Sopes

I've had so much success with breads, crackers and flatbreads lately that I thought it was time to try my hand at home-made corn tortillas.  I needed masa harina for that and the only place in my neighborhood I could find it had it in a 5-pound package only.  It was much more than I needed for one little batch, but I really wanted to make them and I was too impatient to go to a neighborhood where I had a better chance of finding broader, smaller options.  So I lugged the 5-pound bag home with me and measured out a measly little cup for my first batch of tortillas.

And they were good.  Fine.  They weren't great, but they weren't awful.  But I don't eat them very often and I still had almost a full package of the masa in the house.  I needed to find something else to do with it.

I found it in a recipe I had pulled from the May/June 2009 issue of Vegetarian Times.  As I've mentioned before, I have not had the best luck with their recipes, but for some reason I keep trying.

And I'm glad I did.  These came out soft, moist, and full of that toasty corn goodness.

The first time I made them I threw together a quick picadillo using some ground beef I had in the freezer, topped with a dollop of yogurt (I would have used sour cream if I'd had any around but the yogurt worked just fine) and some chopped pickled jalapenos given to me by a co-worker made from peppers in his garden.

They were tasty enough that I immediately made a batch of Ten-Minute Black Beans with Tomatoes and Cilantro and whipped up another batch.  They are somewhat time consuming, but well worth the effort.

These make a great snack, appetizer or main meal.  The possibilities are endless.

And they even traveled well to work for weekday lunches.

Home Cookin Chapter:  Breads and Muffins
SOPES makes 12 small or 6 large sopes

3 cups masa harina
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (opt)
2-1/2 cups hot water
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 Tbsp vegetable or olive oil
1 cup grated cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese (or any good melting cheese)

Preheat oven to 350°F. and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  

Combine the masa harina, baking powder, salt and cheese if using in a large bowl and mix well.  Stir in the hot water until the mixture forms a soft dough. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes.  Add the egg and mix it in completely, then add the oil and stir it in completely as well.

Divide the dough into 12 1/4-cup or 6 1/2-cup pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball and then press into a 3- or 6- inch disk on the prepared baking sheet.  Make an indentation in the center of the disk using a small drinking glass or your fingers, then shape a 1/2-inch edge around the circle.

Place in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, until the sopes start to look dry. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the cheese, equally divided, into the center of each circle. Return to oven to the oven and bake until cheese has melted, about 5 more minutes.

Remove from the oven, fill with your topping of choice and serve.

from Vegetarian Times May/June 2009

Exported from Home Cookin v.8.58 (www.mountainsoftware.com)

Baking Class: White Whole Wheat Crackers

Here's one more item to add to the "I make my own" list. I have always been intrigued by the idea of making crackers, but it seemed impossible to me that I could come up with anything that would come close to the crackers that I grew up eating. Triscuit, Wheat Thins, Ritz, even the generic saltine - how could I make anything that would come even close?

But over the years I realized that I rarely bought crackers and when I did, it was with a specific purpose in mind. And when I did buy the crackers I liked as a child, I found that I did not enjoy them as much as I did in memory. They had no substance and were overly salty. And they all had a similar after-taste to me, no matter their flavor or type.

I have come to recognize that after-taste as the flavor of processing. Processed foods leave a coating in my mouth that affects the feel and taste of everything else I eat, and the thought of eating beans, fruit or vegetables no longer appeals. And maybe I am overly sensitive to it, but there is a certain flatness of texture and muting of flavor that comes with processed, pre-packaged foods that just does not satisfy either my appetite or my hunger. Eating these foods just makes me want to eat more of them, but never makes me feel like I have eaten anything. It is a vicious cycle that can be difficult to break.

And so it has become with crackers. As much as I love the memory of Wheat Thins, Triscuit, Ritz, and Chicken in a Biskit (at one time my hands-down favorite snacking cracker), they no longer taste good to me. And looking at the ingredient lists, I can see why. For Chicken in a Biskit:

Ingredients: UNBLEACHED ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE {VITAMIN B1}, RIBOFLAVIN {VITAMIN B2}, FOLIC ACID), SOYBEAN OIL, SUGAR, SALT, EMULSIFIERS (MONOGLYCERIDES, SOY LECITHIN), DEXTROSE, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE (FLAVOR ENHANCER), ONION POWDER, BAKING SODA, DEHYDRATED COOKED CHICKEN, HYDROLYZED CORN AND YEAST PROTEIN, SPICE EXTRACTIVES, DISODIUM INOSINATE AND DISODIUM GUANYLATE (FLAVOR ENHANCERS). CONTAINS: WHEAT, SOY.

Now a lot of those chemical-sounding ingredients are no doubt the "chicken" flavoring. How about a plain old Ritz:

Ingredients: ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), SOYBEAN OIL, SUGAR, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED OIL, SALT, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA AND/OR CALCIUM PHOSPHATE), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SOY LECITHIN (EMULSIFIER), NATURAL FLAVOR, CORNSTARCH.

Not that much better.

Here are the ingredients in these white whole wheat crackers:

WHITE WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR
MILK
BUTTER
SUGAR
SALT

Huge difference, right? These are delicious with peanut butter, pimento cheese, plain cheese, and baba ghanouj. I suspect they would be just as good with hummus and any other spread you would eat with crackers, and they are delicious all by themselves.

I will be honest, it did take me a while to get these right. If you roll them out too thick they do not get crisp; too thin and they burn. But I was able to eat all of my efforts, so it was worth the time it took to get it right. One trick I learned after I converted the recipe from all-purpose to white whole wheat flour is to let the dough sit for half an hour (I let the oven preheat during this time) before rolling out the crackers. This allows for the flour to soak up more of the liquid and it rolls just a little more smoothly.

Here is one of the batches ready to go into the oven. As you can see, after I have trimmed the edges I just leave them on the baking sheet. Those scraps make for excellent snacking. As you can also see, I do not trim all of the edges, just the ones that stick out the most. I use a plastic ruler that is about 1-1/2-inches wide as a guide for cutting the lines. When I went freehand, I ended up with irregular, mismatched crackers and it drove me nuts.

Be sure to score deeply enough when you are cutting out the squares, or the crackers will not break easily. You could cut the crackers all the way through, of course, but that would make it extremely difficult to turn them over halfway through baking, and that is a necessary part of the process.

These are supposed to last for a few weeks in an air-tight container. I wouldn't know, as they have not lasted me more than a week. But they have stayed crispy for as long as they have lasted, I can say that.

This recipe looks long and involved, but the actual making of the crackers is fairly simple and straightforward. They might not (probably will not) turn out the way you would like them to the first time or two that you make them, but after a few times, you will figure out how to tweak production to get them to come out just the way you want them.

Home Cookin Chapter: Breads and Muffins

WHITE WHOLE WHEAT CRACKERS

Makes about 5 dozen crackers, depending on thickness

2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for sprinkling on top of the crackers
2 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
2/3 cup milk, plus droplets more if needed

Preheat oven to 425 deg. F. Use ungreased cookie sheets.

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk together to blend the mixture well. Add the butter cut it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or the tips of your finters until the mixture looks like damp sand.

Pour the milk into the mixture in a slow, steady stream while stirring constantly until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If it is too dry, add just enough milk to get the right consistency. It should be soft and pliable, but not wet. Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest for half an hour. Preheat the oven to 425 deg. F.

Divide the dough into 3 or 4 pieces (depending on the size of your baking sheets). Place one of the pieces on a lightly foured surface and roll out in a rectangle that will fit into your baking sheet. Roll
the dough to the desired thickness, making sure that it is less than 1/8 inch. Lift the rolled dough into the baking sheet and trim the edges to make a rectangle. Take a sharp knife and, going almost but
not all the way through the dough, cut the dough into 1-1/2 to 2-inch squares, or your desired size and shape. Sprinkle the top with salt and lightly press it into the dough, but be sure that the dough is then not sticking to the baking sheet or you will have trouble turning it over halfway through the baking time.

Bake the crackers for 5 to 7 minutes, until the surface has just
started to brown. Remove the sheet from the oven and turn the square
over, loosening with a spatula if necessary. Return the crackers to
the oven and bake for another 4 to 5 minutes, until well browned, being
careful not to let it burn.

Remove the crackers from oven and slide the sheet of crackers onto a cooling rack. When they have cooled completely, break them apart and place in an airtight container. The crackers will keep for weeks, but if they start to go stale reheat them in a 350-deg. F. oven for a few minutes.

adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, by Marion Cunningham (Alfred A. Knopf, 1998)

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

DIY Trail Mix

I love my granola, but even though it is much healthier than pre-packaged granolas it does have quite a bit of sugar in it. Which unfortunately means that it is not the healthiest thing to be eating every day. In addition, while it is easy to make, it does take some time so I have to plan for it if I want to be sure I have it on hand for breakfast.

With that in mind, I decided to go back to eating regular oatmeal for breakfast, adding trail mix and dried fruit. In the past I would just buy a bulk trail mix, but since I had so many of the ingredients already on hand I thought it would be just as easy to make my own.

And it was. I preheated the oven to 350 degrees, put my mix of nuts on a rimmed baking sheet, and baked them on a middle rack for about 25 minutes, checking every 10 minutes to make sure they weren't burning. I did almost burn one batch and they were not good. They were edible and too expensive to throw away, but I will never make that mistake again. I set the timer and I check.

What I love about making it myself is that I control the ratio of the kinds of nuts, and the fruit. I use the expensive nuts more sparingly and go wild with the less expensive. I also have all of the nuts available for other uses, which I would not be able to do if I were buying the pre-mixed packages.

I don't know if making it at home is less expensive than buying the pre-packaged version. That would depend on each batch, and what you ratio of more and less expensive nuts you used. But when the prices range from about $3/lb to $15/lb for the various sees and nuts, you know the pre-packagers are using mostly the cheaper ingredients and averaging higher on the pricing.

But the main reason I like making my own mix? It just tastes better.

HOW TO MAKE TRAIL MIX
Note: You can use any combination of nuts and seeds, in any amounts.
2 cups raw sunflower seeds
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup raw pecans
1/2 cup raw walnuts
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup raw hazelnuts

Combine all ingredients in a rimmed baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until nuts are golden. Check and stir every ten minutes.

Let cool and mix with the raisins and cranberries. Store in an airtight container for a few weeks.
Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.

Red Hot Popcorn

I recently decided to try my hand at making kettle-style popcorn. Basically, you add sugar and a little salt along with the kernels to the hot oil, and then you have to shake the pot like crazy to keep the sugar from burning. It tastes good, but I am not sure it is worth the effort of having to keep such a close eye on it to keep it from burning. And believe me, the smell of burnt kettle-style popcorn is something you want to avoid at all costs.

But I liked the idea of it and started to think about how I could make something similar without having to be so careful about it.

Then I remembered by freshman year of college, the year I lived in a dorm. We were not allowed to cook in our rooms. The only kitchen appliance we were allowed to have was a popcorn popper.

In those days, plastic popcorn poppers were becoming the norm, but I knew I wanted a metal one. Why, you ask? Because you can make so much more than popcorn in a metal popcorn popper. They operate on the same principle as the Easy-bake oven, only instead of light bulbs they use heated coils. The coils are on the base, and you put the metal bowl on top of it and fill it with the popcorn and oil. But, you can also fill it with water and Rice-a-Roni (this was before the days of five-for-a-dollar ramen soup packets and Rice-a-Roni was the cheapest thing around). Or mac and cheese. Or even brownie mix. Quite versatile.

But I mainly used it for popcorn. I don't remember if she had ever done it before, but when one of my floor-mates suggested that we put Red Hots into the bowl along with the kernels and the oil, it seemed a reasonable enough thing to do, to an 18-year old with few cooking skills, at any rate.

To my delight, it worked. Instant cinnamon-flavored popcorn. The candy melted and coated the popcorn as the kernels popped. You do have to be careful not to let it burn at the end, but you do not have to shake it constantly while it is popping. It is the easiest form of sugared popcorn that I have seen.

When I first remembered this and went looking for Red Hots, I had some trouble finding them. They used to be a staple in the drugstore candy aisle, but I did not find them at Walgreen's, or Jewel/Osco. I finally found them at my neighborhood Treasure Island. Once again my local grocery store comes through!

There is one slight drawback. The pan will end up with bits of cinnamon candy stuck to it. But a quick soak in hot water takes care of that. It is well worth it when you want to fancy up your popcorn.

RED HOT POPCORN
3 Tbsp grapeseed or peanut oil
1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
1/3 cup red hots
salt

Pour the oil in the bottom of a 3 or 4-quart pot with a heavy bottom. Add the popcorn, then gently pour the red hots over the popcorn. Place the pot over medium-high heat and cover, leaving the lid slightly ajar.

When the popcorn starts popping, remove from the pan for 1 minute, then place it back over the medium-high heat and let it pop until the popping has slowed down, shaking it gently back and forth as the popping starts to slow down, if you like. Do not let it go more than 3 seconds without hearing a pop.

Remove from the heat immediately and pour it into a large bowl. Sprinkle with a little salt and stir it up to break apart the kernels (because of the melted candy, the popcorn will be sticking together in clumps). Chopsticks are a handy tool to use to separate the kernels.

Let cool and enjoy.

Baking Class: Granola

I hope everyone had a Happy New Year. Mine was about as low key as any evening can get, let alone New Year's Eve. I was at my brother's house, as usual, where we all went our separate ways until around 11:30, when we all gathered in the back room to watch Dick Clark Ryan Seacrest welcome in the New Year. You know things are bad when the high point of your evening is catching the long-awaited reunion/teaming of Backstreet Boys New Kids on the Block. Is it just me, or do they need to rethink their names?

And it wasn't just the evening that was low key. My niece and I have gotten into the habit of setting our goals for the year during that evening so we can get started on them on the first. The closest we got this year was talking about talking about them. So we decided that for us, the new year would start the second week of January. And once we made that decision, it was so much easier to just relax and enjoy the rest of my visit, come home and take a breath, and then get started on the new year.

Which might explain the little vacation I took from Blogging. It was unintentional, but I just couldn't get my brain into blog mode, so I decided to wait until the second week of the new year for that, too. So here we go 2011 - I hope it's a better year for everyone than last year was.

I finally bit the bullet and made myself a batch of granola. Actually, I made several. It has taken me a month or so to get it right. The first batch was dark and toasty, the second batch was underdone, and the third batch almost burned to a cinder in my brother's oven in Austin over the Thanksgiving holidays. Then I re-read the recipe and discovered that I was setting the oven too high. After that, it came out golden and crunchy.

It was smooth sailing after that, and I have been enjoying granola on a regular basis ever since. I have been sharing it with all of my friends (it makes a lot), with great success. I'll have a few handsful for a quick snack and it's quite good sprinkled over yogurt.

But my favorite way to eat is something my sister taught me years ago. As I believe I have mentioned before, she was the first one in our family to discover whole wheat, brown rice, and the benefits of vegetarian eating. That was the first time I became a vegetarian. I think it lasted six whole months.

For breakfast, we would take some granola, grate an apple over it and pour in some milk. It was delicious. The sweeteners in the granola would melt into the milk just like the way sugar cereals would, and the apple added a bright, sweet flavor of its own that elevated the whole thing into a delicious, satisfying way to start the day. The only drawback was that it took so long to grate the apple that it was a bit of a challenge, and it was impossible for me to find a way to make it transportable. So it fell by the wayside along with that first bout of vegetarianism.

After I made the granola and didn't know what to do with it, however, my mind went back to that lovely breakfast and I wondered if there wasn't a way I could make it a little easier. Maybe if I chopped the apple instead of grating it?

I got out an apple, made thin slices, then chopped them up as fine as I could manage. I put it on top of the granola, poured milk over mixture, and took a taste. And was immediately transported back to when I first tried it. The chopped apple works as well as the grated, and I can take the apple to work with me and cut it there, so I can take it to work with me.

This recipe is adapted from Molly Wisenberg's (of Orangette and Bon Appetit fame) adaptation of Nigella Lawson's recipe. This recipe just screams adaptation - you can easily tailor it to your tastes. It can be expensive, so you can adjust the ingredients to help keep it more cost effective. Just keep the basic ratios in mind and you can substitute just about anything anywhere, as long as you have the same wet to dry balance. You can also add anything you want to the cooked mixture - dried fruits, coconut, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, peanuts - the possibilities are literally endless.

A few notes. The first time I made it, I was too impatient and did not read the instructions clearly and I added the dried fruit before I baked it. Not the end of the world, if you like hard, crunchy, slightly burnt pellets of fruity rock. If not, be sure to add the dried fruit after it comes out of the oven.

When I made this at my brother's house, they didn't have two regular-sized baking sheets with lips, so I used their two oversized sheets. It didn't help that I had the oven too high, but even with it lower the granola was spread to thinly and cooked much faster than it should have, which is why it came out burned to within an inch of its life (it was edible, thank goodness, but just barely). The next time I made it I just one of the oversized pans. It took longer, but worked out much better.

Be sure to take it out and stir it up every ten minutes. Use the cooking time as a guideline; it will stay soft in the oven so you have to go by sight - when it is nice and golden then you know it is done. If you take it out too soon, though, and it is not as crunchy as you would like, simply put it back in the oven and bake it, checking every ten minutes, until it reaches your desired crunchiness.

This was successful beyond my wildest dreams. I fully expected to like it; I did not expect to like it so much that I have made it over six times in the past month or so. It keeps a long time, but it's never stayed around long enough for me to test how long. The recipe says to keep it in the refrigerator, but I haven't bothered and it hasn't been a problem yet. I did still have some here when I was getting ready to leave for Austin for ten days so I put that in the fridge, and it was fine when I got back.

It's a little labor intensive, because you have to check it every ten minutes, but only for about 40 minutes. That's actually a small amount of work for the payoff that you get. Because it has such a great shelf life you can throw some in a bag to take with you wherever you go so if hunger strikes you have a healthy choice on hand and don't have to struggle with the choice between potato chips or fritos.

Do yourself and your friends a favor. Get crunchy and make some granola.

p.s. Do you like the bowl? I made it a few years ago, when I took some pottery classes.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

DAILY GRANOLA
NOTE: I use the same measuring cup for the applesauce, the brown rice syrup, and the honey, and I measure out the applesauce first, leaving a pretty solid coating when I empty it into the bowl. It coats the cup so the stickier liquids are easier to get out of the cup.

5 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw almonds
1 cup raw pecans
1 cup hulled raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup ground flax seeds*
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/3 cup brown rice syrup**
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp grapeseed or other vegetable oil

Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F.

In a small bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients. Stir to mix well and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Take the time to stir everything together so all of the ingredients are mixed well.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry mix. Again, take the time to stir it well, so that the wet ingredients are fully incorporated into the dry.

Spread the mixture evenly on two rimmed baking sheets. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until evenly golden brown. Set a timer to go off every ten minutes while the granola bakes, so you can rotate the pans and give the granola a good stir; this helps it to cook evenly.

When it's ready, remove the pans from the oven. Stir well - this will keep it from cooling into a hard, solid sheet - and set aside to cool. Set the timer for ten minutes and stir it one more time to make sure it is not sticking to the pan. The finished granola may still feel slightly soft when it comes out of the oven, but it will crisp as it cools.

Store the cooled granola in a large zip-lock plastic bag or other airtight container. The granola will keep in the refrigerator indefinitely.

*Flax seeds have an extremely short shelf life, so if you buy them ground be sure they are fresh, and store them in the freezer.

**Available at Whole Foods or any other health food store. Or, you can substitute with Lyle's Golden syrup.

Yield: about 10 cups

adapted from Molly Wisenberg (who adapted it from a Nigella Lawson recipe) at: http://orangette.blogspot.com/2008/02/consider-it.html

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baba Ghanouj

It was with a bit of a shock that I realized I haven't yet posted a recipe for Baba Ghanouj. It was even more of a shock to realize that I haven't made it since I started this blog. It's one of the first middle eastern dishes I ever made, even before hummus.

I have had the recipe for so long that I no longer remember from where it came. I think I got it after I moved to Chicago because I'm pretty sure I'd never tasted it until I got here, but I'm not really even sure of that. I know that the first time I tried it I fell in love with that first rush of rich smoky mashed roasted eggplant and tahini followed by the fresh sharp zing of lemon and parsley. It was a regular in my rotation for a while. I don't remember when it fell out of the loop.

Last week Treasure Island had eggplant on sale for 69 cents a pound, fresh-picked and huge. I grabbed one with the thought of more Mediterranean-style Pork and Eggplant sauce, but with the cooler weather we've been having my thoughts turned to the oven, and I decided to roast it instead.

I have been looking at recipes for making pita lately, so it was an easy step from the roasted eggplant to baba ghanouj with pita bread. So yes, the bread you see in the photo above is homemade, by moi. It came out soft and full of flavor and was the perfect dipping vehicle. My only quibble is that it didn't rise enough to separate, but that's partly my fault. I don't think I got the oven hot enough, and I peeked while they were baking, something I found out later you're not supposed to do - it lets the steam escape, and that's what causes the bread to split. I'll work on that and report my progress.

If you don't feel like making your own pita bread, no worries. You can find it in just about any grocery store these days. But you should definitely make this dip. Once you start eating it, it is impossible to stop.

Home Cookin Chapter: Appetizers, Spreads and Dips

BABA GHANOUJ

2 medium-small eggplants, or 1 large eggplant
Juice from 1 good-sized lemon
1/2 cup tahini
3 medium cloves garlic, mashed into a paste or grated
1/2 cup finely-chopped parsley
1 tsp salt (to taste)
1/4 cup. finely minced scallions
1 Tbsp olive oil

Cut stem ends off eggplants, prick with fork, and cook on oven rack in 350' oven 3o to 45 minutes, or until the skin has caved in (check after half an hour). The eggplant tastes better roasted in the oven, but during the hot months of summer you can cut the eggplants in half, place them cut-side down on a plate, partially cover them with plastic wrap and cook them in the microwave at 5-minute intervals, until the insides are completely soft.

Scoop insides out of the eggplants into a large bowl, mash them, and combine with all other ingredients except olive oil. Chill. Drizzle olive oil on top before serving.

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Picnic at Rogers Park: Citrus Marinated Olives

The Tuesday between our birthdays, Bob and I got together for another picnic, our first of the season. Instead of wandering around our more familiar haunts in Lincoln Park, I went out to his neighborhood in Rogers Park. We walked through a string of small parks along the lake, finally settling on a more secluded little beach not too far from Evanston. It's really beautiful around there, and it was an absolutely gorgeous day. Ok, I thought it was a little hot in the sun, but Bob just laughed at me. It was pretty fantastic.

I gave quite a bit of thought about what to prepare for our picnic. Seeing that it was a birthday picnic, I did want to make it a little special, even on my more limited means. The only thing I was certain of was that I had been wanting to make some whole wheat french bread for a while. That seemed like a good vehicle for something picnic-y so I pulled out the ingredients the day before and made a couple of loaves.

But what to put in them? I was thinking some kind of pressed sandwich. I had a recipe for citrus-marinated olives that I had been wanting to try. I figured that would make a good base for the sandwiches. I added chunks of tuna canned with olive oil to round it out. I made the sandwiches in the morning, wrapped them tightly, and let them sit under my cast-iron skillet for an hour or so before leaving the house.

I hadn't made French bread in a while, and I had only made it once before, so the loaves were less than perfect. The taste was ok, but the bread was a little thicker and more chewy than I had anticipated. But I will keep working on it until I get exactly the taste for which I am looking.

The marinated olives and tuna were a complete success. The zest from the orange and lemon brightened the salt of the olives, and the red chili flakes gave it a lovely boost. The olives complemented the tuna perfectly. I'm thinking next time I mix a little of the citrus marinade with the tuna the night before I make the sandwiches, to boost the flavor even more.

A chilled soup seemed like it would be a good accompaniment to the spicy sandwiches. There was a recipe for Farmers' Market Chilled Salsa Soup I had pulled from Vegetarian Times a while ago that I decided to try. I followed the instructions and blended up the soup, then froze some of it into ice cube trays to help keep it cool until we were ready to eat it. Unfortunately, I also put it into thermoses, so not only did the ice cubes not melt, they helped to freeze the rest of the soup so we had to wait for it to melt before we could eat it, and it never really melted enough. There was so much olive oil in it that it had coagulated, leaving a most unpleasant texture.

Once it had thawed enough for us to try it, we were both a little disappointed. The flavor was ok, mainly cucumber and green pepper. The salsa I brought to garnish the soup was a canned soupy salsa, so while it did contribute to the flavor, it did nothing for the texture. Bob said he thought it might be better if there were actual chunks of cucumber and green pepper in it. What you see in the picture on the left is from my experimenting with leftovers the next day. I added chopped cucumber, bell pepper, and tomato.

It was an improvement, but not enough of of one to make me inclined to make it again. I had leftover cucumbers and bell peppers and some tomatoes on hand, so when this soup was gone I whipped up a batch of gazpacho. The gazpacho won hands down, so whenever I feel the need to puree me some vegetables I'll take that option, thank you very much.

I'm afraid I am going to have to give up on this magazine. They have quite a few recipes that have looked good over the years, but more times than not I have been disappointed with the outcome.

For dessert, I brought half a loaf of zucchini bread I had made that weekend. My sister and I had been talking about it and zucchini was on sale at Treasure Island, so it seemed like the natural choice.

I got this recipe years ago, just out of high school, from my friend Sharon. I don't know where she got it. It used to seem like a lot of work to make, but now I'm not sure why. There is a lot of zucchini grating required, but that takes just a little bit of work and even less time. It never seems like it's going to amount to much, but it's moist, rich, and delicious. Like gingerbread, it gets more moist over time, and the spices deepen and intensify the flavor. I will definitely make this more often, especially when zucchini are in season.

All in all, it was a delightful meal, perfect for a picnic. As you can see, Bob seemed to enjoy it. We hung around the park for a little while longer before heading across the street back to the city and the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives.

You can find the recipe for the soup (if you want it) by clicking on the link up by the photo. I will follow up on the zucchini bread in another post.

If you want to try the citrus marinated olives, I highly recommend it. The recipe calls for whole olives, but I chopped them so they would make a better condiment for the sandwiches.

Home Cookin Chapter: Appetizers, Spreads and Dips

CITRUS MARINATED OLIVES

Makes about 3 cups

1-1/2 cups Kalamata olives or other brine-cured black olives
1-1/2 cups cracked brine-cured green olives
1 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup orange juice
6 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp grated lemon peel
1 Tbsp grated orange peel
1/2 tsp dried crushed red pepper

Combine all ingredients in large heavy-duty resealable plastic bag. Shake bag to blend ingredients. Refrigerate at least 1 day and up to 3 days, turning bag occasionally. Transfer olives and some marinade to bowl. Let stand 1 hour at room temperature before serving.

from The Flavors of Bon Appetit 2001 (Clarkson and Potter, 2001)

Exported from Home Cookin 5.7 (www.mountain-software.com)

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

I got it in my head this fall that I wanted to cook a pumpkin. I wasn't sure exactly how I wanted to cook it, other than knowing I did not want to make a pie or soup. I let the thought percolate for a couple of weeks to see what might come together. Then Jessica at the knit shop said she used to make pumpkin with pork, and that got me going. But more on that later.

This weekend I went down to the green market and bought myself a pumpkin. It was a cute little thing, maybe three times the size of an acorn squash, not too heavy. I did not want to overdo it. I was telling my sister about it over the phone. The seeds came up, and I was about to say how I would probably not go to the trouble to save and roast them when she said "Of course you'll roast the seeds."

When I still lived at home and my dad would prep the Halloween pumpkin for carving, he would always roast the seeds. My sister and I loved them, and looked forward to Halloween as much for the pepitas as for the candy, I think.

Because my pumpkin was so small, I didn't think there would be that many seeds in it. But when I popped it open, I discovered that there were actually quite a few. They were small, but there were enough to make roasting a viable option. So I decided to give it a try.

And guess what I got? Roasted pumpkin seeds. And they tasted just as good as I remembered. I don't know how often I will be cooking pumpkins, but I can tell you that whenever I do I will be roasting the seeds.

Happy Halloween!

ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS

I used this method for seeds from a smaller "pie" pumpkin. You might need to cook the seeds longer with a larger one.

Preheat the oven to 300 deg. F.

Cut the top off of the pumpkin and lift it off. Scoop out the seeds and place them in a shallow dish. Remove as much of the pulp from them as possible and pat dry. Toss with the oil, chili powder, and salt. Place in a single layer on a cookie sheet and roast them for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.

Saturday in the Park with Bob

Yesterday was my birthday and what a lovely birthday weekend I'm having. Technically, it started on Wednesday night at my knitting class, when my students surprised me with two of my favorite things. Food:and Wine:The cupcakes are from Sensational Bites, a local bakery. Up there are Chocolate, Red Velvet, Raspberry Truffle, and Boston Creme, of recent fame. I had the Boston Creme, which was rich and pudding-y and delicious. I wanted to try them all, but that seemed excessive even for a birthday girl. It just gives me a reason to go there another time, to try another flavor.

The wine is an intriguing grenache from the Barossa Wine Region of Australia. I love the playfulness of the name. One of my students brought a bottle in for a little party we had last month (we do actually knit at knit class, honestly we do) and I got such a kick out of asking everyone if they wanted a little bitch. But the crowning moment was when another student, who came a little late, asked "Who brought the bitch?"

Apparently, the grenache grape is difficult to grow. I think that might be a little of the play on the name. But even though the name is catchy, the wine is actually very good. Not only did they bring a bottle for us to consume on Wednesday night, they brought me a bottle of my very own. There was also a bottle of something called Evil from the same company. Along with a bottle of Goats Do Roam, a South African wine which was also very good. I got to bring the rest of that bottle home with me too. Yes, I am one lucky knitting teacher.

I've taken off work Friday and Monday, so I had a lovely day on Friday. I did not set my alarm and slept until I woke up around 8:45. I took care of the necessary chores right away, like laundry and the dishes, then spent some time reorganizing my apartment and going through the humongous pile of clipped recipes and food-related articles that had accumulated over the past year. That took most of the day.

I also finished my market string bag so I could take it with me to the Green Market:The plan was for Bob to meet me at the Green Market yesterday morning, where we would roam around and buy some picnic goodies, then go eat at in the park. Since the Green Market starts every year on my birthday week, it has become something of a tradition for me to always go that first week. The pickings are usually a little slim because it's the beginning of the season, but I can usually count on some asparagus and spinach, and Nicholson Farms always has potatoes.

But the moment I got there I realized something was different. There was live music, a stage set up off to the side, and about a thousand people. Turns out it's the ten year anniversary of the market, and the Mayor was there and it was this big deal. I am happy that the market is so successful, but selfishly, I was annoyed that there were so many people in the way. The main thing I had wanted for our picnic was some bread, but the line was just too long:So I ran around and grabbed some purple asparagus, spinach, and potatoes while I waited for Bob. As soon as he got there I grabbed him and said "Let's get out of here." I think he wanted to check it out, but I was ready to go start our picnic.

Since I didn't get any bread at the market, we walked down Clark Street to the Big Apple, where we picked up a lovely loaf of french bread (I think it was Gonella) and a container of the most beautiful, fresh-looking cut up strawberries I've ever seen. From there we walked up Fullerton to Lincoln Park, where we sat in the gorgeous sunshine and watched the ducks and the people. It was beautiful. The trees are all fully in bloom and there are all kinds of lush green grasses growing. We passed a beautiful white-flowered tree (don't know what it is) and Bob agreed to pose next to it.And now for the food. You knew there was going to be food, didn't you? In the past, Bob and I have gotten in the habit of meeting for coffee, then walking along the park or the lake, then walking back toward home on Clark Street, stopping for breakfast at Anne Sather, the Melrose, or lately Frances Deli (until it closed for remodeling a couple of weeks ago). But with winter being so damned crappy crappy crappy (oh, and did I mention crappy?) this year, Bob had the brilliant suggestion that, instead of heading back to a restaurant for brunch, we bring goodies with us and have a little picnic in the park or by the lake while the weather is so nice. I thought it was a great idea, and I love that we decided to kick it off on my birthday.

So even though we talked about just picking up picnic-type food while we were out, I couldn't stop thinking about picnic food, and wondering what kinds of things would be good to make. Something relatively easy to eat, that did not have to stay warm, where we could pick up stuff to accompany it so I didn't have to bring a whole lot of stuff with me.

Years and years ago when I was young (can you tell I just had a birthday?) we had a party at work. One of my co-workers brought home-made pimiento cheese and I just could not get over how good it was, especially compared to the store bought stuff I was used to. When I asked for the recipe, she just shrugged and wrote down a few ingredients, without measurements or anything, and said "Just mix it all together." I filed it away in my recipe box, but I never made it.

On Friday, when I was trying to come up with some ideas for our picnic, I did a little online searching and saw a suggestion for pimiento cheese. Seemed like the perfect thing. And maybe a little ham to go with it? I went down to Treasure Island for inspiration. I already had a goat cheddar cheese I bought at Pastoral last week, but I needed something orange to go with it. They had a beautiful Double Gloucester that I hoped would pair nicely with the cheddar. I wandered over to the deli, and the minute I got there I knew I wanted prosciutto, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. The woman who helped me told me to get a honeydew melon and wrap it with the prosciutto. I thought that would complement the pimiento cheese quite nicely.

So I found what I hoped was a ripe melon and threw it in the cart. After I got home I cut open the melon (yay! It was ripe!), and started digging in with my melon baller. I grated up my cheeses, added the rest of the other ingredients and mixed that all up.

I waited until yesterday morning to wrap the prosciutto around the melon balls and secure them with toothpicks. I only had six slices of meat; each worked for three balls, so I had 18 wrapped melon balls. I put the unwrapped balls in the container, and then arranged the wrapped ones on top. I thought it looked pretty nice. By the time we got to the park and opened it up, the meat had kind of melted into the honeydew, and they were just perfect.I had put the cheese in a thermos container so it would stay cool. After our refreshing appetizers, I opened up the thermos. We pulled off chunks of the bread and slathered on the cheese. The bread was perfect - crusty and crisp on the outside, soft and fresh on the inside. The cheese had softened to just the right consistency. Sharp and tangy, with an indulgent overtone of green-olive-salty from the pimientos, it was just what I had hoped it would be. The bread and cheese together were smooth and luscious.
And the strawberries were the perfect dessert. They cut through the saltiness of the cheese and helped quench our thirst. I couldn't have asked for a more successful picnic. We walked back to my neighborhood, said our goodbyes, and Bob decided to walk home while I got ready to go in to the knit shop.

Where I got more cupcakes and some delicious Mexican cookies from Mary and Jessica, respectively. Mary of BertandFelix fame brought chips and salsa. It was nice, and very low key, which was what I wanted. We all got started on the Rosalie Skirt from the new Louisa Harding book, the store's first KAL project. There was quite a bit of cursing and starting overs around the table, but I think everyone had a good time. I know I did.

The evening ended with sushi at Kamehachi with a couple of knitting friends. The perfect end to a perfect day.

Even if it's not your birthday, I highly recommend a picnic in the park. Pimiento cheese is the perfect picnic food: it's incredibly easy to make, it travels well, and all you need to make it perfect is to stop and pick up a loaf of crusty french bread on the way to your destination.

And today is Andrew's birthday. Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Pimiento Cheese

Cheddar cheese (I used white goat cheddar)
Monterrey Jack or Mozzorella cheese (I used Double Gloucester since the cheddar was white)
- 8 ounces total. You can either use equal parts of both, or two parts cheddar to one part Jack
2-oz. jar pimientos, with juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
dash of cayenne
1/8 to 1/4 cup mayonnaise

Grate cheeses. Mix together with all other ingredients, starting with 1/8 cup of mayonnaise and adding more if needed. Chill before using. The longer it sits, the more the flavors blend.

Recipe basically adapted from my friend Cathy Best (whom I hadn't seen for years, and haven't seen again after reconnecting once a few years ago, how does that happen?)

Muhammara

Back when I was writing for Wellfed.net I reviewed a recipe for Muhammara from Ana Sortun's Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean, a wonderful book by the owner of Oleana in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I had been jonesing for another taste of this roasted red pepper and walnut spread ever since the Middle Eastern restaurant owner down the street from the knitting shop suddenly closed his doors and moved back home. So I was thrilled to find the recipe and whipped up a batch.

Which was ok, but not really like the smooth creamy spread I was used to. It was thick and and lumpy, and a little gummy. I figured that was due to two things: 1) there was too high a proportion of bread crumbs to the rest of the ingredients and 2) I didn't process it long enough.

Back when I was roasting all those peppers, I decided to try it again. This time, I used twice as many peppers and half the amount of bread crumbs. That did the trick. It was smooth and creamy, with just the right taste and texture. It's delicious with pita, crackers or vegetables, and makes a wonderful complement to hummus if you're looking for some new appetizers.

I have not seen pomegranate syrup in any of my neighborhood stores and I haven't ventured further afield in search of it. Instead, I bought some pomegranate juice and reduced it down to slightly less than half. I've since seen a recipe that calls for sugar, but the reduced juice is sweet enough without it. It also makes for a mean vinaigrette.

Muhammara (Red Pepper and Walnut Puree)
3/4 cup olive oil, plus 1 Tbsp for garnish
4 large red bell peppers (about 2 pounds total), roasted and peeled
4 whole scallions, root ends trimmed and finely chopped (reserve 1 Tbsp for garnish)
1 tsp chopped garlic (about 1 large clove)
1/3 cup walnut halves, lightly toasted
1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted, plus 1 Tbsp for garnish
1/4 cup finely ground toasted bread crumbs
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (almost 1/2 lemon)
1 Tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 Tbsp Aleppo chilies plus 1/2 tsp for garnish
1 Tbsp Urfa chilies plus 1/2 tsp for garnish
1 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp yogurt
3/4 tsp salt plus more to taste

Remove seeds from the red peppers and place them in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the scallions, garlic, walnuts, pine nuts, bread crumbs, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, Aleppo and Urfa chilies, cumin, yogurt, and the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil. Puree the ingredients until smooth. Season to taste with salt.

Serve with warm or toasted pita bread, crackers, or vegetables.

Adapted from Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean, by Ana Sortun (ReganBooks, 2006)