Spiced Chai Concentrate

If you do nothing else this winter, make this chai concentrate. It is seriously so delicious and comforting, perfect for a chilly (or, as cold as it gets in FL) afternoon. The hardest part is tracking down the star anise and cardamom pods. I never did find cardamom pods and just added 1/2 tsp ground cardamom, just be careful when you strain the mixture (the spices will sit at the bottom). Also, I used about half the brown sugar and the sweetness was just right for me.

You're welcome.

Experiments in Fruitcake (Bars), Part I

We still haven't really settled into Tampa. We're moved in and all but our routine still has a bit of a foreign, transient feeling to it. Maybe it's all the cheap, falling down strip malls and billboards or more likely, it's because I've been lazy about trying to make friends. Anyways, my homesickness has turned into old timey nostalgia as of late because Mei and I have been reading Anne of Green Gables together.
In that vein, I had plans of making a real, old fashioned, booze soaked fruitcake this holiday season but totally chickened out. So...baby steps: enter a recipe for Martha Stewart's fruitcake bars. You can use whatever combination of fruits, nuts and liquor you like and so far, I have used golden raisins, cranberries, cherries, apricots, dried apple and grand marnier for my liquor. Step one: get a whole bunch of dried fruit, dice it up and then pour a bunch of honey and brandy (or liquor of your choice, in my case it's grand marnier) and let it sit for 2-14 days. I'll post the final product in a week or two. Wish me luck!

Here is the recipe from the Holiday Cookie 2010 magazine (I couldn't find it on line):

2 1/2 cups dark raisins
2 1/2 cups golden raisins
2 cups dried currants
2 cups dried sour cherries
2 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1 cup dried apricots, diced into 1/4 inch pieces
3/4 cup honey
1 cup Cognac

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting
1 Tb coarse salt
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
7 (!) large eggs

1. In a large nonreactive container (glass, ceramic or plastic) combine dried fruits, honey and Cognac, let macerate at room temperature for 2 days up to 2 weeks covered with plastic wrap.

2. Preheat oven to 275. Generously butter and flour 2 8 inch square pans, tap out excess flour. Whisk to combine flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves in a bowl. Stir in nuts.

3. In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down side of bowl as needed. Transfer to a large bowl. Using a flexible spatula, fold in flour-nut mixture and drained fruit mixture, stir to evenly distribute fruits and nuts.

4. Divide batter between prepared pans, use an offset spatula to smooth tops. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached. 2-2 1/4 hours. Transfer pans to wire rack to cool completely. Invert cakes onto racks to unmold. Invert again, top sides up. Cakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 months.

5. Using a serrated knife, cut cake into thirds. Slice each third into 1 inch thick slices. Bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Chunky Two-Bean and Beef Chili

We made this last weekend during the unfortunate Michigan v Michigan State game. I won't hold the chili responsible for Michigan's loss---how could I? Especially when it is so good garnished with either queso fresco or monterey jack cheese (or both?!).

Ingredients:
1 tbsp canola oil, divided
Cooking spray
1 1/2 pounds beef stew meat (chef's note--I am okay with not using any meat in this recipe--but the lars likes it otherwise. we compromise and put in about half).
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped green bell peppers
1 tbsp minced fresh garlic
2 tsp finely chopped jalapeno pepper
2/3 cup Cabernet Sauvignon or other dry-red-wine
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground ancho chile-pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes undrained and chopped
1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can hot chili beans

1) Heat 1 tsp of oil in a large dutch oven with cooking spray over medium high-heat. Sprinkle beef with salt. Place half of beef in pan, saute eight minutes or until browned. Remove from pan and repeat procedure with remaining beef. Remove from pan.

2) Add 2 tsp of oil, onion and bell pepper to pan and saute 3 minutes. Add garlic and jalapeno; saute 1 minute. Add wine, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Return beef to pan.

3) Stir in tomato paste and remaining ingredients (I like to put all the spices/sugar together in a bowl before I start making this dish and then just dump it in when the time is right) and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender, stirring occasionally. Yield 6 servings (serving size about 1 1/2 cups).

This recipe is from the March 2006 Cooking Light.

Corn Chowdah

Nothing says the return of fall like good soup. We're loving the crisp autumn weather in Ann Arbor and thought we'd celebrate football season, cooler temps and delicious corn with corn chowder. Or, as I like to pronounce it, "chowdah".

I've tried a couple different Corn Chowdah recipes and this is the one I like the best. We like ours with a little kick so also add hot pepper flakes (and I've also put in jalapeno before). Its good just on its own. Its from the old classic, Joy of Cooking.

Corn Chowder
About 6 Cups

Cook, stirring, in a soup pot over medium-low heat until beginning to crisp, 10-15 minutes:

• 4 slices bacon, chopped (I tried turkey bacon and there's really, for soups, no substitute for the real deal).
  

Leaving the bacon in the pan, spoon off all but two tablespoons of fat. Add and cook, stirring until tender and slightly browned, 10-15 minutes

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 medium celery ribs, diced

Meanwhile, remove the kernels from:

• 6 small ears of corn

Set the kernels aside and add the cobs to the pot, along with

• 4 1/2 cups milk
• 2 medium potatoes diced

Submerge the corncobs with the milk. Bring the milk almost to a boil, reduce hte heat and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are tender, 10-15 minutes. Remove the cobs and stir in the reserved corn kernels with

• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white or black pepper.
  

Simmer gently until the corn is tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. With a slotted sppon, remove 1 1/2 cups solids from the soup and puree until smooth (or use your immersion blender until desired consistency is reached). Return to the soup and add

• 1 Tablespoon of butter (we don't do this but its in the recipe!).
  

Let stand until the butter is melted, then stir and serve.

• 
  

African Peanut Butter Soup

So a woman I work with has been making this soup and bringing it into the office ever since she started working with me three years ago. I have always been intrigued but never daring enough to make it---I mean, it doesn't *sound* great when you sell it as "peanut butter soup"...unless, of course, peanut butter is your thang. But guys, it is REALLY good. And very healthy. Think of all the protein you're getting sans meat. The texture of the rice and the sweet potato puree and the tofu and the scallions. D'lish!

Here is the recipe on Epicurious. It makes GOBS-full. You can freeze and save for later. I ate mine with some sourdough bread and chopped up canteloupe for added fun.

The only thing I would do differently is add a little bit more cayenne pepper. I did not get the heat kick that I anticipated with it. I'm sure a jalapeno or two in the mix wouldn't hurt, either.

Summer/fall sweet potato salad

Friends, this is soooo good. And it's very easy (as long as you read the ingredient list and remember to buy the limes and then read the recipe so that you put the onions in to roast with the potatoes at the beginning rather than halfway through when you're supposed to be going to pick up some limes, and then all hell breaks loose because the husband you're supposed to be picking up after you finally get the limes got caught up in the ICU and then you decided to take a shortcut that leads to a no left turn onto your street so you have to backtrack and the baby has been whining/wailing for a good half hour at this point. And no one was there to praise your excellent parallel parking job when getting the limes!). Perhaps an unnecessary digression, but since there isn't much else to say other than THIS IS SO GOOD AND EASY so I guess I needed something else to beef up the post.

Anyway, we first discovered the fab salad last summer and ate it a bunch then and I'm so glad I found the recipe again. I throw in an avocado, and it's a great complement. Tonight I'm putting the leftovers in quesadillas with jack cheese. I don't know how they will turn out, but I can't imagine they won't be good - jack cheese, tortillas and a spicy summer salad. Right? I'll let you know if they're a massive failure.

Almond Cake

We had friends and babies over for dinner on Saturday night. We served pesto, chicken sausage, watermelon and bread from Zingermans. It was good, I won't lie. But the real star was this fantastic almond cake that our friend brought. So delicious!

As David Leibovitz says in his article, "This is one of those cakes that's hard to mess up"...and apparently its adapted from Chez Panisse! I smell a blind taste test sometime in early August! Oh, what I would do to eat this sweet cake again and again and again and forever.