Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant, peeled, cut into thick chunks
• 1 head fresh garlic, peeled
• 5-6 tomatoes (smaller, vine-ripe), quartered and seeds removed
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1/2-1 tsp. salt (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 tbsp. Penzey’s Tuscan Sunset or other spice blend
• 1 16-oz. can white beans
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. oregano (pref. Mexican)
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375. Place the vegetables in a shallow baking dish. Add the oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and spice blend. Toss well to coat. Carefully spread into a single layer and place the pan in the oven. Roast for 45 minutes. Note: Vegetables can also be roasted on a pan in a gas grill. Cool vegetable mixture, or let rest overnight in the fridge.

Rinse and drain the white beans and place in a blender with 2 c. of the vegetable mixture. The vegetables should have exuded quite a bit of liquid so make sure to include some of this in the 2 cups. Blend the beans and vegetables. Add the chili powder and oregano and the lemon juice. Blend well and pour into a bowl. Serve with any firm cracker.

Penzey’s Spices

Ingredients

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (about 8 1/2 ounces), thawed
• 4 strips bacon or 1/4 pound pancetta, cut in thin strips
• 1 TBSP butter
• 3/4 lb onions (about 2 medium), thinly sliced
• S & P
• 1 lb sea scallops
• olive oil

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400.

Roll pastry out to a 13" square. [Recipe says to cut into 4 rounds, using a 6" saucer as a guide - I didn’t.] Line baking sheet with parchment paper, put pastry on it, and prick all over with fork. Top with parchment and a second baking sheet to weigh down dough. Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully remove top baking sheet and parchment. If pastry is not well browned and crisp, return it to the oven, uncovered, until done. (Can be made up to 8 hours in advance and kept uncovered at room temperature.)

Cook bacon or pancetta over medium-low heat until crisp. Drain on paper towel.

Pour out all but 1 TBSP of fat, add butter, onions and season with S & P. Cook until caramelized, about 20 minutes.

If you turned off oven, reheat it to 400.

Thinly slice scallops horizontally into rounds - you’ll probably get 3 slices per scallop. Spread onions on pastry all the way to the edges. Top with scallops, slightly overlapping. (If you’ve made rounds, put scallops on in a circular pattern, so they look like a flower.) Season with S & P and drizzle with a little olive oil.

Bake 3 or 4 minutes (mine took a little longer), just until warm or “a smidgen past raw.” The texture is almost custard-like and the flavor wonderful!

Ingredients

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 c. butter, softened
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 2 1/4 c. flour, divided
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 2 1/2 c. fresh or thawed frozen cranberries
• 1/2 c. pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1/4-1/2 c. powdered sugar

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 10-inch tube or large fluted tube pan and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, butter, and vanilla until well mixed. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. In a small bowl, sift together 2 cups of the flour, the baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients to the batter, one third at a time, mixing well after each addition. In another small bowl, toss the cranberries and pecans with the remaining flour until well coated. Stir gently into the batter. Pour into the pan and bake at 350 for 55-65 minutes, until the cake is lightly browned. Do not over-bake. Let stand about 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Sift powdered sugar lightly over the warm cake.

Penzey’s Spices

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 1 1/4 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 c. cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (1 lg. sweet potato, about 1 lb.)
• 1/4-1/3 c. milk
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 c. raisins
• 1/4 c. chopped pecans

Topping:

• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375. Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar, beating on medium speed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the sweet potatoes and milk. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add to the creamed mixture, stirring just until moistened. Fold in the raisins and pecans. Spoon the batter into greased muffin pans, filling 2/3 full. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle liberally over each muffin. Bake at 375 for 25-27 minutes.

Penzey’s Muffins

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ½ cups dried gemelli pasta (or fusilli, orrechiette, really any pasta that is non-noodle-like. Different pastas may require different amounts of liquid/cooking time.)
• 1 small yellow onion, finely minced
• 2 leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• ½ cup white wine
• 1 quart fish stock (you can use water if necessary)
• ½ pound lump crab meat
• 12 shrimp, cleaned and deveined
• juice of half a lemon
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon red chili flakes
• 2 handfuls of arugula

Preparation

Heat olive oil over medium heat until shimmering.

Add pasta and toast, stirring frequently, until it just begins to turn light brown.

Add onion, leeks, and garlic cloves (along with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper), cooking until translucent, but with no color, about three minutes.

Add white wine and cook until almost entirely absorbed, about two minutes.

Add stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring until absorbed. Continue until you have about one more ladle to add and the pasta still has a little more bite than you want. (Don’t worry.)

Add the crabmeat, shrimp, and final ladleful of stock, along with the lemon juice, lemon zest, and chili flakes. Cook until shrimp is pink and pasta has absorbed the stock and has the right bite, approximately three minutes. Check for seasoning.

Add arugula right at the end. Toss until it begins to wilt slightly, and serve immediately.

Alain Ducasse, The Atlantic

Ingredients

• 1 box (9 ounces) thin chocolate wafers (such as Nabisco Famous chocolate wafers)
• 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (do not use chocolate chips)
• 3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pure chocolate extract or vanilla
• Cocoa powder
• Confectioners’ sugar

Preparation

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Pulverize chocolate wafers in a food processor. Add melted butter; process to mix. (Alternatively, place wafers in zippered plastic bag; finely crush with a rolling pin. Transfer to a bowl; stir in melted butter.) Pat crumb mixture evenly over the bottom of a generously buttered 10-inch springform pan. Bake until set, 8 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. For filling, melt chocolate in small bowl in microwave oven on medium (50 percent power), 50 to 60 seconds. Stir until smooth; cool slightly.

Beat cream cheese in large bowl of electric mixer (or food processor) until light. Beat in granulated sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Transfer 1 cup of this batter to the melted chocolate; mix until smooth. Beat pumpkin into remaining batter in mixer bowl (or food processor). Add cinnamon and chocolate extract; mix well.

Pour pumpkin batter over cooled crust in springform pan. Dollop chocolate batter over pumpkin batter. Swirl chocolate into pumpkin with a small knife making a marbled effect. Bake until set yet still wiggly in center, 50 minutes. Turn off oven, open door slightly and let cool, 1 hour. Cool completely on wire rack. Refrigerate covered up to 3 days. Serve dusted with cocoa powder and confectioners’ sugar.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon each: baking soda, cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon each, ground: cloves, nutmeg
• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped crystallized ginger

Preparation

Sift together flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cloves and nutmeg into a bowl. Mix the butter and brown sugar together in another bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until well blended and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, blending after each. Reduce speed to low; beat in dry ingredients. Add the molasses; beat several seconds until blended. Add the water; beat a few seconds until blended.

Fill two standard-size muffin tins, coated with nonstick spray, about 3/4 full (batter should fill 18 or 19 molds). Bake until tops are set but mixture beneath is jiggly, 10 minutes. Remove pans from oven; sprinkle muffins with crystallized ginger. Return to oven; bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 9-10 minutes. Cool muffins in tins, 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Ingredients

• 1 whole fish (800 g, or about 1 3/4 lb.)
• 1 tbsp shao xin wine (or rice wine, or sherry)
• 2 tbsp. fresh ginger, finely sliced in strips
• 2 tbsp. green onion strips
• 3 tbsp. light soy sauce
• 4 tbsp. black vinegar
• 4 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 c. chicken or fish stock
• 1/2 tbsp. corn starch and 2 tbsp. water, mixed well
• sesame oil (optional)

Preparation

1. Remove the scales & clean the fish. If the fish is thick, butterfly it. Make a couple of slashes on the thickest part of the body to help it cook faster. Put the fish in a skillet with high sides and scatter ginger strips under and over the fish. Pour the wine all over the fish.

2. Steam the fish for 10-12 minutes depending on the thickness of the body. Test with a fork by flaking the thickest part of the body. If it flakes off easily from the bone, it is done. Do not over cook.

3. While fish is steaming, put the soy sauce, black vinegar, brown sugar, and salt into a small pot and cook over low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. When sugar is dissolved, add 1 cup stock to the sauce. When sauce boils, add the corn starch solution and stir well until sauce becomes shiny and thickened. Taste and adjust with more sugar, vinegar, or salt to taste.

4. Add a splash of sesame oil (if using) to the thickened sauce and pour it over the steamed fish. Sprinkle the green onion strips on the fish. Serve hot.

Adapted from Terri at Hunger Hunger (A Daily Obsession)

Ingredients

• 3 mint sprigs
• 2 oz gin
• 3/4 oz fresh lime juice
• 3/4 oz simple syrup
• 1 small dash bitters (optional)

Preparation

Bruise two sprigs of mint gently in a cocktail shaker. Add ingredients. Add ice. Shake. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with remaining mint leaf.

Toby Maloney, Chicago Tribune

Ingredients

• 3 tbl vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 lb pork, finely minced
• 1 1/2 tbl light soy sauce
• 2 c chicken broth
• 1 tsp honey or granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp white pepper (optional)
• 1/4 tsp powdered ginger (optional)
• 1 lb lobster meat–meat from 2 1-lb lobsters or 1 1/2 lbs lobster tail, cleaned, shelled, and cut into 2 inch pieces (may substitute equal parts crab)
• 2 tbl cornstarch
• 2 tbl cold water
• 2 green onions, washed and chopped (green part only)
• 1 egg, slightly beaten

Preparation

Heat the oil in a large wok or skillet over high heat. Add the garlic and pork and stir-fry until the pork loses its pink color. Stir in the soy sauce, chicken broth, honey, pepper, and ginger; bring to a boil. Add the raw lobster pieces, cover, reduce heat and cook for 10 min. Mix the cornstarch and cold water into a smooth paste. Add to the lobster and stir until the gravy is thickened. Stir in the chopped green onions. Pour the beaten egg over the lobster and stir until the egg is just set. Do not over cook! Remove and arrange on a platter. Serve with rice and veggies.

Penzey’s, Summer 2010