast, Fresh and Green, you make a little dressing with honey and cider vinegar and pour it over the top of greens cooked with garlic and pepper flakes just as they're finishing (not unlike this recipe).

Finally, one of my favorite soups, and one I usually cook in the wintertime: chard, potato, and white bean ragout. I just can't think of a better way to eat chard, so we braved the hot kitchen and cooked up a storm.

Next week, I'm hoping for some more delicious fruit, and we'll finish off our parsley in some lemony tabbouleh.

Grilling, New York style

2010-06-22T18:14:00.000-04:00

Lentils with Spinach and Soy Sauce

2010-06-21T20:32:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite recipes, this is a pretty simple way to get dinner on the table during a week night. We had just enough spinach from our CSA to put this together. I like using French puy lentils for their nuttiness and meaty, chewy texture; my honey liked the "comfort food" quality of regular, softer green lentils. Either will work for this recipe.

Lentils with Spinach and Soy Sauce

1 cup dry lentils
1 bay leaf
1/2 onion
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced, peeled carrots
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 medium bunch spinach, about 12 oz., trimmed & washed
1 tbsp soy sauce

Sort and rinse lentils. Add to a pot and cover with 1 to 2 inches of water, along with the half an onion and bay leaf. Simmer until tender, about 20 minutes based on the type of lentil (check the bag or container). Drain but do not rinse.

In a deep skillet, heat olive oil and then add carrots, sauteeing about 10 minutes, until tender. Add the garlic and stir to blend. Add the cooked, drained lentils (about 3 cups, cooked), the spinach and the soy sauce. Cover and cook for about 2 minutes, until the spinach has wilted down a bit, and then stir the pot. Cover and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Serve with rice or without.

Recipe modified from The Joy of Cooking.

Starting our Summer of CSA

2010-06-16T20:58:00.005-04:00

This summer I signed up for a CSA share. I thought it would be an awesome way to support small farms, and it turns out that it's quite exciting, too. Every Tuesday I'll pick up a bag of mystery fruits and vegetables and have to figure out a way to cook with them. It's like Christmas every week!

This week we received strawberries, apples, radishes, lettuce, spinach, and cilantro. First, we made strawberry popsicles. We had a whole basket of tiny, ripe red berries and couldn't eat them all on cereal, after all. We mashed about a cup of berries together with a tablespoon or so of sugar and let them macerate for a bit, then added a half cup of plain yogurt and enough milk to thin it out. After a splash of lime juice, we added them to our popsicle molds and voila! They taste like strawberry frozen yogurt.

Dealing with our other ingredients required a bit more ingenuity. I haven't cooked much with radishes, and never with their fuzzy green fronds. A bit of research proved they were indeed edible and in fact tasty. So tonight, we made a pretty straight-forward salad: fresh green lettuce, paper-thin radish rounds, slivers of radish greens, and a mustard vinaigrette. It tasted fresh off the farm.

So far, CSA - thumbs up. Later this week we'll make a spicy tomato soup with lots of cilantro.

Quick Buttermilk Scones with Ginger

2009-06-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

So you make a buttermilk cake and find yourself with half a quart of buttermilk. What to do? I made somethin' out of nothin' by turning my breakfast dilemma (empty fridge) into something delicious - buttermilk scones. These are basically quick drop biscuits, but they turned out so tender and buttery that A) it's hard to believe they're low-fat and B) I may have to cook with buttermilk all the time!

Buttermilk Drop Scones with Ginger
recipe from The Joy of Cooking

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 large egg
1 cup non-fat buttermilk
3 1/2 tbsp melted, warm butter
1/2 cup chopped candied ginger (or dried fruit of your choice)

Preheat oven to 400F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper
Wisk together dry indredients in a medium-sized bowl.
Wisk together wet ingredients and candied ginger, then pour all at once into dry ingredients.
Mix with a fork just until the dry ingredients are moistened. The dough will be quite sticky. Use a soup spoon or ice cream scoop to drop the dough in mounds about 2 1/2 inches wide one inch apart on the baking sheet.
Bake until the tops are golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

2009-06-13T11:59:00.000-04:00

Last week I made an amazing buttermilk cake, which turned out to be the very same on my friend C had found on Smitten Kitchen the week before. We all must have been struck by the simplicity and quiet elegance of this cake - the sort of thing you'd take to a picnic and serve with sparkling lemonade and linen cocktail napkins. It's also a wonderful vehicle for early summer berries, especially when you can't pass up a great deal at the farmer's market and come home with two quarts of strawberries.

Recipe adapted from Gourmet magazine, June 2009.

Is it obnoxious to say I think mine looks the prettiest?

Chocolate Pecan Pie

2009-02-22T18:13:00.002-05:00

Grown-up dessert! A layer of dark chocolate topped with sweet, rich pecan filling. This pie has a buttery, shattery crust and a strong hit of chocolate, so use the best you can find. I had a big bar of bittersweet Sharfenberger that worked beautifully.

The recipe is wonderful as is, but I have a few tips.

When making the crust, use 1/2 to 1 tbsp of vodka if the dough needs moistening after the initial 3 tbsp of water. This is a Cook's Illustrated tip that keeps the dough from getting too tough while making it easier to roll out.

Because you're putting a layer of chocolate on the bottom, the pie is best served a little warm. If you eat it straight from the refrigerator, you've got a hard piece of chocolate to bite through (not the most appealing).

As always, I also suggest making your own brown sugar. Just mash together regular sugar and molasses with a fork until it turns the desired shade of brown (whether you're looking for light or dark brown sugar). The taste is always much richer than conventional brown sugar.

Here's the recipe, from Gourmet: Chocolate Pecan Pie.

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Biscotti

2009-01-26T08:30:00.001-05:00

If you have candied ginger in your pantry, it's probably been there for a while. It's a hard product to find a use for! I didn't want that to happen to me, so I found a recipe that uses a whole cup of chopped candied ginger. Luckily, I can always nibble on a biscotti with my morning coffee and be a happy girl. This recipe comes from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, my favorite cookie cookbook.

Gingerbread Biscotti

6 tbsp (3/4 stick) butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup (6.5 oz) finely diced crystallized ginger

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium sized bowl, beat together butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled.

Add the flour, spices, and chopped ginger and mix until smooth. The dough will be soft and sticky but should hold its shape when you drop it from a spoon.

Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and shape it into a rough log, 14 inches long, 2.5 inches wide, and .75 inches thick.

Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on the pan anywhere from 5 minutes to 25, depending on what else you're doing in the kitchen. Meanwhile, lower the oven temp to 325.

Wet your hands and lightly dampen the cookie log (alternately, spritz it with a spray bottle). This will make the biscotti easier to cut. Cut into 3/4 inch slices, making sure your knife is verticle so the cookies aren't off balance.

Set the biscotti upright on the baking sheet and bake for another 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Biscotti will last about a week at room temperature; longer if you freeze them.

Ginger Tea

2009-01-22T12:33:00.000-05:00

Being on a ginger kick means having a lot of ginger around the house to use up. I can only eat so many ginger-and-garlic stirfrys, so it's lucky I came across this recipe for ginger tea in this month's Better Homes and Gardens (I wasn't even in the dentist's office - through some twist of fate, I subscribe!). It's soothing for the stomach and the mind, too, if you ask me.

Ginger Tea

3-4 quarter inch slices fresh ginger
2 long lemon peels (2-inch each)
1 tsp honey (or more, or less, depending on taste and the size of yer mug)
1 sprig rosemary (if you have some around the house)

All of the above goes in a small tea pot or your big tea mug. Boil some water, and let the tea steep about 5 minutes, longer if you like a spicier flavor.

Better Homes and Gardens also recommended doubling or tripling this recipe, steeping a big pot of tea in a pot or saucepan, cooling it, then serving with sparkling water for a ginger seltzer. Haven't tried this, but my guess is if you doubled the amount of honey it would be divine. Like homemade ginger ale!

Chocolate Ginger Cookies

2009-01-20T19:28:00.002-05:00

I made my favorite ginger snaps for friends this Christmas and then found myself craving more. In the search for something different, I scoped out these Martha Stewart cookies from her Martha Stewart Living cookbook. They are grown-up cookies, not too sweet, but full of molasses and ginger flavor and melty layers of dark chocolate. They're also sparkly and tea-sized. In short, perfect for the holiday cookie tin. I wish I had spied them earlier.

Chocolate Ginger Cookies

* 7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
* 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
* 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
* 1/2 cup unsulphured molasses
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Line two baking sheets with parchment. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift or wisk together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined. (I always make my own brown sugar by mixing molasses with regular sugar - try a teaspoon or two here with 1/2 cup white sugar, and mix together with a fork.)

In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.

Heat oven to 325°F.

Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls; I used a melon baller for this. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes (I don't know if this is necessary - only if the dough gets really soft). Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pumpkin Loaf, take two

2008-10-31T21:09:00.004-04:00

Back when I first started my blog, about two years ago, I posted a recipe for pumpkin cranberry loaf. I used a great recipe from a little pumpkin cookbook that has since been lost in a move. Last month, I found another recipe in Gourmet magazine, and so I decided to give it a whirl. It's moist and spicy and dense and feels more cake-like than bread-like. So, to say 'Happy Birthday, blog,' make either one of these great pumpkin loafs and enjoy with a cup of tea!

You can find the Gourmet recipe here, and look back to December 2006 for the other.

Chard, Potato, and White Bean Soup

2008-10-28T21:04:00.002-04:00

I made this recipe from the Times after spotting it last week while I was making my chard lasagna. It's really quite good. The broth is excellent. I cheated and used 2 1/2 cups canned beans instead of making them from scratch, but otherwise I followed the recipe to the letter. Today is so stormy and windy that it feels right eating soup. As an added bonus, this dish is definitely "recession friendly," or whatever (I just call it cheap).

NB 1/20/09: I made this again last week and it's still delicious. I had no parmesan rind (alas) but it still tasted pretty wonderful. It IS recession friendly soup!

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Apple

2008-10-13T15:46:00.003-04:00

Today I made these pancakes, from Gourmet by way of Smitten Kitchen. I think this may be my new favorite pancake recipe. The lemon and sweet ricotta mix are lovely. I also feel like these must be healthier for you in some way than regular pancakes, even though they are loaded down with cheese and eggs. At least cheese and eggs mean protien, calcium, and that special enzyme that's in eggs! Regular pancakes mean carbs. Anyway, I'd highly recommend giving these a shot (especially if you have a mixer to help with the egg whites).

Chard and Ricotta Lasagna

2008-10-12T11:42:00.001-04:00

I recently made this lasagna, from the Times healthy food column. It did turn out very savory, though I must say not as rich as most lasagnas. Is this a good or a bad thing? Depends on how hungry you are, I guess.

Lime Pie

2008-07-05T13:39:00.003-04:00

With Independence Day behind us, it's officially summer. Time for a tart, refreshing dessert. My friend at On the Hob gave me this recipe a while ago and I've been meaning to try it ever since. Here's to July!

Lime Pie

Crust

About 10 graham crackers
5 tablespoons butter, very soft
1/4 cup powdered sugar

- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In food processor, break up graham crackers into pieces and whir until you have crumbs. Add sugar and butter and mix until the mixture sticks together.
- Turn out into a pie plate and gently press into the bottom and up about 1 inch on the side.
- Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges are crisp and the bottom is solid.

Filling

14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 cup lime juice (about 4)
zest of 1 or 2 limes
1 egg

- Wisk together milk, lime juice, zest and egg. Pour into baked crust and bake for 12 minutes at 350 F or until set. Cool, then refrigerate before serving.

All-Kinds-of-Deliciousness Sandwich

2008-05-28T21:01:00.000-04:00

Hello to the two people in the world who read my food blog! Inspired by summer produce and, for the first time in weeks, having a little time to cook, I have made the bitchin'est sandwich ever. Nothing smells as good as roasting vegetables, especially with a solid helping of olive oil to get them sizzling. I like the Mediterranean combo of zucchini, eggplant, tomato, mushrooms, pepper... yum. There's a reason so many cultures eat these foods together.

Sandwiches also have a permanent place in my repertoire, and though I eat a lot of peanut butter and jelly, there is nothing says a sandwich has to be boring. This particular 'wich can be constructed with any combination of the veggies listed above. You could also put fresh basil on there, or parsley. I like cheese - try goat or provolone, but a little thinly sliced cheddar can be fine, as can a gooey cheese like brie (the milder the better, I find, to let the vegetables' taste shine through).

Today I used thinly sliced eggplant, zucchini, baby portobello mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes. Spread the first three on a baking sheet; give them a good drizzle of olive oil; sprinkle with salt, pepper, and dried Italian spice blend; and pop 'em under the broiler for about 5 minutes (just until tender; the eggplant will cook fastest). Oil is key so that they don't get dry, shrively, and unappealing. Meanwhile soak the dried tomatoes in boiling water to soften them (if you're using the regular kind - drain them if you're using the kind stored in olive oil). Cut open a long roll (definitely something Italian - sorry if you don't live in an Italian neighborhood like me, where even the Met Mart has Italian meats, cheeses, and baked goods!) and give it a quick toast under the broiler, too, cut side up (if you're using a cheese like provolone or cheddar, it's nice to melt it under the broiler on one half of the bread). Then assemble and consume!

Foolproof Pie Dough

2008-01-29T22:15:00.000-05:00

I've been told by my dear pal at On the Hob that I need to post something new. She's right - it's been almost two months. Not much has been brewing in my kitchen lately! Mostly I stick to whole wheat pasta with Whole Foods marinara sauce and zucchini... spinach and lentils with carrots... chickpea salad... a fairly boring medley. I also find myself eating out a lot, which is nice for my taste buds but not so much for my blog.

I think the most exciting and useful recipe I can post is for pie crust. At Thanksgiving, I made a delicious apple-cranberry pie. The recipe came from Cook's Illustrated, as did the recipe for the dough. The secret ingredient is vodka, which apparently keeps the dough wet while inhibiting gluten formation (which tends to make the finished crust tough). I made the dough again at Christmas time, for an apple pie. It was absolutely delicious both times: crunchy, crusty, crackly, and very easy to work with.

So here is the recipe, for your baking pleasure.

Foolproof Pie Dough

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter

1/2 cup cold vegtable shortening

1/4 cup cold vodka

1/4 cup cold water

Mix 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, and salt together in large bowl. Cut the butter and shortening into pieces and work into the flour mixture with two knives or a pastry blender, until the pieces are the size of quarters. Add the remaining cup flour and cut it in until the fat pieces are the size of peas. (Alternately, you can do this in a food processor.)
Sprinkle water and vodka over mixture. With rubber spatula, using folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until it is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten into disks. Wrap each in Saran wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Follow your pie recipe from here. This dough will make enough for one bottom and one top shell. Half it if you prefer to make just a bottom, as for custard pie.

*This recipe comes from Cook's Illustrated, November 2007.

Gingersnap and Lemon Ice Cream Sandwiches

2007-12-04T23:00:00.000-05:00

Now I love peppermint as much as the next girl, but once in a while you've got to shake things up. Christmas should not be limited to egg nog, pumpkin spice, and mint (no matter what Starbucks would have you believe). As I've gotten older, I've developed a fondness for gingersnaps, especially this excellent recipe from the Joy of Cooking. These cookies have a warmth that feels very homey in December, and of course they remind me of making gingerbread houses (and eating most of the gumdrops and licorice before they could be affixed to the roof). I really like lemon with gingersnaps, and instead of making a lemon icing, I made ice cream sandwiches (which have the added appeal of staying fresh in the freezer for several weeks). The ice cream couldn't be easier, and the recipe comes from The Perfect Scoop.

Ginger Snaps

3 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup dark molasses
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp lemon zest

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Line two cookie sheets with parchement paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until very fluffy. Add the eggs, molasses, lemon juice, and zest and combine until well blended.

Stir in the flour mixture until well-blended and smooth. Pull off pieces of dough and form one-inch balls in your hands. Space about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand. You can also use a damp glass dipped in sugar, which will add some sweetness and sparkle to the final product.

Bake no more than 9-10 minutes for soft cookies; as long as 13 minutes for very, very crisp cookies. Cool on a wire rack.

Simple Lemon Ice Cream

2 lemons
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large or 3 small lemons)
2 cups half-n-half
Pinch of salt

Zest the lemons directly into a food processor or good blender. Add the sugar and blend until the lemon zest is very fine. Add the lemon juice and blend until the sugar is completely dissolved. Blend in the half-in-half and salt until smooth.

Chill 1 hour, then pour into your ice cream machine.

To make sandwiches, match up two cookies of the same size. Put about 1/4 cup ice cream (freshly churned or else softened) on one cookie and press the other on top. Ice cream will squeeze out the sides, and you can scrape it away with a rubber spatula. Wrap each sandwich individually in plastic wrap and freeze. They are much easier to eat once they've frozen solid.

Anise and Almond Biscotti

2007-11-18T22:58:00.000-05:00

I used to be intimidated by biscotti. Then I actually made it. No cookie could be simpler.

My bible for cookies, the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, has a dynamite recipe for true Italian biscotti. This cookie is not meant to be eaten plain, unless you are a baby who likes to gum her food. But Italian biscotti are simply sensational with coffee; the hot liquid immediately softens the biscuit while bringing out the subtle flavors (especially delicious when those flavors include hazelnut, chocolate, almond, or vanilla).

Since I had a big jar of anise leftover from a Mexican baking adventure (brush a flour tortilla with melted butter, sprinkle on cinnamon, sugar, and anise, bake for about 10 minutes, cut into triangles, and enjoy with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream), I decided to make King Arthur's "classic" biscotti, almond and anise. It has subtle licorice flavor that's pleasant but not too intense. Nice to serve if you have Italian neighbors or an Italian mother-in-law you want to impress.

For extra interest, throw in a cup of chopped toasted almonds with the flour.

Classic Italian Biscotti

2 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp almond extract
1 tbsp aniseed
2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium-sized bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, baking powder, salt, and vanilla until creamy looking; the mixture will be light-colored and thick as pancake batter. Lower the mixer speed and add the flour and anise seed, beating gently just until it's totally incorporated. Add the almonds now if you're using them.
Transfer the dough the baking sheet and shape into a log about 14 inches long, 2.5 inches wide, and .75 inches thick. Using a dough scraper or wet hands helps.
Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit until cool to the touch, 5-25 minutes. About 5 minutes before cutting the cookie log, spritz it with water or pat it with wet hands - this will make the cutting easier.
Reduce the oven temperature to 325. Cut the biscotti into 1/2 inch slices, cutting an an angle across the cookie log. Make sure to slice straight up and down or the biscotti will topple over in the oven.
Set the sliced biscotti upright on the baking sheet. Bake for another 25 minutes, then cool on a rack. The finished cookies can be stored up to two weeks in an air-tight container. Remember to enjoy them with tea, coffee, or hot chocolate!

Cinnamon Buns

2007-10-08T13:52:00.000-04:00

Even though it's still 80 degrees in New York, something about October signals fall. Maybe it's the leaves turning brown and landing in the gutter. Or maybe it's the neighbors, who already have their stoop decked out in fake spiderwebs and plastic bats. Or maybe it's the way the breeze swoops in, cooler than the sunshine and humidity would predict, reminding us that winter really isn't that far off.

In any case, I decided to make cinnamon buns. I've always wanted to and finally found a reipe that seemed relatively easy to put together. In fact, this recipe was more difficult in execution than it seemed it would be. The dough is very sticky and split apart when I rolled it out and again when I rolled it up. Removing the baked buns from the pan "without seperating" was mere wishful thinking on the part of the recipe writers, or maybe they just had a really big spatula. Instead of emerging as eight rolls all stuck together, I ended up with a jumbled mass of bread and melted sugar. Still, it must be said that these buns are all kind of delicious. The biscuit part is very nice, and the filling crisps up into sort of a toffee on the outside. I don't know who ever thought to christen these rolls a breakfast food, however; they are so sweet my teeth hurt.

Quick Cinnamon Buns with Buttermilk Icing

Melted butter is used in both the filling and the dough and to
grease the pan; it’s easiest to melt the total amount (8
tablespoons) at once and measure it out as you need it. The
finished buns are best eaten warm, but they hold reasonably well
for up to 2 hours. Makes 8 buns.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter , melted, for pan

Cinnamon-Sugar Filling
3/4 cup dark brown sugar (packed, 5 1/4 ounces)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (1 3/4 ounces)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter , melted

Biscuit Dough
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces), plus
additional flour for work surface
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted

Icing
2 tablespoons cream cheese , softened
2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 cup confectioners' sugar (4 ounces)

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425
degrees. Pour 1 tablespoon melted butter in 9-inch nonstick cake
pan; brush to coat pan. Spray wire rack with nonstick cooking
spray; set aside.

2. To make cinnamon-sugar filling: Combine sugars, spices, and salt
in small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon melted butter and stir with fork or
fingers until mixture resembles wet sand; set filling mixture aside.

3. To make biscuit dough: Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking
soda, and salt in large bowl. Whisk buttermilk and 2 tablespoons
melted butter in measuring cup or small bowl. Add liquid to dry
ingredients and stir with wooden spoon until liquid is absorbed
(dough will look very shaggy), about 30 seconds. Transfer dough to
lightly floured work surface and knead until just smooth and no
longer shaggy.

4. Pat dough with hands into 12 by 9-inch rectangle. Following
illustrations below, fill, roll, cut, and arrange buns in buttered
cake pan. Brush with 2 tablespoons remaining melted butter. Bake
until edges are golden brown, 23 to 25 minutes. Use offset metal
spatula to loosen buns from pan; without separating, slide buns out
of pan onto greased cooling rack. Cool about 5 minutes before icing.

5. To make icing and finish buns: While buns are cooling, line
rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (for easy cleanup); set
rack with buns over baking sheet. Whisk cream cheese and buttermilk
in large nonreactive bowl until thick and smooth (mixture will look
like cottage cheese at first). Sift confectioners’ sugar over;
whisk until smooth glaze forms, about 30 seconds. Spoon glaze
evenly over buns; serve immediately.

STEP BY STEP: Rolling Up Cinnamon Buns

1. Brush dough with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Sprinkle evenly
with filling, leaving 1/2-inch border of plain dough around edges.
Press filling firmly into dough.
2. Using bench scraper or metal spatula, loosen dough from work
surface. Starting at long side, roll dough, pressing lightly, to
form a tight log. Pinch seam to seal.

3. Roll log seam-side down and cut evenly into eight pieces. With
hand, slightly flatten each piece of dough to seal open edges and
keep filling in place.
4. Place one roll in center of prepared nonstick pan, then place
remaining seven rolls around perimeter of pan.

*Cooks Illustrated 2002

Portobello Mushroom Spaghetti

2007-10-04T00:26:00.000-04:00

I want to say thanks to my pal at On the Hob for rescuing me from my dining dilemma tonight: what to do with the giant Portobello mushroom I bought? Couldn't stuff it, couldn't make a sandwich, no point in roasting... Her solution? Saute it with a little balsamic vinegar. It worked like a charm. I added zucchini (or courgette as some people I know like to say), tomatoes, and Italian parsley and served it over spaghetti. Here's how the whole thing turned out:

It was quite a nice dinner, and I liked using up odds and ends that were already in the fridge and cupboard. I also have to thank Jamie Oliver for the pasta serving suggestion that appears in this month's Gourmet: swirl the spaghetti in a ladle or large spoon and then plate. It was so much easier than shlurping with a fork or tongs and looked pretty, too. It's nice to see something in Gourmet that's actually practical and useful for the home cook and not just theoretical inspiration...

Summer Bean Salad with Lime Vinaigrette

2007-08-17T20:57:00.000-04:00

I've been making a variation of this salad all summer. I don't think I've ever actually made it as directed below, but it's the kind of thing that lends itself to variation. I love the crunch of cucumber, the sweetness of fresh corn, and the sweet-tartness of fresh summer tomatoes. The part that pulls the recipe together is the yummy lime vinaigrette. The proportions are spot on and this is a great way to use up limes if, like me, you bought 15 one day when they were on sale at 15/$1.

Summer Bean Salad with Lime Vinaigrette

Salad
3/4 cup uncooked small macaroni
1 1/2 cups halved grape tomatoes
3/4 cup diced peeled avocado
1/2 cup chopped seeded poblano chile
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/3 cup chopped red onion
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained & rinsed
Vinaigrette
2 tsp lime zest
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic (3/4 tsp), minced
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground red pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and cool completely.

Combine the tomatoes, avocado, poblano, cucumber, onion, cilantro, and beans in a medium bowl, stirring to combine.

Combine zest, juice, vinegar, oil, garlic, salt & pepper in small bowl, whisking well. Add pasta and lime vinaigrette to veggie mixture; toss to combine.

*From Cooking Light magazine

Fresh Peach Ice Cream

2007-06-19T23:05:00.000-04:00

For my birthday a very smart man got me David Lebovitz's book The Perfect Scoop. It's a compendium of amazing ice cream recipes, varying from chocolate and vanilla to basil and avocado. For my inagural taste test, I decided on fresh peach, which seems like a great way to eat in season. I've never been a big fruit ice cream person, but maybe with my tastes changing in other ways, ice cream is not far behind?

This recipe was really delightful. It has tangy, sour notes but tastes strongly of fresh peaches, too. It was pretty foolproof to make (especially compared to some of the recipes in the book) and uses less cream than many ice creams. It was certainly better than some of my invented creations, though I have to say that I thought of malted milk ice cream before I saw the recipe in the Lebovitz book! I'll be interested to see if his version beats mine (probably).

I stuck to this recipe pretty closely. I didn't have sour cream so I substituted cream cheese and half & half. I also used two peaches and one nectarine -- perhaps these substitutions are why my ice cream tasted rather tangy. A bit more cream cheese, and I would have had Peach Cheesecake ice cream -- not altogether a bad idea.

Fresh Peach Ice Cream

1 1/3 lbs peaches (3 or 4 large)
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
a splash of fresh lemon juice

- Peel the peaches, slice them in half and remove the stone. Chop them into small-ish chunks and cook them with the water in a saucepan over medium heat, covered, stirring once or twice, until soft and cooked through, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat, stir in sugar, then cool to room temperature. You can use an ice bath to speed this process up.
- Puree the cooked peaches and the final four ingredients in a blender or food processor until almost smooth but still piecey. Alternately, you can mash the cooked peach with a potato masher or similar.
- Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator or over an ice bath (the colder the mixture, the quicker and better the ice cream will freeze), then freeze in your ice cream maker.

Double Chocolate Souffles with warm fudge sauce

2007-05-05T19:15:00.000-04:00

A few Christmases back, I got a souffle pan, but the prospect of making a souffle always seemed so daunting, so I never used it. Then I saw a long article in Cooking Light a while back, all about how to make the perfect souffle. Included were several recipes for unique and low-fat dishes. Armed with a good recipe and new, adorable candy-colored ramekins (the Christmas souffle pan is in storage, alas), I tried my hand at my first souffle.

I halved this recipe and it fit into four little ramakins. I think this recipe would also work as-is for a normal souffle pan. The resulting desserts turned out rich and very chocolatey, which is great considering they're pretty low-fat (about 9 grams of fat, 300 calories each, including 2 tablespoons of sauce). For a chocolate souffle, I'd say that's pretty good. The souffle is better than the sauce, though, which tasted too flour-y to me. If you didn't mind a few extra calories, I'd make a regular chocolate sauce and maybe add a dollap of sweetened whipped cream on top. I'm leaving out the chocolate sauce recipe as it wasn't so good; you'll have to substitute your own.

Souffle:

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar, divided
3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups fat-free milk
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
6 large egg whites

- Move oven rack to the bottom of the oven, and remove the middle rack. Preheat oven to 425.
- Lightly coat 6 eight-ounce souffle dishes with cooking spray or a little butter. Sprinkle evenly with 2 tbsp of sugar.
- Combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tbsp flour, 3 tbsp cocoa, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly with a whisk; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly; remove from heat.
- Add chocolate and stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature, then stir in vanilla and egg yolk.
- Place egg whites in a large non-reactive mixing bowl and beat at high speed with a mixer until stiff peaks form (but don't overbeat!!). Gently fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in remaining.
- Sharply tap dishes2 or 3 times on counter to level. Place dishes on baking sheet; place sheet on bottom rack of oven. Immediately reduce temperature to 350. Bake 40 minutes or until a wooden toothpick insterted into the side of the souffle comes out clean. Don't peak while they're cooking or they won't rise properly!
- Serve warm, straight from the oven when possible, with a drizzle of chocolate sauce.

Roasted Eggplant with Yogurt Sauce

2007-04-24T22:13:00.000-04:00

After a long hiatus of few cooking adventures, some exciting things are happening in the kitchen. Most thrillingly, I bought an ice cream maker at a thrift shop in the West Village. It's your standard we-got-married-twenty-years-ago-and-haven't-used-this-thing-once-let's-finally-get-rid-of-the-clutter ice cream maker; I think it's the same model my dad and I had back in the late 1980s for girl scout ice cream chemistry projects. It's never been used, so at $8.00, quite the bargain. For quite some time now I've been ready to spend $30 or $40 for the priveledge of making my own delicious frozen confections.

My first attempt at making mocha frozen yogurt tasted like, well, yogurt that was cold. The book is wrong when it says, "Just pour in any flavored yogurt, turn, freeze, and voila!" What I made did not taste at all like any frozen yogurt I've had anywhere. I think the key is to add sugar, and maybe to use Greek yogurt, which is milder and creamier. In any case, I'm moving on to regular ice cream tonight or tomorrow, and hopefully that recipe will yield better results.

I've also been thinking for a while now about an eggplant dish I had at an Afghan restaurant while I was in California last Christmas. It was soft eggplant smothered in a creamy sauce, and it was delicious -- unlike any eggplant I've ever had. This week I found myself in possesion of a few little Chinese eggplants, so I decided to try to replicate the dish as best I could. I think it turned out lovely, though not quite what I had in California. I roasted the epplants with a few chopped onions in the oven, then made a variation on a yogurt sauce from a cucumbers-in-yogurt recipe. Finally I added some chickpeas to the mix to make it a full dinner (I guess I would have used lamb if I ate that) and served over brown rice. While I doubt this dish is authentic to Afghan, Moroccan, Turkish, or any kind of Middle Eastern cuisine, it was my own take and pretty good in the end.

Eggplant in Yogurt Sauce

For the Eggplant:

2-3 small Chinese eggplants or 1 large European variety, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 large onion, roughly chopped
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked pepper

- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Toss the vegetables with the oil and seasoning. Scatter in one layer on a baking sheet.
- Bake for about 15 minutes, then flip the veggies and bake another 10-15 minutes, until they are soft and crisp at the edges. Remove from oven.

For the Yogurt Sauce:

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt (preferably Greek)
Juice of one lemon (2 tbsp)
1-2 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cracked pepper
3/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp dried seasoning (I used sage but dill or parsley is preferable)

- Mix all ingredients. Let sit for at least 10-15 minutes to meld flavors.
- Pour over the eggplant and onion.
- You will use only about a third of the sauce; the other two-thirds can be mixed with cucumbers for a side salad or with warmed chickpeas for a main course. This dish should be served at room temperature or slighly warm but not hot or cold. Serves 2 with leftovers.

*Yogurt sauce recipe adapted from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant.

Roasted Winter Vegetables

2007-03-06T15:54:00.000-05:00

Lovely as a side dish with chicken or lentils, roasted vegetables hit the spot on a cold winter's night. But they don't have to be limited to side dish status -- I piled mine into a goat-cheese omlette. The creamy cheese is a wonderful foil for salty, strong-flavored veggies. Serve for lunch in your Northern California backyard, with a crisp beer and a little side salad, on a sunny March day!

Use any combination of root vegetables or squash that takes your fancy... The cooking time won't vary too much. By cooking hard roots like beets the same length of time as tender squash like zucchini, you guarrantee the same relative texture; that is, the roasted beets will still be firmer than the roasted zucchini, but none should be over or under-done.

Vegetables:
1 medium sweet potato
1 large zucchini
1/2 large onion
2 large carrots
2 medium beets

Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp dried sage
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 F.
Wash and peel vegetables, then roughly chop them; it's good if the pieces are relatively uniform in size. Put vegetables in a large bowl. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over vegetables, then toss so all are evenly coated with dressing.
Spread in a single layer (or as close as you can get) on an unoiled 11x17 baking pan, or use two baking sheets (Pyrex glass pans work fine as well). Bake for 40 minutes, stirring after 20 minutes, until crispy, browned, and tender.

Recipe adapted from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics

Candy Making 101

2007-03-05T12:54:00.000-05:00

I am on a quest to learn how to make candy. I have the thermometer. I have the pastry brush. Lord knows I have the sugar. But I'm a little scared; I can't imagine a more ironic death for the sugar obsessed than spilling a pan and being burned alive by molten sugar. So I'm easing into the process by practicing with two very easy, no-fuss, no boil candy recipes. Both turned out great, so I am encouraged to move on to marshmallows and caramels!

Chocolate-covered cornflakes. How deliciously kitchy. In the article where I got this recipe, the author claimed she first had them at Jacques Torres chocolatier here in NYC, but I imagine they were cooked up by a bored housewife or a General Mills food promotions exec back in the '50s. In any case, chocolate-covered cornflakes are malty, crunchy, sweet, and spectacularly easy to make.

Recipe

* 1/2 lb. Semi-sweet or Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped
* 2 Cups Corn Flakes (fresh is best)

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler until almost melted. Take from heat and stir chocolate until smooth. Pour half over the corn flakes and quickly stir with rubber spatula. Add remaining chocolate and fold gently until all of the corn flakes are generously coated with chocolate. Using two teaspoons, scoop the chocolate-covered corn flakes onto a waxed-paper-lined cookie sheet, shaping into clusters. (Alternately, spread out on cookie sheet into individual flakes - or as close as you can get.) Let set. Makes about a cookie-sheet full. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Rocky Road Fudge. Having been a candy fiend for most of my life, I've sampled many different types of fudge from many different places - maple fudge from Vermont, chocolate fudge by the seaside in Santa Cruz, and peanut butter fudge in the unparalleled fudge hotspot of Mackinac Island. Most fudges are sweet and rich. The recipe I chose to make is rich indeed, but with a more sophisticated and grown-up chocolate taste. Its flavor depends on using quality ingredients - really fine chocolate is a must. But for such sophisticated taste, this is really simple to throw together.

Recipe

16 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts
1 cup marshmallows

Line an 8x8" pan with a piece of greased aluminum foil, folded over to create a double layer (or use a single layer of heavy-duty foil). In a medium, heat-proof bowl or the top of a double boiler, toss together chocolates, soda, and salt. Stir in condensed milk and vanilla. Place bowl over a pan of boiling water, taking care that the water does not touch the pan (same with double-boiler). Stir mixture for 2-4 minutes, until most but not all of the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat and stir two more minutes, until all the chocolate has melted. Stir in the walnuts and marshmallows. Spread the fudge into the prepared pan and chill until set, about 2 hours.

As a note, these taste much better at room temperature than straight from the fridge. It's worth taking a piece out 20 minutes before you want to eat it to let it come up to room temperature.

These will keep about 2 weeks in the fridge or a month in the freezer.

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated.

Chocolate Raspberry Sandwich Cookies

2007-02-15T15:12:00.000-05:00

This is what I made for my sweetheart for Valentine's Day: obscenely good chocolate raspberry sandwich cookies. Seriously, the picture doesn't demonstrate how brilliant the raspberry flavor is with the chocolate. I guess you'll just have to imagine.

The recipe for the cookies is adapted from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. The only changes I made were to add some wheat flour (as is my wont) and to add half brown sugar (mostly because I ran out of white, but the flavor compliments the chocolate, I think). The recipe for the filling is from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics. It's actually a vegan frosting for chocolate cake, but it worked wonderfully as a filling here.

Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 tsp(heaping) salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a large bowl, beat together the cream and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the salt and the vanilla.
- In a seperate bowl, wisk together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder. Gradually blend this mixture into the butter mixture until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Drop the dough by teaspoonful onto parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving about 1.5 inches between each. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes; they'll feel soft on top and will have spread out. Transfer to a rack to cool.
- When the cookies are completely cool, you can fill them. Instructions below.

Filling

1/3 cup raspberry jam
1 cup semisweet chocolate

- Combine jam and chocolate and melt in microwave: try 20 seconds, then stir. If chocolate is not yet completely melted, microwave again in 5 seconds increments. Don't overheat!
- Scoop about a teaspoonful of filling onto one cookie and spread with a knife or offset spatula. Top with another cookie and leave an hour or two to set. Repeat with remaining cookies.

Blueberry Muffins

2007-02-11T21:07:00.000-05:00

Muffins are probably the most American of breakfast baked goods, and blueberry is the quintessential flavor. I can't imagine a homemade brunch without homemade blueberry muffins, and nothing is nicer to serve a guest with tea on a winter afternoon. You'd think, given the ubiquity and popularity of this treat, that there'd be one way to make them, one definitive recipe, one set taste. Not so. Those greasy giants sold by the dozen at Costco can't compare to the crispy, fruit-filled gems you might find at your local weekend breakfast joint. The point is, muffin recipes are extremely flexible, and as such, muffins are lots of fun to make.

I have been playing around with ingredients with some very good results. The old standby, The Joy of Cooking, has three basic recipes that are a great place to start -- one for muffins, one for low-fat muffins, and one for yogurt muffins. After some experimentation, I found that modifying the low-fat recipe yielded the best result. The resulting muffins are rich and sweet, with crispy tops and a nice crumb. I'm not sure if the recipe still qualifies as "low fat" (heavy cream, not so much low in fat) but I'm sure you're way better off eating one of these muffins than whatever you'd find on the bagel and danish platter at your next morning meeting.

Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
3 generous tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup nonfat milk
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cups blueberries

- Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin with paper cups.
- Whisk together in a large bowl the flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Put the butter in a glass liquid measuring cup and microwave until melted, approx. 30 seconds. Whisk in the egg, vanilla, and milk. If the butter solidifies into little pieces, put the mixture back into the microwave for another 10 - 15 seconds and stir.
- Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture and add the blueberries. Fold together with a few light strokes, until the dry ingredients are moistened, taking care not to over mix.
- Divide the batter among the muffin cups. There will be just enough to fill 12 cups completely. Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon and sugar. Bake 19 - 22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

These muffins freeze well for several weeks. To reheat, pop in a 350 oven for 15-20 minutes.

Wild Rice Cakes with Creamed Spinach

2007-01-26T15:16:00.000-05:00

You can find the recipes for this here and here, so I won't bother posting them, but doesn't this look divine? What a perfect little appetizer for a dinner party or a small main meal for two.

By the way, you can save a few calories and substitute milk for cream in the spinach. It makes a basic white sauce instead. If you go this route I would use cornstarch instead of flour to help it thicken better. The sauce won't have the apprearance or rich taste of a cream sauce, but at least a low-fat sauce gives you an excuse to throw some parmesan cheese on top. Also, it's not necessary to steam the spinach prior to putting it in the sauce, unless you like well-cooked spinach. Otherwise, the heat from the sauce will wilt it, if you stir everything together for about a minute over the heat.

Also, I should add that I tried two new things this week that I'd never made before: eggplant parmesan and hummus. I decided to bake the little breaded eggplant disks for the eggplant parm, instead of frying them, with decent results. So, it can be done if you want to avoid frying. Just add a lot of sauce when you're finally baking everything together. The hummus, on the other hand, was quick as a snap and very delicious. Super easy with a little mini prep food processor and miles cheaper than buying prepared hummus from the grocery store. I'd recommend giving it a shot sometime!

Hot Fudge Sauce

2007-01-14T18:33:00.000-05:00

I had a craving for something sweet this weekend, and thought, "Why not hot fudge sundaes?!" For Christmas I gave my better half Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, and inside was an easy and, it turned out, excellent recipe for hot fudge. The quality of the final product depends greatly, of course, on the type of chocolate used; we had good-quality semi-sweet chocolate that worked really nicely. This recipe isn't as achingly sweet as many commercial chocolate sauces, which I find nice, but you could always pick a sweeter chocolate to make the sauce more child or sweet-tooth friendly.

Hot Fudge

4 oz. semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate

4 tbsp butter

1/4 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup water

1/3 cup corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla

Combine first 5 ingredients in a saucepan over very low heat. Cook, stirring, until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Add the corn syrup. Bring the mixture just to a boil and turn quickly back down, careful not to burn the chocolate. Cook, stirring more or less constantly, for 5-10 minutes, until the mixtures is shiny and begins to thicken. Add the vanilla. Avoid the temptation to eat this right away; it's better if it sits for 10-15 minutes before you dig in. Not only does this allow the sauce to thicken, but also your ice cream won't melt that way!

Magic-in-the-Middle Cupcakes

2006-12-28T23:55:00.000-05:00

My step-dad is a peanut butter nut, so for his birthday yesterday I made magic-in-the-middle cupcakes. I was inspired by what I saw going on at Cupcake Bakeshop , which has some gorgeous-looking filled cupcakes and great how-to pictures , and also by the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion magic-in-the-middle cookies, which I have drooled over for some time without actually making. These are basically chocolate cupcakes with a sweet peanut butter center and rich chocolate ganache frosting. They are very rich, but one makes you feel perfectly content and deliciously satisfied. I like the cupcake format because it's easy not to over-indulge.

The basic idea here is to take a small sharp knife and cut a cone shape out of the center of the cupcake, reserving the cone. Fill the empty space with filling, then cut the excess cake off the cone and replace the top back on the cupcake. Once you've frosted them, no one can tell the difference!

We cheated and used a chocolate cake mix, but we picked up a nice one at the local gourmet grocery store. Instead of the usual partially-hydrogenated vegetable solids found in most cake mixes, this one had us add the fat in liquid butter form, with very tasty results. The picture doesn't really do it justice because it's a terrible cell phone picture - alas, my digital camera isn't around right now. In any case, this is a fun cake for a special occasion - especially one at which the birthday boy needs to feel like a kid again!

Use your own chocolate cake recipe or mix; here's what I did for filling and quick icing:

Peanut Butter Filling
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the peanut butter with 1 tablespoon water and beat with a hand-held mixer or a fork until shiny. You can add more to change the consistancy, but if you add too much, the mixture will seperate and turn grainy. Then beat in the sugar and vanilla. Feel free to add more peanut butter or more/less sugar to change the flavor.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting
8 oz bittersweet chocolate/chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy cream

Put the chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the cream on low heat until it just begins to bubble around the edge of the pan. Then pour the hot cream over the chocolate and allow to sit for five minutes. Stir until the chocolate has melted and been fully incorporated. The frosting should be very shiny. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes to thicken the consistency; you can put it in the fridge to shorten the time a bit, but the ganache will lose some of its gleam.

Fill cupcakes, frost, and serve with a candle!

Uber-Delicious Pumpkin Nut Loaf

2006-12-10T12:10:00.000-05:00

'Tis the season for fall favorites, I guess... this is the second pumpkin recipe in the very short life of this blog. But when you get a jones for a flavor, you gotta stick with it until it's done. I guess the pumpkin passion sprung from a cookbook my mom got me in October, called, appropriately, the New Pumpkin Cookbook. It's not really new, though -- it was published in 1981 by the group that puts on the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival. It's a beautifully laid out cookbook, printed in burnt orange and chocolate brown, with lovely accompanying line drawings of pumpkins and pies and people. And, of course, it's filled with great recipes using pumpkin.

I made bourbon pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, and made some pumpkin muffins a few weeks ago, but the pumpkin nut loaf I made the other day was the most delicious and, therefore, blog-worthy. It's fragrant, moist, sweet, spicy, and very pumpkiny. The woman who submitted the recipe to the cookbook is Eunice, "the wife of Francis Collings of Petaluma, two times World Champion Pumpkin Grower," so I guess she should know from cooking pumpkins. I followed the recipe to the letter except I put some whole wheat flour in there, and I also added a cup of dried cranberries, because they always lend a nice spark to spice loaves.

Eunice's Pumpkin Nut Loaf

1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup cooked mashed or canned pumpkin
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans are good)
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins (optional)

Sift together the dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a seperate bowl, mix together the oil, water, eggs, and pumpkin. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet, folding in until well blended. Add the nuts and dried fruit. Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour & 10 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Brazilian-Style Collard Greens

2006-12-07T21:26:00.000-05:00

I have to direct your attention to this recipe from Epicurious. Ever since I had hoppin' john and mustard greens at my Southern aunt's house on new year's day 2006, I've been kind of obsessed with cooked greens. I'm always surprised at how good they taste. This recipe, which appears in other cookbooks as well, is a great alternative to the traditional stewed greens. It's a bit labor heavy, as you have to de-rib and slice all the greens, but it's not difficult in any way. I find collard greens much easier to wash and dry than lettuce, for instance.

For this recipe, since I don't eat meat, I followed the suggestion of the first reviewer and cooked the greens in olive oil. When they were done -- literally 90 seconds was all it took -- I added salt, pepper, and a dash of vinegar (traditional in cooked collard greens). Another recipe I read suggested adding smashed garlic cloves to the oil, which would be a great flavor compliment, but take care the garlic doesn't burn, as the cooking temp on this one is medium-high.

All in all, this would be a delicious compliment to a corn or tomato dish or (if you must...) short ribs. I scarfed them up in about 30 seconds.

Cheese & Vegetable Chowder

2006-12-04T19:09:00.000-05:00

More soup! This one's not just damn delicious - it's frickin' awesome.

I'm posting the original recipe, from my Soups cookbook, but I changed it a bit. I omitted the bay leaf, since I didn't have one; omitted the turnip; used half and half instead of cream; and only used half the amount of cheese called for (since that's all I had!). I think they were good changes, except more cheese would have been a good thing. In any case, this soup is really good with a slice of crunchy bread and a good lager. A great winter lunch!

Cheese & Vegetable Chowder

2 tbsp butter
1 large onion, diced
1 large leak, split lenghtwise and thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, diced
6 tbsp flour
5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 turnip, diced
1 large potato, diced
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups light cream
10 oz. sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
fresh parsley to garnish

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion, garlic, and leek. Cover and cook about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the veggies start to soften.

Stir the flour into the vegetables and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Add a little of the stock and stir well, scraping the bottom of the pan to mix in the flour. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, and slowly stir in the rest of the stock.

Add the carrots, celery, turnip, potato, thyme, and bay leaf. Reduce the heat, cover and cook gently for about 35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender. Remove the bay leaf and thyme sticks.
Stir in the cream and simmer over a very low heat for 5 minutes. Add the cheese a handful at a time, stirring constantly for 1 minute after each addition to make sure it is completely melted. Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings, adding salt if needed, and pepper to taste.

Serve with fresh chopped parsely.

Beans 'n Greens Soup

2006-12-02T14:09:00.000-05:00

We've had a really mild fall here in New York. Last week it was in the 60s! But then last night a cold wind blew in from the midwestern prairies, and the temperature plummeted. What goes best with a cold snap? Why, hot soup, of course! Nothing keeps out the chill better or makes a house seem cozier.

I was tempted by the fact that collard greens are in season to make this beans 'n greens soup. Having a bunch of carrots and celery in the fridge, left over from Thanksgiving stuffing, helped matters along, too. This soup is rather delicately flavored, as it doesn't require broth or stock, just water. It's satisfying without being rich, and high in lots of vitamins and fiber while being incredibly low in fat. That's what I like to hear, as cold weather also inspires me to bake delicious things like muffins and chocolate cake, and I've got to balance things out somehow!

This recipe is adapted from one in What's Cooking: Soups, by Carole Clements.

Beans 'n Greens Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1 leek, white part only, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 carrots, chopped or sliced into coins
5 cups water
1 can white beans, drained & rinsed
1/4 tsp dried thyme or 1 tsp fresh
1 bay leaf
1/2 - 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
4 1/2 oz. collard greens or other leafy greens (about 8 big leaves)

Heat the oil in a large soup pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook about 3-4 minutes, until just soft, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, leeks, celery, and carrots, and continue cooking for 2 minutes.

Add the water, beans, thyme, and bay leaf. When the mixture begins to bubble, reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, about an hour. Season with salt and pepper (if you like, but not too much).

Lay the greens leaves on top of one another in a stack, then roll crossways like a cigar. Cut the roll into half-inch pieces; this will make little strips to add to the soup. Throw in the greens and simmer about 20 minutes for collards; 5-10 minutes if you use a more tender green, like spinach.

Serve and enjoy!

Bourbon Sugared Pecans

2006-11-27T18:58:00.001-05:00

I wanted to make these for Thanksgiving but ran out of time. They're sweet and tasty and make a nice topping for pumpkin pie or a stand-alone snack food. I also think they'd be great chopped up and added to coffee cake or cinnamon rolls. The bourbon adds a little flavor depth without being strongly alcoholic. I used Knob Hill, which is pretty high quality; you could use brandy, too.

Bourbon Sugared Pecans

1 cup pecans (whole for a snack, chopped if using elsewhere)
4 tbsp butter
1/2 brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup bourbon

Lay out a piece of parchment paper on the counter or a cookie sheet.
Toast pecans in a dry pan over high heat, shaking the pan to keep them from burning, for about 3-5 minutes, until they smell toasty. Remove them to another bowl or plate.
Melt butter in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the pecans and toss to coat. Cook for a few minutes, then add the sugar. Cook until the sugar melts and begins to bubble. Add the bourbon and cook for another few minutes, until the sugar sauce begins to stick to the pecans.
Lay pecans out on the parchment paper to cool.

Pumpkin Pie Wontons

2006-11-26T19:47:00.000-05:00

Well, I saw everybody else doing this blog thing, and it looked like so much fun! I cook a lot of food that is, in fact, damn delicious, and I'm excited to share it!

My good friend over at On the Hob sent me a recipe for pumpkin pie wontons a while back, so I decided to give them a try (especially since I had leftover pumpkin from Thanksgiving!). I modified her recipe a little bit, given what I had in the cabinet. These are very crispy and not too sweet at all -- you could use them as a little finger food appetizer (for a more desserty-item, I'd add another tablespoon or two of brown sugar). They look like pot stickers but are baked instead of fried, shaving off a lot of calories. Aside from a little melted butter, these are virtually fat free!

Pumpkin Pie Wontons

1 cup pumpkin, canned or mashed fresh
1 tbsp corn syrup
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla extract
16 wonton wrappers (approx.)
granulated sugar & cinnamon for dusting
1-2 tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 deg. F. Mix first five ingredients together.
Spoon 1 tsp - 1 tbsp mixture into wonton wrapper, depending on the size and shape of the wrapper you're using. Moisen the wrapper's edge with a little water, fold over, and seal to create a triangle or half moon shape. Repeat with remaining mixture and wrappers.
Place wontons on an ungreased or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Brush them with melted butter and sprinkle over sugar and cinnamon.
Bake for 16 minutes, then flip the wontons and bake for another 2 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool.