The Perfect Pantry

Rice vermicelli (Recipe: faux pho)

NEW-DULL-HALL-IZZUM (noun): an addiction to the consumption of noodles, or the compulsive behavior resulting from noodle dependency (with apologies to dictionaries everywhere).

You won't find case studies about it in any medical journal, and you won't find the cure in the Physician's Desk Reference, but believe me when I tell you that noodleholism is a real problem.

I should know. I'm a noodle-holic.

Noodles are my Achilles' heel, my Lay's potato chips. I cannot pass them by. I cannot eat just one. Egg, wheat, buckwheat, rice, long, square, fresh, dried -- I love them all, and I keep every imaginable shape, size, and type of noodle in my pantry.

Rice vermicelli are among my favorite noodles (though, really, a noodle-holic doesn't play favorites). They're also called rice sticks and, in Sri Lanka, string hoppers. Despite its cross-cultural name, rice vermicelli is not Italian pasta; China and Thailand produce most of the rice noodles available at my Asian grocery store.

The best rice noodles have only two ingredients: rice or rice flour, and water. Rice vermicelli are thin, almost translucent noodles that are similar in look and consistency to cellophane noodles, with which they are often confused. Rice vermicelli are made from rice; cellophane noodles are made from bean starch. Essentially tasteless, rice "verm", as we call it at home, absorbs all of the flavors surrounding it.

Before cooking, soak rice vermicelli in warm (not hot) water for 15-20 minutes, until the noodles are completely pliable. Then cook in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water, and you're ready for chicken noodle soup, Singapore curry noodles, fried mee hoon, fresh salad rolls (nime chow), lemongrass chicken, and less traditional chipotle egg rolls. Store opened packages in the pantry in a ziploc plastic bag, almost indefinitely.

FAUX PHO
Do you have homemade turkey stock from your Thanksgiving turkey? Now's the time to use it. Serves 2 generously; can be multiplied.

1 quart homemade turkey or chicken stock, or store-bought no-sodium broth
Soy sauce, to taste
2 slices fresh ginger root, peeled
1 star anise
1 2-inch piece cinnamon stick
2 scallions, cut into two-inch lengths
Black pepper, to taste
6 oz rice vermicelli
6 oz flank steak
1/2 tsp fish sauce (I use this brand)
Several sprigs of fresh spearmint
Several springs of Thai basil
2 cups fresh mung bean sprouts
Lime wedges
Sambal oelek or chili paste with garlic

Combine first 7 ingredients in a sauce pan, and simmer for 30 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, soak the noodles in warm water for 15-20 minutes. Put the flank steak in the freezer for 15 minutes, then remove and slice as thin as possible. Strain the soup, to remove the ginger, spices and scallions, and return the broth to the pot. Bring to a boil, and add the noodles. Cook for two minutes. Add the fish sauce and flank steak, stir, and turn off the heat. Distribute into serving bowls, and serve with a large platter of herbs, bean sprouts, lime wedges and sambal oelek, to be added to the soup according to the taste and whim of each diner.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Bun gao (noodle salad with chicken)
Nime chow
Pad Thai
Salmon and Asian pesto potstickers

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Bake. Decorate. Donate. It's a simple idea. Bake some cookies. Invite friends, family, co-workers, or neighbors to help decorate. Donate your cookies to a local agency serving people in need, and "give back" while having fun. 

Planning a Drop In & Decorate event? Please let me know (lydia AT ninecooks DOT com) so we can share the fun.

To learn more about Drop In & Decorate Cookies for Donation, including how to host your own party, visit www.ninecooks.com; then stop in at A Veggie Venture, 37 Days, Culinary Types, Nikas Culinaria, Homesick Texan, Food Blogga, The Inadvertent Gardener, Jaden's Steamy Kitchen, La Mia Cucina, One Hot Stove, The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz, French Kitchen in America, Veronica's Test Kitchen, Kelly the Culinarian, shawnkenney.com, Thyme for Cooking: The Blog, Chew on That, Nook & Pantry, Cookthink, Tea & Cookies, Mele Cotte, Cream Puffs in Venice, startcooking.com, Shazam in the Kitchen, The Family Quilt, The Daily Tiffin, Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy, The Budget Bambino, Baking and Books, and What's for Lunch, Honey?

Thank you, Slashfood and BlogHer. Thank you, Chow.com and Goodyblog and Woman's Day.

"I love Drop In & Decorate for the gathering of the community. To see old and new friends gathered around a table of cookies with icing in hand brings a smile to my face every year!" Jennifer, cookie decorating volunteer

Buttermilk powder (Recipe: southern buttermilk biscuits)

My grandmother used to tell me about life before everyone had a telephone and a television and a car.

No phone. Seriously, I thought she was so old.

My mother use to tell me about life before TV dinners and boil-in-bag vegetables and drive-in movies.

I thought she was so old.

Now I'm the one who's old. I remember life before computers and playstations, digital cameras and cell phones, polar fleece and pluots.

I remember when milk came from the milkman. So did chocolate milk, and buttermilk. It came in bottles, not in boxes.

Then, in the 1970s, along came buttermilk powder, in a box, and believe it or not, that was progress. I never realized it until I moved to a more rural community, with the nearest buttermilk-stocked supermarket ten miles away.

Not only do I have to drive to get buttermilk, but also, more often than not, a recipe calls for half a cup, or maybe a full cup, out of each quart (and why, folks in the milk industry, does buttermilk not come in smaller sizes?). The rest sits in the fridge, spoiling after a week or so. The powder sits on the pantry shelf, not spoiling, almost indefinitely. Progress, indeed.

While liquid buttermilk is made from cultured skim milk, powdered buttermilk is made from real buttermilk, which, as the nice folks at SACO explain, is much better for baking:

When cream is agitated in a butter churn, the membranes around the fat globule membrane separate from the fat globule. This allows the butterfat to precipitate out in the form of butter. The phospholipids, meanwhile, remain in the fluid phase. The fluid that remains, after all the butterfat has been removed as butter, is similar to skim milk except it contains the phospholipids and proteins from the fat globule membranes. These phospholipids are natural emulsifiers. When real buttermilk is used in a recipe, the presence of these emulsifiers results in finer dispersing of the shortening throughout the batter. The smaller air cells which form in the presence of the emulsifier make the grain of baked goods finer, the volume and texture superior.

Buttermilk powder does not contain the live culture that makes liquid buttermilk a good starter for cheese or yogurt, but it also does not contain the lactic acid added to most modern liquid buttermilk. Many brands are kosher, and all are useful for people with mild lactose intolerance and those who eat gluten-free.

To substitute buttermilk powder in recipes like waffles, pancakes, cupcakes and scones, mix the buttermilk powder with the other dry ingredients, then add the appropriate amount of water when the recipe calls for liquid buttermilk.

Keep some buttermilk powder in your pantry, and banish open-but-barely-used quarts of buttermilk from your fridge.

SOUTHERN BUTTERMILK BISCUITS
My friend Lucia introduced me to these wonderful biscuits from The Bed & Breakfast Cookbook, written by her sister, Martha Murphy. I've adapted the recipe to make with buttermilk powder, where the original calls for one cup of buttermilk. Makes 12 biscuits.

2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 packet buttermilk powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp shortening
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Sift together flour, baking powder, buttermilk powder and salt. Cut in the shortening until it resembles a coarse meal. Mix baking soda and water. Add slowly to the flour mixture and mix to a soft dough. (At this point the dough may be stored in a covered dish in the refrigerator for several days.) When ready to use, roll out on a lightly floured board to 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet or Silpat, and bake for 10-15 minutes. Serve hot.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Kate's Ginger Shortcakes
Arrowroot cookies

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Bake. Decorate. Donate. It's a simple idea. Bake some cookies. Invite friends, family, co-workers, or neighbors to help decorate. Donate your cookies to a local agency serving people in need, and "give back" while having fun. 

Planning a Drop In & Decorate event? Please let me know (lydia AT ninecooks DOT com) so we can share the fun.

To learn more about Drop In & Decorate Cookies for Donation, including how to host your own party, visit www.ninecooks.com; then stop in at A Veggie Venture, 37 Days, Culinary Types, Nikas Culinaria, Homesick Texan, Food Blogga, The Inadvertent Gardener, Jaden's Steamy Kitchen, La Mia Cucina, One Hot Stove, The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz, French Kitchen in America, Veronica's Test Kitchen, Kelly the Culinarian, shawnkenney.com, Thyme for Cooking: The Blog, Chew on That, Nook & Pantry, Cookthink, Tea & Cookies, Mele Cotte, Cream Puffs in Venice, startcooking.com, Shazam in the Kitchen, The Family Quilt, The Daily Tiffin, Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy, The Budget Bambino, Baking and Books, and What's for Lunch, Honey?

Thank you, Slashfood and BlogHer. Thank you, Chow.com and Goodyblog and Woman's Day.

"I love Drop In & Decorate for the gathering of the community. To see old and new friends gathered around a table of cookies with icing in hand brings a smile to my face every year!" Jennifer, cookie decorating volunteer

Thyme (Recipe: honey-roasted beets with orange and thyme)

If, on some stormy December day, you look out the window and see a figure hunched over, scarf wrapped around her face, fogged-up red glasses, pink fuzzy gloves, nippers in hand, digging through the snow where she thought she remembered planting thyme last summer, you'll be looking at me.

I love thyme -- the herb that marries so well with potatoes and eggs and tomatoes and beans and beef -- and it breaks my heart to buy it at the market, when all summer long I enjoy an abundant harvest from my garden. I try to remember to dry some each Fall, in the drying screen Ted made out of an old window frame, but as much as I dry, it's never enough.

So, yes, I would rather forage for frozen thyme in my garden, or buy good-quality dried thyme from a reliable vendor like Penzeys, than spend a penny on the uninspired, aroma-free, weak-stemmed, overmisted, no-flavor thyme in the grocery store.

The name thyme derives from the Greek work thymon, meaning "to fumigate," and also from thymus, meaning "courage" -- both clues to some of the earliest uses for this herb. Thyme was burned, like sage, to drive away evil spirits -- and, more literally, to drive away evil odors and stinging insects. Some believed that fairies lived in beds of thyme, so many gardeners would plant thyme in the garden.

In the first spring after we moved to this house, I planted both English thyme (the most common desirable culinary thyme, and a mainstay of bouquet garni and herbes de provence) and abundantly-fragrant lemon thyme, and though I haven't seen any fairies, I've seen plenty of happy bees and butterflies feasting on the plants.

When you purchase dried thyme, buy from a vendor that has a lot of turnover, so the herb will be fresh. Good-quality dried leaves are grayish-green, and a package full of stems indicates an inferior quality. Dried thyme, stored in an airtight container (or in the freezer) away from heat and light, will last for up to a year. If a recipe calls for fresh herbs and you only have dried, use half the amount of dried that the recipe suggests: i.e., for 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme, substitute 1 tablespoon of dried.

HONEY-ROASTED BEETS WITH ORANGE AND THYME
One of Ted's favorite ways to eat beets, this simple recipe serves 4.

4 large beets, peeled, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 cup orange juice, or the juice of 3-4 oranges
2 tsp fresh chopped thyme, or 1 tsp dried thyme leaf
2-3 Tbsp honey or agave nectar, to taste
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place beets in a nonstick roasting pan, and stir in remaining ingredients. Cover with aluminum foil and bake, stirring occasionally to keep beets from sticking, for 45 minutes, or until beets pierced with a sharp knife are tender all the way through.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Frittata with broccoli and garden herbs
Beef stew
My own meat sauce
Brick-grilled chicken breasts or thighs
Mediterranean red snapper

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Bake. Decorate. Donate. It's a simple idea. Bake some cookies. Invite friends, family, co-workers, or neighbors to help decorate. Donate your cookies to a local agency serving people in need, and "give back" while having fun. 

Planning a Drop In & Decorate event? Please let me know (lydia AT ninecooks DOT com) so we can share the fun.

To learn more about Drop In & Decorate Cookies for Donation, including how to host your own party, visit www.ninecooks.com; then stop in at A Veggie Venture, 37 Days, Culinary Types, Nikas Culinaria, Homesick Texan, Food Blogga, The Inadvertent Gardener, Jaden's Steamy Kitchen, La Mia Cucina, One Hot Stove, The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz, French Kitchen in America, Veronica's Test Kitchen, Kelly the Culinarian, shawnkenney.com, Thyme for Cooking: The Blog, Chew on That, Nook & Pantry, Cookthink, Tea & Cookies, Mele Cotte, Cream Puffs in Venice, startcooking.com, Shazam in the Kitchen, The Family Quilt, The Daily Tiffin, Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy, The Budget Bambino, Baking and Books, and What's for Lunch, Honey?

Thank you, Slashfood and BlogHer. Thank you, Chow.com and Goodyblog and Woman's Day.

"The families were thrilled with extraordinarily beautiful cookies, and your gift helped brighten their lives during a very difficult time." Crossroads Rhode Island Family Center

Coconut milk (Recipe: egg curry)

A week about stews, and the good things that come from cans.

Brother bought a coconut, he bought it for a dime
His sister had another one, she paid it for the lime

She put the lime in the coconut, she drank 'em both up
She put the lime in the coconut, she drank 'em both up
She put the lime in the coconut, she drank 'em both up
Put the lime in the coconut, she called the doctor, woke him up, and said

Doctor, ain't there nothin' I can take, I said
Doctor, to relieve this bellyache, I said...

Oops, don't know the tune? Here goes...

Where I live, neither coconuts nor limes grow on trees (we specialize in pine cones!), but there's always a can of coconut milk in my pantry.

In order to understand where coconut milk comes from, think about the life cycle of a coconut. On the tree, young coconuts are green, often the size and shape of bowling balls. At this stage, the flesh is somewhat soft, and the liquid inside is sweet. When you find ice cold coconuts for sale at street markets in Trinidad or Singapore, you'll be getting one of these green coconuts, with the top sliced off and a straw stuck in to get at the coconut water inside. The flesh (meat) is gelatinous, the consistency of pudding.

When the coconut matures to the "hairy brown rock-hard stage," the meat inside also solidifies, and the coconut water turns bitter.

So, what we know as coconut milk actually is not the liquid found inside the coconut. Coconut milk is made by grating the solidified coconut meat, squeezing it to extract the liquid, and thinning the liquid with water -- which is then called coconut milk. Confusing, I know.

While canned coconut milk is a wonderful ingredient in dishes from India, The Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand, it does present nutritional challenges. Relatively low in carbs, it is unfortunately quite high in saturated fat and calories (450 per cup).

Enjoy coconut milk in moderation. Enjoy Harry Nilsson's coconut song over and over again. And have a happy and fun Thanksgiving.

EGG CURRY
How could I resist sharing a recipe that includes both coconut milk and lime?! Slightly adapted from The Great Curries of India, by Camellia Panjabi, this curry comes from the Chettinad region and serves 2-3.

6 large eggs, hardboiled
3 tsp ground coriander
1-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or paprika
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 x 1/4 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
2 large cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seed
2-inch cinnamon stick
8 oz onions, finely chopped
8 oz tomatoes (fresh or canned), finely chopped
Kosher salt
7 oz canned coconut milk
Juice of 1/2 lime

Peel the eggs and halve them lengthwise. Set aside.

In a blender, put the coriander, cayenne or paprika, 1 tsp fennel seed, cumin seed, turmeric, ginger and garlic. Add 2 Tbsp water and blend to a thick paste.

Heat the oil in a deep sauté pan or small Dutch oven. Fry the fenugreek seeds, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds and cinnamon stick for 10 seconds. Add the onion, and sauté until lightly colored. Add the spice paste and continue cooking for 7 minutes; it will darken in color from the coriander, but do not overcook. Add a few drops of water if the onions stick to the pan. Then, add the tomatoes, and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add 3 cups of water with salt to taste, and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, to make a smooth gravy. Just before serving, add the coconut milk and bring to the boil. Add the lime juice, taste, and add more salt if necessary. Gently place the hardboiled eggs, yolks facing up, into the sauce. Place in a serving dish, and serve with brown or white basmati or jasmine rice.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Thai tofu and winter squash stew
Punjab five jewels
Pineapple shrimp curry
Prawn fried rice
Coconut flan

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This just in: Jenna has organized a lunchtime Drop In & Decorate event at her workplace in mid-December; the cookies will be donated to the TIMES Center in Champaign, IL, providing transitional housing and hot meals daily for up to 70 adult men.

Planning a Drop In & Decorate event? Please let me know (lydia AT ninecooks DOT com) so we can share the fun.

To learn more about Drop In & Decorate Cookies for Donation, including how to host your own party, visit www.ninecooks.com; then stop in at A Veggie Venture, 37 Days, Culinary Types, Nikas Culinaria, Homesick Texan, Food Blogga, The Inadvertent Gardener, Jaden's Steamy Kitchen, La Mia Cucina, One Hot Stove, The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz, French Kitchen in America, Veronica's Test Kitchen, Kelly the Culinarian, shawnkenney.com, Thyme for Cooking: The Blog, Chew on That, Nook & Pantry, Cookthink, Tea & Cookies, Mele Cotte, Cream Puffs in Venice, startcooking.com, Shazam in the Kitchen, The Family Quilt, The Daily Tiffin, Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy, The Budget Bambino and What's for Lunch, Honey?

Thank you, Slashfood and BlogHer. Thank you, Chow.com and Goodyblog and Woman's Day.

"The families were thrilled with extraordinarily beautiful cookies, and your gift helped brighten their lives during a very difficult time." Crossroads Rhode Island Family Center

Canned chile peppers (Recipe: slow-cooked beef and green chile stew)

A week about stews, and the good things that come from cans.

It's possible, just possible, that I have more than my share of kitchen toys.

By toys, I don't mean butter wizards and doughnut makers and zero-gravity magnetic spice racks.

I mean serious tools and cookware, in multiples, like tagines and woks, Microplane graters, half a dozen really good santoku knives and nearly two hundred wooden spoons and utensils.

The current love of my life, however, is a single: it's my new slow cooker.

Like me, the slow cooker loves all kinds of stew, so I've had fun introducing it to my collection of canned chile peppers. Chipotles in adobo and green New Mexico chiles are mainstays in my pantry, along with canned poblanos, plus fire-roasted Anaheim and other green chiles from mild to hot.

Chiles do more than add some kick to your cooking; they also contribute a significant dose of Vitamins A and C, iron and lutein, which has proven benefits for eyesight.

With canned chile peppers in the pantry, you can always fire up your stove or slow cooker for a batch of chile con queso soup, five-pepper chili, quesadillas, hummus, salsa, and many variations of green chile stew.

And in case the whole chile-chili-chilli thing is still a bit of a muddle, chile with an "e" is the pepper, chili with an "i" is the stew, and chilli with the double-L is the spelling used in other parts of the world (including Britain, Australia and many Asian countries) for what we here in the United States call chile peppers.

Now, what kind of chili do you make with your chiles?

SLOW-COOKED BEEF AND GREEN CHILE STEW
If you don't have a slow cooker, make this in a Dutch oven or heavy stockpot. "Stew beef" is a common cut, available in the meat department of your supermarket. The recipe makes a lot, so stash some in the freezer for a cold winter day. Serves 10-12.

1 cup all-purpose flour
6 lbs stew beef (boneless beef chuck), cut into two-inch chunks
3 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
1 27-oz can mild green Hatch chiles, whole or cut into large chunks
1 cup chopped canned tomato (I use this brand)
2 chipotles in adobo, chopped, plus 2 tsp adobo sauce
1/2 cup barbecue sauce, homemade or store-bought
12 oz homemade beef stock, or 1 14-oz can low-sodium beef broth
1 Tbsp cumin
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
2 tsp arrowroot or cornstarch

In a large bowl, add the flour. Dry the beef with paper towels, and dredge each piece lightly in the flour. Heat oil in a large frying pan, and brown the beef on all sides (be careful not to overcrowd the pan; brown the beef in batches). Add browned beef to the slow-cooker, along with all remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 8 hours (if using a Dutch oven, cook for 3-4 hours). Adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and hot sauce, if needed. If at the end of the cooking time, the liquid has not thickened to a consistency you like, pour all but half a cup of the liquid into a sauce pan. Pour the remaining half cup of liquid into a measuring cup, and whisk in the arrowroot or cornstarch. Bring the liquid in the sauce pan to a low boil, and add the arrowroot mixture. The sauce will thicken, and you can reunite it with the stew.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Floribean chicken chili
White chili
Football season chili

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This just in:  April from New York City hosted a Thanksgiving Drop In & Decorate baking-and-decorating party this past weekend, and donated the cookies to two food pantries, Center of Hope International's Bread of Life Food Pantry (Long Island City) and Services and Food for the Homeless (Lower East Side). 

Planning a Drop In & Decorate event? Please let me know (lydia AT ninecooks DOT com) so we can share the fun.

To learn more about Drop In & Decorate Cookies for Donation, including how to host your own party, visit www.ninecooks.com; then stop in at Nikas Culinaria, Homesick Texan, Food Blogga, The Inadvertent Gardener, Jaden's Steamy Kitchen,  La Mia Cucina, One Hot Stove, 37 Days, The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz, French Kitchen in America, Veronica's Test Kitchen, Kelly the Culinarian, shawnkenney.com, Thyme for Cooking: The Blog, Chew on That, Culinary Types, Nook & Pantry, Cookthink, Tea & Cookies, Mele Cotte, A Veggie Venture, Cream Puffs in Venice, startcooking.com, Shazam in the Kitchen, The Family Quilt, The Daily Tiffin, Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy, The Budget Bambino and What's for Lunch, Honey?

Thank you, Slashfood and BlogHer. Thank you, Chow.com and Goodyblog and Woman's Day.

"The families were thrilled with extraordinarily beautiful cookies, and your gift helped brighten their lives during a very difficult time." Crossroads Rhode Island Family Center

Harissa (Recipe: pumpkin stew)

A week about stews, and the good things that come from cans.

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.

Ilsa didn't go to Rick's Café Americain for the food. In fact, nobody went to Rick's for the food. Drinking, yes. Smoking, of course. Gambling and trading? You betcha. A rousing chorus of La Marseillaise? Absolutely!

But food? Not a bite, and what a shame, because Rick's, the place to see and be seen in the classic film, Casablanca, surely might have had wonderful food, including couscous and tagines with spicy homemade harissa.

Harissa (also spelled harisa, which is more true to its pronounciation: hah REE sah) is the most important condiment used in Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian cooking, yet it is made from chile peppers -- often guajillo, New Mexico, ancho, cayenne or chile de arbol -- which were introduced to the region by explorers returning from the Americas.

From the Arabic word for "to break into pieces," harissa is made by pounding hot chiles in a mortar and then adding salt and sometimes garlic, plus spices such as coriander, cumin, caraway, or fennel; our modern-day mortar, the food processor, makes quick work of what is traditionally a lengthy preparation done by the women of a family.

Harissa is sold in tubes, cans or jars. Tunisian brands are considered the best, but it's easy to make your own using this recipe. You can make it hot or mild, depending on the chile pepper you choose. In the tube, or covered with olive oil in an airtight container, harissa will keep in the refrigerator for a month or more.

In Morocco, harissa often is served apart from the main dish, for diners to add to their own taste. In Tunisia and Algeria, it's an ingredient in the cooking.

In my cooking, harissa stands in for cayenne pepper, to spice up salad or soup, or a marinade or stew.

Rick and Ilsa, and even Captain Renault, would have loved it.

MARAK DAR MARHZIN (PUMPKIN STEW)
A marak is a vegetable version of a tagine. Adapt this recipe to whatever root vegetables you prefer. Serves 6.

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
2 cups water
1 lb butternut squash or sugar pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 lb sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 14-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tsp harissa, or more to taste
3/4 cup raisins or dried cherries
3 tsp honey
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
Parsley leaves, for garnish
Lemon wedges, for serving

In a small frying pan, heat the oil and add onions. Cook gently for 5 minutes, then add garlic, turmeric, ginger and cinnamon. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes until the paste becomes slightly aromatic. Transfer mixture to the base of a large tagine.

Add carrots and water, stir, and cover the tagine. Cook for 10 minutes. Add squash, sweet potato, chickpeas, harissa, raisins and honey, plus salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender. Garnish with parsley leaves, and serve with couscous and lemon wedges to squeeze over the vegetables.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Spiced lentils with squash and raisins
Braised fish, Tunisian style

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This just in: Mary from Shazam in the Kitchen and a group of friends and family decorated and donated seven dozen beautiful cookies to Ann Arbor Ronald McDonald House.

Planning a Drop In & Decorate event? Please let me know (lydia AT ninecooks DOT com) so we can share the fun.

To learn more about Drop In & Decorate Cookies for Donation, including how to host your own party, visit www.ninecooks.com; then stop in at Nikas Culinaria, Homesick Texan, Baking and Books, Food Blogga, The Inadvertent Gardener, Jaden's Steamy Kitchen,  La Mia Cucina, One Hot Stove, 37 Days, The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz, French Kitchen in America, Veronica's Test Kitchen, Kelly the Culinarian, shawnkenney.com, Thyme for Cooking: The Blog, Chew on That, Culinary Types, Nook & Pantry, Cookthink, Tea & Cookies, Mele Cotte, A Veggie Venture, Cream Puffs in Venice, startcooking.com, Shazam in the Kitchen, The Family Quilt, The Daily Tiffin, Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy, The Budget Bambino and What's for Lunch Honey?

Thank you, Slashfood and BlogHer. Thank you, Chow.com and Goodyblog and Woman's Day.

"The families were thrilled with extraordinarily beautiful cookies, and your gift helped brighten their lives during a very difficult time." Crossroads Rhode Island Family Center

Pure vanilla extract (Recipe: sea bass with vanilla cream sauce)

Given a choice between chocolate and vanilla, I'll always pick chocolate.

Chocolate ice cream and chocolate cookies. Chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

Brownies over blondies.

And yet I've found quite a lot of pure vanilla extract in The Perfect Pantry.

All of my favorite chocolate desserts contain vanilla extract, because it's vanilla that gives chocolate the rich flavor we love. Specifically, Madagascar Bourbon vanilla is what's most familiar to our taste buds.

Vanilla, the second-most-expensive spice in the world after saffron, is the fruit of an orchid vine. Each vine can produce up to a thousand flowers. The flowers are hand-pollinated, and thinned to allow for sufficient light and air circulation. After pollination, the flowers develop into thin pods (beans), 8-12 inches long. The pods are picked when green, plunged into hot water, and then dried and sweated for up to six months until they turn dark brown and develop vanillin, a crystalline white "frost" on the outside of the bean that gives the bean its flavor and aroma. Then the beans are aged for up to two years, to concentrate the fragrance and flavor.

The majority of the world's vanilla (80 percent) comes from Madagascar and Réunion Island. The extract produced there is often called "Bourbon", not because it's made of bourbon but because Réunion was formerly called Isle de Bourbon. These beans are the sweetest, with a rich flavor.

Mexico also produces vanilla extract; the bean is darker and the flavor more intense.

And then there is Tahitian vanilla. The beans are almost black in color, and though less flavorful are more intensely fragrant.

Of course, this being The Perfect Pantry (which should be renamed the Do You Really Need Three of Everything Pantry), I have each of the main varieties on hand. My favorite Bourbon-type extract is made right next door in Massachusetts. The no-name Mexican vanilla comes courtesy of Cousin Martin, world traveler and primo procurer of good things for my kitchen.

This particular Mama Vanira vanilla, along with some lovely vanilla pods, traveled half way around the world in Martin's suitcase to reach my pantry. Here's his story:

The boat left Tahiti and we overnighted in the harbor of Moorea. Then I took a morning tour into the mountains to include a coconut pineapple plantation and a vanilla plantation. We didn't see the actual production of the liquid vanilla; but they had plants growing around the main buildings in various stages of ripeness on the way to harvest. It was definitely low tech but the Tahitian government was trying to foster relatively small-scale "boutique" Moorean and Tahitian vanilla as a niche product to compete with mass-marketed bourbon vanilla. If memory serves me correctly, this was the site:

After the bridge by the beach, a paved road runs up Moorea's central valley through pasture land, across which Warren Beatty and Annette Bening strolled in their flop movie Love Affair (the scenes with Katharine Hepburn were filmed in the white house on the hill to your right). You can stop at Lycée Agricole d'Opunohu (Opunohu Agricultural School) on the main road (www.formation-agricole-opunohu.org) to see vanilla and other plantations. The pineapple and vanilla plantations are located at or adjacent to the Lycée.

I appreciate the cherry overtone of Tahitian vanilla, as opposed to the spicy/woody taste of Mexican vanilla and the "purer" -- what we call vanilla -- taste of Madagascar Bourbon vanilla.

On that trip I saw an eclipse and the Easter Islands, both of which verge on the spiritual -- but the vanilla was right up there and a great way to start the trip!

Such a great story, and I value my little stash of Tahitian vanilla all the more because of the journey it took to get here.

I'm not much of a baker, but here's one fact I do know: you usually cream the vanilla with the shortening or butter portion of the ingredients, so that the fat encapsulates the vanilla and stabilizes it in the baking process.

Vanilla is one of the essential items in the pantry, indispensable for banana-chocolate chip bread, whoopie pies, and lavender custard -- but why not try it in barbecue sauce, too?

And should you be tempted to buy imitation vanilla extract at the supermarket (oh, don't tell me), and then don't know what to do with it because you surely will not want to use it for baking, here's an idea: add a teaspoon or two to a can of paint. It will neutralize the paint smell.

SEA BASS WITH VANILLA CREAM SAUCE
Adapted from a recipe on La Vanillére, this elegant dish -- a savory use for pure vanilla extract -- serves 4.

4 fillets of sea bass, mahi mahi or cod (1-1/4 lb total)
2 tsp olive oil
1 shallot, sliced thin
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the fish fillets gently until golden on each side, 3-4 minutes. Remove fish from pan and cover with foil to keep warm. In the same pan, lightly sauté shallots for 1 minute, adding a half teaspoon of olive oil if needed. Add vanilla extract, chicken stock and wine. Stir to combine. Slowly mix in cream, salt and pepper; cook for a few minutes until the sauce is reduced by half. Return the fish to the pan, coat with the cream sauce, and cook for 2 minutes until everything is nicely combined. Serve with jasmine rice.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Spice cake
Outrageous brownies
Grilled fruit with cardamom yogurt
Indian pudding
Chocolate truffles

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This just in: Jennifer, from Rhode Island, is organizing five (yes, five) Drop In & Decorate events. First, with a group of parents and young children whose cookies will be donated to Providence Ronald McDonald House. Second, as part of a Holiday Faire at the Meadowbrook Waldorf School, with cookies going to the Wood River Health Center's food pantry. Third, at the Little Shippee Preschool (can't you picture those little kids with pastry bags? I'm smiling.) Fourth and fifth, at South County Commons and in downtown Providence, through her OOP! stores, with cookies going to Meals on Wheels. 

Planning a Drop In & Decorate event? Please let me know (lydia AT ninecooks DOT com) so we can share the fun.

To learn more about Drop In & Decorate Cookies for Donation, including how to host your own party, visit www.ninecooks.com; then stop in at Nikas Culinaria, Homesick Texan, Baking and Books, Food Blogga, The Inadvertent Gardener, Jaden's Steamy Kitchen,  La Mia Cucina, One Hot Stove, 37 Days, The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz, French Kitchen in America, Veronica's Test Kitchen, Kelly the Culinarian, shawnkenney.com, Thyme for Cooking: The Blog, Chew on That, Culinary Types, Nook & Pantry, Cookthink, Tea & Cookies, Mele Cotte, A Veggie Venture, Cream Puffs in Venice, startcooking.com, Shazam in the Kitchen, The Family Quilt, The Daily Tiffin, Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy and What's for Lunch, Honey?

Thank you, Slashfood and BlogHer. Thank you, Chow.com and Goodyblog and Woman's Day.

"Drop In & Decorate captures what I value about the holiday season: fun, togetherness, not consumer oriented, not about spending lots of money, giving to others, creating something unique and homemade." Lucia, five-year cookie decorator and icing color mixer

Meringue powder (Recipe: royal icing)

The items in The Perfect Pantry fall into three categories.

Use it once a day (onions, mustard, spices),

Use it less often, but in many ways (pasta, chili paste, rice).

Use it only one way, but for that one way, nothing else will do.

Meringue powder is one of those one-time, one-way items.

Once a year, when I'm organizing Drop In & Decorate Cookies for Donation events, I stock up on dozens of ounces of meringue powder, which is nothing more than dried egg white mixed with sugar, cornstarch and arabic gums to stabilize and bind it. When mixed with water and confectioners sugar, meringue powder has the same consistency as beaten egg whites, but magically it morphs into royal icing. And when royal icing is colored, applied to cookies, and left to harden, it morphs into a work of art.

I never use meringue powder for anything other than icing, where the proportion of sugar to meringue is so high that no additional flavoring is needed. However, if you use meringue powder in chocolate buttercream or coconut cream pie or buttermilk cupcakes, you likely will want to add some pure vanilla extract or other flavoring to moderate the slight cornstarch aftertaste.

If you're planning to give your baked goods to a shelter or food pantry, it's good to know that meringue powder is gluten free, safe from salmonella, and some brands are certified kosher. Meringue powder has a long shelf life (up to two years), as long as it's kept dry and not contaminated by dipping a wet or used spoon -- or icing-covered finger -- into it. 

Can you substitute powdered egg whites for meringue powder? Absolutely. Can meringue powder be substituted for powdered egg whites? Yes, in recipes that call for beaten egg whites.

DROP IN & DECORATE ROYAL ICING
This recipe makes icing that's fluid enough to flow through the tip of a pastry bag, yet hardens overnight to a perfect and delicious coating. If you don't know how to use a pastry bag, ask for a quick lesson at your local bakery. It’s easy; we’ve had children as young as age 3 decorate cookies with pastry bags. Makes 2-1/2 cups, enough for one batch of cookies.

1 lb + scant 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
5 Tbsp meringue powder
1/2 cup cool water (add more, a teaspoon at a time, if needed for desired consistency)
A few drops of paste food coloring

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, combine first three ingredients and mix on low speed until glossy and fluffy, 7-8 minutes. To color, place some icing in a small bowl or plastic cup, and stir in a few drops of food coloring until desired shade is reached. Royal Icing hardens quickly when exposed to air, so use immediately, or transfer to an airtight container; it will keep overnight at room temperature. Beat well before using.

*Production note: If you're doing multiple batches of dough, you'll need more icing. An easy way to do this efficiently is to make the icing, one batch at a time, and pour into an airtight container. Make several batches of icing. Then, using a ladle or 1/2 cup measure, place a small bit of the icing in a plastic cup. Mix in food coloring to desired shade, and fill a pastry bag. Repeat until you have all the colors you need. To keep the icing from hardening, place bags tip down in a bowl that has a damp paper towel in the bottom.

**Remember, place the decorated cookies on a tray and leave out overnight, uncovered, to harden. The next morning, package in food-safe cellophane bags or cookie tins.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Chocolate refrigerator cake
Spice cake

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It's simple: bake some cookies. Invite family or friends to help decorate. Donate your cookies to a local agency serving people in need.

If you're planning a Drop In & Decorate event, please drop a note to lydia AT ninecooks DOT com.

To learn more about Drop In & Decorate Cookies for Donation, visit www.ninecooks.com, and Nikas Culinaria, Homesick Texan, Baking and Books, Food Blogga, The Inadvertent Gardener, Jaden's Steamy Kitchen,  La Mia Cucina, One Hot Stove, 37 Days, The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz, French Kitchen in America, Veronica's Test Kitchen, Kelly the Culinarian, shawnkenney.com, Thyme for Cooking: The Blog, Chew on That, Culinary Types, Nook & Pantry, Cookthink, Tea & Cookies, Mele Cotte, A Veggie Venture, Cream Puffs in Venice, startcooking.com, Shazam in the Kitchen and The Daily Tiffin.

Thank you, Slashfood and BlogHer. Thank you, Chow.com and Goodyblog and Woman's Day.

"You can't imagine how much my food pantry clients enjoy and look forward to picking out a cookie (or two) every year!  They are amazed at all the different kinds of designs, and everyone has their favorite! Thank you, again, for all your hard work – I know you all enjoy it and have fun, but it's still a lot of work, and I do appreciate it more than you know!" Director of Human Services, Town of Foster RI  

Rolled oats (Recipe: apple-pear-cranberry crisp)

In the 1960s, my parents called me a crunchy-granola head.

They weren't wrong.

I wore Earth Shoes. I memorized the poetry of Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Kenneth Patchen. I shopped at a health food store called Erehwon, the opposite of Nowhere. I gave up chicken for tofu. I drank herbal tea and burned incense and wore love beads and actually said things like groovy, man and hep cat.

I baked my own bread (my parents saw this as incontrovertible proof of my granola-ness).

By 1978, I'd gone back to eating chicken, tossed the love beads, and traded my Earth Shoes for the Birkenstocks I wear every day (yes, I'm still a little bit crunchy-granola). I bought the newly-published Moosewood Cookbook, and Mollie Katzen's recipes sent me to the health food store once again, for exotic-in-the-1970s ingredients like wheat germ and miso paste and rolled oats.

When I first saw rolled oats in a Moosewood recipe, I was puzzled. I'd always kept some supermarket-brand oatmeal in my pantry for baking cookies. I wondered whether those oats were rolled oats.

Indeed they were. Rolled oats (a.k.a. oatmeal, rolled oatmeal, old-fashioned oats, old-fashioned oatmeal, flaked oats, flaked oatmeal, or oatflakes) are oat groats that are steamed, rolled, and flaked so that they cook quickly but still retain all of the bran and germ. Note that instant oatmeal is a different product, often made by partially cooking rolled oats, rolling them again, and adding sugar and salt.

Rolled oats have proven health benefits; high in beta-glucan, a type of dietary fiber, oats are especially effective in lowering cholesterol, as well as blood pressure and overall risk of cardiovascular disease. Oats are high in antioxidants, and lower on the glycemic index than other whole grains.

Buy rolled oats in small quantities; because they have more fat than some other whole grains, they will go rancid if stored for a long time. Keep them in an airtight container at room temperature, for up to two months, or in the freezer.

With rolled oats in the pantry, you'll want to try making your own granola, of course, and oatmeal cookies. But how about burgers and bread? Or dog biscuits?

I may have been a crunchy-granola head, but I was never a farmer, so I didn't know until recently that oats are strong enough to survive poor soil and growing conditions. Maybe that's why our bodies are stronger when we eat rolled oats.

APPLE-PEAR-CRANBERRY CRISP
A perfect dessert for this season, this can be assembled ahead, but should be baked just before you want to serve. You can substitute 3/4 cup dark or golden raisins for the cranberries. Serves 6-8.

3-4 tart apples (Macoun, Cortland, Granny Smith, or a mix)
3-4 firm pears, such as Bartlett or Bosc
Cooking spray (PAM or other brand)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp all-purpose unbleached flour
2 cups cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Water or unsweetened apple juice

For the topping:
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup toasted wheat germ
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

Preheat oven to 375F°. Peel, core and slice apples and pears until you have enough to fill an 8-9" (diameter) casserole. Grease the casserole with butter or vegetable spray, and set aside. In a large bowl, mix sliced fruit, lemon juice, 1 tsp cinnamon, flour, cranberries and walnuts. Return the mixture to the baking dish, and add enough water or apple juice to barely cover the bottom. Mix topping in a bowl and press onto top of the fruit mixture. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes, or until apples and pears are soft. Serve warm with freshly whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Granola cookies
Aggression cookies
Old-fashioned apple pie

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It's simple: bake some cookies. Invite friends to help decorate. Donate your cookies to a local agency serving people in need.

If you're planning a Drop In event, please drop a note to lydia AT ninecooks DOT com.

To learn more about Drop In & Decorate Cookies for Donation, visit www.ninecooks.com. And please visit some of my favorite bloggers who are so generously helping to spread the Drop In & Decorate idea, on their own sites or elsewhere in cyberland: Nikas Culinaria, Homesick Texan, Baking and Books, Food Blogga, The Inadvertent Gardener, Jaden's Steamy Kitchen,  La Mia Cucina, One Hot Stove, 37 Days, The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz, French Kitchen in America, Veronica's Test Kitchen, Kelly the Culinarian, shawnkenney.com, Thyme for Cooking: The Blog, Chew on That, Culinary Types, Nook & Pantry, Cookthink, Tea & Cookies, Mele Cotte, A Veggie Venture and startcooking.com.

Thank you, Slashfood and BlogHer. Thank you, Chow.com!

"Drop In & Decorate captures what I value about the holiday season: fun, togetherness, not consumer oriented, not about spending lots of money, giving to others, creating something unique and homemade." Lucia, five-year cookie decorator and icing color mixer

Agave nectar (Recipe: pan-roasted glazed salmon)

In many ways, I am clueless.

I don't have an iPod or an iPhone. I've never played Wii, or watched all of the Star Wars films or High School Musical (though granddaughter Sabina can tell me all about it). I can't name the "in" colors for Fall, or the newest cocktail. I don't know who won American Idol, who's Dancing with the Stars, or who will be The Next Iron Chef.

And though cooks have been talking about it for years, until quite recently I never knew anything about agave nectar.

Agave (pronounced ah-GAH-vay) nectar, or syrup, is a new product derived from an ancient plant native to the state of Jalisco in central Mexico. Extracted from several varieties of wild agave, this natural sweetener has come into its own as a substitute for both sugar and honey, and it's found a permanent place in The Perfect Pantry.

Sweeter than refined sugar, less viscous than honey, and with just 60 calories per tablespoon, agave nectar adds sweetness, solubility and moisture to baked goods and beverages like smoothies and iced tea. To substitute in a recipe, use 1/3 cup agave nectar for 1 cup of sugar; you might have to adjust the amount of liquid in the original recipe to allow for the added liquid from the agave.

This product, available in my local grocery store and also online, offers real advantages to those who must limit their consumption of glucose, like the Type-1 diabetics in my family. Agave nectar is higher in fructose, which does not stimulate insulin secretion to the extent that other sugars do, and lower in glucose, making it lower on the glycemic index -- a measure of how much your blood sugar increases after eating a specific food.

Agave nectar comes in two grades: light, which is flavor neutral; and amber, which tastes a bit like a thin maple syrup. I prefer the light grade, as it's much more all-purpose, but either one will be delicious in broccoli salad, challah, tofu-strawberry whip, chocolate cake, mango-coconut smoothies, and even in margaritas.

I'm still pretty clueless about agave nectar. Do you have a favorite recipe to share?

PAN-ROASTED GLAZED SALMON
A lovely combination of sweet and salty, this all-purpose glaze works just as well on boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, or on chunks of firm tofu. Serves 6.

1-1/2 to 2 lbs salmon fillet, skin removed, cut into 6 serving-size pieces
Kosher salt
Coarse ground black pepper
2 tsp olive oil
3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce OR 2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp agave nectar, or more to taste
Scant 1/2 cup orange or mango juice

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Season fish all over with salt and pepper. Add olive oil to a roasting pan, and then add the fish. Over medium heat on top of the stove, cook the fish for 3-4 minutes until the bottom is firm. Do not turn the fish! Add remaining ingredients, stir to combine, and spoon some of the liquid over the fish fillets. Place the roasting pan in the oven and cook for 10 minutes, or until the fish is just firm. Remove fish to a serving platter, and cover loosely with aluminum foil; place the roasting pan back on the stovetop. Bring pan juices to a boil, and cook until reduced to a syrupy sauce. Drizzle sauce over the fish, and serve.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Salmon fried rice
Salmon-pesto potstickers
Maple glazed salmon salad
Asian slaw

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This just in: Christine and a group of friends in Boston are hosting their first-ever Drop In & Decorate party on December 1. The cookies will be donated to Horizons for Homeless Children.

If you're planning a Drop In event, please drop a note to lydia AT ninecooks DOT com.

To learn more about Drop In & Decorate Cookies for Donation, and see lots of wonderful photos, visit www.ninecooks.com. And, throughout this week, please visit some of my favorite bloggers who are so generously helping to spread the Drop In & Decorate idea, on their own sites or elsewhere in cyberland: Nikas Culinaria, Homesick Texan, Baking and Books, Food Blogga, The Inadvertent Gardener, Jaden's Steamy Kitchen,  La Mia Cucina, One Hot Stove, 37 Days, The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz, French Kitchen in America, Veronica's Test Kitchen, Kelly the Culinarian, shawnkenney.com, Thyme for Cooking: The Blog, Chew on That, Culinary Types, Nook & Pantry, Cookthink, Tea & Cookies, Mele Cotte, A Veggie Venture and startcooking.com.

Thank you, Slashfood! Thank you, BlogHer! Thanks, Chow.com!

"Drop In & Decorate captures what I value about the holiday season: fun, togetherness, not consumer oriented, not about spending lots of money, giving to others, creating something unique and homemade." Lucia, volunteer extraordinaire