I've been meaning to make this for over a week now. But I just kept not quite getting to it. I bought all the apples for it, but then either didn't have the wherewithal to make dessert or ended up making something else instead. But! I finally did it! And it was both easy and delicious!

It also made a great way to use up some of our "sweet" bits of stale breadstuffs. (We've used up all of our savoury/neutral bread heels and odds and ends, but we still have a lot of fruity or otherwise slightly sweet stale breads in the freezer.) In this particular instance, I decided that stale chocolate-orange scones would be a good fit. And they were! The chocolate and citrus complemented the other flavours quite nicely. And although the texture of the chopped up scones was different than breadcrumbs, it certainly wasn't a difference that I minded.

I think the only change I'd make next time is cutting back the sugar slightly. This was excellent, but at bit over-sweet for my tastes. (And I doubt that making it with savoury breadcrubs would've made that much of a difference.) The original recipe called for half a cup each of white and brown sugar. But I think I'd be tempted to leave out the granulated sugar next time and just make it with brown sugar. Thath seems like it should be plenty sweet enough!

Apple Brown Betty

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 200g fresh breadcrumbs, toasted
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 6 Granny Smith (or similar tart apples), peeled and sliced
• 6 Tbsp. butter, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a casserole dish.
2. Combine the breadcrumbs, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well.
3. Add the apples and toss to combine.
4. Add ~1/3 of the apple mixture to the prepared dish and dot with 1/3 of the butter.
5. Repeat layers twice more, ending with butter.
6. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 1 hour.

Bangada chi Hooman (Mackerel with Hooman Sauce)

We had Reiver's parents over for dinner on Monday. I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to cook until a few hours before they arrived, but I had had vague hopes that it could be something fish-based. And oh boy, were we in luck! They had kahawai fillets on sale. So far I'd only seen kahawai available as whole (ungutted) fish. So having some lovely fillets on hand was very exciting. Especially since a) they were lovely, large, meaty pieces of fish and b) they weren't even that expensive! Very nice!

We came home with five huge fillets and, with Reiver's advice, I decided to use them in this fun-looking mackerel curry. And it was delicious! I would definitely make this one again! (Assuming I could find the fish for it, of course.) It was really tasty and a big hit all 'round.

Photo goes here.

Bangada chi Hooman

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. ginger chile paste¹
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 750-1000g of skinless mackerel, kahawai, or cod fillets
• 1/4 c. oil, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• ~200mL diced tomato
• 1 tsp. tamarind concentrate
• 2 tsp. Maharashtrian garam masala
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley, if you cannot abide the coriander leaves)
• 1/2 c. cream of wheat or dry breadcrumbs

Directions

1. Combine the ginger chile paste with 1 tsp. of the salt and smear it all over the fish. Cover and chill for 30-60 minutes.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp. of oil over medium heat.
3. Add the onion and cook until softened (~10 minutes).
4. Add the tomato, tamarind, and masala and cook for another 5-10 minutes.
5. Stir in the cilantro.
6. Meanwhile, heat some of the remaining oil over medium heat and dredge the fish in the cream of wheat/breadcrumbs.
7. Add the fish to the pan and fry until cooked through and crispy on both sides (4-8 minutes per side depending on thickness). Add additional oil as needed during cooking.
8. Dish up the fish and top it with the sauce. Serve with rice or a rice-lentil porridge like elambuchambu shaadum.

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¹ I didn't have any ginger chile paste and didn't want to either make or buy a whole jar just for this one recipe, so I just minced some fresh jalapeño and stirred it into plain ginger paste. I didn't want it to be too spicy (nor use too much pepper) since I was trying not to poison Keith, so I just used half of a jalapeño and removed the seeds and pith. ^Back

This was meant to be a kale gratin. But Reiver has a bunch of silverbeet (Swiss chard) planted out back, so we made it with that instead. Either one will work fine. I would normally default to kale because I like it better and am thus more likely to have it on hand, but I actually quite liked the silverbeet here!

Photo goes here.

Silverbeet Gratin

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 500g silverbeet (or kale), chopped
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. water
• 3/4 c. fresh breadcrumbs (preferably whole wheat)
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium heat.
3. Add the kale, salt, and water.
4. Cover and cook until wilted.
5. Transfer to shallow gratin dish.
6. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and remaining 1/2 Tbsp. of oil and toss to combine.
7. Top the kale with the breadcrumb mixture.
8. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 15 minutes.

These were alright. They weren't bad. They just weren't amazing either.

The lentils cooked much faster than suggested by the recipe. I gave them five minutes less than called for. But possibly I should have taken them off the heat even sooner. By the time I was trying to "drain" them, they had absorbed pretty much all of the water and were barely holding together. Which made for a very wet burger mix. I ended up having to add an extra 1/4 c. of panko just to get something workable.

Having done that, they did make perfectly reasonable patties. And they were reasonably filling. I just felt that they were a little bland. I think next time I'd cook the lentils in vegetable stock rather than salted water, swap out half of the cumin for dhania-jeera masala, and maybe add a little ras el hanout or 7 baharat.

It would probably also have helped if I had noticed that the sauce called for lemon juice and lemon zest. (I seem to be having some sort of strange lemon juice blindness lately. I missed where it was called for in the poached quince recipe as well!)

I also feel like a little chile, either in the patties or the sauce, would be a welcome addition. I might consider adding a pinch of aleppo pepper flakes to the patties next time. Hopefully that would help round out the flavours a bit.

Red Lentil Burgers with Yogurt Sauce

Adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Burgers

• 1 c. skinned split brown lentils (red lentils/Egyptian lentils/masoor dal)
• 3 c. vegetable stock
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. dhania-jeera masala
• 1 tsp. 7 baharat
• 1/4 tsp. aleppo pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 c. panko breadcrumbs (preferably whole wheat)
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 large egg
• 170g salad greens
• 8 small buns (optional)
• 3 Tbsp. pomegranate molasses (optional)

Sauce

• 1 lemon
• 3/4 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground

Directions

1. Rinse the lentils and place in a small pot with the stock.
2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Skim any foam that forms.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until lentils are tender (10-15 minutes).
4. Drain lentils very well and set aside.
5. Meanwhile, heat oil over medium heat.
6. Add onion, carrot, and garlic and cook until softened (~5 minutes).
7. Add cumin, masala, 7 baharat, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
8. Transfer vegetable mixture to bowl with lentils.
9. Add panko and cilantro and mix well.
10. Once mixture has cooled enough not to cook egg, add egg and mix well.
11. Shape into 8 small patties and chill for 30 minutes.
12. Meanwhile, juice and zest the lemon.
13. Combine the yogurt, cilantro, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and lemon zest and mix well. Set aside.
14. Heat a bit more oil over medium heat.
15. Add three or four patties to the pan and cook, flipping as needed, until nicely browned on both sides and cooked through.
16. Burgers may be served on a bed of salad greens or on buns.
17. If serving on buns, split the buns and spread both sides with some of the sauce. Add some greens and a patty to each bun. Drizzle with a little pomegranate molasses (if desired).
18. If serving on greens, add a large handful of greens to each plate, top with a patty (or two), top each patty with a large dollop of sauce, and drizzle with pomegranate molasses (if desired).

I wanted a dish with some nutritional value to go with tonight's not-very-virtuous gnocchi. This recipe allowed me to use up some of the pumpkin we had on hand as well as a bunch of the thyme that we got from my mom. And, since it's mostly composed of vegetables and legumes, it's not even ruinously unhealthy!
That said, I'm not sure I'd be willing to make this recipe again. Not because it wasn't good. Unforunately it's just way too aggravating to make.

Normally, when I cook pumpkin, I cut it in half, roast it, and then scoop the cooked flesh out of the skin. This makes it very easy to handle and use. This recipe, however, takes a different approach. I requires peeling and chopping the pumpkin before cooking. Which is just downright annoying and tedious. But, at least it got us some veg and protein.

Pumpkin with Cannellini Beans, Caramelized Onions, and Roasted Garlic

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 heads (bulbs) garlic, halved crosswise
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 2 onions, halved and sliced
• 2 cans (~470g each) cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 Sugar Pie pumpkin (~500g), peeled and cubed
• 1 c. vegetable broth
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 c. breadcrumbs (preferably fresh)
• 2-3 Tbsp. grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Wrap garlic in foil and roast at 190°C (375°F) until soft (50-60 minutes).
3. Squeeze garlic from skin and set aside (discarding skins).
4. Heat 1 1/2 Tbsp. of the oil over medium heat.
5. Add the onion and cook until softened.
6. Reduce heat to medium low and continue cooking until dark and very soft (20-30 minutes).
7. Add beans, pumpkin, broth, thyme, salt, and pepper and stir to combine.
8. Cover and bake at 190°C (375°F) for 1 hour.
9. Meanwhile, toss breadcrumbs with Parmesan and remaining 1/2 Tbsp. of oil.
10. Once pumpkin is tender, remove lid and sprinkle with breadcrumb mixture.
11. Return to oven and bake, uncovered, until lightly browned on top (10-15 minutes).

This was originally meant to be a rainbow chard gratin with ricotta and gruyère. TF isn't particularly fond of chard (silverbeet) though and I couldn't get any gruyère, so I ended up swapping in a mix of spinach and kale and some low-fat Swiss cheese instead. I also halved all the quantities so that I could make a smaller gratin as three pounds of kale seemed like... a lot. And this smaller quantity also perfectly used up the half tub of ricotta that I had left over. And I'm very happy with how this worked out! It's not amazing, but it makes for a perfectly acceptable vegetable side dish.

Kale Gratin with Ricotta and Swiss

Adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 680g kale¹
• 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 c. ricotta
• 60g grated Swiss cheese
• 1/2 Tbsp. Roman mustard
• 1/2 c. breadcrumbs²

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) and grease a casserole dish.
2. Chope the kale, keeping the stems and leaves separate.
3. Heat the oil over medium heat and add the kale stems, onion, and garlic and cook until softened (~6 minutes).
4. Add the kale leaves, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook until wilted (~4 minutes).
5. Meanwhile, combine the ricotta, Swiss, and mustard and mix well.
6. Once the greens are cooked, try to press out and discard as much liquid as possible.
7. Add the cheese mixture to the greens and stir to combine.
8. Press the mixture into the prepared casserole dish and top with breadcrumbs.
9. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 20 minutes.

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¹ Ideally this would be made entirely with fresh kale. I didn't have enough, so I made up the difference with some frozen spinach. ^Back
2 The recipe called for fresh breadcrumbs, but I was feeling lazy and just used panko instead. I'm really happy with the results this gave. ^Back

This was tasty, but also annoying to make; it needs the zest and juice of a whole lemon plus some lemon juice, and wants you to use a food processor (which we don't have) to prepare the patties. We ended up making do with a potato masher and a blender, and I've revised the instructions somewhat to take into account some lessons learned there, but, likely as a result of this, the "patties" disintegrated in the pan and it ended up being falafel crumble.

Falafel Crumble with Lemon-Tahini Sauce

Healthy Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan (p. 72)

Ingredients

• Sauce
• ⅓ C tahini
• ¼ C lemon juice
• 3 tbsp yoghurt
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 (440g) tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed, reserving 1 C of the liquid
• ½ red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 5 fresh mint leaves, chopped
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 1 egg
• ½ C panko
• 4 pitas, split to form pockets
• thinly sliced tomatoes and lettuce for serving

Directions

1. Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk vigorously to combine; set aside.
2. Mash chickpeas in a large bowl.
3. Combine the onion, garlic, parsley, mint, lemon juice and zest, spices, and egg in a blender. Blend on low until until smooth. If there is insufficient liquid, add chickpea liquid in small amounts until the blender engages.
4. Combine blender contents and panko with chickpeas, mix well, and shape into 8 patties.
5. Pan-fry over medium heat until golden brown.
6. Serve in pitas with tahini sauce, tomatoes, and lettuce.

TF recently did a write-up for a different Cook's Country hamburger steak recipe that we tried a while back. After doing that one though, she commented that she'd be on board with doing hamburger steaks more often, so I figured I might as well give this recipe a try.

As with yesterday's salad recipe, I tried to make a few tweaks to this one to reduce the "Points" cost. Unlike with yesterday's salad recipe, those tweaks paid off in a big way this time. They made the difference between 8 Points per serving and 18! So, in this case, even though the final result isn't quite as rich and unctious as it would've been with more butter and fattier beef, I'd say the modifications were definitely worthwhile.

Hamburger Steak with Onion Gravy

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2019

Ingredients

• 900g extra-lean (95%) ground beef
• 5/8 c. panko breadcrumbs
• 1 packet onion soup mix
• 3/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 4 tsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 2 onions, halved and sliced
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 2 c. beef or vegetable broth
• 2 Tbsp. minced fresh chives

Directions

1. Combine beef, breadcrumbs, soup mix, and pepper and mix well.
2. Divide into 6 equal portions and shape each portion into a flat patty.
3. Melt 1 tsp. of butter over medium heat.
4. Add as many patties as will fit in the pan and cook, covered, for ~5 minutes.
5. Flip and cook, covered, for another 5 minutes.
6. Remove from pan and tent with foil.
7. Cook any remaining patties the same way and add to foil tent when done.
8. Add onions to pan. If pan seems very dry, add a little of the broth as well.
9. Cook, covered, for 5 minutes.
10. If pan seems dry, add a little (more) broth. (You don't want it to be wet, just slightly moist.)
11. Add flour and cook for a minute or two.
12. Whisk in broth and bring to a boil.
13. Cook, uncovered, for 4-5 minutes.
14. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 1 Tbsp. of butter.
15. Top patties with sauce, sprinkle with chives, and serve.

There are a great many recipes for lobster mac & cheese, none of which are part of the mac & cheese tradition I grew up with. And of late, with the Kidlet being allergic, I haven't had cause to seek them out. But in a recent grocery run symbol came home with some pre-cooked lobster claws and suggested this as a good thing to do with them.

I based this on a recipe from Spend with Pennies (with significant modifications), and the results were delicious; symbol and I both liked it. I made a half batch; the writeup here is for a full one, with a pound of pasta, but it scales down well.

Lobster Mac & Cheese

Adapted from Spend with Pennies

Ingredients

• topping
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• ½ C breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan
• 2 tbsp parsely, chopped
• pasta
• 1 lb dried store-bought pasta
• ~2 C cooked lobster meat, shredded
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4+4 tbsp butter, divided
• 4 tbsp flour
• ½ tsp mustard powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp Old Bay seasoning
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 C milk
• ~1 C grated parmesan
• ~2 C grated cheddar

Directions

1. Grease a 9x13" baking pan and preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl; buffer.
3. Cook pasta al dente; drain, rinse with cold water, and buffer.
4. Melt 4 tbsp butter in a small pot over medium heat.
5. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1-2 minutes.
6. Add lobster, toss to coat, and cook until heated through. Remove lobster-garlic mix and buffer.
7. Melt the other 4 tbsp of butter in the same pot.
8. Add the flour and make a roux.
9. Add the mustard, salt, Old Bay, black pepper, and milk; stir until thickened.
10. Reduce heat to low and stir in the cheddar and parmesan until melted.
11. Stir in the lobster-garlic mix.
12. Put the pasta into the baking pan. Pour over the sauce and stir to mix.
13. Cover with the topping.
14. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, until topping is browned and edges are bubbling.

I've been making a lot of crust-less sandwiches for the kidlet lately. It seemed really wastefully to just throw the crusts out, so I've been collecting them in a bag in the freezer instead. My original thought had been that I might be able to use them to make some sort of bread pudding. And then we got plums in our produce basket two weeks in a row. And no one's been that keen on eating them. So that naturally suggested that maybe I should try making a plum betty.

You can use pretty much any fruit in this betty. Edmonds suggests things like apples, plums, or apricots. I'm sure that things like berries or rhubarb would probably work very well too. I imagine that, if you wanted a quick fix, a tin of fruit pie filling would probably work reasonably well. Although I'd worry about a pre-made pie filling being overly sweet.

Plum Betty

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 100g unsalted butter¹
• 2 c. soft breadcrumbs
• 1/2 c. vanilla sugar²
• 2 c. stewed plums
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Directions

1. Fry the breadcrumbs in the butter until brown and crispy.
2. Remove from heat and toss with (vanilla) sugar.
3. Butter an ovenproof dish and fill with layers of stewed fruit scattered with brown sugar and breadcrumbs. Finish with breadcrumbs.
4. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 30 minutes.
5. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

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¹ Edmonds just calls for "butter" and, as far as I know, the default butter in NZ is salted, so feel free to use that if it's what you have on hand. I decided to use unsalted as I felt like that might work better with the other sweet ingredients. ^Back
2 The original recipe just calls for (granulated) sugar here. I just used vanilla sugar because I went a bit scant on the vanilla in the stewed plums, so I figured the extra vanilla notes in the breadcrumbs wouldn't go amiss. ^Back