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.)