This Isn't a Tomato

 

Ferry-Morse strikes again.  And this time, I wasn't even mail-ordering the seeds.

I got two kinds of tomatoes to plant this year, Cherry and something called Monster.  I do admit that I started the seeds late, not until February, but tomatoes are almost perennial in my zone, lasting well into November if it doesn't get too cold.  You can overwinter them with covers, but I use the space for cool-weather crops.  If I ever have my dream garden, I can have a Nightshade bed and do that.

After thinning one of the Cherry pots down to two sprouts, I realized that one of the remaining ones wasn't a tomato.  Tomato sprout stalks are kind of purple and hairy, and this one was green.  The leaves looked a lot like tomato sprouts, which is why I didn't notice at first.  I decided to let it grow and find out what it was.

The wrong seeds do end up in packets sometimes.  I'm sure the machine that feeds them isn't perfectly cleaned between batches.  Or maybe they get airborne and fly around the room.  I wasn't paying attention when I planted.  Some seeds are easy to tell apart, but I wouldn't notice the difference between two different strains of tomato, or tomato and another nightshade like eggplant or pepper.  I think I was also reusing soil from a previous pot, so it's possible there was a cilantro plant I had let go to seed in it and not Ferry-Morse's fault at all.

As long as I've started a gardening post, here's a status report.  The artichokes loved the 20+ inches of rain we got this year and were very healthy when they started to flower.  The broccoli is working on it, as are the celeries.  The peas loved having something to climb.  I found out what parsley looks like when it goes to seed.  And I have green onions everywhere I planted them.  The indoor herbs are slightly infested with something that made it inside, but I'm trying to keep on top of that.  It's almost warm enough to transplant them anyway.

Pesto Chicken Casserole

I spent a great deal of March looking at different chicken casserole recipes, since I very vaguely put "canned chicken casserole" on the meal plan at the end of the month.  In the end, I didn't use any of them and pulled things out of the pantry and freezer instead.

Pasta boxes are getting smaller, but I found that half of a 12 oz box of bowties made four servings of a reasonable size.  More would have overflowed the dish.  Still, shrinkflation at work.

So after coming up with something that's entirely pantry items, I found it necessary to make a batch of tomato and garlic confit to have on the side.  Yes, it was very necessary.  Unfortunately, I forgot to blog a new hack for peeling garlic that really does cut the effort in half.  I'll do it next time.

6 oz farfalle (bowtie pasta)
1 10oz brick frozen spinach
*1 10 oz can chunk chicken
*1 C pesto
*1/4 C parmesan cheese
*1 C crispy fried onions

1.  Start boiling water to cook the pasta.  While that's going on, microwave the spinach according to package directions.  I did it in the 8x8 casserole I was going to bake this in.  Start preheating the oven to 350º.

2.  When the water is boiling, cook the pasta well.  It might dry out a bit in the oven if it isn't completely cooked.  Drain.

3.  Stir together pasta, spinach, chicken, and pesto.  You could actually stop here and have a perfectly nice meal.  We're going one step further.

4.  Stir in half of the crispy onions and about 3 Tb of the cheese.  Spread in an 8x8 baking dish.  Sprinkle the top with the rest of the onions and last Tb of the cheese.

5.  Bake until heated through and top cheese is melted, about 20 minutes.  Allow to cool 5 minutes before serving.

Difficulty rating  π

Chocolate Fondue

 

This is kind of why I did dairy for Passover.  I really wanted to be able to have a dairy dessert.  And for something that has to be made shortly before serving, it worked quite well.

Again, I was living in real time and didn't take photos that night.  I recreated the serving for the photo, but the pot was put away.  You'll note the little cup with the chocolate.  That is an ideal way to serve chocolate fondue so it doesn't drip everywhere.  You have the pot in the middle with a ladle, and people can refill their cups as needed.

The skewers were fun.  I had a Passover poundcake, strawberries, banana, and Passover marshmallows on the sticks.  I also filled bowls of one element each for those who didn't necessarily want more of everything on a skewer.

The chocolate did separate afterwards.  I don't know if that was from the Passover chocolate or maybe the mixture got too hot and was out of temper.  I made it in the Crockpot on Low, then brought the insert to the hot plate, where it sat for possibly too long.  If your party finishes more of the chocolate than mine did, this will not be a problem.

9 oz semi-sweet chocolate (chips or block)
1 C heavy cream
*1 Tb chocolate liqueur (optional: I used Sabra)
Pinch cinnamon, optional
Dippers

1.  Heat cream to just below boiling.  Pour over chocolate and stir to melt.  If necessary, microwave in 20 second increments.  Stir in liqueur and cinnamon, if using.

2.  Place chocolate into fondue pot if you didn't make it in one.  Set over low heat on the table and serve.

Serves 8-12

Difficulty rating  π

Passover Vanilla Cake

I had a hard time finding the Passover cake I liked from last year and kind of panicked.  I bought a poundcake to have at Seder, but wasn't sure if I would have cake for the rest of the week.  So when I went to make my own birthday cake, I thought I would come up with a recipe.  If it didn't work, at least it was only a 6" and I could make another.

The prohibition against leavened food at Passover is only for gluten leavened by yeast.  Non-gluten flour leavened by KLP baking powder is just fine.  And what makes the baking powder ok to use is that the anti-caking agent is potato starch instead of cornstarch.  I don't make the rules, I just exploit them.

Similarly, you can't use commercial extracts during Passover because the alcohol used in them is grain based.  I make my own KLP extracts with potato vodka, so I can use them.  For those who don't think six months ahead, I'm making vanilla sugar here.  That only takes two days.  You can also buy it, especially at kosher markets.

So I did find my cake at a kosher market sort of on my way home, and only a couple of blocks from where Techie Smurf once lived.  It's small, but organized, and not the huge detour some of the other markets are.  I only got a few specialty items and racked up a $40 bill.  The ladies ahead of me in line must not have been local, because they spent over $1,000.  If I ever did go truly kosher, which I'll be the first to admit is not likely, I would certainly shop there on a regular basis.

This recipe is simply a kosher for Passover version of my basic vanilla cake, first seen on this blog as a walnut cake.  I didn't mix anything into it, but you can certainly flavor it with any nuts, chips, or coconut you choose.

3/4 C neutral oil (can sub in 1/4 C applesauce for part of it)
3/4 C sugar
*1 vanilla bean
3 eggs, room temperature
*3/4 C buttermilk or almond milk
*1/2 tsp KLP vanilla (optional)
3/4 C potato starch
*3/4 C matzoh cake meal
2 Tb Passover baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 C mix-ins, optional

1.  A few days before, split the vanilla bean and place in a sealable container with the sugar.  Shake daily.  When ready to make the cake, remove the bean.

2.  Spray an 8" cake pan with pan spray.  Line the bottom with parchment or wax paper and spray again.  Preheat oven to 350º.  If using baking strips, start soaking (I forgot).

3.  In mixer, beat oil and sugar until combined.  Add eggs and beat until pale and fluffy.  Add milk and vanilla, if using.

4.  Add potato starch, matzoh meal, baking powder, and salt.  Beat until a whipped, uniform batter is formed, about 2 minutes.  Stir in nuts or chips.

5.  Pour batter into prepared pan, cover with the wet baking strip, and bake until cake passes the toothpick test, about 30 minutes.  If you don't use a baking strip, the cake will dome and crack a bit.  Still wait until the toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to rest in pan 10 minutes, then turn out to cool completely.

6.  Most frostings are not used on Passover because they contain powdered sugar.  You can top this with Swiss buttercream, which uses granulated sugar, or a chocolate ganache.  The ganache is easier to make pareve if you're having it with a meat meal.

Makes one cake, 8-10 servings

Difficulty rating  :)

Butterfly Cake

My birthday was during Passover this year, which did not stop me from making a cake.  I just made it two weeks early.  Actually, I was recipe testing a KLP cake, but the frosting was out of a jar.

All you need for this design is round cake pans, frosting, food coloring, and something to be the body, like a Twix.  You will need toothpicks or skewers if you want to do the antenna balls.  No shaped pan that you'll never use again required.  You can use a piping bag and shaped tips if you want, but I went for the soft, kind of Smurf cartoon look (shocker) and brushed on the contrasting frosting with an offset spatula.  Decorative sprinkles or chips are entirely up to you.

The fun part of this design is how much "garbage cake" you end up with.  Some of it is used for the antennae, but mostly it's snacks.

Quick note, I let the cake dome up on purpose, so the wings would have some height.  If I was making a taller cake, I would level everything off.

1.  Start with a round cake.  Layers are fine, but you'll have to stack them while cutting.

2.  If doing any kind of layer, fill and crumb coat.  Freeze at least half an hour to make it easier to handle.

3.  Cut the cake in half.  I probably should have used a ruler or something.  One half was definitely larger than the other.  On the cake plate, you will be putting the halves back-to-back.

4.  Get out a melon baller and a bowl and gently carve the halves into the shape you want.  I wasn't going for precision and eyeballed it.  With flat cakes, you can stack them with parchment inbetween and get perfectly symmetrical wings.  Save the scraps for the antenna balls.  You won't need all of them, so snacking is permitted.

5.  Crumb coat the cut edges.  Freeze the cake again to set the coat before frosting again for the final layer.  I was glad I had already decided not to make a "perfect" frosting job, because even this was hard.  I was kind of wishing I had bought fondant; but then, you have to eat the fondant.

6.  When the base frosting is the way you want it, transfer halves to the serving platter with the candy body between them.  I really liked the look of the Twix, and then you get to eat the other one.

7.  Decorate wings with other colors of frosting, sprinkles, or anything else that seems appealing.  Working with a small cake, I went simple with one color and more of the chips that I had used in the filling.  For a larger cake like a 9", you would have more room for more intricate designs.

8.  Mix a little frosting into the cake scraps, just enough for them to hold together, and make two little balls.  I put too much frosting in mine and had to freeze them before they would stick to the toothpicks.  Skewer onto toothpicks or wooden skewers and coat in sprinkles or coconut if desired.  Attach to the "head" of the candy and you are done!

Difficulty rating  :)

Cheese Fondue

 

I have two fondue pots, a Crockpot, and something called a "cheese baker", which is a crock that fits over a tea light stand.  I need to have more fondue parties.

When I decided to have a dairy Seder, it took me about a day to make it cheese fondue.  I researched recipes, and it was definitely doable.  Most recipes thicken the cheese with cornstarch or flour, but I found one that used potato starch.  Other than that, they were identical.

Most cheese fondue recipes include white wine.  I did not want to have most of a bottle of white left over that I didn't want to drink.  Plus, I like sherry in my mac'n'cheese and figured it would go well here.  Then I found KLP cooking Marsala and was sold.  That would be perfect with the white cheeses that are common in fondue, and lower in alcohol.  It didn't occur to me that it would turn the mixture pink.  No one seemed to care.

I was living in the moment and didn't take any pictures.  So you get ones of the leftover ingredients and a lunch I had during the week with re-melted cheese and some fruit I had to finish before it turned.

1-1/2 lb Swiss, Emmenthaler, and Gruyere cheeses, any combination
1/4 C potato starch, cornstarch, or flour
1 C cooking Sherry or Marsala, or 2 C white wine
nutmeg and white pepper to taste
Milk as needed to thin
Items to dip

1.  Grate or shred the cheese.  You can do it on a box grater, but I had the processor out for the latkes and used that instead.  Either way, freeze the cheese for about 30 minutes first and it will be easier to handle.  Toss shreds with potato starch to coat.  This part can be done a day ahead.

2.  In a medium saucepan, heat wine to a simmer.  You want little bubbles, but not a full boil.  If desired, you can let it simmer for 10 minutes to burn off most of the alcohol.

3.  Add cheese a handful at a time.  Stir constantly to melt.  If mixture is getting too thick, add milk to make it a dipping consistency.  Season with nutmeg and white pepper to taste.

4.  Pour into the fondue pot and keep over a low heat while serving.  If it starts to bubble, the bottom will scorch.  There wasn't much I could do about the electric pot except keep it on a low setting.  For the Sterno one, the insert can be used as a double boiler.

5.  Keep passing out dippers until the cheese is gone.  We had broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, artichokes, pears, apples, and matzoh.

Serves about 8

Difficulty rating  :)

Seder 2023

I decided to make a dairy Seder this year.  No particular reason except I was considering a dairy dessert.  I've done it once before as an Italian theme, with matzoh lasagna and another with a baked potato bar.

After coming up with a few ideas, I hit on doing fondue.  It fits the dipping idea, and turned dessert into chocolate fondue.

But then I had to figure out what to dip if I couldn't serve bread or meat.  As I started the list of fruits and veggies, I realized how much produce goes well with cheese.  Like a lot.  I came up with pareve (neither dairy nor meat) sides to balance out the cheesiness, and a menu was ready.

Yes, this is vegetable-heavy.  It's hard to take essentially two food groups and legumes out of a meal.  But that does counterbalance the cheese, and the oil in the latkes.

• Vegetable matzoh ball soup
• Green Salad
• Potato Latkes
• Gefilte Fish
• Beet and Orange Salad
• Salmon with Date Syrup
• Cheese fondue
• Apple-Matzoh Kugel
• Chocolate fondue

I only remembered to take photos of the preset table, but I did get one of the kitchen the next morning.  That took a few hours to clean up, even after having pre-made almost everything the day before.  Because that's what happens when you throw a multi-course dinner party.

Chickpea and Turnip Mash

No, wait, come back!  Yeah, this one's going to set a record for least-viewed post.

On the meal calendar, I put "mashed chickpeas", which just told me I was making something with chickpeas that wasn't hummus.  It was near the end of the month, when I tend to get vague and just put the name of the protein and something resembling the word Casserole.  The one after it was actually listed as "canned chicken casserole".

When shopping day neared and I looked at the grocery circulars, colcannon sounded pretty good.  But on the other hand, Passover was rapidly approaching and I didn't want to have potatoes as a main dish.  PS, colcannon should really have a kosher for passover designation on the blog.  I'm surprised I didn't mark that.

I came up with this version of it using turnips, with chickpeas in there for protein, to make it a main course dish.  Turnips are kind of spicy, and I went to town looking for seasonings to brighten it up further.  It was vegetarian day, so I had a side salad, but bacon would go very nicely as a garnish.

2 lbs turnips
1/2 head of green cabbage
1 leek
1/4 C butter or margarine
*1 15 oz can chickpeas
salt as needed
*2 Tb buttermilk powder, optional
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp white pepper

1.  Peel and roughly chop the turnips.  Place in salted water and bring to a boil.  Lower heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until pieces can be easily pierced by a fork, about 20-25 minutes.  Drain.

2.  Thinly slice the cabbage while the butter is melting in a large pot over medium heat.  Also thinly slice the leek, white and light green parts only, and mince the garlic.  Add these to the pot and cook until the cabbage is well wilted, about 10 minutes.

3.  While that is going on, mash the turnips.  I opted to do it in the stand mixer with the paddle.  Drain the chickpeas and add them to the mix, along with the paprika, celery salt, mustard powder, and white pepper.

4.  At this point, the mixture might be a bit watery.  This is why I oped for dried buttermilk powder instead of liquid buttermilk.  It will help to soak up some of it.  Taste and add salt as needed.

5.  Add mash to the cabbage and simmer until heated through and more of the water has cooked off.  Serve hot.

Difficulty rating  :)

Slow-Cooker Overnight Oats

I promise, this will not become a Crockpot blog.  I just really liked the texture and wanted to post it.

Steel-cut oats don't actually require any cooking.  You can soak them overnight and get a lovely, nutty texture.  Cooking them on the stove for at least half an hour retains some of the whole-grain mouthfeel.  Leaving them in the slow cooker overnight gets you just the kind of pudding mush I was in the mood for.

This one is definitely in the porridge family.  You're getting mushy, pudding-like oatmeal out of this.  Full disclosure.  I wanted that, and was very pleased with the result.  Some other day, I might want a different result.  But the slow cooker was on the counter and I was really hoping for this texture.

*1 C steel-cut oats
3 C water
2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
*1/4 C raisins
milk as needed

1.  Place oats, water, brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins in slow cooker.  Stir to combine.  Set heat to "keep warm" and go to bed.

2.  In the morning, stir mixture and turn up heat to Low.  Stir in milk (or water) to desired consistency and let it come up to temperature while you take a shower and make coffee.

3.  Ladle up warmed oatmeal into bowls.  Top with shredded coconut, sliced almonds, or any other garnish as desired.

Difficulty rating  π

Freezing Avocados

I don't love avocados.  I go through so few that I generally buy one bag of frozen chunks a year.  But those IQF avos have gotten expensive for something I rarely use.

Sprouts had avocados for 50¢ each.  I didn't need any, but thought I might in the near future, so I started reading up on how to freeze them.

The general wisdom is that a previously frozen avocado will not have the texture of a fresh one.  I already knew that from previous purchases.  I also don't like the texture of a fresh avocado, so no problem there.  I prefer them mashed up and mixed with other stuff.  That's the kind of thing we're making here.

Method 1: Whole avocado.  I didn't do this, but supposedly you can wrap them in plastic, place in a freezer bag, and toss them in.  Once defrosted, the skins pretty much slip right off and you just have to remove the pit.

Method 2: Halves.  This is along the lines of the Wholly Guacamole halves you can find in some stores.  Split, remove pit, and scoop from skin if desired.  Coat exposed parts with a thin layer of lemon juice to preserve color.  Vacuum seal and freeze.

Method 3: Slices and chunks.  What I did.  Halve, remove pit, and scoop out of skin.  Slice into desired pieces and toss in lemon or lime juice to preserve color.  Freeze on a sheet pan, then place in a baggie to store.  If you have it, vacuum seal for added protection and time before discoloring starts.

Method 4: Mashed.  Add a liberal amount of lemon or lime juice and mash the avocado chunks.  You can also freeze prepared guacamole.  Place in a baggie, squeeze out the air, and freeze flat.  If you would like specific portion sizes, like for smoothies, freeze in ice cube trays and pop out before storing in the baggie.

All of these methods will produce a similar texture once defrosted, so it's really up to you whether you want to put in the effort before or after the freezing.  I opted for before, but not so completely mashed as to remove the option of serving it diced.

For about ten minutes of work before the freezer and five after, I have a quart of diced avocado and only spent $2.  I am calling that a win.

Difficulty rating  π