Banana Flower Soup with Fresh Crab

Dun dun dun dun! "Soup"er Craaab!

My favorite blogger, Loving Rice, offered to dish up a recipe of anything I wanted. Fantasizing about the Andaman sea, I asked her to do something with crab. Her recipe, Banana Flower Soup with Fresh Crab, went above and beyond.

At the Asian store, I'm the foreigner. My cart is always scrutinized and discussed in various languages. The regulars have seemed to notice it isn't filled with the regular rice and soy sauce load of the other "foreigner" carts.

While going through check-out with my weekly supplies (bird's eye, kaffir lime, tamarind, lemongrass and so forth), a giant dungeness crab and a banana flower, the usual discussion began. The woman behind me started pointing to things and talking to the man behind her. She then started speaking to the cashier who turned to me and said, "She wants to know if you cook Thai food".

My husband and I smiled. "Yes! Almost every night!". The little old woman started chatting up a storm..."Banana flower! Only Thai use banana flower. So much lemongrass, lime, and chili. I'm Thai. You like Thai?" We said yes, we love Thailand and professed our excitement to explore more of Southeast Asia this year.

Soon, everyone was telling us where they were from: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, China. They asked what we liked to cook, what we were going to do with the banana flower. I showed the big crab to them and received "oohs" and "ahhs" in return. No longer am I the market foreigner.

When I told my mother about the crab, she asked how I could kill such a thing. I responded, "Easy. I'm going to turn it on its back, lift up it's flap, and drive a knife through it."

"You're so not my daughter!" she exclaimed before walking away.

Loving Rice couldn't have answered my request any better. I loved her idea of caramelizing the onion in the coconut milk. Oh, and how cool is the inside of a banana flower?

The recipe made enough for the two of us to eat it for both lunch and dinner. It's very much like a Thai version of chowder with the banana flower taking on a potato-like texture. I understand why it's considered by some to be a Thai comfort food.

If you have success at finding a banana flower, be sure to make this delicious recipe.

Paradise Caesar Salad

While by no means a traditional Caesar, this is a salad worthy of sonnets. The name is in honor of it's birthing place, a place so beautiful we simply call it Paradise.

When visiting in 2004, I ate this salad so much that the chef handed me a present before leaving...a list of ingredients for the dressing. At the time, I was more of an "eater" instead of a "preparer" and was terribly intimidated by the list of ingredients in formats like "0.009 quantity of anchovis" (purposeful misspelling to accurately reflect the Sweenglish that it was in). I never dared to try to make the dressing on my own.

So I dreamed. Fantasized. Imagined shrimp with a hint of lemongrass playfully bounding across leaves sunning themselves in Caesar dressing. For three whole years.

The second I arrived back at the island last year, I immediately ordered up two salads. Upon delivery, I undressed the prawns with my eyes. When I took my first bite, a tear actually escaped. Unfortunately, these were not tears of happiness. This was in no way the salad that either of us had remembered, that we had dreamed about so often.

The original chef was long gone, taking the recipe with him. The salad placed before me reminded me of the fourth Michael Keaton in Duplicity ...a sad copy of a copy of a copy of the original.

Last weekend, using the Sweenglish dressing ingredient list as a guide, I went for it. The end result? Original Paradise. I can actually feel my toes curling around the sand with every bite I take.

Dressing Ingredients and Directions:

2 tsp anchovy paste

1.5 tbs capers

1.5 tbs garlic

1 tbs dijon mustard with grains

1/2 tsp pepper, ground

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

7 ounces olive oil

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp worchester

1 tsp red chilies

2 tbs grated parmesan

3.5 tbs water

4 tbs mayonnaise

In the bowl of a food processor, blend everything until well combined. Taste improves overnight.

Salad Ingredients and Assembly:

1 or 2 sliced of applewood bacon, cooked to your liking

Parmesan cheese, shaved

Cherry tomatoes, halved

1 head of romaine or green leaf lettuce (serves two), chopped

Black or Kalamata olives, halved

4 16/20 prawns per person, peeled and deveined

1 tbs butter, melted

1. Cook bacon. Drain.

2. Toss lettuce with 1/3 cup of dressing. Divide lettuce among plates.

3. Assemble tomatoes, olives, bacon and cheese on top of the lettuce.

4. Skewer prawns. Brush with butter and grill for 2 minutes each side. Brush with butter before flipping and again at the end.

5. Assemble prawns on top of salad. Serve.

Extra Credit: To get the mild lemongrass flavor, use a lemongrass brush to butter the prawns. To make the brush, remove the bottom from one pieces of lemongrass. Pound out the tender part until it fans out like a brush. Use accordingly.

Tom Yum Pla - Hot and Sour Fish Soup

Recently, my husband came home from work looking like death warmed over. He collapsed onto the chaise, cough drops and box of tissues in hand.

"What would you like for dinner?" I asked. "Nothing", he responded between coughing fits. After thinking a moment he added, "Unless you're making something tasty."

Tom yum pla fit the bill (more like tom yum yum!)...with good protein, leafy greens, and a nice spice, I hoped to feed his cold and kick the nasty virus out of his body.

This recipe is fast and easy. You can even shorten the broth simmering time to 10 minutes if you need to.

Broth Ingredients and Directions:

2 cups fish stock
2 cups water
4 kaffir lime leaves, torn (use zest of one lime if no lime leaves are available)
4 bird's eye chilies, stem removed and cut in half lengthwise
3 pieces of dried galangal
3 stalks of lemongrass, halved lengthwise
2 shallots, chopped

1. Put all ingredients into a pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Strain the broth through a sieve into a saucepan.

Soup Ingredients and Directions:
12 ounces of fish (white fish like halibut, sole, etc), skinned and filleted
1 lb green leafy vegetable, chopped (ex. water spinach, baby spinach, baby bok choy)
1 package beech mushrooms
1 package straw mushrooms
2 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs lime juice
Cilantro, a handful, chopped

1. Bring the broth to a boil.
2. Add the fish and the mushrooms to a pot. Return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 4 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for one or two minutes, just long enough for the greens to wilt or soften.
4. Divide into bowls and serve.

Dinner Snapshot - Quacky Red Curry

Having planned to fail miserably at my first coriander duck attempt, I had bought two extra duck breasts. We love cooking with duck. People who haven't had it before usually say it tastes like lamb or very tender beef. It was easy to figure out what to do with the leftovers...duck curry!

Note: This recipe requires marinating time.

Ingredients:

2 duck breasts, skinned and sliced thinly on a diagonal

6 tablespoons/cubes of red curry paste (or store-bought but watch the sodium!)

1 cup coconut milk

2 cups hot water

2 cups pineapple slices (fresh or canned), cut into smaller pieces

1 cup Thai basil leaves

Jasmine rice, cooked according to instructions

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, coat the duck slices with 2 tablespoons/cubes of red curry paste. Marinate for three hours (or up to 24).

2. When duck is done marinating, cook the remaining four cubes of curry paste over medium-high heat until fragrant (about 2 minutes).

3. Add the duck and cook, stirring constantly, for two or three minutes.

4. Add the coconut milk and two cups of water.

5. Bring mixture to a gentle boil and cook for three minutes.

6. Reduce heat to low. Cover pan. Simmer duck for an additional 10 minutes.

7. Stir in the pineapple and basil leaves and cook for an additional two minutes.

8. Serve over rice.

Foodie Fights! Entry - Smoked Coriander Duck Breast with a Rhubarb Port Wine Reduction

Rhubarb? What? After spending my entire life avoiding it, my desire to be a Foodie Fights! competitor led to a requirement to cook with it. I had no idea what it looked like, what it smelled like, what it tasted like. I spent the first 24 hours in paralyzed fear, the second accepting it for what it was and starting my mental ingredient merry-go-round, and spent the final 24 hours asking my mom, husband, and a friend a series of "would you rather eat..." questions.

For a good portion of Saturday, it seemed like I was meant for failure. You see, spring's coming late to these parts and rhubarb isn't exactly easy to come by. After searching three stores together, I went home to start preparing the duck leaving my husband to embark on The Great Rhubarb Hunt '09. Thirteen stores later, husband returned victorious. He also proved himself a thinker, buying red chard to "substitute" for rhubarb if push came to shove.

I'm not afraid of many foods, but as I stood there in the kitchen, trying my third knife to get through the rough stalk, I actually found myself sneering at it. By the time it was whirling around the food processor, my nose was scruntched up between my eyebrows. The fibers, the smell. I knew I had avoided it for a reason. In the end, I overcame my fear of rhubarb, using the duck to sop up every last bit of the reduction.

Foodie Fights! was exactly what it was meant to be, a challenge. It challenged my recipe creation skills by throwing in an unfamiliar ingredient as well as my personal preferences.

Please swing by Foodie Fights on Tuesday, May 5th to check out the competition and place your vote for your favorite recipe.

Alder Wood Smoked Coriander Duck Breasts with a Rhubarb Port Wine Reduction

Note: This recipe can be recreated on the BBQ using wooden grilling planks. If you use this method, be sure to submerge the planks in water for 3 hours prior to cooking.

Duck Preparation - Four Easy Steps

Step One - Marinate Breasts:

2 duck breast halves
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tbs peanut oil
2 tbs honey
1 tbs ginger, peeled and grated
2 cloves garlic, minced

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Stir well.
2. Add the duck breasts, coating both sides. Refrigerate for two hours.

Step Two - Seal In Moisture:

Apple wood smoked bacon, one slice per breast half

1. In a large pan over high heat, cook the bacon to your preference.
2. Eat bacon, reserve bacon fat.
3. When breasts are done marinating, remove from marinade and coat each breast with bacon grease.

Step Three - Prepare Coriander Rub:

2 tbs coriander seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns

1. In a food processor or mortor, grind coriander and peppercorns until they have broken into a fine grit.
2. Rub coriander mixture into the greased duck breasts, coating each side.

Step Four - Smoke/BBQ Duck Breasts:

Duck cooked to medium rare (140 F) will result in meat that seemingly melts in your mouth but you can prepare it just like chicken to 170 F if you'd prefer well done.

If you are using a smoker, prep with alder wood. Heat to 225 F. Place breasts on an ungreased rack in the middle of the smoker. Smoke for 60 to 90 minutes or until the breasts reach your desired doneness. View video of the duck being removed from the smoker.

If you are using a barbecue, submerge a wood plank in water for three hours (alder and fruit woods work the best, but any flavor will do). Using indirect heat, preheat grill to 300 F. Place plank in center of grill and place duck breasts skin side down on the planks. Cook for 40 to 50 minutes or until duck has reached desired doneness.

Reduction and Sides Preparation - 3 Easy Steps

Step One - Make the Reduction:

1 lb rhubarb stalks, roughly chopped
3 bird's eye chilies, stems removed
6 tbs honey
1 stalk lemongrass, light purple and pale while parts chopped
1 inch ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 c chicken stock
3 tbs port wine
1 1/2 tsp arrowroot (or cornstarch)
1 tbs butter

1. In the bowl of a food processor or blender, combine the rhubarb, chilies, ginger, lemongrass, and honey. Puree until smooth.
2. Pour the mixture into a medium saucepan. Add chicken stock. Cook over medium low heat (a slow simmer) for 20 minutes.
3. Mash the puree through a sieve. Reserve the liquid that comes out. Discard the remainder.
4. In a small saucepan over medium low heat, add the port wine to the rhubarb liquid.
5. Whisk in the arrowroot until dissolved and reduce mixture by half.
6. Just before serving, whisk in the butter.

Step Two - Heat the Marinade:

While the rhubarb is cooking down, bring the reserved marinade to a boil and cook for three minutes, stirring frequently. Turn heat down to low and let cook until duck is ready.

Step Three - Cook the Carrots and Spinach:

1 large bunch of spinach, washed
2 carrots, cut into sticks
1 tbs olive oil
Juice from 1/2 lemon

1. In a large saute pan over high, heat the olive oil and lemon juice.
2. Add the carrots and saute for four minutes. Remove carrots.
3. Add the spinach. Saute until spinach just starts to wilt.
4. Arrange carrots and spinach on individual plates.

Bringing It All Together:

1. Remove duck breasts and slice width-wise at an angle into thin strips.
2. Arrange duck slices over spinach.
3. Spoon or pipe rhubarb port reduction over duck breast and plate.
4. Spoon marinade into small serving bowls and serve duck.

Dinner Snapshot - Banana Curry

Last night, I found myself staring at the available food in the house. After a brief realization that we rely so much on fresh food we'd starve if oh, say, a pandemic shut down commerce, I focused on the more immediate threat of starving that night if I didn't figure out something for dinner, pronto. I hadn't been to the store in a few days, so pickings were slim. Remembering that David had tried a banana curry and wanted me to make one, I pulled eight baby bananas out of the microwave. The microwave? Yes! If you aren't storing your fruits in the microwave, you should be!

David didn't exactly give me any good details to go on, just "it was curry made with bananas". Fantastic. So I set off, hoping for some sort of Caribbean-inspired dish that wouldn't be a gooey mess. The final product was delicious once we got past the initial shock that we were eating a curry that was both sweet and spicy at the same time. While we consider this more of a sweet curry, it might blow some socks off. Exercise caution with any of our recipes that call for chili peppers...Some like it hot, some sweat when the heat is on. We're the former.

Aunt G. - Does this even come close to a Caribbean-style dish or am I smoking banana peels?

Banana Curry

8 baby bananas, cut into four pieces (or two grown up bananas)

2 tbs curry powder

2 tsp coriander seed

1 tsp brown mustard seed

1.5 tsp turmeric

4 shallots, roughly chopped

3 green bird's eye chilies, roughly chopped (use scotch bonnet if they are available)

2 tbs coconut oil (I'm sure that peanut would also be delicious and veggie would work just fine)

3 tbs coconut water (or regular water)

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup water

40 medium, shelled shrimp

Jasmine rice, made per instructions

1. In a small, dry skillet over medium heat, toast the coriander and mustard seeds. Shake the pan constantly until the seeds turn brown and begin to pop. Do not let the seeds burn. Put toasted seeds into mortar and grind into a fine powder.

2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the spice powders, shallots, chilies, coconut oil, and bananas. Process until smooth.

3. Heat a dry wok over medium. Add the curry paste and the coconut water. Cook for ten minutes stirring constantly.

4. Reduce heat to low and add the coconut milk and cup of water.

5. Fast Method: bring the heat up to high until the curry starts to boil. Reduce heat to medium high and stir constantly for five minutes until the curry has thickened back up.

Slow Method: keep the curry on low and cook, uncovered, for 30-45 minutes stirring occasionally. Add small amounts of water as needed. This method melds the flavors together better than the fast method.

6. Add shrimp. Cook until pink and curled.

7. Serve over rice.

Dinner Snapshot - Ticked Off Crabs in Chili Coriander Sauce

The old adage, don't play with your food, went out the window yesterday when we brought home six very angry blue crabs. After putting them in some fresh water in the kitchen sink, we delighted in swinging our hands just out of reach of their mighty claws.

By cooking time, they were docile and went willingly, resigned to their important role as our tasty dinner. The chili coriander sauce brings David back to eating crab cooked by our friend Man's mother-in-law on the island of Koh Yao Noi, quite possibly the best compliment he has ever given my cooking.

Blue Crabs in Chili Coriander Sauce

Sauce Ingredients and Instructions:

3 tbs nam pla (fish sauce)

juice of 1 lime

1 tsp white sugar

2 tbs cilantro, chopped

2 Thai red chilies, diced
3 spring onions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced on a diagonal

2 stalks lemongrass, rough outer layers removed, white and pale yellow soft parts finely chopped

1. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl.

2. Refrigerate until serving time.

Crab Ingredients and Instructions:

3 blue crabs per person, alive and kicking

4 stalks of lemongrass, sliced in half

4 cloves garlic, diced

Jasmine rice, cooked according to instructions

1. In a large stockpot filled with water, bring the garlic and lemongrass to a boil.

2. When roaring, add the crabs. Cook for 6 to 7 minutes.

3. Remove crabs and place in a large bowl covered with a lid.

4. Serve crabs.

5. After cracking the crabs, place the meat on top of the cooked rice, dishing the chili coriander sauce over the top.

Dinner Snapshot - Curried Potato Dumplings

These green curry potato dumplings sustained us for at least five straight days. I had made a bit more than the recipe called for so we spent the days after wrapping, cooking, dunking, and eating dumpling after dumpling. They were so good, we'd happily do it all over again.

The main recipe is courtesy of Loving Rice and can be found halfway down the page here. The dumplings require green curry paste, recipe here.

Green Curry Paste Instructions:

Ingredients:

3 tbs coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
2-4 Thai unripened red peppers (cut down on the amount of peppers depending on how spicy you like your curry)
6 large shallots, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 green bell peppers, de-stemmed, de-seeded and chopped.

1 tsp shrimp paste
1/2 stalk lemongrass, cut in half then roughly chopped (remove the rough outer leaves, chop the small root bottom off, and discard the upper green portions)

5 tbs chopped cilantro leaves

2 tsp chopped coriander stems 1/2 inch piece of galangal, finely chopped (if using dry galangal, be sure to soak in hot water for several hours prior to chopping)
4 tbs tamarind water (either dilute tamarind paste in water or prepare the water yourself by soaking the fruit in water and then squeezing the pulp about)

2 tbs peanut oil

1 tsp kosher salt

Directions:
1. In a small skillet over medium heat, toast the cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant and light brown. Do not let them burn. Remove from heat and cool.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, grind the seeds until broken up. Add the rest of the ingredients, along with 5 tbs water, and process until smooth. If you can see the seeds, you need to process longer!
3. Heat a saucepan over a medium flame. When warmed, add the paste. Cook for five minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Add 1 cup water, reduce heat, cover the pan and simmer for 45-50 minutes. Stir occasionally, scraping the paste off of the bottom as you stir.
5. The paste is complete. Freeze any that you are not using immediately in ice cube trays.

Dinner Snapshot - Thai-Style Whole Fish

The Crazy Monkey House motto is: If it has gills, eat it. Our favorite method for eating fish is to cook one whole. If you've never ate the "cheek meat" of a fish, boy are you in for a treat! Cooking a fish this way inevitably leads to chopstick wars as we fight for every last remaining flake. The fish pictured in this picture is a Mandarin fish but any meaty fish will work well. This method involves cooking it in banana leaves, an inexpensive ingredient found at almost any Asian grocer.

Thai-Style Whole Fish

Ingredients:

1 large, meaty whole fish (have the fish monger clean and descale the fish)

1 lime, sliced

8 kaffir lime leaves, torn in half

10 Thai basil leaves

5 Thai peppers, whole

banana leaves

Directions:

1. Line the bottom of a fish pan (or any deep baking dish) with banana leaves.

2. Place fish on leaves.

3. Spread the lime slices, lime leaves, basil leaves, and Thai peppers out inside the fish cavity.

4. Cover with banana leaves, tucking the top ones under the bottom ones.

5. Bake in a 350(f) oven for 30 minutes or until fish is cooked through and flaky.

6. Serve with rice, using optional garnishes like nam prik, sriracha, or a bit of soy sauce.

Dinner Snapshot - Prawns in Red Curry

This is a very quick, simple meal if you have frozen curry paste on hand. Cooking a batch of curry paste takes time but is very rewarding. Just freeze the leftovers in ice cube trays...One cube of curry is equal to two tablespoons. Be sure to wear gloves when working with the chilis. Failure to do so can lead to skin burns. You can either shell and devein the prawns yourself (as we did) or you can buy a bag of prepped or fully cooked prawns at the grocer. If you prep the prawns yourself, be sure to save the shells and heads to make a stock for tom yum kung!

Red Curry Paste Ingredients and Directions:

3 tbs coriander seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

12 Thai red peppers (cut down on the amount of peppers depending on how spicy you like your curry)

5 large shallots, chopped

5 garlic cloves, chopped

2 stalks lemongrass, cut in half then roughly chopped (remove the rough outer leaves, chop the small root bottom off, and discard the upper green portions)

1/2 inch piece of galangal, finely chopped (if using dry galangal, be sure to soak in hot water for several hours prior to chopping)

6 kaffir lime leaves, torn

2 tsp paprika

2 tbs tamarind water (either dilute tamarind paste in water or prepare the water yourself by soaking the fruit in water and then squeezing the pulp about)

3 tbs canola oil

1 tsp kosher salt

1. In a small skillet over medium heat, toast the cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant and light brown. Do not let them burn. Remove from heat and cool.

2. In the bowl of a food processor, grind the seeds until broken up. Add the rest of the ingredients, along with 5 tbs water, and process until smooth. If you can see the seeds, you need to process longer!

3. Heat a saucepan over a medium flame. When warmed, add the paste. Cook for five minutes, stirring frequently.

4. Add 1 cup water, reduce heat, cover the pan and simmer for 45-50 minutes. Stir occasionally, scraping the paste off of the bottom as you stir.

5. The paste is complete. Freeze any that you are not using immediately in ice cube trays.

Prawn Curry Ingredients and Directions:

1 lb prawns, shelled and deveined

3 cubes red curry

1 cup coconut milk

Jasmine rice, prepared according to rice cooker instructions

1. Heat a wok or large skillet over a medium high flame. Add the cubes of curry paste. Stir until the paste is melted.

2. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add the coconut milk and simmer for five minutes, stirring frequently. More coconut milk can be added if you find the curry too spicy.

3. Add the prawns and cook until pink and curled.

4. Serve over a bed of rice.

Dessert Snapshot - Lime Coconut Cake

With loads of leftover fresh coconut leftover from making coconut milk, I set out for something to do with all that coconut meat. Fortunately, my favorite blogger had recently posted an excellent option, lime coconut cake. As it is a very dense, rich cake, I suggest serving small slices much unlike the one pictured here.

The recipe can be found halfway down this page on Loving Rice.

Dinner Snapshot - Tofu and Bok Choy

This is one of our absolute favorite vegetarian meals. The main stir-fry only takes about 10 minutes. It's pictured below with my favorite kitchen accessory ever...Lily Bird.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound firm tofu, drained
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 head of bok choy (about 3/4 pound), leaves and stalks sliced crosswise 1 inch thick
9 ounces bean sprouts

1 teaspoon crushed or grated vegetable bouillon cube
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Wrap the tofu in paper towels and drain in a strainer set over a bowl for 30 minutes. Slice.

2. In a skillet, toast the sesame seeds over moderate heat until fragrant, 1 minute. Let cool, then grind to a coarse powder.
3. In a large skillet, heat the sesame oil. Add the tofu and stir-fry over moderately high heat until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer the tofu to a plate.
4. In the same skillet, heat the vegetable oil. Add the bok choy and stir-fry over moderately high heat until tender, 5 minutes.

5. Add the bean sprouts and stir-fry until heated through.

6. Stir in the tofu and season with the bouillon cube, salt and pepper.

7. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with the sesame seeds.

Dessert Snapshot - Flip-Over Apple Cake

This is another wonderful recipe from Dishing Up Vermont. Recently, I have been reading a lot about the history of the apple. With apples on my mind, and a desire to make something warm, I embarked on an apple cake. I modified the recipe by using some brown sugar in place of white sugar. I wish that I would have substituted more but am recording the recipe as I made it. This cake is so terribly simple that, while it baked, I whipped up some ginger spiced pecans and molasses whipped cream to finish the cake with. David thought it was so good, he was unapologetic about seconds.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the baking pan

4 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 tbs ground cinnamon

1 cup white sugar

1 tbs brown sugar

1 cup flour

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Generously grease the bottom and sides of a cake pan.

2. Melt the butter over a medium flame. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

3. Toss the apples with the cinnamon and brown sugar.

4. Place the apples in overlapping, concentric circles on the bottom of the cake pan. Make a second layer as necessary.

4. Sift the white sugar and the flour into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the egg and melted butter just until combined. Fold in the walnuts and continue to mix until smooth.

5. Pour batter evenly over apples.

6. Place on the center rack of the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

7. Let cool in the pan, on a wire rack, for 15 minutes.

8. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a serving plate.

7. Serve with whipped cream, ice cream, or other toppings as you desire.

Dinner Snapshot - Lasagna

We’ve spent the past year or so watching the Sopranos from beginning to end. We’ve made it all the way to season six without succumbing to our Italian food fantasies. Come Sunday, all I was able to think about was an episode from an earlier season in which Tony is looking around for lasagna with that “sweet sausage I love so much”. With that, I searched for a lasagna recipe and then headed out to buy all the ingredients.

This was no ordinary lasagna, made apparent by the constant trail of drool Monkey left on my foot. He watched every move I made, had interest in everything being chopped and layered, sautéed and spread. Mind you, Monkey is not an ordinary dog interested in ordinary things like Human Food. He once spent 13 hours sucking on a single French fry during a car trip. At the end of the trip, we found that he eventually discarded the fry and never even touched the slices of salami and the pecan sandie that my father had tried to tempt Monkey with unbeknownst to us. My dad thinks that Monkey doesn’t show interest in Human Food because of how we raised him. That has something to do with it, but what kind of dog won’t even eat a slice of salami?

So, anyway, here was my dog that has Human Food anorexia leaving a long, pleading trail of drool in hopes that I would give in and just feed the entire pan to him. I should have known from his reaction that we were in for a good meal. Just how good? Do you remember Garfield’s obsession with lasagna and how he would hoover the entire plate? Yeah, that was me.

Ingredients:

1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
¾ lb extra lean ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic, pressed
28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
12 ounces tomato paste
16 ounces tomato sauce
½ cup water
2 tbs sugar
¼ cup dried basil leaves
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tbs kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste
4 tbs Italian (flat-leaf) pasley, chopped
1 box lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
¾ lb mozzarella cheese, sliced
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a 5 quart pot, cook sausage, beef, onion, and garlic over a medium flame until browned.
2. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water.
3. Add sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and ½ of the parsley. Simmer, covered, for 1.5 hours stirring occasionally.
4. Cook lasagna noodles according to directions. Drain and cool with a cold water rinse.
5. Combine ricotta cheese, egg, remaining parsley, and ½ teaspoon salt in a bowl. Set aside.
6. Preheat oven to 375 F.
7. Spread 2 cups sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish. Place a layer of noodles over the top. Spread with one half of the ricotta mixture. Top with 1/3 of the mozzarella slices. Spread 1 ½ cups of sauce over the mozzarella and sprinkle with ¼ of the parmesan cheese. Repeat until you are out of noodles, ending with a topping of meat sauce and parmesan.

8. Cover with greased aluminum foil and cook for 25 minutes. Remove foil and cook for an additional 25 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Dinner Snapshot - Root Vegetable Chowder with Smoked Cheddar

Mike and Kristin sent us a new cookbook book filled with recipes from their home state of Vermont. It’s filled with tasty items but as soon as I saw this recipe, I knew that it would be the first one made. I reserved it for a very cold day and was presented with the opportunity to make it yesterday. While the wind howled, the temperatures hovered around 10, and snow piled up, we filled our bellies with a hearty, in-season soup to get us through the cold winter night.

Ingredients:

½ lb bacon strips
12 thyme stems
6 rosemary stems
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
3 parsnips, peeled and diced
2 small turnips, peeled and diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
½ lb fingerling potatoes, sliced
1 ¼ cup flour
3 quarts vegetable stock, heated
8 ounces smoked cheddar, shredded
1 cup cream
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a large pot over a medium-high flame, cook the bacon until crisp.
2. Tie fresh herbs together with kitchen twine (or placed dried ones in a piece of cheesecloth, wrapped up and tied with twine).
3. Reduce the flame under the bacon to medium and add the butter, onions, parsnips, turnips, carrots, potatoes, and herbs. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Add the flour and cook for another 5 minutes over a medium-low flame.
5. Slowly stir in the vegetable stock and bring the chowder to a simmer over a medium flame. Whisk frequently. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
6. Remove herbs and discard.
7. Slowly stir in the cheese and whisk in the cream. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Dinner Snapshot - New Year's Day Black-Eyed Pea Soup

New Year's Day always calls for black-eyed peas. It's our way to wish for good luck throughout the upcoming year and also happens to be a good excuse to use vegetables that are looking a bit sad. This time, however, all the vegetables in our refrigerator looked like they had gone through a terrible vegetable massacre. This is, no doubt, due to us succumbing to a week and a half of eating pretty much nothing but junk food. Anyway, onto the recipe.

Ingredients:

Black Eyed Peas -roughly a 1/2 lb

3 carrots, thinly sliced into rounds

3 red potatoes, cut into small cubes

1 leek, white and light green parts, thinly sliced into rounds

1 large onion, medium chop

2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock

6 bay leaves

2 teaspoons dried thyme

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

1. Throw everything into a crock pot and stir. Make sure that the peas are covered with stock.

2. Cook on high for 6 hours or until peas are soft but mixture isn't mushy.

3. Serve. It's that easy.

David says that the ingredients for this recipe should say nothing more than "pure yumminess". I thought that was a bit hard to interpret.

Dinner Snapshot - Mushroom and Potato Gratin

This is a killer Williams-Sonoma recipe that I altered for Christmas dinner. The flavors meld as it sits in the refrigerator, making for wonderful leftovers. We fought over every last bite. Please excuse the green dish...It was holiday ware!

Ingredients
1 Tbs. unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 fresh thyme sprigs, plus 1 1/2 tsp. minced
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 lb. Gold potatoes
1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. mixed wild and cultivated mushrooms, woody stems removed, caps thinly sliced
12 Tbs. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions
1. Preheat an oven to 375°F. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.
2. In a saucepan, combine the cream, garlic, thyme sprigs, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. 3. Bring to a low boil over medium heat, then remove from the heat and set aside.
4. Peel the potatoes and, using the slicer attachment of a Kitchen Aid (or a very sharp knife), cut them into slices about 1/8 inch thick.
5. In a fry pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil and melt the 1 Tbs. butter.
6. Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt, and sauté until all of the liquid released by the mushrooms has evaporated, 7 to 9 minutes.
7. Add the minced thyme with a pinch of pepper and cook for 1 minute.
8. Arrange one-third of the potato slices, slightly overlapping, on the bottom of the prepared dish. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and 1 Tbs. of the cheese. Spread half of the mushrooms over the potatoes and sprinkle with 1 Tbs. of the cheese.
9. Repeat these layers, using half of the remaining potatoes and all of the remaining mushrooms, and sprinkling with salt, pepper and 1 Tbs. cheese between the layers of vegetables.
10. Top with the remaining potatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
11. Using a large, flat spatula, gently press on the vegetables to compact them.
12. Pour the cream mixture through a strainer into the dish and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
13. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a sharp knife, about 45 minutes.
14. Remove the foil and bake until the mixture is golden brown and bubbly, about 20 minutes more. Let the gratin rest for about 10 minutes and serve immediately.

Dinner Snapshot - Jambalaya

We made jambalaya last Sunday and ended up eating it three nights in a row. The flavors just got better and better as the days went by. The first night, this dish was good. The second night, this dish was incredible. By the third night, the flavor was mind-blowing and it made us want to cry into our bowls when we ate the last bite.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces andouille sausage or kielbasa, quartered lengthwise and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1 1/4 cups jasmine rice (9 ounces)
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1 1/2 cups water
1 thyme sprig
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 pound lump crabmeat

12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 scallions, finely chopped
Tabasco

Instructions:

1. In a medium, enameled cast-iron casserole, heat the olive oil.

2. Add the andouille and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

3. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic to the casserole. Cover and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes.

4. Add the Old Bay, rice and andouille and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice is opaque, about 2 minutes.

5. Add the stock, water and thyme, season lightly with salt and pepper and bring to a boil.

6. Cover and cook over very low heat until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes.

7. Fluff with a fork and stir in the crab, shrimp and scallions.

8. Cover and let stand for 3 to 4 minutes, just until the crab is hot and the shrimp are opaque; discard the thyme sprig. Serve in bowls doused with plenty of Tabasco.

Dinner Snapshot - Panko Trout with Rainbow Chard

While the photo isn't very attractive, the food itself was fantastic. My father, the wandering fly fisherman, brought back a brown trout that would have made salmon cry. It was very long, very large, and very pink inside. The fillet in the photo is just one half of one side! Both of us agreed that it put most wild salmon to shame.

While I could have just cooked it up in a pan with a little bit of lemon, I was dying to use panko breadcrumbs on it. David's declared rainbow chard to be his new favorite vegetable...I'm pretty sure that he just likes it for the colors. Anyway, be prepared for more dishes that include rainbow chard.

Panko Crusted Trout

trout fillets - as much as two people can eat
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp rosemary, ground
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
1/4 grated parmesan
1 tbs butter, melted
juice of 1/2 lemon

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a small bowl, combine the panko crumbs, oregano, rosemary, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese.
3. Place fish in a baking pan and top with crumb mixture.
4. Sprinkle butter and lemon juice over the top.
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until flaky.

Sauteed Rainbow Chard

1 bunch rainbow chard
5 heads garlic, thinly sliced
shaved rind of 1/2 a lemon
1 tbs olive oil

1. In a large pan, heat olive oil over a medium flame.
2. Remove thick bottoms from chard. Cut leaves and remaining ribs into 2 inch pieces.
3. Saute garlic for one minute.
4. Add chard to pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Top with lemon rind and serve.

Baking Snapshot - Bread Plait

I came about this recipe by wanting hot bread. I pulled out a cookbook, looked at the basic ingredients to bread and then decided to wing it. I made two batches. While one was baking, I dropped the finished one off at my parent's house. These are so good, I've decided to make several to serve at Thanksgiving.

I use my Cuisinart food processor to make dough. If you do not have something similar, be sure to check out the alternative "by hand" directions underneath the main recipe.

Bread Plait

Dough:

4 tbs butter, melted

1 package active dry yeast

1/2 tbs honey

1 cup milk

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

Glaze:

1 egg yolk

1 tbs milk

1 tsp honey

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Melt butter at a low heat so that it doesn't get too hot.

3. Pour butter in small bowl. Add milk, 1/2 tsp honey, and yeast packet. Whisk briefly.

3. Let yeast mixture stand 15 minutes.

4. Combine flour and salt in bowl of food processor.

5. With machine running, add yeast mixture through feed tube. Only pour as quickly as the machine can incorporate the liquid into the flour.

6. Process until a ball of dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

7. Process an additional 60 seconds to knead the dough.

8. Form dough into a ball and set aside to rise until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.

9. On a greased baking sheet, punch down dough.

10. Divide the dough into three equal parts.

11. Form long ropes with each dough part. Push the tops together and secure by sticking to the underside of the cookie sheet.

12. Braid the bread ropes.

13. Press the ends together gently and tuck each end under the loaf.

14. Cover loaf lightly with plastic wrap and let rise for another 30 minutes.

15. Whisk glaze ingredients together. Brush glaze over dough.

16. Bake 30-40 minutes or until deep golden brown.

By Hand:

1. Prepare dough as directed through steps 4 but put flour/salt into a bowl instead.

2. Form a well in the center of the flour.

3. Pour yeast mixture into flour well.

4. With a wooden spoon, stir from the inside out, gently incorporating more flour into the yeast mixture until all flour is mixed in.

5. Turn bread out onto floured surface and knead for 2 minutes or until smooth.

6. Place dough aside to rise and complete bread as directed in steps 8-16.