Orange Swirls

While I love to cook, there are times when it's nice to sit back and enjoy something prepared by someone else. My mom is a really good cook -- I was lucky to grow up eating homemade bread, pasta, and cookies. I do my own cooking now, but I ask my mom to make something for my birthday each year. This year, I asked for orange swirls.

The swirls have a yeasty, orange-flecked dough, and a simple honey-nutmeg-almond filling. (There's also a honey-lemon glaze, which we skipped.) We wound up with 14 good-sized swirls, rather than the 10 suggested by the recipe. The swirls take two to three hours from start to finish, so if you want to eat them for breakfast, you might consider making them the day before.

The recipe comes from the Holly B cookbook -- I ran across it at Dana Treat.

For Your Consideration: Last Minute Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas

This year, I'll be traveling down to Arizona for Thanksgiving, where I'll have a holiday dinner of side dish + pie. While it might not be the ideal Thanksgiving meal for a vegetarian, my sister-in-law bakes an awesome pie, and my niece does an adorable dance in honor of the holiday.

As you can see, she has a real interest in the culinary arts.

If I had access to my own kitchen this Thanksgiving, I might make one of these vegetarian main dishes:

•Stuffed portobello mushrooms with balsamic glaze, from Love and Olive Oil: I made this a few weeks ago. Or, I made something like this, except instead of stuffing large portobello mushrooms, I chopped up some baby bellas and roasted them along with the stuffing ingredients (which include artichoke hearts, parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and goat cheese). The result was tasty -- especially with the balsamic reduction -- but not especially photogenic. I think a stuffed mushroom would make a better presentation.

•Veg lasagna: Easy but good. The lasagna can be assembled in advance, so you can spend Thanksgiving day doing other things.

•Roasted butternut squash, rosemary, and garlic lasagna: This lasagna recipe is a little more involved, but the results are delicious: roasted butternut squash is layered with a rosemary-infused cheese mixture and lasagna noodles, then topped with (unsweetened) whipped cream and parmesan cheese. While it sounds (and tastes) decadent, the recipe comes from the archives of Cooking Light magazine, so it might even be reasonably good for you. The butternut squash and white sauce can be prepared the night before.

•Pearl couscous with fall vegetables and carmelized onions: This is what I made last Thanksgiving -- butternut squash, turnips, and other veggies are simmered in a saffron-spiced broth, then served over pearl couscous with carmelized onions. Again, somewhat time-intensive, but it made for a nice holiday meal.

2008 Holiday Picture Show

Homemade currant cakes from a friend in Pennsylvania.

Kumquats.

"Bear claws" (no actual bears were harmed).

Salad with spinach, grapefruit, avocado and pomegranate seeds in a cranberry vinaigrette - served alongside tamales.

Birthday cupcakes.

Dutch apple pancakes.

Whoot!

Moroccan Green Bean Tagine from The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper, served over pearl couscous.

Pearl Couscous With Fall Vegetables And Carmelized Onions

Even though we were only three for Thanksgiving this year (including 1 vegetarian), my Mom wanted to make a turkey. I wasn't wild about eating side dish for my Thanksgiving meal, and so, as a compromise, we also made pearl couscous with fall vegetables and carmelized onions, using this recipe (published in Sunset magazine) from chef Joanne Weir.

Couscous is one of my favorite grains because it cooks so quickly and can be eaten with so many different toppings. Cooking the couscous is probably the quickest part of this recipe, which involves several different stages and takes more than two hours to complete. (The cooking time and the price of some of the ingredients, such as saffron, make this a recipe I would reserve for special occasions.)

I started by making the carmelized onion topping. The sliced onions are steamed before being browned in olive oil, and combined with golden raisins, cinnamon, honey, salt and pepper.

Next, I peeled and chopped the vegetables. The recipe incorporates a nice variety of fall vegetables, including zucchini, butternut squash, turnips and carrots, as well as a jalepeño pepper.

Once the vegetables were chopped, it was time to make the seasoned broth that would be used to cook both the vegetables and the couscous. (Mom also poured some of the seasoned broth into her (meat-based) stuffing and gravy.) I heated olive oil in a stockpot and briefly fried saffron, cumin, cinnamon sticks, salt and pepper before stirring in the vegetable broth.

After the mixture came to a boil, I added the carrots, turnips and jalepeño, and let them simmer. The zucchini and butternut squash were then added to the pot, and the vegetables cooked a bit more.

Then it was time to prepare the couscous. I ladeled two cups of broth from the stockpot into a saucepan, and then heated them, along with some water, to a boil before adding the couscous. While the couscous was cooking, I removed two additional cups of broth from the stock pot, to combine with harissa. (Mom and I were unable to find harissa in stores, so we made our own using a recipe from Tagine: Spicy Stews of Morrocco. The harissa was very easy to make - it is basically a blend of red chilies, garlic, cumin, coriander and olive oil.)

According to the recipe, the cooked vegetables and carmelized onions are to be served over couscous, with a pitcher of broth mixed with harissa and a pitcher of "plain" broth. I strayed a bit here because I was planning to bring the leftovers back to Denver with me and wanted to minimize the number of containers I'd be carrying. Rather than straining the vegetables to create a pitcher of plain broth, I let the vegetables soften into the remaining liquid, creating a stew-like texture.

Although the recipe was a bit time intensive, the results were worth it. The vegetables - and in particular the butternut squash - blended wonderfully with the saffron and other seasonings, and the sweetness of the carmelized onions contrasted nicely with the heat from the harissa.

And, yes, Mom did add spices (using a Chinese five-spice blend) to the whipped cream on our pumpkin pie. Yum.

From the Nancy Drew Cookbook: A Keene Soup

I first ran across The Nancy Drew Cookbook ("Clues to Good Cooking") at a friend's house. The title caught my eye, and, inside, I was delighted to discover a campy introduction ("How can you become a really good cook? 'It's no mystery,' Nancy Drew reveals. . .") and kitchy recipe after kitchy recipe.

Who could resist "Mysterious Mannequin Casserole," or an "Old Attic Stuffed Tomato"? How daring to use a three step recipe to create "99 Steps French Toast"! And what nutritionist wouldn't endorse "George's 'Keep In Shape' Grapefruit" (topped, of course, with butter)?

I visited the cookbook every time I was at my friend's house, and was thrilled when she gave me a copy of my own. I enjoyed leafing through the book from time to time ("Wooden Lady Walnut Tidbits!" "Bungalow Mystery Salad"! "Hidden Window Dessert"!), but never actually tried any of the recipes. However, in honor of Halloween, I decided to create one of the dishes from the book.

The first challenge was finding a recipe which did not involve meat or meat-by-product. ("Black Key Mystery Patties," anyone?) After some sleuthing, I found several recipes that seemed edible, including broiled "Red Gate Farm Tomatoes" and "Ned's Potato Pancakes." I ultimately decided to go with "A Keene Soup," because a warm bowl of peanut butter soup sounded good after the chilly fall weather we've been having here in Denver.

I combined milk, peanut butter and cinnamon in a sauce pan, and whisked them together while heating them over medium heat (the recipe called for low, but I cheated a little - sorry Nancy!). Just as the mixture started to bubble, I removed it from heat and poured it into a serving bowl. The recipe called for the soup to be topped with whipped cream and paprika. I omitted this and, in hommage to George's healthy habits, ate the soup with sliced apples.

Veg for the Holidays

I've decided that it's time to re-train my family when it comes to holiday dinners. I'm tired of trying to make a meal out of their side dishes, or having to prepare a completely different dinner for myself. But what can we make that I can eat and we will all enjoy?

Our new Easter dinner is pizza. Ours was made from scratch, although you can buy fresh or frozen dough if you don't want to bother coaxing the yeast, kneading the floury paste and waiting for the resulting mass to rise. I had margarita pizza, topped with lovely tomato, basil and mozzarella. The carnivores had something similar, but with a little meat added. And then a salad on the side, with romaine, mushrooms, carrots, green peppers, diced egg and a creamy dressing (also homemade).

We use this dough recipe:

1 pkg active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (115 F)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal

Soften yeast in warm water. Stir in salt and olive oil.
Gradually mix in cornmeal and 3 cups of flour to form a soft dough.
Knead until smooth (about 5 minutes) on a mat* coated with about 1/2 cup four.
Cover and let rise about 1 hour, until doubled in bulk.
Punch down dough. Divide into two balls and roll out about 3/4 inch thick.
Place each oval of dough on a greased baking sheet.
Brush the top of the dough with olive oil.
Top with your choice of ingredients.
Place one baking sheet at a time on the lowest rack of a preheated 500 degree oven for approximately 10 to 12 minutes (we baked ours for 9 minutes and it was perfect, so keep an eye on your pie while it is baking).

*We used a non-stick silicone baking mat, which makes it much easier to work with dough, and also helps increase the surface areas you can use to work with dough when you have a tiny little kitchen like mine.