FamilyFood

Pumpkin muffins made by two little pumpkins

Last weekend we took our girls to "Grandpa's" pumpkin patch down the street. It's your basic pumpkin patch/bouncy house/carnie-run affair.  Bunny had lost some privileges so she wasn't able to participate in the bounce action (maybe this weekend), but she seemed content to look for pumpkins, especially since her little sister was too scared to jump in the bouncy house.

After wandering around the pumpkin patch for a bit, she turn to face me with a bright idea.

"Let's make pumpkin muffins!" she squealed. "Can we?"

Panzanella: Italian Bread Salad

This classic Italian dish is the perfect way to transition from summer to fall. You combine hearty leftover bread—the drier the better—with juicy tomatoes, basil, and olive oil. Some people like to add all manner of things like cucumbers or peppers or olives. I'm a purist and I like to keep it simple. I might add some thinly sliced sweet red or yellow onion or a splash (just a splash) of red wine vinegar, but I try to let the tomatoes shine through.

For this recipe, I used about 1/3 of a loaf of very stale La Brea Bakery whole grain loaf, three large and juicy heirloom tomatoes, a couple handfuls of fresh basil, about 4 glugs of fruity olive oil (use the best you have), half a thinly sliced onion added just before serving, a slug of red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper.

You need to start the recipe at least two hours before you serve it.  The best part about it is that it needs no refrigeration, in fact, refrigeration destroys the flavors, so make sure to keep and serve it at room temperature.

The procedure is as follows:

• Dice bread into 1-inch cubes, and layer into a bowl.
• Placed chopped tomatoes (no need to seed) and any accumulated juices into the bowl atop the tomatoes.
• Salt the tomatoes, drizzle olive oil over everything, scatter basil over the top, and just let the bowl hang out on your kitchen counter for 2-4 hours.
• Just before serving, add the onions and a splash of vinegar.  Toss well. Salt and pepper to taste, and add a touch more olive oil.  Serve. Serves 4.

You can also omit the last step and just serve it after the bread has had a chance to absorb the tomato juices.

Cheese Pizza in Under 15 Minutes

Now, I'm not a huge pizza fan but, my family is. So I make it when forced to, and making it this way is almost too easy. I usually use whatever cheese I have on hand (in this case it was P'tit Basque, my five-year-old's fave) and make my own fresh tomato concassé to top the pizza.  It goes like this.

Preheat oven to 350º.

Make the tomato concassé: In a blender or mini-food processor blend 6 small tomatoes (seeded, just give 'em a squeeze) with a glug of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. Add a clove of garlic if you like.

Spread the tomato mixture over a store-bought round bread crust (I used Trader Joe's herb crust). Heap with shredded cheese. (photo) I use a MicroPlane medium ribbon grater to shred the cheese.

Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Slice and serve to your pizza-lovers.

Whole grain bread with P'tit Basque Cheese and Heirloom Tomatoes

Tonight is sandwich night, and to go with our creamy cauliflower soup, I was going to make open-faced ricotta (good ricotta, not that commercial, gritty Polly-O crap) sandwiches with heirloom tomatoes, but a wedge of P'tit Basque that I had forgotten about since before we left for Hawaii was calling to me. So the ricotta will have to wait until breakfast where it will get a drizzle of honey.

It's one of my favorite cheeses of all time. I'm particularly partial to sheep's milk cheese (maybe it's my Roman heritage) and I just love it's salty earthiness. Bunny loves it, too. She declared it "deelicious."

Tonight I cut it into thin slices and placed it atop chewy, toasted Ezekiel bread (also a fave of mine) with juicy tomatoes, a sprinkling of sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.

Local Goodness: Three things I'm enjoying this week

I rarely buy ready-made salad dressing, but I lately, I've been buying Annie's Naturals Woodstock dressing two bottles at a time. It has just enough creamyness and tang without being overly "tahini'd." So good on a chopped salad full of crunchy veggies like cukes, peppers, radishes, and carrots that stand up to the assertive dressing. The corporate headquarters of the Vermont company located in Napa, CA.

GoRaw Flax Snax Crackers. Amazingly tasty and full of flavor. Hits the spot when you need something crunchy/salty. Made in Mountain View, CA.

Home Craft Breads' raisin walnut cinnamon rolls. Dense and soft, and wonderful when toasted in a toaster oven. Not overly sweet. Not sticky. Made in Redding, CA.

All available at Country Sun, Palo Alto.

Thai-Style Peanut Butter Sandwich

Janelle of Brown Bag Blues asked me to share a variation on the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that my kids enjoy eating. This recipe is inspired by a bagel at one of my favorite cafes.

THAI-STYLE PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH

On a toasted, halved whole wheat bagel (or wheat toast) spread a layer of creamy peanut butter.  Then top that with chopped salted peanuts. (You could use chunky peanut butter but this method is waaay better.)

Then, top the peanut-y peanut butter bagel with:

• thin slices of red onion
• thin slices of cucumber
• a Thai or regular basil leaf

Dig in!

Friday Night Roti Party

My chef sister just got back from a 4-week stint cooking for a fancy safari/spa outfit in the middle of Kruger National Park in South Africa. (Before that it was a year at Arzak in Spain.) She came home raving about the beauty of the park (she didn't want to leave), and about the roti (a tortilla-like flat bread) that she and the other kitchen help used to eat at the end of the night or for casual meals.

She tells me that there is lots of Indian culinary influence in South African cooking, and though none of the cooks she worked with were Indian, they taught her to make roti. And tonight she taught me. We made lamb curry, some sambals and condiments, and the roti went with it. It was a party, and I wanted to share it with you.

The sides tomato "sambal" with vinegar, salt, and chilies; banana, toasted coconut, cilantro, and yogurt; cucumber raita (cukes, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, cumin seeds, salt):

The bananas and coconut before adding the yogurt and cilantro leaves:

You can google a recipe for roti, but it's basically flour (about 3 cups) and water (about a cup). My sister also added salt, pepper, and a little baking powder. Mix it, then knead it and let it rest. Then roll it out flat.

Spread the flattened dough with butter.

And roll up into a log. Divide the log in half and then chill it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before frying.

Cut pieces from the log and roll to form cute little swirls if you so desire. This is to further incorporate the butter into the dough.

Then fold the piece in half to make a little ball or mound and let those rest.

Roll those balls out until they are the shape and thinness of tortillas then fry on a griddle or in a cast iron skillet until browned but not crisp.  You want them to be soft. Wrap them in a cloth dishcloth or napkin to keep warm.

A little four-and-a-half-year-old helper.

The final product, filled with curry, and ready for eatin'!

Turkey sandwich perfection

My idea of turkey sandwich perfection is as follows.

Lightly toast two pieces of whole grain bread then slather it with mayo. (I said, "Slather.") Grind pepper onto the mayo. Then, between the mayonnaise-y, peppery bread goes: sliced turkey, some green bell pepper rings (don't knock it 'til you try it), and crisp iceberg (it has to be iceberg) lettuce. Deeelicious.

The only other way to go for a turkey sandwich is to make it with with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and a little gravy to bind it. Smash down. Eat.

Things that should never be on a turkey sandwich according to me:

• Mustard (I love it, just not on turkey.)
• Cheese (I am just not ever a fan of cheese on a sandwich.* On plain bread, okay, with other stuff, no.)
• Alfalfa sprouts (They serve no purpose except to make otherwise good food taste like dirt.)

*Maybe it's the cheese + meat combo that I don't like, because I do enjoy a good grilled cheese and tomato (or tart apple), and a sharp cheddar/chutney tea sandwich.

[Photo of "the perfect turkey sandwich": Stefania Pomponi Butler]

Baking with Bunny: Challah

One of the best parts of going to Bunny's preschool on Fridays to celebrate Shabbat with her class is the smell of freshly-baked challah which pervades the entire school.

This Friday she didn't have school and she was very upset that she wouldn't be able to observe Shabbat with her class.  I told her that we could have our own Shabbat at home, and that we could bake some challah together. "But we don't have a kiddush cup," she pointed out. True, but we're not Jewish, either. (I didn't tell her that.)

Bunny school has taught me so much about Jewish religion, customs, and culture. I've always been drawn to this culture (if that's the right word) for some reason, and it makes me happy that Bunny is there at that school.  We made our challah, said some of the blessings, and sang "Shabbat is here."

The challah recipe I used is the one that her school uses. Here it is.

RECIPE FOR FOUR CHALLAHS

They make challah in bulk at school. I halved the recipe and we made three smallish loaves: one plain, one chocolate chip, one with cranberries and cinnamon sugar.

Also, this challah is not sweet so you can use it for savory as well as sweet sandwiches. If you want a sweeter bread, increase the sugar to taste.

Add apples, raisins, chocolate chips, etc to this mixture to "make delicious."

In a medium bowl, mix together 3 tbsp. dry yeast,2/3 cup of warm (not hot) water, and 2 tbsp. sugar or honey. Set aside and let the yeast do its thing.

In a large bowl, add 1 cup oil, 2 tsps. salt, 2 tbsp. honey, and 2 cups of boiling water to dissolve all the ingredients. Then add 1 cup of cold water.

Beat six eggs into the oil water mixture.

Add yeast mixture and up to 14 cups of flour (use as much as needed and add more if too sticky.)

Knead the dough until smooth and elastic. If possible, let to rise in a warm place.

Make 12 long "snakes." Braid 3 together to form challah. Put onto greased cookie sheet. Brush top of challahs with an egg wash for shine.

Bake 40 minutes in a 375º oven.  Let cool on wire rack.

[photo credit of plain and chocolate chip challah: Stefania Pomponi Butler]

Banana Bread

I don't measure so that doesn't lend itself to baking most things, but if allowed to be free form (like with pies and fruit crisps) I do fine.

I do love quick breads and tea breads, however, so about four times I year I make banana, lemon, or apricot bread.  The rest of the time any baking is required J. does it (he makes all our holiday cookies) or I make a Costco (birthday cake) run.

This banana bread recipe is easy, and it's even better the second day, just cool it and wrap it in cling wrap.

BANANA-LEMON BREAD

I can't stand nuts in my baked goods so I leave them out of this recipe which I adapted from the Joy of Cooking.

You can omit the lemon rind and add in a good handful (1/2 cup) of mini chocolate chips to the batter just before pouring it into the loaf pan.  The regular chips will sink to the bottom so make sure to use the minis.

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

In a medium bowl stir with a whisk to "sift" and combine:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 salt

In a large bowl cream together:

1/3 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar
rind from half a lemon (use a microplane grater for very fine shreds)

In a small bowl mash:

2 large overripe bananas

And add one beaten egg to it.

Combine banana/egg mixture with butter mixture and mix well to incorporate. Add the flour mixture to the banana/egg/butter mixture in THREE parts. Stir between each addition.

Place batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake 55 minutes until done.  Remove from pan and cool on a rack befor slicing. And yes, shmear each slice with good butter and devour.

photo credit: Stefania Pomponi Butler