banana cupcakes
Sweet-smelling, dense, and moist, these cupcakes don’t really need a frosting—it’s just icing on the cake! And yes, they really do taste good made with olive oil. These cupcakes are good keepers; they stay moist for up to a week.
YIELDS ABOUT 20 CUPCAKES
HANDS-ON TIME: CAKE: 15 MINUTES FROSTING: 10 MINUTES
BAKING TIME: 20 TO 25 MINUTES
COOLING TIME: AT LEAST 15 MINUTES
WET INGREDIENTS
1½ cups mashed ripe bananas (3 or 4 bananas)
½ cup olive oil or vegetable oil
1⅓ cups packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup plain yogurt
DRY INGREDIENTS
1½ cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
COFFEE OR CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons brewed coffee or 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
Preheat the oven to 350°. Prepare two standard cupcake pans with liners, cooking spray, or butter.
With an electric mixer on medium speed, mix the wet ingredients until smooth and creamy, a minute or two. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix at low speed until smooth. Spoon the batter into the cupcake pans, filling each cup about three-quarters full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix all of the frosting ingredients with an electric mixer on low speed until creamy and smooth. Cool the cupcakes for at least 15 minutes and then frost.
planning tip
If you have bananas that are overripe and you don’t have time to bake, pop them unpeeled into the freezer. Later, thaw the bananas for use in a recipe.
lemon coconut tapioca pudding
This creamy (yet vegan) dessert can follow a meal from just about any cuisine: Caribbean, Indian, Mediterranean, West African, Asian, North American.…
SERVES 4
TIME: 25 MINUTES
¼ cup quick-cooking tapioca
¼ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons sugar
1 14-ounce can of coconut milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
Place the tapioca, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan, stir in ½ cup of cool water, and set aside for 5 minutes. Then stir in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer on high heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring often to prevent sticking, until thick and creamy, about 10 minutes.
Stir in the lemon peel. Pour into dessert dishes and serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.
serving & menu ideas
Just before serving, top with sliced fresh fruit—our favorite is mango. Ripe, fresh mango can’t be beat, but good canned mango is available, too. Strawberries, peaches, cherries, or pineapple are also delicious as a topping.
new england squash pie
This pie is lighter in flavor and texture than its pumpkin cousins. If you’ve got a pie shell waiting, it’s a snap to get this treat into the oven.
SERVES 8
HANDS-ON TIME: 10 MINUTES
BAKING TIME: 30 TO 40 MINUTES
1 11-ounce package of frozen cooked winter squash
1¼ cups milk
3 eggs
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
1 unbaked 9- or 10-inch pie shell (thawed, if frozen)
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Warm the squash in a microwave oven or in a pot on top of the stove. Place it in a blender or mixing bowl with the milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and spices and whirl, or whisk by hand, until smooth.
Place the pie shell on a baking tray and pour the filling into it. (Purchased pie crusts vary in depth, so if you have too much filling for your crust, put the extra in a custard cup or ramekin and follow the directions in the note below.)
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the the filling is set but there is still a little jiggle in the center. Cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving.
INGREDIENT NOTES Good frozen pie shells, including wheat-free ones, are available in natural foods stores and large supermarkets.
For custard instead of pie, bake the filling in unbuttered custard cups set in a hot water bath. Depending on the size of your cups, this recipe will make 4 to 8 custards. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until just set. Cool at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before serving.
butterscotch icebox cookies
This cookie dough can be kept in the freezer for up to at least two months, so whenever you want warm, freshly baked cookies (with none of the additives found in commercially prepared frozen cookie dough), just slice it and pop it in the oven.
YIELDS ABOUT 6 DOZEN COOKIES
HANDS-ON TIME: 15 MINUTES
FREEZING TIME: AT LEAST 1 HOUR
BAKING TIME: 8 TO 12 MINUTES PER BATCH
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups unbleached white flour
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, vanilla, and salt. Mix in the flour until well blended.
Divide the dough into 3 parts. Shape each third into a log about 1½ inches in diameter and 8 inches long. Wrap the logs with waxed paper or plastic wrap and place in the freezer until firm, at least 1 hour. (If the dough will be stored for more than a day, place the wrapped logs in a sealed freezer bag, label, and date.)
When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°. With a sharp knife, slice the logs into rounds about ¼ inch thick. Place 1 inch apart on an unoiled baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, until the cookies retain a slight indentation when lightly touched in the center and are golden brown on the bottom. Remove the cookies from the baking sheet while they’re still warm.
INGREDIENT NOTES For crisper cookies, add ¾ teaspoon of baking soda with the flour.
For puffier cookies, add 1 tablespoon of baking powder with the flour.
serving & menu ideas
For delicious sandwich cookies, spread peanut butter or Nutella between the bottoms of two cooled cookies.
two sweet sauces
These two sauces are useful whenever you need to make a dessert in a hurry. Made in minutes, they can turn plain ice cream or store-bought poundcake into something special.
peanut butter chocolate sauce
You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, reheat, stirring frequently, until melted.
YIELDS 1½ CUPS
TIME: 10 MINUTES
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons sugar
½ cup water or milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
In a double boiler or a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate chips and sugar in the water or milk, stirring with a whisk until smooth and shiny. Whisk in the vanilla and peanut butter.
blueberry lemon sauce
This twilight-blue sweet-tart sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week. Made in a food processor, it’s thicker than when made in the blender.
YIELDS 2 CUPS
TIME: 10 MINUTES
1 pound frozen or fresh blueberries (about 3 cups)
⅓ cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
In a saucepan on medium heat, bring the blueberries, sugar, salt, and a tablespoon of water to a simmer, stirring
often, until the mixture is juicy. Cook for a few minutes, until the blueberries are soft.
In a blender or food processor, whirl the blueberries with the lemon juice until smooth. Add additional sugar to taste. Add more water if you want a thinner sauce.
5-minute milkshakes
Whip up one of these pretty pastel shakes for a casual dessert or any time you finish supper wishing you had made dessert. We suggest Chai Shake after a curry, Vanilla Rum Milkshake after West Indian Red Beans & Coconut Rice, Pineapple Ginger Shake after Asian Braised Fish with Greens—you get the picture.
SERVES 2
TIME: 5 MINUTES
In a blender, purée the ingredients until smooth, about 30 seconds. Pour into small glasses and serve immediately.
orange vanilla shake
1 cup orange juice
1 cup vanilla ice cream
1 teaspoon grated orange peel (optional)
chocolate malt
1 cup vanilla ice cream
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
¼ cup Ovaltine or other malt powder
¾ cup milk
vanilla rum milkshake
1 cup vanilla ice cream
2 tablespoons rum
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons brown sugar
grated nutmeg for sprinkling on top
banana milkshake
1 cup vanilla ice cream
1 cup milk
1 ripe banana
ground cinnamon or grated nutmeg for sprinkling on top
chai shake
1 cup vanilla ice cream
1 cup chilled chai (look for aseptic boxes on supermarket shelves near the soy milk)
pineapple ginger shake
½ cup pineapple juice
1 cup vanilla ice cream
½ teaspoon peeled and grated ginger root
1 tablespoon lime juice
When your pantry is stocked with interesting foods and your freezer is full, you can eat well without a trip to the market. The authors of Simple Suppers are all Moosewood cooks, and there are plenty of days when we don’t want supper at home to be a major culinary production. A little time in the kitchen, yes. Creative? Maybe. Masterful? We hope. Time-consuming? No. Some days we have a hankering for something in particular and so we stop at the store, but most days when it’s time for dinner we check what’s in the cupboard and refrigerator and pull out our favorite simple supper ingredients.
Each of us has different favorite staples, items that may not have been in our pantries a few years ago but that we regularly use for convenience and good taste today. Our current collective top-ten list of favorites for convenience in our home kitchens includes little cans of smoky-hot chipotle peppers packed in flavorful adobo sauce, frozen edamame, bags of refrigerated slaw mix, quart boxes of organic vegetable broth, Chinese chili paste, Thai curry paste, frozen collards, cans of diced tomatoes, Keiffer lime leaves in freezer bags, and seasoned tofu.
Here is a more extensive, but not exhaustive, list of things you might find in the home kitchen of a Moosewood cook for the recipes in this book and beyond.
In the Cupboard
Quart boxes of organic vegetable, mushroom, and mock chicken broth; canned whole and diced tomatoes; salsa (we recommend Herdez and Pace brands); chipotles in adobo sauce; peanut butter; artichoke hearts; coconut milk; roasted red peppers; jams or fruit spreads; oils (olive oil, extra-virgin olive oil, vegetable or canola oil, dark sesame oil); vinegars (cider, wine, white, balsamic, rice); beans and peas (black beans, black-eyed peas, butter beans, cannellini, chickpeas, small red beans, field peas—we recommend Goya, Cora Natural, The Allens, Westbrae, and Eden brands of canned beans); dry lentils (red, green, French); dry split peas (yellow, green); raisins and currants; hijiki seaweed, sun-dried tomatoes; dried mushrooms (porcini, shiitake, cremini).
Spices and Dried Herbs Red pepper flakes, cayenne, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, curry powder, garam masala, turmeric, saffron, paprika, Old Bay seasoning, bay leaves, sage, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, oregano, basil, dill, mint (we use spearmint and peppermint herbal teas), cumin, coriander, fennel, and black mustard seeds.
Grains Rice (brown, jasmine, basmati, arborio, white), polenta cornmeal, grits, couscous, kasha, bulghur, quinoa.
Pasta Italian pasta (fettuccine, spaghetti, linguine, orzo, farfalle, penne, etc. rice noodles, soba noodles, udon noodles.
In the Refrigerator
Mayonnaise, mustard, horseradish, barbecue sauce, hoisin sauce, Tabasco or other hot sauce, soy sauce, Chinese chili paste, Thai curry paste, olives, pickles and/or relish, capers, tofu, seitan, miso, fresh ginger root and garlic, nuts and seeds (walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, pine nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds), various cheeses, butter, eggs, yogurt, slaw mix.
In the Freezer
Tortillas, filo dough, Keiffer lime leaves, tortellini, corn, collards, spinach, edamame, black-eyed peas, green peas, shrimp.
This guide is not exhaustive. Rather, it includes practical information about some of the ingredients, tools, and techniques specific to recipes in this book.
AVOCADOS We use Hass avocados, a variety with dark green pebbly skin and a smooth yellowish-green interior. A hard avocado will usually ripen and soften and be ready to eat in 3 to 4 days at room temperature. To cube an avocado, use a paring knife to slice down to the pit around the avocado lengthwise. Gently twist the halves apart and remove the pit. Cut the flesh in a crisscross pattern right in the skins, and scoop out the cubes with a spoon.
BLACK MUSTARD SEEDS To draw out the nutty flavor of this Indian spice, briefly heat the seeds in a dry skillet on medium heat and then grind them. Or sauté them in a small amount of oil until they begin to pop. Look for them in Indian or Asian markets or in well-stocked supermarkets.
BOK CHOY (CHINESE CABBAGE, PAK CHOI, BAK CHOI) Like celery, bok choy stalks grow from a single base and branch into white crisp stalks with broad deep green leaves. Eat both the leaves and the stalks.
CAPERS The tiny, green buds of a flowering Mediterranean plant, capers are packed either in a vinegar-based brine or in sea salt. At Moosewood, we use the brine-packed variety. Rinse salted capers before using.
CHEESE
ASADERO is a good melting cheese and an alternative to Muenster and Monterey Jack. Asadero is perfect for quesadillas and other Mexican dishes.
BLUE CHEESES are marbled with blue or green veins depending on the molds introduced during cheese making. They come in a wide variety of strengths and textures. The main types include Italian Gorgonzola, Danish blue cheese, English Stilton, French Roquefort, and domestic blue cheese made in Canada and the United States. Most are made with cow’s milk, except Roquefort, which is always made with sheep’s milk.
BRIE is a ripened cheese with an edible white mold rind. It has a smooth, buttery texture and flavor.
CHEDDAR, both mild and sharp, is widely available and versatile.
CHÈVRE is a smooth and slightly tangy fresh goat cheese.
HAVARTI named after a farm in Denmark, is a semi-soft, creamy cheese with small irregular holes. Dilled Havarti is flecked with dill.
FETA is a salty, white cheese made from sheep’s, goats’, or cows’ milk. It varies from mild and creamy to quite sharp.
FONTINA, mild but distinctly flavored, is made in Denmark and the United States.
FRESH MOZZARELLA is mild, creamy cheese that comes in balls packed in water. Look for it in the dairy case or in supermarket delis or salad bars.
GRUYÈRE is a delicious, dense, nutty cheese.
NEUFCHTEL has one-third less fat than cream cheese, without sacrificing texture or flavor. Neufchâtel is what we most often use when a recipe calls for cream cheese.
PARMESAN is a firm, aged cheese, best when freshly shaved, shredded, or grated.
PECORINO ROMANO made from sheep’s milk, is usually stronger and sharper than Parmesan. Like Parmesan, grate it fresh.
RICOTTA traditionally used in Italian cooking for both sweet and savory dis
hes, is soft, fresh, and mild-tasting, with a creamy texture. Ricotta cheese is available as a whole milk, reduced fat, or nonfat product.
RICOTTA SALATA is salted, pressed ricotta, a firm cheese with a dry texture.
SMOKED CHEESES are infused with a smoky flavor either by exposure to a hickory wood fire, by the addition of smoked salt, or by adding a chemical called liquid smoke during cheesemaking. The most readily available smoked cheeses are Cheddar, Gouda, Swiss, and Mozzarella. Look for naturally smoked cheeses in natural foods stores and gourmet cheese shops.
SOY CHEESE is a vegan alternative to cheese made with dairy milk. Developed over the past 15 years, new soy cheese products that approximate a particular type of cheese, such as Cheddar or Parmesan, appear in our market often.
CHILES (HOT PEPPERS, CHILI PEPPERS) There are many, many types of chiles, and their heat varies wildly even among chiles of the same type, so taste to determine how much to use. For less heat, remove the seeds and membrane, which are the hottest parts. Refrigerated in a plastic bag, fresh chiles will keep for about 5 days. Frozen whole chiles can be kept for up to a year; sliced or chopped, for 6 months.
CHINESE CHILI PASTE Supermarkets usually carry a wide variety of chili pastes, most of which include crushed, fermented chiles, salt, soy oil, and garlic. We’ve found that the simpler the ingredient list, the better. Look for bottled brands without preservatives. Tightly capped and refrigerated, Chinese chili paste keeps indefinitely. If you don’t have Chinese chili paste, substitute pressed garlic and some minced fresh chile pepper.
Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers Page 18
