Cranberry pear crisp

This is such an exciting time for cooking in the Midwest. Fall’s abundance in vegetables and fruits is such a blessing for any cook. All the gorgeous fall colors are just dazzling. I had a hard time deciding what to post, there is so much to choose from. I guess they call this time of year the harvest season for a reason. So I decided to make something fun. How does a cranberry pear crisp sound?

I really like how this recipe turned out. The sweet buttery pears work well with the sourness of the bitter cranberries and all this is topped with the crunchy oatmeal topping. You can serve it with a little heavy cream or ice cream!

Cranberries are not just for the holidays! Most people associate cranberries with Thanksgiving or maybe Christmas because it is red like Santa’s coat. I have served cranberries after Thanksgiving and I was reminded that it was not Thanksgiving time. However, many creative chefs use cranberries for cooking and baking because they are so unique and healthy. These berries are more sour but are also bitter at the same time. It is usually hard to find fruits with bitter flavor. I personally like to add it to other sweet fruits to make the sweet dishes more exciting.

The refreshing tangy cranberries have been used as food and medicine for a long time. Cranberries are native to North America, the Pequot Indians of Cape Cod called them ibimi, bitter fruit. Native Indians used them for preserving meat. Later, the Natives shared them with the Pilgrims who started making sweet sauces. Cranberries are incredibly valuable for health as they are rich in vitamin C, fiber, flavanoids, phenols and many substances that give protection against tooth decay and infections.

One more interesting fact. Cranberries have an open space inside the middle that allows them to float on top of the water. This interesting adaptation allows them to get away from not being sweet and not having to rely on animals to spread their seeds to survive. In addition, the Native Americans believed the cranberries nourish and protect the kidneys and the bladder.

The sweet and juicy pears are also valuable for health. They are cooling and slightly acidic. They help the lungs by moving stagnation and keeping them moist during the dry season. They are high in fiber that is very much needed in the fall. Pears are also good source of antioxidants, minerals like copper, iron, potassium, manganese, magnesium and vitamins A, B, and C.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS FOR THE TOPPING

1 cup of old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup of white flour
1 stick (8 tbsp) of butter, melted
2 tbsp-1/4 cup of brown sugar + 2 tbsp for the top
1/8 tsp salt
zest of 1 lemon (optional)
1 tsp apple pie spice or 1/2 tsp cinnamon + 1/4 tsp nutmeg + 1/4 cloves+ little mace or 1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts + more for serving
heavy cream or ice cream for serving

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FRUITS

5-6 ripe but firm pears (I used Bartlett)
2 cups of fresh organic cranberries
1/4 – 1/2 cup of brown sugar (I think 1/4 cup was plenty but if you have a sweet tooth or the pears are not very sweet, use 1/2 cup of sugar)
2 Tbsp flour or 1 Tbsp corn starch
1 lemon’s juice (use the lemon from earlier)
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbsp orange peel (optional)
1 tsp apple pie spice or 1/2 tsp cinnamon + 1/4 tsp nutmeg + 1/4 cloves+ little mace or 1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp graded fresh ginger or 1.5 tsp dried ginger (cut and sifted)
2 Tbsp whiskey (optional)

METHOD

Preheat oven to 375 F. Have baking rack in the lower third of the oven.
Take a stick of butter out of the refrigerator.
Wash cranberries. Discard any unripe ones. In a smaller bowl add the cranberries, 1/4- 1/2 cup of sugar, lemon juice, orange peel. Let this mixture sit until cranberries give off some juice. You can add whiskey if you wish. Set aside.
Make topping. Cream the melted butter with the sugar. Add oats, flour, cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, salt, lemon zest. Mix well. Fold in the nuts by hand. Let it sit for an hour. Set aside.
Wash, core and cut up pears into small cubes. You can peel them if the skin is tough, otherwise if they are soft no need to peel them. Set aside.
Assemble the fruit base. In a bigger bowl, mix 1 tsp apple spice, salt, flour or cornstarch, orange peel, pears, ginger and cranberry mixture with its juice (prepared earlier) together. Put it into a 2 Qt size baking dish.
Put topping on the top. Sprinkle top with some sugar (optional). I also graded a little nutmeg on the top.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the top has a nice orange color.
Serve with heavy cream or ice cream. Add some extra nuts if you wish.

enjoy!

Picture and text by Twincitiesherbs.

Source

https://www.fooducate.com/community/post/Cranberries-Sour-or-Bitter%3F/58314899-7934-4AC8-4ECE-ACFECC9CD4A1

https://www.nantucketconservation.org/properties/cranberries

https://www.nutrition-and-you.com/pears.html

https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/what-to-do-with-cranberries.html

Moroccan eggplant stew with garbanzo beans

Enjoy this delicious and easy vegetarian eggplant dish. The eggplants are browned and cooked with some tomatoes, pungent spices, onions, and garbanzo beans. They are then served with rice or couscous and yogurt sauce. I also added sweet mama squash that complemented the dish nicely and made it more suitable for this ‘going from the summer into the fall’ time period. With the warming spices and the baked squash, it will be a great meal for this time of year. Not only that it suits the weather but it is delicious … honestly my family can’t get enough of it. I might have to go back to the farmers’ market tomorrow to get more eggplants.

RECIPE

Serves 4-5 people

Ingredients

2 medium eggplants
olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
1 Tbsp graded fresh ginger
seasoning: 2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1 cinnamon stick,
pinch of saffron (optional)
2 garlic cloves
2 large tomatoes or 2 cups canned tomatoes
1 cup dried garbanzo beans or 1 can (14 oz)
1 dried hot pepper or to taste
salt and pepper
couscous or rice to serve
cilantro

Directions

Garbanzo beans. Soak overnight and discard the soaking liquid. Add enough cold water to cover the beans. The water should be about 1 inch above the beans. Cook the beans for 3 hours. (You can use a pressure cooker, just adjust the time). They need to be cooked slowly for a long time until they are nice and soft. They can take up liquid after they are cooked so add more water if needed. Add 1 tsp salt when done.
Preparing the eggplants. Wash and cut eggplants into cubes. Salt them and put them into a colander for 30 minutes to let the liquid drain. Pat dry.
Frying the eggplants. In a wide skillet, on medium low heat, slowly brown the eggplants in some olive oil for about 20- 30 minutes or until soft. They will not cook any more so make sure they are soft and well cooked before you add it to the sauce. Stir frequently. Make sure they don’t burn. Set aside.
Caramelize the onions. Brown the sliced onions in a separate dish in oil with care, it takes about 30 minutes. Stir frequently. Set aside.
Making the sauce. Crumple the saffron between your thumb and index finger and add hot liquid, stir well (optional). Otherwise you can just put whole saffron strains in the dish. Set aside. On medium high heat warm up 1 Tbsp oil and add the ginger for 5 minutes. Then add the paprika, cumin, garlic and stir for 1 minute to activate the spices. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir well. You can add a little water here too. Cook the tomatoes for about 5 minutes until they have become ‘saucy’. Add the saffron, cinnamon stick, freshly graded nutmeg and hot pepper. Bring to a boil and turn down the heat. Cook for 10 minutes on low medium heat. Add a little water if needed. Add the browned onions, eggplants and garbanzo beans from earlier. Cook for 5 more minutes covered. Let the dish sit for 15 minutes so the flavors can come together. Take out the cinnamon stick and the hot pepper pieces. Add salt and pepper or anything else that needs to be adjusted.
Serve with cilantro, rice or couscous and yogurt sauce. I also added some baked sweet mama squash slivers and they nicely complemented each other.

enjoy!

Recipe, photo and text by twincitiesherbs.com.

Eating with the fall season

`AUTUMN`

As the fall season is arriving, I feel like a little squirrel trying to get ready for the colder months: eating the colorful fruits and vegetables, preserving foods, making last minute repairs and just mentally getting ready. By now we are aware that the summer is gone and a new season is coming with all its beauty and challenges. It was the Autumn Equinox a couple of days ago, when the days and nights were equal and from now on the days are going to get shorter and colder as well.

Autumn is a very special and unpredictable season. Every year, I marvel the beautiful vibrant colors of Autumn, the leaves on the trees and the vegetables on the table. It is the ending of a cycle and we know that all those leaves will turn into something new in the spring. Robert Frost’s poem sums up the Autumn season for me beautifully.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

When I walk through the forest in the fall, I feel so peaceful. This is a time of tranquility when we start turning inward, a great time for spirituality. In the absence of creating new things, we can now focus on the importance of our existence, our spirituality. In Chinese Medicine, ” Metal symbolizes the spirit that brings meaning and purpose to existence”. We can support our Metal element and this spiritual process with foods as well.

Element: Metal

Organs: Lungs, Large Intestines, nose

Sense: smell

Color: white

Taste: pungent

Supporting flavors: sour, astringent, bitter, salty

Emotion: grief, sadness

Evil: phlegm

Spirit:

In Ancient Chinese Medicine, the fall season belongs to the Metal element. Like every element has corresponding Western organs, the Metal element’s organs are the Lungs, the Large intestines and ultimately the Skin. If you experience problems during this season for instance having frequent colds/flus, dryness, skin problems, excessive mucus, try to pay attention to your eating habits as well. If the metal element is strong, the Qi, the life force will circulated easier and can help our body stay health.

“Everything in nature contracts and moves its essence inward and downward. Leaves and fruit fall, seeds dry, the sap of trees goes into the roots”. Bitter and salty foods in moderation help support this energy movement. Bitter foods are dark green leafy vegetables like kale, spinach. Salty foods are seaweed, salt.

Let’s look at the nature of the Lungs. The Lungs like to be moist and warm. Moistening foods can help the Lungs stay healthy (spinach, barley, millet, pears, apples, almonds, eggs, home-made soy products, seaweed, flax seed and a little salt). Of course, the warming foods of the season are important for the Lungs as well (squashes, carrots, parsnips). In addition, the Metal element is associated with the color white and supporting foods like leeks and white onion are important.

As I mentioned earlier, this season is also associated with the Large intestine so it is wise to include fiber rich foods for the colon … and yes … in addition this is the season of letting go … letting go of things that no longer serve us physically and mentally. Beneficial foods are pulp of fruits, indigestible portion of foods, the bran of grains, cell walls of vegetables.

The flavor related to the Metal element is pungent. The pungent flavor is both protective, dispersing and cleansing for the Lungs and the Colon, exactly what they need now. To stay healthy, the stuck energy in the Lungs and Colon need to be dispersed. Pungent foods include all white vegetables, onions, garlic, hot peppers, chilies, cabbage, turnip, ginger, horseradish, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In addition to pungent foods, it is also recommended to eat sour foods in moderation to balance out the Metal element of the body. Sour foods are lemon, vinegar, sourdough, leeks, aduki beans and fermented foods. You can add some pickles or kimchi to your meals.

In addition, golden-orange vegetables have protective benefits for the Lungs and the Colon as they are rich in beta-carotenes (provitamin A) content. These foods include carrots, winter squashes, pumpkins, broccoli, kale, turnip, mustard green.

Let’s remember this is the Harvest season! “We must be aware of its abundant yet contracting nature” that can be accomplished by eating more heartier and astringent foods. Astringent foods for the fall are cranberries, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, rosemary, turnip, potatoes, chestnuts, walnuts, pears, apples, spinach, burdock root, buckwheat, millet, buttermilk, whey, kale, chard, lavender, rose, grapes and many types of beans and lentils including black, mung and aduki beans, tur dal, urad dal etc.

To attune to the fall season, we need to make some changes in our eating and cooking habits. So we have grown all the foods that will be used now but we have to be thinking of the weather getting colder too. Also, we need to pay more attention to cooking now as more complex dishes are needed compared to the summer quick foods. Cook with less water at a lower heat for a longer period of time. It is getting colder so try to eat more heartier soups and warming dishes instead of the salads.

If you are looking for dishes to make during the fall season, please, click on the fall ‘keyword’ on the right and you should get all my fall recipes.

Sources

https://www.joyfulbelly.com//herbal-action/Astringent
Paul Pitchford. Healing with Whole Foods
Gary Dolowich. Archetypal Acupuncture
Art: Wang Fine Art

Written by twincitiesherbs.com.

Butternut squash soup with a Midwestern flare

As the fall season is arriving, I feel like a little squirrel trying to get ready for the colder months: eating the great variety of fruits and vegetables, storing up foods, making last minute repairs and just mentally getting ready. By now we are aware that summer is gone and a new season is coming with all its beauty and challenges. It was the Autumnal Equinox a couple of days ago, when the days and nights are equal and from now on the days are going to get shorter and colder as well.

Warm up to the fall with this delicious squash soup. My recipe is made with a little Midwestern twist. I added wild rice, a Midwestern staple but it can be served with some hearty bread like rye bread instead. I enjoy squashes in all shapes and forms. Many of us think of squashes when we hear the word fall cooking so I will start off my fall recipe collection with a squash dish.

The warming sweet butternut squash is simmered with the white onion, garlic, potatoes and is balanced with the bitter celery root and the lovely pungent spices. At the end, it is topped with cream and the sweet almond slivers for a bit of crunchiness.

RECIPE

Ingredients

1 medium sized butternut squash- about 3 lbs
1 medium sized Russet potato, peeled and cut into cubes
1 finally chopped large onion, white is the best
vegetable oil (sunflower)
2 slices smoked bacon (optional)
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, about 1 inch long
1 tsp of sweet Hungarian paprika (make sure it is authentic)
1 smaller celery root, peeled and chopped up into 4 pieces
5 cup stock (vegetable or chicken)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 thyme spring
1 tsp salt or to taste
1/4 cup heavy cream
freshly ground black pepper
red hot pepper to taste
1 cup almond slivers
1 cup uncooked wild rice or rye bread to serve

Directions

Preparing the squash. Peel and cut squash lengthwise, take out the seeds. Cut them into cubes. Warm up some oil on medium high heat and brown the cubes for a good 10-15 minutes.

Make the soup base. Have 1/2 cup of cold water ready. Warm up the oil. Sauté the onion, and the bacon(optional). When translucent and you can smell the aroma of the the onions and the bacon, add the chopped ginger for a few minutes, stir. Add the crushed garlic and 1 tsp paprika, stir for 30 seconds to activate. Add the little cold water that you had set aside earlier, stir.

Put the browned squash, potatoes, thyme spring, the freshly ground nutmeg and the celery root in the pot. Add the stock, enough to cover by about 1 inch above everything and cook for 30 minutes.

Cooking the wild rice (optional). Cook 1 cup of wild rice with 3 cups of water, partially covered for about 20 minutes or until the rice is soft and crunchy.

Roast the almond slivers. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly oil a baking sheet and spread the almond pieces evenly on the sheet. Bake for 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn it. Serve on top of the soup.

When ready, let the soup cool for about 10 – 20 minutes. Add the cream and black pepper. Stir.

If you want the soup to be a little chunky, set aside about 20% of the cooked squash pieces. Use a hand held blender and puree the rest of the soup. Make sure you blend the celery chunks. Transfer the whole pieces back to the rest of the pureed soup. (If you prefer a smooth soup, just puree everything).

Check to see if more salt, black pepper, red hot pepper are needed.

Serve with wild rice/bread and the almond slivers.

enjoy!

Recipe, photo and text by twincitiesherbs.com.

Vegetarian moussaka with polenta and lentils

I am excited to present my new recipe for a vegetarian moussaka. It is a vegetarian dish but is not only for vegetarians! I have to admit I was a bit nervous before I started experimenting but it was a fun challenge at the same time. I really like how nicely the soft polenta works with the mushrooms, the lentils and all the other ingredients. This recipe instantly became a family favorite as if it had been in the family for years!

We are going to venture into Europe again on our virtual journey. We think of Greece when we hear the word moussaka but most likely it originated somewhere in the Middle East. It is a popular dish across all the Balkan countries and can be easily made in the Midwest of the United States or anywhere. Well, I have to admit I have never been to Greece or the Middle East for that matter but have eaten traditional moussaka before… I can say moussaka is a very tasty dish!

When we were in Croatia last summer, we happened upon a fabulous vegetarian moussaka dish in Pula at the restaurant Konoba Bocaporta. It sounded really interesting so my husband and I both had to try it, while the kids ate something with seafood from the Mediterranean Sea. We don’t have the exact recipe, I was just inspired by this dish so I tried to recreate it here at home. I really like how it turned out.

The original recipe had polenta, eggplants and mushrooms in a vegan sauce. I am guessing the vegan sauce might have been made with cashews. I don’t have their recipe so for now I make it with Béchamel sauce and think it works well. The dish at the restaurant had polenta so instead of using potatoes that are usually used in moussaka dishes, I used polenta. I also did some research and found in fact polenta is often used traditionally.

This vegetarian moussaka is a complete vegetarian dish and all the ingredients seem to work well together. Often, when meat is taken out of a dish, the substance and the flavors are removed as well, so when I created this recipe, I tried to make sure that the substance and the flavors were both kept. The meat is replaced with the lentils, mushrooms and the cheese. Mushrooms are traditionally used with polenta and they complement each other nicely … and everything is pulled together with the fragrant spices of the region.

This recipe can easily be made gluten free. Instead of the Béchamel sauce use the yogurt sauce. This is a pretty authentic replacement as Croatians use a yogurt sauce for the top. Béchamel sauce is not Greek but is in fact French. The Béchamel sauce was added to Moussaka by the Greek chef Akis Petretzikis in the 1920’s when he was trying to Europeanize Greek cuisine. I actually use this yogurt sauce quite regularly to make simple lentil dishes but the Béchamel sauce is a nice treat for sure.

COOKING TIPS

Seasonings, seasoning and seasoning!!!! This dish needs a lot of seasoning and salt added. Don’t be alarmed when you see the amounts.
The smaller portobello mushrooms are nicer … they are easier to cook and will be tastier in the meal. The crimini mushrooms are very nice too.
Also I find the smaller/medium sized eggplants are easier to cut and are tastier in the dish as well.
This is not a quick dish, it takes a long time to make like any casserole dish but it is not difficult. It is usually made for occasions because of the complexity of the dish but you can treat yourself/family/friends to it anytime.

This is my version but please feel free to experiment and let me know what you did. If you post it, please reference this blog.

FUN FACT: One thing all the countries in the Balkan region agree on is that Moussaka is a fabulous dish.

I developed this recipe so if you would like to post it you will have to contact the author at twincitiesherbs.com.

RECIPE

Author: twincitiesherbs

Serves 4-6 people

INGREDIENTS

Quick overview of the ingredients as a group

LENTILS: 1 cup of uncooked lentils, oil, 1 large tomato, 3 cups of water, 3 cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1 bay leaf, 2 tsp oregano, 1/4 tsp all spice, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 fresh thyme spring, 1 tsp salt and red pepper flakes (optional).

POLENTA: 1 cup of polenta, 3 cups of vegetable or chicken stock, 1 tsp salt, freshly ground black pepper, 1 thyme spring, 1 cup of graded hard cheese ( 1/2 cup of Gruyere, 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese), 1 Tbsp butter or olive oil and 1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

MUSHROOMS: Portobello mushrooms, oil, crushed garlic and 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar.

EGGPLANTS: olive oil, 1 medium sized eggplants, 1/4 cup of tomatoes sauce, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp oregano, salt and black pepper.

BÉCHAMEL SAUCE: 1/4 cup of butter, 1 /2 cup of flour, 2 cups of warm milk, 2 egg yolks, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp salt and ground pepper, 1 thyme spring, 1/2 cup hard cheese. Omit if using Yogurt sauce).

YOGURT SAUCE: Yogurt sauce in place of Béchamel sauce: 1.5 cups of yogurt, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 garlic clove, cucumber slices. (Omit if using Béchamel sauce).

DIRECTION

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Wash the polenta removing any foreign particles. Soak in cold water overnight.

Wash 1 cup of lentils and soak in cold water for a few hours hours.

Cooking the lentils. Remove soaking liquid. Discard. Add 3 cups of cold water. Cook covered for 1/2 hour or until lentils are soft. Turn off heat and let lentils stay in covered pot for about 15 minutes so they can soak up more liquid. Set aside.

Prepare the tomato sauce for the lentils. Chop up 1 large tomato. Warm up some oil, sauté the onion for 5 minutes or until translucent. Add 2 tsp oregano, fresh thyme springs, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp all spice and the crushed garlic. Stir well for 1 minute and quickly add the 1 chopped tomato. Cook for 5 minutes or until tomatoes become ‘saucy’. Bring to a boil and then turn down to medium heat and add the cinnamon stick. Cook for 10 more minutes covered on low medium heat. Set aside.

Cooking lentils. Drain the cooking water off the lentils. Discard. Combine the tomato sauce with lentils. Take out all the larger spice pieces. Set aside.

Preparing the eggplant. Slice the eggplants and pan fry them. Please, check my previous recipe for cooking Eggplant Parmesan for directions. (You can also bake the eggplants in the oven if you prefer). Set aside

Preparing the polenta. Discard soaking water. Bring 3 cups of stock to a boil. Add the drained polenta slowly while stirring constantly. Add 1 thyme spring and cook for about 20 minutes or until the polenta is creamy. Stir frequently because it can burn easily. When done add 1 Tbsp butter or olive oil, 1 tsp salt, cheese, thyme and stir. Set aside.

Preparing the mushrooms. Slice up mushrooms. Warm up some oil and sauté the mushrooms until soft on medium high heat. At the end, add a little crushed garlic and saute for 1 minute. Turn off heat and add freshly ground pepper and 1 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar. Stir. Set aside.

Preparing the Béchamel sauce. It is not too hard just follow the steps. I used a double boiler and a whisk. Warm up 1 stick of butter on low heat in the top portion of the double boiler, when melted increase the heat to medium high and add the flour slowly, stirring continuously. Then start adding the milk slowly, stirring after each addition to let the flour mixture soak up the milk. When you start seeing bubbles, it is done. Take off heat. Grade some nutmeg. Add 1/4 cup of Gruyere cheese, thyme, salt and 2 egg yolks. Mix well. Set aside.

Yogurt sauce in place of the Béchamel sauce. This recipe can easily be made gluten free if you you prefer. Instead of the Béchamel sauce use 3 cups of yogurt, 3 lightly beaten eggs, garlic, salt, freshly ground black pepper, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/2-1 cup cheese. Follow instructions for Béchamel sauce.

Mix the polenta and the lentils.

From here, everything is easy! Preheat oven to 350 F. I used a 2 QT size baking dish (8×11.5 x 2 in). Coat the bottom of the dish with a thin layer of tomato sauce. Start layering: polenta with the lentils, mushrooms, eggplants, the Béchamel sauce or the gluten free yogurt sauce and 1 cup Parmesan/Gruyere cheese on the top. Put the dish into the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Wait for at least 1 hour to let the flavors melt into each other. The dish should not be runny so you might have to wait longer until it sets.

Serve hot with yogurt, scallions, parsley.

enjoy!

Recipe, photo and text by Twincitiesherbs.

eggplant parmesan

Eggplants are still thriving here in the Midwest! So I’d like to take the opportunity to post more recipes of this amazing plant. Before I post my vegetarian moussaka recipe, I would like to have a little preview of what is coming. Eggplant is the main ingredient in moussaka so I can get a head start with this recipe. Also, this makes an easy side dish if you don’t want to make something more elaborate.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 purple Italian eggplant
2 tsp salt
olive oil
2 cloves of crushed garlic
1 tsp of oregano
hint of cinnamon
Parmesan cheese for the top
yogurt
scallions

Directions

Wash and slice the eggplant. I use a serrated bread knife to make the slices thin but not paper thin. They should be about 1 cm thick.
Soak in cold water with 2 tsp salt for 15 minutes. Putting them in salty water takes away the bitterness and I belive I can work with the eggplants easier.
Take the slices out of the water. Place them into a colander and wait until the water drips down. You can also dry them with a towel but honestly I never do and they come out fine.
Heat up a large frying pan on low medium heat. Add olive oil and a pinch of salt. Be careful, olive oil burns easily as it has a low boiling point. Add the slices. You will most likely have to add more olive oil as eggplant loves to soak it up. Cook for about 10-20 minutes on each side or until they are slightly brown and soft. I keep turning them to make sure they don’t burn. Add the garlic in a little oil on the side, mix for 10 seconds and add the tomato sauces and mix in spices. Sprinkle parmesan cheese, oregano and ground cinnamon on the top.
Serve warm with yogurt and scallions.

enjoy!

Recipe, photo and text by twincitiesherbs.com.

Plum gnocchi (szilvás gombóc)

Plum gnocchis bring back some very sweet childhood memories … delicious plums wrapped in soft, pillowy dough with a hint of bread crumbs spiced with a little sugary cinnamon. In Hungary, it is often served as a second dish after a heavier soup but it t can also be a dessert. Late summer is the time when plums are ready so I’m so excited to have them again.

Plum gnocchi is made in many countries of central Europe: in Italy (Gnocchi de susine), Hungary (szilvás gombóc), Croatia (Knedle sa sljivama), Austria (Zwetschkenknödel), Romania (Galuste cu prune), Slovenia (Slivovi cmoki), etc. Supposedly, it originated in the region of Trieste that has a colorful history being part of different countries. Trieste is in Italy today but was part of the Astro-Hungarian Empire for some time. Oh and all those other countries that Plum gnocchi is made have some affiliation to Hungary …

Gnocchi (pronounced nyow kee) is an Italian word that means knuckle or knots. Gnocchi is a mixture of flour and water and possibly many other ingredients including potatoes as well. So what nationality is Plum gnocchi? Today, people in any of those above mentioned countries would argue that it is theirs but please read on … If you know European history and how countries have changed, this recipe might reflect the ever changing times. Also, remember potatoes came from the new World …

It doesn’t matter who invented it, indeed it is a fabulous dish with its main ingredient the plum. Plums are slightly cooling with a sweet and sour flavor, so it will need the pungent cinnamon! Try to get the Italian or the Hungarian purple plums but other sweet, great tasting plums will work too. In addition to its vitamin and mineral content, plums are also a great source of fiber. So take a bite of this intriguing history …

Enjoy Palotás music while you’re eating this dish…

RECIPE

Makes about 18 balls plus the little gnocchi pieces

INGREDIENTS

about 1 lb russet potatoes (4-5 potatoes
2 cup flour or more depending on the dough
1 Tbsp semolina flour (optional)
1 egg
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
10-18 sweet plums – depending on the size of your plums

coating

1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup of walnuts (finally chopped)
5 Tbsp butter
1 tsp apple spice (1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp clove, 1/8 nutmeg, 1/8 tsp mace)
1 T sugar
pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS

Place the potatoes with the skin on in a large pot. Add cold water to the pot, bring the water to boil. Turn heat down and continue cooking on medium low heat covered for about 45 – 60 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Peel them while they are still hot but you can handle. Mash the potatoes while they are warm. I like to place the potatoes onto a metal steamer with ‘feet’ so the vitamins and minerals don’t boil into the water and so they don’t soak up too much water. If the potatoes are too wet, the dough will need more flour and will be harder. (Please see picture below).

Puree the potatoes while they are still warm, I was able to do it as soon as the peels were taken off. I used a potato ricer. I put the potatoes through the larger holes of the ricer, then the smaller ones. It is worth investing in a potato ricer if you want a nice and soft dough. I also read that smaller holes on a cheese grader could work- if you don’t have a ricer.

Let the dough cool completely. Mix in the flour, salt, egg, 1 Tbsp of butter, potatoes and start kneading the dough to make a ball. Do not over do it. Make sure your potatoes are at room temperature. If they are warm they will take up too much flour. You can use the fridge for 5 minutes if needed.

Let the dough rest for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the plums. Wash them, cut them in half and take out the pits.

Melt the butter on low heat and add the crumbs stirring frequently for about 10 minutes or until the crumbs soak up the butter and become golden brown. Use lower heat so the butter doesn’t burn. Add the cinnamon, sugar and chopped walnuts. Mix. This will be used to coat the balls.

Also, mix the 3 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and a pinch of salt for the stuffing.

Fill a 5 qt pot with about 3 qt water. Bring to a boil with a little a little salt.

After 1 hour, place the dough on a flat, floured surface and start stretching it to 1 cm thickness until it is a squarish shape. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin. Cut out 9 squares. Don’t worry about getting the shape perfect because we will use the left overs for the mini gnocchis, in Hungarian nudlis.

Assemble the dumplings. Place one of the dough squares into your palm. Put a plum piece along with the cinnamon sugar in the dough. Fold corner by corner gently tucking the stuffing inside and then roll it to make a ball. Do this with each square. Coat them in flour.

You can take half of the left over dough and start rolling long strips with them. Cut short little pieces off, coat in flour. Do this with the other half as well. You will cook them with the balls. If you don’t want to make these, use this left over dough to make more balls.

When the water starts boiling, you can drop the dumplings in the water one by one with a slotted spoon. Also, add the little gnocchi strips in this water. Try to gently stir them to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

When the dumplings come to the surface, cook them for about another 5 minutes and remove them with a slotted spoon.

Put the dumplings into the coating mixture that you prepared earlier and roll them around until they are well coated.

Oh and you might want to double up the recipe or triple …

Serve warm with a little vanilla sugar or honey.

enjoy! Jó étvágyat!

Recipe, photo and text by twincitiesherbs.com.

Turkish stuffed eggplants (vegetarian)

This is the vegetarian version of my previous recipe, the Turkish stuffed eggplants (karni yarik). I tried to keep the recipe’s Turkish authenticity but otherwise it is my creation. I replaced the meat with lentils, eggs and cheese and used oregano in the place of mint. I also used more tomatoes to keep the mixture moist. All these ingredients are used in Turkey and hope you will like it as much as I did. If you try it please let me know in the comment section how you liked it.

I can’t help but notice the abundance of goods at the farmers’ market. The tables are filled with all kinds of fruits and vegetables. In fact, it is the time of the year when they have the most varieties available. For today’s post I picked eggplant.

We associate eggplants with the Middle East but it actually originated from India and has also been popular in other Asian countries for a long time. Today, it is used all over the world. In Europe, it was a staple until potatoes arrived from the New World. The Turkish have certainly created many recipes with it and believe that they have the best eggplant dishes. The Spaniards had brought it over to the Americas in the 1600s. Eggplants have been used in the United States; however, earlier, people didn’t really know what to do with them. Many just used them for decorations only.

Eggplants come in all kinds of shapes and colors. Shapes can be round or more elongated and the colors can vary from white, green to purple. In the United States, the rounder, purple, more oblong eggplant is usually available in stores. For this recipe, try to buy these medium sized, fat, purple eggplants that I have pictures of. Also, make sure they are about the same size because different sizes will vary their cooking times. Also they should be nice and firm.

Eggplants belong to the night shade family along with tomatoes and potatoes. It is a cooling bitter plant that is highly nutritious with vitamins A, B, C, K1, E and minerals manganese, magnesium, copper, potassium, calcium, iron, phosphorus, and zinc. An interesting fact is that we often believe that it is a vegetable but in fact it is a fruit. Also, it is thought to be aphrodisiac.

In addition to its nutritional values, people have been using eggplants for other health benefits too. Asians like to use them for their cooling property. It is good for digestion, particularly for stagnation and heat. It helps clear heat that gets trapped during the warmer months. This makes it a valuable plant now, during the Indian summer. In addition, its antioxidants can protect the liver from toxins.

It is also associated with fertility from its ability to unblock stagnation in the liver and the womb. In China, brides are supposed to posses 12 eggplant recipes before they got married. However, pregnant women are advised to limit the consumption of eggplants because of the possibility of miscarriage.

List of my other eggplant dishes

Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup of cooked rice (about half a cup raw)
about 1/4 cup of olive oil
4 medium, equal sized purple eggplants. Try not to get different sizes because they need different cooking times.
1 cup cooked lentils (about 1/2 cup uncooked)
4 oz mushrooms, chopped (I used crimini).
2 lightly beaten eggs
1 finally chopped yellow onion
1 finally chopped peppers (green, red, yellow-your choice)
2 cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika powder
1/4 tsp hot red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt or to taste
6 fresh plum tomatoes or other tomatoes (canned is fine too)
1 cup hard cheese + more for the top
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup flat leafed parsley

Direction

Soak the lentils for a few hours if you have time.
Cook lentils.
Prepare rice with bay leaves. Use 1/2 cup of rice with 1 cup of water.
Bake eggplants. Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Wash eggplants and put them on an oiled baking sheet. Prick them with a fork in 6-8 places, half inch deep to prevent them from exploding in your oven. Coat them with some olive oil with a brush. Bake them for 45 – 60 minutes or until they are nice and soft, so you can put the blade of a knife through easily. You don’t want them to be hard but they shouldn’t collapse either. Once they start becoming soft, keep an eye on them. If you’re using larger eggplants, you will have to cut them in half lengthwise. Oil the top and proceed like you do with the smaller ones.
When ready take them out and let them cool..
Prepare the stuffing. Sauté the onion in the oil. When onions are soft but not brown, add the green pepper pieces and continue sautéing the for about 10 – 15 minutes. Add spices (oregano, cumin, paprika), crushed garlic and stir. Then add tomatoes. Cook for about 10 minutes or until tomatoes are well cooked and there is a nice sauce. Take off the heat.
Put mixture into a bowl. Add rice, lentils, eggs, salt, ground black pepper, hot pepper flakes and graded cheese (I used 1 cup). Mix.
Sauté mushrooms and add to the previous mixture. Mix.
Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit. Gently cut a slit in the middle down from the top of a whole eggplant making sure you don’t cut through the skin on the bottom. Take out the seeds. You can use the seeds to make babaganoush or just simply discard them.
Just like its Turkish name, karni yarik, splitting belly suggests, stuff the inside of the eggplants, their bellies with the stuffing. You can put a little graded cheese and a thin slice of tomato on the top. Put eggplants in a baking dish. Pour boiling water into dish about 1 inch deep. Place dish into the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Take them out when top is brown. Let them cool.
Cut off the ends before serving them.
Serve warm with cucumber yogurt sauce.

Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of yogurt
1 longer English, slicing cucumber
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp of vinegar
2 Tbsp of olive oil
1 Tbsp of dried mint
fresh mint

Preparations

Peel and slice the cucumber. Place the slices in a bowl, salt and let it sit for 15 minutes. Salting is optional. Strain, squeeze out and discard the liquid.
In a separate bowl mix together all the other ingredients, stir well. Put in the cucumbers and gently stir mix them in.
Garnish with fresh mint. Serve with the eggplants.

enjoy!

Sources

Paul pitchford: Healing with Whole Foods
Sally Fallon: Nourished Traditions
Nancy Harmon Jenkin’s Mediterranean Diet cook book.

Text, recipe and photo by twincitiesherbs.com.

Turkish stuffed eggplants with lamb (Karni Yarik)

We associate eggplants with the Middle East but it actually originated from India and has also been popular in other Asian countries for a long time. Today, it is used all over the world. In Europe, it was a staple until potatoes arrived from the New World. The Turkish have certainly created many recipes with it and believe that they have the best eggplant dishes. The Spanards had brought it over to the Americas in the 1600′. Eggplants have been used in the United States; however, earlier, people didn’t really know what to do with them. Many just used them for decorations only.

Eggplants come in all kinds of shapes and colors. Shapes can be round or more elongated. The colors can vary from white, green to purple. In the United States, the rounder, purple eggplant is usually available in stores. For this recipe, try to buy these smaller, medium sized, fat, purple eggplants that I have pictures of. Also, make sure they are about the same size because different sizes will vary their cooking times. Also they should be nice and firm.

Eggplants belong to the night shade family along with tomatoes and potatoes. Eggplant is a cooling bitter plant that is highly nutritious with vitamins A, B, C, K1, E and minerals manganese, magnesium, copper, potassium, calcium, iron, phosphorus, and zinc. An interesting fact is that we often believe that it is a vegetable but in fact it is a fruit. Also, it is thought to be aphrodisiac.

In addition to its nutritional values, people have been using eggplants for other health benefits too. Asians like to use them for their cooling property. It is good for digestion, particularly for stagnation and heat. It is beneficial in clearing heat that accumulates during the warmer months but it is still a valuable plant now, during the Indian summer as it can take out heat that may have been trapped in during the summer. In addition, its antioxidants can protect the liver from toxins.

Eggplants are also associated with fertility from their ability to unblock stagnation in the liver and the womb. In China, brides were supposed to have 12 eggplant recipes before they got married. By the same token, pregnant women are advised to limit the consumption of eggplants because of the possibility of miscarriage.

My recipe is the Turkish Karni Yarik that means ‘splitting belly’. If you look at the picture, this will make more sense. You basically stuff the inside, the belly of the eggplant. The warming lamb meat pairs nicely with the cooling eggplant with a hint of mint. When I was in Turkey, I remember this dish was always on the menu and I really liked it. Please see my next post for its vegetarian version if it interests you.

RECIPE

Ingredients

1 cup of rice (about half a cup raw)
1/4 cup of olive oil
4 medium, equal sized purple eggplants. Please see description above.
1 lb of ground lamb
1 finally chopped yellow onion
1 finally chopped peppers (green, red, yellow-your choice)
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp dried peppermint (You might not have mint in your pantry. People usually use mint in teas and don’t cook with it. It can be found at the spice section of a grocery store or at herb stores).
1/2 tsp Hungarian sweet paprika powder
1/4 tsp of hot red pepper flakes
1 tsp of salt or to taste
3 fresh ripe plum tomatoes or canned
hand-full of hard cheese (optional)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
fresh mint to garnish
1/2 cup of flat leafed parsley

Preparation

Cook 1/2 cup of rice in 1 cup of water. You can add bay leaves if you wish.
Bake eggplants. Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Wash eggplants and put them on an oiled baking sheet. Prick them with a fork in about 6-8 places, half inch deep to prevent them from exploding in your oven. Coat them with some olive oil with a brush. Bake them for 45-60 minutes or until they are nice and soft, so you can put the blade of a knife through easily. You don’t want them to be hard but they shouldn’t collapse either. Once they start becoming soft, keep an eye on them. If you’re using larger eggplants, you will have to cut them in half lengthwise. Oil the top and proceed like you do with the smaller ones.
When ready take them out and let them cool. Set aside.
Prepare the stuffing. Sauté the onion in the oil. When onions are soft but not brown, add peppers and continue sautéing for about 10-15 minutes. Add spices (mint, cumin, paprika), crushed garlic and then the tomatoes. Cook for about 10 minutes or until tomatoes are well cooked and there is a nice sauce.
In a separate pot, warm up some oil and sauté the lamb quickly for about 7-10 minutes. If lamb is not fatty enough, you might have to add more olive oil.
Take off heat. Put the stuffing mixture into a bowl. Add rice, lamb, meat, salt, pepper, parsley and hot pepper flakes. It is optional but I also added graded cheese (I used 1/2 cup). Mix. (The stuffing can be made a day ahead).
Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit. Gently cut a slit in the middle down from the top of a whole eggplant making sure you don’t cut through the skin. Take out the seeds. You can use the seeds to make babaganoush or just simply discard them. Just like its name suggests, stuff the inside of the eggplants, their bellies with the stuffing. You can put a little graded cheese and a thin slice of tomato on the top. Put eggplants in a baking dish. Pour boiling water into dish about 1 inch deep. Place dish into the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Take them out of the oven when top is brown. Let them cool.
Cut off the ends before serving them.
Serve warm with cucumber yoghurt sauce.

Yoghurt sauce (cacik)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of yoghurt
1 longer English, slicing cucumber
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp of vinegar
2 Tbsp of olive oil
1 Tbsp of dried mint
fresh mint

Preparation

Peel and slice the cucmber. Place the slices in a bowl, salt and let it sit for 15 minutes. Strain, squeeze out and discard the liquid.
In a separate bowl mix together all the other ingredients, stir well. Put in the cucumbers and gently stir mix them in.
Garnish with fresh mint. Serve with the eggplants.

enjoy!

Sources

Paul pitchford: Healing with Whole Foods
Sally Fallon: Nourished Traditions
Nancy Harmon Jenkin’s Mediterranean Diet cook book.

Text, recipe and photo by twincitiesherbs.com.

Hungarian spaghetti squash stew (tökfözelék)

Some like it white, some like it red … others use flour, some don’t … and could be served hot or cold … Well, I like it red with flour and served hot. The red color comes from the paprika and the others should make sense. This is one of my favorite recipes and I believe it would make a nice transition into the late summer days as well.

This dish is based on the Hungarian tökfözelék recipe. The sweet spaghetti squash definitely is the main ingredient. It is growing right now and would be perfect for the end of the summer. The other important ingredient that everybody uses regardless of other preferences is dill.

Dill is a unique sweet plant that gives the zesty, tangy flavor with slightly bitter undertones. It helps digestion and calms the mind. I like to balance the sweet flavor with pungent flavors, in this case, the onions and the garlic will do that. Of course, we also have the sour, acidic flavor from the vinegar and the Hungarian staple, sour cream. At the end, we add the salt to create this pleasant sweet and sour dish.

RECIPE

Ingredients

vegetable oil (sunflower)
1 larger onion, chopped, or graded
1 Tbsp flour
1 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika powder
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 cup cold water
1 smaller spaghetti squash (about 2 lb) (Not exactly what we use in Hungary but it is a perfect substitute).
4 cups chicken stock or water
4 dill springs, (about a hand-full)
sour cream
1 tbsp white vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes to taste

Preparation

Prepare the spaghetti squash. Peel and grate through the larger holes of your cheese grater.
Soak in 2 tsp salt for 20 minutes. Squeeze water out. This step will make the squash less watery and taste better.
Chop the onion fine or you can grate too.
Have a 1/4 cup of cold water ready.
Sauté the onion with a pinch of salt in a little oil until translucent. When you can smell the aroma of the onion, add paprika powder and garlic, stir and after 1 minute add the cold water quickly that you set aside earlier. Stir.
Add the squash meat, stir and cover with water or stock.
Bring to a boil and then turn down to medium heat and cook covered for 30 minutes.
Also mix 1 Tbsp of flour with cold little water and add a little hot liquid from the dish. Whisk well and add it to the dish.
Bring the dish to a quick boil, cook for a few minutes and turn heat off.
Add vinegar, salt and pepper. Stir.
You can serve immediately but it will taste the best the next day.
Serve with chopped dill, a dab of sour cream and some protein (egg or beef dishes would go well). I served it with my Eggplant Parmesan dish. The bitter eggplants complemented this sweet and sour dish nicely.

Enjoy! Jó étvágyat!

Text, photos, recipe by twincitiesherbs.