Orange Marmalade Cookies

Orange Marmalade Cookies

A lot of people I know laugh at me because I always have a freezer packed with food. It’s that old “just in case company comes” mentality I learned from my mother.

Or maybe it’s a “just in case” a hurricane comes and you don’t have power for 6 days and not only do you need to eat up food that would otherwise spoil, you also want something sweet and delicious as a sort of consolation for not having light, heat, hot water and so on.

So I was really happy that my “just in case” packed freezer had some cookies. Among them, these oat-based bars, topped with crispy edged orange marmalade and stuffed with lots of chopped dried fruit.

I still have some left over, and that’s good because they will make for excellent nibbling on election night.

Orange Marmalade Cookies

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1-1/2 cups quick cooking oats

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 3/4 cup butter or margarine

• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

• 1/2 cup chopped dates

• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

• 13-14 ounce jar orange marmalade (1-1/2 cups)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9”x13” cake pan. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Add the oats and brown sugar and mix the ingredients thoroughly to distribute them evenly. Cut the butter into chunks and work into the dry ingredients (with fingers or process on pulse in a food processor) until the butter is completely mixed in and the mixture looks crumbly. Mix in the apricots, dates and cranberries. Press the mixture evenly inside the prepared pan. Spread the marmalade evenly on top. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in the pan. Cut into bars or squares.

Makes 24-36

My Empty Post-Hurricane Freezer

We’re back! We finally got our power back, after 6 full days without. Wow, it feels terrific and I am very very grateful. This was the worst storm I remember and sure, it was very inconvenient for us, but we didn’t suffer the terrible damage we know others did.

So, we’re happy to be home.

The very first thing I did?

Make a fresh pot of coffee of course. I had put some jarred half and half cream in my freezer-ice bin and even after 6 days without power, the cream was still cold and good, so I was able to have the coffee just the way I like it.

Second? Ugh. Cleaning the fridge and freezer. Discarding the food (fortunately I was able to bring meat/poultry to my brother’s freezer), everything in the fridge and freezer except for a few bagels.

Time to start over. 

Back to cooking this week.

Hurricane Sandy and That Huge Tree

As long as I can have hot coffee in the morning, all’s right with my world. Even if I have had no power for nearly three days and it doesn’t look as if it will come back on anytime soon. My neighborhood looks like there’s been a war. Trees down all over wires, everywhere.

The one in the photo isn’t on any wire and, thankfully, fell to the left, not the right, where it could have caused a lot of damage. It was a giant spruce and although it didn’t fall on any wires, it did block the front door. If there were any trick or treaters out there last night, they couldn’t get to the bell.

But I’m sure there weren’t. It’s really really dark here at night when there’s no power.

What should I do with all those packages of mini Snickers and M&Ms?

We lost some other trees too. But we’re okay.

As I said, as long as I can get that coffee, I’ll be fine.

And I can, because I have a campfire burner and prepared ahead by buying several butane canisters for it. I also made LOTS of coffee, which I warm up in a saucepan every morning. And, to make my world complete, I poured some half and half in a clean jelly jar and stuck it, alongside some other perishables (eggs, yogurt) in the ice cube bin of my freezer, where I knew it would keep for several days.

I did prepare lots of food ahead: fried chicken breasts, pot roast, root vegetable salad and soup, so we haven’t exactly starved. And my brother Jeff and sister-in-law Eileen have invited us to spend the time there (and shower, watch movies). So, Ed and I, after having dinner by candle light on our coffee table the first night of the storm when it was too dangerous to even drive on the local roads, brought some of our freezer food over there and having been sharing our meals. As we will again tonight.

And I still have some coffee left for the morning. I figure I made enough to last a week.

We’ll see. 

Hope to get back to the kitchen soon and post some more vignettes and recipes. We’ll get there in time. When I see the devastation and heard how much people have lost, I can’t complain.

Cranberry-Oat-Chocolate Chip Honey Bars

Here I am, snug in my home office, looking out the window at the rain and waiting for Hurricane Sandy. It’s, well, I am thinking, kind of silly to be waiting for the power to fail.

I feel like the hilarious Dorothy Parker waiting for the telephone call from her boyfriend.

Which never comes of course.

So, maybe the power won’t go out?

But at least, while waiting, I did a couple of useful things like read some of my book (In the Garden of Beasts, by Erik Larson) and get rid of that awful pile of papers on my desk, waiting to be filed.

And I also made Cranberry-Oat-Chocolate Chip Honey Bars because I read that it was National Oatmeal Day. And of course I know that cookies are not exactly oatmeal, but these do have oats in them. So, here’s the recipe in celebration of National Oatmeal Day and also Ed and I will have some more goodies when (if) the power goes out.

Cranberry-Oat-Chocolate Chip Honey Bars

• 2 cups rolled oats

• 1/2 cup chopped almonds

• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1/2 cup honey

• 1/3 cup maple syrup

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 cup dried cranberries

• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch square cake pan, line the pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang (to pull the cookies out after baking) of about 3-inches on each side. Lightly grease the paper. Place the oats and almonds on a cookie sheet and bake for about 4 minutes, stirring once or twice, or until the oats and almonds are lightly toasted and aromatic. Remove from the oven. In a medium saucepan, combine the vegetable oil, honey, maple syrup, brown sugar and salt and cook, stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes or until hot and smooth. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the oat mixture. Stir in the cinnamon and cranberries. Let cool. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool. Remove by pulling the overhanging paper. Lift out, place on a cutting board and cut into 16-24 pieces.

Makes 16-24 cookies

Essie’s Soup

It’s awfully dark out there. And although it looks like the usual gloomy morning when a hurricane-is-about-to-strike, somehow this one seems more ominous. Maybe I’ve just listened to too many news and weather reports, but I’ve prepared for Sandy like never before.

Water, batteries, ice. Check, check, check. Take in the outdoor furniture. Check.

Everything is closed. Schools, stores. No government services, like garbage pickup.

Judging by the lines at the gas stations, the horns honking too often when a light turns green, the empty shelves in the supermarket and number of people using ATMs, it seems as if everyone around here in Connecticut is stressed out.

I’ve prepared just-in-case food. Just in case we lose power, which is almost a certainty. During hurricane Irene we were out of power for 4 days.

I fried chicken cutlets and cooked (and sliced) a pot roast so we could have sandwiches. Bought fresh carrots and other vegetables we can eat raw, canned tuna, and milk for cereal. Baked some cookies so we could nibble something sweet.

And made soup. One of my favorites, which we call “Essie’s Soup,” because it was concocted years ago by my cousin Essie.

When my son-in-law Jesse first tasted some he said “what’s the difference between this and cholent?” And I had never thought about that before, but he nailed it. Essie’s soup is as thick as cholent, loaded with beans and dried peas, plus a few extras like: barley, lentils, wheatberries and stuff. Sometimes I add fresh carrots, onions and celery, but didn’t this time because, to tell you the truth, I forgot.

Essie’s soup is very very thick and gets thicker the more it cooks.

There’s no particular recipe really, so I’ll give you the broad parameters in a recipe.

This is a soup I can rewarm on my portable cooktop (which I use for cooking demonstrations). I did also buy extra butane canisters. But it’s also the kind of thing you can eat at room temperature in case that becomes a necessity.

Essie’s Soup

6-8 marrow bones

2 packages Streit’s or Manischewitz packaged vegetable, split pea or lima bean soup

2 cups mixed dried beans

1 cup split peas

1/2 cup barley

1/2 cup wheatberries, farro or spelt

4 carrots, sliced, optional

2-3 stalks celery, sliced, optional

1 large onion, peeled and sliced, optional

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Rinse the bones and place them in a large soup pot. Add water to within 3-inches from the top of the pot. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and skim the surface for a few minutes. Add the entire contents of both packages of soup (including the contents inside the seasoning packet). Add the beans, peas, barley, wheatberries, carrots, celery, onion and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil over high heat, lower the heat to a simmer and cook for several hours (at least 5), stirring occasionally, until the soup is thick. Cook longer if desired. If soup is too thick, add water and heat through. Makes a lot, depending on how long you cook it, but about 4 quarts

Squash Muffins

It only took two months to gain about 10 pounds after I started my first full-time job.

Back then, even back then, in the dinosaur era, when the only yogurt you could find easily was Dannon (in maybe 6-7 flavors), I brought a yogurt to the office. I was a freshman attorney in a big, bustling law office on Wall Street. I was so clueless then I didn’t realize that the proper office hours were NOT from 8:00 a.m., when I liked to get in (so I could also leave early and have a life), but 10:00 or 10:30 (and then have dinner with the team and come home late).

I brought in my yogurt and ate it early, but then, when the rest of the lawyers came to work, they would bring like a full American breakfast: eggs, hash browns, bacon, toast.

So, in order to try to be part of the team and a little less clueless, I ordered in breakfast too. Usually it was a blueberry muffin and some juice. Those blueberry muffins cost me 10 pounds.

But I did learn three things. One, I could never consume an “American breakfast” at my desk. It always reminded me of how bad your car smells when you have french fries wrapped up in a paper bag getting all soft and steamy.

Two, that food writing pays a lot less but has been an infinitely better career for me than working day and night as a lawyer.

Three, that I love, love, love muffins. Blueberry muffins sometimes, pumpkin or squash muffins now, when the scent of autumn spices is so alluring.

Squash Muffins

• 4 tablespoons butter

• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

• 1 cup buttermilk

• 1 cup mashed cooked squash

• 1 large egg

• 1/2 cup golden raisins, optional

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 10 muffin tin cups. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in a bowl. Place the buttermilk, squash, egg and melted butter in a second bowl and beat to blend ingredients thoroughly. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix just until combined. Fold in the raisins if used. Fill muffin cups evenly with the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for 15 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and serve warm or let cool to room temperature.

Makes 10

Cornish Pasties

I don’t have a boss who sends me home at 5 o’clock so that I can cook dinner.

In fact, I am self-employed. I’m my own boss, like lots of other women. When you are your own boss it means you have to be vigilant about getting to work, getting the work done and getting the work done on time. No one is there hammering you to do the job. No one is there threatening you that if you don’t, you’ll be fired. 

And of course there are days when one is not home at 5 o’clock to cook dinner.

Like the days when I am not working at my food writing but am spending time with the grandkids. Those can be long days. I am sometimes exhausted when I get home (but wouldn’t trade those days for anything).

That’s when I need food that I can (or my husband Ed can) pop into the oven to heat through so even on those days we can have a lovely meal.

Like these Cornish Pasties. It can be a meal in one because it has protein plus vegetables.  But I guess a salad would round it out nicely.

Pasties are also handy for football watching or election night watching.

Cornish Pasties

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons cold margarine or butter

5 tablespoons vegetable shortening

Water, about 3-4 tablespoons

12-14 ounces beef, such as skirt or hanger steak, finely chopped (or chopped, cooked halibut)

2 medium all-purpose potatoes, peeled and finely chopped

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 cup frozen peas

1 large carrot, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon margarine or butter cut into 8-10 equal pieces

1 large egg, beaten

Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Measure the flour and salt into a food processor. Add the margarine or butter and vegetable shortening in chunks. Process ingredients on pulse about 18 times, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 3 tablespoons water gradually with the machine on, adding more water only if necessary to form a soft ball of dough. Wrap the dough in plastic and let rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. When chilled, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll each piece into a circle about 1/8-inch thick. Place the chopped beef, potatoes, onion, peas and carrot in a bowl and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture evenly just below the center of each rolled out piece of dough. Top each with one piece of margarine or butter. Brush a film of beaten egg around the perimeter of each circle. Gently fold the dough into half circles, covering the filling and crimping the edges together. Place the pasties on a cookie sheet. Brush the pasties with beaten egg. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 375 degrees. Brush the pasties with egg for a second time. Bake for another 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Makes 8 pasties

Root Vegetable, Caramelized Onion and Chestnut Crumble

Parsnips, carrots and onions are my comfort foods in the vegetable world. Even though I like these three ingredients all year, there’s something better about them when the weather gets colder. Maybe because they’re earthy and sturdy and instead of steaming them or roasting them as “fries” like I do year ‘round, I can use them as part of another filling winter dish, like beef stew or vegetable soup.

Or for those dinners when the vegetable is more the star, not the meat or fish.

Or those times when I have a traditional meat or fish meal but have vegetarians as guests and need something substantial for them. Thanksgiving for example. I make a lot of side dishes so none of the folks who don’t eat turkey goes hungry as the rest of us are stuffing ourselves.

This Root Vegetable Crumble contains the big three plus winter squash and chestnuts, which make the dish even more suitable for winter. The streusel top gives it some eye appeal don’t you think? And has a lushly soft texture to it. 

I make this dish a day ahead and pop it into the oven for dinner.

Root Vegetable, Caramelized Onion and Chestnut Crumble

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 3 medium carrots, diced
• 2 medium parsnips, diced
• 1 cup diced butternut squash
• 1 dozen cooked, peeled chestnuts (I use packaged)
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped almonds
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 4 tablespoons cold butter or margarine

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a casserole dish. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until they are golden brown. Place the onions on the bottom of the casserole dish. While the onions are cooking, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the carrots, parsnip and squash. Bring to a second boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook for about 3-4 minutes or until almost tender. Drain and place in the casserole dish on top of the onions. Scatter the chestnuts on top. Make the crust: mix the flour, breadcrumbs, almonds, thyme and some salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Add the butter in chunks and work into the dry ingredients until they are crumbly. Scatter on top of the vegetables. Bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 4 servings

Squash Soup

Winter squash used to be the first baby food “food” back in the day when my kids were little. The pediatricians told us to feed just a little bit at first and start with squash because it’s sweet and most babies like it.

Of course they do. Grownups like squash too. Even grownups who don’t like other vegetables. Because squash is sweet and nutty tasting. There’s nothing harsh or bitter about it. It doesn’t taste like what many vegetable-haters say is “vegetably.”

I’ve cooked all sorts of squash, but had never cooked a turban squash before. That’s one there in the first photo. It’s a bumpy thing with a flattish-round base and a hat-looking bubble top. Looks like a turban. Imagine that.

Turban squash are often orange or green, but I’ve also seen blue and yellow ones. Some people buy them to use as decorations, but they are edible. You can peel, cut and boil the flesh, but like other winter squash, it tastes sweeter when roasted.

Cooked turban squash is kind of silky and smooth, which makes it a perfect variety for soup and recipes like quickbreads and muffins. So I made soup with the turban squash I bought. If I had been careful when I scooped the flesh I could have served it right inside the squash.

But I wasn’t.

Squash Soup

• 1 large turban squash (2 cups packed, mashed, cooked squash)

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• salt to taste

• 4 cups vegetable stock

• 1/2 to 1 cup cream, coconut milk or soy milk

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the smaller top from the squash, scoop the seeds and place the top back. Wrap the squash in aluminum foil and roast for about an hour or until tender. When cool enough to handle, scoop the cooked flesh into a bowl and set aside. Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 2 minutes or until softened. Stir in the squash, tomato paste, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Stir to blend the ingredients. Gradually stir in the stock. Bring the liquid to a boil, partially cover the pan, lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Puree the soup in a blender or with a hand blender. Return the puree to the pan and stir in the cream (start with 1/2 cup, taste and add more as desired for richness). Heat through.

Makes 6 servings

*Can be made with any cooked winter squash

Farro with Kale, Currants and Pignoli Nuts

It’s not even Hallowe’en but I’m thinking ahead to Thanksgiving and experimenting with some side dishes. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and for years we used to celebrate at my brother’s house but he moved to Buenos Aires and that’s too far to travel for dinner (I live in Connecticut).

So now Thanksgiving is at my place. And of course we have a big turkey and stuffing. 

But mostly I heavy up on the side dishes because there are several vegetarians who come. I want dinner to be delicious — and filling — for them too. Whole grain casseroles usually do the trick. Like this one, which is based on farro. 

I make farro a lot because I like the chewiness. Years ago recipes would say to cook it for ages, until it was soft, but I don’t do that. Just like I don’t cook vegetables until they’re soft.

Farro also has a rich, earthy, nutty flavor. And it is incredibly useful. I can make it into a casserole or a salad and even add it to soup. 

People are not as familiar with farro as some of the other grains, but you should give it a try if you haven’t already. You can probably find it in the supermarkets near the rice and quinoa. Health food stores have it.

If you can’t find it or you have some other grain in your house, you can make this dish anyway. Use spelt or oat groats or brown rice.

This dish is good topped with cheese plain. You don’t have to wait for Thanksgiving to make it. 

Farro with Kale, Currants and Pignoli Nuts

6-8 ounces kale

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup farro

3 tablespoons currants (or raisins)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1-3/4 cup vegetable stock

2 tablespoons toastd pignoli nuts

grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Wash the kale leaf by leaf to get rid of any dirt or sand. Remove and discard the thick stems. Chop the leaves and thin stems coarsely and set them aside. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and kale and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the farro, currants, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Stir the ingredients. Pour in the stock. Bring the liquid to a boil and cook for one minute. Cover the pan, lower the heat and cook for about 25 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Sprinkle with the pignoli nuts, stir and place in a serving bowl. Sprinkle with cheese if desired. Makes 6 servings