Tart Apple Cobbler

Tart enough to prompt one guest at dinner to ask whether there was rhubarb as well as apples in this cobbler!

Tart Apple Cobbler

1 recipe cobbler batter (see here)

5 cooking apples, skin-on, diced roughly (2 Granny Smith and 3 Braeburn is a good combination)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
2 tbsp all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 375. In a mixing bowl, mix together apples, sugar, spices, and flour until apples are well coated. Pour into an 11x7 baking dish and bake 20 minutes.

While baking, make cobbler batter (using the zest of 1 entire lemon rather than half). After 20 minutes, take the apples out of the oven (leaving the oven on) and, being careful not to burn yourself, dot the top of the apples with the cobbler dough in a grid of marble-sized dots, leaving space between them. Return to oven and bake about 40 minutes, until the dough is golden and crisp.

Serves 8 or more.

Tomato-Pistachio Loaf

Owes a lot to the Tomato, Pistachio, and Chorizo Loaf in Clotilde Dusoulier's Chocolate and Zucchini cookbook, but of course I had no yogurt on hand, no chorizo, no parsley, no dried tomatoes, no loaf pan... so it's morphed into its own thing. Cilantro and toasted mustard seeds make up for some of the sharpness of flavor that the chorizo would bring.

Tomato-Pistachio Loaf

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3 large eggs
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2/3 cup grape tomatoes
3/4 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, toasted
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tsp mustard seeds

In a small skillet, saute the tomatoes in 1tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat until they begin to blister and blacken. Turn the heat to low, add the mustard seeds to the oil, and cook several minutes longer, until the mustard seeds are browned. Remove from heat.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 6 by 6 baking dish (or probably a 9 by 5 loaf pan, since that was what this was meant to be baked in). In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, salt, and pepper with a wooden spoon. Beat in the oil and ricotta and continue beating until creamy and well-blended, with no ricotta lumps. Add the flour and baking powder, and mix just until incorporated. Do not overmix. Fold in the pistachios, tomatoes (with any oil remaining), and cilantro.

Bake 40-45 minutes, until slightly golden and a knife inserted comes out cleanly. Serve in cubes as a cocktail appetizer or in more substantial slices as a light lunch with a green salad.

Serves about 16 as an appetizer or 4 - 6 as a lunch.

Zucchini-Ricotta Rigatoni

Not much of a story behind this one.

Zucchini-Ricotta Rigatoni

1 medium zucchini, sliced 1 cm thick and each slice cut into 2 half-moons
1 small or 1/2 large sweet onion, sliced into long thin strips
2/3 cup grape tomatoes
1/3 lb rigatoni pasta
5 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp olive oil, separated
salt to taste

Put water on to boil for the pasta in a large pot. In a large saucepan, heat 1tbsp of olive oil with the thyme until hot; add the zucchini and onion and cook over medium heat, covered, stirring frequently until the both onion and zucchini are quite colored. Keep warm. Meanwhile, cook pasta when the water boils. In a small, separate saucepan, saute tomatoes in remaining oil over medium-high to high heat until they soften, shrink, and the skins begin to slip off. Keep warm.

When pasta is done cooking, drain it and add the ricotta and salt to the pasta in the pot. Mix to coat the pasta well. Divide the pasta between two bowls. Top each with 1/2 the zucchini-onion mixture. Divide the cherry tomatoes between the two bowls as garnish.

Serves 2.

Pistachio Cookies

Pistachios are my new favorite nut. These showcase the pistachios very well; the flecks of lime zest pick up the green color. They are crisp and not too sweet, ideal for dunking in tea.

Pistachio Cookies

3/4 cup pistachio nutmeats, chopped roughly (put them in a plastic bag and whack them with a rolling pin)
1 2/3 cups white flour
2/3 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp powdered cardamom
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, chilled and diced
2 tbsp water, or more as needed
grated zest of 1 lime


Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, oats, nuts, sugar, baking soda, salt, cardamom, and lime zest. With your fingers, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it reaches the texture of coarse sand. Add the egg and stir until incorporated (the dough will still not come together into a ball). Add the water, beginning with 2 tbsp, and mix with your hands until the dough just comes together into a ball (it may take more like 4 tbsp). Shape into balls slightly larger than walnuts, flatten slightly, and place on cookie sheet. Bake about 30 minutes, until crisp and slightly colored. Makes about 24 - 28 cookies.

Absolutely Most-Basic Lentil Soup

This is my basic recipe for lentil soup. No photo because to be honest it's not particularly attractive, but it is soothing and filling. It's a scaled-down version of my basic chicken soup (which will indubitably appear here eventually), but relies on already-made chicken broth (your own or store-bought). It's good if you're feeling under the weather. Make sure you use red lentils, or the cooking time will be way off.

Most-Basic Lentil Soup

1 cup red lentils, rinsed and picked over
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 bay leaf
1/2 to 1 tsp allspice
small pinch cardamom
small pinch cumin

Put all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, about 20 minutes, until lentils are tender and have begun to fall apart. Add salt if necessary (if using your own broth). Let cool a little, fish out the bay leaf, and serve!

Serves 2.

For a basic but not "most-basic" version, first saute some chopped onion in the bottom of the saucepan before adding the lentils and broth.

Dosa-Inspired Potato Omelet

This is all delicate crisp crust and fluffy center, and the potatoes are spicy and turn a lovely yellow. I will definitely make this again (though perhaps with three eggs).

Dosa-Inspired Potato Omelet

2 medium-sized red potatoes, in large dice
1 tblsp butter plus more as necessary
2 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
good pinch cayenne pepper
good pinch turmeric
1 tblsp brown mustard (or mustard seeds if you have them)
salt to taste

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. When hot, add the spices (except mustard, but do include mustard seeds if using) and fry about 40 seconds. Add the potatoes and mustard. Cook, covered, over medium heat, stirring and turning regularly, until nearly tender (about 15 minutes). Turn off the heat but keep warm.

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites just until they hold a firm peak. In another bowl, beat the yolks until lemon-yellow. Gently fold the yolks and whites together.

Spoon the eggs over the potatoes in the pan, being sure that all the potatoes are covered. Cook, covered, on medium heat until the tops of the eggs are nearly dry, about 10 minutes. Lift out of the pan with a spatula. Slice the omelet in half, and place on half atop the other so that there is a crisp crust on top but the inside is soft and fluffy. Cut in half and serve immediately.

Serves 2 with a green salad and bread, or 1 on its own.

White-Bean Chili

This dish was born in Washington, DC, where I was subletting an apartment for the summer. I had planned to make chili, but was shocked to discover--just before my guests arrived--that the girl I was subletting from had no chili powder. She did, however, have "Yemenite hwaig" seasoning, which seemed to be a mixture of cumin and turmeric. Combined with hot pepper, it did a fair job of approximating chili. Now, I add some regular chili powder as well, but I still concentrate on cumin and turmeric.

White-Bean Chili

2 cans small white beans (Goya brand is good)
2 cans cannellini beans, or 1 of cannellini and 1 of large butter beans
1 medium onion, chopped roughly
1 clove garlic, crushed
6-8 green onions, chopped finely
1 medium bunch of cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup tomato sauce, any type
2 tsp tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
Good pinch red pepper flakes
olive oil
about 2 cups water
3 oz queso casera or feta for garnish

Saute half the onion and the garlic in olive oil till translucent but not too soft, about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse the beans carefully. Combine beans and remaining half onion with onions and garlic in pot. Add 2 cups water and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to a simmer. Add cumin, turmeric, black pepper, chili powder and red pepper flakes. Simmer about 15 minutes, adding water if becomes too thick. When you have about 3 minutes to go, add 1/3 of the cilantro. Just before serving, add half the remaining cilantro and half the green onions.
Garnish with remaining cilantro, green onions, and queso casera (if you have a good Hispanic foods section at your grocery store) or feta.

Serves 3 or 4.