Persimmon Crisp Recipe

Oh persimmons, how gorgeous you are!

When I bought persimmons, I thought persimmon crisp. I love the simplicity of crumbles and I'm a huge fan of fruit desserts so I tend to make crumbles quite often. I've been making my crumble recipe with quinoa topping for a while but this time I opted for a classic crumbled dough topping.

When buying persimmons, be sure to pick ripe, soft ones. Unripe persimmons are astringent and feel a bit fuzzy in your mouth. Persimmons are very sweet when ripe, so you will need to sweeten them minimally when baking desserts. For sorbets, smoothies and other uncooked desserts, you may want to leave them unsweetened, and even add a few drops of lemon juice to counterbalance the sweetness.

In the ramekin above is how big I cut the persimmon pulp the first time I tried this recipe. The persimmon pieces hardened after they were baked. You basically want to prevent that from happening by chopping the pulp a lot smaller, almost to a puree consistency.

Persimmon and Cranberry Crumble Recipe

4 servings

For the fruit
5 very ripe large Hachiya persimmons (substitute peaches)
1/3 cup cranberries (substitute another tart fruit such as blackberries)
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the topping
1 cup brown rice flour (or other flour)
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cut the persimmons in half. Scoop out the pulp using a spoon and chop it finely on a cutting board. Place the persimmon pulp in a large mixing bowl and mix in the cranberries, honey and butter. Transfer to an 8-inch rimmed baking dish or individual ramekins.

For the topping combine all the dry ingredients for the topping in a medium bowl. Add the egg and butter. Mix with your fingers to crumble and form small dough pieces. Scatter the topping evenly on the fruit. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla or clove ice cream.

Tchoutchouka: Moroccan Roasted Pepper and Tomato Salad

With a husband who doesn’t eat green peppers and a daughter who doesn’t eat anything green (with the exception of green candy, of course) I had the entire tchoutchouka to myself. Talk about excitement. I would love for them to include the joy of green peppers in their life but I must admit that, secretly, I was happy I had no competition. Next time, I will be less selfish and make it with red peppers so they, too, can experience the wonders of this marvelous dish.

Tchouktchouka is as traditional a Moroccan dish as traditional can get. I kept the recipe authentic and unchanged in honor of generations and generations of cooks who made it the same way in every big town, small hamlet, and nameless village on the map of Morocco.

Dip your bread in it, serve it as a side dish, sandwich spread or Moroccan-style bruschetta on crusty whole-grain bread. It is guaranteed delicious any way you choose to eat it and well worth a try!





















Tchoutchouka Recipe

4 servings

2 medium green bell peppers
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground paprika

Roast the peppers by charring them directly on the stove, turning them occasionally, until the skin is blackened and blistered all over, about 10 minutes. Place the peppers in a paper bag and close it, for about 15 minutes, to allow the peppers to sweat and their skin to become softer. Peel the skin off the peppers using your fingers. Discard the stem and seeds. Finely dice the peppers. Set aside.

Place the tomatoes in a medium skillet with olive oil. Add the garlic and season the tomatoes with salt, pepper, cumin and paprika. Cook the tomatoes until they become soft and turn into somewhat of a thick, chunky sauce, 10 to 15 minutes. Mix in the diced peppers and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Serve with bread or crackers.

Cranberry Hummus

Waiiit…don’t throw away your leftover cranberry sauce. Recycle it!

OK, I know you haven’t digested your Thanksgiving dinner yet, but you’re not done with Thanksgiving flavors yet. I haven’t digested mine yet either but I know that as soon as I have I will want more pumpkin, more cranberries, more pecans in my life. I know I will be having them many times many ways before the year is over.

So, if you have any cranberries or cranberry sauce left, please make this hummus. You’ve got to make it, for your own sake, please! Chances are you still have family over and you want a great dip to mingle around. Everybody loves hummus and has a great conversation at its presence. I know so. Imagine how pleased everybody will be to see yesterday’s cranberry sauce in the hummus. They’ll love you for that.

Now a bit of description, so listen up. This is not a traditional hummus, meaning it’s not made with hummus (chickpeas in Arabic). It is made with cannellini beans which give a smoother dip. The cranberry sauce adds a tart, almost lemony taste. The flavor is bright and redolent of half traditional hummus, half cranberry dessert. All in all, a fantastic dip!








































Cranberry Hummus Recipe

4 to 6 servings

1 garlic clove, peeled
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (or 1.5 cups home cooked beans)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ cup cranberry sauce


In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the garlic until finely minced. Add the cannellini beans, lemon juice, tahini and olive oil. Purée until you obtain a smooth paste. Transfer to a serving bowl. Stir in the cranberry sauce until the dip becomes pink. Serve with pita, flatbread, chips or crudités.


Basic Cranberry Sauce

Yields ½ cup

1 cup fresh cranberries
½ cup orange juice
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons honey
¼ teaspoon grated orange zest

To make the cranberry sauce, combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally and pressing the cranberries down, until you get a thick sauce, 10 to 15 minutes.

Couscous Stuffing

Moroccans make the most delicious stuffing. They obviously don’t celebrate Thanksgiving --I hope this doesn’t shock anyone :)--, but they like to stuff their birds for holidays and other festive occasions. Turkey is not typically cooked whole so they prefer to stuff smaller birds such as pigeons or small cornish hens called “coquelets”.

This is also a wonderful a side dish to prepare anytime.


Happy Thanksgiving!

Couscous Stuffing Recipe

8 servings

3 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup chopped almonds or pecans
½ cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger

2 cups uncooked instant couscous (about 2 "10-oz" boxes)

Place the water, butter, honey, almonds or pecans, raisins,parsley, salt, cinnamon and ginger (the first 9 ingredients)in a medium saucepan and bring to just a boil. Add the couscous and remove from the heat. Cover with a lid and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Stuff your bird or serve alongside it.

Caramelized Pumpkin

All of my Halloween pumpkin went into this dish. A Moroccan-inspired caramelized pumpkin recipe. The pumpkin is steamed then lightly caramelized with honey and flavored with cinnamon and orange blossom water. It can be made with butternut squash as well and is perfect for Thanksgiving or any occasion as a side dish.

Miam Miam!


Caramelized Pumpkin Recipe

4 servings

4 cups cubed pumpkin (about 2 pounds)
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon orange blossom water
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper


Steam the pumpkin until tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

Heat the honey and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the pumpkin, cinnamon or pumpkin spice and orange blossom water. Season with salt and pepper and cook until lightly caramelized, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.

Grilled Veggie Torte Revisited and the Winner of My Giveaway!

Before I get on with my torte I'd like to thank everyone for all your wonderful comments, I loved reading them along with all the nice emails I received. Now I'd like to announce the winner of my giveaway. Drum roll please!
CULINARY CORY! Congratulations Cory, Julie from Blog2Print will be contacting you soon with all the details, enjoy your blog book!



Some things just need to be revisited, they're worth repeating especially when you change them up a bit, such is the case with this Grilled Veggie Torte. My inspiration for making this first hit me a few years ago when I saw this layered beauty in the case at my local Whole Foods store. I asked them how they made it, was there any cheese between the layers? I was in awe of it's cake like structure and the beauty of it. It was made in a spring form pan piled high with veggies and feta cheese in between, I instantly went home and tried to recreate it, since then I have made it several times for parties, to bring along to a friends house or just when I want to use up an abundance of veggies like I did here. It's very impressive looking and it can be made in any size pan, the one in my previous post was a 6 inch pan, the one here was a nine inch.
The more colorful you make it the better it is, that's what gives it the wow factor. I used green, red, yellow and orange peppers, vadalia onion rings, zucchini, eggplant and portabello mushrooms tossing torn fresh basil in between. Feel free to use any of your favorite veggie combinations.

In previous times I have put feta cheese, shredded mozzarella, parmesan or asiago between each layer and on top. Grilling all your veggies do take some time so feel free to grill them the day before and just assemble it on the day you bake it. Remember to brush them all with olive oil and season with salt and pepper before grilling.

Then the other day my friend Stacey posted a beautiful Grilled Vegetable Torte with a crispy and cheesy breadcrumb topping on it and I was inspired to make her version ASAP! all I can say is that the topping enhanced the over all deliciousness of the torte! Check out her beautiful version here.

I also added sliced garden tomatoes on one layer after seeing hers. I made my crispy topping with homemade bread crumbs, grated romano cheese, snipped basil, salt and pepper, and a generous drizzle of olive oil on the top. The two new additions were incredible!

Bake it at 400F for about a half hour. The key is to let it really cool down before you pop the spring on the pan and you will have no problem cutting it into perfect wedges, just make sure you use a serrated knife and slowly cut through it.

The torte can stand proudly alone as a vegetarian meal along with a salad or it's a wonderful side dish with any type of grilled meat. I served mine with this chicken above. A great summer meal indeed!

Buon Appetito!

Open Faced Portobello Burger with Zucchini "Fries"

This burger is so good I promise when you bite into this you won't miss the meat at all! Portobello mushrooms have such a meaty like texture, the large caps are a perfect replacement for a beef burger. I try to make a few vegetarian meals each week and this has been one of our current favorites.


I like to grill up a bunch of different vegetables over the weekend and then use them in various quick meals during the week. I almost always do onions, red and green peppers, zucchini, and eggplant, however with the portobello's I like to cook them up right before I assemble this, which I did inside on my grill pan.


For this burger roasting or grilling the vegetables will give you the same results.
I like to remove the gills on the mushrooms but you don't have to, then just a quick toss in olive oil, salt and pepper is all you have to do to prepare them.


Each component together gives you an amazing end result!

Toasted ciabatta bun
Grilled red pepper
The portobello, gill side up
A dollup of basil pesto
Fresh mozzarella
Grilled onion
Tomato
Garnish with a balsamic glaze over top

You could eat this with a bun top but it was so huge, I would suggest using a thinner bun.

The zucchini fries were made by tossing them in olive oil to coat then dipping them individually in a mixture of panko breadcrumbs and grated parmesan or romano cheese, salt and pepper.

Bake them in a hot oven around 450F turning them as they brown. If you have a convection roast feature use that to brown them up faster.

Have a great week and Buon Appetito!