Ottolenghi's Delicious Dinner Recipe

I really can’t believe summer is nearly over. I haven’t baked or cooked as much as I had hoped. I am going to blame it on our air conditioning being broken from May to early August.

 But I have cooked Ottolenghi’s One Pot Puttanesca recently, from his Flavor cookbook, and it didn’t disappoint.

 

3 T Olive Oil

6 cloves of garlic, minced

One 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained, rinsed and dried

2 t paprika

2 t cumin (ground)

2 t tomato paste

Salt

2 cups parsley, roughly chopped

2 t lemon zest

3 T capers

¾ cup green olives – roughly chopped, pits removed

9 oz cherry tomatoes

2 t sugar

1 t caraway seeds

9 oz orecchiette pasta (I used bow tie)

2 c vegetable stock

¾ c plus t @ water

Black pepper

Directions

In a large sauté pan (that has a lid), combine 3 T of the olive oil, the garlic, chickpeas, paprika, cumin, tomato paste and ½ t salt. Cook over medium heat. Cook for 12 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally. Remove 1/3 of the chickpeas for later.

In a small bowl, combine the parsley, lemon zest, capers and olives. Add 2/3 of this mixture to the sauté pan, along with the cherry tomatoes, sugar and caraway seeds and cook for 2 minutes over medium high heat, stirring often. Add the pasta, stock, water and ½ t salt, and bring to a summer. Decrease heat to medium, cover and cook for 13 minutes or until the pasta is al dente.

Stir in the remaining parsley mixture and garnish with reserved chickpeas.

Add salt and pepper and serve.

 

New Cookbook for me

 The Bundt Collection was calling my name.

First cake I made from this cookbook was a HUGE hit at my office.

Black Cocoa Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

 1 1/4 c unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into chunks

2 1/2 c white sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/2 t vanilla (I use this vanilla) 

1 1/2 c all purpose flour

2/3 c black cocoa

2 1/2 t espresso powder

1 t kosher salt

3/4 t baking powder

3/4 c buttermilk, room temperature

DO NOT PREHEAT OVEN

Generously spray a 10 cup bundt pan with Pam with Flour.

In a bowl of a mixer, add butter and sugar and mix for 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape the sides. Add eggs one at a time while beating, and then add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, put the flour, cocoa, espresso powder, salt and baking powder together.

To the mixer, add 1/3 of the flour and 1/2 of the buttermilk. Stir. Then add 1/3 of flour and the rest of the buttermilk while mixing; and then add the remaining of the flour. 

Pour batter into pan and put in cold oven and bake at 325 for 50-55 minutes. Test by using a toothpick.

Flip onto wire rack with cake in pan but cake on pan. Remove pan after 15 minutes. Let cool.

Vanilla Bean Glaze

1 c confectionary sugar

3 T whipping cream

1/2 t double vanilla

1/2 t kosher salt

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Put on the cake when cool.\

Another amazing cake

 My co-workers were delighted with this cake!

Coffee and Cream Marbled Coffee Cake – Adapted from Bake Magazine

Makes one nine inch cake

Ingredients

1 ½ c (284 grams) unsalted butter, softened

2 ¼ cups (450 grams) sugar

5 large eggs, room temperature

1 T vanilla extract

3 cups (375 grams) all purpose flour

2 ½ t baking powder

1 t kosher salt

¾ c (180 grams) sour cream

3 ounces (85 grams) bittersweet chocolate, melted

3 T instant espresso powder

Instructions

·         Preheat oven to 350 degrees

·         In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium until fluffy – about three minutes. Stop to scrape the sides.

·         Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg. Beat in vanilla

·         Stop the mixer.

·         In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

·         With mixer on low, add 1/3 of the flour with about half of the sour cream; mix; add 1/3 of the flour; mix; add remaining sour cream; mix; add remaining flour.

·         Divide batter in half (approx. 3 cups or 780 grams)

·         In a small bowl, stir melted chocolate and espresso powder. Add to half the batter.

·         In 9 or 10 cup bundt pan, which you have sprayed with PAM, alternate scooping the vanilla batter with the chocolate batter into the pan. Fill the pan.

·         Using a butter knife, swirl the batters together. Tap the pan.

·         Bake until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean, about an hour.

·         Cool in pan for 15 minutes on a wire rack.

·         Remove from pan and let cool on rack.

 

Eat Your Books

 As you may know, I have a few cookbooks. I have more than a few. When I get a new book, I mark down (using post it notes) which recipes look interesting. And then I put the book on the shelf and hope I remember what recipes are in there. 

I plan my menus weekly, and go through some of the books searching for the perfect recipe for the week (who is eating dinner at the house and how much time I have to prepare the meal). 

One of my community members, Robin, suggested Eat Your Books.

Here is how EYB describes itself:

Eat Your Books is a website for people who love cookbooks and love to use great recipes. If you have a cookbook collection, you probably get a lot of pleasure from browsing your books - but there are times when you haven't got time to look through them all to find a recipe. Or maybe you feel you're not using them as effectively as you'd like, sticking to familiar recipes or not branching beyond the current favorites.

Eat Your Books can help you find recipes in seconds - we're the only website to have indexed the most popular cookbooks, so you can include them in your online searches.You might also like to use recipes from other sources and with Eat Your Books you can do a single search across ALL your recipes, no matter where they are.  

With Eat Your Books you can create your own personal Bookshelf and you can find recipes across:

• Your cookbooks - tell us which cookbooks you own. If we haven't indexed a favorite book, use the EYB indexing tools and do it yourself.  

• Your food magazines - add that stack of magazines, all the most popular magazines have been indexed.  

• Great food blogs and websites - add Food52, David Lebovitz, Smitten Kitchen, 101 Cookbooks and many more.  

• Your own personal recipe clippings - bring some order to your clippings files by using the EYB indexing tools.  

• Your favorite online recipes - using the EYB Bookmarklet you can add any online recipe to your collection.

Eat Your Books is NOT a recipe site, so you won't find the recipes here, but you will be able to find them and if there is an online version of the recipe there will be a link to it.  

It costs $30 a year to sign up. Once you are a member you select the cookbooks that you own to your bookshelf. I would say 99% of my cookbooks that I own have been indexed, so I don’t need to add anything else. I have a few books that are not indexed (mostly community groups that published cookbooks for fundraising), and I haven’t had the time to volunteer to index them.

Once your books are entered, you can search your recipes (and you can filter for ingredients, and course (Asparagus and side dish); and the titles appear (with the cookbook and page number).

It is life changing, especially if you belong to a CSA and get weekly boxes. You can search for that ingredient and find a recipe in a book that you already own.

I have already searched their list of cookbooks that will be published in 2023. That is very nice.

Let me know what you think.

Instant Pot - No Fry Refried Beans

 

During the summer of 2022, Adam and I went to Cabo, and I ate alot of refried beans. I have been thinking about all the amazing things I had while in Cabo. Tonight, I made a super easy Instant Pot bean recipe that I will be making again and again.

No-Fry Refried Beans from Instant Pot Miracle (with some modifications)

Serves 6-8 adults

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups dried pinto beans

5 cups fat free vegetable broth

4-6 sprigs of fresh cilantro

1/2 t plus 1/4 t cumin

 1 bay leaf

1 T canola oil

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 small jalapeno pepper seeds removed (I only used 1/2)

3 garlic cloves minced

salt and pepper

Rinse beans with cold water and remove any shriveled beans or discolored beans. Add beans to Instant Pot. Add broth, cilantro, and 1/2 teaspoon of cumin and 1 bay leaf. Close the lid and select MANUAL and chose HIGH PRESSURE for 40 minutes. When complete, allow a natural release.

Pour beans into colander set over a large bowl to catch the bean liquid. Discard cilantro and bay leaf.

Pour 1 1/2 c of bean liquid into a measuring cup.

Press sauté on the pot. When hot add oil. Then add onion, jalapeño and garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Stirring occasionally. Press cancel and add cumin. Add bean liquid.

In a blender pour the contents of the pot and blend VERY quickly as to NOT make it smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

My First Ukranian Recipe

 I pre-ordered Budmo, during the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and had been waiting for the release. My first recipe, Bell Peppers, was a big hit.

Serves Six

Ingredients

3/4 cup rice (white regular)

salt and pepper

6 medium orange peppers

2 T Canola Oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 large carrot, grated

1 T tomato paste

2 cups canned diced tomatoes

2 cups vegetable stock

1 T cream

1 pound of Morningstar Grillers 

1 bay leaf

In a small saucepan, combine rice with enough water to cover it by two inches, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and cook for 10 minutes. Drain rice and let cool.

Cut off the stems of each pepper and remove the seeds.

In a large sauté pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and carrot and cook for 9 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add canned tomatoes and stock. Stir, turn up heat to medium high. bring to simmer and then stir in the cream. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.

In a bowl, mix together the grillers (frozen) and cooked rice. Season with salt and pepper. Stuff the peppers with the rice mixture. Stand the peppers in a pot large enough to hold them but not so they crush each other. Then pour tomatoes sauce around the peppers. Insert bay leaf into sauce. Put pot on medium high heat and when the sauce boils turn down to low and cover. Heat for 40 minutes.

Put each pepper on a plate and serve with sauce. Make sure bay leaf is put into the compost bin and not on a plate.

Mae's Chocolate Pie

 When I was growing up, my parents were friendly with two sisters, Mae and Diane. Both were amazing cooks, and Christmas was a FEAST. Diane would host. Mae would bring dessert. Diane made baked ziti for an appetizer! There were cannolis for dessert. Mae often made the cover of Bon Appetit, including this one. It was amazing.

However this chocolate pie is much easier to make!

Ingredients:

1 frozen pie crust

1 1/2 c sugar

6 oz semi sweet chocolate

4 eggs

2 sticks butter

2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Bake pie crust and let cool

Melt chocolate and butter together. Put in mixer, and add sugar. Mix. Add four eggs and vanilla and have the stand mixer mix for 5 minutes (I use the whisk attachment). Pour into crust. Put in fridge.

 

Sweet and Sour Meatballs - A Weitzman Favorite

 I didn't make meatballs when the kids were younger. I am not a meatball lover, and didn't really care. But I have made this recipe for Passover and all year round. I can also make them with meat or with vegetarian balls.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1/4 c. matzo meal
• 1 t onion powder
• 1 t dried oregano - from the Spice House
• 1 large egg
• 1 16 oz can of whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1 26 oz jar of marinara sauce (I use Paul Newman's)

Instructions:

In a pot over low heat, combine the cranberry sauce and the marinara sauce while you make the meatballs. Stir every once in a while.

In a bowl mix the beef, matzo meal, onion powder, oregano and egg. I use gloves to really get into the mixture. Form meatballs that are about 1-2 inches in diameter. Drop them into the sauce. Cover. Cook for 45 minutes. Test a meatball to confirm meat is done.

To make it vegetarian, I use either pre-formed balls or I take the "meat" and form my own.

Yotam's Cous Cous Cake

 Last week I decided to make Yotam's VERY GIANT COUSCOUS Cake, and it was delicious. Yotam did indiciate that the cook time is 1 hour and 20 minutes, however it isn't all at once.

Three out of four of us liked it!

Ingredients:

1 2/3 c pearl couscous (rounder than regular couscous)

1 1/3 c boiling water

10 scallions (about a bunch) - cut into large pieces

8 T olive Oil

5 oz baby spinach

1 T coriander seeds (toasted and crushed with a mortar and pestle)

1 c. grated mozzarella

1/2 c grated pecorino

2 garlic gloves, minced

3/4 c basil leaves

3/4 c Greek Yogurt

2 large eggs

6 T AP Flour

Pepper Sauce Ingredients:

2 red bell peppers

1 tomato

4 T olive oil

2 large heads of garlic

1 1/2 T red wine vinegar

1 t maple syrup

Salt

Pepper

Preheat the oven to 425. Cut the peppers into quarters and cut the tomato in half. Put them on a piece of parchment paper with 1 T olive oil, salt and pepper.

Cut the top off the garlic heads and put them on some tin foil. Put a bit of oil on each with salt and pepper and wrap BOTH in one piece of tinfoil. 

Roast both for 35 minutes and let cool.

Peel and discard pepper and tomato skins and put flesh into the food process along with the roasted cloves of garlic. Add the vinegar, maple syrup and 3 T of oil. Process until smooth.

Pour the boiling water and couscous together into a pan. Cook. Let cool.

In a large sauté pan, heat the scallions with 2 t olive oil for 4 minutes. Take out scallions and set them aside.

Heat another 2 t olive oil and add the spinach and cook for 90 seconds. Put in a large bowl. Add scallions and couscous, coriander seeds, mozzarella cheese, pecarino cheese, garlic, basil, yogurt, eggs, flour and salt and pepper. Mix really well.

In large sauté pan, heat 5 T olive oil. Add couscous mixture and smoosh into large pancake. Heat over medium heat for 15-18 minutes. Carefully flip the pancake and put back into the pan with 1 T olive oil. Cook for 8 minutes.

Flip onto cutting board, and slice into servings and serve with pepper sauce.

Greek Salad

 I have been incorporating more salads into our family dinners. My daughter loves an "elaborate" salad, which really means, lots of interesting things into a typical green salad. She likes edamame, chickpeas, candied almonds and craisins. 

But the typical green salad was getting boring, as was Israeli Salad, which is another standard at my house.

Deborah Madison's Greek Salad from Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone:

2 cups of salad greens

2 ripe tomatoes (the recipe called for four, but two large ones were plenty)

1 large cucumber, halved, seeded and thinly sliced (turns out my daughter prefers her cucumbers this way, as she doesn't like the "stuff" surrounding the seeds.)

1 large bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced

8 pepperoncini

2 T capers, rinsed

12 green olives

4 oz feta cheese, and I like this cheese

1 t Greek oregano

1/3 cup coarsely chopped parley

Salt

Pepper

1 lemon, cut into wedges.

On a platter (I have always used a bowl for salads, but this method has inspired me) scatter the greens. Arrange the tomatoes, cucumber and peppers on the platter. Place the onion rings on top, and then place the pepperoncini, capers, olives and cheese around the platter.

Sprinkle the oregano and parsley over the salad.

Season with salt and pepper.

Garnish with lemon wedges.

Delicious Dinner - Yotam

 Yotam Ottolenghi!  A wonderful chef with creative flavors.  He was supposed to come to Boston this year and I had tickets to hear him speak, but we all know how 2020 turned out and there was no event.

But, Yotam's new cookbook was released last week, and I have already read it, and made one delicious recipe.

Many readers know how much my family loves Pepper Pasta (Cacio e pepe).  Yotam has Za'atar Cacio e Pepe.  Amazing.

1 pound spaghetti (I purchased it, but you could easily make your own)

1/4 c unsalted butter

1 T za'atar (I get mine from the Spice House in Evanston, IL)

2 tsp ground pepper (I don't measure it.  I grind until it is right.)

130 g grated parmesan

30 g grated pecorino

2 T olive oil.

Cook the spaghetti according to the box with some added salt to the water.

Before draining, scoop out two cups of the pasta water and reserve.

In a large non-stick sauté pan, melt the butter on high heat.  Then add 1 T za'atar and the pepper and cook for a minute.  Stir.  Add water, and heat til boiling.  Boil for 5 minutes.  Add pasta and stir until pasta until well coated.  Add parmesan in two batches and keep stirring.  Make sure first batch of cheese is fully melted before adding the second batch.  Then add pecorino and continue to stir until cheese is melted.

Transfer pasta to bowl and finish with olive oil, a pinch of salt and if desired a pinch of za'atar.

Serve with a green salad. 

Maple Scones

Ingredients

2 cups AP Flour
1 T Baking Powder
3/4 t salt
4 T cold butter - cut into small pieces.
3/4 c half and half
1/4 c  real maple syrup

2 T butter, melted
2 T real maple syrup

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425.  Lightly grease a baking sheet.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a food process.  Put butter into the food processor and process until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Blend half and half and 1/4 cup of maple syrup together and pour into processor. 

Flour a pastry mat, and turn the dough onto the mat.  Roll 1/2 thick and cut with a biscuit cutter (3-4 inch rounds).  Place on baking sheet.  Continue until dough is gone.

Stir together the melted and butter and 2 T of maple syrup.  Brush on top of each scone.

Bake 14 minutes (scones will be golden).

Remove scones and cool for 15 minutes on wire rack.

Eat.

Cauliflower "Popcorn" - Kosher for Passover and All Year Round

I am NOT a big fan of cauliflower, but this recipe is delicious!

2 heads of cauliflower, cut into medium size florets, stems and leaves tossed into the compost pile
1 t fine sea salt
2 t white sugar
1/4 t onion powder
1/4 t garlic powder
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t tumeric
1/2 c olive oil

Preheat oven to 450

Cover baking sheet with tinfoil and spray with Pam

In a large bowl combine everything but the cauliflower.  Then stir in the cauliflower and stir really well.

Put the cauliflower on the pan and bake 30 minutes, or until a fork can pierce a piece of cauliflower

The recipe says serves 8, but my family of four ate the whole thing as a side dish for dinner.

Chicken Soup with Matza Balls

From Mady Donoff - Temple Emanuel Sisterhood Cookbook

Serves 10-12

2 pounds chicken frames

1 large package of chicken thighs

2 medium onions, cut into quarters

1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks

3 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks

1 pound bag of carrots - peeled and cut into chunks

3 celery stalks, cut into quarters

1 T of fresh dill, chopped

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper

Place chicken and frames in a 10-12 quart soup pot and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil.

Skim off "scum" that surfaces to the top.  Continue to skim until water is only cloudy.  Add all vegetables, seasonings and bay leaves.  Bring to a boil.  Then lower heat.

Cover pot and cook over low to medium low heat for at least three hours.  Stir occasionally.

Allow soup, chicken and vegetables to cool in pot.  Remove chicken, bones and vegetables from pot with slotted spoon.  Discard bones and set aside chicken for the soup.  Strain soup multiple times.  Mash the sweet potato through a strainer and add to the soup.  Add salt and pepper.  Slice cooked carrots into pieces and return to soup along with the chicken pieces.  Refrigerate or freeze until serving.  Be sure to skim off excess fat before reheating.

Serve with matzo balls.  

Matzo Balls

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 c water

1/3 oil

1 t salt

pepper

1 cup matzo meal

Combine the eggs with the water, oil, salt and pepper.  Mix well.  Add matzo meal and stir, but do not not overmix.  Cover mixture and place in refrigerator for 20 minutes.  Bring five quarts of salted (1 T kosher salt) water to a boil.

Remove mixture from fridge, and stir once to ensure all liquid has been absorbed.  Form into free form balls.

Drop balls gently into the boiling water.  Once water has come to a boil again, reduce heat to avoid boiling over.  Cover pot and cook for 20 minutes.

Remove cooked balls with a slotted spoon and store in container until ready to use.  Then slip into warm soup.  

Seder One (which will also be Seder Two meal)

Chicken Soup from the Temple Emanuel Cookbook and a vegetarian version.

Knishes from the Butcherie

Roasted Chicken

Mushroom Lasagna - instead of the ground beef I use pulverized mushrooms

Cauliflower popcorn from Kosher by Design

Fudge Chocolate Bundt Cake - From Perfect Pseach Cookbook

Since it is the four of us, it will be be small.

Passover Granola Recipe

Super easy but watch it so it doesn't burn

3 Cups of Matzo Farfel
3/4 c. chopped walnuts
4 T canola oil
1/2 t. cinnamon
3-4 T honey
salt

Mix everything into a large bowl and then spread out on a large greased cookie sheet.

Bake 350 for 20-30 minutes until golden brown, depending on your oven.

Stir occasionally.

Remove from oven and let cool.  Add craisins, raisins and chocolate chips.

Store in a large air tight container.

Chocolate Chip Scones

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
3 T sugar
4 T cold, unsalted butter, cut into chunks
7 T half and half
1 large egg plus one large egg yolk
2 t vanilla
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Set the oven for 375 bake and line a baking sheet with tin foil, sprayed with Pam.

In a food processor, mix flour, baking powder, salt and the sugar.

Place butter chunks on top and process.

In a small bowl whisk half and half, the egg, the egg yolk and vanilla and then pour into food processor while processing.  The dough will form into a large clump.  Take it out and put it on a cutting board with a bit of flour.  Put in the chocolate chips and knead.

Put chunks of dough onto the baking sheet (it should make about 6-8 scones).

Bake 30-35 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Another Day - Another Cake

I am always up for making a cake.

And now that I have all these fancy NordicWare Bundt pans, I was ready to try a new cake.

And since a friend, doesn't like chocolate and she was coming to the party, had to try the New York Times Old Fashioned Doughnut Bundt Cake.

It was amazing.  Even the chocolate lovers took a second slice.

Lemon Cake from King Arthur Flour

Lemon Bliss Cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Gather your ingredients:

16 tablespoons (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup milk
1 T Lemon Paste or lemon extract


Beat together the butter, sugar, and salt, first until combined, then until fluffy and lightened in color.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl once all the eggs have been added, and beat briefly to recombine any residue.

Measure the flour by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Whisk the baking powder into the flour. Add the flour mixture to the batter in three parts alternately with the milk, starting and ending with the flour.

Mix until everything is well combined; the batter may look a bit rough, but shouldn't have any large lumps.  Stir in lemon paste/lemon extract.

Thoroughly grease a 10- to 12-cup Bundt pan, making sure to coat all the pan's nooks and crannies.  Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, leveling it.

Bake the cake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, make the glaze:

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice; the juice of about 1 1/2 juicy lemons
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Stir together the lemon juice and sugar. Microwave or heat over a burner briefly, stirring to dissolve the sugar. You don’t want to cook the lemon juice, so microwave just until very warm, but not uncomfortably hot — less than 1 minute should do it. Set the glaze aside.

Remove the cake from the oven, and carefully run a knife between cake and pan all around the edge. Place the pan upside down on a cooling rack. If the cake drops out of the pan onto the rack, remove the pan. If the cake doesn’t drop onto the rack, let it rest for 5 minutes, then carefully lift the pan off the cake. But if the cake still feels like it's sticking, give it another 5 minutes upside down, then very gently shake the pan back and forth to loosen and remove it.

Brush the glaze all over the hot cake, both top and sides. Let it sink in, then brush on more glaze, continuing until all the glaze is used up.

Allow the cake to cool completely before icing and serving.
To make the icing:

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
2 to 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Mix the sugar and salt, then mix in 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice, adding just enough additional juice to create a thick glaze, one that's just barely pourable.  Drizzle it artfully over the completely cool cake.

Another great fall cake

King Arthur Flour has the best recipes.

Pumpkin Espresso Cake

I did use Kahlua instead of rum