Betsy's Pumpkin Bread

Years ago, when my friend Betsy was a young wife, she made pumpkin bread in empty coffee cans. It was moist and yummy and I've made only that pumpkin bread recipe for years.

Heavens to Betsy, but I couldn't find my recipe this holiday season when I needed it. Bless this day and age when I can text a lifelong friend and she can text her mother and voila! The recipe appeared in my email within an hour.

Here it is:

3/4 tsp. baking powder
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. each salt, allspice, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg
4 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups pumpkin
1-1/2 c butter
5-1/4 cups flour

Mix well and add 3/4 c. nuts or raisins, ginger chips, cranberries (fresh and chopped or dried). Grease flour pans.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

I cut a medium-sized sugar pumpkin in half, scooped out the seeds and placed it cut side down on a cookie sheet. I roasted it for about 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven. This yielded about 3 cups pumpkin.

Gerry Canelli's Lasagna

Gerry's been asked several times for his magnificent lasagna recipe. He makes it different every time but finally managed to get it written down so that others can make their own similar version.

Here it is:

Gerry’s Lasagna and Tomato Sauce recipe

For 9-1/2” – 13-1/2” pan (or similar)

2 boxes of lasagna noodles (you may have some unused noodles)

1 pound ground beef
1 pound  sausage (sweet, hot, or a mixture)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (more depending on taste)
3-4 T dried oregano
3 T dried basil
1 tsp. fennel seeds
1 tsp. crushed rosemary
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (or ¼ cup dried flakes)
15 oz. can tomato sauce
12 oz. tomato paste
15 oz. can diced tomatoes (I like the garlic and herbed blend – drained)
24 oz. can Hunt’s pasta sauce (garlic and herbs)
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 lbs. whole milk ricotta
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded white cheddar cheese
8-12 slices provolone cheese
Optional: if you can find scamorza cheese, slice ½ pound in addition to the other cheeses)

Start by making the meat sauce filling.  Place the tomato sauce and tomato paste into a saucepan. Using the tomato paste can as a gauge, add 1.25 cans of water.   Add fresh garlic, fennel seeds, oregano and basil, and crushed rosemary.  Place the saucepan on medium heat and stir occasionally until it starts bubbling.

In another pan, brown the ground beef, breaking it into small pieces.  Drain, and add to the sauce.

Take the casings off the sausage, discard. Brown the sausage, breaking it into small pieces, and add it to the sauce.  Take the sauce off the heat.

Taking the pan you intend to use for the lasagna, lay the noodles in the pan to gauge how many noodles you need for one layer.  Multiply by 3 (or 4 if you want a really deep dish); add in a few extra noodles in case some get stuck together when cooking.

Using salted water, cook the noodles as directed, stirring occasionally. Stop cooking about 30 sec to 1 minute before the end. Keeping the noodles in the pan, drain the hot water and immediately fill with the pan with cold water – let it sit.

Drain the ricotta cheese if it’s watery. In a bowl, mix it with either the fresh or flaked parsley, add in some dried oregano, mix and set aside. Remove the lasagna noodles from the water and drain in a colander.

Open the can of pasta sauce and pour some of the sauce into the bottom of the lasagna pan. Rotate the pan so that the entire bottom surface and some of the lower edge of the pan are coated with sauce.

Build the layers using noodles covered with ricotta and meat sauce and various amounts of the rest of the cheeses (mozzarella, Parmesan, cheddar and provolone*) in the following way:

1.      Spoon some of the ricotta cheese on the noodles.

2.      Spoon some of the filling sauce across, then sprinkle a layer of shredded mozzarella, and a little of the Parmesan.

3.      Add another layer of noodles, and using your hand, press down to smooth out the layer (this helps to smooth the ricotta layer underneath it).

4.      Add more ricotta (if you are only doing 3 layers of noodles, use all of the ricotta here), then add more sauce.

5.      Note:  Sprinkle the drained diced tomatoes, cheddar, mozzarella, thinly sliced provolone or scamorza cheese, Parmesan on alternating layers (first and third if you have a 4-layer lasagna; the middle layer if you have a 3-layer lasagna.)

6.      Add another layer of noodles, and using your hand, press down to “smooth out the layer.  Add a thin layer of sauce.

For the top layer, use the remaining shredded cheeses and sprinkle on the top of noodles.  Finish with sliced provolone and Parmesan on top. By now I typically have run out of sauce, this is when I use more of the Hunt’s pasta sauce and sprinkle it across the top.

Cover with foil.

Cook for ~ 45 minutes at 375 F or until you can see or hear it bubbling.

Let rest for at least 10 minutes.  If you pre-make this dish, you can set it aside for a hour or more, then toss it in the oven without the foil and heat it up for 10 minutes or so.

 Using 1 or 2 metal spatulas cut and serve in portions.

**Note: the University of Cincinnati has a style guide for capitalization of types of cheese!

Spiced Cranberry Ketchup

My friend, Irene, made a wonderful cranberry ketchup to go with her Lemon-Thyme Turkey (delicious!) at our staff Thanksgiving luncheon November 18th. When we pressed for the recipe, she admitted that she tweaked and adapted a recipe from Food & Wine online. There are more than a few tweaks!

I think I might try twice the amount of spices next time. This is a perfect ketchup for leftover turkey sandwiches, although we loved ours with our potluck dinner.

1 tablespoon olive oil (which is perfect because my daughter is allergic to peanuts)
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped shallots (I used more and simply sliced them)
2 bags fresh cranberries
1-1/2 pomegranate juice
1/2 cup combination of any vinegars (I used rice, cider and white balsamic)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground ginger or perhaps more
1/8 tsp. cinnamon or perhaps more
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom or perhaps more
1/8 tsp. ground allspice or perhaps more
pinch of cocoa powder (I used more like 1 tsp.)
1/2 c. maple syrup
salt

Heat the oil and sauté the shallots until softened - 4-8 minutes. Add everything else and boil over low heat at least 30 min. until the mixture is very thick.

Let cool and then transfer to food processor and puree. Season with salt. This made four 1/2 pint jars of ketchup. Plenty for sharing. It's supposed to keep two weeks in the frig but I imagine it will keep through the holidays. Process it in a water bath if you want to preserve it.

Pork Tenderloin with Farro, Sage, Mushrooms and Haricots Vert

On the way home from class tonight, I stopped at Trader Joe's and picked up a bunch of fresh things in the produce section and added some cheeses and meats on my way through the store. I figured I'd get creative once I was in my Marion kitchen.

One of the meats was a small pork tenderloin. Another extras were packages of farro and thin haricot green beans.  A few other leftovers in the frig would add to the dinner menu - scallions and sliced mushrooms. As the guys unpacked the car, I pulled out the rice cooker, a saute pan and a oven roasting casserole.

I preheated the oven to convection roast 350 degrees.  I placed the tenderloin in the casserole, sliced it down the middle and sprinkled some flaked sea salt and freshly ground pepper on top. I sliced some scallions, minced some garlic, added some dried sage and thyme and sprinkled all with finely chopped pecans, pushing them all into middle of the tenderloin.  On top of that I drizzled some LeRoux Porcini Olive Oil and placed it in the middle of the hot 350 degree oven to roast for 25 minutes.

Then I sauteed 1 pkg. of Trader Joe's farro in a few tablespoons of LeRoux Wild Mushroom and Sage Olive Oil and stirred it on high until the farro was hot and crispy.  I added the farro to 1-1/2 cup of organic chicken stock in the rice cooker and turned it on. I placed 1/2 to 1 cup of coarsely-chopped fresh mushrooms into the saute pan with a bit of the LeRoux Wild Mushroom and Sage Olive Oil and butter, some more flaked sea salt, pepper and dried sage and cooked the mushrooms until they were squeaky and browned on high. I shut them off and waited for the roasted tenderloin and farro to be done, adding the mushrooms to the farro.

The pork was just past pink and I sliced it into 1/4 inch slices and placed it with the garlic, scallions, pecans, etc. in the middle of a hot platter.  I scooped the hot farro with mushrooms around the sliced pork.  

The haricot vert (green beans steamed and then coated with butter) were served to accompany the dish. We all gobbled it up.  Great quick dinner I'll make again.

Sunday Strata

We sliced a French baguette last night thinking we'd use it for appetizers. Alas, we didn't. But I figured that it would make a great strata for Sunday morning. I buttered a roundish, shallow ceramic casserole (12x14) andI layered the whole bag of slices into the casserole that has a handled lid. I topped that with a cup of grated sharp cheese and 1/2 cup cooked bacon. (We had lots of bits of things in the frig from making dinner Friday night). Then I sautéed a whole sliced sweet onion with chopped parsley, sage leaves, salt and pepper, minced garlic and thyme leaves in olive oil. I topped the cheese with the onion and sprinkled 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan. I poured an egg-cream over it, pressed down to get everything creamy and put on the cover to sit overnight. The egg-cream was 8 eggs and two cups light cream with some salt and pepper. I'll bake it at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes and serve it with a spinach-egg-mushroom salad (see the recipes), a fresh greens salad with avocado and apricot-thyme goat cheese sprinkles, and chunky apple cake (see the recipes). Now I'll gave time in the morning to write!!

Homely Hominy - With Chicken, Chiles, Olives and Peppers

Just to make sure you understand, the British definition of homely is 'simple but cozy and comfortable.'  This, of course, relates to space or location but in this case it relates to my description of hominy. My idea of comfort food.

I've always loved hominy and I'm not sure why because I've never known anyone to serve it to me and it wasn't used in my household growing up. It's a comfort food, like grits (which is ground corn). Hominy is dried corn kernels.  When cooked it is chewy and flavorful and it is a staple in the Mexican diet. I had planned to pressure-can the hominy that I found in the Portugese section of our grocery store on the South Coast but I learned that the pH is unbalanced for that purpose. Because I had already soaked it overnight, I wanted to use them immediately. I filled the crock pot with 1 qt. organic and free-range chicken broth, some minced onion flakes, freshly ground pepper, some chili-salt, 2 T. cumin and 2 tsp. paprika and set the crock pot on high.  About two hours later I had a perfect pot of hominy that I will figure out how to serve to Colin and Gerry, after having a nice-sized bowl of it myself for lunch! Because I've already added the seasonings, I think I will serve it which some chicken cooked in a mole sauce with diced peppers.

Update! They loved it. I sliced some frozen chicken breasts 1/4 inch thick and sauteed them in a bit of olive oil until they were cooked. I placed them in a casserole and covered them with some Tacolicious Mole Rojo Braising Sauce that I got on sale at the Williams-Sonoma outlet, added a half a can of Trader Joe's fire-roasted diced green chiles, 1/2 jar of Trader Joe's corn and chile salsa, and 1/2 can of Trader Joe's sliced black olives and then spread it with 1/2 pint of sour cream. I baked this for 1/2 hour at 350 before we left for Norwood and brought the chicken dish and hominy home.

Once home, I sauteed some small red,yellow and orange peppers and added the rest of the cans of chiles and olives and the jar of corn salsa.  On very hot plates, I plated the warmed homily, topped it with the chicken in sauce and then with the peppers.

It was delicious.  I'd serve it another time with tiny-sliced and baked corn chips and chopped cilantro rimming the dish.

They ate every bite (with the exception of a couple cups of hominy - there were about 2 left of 7.)

A Hill of Beans

I love legumes and we use a lot of canned cannellini, kidney and garbanzo beans in soups and spreads. I decided to take my daughter Beth's advice and pressure can our own beans.  The beauty of this approach is that we know that our own jars are not lined with BPA, a chemical that can leach out into the food.  My pressure canner was unearthed a few years ago after being in storage for eleven years in its original box. I'd last used it around 23 years ago. To be honest, pressure cooking makes me a bit nervous but I'm feeling adventurous and I have the time, so here's to new renewed adventures.

I decided to can four types of beans but gave up on one of them when I realized what work went into peeling softened fava beans. I'll buy those canned, thank you, when I use them. So cannellini beans, kidney beans, and northern beans were on the agenda. I soaked them all in large bowls overnight and ended up with a hill of them.

I found my instruction manual that came with the canner in with all my appliance manuals that I take care to keep current when one appliance gets tossed and another takes its place. At the same time, I also found an updated manual on the Presto.com site that included instructions for canning beans because my manual had no mention of canning dried beans. I guess it wasn't au courant in the 80s as a DIY project. Go figure. Anyway, I inspected all the parts of the canner and it was in excellent condition - what a surprise! Even the seals on the vent and the rim were in great shape. (Hardware stores keep all these things in stock - surprising, too, that the parts are standard. I found this out because I had to make a trip to the hardware store - I needed a new canning funnel and jar lifter, having no idea where they are at the moment. I found my water bath canner, too, but it was empty of most of my equipment.)

I found two boxes of quart jars in the basement in mason jar boxes that had followed me from Lunenburg, MA to Fairview, TX and back to MA and NH and then MA again! They were a bit filthy having been used years ago and stored when empty. I found I had boxes of new lids and used, clean jar bands - we were in business!

Now, I won't say the first batch was easy. I was nervous about the steps. I have canned hundreds of jars of tomatoes and marinara sauce  - but never legumes. However, getting the canner up to pressure on an electric stove and keeping it at 11 pounds constant pressure was an eyes-on-the-job for 90 minutes. I cooked the beans for 1/2 hour on the range top before hand (as the recipe recommended) and didn't add salt but will add seasoning when I use them. Keeping the Electrolux burner at 11 pounds of pressure meant varying from 1.8 to 2.2 on my controls. The second batch was much easier because I knew what I was doing. (I will admit I called to Gerry to help me lift the canner several times - it was quite heavy.  In addition, I asked him to open it when it released all its pressure.)

I ended up with 14 quarts of BPA-less beans - 5 northern, 3 kidney, 5 cannellini and a few mixed jars. There's so much satisfaction hearing that healthy pop that proves that your jars are vacuum sealed. I think the next time I do this, I'll order some heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo after I get their recipe book: Heirloom Beans.

Chicken, Corn, Potato and Tarragon Chowder

We had a crowd over the 4th of July weekend and survived hurricane Arthur nicely.  We decided not to grill in the downpour, so we opted for rotisserie chicken and a variety of cold salads.  Today, I had leftover potatoes, raw corn off the cob and chicken and concocted this chowder while enjoying a special gin and tonic garnished with lemon, lime and pineapple sage. (See photo!)

8 cobs of raw corn (or cooked or grilled will work)
3 cups half and half
20 or more leaves fresh tarragon
Trader Joe's savory chicken stock (1 packet)
2 cups potatoes, chunked and cooked
2 cups grilled chicken or rotisserie chicken chunks
2 large leeks
3 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste
some flour or Wondra

Cut the raw kernels off of 8 cobs of corn.  (I did this in advance when I knew we would not be grilling the corn.  I stored the corn and the cobs separately in Ziplocs in the frig.)  Place the kernel-less cobs in a saucepan or crockpot and cover with 2 cups of half and half and about 20 leaves of French or Texas tarragon and some generous grinds of fresh pepper. Simmer very low on the stove or high in the crockpot.  Remove the cobs after a few hours in the crockpot or an hour in a saucepan.  Toss the cobs.

Add the kernels of raw corn to the half and half and cook for 10 minutes in a saucepan on low or 1/2 in the crockpot on high.  Add one Trader Joe's chicken stock pouch.  These are potent in flavor without adding much liquid.

Slice 2 large leeks and place in a saute pan with 1/4 c. melted butter.  Add 3 pressed cloves of garlic and some fresh sea salt and more pepper.  Cook until limp and then add 2 T Wondra flour or regular flour.  Let this bubble and cook until golden and then add 1 c. half and half to it.  Pour this into the crockpot, scraping the pan for all flavor.

Add cooked chicken pieces (I added 2 cups) and 2 cups chopped cooked potatoes.  Heat on low about another hour in the crockpot or 20 min. in a sauce or soup pan.

Delicious! Serve with bread or croissants.  Garnish the soup with fresh sprigs of tarragon.

Carrot-Ginger-Cashew Soup

Here's another easy soup.  This recipe is for four served with bread and a hearty salad.

You'll need 2 boxes of Pacific Organic Cashew-Carrot-Ginger soup and 1/2  box of Trader Joe's Carrot Ginger soup. Pour those into a saucepan and heat slowly.

In the meantime, take the kernels off of two ears of corn and mince about 1/4 cup of fresh ginger. Slice 1 large leek very thin.  Mix those with sea salt and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet lined with parchment.  Roast these for about 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Some of the ginger and leeks should be crispy and shriveled.  Check them often.

Marinade 24 large raw shrimp with shells removed in some oil, vinegar and finely-chopped flat parsley.  I used Honey-Ginger White Balsamic vinegar and Roasted Sesame Oil from LeRoux Kitchen. Grill them for about 3 minutes on each side.


Spiralize 1 large parsnip and about 6 large carrots. I found "carrots of many colors" in the grocery store. It was fun. Place these in a Ziploc bag with some salt and pepper and olive oil.  Shake and microwave for four minutes or longer until they are soft enough to eat.

Thinly slice 6 scallions.

Layer the carrots in a warmed shallow soup or pasta bowl.  Ladle in enough soup to cover the carrots.  Top with leek/ginger/corn mixture.  Sprinkle with scallions and place 6 shrimp on each bowl.  Garnish with a sprig of flat parsley.

Roast Chicken with Honey-Lemon Sauce in Clay Pot

I combined some recipes I found online to make this roasted chicken.  One was from Emeril's website.
Prepare a clay roaster by soaking in cold water for 15 minutes. Wash the chicken well inside and out under cool running water. Pat dry with paper towels. Rub chicken all over with 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice and season evenly on all sides with the salt and pepper.  Place the reserved lemon shell inside the chicken cavity and stuff with some fresh savory herbs. Cover the roaster and transfer to a cold oven. Set the oven temperature to 400 degrees F and cook for 45 minutes.

Combine 1/4 cup of lemon juice,  2/3 c. honey, and 1-1/2 T soy sauce in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until heated through. In a small bowl, make a paste from 4 tablespoons of butter and the flour. Whisk the butter-flour mixture into the melted honey-lemon-butter mixture. Continue to cook until the sauce has thickened slightly. Remove the clay cooker from the oven and pour the honey-butter mixture all over the chicken, making sure to evenly cover the breast and any exposed areas. Cover the roaster and return the chicken to the oven for 45 minutes, or until it is cooked through and very tender.

I served this with a spinach salad and butternut squash sautéed with shallots and thyme. 

Thai Sweet Potato Soup with Grilled Shrimp and Corn

Here's an easy grilled dinner for two on a cool spring night.

Grill about 8 large shrimp per person and one ear of corn. Take the corn off the cob.

Spiralize one large sweet potato and cook the spirals in a bag in the microwave.  Slice about 4 scallions. Cook a few slices of bacon and crumble. Chop 1/4 cup fresh cilantro.

Heat 1 box of Pacific Organic Thai Sweet Potato Soup in a saucepan.

Preheat soup bowls or pasta dishes.  Place the sweet potato spirals in the bowl, cover with most of the corn.  Cover with hot Sweet Potato Soup, grilled shrimp, scallions and bacon, a few corn kernels and chopped cilantro. Add salt and pepper but the soup is very well-seasoned. 

Add more slices of vegetables (peppers, etc.) and add one more box of soup for four people.

Serve with Spinach Salad and toasted bread slices.

Sprouted Kitchen Mushroom Rice Burgers

These burgers are delicious!  They are a lot of work but even good the next day.  We had them with sautéed shallot slices and crumbled blue cheese.  Oh, so yummy!  Add Spouted Kitchen Sweet Potato Fries dipped in Catsup - Home Made and you'll be in heaven. The burger and fries recipes are from The Sprouted Kitchen cookbook. Invest in this book - it is well worth it.

Mushroom and Brown Rice Veggie Burgers (from Sprouted Kitchen by Sara and Hugh Forte)

 Melt 2 tablespoons unsalted butter in a large sauté pan.  Add 5 cups stemmed and finely chopped cremini mushrooms, 5 cloves of chopped garlic and a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and sauté until the mushrooms are softened and the excess water has cooked off, 8 to 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool.

Combine 1/4 cup ground flaxseed, 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, 1 cup cooked chickpeas, drained well, 3 Medjool dates, (make sure they are pitted!), 1/4 cup fresh parsley, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 2 1/2 tablespoons tahini, 3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce, 1/2 tsp. of sea salt and some pepper in a food processor.  Combine well and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Add the cooled mushrooms with juices from the pan to the bowl along with 2 cups cooked and cooled brown rice (cooked in some vegetable broth for extra flavor).  Stir to combine and if too juicy add 1 to 2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats, if needed*.   If you refrigerate the mixture, the patties may stay together better but it isn't necessary.

Arrange a rack in the upper third of your oven and preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Form the mixture into 6 patties, each about 1 inch thick. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the patties on the baking sheet with space in between. Bake them in the oven until toasted on top, 14 to 18 minutes.

Yummy Spring Breakfast

Breakfast this past weekend was hash browns with poached eggs, turkey bacon, and mixed berries drizzled with lemon honey.  A bit of homemade catsup on the side made it a delicious meal.

Spiralize four medium white potatoes and precook them in the microwave in a Ziploc bag (a little olive oil, salt and pepper mixed in) for three minutes. Place a bit of butter in a skillet and cook the potatoes slowly with some roasting seasoning for vegetables, stirring often. Cover with a cake pan the same size as the skillet and turn the heat down low.

Preheat your oven's broiler.  A few minutes before serving, turn up the heat under the skillet on the stove and drop eggs spaced around the skillet over the potatoes.  When the whites are nearly cooked, place the skillet under a broiler until the whites are done.

We get our turkey bacon from Stoltzfus' Poultry at the Pennsylvania Dutch Farmer's Market in Princeton, New Jersey.  It's so good we buy a few pounds every month to eat on the weekends. We simply heat it up in a skillet before serving.

I bought a jar of lemon honey at T.J. Maxx and was aghast at the cash register when I realized it was $14.99! I'm glad I splurged, though.  It is delicious and from Italy. Served over berries (a little goes a long way) it was really yummy.

The pièce de résistance, however, was homemade catsup made by my friend, Irene Gotovich. It's vegan and oh-so-much-better than the name brands.

Homemade Catsup

Mix 2/3 c. water with
4 tsp maple balsamic vinegar
4 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 pinches ground cloves
2 pinches allspice
1 T maple syrup

Mix the spiced water with two 6 oz cans of tomato paste.

Simmer and use just like you would use any catsup.

Sweet Potato Fries

Baked Sweet Potato Fries (again, from the Sprouted Kitchen)

3 lbs sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 rosemary powder (or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh)
Kosher salt and pepper, to taste

Wash and cut potatoes into wedges. Preheat oven to 425*F
Combine the potatoes and all other ingredients in a bowl or bag and shake the potatoes until all look evenly coated.  Place on a baking rack on a cookie sheet and place the wedges in a single layer. Bake for 30-35 minutes until tender in the center.

Pignoli Biscotti

This week I "bought Gerry" another biscotti cookbook, this one Biscotti by Lou Siebert Pappas.  Last night I made the Pignoli Biscotti on page 18.  I was looking for something less dense than the ones I had made before. These were and we think they will be nice and crisp and light next weekend.

Toast 2/3 cup pine nuts in a 350 degree oven (non-convection) for 6-8 minutes and let them cool.

Blend 2 cups plus 2 T of flour with 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/4 tsp. salt.

Cream 1/2 cup softened, unsalted butter with 3/4 cup sugar and then beat in 2 eggs, one at a time.  Add 2 T. lemon juice and 2 T. lemon zest.

Blend in the dry ingredients until well-blended.  I try not to overblend, though.  I'm not entirely sure if they will be tougher or lighter.  (Note to self: Ask Beth who is reading up on the science of cooking in Michael Ruhlman's books, Ruhlman's Twenty and Ratio).

OK.  So line the biscotti pan with parchment paper and bake for about 30 minutes.  Check after twenty. The biscotti should look golden and dry - not white and wet.

Remove from oven and turn over on rack.  Cool at least 5 minutes.  Cut into 1/2 inch slices (at a 45 degree angle if you prefer).

Jameson's Irish Whiskey Cake

We're going to a belated St. Paddy's Day party tonight and I am in charge a dessert. Of course, Irish whiskey was on my mind.  I decided against a Bailey's Irish Cream recipe but loved the thoughts of a boozy cake.

This is one I found, strangely enough, on the PETA website.  Of course, it called for animal-free products but I modified it.

Preheat oven to 350 (convection 325).  Grease my favorite Bundt pan with baking spray.

Blend together 2-1/2 cups flour, 1 T baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 T baking cocoa, and 1 tsp. salt.

Combine 1/2 cup Jameson's whiskey and 1/2 cup very strong black coffee (espresso).

Cream 3/4 cup of softened unsalted butter.  Add in 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup dark brown sugar.  Cream until light and fluffy.  Add three eggs, one at a time.

Alternate the dry and wet with the butter/sugar/egg mixture until they are beaten and blended well.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes until a pick comes out clean from center of cake. Cool.

Simmer 1/4 cup butter with 1/4 cup whiskey, whisking in 1 cup sugar.  If you simmer this for a few minutes it should be thickened when it is cooled.  Take off the heat and add 1 tsp. coffee extract if desired.   Drizzle the cooled cake (insert toothpick over the cake top and bottom many times).

Chicken Salad Croissants

Gerry made the best homecoming lunch - chicken salad in croissants.

3 inches celery stalk, sliced paper-thin
16 red, seedless grapes cut in quarters
chopped iceberg lettuce (or other greens, chopped fine), 1/4 cup chopped toasted pistachios, and some mayonnaise.

Add this to some grilled or baked chicken breasts. Gerry sprinkled some ground sumac from Savory Spice in Princeton, NJ and pepper on the chicken before baking.

Delicious!

*Ground sumac information from the Savory website:

Sumac comes from the fruit of a bush indigenous to the Middle East. The bush is actually a member of the cashew family and the fruit is used widely in Turkey and other Arabic countries. Sumac is a main ingredient in the Middle Eastern spice blend Za'atar.

Before the Romans learned of lemons, they used sumac for its sour and pleasantly astringent taste.  They called it Syrian sumac.

Savory.com

 

Sumac berries are picked, dried and ground into a coarse powder before being used in the cooking process. This powder is used to flavor salad dressings, meats, rice dishes and kebobs. Sumac can also be mixed with other vegetables such as onions and used as a condiment.

Anise Almond Biscotti

We tried another recipe from The Best 50 Biscotti Recipes - this one Anise Almond. We didn't have anise seed in Marion and we'll definitely add them to the next try.  Overall, the biscotti were crunchy and tasty but I'd like to find more recipes and refine them a bit.  I guess I'd like them to be a bit more 'airy' and less dense.

Beat 1 cup sugar, 1 cup coarsely chopped, toasted almonds, 1/2 cup butter (melted), 2 T. crushed anise seeds, 1 T water, 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 tbs. anise extract until combined.  Beat in three eggs, one at a time.  Add these dry ingredients that are already blended together: 2-3/4 c. flour and 1/2 T. baking powder.

The recipe calls for refrigerating the dough for three hours and dividing into halves and shaping into logs. We just put the dough in the biscotti pan (lined with parchment) and baked for about 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven until firm and lightly browned.

Turn pan out and cool on a rack for five minutes.  Cut the biscotti into 1/2 slices and place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 more minutes, turning halfway if possible.  Cool.

Gingerbread Cake

I've  had a copy of Sweet Maria's Cake Kitchen (1998) by Maria Bruscino Sanchez for a few years but haven't made anything from it.  I love gingersnaps (ginger in any form, actually) and decided on her Gingerbread Cake with cream cheese frosting and gingersnap crumbs.

I made it in four layers and made the mistake of not putting enough frosting between the layers. Most of it is on the outside, I guess.  It will still be good with a cup of coffee or tea.  Or milk.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper.  Spray with baking spray.

12 T. butter melted
1 cup molasses
1 cup brown sugar
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs

Now, here I found that I don't have ground ginger in our Marion kitchen.  I can't quite believe it but I didn't want to use apple pie or pumpkin pie spice in place of the spices.  So I used about 1/4 cup of Australian Crystallized Ginger Puree (Williams - Sonoma) and added that to 3/4 cup of molasses (the end of the bottle). Now, W-S doesn't seem to make the ginger puree anymore (it's made with ginger and cane sugar) but I've got 3/4 of a jar left. There are plenty of recipes on the Internet and some products from The Ginger People.  But I digress because you can use the ground ginger and full cup of molasses that is called for.

So, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, molasses, brown sugar, buttermilk, and eggs. (Here I beat in the pureed ginger.)  I also added 1/4 candied ginger chips (The Ginger People).

Add these dry ingredients:

3 cups flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1/4 tsp. salt, 3 tsp. ground ginger (missing!), 1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg.  Mix until blended. Batter will be slightly lumpy.  Don't overmix.  Pour batter evenly into the prepared pans.  Bake 20-35 min. (depending on how many pans) or until a tester comes out with fine crumbs. Remove from pans and cool on rack.

Frost with cream cheese frosting (16 T. butter, 3 c. confectioner's sugar, 8 oz. cream cheese whipped together) and gingersnap crumbs.

Sweet Potato and Onion

2 T. olive oil
2 lb. sweet potatoes, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2-1/2 cups broth (vegetable or chicken)
1-1/4 unsweetened orange juice
1 c. low-fat plain yogurt
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
salt and pepper
Garnishes: fresh cilantro sprigs and orange rind

Heat oil and large skillet and add sweet potatoes, carrot, onion, and garlic.  Saute over low heat, stirring until soft.  Pour in the broth and orange juice and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes and carrot are tender.  Transfer the mixture to a food processor and puree.  Return to pan.  Stir in yogurt and chopped cilantro and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve in warm bowls with garnishes of cilantro and orange rind.

Bell Pepper and Chili Soup

I've had the book 1000 Vegetarian Recipes from Around the World for a few years.  I love looking at the photographs - one recipe to a page in a large-page format.  I haven't used it much because we aren't really vegetarians. Last weekend, I decided to try to use this cookbook more and if I make 2 soups per week, this book will afford me at least a year of soups.

Here's the next on page 14:

You can also serve this cold with 1/3 cup of plain yogurt

1/2 pound of red bell peppers, seeded and sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 green chili, chopped
1-1/4 cups strained tomatoes
2-1/2 cups vegetable (or chicken stock)
2 T chopped basil
basil sprigs

Place red bell peppers in a large pan with the onion, garlic, and chili.  Add strained tomatoes and broth.  Boil, stirring well.  Simmer and continue to cook the vegetables for 20 min.  Drain, reserving the liquid and vegetables separately.  Using the back of a spoon, press the vegetables through a strainer or process with a food processor or blender.  Return this puree to a pan with the cooking liquid.  Add basil and heat.  Garnish with basil sprigs.

Exotic Mushroom Soup

I've had the book 1000 Vegetarian Recipes from Around the World for a few years.  I love looking at the photographs - one recipe to a page in a large-page format.  I haven't used it much because we aren't really vegetarians. Last weekend, I decided to try to use this cookbook more and if I make 2 soups per week, this book will afford me at least a year of soups.

Here's the next:
Exotic Mushroom Soup (page 13)

2 T olive oil

1 onion chopped

1 lb mixed mushrooms* (cut the large mushrooms, hydrate any dried)

1-1/4 c milk

3-3/4 c hot vegetable broth

8 slices French baguette

3 T butter, melted

2 garlic cloves

¾ c grated finely Swiss cheese

Salt and pepper

*Oyster, Shitake, Lobster, Portobella, etc.

Heat the oil and toss in chopped onion.  Cook until wilted add mushrooms, stirring quickly to coat them in oil.  Add milk and heat slowly.  At this point, leaving them to sit and meld flavors is a good idea.  Bring back to high heat, add broth and bring to a boil, cover.  

Toast bread on both sides.  Spoon butter mixed with garlic over the toast.  Place the toast in bottom of a tureen or separate bowls.  Spoon over the hot soup and top with Swiss cheese.

A Year of Vegetarian Soups

I've had the book 1000 Vegetarian Recipes from Around the World for a few years.  I love looking at the photographs - one recipe to a page in a large-page format.  I haven't used it much because we aren't really vegetarians. Last weekend, I decided to try to use this cookbook more and if I make 2 soups per week, this book will afford me at least a year of soups.

There are over 100 soups listed in the beginning pages of this huge book and I started with the Asparagus Soup last weekend.  It was good and I admit you don't need a recipe - I've made something like it for years now.  But here it is:

Asparagus Soup

At least one bunch of asparagus, preferable some tiny tips

3 cups vegetable broth

¼ cup butter

1 onion

3 T. flour

¼ cup chopped cilantro

1 T lemon juice

2 cups milk

4-6 T heavy or light cream

Salt and pepper

Cut off at least a handful of the tips, perhaps all (1-1/2 to 2 inch cuts).  Cut the rest of the asparagus into the same lengths but only place the stalks in 2 cups of simmering vegetable broth.  Simmer for about 10 minutes and let stand so that the flavors meld.  You can do this in advance.  

Saute 1 onion, chopped, in 1/4 c. butter until wilted and near golden.  Add 3 T. flour or Wondra and cook until slightly browned.  Strain the broth from the asparagus right into the onion/flour and thicken.  Add 1 T. lemon juice and 2 cups milk and heavy cream.  Do not boil.  Add salt and pepper and 1/4 c. cilantro.

Garnish with tips, extra cilantro and sour cream.

Next recipe: Exotic Mushroom Soup

Avocado, Chicken & Walnut Salad

Avocado, Chicken & Walnut Salad

I need to give credit to Kayotic Kitchen - a great cooking blog for the inspiration and basic recipe.

4 avocados
14 oz cooked chicken meat (or grilled)
5 to 6 tbsp mayonnaise
2/3 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed 
6 spring onions with some of the green tops
1/4 cup cilantro leaves 
A few Tbsp. finely chopped walnuts (+ a few for garnish)

Sprigs of cilantro for garnish
1 lime or some lime juice, fresh-squeezed (not bottled)

Directions:

Dice the chicken. (I sauteed sliced breasts in olive oil, salt and pepper and have also used roasted chicken.)

Finely chop or mince the spring onions and add them to the chicken.

Stir in the salt, pepper, garlic and mayonnaise. 

Squeeze in a tbsp lime juice and add the cilantro, finely chopped. Stir well.

Finely chop the walnuts and add them to the salad.

Peel the avocados, slice them in half and remove the pit and outer skin. Squeeze the remaining lime juice all over the avocados to keep them from turning brown if desired.

Fill the avocado halves generously with the chicken salad. Garnish with a few walnut pieces and finish them with cilantro sprigs. Place them on a bed of pea shoots.  Serve with focaccia slices or melba toasts. 

Eating in Circles

Gerry chuckled when I told him that I bought a Paderno spiralizer this week.  I thought it would be a great way to start eating more veggies again.  And it is.  He claims he chuckled because he could only imagine what fun it would be but I know he chuckled because he couldn't imagine what we would do with this new gadget!  Ha. He's eating his chuckles now.

Here's our yummy Saturday night (mostly healthy) dinner:

Squash Pasta:
Spiralize one medium zucchini and one medium summer squash using the small blade.  Toss with olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper and let sit before cooking.  Spray a skillet or saute pan with olive oil cooking spray. Cook quickly, stirring for a few minutes.  Serve immediately.

Sweet Potato Curly Fries:
Spiralize using the larger blade.  These shrink up when baked. I tossed them in olive oil, salt and pepper and some Victoria Taylor's Smoky Paprika Chipotle for extra spice. I baked them at 450 degrees on the top rack.  See the link above for Karolina's Kitchen instructions.

Haddock:
We encrusted the haddock with coconut-citrus panko bread crumbs (from Fresh Catch in N. Attleboro, MA) and baked it in the hot oven for 15 minutes on a lower rack than the fries, but at the same time.

I quickly sauteed one cup of pea shoots with 1 clove crushed fresh garlic and 1 T. of Honey Ginger White Balsamic (from Leroux Kitchen) and placed these on top of the haddock before serving on heated plates.

We shared a flight of four red wines because we love reds.  Whites would be great, though, in the summer.

Honeycomb Cake

Update:  I made this again and baked it in two batches - just barely covering the outline of the combs with batter.  It's not quite enough batter and I will try it again increasing the recipe by 1/3.  It's less cake and more glaze this way and delicious warm from the oven.  I also added 1 tsp. Savory Spice Shop Honey Powder in Princeton to the flour mixture.   Bake for much less time - until pick comes out clean but perhaps 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

This is a variation of the Honey Bee Cake I posted last summer.

Ciara and Pat gave me a great honeycomb cake pan for Christmas 2013 and I have wanted an excuse to use it. Today is our 3rd Annual Volunteer Appreciation Tea at the library.

I varied the Honey Bee Cake, using cake flour and sour cream. Make sure you start with ingredients at room temperature.

Mix together, separately:
3 cups cake flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Beat 1-1/2 c. sugar and 1 cup butter until light and fluffy.  Add 4 eggs, one at a time until blended.  Mix in 1 cup sour cream and the flour mixture until well blended and then beat on high for two minutes.

This will be a thick batter.  Spoon into a well-greased and floured honeycomb pan. (I use baking spray).

Bake at 325 degrees for about 45 minutes until a wooden pick comes out clean or covered in crumbs but not batter. The cake rises out of the pan. (Be sure you use a 325 degree oven - I made the mistake of starting too hot and the cake is somewhat crispy).

While the cake is baking, melt 1/4 c. butter, 1/2 cup honey and 3/4 cup brown sugar until just simmering. Keep warm.

When the cake comes out of the oven, pierce the bottom many times with a wooden pick.  Pour half of the syrup on the cake and let cool 10 minutes.  Turn out of the pan and brush (very lightly) with the syrup and let it run down the sides of the cake.

Increased by 1/3:

Mix together, separately:
4 cups cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1-1/3 tsp. baking soda
3/8 tsp. salt

2 c. sugar
1-1/3 cup butter
5 large eggs
1-1/3 cup sour cream

Hash and Slow Poached Eggs

We had a pretty hilarious time cooking breakfast this past wintry weekend.  Julie and Tim were visiting and Colin loves hash. Tim was making red flannel hash and hash browns when we realized that the stove top was just too full to poach a dozen eggs, too. So ... I came up with the great idea to poach them in the oven. Everyone agreed with me. That is, until is wasn't working!

In any event, all's well that ended well.  We realized that it CAN be done - and here's how. Bring water to a boil in another pot or teakettle and pour it into the hot pan from a 450 degree oven.   Make sure your dutch oven or large shallow pan has only about an inch of water in it. (We tried siphoning off water with spoons and cups.  Not so great.  Also, the egg whites were destroyed in the process.) Spoon in the whole eggs and cover.  Place in the hot oven until the whites are cooked and the yolks are the way you like them.  Not so bad.

This, is not how we did it.  But they ended up fine anyway.  We ended up taking so much time with the slow-poaching oven process that the hash was done.  We moved the (non-stovetop) pan to the stovetop and slowly covered the eggs with boiling water.

For the hash, take a variety of loads of vegetables (old, new, wilted - whatever's in your frig): parsnips, beets, carrots, onion, shallot, scallions, lots of potatoes, celery, celery root, fennel. I'm sure you can think of more!  Root veggies are great.  We haven't used spinach or tomato yet.  I'd use sweet potatoes although Tim doesn't.  In any event, place them one by one in a food processor and either grate or process into small chunks about 1/4".  You'll probably need to empty the food processor a few times. Then process ham or chorizo or whatever you'd like for a meat.

Place some olive oil and fresh garlic in two large frying pans or dutch ovens on the stovetop on high heat. Turn down heat and add in fresh and dried herbs and salt and pepper.We cook down a huge bowl (4 qts or more) of these veggies and meat in large saute or frying pans on the stovetop until it's all blended and cooked.  Top with your poached or fried eggs. And serve with raisin bread toast!

Triple Celery Soup

Adam Ried, who contributes to the Cooking section of the Boston Globe Magazine each Sunday, lured us in to this delightful recipe for Triple Celery Soup.  He writes in Culinate.com:

"This recipe is my adaptation of Patricia Well’s Soupe aux Deux Céleris from Bistro Cooking.
If you prefer a smooth soup with no crunchy bits, sweat all the celery along with the leeks.
For a winter-holiday meal, I garnish each serving with crème fraîche, salmon roe, and chopped chives. Most other times, I opt for a sprinkling of chopped pale green celery leaves, which are lovely on the pale green soup. A bit of chopped parsley does the trick nicely, too."

We absolutely loved this soup and were glad to get to know the wonderful root, celeriac. The recipe is Ried's from Culinate:

Ingredients

Soup

	3	Tbsp. butter
	8	large celery ribs, finely chopped (about 4 cups), 1½ cups reserved
	1	large leek (about 10 ounces), trimmed, white and light green parts cleaned and chopped
	1½	tsp. celery seed
	1	tsp. minced fresh thyme
	1	large bay leaf
	~	Salt and pepper
	1	large or 2 medium-small celery roots (about 1½ pounds), peeled and chopped
	1	qt. low-sodium chicken broth
	1	tsp. fresh lemon juice

Garnishes

~

Crème fraîche, salmon roe, and chopped chives, or 3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley and/or celery leaves

Steps

1. Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat and heat until the foaming subsides. Add 2½ cups of the chopped celery ribs, leeks, celery seed, thyme, bay leaf, and 1½ teaspoons salt. Stir to coat, cover, reduce the heat to low, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the leeks and celery have released their juices, about 10 minutes. Add the celery root, broth, and 1 quart of water, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the celery root is very tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaf.
2. Purée the mixture in a blender (or with an immersion blender) working carefully and in batches, if necessary, until smooth. Return the puréed mixture to the pot, if necessary, add the reserved 1½ cups of chopped celery, and heat over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until the celery is just tender and the soup is heated through, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional salt, if necessary, and pepper to taste. Serve at once, garnishing each portion as desired.

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

It's a snow day today and I'm thinking that I'll use up some cheese in the freezer and frig and make macaroni and cheese.  Of course, the best homemade mac 'n cheese requires homemade pasta.

I've been in a 'pasta quandary' for the past few years because my favorite pasta machine's motor gave out.  I bought it way back in the late 80s when we had moved back to Massachusetts and I remember buying it at the Macy's in Framingham with money that my stepfather, Papa Gino, gave us for Christmas.  It was the Pasta Express by CTC (Creative Technologies) and this was taken over by TAKKA.  In any event, I found the TAKKA version on eBay ("used by my mother once and in perfect condition") to replace some of the inserts for the macaroni and ziti dies.  These two machines served me well until the TAKKA motor froze a year ago.

I went looking for a perfect replacement so that we could have one in both of our kitchens.  It seems they just don't sell a machine like the CTC that is reasonably priced.  I found a Farberware one on eBay but was hugely disappointed and abandoned it to the cellar (soon-to-be swap shop).

I finally gave in to the high pricing and I asked for the Viante Pasta Maker sold by Williams-Sonoma for Christmas. What a disaster.  After two of the plastic dies broke in the middle of extrusion, I gave up and Gerry returned it.  We stopped by the Williams-Sonoma outlet in Westbrook, CT on our way home from New Jersey and bought the KitchenAid pasta attachment.

I had been skeptical - daughter Beth told me it was a snap to use but I had been reluctant to go through the dough-making process in the KitchenAid mixer.  It seemed like a messy chore.  Of course, Beth was right and it wasn't messy or difficult.  After attaching the pasta maker, I learned that you must drop in grape-sized bits of dough for the extrusion to work. I'm not thrilled with the lack of die choices (there are only six) and I can't make angel hair, fettucini, etc.  The macaroni die worked great, though, and we had a great pasta fagioli that night.

So, here's my age-old recipe for the cheese sauce.  It's 1T of Wondra flour for each 1T of butter.

Place 8T of butter in a 4-quart pot or saucepan. When it has melted, gently mix in 8T Wondra or all-purpose flour.  Let that bubble but not burn.  Slowly add in about 2 cups milk and stir until it is thickened.  If it is too thick, stir in more milk. Add four cups of cheese - one kind or a combination of many. I've added in ricotta, goat, brie, asiago, smoked gouda and any combination of leftover cheeses. Make sure you add salt and pepper to taste.  Mix cheese sauce with slightly cooked (al dente) macaroni. You'll need one batch of homemade pasta, depending on your cheesiness taste.

Bake in 350 degree oven for about a half an hour until the cheese bubbles up on the side and the center is hot.