Raisins and Almonds

Rhubarb and Zucchini bread adventures

[posted by Joan]

 

This summer I have been enjoying cooking and baking with rhubarb.  I have gotten armfuls from neighbors as well as at the farmers’ market. I made a rhubarb cordial (with sugar and vodka). Rhubarb crisp, rhubarb bars, and rhubarb bread.

Recently I tried a different version of rhubarb bread, using olvie oil and yogurt. I had tried a few other olive oil and yogurt recipes (one with maple syrup, one with oranges) and loved the moist and tender result. So I adapted a more standard rhubarb bread made with borwn sugar, substituting thick Greek-style yogurt for the milk and lemon juice mixture, and olive oil for the plain oil used in the recipe. I also added chopped crystallized ginger to the bread. I added ground ginger to the crumbly topping as well. I made this recipe twice, and each time people loved it and gobbled it up. A winner! 

Today I bought some tender young zucchini at my local farmers’ market, and wondered if I could make the same recipe with grated zucchini instead of the chopped rhubarb.

I set to work.  I chopped the zuchinin in the food processor. I chopped the ginger.

Then I realized that I had no brown sugar, a key ingredient. So time to improvise. I  used a mix of raw sugar, organic cane sugar and maple syrup. I added ginger and cinnamon to the batter  along with the crystallized ginger. I only had a six ounce ontainer of Greek yogurt so I added two TBSP of half and half.  And I also added some maple syrup to the topping with a little cane sugar. I decided to experiment with two versions of the zucchini bread. Since the recipe makes two loaves, I divided it in half. I added 1/3 cup  chocolate chips to one loaf, and then sprinkled some more chips on top over the topping.

To the other half, I mixed in a good squeeze of lemon juice and the zest of one small lemon.

I put them in my little convection oven and waited to see how they would turn out. I hoped that even if the zucchini version wasn’t as good as the rhubarb, the chocolate would still make it appealing for my chocoholic husband.

The breads baked and I anxiously awaited the time they would be finished baking and cool enough to taste test. They looked and smelled good, how would they taste?
The verdict:  they don’t taste like typical zucchini bread. They are moist and  flavorful and have a good, tender crumb. The chocolate ginger combination is good and I think my husband will like it. The lemon version needs more lemon: more zest and perhaps juice as well.

They both would be even better if I had had dark brown sugar on hand for the batter and crumb  topping. I think that is a key ingredient for this recipe to be great, and not just very good. So perhaps I’ll get another chance to test the zucchini version of this recipe with the full set of ingredients!  

Rhubarb Bread

• 1 cup plain Greek style yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 2/3 cup Good olive  oil
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup unbleached white flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup chopped crystallized ginger
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F   Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.  
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, oil and egg. Combine the flours, salt and baking soda, stir into sugar mixture alternately with the yogurt mixture just until combined. Fold in rhubarb. Vanilla, ginger and nuts. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.
3. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger  and butter. Sprinkle this mixture over the unbaked loaves.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.

 

 

Cold brewed tea

    Cold brewing is such an unfussy way to make a batch of delicious iced tea. I stumbled on this method by chance, pouring cold water into a pot of leftover “hot brew” herbal tea, and letting it sit all day while I was at work. Strained, sweetened with honey, and iced it tasted even better than the hot brew for this tea; the fruit and herbal flavors were much more pronounced. Shortly after this I learned that the Phoenix coffee shop on Coventry Road (in Cleveland Heights) cold brews its iced tea for 8-12 hours.
    Next I tried a jar of black tea, infusing 3 cups of filtered water with 3 tablespoons of tealeaves, also adding two strips of lemon zest to the brew. The jar sat at on the kitchen counter at room temperature over night. The next morning I strained the tea, warmed a tablespoon of honey in about ¼ cup of the tea, and then stirred the tea-honey mixture back into the jar of tea. I poured some into a glass of ice cubes and put the rest in the refrigerator.
    Today I cold-brewed a mixture of herbal and black tea (rooiboos, elderberry, and black tea), let it sit for 
8 hours, and repeated the honey addition at the end.
    It is a wonderful way to enhance the fruity and herbal notes of many teas, and it eliminates the step of cleaning out a teapot. (I ‘ve been brewing and storing the tea in a canning jar.) It is also a nice way to enjoy a variety of artisan honeys. I have tried buckwheat, locust, and strawberry blossom honey so far. 


1.Fill a canning jar with filtered water
2. Add tealeaves, (black, green, herbal, in any combination, about tablespoon tea leaves per cup of water.).
3. For a citrus flavor, add a few strips of lemon or orange zest.
4. Cover the jar and let sit at room temperature for 8-12 hours.
5. Strain to remove the tealeaves
6. Warm some honey (about 2 teaspoons for a mild sweetness) in ¼ cup of the tea (or water), I used the microwave for this step.
7. Stir to dissolve all the honey and then pour it back into the rest of the tea and stir well.
8. Serve over ice or refrigerate.

Whole-grain Strawberry Shortcake

[Posted by Ann]

This was strawberry jackpot week in northeastern Ohio. After two weeks of slightly tart berries that needed some sweetening, the perfectly luscious, sweet-as-candy strawberries have arrived. (Of course, with a little Ohio honey, or light maple syrup added, the early berries are still better and juicier than strawberries imported from far away places).

To celebrate our strawberry high season, I experimented with a new recipe for whole grain shortcake biscuits, adapted from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce. (Drop biscuits with strawberries and cream). This is an easy recipe using heavy cream instead of butter for the shortening. I made half the recipe, substituting spelt and buckwheat flour for the all purpose flour. Since spelt absorbs more moisture, I had to increase the ratio of the heavy cream. (all three flours are sold at the North Union Farmers Market)


I loved the biscuits; they tasted like a fluffier version of Carr’s wheat meal biscuits, nutty and flavorful. Here is my adaption of Boyce’s recipe.

Preheat over to 325 degrees F
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Add the dry ingredients and mix well
½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
¼ cup spelt flour
1-tablespoon buckwheat flour
1-teaspoon baking powder
¼ tsp kosher salt
¼ cup turbinado or raw sugar

Pour in ½ cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream and stir with fork, (possibly add more if not all of the flour become moistened.) Using a spoon or your hands, scoop out and drop ¼ of the the dough onto the baking sheet, shaping it into a mound. Repeat three more times, there should be four biscuits.

Bake for 20 minutes and then turn the pan, baking another 15 to 20 minutes.

Let cool slightly before assembling in traditional strawberry shortcake (Or just enjoy them warm out of the oven.)  

My adventures with orange butter

[posted by Joan]


It all began with some leftover orange butter from Julia Child's Crepe Suzette recipe.
And some leftover Crepes Suzette. And a container of mascarpone in my refrigerator. And the need to make a fancy dessert for my three food-loving friends who were coming to dinner.
 
I thought about a gateau of crepes that I had once made in a cooking class, and thought maybe I could improvise my own version.I was also intrigued with Julia Child’s recipe  for an almond orange filling for crepes, following her Crepes 
Suzette recipe.

Here is what I did:
I took some slivered almonds and ground them with raw sugar in my mini food processor.

Then I mixed that into some mascarpone along with leftover orange butter.
I tasted the result, and it was delicious.
I  warmed up the four leftover crepes suzettes, unfolded them, and
spread each one with the filling, then stacked them into a cake.
I put them in the refrigerator to harden and chill.
When I was ready to serve the gateau, I cut it into quarters and
topped it with some hot fudge sauce I had leftover from a previous
dessert. My friends loved it. A success!

Then, a few weeks later, I still had some orange butter left (stored
in the freezer) and another set of food loving friends coming to
dinner. I thought about recreating the gateau of crepes, but didn’t’
really want to make a whole batch of crepes.
Then I came across a recipe for a Blood Orange Pound Cake I had
printed out to make, and decided to make that and cut it into layers,
and use the same filing and topping.

Here is the recipe for the cake:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/02/blood-orange-olive-oil-cake/

I did not have blood orange so I used big, pungent tangelos instead.

I added a little ground cinnamon to the recipe and used a good, 
whole-milk greek yogurt. It all worked beautifully and the cake was moist, fragrant, and delicious.

So far so good.

I tasted it and let it sit for a day before the dinner party. I
decided to modify the filling because my husband thought he had
become allergic to almonds. So I used dry roasted hazelnuts (purchased
in Oregon) instead. I took abut 1/3 cut of the nuts and ground them
with about ¼ cup sugar in my mini prep. Then mixed them with the
remaining orange butter (about 1/3 cup) and about 4 ounces of
mascarpone.

I cut the pound cake into four slices from the bottom up, and then
forsted the bottom layer, stacked another on top, frosted that, and
repeated until the top layer was put on and that was not frosted.
When done, there were four cake layers and three frosting layers.

I wrapped the cake in plastic wrap and chilled it for a few hours to
let the filling get more solid.
I made the fudge sauce by melting 4 oz semi sweet chocolate chips in
about ¼ cup cream with a Tbsp of butter mixed in. As soon as the chips
were mostly melted. I removed them from the heat and stirred vigoursly
until the mixture was satiny and smooth.
Then I mixed in some vanilla and ground cinnamon, and set the sacue aside.

After our meal was finished, I cut thin slices of the cake, topped
each with a dollop of the warmed up fudge sauce, and garnished each
serving with a single whole strawberry that had been dipped in
pondered sugar.
My guests seemed to be in heaven, making little groaning sounds as
they ate the cake.
I think will try it again! The leftovers are also good, with or
without the sauce.

Orange Butter
• Zest of 2 oranges
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
• 3 Tbsp orange liquer such as Grand Marinier

 For orange butter, pulse orange zest and sugar in a food processor,
to extract the zest oils. Add butter and orange juice and blend until
smooth. Stre in Orange liqueur.Transfer to a bowl or shape into a log
and chill until formed.

Two favorite flavor-boosters: Veal stock and pepper jelly:

[Posted by Ann]

Almost daily I turn to my jars of homemade veal stock and homemade pepper jelly, to unleash the culinary magic bullets that can transform a dish from "OK" to really good. Veal stock contributes a meaty but subtle richness; the pepper jelly adds sweet, mellow, warmth. Together they boost the flavor of soups, stews, grains, greens and beans.

For the stock, I simply simmer veal bones (from the farmers market) in a crock-pot full of lightly salted, filtered water for about 20 hours.

The pepper jelly was made in late summer, with early tart apples as the source of pectin and an assortment of peppers—all different colors, shapes, and heat.
 

A dish of slow-cooked dried beans turned magical with the addition of a cup of veal stock and a half-cup of pepper jelly for the final half hour of cooking. 

Although I often order beans from Rancho Gordo, these lovely beans come from our local Alta Mae farm, courtesy of grower Mary Ann Glasgow. (I soaked the beans in water overnight, and put them in the crock-pot to cook during the day.)

                


Here is another success story: steamed greens with sautéed leeks and mushrooms, grated fresh ginger, finished with a sauce of veal stock, pepper jelly, and coconut milk, and served over brown rice. This time I used young cabbage greens from Rainbow farms (probably plants that were being thinned), but spinach and kale would be other good greens.

 

What to do with leftover Charoset?

[Posted by Joan]

Each year I host a Passover seder, and I get carried away when it comes to making Charoses, the fruit and nut mixture that represents the mortar used by the Israelites when they were slaves in Egypt. When I was growing up, I often (joyfully) took the job of making charoses, mixing chopped apples with chopped walnuts or almonds, sugar, and cinnamon. Most recipes call for sweet Passover wine instead of sugar, but we didn’t do that. I make this version every year, adding lemon juice to give it a bright touch.

The basic recipe is:
4 apples, peeled and cored
½ cup walnuts or almonds
½ cup sugar
Juice of one lemon
½ tsp ground cinnamon

You mix and chop these together in a food processor (or a wooden chopping bowl) and when the mixture is well combined and chopped finely, you taste it. I may then add more sugar, cinnamon, and/or lemon, depending on my taste. It is delicious!

Each year I also make one or two additional types of charoses as well. This year
 I made a recipe for Bordeaux charoses from Joan Nathan’s new cookbook Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France, as well as this Yemenite charoset I found on the internet.

Yemenite Charoset Recipe
1 cup pitted, chopped dates
1/2 cup chopped dried figs
1/3 cup sweet Passover wine
3 tablespoons sesame seeds (Note: Ashkenazim are prohibited from eating sesame seeds during Passover)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ tsp Ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Chop and mix dates, figs and wine in bowl of food processor.
2. Mix in sesame seeds, ginger, coriander, cayenne.
3. Mold into ball and place on serving tray. Makes about 20.

After the Passover seder, we continued to eat the Charoses on Matzoh for the next few days. Finally, I had about a cup left of the Bordeaux Chaorset, that was made with almonds, wanuts, hazelnuts, and apples. What could I do?
The answer: I searched online for recipes and found a Charoset cookie recipe that I tried. It was pretty good. 

Charoset cookies

1 cups whole wheat matzo meal
1 cups chopped whole wheat matzo
¾  cups raw sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup leftover charoset
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup  chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Mix all dry ingredients until combined.
3 Add oil, charoset, eggs, salt, chcolate chips, mixing well.
3. Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto parchment paper.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown.
Sprnkle with confectionrs sugar or drizzle with melted chocolate

And then I mixed the remaining ½ cup with yogurt for lunch. I added some grated fresh ginger, a little honey,a squeeze of fresh lime juice, and a good thick Greek yogurt. 

At the last minute I threw in some frozen blackberries that thawed during the morning, and I must say, it was a delicious lunch. No more Chaorses until next year!

Unconventional Purim Treats

[posted by Joan]

Purim (which came this year on March 20) is a little like a Jewish Halloween. In Israel, this is the time of year when Jews and Arabs alike dress up in costumes. The holiday celebrates the heroine Queen Esther, whose bravery and intelligence expose and lead to the demise of the evil Haman, who is plotting to have all the Jews destroyed in the kingdom of Persia. The traditions of this holiday include a lively reading of the story of Esther, from the megillah, with noisemakers used each time Haman’s name is mentioned. Of course, there is traditional food, which includes hamanstaschen, filled pastries in the form of Haman’s three-cornered hat.


As a young girl I liked to dress up as the lovely Queen Esther when it was Purim. Our synagogue always had a Purim Carnival where we came in costumes and played games and won prizes. As I grew older I tried to construct more elaborate and unusual costumes, such as going as a torah scroll. When my daughter Rebecca was young, she decided the former Queen Vashti, who preceded Esther and was either banished by or left the King after he asked her to parade in front of his soldiers, was much more interesting. As long as I can remember, Rebecca has always dressed up as a glamorous and feminist Queen Vashti.

I remember making Hamanstaschen as a girl, often using a sugar cookie dough for the pastry, and cutting the dough into circles with a glass. We would fill the circles with different types of fruit jams, then seal the corners, forming a triangle. In my adult years I experimented with different types of dough and different fillings. The traditional doughs often use oil and orange juice. I have always tried to find a richer and more tender dough. I have also tried to find fillings more exotic than jars of fruit preserves. After marrying Michael, I began to make a chocolate filling, to satisfy his love of chocolate. I also tried different combinations of nuts and jam or nuts and chocolate, and once when my kids were young, tried a peanut butter and chocolate chip filling.

My friend Lena gave me a recipe for hamantaschen dough that is better than anything I have ever tried before or since that time (I still try out different doughs, most recently experimenting with a cream cheese pastry). To make her dough I soften 2 sticks of butter, beat in 2 cups of sugar, then 2 eggs and 2 additional egg yolks. I mix in 1 cup of sour cream, 1 tsp vanilla, and 3 1/2 cups flour. The dough is soft, and needs to be chilled for at least one hour.

The filling I make most often, is a chocolate one. I melt one 12 oz bag of chocolate chips with 1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk. I mix these well, and stir in 1 tsp vanilla.

I roll out the soft tender dough on a floured board, adding more flour as needed, and cut round circles, using my widest drinking glass. I place a tbsp or so of filling, turn up the edges, pinch them to make a triangle, and carefully place them on greased cookie sheets. I sometimes sprinkle the chocolate filling with chopped nuts. I bake the hamantaschen at 350 just until they begin to turn golden, being careful not to overbake them. Along with the chocolate filling, I also use some fruit jams for filling, and have tired various recipes for poppyseed fillings.

One year, trying to once again be original, I made a new filling. I had tasted it in a lusicious caramel nut tart. I made this filling, let it cool, and used it for one of the fillings in the Hamantaschen. After baking the cookies, I drizzled the nut-filled hamantaschen with some melted white chocolate, and dusted the other pastries with powdered sugar.

Here’s the nut filling:  


1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup slivered blanched almonds

Combine sugar and 1/4 cup water in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat. Boil without stirring until caramel is deep amber color, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan, about 9 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Gradually whisk in cream (mixture will bubble). Stir until caramel is smooth. Add butter, honey and vanilla. Stir until well blended. Mix in all nuts. Let cool.

I have also made apricot filling. I cut up a package of dried apricots and cooked them slowly with some water and sugar. I added some lemon juice and lemon rind, and then had a brainstorm, and chopped up some crystallized ginger to add. The result is a wonderful moist and tangy apricot/lemon/ginger filling. Not at all traditional, but delicious nonetheless!

This year I am creating an orange/ginger/lemon filling. I simmered two thinly sliced Clementines, ½ sliced lemon, ¼  cup sliced crystallized ginger, 1 inch piece of fresh, peeled ginger, and ½ cup raw sugar. I added a little water, and let this mixture simmer along with 2 cinnamon sticks.

Each time I make hamantaschen, I peek into the oven to see whether or not the triangle shapes are holding firm, or if the cookies have spread and flattened and filling is running out on the baking pan. There are always several irregular or deformed looking pastries that are put on a plate for people to nosh on, while I save the more perfect looking hamantaschen to share with friends. I must admit that most people who taste my unconventional hamantaschen have raved about how tender and delicious they are. They seem to taste even better after they age for a day or two. I am glad that I have this holiday once a year where I find time in my busy schedule to explore new Hamantaschen recipes, which I then bake and share with my family and friends. No matter if I’m a few days later than the actual holiday!

Whole wheat, no-knead bread

[Posted by Ann]
Three times now I have had great results with a recipe based on Jim Lahey’s whole wheat, no-knead bread. It is a happy technique for bakers who plan ahead, and can wait patiently for the final product. 
    I start the night before and mix two cups of bread flour with one cup of King Arthur white whole-wheat flour, along with the standard small amounts of yeast, salt, and water. My modification to the recipe is to use plain yogurt for part of the water. I have also been adding ground cardamom, grated orange zest, and honey, thanks to a great recipe from Food52.com, submitted by “Spoonwithme.” (see Orange, Honey and Cardamom Dutch Oven Bread recipe on Food52.) The book Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon, recommends soaking whole-wheat flour (and other whole grains) in yogurt or whey prior to baking. The no-knead method, which requires a 12-18 hour first rise, provides the ideal time for the whole-wheat flour to soak up the yogurt and bake up as a lighter, less dense whole wheat bread. 
    After a second two-hour rise, the bread is baked in a preheated, covered Dutch oven for 30 minutes at 450 degrees, and another 15 minutes uncovered. This produces a crusty, artisan-style loaf. One time I left the oven at 350 instead of 450, and the bread did not become as crisp and crusty, but it was equally delicious in its softer, moister variation. (Or maybe I turned it down to 350 at some point during the baking when I meant to be turning off the timer.) Beginning at phase 2, using a timer is very helpful!!


Here is the version that I baked today:

Phase 1: Mix up the dough
Stir two cups of bread flour, 1 cup white whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur for both), ¾ tablespoon kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon table salt), ½ teaspoon ground cardamom, ½ tsp finely grated orange zest, and ½ teaspoon instant dry yeast. Stir in 1 cup of whole milk plain yogurt. Warm 1-1/2 cup water slightly, and stir in 1 tablespoon agave nectar and 1 tablespoon honey and stir to dissolve in the water, then pour in and stir to thoroughly combine to get a moist, sticky dough. If the dough is still too dry, I may add more yogurt, whey, or water until all of the flour is well-moistened. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a dish towel and let sit for 12-18 hours.

Phase 2 (next day or 12-18 hours later): Prepare for the second rise
Line another good-sized bowl with a clean dishtowel and sprinkle with corn meal and 1 tablespoon of flour. Scrape the dough of out its first bowl and transfer into the cloth-lined bowl, turning the edges in to form a circle. Fold the towel ends over the dough and let rise in a warm location for 1-1/2 hours before proceeding to Phase 3 (the dough will actually rise a total of 2 hours.)
[Note, I inadvertently skipped the step of turning the dough onto a floured board to shape the mass of dough into a ball before placing it in the cloth; the shape of the bowl I transferred into created the ball shape.)

Phase 3: Pre-heat the oven and baking pan
1-1/2 hours into “Phase 2” (start of the 2nd rise) preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Put the Dutch oven and lid (or other covered pot) into the over and set the timer for 30 minutes.


Phase 4: Bake in a covered pan
Carefully (wearing heat-proof mitts) remove the covered pan from the oven. Keeping the mitts on and grasping the sides of the towel, lift up the dough and turn the towel upside down over the hot pan, to deposit the dough into the hot pan. Replace the lid and bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes

Phase 5: Bake uncovered
Remove the lid and bake for 15 more minutes uncovered. (I turned the oven down to 400 at this point today, just to conserve energy)

Finale
Release to cool on a board. (A knife will release the loaf if any part is stuck to the pan) Most recipes recommend waiting an hour before cutting, today I cut in after only 40 minutes and it was fine!

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad

[posted by Joan]
    When visiting son Harlan last month, he told me about a dish he has been making with butternut squash, pomegranate seeds, aged cheese, and toasted nuts. I have been meaning to try it out, and finally had that chance today. As usual, I adapted it based on what I had on hand. This worked well as I was in the process of emptying my refrigerator to get it ready for a new one due to arrive shortly.
    Here is how Harlan made it. He diced a butternut squash and roasted it with olive oil and salt.  After it roasted, he browned a little butter, stirred in some maple  syrup, and tossed the squash in that mixture. He cubed an aged gouda the same size, and mixed the cooled squash with the gouda, the seeds of a pomegranate, and some choped toasted nuts.  Sometimes he garnished it with with chopped parsley. He serves this dish at room temperature.  
    Here is my version, using the aged parmagiana reggiano I had on hand, rather than gouda, and using up some old apples in the referigerator. I also added baby spianch to make it more salad like.

Joan's version of Harlan's roasted butternut squash salad

serves 4-6

1 butternut squash, medium sized, peeled, seeded, and cut into small cubes (large dice)
3-4 small red apples, cored and cut into chunks the same szie as the suqash
1/2 red onion, chopped to same size as apples and squash 
2 Tbsp olive oli
sea salt
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp maple syrup
seeds of 1 pomegranate
1/2 cup diced good aged, parmesan cheese
1/2 toasted pecans
1 package of baby spinach

1. Toss the squash, apples, and onions with olive oil and salt. Spread on parchment paper on a shallow baking pan. Roast at 400 degrees, turning from time to time, to prevent burning. When browned and crispy, remove and let cool. 

2. Melt the butter and let it brown (has a nice nutty aroma). Turn off heat and mix in the maple syrup. Let cool to room temperature as the squash cools.

3. Mix the squash mixture, cheese, parmesan, nuts, pomegrante seeds with the maple butter mix. Check seasonings and add salt and pepper if desired.

4. Divide baby spinach among four to six salad plates.
Divide the squash mixture and mound on top of the greens.
Serve and enjoy the crunch of seeds and nuts, the sweet maple, and the tender roasted fruit and vegetables.

Brussels sprouts with apple, onion and chorizo

[Posted by Joan]
Last week I made a lovely brussels sprouts concoction.
1. I washed and trimmed and cut in half a bag (pound?) of sprouts.
I arranged them in my cast iron gratin pan that had a light coating of olive oil.
2. I cored and coarsely chopped two very small apples, chopped 1/2 yellow onion, and tossed them in the pan.
3. I added two small chunks of Spanish chorizo, finely diced.
4. Mixed it all together, drizzled with a little more olive oil, salt and a generous coat of maple syrup.
5. Roasted at 400 degrees until well done and browned.
It smelled heavenly. I could have eaten it all myself, but I shared with husband Michael.