January 2013

Brrr, there's nothing like slurping up a large steamy bowl of soup when it's cold out. I roasted carrots for the soup and added in shallots, garlic ginger paste, warm spices (coriander, cumin, and cayenne), chicken stock, and some pumpkin puree to give the soup body and add another layer of flavor. A little honey and sherry vinegar for sweetness and acid, respectively, rounded the flavors out. I also made it a full meal by piling a bunch of grilled shrimp into each bowl for some extra protein.

We wanted a recipe for hot cocoa that was creamy, rich, and big on chocolate flavor. Nonfat dry milk lent our Hot Cocoa Mix recipe a sweet dairy flavor, especially when we reconstituted the mix with hot milk instead of hot water. Confectioners’ sugar worked best in our recipe because it dissolved quickly, and cornstarch helped thicken the hot cocoa. And for complex chocolate flavor and a soft, creamy texture, we used a combination of white chocolate and cocoa powder.

Here are some simple instructions for cooking ancient grains at home. You can add sauteed vegetables and all kinds of seasonings to these basic recipes. All come from “Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way,” by Lorna Sass. Each serves 4.

 I found the recipe upon which this is based in Clifford A. Wright’s first cookbook, “Cucina Paradiso: The Heavenly Food of Sicily.” And it is heavenly. I love the way raisins or currants and saffron introduce a sweet element into the savory and salty mix.

In the authentic version of this frittata there is a lot more olive oil, as well as chopped hard-boiled eggs. This one is lighter and simpler. It is great for lunch or dinner and keeps well in the refrigerator.

The affinity that cauliflower has with black olives is seen throughout the Mediterranean, from Tunisia to Sicily to Apulia to Greece. This simple gratin from Sicily is traditionally made with green cauliflower, but the result is equally delicious and almost as pretty with the easier-to-obtain white variety.

This sauce/side dish — a simple combination of fennel, tomatoes and olives — is magical. Not because it’s the best thing you ever ate, but because it’s transportive: you eat it and you’re in the Mediterranean. This is even true with winter tomatoes (though of course it’s better with those of summer, and see my suggestion below), because the dominant flavors are fennel and olives.

I made this meal a couple months before you can find fresh tangerines in the produce section, so I tried the alternative, oranges. 3 medium oranges made way too much relish, so if you are going to substitute the tangerines with oranges, use 2. I ended up having to double all the ingredients for the relish because there were so many oranges.