Apple Raisin Dessert

This is a simple, easy-to-fix elegant dessert.

Ingredients: 3 Tb. raisins; 2 Tb. Kahlúa or Tia Maria coffee liqueur; 3 medium Gala or sourish sweet crisp apples, chilled; 1/4 C. whipping cream; 1 tsp. vanilla extract; 1 tsp granulated sugar.

Directions: 1. In microwave-safe cup, cook raisins with liqueur 1 minute. Set aside but keep warm. 2. Whip cream with vanilla and sugar until medium stiff. 3. Slice apples just before serving and arrange in four remakins or fruit cups. Top with whipped cream and raisin sauce.

Egplant Parmesan

Preparation time: one hour.

Ingredients: 2 medium eggplants, sliced horizontally 1/2 inch thick; 2 eggs, lightly beaten; 4 Tb. milk; Italian breadcrumbs; 1/4 C. Olive oil; 24 oz. nonfat Ricotta; 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg, grated; 1 Egg; 2 Tb. Italian parsley, chopped; 1 C. Chianti; 12 oz. Tomato paste; 1 tsp. oregano; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; 1/2 lb. Mozzarella sliced; 1/2 C. Parmesan cheese.

Directions: 1. Wash eggplants, wipe dry, slice horizontally 1/2 inch thick. Layer in colander and sprinkle both sides with salt. Allow to set at least an hour. Pat dry with paper towels. 2. Preheat oven to 400°F. 3. Brush olive oil on cookie sheets, enough to lay eggplant slices in one layer. Dip eggplant slices into mixture of egg and milk. Roll in breadcrumbs and lay on cookie sheets. Brush with more olive oil and bake 15 minutes. Flip and bake another 15 minutes. 4. Mix ricotta, nutmeg, lightly beaten egg and parsley in bowl. 5. In a small saucepan, simmer Chianti, tomato paste, oregano, salt and pepper for 10 minutes. 6. Spoon half the sauce on bottom of shallow baking dish. Cover with ricotta mixture. 7. Arrange eggplant slices on ricotta layer. Spoon remaining sauce over eggplant then cover with mozzarella slices. Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese. 8. Bake 20 minutes at 400°F or until top is golden and center is bubbling. 9. Let stand 5 minutes before serving, with more tomato sauce if desired. 

Asparagus Quiche

Preparation time is an hour if pie crust is made beforehand.

Ingredients: 2 Tb. unsalted butter; 1 C. yellow onion, chopped; 1 tsp. dry thyme or 1 large sprig, fresh; 1/2 tsp. salt; 1 C. whipping cream; 3 eggs, lightly beaten; 1/2 C. Parmesan cheese, grated; 1 C. Swiss cheese sliced into strips; 1 can, 12 1/4 oz. giant, white asparagus, drained, halved lengthwise; 1 recipe pie crust for 10" quiche pan; 1-2 Tb. unsalted butter.

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Line quiche pan with pastry, prick with fork, weigh down with rice or beans, and bake for 5 to 7 minutes. Cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350°. 2. Sauté onions in butter until translucent. Add thyme. Set aside. 3. Mix cream, eggs, Parmesan cheese and salt in bowl. 5. Arrange asparagus pieces on pastry-lined dish. Spoon onions around pieces. Pour in cream mixture. Dot surface with pieces of chilled butter. 6. Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Surface should be slightly golden. Serve hot with good, chilled red wine like a cabernet.

Peach Pie from Scratch

Tony and Audrey made the crust for this two-crust peach pie. I did the filling and finished the pie while they were watching a movie.

Filling: Ingredients for a 10-inch pie. 3 C. fresh peaches, peeled, large cubes; 2/3 C. granulated sugar; 1/3 C. melted unsalted butter; 1/4 C. lemon juice; 2 Tb. lemon zest.

Glaze: One egg mixed with one tablespoon milk or cream. Mix and brush on pie crust before baking.

Optional Topping: 1/2 C. whipping cream, whipped with 1 Tb. granulated sugar and 1 tsp. natural vanilla extract. Or, good vanilla ice cream.

Directions: Arrange peach pieces on pie plate with bottom crust. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour over peaches. Cover with upper crust and bake pie at 400° for 15 minutes, at 300° for 50 more minutes or until center starts bubbling and crust is golden. Top with cream or ice cream.

The Best Lunch Yet

I didn't leave for the gym till nearly one so my workout extended to two. I wanted to get a whole chicken from Marsh to make chicken stock for more risotto and got held up in traffic. By the time I got home, it was three and I was famished!

My refrigerator is always full but what I hastily assembled for lunch today was the best ever. I thought to myself, "Lunch in Italy could not improve on this!"

In a thick-bottomed small saucepan, I poured less than a tablespoonful of extra-virgin olive oil on high heat. I quickly seared tomatoes cut in half, laying the cut side down and added thin slices of chicken breast. Both cooked quickly. When the chicken was golden on one side, I turned it over and carefully put a dollop of Trader Joe's Thai cooking sauce on top.

On a plate, I arranged the chicken and tomatoes with a red-leaf lettuce salad topped with a cheesy dressing and Greek kalamata olives. It was heaven!

Risotto Palermo Style

Ingredients: 2 large eggplants; coarse sea salt; 1 large onion, thinly sliced; 6 Tb. extra-virgin olive oil; 2 Tb. finely chopped Italian parsley; 1 C., chopped celery stalks; 4 to 5 fresh basil leaves, torn; 3 C. cubed Roma tomatoes with skin; salt and freshly, coarsely ground black pepper; 2 C. Arborio rice; 3 1/2 C. homemade chicken stock or canned stock; 2 Tb. homemade pesto (optional); 1 C. freshly grated Provolone (or Caciocavallo cheese, if available); 1/2 C. King Arthur white or natural whole-wheat flour; extra-virgin olive oil for frying. 

Directions: 1. Slice eggplant thinly horizontally. Place in colander and sprinkle coarse kosher salt on each layer. Leave to stand for at least an hour then press between paper towels to dry. 2. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, sauté 3/4 of the onion in  3 Tb. olive oil for 2 to 3 minutes or until soft. 3. Add parsley, 2/3 of your basil, tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste and simmer over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes. 4. Pre-heat oven to 425°C. 5. In heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, sauté remaining onion in 3 Tb. olive oil till soft and golden. Add rice and cook stirring continuously until grains are well coated with oil. 6. Add boiling stock half a cup at a time, stirring rice continuously. As stock is absorbed, add more up to about 3 1/2 cups. This should take 20 to 25 minutes. 7. When rice is al dente (not soft like Chinese or Japanese style rice), turn off heat. Mix in pesto or half of the grated cheese until melted into the rice. Set aside. 8. Coat eggplant slices lightly with flour and fry in hot olive oil. Drain. 9. Line bottom of medium oven-proof casserole with fried, drained eggplant slices and cover with half the risotto, half of the remaining cheese, and almost half of the sauce. 10. Sprinkle half of remaining basil over the sauce, cover with half the remaining eggplant, remaining rice, sauce and basil. Top with remaining cheese. 11. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes. Serve very hot.

Chicken and More Chicken

Sometimes cooking is a chore but days like today, brimming with sunshine and the good energy that comes as grace (in other words, unannounced, unplanned for, completely its own), cooking is joy.

I took the drumsticks from the package of dark-meat chicken I bought on sale from Marsh last week and marinated them in just soy sauce, lime juice, garlic and ground black pepper. Fried in vegetable oil with plenty of space between them so steam escapes and leave the cooked parts crisp, the result was a nice change from chicken breast. My captive guest, Tony, eats no seafood nor pork. I've had to really come up with new ways to cook and serve chicken. Since he does not object to veggies I might explore veggie recipes for a while.

The beauty of cooking is sweetest when what comes off the skillet after the brainstorm is a delectable surprise as this concoction of fennel and celery strips quickly fried in olive oil with wild mushrooms and walnut halves. 

This is why I cook. When once in a while I come up with a masterpiece like this, I keep cooking, like one addicted to drugs keeps looking for that high he had once had with it. I think we call this "hope."