Veggie Tart

The thanksgiving entree for the vegetarians:

1. Combine zucchini, squash, mushrooms, shallots, tomatoes, bell pepper, thyme and oregano in a large bowl (or other fresh herbs).

2. Stir in 0.25 c olive oil to coat vegetables and salt and pepper to taste.

3. Pour vegetables into a large roasting pan and roast until softened (450). About 15 min.

4. While vegetables are roasting combine 4 ounce goat, 3 ounce cream and 1 tblesp freshly grated parmesean cheeses in bowl of eleectric mixer.

5. Add 1 egg and mix on high until smooth. 2 minutes.

6. Unwrap the piece crusts and place 1 on each baking sheet. Repair any tears in the dough.

7. Divide the cheese mixture between the 2 crusts spreading it to within 2 inches of the edges. Spread the vetetables on top of the cheese filling.

8. Fold in the sides of the crusts to the middle (they wont reach over the center). Pinch the overlapping edges to seal.

9. Bake tarts until the crusts are golden brown. 20 minutes.

Grandma Riley Pie Crust

This is an old Simson-Riley favorite

In the pie pan put:

1.5 cups flour

1 pinch of salt

1 teaspoons of sugar

Separate:

Mix 0.5 cups oil with

2 tblesp milk

Mix together until oil and flour are combined and press into pie pan to evenly cover the pan

Insert filling

Repeat on wax paper for the top crust

Roll out top dough between two pieces of wax paper

(for quiche you can leave out the sugar)

Sweet cornbread

This is from the Wooster Art Cookbook (volume 1)

0.75 cup sugar

0.5 cup salad oil

2 eggs beaten

1.5 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

0.125 teaspoon salt

1.5 cups yellow corn meal

1 cup milk

PS - Amanda is my favorite child.

Rube's Chinese Cooking Manifesto

After so many promises to share some of the recipes I've made for the Simson/Kohl Wintertime Chinese Chow-down, I'm finally gonna put them out there. Before we get to recipes, though, I have a bit of a manifesto on Chinese cooking that would take up way too much space on a recipe, so I'll get it off my chest, and we can get to the business of cooking knowing that these are the core beliefs that I stand firm on. Chinese cooking can be made wonderfully and simply when you have some fundamental, foundational ingredients. They are as follows:

Soy sauce: You should own high quality, authentic soy sauce, probably from a Chinese grocer (I'm sorry, but Kikkoman just doesn't do it for me). My soy sauce of choice has always been Pearl River Bridge Light Soy Sauce. It's more flavor and not a salt bomb.

Sesame oil: You should own high quality, authentic sesame oil, probably from a Chinese grocer (I'm sorry, but the super-expensive, thimble of oil you get at Whole foods or Trader Joe's just doesn't do it for me). My sesame oil of choice is Kadoya. It's a Japanese brand of sesame oil and is delicious and fragrant and fabulous.

Rice wine: You should own high quality, authentic rice wine, probably from a Chinese grocer (I'm sorry, but...oh wait rice wine is not very mainstream...carry on). There are a ton of different brands of rice wine with differing levels of sodium and alcohol content. I have not established a preference (shocking, I know) for rice wine, so feel free to experiment (Chinese writing over some, if not all the bottle, is a good sign).

Rice vinegar: You should own high quality, authentic rice vinegar, probably from a Chinese grocer (I'm sorry, but white distilled and balsamic just won't taste right). My rice vinegar of choice is Marukan. They make seasoned and unseasoned rice vinegar. I would recommend the unseasoned variety as you can easily season it yourself (just add sugar and salt, really) if it is called for.

White pepper powder: This condiment adds quite a bit of spiciness and flavor, so don't get all crazy and dump a whole bunch in all at once - a little goes a long way. Careful that you don't get the white pepper salt as that could really throw your recipe for a loop.

Ok, I could go on and on, but that should do it for now...recipes soon.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Here is Amy's recipe with further attribution at the bottom. A few tips:

Flourless Chocolate Cake

½ cup water
1 1/3 cups sugar
8 Oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine – food processor is the way to go for this
4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped fine - ditto
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and brought to room temperature
5 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (or 6 large eggs)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (You can save some dollars by not turninig on the oven until you hit the beating the eggs stage). Butter a 9-inch round cake pan (I use a springform) and line it with a round of parchment paper cut to fit. (I didn't use a springform and it was fine and came right out of the pan. I did line the bottom with wax paper).

In a heavy saucepan, combine the water with 1 cup of the sugar Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Boil for 4 minutes, or until a candy thermometer reads 220 degrees F.

Take the pan off the heat and immediately add the chocolate pieces, stirring until they are melted and smooth. If the mixture stiffens, don’t worry; it will loosen up again when you add the butter. Add the butter immediately, bit by bit, stirring until all of it is used.

Place the eggs and the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on high speed for 15 minutes. If you want to prevent splattering, drape a dishtowel over the mixture and bowl. Or perhaps Cody would help with any splatters.

When the 15 minutes are up, turn the mixer down to low. Add the chocolate mixture, stirring only until it is fully incorporated. Do not overbeat or air bubbles will form? (With our Kitchen Aid I didn't put it on the highest setting but about 2/3 of the way up and it still was really strong and increased the volume of the egg mixture incredibly without spilling over).

Spoon and scrape the mixture into the prepared cake pan. Set the pan in a slightly larger baking pan and pour boiling water around it. Do not allow the sides of the pans to touch. (I had a little bit of chocolate that stuck to the original pan, so don't worry about that, but you will be able to get a really chocolatey mixture anyway). When you mix the chocolate in to the egg mixture, make sure you take a spatula and incorporate it nicely. It will go from a light tan almost to a really chocolate intense batter.

Place the cake in the oven and bake it for 25 minutes. Insert the sharp point of a knife into the center of the cake; if it comes out clean, the cake is done. If it does not come out clean, continue baking for up to 10 minutes. Don’t bake the cake for longer than 35 minutes.

Remove the pan from the water bath and immediately unmold in onto a cookie sheet. Remove the parchment paper. Invert a serving plate over the cake and turn it right side up onto the serving plate. Serve warm, cold or at room temperature. Whipped c ream is mandatory.

From Beat This! by Ann Hodgman