Edamame Dip

Ingredients

12 to 16 ounces shelled edamame, fresh or frozen

1/2 cup, packed, roughly chopped fresh cilantro, including stems

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 avocado, peeled, pitted, roughly chopped

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup lime or lemon juice

1-2 teaspoons salt

5 shakes of Tabasco (less or more to taste)

3 drops of dark sesame oil (more to taste)

Steps:

Bring 2 quarts of well salted water (2 Tbsp salt) to a boil. Add the shelled edamame. Return to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, or until cooked through and tender. Drain with cold water.

Place drained cooked edamame in a food processor. Pulse several times. Add the chopped cilantro. Pulse again. Add the remaining ingredients, and pulse until well puréed. Add more water if you want a smoother consistency. Adjust seasonings (salt, Tabasco, lime, sesame oil). Serve with pita, chips, crostini, Makes about 2 cups.

www.simplyrecipes.com

Sautéed Kale with Tahini Sauce

INGREDIENTS

1 pound kale, well rinsed

2 T olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt

4 Tbsp tahini (use tahini made with toasted sesame seeds, not raw)

2 Tbsp lemon juice

3-4 Tbsp water

1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil

1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds for garnish

STEPS

1. Using a sharp paring knife, cut out the rib of each kale leaf. Discard or compost. Slice the leaves roughly 1/2-inch thick.

2. Heat olive oil on medium high heat in a large sauté pan. When hot, add the chopped onion. Cook for a couple of minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more.

3. Add the kale to the sauté pan. Even if you have a pretty large pan, the kale will be practically falling out of it. Put in as much as you can and use tongs to turn over and mix with the oil and onions. After a couple minutes the kale should wilt a bit so you can add the rest of the raw kale. Cook, turning the kale leaves over occasionally until the kales leaves have wilted and are tender. Sprinkle a little salt over the kale leaves while cooking.

4. While the kale is cooking, whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, water, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and dark sesame oil. Add more salt and sesame oil to taste.

5. Once the kale is done, toss in the sauce, reserving a little to drizzle on top.

Serve, topped with a little sauce and toasted sesame seeds. Serves 4.

www.simplyrecipes.com

Mom's Cheesecake

Ingredients

4 eggs

1 c sugar

Juice of one lemon

1 lb cottage cheese

1 lb cream cheese

1 pt sour cream

2 T flour

2 T cornstarch

1 t vanilla

1/4 lb melted butter

16 graham crackers

Steps

Crush 16 graham crackers and mix with 3 T butter. Reserve 1/2 c of mixture for top of cake.

Press crumbs into bottom of spring form pan. Mix eggs and sugar. Mash cheeses well. Add cheese and sugar, egg, then all. Electric mixer until fairly smooth. Add melted butter last. Batter is loose. Crumb over top. Bake 60 minutes. Turn off oven. Leave cake in oven for 2 hours.

From the kitchen of Susan McGowan

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