Stuffed acorn squash with barley; skillet cherry cobbler

I made a couple of new recipes from my new but well-used Cooking for Two books last weekend that I want to review. First, from CF2 2011, the stuffed squash. Here is a vegetarian entree to try on the most protein-demanding male (or female) you cook for. I was enthralled with this recipe, enough to want to type it out (in my own words, of course) and post here. For one thing it has gotten me hooked on fennel, which I thought I did not like. These were very filling portion sizes to me, and there is enough texture variation between the barley, pine nuts, and fennel that it's not just a mushy blend of squash with cheese on top. I would call this a restaurant-quality meal. The next time we have temperatures, say, below 80, I am making it again. I don't know when that will be. :(

Stuffed Acorn Squash with Barley

Cooking for Two 2011

1 (1 1/2 lb) acorn squash, halved and seeded

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1/4 c. pearl barley (not hulled)

1/2 fennel bulb, trimmed of stalks, cored, and chopped fine

1 shallot, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

1/4 tsp. minced fresh thyme 

1 1/2 oz (3/4 c.) grated Parmesan cheese (I used grana padano)

2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley 

2 Tbsp. pine nuts, toasted and chopped

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with Pam. Brush the cut sides of the squash with about 1 Tbsp of the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place cut side down on the baking sheet. Roast in lower-middle section of oven for 45-55 mins., or until a knife can slip into the flesh with no resistance. Remove from oven and increase oven temp to 450.

2. Meanwhile, bring 2 cups water to boil in a saucepan. Stir in the barley and 1/4 tsp. salt and cook over medium heat until the barley is just tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

3. In the now-empty saucepan, heat the remaining Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat til shimmering. Stir in the fennel and shallot and cook about 5 minutes, til softened and lightly brown. Stir in the garlic, thyme, and coriander and cook just til fragrant. Off heat, stir in the barley, 1/2 c. of the Parmesan, parsley, pine nuts, and butter. Taste and season with more salt or pepper if needed.

4. Scoop out the roasted squash flesh, leaving 1/8" thickness in each shell so it can support the filling. Fold squash into the barley mixture, then mound the filing into the squash shells. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 c. Parmesan and bake on the upper-middle oven rack til cheese is melted, about 5-10 minutes. (You could probably also try the broiler for 5 mins, so you get some browning--I would do that next time.) Drizzle balsamic vinegar over each portion and serve.

For dessert that night I made the skillet cherry cobbler (CF2 2010) with David Lebovitz's Philly-style vanilla ice cream (still my favorite), and while it was good and typically ingenious in its technique (the number of interesting dishes that CI has you use ovenproof skillets for has me committed to buying only ovenproof skillets for the rest of my life), I'm not that motivated to type it out. It is a great use for those huge jars of Morello cherries in syrup that I always buy at Trader Joe's without having a specific purpose for them. This jar had been languishing in my pantry since last fall...

Macaroni & cheese, and my favorite chocolate cookie

Update on the lighter mac-and-cheese referenced in a previous post: I made it, it did in fact yield 5 servings as promised ("3/8 lb. macaroni" for some reason didn't sound like nearly enough, but it was), and we loved it. Cabot 50% cheddar was about as good as reduced-fat cheddar can be, I think. So I'd give it a 7/10, though on occasions I will still make my "full-fat" stovetop recipe, especially when using it as a side. Leftovers were okay: they held up better than the full-fat recipe. My resistance to buying Best Light Recipe (from which the mac-and-cheese came) is weakening, rapidly.

I am planning to bake something that uses coffee today, as I've had a sudden change of opinion about the cheap Trader Joe's dark roast coffee I've been buying on and off for three years. Maybe TJ's changed distributors, or maybe I've gradually been spoiled by the Peet's and Starbucks that I buy at the regular grocery stores when on sale, because now the TJ's stuff just tastes, well, tasteless. I couldn't bring myself to finish the tin, so I've been reserving it for a baking project or maybe ice cream.  Here's one of my favorite chocolate cookie recipes. For a while I didn't use nuts, but now I think the walnuts are just about necessary.

Chocolate espresso chews
1/2 c. + 2 Tbsp. flour
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1.5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. finely ground dark-roast coffee beans
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 c. chopped walnuts

1. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Melt 1 cup of the chocolate chips, the unsweetened chocolate and butter in a double boiler, stirring til smooth. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer on high speed, beat the eggs, sugar, ground coffee and vanilla extract until thick ribbons form and the mixture has doubled in volume (about 5 mins). By hand, stir in the melted chocolate mixture until thoroughly combined, then add the dry ingredients, chopped walnuts and the remaining chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Have ready some large baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Make golf ball-size scoops of dough, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake, in batches, 10 to 12 minutes; the tops will crack, but the cookies should be gooey inside. Cool on the baking sheets at least 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days, or freeze individual cookies wrapped in foil and placed in a large plastic bag.

a quick and easy breakfast for two

Or breakfast-dinner, as we often have. I threw this together this last night and it hit the spot.

2 small-ish russet potatoes, peeled, grated on the large holes of a box grater, and squeezed dry in a dishtowel (grate the potatoes directly onto the towel, then roll it up and squeeze over the sink)
Salt and pepper
Pinch of garlic powder (optional)
2 large eggs
2 thin slices pancetta
3 Tbsp. butter, divided
Dill to taste
Hot sauce

1. In a 10" nonstick skillet, melt 1 Tbsp. of the butter over medium-high heat. With a fork, lightly toss the grated potato, about 1/4 tsp. salt, pepper, and garlic powder (if using) in a medium bowl. Dump into the hot skillet, using a large spatula to press the potatoes evenly over the surface. Cook about 5-6 minutes or until underside is golden brown, reducing heat if potatoes begin to scorch.
2. Slide the potatoes onto a large plate and add another Tbsp. butter to the empty skillet. Swirl to coat, and once melted, quickly invert the plate over the skillet so that the brown side lands up, preferably still in one piece. Cook another 4-5 minutes, occasionally shaking the skillet, then place the pancetta slices slightly off center and overlapping. Use the spatula to fold the other half of the potatoes over the side with the pancetta, and cook like this for another 1-2 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, fry the two eggs in another skillet with the remaining Tbsp butter until whites are just set. Sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Cut the hash brown "half moon" into 2 pieces, then top each with a fried egg. Sprinkle with dill and serve with your choice of hot sauce (we love Frank's original with eggs).

second try at Indian

Last night I made tandoori chicken from BIR, and aside from the necessary tweaks that one must make when the smallest split chicken breasts you can find are at least half a pound heavier than the ones specified in the recipe (somewhere near America's Test Kitchen they apparently have them as small as 10 oz?), it was a success. I was surprised at how moist and juicy the meat was even after the extra 500 degree oven time.  The flavor from the marinade was nice, but the chutney was really a pleasant surprise: I liked it without even trying. Fruit and spices and salt and vinegar is a bit of a stretch for me, but I'm glad I made it. It paired very well indeed with the chicken, which was by no means spicy (neither was the chutney, really).

the one photo I bothered to take---mango chutney

The green beans (made before and loved) were disappointing: as I was trimming them I realized they weren't as fresh and "snappy" as usual, and I tried one last time, unsuccessfully, to find a good use for light coconut milk. I'm realizing that cooked applications simply are not going to work. The milk breaks and the resulting sauce is awful. So I have some leftover for smoothies and I am not going to sweat using a bit of full fat coconut milk in a side dish of all things, because there's just no replacing it.

Tonight I'm planning to try another new CI recipe that I've seen people rave about online: lighter mac & cheese with ham and peas. Recipe here. I am looking for other recipes just to use up the evaporated milk stockpile I have unwittingly built up over the past couple years, so any recommendations are welcome...

miscellanies

Well, lacking reliable access to a home computer lately has challenged my rigorous goal of writing something, every now and then, about what I've been doing in the kitchen. I've forgotten how to write with paragraphs and such, so I resort to bullet points.

* Most recently, I tackled pierogis again (Best International Recipe). Armed with relaxing (and appropriately Polish) Chopin in the background and a few deep breaths, I managed to push through frustrating dough problems without losing my cool. I still couldn't get the dough wet enough to make a smooth ball, even after adding more water than was called for---and I use a scale to measure flour to 1/8 of an ounce. I don't have a food processor as the recipe called for, but I don't think that should have materially varied from mixing with a pastry blender and my hands. It was far from "soft and malleable." The final yield was about half what it should have been, and the rolled-out dough a bit thicker than I would have liked it, but not anywhere near as bad as the first time. I also made sure and tasted the filling, seasoning it a bit more than I thought necessary, so blandness wasn't an issue there. I am still on a search for a lighter, easier-to-work-with dough recipe than CI provides (perhaps the problem is with me), and until then, I'll continue to cheat with wonton wrappers. Your babcia would disapprove, but boy, do those work in a pinch.

* I tried a new cookie recipe this weekend courtesy of David Lebovitz: gingersnaps (which are not snappy but soft) that happen to be fat-free. I thought they were not bad. Since I'm not a fan of candied ginger I simply left that out; the spice mixture was spot-on, and they didn't taste like they were dying for butter to help the flavor. The recipe is here.

* I decided it was time to try another chocolate cake recipe (someone has to test all the variations out there, for quality control), so I made CI's sour cream-fudge layer cake into cupcakes. They were quite tasty, but I'm spoiled by their "ultimate" recipe with the ganache in the center and the super light and fluffy texture. I think I would enjoy this recipe more as a layer cake, and I will definitely be making it again.

* I've had an old used bookstore copy of Marcella Hazan's Essentials for over a year now, and tonight I made my third recipe from it. Third. Pathetic. Anyway, it was good, if simple and restrained, and nowhere near as rich as the tomato-butter-onion sauce. It used up some pancetta I had and was quick and easy.

* Tomorrow is going to be Indian adventure day: I'm trying tandoori chicken (a CI recipe I've heard people rave about), with rice pilaf and a mango chutney, somewhat against my better judgment. I've never been tempted by descriptions of chutney. Oddly I remember my sister and I coming across the word "chutney" when we were younger and finding it hilarious for some reason.

* Never mind that it's going to get back into the 80s this weekend: I have my heart set on some kind of applesauce/spice cake. A recipe in Joy of Cooking looked intriguing when I was leafing through that the other night. This cookbook has its fair share of entertainment value as well, particularly in the variety meats section. E.g., a recipe for those who like to indulge in homemade head cheese. They subtitle it, "a well-liked old-fashioned dish." Simply: "Quarter a calf head. Clean teeth with a stiff brush, remove ears, brains, eyes, snout, and most of the fat. Soak the quarters about 6 hours in cold water to extract the blood. wash them. Cover with cold water." Etc. I cannot bring myself to type more. It is a dramatic thing to say, but I would almost certainly rather starve than bring myself to cook a calf's head, after brushing its teeth.

baking anticipation

While I'm at it, here's my list of desserts/baked goods that I will be making as soon as cool weather sets in:
1. Makowiec, per this Fresh Loaf recipe. It calls for the whipping of egg whites (my most dreaded baking-related task) but it seems it's just to lighten the filling, so I won't sweat it if (yet again) I fail to achieve stiff peaks. My husband has fond memories of his Hungarian grandmother making this bread for holidays. I've had bakery versions and am anxious to see if I can make a decent one at home.

2. Chocolate-dipped almond biscotti (recipe below). Besides the extensive oven time, they feel like such a fall/winter snack to me. These were one of the first successful things I ever baked. The recipe comes from a much-referenced copy of Gourmet's Casual Entertaining, Random House: New York, 2001. (Unlike many Gourmet recipes it is not on Epicurious so far as I can tell.)
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. grated orange zest
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 whole egg + 1 egg white
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. whole almonds, toasted then coarsely chopped
6 oz. bitter- or semi-sweet chocolate, for dipping

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees and adjust a rack to the middle level. In a medium bowl combine the flour, sugar, orange zest, salt, and baking soda. In a large bowl, beat together the egg, egg white, and vanilla to combine. Add the flour mixture and beat just til combined. Stir in chopped almonds.
2. Use floured hands to form the dough into a 12x2" log and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until pale golden, about 45 mins. (Do not turn off oven at this point.) Cool the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then transfer the log, peeling off the parchment carefully if it sticks, to a cutting board. Use a sharp serrated knife to cut diagonally into 1/2" thick slices. Place slices back on the baking sheet and return to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn slices and bake another 10 minutes, until crisp. Transfer biscotti to a rack to cool.
3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler, then dip the top (curved) edge of each cookie in the melted chocolate. Transfer them to a sheet of wax paper set on a large plate or baking sheet, then chill in fridge til chocolate is set, about 5 mins.
Yield: 18 cookies. If you don't dip them, you can keep them at room temperature for about a week. Once dipped, they can be held in the fridge for up to a day.

3. Gingerbread. I haven't yet found a perfectly moist, perfectly spiced cake, but I'm sure it's out there. This chocolate-chip variation is certainly a winner in its own right. I've been making it for several years. David Lebovitz's fresh ginger cake is also supposed to be fantastic.

4. Pumpkin "bread" (it's cake, let's be honest). Also a great Williams-Sonoma recipe I found years ago. I like making it into muffins, or just using a regular loaf pan (not their $30 specialty one) and watching the oven time accordingly. Pairing it with rich vanilla bean ice cream (this year I can make my own!) makes for an insanely good fall dessert.

5. Butter Rum Cake (from Lisa Yockelson's Baking by Flavor). I only make the cake and half the amount of glaze, never the rum custard sauce (as tempting as that sounds), and it's still a beautiful dessert with the most amazing texture. It's not greasy like pound cakes can be.

6. Dark chocolate & cherry bread pudding. This is a Pam Anderson recipe I actually have scribbled on a napkin stuffed into my recipe binder, though I'm sure it's online somewhere. I think I was waiting at the doctor's office and reading one of those women's magazines when I found this recipe and, knowing Pam's reputation, thought I should find some way to copy it. That was a while ago and I still haven't made it, but it is a priority this year.

7. Maple-Walnut Pear Cake. Another untried recipe, from David Lebovitz (Ready for Dessert). The flavors sound pretty amazing, so no explanation needed. It's also a smaller cake (one 9" pan), which is how I adjust most recipes for us, so that's a plus.

8. Sea salt caramels, recipe here: lacking true fleur de sel I used 3/4 tsp. coarse ground sea salt, and it worked. You just don't make caramels in the summer. After November they feel right.

9. Big apple pancake. We had this for Sunday "breakfast" (what we do for lunch after church) all the time last winter. It requires the same amount of oven time as a pan of bacon, so you put both in the oven and you have an easy, delicious breakfast 15 minutes later. It doesn't always puff up uniformly, so don't count on it being perfectly picturesque.

10. Biscuits. Cream, buttermilk, herbed, drop--it doesn't matter. To me nothing says a hearty winter meal like a fresh pan of biscuits, and I miss them.