African Pineapple Peanut Stew

This is a recipe from Bridget at The Way the Cookie Crumbles adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home.

4 servings

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
1 bunch kale or Swiss chard, large stems discarded, leaves chopped coarse
1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained
½ cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
¼ cup peanuts, chopped
1 scallion, sliced

4 servings cooked grain, potato

1. Heat the oil in a 5-quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until just browned at the edges, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2. Add pineapple to the pot and bring to a simmer; add the greens, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until just tender. Stir in the peanut butter and hot sauce and simmer for another 5 minutes, until the flavors are blended. Stir in the cilantro just before serving and add salt if necessary. Serve over rice or couscous, garnishing each serving with the peanuts and scallions.

Comments: Definitely needs the recommended cayenne. I used the full T. of Tabasco, and was underwhelmed. Otherwise, it’s a decent dish, but not something I went crazy for. I probably won’t return to it. On the other hand, it was great for getting ideas on how to shoot an otherwise un-photogenic dish.

Homemade Apple Sauce

I needed apple sauce for this recipe, and since it didn’t show up at my first two grocery stores, I decided to google it. Gold! This recipe, adapted from AllRecipes was perfect!

• 2 apples--cored and chopped
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 T. white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a saucepan, combine apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft. Allow to cool, then process in a food processor.

Asian Ginger Dressing

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup water

Blend in food processor (or whisk by hand).

Comments: Good dressing. I ate it with green salads, it’d also be good over cooked veggies.

Enchilada Sauce sans tomato

I usually fall back on this 10-Minute Enchilada sauce, which is tasty with its 1/4 cup chili powder, but I was in the mood to try something different, and decided to go with this one.

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup diced onion
• 3 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 5 tablespoons hot chili powder
• 4 1/2 cups vegetable
• 1/2 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in flour and chili powder, reduce heat to medium, and cook until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning flour.
2. Gradually stir in tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, and onion salt into the flour and chili powder until smooth, and continue cooking over medium heat approximately 10 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt.

Comments: This was good, I was surprised at not missing the tomato taste, although I had to omit the chocolate (due to not having any). I also used bouillon instead of broth, and simply mixed it with less water rather than using the full amount and reducing it. However, I think I still enjoy the 10 minute sauce best.

Roasted Tomato Pasta Sauce

Roasted tomatoes. You really can’t go wrong. Unless you burn the tomatoes, and I managed not to! I’m finally starting to learn the ins and outs of this silly gas oven! This is based on a Cook’s Illustrated recipe, posted by Captious Vegetarian.

• 1 small shallot, sliced thin
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 pound cherry tomatoes (about 1.5 pints), each tomato halved pole to pole
• 1/4 tsp. salt + extra for pasta water
• 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
• 3/4 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 1/3 pound whole wheat rigatoni
• 2 Tbs. torn basil leaves
• parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, gently toss the tomatoes with 5 tsp. of oil, salt, pepper flakes, black pepper, sugar, vinegar, and garlic. Spread in even layer on rimmed baking sheet (about 17 by 12 inches). In the same bowl, toss shallots with 1 teaspoon oil; scatter shallots over tomatoes.
3. Roast until edges of shallots begin to brown and tomato skins are slightly shriveled (tomatoes should retain their shape), 35 to 40 minutes. (Do not stir tomatoes during roasting.) Remove tomatoes from oven and cool 5 to 10 minutes.
4. While tomatoes cook, bring 2 quarts water to boil in large stockpot. Just before removing tomatoes from oven, stir 1 tsp. salt and pasta into boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain pasta and add to the large bowl you used for the tomatoes. Using a metal spatula, scrape the tomato mixture into the bowl on top of the pasta. Add the basil and toss to combine. Serve immediately, sprinkling cheese over individual bowls.

Comments: This was tasty and easy. I was surprised at how simple it was. However, it wasn’t mind-blowing, as I think CI recipes should be. I’ll probably make it again, as it is tomato season, but I don’t think I’ll miss it terribly in the winter.

Vodka Sauce

Another recipe I’ve been wanting to try for ages! It was my favorite in my favorite Italian restaurant in Madrid, and I found a bottled dressing that was quite tasty (Newman’s, I think) at home (and another, Trader Joe’s brand, that was horrible)…but I had never made it myself. The cream scared me off for a while. But a year in Argentina has done wonders to change my perception of cream, so it was time!

Ingredients

· 1 quart tomato sauce, or store-bought marinara sauce

· 1 cup vodka

· 1/2 cup cream, at room temperature

· 1/2 cup grated Parmesan

· 1 pound pasta (I used spaghetti)

Directions

1. Simmer the tomato sauce and vodka in a heavy large skillet over low heat until the mixture reduces by 1/4, stirring often, about 20 minutes.

2. Stir the cream into the tomato and vodka sauce. Simmer over low heat until the sauce is heated through.

3. Stir in the Parmesan cheese until melted and well blended.

4. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta and transfer it to the pan with the sauce, and toss to coat.

Comments: This was awesome in the pot and when I dipped my bean balls in, but pouring it over pasta made it very watery. I think next time I’ll reduce the vodka a bit, as it was still very alcohol-y tasting, which will reduce some of the liquid, and then make sure to simmer it down so it’s a bit thicker. I also didn’t use very much parmesan, as the recipe was already fairly indulgent. This would be great for company and special occasions.

Teriyaki Stir Fry

I was looking for a stir-fry sauce, and came across this one. It was great, although even when I scaled it down to two servings and used half, it was too much for my giant plate of veggies, tofu and rice.

Ingredients

2/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 clove garlic, minced

Directions

In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, ginger, and garlic.

Comments: As I mentioned, this made too much for the serving, but it was good, and definitely improved my typical stir fry. The recipe originally called for sherry instead of vinegar, but I subbed the vinegar as I had no sherry and topped everything with sriracha. I'd mix sriracha into the sauce next time, before cooking everything, but this was good.

Old Fashioned Pesto with Walnuts

I've been craving pesto, but stumped by my lack of food processor-blender gadget. So, yesterday I looked into the traditional mortar and pestle methods...then fashioned a mortar and pestle from the end of a wide-handled fork and ceramic bowl, and went to town. Ghetto? Desperate? Tasty!

Here's how it went down:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups loosely packed basil
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted, plus crushed pine nuts for garnish
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese, grated, plus more for garnish
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

Method:

1. Combine basil, toasted pine nuts, garlic, and salt in your mort ar.
2. Grind with pestle in a pounding and/or rotating motion until a paste is formed, about 5 minutes.
3. Add cheese; grind until combined.
4. Briskly stir pesto with a wooden spoon while drizzling in the olive oil.
5. Drizzle pesto with more oil until desired consistency is reached.
6. Let rest while cooking your pasta.
7. Stir pesto into drained pasta while still hot.
8. Garnish with extra cheese and crushed pine nuts.

Comments: So, I'm terrible at following directions, and began grinding the basil with just salt. I believe the garlic and nuts would allow it to break down faster, and give much better results. Also, I used walnuts instead of pinenuts, as I had them on hand. I halved the recipe, because that was how much basil I had, but next time I'd try and do a full batch, this went too quickly!

More Peanut Sauce--The winner!

Okay, so I gave things another go a few days ago, and found what I was looking for! while the sweet potato recipe is good for veggies, this one holds up to pasta as it's a bit thicker.

2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter

2 tablespoons peanut oil

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon honey

2 medium cloves garlic, chopped coarse

1 ½ inch piece ginger , peeled

½ jalapeño chile , halved and seeded

Comments: Perhaps due to its thickness, this utterly failed on my beets and sugar snap peas. I'll have to compare it to the sweet potato recipe to see how it compares with the addition of water, as they're probably quite similar. I subbed vegetable oil for the peanut oil, a mix of vinegars for the rice and sriracha for the jalapeño.

Comments Update: I tried this again with veggies and tofu. Not happening, this is delicious on pasta, but I'm returning to the old recipe for veggies.

Another Peanut Sauce

Yes, I'm still trying to get it right...but I think it's been so long since I tried the Smitten Kitchen one, I've forgotten. It's probably better, this was very watery when mixed with cooked veggies. Maybe better with pasta and raw veggies.

1 tsp canola oil
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tbsp soy sauce
4 tsp vinegar
1/4 tsp sriracha
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup hot vegetable broth
1/2 tsp salt

Blend ingredients well.

Pasta with Let-My-Eggplant-Go-Free! Puree

I loved the idea of Francis Lam's eggplant sauce for pasta, however this didn't come out quite as I imagined. It was thick and rich--not bad, but not addictively good, and had the unfortunate eggplant appearance rendering it unfit for company. If I make it again, I will try fresh oregano, as the original recipe called for and omit the basil and tomatoes, as I didn't feel the basil added anything and the sun dried tomatoes went unnoticed.

Serves 4 as a main course, 6 as a starter

2 medium eggplants, cut into ½ inch slices
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, lightly smashed (I mean just flatten them, don’t take out your aggression on them)
2 T oregano
1 cup stock
2 tablespoons sun dried dried tomatoes, minced
6 leaves basil, chiffonaded
Salt and pepper
1 pound long pasta – spaghetti, linguini, whatever floats your boat

• Lightly salt the slices of eggplant, stack them back together and let it all hang out for about 20 minutes. This will season it and water will drip out, allegedly removing the bitterness, if it’s there. They also say to choose eggplants that are dense and heavy for their size to make sure it’s not bitter.

• Dry off the eggplant, cut it into chunks. Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a wide, heavy saucepan, add the garlic cloves, and set over low heat. You’re just trying to get them friendly with one another, so don’t worry if nothing happens for a while. When you start hearing the garlic sizzle a little and can smell it, drop in your eggplant and stir to coat it all with oil. Turn up the heat a little bit to medium high and add your oregano and stir. When the eggplant is turning translucent and softening, add the liquid, let it come to a boil, and turn it back down to medium-low. Let it bubble for a bit and cover it, leaving a crack for steam to escape. Stir once in a while so that the bottom doesn’t stick.

• Meanwhile, bring water to boil, salt it, and cook your pasta.

• Check on your eggplant. Is the liquid mostly absorbed or reduced? It should be after about 20 minutes or so. Does it look good and mashable? Great. Mash it up with a spoon, and adjust the seasoning to taste. Isn’t it great? Silky smooth and garlicky and eggplanty and humming with oil? And totally stress-free! Amazing.

• Drain your perfect al dente pasta and toss with the eggplant puree. Stir in your minced tomatoes and basil and gild the lily with some more oil. Celebrate your new friendship.

Peanut Sauce (Smitten Kitchen)

Directly pilfered from here. Next time I'll decrease the soy sauce, and maybe a bit of water.

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
1 tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger (I subbed 1 tsp. dried)
1 medium garlic clove, chopped
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons Asian toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes or a splash of the hot sauce or chili paste of your choice

Purée dressing ingredients in a blender until smooth, about 2 minutes, then transfer to a large bowl. Ya!