2 tablespoons soy sauce
1½ tablespoons cider vinegar
½ teaspoon Chinese chili paste or Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce (optional)
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil (optional)
In a small bowl, whisk or stir all of the ingredients until smooth.
variations
PINEAPPLE PEANUT SAUCE
In a saucepan, bring to a simmer a cup of canned crushed pineapple and stir in the Spicy Peanut Sauce ingredients, omitting the water (yields about 1½ cups).
AFRICAN PEANUT SAUCE
In a saucepan, bring a cup of canned diced tomatoes to a simmer and stir in the Spicy Peanut Sauce ingredients, omitting the water and sesame oil (yields about 1½ cups).
SOUTHEAST ASIAN PEANUT SAUCE
Use coconut milk instead of water.
serving & menu ideas
Here are a few ideas to inspire you:
• Serve baked fish or tofu on rice with steamed vegetables, such as carrots, broccoli, zucchini, sweet potatoes, cabbage, or snow peas, topped with Spicy Peanut Sauce.
• Top a bed of rice with steamed spinach or cabbage, shredded raw carrots, and Spicy Peanut Sauce.
• Drizzle warm Spicy Peanut Sauce on a salad of spinach or spring mix topped with cucumbers, celery, and tomatoes.
• Dress coleslaw with Pineapple Peanut Sauce for an unusual and delicious side dish.
• Stir African Peanut Sauce into white beans, black-eyed peas, or field peas and chopped cooked collards or other greens for a delicious one-pot meal.
• Pour Southeast Asian Peanut Sauce over rice noodles or linguine topped with mung bean sprouts and/or cucumber slices. Great with Easy Baked Tofu.
Cherry Shortbread Crumble
fruit & cheese plates
Perfectly ripe fresh fruit is one the simplest and most enjoyable ways to end a meal. It’s effortless, healthful, and satisfying, especially when paired with cheese, its classic partner. Fresh fruit is best when it’s in season locally. In fact, when strawberries finally appear at the farm stand, they’re usually our first consideration in planning a menu: What would be a good supper to have before we eat the strawberries?
To create a cheese platter to serve alone or with fruit at the end of a meal, select cheeses with a range of tastes from delicate, mild, and buttery, to strong, rich, and nutty, to salty, sharp, and pungent. Choose a balance of textures from soft and voluptuous to hard and crumbly. Traditionally, a cheese course moves from mild cheeses to sharp to rich, but for the simplest presentation, arrange cheeses together on a platter with crackers (try crackers seasoned with pepper or rosemary) or thin slices of baguette. A few walnuts and a glass of port might be welcome also.
Some of our favorite ideas for simple fruit and cheese plates are:
• grapes with Gorgonzola, Brie, or Stilton
• cherries with nutty Gruyère or Emmental
• goat cheese with clementines or fresh or dried apricots, dates, or figs
• feta or ricotta salata with watermelon and cantaloupe
• pears with Roquefort, Taleggio, or Manchego and toasted walnuts or pine nuts
• plump dates with aged Parmigiano-Reggiano or with mascarpone and toasted walnuts or almonds
• a blue cheese surrounded with slices of oranges or Asian pears
• fresh figs or strawberries with thin wedges of Tuscan Pecorino or Pecorino Romano drizzled with honey and olive oil and sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper
• In the fall and winter, lots of apple varieties are in season. Choose a couple you’re not familiar with and some old favorites. Serve the apples with several cheeses and sample all the different combinations of apples and cheese.
sweet spiced nuts
These glossy, burnished, not-too-sweet and not-too-spicy nuts are irresistible. With fresh or dried fruit, they make an elegant dessert. Or add to one of our Fruit & Cheese Plates. A great little something to snack on, too—we like to keep them around to nibble on when supper is a little late. They keep for up to a month.
YIELDS 3 CUPS
TIME: 25 MINUTES
⅓ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of cayenne (optional)
3 cups shelled nuts (pecans, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, cashews)
Preheat the oven to 350°. Generously oil a baking sheet.
In a saucepan on medium-high heat, stir together the sugar, ¼ cup of water, salt, pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, and cayenne and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and stir constantly for a minute, until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the nuts and mix well to evenly coat them with the syrup. Remove the coated nuts with a slotted spoon and spread them out on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake until browned, 10 to 15 minutes, stirring once after 5 or 6 minutes. After you’ve taken them out of the oven, stir again to break apart any clusters. Allow the nuts to cool before serving.
warm plums with mascarpone
Warm caramelized plums are delicious paired with cool and creamy mascarpone. You can also cook the plums under a broiler for about 10 minutes or on a tabletop grill for 5 minutes.
SERVES 4 TO 6
TIME: 25 MINUTES
6 plums
¼ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup mascarpone cheese
1 tablespoon Marsala wine or an orange-flavored liquor, such as Grand Marnier
Preheat the oven to 425°.
Cut the plums in half and remove the pits. Fill each plum cavity with 1 teaspoon of the brown sugar and place the plums in a baking pan. Put 2 tablespoons of water in the bottom of the pan and bake until the plums are browned and somewhat softened, about 20 minutes.
While the plums bake, mix together the mascarpone, Marsala, and the remaining brown sugar. When the plums are done, put a dollop of the mascarpone mixture into each half and serve warm.
caribbean sautéed bananas
Warm, luscious bananas soaked in rum—a little taste of tropical paradise.
SERVES 4
TIME: 20 MINUTES
5 firm bananas
2 tablespoons lime juice
½ cup dark rum
¾ cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
Peel the bananas, cut on the diagonal into thick slices, and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the lime juice and set aside.
In a small bowl, stir together the rum, brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Pour into a large skillet and simmer on medium heat for a couple of minutes, until the sugar is melted. Add the banana slices and stir gently to coat them with the sauce. Spread out the bananas, reduce the heat, and simmer for 3 or 4 minutes, until the sauce thickens and the bananas begin to soften and fall apart. Remove from the pan and serve warm.
serving & menu ideas
Served plain, these bananas hold their own as a simple dessert, or they can be dressed up with toasted coconut and a garnish of fresh mint leaves. They are also delicious as a topping on cake or vanilla ice cream. This is a fabulous dessert to follow a supper inspired by the cuisine of the Caribbean, India, or Southeast Asia, such as Spicy Potatoes & Spinach or Roasted Vegetable Curry.
riesling roasted pears
These subtly spiced pears have an attractive crinkly look and are a lovely finish for an autumn meal. They keep nicely in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 days.
SERVES 8
TIME: 50 MINUTES
8 ripe pears
zest and juice of 1 lemon
zest and juice of 1 orange
1 cup Riesling or other sweet white wine
6 peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
½ cup sugar
6 whole cloves (optional)
Preheat the oven to 375°. Place the pears in a baking dish that will comfortably hold them in an upright position.
Place the rest of the ingredients in a saucepan on medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil. To reduce the liquid a bit, cook on high heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t boil over. Pour the spiced wine over the pears and bake until the pears can be pierced easily with a sharp knife, 30 to 40 minutes. Baste once or twice, using tongs to lift a pear if necessary to get to the basting liquid.
Serve at room temperature with the wine sauce drizzled over the pears.
cherry shortbread crumble
The easiest crumble we know of—it uses frozen cherries and store-bought shortbread cookies that you can find on the natural foods shelf. (See photo)
SERVES 4
TIME: 30 MINUTES
16 ounces frozen pitted, sweet cherries without sugar or 3 cups pitted fresh
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup crumbled shortbread cookies or pecan sandies (about 8 cookies)
Preheat the oven to 425°.
Put the cherries into an unoiled 8-inch square baking pan or a 9-inch glass pie plate. Sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon and add 2 tablespoons of water to the dish. Bake for 15 minutes, and then remove from the oven. Top with the crumbled cookies and bake until the cherries are bubbling and the crumbs are browned, about 10 minutes more.
Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold.
orange-almond polenta cake
Making cake batter in the blender? What could be easier? This cake is elegant enough for a dinner party and easy enough for a weekday.
SERVES 8
HANDS-ON TIME: 15 MINUTES
BAKING TIME: 45 MINUTES
⅓ cup cornmeal
⅔ cup unbleached white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups almonds
¾ cup sugar
1 orange
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly oil and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.
Sift the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. In a blender or food processor, whirl the almonds and sugar until the almonds are finely ground. Add to the flour mixture.
Grate the orange peel and juice the orange (about ⅓ cup). Add the orange juice, orange zest, oil, eggs, and ⅓ cup of water to the blender or food processor and whirl for about 15 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and blend until well mixed, using a spatula to scrape down the sides if necessary. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool on a rack for 10 minutes; then carefully remove the cake from the pan. When thoroughly cool, dust with confectioners’ sugar.
INGREDIENT NOTE If you don’t have a fresh orange, this cake will be just fine with ⅓ cup prepared orange juice.
serving & menu ideas
Serve with berries or sliced fruit such as peaches or nectarines.
peach brown betty
Old-fashioned and still delicious.
SERVES 8
HANDS-ON TIME: 20 MINUTES
BAKING TIME: 20 MINUTES
16 ounces frozen sliced peaches (4 cups)
¼ cup butter (½ stick)
1 egg
¼ cup milk or half-and-half
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ loaf of crusty bread such as Italian, French, or challah (about 8 ounces)
Preheat the oven to 400°. Butter a 2-quart baking dish.
In a covered saucepan on low heat or in a microwave oven, heat the frozen peaches just until bubbling and beginning to give off juice. When the peaches are hot, add the butter and stir to melt. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat the egg well. Whisk in the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and ½ cup of the brown sugar. Cut the bread into ½-inch cubes (7 to 8 cups) and add to the bowl. Add the hot peaches and melted butter to the bowl and toss well.
Spread the Peach Brown Betty into the baking dish and sprinkle with the rest of the brown sugar. Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.
variation
Add a cup of fresh or frozen blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries to the bowl after you add the peaches and toss gently to distribute well.
chocolate ricotta pudding
A protein-rich, almost instant, smooth, deep chocolate dessert. Nice garnished with red raspberries or strawberries.
SERVES 4 TO 6
TIME: 10 MINUTES
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (1 cup of chips)
15 or 16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
Melt the chocolate in a small pan, on very low heat, taking care not to scorch it. Or melt it in a microwave oven. In a blender or a food processor, whirl the ricotta, vanilla, and melted chocolate until smooth and evenly colored. Pour into dessert cups (leave space for whipped cream). Refrigerate until ready to serve.
When you’re ready to serve, in a small bowl with an electric mixer or a whisk, whip the cream and the confectioners’ sugar until stiff. Mound the whipped cream on top of the pudding and serve cold.
mango coconut sorbet
Creamy, fruity, refreshing, and vegan. The combination of mango and coconut makes this a perfect dessert to follow a Caribbean or Indian meal.
SERVES 4 TO 6
HANDS-ON TIME: 15 MINUTES
FREEZING TIME: AT LEAST 4 HOURS
HANDS-ON TIME JUST BEFORE SERVING: 10 MINUTES
2 ripe mangoes
1 cup coconut milk
¼ cup sugar
Peel and pit the mangoes and cut them into chunks. Place the mangoes in the bowl of a food processor, add the coconut milk and sugar, and whirl until smooth. Ladle or pour the purée into two ice cube trays. Freeze for at least 4 hours.
When ready to serve, release the frozen cubes and allow them to soften at room temperature for about 5 minutes. (They should be soft enough to facilitate puréeing, but not melted.) Purée in a food processor until smooth, in batches if necessary.
planning tip
The sorbet purée can be made ahead, frozen in cubes, and kept in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Keep the frozen cubes in a freezer bag until ready to serve.
mocha sorbet
The richness of this dark, not-too-sweet sorbet belies the simplicity of its ingredients and ease of preparation. Serve it as a lovely dessert, or use it as a pick-me-up on a hot afternoon. The refreshing iciness and the chocolate-coffee flavor are especially good after Mexican food.
SERVES 4
HANDS-ON TIME: 10 MINUTES
FREEZING TIME: AT LEAST 4 HOURS
HANDS-ON TIME JUST BEFORE SERVING: 10 MINUTES
⅔ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
¼ cup sugar
2 cups espresso (brewed or instant)
whipped cream (optional)
In a small, heavy saucepan on low heat, melt the chocolate chips and sugar in the espresso, stirring frequently. Ladle or pour the mocha mixture into two ice cube trays and freeze for at least 4 hours.
When ready to serve, release the cubes and allow them to soften at room temperature for about 5 minutes. (They should be soft enough to facilitate puréeing, but not melted.) In a food processor, whirl the cubes until smooth, in batches if necessary. Serve immediately, topped with whipped cream if you like.
planning tip
The mocha mixture can be made ahead, frozen in cubes, and kept in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Keep the frozen cubes in a freezer bag until ready to serve.
caramel custard
A can of dulce de leche is the key to this smooth, rich, caramel-flavored custard that you can make with only 10 minutes of prep time. It would take hours to make the milk caramel you can purchase ready-made in many supermarkets. The cans ar
e usually shelved with other Latin American foods and called Dulce de Leche, Manjar, Fanguito, Arequíte, or Cajeta.
SERVES 6 TO 10
HANDS-ON TIME: 10 MINUTES
BAKING TIME: 35 MINUTES
1 13.4-ounce can of dulce de leche
6 large eggs
2 cups milk
pinch of salt
sprinkling of nutmeg or cinnamon (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350°. Arrange ten 4-ounce or seven 6-ounce custard cups in a baking pan(s) at least 2 inches deep. Bring a teakettle of water to boil.
In a blender or with an electric mixer, beat the dulce de leche, eggs, milk, and salt until smooth and evenly colored (about 10 seconds in a blender, or 1 or 2 minutes with a mixer). Pour into the custard cups. Sprinkle with nutmeg or cinnamon.
When the water boils, pour it into the baking pan to come three-quarters of the way up the sides of the custard cups. Carefully place the baking pan in the oven and bake the custards for about 35 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center of a custard comes out clean. Remove the custards from the water bath so they won’t continue to cook. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.
serving & menu ideas
This custard is a perfect end to a Mexican, Latin American, or Caribbean-style meal, such as Nachos Grandes, Black Beans with Pickled Red Onions, or West Indian Red Beans & Coconut Rice.
Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers Page 17