Hungarian Baked Cabbage

I like this recipe in general, but it was way too heavy on paprika. It reminded me of another Barbara Kafka recipe with an over-the-top quantity of a single spice, radiant bok choy, which was overdosed on turmeric. I would try this cabbage again, reducing the paprika to a sprinkle or omitting it entirely.

½ medium green cabbage, quartered, cored, and cut accross into ½-inch-wide strips (6 cups)
3 tbl. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ cup sour cream
2 tbl. (!!) mild paprika
2 tsp. caraway seeds

Toss the cabbage with butter to coat in a roasting pan. Roast at 500°F for 15 minutes. Toss and stirr the cabbage, and roast for another 15 minutes, until starting to brown. Sprinkle with salt.

Combine the wine, sour cream and spices in a small bowl. Place the roasting pan with the cabbage over medium heat. Pour in the sour cream mixture. Deglaze the pan, stirring the cabbage, for about 5 minutes or until hot. Do not let it boil or the sour cream will curdle.

from Vegetable Love, by Barbara Kafka (as a variation of Mildly Cardamom Cabbage)

Jicama Salad

4 oranges
2 cups (½-inch) julienne-cut peeled jicama
1 cucumber (about ½ pound), peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and thinly sliced
2 cups cubed peeled cantaloupe
½ cup vertically sliced red onion
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
¼ cup fresh lime juice
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon hot chili powder

Peel and section oranges over a bowl; squeeze membranes to extract juice. Set sections aside; reserve ¼ cup orange juice. Discard membranes.

Place the orange sections, jicama,and next 5 ingredients (jicama through mint) in a large bowl. Combine the reserved orange juice, fresh lime juice, salt, and chili powder. Pour juice mixture over jicama mixture, and toss gently. Cover and chill 2 hours.

From Cooking Light

¡Tamalada!

We decided to have a tamale-making SuperBowl party yesterday, which was a lot of fun. Making tamales is a lot of work, and it's best to have help, and split it up over time. I cooked up two kinds of meat, red chile pork and chicken molé, ahead of time. The basic recipe and pork filling were from Rick Bayless' Mexico: One Plate at a Time.

Red chile pork filling

6 ounces dried guajillo chiles, stemmed, seeded and each torn into several pieces
6 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
¾ teaspoon black pepper, preferably freshly ground
½ teaspoon cumin, preferably freshly ground
4 pounds lean boneless pork (preferably from the shoulder), cut into ½-inch cubes
Salt

In a large blender or food processor (or working in batches), combine the chiles, garlic, pepper and cumin. Add 4 cups water, cover and blend to a smooth puree. Strain the mixture through a medium-mesh strainer into a medium-size (3-quart) saucepan.

Add the meat, 4 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt. Simmer, uncovered, over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the pork is fork-tender and the liquid is reduced to the consistency of a thick sauce, about 1 hour. Use a fork to break the pork into small pieces. Taste and season with additional salt if necessary. Let cool to room temperature.

Chicken molé filling

Mix one 8.25-oz.jar of Doña Maria Mole sauce with 2 cups chicken broth. Heat and whisk until smooth, and add the shredded meat from a 5 lb. boiled chicken.

Cheese filling

Mix shredded monterey jack cheese with pureed canned chipotle peppers to taste.

Batter
10 ounces (1⅓ cups) rich-tasting pork lard (or vegetable shortening if you wish), slightly softened but not at all runny
1½ teaspoons baking powder
3½ cups dried masa harina for tamales mixed with 2¼ cups hot water
1 cup chicken broth

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the lard or shortening with 2 teaspoons salt and the baking powder until light in texture, about 1 minute. Continue beating as you add the masa (fresh or reconstituted) in three additions. Reduce the speed to medium-low and add 1 cup of the broth. Continue beating for another minute or so, until a ½-teaspoon dollop of the batter floats in a cup of cold water (if it floats you can be sure the tamales will be tender and light).

Beat in enough additional broth to give the mixture the consistency of soft (not runny) cake batter; it should hold its shape in a spoon. Taste the batter and season with additional salt if you think necessary.

We used 3 batches of the batter recipe. For the first batch, I had a ½ cup of lard rendered from the pork roast, the rest was all commercial hydrogenated lard, which isn't much different from shortening. Some people are really particular about their lard. We had lots of people to shape tamales and roll them into corn husks. They steamed for about 70 minutes, standing up vertically in a pasta strainer pot. They were all different shapes and thicknesses, but they were good! Served with jicama salad, rice and beans.

Candied Ginger Shortbread Hearts

Originally from Gourmet, and found through epicurious. I don't know what the deal is with heart-shaped shortbread (see this recipe, too!). I usually shape this into a log of about 2 inches diameter before refrigerating, then slice it into ¼ inch thick slices and bake. It's easier, and with the ginger these look pretty and interesting anyway, so they don't need the shape.

Makes about 40 cookies

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup finely chopped candied ginger

confectioners' sugar for sprinkling the cookies

In a bowl with an electric mixer cream together the butter, the brown sugar, and the ground ginger until the mixture is light and fluffy and add the flour and the salt. Beat the dough until it is just combined and beat in the candied ginger. Halve the dough, roll out each half ¼ inch thick between sheets of wax paper, and freeze the dough on baking sheets for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is very firm. Working with half the dough at a time, remove the top sheets of wax paper and cut out cookies with a 2¼-inch heart-shaped cutter. (The dough should be cold so that the cookies retain their shape.) Arrange the cookies 2 inches apart on the baking sheets, bake them in batches in the middle of a preheated 300°F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they are pale golden, and transfer them to a rack. Gather the scraps, reroll the dough, and make more cookies in the same manner. Let the cookies cool completely and sprinkle them with the confectioners' sugar, sifted. The cookies keep in an airtight container for 5 days.

Chicago Pan Pizza

I adapted this recipe a few years ago for a 12" cast iron pan. It works OK, but could still use some improvement.

crust:
⅔ cup water
2½ cups flour
⅓ cup cornmeal
½ tsp. salt
2 tbl. olive oil
1½ tsp. yeast

Knead or use dough setting of bread machine. After 1st rising, roll out and shape into 12" cast iron pan that has been coated with olive oil and dusted with cornmeal. Top with mozzarella, cooked sausage and canned diced tomatoes. Bake at 450°F.

New England Molasses Gingerbread Cookies

Another must for the annual Christmas cookie making. Originally from Bon Appetit, found through epicurious, and just right. The icing is also my standard recipe for cookie piping now.

Dough
6 cups (about) all purpose flour, divided
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1½ teaspoons ground cloves
¾ teaspoon salt
11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
⅔ cup solid vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup mild-flavored (light) molasses
1½ teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 large egg
¼ cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon baking soda


Icing
3 cups powdered sugar
1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1½ teaspoons light corn syrup
Water
Food coloring (optional)

Decorations (such as colored sugar crystals)

Preparation

For dough:
Combine 5¼ cups flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt in medium bowl; whisk to blend well. Using electric mixer, beat butter and shortening in large bowl to blend. Add 1 cup sugar, molasses, and lemon peel and beat until smooth. Beat in egg and buttermilk. Stir 2 teaspoons water and baking soda in small cup to blend; beat into butter mixture. Beat in flour mixture in 2 additions. Stir in more flour, ¼ cup at a time, until slightly firm dough forms. Divide dough into 3 equal parts. Shape each into disk. Wrap disks and chill until firm enough to roll, at least 2 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated. Soften slightly before rolling out.)

Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough between sheets of waxed paper to 16x12-inch rectangle, occasionally lifting paper to smooth out wrinkles. (Alice's note: I usually roll with at least one sheet of baking paper, which I leave them on to bake.) Using 4- to 5-inch cutters, cut out boy and girl gingerbread people. Pull away excess dough around cutouts; flatten, wrap, and chill excess dough. Slide rimless baking sheet or inverted baking sheet under waxed paper with cutouts and chill until firm. Repeat with remaining dough disks, refrigerating cutouts on waxed paper on baking sheets. Roll out excess dough and make more cookies, using all of dough. (Cutout cookies can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; keep chilled.)

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Using thin metal spatula, lift chilled cookies off waxed paper and transfer to baking sheet, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake until darker at edges and just firm to touch in center, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheet 5 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool completely. Bake remaining cookies, 1 sheet at a time.

For icing:
Sift powdered sugar into medium bowl. Mix in lemon juice and corn syrup. Mix in enough water by teaspoonfuls to form smooth icing soft enough to pipe but firm enough to hold shape. Divide into 3 or 4 portions and tint with food coloring, if desired.

Spoon icing into pastry bag (or bags if using more than 1 color) fitted with small (1/16- to ⅛-inch) plain tip. Arrange cookies on work surface. Pipe icing onto cookies in desired patterns. Apply decorations as desired. Let cookies stand until icing is dry. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Store cookies airtight between sheets of waxed paper at room temperature.)

Shortbread cookies

Shortbread is eggless, which makes it a must for the annual Christmas cookie rolling/cutting/baking/decorating fun with Kedhar! This recipe works well with cookie cutters, and tastes wonderful. It's from the Silver Palate cookbook.

Shortbread Hearts

3 sticks sweet butter, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup granulated sugar

Cream butter and confectioner's sugar together until light. Sift flour and salt together and add to creamed mixture. Add vanilla and blend thoroughly. Gather dough into a ball, wrap in wax paper, and chill for 4 to 6 hours.

Roll out chilled dough to 5/8-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch-long heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Sprinkle tops with granulated sugar. Place cut-out cookies on ungreased cookie sheets and refrigerate for 45 minutes before baking.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake cookies for 20 minutes, or until just starting to color lightly; cookies should not brown at all. Cool on a rack. Makes approximately 20 cookies.

For Christmas, we decorate these with frosting, which can make them a bit sweet, but getting to work with the dough and eat his creations makes one little boy very happy.

Sugar cookies for decorating

My Mom's standard sugar cookie recipe, especially for Christmas. These are perfect for decorating. Courtesy of First Presbyterian Church, according to Mom, but I don't know if that's my First Presbyterian Church of childhood or not. It seems to me that an inordinate percentage of Presbyterian Churches are First.

½ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. milk
¼ tsp. anise oil
3¼ cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt

Cream together shortening and sugar, then add eggs, milk and anise oil. Sift together the dry ingredients and add to the sugar mixture. Divide into 3 balls, shape into flattened disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm. Using one disk at a time, roll to ⅛ inch, using powdered sugar instead of flour for rolling. Cut into shapes using cutters, and transfer to a greased cookie sheet or one with parchment. Bake at 375 degrees F for 7-10 minutes or until very light brown.

If desired, paint before baking with egg yolk and 2 or 3 drops of water and cake coloring. Or, sprinkle with colored sugar before baking, or decorate with frosting after cooled.

Apple Cake Cockaigne

I am considering cooking my way through all of the cockaigne recipes in the Joy of Cooking. Why not? They are supposed to be the favorites!

1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
5 to 6 Tbsp. butter
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla
milk
4 cups sliced pared apples
1 cup sugar (white, brown or a mix)
2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a 9- or 10-inch round pan. Do not use a springform one, or protect the oven underneath from dripping sauce. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and 2 Tbsp. sugar. Cut in 2 to 3 Tbsp. chilled butter until it is crumbly like pastry dough. In a measuring cup, beat 1 egg with the vanilla, then add enough mild to bring it up to ½ cup. You will have a very sticky dough. Pat it into the greased pan with a floured palm or greased spoon or spatula. Arrange sliced apples on top (if they are dull, sprinkle them with lemon juice first). Combine the cup of sugar and cinnamon with 3 Tbsp. melted butter. Sprinkle on top. Bake about 25 minutes.

Turkey tetrazinni

This alternates nicely with the great after-Thanksgiving turkey enchiladas. Recipe from the Joy of Cooking.

2 to 3 cups shredded cooked turkey
½ pound pasta
½ to ¾ pound mushrooms
5 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 clove garlic
3 Tbsp. dry white wine
2 Tbsp. flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup cream (or half and half)
salt and pepper
grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Clean and slice mushrooms. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a pan with 1 Tbsp. oil, and saute mushrooms on medium. When they have started to release liquid, add 1 clove of garlic, minced. Continue sauteing, adding the wine and allowing most of the liquid to cook off. Meanwhile, boil salted water for the pasta. While the pasta is cooking, make a roux of 3 Tbsp. butter and the flour, slowing mixing in the chicken stock. Season it with salt and pepper, then remove from heat and stir in the cream.

Drain the pasta, then mix half the sauce with the pasta, stir in the chicken and mushrooms, and mix all together. Grease a baking dish, pour in the pasta mixture, then pour the remaining sauce over it all. Sprinkle the top with grated Parmesan cheese, or a mixture of cheese and breadcrumbs. Bake until lightly browned and heated through.

Chocolate Orange Cake

This recipe is from Nigella Lawson's Feast. Susan had remembered it as a clementine recipe, and we had some, so that's how we made it. It was good but I didn't love it as much as I'd thought I would, maybe because it is classed as a flourless chocolate cake, but is not so decadent as what I had in mind, though quite nice.

2 small or 1 large thin-skinned orange, approximately 14oz total weight
6 eggs
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 cups ground almonds
1¼ cups superfine sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
orange peel for decoration if wished

Put the whole orange or oranges in a pan with some cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 2 hours or until soft. Drain and, when cool, cut the oranges in half and remove any big seeds. Then pulp everything -- pith, peel and all -- in a food processor, or see below if you're proceeding by hand.

Once the fruit is cold, or near cold (though actually I most often cook the oranges the day before I make the cake), preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and line an 8 inch springform pan.

Add the eggs, baking powder, baking soda, almonds, sugar and cocoa to the orange in the food processor. Run the motor until you have a cohesive cake mixture, but still slightly knobbly with the flecks of pureed orange. Or you could chop the fruit finely by hand, and with a wooden spoon beat the eggs one by one into the sugar, alternating with spoons of mixed ground almond and cocoa, then the oranges, though I have to say I've only ever made this the lazy way.

Pour and scrape into the cake pan and bake for an hour, by which time a cake tester should come out pretty well clean. Check after 45 minutes because you may have to cover it with aluminum foil to prevent the cake from burning before it is cooked through, or indeed it may need a little less than an hour; it all depends on your oven.

Leave the cake to get cool in the pan, on a cooling rack. When the cake is cold you can take it out of the pan. Decorate with strips of orange peel or coarsely grated zest if you so wish, but it is darkly beautiful in its plain, unadorned state.

Makes about 8 slices.

Last box: Finally the kohlrabi arrives!

Honey Brook Organic Farm made it into the New York Times regional section again today, this time in an article about locavore Thanksgiving. This picture was of a couple gathering pick-your-own herbs at the farm.

Today was the last box of the season, which is always a bit sad, while also something of a relief to not have to figure out what to do with a surfeit of daikon and kohlrabi! Speaking of which, I'm sure we got more kohlrabi last year - this is the first and only time this year. And we got four little heads of lettuce on the last day of the farm share in mid-November! The carrots, cauliflower and sweet potatoes will keep us eating our veggies for a while.

• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celeriac
• Kohlrabi
• Baby Lettuce
• Parsley
• Radishes

Peanut butter cookies with chocolate chunks

I made this recipe from epicurious, but would make it with a few changes next time. I might increase the peanut butter, but would definitely decrease the honey or sugar, as it was a little too sweet for me to really get that nice balance of salty and sweet that's so good with pb and chocolate things.

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup old-fashioned chunky peanut butter (about 9 ounces)
• 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Mix flour, oats, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat peanut butter, brown sugar, butter, honey, egg and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Stir dry ingredients into peanut butter mixture in 2 additions. Stir in chopped chocolate. Cover and refrigerate until dough is firm and no longer sticky, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 2 heavy large baking sheets. With hands, roll 1 heaping tablespoonful of dough for each cookie into 1 3/4-inch-diameter ball. Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake cookies until puffed, beginning to brown on top and still very soft to touch, about 12 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Using metal spatula, transfer cookies to rack and cool completely.

Sauerkraut

About ¾ head of cabbage, over 3½ weeks, made 3 pints of sauerkraut. This is truly mysterious biochemistry with food. As I understand it, you just control the salinity of the solution, keep it out of contact with oxygen, and maintain a reasonable temperature range, and the right bacteria (Leuconostoc mesenteroides) will win. And it seems to have worked - I just put some cabbage and salt water in the basement for a few weeks, and it tastes like sauerkraut, so it definitely fermented, and presumably the good bacteria won. I canned a couple pints and kept one for the fridge.

See a recipe, and look up the science in On Food and Cooking.

Salad returns

Lettuce is back, I hadn't expected that. Carrots and sweet potatoes in quantity. Another daikon to find something to do with. Spinach and cauliflower has been nice to have lately.

• Arugula
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Daikon
• Endive
• Baby Lettuce
• Radishes
• Spinach
• Sweet Potatoes

Oven-dried grape tomatoes

Based on the recipe from Barbara Kafka's Vegetable Love, for plum tomatoes--grape tomatoes are sweeter.

Clean tomatoes and cut them in half lengthwise. Arrange, cut side up, on a baking sheet that holds them comfortably. Sprinkle kosher salt lightly and evenly over tomatoes. Let stand at room temperature for roughly 30 minutes.

Place in a 200 degree Fahrenheit oven, on a rack in the middle. Dry until firm but still pliable (not hard and crispy). Set a timer for every hour or so, at first, and every 30 minutes when they get close to dry--depending on size, this can take 2 to 5 hours.

Tomatoes freeze well and we use them all winter long from the freezer.

Cassoulet

More good elite election party food. This is from epicurious as well. It is extremely rich if you actually cook up the duck skin into cracklings.

Makes 6 to 8 servings
Active time: 1¼ hr
Start to finish: 12 hr (includes soaking beans)

1 lb dried white beans (preferably Great Northern)
8¼ cups cold water
2 cups beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups chopped onion (¾ lb)
3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic (6 large cloves)
1 (3-inch) piece celery, cut into thirds
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 Turkish or ½ California bay leaf
3 whole cloves
3 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs plus ½ cup chopped leaves
¼ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 (14-oz) can stewed tomatoes, puréed or finely chopped with juice
4 confit duck legs (1¾ lb total)
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil (if necessary)
1 lb cooked garlic pork sausage or smoked pork kielbasa, cut crosswise into ⅓-inch-thick slices
2 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a baguette)
1½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

Soak and cook beans:
Cover beans with cold water by 2 inches in a large bowl and soak 8 to 12 hours. Drain in a colander.

Transfer beans to a 6- to 8-quart pot and bring to a boil with 8 cups cold water, broth, tomato paste, onion, and 2 tablespoons garlic. Put celery, thyme, bay leaf, cloves, parsley sprigs, and peppercorns in cheesecloth and tie into a bundle with string to make a bouquet garni. Add bouquet garni to beans, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until beans are almost tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir in tomatoes with juice and simmer until beans are just tender, about 15 minutes more.

Prepare duck and sausage while beans simmer:
Remove all skin and fat from duck legs and cut skin and fat into ½-inch pieces. Separate duck meat from bones, leaving it in large pieces, and transfer meat to a bowl. Add bones to bean pot.

Cook duck skin and fat with remaining ¼ cup cold water in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until water is evaporated and fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until skin is crisp, 3 to 6 minutes more. Transfer cracklings with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain, leaving fat in skillet. (You should have about ¼ cup fat; if not, add olive oil.)

Brown sausage in batches in fat in skillet, then transfer to bowl with duck meat, reserving skillet.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Make bread crumb topping:
Add remaining tablespoon garlic to fat in skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in bread crumbs and cook, stirring, until pale golden, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chopped parsley, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and cracklings.

Assemble casserole:
Remove bouquet garni and duck bones from beans and discard, then stir in kielbasa, duck meat, remaining teaspoon salt, and remaining ¼ teaspoon pepper.

Ladle cassoulet into casserole dish, distributing meat and beans evenly. (Meat and beans should be level with liquid; if they are submerged, ladle excess liquid back into pot and boil until reduced, then pour back into casserole dish.) Spread bread crumb topping evenly over cassoulet and bake, uncovered, in lower third of oven, until bubbling and crust is golden, about 1 hour.

Cooks' note: Cassoulet can be assembled (but not baked) 1 day ahead. Cool casserole before adding topping, then top and chill, loosely covered. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before baking.

Sun-dried tomato and pesto torta

I made an approximation of this recipe (via epicurious, from Bon Appétit in December 1999) as East Coast elite food for our election party. I used pesto from our freezer, roughly half regular pesto and half garlic scape pesto. The tomatoes were our own oven-dried ones. Since we keep these in the freezer (not packed in oil), I added enough oil until I liked the consistency. I didn't make quite as much cream cheese layer as the recipe calls for, and had two layers of each filling, in a loaf pan. Apart from the first layer on plastic wrap, they were easy to spread with a spoon or spatula sprayed with nonstick spray. I popped the pan in the freezer briefly, for perhaps 10 minutes, between each layer.

You can make this up to three days ahead; be sure to start at least one day in advance.

Ingredients

4 garlic cloves
1½ cups (packed) fresh basil leaves
¼ cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2⅔ cups cream cheese, room temperature (about 21 ounces)
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1⅓ cups drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
⅓ cup tomato paste
¾ cup butter, room temperature
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
Fresh basil sprigs
Toasted pine nuts
Baguette slices, toasted

Finely chop garlic in processor. Add basil, 1/4 cup pine nuts, oil and lemon juice. Process until well blended. Add 1/3 cup cream cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Using on/off turns, process just until blended. Transfer pesto to medium bowl.

Coarsely chop tomatoes in processor. Add tomato paste and process until mixture is almost smooth. Add 1/3 cup cream cheese and blend well.

Using electric mixer, beat 2 cups cream cheese and butter in large bowl until fluffy. Season with salt and pepper.

Spray 6-cup soufflé dish with nonstick spray. Line with plastic wrap, extending plastic over sides. Spread 3/4 cup cream cheese-butter mixture evenly over bottom of prepared dish. Top with half of tomato mixture, then 1/2 cup cream cheese-butter mixture, then half of pesto mixture. Repeat layering with 1/2 cup cream cheese-butter mixture, remaining tomato mixture, 1/2 cup cream cheese-butter mixture and remaining pesto. Top with remaining cream cheese-butter mixture. Cover and chill overnight. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Invert torta onto platter. Peel off plastic. Smooth any uneveness with a hot knife. Garnish with basil sprigs and toasted pine nuts. Serve with baguette slices.

Mousse au chocolat

Chocolate Mousse
Six to eight servings

From Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, adapted by David Lebovitz.

Doubled by me. That's a big dessert.

12 ounces (340 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
12 ounces (340 g) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
½ cup (120 ml) dark-brewed coffee
8 large eggs, separated
1⅓ cups, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons (60 ml) dark rum
2 tablespoons (30 ml) water
large pinch of salt
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Heat a saucepan one-third full with hot water, and in a bowl set on top, melt together the chocolate, butter and coffee, stirring over the barely simmering water, until smooth. Remove from heat.

2. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside.

3. In a bowl large enough to nest securely on the saucepan of simmering water, whisk the yolks of the eggs with the 1⅓ cups of sugar, rum, and water for about 3 minutes until the mixture is thick, like runny mayonnaise. (You can also use a handheld electric mixer.)

3. Remove from heat and place the bowl of whipped egg yolks within the bowl of ice water and beat until cool and thick, as shown in the photo above. Then fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Continue to beat until they start to hold their shape. Whip in the 2 tablespoons of sugar and continue to beat until thick and shiny, but not completely stiff, then the vanilla.

5. Fold one-third of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder of the whites just until incorporated, but don't overdo it or the mousse will lose volume.

6. Transfer the mousse to a serving bowl or divide into serving dishes, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until firm.

Storage: The mousse au chocolat can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.

Sweet Potatoes

I just wanted some carrots for cole slaw yesterday. Now we have lots. The sweet potatoes are huge! We have some arugula for our "East Coast Elite" election night party.

• Arugula
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Collards
• Daikon
• Leeks
• Sweet Potatoes
• Spinach