Category Archives: recipe

Sweet potato buns

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I made these sweet potato buns with the last of the veg from our CSA. They’re a lovely rosy color, have a crisp crust and a fine crumb. I added a little cardamom and paprika, so they have a subtle sweet/smoky flavor that seems to go with their color. Yesterday was a day of freezing dampness, and it was nice to have a fresh-baked bun at the end of it.

Good with black bean burgers!

Here’s Mikey Dread’s Hot Cross Bun to listen to as you wait for the dough to rise.

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Hazelnut crusted eggplant with tapenade & brie

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We had some brie & some gorgonzola leftover from a party, so I decided to get all fancy with my eggplant slices. When I made the eggplant, I added 1/3 cup of crushed hazelnuts to the breadcrumb/flour mixture. It gave the eggplant a wonderful flavor and a bit more crunch.

I put a spoonful of tapenade on a slice of eggplant. Then a slice of brie or gorgonzola. I put them in a hot oven till the cheese was melted and crispy. Then I topped with another slice of eggplant, spooned over some tomato sauce, and served with a simple arugula salad. And this, my friends, is but one way to serve eggplant!

Here’s Bob Marley’s Mix Up Mix Up, which I’m pretty sure is about different versions of eggplant recipes.

Eggplant that anyone can love

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Eggplant

Eggplant can be a tricky vegetable. If not cooked properly it can taste odd and bitter, and the texture can be unpleasantly slimy and spongy. But…if cooked properly, it can be most delicious. After years of perfecting my eggplant-cooking technique, I’ve arrived at the best recipe in the entire universe! Well, probably not, but it is really good, and it does tend to appeal to people who don’t believe they like eggplant. The eggplant is sliced thinly, marinated with balsamic and herbs, and then dipped in egg & breadcrumbs. Typically I use a mixture of herbed flour and breadcrumbs, but I’ve also used cornmeal, oatmeal, semolina, and nuts, and it’s all good! It’s oven-fried…baked on a sheet covered with oil, until it’s crispy and light. These slices of eggplant can be used in a million different ways. They’re good with various different sauces and good bread. They’re good cut into pieces or layered whole in savory pastries. If you slice the eggplant lengthy-wise you can roll them up around various fillings, and rebake them with a sauce or without. Good on pizza, good with pasta, good with roman gnocchi…

Eggplant, spinach, mozzarella pie

Here’s Dr. West’s Medicine Show and Junk Band with The Eggplant that Ate Chicago. Maybe this is why eggplant got a bad name!
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Not necessarily hummus

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Hummus is delicious – but the lovely subtle chickpea lends itself to all sorts of flavor combinations. Nothing could be easier than to whip up a chickpea dip, and it’s a wonderful recipe to have on hand to feed unexpected guests. In the summer, when it’s too hot to cook, or after work, when you just don’t have the time or energy to cook, this makes a nice dinner with some good bread and a good salad. Hummus, french fries and red wine is actually a favorite meal of ours! Store-bought hummus is surprisingly expensive. But a can of chickpeas is very cheap, and dried chickpeas are even cheaper. I tend to use canned – I do for most beans. I like to cook them from dried, but I don’t always decide what I’m going to make early enough to provide for soaking & cooking time. I’ve found that the secret ingredient to making a hummus with a light pleasant consistency is … water! A little bit of water added at the end and blended in really pulls everything together in a surprising way. Yup.

Here’s Hank Mobley’s The Dip, to listen to while you decide what to add to your chickpeas.
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Split pea soup with carrots and fines herbes

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Split Pea soup

I have to admit to a fondness for split pea soup out of a can – that log of sludge, which slides out with a squishy sound. It actually makes a smooth and comforting soup. But the thing about split peas is that they don’t need to be thick and stodgy. They can be almost delicate, but still with that reassuring distinctive flavor. This soup combines yellow split peas with carrots (so many from the CSA!!) and a version of fines herbes. These herbs are FINE! Well, not quite. I used scallions instead of chives. And I used dried chervil because I couldn’t find fresh. It’s a light flavorful soup, with a nice amber broth.

And here’s a version of Burning Spear’s Foggy Road, to remind you that this soup is not so thick you’d name a fog after it.
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Non-sausage rolls with butternut squash and goat cheese

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Butternut squash goat cheese rolls

One of the nice things about being a savory pastry geek, is that when you have an opportunity to bring an appetizer to a party, you’re prepared!! These are loosely based on the good old-fashioned sausage roll, in construction at least. But the filling is a lovely blend of roasted butternut squash, spinach, goat cheese and hazelnuts. A nice balance of sweet, tart and earthy. These make a nice appetizer or snack for a party. With a bowl of soup or a good salad, they make a satisfying meal.

Here’s Tom Waits’ Eggs & Sausage and a Side of Toast, performed live on a TV show in 1976. And a very funny interview with him after. Look at everybody smoking!
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the thumb print cookie grows up

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Almond chocolate chip jam thumbprint cookies

Remember thumbprint cookies? Fun to make and to eat! This is a slightly more sophisticated version, with ground almonds and dark chocolate chips mixed into the dough. But they’re just as fun to make and as delicious to eat as ever!

Here’s Nina Simone’s Jelly Roll. Only a slight connection, I’ll admit, but undoubtedly one of the best songs ever!
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choux-cornmeal dumplings

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choux-cormeal dumplings

These are comforting, like all dumplings, but they’re not stodgy in the least! They’re light and crispy, with a soft, pleasing center. They also have a nice hollow in the middle that you can fill with the goodies from your stew. The dough is based on choux pastry, with a bit of cornmeal and herbs added for extra deliciousness. These are baked instead of simmered in your stew, so that they come to the table fresh and crispy and ready to sop up delicious broth. They’re also really easy to make!

Here’s Roots Manuva with Cornmeal Dumpling
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Chickpea/sweet potato/red wine stew

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chickpea stew with rosemary dumplings

We’re still working our way through the sweet potatoes and carrots from the CSA. And I’m still fascinated by star anise. This is a nice way to incorporate both. The pleasing texture of chickpeas goes well with the sweet potatoes and carrots. The mild sweet flavors blend with the slight dryness of the wine to make a rich, unusual broth. Sage and thyme, star anise and cinnamon – delicious together. I made cornmeal dumplings, but lighter and less stodgy than you would expect.

Did you know that Neil Diamond wrote Red Red Wine? It’s true, he did!
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carrots & fennel braised in white wine with star anise

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I’m slightly obsessed with star anise at the moment! It’s so pretty and so tasty. Warm, a little sweet, a little spicy. I have several bunches of carrots from the CSA, and this seemed like a nice thing to do with them. Simple, satisfying, the sweetness of the star anise complements that of the carrots, but lets them shine in all their carrotyness. You could make this without the fennel, but it seemed to fit so perfectly, being another fall veg with a sweetish edge, and matching nicely with the flavor of the anise. This is good warm when you make it, and cool as a little salad the next day.

Here’s MF Doom’s Star Anis, another one of my favorites!
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