Sweet-Potato and Parsnip Purée

Ingredients
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 parsnips, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and parsnips and boil gently until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain well and transfer to a food processor.
Add butter and purée until smooth. Add milk, brown sugar, and salt and blend well. Season with pepper. Serves 4.

Gourmet | January 2001

Green Chile Enchiladas

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds tomatillos
3 cloves garlic, still in their peels
2 jalapenos
Salt
3-4 large Anaheim chiles
12 corn tortillas
Canola or grapeseed oil
1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, grated
Sour cream
Cilantro

You can substitute prepared canned tomatillo salsa verde for the tomatillo sauce (you'll need two cups), and canned whole Anaheim green chiles for the chiles (remove the seeds and stems if still in the chiles).

Preparation
Prepare the tomatillo sauce. Remove the husks from the tomatillos. Rinse off the tomatillos. Cut them in half and place them cut-side down on a roasting pan lined with aluminum foil. Place the garlic and jalapeños on the pan with the tomatillos. Broil on the top rack on the oven for 5-7 minutes until the tomatillos are lightly charred. Remove from the oven and let cool to touch. Remove garlic from the garlic skins, discard the skins. Cut open the jalapeños and remove and discard the seeds and the stems. Place tomatillos, cooked garlic, the jalapeños, and 1 teaspoon of salt in a blender, pulse until well puréed. Set aside. (You can make several days in advance and store in the refrigerator.)

Prepare the Anaheim chiles. If you have a stove-top gas burner, you can roast the chiles directly over the flame of the burner (see How to roast chile peppers over a gas flame), otherwise use a broiler and broil the chiles in a roasting pan, turning them until they are blackened all over. Place the blackened chiles in a small brown paper bag. Close the bag and let sit for at least 5 minutes. Then remove the chiles from the bag and peel off and discard the blackened skin. Slice open the chiles and remove and discard the seed pod, any seeds (they're hot!) and the stems. Slice the chiles into strips.

Cook the tortillas. Heat a couple tablespoons of canola or grapeseed oil in a frying pan (cast iron works well) on medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add a corn tortilla to the pan. The tortilla should sizzle as it hits the pan. Turn it over and let it cook until little pockets of air start to bubble up in the tortilla. Then use a metal spatula to remove the tortilla from the pan, shaking off any excess oil, to a plate lined with paper towels. Continue to the tortillas this way, adding more oil as needed, separating the tortillas that are cooling with paper towels.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread a little of the tomatillo sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 casserole pan. One by one, place a little grated cheese and a strip or two of green chiles in the center of the tortillas, roll them up, and place them in the casserole. Once you have filled the casserole with the rolled tortillas, spread the remaining tomatillo sauce over them, and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes at 350°F, until cheese is melted
Serve with sour cream (thinned with some water) drizzled over, and some chopped fresh cilantro. Also good with it is thinly sliced iceberg lettuce that has been sprinkled with cider or white vinegar and salt. Makes for excellent leftovers, will keep in the refrigerator for days. Serves 4-6.

www.simplyrecipes.com

Curried Split Pea Soup

Ingredients
16 oz dried split peas
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium white onion, diced small
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups water
1 carrot to grate in at the end (optional)

Spice Blend
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 teaspoons salt
generous pinch cinnamon

Preparation
Saute the onions in the olive oil at medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger and spices. Saute 2 more minutes.

Add the water and stir well. Add the splitpeas. Cover and bring to a boil.

Bring heat back down to medium, let soup simmer for about an hour, until peas are tender. Grate in the carrot and serve. You can garnish with fresh cilantro if you have it on hand.

Isa/Postpunkkitchen.com

Naval Academy Apple Cannonballs

Ingredients
Six (6) apples, cored and peeled
One-half (1/2) pound of granular sugar
Cinnamon sugar (Ground Cinnamon and granular sugar mixed, to taste)
One quarter (1/4) pound of butter (recall the Academy only served us butter)
Pie Dough - Six (6) Ounces, or of sufficient quantity

Preparation
Roll out a one (1) ounce piece of pie dough into a circle approximately six (6) inches in diameter. Place a cored, peeled apple in the center of the pie dough. Fill the center of the apple with cinnamon-sugar mix. Fold the pie dough around the apple and place the conglomeration onto a greased (non-stick) cookie sheet pan. Bake the apples at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately twenty-five (25) minutes or until the apples are soft. Be careful you don't burn the pie crust.

Hard Sauce: Place the granular sugar and butter into a mixing bowl and beat them until they are thoroughly mixed. Add either Vanilla or Rum flavoring to the sugar-butter mix and stir it in.

When the apples are baked, place a good, healthy dollop of Hard Sauce on top of the apple-in-crust.

Easy Hard Sauce: While it's quite possible to make Hard Sauce with granulated sugar as specified, it's a lot quicker and easier to use confectioners (powdered) sugar.

Hard sauce is simply flavored thick texture cake frosting. Confirm with the ladies that 'from scratch' icing is made a lot easier with confectioners than granulated sugar. It makes smoother stuff regardless of beating and takes a lot less beating effort to dissolve in the butter.

Certificate of authenticity: The recipe has been served aboard USS John Marshall (SSBN-611) on the 38th submerged day of the last patrol before overhaul inside the Arctic Circle at 105 feet and five knots.

Perfect Popcorn

Ingredients
3 Tbsp canola, peanut or grapeseed oil (high smoke point oil)
1/3 cup of high quality popcorn kernels
1 3-quart covered saucepan
2 Tbsp or more (to taste) of butter
Salt to taste

Preparation
1. Heat the oil in a 3-quart saucepan on medium high heat.

2. Put 3 or 4 popcorn kernels into the oil and cover the pan.

3. When the kernels pop, add the rest of the 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels in an even layer. Cover, remove from heat and count 30 seconds. (Count out loud; it's fun to do with kids.) This method first heats the oil to the right temperature, then waiting 30 seconds brings all of the other kernels to a near-popping temperature so that when they are put back on the heat, they all pop at about the same time.

4. Return the pan to the heat. The popcorn should begin popping soon, and all at once. Once the popping starts in earnest, gently shake the pan by moving it back and forth over the burner. Try to keep the lid slightly ajar to let the steam from the popcorn release (the popcorn will be drier and crisper). Once the popping slows to several seconds between pops, remove the pan from the heat, remove the lid, and dump the popcorn immediately into a wide bowl.

With this technique, nearly all of the kernels pop (I counted 4 unpopped kernels in my last batch), and nothing burns.

5. If you are adding butter, you can easily melt it by placing the butter in the now empty, but hot pan.

6. Salt to taste.

Makes 2 quarts, a nice amount for two people, or for one hungry one.

Additional tips:
If you add salt to the oil in the pan before popping, when the popcorn pops, the salt will be well distributed throughout the popcorn.

Fun toppings for the popcorn - Spanish smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, cayenne powder, chili pepper, curry powder, cumin, grated Parmesan cheese.

Baked Penne with Meatballs

Ingredients
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
6 oz of button or cremini mushrooms, sliced thinly
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1 tsp white sugar
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Steps
Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and mushrooms and saute until tender; add the garlic and cook for 60 seconds, stirring frequently. Add the remaining ingredients. Simmer for at least 2 hours.

Meatballs:
1 lb lean ground beef (I used 93/7)
7 button mushrooms, diced finely
1/4 sweet yellow onion, diced finely
1/4 Italian style breadcrumbs
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 egg
1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1/2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp fennel seed, crushed
Sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper
1 tsp olive oil (for cooking)

Combine all ingredients (except for olive oil) together gently. Form into small meatballs and set aside. Once the meatballs are prepared. Heat a skillet over medium heat with 1 tsp olive oil. Cook the meatballs until golden brown on all sides. Remove from skillet and place in the mushroom sauce.

Penne pasta, prepared per instructions
1 cup of mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 tbsp fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the pasta per instructions and drain. Pour the pasta into the sauce with the meatballs. Add the cheese - reserving a bit for the top and basil, then mix VERY gently. Top with remaining cheese and bake for 30 minutes.

www.fortheloveofcooking.com

Big Fat Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil or corn oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree

Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 ounces room temperature cream cheese, regular or low fat
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Steps:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until light and smooth (about 2 minutes). Beat in the oil, vanilla extract, and pumpkin puree. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. Using 1/4 cup of batter (can use a small ice cream scoop or measuring cup) place small mounds of batter onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.

Bake for about 15 - 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cookie comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter until soft and creamy. Beat in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla until the frosting is soft and creamy.

Makes about 18 cookies.

C. Copeland and www.joyofbaking.com

Peppermint Bark Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup of butter
3/4 cup of brown sugar
3/4 cup of white granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
Pinch of salt
cup of peppermint bark, broken into little chip size pieces

Steps
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Cream the butter and sugars together for about two minutes at medium speed or until well incorporated and light in color.

3. Add the egg and the vanilla extract until well incorporated, about a minute. Be sure to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl halfway through.

4. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Add to the butter mixture slowly, and beating at medium speed, stopping once all of it is incorporated (do not overmix).

5. Fold in the peppermint bark chips.

6. Take small spoonfuls of the dough and roll into one inch sized balls and place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for -12 minutes. Let cool on the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies.

www.simplyrecipes.com

Maple Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup of dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon of maple syrup (Grade B)
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3/4 cup of chopped walnuts

Steps
1. Cream the butter and sugar together at medium speed for three minutes or until light and fluffy.

2. Add the vanilla extract and egg and mix until well incorporated. Add the maple syrup and mix until well incorporated.

3. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until just incorporated. Fold in the walnuts. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for thirty minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 350F. Drop spoonfuls of the cookie, about 1 inch balls, onto cookies sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 3 dozen.

www.simplyrecipes.com

Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients
Chicken and Vegetables:
1 large roasting chicken (5 to 6 lbs), cut into 2 legs, 2 thighs, and 2 breast pieces, each with skin removed; back, neck, and wings hacked with a cleaver into 1 to 2 inch pieces to make stock
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, cut into large chunks
2 bay leaves
Salt
3 celery stalks, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
6 boiling onions (smaller than regular onions, larger than pearl onions), peeled and halved
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, or chicken fat from the cooked chicken
6 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 Tbsp dry sherry or vermouth (optional)
1 Tbsp of heavy cream (optional)
3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
Ground black or white pepper

Dumplings:
2 cups cake flour (can sub all-purpose flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tbsp butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup minced fresh herb leaves such as parsley, chives, and tarragon (optional)

Steps
1. Make the stock.
Heat olive oil in a deep (at least 4-inch high) large skillet or 6-qt Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add hacked up chicken pieces - the back, neck, and wings - and onion chunks (not the boiling onions). Sauté until onions soften and chicken pieces lose their raw color, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, cover, and continue to cook for about 20 minutes. (While chicken stock pieces are cooking, bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a kettle.) Increase heat to to medium-high, add the 6 cups of hot water to the chicken pieces.

2. Poach the chicken in the stock.
Add skinless chicken parts (legs, thighs, breasts), 2 bay leaves, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt to the stock and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat; continue to simmer, partially covered, until broth is flavorful and chicken parts are just cooked through, about 20 minutes. Remove chicken parts from the pan and set aside. When they are cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones in 2-inch chunks or strips. Place a strainer over a large bowl and pour the broth through it, straining out the solids from the broth. Discard the solids. Skim and reserve the chicken fat from broth (a fat separator works great for this task) and set aside 5 cups of broth, reserving extra for another use.

3. Make the dumpling batter.
While chicken is cooking, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add (optional) chopped fresh herbs. Add melted butter and milk to the dry ingredients. Gently mix with a spoon until mixture just comes together. (Note: do not overmix! or your dumplings will turn out too dense.) Set aside.

4. Make the stew base, assemble the stew.
Heat reserved chicken fat (or butter) in the pan you had used to make the stock over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour and thyme; cook, whisking constantly, until flour turns golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisking constantly, gradually add sherry or vermouth, then slowly add the reserved 5 cups of chicken stock; simmer until mixture thickens slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the vegetables, simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in chicken and optional cream; return to a strong simmer. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

5. Add the dumplings.
Drop dumpling batter into the simmering stew by heaping teaspoonfuls, over the surface of the stew. Cover and simmer until dumplings are cooked through, about 15 minutes. Once you have covered the pan, do not uncover while the dumplings are cooking! In order for them to be light and fluffy, they must steam, not boil. Uncovering the pan releases the steam. If after 15 minutes they are still not cooked through (use a toothpick or skewer to test) cover pan again, and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Gently stir in peas and parsley. Ladle portions of meat, sauce, vegetables, and dumplings into soup plates and serve immediately.

Serves 6 to 8.

www.simplyrecipes.com