“If barley be wanting to make into malt,
We must be contented, and think it no fault;
For we can make liquor to sweeten our lips,
Of pumpkin and parsnips and walnut-tree chips.”
~From “Forefathers’ Song,” American poem from around 1630, author unknown

Some nutritionists are recommending eating a handful of walnuts every day for the sake of good health – to lower LDL cholesterol (that’s the bad stuff), combat obesity, and reduce the incidence of Type 2 diabetes.

Pass the walnuts, please.

Detroit has a long history of having some of the best Greek restaurants in the United States, so it didn’t take long living here to discover Baklava – a sugar and honey drenched, nut filled pastry that is surely a tool of the devil.

As complicated to make as the treat appears to be, it is rather easy as pastries go. Unfortunately, making an entire pan for one or two people would somewhat undo any health benefits derived from the nuts. That seems to be the way it is with goodies – the way one bite leads to another.

So it was that in thinking of preparing a special dessert for our New Year’s Eve dinner, we wanted to make just enough Baklava to enjoy but not enough to lead us into the dark pit of excess. While we were at it, we replaced the typical melted butter with a cholesterol-free oil and the heavy sugar syrup with maple syrup.

Buy prepared phyllo dough from the grocer’s freezer and thaw it out according to the package directions. After you use what you need, just wrap the remaining sheets up in a plastic bag and re-freeze for later use.

Maple Walnut Baklava Rolls
Serves: 2
Time: 10 minutes prep + 30 minutes baking

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
¼ teaspoon brown sugar
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 sheets of Phyllo dough, room temperature
Canola oil to spray or brush
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400° F and lightly oil a small oven-safe baking dish.

Mix the walnuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon together and set aside.

Lay out one sheet of the phyllo dough and spray or brush lightly with oil. Cover with a second sheet of phyllo dough and spray or brush lightly with oil.

Make a 2-inch line of the nut mixture along one of the short edges at the center. Fold over one long edge so that it covers the center third of the sheet, including the nut mixture, then fold over the other long edge to also cover the center third of the sheet. This will create a strip of six layers of dough. Spray or brush the top of this stack lightly with oil.

Beginning at the end that contains the nut mixture, gently roll up the dough to make a cigar shape. Repeat the process with the remaining 2 sheets of phyllo dough, and place both rolls into the pan side-by-side.

Bake in the 400° F oven for 30 minutes, or until the rolls are brown and look crispy. Remove from oven and immediately pour the maple syrup on top. Allow to cool completely before serving, but DO NOT COVER or the pastry will get mushy.

These rolls are best eaten while watching an old movie about life in Greece, like the 1964 hit, Zorba the Greek, and sipping some strong Greek-style coffee.

Happy New Year!

“Moroccan style isn’t terribly popular around here, but I think it’s just so beautiful and unique. Its nature also creates an inviting and relaxed atmosphere, which is important.” ~ Amanda D’Alfonso, California hair stylist and salon owner.

Sweet and spicy are a combination I find difficult to resist. So do the Moroccans.

Morocco is a country located in North Africa and has the most diversely influenced cuisine in the world, bringing together Spanish, Middle Eastern, and Arabian (with each of their own diversities). Its offerings are among my favorites because of the combination of spices and natural sweetness that make it so unique.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are the mainstay of Moroccan cooking and are used to start and end most meals. Cinnamon, cumin, and peppers are used generously in every course, and the hint of natural sweetness that typifies this cuisine comes from including bits of dried fruit even in savory dishes, like this main-course soup.

Look to the recipe from our July 2nd post to mix up your own Garam Masala, or buy the spices already blended from your supermarket.

Moroccan Chickpea Soup
Serves 6
Time: 20 minutes active prep + 8 hours slow cooking or 40 minutes on the stove-top

4 cups V-8 Spicy Hot vegetable juice
2 cups vegetable broth
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 medium carrot, very thinly sliced
½ cup raisins
½ cup thinly sliced onion
4 teaspoons Garam Masala
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cups frozen, chopped spinach
4 cups cooked pasta, bite size pieces

Slow cooker: Combine all ingredients except pasta in slow cooker. Set on low and leave for 8 – 10 hours. Stir in cooked pasta and continue to cook on low for 15 minutes before serving.

Stove top: Soften the onion, carrots, and zucchini in 1 tablespoon olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat, then add remaining ingredients except pasta. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the pasta and continue cooking only until heated through.

Serve with a crusty bread, in the style of the Moroccans, to sop up the liquid. End your meal with the traditional green tea brewed with mint, poured from high above the cup to create the bubbles that predict wealth, and some fresh in-season fruit.

This is a great opportunity to teach yourself a new, healthy habit, by learning that leisurely peeling and eating a fresh orange after a any meal can be the most delightful of desserts.

“This is a catastrophe. Without olives, we have nothing!” ~ Juan José Castro, Argentine composer and conductor (1895 – 1968)

Tapenade is a French condiment, made primarily of olives, and traditionally served on slices of baguette. We find that it also makes a wonderful topping on hummus, spread in sandwiches, used as a filling for baked appetizers, or (our favorite) on pizza.

Tapenade is probably the simplest gourmet dish you can make, and including it on your table is a smart move, too, because it is high in Vitamin E, which is a fat-soluble antioxidant, and its monounsaturated fat protects the body’s cells from damage and inflammation.

Choose your favorite olives from the grocery store deli and feel free to mix them up. Your tapenade recipe should be individual to your own kitchen, so experiment until you come up with what you feel is the tastiest combination possible. Some folks would add a couple of anchovy filets, a bit of finely chopped walnuts, or some minced herbs to give it a subtly different flavor. We use brandy and some olive oil infused with truffles.

Capers are a cousin to the olive and are usually found in small jars with the olives and pickles at the grocery store. It is generally more cost effective to buy them in the largest jar possible, since they keep for a very long time in the refrigerator (we’ve never had any go bad, and we buy ours in a giant jar from Costco).

Note: Do not use the stuffed olives available from some delis because ingredients like almonds and garlic will not chop at the same rate as the olives.

Tapenade
Makes:
Time: 2 minutes with a food processor, 10 minutes by hand

1 clove garlic, minced
½ pound pitted olives, drained
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1 tablespoon brandy or lemon juice
¼ teaspoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

Measure ingredients into a food processor and run on low speed until reaching the desired consistency; we like ours to be quite coarse (from years of mincing by hand, I suppose), but others prefer theirs to be finer – there is no wrong in this, just a matter of personal preference.

Alternatively, mince the garlic, olives, and capers by hand and stir together with remaining ingredients. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

“I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays–let them overtake me unexpectedly–waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: Why this is Christmas Day!” ~ David Grayson, American journalist (1870 – 1946)

As with almost everything else, the simple things in life are often the best.

When I was a young child, my mother sometimes would hand me a stick of chocolate wrapped in a piece of bread as a special treat. When I was 9 years old, the Detroit Free Press ran a recipe for Petit Pains au Chocolat – bread rolls with a piece of chocolate baked into the center. It was the first recipe I ever clipped, and I still have it.

Now, it is a part of my family’s tradition to eat these little treasures on the morning of a special day. We don’t reserve them for Christmas, but I thought that if you are searching for something simple, these little breads with chocolate might do the trick.

It is very easy to mix up a batch of dough in your bread maker, but it you don’t have one, a loaf of frozen dough from the grocery store will work fine, just thaw it out and proceed as directed below. Use your favorite chocolate –we use semi-sweet or bitter sweet.

Petit Pains au Chocolate
Serves 8
Time: 10 minutes active + 1 hour rising and baking time

1-pound loaf of bread dough, ready for second rising
15 squares of chocolate or 120 chocolate chips
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Roll the dough out to a 9-inch by 15-inch rectangle, and cut it into 3-inch squares.

Place a piece of the chocolate near one edge, then fold the sides toward center (they won’t quite reach) and roll up to encase the chocolate. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet and allow to rise for about 30 minutes, until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Bake the rolls for 20 minutes, until browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Dust with confectioner’s sugar just before serving.

Whatever your celebration is at this time of year, a simple little treat that can be looked forward to year after year will help to lock the memories in place. We wish you beautiful, enduring memories.

“Money is the root of all evil, and yet it is such a useful root that we cannot get on without it any more than we can without potatoes.” ~ Louisa May Alcott, American novelist (1832-1888)

Whenever anyone talks about a restaurant offering “comfort foods,” I have to admit that I cringe. What first comes to mind is heavy, fat-laden dishes that are as far from healthy as possible. Cooking at home, however, can be a totally different story.

The first comfort food dish that I think of making at home is this Sweet Potato Red Pepper Soup. It includes holiday flavors, warm color, and is rich without being fatty. Using a roasted red pepper from a jar makes preparation very quick and easy and doesn’t sacrifice much flavor. It makes an ideal lunch soup served with a piece of crusty bread on the side.

Sweet Potato Red Pepper Soup
Serves 4
Time: 35 minutes

½ cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Pinch of black pepper
4 cups vegetable broth (full flavor)
1 large peeled and chopped sweet potato
1 large roasted red bell pepper, seeds and skin removed, chopped
Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce to garnish

Soften the onion in the olive oil over medium heat, being careful to not let the onion brown, for about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, pepper, broth, sweet potato, bell pepper, and cayenne pepper (if using), and bring to a boil. Continue to boil, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potato is soft, about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to cool until the soup is no longer hot, but may still be warm. This is important to prevent burns if the soup splashes while being pureed.

Puree the soup with an immersion blender, if you have one, or transfer in batches to a regular blender, filling the blender container no more than ½ full at a time. Process on high until the soup is creamy smooth, holding the lid securely in place.

Just before serving, return the puree to the pot to reheat, stirring constantly to prevent eruptions that may burn or create a mess on the stove. Add water to thin if the soup is too thick (the amount of added water, if any, depends on how much broth evaporated while boiling).

Ladle into bowls and garnish with a float of whole berry cranberry sauce.