Peggy's Panforte - A Winter Treat

Another of Peg's originals...

Peter and I had our first taste of panforte (literally "strong bread") imported from Italy early in our marriage - he was smitten. I continued to buy them on occasion, but always found them too hard and I was not a fan of the candied citron that seemed to be a main ingredient. I found a recipe in Carol Field's book, The Italian Baker, but it was too sweet and not nutty enough for me. It also contained the candied citron which I had no intention of using. So I've since come up with a recipe that most everybody seems to enjoy, including me. It is certainly not traditional, but is very good never-the-less. It is labor intensive, primarily because I candy the orange peel that I use (see an earlier post). I have not found a candied orange peel that I like enough to pay the  high price for. And I decided that if I am going to go to all the trouble to make this dessert, I want it to be good. This recipe makes enough to share or give as gifts (it's a traditional Christmas treat in Siena), or store away. It never lasts that long in our house, but since the Crusaders took it along  on their "pilgrimages" as a long lasting and energy-boosting food, I assume it has quite a long shelf life.

Peggy's Panforte

2 ½  cups toasted whole hazelnuts (remove as much skin as possible after toasting), coarsely chopped

2 ½ cups toasted whole almonds, coarsely chopped

2 ½ cups candied orange peel, coarsely chopped (see previous post for the recipe)

2 ½ cups coarsely chopped dried pineapple, dried figs, and dates (approximately 1 cup pineapple and

¾ cups each of figs and dates)

2 ½ teaspoons of lemon zest

1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

5/8 teaspoon ground coriander

5/8 teaspoon ground cloves

5/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2  pinches of ground white pepper

1 cup honey

1 cup sugar

2 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter

Mix together nuts, orange peel, dried fruit, and all spices in a large bowl and set aside. Butter two 9"or four 6" spring form pans. I actually make five 6" cakes with this recipe so that they are a little thinner. Cut a piece of parchment to fit the bottom of each pan and then butter the parchment as well. Heat the honey, sugar, and butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat stirring constantly until the syrup registers about 248 degrees. Pour the syrup into the nut and fruit mixture and stir to combine. I use a lot less of the honey/sugar mixture in my recipe so it requires a bit of muscle to get it all incorporated into the dry mixture before it becomes too stiff (Peter helps with this and get a taste or two in the process). Pile equal amounts of the mixture into each pan, dampen you fingers in  a bowl of water and press the mixture into the pans until fairly level. Bake at 300 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes. Cool on rack, remove from pans, peel off parchment and dust with powdered sugar.

Tomato Chutney

Often, when hunger strikes me at home, I go to the fridge and stare at the various containers left from various meals we've enjoyed. So the other day I did just that and came up with something I've never made before, and I'm pretty sure no one else has either. The thing about using what you have in the fridge is you end up with concoctions that are like snowflakes - completely unique and soon to be only  a memory (unless an effort is made to have these very specific things converge in the ice box again).

The thing that really made this invention shine was actually something my sister Peg had made - a tomato chutney. She confesses that it's not her own recipe, but from The Joy of Pickling, by Linda Ziedrich. It's a sweet, aromatic blending of seeds and spices (plus her homegrown tomatoes), that works well on or in many dishes. Just use your imagination!

So here is the recipe, followed by a brief description of what I put together to make the dish you see in the photo.

Tomato Chutney


4 lbs ripe tomatoes, peeled & chopped

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups white wine vinegar

1 tbsp pickling salt

Juice and zest of one large lime

1/4 cup chopped garlic

2 tbsp chopped fresh ginger

1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1/2 cup dark raisins

Combine all ingredients in heavy non reactive pot; bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until chutney is quite thick (depending on the tomatoes used it could take longer). Stir frequently to keep from scorching ( I once scorched it, but it was still quite good--tasted like bbq sauce). You can refrigerate at this point, or can it by ladling into pint or 1/2 pint canning jars; leave 1/4 inch headspace; close with hot two-piece caps; and process for 10 minutes in a boiling hot water bath. Store cooled jars in cool, dry, dark place. Makes about 2 pints.

My lunch (left): I had some leftover garlic nan (storebought) that I brushed with olive oil and heated in the oven. On top of that I put leftover Brazilian style collard greens (sautéd with olive oil and minced garlic), Peg's tomato chutney, plain yogurt, mint leaves and toasted chopped walnuts. Who'd have thought this would be so delicious?!

Creamy Summer Squash Soup

Got Giant Zucchini? Here's a Solution!

Every spring I get over eager and plant way more than I need of most everything--including summer squash. It's always so exciting when the first little squashes peek out from under their floral caps. They are firm crisp and delicious. But before long they become giants that torment and threaten to take over the garden if not harvested regularly. Out in the rural area I live in people put up signs begging passersby's to take their squash--FREE!

I generally grow an Italian trumpet squash which is lighter in color than zucchini and has a denser texture...plus it is very cool looking. When mom was visiting this year she would not let me toss the overgrown trumpets into the compost for the worms to devour. She is not one to waste food. So I gave her the task of creating a soup that I could freeze for winter enjoyment. The result was luscious so she wrote down the basics, and after she returned home I made another batch to fill in some of the details. Again it turned out well and is quite easy to make though if your squashes are quite large you'll need a very big soup pot! By the way, you don't need to wait for the squash to be overgrown to make this--it will be good with any size squash. Just don't use the squash if it has gone so far as to have a hardened shell because at that point it is just short of being a winter squash.

Creamy Summer Squash Soup

2 large onions, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp each butter and olive oil
8 cloves garlic
5 lbs coarsely cut up summer squash (any one type or a mix)
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 -2 Tbsp chopped basil, marjoram, or oregano
1/2 Tbsp chopped thyme
1 quart chicken stock (or enough to just cover the vegetables)
Juice and peel of 1/2 medium lemon
Salt and pepper to taste.
Heavy cream or half and half (optional but good)

Sauté the onions in butter and oil until browned then add the garlic and cook a few more minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients except cream and cook until squash is very soft--1/2 to 1 hour. Puree the mixture in batches in a blender or food processor then season to taste with salt and pepper. At this point you can cool and freeze batches. It can be eaten as is or made richer by adding some cream/half and half (start with a little and add as you like) when you reheat it. If you do add cream you may need to re-season it. It is good served with a sprinkling of parmesan and some croutons.

Farfalle with Smoked Salmon

Peg's son Gabe is an avid fisherman and has perfected the art of smoking salmon. I was lucky enough to get a fresh piece of one of his catches and used it for this dish a few days ago. You can add more or less of the salmon, mushrooms, cream or whatever based on your taste. I would put butter on the pasta first to keep the cream from being absorbed and disappearing.

1 lb. bow tie pasta

¼ c. finely chopped green onions
1 c. white or crimini mushrooms, sliced
4 oz. smoked salmon shredded
¾ c. heavy cream
2 tablespoons cognac or brandy
¼ c. grated parmesan or romano or a mixture
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
salt and fresh black pepper

In a large saute pan or skillet, sweat the onions until translucent. Boil the pasta in salted water to al dente, drain (add about 2 T butter) and set aside in the pan you cooked it in. Add the mushrooms to the onions and saute until soft and just beginning to brown at the edges. Add the cream and cook over medium heat til it starts to bubble. Add the pasta and toss. Add the salmon and the cognac cook for about 2 minutes and Add the butter (optional) and cheese (not optional). Toss again, then serve after grinding some pepper on top.

Simple Raspberry Tart, or Blueberry If You Prefer

Here's a fruity twist on a recipe posted back in October 2011 called Easy Pear Tart. Peg made it more summery with raspberries. You can change the toppings as instructed here: 

"Just heat a little apricot jam (jam/jelly should work too) and honey (optional) and brush a little on the finished custard; place the raspberries on it and then lightly brush some of the jam/honey mixture over the berries. Or top the custard with fresh blueberries before placing it back in the oven to cook. The berries sink in and cook with the custard—it needs an extra 5 minutes to set up in the oven, but is really good."

San Francisco Night Out in Portland

After a long pause in posts, here's a fun one from Peg...

We were recently invited to a friend’s wine and dine group with a San Francisco theme. All dishes were to have originated in SF, or ingredients be indigenous to the area. Hence, the menu included everything from a bay shrimp and artichoke appetizer (among others), seafood cioppino as the main course, homemade sourdough bread, and two delectable desserts. Since I had a variety of salad greens available in my garden, I opted to make a salad and did some online research to find a dressing that might have originated in SF. I usually opt for a simple olive oil and vinegar or lemon type dressing, but I discovered that Green Goddess dressing was created by the chef of the Palace Hotel in SF back in 1920. He named it in honor of the actor George Arliss who had a healthy appetite and was performing in the most popular Broadway play of that year’s season The Green Goddess.

The name is appropriate as the various herbs give it a light green color, and combined with the creamy ingredients it makes a heavenly dressing for most any vegetable. I had full heads of various types of lettuce as well as some spicy baby greens but I didn’t want to mix them in case someone didn’t like the spicy greens. So I filled two large bowls accordingly and dressed both with the Green Goddess and both were equally delicious.

Green Goddess Dressing

1 tsp anchovy paste (or more to taste)

1 medium clove garlic, minced

½ up plain yogurt (low fat ok)

½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup sour cream (low fat ok)

¼ cup loose packed snipped fresh chives

¼ cup loose packed tarragon leaves

½ cup loose packed Italian parsley leaves

2 Tbsp lemon juice (or more to taste)

½ tsp salt

Fresh ground pepper to taste

Place ingredients in food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Adjust lemon and seasonings, etc. to taste. Refrigerate in jar with lid for up to one week. 

Note: You can use other herbs (basil, cilantro, chervil) for a little different flavor, although I think parsley and chives (or green onion tops) are a must.

Winter to Spring Comfort Food

Peg writes: Cold as it is today, it’s hard to believe that spring is only a few weeks off. This time of year I get a hankering for spring greens, but I’m still clinging to the comfort of hearty winter fare like polenta and potatoes. Yep, bring on the carbs cuz nothing soothes me like a warm belly filled with hefty, savory carbs.

One of my favorite transition dishes is scalloped greens and potatoes—not as rich as regular scalloped potatoes, and much tastier and healthier as well. They are delicious served on their own or as a side. They’ve also been a hit at brunches.

Scalloped Greens & Potatoes

2 large bunches greens (approx 2 to 3 lbs chard, kale, dandelion, endive, etc.) one or any combo
3to 4 large russet or Yukon gold type potatoes (approx 3 lbs)
2 to 3 good sized garlic cloves, chopped
1 small to medium onion, chopped
1 to 2 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (basil, parsley, dill, rosemary, etc. try to match the herb to any meat/fish you may be serving)
¼ cup melted butter
1/8th cup olive oil
3 eggs
¼ cup milk
1 to 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
½ tsp pepper, or to taste
2 to 3 cups grated firm cheese—a mix is good (cheddar, gruyere, parmesan, etc.)
Seeds to sprinkle over top—sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, etc. (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Wash greens and pat dry. Slice stems into ¼ inch pieces and place in over size mixing bowl (I use an 18 inch SS one). Slice leaves into ½ inch strips and add to stems. Scrub (peeling is optional) potatoes and slice crosswise 1/8th inch thin. Set aside enough slices to cover the top of your gratin, and add the remainder to the greens. Generously grease a shallow 2 to 3 quart baking dish with some of the melted butter or oil. Mix the remaining butter and oil into the potato mixture along with the garlic, onions, herbs, 1 to 2 cups of cheese, and set aside. In a small bowl, beat together eggs, milk, salt and pepper and pour into the potato mixture and toss together (your hands work best for this). Pour this mixture into your baking dish, even out and place the extra potato slices evenly over the top. Cover with foil and bake until potatoes in the center are very tender (about 50 to 60 minutes). Uncover, raise the temperature to 400, sprinkle top with the remaining cheese and seeds if used and bake until the top is golden (about 10 to 15 minutes).

Meyer Lemon Almond Torte - Passed the Test!

Peter, my brother-in-law, became accustomed to having dessert when my mom stayed at his home a few months back. When mom left, his sweet tooth didn't and so he was forced to make his own cake. He tried my Meyer Lemon Almond Torte which was posted back in March and took this picture. What a good looking specimen for someone who doesn't bake! I hear it was delicious too :)

Crisp, Chewy Pizza From Your Home Oven

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of friends telling me they're on a low carb diet. Boh-ring! That only makes me want to eat more bread and pasta. So here's a recipe from Peg, who makes her own pizza dough. (I'm too lazy.)

Pizza Dough (makes 4/10 inch or 2/18 inch pizzas)

2 cups warm water

1 tbsp yeast

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp olive oil (plus more for brushing if desired)

1 to 2 tsp kosher salt (depending on desired flavor)

5 cups unbleached flour, plus up to 1 cup more if needed

In bowl combine water, yeast, sugar oil and salt and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. By hand or using bread hook on mixer, stir in 5 cups flour and more as needed to make a soft dough—if using a mixer the dough will begin to clean the sides of the bowl. Transfer to lightly floured board and knead until smooth and not sticky (about 8 minutes if by hand). Divide into two or four equal portions depending on the size pizzas you want. At this point you can freeze some of the dough if desired. Just wrap in plastic and place in a freezer bag with label. Otherwise place balls away from each other on a well floured board or baking sheet. Sprinkle flour over the tops and cover with a kitchen towel or parchment paper and then cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until tripled; 2 or more hours depending on the temperature in your home. Using your fingers or a rolling pin if easier, stretch the dough to desired size, leaving the edge a bit thicker, and place on a sheet of parchment. Cover with a towel and let rise about 30 minutes before covering with desired toppings. During the last ½ hour to hour of this rising and preparation process, place a pizza stone on a rack in the bottom third of the oven and turn oven on to 500 degrees…this will heat up the oven and stone for a great crust. If you have a pizza peel, you can use it to transfer your completed pizza, on the parchment, to the stone (you’ll need to bake one at a time unless you have a convection oven). Otherwise, you can use a rimless baking sheet to make the transfer. If making larger size pizzas, it is easier to bake it on a pizza pan or baking sheet (with parchment underneath) until the pizza crust has firmed up at which point you can then transfer it directly to the stone to finish baking so that the crust will have the correct chew and crispness. The parchment under the dough makes the transferring much easier than just using cornmeal as in some recipes.

Toppings

Somewhat like good quality pasta, a good pizza crust does not need to be overwhelmed with sauce, or toppings in general. But the fun of pizza is personalizing it with the toppings. I’d say in general if you are going to use tomato sauce, not more than ½ cup per 10 inch pizza; and it should be thick. Cheese either grated or thinly sliced to cover sauce in a single layer; and then what ever toppings you choose. If you use fresh mozzarella, it helps to drain it for a while and use lightly as there is a lot of water that will escape the cheese during baking and affect your crust.

That said I always use fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced and placed on paper towels to drain a bit before topping pizza and the moisture hasn’t been a problem. But in general I think it is a good idea to drain any toppings that have a lot of juice in them so that the crust will maintain its integrity during baking. I’ve included pictures of a couple favorites I’ve made—Prosciutto and Caramelized Onion; and Roasted Zucchini, Roasted Garlic, and Olive. But plain old pepperoni was also delicious. It’s fun to experiment and most any veggie you can roast and any cheese or meat you like can be used.

Cranberry Orange (Tangerine) Muffins

Woke up this Thanksgiving Day realizing I had not given a thought to breakfast. Not much in the fridge, but just the right ingredients for these moist and delicious muffins. They were pretty decadent, warm out of the oven and kissed with sweet butter.

1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons grated orange or tangerine rind
¾ cup orange or tangerine juice
¼ cup canola oil
2 tablespoons plain greek yogurt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 cups fresh cranberries, chopped roughly
⅓ cup walnuts, toasted
½ tablespoon flour
⅛ cup flax seeds

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray or grease a 12 cup muffin tin.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the 2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Make an indentation in the middle. 


3. In a large glass measuring cup, mix orange/tangerine rind, juice, oil, yogurt and egg. Pour mixture into flour indentation and stir until everything is just combined. 


4. In a small bowl, stir dried cranberries, toasted walnuts, flax seeds and remaining 1/2 tablespoon flour. Stir into batter. 


5. Divide batter evenly among muffin tins. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from tins and cool on a wire rack.

Easy Pear Tart with Marsala Glaze

This is a "mash-up" recipe that combines my sister Peggy's Easy Tart recipe and a variation on poached pear recipe from David Lebovitz. It's really pretty simple. I am not a baker, and this surprised me!

Poached Pears

3-4 cups water (enough to cover the pears)
1 cup good Marsala wine
1/2 cup honey
1 cinnamon stick
3-4 pears (Bosc, Bartlett...) - peeled, cored and quartered

In a large saucepan, heat the water, marsala and honey until warm and the honey is dissolved. Add the cinnamon stick. Slide in the pears and cover with a piece of parchment paper. (This is if you want the pears to remain under the water and not have variations in color. You can skip it.) Keep the liquid at a very low boil and simmer the pears until cooked through, 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the pears.

Remove pan from heat and let the pears cool in their liquid. Once cooled, remove pears and cinnamon with a slotted spoon to a plate. Turn the heat up to med-high to reduce the poaching liquid until it has the consistency of real maple syrup. This will take about 30-45 minutes. Keep an eye on it! It will thicken a bit more once cooled.

When ready to assemble the tart, slice the pears in thin slices to place on top of the tart.

Easy Tart Recipe

1 cup flour
½ cup sugar (divided)
¼ teaspoon baking powder
⅓ cup butter
1 egg
1 cup sour cream (light works too)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 ripe Bartlett pears

Preheat oven to 400. In a food processor combine flour, ¼ cup sugar, and baking powder. Pulse a couple times. Add butter in tablespoons and process until butter is incorporated and mixture is crumbly—it won’t form a ball. Pour into a 9 or 10 inch tart pan and gently press over the bottom and up the sides at least half way. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile mix egg, sour cream, remaining sugar, and vanilla. Remove crust from oven and immediately pour the sour cream mixture into the hot crust. Return to the oven until the custard is set—10 to 15 minutes.  Cool and top with prepared poached pears.

Drizzle the marsala glaze over each slice to be served. Prepare to accept compliments!

Eggplant is Delicious...Really!

Here's a post from Peg who, by the way, grows practically everything she eats!

Eggplant is one of those veggies that people seem to either love or hate. Though I’m still not a huge fan, I do like it better now that I can get it either fresh from the garden or from the farmers market. Before growing it, most of the eggplant I’d eaten was bitter or too intense with ‘eggplant flavor’. If you don’t like it, you’ll know what I mean. In spite of all the salting, draining, squeezing, a too old eggplant will never taste good in my opinion. If you can get them fresh, not too large, while the skin is still glossy and the flesh is firm, you won’t need to do anything extraordinary to prepare it for your recipe. The taste should be mild and, since it absorbs oil and flavors, an enhancement to whatever condiments are used.

I’ve included a couple recipes with Italian preparations. Eggplant is often associated with Italian cooking, but it really is very versatile and found in a multitude of cuisines. These preparations are quite easy and tasty. I like them precisely because the eggplant does not overpower any of the other ingredients.

Easy Eggplant Parmesan

This is not a detailed recipe as you can be very personal with it and make as much or little as you wish. Since I’m not an avid lover of eggplant, I like this dish because it is not layered and therefore the sauce and cheeses play an equally important role.

I normally use two good sized very fresh eggplants which I slice lengthwise about ½ inch thick. I then brush both sides of the slices with olive oil and grill them on my gas grill until dark grill marks show on both sides and the slices collapse somewhat. Alternately, you can put them under the broiler until some dark spots form. Then lay them in a single layer in a baking pan and season with salt and pepper. Lay a slice of mozzarella over the top--I cover about ½ to ¾ of each eggplant slab with cheese. If you use fresh mozzarella you will get some liquid in the bottom of the baking pan when cooked, but it is quite good. Then put a spoonful or two of good thick tomato sauce over the cheese, and sprinkle parmesan all over the tops. Pop into a 350 degree oven until the cheese melts and oozes, and the dish is bubbly.

Antipasto di Melanzana (Eggplant Appetizer)

Mom and I made this recently for guests and it was a big hit. We used small, very fresh eggplants so the flavor was mild.

2 lbs fresh firm eggplants

1 lb fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped fine

1 ½ tbsp minced parsley

1 ½ tbsp minced basil

1 large clove garlic, minced (or more to taste)

4 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp capers, chopped

Juice of ½ lemon (or more to taste)

¼ tsp red chili pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast eggplant on a baking sheet until very soft (30 to 45 minutes depending on size). Cool, peel and halve the eggplants—if seedy remove seeds. Mash eggplant and mix in remaining ingredients. Serve with crisp crackers or bread. Also good as a topping for crostini.

Basil & Vegetable Tian

Here's a wonderfully simple end-of-summer dish from Peg that's great as a main vegetarian course or as a side dish. Heck, it would be great for breakfast with a poached egg or two. And don't forget some good bread to soak up all the healthy juices...


(A tian is a layered, baked vegetable dish that originated in Provence.)

Basil & Vegetable Tian

4 bunches of leafy fresh basil, stemmed and coarsely chopped

4 or more ripe tomatoes sliced ¼ inch or so

3 to 4 medium zucchini or equivalent summer squash sliced thin

2 to 3 medium potatoes sliced thin (optional)

1 ½ to 2 cups grated cheese or mix of cheeses, depending on the flavor you want

Salt and pepper

Good fruity olive oil (¼ cup or so)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Oil a shallow nonreactive baking pan. If using the potatoes, place them evenly on the bottom and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then place the zucchini slices evenly over the potatoes (or bottom of pan if potatoes not used) and sprinkle with slat and pepper. Place all of the basil over the zucchini, then arrange the tomato slices evenly over the basil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the cheese evenly over the top and drizzle the entire tian with olive oil. Bake until cheese on top is a shiny golden brown and casserole is sizzling, about 45 to 50 minutes. If necessary you can brown the top under the broiler for a few minutes.