Tommmmato Pie

An oldie but a goodie...Tomato Pie.

It's Autumn now, turn on a dime. Turn the oven on. Throw a can of drained lima beans (butter beans) inb a casserole dish, and then a few peeled garlic cloves & some sausage--you have spicy chorizo in the freezer tray. A little tamari. Bake it, covered, about a half hour. A little smoked gouda on the side. Some steamed broccoli rabe. This life, she is good. Close the kitchen window as you sit down to eat...the cool air has arrived.

I have discovered a new cheese. It is a cow's milk brie from Germany, flavored with walnuts, both creamy and subtle. It is called Mirabo.

Peach Crisp

I also made Peach Crisp. It is the simplest.

Thinly slice some peaches--5 is a good number. Spread them in a baking pan. In a bowl, toss together one cup of oats, some brown sugar, some cinnamon, a bit of flour. Melt some butter--1/3 of a cup--and mix it in till the stuff is crumble. Sprinkle this on top and put into a 350 degree oven for a half hour.

Channing Way Shrimp Curry

Last night I made shrimp curry, from a recipe from Ruth Rechl's Comfort Me With Apples. It's a
dish she made often while living in a commune in Berkeley, and thus it is called Channing Way Shrimp Curry.

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, smashed

1/2 stick butter

4 tablespoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cardomom

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon red chile powder

1 Tablespoon flour

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup well-stirred canned coconut milk

2 cups chicken broth

2 teaspoons freshly grated lime zest

1-2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice

salt and pepper

Cook the onion and garlic in the butter in a heavy pan over moderate heat, until the onion is softened, about 4 minutes. Add the spices and flour and cook, stirring constatntly, for one minute. Whisk in the cream, coconut milk, broth, and lime zest and bring just to a boil. Simmer the mixture, stirring constantly, until it begins to thicken, about 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and simmer, stirring, until the shrimp turns pink and is cooked through, about 4 minutes. Stir in the lime juice, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle the curried shrimp over rice and top with garnishes (raisins, peanuts, chopped candied ginger) with mango chutney on the side. It is good, to, to have some Ali Akbar Khan ragas on hand to play in the background while you eat.


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We also had a simple spinach salad--spinach, mushrooms, red peppers. I had so much curry sauce leftover, and salad, that for lunch today I will cook up the salad ingredients and pour the curry sauce over them. Yum.

Curry always reminds me of college, when my then-boyfriend Jonah and I made huge, delicious pans of it, often. I was ambitious then and my idea of a good time was to make a five course Indian meal, chutney to lassi, as it were, including samosas and paratha. In fact, this was our Thanksgiving dinner for several of the 5 years we were together. These days I often substitute flour tortillas for roti, and they are fine. But the scent of turmeric on my fingers takes me back....

The basil I grow outside my front door is thigh high and fat with huge leaves. I am wondering if I should consider making pesto by hand, as this article suggests. It is true my blender isn't quite up to the job, and I've been less than pleased with the consistency of earlier batches.