Honey-Spice Cake.

It's been awhile since we've had dessert here at Karen's Kitchen, so I thought I'd pass along this lovely fall recipe your way.  It's definitely a departure from the average white box cake, almost closer to pumpkin or banana bread in consistency rather than cake. That's alright though. The bold, rich flavors are perfect for a snack with afternoon tea or after-dinner coffee.  I've found that I prefer this served warm, whether you eat it soon after it comes out of the oven or you reheat slices as needed.  If you double this recipe, you can make a bundt cake, but I recommend making the loaf first, as small slices are so full of flavor that this cake serves many. Enjoy!

Honey-Spice Cake

Recipe from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, by Mark Bittman

Ingredients:

1 T butter, plus butter for the pan

1 T grated or finely minced orange zest

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. rye or whole wheat flour (I used rye)

1 t baking soda

1/2 t ground cinnamon

pinch salt

pinch each ground allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger

2 eggs

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. honey

1/2 c. freshly brewed coffee

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5 in. loaf pan, or if you double the recipe, a tube pan. Combine the 2 T. butter and the zest in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook until the butter sizzles, then turn off the heat. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Beat the eggs and sugar together until the mixture is light and thick; beat in the honey and coffee, followed by the butter/zest mixture.  Add the dry ingredients by hand, stirring just to combine; do not beat. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.  Let the cake rest in the pan for 5 minutes before inverting it onto a rack.  Remove the pan, then turn the cake right side up.  Let cool before slicing.

I frosted this cake with mocha glaze, also from the HTCE Veg. cookbook. I halved the original recipe, and I still had about three times as much as I needed. In retrospect, I think this would have been a great cake to top with simple homemade whipped cream. However, this is a great glaze for a chocolate cake, or even your basic white cake, so here's the recipe anyway.

Mocha Glaze

Recipe from How to Cook Everything, by Mark Bittman

(This is the full recipe. Half a recipe was more than enough for a loaf cake, but it may not be enough for a 13x9 cake.)

Ingredients:

1/2 c. coffee

1/2 t. vanilla extract (optional, I used it)

3 cups confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar) plus more as needed

1 oz. melted semisweet or bittersweet chocolate 

-or-

3 T cocoa powder

(I used the cocoa powder, and wish I'd used the melted chocolate instead. It turns out better with the chocolate, I think.)

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients and beat until combined and smooth; it should be about the consistency of thick maple syrup-just pourable. Adjust the consistency by adding a little more liquid or a little more sugar. Use immediately or store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Note: I've been stirring a small spoonful of the leftovers into my oatmeal in the morning. Delicious!

Pesto.

I had a rather large basil plant when I made this. It has since died, and I must start anew.  If you have your own homegrown basil, this is a great way to use it. If you can get a lot for cheap somewhere, that's fine too. If you can only find basil in the super small, super spendy packages at the grocery store, this may not be how you want to use it...but who am I to say? This is a good condiment, and works great if you have some on hand to stir into cooked pasta for a quick dinner. I'm told there are other uses, but I haven't explored them yet.

Traditional Pesto, from How to cook Everything Vegetarian, by Mark Bittman

Makes: about 1 cup pesto

Ingredients:

2 loosely packed cups fresh basil leaves, rinsed and dried (pat dried, not 'crunchy' dried)

salt

1/2 clove or more garlic

2 T. pine nuts or walnuts

1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil, or more

1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan, pecorino romano, or other hard cheese (optional) (I didn't use this)

Directions:

Combine the basil with a pinch of salt, the garlic, the nuts, and about half the oil in a food processor or blender.  Process, stopping to scrape down the sides of the container if necessary and adding the rest of the oil gradually.

Add more oil if you prefer a thinner mixture. Store in the refrigerator for a week or two or in the freezer for several months. If you freeze, add a thin layer of olive oil on top to help keep it fresh. Stir in the parmesan by hand just before serving. (I don't like parmesan, and so skipped this step.)

 

Quiche.

I LOVE quiche. When I was younger, my mom always made quiche when my dad was out of town, as he didn't like it very much, so it was elevated to treat status in my mind very quickly.  After I got married, I waited awhile to break out my mom's quiche recipe, because I was afraid my dear hubby was going to dislike it, and it would be banished to when he travelled(which is not very much, we travel together when we do travel). I needn't have worried. He loves this recipe almost as much as I do. Yet another reason why I love him. 

This is a great recipe for using whatever bits of veggies you've got lying around.  I used asparagus, vidalia onion, and green pepper this time around.  I also left out the bacon, as neither Chris nor I am fans of it. I've had it both with and without bacon, and I personally like it better without, but the recipe is good either way.

Quiche

Crust:

1 c. flour

1/4 t. salt

1/4 + 1/8 c. butter (or butter-flavored shortening)

1 1/2 to 2 T. cold water

Filling:

3 eggs

1 c. evaporated milk

3/4 c. milk

1 t. salt

dash pepper and nutmeg

cooked bacon pieces (opt.)

sautéed onions

shredded cheese to taste

various cooked veggies to taste

Directions:

Combine flour and salt in a small mixing bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture looks like small peas. Add water, a little at a time, forming the mixture into a ball.  Roll out into a circle, to fit a 9" pie plate, or, alternately, place ball in pie plate and push with fingertips out to edges evenly. (Be sure to give a good edge to the crust, as it shrinks a bit while cooking.) Bake at 375° for 8 to 9 minutes.

In a blender, combine all filling ingredients except bacon, cheese, onion, and veggies. Put the bacon, cheese onion, and other veggies into the pie crust, and VERY slowly pour the egg mixture into the crust. (A trick I've learned is to place the crust, with veggies added, back on the oven rack before pouring the egg mixture in.  This way, I don't have to move a very full, very liquid pie into the oven. Careful, though, as with this way you're more apt to spill in the oven if you don't pour VERY VERY slowly.) Place quiche in oven, and bake at 375° for 45-50 minutes.

Note: My mom always covers the crust edges with foil once the filling's in, to keep it from overbrowning the crust. I don't bother. The end product is prettier if you use the foil, but there's not much difference otherwise. 

Spaghetti Squash Italiano.

I did not know I liked spaghetti squash.  The first time I had it, I don't know what exactly I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting the slightly sweet squashy flavor that I did encounter.  Probably because the first time I had it I ate it with spaghetti sauce, which seemed logical, but it tasted horrible. (Plenty of people prefer it this way, but I couldn't get over the idea that I was expecting pasta under my sauce!) In any case, I thought I didn't like spaghetti squash because of this. That is, until I came across this recipe.  It is delicious, let me tell you.  Bonus, almost everything in it is absolutely fresh. (Non-fresh items? Olive oil and Parmesan cheese...not too shabby. And I suppose the pine nuts/walnuts. But I digress.)

If you've been on the fence about trying spaghetti squash, or squash in general, I urge you to try this recipe.  Your family, and your tastebuds, with thank you.

Spaghetti Squash Italiano, from Easy Everyday Cooking (Better Homes & Gardens)

Ingredients:

2 small spaghetti squash (1 1/4 o 1 1/2 lbs. each) (WEIGH BEFORE YOU BUY! I can't find any under 2 lbs. at my supermarket, so I make this recipe with one squash instead of 2)

4 oz. mozzerella cheese, cut into small cubes (1 cup) (Mozzerella, good mozzerella, should be packed in water, or at the very least feel quite squishy. None of this perfect block stuff. Most will be in a ball shape.)

3 med. tomatoes, seeded and chopped (I usually sub in roma tomatoes, which are meatier and have less juice, though they are smaller. If you do this, add at least one extra roma.)

4 green onions, sliced (or more...more is good.)

1/2 c. pine nuts or coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

1/4 c. fresh basil or parsley (you can usually find fresh parsley mixed in with all the lettuce at the supermarket, and it's much cheaper than fresh basil, and just as good in this recipe)

1 T. olive oil or cooking oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 T. grated parmesan cheese (we didn't use any)

Directions:

Halve ths squash lengthwise and remove the seeds.  Prick skin all over with a sharp knife.  Place halves, cut sides down, in a 3-qt. rectangular baking dish.  Cover and bake in a 350° oven for 60 to 70 minutes or until squash is tender.

Using a fork, carefully rake the squash pulp to separate it into strands, leaving the strands in the shells.  Sprinkle one-fourth of the mozzerella into each of the pasta shells, toss lightly.  Push the squash mixture up the sides of the shells.

Meanwhile, for filling, in a medium mixing bowl combine tomatoes, green onions, nuts, basil or parsley, oil, and garlic.  Spoon the filling into squash shells.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Return to baking dish.  Bake about 20 minutes more or until filling is heated through. Makes 4 servings.

Ideally, each shell is one serving.  If you find squash like I do, it'll be 2 servings, so again, weigh your squash to check size.  Enjoy!

How to eat a Passionfruit.

This is a passion fruit.

I think it's ripe...

I've never eaten a passion fruit before, and when I saw them on sale at the local Super Saver, I couldn't resist.

This is what the inside looks like.

Chris and I shared this for an afternoon snack. We discovered that it tastes mostly like a tangerine, with the texture of a pomegranate....sort of. It's still all its own fruit. The thing that's most distinct to me about it was the smell. Once you smell one, you'll recognize the scent. It's used in some sports drinks and fruit juices because it smells so good.

To eat, you simply slice open the fruit, over a bowl if you want to save the juice inside, which is pretty good. Then, you have the option of either eating the fruit as is, seeds and all, or eating around the seeds, which we did, (they're quite crunchy, and got stuck in my teeth...not fun), or you can press all the contents through a sieve and then eat. It's up to you.

I don't think we'll be buying passion fruit again any time soon, simply because they cost too much for what you got, but it was a good experience, and I'd recommend that you try one someday.