Recipe: Easy Cranberry Sauce

RECIPE:  EASY CRANBERRY SAUCE

It doesn't get much easier than this.

1 bag (12-16 oz) fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water or apple, orange, or grape juice

Put everything into a medium sauce pan over medium heat.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Lower the heat to medium-low and allow to boil 10-15 minutes until thickened.  Skim any foam that rises to the top (and there may be quite a bit).


After it has thickened, remove from the heat, and put into a serving dish.  Serve at room temperature or cooled.

The thing that makes this great to make with kids -- apart from the fact that it's simple -- is that cranberries have a little bubble of air inside them naturally.  As they cook, the air expands, and the cranberries will "pop."

Recipe: Bacony Shepherd's Pie

RECIPE:  BACONY SHEPHERD'S PIE

2 slices bacon
1 lb potatoes (2-3 large spuds)
1 bag (12-16 oz) frozen corn or 3 ears fresh
1 -- 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup milk or cream
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 F and put a large pot of water (1 gallon or so) on to boil.  If using frozen corn, remove from the bag into a bowl and microwave to thaw (or heat on a small pot on the stove).  Drain the corn well.

Chop the bacon into medium (1/4 -- 1/2 inch) pieces.  Put into a skillet over medium-low heat and allow to cook slowly, rendering out as much fat as possible.

While the bacon is cooking, chop the potatoes into chunks and add to the water to boil.

When the bacon has browned and is crispy, remove from the skillet, leaving the drippings.  Add the ground beef to the pan with the drippings and brown.

When the potatoes are pierced easily with a shark knife, drain.  Add the cooked bacon, onion and garlic powder, butter, and milk or cream.  Whip the potatoes with a whisk.  These will likely be "looser" than mashed potatoes that you'd have as a side dish, but this is o.k.  You want a slightly looser consistency.

When the meat is thoroughly browned, drain it well and then add half of the cheese, stirring.  Put the meat into a medium casserole dish.  Top with the rest of the cheese.  Layer the corn on top of the beef, and then add the potatoes, spreading evenly.

Cook in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the top has started to brown.  Allow to cool slightly (5 minutes or so) before serving.

RECIPE: Falafel

This makes about 12-15 balls/patties of falafel, which is a big lunch or dinner for 2 people.

FALAFEL

1 can (15-16 oz) chickpeas/garbonzo beans (they're the same thing)
1 medium onion, minced or grated
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp fresh parsley (or 1 Tbsp dried)
2 Tbsp flour
Canola/peanut oil for frying

Put enough oil into a pot to fill the pot about 2 inches.

Drain the chickpeas and discard the liquid.

FOR SMOOTH:  Put everything in a food processor and pulse until smooth.

FOR CHUNKY: Put everything in a bowl and work with a potato masher until mostly smooth.

Shape into 1 - 1 1/2 inch balls (about ping pong ball size).  Slightly flatten them with your hand.

Heat the oil to 350F.  When the oil reaches that temperature, carefully drop in the falafel patties.  Fry about 6 at a time so the oil doesn't cool too much.  Cook for approximately 3-5 minutes, or until the outside is brown and slightly crispy.  Drain on paper towels.

RECIPE: Apple Bundt Cake

There's a hole in this cake.....and it's pareve for those of you keeping kosher.  These being the high holy days, I thought something without either meat or milk might be appropriate.

APPLE BUNDT CAKE:

3 cups flour, with 1/4 cup reserved
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
3 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup sugar or sugar substitute
1 Tbsp cinnamon (fresh ground if you can)
1/2 tsp nutmeg (fresh ground is far superior to the sawdust in a tin can)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced small (approx. 1/4 inch cubes)
1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Oil and flour a bundt pan and set aside.

Combine the flour, soda, and salt and set aside.  Remember to reserve 1/4 cup of the flour to the side.

Mix the oil, eggs, sugars, spices, and vanilla well.  Add the dried ingredients that you combined in 2 or 3 stages.  The batter will be very thick -- almost like a cookie dough.

Toss the apple cubes into the 1/4 cup flour you reserved at the beginning.  This will help keep the apples from all sinking to the bottom of the pan while the cake cooks.  Gently stir/fold the apple cubes and dried cranberries/raising (if using them) into the batter.

Spoon the batter into the bundt pan.  It will be way too thick to pour, so spooning is the way to go.  Gently smooth the top of the batter to level it somewhat.

Bake for 75 minutes (1 hour 15 minutes) or until a toothpick/skewer inserted halfway into the ring comes out clean.  Allow to cool 10 minutes in the pan, then turn the cake out onto a cooling rack to cool to room temperature.

This also makes a good breakfast the next morning with a cup of hot coffee.

RECIPE: Chewy Peanut Butter Brownies

CHEWY PEANUT BUTTER BROWNIES

2 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (chips is fine)
4 oz (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup pecan halves (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Line an 8 inch square baking dish (preferably metal, not glass) with parchment paper.

In a small pan, boil a small amount of water, and then turn the heat to low to hold it at a simmer.  Put the chocolate in a metal mixing bowl that is larger than the pan.  Put the chocolate-laden bowl OVER the pan. (You're essentially making a double boiler.)  You do not want the bottom of the bowl to touch the water.   This will melt the chocolate gently and keep it from burning, and there isn't much in the world worse than burned chocolate. Stir the chocolate until melted, then remove the bowl from the water and discard the water.  Allow the chocolate to cool.

In another bowl, beat the peanut butter and butter together until well mixed and smooth.  Add the eggs and the vanilla, and beat again until well incorporated.  Once the chocolate has cooled, add it to the peanut butter mixture and beat until will mixed.

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together, and add in 3 installments to the chocolate mixture, mixing well.  THE FINAL MIXTURE WILL BE VERY THICK.  Add the pecans, if using them.

Smear (the batter will be too thick to really pour) the batter into the pan, using a rubber spatula dipped in water to smooth and get the batter into the corners of the pan.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow to cool before removing from the pan.  Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream or cool with whipped cream or ice cream or just dig in and consume mass quantities.

RECIPE: Latin-flavored Kasha

Kasha is buckwheat.  It can be found in the kosher/ethnic section of the supermarket.  If you can't find kasha, you can substitute cooked rice (brown or white).

RECIPE: LATIN-FLAVORED KASHA

1 link (approx 1/4-1/3 lb) chorizo sausage
1 small bell pepper, diced (approx 1/2 cup)
1 ear of corn or 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
1/2 cup dry kasha (buckwheat)
1 egg white
1 cup hot (boiling, if possible) water

In a sauté pan, brown the chorizo over medium heat.  If the sausage is firm and in a casing, chop it roughly and cook it in the pan.  If soft in a casing, just remove the casing (the easy way is to just squeeze it like toothpaste into the pan).  If loose, just add it to the pan.  When the sausage is almost done, add the bell pepper, leaving the heat at medium.

If using an ear of corn, use a chef's knife to remove the kernels from the ear.  When the pepper is softened, add it to the sauté pan.

In a small mixing bowl, mix the kasha and the egg white.  You want the individual pieces of kasha to be coated in egg.  It will most likely stick in one large clump.  Once the corn has cooked for a couple of minutes, add the kasha.  Stir with a rubber spatula constantly until the individual pieces of kasha separate and the clump is no longer evident.

Add the water and tightly cover, leaving the heat at medium.  Cook for 4 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir the kasha to "fluff" it.  Serve warm as an entree or side dish, or serve chilled as a salad.

**For a vegetarian option, omit the sausage, but add 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp of cumin, and 1/4 tsp salt.**

Review: Addy's Restaurant, Cleveland, OH

In downtown Cleveland, OH, near the city hall and federal buildings, and not far from the trendy places to eat, is a little family-owned diner.  Addy's Restaurant (99 St. Claire Ave NE, Cleveland, OH) may seem out of place near the Crowne Plaza and Ritz-Carlton and other high-end hotels and establishments, but it has been going strong for 6 years, and the people who work in the area know about it and will keep going back.

As soon as you walk in, you get the "mom and pop diner" feel.  There are several tables, and plenty of room between them.  i was quickly greeted by a waitress/hostess (who happened to be the daughter of the owner), was given a table, and a young man (her brother) quickly came and returned with coffee.  The coffee was not a dark roast, but this is not the kind of place you go if you want fancy coffee.

The breakfast menu is simple and brief -- various combinations of eggs, breakfast meats, hotcakes, etc...all standard breakfast fare.  The short menu may be in part due to the fact that orders are written down only for the servers; they are given only verbally to the cook.  I found this remarkably refreshing. W hile the orders were not passed back to the kitchen using any kind of colorful shorthand that you might see on old TV shows or movies, it was still entertaining to watch.

I ordered the "Grand Slam" breakfast -- 2 hotcakes, 2 eggs (scrambled, in my case), meat (bacon), and homefries.  The food came in a reasonable amount of time, not fast but not dawdling, but I saw that there was some minor work being finished up in the kitchen at the time.  I observed that other tables got food quickly, so I blame the very slight wait on the adjustments being made in the kitchen.

The food came, and it was a nice, big breakfast without being overwhelmingly big.  There was no offer of real maple syrup; the only offering was a corn syrup.  The food was generally undersalted, which is good from my point of view, since it lets me add as I like.  The eggs did not appear "pre-scrambled" from a large batch, there were streaks of white in them, and they were not overcooked in the slightest.  The bacon was perfectly crisped and flat from the use of a heavy and old-fashioned bacon press.  The potatoes were the weakest link, being a little bland for my taste.

Addy's has been in this location for 6 years, but this family has owned establishments at this address for almost 30.  The decor is simple and does not show that this is a long-time establishment.  Noise is not an issue; even as the room filled up, it was not appreciably loud.

The price was astonishingly low:  $6.98 for the breakfast and coffee.  This is the kind of place that makes its money by keeping things simple, getting food out quickly, and having a regular customer base.

All in all, if you're in the downtown Cleveland area and aren't in a "foody" mood, I'd strongly recommend Addy's Restaurant.  However, if you are looking for exquisite food, this would not be the place to go.  The service is friendly and fairly efficient, the food is simple and cheap, though a little tasteless in the case of the potatoes.  The price, though cannot easily be beat for a downtown establishment.

OVERALL RATING:  7.5 out of 10