Ellen says it's the best she's had, and pumpkin is her favorite kind of pie. It is based on the recipe on the back of the Libby's can of pumpkin, adjusted for what we had at home and other recipe ideas that we saw around the interwebs and recipe books at home. You can always play with spice amounts and combinations; I usually figure that you can add more spices to almost anything that it calls for in the recipe. I didn't take any pictures, but you can imagine what it looks like because it pretty much looked like any other pumpkin pie.
Best Pumpkin Pie
1 single unbaked pie crust
filling:
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
1 12 oz can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 450 F.
Place crust in a pie pan, fold under the edges and crimp. Keep crust cold in the fridge or freezer until until ready to bake pie
Mix together all filling ingredients thoroughly.
Pour filling into pie shell, bake at 450 for 10 minutes, decrease temperature to 350 for an additional 50 minutes, more or less. I could tell it was done but not overdone because the filling still jiggled a little bit, but didn't look at all liquid, it was puffy and developing smallish cracks on the sides next to the crust, and the bottom of the crust was a lovely golden brown as well as the exposed edges.
Let cool completely in the refrigerator before serving with freshly whipped cream. Store remainders in refrigerator if you have any.
Showing posts with label cardamom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cardamom. Show all posts
07 January 2013
17 December 2011
Gooey Orange and Cardamom Chocolate-filled Cookies
I've been trying to think of a way to do chocolate and cardamom cookies, and I thought a good way to do it would be to make a ganache with cardamom in it, then wrap that in cookie dough. A quick google search shows this recipe, which proved that it was not an original idea, and that it would probably be successful.
These are marginally more complicated than chocolate chip cookies. First make some ganache (for such a fancy word, it isn't that complicated to make) and let it chill. Now make a complementary cookie dough. Scoop chunks of chilled ganache and roll them in to smallish balls. I know you want them to be enormous, but trust me, it works better this way. Wrap the ganache balls in cookie dough. Keep the ganache chilled, if it starts getting soft, take a break and put it in the freezer for a few minutes.
Now bake your cookies as usual, and try to share. On a thermodynamic note, try to let them cool a little before biting right into them, the cookie part might seem just the right temperature, but the gooey innards will be hotter, like molten lava, and they will burn your fingers and tongue and everything if you are not careful. Yes, I know from experience. When I made this amount of ganache, it lasted for 2 batches off cookie dough, which is how I know I prefer the orange version instead of plain, so you may want to double the batch of cookie dough, but it's hard to say because I was still working out how big the cookies could be and how much filling to put in them.
Cardamom Chocolate Ganache
(these measurements are approximate because you may want to make it more or less sweet or cardamom-y)
1 cup whipping cream
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4-1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
12 oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate
2-3 Tbsp honey (I used orange blossom honey, but regular clover honey would be great)
Heat the cream and butter together in a saucepan until it just starts boiling. Add the cardamom, then pour over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is melted completely, then stir in the honey. Let it set in the fridge for at least an hour. Scoop out teaspoon (or slightly larger) sized balls, and store in the fridge until you are ready to form the cookies, or in the freezer if you don't anticipate using it right away. And don't let your lovemuffin eat them all before you have a chance to stuff it into cookies.
Orange Cookie Dough
(base on Original Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe on bag)
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
zest from 1 small orange (more or less to taste)
2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla, eggs and orange zest. Mix together flour, baking soda and salt, then mix well into wet ingredients. Cover and chill in refrigerator a few minutes, or longer until you are ready to form the cookies.
Now, take a ball of chocolate, scoop out some cookie dough, and wrap the cookie dough around the chocolate. there should be 1/2" or so surrounding the ganache. I'm sure there's a good way to figure out the exact correct proportion of cookie to ganach, but I did not do it this time. I just know that they can't be too big. Bake cookies at 350 for 9-11 minutes, until the edges are golden and the middles are set. Let cool for a minute on pan, then scoop them onto a cooling rack.
These are marginally more complicated than chocolate chip cookies. First make some ganache (for such a fancy word, it isn't that complicated to make) and let it chill. Now make a complementary cookie dough. Scoop chunks of chilled ganache and roll them in to smallish balls. I know you want them to be enormous, but trust me, it works better this way. Wrap the ganache balls in cookie dough. Keep the ganache chilled, if it starts getting soft, take a break and put it in the freezer for a few minutes.
Now bake your cookies as usual, and try to share. On a thermodynamic note, try to let them cool a little before biting right into them, the cookie part might seem just the right temperature, but the gooey innards will be hotter, like molten lava, and they will burn your fingers and tongue and everything if you are not careful. Yes, I know from experience. When I made this amount of ganache, it lasted for 2 batches off cookie dough, which is how I know I prefer the orange version instead of plain, so you may want to double the batch of cookie dough, but it's hard to say because I was still working out how big the cookies could be and how much filling to put in them.
 |
| gooey chocolate filled cookies |
Cardamom Chocolate Ganache
(these measurements are approximate because you may want to make it more or less sweet or cardamom-y)
1 cup whipping cream
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4-1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
12 oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate
2-3 Tbsp honey (I used orange blossom honey, but regular clover honey would be great)
Heat the cream and butter together in a saucepan until it just starts boiling. Add the cardamom, then pour over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is melted completely, then stir in the honey. Let it set in the fridge for at least an hour. Scoop out teaspoon (or slightly larger) sized balls, and store in the fridge until you are ready to form the cookies, or in the freezer if you don't anticipate using it right away. And don't let your lovemuffin eat them all before you have a chance to stuff it into cookies.
Orange Cookie Dough
(base on Original Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe on bag)
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
zest from 1 small orange (more or less to taste)
2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla, eggs and orange zest. Mix together flour, baking soda and salt, then mix well into wet ingredients. Cover and chill in refrigerator a few minutes, or longer until you are ready to form the cookies.
Now, take a ball of chocolate, scoop out some cookie dough, and wrap the cookie dough around the chocolate. there should be 1/2" or so surrounding the ganache. I'm sure there's a good way to figure out the exact correct proportion of cookie to ganach, but I did not do it this time. I just know that they can't be too big. Bake cookies at 350 for 9-11 minutes, until the edges are golden and the middles are set. Let cool for a minute on pan, then scoop them onto a cooling rack.
16 December 2011
Christmas: Making Chocolates Part 2, Caramels
To make caramel centers for dipping or for eating, you will need: a large saucepan, a long-handled spoon or spatula that you can stir with that won't damage your saucepan (so, no metal implements on a Teflon-coated pan), a buttered cake or casserole pan and a candy thermometer. Start by calibrating your thermometer. You'll have to figure it out from those instructions, because I sure can't explain it. Now get ready to stand by the stove and stir for a while.
Basic Caramels:
2 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp. butter
2 cups white or brown sugar or combination
2 cups light Karo syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Start by scalding the cream. When milk/cream is heated, the proteins in it get changed and coagulate somewhat. If you've ever wondered why you sometimes get a skin on hot chocolate, this is why. So if you don't want this skin or scummy stuff to form when you actually make the caramel, scald the milk first. If you put a tablespoon of butter in with the cream, then by the time the butter melts all the way and small bubbles are coming up the sides of the pan, the milk should be scalded. You can skip the butter, but it is nice not only because it's melting time seems to line up with the scalding time, but it also prevents a skin from forming on top. If you skip the butter, you will have to pull off a skin before you use the cream. When you pour the cream out of the pan it will leave behind the coagulated deposits.
Pour the scalded cream, sugar and Karo syrup into a large saucepan. Start heating on low heat, stir to dissolve the sugar. When all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed/dissolved, turn heat up to medium, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Keep heating mixture, watch the thermometer, you'll shoot for softball stage, which is 240 degrees Fahrenheit. As the caramel develops and more moisture evaporates, the nature of the boiling will change, I was going to try to get some good pictures of it, but it was too hard to stir at the same time. But once you do this the first time, you'll see what I mean and you'll have a better feel for it next time. If you want the caramels to be softer and gooey-er when you bite into them, turn off the heat just before it reaches 240 (or your calibrated temperature), one or maybe two degrees less. You can do the softball test to see if it is at the right level of hardness for your taste. Take off the heat and add vanilla, be careful because it will spatter when it hits the hot caramel. Pour into a buttered pan, a glass cake/casserole pan is nice because then you can see how deep the caramel is so it's easier to cut it to size later.
Let cool for several hours. Depending on the final gooeyness of your caramel, you may want to cool it in the fridge, but if it sets up really hard, it will need to be at room temperature to cut. Cut the pieces, approximately 3/4 inch cubes is a good size.
When you cut the pieces, put them on a buttered plate or tray of some kind in a single layer and chill in the fridge or freezer. If you stack up extra layers on top they will squish each other, so keep it single layer until they are very cold and firm. I did three layers at first, and I had to re-cut them. This is what they looked like:
Keep chilled until you are ready to dip.
Now for the modifications!
Coconut Caramels (tropical and exotic!):
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup Karo syrup
approx. 1/2 tsp ground cardamom (optional)
coconut flavoring
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
Follow basic directions as outlined above, except: Cook to 235-237 degrees. If using cardamom, add it when you are 1 or 2 degrees away from the end goal. When it gets to the goal temperature, take off heat, add coconut flavoring, and stir for a minute or two, let it cool off some more before adding the shredded coconut. This one will set up harder because of the coconut, so you don't want to cook it to as high of a temperature. I cooked mine too long and they are a little too hard, but the cardamom gives them a heavenly flavor.
Pomegranate Caramels (tangy and fruity!):
1 1/4 cup concentrated pomegranate syrup (find at a Middle Eastern market. Pomegranate molasses is almost the same thing but with some sweetener.)
1 1/2 cup sugar (more or less depending on how sweet your pomegranate product is)
1 cup Karo syrup
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
Follow basic directions as outlined above, except: Cook to 250 degrees, possibly even higher. For some reason the fruit in this one makes it set up really soft at softball temperature, so cook it to a higher temperature and it will still be soft. You can test it, see if it is at soft ball stage. This was an experiment for me, and it was extremely successful, they are Lovemuffin's favorite and so now I'm obligated to make more sometime. These are especially good dipped in dark chocolate.
Thanks to my dad for recipes and recommendations! And to my Carpooling Friend for letting me use her saucepan!
Basic Caramels:
2 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp. butter
2 cups white or brown sugar or combination
2 cups light Karo syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Start by scalding the cream. When milk/cream is heated, the proteins in it get changed and coagulate somewhat. If you've ever wondered why you sometimes get a skin on hot chocolate, this is why. So if you don't want this skin or scummy stuff to form when you actually make the caramel, scald the milk first. If you put a tablespoon of butter in with the cream, then by the time the butter melts all the way and small bubbles are coming up the sides of the pan, the milk should be scalded. You can skip the butter, but it is nice not only because it's melting time seems to line up with the scalding time, but it also prevents a skin from forming on top. If you skip the butter, you will have to pull off a skin before you use the cream. When you pour the cream out of the pan it will leave behind the coagulated deposits.
 |
| coagulated proteins: scum from scalding cream |
Pour the scalded cream, sugar and Karo syrup into a large saucepan. Start heating on low heat, stir to dissolve the sugar. When all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed/dissolved, turn heat up to medium, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Keep heating mixture, watch the thermometer, you'll shoot for softball stage, which is 240 degrees Fahrenheit. As the caramel develops and more moisture evaporates, the nature of the boiling will change, I was going to try to get some good pictures of it, but it was too hard to stir at the same time. But once you do this the first time, you'll see what I mean and you'll have a better feel for it next time. If you want the caramels to be softer and gooey-er when you bite into them, turn off the heat just before it reaches 240 (or your calibrated temperature), one or maybe two degrees less. You can do the softball test to see if it is at the right level of hardness for your taste. Take off the heat and add vanilla, be careful because it will spatter when it hits the hot caramel. Pour into a buttered pan, a glass cake/casserole pan is nice because then you can see how deep the caramel is so it's easier to cut it to size later.
Let cool for several hours. Depending on the final gooeyness of your caramel, you may want to cool it in the fridge, but if it sets up really hard, it will need to be at room temperature to cut. Cut the pieces, approximately 3/4 inch cubes is a good size.
 |
| cutting caramels |
When you cut the pieces, put them on a buttered plate or tray of some kind in a single layer and chill in the fridge or freezer. If you stack up extra layers on top they will squish each other, so keep it single layer until they are very cold and firm. I did three layers at first, and I had to re-cut them. This is what they looked like:
 |
| Squishy caramels, completely fused together |
Keep chilled until you are ready to dip.
Now for the modifications!
Coconut Caramels (tropical and exotic!):
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup Karo syrup
approx. 1/2 tsp ground cardamom (optional)
coconut flavoring
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
Follow basic directions as outlined above, except: Cook to 235-237 degrees. If using cardamom, add it when you are 1 or 2 degrees away from the end goal. When it gets to the goal temperature, take off heat, add coconut flavoring, and stir for a minute or two, let it cool off some more before adding the shredded coconut. This one will set up harder because of the coconut, so you don't want to cook it to as high of a temperature. I cooked mine too long and they are a little too hard, but the cardamom gives them a heavenly flavor.
 |
| mmmm.... coconut cardamom centers ready to eat, er, dip.... |
Pomegranate Caramels (tangy and fruity!):
1 1/4 cup concentrated pomegranate syrup (find at a Middle Eastern market. Pomegranate molasses is almost the same thing but with some sweetener.)
1 1/2 cup sugar (more or less depending on how sweet your pomegranate product is)
1 cup Karo syrup
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
Follow basic directions as outlined above, except: Cook to 250 degrees, possibly even higher. For some reason the fruit in this one makes it set up really soft at softball temperature, so cook it to a higher temperature and it will still be soft. You can test it, see if it is at soft ball stage. This was an experiment for me, and it was extremely successful, they are Lovemuffin's favorite and so now I'm obligated to make more sometime. These are especially good dipped in dark chocolate.
 |
| three kinds of chocolates: coconut, pomegranate, and caramel |
Thanks to my dad for recipes and recommendations! And to my Carpooling Friend for letting me use her saucepan!
30 August 2011
Peach Hotcakes
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to find good peaches at the grocery store? We've gotten lucky and our not-as-close neighborhood grocery store has had really good peaches lately. We went there to get some emergency ice cream rations to prepare for the coming hurricane and the peaches reached out and grabbed us and we bought a couple pounds. That hurricane was a bit of a let down for us (the earthquake was scarier), but the peaches were quite good.
I made some peach pancakes based on the buttermilk-blueberry pancake recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I used cardamom instead of cinnamon, and it was okay, but it didn't have a spectacular flavor. I would just go with cinnamon for this one next time. But if you want a recipe for pancakes with cardamom, here's one from Mark Bittman. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds delightful.
Oh, and for some reason in my family we call them hotcakes instead of pancakes, I've always figured it's because they're bigger than the usual pancakes. If you're reading this and you know the answer, please comment and let me know!
 |
| cooked peach pancake |
 |
| We like them big, but this one was almost unflippable |
Peach Hotcakes
1 c. all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. semolina flour or cornmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (or your favorite complementary spice)
1 Tbsp. honey (or sugar)
1 egg, beaten
1 c. buttermilk or yogurt or whey from draining yogurt or a combination
2 Tbsp. cooking oil
1 peach, cut into blueberry-size pieces, peeled if desired, covered in lemon juice to keep from browning
Mix together flour, semolina/cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon (and sugar, if using) in a bowl, set aside.
Mix together the honey (if using), egg, buttermilk/yogurt/whey and oil.
Start heating up a griddle for cooking, then mix together the wet and dry ingredients until they are just barely mixed and still lumpy, then add peach pieces gently.
Cook pancakes on lightly oiled griddle, eat with your favorite topping.
15 August 2011
Some happenings in the kitchen and around town
Here's some of our adventures in eating lately.
Ethiopian Food today at Awash, it looks like a mess, but it's quite delicious.
Brownies with cardamom and orange peel topped with preserved kumquat and orange sauce, kumquats from Chinatown, New York City, sorry the lighting was bad, but these were pretty amazing. Just add about a teaspoon of cardamom and some orange zest to your favorite brownie recipe and try to make an awesome orange topping.
What we made with our eggplant from the market: Eggplant casserole with onion, pepper, tomatoes and kefalotyri cheese (a fabulous greek cheese I got from my friendly neighborhood middle eastern market).
Peach and cardamom upside down cake, not super successful, will develop a better recipe, probably in muffin form, coming . . . sometime, if I ever figure it out.
Ethiopian Food today at Awash, it looks like a mess, but it's quite delicious.
What we made with our eggplant from the market: Eggplant casserole with onion, pepper, tomatoes and kefalotyri cheese (a fabulous greek cheese I got from my friendly neighborhood middle eastern market).
08 August 2011
Amazing Desserts/Restaurant Review
A couple nights ago we went to dinner to celebrate younger brothers-in-law's birthdays (does that make sense?) at this restaurant, Zaytinya, and the food was pretty spectacular, especially that squash and cheese dish that I don't know the name of. But I especially want to show-and-tell about our desserts, I hope you don't mind fuzzy pictures of half-eaten food.
This is what I got, I don't remember what they called it because it was the special that day, but our server described it as "deconstructed baklava." It had olive oil jelly, a honey/syrup jelly, vanilla ice cream, phyllo dough with nuts rolled up in it, chopped pistachios, and fresh blackberries. It was very good and the guy pointed out that when you eat these "deconstructed" desserts you should get a little bit of all of the different elements on your spoon and eat them all at once to get the flavor of the original/classic dessert. It is pretty fun to try the different element on their own too. Olive oil jelly is surprisingly good.
This was what Lovemuffin ordered, and I think I liked it slightly better than my own. It is a Greek honey and yogurt concoction with apricot jammy stuff in the bottom and ice cream and pistachios on top. It was very pretty and very tasty.
This is what one little brother ordered, and everyone thought it was the weakest of the bunch, I was too busy taking pictures so I didn't get around to tasting it. It was another "deconstructed" dessert based on Turkish delight. I didn't really understand how to break Turkish delight down into several elements, and it was also not the most photogenic dessert. I wish I could say more about it, but since I didn't try it and no one else had a lot to say about it . . . Yeah.
The other little brother ordered this which was hands-down everyone's favorite. It was a chocolate cake with gooey insides, with cardamom and coffee flavors served with chocolate mousse-y stuff and flavored whipped cream and it was stunning, miraculous, amazing and magnificent. Our server called it "outrageous." He recommended getting the large size because the small size is just enough to piss you off. The combination of chocolate and cardamom was incredible and revived my obsession with cardamom. In fact, I'm going to create a "cardamom" label so that you can easily find anything on this blog that contains cardamom. Perhaps I should also make cardamom chocolate cookies or muffins or something. The coffee flavor was not that noticeable to me, but it probably served to deepen the flavor of the chocolate. The thing I really liked about this dessert was that you can taste it before you even put it in your mouth.
Over all, it was a pretty great restaurant, it had a nice atmosphere but wasn't snobby or intimidating, our server was super helpful and nice, and all of the food was beyond excellent. I'm thinking of going back with my older brother for some lunch and dessert.
This is what I got, I don't remember what they called it because it was the special that day, but our server described it as "deconstructed baklava." It had olive oil jelly, a honey/syrup jelly, vanilla ice cream, phyllo dough with nuts rolled up in it, chopped pistachios, and fresh blackberries. It was very good and the guy pointed out that when you eat these "deconstructed" desserts you should get a little bit of all of the different elements on your spoon and eat them all at once to get the flavor of the original/classic dessert. It is pretty fun to try the different element on their own too. Olive oil jelly is surprisingly good.
This was what Lovemuffin ordered, and I think I liked it slightly better than my own. It is a Greek honey and yogurt concoction with apricot jammy stuff in the bottom and ice cream and pistachios on top. It was very pretty and very tasty.
This is what one little brother ordered, and everyone thought it was the weakest of the bunch, I was too busy taking pictures so I didn't get around to tasting it. It was another "deconstructed" dessert based on Turkish delight. I didn't really understand how to break Turkish delight down into several elements, and it was also not the most photogenic dessert. I wish I could say more about it, but since I didn't try it and no one else had a lot to say about it . . . Yeah.
The other little brother ordered this which was hands-down everyone's favorite. It was a chocolate cake with gooey insides, with cardamom and coffee flavors served with chocolate mousse-y stuff and flavored whipped cream and it was stunning, miraculous, amazing and magnificent. Our server called it "outrageous." He recommended getting the large size because the small size is just enough to piss you off. The combination of chocolate and cardamom was incredible and revived my obsession with cardamom. In fact, I'm going to create a "cardamom" label so that you can easily find anything on this blog that contains cardamom. Perhaps I should also make cardamom chocolate cookies or muffins or something. The coffee flavor was not that noticeable to me, but it probably served to deepen the flavor of the chocolate. The thing I really liked about this dessert was that you can taste it before you even put it in your mouth.
Over all, it was a pretty great restaurant, it had a nice atmosphere but wasn't snobby or intimidating, our server was super helpful and nice, and all of the food was beyond excellent. I'm thinking of going back with my older brother for some lunch and dessert.
19 May 2011
Fig, Apricot and Pecan Bars: the recipe
Here is the recipe I used for these delicious treats, it is adapted from the blondies recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (11th edition). They were still a little crumbly, I think because of the oats. If you want you could use only all-purpose flour, but the oats do give it a nice texture.
Fig, Apricot and Pecan Bars
Fig, Apricot and Pecan Bars
1/2 c. chopped dried apricots
1/2 c. chopped dried figs
1 c. packed brown sugar
10 Tbsp. butter
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. quick oats
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom (or your favorite complementary spice)
1 c. chopped toasted pecans
Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 8 x 11 inch baking pan (Better Homes and Gardens says 9 x 13, but I like the bars tall instead of spread out), set aside.
Place the dried apricot and fig pieces in a small bowl and pour boiling water over them, enough to cover them. Set aside.
In a sauce pan heat the brown sugar and butter until the sugar dissolves, stirring constantly. Cool slightly. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla extract. Mix in the flour, oats, baking powder, soda and cardamom. Drain the soaked fruit in a strainer and mix the nuts and fruit into the batter. Pour it all into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly on wire rack, consume.
04 September 2010
Jamming Time
Pears were on sale last week for really cheap, so we bought at least 30 pounds of pears and I made a lot of jam yesterday and today, and now I have a strange callous on my hand from paring so many pears. I did a bunch of pectin-free batches, and I did about 4 batches with the kind of pectin that uses less sugar. It all turned out well. The first couple of batches made with pectin set up really hard, I think because the pears were less ripe at first. I let them sit with a banana in a warm place for a day before doing the next ones with pectin. The pectin-free pear jam, unlike the pectin-free boysenberry jams I did a couple months ago, turned out a little more like syrup than jam, although some of the pectin-free jams set up more, depending again on the ripeness of the fruit. I was really excited to do some fun flavor combinations because pears are nice and mild and like being eaten with all sorts of spices. I have been planning on doing pear and ginger for a while, it's a combination that I experiment with every year during pear season (see my pear and ginger upside-down cake, recipe coming soon!). It is delicious, but the other combination I tried was even better: pear with cardamom. It is like heaven on a piece of toast, on a hotcake, mixed in with your oatmeal for breakfast, and probably warm over vanilla ice cream. I can't give you the recipe because I think I might start selling it. Yes, it is that good.
In the picture from left to right: Pear with cardamom and other spices, Pear with ginger and cardamom, Pear with ginger.
01 May 2010
Bright and Tasty Vegetable Stew
The idea for this dish is from a Moroccan tagine. Something that I have never actually eaten, unfortunately, but I saw this recipe for a lamb tagine with all these different vegetables, and I really wanted to try it. We were feeding the missionaries, and what better time to experiment with crazy food than when you have a captive audience, right? Actually, I get super nervous about cooking for other people, start thinking too much and second guessing myself, so maybe not the best idea after all.
The original recipe is from a cookbook I got at the library, "The Africa Cookbook: Tastes of a Continent" by Jessica B. Harris. It calls for lamb, carrots, turnips, eggplants, calabash squash (like a pumpkin) and zucchini, along with spices, of course. That combination of vegetables seemed a little more autumnal that I wanted, so I did something a little different, and hopefully still preserved the spirit of the thing. I meant to serve it with couscous, but apparently I didn't have any couscous. It was really good with the rice that I cooked instead with vegetable stock and a little cardamom. You could of course add meat, beef or lamb would be good, brown them to start with in olive oil and spices, then add the vegetables as directed. Or you can grill your favorite meat and serve it on the side, in case you are feeding a vegetarian. Pesky vegetarians.
Vegetable Tagine
olive oil for sautéing
5-6 carrots, chopped into 1 inch chunks
1 onion, chopped not too small
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, roughly chopped
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
5 or 6 cardamom seeds, or about 1/4 tsp. fresh ground cardamom
pinch saffron (optional)3 sweet bell peppers, chopped into 1 inch chunks
3 zucchinis, chopped into 1 inch chunks
1 - 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
6-8 sprigs cilantro, leaves coarsely chopped
6-8 sprigs parsley, leaves coarsely chopped
Sauté the carrots and the onion in olive oil for a couple of minutes, add cardamom, black pepper and saffron, half of the ginger. Add the bell peppers, and zucchinis and stock. Simmer covered for 20-30 minutes, add the remaining ginger halfway through. Stir occasionally until the vegetables are soft and there is less liquid, it shouldn't be too dry, but it shouldn't be soupy at all. Add the chopped cilantro and parsley leaves, let simmer an additional 5 or so minutes. The colors of the vegetables should be bright and cheerful, and the flavor with the spices will be bright and cheerful, too. Serve along with rice or couscous flavored with cardamom or thyme.
Serves 6.
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