Pasta with Broccoli and Spicy Apples

I know there are some people (Mom? Dad?) who would never, ever make this, because it includes fruit in a main course pasta dish. HOWEVER: it's extremely good. Good enough that I wanted to eat it right away rather than taking a picture. The original plan called for everything but the apples, but it just was looking like it was going to be too high a pasta-to-vegetable ratio... and we had apples... Seriously, apples sauteed with garlic and red pepper flakes might be my new favorite thing.

Pasta with Broccoli and Spicy Apples

3/4 pound small tubular pasta
1 large head broccoli, cut into small pieces
1 red & green apple (i.e., Pink Lady, Gala, Fuji, or Braeburn), diced
2 large cloves garlic, diced
4 tbsp olive oil
a few stale saltine crackers, crushed
red pepper flakes, to taste
Swiss cheese, grated, for sprinkling

Start the water boiling for the pasta, and in another pot, start water boiling for the broccoli. Chop up the broccoli, garlic, and apple, if you haven't already. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a small saucepan over low-medium heat. (When the water boils, add the pasta and broccoli.) Add the garlic and fry just until the garlic begins to color; immediately add the apples and red pepper flakes (about three dashes) and stir well. Continue to cook over low-medium heat, stirring frequently; you may need to add another tablespoon of oil. Check the pasta and broccoli. This is not the time to undercook your broccoli; you want it to be soft so it begins to fall apart as you stir it into the pasta. Drain the broccoli when it's done. At that point, add the crushed saltines to the apple/garlic mixture and stir thoroughly. Continue to cook another two or three minutes. Meanwhile, drain the pasta. Combine the pasta and broccoli; add a tablespoon of olive oil and stir thoroughly. Then add the apple mixture, stir thoroughly, and serve immediately. Top with grated Swiss cheese just before eating.

Serves 3-4.

Basic Baked Chicken in Wine Sauce

Don't be put off by the purple sauce -- very easy, very tasty.
Kind of an embarrassingly easy 'recipe' to post.

Basic Baked Chicken in Wine Sauce

5-6 chicken drumsticks, skin on or skin off
1 medium red onion, sliced thinly
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
big pinch dried thyme
small pinch dried tarragon (or instead of these herbs, use whatever herbs)
1/2 cup leftover red wine
salt + pepper
1 tbsp cornstarch if desired

Preheat oven to 350. If you want to be really fancy, you can brown the chicken in a pan on the stove, but because we never eat the skin anyway I do not. Scatter half the onions into the baking dish. Lay the chicken drumsticks on top. Scatter the rest of the onions, and the herbs, on top of the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the red wine over and around the chicken. Bake, covered, about 20 minutes, then uncovered 30 -50 minutes, until done. (50 minutes if, for example, the 'fresh' chicken you just bought turns out to be partially frozen.) Take out the chicken and onions and keep warm in the turned-off onion. Pour the juices/wine into a sauce pan and boil for a few minutes, until reduced and thickened to your liking. Add cornstarch, made into a slurry with cold water, if you'd like a thicker sauce. Arrange chicken and onions on a platter; pour sauce over. Serve immediately with a sharp green salad.

Serves 2.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

These make a very pretty individual-serving vegetarian dinner. The taste of the squash mixes very well with the taste of the stuffing, if you scoop the soft squash into the stuffing with your spoon as you eat. If you wanted to add some sausage to the stuffing, I don't think anyone would mind. It's not the world's fastest meal -- they need to bake for an hour -- but if you have leftover cooked rice the prep time is very fast, and then you can forget about them while they cook

Stuffed Acorn Squash

4 small acorn squash
1 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 cup almonds, chopped roughly (measure before chopping)
1/2 large onion, diced
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp soy sauce
6-10 leaves fresh sage (depending on how much you like it)
pinch of dried thyme (fresh would be good too, obviously)
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium-low heat. (It seems like a lot of butter. It's for 4 people, so I don't think it's extreme, but 2 tbsp would probably be ok.) When it has bubbled for a while and is just starting to turn color, add the onions and almonds and cook until the onions are soft, about 4 or 5 minutes. Add the herbs after about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, cut (and reserve) little "hats" out of the top of the squashes, and scoop out the seeds. When the onions are soft, add the rice, turn the heat to low, and stir thoroughly. Add the soy sauce. Taste, and add salt as necessary. Add more pepper than you think it needs (should be a bit spicy). Cook, stirring constantly, two or three more minutes.

Using a teaspoon, stuff the squashes full of rice stuffing. You'll probably have some left over, depending on the size of your squashes. Replace their hats, place in a baking dish or roasting pan, and bake for an hour to an hour and a half -- they should be easily-pierced with a fork. (For me, they were done enough to eat, but not soft enough to be ideal, at 75 minutes). Let cool a few minutes, and serve.

Serves 4.

Fettucine with Brussels Sprouts

I only recently discovered Brussels sprouts -- we never ate them growing up. They're so good! Mostly I just roast them, but decided to try something new (maybe because they've been sitting in the fridge for a few days and I couldn't help but daydream about dinner all afternoon at work). This is a really nice, seasonal, quick pasta dish, one that I think will quickly become one of our staples, even despite the extra pan that has to be washed. I used fettucine rigate, because the lines helped hold the sauce, but you know, it's not the kind of thing to be too picky about. The bechamel is just a little -- just enough to hold everything together.

Fettucine with Brussels Sprouts

1/2 box fettucine rigate
about 10 large Brussels sprouts, sliced very finely or, perhaps, grated (about 3 cups)
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 cup skim milk
1 tbsp flour
4 dashes red pepper flakes
small pinch nutmeg
3 tbsp grated cheese (Swiss or Parmesan in particular would be good) plus more for serving
Pepper to taste

Set the water to boil. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan. Saute the onion over medium heat about two minutes, then add the thinly-sliced sprouts. Continue to saute over low heat, stirring frequently. When the water is boiling, add the pasta and stir once or twice so it doesn't stick. (If you're me, you'll break the fettucine in half so they're easier to eat.) Make a bechamel: Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan; when it's bubbly, add the flour, stirring, and cook a couple of minutes. (Keep stirring the vegetables!!) Add the milk, turn the heat to medium-high, and cook until it coats the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat. At this point, your pasta should be about 2 minutes away from being done. Add the nutmeg and red pepper to the vegetables; turn the heat to medium-high and stir frequently, about 2 minutes, until the sprouts are beginning to brown. Turn the heat to low and add the bechamel. If it's runnier than you'd like, also add 3 tbsp cheese. Stir well to incorporate the cheese, which will thicken the sauce. Drain your pasta, and toss with the sauce. Add pepper to taste, and serve, passing remaining cheese alongside if desired.

Serves 4 (3 if it's all you're eating).

Basic Bread

A flexible, fail-safe bread recipe, that can be adjusted for however much time you happen to have that day. You don't need to be too precise about measuring or about timing. If you have lots of time, use less yeast; if you are in a rush, use more. The flavor will be a little different -- a little better if you use a little less yeast and a little more time -- but either way it's still homemade bread, so who's to complain?

The only unusual things it calls for are (a) vital wheat gluten and (b) a large, covered cast iron pot or Dutch oven. Vital wheat gluten is available at any grocery store. It's helpful because it improves the gluten structure of the bread, which isn't ideal otherwise because of the whole-wheat flour. If you don't have it, you can substitute an equal amount of flour, although the bread may rise a bit less or be a bit denser. The Dutch oven helps create a crisp crust with a tender interior. You can always bake it in a regular oven, but the crisp/tender distinction will be less apparent -- you may want to brush the dough with water first.

This makes a rustic, crisp-crusted loaf, good for eating with soup and making sandwiches.

Basic Bread

1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 3/4 cups white flour
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 to 1 tsp active dry yeast (use less if you have more time; use more if you have less time)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar if desired

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine the yeast and warm water; stir until dissolved. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and stir until it's as combined as you can get it with a wooden spoon. Then use your hands to work in the remainder of the flour. (If you can't work it all in, don't worry.) Turn onto a clean, lightly-floured surface and knead about 10 minutes, until it passes the "windowpane test" (if you stretch a small amount between your fingers, you should be able to see light through it). If you're new to bread making, it can be hard to know how long to knead it; in time you'll figure out how to recognize it's done without doing the test. 10 minutes should be fine.

Put the bread into a large clean bowl you've dribbled a tiny bit of oil into, and turn to coat evenly. Cover with plastic wrap or a cloth and leave alone for a while, anywhere from an hour to a few hours, depending on your schedule. Punch down and let rise again for however long you have. When you're ready, punch it down again, shape into an oval loaf that will fit into your Dutch oven, set on a large piece of aluminum foil, and let proof (rise) for about a half hour.

Meanwhile, put your Dutch oven (uncovered) into the real oven and preheat to 450 degrees. After your bread's done proofing, slash 3 or 4 slashes on the top. (Deeper than in the photo.) Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven and set the foil and bread inside. (The foil makes it easy to put the bread in the blazing-hot pot without burning yourself.) Cover the Dutch oven and return to the oven. Bake, covered, about 25 minutes at 450. Uncover. Bake another 5 minutes at 450, then turn the heat down to 425 for another 5-15 minutes. This will depend on the exact size of your loaf, the humidity of the day, etc. Bread is done when it is lightly brown and sounds hollow if you thump the bottom.

Let cool, slice, and eat!

Zucchini Pancakes

This is exactly the perfect thing to make, I think, for yourself for lunch on a rainy Sunday, or if you're eating alone on a weeknight. It's got a lot of food groups covered: zucchini, egg, flour, a little cheese... paired with some grapes, it's a great little meal. This recipe makes enough for side-dishes or appetizers for a few people, but they're really best straight out of the pan as a meal for one. Very similar to other vegetable pancakes or rice patties, but the grated zucchini gives them a nicer, more uniform texture -- and the zucchini has so much water that you can hardly overcook them.

Zucchini Pancakes

1 large zucchini, grated (should yield a bit more than a cup)
1/4 cup flour
scant 1/4 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
pepper & salt to taste

Using your (clean) hands, squeeze the excess water out of the grated zucchini. Mix all ingredients well in a medium sized bowl. Grease a nonstick frying pan with a butter wrapper or tiny piece of butter, as if you were greasing a baking pan. Heat the pan over medium heat a minute or so. Using two tablespoons, drop batter into the pan to form pancakes. (Mine are ideally about two inches in diameter, but use your judgment.) Cook over medium heat until the bottom has begun to turn golden, 2-3 minute. Flip and cook until the other side is golden, again about 2-3 minutes. Don't take them out if they're still too pale, because the center won't be set. Eat immediately!

Makes 8-9 2 inch pancakes.

Rigatoni with Grilled Zucchini-Ricotta Sauce

Very satisfying and also pretty good for you! I made it with one large zucchini, but consensus is that twice as much zucchini would have been better. If you don't have a George Forman-type grill, sauteed zucchini would work, but the grill gives it such nice browning on the outside and such a nice, soft texture that I really recommend it. (Unintentionally similar to this previous recipe, but better.)

Rigatoni with Grilled Zucchini-Ricotta Sauce

2/3 lb rigatoni (yes, it has to be this kind of pasta)
1 15-oz container fat-free ricotta cheese
1/4 to 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 large zucchini
Olive oil for brushing zucchini
lots of black pepper to taste
large pinch dried oregano
tiny sprinkle of nutmeg

Put the water on to boil for the pasta. Turn on your grill to preheat (5 minutes). Meanwhile, cut each zucchini in half, then each half into quarters lengthwise. Brush the zucchini very, very lightly with oil (I use a pastry brush). Grill the zucchini for 7 minutes; it may take two batches. When the water is boiling, add the pasta. About five minutes before the pasta is done, mix the ricotta and parmesan in a large heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over the pasta pot, to use the heat/steam to help melt and combine the cheeses. As they are combining, add the grilled zucchini and stir vigorously to break up the zucchini a bit and mix the browned color throughout. Remove sauce from heat; add pepper to taste (should be slightly spicy), oregano, and nutmeg. Scoop out 1/2 cup pasta cooking water and add to sauce; stir to combine. Drain pasta; mix well with sauce and serve immediately.

Serves 4-5.

Ben's Slow Cooker Beef Stew

This is the stew to make when it's suddenly a blustery 40 degrees in early October.

Best if made the day before, so you can skim the fat more easily and the flavors can blend, but it works that day too.

Ben's Slow Cooker Beef Stew

3 lb pot roast or other beef that requires long cooking, cubed, trimmed of fat
2 large onions, chopped roughly
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 mini can tomato paste
3-5 small red potatoes, diced (do not peel)
1/2 large bag frozen peas
1 bottle dark beer (in this case, Negra Modelo)
1 1/2 cups water
3 bay leaves
1 large pinch dried tarragon
1 pinch dried thyme
1 tbsp black pepper (no, that's not a typo)
1/2 to 1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic salt
salt to taste
cornstarch as needed

Brown meat over high heat, in batches, using tongs to brown all sides. Sprinkle with black pepper during browning. Deposit meat in slow-cooker.

Saute onions in the same pan for several minutes, until beginning to color; add garlic in last couple minutes. Deposit onions and garlic in slow-cooker.

Add tomatoes, tomato paste, beer, potatoes, and spices to slow-cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours. Add peas; cook, uncovered, another five to ten minutes.

Remove solids. (Remove and discard bay leaves.) Transfer liquids to a large pot on the stove and boil, stirring frequently, about ten minutes, until reduced to desired thickness. Skim whatever fat you can. (If making the day before, refrigerate solids and liquids separately, and skim before recombining.) If necessary, make a slurry with some cold water and cornstarch to thicken sauce further. Recombine sauce, meat, and vegetables. Serve over egg noodles.

Serves 6-8. (Or two people for many, many meals.)

Slow-Cooked Chicken and Goat with Onions

Now, this is not an entry about a cake. It was a good cake, although I have to ask you not to use raspberry buttercream you've had stashed in the freezer as filling (it soaks into the cake in a rather unappetizing way). It also it had excellent fudge frosting.

However.

This is an entry about meat. Specifically, goat and chicken slow-cooked together with plenty of onions... so that the meats flavor each other and the onions turn golden brown and delicoius. Not so much a recipe as a method:

Slow-Cooked Chicken and Goat with Onions


2 goat or lamb shoulder chops. Brown them if you want.
5ish chicken drumsticks. You can brown these if you want too, or skin them. Or not.
1.5 large onions, sliced
1/3 cup olive oil
Balsamic vinegar to taste to make a vinaigrette (I use a lot)
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp honey
zest of one lemon
Sesame seeds for garnish

Cover the bottom of your slow cooker with onions. Lay the shoulder chops on the onions. Add the chicken.

In a small pitcher, mix the remaining ingredients together. Pour over the meat/onions, making sure to coat well.

Cook on high for 4 hours. There will be a lot of liquid. Lift out the meat and onions and serve on a platter, garnished with sesame seeds.

You could, of course, then reduce the liquid into a sauce to serve with the meat.

Serves 4 (3 if you're serving two carnivorous young men)

Fig and Apple Crumble

A couple of weeks ago, we bought some beautiful purple figs. I had in mind to make a semi-savory tart with them, but then, lo and behold, we ate a fig-and-arugula pizza at dinner with a friend, so I didn't feel the need to make the very same thing the next day. Instead, a crumble! I've come to love this topping, which is crunchy and tender and buttery but not over-the-top; it's way better than any crisp.

What I did not account for, after a summer of baking with stone fruits, is that apples take a lot longer to soften up. I baked the whole thing for about 40 minutes, but you really need to bake the fruit first for 30-40 minutes, and then the whole thing for another 40, in order to get a truly melting combination of figs and apples. They should be more combined-looking and softer than in the photo below:

Fig and Apple Crumble

For the filling:
2 medium sized red apples, such as Gala, cored and diced (do not peel)
1 pint purple figs, quartered
1-2 tsp rosewater, to taste (3 tsp is too much!)
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp ginger

For the topping:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
zest of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine diced apples, quartered figs, rosewater, ginger, and cornstarch in a baking dish. (Size of dish is flexible: mine is about a six-inch round dish, which yields a deep-dish crumble with lots of topping; equally good in a larger dish.) Stir to mix well. Cook, covered, in the oven about 30 minutes, until the apples are beginning to soften.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, sugar, and lemon zest. Add butter and mix until clumps form.

Take the fruit mixture out of the oven and, carefully, top with topping -- just use your fingers to drop clumps of batter on top of the fruit until it is completely covered (if your dish is small) or covered to your liking (if the dish is big). Return to oven and cook, uncovered, about 35-40 more minutes, until the topping is golden and crisp.

Serves 4-6.

Pasta with Mushrooms-Almond-Beer Sauce

Normally, I don't like mushrooms very much. Liking them more as I get older, but still. However, I've really been craving them the last few days. Mushroom pasta sauce to the rescue!

Camera is currently misplaced. You're not missing much; mushrooms aren't that pretty.

I made this sauce with a 1 lb box of penne rigate, but I recommend using twice as much sauce to pasta -- make this amount for only half a box.

Edit as of 10/16: this is tasty, but it definitely still needs some work to make it more of a sauce and less of a pasta-with-vegetables. Stay tuned for an update.

Pasta with Mushroom-Almond-Beer Sauce

1 pint package white button mushrooms, roughly diced
1 half large onion, sliced into thin ribbons
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup ground almonds (throw some almonds into a ziploc bag and run over them with a rolling pin a bunch of times)
1/2 bottle beer (something not too bitter -- not an IPA)
salt & pepper

If you start the recipe when you start the pasta water boiling, it will be done by the time the pasta is done.

Start sauting the onions in the oil over medium heat. Let them cook, stirring occasionally, about three or four minutes, then add the mushrooms. Continue to stir occasionally. The mushrooms will release their liquid after a few minutes. When their liquid has reduced by about a third (it's not an exact science), add the beer. Turn the heat to high and cook until the beer has reduced by more than half. Add the almonds; you should notice the liquid thicken almost immediately. Turn the heat to low and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pasta is done. Adjust salt and pepper. Mix with the pasta and serve immediately, with a dusting of Parmesan cheese if you want. (Too much will overwhelm the sauce's flavor.)

Lamb Sausage and Squash Soup

The last recipe was a summer soup, and now, a week or less later, this next one is a fall soup. We spent the weekend in New England, where it is, in fact, starting to be fall even if it's still summer here; but, more important, these were the things we had on hand when we came home to an empty fridge. It's a really tasty, yet really un-photogenic autumnal soup.

Lamb Sausage and Squash Soup

4 links lamb andouille sausage, removed from casings and chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 brick frozen winter squash (or equivalent amount of cooked fresh squash puree)
1 small apple, diced
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 tbsp curry powder
cayenne to taste (about 5 dashes worked for me)
1 tbsp pear brandy

Brown the sausage in a pan; once brown, remove, drain grease, and return to pan. Add onions and curry powder; cook about five minutes, stirring often, until onions have begun to soften. Transfer sausage and onions to a large pot; add squash brick, apple, rice, 3-4 cups water, cayenne, and brandy. Bring to a boil, then simmer until apples begin to be soft, about 20 minutes. Serve hot!

Serves about 6

Chunky Corn, Squash and Bell Pepper Summer Soup

It's still summer... right? That's how I was feeling tonight. I was in such a hurry -- got home from a CLE at 9:50, starving, ready for dinner -- that I didn't pay very close attention to quantities, so I'll call this a method rather than a recipe. Comes together very fast -- 15 minutes, tops.

Chunky Corn, Squash and Bell Pepper Summer Soup

1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 medium to large pattypan or other summer squash, diced
3 cups corn kernels (fresh would be great; frozen were fine)
2 tbsp olive oil
sriracha to taste
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 cup water plus more for pureeing

Cook the squash and bell pepper in the oil over medium heat about 5 minutes until beginning to be soft. Add the corn, water, paprika, sriracha and soy sauce; turn the heat to medium-high cook about five to ten more minutes, until the vegetables are closer to being soft. (If it is not already 10 pm and you are in less of a hurry, cook it longer so the vegetables are softer.) Puree in batches, adding a little water to each batch. It should stay a little bit chunky/have some texture. Garnish with saltines or whatever strikes your fancy.

Serves 3-4.

Penne with Red Pepper Parmesan Cream Sauce

A good dish to serve when you need something fast, cheesy, fairly nutritious, and filling -- for example, after a beautiful early-fall bike ride with friends on a chilly afternoon when you forgot to bring a snack and it's been eight hours since lunch.

Penne with Red Pepper Parmesan Cream Sauce

1 box penne rigati
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1/2 habanero pepper, chopped VERY FINELY (this is IMPORTANT)
2 tbsp butter
2 cups skim milk
2 tbsp flour
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 dashes nutmeg
paprika for sprinkling

Start the water boiling for the pasta. Make sure your habanero is diced very small -- you want some heat in the dish, but you don't want someone to eat a large or medium-sized piece of it and have to run and fill her mouth with bland crackers to cut the heat. Saute the habanero and red peppers over medium heat in 1 tbsp butter until the water boils, stirring often. Put the pasta in to cook. Add the second tbsp butter and nutmeg to the peppers. When the butter is melted, add the flour and stir carefully so that it coats the peppers. Cook over medium-low heat about two minutes, stirring to make sure it does not burn. Add the milk all at once, turn the heat up just above medium, and stir rapidly for minute or so; after that, stir frequently until the liquid is slightly thickened (coats the back of a spoon), which should be approximately when the pasta is done. Drain the pasta. Turn off the heat under the pepper/milk mixture. Add the cheese, and stir very well to make sure it melts and combines evenly. Combine the sauce and pasta, and serve immediately. Sprinkle each serving with paprika.

Serves 4-6 depending on what else you are serving.

Spicy Tofu and Vegetables with Black Bean Sauce

An excellent and healthy summer meal to make while listening to the president talk about health insurance reform. Combines many flavors into something new -- not identifiably black bean, but still tasty. It's good with experimental half-whole-wheat cornbread.

Spicy Tofu and Vegetables with Black Bean Sauce

1 large red pepper, diced
1/2 habanero pepper, diced
8 diced scallions, divided
1.5 cups chopped green beans
1 brick firm tofu, diced in small cubes
1/2 can (8 oz.) refried black beans
2 heaping tbsp peanut butter
1/2 to 1 tsp Sriracha or other hot sauce
1 can no-sodium-added diced tomatoes
1 sliced avocado (for garnish)

In a large frying pan, saute the red pepper, green beans, habanero pepper, and 4 of the diced scallions in a little oil over low to medium heat, about 5 minutes. Add the tofu and continue to cook about 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix the beans and peanut butter together until smooth, adding a little bit of water -- a couple of tablespoons -- to form a smooth paste; mix in the Sriracha. Add this paste and the can of diced tomatoes to the pan. Cook over medium heat about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until fairly thick and smooth. Serve with cornbread, garnished with avocado slices and the remaining scallions.

Serves 4.

Summer Squash Spoonbread

An easy and summery main dish spoonbread. There's something about the buttery-tasting squash that goes very well with the cornmeal flavor. You don't have to grill the vegetables -- just get them cooked so that they still have some texture to them -- but grilling adds a nice flavor and texture.

Summer Squash Spoonbread

2.5 cups sliced summer squash (pattypan is nice)
1/4 cup sliced onion
olive oil for brushing
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups skim milk
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
cayenne to taste (about 1/4 tsp is slightly noticeable but not at all hot).

Brush the vegetables very lightly with olive oil, and grill in a George Foreman-type grill for 5 minutes. Dice the vegetables.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the paprika, cayenne, and cornmeal. In a large saucepan, bring the milk, cornmeal, and diced vegetables to a boil. Take off the heat. Beat a few spoonfuls of this mixture into the beaten eggs, then add the eggs and stir well. Add the cheeses and baking powder; stir well. Pour into a baking dish. Bake 30-35 minutes, until puffed and golden.

Serves 4-6.

**If you substitute another vegetable, make sure it doesn't have too much water in it, or the spoonbread will be soggy.

Savory Summer Cobbler

The solution to the age-old "tomatoes coming out of your ears" problem! Tomatoes, onions, eggplant, and/or whatever other vegetables you have on hand topped with a fluffy biscuit crust. It's also pretty quick, less than an hour from start to finish. Make sure to include some tomatoes, as they sort of bind the vegetables together -- a version with just zuchini and onions was not saucy enough.

Savory Summer Cobbler

Filling:
2-3 lb diced fresh tomatoes (a combination of regular and cherry tomatoes is nice)
3 small Japanese eggplants, diced
2 medium onions, diced
1 large clove garlic, chopped
Several large sprigs basil, chopped
1-2 large sprigs mint, chopped
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp cornstarch

Topping:
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tbsp cold butter, diced
1 tsp baking powder
2 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (NB: can substitute another cheese if you're out)
1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt mixed with 1/3 cup water, or 1 1/3 cup plain regular nonfat yogurt
pepper to taste

To make the filling, first saute the onions and garlic over medium heat in 1 tbsp butter until they just begin to color, about 5 minutes. Remove them from the pan and put into a large bowl. Add the eggplant to the pan and cook about 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until colored; add the tomatoes, and turn the heat to high, until the juices start to thicken, about 7 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While the tomatoes are cooking, combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. With your fingers, rub in the butter until it reaches the consistency of sand or meal. Add the cheese and pepper. Gently stir in the yogurt and water mixture until just combined.

Take the tomatoes off the heat and combine with the onions, mint, basil, and cornstarch. Spread evenly in the bottom of a pie pan. Top evenly with the biscuit dough. (There will be too much. Do not use all of it. Save for another use, if you can think of one.) Bake about 25 minutes, until lightly browned.

Serves 4 as part of a multi-course dinner, 2.5 if it's all you're having for dinner.

Watermelon Juice

On a sticky Washington D.C. August afternoon, your best plan of action is to stop and buy an enormous watermelon on your way home from a walk in the park. When you get home, throw it in the blender. Pour over ice. THAT's what I'm talking about.

This recipe makes two enormous pitchers' worth. Feel free to make less, but you'll wish you made more.

Watermelon Juice

One very large watermelon
Juice of one lemon
Juice of one lime
Several large sprigs of mint

Chop the watermelon into manageable slices. Scoop out the seeds with a fork; if you're like me you don't really care if a few seeds end up in the juice. Working in batches, whirl the watermelon, lemon and lime juice, and mint to taste in the blender or food processor. I like the slightly chunky texture achieved by using the food processor. We found that one sprig of mint per food processor batch was a good amount.

Drink sitting down in the shade.

Makes enough for two large pitchers.

Lemon-Garlic Sauce for Green Beans

A perfect summer dinner! Green beans this way are great on their own, or would be excellent with fish.

Lemon-Garlic Sauce for Green Beans

1 lb green beans

1 lemon, juice and zest (Note: this makes a VERY, VERY tart sauce. If you're not up for that, use only half the juice and add a couple spoonfuls of water.)
1/4 cup almonds
6 saltines or club crackers, or one slice stale bread
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 tsp plus 1 tbsp olive oil

Start the water boiling for your green beans. Meanwhile wash them and pick them over. While they're boiling (this should only take a few minutes), fry the garlic in 2 tsp olive oil over medium-low heat until it begins to color, about a minute; turn and cook another minute or so. Turn off the heat.

Combine almonds and crackers/bread in your mini-chopper or food processor and pulse until they are reduced to crumbs. Add lemon juice (and water if using), lemon zest, garlic, the oil the garlic cooked in, and remaining 1 tbsp oil. Pulse until combined -- should be quite thick; should still have some texture.

Arrange green beans on a platter. Spread sauce over them decoratively -- each bean should have some sauce on it, but only a little.

Serves 4 with a meal or 2 if you really like green beans or are not eating much else.

Cherry Cornmeal Cake

Finally there are cherries! I got too many (of course). I'm saving the Queen Anne cherries for eating, but the Bings I wanted to bake into a not-too-sweet kind of cake. This is a good cake (though not photogenic) -- crumbly, interesting-tasting, studded with cherries. Some people might think it was too close to cornbread to be called cake, but I disagree. The crumbliness does make it difficult to transfer out of the pan -- take care when inverting it!



Cherry Cornmeal Cake

1.5 - 2 cups pitted Bing cherries
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 oz. bourbon
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup oil (half olive and half canola is good; all olive was too pronounced an olive flavor)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
about 1/4 cup skim milk

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and sugar together. Add the cherries and bourbon; boil two minutes. Strain out and reserve the liquid.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease an 8 inch square cake pan.

Pour the reserved cherry liquid into a measuring cup and add enough milk to equal 1/2 cup. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, sugar, and milk/cherry liquid mixture. Fold in flour, baking powder, and cornmeal; mix just until blended.

Pour the batter into the cake pan and sprinkle the cherries evenly over. Bake until lightly browned, 25-30 minutes.

Best.Challah.Ever

This is it. This is the best. I was never routinely successful with challah before this recipe... and now I am / we are. I say we are, because this is a team effort. I make and knead the dough on Thursday night, and my associate Ben shapes, proofs, and bakes it just before Shabbat. It's the workingman's or workingwoman's challah: since it rises over night, it just needs 15 minutes of your time on Thursday and another 45 minutes or so on Friday. It's tender, elastic, full-flavored (thanks to the long rise!!), and chewy without being gummy. It's perfect.

This recipe makes two large loaves. If you have people over, I guarantee both loaves will be gone by the end of dinner.

Best.Challah.Ever

7 cups all-purpose flour (I've successfully done about 5.5 cups white and 1.5 cups whole wheat, when I ran out of white).
2 rounded tsp active dry yeast (about one packet).
2 eggs, beaten (plus one more for glaze, the following day)
scant 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups warm water

On Thursday night (ideally around 10 pm but it's flexible):

Combine the yeast and warm water; stir until dissolved. Once it is well-dissolved, add it to the sugar, salt, and 3.5 cups of flour in a large bowl. Mix well. I use a wooden spoon, but you could probably use a dough hook in a mixer too. Add the beaten eggs and oil; mix thoroughly. Slowly start mixing in the rest of the flour in 1/2 to 1 cup increments, mixing each in before you add the next. Whether you need to add all of the flour (or need to add a little more) will depend on the weather -- you're looking for a workable but somewhat sticky dough. You can always add more flour bit by bit as you're kneading -- if you add too much, the challah will be dry and stiff.

As soon as the dough is workable (won't stick more than a little bit to your hands), turn it onto a floured surface (I use a large cutting board) and knead vigorously about 10 minutes, until it passes the windowpane test. Add more flour as necessary to keep the dough manageable, but as little as possible. Once the dough is ready, clean out your bowl, oil it lightly, and put the dough ball back into it, turning once so that the dough is oiled on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or a garbage bag if like me you don't have plastic wrap) and stick in the fridge.

Friday morning:
Punch down the dough with about three good punches. Re-cover with plastic wrap.

Friday evening:
At least an hour before you want to eat the challah, remove the dough from the fridge. Grease two medium cookie sheets. Divide the dough in two. Divide each half into four pieces. Roll out three of the pieces into snakes about one foot long or as long as you want your challah to be. Braid them, pinching the ends so they stick together. Divide the remaining fourth piece into three pieces; braid them, and set that braid on top of the larger braid. Place this challah on the cookie sheet, and repeat with the other half of the dough; place on the other cookie sheet. Let rise about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

After 30 minutes, brush the dough thoroughly with beaten egg. (Sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds if these challot aren't intended for Ben.) Bake the challot for about 20 minutes, rotating them halfway if you've put them on two different levels of your oven. Turn off the oven and let the challot sit for another 5-10 minutes -- check on them to see how brown they are. Do not overcook!

That's it! Best.Challah.Ever.

Radishes, Edamame, and Almonds

Not a recipe; just an idea for some things that go really, really well together in a stir fry type dish, to be eaten with noodles or rice. (And no photo, because three light bulbs in my kitchen went out today.) If you start out with a small onion cut into strips, add a clove of garlic and a couple drops of sriracha, then add a chopped-up radish, a bag of edamame, and some chopped almonds... wow. Especially if you garnish with another chopped-up radish (uncooked this time), and a dressing of lemon juice, sesame oil, and ginger. Almonds and edamame are SERIOUSLY good together!

Salad with Pears, Fennel, and Feta

This is not a recipe; just some things thrown together in a bowl. But I'm posting it because it illustrates something wonderful: pears, feta, and fennel. I've known for a long time how great fennel is with feta; I've also known how great the two of them are together with peas. I've discovered the pears-feta-fennel combination before, but I always forget it. Not this time. I've eaten this salad three meals in a row.

Salad with Pears, Fennel, and Feta

Some spinach
Some lettuce
Cut-up pears (1 per person if this is a main-dish type salad)
Feta cheese to taste
More fennel seed than you think you need (nearly 1 tsp/person)
Olive oil + balsamic vinegar

Combine all ingredients. Toss. Eat.

Spinach-Onion Pancakes with Watercress Pesto

You could just make scrambled eggs with spinach and onions, but this is waaaaay more fun. The watercress pesto is quite bitter. It's not the kind you want to serve as a dip for vegetables; it works better as an accompaniment to something with a complementary flavor. It's an acquired taste but one I really love. It's good in small doses with these pancakes; it's better as one component of a tea sandwich, on a challah roll with a slice of mozzarella -- the sweetness of the challah and bitterness of the pesto work really well together.

Spinach-Onions Pancakes

2/5 cup white flour (I started with 1/4 cup, and then added half of a 1/3 cup measure's worth)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup raw spinach, torn to shreds
1/4 medium onion, diced
1/4 cup skim milk
a little oil for the pan

Beat the eggs in a medium bowl. Beat in the flour, milk, and cheese; fold in onions and spinach. Heat a small film of oil in a pan over medium heat until very hot. Using two teaspoons, place spoonfuls of batter in the pan (four at a time fit in my pan). Cook until lightly brown, then flip, pressing down to thin the pancakes out if they are looking bulky. When lightly browned, remove from pan.

Makes 8 pancakes (dinner for one hungry person or for two people with some kind of side dish).

You could also leave out the cheese and serve these with a soy-based dipping sauce instead of pesto.

Watercress Pesto

1 medium bunch watercress, leaves only
1 large clove garlic
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Small handful almonds
Enough olive oil to make a paste

Process ingredients in a mini-food processor (I suppose a large sized one would work too; I just like my mini one because it cost $2 at a garage sale and is easy to clean). Add enough olive oil to make a paste that has the consistency you desire in pesto.

Makes about 1 cup.

Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes

There was no good chocolate cake recipe in Joy of Cooking, so I had to scrounge around and adapt one from my old standby, Clotilde Dusoulier's yogurt cake -- I wasn't at all sure about the ratio of cocoa powder to flour, but it worked out very well. The yogurt really adds a depth of flavor. They are very chocolatey! Plus they use oil rather than butter, which I actually prefer in a cake.

(The yellow one is a lemon cupcake, with cornmeal and a little rosemary, based on this one, only with less rosemary so that it will match well with raspberry-rose frosting and no sugar crust because of said frosting; note that the lemon recipe makes a quite dense, heavy cupcake, albeit with a great flavor.)

Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes

1/3 cup vegetable oil
6 oz plain nonfat Greek-style yogurt plus 2 oz water (or 1 cup regular yogurt)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, stir together yogurt, water, and sugar. Add eggs and stir well to blend . Add vanilla and oil; stir again. Add dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Spoon the batter into a paper-lined muffin tin, filling the cups about 3/4 full.

Bake 17-23 minutes, until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Makes 12-14 cupcakes.

Cranberry-Apricot Muffins

Very good. Not much else to say.

Cranberry Muffins

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 egg
2 tsp bourbon
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp salt
3/8 cup sugar
1/6 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup skim milk
scant 1/2 cup chopped frozen cranberries
4-5 dried apricots, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine all dry ingredients except fruit in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients and stir until nearly but not quite smooth. Fold in the cranberries and apricots.

Spoon into a paper-lined muffin tin. Bake 20 minutes.

Makes 6.

Little Calzones

The recipe still needs tweaking, so I'm not posting it yet, but these little calzones are so cute I could not resist.

Asparagus Risotto

This is a lovely, vegetarian light-purple risotto that contrasts very prettily with the asparagus. Not enough light to take a good picture, so you'll have to imagine it. You could also make it with white wine for a non-purple risotto, of course.

Asparagus Risotto

2 cups arborio rice
2/3 cup red wine
1 cup skim milk
lots of hot water -- approximately 6 cups
1/2 onion, chopped finely
1 large garlic clove, chopped finely
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
grated rind of 1 medium lemon
1 tsp butter
1 large bunch asparagus, cut into 1.5-inch sections
a small amount of olive oil

Asparagus: you can either do this before the rice, which takes a lot of attention, or start it before and continue simultaneously. Wash asparagus, and do not dry thoroughly. Heat a very small amount of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add asparagus and cook, stirring frequently, until just tender and beginning to be brown and wrinkled in spots. Set aside when done.

Rice: Melt the butter in the bottom of a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the rice, and cook one or two minutes; lower the heat to medium-low. Then add half the wine, and stir until it has been absorbed. Add the other half, and do the same. Then add a cup or so of water and the soy sauce; stir occasionally until absorbed. (You don't actually have to stir the whole time to get a good texture, but it helps keep anything from sticking to the pan.) Add another cup of water, and do the same. Add half the milk, stir till absorbed, and add the other half of the milk. Continue adding water a half cup or cup at a time until the rice is cooked and has an al dente texture, about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, and add the cheese, lemon zest, salt and pepper; stir until incorporated.

To serve, stir in 2/3 of the asparagus. Spoon into bowls and top with remaining asparagus.

Serves 4 as a main course.

Rice Patties, Take Two

Last fall, when we had extra vegetables, I made these rice patties. Today, we didn't really have vegetables, but we did have leftover rice. Here's the vegetable-free version of leftover rice patties. The proportions are a little better in this version, so I'm curious to see how this version turns out with vegetables. (And they really do need a fresh vegetable garnish or sauce of some kind.)

Photo will appear when I find my camera cord...

Rice Patties, Take Two

1 cup cooked rice (this time I used white rice)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
large pinch rosemary
pinch of dill

Heat a lightly-greased frying pan over medium-low heat. Drop teaspoonfuls of batter onto the pan to make silver-dollar sized patties. Cook a few minutes until the patties just begin to brown on the bottom; flip, and cook about one minute longer (or a little less), until golden on the second side.

Makes 8 silver-dollar sized patties.

Easy Focaccia

Normally, I don't really like focaccia that much; maybe because it's usually greasy in a restaurant and smeared with too much pesto. But a recipe in The New Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas caught my eye a few weeks ago, and I tried it. OK, but not spectacular; a little too flat and not a particularly good texture for all its 10 minutes of kneading. Today I thought I'd try again, since I really wanted some white bread and we didn't have any in the house. This one requires very little kneading and just a short rise. (Its essentially my pizza crust recipe with white flour and a longer rise.) It has a great texture, moist and soft; however, it will dry out fast and have a crumbly texture once it's stale, so best to eat quickly.

Easy Focaccia

2 1/4 cups flour plus more as necessary (up to about 1/4 cup more)
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 tsp yeast (or 1 envelope if you have envelope yeast)
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
glug of olive oil (plus more to brush surface and grease baking sheet)
herbs or seeds (I used a mixture of toasted sesame seeds and toasted fennel seeds)

Combine the yeast and warm water. Combine other ingredients in a large bowl, starting with 2 1/4 cups flour. (You can reserve the herbs to scatter on top, but if you have to invert the bread to get it out of the pan they may fall off.) Stir with a wooden spoon until combined. If dough is too sticky to handle, continue adding flour JUST until you can handle it; do not add too much or the bread will be dry. Knead about 30 seconds. Let rest about five minutes. Flour a cutting board or countertop and your rolling pin well. Roll and/or pat the dough out to about a 13 by 9 rectangle and transfer to a 13 by 9 greased baking pan. If there are some tears, you can just patch them by tearing bits off the thicker edges; it won't show. Let rise 20 minutes to a half hour, until doubled.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Brush the dough with a little oil and bake on the middle rack about 7-8 minutes (start checking at 5); the dough is done when it is beginning to be golden and sounds hollow when thumped.

Cut into slices and serve warm.

Sweet Potato-Squash Soup

This is a soup my associate Ben made during Passover (yes, I know it looks a lot like the previous entry, but it tastes quite different). No reason to limit it to Passover, though; it's delicious. His inspiration was a New York Times recipe.

Sweet Potato-Squash Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1-1.5 lbs), peeled and chopped
2 blocks frozen squash (14oz each) (or 1 medium winter squash
(about 1-1.5 lbs), peeled, seeded, and chopped)
6 cups water (or stock, if you're into that)
2 shakes cayenne pepper
salt to taste


Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion
and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the ginger and cook for
another minute, stirring. Add the squash, potatoes, water, and
spices. Bring to a boil. Stir. Lower the heat to simmer, and cover.
Simmer for about 30 to 45 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and
can be broken apart with a spoon.

Puree the soup in your handy Cuisinart. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with plain yogurt and dill, if desired.

Makes enough for two hungry-person dinners
and two lunches (4-6 servings.)

Smooth Carrot-Lentil Soup

It's feeling like all soup, all the time around here. The flowers may have started blooming, but it's cold, damp, and dark out -- soup weather.

Smooth Carrot-Lentil Soup

6 large carrots, sliced
1/2 cup split red lentils
1 large onion, diced
5 cups water
1 tsp ground coriander
1 scant tsp ground cardamom
1 scant tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cumin
4 shakes cayenne
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste

In a large pot, saute the onion in the olive oil until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots and all spices except the salt, pepper and mustard; cook until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Add the lentils and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 45 minutes, until the lentils have begun to disintegrate and the carrots are soft. Puree in your new Cuisinart (or a blender). Return to the pot and stir in salt, pepper, and mustard. Reheat and serve. Garnish with yogurt or herbs.

Serves 2-4.

Quick Savory Bean Soup

This is the kind of soup to make when it is cold out, you are hungry, and you need to make soup NOW -- in half an hour or less. It's an excellent dinner when topped with cheese and accompanied by a baked sweet potato. Since the refried beans are already pureed, you end up with a silky, thick broth studded with onions and tomatoes.

Quick Savory Bean Soup

1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic,chopped finely
1 can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
1 to 2 cups water
1 can vegetarian or fat-free refried beans
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp soy sauce
2 dashes hot sauce (I used Sriracha)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp to 1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 to 1 tsp cumin

In a saucepan, saute the onion and garlic in the oil until quite translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the soy sauce and hot sauce and cook another two minutes. Add the tomatoes, beans, 1 cup water, and herbs and spices. Turn the heat to high, and bring to a boil, stirring vigorously until the beans are well incorporated. Turn the heat to low and simmer 15-20 minutes, until the soup has reached the desired consistency. If you want a thinner soup, add more water.

Garnish with cheese, cilantro, baked tortilla strips, etc. If you have leftover spicy sauteed chicken, add that as well!

Serves 3-4.

Hamantaschen

Purim starts tomorrow night! I made a couple of batches of hamantaschen to give to our friends.

Hamantaschen

2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tbsp lemon or orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp rosewater or orange blossom water, or 2 tsp juice
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups flour

Fillings (i.e., jam, chocolate, prune or poppy seed if you're a traditionalist)

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, oil, juice, vanilla, and flower water until well blended. Add the baking powder and flour and stir to blend. The dough will be stiff but somewhat sticky.

Form the dough into two disks; wrap in plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate 1 hour.

Working with one disk at a time, knead the dough a few times, until it is smooth. Roll the dough out to about a 1/8" thickness. Using a 2 inch-diameter glass, cut circles out of the dough. Re-roll the scraps until you have used all the dough to make circles.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place about 1/3 tsp filling in the center of each circle; pinch the corners to form three-cornered hamantaschen.

Bake the hamantaschen on a greased cookie sheet about 15-20 minutes, until just lightly beginning to brown.

Makes a little more than 3 dozen.

Brisket

This recipe is pretty much my mom's, although I think she uses regular onions instead of shallots. Yum! (Had some lighting issues with the photos.)

Brisket

1 brisket (about 3 lb)
1 cup tomato sauce
about 1 cup red wine
7 shallots, sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place brisket in pan, fat side up. Cover with sliced shallots. Mix tomato sauce and wine together; add to pan, adjusting amounts as necessary so that the liquid comes about halfway up the sides of the brisket. Sprinkle some liquid over the top of the brisket. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Bake 3-4 hours, until tender.

You can slice and serve right away, but it's easier to cool the brisket overnight in the fridge, then skim off the fat from the sauce. Cut the fat off the top of the brisket, and slice thinly against the grain, and warm again in the pan with the sauce.

Serves 5-8 (really, for 8 you want a larger brisket unless you have a lot of other food in the meal).

Moroccan-Style Goat with Prunes

We recently bought some "goat cubes" at the Eastern Market butcher. (They probably come from cube-shaped goats, no?) While trying to figure out what to do with them, I ate a really, really fabulous lamb-and-prune tagine at a Moroccan restaurant. Today, I decided to try to replicate it, but with goat. The verdict? I can't tell lamb and goat apart. (Ben says they taste a little different, but he liked it a lot too.) It worked out extremely well. I made this with bone-in cubes of goat, but if you don't want to be picking around all the bones, try larger pieces of lamb or goat. It's pretty sweet, so I recommended making a salad with a sharp-ish dressing to go along with it.

Moroccan-Style Goat with Prunes

2 lb bone-in goat cubes
3 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 large onions, diced
3/4 lb prunes, halved
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 tbsp toasted slivered almonds
salt to taste


Heat the oil over medium heat in a large soup pot or lidded casserole. Add the cinnamon stick, half the ground cinnamon, the ginger, the onions, and the meat. Cook them about 5 minutes, turning so each side of the meat begins to brown. Add enough water almost to cover. Bring to a boil, add salt, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, 1 hour. Then add the prunes, cinnamon, and honey; simmer, covered, about 45 minutes, until the meat is tender and the prunes are plump.
Remove the prunes, onions, and meat and reserve. Bring the liquid to a boil and boil until thickened, about 5 minutes, to make a sauce. Place the meat, onions, and prunes in a serving dish. Spoon the sauce over. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and almonds.

Serves 3-4 (4 if you are using boneless meat).

Oh, Pea Soup!

As a little girl, I absolutely hated split pea soup. But recently the bright green dried peas were so enticing we just had to buy them. And when I got home from work the other night at 11:40 pm, I found that my associate had a pot of the most delicious split pea soup ever simmering away on the stove for me. Aww. This is Ben's recipe.

Ben's Split Pea Soup

2 cups split peas, about 1 lb (washed and picked over)
6 cups water
2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 tsp salt
1 pinch dried thyme
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 pinch allspice
4 dashes cayenne pepper (add one at a time and taste, so as not to overdo)
black pepper to taste

Saute onions in the bottom of a soup pot a little oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the carrots, and continue to cook about another 5 minutes. Add peas, water, and spices. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer 2-3 hours, adding more water as necessary.

Serves about 4.

Intensely Crave-able Carrot Salad

Well. It's hardly a recipe (being basically just carrots), but it's been over a month since the last recipe and this is ... INSANELY delicious.

Intensely Crave-able Carrot Salad

2 lb carrots, peeled
Juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
about 1 tsp dill weed or more to taste
optional: 3 green onions, diced

Grate carrots (using your new Cuisinart, if applicable). Combine other ingredients to make dressing. Combine dressing and carrots in a large bowl. Sprinkle additional dill on top. Eat in enormous portions. Optional: mix in diced onions, reserving a few to sprinkle on top.

Serves 4.