Mickey Mazur's Mandelbrot

2 eggs, beaten
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
handful of poppyseeds, or to taste
cinnamon and sugar, mixed, for sprinkling

Pre-heat oven to 350.  Mix eggs, sugar, and oil.  Add flavorings.  Add flour and poppyseeds.  Make into 3 logs and place on a greased baking sheet.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, turn off oven and take logs out of the oven.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, slice, and put back in the oven (heat still turned off) and leave them in there until they crisp up. 

Lorraine Horwitz' Noodle Kugel Recipe

Note:  This recipe was contributed to the West Hartford Beth Hillel cookbook in 1975 by Rebbetzin Lorraine Horwitz.  I'm preserving it here because this is the recipe that Rel's grandmother, Mickey Mazur, uses.  I've left the original measurements and directions but added some notes below.

Lukshen Kugel

1 box broad noodles*
3 eggs, beaten
1 c. sugar
1/4 lb butter
1 1/2 c milk
dash cinnamon
1 small carton cottage cheese*
1/4 lb cream cheese
1/4 lb American cheese, diced**
1 c. sour cream

Pour eggs over cooked noodles, add milk, cottage cheese, cream cheese, American cheese, sour cream, sugar, and cinnamon.  Mix together gently.  And 1/8 lb butter (cut up).  Place in  a 9x13 pan and spread crushed corn flakes on top.  Dot with remaining butter.  Bake at 350 for 1 1/12 hours.

* I did some research and I believe that Manischevitz egg noodles used to come in an 8-ounce box.  I am guessing, based on other kugel recipes, that the cottage cheese is about 8 ounces.

** American cheese seems very odd, but Mickey said that it really didn't make the kugel taste like American cheese.  

Very Peanuty Peanut Butter Cookies

This recipe is delicious -- about twice as much as peanut butter as usual, so lots of peanut flavor, very buttery, not too sweet, and a nice saltiness.  Dough freezes well, as do the baked cookies.  If you like, you can tuck a chocolate chip into these, or roll in chopped nuts or sugar, but honestly they're really good just like this. 

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla (yes, tablespoon)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Pre-heat oven to 350.  Cream peanut butter, butter, and sugars until fluffy.  Add vanilla and egg and mix until combined.  In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt, and soda, and add to butter mixture.  Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place two inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Holding a fork with its tines parallel to the baking sheet, gently press the tines into each ball of dough, flattening it slightly.  Turning the fork 90 degrees, repeat, so that each ball has a cross-hatch pattern on it.  Bake for about 6-8 minutes, until beginning to brown, and cool on a cooling rack.  These keep very well frozen or in a cookie tin. 

Lillian Herter Carter's Coconut Crisp cookies

1 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 cup coconut
1 cup bran flakes


Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Cream butter and sugars, add egg and vanilla an mix well.  combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and add to the egg mixture.  Stir in coconut and bran flakes.  I usually chill the dough a bit.  Drop from a teaspoon onto parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 7-10 minutes.

Lillian Herter Carter's Molasses Cookies

This is a delicious gingersnap cookie that is thin and crisp and great to serve with vanilla ice cream.  If you want to do something fancy for a party you can make little ice cream sandwiches from them, and drizzle a little balsamic vinegar over them.

3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar plus additional for rolling
1 egg
1/3 cup molasses
2 cups flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1 t cloves
1 t ginger

(I add a pinch of salt)



Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  I bake these cookies on parchment-lined baking sheets.  Cream butter and sugar, add egg and molasses.  Combine remaining ingredients and add to molasses mixture.  I usually chill the dough for a bit -- it also freezes very well.  Roll into 1 inch balls and roll the balls in sugar.  Place them 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.  Dip the bottom of a glass in sugar and flatten each ball, dipping the glass in sugar each time.  Cook at 350 for 12-15 minutes, or until they are beginning to brown a little.  Makes about 4 dozen.

Vegetable soup with Red Cabbage

This is an original recipe, born from an amazing CSA haul from Solace Farm in beautiful Sebring, FL -- thanks, Nate and Missy!  It made a beautiful broth, and doesn't taste cabbagey.  I added some things I happened to have in the fridge, listed as options below.  Makes about 3 quarts of soup, freezes well. #vegan

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
3 ribs of celery
1 large carrot
1 red bell pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
2 cups of green beans, cut in thirds
3-4 medium-sized tomatoes -- Roma or really anything you have, chopped
1 quart of chicken or vegetable stock, or water
1/2 small head of red cabbage, chopped
lemon juice to taste (or you could use red wine vinegar)  -- I used about 1 tsp lemon juice
extra seasonings to taste

Options:
1 tsp pesto
1/2 of a jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped fine
1/2 lb of italian sausage
2 cups of cooked chickpeas
Parmesan rind


In a large stock pot over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until they begin to get soft. (If you're adding sausage, you can push the onions off to one side at this point and brown the sausage)  Add the diced carrot, celery, red pepper and spices and saute until they begin to soften.  Add the beans and tomatoes and the stock.  You might want to add a little water to get it up closer to the top of your vegetables -- I added another cup or so.  While you're waiting for it to simmer, chop up the cabbage and then add it.  If you're adding any starches such as chickpeas, or a Parmesan rind, you can throw them in now too.  Simmer the soup until the vegetables are soft but not mushy, maybe 20 minutes.  At this point you can stir in the lemon juice and the  pesto if you are adding it, and adjust the other seasonings -- add a little and taste it until it's the way you like it -- the lemon juice in particular really punches up the flavor.  This was even better the next day.

Shrimp Pesto Pizza

This is a nice pantry dish. This recipe makes 1 12-inch pizza -- enough for two servings, although truth be told I've been known to eat the whole thing myself!  When we have the little sweet pink Florida shrimp here I always try to freeze some to throw on pizza or in soup, like Moqueca.  

Pizza dough improves enormously in flavor if you put it in the fridge for 24 hours.

Pizza dough:
2 cups bread flour
2 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
Enough water to pull it all together, about 1 cup

Mix together dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.  Add water until it just barely pulls together into a ball.  Let it sit 15 minutes to absorb the water.  Give it a couple of kneads, oil the bowl a bit, put the dough back in and cover it.  If you can, stick it in the fridge until the next day -- the flavor will be much better!  When you take it out of the fridge the next day, let it come to room temp and rise a bit.  If you don't have the time, then just let it double in size (about an hour), and then continue with the recipe.

Cut the dough in half -- put half of the dough in a ziploc bag and freeze it for another time. (or, double the fillings below to make two 12-inch pizzas to serve 4).  Flour your peel or a cutting board, and gently press the remaining dough into a 12-inch circle, making a little ridge around the edge with your fingers.

Toppings:
1 1/2 tsp olive oil, divided
1/2 pound of shrimp, peeled and deveined -- smaller ones are better for this.
ground pepper
2 tsp pesto*
1 clove garlic, minced or run through a garlic press.
1/4 cup grated parmesan
red pepper flakes (optional)

Put a cast iron pan or a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees (or up to 550, if your oven will go that high).

Heat a skillet over medium heat, put 1/2 tsp of olive oil in it and add the shrimp.  Gently saute the shrimp until they just barely stop being translucent -- you don't want to cook them completely.

Brush the pizza crust with the remaining olive oil, and spread the pesto and garlic around with your fingers.  Top with the shrimp.  Top with cheese and red pepper.  Slide it onto the stone or pan in the oven and bake until brown and crispy, about 10-15 minutes, depending on how hot your oven is.

Note:  If you have it, you could throw a handful of arugula on it as you take it out of the oven, to make it a one-dish meal.  Or serve with a salad and a crisp white wine.

* When you make pesto, make it up to right before you add the butter and cheese, and freeze it in ice cube trays.  That way you always have a bag of small chunks of pesto to throw into soup, sauce, pasta, etc.

Passionfruit Ice Cream

I have a total crush on David Liebovitz. As, I suspect, do many others. I seriously have never made a recipe of his that wasn't amazing.  So when my local farmer's market had a bushel of gorgeous passion fruits the other day (the season is freakishly short -- if you see them, buy them ALL and freeze the pulp), I knew I had to make this.  Combined with eggs just snatched from under the chicken this morning, it was possibly the most delicious thing I've ever eaten.  

from The Perfect Scoop

1/2 cup fresh or frozen passion fruit pulp (from 6 to 8 fresh passion fruits)

1 cup heavy cream

6 tbsp whole milk

7 tbsp sugar

pinch of salt

3 large egg yolks

a few drops of pure orange oil, or grated zest of 1 small orange (optional)

spoonful of passion fruit seeds (optional)

1. To extract the pulp from the passion fruit, cut each passion fruit in half at the equator and scoop the pulp and seeds into a nonreactive strainer set over a bowl. Use a flexible rubber spatula to press and extract as much of the precious pulp as possible, until the seeds look rather dry.  

2. Mix together the passion fruit pulp and 1/2 cup of the cream in a large bowl. Set a mesh strainer over the bowl.

3. Warm the milk, sugar, salt and the remaining 1/2 cup cream in a medium saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

4. Stir the mixture constantly over the medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the passion fruit and cream mixture. Mix a few drops of orange oil, if using, then stir until cook over an ice bath.

5. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Add a spoonful of passion fruit seeds to the custard during the least few minutes of churning, if you wish.

Note:  I DIDN'T use orange oil, but DID add a spoonful of the nice crunchy seeds back in at the end. Also -- don't throw out the remaining seeds and pulp!  Put them in a jar with a little sugar and some cider vinegar and make a nice passionfruit shrub! 

Lefty's Coconut Cream Cheese Banana Bread

This recipe was born from the Annual Cleaning Out of the Fridge that happens twice a year when we shift households.  It is very moist, with a good coconut-banana flavor, not too sweet, and slices freeze well.

1/2 cup butter, room temp
8 oz cream cheese, room temp
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas, about 2 large or 3 medium
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 and butter a loaf pan.

With a mixer, beat butter and cream cheese well.  Add sugar and beat until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time.  Put away your mixer and follow the rest of the directions with a spoon or spatula.

Add the bananas to the butter mixture.  In a small bowl sift salt, baking soda, and flour together and incorporate into the banana mixture. Mix in the coconut, nuts, and vanilla.

Turn batter into the loaf pan and bake for about 50-55 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.  Turn onto a rack and cool before slicing.