How to Almost Not Make Cranberry Apple Bread

True story of how new recipes get rigorously tested and tweaked in the house of a Chef.

Mission: Cranberry-Apple Bread.

Recipe As One Might Intend to Make It:

2 c Apples, peeled, cored and diced
3/4 c White Sugar
2 T  Vegetable Oil
1 Egg

Pie Project: Early Summer Stunner

Thimbleberry Coconut Raspberry Pie

Say WHAT??

The Thimbleberry described here is native to the Northern Michigan landscape where my lovely wife grew up. It is like a raspberry but pungently tart and floral, and so soft that one does not chew them, one crushes the velvety drupelets against the roof of the mouth with the tongue. They can barely be harvested and carried back to the house without crushing them, so the only form in which they can travel to Missouri is as a jam.

Pie Project: Ohio Lemon Pie

"Ohio Lemon Pie"

A rather cryptic name for a mid-last-century culinary fad, started by the Shakers.
According to Joy of Cooking, this pie was big news before the age of Ron Popeil; home cooks all over the Midwest were baking up versions of this pie with that Exotic Semi-Tropical Import: the Lemon.
I found the recipe intriguing and decided to give it a try.

New Year's Pie Project #1: Caramel Pumpkin Pie

Here at kitchenananda we strive to answer some of the toughest philosophical questions that humanity can raise.  Already, we have tackled:

Q: "Why are we here?" A: To feed each other.

Q: "What is consciousness?"  A: Who cares? It's delicious!

This post germinated before Christmas, while trying to answer this question:

Q: "What do you get for the Man Who Has Everything?"

A: Pie.   (Duh!)

Non-Fancy Super-Crunchy 10 Minute Granola

Yes. You can do this.

Ever check out the Vegan or Raw Foods section of the Health Food store and come across these little snack packets of uber-granola weighing 2 ounces total and costing 9 American Dollars? I saw some the other week, and I thought: "This is it. Boutique Granola costs $56 a pound.  The end of the Roman Empire (take 2) is at hand."

Magic Dinner, and That's No Crock

'Tis the season. . .

. . .when long-cooked dishes return to our tables and life gradually becomes more and more busy as the Holiday Juggernaut approacheth. Maybe you want the time to bake cookies for everyone you know. Or put up jars of the last tomatoes of the year. Or recreate that long-lost spun-sugar Titanic that you made as a final project in Pastry School (too bad the ants found the original one!) But dinner still needs to be made, friend.

Well, you probably know someone who brags all the time about their crock pot and you think "I want dinner to be magically ready when I come home from work, too. . ." But you have a small kitchen without the parking space to plunk down one of those overgrown hot plates. We cooks know that the most important Kitchen Real Estate is counter-space. . . especially adjacent to a sink and power outlet (wow!)

Don't worry about that office blowhard. Have you got a regular old soup pot with a decent lid? Do you have a working oven? Chances are very good that even a crappy apartment oven can handle 225 degrees for a few hours. . .

Congratulations! Welcome to Magic Dinner Prep School!

Caramel Squash Butter

Caramel Squash Butter

Here's a recipe that may provide welcome variety once you've made that squash soup, squash puree, and spherified squash gel. . .  It only takes a little bit of cooked winter squash to make a pint jar, and it goes down well on toast on these cold mornings.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups (packed) Cooked Squash (see below for techniques to maximize flavor)

1/2 c Sugar

1 pinch Salt

1/4 c Water

1/2 tsp Cider Vinegar

10 cardamom seeds (not the big pods), cracked 

How to Make the Best Yogurt Ever, for $3 a Gallon

Really? Yes.
That last piddly 2 tablespoons of your favorite store-bought yogurt is good for something after all!

Summer in 20 Minutes

We call it Summer Soup, although its popularity in my house has stretched around the calendar.  Since it's simple and uses ingredients that freeze well, it's no trick to have it anytime.

Last summer I was searching for a way to feed green things to my two year old.  We had a new baby at home also, so I needed a FAST dish healthy and tasty enough that the weary, nutrient-starved parents would enjoy it, too.

Quick Saag Paneer with Tofu

It was an hour from dinnertime, and all I had to work with was some frozen spinach, a block of tofu, and a few good spices in the cabinet.  Reaching back into the dim recesses of my culinary career, I came up with a version of a (vegan) dish we used to sell vats of in Minneapolis.

Saag paneer is the popular and delicious North Indian stew of creamed spinach with spices and chunks of fresh homemade cheese. 

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced small

Spices: 1 tsp  each of brown mustard seeds, turmeric, curry powder, cumin seeds, coriander.

1 c heavy cream

salt

20 oz thawed spinach

lemon juice to taste

1# tofu, cut in 3/4" cubes

A pinch of asafetida, 1 T each chili powder, turmeric, salt,  and enough canola oil to make the dry spices into a loose paste.  Toss with the tofu.

Method:
Roast the tofu with the second group of spices at 325 until firm and dry on the outside.  (about 20-30 minutes)

Heat 2T of butter or ghee with the Mustard Seeds.  When the seeds start to pop, add the onion, turn the heat down, and cook until translucent.   Add the remaining spices and stir until fragrant.  Add the Spinach, with any juice it gave up during the thaw.  Cook on med-low until most of the liquid is gone, then add the cream and some salt.  Bring to a simmer,  adjust the salt until it tastes good to you, then add a tsp or so of fresh lemon juice and taste it again.

(For an extra silky texture, put an immersion blender in the pot and blend the spinach until there are no more large pieces identifiable.)

Now add your tofu, stir it in well, and remove the pot from the heat.

You can serve it immediately, but it will be better the next day.

My toddler loves this dish, and I hope you will also.

Namaste!

Roasted Napa Cabbage: Simple Pleasures

If you like Brussels Sprouts roasted caramel brown, then you should consider the other members of the cabbage family. They're cheap, quick to prep, and cook in about the same amount of time.

Recipe:
Set the oven to 400.
Cut a head of Napa into lengthwise wedges, trim out the toughest part of the core.
Toss or brush liberally with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Lay cut-side down (so the outer leaves will act as a tent, keeping in some steam to soften the leaves as they roast) and cook until tender and caramelized. Mine took about 20 minutes.

Bread: Deep Nourishment for Troubled Times

I was a kid in the 70s when inflation was crazy and nobody could afford to eat beef.  My parents were struggling to raise my sister and I while putting my father through grad school.  I believe the household balance sheet in 1975 read something like this:

Thanks Giving

A Shout-out to DB who gave the wine.

And thanks to Gourmet Mag. via The Wedge in Minneapolis, who taught me Marbelized Root Vegetable Puree. (*recipe below)

And to Mel, who made the pies.







And to the Secret-Location Creve Couer Crabapple Tree for the fruit that made the jam.

Thanks to BC who taught me Frangipane.















Thanks to HT, the barkeep, for hours of merriment.

Thanks to our hosts for a great meal and warm hospitality.

Thanks to LB in the North Country, and the Kennys further on toward the Pole.

And thanks to my readers, wherever you are; may you feast well and relax in health!

Stephen


*Here's the gist of this Root Puree.  You make two contrasting purees of root vegetable, place them in a big bowl, and swirl them together just enough to allow the diner to enjoy them side by side.

Carrot Puree: 2# carrots, peeled, chopped, boiled until soft, drained, pureed in a Cuisinart Food Processor with 2 ounces Pecorino cheese, .5 cup cream and 2 oz. melted butter, salt to taste.

White Puree: 2# Parsnips, 2# Potatoes, 1# Pears (I know they're not roots).
Peel, chop, boil the Parsnips and Potatoes in separate pots.  When the Parnsips are tender, toss in the peeled, cored pear chunks and put a lid on them to steam for 3 minutes.  Drain well in a colander and let steam for 5 minutes.  When the potatoes are tender, drain and let them steam also.  Puree these 3 ingredients together, adding 4 ounces sharp white cheddar chopped small so that it will melt in.  Grate 1/4 of a nutmeg into this puree, and add 2 oz each melted butter and cream.  Salt to taste.

Line a presentation dish with half the white puree, then put a layer of the carrot over it.  Cover with the remaining white puree, and the put the last of the carrot in a single dollop in the center on top.  Take a spatula and make a "W" through the dish.  Or use a folding motion and sweep across the dish - do this until the purees are swirled but not homogenized. Yum.

Rockin' Corn Bread

This recipe is based on one from the Joy of Cooking, which has a bevy of Cornbread recipes and variations to get you thinking about how to use this versatile quickbread to satisfy your own tastes.