Crock Pot applesauce
8 apples, peeled and cut in the about 1 inch pieces
3/4 cup of water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Toss everything together in the crock pot.  Cover and cook on low for about 5 hours.

Once the apples are really soft, mix with a spoon to break them up.  It’s that easy!

I love eating the leftovers the next morning for breakfast with a croissant.

Polenta Crust
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup polenta (cornmeal)
1/2 parmesan cheese
1 large egg at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon peper

Heat the vegetable stock and water in a large pot over medium high heat.  Add the salt when it starts boiling, and then slowly pour in the polenta, whisking constantly.  Continue to whisk for another 30 seconds, and then turn the heat down to low and cover.  Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove the pan from the heat and let the polenta sit, covered for another 10 minutes, stirring it once or twice while it sits.  Add in the egg, cheese, and pepper.

Grease a 10 inch cake or tart pan with olive oil, and then spoon in the polenta.  Using your hands or a wooden spoon, push the polenta around to cover the bottom of the pan, and push it up the sides a little bit to form a crust.  Wetting your hands or the spoon with a little bit of cold water will help keep the polenta from sticking.

Artichoke Filling
1 cup plain greek yogurt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup finely chopped shallot (1 small)
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped Thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
12 ounces artichoke hearts
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated parmesan

Spread the artichoke hearts around the crust and top with the mozzarella.  Whisk together the yogurt, eggs, shallots, herbs, and salt and pepper.  Pour over the artichokes, and spread evenly.  Sprinkle the last 1/2 cup of parmesan over the top of the tart.  Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, until the cheese on top is nicely browned.  Allow it to sit for a few minutes after you take it out of the oven so that everything can solidify.

This recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan, by way of Smitten Kitchen. I’m not really familiar with Dorie Greenspan, but I hear her name mentioned a lot by other foodies that I admire, so maybe I will have to invest in one of her cookbooks soon. The story behind the name of these cookies is that Dorie Greenspan decided if everyone could have one of these cookies every day, they would not feel compelled to fight with each other, and thus world peace would ensue. If that story isn’t enough to convince someone to make these cookies, I don’t know what is.

World Peace Cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into bits, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Combine the flour, cocoa, and baking soda together and set aside.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or a handheld mixer, beat the butter until it is soft and creamy.  Add both sugars, vanilla, and salt, and mix on medium speed for two minutes more.

Turn off the mixer. Pour in the flour mixture, drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to keep the flour from flying everywhere, and pulse the mixer at low speed a couple of times, a second or two each time. If the flour is mostly incorporated at this point, remove the towel.  If there is a good bit of flour still left, pulse it a few more times. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough. Work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added. My dough was very crumbly.

Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. This can be a bit tricky because the dough is crumbly, but just bring it together as much as you can.  Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking, just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.

Slice the chilled logs into 1/2 inch rounds.  The cookies will probably crumble a little as you slice them, but just squish them back together.  Place the cookies about one inch apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 325 for 12 minutes.  The cookies will look not quite done, but they will firm up as the sit, so don’t be deceived.

For Christmas my mom got me a pretty awesome cookbook called The Bread Bible.  I wanted to try one of the recipes from it for dinner last night, but in my usual fashion, I failed to pay enough attention to the time required to make the focaccia recipe (5 hours!).  So I had to improvise, and used my trusty pizza dough instead of an actual focaccia dough.  Although slightly different than an actual focaccia, it makes a very satisfying bread to go alongside pasta, and does a nice job of soaking up any left over sauce.

Garlicy Focaccia Bread
1 recipe pizza dough
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil, or 5-10 fresh leaves, chopped
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Make the pizza dough and allow it to rise for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, spray a 1/2 sheet pan with cooking spay and set aside.  Once the dough has risen, place it in the pan and push and pull the dough until it is roughly fills the whole pan.  Set the pan in a warm place and let the dough rise again, about 30 minutes, or as long as you feel like waiting.

Preheat the oven to 500.  Brush the bread with one tablespoon of olive and that garlic.  If you are using dry basil, sprinkle it on, as well as 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt.  If you are using fresh basil, wait until the last minute or two of baking to put it on.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the bottom is brown and crispy, and the top is light golden.  Once you take it out of the oven, brush with the last tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese (omit if you want vegan bread).

As the title suggests, this is my mom’s spaghetti sauce, and it’s delicious.  She makes her’s with meat, but I prefer it without.

I love to make this when I have a crowd coming over for dinner.  The recipe makes a ton of sauce, but it freezes really well, and is a life saver to have on hand. You can either make this on the stove top is a big pot or in the crock pot.

Spaghetti Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large or 3 medium onions
3 cloves of garlic
3 large cans of diced tomatoes (28 ouncces)
2 small cans of tomato paste
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon brown sugar, or more to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large pot.  Dice the onions and the garlic.  Add the onions to the hot oil and cook them, stirring occasionally until they are soft.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.

Add the tomatoes and tomato paste.  If you want a thinner texture, you can add some water.  Mix in the rest of the ingredients and simmer.  Now, you can simmer this for a little while or a long while, depending on how much time you have.  Somewhere between 20 minutes and an hour is probably sufficient.

If you want to make it in the crock pot, just throw everything in the pot, and turn it on low for 8-10 hours.

I had a cookbook open on my table a few weeks ago when my Grandpa came over.  He promptly sat down at the table, flipped a few pages, and said “Yum, this looks good.  I love eggplant!”.  Ok, Grandpa, I got the hint.  So a few days later I made it for him, and it was pretty delicious.

Eggplant Lasagna (from Ultimate Italian cookbook)
1 small eggplant
4 teaspoons salt
8 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound zucchini, sliced
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1 large can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
6-9 sheets of lasagna
2 1/2 cups bechamel sauce
2/3 cup grate parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon oregano

Bechamel Sauce
1 1/4 cups milk
2 bay leaves
1 small onion
1 stick butter
6 tablespoons flour
1 1/4 cup light cream
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
salt and pepper

Pour the milk into a small soucepan and add the bay leaves.  Cut the onion in half and add it to the pan and bring the milk to a boil.  Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside to cool.

Strain the milk into another bowl and rinse the pan.  Melt the butter in the pan and stir in the flour. Stir for 1 minute, then slowly pour in the milk, stirring constantly.  Cook the sauce for 3 minutes, then pour in the cream and bring it back to a boil.  Remove from the heat and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

Thinly slice the eggplant, and layer it in a bowl, sprinkling each layer with salt.  Set the eggplant aside for at least 30 minutes, and then rinse with cold water and pay dry.

Heat half of the oil in a large pan and fry half of the eggplant until it is lightly browned on each side.  Remove to a plate lined with paper towels and repeat with the other half of the oil and eggplant.

Heat the butter in the pan and fry the zucchini until golden, about 6-7 minutes.

If you are using dried lasagna noodles, cook them in boiling salted water according to package directions.  Drape them over the side of the pot once they are cooked to keep them from sticking together or getting too done.

Now you’re ready to start layering your lasagna.  You can make either two or three layers, depending on how deep you want your lasagna to be.  Begin with a layer of eggplant and zucchini, followed by the mozzarella cheese, canned tomatoes, and top with 3 sheets of lasagna.  Repeat the layers 1-2 more times.  Spread the bechamel sauce over the final layer of noodles and sprinkle over the parmesan cheese and oregano.  Place the baking dish on top of a cookie sheet and place it in the over.  Bake at 425 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden and the lasagna is bubbly.

But for right now, I can tell you that this weekend we hosted a holiday cookie swap party for the philosophers, and it was a huge success.  We now have far too many cookies in our house, but if I take some to work, and Justin takes some to the philosophers I think we can whittle down the numbers pretty quickly.  I made a few kinds of cookies, but the ones I will share with you tonight are homemade oreos from the ever inspiring Smitten Kitchen!  They were so yummy, and a very exciting thing to make from scratch.

Oreos (originally from Smitten Kitchen)

Chocolate Wafers
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cups sugar
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

Preheat the over to 375.  Spray two cookie sheets with cooking oil or cover with parchment paper.  Set aside.

Combine first five ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and turn on low.  Mix until well combined.  Slowly add the butter with the mixer on low.  Add the egg last, and mix until well combined.

Scoop out rounded teaspoons of the dough and roll in to balls.  Smoosh each ball with slightly wet fingers in to flat disks.  Cook for 9 minutes, turning the cookie sheet once for even cooking.

Allow the cookies to cool for a minute or two and then remove them to a cooling rack.

Cream Filling
1/2 stick room temperature butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

In the bowl on an electric mixer, on low, beat together the butter and shortening until combined.  Gradually add the powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, letting it get totally incorporated each time.  Add the vanilla and beat to combine.  Turn the mixer on high and beat 2-3 minutes until very fluffy.

Load cream filling into a piping bag.  Pipe about 1 teaspoon’s worth of filling on one wafer.  Gently smoosh another wafer on top, squeezing the filling out towards the edges.

Turkey Stock
1 turkey carcass, with most of the meat removed
1 large onion
2 large carrots
3 celery stalks
1 clove garlic, smashed
10 sprigs of thyme
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 bay leaf

Chop the vegetables in to large pieces.  You don’t need to worry about peeling them, just make sure they are nice and clean.  Place all the ingredients in a large pot and add enough water to cover everything by about an inch.  My large stock pot has a pasta insert, so I used the pasta insert, which made removing the turkey and veggies a cinch when the stock was finished.  Simmer the stock for three hours on low.  Strain the stock to remove the veggies, turkey, and spices – see how this can become much easier if you have a pasta insert?

After three hours I found my stock to still be a little weak – probably because I had to add more water to cover the veggies with the pasta insert – so I simmered mine for a while longer to reduce the stock and concentrate the flavor.  I think mine cooked for six hours total.  This seems like a long time, and a day killer, but it requires very little attention.  I think I went for a walk, took a bike ride, and ran to the store throughout the say and just left the stock on low.

When my stock was finished, I used some as the base for turkey noodle soup for dinner, stuck some in the fridge to use in risotto later this week, and measured out several bags to freeze.

These black bean burgers quickly became a favorite when we switched to vegetarianism.  They are different from hamburgers, but I find them very satisfying in a similar way.  And, like hamburgers, they are a super simple way to feed a crowd.

Black Bean Burgers
2 cups dry black beans
3 tablespoons bbq sauce
1/3 cup plain dry breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Rinse and sort through the beans.  Place in a large pot filled with cold water.  Soak the beans for at least 8 hours or overnight.   Drain and rinse the beans, and refill the pot with fresh cold water.  I usually cook my beans in a crock pot on low heat for about 8 hours, but you can also boil then on the stove until tender.  Also, if you’re short on time, you could use 2-3 cans of drained and rinsed black beans.

Reserve 1-2 cups of the cooked black beans.  Place the remaining black beans in a food processor with the bbq sauce, breadcrumbs, cumin, oregano, and cayenne pepper.  Pulse several times until a thick puree forms.  Spoon the black bean puree into a large bowl and mix in the remaining whole beans and the cilantro.  Form the mixture in to patties.  i usually get around 8-10, but that can vary based on how big you make your patties.

Cook the patties in a large skillet with a half inch of vegetable oil, turning once, until a nice crispy crust forms on the outside and the patties are heated through.  You could also grill these.  Just put a piece of tin foil on top of the grill grate and spray the foil with some non-stick cooking spray.

These also freeze very well.  Just follow the direction through shaping the patties.  Then freeze them solid on a baking sheet.  After they are frozen, you can stack them in freezer bags using tin foil or parchment paper to separate each layer.  Then you can pull out how ever many burgers you need and either thaw them overnight in the fridge or cook them for a few minutes longer.

I was checking the expiration dates on the condiments in my fridge door when I was hit with the idea for this adaption on my tofu pesto sandwiches.  Tofu is good about soaking up the flavors of whatever you put it with, so it works well with a bbq sauce marinade.  After a bit of marinating and pan frying, this makes a great substitute for a more traditional bbq chicken or beef sandwich.

BBQ Tofu Sandwiches
1 package firm tofu
2-3 tablespoons bbq sauce
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons oil
sandwich bread
sandwich topping, such as sliced red onions, cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce

Thinly slice the tofu, and press out any extra water with paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Figure on 2-4 slices per sandwich.  1 package of tofu will make about 4 sandwiches.  You can put any unused tofu in a tupperware, cover it with water, seal , and refrigerate.  It should keep for several days.

Smear both sides of the tofu with the bbq sauce and allow to sit for at least 20-30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a large skillet.  Add the tofu when the oil is hot, and pan fry for about 5 minutes per side, until crispy.  Remove to paper towels.

Meanwhile, toast the sandwich bread and prepare toppings.  Any leftover marinade can be spread on the bread.  Assemble the sandwich, smooshing slightly at the end to hold everything together.