Pumpkin Pickles

From SF Chronicle, Jacqueline Higuera McMahan

Yields about 1 quart

No one expects a pickle from a pumpkin. The pumpkin cubes absorb all the cinnamon and cloves from the syrup and make a great accompaniment to turkey and pork. Place in a beautiful glass jar for a gift. You can layer slices of pumpkin pickle into an impressive turkey sandwich and no one will guess your mystery ingredient.

* 1 pumpkin, at least 1 1/2 pounds 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
* 4-inch-long cinnamon stick, broken in pieces
* 4 cloves
* Four 2-inch-wide strips lemon peel
* 1 small dried chile (arbol), optional

Instructions: Slice the top off the pumpkin. Cut into wedges so it will be easier to handle. Using a paring knife, remove inner fibers and seeds and discard. Use a potato peeler to remove the pumpkin's skin and then cut the pumpkin into 11/2-inch cubes.

Combine the sugar, salt, apple cider vinegar, 2 cups water, cinnamon, cloves, lemon peel and chile and simmer for 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Add the pumpkin cubes and simmer until tender, about 18 minutes. Check with a fork to make sure they are just tender enough to be easily speared. Remove the pumpkin cubes to a glass bowl and continue to simmer the liquid until it is reduced and syrupy. Be careful, as it can turn to caramel very quickly. You want the syrup to just coat a spoon. Cool it down for 15 minutes and then pour over the pumpkin cubes. Cover and refrigerate at least 24 hours before using. Place in a pretty glass jar to give pumpkin pickles as a gift. They will keep for a month, but should be refrigerated at all times.

Brussels Sprouts Gratin

4 servings

From Alice Waters' "The Art of Simple Food" (2007, Clarkson Potter). The recipe is reproduced as written in the book.

Trim the outer leaves and stems from:

1 pound Brussels sprouts

Cook them until tender in abundant salted boiling water, about 10-12 minutes. Drain the sprouts well and chop coarse.

Into a heavy pan over medium heat, put:

2 slices bacon or 3 slices pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Cook until just rendered and limp. Add the chopped sprouts. Season with:

Salt

Fresh-ground black pepper

Stir, and cook for a few minutes. Butter a gratin or baking dish. Add the sprouts and bacon and spread evenly. Pour over:

1/2 cup half-and-half, or a mixture of half-and-half and heavy cream

Sprinkle evenly over the sprouts:

1/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs

Top with:

Thin shavings of butter

Bake in a 400° oven for 20-25 minutes or until the crumbs are golden and the liquid is bubbling.

Per serving: 180 calories, 9 g protein, 18 g carbohydrate, 9 g fat (4 g saturated), 23 mg cholesterol, 273 mg sodium, 5 g fiber.

Grilled Persimmons

From the SF Chronicle

Serve with pork chops or a pork roast, or duck breast, along with braised winter greens. They are also good added warm to a spinach or frisee salad.

* 2 Firm Fuyu persimmons
* 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil + oil for the grill

Instructions:
Preheat a gas grill or build a charcoal or wood fire.

Slice the persimmons crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices. Remove the seeds with the tip of the knife if necessary.

Put the slices in a bowl and gently toss with the olive oil.

When the grill is ready, brush it with a wire brush and rub it with a little olive oil.

Place the slices directly on the grill or in a single layer in a grilling basket. Grill until slightly golden and softened, about 3 minutes. Turn and grill the other side until golden, another 2-3 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Beer-Braised Short Ribs

From Cook's Country

Time and gentle heat are the secrets to turning tough short ribs into a blue-ribbon dinner. Cooked long enough at a slow enough temperature, the meaty ribs turn fork tender and deeply beefy. The demands of short ribs seem perfectly addressed by a slow cooker, but few of the slow cooker recipes we have tried measure up. The meat has tasted bland and looked pale, and so has the sauce. We wanted to find a way to coax out the best of short ribs in a slow cooker. Here’s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

* Fully brown the ribs for the deepest flavor and best color.
* Prunes are the secret ingredient in this stew, lending a mysterious depth and deep flavor.
* Braise the ribs in a dark, sweet beer like Newcastle brown ale. The bitterness of hoppy beers can affect the stew’s flavor.
* Add soy sauce to deepen the flavor and color of the stew.
* Use tapioca to thicken the stew rather than flour or cornstarch, which will make the sauce taste starchy.
* When time allows, prepare the dish ahead of time and refrigerate ribs and sauce separately to easily remove the fat.

STEP BY STEP

Rib Rules

1. The ribs taste best if fully browned before going into the slow cooker. Brown the meaty side of the ribs, then turn them on each side to finish browning (you can lean the ribs against each other if they won't stand on their own).

2. Place the browned ribs in the slow cooker with the meaty side facing down and the bones facing up. This placement will ensure that the meat stays submerged throughout the long cooking time.

Beer-Braised Short Ribs

Serves 4 to 6

The only way to remove fat from the braising liquid is to prepare this recipe a day or two before you want to serve it. Luckily, the short ribs actually taste better if cooked in advance and then reheated in the defatted braising liquid.
5 pounds English-style beef short ribs (6 to 8 ribs), trimmed of excess fat
Table salt and ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 pounds yellow onions , halved and sliced thin
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 (12-ounce) bottles dark beer such as Newcastle Brown Ale and O'Doul's Amber Nonalcoholic
2 tablespoons Minute Tapioca
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons soy sauce
12 pitted prunes
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

1. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of ribs, meaty side down, and cook until well browned, about 5 minutes. Following photo 1, turn each rib on one side and cook until well browned, about 1 minute. Repeat with remaining sides. Transfer ribs to slow-cooker insert, arranging them meaty side down, as shown in photo 2. Repeat with remaining ribs.

2. Pour off all but 1 teaspoon fat from skillet. Add butter and reduce heat to medium. When butter has melted, add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook, coating onions with tomato paste, until paste begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in beer, bring to simmer, and cook, scraping browned bits from pan bottom with wooden spoon, until foaming subsides, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in tapioca, bay leaves, 1 teaspoon thyme, soy sauce, and prunes. Transfer to slow-cooker insert.

3. Set slow cooker on low, cover, and cook until ribs are fork-tender, 10 to 11 hours. (Alternately, cook on high for 4 to 5 hours.) Transfer ribs to baking dish and strain liquid into bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 2 days.

4. When ready to serve, use spoon to skim off hardened fat from liquid. Place short ribs, meaty side down, and liquid in Dutch oven and reheat over medium heat until warmed through, about 20 minutes. Transfer ribs to serving platter. Whisk mustard and remaining teaspoon thyme into sauce and season with salt and pepper. Pour 1 cup sauce over ribs. Sprinkle with parsley and serve, passing remaining sauce separately.

Beef daube

My interpretation of daube, a classic French Provencal dish.

2-4 lbs stew beef, cut in chunks (I've used oxtails, too)
olive oil
1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 cups beef stock
3/4 bottle red wine (traditionally a Rhone-style wine)
strip of orange peel
1/4 cup chopped black olives, pref. oil-cured
bouquet garni or loose herbs, your preference: thyme, bay leaf; optional oregano, marjoram, whole cloves or allspice berries (that's Julia Child's recommendation)
4-6 anchovy filets, mashed
1 16-oz can whole tomatoes, seeds removed and chopped or crushed by hand (or peeled and seeded fresh tomatoes if they're deserving)

Brown meat on all sides with a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat in a large, covered casserole. Set meat aside. Deglaze pan with a bit of wine.

Over medium heat, saute onions until softening, then add garlic and anchovies and stir for a minute or two. Now add everything else, including meat, and adjust amounts of liquid to mostly submerge meat. Put in on lowest possible heat and cover, cooking for 3-4 hours. Stir and flip meat occasionally.

To be extra fabulous: cool stew completely, skim fat and reheat before serving. If you want thicker, stewier stuff, make a roux and add to the pot. Over egg noodles with lots of delicious broth is my preference, but extra-good bread dipped in a stew bowl is good, too.

Simplest (&best) oven-baked tomatoes

For abundant crops (or boxes) of tomatoes. Try on grilled cheese, in pasta, in salad with feta and parsley, on pizza...I assume they can be frozen, too.

Slice a pile of paste (San Marzano, Roma, etc.) tomatoes in half. Toss on a baking sheet with olive oil, salt, pepper and maybe some herbs. Lay cut-side-up in a single layer and bake on low for about 3 hours.

Skillet cornbread

adapted from the Tassajara Bread Book

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp butter
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (or milk)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2-1 cup grated cheddar or jack cheese (optional)
1/3 cup chopped roasted and seeded hot peppers (like Hungarian wax peppers or jalepenos)

Heat oven to 400 and preheat cast iron skillet in oven. Combine dry ingredients, then add wet ingredients and stir. Melt butter in skillet, then pour batter into hot pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden. Invert onto a cooling rack; eat hot or cool.

Red cabbage with apples

1 tablespoon olive oil
Kosher salt
1 small onion, chopped
1 small head red cabbage, quartered, cored, and sliced thinly
2 medium baking apples, peeled, cored, and cut in eighths
3 whole garlic cloves (optional)
Raisins or prunes (optional)
Whole coriander seeds
French four-spice mix (ground nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves)
1/2 cup red wine
Freshly ground pepper

Serves 4.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft. Add cabbage, apples, raisins, and garlic to the pot, stir to coat, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until the cabbage starts to soften. Season with whole coriander seeds, French four-spice (light-handedly), and salt. Stir to combine.

Pour the wine over the vegetables, cover, lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer for about an hour, stirring from time to time to make sure the vegetables don't burn at the bottom. Adjust the seasoning, sprinkle with pepper, and serve with strong mustard on the side. Excellent with pork.

From Chocolate and Zucchini

Vanilla Ice Cream

Makes 1 quart; adapated from Cook's Illustrated

If necessary, two teaspoons of vanilla extract may be substituted for the vanilla bean. To maximize the extract’s potency, stir it into the chilled custard just before churning.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups whole milk and/or buttermilk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 inch piece vanilla bean, slit lengthwise and seeds removed, pod reserved
4 large egg yolks

1. Position a strainer over a medium bowl set in a larger bowl containing ice water. Heat the milk, cream, 1/2 cup of the sugar, and the vanilla seeds and pod in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally to break up the vanilla seeds, until steam appears and the milk is warm (about 175 degrees), about 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl until combined and pale yellow. Whisk half the warm milk mixture into the beaten yolks, 1/2 cup at a time, until combined. Whisk the milk-yolk mixture into the warm milk in the saucepan; set the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until steam appears, foam subsides, and the mixture is slightly thickened or an instant-read thermometer registers 180 to 185 degrees. (Do not boil the mixture, or the eggs will curdle.) Immediately strain the custard into the bowl set in the ice bath; cool the custard to room temperature, stirring it occasionally to help it cool. Cover and refrigerate until an instant-read thermometer registers 40 degrees or lower, at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours.

3. Remove and discard the vanilla pod from the custard (or add the vanilla extract, if using) and stir well. Pour the custard into the ice cream machine canister and churn, following the manufacturer’s instructions, until the mixture resembles soft-serve ice cream. Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container, press plastic wrap flush against the surface, cover the container, and freeze the ice cream until firm, at least 2 hours. (The ice cream will keep for up to 2 days.)

Grapes!

Glossary of grape varieties:

Here is a selection of grapes you might find at Bay Area farmers' markets and at some specialty stores.

Bronx. Considered by some to be the Rolls Royce of table grapes, this rare hybrid is grown by Lagier Ranches in the Ripon area. It has a reddish-gray color, silken texture and muscat-like flavor.

Champagne. Also known as Zante grapes. Although they have a lovely, distinctive flavor, the table grapes from this wine variety tend to sell for their looks: tiny burgundy-colored berries in tight, appealingly shaped clusters.

Concord. Containing a lot of their distinctive flavor in their dark blue skins, these native grapes pop open to reveal a sweet, gelatin-like interior.

Muscat. This grape goes into Italy's Moscato, a perfumey dessert wine. Table grapes have similar qualities, with a honeyed sweetness and a background of acidity.

Thompson. This common, very sweet green grape has a complex flavor when completely ripe and slightly golden. You're more likely to see ripe ones at farmers' markets.

How to use specialty grapes:

The complex, wine-y flavor of Muscat, Concord and other specialty table grapes allows them to work in savory preparations in a way similar to figs. Here are some ideas from Laurent Manrique of Aqua restaurant in San Francisco.

Grape panini. Toast sourdough bread and rub it with a little bit of fresh garlic. Mix halved Muscat or Cabernet grapes in a bowl with olive oil, fresh black pepper and sea salt. Spread them over the bread and top with dry goat cheese and sliced prosciutto.
Print This Recipe

Bread and grape salad. Toss diced toasted sourdough bread with halved Concord grapes, walnut oil, sherry vinegar, fresh walnuts and salt and pepper to taste. The grape juices will soak into the bread like tomato juices do in panzanella.

Cauliflower Gruyère Soup

From The Girl & the Fig Cookbook

Makes: 6 servings
Ingredients

* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 onion, thinly sliced
* 1 head cauliflower, broken into small florets
* salt and white pepper
* 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1 quart chicken stock (4 cups)
* bouquet garni (3 Italian parsley sprigs, 1 tarragon sprig, 3 thyme sprigs, 1 bay leaf)
* 1 cup grated Gruyère cheese
* 2 tablespoons butter (if needed)
* 2 tablespoons flour (if needed)
* 1/4 cup chopped chives

Instructions

1. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan and cook the onion slowly until soft and translucent but not browned. Add the cauliflower, lightly season with salt and pepper, and cook over a low flame for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so the mixture does not brown. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Add the garlic and cook for 5 more minutes, allowing the mixture to lightly brown. Add the stock and bouquet garni and bring the mixture to a boil. Once the soup has come to a rolling boil reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the bouquet garni.
2. Purée the soup. If soup isn't thick enough, prepare a roux with the butter and flour, then add to soup. Add the Gruyère. Adjust the seasoning. Garnish with the chives.

Beverage pairing: Viognier

Mole Verde

By Aliza Green, from Field Guide to Herbs & Spices
Makes: 1 quart
Ingredients

* 1 pound of tomatillos
* 2 seeded jalapeños
* 1 bunch cilantro
* 2 cloves garlic
* 1 coarsely chopped white onion
* 1 cup raw pumpkinseeds
* 3 tablespoons lard or oil
* 1 cup chicken stock

Instructions

1. Peel off the papery skin from 1 pound of tomatillos and cook in 2 cups boiling salted water for about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving the cooking water.
2. Blend the tomatillos, 2 seeded jalapeños, the leaves from 1 bunch cilantro, 2 cloves garlic, and 1 coarsely chopped white onion with about 1/2 cup of the cooking water until smooth. Transfer to a bowl.
3. Toast 1 cup raw pumpkinseeds in 1 tablespoon lard or oil. Blend with 1 cup chicken stock until smooth. Combine both mixtures.
4. Melt 2 tablespoons lard or oil and fry the tomatillo–pumpkinseed mixture for 3 minutes, or until bubbling hot. Season to taste with salt. Serve with chicken enchiladas or tacos.

Upside-Down Lemon Pudding Cake

This book is from our cookbook America's Best Lost Recipes

2 large eggs , separated, at room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice from 2 lemons
1 cup milk

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2-quart baking dish or six 6-ounce ramekins.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Reduce the speed to medium and add the egg yolks, mixing until incorporated. Add the flour, lemon zest, and salt and beat until combined. Add the lemon juice and milk and beat until incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the egg whites. Pour the batter into the prepared dish or ramekins. Place the dishes in a large baking pan and add enough boiling water to the pan so that it reaches halfway up the sides of the dish or ramekins.

3. Bake until the top is golden and the center springs back when gently pressed, 35 to 45 minutes for a large baking dish and 25 to 35 minutes for the individual ramekins. Transfer the dishes to a rack to cool completely, at least 1 1/2 hours. (The pudding cakes can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.) To serve, run a paring knife around the edges of the dish and invert onto a plate.

Serves 6

Greek Fried Egg

Heat olive oil gently in a skillet with fresh oregano; fry eggs in it. Pour into a bowl and top with crumbled feta cheese and a handful of country olives. Serve with crusty bread.

Green Tomato and Lemon Marmalade

By the time the seventh day of my tomato tour rolled around, I was ready for dessert.

And why not? After all, tomatoes are botanically a fruit, not a vegetable. I thought back to all the tomato confections I’d savored: the tomato tart Tatins, the sorbets and gelées. Any would have filled the bill, but I had used the last of the ripe tomatoes in the gazpacho, and only the green ones were left. Although I had originally planned to fry them, sweet fried green tomatoes just weren’t appealing.

Then I thought back to a recent delicacy I’d had in Provence. My very stylish host served a memorable breakfast of day-old croissants, toasted until the butter seeped out onto the crisp, golden surface, then slathered with green tomato marmalade studded with lemon confit. Replicating that marmalade seemed just the thing to do with my shiny pale tomatoes.

And so I did, keeping the recipe as simple as possible and cooking the tomato and lemon in sugar just until the fruit turned shimmering and translucent. Tangier, more complex and looser than most marmalades, this one offered candied slivers of fruit suspended in a thick, honeyed syrup that was just jellied enough to spread, yet runny enough to be dolloped over ice cream, or perhaps some leftover mascarpone.

Even without the croissant, it was a mesmerizing end to a week of tomato worship that can happily continue until first frost.

Instructions:
1 lemon, thinly sliced and seeded

2 1/4 pounds green tomatoes (about 5 large tomatoes), cored and thinly sliced

3 1/4cups sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Pinch of salt.

1. Bring lemon slices to a boil in a pot of water. Drain.

2. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan along with 1/4 cup water, and bring to a simmer, stirring, to dissolve sugar. Cook at a bare simmer until tomatoes and lemon slices are translucent and syrup thickens, 20 to 30 minutes. Cool completely; store in refrigerator.

Yield: 1 3/4 cups.

Baked Fennel

Fennel Baked with Parmesan Cheese, from: Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book

Jane Grigson's note about this recipe: "My favourite fennel dish, the best one of all by far. The simple additions of butter and parmesan - no other cheese will do - show off the fennel flavour perfectly. The point to watch, when the dish is in the oven, is the browning of the cheese. Do not let it go beyond a rich golden-brown."

Julia's note: this dish can be halved or made even smaller for just two people with one or two large heads of fennel.

6 heads fennel, trimmed, quartered
butter
pepper
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Cook the fennel in salted water until it is tender. It is important to get this right: the fennel should not still be crisp, on the other hand it should not be floppy either. Drain it well and arrange in a generously buttered gratin dish. Be generous, too, with the pepper mill. Sprinkle on the cheese. Put into the oven at 400 degrees, until the cheese is golden brown and the fennel is bubbling vigorously in buttery juices.

Grilled Peach Panzanella

Grilled Peach Panzanella

Serves 6-8

This is the dish that chef Jeremy Fox used to court Deanie Fox's family. For gardeners who grow many basils, Fox suggests, "The more varieties the better." The Acme Bakery herb slab is an important part of this recipe specified by chef Fox. In a pinch, another herb bread may be used.

Ingredients:

4 peaches, halved and pitted

1/2 loaf Acme Bakery herb slab, halved lengthwise

About 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt to taste

1 shallot, minced (root end reserved)

2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

2 to 3 tablespoons minced basil

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 bunch arugula

1 large ball fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch dice

Instructions: Prepare grill. Lightly brush peaches and bread with about 1/3 of the olive oil and season with sea salt. Over a light to medium fire, grill peaches and bread. Look for peaches to loosen from their skins, about 30 minutes. Remove the bread as soon as it is just toasted, about 3 minutes per side. Rub the reserved root end of the shallot on warm bread.

Cut bread into 1-inch cubes and allow to cool slightly. Cut 4 of the peach halves into 1/2-inch pieces. Mince the other 4 halves quite finely.

Pour remaining olive oil into a large salad bowl, add minced shallot, vinegar, basil and fine chopped peaches. Stir to form a vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper. Toss with arugula, bread, peaches and mozzarella. Serve family style.

Per serving: 290 calories, 7 g protein, 21 g carbohydrate, 20 g fat (5 g saturated), 17 mg cholesterol, 201 mg sodium, 2 g fiber.

Summer's Fruit & Cornmeal Cake

Serves 8-10

* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal, plus more for coating pan
* 11/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 6 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
* 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 1 cup blackberries
* 1/2 cup raspberries

Instructions: Adjust a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 9- by 2-inch round baking pan; dust the pan with cornmeal, and tap out the excess. Have all the ingredients at room temperature.

For the cake: Sift the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy and smooth, 30 to 45 seconds. Add the sugar in a steady stream, and beat until light. Stir the vanilla and almond extracts into the lightly beaten eggs and add to the butter mixture about 2 tablespoons at a time. The mixture will appear curdled and that's OK for this cake.

Remove the paddle and bowl from the mixer and stir in the sour cream with a rubber spatula. Add the flour ingredients to the butter mixture, stirring with the rubber spatula until well blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Scatter the blackberries and raspberries over the batter.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the baked surface springs back slightly when touched lightly in the center, is lightly golden on top and a round wooden toothpick comes out free of batter. Remove the pan from the oven to a wire rack and cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. With oven mitts, tilt and rotate the pan, gently tapping it on the work surface to release the cake from the sides of the pan. Place a wire rack on top of the pan, invert it onto the rack, and carefully lift the pan to remove. Cool completely before slicing with a sharp knife.

Per serving: 340 calories, 5 g protein, 39 g carbohydrate, 19 g fat (11 g saturated), 127 mg cholesterol, 127 mg sodium, 2 g fiber.

Roasted Eggplant Bisque

Roasted Eggplant Bisque

We fell in love with this soup's spicy-rich flavor many years ago while dining at Citron restaurant in Oakland. From Chris Rossi.

INGREDIENTS:
5 medium-size tomatoes
4 large globe eggplants
1/4 cup olive oil — 4 large leeks, cleaned and finely diced (white and light green part only)
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Balsamic vinegar, to taste
Fresh basil, cut in chiffonade

INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush 2 baking sheets with olive oil.

Cut the tomatoes in half and place them cut sides down on one of the baking sheets.

Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and place them cut sides down on the other baking sheet.

Place the tomatoes on the bottom shelf of the oven; place the eggplant on the top shelf of the oven.

The tomatoes are done when the skins turn color and they give off liquid, which will reduce and thicken.

The eggplants should bake until they are very soft, about 40 minutes.

Allow the eggplants to cool until you can handle them, then scoop out the pulp, leaving the skin and tops behind.

While the vegetables are baking, start the soup base. Heat the olive oil in a heavy 4-quart pot over medium-high heat.

Add the leeks and saute, stirring occasionally, until they caramelize slightly.

Reduce the heat and add the garlic, cayenne and paprika; cook and stir for a few minutes, taking care the garlic does not brown. Add the wine and 3 cups of the chicken stock; bring to a simmer. When tomatoes are done, add them to the pot along with the eggplant pulp.

Add the fresh herbs and bring back to a simmer; simmer for 10 minutes.

Working in small batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth. Strain, if desired.

Return the soup to the pan; season with salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar.

Adjust consistency of soup with the last cup of chicken stock.

Serve very hot with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and the basil chiffonade on top.

Serves 6 to 8

PER SERVING: 125 calories, 4 g protein, 13 g carbohydrate, 7 g fat (1 g saturated), 1 mg cholesterol, 15 mg sodium, 4 g fiber.

Truffled Eggplant Parmigiana

Marlena's Truffled Eggplant Parmigiana

From Chronicle columnist Marlena Spieler

INGREDIENTS:
2 medium-large eggplants, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil
28-ounce can diced tomatoes + their juices
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
Several large pinches of dried oregano
About 12 ounces mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
About 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
A few generous shakes of while truffle oil

INSTRUCTIONS: Sprinkle salt over each eggplant slice and set aside for 20-30 minutes. Rinse well, and pat dry.

Heat a small amount of extra virgin olive oil in a heavy nonstick frying pan. Add the eggplant slices in a single layer and brown on both sides. When all of the eggplant is browned, begin to layer the casserole.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Make a single layer of the browned eggplant in a 12 x 15-inch baking dish that is about 4 to 5 inches deep. Spread a little of the tomatoes over the eggplant. Add a sprinkle of garlic, parsley and oregano. Add a layer of mozzarella and a sprinkling of Parmesan.

Continue making layers, ending with the tomatoes, garlic, parsley, Mozzarella, then Parmesan.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is sizzling and the cheese melt-y, crusty browned in spots and the dish doesn't look liquid-y.

Remove from the oven, let cool for a moment or two, then sprinkle with truffle oil and serve.

Serves 4 to 6

PER SERVING: 295 calories, 23 g protein, 23 g carbohydrate, 13 g fat (8 g saturated), 37 mg cholesterol, 789 mg sodium, 7 g fiber.