Hide the cheese

Airy Apple Cake

Sometimes a homey, tasty cake is just what you need. In fact, cake almost always has the power to improve ones outlook on life. In any event, the only thing it can hurt is the waistline, and I'm not going to start worrying about that after all these years.

This cake offers just that type of comfort. The apples are first spooned into the baking pan and topped with a batter that covers the apples and surrounds them with light fluffy cake. The result is an airy spiced cake with a sprinkle of crunchy sweetness on the top. Dressed up on fancy plate with a scoop of ice cream it makes an excellent seasonal dessert. Wrapped in a napkin, it would make a perfect snack on the run. Some have even been known to have a slice for breakfast.

Dicing apples.
The first time I made this cake, Chloe looked at me with wonder. She had just been singing "An Apple for an Apple Cake" with the Revels. I believe the song was based on a story by Nienke Van Hichtum in which an old woman plans to make an apple cake but doesn't have any apples. She sets out to find some and shares her generosity along the way. It is a lovely story, and Chloe was delighted that I was actually making an apple cake at home. Sometimes things just work out that way. Especially when cake is involved.

Second Helping: Pear and Almond Cake

Dig in!

Airy Apple Cake

To prepare the apples:
3-4 firm apples, ideally a mix of varieties, peeled, cored, and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

To make the cake:
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2-quart baking dish.

Pour the apples into the baking dish and mix them with the butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Set aside while you mix the cake.

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a mixer, beat the butter and 3/4 cup of the sugar until light. Add the egg, vanilla, and orange zest and mix again. Add half of the flour mixture, the milk, and then the remaining half of the flour mixture, mixing each time until just combined. Pour the batter over the apples and spread it so that it covers them evenly.

Mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Sprinkle it over the top.  Bake  the cake for 35-40 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or cooled directly from the baking dish.

Jobs for children: Children can peel the apples, zest the orange, and mix. At the end, children can also sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top. To make it come out more evenly, put the cinnamon-sugar mixture in a clean spice bottle so that not too much comes out with any one shake. Older children can also dice apples.

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Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes

My sister and her husband brought the mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. They went through all the work of peeling potatoes for 16 of us, cooking, mashing, and adding whatever secret ingredients they mixed in to make them taste delicious.

But they made one crucial error. They left their pot -- complete with the leftover mashed potatoes -- at my house when they left for the night. I know that the polite thing to do would have been to take them over to their house or at least call before I used them up. But I didn't do the polite thing. Instead, I happily cooked them up into some yummy potato pancakes.

Mashing the potatoes and forming them into pancakes.
These pancakes would be perfect for brunch, as a side dish, or even as the base of a quick meal. Served with a fried egg on top and some leftover Brussels sprouts, they made an excellent little lunch.

There is a wide variety of things that you can add to the mashed potatoes to make these pancakes. I added red onion, parsley, and rosemary because that's what I had on hand. But any combination of a member of the onion family with some fresh herbs would work. You could also add cheese. I debated adding some grated parmesan, but because I made these in the shadow of a huge Thanksgiving meal, I decided to skip it.

In case you are lucky enough to still have some mashed potatoes in your refrigerator, here's what I did.

Second Helping: Caldo Verde (Portugese Kale and Potato Soup)A quick supper.

Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes

Makes approximately 8 pancakes
15 minutes preparation time
10 minutes cooking time

2 cups mashed potatoes
1 egg
2 tablespoons minced red onion or scallions
2 tablespoons minced fresh herbs, such as parsley, chives, rosemary, and/or sage
salt and pepper to taste
Canola oil for frying

With a fork or masher, mash the potatoes in a medium-sized bowl. Taste for seasoning. Add the egg, red onion, herbs, and, if you like some salt and pepper. Form the mixture into 2-3 inch pancakes.

Heat a large non-stick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat and brush it with canola oil. Cook the pancakes until they are golden brown, turning once, about 2-3 minutes per side.

Kids can help mash potatoes, mix ingredients together, and form the pancakes. Older children can also chop onions and herbs.

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Pumpkin, Radicchio, and Feta Salad

I have written about my friend Andrea before because she inspires me in the kitchen. Remember these macarons (and these) that we made together?

But this recipe was one that she submitted to our preschool cookbook before I knew her well enough to know what a cooking talent she is. I have made it many times now and every time it is a hit. I brought it to a pot luck at the office a couple of years ago, and several people asked me for the recipe. The sweet pumpkin, bitter radicchio, sour lime, salty feta, and crunchy pine nuts and onions are in perfect harmony. Delicious.


Tearing radicchio.

Chloe and Oscar didn't eat much of this salad, but they had fun helping make it. I think there's something theraputic about tearing into that radicchio. The rest of us loved, loved, loved it, and we gladly ate their share.

Squeezing limes.

The contrast of the orange pumpkin and dark red radicchio are also visually stunning. It would be a perfect side dish for Thanksgiving. It is even hearty enough that along with some stuffing, mashed potatoes, and a few Brussels sprouts, it would round out a perfect Thanksgiving meal, at least for this vegetarian.

Second Helping: Vegetable Shepherd's Pie

Pumpkin, Radicchio, and Feta Salad 

If you'd like to prepare this recipe ahead, roast the pumpkin in advance. It will keep in the refirgerator for a few days, and the rest of the salad is quick to pull together.

Serves 6
40 minutes preparation time
30 minutes cooking time

1 small pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and cubed (about 2 cups before cooking)*
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3/4 cup red onion, finely sliced into half moons (about 1/2 of a red onion)
4 tablespoons lime juice (about 2 limes)
1 tablespoon peanut oil
approximately 1/2 pound feta, crumbled into large chunks
2 cups radicchio, torn into bite-sized pieces (1 small head)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss the pumpkin cubes with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and roast the cubes until they are tender but still hold their shape. The cooking time will vary, but it likely will take between 30 and 40 minutes. Set it aside to cool.

In a small bowl, mix the onion with the lime juice and set it aside to marinate for 15 minutes or more. After it has marinated, add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the peanut oil.

Add the pumpkin, feta, radicchio, half the pine nuts, and onion mixture in a large bowl, and stir gently to combine. Serve the salad in a large flat bowl or on a platter garnished with the remaining pine nuts.

Jobs for children: Children of any age can tear the radicchio and crumble the feta. Slightly older kids can squeeze limes, measure, and mix.

* For tips on wrestling that pumpkin into cubes, see this post.

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Pumpkin Soup with a(n Optional) Kick

I know, I know, another recipe for pumpkin soup. Who needs it? But stick with me. This version is worth trying.

I went to a lunch recently for a friend who was having one of those milestone birthdays that need to be celebrated. There was lots of delicious food there, but the birthday girl herself had made a pumpkin soup that created a stir. It was smooth and hearty, with just a bit of heat. I loved that kick, and wanted to recreate it at home.

Peeling and seeding the pumpkin.

But then I pictured three pairs of young eyes looking at me, wondering what I was trying to do by them making a soup that made those precious eyes water. Maybe a spicy soup wouldn't do.

Or maybe it would. I like the challenge of finding a way to create one meal that the entire family can eat without sacrificing the flavor that we adults love. I thought about making two separate batches, but that requires getting two pots dirty, and that is not appealing. Instead, I decided it would be better to add the spice at the table. That way those of us who find spice to be the spice of life could have our way without smoking out the younger ones. So I made a chili oil to drizzle into the soup as we served it.

Chili oil and prepping for the soup.
Somewhere along the way, I determined that the soup would benefit from a pinch of saffron, which has a warm flavor I thought would complement the chili. The result was delicious. Olivia, Gabe, and I all drizzled on the chili oil, although in varying amounts. The other two got theirs straight up, and both liked it. Phew.

This soup would be perfect for any party where guests might have different tolerances for spiciness, such as a dinner party or Thanksgiving dinner.

Pumpkin Soup with a(n Optional) Kick

Serves 6
25 minutes preparation time
About 1 hour 15 minutes cooking time

The chili oil will vary in heat according to the spiciness of the red pepper flakes that you use so it will be hard to predict how spicy the resulting oil will be. If you have left over chili oil, it will keep in the refrigerator for several months.

For the chili oil:
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

For the soup:
1 small pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cubed (about 6 cups)*
2 tablespoons olive oil
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
1 pinch saffron
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon salt
2 small tomatoes, chopped (about 1 cup)

First make the chili oil. Heat the oil and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan over low heat. Gently simmer for about five minutes to infuse the chili flavor into the oil. Set aside to cool. Pour into a small bowl or bottle.

Next make the soup. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the red pepper flakes, onion, and garlic. Sauté until the onion softens, about 7 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and cook until they too begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the saffron, potatoes, and pumpkin and stir to combine. Cover the vegetables with water (I used about 8 cups) and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered until the potatoes and pumpkin are soft, about 45 minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer for a few more minutes.

With a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon, mash some of the vegetables to thicken the soup. Serve hot with a drizzle of chili oil for those who would like it.

* I used a small pumpkin, and peeling and cubing it wasn't too difficult. The pictures tell the story, but here -- in words -- is my process. First I cut off the top and bottom of the pumpkin to get it to sit flat. Then I cut the pumpkin in half from top to bottom and scooped out the seeds. I then peeled each half with a potato peeler. To slice the pumpkin, I lay each half cut side down, sliced across into strips, and then the other way to get cubes.

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Fresh Broccoli Lemon Pasta

After that recipe for pecan bars (and after polishing off the last of our stash), I am definitely in the mood for something healthier. And what is healthier than broccoli? Amazingly, our children will all eat broccoli. Actually, it's more accurate to say that none of them will reject pasta just because it has broccoli in it, although I often find that they have eaten the pasta and left a heap of broccoli behind.

Broccoli, trimmed and ready to go.

There are beautiful heads of broccoli at the farmers' markets now, so this is the time to make the most of it. We have been making a broccoli pasta with sour cream for years and love it, but the night I first made this we didn't have any sour cream and I will go to great lengths to avoid going to the grocery store. Instead, I made this version of a broccoli pasta with the ingredients that I had on hand. (Incidentally, I thought I had posted that broccoli sour cream pasta recipe a long time ago, but I can't find it in the archives. Does anyone remember reading it? Have I lost my mind?)

The broccoli in this recipe is so good that I had to stop myself from eating it right out of the pan. The garlic and parsley get chopped together into a persillade which is just a fancy French word for . . . well, at its simplest, it just means garlic and parsley chopped together. The lemon zest adds a bit of brightness that nicely complements the heartiness of the broccoli.

The lemon-parsley combination. Can you smell it?

If that's not enough to convince you, then you should also know that it only takes about 30 minutes to make. Chop the broccoli first, then you can prep the rest of the dish while the pasta water boils and the broccoli sautés. Also, with the broccoli and pasta in one dish, you don't even need a vegetable or salad on the side.

I polled the family after we had this pasta to see how they liked it compared to the original broccoli-sour cream pasta. We had a split decision, which admittedly is not easy to do in a family of 5. Everyone said that they liked both, but two preferred this new version, two preferred the family classic, and one liked them both so didn't choose a favorite.

Second Helping: Roasted Beet, Cucumber, and Feta Salad

Just add pasta.

Fresh Broccoli Lemon Pasta

 

Serves 6
10 minutes preparation time
about 25 minutes cooking time

2 small heads broccoli (about 6-8 cups of florets)
2 tablespoons olive oil
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1 pound short pasta such as penne or farfalle
1 cup parsley, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon lemon zest
freshly grated parmesan for serving

Set a large pot of water to boil.

Cut the broccoli into small bite-sized pieces. I use the stems, too. If they are very thick, peel off the outer layer; if they are small, don't bother. Slice the stems across into thin rounds (about 1/4 inch thick).

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the broccoli, salt, and red pepper flakes and sauté, stirring occasionally so that the broccoli browns but does not burn. Cook until the florets are tender to the bite, which, depending on the size of the pieces, will take about 20 minutes.

While the broccoli is cooking, chop the parsley and garlic cloves together and zest the lemon. When the broccoli is tender, remove the pan from the heat, add the parsley, garlic, and lemon, and toss it together. Set the pan aside.

When the water has come to a boil, add a generous amount of salt and the pasta. Cook the pasta until it is al dente; for me this is usually 1 minute less than the time called for on the box. Reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water. (I remind myself to do this by setting a measuring cup in the colander while the pasta is cooking. When I pour the pasta out to drain it, I pour a bit in the measuring cup first.) Drain the pasta and return it to the pan.

Immediately add the broccoli. If you like, add a bit of the pasta water to give the mixture a bit of a sauce. Serve hot and add parmesan at the table.

Jobs for children: Children can zest the lemon, wash the broccoli and parsley, and peel the garlic. Older children can chop the broccoli, garlic and parsley, too.

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Grilled Eggplant Baba Ganoush

Eggplants get a mixed reception around here. They come in such beautiful colors and shapes that my children like to pick them out at the market. Instead of choosing the most perfect unblemished eggplants, though, the kids were drawn to the funniest ones.

 

The hooked nose inspired an entire puppet play.

When it comes to tasting them, however, the kiddies are a bit more timid. I don't remember much about my eating habits as a child, but I do remember one night of eggplant. My mother had toiled in the kitchen for hours to make an eggplant dish, trying no doubt to make something that she and my father would enjoy and maybe even something that would expand her children's horizons a bit. I can't remember the reaction of my siblings, but I know that when I tried it, I hated it. And of course I shared my opinion with my mother. I still remember how disappointed she was. It breaks my heart, that memory.

It gives me a bit of insight, though, into what my children must feel when I debut a new recipe. All in all, they are good sports, but I think eggplant it a tough sell. We did have fairly good results with our Smoky Eggplant Lasagne, but eggplant goes over best when they don't know what they're eating.

Grilling the eggplants until they have a nice char and srcaping out the innards.

Because baba ganoush looks like hummus, they were not as suspicious. Served with something from the bread family -- crackers or pita chips -- all three of them ate it. I think we'll put it in the lunch rotation. But first, I have to whip up a batch for my mother.

Second Helping: Victory Bread Pudding

Eggplant love.

Grilled Eggplant Baba Ganoush

Makes about 1 1/2 cups
10 minutes preparation time
approximately 25 minutes grilling time

1 large globe eggplant or 3 medium Japanese eggplants (about 1 1/2 cups of flesh)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
3 tablespoons tahini
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons olive oil

Poke the eggplant a few times with a fork. Grill it over medium-high heat until it is evenly charred and begins to deflate. The cook time will vary depending on the size of the eggplant(s).

Remove the eggplant from the heat and set it aside until it is cool enough to handle. Scoop the flesh out of the skin and put it in the bowl of a food processor. If you like the smokiness of the charred flavor, add a bit of the skin, too. (I recommend adding a bit at a time, tasting, and adding more if you like, to make sure that you don't overdo it). The skin will make the color darker.

Add the remaining ingredients and purée in a food processor until smooth. Taste and add more salt, olive oil, or lemon juice to suit your taste.

Jobs for children: Selecting eggplants at the market is a great job for the little ones, of course. Children of all ages can also wash the eggplant, poke it with a fork, and scoop out the flesh once the eggplant has cooled. Additional tasks include squeezing lemons, smashing and peeling garlic, measuring ingredients, and running the food processor.

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Dinner in a Pumpkin, Take 2

A few years ago, the Washington Post ran a recipe for dinner in a pumpkin. A fabulous idea, I thought, for a Halloween dinner, or for any fall evening. I modified that recipe once and loved it, but when I tried to recreate it to share here last year, it was a bust.

Of course I had to try again. This time, though, I started with Gourmet Today's pumpkin fondue recipe. It was fabulous. Essentially the recipe is a strata built inside a pumkin, with layers of bread and cheese. I upped the nutmeg and added some sage, too, because I love those flavors with pumpkin. When you serve, scoop out some pumpkin flesh from the inside of the pumpkin with each spoonful of the cheesy bread. The combination is divine.

Layering in the bread and cheese.

I think we'll have it on Halloween. I'll prep everything in advance and pop it in the oven in the late afternoon so that we can have a hot meal in our bellies before we head out for trick-or-treating. OK, just writing this recipe is making me hungry. You really have to make this recipe. It's delicious and fun, and when you're cooking for family, what more could you ask for?

Second Helping: Acorn Squash Stuffed with Curried Lentils





Lots of cheesy goodness.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

Don't worry too much about getting the amounts of the ingredients exactly right in this recipe because the amount you need will depend on the size of the pumpkin and the ratio of flesh to skin. But the ratio won't matter as long as you have enough of the cream mixture to cover all of the bread.

11-01-10 Update: I made this this weekend with a bigger pumpkin, and it made me realize how variable the results of this recipe will be. The pumpkin I used was a different variety and about 15 pounds. I found that nearly tripling gave me the right amount of filling, but the pumpkin didn't need to cook nearly as long as I thought it would and the filling was more liquid that it was with the smaller pumpkin. It was still delicious, but next time I make it with a large pumpkin I will try cooking it with the top off, and I will check it more frequently to make sure that the pumpkin itself does not get too soft.

Approximately 15 slices of baguette (about half of a large loaf)
1 pumpkin, approximately 6 inches in diameter (about 6 poounds)
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to sprinkle inside the pumpkin
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere (about 4 ounces)
2 cup grated Emmental (about 3 ounces)
1 teaspoon minced fresh sage leaves
olive oil for brushing

Put a rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Brush the bottom of a small casserole dish with oil.

Arrange the baguette slices in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake them in the oven until they are firm, about 5 minutes.

Cut the top off the pumpkin and set it aside. Clean the seeds and stringy fibers out of the pumpkin and off of the top. Reserve the seeds for roasting, if you like.

In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together the cream, vegetable stock, nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and pepper. Mix the cheeses and sage together in a separate measuring cup or a small bowl.

Sprinkle a bit of salt inside the pumpkin. Breaking the bread into small pieces if necessary, cover the bottom of the inside of the pumpkin with a layer of bread. Cover completely with a layer of cheese. Pour enough of the cream mixture over the bread and cheese to completely saturate the bread. Continue to layer the ingredients in that same order until you have used all -- or most -- of the bread and cheese. When you pour the last bit of cream mixture on, make sure that it comes high enough to soak through all of the bread, but don't let it run over the side. I(f you have any extra bread and cheese, make up a few cheese toasts. Because you can never have enough bread and cheese. . . right?)

Put the top on the pumpkin and rub the outside with a bit of olive oil. Bake until the pumpkin is tender when pierced with a knife, 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Jobs for children: I find that cutting the pumpkin is heavy knife work not suited for children. But they can brush oil into the pan and onto the outside of the pumpkin, scoop out seeds, grate cheese and nutmeg, grind pepper, and layer the bread and cheese inside the pumpkin.

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Grilled Sweet Pepper and Feta Hummus

A couple of weekends ago, Gabe and I were doing a little home improvement project. Those of you who know us know how unusual this is. Neither of us spends the weekends roaming around the house with a toolbelt looking for something to fix. Pause. Giggle. Sorry, I was just picturing myself in a tool belt.

Throw a wooden spoon, rubber spatula, and a whisk in those pockets, though, and we might have something.

I do aspire to be more handy, but my brain just doesn't seem to take to those fix it projects. I am missing the intuition -- or maybe it's just brainpower -- that it takes to figure them out. And Gabe is only slightly better. Instead of two left feet, we both have two left thumbs. That's four left thumbs in all.

We are more home enjoyment people than home improvement people.

I hope you will understand, then, when I tell you that Gabe and I were giving our full attention to hanging some art that we had bought years ago and finally decided to hang properly. The children were left to their own devices. Chloe drifted over to the art table to draw. Oscar parked himself on the couch to watch his dad and me struggle through this project. And, after reading for a while, Olivia went to the kitchen.
Whirled red peppers, with their skins.
I had told Olivia that I thought we should use the grilled peppers that were sitting in the refrigerator to make a hummus. Now that the children have been back in school for a month, the rotation of lunch food is wearing a bit thin. The children love their sandwiches and quesadillas, but variety is the spice of life, right? Whoever coined that expression must not have cooked for children. 

Sometimes to get them to try something new I just deviate one step from something that I know they like. Because all three of our children love Basil Hummus, I thought another flavor might win them over. With grilled peppers and hummus in the refrigerator, a Saturday lunch seemed like the perfect time to try a new lunch box idea. So while Gabe and I were muddling through our project in the other room, Olivia began making the hummus.

After the storm.
She seeded the peppers and removed the stems, but left the skins on and chopped them up in the food processor before I knew what had happened. Normally I would peel the peppers first, but by the time I made it into the kitchen, it was too late for that. The resulting hummus was delicious, though. Because the skin was still on, more of the smokiness of the grill flavor came through.

I was a bit afraid that Oscar wouldn't like it because he isn't always a fan of hummus, so I just put a dollop on his plate and didn't say a word. A few minutes later, I sneaked a peek and it was gone, eaten by the pickiest of the hummus eaters. He didn't like it nearly as much as he enjoyed watching his parents work, though. After observing us miss-measure, drill a whole in the wrong place, make a trip to the hardware store (two if you count coming home to get the wallet), and finally get the darn thing in place, he announced, "This was way more entertaining than I thought it would be. Even one curse word." Very restrained of us, I thought.

Somebody's got to do the taste test.

Second Helping: Edamame Rice Balls

Grilled Sweet Pepper and Feta Hummus

3 medium sweet peppers
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
approximately 1/4 cup feta
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
smoked paprika or pimenton (optional)

Grill the peppers, turning them frequently until they are black and blistered on the outside. Set them aside to cool. When they are cool enough to handle, remove the stems and seeds, but not the skins.

Whirl the peppers in a food processor with the remaining ingredients except the paprika. Taste. Adjust seasonings if you like. Serve in a bowl with a bit of olive oil drizzled on top and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.

Jobs for children: Children of almost any age can pull the tops off the cooled peppers and take out the seeds inside. Other easy tasks include squeezing the lemon and measuring all of the ingredients. The more mechanically inclined can open the can of chick peas and run the food processor.

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Grilled New Potatoes

Although it wasn't always so, my children now love potatoes. (I so wanted to write that they "dig "potatoes for the pun, but I couldn't open with that; instead the pun gets relegated to the parenthetical). Baked potatoes are their favorites, but now we can add grilled to the list.

Two varieties of new potatoes. The red ones are from our farm garden.

We dug up some sweet little potatoes from our farm garden recently and bought another variety at the farmers' market. These small gems -- dug up early when the potatoes are still small and tender -- are sweet and delicious and don't need much fuss. But I have often found grilling them to be a challenge. Too often they blacken on the outside before they are fully cooked inside. The other day, we took an after-dinner stroll around the neighborhood and popped in to see my sister and her family. They were just finishing up their dinner, and on their table were a mound of stripey grilled potatoes.

It wasn't that we had planned to stop by and see what they had cooked to eat up any odd bits that they wanted to share. Sometimes it just happens that way. And I had just learned that potatoes are an excellent source of potassium (and check out all of that vitamin C!), an electrolyte that is important to maintaining proper hydration during exercise, during a triathlon, for example. I'd much rather eat regular food than supplement my diet with goo and Gatorade when training. (Here's an interesting article about the relative merits of foods and energy drinks and bars). So I popped one into my mouth. Yum.

The stripes came from slits that my brother-in-law had cut around the potato to help them cook more evenly. I tried the technique and presto, it worked!

Cutting the slits.

Can you see the rings where the slits are cut onto each potato?

Over medium heat, the potatoes cooked quickly and didn't burn before they were tender all the way through. We just tossed the potatoes with olive oil and sea salt, but you could add some fresh chopped parsley or chives, or go fancy and make a cumin-scented cilantro pesto. 

A drizzle of olive oil and onto the grill.

Oh, and about that triathlon. I did it! My two sisters and I signed up for the race together, trained together, and raced together. Having that common goal was an excellent way to bring us together despite the other demands for our time. A friend recently said to me, "I can't believe you have two sisters when I don't have any!" Having two sisters does seem to be an abundance of riches, but at least I appreciate them. They have been my closest confidantes and friends throughout my life and I hope that will always be the case. Even if they did beat me to the finish line.

Second Helping: Harvest Vegetable Tart with Parmesan Crust

Grilled New Potatoes

Serves 6
10 minutes preparation time
approximately 20 minutes grilling time (depending on the size of the potatoes)

12-18 new potatoes
olive oil
sea salt

Turn the grill on and let it warm at medium heat for about 10 minutes.

Scrub the potatoes but leave the skins on. With a sharp knife, cut several parallel slits into each potato about half an inch deep and at least half way around. Put all of the potatoes in a large bowl and drizzle  a generous amount of olive oil over them. Shake some sea salt over the top. Stir the potatoes with the olive oil and salt to coat them evenly.

Place the potatoes on the grill, reserving the bowl with any remaining olive oil. Grill the potatoes, turning them so that the skins brown evenly. They will be done when they are tender when you pierce them with a knife. The tiniest potatoes -- about the size of a grape -- took  about 10 minutes. The largest -- about the size of a lime -- took about 25 minutes. 

Remove the potatoes from the grill and toss them again in the bowl with the olive oil and salt. Serve just as they are or with chopped herbs or the accompaniment of your choice.

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Smoky Eggplant Lasagna

So that's it then. Summer is officially over. Sigh. I can't say that I'm ready to leave it behind, the long days, lazy evenings at the pool, unstructured hours of who-knows-what. We did our best to wring the last bits out of summer this past weekend, with some time at the pool, a party at a friend's house to celebrate the bounty of our local farms, and a bike ride along the C & O Canal towpath.

But the weather has turned cooler and it is beginning to feel like fall, with all that the season promises. We made this lasagna the night before the first day back at school to help us bridge the seasons. It is lighter than eggplant parmesan, with a fresh flavor, and it doesn't require all that dipping and frying that goes along with the preparation of eggplant parmesan.

It all started at a farmers' market, as it often does. We spied a variety of adorable eggplants and the children wanted to buy a few of each of them. What? Eggplant? Are you kidding? You won't eat them! That was what I thought, but I fought off the impulse to pass them up and scooped them up instead. If I buy them, maybe they'll eat them. And, besides, did I mention that they were very cute?


Olivia wanted to make eggplant parmesan with them, but they really weren't the right size or shape. They were small enough that I thought they would be tender and I could skip the peeling and salting. The smoky flavor came from the smoked mozzarella which complements the eggplant.

When we sat down to eat the lasagna, Chloe didn't recognize the eggplant and she was quite suspicious. I'm not one to hide the true ingredients from children because I'd rather my kids learned to love all that great produce than to find out that I'd tricked them into eating something they say they hate. But I also don't always announce the ingredients that I think may be an obstacle.

Instead, we play, Guess the Secret Ingredient. Everyone has to have a few bites and then try to guess what is in the dish. My hope is that by the time someone guesses "eggplant," the children will have tried the dish and decided whether or not it was good without the specter of eating a food they don't think they like. It doesn't always work, but in this case, it did. Although neither Chloe or Oscar ate all of the eggplant bits, they did eat around them instead of refusing to eat dinner at all. I'll take my small victories however I can get them.

Maybe it won't be so hard to leave summer behind after all.

Second Helping: Moro Bean, Tomato, and Basil Salad

Eggplant Lasagna

I used a mix of varieties of small, tender eggplants and left the skins on. If you use larger ones, peel them first. I don't find salting necessary in this dish because they eggplants are mixed in with so many flavors that they are not bitter at all.

I always seem to have leftover lasagna noodles after assembling a lasagna. I'm not sure why a standard box has more noodles than one really needs to make a standard lasagna. It's just like hotdogs. Why do they sell them in packages of 10 when the buns come in packets of 12 (or is it 8 and 10?). Anyway, if you have leftovers, slice them into strips and toss them with a bit of olive oil and salt. The Italians refer to these odd shapes as "malfatti," meaning poorly made. They taste like any other pasta, though, and could make the start of a nice little lunch.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups diced eggplant
6 cups chopped San Marzano tomatoes (fresh if you can get them or canned if you can't)
salt and pepper to taste
1 pound lasagna noodles
1 15-ounce container ricotta
1 pound smoked mozzarella, thinly sliced
about 30 fresh basil leaves

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add the onions, carrots, and garlic and eggplant and cook until they soften, 10-15 minutes. If you are adding fresh tomatoes, add them with their juice. If you use canned tomatoes, drain most of the water, but add enough to make the vegetables slightly saucy. Cook with the tomatoes until the sauce has thickened and the flavors have blended, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

While the sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the lasagna noodles and boil them according to the package directions. Drain the noodles and run cold water over them stirring them gently with a wooden spoon or your hands to keep them from sticking.

Spread a thin layer of the sauce in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish. Arrange a single layer of noodles on top of the sauce. Spread a large spoonful of ricotta across each noodle. Top with a few basil leaves. Add a layer of sauce. Repeat with another layer just like that, noodles, ricotta, basil,  sauce.  You should have enough ricotta for a second layer. For the next layer, use noodles, smoked mozzarella, basil, and sauce. Keep adding layers until you run out of sauce or space in the dish, whichever happens first. For me, this was a total of four layers of noodles. The last layer should have sauce topped by mozzarella.

Bake the lasagna until the cheese is melted, about 30 minutes. If you would like the cheese on the top to brown a bit, remove the lasagna and heat the oven to broil. Put the lasagna back in for a couple of minutes, until the cheese begins to turn a golden brown. Watch very carefully because it will brown quickly and the last thing you need is to burn the lasagna. Remove from the oven immediately. Let it rest for a couple of minutes before you slice and serve.

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Triple Ginger Zucchini Bread (or Muffins)

Apparently I have become obsessed with zucchini this year. We have eaten tons of tomatoes, peaches, corn, and all manner of other wonderful summer produce, but this is the third time that I am writing about zucchini this summer. (In case you have blocked out the others, do Zucchini and Brown Butter Spaghetti and Grilled Zucchini Summer Sandwiches ring a bell?) Evidently I'm in a zucchini state of mind.

For those of you who don't like zucchini or are just plain sick of it, my apologies. Then again, maybe you are the audience that most needs this recipe. Because zucchini bread isn't really about a love of zucchini, is it? It's more about disguising something that you have had enough of in a way that it is still appealing. And it is about making the most of those gigantic steroid squashes that are so bountiful this time of year.

When I was plotting my strategy for using up our stash of zucchini this summer, I knew that I wanted to modify my standard zucchini bread recipe to jazz it up a bit. I love the cinnamon flavor profile of my traditional recipe, but I have eaten so many of those loaves and muffins over the year that I wanted something new. New and different, but not too new and different. I am, after all, cooking for clientele under five feet (but not for long!) that doesn't always like change. So there I was again, walking the tightrope between pushing the flavor in a new direction and bringing the kids along for the ride. I thought about adding lemon, but as I reached for the lemon in the fruit bin in my refrigerator, I saw something even better lying next to it. Ginger!

I added fresh ginger as well as candied ginger and powdered ginger. The result is a zucchini bread studded with flecks of golden ginger and enhanced with its sweet-spicy flavor. I loved it, and for the most part, the children did too. Chloe wrinkled her nose, but she ate most of it, and even a few cousins gave it a thumbs up. I still have one more giant zucchini in the refrigerator and a stash of muffins and bread in the freezer. Bountiful harvest!

Second Helping: Zuccanoes (yes, more zucchini!)

Triple Ginger Zucchini Bread

As noted, because I made this version for a broad audience, I didn't go too crazy with the ginger, and it is very good as written. If I were making it for myself, though, I would add another half teaspoon of fresh ginger and an additional quarter cup of candied ginger. Just because I could.

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups raw, grated zucchini
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1/3 cup candied ginger, minced
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a standard loaf pan or 12-cup muffin tin (or use cupcake liners for easier clean up and prettier muffins).

In a small bowl, whisk together the flours, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until they are fluffy. Add the sugar, canola oil, and vanilla, and mix until they are thoroughly combined. Add the zucchini and fresh ginger and mix again.

Add the dry ingredients to the zucchini mixture and mix until the ingredients are just combined and there are no spots of dry flour. Add the candied ginger and walnuts, if you are using them, and mix briefly.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan or muffin tin (fill each cup no more than two-thirds full so that they will rise nicely). Bake the bread for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or the muffins for 30 to 35 minutes. In either case, they are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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Blackberry-Ginger Jam and a Respite

Along with that flat of raspberries, we picked a second flat and a couple of smaller flats of blackberries. We went on one of those hundred-plus degree days that we have had so many of in Washington this summer. With work and camp schedules, we didn't have much of a choice of days, but we went out early to avoid the worst of it. After about 10 minutes, Gabe looked at me and I could tell that he was ready to cash it in. Honestly, I was too, and I usually have the strongest incentive to keep at it because I have a head full of ideas of things to make with our haul.  But the children were so bouyed with excitement while they were picking that it lifted us, too. They seem to have much more enthusiasm for picking at Larriland than they do at our own farm garden. I'm not sure why that is, but it was just what Gabe and I needed on that morning. 

By now I have turned almost all of the berries into jam; those that are left we are eating on cereal or with granola and yogurt. Such an excellent summer treat.

I stayed fairly traditional with my preserving because this was my first year making raspberry and blackberry jam. But I did make a couple of batches of blackberry ginger jam and I love the way it turned out. The jam has the winey sweetness of the blackberries along with the slight heat and perkiness of the ginger. 

We made several jars of strawberry jam at the beginning of the summer, but we have eating through them voraciously. Now we have many more jars (I think the kids counted 19 of varying sizes) to add the larder. I'm hoping they last us at least a few months. I'm such a fan of having a taste of summer in the middle of a cold, cold, day.

And now that the jars are put up, I'm feeling a need for a bit of putting up myself. I'll be taking a break from the blog for at least a couple of weeks to enjoy some time with my family and to relax and recharge. I hope to spend a lot of time in the lake, and a bit of time running around it. But mostly I want to spend time staring at it, letting it work its magic on me. After a few days, I know that the relaxation will seep into my bones, and I hope that I can take it with me into the busy autumn months to come. 

I will buzz into New York to attend the BlogHer conference this coming weekend. Now that I've been blogging for just over a year, I feel the need for a bit of thinking about what I want to get out of this blogging experience. I have loved it, but it does take a lot of time and energy, and I think a bit of contemplation about what I want to accomplish in the long run will be a good thing for me. I'm hoping that talking to lots of other bloggers at BlogHer will help me focus my thoughts.

I hope that you all have a very happy and peaceful August, and I look forward to reconnecting soon.

Blackberry-Ginger Jam

If you are canning the jams for storage, please see this earlier post for some helpful references. I have also found Putting Food By to be an extremely valuable practical resource.

Makes about 6 cups
10 minutes preparation time
about 20 minutes cooking time

8 cups blackberries
4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

Put a plate in the refrigerator to chill.

Mash all the ingredients together in a large stockpot. Bring it to a boil and boil until it thickens, about 20 minutes.

To test to see if the jam will set, put a teaspoon of jam on one of the chilled plates and return it to the refrigerator for one minute.  After a minute, remove it and tilt the plate.  Most of the preserves should remain in the center of the plate, while some of it -- especially the more liquid portion -- will slowly spread out towards the edge of the plate.  When the preserves have firmed up to this extent, skim off a bit of the foam if there is any, stir in the rest, and transfer the jam into storage jars.

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Brown Buttered Zucchini with Spaghetti

We have been so lucky over the last couple of weeks because friends have kindly offered us their CSA shares while they are on vacation (thanks Beth and Leticia!). Such bounty! The shares have included broccoli, onions, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, green beans, and zucchini. And not those gigantic zucchini, either, but nice small tender ones.

It is wonderful to have such an abundance of riches. Of course I still like my weekly jaunts to the farmers' market, although lately I have mostly been buying fruit, and we have hauled in some goodies from our farm garden, too. We've been eating like crazy to keep up with it all. Anything for the cause.

It does create a challenge, though, to keep presenting the great produce in a way that keeps the kiddies interested. I'm suspecting that one of these days there will be a big groan when they see that dish of pasta with tomatoes, garlic, and basil, which has become one of our quick weeknight meals. 

To jazz up the zucchini, I toasted some bread crumbs in butter, and added zucchini that was cut into thin julienne slices and cooked in brown butter. The result was a crunchy, nutty-flavored pasta dish that everyone loved. Well they all ate it anyway. Chloe, who usually is a fan of zucchini, bread, butter, and pasta in other combinations, separated out the zucchini from her pasta. I still can't predict what she will and won't eat. But at least it used up a bunch of zucchini and the rest of us thought it was delicious.

Second helping: Smoky Deviled Eggs

Brown Buttered Zucchini with Spaghetti

This dish is best the day it is made because the bread crumbs will be crunchy and play nicely off the softness of the zucchini. Leftovers will lose a bit of the crunch.

Serves 6
15 minutes preparation time
30 minutes cooking time

5 tablespoons butter, divided
1 1/2 cups fresh coarse bread crumbs, preferably homemade*
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 medium zucchini, julienned
1 pound spaghetti

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add the bread crumbs and toss them until they are completely coated in the butter. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they have deepened in color and are crisp, about 10 minutes. Pour them into a large bowl and add the garlic, parmesan, parsley, and salt.

Wipe out the pan you used for the bread crumbs (no sense getting another pan dirty).  Return the pan to medium heat and add the remaining butter. Let it cook for about about 2 minutes, just until it begins to brown. Add the zucchini and saute until the zucchini is tender and the butter is browned and smells nutty, about 5 minutes.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Salt the water generously, add the pasta and cook until al dente. When the pasta has cooked, drain it and toss it immediately with the bread crumbs and zucchini.Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.

* To make bread crumbs, whirl a few pieces of crusty bread in a food processor until they are finely chopped. I like them to be a bit coarse or a variety of sizes because I think they make the texture more interesting, but you can whirl them longer if you'd like to make them finer.

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Grilled Zucchini Summer Sandwich

We seem to have spent the first part of the summer everywhere but home, eating dinner out of the house and expanding our repertoire of dishes that travel well. But now that school is out and we have settled into summer, we find ourselves home more often. The combination of being home more and not wanting to cook in the 100-degree heat has us turning more and more to the grill. I know that grilling requires standing over a hot grill which is its own challenge on a scorching day, but at least it is quick, and the heat stays outside.

This recipe is my way of using up one of those giant zucchini that I inevitably take possession of once or twice during the summer. Do you have the same experience? Maybe a family member or neighbor gives you one, or you find one hiding under a large leaf on that zucchini plant that you somehow missed when you last harvested. For me, it's having that vegetable garden an hour away that did it. So last week we were the proud owners of a Great Zucchini. It reminded me of the vegetables in Wallace and Grommit's Curse of the Were-Rabbit, or that Gilligan's Island episode where they plant the radioactive seeds from NASA and grow gigantic vegetables.

I find that these huge zucchini are often not that tasty to eat on their own. The peel and the seeds can be tough so I usually just use the flesh to make zucchini bread. But this year I wanted to try something different. I noticed that sliced across, the zucchini are the perfect size for a sandwich roll. The grilling softens the slices and adds excellent flavor. Topped with a bit of basil -- purple in this case -- a slice of mozzarella, and loaded into a toasty bun they made a delicious summer sandwich.

The kids all tucked into these, and Olivia and Oscar polished theirs off. Chloe ate about half of hers before declaring that she didn't like it, but I thought that was not bad for my most finicky eater.

And I still have half a zucchini left to make more or to make zucchini bread. Or, given its size, I may have enough for both.

Grilled Zucchini Summer Sandwich

The kids ate these as sandwiches with the whole bun, but Gabe and I ended up eating them as open-faced sandwiches, and we each ate two.  With some veggies or a salad on the side, it's enough for a meal.

I think basil and zucchini are an excellent summer combination, but the zucchini has a neutral enough flavor that you could vary the combination in a number of ways. A chipotle mayonnaise would be an excellent addition, as would a dash of hot sauce like sriracha.

Serves 6
10 minutes preparation time
20 minutes cooking time

approximately 1/2 of a giant zucchini, peeled, and sliced into rounds
1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced
approximately 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
10-15 basil leaves
8 ounces mozzarella or other melting cheese such as fontina or cheddar
6 sandwich buns
toppings of your choice, such as lettuce, tomato, or sliced onion

Heat the grill. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil and garlic, and add a couple of dashes of salt and a grind or two of pepper. Brush the zucchini slices on both sides with olive oil. Grill them until they are browned on the bottom, then turn them to cook on the other side. When you turn them to cook on the second side, add a basil leaf or two and a slice of mozzarella. Grill until they pierce easily with a fork and the cheese has melted.

Brush the buns with the remaining olive oil and toast them quickly on the grill. Load the zucchini patties into the bun, top with whatever you like, and eat them while they're hot.

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Lemony Potato Salad

There are so many things I thought I knew before I had children. Like how to raise well-behaved ones. You know, ones that would be polite, and kind, and generous with their siblings. Without being nagged reminded. And yet I still expected that they would be interesting, creative, and engaged. Oh yes, I was sure that I could have it all. But I find that I am so often one step behind. I'm just figuring out how to handle the challenge of the day, when they move on and I am faced with a new problem to solve.

Even after I had one child and thought that I had learned a thing or two, it took children two and three to fully clue me in to just how little I actually know. Like how to potty train them. It was so easy with the first that I was shocked to find that the second and third had ideas of their own.

Or how to get them to be interested in trying new foods. Because Olivia was such an adventurous eater, Gabe and I were sure that we had unlocked the secret to getting kids to eat. But then Chloe came along and deflated any pride I had developed by showing me that she would. Not. Eat. One. Bite. Period.

I'm sure that many of you are much more clever than I and have mastered this parenting thing after just one or two children. But me, I feel like I'd probably have to have a dozen to really figure it out. (Not that that will happen.)

Are you wondering what -- if anything -- this has to do with potato salad? Well, potatoes turned out to be one of those parenting surprises. Potatoes are one of the (many) foods that I adore.  They are earthy and starchy, can be dressed up or eaten simply, and they never fail to satisfy. Not only that, but they're relatively bland so they seem like the perfect kid food. Maybe it's my Irish genes, but I thought they had universal appeal.

Or I did, anyway, before I had children.

For years, the only potatoes that my kids would eat were the fried variety. And I'm not sure those count because they are not really identifiable as potatoes and because anything fried tastes good. It has more to do with the fry than the potato. They wouldn't eat mashed potatoes, boiled ones, or baked ones. I have no idea why. They just didn't like them, no matter how much butter I added.

But, slowly they have been coming around. The first breakthrough was the baked potato, which was inspired by the Little House series. Now they even will try potato salad once in a while which makes me happy because it is one of my favorite summer dishes. And you know how much I love those dishes that can be taken along for a picnic or eaten outside in the park, on the diamond, or at the pool. The lemon in this version is bright and lightens up the salad.

I guess we are all growing here. Because let's face it, even with all the time that I spend learning that I have much more to learn, these little people are fantastic beyond my wildest imagination, and I love their company. They are funny, sweet, affectionate, inventive, and just downright adorable in ways that I never could have imagined.

At least until they throw me that next curve ball.

Lemony Potato Salad

I used a combination of chives and their flowers which, if you can find them, are wonderful. They have a chive flavor but add a lovely lavender color scattered over the top of this salad.

Adapted from Gourmet
20 minutes preparation time
25 minutes cooking time

3 pounds small new potatoes
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped chives
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

In a large stockpot, cover the potatoes with water and bring them to a boil.  Simmer until the potatoes are tender, between 10 and 20 minutes, depending on their size. They are done when they pierce easily with a knife but still hold their shape.

While the potatoes cook, stir the celery, mayonnaise, chives, lemon zest, sugar, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl bowl.

When the potatoes have cooked, drain the water and let them cool to room temperature.  If they are not already small enough, cut them into bite-sized pieces.  You can leave the skins on, but if any pieces of the skins come off as you cut them, discard them. Add the potatoes to the bowl with the dressing and gently toss the salad. 

The salad can be made a day in advance. Just cover it tightly and store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve it.

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Cherry Galettes

This is the best time of year to buy fruit at the market. Just this weekend, I picked up both sweet and tart cherries, black raspberries, red raspberries, blueberries, and peaches. Yes, I am a glutton. But I just can't help myself. Now we have to figure out what to do with all that fruit.

The raspberries are gone, and we have made a good dent in the cherries and peaches. We'll eat lots  more just as it is, but once in a while it's nice to have something a bit more special. Pies, of course, are one of my favorite ways to feature the fruits of summer, as I have written about before.  Blueberry and peach are hits around here. But these galettes are as easy as pie. Easier than pie, actually, because they only have a bottom crust and it is very easy to work with. They're also incredibly tasty, adding just enough crust to hold the fruit without overpowering the flavor.

This recipe makes small galettes, each only a few bites. It's the perfect size to serve for a summer treat, especially with a scoop of ice cream. If you want to make bigger galettes, though, you can cut it into fewer pieces or double the recipe.

And what would make a more perfect dessert for a Fourth of July picnic than one of these little hand held tarts?

Second helping: Almond Granola

Cherry Galettes

We enjoyed the small size of these galettes, but the recipe can easily be made as one large galette instead. Just roll out the dough in one large piece rather than dividing it and bake it a bit longer, about 40 minutes.

Makes 8 small galettes
45 minutes preparation time
approximately 25 minutes baking time

For the crust:
2 tablespoons sour cream
3 tablespoons ice water
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup semolina flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into a few pieces

For the filling:
1 1/2 cups cherries, pits removed
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons, granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon cold butter

To make the crust, first whisk together the sour cream and water in a small bowl and set it aside. In a larger bowl, mix together the flours, sugar, salt, and lemon zest. Add the butter and work it into the flour with your fingers until the mixture has pieces that range in size from small pebbles to grains of sand. Mix in the sour cream with your fingers until the mixture forms a wet dough. Roll the dough into a ball, and flatten it into a disk. Wrap the dough tightly with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes or as long as a couple of days.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Prepare the filling by mixing the pitted cherries with the extract, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and lemon zest. When the dough has chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and cut it into 8 equal-sized wedges with a sharp knife or a pastry cutter.

Take one wedge and roll it into a ball and then flatten it. Roll it out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface until it is about 5 inches in diameter. Move it onto the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining wedges.

Spoon a heaping tablespoon or so of cherry filling onto each piece of dough, leaving an inch or two border. Fold the edge up over the filling, working around to give the dough a pleated look. Don't worry about making the galettes perfect. Part of their charm is the rustic look.

Brush the edges of the galette with water and sprinkle the remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar over the edges. Bake until the galettes are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, ideally with a scoop of ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream.

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Fresh Pea and Fava Bean Risotto

There is something about peas and fava beans in their shells that lures me in when I see them at the market. I know they will be work to shell and cook, but just knowing that those pods are filled with little surprises charms me. So into the bag they go.

This year, I decided to combine the peas and fava beans into a risotto. I wanted something that would feature their flavor but I couldn't imagine how many I would have to buy (and shell!) in order to make enough for a side dish for five of us. Since their flavor is delicate, I wanted a simple background flavor that wouldn't overshadow them. Risotto is great for that.

And the shelling really wasn't bad. The peas are a snap (sorry for the bad pun). It's really just a two step to open the pods and clear out the peas. The fava beans are a bit more work. The pods are a bit tougher to open, and they also have an inner casing that needs to be removed. If you have a partner though, it doesn't take long to prepare them. Gabe and I made this risotto for dinner this past Saturday night. Sitting in the kitchen together, with some music on, chatting, and anticipating seeing our friends, it was actually quite a wonderful experience. Just don't try it when you're in a hurry.

Second Helping: Pea Shoot Pasta with Lemon Cream

Fresh Pea and Fava Bean Risotto

Serves 6
30 minutes preparation
30 minutes cooking time

1 quart fresh peas
1 quart fava beans
5-6 cups vegetable stock
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups Arborio rice
½ cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
½ cup freshly grated parmesan, plus more for the table
salt and pepper to taste

Fill a medium-sized pot about half full of water and bring it to a boil. 

Remove the peas from their pods. What works best for me is to pull the pod apart at the center with two hands until it separated. I then flick the peas out with my thumb. Set them aside.

Remove the fava beans the same way. The fava bean pods are a bit tougher so it may take a bit more strength to open them with your hands. Alternatively, you could use a small knife to cut off the tops and then split them down the middle with your hands.

Salt the boiling water and add the shelled fava beans. Boil them for one minute and then drain them. Immediately rinse them with cold water. When they have cooled, pull off the outer jackets and set the beans aside with the peas.

Heat the stock in a small saucepan.

In a large pan, melt three tablespoons of the butter. Add the onion and sauté until it is translucent and soft, about 7 minutes. Add the rice and stir for a minute or so until it is coated evenly. Add the wine and mix until it has been absorbed into the rice. Continue cooking the risotto by adding one or two ladlefuls of stock at a time, stirring occasionally. After about 15 minutes, add the peas and fava beans and stir them into the rice.

Continue to add stock to the rice until it is tender. The best way to know when the rice is done is to keep tasting it. It is done when the rice no longer has a crunch in the middle, but when it still retains some texture.The peas and fava beans will be done when they are tender to the bite but are still a bright green color.

When the risotto is done, add the remaining tablespoon of butter, the herbs, and the parmesan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pass additional grated parmesan at the table.

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Olivia's Warm Goat Cheese Salad

As you know if you have been reading this blog for a bit, I love nothing better than to cook with our children. Not with them as an ingredient, of course, but with them in the kitchen with me. Just in case you were wondering. I even like to cook with other people's children, although I do have a bias towards my own. But once in a while Olivia likes to take over.

There are many Saturday mornings that I have come downstairs to find her in the kitchen, shooing me away while she whips up a surprise. Often it has been pancakes but most recently it was lemon meringue pie. And if you have never had lemon meringue pie for breakfast, let me be the first to recommend it.

When I got home from work on Monday, Olivia had a plan in action. She had written up a menu for us on a chalkboard, café style. Gabe and I were happy to cede the kitchen to her. Among the menu items was this simple but delicious salad, a reminder that sometimes the best meals are simply prepared with high quality ingredients. The greens were from the farmers' market, and I love the way she noted on the menu that the goat cheese was from Cherry Glen.

Olivia was clearly energized by the process and proud of making the dinner herself, and we were eager to step into the role of her grateful customers. I'm thinking that this summer we should turn over the kitchen to the kids more often, although I think I can't encourage this too much or it will become more like a chore and less like their own creative initiative. But I'm hoping a hint or two will do the trick. 

In Olivia's own words, here is the salad with warm goat cheese toasts that she made. She made the dressing, too, but didn't measure the ingredients so you're on your own there. She also uses a secret ingredient in her dressing which I have sworn not to reveal, but it will be much more fun if you add your own secret ingredient anyway. Every meal should have one, don't you think?

Olivia's Warm Goat Cheese Salad

This is for 6 people

about 2 tablespoons of goat cheese
12 little pieces of bread
some salad

some salad dressing:
red wine vinegar
olive oil
shallots
a lot of Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
a secret ingredient

Warm the goat cheese in the microwave for 15 seconds or until it is a little melted. Brush a thin layer of warm cheese onto the bread. Put the breads onto a cookie sheet and bake them at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes or until the bread is a little crisp.

Whisk together the salad dressing ingredients and dump it on the salad.

For each personal serving, put the salad in the middle of a plate and put the breads on the west and east sides of the plate.

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Vietnamese Cucumber Salad

We had an exhausting weekend, running here there, and everywhere. I charted it all out because I was afraid that I would forget to show up somewhere, or bring the necessary gift/equipment/snacks, or worst of all, forget to pick up one of the children and leave someone stranded somewhere. At one point, I tallied that we had 14 places to go and things to do over the course of the 2 days. But it was good stuff, sports, friends, music, family. And nobody got left behind.

At some point, I did squeeze in time to make this incredibly simple salad. The recipe comes originally from my sister Sarah and her husband, Ed. They traveled to Vietnam several years ago and after eating this salad several times, they watched the chef make it so they could figure out how to reproduce it at home.


I've changed it up a bit because. . . well, because that's what I do. I love the way the cool cucumbers play off the heat of the hot peppers. In this version, I use a jalapeno pepper because that's what I found this week, and I was making it for children, but if your palate can take it, substitute a hotter pepper. Just for the record, it's also quite portable. In case you're eating on the go.

Vietnamese Cucumber Salad

Serves 6
20 minutes preparation time, plus 30-60 minutes to marinate

2 teaspoons minced ginger
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno pepper (or a hotter pepper if you like), seeded and thinly sliced
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup natural rice vinegar (not seasoned)
2 long English cucumbers (about 6 cups sliced)
1 cup thinly sliced red onion 

Mix all of the ingredients except the cucumbers and onion in a large bowl and whisk until the salt and sugar have dissolved.

If the cucumbers have tough skin, peel them. Cut them in half length-wise and remove the seeds. Slice them across diagonally. Add the cucumbers and red onion to the bowl and mix thoroughly. Add enough water to the bowl to submerge the cucumbers completely and place the bowl in the refrigerator to sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Before serving, drain off the liquid, which you can reserve for future salads. Serve cold or at room temperature.

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Rhubarb-Mint Popsicles

One of the things about trying to eat seasonally is that I find myself gorging on whatever is in season because I know it won't last.  This is a good news, bad news situation.  On the bad news side, I am probably buying and eating more that I need.  This spring, I have been buying oodles of strawberries at the market with the intention of baking with them, but they disappear from the refrigerator in a couple of days.  So I haven't baked with those strawberries yet. 

 
I really don't mind, though.  The berries are sweet and delicious and I'm glad that the children appreciate that.  When the season is over, they'll have bellies full of strawberries, sticky, pink fingers, and good memories.  And we'll all be ready to move on to something else.  Blueberries, maybe?  That's the good news. 

We've been mowing through the rhubarb, too.  We have had lots of rhubarb streusel cake, and I have a stash of rhubarb-thyme compote in the refrigerator.  Our latest project, though, was popsicles.  This is a super simple project that the children helped make.  We added a bit of mint and the combination is excellent -- the tart flavor of the rhubarb works nicely with the brightness of the mint.  I didn't purée the mixture so the popsicles are loaded with chunks of fruit.

I couldn't resist helping myself to more rhubarb stalks at this week's market along with a few quarts of strawberries.  I know what I want to make with the strawberries.  But should I stick to an old favorite with the rhubarb or try something new?  What would you make?  

Happy Monday!

Second Helping:  Radish Tartines

Rhubarb-Mint Popsicles

The mint and the rhubarb in the recipe as written create a popsicle with a lot of flavor.  We liked them this way, but if you want to tone it down, add a bit more water and use less mint when you add it at the end.

Makes 5 popsicles
10 minutes preparation time
25 minutes cooking time

5 cups chopped rhubarb
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons mint, minced and divided
1 cup water

Put the rhubarb, sugar, and 1 tablespoon of mint in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Simmer with the pot covered until the rhubarb is meltingly soft, about 20 minutes.  Stir in the remaining mint.

Let the mixture cool.  Pour it into popsicle molds.  If you don't have popsicle molds, you can use a standard Dixie cup.  The mixture is thick enough that it will even hold a popsicle stick.  Freeze until the popsicles are frozen solid.

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Asparagus and Goat Cheese Frittata

 
Our children are loving the Diary of A Wimpy Kid books these days, and, truth be told, I find them hilarious myself.  They are part comic, part novel and they are written from the perspective of Greg as he begins his life in middle school.  I'm not sure I can quite convey what I find so funny about them.  I think it's Greg's voice.  He thinks he has it all figured out, but his overconfidence gets him into trouble time after time.

Anyway, if you have read them, you know about the cheese touch.  If you haven't read them, the cheese touch is a piece of American cheese that somehow gets left on the playground to mold and turn bizarre colors.  Any child who touches it is immediately ostracized by the rest of the middle school until he passes the touch on. 

When I put something on the table that my children don't like, it's a lot like the cheese touch.  One of Oscar's least favorite foods is asparagus.  When I put it on the table, he gags and makes awful faces.  If I put some on his plate, he moves all the remaining food away from it so that it doesn't get contaminated. 

The rest of us love it, though.  For me, asparagus is one of those foods that I can't pass at the farmers' market and not buy.  Their flavor is fresh and green, the quintessential taste of spring.

When I made this frittata for dinner recently, Oscar pulled his usual tricks, isolating it on the plate.  Eventually, though I convinced him to eat some of the egg that was in the frittata even though it had touched a piece of asparagus.  A small victory, certainly, but I'll take it.

Second helping: Asparagus with Shallot-Champagne Vinaigrette

 

Asparagus and Goat Cheese Frittata

8 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
a few grinds of pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 bunch asparagus (about 10 large)
1 large scallion (about 1/2 cup), chopped
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs, parsley, salt, and pepper.  Slice the asparagus diagonally into one-inch segments, reserving a 2-inch tip of about 10 of the asparagus. 

Heat a 10-inch oven-proof skillet over medium heat for a minute or two until it is good and hot.  Add the oil and swirl it around the pan to make sure that it coats the sides.  Add the asparagus segments (holding out the tips) and spring onions and saute until slightly softened, about 2 minutes.  Add the egg mixture and cook until the edges set, about 5 minutes.  The center will still be runny. 

Arrange the remaining asparagus tips around the frittata and crumble the goat cheese on top.  Move the pan to the oven and cook until the frittata has firmly set and is golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Let the for a couple of minutes out of the oven.  Then, with an oven mitt over the end of the handle (I can't tell you how many times I have forgotten this and burned myself), run a rubber spatula around the edge of the frittata.  Lift the pan over a serving plate and use the spatula to slide the frittata onto the plate.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  

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Monday Rhubarb Streusel Cake

Sometimes you just need a little cake, a little just-because cake.  You know, like a just-because-I-had-the day-off-and-felt-like-baking cake.  Or just-because-it's-Wednesday-and-we're-half-way-through-the-week-cake.  Or just-becase-we're-all-home-for-dinner-with-nowhere-to-rush-to-or-from cake.  Or one of my favorites, just-because-it's-Monday cake.

In general, we try to eat healthy foods, a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and not too many sweets.  But treats are one of the great joys of childhood.  If we weren't meant to have a bit of butter and refined sugar in our lives then why do they taste so darn good together?  OK, I know that's riduculous reasoning, but what could be better than biting into a lovingly homemade treat?  That's got to count for something in the health department.  Right?

 
In that spirit, then, here is a recipe for one of those perfect just-because cakes.  It's not at all fancy, just homey and rustic.  It could be dessert, a snack or, if you really need a pick me up on Monday morning, breakfast.  And with rhubarb in season, this is the perfect time to make it.  

Happy Monday.

Second Helping:  Rhubarb-Thyme Compote

Monday Rhubarb Streusel Cake

The rhubarb in this cake is not agressive; it adds a tartness to contrast with the sweetness of the streusel, but it's not overpowering.  If you want a more assertive flavor, add more rhubarb, more lemon, or both.

2 cups diced rhubarb
1/3 cup sugar
zest from one lemon (about 2 teaspoons)
juice from 1 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)

For the topping:
3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
4 tablespoons butter

For the cake:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons butter, softened 
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Place the rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour an 8-inch square baking pan, making sure to shake out any excess flour.  I usually do this by turning it upside down over my sink and gently tapping it on the top of my faucet.  But then again my faucet has begun to leak, so mayber a whack with the heel of your hand would be better.

In a small bowl, stir together the rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest.  Set aside.

Make the streusel topping by whisking together the flour and sugars.  With your hands, work in the pieces of butter by pinching them repeatedly until they incorporate into the flour and form large clumps.  Set aside.

To make the cake, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. In another small bowl or measuring cup, mix together the sour cream and vanilla.  

Beat the butter and sugar together using a mixer at medium-high speed until it is pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add one third of the flour and, with the mixer on low, combine just until the flour has blended in with the butter mixture.  Add one third of the sour cream and mix briefly.  Continue alternating the flour and sour cream, mixing each time just until the new ingredient has incorporated.  

Spoon the mixture into a pan and smooth it evenly across the pan.  With a slotted spoon, remove the rhubarb and distribute it evenly on top of the batter, leaving any remaining liquid in the bowl. Sprinkle the streusel mixture evenly over the top of the cake.  If you have remaining liquid, drizzle it over the top of the streusel.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the streusel is golden brown, about 50 minutes.

Let the cake cool completely in the pan and then cut it into squares for serving.

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Arugula Pesto Quinoa

This time of year, we begin spending more and more time outside at dinner.  With the kids at various practices for softball, baseball and, soon, swimming, we seem to be always in search of a portable meal.  We are still trying to have a meal together each day and so often this means that we bring our dinner to the baseball field and eat on the sidelines after practice. 

On a side note, it seems so cumbersome to always say "baseball and softball."  "Grab your baseball and softball gloves."  "Let's practice throwing the baseball and softball."  Yes, we really are that lazy that we feel the need to come up with a hybrid name:  baftball?  saseball?  safeball? 

But I digress.  This dish fits the bill as one of those portable, room temperature, everything-in-one-bowl kind of meals that is perfect for a picnic.  And it is tasty too.  If you think quinoa is one of those wacky grains that only hippies eat I encourage you to give it a try.  Quinoa is an excellent source of protein, very easy to cook, and has a delicious nutty chewiness.  The arugula adds a peppery flavor that tastes of spring.  I added the green beans to boost the veggie content in the dish, and the radishes add texture as well as a burst of color.  But you can substitute any other vegetables that suit you.  Think of the pesto-quinoa mixture as a base on which to build.  (Did I really just write "base"?  First base?  Third base?  Sometimes I do not know where those puns come from.)

Second Helping: Asparagus with Shallot-Champagne Vinaigrette

Coeur à la Crème

I was thrilled to find strawberries at the farmers' market this past weekend.  I think that they are available earlier than usual this year because of the warm weather we have had this spring.  Whatever the reason, though, there they were, ushering in berry season and signaling that yes, another year really has passed. 

Chloe had come with me to the market and she suggested that I buy one pint for each of us.  I laughed at first at the thought of so many strawberries, but when I looked at her face I realized that she too was caught up in the possibilities that so many strawberries signaled.  So five pints of strawberries it was.  We are going through them at a quick pace so I think it was a good call.

I was particularly eager to use the berries in a recipe that Merrill Stubbs had posted on food52 for coeur à la crème with strawberries.  I did not know what coeur à la crème was before I saw this, but it is similar to a custard, although made differently, with a combination of ricotta, sour cream, cream cheese, heavy cream, egg whites, and sugar.  Olivia and I joked that it was all of our favorite white foods with a splash of vanilla.  It seemed to be a fancy version of classic strawberries and cream, and I thought it would be fantastic for Mother's Day. 

 
When I say that I thought it would be perfect for Mother's Day, I envisioned sitting on the couch reading while the children buzzed around in the kitchen whipping it up for me.  It didn't quite happen that way, but they did help out quite a bit.  Olivia's friend even pitched in; in fact, she stayed on after my own children had lost interest. 

 
The result was delicious.  The creamy flavor with a bit of tang from the sour cream was the perfect complement to those perfect berries.  Follow this link for the recipe and see my notes below if you are interested in trying it.

A few notes about the process.  I made the dish in a colander, not a heart-shaped mold, so it was more dome than coeur.  But because the mixture is so pliable I probably could have formed it into a heart shape with the cheesecloth.  In fact, I shaped it a bit as I was removing it from the colander and it held its shape well.

I placed the colander over a bowl because I understood that the whey would drain off when it was refrigerated, but it didn't work that way for me.  I wonder whether my cheesecloth was too thick.  It didn't matter in the end, though.  The texture was light and airy and quite delicious. 

To remove it from the colander, I just gathered the cheesecloth at the top and lifted the mixture in the cheesecloth out of the colander and onto a plate.  There, I peeled back the cheesecloth and placed my serving plate on top of the coeur.  I then quickly flipped the plates over so that the serving plate was on the bottom.  Finally, I removed the cheesecloth, and we decorated with the strawberries. 

Second helping:  Strawberry shortcake

Artichokes with Quick Hollandaise Sauce

I have written this before, but I have a theory that children are more willing to try something new if it involves eating with your hands.  My kids love edamame, carrot sticks (much more than carrots cut up in a salad), and dumplings.  Dips, too, seem to have an allure for kids that extends beyond ketchup and ranch dressing.  With their leaves that peel off, artichokes are the ultimate dipping food.  And the pointed tips on the leaves make them look like the claw feet of some medieval creature.  Good stuff.

 
I have to admit that I was skeptical when a friend asked if our children liked artichokes.  But after they had helped prepare them and saw how they were served, they were hooked.  Now that spring is here and they are plentiful, I am hoping that they make a regular appearance on the dinner table.  Or maybe even in the lunch box.  I wonder how that would go over in the cafeteria?

  
As for the dipping, the simplest way to serve them is with melted butter, and, at least around here, everything is better with butter.  A little lemon juice or minced tarragon added to the butter is also delicious.  But my favorite accompaniment is a hollandaise sauce.  This version is adapted from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and is very quick because it is made in a blender. 

Happy dipping!

Second Helping:  Homemade Ketchup

 
Artichokes with Quick Hollandaise Sauce
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Serves 6
15 minutes preparation time
25 to 40 minutes cooking time

6 whole fresh artichokes
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons lemon juice
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
salt and pepper

Fill a very large pot with enough water to submerge all of the artichokes.  Bring it to a boil.

To prepare the artichokes, rinse them while they are still whole.  With a large serrated knife, cut the top inch off of the artichoke, cutting through all layers of the top leaves.  Use scissors to trim the remaining prickly tops off of the lower leaves.  When the water has begun to boil, add the artichokes.  Boil them until the bottom of the artichoke can be pierced easily with a knife.  Depending on the size of the artichokes this could take anywhere from 25 to 40 minutes. 

While the artichokes are cooking, melt the butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.  Put the egg yolks, lemon juice, a few sprinkles of salt and a couple of twists of pepper into a blender.  Cover the blender and blend the egg yolk mixture for a couple of seconds just until combined.  Uncover the blender and drizzle the butter in veeeerrrrrrryyyyy sssslllloooowwwwwlllllyyyyyy.  You can drape a towel around the top of the blender to keep it from splattering.  Keep drizzling until the mixture is the consistency of heavy cream.  Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper if you like.  Transfer the hollandaise to a small bowl and keep it slightly warm by placing it inside a larger bowl that holds just a bit of warm water.

When they are tender, drain the artichokes upside down in a colander.  When they are cool enough to touch, remove the choke, which is that fuzzy bit in the in center of the leaves.  Pull by the top of the fuzz and it should detach easily.  If not, scrape out any remaining fuzz with a spoon.

To eat the artichoke, pull off a leaf, dip the bottom end in the sauce, and scrape the lower part of the leaf between your teeth to remove the flesh.  After you have eaten all of the leaves, the heart, which is pure goodness, will remain.  You can, of course, cut this up with a knife and fork, but dipping and eating with your hands is still acceptable.  Miss Manners might not agree, but sometimes we have to relax those etiquette rules in favor of fun. 

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Happy Dance Greens & Basil Risotto

 
Maybe you saw it, but I had a recipe featured in the Washington Post Food section yesterday.  Okay, okay, so it didn't have my name on it, but it was my recipe.  Here's the back story.

A couple of years ago, my sister, Sarah O'Herron (who, as I have written before, owns Black Ankle Vineyards with her husband, Ed Boyce) asked me to develop a recipe for a booklet that they were putting together for the Frederick Wine Trail.  She wanted something that would complement their white wines.  Develop a recipe?!?!  Of course!  Even in those days before hidethecheese, that was right up my alley. 

I developed a recipe for risotto with fresh greens to suit the season and to complement Black Ankle's Gruner Veltliner, one of my favorites.  I sent it to Sarah who forwarded it on, and I thought that was the end of it.  But sometime later, when Lucie Snodgrass put together her book, Dishing Up Maryland, she asked Sarah if she could use the recipe.  Sarah asked me and off it went.  Sarah tried to get my name included in the book, but there was some legal mumbo jumbo about a waiver and what not (and this coming from me, a lawyer!).  The long and the short of it is that my name did not make it into the book or the Post's article. 

But you, readers of this blog, you know the identity of the "sister of winemaker Sarah O'Herron."  And the cookbook, with recipes and stories gathered from Maryland's farms, looks to be a treat.  I'm eager to get my hands on a copy.

So here's the recipe for Risotto with Fresh Greens and Basil.  We just made the recipe the other night using spinach, but with one twist.  We used ramps in place of the onion.  If you can get these mild onions at your farmers' market, they are a treat and add some fresh spring pop to the dish.

 
To make this substitution, use about 6 ramps.  Separate the green ends from the bulbs and chop both.  Add the chopped bulb at the beginning instead of the onion and the tops at the end with the greens and basil. 

 

P.S.  Did I mention that I have a recipe in the Washington Post Food section?  Eeeeeek!  I may just have to open a bottle of Gruner Veltliner to celebrate.

Second Helping:  Egg Salad with Tarragon and Shallots

Pressure Cooker Saffron and Artichoke Risotto

I bought a pressure cooker years ago for Gabe because I had heard it was great for making beans, and we loved to make Cuban black beans.  But I was afraid to use it.  I don't know whether I had a repressed bad pressure cooking experience in my youth or if it is just my active imagination, but I always picture the pot exploding all over the kitchen, and splattering hot food all over my innocent children.

But when my friend Andrea told me about her technique for making risotto in a pressure cooker in 7 minutes I knew I had to dust that cooker off and put it to work.  Andrea is a fantastic and creative cook, and I completely trust her judgment and recommendations about anything to do with food.  Now I have conquered my fear of the pressure cooker.  Sure it whistles and hisses, but the lid stays firmly locked on until I am ready to remove it, and I no longer worry about it combusting.

Making risotto in a pressure cooker is not only fast, it is easy.  There is no standing over a hot stove stirring slowly.  Instead, almost everything goes in the pot up front and, after a few minutes of checking e-mail or typing on the blog, the risotto is ready. 

I am looking forward to making this risotto with fresh artichokes and peas when they come in at the farmers' market, but for now, the frozen versions are mighty tasty.  But I still keep the children out of the kitchen once that cooker starts sounding like a steam engine.

Second Helping:  Homemade Ketchup

 

Pressure Cooker Saffron and Artichoke Risotto

Serves 6
20 minutes preparation time
20 minutes cooking time

3 tablespoons Spanish olive oil
2 small onions, diced (about 2 cups)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups arborio rice
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 cups frozen artichoke hearts
1 cup dry white wine
3 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 teaspoon salt
a few grinds of black pepper
1 cup frozen peas
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in the pressure cooker and add the onion and garlic.  Cook until the onion is soft, about 7 minutes. 

Add the rice and stir to coat it with the oil.  Add the saffron, lemon zest, artichoke hearts, and mix again.  Add the white wine, vegetable stock, salt, and pepper and stir again.  Cover the pressure cooker with its lid and lock it on.  Bring the pressure up.  Follow the directions of your pressure cooker, but in mine, this is when the cooker will begin to make a hissing noise.  

Cook the risotto for about 6 minutes.  Each pressure cooker will cook a bit differently, but it shouldn't take less than 6 minutes.  You can always cook it a few minutes longer with the top off.  It's much harder to come back from an overcooked gloppy mess.

Release the steam and stand back.  When the pressure has been released, remove the top.  Add the peas and stir.  If the risotto still contains a bit more liquid than you would like, let it sit for a minute or two.  Stir in the butter and parsley.  Taste and add more salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.

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Baked Potatoes with Cilantro Pesto

We have been reading our way through Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books.  The stories are beautifully written and transport me to a time and place that I will never know.  And the children are so well behaved.  The wonder and gratitude that they express when they receive an orange or a peppermint stick for Christmas makes me yearn for those simpler days. 

Wilder wrote those books well into her adult years (prompted by her daughter), but her attention to detail is amazing.  I really thought I might be able to build a log cabin after reading her description of Pa making one.  We had to take a breather after The Long Winter, though.  It is a phenomenal story of resilience and survival, but living in a wood cabin with blizzard winds whipping through the cracks and months of intense snow storms makes me happy to live in the age of brick, insulation, and furnaces. 

And, of course, there is the problem of the food.  At the beginning of the winter, the family's staples were bread, baked potatoes, and butter.  First the butter runs out, then the potatoes.  By the end, they were dipping into next year's seed wheat to make bread to survive.  Rough times.

Since we read that book, though, baked potatoes have become a regular item in our dinner rotation.  We have such a rich range of choices for toppings, but this pesto offers a taste of green spring, which I welcome after our own long winter.

Baked Potatoes with Cilantro Sauce

Serves 6
15 minutes preparation time
About 45 minutes baking time

6 large baking potatoes, scrubbed and rinsed
1 teaspoon cumin
1 cup parsley
1 cup cilantro
1/4 cup olive oil, preferably Spanish
a few generous pinches of sea salt
a couple of grinds of fresh pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Using a fork, poke a few holes in each potato.  Place the potatoes directly on the oven rack and bake until they are tender, about 45 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes.

In a frying pan, toast the cumin over medium heat just until it is fragrant, about 1 minute.

Blend all of the remaining ingredients with the cumin in a food processor.  Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.  When the potatoes are done, split them open, smear them with the pesto, and dig in.

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Creamy Lettuce Soup

 
I know that it sounds odd to cook lettuce, but please keep reading.  We cook spinach and lots of other greens, after all.  And watercress soup is a classic.  Years ago when I worked at a French restaurant outside Philadelphia (The Spring Mill Cafe, and it's still there!), this was a regular item on the menu.  It was delicious and a great way to use up leftover salad greens.

 
Our children love thick potato-based soups, and this one was no exception.  When I'm not sure whether the kids will like something new, I usually have them play a game to guess the ingredients.  They have to taste the dish to guess what's in it, and by the time they have guessed any unusual ingredients, they have already had a bite or two and aren't influenced just by knowing what's in the bowl.  I'm not above a bit of trickery.  In this case, the children thought the soup tasted like potato-leek soup, although I find that it has a sweetness that differentiates it. 

This is an easy dish to throw together, too, and we often have the ingredients on hand to make it.  The technique of mixing in a couple of egg yolks to thicken the soup comes from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  The eggs also add a bit of protein.  We have eaten this soup as a main course with salad and bread to warm us up on cold winter's nights.  It even sustained us through a snowstorm or two.

Creamy Lettuce Soup

This recipe is a great way to use up wilted lettuce or those outer leaves that have seen better days.  don't use anything brown or slimy, though, as that will give the soup an off flavor.

3 tablespoons butter
3 cups chopped onion (about 3 medium)
2 tablespoons flour
3 cups diced potatoes
6 cups vegetable stock or 1 bouillon cube and 6 cups of water
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 cups chopped lettuce
2 egg yolks (save the whites to make meringues)
1/2 cup milk or cream

Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and cook until it has softened, 7 or 8 minutes.  Add the flour and stir until it has been fully incorporated.  Add the potatoes and stir to coat them with the butter.  Add the salt, and vegetable stock or bouillon cube and water.  Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are soft, 15 to 20 minutes. 

Add the lettuce.  Cook until the lettuce is completely wilted but still green, about 5 minutes.  Puree the soup with an immersion blender.

Just before you are ready to serve the soup, whisk together the egg yolks and milk or cream.  While whisking, add a few ladlefuls of the soup and incorporate the egg mixture completely.  Add the egg-soup mixture back into the soup pot and stir it in.  If necessary, warm the soup over low heat, but do not allow it to simmer.  Serve hot.

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Fennel-Orange Slaw

 
In the winter, I gravitate towards soups and casseroles, dishes that warm me to the core.  But those dishes have a soft texture, and after a while I am craving a bit of crunch.  I know that cole slaw is traditionally a summer dish, but its core elements, cabbage and carrots, are more winter than summer vegetables.  All in all, this is a great time of year to make slaw. 

Slaw can be made with any combination of shredded vegetables and is infinitely variable.  The flavor profile of this dish is decidedly wintry.  Fennel and cabbage are widely available this time of year, and with the walnuts they add that crispness that I'm craving.  The oranges add a sweet juciness and a hit of vitamin C.

 
And for those of us on a budget, cabbage is an excellent value.  A cabbage the size of your head can be the base for several meals. 

The children all ate this slaw.  Chloe, of course, picked out all the walnuts.  But otherwise, they devoured it.  Maybe they wanted that crunch too, or maybe they were just willing to try it because it wasn't actually called a salad.  I'm just hoping that the slaw has conjured up enough of summer to carry us through until the snow melts. 

Fennel-Orange Slaw

Serves 6
15 minutes preparation time

2 oranges
4 cups cabbage, thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb
1/2 cup toasted walnuts

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Hold the orange upright on a cutting board and cut off the peel by cutting through the peel and pith in sections.  Slice out each section.  

Cut a few fronds off the top of the fennel bulb.  Chop until you have one to two tablespoons to use as a garnish.  Remove any tough or discolored layers from the fennel bulb and trim the end.  Slice thinly.

Combine the orange slices, cabbage, fennel and walnuts in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice, vinegar, olive oil, and salt.  Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables, add the chopped fennel fronds and toss gently until the salad is well mixed.  Serve immediately.

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Wasabi and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

 
We went to the Smithsonian's American History Museum a couple of weekends (and snowstorms) ago.  There are many great exhibits there, including the first ladies' inaugural gowns and several interactive rooms for the children, but somehow we managed to find ourselves in Julia Child's kitchen.  I love visiting that kitchen because it is so down to earth and homey.  I could picture myself cooking in there with the children at the table helping out, doing their homework, or having a snack. You know, if I had four times the space of my current kitchen.

The exhibit includes a continuous loop with excerpts from several of Julia's cooking shows.  Many of these are not so vegetarian friendly.  I have seen her truss a duck, stuff a chicken, and boil live lobsters.  And she did not mince words when it came to her assessment about vegetarianism.  But no matter, I was still riveted.  When I heard her describe her method of making mashed potatoes with 2 whole heads of garlic, I swooned.  Any recipe that uses that much garlic has me interested.  She said that the process makes the garlic mild so I was eager to try it.

Of course I had to put my own twist on it.  I wanted to make them with wasabi, one of my favorite flavors, and I made a few modifications to alter the flavor profile.  The resulting mash balances the sweetness of the garlic with the nuttiness of the sesame oil and the zip of the wasabi.  I made these with a wide audience (and children) in mind.  The wasabi flavor definitely comes through, but if you are a wasabi lover, you may want to add more. 

The horseradish flavor would make these mashed potatoes a fantastic accompaniment to beef stew or roast beef, or would go equally well with beans or a root vegetable stew.

 

Wasabi and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Serves 6 as a side dish
20 minutes preparation time
30 minutes cooking time

2 heads garlic
4 tablespoons sesame oil
7 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (approximately 2 1/2 pounds), peeled and quartered
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus a generous pinch for the potato water
2 teaspoons wasabi powder (or  more to taste), mixed with an equal amount of water
1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Bring a small pot of water to boil.  Separate the garlic into individual cloves and drop them with their skins still on into the boiling water.  Boil them for 2 minutes, drain them, and peel the skins off. 

Dry out the pot with a paper towel and return it to the heat.  Add the sesame oil and the garlic cloves.  Cook the garlic over very low heat until it is very soft and golden, about 20 minutes.  Set aside.

Meanwhile, boil the potatoes with a pinch of salt until they are soft, about 20 minutes.  Drain the water.  Put the potatoes through a ricer or a food mill. 

Pour the softened garlic with the oil through the ricer or food mill, too.  Scrape out any garlic left in the bottom of the food mill or ricer and add it to the mix.  The garlic will be so mild that even if there are a few chunks, it will not be overpowering.

Add the wasabi mixture, salt and pepper and stir.  If necessary, return the mixture to the pot and heat over low heat.  Serve hot.

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Cauliflower Soup with Stilton

 
I have been getting my Bon Appetit these days, which the publishers at Conde Nast seem to think will placate me since they decided to close Gourmet.  Unfortunately, it has the opposite effect.  I just look at that magazine each month and think of what I'm missing.  The pictures are not as exciting and neither are the recipes or stories.  I still read some of it, but it just doesn't give me that same jolt of inspiration that I got from Gourmet.

Fortunately, Gabe gave me the new Gourmet cookbook, Gourmet Today, for Christmas.  We recently had a dinner party using only recipes from the book.  This soup was one of our favorites.  Stilton has a mild flavor for a blue, and the amount in this recipe is just right so that it does not overpower the cauliflower. Even Oscar and Chloe, who normally would not eat a piece of blue cheese if it rolled onto the plate in front of them, lapped up this soup.  For those -- like me -- who love blue cheese, a few more crumbles of Stilton on the top is delicious.

The recipe also calls for white pepper.  You might be tempted to substitute black pepper if you don't have any on hand and I'm sure that would be delicious, too.  But I encourage you to try the white pepper.  It has a distinctive flavor that complements the cauliflower nicely.

With more than 1,000 recipes in Gourmet Today, I think I can keep myself occupied for quite a while.

Cauliflower Soup with Stilton
Adapted from Gourmet Today

Serves 6 as a main course
25 minutes preparation time
30 minutes cooking time

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
4 celery stalks, strings removed, and finely sliced
1 medium cauliflower, cut into approximately 1-inch florets
2 bouillon cubes plus 4 cups of water or 4 cups of vegetable stock
2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup crumbled Stilton, plus more for serving
1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

Heat the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat.  Add the onions, celery, and cook until the onion and celery have softened, about 10 minutes.  Add the cauliflower, milk, and stock or water and bouillon and bring to a simmer.  Cover the pot and simmer until the cauliflower is soft, about 25 minutes.  It should fall apart easily when you poke it with a fork.

Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until it is very smooth.  About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve, heat the soup over medium heat.  Add the 2/3 cup of Stilton, salt, and pepper.  Taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed.

Serve with a few more pieces of Stilton crumbled on the top for any one who would like it.

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Trinidadian Garlicky Butternut Squash Mash

 
Our children's babysitter, Rosalyn, is a fabulous cook.  I have posted her recipes for Trinidadian roti and chick pea and potato curry on this site before.  When she has us over to dinner, we fill ourselves up with all of her fantastic dishes, including this incredibly easy butternut squash.  

 
This recipe has just four ingredients, and that's only if you count the olive oil and salt.  The combination, however, is delicious.  I think the secret is waiting to add the garlic with the squash so that it never browns.  It just steams with the squash and when it all gets mashed together it retains much of that garlicky bite.  Fabulous.

 
It makes a great winter or fall side dish.  We often have it with roti as a main course, though.  It is not supposed to be served with the split pea roti that I make, but I don't yet know how to make the bread that better complements it.  Rosalyn showed me once, but I wrote it on a tiny scrap of paper as I followed her around the kitchen and now I can't make sense of it.  One of these days, I will get  the rest of the story and I promise to share it with you.  Until then, serve this with the split pea roti or as a substitute for mashed potatoes. 

Trinidadian Garlicky Butternut Squash Mash 

Don't worry about getting the measurements exactly right for this recipe.  Just use the measurements below as a guideline.  If you have a large squash or if you love garlic, add a bit more. 

Serves 6 as a side dish
10 minutes preparation time
20-30 minutes cooking time

1 medium butternut squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste

Cut the top and bottom off the butternut squash.  Stand it on its bottom end and slice lengthwise.  Peel each half and scoop out the seeds.  Cut the squash into approximately 1/2-inch cubes. 

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add the squash, minced garlic, and salt and stir to coat with the oil.  If the squash looks dry or fibrous, add a few splashes of water.  Cover the pan and cook until the squash is soft, stirring occasionally.  Check the pan after about 10 minutes and if the squash begins to brown or the squash sticks to the pan, add a(nother) splash of water.  Depending on the size of your squash and the dice, it should take between 20 and 30 minutes for the squash to cook.

When the squash is soft, remove it from the heat and mash it with a potato masher.  Serve with roti, flatbread, or as a side dish.

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Coconut-Laced Butternut Squash Soup

It's been cold around here.  I mean bone chillingly cold.  We've had those high winds that get under the pants leg, up the sleeves, and down the collar.  And of course it's so hard to keep that nose warm.  In this weather, when I get home from work, I just want to put my pajamas on, eat a bowl of soup, and stay in the warm cocoon of our house.

This soup is perfect for the season because the coconut gives it a hint of the tropics and the basil adds a touch of summer.  You can still find butternut squash at the farmers' markets if you are brave enough to venture out there.  Gabe went last week (hmmmm, how did I get out of that one?) and the farmers all thanked him for being there.

The soup doesn't take long to make.  Get everything going and then, while it simmers, go put on those pajamas.

Coconut-Laced Butternut Squash Soup

Serves 6
15 minutes preparation time
30 minutes cooking time

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup chopped shallot
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 teaspoons ginger, finely minced
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed (about 5 cups)*
2 small potatoes, peeled and cubed  (about 2 cups)
1 can coconut milk
1 teaspoon salt
15 fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the shallots, garlic, and ginger and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the squash and potatoes and stir for about a minute.  Add the coconut milk, 3 cups of water, and the salt.  Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.  Puree with a hand blender.  Add the basil and lime juice, stir, and serve.

*Butternut squash can be a bit slippery to handle.  My favorite way to cut them is first to slice a small bit off the bottom and the top.  Set the squash upright on a cutting board and with a large, sharp knife cut through it from top to bottom.  Scoop out the seeds.  Peel each half.  Cut each half in slices cross ways and then in the other direction to make cubes.

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Torta Rustica a la Biba

For my first few years as a vegetarian, I was very happy eating all the side dishes at the big holidays.  A girl can do pretty well with mashed potatoes, stuffing, Brussels sprouts, and green beans.  And of course, dessert is always vegetarian. 

But one year, Gabe and I were watching a cooking show with Biba Caggiano, one of our favorite chefs who I have written about before here and here, and we watched her make a beautiful vegetable tart.  Gabe scribbled furiously to try to get the basics down.  I'm not sure that we got it all right, but the version we came up with is delicious.  We made it for Christmas that year, and it has been our main course every year since.  Even some of the meat eaters have confessed that they love it more than the turkey.

 
The tart is layers of roasted red peppers, spinach, mushrooms, and Fontina cheese.  The dough has a bit of wine in it, and the entire combination is fantastic.

One word about the process.  I have always laboriously brushed or wiped my mushrooms so that they don't absorb any water.  But, lately, I've been reading that if you rinse them quickly they don't take in much water at all.  Apparently food scientist Harold McGhee tested how much water is absorbed into mushrooms when you wash them, and it was only a tiny bit.  If it's good enough for McGhee and the man who knows How to Cook Everything, Mark Bittman, I thought it was worth giving it a shot.  I did dry them with a paper towel quickly after washing them, though.  Old habits are hard to break.

 
I'm looking forward to tucking into a piece of this on Christmas.  I still haven't decided what else to make.  So, tell me, what dishes are part of your family's holiday traditions?

Torta Rustica a la Biba

I have made this tart in advance and frozen it.  It is not quite as good as it is fresh, but it's still mighty tasty.

for the dough:
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 10 or so pieces
1/2 cup white wine
1 egg, lightly beaten

for the filling:
4 medium red peppers or 1 16-ounce jar of roasted red peppers
2 pounds fresh spinach, washed thoroughly and large stems removed
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup parmesan
2 talespoons unsalted butter
1 pound crimini mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 pound Fontina cheese, grated
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt and pepper to taste

First, make the dough.  Whisk together the flour and salt.  Work the butter in with your fingers until it ranges in size between large grains of sand and small pebbles.  Add the white wine and egg and mix until it forms a dough.  If you need more liquid, add a splash more wine to get it to hold together.  Roll the dough into a ball and cut it into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other.  Flatten the balls into discs and wrap each in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

While the dough is chilling, make the filling.  I have found that using pre-roasted peppers saves a lot of time and the dish still tastes fabulous.  If you want to roast the peppers yourself, put them on a baking sheet and roast them in the broiler until they are blackened.  Let them cool to room temperature and slip off the skins.  Cut them open and remove the seeds.  Whether you roast your own peppers or buy them pre-roasted, cut them into long, thin strips.  Set aside.

Make sure to wash the spinach thoroughly so you don't get any bits of grit in the torta.  While the spinach is still wet, put it in a large pot and cover it.  Over medium heat, cook it until it wilts completely, about 7 minutes.  Remove it from the pot and drain it in a colander.  When the spinach is cool enough to touch, squeeze out as much water as you can and roughly chop it.  Put it in a medium-sized bowl and mix in the cream and parmesan.  Add salt pepper and taste.  Add more if necessary.  Set aside.

Heat the butter in a saute pan over medium heat and add the garlic.  Cook it for a minute or so, just until it turns golden.  Add the mushrooms and cook them until the water is gone and they are lightly browned, 7 to 10 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

When the dough has chilled, roll out the larger piece on a piece of plastic wrap.  Drape the dough over a rolling pin and slide it into a 9-inch pie plate.  Layer the filling on top of the dough in the following order:  first the mushrooms, then the spinach mixture, then the red peppers and, finally, the grated Fontina.  Roll out the smaller piece of dough and cover the pie with it.  Trim the edges, leaving enough dough so that the top piece can fold under the bottom one.  Crimp the edges of the crust and cut a few small slits in the top. Brush the top crust with the egg.  If you would like to make a decorative topping, re-roll the scraps and use a cookie cutter to cut out the shape of your choice.  Add it to the top of the torta and brush it with egg.

Bake the torta until it is beautifully browned, 45 to 55 minutes.  Let it sit for a couple of minutes before serving.

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Borlotti Bean Minestrone

We had just enough snow this past weekend to help me switch gears from Thanksgiving to the upcoming holidays.  Usually when snow is in the forecast, the whole town gets worked up only to get a few flurries.  But this time, the kids took all the necessary steps.  They wore their pajamas inside out, put spoons under their pillows, and put ice cubes in the sink (apparently, they are supposed to get flushed down the toilet, but in this old house with its many plumbing quirks, Gabe decided that a slow melt in the sink would be safer).  And the snow came.  It was not much, but it was enough for a bit of sledding, a few snowballs, and a tiny snowman.  It got all of us excited and in a winter mood.

We celebrate Christmas, and for the last few years we have headed out to the country to cut down our own tree.  We have tried a few different farms over the years, but this year we went back to Maynes which has a big selection, but still feels like a family farm.  The ground was very muddy, but once Olivia said that it looked like chocolate butter cream, we all liked it a lot better.  A few turns at the saw for each of us, and we had ourselves a beautiful tree.  In fact, Gabe and I thought it was the best tree we have ever had, but apparently the kids have heard that before.

This minestrone is perfect for a day of sawing trees, chopping wood, or playing in the snow.  Or even a day staying inside playing games, for that matter.  It is hearty, filling and delicious.  I used borlotti beans that I had gotten from Rancho Gordo, but you could easily substitute kidney or even cannellini beans.  It takes a bit of chopping up front, but the rest of the cooking time it just simmers and you only need to give it an occasional stir.

"Minestrone" is a derivation of the Italian word "minestra" which means soup.  The -one suffix usually means big, so a minestrone is a bigger, heartier soup, with less broth.  I asked Gabe about other Italian -one words.  A calzone is a large calza (sock).  Tortellone are large tortellini.  You get the idea.  And how interesting that Al Capone (his given name as far as I can tell), was one of the biggest mafia bosses, or capo, of all time. 

From snow to mafia bosses.  My mind does wander, doesn't it?

Borlotti Bean Minestrone

Serves 6
30 minutes preparation time
Approximately 3 hours cooking time

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, minced
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 potatoes, chopped
1 cup dried borlotti beans or 2 15-ounce cans kidney beans or 1 cup dried kidney beans, soaked overnight
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes with their juice, preferably San Marzano, chopped
1 parmesan rind (optional)
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
2 cups frozen peas
1 Savoy cabbage, finely sliced
1 cup uncooked rice
6 fresh sage leaves, chopped
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
freshly grated parmesan cheese for serving

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large soup pot and add the garlic, onion, parsley, celery, carrots, potatoes, borlotti beans, tomatoes, and parmesan rind.  Stir for a couple of minutes to coat the vegetables with oil.  Add 10 cups of water and bring it to a boil.  Lower the heat, cover, and let the soup simmer for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.  Add the cabbage and peas and cook for about 15 minutes.  Add the rice and cook until it is tender, about 20 minutes.  Stir in the sage and basil and serve immediately.

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Caldo Verde (Portugese Potato and Kale Soup)

I don't know about you, but after the heavenly excess of this past weekend, my pants are feeling a bit snug.  I need some simple food, and what better to satisfy that need than soup.  This soup only has four ingredients, but they are in perfect balance for a pure, nourishing meal.  I find it fantastic on a cold, rainy night, or when I feel a cold coming on.  The kale tastes fresh and green and adds to the soup's restorative powers.  It's also extremely easy and quick to make so it will give you a break if you have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

My mother learned to make this soup when my father was posted in Portugal in the mid-70s.  She made it many times when we were growing up, and now it is comfort food for me.  The Portugese sometimes make it with sausage, but we never did, and it's delicious as it is.

For some reason both of my girls will eat kale.  Even Chloe, who turns up her nose at food most kids love--trying to make a cookie that girl will eat is quite a challenge--laps up this soup.  And while I was cooking, Chloe entertained herself with the potato peels, starting with a nest and progressing to a face with eyebrows.

 
I'm still working on getting Oscar to like caldo verde, but maybe after a few more bowls, he will see the light.  As for me, it is exactly what I need to get myself in shape before I start that holiday baking.

Caldo Verde

The flavors of this soup are very mild so it will be best if you use fresh kale, sufficient salt, and a tasty olive oil.

Serves 6
10 minutes preparation time
25 minutes cooking time

3-4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
5 cups kale, stems removed and finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons good quality olive oil

Put the potatoes in a medium-sized soup pot and cover them with water by about 1 inch.  Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook uncovered until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.  Mash the potatoes into the water.

About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve the soup, add the kale and the salt.  Cook the kale for 4 to 5 minutes or until the greens are tender but still retain a bit of crunch.  The soup should be thick but if it needs more liquid, add a bit more water.  Add the olive oil.  Taste for seasoning and add more salt, if you like.  Serve hot. 

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Pear Tarte Tatin

While we're on the subject of dessert, here's another recipe for a classic with a twist.  For those of you not familiar with Tarte Tatin, it is a caramelized tart, usually made with apples.  To mix things up, I make it with pears.  The flavors are very pure, and the combination of the caramel, fruit, and crust is luscious.  It would make an excellent addition to any Thanksgiving spread.

 
The technique for making tarte tatin is different from most tarts.  You start by caramelizing the fruit in a skillet on the stove top, then cover the fruit with dough and finish cooking it in the oven.  When the tart has cooked, you flip it over to serve it so that the crust ends up on the bottom. 

The trick is to cook the sugar at a high enough heat that it caramelizes but not so hot that it burns.  I admit that I do not make this tart perfectly.  The caramel on that top picture should be a bit darker.  But this is one of those cases where perfection should not stand in the way of the good, the very good, actually.  I've made the caramel too dark and I've made it too light.  If the sugar gets very dark, you may or may not like the intense flavor of the sugar, but with a scoop of ice cream, I think it is delicious.  If the apples don't caramelize completely, after you turn the tarte onto the serving plate, you can just spoon any remaining liquid over the top.  Either way, it's fantastic.

If you have never tried making tarte tatin, channel your inner Julia Child and fearlessly go for it.  The results will be delicious and gorgeous, even if it's not perfect.  Perfection is overrated, anyway, isn't it?  

Pear Tarte Tatin

For the dough:
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into about 10 pieces
1 egg

For the filling:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4-5 Bosc pears (depending on the size of your skillet)
whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for serving (optional)

Pulse the flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt together in a food processor.  Add the butter and pulse until the butter ranges in size from that of a small pebble to that of cornmeal.  Empty the flour mixture into a bowl, and crack the egg on top.  Lightly scramble the egg and then, using your hands, work it into the dough until the dough starts to come together.  Roll the dough into a ball, and then flatten it into a disc about 4 inches around.  Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes.

When you are ready to cook the tart, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Heat the butter in an 8 or 10-inch oven-proof skillet over medium heat.  When the butter has melted, sprinkle the sugar evenly over the pan.  Add the pears cut side down with their fatter sides towards the outside of the pan.  Squeeze in as many as you can because they will reduce slightly in size as they cook. Trim one pear half to fit in the middle. 

Turn the heat up to high and cook the pears until the sugar turns a rich, golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Rotate the pan if needed to ensure that the sugar browns evenly.  If the sugar begins to get darker than a medium brown, turn the heat down slightly.  Remove the pan from the heat, and, using two forks, carefully turn the pears over so that their cut sides face up.  Return them to the high heat and cook until the sugar is a deep caramel brown, about 5 minutes. 

While the pears are cooking, roll the dough out into a circle that is about an inch larger than the diameter of your pan.  When the pears are done, remove the pan from the heat and carefully drape the dough over the pan.  Taking care not to burn your fingers, tuck the edge of the dough along the side of the pan.  If you have measured accurately, the dough should just fit with a bit extra to slip down into the sides. If you do what I usually do and roll it a bit too big, just squeeze it into the pan.  Don't worry if the dough is a bit lumpy because this will be the underside of the tart when you are done.  Place the pan in the oven and let it cook until the crust is lightly browned, 25 to 30 minutes. 

Remove the pan from the oven and let the tart cool for 15 minutes or more.  Place a large serving plate over the top of the pan.  With oven mitts or pot holders, pick up the pan with the plate on top and quickly flip the pan over so that the tart inverts onto the plate.  I recommend that you do this over a surface that is easy to clean (or the sink) because more than once a bit of caramel has oozed out of the side as I flip the pan.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

If you make the tart in advance and would like to serve it warm, you can reheat it in a warm oven -- say 250 to 300 degrees -- just before serving. 

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Vegetable Shepherd's Pie

 
It was a sad day the day I learned that Gourmet was shuttering its doors.  I loved getting my copy each month, and I would lie in bed, reading stories of adventures half a world away and folding the corners of the pages with recipes I wanted to try.  And drinking in the pictures.  Ah, those pictures.  They conveyed delicious food, but also the beauty of raw ingredients and the occasions for serving them. 

It seems short-sighted to assume that a magazine that endured World War II, several recessions, and the increased popularity of pre-packaged foods couldn't endure this recession.  But what do a million readers know that a few high priced consultants don't?  So that's the end of that.

 
Gourmet's last issue was the November one.  It had been written prior to the decision to close the magazine, so there is no farewell from Ruth Reichl or even a hint that it was the end.  Perhaps it is fitting, though, that the last issue was the Thanksgiving issue, full of recipes for that most traditional and universal of our country's holidays. 

When I started to think about what I would make for our vegetarian Thanksgiving entree, Gourmet's Shepherd's Pie recipe was the obvious choice.  We made it for a dinner party to test it out, and it was the perfect hearty, delicious meal to serve in the fall.  It is made with the season's root vegetables, including onions, parsnips, carrots, celery root, and potatoes.  The base for the stew is a rich red wine broth, and the topping is rich, creamy, and lightly browned.   

Maybe someone will bring Gourmet back, with or without the name.  Until then, I still have my back issues and my Gourmet Cookbook.  With a single exception, everything I have made out of this book has been great.  (I still can't figure out why their yellow cake recipe is such a dud, but that is a story for another day).  One of these days I will splurge for the new Gourmet Today cookbook, too, but for now, I will eat my way through my stash of recipes, savoring every bite.

 
Vegetable Shepherd's Pie

The stew and the potatoes can both be made in advance.  Before transferring the stew to the casserole dish, bring it to a simmer until it is heated through.  Heat the mashed potatoes over low heat on the stovetop, stirring frequently so they do not scorch, or in the microwave until they are warm.

You can substitute canned beans for the dried beans, although they will not hold their shape as well as the dried ones. 

Serves 8
30 minutes hours preparation time
1 hour 45 minutes cooking time, plus 1 1/2 to 2 hours if using dried beans

for the stew:
1 generous cup dried flageolet beans or pre-soaked cannellini beans or 2 15-ounce cans cannellini 
beans
1 sprig parsley
1 sprig rosemary
10 ounces pearl onions (about 20)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium leeks, cut lengthwise, sliced, and rinsed
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 pound crimini mushrooms, wiped or brushed and sliced
4 medium carrots, cubed (about 4 cups)
3 medium parsnips, cubed (about 3 cups)
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
2 tablespoons thyme leaves
1 750-ml full bodied red wine, such as a Cotes du Rhone
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons flour
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste

for the potato topping:
5 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 6 cups)
2 celery root heads, peeled and cubed (about 2 cups)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste

If you are using flageolet beans, put them in a small stockpot with sprigs of parsley and rosemary and cover them generously with water.  Bring the beans to a boil, add a few shakes of salt, reduce the heat, and simmer until the beans are tender.  I used my Rancho Gordo flageolet beans, which cook more quickly than supermarket dried beans, and they cooked in 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  If you are using dried cannellini beans, soak them overnight first and they too should cook in 1 1/2 to 2 hours. 

Bring a small pot of water to a boil.  Add the pearl onions and let them cook for about 2 minutes.  Drain and run cold water over them until they're cool.  Peel them.  Gourmet's recipe calls for leaving them whole, but ours were larger than bite-sized.  Next time I will cut them into halves or quarters, leaving the root end intact if possible.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the leeks and a pinch of salt.  Stir to coat them with the oil, cover the pot, and let them cook until they are tender, about 6 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.  Stir in the mushrooms and a couple more pinches of salt and let them cook just until they start to release some liquid, about 6 minutes.  Add the carrots, parsnips, rosemary, and thyme.  Cover the pot and cook the vegetables until they begin to soften, stirring occasionally, 10 to 12 minutes.  Remove the vegetables from the pot and set them aside.

Pour the bottle of wine into the same pot, bring it to a simmer and let it cook until it has reduced to about 1 cup, approximately 20 minutes.  In a small bowl, mix together the butter and flour to form a paste (or, as Gourmet calls it, a beurre manie).  Add the vegetable broth to the wine, warm it, and add the beurre manie.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture begins to thicken, about 5 minutes.  Add the beans, pearl onions, and vegetable mixture.  If you are using canned beans, drain and rinse them, and add them at this point.  Cover the pot and let the mixture simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the chopped parsley and stir.

Meanwhile, prepare the potato filling.  Put the potatoes and celery root chunks in a pot with enough water to cover generously.  Add a couple of pinches of salt to the water and bring it to a boil.  Simmer until the vegetables are tender, 20 to 25 minutes. 

While the potatoes are cooking, melt the butter in a small stock pot.  Add the milk and cream and heat the mixture, but remove it from the heat before it simmers. 

When the potatoes and celery root are finished, drain the water and mash them.  Add the cream mixture and mash again. 

Just before you are ready to serve the casserole, preheat the oven to broil.  Pour the stew into the bottom of a large casserole pan.  Layer the mashed potatoes on top.  Broil until the top of the potato layer is golden brown, about 5 minutes.  Serve immediately.

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Roasted Beet, Cucumber, and Feta Salad

There are lots of ways to divide the world.  You know, those who love cats and those who don't; those who wear turtlenecks all winter and those who won't.  But lately, I've been thinking about those who love beets and those who hate them.  There doesn't seem to be anyone in between. 

I happen to be one of the ones who loves them.  They are a gorgeous color, easy to cook, and have a wonderful, sweet, earthy taste.  What's not to love?  Beets and goat cheese are an excellent combination.  This salad combines those sweet beets with tangy feta, crunchy cucumbers, and a dill vinaigrette.  It is the perfect fall salad. 

I had high hopes that the children would enjoy this dish.  Last fall, they were willing to try beets after they harvested their own.  We were at a pick-your-own farm and the kids went wild pulling the beets out of the ground.  I had to stop them after they had pulled about 30 beets because, even for a beet lover like me, that is a lot of beets. 

But my hopes were a bit too high.  Olivia was willing to try the salad and loved it.  We convinced Oscar to eat some of the cucumber that had touched a beet, but the beet itself went uneaten.  And Chloe just stared that salad down without even a nibble.  But Gabe and I thought it was delicious, so I thought it was worth sharing, just in case there are some beet lovers in your house.

Roasted Beet, Feta, and Cucumber Salad

Serves 6 as a side salad
10 minutes preparation time
20-45 minutes baking time

6 medium beets, preferably an assortment of colors, scrubbed
1 1/2 seedless cucumbers, washed
1/2 pound feta

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Wrap beets in foil and roast them on a cookie sheet until they are tender when pierced with a fork.  The cooking time will vary according to the size of the beets, but will likely take between 20 and 45 minutes. 

While the beets are cooking, make the dressing.  Whisk together the vinegar, salt, and pepper.  Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking continuously, so that it emulsifies.  Add the dill, and whisk again.

When the beets are finished cooking, remove them from the oven and let them cool.  When they are cool enough to handle, remove the foil and slip off their skins.  Slice the beets across into rounds (latitudinally) and then cut the rounds into quarters (the result will be pie-shaped pieces).  Slice the cucumber the same way, first into rounds and then into quarters. 

In a medium-sized bowl, toss the cucumbers with half of the dressing.  Add the beets and toss briefly.  Break the feta into chunks and stir them gently into the cucumbers and beets.  Taste.  Add more dressing and adjust the seasoning to your liking.

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Pumpkin Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

 
Months ago, we planned a camping trip for this past weekend.  I envisioned hiking under the changing leaves, with crisp nights and warm fires.  Instead, the weather turned miserably cold and rainy.  We watched all week hoping the forecast would change, but by Thursday it was clear that the front was coming to stay.  So we called it.  We were all disappointed, but I'm just not tough enough to pitch a tent and cook when it's a wet 45 degrees outside.

Oscar did venture out during one downpour long enough to collect one of the cooking pumpkins that was decorating our steps.  Olivia had a friend over and, together with Chloe, they devised an elaborate game that kept them occupied for hours.  That gave Oscar and me an opportunity to spend some time together, just the two of us.  I do treasure the times that -- by happenstance or by design -- I get to spend with just one of my children. 

 
We made excellent use of our time by whipping up a batch of pumpkin cupcakes.  I love to use fresh pumpkin for baking.  It really doesn't take that much longer, especially because the pumpkin can be easily cooked in advance and refrigerated for a few days or frozen for a very long time.  I usually steam or bake it, remove it from the shell, mash it, and freeze it in 2-cup batches.  This time, my 7-ish pound pumpkin yielded 6 cups of pumpkin, enough for three baking projects.  The flavor of fresh pumpkin is more delicate and, well, fresher.  These cupcakes are airy and nicely spiced, and the hint of lemon in the frosting is an excellent complement to the pumpkin.

Instead of camping, we had our black bean and monterey jack casserole at the cozy home of the friends that were supposed to be our camping cohorts.  We sat around their fireplace, chatted, drank red wine, and played mahjong.  The children still got their slumber party, and we all got to eat these cupcakes. 

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

The pumpkin for this recipe can be cooked in advance and stored in the refrigerator for a few days or in the freezer for several months.  The frosting can also be prepared in advance.  Just leave it at room temperature to soften to spreading consistency.

Makes about 18 cupcakes
1 hour preparation time (including cooking the pumpkin and making the frosting)
20 minutes baking time

for the pumpkin cupcakes:
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs at room temperature
1 small pumpkin (or 1 16-ounce can)
3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

for the frosting:
1 stick butter at room temperature
1 1/2 8-ounce packages cream cheese at room temperature
1 pound confectioners' sugar
5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (or more to taste)

If you are using fresh pumpkin, cut the pumpkin in half and clean out the seeds and all that stringy stuff that must have a name, but I don't know it.  Separate out the seeds and save them for roasting.  Cut the pumpkin a few more times so that the pieces are small enough to fit in a large stock pot.  Put an inch or two of water in the bottom of the pot.  Cover the pot and bring the water to a boil.  Turn it down and let the pumpkin steam until it is soft, about 20 minutes. 

Remove the pumpkin chunks from the pot and, when they are cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh out of the shell.  Mash it finely with a potato masher.  Keep 2 cups of the pumpkin for this recipe and refrigerate or freeze the rest.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Fill a muffin pan with paper cupcake holders.

In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together at medium-high speed until fluffy and lighter in color, about 5 to 6 minutes.  Add the vanilla and eggs, and mix until combined.  Add the pumpkin (fresh or canned) and mix again. 

In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the remaining ingredients and mix them with a whisk.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  Spoon the batter into the cupcake holders.  Bake until the cupcakes have risen and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 20 minutes.  Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool. 

To make the frosting, cream together the butter and cream cheese in a mixer at medium high speed.  Sift in the confectioners' sugar and blend it at low speed with the cream cheese mixture.  Add the lemon juice and blend again.  Taste and add more lemon juice if you like.

When the cupcakes have cooled to room temperature, frost them. 

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Acorn Squash Stuffed with Curried Lentils

I bought acorn squash at the farmers' market a couple of weeks ago (one of the perks of squash is that they last!).  Their round, pleated shape is just adorable and their presence at the market screams, "autumn is here!"  I think they are tasty as a side dish with a bit of butter, salt, and pepper, but when we served them to the children that way recently, they were not convinced. 

So, naturally, curry came to mind. 

Our kids love curry, a fact that was recently brought home when Rosalyn invited us over for a Trinidadian feast.  Rosalyn was our children's babysitter for many years, and we are still close.  One of her many fine qualities is that she is a fabulous cook.  She introduced our children to curry at a young age, which I think is incredible.  I didn't know what curry was when I was a child, and I certainly wouldn't have known what roti was.  What a different world they live in.

At Rosalyn's house, we stuffed ourselves with long beans, pumpkin, dumplings, spinach fritters, fried eggplant and, of course, roti.  But our children's favorite is still her chickpea and potato curry.  This recipe is no match for Rosalyn's cooking, but it made a tasty autumn treat.  And at Olivia's request, we had our first turn-out-all-the-lights-in-the-house-and-eat-by-candlelight dinner.  Delicious.

Acorn Squash Stuffed with Curried Lentils

Serves 6 as a main course
25 minutes preparation time
45 minutes cooking time

3 acorn squash
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped shallots
5 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons curry
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
3 carrots, scrubbed and sliced
1 red pepper, cored and diced
1 teaspoon salt
a few fresh grinds of pepper
1 1/2 cups small French lentils

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Cut the squash in half from top to bottom (through the stem) and remove the seeds.  Lay the squash face down on a large rimmed baking sheet.  Put them in the oven and pour a bit of water onto the baking sheet.  The water should just coat most of the sheet.  Depending on the size of the baking sheet, this could be from 1 to 2 cups of water.  Bake the squash until they are tender but still hold their shape, about 20 minutes.  Remove them from the oven and let them cool a bit.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. 

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large saute pan.  Add the shallots and garlic and cook until they begin to soften, 2 to 3 minutes.  Mix curry with 2 tablespoons of water and add it to the pan.  Add the thyme and stir.  Add the carrots and red pepper and stir until they are coated with the curry.  Add the salt and pepper, the lentils and about 3 cups of water and stir.  Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the lentils are tender, approximately 20 minutes.  Keep an eye on the lentils as they simmer and, if needed, add a bit more water to make sure there is enough to maintain the simmer.

When the squash have cooled enough to handle, scoop the flesh out of the shells, leaving just enough to allow the shells to hold their shape.  Coarsley chop the flesh and stir it in with the lentils.  Fill the squash shells with the lentil mixture.  Depending on the size of your squash, there may be more filling than you need (save it for quesadillas or to eat with rice).  Return the stuffed squash to the oven and heat until they are warmed through.  If the lentils are fairly hot when you stuff the shells this will only take about 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

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Chunky Apple Muffins

With fall in the air, I've been excited to bake again.  Fall baking summons those warm spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, the perfect complements to apples and pumpkins.  And with cooler temperatures, I'm happy to turn the oven on again.  Baking warms up the house, and the smell of something delicious in the oven invites us in so that we are happy to be indoors and don't have a chance to miss the warmth and long nights of summer.

 
These muffins are hearty, with more fruit and nuts than batter.  They may be funny-looking, but each bite is a mouthful of goodness.  The recipe is inspired by Marion Cunningham's Raw Apple Muffins originally published in her Breakfast Book and reprinted in Gourmet.  Marion Cunningham is one of my culinary heros.  She thinks people should cook at home and has devoted  much of her life to getting more of us to do that.  David Lebovitz wrote this wonderful tribute to her.  If you have a minute, check it out.  It is inspiring.  

Marion Cunningham also overhauled the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, the 1983 version of which I inherited from my grandmother.  The cookbook is loaded with recipes for many basic foods, and I turn to it again and again.  My copy of the book is also filled with recipes that my grandmother wrote on cards and clipped from newspapers and magazines.  My favorite souvenir is the 1963 accounting from my grandmother's women's group, the Aloha Club, complete with menus and an expense accounting.  (Why this 1963 accounting appears in a 1983 cookbook, I cannot understand.  Did she save it for 20 years?)

 
When I made these muffins this time, I only made one version.  Sometimes I make multiple variations of a recipe to appeal to each child.  The last time I made almond granola, I ended up with three batches, one with everything, one with nuts but no raisins, and one with raisins but no nuts.  But this time, in the vain hope that the children might just eat them as they were intended, I told them that they could just pick out anything they didn't like.  The muffins smelled so good when they were baking that they were unfazed.  And the perk has been that when Chloe picks out all her walnuts, she passes them to me.  Yum.

Chunky Apple Muffins

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 cups (4-5 medium) tart apples, skins on, cored and diced
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup raisins
1 cup walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with baking cups or oil them.  In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla.  Add the apples and syrup to the egg-oil mixture and mix well.  Add the flour mixture and stir until just mixed.  The batter will be very stiff.  Stir in the raisins and walnuts.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling each about 3/4 cup full.  Make sure that there is a sufficient amount of batter in each cup to hold the fruit and nuts.  Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, approximately 25 minutes.  Let the muffins cool in the muffin tins for a few minutes, and then turn them out onto a rack to cool completely.

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Saturday Lunch

We developed a new lunch tradition over the summer.  Like all of our best family traditions, it was one that just evolved without any foresight or planning on our part. 

Somehow, we just started having these terrific, fresh, delicious lunches together on Saturdays.  We usually start our Saturday with a trip to the farmers' market.  We pick up a baguette there, some fruit, and fresh peppers or other veggies.  Then we add to that any leftovers from the fridge, maybe a ricotta from the farmers' market or one we made, or some other cheese.  Then we just munch our way through the bounty. 

Even in Montreal on vacation this summer, one of my favorite meals was the one we foraged at the Atwater Farmers' Market.

Last week, it was figs, peppers, a bit of leftover basil hummus, bread, cheese, and an applesauce that I made quickly from the apples that got banged up on the bike trip home from the market. 

 
I love the freshness of the food and the spontaneous way these lunches come together.  It's fun to eat a bit of this and a smidge of that.  But most of all, I like the way these meals bring our family together for an hour in the middle of the weekend, when we are often pulled in different directions.  It is already becoming more difficult to maintain this tradition as we get deeper into the activities and obligations that compete for our attention during the school year.  But I see an open spot on tomorrow's calendar, and I'm going to keep looking for those opportunities.  I hope you have a delicious weekend. 

Zuccanoes

I first came across this idea for stuffed zucchini in the original Moosewood Cookbook.  The original cookbook no longer seems available on Amazon (they now offer a New Moosewood Cookbook, which is an updated version of the original), although I'm sure you could track down a copy on the web.  Not all of the recipes in the book have stood the test of time, but it has many great ones.  And it was one of the first cookbooks to demonstrate that vegetarian cooking wasn't just about seeds and sprouts;  it also could be delicious. 

Harvest Vegetable Tart with Parmesan Crust

This time of year I go a bit crazy at the farmers' market.  There is such an abundance of vegetables that I love that I buy more than even this family of hearty appetites can reasonably consume in a week.  I bounce from vendor to vendor, loading up my bags with goodies that catch my eye or strike the fancy of one of my wee ones.  We do our best to polish them off, but by the end of the week, I often have vegetables left over that I haven't yet used.  And I always want to finish them up so that I can go back to the market and shop some more.  (For those of you in the Silver Spring/Takoma Park area, check out the Wednesday Crossroads market.  It's small but has a good offering of the season's vegetables, and I found it much less expensive than many other markets in the area).

This recipe is perfect for using up those late summer vegetables.  I love it with eggplant, zucchini, peppers, and tomatoes because they all share that delicious summer flavor that goes so well with basil.  You can create endless variations of this recipe, though, according to the tastes of your family or whatever is in your CSA share.

For most of the recipes I post, I try to keep the recipes simple.  But sometimes a more complicated, celebratory recipe is what I want to make.  And eat, of course.  This tart is not a simple weeknight meal.  It takes a couple of hours from beginning to end, but the result is worth it.  It is a special meal to serve as a Sunday supper, share with friends, or celebrate the bounty of the harvest.

This weekend, go out, shop, bring home your own haul, and make this tart! 

Harvest Vegetable Tart with Parmesan Crust

30 minutes preparation time
1 hour 30 minutes cooking time

This recipe calls for the vegetables to be grilled, but if you don't have a grill, you could roast the vegetables instead.  The crust and grilled vegetables can both be prepared ahead and stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

for the dough:
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup parmesan
1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into about 10 pieces
1/2 cup white wine
1 egg

for the filling:
1 large zucchini, sliced into rounds
3-4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 large eggplant, sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds
2 red, yellow, or orange peppers
15 basil leaves
1 fist-sized mozzarella ball, cut into slices
1 medium tomato, sliced thinly
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 egg, lightly beaten

First make the dough:  Combine the flour, salt and parmesan in a large bowl.  Add the butter pieces.  Rub the butter between your fingers and incorporate it into the flour mixture until it varies in size from grains of sand to small pebbles.  Add the wine and egg, and mix with a fork or your hands until the dough comes together.  Shape the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk, and wrap it in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate the dough until it is firm, at least 1 hour and up to a few days.

Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables:  First turn the grill on high and let it heat for about 10 minutes.  Toss the zucchini slices in a bowl with 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil, and a sprinkle each of salt and pepper.  In another bowl, mix 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil with a few shakes of salt and pepper.  Brush both sides of the eggplant slices with the olive oil mixture.

When the grill is hot, place the peppers whole on the back of the grill.  Turn them a few times and cook them until their skin is black and blistered all over, about 15 to 20 minutes.  Arrange the zucchini and eggplant slices evenly over the heat. I set a perforated grill tray (similar to this one) on top of our grill surface to keep the zucchini and smaller eggplant slices from falling through.  Cook the vegetables until they are browned and tender, about 2-3 minutes on each side for the zucchini and 3-5 minutes on each side for the eggplant. 

When the peppers are done, set them aside to cool, and when they are cool enough to handle, peel off their skins.  Slice them open, remove the seeds and cut them lengthwise into strips.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly flour a large baking sheet and roll out the dough on it into a large circle, 12 or more inches.  Leaving a 2- to 3-inch border around the edge, layer the vegetables in this order:  eggplant, zucchini, peppers.  Add the whole basil leaves and then cover with slices of mozzarella.  Layer the tomato slices on top of the mozzarella and sprinkle them with the parmiggiano. 

Fold up the edges of the tart so that they partially cover the tart filling.  Brush the top of the dough with egg.  Bake until the crust is nicely browned, approximately 50 minutes.

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Bean Quesadillas with Avocado Salsa

Some weeks we are very organized about the children's lunches, shopping especially for them on the weekend.  And some weekends are chaotic and we don't get our planning done.  Quesadillas are one of those lunches that we usually can pull together with what we have on hand.  We almost always have a few tortillas in the refrigerator or freezer and a can of refried beans in the cupboard.  With those and a bit of child-friendly cheese such as cheddar, we can put together quesadillas for lunch in a few minutes.

Although we often send quesadillas just as they are or with a bit of prepared salsa, the other morning I had a bit of extra time and an abundance of fresh tomatoes, so I made a quick tomato and avocado salsa.  The salsa added a bit of freshness to their lunch boxes, and with a piece of fruit and a bottle of water, the lunches were on their way. 

You could also use this recipe to make a quick meal, or hold the quesadillas and double or triple the salsa recipe to serve with chips at a party.

Bean Quesadillas with Avocado Salsa

Serves 3 children
15 minutes preparation time
4-6 minutes cooking time

3 large flour tortillas
6 tablespoons shredded cheddar, or other mild cheese
1/2 can vegetarian refried pinto or black beans
1/2 avocado, diced
1 medium tomato, diced
1 tablespoon chopped white onion
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
pinch or two of salt
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro (optional)

Lay the tortillas flat and spread approximately 2 tablespoons of beans on half of each.  Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of shredded cheese over each half, too, and fold the tortilla in half.  Heat a large frying pan or griddle over medium-high heat. Cook the folded quesadillas until they are lightly browned and the cheese has melted, approximately 2 or 3 minutes on each side.  Set them aside.  When they have cooled to room temperature, cut each quesadilla into 3 or 4 wedges.

To make the salsa, toss the diced tomato, onion, and avocado in a bowl with the lime juice, salt, and cilantro, if you are using it.  Taste and adjust the seasoning, lime juice, or cilantro to suit your taste.

Assemble the quesadilla wedges and salsa in separate containers, and pop them into the lunch boxes.

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Basil Pesto

If you've been reading this site for a bit now, you know that our yard has very little sun and we have had no success growing vegetables at home.  That is what led me to embark on our far away gardening project.  One year, though, our children's babysitter, Rosalyn, gave me a few basil plants.  Given our track record, I was pessimistic, but I planted them in different sites, hoping one of them would grow.  By late August, they were enormous.   It turned out that the best spot is right along the road in front of our house, a spot now shared by a basketball pole.  We ate basil with tomatoes that summer, and we also made a lot of pesto. 

So much pesto that I froze a few batches.  It was wonderful to take some of that pesto out of the freezer in the dead of winter and have a meal that tasted of summer.  Now one of our end-of-summer traditions is to make several batches of pesto for the freezer.  We use them for pasta, of course, but it also delicious on pizza, sandwiches, or stirred into soup.  Of course, if you don't have basil in your garden, you can pick some up at the farmers' market or the grocery store.

 

This recipe makes a traditional Genovese basil pesto.  It is adapted from the recipe of one of our favorite cookbooks, Biba Caggiano's Trattoria Cooking.  Every recipe we have made from this book has been excellent, and I think this pesto has the perfect balance of garlic and basil.  Most recently, we tossed the pesto with whole wheat fettucine and slow-roasted tomatoes made with Smitten Kitchen's recipe, which added little bursts of sweetness.  Delicious!

Basil Pesto

Adapted from Biba Caggiano's Trattoria Cooking

If you are making pesto to freeze, don't add the parmigiano at this point; add it after the frozen pesto has thawed.  I freeze this pesto in individual batches in quart-size freezer bags.  To thaw it, set the bag in a bowl of hot water.  As the water cools, replace the hot water a few times.  It should take no more than 15 minutes to defrost. 

Makes approximately 3/4 cup, enough for 1 pound of pasta
20 minutes preparation time 

3 cups basil leaves
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup grated parmigiano (omit if freezing)

Put all of the ingredients except the parmigiano in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until the mixture is well-incorporated, but still a bit chunky.  Pour into a bowl and stir in the parmigiano.  Taste, and add more salt if you like (the pesto should be fairly salty, especially if you are tossing it with pasta). 

Fig and Port Jam

Fresh figs are a rare treat for me.  I love their gentle, subtle sweetness.  Biting into one is a delight, with its soft texture on the outside, and burst of tiny crunchy seeds on the inside.  I remember being with Gabe in Positano, Italy, the city where we got engaged -- Propositano, Sarah dubbed it -- and making a delicious lunch of bread, cheese, and fresh figs.  Heaven. 

That day seems so long ago in many ways.  When I look back on times like that, I often wonder, where were the children?  Of course, there just weren't any for us yet, but it's hard to remember what that feels like.  My natural instinct is to try to weave them into the memory.

Biting into a fresh fig transports me.  But a person can only eat so many fresh figs, especially when there is such a variety of fantastic fresh fruits and vegetables available this time of year.  This recipe preserves (I couldn't resist the pun!) the flavor of those fresh figs so that they can be enjoyed for weeks to come.  I added just a bit of port to bring out that rich, almost fermented taste that is part of their natural flavor.  It is perfect on toast by itself, with cream cheese or ricotta, or served on the side of a cheese plate.

Fig and Port Jam

Makes approximately 2 cups of jam
10 minutes preparation time
40 minutes cooking time, plus time for cooling

approximately 20 fresh figs
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon port wine

Wash the figs.  Cut the stem ends off the figs and quarter them.  Mix them with the sugar and 1 tablespoon of the port.  Heat the mixture in a covered pot over low heat until it releases some liquid, then bring the mixture to a simmer.  Let the mixture simmer gently until the figs are quite soft and the jam has thickened, about 40 minutes.  At one or two points during the cooking process, mash the mixture with a potato masher.  When the figs are meltingly soft, add the last teaspoon of port and stir.

Remove the pan from the heat and let the jam cool.  Transfer to a jar for storage.

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Back to School and Moro Bean, Tomato, and Basil Salad

Chloe, our youngest, started kindergarten today and, although I knew it was coming, I'm still reeling.  She had been nervous, but by yesterday her siblings' enthusiasm had rubbed off on her and she said she couldn't wait to start kindergarten.  By the time we actually arrived today, it was a different story.  The practice at our elementary school is to have the kindergarten children gather in front of the school.  Of course, all of us parents were there too, taking pictures and soaking up this last time with our kindergartners before they take this big step.  In the middle of all this commotion, Chloe was clinging to Gabe and me.  Our efforts to encourage her and get her to notice her classmates were unsuccessful. 

When it was time for her class to go into the school, she protested.  But then she took a deep breath, turned and walked with the class.  She glanced back, though, and that was enough to unleash the tears.  She didn't run back to us, but stood where she was, no longer able to move into the building.  I didn't know what to do.  How many times as a parent will I face this dilemma?  Do I do what I really want to do, scoop her up, hug her, and bring her home?  Or do I encourage her to take that step that seems so difficult and move away from us and onto the next experience?

I walked over, took her hand, and told her I would take her to her teacher.  We caught up, and I traded my child's hand for the school supplies that the teacher was carrying.  I got the short end of that stick.  Then I waited as the children all went into the classroom.  When I thought the coast was clear, I brought the supplies up and put them into the back of the classroom.  I had forgotten that the children would still be at their cubbies, putting away their shiny new backpacks.  There was Chloe, looking so forlorn.  I knew I should turn away before she saw me, but I couldn't without one more look.  She saw me there, and for a second, her eyes lit up as if to say, "You realized your mistake, now come and get me!"  I forced a smile, blew her a kiss and ducked out of the door. 

And then I cried my way home.  I heard Alice Walker say once that the process of mothering is a continual distancing of our children from us.  I thought of this as I walked through the school today, seeing the faces of all of those kindergartners with their wide, expectant eyes, and a child, new to the school this year, holding back tears among a sea of unknown faces.  These children have courage.  They must know that they need to do this, to move away and move on.  I just hope that I have the courage to support, guide, and love them, so that they can grow into the happy, independent adults that I want them to be.

Of course, I can't let the day go by without a recipe.  Here is the bean salad that we made--at Chloe's request--for the kindergarten picnic.  The beans are from my Rancho Gordo stash, but black beans could be substituted.  This recipe pairs those fantastic summer tomatoes with a classic complement of basil.

Moro Bean, Tomato and Basil Salad 

Serves 6 as a main course
20 minutes preparation time
1 1/2 to 2 hours cooking time, plus time for cooling

1 pound dried Moro beans (black beans are a reasonable substitute)
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig sage
2 teaspoons salt, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
zest and juice of 1 lemon
a few grinds of pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
3 large tomatoes
10-15 basil leaves, torn

Rinse the beans, put them in a pot with the thyme, sage, and 1 teaspoon of salt, and cover them generously with water.  Bring them to a boil and simmer until they are tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. 

Meanwhile, make the dressing.  In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, vinegar, lemon zest and juice, remaining teaspoon of salt, and pepper.  Slowly whisk in the olive oil so that it emulsifies.  Set aside.

Dice the tomatoes and, if they are very watery, pour them into a colander set over a large bowl and let them drain while the beans cook.  Reserve the liquid for another purpose such as soup stock.

When the beans are tender, drain them, pour them into a large bowl, and toss them with the vinaigrette.  Let them cool to room temperature.  Add the tomatoes and basil and toss gently.  Serve at room temperature.

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