Honey Lemon Peach Compote

Yummy topping for pancakes with some chopped almonds for crunch

Here's a tasty way to add some fruits to your diet. I was inspired by the very popular peach teas out there. Why not use those flavors in a saucy compote that you can mix with your yogurt, pour over your pancakes, or spoon over ice cream?

I don't suggest you go out and buy fresh peaches this time of year. They are probably from Chile, where they grow delicious peaches (I was there a year ago this month) but peaches don't travel well. Far too often, they are picked underripe so they can be shipped without turning to mush. Underripe peaches, even once they soften, taste bland and have a mealy texture. Trust, me, the peaches in Chile were nothing like this.

Frozen peaches, though they get a bad rap, are pretty good in a sauce like this. There is enough sugar and acidity to improve even frozen peaches. They are cheaper and far superior to bad fresh peaches, which is all you are going to find this time of year anyway.

If you are not a lemonhead, use the zest of ½ a lemon. The zest isn't tart but it packs a lot of lemon flavor.

Honey Lemon Peach Compote
(makes 4 servings)

1 pound of sliced frozen peaches
¼ cup honey
½ cup water
1 3" cinnamon stick or a big pinch of ground cinnamon
zest of ½ - 1 lemon

Combine everything in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a slow boil. It shouldn't look like a volcano but bubbles breaking on the surface without spraying peach everywhere. Cook until the liquid is reduced and syrupy and the peaches are hot. Can be refrigerated for up to a week, served hot or cold.

Greek Salad

One of the few salads that did have some lettuce - but not much!

The final recipe from my class on Greek food...this one is very easy, full of delicious and healthy things, and very Greek. Rather than consult my extensive cookbook collection on Greek Salad, I talked to my friend Lynn who spent her spring vacation hiking around Greece and exploring ancient ruins. Of course, she had to eat too! She told me that she ate many Greek Salads during her stay and didn't see any lettuce in most of them. OK, skip the lettuce! This makes sense because lettuce is not in season when tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers are in season. The dressing is also simple: a lemon vinaigrette made with olive oil. Because what else would you use in Greece, birthplace of olive culture? As far back as 3,000 years ago, olives were a commercial product in Greece, specifically Crete.

Greek Salad
(serves 4)

1 cucumber, peeled and cut into thick slices
1 large red pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 1" chunks
1 large green pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 1" chunks
2 ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into chunks
½ medium red onion, sliced thinly
4 oz. feta cheese, preferably sheep milk
tasty black olives such as Kalamata
salt
dried oregano crushed between your fingers

Dressing
1 - 2 cloves garlic, smashed
a healthy pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, the best you can afford

Toss together the cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, and red onion in a large bowl. Mash the garlic cloves with the salt until you have a paste of garlic. Press your knife blade while pulling it across the garlic-salt to make the paste. At first, it will be chunky but the abrasive nature of the salt will help to break down the garlic. Place the garlic paste in a medium bowl. Add in the lemon juice and olive oil. Whisk to combine. Drizzle over the vegetables and toss again. Taste for salt, adding more if needed. The feta and olives are quite salty, so don't over-season the veggies.

To serve, arrange ¼ of the vegetables on a plate. Garnish with slices or chunks of feta cheese and olives. Sprinkle lightly with a pinch of dried oregano.

School of Eating Good, Inc. officially a not-for-profit charity

Sorry about the lack of recipes here lately. It will be picking up shortly. The School is giving a class on Greek food tomorrow evening at CU and those recipes will be up this week. I've been traveling quite a bit, so no time for testing and posting. Don't worry - we haven't gone away.

In fact, great news came our way from the Internal Revenue Service - how often does that happen?! School of Eating Good, Inc. was granted tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3). Which means that we do not have to pay income tax and you can make donations to support our mission and your donations are tax-deductible (if you pay US income taxes). This is a big step because it makes our mission as an educational organization more legit. We can start planning some interesting new initiatives, raising money for these, and bringing food education to even more people.

To get you primed for the Greek recipes coming later this week, here's a recipe that jazzes up plain white rice in a Greek way: with the addition of dill and lemon. I am not a fan of dried dill. Like its cousin cilantro, it loses most of its flavor when it is dried. I recommend you buy a big bunch (it's in season right now), chop it, and freeze it. You'll have fresh dill all winter long.

Lemon-Dill Rice
(serves 4-6)

2 Tablespoons olive oil
½ medium onion, chopped
1 cup white rice
zest of ½ a lemon
juice of ½ a lemon, about 1 ½ Tablespoons
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 ¾ cups water

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, a couple of minutes. Add the rice and sauté for another minute. Add the remaining ingredients, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low to maintain a simmer and cover. Cook for 18-20 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Recipe adapted from Lemon-Dill Rice, #250959 at food.com

Illustration: "Illustration Anethum graveolens0". Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Simple Steamed Broccoli with Lemon

It's common to dress cooked green vegetables with lemon juice. I have a real problem with this. First, lemon juice is powerful stuff and can overpower everything and make the flavor too tart. That probably explains the generous dousing with butter or oil that follows the lemon juice. Another problem with lemon juice is its acidity. You know that dull green color that comes from overcooking green vegetables? That happens when you put an acid on green vegetables too. Ick. If you dress a big bunch of broccoli with lemon juice and don't finish it, next time you look at it, it's going to be dull green. And mushy too because the acid softens up the fiber. Double ick.

I do like the bright lemon flavor on green vegetables, however. Here's my solution: use lemon zest. You can use just lemon zest and oil. Or you can mix the lemon zest with some fresh herbs like parsley or thyme. Both of those herbs are bright, enhancing the lemon even more. If you can find lemon thyme, even more lemon! It's super easy. You can use frozen herbs instead of fresh. A light squeeze of lemon juice is nice but only for broccoli you will eat right away.

This recipe is a variation on our Simple Steamed Broccoli. At the very end, it's tossed with a bit of lemon zest. Instant lemony flavor without the overwhelming tart taste and it holds up in the fridge great.

Simple Steamed Broccoli with Lemon Zest
(serves 4-6, costs $3.13)

2 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
1 lb. broccoli, broken into small florets and stems peeled and cut into 1/4" slices
zest of 1 lemon
1 Tablespoon fresh minced parsley or 1 teaspoon thyme leaves (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ tsp salt, or more to taste
lemon wedges, optional

Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a medium saucepan or skillet with a cover over medium heat.

Add garlic and saute until fragrant but not browned. Don't burn it - it turns bitter.

Add broccoli and toss to cover with oil. Add 1 Tablespoon water,  which should immediately create a lot of steam. Cover and steam broccoli for 5-6 minutes, until crisp-tender. Try a piece after 4 minutes if you like your broccoli crisp. If it's not cooked enough, cook for another minute or two.

Sprinkle with lemon zest, remaining oil, salt, and herbs, if using. Mix to combine and serve with lemon wedges, if desired. Can be refrigerated. Excellent served cold but you may need more salt. Cold temperatures dull flavors.

What's in Season Now: Blueberries

Blueberries, those tasty little packages jam-packed with nutrients, are in season right now. I got them this week for $1.49/pint. And, when they are that cheap, I snap them up and stash a bunch in the freezer for the winter. Out of season, they can be absurdly expensive, but they freeze beautifully. To freeze, give them a rinse, drain well and gently roll them on some absorbent toweling. Put in a freezer bag and label. They will be there when you want some home-made blueberry muffins. You can thaw them and mix them into plain yogurt with a bit of granola. Any place that you use fresh blueberries, you can use frozen berries. In most recipes, you don't even have to thaw them.

This blueberry muffin recipe can be made with either frozen or fresh berries. They are not very sweet but have a good hearty flavor. I recommend you use muffin cup liners because it's really annoying to lose the bottom of your muffins in your muffin tin. The liners are cheap and will save you a lot of aggravation. You can freeze the baked muffins, if you can't eat them all within a couple of days. Especially in the summertime, muffins will mold quickly so I freeze most of them after they have cooled completely.

Blueberry Lemon Muffins
(makes 10, costs $2.50)

1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour (regular or pastry)
2 Tablespoons wheat germ (optional)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder (use 2 teaspoons at sea level)
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ cup sugar
1 egg
¾ cup skim or lowfat milk
⅓ cup vegetable oil
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
½ Tablespoon fresh or frozen lemon zest, about ½ lemon
10 paper muffin liners

Place the muffin liners in a muffin tin. Preheat oven to 400°F.

Mix together the flours, wheat germ (if using), baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl, beat the egg with a fork until well-blended. Add milk and oil and mix to combine. Pour the liquid mixture over the flour and mix until just combined and there are no big lumps of flour. Toss the blueberries with the lemon zest. Add to the batter and gently incorporate the berries, mixing only to distribute them in the batter.

Evenly divide the batter in the 10 muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins from the tin and cool completely before freezing or storing in a plastic bag.

Adapted from Bernard Clayton's Complete Book of small breads by Bernard Clayton, Jr., Simon & Schuster, 1998.

Making the most out of your lemons and limes

Lemons and limes are sensational flavor enhancers. The zest boosts the flavor without all the tartness of the juice. The juice adds a punch of acidity which complements many foods, particularly rich things.

To select the juiciest lemon or lime, pick fruit that is heavy for its size. Heavy means juicy. If a lemon is large and light, it is not going to have much juice, no matter what you do to it. Which brings us to microwaving it for a few seconds to get more juice. This does soften up the fruit, making it easier to squeeze out the juice that is in there but it doesn't increase the amount of juice that is in the lemon or lime.

Sometimes, you don't need both the zest and the juice at the same time. That means, you are tossing out flavor. Zested citrus will keep a good while in the fridge but they tend to dry out or even grow mold. Once you squeeze a lemon or lime for juice, you aren't getting the zest off!

It makes sense to get all the good parts and save them for another recipe. When you buy a lemon or lime, zest it even if you don't need the zest (you can find tools and tips on zesting here and here). You can freeze it in a baggie and use it the next time you have a recipe that calls for zest. (The tricky part is putting them somewhere in your freezer where you can remember you have them.) After you zest, squeeze out the juice and freeze that if you don't need it immediately. As you can see in the picture, I like to freeze the juice in convenient 1 fruit portions.

Here are some recipes we have posted in the past that use the flavor of lemons and limes:

Chicken Gyro-Style

Moroccan Carrot Salad

Buttermilk Lemon Salad Dressing

Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon and Mustard

Moroccan Couscous Salad

Pad Thai

Pasta with Greens and Garbanzos

Chicken Gyro-Style

Lemon is a lovely flavor enhancer for chicken. Many marinades use lemon juice but here we use lemon zest. It has a purer lemon flavor. Lemon juice is very acidic and that tends to overpower the lemony flavor. Lemon zest gets all its flavor from the lemon oil in the skin. Just make sure to only grate off the bright yellow skin. The white underneath the skin, the pith, is exceedingly bitter and not the flavor you want to add to your chicken.

Here's a selection of tools you can use for zesting. My favorite is Microplane® but you can use the smallest holes on a box grater. You can get a box grater for a lot less money than a Microplane and it has multiple purposes (like shredding cheese). If you do spring for a Microplane, get one with a handle. They are easier to use than the handle-less variety. The citrus zester is a bit of an antique these days. Before there was a Microplane - it appeared in culinary stores in the mid 90's - the citrus zester was the tool for zesting. But, it can't compete with a Microplane which is why mine hides way in the back of the drawer these days.

Back to front: box grater, 2 different types of Mircoplane and a citrus zester

Chicken Gyro-Style
(serves 3-4, costs $4.65)

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
the zest of 1 fresh lemon
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
a couple of sprigs of fresh parsley, chopped
1 pound boneless skinless chicken, thighs or breasts
salt and black pepper

Mix together garlic, olive oil, and lemon zest in a non-reactive pan that will hold all the chicken in one layer. Crumble up the dried herbs in your palm and add to the garlic mixture. Add the parsley and mix to combine. Put the chicken in the dish and rub the herb mixture all over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Season chicken with salt and black pepper. Broil or grill until cooked all the way through, how long will depend on thickness of chicken. Thin pieces will take only 15 minutes and whole breasts can take 30 minutes.

Serve on a big salad or stuffed into a pita with lots of lettuce and tomatoes.

(Adapted from a recipe for lamb gyros from the American Lamb Association)

Pasta with Greens, Garbanzos & Feta Cheese

A pot full of tasty pasta

Here's the second pasta dish from out latest class. Super easy and quick. It actually takes longer to boil the water and cook the pasta than it does to put the final dish together. The lemon zest is key. Along with the feta cheese and tomatoes, it brings some bold bright flavors to a pot full of earthy ingredients.

The recipe calls for orecchiette (which means "little ears" in Italian) or small shells. Any smallish pasta will work. We used campanelle (which means "bellflower" in Italian) and that worked just as well. We found that it was necessary to cook the pasta for nearly 12 minutes, but we are cooking this at an altitude of 5400 feet. If you are at sea level, it will probably be al dente in 10 minutes.

Pasta with Greens, Garbanzos & Feta Cheese
(serves 4, cost is $10.30)

8 oz. orecchiette or small shells
¼ cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
12 ounces baby spinach
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup small cherry or grape tomatoes
4 ounces feta cheese, cut into ¼“ cubes or crumbled
1 teaspoon lemon zest (see Note)
Salt and black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm, stirring occasionally, about 8-12 minutes. Reserve about a 1⁄2 cup of the pasta water and drain pasta.

Wipe the pasta pot out with a towel, and over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Using a spoon, remove the garlic and discard.

Add the spinach, the beans and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the pasta, half of the cheese, the lemon zest, and season with salt and pepper. The feta cheese is quite salty so be careful not to over-salt. Toss well and thin out the sauce with a little of the pasta water. Garnish with the remaining cheese and serve.

Note: How do you zest an lemon if you don't have a lemon zester? Use a vegetable peeler to carefully peel off strips of lemon peel. Try to get as little of the white pith as possible since it is terribly bitter. After you have peeled about ½ the lemon, which should be enough for this dish, mince it. It smells intensely lemony and provides great flavor to this dish, so don't leave it out.

One of our students checking out the intense aroma of lemon zest

Buttermilk Lemon Salad Dressing

Salad days are here. It's already gotten hot, hot, hot in Colorado and that means lots of salad. My garden is full of beautiful lettuce and arugula this time of year. This dressing is so simple and the perfect complement to fresh, crisp lettuce. It's also wonderful on salads with seafood - lemon is always a good seasoning for fish.

This dressing is full of flavor, fresh, and inexpensive.

Buttermilk Lemon Salad Dressing
(makes about 6-8 servings, about ½ cup; total cost is 80 cents)

¼ cup fresh buttermilk
¼ cup mayonnaise
the zest of 1 lemon
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (the juice of ½ a lemon)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Whisk together all the ingredients until combined. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days.

A Valentine's Day Dinner for 2, under $15

In our cooking classes we usually teach dishes that students enjoy for everyday eating. We were going to do soups for our class this week, but our smart students had a better idea: one week before Valentine's Day, they wanted a nice date night meal. We were more than happy to oblige, because we think cooking for other people is one of the best ways to show how much you love them. Though this is a very elegant meal and sure to impress, it costs under $15 for 2 people.

Our menu included chicken rolled with fontina, prosciutto, and, sage served with roasted asparagus and an incredibly easy but totally cool dessert of frozen berries with a hot white chocolate sauce. We have included all these recipes below, as well as a simple recipe for polenta. Polenta makes a nice side dish but you can make some rice cooked in chicken stock or mashed potatoes instead, if you prefer.

It's very important to have all your ingredients ready before you start assembly of the rolls. Once your hands are covered with chicken is not a good time to try to open a package of prosciutto and tease apart the slices.

Pulling off a menu like this takes a little timing. Here's the order to do the recipe steps to assure that it all comes together at the same time. The dessert takes so little time that we suggest you wait until after you and your honey have eaten the chicken to prepare it.

1. Make the lemon vinaigrette.
2. Prep the asparagus so all you have left to do is put them in the oven.
3. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
4. Assemble the stuffed chicken rolls.
5. Brown the chicken and put in the oven.
6. Cook the polenta. Cover and set aside while you finish the rest.
7. Put the asparagus in the oven.
8. Remove the chicken, slice, and dress with vinaigrette.
9. Remove asparagus from oven.
10. Plate by putting a big spoonful of polenta on the plate, lay on half of the chicken slices. Dress with additional vinaigrette. Add asparagus.

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Fontina and Prosciutto, with Lemon Vinaigrette Sauce

Serves 2

For the vinaigrette:
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
A pinch kosher salt
A pinch freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup olive oil

For the chicken:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 6 ounces each
2 slices prosciutto (1 ounce)
1 ounce Fontina cheese, coarsely grated
2 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped (about 1 teaspoon)
About 6 wooden toothpicks
1 Tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425°.

Make the vinaigrette:
Combine the vinegar, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Slowly whisk in the olive oil until emulsified.

Make the stuffed chicken breasts:
With a sharp knife, make a horizontal slit, about ¾ through each chicken breast. Open each breast like a book, then place it in a plastic bag and pound with a rolling pin or a mallet to ⅛” thickness.  Lay each chicken breast out on a flat surface, and top each breast with a slice of prosciutto, half the grated Fontina cheese and half the chopped sage. Roll each breast up and secure with a few toothpicks by threading them through the seam side of each breast.  Pour a bit of olive oil in your hand and coat each breast with it.  Sprinkle each breast with salt and pepper.

Place the chicken in a frying pan set on medium-high heat, turning as needed, until golden brown on all sides.  Place the pan in the oven and cook until cooked through, about 15 minutes.  Remove the breasts to plates, remove the toothpicks, slice cross-wise, and, drizzle each breast with 2 Tablespoons of the vinaigrette; let rest 5 minutes.  Serve remaining vinaigrette on the side.

Roasted Asparagus
Serves 2

8 oz. asparagus, rinsed
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Sprinkle of salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425°F. You can roast the asparagus with the chicken, as they cook at the same temperature.

Hold the asparagus stalk at the thick end and a couple of inches up the stalk. Then bend the stalk away from you and the stalk will snap where the stalk is no longer fibrous. Put the asparagus on a small-rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss the asparagus to coat well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 5 minutes, turn with tongs, and then roast for another 5 minutes. Cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of the asparagus.

Polenta
(serves 2-3)

1 ½ cups milk or water (it will be creamier made with milk)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup yellow cornmeal
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 ½ tablespoons butter

In a medium saucepan, bring the water and salt to a slow boil. Gradually whisk in the cornmeal so the water keeps boiling. A whisk and adding the cornmeal slowly are essential to preventing lumpy polenta.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until polenta is thick, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan and butter until well-combined.

Frozen Berries with White Hot Chocolate Sauce
Serves 2

2 oz. white chocolate
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
¼ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup frozen berries

Combine the chocolate, heavy cream, and vanilla in a heat-proof bowl and either microwave it on medium, 1 minute at a time, or set it over a pan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. About 5 minutes before serving, remove the berries from the freezer and place them on individual serving plates. Ladle the warm chocolate sauce over the berries and serve.

Note: You can either buy frozen berries, or freeze your own by placing berries on a flat tray or plate in one layer. When the berries are fully frozen, keep them in a plastic bag in the freezer. Larger berries, such as strawberries, do not freeze well.

Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon and Mustard

We gave you the basics on roasting vegetables last week. Here's a delicious version of roasted cauliflower that is fancied up a bit. Rather than oil, it uses butter as the fat, which adds tons of flavor. Mustard and lemon add even more. The roasting temperature is lower because the butter will burn at high temperatures. Totally delicious.

Roasted Cauliflower with Mustard and Lemon
(serves 6; total cost is $4.20)

2 lbs cauliflower (1 medium head)
6 tbl butter
2 tbl fresh lemon juice
2 tbl whole grain mustard, such as Dijon
1 ½ tsp fresh lemon zest, minced (see Note)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
2 tbl chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Remove leaves and the tough core from the cauliflower. Slice into ¼" pieces. Place in a large bowl.

Melt butter over low heat. Add lemon juice, mustard, and lemon zest. Whisk to combine. Pour over cauliflower and toss. Pour onto a large rimmed cookie sheet, spreading the cauliflower into 1 layer. Make sure to scrape all the butter out of the bowl. That's the good stuff; don't waste it! Sprinkle cauliflower with salt and pepper.

Put in the oven for 15 minutes. Stir around, then return to the oven for another 20 minutes until cauliflower is tender.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Note: The easiest way to zest a lemon is with a microplane. If you don't have one, you can use a vegetable peeler to take off just the yellow part of the peel. The white part (the pith) is extremely bitter, so don't peel too deep. The top yellow layer is full of tasty lemon oil and that's what you want.