Addis

Yet another Moroccan vegan adventure.  I'm running out of bean varieties, so this may be the last recipe of its kind for a while.

Many of the recipes I found called addis are Lebanese.  There are small differences in the spices and method, as well as how much sauce you end up with.  I didn't want a soup, which is what most of the Lebanese addis recipes are.  Here, I'm largely adapting an Instant Pot version for stovetop.  Surprisingly, the cook time is about the same.  You don't get the completely mushy texture that pressure cooking does to beans, which may be a plus if that's what you want.

I'm going off recipe a little, but not much.  I was surprised that paprika is not a common spice in addis.  Instead of adding black pepper and a hot pepper or flakes, I used chili powder for a hint of roasted flavor.  I also cut back slightly on the quantity of spices because, dang, that's a lot of cumin.

1 C brown lentils
1/4 C olive oil
1/4 C diced onion
1 Tb cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
pinch saffron (optional)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb tomatoes, grated
1 C water

1.  Sort and rinse lentils.  Soak 6-12 hours, or overnight.  I did not expect half of them to start sprouting.  Maybe I should look into growing lentils, but with my small space I doubt it would be worth the effort.  Drain when ready to begin cooking.

2.  Heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan.  Add onion and cook until softened.  That's a lot of oil, so try not to fry the onion.  Add in spices, salt, and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

3.  Stir in tomatoes, lentils, and water.  Bring to a low boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cover.  Cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  That should be enough time to wash the unfortunate number of dishes.  It's grating the tomatoes that bumped up the difficulty level of this dish.  If lentils are not tender yet, continue to cook in 5 minute increments.

4.  Add water to desired consistency.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Serve hot.

Difficulty rating  :)

Gingerbread Loaf

I know, it's past the holidays, but it's still winter.  And as long as the conspiracy to not sell glacé fruits so people can't bake fruitcake persists, I will come up with alternatives.

I made only tiny changes to I Am Baker's recipe.  First, I cut it in half and made it in two mini loaf pans, after deciding not to use the 6" round cake pan.  I felt like slicing it, rather than cutting wedges.  You can also use it to make muffins.  It's a quick bread/muffin recipe.  Next, I opted for low-fat plain yogurt instead of buying sour cream.  I already had the yogurt.  And I added some crystallized ginger that was supposed to go into fruitcake or stollen, decreasing the brown sugar in the recipe a tiny bit to compensate by not packing it.

I made this on a somewhat cold day, so it took longer for the refrigerated ingredients to come up to "room temperature" than to make it after that.  With a low-moisture recipe, you definitely want to start with everything the same temperature.  Otherwise, the batter will break.  I'm not sure if it was the butter or yogurt that stayed a little lumpy, but it did melt in the oven.

1/4 C unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 C + 2 Tb light brown sugar, lightly packed
*1/4 C + 2 Tb molasses
1 egg, room temp
*1/2 C sour cream or yogurt, room temp
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 C flour
1/2 Tablespoon ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
*1/4 C chopped crystallized ginger, optional

1.  Prepare one 6" cake pan, 2 mini loaf pans, or about 8 muffin cups with pan spray.  Preheat oven to 350º.

2.  Cream together butter and brown sugar until fluffy.  Add molasses, egg, sour cream, and vanilla and beat until smooth.

3.  Separately, sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.  Toss crystallized ginger in 1 Tb of the flour mixture and set aside.

4.  Once the liquid ingredients are smooth, add the flour and stir until just combined.  Add ginger pieces and the reserved flour and stir again to distribute.  Do not overmix.

5.  Portion batter into pan or muffin cups.  Bake 20 minutes for muffins, 30 for loaves.  Start checking with a toothpick at that time.  Center should not be wet.  Wait about 2 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool thoroughly.

6.  If desired, dust cooled loaf with powdered sguar or drizzle with a glaze.  Keeps room temperature 2 days, in the fridge for a week, or in the freezer for at least a month.

Serves about 6

Difficulty rating  π

Grape Leaf-Wrapped Lemon Cod

I hate coming up with names for recipes I invent.  But, well, that's what this is.

I'm trying to tidy up the chest freezer by eating things that were a good idea when I bought them.  I picked up the cod on sale at a time I was feeling guilty about not eating enough fish.  Freezer-pack fish portions take up much more space than they have the right to, so they went on the list.  I still have that jar of grape leaves in the fridge to deal with, and several lemons on the tree past ripe.  That and a few herbs and seasonings made an easy dinner.

I'm going to stop buying frozen fish.  They're all water.  I forgot that until I took off the foil and they were drowning in way more juice than I expected.  I wouldn't have covered them at all if I had realized that.  It was a disappointment with the scallops, and equally so here.

*4 portions cod fillets
1 Tb olive oil
*12-ish grape leaves
*1 lemon, thinly sliced
salt and white pepper
dried dill and tarragon

1.  Gently grease a roasting pan with the olive oil.  Preheat oven to 375º.  Rinse the grape leaves well and trim off any stems.

2.  Lay out two grape leaves on a work surface.  Lay a portion in the middle.  Sprinkle with salt, white pepper, dill, and tarragon.  Top with a couple of lemon slices.  Place another leaf on top and fold into a package.

3.  Transfer portions to the baking dish.  Cover with foil and bake until 155º, about half an hour.  Mine took quite a bit longer because they were still pretty much frozen, even after a day and a half in the fridge.  Another reason to transition to fresh fish.  Remove foil and bake another five minutes to crisp up the leaves a bit.  Serve hot.

Difficulty rating  π

Pasta Salad with Roasted Radishes

I was thinking of making a side dish salad, then noticed that the radishes in my garden were getting exceedingly large.  It was time to roast them up and get creative.

Radishes are almost always sold with the leaves attached.  They are absolutely edible.  They taste kind of like a peppery spinach.  And you paid for them, so you might as well get the benefit.

I really need to stop leaving plants in the garden too long.  Yes, I was waiting for the radishes to get big enough to roast, but one was stupid huge.  I have one green onion that has overstayed its welcome, too.  I'll have to figure out a recipe for that.

*1 bunch radishes with leaves
1 C pearl (Israeli) couscous
*1/4 C sun dried tomatoes
1/4 C olive oil
2 Tb vinegar of choice (I used balsamic)
*1/4 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 375º.  Cut greens off of radishes and save, trim off any extending taproot, and cut in half into bite-sized pieces.  Toss in a bit of olive oil just to coat and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet or in a roasting dish.  Bake until lightly browned and softened, about 30 minutes.

2.  Start boiling a medium to large pot with 2 C of water while the radishes are roasting.  You can multitask by whisking up the dressing of the rest of the oil, the vinegar, thyme, and salt and pepper.  I also soaked the tomatoes in it.

3.  Cook couscous according to package directions.  Cut the radish leaves off the tough stems and roughly chop.  Add to the pasta in the last two minutes of cooking so they can wilt.

4.  Drain pasta and greens and return to the pot.  Stir in radishes, tomatoes, and dressing and toss until everything is evenly coated.  Can be served anywhere from chilled to hot.  I preferred slightly warmer than room temperature.

Difficulty rating  :)