Ypsi Cooks

My mom makes “spinach brownies.” I never thought twice about this name until I mentioned them to a friend who responded, “spinach brownies?!?” with distinct disgust. Then I realized that the name doesn't really match the item. Yes, it's baked in a 9×13 and cut up like a brownie, but it has nothing to do with chocolate. So I started cutting them across the diagonal, calling them “spinach-cheese triangles,” but that conjures up ideas of layers of phyllo, herbed spinach and feta. Yet another misnomer. We still don't have a satisfactory name, but in the end, who cares what you call them, they are easy and delicious, and whenever we serve them everyone wants the recipe.We made them for my sister-in-law's bridal shower and she requisitely asked for the recipe. A few weeks later I still hadn't gotten her the recipe when I asked her what she wanted to make them for (we had alway made them for parties and such, not as an every day food). “Dinner.” Huh. It was a revelation: of course this is good dinner fare: cheese, spinach, flour, egg, what's not to love.

So where does veggie cake come in? Well, we had a crisper drawer full of local kale that needed to be used, but I had to cook it to mimic the frozen spinach we normally use, so why not caramelize some onions while I'm at it. I got out a really large onion, and chopped it up fairly small (Eli eats finely chopped, caramelized onions without protest even though he claims not to like onion) and threw it in a pan with a little olive oil and salt. Once it started to brown, I tossed in the finely chopped kale and let that cook down a good bit. While I was at it, I thought I'd put some thin slices of tomato on top. Heck, why not go all out and add a little shredded carrot to the batter, and the chives we just cut from the garden, some dried basil, plus a little brewers yeast for added nutritional value. So the “veggie” makes sense but “cake?” Well, Eli loves cake, and though he is not gullible enough to believe my concoction was dessert cake, I thought he might be able to get behind “veggie cake.” He ate 3 servings. What's in a name? Everything, apparently.

1 c flour
1 t salt
1 t baking powder
heaping 1/4 t cayenne pepper
2 eggs
1 c milk
3 TBS melted butter/margarine
_ c chopped onion
8-12 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
16 oz Package chopped spinach drained

The recipe is VERY forgiving, but I like to sift together the dry ingredients just to make sure the baking powder and cayenne are evenly distributed. Spread in a greased 9” X 13” pan. Add an extra egg if you're in the mood and bake a bit longer.
Bake 40 minutes @ 350º F

Some other things to try: replace some spinach with artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, basil, oregano and replace the cheddar with parmesan or asiago. Or maybe try leeks and emmentaler.

I was checking out the Orangette (an award winning food blog by a bona fide food writer) and what was her most recent post about? Lentils and rice and the glories of caramelized onion. She serves it with feta, not yogurt, but still, I wrote about essentially the same food a few weeks ago. Sure, she goes into much more detail about it, and introduces the wonders of farro (which you can bet we'll be trying soon), but still, it is much the same. And I agree with her, I'd eat it every day, in fact, I had some today!

As the weather warms the grownups in our house are craving baby lettuces a fresh peas. Unfortunately for us, the ground won't yield such treasures for some time. We did plant our peas, lettuce, spinach and kale today, and I personally am dreaming of a wilted baby spinach salad and maybe some lovely lemon cookies for dessert. That dream will have to wait at least until Easter.
We're forever trying to get our kids to enjoy their veggies. Today Eli planted the peas in the little holes we made for them. He also helped with the greens, but their seeds are so small it can be difficult for little hands. In any case, he seems a lot more excited about spinach and kale than ever before and we're all plotting how to enjoy and savor the fruits of the forthcoming season!

I am, at heart, cheap. Sure, call me thrifty, frugal, whatever, but I'm cheap. Sometimes this is a fault. I'll unintentionally end up with someone giving more than I had intended because of my aforementioned “frugality.” Sometimes, however, my cheapness is a boon. The other night I wanted to make brown rice for dinner. Brown rice and ________. I didn't have a clue. Eli is not a big fan of stir-fry, and we don't usually do meat as a main dish, and it just didn't occur to me to make a great saucy/stew concoction. But there was a jar of lentils sitting on top of the stove. And I've been pumping up my use of onion as a vegetable, not just a seasoning, and magic went to work in my kitchen.I sauteed 2 medium onions on med high in 1 1/2 tbsp butter and a little salt, allowing them to brown (browning is key), after they were fairly well cooked I added 3/4 cups brown rice and sauteed until translucent. Then I added 3/4 cups lentils and a few cloves of minced garlic and sauteed about a minute longer. Then I added 3 1/2 cups hot water (I have an electric tea kettle, it's fine to use cold H2O) and 2 teaspoons of Better than Bullion (the amount to make 2 cups of broth). First I grabbed my veggie bullion, but it has tomatoes in it and the acid slows lentils cooking time, so I pulled out a new jar: turkey bullion. Who knew there was such a thing! But it was on clearance at the co-op, so I went for it. Anyway, I brought it all up to a boil, reduced to a simmer, put a lid on it, and let it do it's thing for 35 min. the result: amazing mejadra like lentil-rice pilaf.I served it with broccoli and pickled beets. The rice and lentils is a complete protein and we had orange sections for dessert to make the iron in the broccoli more accessible. The whole family thought it was great. I felt like a queen having fed my family a very healthy, delicious dinner. That's another point for frugality.

We had pasta with squash and spinach “sauce” tonight. Eli pulled a little chunk of spinach off his pasta and said, “I don't like this.” (Tom put slasa in the mac and cheese yesterday…) We told him to try it and explained that you can't really taste it, and it's really good for him… He needs more convincing. “Spider man eats it” (that's how he gets so strong, duh). So Eli chimed in that his little friend who lives down the street does too. Yep Eli, Spider man and your friend both like it. A few minuets later he looks up, unprompted, “Thank you mama for making such good, healthy noodles.” Then I felt like a superhero. Success.

For some reason, my mom's “Fudge Nut Bars” have stuck in my memory, though she hasn't made them in YEARS. 2 years ago I asked her for the recipe, and she sent it to me. I was fun to learn that it came from my middle school home-ec teacher in 1984: she must have gotten it when my oldest brothers were at good-old Wylie. I didn't make the cookies until now because they make an 11×14 pan of deliciousness. Yipes, thats a lot of cookies. But this weekend I had an excuse: the 8th annual Euchre for Toques party. They were well received. A good thing to keep in mind when you need a whole mess of easy treats but want something a little different than a drop cookie. I made a few modifications. I think next time I'll try only 1 1/2 c. brown sugar, but 1 3/4 definitely works well!Fudge Nut Bars

Filling:
12 oz chocolate chips, or bitter sweet chocolate, chopped
1 T. cocoa (optional)
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk (previously listed as 1 cup)
2 T butter
1/2 t salt

Cookie:
14 T butter
1 3/4 C Brown Sugar
2 eggs
2t vanilla
2-1/2 C Flour
3 C oatmeal
3/4 t soda
1 t salt
1C chopped nuts (walnuts are ideal), optional

Preheat oven to 325.
Filling: Melt all ingredients, set aside to cool.
Cookie: Beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, aprox. 3 min. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Separately, mix flour (I used whole wheat), oats, soda and salt. Mix into butter mixture. Press 2/3 of cookie mixture into a large 11 x 14″ greased pan. Pour chocolate mixture over. Add nuts to the remaining cookie mixture and crumble on top of chocolate. Bake 20-25 min. until golden.
Cut once cooled. I like to cut them into 2″ squares, or a little smaller, then cut in half on the diagonal. Yes, I have a thing for triangles.

Just as the Bon Apetit article promised, these french apple turnovers were light, buttery, flavorful and not overly sweet.We made the filling (with only one variety of sweet-tart apple because it's what we had) Friday night, rolled and filled the dough Saturday morning, and sat down to an amazing brunch just before noon. To go with the turnovers, Tom made scrambled eggs with scallions, spinach and garlic topped with a little cheddar. Delicious.

We took the leftovers to Tom's folks and had them for dessert with hot chocolate. Delicious #2.

Turnover note: we made 9 (it seemed silly not to) and used the extra filling to top Sunday morning's pancakes. Delicious #3.

Betsy wrote, “I was wondering, what are your suggestions for using frozen rhubarb? I think frozen has some drawbacks (a bit tougher, etc), but we have a ton from this late summer.“
Click “read more” for response.My initial answer: save it for me! I LOVE rhubarb. I seem to be in good company: Nigella Lawson has several rhubarb recipes in each of her cookbooks. I have made her Rhubarb Polenta Cake (How to be a Domestic Goddess) with frozen rhubarb, and while it is not the same as using fresh, it is still pretty spectacular. Really, I have baked more with frozen rhubarb than I have with fresh. It's best not to let it thaw all the way (and if you do, be careful not to stir it too much), and don't use it in recipes where a particular constancy is important (i.e. scones). The freezing helps break down those pesky, tough cell walls, so it can actually help with the consistency of late summer stalks. Frozen rhubarb is good as long as you aren't too attached to it being pretty, and it definitely won't be pink!

As for what to do with it? Try stewing 4 c. rhubarb tossed with a blend of about 1/2 c. sugar (1/3 c. honey) and 1 T. corn starch and a fair shake of cinnamon*** in the oven on 350 or so for 30-45 min (the perfect thing to do if you're also baking dinner), or on the stovetop on a med-low setting. This is delicious with a scoop of ice cream or some granola and yogurt. You could even do an oatmeal-crumb topping. For more of a custard add an egg or 2 to the above recipe and replace the corn starch with double the amount of flour. Whatever you make, do try adding a pinch of cardamom: it is SO divine with rhubarb. A little vanilla wouldn't hurt either.

Thanks for the question; I'm going to have to dig through my freezer and see if I have any rhubarb left and conjure up something reat.. But really, Betsy, do save some for me. Pleeeease!

*** Cinnamon has an amazing ability to combat tartness, thereby reducing the amount of sweetener needed. Great to keep in mind when dealing with rhubarb or cranberries.

Two weeks ago, scratch that, last October (I've had a hard time getting to back to the computer with the cookbook in hand to finish this post, but I just told a friend about one of the recipes below, so I figured I MUST finish this post now) we had some of our first squash of the season. Hearty, sweet and full of great nutrients, it's hard to go wrong. Pretty much every time we turn on the oven, we cook up a squash with whatever else is going in. It reduces energy consumption and guarantees that there is always some squash in the fridge to heat up. 1. A squash and spinach galette. 2. Cheese ravioli with squash sauce, walnuts and goat cheese. 3. Vegetarian pot pie with squash base. Oh yeah. Looking forward to making some stuffed acorn squash soon. We'll keep you posted. Read more for recipes.Squash & Spinach Galette
1 pie crust (we use 1/2 whole wheat flour or more in ours)
2-3 c. cooked squash
1 cup cooked spinach
1/2 cup ricotta
Salt & Pepper
1/2 t. nutmeg
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350/400. Spread the rolled pie crust on a cookie sheet. Thoroughly mix the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the parmesan. Shred a fair layer of parmesan onto the center 9″ of crust. Glob the filling on top. Fold over the edges to create a freeform pie. Bake for 30-45 mins until the crust is golden. Let stand a few min before serving.

Autumn Ravioli
1 lb dried cheese ravioli
2-3 cups squash (we used 1/2 a butternut and 1/2 a buttercup. 1 small buttercup should do)
3-4 shallots, sliced
Oil for sauteing
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 oz cream cheese
1/4 c. broth

Salt and pepper
goat cheese
1/4 c walnuts
1 tbsp butter, optional
1 tbsp brown sugar

Boil ravioli in a generous amount of water. Saute the shallots until beginning to caramelize. Add chopped garlic, saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Empty pan into food processor. Put stock in pan, add cream cheese. Break up the cream cheese and stir until heated through. Add the squash if it's cold. Empty pan into food processor. Blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss sauce with drained pasta. Sprinkle with goat cheese & walnuts (melt butter & brown sugar in a pan and cook chopped walnuts for a min or two, if desired). Serve with a green salad or some broccoli. Baked apples would be a delicious dessert!

Deluxe Vegitarian Pot Pie in spired by Wynell's Pie from Sunday's at Moosewood Resturant.
Base: 2-3 cup squash, seasoned to taste (nutmeg, salt, pepper, maple syrup would all be good…). Smooth into the bottom of a large casserole dish (9×13 or a bit larger)

Filling (all veggies coarsely chopped/sliced):
1 large onion
2 carrots
1-2 med. potato
1/2 t dried basil
1/2 t dried marjoram
1 cup mushrooms
1/2 c frozen peas
1/2 c frozen corn or beans

Sauté the onions w/ some oil until soft. Add carrots, potato and herbs and cook, covered for about 10 min, stirring frequently. Stir in remaining veggies and continue to cook, covered until the carrot are just tender. Gently spoon on top of the squash.

Sauce:
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
salt & pepper

Melt butter, stir in flour until smooth and stir constantly about 3 min. Mix in milk and seasonings and continue to stir until thickened, but do not boil. Remove from heat and add cheese. Stir until melted, season with salt and pepper. Pour over the vegetables.

Crust:
1 pie crust, preferably made with at least 1/2 whole wheat flour.

Food

No, this is not about what to do with too many holiday cookies. These cookies are made with leftovers. Yes, cookies made from leftovers. Friday night I finally remembered to plan ahead and put together the batter for yeast waffles. Saturday morning I realized we didn't have any syrup, and I didn't feel like making any, so I opened a can of crushed pineapple. We didn't use all the pineapple on our waffles, so I started to think of how to use the rest. Yes, it's delicious in smoothies, but 'tis the season to bake cookies so I pulled out a great Fannie Farmer recipe for Pineapple Cookies. Alas, I only had 1/2 cup of pineapple, not the requisite 1 cup. Bummer. Or not. There has been a jar of cooked cranberries (the beginning of cranberry sauce) in our fridge for quite some time and I needed to do something with them. So I filled out the rest of the cup with the cranberries and a little honey, altered the spices in the cookie (inspired by Dorie Greenspan) and came up with quite a delicious concoction. As the Fannie Farmer says, these cookies are “thick, soft, cakelike.”
Cranberry Cookies (approx. 40)

1 stick room temp butter
1 c loosely packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/4 t almond extract (or an additional 1/2 t of vanilla)
1 c cranberry relish
2 c flour
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t powdered ginger
1/2 t chinese five spice
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 c pecans or walnuts, chopped
If you really want a cranberry cookie try adding 1/2 c dried cranberries.

Preheat oven to 350, grease cookie sheets. Whisk the dry ingredients together. Cream butter and sugar. Scrape down and add egg and extracts, beat until light and fluffy. Add dry mixture to the cranberry mixture. Stir in nuts and optional dried cranberries (or maybe some chopped crystalized ginger?). Drop by spoonfuls into prepared cookie sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake about 12 min until matte. Transfer to racks to cool.