Grilled Green Beans with Honey, Feta and Dill

This is a quick dish. It’s do-ahead easy. And it’s versatile.

Don’t care for green beans? No worry.

Substitute broccoli, cauliflower or asparagus. They all work just as well in this simple, yet delicious dish.

If you do it ahead of time (no more than a day), be sure to let it come to room temperature before serving.

Grilled Green Beans with Honey, Feta and Dill
Start to finish: 15 minutes
Servings: 6

2 pounds green beans, trimmed
Olive oil
3 tablespoons honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup crumbled feta
Fresh dill
Kosher salt and ground black pepper

1. Heat the grill to high.

2. In a large bowl, toss the green beans with just enough olive oil to lightly coat.
Lay the green beans across the grate of the grill horizontally so that they don’t fall through.
Grill, turning once or twice, for 6 to 8 minutes, or until lightly charred and tender.

3. While the beans grill, in small bowl mix together the honey, garlic and red pepper flakes.

4. When the beans are done, pile them onto a serving plate.

5. Drizzle the honey mixture over the beans, then sprinkle with feta cheese.

6. Top with sprigs of fresh dill and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Recipe from Alison Ladman, Associated Press writer.
Nutritional information per serving: 130 calories; 40 calories from fat (31 percent of total calories); 4.5 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 10 mg cholesterol; 125 mg sodium; 20 g carbohydrate; 4 g fiber; 15 g sugar; and 5 g protein.

Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Almonds

From Gourmet via Epicurious. I made this in the tagine I haggled for in Morocco! It came out great, both the recipe and the haggling.

My brother Andy and I followed our noses to a restaurant that made the most delicious-smelling tagine in the Old City part of Tangiers. Afterward, I wanted to buy a tagine of my own. We asked a kid in a shop that had tagines in the window, but the boy told us they weren't for sale. Still, he said, he had a friend who would sell us one, and he set off to take us there.

We followed the boy through the maze of streets for what felt like a long way. Right about the time we started to fear we'd been taken in several senses of the word, he stopped in front of a shop door.

We paid him the few cents in coins everyone seems to expect for helping a person out in Tangiers. The shop owner spoke English, and I told him what I wanted. Originally, he tried to charge me the equivalent of about $200!  I offered around $20. We both told each other the other was being ridiculous, and so the haggling began.

"This was handmade - look at the craftsmanship," he told me.

"And Customs officers are going to grill me about it," I replied.

"It's such a large piece of art - think how easily you'll feed your family."

"I'm going to have to lug the heavy thing in my backpack for miles!"

He nodded toward my brother. "You have a handsome, strong young man.  Surely he can afford to buy you this!"

"She's my sister," Andy said, helpfully. "I don't buy her anything."

Finally, we settled on about $80. I know I went away happy, and I'm sure I didn't get the better of the shopkeeper.

photo by John Kernick

yield
Makes 4 servings

active time
30 min

total time
1 1/2 hr

Food editor Maggie Ruggiero tasted this sweet, Moroccan-spiced dish on a recent visit to Marrakech, where chef Lafridi serves it at Jnane Tamsna.

ingredients

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 3 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 (3-lb) chicken, cut into 6 pieces, wings and backbone discarded
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 medium red onion, halved, then sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 5 fresh cilantro
• 5 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons mild honey
• 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
• 1/2 cup dried Turkish apricots, separated into halves
• 1/3 cup whole blanched almonds

• Special equipment: a 10- to 12-inch tagine or heavy skillet; kitchen string

preparation

Stir together ground cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons oil in a large bowl. Add chicken and turn to coat well.

Heat butter and 1 tablespoon oil in base of tagine (or in skillet), uncovered, over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then brown half of chicken, skin sides down, turning over once, 8 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Brown remaining chicken in same manner, adding any spice mixture left in bowl.

Add onion and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to tagine and cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Tie cilantro and parsley into a bundle with kitchen string and add to tagine along with 1/2 cup water, chicken, and any juices accumulated on plate. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 30 minutes.

While chicken cooks, bring honey, remaining cup water, cinnamon stick, and apricots to a boil in a 1- to 2-quart heavy saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until apricots are very tender (add more water if necessary). Once apricots are tender, simmer until liquid is reduced to a glaze, 10 to 15 minutes.

While apricots cook, heat remaining 1/4 cup oil in a small skillet over moderate heat and cook almonds, stirring occasionally, until just golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.

Ten minutes before chicken is done, add apricot mixture to tagine. Discard herbs and cinnamon stick, then serve chicken sprinkled with almonds on top.

Whole-grain Gingerbread

(Photo: Clare Barboza)

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Gingerbread — it's not just for dessert. Especially if you ask breakfast-lover Megan Gordon, whose recipe from Whole-Grain Mornings relies on three forms of ginger (ground, crystallized and fresh) to give it a rich spiciness."This bread gets even better with time — and, to me, tastes best on the third day," she says. "It gives those dark molasses flavors time to settle in."

Whole-Grain Gingerbread

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup spelt flour (or all-purpose flour)

1/2 cup packed muscovado sugar or brown sugar

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger (optional)

1 Tb. grated fresh ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 Tbs. grated orange zest

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (optional)

8 Tbs. unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan

1/2 cup unsulfured molasses (Gordon uses blackstrap)

3 Tbs. honey

1/2 cup whole milk

1/4 cup plain whole-milk yogurt, homemade (see recipe below) or store-bought

1 large egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch square pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking soda, salt, the three kinds of ginger, cloves, cinnamon, orange zest, and pepper. Use your hands to break up any clumps of sugar, and whisk well.

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the molasses and honey and cook, stirring, until the mixture is warm but not boiling. Pour into the flour mixture and stir to combine. Add the milk, yogurt, and egg and fold together until combined. With a little arm power, the mixture will soon look like a loose brownie batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the edges pull away from the pan slightly and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let the gingerbread cool completely in the pan before slicing and serving. Any leftovers can be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Yield: 9 servings

Per serving (3-inch square piece): 333 calories, 54g carbohydrates, 6g protein, 12g fat (7g saturated), 3g fiber, 50mg cholesterol, 172mg sodium

From USA Weekend

Braised Lemon Chicken with Herbs

6 chicken leg quarters
3/4 C flour
2 TB oil
1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 C white wine, sweet or semisweet
1 juice of lemon
1 TB honey
2 TB balsamic vinegar
1 1/4 C chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme, crushed
1 tsp dried basil, crushed
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat the chicken with flour.

Heat oil in large ovenproof pan or shallow pot with a lid on medium to high heat.

Add chicken in single layer and sear on both sides for about 5 minutes per side. You may need to do this in batches. Remove chicken.

Add 1 tsp oil to the same pan, saute the onion and garlic until soft. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for about 5 minutes until the flavors are melded.

Add chicken into sauce, spoon sauce over to cover, and cover pan. Bring to boil.

Place pan in preheated oven, bake for 1 1/2 hours. Serve with sauce.

Lisa Mael's Challah

We made this challah recipe, perfected by Lisa Mael, at Congregation Beth Israel, for a challah-day in January, 2014.  It was a huge hit!  Lisa says it also won a prize at the Bloomsburg Fair

It's a good thing the challah was popular.  We also tried to hold a Saturday service, complete with an English translation Torah reading, while the bread was rising.  That's when we learned why the Torah is often not read in English - a lot of the section was on how to treat your slaves, and your enslaved daughter! It didn't help that we had several guests and newcomers in the audience. What an introduction to Judaism!

Notes from the recipe:
The tradition of serving twisted loaves on the Sabbath has its origin in the manna the Israelites received in the desert. They would collect a double portion of manna on Friday for the Sabbath, as manna did not fall on the Sabbath. Therefore the use of two loaves. The manna fell on a cover of dew and was covered with dew. We duplicate these two covers with the tablecloth below the loaves and a special cover which is removed only after the Kiddush (blessing over wine) and the appropriate blessing for the loaves. The twisted shape of the loaves duplicates the loaves in the Temple. So says Bonnie Kupinsky, who is quoted on the recipe.

Ingredients:
• 2 T yeast
• 2 C warm water
• 2-3 eggs
•1/4 to 1/2 C honey or sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 T to 1/3 C butter or oil
• 7-8 C whole wheat flour (actually, this makes for a heavy bread. I'd recommend using 1 cup, maybe 2, of whole wheat, but not more.)
• Sesame or poppy seeds (optional)
• Add 1/2 C each soy flour and wheat germ for high-protien Challah.

Dissolve yeast in water. Add eggs, honey, salt, butter and about 3 1/2 C flour. Beat well.

Add remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead 5-10 minutes, adding more flour if necessary.  Use as little flour as possible for a delicate Challah. It should be velvety soft.

Let rise until doubled, 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours in a warm room or overnight in the refrigerator.

Punch down and either let rise again or braid immediately into two loaves.  (A 3-strand braid is fine.  But feel free to look up variations - you could write a good-sized article on braids alone.) 

Brush with egg wash (one egg beaten with a pinch of salt.) Sprinkle with seeds if you like.

Bake 350 to 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes, until golden brown.

Variations: Use scalded milk instead of water, or add 1/2C dry milk powder. Use 1/2 to 1 C butter and up to 2/3 C honey or sugar. Salt may be reduced to 1 tsp or less. 4 egg yolks may be used instead of 2 eggs for a richer bread. 1 tsp vanilla or rum may be added. Crust may be brushed with melted butter after baking for a soft crust. But with these additions and variation, the recipe becomes egg bread instead of Challah.