Pureed Butternut Squash Soup

In keeping with our “nuts” theme for Thanksgiving, I wanted to try a butternut squash soup recipe completely forgetting that A had already made a wonderful one for our “honey” themed Valentine’s Day dinner.

Before I began my search for a recipe, I had no idea how many variations there were for this soup. Since I didn’t recall A’s soup, I didn’t know what butternut squash tasted like and so found it difficult to choose a recipe. Ginger? Garlic? Curry? In the end, I decided to go with a very simple recipe with minimal seasonings, emphasizing the flavor of the squash.

I have to learn things the hard way. Here’s what I learned about Butternut squash specifically and vegetable based soups in general.

Pumpkin is a squash. If a pumpkin is nearly impossible to cut and peel (think jack-o-lantern), then it stands to reason that all squash are nearly impossible to cut and peel. I have arthritis in my hands. By the time I had finished peeling, seeding and cutting three pounds of butternut squash, my hands were so painful that I was literally sobbing. A, you may have the honor of making all future dishes involving squash.

A food processor is NOT the same as a blender. Yes, it has a plastic bowl with evil little blades at the bottom. The difference, and it is a huge difference, is in the cover. A blender has a cover that seals tightly. A food processor, on the other hand, has a cover that merely clamps tightly to the bowl. Any liquid that reaches the top will be forcibly ejected from the machine by the whirling blades resulting in a soup splattered kitchen. Did I mention that I recently wallpapered my kitchen? Recently, as in the week before Thanksgiving?

Those were my misconceptions. Here is Martha’s misconception. Admittedly, I wasn’t able to puree the soup completely and a certain amount did wind up decorating my walls, floor, countertop and cabinets, but I still am not sure why she thought the resulting soup would be so thick that it would need to be thinned with a little water. My soup was too watery.

Thankfully, I had made it first before tackling the mashed potatoes and gravy. My reasoning was that it could always be reheated before being served. Instead, I left it simmering and cooking down on a backburner while I attended to the rest of the dinner. A was kind enough to keep an eye on it for me, stirring and checking the consistency.

Despite the best efforts of both Wooden Spoon cooks, this soup was too thin. It also needed more seasonings or a different oil. The taste of the olive oil almost overpowered the taste of the squash.

Verdict: What was Martha thinking???




Pureed Butternut Squash Soup(Source: Everyday Food January/February 2008)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
3 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 can (14 ½ ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 to 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion. Season with salt; stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.

Add squash, broth, and enough water (4 to 5 cups) to cover. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium, and simmer until squash is tender, about 20 minutes.

Using a blender or an immersion blender, puree broth and vegetables until smooth. If using a blender, work in batches and fill only halfway, allowing heat to escape: remove cap from hole in lid, cover lid firmly with a dish towel, and blend. Transfer to a clean pot as you work. Adjust soup’s consistency with a little water if necessary. Season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

Recycle: olive oil bottle, chicken broth can

Compost: onion skin, squash seeds and skin

The Wooden Spoon Cooks Go Nuts!

Pureed Butternut Squash Soup

Cranberry-Orange Relish with Walnuts

Baked Acorn Squash

Nut Bread

Herbed Mashed Potatoes

Chestnut Stuffing

Dry-Brined Turkey

Pecan Pie

A and I had so much fun doing a themed Valentine’s Day Dinner that we decided to cook a themed Thanksgiving Dinner. A suggested “nuts” which is appropriate for the season as well as our state of mind. We dove into cookbooks and surfed the net looking for dishes with nuts as ingredients and/or “nuts” in their title. Stay tuned for the recipes and our reviews.

We hope that you enjoy our Nutty Thanks giving as much as we did.

Maple Pear Upside-Down Cake

It is absolutely true that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. This old dog went all Pavlov when she saw a recipe for a pear upside-down cake rather than the more usual pineapple upside-down cake. She completely ignored that (1) the recipe was featured in the New York Times and (2) not a single recipe from that illustrious publication has ever worked for her. And do you know why she ignored past experience? Because (everyone say it with me) this time it will be different.

Except that it wasn’t. Making matters worse, the fallout from this disaster may have adverse consequences on Thanksgiving. I am keeping my paws fingers crossed.

I am unsure of the variety of pears that I purchased. They weren’t labeled. They were, however, the biggest darn pears that I have ever seen. I bought four as specified in the recipe, but only needed half that many to affect the overlapping circle on the top of the cake.

Cooking the maple syrup and brown sugar topping was not a problem. While it was cooling, I made the cake batter. Which, when finished, bore a striking resemblance to BisQuick. My problems began when I poured the brown sugar maple syrup mixture into the cake pan. It seemed like a lot. But I forged ahead confident that the chefs behind the recipe in their infinite wisdom, knew what they were doing.

Pear slices were arranged in an attractive circle, batter was spooned into the pan and then carefully spread to cover the pears. The pan was slid into the oven and the timer set for 45 minutes. The trouble began at the twenty minute mark when the first eruption of brown sugar/maple syrup escaped from the pan and landed on the bottom of the oven where it sizzled into a sticky, blackened mess. As the minutes ticked by, the eruptions grew more frequent, the sizzling almost constant. Thirty minutes in, smoke was billowing out of the stove as the boiling mixture intended as a delicate syrup for the pears turned my oven into a bubbling cauldron of burning sugar.

I made the decision to remove the cake early rather than risk burning down my house. Repeat after me: The motto of the New York Times is “All The News That’s Fit to Print” NOT “All The Recipes Fit to Print”. If there is any doubt in your mind, I invite you to take a look into my blackened and still smoking oven.

Normally, my oven is pretty clean. Clean enough that I feel confident in baking my Thanksgiving pies and breads and then roasting the turkey. The following day, while everyone else is out bargain-hunting, I am on my knees in the kitchen cleaning my oven sure in the knowledge that I won’t need to clean it again until after the Christmas roast beef.

This year, thanks to the New York Times (note to self: “All The NEWS That’s Fit to Print”), I will be cleaning my oven twice in one week. No matter how carefully I rinse, it always smells of oven cleaner afterwards which leads me to wonder how that acrid aroma will affect the turkey.

In case you’re still wondering, the much maligned Maple Pear Upside-Down Cake was delicious. I will be making it again, but with a lot less brown sugar and maple syrup and definitely not a few days before Thanksgiving.

Verdict: Needs a Do-Over




Maple Pear Upside-Down Cake(source: The New York Times, November 11, 2009)

11 tablespoons butter
¾ cup maple syrup
¼ cup packed brown sugar
3 to 4 pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a small pan over medium heat; add maple syrup and brown sugar and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook for another 2 minutes; remove from heat and set aside. When mixture has cooled a bit, pour it into a 9-inch baking pan and arrange pear slices n an overlapping circle on top.

With a handheld or standing mixer, beat remaining 8 tablespoons butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, one egg at a time, continuing to mix until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

Add flour mixture to butter mixture in three batches, alternating with milk; do not overmix. Carefully spread batter over pears, using a spatula to make sure it is evenly distributed. Bake until top of cake is golden brown and edges begin to pull away from sides of pan, about 45 to 50 minutes; a toothpick inserted into center should come out clean. Let cake cool for 5 minutes.

Run a knife around edge of pan; put a plate on top of cake and carefully flip it so plate is on bottom and pan is on top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Recycle: maple syrup bottle, vanilla bottle

Compost: pear peels and cores, eggshells

Linguine Fra Diavolo

Have you ever lost a recipe? I have. More than once. My biggest loss was my favorite strawberry cake recipe. Yellow layers with sliced strawberries as filling, covered with a whipped cream frosting. My mouth waters just thinking about it. It disappeared during the move to my current house.

Once I had a computer, I was determined to never lose another recipe and carefully typed all of them into folders. But I hadn’t counted on a home computer, a work computer and flash drives. Despite my best efforts to centralize my file keeping, I still managed to lose track of recipes.
The latest recipe to “disappear” on me was this one. When I went to make it a year ago, I discovered that I couldn’t locate it. I hastily did some Googling and came up with an acceptable substitute which turned out to be rather good.

Last week, I came across it on my office computer. I transferred it to my flash drive AND printed it out. No way that I was going to lose it again.

Shrimp was on sale this week so it was a good time to try this version. I was also eager to use surimi, something I had never tried. The package left me a little confused. It said “imitation crab meat” and underneath that “wild caught”. How do you catch a fake crab?

My only criticism of this recipe is that either I should chop my onions into smaller pieces or they should be sautéed longer than 8 minutes. They weren’t cooked enough. I used the entire 2 pound package of shrimp which was too much. But I love shrimp and I’ve never come across any recipes that call for ¾ pound of shrimp. The surimi was difficult to shred. I have to work on that.

Other than that, it was absolutely delicious.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!!




Linguine Fra Diavolo(source: Familycircle.com)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1 pound dried linguine
1 ¼ pounds cleaned medium-size shrimp
½ pound surimi (imitation crab), shredded
¼ cup fresh basil, in strips

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 8 minutes or until softened, without letting garlic brown.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt and pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer, breaking up tomato with wooden spoon; cook over medium heat 10 minutes.

While sauce is simmering, cook linguine following package directions. Drain.

Stir shrimp into sauce; cook 3 to 4 minutes or until shrimp is cooked through.

Stir in surimi; heat through, about 1 minute.

Toss linguine with shrimp sauce. Garnish with basil.

Recycle: tomato cans

Compost: onion skins, garlic skins

Fettuccine Alfredo

As I previously mentioned, I was raised on meat and potatoes. Steaks, chops, boiled chicken legs and the ubiquitous mashed potatoes smothered in butter and gravy. For most of my childhood, the only pasta I knew was macaroni and cheese.

By the late 60's, prepared foods were more prevalent and cheaper and spaghetti was added to our diet. It came in a box with a foil pouch of seasonings to which was added a can of tomato paste and water. It was a welcome respite from the endless cycle of meat and potatoes.

When I moved out of my parents’ house, I was shocked at the infinite variety of food and flavors. I had difficulty ordering food in restaurants because I didn’t know what most of dishes were and was too ashamed to admit it. So I would order whatever sounded the most exotic to me on the menu.

One evening, it was Fettuccine Alfredo. I had no idea what I was ordering beyond the fact that it was pasta and it was Italian. My ignorance was such that I didn’t know that “Alfredo” was a sauce. So you can imagine my surprise when my pasta arrived covered with a white sauce instead of the expected tomato sauce. Even worse, the sauce was made with a lot of eggs that didn’t taste like they were cooked properly. They were raw and slimy. My dining companion, assured me that my dish had been made and cooked properly.

It was one of the worst meals I had ever eaten. The memory of that dish was so horrific, that I buried it in the remotest recesses of my memory.

Now fast forward about fifteen years. I had had years of cooking for a fussy eater. So fussy in fact, that our diet was restricted to half a dozen or fewer dishes. Standing in the pasta aisle at the supermarket, I realized that I had reached the point where I just couldn’t face another dinner of spaghetti and Ragu sauce. A box of fettuccine with a recipe for Fettuccine Alfredo on the side caught my eye. It sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place it. More importantly, would my daughter eat flat pasta covered in a white sauce? And how did I know that Alfredo was a white sauce?

Back home in my kitchen, with the pasta merrily boiling and my white sauce prepared, the unwelcome answer hit me as I poured the beaten eggs into the pan. I panicked. If I wasn’t willing to eat slimy, half-cooked eggs, there was no way that my daughter would either. There had to be something I could do salvage dinner. I stirred and stirred and thought and thought and stirred some more. Just as I was about to dump dinner and order Chinese, a miracle happened: the eggs cooked. I found myself stirring something akin to scrambled eggs.

I drained the pasta, added it to the “sauce” and found myself with an edible dish. Not at all authentic, but my picky offspring was willing to eat it and so was I. It has become one of those recipes that I make when I am in a hurry or too tired to fuss. It is so flexible that it can be a main dish or a side dish.

Just for the record, I’ve never ordered Fettuccine Alfredo in a restaurant again since that disastrous meal decades ago.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!!



Fettuccine Alfredo(source: Ronzoni Fettuccine box)

16 oz. (1 package) Fettuccine
½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup whipping cream
4 eggs

Cook pasta in boiling salted water for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter; blend in cheese. Stir in whipping cream; heat almost to boiling, stirring constantly with a whisk. Place eggs in a small bowl; beat slightly. Stir a small amount of hot cream mixture into egg mixture; pour egg mixture into saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with whisk until thoroughly heated, about 5 minutes. Tossed cooked, drained pasta and sauce. Serve immediately.

6 servings

Compost: eggshells

Soft & Chewy Chocolate Drops

In all fairness, I really should make these cookies again before reviewing the recipe. I did everything possible wrong so it is no surprise that they are only “average”. I have no excuse except that I was very busy and trying to take shortcuts.

The cookie dough is supposed to be refrigerated for an hour. I left it in the fridge overnight. At that point, the dough was so hard, that it was impossible to roll into balls. I didn’t have time for it reach room temperature, so I just mooshed it into ball-like shapes, larger than the recommended one inch and baked them.

Then I froze them. There was no time to make frosting and frost the cookies, so into the freezer they went for a few days. When I finally found the time to make the glaze, I ended up with way more than I needed, even if I had made five dozen cookies.

I also made the mistake of reading the ingredients on the Cool Whip label. I had nightmares for a few nights after. It’s been years since I ate anything that I couldn’t pronounce.

Here’s a handy hint. It doesn’t say so in the directions, but placed the frosted cookies on wax paper while the frosting was setting on them. They don’t stick to the wax paper and clean up is a breeze, especially if any of the frosting has dripped.

When all was said and done, I wasn’t enthusiastic about the taste. That may have had something to do with the cheap baking chocolate I used. I should have invested in better chocolate for a better taste.

Verdict: Needs a Do-Over



Soft & Chewy Chocolate Drops(source: BAKER’S unsweetened Baking Chocolate box)

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 ½ cups flour

Glaze
1 tub (8 oz.) Frozen Cool Whip Whipped Topping
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate


Preheat oven to 350°. Microwave unsweetened chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl on high 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add sugar; mix well. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour; mix well. Cover and refrigerate 1 or until dough is easy to handle.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart, on greased baking sheets.

Bake 8 min. or just until set. (Do not overbake.) Let stand on baking sheet 1 min; transfer to wire racks. Cool completely.

Glaze: Place frozen whipped topping and semi-sweet chocolate in microwavable bowl. Microwave on high 1 ½ min. or until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is shiny and smooth, stirring after 1 min. Let stand 15 min. to thicken. Spread over cookies. Let stand until glaze is set.

Makes 5 doz. or 30 servings, two cookies each.

Recycle: vanilla bottle

Compost: eggshells

Red Beans and Rice

I was raised on steak and potatoes. There was always a big slab of meat, usually beef, on our plates accompanied by a small mountain of mashed potatoes smothered in butter and gravy. That was in the 60’s. These days, we know that meat should be eaten sparingly so I’ve been trying to eat more vegetables and seafood.

When I looked into recipes for red beans and rice, I was surprised to find that there were many variations. I decided I should keep it simple for my first attempt and chose a recipe from A’s favorite site, Epicurious. It was billed as simple and easy and could be made with ingredients you already have on hand. True. All I had to buy were the beans and the tomato sauce.

As promised, this is a simple dish to make. It smelled great while it was cooking, but lacked any real flavor when I tasted it. It has heat from the spices and, but no distinctive flavor. It just tasted like beans with a kick. I think I will try some of those variations (Cuban, Cajun, etc) in hopes of finding a recipe with a unique taste.

Verdict: Not bad, but I won’t be making this again.


Red Beans and Rice(source: Epicurious July 2003)

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, finely diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 green pepper, finely diced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 cup tomato sauce
¼ cup water
A few dashes hot sauce (such as Tabasco)
2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed well in a strainer
4 cups hot cooked rice (from 1 cup raw rice
Sour cream (optional)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and green pepper, and sauté until the pepper is very tender, about 10 minutes.

Sprinkle in the chili powder and paprika, and cook 30 seconds. Mix in the tomato sauce, water, hot sauce, and kidney beans, and simmer about 10 minutes, or until the mixture is hot and fragrant. Serve over rice with a small spoonful of sour cream on top, if desired.

Tip: To give the beans a smoky flavor you can add 1 small chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. Mince it on a small plate with 2 knives before adding it to the beans. Omit the hot sauce.

Recycle: olive oil bottle, Tabasco sauce bottle, kidney beans cans, tomato sauce can

Compost: onion skins, garlic skins, pepper seeds and rind

Lentil Soup

A cooler than normal summer is being followed by a warmer than normal autumn. Yesterday, a cold front with rain moved in and we’ve been getting a taste of more normal damp, chilly autumn weather. Definitely soup weather.

I’ve been wanting to expand my soup repertoire beyond my usual cream of mushroom, French onion and potato soup standbys. Last year, I added chicken soup. This year, I’m adding Lentil Soup. The recipe is straight from the Goya dry lentils package. I had cut it out when I bought lentils to make I don't remember what. It sounded quick and easy.

My only criticism of the directions is that they don’t specify how long you should simmer the soup. “…until lentils are tender and soup gets thick” is a little vague. A guesstimate would have been nice. A little research on the internet suggested 45 minutes to an hour. I went with an hour.

I chose to make this with ham, not because I happen to have ham in the house but because I couldn’t imagine lentil soup with sausage. And the recipe didn’t specify what kind of sausage. Maybe kielbasa? I also chose chicken over beef bouillon, again, a personal preference. When you make this, go easy on the salt and pepper. The ham provided plenty of salt, I probably didn’t have to add any and I admit to being a little heavy handed with the pepper.

Despite my ineptitude with the seasonings, this soup was delicious and even better the second day.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!!


Lentil Soup(source: Goya Dry Lentils package)

½ lb. dry lentils
2 Tbsp. olive oil
¼ lb. smoked ham or sausage
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 chicken or beef bouillon
4 cups water
Salt and pepper to taste

Sort and rinse lentils. In a medium saucepan, heat oil. Stir in ham, onion, celery and garlic until tender. Add lentils and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are tender and soup gets thick. Add more hot water if necessary.

Serves 4.

Recycle: olive oil bottle
Compost: onion skins, celery leaves, garlic skins

Alexis’s Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

I fell for the hype. Twice. There was an article on Yahoo about the “best” chocolate chips and the “best” chocolate chip cookie recipes. I’ve been making Tollhouse cookies since I was a child. As an adult, I’m always trying, only to be disappointed by, other chocolate chip cookie recipes. But, hey, these are “the best” recipes.

There was the ubiquitous New York Times recipe, the supposedly “secret” Neiman Marcus recipe, a couple of famous TV chef recipes and a Martha Stewart recipe. From her Entertaining book. Supposedly the recipe has worked perfectly for 25 years. Let me repeat that so that we are all clear on this: Alexis’s Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies have worked perfectly for 25 years.

Like all of Martha’s “best” recipes, this one goes overboard on one key ingredient, in this case, butter. The recipe calls for one pound unsalted butter. Egads!! The recipe doesn’t say so, but I used the usual “softened” butter. Balancing that is a dearth of chocolate chips. Only 1½ cups. In my humble opinion, the minimum should be 2 cups, the whole 12 ounce bag instead of ¾ of it. And by the way, what are “real chocolate chips”? I didn’t realize that there were fake ones.

I liked that the dry ingredients are sifted. It usually makes for a lighter result. I’m not sure why with an entire pound of butter, Martha feels that the cookie sheets need to be greased. I have never greased my cookie sheets when making chocolate chip cookies with a lot less butter. I went with experience and didn’t grease them. I was also unhappy with the amount of batter for each cookie. Two to three tablespoons seemed way too much. And which is it? Two or three? There’s a big difference. I compromised at 2 ½ tablespoons. Sure enough, it was waaaaay too much. This is what the first batch looked like:

They spread out all over the cookie sheet. Can you imagine if I HAD greased the cookie sheet? They would have continued spreading off the sheet and all over my oven. According to the reverential article accompanying this recipe, these cookies have a “…crispy-at-the-edges/chewy-in-the –middle texture.” You will note that in the above photo, while the edges could possibly be described as “crispy”, there is no way that the uncooked batter in the middle could be described as “chewy”.

But we weren’t finished having fun yet. Here’s what happened when I attempted to remove the cookies from the cookie sheet:

An ooey-gooey mess. For the next batch, I reduced the batter for each cookie to a more normal 1 tablespoon and was rewarded with the promised 4 inch “crispy-at-the-edges/chewy-in-the-middle texture”. Look closely at the photo below. Do you see any chocolate chips? I see almost none. For me, a chocolate chip cookie is as much about the chocolate chips as it is about the cookie.

I should confess that the worshipful author of the accompanying article was correct about the taste. “They do not resemble Tollhouse-style cookies in the slightest. They are much more buttery….” She’s right. They were good. We will just have to disagree about the recipe itself. It may have worked for 25 years in her kitchen, but it doesn’t work in mine.

Verdict: What was Martha thinking?



Alexis’s Brown-Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies(source: Martha Stewart Entertaining)

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter
3 cups brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ cups real chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Cream butter until smooth; add sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Sift flour, salt, and baking soda and beat into above mixture. Add chocolate chips. Drop 2-3 tablespoons of batter onto greased baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 8 minutes.

Remove from pans and cool on racks.

Note; if cookies become hard while still on the baking sheet, put sheet back into the oven for a few seconds to soften them for easy removal.

Recycle: vanilla bottle

Compost: eggshells

Indian-Spiced Shrimp

This is a recipe that I “stockpiled” over the summer. I saw it on Yahoo (originally from Epicurious), loved it and bookmarked it for trial during cooler weather. I liked it so much that, when I ran into “A” at a party last month, I told her that I had the perfect recipe for the shrimp that has been in my freezer for too long. The recipe was called …um…um…some kind of Indian dish. I thought I was having a Senior Moment.

I hopped on my computer as soon as I got home and pulled up the recipe. Phew! No Senior Moment. I couldn’t recall the name because it’s not really “named”, just described as “Indian-spiced”. As I was making out my shopping list, I liked this recipe even more. Not only did I already have the shrimp, albeit a little frost bitten, I also had all of the spices. I’m going to have to check back on this blog to see what I have been cooking that I have coriander and turmeric on hand.

The prep time on this is estimated at 40 minutes which is accurate. Peeling and deveining the shrimp took up most of that time. I thought that chopping the tomatoes would take more time than it did and it might have if I had peeled them first. I didn’t have any fresh ginger so I substituted ground ginger at a ratio of 1 to 3. In this case it meant using ⅓ teaspoon of ground ginger instead of 1 teaspoon fresh ginger.

Once you get past all of the peeling and chopping, this is a quick and easy recipe. It smelled heavenly as it was cooking, although it’s probably a good thing that my windows are all closed. I’m not sure how my neighbors feel about Indian food. People who don’t like it often complain of the smell when someone else is cooking it.

The taste, on the other hand, was only so-so. I just couldn’t work up any enthusiasm for it. It tasted okay, not great, just okay. Perhaps I just don’t care much for this particular combination of spices.

Verdict: No bad, but I probably won’t be making this again.

Indian-Spiced Shrimp(source: Epicurious)



1 medium onion, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced lengthwise
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh jalapeno, including seeds
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
¾ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon turmeric (optional)
1 pound tomatoes, cut into ½-inch pieces
1 pound large shrimp in shell (21 to 25 per lb), peeled and deveined
½ cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped if desired

Cook onion in oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Add jalapeno, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring, until jalapeno, is softened and garlic is golden, about 1 minute. Add cumin, coriander, salt, and turmeric (if using) and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes break down and sauce is thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add shrimp and cook, turning occasionally, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in half of cilantro. Serve sprinkled with remaining cilantro.

Recycle: Vegetable oil bottle, spice bottles

Compost: onion skin, jalapeno stem, garlic skin, ginger peels, tomatoes skins, cilantro stems

Indian Spiced Carrot Soup

My garden produced a good crop of carrots this year, and it’s cooled down enough now that the idea of carrot soup was appealing. So I went looking for a recipe, and found one on epicurious.com for a soup with Indian spices. I like Indian food, and I didn’t want a recipe that was too sweet, so this sounded like a good idea.

Okay, so I made some changes to the spices. I’m out of curry powder, so used Garam Masala powder instead. I also used powdered ginger rather than fresh. Since I don’t have a spice mill or coffee grinder, I used ground coriander seeds and unground mustard seed. But I did use fresh limes. I know better than to mess with that.

The recipe’s intention, apparently, was that you should blend everything to a fine puree. It was getting late and I was in kind of a hurry, so I didn’t blend it that finely. I liked this; it gave an interesting texture to the soup.

As for the color – I grew purple carrots in my garden this year, and one or two of them made it into the soup. I was alarmed at first, when the cooking liquid turned an unappealing brown color (the purple compounds are water-soluble, so they leach out during cooking). But then when I added the lime juice, the acidity turned the soup reddish. The final result was a light tomato-y color. Definitely better than muddy brown. I wonder what it would look like if I used all purple carrots…

As for the flavor – it’s interesting, but I didn’t care for it. Some of the people who posted comments on the original website said they doubled the amounts of the spices. I’m not sure that would help. It’s not that the flavor was weak, just that I didn’t like it all that much. I used the juice of two fresh limes, and maybe that was a bit much.

So, I’ll continue searching for a good carrot soup recipe…

Verdict: Not bad, but I don't think I'll be making it again.

Indian Spiced Carrot Soup with Ginger
(source: www.epicurious.com)

1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1/2 teaspoon curry powder (preferably Madras)
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 cups chopped onions
1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled, thinly sliced into rounds (about 4 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime peel
5 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth or vegetable broth
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
Plain yogurt (for garnish)

Grind coriander and mustard seeds in spice mill to fine powder. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add ground seeds and curry powder; stir 1 minute. Add ginger; stir 1 minute. Add next 3 ingredients. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; sauté until onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add 5 cups broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer uncovered until carrots are tender, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly. Working in batches, puree in blender until smooth. Return soup to pot. Add more broth by 1/4 cupfuls if too thick. Stir in lime juice; season with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Rewarm before serving.

Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with yogurt and serve.

Recycle: oil bottle, broth can, yogurt tub

Compost: ginger, onion, and carrot peels

Dinette Cake with Chocolate Butter Frosting

When I was a child, the custom in our family was that the Birthday Boy or Girl chose the dinner menu and the birthday cake. My mother wasn’t much of a baker, so most birthday cakes were made from mixes. Except mine. I always requested the one cake that she made from scratch. She called it a “One Egg Cake”. The recipe had been cut out of a newspaper or magazine years before and carefully saved . . . I just realized that I don’t know where she kept it.

It was a plain vanilla cake made in a square 8x8 or 9x9 pan and frosted with chocolate butter frosting. Cakes may have come from boxes, but frostings were always homemade. Chocolate butter or vanilla butter, straight out of my mother’s old Betty Crocker cookbook.

In my teens, disaster struck. The precious One Egg Cake recipe disappeared. We searched high and low but it was never seen again. I began a fruitless quest to find a substitute. As an adult, when I purchased my own Betty Crocker cookbook, one of the first recipes that I tried was “Dinette Cake” which called for one egg and was made in a square 8x8 or 9x9 pan. It was close, but not the cake from my childhood. Luckily, my newer edition Betty Crocker cookbook still had the same chocolate and vanilla butter frostings recipes.

It may not be quite the same, but at least I no longer have to wait until my birthday to have a one egg cake frosted with chocolate butter frosting.
Verdict: Yum!! These are keepers!!



Dinette Cake(source: Betty Crocker)

1 ½ cups cake flour or 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup milk
⅓ cup shortening
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour square pan, 8x8x2 or 9x9x2 inches. Measure all ingredients into large mixer bowl. Blend ½ minute on low speed, scraping bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes high speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pan.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool.


Chocolate Butter Frosting(source: Betty Crocker)

⅓ cup soft butter or margarine
2 ounces melted unsweetened chocolate (cool)
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
About 2 tablespoons milk

Mix thoroughly butter and cooled chocolate. Blend in sugar. Stir in vanilla and milk; beat until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency.

Fills and frosts two 8- or 9-inchy layers or frosts a 13x9-inch cake.

To fill and frost three 8-inch layers, use ½ cup soft butter or margarine, 3 ounces melted unsweetened chocolate (cool), 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla and about 3 tablespoons milk.

Recycle: milk bottle, vanilla bottle
Compost: eggshell

Chicken or Pork Fried Rice

I was feeling under the weather last weekend, no energy to cook, so I went with one of my default options: takeout Chinese. The local Chinese restaurant is nothing special, just convenient. The garlic shrimp was yummy, but the fried rice left something to be desired. I like mine much better.

This is one of those recipes that I’ve been cooking for years but whose origins are lost in the mists of time. I vaguely remember finding it in a magazine. My first concrete memory is passing it along to a former co-worker who had made a pork roast and was looking for some way to use the leftovers. I almost never eat pork, so I have always made this recipe with chicken.

I use all of the ingredients but consider the amounts as merely suggestions. I buy a package of bean sprouts and use it all. Ditto the green onions. I chop up the whole bunch and put it in. The smallest package of mushrooms that I have ever found is 4 ounces. Again, I use the entire package. Whatever amount of chicken I have on hand is the amount that I use. Today, I bought a package of chicken tenders and cut them into bite sized pieces. I use Japanese sushi rice because that is what I keep in stock. I make 4 cups instead of the 3 cups called for in the recipe to balance the increased amounts of the rest of the components.

Perhaps it is that final dash of white pepper that I find so satisfying, but I have yet to eat any restaurant made fried rice that even comes close to this.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!!


Chicken or Pork Fried Rice(source:unknown)


1 cup bean sprouts
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 ounces mushrooms, sliced (1 cup)
3 cups cold cooked regular long grain rice
1 cup cut-up cooked chicken or pork
2 tablespoons sliced green onions
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
3 tablespoons soy sauce
Dash of white pepper

Rinse bean sprouts with cold water; drain.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 10-inch skillet over medium heat; rotate skillet until oil covers bottom. Cook mushrooms in oil about 1 minute, stirring frequently, until coated.

Add bean sprouts, rice, chicken and onions. Cook over medium heat about 5 minutes, stirring and breaking up rice, until hot.

Push rice mixture to side of skillet. Add 1 tablespoon oil to other side of skillet. Cook eggs in oil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until eggs are thickened throughout but still moist. Stir eggs into rice mixture. Stir in soy sauce and white pepper.

Recycle: vegetable oil bottle, soy sauce bottle
Compost: scallion stems, eggshells

Fudgy Coconut Cookies

My printer at home is broken. Canon wants me to ship it back to them so that they can repair it. I’m not sure that it’s worth it. Do I really need a printer? For weeks now, any time I needed to print something, I would load it on to my flash drive, take it to work and print my documents there. This works very well as long as one remembers to save what one needs to ye olde flash drive.

Like a cookie recipe. Today, I found myself trying to bake a brand new cookie recipe with the recipe on the computer screen at one end of the house and my kitchen at the other end of the house. I would memorize a few ingredients and their amounts and then dash down the hall to the kitchen. Sometimes I would forget the amount and have to make a second trip. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Eventually, I had all of the ingredients in all of their correct amounts added in the correct order, and properly mixed. The first batch was in the oven, the second on another cookie sheet waiting their turn when I looked up and saw the butter. The quarter cup of butter that I had put out a few hours before to soften. The butter that I had completely forgotten about and somehow missed while sprinting between computer and kitchen.

Much like the printer, I decided it wasn’t worth it to either try to add it the remaining batter or to start all over again. I didn’t think that it would matter much whether the butter was in it or not because I didn’t think that I was going to like this recipe. I don’t like chocolate and brown sugar, something I apparently overlooked upon my initial reading of this recipe.

I never hesitate to admit when I am wrong and I was definitely wrong about these cookies. They were billed as “inspired by a Mounds candy bar”, although I wouldn’t agree with the comparison. They turned out to be great without the butter. My only complaint is that the coconut probably should be in smaller pieces. I can’t wait to try them again, this time including the butter.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper

Fudgy Coconut Cookies(Source: Cooking Club of America)

12 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350°F. Place chopped chocolate in microwave-safe bowl; microwave on medium 3 to 5 minutes or until almost melted. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Stir in brown sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla until smooth.

In small bowl, stir together flour and baking powder; stir into chocolate mixture. Stir in coconut and chocolate chips. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter onto baking sheets.

Bake, 1 sheet at a time, 12 to 15 minutes or until cookies are set. (Be careful not to burn cookies because batter is dark.) Place baking sheet on wire rack; cool completely.

18 cookies

Recycle: vanilla bottle
Compost: eggshells

Quick and Easy Chili in Homemade Bread Bowls

I’ve mentioned before that I find recipes in the unlikeliest places. This time I was reading Gardener News, a periodical aimed at gardeners obviously. But it also features recipes appropriate to the season. For the September edition, a chili recipe was offered.

I’ve been in search of the perfect chili recipe for years. Most of the recipes I’ve tried are called chili because they have chili powder in them. They don’t even come close to my idea of chili. And the few chili recipes that did come close, still lacked “something”.

This recipe caught my eye because it calls for a jalapeno pepper and Cayenne pepper. I love spicy food! It also contains half of a bell pepper which is cooked along with the onion before adding the rest of the ingredients. Most recipes use a whole bell pepper and cook it and the onion with everything else resulting in a chili with a lot of crunchy peppers and onions. I don’t like my chili crunchy.

I didn’t make the bread bowls. I’ve been cutting down on the amount of bread I eat. I even use wraps for my sandwiches. I used tomato juice instead of V-8 Juice. I thought that the chili would probably be spicy enough without the added spices in the V-8. I was little hesitant about using olive oil. I just don’t care for the taste. Usually I substitute vegetable oil. In this case I went with the olive oil because the intense spices would (hopefully) cover the taste of the olive oil.

The instructions to prepare the vegetables while the meat browned were right on. Of course I knew better and did the veggies first and then the meat. And found myself standing around watching ground beef brown. Not even as exciting as watching golf because with meat, you already know the outcome. Next time, veggies while meat browns.

It’s not often that I love a recipe the first time that I make it. More often, it’s the second day when the flavors have had a chance to meld. This is one of those rare occasions that was love at first bite. The olive oil taste was buried under all the spices, as was the acid in the tomatoes. My only complaint was too many beans, not enough meat. I’m not sure that I would add more meat, but I would definitely eliminate at least one of the cans of Pinto beans.

I finally found the perfect chili recipe.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!!

Quick and Easy Chili in Homemade Bread Bowls(Source: Cherry Huntoon, Kings Cooking Studio)


1 package frozen bread dough – 3 loaves to a package
¼ cup olive oil
1 ½ pounds ground beef or ground turkey
1 small onion
½ - bell pepper – any color
1 small Jalapeno
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon Cayenne pepper
3 cans Pinto beans (15-16 ounces each)
1 large can plum tomatoes (28-ounces) – whole or diced
2 cups tomato juice or vegetable juice (V-8)
Salt and pepper

Defrost the dough according to package directions. Cut each loaf into 3 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. Place the balls on parchment lined baking sheets and set aside to rise (30 to 40 minutes). Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake until they are golden brown. Set aside to cool.

Preheat a large soup pot. Add 2-3 tablespoons olive oil and swirl the pan to coat the bottom. Add the ground meat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon.

Prepare the vegetables while the meat is browning:
· Peel the onion and chop it by hand or use a mini-chop to make a fine dice.
· Cut the pepper in half. Remove the ribs and seeds and cut it into strips ½- inch wide, then cut the strips into a ½-inch dice.
· Cut the jalapeno in half and remove the ribs and seeds, then cut it into
a fine dice. Combine the onion and peppers and put aside.
· Peel the garlic and put it through a garlic press. Do not combine the
garlic with the peppers.

When the meat is browned, remove it to a bowl and set it aside. Drain the liquid. Put the pan back on the burner and add the remaining oil.

When the oil is hot, add the onions and peppers. Sauté until they are soft, adjusting the heat if necessary so they do not get brown or crispy.

Add the garlic and cook no more than 1-minute. Be careful it doesn’t burn.

Add the meat back to the pan. Sprinkle the chili powder, cumin and cayenne over the meat and stir to combine.

Drain and rinse the beans. Add them to the pan, then add the tomatoes. Break the tomatoes with a wooden spoon, if necessary. Stir in the tomato juice. Taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper and even more cayenne, as you like. Simmer on low, stirring occasionally, for 30-45 minutes.

Cut the top off each cooled bread ball. Scoop out most of the bread inside, being careful to not break or crack the outside. Fill the empty bread bowls with chili. Serve with diced onions, shredded cheese, crackers and/or hot sauce, if desired.

Recycle: olive oil bottle, pinto beans and tomatoes cans, tomato juice bottle or can

Compost: onion skins, garlic skins, ribs and seeds of jalapeno and bell peppers

Quick Chocolate Cake

Woo hoo! Summer is over. The cooler temps of fall have tempted me back into the kitchen. So this past weekend when I experienced a sudden urge for chocolate, instead of opening the freezer to check out the ice cream situation, I turned on the oven.

Normally when I have an urge for chocolate, I bake brownies. They are fast and easy. But in this case, I had no butter in the house. My thoughts then turned to cakes. Coincidentally, I had just finished the last of the Half & Half (used in a pinch when I have no milk) that morning. What to do, what to do?

I know! This is a great opportunity to try out that recipe I saw in Better Homes and Gardens for a chocolate cake that uses no eggs and no milk. It is made in one bowl and bakes in a 9x13x12-inch pan like brownies. Instead of frosting, the recipe suggests ice cream, whipped cream or a dusting of powdered sugar. Plus, the recipe is the brainchild of a BHG reader so it has to work, right? Who submits recipes that don’t work?

So I greased up my brownie pan, dumped all of the ingredients at once into a bowl and mixed. The recipe says to beat until the “well combined”. I did but it didn’t have the consistency of cake batter. I beat some more. No dice. Crossing my fingers, I poured the rather runny batter into the pan and popped it into the oven.

And forgot to set the timer. No problem! I’ll just take it out when the sides start to pull away from the pan. Which they did. Before the middle finished baking. Experience has taught me that if I had left it in the oven, the edges of the cake would have burned before the batter in the middle baked all the way through. So out it came.

After it cooled, I tried a piece from the cooked edge. The texture was very light as was the taste. I could barely taste any chocolate. No way that this would stand up to ice cream or whipped cream. Those require a dense cake with a strong chocolate flavor. All baked goods taste better the second day, so I tried another piece the following day. Still light texture but with a stronger chocolate flavor.

Yes, this is a quick chocolate cake but it’s not a very good one. I should have realized that there was a good chance that this recipe would neither work nor taste very good. The reader who submitted the recipe wrote the following in the category of Favorite to Make: “I love to bake pies!”

Verdict: What were they thinking???

Quick Chocolate Cake(Source: Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, July 2009)

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 cups cold water
⅔ cup vegetable oil
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Heat oven to 350°F. In large mixing bowl combine all ingredients. Beat with electric mixer on medium to high speed until well combined. Pour batter in a greased 9x13x2-inch baking pan.
Bake 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, or dust with powdered sugar.

Recycle: vegetable oil bottle, vinegar bottle, vanilla bottle

Raspberry Blueberry Vanilla Cheesecake

One of my coworkers has her birthday at the end of July – blueberry season here. The last couple of years I have made blueberry pies for the occasion. This year I decided to try something a little different. The idea of doing a blueberry cheesecake occurred to me. I went looking online for a recipe and found this one that also includes raspberries. The reviews were really positive, so I decided to try it.

Since I already had some almonds, I decided to use them instead of hazelnuts. I also left out the vanilla beans, which are expensive, and skipped the heating-the-cream step; instead, I added another teaspoon of vanilla extract to the filling. I also used lowfat sour cream. I didn’t want to try using lowfat cream cheese or substituting anything for the whipping cream because I wasn’t sure how that would affect the texture of the cake.

Like the recipe for Nanaimo Bars, this recipe takes a long time, but can be done in stages. In this case, I needed the cake for a Friday afternoon, but was able to make it over three evenings.

The recipe is pretty well written, but a few comments may be helpful. First, it tells you to use a 9-inch springform pan with 2 ¾ inch high sides. The reason for this is that the pan is FULL by the time you add the sour cream topping. Fortunately, when I refrigerated the cake before adding the final fruit layer, it shrank down about ¼ inch from the top of the pan, which gave me room to add the jam and fruit. Speaking of which, the directions say to “brush” the jam onto the cake, and then “brush” the rest of the jam over the fruit. I just dripped the jam on with a spoon, and then spread it over the top of the cake with the back of the spoon. This worked okay for the first application, but using a soft pastry brush would probably have been better for glazing the fruit.

As you see in the photo, I had run the crust only about halfway up the sides of the pan, not realizing how much space the filling was going to take. Whether I should have spread the crust out thinner, or whether the crust recipe ought to be enlarged to make maybe 1 ½ times as much, I’m not sure. The crust seemed hard when I ate it, and I was thinking I should have spread it thinner, but my boss said he thought it was just right, and I wasn’t inclined to argue with him.

When I realized the pan was going to be FULL, I was afraid that, because the crust didn’t go all the way up the sides, the filling would leak out during baking, but it didn’t. Well, actually, when I removed the foil from around the bottom of the pan, it was buttery (both the foil and the bottom of the pan). I think some of the butter seeped down when the crust baked. But I don’t think the batter itself leaked out. In any case, wrapping the bottom of the pan with foil is a good idea.

This cheesecake came out beautifully, with a lighter, creamier texture than cheesecakes often have. It went over very well with my coworkers. Even the woman who doesn’t care for cheesecake liked it. The vanilla beans might have added something if I’d used them; as it was, the vanilla flavor wasn’t that pronounced, but then it didn’t dominate either. This is a great cake for a summer party.

Verdict: Yum!! This one's a keeper!!

Raspberry Blueberry Vanilla Cheesecake
(source: www.epicurious.com; originally published in Bon Appetit, August 1997)

For crust
1 1/2 cups ground shortbread cookies
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, husked
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For filling
2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
1/3 cup whipping cream

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs

2 6-ounce baskets fresh raspberries
2 6-ounce baskets fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon cornstarch

For topping
1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam

Make crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Finely grind ground cookies, nuts and sugar in processor. Add butter and vanilla; process until moist crumbs form. Press onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Wrap outside of pan with foil. Bake until crust is light golden, about 15 minutes. Cool. Maintain oven temperature.

Make filling:
Scrape seeds from vanilla beans into heavy small saucepan; add beans. Add cream and bring to boil. Cool completely. Discard beans.

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth. Add vanilla-cream mixture, sour cream and vanilla extract and beat until well blended. Beat in eggs 1 at a time.

Gently mix 1 basket raspberries, 1 basket blueberries and cornstarch in medium bowl. Pour 2/3 of filling into crust. Sprinkle berry mixture over. Pour remaining filling over berries to cover. Bake until cake is golden and begins to crack around edges but still moves slightly in center when pan is shaken, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes (cake will fall).

Make topping:
Mix sour cream, sugar and vanilla in small bowl to blend.

Gently press down any raised edges of cake. Spoon topping evenly over cake. Bake 10 minutes. Cool cake on rack. Refrigerate overnight. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Melt jam in small saucepan over low heat. Brush some jam over top of cake. Arrange remaining berries atop cake. Gently brush berries with remaining jam. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Keep chilled.)

Run small sharp knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Remove pan sides. Place cake on platter. Serve cold.

Recycle: vanilla bottle, sour cream container, berry baskets (if possible), jam jar

Compost: eggshells, hazelnut husks, vanilla beans

Lowfat Brownies

I saw this recipe in the paper and was intrigued. Lowfat brownies...sounds like a good idea…and the Christmas cookies are all gone, so I need something...This recipe particularly interested me because it includes chocolate chips in the batter, which I’m always in favor of.

These are lowfat brownies (despite the chocolate chips) because there is no butter or margarine in the recipe; applesauce is used instead. Experienced bakers may already be familiar with this trick. I have a recipe for very good, relatively healthy muffins that employs this strategy. In fact, several years ago, groceries sold a fruit puree marketed specifically as a fat substitute for baking. I haven’t seen it in a long time, and I forget what it was called, but it came in glass jars and was a blend of applesauce and one or two other fruits. The directions on the jar suggested that it might be preferable to substitute it for only half the fat in a recipe so as not to affect the flavor. I remember making a batch of chocolate chip cookies, I think it was, using the stuff, and I realized their advice was good; if you used only the fruit and no butter/margarine, your cookies had a distinct fruity flavor. Maybe okay for oatmeal-raisin cookies, not okay for chocolate chip.

And that is a bit of an issue with this recipe. I ate the first brownie when they were still a bit warm, and noted that, although they were good and moist, there was a slight fruity taste. It’s not bad, really; just unexpected. However, I discovered the next day that the leftover applesauce I’d used to make them was cinnamon-flavored, which may have had something to do with it. If I make these again, I’ll be sure to use plain applesauce. Also, after the brownies had cooled, I didn’t particularly notice a fruity flavor, though they did taste a little – different, somehow. The texture is very cakelike. The brownies are also heavy and a tiny bit sticky, which might not please everyone. And – maybe worst of all – I didn’t think they were quite chocolate-y enough, though the chocolate chips do help. Still, if you’re looking for a somewhat healthier brownie, these are worth trying.

Verdict: Hmmm...I might make these again.

Lowfat Brownies

(source: The Gardener News)

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

¾ cup sugar or combination sugar and sugar substitute for baking

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

2 eggs

½ cup chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips

½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch square pan with foil so that foil extends over the edges. This will make it easier to remove the brownies from the pan. Spray the pan with non-stick spray and set aside.

2. Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir or whisk to combine.

3. Combine the vanilla, applesauce and eggs in another bowl. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients along with the chocolate chips and nuts (if desired) and stir to combine.

4. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 28-30 minutes, or until the top is shiny and just starting to crack and a toothpick comes out clean.

5. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool 5-10 minutes. Carefully remove the brownies from the pan, using the excess foil as handles. Cool and cut into squares. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired, before serving.

Recycle: applesauce jar, vanilla bottle

Compost: eggshells

Bishop's Cake

My introduction to pound cake came at the Bronx Zoo during one of family’s rare vacations. I don’t remember why we hadn’t breakfasted at the hotel or in one of the many inexpensive diners in Manhattan but I do remember being confronted with a single serving package containing a slice of yellow cake as my morning repast.

I had neither seen nor tasted pound cake prior to that morning. Based on the light texture and flavor of this novel confection, I couldn’t understand why it was called “pound” cake. At the time I chalked it up to being something British and named after their currency.

Years later when I started baking and tried to duplicate the airy texture and delicate flavor that I remembered, I discovered why it was called “pound” cake. Every recipe that I tried produced a dense, heavy cake that tasted mainly of vanilla.

A few weeks ago, while browsing through my Silver Palate cookbook, I came across this recipe. I’m not sure why they call it “Bishop’s Cake”. It’s nothing like a traditional Bishop’s Cake. The note that goes with this recipe refers to it as pound cake. What caught my eye were the 5 eggs and the lemon juice.

Five eggs means five egg whites which when whipped enough should provide a lighter texture and the lemon juice in addition to vanilla might recreate the flavor that I associate with pound cake.

I beat this batter longer than called for in the recipe. And I struggled with the aluminum foil. I struggled even more getting the cake out of the bundt pan. But in the end, it was all worth it. While not exactly what I was hoping for, this is the closest I’ve ever come to recreating the pound cake of my youth.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!!

Bishop’s Cake(source: The Silver Palate Cookbook: Delicious Recipes, Menus, Tips, Lore from Manhattan's Celebrated Gourmet Food Shop)


½ pound (2 sticks) sweet butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 eggs


Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.

Cream butter and sugar gradually; beat until fluffy.

Sift flour and add to butter mixture. Stir just enough to blend.

Add lemon juice and vanilla; stir well. Add eggs, one at a time, missing well after each addition.

Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (after 30 minutes, cover cake closely with aluminum foil.)

When cake is done, cool in its pan on a cake rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

8 to 10 portions.

Recycle: vanilla bottle

Compost: egg shells

Lasagna

I LOVE lasagna, but I don’t make it very often. The one recipe I had was rather laborious, and the result just wasn’t satisfactory, though I could never figure out just what was wrong with it. So I hadn’t bothered making it in, oh, years, probably.

Then last week I bought a package of ground beef at the supermarket. On the front was one of these peel-off labels, on the back of which, once you peeled it off, was a recipe for lasagna. The idea of making lasagna sounded appealing enough that I decided to try it.

I was a little concerned about using prepared spaghetti sauce. I was even more concerned about the fact that the recipe didn’t say to cook the lasagna noodles first. The recipe I’d used before had you do that. This was a pain because the cooked noodles were slippery and tore easily. In the past I’d seen boxes of lasagna noodles that mentioned that they didn’t need to be cooked beforehand, but when shopping for this dish I couldn’t find any like that. Uncooked noodles are much easier to handle, but would they cook sufficiently during baking?

Yes, as it turned out. The noodles came out fine. In fact, the whole thing came out fine. Even with basic, store-brand spaghetti sauce, the flavor was very good. Maybe not quite as good as you can get at a good Italian restaurant, but good enough. And the preparation is relatively simple.

A note on pan size: the recipe calls for an 11 ¾” by 7 ½” baking dish. I made this in a pan that is 12” x 8” and about 2” high, and it was full. I advise putting a cookie sheet under the pan when you bake this, because it did bubble over a bit. Also, instead of putting all the cheese mixture in the middle, I put half where it's called for in the recipe and the other half on top of the second layer of noodles.

Nutritional note: the recipe calls for part-skim ricotta. At the supermarket I happened to read the nutritional label on the part-skim ricotta, and was appalled. It does have a little less fat than the whole milk kind, but not much less. So I used fat-free ricotta instead, and it was fine.

Verdict: Yum! This one's a keeper!

Lasagna
(source: National Cattlemen's Beef Association)

1 pound ground beef

1 jar (26 to 30 oz) prepared spaghetti sauce

1 can (14 ½ oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 container (15 oz.) part-skim ricotta cheese

1 egg, well beaten

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp dried basil leaves, crushed

6 lasagna noodles, uncooked

2 cups (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

1. Heat oven to 375°. Cook ground beef in preheated large skillet over medium heat 4 to 6 minutes or until no longer pink, stirring occasionally to break up ground beef into pea-size pieces. Pour off drippings. Add spaghetti sauce and tomatoes with liquid to skillet, stirring to combine; reserve.

2. Meanwhile combine ricotta cheese, egg, cheese and basil.

3. Spread 2 cups beef mixture over bottom of 11 ¾” x 7 ½” baking dish; arrange 3 lasagna noodles in single layer, pressing into beef mixture. Spoon ricotta cheese mixture on top of noodles; sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Top with additional 2 cups beef mixture; arrange remaining noodles in single layer, pressing lightly into beef mixture. Top with remaining beef mixture, spreading evenly to cover noodles.

4. Bake at 375° oven 45 minutes or until noodles are fork tender. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese on top; tent (loosely cover) with aluminun foil. Let stand at least 15 minutes before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

Recycle: spaghetti sauce jar, tomato can, cheese containers if possible

Compost: eggshells