Parsley. Sage. Rosemary and Chocolate?

The kids are coming home next week, and in preparation, my kitchen is filling up with the sweet and savory spices of fall. Parsley. Sage. Cinnamon. Allspice. And, last night the fragrant notes of rosemary and chocolate were wafting from the oven! Oh, we enjoy all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes, but this year I wanted to serve up a few things that were a bit less conventional. And when I’m looking for an occasional sweet treat that I know will still be healthy, I turn to my favorite food blog, 101 Cookbooks, where I found this recipe for Rosemary Olive Oil Cake.

I knew it was going to be a hit when I sampled a bit of the batter before baking. Mmmm - olive oil (I used an organic extra-virgin), mixed with chunks of bittersweet chocolate and fresh rosemary! Last night, warm from the oven, it tasted to Dan like an exotic chocolate chip cookie. He left with a fresh slice this morning to savor with his Starbucks. I had a piece for lunch and found the texture was even lighter and the flavors more developed today. Rosemary and chocolate – a successful marriage in this cake, and definitely a new addition to Thanksgiving at our house!

This is Macaroni and Cheese?

Oprah recently made headlines, admitting that she went into a major tailspin and devoured 30 pounds of macaroni and cheese when her movie, Beloved, tanked at the box office. When I found myself with an extra pound of a very good quality Asiago, I went looking for a mac and cheese recipe to use it in, and found this retooled and spiced-up version in Marlena Spieler’s Macaroni & Cheese cookbook – yep, an entire cookbook dedicated to America’s supreme comfort food. I don’t know what Oprah’s chef dished up, but this healthy and hearty version could send anyone into an eating frenzy!

MINESTRONE AL PESTO CON FORMAGGIO 

(Vegetable Soup with Pesto and Cheese) Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 ounces ditalini or small shells
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 quart vegetable or chicken broth, homemade or canned
1 cup dry white wine
1 prosciutto bone, or a few ounces diced prosciutto or another Italian cured meat (optional)
4 to 5 cabbage leaves, thinly sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, or about 2 cups diced fresh tomatoes
1 zucchini, sliced fairly thickly
3 to 4 ounces fresh spinach leaves, coarsely chopped, or 1/2 cup cooked and drained frozen chopped spinach
Handful of green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup fresh young peas, blanched, or frozen peas (no need to defrost)
1/2 cup cooked cannellini beans (canned are fine), drained
Large pinch of thyme, either fresh or dried
Salt and pepper to taste
About 6 ounces fontina, Jack, provolone, young (medium) Asiago, or cave-aged Gruyère cheese, cut into thick, slablike slices
1/2 cup pesto, homemade or store-bought
2 to 3 ounces Parmesan, pecorino, aged Asiago, or dry Jack cheese, grated

Directions:
Cook the ditalini in a pot of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente; drain and set aside. Lightly saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until softened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the broth and white wine, and if using, the bone or prosciutto. Cook for about 10 minutes, then add the cabbage, carrot, and tomatoes and continue to cook for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are very tender, especially the cabbage. Add the zucchini, spinach, green beans, and peas and cook for 10 to15 minutes; then add the cannellini and thyme. Season with salt and pepper, if needed. Into each bowl place a slab of cheese, then a big spoonful of the pasta and a dab of pesto. Ladle the hot soup over it all, and sprinkle the top with Parmesan or pecorino. Serve at once!

Sunny Lemon Bars

To most people, the holidays mean pumpkin pie and gingerbread, much enjoyed with a dollop of sweet cream. But this year, our daughter Dani, who gets to choose our Christmas menu by virtue of the fact that she missed Thanksgiving, has requested tangy lemon bars. It might just be nostalgia for one of the comfort foods of her childhood, or maybe there’s a clue in her remark that she’s ready to be back home in warm Atlanta – since her move to Pittsburgh, she’s had enough of gray skies and snow.


On Christmas Eve, I'll be making this recipe, published several years ago in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I’ve occasionally experimented with other versions, but these Sunny Lemon Bars are the best I’ve found. The fruit layer, more of a lemon curd than a custard, is intense and contrasts perfectly with the crisp, sweet, shortbread crust.

Hope Dani enjoys them. If the weather forecast proves true, I’ll be serving them up on Christmas Day with – what else – gray skies and rain….turning to snow!

Brown Sugar Cookies

Georgians don’t expect to see snow, even at Christmas. Especially not during spring break. But as I left the house this morning, I drove through a whirlwind of soft, swirling, sparkling snow. Unexpected. Definitely not in season. But fun, exciting and nostalgic anytime.

This weekend, with both kids home from college, I went to Cooks Illustrated online to plan the perfect Friday night dinner. Found a menu in their March 19th update – shrimp scampi, rice pilaf, Caesar salad, and brown sugar cookies. It’s not really cookie season. And despite the fact that Dan and I decided our home cooked meals would take on a more healthful bent this year, I was intrigued with a cookie finish to this otherwise elegant meal. In the 20-plus years we’ve subscribed to Cooks, they’ve never steered us wrong, so I got out the cookie sheets and parchment.

Oh, my! I think I’ve found the perfect cookie – one that pulls off simple and luxurious at the same time! They have a distinct, chewy texture in the middle, but are crisp on top and perfectly crusty on the edges. (It’s amazing the difference browning the butter brings to this recipe.) Great butterscotch flavor from both the sugar and the browned-to-perfection butter. Two dozen of these disappeared in 48 hours!

I’m going to tweak the recipe this week-end by withholding the sugar coating in one batch and adding a maple frosting to the second. Both are suggestions from Dani, but it will be hard, maybe impossible, to improve on the original.

These brown sugar cookies were an unexpected find, definitely not in season, but fun, exciting and comforting anytime.

Fat Tuesday Feasting

I had the best lunch today, courtesy of last night’s leftovers. After recovering from a two-day stomach flu, I wanted something light and comforting for dinner. When I want comfort food, I reach for my “Eat, Drink and Be Chinaberry” cookbook. Claire Regan’s Spinach Pie with a simple salad fit the bill. This afternoon, I tucked a warmed slice of last night’s spinach pie into a whole wheat pita and added a handful of romaine tossed with a splash of balsamic vinegar dressing. So simple. Lightening fast. Wickedly good!

I checked Chinaberry’s website, and their cookbook, compiled from the best dishes submitted by family and friends, is no longer available, so here’s the recipe.

Claire Regan’s Spinach Pie with Muenster Crust

¾ pound sliced Muenster cheese
1 cup lowfat cottage cheese
3 10-ounce packages frozen spinach, cooked and drained well
(I use 2 packages of Cascadian Farm’s organic cut spinach, and I thaw, not cook it, before adding)
3 eggs, beaten
1 small onion, chopped
1/3 cup grated parmesan or less, to taste
Dill and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Line an ungreased 10” pie plate with overlapping slices of cheese. Cover the bottom of the pan and ¾ way up the sides. Combine cooked and drained spinach with cottage cheese, eggs, onion, parmesan, dill and pepper. Place in pie plate. Cook in 350° oven for one hour. Allow to stand 5 minutes before slicing. (I find an hour is too long. Check at 45 minutes.)

Roast Banana-Pumpkin Breakfast Bread

With the prolonged cold spell in Atlanta, I’ve been gravitating to the soup and stew and hearty bread sections of my recipe binder. Dan and I tested an amazing muffin recipe last night from his collection. It’s actually a breakfast bread, but we turned it into six very generously sized bakery style muffins. (Reduce oven time to 30 minutes for muffins.) The recipe is from Dan’s favorite recipe source, 101cookbooks.com. They were fantastic when we shared one warm from the oven last night, and even better this morning!

Roast Banana-Pumpkin Breakfast Bread

3/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup Myer's dark rum
2 ripe bananas, unpeeled
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
Powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a small saucepan, combine the raisins and rum. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and let stand for 1 hour. Strain the plumped raisins and set aside; discard any remaining liquid.

Place the bananas on a cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes, or until the skins are black and they have started to seep. Remove from the oven , set aside, and let cool.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Turn the machine to low and add 1 egg. Mix until completely incorporated and then add the second egg. Mix again until completely incorporated.

Meanwhile, squeeze the flesh of the bananas out of the skins and into a small mixing bowl. Add the coconut milk and vanilla and mash together. Add half of the banana mixture to the electric mixer bowl and blend thoroughly on low speed. Add half of the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add the remaining banana mixture, blend thoroughly, and add the remaining flour mixture; mix just enough to thoroughly blend the ingredients. Fold the pumpkin seeds and reserved raisins into the batter and pour it into a lightly greased 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.

Bake in the oven for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack, slice, and serve warm. Alternately, sprinkle with the powdered sugar and glaze briefly under a preheated broiler.

Makes 1 loaf

Good Greens Winter Soup

Thought I'd share our new favorite soup from the pages of Better Homes and Gardens. I had NO hopes for this the first time I made it. I picked it solely for the name - sure to impress Dan, who is in a "we have to eat healthier this year" state of mind. I'm not usually a fan of kale, but it's wonderful in this. The red wine vinegar is a must, it really makes this soup special. We ALL loved it - the four of us finished it off the first night. It's that good, and just 90 calories a serving! If you happen to live near a Whole Foods and can pair it with a thick slice of toasted Organic Prairie Bread, it's heaven! You'll have it on the table, start to finish in half an hour.

good greans winter soup

Ingredients
2 leeks, trimmed, halved, and sliced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 14-oz. cans vegetable broth
1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
4 cups coarsely shredded kale
2 medium zucchini, halved and sliced
1 5-oz. pkg. baby spinach
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley or basil
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Directions
1. In 5-quart Dutch oven cook leeks, celery, and garlic in oil over medium heat for 10 minutes or until beginning to brown. Stir in broth, undrained tomatoes, kale, zucchini, 1/4 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 5 minutes, stirring once. Reserve a few spinach leaves; stir in remaining spinach, parsley, and vinegar. Top with reserved spinach leaves. Makes 8 side-dish servings.