September has been National Whole Grains Month. I’ve been on
a roll trying to incorporate more whole grains into the foods I’m preparing and
eating each day. As stated by the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines, the average
human being should consume between three and five portions of whole grains per
day. On average, Americans eat less than one serving of whole grains a day. The USDA simplified the
portion size to one ounce: a piece of whole grain bread or a cup of whole grain
cereal. Become familiar with the whole grain and 100% whole grain stamps on
products you buy in the grocery store, making it easier for you to spot whole
grain foods.

I’ve been cooking through
Robin Asbell’s newly published “The New Whole Grains Cookbook.” I purchased
whole wheat pastry flour to make her Apple Streusel-Topped Pumpkin Cake. You
can read more about what I have to say about her cookbook and also get the cake
recipe in my All About Food newspaper column.

Since I bought a 5-pound
bag, I’ve been having fun experimenting with whole wheat pastry flour. I’ve
found that I get good results substituting the same amount of whole wheat
pastry flour for the white all-purpose flour in baked goods. Because it is
ground very fine, it does not produce the heavy denseness that regular whole
wheat flour can give to baked goods.

I was able to buy the whole
wheat pastry flour made by Bob’s Red Mill in my local grocery store. If you
can’t find it, you can purchase it online from Bob’s Red Mill.

My husband’s aunt gave me
this zucchini bread recipe many years ago. Her original recipe calls for
all-purpose flour. This time, I used whole wheat pastry flour instead. The
whole grain flour along with the oats, delivers protein, nutrients and fiber to
the diet. The bread is moist and flavorful. The flavor is best if the loaf is
wrapped up tight and left to set out at room temperature for a day before
eating it. But it’s also good while it’s still warm from the oven.

If you’ve still got a couple
more zucchini sitting on the counter or if you’ve shredded some up and stored
it in the freezer, you may want to give this bread a try.

I’ll be saying good-bye to
National Whole Grains Month, but saying hello to whole grains everyday.

Zucchini-Oatmeal Bread

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry
  flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats,
  uncooked
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup firmly-packed brown
  sugar
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• ¾ teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 large eggs
• ¾ cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups shredded zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 9- x 5- x 3-inch
loaf pan.

Combine first nine ingredients
in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in center of mixture and set aside. Combine
eggs, canola oil and vanilla in a second bowl. Blend well with wire whisk. Stir
in shredded zucchini. Pour into well in bowl of dry ingredients. Mix until dry
ingredients are just moistened. Gently stir in walnuts.

Spoon batter into the
greased loaf pan. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes
or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a were
rack 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan and let cool completely on wire rack.
Makes 1 loaf.

• After one hour of baking,
  the top of the loaf was getting quite dark. I loosely covered the top of the loaf
  with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes of baking time to prevent further
  darkening.

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</script><!– OAS SETUP end –><div id="master"></div>The USDA simplified the portion size to one ounce: a piece of whole grain
bread or a cup of whole grain cereal. Become familiar with the <a href="http://wholegrainscouncil.org/WholeGrainStamp.html">whole grain and
100% whole grain stamps</a> offered by the Whole Grains Council on products you buy in the grocery store, making it
easier for you to spot whole grain foods.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">I’ve been cooking through Robin Asbell’s newly published
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/New-Whole-Grains-Cookbook-Terrific/dp/081185647X">“The New Whole Grains Cookbook.”</a> I purchased whole wheat pastry flour to make
her Apple Streusel-Topped Pumpkin Cake. You can read more about what I have to
say about her cookbook and also get the cake recipe in my <a href="http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/collections/index.cfm?collection=nowwerecookin">All About Food</a>
newspaper column.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">Since I bought a 5-pound bag, I’ve been having fun experimenting
with whole wheat pastry flour. I’ve found that I get good results substituting
the same amount of whole wheat pastry flour for the white all-purpose flour in
baked goods. Because it is ground very fine, it does not produce the heavy
denseness that regular whole wheat flour can give to baked goods.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">I was able to buy the whole wheat pastry flour made by Bob’s
Red Mill in my local grocery store. If you can’t find it, you can purchase it
online from <a href="http://www.bobsredmill.com/catalog/index.php?action=showdetails&product_ID=426">Bob’s Red Mill</a>.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">My husband’s aunt gave me this zucchini bread recipe many
years ago. Her original recipe calls for all-purpose flour. This time, I used
whole wheat pastry flour instead. The whole grain flour along with the oats,
delivers protein, nutrients and fiber to the diet. The bread is moist and
flavorful. The flavor is best if the loaf is wrapped up tight and left to set
out at room temperature for a day before eating it. But it’s also good while
it’s still warm from the oven.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">If you’ve still got a couple more zucchini sitting on the
counter or if you’ve shredded some up and stored it in the freezer, you may
want to give this bread a try.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">I’ll be saying good-bye to National Whole Grains Month, but
saying hello to whole grains everyday.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p /><b><font size="4">Zucchini-Oatmeal Bread</font></b></p>

<ul><li>2 cups whole wheat pastry flour</li><li>1 cup quick-cooking oats, uncooked</li><li>1 teaspoon baking powder</li><li>1 teaspoon baking soda</li><li>½ teaspoon salt</li><li>½ cup sugar</li><li>½ cup firmly-packed brown sugar</li><li>3 teaspoons cinnamon</li><li>¾ teaspoon nutmeg</li><li>3 large eggs</li><li>¾ cup canola oil</li><li>1 teaspoon vanilla extract</li><li>3 cups shredded zucchini</li><li>1 cup chopped walnuts</li></ul>

<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p />Preheat oven to 350 degrees.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">Grease a 9- x 5- x 3-inch loaf pan.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">Combine first nine ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Make
a well in center of mixture and set aside. Combine eggs, canola oil and vanilla
in a second bowl. Blend well with wire whisk. Stir in shredded zucchini. Pour
into well in bowl of dry ingredients. Mix until dry ingredients are just
moistened. Gently stir in walnuts. </p>

<p class="MsoNormal">Spoon batter into the greased loaf pan. Bake in preheated
350-degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in
center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a were rack 10 minutes. Remove bread
from pan and let cool completely on wire rack. Makes 1 loaf.</p><ul><li>After 1 hour of baking, the top of the loaf was getting very dark. I covered the bread loosely with aluminum foil for the remainder of its time in the oven.</li></ul>

<br />
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Last Saturday I spent time
with my two biking partners riding a 45-mile loop beginning and ending in Park
Rapids, Minn.
It was a roller coaster ride, winding through the north woods on county roads
with beautiful sunshine and glowing Fall leaves. The 45-mile route was really just
peanuts to the many riders who chose to do 75 or 100 miles in this tour known
as the Headwaters 100.

The same friend who
introduced me to Breakfast Cookies, which I recently wrote about in my All
About Food column, this time brought delicious muffins for us to snack on. She
knew I would want the recipe (and she was right), but she forgot to bring it
along.

These muffins were loaded
with good things and they made me think of the Morning Glory Muffins I used to
make years ago, with grated carrots and apples and coconut. So, yesterday I
revamped my old recipe, making them a little more healthful by reducing the fat
content and adding oats and whole wheat flour.

Autumn Morning Muffins are
moist and flavorful and packed with goodness – a great way to start the day.

Many years ago I took a
cooking class from a teacher who always gave walnuts a special treatment before
using them. Her method removes much of their tannic, papery membrane which gives them a bitter taste, and makes them more crisp and flavorful.
I used her method with the last bunch of walnuts I brought home from the store.
Drop walnuts into rapidly boiling water. Boil for 3 minutes. Remove walnuts
from water and drain on paper towels. Spread the nuts in a shallow baking pan
and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Watch closely,
as the smaller pieces will toast faster. Cool the walnuts before using. You can
prepare a bunch this way, and then freeze them until needed. I use them up
pretty fast, so I just keep them in my pantry in a tightly sealed jar. But, if
you will have them for a while, they can become rancid. So store them in the
refrigerator or freezer.

Whole wheat flour can also
become rancid. I keep mine in a Tupperware container in my freezer.

Don’t get locked into baking
muffins in traditional muffin tins. I baked some of the batter in a pottery
bowl that I recently purchased, made by Emerson Creek Pottery. I’ve also used
custard cups. It’s fun to get a little creative. Think outside the muffin tin!

I’ll be storing a few of
these muffins in the freezer until this weekend when I will share them with
friends as we ride the Mesabi Trail in northeastern Minnesota.

Happy Autumn!

Autumn Morning Muffins

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2½ teaspoons baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons light brown
  sugar
• 1½ cups old-fashioned
  rolled oats, uncooked
• ¾ cup broken walnuts,
  toasted
• 1½ cups shredded carrots
• 1 apple, peeled, cored,
  shredded (about ¾ cup shredded)
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup canola oil
• ¼ cup molasses
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ripe banana, mashed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Sift flours, baking powder,
baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a mixing bowl. Add brown sugar, oats,
walnuts, carrots and apples and toss with clean hands until all ingredients are
combined.

In a separate bowl, using a
wire whisk, combine eggs, oil, molasses, maple syrup, buttermilk, vanilla and
mashed banana. Add mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir just until
batter comes together, being careful not to overmix.

Scoop batter into oiled
muffin tins, filling them to the top. Bake on center rack of preheated oven for
about 25 minutes, or until tops are deep brown. Let cool in tin for 10 minutes,
and then, sliding a table knife down the side of each muffin, gently lift them
from the pan. Makes about a dozen muffins, depending on the size.

I attended a meeting in June that was held in the wonderful showroom kitchens at Roth
Distributing in Minneapolis.
Meandering through the kitchens, each designed differently, but all equipped
with Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances, put a smile on my face as I made a mental
note of a wish list for my next kitchen. Oh, these professionally designed
kitchens can get you so excited.

At this meeting, many of the
kitchens were also set up with wonderful hors d’oeuvres and beverages. The food
had been prepared by the chefs that Roth uses for special events.

There was a sweet little
pick-up-and-eat dessert that I remember thinking would be a nice holiday treat.
With holiday baking and parties not too far away, you may want to try this
recipe now to see what you think. I will be packaging them in pretty little
boxes tied up with fancy ribbon to use as hostess gifts – maybe adding a bottle of red wine that would be
a nice complement to these melt-in-your-mouth chocolates. I will probably top
each little mini-cake with my favorite chocolate glaze rather than a fresh
raspberry, to make them more stable at room temperature and easier to store for
a couple of days. A little sliver of glazed cherry on top of the shiny mirror
of chocolate would give them a nice holiday look.

Be sure to use premium
chocolate – it’s really what makes these mini-bites delicious. This is the
recipe as shared by the chefs at Roth Distributing:

Mini-Flourless Chocolate
Cakes

• ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate
  chips
• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa
  powder – sifted
• 3 large eggs

Optional
Toppings:    Fresh raspberries
                                         Raspberry jam
                                   
    White chocolate drizzle

Position rack in middle of
oven and preheat to 375 degrees.  Line mini-muffin pans with foil liners.
Heat chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat until melted.  Stir
to combine and remove from heat.
In a medium bowl, mix sugar and cocoa.  Add eggs and whisk until
combined.  Whisk in chocolate mixture.
Scoop batter into mini-muffin cups.
Bake about 8-10 minutes, turning front to back half-way through.  Cool on
rack and serve.

Makes 2-1/2 dozen mini-cakes.

Optional: After cakes have cooled thoroughly, top with a dollop of raspberry jam, a fresh
raspberry and drizzle with white chocolate chips melted in a small baggie.

Note: Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips, now available in most grocery stores, are a good choice for these little cakes.

It’s National Honey Month.
That gives me good reason to play in the kitchen with the thick, golden sweet
stuff.

Finally, after several tries
with a Honey Tart, I have one that I feel I can share with you.

Ricotta cheese is the base
for the filling, sweetened with honey and brightened a bit with grated lemon
zest. You may be most familiar with ricotta layered into your favorite lasagna.
But this Italian cheese, made from the whey drained from cheeses such as
mozzarella and provolone, is very adaptable. Its mild, slightly sweet flavor
lends well to dessert-type dishes, also. Its texture is thick and creamy, like
a grainy sour cream. I use ricotta to make a sweet filling for my Hungarian
pancakes that I roll up and bake in the oven. That filling is the inspiration
for this honey tart.

This honey-sweetened ricotta
mixture is baked in a shortbread-type pat-in-the-pan crust flavored with a hint
of ginger.  Served with some of the Hint
of Autumn Peach-Plum compote in my entry to this blog on September 11^th,
it is quite divine – for breakfast or dessert. Use any seasonal fresh fruit or
make a fruit sauce using frozen berries. I’m going to heat up some of the
Scandinavian Delights Apricot Spread that I have in my refrigerator and drizzle
that over my next slice of Honey Tart. And after that, maybe some homemade dark
chocolate sauce with whipped cream. You’ll find yourself experimenting with all
kinds of toppings, because this Honey Tart is very friendly. Let me know what
you discover to be your favorite adornment on this lovely tart.

I baked the Honey Tart in a
9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. I had about ½ cup of filling that just
wouldn’t fit into the tart crust, so I baked it in a buttered custard cup right
along side the tart in the oven. It was done baking at the same time the tart
was ready to take out of the oven. Cooled in the cup for a short time, the
crustless filling easily turned out onto a dessert dish. The filling recipe
makes about 3 cups, so if you want individual Honey Puffs, use 6 little ½-cup
custard cups and bake them at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until set.

This really is the perfect
dessert for those who want something that’s not too sweet. It’s a little bit of
honey that you’ll eat right up.

Honey Tart

Crust:

• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup pecan halves
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 9 tablespoons (1 stick plus
  1 tablespoon) cold butter, cut into small chunks
• 1 to 2 tablespoons cold
  water

In a food processor, whirl
the flour, pecans, powdered sugar, ginger and salt. Cut butter into 1 to 2
tablespoon pieces and, with the machine running, add the pieces to the
processor, one at a time. Add 1 tablespoon of water and process until a ball of
dough forms on top of the blade. If the mixture seems too dry, add a bit more
water, just a little at a time.

Without a food processor,
chop the pecans into very fine pieces and mix with flour, powdered sugar,
ginger and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut cold butter into small pieces and
add to flour mixture. Cut the butter in with a pastry blender or two table
knives. Mix in water, a little at a time, until dough feels like a cookie dough
that you would roll into balls. Bring dough together with hands to form a disk.

Pat the dough into the
bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. You could
also use a springform pan, bringing the crust part way up the sides of the pan.
Freeze the crust for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees while the
crust is in the freezer.

Remove crust from freezer,
prick the bottom several times with a fork, and bake at 425 degrees for 10
minutes or until crust turns golden. Set aside to cool while preparing the
filling. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Filling:

• 1 (15-ounce) container
  ricotta cheese
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup honey
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose
  flour
• 1/3 cup sugar

Combine all filling
ingredients and pour into tart crust or 6 (½-cup) custard cups that have been
well buttered.

Bake at 350 degrees for
about 30 minutes, or until filling is set in the middle.

Serve with Hint of Autumn
Peach-Plum Compote or any of your favorite toppings.

• Place a large baking sheet
  on the rack under the tart while it is baking, just in case there are any
  leaks.
• Sometimes I can find
  Scandinavian Delights fruit spreads at the grocery store with all the jams and
  jellies. When I travel out of town, I’m always on the look-out for it. Many
  years ago I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in Minneapolis. The proprietor served Scandinavian
  Delights Apricot Spread with her homemade waffles. It was love at first bite.
  I’ve been eating it ever since.

It was cloudy with cold
winds blowing across Lake Bemidji
yesterday afternoon. The temperature only reached 50 degrees. I was wearing a
sweatshirt, but my hands were freezing – until I stood between the two huge
smokers on the Headwaters BBQ cook trailer.

Two local guys who BBQ for
fun (and just a little compensation), were preparing to feed a crowd of 80 who
would be gathering for a wedding rehearsal dinner.

They had maneuvered their
trailer onto a spot in their client’s driveway earlier in the day. By the time
I arrived, full racks of ribs, along with whole chickens, were lined up on two
shelves in one smoker that had been stoked with plenty of charcoal.

By 1:30 in the afternoon,
smoke was wafting through the air, with an aroma that made you think you might
be walking the streets of Memphis or Kansas City, where some of the best BBQ
meats are turned out of tiny little hole-in-the-wall places.

I arrived just in time to
learn how to make a couple of the smoked appetizers the guys planned to serve.
First, the ABT’s – short for Atomic Buffalo … Tidbits – which is not the word
the guys use and you don’t need much imagination to figure out what that “T”
word might be.

Wearing plastic gloves that
were way too big for me, I cut jalapenos, mixed a cream cheese filling, stuffed
the peppers and wrapped them in bacon. Then into the smoker they went for about
an hour to an hour and a half, just long enough for the bacon to cook and the
jalapenos to soften.

Chunks of pork had been
tossed with a special seasoning, and then joined the ABT’s to spend some time
slow cooking in the second smoker to prepare to be skewered with pineapple
chunks, and finished off over a flaming grill.

All my shivers were
worthwhile as soon as I got a little taste of the ABT’s and the pork chunks.
Oh, they were so good.

But the best part was
chewing a little meat off a rib bone. With just a gentle tug from my teeth, the
moist and flavorful meat pulled away from the bone. The flavor was incredible.
No sauce needed. Who needs Kansas City?
Memphis? Nope!
Not when there are two smokin’ guys in Bemidji
who love to serve up great BBQ!

One of the BBQ guys will be
joining me on next Wednesday’s segment of Lakeland Cooks during the Lakeland
Public Television 10:00 news broadcast. He’ll share some tips on how to make
the best ABT’s. In the meantime, you can try them yourself. Watch out. They can
be a little spicy.

These guys are smokin’.

Really Smokin’ ABT’s

• Whole, fresh jalapeno peppers
• Cream cheese, softened
• Seasoning, such as Emeril’s Essence, to
  taste
• Minced garlic to taste
• Bacon slices, uncooked, cut in half

Prepare peppers by removing
stem ends and cutting in half lengthwise. Use a teaspoon to scrape out the
seeds and membrane. It’s a good idea to wear gloves for this job. The hot oils
can seep into your skin.

Prepare filling by mixing
softened cream with garlic and seasoning. Smear into pepper halves. Wrap each
filled half with a half slice of bacon. Poke through the bacon and pepper with
a round toothpick to hold it together.

Put these on a smoker to
cook until bacon is done and peppers are tender, but not mushy. If you don’t
have a smoker, place the stuffed peppers on a rack over a baking sheet and cook
in a 350-degree oven until done. Add a tiny bit of liquid smoke to the filling
if you want to get the smoky flavor without using a smoker.

Working on recipe
development is not always easy. It can be very frustrating.

September is National Honey Month.
Food themes each month are often what inspire the recipes I develop for my All
About Food column.

When I thought “honey” I
began to daydream about a dessert. It would have a buttery shortbread crust
with a bit of crystallized ginger for a spark of flavor. The filling would be
similar to a cheesecake filling, but not so rich. It would be sweetened with
honey and maybe a bit of fresh lemon. It would be served with fruit compote
that I would make with some of the very ripe peaches in my refrigerator, spiked
with the spices of autumn.

I’ve come up with a filling
that I’m satisfied with. The crust, though, has been my challenge. I’ll keep
working on that.

Great filling, but this crust needs some work!

The fruit compote is perfect
for my tastes.

Chunks of peaches and plums
in not-too-sweet syrup with hints of cinnamon and cloves were a very good
companion to a slice of the dessert that isn’t ready for the newspaper yet.

Compote of ripe peaches and
plums can be served warm over pancakes, waffles, French toast or oatmeal for
breakfast on a cool morning. It can be swirled with yogurt and granola. Spoon
it over your favorite cheesecake. It can be ladled over ice cream or pound
cake. The possibilities seem endless.

I used my Kuhn-Rikon serrated
peeler to make quick work of peeling the skin away from the plums. Since the
peaches I used were so ripe and soft, I chose to use the blanching method for
removing the skin.

Store the compote in a
covered jar in the refrigerator for a few days. Now, I just hope I have some
compote left by the time I come up with a keeper recipe for my honey tart with
ginger shortbread crust.

Hint of Autumn Peach-Plum
Compote

• 4 peaches
• 3 large ripe plums
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• Juice of 1 orange
• 1 lemon
• 1 (3-inch) stick cinnamon
• 4 whole cloves
• 2 whole allspice

Peel the rind from half of
the lemon. Save the lemon for the juice that will be added to the compote
later.

Combine sugar, water, orange
juice, lemon rind from half the lemon, cinnamon stick, cloves and allspice in a
medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Stir frequently as the mixture cooks,
allowing mixture to boil until it thickens and becomes syrupy.

While mixture is boiling,
blanch peaches for 20 to 30 seconds in a pot of boiling water. Plunge into a
bowl of ice water. Remove peaches from water. As soon as they are cool enough
to handle, you will be able to easily pull the skin away from the peaches.
Remove pits and cut peaches into quarters.

Peel skin from plums using
the same blanching method as the peaches. Remove pit and cut each plum into
quarters. (Both peaches and plums can be
peeled with a serrated peeler if you have one.)

When liquid mixture becomes
as thick as maple syrup, reduce heat and add the peaches. Cover and simmer for
5 to 10 minutes. Transfer peaches with a slotted spoon to a dish with sides.

Add the plums to the syrup,
cover and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the plums with a slotted spoon and
add to the dish of peaches.

The syrup will now be
thinned from the juice of the peaches and plums. Continue to boil slowly until
it thickens again. Remove the lemon rind, cinnamon stick, cloves and allspice.
Stir the juice from the whole lemon into the syrup. Cut the fruit into chunks. Add the fruit to the syrup and stir
gently. Keep warm to serve immediately or allow to cool, put into large jar and
refrigerate.

Little pattypan squash with
their pretty scalloped rim and rounded top have been part of my CSA (Community
Supported Agriculture) deliveries for the last few weeks. Some yellow and some
white, they are most often used whole and stuffed to show off their attractive
shape.

Last night, though, I was
ready for a one-dish meatless meal that would allow me to use some of the other
vegetables I had on my kitchen counter and in the refrigerator. I also had just
received a large grocery bag full of fresh basil. Its fragrance was like a
perfume in my kitchen. It seemed that pasta would have been a logical choice to
toss up with all the produce. But I decided on brown rice – a healthier, whole
grain choice.

Brown rice takes longer to
cook than pasta, about 40 to 50 minutes. That was the perfect amount of time to
toss all the vegetables with some olive oil and roast them in the oven. I
finished the dish off with fresh basil, toasted pine nuts and freshly grated
Parmesan.

After a rinsing in cool
water, the rice simmered in chicken broth while the vegetables roasted in a
400-degree oven. My kitchen smelled fantastic. The same time that the rice had
become tender and chewy, all the broth had been absorbed. This method of
cooking brown rice, measuring the rice and cooking liquid, allows all the
nutrients to stay with the rice, rather than having to drain the rice and pour
much of the nutrients down the drain.

Brown Rice and Roasted
Vegetables, served in pasta bowls, was a very satisfying meal.

Clean-up was a snap. All I
had to do was throw the aluminum foil liner from the roasting pan into the
garbage and wash the Dutch oven I used to cook the rice.

Any summer squash will work
in this dish, as well as many other fresh vegetables of the season. Yes, you
could replace the brown rice with pasta, but higher-fiber brown rice releases
carbohydrates more slowly into the gut and you’ll feel satisfied much longer.
Click here to learn more about the health benefits of brown rice.

If there had been leftovers,
I would have had it for breakfast this morning.

On another note…

I’ve been preparing for a
short presentation I’ll be doing at the Women’s Expo at noon this Saturday in Bemidji at the John Glas
Fieldhouse.

“Hot Stuff to Keep Your
Cool in the Kitchen”

Preparing and cooking food
can be a lot easier and much more fun when you have the right tools and know
some simple tricks. If you enjoy reading the tips Sue Doeden shares with each
recipe she develops for her All About Food column, you’ll want to join her as
she shares some of her favorite tricks that can make a difference for all home
cooks – from novice to well-seasoned gourmet. She’ll bring along some of her
“can’t live without” tools from her own kitchen and will show some “hot” new
ingredients that can turn your everyday meals into gourmet fare. Come discover
Sue’s “cool” tools, tips and tricks that will make you “hot stuff” in the
kitchen.

Do you have some kitchen
tools you just couldn’t live without? Click on the word Comments just under the
recipe below and let me know. And be sure to come see me when you’re at the
Expo.

Brown Rice with Roasted
Vegetables

Use as much as you want of these vegetables:

• Pattypan squash, rinsed,
  seeds removed, unpeeled, chopped into ½-inch pieces
• Cherry or plum tomatoes,
  washed, cut in half (I used small, fleshy, plum-shaped tomatoes that I had
  found at the farmers’ market)
• Onions, at least 1, chopped
  (I used nutty-flavored ciopollinis from the farmers’ market)
• 1 whole head garlic, cloves
  removed, peeled and smashed

• 2 tablespoons olive oil,
  divided
• 1 cup brown rice, rinsed and
  drained
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable
  broth
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• Freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup pine nuts, toasted
• ¾ cup basil leaves (packed
  into the measuring cup), chiffonade
• ½ cup freshly grated
  Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with sides with aluminum foil. Place prepared vegetables (squash, tomatoes, onions, garlic) on
the baking sheet and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle with ½
teaspoon salt and some pepper to taste. Place in oven and roast, stirring
periodically so that vegetables brown evenly. You will probably be able to
leave them in the oven while the rice is simmering, about 40 to 45 minutes.

While vegetables are in the
oven, put broth, rice and 1 tablespoon olive oil into Dutch oven. Bring to a
boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until rice is tender and liquid has been
absorbed, 40 to 45 minutes. Add a bit of water if liquid is absorbed and rice is not quite done.

Add roasted vegetables to
rice in pot and about ½ teaspoon salt or to taste. Toss gently. Add pine nuts,
basil and Parmesan cheese and toss. Serve with more Parmesan and black pepper
on the side in case you want more. Makes 4 to 6 side servings or 2 main
servings.

• To make basil chiffonade,
  stack clean basil leaves, stems removed, crosswise on a cutting surface. Roll them
  up like a cigar. With a sharp knife, cut thin shreds. Prepared this way, the
  basil is much prettier than when just chopped up.
• Toast pine nuts in a pan on
  the stove over medium heat, stirring until golden brown. Immediately transfer
  pine nuts to a plate to stop the browning.

I just can�t pass up a sign
that has the word PEACHES written in big, bold letters and is propped up
against a big truck trailer. It doesn�t matter which direction I�m headed or
how much time I have � my car makes a bee-line for PEACHES.

That�s what happened a
little over a week ago when I spotted a truck full of peaches in a parking lot in town. I stopped for my second crate of peaches this season. Yesterday there
were only about half a dozen left in the box and they needed to be used ASAP.
They were very ripe.

Remembering a cake and some
cookies my mom used to make with a couple of jars of pureed fruit baby food, I
decided to toss some pitted peaches into my blender with some of my favorite
bourbon and some water. I pureed the juicy fruit, including the skin, to a
smooth, fragrant liquid, which wound up in a cake and some muffins.

The resulting cake is full
of autumn spices and is very moist, with a texture similar to a carrot cake. Dried
cherries are plumped up as they bathe in a mixture of hot bourbon and water.
That liquid goes into the Spiked Peach Puree. A glaze of caramel brings more
thoughts of cool, fall days. Cream cheese frosting is the crowning glory.

After making the cake, I
still had some of the spiked fruit puree left in the blender. All of that went
into a buttery cinnamon muffin with streusel topping. I brought them along on
an early-morning bike ride with friends today. They made a nice little snack at
our halfway point. No one seemed to detect the secret ingredient � bourbon
peach puree. I didn�t say a word. In both the cake and muffins, the bourbon
lends flavor without screaming out, playing a role similar to vanilla.

If you�ve got some overripe
peaches, let them do double duty, and give these recipes a try. The cake will
freeze well after it has cooled with the glaze. Frost the cake after it has
thawed and comes to room temperature.

The muffins can also be kept
in the freezer for not longer than a month or two. They�re good anytime of day.
In fact, I think a little of that cream cheese frosting would be a good topping
that would turn these muffins into dessert.

Oh, my favorite bourbon? Rebel Yell.

Spiked Peach Puree

• 1 cup dried cherries
• � cup bourbon
• � cup water
• � teaspoon almond extract
• 3 large peaches, pitted

Place dried cherries in
microwave-safe bowl with bourbon and water. Microwave, on HI power, for 1�
minutes. Remove from microwave oven and allow to set for 10 minutes. Strain
cherries over another bowl to collect all liquid that drains. Save cherries for
cake. Place peaches, unpeeled, into blender with bourbon-water that has drained
from cherries and almond extract. Puree until smooth.

• The juiciness of the peaches
  you use will determine the amount of puree you end up with. If you don�t have
  the full 2� cups needed for the cake, just add another peach and puree the
  mixture again until smooth.
• When I made the puree with 3
  peaches, it produced almost 3� cups of puree. You can continue to add peaches
  until you get 3� cups of puree so that you will have enough for the muffins,
  also. If you make the puree as directed, make the cake and only have a little
  puree left to make the muffins, just add milk to the remaining puree to get the
  � cup needed for the muffins.

Hint of Autumn Spicy Peach
Cake

• � cup shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2� cups flour
• 1� teaspoons baking soda
• � teaspoon baking powder
• 1� teaspoons salt
• � teaspoon cinnamon
• � teaspoon ginger
• � teaspoon allspice
• 2� cups Spiked Peach Puree
• � cup broken pecans
• 1 cup reserved dried
  cherries that have soaked in bourbon and water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter and flour a 9- x
13-inch cake pan.

Cream shortening and sugar
in large mixing bowl. Add eggs and mix well. Sift dry ingredients. Add dry
ingredients to mixing bowl alternately with Spiked Peach Puree, beginning and
ending with dry ingredients. Stir in pecans and cherries. Pour into prepared
pan, spreading evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until cake
tests done. Spread caramel glaze over warm cake. When cake is completely cool,
frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Caramel Glaze

• 1 cup sugar
• 1� teaspoons baking soda
• � cup butter
• � cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon light corn
  syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
  extract

In heavy Dutch oven, bring
sugar, baking soda, butter, buttermilk and corn syrup to a boil. Boil, stirring
often, at least 4 minutes, until mixture is golden brown. Remove from heat and
stir in vanilla. Mixture will be quite thin. Pour hot glaze over warm cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• � cup butter, room
  temperature
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream
  cheese, softened
• 1 (3-ounce) package cream
  cheese
• 1 pound (about 3� cups)
  powdered sugar, sifted
• 1� teaspoons pure vanilla
  extract

Beat butter and cream cheese
at medium speed of an electric hand mixer until creamy. Add powdered sugar and
vanilla. Beat at high speed until smooth.

• This recipe yields enough
  frosting, so that if you�d like, you can frost some of the muffins, too. I just
  put all the frosting on the cake for a rich, thick layer of goodness.

Spiked Peach Muffins with
Streusel Topping

• 2 cups flour
• � cup sugar
• � cup firmly packed brown
  sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• � teaspoon salt
• � cup Spiked Peach Puree
• � cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
  extract
• 1 egg, beaten
• Streusel Topping (recipe below)
  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mist 12 standard-sized muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine flour, sugar, brown
sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in large mixing bowl.

In another bowl, blend milk,
melted butter, vanilla and egg. Pour liquid mixture into dry ingredients and
stir until all dry ingredients are incorporated. Batter will appear lumpy.

Divide batter among 12
prepared muffin cups. They should each be 2/3 full. Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon
Streusel Topping over each muffin.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until
toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean. Cool slightly and
remove muffins from pan. Makes 12 muffins.

Streusel Topping

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons butter

Combine flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

• My mom used to make muffins
  similar to these. Rather than a Streusel Topping, she would dip the top of each
  warm-from-the-oven muffin in melted butter and then right into a cinnamon-sugar
  mixture. You could do this instead of baking the muffins with a Streusel
  Topping.