Donut Army

Every now and then, my wonderful supermarket in Chicago features a new item that I had never even pondered before. Recently, it was fresh garbanzo beans. What? Huh? You mean they exist in a form other than dehydrated and buff-colored? Apparently, yes. You can harvest them from the bean stalk and eat them in a form that doesn't require 90 minutes of boiling after an overnight soak. But, what to do with them? Thirty minutes of online sleuthing showed me that most gringos haven't the faintest idea of what to do with them. Here is what I learned: Fresh garbanzo beans are seasonal and often found in ethnic grocery stores in major metropolitan areas; they may appear for just 1-2 weeks. Fresh garbanzo beans can be cooked and whirred up for a spread, or, left in the pod and eaten like edamame. Fresh garbanzo beans are to be roasted, toasted, or fried, but never boiled. I could not find out why, and didn't have any left to try to ruin on purpose. Do they get gros...

What a heaven-sent recipe, especially for someone like me who loves the texture of brownies, but avoids eating chocolate. The blondie is a wonderful, wonderful contraption -- able to deliver chewiness and crunchiness, without the cacao of a brownie. Simple to assemble, easy to bake, and eminently portable. Highly recommended. Butterscotch Blondies Cooking Light , December 2007 2 c flour 2 1/2 c brown sugar 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 10 T butter 3 eggs (or 3/4 c egg substitute) Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Place butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook 6 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes. Add egg to butter and stir with a whisk. Pour butter mixture over flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Spoon batter into a 13x9" baking pan coated with Pam. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in ...

Don't judge me by the prettiness -- or ugliness -- of these pieces of corn flatbread. If you've worked with cornmeal in making a flatbread, then you know how finicky it can be. Some people are great at working with this kind of dough -- turning a sticky mess of knobby cornmeal into beautiful corn tortillas, for example. Apparently, I am not in that category. But, no matter how it looks, this still tastes quite good. And, is a handy staple to have for those meals when you didn't plan ahead and can't make a yeast bread. Makki Di Roti various 2 c corn flour (use a combination of fine and coarse cornmeal) 1 c flour 1 tsp oil salt water, enough to knead Combine the flours with the oil and salt. Knead until smooth. Shape the flours into a mound and pour hot water into the center - just enough to combine (start with 1/4 cup, but you will probably need 1/2 - 3/4 c by the time you are through). Mix with a spatula to combine. Let sit until cool enough to touch. Contin...

One evening, I found myself starting at an extra bunch of mustard greens I had in the fridge. I had bought a few bunches to help ring in the new year and now found myself maxed out on sauteed greens. What else could I do with the greens that would show them off, but also bring something different into my day? How about Indian-style greens!   Punjabi-Style Mustard Greens Atlanta Journal-Constitution 2 T clarified butter or vegetable oil 1/2 small yellow onion, chopped 1 tsp garam masala 1/8 tsp crushed or ground fennel seed 1 T ginger, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 sp turmeric 1 1/2 lbs fresh mustard greens, chopped 2 tomatoes, chopped 2 juice of 1 lime or lemon salt to taste In a large pan over medium heat, add the ghee or oil. Add onion, garam masala and fennel and cook until onions are translucent, about 4 minutes. Add ginger, garlic and turmeric and cook for 2 minutes more. Add mustard greens. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all the mois...

I appear to be on an Indian food kick, so bear with me. This was my first attempt at Aloo Mattar. For the most part, this was very successful - it certainly tasted delicious! In the future, I may take more care in mashing the potatoes a bit in order to release their starches and thicken the gravy a bit more. Aloo Mattar (Potatoes and Green Peas) Manjula's Kitchen 3 medium potatoes, boiled 3/4 c forzen green peas 2 T oil 1 tsp cumin seeds 1/8 tsp asafetida (opt) 1 tsp ginger paste 1 green chili, minced 2 T coriander 1 tsp fennel seed powder 1/4 tsp turmeric 1 tsp aprika 1 tsp salt 1 tsp mano powder 1/2 tsp garam masala 2 medium tomatoes, sliced 2 T cilantro, chopped Peel potatoes and cut them in bite-sized pieces. In a small bowl, mix ginger, green chili, coriander, fennel seed, turmeric and paprika with 1/4 c water. heat the oil in a saucepan. Add cumin seeds and asafetida. After cumin seeds begin to pop, add the spice mix and cook until spices start lea...

Seriously, seriously delicious. I am currently of the belief that I could eat this every day and never tire. Plus, it only gets better as a leftover. Highly recommended. Chole Palak (Chickpeas with Spinach) Manjula's Kitchen 1 15-oz can chickpeas 3 c spinach, chopped 2 medium tomatoes 1/2" piece ginger 1 green chili 3 T oil 1/4 tsp asafetida (opt) 1 tsp cumin seed 1 T coriander 1/2 tsp turmeric 1/2 tsp cayenne 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp garam masala Drain the liquid out of the chickpeas and rinse well. Blend tomatoes, chiles and ginger to make a puree. Heat oil in a suacepan. Add asafetida and cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds start to pop, add tomato puree, coriander powder, turmeric, and cayenne. Cook for 4 minutes on medium heat. Tomato mixture will start leaving the oil and will reduce to about half in quantity. Add spinach, salt and 1/2 c of water. Let it cook covered for 4-5 minutes on medium heat, covered. Add chickpeas and mash lightly with a s...

Learning to make this dish has increased my confidence in preparing Indian food one hundred fold. Why? You know why -- there is something special about getting the rice at an Indian restaurant. It's just different from what you do at home. Right? Well, no more! Follow this recipe and you'll be serving Indian-style rice like the pros. Trust me - it is significantly better tasting than simply boiling basmati rice in water. Black Cardamom Basmati Rice San Francisco Herb Company 1 c basmati rice 5 pods black cardamom 2 T ghee (or butter, or oil) 1 1/2 c water salt, to taste Put rice in a saucepan and cover with hot tap water. Drain off water and fill again. Stir to release starches. Drain off and add cold water. Drain off and fill with cold water again. Let rice soak in cold water for 15 minutes. Drain. In a heavy bottomed pot, heat clarified butter. Add cardamom pods and stir a 1-2 minutes, enough for the cardamom to release its flavor. Add rice and stir to coat wi...

So many individual components of this dish are just delicious on their own, making the mastery of this recipe a versatile trick for your kitchen. The tomato sauce is great! The cheese mix is very good! Putting them together is happiness. Consider variations -- adding some blue cheese to the mix. Swirling all the ingredients together, rather than layering like a lasagna. Maybe some nutmeg or cinnamon in the sauce. It's all good, when it comes to mac-n-cheese. I'll be honest. The below, original version uses a lot a lot of cheese. I was a little worried-slash-giddy when I started putting it all together. It's delicious, but I think you could easily lower the amount of cheese by 1/3 or even by half. Baked Ziti with Vegetable Sauce American Masala Sauce: 1/4 c olive oil 3 dried red peppers (or, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes) 1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 tsp rosemary, chopped 1/2 tsp thyme, chopped 1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced 1 T coarse salt 2 red bell peppers, thin...

This is a bright and flavorful version of this Southern standard. Easy to assemble, and quite tasty. The quality of the dish depends highly on the freshness of your greens, so be sure to pick out a good, bright, peppery bunch of mustard greens. And, here is a trick for cooking black-eyed peas from their dried form. If you soak and boil them like you might any other bean, then the coloring from the black-eyed part bleeds over the whole bean, making them less attractive. What you want to do instead is soak the beans overnight, like normal. Then, in the morning, cover the beans with water and bring to a boil. As soon as the water comes to a boil, drain. Cover with water again and repeat. Once the beans have had three separate boils, and three separate drains, cover and boil for 90 minutes. Changing the water will remove the darkened water, keeping the white part of the bean from getting stained. Hoppin' John with Mustard Greens Cooking Light , December 2007 2 c water 2 T ...

A classic winter standby. Makes an easy-to-prepare, but elegant looking side dish. Or, if you are feeling lazy and not all that hungry, eat it as dinner all by itself. Roasted Acorn Squash 1 acorn squash 1 T butter 2 T brown sugar maple syrup (opt) salt and pepper (opt) Preheat oven to 400. Cut squash in half, lengthwise. Use your fingers (or a spoon) to remove stringy flesh and seeds. Use the side of the spoon to scrape the last of the stringy flesh out. Place squash halves in a baking dish, cut side up. Add about 1/2 c water to the bottom of the baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes, or until tender. Remove from oven and add butter and brown sugar to the squash cavity. Serve hot.

A nice way to get your home smelling good all day long. And, a great way to stock up on, well, stock! I like to keep several small containers of vegetable stock in the freezer for a day when I'm feeling under the weather. Roasted Vegetable Stock Vegetarian Planet 5 carrots, cut into 1" lengths 3 onions, quartered 10 cloves garlic, peeled 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks 1 turnip or 1/2 rutabaga, peeled and cut into chunks 2 red bell peppers, seeded and quartered 3 tomatoes, quartered 2 T olive oil 1 T fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried), or, 1 tsp fennel seeds 4 1/2 quarts water Preheat oven to 400. Put all of the fresh vegetables into one large roasting pan, or two smaller pans. Toss with olive oil and herbs. Roast for one hour. Transfer the hot vegetables to a large stockpot. Add water. Simmer gently for 1 hour. Strain the stock. When it has cooled, cover it and refrigerate it for up to 1 week. The stock freezes well.

These may simply be one of the best things I've ever made. And, with the ever-forgiving nature of dough, this is quite an easy yeast roll to make. If you aren't quite precise in your shaping of the rolls - no worry! The dough will rise again to take on the shape you had intended. Very easy. Pecan Sticky Rolls Cooking Light , September 2008 Dough: 3/4 c warm milk (100° to 110°) 1/4 c granulated sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1  package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 tsp) 1/4 c warm water (100° to 110°) 1/2 c egg substitute 3 T butter, melted and cooled 3 3/4 c all-purpose flour, divided Cooking spray Sauce: 3/4 c packed dark brown sugar 3 T butter, melted 2 T hot water 1/3 c pecans, finely chopped, toasted Filling: 2/3 c granulated sugar 1 T cinnamon 1 1/2 T butter, melted   To prepare dough, combine the first 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Stir ...

These little turnovers were surprisingly delicious (which would have been obvious if you had seen me eat every single one of them in one sitting). And, they are surprisingly easy. I am not a fan of using prepared foods, but the use of canned refrigerator dough (Pillsbury rolls) makes this one shockingly simple to prepare. And, who knew that refrigerator dough would be so easy to manipulate, roll, and shape! Squash-Apple Turnovers Cooking Light , October 2010 2 tsp olive oil 1/2 c minced onion 2 c butternut squash, peeled and diced 1 c Jonagold apple, peeled and diced 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 1/4 c goat cheese, crumbled 2  tsp fresh thyme, chopped 1 (11.3-ounce) can refrigerated dinner roll dough 1 T honey mustard 2 tsp water 2 T milk Cooking spray Preheat oven to 375°. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for 3 minutes. ...

Soup, delicious, soul-warming soup. And one that features a winter vegetable like butternut squash. The added surprise of fresh ginger really wakes this version up. Highly recommended. I may double the amount of squash next go round. Curried Squash Soup a page in The New Mexican newspaper, found on an airport floor 1 large butternut squash 1/4 c olive oil 2 c onions, chopped 1/2 c green pepper, chopped 3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 T curry powder 8 c stock 2 c crushed tomatoes, with liquid 1/2 tsp dried sage 1 T ginger, peeled and grated Cut squash in half and place cut-side down on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 until soft, about 50-60 minutes. Peel squash, and using a hand masher, gently mash it so that large pieces and brown edges remain intact. Heat oil in large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add onions and bell pepper; saute until vegetables soften, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and curry powder and stir 1 minute. Add mashed squash and remaining ingredients, mix well...

Oh, lovely, lovely bread. I'm so glad that the anti-carb movement is either slowly dying, or is at least going underground. Nothing makes me happier than a warm piece of carbohydrate, preferably either coated with butter, or mixed with sugar. Cornish Splits are a great (and relatively easy) way to have homemade rolls for dinner. Cornish Splits online at AllRecipes.com 1 tsp active dry yeast 1 1/4 c warm milk 1 T sugar 3 c flour 1/4 - 3/4 tsp salt 2 T butter, melted and cooled In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the milk and add the sugar. In another bowl, sift the flour and salt together and add the cooled melted butter. Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture, and turn out onto a floured counter and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm, draft free place to 45 minutes. Turn dough out onto the freshly floured board and shape into 9 balls. Place dough balls into a butte...

This particular lasagna dish is a great version for deep winter -- heavy on pasta and cheese, but also bringing in Swiss chard. This version was a bit too heavy on ricotta cheese. I recommend playing with some proportions on this one, maybe even cutting the ricotta with cottage cheese. Lasagna with Chard, Tomato Sauce and Ricotta  based on New York Times 1 bunch Swiss chard, leaves stripped and chopped 1/2 lb no-boil lasagna noodles 2 T olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced 3 14.5 oz cans of chopped tomatoes, with juice pinch of cinnamon-sugar sprinkles of dried basil, oregano and thyme 1/2 c ricotta cheese (or as much as you would like) 1/3 - 1/2 c Parmesan, grated Steam the chard in its own water for 3-5 minutes, until wilted. Drain and set aside.   In a pot, heat oil. Add garlic and cook about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, sugar, basil sprig and salt. Bring to a simmer. Simmer for 15-25 minutes, until thick, depending on the amount of juice in the pan. Remove ba...

I am a big fan of macaroni and cheeses. Nothing is more comforting on a winter night. Nothing re-heats better. And nothing has quite as many variations as this staple. Here is a version using four different types of cheese. The gorgonzola makes all the difference, so do not omit. Creamy Baked Four-Cheese Pasta Cook's Illustrated Topping: 4 slices white bread, torn into quarters 2 T unsalted butter, melted 1/2 oz parmesan, grated (about 1/4 c) Casserole: 1 lb penne 1 T olive oil 2 tsp unsalted butter 2 tsp flour 2 c heavy cream 1/4 tsp pepper 4 oz Italian fontina cheese, shredded 9about 1 1/3 c) 3 oz gorgonzola cheese (about 3/4 c) 1 oz Pecorino Romano cheese, grated (about 1/2 c) 1/2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/4 c) For the topping, process the bread and butter in a food processor until coarsely ground, about 6 one-second pulses. Transfer to a bowl and toss with Parmesan. Set aside. For the casserole, adjust the oven rack to the middle and heat to ...

Sometimes, when you make a dish for the first time, a little magic happens. That was certainly the case with this dish. I made this with my sister-in-law on a recent visit. When we put this dish on the table, we all agreed that it was one of the most interesting and complex dishes we had ever had. In our lives. But, we had forgotten to take blogging pictures. So I re-made it recently. It's still delicious, but the magic element (probably that of team-cooking) was missing. Again, highly recommended. Chicken, Eggplant, and Tomato Curry Cooking Light 1 T curry powder 1 tsp salt 1 tsp paprika 8 4-oz chicken breasts, boneless, skinless (or, enough for each person to have 4 ounces of protein) 3 tsp olive oil, divided 5 c eggplant, coarsely chopped (about 1 lb) 1 2/3 c onions, thinly sliced 1 1/2 c green bell peppers, in 1/4" thick slices 3/4 c tomato juice (we used 1 can Rotel) 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1 clove garlic, minced 4 c rice, cooked Combine curry powder, s...