Pan de Muerto

 This excellent recipe comes from Pati Jinich, host of Pati's Mexican Table on PBS. The recipe was published on King Arthur Flour's website: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/pan-de-muerto-day-of-the-dead-bread-recipe

Starter

    1/2 c (113g) whole milk, lukewarm

    1 T instant yeast

    1 t sugar

    1/2 c (60g) AP flour

Dough

    2 T orange blossom water (or rose water or water)

    2 t grated orange zest

    1 1/2 t anise seeds

    3 1/2 c (420 g) AP flour

    1 t salt

    1/2 c (99g) sugar

    4 large eggs

    16T (226g) butter, cut into 1/2" cubes, at room temperature

Topping

    6T (85g) butter, melted

    1/3 c (66g) sugar, for dusting

1. To make the starter: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the lukewarm milk, yeast, sugar, and flour. Stir with a whisk or fork, cover, and set aside until the mixture begins to bubble, about 20 to 25 minutes.

2. To make the dough: Add the remaining ingredients (except the butter) to the starter. Using the flat beater attachment, beat at low speed until everything is combined.

3. Scrape the bowl and beater and switch to the dough hook. Knead at medium speed for 10 to 12 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed, until the dough pulls away from the sides and makes a slapping sound.

4. On low speed, add 3 tablespoons of the butter at a time, incorporating each addition before adding the next. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary.

5. 1. Once all the butter has been incorporated, increase the speed to medium and beat for another 8 to 10 minutes, until the dough slaps against the bowl. It will be smooth, yet still a bit sticky; resist the urge to add more flour.

   2. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and allow it to rise until almost doubled, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

   3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased surface and gently fold it over on itself. Place the dough back into the bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

   4. To shape the bread: Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and let it rest in a warm spot for about 30 to 45 minutes to come to room temperature.

   5. Line a large baking sheet with parchment.

   6. Portion off one-quarter of the dough (about 280g). Divide that quarter into two pieces (140g each). Set them aside.

   7. Divide the remaining three-quarters of the dough into two pieces (about 425g each). Shape each piece into a ball, then press down gently to make flatter rounds about 6” in diameter. Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheet.

   8. Divide each of the smaller pieces of dough into thirds (about 46g each), to make a total of six pieces. Shape two of the pieces into balls and roll the other four into ropes about 6” to 7” long. Pinch the ropes at intervals to make them look like bones.

   9. Place two of the “bones” over one of the large dough rounds, crossing them in the middle. Place one of the small dough balls in the center and press down firmly to anchor it as securely as possible.

   10. Shape the rest of the dough the same way you shaped the first loaf, making a second loaf.

   11. Cover the loaves and allow them to rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

   12. While the loaves are rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.

   13. To bake the bread: Bake the loaves for 20 minutes, until lightly browned on top. Open the oven and loosely cover both loaves with foil. Bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until the loaves are fully baked and dark golden brown on the bottom and top, and their internal temperature is 190°F.

   14. Remove the loaves from the oven and let them cool slightly on the baking sheet, about 20 minutes.

   15. To top the bread: Brush the loaves with melted butter. Repeat a second time, brushing a section of the loaf with the melted butter and immediately covering that section with a generous amount of sugar, so the sugar sticks before the butter cools and dries.

   16. Continue buttering and sugaring the loaves section by section. Transfer them to a rack to cool completely before slicing.

   17. Storage information: Store the loaves, well wrapped, at room temperature for several days.

Udon for one that is as quick as ramen and only uses pantry things

Put on a pot of water to boil. 

Mix in a small bowl, not fussing too much over weights and measures:

1 T soy sauce

shy T oyster sauce

1/2 T mirin

1 t brown sugar or maple syrup

1/2 t rice wine vinegar

squort of sriracha

A minute or so before the water boils, set a skillet over med-high heat; heat with a small glug of oil + a smaller glug sesame oil.

When the water boils, put in 1 frozen brick of udon for just 1 min.

Transfer soba and sauce to the hot oil in the skillet and stir-fry it all up to a tight, clingy sauce.

Serve with a  generous dose of furikake.

Reb Roy Ramen

This is from the NYTimes recipe for "Perfect instant ramen."
My Korean friends did this when I was a kid-- but I have an American cheese prejudice, so I didn't think I'd like it. But American cheese isn't really exactly cheese, and that's important to this recipe. This isn't cheese-flavored ramen. Instead, the pasteurized process cheese product readily emulsifies with the broth to give it body and fat, almost to the point of seeming like a credible ramen broth. It's quite a neat trick.

I made it to the letter of Jeff Gordiner's transcription of the recipe. I liked it, but it was too brothy for me (I'm odd; I like a less brothy ramen); I wanted it saltier; and I could still taste just a bit more of the American cheese flavor than I would have liked. So I tried it again. I trimmed the 2 1/4 c water to 1 1/2 and cut the Kraft singles from 2 to 1. This solved all three problems-- less broth; less cheese per unit broth; and more flavoring packet per unit broth. I also don't find the described method of poaching the egg to work-- I have to keep it over heat and watch the egg set. Then I scoop the egg out and hover it over as I pour the noodles and broth over the cheese, butter, sesame seed, and scallion. Stirring everything to emulsify the cheese destroys the poached egg, and I like it whole.

boil 1 1/2 c water.
Add a packet of ramen noodles.
Cook 2 min. Meanwhile, put in your serving bowl:
            1 kraft single, torn up
            1 t butter
            1/2 t sesame seeds
            1 scallion, white and green parts, slivered
Add seasoning packet (roast chicken is good), stir, cook 30 sec.
Carefully plop in an egg. Don't stir, but you can fold the noodles up over it. Poach at least 1 minute, or until set.
Spoon out the egg. (Some noodles might come with it)
Pour the broth and noodles into your serving bowl and stir until the cheese is emulsified. Plop back in the egg and serve.

Yeasted bara brith

Beca Lyne-Pirkis represented her Wales home on The Great British Bake Off with this traditional bara brith. Then my friend Tamra repped it as her ancestral home at a vaccination celebration tea.

450 g /1 lb flour (bread or AP)

7g salt

20g/ 3/4 oz fresh yeast or 1/4 oz instant yeast

75g/ 2.5 oz butter, plus extra

50g/ 1.75oz brown sugar

2 t mixed spice

350g/ 12 oz mixed dried fruit, such as raisins, currants, sultanas, cranberries, cherries

1 egg

255 ml/ 8 fl oz strong warm tea (Tamra used Earl Grey)

oil, for greasing

for the glaze: 50 g /1.75 oz sugar + 50 ml/ 1.75oz water

Place flour, salt, and yeast into a large bowl and rub in butter to the texture of fine breadcrumbs. Mix in sugar, spice, and fruit until evenly distributed. Add egg and tea and bring mix together to form a dough. Knead until smooth. Cover it in the bowl with oiled cling film till doubled, at least 1 hr.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a 2lb loaf tin.

Punch down the dough, shape it into the loaf tin. Cover and prove ~30 min. Bake in the center of the oven 20 min, then cover with foil and bake for 25 more minutes.

Turn out of the tin and cool for 20 min. Meanwhile, make the sugar syrup by bringing equal parts water and sugar to a boil and cooking till syrupy, then brushing the loaf with it. Cool before cutting, and serve plain or with butter.

Rhubarb Custard Pie

 More rhubarb, more custard, more Maine. This is from Jane Cleaves McKenna from Bowdoinham.

1 generous T butter

1 1/4 c sugar

3 eggs

1 generous T flour

2.5-3 c finely chopped rhubarb

pastry for a double crust pie

Preheat oven to 425. 

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, then flour. Beat well until smooth and creamy. Add the chopped rhubarb.

Bake in a latticed crust for 15 minutes, then reduce temp to 375 for 30-40 min more until nicely browned. Cool.

Grapenuts Pudding

 More from the Maine cookbook! I really like Grapenuts ice cream, and (weirdly) like pudding even better than ice cream most of the time.

This one is credited to Ada Foss Cobb of Monson, Piscataquis County.

4 eggs

1/2 c sugar

1 t vanilla

1/4 t nutmeg, + extra for sprinkling

3 c milk

1/4 c Grapenuts cereal

Beat eggs. Stir in sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, and milk, then stir in Grapenuts. Pour into a buttered baking dish and sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake in a water bath at 375 degrees for about (30) minutes and then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake until a knife comes out clean.

Prison commissary peanut butter fudge

I made this last July 14 on vacation in Massachusetts. The plan had been to go to Maine, but Covid derailed that. We made some Maine recipes anyway. This is from the Maine Bicentennial Community Cookbook and is credited to "State Prisoner Matthew." The recipe uses ingredients and tools available to the inmates. I thought it was delicious and had a fascinating texture (was it supposed to? I don't know, but ours did)-- soft/chewy fudge, but also kind of like a butterfinger with ribbons of crystallized sugar.

1 1/2 jars peanut butter

1/2 jar Fluff

1 - 1 1/2 c sugar 

1 bag M&Ms (maybe we used peanut butter M&Ms?)

Empty peanut butter and Fluff into a large bowl. Microwave until it starts to rise. Take it out and stir. Let sit. When cooler, mix in M&Ms, if using.

Pour a small amount of water in a separate bowl with the sugar. Mix. It should be thick. Microwave until it begins to boil. Take it out and stir for 10 seconds. Put it back in the microwave and let the sugar boil until it turns a golden brown sugar-- it should be at the point of crystallizing. I suppose you could also do this on the stove unless you're in prison.

Pour the sugar mixture into the PB/Fluff mixture. Quickly!! stir-- the fudge will begin to harden fast. After mixing well, pour into a greased pan (or if, in prison, a box lined with a trash bag). spread it out evenly with a spoon and press it down with a gloved hand. Let sit for 1.5-2 hours.

Sausage rolls

The inclusion of onion is not unusual in posted recipes, including those from Britain, but always seems controversial in the comments. ("There is NEVER onion in a sausage roll!"next to comments like "English person here. Feel free to mix it up with MANGO.") I like onion, so I'm keeping it.

1/2 large onion or 1 small onion, finely chopped

oil

1 lb sausage meat (such as Jimmy Dean sage flavored sausage)

2 eggs

salt, pepper

flour

sesame seeds or poppy seeds or everything bagel seasoning

1 sheet puff pastry 

Brown onion in a little glug of oil over medium heat. Let it cool, then mix with sausage meat and 1 egg in a large bowl. Season-- but remember the meat is already seasoned, you're just making up for 1 egg and the onion. So not much. I cooked off a bit to test it.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry to 8x12 inches. Cut into two long strips and lay them on a parchment paper-lined baking tray. Rest them in the fridge at least 10 min.

Dampen your hands. In the center of each strip of pastry, form the meat into a long cylinder right down the center, all the way to the edge. Lightly beat the other egg and paint it down the sides of each strip of pastry, off to the side of the meat. Fold the pastry over the top of the meat to form long rolls, and then turn it so it's seam-side down. Lightly brush the top surface with egg and sprinkle with seeds. You may chill them a bit to make them cleaner to cut. Cut the rolls into 1.5 inch lengths, or whatever suits your fancy. If you cut them longer, score the tops. Even if the cuts look messy they'll puff up when baked and be ok.

Bake in the preheated oven about 20 minutes, or until attractively browned.

Serve alone or with mustard, brown sauce/HP sauce, A1, ketchup, gravy, applesauce, beans, whatever.

Can mix it up by adding veg or strong cheese (like blue cheese) to sausage or painting pastry with mustard, hoisin, etc. Put torn sage over the top of the meat cylinder; we're told it fries and crisps up?

Do not re-heat in a microwave. Use the oven, toaster oven, or air fryer, or eat them cold or at room temperature like the Brits do on picnics, I'm told.

Tomato chutney and brie fried hand pies

 A friend hosting a post-vaccination tea party assigned me to make these, sausage rolls, and beans on toast. They were all good, though I don't think I'll make the bean recipe again. 

When I first ate one of these, I was a bit disappointed, and surprised that in all the process of making them I hadn't considered that they would taste like pizza hot pockets. But it is a sweet tomato sauce and melted cheese with bread, so OF COURSE it tastes like that. When I had my second, knowing what to expect, I enjoyed it much more and on its own terms. 

The recipe comes from the Hairy Bikers and the chutney is from James Martin.

For the chutney

1 T olive oil

1/2 shallot, chopped

1.5 tomatoes, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 T balsamic vinegar

1 t brown sugar

For the pastry

375g/13 oz self-raising flour

1/4 t salt

75g/2.5oz cold butter, in cubes

8 fl oz whole milk

To assemble

6 oz wheel brie (I could only find 8 oz, so I just snacked on what didn't fit)

oil for frying

Make the chutney: heat oil. Fry off shallots, tomato, and garlic 5-8+ min, till softened. Add vinegar & sugar and cook out for a further 3-5+ min or until the chutney has caramelized somewhat. (I might have cooked each step longer.)

Make the pastry: Add salt to flour in large bowl. Rub in butter with fingers to the texture of course breadcrumbs. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly until mix comes together and forms a soft, spongy dough. Knead lightly and form into a ball. 

Roll half of the dough on a lightly floured surface to ~3mm. Cut three 5.5in diameter circles. (Dough can be re-rolled if you want). Repeat with other half to make six circles total.

Assemble the pies: Remove rind from cheese and cut cheese into 1 cm chunks. Spoon a heaped T chutney into the middle of each round and spread it out, leaving a 1cm border all around the edge. Place ~1 oz of cheese on one side of each circle. Brush the edges of the dough with a little water. Fold over to encase the feeling, push out air, and press the edges together. Seal well with a fork.

Heat 1 cm oil in a large skillet to ~300 F. Fry two pies at a time for about 2 min on each side, or until lightly browned and somewhat puffed. The cheese should ooze when the pie is cut open. Drain on paper towels. Cover with foil to keep warm. They can be re-heated in a hot oven for 10 min.

Little rhubarb cakes

I modified this from Samantha Seneviratne's recipe in the NYTimes for "Rhubarb Quick Bread." Mostly I halved it and made some tiny tweaks from reader comments. I made it in my twinkie-shaped little cakes pan. I filled 5 twinkie molds, but should have used six more sparingly. Original recipe here

4 T melted butter

100g sugar

1.5 t freshly grated orange zest

2.5 T sour cream

1 egg

1/2 t vanilla

112g all-purpose flour

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

pinch of salt

1 c rhubarb (about 4 oz), cut into 1/4 inch cubes; I used a slightly heaping cup

turbinado sugar

Oven to 350; grease & flour your pan (or use baking spray). 

Whisk butter, sugar, zest, and sour cream, then whisk in eggs. Separately, mix the dry ingredients. Mix rhubarb into dries and then fold dries into wets. Smooth into pan. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake until skewer comes out clean with moist crumbs attached. (25-30 min? I'm not sure I checked the time). Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out.

Quiche for a 6-inch pie plate

Modified and cut down from NYTimes recipes for quiche lorraine, including one by Gabrielle Hamilton and one by Craig Claiborne. I found this a successful way to make a smaller amount of quiche, and the leftovers are nice. Trader Joe's sells 4 oz packages of cubed pancetta, which is convenient.

Form and blind bake (with foil and weights) a pastry crust in a 6" pie plate. When it is nearly done, remove the weights and foil, brush with egg white, and bake 5 more minutes. Leave to cool.

Keep the oven on at 375.

Brown 4 oz cubed pancetta in 1 T fat; drain on paper towels. (I used bacon fat)

Then cook down 1/2 onion, diced, in 1 T fat. Set to drain with pancetta and let them both cool.

Grate about 70g gruyere.

When everything is cool, put pancetta, onion, and cheese in crust.

Combine 2 eggs and 1 yolk (I used jumbo) with 1 c heavy cream in a glass liquid measure. (Or, for large eggs, 2 eggs and 2 yolks and an extra splash of cream)

Season the dairy with a pinch of nutmeg, heaping 1/4 t salt and tabasco (if desired, I didn't this time). Beat until generally homogenous. Strain over the yummy stuff in the crust.

Set it on a baking sheet in case of spills or overrun (mine stayed nicely contained) and bake for approximately 35 minutes. Let set 10 minutes.

Finnish TikTok Feta Pasta

Would it be pandemic-era if I didn't try this?

It works, and it's superlatively easy, and it's yummy enough.

Here are proportions for half of what they usually show making (enough for three 1-person dinners):

Heat oven to 400 F and set a big pot of salted water to boil. In an 8x8 baking dish, toss a pint of cherry tomatoes with 1/4 c olive oil (yes, that much), salt, and pepper. I added a few extra tomatoes past this.

Plonk 4 oz of a block of feta in the middle and get some olive oil, salt, pepper over that too. Put it in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Cook and drain 1/2 pound of pasta. I used farfalle.

Crank up the oven to 450; bake 10 minutes more to brown the tomatoes and feta.

Remove from oven and add 1 large clove of garlic, minced, and a pinch of red pepper flakes to cook in the residual heat. Add some torn basil and the pasta and stir it all up to coat it in melty cheese sauce. At first it will look like it won't work, but it will. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

King Arthur Gingerbread Pudding Cakes

 Mom made these in cup-size mason jars, and I was delighted to take 2 home since I LOVED them. It's what I always wanted sticky toffee pudding to be (and yes, I know sticky toffee pudding has dates).

CAKE

1 1/4 c (149 g) AP flour

3/4 t baking soda

1 t ginger

1/2 t cinnamon

1/8 t nutmeg

1/8 t cloves

1/4 t salt

1/2 c (170g) molasses

1/2 c (113g) milk, at room temperature

1 large egg, at room temperature

4T (57g) butter, at room temp, at least 65 F

1/4 c (50g) sugar

PUDDING

1 c packed (213g) light brown sugar

4 t corn starch

1 1/4 c (283g) hot water

4T (57g) butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350. Butter eight 8 oz ramekins or an 8"square pan. Place ramekins on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Make cake: combine dries. In another bowl, mix molasses, milk, and eggs.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add dries and molasses mix in turns, beating on low speed, until just blended, scraping.

Pour batter into pan, or heaping 1/4 c of batter in each ramekin.

Make pudding: mix brown sugar and corn starch. Heat water and butter together just until butter melts; gradually stir into brown sugar mix.

Pour pudding mix slowly over batter in pans or a scant 1/4 c over each of the filled ramekins.

Bake 25-28 min, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake on top comes out clean. Serve warm.

Alexa Weibel's Lemony Macaroni Salad

 I wanted to make a macaroni salad for February picnic, but also wanted something a little different. I liked this lemony version, which I adapted from Alexa Weibel's recipe in the NYTimes (original recipe here). Hers is sweeter: where I use salty pickles, she uses bread and butter pickles (and capers). She also adds a teaspoon of sugar. I added tuna.

The comments said that the flavors melded after a thorough chill, so I made it the night before. Sure enough: when I made it, I didn't love it. It was all sharp edges. But I thought it was delicious in the morning, and refreshing it with some extra mayo tamed it further. You do want it to be bright and lemony, though.

Salt, (pepper)

scant cup finely chopped pickles: I used dill and giardiniera; plus some brine to taste

2 stalks celery, peeled and finely chopped

4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

1/2 c mayonnaise

1/2 c sour cream

3/4 c finely chopped herbs: parsley and dill

4 t dijon mustard

zest from one lemon

4 t lemon juice (I may have used more; I squeezed the juice from half of a fat, juicy lemon)

1 can drained albacore tuna

(1 t sugar)

16 oz elbow macaroni

Cook the macaroni; make a dressing of everything else; toss together when the macaroni is cooled; season to taste with salt, pepper, brine, lemon juice, etc; chill thoroughly. 

Gochujang udon

 https://food52.com/recipes/84861-stir-fried-udon-recipe-with-bacon-parmesan-gochujang

This is a recipe designed by Hana Asbrink for Food52 that appealed to me because of its flavors, textures, clever mix of techniques, and the fact that I could easily halve it to make one serving with no awkward leftovers OR leftover ingredients. I don't know that it would appeal to everyone, but if you like udon, gochujang, and carbonara, it's swell.

Set a pot of water to come to a boil.

Over medium-low heat, low enough that it doesn't brown too fast, heat:

a little splash of oil (more fat will come from the bacon)

2 slices of bacon (or 1 if thick cut), sliced into 1/4 inch strips or lardons

2 scallions, thinly sliced (reserving some greens for garnish)

1 fat clove garlic, minced

Pinch of salt

Let the bacon fat render slowly, 5-6 minutes, until bacon is crisp-ish. Lower heat as needed so nothing browns too fast.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix to a thick paste:

1 egg yolk at room temperature

1/4 c grated parmesan cheese 

salt, pepper

• Lower skillet's heat to low. Add
  ~1/2 t soy sauce
• ~1/2 T (1 1/2 t) gochujang
• "Fry" together and mix well to coat bacon mix with gochujang.
• Cook for only 1 minute, even from frozen:
• 1 block frozen udon noodles
• Scoop the udon out and plunk it in the skillet, reserving the cooking water. Toss it all about and take the pan off the heat.
• Add about a T of reserved cooking water to the egg/cheese paste to make a looser paste. Add the contents of the skillet, ready to toss it very quickly so that everything combines well and the egg doesn't curdle or scramble, but sets to a smooth velvety sauce. Season with:
• salt, pepper, seasme oil, scallion greens.

Orange salad with olives and feta

This is an LA Times recipe from Matt Pims. I think it was more tuned to my "buttons" than my Candlemas guests', but I really liked it. Like the polenta in the style of lasagna, it could be made ahead.

1 1/2 lb mixed orange citrus, including a blood orange. I used a smallish navel orange, a blood orange, and a sumo tangerine.

1 1/2 T rice vinegar

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1/8 t crushed red chile flakes (I used a pinch of sweet paprika)

salt, pepper (I didn't use pepper due to guest's intolerance)

1 inner stalk celery, thinnly sliced

1 oz feta, preferably in brine

4 or so Castelvetrano olives, pitted and torn into 3-4 pieces

1. Take one of the smaller citruses and finely grate the zest from half of it into a small bowl. Stir in vinegar, oil, and chile flakes, then season.

2. Working on a cutting board, remove pith and peel from all the citrus. Slice across to make thin rounds, about 1/4 inch thick, removing any seeds as you go (none of my citrus had seeds). Transfer all the sliced citrus and juices to a serving platter big enough to fit them in a single-ish layer and preferably one with a lip to contain their juices. Spin the vinaigrette over the slices.

3. Arrange the celery evenly over the citrus. Drizzle a couple teaspoons feta brine over the salad. Roughly crumble the feta and arrange it over the salad, followed by the olives. Cover the whole salad with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, 1 hour to 2 days. Serve chilled.

Polenta in the style of lasanga

Melissa Clark's recipe from NYTimes, halved, and with a few modifications based on reviews. I served this for Candlemas and I thought it was yummy and pretty convenient because of all the possible options for making it ahead. You could just make the polenta sheets ahead; assemble the whole thing and not bake; or bake and re-heat.

2 T butter

1.75 t kosher salt (1 t salt)

1 c polenta (not instant)

2.5 oz (2.5 c) spinach

1 c parm

8 oz ricotta

1.5 T finely chopped parsley

1 T finely chopped basil

(1/2 large egg)

Pinch nutmeg

pepper if you can eat it

1.5 c marinara w oregano, small grated garlic clove, evoo as needed to make it taste good

½ lb shredded mozz

Oven to 425. Grease 2 8x8s w butter.

Prep polenta: put polenta in 3 c cold water with 1/2 T kosher salt, sit for 10-15, then cook, whisking, till thickens nicely. Whisk in 2 T butter. Whisk in spinach till wilted, 2 min. Off heat and add 1/2 c grated parm and some dollops extra ricotta if you've got it. Season to taste.

Scrape evenly into the two 8x8s and spread. Sprinkle 1/4 c grated parm (total) over. Bake till firm and cheese melted, 12-18 min; consider broiling a bit to lightly caramelize the parm. Let cool in pan on rack.

Prep marinara, as needed, and ricotta: mix ricotta, parsley, basil, nutmeg, grated clove of garlic, salt to taste. If you're assembling the whole thing in the same day, add 1/2 beaten egg. (Probably a whole egg would be ok). 

Same day or next day: Add ½ egg to ricotta if needed. Spread half ricotta on polenta. Pour half marinara on top, then half mozz. Then reverse the other polenta dish over and floop the second sheet down on it. Proceed with ricotta, marinara, mozz. Then ¼ c parm.

Oven to 375. Place on sheet in case of bubblage. 45-50 min. Broil if needed to brown top. Rest 15 to firm up.

Three Kings Day Cookie Box 2021

This holiday season, I decided to make cookie boxes for people for Kings Day. I felt a bit apologetic about the concept, but I might commit to it. Advantages: 1) I'm being Euro-chic! 2) I'm extending the holidays in a globally justified way! 3) Everyone has run out of Christmas treats and is a little sad. 4) I get to do all the work on those weird in-between days where you're trying to figure out what to do anyway, instead of when you're figuring out family presents, etc., 5) You have a complete list of who gave stuff to YOU and therefore who needs reciprocation. 

My selection for the year:

Pistachio pinwheels

Cherry cardamom rugelach 

Pecan frangipane thumbprints

Mango/chili/pepita tostada toffee

Palmiers-- old recipe from King Arthur using a sour-cream puff pastry that I can't find online, but I used a "British baking spice" mix instead of just cinnamon sugar