First Harvest of August.

August 1^st is known as the first of two harvests, this date chosen primarily for being between the summer solstice and autumn equinox.  Lughnasadh, or Lughnasa, are the Gaelic names of this Middle Ages holiday celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.  Named after the god Lugh, it was celebrated with horse racing, athletic competitions, trading, feasts and, for those within marriageable ages, matchmaking.  Once Christianity had a strong hold upon the people, the holiday was renamed as Lammas (Old English for “loaf mass day”).  The first harvest included wheat, and the first loaf made was brought to church to be blessed. 

Looking outside my window, as I take a break from typing on the keyboard, I see the apricot tree and its bounty of deep orange colored fruit.  Time to harvest, and good thing too, as I have seen many an apricot cake recipe that interests me.

Of course, there was a bounty of Roma tomatoes, juicy red round tomatoes, yellow squash and multi-colored peppers to collect as well.  The tomatoes were divided up with one half being made as homemade salsa, the other half a rich pasta sauce.  The larger of the squash was sliced and frozen; but the smaller ones were saved for a special recipe.  The same will happen to the peppers, sliced and diced, but not all will be frozen.  While cultivating, growing and harvesting is an excellent way to have your favorite vegetables, and fruits, for the winter time, do not cheat yourself from the now.

In my previous article of August 2, 2023, I wrote about how to bake a cake in a microwave.  I did mention that this was an alternative, in case the oven went kaput.  Well, the universe must have read my article, and guess what?  Just so happens the gas oven went kaput, but a new one will be delivered soon from Knowles of Moab.  The old gas range was almost 15 years old, the oven being fixed once already, and this was a sign that it wanted to be put to rest.  However, a dish, that Roy enjoys with freshly harvested vegetables, is a savory quiche, but it needed to be baked in an oven, or did it?  Time to get the ingredients together, take out a microwave safe casserole bowl, and convert a recipe of a baked dish, to a microwaveable one.

As I stated before, this is a savory quiche, but can still be a lovely dish to serve for breakfast, lunch, dinner, lunch, or bring to a social get-together.  It is crustless which means gluten free.  With some vegetarians, they still use milk and egg products, so they will enjoy this recipe.  Vegans?  I am very positive they can convert my recipe to satisfy their taste buds, while keeping to their diet regime.

 

Microwave Crustless Quiche

 Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. of melted butter; or butter flavored nonstick spray

6 baby yellow squash (2 to 3 inches in length), thinly sliced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (a cayenne pepper will work too)

¼ of small onion, diced

1 small red bell pepper (or 2 mini sized), seeded and diced

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. ground black pepper

¼ tsp. dried celery seed

1 tsp. dried, crushed thyme

6 large eggs

1 cup 2% milk

Preparation:

 

Coat the bottom and sides of a deep 3-quart microwave safe dish with melted butter, or the spray.

Mix together vegetables, salt, pepper, celery seed and thyme; spread evenly in coated dish.

 

 

 

 

 

Whisk together eggs and milk; pour over top of vegetables, moving slightly, with a spatula to make sure liquid gets between the vegetables, and flows to the bottom.

 

 

 

Microwave in increments of three minutes for a total of nine minutes. First three minutes, the top will begin to firm up.  Second three minutes, the sides will firm up.  Third three minutes will firm up the center and bottom. Remove bowl from microwave and rest for five minutes.

Carefully tip the bowl, use a spatula for guidance, and allow the quiche to slide onto a serving dish.  Cut into triangles with a sharp knife, and use a pie server to keep that beautiful shape.

Makes 8 servings.

 

 

While working on the bounty of your first harvest, be it freezing, dehydrating or canning, treat yourself, or others, by creating some delicious recipes to enjoy immediately.  Did not have a garden this year?  Make sure to check for notices on local farmers’ markets, as some grow more than they can personally handle.

Mary Cokenour

 

 

 

 

 

American Chocolate Week.

According to one of those “everyday is a sort of holiday” sites, the week of March 19 – March 25, 2023 is American Chocolate Week.  I wish I could give you an exact date on when this “holiday” came into existence.  However, there happens to be a celebration of chocolate, whether worldwide, national, or one particular country altogether, since it was first created.

It began, according to written history, in the 15^th century when explorers from Europe, mainly Spain, came to the new world.  The Mayans were using cocoa beans to create a drink, but the explorers mistook them as almonds.  Bringing them back to Europe, those who ate the beans were given a huge dose of “bitter almonds”, but thankfully, not of cyanide.

As explorers continued into other countries, throughout South America, sources for the cocoa beans were found.  The local native populations were able to teach the explorers how to process the beans, and create a drink.  Good thing sugar cane was also discovered within the Caribbean Isles, and this helped sweeten the bitter concoction.

Cooks, in various countries, played with the beans by adding, not just sugar, but flavorings, and begin to create chocolate candies, confections and baked goods.  In 1904,  

How to Cook for the Sick and Convalescent, by Helena Viola Sachse, was published and it contained recipes for chocolate drinks that would help ease symptoms of illnesses and diseases.  Can chocolate really heal the sick?  Medically speaking, no; but it does have a sort of mind-altering affect that is soothing, and simply makes us feel happy.  When it comes to illness, do we not often hear that attitude goes a long way in the healing process?

Easter will soon be celebrated, and chocolate is a huge bonus gifted to children, but adults indulge just as well.  Oh yes, hard boiled eggs, with colored shells, go into baskets; however, peanut butter or coconut cream eggs are so much tastier, in my opinion.  Of course they are, they are encased in chocolate!

So here is a short recipe I tried recently for 3-Ingredient Flourless Chocolate Cookies.  They are sort of like meringues, but baked at a higher temperature, and chewy. I had a few guinea pigs try them out, with reservations on the “only 3 ingredients” theme, but the consensus was, “so good!”.  By the way, since they are flourless, those with gluten allergies can enjoy them; and confectioner sugar substitute products (Swerve or Truvia) can be used for regular powdered sugar.  This recipe also does not contain any type of fat or dairy, and since many vegetarians eat eggs, the egg whites are acceptable, especially as a source of protein.

3-Ingredient Flourless Chocolate Cookies

 Ingredients:

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 cups powdered sugar, or a substitute product

4 large egg whites

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325F, line two baking pan/sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together cocoa powder and powdered sugar to evenly combine, and break up any lumps.  Whisk in egg whites until batter is smooth.  The batter will also be gooey and sticky, so have a rubber spatula ready to help remove batter from the whisk.

Using a cookie scoop, or a tablespoon, space out, 2-inches apart, 12 rounded out portions onto each baking pan/sheet.  That rubber spatula will come in handy for removing the batter from the scoop or spoon.  Bake for 14 – 18 minutes; cookies are done when they are puffed up, have a shiny, yet crusty surface.  Remove from oven and let cookies cool off completely on the baking pans/sheets.  If you remove while still, even slightly, warm, they will fall apart.

 The first two days, the cookies will be crunchy on the outside, but chewy on the inside.  By the 3^rd day, the outside will still be crunchy, the interior will be gooier, but still delicious.  So, storage is basically 3 days in an airtight container, but they will not last that long.

Recipe makes two dozen cookies.

Mary Cokenour

 

 

 

 

Freshen Up Leftover Pasta with Veggies

 So here's the scenario; meatballs and sausages plus a baked pasta dish.  While it's expected that they'll all be eaten together, that often isn't the case.  The meat items might be used to make a sandwich, or broken up and used to spruce up pizza.  However, you're now stuck with a half pan full of pasta, and while it has sauce and cheese with it, it's kind of boring as is.

Click on Baked Ziti and it will take you to the recipe for this hearty dish of pasta baked together with homemade pasta sauce and cheese.  Now what happens if you have a lot left over?  Better yet, what if you have someone over who is vegetarian?  Serve just salad as a side?  Boring again!  Now let's take that baked pasta and combine it with a homemade sauce chock full of veggies!

I had half a 3-quart baking dish of leftover baked rigatoni.  Nope, you don't have to use just ziti for the baked ziti recipe, any small tubular pasta will do, like rigatoni, penne and mostaccioli.  In a deep, large skillet, I heated up a fresh made veggie sauce, mixed in the leftover baked pasta, and let it continue cooking until all was hot and ready to be eaten.

Here's what I used...

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1 cup each of chopped (about 1/2 inch in size) green and red bell peppers

1 medium zucchini, chopped (same size as the peppers)

1 tsp. cracked black pepper

2 cups chopped Roma tomatoes

2 cups pasta sauce

2 heaping Tbsp. minced garlic

1 Tbsp. each dried, crushed basil and oregano

Leftover baked pasta (about 1 and 1/2 quarts or about 4 servings)

Preparation:

In a deep, large skillet, medium high heat, heat the olive oil, then add in the onion, bell peppers, zucchini and black pepper; let them cook for 15 minutes.

Next, add in the remaining ingredients: tomatoes, sauce, garlic and herbs; mix thoroughly and continue to cook for an additional 20 minutes.  Stir occasionally to keep from sticking and/or burning.

Last step, mix in the left over baked pasta; mix thoroughly, breaking up the pasta pieces that might be clumped together, and let cook 10 additional minutes.  Mix again before serving.

Doing all this, I was able to stretch it out to six servings; the taste, smell and texture was delicious all the way throughout.

With the addition of the vegetables, I made something mundane into something fabulous; and even a vegetarian would find it to be fabulous as well.

This recipe can be made if cooking up some fresh pasta as well.  Cook the pasta to al dente, drain, and then add to the veggie sauce to cook together for that last 10 minutes before serving.  If someone doesn't like, or can't eat, cheese, it's not already in, so no worries.  However, you could always have a few of bowls of cheeses (shredded provolone, mozzarella and parmesan) on hand, so anyone wanting to add them, into their serving, can.

Now you don't have to wonder what to do with leftover pasta, just spruce it up with veggies!

Mary Cokenour

A Bite of Winter, Squash That Is.

Even though Monticello technically has four distinct seasons, sometimes Mother Nature plays tricks on the environment.  2017 saw a very short spring, weather wise, and the summer monsoon season continued further along than usual.  Fall had only just begun when on October 9^th, the townsfolk awoke to the first snowfall; furnaces pulsed to life while the air filled with the scent from wood burning stoves.  As suddenly as winter touched the town, fall was back with mildly cool temperatures and the turning of leaves to warm, golden colors. 

In the kitchen, recipe pages turned to comforting soups and casseroles; holidays just around the calendar corner tickled the sweet tooth for cookies, pies and cakes.  Fall and winter is also when we tend to hibernate; cocooning ourselves inside with mugs of spiced apple cider or hot chocolate.  We become more sedentary, so shouldn’t be surprised when the pounds begin moving the needle on scales upward.  Pasta is the winter downfall of the Cokenour household; thick lasagna layered with meat sauce and cheeses; puffy ravioli loaded with creamy cheese, and maybe I’ll sneak in some chopped spinach into the cheese mixture.  Therein lies the key, getting vegetables into the meals to offset some of those pounds trying to sneak onto the hips.

Spaghetti squash is an oblong shaped (normally yellow in color, sometimes with an orange tint) winter squash which can be easily prepared.  After cutting the squash lengthwise, use a simple spoon to scoop out the seeds; the raw flesh is firm and the surprise comes after cooking.  This type of squash can be baked, boiled, microwaved or steamed; my personal favorite way is baking it in an oven.  I have tried the microwave way, but I believe the baking method gives the squash more flavor, especially if you allow the ends to brown slightly.  A medium sized squash is about seven inches long and gives up about four cups of cooked flesh.  Oh, when buying a spaghetti squash, be warned that it looks slightly like a honeydew melon, but the melon typically has a greenish tint to it, while the squash won't.

After cleaning the squash, preheat the oven to 375F; line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the squash cut side down.  Some folks say to rub oil on the rind, but it really doesn't do a thing for the flesh inside and the rind will soften with or without the oil.  Bake the squash for 40 - 50 minutes; the edges will begin to brown and the flesh can easily be removed with a fork.  Clean the squash while it is still hot; hold the rind side with a folded towel and lean the bottom against the edge of your bowl; with a downward scraping motion pull the strands of the flesh into the bowl.  See how it looks like spaghetti, and the texture is almost the same also; the taste however is different, it does taste like a vegetable.  You can easily use the strands in any dish you would use the pasta in; top with your favorite pasta sauce, make a frittata, or go completely vegetarian with your recipe.  Could you add a protein?  Why not!?!  Small meatballs, grilled and sliced sausages, crispy bacon; treat it like a pasta that just happens to have more vitamins and minerals than whole grains.

 Mediterranean Spaghetti Squash

 

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp. olive oil

1 and 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 and 1/2 cups cup sliced zucchini

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 and 1/2 cups diced tomatoes

3/4 chopped fresh parsley

4 cups cooked spaghetti squash

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Option: grated Parmesan cheese on top

Preparation:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; sauté' the mushrooms, zucchini and garlic together until the mushrooms soften and begin to brown.  Keep stirring to keep the garlic from burning.

Add the tomatoes, mix and let them cook down for about five minutes, so the excess liquid can evaporate.

Add the parsley, but only cook for one minute to allow it to wilt a little.  If you want it to look more dramatic though, instead of chopping the parsley leaves; leave them whole.  Add the spaghetti squash and toss well to make sure it gets a good coating of the vegetables and parsley.  Add salt and pepper to taste; depending on how vegetarian you want this dish, you might want to sprinkle a little grated Parmesan cheese over the top of each serving.

Makes 4 servings.

I served this to both my husband and his mother; neither had ever had spaghetti squash before, nor knew what it was.  They ended up splitting the four servings up between them.  Good thing I keep a jar of peanut butter in the house; made myself a sandwich for lunch while they chowed down on the squash.  Oh well, at least I know they enjoyed it...a lot!

Mary Cokenour

Lasagna Without Using Your Noodle.

Now I've made traditional Italian lasagna using noodles; I've made vegetable lasagna, again, using noodles. What happens though when, instead of pasta noodles, vegetables themselves become the noodles?  While I did have large zucchinis which I could have sliced lengthwise thinly; I decided to try it out with eggplant; sort of as if lasagna and eggplant parmigiana decided to have a baby.

Eggplant is a spongy type of vegetable; when fried in oil, it will absorb a good deal of the oil.  However, I didn't want my lasagna to be a soppy, oily mess and made the decision to oven fry the eggplant slices.  If it works for potatoes, why not eggplant, right?  By the way, to make it a bit more interesting, I sautéed green bell peppers and grape tomatoes (look like miniature Roma tomatoes) together and made that one of the layers.  In my opinion, this addition made the entire dish come together into a delicious perfection; but then again, I'm biased.

Eggplant Lasagna

 Ingredients:

1 large eggplant

1 cup Italian flavored bread crumbs
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1 small green bell pepper
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 Tbsp. olive oil
½ tsp salt
½ tsp garlic powder
1 (32 oz.) container part-skim ricotta cheese
1 (8 oz.) package finely shredded mozzarella cheese; divided in half
3 cups homemade pasta sauce

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F; spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray, and a 2 and ½ quart baking dish.

 

Cut ends off the eggplant and peel off skin; cut into ¼ inch slices.  Place bread crumbs onto flat plate; lightly beat eggs and milk together in a wide mouth bowl.  Dip the eggplant slices into the egg mixture, then lightly bread on both sides; place on baking sheet.  Bake for 5 minutes on one side; turn over, bake for another 5 minutes; remove from oven, but keep oven at 350F.

 

While eggplant is baking; take seeds out of the bell pepper, cut into strips and then dice; cut the tomatoes into halves.  In a 10 inch skillet, heat olive oil on medium-high; add in the bell pepper, tomatoes, salt and garlic powder.  Sauté for 5 minutes, remove from heat.

 

 

 

In a medium bowl, combine ricotta and 4 ounces of shredded mozzarella; if using whole milk ricotta, add one egg when mixing to achieve smoothness. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the sprayed baking dish, spread one cup of sauce on the bottom; place 3 slices of eggplant on bottom.  Spread half the cheese mixture over the eggplant; spread half the vegetable mixture over the cheese.   Repeat process: one cup sauce, 3 eggplant, half cheese, half vegetables, one cup sauce and remaining eggplant slices.  Top the entire casserole with the other half of the shredded mozzarella; bake for 30-35 minutes (cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling up).  Remove from oven; let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

 

 

 

 

Makes six servings.

Mary Cokenour