Avocadango Walnut Salad

As you know, avocados and mangoes are not native to New England, so this post kind of flies in the face of my whole local theme, but oh well. It’s winter in New England. Fruit must come from somewhere and mangoes and avocados are among my favorites.

I devised this salad a few years ago when I was on a bit of a pine nut kick. I’ve since decided to cool it on the pine nuts until more information comes out about “pine nut-associated cacogeusia” – a disorder that came to light last winter that causes some people to experience a metallic taste in their mouth for up to two weeks after eating some pine nuts. It’s yet undetermined which pine nuts cause the disorder. That’s scary stuff and I’d rather not take any risks. I now make this salad with walnuts and the soft texture works just as well.

Refreshing, sweet mango and creamy avocado offset the greens’ coy bitterness and the walnuts bring texture. In addition being absolutely ambrosial, this salad is so absurdly nutritious, it’s radicchio. Walnuts are rich in omega-3, avocados contain plenty of potassium and vitamins B6 and K, mango is heavy on vitamins A and C, and greens offer a good source of folate.

And yes, I’m taking poetic license with the name.

Avocadango Walnut Salad – serves 2

1 mango
1 avocado
1 T lemon juice
1/3 C walnuts
5 ounces mixed baby salad greens (arugula, spinach, radicchio, etc)
2 T olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar

Peel the mango and cut into 1 inch cubes.

Halve the avocado, remove pit and scoop either side from its shell. Cut into 1 inch cubes and toss with lemon juice.

Using tongs, in a large serving bowl (or whatever, it’s your kitchen) toss the salad greens with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add the avocado, mango and walnuts, being careful to not squish the avocado or allow the walnuts to gather at the bottom.

Ingredient origins: Organic mango – Chile; Organic avocado – Mexico; Organic lemon – Florida; Walnuts – California; Organic salad greens – Maine; Olive oil – Italy; Balsamic vinegar – Italy. I know. The whole local thing was completely thrown out the window for this recipe, but all of my readers in sunny California would be able to pull it off in good locavore fashion!

Lemon Tarragon Teacake

Teacakes. Is it not the most adorable word? It conjures images of flowery tablecloths, delicate china and smiling aunties.

Tarragon is a social chameleon. The Gatsby of herbs. It gets along just as well in sweet dishes as it does with its more common savory partners. This recipe demonstrates the former. Lemony, sweet and dense, Lemon Tarragon Teacake is the perfect showcase for tarragon’s delicate, mellow flavor. Confectionery sugar creates a nice crisp top.

For the full herb garden effect, try it with lavender, chamomile, jasmine or a similar floral tea.

Lemon Tarragon Teacake – serves 10

2 T lemon juice
2 eggs
1/4 C canola oil
1 C sour cream
3 C confectionery sugar
2 C flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
3 T chopped fresh tarragon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium size bowl, combine lemon juice, eggs, canola oil and sour cream. Mix in confectionery sugar 1/2 cup at a time.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold in the fresh tarragon

Pour into a metal loaf pan and bake for 55 -65 minutes until a wooden tooth pick comes out clean.

Chocolate Chip Raisin Walnut Cookies

These are somewhat lower in fat (sour cream replaces some of the butter), higher in protein (walnuts) and higher in fiber (raisins) than your average chocolate chip cookie.

The recipe also calls for slightly less sugar than most, but the addition of raisins makes up for the sweetness. Corn syrup and sour cream lend a delicate fluff to the texture which, in combination with the walnut’s crunch make for an addictive cookie.

Chocolate Chip Raisin Walnut Cookies – makes 3 dozen

1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 C brown sugar
2 T corn syrup
1/2 C butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 C sour cream
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
2 C flour
3/4 C walnuts
3/4 C raisins
1 C chocolate chips

Mix wet ingredients and brown sugar in a small bowl. In a medium bowl mix flour, salt and baking soda. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips, walnuts and raisins.

Refrigerate dough for about15 minutes to chill. This will make it easier to scoop and also make it less likely for the cookies to spread out on the cookie sheet as they bake. While the dough chills, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Scoop by tablespoon onto a slightly greased cookie sheet – these have less fat than most cookies, so they’re not as self-greasing. (Frugal tip: I like to save the wrappers from sticks of butter for the purpose of lightly greasing pans.) Place dough mounds about an inch and a half apart on the cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Remove cookies from cookie sheet and allow them to cool on a cooling rack.

Serve with an ice cold glass of milk on a “pretty, pretty dish”, as my mother says. Recognize the plate Mom?

Ingredient origins: Egg – New Hampshire, Vanilla – Madagascar, Brown Sugar – Florida, Corn Syrup – UK, Butter – Maine, Sour Cream – Texas, Baking soda – Who knows?, Walnuts – California, Raisins – California, Chocolate chips – California.

Apple Pie

Who doesn’t love apple pie? Especially this time of year when the apples are fresh and sweet. I got the apples for this pie at a local orchard. Normally I like to use McIntosh apples for pie, but I heard recently that Northern Spies are good for pie because they keep their shape well. This turned out to be true – the slices even stood up to a good toss with the other filling ingredients without breaking.

Another ingredient to note is honey, which I added to the pie filling. I debated whether it would add too much moisture, but in the end decided the flavor would be worth it, and it was. When my husband tasted the pie, he guessed right away that there was honey. It added a nice richness. I chose not to add spices like cinnamon this time because I didn’t want to detract from the apple flavor.

This pie turned out to be light and satisfying, and not at all filling. That may be because I didn’t add butter to the filling as is usually done. The result was an almost refreshing apple pie.

Apple Pie – yields 8 slices

Pie Pastry:

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup butter, ice cold and diced
7 – 9 T ice cold water

Pie filling:

6 – 8 pie apples, peeled and sliced
1/4 C flour
1/4 C granulated sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
2 T honey

Start with the pastry dough so that it can rest in the refrigerator while the filling is made. Blend flour and salt in a large bowl. Drop ice cold butter into the flour and either cut with a pastry blender, or blend in a food processor until it it has the consistency of large crumbs. Add the water one tablespoon at a time, lightly tossing until just incorporated. Form a ball out of the dough, cut it in half and refrigerate 10 – 15 minutes.

Peel and slice apples while the dough chills. Add flour, sugars and honey and toss until the apples are evenly coated.

Take dough from refrigerator and, on a well-floured surface, roll the dough out to somewhere between an eighth to a quarter of an inch thickness and about 10-11 inches in diameter. Lay the bottom pastry in a 9.5 inch pie plate. Place a pie bird in the center (Or make a cone out of tin foil. Pie birds are good to use in liquidy pies with top crusts because they allow a channel for steam to escape without causing the crust to leak or the filling to overflow). Surround the bird with an even layer of the apple filling.

Gently fold the top pastry into quarters to find the center. Unfold. With a knife, make an X in the center of the pastry. Carefully slip the bird’s head through the X when placing the pastry over the top of the pie. Seal the crust by brushing a light coat of water around the lower pastry. Remove excess dough around the rim. Crimp the edges. I do a press and fold method – press with the right thumb, fold with the left.

Seal the bird into the pie with some of the excess pie dough. I made him a little scarf with a fringed edge. And he thought he was going someplace cold. Ah birds…

Bake in 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes until the crust is lightly browned and starts to look like pastry and not pastry dough.

Allow to cool for a 2-3 hours before slicing.

Ingredient origins: The flour came from Vermont. The salt – who knows? It was another regrettable Costco purchase not to be repeated. The label says Cargill of Minnesota, so there’s no way for a consumer to know the precise origin of this product. (Cargill is the same industrial food giant responsible for knowingly selling a slurry of slaughterhouse waste and ammonia labeled as “Chef Selection Angus Beef” frozen hamburgers to consumers, according to the New York Times.) The butter came from Maine. The apples came from a nearby orchard. To be honest, I’m not sure the origin of the sugars. I purchased them a while ago and immediately stored them in glass jars on the counter top, tossing the packaging. The honey also came from Massachusetts.