A delicious end to a Moroccan dinner!

 

Our church, Immanuel Lutheran, has a system of connection groups, with the purpose of getting folks together who might otherwise just say "hi" on Sunday mornings. Of course there are Bible study groups, and mission groups, but there are also lots of interest groups: golf, theatre, walking, gardening, and the one I'm part of, a gourmet cooking group.

Last night we met and the culinary focus was North African. The food is rich and spicy so, in my opinion, needs a light dessert. I set out to do an orange dessert but found some blood oranges as well. Which I found odd because in my mind I thought the blood orange season was in the winter. But I still had to have them. It made a beautiful dessert.  I tossed slices of regular and blood oranges with dates and a typical Moroccan seasoning, ras el hanout. This is sort of like the Indian curry spice blend, in that no two folks make it the same way, or maybe even the same way twice.

It's easy enough to mix it up. I'll give you a suggested starting point and then you can fiddle with it a bit if you want. It's great on lamb or chicken. Actually it's also great on pork but you'd be less likely find that in Moroccan cuisine. I think you'll find all kinds of uses for it: sprinkle on apple pie filling before baking. Or cut fresh peaches in half and remove the seeds. Put a spoonful of butter in the center, sprinkle with ras el hanout and bake in a hot oven for about fifteen minutes. Serve with a spoonful of whipped cream or a scoop of rich vanilla ice cream. Or sprinkle on the foam on a cup of cappuccino, or just stir a pinch into your regular breakfast coffee.

Orange flower water adds a wonderful exotic flavor to this. Although still quite tasty without it, it's easy enough to find in middle eastern markets most anywhere, or although more expensively, in Fresh Market or Whole Foods.

This will be equally tasty the next day but I don't think that's a problem you'll have to deal with!

ORANGES WITH RAS EL HANOUT

For the dessert:

8 large juice navel oranges
2 tbsp orange flower or rose water
2 tbsp sugar
6 sprigs fresh mint
1/2 lb pitted dates, diced
Pinches of ras el hanout
Powdered sugar

Peel oranges, removing all membrane. Cut in half vertically, then into half-moon slices. Put into a serving bowl and add orange-flower water or rose water and sugar. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour. When ready to serve, shred the mint leaves and chop the dates. Scatter over the oranges with big pinches of ras el hanout. Dust with powdered sugar and serve shortly. Serves 8.

Ras el hanout:

3/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground white pepper
1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cardamom1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Keep in a tightly capped jar.

Fig Chutney Redux

 

For pre-dinner appetizers, I made quesadillas with flour tortillas and a piece of brie sliced thinly. Warmed in a dry skillet and served with the fig chutney of earlier this week, it made a very tasty beginning to our dinner. One of our guests opined that Cambozola, a soft-ripened brie type cheese that is laced with a bit of blue cheese, would be even more delicious. And since I have more chutney, I am certainly going to try it.

Yummy Figs!

Earlier this week, my good friend Michelle Reuter, wife of our church pastor, Lane Reuter, gave me a heads-up about the fig trees on the church grounds. She said the figs were just falling onto the ground and being smashed by cars, or rotting in place. SO after services this morning, I got myself a little bag and gathered these figs. They were so fresh and wonderful. And I had just paid $7.00 for a small box at the Agricenter farmers' market on Saturday.

Once we got home, we had to have a couple each stuffed with blue cheese, wrapped in prosciutto and roasted just until the cheese was a little oozy. Sorry there's no picture, we gobbled them down too quickly.

I was thinking of making fig preserves, but quite frankly, I'm just not a jam-and-jelly eater. So, I thought, how about chutney? I've done a few before but never with figs. I went online looking at recipes but none sounded quite right, and every one that sounded good called for something I didn't have. So I improvised. I wish I'd had fresh ginger, but given the limitations of what I had, I thought the results were more than just acceptable. In fact they were quite good, and I plan on grilling pork tenderloin for dinner tomorrow evening to go with the chutney!

IMPROMPTU FIG CHUTNEY

1-1/2 cups red wine vinegar
1 cup dry red wine (I used a good zinfandel, because that's what I had open)
1-1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 cup red onion, very finely minced
1 cup golden raisins
2 large lemons, juice and finely grated zest
1 tsp whole mustard seeds
2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
2 lbs fresh figs, rinsed and quartered

In a dutch oven, or wide deep skillet, mix everything except the figs. Simmer until reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Add the figs. It'll look like there's not enough liquid, but the figs exude a lot of liquid, and soon they'll be covered. Simmer, uncovered, until most of the liquid is reduced to a thick syrup, about 45 minutes.

I put them in sterilized jars, sealed to keep, but you can keep this in the fridge for a good while, and I would think it would freeze nicely if you aren't going to use it within a few weeks.

Panna Cotta with Rosemary Scented Blueberries

Every so often there are trends that tell us what is good for us. Remember a couple of years ago when the health buzz word was cruciferous vegetables? And while we might love our broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts, there was no glamour there, no pizzazz. You just couldn’t make them look cute.

Lately the trend has been toward antioxidants, and imagine this: they are found in things that are delicious: blueberries are among the hot and trendy health foods now.

Well, heaven knows I want us all to be healthy. I’ve recently made this dessert several times. One friend, subjected to it at a couple of different dinners, said he could eat it every night. You may not go that far, but it is extremely easy and quite tasty.

“Panna cotta” is Italian for “cooked cream.” It probably originated in the north of Italy, where cream is used in cooking more than in other regions. But now it’s fairly common all over. Usually served with fruit, or sometimes with a caramel or chocolate sauce, it is quickly made.

The wine for this should be something fairly light, but it should be fruity and of good quality. I used an inexpensive sangiovese (the grape of Chianti) from California. You can reduce the wine in advance. Then bring it back up to a simmer and add the blueberries an hour or two before serving.

If any of the blueberry sauce is left over, crush the blueberries in it and simmer for a few minutes. Cool and use it over pancakes or ice cream another time. You could even put it over your morning oatmeal or cream of wheat. It is a health food, you know!

PANNA COTTA AI MIRTILLI

For the blueberries:
1 bottle sangiovese or other fruity wine
½ cup sugar
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 pint fresh blueberries, rinsed and picked over

For the panna cotta:
2 packages unflavored gelatin
3 tablespoons cool water
3 cups heavy cream
½ cup sugar
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup crème fraiche or heavy cream

Bring the wine, sugar and rosemary to a simmer in a non-reactive saucepan. Simmer uncovered until reduced by slightly more than half. Remove from the heat and add the blueberries. Set aside, covered, at room temperature for up to three hours.

Put the water in a wide flat bowl, like a soup plate. Sprinkle gelatin over the top and let set for at least five minutes. There should be no dry spots. If there are, sprinkle a few drops of water over the top to moisten completely.

In a medium saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer. Add the sugar, salt and vanilla. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the gelatin. Whisk until all the gelatin has dissolved. Let cool slightly, then add the crème fraiche or sour cream. Pour into individual serving dishes. Clear glass tumblers or wine glasses look particularly nice. Cover and refrigerate until set, at least four hours and up to 24 hours.

When ready to serve, remove the rosemary sprigs from the room temperature blueberries. Spoon over the panna cotta and garnish with additional fresh rosemary sprigs. Serves 6 to 8.

Another tasty peach pie!

 As you probably have noticed by now, desserts are not my strong point. Part of it is that I'm just not that crazy about sweets, and part of it is that if you're still hungry by the time we get to dessert, I sort of get my feelings hurt.

But once in a while, if I find something that's easy to fix and tastes really good, I'll go for it.

A couple of years ago, when peaches were at their best, I wrote about my grand-mother's "Best Peach Pie." I have been very pleased that recently I've had a number of folks tell me that they've saved the recipe and made it again this year. And several have e-mailed or called asking for the recipe again, since they'd lost it.

Recently, I was home again in Louisville and my mom had another peach pie recipe she wanted to try. We made it, and it was easy and very good. It called for a graham cracker crust, and marshmallows.

I changed the graham cracker crust to a ginger snap crumb crust, and made a couple of changes in the original recipe, and it was pronounced quite tasty by the Monday night regular testing committee.

For the baked pie recipe, you needed to find peaches that were ripe and fragrant, but still a little firm. For this recipe, since the peaches aren't cooked, you want peaches that are extremely ripe, and fairly soft. You aren't likely to find the right ripeness in the supermarket, since they need them to last a while. Peaches ripen very nicely, however, in a brown paper bag on your kitchen counter. Of course you will have to plan a couple of days ahead for that, something I'm not very good at.

I find the best peaches for using immediately at the Agri-Center Farmer's Market. Don't worry if there are spots you think are a little too soft. Really ripe peaches may have a few bruised or brown spots; if so just cut them out.

I garnished it with a handful of blueberries. Raspberries would be wonderful, or strawberries, but this is pretty darn good just all by itself!

THIS YEAR'S REALLY GOOD PEACH PIE

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2 tbsp water
20 large-size marshmallows
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 really ripe peaches, peeled and diced
1 cup heavy cream
1 ginger snap crust (or a store-bought graham cracker crust)

Place the 2 tbsp water in a small saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over the top. In a large pan, over low heat, stir the marshmallows and milk together until melted. Stir in the vanilla. Remove from the heat and place the pan with the gelatin on the burner. When the gelatin has melted, stir it into the marshmallow mixture. With a mixer, beat it about 5 minutes on medium speed.

Working quickly, beat the heavy cream in a chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold the peaches into the marshmallow mixture, then the heavy cream. Pour into the prepared crust and chill at least three hours.

GINGER SNAP CRUST

1-1/2 cups ginger snap crumbs (about 6 ounces ginger snaps)
1/4 cup sugar
5 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350o. In a 9- or 10-inch glass pie pan, mix the crumbs, sugar and butter. Press firmly onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool completely before proceeding.

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