Ingredients

• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cold large eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Preparation

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

Alice Medrich, Epicurious

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2/3 cup pine nuts (3 1/2 oz)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• 1 cup coarse bulgur (5 1/2 oz)
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1/2 cup dried apricots (preferably California; 3 oz), finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 oz feta, coarsely crumbled (3/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

Heat oil in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook pine nuts, stirring constantly, until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.

Add onion to pan, then reduce heat to moderately low and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 6 minutes. Add bulgur and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in water, apricots, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Remove pan from heat and let stand, covered, until bulgur is tender, about 30 minutes. Stir in nuts, feta, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.

[CP: Note that while this calls itself a dressing, it is also a great bulgur side dish.]

Gourmet, November 2005

Ingredients

• 1 lb. black-eyed peas, picked over
• 2 tbsp. rendered bacon fat
• 1 small onion, peeled

Preparation

In a bowl combine black-eyed peas with water to cover and let stand overnight.

Drain peas and in a 4-quart saucepan, combine with water to cover by 2 inches. Add bacon fat and onion. Simmer mixture, covered, 30 to 40 minutes, or until peas are tender, and drain well, discarding onion.

Gourmet, February 1995

Ingredients

• One recipe black-eyed peas, or 3 16-ounce cans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 small green bell pepper, minced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 small red bell pepper, minced (about 1/2 cup)
• 4 scallions including green parts, sliced thin
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon minced seeded habanero or other fresh hot chili, or to taste (wear rubber gloves)

Preparation

In a bowl, combine all ingredients with salt and pepper to taste and toss well. Chill mixture, covered, for at least 5 hours and up to 2 days.

Serve black-eyed peas chilled or at room temperature.

Gourmet, February 1995

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 1/4 cups (390 g) whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup wheat gluten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tbsp. instant yeast or active dry yeast

Preparation

Place all ingredients in your bread machine. Select ‘dough’ cycle. Allow cycle to run.

Dump out onto lightly floured surface.

Divide into 8 pieces.

Shape each piece into a hot dog or hamburger bun.

Place on greased cookie sheets (or bun pans), cover; let rise 30 to 40 minutes.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes until golden.

Cool on wire racks.

Ingredients

• 1 1/8 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 Tablespoons Evaporated Cane Juice (you may substitute white sugar if you wish)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 360 g whole wheat flour
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
• 3/4 cup raisins

Preparation

Place ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed, except for the raisins. Run on the whole wheat bread cycle, adding the raisins as mix-ins.

Variants

For dried fruit/nut bread, add 1/2 c. chopped dried fruit and 1/2 c. chopped nuts as mix-ins, replacing the rasins.

For lemon poppyseed bread, add 3 tbsp. lemon rind, 1 tsp. lemon extract, 1 sm. container poppy seeds, omit raisins and cinnamon.

For blueberry-lemon bread, replace raisins with dried blueberries, replace cinnamon with lemon rind, add 1 tsp. lemon extract.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups Water
• 3 tablespoons Olive oil
• 320 g whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup Gluten flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
• 4 teaspoons Active dry yeast
• cornmeal for sprinkling bottom of pan

Preparation

Add the ingredients to the bread machine in the order listed. Run on the dough cycle and 1.5 loaf size.

At the end of the rising cycle, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Lightly oil a 12-inch (or 15-inch) pizza pan and sprinkle with the cornmeal.

With floured hands, gently stretch the dough into a 12-inch (or 15-inch) circle and place in the prepared pan. Continue stretching until the dough covers the entire surface if the pan. Push the dough against the rim of the pan to make an edge, then top the dough with your choice of pizza fillings. Bake the pizza on the bottom rack of a preheated 400?F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden and the filling is melted and bubbly.

Serve hot.

Ingredients

For the Filling:

• 4 pigeons, about 1 lb. each, with livers and giblets (or doves, cornish game hens, or, most easily, chicken thighs)
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 4 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 TBSP chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp saffron threads, crushed
• 1 cup water
• 2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
• 8 eggs

For the Almond Layer:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups slivered blanched almonds
• 2 TBSP sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

For Assembling the Pie:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 14-16 phyllo sheets, thawed

For Serving:

• 3 TBSP confectioner’s sugar
• 1 TBSP ground cinnamon
• whole blanched almonds for garnish (optional)

Preparation

1. Cut the birds in quarters and rub with salt and pepper. Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat and saute the bird, turning often, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Removed to platter.

2. To the same pan add onion, liver and giblets and cook until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the herbs, spices and water and bring to a boil. Return birds, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until tender, about 40 minutes. Remove meat from pot (leave juices in pan) and, when cool enough, shred meat and chop innards.

3. Over high heat, reduce pan juices to about 1 3/4 cups. Add lemon juice.

4. Meanwhile, beat eggs in bowl to blend. Stir the eggs into the pan juices and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until soft curds form. (this takes a while.) Season with S & P. Remove from heat and drain in a strainer. Set aside.

5. Fry the almonds in butter over medium heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Chop coarsely, place in small bowl and toss with sugar and cinnamon.

6. Heat oven to 350. Brush a 14" pizza pan with butter. Arrange 8 phyllo sheets like the spokes of a wheel, brushing each with butter. The sheets should overlap so that all of the pan is covered and they should overhang the edges of the pan generously. Be sure to butter the edges well. Sprinkle 1/3 of the almond mixture in a 10" circle in the center of the pan. Top with half of the eggs. Top with all the meat, then the remaining eggs, then the remaining almonds. Fold the phyllo edges over the filling. Top with phyllo sheets as you did the bottom, this time tucking the edges under the pie.

7. Bake until golden on top, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully drain off the excess butter. Invert a second baking sheet over the pie and flip. Return to the oven to brown, 10-15 minutes. Flip again, then bake 5 minutes longer.

8. Slide onto serving platter. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and cinnamon (and almonds).

Ingredients

• Pastry dough / Pie crust
• 2 lbs fresh apricots [or any other fruit-pie fruit]
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400ºF with rack in lower third.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim excess dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Fold overhang under and press against rim of pie plate, then crimp decoratively. Chill pie shell in freezer 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, pull apricots (with skins) apart into halves, discarding pits. Melt butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, then stir in sugar, flour, and nutmeg and remove from heat. Cool mixture until firm enough to crumble, 10 to 15 minutes.

Put apricots in pie shell and crumble butter mixture over them. Bake pie, with a foil-lined baking pan on rack below it (to catch drips), 10 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350ºF and continue to bake until top is golden, 50 minutes to 1 hour more.

Cool pie to warm or room temperature on a rack.

Gourmet.com

Ingredients

• 12 oz rump of beef
• 4 fl oz olive oil
• 2 oz cured Manchego cheese
• 12 black olives
• Spanish sea salt
• Freshly-ground black pepper

Preparation

Freeze the piece of beef for half an hour then slice very thinly by machine. Arrange the slices on the plates and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with flakes of Manchego cheese, Spanish sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Chop the olives very finely, sprinkle over the meat and serve.

Spain GourmeTour Magazine, via LaTienda.com