zuni stew with squash and chiles

I was browsing through my cookbooks looking for just the right recipe to use some of the lovely squashes and pumpkins I got from the farmer's market. As I pulled out the Betty Crocker's Southwest Cooking, a flood of memories came back. Was it the Cub Scouts or the fifth graders I taught? Whoever it was, we basically explored history through cooking. And I suspect it was my son's passion for all things chile ( and chili) that directed us to this recipe. The minute he saw the jalapenos on the list, he nudged the votes. I like this recipe because it uses those lovely squashes and the last of the zucchini and corn - in addition to the chiles.

This is a satisfying vegetable stew, Southwestern style, with the zing of hot peppers, but the sweetness of those colorful vegetables. You can serve this with a nice cornbread, or the naan I made a while ago, and set out bowls of sour cream, shredded cheese, and bottles of hot sauce, and serve with some grilled steak or chicken.

The recipe lacked the bold tastes I think of when I make chili, so I added in more herbs and spices. But for a book published in 1989, I was surprised by both the great color photos and the recipes - which both hold up just fine.

You will need:

1 large onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2 T. vegetable oil or olive oil

1 red pepper, seeded, cut into 2" strips

2 medium fresh poblano chiles, seeded and cut into 2" strips

2 T. (+ or -) nacho sliced Jalapenos ( I used Casa Fiesta)

2 cups cubed, peeled winter squash like acorn or butternut

1 can chicken broth plus water if needed

salt and pepper

1 can or 1/1/2 cups cooked pinto beans

1 cup fresh or frozen corn

1 cup zucchini, yellow or green, in medium chunks or large dice

2 t. (or more) ground cumin

1 t. basil ( or more)

1 t. oregano

2 T. butter ( stirred in at the end) (optional)

In a large pot, drizzle oil in and add garlic and onions. Cook on medium high for five minutes, then add the red pepper, poblano, and jalapeno. Cook another 15 minutes.

Stir in the winter squash and chicken broth, salt and pepper, and cumin. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the squash has softened.

Stir in the corn and pinto beans and zucchini and cook another 10 minutes. Add the basil and oregano, and taste for salt, pepper, and the right degree of hotness. Stir in the unsalted butter just before serving.

Serve with shredded cheese and/or sour cream if desired.

Halloween Doughnuts

Every time I make these doughnuts I think of my late mother-in-law, who I adored. This is her mother's recipe - who knows how far back the origins really are.

Why Halloween, you ask? I've always like the idea of traditions, and when she first gave me the recipe, it was close to Halloween. I was a young chef in Cambridge, before children, and I wanted to make an old fashioned treat for the trick or treaters, instead of the standard Mounds or Snickers bars. Great hit! I made doughnuts until 10 pm, as word of mouth spread ("there's a lady making real doughnuts on Upland Road"), when I shut off the outside light, firmly.

This is a nice cake doughnut, not too sweet, and I make them tiny - mainly because I don't have a fryer, using a heavy bottomed pot full of vegetable oil instead. I use a large shot glass to stamp out the circles, then a large pastry tip to cut out the center hole.

You will need:

a fryer or a heavy bottomed saucepan 3/4 filled with vegetable oil

a colander

brown paper bags or paper towels for sugaring

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 t. mace

4 T. melted unsalted butter

1 cup buttermilk

4-5 cups King Arthur flour ( or more, for rolling)

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

Cinnamon sugar or confectioners sugar for shaking on finished doughnuts

Mix the ingredients together. The dough is fairly sticky. Sprinkle flour on the counter surface and scoop out a handful of dough. Gently roll out, using more flour as needed if it's too sticky.

Using a shotglass, stamp out small circles of dough. Dip a plain circle pastry tip into flour and stamp out the center hole. Continue to roll dough and cut out doughnuts until dough is used up.

Heat oil to hot, then turn down. If you have the oil too hot, not only will your doughnuts burn, but it's a fire hazard, so be careful.

Drop doughnuts in hot oil - they should float to the surface quickly. Turn doughnuts when lightly browned and let cook a little more. Using a slotted spoon, scoop doughnuts into the colander to drain. Set the doughnuts on a brown paper bag and sprinkle with sugar.

Upper photo featured in TasteSpotting

garlicky lamb burgers with parsley

Oh, did I wake up hungry today! And fresh in my mind was a post I had read from Susan of Farmgirl Fare ( which you can read here : http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2007/11/book-review-cooking-with-shelburne.html) - describing a lamb burger she had made bursting with parsley, garlic, red pepper, and black pepper. On top she made a relish composed of olives, more parsley, and roasted red peppers.

All ideas of following her recipe flew to the winds - the market had no ground lamb, only a small piece of nearly fatfree lamb I would have to chop in the processor. And I only had a few olives - well, you understand. So wing it I did, and it was incredibly good, even if I didn't follow her recipe!

To make 2 burgers:

3/4 pound ground lamb

1/2 cup finely minced parsley, done in the food processor, along with

2 cloves garlic, and a few kalamata olives

fresh cracked pepper

several dashes of hot sauce or red pepper flakes

salt to taste

1 or 2 large pieces of jarred roasted red peppers

If you're chopping your own piece of lamb, do the garlic and parsley before you do the lamb.

Place parsley and garlic in food processor and pulse. Scrape into a bowl.

Cut lamb into small cubes ( if you don't have already ground) and pulse BRIEFLY until chopped.

Mix the lamb, garlic, parsley, and salt and peppers together. Pour some olive oil in a skillet and place burgers in the skillet, along with the pieces of red pepper.

Cook until done ( I like mine rare), serve burger with sliced red pepper on top.

Enjoy!

morning glory muffins on a chilly morning

A chilly, but beautiful late fall walk had me longing for a nice hot muffin loaded with sweet carrots, bouncy coconut flakes, and bursting with juicy apples and plump raisins - which could only mean it was time to make these morning glory muffins.

Not as sweet as a carrot cake, but a little more interesting than a whole wheat raisin, these muffins are great to take along to soccer games or autumn hikes - or just hanging out on the sofa reading the Sunday papers. They freeze well - so , even though this recipe makes 10 Texas size muffins, you can just wrap up the leftovers and stash them in the freezer.

To make:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grease two Texas size muffin tins.

In mixer bowl place:

2 cups finely grated carrots

1 1/2 cups unsweetened or sweetened coconut

3/4 cup raisins, dark or golden

1/2 cup fresh applesauce ( I used my rosy applesauce)

zest from one lemon, grated

2 t. vanilla

1/2 cup vegetable oil or canola oil

4 eggs

1 large fresh apple, grated

2 t. cinnamon

Mix well. Then add:

1 t. baking powder

3 t. baking soda

3 1/2 cups King Arthur flour

1 1/4 cups sugar

Mix well again.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop two scoops per muffin into greased muffin tins. There should be 10 Texas size muffins - 20 if you use the smaller muffin tins.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until tops of muffins are firm to a gentle touch.

Remove to cooling rack for 5 minutes, then unmold onto rack to cool another 5 minutes.

These are especially good with a nice hot cup of tea.

pasta with pumpkin, parsnip & rosemary

I picked up the first parsnips of the season yesterday, and if you've never eaten them, you're in for a treat. When you tear open the cello bag, the smell is unlike any other - earthy, autumn, fragrant. Our family loved parsnips, and we most often served them cooked and mashed with white potatoes. Roasted with chicken or turkey brings out their sweetness, and I often roast them along with sweet potatoes. But looking around the kitchen, I looked at all the sugar pumpkins lined up on the counter and wondered.....pumpkins AND parsnips?

It turned out beautifully. I shaved ribbons off the peeled pumpkins and parsnips and briefly cooked them in with the almost done pasta, then drained and topped them with fresh rosemary and virgin olive oil.

To make:

Peel a small sugar pumpkin and a few parsnips. Continue to shave off ribbons of the pumpkin and parsnips, avoiding the soft, pithy inner core of the parsnips. Set aside.

In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil. Throw in a rosemary sprig. Add however much vermicelli or other pasta you wish to use.

Boil until the pasta is nearly done. Add the parsnip and pumpkin ribbons to the pasta still cooking; cook for five minutes.

Drain and drizzle virgin olive oil over the pasta and vegetables. Pile on plates or a serving bowl gently so as not to break up the ribbons. Top with fresh pepper and a few rosemary leaves.

Thyme sprigs and chopped parsley would also do well with this combination.

Note: If you prefer, you can make a brown butter sauce instead of the olive oil. Simply melt unsalted butter until toasty brown, then drizzle over pasta.

rosy applesauce for happy children

I first made this applesauce last year . It's pretty, tart, and a great way to use up all those apples from the pick-your-own farm. I froze A LOT of it last year, after my toddler granddaughter requested it for every lunch. It's also wonderful with any kind of pork or turkey.

To make:

6 fresh apples, peeled, cored and sliced

3/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

2 T. good honey

about 1/2 cup water, depending on moisture in apples

Simply simmer apples, cranberries, and honey with water until the apples cook down. You need to stir this often, and try to evaporate most of the water and juice from the apples.

Cool and freeze ( and eat!).

3 minute microwave chocolate cake-in-a-cup

Oh my gosh - I haven't had as much fun as this since I blew up marshmallows in a microwave last year with a 12 year old!

I got this in an email - and tossed it - and then went right back to my trash and rescued it.

I have now made it three times, and it isn't bad at all. You could even get away with it at your next dinner party, especially if you make some whipped cream on the side. Can you see it now - a prep line of beautifully dressed adults stirring their cake batter in mugs and microwaving it? What a hoot!

Care package for college students, or funny Christmas package with a cool mug and all the ingredients ( except the milk and egg, of course) - I'm sure you'll think of lots of ideas.

Take a mug or large microwavable cup.

Add:

4 T. flour

4 T. sugar

2 T. good, unsweetened cocoa powder

Mix dry ingredients well.

Add:

1 egg

3 T. milk

2 T. vegetable oil

3 T. semi-sweet chocolate chips ( or broken up good chocolate)

1/2 t. vanilla

Mix really, really well in cup. Microwave for 3 minutes on high. Remove and enjoy!