Squash and Peanut Stew For A Chilly Night

I don't know about you, but I love to find new recipes that I can almost taste just reading them. That happened when I saw this one for a lovely began stew that's based on winter squash, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes and peanut butter. Although I'm not a big fan of cumin (so I used far less than the recipe calls for) I knew that it was a necessary component of the big flavors that this dish brings to the bowl.

This Washington Post recipe by food writer Joy Manning as given to us by Washington Post writer G Daniela Galarza is a tribute to President Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who was our President when times were a bit simpler. Daniela calls it "a squash and peanut stew: packed with vegetables, seasoned with warm spices and easy to adapt." I know the adapt part is correct because I swapped out the kabocha squash for butternut squash and I changed the spices a bit, too.  I love the ginger especially...it adds a lot of oomph. Sweetie loved this (which is huge for a guy who wants meat in every meal) and said it was surprisingly filling...and to keep the recipe on rotation!

Kabocha Squash and Peanut Stew

Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat gently over low heat and do not let the stew come to a boil, as it may separate.

Servings: 6 to 8
Total time: 50 mins

Ingredients

·        1 tablespoon neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed

·        1 large yellow onion (12 ounces), chopped

·        1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into small dice (1 cup)

·        1 medium green bell pepper (I used orange bell pepper), cored, seeded and cut into small dice (1 cup)

·        1 tablespoon tomato paste

·        One (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

·        3 garlic cloves, minced or finely grated

·        1 teaspoon cumin seeds

·        1 teaspoon ground coriander

·        1/4 teaspoon fine salt, plus more as needed

·        2 cups (10 ounces) peeled, cubed kabocha squash (from one 14- to 16-ounce squash)(I used butternut squash)

·        4 cups chicken or vegetable broth, preferably no-salt-added

·        One (14.5-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, with their juices

·        1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

·        1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped, plus more for serving

·        2 jalapeños (seeded or not), ground to a paste with the flat side of a knife or mortar and pestle, for serving

·        1/4 cup roasted salted peanuts, chopped, for serving

Steps

1. In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onion and bell peppers, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 8 minutes.

2. Add the tomato paste, ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander and salt, and cook until the mixture is aromatic and the tomato paste darkens slightly, about 1 minute. Add the squash and stir to coat.

3. Add the broth and crushed tomatoes, increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low — enough heat to maintain a simmer — and cook, uncovered, until the squash is so tender it breaks apart easily, about 20 minutes,

4. In a medium bowl, thin the peanut butter with a ladleful of the stew, stirring until smooth and pourable. Scrape the peanut butter mixture into the pot, and stir to combine. Add the cilantro leaves.

5. Use a potato masher to break up the squash, leaving some pieces intact for a chunky texture.

6. Serve with the jalapeño paste, chopped peanuts and more cilantro leaves.

Babes Bake Onion Board

We're finally getting some cooler weather...and maybe even rain on Sunday and Monday!!...so it's fun to bake again. Our September challenge was chosen by Karen.  It's an Ashkenazi Jewish flatbread and is sometimes called Onion Board. This is an easy flatbread topped with a thick layer of savory sautéed onions. Over that is sprinkled a nice amount of poppy seeds. I even sprinkled on a few flax seeds that I found in the freezer. I recommend adding a sprinkle of sea salt over the whole topping because the onions cook up fairly sweet.

The bread itself is simple, but you do have to make it ahead of time so that it has overnight (or at least 10 hours) to rise and ripen. I used part white whole wheat flour and it was tasty, although it didn't rise very much. Sweetie really loved the topping. We had it with a dinner that included steelhead trout and a mixed green salad with fresh from the garden tomatoes, cucumber, and carrots. It went really well!

Do bake with us and become a Buddy. Our Kitchen of the Month, Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories, will send you a beautiful Buddy Badge, designed by Elizabeth, if you send her an email with a description of your bake and a photo by Sept. 29th. You'll also be included in the round-up! There is also more information about the bread on her website.

Also, check out the sites for the other Babes to see their take on this simple but delicious yeasted flatbread with onion topping. 

Happy September!

Sept 2022 - Onion Board 

 

Dough

375 grams (3 cups) all purpose flour

7 grams (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant yeast

7 grams (2 teaspoons) Diamond Crystal kosher salt

3 tablespoons, olive oil, divided

294 grams (1 1/4 cups) warm water (about 110 degrees F)

Spray oil

Topping

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for stretching

3 large yellow or brown onions, about 3/8 inch dice

1 3/4 grams (1/2 teaspoon) kosher salt

1 tablespoon (plus more if desired) poppy seeds

1/2 teaspoon flax seeds (optional)

Flake sea salt (optional)

 

Instructions:

Mix the dough ingredients with a dough whisk until all of the flour is absorbed. 

Spray a large bowl or dough rising bucket with spray oil and scrape it into the dough. Spray the top lightly with spray oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise overnight, about 10 to 15 hours. It should double. 

Remove the dough from the refrigerator while you heat the oven and prepare the onions. 

If you have a baking stone, set it on a rack in the middle or slightly below. Heat your oven to 450 degrees F. 

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet and add the onions. Cook, stirring regularly, until the onion is translucent and slightly browned about the edges, about 20 to 30 minutes. When they are almost done, stir in the salt. Remove the onions from the pan and let cool in a bowl. 

Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and spread with 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the paper. Scrape the dough onto the parchment and spread it by dimpling it with your oiled fingertips while pushing to the edges. If the dough is resistant, let it rest for 10 minutes, and start spreading it again (until you have about a 10 inch by 14 inch rectangle). 

Brush the edges of the dough lightly with olive oil. Spread the onion mixture over the dough, leaving about a 1 inch border. Sprinkle with onions with the poppy seeds. Lightly sprinkle with the optional sea salt. Let rest, uncovered, for about 10 to 15 minutes. 

Place the baking sheet on top of the baking stone and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. 

Cut with a pizza wheel. It's best fresh from the oven, but can be reheated, just like pizza. 

Triple Onion Dip

Impossible that it is already Nov. 17th. Somehow I thought I had a few days left to make the Bread Baking Babes bread...will do it tomorrow if I can. This has been a crazy month with too much travel and doctor's appointments (routine) and dentist appointments (not routine) and there is a big event on Wednesday and yesterday was a retirement party...so I made a delicious dip but not the bread. Just glad that I don't have to host Thanksgiving this year! I will make the dip again for Sweetie though.

The holidays are upon us. Still seems too soon, but I guess if Christmas decorations are showing up in stores before Halloween these days, it's not too surprising that Thanksgiving will be gone in a flash. Still, we usually need things to serve our near and dear ones on turkey day, including old favorites.

Does someone in your family love the dip made with onion soup mix and sour cream? I've got a recipe for a dip that has a taste quite similar, but made from scratch...fresh onion, leek and shallot instead of that 'what ingredients are in this packet anyway?' dry soup mix. Instead of sour cream and mayo, we substitute slightly healthier Greek yogurt. This dip tastes very familiar with potato chips, but just as delicious with baby carrots, celery sticks, snow peas and red pepper strips. I won't lie and tell you that it is quick and easy, but I assure you that once you try this you'll never go back to the soup mix version. If you are bringing it to a party, remember to bring breath mints, too. This wonderful triple onion dip has a true onion flavor...big time! I saved about a tablespoon of the onion mixture to put in the center as garnish, but that's optional.

Today was really beautiful here with sunny skies and brilliant color on the trees because it has been getting cold enough at night for good fall color. I was able to find some time to start cleaning up my vegetable/flower garden of old squash plants and morning glories that had gone to seed. Grateful that I have the energy and strength to do gardening and pulling and pruning and lifting...just wish I had a little more. Soon (in a day or two) I should have a post for you of a delicious crown bread, then another post a few days later...or by the weekend... of a main dish salad perfect for friends and family who have or choose to eat gluten free, dairy free, egg free, low salt, vegan. I'm preparing ten of them for the event on Wednesday and I'll be prepping for them Tuesday. Hope our power company doesn't turn off our power. Tough to roast veggies in the quantities I need over the BBQ!

So here is the delicious, fairly healthy three onion dip from Feed Me Phoebe blog. Thanks Phoebe!

Healthy French Onion Dip with Leeks and Shallots
from #feedmephoebe

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, peeled and diced
1 large leek, green and white parts only, halved and thinly sliced
2 large shallots, halved and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
1 cup plain Greek yogurt, preferably full fat
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Saute' the onion, leeks and shallots in the oil about 7 minutes, stirring often, until translucent and beginning to brown. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until dark and caramelized, about 15 minutes. Add the tamari or soy sauce and continue to cook for 2 minutes to evaporate the liquid.

In a medium mixing bowl combine the onion mixture, the Greek yogurt and the salt. Stir well. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Use at once or chill. Return to room temperature to serve.

Serve with chips or crudites.

Bread Baking Babes Play with Garnet Yams and Onions

The delightful bread that our Kitchen of the Month, Elizabeth of blog from OUR kitchen, is an unusual combination of cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (garnet yams in my case) with that wonderful golden color, and caramelized onions. It has the fascinating name of Elbow-lick Sandwich Bread because the author made a juicy tomato sandwich with it and the tomato juices ran down her arm all the way to her elbow.

The bread is on the slack side, so I ended up with a flattish donut shape. The crumb is moist and the flavor is strong but good. This one took a lot of kneading and I even added an extra half cup of whole wheat flour towards the end of kneading so that it would hold it's shape enough to be shaped into a round with a hole in the middle. It rose a bit in the oven but was still pretty flat. You can really taste the onions in this bread, so be sure that you like onions in your bread (or just skip putting them in...it should still be a great bread).

I used active dry yeast since my sourdough starter bit the dust a while ago. Using commercial yeast (a bit more that what was called for since this bread has a lot of veggie mass to lift) worked well and meant I didn't need to do the float test. I did some kneading in the mixer and some on a board.

Be sure to visit the other Bread Baking Babes blogs to see what they did with this bread. If they followed the directions (I didn't...are you surprised??), there should be loaves with the marks from having the dough rise in bannetons. Some will have holes, some not, but I bet they will all be great breads.

If you want to be a Buddy, contact Elizabeth after you have baked the bread and taken a photo or two of it, and send her an email with a short description of your experience baking the bread and attach the photo(s). Deadline is January 29th.

Wishing you a Happy New Year of bread baking!

Elbow Lick Sandwich Bread
based on the recipe for Sweet Potato Onion Bread in "Deep Run Roots" by Vivian Howard for 1 loaf  

Leavener 

·                     spoonful (10ml or so) active natural wheat starter at 100% hydration (OR 0.5gm (1/8 tsp) active dry yeast)

·                     60gm (60ml) water, body temperature

·                     60gm (118ml) 100% whole wheat flour

Sweet Potato 

·                     1 five-inch-long orange sweet potato (about)

Caramelized Onions 

·                     375gm (2.5 large) onions, diced

·                     7gm (1.5 tsp) sunflower oil

·                     3gm Kosher salt (0.5 tsp table salt)

Dough 

·                     232gm (400ml) bread flour, OR 225gm unbleached all-purpose + 7gm vital wheat gluten

·                     5gm (10ml) wheat germ

·                     200gm (200ml) water at body temperature, divided (hold back about 18gm for mixing in the salt)

·                     All of the Starter from above

·                     7gm (5 ml) honey

·                     9gm Kosher salt (1.5 tsp table salt) + 18 gm (18ml) from above  

·                     120 ml (~100gm) roasted sweet potato puree

·                     All of the caramelized onions from above

1.             leavener IN THE EVENING OF THE DAY BEFORE MAKING THE BREAD: Put the starter (or active dry yeast, if you're using that) and water into a smallish bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon. Use the wooden spoon to stir the flour in well. Cover the bowl with a plate and set aside overnight in the oven with only the light turned on.

2.             sweet potato IN THE EVENING OF THE DAY BEFORE MAKING THE BREAD: Preheat oven to 400F. Cut the ends off of the sweet potato and place it whole on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until tender. This should take about 45 minutes. Vivian Howard wrote the following:
Once you start to smell them, probably after about 45 minutes, give the potatoes a look. My mom always looked for a little of their juice to have leached out and caramelized, but that is more romantic than necessary. When the potatoes are done, their skins should have separated slightly from their flesh and they should pierce easily with a knife or fork.
Slice the baked sweet potato in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh out into a bowl. Mash well. Cover the bowl with a plate and set aside in a cool place until the next morning. 

3.             onions IN THE EVENING OF THE DAY BEFORE MAKING THE BREAD: Heat oil for onions in a cast iron pan. Add the onions and salt and caramelize the onions over medium heat until they are golden brown. Vivian Howard says this will take 30-40 minutes. Set aside in a cool place until the next morning.

4.             mix the dough IN THE MORNING OF THE DAY YOU WILL BE MAKING THE BREAD: When a small forkful of the leavener floats in a small bowl of room temperature water, you can go ahead and mix the dough. If the leavener does not float, stir in a little more whole wheat flour and water - even amounts by weight - cover with a plate and leave for about 30 minutes more. Chances are that it will now float. (If you have used active dry yeast, you can safely skip the floating test.) Put flour, wheat germ, all but 18ml water, leavener, honey, sweet potato puree into a large mixing bowl. Use a wooden spoon or dough whisk to mix these ingredients to make a rough dough. Cover the bowl with a plate and leave on the counter for about 40 minutes.

5.             adding the salt: In a small bowl, whisk the salt into the final 18gm (18 ml) water. Pour the salt mixture over the dough.

6. kneading: Use one of your hands to squoosh the salt and water into the dough; use the other hand to steady the bowl - this way you always have a clean hand. At first the dough might be a bit messy and seem like it's coming apart. Persevere. Suddenly, it will seem more like dough than a horrible separated glop. Keep folding it over onto itself until it is relatively smooth. Cover with a plate and leave to rest for about 20 minutes.
7. stretching and folding the dough and adding the onions: Put a quarter of onions on top of the dough and turn it by folding the dough into the center. Let sit 20 minutes. Repeat at 20 minute intervals until all the onions are in the dough. You'll notice that after each time, the dough will feel significantly smoother. Cover with a plate and leave on the counter (or if the kitchen is cool like ours in winter and early spring, into the oven with only the light turned on). Once all the onions are added, leave the covered bowl in the oven - with only the light turned on - for a couple of hours to allow the dough to double. (A good way to tell if the dough is reading to shape is to run your index finger under water, then poke a hole in the center of the dough. If the hole disappears immediately, the dough still need to rise. If there is a slight whooshing sound and the hole remains in place, the dough has probably over-risen. If the hole very very gradually begins to close, the dough is ready to shape.
8. prepare the brot-form: Put rice flour into a brotform and distribute it as evenly as possible. (If you don't have a brot-form, you can line a bowl, basket or sieve with parchment paper. You can also use a liberally rice floured tea towel (but then you have to deal with a floured tea towel once the bread is baked). If you do not have rice flour, you can use any other kind of flour. Note that higher gluten level make it significantly more difficult for the bread to be released from the basket....
9. pre-shaping: Scatter a dusting of wheat flour on the board and gently place the dough on the flour. Using wet hands, stretch the dough into a longish rectangle, then fold it like a letter, gently patting off any extra flour that might be there. Continue folding until the dough is shaped in a ball. Cover with a clean tea towel and let the ball rest for about 20 minutes.
10. shaping: Without breaking the skin, tighten the ball further. Place it seam side UP in the well floured (rice) brot-form. Sprinkle the reserved bran evenly over the top of the bread. Loosely wrap the shaped loaf with a clean tea towel and enclose the whole thing inside a plastic bag and leave it in the oven with only the light turned on for 3 or 4 hours (until it has about doubled and there are bubbles). Please note that Vivian Howard shapes her bread into rounds with holes in the center:
    Shape [the dough] into a round. Let [it] rest for 10 minutes. [...]Line [a baking sheet] with parchment and dust with flour. Stick your finger through the center of [the dough ball]. [...] Stretch it slightly to form a little hole. Transfer that dough round to the baking sheet and continue to carefully stretch the center into a 3-inch hole. Your bread round at this point will look like a giant flat doughnut." - Vivian Howard, Deep Run Roots, Chapter 14: Sweet Potato | Sweet Potato Onion Bread
11. baking: To know when it's time to bake, run your index finger under water and gently but firmly press it on the side of the bread. If the dough springs back immediately, recover the bread with the plastic bag and leave it in the oven with only the light turned on. If the dough gradually returns back after being pressed, for the round loaf, put combo cooker (or a cast-iron frying pan and stainless steel bowl) into the oven and preheat all to 400F.
12. When the oven is preheated about fifteen minutes later, put a square of parchment paper on the counter (the paper should be large enough to cover the bottom and sides of the frying pan). Overturn the shaped bread onto the parchment paper (the bran covered part will now be on the bottom). Using a lame (or scissors, or serrated knife), score the bread. Take the pan and bowl out of the oven (wear oven mitts!!) and place the frying pan on the stove (to prevent burning your countertop...). Transfer the bread to the middle of the frying pan and immediately put the lid of the combo-cooker (or stainless steel bowl) overtop like a hat. Put everything into the oven on the middle rack and immediately turn the oven down to 375F. Bake for 40-50 minutes in all, removing the hat half-way through baking. Turn the oven down to 350F when you remove the hat. The bread is done when the crust is a deep golden brown and the bread sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
13. cooling: When the bread has finished baking, remove it from the pan and allow it to cool on a footed rack before slicing and eating; the bread is still cooking internally when first removed from the oven! If you wish to serve warm bread (of course you do), reheat it after it has cooled completely: To reheat any uncut bread, turn the oven to 400F for 5 minutes or so. Turn the oven OFF. Put the bread into the hot oven for about ten minutes. This will rejuvenate the crust and warm the crumb perfectly.

:: why hand mixing? These instructions, as usual, do not mention using an electric mixer: I don't have one; I don't know how to use one. But of course, if you want to use your electric mixer for mixing and kneading, you should do so.  
:: brotform: If you do not have a brotform, you can use Jim Lahey's method for proofing the shaped loaf: he coats a parchment covered cookie sheet with bran, than shapes his loaf into a ball and places it seam side down onto the bran. He scatters a little more bran on top before covering the shaped loaf loosely with a clean tea towel. He lets it sit at room temperature that way until it has almost doubled in size. Or, you can use Vivian Howard's idea to place the bread on a flour covered parchment papered cookie sheet....  
:: cooking container: If you're lucky enough to have Le Creuset or a cast-iron combo cooker, of course, you should use that. But if you don't, do use your cast-iron pan and cover the bread with an overturned stainless steel mixing bowl for the first half of baking. The dome creates a steam chamber that encourages oven spring.  
:: oven temperature and baking times: Howard suggests preheating the oven to 450F and baking for a total of about 30 minutes at 450F. Because of the presence of honey and sweet potato, and fear of scorching, I lowered the oven temperature.

Lentils and Eggs

When I was visiting Los Angeles in the summer (yes, it's still summer but it's beginning to feel like fall and school has started again, so summer seems like it's in the past) we went for brunch to a place called Playa Provisions in Playa Vista (I think). They had an eclectic menu but not a lot of items that were non-dairy. One dish that sounded good was lentils with tomatoes and egg and kale. It was outstanding! A touch of vinegar when served added just the right note against the beany flavor of the lentils and the richness of the soft boiled egg. I came home and decided to see if I could replicate the dish, or at least come close.

After searching the Internet I found a recipe by Bon Appetit that was close so I made a few tweaks and served it for dinner a few nights ago. It was delicious and filling and Sweetie enjoyed it, too. One of the key elements is a soffritto of onion, carrot, celery and garlic (the Bon Appetit recipe had fennel and not celery but I don't like fennel flavor) which is cooked almost into a paste. This plus the tomato sauce really flavor the lentils in a great way!

This is a vegetarian dish but could be vegan if you skip the egg. The Bon Appetit recipe called for serving it with bread that had been fried in olive oil, but I just toasted some seeded sourdough and put on some non-dairy margarine for me and butter for Sweetie. I also sprinkled on a bit of Parmesan cheese on his serving and he said that made it even better.

You could probably serve this the day it is cooked, but I like to 'age' dishes with onions, so I put it in the fridge in the pot it was cooked in for a couple of days. That made reheating it easy. The already cooked spinach was reheated in the microwave and spooned on top of the lentil mixture before I added the egg. I actually forgot to add the red wine vinegar, but plan to do it next time (there were leftovers) since the sharpness is a great foil for the relatively bland legumes. The bread is nice for sopping up any juices. I served it in a shallow, wide soup bowl and that works really well because there are some juices.

Lentils and Tomato Stew with Egg and Spinach
serves 4

1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups lentils (preferably French green), picked over and rinsed
water
1 cup baby spinach, rinsed
4 large eggs
4 sliced crusty bread
red wine vinegar and grated Parmesan cheese (for serving)

Pulse onion, celery, carrots and garlic in a food processor until soffritto is finely chopped.

In a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat, heat the olive oil and add the soffritto, stirring to coat the vegetables with the oil. Season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally for 10-12 minutes, until soft.

Stir in the tomato sauce and cook, stirring occasionally until golden brown and very soft, about 10-12 minutes. Add a splash of water if it is browning too quickly. You want to caramelize the vegetables.

Add the lentils and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are almost tender, 30-35 minutes. Uncover and simmer for another 10 minutes to reduce the liquid.

Skim about a cup of the liquid at the top of the pot and place it in a microwave safe dish. Add the spinach and cover with foil. Let sit to wilt the spinach. Refrigerate this spinach mixture.

Taste the lentil mixture and adjust for salt, if needed.

Refrigerate the pot of lentils at least 24 hours and no more than 48 hours. You can also just make the rest of the recipe from this point without refrigerating the stew, but the flavor is better with a rest.

On serving day, reheat the lentil stew over low heat, stirring as needed to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the eggs and cook at a simmer for 9 minutes. Removed from the pot and run under cold water until just cool enough to handle. Carefully remove shell while keeping egg whole. Place on a cutting board.

Reheat the spinach mixture while the eggs are boiling. Toast and butter the crusty bread.

Put about a quarter of the lentils in a bowl. Top with a quarter of the spinach mixture. Slice the hot eggs in half lengthwise and place, yolk side up on top of the veggies in the bowl. Add a splash of vinegar and sprinkle with Parmesan, as desired. Serve with the toasted bread. Serve at once.

Roasted Rainbow Carrots

Sweetie has recently discovered that he just loves roasted veggies. Tonight I made roasted rainbow organic carrots and a half an onion. Gone in a flash!

Roasted Carrots and Onions

1 bunch carrots with greens on top (or use clip top carrots if that's all you have.) I used organic rainbow carrots...about 7 of them.
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and cut into wedges
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried herbs ( or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs) I used Penzey's Greek seasoning and Zatar which are both dried
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Prepare the carrots by either peeling or rubbing with a clean scrubbie. Cut off the pointed end and just below the green tops. Use the tops for carrot top pesto if desired. Slice the carrots in half lengthwise. Place in a large plastic bag...I use the one from the produce section.

Add the onion wedges, oil, herbs and salt/pepper if using. Shake bag to distribute ingredients all over the carrots and onion wedges.

Line a baking sheet with heavy duty foil. Pour the carrots and onions out onto the sheet and use the bag to distribute the veggies into a single layer.

Roast in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until veggies are tender and edges of the onions are browned. Stir about half way through roasting.

Serve at once or at room temperature.

Serves 2-4

Heading off to visit my daughter and friends tomorrow, but Sweetie and Straight Shooter will keep Pi company until I get back.

Red Pepper Coques and A Different Topping

There are times when I can just look at a recipe and know that the resulting food will be wonderful. This was one of those. Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories is our Kitchen of the Month for May for the busy Bread Baking Babes. She chose Red Pepper Coques from "Bread Illustrated from America's Test Kitchen. According to the recipe, Coques are the Catalan version of the thin and crunchy tapas dish that can be found in bars in the Mediterranean region of Spain, including Barcelona."

This has been a busy month for me, starting with the final day of my visit to Denver and continuing on with massive catch-up in the garden, especially with weeding. The soil and overnight temperatures finally warmed up enough for planting, too, so there are now tomato plants, bean seedlings, cucumber seedlings, and lots of kinds of flower seedlings getting bigger. The zucchini I planted in April are getting bigger and so is the one from a neighbor...the other one was eaten by snails. I still have planting and weeding to do, but now its just a few of each.

Fitting in a bread that needs to start at least the day before it will be eaten was a bit of a challenge, but I'm glad I did. This recipe makes 4 coques, which are long ovals of flatbread, topped with a wonderful, tangy topping of roasted red pepper, caramelized onions and pine nuts (among other things). I decided that since there are only two of us enjoying these that I would make two at a time and used two different toppings on the two different bakes.

The first night I used the red pepper topping. The dough was difficult to make flat enough since it just wanted to spring back into a smaller shape. I eventually shaped the coques using gravity in a similar way to how I shape pizza dough. This left a thicker ridge around the edges, but that just helped keep the topping in the center, so no harm done. I love the topping, so do try it. The red peppers and yellow onions and pine nuts go really well together. Don't substitute on the sherry vinegar, either. It really makes the dish!

The second night I used a topping that I found in the food section of our local paper. It was meant to go on crostini, but went well on the coques, too. It is a combination of a homemade fig jam, caramelized red onions, and some soft cheese. I used Kite Hill fresh cheese mixed with a bit of soy milk in place of ricotta, but I'm sure that fresh ricotta would be lovely. I topped it with chopped walnuts since I had enjoyed the pine nuts topping the red pepper mixture the previous night. The experience was completely different, but I enjoyed this combination, too. The sweetness of the figs and onions was offset a bit by the balsamic vinegar and slight bitterness of the walnuts.

This recipe is going into the 'keep' file and will be used when I want appetizers for a party or pot luck. Except for the baking, the components can be made ahead, too, which is wonderful.

Do visit the other Bread Baking Babes sites to see their takes on this delightful bread. Bake it yourself and become a Buddy by sending Karen an email with your URL, photo and experience with making the bread. Deadline is May 29th. You'll be glad you did.

RED PEPPER COQUES
from Bread Illustrated from America's Test Kitchen

INGREDIENTS:

Dough

468 grams (16 1/2 ounces/3 cups) bread flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

10 2/3 ounces (1 1/3 cups) ice water

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons table or fine sea salt

Red Pepper Topping

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 large onions, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced

2 cups jarred roasted sliced red peppers

3 tablespoons sugar

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 bay leaves

3 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1/4 cup pine nuts

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

INSTRUCTIONS:

Dough
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, and yeast about 5 times. Turn the processor on, and slowly pour in the ice water and process for about 10 seconds. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. 

Add the oil and the salt to the dough and process for 30 to 60 seconds, until the dough forms a ball. Remove the dough from the the processor, and knead by hand for a few seconds, and form it into a ball. Place it into an oiled bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, and up to 3 days. 

Red Pepper Topping
Heat three tablespoons of the olive oil in a 12 inch non stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions, red peppers, sugar, garlic, salt, pepper flakes, and bay leaves. Cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes over medium low. 

Remove the lid and continue to cook, stirring regularly, for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the onions are golden brown. Remove the pan from the heat and discard the bay leaves. Transfer the mixture to a heatproof bowl and stir in the vinegar. Cool completely before using. You can make the mixture in advance and refrigerate overnight. 

Deflate the dough and divide it into four equal sized pieces. Shape each piece into a tight ball and place, seam side down  on your work surface, and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rest for an hour. 

Place oven racks in the upper and lower third positions and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Brush two half sheet pans with 2 tablespoons of olive oil each. 

Place one dough ball on your work surface, and roll it out to a 15 inch by 5 inch oval. Place it on the baking sheet, lengthwise. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls, two per baking sheet. If the dough springs back, let it rest for another 10 to 20 minutes, and re-roll. Dock each about 15 times with a fork. Brush each oblong piece of dough with the rest of the olive oil. 

Bake the dough for 8 minutes, switching the pans at the four minute mark. 

Remove the pans from the oven, and spread them with the red pepper and onion mixture. Sprinkle with the pine nuts. (To make the Fig and Caramelized Onion Coques, use the topping below at this point instead of the red pepper and onion mixture. Top with the walnuts instead of the pine nuts.) Place the baking sheets back into the oven, and bake for 16 minutes, switching and rotating the pans at the 8 minute mark. Continue to bake until the flatbreads are golden and crispy.

Topping

To Make the Coques:

Remove the pans from the oven and let cool on the pans for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the parsley, and transfer to a cutting board to slice and serve. 

Fig and Caramelized Onion Topping for Coques

adapted from Ramekins Culinary School recipe

1/4 cup dried Black Mission figs (stemmed and chopped into 1/-inch dice)- about 4 figs
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons dry red wine
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 small bay leaf
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon butter or margarine
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 medium red onion (peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup fresh ricotta cheese or Kite Hill fresh almond cheese+ 1 tablespoon soy creamer
2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts.

Place the figs in a small saucepan. Add the red wine, sugar, bay leaf and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to simmer and simmer until the figs are tender and the liquid is syrupy, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the vinegar and cook and additional minute. Removed from the heat and let cool.

Melt the butter or margarine and stir in the olive oil. Over medium-high heat sauté the onion until it is beginning to soften and brown, about 5 minutes.

Reduce the heat to low and add the vinegar and sugar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir until the vinegar has almost evaporated, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let cool.

If using this topping for the coques, drain the ricotta, if using, in a strainer lined with a coffee filter or cheesecloth. Transfer to a small bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. If using the Kite Hill nut cheese, place in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Once the coques have baked for 8 minutes, removed from the oven, leaving the oven on, and spread the two coques with the ricotta or almond cheese mixture, dividing evenly.

Top with the onions, dividing evenly and spreading to cover each coque, then top with the figs, dividing evenly and spread to cover each cocque. Sprinkle one tablespoon finely chopped walnuts over each coque and bake an additional 10-16 minutes, or until coque is deep golden brown.