Chaura Na Poora (black-eyed Pea Pancakes)
Ingredients & Directions 1 1/2 c Dried black-eyed peas 1 1/3 c Water 1 3/4″ cube of fresh ginger 1 ts Salt — (peeled) 1/4 ts Ground turmeric 5 Garlic cloves; peeled 1 tb Minced cilantro 2 Hot green chilies Vegetable oil — (seeded if desired) Rinse the peas, drain them, and pick out and discard any foreign objects or bad peas. Place peas in a large container and add water to cover by a couple of inches. Let soak overnight. The next day, remove skins from peas by rubbing them between your hands. You can do this right in the bowl of soaking water, occasionally draining off water and skins and replacing with fresh water. Drain completely. In a food processor or blender, mince the ginger, garlic and chilies. Add the drained peas and process until pastelike. Add 1-1/3 cups water, the salt, turmeric and minced cilantro. Process again to form mixture into a thick batter. Transfer batter to a bowl. Have all cooking paraphernalia ready and at hand. You will need to have near your skillet: 1/4 to 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in a cup or bowl with a small spoon, a larger spoon to spread the batter, the bowl of batter with a 1/3-cup measuring scoop/cup, a metal spatula for turning the pancakes, and a plate on which to place the finished pooras after they are cooked. Pour 1 teaspoon of oil into the skillet and tilt to distribute evenly. Heat the skillet over medium-low until oil is hot. Stir the batter before pouring 1/3 cup of the mixture onto the center of the hot skillet. Working rather quickly, use the large spoon to spread the batter in a spiral motion, until the pancake is about 6-7 inches in diameter. Turn pancake after 2 minutes and cook another 2 minutes on the other side. Remove pancake to plate and repeat with remaining batter, adding only enough additional oil to the skillet as needed to keep surface evenly greased. I found that about 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon for each pancake was plenty, but your milage may vary. Serve right away, or reheat (wrapped in aluminum foil) in a 450 F. oven for 15 minutes. Serve with relishes, pickles, chutney, or cooked vegetables. Adapted by Karen Mintzias from a recipe in: “Madhur Jaffrey’s World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking”. Yields 12 pancakes
Pineapple Up-side Down Cake
Ingredients & Directions 2 lb Fresh pineapple, peeled, Cored and cubed 3 c Plus 1 tablespoon sugar, in All 1 ts Ground cinnamon, in all 1 ts Grated nutmeg, in all 1 1/2 Sticks butter, softened, in All 1 ts Baking powder 1 ts Baking soda pn Salt 2 Whole eggs 1 ts Vanilla 1 c Milk 2 1/4 c Flour Preheat oven 350 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, toss the pineapple with 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg. In a hot cast iron skillet, melt 1/2 stick of the butter. Caramelize the pineapple, about 3 to 5 minutes. For the batter: In a mixing bowl, cream one cup of the butter and 1 1/2 cups of the sugar. Stir in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, and milk. Add the flour and mix well. Pour the cake batter evenly over the pineapple. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and pulls away slightly from the edges of the skillet. Cool for about 30 minutes, then invert over a large platter. Yield: 12 servings EMERIL LIVE SHOW #EMIA22 Yields 4 servings
Pear Tart (adapted From Julia Child)
Ingredients & Directions 4 oz Unblanched almonds 1/4 c Sugar 2 tb Flour 1 tb Unsalted butter 2 ts Grated lemon zest 1/2 ts Pure vanilla extract 2 Egg yolks 1 10- or 12-inch puff pastry Round, chilled and pricked All over with a Fork 5 Barely-ripe pears (such as Anjou or Bartlett), peeled And halved 1 1/2 c Apricot preserves, heated And sieved Unsalted pistachios, chopped For garnish Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a food processor combine almonds, sugar, flour, butter, lemon zest, vanilla and egg yolks; process to a coarse, granular texture. On a heavy parchment-lined baking sheet, spread almond mixture evenly over pastry circle. Using a melon baller, core pears. Slice 8 to 9 of the pears halves very thin horizontally, holding them to maintain their shape. Carefully lift and transfer halves to top of tart, arranging them to fit in a star pattern, narrow ends pointing in. Shape remaining pear half to fit in center of tart; score top, but do not slice through. Bake tart 40 to 45 minutes, until pears are golden brown and tender. Glaze pears liberally with hot apricot preserves and sprinkle pistachios in a line down each pear half for garnish. Yield: 8 servings TASTE SHOW #TS4608 Yields 4 servings
Creamy Cheesecake
Ingredients & Directions -NUTTY CRUMB CRUST- 5 oz Simple cookies (to obtain -1-1/4 cups crumbs) 1/4 c Walnut or pecan halves 3 tb Sugar 6 tb (a little less than 1/2 cup) -unsalted butter melted. CHEESE FILLING 16 oz Cream cheese, cut into -pieces and softened 1/2 c Sour cream 3/4 c Sugar 3 lg Eggs 1 lg Lemon, grated rind of 1 ts Vanilla extract -SOUR-CREAM TOPPING- 1 1/2 c Sour cream 3 tb Sugar 1 ts Vanilla extract Crust: Preheat oven to 160 C (350 F). Process cookies in a food processor to fine crumbs, or put them in a bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Measure 1-1/4 cups. Chop nuts. Mix crumbs with nuts and sugar. Add melted butter and mix well. Lightly butter a 23-cm (9 in.) springform pan. Press nut mixture in an even layer on bottom and about 2-1/2 cm (1 in.) up sides of pan. Bake 10 minutes. Remove and let cool completely. Leave oven at 160 C/350 F. Filling: Beat cream cheese with sour cream at low speed until very smooth. Gradually beat in sugar. Beat in eggs, one by one. Beat in lemon rind. If using a vanilla bean, scrape its seeds with point of a knife into cheese mixture; or stir in vanilla extract. Carefully pour filling into cooled crust and bake about 45 minutes or until firm in center. Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes. Raise oven temperature to 200 C (390 F). Topping: Mix together sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Carefully spread topping on cake in an even layer, without letting it drop over crust. Return cake to oven and bake 7 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. (Cake can be kept 3 days in refrigerator.) Remove sides of springform pan just before serving. General tip: For cutting cheesecakes, if you do not have a cutting wire, use dental floss. Grip a length of floss with both hands; cut down through the cake; then draw the floss out one side at the bottom (as opposed to pulling it back up through the cake). This gives each slice a sharp, straight edge. Yields 8 -10 servin
Mrs Fields Banana Nut Cookies
Ingredients & Directions 2 2/3 c FLOUR 1/2 ts SODA 1/4 ts SALT 1 c LT BROWN SUGAR, PACKED 1/2 c SUGAR 1 c BUTTER, SOFTENED 1 lg EGG 1 ts BANANA LIQUEUR OR EXTRACT 3/4 c MASHED RIPE BANANA 2 c SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS 1 c CHOPPED WALNUTS PREHEAT OVEN TO 300*F. IN A MEDIUM BOWL, COMBINE FLOUR, SODA AND SALT. MIX WELL AND SET ASIDE. IN A LARGE BOWL WITH AN EXLECTRIC MIXER, BLEND SUGARS AT MEDIUM SPEED. ADD BUTTER AND MIX TO FORM A GRAINY PASTE, SCRAPING DOWN THE SIDES OF THE BOWL. ADD EGG, LIQUEUR AND BANANA, AND BEAT AT MEDIUM SPEED UNTIL SMOOTH. ADD THE FLOUR MIXTURE, 1 CUP OF THE CHOCOLATE CHIPS AND THE WALNUTS AND BLEND AT LOW SPEED UNTIL JUST COMBINED. DROP BY ROUNDED TABLESPOONS ONTO UNGREASED COOKIE SHEETS, 2 INCHES APART. SPRINKLE COOKIES WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS, 6 TO 8 PER COOKIE. BAKE 25-27 MINUTES UNTIL COOKIE EDGES BEGIN TO BROWN. TRANSFER IMMEDIATELY TO A COOL SURFACE. Yields 48 Servings
Patty Ann's Strawberry Tarts
Ingredients & Directions 1/2 c Butter 1 c Sugar 3 c Flour 2 Eggs 1/2 ts Baking Powder 1 c Pecans; finely chopped 1/2 ts Salt 1 tb Brandy Or Rum Flavoring 1 Jar Smucker’s(TM) Strawberry -Preserves; (18 0z. jar) Oven 350 F. In large bowl of mixmaster put sugar, butter, eggs and flavoring. Beat until light and fluffy. Remove from mixer and by hand, work in dry ingredients and nuts. Grease a 9 x 13-inch pan and dust with flour. Press 2/3 of dough into pan. Spread the jar of preserves over this. Lattice remaining dough in strips over preserves. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Let cool in pan until lukewarm, so that hot preserves won’t burn you when you cut cookies into squares. Store in tin box between layers of wax paper. Can be frozen. TO LATTICE DOUGH: Roll small pieces between palms or on lightly floured surface. You will have to piece strips. You can’t roll them all in one piece. Keep hands or fingertips floured to make strips. NOTE: You may substitute Smucker’s(TM) Raspberry Preserves. I could never find raspberry preserves around Christmas. Yields 1 Servings
Quick Cake Doughnuts
Ingredients & Directions 1/4 c Butter or margarine; -softened 1 c Sugar 1 ea Egg 1 t Baking soda 1 c Buttermilk 4 c All-purpose flour 1 t Baking powder Vegetable oil 2 c Sifted sugar 2 tb Milk Cream butter; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg; beat well. Dissolve soda in buttermilk. Combine flour and baking powder; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Divide the dough in half. Working with one portion at a time, place dough on a floured surface; roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut dough with a floured doughnut cutter. Heat 3 to 4 inches of oil to 375 degrees F; drop in 3 or 4 doughnuts at a time. Cook about 1 minute or until golden brown on one side; turn and cook other side about 1 minute. Drain on paper towels. Combine powdered sugar and milk, beating well; drizzle over warm doughnuts. Yield: about 2-1/2 dozen. Note: Doughnuts may be sprinkled with a cinnamon-sugar mixture or powdered sugar instead of the powdered-sugar glaze. From Ralph Monin of Kentucky in October, 1982 “Southern Living” Typos by Jeff Pruett. Date: 29 Dec 95 Yields 30 Doughnuts
