150,000 Fruit Salsas

Years ago, when I was at Food & Wine magazine, I worked with a brilliant recipe developer named Anne Disrude. She had the same intellectual curiosity about food and recipes as I did, and we were constantly toying with ideas (like the time she decided to make her own onion powder. . . an idea that turned out to be better in theory than in practice).

One day Anne came up with an idea for a magazine article on soups. She created a basic recipe template and then made a mix & match chart of all the possible ingredients, inviting the readers to choose their own combinations.

I have carried this idea around with me ever since, wishing I could figure out a way to get the concept across to other people. I've tried once or twice to sell this as a book idea, but I mostly get polite, slightly puzzled, nods.

So here I am on my blog, and no one can stop me from trying my experiment. What I have created is a template for Fruit Salsa. If you go to the fruit salsa template page, you'll be able to choose your own ingredients and create your own recipe. It's really hard to explain. Just give it a try: Fruit Salsa Template.

And by the way, here's the math that goes with this recipe: The number of unique combinations you could put together with this template is 150,000. (Well, that's not completely accurate. The real number is 158,760. Seriously.)

Presto Reverso

Cauliflower Hummus with Chickpea Crackers
(No cracker toppings here--a remark that
will make more sense once you read the recipe.)

Here's the usual scenario: hummus made from chickpeas with cauliflower florets for dipping.

And then . . . presto reverso . . . hummus made from cauliflower with chickpea crackers for dipping.

My son, Julien, and I are probably the only ones amused by this role-swapping idea, and we expended quite a few brain cells and person hours trying to come up with other such ideas. However, this is the idea that sparked it all, and it came about by happenstance.

It started with me cruising through Food52's book called Genius Recipes. I found the title intriguing, largely because I was skeptical of this word "genius." (In my professional life I probably edit about 3,000 recipes a year and I've been doing this for 3+ decades, so do the math.) Skepticism aside, two ideas stuck out, so I adopted them: Yotam Ottolenghi's hummus and Dan Barber's whole-grain crackers.

Much experimentation (no, really, MUCH experimentation) later and I ended up with the following crackers. And Yotam's hummus also took a left turn in my test kitchen and ended up being made with cauliflower (though the chickpea version is decidedly yummy).

Chickpea Crackers

100 g chickpea flour (aka besan, garbanzo flour, farina di ceci)
11/4 teaspoons Tajín seasoning, Trader Joe's chile-lime salt, or kosher salt
Generous 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
160 g* garlic broth** or water
2 tablespoons oil (any type; sometimes I do a mix of olive oil and sesame oil)
Topping (e.g., black sesame seeds, cracked sunflower seeds)
Smoked sea salt (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with oil. 
2. In a bowl, stir together the flour, Tajín, and pepper. Make a well in the center. Add the garlic broth and oil. Stir to get a pancake batter, whisking to get rid of most of the lumps.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. It does not need to go into the corners. Sort of let it find its own level. Sprinkle with the topping and sea salt (if using).
4. Bake for 11/2 hours. Carefully flip and bake another 15 to 30 minutes. Sometimes it will look done, but it will be just shy of crisp. So let it go as long as possible without burning.
5. Break it into pieces and store airtight.

*160 grams of broth/water is the same as 160 milliliters. But easier to measure with a scale than eyeballing in a measuring cup.
**Just cut up some garlic, put in a glass measuring cup with some water and a little salt, and heat in the microwave like you're making tea. Strain out the garlic. Boom.


Cauliflower Hummus

About 300 g (10 oz) cauliflower florets (to get 250 g/9 oz cooked)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 strip lemon zest
80 g tahini, peanut butter, or sunbutter (~ 5 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
2 tablespoons lemon juice, or more to taste 

1. In a medium saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the cauliflower, garlic, and lemon zest. Drain well. (At this point I weigh out about 250 grams...you could probably just use all the cauliflower.) Set aside to cool.
2. When the cauliflower/garlic/lemon zest mixture is cool, place it in a food processor and add the tahini and salt. Process to a puree (it's OK if it's still a little coarse; it just shouldn't have any visible chunks).
3. With the machine running, drizzle in the lemon juice and keep processing for a minute or so. Scrape down the sides a couple of times. Taste and see if you want more salt and/or lemon juice. Process until it's ultra smooth.

Spicy Cherry Vinegar

It's so ridiculously easy to make flavored vinegar that it makes me wonder why people pay big bucks to buy it. Anyway, got me some cherries the other day, since it's just the very beginning of cherry season, and decided to donate some of them to the cause by using them to make cherry vinegar.

The cherries colored the vinegar in only a couple of hours, but I left them there for a full day to let the cherry juices exchange with the vinegar. I took the cheap way out and used distilled white vinegar, but I imagine the vinegar would taste even better if you started with a good white wine vinegar. In fact this would be perfectly tasty made with red wine vinegar, but you won't get the dramatic effect of the vinegar changing color.

Spicy Cherry Vinegar

2 cups quartered sweet (Bing) cherries
2 tablespoons sugar
3 cups distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

In a large nonmetal container, combine all of the ingredients. Let stand 24 hours. Strain and put the vinegar in a clean bottle.

Makes 3 cups

Mega-Recipe: Ricotta Torte

May is Bone Health Month. (Who decides these things, anyway?) So in honor of that, and in honor of mothers—who as a class definitely need strong bones—this week's recipe is for a calcium-rich cheese torte.

The torte is what I call a Mega-Recipe. What this means is that, in order to get a meaningful amount of a certain nutrient in a serving, I load the recipe up on ingredients high in that nutrient.

In the case of the torte, I went for the obvious sources of calcium: dairy products. But by choosing lower-fat versions of them I could get more calcium (too hard and boring to explain, but true). Then I also added nondairy sources of calcium, including almonds and broccoli. Broccoli has the distinction of being high in calcium and relatively low in vitamin K, which inhibits the body's ability to use the calcium in the vegetable.

Too much nutrition blah-blah, here's the recipe:

Ricotta Torte with Broccoli & Basil
My plan was to come up with a single serving that had significant calcium in it. I used skim milk to cook the rice and chose part-skim ricotta over full-fat. I used 1% cottage cheese, but since cottage cheese is not as good a source of calcium as other dairy products, I chose one of the brands that has added calcium. The other good sources in this torte are the broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes (?!), eggs, almonds, scallions and basil. When it all gets added up, a single serving has just about 500mg of calcium, which is 50% of the DV.

2 cups skim milk
3/4 cup brown-wild rice blend
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted and very finely chopped
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, slivered (2.5 ounces)
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 scallions, chopped
2 cups (packed) finely chopped broccoli (6 ounces)
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 container (15 ounces) part-skim ricotta cheese (1-3/4 cups)
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese (with calcium)
3 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves

1. In a medium saucepan (preferably nonstick), combine the milk, rice blend and 1 teaspoon of the oil. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Cover tightly, reduce to a simmer and cook until tender, 45 to 50 minutes. (Make sure it doesn't foam over.) Transfer to a large bowl and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a 9- to 10-inch springform pan. Sprinkle the almonds and Parmesan evenly over the bottom of the springform. In a small heatproof bowl, cover the sun-dried tomatoes with boiling water and let sit to soften while the rice cooks. Drain and coarsely chop.
3. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and scallions, and cook for 30 seconds, until the garlic is fragrant. Add the broccoli, water, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper. Cover and cook until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Uncover and set aside.
4. In a food processor, combine the ricotta, cottage cheese, whole eggs, egg whites, basil and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Process until smooth. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and pulse just to combine. Stir into the cooled rice mixture.
5. Spoon one-third of the cheese-rice mixture into the springform. Top with the broccoli mixture and spoon the remaining cheese-rice mixture on top, making sure the broccoli is completely covered. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and a knife comes out clean. Cool completely to room temperature before serving.

Makes 6 servings

Frustrating old recipes

Feeling in a old-timey kitchen mood, I decided to find an old-timey recipe for all of my home-dried apples.

I stumbled across one called March Pudding in an 1877 cookbook called Buckeye Cookery, and Practical Housekeeping. The book was conceived as a fund-raiser, with recipes submitted by local housewives in Marysville, Ohio. The book sold for about $1.75, and it raised $2,000 to build a parsonage for the First Congregational Church.

The March Pudding recipe came from a Miss Lizzie March, who (I discovered through a little genealogical sleuthing) was the 20-year-old daughter of the local Presbyterian minister, William Gilmore March.

Here is the recipe as it appeared in the cookbook.

It's astonishing to me that recipes with so little information actually got published back in the day. I guess the recipes were more like sketches than actual blueprints for cooking. Maybe all of the women of the 19th century were so accomplished as cooks that they didn't need annoying little details like How much liquid goes into this batter? What kind of pan does it cook in? How hot is the oven? How long do you bake it? And I defy anyone to follow the exact order of business as described in the recipe. It simply can't work.

However, I did my best to reinterpret the information given. I didn't change any of the quantities, but had to make a complete guess on the soaking liquid for the apples. Since it was called a pudding, I made the assumption that it belonged to a class of desserts that were sort of like plum pudding, so I baked it—with much expectation—in a shaped pudding mold*. The resulting dessert was more cake-y and less dense than plum pudding. And I could NOT get it to unmold, though it was perfectly tasty. I have temporarily given up (I mean really, how many molasses cakes is a person expected to have in the refrigerator?), but I may get back to this one day.

I'm putting this out there now in hopes that someone who stumbles across this says, why of course, Lizzie March said bake but she really meant steam. Or else she baked it in some other kind of container that made the dessert easier to unmold/serve.

* The steamed pudding mold shown above is from Creative Cookware. Search on Plum Pudding Mold; they sell 1.5-quart and 2-quart molds. They also sell nonstick molds.

Homemade brownie mix

Q&A with Myself

Q: What's one of the fastest desserts you can throw together that is almost universally loved?
A: The brownie.
Q: Where do most people get their brownies?
A: From a packaged mix.
Q: Why?
A: It's fast and the brownies are actually quite good.
Q: But you still have to add the oil and the eggs and mix the batter and bake them, right?
A: Yes, but you don't have to measure all the dry ingredients. That's a big pain...and it's messy.
Q: So why don't you make your own brownie mix and keep it on hand for when you're in the mood for brownies?
A: I don't have a comeback for that. It's a good idea.

The upside is you'll have something just as convenient as a store-bought brownie mix but without any additives. And when you finally bake the brownies, you'll actually be baking from scratch.

P.S. While you're at it, mix up multiple batches to make all that messy measuring worth the effort. Or get together with friends and treat the event like a cookie exchange. Chip in together to buy the main ingredients in bulk, then let each person come up with some interesting additions to personalize his/her brownie mix (espresso powder, cinnamon, chopped peanuts, white chocolate chips, diced dried pineapple, toasted pine nuts, etc.). Then swap containers so you go home with a bunch of different brownie possibilities.

Brownie Mix
I made the mix in a 1-quart deli container. I threw all the ingredients in and then just shook it up to mix them. It worked great. Just be sure to label the container so you know what mix-ins you put in (if any). And stick a little note inside to remind yourself of the other ingredients you'll need for the batter (oil, eggs, and vanilla), as well as the oven temperature and baking time.

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons buttermilk powder or nonfat milk powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup add-ins, such as chopped nuts or dried fruit (optional)

In a medium bowl (or deli container), combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, buttermilk powder, baking powder, salt, and whisk (or shake) to blend. Stir in the chocolate chips and add-ins (if using). Store airtight.

To make fudgy brownies
Brownie Mix (above)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg

To make cakey brownies
Brownie Mix (above)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan.
2. Dump the Brownie Mix into a bowl. Add the oil, water, vanilla, and egg(s), and stir just to blend.
3. Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it.
Makes 16 brownies

The art of the cracker pie

For background information on cracker pies, you should read my post on drying apples and also on Mock Apple Pie (the quintessential cracker pie). A mock apple pie is made with Ritz crackers, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon, but no apples. The combination of flavors fools your tastebuds into believing that it's a real apple pie.

This got me to wondering how else I could fool the tastebuds. It seemed to me that the specific flavor cues in the mock apple version came from the lemon, sugar and cinnamon. What if I switched it up?

What follows are three cracker pies that do NOT taste like apples. Try one and see what your brain makes of it.

Almond Cream Cracker Pie
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Pastry for two 9-inch crusts, store-bought or homemade
45 Ritz Crackers (5 ounces), broken in half

1. In a small saucepan, combine the water, sugar and cream of tartar. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce to a high simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool to warm (about 30 minutes). Stir in the sour cream and almond extract.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425°F. Roll out the bottom crust and fit into a 9-inch pie plate.
3. Place the crackers in the crust and pour the warm sugar-cream over them. Roll out the top crust and place over the pie. Trim the edges and seal. Put 3 or 4 slits in the top of the crust to let steam escape.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the crust is crisp and golden. Let cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
Makes 10 servings

Butterscotch Cracker Pie
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoons bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter, cut into bits
Pastry for two 9-inch crusts, store-bought or homemade
45 Ritz Crackers (5 ounces), broken in half

1. In a small saucepan, combine the water, sugar and cream of tartar. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce to a high simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the bourbon, vanilla and butter, stirring until the butter is melted. Let cool to warm (about 30 minutes).
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425°F. Roll out the bottom crust and fit into a 9-inch pie plate.
3. Place the crackers in the crust and pour the warm butterscotch syrup over them. Roll out the top crust and place over the pie. Trim the edges and seal. Put 3 or 4 slits in the top of the crust to let steam escape.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the crust is crisp and golden. Let cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
Makes 10 servings

Lime Cracker Pie
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons butter, cut into bits
Pastry for two 9-inch crusts, store-bought or homemade
45 Ritz Crackers (5 ounces), broken in half

1. In a small saucepan, combine the water, sugar and cream of tartar. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce to a high simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime zest, lime juice and butter, stirring until the butter is melted. Let cool to warm (about 30 minutes).
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425°F. Roll out the bottom crust and fit into a 9-inch pie plate.
3. Place the crackers in the crust and pour the warm lime syrup over them. Roll out the top crust and place over the pie. Trim the edges and seal. Put 3 or 4 slits in the top of the crust to let steam escape.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the crust is crisp and golden. Let cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
Makes 10 servings

Apple butter

I love apple butter.
That's it.
That's the blog post.
Though if you scroll to the bottom you'll see a cool cooking tool.

Apple Butter
I used Rome apples because they are usually cheaper than other apples (except for Red Delicious, which are disgusting). They aren't quite as tart, so that's what the lemon juice is for. Also, the reason for the tall sides on the pot is because as the apples cook (especially in the early stages), they spit steam and hot apple.



1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
4-3/4 pounds Rome apples (about 7), peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Combine the sugar, lemon juice and water in a tall-sided, heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven.
2. Add the apples. Cover and bring the sugar mixture to a boil over high heat, about 1 minute. Reduce to a high simmer and cook until the apples are very tender, 35 to 40 minutes, stirring once or twice.
3. Sprinkle the apples with the cinnamon, allspice and salt. With an immersible blender, blend the apples until smooth (or transfer to a food processor or regular blender to do the same).
4. Bring the applesauce back to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until the mixture is very thick, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. This will take 1 hour or more, depending on the size and weight of the pot, the heat of the burner and the moisture content of the apples. The apple butter is done when you can draw a spoon through it and it is very slow to close back up again.
Makes 1 generous quart

And just in case you feel the urge to make a truly gigantic batch of apple butter, you'll be happy to know that for $130 you can buy a lovely hardwood apple butter stirrer (say that without sounding drunk) from Lehman's. The paddle of the stirrer is 2 feet long; the handle is over 5 feet.

5 or Less: Mexican Chicken-Rice Soup

At Hallmark magazine, we ran a little feature called 4-Ingredient Challenge in which readers were invited to send in recipes that used only 4 ingredients—not counting oil, salt and pepper (or a sweetener if it was a dessert). It's an interesting exercise in cooking, and I had readers who came up with some pretty cool solutions, like using an orange to count as one ingredient but provide two kinds of flavor: juice and zest.

The trick to this type of cooking is to find a single ingredient—like an orange—that does double or triple duty. Spice blends, like garam masala or Italian herbs, are a good example of that. Another good trick is to take advantage of store-bought mixtures with a complex of flavors, such as bottled salsas, curry pastes, or, as in the recipe below, one of the gazillion flavors of diced tomato on the market.

Since 4 ingredients is indeed a challenge (a huge number of readers sent in variations on hamburger meat, onion, tomato sauce and cheese), I decided to add one more ingredient. This still makes for a pretty streamlined recipe and gives you some more flavor wiggle room. Here is my first "5 or Less" recipe. Only 5 ingredients and it took about 30 minutes to make, but only about 10 minutes of it was hands-on.

Mexican Chicken-Rice Soup

If you want to splurge and go for a 6th ingredient, add a little bit of cumin or oregano. I used chicken breast here because I happened to have it on hand, but chicken thigh will make a much more deeply flavored broth. Just be sure to take off all the extra fat that comes with thigh meat or you'll have a greasy soup.

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch chunks
6 cups water
3/4 cup rice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 can (14.5 ounces) spicy diced tomatoes
1/2 cup minced cilantro

1. In a large saucepan or small Dutch oven, heat the oil and garlic over medium heat until the garlic is fragrant. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the chicken, and cook for 2 minutes, just to sear the outsides. Scoop into a bowl and set aside.
2. Add the water, rice and salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer, partially cover and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes and the chicken to the pan and return to a high simmer. Cook uncovered until the rice is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the cilantro. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if needed.
Makes 4 to 6 servings

Farinata

Several years ago I had my first taste of farinata, an Italian appetizer that falls somewhere between a pancake and pizza. I didn't encounter it in Italy (alas), but in a New York City trattoria with a wood-fired brick oven. I was introduced to it by a lovely Italian gentleman named Mario who worked in the restaurant and decided I should learn how to make farinata.

Farinata starts with a batter made of chickpea flour, salt and water. It gets poured into a pizza-style pan that has a bunch of olive oil in it. Then it bakes in a super-hot oven until it's firm enough and crisp enough to cut. I have experimented over and over with this at home, desperately trying to replicate Mario's farinata, but the truth is that the home oven ain't no brick oven.

That said, it's still tasty and fun—and easy—to make. It's also a perfect appetizer to serve if you have anyone in your crowd who has trouble digesting gluten. You can make it plain (as in the recipe below) or you can doll it up with pizza-type toppings (which you would have to add toward the end of the baking).

You can find chickpea (ceci in Italian) flour in Italian neighborhoods or in Indian markets, where it will be sold as besan. You will also find it in natural foods stores (where it may be labeled garbanzo bean flour) or at Bob's Red Mill website.

Farinata
I added rosemary and black pepper to the standard batter, but the plain version is very flavorful on its own. I've made it with and without the Parmesan topping; it's great both ways.

3 tablespoons olive oil
1-1/2 cups chickpea flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups water
1 teaspoon rosemary, minced
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 500°F (or highest temperature available).
2. Pour the oil into a 10 x 15-inch rimmed baking sheet and tilt it to evenly cover.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the chickpea flour and salt. Stir in the water and whisk to blend. If any foam gathers on the surface, skim it off. (By the way, I don't know why the foam makes any difference, but Mario insisted on this step.) Stir in the rosemary and pepper.
4. Place the pan on a pulled-out oven rack. Carefully pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25 minutes. While still hot, sprinkle evenly with the Parmesan.
5. Cut into small squares and serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 12 servings

Pork & Mango Salad

Not that it was my intention, but this salad just happens to be overflowing with beta-carotene, the pigment that makes fruits and vegetables orange. Beta-carotene has been identified as a powerful antioxidant compound, but it is also a precursor* to vitamin A, which is good for your eyes, skin and immune system.

There is no recommended intake for beta-carotene itself, but to get the vitamin A your body needs, you should consume 11 grams of beta-carotene daily. A single serving of this salad has over 13 grams!

Pork & Mango Salad
Make this in the morning (before it gets super hot), then at dinner time you won't have to heat up the kitchen. Serve it on a bed of greens if you want, along with toasted slices of whole-grain baguette or sourdough.

1 pound pork tenderloin
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 large red bell peppers, diced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
2 mangoes (3/4 pound each), cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Sprinkle the pork with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/2 teaspoon of the black pepper. Place in a roasting pan and roast for 20 to 25 minutes or until cooked through but still juicy. When cool enough to handle, cut into 1/2-inch cubes. (Save the meat juices to add to the dressing.)
2. Meanwhile, in a vegetable steamer, cook the sweet potatoes until firm-tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, lime zest, lime juice, honey, cayenne, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. (Add the meat juices, too.)
4. Add the pork, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, scallions and mangoes, and toss well. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Makes 4 servings

*Your body converts the beta-carotene to vitamin A. You can also get preformed vitamin A in animal-based foods, such as egg yolks and liver.

Low-Fat Blackberry Mousse

My blackberry bushes got hammered this year by all the early-summer torrential rains. The rain simply blew off all the blossoms, and my normally prolific blackberry patch now has nada. Grrrrr.

So, much as it pained me to do it, I made this blackberry mousse with store-bought blackberries. By the way, the first time I made it I decided to opt for the extra fiber that comes with the blackberry seeds. Bad idea. Be sure you strain them out even though it's an annoying extra step.

Low-Fat Blackberry Mousse
If you can't find 2% Greek yogurt, but you *can* get the full-fat version, just "tone" the full-fat version down a bit by stirring in some nonfat regular yogurt.

4 cups blackberries (about 1 pound)
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
3/4 cup apple cider or juice
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 container (17 ounces) 2% Greek yogurt (about 2 cups)

1. In a food processor, process the blackberries to a smooth puree. Push the puree through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl to remove the seeds.
2. In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/2 cup of the apple juice. Let sit for 2 to 3 minutes to soften.
3. In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and remaining 1/4 cup apple juice over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup begins to boil, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Scrape the softened gelatin mixture into the hot sugar syrup into and stir well to dissolve the gelatin.
4. Stir the gelatin-sugar mixture into the blackberry puree and stir very well to blend.
5. In a large bowl, whisk the vanilla into the yogurt. Keep whisking the yogurt to lighten it, then whisk in the blackberry puree. Spoon into ramekins or goblets, or a 5-cup serving bowl and chill until set, 3 to 4 hours (the shorter time for the individual servings).
Makes 8 servings

Black garlic

Black garlic is amazing looking, but even more amazing tasting. The shiny ebony cloves are sweet and sticky and garlicky, but in an only mildly spicy way. It tastes like what roasted garlic wishes it could be when it grows up.

The garlic turns dense and black during a month-long process that slowly, slowly caramelizes the garlic's natural sugars. There are no colorants or additives of any kind. It's just garlic.


The real question is, how do you use black garlic? I think, because it's an interesting blend of sweet and savory, that it would work in savory dishes where you might have used either raisins or sun-dried tomatoes. I think it could be nice as flecks in a fennel bread. It would be great with broccoli rabe, or in homemade sausage, in guacamole, or tossed with pasta. But on a website called Black Garlic (home of the company started by Scott Kim, the "inventor" of black garlic), you'll find a small collection of recipes, including the following, which is something that I would never have come up with, but absolutely intrigues me:

Baked Bananas with Black Garlic

1 Cadbury's Flake chocolate bar
1 peeled clove black garlic, minced
2 teaspoons runny honey
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 banana, skin on
2 tablespoons brandy or dark rum
Vanilla ice cream for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Mix together the candy bar, garlic, honey and sugar.
3. Place the banana on a piece of foil. Make a slit along the top of the banana through the skin and half way through the flesh. Stuff the mixture inside the slit. Pour the brandy on top.
4. Seal the foil around the banana and place in a baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes.
5. Remove from the foil and serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

Bulgur Salad with Black Beans & Oranges

Finally, weather worthy of a cold salad.

[Someone told me that it's been 140 years since the month of July went without a single day over 90 degrees—in the Northeast, that is. I know that you guys on the West Coast would have welcomed a day under 90, but us Right Coasters have been wearing long pants and sweaters. Weird.]

On the subject of bulgur:
Bulgur is cracked wheat that has been parboiled to make it faster to cook (i.e., cracked wheat is not a good substitute unless you are willing to steam up your kitchen for longer to cook it). Bulgur can come in several different granulations, although the most commonly found supermarket brands don't indicate size. In well-stocked natural foods stores or specialized online sources you can find granulations ranging from fine to extra coarse (which is almost the whole kernels). A medium to coarse (shown above) grind works best for salads. You could also use other wheatlike grains—kamut, spelt, farro—that have been "bulgurized" (parboiled and cracked).

Bulgur Salad with Black Beans & Oranges
Make the bulgur ahead of time (like the night before) so you don't have to steam up the kitchen in the middle of a summer day.

Grated zest of 1 lemon
2/3 cup lemon juice (2 to 3 lemons)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 medium-large (8-ounce) red onion, finely diced
1-1/2 cups bulgur
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups water
2 cans (15.5 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
2 navel oranges, peeled and coarsely chopped
Chopped parsley, for garnish (optional)

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, oil, salt and red pepper flakes. Stir in the onion. Let sit while you cook the bulgur.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the bulgur, garlic and water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until the bulgur is tender, 15 to 20 minutes (if there's still some liquid, drain it off). Transfer the still warm bulgur to the bowl with the lemon-onion mixture and toss well to combine.
3. Add the beans and oranges, and toss well. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Makes 8 servings

Lime-Ginger Chicken

When I first made this recipe I broiled the chicken because it wasn't quite grilling season for me (I know, there are plenty of you who grill year round, just not me), but of course now the season is in full swing. So go ahead and grill instead of broil, but consider using skinless, boneless chicken thighs instead of breasts. Thigh works a lot better on the grill because the flesh is inherently juicier. Get about 2-1/2 pounds of thigh and trim off as much of the external fat as you can (flare-ups = not good) and open up the thighs so they're flat. Just watch the cooking times: Boneless thigh will cook more quickly than breasts because the pieces are thinner.

A note on the sherry: I used sherry in this recipe because I was going for Asian flavors and dry sherry is commonly used in American versions of Chinese recipes. For a proper Chinese dish I should have used Shaoxing wine.

Shaoxing—from the province of the same name—is a rice wine (made with sticky rice) that is aged for 10 years. It's the color of pale sherry and smells a bit like it as well (though it also smells like sake, for obvious reasons). If you can get it, use it here instead of sherry. The wine will probably come in a bottle that looks a good deal like a bottle of soy sauce, but if you're shopping in a Chinatown or in a well-stocked liquor store, you may run across one of the fancier bottlings, like the cute green bottle (brandname Tediao) in the photo above.

WARNING: Just as with sherry, some Shaoxing wines sold in this country have had salt added to them so that they can be sold in grocery stores. They should, therefore, be labeled "cooking wine;" or they might have a label that says "not to be used or sold as a beverage." You'll be safe if you buy Shaoxing in a liquor store. Failing that, use sherry. The salted stuff is nasty.

Lime-Ginger Chicken
Put the chicken and marinade together in the morning and marinate in the refrigerator (turning once or twice if you think of it) until you're ready to cook.

1/4 cup dry sherry or white wine
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sesame oil
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (6 ounces each)

1. In a measuring cup, combine the sherry, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and salt. Measure out 2 tablespoons of the mixture, put in a small bowl and stir in the sesame oil. Set the sesame mixture aside to use as a baste.
2. Place the chicken in a nonaluminum container large enough to hold it in a single layer. Pour the remaining marinade in the measuring cup over the chicken and turn to coat. Let marinate for at least 1 hour at room temperature, turning once, or refrigerate to marinate longer.
3. Preheat the broiler. Place the chicken boned-side up on a broiler pan and drizzle a little of the marinade over it. Broil for 10 minutes. Turn the chicken over and brush with the reserved sesame basting mixture. Broil for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through but still juicy.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Mango Cream

There are hundreds and hundreds of mango cultivars in the world, with intriguing names like Rajapuri, Boubo, Parrot Mango, Momi K. and Bez al-Anza. Even in this country, we grow dozens of different mangoes. The problem is that very few of them make it into the marketplace, and when they do they are not often labeled in any helpful way. Store signs usually just say "mangoes," and the PLU (Price Look-Up) stickers are annoyingly vague. In fact, the PLUs for mango include these designations: ripe, green, yellow and red. Pretty dumb.

There are about six mango types found in U.S. markets, with the most common being the Tommy Atkins. Tommy Atkins are grown in Florida (and many other parts of the world) and are large and heavy. Recently there has also been a pretty good supply (at least in New York) of Ataulfos, which are sometimes sold as Mexican mangoes (they're grown there) or champagne mangoes. Their main distinction is that their flesh is creamy and much less fibrous than the Tommy Atkins. Other mangoes that make it into the U.S. market include Haden, Keitt, Francine, and Kent. For more information on mango varieties in this country and their availability, check out the National Mango Board.

Mango Cream
I made this dessert with 1 Ataulfo mango and 3 Keitt mangoes (I think....of course they weren't labeled).

3 medium or 4 small mangoes, peeled and cut into big chunks
1/2 cup light cream or half-and-half
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 envelope gelatin
1/4 cup orange juice
Cinnamon, for garnish

1. In a food processor, puree the mango until very smooth. Add the cream and maple syrup, and puree to blend.
2. In a small saucepan, sprinkle the gelatin over the orange juice and let sit 5 minutes to soften. Place the pan over medium-low heat and stir until the gelatin dissolves, about 45 seconds.
3. Add the dissolved gelatin to the mango puree and blend.
4. Scrape the puree into a 1-1/2-quart bowl, cover and refrigerate until set up, about 4 hours.
5. Serve dusted with cinnamon.

Makes 6 servings

My Sister's Potato Salad

[Potato flowers photo by Keith Weller for the Agricultural Research Service]

My sister Megan (she of the home seltzer machine) does not cook. It's not that she doesn't have the palate, because she does, it's that she doesn't have the patience. This, in fact, is the reason that I have always loved her potato salad.

When Megan cuts the potatoes for her potato salad, she does not have the patience to cut them into even little cubes. She cuts them kind of helter-skelter--whatever gets the job done fastest. As a result, when the potatoes cook, some pieces get mushy before the other pieces cook through. The happy by-product of this is that the mushy potatoes blend in with the dressing and make the salad seem extra creamy.

I have made my potato salad this way ever since (Megan, are you grinning?). Of course being the somewhat more methodical cook, I actually use a small baking potato cut small to do the job.

My Sister's Potato Salad
The baking potato is purposely cut smaller so that it will fall apart while the red potatoes stay firm. This contributes a pleasing thickness to the dressing, giving you the sense that you're eating a sinfully rich potato salad. Other health tweaks: no mayonnaise, fewer hard-boiled eggs than a typical potato salad, and green pepper replaces the typical celery for the same crunch but more nutrients.

Salt
2 pounds red potatoes, UNpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 small (5 ounces) baking potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 large clove garlic, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 large eggs, hard-boiled
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon pepper
5 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup finely minced Vidalia or other sweet onion
1 green bell pepper, diced (1 cup)
1/3 cup chopped parsley or cilantro (optional)

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the red potatoes, baking potato and garlic until the red potatoes are fork-tender (but not falling apart), 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the potatoes and transfer to a large bowl. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice over the hot potatoes.
2. Meanwhile, peel and halve the eggs. Transfer two of the yolks to a small bowl and discard the remaining yolk. Coarsely chop the whites and add to the bowl of potatoes.
3. Mash the egg yolks well with a fork. Whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice until smooth. Whisk in the mustard, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Gradually whisk in the oil.
4. Add the onion, bell pepper and egg dressing to the potatoes and toss well. Stir to force the little pieces of baking potato to break down and become a part of the dressing. Add the parsley, if using, and toss.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Gingered Turkey Zuk

The weather in New York has made me crabby. Ten minutes of sun and then endless rainstorms. Waaaah. Wet, cold. Garden is molding instead of growing. Slugs. Waaah.

Time to make comfort food. This is why I made myself a nice bowl of zuk. Also known as congee, zuk is a Chinese rice dish made by cooking rice until it falls apart and turns into a thick, comforting bowl of porridge.

This porridge deviates from Western porridge by being savory, and almost never sweet. It's served to infants, or sick people to help them mend, or to people who are really crabby about the weather. Some version of zuk exists in almost any country where rice is the staple starch (as opposed to wheat, for example). In parts of India it's called kanji, in Korea juk, in Thailand jok.

It's supposed to be made with white rice, but I was e-chatting with a friend (hey, Ben!) who said he only ate brown rice these days and then, in a separate thought, mentioned that he loved congee. When challenged he admitted that he made congee the traditional way, with white rice. This made me wonder what would happen if....

Gingered Turkey Zuk
Zuk is usually made with white rice, but this version gets a little fiber boost by using brown rice. A zuk made with brown rice will take about 3 hours to cook, so if you don't have the patience, use white rice instead (though you're still on the hook for about 2 hours). Also, add about 1 more cup broth or water to the soup (a total of 9 cups) because the white rice tends to absorb more.

1 medium onion, quartered
1 small carrot, sliced
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 pounds skin-on, bone-in turkey drumstick or thighs
14 cups water
3/4 cup brown rice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup minced fresh ginger
4 scallions, finely sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
Minced cilantro, for garnish

1. In a medium soup pot, combine the onion, carrot, salt, peppercorns, bay leaf, turkey, and water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a high simmer, partially cover and cook until the turkey is cooked through, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
2. Remove the turkey from the broth. When cool enough to handle, pull the meat from the bones and set aside. Discard the skin. If you want a richer broth and don't mind taking the extra time, return the bone(s) to the soup pot and continue simmering, covered, for 30 minutes or so.
3. Strain the broth. Take off most of the fat that rises to the surface. You'll need 8 cups for the zook, so if you don't have enough, add water.
4. Place the broth and rice in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a low simmer, partially cover and cook until the soup has thickened and the rice has "flowered" (the ends of the grains will actually blossom outward), 2 hours 45 minutes to 3 hours.
5. Meanwhile, cut the turkey into bite-size pieces. When the zook is done, remove from the heat, stir in the turkey and let sit covered for 10 minutes.
6. In a small skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the ginger and salt, and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the scallions and stir-fry until they're just limp, about 1 minute.
7. Ladle the zuk into soup bowls. Top with the ginger-scallion mixture. Sprinkle with the cilantro. Serve hot.

Makes 6 servings

K.A.T.E.S. Rice Pudding with Tangerines

Kiwi Arborio rice Tangerine Evaporated milk Sugar

The third recipe from the Alphabet Challenge:

Come up with recipes using only ingredients that start with the letters that spell out my name K + A + T + E + S (the first initial of my last name to give me a total of 5). Oil, salt and pepper do not count.

Arborio Rice Pudding with Kiwis & Tangerines

I used kitchen scissors to cut the tangerine segments. It worked a treat and I didn't lose any juice to a cutting board.
P.S. Don't be tempted to put the kiwi on the pudding too far ahead of time, because the fruit has an enzyme called actinidin that will "eat" the protein in the milk (sort of like bromelain in pineapple or papain in papaya).

3 tangerines
2 teaspoons plus 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup arborio rice
2-1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons canned evaporated milk (a 12-ounce can and a 5-ounce can)
2 kiwifruits, peeled and diced

1. Grate the zest from one of the tangerines into a bowl. Peel the tangerines and cut the segments into thirds or fourths and add to the bowl (discard any seeds). Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of the sugar, toss well and set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, combine the rice, 1-1/4 cups of the water and the salt. Bring to a low boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until water has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.
3. Stir in the evaporated milk, remaining 1-1/4 cups water and remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat, stirring frequently (especially toward the end), until it turns into a thick porridge, 35 to 40 minutes.
4. Let cool to warm. Stir in the tangerine mixture and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.
5. Top each serving of rice pudding with the kiwifruit.

Makes 4 servings

Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts

So how could I end a week filled with pig artifacts without a recipe using bacon? I couldn't.

Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts

2 cans (8 ounces each) whole water chestnuts, drained
16 slices thick-cut smoked bacon, halved crosswise

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Wrap each water chestnut with a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick (push the toothpick all the way through the water chestnut to the other side).
3. Place the water chestnuts on a baking sheet so the water chestnut is touching the sheet rather than the bacon. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the bacon is cooked and crisp.
4. Drain briefly on paper towels and serve hot or warm.

Makes 32 pieces