Chicken with Tomatoes and Honey

This recipe is found in the Morocco section of the book "Around the World in 450 Recipes" which belongs to holyfigtree. I guess that's where our blog name came from - just realized that now.

Ingredients: Serves 4
2 Tbsp sunflower oil
2 Tbsp butter
4 chicken quarter, or 1 whole chicken, quartered
1 onion, chopped finely
1 garlic clove, crushed and chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
good pinch of ground ginger
3-3.5 lb tomatoes, peeled, cored, roughly chopped
2 tbsp clear honey (we used much more than that)
1/3 c blanched almonds
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
salt and pepper
fresh crusty bread, to serve

1. Heat butter and oil in large casserole. Add chicken pieces and cook over med heat for 3 min until chicken is lightly browned.
2. Add onion, garlic, cinnamon, ginger, tomatoes, and seasoning, and heat gently until tomatoes begin to bubble.
3. Lower heat, cover and simmer gently for 1 hr, stirring and turning chicken occasionally until completely cooked through.
4. Transfer chicken pieces to plate and increase heat and cook tomatoes until sauce is reduced to thick puree, stirring frequently. Stir in honey, cook for a min, then return chicken to pan and cook 2-3 min. Dry fry almonds and sesame seeds or toast under grill until golden.
5. Transfer chicken and sauce to warm serving dish and sprinkle with almonds and sesame seeds. Serve with fresh crusty bread.

We overcooked the chicken a little but the overall dish was quite good, with the honey complementing the tomatoes well. We did add a lot more honey than was said in the recipe.
*To be continued*

Cream of Sweet Corn Soup

I know it looks a bit like grits, but it really did taste good! If you like sweet corn, and it has no cream. This recipe comes from "The New Vegetarian Epicure" by Anna Thomas.

Ingredients: Serves 6-8.
9-10 freshly picked ears sweet corn (7 c kernels)
1 large sweet onion
1 large clove garlic
3 Tbsp butter
4 c milk (We used almond milk)
1 tsp salt, more to taste
Pepper to taste

Garnish: chopped chives or cilantro leaves
1. Husk and clean the corn, ad slice the kernels off into a big bowl with a sharp knife. Scrape the cobs to release as much juice as you can. You need at least 7 cups of corn kernels.
2. Chop the onion and garlic and cook them in 2 tbsp of butter until they are soft and golden, about 10 min. Combine the corn kernels, the onions and garlic, about about a cup of the milk, and puree in a blender in batches.
3. Combine the puree with the rest of the milk in a soup pot, add the salt and the remaining butter, and simmer for 15-20 min. Taste and correct the seasoning if needed.
4. The soup can be run through the blender again at this point if the texture feels too rough for you. For an absolutely silky texture you can go a step farther and press it all through a sieve, which will reduce the quantity a bit.
5. Serve the soup hot and sprinkle each serving with chopped chives or cilantro.

*In this recipe, we didn't have the garnish, and did not put the soup through a sieve. The soup was sweet and had a nice texture for chewing on.

Tomato Mushroom Risotto

I stole the recipe from the Vegetarian Epicure book that my roommate had. Two of my roommates are vegetarian. Even though I'm not, I love vegetarian meals because they're much easier to prepare, easy to clean up after, and makes me feel clean and less guilty. Mushrooms were added to the recipe for more variety. One flaw with the dish was how the rice stuck to the bottom of the pot.

In the picture, the toast had shaved Parmesan that melted and a sprig of parsley for some color.
This recipe is also courtesy of "The New Vegetarian Epicure" by Anna Thomas.
Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp butter
salt to taste
6 c vegetable broth
2 c summer tomato sauce, or
2 lbs ripe tomatoes
1 additional Tbsp olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 c Arborio rice
3/4 c dry white wine
1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

garnishes: additional Parmesan cheese
slivered fresh basil
toasted pine nuts

Steps: (shortened)
1. In a large non-stick pan, saute the onion in olive oil and butter, with a dash of salt, until turning golden. In separate skillets, heat vegetable broth and tomato sauce, and keep them both just below a simmer.
2. If starting with fresh tomatoes: scald and peel them. Chop or process them for a few seconds. Heat a tbsp olive oil and saute chopped garlic for 2 min, then add tomatoes and cook down for 15 min.
3. Add rice to sauteed onion and stir gently in pan for about 2 min. Pour white wine and stir as it is absorbed.
4. Add soup ladle of heated broth and stir, keeping mixture just at a simmer. Keep stirring until broth is nearly all absorbed into rice, then add a ladle of tomato sauce and chopped herbs, and stir until all is nearly absorbed. Continue this way, alternating broth and tomato sauce until sauce is used up. Then carry on with broth until rice is al dente. Process takes about 25 min, and at the end a creamy sauce will form around rice grains.
5. When rice is no longer crunchy, stir in last ladle of hot broth and grated Parmesan. Serve immediately. Scatter garnishes as needed.

*We also added sliced crimini mushrooms to add more variety to the dish.

Raspberry Cobbler

I got this recipe while working at an organic family farm last summer in Hoopa, CA. I tried my first fruit cobbler while there and fell for it immediately. I only ate it once while there, and today was the first day trying out the recipe. It felt like a success after positive reviews from roommates, but next time I'll probably add less lemon juice because part of it felt a bit too tart, and maybe a little less water.

The crust is pretty amazing because of the whole wheat flour though.

Ingredients:
4 cups berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Batter:
1 c sugar
6 Tbsp butter
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c unbleached flour
1 1/4 c milk
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Topping:
1/4 c sugar - this amount of sugar can vary depending on taste.
3 T flour
2 1/2 c water (boiling - add at the end)

1. Put berries in deep dish and sprinkle with lemon juice.
2. Cream butter and 1 c sugar.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Add with milk to make a batter.
4. Spoon batter over berries.
5. Mix 1/4 c sugar and 3 T flour and sprinkle over batter.
6. Pour 2 1/2 cup boiling water over the sugar and batter.
7. Bake at 375 degrees for about 1 hr or until crust is done. This may be made with other berries or fruits.

Tabouli

Ingredients:
3 bunches of parsley
1 c bulgur wheat
2 tomatoes, diced
3-4 persian cucumbers, diced
1-2 bunches green onions, finely chopped
1-2 bunches mint leaves, finely chopped
Salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon juice to taste

1. Soak bulgur wheat in water. Cook 1 c bulgur wheat with 1 c water until water absorbs.
2. Process parsley. Mix with other ingredients and add seasonings to taste. Having a food processor is excellent for ease of finely chopping parsley. Otherwise it can be a nightmare to chop by hand, or by magic bullet - not worth the effort.

Quinoa-Tahini Salad

Courtesy of holyfigtree:

Quinoa is a grain-like seed known for its high protein content.
Ingredients:
1 c dry quinoa
2 c water
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c red onion, diced
1 of ea. yellow, green, red bell pepper diced
2 bunches of cilantro, finely chopped

Tahini dressing:
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/3 c Tahini (stir before measuring)
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin powder or seeds
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1. Bring 2 c water to boil, add quinoa and cover at low simmer for 15 min. It's ready when seed's germ becomes a tiny curl. Drain.
2. Combine quinoa, garbanzo beans, bell peppers, onion, and cilantro.
3. Mix in Tahini dressing.

Couscous Salad

Ingredients:
1.5 c dry couscous
4 Persian cucumbers, diced
cooked garbanzo beans
sliced kalamata olives
1-2 tomatoes, diced
feta cheese

Cook couscous with 1.5 c water. Set aside to cool. Mix everything together and drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt to taste.