The Perfect Baked Apple

The Perfect Baked Apple:

4 apples, peeled & cored (good varieties for baking include Fuji & Granny Smith)
2 T butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 shakes cinnamon
1 t flour
1 shake nutmeg
2 T oats.

Place apples in apple baking dishes.  Melt butter in a bowl and add remaining ingredients, mixing well. Gently spoon butter & sugar mixture to cover the surface of all four apples.  Bake 40 Mins at 350F.

Curried Split Pea Soup

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
• 12 ounces dried green or yellow split peas, picked over and rinsed
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon curry powder

Directions

Place the butter into a large (4 to 6-quart) saucepan over medium-low heat. Once melted, add the onion and a generous pinch of salt and sweat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to sweat for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, making certain not to allow onions or garlic to brown.

Add the peas, chicken broth and curry powder. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook at a simmer until the peas are tender and not holding their shape any longer, approximately 45 to 50 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Using care and a stick blender, puree the soup until the desired consistency. Watch out for hot splatters.

quinoa and cilantro salad

by summer

1 cup quinoa
water for soaking

1 cup water

½ cup cilantro

2 large carrots

dressing

3 T. olive oil

a few squeezes of lemon

2 large cloves garlic

1 to 2 T. minced red onion

½ tsp. salt, or more to taste

**rinse quinoa with warm water, place in a bowl and cover with water. let soak 12-24 hours.
next day: bring 1 cup of salted water to a boil and add drained quinoa. reduce heat, cover, and let simmer 15-20 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed. while quinoa is cooling, chop cilantro and carrot, combine dressing ingredients in a small jar and whisk or shake to combine. i would recommend adding the veggies and all of the dressing to half of the batch of quinoa to start, taste and see if it's too strong, and add more quinoa to balance it out if needed. reserve leftover quinoa to make more salad later! enjoy at room temp or chilled.

strawberry rhubarb raspberry jam

Summer Harms

adapted from the camp shetek golden anniversary cookbook

4 cups chopped rhubarb 

1 cup strawberries 

2 cups sugar

1 (3 oz.) box of raspberry jello (i've always preferred raspberry, but you can go with any kind of berry)

1. bring rhubarb, strawberries, and sugar to a boil.

2. boil for 5 minutes, skimming off the foam as it forms.

3. reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes more, stirring often.

4. remove from heat. add jello and stir until completely dissolved.

5. let cool, stirring occasionally. when completely cool, pour into jars and store in fridge or freezer.

note. if possible, when you get to the jello step, use a utensil that is already stained and you don't care if it gets a deeper splotch of red.

Whole-wheat Pooris

Holy cow

Ingredients:

2 cups whole-wheat durum flour (can use regular whole-wheat flour)

1 tsp canola or other vegetable oil

About 3/4 cup of water for kneading

1/4 cup soy yogurt (optional)

1/2 tsp salt

Canola or peanut oil for frying

In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the ingredients other than the water until the flour resembles coarse crumbs.

Adding the water a little at a time, knead the flour into a stiff but pliable dough. You may need more or less water, sometimes depending on the humidity in your area that day. Add more flour if the dough becomes too sticky. Continue kneading for a couple of minutes after the flour comes together.


Place the dough in an airtight container or in a bowl covered with plastic wrap and set aside for at least half an hour.

Now break off a piece of the dough and roll into a smooth ball between the palms of your hands, about 3/4-inch in diameter. Roll the ball in some flour and then roll into a circle about 3 inches in diameter. The dough should not stick easily, but if it does, flour the surface as needed.

Do not use a rolling pin with ball-bearings-- the kind you'd use to roll pie dough-- because it is too heavy for the job. Instead, get a slender rolling pin about an inch in diameter, at most, and use that. It's lighter and easier to manipulate and within no time you'll be a pro at using it to make all sorts of Indian breads. I bought mine from the Indian grocery store in my area. Tip: to ensure that your pooris fluff up perfectly, try and roll the dough evenly. Don't press down on the rolling pin: apply the gentlest of pressures with your palms, just enough to keep it rolling. A great way to also ensure that you get a perfect and even round is to rotate the dough just a little bit each time you roll -- that will make the poori perfectly round and even.

Continue making pooris with the rest of the dough. You can lay them out on a cookie sheet and it's okay if they overlap a bit- when the dough is fresh they won't easily stick to each other.

Meanwhile, in a frying pan (a kadai or any container with a rounded bottom works best for this. I don't have a kadai so I use a 6-inch cast-iron skillet), pour oil to a depth of 1 inch.

Heat the oil to 375 degrees-- a frying or candy thermometer is a great investment. But another way to do this is to break off a teeny tiny bit of the dough and put it in the frying pan. If it sinks to the bottom and rises immediately, your oil is hot enough. If not, wait. Putting foods in cold oil is a surefire way to make the food suck in all the oil and what you'll get is oil-clogged, limp and inedible pooris.

Once the oil is perfectly hot, place a poori in the center of the frying pan. Using a kitchen spider or a spatula with holes in it (I've no idea what it's called) like the one I have, push down the center of the poori into the oil, gently with the edge of the spatula, until the poori begins to puff up.




After the poori has puffed up completely, turn over and cook the other side for another 30 seconds or until that side becomes golden-brown.

Remove to a plate or preferably a colander lined with paper napkins and allow the pooris to drain for a minute. Serve hot with any spicy Indian curry or kurma. I think they go especially well with potato subzi andchickpea curry.

Batata Bhaji

Holy Cow
Ingredients:

5 medium potatoes, boiled in their jackets and diced. ( don't peel the potato skin, most of the nutrients in the potato sit right under the skin so by peeling the potato you will turn this healthy veggie into a blob of tasty but starchy nothingness-- well, almost.)

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 medium onion, finely diced

2 green chillies, like serrano, minced 1 tbsp grated ginger

10-15 curry leaves, chopped

½ tsp turmeric

Salt to taste

¼ cup coriander leaves

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp canola oil

Heat the oil in a skillet.


Add the cumin seeds and asafetida. When the seeds sputter, add the onions and curry leaves and green chillies and saute until the onion turns transparent, about five minutes on medium heat. 

Add the ginger and turmeric and saute a few more seconds. Add the potatoes and stir them in to combine with the oil and spices.


Mash down the potatoes with a potato masher or a heavy ladle so some of the pieces break up but others remain mostly intact. You want the potatoes to start turning slightly golden and crusty at the bottom of the pan.

Add salt and lemon juice and mix well. Garnish with the coriander seeds or, if you like, some grated coconut.

Cold Avocado Soup with sweet corn and bacon

Joy The Baker

makes about 4 cups

adapted from Bon Appetit August 2011

For the Soup:

2 ripe Haas avocados

1 cup vegetable broth

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 tablespoons sour cream, creme fraiche, or milk (optional if you’re vegan)

3/4 teaspoon salt (plus a bit more if you’re a salt freak like me )

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water

For the Topping:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small yellow onion, diced

2 ears fresh corn, sliced from the cob

1/2  jalapeno pepper, de-seeded and diced (I used a fresh cayenne pepper)

4 slices cooked bacon, chopped (optional if you’re vegan)

small handful fresh parsley leaves, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

To make the soup, place avocado flesh in a blender along with vegetable broth, lime juice, sour cream (if using), and salt.  Blend until the avocados are creamy.  Remove the center from your blender lid, and while blending, slowly add the water.  Soup will be done when smooth, with your desired consistency.  Feel free to add a touch more water if you prefer a thinner soup.  Taste and add salt and pepper as necessary.  Place in a container in the fridge while you make the topping.

To make the topping, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and cook until translucent and browned, about 5 minutes.  Add corn and jalapeno and cook for 3 minutes more.  Add sliced bacon and parsley.  Cook until everything is warmed and just browned.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pile about 1/2 cup of warm topping into a bowl.  Pour cold soup around the topping.  Serve and enjoy.  Soup lasts up to three days in and airtight container in the fridge.