The Soto King's Chicken Soup

This was a very nice, fragrant soup. I didn't top it with fried shallots & celery leaves, which would be good, I'm sure. I used macadamia nuts from Hawaii- although we saw candlenut trees there, we didn't bring any home with us.

THE SOTO KING'S CHICKEN SOUP
Makes 4 or 5 servings without rice, or 6 servings with rice

• 2 tablespoons Crisp-Fried Shallots (see Note)
• 1 whole free-range chicken, 3 to 3 1/2 pounds, quartered
• 2 quarts water
• 2 thick stalks fresh lemongrass, each tied into a knot
• 6 whole fresh or thawed, frozen kaffir lime leaves
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

FOR THE FLAVORING PASTE:

• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 5 shallots (about 3 3/4 ounces), coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 3 candlenuts or unsalted macadamia nuts
• 1 piece fresh or thawed, frozen turmeric, 2 inches long, peeled and coarsely chopped (about 2 teaspoons), or 1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 1 piece fresh galangal, 2 inches long, peeled and thinly sliced against the grain (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1 piece fresh ginger, 2 inches long, peeled and thinly sliced against the grain (about 2 tablespoons)

FOR THE REST OF THE DISH:

• 3 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1 small package glass noodles
• Boiling water to cover the glass noodles
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped Chinese celery greens or regular celery leaves
• 3 limes quartered

Prepare the fried shallots and set aside.

Combine the chicken, 2 quarts of water, lemongrass, lime leaves and salt in a 4-quart saucepan, Dutch oven or soup pot. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a roiling boil. Using a large spoon, skim off the foam that rises to the top. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and let the liquid cook at a lively simmer until the chicken is tender, about 45 minutes. Continue to skim off the foam every 10 minutes or so to yield a clear broth.

Meanwhile, make the flavoring paste. Place the peppercorns, coriander and cumin in a small food processor. Pulse until the spices are ground to a dusty powder, about 2 minutes.

Add the shallots, garlic, candlenuts, turmeric, galangal and ginger to the ground spices. Pulse until you have a smooth paste the consistency of creamy mashed potatoes. If the paste won't puree properly and repeatedly creeps up the side of the processor instead of grinding, add up to 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon at a time, periodically turning the processor off and scraping the unground portions down toward the blade.

Heat the oil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-low heat. Test to see if the oil is the right temperature by adding a pinch of the ground paste. The paste should sizzle slightly around the edges, not fry aggressively or sit motionless. When the oil is ready, add all the paste and saute, stirring as needed to prevent scorching, until the paste begins to separate from the oil and the aroma of coriander and cumin takes over, 5 to 7 minutes.

By now the chicken should be cooked through and just beginning to fall away from the bone. If it isn't, allow it to simmer for another 10 minutes or so. Remove and discard the lemongrass and lime leaves from the stock. Set the stock in the pot aside (don't discard it). Transfer the chicken quarters to a bowl and set them aside until they are cool enough to handle. When they are, tear the flesh and skin -- discard the bones -- into the finest pieces you can manage; this works best if you tear with the grain of the flesh, not against it. (You can discard the skin if you like, though it is traditionally used in soto.)

Add the flavoring paste and the chicken pieces to the stock and stir well to combine. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow to simmer until the essence of the flavoring paste begins to bind with the stock, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the glass noodles in a bowl and cover them with boiling water. Let the noodles soak until they soften, 10 to 15 minutes. Once they're soft, hold the noodles in a tight bunch and, with a pair of kitchen shears or a knife, snip or cut them into pieces 4 to 5 inches long (longer pieces can be tricky to eat, as the noodles are quite slippery). Drain the softened noodles into a colander and set aside.

Taste the simmering soup for salt, and add a pinch more if needed. Remove the pan from the heat, add the lime juice and stir to combine. Taste once more for salt.

To serve the soup, you can divide the glass noodles among shallow, wide soup bowls, ladle the soup over them and sprinkle the fried shallots and celery greens on top just before serving. Or, add the noodles to the soup while it's still in the pot, and then transfer the soup to a tureen and garnish with shallots and celery just before serving. In both cases, put the lime quarters at the center of the table for guests to squeeze into the soup as desired. Serve the soto warm, not piping hot, which will allow guests to discern its layered flavors more clearly. It will taste even more delicious reheated the next day.

Note: You can buy fried shallots in bags or plastic containers at Asian markets. To make your own: Cut 7 shallots (about 6 ounces) into paper-thin slices. Pour peanut oil to a depth of 1 inch into a 1 1/2 quart saucepan. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until hot, but not smoking. Add as many shallot slices as will comfortably fit in the pan. Using a slotted spoon, move the shallots around until they turn a uniform light-gold color, about 2 to 3 minutes. When ready, remove from oil and drain on paper towels. They will crisp up after a minute or two.

From Cradle of Flavor by way of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Rice Cooker Polenta

I wanted to make polenta tonight, but after I read recipes in a couple different cookbooks that involved stirring for 30-60 minutes, and thought there might be an easier way. The Joy of Cooking recipe steams in a double boiler, so it occurred to me that a rice cooker might work. It turns out that it wasn't an original thought, plenty of others have done it. I adapted some of the recipes I saw and came up with this. It worked out pretty well, but could use some more flavor. Parmesan would be the easy thing to add at the end.

1 cup corn meal (½ cup coarse, ½ cup fine)
4 cups water
1 tsp. salt
2 tbl. butter

Stir all ingredients together in the rice cooker. Close the lid and press the button. Stir it a couple times to make sure it's not too clumpy, and let it sit on "keep warm" for a while after the cooking cycle finishes.

Spider Cake

This is another long time favorite I've never posted before. Apparently "spider" is an old New England term for a cast iron pan.

New England Spider Cake
2 cups milk
4 teaspoons white vinegar
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup yellow cornmeal
¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup heavy cream.

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine milk and vinegar in a bowl and set aside to sour. In another bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda and salt. Whisk eggs into the soured milk. Stir into dry ingredients and set batter aside.

2. Melt butter in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet. Pour in the batter. Pour cream into the center, slide skillet into the oven and bake until golden brown on top, about 45 minutes. Slice into wedges and serve warm.

Yield: 8 servings.

From the New York Times Magazine

Spiced Roast Chicken, Penang Style

This was a really nice take on roast chicken. It didn't seem terribly Malaysian. I didn't bother boiling the potatoes before roasting them (why would you do that?).

Kevin's Spiced Roast Chicken with Potatoes, Penang Style

1 whole free-range chicken, 3½ lb. (1.4 kg)
1/3 cup (2½ oz./75 ml) soy sauce
2 tablespoons double-black soy sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 bay leaves
2 pieces cinnamon stick, each 4 inches (10 cm) long
6 whole cloves
5 small red or yellow onions (about 1 lb./455 g total), each no more than 2½ in. (6 cm) long, halved
1½ teaspoons coarsely crushed black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1½ lb. (680 g) small potatoes such as Yukon Gold, Peruvian blue, or Maine, no more than 1½ in. (4 cm) in diameter

1. Remove and discard the fat inside the chicken (reserve the head and feet to use in stock if they were attached). Rinse the chicken and thoroughly pat it dry inside and out with paper towels. Tuck the wingtips behind the shoulders.

2. Place the chicken in a bowl large enough to hold it comfortably. Pour both soy sauces and the Worcestershire sauce over it. Add the bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and onions. Using your hands or a large spoon, turn the chicken a few times, making sure that some of the liquid, spices, and a few onion halves are slipped inside the cavity. Rub the inside and outside of the chicken with the pepper. Let the chicken marinate, uncovered, at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours. Turn the bird over every 15 minutes or so to distribute the marinade evenly. Its skin will darken a few shades from the soy sauces.

3. Toward the end of the marinating, preheat the oven to 450°F (220°C).

4. Place the chicken, breast side up, in a shallow roasting pan. Scatter the onions around the chicken, making sure that 1 or 2 halves remain inside the cavity. Rub the chicken inside and out with the softened butter. (I like to rub some underneath the breast skin as well, which helps make the breast meat juicier.) Pour the remaining marinade over the chicken, placing the cinnamon sticks and a few of the cloves inside the cavity. Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil.

5. Roast the chicken for 20 minutes, then turn it over. Tilt the pan toward you and, using a large spoon or baster, baste the chicken and its cavity with the pan juices. Cover the pan once more with the foil and continue roasting for another 20 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, scrub the potatoes but don't peel them. Fill a 3-quart saucepan three-fourths full with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes and cook at a rolling boil until they are just tender when pierced with a fork, 5 to 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes well in a colander.

7. Add the cooked potatoes to the roasting pan. Combine them gently with the onions already in the pan and baste them well with the pan juices. Turn the chicken over again (it should be breast side up this time) and baste it once more. Continue roasting the chicken, uncovered now so that it can brown just a bit, until it's cooked. The total cooking time will range from 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1½ hours. To test for doneness, using a fork, pierce the skin at the thigh joint and press down gently. The juices should have only the faintest tinge of pink. Or, you can insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, not touching the bone. The chicken is ready when the thermometer registers 170°F (75°C).

8. Place the chicken on a serving platter. Pour half of the pan juices over it and allow the chicken to rest for at least 10 minutes before carving (this allows time for the juices to be absorbed by the flesh). Place the potatoes and onions around the chicken or in a serving bowl. Pour the remaining pan juices over the potatoes and onions. This chicken is best when served slightly warm. The flavors will be more pronounced and the flesh juicier.

Serves 4

From Cradle of Flavor, found at Goodies First.

Mung bean balad with star anise and lime

This was good, but oddly titled, since there is no garlic in the recipe. Did they mean scallions? Raw garlic might be a little strong. The carmelized sugar and lime juice wasn't as intense on the salad as I thought it would be, even with the juice of 2 limes. I would probably double the sugar and use 4 limes next time to make it more interesting. The anise taste was strong, but not overpowering.

Mung Bean Salad with Star Anise, Garlic and Lime

1 cup dried mung beans
2 tbl. sugar
4 star anise pods
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbl. canola oil
2 scallions, greens and whites, minced
pinch red pepper flakes
4 heads Belgian endive, ends discarded and shredded

Place beans in colander, rinse, and pick over them. Put beans in large stockpot, cover with cold water, and soak for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Drain beans.

In a large, heavy pot, cover the beans with cold water and bring to a boil. Skim the surface when the water reaches a boil. Cover and cook for about 1 hour or until the beans are tender, skimming the surface occasionally to remove any scum that rises to the surface. Drain into a colander and rinse under cold running water to cool.

Cook the sugar, stirring constantly, in a heavy skillet over low heat until it dissolves and caramelizes, about 3 min. Add the star anise and lime juice and stir until the sugar completely dissolves. Remove from the heat.

Place the mung beans in a large bowl. Add the caramel mixture, then the oil, scallions, and red pepper flakes. Stir well and let cool to room temperature. Remove the star anise. Serve the beans on shredded endive.

From Grains, Rice & Beans (found at Just Vegetable Recipes)

Roochi's Kedyeree

This recipe is from Susan, and we've been using it a lot in the past few years. It's very good served with yogurt and mango pickle. We usually have some kind of bread, either naan or roti paratha, or pitas in a pinch.

1 cup basmati rice
½ cup moong dal (split, hulled mung beans)
½ cup red lentils
1 tbl. diced chile pepper
2 cup chopped onion
1 tbl. cumin seeds
3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
½ tsp. celery seeds
½ tsp. turmeric
1 tbl. salt
6 cups water
4-5 whole cloves
1 tomato, cut in wedges

Soak rice, moong dal and lentils in water for ½ hour. Drain and rinse.

In pressure cooker, saute onions, chile & cumin sees until onion is soft, but not browned. Add garlic, turmeric, celery seeds & salt, saute for a minute or so. Add 6 cups water and rice mixture, stir to combine. Add cloves and lay tomato wedges on surface. Close pressure cooker, bring to full pressure 5 min. Turn off heat and allow to cool until pressure is down (about 20 minutes).

Royal chocolate fudge cake with raspberries

I cleaned off my desk and finally found this old favorite recipe. I promised Mary a copy of this recipe last May (Hi Mary!), and just now found it again to type up. Sorry!

½ cup butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1¼ cups sugar
4 eggs
4 heaping tablespoons cocoa
½ cup flour
½ tsp. baking powder
handful of chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 10 inch round cake pan or springform pan.

Food processor: Combine all of the ingredients except the chips in the bowl of a food processor. Blend for 30 seconds, scrape down the sides, and blend for another few seconds. Add the chips, and pulse briefly to blend them in. If mixing by hand, whisk the eggs and vanilla into the slightly cooled butter, then mix in the sugar. Blend the dry ingredients, then beat in slowly and thoroughly, giving it 30 extra strokes after it looks completely mixed. Beat in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the pan, and bake for 25 minutes or until a cake tester in the center comes out clean, but the cake is not dry--be careful not to overbake. Allow to cool in pan, then remove.

Frosting/Topping (not sure what to call this)
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 or 4 T. butter (depending on how soft you want it to turn out)
½ tsp. vanilla
optional: can add 1 T. Amaretto, Rum, Bailey's Irish Cream, etc.

Melt together over low flame in a small pot, stirring as it melts, then beating until smooth and well mixed. Turn off the heat, and leave it for approximately one minute, whisk again, and pour on like a drizzle. If you wish to spread it more like frosting, allow to cool slightly longer, until spreadable.

I usually top the cake with raspberries, then drizzle on the chocolate mixture. It also works to split the cake into two thin layers, putting raspberries and chocolate mixture in the middle, and some more on top.

This cake is a specialty of my friend Paula, who often mails it to people--make the version with two layers and the goodies in the middle, wrap really well in plastic wrap, and freeze. Once frozen, pack it well and ship immediately. It arrives in good shape a couple of days later!

Scallop and Bacon Chowder

This recipe is from Bon Appetit, and I only modify a little bit. Found on epicurious. I only sometimes make the parsley oil to top it.

1 cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley
¾ cup olive oil
½ teaspoon salt

8 ounces bacon, coarsely chopped
2 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2½ cups frozen corn kernels
1½ pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 8-ounce bottles clam juice
8 oz. water
1 cup whipping cream
1 pound bay scallops, connective tissue removed

Blend parsley, oil, and salt in blender until smooth. Pour into small bowl. (Parsley oil can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before using.)

Cook bacon in heavy large pot over medium-high heat until crisp and brown. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 3 tablespoons drippings from pot. Add leeks, garlic, and thyme to pot and sauté until leeks begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add corn and sauté 2 minutes. Add potatoes, clam juice, and water; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Add cream, scallops and bacon and simmer until scallops are just opaque in center, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle chowder into bowls. Drizzle 1 teaspoon parsley oil atop chowder in each bowl and serve.

Crunchy Baked Pork Chops

As seen on America's Test Kitchen (free registration, but you have to turn down multiple offers), made by the same people who write Cook's Illustrated. I don't see Cook's Illustrated that often, but I always find it interesting. I like the approach of systematically trying out recipes and ingredients to see what really works. It does sound a little like Andy Rooney sometimes, "Don't you hate it when your oven baked pork chops are dry inside and greasy outside...", but it's often useful.

I forgot to add the parsley, thyme and parmesan until it was too late, but it was very good without it. The herbs would have been nice, but it seems like the parmesan might have made it too rich. Served with fried okra.

Crunchy Baked Pork Chops

4 center-cut boneless pork chops , 6 to 8 ounces each, ¾ to 1 inch thick, trimmed of excess fat
4 slices hearty white sandwich bread , torn into 1-inch pieces
1 small minced shallot (about 2 tablespoons)
3 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt & pepper
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour plus 6 tablespoons
3 large egg whites
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Lemon wedges

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°F. Dissolve ¼ cup salt in 1 quart water in medium container or gallon-sized zipper-lock bag. Submerge chops, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 30 minutes. Rinse chops under cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels.

2. Meanwhile, pulse bread in food processor until coarsely ground, about eight 1-second pulses (you should have about 3½ cups crumbs). Transfer crumbs to rimmed baking sheet and add shallot, garlic, oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Toss until crumbs are evenly coated with oil. Bake until deep golden brown and dry, about 15 minutes, stirring twice during baking time. (Do not turn off oven.) Cool to room temperature. Toss crumbs with Parmesan, thyme, and parsley.

3. Place ¼ cup flour in pie plate. In second pie plate, whisk egg whites and mustard until combined; add remaining 6 tablespoons flour and whisk until almost smooth, with pea-sized lumps remaining.

4. Increase oven temperature to 425°F. Spray wire rack with nonstick cooking spray and place in rimmed baking sheet. Season chops with pepper. Dredge 1 pork chop in flour; shake off excess. Using tongs, coat with egg mixture; let excess drip off. Coat all sides of chop with bread crumb mixture, pressing gently so that thick layer of crumbs adheres to chop. Transfer breaded chop to wire rack. Repeat with remaining 3 chops.

5. Bake until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of chops registers 150°F, 17 to 25 minutes. Let rest on rack 5 minutes before serving with lemon wedges.

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

Japanese curry

There was an article about Japanese curry in the New York Times Magazine this weekend. It's got a recipe, but that's a lot of work since I can buy pints of curry sauce to bring home directly from Go Go Curry on 38th Street in Manhattan.

I am interested, though, in trying to make something like the red pickles they serve as a side dish at Go Go Curry: fukuzinzuke. A Google search doesn't come up with many recipes, but this one is simple and promising, and this one looks interesting. We've got two daikons to use still, even after I made the Korean pickles from Quick Pickles.

Molto radicchio

A lighter box, and mostly greens. We have 3 or 4 radicchios now, we're not even trying to use it anymore, at least until we've eaten all the stuff we like more.

• Arugula
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Daikon
• Kale
• Leeks
• Radicchio
• Spinach

End of Salad Days

Lots of leafy greens keep coming, but for the first time in a while, no tomatoes or lettuce. Our remaining salad greens will probably carry us through this week.

• Baby Bok Choy
• Broccoli
• Red Cabbage
• Chard
• Collards
• Daikon
• Parsley
• Peppers
• Spinach
• Radicchio
• Red Turnips

Jim and Monika Lasagna

Ok, not really, but at their wedding recently the food was really good. The thing I wanted to make at home, though....? Butternut squash and mushroom lasagna. Here's my first attempt, informed by this recipe on epicurious and a number of its commenters, and also by my very vague memory of theirs. Kels says it had less squash and more sauce (this actually makes roughly one cup more sauce than I used tonight). No doubt he's right. For reasons that aren't clear, I loved the lasagna at the wedding but didn't pay as much attention as I normally would have to ingredients and how it was put together. Probably the good company and fun time we were having, but my attempt at re-creating it is now suffering.

Sorry for the rough recipe, but hey, this is what you get when I really do it off of the top of my head.

Start with two butternut squash. I don't know how many pounds, because our scale only works when it wants to, which is rarely when I want it to. Biggish. You know, a little more than average. Cut them in half, scoop out the seeds, and roast them. Scrape out the innards. Melt about 3 T. butter in a saucepan, put in the innards, with about 5 frozen chicken stock cubes (ice cube tray sized) and heat everything up. Puree with a stick blender. Add water as necessary. Season with a fair amount of cayenne pepper and freshly-grated nutmeg, a moderate amount of ground ginger, a dash of ground clove, and salt to taste. Cook until pretty thick. Cool. You should have what looks to be way more than you need.

Chop a Vidalia onion fairly finely, and clean and slice 10 ounces of crimini/portabello mushrooms. Mince two cloves of garlic. Melt 3 T. butter in a pan over medium, gently sauteeing onions for several minutes. Add garlic, a very generous sprinkling of thyme, salt and pepper, and saute for another minute. Add mushrooms and cook for a long time, until most of the liquid cooks off. Set aside.

Make a bechamel sauce with 4 T. butter, 4 T. flour, and 3 cups milk. Stir in about a half pound of shredded fontina cheese.

Shred about a pound of mozzarella.

Assemble, using no-boil lasagna noodles, in a 13x9 pan: put a little sauce (about 1/4) in the bottom, then add a layer of noodles. Top with 1/3 of the squash, 1/2 of the mushrooms, cheese, 1/4 of the sauce, and then noodles. Repeat a full layer. Top with remaining squash, remaining sauce, remaining mozzarella, and then grate some parmesan on top. Wish that you had more sauce and fret that it isn't saucy enough for no-boil noodles. (Don't despair, it is.) Bake about 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Hmmm....tempted to tag this with "comfort food" as well as the obvious ones. Dense but good. Shows promise.

Brassicaceous!

We often get only small amounts of broccoli from the farm, enough for a small side dish for two, but rarely enough to do much else with. Today we got two small heads of broccoli, and we still have the one from last week, so we have plenty. We also got cauliflower, and since we have from arugula from last week that we still need to use up, it is perfect for Marinated cauliflower salad with arugula. Sometimes the necessary recipes are forced upon us by what we get in the box.

With chinese cabbage this week, and a big head of cabbage from last week, I am threatening to make both sauerkraut and kim chee to use them up.

The tomatoes that looked green last sunday ripened nicely, so I expect this week's to do the same. Hard to believe that we're still getting decent tomatoes. This is a good thing, since salads are once again mandatory.

• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Chinese Cabbage
• Dandelion
• Daikon
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Parsley
• Peppers
• Radicchio
• Spinach
• Butternut squash
• Tomatoes

Fall is here

Tons of greens, and real winter squash. The pumpkin is quite small (dwarfed by this week's cabbage), but we were among the last to pick up veggies in South Orange this week, so they were presumably picked over (the pumpkin was outside the box).

• Arugula
• Beets
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Chard
• Cilantro
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Peppers
• Radicchio
• Spinach
• Winter Squash - Butternut + Sweet Dumpling
• Tomatoes
• White Turnips
• Pumpkin

Pickled beets

With another batch of beets today, it was time to pickle them. Canned 6 half-pint jars, plus part of a pint jar for the fridge, using the USDA recipe. Made cold beet borscht with the cooking water, although I got the proportions off a bit and it was waterier than usual.

This week

From the farm: "This is a transition time at the farm, where our summer crops are winding down, and many of our fall crops aren’t ready for harvest. Please be patient as we await the arrival of our fall greens, broccoli, winter squash and pumpkins, mesclun mix and other fall crops."

• Beets
• Bok Choy
• Cilantro
• Kale
• Hot Peppers
• Lettuce
• Bell Peppers
• Scallions
• Spinach
• Tomatoes
  

Greens and more

More good stuff. The tomatoes are a bit green this week, I wonder if they are nearing the end. Lots of greens, and more beets and summer squash.

• Arugula
• Beans
• Beets
• Bok choy
• Cilantro
• Kale
• 2 heads lettuce
• Poblano peppers
  
• Bell peppers
• Parsley
• Yellow squash

Lots of tomatoes

Plenty of tomatoes this week, after starting to think they were tapering off. Time to make sauce again, and probably dry some as well.

Last week, I roasted weeks worth of bell peppers to freeze and keep in herbed oil, so we finally only have these two peppers to work with.

• Beets
• Chinese Cabbage
• Cilantro
• Garlic
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Parsley
• Hot Peppers
• Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Grape Tomatoes
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Plum Tomatoes

Spaghetti squash with sausage filling

1 3¾ to 4pound spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise, seeded
1 pound bulk spicy turkey sausage
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1½ cups marinara sauce (mmm...yummy homemade helps)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Wrap squash halves in plastic wrap. Cook 1 at a time in microwave on high until tender, about 8 minutes. Pierce plastic to allow steam to escape. Cool. Meanwhile, sauté sausage, bell pepper, onion and garlic in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until sausage browns and vegetables are tender, breaking up sausage with back of spoon, about 12 minutes. Mix in marinara sauce.

Using fork, pull out squash strands from shells, leaving shells intact. Mix squash strands into sausage mixture. Season filling to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon filling into squash shells. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover; refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Arrange filled squash halves on baking sheet. Sprinkle each with 1/4 cup Parmesan. Bake uncovered until heated through, about 20 minutes (30 minutes if previously chilled). Cut each squash half in two and serve.

Yes, Susan, a good option for CSA spaghetti squash! We endorse it. Now to get some zucchini for that soup you told me about....

Even better: eggplant and tomato stacks (with zucchini!)

I liked the first ones so much, I immediately wanted to try these when I saw the recipe in...the latest Williams Sonoma catalog.

Eggplant and Tomato Stacks

olive oil
4 yellow onions, diced
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 garlic cloves, minced
10 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
1 T. chopped fresh oregano
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 eggplant, 2½-3 inches in diameter, sliced ⅛ inch thick
5 tomatoes, sliced ¼ inch thick
4 zucchini, halved crosswise, sliced ⅛ inch thick
½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preheat oven to 425. In saute pan over medium-high heat, warm 6 T. olive oil. Add onions, salt and pepper; cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, basil, oregano and parsley; cook 2 minutes more.

Rub bottom and sides of 12 inch cast iron fry pan with oil. Place 8 eggplant slices in single layer in pan; season with salt. Top each with 1 tsp. onions and 1 tomato slice; season with salt. Top each with 1 tsp. onions and 2 zucchini slices; season with salt. Top each with 1 tsp. onions. Repeat layering 2 more times, ending with zucchini. Drizzle each stack with 1 tsp. oil.

Bake 40 minutes. Sprinkle each stack with 1 T. cheese; bake 7-10 minutes more. Let rest 5 minutes, then serve. Serves 8.

I served these with whole wheat couscous cooked with chicken stock and some more parm grated in.

The first of two summer tomato zucchini stacks

This one vertical, from The Silver Spoon cookbook. I made this about a month ago, and what is more summery than fresh tomatoes, zucchini, and mozzarella?

Tomatoes with Zucchini

olive oil
8 tomatoes
2 zucchini, trimmed
1 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprig, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
7 oz. mozzarella cheese, sliced (I used homemade)
½ tsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350. Brush an ovenproof dish with oil. Thinly slice the tomatoes without cutting all the way through, leaving them joined at the base. Halve the zucchini lengthwise, then slice them into thin strips. Slip the strips of zucchini between the slices of tomato. Place the tomatoes in the prepared dish, sprinkle with parsley and garlic, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven, and carefully slip the slices of mozzarella tetween the slices of tomato and zucchini, sprinkle with the oregano, and return to the oven for 10 minutes, until the mozzarella begins to form strings. Transfer to a warm serving dish and serve immediately.

My note--very thin slices work best, or 30 minutes isn't enough.

Photos

All the photos we've posted to this blog are available as a Picasa album.

It's mostly pictures of vegetables.

A pie bird and a vegetable oil pie crust

For her birthday last year I got Shelley a copy of Mildred Armstrong Kalish's book Little Heathens. It is her story about growing up on an Iowa farm, and she includes a number of recipes. The one that she most brags about is her vegetable oil pie crust--how, because it doesn't have butter/shortening/lard in it, it can be re-worked extensively and not get tough. Shelley was intrigued, and while in MN we picked a huge supply of blueberries one morning. Why not make pie and try the recipe?

For one double crust pie, or two single crusts:

3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup vegetable oil
1½ tsp. salt
⅜ cup skim or whole milk

"Blend all together with a fork, and form into two equal balls using your hands. Roll out between two sheets of wax paper. Peel the top paper off the dough using a spatula. With the paper side up, carefully fit the crust into the pie pan. Now carefully remove the wax paper. If the crust tears, don't worry. Using your fingers, carefully paste over the hole. Take care not to stretch the dough. Unlike the old-fashioned lard dough, you can handle this mixture as much as you like. You will probably never make the old-fashioned dough again." (Kalish, page 132)

I did more mixing of the pie filling, and Shelley suffered through more dough mixing and rolling. It wasn't easy. We also tried Karen's pie bird for the first time. The pie bird sits on top of the bottom crust, and has filling put in around it and then the top crust fitted on top, with the top of the bird sticking out. It has an opening in the bottom that leads up through its beak, so that it allows steam to vent from the pie, and I guess also any extra liquid, hopefully keeping the pie from running over, and also supporting the crust in the middle on the bird's shoulders. Wikipedia tells us that the connection between pies and birds goes back a long way, and mentions the nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence."

The pie bird was a great success, and the filling was yummy (sorry no recipe--we used one of Karen's that I didn't write down), but the crust was panned. It was difficult to work with and hard once baked--less flaky, more cardboard. We actually struggled to cut through the bottom crust of the pie. Hmm. After all that, Karen admitted to us that she had tried a vegetable oil pie crust once before, with the same result. I guess we three will go back to making the old-fashioned dough again.

Fall approaches

It's still warm,. and we had a tropical storm dump nearly 5 inches of rain on us this weekend, but the weekly box share is starting to show signs of fall. We got the first fall lettuce and winter squash today. Since we both had classes last week, we are falling a bit behind on using our vegetables, so we've still got an array of things to use up, from bell peppers to shallots.

• Basil
• Beets
• Chard
• Collards
• Eggplant
• Garlic
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Peppers
• Hot Peppers
• Spaghetti Squash
• Grape Tomatoes
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Tomatoes

Egg fettucine with beets, parmesan, and poppy seeds

kosher salt
10 baby or small beets (about 1½ pounds without greens), scrubbed and trimmed
¼ cup poppy seeds
6 T. unsalted butter
freshly ground black pepper
1 pound fresh (or dried) fettucine
⅔ cup grated Parmesan cheese
balsamic vinegar, for garnish (optional)
¼ cup minced chervil or chives, for garnish (optional)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Grate the beets. In a heavy saucepan over high heat, toast the poppy seeds until they smell slightly nutty, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Reduce the heat and melt 5 T. of the butter in the saucepan. Stir in the shredded beets and saute for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and cook for another 8 to 10 minutes, until the beets are tender.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the boiling water until it is al dente. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl. Toss the hot pasta with the remaining T. of butter, the grated cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. When the beets are tender, toss them with the pasta. Sprinkle with the poppy seeds and adjust the seasoning, adding a tsp. or two of balsamic vinegar, if desired. Garnish with chervil or chives, if using, and serve immediately.

This recipe is fun, different, easy, and yummy, and comes from Melissa Clark's fun cookbook Chef, interrupted, in which she works with restaurant chefs to adapt favorite recipes for the home kitchen. This is inspired by a beet ravioli dish from Anna Klinger at Al Di La in Brooklyn.

Chili Relleno Casserole

1 sweet onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 eggs
½ cup milk
2 T. all purpose flour
½ tsp. pepper
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cumin
3 7-ounce cans whole green chilies, split open and cut into strips
5 corn tortillas, torn into strips
1 pound shredded Monterey Jack cheese
paprika

Lightly grease 9x9-inch glass baking dish. Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet on medium, and saute onions and garlic until onions are lightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside. Beat eggs with milk, flour, pepper, salt, and cumin in a medium bowl to blend. Arrange chilies from 1 can in prepared dish, covering bottom completely. Cover with strips of tortilla, then sauteed onion mixture. Sprinkle with approximately ⅓ of the cheese. Repeat layering twice. Pour egg mixture over the top. Sprinkle with paprika. Let stand 30 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake until casserole is mostly set, slightly puffed in center and golden brown on edges, about 45 minutes. Cool 10 minutes and serve.

Modified from this epicurious post, incorporating various comments and updates.

Tomatoes!

This week:

• Basil
• Beans
• Beets
• Cilantro
• Chard
• Eggplant
• Garlic
• Peppers
• Hot Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Grape Tomatoes
• Heirloom Tomatoes

Shrimp and Mango Salad with Glass Noodles

4 ounces very thin bean thread noodles (also known as cellophane, glass, or mung bean noodles)
1 pound cooked, peeled, and deveined medium or large shrimp
1 large mango (1 pound), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 scallions, thinly sliced crosswise
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil (I used Asian basil)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh serrano or jalapeño chile, including seeds, or to taste
1/3 cup rice vinegar (not seasoned)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Cover noodles with boiling-hot water in a large bowl and let stand 8 minutes. Drain noodles in a colander and rinse with cold running water. Drain well, then return to bowl.

While noodles are soaking, combine shrimp, mango, scallions, basil, and chile in another large bowl.

Stir together vinegar, sugar, and salt in a measuring cup until sugar is dissolved, then toss half of sauce with noodles and half with shrimp salad. Serve noodles topped with shrimp salad.

From this epicurious post. This was good; next time I'll replace half of the vinegar with fresh lime juice as several reviewers suggested.

Mocha Fudge Cake

Preheat oven to 375, and butter and flour a Bundt pan.

1 cup flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1¾ cups sugar
5 large eggs, separated
2 sticks butter, softened and cut into pieces
½ cup plus 1 T. cocoa
1 T. instant coffee powder
2 tsp. vanilla
¾ cup sour cream (can use plain yogurt)

In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Set aside.
put sugar and egg yolks in food processor, process for 1 minute or until thick and light colored. Add butter and process an additional minute. Add cocoa, coffee, vanilla and process another minute. Add sour cream and process for 2 seconds. Add flour mixture and pulse but don't overmix.

Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold ¼ of the egg whites into the batter, then fold in the rest. (Since I am lazy and at this point have a full food processor and a big mixer bowl full of egg whites, I carefully fold batter into egg whites and the cake has always been fluffy enough.) Carefully turn mixture into Bundt pan, removing air pockets with a knife if necessary. Bake 35 minutes or until it starts to pull away from the sides; you can also use a toothpick test as backup. It usually needs longer than 35 minutes. Cool in pan, then turn out onto plate and finish cooling. Frost with the following:

¼ cup water
2 T. butter
1 tsp. instant coffee powder
3 oz. sweet cooking chocolate, broken into pieces
1 cup confectioner's sugar

Heat the water, butter and coffee in small saucepan. Process the chocolate for 30 seconds in the food processor, then pour in water mixture slowly, while processing. Add sugar and process for 5 seconds. Let stand until thick, then drizzle on cake.

This recipe comes to me from my Dad, but I believe it is from Abby Mandel's Cuisinart Classroom.

Good press for Honey Brook Farms

Our CSA pickup site was in the news this week, featured in a front page article in the regional section of the New York Times. They even had a picture of the garage in South Orange where we pick up our vegetables every week. They also carried this sidebar with information about joining this and other New Jersey CSAs.

As an experiment this week, I weighed the tomatoes we got: 1.2 lb. of grape tomatoes, plus a separate box containing 3.2 lb. of regular tomatoes and two heirlooms weighing in at 2.4 lb combined. That's a total of 6.8 lb. of organic tomatoes.

• Basil
• Cilantro
• Dill
• Eggplant
• Garlic
• Peppers
• Hot Peppers
• Potatoes
• Scallions
• Summer Squash
• Tomatoes
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Grape Tomatoes

Watermelon Granita

1 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons crème de cassis
about 3 pounds watermelon, seeds and rind discarded and the flesh chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

In a small saucepan stir together the water, sugar, and crème de cassis, boil the mixture, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved, and simmer it for 5 minutes. Transfer the syrup to a bowl and chill it, covered, until it is cold. In a blender puree the watermelon in batches, forcing it as it is pureed through a coarse sieve set over a large bowl, pressing hard on the solids. I don't really know how much watermelon I used, but it was probably roughly 5 cups of puree that came out of the blender. Stir the syrup and lime juice into the watermelon puree, and transfer the mixture to an 8-inch-square metal pan. Freeze the mixture, stirring and crushing the lumps with a fork every 30 minutes, for 2 to 3 hours, or until the granita is firm but not frozen solid. Scrape the granita with a fork to lighten the texture and serve it immediately. I was going to garnish with a sprig of mint but forgot....

Slightly modified from this epicurious post.