Corn Cookies

Christina Tosi's decadent desserts, like crack pie and compost cookies, have been all the rage the past couple of years. I've never actually been to Momofuku Milk Bar in New York to eat pastry chef Tosi's desserts, but I jumped at the chance last year to sample five of her cookies when South Philly's Green Aisle Grocery started overnighting Milk Bar cookies in from New York. (Haven't seen a tweet about Milk Bar cookies from Green Aisle in a long time, so not sure if Green Aisle is still getting them in.)

From my taste test, I concluded that Tosi makes great cookies, if not a little too sweet and greasy. The standout cookie from the bunch, though, was the corn cookie. Oh man, is Milk Bar's corn cookie good! It tastes somewhere between a sugar cookie and the sweetest summer corn you've ever had. The secret to getting that sweet corn flavor is corn powder. What's corn powder, you ask? Nothing more than freeze dried corn, that's been pulverized into a powder in a blender or food processor. If you can't find freeze dried corn in the snack section of Whole Foods or some other similar grocery store, you can always order it on Amazon. Tosi unleashed her recipe for corn cookies last year in a issue of David Chang's quarterly magazine Lucky Peach, as well as in Tosi's new cookbook Momofuku Milk Bar. The recipe for corn cookies is even posted on the Amazon page for Tosi's cookbook, so the cat is long out of the bag. I've had this recipe bookmarked for quite a while, but had to 1) procure freeze dried corn, and 2) get over the holiday hump of mega indulgence. The original recipe calls for two sticks of butter, which, really, isn't out of the norm for a batch of cookies, but in recalling how I felt her cookies were way too greasy, I cut out just two tiny tablespoons of butter from the recipe to great results. The cookies are still very buttery, but not sickly so. Next time I bake them, I might try to get the recipe down to one and a half sticks of butter.

I also measured the cookie dough out into uniform sizes, which is something I never do. And, would you believe it, the cookies all came out consistently sized and looking professional! Might have to be more exacting in my baking in the future.
Corn Cookies
adapted from Momofuku Milk Bar
makes about 13 to 15 cookies

14 tablespoons butter, at room temperature (original recipe uses 16 tablespoons)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 1/3 cups flour
1/4 cup corn flour (I used fine corn meal)
2/3 cup freeze-dried corn powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

• Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the egg and beat for 7-8 minutes.
• In another bowl, add all of the remaining ingredients and stir until just mixed. (I used my hands to mix the rather thick dough together.)
• Measure out uniform scoops of cookie dough (I measured 1/4 cup scoops, but original recipe calls for 1/3 cup scoops), pressing the tops of the dough balls down slightly, and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Wrap baking sheet with cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least one hour, and up to a week before baking. It's very important to start with chilled dough when baking these cookies!
  
• Place chilled dough about 4 inches apart on a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 18 minutes in a preheated 350-degree oven, or until the edges are slightly browned.
  
• Cool cookies on a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
  

Red Sauce

Tomorrow is the first day of winter, and that means those of us up North are settling into many months of cold and seasonal depression. And in my case, bitching about how cold and depressing it is. It also means that any fresh tomato you buy sucks. Ah, another thing to complain about.

What's a girl or boy who has resigned to eat seasonally, or just committed to flavor to do? And, now that we're all avoiding commercially canned goods because of their BPA lining, canned tomatoes are out of the picture. It's looking pretty grim for all those winter hearty pastas, stews, and casseroles that call for tomatoes, that's for sure.My solution for getting around crappy tomatoes in the off-season is to make what we've been calling around here "red sauce." Red sauce is nothing more than carrots, beets, onions, and garlic that, when cooked and pureed, come together into a vibrant, savory, red sauce with a hint of sweetness. If you didn't tell anyone that they weren't eating tomato sauce, they might not even second guess red sauce.

To be honest, we don't make red sauce just in the winter; we like it so much we make it year round. Red sauce can be used almost anywhere you would tomato sauce. We slather it on pasta, pizza, meatballs, and sloppy joes.

I'm posting this recipe for mostly selfish reasons (I'm tired of looking it up in a book), but I encourage you all to give this recipe a go. Especially in godforsaken, tomato-less winter.
Pizza loves red sauce!

Red Sauce
adapted from Yoga Kitchen

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
4 cups peeled and chopped carrots
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable stock
1 medium beet, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minced
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

• Melt butter in a large skillet. Add carrots, onion, and garlic. Cover and saute, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes, or until tender.
  
• Meanwhile, in a saucepan, boil beets until tender. Drain.
  
• Transfer beets and carrots to a blender. Add all remaining ingredients and puree until smooth.
  

Artichoke Relish

The chronological nature of a blog means that, inevitably, posts roll off the screen to be forgotten in the archives. Occasionally, I resurrect a favorite recipe for those who missed it the first go around. What I have in my hand above is a Jerusalem artichoke (or sunchoke), which is the tuber of a sunflower. It's crunchy, sweet, nutty, and absolutely delicious! These were dug the other day at our friend's farm, but you can maybe find some now (autumn and winter) at farmers' markets and better, local grocery stores. My favorite way to prepare Jerusalem artichokes is as a sweet and tangy relish. Every year, my friend and I get together to can 18 or so pints of the stuff (one year we made 40 pints!). It's become a lovely tradition.Where do all of those jars of relish go? In deviled eggs, tuna salad, chicken salad, egg salad, and chickpea "tuna" salad. On top of burgers, sandwiches, and hotdogs. Next to butter beans and black-eyed peas. On a cracker with cheese. We use it on and in every thing!

Having just made our annual 18 pints of artichoke relish this past weekend, I thought I'd pull the recipe back up to the top of the blog for all y'all that missed it the first time, which was nearly 4 years ago! I'd like to think I've gotten just a tad better at blogging since then.Artichoke Relish

Adapted from A Gracious Plenty: Recipes and Recollections from the American South

Makes 17 or 18 pints

5 quarts Jerusalem artichokes, chopped
2 gallons water
2 cups non-iodized salt
3 pounds green cabbage, chopped
1 1/2 pounds onions, chopped
6 large green and red bell peppers, chopped
3/4 cup flour
1 (24-ounce) jar prepared mustard
2 quarts apple cider vinegar
3 pounds sugar
3 tablespoons mustard seed
2 tablespoons turmeric
2 tablespoons celery seed
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon hot sauce

• Soak artichokes overnight in 1 gallon of water and 1 cup of salt. In another container, soak the cabbage, onion, and bell peppers in the remaining 1 gallon of water and 1 cup of salt.
• The next day, drain the artichokes and vegetables. Spread the artichokes on one towel, and the vegetables on a separate towel.
• Combine the flour and prepared mustard in a bowl, avoiding lumps.
• In a 10-quart or larger pot, add the vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, turmeric, celery seed, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then add the cabbage, onion, and bell peppers. Bring back to a boil and cook for 10 minutes over medium heat.
• Reduce heat to low. Add and mix about a cup of the cooking liquid to the flour and mustard mixture, then add the thinned mixture to the pot of cooking vegetables, and stir.
• Add the hot sauce and artichokes. Raise the heat and stir until almost boiling (about 5 minutes).
• Remove pot from heat, and ladle hot relish into sterilized jars, wipe rims of jars, apply sterilized lids and bands, and process for 15 minutes in a hot water bath.

Sweet Pickled Peppers

This past weekend was a pretty nasty one if you lived in the Northeast. Freezing rain, sleet, snow, oh my! Yes, snow is a bit out of the ordinary in October around these parts, but it's not unusual to have a first frost in October where temperatures dip down below freezing.

If you keep a garden (container gardens count!), those chilly temperatures mean it's time to put the garden to bed, and bring in any plants that can't handle the cold, as well as harvest the vegetable garden's last fruits. All I had left in the raised veggie bed were a few peppers and eggplants, so they came in the evening before the inclimate weather arrived.
These small, rounded, red peppers are actually Mini Belle peppers, but their color and size remind me of spicy peppadew peppers. Don't think I've ever had a fresh pepadew pepper, but I absolutely adore the sweet and spicy pickled peppadew peppers you get at cheese shops and olive bars (I was getting them at Claudio's in the Italian Market, but Superfresh on Columbus Blvd. has them for almost half the price of Claudio's). Goat cheese-stuffed pickled peppadews are the perfect pop-in-your-mouth snack! Mini Belles aren't spicy like peppadews, but I decided to pickle them anyway, since all summer long I've been gazing at the 5-foot tall pepper plant dreaming of cute, red pickled peppers. Feel free to use any pepper you like — sweet or spicy.Sweet Pickled Peppers
makes 1 pint

8 ounces small peppers (or enough to fit in a pint jar)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 bay leaf
4 allspice seeds
4 whole cloves
8 peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon coriander seed
1/4 teaspoon mustard seed

• Insert tip of a pairing knife into the top of the pepper, and working the knife around the top at an angle, cut out a cone. Using your fingers or some other small instrument (I used the handle of a spoon), scrape out the seeds. Wash cored peppers in water to remove any seeds stuck to the inside or outside of the peppers. Dry peppers.
  
• Put bay leaf, allspice, cloves, peppercorns, coriander, and mustard seed in the bottom of a sterilized mason jar. Fill jar with peppers, arranging them tightly without breaking the peppers.
• In a small saucepan, combine the water, vinegar, and sugar, and bring to a boil. Simmer until sugar has dissolved.
• While the syrup is still hot, pour the syrup into the jar, leaving 1/2-inch of headspace. Use a chopstick or some other slim instrument to run around the edges of the inside of the jar, jiggling a bit, to release any trapped air bubbles. There will be lots of trapped air bubbles if you are using whole peppers.
  
• Wipe the rim of the jar, and apply sterilized lid and ring. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Remove jars from water, and let cool on the counter for at least 2 hours. Check lids for a proper seal.

Caramelized Pear Butter

In a determination to not let food go to waste, we've canned more food this summer than we ever have in past seasons — cherry jam, pickled beets, dilly beans, bread and butter cucumbers, peach salsa, peach jam, watermelon rinds, pear chutney, pear relish, and pear butter.

I wish I had documented every thing we canned to share with you, but lately I've been taking a much needed break from blogging recipes (sometimes it's just nice to eat food without documenting it), and falling back on the very easy to write CSA posts (sorry to all of those out there who have hit the unsubscribe button).Back to canning. You'll notice that in that long string of canned foods there are quite a bit of pears. That's because I take care of three Bartlett pear trees that produce a lot of fruit. Sort of.

For the past five or so years, the pears disappear almost over night (really it's in about a three week period) when they are a few weeks out from being ripe. It's a huge mystery as to where hundreds of unripe pears go, as they used to not disappear, but we think it's a combination of deer, squirrels, and racoons that have wizened up over the years.

This year, I decided to not let the critters win. I harvested the pears while they were still unripe. Unripe pears work very well in chutneys and relishes when they are cooked down, so I used them there. I then waited a bit longer for the pears to be only a week out from ripe, then stripped the remaining fruit before the critters could get to them. These almost ripe pears sat in my basement for a week until they were fully ripe.

All in all, I think I got about a fifth of the pears, and the critters got the rest. This is a victory!Caramelized Pear Butter
makes about 8 pints

I was intrigued by the use of caramelized sugar in this recipe for pear butter, and combined the caramelization technique with another recipe for pear butter.

1/4 cup apple juice
6 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
7 pounds pears, peeled, cored and chopped
3 cups, sugar
2 teaspoons nutmeg
3/4 teaspoons salt

• Combine apple juice and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice in a deep pot. Add peeled and chopped pears to the apple and lemon juice as they are chopped to avoid browning.
  
• Cook pears over medium heat until juices are released and can be brought to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until pears are very tender, about 20 minutes.
• Remove pot from heat and blend pears until smooth. I like to use a stick blender that you put directly into the pot, but a food processor, blender or food mill can be used, as well. Return the pear mixture back to the pot.
  
• In a skillet, heat the sugar, stirring frequently until it melts and turns an amber color. Being very careful, pour the caramelized sugar into the pear mixture. This will produce a lot of sizzling and splattering, so be sure you have the pear mixture in a tall pot. The caramelized sugar will harden immediately upon contact with the pear mixture, but will dissolve with stirring.
• Add nutmeg, salt, and remaining 3 tablespoons lemon to the pear mixture.
  
• Simmer on medium-low heat, stirring regularly to prevent burning until pear butter has thickened to the desired consistency. Cooking time will vary depending on juiciness of pears, the size of your pot, and if you halved or doubled the recipe.
  
• Turn off the heat, and fill sterile jars. Wipe rims and apply lids and bands. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Remove jars from water, and let cool on the counter for at least 2 hours. Check lids for a proper seal. Can be store for up to one year.
  

Pear butter before the addition of caramelized sugar.
Caramelized sugar.
Pear butter after the addition of caramelized sugar.

Sweet Tea Pie

I'm not sure what to start defending first: this sweet tea pie that needs perfecting; or the magazine — Garden & Gun, with one of the worst names of any magazine I've ever encountered — which shot me an email newsletter with the recipe.

Every time I hear the name of the magazine Garden & Gun — an absolutely fabulous and beautiful "Southern lifestyle" magazine that launched in 2007, featuring all things Southern in a stylish and smart manner, and to which I happen to subscribe — I want to violently shake whoever decided Garden & Gun (an obscure reference to a '70s disco in Charleston, SC) was a name that would attract people, as opposed to scare them away.
Yes, there are gun articles in almost every issue of Garden & Gun, but they are in the line of erudite articles about gun-loving Ernest Hemingway, or sentimental stories of bonding with a favorite hunting dog.

The other 95 percent of the magazine is about Southern art, food, gardens, architecture, design, history,and culture. If you're a Southerner living outside of the South like I am, there is almost always an article in each issue that touches upon a fond memory or place that is dear to one's heart. If you grew up in the South or live in the South, you should put Garden & Gun on your wish list, even if you will never touch a gun in your life. Trust me.
Now onto the pie.

The sweet tea pie recipe comes from Martha Hall Foose, a Southern-born pastry chef and cookbook author. Martha Hall Foose presents sweet tea pie in her James Beard Award-winning cookbook, Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, and she also contributed her sweet tea pie recipe to Nancy McDermot's cookbook, Southern Pies, but I came about the recipe in a newsletter from Garden & Gun (sign up here, if you like).

This recipe got immediately bookmarked, but, as always, I took a while to make it. Essentially, this pie puts a new Southern twist — sweet tea — on the traditional Southern chess pie. As one of the stories goes, chess pie got it's name when someone said the pie was "just pie" — because there ain't nothin' fancy is chess pie, just eggs, butter, and sugar — and at the end of the line "just pie" transmuted into chess pie.Martha Hall Foose's sweet tea pie gets it's sweet tea flavor from the addition of strong brewed tea in the pie batter. And that batter contains about twice as much butter — two sticks!! — than most chess pies, not to mention eight egg yolks. This ain't no diet pie!

And since this pie is so indulgent, I haven't made it again to perfect the recipe to my liking. I found the sweet tea flavor to be too subtle. The recipe only calls for 3/4 cup of strong brewed tea without suggesting how many tea bags to stick into 3/4 cup of water. I went with two (added another bag after I snapped the photo), thinking that would be plenty for such a small amount of liquid. I suggest more. How many? I don't know, but just use more.
I also found the lemon flavor to mask the subtlety of the tea. Next time, I'm using half, if not less than half the amount of lemon zest called for.

Also, this pie had to be baked for much longer than called for, but, in the end, the pie did set. The pie is even firmer the next day served chilled.

I'd like to try this pie again, but I certainly don't want to be left home alone with a two-stick-of-butter and eight-egg-yolk pie. Invite me to a picnic, and I'll make it for you!Sweet Tea Pie
adapted from Martha Hall Foose
makes 1 9-inch pie

pastry for a 9-inch single crust pie (store bought or basic pie crust)
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
8 egg yolks
3/4 cup strong brewed tea, room temperature
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest (next time, I'm using 1/2 teaspoon or less)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt

• In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter with a mixer until fluffy.
  
• Add egg yolks to the butter and sugar mixture, one at a time, beating well after adding each egg yolk.
• Add tea, lemon juice, and lemon zest to the batter, and beat until mixed well.
• Add flour, cornmeal, and salt to the batter and stir in with a whisk until incorporated.
• Pour batter into the pie crust.
• Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven in the lower part of the oven (I suggest placing a baking sheet below the pie to catch spills) for 45 minutes (mine baked for 70 minutes), or until the edges are puffy and the center is firm.
  
• Cool pie completely before serving. (I enjoyed the pie best refrigerated the day after.)
  

Raw Kale Salad with Root Vegetables

So, how's my personal challenge to actually cook new recipes from books, blogs, and magazines going?

Not too shabby! I've managed to cook two to three new recipes each week. The variety and change in nightly dishes has been wonderful, but actually discovering recipes that I'd make again has been a bit elusive. Out of ten or more recipes we've tried out, only two have been winners, one of those being a very simple kale salad perfectly suited for winter.
This salad is so simple, it's almost absurd to write a formal recipe, but it does involve a nifty technique to "soften" uncooked kale (also works on collards) by massaging them with oil, vinegar, and salt. I've been meaning to try this massaging technique for years now, but somehow haven't.

I am now an experienced kale masseuse! A little oil, vinegar, and salt, plus a tender touch does wonders on raw kale, making it wilt just enough to take the edge off of raw greens. Raw root vegetables grated, julienned, or peeled into ribbons liven up the salad, along with a simple vinaigrette. I used carrots, beets, and parsnips, but could also see rutabagas, fennel, kohlrabi, jicama or turnips working well in the salad. Feel free to use your favorite vinaigrette, too.Raw Kale Salad with Root Vegetables
serves 6
adapted from Vegetarian Times

Salad
1 large bunch of kale, stems removed, leaves cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoons salt
1 carrot, grated (1/2 cup)
1 parsnip, grated (1/2 cup)
1 beet grated (1/2 cup)
1 cup pistachios (or other nut)

Dressing
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons agave nectar (or maple syrup)

• Place kale in a large bowl. Drizzle the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and salt over the kale. Gently massage (softly squeeze) the kale for 2-3 minutes, or until slightly wilted. Let rest for 30 minutes.
  
• To make the dressing, combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, soy sauce, and agave nectar in a small bowl.
• Add carrots, parsnips, beets, and dressing to the kale. Toss to mix.
• Garnish with nuts and serve.
  

Rosemary Roasted Cashews

We have about 10 pounds of cashews in the house right now. The boy looooves nuts! (I'll wait while you crack a clever joke.) And in the ranking of nuts, cashews are his favorite.

Me? Nuts are nice, but I don't mainline them like he does. In fact, I can win a staring contest with a bowl of nuts, that is, until you coat those suckers with butter, herbs, spices, and sugar, and then my eyelashes go all aflutter.

I've played around with a few spiced nut recipes, but never found one that I was in love with. The spices are always a bit off, or too overwhelming. And if it's a recipe that calls for brown sugar, maple syrup, or some other sweetener, the nuts are too sweet or sticky.

Enter the recipe for rosemary roasted cashews from Ina Garten, a woman who apparently can do no wrong — and is blessed with fabulous gay friends that are always making table centerpieces for her.I like to search out the cashews with extra globs of sugar.

This recipe is the perfect spiced nut recipe — not too sweet, just a little kick from the cayenne, and a delicate flavor from rosemary. We've made the recipe multiple times in the past few months (actually, I only found the recipe, and the boy made the nuts), and each time, I cannot stop eating them, that's how good the nuts are. This recipe is a keeper.

Rosemary Roasted Cashews
adapted from Ina Garten
makes about 3 cups

1 1/4 pounds cashew nuts, raw or already roasted
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon butter, melted

• Spread nuts in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet, and bake in a pre-heated 375-degree oven for 8-10 minutes.
  
• Meanwhile, mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl.
• When the nuts are done roasting, toss the warm nuts in the rosemary mixture until coated.
  
• Serve warm, or cool and store in an airtight container.

Wheat Berry Salad with Dates and Red Onions

Check it, I'm calling the wheat berry the next big grain. Your mom's hip to quinoa, and the stock boy at the grocery store can finally pronounce quinoa. It's time for something new. Quinoa, I'm not done with you (you pack so much protein and cook up in a jiff), but I need another grain to keep me occupied.

Wheat berries are the entire wheat kernel (except for the hull), comprising the bran, germ, and endosperm, so pack a bit of nutrition and fiber, but what I love about wheat berries is how nutty and chewy these little nugs are. Your mouth gets a workout with wheat berries!
I haven't been able to stop thinking about the chewy, hearty wheat berries in the salad I had a few months ago in D.C.. Unfortunately, unless you're eating at some crunchy, healthy salad bar, you probably aren't going to run into wheat berries out on the town, so have to take craving matters into your own hands.

I had to roll my eyes at my self for having never cooked wheat berries before, but it's easy. Go to your nearest health food store or regular grocery store that has a good bulk bin section and locate wheat berries — sometimes hiding under the pseudonym "hard winter red or white wheat." Then just simmer those grains for 45 minutes, no pre-soaking required.

I've got a whole bag of wheat berries and am excited to set the trend this winter. Below is a sweet dried fruit wheat berry salad similar to the one I had in D.C., but next up I'm trying this more savory wheat berry salad that incorporates loads of roasted root vegetables, because I just love to sit down with a rounded, one-bowl meal.Wheat Berry Salad with Dates and Red Onions
adapted from the kitchn
serves 6-8

I went with what I had in the cupboards, and substituted dates for dried figs in the original recipe. Apricots might also be nice. Since the salad is sweet with dried fruit and a sweet dressing, I also cut down on the agave nectar. And the oil was cut in half, because I hate oily salads.

1 1/2 cups wheat berries
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dates, chopped
1/2 medium red onion, chopped finely
3 large stalks celery, chopped finely
1/8 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 cup roasted, sliced almonds
handful fresh parsley or mint, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper, to taste

• In a saucepan, cover wheat berries with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, partially cover pan with a lid, and simmer on low for 45 minutes, or until wheat berries are soft but still chewy.
  
• Meanwhile, add rice vinegar and orange juice in a small saucepan on the stove, and heat until boiling. Turn off heat, and add dates and raisins to the liquid to soften and absorb some of the liquid.
• When the wheat berries are done cooking, drain and transfer to a large bowl.
  
• Into the large bowl, add the remaining ingredients along with the dried fruit and liquid in the saucepan. Mix thoroughly until all ingredients are combined.
  
• Serve warm or room temperature. Can be made up to three days in advance.
  

Sorghum and Bourbon Pecan Pie

Thanksgiving is around the corner, and pumpkin pie just might be the official dessert of the day, but pecan pie probably comes in second. I don't think I've ever suffered a Thanksgiving without pecan pie, thankfully.

But how to make pecan pie better? But not blasphemous with such additions like chocolate or orange zest. Better is as simple as ditching the light corn syrup, and going back to the era of your grandmother when she was using sorghum syrup or cane syrup. Oh, and a little bourbon isn't too out of line with traditions, is it?Sorghum syrup is a dark molasses extracted from sorghum, a tall grass that looks like earless corn. I'm using sorghum syrup in this recipe, but you could also use cane syrup, a similarly dark and deep molasses which is extracted from sugar cane. What Sorghum and cane syrup provides is an amber color and, most importantly, a depth of flavor that corn syrup does not have.So, you can bring this pecan pie to the Thanksgiving table without upsetting the traditionalist, but have your guests asking what makes your pecan pie more than just a one note, sugar and nut bomb. Sorghum and bourbon, you'll say!

Just so you know, this has to be about the simplest pie I've ever made. Also, I killed half of the pie in one sitting. Sorghum and Bourbon Pecan Pie
adapted from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt and Ted Lee
makes 1 9-inch pie

I added bourbon to Matt and Ted Lee's recipe, guided by other bourbon pecan pie recipes. Most recipes added 2 tablespoons of bourbon, and some added 3 tablespoons. I added 2 tablespoons of bourbon. The bourbon flavor is strongest on day one (don't think I'd want to eat a 3-tablespoons bourbon pie on day one), and mellows on the second day. On day three, the bourbon is almost non-detectable. Add bourbon fittingly as to how long the pie will sit before serving. Day-old pie with 2 tablespoons of bourbon was pretty much perfect.

1/3 cup tightly packed dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons bourbon
3/4 cup sorghum syrup
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, plus some halves for decorating top
1 par-baked pie crust

• In a large bowl, beat together the brown sugar and eggs with an electric mixer until incorporated.
• Add the butter, cornstarch, salt, and bourbon to the bowl and mix .
  
• Add the sorghum and pecans to the bowl and mix.
• Pour filling into a par-baked pie crust. Decorate top of pie with pecan halves.
• Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes.
• Remove from oven, and let cool for 1 hour before serving. Can be made a day ahead.
  

Membrillo

Here's a fun project if your pantry if over stocked with jellies and jams from the summer canning season, but you just can't help yourself from the joys of boiling fruit and sugar: make membrillo!

Membrillo, or quince paste, is a thick, sweet fruit paste traditionally paired with Manchego, a Spanish sheep's milk cheese, but, really, don't stop at just one kind of cheese. And don't stop at cheese, either. How about using membrillo in a pastry?

If you're not familiar with quince, quince is a hard fruit related to apples and pears, and has a most beautiful, sweet floral aroma. Quince is most often cooked, as it's too sour for most people to eat out of hand.

Quince are in season now, and because I run into quince a bit at work, I decided to tackle the recipe for membrillo in the current Vegetarian Times. Extremely easy, and quite impressive when you whip out a last minute cheese plate and can brag about your homemade membrillo.You'll start by peeling, coring, and chopping the quince. Then you'll cover the quince along with a few strips of lemon peel with water, and simmer covered until tender.Whirl the quince and lemon peel around in a food processor, then add it back to the pot along with sugar and a little lemon juice.
From here, you just simmer until the puree reduces to a very thick paste and magically turns a lovely shade of pinkish orange. Tannins are the magic.Spread the paste in a parchment paper-lined container for easy lifting when the paste is done chilling and firming, then cut off a few slices to enjoy.Membrillo
adapted from Vegetarian Times
makes about 1 cup

2 quince, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
3 strips of lemon peel
sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

• In a medium saucepan, add quince and lemon peel. Add enough water to the saucepan to cover the quince. Bring water to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer 10-30 minutes, or until tender (yours may take significantly longer to become tender depending on the fruit). Drain water from quince.
• Add quince and lemon peel to a food processor and puree. Measure the volume of the quince puree, then return quince puree to the saucepan.
• How ever much quince puree you have, add an equal amount of sugar to the sauce pan, along with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
  
• Simmer quince and sugar mixture over low heat, stirring occasionally, until very thick, about 45-90 minutes.
  
• Transfer quince paste to a parchment paper-lined container, and cool.
• Unmold quince paste, and slice.
  

Stewed Okra and Tomatoes

Stewed okra and tomatoes over rice is one of my all-time favorite side dishes, that, I swear, it seems like we ate every week when I was growing up. Surely we didn't dine on this simple Southern dish that frequently, and even if we did, I never tired of it.

For one, I simply adore rice and can eat it at every supper, as we almost nearly did growing up in South Carolina where rice is king. And, even as a kid I always enjoyed okra. Yes, it's slimy, but don't kids like slimy things? I did! Okra was like a toy on the plate. See how long the slime strands will stretch, squish the slimy pod around your mouth. And, best dinner table game ever, race to stab a singular, slime-covered okra seed with the tine of your fork before your brother could. It's not easy.
Then there are the bright, acidic tomatoes that really are the stars of the dish as far as flavor is concerned. Everybody makes stewed okra and tomatoes with fresh okra, but the tomatoes are almost always from a can, because, well, canned stewed tomatoes are picked when perfectly ripe and have all their full flavors preserved. Go ahead, use canned tomatoes, it's perfectly fine.

But what if you used your last can of stewed tomatoes for soup the previous week, and you have just-bought, fresh, local tomatoes on your counter? Roast those fresh tomatoes first to get that sweet, concentrated tomato flavor you'd get from a can.
After you're done roasting tomatoes (or popping open a can of tomatoes), the dish comes together as simply as sauteing some onion, then simmering okra and tomatoes in liquid (water, vegetable broth, or the tomato juice from the canned tomatoes) until the okra is tender.

Serve stewed okra and tomatoes over rice, for sure, and if my memories aren't too hazy, there'd be a pork chop and a side of butter beans on the plate, too. Nowadays, tempeh does the trick for me, though.
Stewed Okra and Tomatoes
serves 4 as a side

3 large tomatoes (or 28-ounce can of stewed tomatoes)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound okra, chopped
1 cup vegetable broth
olive oil
salt
pepper

• If roasting tomatoes instead of using a can of stewed tomatoes: Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Cut tomatoes into eights and place on parchment paper-line baking pan. Drizzle tomatoes lightly with olive oil. Salt and pepper tomatoes. Bake for 3 hours. Cool enough to remove skins, if desired (I leave skins on).
  
• In a medium-sized pot over medium-low heat, add about 1-2 tablespoon of olive oil. Add onion and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
• To the onions, add okra, tomatoes, and vegetable broth. Simmer, with the pot lid partially covering the pot until okra is tender (depending on the size and variety of okra, this could be any where from 10-30 minutes). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  
• Serve warm over warm rice.