Super Bowl Hoosier Pie

Go Colts! Hoosier Pie
Adapted from the heirloom recipe at Turkey Creek Lane

2 tbsp. flour
1/4 c. white sugar
1/4 c. dark brown sugar (or, if you ran out of brown sugar like me, sub the remaining with turbinado sugar)

1-2 tbsp. butter

1 egg yolk
1 1/2 c. whole milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp.-ish freshly grated nutmeg (or cinnamon, if preferred)

1 pre-made pie-shell (homemade or store-bought)

1 carton blueberries, for Colts horseshoe (optional)

1. Pre-heat oven to 410 degrees Farenheit. Mix together the first three ingredients and spread on the bottom of the pie crust.
2. Dot the flour & sugar mixture with the butter.
3. Mix together the next four ingredients in a bowl and then pour over the sugar/flour mixture and dotted butter. You may have more wet filling than you need. Fill it nearly to the top. Give the whole thing a few stirs, to incorporate.
4. If desired, use the left over egg white to glaze the crust edge for a pretty shine.
5. Put pie in the oven and bake for 10 minutes at 410 degrees, then turn the oven down and bake for an additional 45 minutes. The pie filling should be bubbly and jiggly, don't pull it out too late or it won't set. My wonky, cold oven added about 13 minutes to the baking time.
6. Let the pie fully set, then use the blueberries to create your decorative horseshoe.
7. Root for the Colts!

Merry Christmas

It's been a great Christmas so far - stockings, presents, movies and soon enough, dinner. As per tradition, we're doing a prime rib roast.

Another tradition in my family is the Christmas Eve meal - cracked dungeness crab, sourdough bread and a good Monterey Jack cheese. Last night we added a few more cheeses to the rotation (Brillat-Savarin, an aged Australian cheddar, and young Spanish Mahon), made fresh fruit salad for dessert and may have enjoyed a super yummy rose Champagne (yes, I'm taking the french approach to pregnancy, in which women don't have to be persecuted for the odd glass of wine they drink).

But the coolest part of the dinner were the two dipping sauces we concocted for the crab (in addition to some melted butter). One was a mayo spiked with Old Bay and the other was a homemade cocktail sauce. The cocktail sauce was so good, I'm going to share it here. The next time you're having some chilled crab or shrimp, make this up from scratch (in a few minutes) and impress the hell out of your friends.

Cocktail Sauce
by Noah, adapted from Joy of Cooking

1/2 c. ketchup
1/4 c. horseradish
1 tsp. jalapeno hot sauce
1 tsp. chipotle hot sauce
zest of one lemon
salt & pepper, to taste

A Lovely Way to End the Summer

Today was one of those truly beautiful end of summer days in Baltimore... high in the 70s and no humidity. Just a harbinger of fall sent to tease us before the hot doldrums of September set in.

Last weekend I was visiting with the Kucserka clan in San Anselmo (see Sarah's blog from last week) and I came across this recipe in Gretchen's Gourmet magazine and knew it would be a winner because it is South Beach compliant, Weight Watchers friendly and just plain appealing.

So tonight we had our very own Mediterranean dinner poolside and this was a total winner. Enjoy.

Mediterranean Grilled Lamb Steaks (serves 4)
from Gourmet April 2009

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, smashed

1 Turkish bay leaf, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, 2 (3x1") strips of orange zest

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 14 oz. can diced fire roasted tomatoes

1 14 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered

1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped

2 lbs boneless top round lamb roast

In 2 tbsp of oil, cook garlic, bay leaf, fennel seeds, and zest, stirring until fennel seeds are golden about 1 minute.

Add onion and cook stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium and add tomatoes with their juice, artichokes, and olives and cook until vegetables are tender 5-8 min. Discard zest and bay leaf

Heat grill. Cut lamb across the grain into 4 1" thick steaks and brush both sides of steaks with remaining 2 Tb of oil and season with salt and pepper

Grill lamb, turning once about 10 minutes (we needed more because our steaks were thick) for medium rare. Transfer to cutting board and slice into thin slices.

Spoon tomato mixture onto plates and top with slices of lamb

We served this tasty dish with grilled baby carrots done with salt, pepper, and a little olive oil.

Yummmm...

THE Attack of the Killer Zucchini

What happens when you can't see under the zucchini plants? These two behemoths "went to the mattresses" to avoid detection and picking. While cleaning-up the garden and re-staking the tomatoes, I discovered them hiding under the massive leaves of my two zucchini plants.

Yes, I only planted 2 zucchini and now have so much of the yummy veggie that I had to place a call to all my friends to find new recipes that freeze well and task good.

So if you also find yourself with far too many zucchini plants and not enough friends to give them away to, let me suggest one of the following recipes. Properly stored, you can enjoy the fruits of your labors well into winter (and for those of us who do not live in sunny CA, that's a real treat!).


PINEAPPLE ZUCCHINI BREAD

3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 8oz can crushed pineapple,drained
3 cups flour,unsifted 2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp.baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon 1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup raisins,optional

1. Beat eggs, add oil, sugar and vanilla; beat mixture until light and foamy.
2. Stir in zucchini and pineapple.
3. Combine flour, soda, salt baking powder, cinnamon, nuts and raisins.
4. Stir gently into zucchini mixture.
5. Pour batter into a greaed and floured 9x5 loaf pan.
6. Bake 350( for 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pans.

CHERRY ZUCCHINI BREAD

2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
2 cups flour
2 tsp.baking powder
1 tsp.cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup shredded unpeeled zucchini 2/3 cups dried tart cherries
1 Tbsp. grated lemon peel

1. Put eggs in large mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer on med.speed 3 to 4 minutes or until eggs are thick and lemon colored.
2. Add sugar, oil, lemon juice and water, mix well.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
4. Add flour mixture to egg mixture; mix well.
5. Stir in zucchini, cherries and lemon peel.
6. Grease and flour bottom of 8-/2 x 4-1/2" loaf pan.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan.
8. Bake in preheated 350( oven 55 to 65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
9. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.
10. Remove from pan. Let cool completely.
11. Wrap in plastic and store in refrigerator or Freeze.


ZUCCHINI QUICHE

4 small zucchini
1 cup & 1 Tablespoon bisquick
8 Tablespoons grated parm. cheese
2 Tablespoons milk
2 Tablespoons oil{liquid}
1 dash pepper
1/2 cup onion,chopped
4 eggs,slightly beaten
1/4teaspoon garlic powder {I use more}
2 tablespoons parsley flakes

Mix together all ingredients.
Pour into greased 9 x 13 x 2" pan.
Bake 350( for 1/2 hour or until light brown.

Here is one for Zucchini Casserole this is a new one for me too. A friend just gave this one to me,she said it is really good.

ZUCCHINI CASSEROLE

3 cups cornbread stuffing
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup sour cream
2 small zucchini, shredded
2 yellow squash, shredded
1/4 cup carrots ,shredded
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup{reg. or 98% free}

Stir stuffing and butter in large bowl.
Reserve 1/2 cup of stuffing mixture
Spoon remaining into a 2 quart shallow baking dish.
Stir soup, sour cream, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots and cheese into a med. bowl.
Spread the mixture over the stuffing mixture and sprinkle with the reserve stuffing mixture.
Bake at 350( for 40 minutes or until hot.

You can also use the zucchinis like an eggplant Make a parmigana instead of eggplant use the zucchini in its place or try making lasagna with it too.

And One last tasty choice:

CHOCO-ZUCCHINI CUPCAKES:

BATTER:
2 cups shredded zucchini (8 oz)
3 eggs OR 3/4 cup egg substitute
2 cup granulated sugar OR 1.5 cups Splenda
3/4 cups cooking oil OR 3/4 cups applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup milk chocolate pieces (optional)

FROSTING:
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup softened butter
1 Tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

PREPARATION:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line 24 2.5 inch muffin cups with paper bake-cups or lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Stir together zucchini, eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla.
3. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and chocolate chips (if using)
4. Stir to combine
5. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling each cup half full.
6. Bake about 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool in pan on wire wrack for 5 minutes, remove cups from pan and cool completely

Frosting Prep:

1. Beat 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/3 cup softened butter, 1 Tbsp milk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
2. Gradually add 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, beating until combined.
3. If necessary, stir in 1 to 2 teaspoons additional milk until desired consistency

I eliminated the chocolate chips and did not frost the cupcakes and they still were wonderful. They're great with coffee, as a desert with vanilla ice cream, or in the morning as a snack. If you use the alternatives of egg substitute, applesauce, and Splenda they're also low calorie and low points.

They freeze well too!

Making Jam. Or How I Got Over My Fear of Canning...

There is always something that drives fear deep into the heart of any home chef. Maybe it's breadmaking or egg white beating or raw meat handling. Or maybe those things don't seem bad at all, maybe what really wakes you up at 3 AM in a full sweat is the idea of canning stuff. Processing it. Making sure you don't give yourself (or someone you love) botulism. Trying not to blind yourself with exploding glass jars in pans of boiling water. Ack!

Or maybe that's just me. Or should I say, that was me, until this past weekend. That's when I finally stood up to my fears and CANNED SOME FREAKIN' JAM! And not just any jam, friends, the best fruit jam of all - the humble apricot.
I mean, jeez, aren't these some beautiful apricots? They're Robata's, which I find (prepare for blasphemy) superior to Blenheims. They're a little bigger, a little firmer and really taste of apricot to me. Not that I'd turn up my nose at a Blenheim. I am an apricot slut like that.

I haven't always been cuckoo for apricot jam - that I blame on Abby and the family trip to France she took me on a several years ago. For breakfast most mornings we'd have a croissant or baguette hunk slathered in delicious French butter and topped with Bonne Maman apricot preserves. It was, in a word, transcendent.

Last year, Mom & Stace put up some of their own apricot jam, with the apricots off of their home trees. And me, the ever competitive one, was like, "Uh, screw that, I can can too." And then I waited until last weekend to take the plunge. I'm competitive and procrastinator-ish, from time to time.

And here's what I discovered - canning shit is EASY. Making jam is EASY. Why the hell hadn't I been doing this all along?! And when you can stuff, people think you're awesome. There wasn't even the matter of exploding jars to worry about, because as I learned here and here you can sterilize the damn things in the oven. I love the internet. And I hate the fact that I now have to drive all the way back to Surfas in Culver City to return the (too large anyway) canning pot-cha-macallit.

All the canning on Sunday made me feel so... fulfilled. So I decided to do it again the next day (which carried into today, because I was lazy and because it doesn't hurt to macerate your fruit for a few extra hours). This time it was with some Bing cherries from the HFM.
The above picture really doesn't do the hot foaming pan of cherry goodness justice. Trying to get a picture when cherries are steaming up a storm = kinda hard. I riffed on a not-recipe from David Lebovitz and he's right. You really don't need a recipe. Just some concepts to kinda, sorta follow as you see fit. For instance, I didn't chop up any cherries beforehand, just mashed them a bit during cooking with the potato masher. I did this with the apricots, too. And I gotta say, it's a great way to get a nice, meaty (fruity?) texture to your jams.

Also, I just guessed when it came to sugar, rather than cooking down the fruit first, then measuring it out and then putting in an equal amount of sugar. I had about 4 cups of cherries. I figured they'd cook down to 2 (it was actually 2 1/2). I don't like crazy sugary jam - I put in way less than most recipes called for. So I went with 1 1/4 c. of sugar. I probably could have done just a cup.
Here are some of the finished products. What were the total yields? Well 4 lbs of apricots made 7 half pint jars of preserves. 2 lbs of cherries made 2 1/2 jars of preserves. Aren't they lovely?
Of course, I couldn't wait to use them. So for lunch today I went old school (or maybe pre-school) and made an open-faced PB&J with still warm cherry jam. Best meal all week. Confiture d'Abricot aux Amandes aka Apricot & Almond (well, technically, Apricot Kernel) Jam
from Clotilde at Chocolate & Zucchini

- 1.2 kg ripe apricots (**I used 4 lbs)
- 1 kg sugar (**I used only 750 grams or so)

Yields : 5 to 6 jars (the Bonne Maman kind, which holds 370g of jam), recipe can be doubled or halved. (**Mine yielded 7 pint jars of the Ball variety).

Rinse, scrub if necessary, and dry the apricots. Slice them in two, remove the stone, and cut the flesh in smallish pieces. Reserve the stones.

Weigh the amount of apricot flesh you get. Transfer the apricots to a large pan, and combine with the same weight of sugar as of fruit. If you used 1.2 kg of apricots, you should have about 1 kg of apricot flesh, but it's best to weigh it to make sure and adjust the amount of sugar.

Crack about 18 of the apricot stones open with a nutcracker (see important note), to get the almonds inside. Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan, remove from heat, and put in the almonds. Let rest for about thirty seconds (this process is called "blanching"), then transfer to a colander and rinse under cold water. The papery skin of the almonds will then slip off easily. Reserve the peeled almonds and discard the rest.

Wash the glass jars and their lids carefully, then soak them in boiling water for 10 minutes, and set them out to dry upside down on a clean kitchen towel.

Put a saucer in the freezer. Put the pan over medium heat, until the apricots have started to melt and produce juice, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Turn the heat up, and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook for about 20 to 25 minutes, keeping it at a gentle boil and stirring occasionally.

Keep a close eye on it : at first the mixture will almost double in volume, producing a light orange, thick foam (hence the necessity of a large pan). After a while it will reduce back down, and bubble quietly while taking on an amber, dark orange color. About 15 minutes into the cooking, add in the peeled almonds.

Keep stirring until it feels like the mixture is thickening slightly. Although it is subtle, you'll see the change when you lift the wooden spoon and look closely at the drops dripping from it : they'll get thicker and will drip down slightly slower. Remove the saucer from the freezer, put a drop of jam on it and tilt the saucer to see if the jam is set. If not, let it boil a bit more before testing again.

Remove the foam from the surface with a slotted spoon to have a clearer jam (reserve the foam, it's delicious, as a topping on yogurt for instance), but that's optional in my opinion.

Pour the jam in the prepared jars until they are full (watch out, jam will be extremely hot) using gloves and a funnel if you have one. Wipe carefully if there was any spillage and close the lids tightly. Let cool to room temperature upside-down on the counter, then store in a cool and dark place for a few months.

Important note : this apricot jam recipe uses the almonds inside the stones. This gives the jam a particularly good flavor, and makes for a few lovely crunchy bites per jar. However, the almonds inside apricot stones, like bitter almonds, contain hydrocyanic acid. The human body has no problem dealing with it if ingested in small doses, but 30 to 50 almonds eaten in a short amount of time can kill an adult! It's perfectly safe to include a few in a jar of jam, but just keep the warning in mind.

Summer Time and the Grillin's Easy

Smell that? That amazing blend of beef, char and hops? That, my friend, is summer grillin'. You know, when you pull out the BBQ, rustle up some meaty goodness (because in Grilltown, we're all red meat eating cowboys) and crack open an icy cold beer. And the time for grillin'? She has arrived.

Sure, I live in LA, where you can pretty much grill 325 days a year. (The other 40? Uh, you're out of town. Duh.) But even here, there's something special about summer barbecuing. So when we made these kick ass burgers on Monday, it really and truly felt like summer had arrived.

Even if the weather 'round these here parts isn't exactly co-operating. Um, November? Any interest in trading your 80 degree days for June's high 60s? Thanks.

I think I'll call these Western Burgers, and not just cause I'm feeling so very cowgirly right now. I promise, you take one bite of this juicy, spicy goodness and you'll feel like you're way out West too. Even if you're stuck at your house in Newark. C'mon, get out the grill and live a little. It's summer, and it isn't gonna last forever.

Western Burgers
by Sarah

1 lb beef (I used 92/8 and you can definitely want to go lean beef with these as the bacon adds back fat and juicy goodness)
3 slices bacon, diced
2 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, diced
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
salt, to taste (I used uncured bacon, so I went w/ 1-ish tsp)
garnishes (see below for suggestions)

1. Heat grill nice and high.
2. Combine above ingredients. Divide into four patties of roughly the same size.
3. Grill for 3-4 minutes each side for a good medium rare. If you're squeamish about the bacon, you'll definitely want to go medium rare or pre-cook the bacon. We went just this side of rare and are still alive and kickin'.
4. If using a harder cheese, add it on in the last 1-2 minutes of grill time. On the second side.
5. Remove from heat. Add buns (if desired). Garnish to your liking.
6. Pop a beer, turn up the music and enjoy.

Garnishes - grilled buns (sourdough or kaiser), grilled onion, beefsteak tomato, lettuce, muenster cheese (Noah), Cowgirl Creamery's St. Pat's cheese (Sarah), mustard

Don't Hate Because My Dip Is Awesome

Sometimes you're struck with an idea to make something and it turns out...meh (see tonight's attempt at Boho's farro salad). And sometimes...you kill it. Like serious, murder, kill. That's the deal with this dip.

Dip's not something I usually make, unless we're having a party. But tonight (due in small part to said meh farro dish), it seemed like having a little somethin'-somethin' to start off the meal was a good idea. And my ass really did not need another cheese plate, as much as it may have wanted one. So I'm at lunch with Noah and we come up with the idea of a dip - the better to use up the shit ton of leftover crackers from Craig & Sharra's baby shower.

Lately, my go-to dip has been this one. And this one also got cleaned out at the baby shower. But tonight I wanted to make a dip with a) the leftover ricotta I have that's about to go south, b) ingredients that could be found already in my house, and c) that didn't require fatty chips or bread to make it work (again, the crackers REALLY need to get eaten).

That's where the internet and my general awesome met at the intersection of Brilliant Idea and made this dip. And because of it, I encourage each and every one of you to go look in your fridge, see what's dip worthy, stick it in a Quisinart (or should I say Quisin♥rt) and rock your own snack poetry. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Most Awesome Ricotta & Sun Dried Tomato Dip In the Universe
by Sarah (with an assist from Rose Reisman from Light Vegetarian & the Big Oven website)

3/4 c. ricotta
4-5 healthy scoops of sun dried tomatoes in oil
1 tsp. of oil from sun dried tomatoes (or olive oil)
10 basil leaves
1 tbsp. pine nuts
2 tbsp. parmesan cheese, grated
a couple splashes of balsamic vinegar
salt, to taste

Stick everything in a Cuisin♥rt and pulse to desired consistency. Serve with water, rice or whole grain crackers. Or a baguette, if you insist.

Squash Blossom Pizza? Hello, Summer!

Tell me this doesn't look like a delicious late May dinner:

Even with the mediocre point & shoot picture quality, just looking at this pizza makes me want another slice.

This spring has really been a squash blossom discovery for me. Not just your typical fried squash blossoms (I had some great ones at Ford's Filling Station earlier this month before interviewing for the awesome new job Veronica and I landed). I had some in a light pasta dish, some in a risotto (wow, heavenly) and have spied them on pizza/flatbread menus all over town.

And so when I saw them at the market on Sunday, I figured, "How hard could a squash blossom pizza be?" And, for once, the answer was, "Not very hard." And thanks to a pre-made whole wheat pizza dough from TJs, the leftover mini-squashes from our Memorial Day bbq at Abby's and some cherry tomatoes, it actually seemed pretty freaking healthy. Especially when served with a crazy simple veggie sautee using the other bbq leftovers (The key to good sauteed veg? Lemon juice squeezed on after cooking).

Dare I say I've found a new vegetable lover? Sorry, beets, but your season is over.

Squash Blossom Pizza
by Sarah

1 Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough (or homemade dough for one 12-14" pizza)
12-24 squash blossoms (I bought 60¢ worth and used them all)
10 or so mini-squashes, thinly sliced OR 1 zucchini, thinly sliced
20 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 c. ricotta cheese (can be part skim or whole)
1/4 c. mozzarella (fresh is ideal, but I didn't have it and used pre-shredded without an issue)
freshly chopped basil
olive oil
dried basil & oregano
red pepper flakes

1. Preheat oven to the highest possible setting (about 550 farenheit on conventional kitchen ovens).
2. Toss, stretch or roll out your dough, to your preference. The thinner the better with this one. Then lightly sprinkle with olive oil (1 tsp or so) and rub oil into crust. Sprinkle dried basil, oregano and pepper flakes to your liking on crust.
3. THIS IS THE SECRET: Put your crust in the oven (either directly on a pizza stone or on a pizza sheet) and bake for 6-8 minutes. You want a decent brown-ness to the dough. This will keep it from getting too mushy, something the ricotta might do to your crust. I do this with all of our doughs when we cook pizza and it makes a HUGE difference. Gives a slightly more Neapolitan crunchiness to the crust, which I favor.
4. Remove dough from the oven and put on the toppings in whichever order you see fit (leave the squash blossoms and basil for later, though). I made a thin layer of the ricotta, then put on the thinly sliced mini-squashed and halved cherry tomatoes. *It's important to put the cherry tomatoes with the cut end facing UP. This way they won't sog-up your nice and crispy crust. Then I sprinkled the entire pizza with a small handful of the mozzarella. I think you could also do the veg first, then dollops of ricotta and spots of fresh mozzarella. It's pizza, you really can't fuck it up.
5. Put the pizza back in the oven and cook for 10 minutes.
6. Remove pizza again and put the squash blossoms on top. Slide back in the oven and cook for 5 more minutes.
7. Remove pizza and sprinkle with basil. Purple basil adds a colorful punch to the dish.
8. Enjoy pizza while watching the season finale of SOUTHLAND. Which totally kicked ass, by the way.

Make Your Own Booze - Limoncello

I've been reading a few books about Italy (living there, cooking there, etc...) and man does it sound lovely. And with several 95+ degree days in LA this week, I keep dreaming about that tasty, frosty Italian liqueur known as limoncello.

Limoncello is damned fine and, if I remembered the recipe I'd read a while back in the LA Times, damned easy to make. And I did have several Meyer lemons sitting around, just waiting to be used up...

So Saturday I did some internet recon, then some liquor store recon, then some microplane zesting and now I am only weeks away from enjoying my own frosty Italian liqueur. Which may or may not be served to some select guests at Craig & Sharra's baby shower.
You don't add the simple syrup until the second step of the process (which takes place two weeks after the initial zest 'n dump) and I'm considering experimenting a little. In addition to a straight up simple syrup, I was thinking of making one that's infused with basil and another that's infused with lavender and making two smaller limoncello batches with each. There's enough stuff for 2+ bottles of limoncello, so I'd probably split the second bottle and mix the flavored syrups with them. The guys at the Carmela Ice Cream & Sorbet stand inspired the first mix, my super awesome imagination inspired the second.

In the mean time, I have the juice of 12 Meyer lemons sitting in the fridge just begging me to make sorbet or something with them. Which would be a good thing in this heat.

Meyer Limoncello
from The LA Times

12 lemons
2 (750-ml) bottles 100-proof vodka, divided [*I used regular 80 proof vodka, which is fine, too]
2 cups water
2 cups sugar

1. Remove the yellow part of the lemon peel with a sharp peeler or fine grater, carefully avoiding the bitter white pith. If any pith remains on the back of a strip of peel, scrape it off.

2. Put the yellow peels in a jar or bottle, add 1 bottle vodka and seal tightly. Leave the bottle to steep until the peels lose their color, at least 2 weeks.

3. Put the water and sugar in a saucepan and boil until it turns clear. Let the syrup cool.

4. Strain the vodka from the peels and mix it with the remaining bottle of vodka and the syrup. Put the liqueur in bottles, seal tightly and let the components marry for at least 1 week before using. For drinking straight, store the limoncello in the freezer.

Begin Your Day on a Wholesome Note

These dense whole grain muffins are just the thing to get you going (literally) in the morning and they are extra good as a mid morning snack with a cup of tea.

Whole Wheat, Oatmeal & Raisin Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar (splenda works just as well)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar (again brown sugar splenda works great)

2 TB untoasted wheat germ

2 TB wheat bran

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1/3 cup pitted dates

1/3 cup raisins

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1 cup lowfat buttermilk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg, beaten

1/2 cup boiling water

cooking spray

Lightly spoon flour into a measuring cup, level with a knife. Combine flour with next 7 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir in oats, dates, raisins, and cranberries. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and egg and add to flour mixture. Stir just until moist. Stir in boiling water and then let stand for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375

spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched. Remove muffins from pans immediately and place on wire rack. Yield is 12 servings.

calories: 204 fat: 6.4 grams, protein: 4.6 grams carbs: 34.7 grams fiber 3.4 grams

Dessert Whore. Who, Me?

You know when you have one of those days where you look at the fridge/pantry/fruit stand and realize - "Oh crap, I need to use this NOW or we're going to have a serious, stinky problem on our hands?" That was me earlier this week when I realized that all at once I had bananas, yogurt and creme fraiche thisclose to nasty.

Maybe I'm being a bit uninventive, but it seems like you can only go sweet with bananas - bread, cake, pie, cookies. You see where I'm going with this? But if I make one more banana bread or banana muffin recipe, Noah might protest. Then I remembered reading a recipe for a simple yogurt cake in On Rue Tatin and figured it could be modified into a banana yogurt cake. Okay, so it's not so far from banana bread, but at least I could pretend. Of course, I'm a meddler, and I looked up recipes for the traditional French yogurt cake at a few other French blog sites and found one I liked slightly better here.

I love baking, even though I am only moderately good at it. Mostly I blame my spotty oven for my many failed baking endeavors, even when it's clearly not Oven's fault. But I got this one mostly right - next time I might decrease the liquid or increase the flour a bit to compensate for the denseness of the bananas. Still, served warm (or cold, a few days later when the flavors have really set) with a dollop of creme fraiche mixed with cinnamon and vanilla sugar, this cake pretty much rocked.

If you're looking for a nice, moderately sweet cake, this is your girl.

Gâteau au Yaourt

modified from a recipe by Clotilde at Chocolate & Zucchini

- 2 eggs
- 250ml (1 cup) whole milk plain unsweetened yogurt (if you use two 125ml or 4oz tubs, you can use them to measure out the rest of the ingredients) [*I used half yogurt and half creme fraiche]
- 200g (1 cup) sugar (you can use an empty tub of yogurt and measure the equivalent of 2 yogurt tubs if you used the 125ml or 4oz kind) [*Because of the added banana, I halved the sugar]
- 80ml (1/3 cup) vegetable oil (or a bit less than 1 yogurt tub) [*With banana, I tend to use less oils/butter so instead I melted 2 tbsp of butter and added it to the mix in place of oil]
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (or 4 yogurt tubs)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla paste/extract
- 1 tablespoon light rum [*I didn't have it, so I left it out]

- *Additionally, I added: 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg to bring out the flavor of the bananas

Preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F), line the bottom of a round 25-cm (10-inch) cake pan with parchment paper and grease the sides. In a large mixing-bowl, gently combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, oil, and rum. In another bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, and blend together -- don't overwork the dough. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Let stand for ten minutes, and transfer onto a rack to cool.

Creme Fraiche Topping (for 2-4 slices)

1/4 c. creme fraiche
1 tbsp. vanilla sugar
a few sprinkles of cinnamon, to taste (about 1/8 tsp)

Mix together, let it sit for a few minutes so the flavors blend, then top the cake with it. You may thin it with a dash of milk if it's too thick for your taste.

NYT Mag Recipe Challenge #2 - Grilled Pork Porterhouse with an Apple-Maple-Ginger Sauce

I'm trying to do this thing where I challenge myself to cook at least one recipe a month that's printed in the NY Times Sunday Magazine. I hadn't done one in a while, due in part to laziness and in part to the only tempting thing from the past month being a crazy good, crazy fattening recipe for Tortoni. But last Sunday I opened the Magazine to find a recipe for brined pork chops that I had all but three ingredients for - those being the chops themselves, apple juice and agar. And this recipe has at least 2 dozen ingredients, so, you know, score!
This is another one of those recipes that sounds more labor intensive than it really is. Sure, it takes time, but most of that time the pork chops are sitting in a brine in your fridge. Which means, don't try and do this less than 8 hours before you want to eat it, but come up with something else to do with 7 of those hours.

Sure, the recipe says brine the pork 24 hours. But eff that, I brined for 8 hours and the pork chops were HEAVEN. In all honesty, better than the stuffed pork chops from a few months back. Cause, the thing with pork chops is, it's really easy to screw them up and overcook them. Brining the chops makes the cooking time a little more forgiveable. The chops are going to be moist even if you freak out about getting trichnosis and leave them on for two more minutes JUST TO BE SURE. I love a recipe that makes you look good and this one does.

I served the chops on Monday night with a red cabbage, apple and prune side that was inspired by Clotilde over at Chocolate & Zucchini. The cabbage was a great pairing with the pork, a classic match. And a convenient one, since I had (and still have) a ton of red cabbage left over from the Farmers Market last week. Score Part 2: Electric Score-a-loo.

The only component of the dish I wasn't totally in love with is the sauce that goes over the top, and that may have to do with my lack of agar use, the fact that it made WAY more sauce than necessary and that the apple juice I used was a bit sweeter than I wanted. Used sparingly, the sauce was fine, but too much would make a sweet mess on your chops. Be warned. But don't be scared away. These chops are too good to miss.

Grilled Pork Porterhouse with an Apple-Maple-Ginger Sauce
from Christine Muhlke for the NY Times Sunday Magazine "Field Report", March 1, 2009

For the brine:
1/4 c. maple syrup
5 tbsp. kosher salt
3 tbsp. peeled, sliced ginger
3 tbsp. crushed garlic
1 sprig fresh sage
3/4 c. onion slices, cut into 1/4 inch rings
5 bay leaves
2 tsp. peppercorns
6 1 1/4 inch thick pork loin chops (also known as pork porterhouses), preferably Berkshire organic (*I used the TJ's brand, I'm no snob)

For the infused oil:
1 tbsp. coriander seeds
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp. peppercorns
2 tbsp. minced shallot
1 tsp. minced fresh thyme
1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
1/2 c. vegetable oil

For the sauce:
2 tbsp. butter
1/4 c. minced shallot
1 tbsp. minced garlic
2 c. apple juice
1/2 c. chicken stock
3 star anise
2 tbsp. minced ginger
1/2 c. maple syrup
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1 tbsp. agar
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Twenty four hours before cooking (*I did this 8 hours before and it still turned out lovely), stir all of the brine ingredients except the pork into 1 quart of water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Let cool to room temperature. Submerge the pork chops in the brine, cover and refrigerate.
2. The next morning (*or at the same time, if you're doing day-of), prepare the infused oil. Grind the coriander, bay leaf and peppercorns in a spice mill or a clean coffee grinder and combine with the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Let sit at room temperature. (*Hehe, I just realized I totally never did the spice mill grinding bit, and the oil infused just fine).
3. Make the sauce: in a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and saute until carmelized, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the apple juice, chicken stock, star anise and ginger. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until reduced by one-quarter. Add the maple syrup, vanilla pod and seeds and agar and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Discard the star anise and vanilla pod. Puree the mix in a blender (*I used an immersion hand blender in the pot), then pass through a fine mesh sieve (*I did not pass through a fine mesh sieve because I am lazy like that). Season to taste with salt and pepper. **Now that I think about it, maybe adding a tablespoon or so of apple cider vinegar may have helped cut the sweetness while preserving the key flavors.
4. Prepare a charcoal or gas grill (*or a grill pan for indoors) to medium-high heat. Rinse the meat and pat dry with a paper towel. Brush the chops with the infused oil, then sprinkle lightly with salt. Grill to medium doneness, or until the internal temperature reads 135-140 degrees on a thermometer and the middle is light pink, about 6 minutes per side. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Drizzle with warm sauce and serve.

Serves 6

And about that cabbage side? Here's a really simple rundown.

Take 1/2 a red cabbage, cut it in half again, then slice it thinly. Mix it with 1-2 chopped apples (I used Fuji), 8 prunes and 2 cloves of chopped garlic. Cook it in a little oil (1-2 tbsp. max), then after it's reduced a bit, add in about a cup of apple juice and 2-4 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar, to taste. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes and serve along side the pork chops.

Did You Hear? I Love Pork.

I think, if you've read this blog before, you may have realized that pork and I are totally BFF. In fact, my husband should be a little worried that some day I will run off with the pork guy at the farmer's market. Because, free pork for life? Tempting. So it's pretty obvious that for the Valentine's Day dinner cook-off (please, like it wasn't a competition in my brain), I went with a porky first course. That would be the Country Terrine with Pistachios from Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook.
Like I said in an earlier post, this wasn't a particularly difficult dish (given that you own a stand mixer with a meat grinder attachment, which lucky me, I do). It just took a HELL of a long time to make. Like four days. Maybe five. I kind of lost count at some point. Most of that time is spent letting the meat marinate - first after cutting it into cubes, then again after grinding it (I deviated from the recipe a bit in this) and then AGAIN after you cook the terrine.
Hopefully you're not creeped out by the above picture of meat as it comes out of the grinder. If you are, I would seriously reconsider ever attempting this dish on your own. And also, SISSY!
But after all the crazy time and (at least procuring the meat products) effort, THIS DISH KICKS ASS. Like it's almost a week later and I'm STILL eating it. Even though I think it's probably as bad, if not worse than the Porkstrosity we had at the Super Bowl. I love this terrine. I would make out with this terrine at a junior high school dance. And if you're smart, you'll get the taste of porky goodness on your lips, too.

Country Terrine with Pistachios
by Alice Waters, from the Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook

3 lbs. lean boneless pork shoulder
1/2 lb. back fat (from a pig, natch)
3 oz. pancetta
1 1/2 tbsp. salt
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns
8 allspice berries
1/4 tsp. dried thyme (I used fresh from the garden and went with a full tablespoon)
1 clove
A pinch of cayenne (about 1/4 tsp. in my dish)
1/4 c. chopped parsley
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1/2 c. shelled whole pistachios
4 bay leaves
OPTIONAL: Caul fat

1. Day 1 - Cut the pork shoulder, back fat and pancetta into 1 inch thick pieces. Toss the meat with 1 1/2 tsp. salt and refrigerate. (I tossed it with the spice mixture from the next step and let the cubes rest over night).
2. Day 1 or 2 (I did it on day 1) - Pulverize the 2 bay leaves, the peppercorns, allspice, thyme, clove and cayenne in a mortar or spice mill (or coffee grinder). Add 2/3 of this spice mixture to the meat and mix together. Reserve the remainder.
3. Day 2 - Grind the seasoned meat using the 1/4 inch plate of a meat grinder (this would be the bigger holed grinder attachment on the Kitchen Aid). Grind 1/3 of the ground meat again. Combine the two meat mixtures and refrigerate overnight.
4. Day 3 - The next day, add the parsley, garlic and pistachios, and mix lightly with your hands. Do not overhandle or the texture of the terrine will be too dense. To taste for seasoning, fry a bit of the mixture and chill it (it will taste different when cold, which is how the dish is served). It may require more salt or spice mixture at the time (mine didn't). Don't fuss with it too much.
5. Day 3 - Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place 2 bay leaves on the bottom of each of two 5 cup (1.2 L) earthenware terrines or glass loaf pans. Add half of the pork mixture to each terrine. (OR: Freeze half of the mixture, enough for a second terrine, as I did). Cover each with a lid or with foil. (If you wish, line the 2 pans with caul fat, leaving some hanging over the sides; add the bay leaves and pork mixture, wrap the caul over the top and do not cover.) Tap the pans on a tabletop to settle everything. Put a kitchen towl in the bottom of a deep roasting pan and set the terrines on it (the towel will insulate the bottom of the pan). Fill the pan with enough hot water to come 2/3 up the sides of the terrines and bake until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees F, in about 1 1/2 hours (mine took about 98 minutes total). Remove the terrines from the roasting pan and cool at room temperature for about 2 hours, then cover and refrigerate overnight.
6. Days 4-6 - The terrines CAN be eaten the next day, but they will develop more flavor if left for 2-3 days. To unmold, dip the pans in hot water for a few minutes and invert. Cut into thick slices and serve with strong Dijon mustard and cornichons.

Variations: Use half the mixture to make a terrine and the other half to make rustic sausages wrapped in caul fat for a meal the same day (well, the same day being Day 3). For a more complex terrine, add poultry livers and hearts, a little black truffle and a splash of Cognac.

A Valentine's Food Extravaganza

This year for Valentine's Day, Noah and I decided to forego the ridiculously overpriced restaurants (yeah, I'm talking to you Sona) in favor of a homemade Valentine's feast. I proposed a fun idea - each of us makes three courses (app/main/dessert) and we end up with a six course tasting menu. Above is the table, set with the first round of dishes.
This homemade pork terrine was my first course. I used a recipe from the Chez Panisse Cafe Menu Book (which I will be posting later). And while it was time intensive, 2-3 days of meat marinating and 2-3 days of terrine resting, it wasn't all that labor-ific. And when the pork guy at your farmer's market doesn't blink when you ask for half a pound of back fat, you know you're good to go. I served it with a crusty sourdough boule, cornichons and Dijon mustard. I like to think it was as good as the one at Le Regalade in Paris.
Noah's dish was this Venetian Shrimp on Polenta dish, with a yummy butter lemon garlic sauce drizzled on top. The recipe came from an old Food + Wine article and was really simple and tasty.

My main course was the above crab duo. Bonus points for creative use of a claw. It's the crazy simple crab cake recipe from the Santa Monica Farmer's Market Cookbook and an equally simple Dungeness crab salad recipe from Sunday Suppers at Lucques. The salad is deconstructed and made up of roasted beets, avocado, watercress, crab and creme fraiche. The crab is dressed in a light dressing of oil, vinegar, lemon juice (which I subbed for the recommended lime juice), shallots and jalapeno. It was brilliant and complimented the crab perfectly.
Noah's main was a roasted game hen with thick bacon slices and roasted grapes. This simple combination kind of blew my mind. In fact, I'm thinking I'll eat the leftovers for lunch in a few minutes... Strangely enough, the recipe came from the same article in Food + Wine as the shrimp polenta, even though Noah had planned them out separately.
Above is the table, set with the second course. We drank an Alsatian Pinot Gris with all four of the dishes. A nice, dry match.
And finally, the dessert courses. I had been obsessing over the Whole Lemon Tart recipe that Deb at Smitten Kitchen posted a week or so back. I decided to use one of the precious Meyer lemons from my tree to make it, and instead of a full sized 9" tart, I went with mini tartlettes. I was kind of worried, having never tarted it up before (that's what she said), but everything turned out really, really well. Noah put together a mini cheese course - St. Andre triple cream and a 6 month aged Manchego. We ate it all, along with a 1999 Veuve Brut Rose champagne that Noah had given to me for Valentine's Day in 2005. So good!

By the end of the three hour meal, we were both stuffed and very, very happy. Who needs $500 dinners when you can make something even better at home for nowhere near that amount?

And did I mention I have enough dough and filling for two or three more tarts hanging out in my freezer right now. Yeah, let's see how long that lasts.

NYT Mag Recipe Challenge #1 - Country Captain

I admit it, I suck at reading my Sunday New York Times in anything approaching a timely fashion. Because, honestly, I'm really only in it for three sections - Sunday Styles, Travel and the Magazine. Sure, if I need a new book to read I'll check out the Book Review. And if I feel like depressing the hell out of myself I'll read the front or Business sections. And maybe if there's a story on the Manning brothers I'll check out the (worst ever) Sports section. But for me, it's all about the Holy Trinity of fashion, travel... and food.

Which is where the Magazine section comes in. In their regular features they do a weekly column on food. It used to be a section where they took an old recipe and updated it with some high falutin (and most likely NYC) chef's spin on it. Recently they turned it into a rotation of three or four different columns per month, including the old version but adding in some new stuff. (The only new one I remember is this guy who is going to cook stuff with his pre-schooler foodie son. It's "aww, cute" but could get annoying.)

Anyway, they print a recipe or two with every column, which is nice. And for the first time in the many years of getting the Times, I've actually tried a recipe. And may do so again. Yep, it was good. And easy. But what was it? Country Captain. Whaaa???
Country Captain is a southern chicken dish (Charleston and Savannah like to argue over which city originated the dish) that reminds me quite a bit of a chicken version of my mom's shrimp creole crossed with Chicken Cacciatore. It was simple and tasty, two things anyone who doesn't feel like slaving in front of a stove for three hours on a weeknight is definitely looking for. Oh yes, and it was cheap - I'd guess under $20 for all the ingredients for a 4 person meal. The dish incorporates chicken thighs, an inexpensive cut of chicken. But you could probably use the breast, if dark meat doesn't do it for you*. You use canned tomatoes, green peppers, a little bacon for flavor and a side of rice for starchy goodtimes (or, if you're me and out of rice, couscous is a great substitute). And voila - dinner.

* If dark meat doesn't do it for you, you officially suck. Dark meat kicks light meats ass.

COUNTRY CAPTAIN

by Sam Sifton as printed in the New York Times Magazine

1/4 flour
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 tbsp. butter
3 lbs. (about 8) chicken thighs
4 slices bacon
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 tbsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. curry powder
3 tbsp. currants (I subbed raisins)
1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes and their juices
3 tbsp. slivered almonds, toasted
Cooked white rice (or couscous)

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine the flour, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper and the thyme in a bowl. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat until it foams. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, shaking off excess, and fry, in batches if needed, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat in the skillet.
3. Return the skillet to medium heat, add the bacon and fry until crispy. Transfer to a plate. Once cool, crumble and set aside.
4. Add the onion, pepper, celery, garlic, curry powder and 1 tablespoon of the currants to the skillet and sauté over medium-high heat until soft and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and their juices, bring to a boil and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of an ovenproof casserole large enough to hold the chicken snugly in one layer. Arrange the chicken on top. Pour the remaining sauce over and around the chicken. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for 15 minutes more.
6. Top with the crumbled bacon, remaining currants and slivered almonds. Serve with cooked rice and any condiments you wish.

Serves 4.

Two Dinners

Lest you think all we do is desserts, here are two awesome dinners Noah and I made recently. The first is the above dish, our take on a meal we had at Angeli Caffe recently - Penne with Ricotta, Cherry Tomatoes and Bacon. The second, in the pictures below, is Stuffed Pork Chops with Spinach, Goat Cheese and Green Tomato Chutney.

The penne dish was a Monday Night Special, which inevitably means quick and easy. And because the LA weather can't decide if it's going to be hot or freezing on any given day lately (whoo! global warming), it's a dish that's warm, but not heavy. Meaning it goes both ways. In a totally non-porno way. We had to make some substitutions on the original because I was totally lazy and forgot to roast any garlic for the pasta and also because we had some awesome bacon to use up and didn't feel like battling the crowds at TJs to get pancetta.
The stuffed pork chops were all Noah. I'm guessing that on Saturday, while I was writing in the bedroom he was watching the Food Network, because the dish is a riff on a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis (the lollipop head who loves to host kicky "impromptu" dinner parties). Okay, no more bagging on Giada, 'cause honestly she has good ideas for simple meals and is also one million times less annoying than RachRay and P.Dean.

Noah whipped it up for dinner last night and bless him, totally let me veg on the couch nursing a nasty, but diminishing hangover. Note to self: you cannot drink like you're 27 anymore, sugar. Again, there were substitutions (I think if you're a person who enjoys eating and cooking at all it's basically impossible not to tweak a recipe to fit your own needs/likes/timelines). The only one of real note is that the recipe calls for sun-dried tomatoes, of which I am not a big fan (though more of a fan than roasted red peppers which just kind of gross me out). Also, we didn't have any. So my genius ass chimed in from the couch with the brilliant idea of subbing in some of the Green Tomato Chutney Noah's Aunt Debra made us for Xmas. Okay, Deb, that stuff is AWESOME! And was perfect for the pork.

I added a salad to the meal, along with some sliced baguette and the crack-tastic Jean-Yves Bordier butter that we still have from Paris. If anyone knows where I can get this in the States, tell me now. I'm almost out and an $800 plane ticket seems like a slightly elevated price tag for butter. But for this butter, only slightly.

So there you go, not one but TWO non-dessert recipes for y'all to enjoy.
Whole Wheat Penne with Ricotta, Cherry Tomatoes and Bacon
inspired by Angeli Caffe

2 servings whole wheat penne (I'm too lazy to measure out how much exactly, but am guessing it's about 2 c. of dried pasta)
1/2 c. fresh ricotta (if you can get it, the cheese dudes who sell the Winchester Farms goudas at the H-wood Farmers Market have the best fresh ricotta in town)
3-4 strips of bacon, more meaty than fatty OR 1/4 c. pancetta
20 cherry tomatoes, halved
Garlic (half a dozen cloves if roasted or 2 chopped cloves if raw)
Basil (we didn't have any, so we left it out)
Salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, to taste

Cook up the penne. Reserve a few tablespoons of cooking liquid for sauce. Slice the bacon/pancetta into small strips. Sautee. Remove when they've reached your desired level of crispy. Discard all but 2 tsp. bacon/pancetta fat. Use this to cook raw garlic in on medium flame. Once garlic has browned (1-2 mins), add the cherry tomatoes. Cook 1 minute, then add in pasta, bacon/pancetta and a bit of the reserved cooking liquid. Cook another minute. Take off flame and pour into a large bowl. Add the ricotta and stir, adding more cooking liquid if you want a saucier sauce. Add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste. Serve with a few shavings of parmesan if you're a cheese whore like myself.

Pork Chops Stuffed with Green Tomato Chutney, Spinach and Goat Cheese
adapted from a recipe by Giada de Laurentiis

2 tbsp. olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. green tomato chutney OR 6 sun-dried tomatoes, diced
1-10 oz. bag of frozen spinach OR 2-3 cups fresh spinach, sauteed
1/2 tsp. salt, plus more for seasoning
1/2 tsp. black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1/4 tsp. thyme, fresh or dried
1/4 c. (2 oz.) goat cheese
1/3 c. reduced fat cream cheese or 1/4 c. non-fat greek yogurt
4-4oz. center cut pork chops
1 1/2 c. chicken broth (or, if you're Noah and I, the duck broth you've had in the freezer for while)
1/2 lemon, zested
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. Dijon mustard

Warm 1 tbsp. olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato chutney, spinach, salt, pepper and thyme. Cook until combined, about 2 more minutes. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Add the goat cheese and the cream cheese or greek yogurt. Stir to combine and set aside.

Use a sharp knife to cut a pocket into the thickest portion of the pork chop. Stuff each pocket with 1/4 of the spinach and tomato mixture and close the pork around the stuffing. Season the outside of the pork with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine the chicken broth, lemon zest, lemon juice and mustard.

Warm the remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot add the pork. Cook until golden and cooked through 4-7 minutes a side (ours took longer as the pork was quite thick). Transfer the pork to a side dish and tent with foil to keep warm. Add the chicken broth mixture to the skillet over medium high heat and deglaze the pan, scraping up the cooked pork bits as the broth simmers. Reduce by half to make a light sauce. Spoon some over the pork before serving, putting the rest in a gravy bowl (or, if you're Noah and I, a crappy, chipped ramekin) for spooning over as you eat.

An Almond Cake for the Playoffs

Sunday was a tragic day in our house, as the Ravens fell for the third time this season to the Steelers. Well, more tragic for Noah, but since I'm still getting over the Colts early exit and the fact that the Niners only won half a dozen games this year, I can kind of sympathize. And it all had to happen in front of many of our friends (who themselves were mourning the loss by the Eagles earlier in the day). But, to paraphrase someone who possibly paraphrased Marie Antoinette, let them eat cake.
Oh, things made from almond paste and/or marzipan, how I love thee. Let me count the ways - candy, cookies, croissants and... cake. I've been letting the idea for this cake percolate for a while, ever since I found a lovely can of high quality almond paste at an Italian deli in the San Gabriel Valley (during the Great Bacon Party Errand Extravaganza). And when my sister and mom sent me some preserved apricots and apricot jam from Stacy's tree this summer, well, the idea started to get a little clearer. Then on Saturday, two days after oatmeal cookie making, I was just like - screw it. My waistline, I mean. I wanted some damned almond cake.

I scoped out a few recipes in my cookbooks, but like the oatmeal cookie recipe serach, everything proved too complicated or fattening or crazy ingredient procuring difficult. I searched for recipes online and found one at the Odense site (they make almond paste, but not the kind I was using). I was especially drawn to the "Butterless" part of the recipe, as most recipes I looked at had two sticks involved in the cake baking. And dude, almond paste has plenty of fat as it is, two additional sticks of butter seemed like seriously greasy overkill.

I made very few adjustments to the recipe - I added 2-3 tablespoons of Stacy & mom's apricot jam to the batter, and to compensate for that density I added another tablespoon or two of flour. That's it. I also didn't grate the almond paste as the brand I bought was incredibly soft and didn't seem to need grating to incorporate into the batter, but I'll leave that part in the instructions, in case yours proves unwieldly. Oh yes, and instead of dusting the cake with confectioners sugar, I used more of the apricot jam, thinned with almond liqueur and a touch of sugar, then microwaved for 30 seconds to create a glaze. It was delicious, especially because the homemade jam was nice and chunky with apricots. High five, mom and Stacy! And high five, me.

Note: I ended up freezing a few remaining slices of this cake for future enjoyment. I'll let you know how that works out.

Butterless Almond Cake
from the Odense website

7 oz. almond paste, grated if hard
1/4 c. sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature (mine were still cold)
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
2-3 tbsp. apricot jam* (My addition, you could probably happily substitute raspberry jam if that's what does it for you)
Optional: confectioners sugar or Apricot Glaze (above) for dusting/glazing

Pre-heat the oven to 350˚F. Grease 9" round pan. Line bottom of pan with wax paper (I used parchment paper). Grease paper.

Add almond paste, sugar and eggs (and jam, if using) to a mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until well combined, then turn to high and mix for 3 minutes. Add flour and salt to almond mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Pour batter into greased, parchmented pan and bake for 20-22 minutes (my cold oven took about 28 mins) or until a toothpick comes out of the middle cleanly.

Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 15 mins. Invert on plate or wire rack, peel off wax paper. Invert cake back onto wire rack, so top doesn't get lined, to finish cooling. Dust with confectioners sugar (or glaze with Apricot Glaze) if desired. You could also pair it with fresh summer berries and whipped cream.

Great Frakkin' Cookies

Friday's premiere of the final season of Battlestar Galactica was a great excuse to make some oatmeal raisin cookies. We'd be watching the premiere at our friend Jeremy's house with a bunch of friends, so the cookies wouldn't be tempting Noah and I for weeks (okay, days). But I had yet to find the ultimate oatmeal raisin cookie recipe, so flipped through my plethora of cookbooks. None of the recipes sounded totally awesome to me, so I went to my go-to recipe site online - Epicurious.
I like Epicurious because it collects recipes from Gourmet and Bon Appétit, as well as publishing some site-specific recipes. But its main draw for me is the in-depth user reviews people post. It did not take me long to find a well reviewed, adaptable recipe for Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. I switched up some stuff right off the bat - I was out of purple raisins (actually, I'm just hoarding them for my week-day morning Steel Cut Oats breakfast) so I subbed in golden ones. I also swapped out and reduced the white sugar in the recipe for turbandino, which added a nice crunch. I used half whole wheat flour, half all-purpose and I killed the dates in the recipe, which were frequently sighted by reviewers as being too sweet and/or overpowering in the recipe. I also did half with walnuts and half without due to nut-allergic friends.

The results - A Big Fat Hit! Craig claimed to have eaten five, Sharra ate at least two and took home a baggie full. The kids who hang out on our front porch got first crack at them and all asked for the recipe for their parents to make later. I'd call that a resounding recipe success.
Oatmeal Cookies with Raisins, Dates and Walnuts
submitted to Bon Appetit by Charmaine Haravey of Niwot, CO - July 2003

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 c. whole wheat flour, 1 c. all purpose)
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 tsp. cloves * (My addition)
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg* (My addition)
  

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (I used 2 sticks butter and omitted the vegetable shortening below)
  
• 1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar (I subbed in 1/2 c. turbandino raw sugar)
  
• 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey (I upped to 1/3 c. but would probably reduce back to original measurement)
  
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup raisins (I used golden raisins, which taste a touch citrusy. In a good way.)
  
• 1 cup chopped pitted dates (I omitted)
  
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (I halved, as I used them in only half the cookies)
  

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil; butter foil. Blend first 5 ingredients in medium bowl.

Using electric mixer, beat butter, vegetable shortening, and both sugars in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in honey, eggs, and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, raisins, dates, and walnuts. Drop batter by tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, spacing mounds 2 inches apart. Flatten cookies slightly.

Bake cookies until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Cool completely on sheets. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)

* I think you could easily make some tasty substitutions in the recipe. Maybe 1 c. dried cherries and 1 c. dark chocolate chips (you'll probably want to reduce brown sugar to 3/4 c. to compensate for the sweetnesss). You could also do dried cranberries and add some orange zest. Or maybe a combo of chocolate and peanut butter chips (again, decrease the brown sugar and probably omit the turbandino entirely). The possibilities are endless. And the recipe is good enough to try them all.