Persimmon Picking & Pulping + Persimmon Bread

Micah spotted persimmon trees on the trail to the Gesher Tsar Meod, and in 2023 Jo, Micah, and I picked a bunch. Then he found an even bigger tree and I went with Jennifer Paget and we picked a half a pot full.

I purchased a vintage Foley Food Mill on Ebay and it worked wonderfully, though it's slow. Eventually you collect pulp, which you can eat as a kind of cross between jam and sauce. It's a beautiful color. The dark flecks in it are completely edible.

We baked three loaves with this recipe. It's dark and moist. Nice with cream cheese. You can use pumpkin pie spice in lieu of the cinnamon/nutmeg/cloves.

This recipe is from Feast Magazine, doubled.

2 1/2 c (175g) flour (1/2 each whole wheat and white is fine)
1 t baking soda
1 t  salt
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t fresh ground nutmeg
1/2 t ground cloves
1 1/3 cup  sugar
4 eggs
2 t vanilla 
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 c (260g) persimmon pulp

Preheat oven to 350˚F and spray pans. 

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in a medium bowl; set aside. 

In a larger bowl, beat sugar, eggs and vanilla together until combined and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. With mixer running, stream in melted butter; continue to beat until incorporated, scraping sides of bowl down with a spatula as needed. Fold in persimmon pulp and mix until incorporated. 

Fold flour mixture into butter mixture just until combined, then fold in persimmon pulp until incorporated and no streaks remain. Divide between your pans.

Bake on middle rack of oven for 45 to 50 minutes, rotating pan after 20 minutes of baking. Bread is done when a wooden skewer comes out clean or with a few crumbs. Set on wire rack to cool completely.

 

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Sweet potatoes are more nutritious than white potatoes, and prettier, so I decided to give Sweet Potato Gnocchi a whirl. They are fun and delicious. Could be a side, or a main. The ingredients are pretty flexible.

2 medium/large sweet potatoes
3 T (or so) grated parmesan
3 T (or so) ricotta, or 1 egg
1.5 c white flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
salt to taste
dash of nutmeg

For frying:
10 leaves or so fresh sage
2 T. butter + olive oil

For topping: parmesan, + chopped walnut or hazelnuts

Optional: spinach, to fry along in the pan with the gnocchi

Microwave the sweet potatoes til cooked. Let cool. Peel and if you have a ricer, process them with it, or scoop into a large bowl and use a potato masher. You want some texture, not a puree. Add the other ingredients. This is easiest to work by hand. 

On a large board, cut the dough in quarters. Roll each quarter into a log and cut pieces about the size of a small grape. Smaller is better. You can flatten the log and cut it laterally and then in 1/2" pieces.

Flour a gnocchi board, or just the back of a fork. Press your thumb to flatten the dough and roll it from the top. This creates a hollow, ridged gnocchi.

Repeat with each quarter. This makes a lot of gnocchi. I froze half for another meal. 

Boil a large pot of water and then drop the gnocchi in a few at a time. They pop up pretty quickly.

In a large skillet, add some olive oil and butter. Fry the sage leaves. When they're crisp, remove them, and add a few dozen gnocchi. Brown on both sides. Yum!

Serve with grated parmesan, chopped nuts, pesto, or whatever you like.

If you throw some spinach in the pan with the gnocchi, it will be even more nutricious and colorful.

 

Claudia Roden Persian Chicken w Apricots, Pistachios, Pomegranate Syrup

This beautiful recipe was featured in Hadassah Magazine. It's perfect for Sukkot. I've made it several times in Chestertown, since it keeps well for winter shabbatot when you cook in advance. 

I have made some changes, like adding rice for the last stage, making it a kind of arroz con pollo. The biggest task in this recipe is browning the chicken, which I find is hard to do. But, it pulls the juices into the pan for the sauce and, I think, prevents the chicken from getting soggy?

2 T sunflower oil
2 onions, chopped
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (they are usually sold six to a package. 8 barely fit in a big skillet.)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
7 oz soft dried apricots, chopped
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground coriander
1 T pomegranate molasses
Juice of 1/2 lemon

optional: 3/4 c. of rice plus extra water
Generous 1/2 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped

1. Warm the sunflower oil in a large sauté pan (with a lid) over low heat. Add the onions and cook, with the lid on, stirring often, for about 10 minutes, until soft and golden. 

2. In a second saute pan, with a lid, put the chicken thighs into the pan, skin-side down, add salt and pepper and cook over medium heat, with the lid on, for about 10 minutes, until the skin releases its fat and the chicken pieces are well browned. Turn them over and cook the other side for 10 minutes, until browned, adding more salt and pepper. 

3. Add the apricots and add the onions to the pan, lifting the chicken pieces so that they sit on top of the apricots and onions.

4. Measure 3/4 cup water into a liquid measuring cup, stir in the cinnamon, coriander, pomegranate molasses and lemon juice and pour over the chicken.

5. Optional: add 3/4 c. rice plus the appropriate amount of liquid (can be a little less than for just cooking rice, since you're also adding the 3/4 c water in Step 4.

Cook, covered, over low heat for 25 minutes, until the chicken is very tender and cooked through and the liquid is reduced.

5. Serve the chicken sprinkled with the pistachios. It's not super-colorful but very, very delicious!

Claudia Roden's Yogurt Cake

A 7" cake. It puffs and settles.

Here is Claudia Roden's Yogurt Cake. It's the same idea except adding yogurt gives it more heft. Eyal and Nadav love it! They call it yogurt muffins, for mysterious reasons. Note it has flour. Probably you could sub almond flour if you wanted to do this on Pesach, or make it gluten free. It's much lighter than cheese cake, but similar.

4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature - put the yolks in the larger bowl

½ cup granulated sugar
3 T [try doubling this for a denser cake] all-purpose flour (can be whole wheat)
1 ⅔ cups whole-milk Greek yogurt, or strain regular yogurt in a coffee filter for an hour or two.
1 lemon, zested and juiced

Optional: 1/2 c blueberries
Pinch of salt (optional), cinnamon to taste

Heat oven to 350 degrees and butter an 8- or 9-inch springform pan, or two smaller (A 7" and 5" works well).

• Using an electric hand mixer, beat egg whites until they're stiff peaks
• Using the same mixer, combine yolks and sugar (no need to wash beaters after the egg white). Beat on medium-high until the mixture is very pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. 
• Mix in flour, yogurt, lemon zest and juice, and salt until fully incorporated.
• Gently fold half of the egg whites into the yolk-yogurt mixture until only a few streaks remain. 
• Fold in the remaining whites, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl, until the batter is evenly mixed, light and smooth.
• If you add blueberries, add a little flower to coat them. Take about 2/3 of the blueberries and mix in the batter. Save the rest for the top.
• Scrape the batter into prepared pan(s) and smooth into an even layer. Set the balance of the berries on top of the cake/s. These will not sink.
• Bake until the top is speckled with golden brown and puffed, 35 to 55 minutes. ( This burns if you don't watch it! You can cover with tin foil if it's browning too fast.
• Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cake cool before cutting. Serve warm or cold.

Fritzie's 60s OJ Onion Chicken

Zach is amused by 20th Century recipes with shortcut ingredients. The most famous (and maligned!) is  greenbean casserole with cans of mushroom soup and onion rings, but people do love it.

This chicken was my mom's recipe. It's on the Lipton Soup website as just OJ and the soup powder, but I add others things.

I have made it many times, and Abba asks for it. Frozen OJ is basically 100% juice, so not really processed at all. The onion soup powder does have some additives, but none I would avoid except MSG, if you have a guest who is allergic to it.

Heat oven to 375

2 chickens, cut in 8ths (or thighs, or breasts)
1 can frozen OJ (12 oz)
1 packet onion soup mix. (It's about 1.4 oz, if you buy a jar of it)
a few oz. raisins
optional: soy sauce to taste, garlic to taste, sliced scallions for the last few minutes

Pack the chicken into one large pan, skin sides up. 

Mix all the ingredients and spread over the top. Baste a few times. 

Bake for about 1 1/4 hour. Turn off the oven and leave in the chicken. It's most delicious when the sauce has nicely glazed. You could add the scallions and then turn off the oven. They will add some flavor and visual appeal.

Almond Horns - Mandelhörnchen

For Zeke's bar mitzvah, I wanted to bake something primarily for Zeke. I told him he didn't have to share his goodies with anyone. (For Ezra's, since we were a small group and we hung out at their house, I baked more generic things.) Zeke did share them, but received his own private stash and was quite pleased about it.

Since the Hausmanns are yekkehs on both sides, and indeed the boys already have German citizenship, I picked this treat, mandelhörnchen. I read about them in Smitten Kitchen, but ultimately went with the German version, video linked above. It uses marzipan, which I had in the house and wanted to try. 

There are many discussions of the merits of almond paste vs. marzipan. I took the sprinkles idea from Smitten Kitchen. These are not something Eric ever mentioned, but they are German classics.

This is a European metric recipe translated into American measures, so a little odd. 

7.05 oz marzipan
0.89 cups almond meal or almond flour
1 egg white for the dough
0.83 cups confectioners sugar (= powdered sugar)
2 t lemon juice
1 egg-white for dipping
4 oz sliced almonds
1 cup dark chocolate (more or less)


Put the marzipan, almond flour, confectioners sugar, egg white, and lemon juice into a bowl and mix it all together.
With wet fingers, shape 6 Crescents from the dough. (these would be huge. I did 9 and would go smaller still).
Dip each crescent first into the egg white and then turn it in the almond slices until it's well covered.
Set on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake the almond crescents for 10 to 15 minutes or a little longer if you want them more crisp.

Let them cool and in the meantime, melt the chocolate on the induction Melt setting in a frying pan.
Once the almond horns have cooled completely, dip the ends of the horns into the chocolate. [Sprinkle on the jimmies!]
Let the chocolate set and then enjoy.

Not bad for a first try, and they were well-received!

Basic Wholewheat Pancake with or without Banana

This is from Favorite Recipes from Quilters, contributed by two different cooks--Emma Troyer of Partridge, KS and Cathy Mazur of Williams Lake, BC.

It is easy and, for wholewheat pancakes, very light and high. I added the lemon zest.

You can add fresh berries; add them whole when you flip them in the loose batter on the second side.

1 c. wholewheat flour
1 T sugar
1 t. baking powder (push through a sieve)
1/2 t. baking soda (push through a sieve)
1/2 t salt
1 egg
1 c. buttermilk

optional: one mashed ripe banana
2 T melted butter
grated lemon zest to taste
cinnamon to taste

In medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. 

Add egg, buttermilk, melted butter, and lemon zest. Whisk.

In hot, oiled skillet or grill, drop about 1/4 c of batter per pancake. Flip. On the induction burner, you can turn off the burner for the second side and the pancakes will cook fine and be less likely to burn.

Cranberry Bars

Bars are faster than cookies, and I like that you can cut them in various sizes. These are from a cookbook I picked up for $1 at the Seattle Public Library, Favorite Recipes from Quilters. The book is from 1992; lots of recipes call for margarine or shortening. But a good recipe is a good recipe. These were good. I anticipate having lots of other berries in Chestertown from Micah's garden. These are a little simpler than the crumble recipe. Contributor is Irma H. Schoen.

Note there is no baking powder - this makes a dense bar.

I learned that a 9" x 13" pan is equivalent to a quarter sheet pan, meaning you can bake these in the Breville.

1 stick softened butter (if it's winter and the butter doesn't soften, grate it ahead and let it sit)
1.5 c sugar (if you use a different berry, you could cut back on sugar)
1.5 flour (half whole-wheat works fine)
2 eggs
1 c. chopped nuts - best if done by hand
1.5 c whole cranberries (a half bag)

salt, cinnamon to taste

Grease a quarter sheet pan well.

Cream the butter and sugar.

Add the flours, eggs, salt and cinnamon and mix. It's very stiff. You can use a wooden utensil and then your hands.

Add the cranberries and chopped nuts.

Spread out in the pan, wetting hands to fill in all the spaces.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Don't overbake or they're hard to cut.

Cool and cut. Recipe says 8x8. 

Becca's Charred Broccoli

We all love Becca's broccoli. 

I cut the broccoli florets in vertical slices to give it more surface area, like they do to make cauliflower steaks, but much smaller.

Using our 9" Lodge cast iron, heated to 8 on the induction, I put in about 2 T. olive oil, let it heat, and dumped in the broccoli.  I let it singe for about a minute, then stirred it for another minute or two. Then turned off the burner, covered it, and it steamed. Just added salt, as Becca directed.

8 minutes later: perfect!

Chocolate Chip Meringue Bars

I am baking for Zeke Hausmann's bar mitzvah. Now that I ditched kichel, we need new traditions!

I never bother baking chocolate chip cookies, since such good varieties are available commercially. These bars were a recipe my mom got from my friend Joan Wambheim's mother Carol. Apparently it's a popular recipe from mid-20th century church and community cookbooks, sometimes called Halfway to Heaven Bars. 

Mom's recipe calls for shortening, very mid-20th century for sure. Back to butter! Be sure to put the butter out to get to room temperature

I like to chop nuts with a big knife now, instead of a food processor or hand chopper.

Recipe says a 9 x 13 pan. That's very similar in size to a quarter sheet, and it worked fine.

Cookie base layer

1 stick butter, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
2 c. flour (half or 1/4 whole wheat is fine)
1 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
2 egg yolks (you'll use the whites for the meringue)
1 T water (or more if needed)
1 t. vanilla

Mid Layer:

1 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped nut (walnuts or pecans)

Meringue

2 or 3 egg whites (the extra egg white would give a little lift to the top layer).
1 c. brown sugar (white seems to be OK too)

======

In large bowl, cream butter and sugars. It's not necessary to use a mixer, just a good spatula and some effort.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix til smooth. Spray the quarter sheet pan with oil and pat down the dough, with wet hands. 

Spread the chocolate chips and chopped nuts, pressing in gently.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until glossy with stiff peaks. The volume increases so make sure the bowl is big enough! Slowly add the sugar until incorporated.

Spread over the chocolate/nut layer. Drop it on in a few different places, as it's thick and a bit hard to spread.

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 until browned. Cook and cut in small squares. I use a pizza cutter. Cutting 6 x 7, it made 42 bars.

One recipe says they don't freeze well -- we'll see!

 

Smitten Kitchen Pea Mint Feta Fritters

This is a nice dish for shavuot, based on cheese and using fresh mint from the garden. It comes together fast.

2 c. frozen peas (10 oz)
3 eggs
salt & freshly ground pepper
1/4 t. red-pepper flakes
1 medium lemon, zested
1/4 c chopped mint
1 c (4 oz) crumbled feta (break up any large pieces)
2/3 c. flour (whole wheat is fine)
Oil for frying
3/4 c. Greek yogurt, unflavored

Defrost peas in a colander.

In large bowl, beat the eggs with salt, pepper, red-pepper flakes, lemon zest, and mint. Add the drained peas and feta, and then the flour. It will be a stiff batter.

Over medium heat (6 on induction, then lower it to 5 and then down to 4), heat oil in large fry pan. Add 2 T batter per patty. Cook until golden brown and flip. It should take just a few minutes. Loose peas are fried crunchy, a little added treat. Drain on paper towels. 

Add 1/2 the juice of the zested lemon to the yogurt plus a little salt, for a tasty sauce.

serve hot, though these are also good at room temperature. They are very substantial and filling. A bit of a falafel vibe.

Cole Slaw

I am a huge fan of cole slaw. Abba's favorite is: a bag of shredded cabbage, a large can of crushed pineapple, mayo to taste, and curry powder to taste. However, I notice it's not that popular with others.

This recipe disappeared! 

1 t celery seed
2/3 C mayonnaise
1 T apple cider vinegar
4 t granulated white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
a 14-16 oz bag classic coleslaw mix

Optional: finely chopped fresh pineapple to taste

Combine all of the ingredients except for the coleslaw mix in a large bowl and whisk it together until it's smooth and creamy.
Place the dressing in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to allow the sugar to completely dissolve and to allow the celery seeds to soften.
After 30 minutes  give the dressing one last quick whisk and then fold into the classic coleslaw mix.

This recipe tastes best if served immediately, but it can also be made the night before or the morning of.

Lemon Cream Cheese Tarts

This recipe came from Susan Schuman, a Schechter mom wtih a son was named Eric. These are very rich, but since you make them as individual little tarts, they are perfect. Nice for Shavuot. Since COVID, people are doing more individual baked goods, and they're also just right for a tea. Be sure to allow for the hour to chill the dough.

8 oz cream cheese - softened at room temperature
2 sticks of butter - softened at room temperature
1 c. flour
2 T sugar
salt to taste
1/2 t cinnamon
optional: grated lemon zest to taste

1 can of lemon pie filling (or another flavor if you prefer)

1 pint raspberries or small strawberries (like from the Strawberry Lady of Broadneck Road!)

Add the butter and cream cheese to a large mixing bowl. Mix with a pastry blender (a hand tool.) Slowly add flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and optional lemon zest. Knead til smooth, by hand. Refrigerate for one hour.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Pinch 1" balls of dough and place in silicon muffin cups. Press into place making saucer shapes, with dough creating sides.Fill each with a spoonfullof pie filling.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until browned, checking they aren't burning.

Cool in the pans. Eventually pop them out and cool on racks. Refrigerate before serving. Add rasperries or strawberries for decoration. A few blueberries each would be pretty too.

Makes about 30.

Mac'N'Cheese Pancakes

This is barely a recipe, but hey. It's a kiddo favorite (sometimes!) and amps up the protein. Leftovers go in the lunch boxes. It makes mac n'cheese into finger food.

Prepare one or two boxes of Annie's boxed macaroni & cheese; tubes are better than shells. Cool a bit. Add an egg or two, and stir.

Melt butter over medium heat on a large skillet or tawa. Drop by spoonfuls and fry until well-browned. Turn. I am generally impatient with waiting for a great brown. 

Smaller is better for this. 

And, a new variation. take about half the mac n' cheese only and add an egg. It made five large pancakes, so go with a bigger skillet.

Then, since the Cheddy Mac was kinda runny, we had Mac N'Cheese pancakes with a side of mac n cheese, and they dipped the pancake into the cheesey sauce. A very orange dinner. It's a little more work, but does break the monotony of mac n'cheese being their main entree!

CakeDoodle Birthday Tiered Cake

Today was Eyal and Nadav's 4th Birthday. They were so excited.

I baked a cake from King Arthur, a classic Depression era recipe with cocoa, flour, vinegar, baking soda - and no oil or butter, and brought it over to the Henry School Garden where their pizza party was. 

Made up for the missing butter with the frosting!

Divide the batter into two small spring forms. I did 5" and 7", but I suggest 8" for the bigger layer. A one inch edge isn't much surface to work on. Nomi called it a showstopper. It was fun. The cake and frosting are quite yummy, but the presentation seals the deal. 

The Cake:

1 1/2 c flour
1 c sugar
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa, Dutch-process or natural*
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla
1 T cider vinegar or white vinegar
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 c  water or milk

Heat oven to 350. Spray two springforms well, 8" and 5" recommended.

In large bowl, mix dry ingredients, using a strainer for the cocoa and baking soda. Whisk well.

In a small bowl, mix the liquid ingredients. Add to the dry, and stir until fully mixed.

Split the batter between the two pans, and bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. The smaller may finish first.

The frosting is classic birthday cake! And great for sprinkles.

1 stick softened butter

3 c. confectioners sugar

1 t. vanilla

2-3 T milk

Beat the butter until creamy. Add the ingredients and beat until spreading consistency. With confectioners sugar it's best to not add all the liquid at once. Start with 2 T and add the third as needed.

When cake is cool, put the larger layer on a serving plate. Frost the top and center the smaller tier on top. Frost away, and go heavy on the sprinkles!

This served a lot of people, cut into small pieces. Nadav told one of the moms that the special ingredient in this birthday cake was LOVE. Sure was! Eyal was thrilled. He kept saying "It's SO good!"

Solo Pi Pizza Oven Dough

 Becca used a birthday gift to present 8221 with a Pizza Pi oven from Solo. 

You could use about 25% whole wheat.

This made 6 pizzas - one + leftover for six of us (2 kids).

450-580 g (4.5 cups)	All-Purpose Flour
14 g (1 Tbs.)	Sugar
9 g (1 tsp.)	Salt
20 g (2 Tbs.)	Instant Yeast
26 g (2 Tbs.)	Olive Oil
430 g (2 cups)	Warm Water

Preparation

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.

Slowly add water and oil to the mixture, and combine by hand or with a mixer. 

Once there are no dry spots or clumps, knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth and until the dough passes the ‘windowpane test.’

Place the dough in a tightly covered container and let it rest for 30 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Separate the dough evenly into 6 balls weighing 200 grams each, and use immediately or store in airtight containers and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. 

To flatten the dough by hand, first flour your workspace. Start to stretch the dough from the center and push outwards in each direction. If there are air bubbles, work them toward the outer edge. 

To flatten with a rolling pin, first flour your workspace and your pin. Roll back and forth over your dough, and then turn the oval-shaped dough 90 degrees to flatten in the opposite direction. Repeat until your dough is evenly thin.

Transfer the stretched dough to a dusted pizza peel before adding sauce or toppings.

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

 This recipe is quite quick and basic. What's the difference between stew and soup? For stew, leave it chunky and put in less liquid. For soup, more liquid and a little bit of immersive blending.

This is very flexible. Nothing much needs prepping! Serve with a grain like couscous or even mashed potatoes. 

1 T olive oil
1 medium  onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 t cumin
1 t cinnamon
1 t ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 cups organic low sodium vegetable broth
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
4 cups cubed butternut squash - easily found, in season, at the market already prepped

optional or alternative vegetables: cubed sweet potatoes, carrots
1 c green lentils
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
fresh juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/3 cup chopped cilantro or parsley

In large pot (skillet or pot, with a cover) heat the oil and saute the chopped onion and garlic until softened.

Add the spices and cook for about a minute.

Add the tomatoes, vegetable broth, chickpeas, butternut squash, lentils, salt and pepper. Cook until the lentils are done and the vegetables are soft - 30 minutes or so.

Squeeze in the lemon before serving.