We have a winner! Wolf guessed scones, I was afraid the currant would give it away.

Note the rather large proportion of flour to sugar. And yes soda bread would call for more soda.

I knew it was scones, too, but came in late (better than not coming at all, eh?) :)

Like my sister always said: "Better late than pregnant."

Okay, I'm filing that one away next to "The difference between soup and gravy is mostly how much you reduce it." Interesting, and it increases my understanding.





This will doubtless go astray, but it looks to me like it would make cookies:

1/4# sugar
1/4# butter
2 C flour
4 eggs
1C old fashioned oatmeal
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 C raisins ... the slow oven says they get cooked gently.

Nice idea, I may try it, but I think it would be a bit dry even for cookies.
You've got three cups of dry in total, and a cup of eggs would make it a pretty chewy cookie.

I'll be back later, I've got a meeting

Home Made Brownies
 

sounds too simple. not edible. equal parts cocoa powder and flour? Gah. Where's the sugar? I like my brownies sweet-er than that. And what would that yield? About a cup and a half of brownie mix? What do you make it in, a single serving rammekin?

Possibly hot cocoa mix?

Not a rammekin, an easybake oven! Your sister can hook you up ;)

When do you add the ganja?

Southern-Fried Stuffed Chicken with Roasted Red Pepper-and-Vidalia Onion Gravy
Grand-Prize Winner: Susan Rotter, Nolensville, TN

INGREDIENTS
4 ounces PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup dry chicken-flavored stuffing mix
½ cup (2 ounces) finely shredded Romano cheese
½ cup chopped Vidalia onion
¼ cup minced fresh basil
4 large boned chicken breast halves with skin
4 OSCAR MAYER Ready to Serve Bacon slices
1 large egg
1 cup milk
1 cup BISQUICK Original All-Purpose Baking Mix
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
1 teaspoon black pepper
Canola oil
Roasted Red Pepper-and-Vidalia Onion Gravy

INSTRUCTIONS
Stir together first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Place chicken, skin side down, between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; flatten to ¼-inch thickness, using a mallet or rolling pin.

Spread one-fourth of cream cheese mixture on skinless side of each chicken breast half; top with 1 piece of bacon. Roll up chicken, jellyroll fashion, lifting skin and tucking roll under skin.

Whisk together egg and milk in a bowl. Combine baking mix, Creole seasoning, and pepper in a shallow dish. Dip chicken rolls in egg mixture; dredge in baking mix mixture.

Pour oil to depth of 2 inches in a large skillet; heat to 350°. Fry chicken rolls, in batches, 10 to 12 minutes or until dark brown and done, turning chicken rolls often. Drain on wire rack over paper towels.

Spoon ¼ cup Roasted Red Pepper-and-Vidalia Onion Gravy on each of 4 individual serving plates; top with 1 chicken roll. Drizzle with additional gravy.

Yield: Makes 4 servings
Prep: 25 min., Cook: 12 min. per batch

Roasted Red Pepper-and-Vidalia Onion Gravy

INGREDIENTS
1 large Vidalia onion, halved vertically
1 large sweet red bell pepper, halved and seeded
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon MORTON Kosher Salt
3 tablespoons butter
REYNOLDS WRAP Release Non-Stick Foil
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
Black pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS
Dice 1 onion half; set aside. Cut remaining onion half into slices. Place onion slices and bell pepper, cut sides down, on a baking sheet lined with non-stick aluminum foil; drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with salt.

Broil onion slices and bell pepper halves 5 inches from heat about 10 minutes or until bell pepper looks blistered. Place bell pepper halves in a freezer bag; seal and let stand 10 minutes to loosen skin. Peel bell pepper halves; finely chop 1 bell pepper half. Reserve and set aside chopped bell pepper and remaining pepper half. Finely chop roasted onion slices, and set aside.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add reserved diced onion, and sauté 10 minutes or until onion begins to brown. Stir in flour; cook, stirring constantly, until flour mixture is caramel-colored (about 5 minutes). Stir in chicken broth and Creole seasoning. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened.

Process gravy mixture and reserved bell pepper half in a blender until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides.

Combine gravy mixture, chopped roasted onion, reserved finely chopped bell pepper, basil, and black pepper.

Yield: Makes 3 cups
Prep: 20 min., Broil: 10 min., Cook: 25 min., Stand: 10 min.

Tex-Mex Egg Rolls with Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce
Kids Love It! Winner: Stacy Lamons, Houston, TX

INGREDIENTS
1 (5-ounce) package MAHATMA Authentic Spanish Rice Mix
1 teaspoon MORTON Iodized Salt
1 pound JIMMY DEAN Hot Pork Sausage
1 (15-ounce) can BUSH’S Black Beans, rinsed and drained
6 green onions, finely chopped
1 (1.25-ounce) package taco seasoning
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 (14.5-ounce) can HUNT’S Petite Diced Tomatoes With Mild Green Chilies, undrained
28 egg roll wrappers
1 large egg, lightly beaten
4 cups peanut oil
Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce
Garnish: fresh cilantro sprigs

INSTRUCTIONS
Cook rice according to package directions, using 1 teaspoon salt. Cool completely.

Cook sausage in a skillet over medium heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink; drain well. Let cool.

Stir together rice, sausage, black beans, and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Spoon about 1/3 cup rice mixture in center of each egg roll wrapper. Fold top corner of wrapper over filling, tucking tip of corner under filling; fold left and right corners over filling. Lightly brush remaining corner with egg; tightly roll filled end toward the remaining corner, and gently press to seal.

Pour oil into heavy Dutch oven; heat to 375°. Fry egg rolls, in batches, 2 to 3 minutes or until golden. Drain on wire rack over paper towels. Serve with Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce. Garnish, if desired.

Yield: Makes 28 egg rolls
Prep: 40 min., Fry: 3 min. per batch

Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce

INGREDIENTS
1 (8-ounce) package PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 (10-ounce) cans ROTEL Mexican Festival Diced Tomatoes
2 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves (about 1 bunch)
Garnish: finely chopped fresh cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS
Process first 5 ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Garnish, if desired.

Note: For a beautiful presentation, cut top from 1 large red bell pepper, reserving top; remove and discard seeds and membrane, leaving pepper intact. Arrange bell pepper on a serving plate, and fill with sauce.

Yield: Makes 3 cups
Prep: 10 min.

Balsamic vinegar:
this is what I'm talkin about

It's a party in your mouth, and everyone's ... invited!

Zucchini Recipe
 

I make 'faux crab cakes' out of my zucchinis....

Let me know if you want the recipe - I'll dig it out :)

Dags

eww, no dosn't sound good but thank for the offer?

crab is scary enough fresh let alone eating a faux tasting crab cake made out of zucchini. yuk..... seems too strange. You could post it and let me see the ingredients to satisfy my curiosity.?? .....I am a lot bit sceptical here.

hehehe

it's really not as bad as you're imagining, but you need to like the taste of old bay.

1 shredded zucchini - smallish
1 egg
salt, pepper, old bay to taste
bread crumbs

Mash it all together - like you're making salmon or crab cakes.

Brush with melted butter, broil for 4 minutes.

thanks , it has promise. I am not sure I'd like the mushy bread crumbs. I googled and came up with something using cheese.

• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

I think I am getting close but I am thinking something with cheddar cheese instead of mozzarella or a bread would be best.

chocolate zucchini cake
 

I've actually tried chocolate zucchini cake and it's divine.




http://www.elise.com/recipes/photos/...chini_cake.jpg
When I first encountered Clotilde Dusoulier's fabulous Chocolate and Zucchini website, I thought to myself, "How wonderful, the ingredients of my favorite cake!" My grandmother taught me how to bake when I was very young, and later when I was in high school she sent us a recipe pulled from Sunset Magazine for Chocolate and Zucchini Cake. Being adventurous, and knowing how good zucchini bread tastes, I tried it and it quickly became my favorite - the standard against which all future chocolate cakes were measured. The main distinction of this particular cake is its moistness. The zucchini absorbes the cocoa delivering the full flavor of chocoate, but without the heaviness of some other chocolate cakes. Today mom pulled the recipe out of some forgotten folder, still intact from the September 1974 issue of Sunset. I haven't made the cake in over twenty years, but it is still as delicious as I remember it. Here's to you Clotilde! Happy belated Birthday and thank you for the inspiration of Chocolate and Zucchini.
2 1/2 cups regular all-purpose flour, unsifted
1/2 cup cocoa
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup soft butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
2 cups coarsely shredded zucchini
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Glaze (directions follow)
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
1 Combine the four, cocoa, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.
2 With a mixer, beat together the butter and the sugar until they are smoothly blended. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. With a spoon, stir in the vanilla, orange peel, and zucchini.
3 Alternately stir the dry ingredients and the milk into the zucchini mixture, including the nuts with the last addition.
4 Pour the batter into a greased and flour-dusted 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes (test at 45 minutes!) or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes; turn out on wire rack to cool thoroughly.
5 Drizzle glaze over cake.
Glaze: Mix together 2 cups powdered sugar, 3 Tablespoons milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until smooth.
Cut in thin slices to serve. Makes 10-12 servings.
http://www.elise.com/recipes/archive...chini_cake.php

That's about 2/7ths zucchini by volume. You could probably sneak that much wet sawdust in and noone would be the wiser if you used maple or sweet birch. ;)

Maybe not a recipie per se - but I had this drink the other day at a Greek restaurant and it was soooo nice and refreshing on a 110 degree day.

Regular lemonade - if you are lazy like I am - I used minute maid.
2-3 basil leaves - chopped into small strips
1-2 slices lemon
1-2 slices lime

Mix the basil, lemon & lime in the bottom of a chilled pint glass - mulch it like you would a lime & mint for a mojito. Then put in ice and pour lemonade over the mixture & ice. Basil lemonade - add some vodka and its even better. Regardless - extremely refreshing on a hot day.

That's cool! The basil we are growing this year is called "lime basil" -- and damn, if you crush it and smell it, it smells exactly like a cross between basil and lime.

haha funny! ok so do YOU have a good zucchini recipie??
( That would be zucchini bread if you please )

you could dip it in batter and deep fry it...

I like zucchini, but you really ought to compost them if they get much bigger than a banana.

julienne cut them and saute in a little butter, dress with some celtic sea salt and balsamic vinegar. Simple.

julienne cut sounds nice

POT BROWNIES

Carefully manicure 1/8 to 1/4 oz. primo grade cannabis sativa and set aside.......

just joking, folks. I loved the old bell bottom days. Still have my Barracuda jacket.

please send me some ! :D

As long as somebody plants zucchini there will never be famine in America.

Lots of kids who hate zucchini, but no famine. Maybe an invasion of zucchini-triffid hybrids, but no famine. If the triffids get southern California in late summer, look out for triffid-artichoke hybrids.

If I keep this up I'm going to give myself an appetite.

Anyway, to keep the thread active, a crosspost from the Chicken Masala thread a little ways down:

Madras Curry Powder

5 TBSP dried ground red New Mexico chile pepper
2 tsp ground Cayenne
4 TBSP ground coriander seeds. Grind the whole coriander yourself.
4 TBSP ground cumin seeds. Ditto.
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground fenugreek seeds. Maybe ditto. I got a little packet of ground fenugreek and it lasted years.
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1TBSP cardamom. Grind this yourself from the seeds or pods, sift if needed.
1 tsp ground cloves.

The grinder here may be a coffee grinder. Mix all ingredients, grind until fine, store in tight-lidded jar, yield is about half a cup. Fresh-ground ingredients rather than buying powdered spices really make the difference. This is a general-purpose mix and you can play with the proportions for anything short of vanilla ice cream, I suppose. If I want turmeric in it, I just add by eye and taste. Recipe from The Whole Chile Pepper Book.

It is really??

hmmm...

now THAT'S fucking intelligent.

Page 216.

Not quite Greek Shrimp Salad

Chop up equal amounts of tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion. Also chop equal amounts of black olives, artichoke hearts, and hearts of palm, so that the total is about 1/4 the tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion combined. Mix well.

Add crumbled blue cheese (or feta if you like), and dress with small amounts of oil and vinegar.

Place 10 medium cold boiled shrimp on each end of an oval platter, and fill the middle with the salad.

Put red shrimp coctail sauce in a small dish. If it does not already have horseradish in it, add some. Cut up a lemon and squeese it over everything.

Serves one. Find 20 more shrimp and if you have enough salad, it will serve 2. You get the point.

Not Greek because in a Greek salad you are supposed to use feta cheese, and also seed the tomatoes, which I view as a waste of time equal only to peeling the cucumber. Also not a shrimp salad, because the shrimp is not chopped up and distributed with the other stuff.

I chop the olives because even if the can says "pitted", sometimes I have found a pit, and I would prefer to have the knife find the pit rather than my tooth.

Anyway, that is for dinner tonight. Not exactly hard to do.

I just banged together a crude Ayran using one of those powerful little hand blenders that try and suck down onto the bottom of the container if you let them. Some yoghurt we'd had to put on ice in a picnic cooler ended up with a great deal of water in it because of that. I poured a little yoghurt whey off the top as I usually do when it shows up and saw the yoghurt was pretty thoroughly diluted with water all the way down but was otherwise good. I cast my mind back to a summer's day during my sojourn among the Turks and having gotten a glass of ayran. It's a yoghurt-based drink.

Enough yoghurt to fill a glass
About half that much water
Large pinch of salt, to taste
Optional sugar or other sweetening

Blend all ingredients with plenty of power, buzzing it up until water and yoghurt are thoroughly incorporated. The result is like mild buttermilk, with a slight overlay of salt and sweet. It might, like buttermilk, be good with black pepper included or sprinkled on top. Serves one.

Honey Cake, from King Arthur Flour
 

Honey Cake

1 c sliced almonds
1 1/4 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter @ room temperature
1 c honey
4 large eggs
1/4 c sour cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Lightly grease 9" round cake pan. Sprinkle 3/4 cup of the sliced almonds over bottom of pan.
In medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In large mixing bowl, combine butter, honey, eggs. Stir in the flour mixture, then the sour cream and the remaining 1/4 cup almonds. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl, then stir another minute.

Gently pour batter over almonds in cake pan. Bake 50-55 minutes, or until edge of cake pulls away from sides of pan. Remove from oven, cool on rack 15 minutes.

Invert the cake onto a serving plate and allow to cool completely. If desired, dust with powdered sugar before serving. 16 servings. (UG -- oh, really??)

Apple Pie, fer bump's sake!
 

A local seven-year-old cooked this no-sugar-added apple pie:

Deep Dish Double Crust Apple Pie

2 Large uncooked Pie Crusts, homemade or store bought
8-10 Large Red Apples
1 large can Frozen Apple Juice Concentrate, w/o added sugar. Probably the 16-oz size, so our SI friends should shoot for half a liter of concentrate.
1 tsp Cinnamon -- 5ml
2 tsp Cornstarch -- 5ml
1/8 cup water -- 45ml
Shortening to grease pie plate

Grease pie plate, put one crust in for bottom crust. Cut up apples.
Put apple juice concentrate and cinnamon in large saucepan, bring to boil.
Mix cornstarch and water in a cup, add to saucepan, reduce heat and stir until mixture of cornstarch, concentrate, and cinnamon has jelled. Then add apples, stir, and remove from heat.

Place apple and concentrate mixture in pie shell, cover with second pie crust, pinch crust edges together. Slit or prick top crust.

Bake at 400 deg F/220 C/Gas mark 9-10 for 45 minutes. (Anyone still use Gas Mark?) Cool before serving. No extra sugar -- fruit sugars are a mix of fructose and some sucrose, if this is important to your innards -- you just taste apples, sayeth deponent. This should work for any kind of apples you like for pie.

I haven't made an apple pie in I don't know how long. About three generations of coons.

I made a good curry tonight, using mostly leftovers, we had a grilled butterflied leg of lamb with just Mediterranian seasonings so it went well with this.

1 onion roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper chopped as above
1 jalapeno as above
nice knob of ginger as above
some left over carrots and peas and potatoes

sauteed all with a little olive oil and a pat of butter till soft

about 2 lbs of cubed left over lamb to fry for a little bit to brown

Served with rice and a nice Australian Shiraz! Thank goodness for the folks in OZ

Stirred in a few TBS of tomatoe paste and a cup of whole stewed tomatoes hand squeezed.

Added some chicken stock and a tash of garham Masalla and a good 1-2 bs curry powder, stove top cooked for awhile to thicken. Then into the oven at 350f for awhile while the rice cooked.

Should be good! IT SMELLS GREAT!!!:3eye:

Chris, if you'd like to make your own curry powder all fresh, and perfumey (fresh ground coriander and cardamom are zingy, but that doesn't last forever) see earlier in this thread -- p. 6, two-thirds down.

Bobotie! Daktari! Uhuru!
 

This is another one that smells wonderful, and may also use the curry powder recipe on p. 6 of the thread. This is the most stained and spotted page of our copy of Geraldine Duncann's Some Like It Hotter. This is not the only way to make this stuff. I often speak of "a bobotie." A casserole of meat -- any meat -- and eggs. Great way to use up leftover meats and chicken -- the and is used advisedly. This is said to be a hunting-camp dish good for using up odds and ends that don't quite amount by themselves to enough for hungry hunters.

Bobotie

4 Eggs
1 c Milk
2 slices Bread, white or whole wheat, anything you like for French toast
2 TBSP Butter
1 TBSP Corn Oil/Cooking Oil
2 TBSP Madras Curry Powder, turmeric included/added if using the Madras on p. 6
1 large Onion, diced
4 teeth of Garlic, minced
2 lb (900g-1kg) ground Beef
1 lb (450g-500g) lean boneless Beef, diced bite size -- optional
3 Chicken breasts, diced bite size
2 tart cooking Apples, such as Granny Smiths, cored and diced. Avoid peeling them -- the peel is where most of the nutrition is in this type of fruit
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 scant tsp Cinnamon, ground
1 TBSP grated fresh Ginger
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/2 tsp coarse Black Pepper
3 TBSP Brown Sugar, dark, or add a trifle of molasses to the regular stuff
1/3 c fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp grated Lemon Rind
1/2 cup Raisins
1/2 c slivered Almonds
Salt to taste
6 hard-cooked Eggs, halved, optional -- makes this already robust dish really so
a few blanched Almond halves, optional

[1 tsp = 5ml, 1 TBSP = 15ml]

0. Preheat oven, 350 F.
1. Beat eggs with milk, crumble bread into mixture and set aside to soak.
2. Melt butter and oil together over medium-high heat in large skillet (frying pan). Add curry powder and singe lightly, stirring rapidly, for 2 minutes or less. It really doesn't take much. Add onion and garlic, saute until onions are translucent but not browned.
3. Add ground meat, sauteing until just done, stirring to break up chunks. Add chunks of beef, sear on all sides. Add chicken chunks, tossing with all other ingredients in pan, coating and lightly sauteing. Add all remaining ingredients except cooked eggs and almonds, stir together and simmer 5 min. If mixture seems a bit dry, add a little water, just enough to make a little gravy.
4. Shell and halve the eggs lengthwise.
5. Transfer meat mixture to casserole dish (4 quart will do, sometimes I've had to dragoon my small casserole dish into the job to handle the extra) and press egg halves down into meat mixture cut side down, then smooth the mixture's surface with the back of a large spoon.
6. Stir up and pour egg and bread mixture over top of meat. Strew top with almond halves into preheated 350 F oven for 30 minutes, or until top custard is set and golden brown.

Serve hot from baking dish, accompanied with rice.

This is a forgiving recipe; you can play with the proportions of everything. I've never even used the hard boiled eggs, though they'd be nice for a company dish. If you're out of anything but the curry powder, you can still bring off a successful bobotie casserole. The essentials are several kinds of meat, curry the heck out of 'em, raisins and a custard.

Another Bobotie, also set up as a company dish with thin slices of orange and lemon -- Googling "bobotie" gets you hundreds if not thousands of hits, so knock yourself out.

Torn from p.62 of The Whole Chile Pepper Book
 

Chili Powder

1 part dried ground Cayenne or other hot pepper: Piquin, Chile de Arbol, Habanero for the brave...
1 part dried ground Pasilla or Ancho or other mild pepper
5 parts dried ground red New Mexico chiles -- these are of course also mild, but really the backbone of the chili powder, along w/the cumin.
2 parts Garlic Powder
1.5 parts ground cumin (grind it yourself if possible, ground from the store okay)
1.5 parts Oregano (powdered if desired)

If you've gotten the peppers whole, reduce to powder as much as you can; a blender or a coffee grinder work well.

Mix powdered ingredients thoroughly and store in a tight container.

The advantage of making your own chili powder is you control just how vigorous it is. If you mix everything except the hot pepper into it, then you can have a quiet chili flavor while somebody after flamin' hot chili can stir in the cayenne to taste.

Eggplants and the Fainting Imam
 

Am I right in remembering that "Imam" is a specifically Shi'ite title?

Turkish food is Middle Eastern food, plus frequent garlic and hot peppers. A good zingy pastirma is not to be passed up; it's got zowie with fried eggs and fresh bread for breakfast. But I digress.

No one's sure if the Imam fainted at the richness of the dish or at his wife's extravagance with the olive oil used making it!

Eggplant with Oil and Garlic or Imam Bayildi

6 long Eggplants (aubergines)
3 large Onions
6 large Tomatoes for the stuffing, plus some tomato sliced
6 to 10 cloves Garlic, the essence and backbone of this dish
Juice of 1 Lemon
Sprigs fresh Parsley
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 pint (yes) Olive Oil, optionally, less than that
1/2 pint mild Stock, like chicken broth
Salt and Pepper to taste

Long eggplants suit this dish best. Step 1) Wash eggplants and slit lengthwise deeply but not completely and not cutting open the ends; you're making canoes of the eggplants to hold the stuffing in. Open eggplants by pushing inwards at the closed ends. If eggplants need salting to draw bitterness, salt down the insides well and let sit 15 minutes.

2) Slice onions very thin, fry in tablespoon of olive oil until soft. Chop tomatoes and parsley, crush garlic; mix all together in a mixing bowl. Reserve any remaining oil in skillet for the next step.

3) If you salted the eggplants, rinse out and pat them dry. Heating some more of the olive oil in a large skillet, fry eggplants carefully all over, medium heat, taking care not to spoil their shape; you want them still stuffing-tight. Reserve oil, it'll be used a bit later. Arrange eggplants in a baking dish and fill the slits up with the tomato/parsley/garlic mixture, using the sliced tomatoes to cover the stuffing over. Pour over them all the remaining oil and all the oil you'd fried them in also, and enough stock to come halfway up the sides of the eggplants. Pour on the lemon juice, sprinkle the sugar and the salt and pepper.

4) Bake in moderate oven, 350F, about one hour, leave to cool. It's usually eaten cold, and makes a fine vegetable meal-starter. If this is too oily, simply use less in the dish.

Beestie's Cincinnati Chili
 

Cincinnati Chili

2 large onions, chopped
3 tablespoons oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 pounds ground chuck
4 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
3/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon molasses
3 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
Accompaniments:
Cooked spaghetti
Cooked red kidney beans
Chopped onion
Finely grated cheddar cheese
Oyster crackers

In a heavy kettle, cook onions in oil over
moderate heat, stirring til soft. Add garlic
and cook one minute, stirring. Add ground
chuck and cook, stirring and breaking up
lumps until it is no longer pink.

Add spices and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
Stir in tomato sauce, cocoa, molasses,
broth, vinegar, 3 cups water, salt & pepper
to taste.

Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring
occasionally, for 1 1/2 hours or til thickened
but soupy enough to be ladled. The chili
will improve in flavor if cooled and chilled
overnight. Add more water as necessary
when reheating.

To serve the chili "five-way", ladle it over
individual bowls of spaghetti and top with
beans, onion, and Cheddar. Serve oyster
crackers on the side, preferably in a small
bowl.

Foot-sub-3's Cardamom Rusks
 

Cardamom Rusks

Cream 1/2 Cup Butter w/ 1.5 cups sugar
Add 3 Eggs and beat.
Crush 1 dozen cardamom seeds (ha ha or: 1Tablespoon Ground cardamom)
Stir in 3 Cups Flour mixed with 2 teaspoons baking powder
pat out to about 3/4" thick.
Bake at 350f for 30 minutes, cut into diamonds and re-toast.

UG adds: cardamom pods or seeds may be whopped into submission in a coffee grinder, and you needn't clean it out before you make the next batch of coffee, as a hint of cardamom goes very well in coffee. Makes it coffee Arabic style.

I wonder how this recipe would go using the variety of cardamom called grains of paradise?

The first time I ate this in Sinop, Turkey, I wasn't too taken with it.

A week later, I was back at that same restaurant, ordering it for breakfast, with fried eggs to go with. Maybe potatoes too; I forget.

Pastirma

Well, there are about a half bazillion variations on Imam Bayildi, and my cookbook shelf has about a quarter of them.

At the least, it's hearty stuff. We made a batch. Somewhere between a supper vegetable and a salad -- it would do nicely for either.

You know, it just might be worth sitting at your dinner table and being verbally insulted, while enjoying one of your home-cooked feasts. :lol:

Only if this was on the menu.

Anyone notice how much she looks like Lily Tomlin?

"(Honk!) Gracious, good afternoon..."

But seriously, folks, verbal insults only after dinner and dessert, puhleeze... :lol:

Who Wants... Bagels?
 

Before today's Food section, I had no idea what went into making bagels -- I was raised in the mountain states in the seventies, and it was a New Jersey buddy who introduced me to the Jewish toroid. Toroid, not Torah; you stop that. This recipe is for a high-gluten white flour, the writers note that this one isn't so hot for whole-wheat while retaining the true bagel ethnicity:

Bagels

Start to finish, 15 hours clock time, 1:15 active.

Servings: 12 regular or 24 small bagels

The Sponge:
1 tsp Instant Yeast
4 cups Unbleached White Bread Flour
2 1/2 cups Water @ room temperature

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine yeast and flour. Add water and mix together with a spoon until it forms a sticky batter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature about two hours, or until foamy and bubbly. Mixture should nearly double in size and collapse when bowl is tapped on the counter.

The Dough:
1/2 tsp Instant Yeast
3 3/4 cups Unbleached white bread Flour
2 3/4 tsp Salt
1 TBSP Barley Malt Syrup, or Honey

Set the bowl with the raised sponge in the mixer with a dough hook attachment on. Turn mixer on Low, add the yeast, then the 3 cups of the flour, all of the salt and the syrup/honey. Mix on Low speed until ingredients form a ball, slowly adding in the remaining 3/4 cup flour. Let mixer knead dough for six minutes. Dough should be pliable and smooth, feeling satiny but not tacky. Add a few drops of water or a sift of flour as needed to get the desired texture.

The Finishing Touches:
1 TBSP Baking Soda for the boiling water
Cornmeal or Semolina Flour, for dusting
Kosher Salt, Sesame Seeds, Poppy Seeds, or other bagel toppings, for sprinkles

Form the Bagels:

Wipe down your worksurface with a damp cloth. Transfer dough onto work surface and divide into 12 to 24 portions. One at a time, cup each portion in your hand and firmly press it into the counter. Move your hand circularly while pressing. In a short time, the dough should form a tight ball. Cover dough balls with damp towel, let rise 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line 2 baking pans with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray.

To shape bagels, pick up each piece and push your thumb through the center. Gently rotate your thumb around in the hole to stretch it to about 2 1/2 inches (somewhat less for smaller bagels). Keep bagel evenly shaped all the way around, no thick or thin parts.

Arrange bagels 2" apart on baking sheets, and spray lightly overall with cooking spray, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let sit another 20 minutes at room temp.

This is important: then refrigerate bagels overnight, or even over two nights. Rest, therefore, from your labors. Under refrigeration, the bagel dough slowly ferments, releasing enzymes essential to true bagel-ness and savor.

To cook Bagels:
Arrange oven racks in the middle of the oven and preheat to 500 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to boil with the 1 TBSP baking soda added. Have a slotted spoon ready to turn bagels with.

Remove bagels from refrigerator and gently place a few of them into the boiling water. After 1 minute, flip bagels over for 1 minute on the other side. If you want chewy bagels, boil 2 minutes each side.

While bagels get boiled, sprinkle the parchment papered baking sheets with the cornmeal or semolina flour. As bagels finish their boiling, return bagels to the baking sheets. If topping is desired, sprinkle toppings as soon as the bagels come out of the boiling water, while they're still wet.

When all bagels have been boiled, place pans in oven and bake at 500 degrees F for 5 minutes. Rotate the pans 180 degrees for evenness of cooking, switching shelves too, and lower heat to 450 degrees F for an additional baking time of 5 minutes, or until bagels are golden brown.

Cool on rack for 15 minutes.

Note: Bagel dough is stiff stuff. You want a powerful stand mixer to do the mixing. Commercial bakeries have those big Hobarts -- Kitchenaids on steroids and growth hormone -- but look to your mixer's directions for stiff doughs: it will likely be either to only use low speed or to give your mixer motor a rest every couple of minutes mixing time to avoid serious heat buildup. Some people start with a mixer and finish kneading by hand to "get a feel for the dough." Maybe they do.

Find barley malt syrup at natural-foods grocers. Malt powder isn't a good substitute as it messes with the dough texture.

There are special high-gluten white flours milled for bagel making, and bagel bakeries can be persuaded to part with some for a consideration. Failing that, unbleached white bread flour works. Mr. Reinhart is researching on a recipe for whole wheat flour -- and it seems to me every W/W bagel I've ever eaten more nearly resembled a Freckle-Face roll than a whole grain slice of bread...

--From Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice

I made the Lemon Meringue Pie recipe last weekend for a cast party, to general acclaim. I didn't mention I'd stirred vitamin C crystals from Trader Joe's into the filling, nor about a teaspoon of psyllium husk into the double-batch graham cracker crust. Those people actually ate a decadent, meringued dessert that was good for their health.

my recipes are pretty simple - just the basics - some of you may already have this

PEACH COBBLER - (easy)

1 c flour (self rising)
1 c sugar
1 c milk
1 stick butter (softened)
1 can peaches w/juice (if double, use a large can)

mix together (will be runny) bake 1 hour 350

(i double - cause my boys love it & lots of v. ice cream):yum:

If You Know Jack... Aubrey, That Is
 

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Intermediate Eater: Keep your crew smiling and full with these nautical nibbles

By JOHN OWEN
SPECIAL TO THE P-I

Do you have a favorite recipe for Boiled Baby?

Or maybe your tastes run more toward Dog's Body or Soused Hog's Face. If so, you may want to obtain a copy of "Lobscouse and Spotted Dog." This book was recommended to me by reader Gary L. Burk after I made reference to Horatio Hornblower in a recent "Intermediate Eater" column. Burk has read all of the Hornblower novels and graduated to the works of Patrick O'Brian, author of "Master and Commander" and other nautical classics.

O'Brian has a devoted following, including a mother-daughter sailing team from Long Island who researched all the sailor's fare mentioned in the books. Before I put you off your feed I should point out that Boiled Baby is actually a pudding that the ship's cook wrapped in white swaddling cloth and immersed in boiling water. Dog's Body was a variety of pease pudding. As for Soused Hog's Face, well, all I can say is that what you see is what you get. And it ain't pretty. If a pig runs into my galley while we're cruising the Mediterranean, I think my crew might prefer:


SOUSED TENDERLOIN
SERVES 4

* 1 pork tenderloin (about 1 1/2 pounds)
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
* Salt
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1/2 cup red wine
* 1/2 cup chicken broth
* Zest of one lemon
* 8 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
* Rosemary sprigs

Roll the tenderloin in rosemary, then sprinkle with salt. Brown on all sides in hot oil, about 5 minutes total. Remove to a baking pan and bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes, or until internal temperature is 155 degrees.

While the meat is cooking, simmer the red wine and chicken broth in a small saucepan for about 5 minutes. Add the lemon zest and olives.

Cut the loin into 1/3 -inch slices. Place on a platter, garnish with rosemary sprigs and pass the sauce around to slop over the meat.

The British tar in that era was allotted a gallon of beer a day. The wine-swigging officers probably preferred their beer included in:


TAR STEW
SERVES 4

* 2 pounds stew beef hunks
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 3 large onions, thinly sliced
* 1 tablespoon flour
* 2 tablespoons brandy
* 1 cup beer
* 1/2 cup beef broth
* 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
* Salt
* Pepper
* 2 tablespoons sour cream
* 1 teaspoon dried dill weed

Beat butter and oil in a heavy skillet. Add beef hunks in batches, browning on all sides. When all the meat is browned, transfer to an oven casserole.

Toss the onions into the skillet (adding more oil if needed) and cook over low heat until soft and golden. Sprinkle with flour, then add to the casserole.

Add to the casserole the brandy, beer, broth and allspice. Shove the casserole into a 350-degree oven and let it simmer until tender, maybe 1 1/2 or 2 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Finally, stir into the stew the sour cream and dill weed.

Then you can go up on deck with a full stomach to see if the ship needs steering.
____________
John Owen writes "The Intermediate Eater" weekly. Contact him by e-mail at ieater@verizon.net.

If You Know Jack A, Pt. II
 

I've been looking for a grownup mince pie for some time; there's only so far you can take bottled mince. This is from Lobscouse And Spotted Dog: Which it's a Gastronomic Guide:

Mince Pies

'I will just see my people aboard,' said Jack... When he reached the cabin, Captain Lambert was calling for 'a glass of brandy, there, and mince pies; but only small ones, d'ye hear me, only small ones,' ... 'What did he mean by mince pies? ... Mince pies. Why, of course: it must be Christmas in a day or two.'

- The Far Side of the World, p. 102

Mince pies are indelibly associated with Christmas. Indeed, until the mid-17th Century, they were known exclusively as Christmas Pies—they were usually rectangular, to represent the cradle of Jesus, and the dried fruits and spices were supposed to symbolize the Gifts of the Magi. The Christmas Pie of Little Jack Horner was a mince pie, though in his case it contained something more than meat and fruit. Sir John Horner was responsible for the delivery of a Christmas Pie to Henry VIII; and the plum he pulled out was the deed to a piece of confiscated church property—one of several hidden beneath the crust.

Under Puritan rule, Christmas Pies were briefly outlawed as emblems of Popery, but they resurfaced shortly afterward in less controversial guise, as Mince or Shrid (Shred) Pies. Under any name, they represent a very old tradition—the practice of preserving meat by combining it with dried fruits, spices, sugars, and alcohol dates back at least as far as medieval times, and may even have originated in ancient Rome.

Today, alas, mincemeat has lost something in translation—too often it is neither minced nor meat—but in Aubrey's time it was still faithful to its roots.

[Note: the two pastry recipes mentioned below appear elsewhere in Lobscouse and Spotted Dog and are not reproduced here to save space—but you can substitute any good short pie crust and/or any puff paste.]

2 recipes (1 pound) Short Pastry
1/2 recipe (1/2 pound) Puff Paste
1 quart Mincemeat (see below)

Mint Spies [Is this in here to see if we're paying attention? Or just to make intelligence-gathering... savory? --UG]

* Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

* On a lightly floured board, with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the short pastry until it is about 1/8-inch thick. Cut the sheet of pastry into 4 circles big enough to line 4 small pie dishes (the ones we use are 4 1/2 inches in diameter).

* Fill the pies with mincemeat.

* Re-flour the board and rolling pin, and roll out the puff paste until it is 1/8-inch thick. Cut 4 circles slightly larger than the pie dishes. Cut a small hole in the center of each, and place them on the pies. Crimp the edges together.

* Bake 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

* Makes 4 small pies.

Mincemeat:

3 pounds shin of beef
1 pound suet, finely grated
1/2 pound currants
1/4 pound raisins
1/4 pound sultanas
1/2 cup candied orange peel, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup candied citron, coarsely chopped
1 pound tart apples, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped (about 3 cups)
juice and coarsely chopped zest of 1 lemon
juice and coarsely chopped zest of 1 Seville orange
2 tablespoons grated ginger
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon mace
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cider
1/2 cup brandy
1/2 cup red wine

Finished Mince Pies. Yum!

* Put the beef in a pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, 2 hours, or until the meat is tender enough to fall off the bone.

* Take the meat out of the pot (you may want to season and save the stock, as we do, for future use). When it is cool enough to handle, remove and discard the bones, fat and gristle. You should have about 1 pound of meat.

* Shred or coarsely chop the meat, and mix it thoroughly with all the other ingredients. Put the mincemeat in a sealed container and set it to ripen in a cool dark place. It will be ready for use after about 2 weeks... or it can be refrigerated for several months (ours has been aging for about a year now, and it gets a little more interesting every day).

* Makes about 3 quarts.

meat and fruit. -- not my favorite combination.

We had mincemeat pies at Christmas. A relative brought them, but I refused to eat anything with suet in it.

I think that's what the array of spices is in the mix for: to keep the suet, in particular, palatable. The fat that is the suet, of course, also helps seal the rest of the pie's contents away from the atmosphere and its attendant microbes, which prosper best with water, not lipids.

Fruit'n'meaty things are something I've gotten quite a taste for since picking up medievalism as a hobby. I even like prunes in my cock-a-leekie, a feature that was regarded as oldfashioned even in the eighteenth century.

The great bastion of fruit and meat living together is Scandinavia. They do not live entirely on Swedish meatballs up there, ya know.:cool:

But come to think of it, if you wanted to try it, you could. Yipes. I mean, should a guy make himself that sick of Swedish meatballs??

OK, if you don't like fruit and meat, does that mean no cranberry sauce on your turkey? No apple sauce on your pork?

What about apricot chicken?

Mmmmm...fruit and meat are very good together I reckon, although we don't put meat in our fruit mince pies at xmas time. I usually just use dried fruit that I simmer in water with sugar and 'some other spices' till it become syrupy, then put them in sweet shortcrust pastry. Yummmbo. Oh, and don't forget to dust them with icing sugar when they're cool.

I can't imagine roast duck or goose without fruit. Oh, I can, but it wouldn't be that palatable a dish.

Pork and ham do very well with fruit accompaniment. Stuff a pork roast with prunes, Danish style, or dress a ham with apricot glaze.

Chutneys or salsa can put a sandwich of last night's roast in the realm of nirvana. Guacamole with turkey, tomato jelly with beef, peaches and ham: mix it up.

Oh, lamb and apricots is very Middle Eastern. Try a bit of apricot in your moussaka.

Aside from citrus, I'm having a hard time thinking of fruits I'd use with fish. Bland fish could use tomato of course. But something heartier like mackerel? I'm thinking something tart or zesty, perhaps cranberry? I guess I'll have to smell some fresh mackerel to come up with a fruit dressing.

great grill recipe for chicken lovers
 

I haven't made this for anyone who didn't totally love it and want the recipe. It's quite simple and you can kebab to your hearts content, adding whatever you kebab lovers love to kebab.

Cut boneless skinless chicken breasts into chunks 1-1/2 to 2 inches squarish. Dip one side into brown sugar, the other into chili powder (I add a bit of garlic powder, onion powder, and cajun seasoning for kick.)

Wrap a half a slice bacon around chunk and skewer. Kebab at will.

I've only made them in my gas broiler, and the bacon gets really crispy (i.e. it's not slimy.) I can imagine they would be good grilled. You can also make smaller ones on toothpicks for appetizers.

Tres yummy!

Alright, so I have four massive fig trees in the backyard of our new house, and the little fruit buds are already visible everywhere. We're going to have so damn many of these things. What does one do with figs?

You pick them only when the neck bends. There will be a noticeable droop. They will be soft. There should be no milky sap when the skin is broken. Wash them gently, pat dry and bite from the blossom end. You can eat the entire fig up to the stem.

Wrap whole or halved figs in ham. Prosciutto is very nice. Maybe a fume blanc with them.

Cut a few in large dice and serve over ice cream or custard. I prefer custard because the ice cream is too cold for the delicate taste of fresh figs.

You can drag the blossom end in melted milk chocolate. I think dark chocolate is too strong.

from a couple that has a plum tree ,,,,,
The First year its like YAAAAAA we have PLUMS !!! I made an EPIC batch of wine !!! Carol made plum preserves ,WAAAAAAAY killer !!
Year three , YeHaww We got plums ! more or LESS of the same .
year 4 , a wind storm blew off ALL the blooms . damn it !
Year 5 , we have plums agqain yehaww .
year 6 , more plums
year 7 , plums AGAIN , cut the grass , go strolling thru the fresh cut grass with a cold beer , surveighing your work ,AHH life is GOOD untill,, SPLUT as you step on a WAY over ripe plum , it is like stepping on a dog turd , but less smelly
year 11 , an EARLY freeze ,,,,,,,, Blooms freeze and die ALL over the place . Damn it !!! the fucking plums SURVIVED !!!!!
Ill let you know about year 12 next year .

Eat them. Make jelly from them and then serve it with strong cheese (if you're into cheese platters). Eat them. Use them in cooking. Oh, and don't forget to eat them. ;)

Drying Figs -- I searched on that term and got numerous hits.

Drying and Freezing Figs