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.