Herbed and Cornmeal Flatbread

I love bread. It's a bit of an obsession to find good bread, so making it and having in the house is a treat, as I could normally polish off all that we have in a single day.  My mother found me this recipe, and after hanging onto it for several months, finally got around to trying it, with great success!

1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup corn meal (stone ground)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 tbsp greek yogurt
1/4 tsp herbs
canola oil

I upped the quantity of herbs because I like lots of flavor! I actually used a little baggie full of Italian herbs made for dipping olive oil, which worked great, but any mix you prefer would be delicious.

1.  Mix dry ingredients in food processor, then add yogurt until mixture forms a ball (it really does do this!)
2.  Chill for at least an hour (up to 1 day) in the refridgerator
3.  Divide dough into 8 pieces.  Easiest is to cut like a pie and then re-roll if you want round bread.  I just flattened out the triangles for ours.
4.  Heat well seasoned cast iron skillet and add canola oil
5.  Cook 2 minutes on each side, and keep warm in the oven. They get nice and browned.

You can see the results here, served up with some beef stew, broiled potatoes, and zucchini.  Without considering the canola oil, these come out to about 170 calories each (for 1/8 the recipe)

Moroccan Chicken and Autumn Vegetables

These are more additions from Paula Wolfert's cookbook!  They went together very well, especially with the addition of the tomato jam.



Moroccan Chicken
2 garlic cloves
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
pinch powdered saffron
1/4 tsp fine ground black pepper
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup hot water

1.  Pound garlic with salt, then blend in ginger, saffron, and pepper
2.  Gradually stir in oil and water as if making mayo
3.  in flame proof skillet, toss chicken with the garlic mixture and cook over low heat for 5 minutes

4. Add:
1/2 cup grated oion
1/4 cup parsley
1/4 cup corriander
2 1/2 cups water to cover


5.  Bring to biol and reduce to med-low.  Cook covered for 1 hour.


We had to make some substitutions, based on spices available, and used tumeric instead of saffron.  We also used dried cilantro which did not have quite the right flavor, so also included fresh ground cumin seed, more ginger, cumin, and fresh ground pepper.


Roasted Autumn Vegetables in the style of Corfu
1 1/2 lb ripe tomatoes
1 1/2 lb peeled potatoes (cut into 6 wedges)
1 lb yellow or red onion (cut into 6 wedges)
1 lb zucchini (trimmed, cut into chunks)
2 ribs celery
2 tsp fine chopped garlic
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp dill
1 tsp mint or marjorum
1/4 cup fruity olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400  and oil a large baking dish
2.  Spread 1/2 tomatoes on bottom, scatter vegetables on top, and layer with the rest of tomatoes
3.  Sprinkle with garlic salt, pepper, and herbs, and drizzle olive oil over the top
4.  Bake 30 minutes, stir to redistribute the vegetables, and bake another 30-40 minutes

We were not as precise in the sizes of the vegetables we cut, and we had no celery.  We did add peter pan squash, though, which has a mild zucchini like taste, and it was a great addition.  Delicious!

Spicy Eggplant and Tomato Salad/Jam

My husband is obsessed with books and recently got Paula Wolfert's World of Food in the mail.  I sat down and marked a bunch of recipes to work through, but with the farmstand season still in full swing, decided to start out with recipes that would use the lovely eggplants and other veggies in my produce drawer.

This seems like more of a jam to me, and indeed we had it on crusty bread, and it was pleasant change from our obsession with fresh bruschetta!

2lb eggplant
course salt
olive oil
1 lb tomato (peeled and seeded or 2 cans chopped tomatoes)
pinch sugar
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp ground cumin
Juice of 1 lemon

1. Remove top and bottom of each eggplant, and strip 3-4 narrow stripes off of skin.  Cut into 1/2 inch slices, salt, and leave to drain for at least an hour

2.  Heat oil in seasoned black skillet.  Fry egg plant until golden brown on each side and drain on paper towel.  Save oil to resuse

3.  Return 3 Tbsp oil to skillet and reheat.  Add tomatoes and salt, and fry them (medium for 5 minutes).  Add the sugar if too acidic

4. Mash eggplant with garlic and spices.  Add to skillet with tomatoes and cook over low heat for 20 minutes.  Continue turning in pan to help moisture evaporate.

5.  When thick, remove from heat and fold in lemon juice.  Keep well covered and refridgerate... serve at room temp.

Maple Pepper Pork

When we go to Missouri or Indiana, we always make a stop at the Amish stores that have the bulk spices.  They are amazing, and so much cheaper than the regular grocery store.  The prices and selection have made cooking so much fun, because we have a fairly well stocked spice cabinet that I can experiment with anytime!

One gem that we found at one of these stores was maple pepper rub.  We an only assume that it started with a base of maple powder  (dehydrated maple syrup: for purchase on Amazon) and had black pepper and other spices added.  We got an applewood smoked pork tenderloin, rubbed it all up with the seasoning, and cooked it pretty low and slow in the oven.   When it was almost done, I drizzled some of our maple syrup over the top (very unprocessed, so great strong flavor) for some additional flavor.

I cooked up some apples and sweet onions together in a pan with a little seasoning to top the pork with when it was ready.  We served it up with some mushroom risotto (frozen kind from Trader Joe's) and sweet corn for a delicious meal!

Frozen Greek Yogurt & Apple Granola Dessert: Accidental Awesomeness

I was dying for frozen yogurt, not even good ice cream would do.  Don't ask me why, it just has a different zip  to it!  So we busted out the Kitchenaid Ice Cream attachment (a super sized thank you to my family, it's awesome!) and got to work.

 I looked at several recipes but the main ingredients seemed to just include the yogurt, something to sweeten it, and whatever the heck else you wanted.  So in this case we used plain greek yogurt mixed with a  little splenda, a couple tablespoons of honey, vanilla extract, and some cinnamon plus (from pampered chef, great mix).  Fabulous!


Here's where the accidental awesomeness came in.  With the flavors we had chosen, it was just screaming for something to be put on, like pie.  But alas, no pie available.  So I cut up one of our precious ($$$$) honeycrisp apples, and put half each into our little pots (forget their name).  Then I topped them with some ginger snap granola we had from the organic section at Hyvee, some of the almost-raw maple syrup in our cabinet, a sprinkling of brown sugar, and a little butter.

OH MY WORD.  The gingersnap granola got soft and amazing and then crisped and carmelized right on top... the apples were tart and sweet.  With the not-too-sweet frozen yogurt on top, it was one of the best apple desserts I've ever eaten.  Not the prettiest, but oh so very tasty.  We will be stocking this granola regularly for after dinner emergencies from here on, I think!