Three Sisters” Posole
Recipe by Juanell Boyd Devloped for Master Gardeners of Middlesex County, NJ

Makes about 6 quarts

Background Information:Posole is a Native American soup or stew made with field corn that has been soaked in an alkaline solution to make the corn more digestable and nutritious. The treated corn is also called nixtamal or hominy. When ground, the meal from the treated corn is called masa (or grits) and is used to make tortillas or tamales (or grits), depending on the fineness of the grind. Traditionally, lye made from wood ash was used to treat the corn. However, this recipe uses food grade slaked lime or pickling lime (calcium hydroxide) which can be purchased where canning and pickling supplies are sold. The directions that I followed indicated that the hulls from the kernels of corn would separate after the soaking process. With the Aztec Blue Corn from the Master Gardener Three Sisters Garden Plot, that did not happen, but it tasted fine and looked rather more interesting with the hulls on, and of course, the hulls add fiber, so I made the posole with the hulls still on the kernels. Posole is traditionally made with pork, but I also found recipes using lamb or chicken. The use of all of the “three sisters” (corn, beans, and squash) is my adaptation of this dish. This dish is vegetarian friendly, as vegetable broth or chicken broth can be used interchangeably, and corn and beans are “complimentary” proteins in a vegetarian diet. The squash contributes vitamin A and the peppers contribute vitamins A and C. I make my own chicken broth using chicken backs, so there is usually a lot of fat to skim off. I usually freeze some of the chicken fat and use it in place of oil for sauteing for a more intense chicken flavor when I make a soup or stew using the chicken broth. I have a great recipe for vegetable broth using roasted vegetables and dried porcini mushrooms. For the vegetarians in the crowd, I’m going to use the vegetable broth and olive oil for sautéing when I make this for the Master Gardener potluck. I was concerned that the squash or pumpkin might stick to the bottom of the pot, or if stirred frequently to keep it from sticking, it would fall apart, so I roasted it separately for addition to the posole just before serving. Adding the raw squash for the last half hour or so of cooking might also work, but I haven’t tried it, and besides, I really prefer the flavor of roasted squash. It also occurred to me that oven cooking rather than stove-top cooking for the last hour might also solve the problem of keeping the squash intact, and eliminate the step of roasting the squash, but I haven’t tried it. As another alternative for the squash, a pumpkin-shaped squash can be baked and the hot posole can be put into the baked squash for serving. For the Master Gardening Pot Luck, I will use the shelled beans from the Three Sisters garden. As they were not dry when harvested, I blanched and froze them and will not pre-cook them for the posole. There are several varieties, but not a very large quantity, so for the first try, I used dried cannelini beans.

Serves 6 to 8

This incredibly hearty winter soup falls somewhere between a soup and a stew.

The texture and flavor are amazing—it’s filled with chunky vegetables, pasta, beans, and spinach. Pesto and Parmesan swirled in at the end make it even better. I serve it in big shallow bowls with garlic bruschetta on top.

Serves 8 to 10

Pumpkin pie can be boring and dense so I set out to make a better pumpkin pie. Pumpkin has a distinct squash flavor that you want to enhance without overpowering it. I’ve filled the prebaked crust with a lightly spiced pumpkin mixture that tastes more like a mousse than a dense custard. Dark rum and grated orange zest are my secret ingredients.

Serves 6, 2 if you're snowed in for a weekend.

This week's installment of our series Globavores, about the foods of the Columbian Exchange, is all about chocolate, which had rich, long history in the Americas long before Europeans arrived. Chocolatier Jacques Torres and Louis Grivetti, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Nutrition at UC Davis, talk about the origins of chocolate in Mesoamerica and how the cacao seed has traveled around the globe transforming cuisine and palates along the way.

Chocolate Recipes from Jacques Torres

Contemporary Chocolate Recipes from Louis Grivetti

Historical Chocolate Recipes from Louis Grivetti

Share your favorite chocolate recipe! Leave it as a comment, below!

This cake is best made one day before you plan to serve it. The cake is very moist and tender, so be careful when removing it from the pan. If you like, it may be served with the sauce described in the recipe for Ricotta Cheese with Fresh Fruit  (page 349), using either raspberries or strawberries for the sauce.

2 cups ricotta cheese
1 ½ tablespoons butter, softened
5 large eggs
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon dark rum (such as Myers’s) (optional)
2 cups heavy cream
½ teaspoon grated lemon or orange zest

1.    If the ricotta cheese is very wet, place it in a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth. Place the sieve over a bowl, refrigerate, and drain the ricotta for 2 hours.
2.    Preheat the oven to 325 ºF. Completely line an 8-inch springform pan with two overlapping layers of aluminum foil. Grease the foil with the softened butter and dust lightly with flour, set aside.
3.    Place the eggs in a large bowl. With an electric mixer set on high speed, beat the eggs just to combing, about 10 seconds. Add the ricotta, flour, sugar, vanilla, and rum, if using, and beat just to combine. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the cream. Stir in the zest.
4.    Pour the mixture into the prepared springform pan, and bake until the edges of the cake are firm and the top is golden brown, about 1 hour. (If the top begins to brown too quickly, cover the pan with aluminum foil and continue to bake.) Remove the pan from the oven, set it on a wire rack, and allow to cool for 3 to 4 hours. Remove the outer ring of the pan and cut away the foil. Cover and refrigerate the cake for at least 3 hours before serving.

SERVES 8

From The Tucci Cookbook, by Stanley Tucci

When we began work on this book project it was before my grandmother had passed away at the age of eighty-seven, and we were very excited about preserving so many of her recipes. One day my mother went to visit my grandmother in the hospital. She told her that we didn’t have her recipe for stuffed artichokes and we wanted to include it in the book. Without hesitation my grandmother began to tell her how she prepared them. The nurse who was attending her said, “Only an Italian could come out of surgery and start discussing food.” But the telling of a recipe is very different from the actual process of making a dish with its creator. So this recipe, which is named for my grandmother, is based on memories of her stuffed artichokes.

4 medium-size or 2 extra-large artichokes, stems and top ¼ inch sliced off and discarded, sharp outer leaf points snipped off and discarded
2 teaspoons chopped fresh Italian, flat leafed parsley
5 teaspoons finely grated pecorino Romano cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup coarsely grated day-old bread or 1 cup plain dried bread crumbs, or a combination of both
4 tablespoons olive oil

1.    Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
2.    Snugly fit the artichokes in a small saucepan and add water to a depth ¼ inch below the tops of the artichokes. Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer until an outside leaf pulls away easily, about 20 minutes. Do not overcook or the artichokes will fall apart. Remove from the water, turn upside down to drain, and set aside to cool.
3.    In a small bowl, mix the parsley, Romano cheese, garlic, and bread. Sprinkle teaspoons of the filling between the leaves, working from the outer leaves toward the center of the artichoke, spreading the inner leaves slightly if necessary. Place the artichokes in a glass baking pan. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over each artichoke (2 tablespoons if using extra-large ones). Fill the pan with water to a depth of 1 inch. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, add more water to the pan if necessary, and continue baking until the artichokes are tender and lightly browned, about 15 minutes more. Serve hot or at room temperature.

SERVES 4

WINE PAIRING: Light white and medium white

VARIATIONS: When serving steamed or boiled artichokes that have not been stuffed, I like to whisk 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice and ¼ cup melted butter to dip the tender leaves into before eating. One steamed artichoke may be served as part of an antipasto with drinks before dinner. Separate the leaves and arrange them on a platter. Serve along with a small dish of Basic Vinaigrette.

From The Tucci Cookbook, by Stanley Tucci.

Toasted Corn Flour Cookies

I was walking through the crowded marketplace at Juchitán, the capital of the Isthmus, when I nearly stumbled over María Ruíz sitting daintily on the ground with two small children in the shade of an arch, next to a basket lined with a snowy embroidered cloth.  I was already attuned enough to the region to think that this pretty young woman did not look quite like the flamboyant juchitecas around her, and sure enough I learned that she was from the town of Tehuantepec some twenty miles distant, where they specialize in making totopos dulces, sweet crackers of fine corn flour and dried coconut.  I could not replicate María's totopos, which require a tandoorlike sunken clay oven, but she gave me her recipe for these little cousins that can be made like cookies in a regular oven.

To grate the sugar, use the fine side of a standard straight-sided grater.  The recipe requires a starchy type of corn.

One 1- 1 1/2-inch piece canela
4 cups dried dent or flour corn kernels 
1/2 cup grated Mexican brown loaf sugar (panela or piloncillo; see page 000), packed before measuring, or 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Grind the canela in an electric coffee or spice grinder.  Set aside.

Spread the corn on a large baking sheet and bake until the kernels are bright yellow, about 40 minutes.  Remove and let cool completely while keeping the oven set to 375°F.

The corn must now be ground to a fine powdery flour.  I prefer to do this in an electric coffee or spice grinder, about 3/4 cup at a time. (You can also grind the kernels in several batches in a food processor, but the flour will not be as finely or evenly ground. 4 cups whole kernels should yield about 2 1/2 cups flour.)   Mix well with the ground canela.  

In a large bowl, cream the butter well and beat in the sugar; continue to beat until light and fluffy.  Gradually add the toasted corn flour mixture, beating well after each addition.  It will form a somewhat stiff dough.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured board to about 1/2-inch thickness.  With a cookie cutter, cut into 1-inch rounds.  Reroll leftover scraps of dough for cutting until all is used.  Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 10 - 12 minutes.

Yield: About 3 dozen 1-inch cookies

3 cups corn
2 cups stock
Mayonaise
Crema Mexicana
Powdered chile
1 lime (cut in half)
1 cup crumbled cotija cheese

Directions: Mix the corn, stock, mayo and cream; sprinkle with the cheese, powdered chili and a squeeze of lime juice.

Serves 6

2 cups whole wheat macaroni

2 ½ cups coarsely grated carrots (about 8 small)

3 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

¾ cup sour cream

¼ cup whole milk

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¾ teaspoon mustard powder

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F and grease an 8-inch-square baking pan. Arrange a rack in the top third of the oven.

2. Cook the macaroni according to the package instructions in a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the carrots 3 minutes before the pasta is finished cooking; drain well.

3. While the pasta is hot, stir in all but ½ cup of the Cheddar and the butter. In a bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, salt, mustard powder, and pepper. Fold the mixture into the pasta.

4. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining Cheddar and the Parmesan over the top. Bake until the casserole is firm to the touch and golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Makes 4 Servings

1 cup hazelnuts

1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

8 large celery stalks with leaves, thinly sliced

2 ounces good parmesan cheese, shaved

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spread hazelnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast, tossing once halfway through, until nuts are golden, 7 to 10 minutes. Pour the nuts into a clean dish towel and use the towel to rub off some of the skins (do not try to be thorough here, it takes too much time, just get rid of what flakes off easily). Cool and coarsely chop the nuts.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, salt, and pepper; whisk in the oil. Combine nuts, celery and leaves, and cheese in a large salad bowl. Add vinaigrette and toss gently to combine.

Time:15 minutes

10 ounces Brussels sprouts (1 container), trimmed

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Coarse sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, or more to taste

1 cup chopped toasted walnuts

3/4 cup grated Manchego or young pecorino cheese (or even aged Gruyere)

1. In a food processor using the thinnest slicing disk, slice the Brussels sprouts (they will fall apart into shreds). Or, using a knife, slicing the sprouts as thinly as possible. Put the sprouts in a bowl and toss with the lemon juice and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Let rest for 5 minutes.

2. Add the olive oil and toss well. Add the walnuts and cheese and toss gently. Taste and adjust seasonings. You can serve this immediately, but it gets better after an hour or so. 

Serves 6

Pesto alla Trapanese

Pesto has become very familiar in American homes by now— that is, pesto made with fresh basil leaves, garlic, and pignoli nuts. Well, this one is different— it is an uncooked sauce freshly flavored with herbs, almonds, and tomatoes. It is a recipe I discovered in Sicily while researching for Lidia’s Italy, and I have received countless e-mails about this recipe, praising its simplicity and rich flavor. I am sure it will become one of your favorites.

serves 4 to 6

Makes 4 servings

For the Salad:
2 carrots, peeled and trimmed
10 cups shredded Napa or regular cabbage (about 1/2 head)
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint (or use cilantro or basil)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped peanuts (optional)
1 prepared rotisserie chicken, shredded

For the Spicy Vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive or peanut oil
1 teaspoon Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce (see note)
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lime
Pinch cayenne
1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1. In a food processor fitted with the large grating attachment, shred the carrots. Turn them out into a large bowl. Add the cabbage and mint and season with salt and pepper. Cover and toss well. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 hours.

2. To make the vinaigrette, in a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, olive or peanut oil, fish sauce, lime juice, and cayenne. In a mortar and pestle or with the back of a knife, mash the garlic to a paste: whisk into the vinaigrette.

3. To assemble, add just enough of the vinaigrette to the salad to coat it and toss well. Taste and add more dressing or salt or lime juice if desired. Place the salad onto the center of a platter and top with the chicken. Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts, if desired, drizzle with more vinaigrette, and serve.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

2 pounds peeled and cubed cantaloupe (8 cups)
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 to 1 jalapeno, to taste, seeded and finely chopped
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon whole cumin seed
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

1. Combine cantaloupe, yogurt, jalapeno, lemon juice and salt in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

2. In a small skillet over medium heat, toast the cumin seeds until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour into a mortar and pestle and add coarse sea salt. Pound the mixture a few times until the cumin seeds are lightly crushed. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, put the cumin and salt onto a cutting board and either smack it with the side of a heavy cleaver or knife, or roll over them with a rolling pin or the side of a wine bottle.

3. To serve, ladle soup into individual bowls. Garnish with cumin salt.

These are amazing—so good you’ll want to double the recipe and freeze some.

TIME 30 to 40 minutes with cooked beans

MAKES 4 to 8 servings

Restaurant-style fare at home and easy to master.

TIME 10 minutes
MAKES 1 or 2 servings

Yesterday Melissa Clark stopped by to get us inspired about winter vegetables. Here are a few of the recipes and tips that she shared, as well as a few from callers.

If a regular Irish boiled corned beef and cabbage dinner is the essence of soft, silky, and supple, my version is crisped, browned, crunchy – the cabbage included. Roasting it in slices gives the cabbage plenty of surface area to brown in the oven, while the center gets tender but doesn’t turn soggy. We eat roasted cabbage all winter long and into spring, all the way up until the day the first asparagus show up at the farmers’ market. Then we unceremoniously cast cabbage aside – until the next winter, when we are grateful for its hardy, sustaining, sweet presence in every market stall.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

1 pound green cabbage (1 small one or half a large one), cored

Olive or peanut oil, for brushing

Pinch kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Cut the cabbage into 1-inch thick slices. Brush the slices with olive oil and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Try to keep the pieces from falling apart (though if they do start to separate that is ok). Sprinkle the cabbage with a generous seasoning of salt. Roast, turning once, until crispy and browned, 25 to 30 minutes.

What Else?
Obviously you needn’t limit yourself to serving this with corned beef. I like it as part of an all-vegetable meal, with brown rice and fried tofu croutons. It’s also lovely as a side dish for roast chicken, maybe under a dollop of sour cream or yogurt and showered with dill. Sometimes I make it by itself for lunch and eat it accompanied by toasted brown bread with plenty of butter. Sometimes I sprinkle grated cheese (pecorino is excellent) on top during the last 10 minutes of roasting. If you like cabbage, you will find plenty of ways to enjoy this simple dish.

Every time I roast a rutabaga, I mentally thank Bill Maxwell, of Maxwell Farms. He was the one who suggested, then cajoled, then finally insisted that I try rutabagas again when I hadn’t had one in years. “They’re so sweet I don’t know why people aren’t going crazy for them,” he said, motioning to a milk crate brimming with the waxy vegetables. “Because they’re hard to cut and then when you cook them don’t taste like anything,” I said. “Those must have been old and overgrown. Just try one of these and tell me what you think,” he said, pressing a pineapple-sized specimen into my hands.

Bill suggested I boil it, mash it, and serve it with caramelized onions. I went home and roasted it instead. I’d read online that roasted rutabaga was the ideal way to cook the vegetable, caramelizing its juices and enhancing its sweetness. And Bill was right, the rutabaga was wonderful – soft, mellow, browned around the edges, and tasting a little like roasted butternut squash with a pleasantly sharp, turnipy edge.

Since that day, I roast rutabagas all the time, often glazed with a little maple syrup or honey to help deepen the browning. In this recipe, I’ve added a pinch of chili for a spicy kick, but the rutabaga is good without it, too, and perhaps more appropriate if you’re feeding small children. The one thing I haven’t done yet is to try Bill’s recipe for a rutabaga mash. But I will soon, now that his rutabaga authority has been so firmly established.

Makes 4 servings

1 1/2 pounds rutabaga, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.

2. In a large bowl, combine the rutabaga, oil, syrup, salt, and cayenne; toss well to combine. Spread the rutabaga in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Roast, tossing occasionally, until the rutabaga is tender and dark golden, about 40 minutes.

What Else?
Like turnips, rutabagas are sometimes an acquired taste. If you’re still getting used to it, you can substitute some of the rutabaga for potatoes, carrots, parsnips, or whatever other root vegetables you are into at the moment.

If you haven’t worked with rutabagas before, they are a little bit more watery than most root vegetables. I think this gives them a refreshing feel, even when roasted, but it does mean that you probably won’t achieve that totally crisp, dark brown crust you usually get on roasted vegetables. A nice golden hue is just about right. The maple syrup will also help caramelize them a bit.