Easy Recipes

There are times, as I mentioned last week, to rage against the shackles of winter. To take yourself on a culinary holiday and cook up something befitting a spicier, sunnier clime. And then there are times to embrace the cold slog. To cook up something roasted or long-simmered, something hearty and comforting. Ideally enriched with a few Eastern European spices and a swath of sour cream, and served over buttery noodlebits.

A few months ago I received a package from a European friend — one who had previously expressed an aversion to spices, no less — with two little parcels of paprika from his recent trip to Hungary. Foreign post and imported foodstuffs? Needless to say it was a thrilling day for me. Ive been spooning the rich, red spice into my everyday cooking here and there, but wanted to find a recipe where it could really shine. So why not go with the dish named for it?

Paprikash (or paprikás, if youre feeling Hungarian) is a simple homey recipe, usually made of chicken stewed in a creamy, paprika-scented sauce. I swapped out mushrooms instead, and a splash of sherry (because I couldnt help it), and put my own slight tweak on that rich red sauce. Egg noodles would make a fine bed to sop it all up, but when I couldnt find any in the pantry, I decided to complete the Hungarian theme with a batch of nokedli. These little dumpling are cousin to spätzle, a simple egg-and-flour dough thats formed into small, sauce-grabbing bits. A spätzle-maker would work well, but I just used a spatula to push the batter through a large-holed cheese grater, and it made for surprisingly quick and easy work. And while this meal isnt the most photogenic, its crazy delicious and satisfying, perfect for fortifying you against a cold winter day.


Mushroom Paprikash with Nokedli

serves ~4

2 tablespoons butter, plus more if/as needed
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 pound mushrooms, sliced (thinly or thickly, as you choose)
splash sherry
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup broth
1/2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper
a few tablespoons minced parsley, dill or chives (optional)

Nokedli:
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups flour
few pats butter for finishing

Melt the butter over a medium heat in a heavy saucepan. Add the onion, and saute until softened and translucent but not colored, ~10 minutes.

While the onion is cooking is a fine time to start your nokedli batter. In a bowl, mix together the eggs, salt and water until combined, then stir in the flour. Mix gently until smooth, though a bit of lump is okay (they may dissolve while the batter rests). Set a lid or towel over the top, then set aside to rest. Put a large pot of salted water to boil, then go back to your mushrooms.

When the onions are done, add the garlic, and cook another minute. Add the mushrooms, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and the liquid has mostly evaporated, ~7 minutes. Add a splash of sherry, and let it cook off.

If the pan is dry at this time, add another pat of butter. Add the paprika and flour, and stir until theyre coated with the fat and liquid in the pan. Add the broth, pouring it in slowly at first, and cook until the liquid comes to a simmer and thickened (raise the heat as needed if your broth is cold), ~5 minutes. Stir in the sour cream, and turn off the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Now to finish the nokedli! At this point your water should be at a boil, and your batter rested a bit. Grab a large-holed cheese grater or colander, and a spatula.

Hold your grater or colander over the pot of water, and place a blob of batter in it. Using your spatula, wipe the batter over the holes, firmly pressing it through. Little noodly bits of dough will form, and fall into the water below. Working quickly, press the batter through, stopping once or twice to give the pot a stir. The nokedli will float to the top and be done in just a few minutes. Repeat with all the batter. I found the process surprisingly quick and easy, and did it all at once and then dumped the mass in a strainer set in the sink. But if you find it slower going (and dont have the magic cheese grater I seemed to have), you can just scoop the nookedli out with a simmer as you go, and dump into a waiting bowl. Either way, place your cooked nokedli in a bowl, and toss in a few pats of butter to keep them from sticking together (and to make them more delicious).

Serve the nokedli with the paprikash, and top with the chopped fresh herb if desired.

As someone who allots about 15 minutes to shower, dress, and get out the door most mornings, its possible I underestimate the importance of physical appearance. We should care about inner beauty, right? Not the creative hairstyles resulting from my shower-then-apply-bike-helmet morning ritual. Similarly, food should be eaten because its delicious, right? Not because its pretty or artfully fussed-over. Right?

Well, kind of. When it comes to food, sure, were after delicious. But aesthetics are actually a kind of delicious, too. A counterpoint of colors, careful placement of items on the plate — all of these can shape your whole experience. Im not talking about 80s-style fussy towers of food, or sauces applied with squeeze bottles in the home kitchen. Im just talking about taking the smallest of moments to highlight something about the food itself, about the ingredients and occasion and wonder of it all. Im talking about this salad.


This combination is classic Ottolenghi, just a few simple ingredients that come together in deliciously unexpected ways. And also: so gorgeous! Eggplant is roasted until butter-soft, then topped with a bright yellow saffron yogurt, fragrant green basil leaves, pine nuts, and pomegranates that provide a punchy little pop of tart flavor (as well as garnet-bright color). Its surprising, perfectly balanced, and easy. And beautiful.

Just as the fiery fall palette of leaves makes you take a deep breath in awe of the seasons, this gorgeous plate of late-fall produce captures a bit of that on a smaller scale. Sure, its just a salad of fall vegetables, a bit of yogurt and nuts. But — as this presentation makes clear — that, in and of itself, can be beautifully amazing.


Roasted Eggplant with Saffron Yogurt

Both the eggplant and saffron yogurt can be prepared in advance, making this a perfect make-ahead dinner party dish. I tripled the amount of eggplants and salad elements and doubled the yogurt, and fed a Rosh Hashanah dinner party of 18 people with a bit of leftovers. You can also substitute a saffron tahini sauce for the yogurt sauce (as we did for one platter) for any dairy-free/vegan guests.

adapted from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook
serves ~4-5, or more as part of a larger spread

2-3 good-sized Italian eggplants, unpeeled
olive oil for brushing
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1 handful of pomegranate seeds (maybe 1/3 of a pomegranate, depending upon size)
1 handful of basil leaves

Saffron Yogurt:
1 pinch saffron, infused in a few spoonfuls of hot water for a few minutes
2/3 cup Greek yogurt
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste

To cook the eggplants: Preheat your oven to 425° Farenheit. Cut the eggplants into 1/2-inch thick rounds, brush each side with oil, and place in a single layer on a baking tray (you may need to do this in a few batches). Sprinkle with salt, and bake until they soften and brown on the bottom, ~7-10 minutes. Flip over, sprinkle with salt again, and return to the oven until the second side is browned and the eggplant is butter-soft. Transfer to a container and cool (if you dont use a ton of oil, the eggplant may dry out a wee bit on the edges, but if you transfer them to a covered glass container while still warm, theyll soften up beautifully). Let cool, and, if desired, refrigerate up to three days.

To make the saffron yogurt: Whisk together all ingredients until smooth, and adjust seasonings to taste (I was initially wondering whether olive oil was necessary, but it does a lovely job of rounding out the flavors). This can also be made up to three days in advance.

To assemble the salad: If you made the eggplant in advance, allow to warm to room temperature. Lay the eggplant slices on individual plates (or, ideally, a nice dramatic platter). Drizzle generously with the saffron yogurt, then sprinkle the pine nuts, pomegranate seeds, and basil leaves. Serve.

Theres always a thrill of pride when you figure out how to coax some restaurant-only type dish out of your own humble kitchen. And find out how its been within reach all along. Blistered loaves of bread, say, or an airy souffle. Or perfectly seared fish.

I have come a bit of a ways from my always-overcooked-all-the-time method of fish preparation (the secret: pull it from the heat just before you think its done, a method I long heard but only recently followed).  But even though my technique improved, I could never get that perfect treatment I found in restaurants, where the fish is butter-soft and just barely flaking, yet the skin is a beautifully crisped omega-filled chip. What sort of kitchen wizardry are they using?

Turns out its surprisingly user-friendly. All you have to do is get a good piece of fish, glug of oil, and use a ridiculously high heat. I picked up a fillet of steelhead from a local shop, followed the instructions carefully laid out on this blog, paired it with a tangle of salad made from a fennel bulb and dollar bag of arugula, and turned out a meal worthy of any restaurant (and if the blog and my own homes case study are any indication, this restaurant-worthy assessment will be a universal reaction). Who knew that simply turning up the flame (and conquering my fear of fire/oil burns) would yield such an amazing result? Its the sort of kitchen magic that should be trotted out at dinner parties (except for the whole smell-of-hot-oil-and-fish part), but its also the sort of kitchen magic that you should bust out any time you get a good piece of fish. Its the sort of magic thats going into the regular kitchen rotation.


Perfectly Seared Fish with Fennel Arugula Salad

serves 2
inspired by Kenji Lopez-Alt, as prepared by The Amateur Gourmet

Dressing:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon meyer lemon juice, or mild vinegar
dollop honey
salt and pepper
Salad:
2 handfuls arugula
1 small bulb fennel, or 1/2 large bulb fennel, shaved into thin slivers
1 orange, supremed into sections
1 handful olives, pulled into pieces

Fish:
3/4 pound skin-on fish fillets, all pin bones removed, cut into two pieces
2-3 tablespoons high heat oil, such as grapeseed or canola
salt and pepper
olive oil

Take the fish out of the refrigerator, and let sit at room temperature for a few minutes to take the chill off. Mix together the dressing ingredients until combined. Toss the salad with the dressing, and divide onto two plates.

Blot the fish dry with paper towels or brown paper bags, and season each side with salt. Heat a large skillet or two small ones over a high heat. Add the oil, and let get really hot, almost to the point of smoking (handy tip: when the oils hot, if you stick a wooden spoon in it should bubble vigorously around the edges). Add the fish, skin side down, and turn down the heat just slightly. Cook until the skin detaches from the skillet, and the fillet slides around a bit when you shake the pan (~2 minutes). If its a thick fillet, wait another minute past this point, then flip the fillets with a spatula (in order to avoid dramatic fires that can result from hot oil splashes, I pull the pan away from the burner for the few seconds it takes to execute this maneuver). Cook on the other side until the fillets are cooked through, another two minutes or so, depending upon thickness (Lopez-Alt recommends cooking to 120 degree internal temperature, but I just went by sight and then tested them).
Use a spatula to remove from the pan, let the fry oil drain a bit, then plate with the salad. Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with additional olive oil.

A few years ago, I spent Thanksgiving with some friends in a little rented cabin, where we opened (for reasons too ridiculous to go into) a $100 bottle of wine. Nobody at the table had ever drunk that much money before, so we made some jokes, took some deep breaths, and sipped. After a pause, everyone looked around the table, sighed deeply, and let loose with a "holy shit." Well, everyone except me.

While my friends were gasping over how amazing it was, and lamenting that it would make it that much harder for them to enjoy the cheap stuff, I was just sitting there saying yeah its good, or well sure it tastes different from other wines, but doesnt every bottle of wine taste different from every other bottle of wine? and other such statements that caused people with discerning palates to roll their eyes.

As much as it should be a point of shame in my culinary identity, Im totally fine being a cheap date when it comes to certain things. While I dont doubt that some can appreciate the difference, I figure there are some foods where the line between gourmet and grocery store wasnt all that significant. I mean, once you leave the chemical stuff behind and go for real salt, can you really appreciate the trace minerals in salt harvested in one sea versus another? Or does ricotta, the blandest of cheeses, really taste all that much better when it comes fresh-packed in a $10 artisanal bucket instead of an industrial $4 plastic tub? Well for the last one, it turns out it the answer is yes. A lot. Who knew?

Fancy ricotta is not an everyday purchase for me. But for a salad with just a few simple ingredients, I figured Id seek out the quality stuff. Our local natural store had stopped carrying it, but in a spectacular feat of customer service, they not only allowed me to taste spoonfuls of the two brands of ricotta on the shelf, but then (when the staff person told me that those flavors didnt compare), called their supplier to make an extra stop on their afternoon run and drop off a special case of the best stuff (in related news, I now have lovedreams about New Seasons market). I picked up a tub after the special delivery that night, and made this salad. And its amazing (and, as an added bonus, the leftover fancy ricotta made for a stellar baked ziti).

I am in awe of the person who thought up this inspired combination. Creamy, cold cheese, smoky kale, and punchy plums, tied together with a thyme-scented vinaigrette. Even setting the kale on fire a few times (I have grilling issues) did nothing to diminish the impact. Altogether, its like nothing else Ive ever tasted. I imagine regular ricotta would be alright in this salad, but the milky-fresh, sweet-tasting version makes it just amazing, and its sure to go on my list of summertime scene-stealers.


Grilled Kale Salad with Ricotta and Plums

adapted from Bon Appetit
serves 4-6

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Our family loves the Danish open face pastrami sandwich.  To give the pastrami sandwich a twist we make a homemade horseradish topping (peberrod sovs) for the sandwich. (Check out our easy homemade horseradish creamy topping recipe below!) While the combination of ingredients in this recipe may seem a bit odd, we assure you that the flavors are nice together!



There are a variety of Danish dishes that uses horseradish. Many Danish families have gardens and grow their own horseradish for their Danish dishes. Homegrown horseradish has a clear, fresh taste and packs more zing. If you decide to grow your own horseradish, youll be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to grow it. Horseradish is rank in the top five easiest-to-grow food plants, because it thrives in almost any condition.  So, we look forward to having fresh horseradish each summer.

During the cold, dark winter months locally grown fresh produce can be pretty hard to come by.  So, another alternative is to buy the horseradish in a jar at the grocery store. This is fine, but it does not have quiet the same characteristic taste as fresh summer horseradish.  Our homemade Horseradish Cream Topping below uses the store bought horseradish in a jar.  When we get closer to the summer months, we hope to go over how to grown and use fresh horseradish.  

Depending how busy you are you can make everything the same day or over a 2 day period.  We have included our YouTube video of how we made the Danish Open Face Pastrami Sandwich with home made Horseradish Cream Topping below.


First Step is to make the homemade Horseradish Cream Topping
Horseradish Cream Topping is very easy to make. 

 Horseradish Cream Topping Ingredients:
* 1 cup of fresh whip cream
* 2 - 3 tablespoons of horseradish from a jar

 Kitchen Tools:
* Bowl
* Spoon
* Meauring Cup
* Hand mixer

First whip the cream until it is fluffy.  Then add into the bowl two to three tablespoons of horseradish.  If you like a stronger horseradish flavor, you can add more to taste. Mix the ingredients in the bowl with a spoon.

 


Please share and like our video. For more Scandinavian cooking videos please subscribe to our channel too! Thank you!

 Second step is to make the Open Face Pastrami Sandwich with Horseradish Cream Topping

The Open Face Pastrami Sandwich is very easy to make.  We either have this open face sandwich either for lunch, diner or part of a larger smørrebrød.

Ingredients:
* 2-3 slices of whole wheat bread (a rye bread is fine too)
* European style butter
* 3 or 4 pieces of pastrami
* horseradish cream topping
* parsley snippings

 Instructions:
Spread on the whole wheat bread with butter.  Layer the bread with either 3 or 4 pieces of pastrami across the bread. Add one or two tablespoons of Horseradish Cream Topping on the pastrami.  Garnish with snippings of parsley.  The parsley gives the open face sandwich extra color. You can add tomato slices of taste and color too.

The sandwich has to be eaten with a knife and fork too. The drink of choice is a good Danish beer! If you are having a formal Smorrebrod, we usually serve the open face sandwich on a Royal Copenhagen plate. 

Smorrebrod Trivia: Did you know that in the 19thc. Denmarks Smørrebrød custom became popular & convenient. Over the years, smørrebrød developed into an art form with local food attractively presented.

We hope you enjoyed the video on how to make the Smørrebrød Danish Open Face Pastrami sandwich with our homemade horseradish topping video and recipe!  If you like the video, please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel Scandinavian Today.  Our channel has videos including

*how to make Danish Christmas rice pudding with cherry sauce dessert recipe (Risalamande med kirsebærsauce)
*how to make Swedish Glogg for Christmas & cold evenings! (glögg or mulled wine recipe) 
*how to make aeblskiver (æbleskiver)
*how to make Danish Christmas Klejner
*how to make easy Danish cucumber salad (arguksalat)
*how to make Danish sugar browned potatoes (brunede kartofler)
*how to make Danish red cabbage (rødkaal)
These recipes are perfect for the holiday season. Please let us know what you think! Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥ !

Our Scandinavian recipes including Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish are on http://.blogspot.com/

Follow us either on Twitter @, Blogger, Google+, Google Pages, Pinterest and Subscribe to our YouTube Chanel Scandinavian Today!  Lets get cooking Scandinavian foods!

Rhubarb and I dont always get along. I usually thrill to see it in the markets, right around the time that the wintered-over apples are mealy, past-its-prime citrus isnt juicy, and ohmygosh why isnt there any fruit? feelings are running high. But then I take it home, and dont quite know what to do with it. A few weeks ago I slumped rhubarb into a compote to pair with a flourless almond cake, but ended up just eating the cake plain (well, plain except for whipped cream).

I think the problem is that I dont want stovetop sauces or oven-baked pies. I want fruit. I want something fresh and juicy and full of spring. Given rhubarbs tartness, it can be hard to find raw preparations where it delivers on this springtime promise. Ive seen a few Mediterranean recipes that shave it into salads, but its usually just a lone stalk or two. And I didnt want salad. I wanted dessert.

The original version of this recipe pairs the rhubarb with its old friend, the strawberry. Im sure thats lovely, but our strawberries are still a few weeks away. And luckily my failure to wait for them yielded a truly delicious result. This almond granita is just a simple frozen almond milk, frozen into fluffy crystals (I made it fresh, but you could also freeze up a commercial version if you prefer). The milky sweetness is a perfect match for the spunky punch of pure fresh rhubarb, saucy with a bit of sugar. A little bit of mint (thanks to a friends backyard) heightens the springtime brightness even further. Im sure Ill eventually bake up some rhubarb into a pie (especially when the strawberries come in). But right now, this fresh-fresh-fresh bit of crunch and melt and sour and sweet is just what I needed to fall back in love with rhubarb.



  
Almond Granita with Minted Rhubarb 

adapted from Apt. 2B Baking Co. 
yields ~4 good-sized or 6 small serving 

Granita:
1 cup raw almonds
2 1/2 cups water (plus more for soaking)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
sugar to taste (~2-3 tablespoons)
pinch salt

Rhubarb:
~6 slim stalks rhubarb
~1/4 cup sugar
handful of mint leaves

To make the granita: Place almonds in a bowl, and cover with water. Let soak at least four hours, or overnight. Drain, place in a blender with the three cups water, and puree to bits. Strain the mixture through a few layers of cheesecloth, squeezing to get out all of the liquid you can. Add vanilla, sugar, and salt, and adjust seasonings to taste to yield a sweet, flavorful mixture.

Pour the mixture into an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish. Slide the dish into the freezer, and chill for one hour. Remove the dish from the freezer, and scrape the milk with a fork to break up the crystals. Return to the freezer, and scrape the milk every 20 minutes or so, until it is frozen and, thanks to your work, fluffy crystals have formed (maybe another hour or so).

To make the rhubarb: Wash the rhubarb, and cut in a fine dice. Toss it in a bowl with the sugar, and let sit for about half an hour to let the juices come out, and the sugar dissolve into a syrup. Add the mint.

To serve, layer the granita and minted rhubarb in a glass, and slurp up before it melts.

The first green asparagus of spring get a whole lot of love. Which I wholly understand — its been a long winter, and theyre totally delicious. But just a month or two behind them, there’s another green shoot that deserves its own parade: the garlic scape.

Garlic scapes, also known as garlic curls, or, adorably, whistles, are the twisted green tops of garlic plants. They’re generally cut to about eight-inch lengths, ranging from slightly bent stalks to irregular curlicues. Scapes are harvested in late spring/early summer (the season is hard-to-predict and fairly brief, but is happening right now in Portland) as a neat little gardeners trick: trim off the tips before the seed pods swells and matures, and in exchange that energy goes towards making larger garlic bulbs underground. And, as an added bonus, you get to eat the scapes.

Like garlic itself, scapes pack a punch when raw (though they’re not quite as intense as the bulb). You can use this to your advantage, adding a fine mince to dishes that will benefit from a strong flavor. But with just a bit of heat, scapes’ harshness softens, leaving a mellower garlic note, paired with their spring-green taste.

Scapes are easily turned into a pungent pesto—its got some bite, but can be tamed by tossing with hot pasta or spreading on bread and placing it under the broiler. They can be brushed with oil and tossed directly on the grill, or bathed in vinegar for a pungent pickle. Like spring ramps, scapes work especially well when paired with mellow ingredients that let their flavor shine through: cook them up with eggs, pasta, or creamy dairy-rich dishes.

For this dish, I put the scapes up against a backdrop of saffron-scented couscous, along with briny-sweet shrimp, creamy feta, and bright fresh mint leaves. Its simple enough to throw together for a weeknight dinner or picnic, but elegant enough for a fancy meal. I trimmed the scapes into bite-sized lengths, to make it a bit more manageable, but if youre game its far more fun to leave them as they are — like little green scraps of ribbon from your own spring garden party.


Israeli Couscous with Garlic Scapes, Shrimp and Feta

yields ~4-5 servings

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 cups Israeli couscous
1 ½ cups water
1 cup vegetable broth (or just use all water, and add a bit more salt)
½ teaspoon salt
1 hefty pinch saffron
juice of ½ lemon
6-8 garlic scapes, cut into pieces or left whole
1 pound shrimp, shelled
⅓ cup crumbled feta
a handful fresh mint leaves, roughly torn if they’re large
salt and pepper

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add the couscous, and cook for a few minutes, stirring so that the couscous is coated with oil and lightly toasted. Add the water, broth, saffron and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat until it’s just high enough to maintain a simmer. Simmer, covered, until the liquid is absorbed and the couscous is tender, ~8-10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let sit, covered, to absorb any remaining liquid for a few minutes. Then add the lemon juice, stir to fluff/combine, and add salt and pepper to taste (you can also drizzle in more olive oil if you want). Transfer to a serving platter.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the garlic scapes, and saute for a minute or two, until they turn bright green and tender. Sprinkle with a bit of salt, and scatter on top of the couscous.

Add the shrimp, and saute for a few minutes, stirring, until pink and cooked through. Season with salt, and scatter, along with any pan juices, on top of the couscous and scapes. Top with the feta and fresh mint, and serve.

The beginning of fall feels like a series of doors closing: no more lazy sunlit evenings, no more bicycling without gloves, no more waking up to a warm house. I just taught a visiting European friend the phrase "picnic weather," only to have to cancel tonights picnic after the rain started. The Portland skies have been dark lately, and the adjustment can be pretty rough. But after mourning summers departure, you remember the lovely things about fall. Toasty fireplaces, for one. And this cake.

This is no springtime dessert. The cake is rich with ground nuts, and topped with boozy poached pears. The recipe was originally adapted by the lovely Travelers Lunchbox blog, which took Italys Piedmont tradition of poached pears and nut-rich cakes, and combined them into one dessert. Im a big fan of such one-pan ventures. The cake is buttery and sweet, and nubby with ground nuts. But then its topped with pears that have been poached in wine and sugar, and brushed with a syrup reduced from the same. I first made this last year, for no real occasion, and we felt sort of reckless with our good fortune as we cut thick slices to have for a snack.

Like the Plum Custard Tart, this is a dessert that ranks high on the prettiness scale. But unlike the tart, these jewel-like fruits arent resting on a bed of trembling custard. Theyre on a much heartier landing pad of nut-filled cake. To fortify you for the cold autumn nights ahead.


Piedmontese Nut Cake with Wine-Poached Pears

adapted from The Travelers Lunchboxs Piedmontese Hazelnut, Pear and Marsala Cake (I felt compelled to rename it, as my version was missing two of the three titular ingredients), initially adapted from the Piedmontese Hazelnut Cake in Michele Scicolones 1,0000 Italian Recipes

If youre aching to make this cake, but your pears are a bit under-ripe, dont worry -- theyll soften in the poaching liquid, and will be tender and flavorful by the time theyre out of the oven.

For the Pears:

2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup Marsala (or other sweet fortified wine, such as Port or Madeira)
1 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
5 medium pears, peeled, halved and cored

For the Cake:

1 1/2 cups finely ground hazelnuts (traditional) or almonds (also good)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9-inch pan (a springform is nice if you have it, but anything will work).

Combine the sugar, wines, water, vanilla and pears in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer, and then reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, until the pears just begin to get translucent, and are tender when pierced with a fork (about 30 minutes). Remove pears from the poaching liquid, and set aside to cool. Continue simmering the poaching liquid to reduce (more on that later).

In a large bowl, sift together the nut meal, flour, baking powder, and salt. If the nut meal isnt ground finely, you can either sift through a larger amount of nut meal to yield 1 1/2 finely-ground cups, or leave as is for a more rustic cake. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, mix well. Fold in the dry ingredient mixture, stirring until just combined. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Place the poached pears, cut side down, on top of the cake in a pretty pattern. Bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven.

While the cake is baking, continue simmering the poaching liquid until it has reduced to about 1/2 cup (it will be thick and syrupy, and the color will have darkened). When the cake is out of the oven, brush it with this syrup, covering both the cake and the pears. Wait a moment for the syrup to be absorbed, and then repeat. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Sometimes Im all over the perfect dish for the season, anticipating things a few weeks out. These past few weeks Ive been chafing at the bit with a lovely concord grape recipe, calling a circuit of grocery stores every few days to ask Are they in yet? How about tomorrow? Maybe Monday? Im surprised the produce departments keep answering the phone. But other times, well -- not so much. And so, as the cold and windy rains roll into Portland, I present to you the perfect picnic dish. On the bright side, itll still be good for Autumnal potlucks.

As Ive mentioned before, Im a sucker for the combination of spinach and feta. But instead of a warm and uber-cheesy casserole, this is a light, herb-studded couscous salad (even healthier if you, like me, go with whole wheat couscous), with bright and juicy cherry tomatoes offsetting the small amount of briny feta. The spinach is just slightly wilted enough to be manageable and allow you to stuff copious amounts of it into the finished salad (using the residual heat of the couscous along with the old Mediterranean trick of rubbing it with salt), but its still bright green and fresh-tasting. Thanks to a sweep at the farmers market I used a combination of fresh basil, dill, parsley and mint, but it would be good with a few handfuls of whatever fresh herbs you have.

And speaking of things you think of just in the nick of time, heres an article about matzo ball soup, in honor of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year that begins tomorrow night. Perhaps getting a bit more on top of things will be one of my resolutions.



Couscous Salad with Spinach, Feta, Cherry Tomatoes and Herbs

makes a sizable picnic or potluck contribution, or serves ~6 as a light main dish

2 1/2  cups water or broth
2 cups whole wheat couscous
~1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 bunch spinach, washed and chopped fairly small
3 scallions, thinly-sliced
1 large handful fresh dill, chopped
1 large handful fresh parsley, chopped
1 large handful fresh mint, chopped
1 small handful fresh mint, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
scant 1/4 cup crumbled feta
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes (Im currently obsessed with sungolds), halved, or quartered if theyre large
salt and pepper

Heat the water or broth (salt it if youre using water) to a boil in a pot. Add the couscous and a dollop of olive oil. Stir and bring it back to a boil, then turn off the flame and let sit, covered, for five minutes.

While the couscous is sitting, place the spinach in a large bowl. Sprinkle it with a bit of salt, then scrunch it in your hands to distribute the salt and cause the spinach to wilt slightly. Top with the scallions.

When the couscous is done, fluff it with a fork, and tip it on top of the spinach and the scallions, letting the heat of the couscous soften the greens. Let sit a few minutes while you chop the remaining fresh herbs.

After the couscous has sat for a few minutes, add the remaining herbs along with the remaining olive oil and the lemon juice. Toss, mixing the ingredients well (which will also cool off the couscous a bit). Add the feta, cherry tomatoes and a few grinds of pepper, and toss gently to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings and olive oil/lemon juice balance as needed. Serve warm or cold.

There comes a time in life when it seems like almost everyone you know is having babies. At first, it kind of floors you every time you hear the news, and you struggle to come up with a gift commensurate to the occasion. In years past, I crafted ornate homemade cards, cooked obscene amounts of food, and stitched patchwork quilts and a stuffed pink satin armadillo. But as more and more friends began to have babies, I realized that keeping up with that sort of gifting protocol could quickly become a second job. I started turning to the gift registry, pairing a cotton onesie with a heartfelt card and calling it a day. For the most part, this seems appropriate. But every now and then, I hear about the pregnancy of a friend who is so dear that the registry just doesnt cut it. I start looking around for a more personal way to share the love. And recently, I hit upon these baby shower cookies.

Having never made gingerbread houses as a kid, I was pretty new to the world of royal icing. This sweet-yet-structural topping combines powdered sugar with egg whites or meringue powder, and is versatile enough to pipe intricate designs yet sturdy enough to be shipped across the country in a pre-baby care package. And its fun. Arts and crafts such as these are sadly in short supply in adulthood. Although my own journey with these cookies took three attempts (due to some boneheaded mistakes on my part that are too embarrassing to detail, namely refusal to read ingredient listings and refusal to use a timer), theyre really not that hard. I piped my royal icing with a pastry cone I taped out of scratch paper, and although the resulting designs are somewhat "rustic," nobody complained. The hardest part of the whole process is the waiting, from chilling the cookies to letting the icing set. Its one of the sweetest ways Ive come up with to welcome the good news.


Baby Shower Cookies

Cookies adapted from Martha Stewarts Classic Sugar Cookies, icing and technique from Not So Humble Pie blog, tasteless decoration idea all my own.

yields ~2 dozen cookies, depending on the size

Meringue powder generally requires a trip to a cake or craft shop, but carries less salmonella danger than egg whites, so its worth seeking out for the pregnant set. It also costs much more than you think powdered egg whites rightfully should, but generally comes in packages that are large enough for several batches. And once you learn how to make these cookies, you might find it hard to stop.

Cookies:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Icing:
1/2 lb powdered sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp meringue powder
2 Tbsp + 2 tsp water
splash vanilla, if desired
food coloring

To make the cookies:
Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing until well combined. Add the flour mixture, and stir until the dough comes together. Shape the dough into a chubby disk, cover in plastic or waxed paper, and let chill in the refrigerator until firm (at least an hour, though you can easily let it sit overnight).

When the dough is chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for a few minutes, until soft enough to roll. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/4" thickness, and cut out your desired shapes (I used a 2.5" round cutter (or, more accurately, glass jar), which yielded cookies that fit perfectly inside a wide-mouth canning pint jar for shipping). Mush together scraps, re-roll and cut again, and repeat until all the dough is used.

Now to freeze the cookies, so that they bake evenly and provide you a smooth, non-domed icing surface: take an 8" brownie pan, line it with plastic, and place a layer of cookies in it. Repeat with more plastic and more cookies, until theyre all in. Make sure theyre laying flat. Place in the freezer until very firm, least 20 minutes.

While the cookies are chilling, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place the frozen cookies on prepared cookie sheets, and bake until the edges are golden, 15-18 minutes. Let cool on racks.

To ice the cookies:
In a mixer with a paddle attachment (a whisk incorporates too much air), beat together the powdered sugar, meringue powder, water and vanilla for 5 minutes. Divide the icing into bowls, and tint with food coloring until it reaches your desired shade. Add additional water until it reaches the desired consistency: if you lift up the icing and let it drizzle back from a spoon, it should be firm enough that it holds the shape of the drizzle for at least 5 seconds, but liquid enough that its totally disappeared by 10 seconds.

To ice cookies, you probably want to look at some good tutorials, such as this or this, and pipe a few practice designs on a plate before you attack the cookies. But basically, you want to put your icing into a pastry bag/makeshift paper cone, and pipe out the outline on your cookie. Let this dry for 10 minutes, and then add a bit more water to thin your icing so that you can "flood" the cookie inside the outline with some spooned-in thinned icing. Neat! You might need to poke the icing with a toothpick or skewer to guide it to the very edge of your outline. Let this base layer dry another 10 minutes.

Using another pastry bag/paper cone, pipe on decorations as you choose. If youre using multiple colors next to each other, allow another 10 minute drying session in between colors, so that they dont bleed. Allow the finished cookies to dry for several hours, preferably overnight, then pack them in a tin and send them on their way.