Scallop Gumbo

from Mark Bittman in The New York Times
via Sue Gilbert

serves 6

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

⅓ cup flour

1 onion chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 tablespoons minced garlic

Salt

Black pepper

2 to 3 cups vegetable or chicken stock

2 cups chopped tomatoes with juice (canned is fine)

1 tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried

1 tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried

2 bay leaves

Cayenne pepper to taste

1 pound scallops

Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Put oil and butter in a large pot over medium-low heat. When butter is melted, add flour and cook, stirring almost constantly until roux darkens and become fragrant, about 15 to 20 minutes. Adjust heat to be sure mixture does not burn. Add onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic and raise heat to medium. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until vegetables have softened, about 10 more minutes.

Stir in stock, tomatoes, thyme, oregano, bay leaves, and cayenne. Cover, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat so that soup bubbles steadily. Cook for about 20 minutes or until flavors meld. Add scallops and cook until they are no longer translucent, about two minutes. Remove bay leaves. Garnish with parsley.

You can also use other fish, such as snapper.

Bill's Cheesecake

Photo by Katy Lonergan

submitted by Bill Maddix

preparation time: overall 1½ to 2 hours

serves 12 to 16

8 Graham crackers (16 squares)
½ stick butter, softened
¼ cup brown sugar
2 8-ounce bricks of cream cheese, softened
5 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
1 pint sour cream
½ cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust: Using a food processor, combine Graham crackers, butter, and brown sugar until completely mixed. Remove from food processor and press crust mixture into the bottom of an 8- or 9-inch spring form pan.

For the first layer: Rinse out bowl and blade of food processor. In a medium bowl, gently mix the eggs and set aside. Put cream cheese in food processor, blend until smooth. Add sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract until incorporated. Next add eggs, being careful not to over beat the eggs.

Pour cream cheese layer into pan with Graham cracker crust and bake until the center of the mix is just skinned over enough to support the top, usually about 25 to 35 minutes. If the edges are turning brown and puffing up like a soufflé, you have gone too far. If the center is too liquid, it won’t hold the sour cream layer.

For the second layer: While crust and first layer is in the oven, in a medium mixing bowl, mix together the sour cream, sugar, and remaining teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Once crust and first layer are baked, gently spoon the sour cream mixture onto the cake starting from the edges and working in. You want to make sure not the break the skin of the first layer. Place back in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before serving, ideally chilled for several hours to overnight.

This wonderfully rich cheesecake recipe is from Bill’s mother. She found it while in San Francisco in the 1950s.

Clementine Cake

from Food Network by Nigella Lawson

submitted by Irene Tibbets

preparation time: 10 minutes for prep plus 2 hours, 50 minutes for cooking

makes an 8-inch cake

4 to 5 clementines (about 1 pound total weight)

6 eggs

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2⅓ cups ground almonds

1 heaping teaspoon baking powder

Put the clementines in a pot with cold water to cover, bring to the boil, and cook for 2 hours. Drain and, when cool, cut each clementine in half and remove the seeds. Then finely chop the skins, pith, and fruit in the processor (or by hand, of course).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter and line an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper.

Beat the eggs. Add the sugar, almonds, and baking powder. Mix well, adding the chopped clementines. I don't like using the processor for this, and frankly, you can't balk at a little light stirring.

Pour the cake mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, when a skewer will come out clean; you'll probably have to cover the cake with foil after about 40 minutes to stop the top from burning. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, in the pan on a rack. When the cake is cold, you can take it out of the pan. I think this is better a day after it's made, but I don't complain about eating it anytime.

I've also made this with an equal weight of oranges and lemons, in which case I increase the sugar to 1¼ cups and slightly Anglicize it, too, by adding a glaze made of confectioners' sugar mixed to a paste with lemon juice and a little water.

Honey-Walnut Cookies

by Kate Gambs Knickerbocker

preparation time: 40 minutes overall

yields 18 to 20 cookies

1 cup flour

¼ cup quick steel-cut oats

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup butter

½ cup honey

1 egg yolk

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup chopped, roasted walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Gently mix flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and place aside.

Cream butter, then slowly pour in honey. Once well-mixed, add egg yolk and mix one minute on medium speed. Add the dry mixture incrementally, making sure mixture gets incorporated before adding in more. Once the dry ingredients are fully incorporated, add the walnuts.

Make small dollops on 1 to 2 cookie sheets, and bake for 10 minutes. Let cool on wire rack before serving or storing.

These were soft, not crispy as expected, but lovely as tea cookies.

Indian Pudding

Photo by Tony Cenicola of the New York Times

from The New York Times

via Sue Gilbert

serves 8

Butter for baking dish

4 cups whole milk

1 cup fine-ground yellow cornmeal

½ cup molasses

4 eggs

½ cup sugar

½ cup raisins (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon ground ginger

Heat oven to 350 degrees F and butter a 2-quart baking dish. In a large pot, warm milk over medium-high heat until warm but not boiling. Whisk in cornmeal and molasses and cook, whisking, two minutes. Reduce heat to medium low.

Break eggs into medium bowl and beat. Slowly add ½ cup hot cornmeal mixture into eggs, whisking constantly. Pour mixture into pot, whisking constantly (you don’t want the eggs to scramble) and cook three minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in sugar, raisins, vanilla and ginger. Pour into prepared pan then place in a larger pan. Transfer to oven and carefully pour water into the larger dish until it comes about halfway up the sides of the smaller pan.

Bake until the pudding is set, but still jiggles slightly in the center, 45 minutes to one hours. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

This is a traditional New England pudding, and is especially nice in the fall.

Mini Rhubarb-Ginger Crostatas

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Emma Star Jensen

from Sunset Magazine, May 2015, by Romney Steele

via Judy Gray

makes 8

For the dough:

1½ cups flour (½ cup semolina and 1 cup all purpose)

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1 large egg yolk

¼ cup cold whipping cream

For the filling:

1 quart rhubarb sliced ⅓-inch thick (from 1 pound)

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons Demerara sugar

(or ½ cup light brown sugar plus 2 tablespoons coarse white sugar)

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon whipping cream

Make dough: Put flour, granulated sugar, and butter in a food processor and pulse until butter resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg yolk and pulse until combined. Add cream 1 tablespoon at a time and pulse until dough begins to come together. Transfer to a work surface and gently knead to bring together. Divide dough in half, shape each into a ½-inch thick disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill until firm, 30 to 60 minutes.

Make crostata filling: Toss rhubarb, ½ cup demerara sugar, ginger, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Set aside about 15 minutes for flavors to meld. Spoon half of mixture into a saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir cooked ginger mixture into rhubarb in bowl and let cool completely.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Divide each dough disk into 4 smaller disks. Roll each dough disk into a 5-inch circle on a lightly floured board. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining disks.

Using a slotted spoon, pile rhubarb (but not juices) in center of each circle. Gently pleat edges of dough over fruit; spoon juices into center. Lightly brush edges with cream and all over with remaining 2 tablespoons demerara sugar.

Bake, switching baking sheet positions halfway through, until fruit is tender and bubbling, about 35 minutes. Immediately transfer crostatas with a wide spatula to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The semolina flour in the dough adds a little texture and makes pleating the crostata easier. The rhubarb and ginger together makes for a wonderful flavor combination. 

Super Easy Apple Cake à La Mode

by Irene Tibbits
serves 12

4 ounces butter, or ½ cup

4 ounces sugar, or approximately a scant ½ cup

2 eggs

5 ounces flour, or approximately 1¼ cups

1 teaspoon baking powder

4 small apples

1 tablespoon cinnamon

¼ cup nuts, chopped

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the butter and stir with sugar and eggs. Stir in flour and baking powder.

Grease a round springform pan.

Clean apples and cut into wedges. Divide them into the mold and sprinkle with cinnamon. Spread cake mixture over the apples. Sprinkle with nuts and brown sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, or until golden on top.

Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or vanilla quark.

This is not a sweet cake on its own so it pairs well with ice cream.