You are what you eat

Meatballs a la Julia Child, plus how to use leftovers

I make these for parties, doubling or tripling the recipe depending on the size of the gathering. I've made just a couple of changes in the original recipe, which comes from Julia Child & Company.

The meatballs are so flavorful, and the sauce is a little different from the usual gravy-like sauce one often sees.

Recently, for a party, I made more of these than was necessary, so a recipe using the leftover meatballs follows.

Meatballs a la Julia Child

1/4 lb. mild Italian sausage
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 egg
2/3 C. fresh nonsweet white bread crumbs
5 T. dry vermouth
2 cloves garlic, very finely minced
8 or more drops of Tabasco
2 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. oregano or thyme
1/2 to 3/4 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper
flour

2 T. Dijon mustard
1/2 cup dry vermouth
1 C. beef stock
1 tsp. soy sauce
salt, pepper, and oregano or thyme
2 T. tomato paste

Preheat the over to 450 degrees. Soak the bread crumbs in the 5 T. of vermouth. Beat meat, egg, crumbs, and seasonings together. I use a food processor for this to get a very smooth texture. Roll the mixture into small balls about an inch in diameter, then roll each in flour and arrange in a single layer in a baking dish. Bake for about 15 minutes, possibly more, turning the meatballs once or twice, just till they're nicely browned and just stiffened. Drain, if necessary, in a sieve or colander. 

Mix the mustard with the vermouth, beating them together well. Mix with the rest of the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil down the sauce until lightly thickened (it won't thicken very much, but it will thicken some). Add the meatballs to the sauce.

You can make these ahead and refrigerate them. Just reheat before serving, then place in a crockpot.

Meatball stew  

This isn't so much a recipe as general directions. The amount of each ingredient depends on how many meatballs you have left over as well as your personal preferences.

Saute chopped onion in a soup pot. After a few minutes, add sliced celery and carrot in thick half-slices or large dice. (Mushrooms would have been an excellent addition, but I didn't have any.) Pour in some beef stock; I used a couple of cups, plus some water. At this point I added hulled barley, which takes a lot longer to cook than does pearl barley. I let this stock simmer for a while, until the veggies were tender and the barley nearly so.

Add the meatballs and their sauce. I found that the tomato paste in the sauce made it unnecessary to add tomatoes to the stew, but go with what you like. If you need more liquid, add some stock. Add some herbs of your choice; I used basil and oregano. You'll need to adjust the salt and pepper. Simmer until the meatballs are heated through and the liquid thickens a bit. If the liquid doesn't thicken to your liking after a good simmer, use a cornstarch-and-water mixture to thicken it.

Serve the stew over noodles.

Going crackers!

Ever since I took up bread baking I've been meaning to try baking my own crackers. Sometimes all I need is the motivation to try something. When I volunteered to help out with the food for our latest book group meeting, that motivation was born.

I thought I'd make some beer cheese--say, I should post that recipe--and then had the idea of making the crackers to go with it. I ended up making three different varieties. On the left, parmesan crackers; seeded crackerbread in the back; and rye crackers on the right. The secret to crisp crackers is to roll out the dough very thin and to be unafraid to let them bake a little longer than the recipe says.

 
 I made the crackerbread first, using a recipe from the King Arthur Flour company's Whole Grain Baking. This is unbelievably delicious. You bake the crackerbreads as wholes and just break them up as desired. They're rustic and sturdy.

I just let them be amoeba-shaped, but if you're a perfectionist, you could try rolling them out as perfect circles. I don't seem to have the ability. I used my baking stone instead of a baking sheet.

Seeded crackerbread 

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rye flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tsp. salt
2 T. olive oil
1 cup water
1/2 cup assorted seeds, such as sesame, poppy, cumin, fennel, caraway, etc.
2 T. assorted dried herbs, such as rosemary, basil, dill, thyme, etc.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet (actually, you'll need more than one) with parchment paper.

Combine the flours, cornmeal, and salt. Mix in the olive oil thoroughly, then add the water. You might not need all the water, so hold back a couple of tablespoons or so and check the texture, which should be stiff but not crumbly. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it until it's a stiff yet supple ball of dough. I did all this using my stand mixer, or it can be done in a food processor. You don't have to knead this much, just so it holds together well.

Mix the seeds and herbs in a small bowl.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and cover with plastic wrap. Working with one piece at a time, scatter a couple of tablespoons of the seed-herb mixture on your work surface. Press the dough onto the mixture. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin. If the dough sticks, flip it over, apply more seeds, and continue rolling. Roll it as thin as you can get it. The idea is to get the seeds thoroughly stuck into the dough and for the dough to be really, really thin.

Place the breads onto the baking sheet and bake until the tops are a medium brown, about 7 to 10 minutes (mine actually took a minute or two longer). Cool completely on wire racks.

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From the same cookbook comes this recipe for rye crackers. 

Rye crackers

1 cup rye flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 T. cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
4 T. butter (half a stick)
3 T. caraway seeds
1/2 cup water
1 T. molasses

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line some baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine the flours, cocoa, and salt in a large bowl, or place flours, cocoa and salt in a food processor (that's what I did). Cut in the butter (or pulse the food processor) until the mixture is crumbly. Add the caraway seeds and mix them in.

Combine the water and molasses in a measuring cup and stir to mix. Gradually add the liquid to the dry ingredients, working it in until you can gather the dough into a cohesive ball. Or add the water to the mixture in the food processor, holding a little back in case you don't need it all. It should come together as a ball in the processor.

Divide the dough into 3 pieces, rolling it out one piece at a time until it's very thin, about 1/16 inch. Use enough flour on your work surface to prevent sticking.

Cut the dough into 2-inch squares, or do as I did and use a biscuit cutter to cut out circles. Transfer to the baking sheets. Sprinkle with salt, if desired. Bake the crackers until they begin to brown and smell toasty, 18 to 23 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks.

* * * * *

The next recipe comes from Mark Bittman's encyclopedic How to Cook Everything. I used 1/3 whole wheat flour instead of all white flour, and the taste was terrific. Next time I'd double this recipe, as these crackers disappear fast and the taste is quite addictive.

Parmesan crackers

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
1/2 tsp. salt
2 T. butter
1/4 cup water

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly dust two baking sheets with flour (I used a baking stone instead). Put the flour, cheese, salt, and butter in a food processor and pulse until the butter and flour is combined (you should have crumbs of dough). Add the water and let the machine run for a bit. Continue to add water about a teaspoon at a time until the dough holds together but is not sticky. If you don't have a food processor, mix the flour, cheese, and salt together and cut in the butter using a pastry blender, fork, or your hands. When it's well combined, add water as above.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch or less, adding flour as needed. I cut out circles of dough for the crackers; you could roll out a rectangle and score the dough so as to break it easily into squares or rectangles, baking the dough as a whole. Or you could cut the dough into strips or squares using a knife or pizza wheel.

Transfer the dough to the baking sheets. At this point I sprinkled the crackers with poppy seeds and salt. Bake until lightly browned, about ten minutes (it took longer for mine to get crispy). Cool on a wire rack. These are delicious warm, but you can keep them in an airtight container for a few days.

 

 

Akara

Hoppin' John is a traditional New Year's Day dish among Southerners, eaten on that day to bring luck in the new year. It is thought to have evolved from a Northern African dish, taking on more or less its present form--black-eyed peas, rice, and ham hocks or other smoked meat--from the slaves who prepared the dish.

In honor of the new year, I bring you black-eyed peas in a completely different, but still African, form. Akara is a dish popular in western and central Africa. We like these fritters as a main dish, with sauteed greens and perhaps sweet potatoes on the side, but they would make excellent appetizers as well. If you want to get fancy, you could serve these with a homemade spicy dipping sauce, but we find that mustard or Dijon-style mustard suits us fine. Some like these with seafood cocktail sauce, ketchup, or salsa. Any way you serve them, akara are wonderful.

The peas need to be soaked overnight. For reasons that will become obvious, you can't use the stovetop "quick soak" method. So plan ahead, but don't let the necessity of forethought stop you from trying these. You do need a food processor for this recipe, although it might be doable in a blender.

You may add some cayenne pepper if you want a spicy version, or do as I do and add a jalapeno pepper or two, chopped into two or three pieces, to the food processor when you process the beans.

2 cups black-eyed peas
1 medium onion, chopped
4 or 5 T. water
1 tsp. salt (or more, to taste)
black pepper to taste
peanut or canola oil for frying (palm oil was traditionally used)

Soak the peas overnight, or for about 16 hours, in cold water. Drain the peas and place them in a large bowl. Rub the peas between your hands so that the pea skins loosen and fall off. Fill the bowl with more water. Many of the skins will float. You can either pour off the water and the loose skins, being careful not to pour out the beans, or you can use a sieve or slotted spoon to skim off the skins. I usually pour, refilling the bowl and pouring several times, giving the peas a quick swish with my fingers before pouring. I don't find that the skins always float as they should, so this method is the one I think works best. You may think differently, so try both methods.

Drain the beans well. Place them with the onions, salt, pepper, and, if desired, cayenne or jalapeno in a food processor. Scrape down the sides of the work bowl as necessary and process until you have a grainy paste. Continue to process while you slowly add water until the mixture is one that will fall easily from a spoon without being too runny. It should look light and airy but still grainy. You're going to fry these, so keep in mind what kind of "body" the paste will need for that.

Put about an inch of oil in a deep skillet and heat it until it's very hot (I test by dropping a minute amount of paste in and seeing if it starts to sizzle immediately). Working quickly, give the mixture a stir and drop a tablespoon of the batter into the skillet. Repeat until the pan is full. Fry for about a minute at medium heat, turning them over as they darken, and then turn the heat to low. Continue to fry for another 6 minutes or so, turning now and then.

When you have fritters that are a reddish-brown color and are cooked through--they will feel firm--remove them with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Turn the heat under the frying pan back up and let the oil become very hot again. Give the batter a stir, and repeat the process outlined above. Do this until you've used up all the batter.

Serve with or without a dip or condiment of your choice. If you have leftovers, place them in a closed container in the fridge, and tomorrow you can eat them in a pita like falafels, if you want. Just heat them up a bit in the microwave, and don't forget the lettuce, tomatoes, and tahini or yogurt sauce!

Mushroom pate

This recipe has a few steps to keep track of, so read it through first. The recipe is from what I call "the orange bible" (the paperback, at least, has an orange cover), Deborah Madison's encyclopedic Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. The next time I make it, I'm thinking I might substitute some brandy for either the reduced mushroom liquid or some of the milk. I think the dish might profit from it.

The recipe for the topping appears after the pate recipe.

1 oz. dried porcini (about a cup)
2 medium leeks, white parts only
1 lb. white mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 lb. shiitake or cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
6  tablespoons butter, plus extra for the pan
1 huge garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup walnut pieces
salt and pepper
2 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
3 eggs
1 cup cream
1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Cover the dried porcini with 1 1/2 cups warm water and set aside to soak.

Prepare the leeks and mushrooms. Butter the pan (a bread loaf pan) for the pate, then line it with parchment paper and butter again. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Lift the porcini from the water, gently squeeze them dry, then chop them. Decant the water into a small saucepan, leaving any sediment behind, bring to a boil, and simmer until only 2 tablespoons remain.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a very wide skillet. Add the leeks, garlic, and walnuts. Cook over medium heat for about 6 minutes, or until leeks are tender, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and transfer to a food processor.

Melt 2 more tablespoons in the same skillet over fairly high heat. When the butter foams, add 3/4 of the white mushrooms and a healthy pinch of thyme. Saute until they begin to color, just a few minutes. Add them to the blender. Melt another 2 tablespoons of butter and saute the remaining white mushrooms, chopped porcini, and sliced shiitake or cremini, along with another pinch of thyme. Set these aside--don't put them in the food processor.

Add the eggs and cream to the processor and puree until the mixture is completely smooth. Pour into a bowl and fold in the reserved sauteed mushrooms, remaining thyme, reduced porcini water, bread crumbs, lemon juice, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and several grinds of pepper.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Set it in a baking pan and fill with hot water to come halfway up the sides of the loaf pan. Bake for an hour and 10 minutes. Okay, I baked it for something like two hours before it was done, maybe even longer. It should be browned on top and the sides should be starting to pull away from the pan. Refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 6 hours or overnight. But before you serve it, it should come back to room temperature.

To serve, gently pull at the paper lining to ease the pate from the sides of the pan. Set a platter over the pan and invert. Ease the pan off the pate, then peel off the paper. Rough spots can be smoothed with a hot knife.

Prepare the topping and spoon it over the top just before serving. Serve with toasted or untoasted baguette slices or crackers.

Scallion-Walnut Topping

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup walnut pieces
2 bunches scallions, including half the greens, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a medium skillet over fairly high heat. When foamy, add the walnuts and cook, stirring frequently, until they begin to color a little, about 3 minutes. Add the scallions and parsely and cook until the scallions are bright green and tender, about 3 more minutes. Season with salt and plenty of pepper. Spoon over pate before serving.

Mixed herbed olives with diced fresh mozzarella

Fresh mozzarella has a delicate taste. Some would call it bland, but the beauty of fresh mozzarella is that it soaks up flavors.

To Mixed Olives with Rosemary and Thyme, add diced fresh mozzarella, about half a cup or to taste. Instead of following that recipe in its entirety, I bought green Sicilian olives with spices at the supermarket, combined them with calamata olives, and added a few sprigs of fresh rosemary. I moistened the mix with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Gingery pickled vegetables

I recently acquired a new cookbook and--foolishly or bravely--used three untried recipes from it to serve at the party. The book is Entertaining for a Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons. I have some quibbles with it, but if you have some common sense and trust your instincts, you can get inspiration from the recipes but alter them to suit your taste.

This dish should be made at least 24 hours before you serve it; I made it around 48 hours before the party. These will keep about two weeks in the fridge.

If you use radishes, don't be shocked when they turn pink through and through. The pickling solution will also affect the color of broccoli.

Here's her recipe for pickled veggies, slightly altered:

1 1/2 cups white vinegar
1 cup thinly sliced fresh ginger
4 to 6 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
2 teaspoons kosher salt
8 cups sliced vegetables (variously colored bell peppers, carrots, etc.); florets of broccoli or                     cauliflower; halved red radishes; whole or halved pearl onions

In a large saucepan, bring the vinegar, ginger, sugar, and salt to a boil. Remove from the heat and let stand for 15 minutes.

Place vegetables in a large, shallow bowl. Bring the vinegar mixture a boil again and pour it over the veggies. Toss well and transfer the vegetables to a container with a tight-fitting lid. Allow the mixture to cool before covering. Refrigerate overnight.

I served these in a black casserole dish that really showed off the colors of the vegetables. A glass bowl would also be lovely.

Lunch: Eggplant caviar, spinach-orange salad, portobello soup

You may want to serve some good bread with this, and if your friends are like mine, be sure to have some good wine as well!

Eggplant Caviar

You can freeze this, and then you'll have a wonderful appetizer whenever you need one. And it's a lovely alternative to fat-laden nibbles like cheese. If you do freeze it, be sure to taste for seasonings before you serve it. It should be served at room temperature.

1 large eggplant, halved lengthwise
1 T. olive oil
1 medium red or green bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 small onion, minced
3 cloves (or more, if you're brave!) garlic, minced
1 large tomato, diced
3 T. fresh lemon juice
2 T. minced chives
1 T. fresh basil, minced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush eggplant with 1 tsp. of the olive oil and bake the halves, cut side down, on a greased cookie sheet for about an hour or until perfectly tender. Cool and scoop out the meat, discarding the skin. Chop finely.

Heat 2 tsp. of the oil in a skillet and saute the pepper, onion, and garlic until soft. Stir in the eggplant, tomato, lemon juice, chives, and basil. Cook another minute or so to heat the mixture through and to dry up some of the juices.

Spinach-Orange Salad

8 or 10 oz. spinach leaves
1 11-oz. can mandarin oranges, drained well
1 C. sliced fresh mushrooms
a few thin rings of red onion
3/4 C. toasted slivered almonds

Tear spinach into bite-sized pieces (or use baby spinach) and place them in a salad bowl. Add mushrooms, onions, and orange sections. Pour lemon-poppyseed dressing over and toss. Sprinkle with the toasted almonds. (Toast almonds in a heavy skillet without any oil added. Stir or shake over medium heat until they begin to brown. When they're the shade you like, remove immediately from the skillet, or they'll burn, even after the heat is turned off.)

Lemon-Poppyseed Dressing

I usually double this recipe so I can use it on other salads.

6 T. olive oil
2 T. lemon juice
3/4 tsp. poppyseeds
1/2 salt, or to taste.

Combine ingredients and shake well.

Portobello Soup

This is a rich, flavorful soup. I use Knorr's vegetable broth cubes often, but if you have other kinds of veggie broth--homemade or pre-packaged--or mushroom broth, those would work beautifully. I don't honestly have definite measurements for some of the ingredients here, so you'll have to try a little of, say, soy sauce and then taste. I used an old recipe of mine as a base for this and then added some extra touches.

12 oz. portabellos
1 large onion (about a cup, chopped)
1 large clove garlic, minced
4 T. butter (or half butter, half olive oil
4 T. flour
4 cups vegetable broth
dry sherry
soy sauce
1/4 tsp. thyme
1 cup milk
about 2 oz. cream cheese (more wouldn't hurt)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
sprinkle of nutmeg

Chop or slice the portabellos. If you slice them, you may have to cut each slice into halves or thirds to make them bite-sized. Heat the butter and oil; add onions and portabellos. Saute until the onions are soft. Blend in the flour. Add the broth and thyme, cooking and stirring until slightly thickened. Turn the heat way down. Add dry sherry and soy sauce. You'll probably need at least 1/4 cup of sherry and 2 T. of soy sauce, but you may need more. Add milk and cream cheese. I used a wire whisk because the cream cheese wanted to stay in lumps. Add seasonings, taste, and serve.

Bookish munchies

Recently I whipped up a couple of new-to-my-book-group treats: Dilled Havarti Spread and Spicy Peanut Dip. The group asked me to post the recipes, so here they are.

Dilled Havarti Spread

Here's a helpful hint: put the havarti in the freezer for a while to make it easier to shred. I used the smaller shredding holes on my hand-held flat grater; the smaller shreds mix better with the mayo.

If you can't find dilled havarti--although usually it's available, I've found--use plain havarti and increase the added dill to taste. It should be quite dilly!

This recipe can be found in Moosewood Restaurant: New Classics.

1 cup shredded dill Havarti, lightly packed
1/4 cup minced scallions (include some of the green)
2 T. chopped fresh dill, or 1 T. dried
1/3 cup mayonnaise

Mix together the cheese, scallions, dill, and mayo. Spread on toasted baguettes, cocktail pumpernickel bread, or crackers.

Makes about a cup.

Spicy Peanut Dip

This offering by Deborah Madison in her book ("the orange bible," as I call it) Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, is different and very tasty. I like it on raw vegetables, especially cauliflower, but you could try it on, say, toasted pita wedges or some such, I suppose.

I didn't have any limes when I made this, so I used lemon juice. Also, you should vary the amount of hot chiles according to your preference. The original recipe called for two chopped serranos, which I knew would be too hot. I used one smallish jalapeno (Mexican strain, not the blander American variety), and I stripped the seeds and membranes to make it milder ("know your diners" is my advice). Under no circumstances attempt to make this with anything but natural peanut butter--it just wouldn't taste good made with the sweetened glop.

I found that I needed a few tablespoons of warm water to thin this out to dipping consistency.

1 cup natural peanut butter
1 bunch scallions, including some green, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno, coarsely chopped (remove seeds for milder heat)
1 T. soy sauce
Juice of two limes
1 tsp. turmeric

Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth but flecks of green still remain. Add warm water to thin the dip if needed. Taste and adjust the soy sauce and lime juice, adding more of either to get the balance right.

Dinner Party

I have some of the greatest friends in the world. On a cold February night they drove through wind and snow, a trip of over an hour in good weather, to come to the dinner party I'd been planning for weeks. All day, as I cooked and cleaned, I waited for the phone to ring, bringing news of cancellations. Shame on me for underestimating my friends!

The dinner was the product of a long process of planning. First of all, I had to buy the china ... Yes, I'd decided to invite three couples, and then realized that I didn't have enough place settings of my aging stoneware. And I was not about to use paper plates!

I spent some time going through cookbooks and deciding on the components of the meal, trying to take into consideration what I knew about my guests' preferences. Some are not especially adventurous diners, but all appreciate good food. I wanted most of the dishes to be a little different from what my guests would usually have, yet not intimidate the more cautious. Here is the menu I came up with:

Appetizers:

Mixed Olives with Rosemary and Thyme
Toasted Pecan and Walnut Pate
White Beans with Roasted Garlic and Sage (a spread)
crackers and toasted baguette slices

Soup: Winter Squash Bisque with Hazelnut Butter

Entree and side dishes:

Asparagus and Leek Strudel
Roasted Carrots with Garlic and Thyme
Salad of Spring Greens with Lemon-Poppyseed dressing
Italian Hard Rolls

Dessert:

Oranges in Wine
Black Forest Biscotti
Coffee and Bailey's Irish Creme

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A week before the dinner:

A dinner that features all the items listed requires some planning if everything is to be accomplished without exhausting the chef. So it's always a good idea to figure out what can be done in advance--well in advance, if possible.

In this case, two items were said to be perfectly fine if made as much as two weeks in advance: the Black Forest biscotti and the herbed olives. I didn't make them that far in advance, but did make them a few days in advance. The biscotti must be kept in an airtight container, and the olives must be refrigerated.

Mixed Olives with Rosemary and Thyme

For this you need the kind of olives usually sold in the deli section of the supermarket, perhaps in a dairy case with fancy cheeses, hummus, or that kind of thing. (Meijer's doesn't carry these, as I once found to my dismay.) I chose Kalamata olives--the black kind--and Sicilian olives, the tangy green ones.

1 cup Kalamata olives
1 cup Sicilian olives
6 or more fresh thyme sprigs
several small rosemary sprigs
4 bay leaves, broken into large pieces
1 large clove of garlic, thinly sliced
extra-virgin olive oil to moisten

Combine everything in a serving dish. Let stand at room temperature at least two hours for the flavors to develop and then serve. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

If you make these in advance, get the olives out of the fridge well before serving time to take some of the chill off them. Also, be aware the the olives may get very garlicky if they are stored for several days or longer. In that case you may want to remove the garlic. Myself, I love garlic!

Black Forest Biscotti

I don't usually bake, and I'm not much for sweets, so I have little acquaintance with biscotti. But I wanted something to go with the oranges in wine, and I hit upon this in Moosewood Restaurant: New Classics. I thought the biscotti seemed a bit dry, but was told my guests that they were fine. They were probably just being nice ... I still wonder if I left them in the oven a bit too long (I baked them a bit longer than called for because the biscotti seemed a bit doughy, but probably they would have seemed drier after cooling off).

Anyway, here's the recipe.

1/2 cup dried cherries
1 cup water
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. pure almond extract
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups plus 2 T. unbleached white flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a baking sheet.

In a small saucepan, heat the cherries and water just to boiling, and then remove from heat and set aside. In a bowl, cream together sugar and butter until light and well combined. Blend in the eggs and the almond and vanilla extracts. Fold in the chocolate chips. Drain the cherries, blot them with a paper towel to remove excess moisture, and stir them into the egg mixture.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder. Blend in the wet ingredients and mix until the dough is uniform and holds together when pressed with lightly floured hands. Make sure all the dry ingredients are moistened and incorporated.

Scoop the dough onto the oiled baking sheet. Form the dough into a log about 12 by 3 inches, then press down on the log, flattening it to about an inch thick. You should have a flattened log about 14 by 4 inches.

Bake on the top rack of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until the dough is firm and slightly browner. Remove from the oven and transfer log to a cutting surface. When cool enough to handle, slice crosswise into 3/4-inch pieces. Lay each biscotti cut side up the baking sheet. Bake for about 5 minutes on each side. Cool completely on a rack. Store them in an airtight container for up to two weeks. If they last that long.

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D-Day Minus Two

D-Day, is, of course, dinner party day. Two days before the event, you can make the bean spread, the nut pate, and the soup. That will take care of the appetizers and the soup course, plus one of your desserts.

White Beans with Roasted Garlic and Sage

You need to soak the beans overnight, or you can use the fast-soak method: bring the beans to a good boil for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat, cover, and let stand for at least an hour before proceeding with the recipe.

1 1/2 cups navy beans, soaked and drained
5 garlic cloves
10 fresh sage leaves (or more--I used more)
2 bay leaves
3 T. olive oil
1 whole head garlic, outermost papery husk removed
salt and freshly ground pepper
juice of one lemon
1 T. chopped fresh thyme

Boil the beans in a large pot with water to cover by 2 inches for 10 minutes. Lower the heat and add the 5 garlic cloves, sage leaves, bay leaves, and 2 tsp. of the oil. Simmer, covered, until the beans are tender, about an hour and a half. Remove the bay leaves and drain, reserving the broth

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rub the head of garlic with a little oil, put it in a small baking dish, and add 1/3 cup water. Cover and bake until soft and lightly caramelized, about 45 minutes. Cool, then squeeze out the softened garlic. Puree the beans in a food processor with all the garlic, the remaining oil, 1 tsp. salt, and enough bean broth to give the beans a soft, spreadable consistency. Season to taste with lemon juice and pepper, and taste again for salt. Stir in the thyme leaves. Serve warm.

If you're making this in advance, don't add the thyme leaves now. Cover and refrigerate. Before serving, warm the spread in the microwave a bit--not hot, just warm. Add the thyme leaves and serve.

Toasted Pecan and Walnut Pate

This was the big hit among the appetizers I served. People just couldn't get over how good it was. Someone even thought it was reminiscent of goose-liver pate! I don't know about that, but I do know that everyone was enthusiastic about it.

The recipe, and the soup recipe that follows, come from Ken Bergeron's Professional Vegetarian Cooking, a fantastic compendium of recipes--all vegan, but all incredibly complex in flavor, many of them tasting so rich you'd never believe that butter, cream, and eggs are never in the ingredients list. The recipes all make ten servings, easy enough to halve or to double, depending on your needs.

I substituted butter for soy margarine, though, because that's what I have on hand! And I like butter, besides.

You can buy liquid smoke at the supermarket.

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 T. olive oil
1 to 2 T. minced ginger root
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 cup finely chopped scallions
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper (a few twists)
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
8 to 10 drops hickory-flavor liquid smoke
2 T. butter
2/3 cup toasted pecans
2/3 cup toasted walnuts
1/4 cup vegetable stock or water

Toast the pecans and walnuts on a sheet pan in a 350-degree oven for 4 to 5 minutes. Stir after 3 minutes to keep them from burning.

Saute the onions, carrots, and celery in the olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the ginger, scallions, and garlic and saute another 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low and all all remaining ingredients to the pan except for the stock or water. Saute another 5 minutes.

Turn the ingredients into a food processor. Deglaze the pan with the stock or water and pour that into the processor. Process the mixture to a smooth pate. Chill before serving.

Winter Squash Bisque with Hazelnut Butter

An avowed squash-hater ate this soup and liked it! How's that for a testimonial? Well, once again Ken Bergeron gets the credit.

I had to make my own hazelnut butter, which I did by processing hazelnuts (also called filberts) in the food processor until they became nut butter. You need a workhorse of a motor for that--don't try it if you have a smaller or less sturdy processor. Health food stores are said to carry hazelnut butter; I can't say yea or nay to this. I believe you could use peanut butter--the natural kind ONLY!--and get a very similar result.

Butternut squash is nice for this because it has a thin skin and is thus easier to peel.

1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
3 or 4 T. minced fresh ginger
1 T. canola oil
6 cups large cubes of winter squash
7 1/2 cups water or light veggie stock
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 T. soy sauce
1/3 cup hazelnut butter
1 T. or more maple syrup
lemon juice
few grinds black pepper

Saute the onions, carrots, celery, and ginger in oil over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the squash and saute 5 minutes longer. Add water or stock, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes or until the squash is tender (very tender). Remover soup from heat and add hazelnut butter, maply syrup, and pepper. Puree in a food processor until smooth. Taste; add more maple syrup if necessary. The syrup really brings out the taste, but don't overdo. I had to use more--it just depends on the squash. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice, taste, add more to your liking, and so on. Adjust salt. If you are making this in advance, cover and store in refrigerator. Warm over low-medium heat before serving. It shouldn't be overly hot or the flavor won't quite be there.

Garnish with chopped toasted hazelnuts and chopped chives. If you put the chives on the soup first, the nuts won't sink immediately, I discovered.

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The Big Day

Of course, with any dinner, party, or other get-together where you're serving food, everything bunches up at the last minute--several things have to be done NOW, preferably simultaneiously. That's unavoidable, unless you have hired help, but you can try to be very, very organized and have at least one loyal person (in my case, my husband, Jim) who can be an extra pair of hands. You can also figure out what foods to make ahead of time, even on the day of the party itself.

For example, salad dressing can be mixed up ahead of time, stored in a jar or bottle in the fridge, and poured on the salad right before serving. The salad itself, if well dried after washing, can be tossed--without the moister ingredients--and stored in the refrigerator. I emphasize that the greens must be well dried. A salad spinner is a handy piece of equipment, but even so, I blot the greens and sometimes spread them out on towels until they are dry (but not wilted, please!). You can toss the greens with sliced mushrooms, onion rings, and other fairly dry ingredients, but to keep the salad crunchy, don't put in cucumbers or tomatoes early. This particular salad includes canned mandarin oranges, and I drain and add those at the very last minute.

Since I had decided on Oranges in Wine for dessert, this was one dessert that would benefit from some hours of marinating. I made the dish early in the day and stowed it in the refrigerator.

The roasted carrots were ready to go before my guests arrived, but I left them till relatively late. I assembled them in two baking pans and covered them with foil; they stayed that way until the main dish went into the oven, and then the carrots went in too (timing, timing, timing). I have two ovens, so space and differing oven temps for the two oven-cooked dishes weren't a problem. If they are a problem for you, I would try making the carrots in advance and microwaving them before serving. I haven't done this, but it seems to me it should work quite well.

The main dish, Asparagus and Leek Strudel, must be assembled immediately before it goes into the oven, or it will come out soggy. Also, the filling has cheese and eggs in it, so you wouldn't want to make it way ahead. However, I made my life a little easier by cleaning the vegetables, chopping the leeks and slicing the asparagus well ahead and putting them into bowls to keep the veggies off much-needed counter space. They sat out for an hour or better until I was ready to saute them. You can also grate the cheeses a little bit ahead and have them ready to go into the filling. The cheddar will want to clump, but it doesn't matter all that much, as long as you mix it into the filling really well.

Around these various tasks I fitted cleaning chores and bill-paying until the hour of reckoning drew closer. I had to take the olives out of the refrigerator so they'd lose some of their chill, arrange crackers, toast baguette slices, set the table, set out the appetizers, get the butter to room temperature, and all that usual jazz. I also ground and measured out the coffee and filled the water tank so I could just switch the coffeemaker on. A second coffee filter full of ground beans sat on the counter in case one pot wasn't enough.

Here are the final recipes for all the dishes I listed earlier.

Salad of Spring Greens

In a perfect world, one would use one's own home-grown mix of spring greens for this salad. But in February in Michigan, this ideal simply is out of reach. Amazingly, though, I found salad in a bag that was quite good. It's called Spring Mix, I think, is organic, and is carried by our local Farmer Jack. It had raddichio, baby beet greens, mizuna, arugula, and I don't know what all in it. It's important to look at the expiration date, though. I augmented the mix with some extra baby spinach just to make my large salad bowl nice and full.

1 bag Spring Mix greens
some baby spinach leaves
small red onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
1 1/2 to 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 15-ounce can mandarin oranges
1/2 to 3/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

Toast the almonds in a heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until fragrant and golden. (You don't need oil.)Remove from the pan so they don't overcook and set them aside to cool.

Check over the greens for any that are limp or iffy. Rinse and spin dry if needed. Place in a large bowl. Add the onion rings and mushrooms. Cover with plastic wrap till serving time. At that time, drain the oranges well and add to the salad. Add almonds; add the dressing to taste; toss, and serve at once. (I did these last few things after clearing the soup plates.)

Lemon-Poppyseed Dressing

You shouldn't need all of the recipe. It keeps well in the refrigerator, though, so having some left over is not a problem.

This dressing is especially nice for spinach and the soft lettuces, particularly if the salad includes citrus. I have sometimes replaced some of the lemon juice with orange juice to vary the flavor, and I also sometimes use a little walnut oil instead of using olive oil exclusively.

3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/4 tsp. poppy seeds
3/4 tsp. salt (or more to taste)

Combine the ingredients in a jar and shake well, or whisk in a bowl until emulsified. Taste for salt and lemony-ness and adjust, if necessary. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Oranges in Wine

After a rich main course, this is a lovely, refreshing dessert. It's so easy, too! You do need a very sharp knife to do this right, as you must remove the bitter white pith of the orange that's right under the skin, as well as the outer membrane. I had James sharpen my knives before I began.

6 large navel oranges
3/4 cup sugar
8 to 10 whole cloves
stick cinnamon, a couple of inches, broken up
1 1/4 cups dry white wine (not the cheap stuff, please)
2 T. brandy

Peel the orange with a very sharp knife, removing the white and the outer membrane. Slice the oranges thinly, getting 6 or 7 slices per orange. Arrange the orange slices in a serving bowl in layers, sprinkling each layer with sugar and adding cloves and cinnamon bits here and there.

When all the oranges and sugar are used up, slowly pour the wine over the slices, being careful not to wash all the sugar to the bottom. The wine should just barely cover all the oranges. Drizzle the brandy over, cover the bowl tightly, and let the oranges marinate in the refrigerator for several hours.

Roasted Carrots with Garlic and Thyme

Not only does this taste great, it's a lifesaver for the harried cook because you can pop it into the oven, thus freeing stovetop space and freeing you to do other things.

The original recipe called for 1 1/2 pounds of baby carrots to feed four people, so I doubled it, but I had lots of carrots left over. I leave it to your judgment. Perhaps making it one-and-a-half? I give you the amounts I used. Adjust as you think necessary.

Use the garlic cloves that always seem to be left, the teensy ones that you hate to peel. If you don't have enough hanging around, try slicing larger cloves into bits and scattering them among the carrots.

3 lbs. ready-to-eat baby carrots
4 T. olive oil, divided
salt and pepper
20 or so tiny garlic cloves, divided (don't need to peel)
several sprigs fresh thyme
few tablespoons of water

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Get out two large baking dishes, like lasagne pans. Put half the carrots into each pan. Use 2 T. oil for each pan and toss the carrots well with the oil. Season well with salt and pepper. Put half of the garlic and half of the thyme sprigs into each pan. Add a couple of tablespoons of water to each pan and cover tightly with foil. Bake 40 or 50 minutes, until liquid is reduced and carrots are browned. Check during roasting to make sure there is still water in the pan. Be careful when you peel back the foil--you can get steam burns, as I did (nothing serious--I should know better, too).

Note: the recipe says the carrots take 25 to 40 minutes, but mine always take longer. You'll want to check for tenderness after about half an hour.

Asparagus and Leek Strudel

I tested this recipe some weeks before the party and thought, perfect! It's a little different because it's wrapped in filo, which makes it more elegant and delicious. I had very little of this left over, but I found that heating a baking stone in the oven until the oven heated to 400 degrees and baking the strudel on the stone for 10 minutes at that temperature worked great. I have some in the freezer from the recipe-testing--I don't know if that will have worked or not, but I couldn't bear to throw out all that strudel.

I know some folks find it scary to work with filo (or fillo or phyllo), but it's not so bad. No big deal if a sheet tears, for this recipe, anyway; just lay another piece on top, or part of a piece. Keep the dough you haven't gotten to yet covered with a damp towel, and try to work quickly.

If the filo is frozen, place the package in the refrigerator overnight so it thaws. Make the filling first and have it all ready before you begin to work with the filo.

The size of the pan does matter, by the way. If the pan is too narrow, either there won't be enough room for everything, or, if it's deep enough to accommodate the strudel, the filling will be too thick and harder to cook through.

Three cups of leeks is about one supermarket bunch if you make sure to use the tender green parts. For five cups of thinly sliced asparagus, you'll need about three of the rubber-banded bunches they sell in the supermarkets.

8 oz. cream cheese
1 T. olive oil
3 cups rinsed and chopped leeks (get all the sand out!)
5 cups stemmed and thinly sliced asparagus
1 T. chopped fresh tarragon
1 T. flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 10 x 13 inch baking dish.

Cut the cream cheese into several pieces, place in a bowl, and allow them to soften in a warm place. Warm the oil in a large frying pan with high sides. Add leeks, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, cover, and cook on medium heat 5 minutes. Stir in the asparagus and saute for 5 more minutes, until it's bright green and tender. Add tarragon, flour, salt and pepper; toss with the cream cheese. Thoroughly mix in the cottage cheese, other cheeses, and eggs.

Now you're ready to deal with the filo.

1/2 to 2/3 lb. filo
3 T. butter, melted
3 T. olive oil

Lay the filo on a dry surface and cover with a lightly dampened towel. Combine the butter and oil in a small bowl. Arrange two sheets of the filo in the baking pan, letting any excess filo drape over the sides. Lightly brush the top sheet with the butter-oil mixture. Repeat three more times for a total of eight sheets.

Pour the filling in and make sure it's even. Two sheets at a time, buttering as you go just like you did with the bottom layer, top the filling with the filo. Tuck the edges of the top filo down around the filling as best you can and brush with butter-oil.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden and puffy. Let sit for 15 minutes before cutting it into squares and serving it.

Unbelievably good!

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Final Note

It's always fun for me to plan dinners for people. This menu came together very well. It turned out to be a combination of fall and spring flavors, with green and orange being the predominant colors. I thought the contrast of tastes, colors, and textures really worked and were never jarring. Even with the appetizers, I wanted the olives because their savory tang would cut the richness of the nut pate and balance the garlickiness of the bean spread, as well as providing a contrasting texture. Similarly, dessert was a combination of the light and the rich, and orange and chocolate is always a good combination.

I hope you'll try some of these dishes the next time you're planning something special. You probably won't want to do exactly my dinner, but I hope you'll enjoy the individual recipes. Many of these recipes can be cut in half for 4 or 5 people. None of them is all that difficult to make, although I did wrestle a little with the biscotti--but then, not only am I not a baker, I don't know from biscotti! Always willing to try something, though. That's what keeps cooking fun and keeps the cook always finding something new to offer her family and friends.

Eggplant Recipes

We grow eggplant every year--too much of it, really--and I'm always looking for new ways to use it.

Eggplant Parmesan (no frying, so it's marginally healthier for you!)

one large eggplant, or two smaller ones
milk
Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
3-4 c. spaghetti sauce (your choice)
1 lb. mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded
freshly grated or shredded parmesan (at least 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice the eggplant(s) into rounds about 3/8" thick. Dip in milk and dredge in breadcrumbs. Arrange in an oiled 9" x 13" baking dish and on a large cookie sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until tender. Turn slices over after 15 or 20 minutes to brown on both sides.

Remove slices from baking dish and pile onto cookie sheet. Spread a bit of spaghetti sauce over the bottom of the baking dish. Follow with a layer of eggplant slices, more sauce, and a layer of mozzarella. Repeat layers until you run out of room or an ingredient--I like to make sure there is mozzarella on the top. Sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese. Pop into the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the casserole is bubbling and the cheese is beginning to brown.

Baba Ghanoush

one large or two smaller eggplants, about 1 1/4 lbs.
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/4 c. tahini
juice of a large lemon
salt to taste
extra virgin olive oil
chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Slash the eggplant in several places so it won't explode. Place in a pan and bake until it's very soft and is collapsing, about 30 or 40 minutes. Some of the skin should char a bit. Let cool for about 10 minutes or so. Discard any bitter juices that may have been exuded. Peel the eggplant and then puree in a blender or food processor with the garlic and tahini. Season with lemon juice and salt to taste. Mound in a bowl, then make a small hollow at the top and pour in some olive oil. Sprinkle with parsley.

You can vary this recipe by adding chopped hot peppers to the eggplant, garlic, and tahini before processing if you like things spicy!

Eggplant and Tomato Bruschetta

eggplant
baguette slices
crumbled feta
chopped marjoram, thyme, or basil
seeded, diced tomatoes
salt, pepper, and red wine vinegar to taste

Slice eggplant about 1/4 inch thick. Score one side of each piece with the tip of a sharp knife (this lets the heat penetrate quickly). Brush both sides with oil and broil (or grill) on both sides until tender, about 7 to 10 minutes on each side. Toast the bread: lay the baguette slices on a cookie sheet and broil until toasty--watch carefully! Place eggplant on baguette slices, cutting the eggplant pieces to fit. Season with salt and pepper, cover with the feta, and broil until the cheese starts to bubble and color in places. Sprinkle with the herb of your choice and some chopped tomatoes, then sprinkle some wine vinegar over.

see also Eggplant Caviar