Bulgur and Ricotta Cups

When moving food for Passover, I realized I have an almost-empty bag of bulgur.  I made a batch of bulgur pudding, but there was still some left.  It was barely enough for any one recipe.  I also had bit of ricotta left from the matzoh lasagna that wasn't getting any younger.  Ok, let's see what happens when you put them together.

What I had in mind was a vegetarian protein with a decent amount of fiber.  What I ended up with were upside-down mini-muffins that would make a good hors d'oeuvre in a finger food display or large "croutons" on a salad.  The latter is what I ended up doing, plating it for the photo as an appetizer/salad that would go for $12 at a fancy restaurant.  Yes, for just that.

*1/2 C fine or medium bulgur, dry
*3/4 C ricotta cheese
1 egg
2 Tb minced shallot
*1 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper
Pan spray (preferably olive oil)

1.  In a bowl, pour 1 C boiling water over the dry bulgur.  Allow it to soak for half an hour, then fluff with a fork.

2.  Add remaining ingredients and stir into a paste.  This part can be done ahead and kept in the refrigerator up to 12 hours.  Longer, and you may want to add more water.  You can change out the herbs to fit whatever you're making.  I thought basil went well with the salad.

3.  Preheat the oven to 375º.  Pan spray a mini muffin pan like it's an ingredient.  In addition to greasing the cups, this is the oil that's going to "fry" the outsides and create a nice browned, crunchy layer.  Basically, I didn't feel like getting out the fryer and chose to bake these.  If you want, go ahead and make them like a cheesy, bulgur version of falafel.

4.  Fill the muffin cups just to level.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until tops are set and you can see the browning around the edges.  Carefully pop out onto a cooling rack.  Can be served at any temperature.  Serve with some kind of garnish for an hors d'oeuvre like a sprig of fresh basil or a dollop of tapenade, as part of a plated appetizer, or instead of croutons in a salad.

Makes about 18

Difficulty rating  π

Kumquat Marmalade

One of my regular customers had a huge bag of kumquats and offered me as much as I wanted.  We had a kumquat tree when I was little, where the Pond is now, so all I could think of was making jam with the pound I took, like we used to do.  Grandma Sophie didn't have a recipe for it because we were just refrigerating the jam.  For a canning-safe version, I went to Preserving by the Pint.  Just two ingredients, three if you count water.  I added spices for this post, but you don't have to.

For those who have never heard of them, kumquats are some of the smallest citrus fruits.  Their rinds are sweet and the insides bitter.  You can eat them whole, make marmalade, preserve in syrup, or pickle in a sweet vinegar brine.  They're fantastic thinly sliced on a salad or in a vinaigrette.

Yes, there's a lot of prep work in this, like the first act of Les Miz (original Broadway cast).  After all the trimming and slicing, you simply boil, put it in jars, and process (other half of the show).  Since this is a small-batch recipe, it's a fun project.  I wouldn't want to put up five pounds.  Had enough of trimming after the artichokes.

*1 lb kumquats
1-1/2 C sugar
2 C water
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 tsp ground cardamom (optional)

1.  Prepare a boiling water bath and jars for a 1 pt yield.  I did one wide-mouth half-pint and two jelly jars.  Place new lids in a small saucepan with water and simmer to soften.

2.  Wash the kumquats well and pick out any with rotten spots.  Cut off the stem ends and cut into quarters lengthwise.  Remove any seeds and trim off the white membrane running down the center.  Keep them for the next step.  What you'll have left is the rind and a little bit of pulp.  Cut into long strips.

3.  After about 90 minutes, you'll have close to 2 cups of kumquat strips and less than a cup of seeds and membranes.  The original recipe says to tie the guts in a piece of cheesecloth.  I was out and put them in my large loose-leaf tea strainer.  It has a hook that fit on the pot I was using and dipped low enough for the pectin to make its way into the batch.

4.  Place kumquat strips, sugar, water, and spices in a non-reactive saucepan.  Drop in cheesecloth pouch.  Stir together and heat to boiling.  Continue to boil, skimming and stirring as necessary, until mixture reaches 220º.  This is going to take at least half an hour.  If you don't have a thermometer, you'll be able to tell when it's ready because the bubbles will get bigger, be less foamy, and start to look like glass.  There's also the frozen plate test, but once you've done this a few times you kind of know by sight.

5.  Remove pot from heat and discard cheesecloth.  Ladle marmalade into prepared jars.  Wipe rims, center lids, and secure rings finger-tight.  Process for 10 minutes in boiling water bath.  Remove and place on a towel to cool to room temperature before removing rings, testing seals, wiping clean, and marking for storage.  You can re-process once if the seal fails, but more might make the jam bitter.

Yield: 1 pint

Difficulty rating:  :)

Herbed Lemon Chicken with Parmesan

Most Americans equate Italian food with pasta and tomato sauce or pesto.  Not all Italians cook the same thing.  Pizza is from Napoli.  The far north eats heavier items like sausages.  And in Tuscany, you find almost French fare.  In fact, tomatoes have been a part of Italian cuisine for less than 500 years.  That leaves 2000 years of traditional dishes that do not include the tomato, or any New World ingredient.

This version of a roasted chicken dish is pretty basic, but looks fancy.  You just marinate in a light dressing, bake, and add parmesan at the end.  The effort is minimal, and you only have to plan a whopping two hours ahead.  That's about how much time I had from getting home from the market to putting the chicken in the oven.  The focaccia bread was free with a coupon and the broccoli was cheap.  I already had the parmesan in the fridge.  With the chicken thighs on sale, what you see in the top photo cost me about 75¢, or $3 for four servings.  If you're a mindful and creative shopper (and happen to grow your own lemons), nice food doesn't have to be expensive.

*juice of 1 lemon
2 Tb olive oil
*1/2 tsp dried oregano
*1/2 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
4 chicken thighs (skin optional)
*1/4 C shredded parmesan cheese

1.  Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.  Pour into a 1-quart zipper baggie.  Cram in chicken thighs and seal shut.  Place flat in a small roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, turning every hour.

2.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Open baggie and arrange chicken in pan, bones down.  Pour remaining marinade over the top.  Roast for 30 minutes.

3.  Sprinkle 1 Tb of cheese on each piece of chicken.  Put back into the oven and continue to roast until a thermometer reads 160º, about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to rest 5 minutes before serving.  Drizzle each piece with a little of the pan juices, or even use it as a dipping sauce for the bread or dressing for the veggie.

Difficulty rating  π

Matzoh Brei and Gravy

This is not even kosher, much less KLP.  I had made some biscuits and gravy earlier in the week and had some gravy left over.  I'm on the last box of matzoh and this just sounded good.

Matzoh brei, for the uninitiated, is the matzoh version of French toast.  You soak broken matzoh first in a bit of hot water to soften it a bit, then in scrambled eggs.  In the pan, you can either make it into hash or a big pancake.  I don't know the origins, but it probably had to do with some mother trying to shut up her kid when he couldn't have toast or cereal during Passover.  Some people even like it the rest of the year.  Go fig.

I may have to invest in some kind of photo set up with a light and white background.  It's always been difficult to photograph food at 4 am.  Photo editing helps some, but it really is starting to get annoying to have to crop out bad lighting, furniture, or dirty dishes.  A cheap desk lamp and a poster board is all it would take.  Next trip to the office store.

1/2 lb bulk breakfast sausage
2 Tb flour
1+ C milk (to desired consistency)
salt and pepper
*3 sheets matzoh
3 eggs
butter for the pan

1.  Brown sausage in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Break into crumbles, drain off most of the fat, and continue to cook.

2.  Add flour to the pan and stir in to make a paste with the remaining fat.  Gradually add milk and allow to thicken.  Season with salt and cracked pepper to taste.  For thinner country gravy, add more milk.  Keep at a low simmer while you make the brei.

3.  Break matzoh into small pieces in a bowl.  Add 1/2 C hot water and allow to soak until the water is absorbed.  In a separate bowl, scramble eggs with 1/4 C cold water.  Add to matzoh and allow to soak in.

4.  Melt about 2 Tb butter in a large skillet over medium and use to grease pan.  Pour egg and matzoh into hot pan and spread evenly.  Cook for about 2 minutes to set, then you can start moving around the mixture.  Continue to cook until egg is done, then portion onto four plates or a single serving platter.

5.  Serve hot, with hot sausage gravy on the plates or the side of the platter.

Difficulty rating  :)

Pickled Artichokes

So, a day after those last artichoke photos, it got very windy.  The top-heavy plant fell over and I had to harvest all the buds at once.  That was a dozen of a decent size and several tiny ones.  Still too many to eat before they dried out, so I decided to preserve them for later.

It did make me nervous how few boiling-water canning recipes for artichokes there are online, and none in my canning cookbooks, but you find them in glass jars at the market all the time, so pressure-canning must not be necessary if you add enough acid.  The recipe I chose from the Washington Post had a lengthy description of safe canning practices and the bonus of using the number of artichokes I had in the bag.

All the work in this is in the prep.  You prep the jar set-up, you prep the brine, and you spend an unfortunate amount of time prepping the artichokes.  It's not your imagination; no one likes trimming artichokes.  They stain your hands, you have to keep them immersed in acidulated water, and if your knife slips you end up bleeding.  This is why they cost so much.  Once you've done it yourself, you will never complain about the price in the market again.

*4 lemons
*9 medium or 15 baby artichokes
1/4 C plus 3 tsp kosher salt
1 C distilled vinegar, more as needed
*1/4 C white wine vinegar
1/4 C mild olive oil, more as needed
*1 Tb dried oregano
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
*3 cloves garlic, peeled and root ends trimmed
3 1" strips lemon zest

1.  Peel off the lemon zest strips from the whole lemons and set aside for Step 5.  Halve and juice the lemons.  Toss spent rinds in a large nonreactive saucepan.  Fill pot about 3" deep with cold water.  Strain pulp from juice and reserve juice for Step 4.

2.  Trim the artichokes.  Start by pulling off the leaves, letting them snap where they naturally break.  This will get you down to the tender, yellow leaves in the middle.  Use a sharp knife to peel off the base of the leaves, leaving as much of the "meat" as possible.  Trim off the stem base.  Cut off top 1/3 of leaves.  Cut bud in half to reveal choke.  Scoop out the fine hairs and any thorny pink leaves with a melon baller or tomato corer.  If artichoke is on the large side, cut again into quarters.  Toss result in the saucepan so it doesn't discolor and move onto the next.  Repeat until all buds are stripped, about 1 hour.

3.  Add 1/4 C salt to the pot.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer.  Cook until fork-tender, about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat.

4.  While that's going on, make the pickling marinade.  Place lemon juice, both vinegars, oil, oregano, and pepper flakes in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.

5.  Prepare three pint jars, rings, and lids.  (For non-canning, you can drain the artichokes after Step 3 and boil them with the brine, lemon peel, and garlic in Step 4, refrigerate, and be done.)  Set up a pot for water-bath canning.  Into each sterilized pint jar, place 1 clove of garlic, one lemon peel, and 1 tsp of kosher salt.

6.  Drain the artichoke pot and discard the lemon halves.  With a slotted spoon, pack the jars with the prepared artichoke hearts, starting with the smallest pieces on the bottom.  My artichokes must have been smaller than the ones at the WaPo, because I only got 2 pints.  Not disappointed, since everything in this recipe was either home-grown or something I already had on hand.  It would be quite expensive if you were starting with nothing.  Whisk the marinade and divide evenly between the jars.  Run a clean chopstick or thin knife around the edges to dislodge any air bubbles.  If there isn't enough marinade to cover the artichokes, add a touch more oil and vinegar, up to 1/2" headspace.  I had some left over because of my lower yield, so I kept it as a version of Italian dressing.

7.  Wipe rims with a vinegar-soaked paper towel to remove all traces of oil.  Fit on warm lids, secure rims finger-tight, and process for 15 minutes in the boiling water bath.  Turn off heat and allow to sit in the pot for 10 minutes, to reduce the risk of siphoning.  Carefully remove to a toweled surface and wait for the ping.  Any jars that do not seal within 4 hours should be refrigerated immediately.  Allow the rest to cool to room temperature.  Remove rims and test seals.  Wipe jars, date, and store.  They need to marinate for at least one month before opening (or one month in the fridge).  Jars are good for one year, refrigerated for three months.

Yield 3 pints

Difficulty level  $@%!

So Many Blossoms

Since something ate all the tomato seedlings in the front patch, I decided to focus on what is going right in the garden at the moment.  My neighbor lost his tomatoes and peppers to the same pest, so it may be a Nightshade thing.  At least it hasn't found the sprouts in the Pond yet.

This is my biggest artichoke crop so far.  Artie split into two stalks, one of them higher than my head.  Not a great accomplishment for a person, but pretty impressive for a weed.  Each stalk had at least five good buds and several small ones.  One of the Junior twins decided to bloom.  It's a different variety than whatever Artie is, with a different shaped bud.  I'll let them continue another year.  I really appreciate now how precious they are in the market, and why they tend to be so expensive.  When you only get one large and five or six medium buds per plant, and each plant is five feet across at full size, it takes a lot of resources to get one bud stalk per year.

On a similar note, I'm grateful for the sea of white blossoms on the boysenberry vines.  There's going to be a good crop this year.

I'm letting a fennel go to seed.  It hasn't bloomed yet, but it will be a magnet for bees when I get around to planting my summer squash.  Haven't decided what that's going to be yet.  I still have some butternut seeds from last year.  It won't be warm enough for at least a month, so I'm just keeping the soil conditioned and as weeded as possible.  I'm also hoping that whatever ate the Romas only likes Nightshades and will leave other families alone.

Painting With Buttercream

I've been seeing this a lot on cake sites.  You treat the frosting like oil paint if you're going for a textured effect, or simply brush on diluted pigment and paint directly on the frosting for more of a watercolor look.

To say I'm not a visual artist is an understatement.  I can't draw, and all my painting looks impressionistic at best.  For cakes, piping tips help a lot and I did use them for some of this design.  I wanted most of the leaves to be impressionistic, with a few piped on, and had enough left in the bag to do long grass with the same tip.  The clouds are painted on white food coloring, because there actually is such a thing.

I'm not going to Bob Ross my way through a specific design.  There are a few YouTube videos that do it, including a Preppy Kitchen.  Frankly, I think he did it just to show off his box of every gel food color.  This post is just to explain the techniques I used to make the cake at the top of the post.

1.  Trim and crumb coat.  I really hate crumb coating.  To me, that part is way harder than the actual decorating.  The cinnamon chip cake was especially difficult because it was so soft.  Giant chunks (snacks) fell off and had to get patched.  Fortunately, all I really wanted was something to keep the cinnamon from bleeding into the top coat.  Freeze.

2.  Separate out how much frosting you think you will need for your design and color the rest your base color.  Mine was sky blue.  Frost, then clean up your edges.  The frosting was kind of soft, so I piped it on the cake, spread it around, then smoothed it.  Freeze the cake solid, so the base coat doesn't get picked up in the design.

3.  Start layering on your design.  Anything in the background should go first, so it can be covered by the elements in the foreground.  I started with piping brown vines.  I could have done it by painting the pigment directly onto the base coat, like I did for the edge of the geode cake.  Freeze after each layer, again so the layer stays separate.

4.  Here's where I got out the paintbrush.  I colored some of the remaining blue soft frosting green, after getting it to room temperature.  Then, taking a NEW paintbrush or one that's never been used on paint, dip into the frosting and go for it.  The consistency of your frosting should be like a thick, gooey paint.  You can even use an offset palette knife.  After chilling again, you can go back with the brush and add accent colors with pigment diluted in vodka or luster dust.  I glittered up some of the leaves, but not all of them.

4a.  An alternate method for preparing your frosting colors is to squirt out a few colors on a plate and work them into the white frosting with the brush, like an artist would do on a palette with pigments.  This way, no two blobs of frosting will be exactly the same color, just like in oil painting.

5.  Go for texture.  I used a 65 leaf tip, the smallest I have, to add extra leaves and create the grass at the base.  I added pink to a bit of the blue frosting, then dabbed on the flowers wherever I thought they needed to be.

6.  You can paint directly onto a flat surface of buttercream.  The clouds are undiluted white food coloring brushed on.  Be very sparing if you're going to put it on straight.  Gel food coloring is intense and will stain your hands for days.

7.  Freeze the cake often while working, especially if you notice other layers being picked up by the brush, but the finished product can be kept at room temperature, filling permitting.  Every layer or half hour, whichever came first, it went back in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.

8.  I had a really great time with this one, maybe because it turned out exactly like I envisioned.  That doesn't usually happen with my attempts at visual arts.  It also tasted really good, which is really what's most important.  Everyone has seen a beautiful wedding cake that tastes awful.  It's probably why most guests don't actually eat the cake at a big party.  Grocery store cakes are usually better tasting, and can be used as the ones actually served.  But I digress...

Difficulty rating  :)

Cinnamon Chip Layer Cake

I found cinnamon chips at the market and have been dying to use them in something for months.  When I discovered a new cake decorating technique, I decided to put this inside it.

I started with the Walnut Cake recipe, subbed in the cinnamon chips, and added a bit of yogurt for an interesting tang.  The cake is very good and not too sweet.  It also came out very tender and was a pain in the butt to frost.  There's a reason it's called a "crumb coat".  Next post.

One step I did not do, but am putting in here, is to toss the chips in the flour.  All of mine settled to the bottom.  Because I did two layers and always turn the tops together, that just meant the chips were on the top and bottom of each slice.  I sprinkled some cinnamon into the filling to even out the distribution.  Not a lot.  As anyone stupid enough to do the Cinnamon Challenge can tell you, it doesn't take much.

3/4 C margarine, room temperature
3/4 C sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
*1/2 C milk
*1/4 C plain yogurt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 C cake flour
2 Tb baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C cinnamon chips (bought or homemade)

1.  Grease two 8" or three 6" cake pans and line bottoms with waxed paper.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Soak baking strips if using.

2.  Place cinnamon chips in sifter.  Top with cake flour, baking powder, and salt.  Sift gently, so you don't grate up the chips, but they still get coated in flour.  Set aside chips.  In a separate container, combine milk, yogurt, and vanilla.

3.  Cream together margarine and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time.  Beat until fluffy and only a bit sloshy.

4.  Alternate adding flour and milk until all is incorporated.  Beat 2 minutes on medium to emulsify everything.

5.  Stir in cinnamon chips and immediately portion out batter into cake pans.  I recommend a scale, since the chips are going to throw off weight estimates by volume.  Fit the wet baking strips onto the pans and bake 25-30 minutes, until springy and they pass the toothpick test.

6.  Remove baking strips and allow cakes to cool in pans 10 minutes.  This is important, because hot chips will stick to the paper and peel off with it.  (See top photo).  When the pans are cool enough to handle easily, turn out cakes and carefully remove waxed paper.  Cool completely before icing or freezing for later.

Makes one 2-layer 8" cake, about 14 servings

Difficulty Rating  π

Matzoh Nachos

Thus begins the yearly quest to get rid of the matzoh mega-box.  I actually do have some sliced bread in the freezer, but I'm trying not to use it unless I'm in desperate need of a sandwich.

This one was an easy way to off half a box for Cinco de Mayo.  Once again, the things I like on matzoh are not KLP, or even kosher.  But there was a ton of cheese in the fridge and I had an extreme urge to make not-refried beans.  It's amazing the cravings you get when something is taken out of your diet.

One of my non-Jewish co-workers actually tried this before I did, when I told him how it worked and handed him a box of matzoh.  He was thrilled that the matzoh stays even crunchier than tortillas.  Yep, that stuff is pretty hard to get soggy.  The trick is to broil only until the cheese is melted.  The top photo shows what happens if you turn away for half a minute.  The most burned pieces are actually upside-down.  At least they had some taste to them.

1 batch Not-Refried Beans (or one can refried beans)
1/2 lb ground beef
dash chili powder
salt and pepper
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
*2 green onions, diced
*1 C shredded cheese of choice (I used mozzarella)
*6 pieces of matzoh
*parsley or cilantro for garnish
*sour cream for garnish

1.  Brown the ground beef, seasoned with chili powder, salt and pepper, until cooked and crumbly.  Drain off fat.

2.  Break the matzoh squares into tortilla chip-sized pieces and arrange on the edge of a plate or serving platter.  For individual servings, use 1-1/2 matzoh each.  Check the underside of the plates to make sure they're oven safe.

3.  Spoon the beans into the middle.  Top with some ground beef.  I added the tomatoes at this point, but you can put them on after broiling if you prefer.  Sprinkle with cheese.

4.  Place plate on a baking sheet, in case the plate wasn't actually oven safe and cracks.  Place under the broiler until the cheese melts, about 2 minutes.  Watch it.  As soon as the matzoh starts to burn, it's going to happen fast.

5.  Top the hot nachos with green onion, herbs, and sour cream.  Add avocados if you like, or any other garnishes you want.  Warn diners that the plate is hot and serve immediately.

Difficulty rating  π , :) if you make your own beans

Turkey and Spinach Soup

There's actually a lot more in this soup than just spinach, but the other name I had in mind was Lasagna Soup.  All of the veggies in it are left over from the Matzoh Lasagna.  I picked spinach to put in the title because the mouthfeel of it is a lot like won ton noodles and makes you forget this is a Passover-specific dish.  Since this is very different than any other soup I've made, it gets its own post.

I was originally going to make this with chicken.  While I was waiting to get near the cut chicken display, I was standing in front of the turkey.  They had a pile of odd parts from breaking down a couple of turkeys, including the backs.  They were really cheap, and were going to get broken up in the soup anyway, so I picked up a couple of pounds.  This would be a great use of Thanksgiving leftovers if you still have a baggie of shredded turkey lingering in the freezer.

1 Tb olive oil
*1/2 C diced yellow onion
*1 rib celery, diced
*1 clove garlic, minced
1 qt unsalted chicken stock
2 lbs bone-in, skin-on raw turkey or 3/4 lb cooked and shredded turkey meat
*2 C cauliflower florets
*2 C sliced mushrooms
*8 oz frozen spinach, thawed
*1/2 tsp dried sage
salt and pepper to taste

1.  In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat.  Sautée onion, celery, and garlic until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Lightly season with sage and salt & pepper.

2.  If using pre-cooked turkey, skip this step and move on to the next.  Add raw turkey, skin side down.  Cook until skin is lightly browned and rendering fat, about 5 minutes.  Turn over and cook to brown the bones on the underside, another 5 minutes.  Add chicken stock and bring to a low boil.  Lower heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until turkey is done, about 45 minutes.

3.  Remove turkey from pot and allow it to cool a bit while you chop the cauliflower into soup-sized pieces.  Add to pot with mushroom slices and spinach.  Let those simmer while you remove the turkey meat from the bones.  Shred or chop bite-sized.  Discard skin, bones, and gristle and return the meat to the pot.  Continue to simmer until mushrooms are as done as you like them.

4.  Taste broth and adjust seasonings.  Serve hot.  Would taste great with a matzoh ball.

Difficulty rating. :)