Photos: April McGreger

Christmas is on the horizon, and my kitchen has been turned into a mini cookie factory. Every inch of countertop is occupied by cookies in some process: mixing dough, rolling out dough, icing cookies, filling sandwich cookies, dusting cookies with powdered sugar, and packing cookies into boxes with red tissue paper. The scent of roasted pecans and powdered sugar transports me to my mother’s kitchen, where I began helping out with the holiday baking before I could even reach the countertop.

I rarely bake cookies the rest of the year, but come the holidays I can’t help myself. Some shop; some decorate; I bake.

Here are some of my favorite recipes.

Moravian Ginger Crisps

For North Carolinians, the height of the Christmas season is going to visit the historic Moravian village of Old Salem, NC. The Moravians are respected bakers, especially for their thin and crispy cookies, like these. Their shape may be delicate, but their spicy ginger flavor packs a punch. I usually skip the icing and as do the Moravians, but with a three-year-old nephew this year, I got the urge.

Makes 2-3 dozen cookies, depending on shape

1/2 stick unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
4 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 egg white
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
Royal icing, optional, recipe below

In a food processor or mixer, blend together butter, sugar, brown sugar, and molasses. Mix in egg white and fresh ginger. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Mix the dries into the butter mixture in two batches and until just combined. Form into a disc, wrap in plastic, and chill 6 hours or overnight.

Roll dough out between two pieces of plastic wrap or wax paper to 1/8-inch thick. Dip your cookie cutter into flour and cut the dough into shapes. Chill the cookie dough on a sheet pan in the freezer, if possible, for 10 minutes. Then bake about 8 minutes until the edges are golden brown. You may chill the scraps and reroll them.

Royal Icing

5 tablespoons meringue powder
1/3 cup water
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Beat all ingredients together at medium speed until just combined, about 1 minute. Turn mixer up to high and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a pastry bag with a fine tip or a plastic storage bag with the corner snipped and pipe as desired on cool cookies. Let icing set at least 1 hour.

Chocolate Cherry Schnecken

What the rest of the country calls rugelach, the Jewish communities of Philadelphia and Baltimore call schnecken, German for “snail.” They are so good I don’t know why they haven’t developed a larger following. Most commonly found in the rolled crescent shape, this method is easier and suits me best. Schnecken have long been a favorite of my husband’s family and have in recent years my mother has begun making requests for them, too. Many fillings exist, with cinnamon-spiced raisins or currants and walnuts being the most common. I chose this filling to satisfy my chocoholic husband. Feel free to experiment.

Makes about 15-18 cookies

For the cream cheese pastry

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, cool room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, cool room temperature
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg, beaten for glazing
Turbinado sugar

For the filling

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate, or 1/4 cup chocolate and 1/4 cup cocoa nibs, finely chopped
1/2 cup dried sour cherries, chopped

For pastry: sift together flour and salt. Cream the butter and cream cheese. Add flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Gather dough into a ball, form into a rectangle and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.

Make the filling: mix together all ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

Roll out the pastry: On a lightly floured work surface, or between two pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap, roll out the dough into a rectangle 8 inches wide, 16-18 inches long, and 1/4-inch thick.

Spread the filling over the dough, press it into the dough slightly and roll it up, starting from the short end. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or freeze.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cut the log into 3/4 inch thick slices and place on a parchment-lined baking tray. Brush the cookies with beaten egg and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Be careful not to burn the bottoms.

Snowball Cookies

Other than chocolate chip, these are the first cookies that I ever baked. Known elsewhere as Mexican wedding cookies, they are a standard Christmas cookie in my family by the name “snowballs.” My sweet tooth has waned of late, and this cookie seemed overly sweet. I have remedied the problem by browning the butter in this recipe, giving the cookie a toasty hint of bitterness and putting them back in the No. 1 spot.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
granulated sugar and powdered sugar for dusting

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the butter begins to brown and smell toasty, and the solids begin to stick to the bottom of the pan, 8-10 minutes. Let the mixture cool slightly, then transfer to the refrigerator to chill until firm.

In a food processor or with an electric mixer, cream the brown butter with the powdered sugar and salt until lighter in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in the flour and then the pecans. Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and roll them in granulated sugar. Shake off the excess.

Bake the cookies 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 12-15 minutes, or until the bottoms are light golden brown. Do not brown the tops and do not over-bake.

Cool completely, then toss in powdered sugar.

Chocolate Icebox Shortbread

I make these cookies with high-quality cocoa powder, which makes them seriously chocolately and aromatic. Their saltiness amps up the flavor even more. I shaped them in to modern petite rectangles, but you can cut them into whatever shape you choose. You can’t beat the convenience of slice-and-bake icebox cookies. You may never have to be more than 15 minutes away from home-baked cookies ever again.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies or 30 s
andwich cookies

3 sticks unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa
3/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream together butter and sugar with a wooden spoon or with a mixer until well-blended. Sift together the flour, cocoa, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and stir until just combined.

Form the dough into a rectangle about 1 1/2 thick. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. Cut the block of dough into two or three rectangular logs about 2 1/4 inches wide and 1 inch thick. Wrap the blocks of dough in plastic wrap and freeze until firm (or up to two months). Slice the cookies with a sharp knife into 1/4-inch thick slices. Place the cookies a 1/2-inch apart on a parchment-lined bake sheet. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, until firm, matte, and slightly puffed. The cookies will spread and their edges will touch while baking, but this is desired. You cookies will be more uniform and have straighter edges. Just separate your cookies with the edge of a spatula when cool. When the cookies cool, they should be crisp around the edges and slightly softer in the middle. If you’d like them crisper, you can bake them a few minutes longer.

You can alternatively roll out the dough between two pieces of waxed paper or plastic wrap and cut out cookies shapes. Space the shaped cookies 1 1/2 inches apart on the tray when baking.

These cookies are perfect just as they are, but also make delicious sandwich cookies with chestnut cream, mint buttercream with crushed peppermint edges, or chocolate ganache.

Sweet, tart: Heirloom sweet potatoes stand up to poblano peppers nicely.Photo: April McGreger

Tubery good: Sweet potatoes at a Jackson, Miss. farmers market.Photo: Natalie MaynorI’ve been called the patron saint of the sweet potato. I was born in the self-proclaimed “Sweet Potato Capital” of America, where every other family is in the business of sweet potato farming and the most exciting thing all year is the Sweet Potato Festival. My first job was working in the sweet potato fields, and sweet potatoes were as common on my family’s dinner table as potatoes are in the Midwest.

To me, the sweet potato is a very misunderstood vegetable, too often overshadowed in fall by the pumpkin and unfairly compared to the unrelated potato. Most people only think of the sweet potato between Halloween and Christmas, and then far too often as the clichéd marshmallow-topped casserole or pie. Any praise it gets is more often than not erroneously bestowed on the yam, which is simply a variety of sweet potato that Louisiana State University’s Ag Center began marketing as a sweeter, moister sweet potato in the 1930s. (True yams are large, starchy, bland tubers — sweet potatoes are roots — rarely seen outside of ethnic markets in the U.S.)

Completely unadorned, the sweet potato has enough natural sugars to satisfy any sweet tooth, and without the common adulteration, it offers generous nutritional benefits, with lots of complex carbohydrates and high fiber, vitamin C, B6, calcium, protein, and iron content. The vibrant orange-fleshed varieties provide healthy doses of beta-carotene (an immunity-boosting nutrient and precursor to vitamin A) as well.

Sweet potatoes come in a wide variety of colors, both inside and out, with varying textures, flavor notes, and degrees of sweetness. In recent years I’ve been happily exploring the less common, often heirloom varieties of sweet potato that have recently surfaced at my local farmers market. My favorite is the Mahon, or Bradshaw as it is sometimes called, which tastes of distinctly of butterscotch. I also like the All Purple, which is just that — vibrant purple inside and out — with a much drier, starchier texture than most sweet potatoes. It’s a great variety for making sweet potato fries, which brings me to the sweet potato’s amazing versatility.

Some of the easiest recipes for savory and healthy sweet potato sides involve little more than cutting up the sweet potato along with a little onion, or shallots, tossing it in olive oil, salt, pepper, and roasting at 400 degrees until tender, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. I like to chop up a bunch of mustard greens or kale and toss that with salt and pepper to add to the dish in the last 15 minutes of cooking.

But perhaps most of all I love to make savory sweet potato pies and tarts. Their texture is so lovely against a crispy, buttery crust, and the sweetness plays well against smoky, spicy, salty, and bright flavors. One of my favorite combinations is roasted sweet potato with olives, onions, feta, and harissa; or combining it with roasted peppers as I have done in the recipe below.

However, these are just suggestions. Your options for savory sweet potato pie are endless. Let your imagination and what’s available at your market guide you.

Savory Sweet Potato & Poblano Rustic Tart

If you don’t feel like making the pie crust, skip it. This dish would be great as a composed roasted sweet potato dish or cooked as a gratin or casserole. You could even bind the ingredients together with a custard as sort of a crustless quiche.

Makes one 9-inch pie

9-inch uncooked pie crust (recipe), rolled into a 10-inch diameter circle and refrigerated
3 medium sweet potatoes
3 to 4 medium poblano or Anaheim peppers (or substitute 1 tablespoon chopped canned chipotle peppers)
4 whole shallots or 2 small white onions, quartered
1/2 cup Mexican crema, or sour cream
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
a pinch of Mexican oregano
a pinch of cumin seeds
salt and pepper
wedge of lime

Wash the sweet potatoes well, pat dry, and prick with a fork several times.  Place on a baking pan with the shallots or onions. Drizzle the shallots or onions with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast at 400 degrees F until the sweet potatoes are very tender and beginning to caramelize. If the onions begin to burn before the sweet potatoes are done, remove them from the baking tray and set aside.

Cool cooked sweet potatoes completely.

When cool, slip the skins off the sweet potatoes and cut into rough 2-inch chunks. (This step can be done up to several days in advance.)

If you have a gas stove, roast the poblano peppers over direct flame until blistered and blackened all over. Otherwise, you can broil them until they begin to blister. Place in a paper bag or wrap in foil and set aside to cool. When cool, rub most of the charred skin off the peppers, deseed them, and — with your fingers, if your peppers aren’t of the hot variety — tear the peppers into strips. Set aside.

When your vegetables are cool, remove your pie crust from the refrigerator. Roll out and be sure to patch any holes. Drape your circle of dough over your rolling pin and transfer to a pizza pan or baking sheet if not already on one.

Spread the bottom of the crust with the crema or sour cream, leaving a 2-inch border around the outside of the crust.

Next, spread the sweet potato chunks, the onions or shallots and the pepper strips over the crema. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, cumin, oregano, the cilantro and the green onions.

Fold the edge of the dough up over the top of the filling, pleating the dough as you work your way around the circle.  Place the tart in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to firm up while you preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake the tart for 45 minutes or until the crust is dark golden brown. Remove from the oven, squeeze the lime wedge over the filling and allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Chop shop: A little advance prep saves lots of time.

If you’re like me, summer is chaos: traveling, packing and unpacking, and structureless days. Fall usually brings much-needed order — if I can spend the time to get organized and to regroup.

For me, cooler temperatures also mean a return to cooking. For me, Labor Day is the signal to get the kitchen ready for the season. My goals have been the same for years — I just try to hone in on them more every year. Like Grist’s resident Urbivore Jennifer Prediger, I want to eat out less, and eat more healthful, from-scratch, delicious meals. I want to buy seasonal, local food and waste less of it.

But for this to work with my busy schedule, I need to do all of this with a minimal amount of time and effort. I’m not alone in this struggle — endless headlines and TV shows tell us Americans just can’t find the time to cook for their families, and that’s why they turn to convenience foods and takeout.

Here’s the first way I can save you time: I’ve collected all my tried-and-true shortcuts for getting healthy food on the table, below:

1. Organize, organize, organize

Nothing slows cooking down like not being able to find the tools that you need to get the job done.

• Clean out the refrigerator, the freezer, the pantry, and your spices regularly.
• If you put up summer produce in the freezer or in jars in your pantry, make sure you know what you have and plan to use it.
• Remember that you won’t use what you can’t see. For that reason, invest in clear glass containers for storing food in the refrigerator, and for extra credit, use masking tape and a permanent marker to label them with the contents and the date it was made or prepped.
• Organize your tools and utensils by how and where you do most of cooking. I like to keep my most used utensils and spices right beside the stove so they are easily at reach when I am cooking.
• Keep your countertops clear and your kitchen clean. If your countertop is cluttered, your refrigerator overcrowded, or your sink full of dirty dishes; you’re less likely to cook. Even if you do, you’ll be wasting a lot of time cleaning up and looking for things.

Zest for life: A microplane comes in handy a lot.(Photo courtesy of ccharmon via Flickr)2. Invest in a few good tools

There’s not much that you can’t cook with a good, sharp chef’s knife and a good-size cutting board. (I find that many people have these tiny cutting boards — great for quartering a lemon, but inadequate for making dinner.) There are a few additional small tools that I use on a daily basis that really speed things up in the kitchen and produce great results.

• Microplaner: I keep mine right beside the stove, where I use it for grating lemon peel, cheese, garlic, nutmeg, and other spices.
• Large mortar and pestle: I use mine to make pesto and other herb purees, to coarsely grind fresh toasted spices, to make guacamole, to smash garlic with a little salt before making garlic mayo or other garlicky sauces.
• Mandolin: These devices do require a good bit of caution to use without nicking your fingertips, but they make slicing cucumbers, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, etc. thinly and uniformly a snap. While French mandolins tend to be ridiculously expensive and complicated, the economical and small Japanese mandolins can be found in most Asian markets for under $20.
• Handheld immersion blender: I use mine to puree winter squash or other creamy vegetable soups right in the soup pot. I also use it regularly for making yogurt and fresh fruit smoothies. Avoid the models with lots of extra attachments, they aren’t worth the expense.

3. Have a plan, and learn the art of food prep

Thinking ahead makes a big difference in the quality of food that I eat. I like to set aside about an hour and a half after a trip to the farmers market to prep food for up to a week of quick, easy, delicious meals and snacks.

Last Saturday, I was vacationing at the beach with my family. I came back from the market with a wealth of produce: green and wax beans, peaches, plums, broccoli, butternut squash, watermelon, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, two heads of romaine, a variety of eggplants, summer squash, sweet red and yellow peppers, sweet onions, red onions, and lots of fresh herbs. The first thing I did was make a list of what to do with all the produce. I was planning to feed eight adults and children for a week, as well so it might look intimidating, but you’ll at least see the process. It looked something like this:

First, the week’s menu: Crudites with yogurt-herb dip, grilled vegetables and corn on the cob (to be served with grilled chicken), quinoa salad with roasted broccoli and winter squash, tomato and watermelon salad (see my savory Fourth of July salads post), fresh corn salad, bean salad, baba ghanoush, marinated pepper salad, simple cucumber salad, faro salad with grilled vegetables, and peach & plum crisp.

After the plan was in place, I enlisted my husband to help with washing, peeling, and chopping. In the restaurant world, we call this step of getting everything ready by the French term, mise en place, which translates literally as “everything in place.” It is a tremendously useful process for making cooking a manageable, quick, and low-stress task.

Our tasks:

• Trim and blanch green and wax beans — some for salad, some for crudites with yogurt-herb dip.
• Roast half of the broccoli and butternut, and mix with cooked quinoa, thinly sliced red onion, vinaigrette, and herbs for salad.
• Blanch remaining broccoli in the same water used for blanching green beans and use for crudites with yogurt-herb dip.
• Chunk watermelon and tomatoes for salad; dice a small tomato for fresh corn salad; cut remaining watermelon into chunks for snacking.
• Cut cucumbers into batons for crudites/dipping, dice some cucumber for adding to corn salad, slice four to five cucumbers into thin rounds for cucumber salad.
• Prep eight ears of corn for the grill by removing corn silks (but not husks!); cut corn off six ears for fresh corn salad.
• Wash and salad-spin two heads of romaine; place in a lettuce bag.
• Slice two large eggplant, four summer squash, and three sweet onions into 3/4-inch thick slices for grilling; reserve two more eggplant for grilling/charring whole. (The grilled eggplant will get mashed with salt, garlic, tahini and lemon juice for baba ghanoush.)
• Slice two red or yellow peppers into strips for crudites/dipping, dice one for corn salad, and reserve four to five more for the grill. (They’ll get mixed with fresh garlic, salt, pepper, parsley, and red wine vinaigrette for marinated sweet pepper salad.)
• Cut two red onions in half from root to tip; slice three halves very thinly for quinoa salad, watermelon salad, and cucumber salad; dice the fourth half for adding to c
  orn salad.
• Chop a whole head of garlic.
• Make herbed-yogurt dip for crudites and for a sauce for grilled eggplant.
• Make red-wine vinaigrette.
• Cook 1 cup faro and toss with 2 teaspoons of vinaigrette and fresh herbs to have ready for leftover grilled vegetables.
• Make oat-crisp topping and freeze to have ready for impromptu fresh fruit desserts

With his help washing, chopping and peeling for 45 minutes, I finished my list in less than two hours — and for the rest of the week we had fresh vegetables and salads at our fingertips, which greatly cut down on the prep for each individual meal.

4. Always eke out two (or three) meals from one

I rarely prepare from-scratch meals one at a time, especially if I am cooking for just me or the two of us. That’s very inefficient both from a labor and energy perspective.

• If I make soup, I make a large enough batch that half can go in the freezer for next week — ditto for tomato sauce, chili, and pesto. I will often portion soups into 2-cup containers for freezing: the perfect healthy grab-and-go lunch. Cooked oatmeal also freezes well for quick breakfasts.
• If I make a pot of beans, some become soup, some become bean salad, and some become dip or a topping for crostini.
• If we fire up the grill, I always grill two or three times what we will eat that night. Grilled vegetables get chopped and mixed with quinoa or faro for salads; I’ll even throw on a couple of whole eggplant and peppers to char for baba ghanoush and marinated roasted red peppers; leftover grilled chicken becomes chicken salad or tacos, leftover grilled fish gets mixed with egg, onion, herbs, and breadcrumbs to become tomorrow’s fish cakes.
• Also, if I use my oven, I feel like I have to fill it up to save both time and energy. If I bring a pot of water to a boil to blanch green beans, I’ll go ahead and blanch greens, broccoli, or boil potatoes all in the same water, successively. I might even save that vegetable blanching water to use as broth for soup.

5. Learn a few good sauces or condiments by heart

I’ve found that you can eat very, very simply and still tantalize your taste buds by relying on a few good sauces for variety. In addition to the yogurt-herb dip and a good sharp vinaigrette mentioned above, I constantly rely on homemade mayo, homemade salsas, and kimchi. You can vary all of these sauces infinitely to suit your needs, your taste, and to a large extent the ingredients you have on hand.

6. Practice self-preservation

Spending time “putting up” fresh produce in the summer buys you time later, especially if you’re smart about what you put up in the first place. Instead of putting up whole canned tomatoes, why not cook those tomatoes down into your favorite tomato sauce or into flavor-packed roasted tomatoes? You’ll be one step closer to getting dinner on the table.  

Got any additional labor-, time-, and/or energy-saving kitchen? Share them with us in the comments section!

Next: Recipes for Basic Vinaigrette, Herbed Yogurt Dip, Cucumber and Corn Salads

(April McGreger photos)

I am certainly not the first person to derive inspiration from a fig tree. The ancients wrote poetry and sang songs about figs; Buddha attained enlightenment while sitting under a fig tree; and fig trees are one of the first plants mentioned in the Bible, as well as the subject of more than one Biblical parable.

While we have established that figs are my muse as well as the ancients’, I haven’t yet mentioned their exquisite taste. Eating fresh figs is so sensual that it practically makes me blush. It is an experience that I missed out on for most of my life, since I almost always ate them cooked. The juicy, fleshy texture and musky sweetness with hints of grass, vanilla, and honey have been truly a revelation to me in recent years. Likewise, our Southeastern figs are so perishable, and their season so brief, that savoring them at that perfect moment of ripeness feels incredibly fortuitous. 

As remarkable as a fresh fig may be, in the South it is the preserved fig that reigns supreme. We do not make fig jam, but instead preserve our small Brown Turkey and Celeste varieties whole in a syrup flavored with paper-thin slices of lemon and ginger. There is no pleasure greater than eating a hot buttermilk biscuit halved, buttered and topped with a perfect syrupy fig, alongside a fresh cup of coffee sitting at the table at your mama’s house.

Now, in my rural Mississippi experience, that is as far as we got with our fig repertoire. We never had more figs than we could use for our single, favorite purpose.

Living here in North Carolina, however, I find myself neighboring the center of the East Coast fig universe. In coastal North and South Carolina, figs are so plentiful that people make fig cobblers and fig ice cream, and have adapted the widespread Southern tradition of jam cake (which my grandmother always made with blackberry preserves) to their prized fig preserves. I am not sure where the fig cake originated, but it is certainly nowhere more popular than on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. There it is made into bundt cakes and more elaborate layer cakes with cream-cheese frosting. If you’re lucky you might even find it sold by the slice on the counter of the local fish market.

On the North Carolina coast, fig trees dot the landscape. Countless beach rentals on Ocracoke Island have a fig tree planted next to the cottage, but the tourists are mostly gone before the figs begin to ripen. (You can add fig season to your list of reasons to wait until August or September to take your Carolina beach vacation.)

Come August, locals round them all up for making enormous quantities of whole fig preserves. Some families make a quart of fig preserves for every week of the year and put them on the table at each meal. Most of the preserves are baked into cakes, eaten on hot biscuits, given away as gifts, and sold to locals and expatriates. By Christmastime, the best ones are gone until the next fig harvest.

I first stumbled onto to the legendary Ocracoke Island Fig Cake in Nancie McDermott’s charming book, Southern Cakes. I highly recommend it to all the bakers out there, particularly if you’re interested in regional cakes with a compelling history in this world of baking anonymity. Below, I have adapted McDermott’s wonderful, decadent cake to something a bit more healthful but just as delicious. I use whole-grain flour, cut back slightly on the amount of oil, double the amount of preserves, and cut out the additional sugar altogether. I also halve the amount of spices called for because I appreciate their subtlety and prefer that the spiciness of the cake doesn’t mask the fig flavor.

In addition, I couldn’t resist following the wisdom of folks on Hatteras Island who, according to Elizabeth Weigand in The Outer Banks Cookbook, put their own twist on the fig cake by adding a shot of whiskey to the batter.

My wholesome version of this storied cake makes a perfect brunch or snack cake. If you’re looking for more decadence, slather it with your favorite cream-cheese frosting like the folks on Ocracoke Island do for special occasions.

(April McGreger photos)

We all know the 4th of July routine: fireworks, grilling, and all-American pies for dessert. But unlike Thanksgiving, no side dishes traditionally stand out. This year, don’t get stuck eating potato salad or tri-color pasta from plastic deli containers. Instead, give fruit salads a chance to redeem themselves.

Forget that big heaping bowl of generic, soulless, supermarket fruit that you pass right over at potlucks. If fruit salad to you seems more like a lackluster dessert or brunch dish than a smashing summer side, let me assure you that you just haven’t met these fruit salads — savory combinations that will charm your tastebuds.

As a child I may have been baffled by my father sprinkling black pepper on his wedge of cantaloupe, but one summer spent in the Yucatan after college enlightened me. There I learned to love black-pepper-kissed mangoes with a sip of good tequila, and the ubiquitous taco-stand treat of cayenne-pepper-and-lime-spiked mango on a stick.

Others have likely had similar epiphanies through fruit chaat, the magical Indian street fare comprising assorted seasonal fruits tossed with salt, mint, lemon juice, and chaat masala. Yes, it seems that in much of world, fruit is no stranger to the savory treatment.

Though Americans have been slow to discover how the sweetness and tartness of fruit is heightened in contrast to pepper, vinegar, and salt, why waste another day? These recipes come from one of my favorite people, Bill Smith, chef of Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and the author of the charming cookbook, Seasoned in the South. Crooks Corner is hands down my favorite neighborhood restaurant any time of year, but it is in summer that Bill Smith’s menu really shines. He has a deft hand with summer fruits and vegetables, and I usually make a meal out of two or three of his seasonal salads. Two of my favorites, featured here, are savory fruit salads. Try them, and I bet they’ll end up in your repertoire ever after.  

And once you’ve started down this path, you won’t be able to stop yourself — the possibilities are endless. Be sure to check out my suggested variations at the bottom of the recipes, and please, share your own favorite twists on savory fruit salads in the comments.

Bill Smith’s Green Peach Salad with Black Pepper & Mint

This salad makes the perfect accompaniment to grilled chicken, barbecued tempeh or tofu, and ribs.  I also love it served on top of a bed of arugula or other spicy greens with goat cheese and maybe a handful of roasted and salted almonds. The salad is also good with ripe peaches, but really it’s the perfect solution for what to do with those first of the season, less than perfect peaches. Serves 4-6

2 1/2 pounds of underripe peaches, peeled and sliced as for a pie
A scant 1/4 cup sugar, optional (*April’s note – I always omit the sugar and don’t miss it one bit!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (*I add another ¼ teaspoon of black pepper for a little kick)
2 tablespoons robust flavored extra-virgin olive oil, such as a Greek or Lebanese
2 tablespoons fresh mint chiffonade (cut into ribbons)

Toss the peaches with the sugar, if using, and the salt. Let sit for 10 minutes. Fold in pepper, olive oil, and mint. Serve cold within a few hours of preparation, as it will become mushy overnight.

Variations: Nectarines, plums, pluots, mango, and cantaloupe can all stand in ably for peaches.

Bill Smith’s Tomato & Watermelon Salad

This salad is amazingly refreshing when served very cold. It is good by itself and with anything, but really shines next to grilled fish or steak. Serves 4-6

5 cups ripe, bite-sized watermelon chunks, seeded as best you can
1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, in bite-sized chunks
3 teaspoons sugar, optional (*I leave it out, and it’s just as delicious!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small red onion, peeled, quartered, and very thinly sliced
1/2 cup red wine vinegar (*If omitting the sugar, reduce the vinegar to 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup good, robust-flavored extra-virgin olive oil (*If omitting the sugar, reduce the olive oil to 2 tablespoons)

Toss the melon and tomatoes with sugar and salt. Let sit for 15 minutes. Then fold in onions, vinegar, and olive oil. Serve very cold. This salad is amazingly refreshing.

More variations:

• Replace the watermelon and tomatoes with cantaloupe and peeled cucumbers. Top with 4 oz crumbled goat cheese and fresh black pepper.
• Add good quality feta crumbles for a salty punch and herbs such as basil, mint, or dill.
• Replace the watermelon with roasted and quartered baby beets. Replace the tomatoes with fresh raspberries or chopped red plums or sour cherries, but wait and fold them last, very gently. Just before serving, top with chunks of gorgonzola dulce. So good!

April McGreger photos

Ask me about my favorite foods, and I will inevitably list my favorite food experiences — all of which, by no coincidence, are cooked or eaten outside: boiled peanuts, barbecue, fried crappie, roasted oysters, boiled shrimp, watermelon, and homemade ice cream.

Everything tastes better outdoors. With sun on our face and a warm breeze on our skin, our senses are heightened and our appetites are primed, making even the simplest piece of ripe fruit taste divine. As an added bonus, eating meals outdoors means a free pass on customary table manners. No one looks twice if you eat with your hands, lick barbecue sauce off your fingers, spit watermelon seeds, or have ice cream dribbling down your chin. This sort of carefree attitude makes people happy.

It wasn’t until I moved away from my family that I realized just how much my life’s worth of outdoor cooking and eating was thanks to my father. I missed his fish fries and peanut boils so much that I asked for an outdoor cooker last Christmas to start similar traditions of my own. I still have only a small hibachi grill, so mastering the art of perfectly grilled, crispy-skinned, whole chicken or slow-roasted, hickory-smoked pork shoulder will have to wait another year.

For now, I’ve turned my focus to ice cream.

After spending years as a pastry chef, I’ve made ice cream many times. However, until recently I was more familiar with Italian gelato machines than old-fashioned backyard ice cream freezers. A while ago, I inherited a little Cuisinart automatic ice cream maker for home use, but it did not inspire me, or satisfy my craving for the ice cream making experience. I wanted to go outside to churn my ice cream. I wanted to layer the ice and ice cream salt just so and wrap a towel around the top of the bucket to insulate it, just like I’d seen my father and my grandfather do. And I wanted to make enough ice cream to share.

For that’s the other most important factor in the enjoyment of food: friends and family with whom to share it. Eating a pint of Ben & Jerry’s alone is one thing, but eating homemade ice cream alone is just sad!

Unfortunately I won’t be spending this Father’s Day, next Sunday, with my father, but he’ll be my ice cream muse. I’ll gather some friends, honor the dads among them with a little homemade ice cream, and make wide-eyed and exuberant children out of all of us.

Blueberries are in season right now on the warmer coasts.

Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream

Here’s an ice cream recipe that makes use of one of my dad’s and my favorite summer fruits. Blueberries are showing up at farmers markets and backyards all over the Southeast and West coasts right about now. If they haven’t made it to your climate zone yet, consider yourself lucky to still be in strawberries, which make a very fine substitute in this recipe.

I prefer a cooked custard ice cream base, which is pretty simple to make but does take a bit of thinking ahead, as you’ll need to prepare your base and refrigerate it for at least four hours before you churn it. If you think that’s too much trouble or you’re more of a spontaneous cook, I’ve included a no-cook recipe for ice cream as well. Some also might prefer the pure fruit flavor to the richness of cooked eggs.

I love to add a little buttermilk to accentuate the tart fruit flavor in ice creams, but you can just use more half-and-half, or a little yogurt if you don’t have buttermilk on hand. I think lime has a particular affinity for blueberries and have called for lime juice in the recipe here, but lemon would be lovely as well. Feel free to experiment — that’s half the fun. Just remember to eat your ice cream outside!

2 pints blueberries
8 large egg yolks
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar (I used raw, unprocessed sugar, with good results)
¼ teaspoon salt
3 ½ cups half and half
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 ½ cups buttermilk
Mint leaves for garnish (optional)

Place blueberries in a food processor or blender with half of the sugar and process to a chunky puree. (Reserve a few blueberries for garnish.) Set aside.

Place the half-and-half in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat.

Separate egg yolks into a mixing bowl; whisk in the rest of the sugar and the salt.

When the half-and-half mixture is steaming — but not boiling! — ladle a cup of the hot mixture into your egg yolks while whisking constantly. Then pour your tempered egg yolks back into your saucepan of hot half-and-half, whisking constantly.

With a wooden spoon, stir the ice cream mixture constantly while cooking over medium heat until the custard thickens and coats the back of your wooden spoon, or reaches 170°F. (Note: The custard should not exceed 175° F or your eggs will curdle. If this happens, all is not lost. You can strain your “scrambled” custard through a fine-meshed sieve, allow it to cool, and then process it in your blender until smooth.)

Immediately strain your custard into a heat-resistant storage container, or directly into your ice cream maker’s canister, unless it is one of the pre-frozen ones. Allow it to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then stir in the buttermilk, lime juice, and pureed blueberries. Refrigerate until very cold, or about four hours. The ice cream base can be made up to two days ahead.

Churn your ice cream following your ice cream maker manufacturer’s instructions. Garnish with mint.

Immediate Gratification Blueberry Ice Cream

2 pints blueberries
1 ½ cups sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
¼ teaspoon salt
3 ½ cups heavy cream
¾ cup buttermilk
Mint leaves for garnish (optional)

Puree the blueberries with the sugar in your food processor or blender until chunky, reserving a few for garnish. Mix in the rest of the ingredients, and churn according to your ice cream maker manufacturer’s instructions. Garnish with mint.

The addition of spring greens makes this Vietnamese-style caramelized catfish a complete meal.(April McGreger photos)

Recently I visited my family in Mississippi, where I dodged tornadoes and lamented flooded fields of corn and soybeans and the many farmers who’ve gone bust. The one thing that distracted us from the immediate crises in the northern half of the state was the abominable news coming from our neighbors to the south. The television constantly blasted updates on the Gulf oil spill — the consequences of which we found hard to fathom, when so many residents are still barely hanging on from Katrina.

The region seems more insecure and unsettled than any other time in my memory. Farmers are baffled by the severe weather of recent years and the new diseases that have led to three consecutive bad harvests. Fishermen and the entire tourism industry of the Gulf States are on the brink of bankruptcy. Many families are reconsidering their summer beach trips and wondering if they’ve enjoyed their last Gulf shrimp and oysters for a while. In these instances, people are personally experiencing the environmental destruction caused by reckless pursuit of short-term corporate profits over safety and long-term environmental and economic health.

I see potential here. The time is ripe to usher in the era of Southern environmentalism. Who’s in charge of protecting the environment that is our greatest resource? Whether it is coal fields, timber forests, fertile farmland, or our incredibly rich Gulf, the South’s natural resources have always been the basis of our economy. When those resources are not handled responsibly, economic disaster is inevitable.

These disasters provide us an opportunity to focus on how we can support healthy oceans, healthy farmland, and their subsequent economies sustainably. The South has historically been weak in its environmental activism. Forbes issued a ranking of America’s “greenest states” three years ago: Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana were in the bottom five. So how do we channel these current widespread feelings of vulnerability and insufficient government protections into action? According to Gil Rogers of the Southern Environmental Law Center, there is an environmental movement now growing in South, and it is unique. At the state and local level, alliances are forming between conservative Republicans, hunters, and environmentalists. These environmental activists are often motivated by a personal connection to a piece of land that they have seen decimated in their lifetimes.

The first thing that we can do is demand that the Obama administration call a halt to offshore drilling immediately. As Derb Carter, director of the Carolinas office at the Southern Environmental Law Center, says, “The only proven approach that protects our coastlines from oil spills is not to drill. It’s a painful lesson to relearn each time spills happen, and hard-working people and productive coastal areas bear the brunt of lasting effects. As we’re unfortunately witnessing now, it only takes one oil spill — regardless of cause — to devastate the beauty, rich cultural traditions, communities, and fisheries and wildlife of a coast for years.”

Next, we must insist that money is invested in developing green energy, which will provide both increased economic and national security. This is the least costly and most environmentally friendly solution to our current energy crisis, along with curbing demand through increased energy efficiency and conservation.

It is too early to tell just how badly the spill will affect the Gulf fishing industry, but Jacqueline Savitz of Oceana told the Washington Post that the spill poses a threat to the safety of eating fish and shellfish for many years to come, since oil-based contaminants are known to accumulate in the food chain, along with their associated elevated cancer and neurological risks. (Then there’s the problem of the clean-up chemicals possibly being worse than the oil itself, as Tom Philpott has explored here.) Hopefully, the spill can be contained before the entire Gulf fishing and shrimp industry faces economic collapse.

In the meantime, we can sate our cravings for seafood with responsibly farmed and environmentally friendly, U.S. farm-raised catfish. The Monterey Bay Aquarium lists U.S. farm-raised catfish as a Best Choice on its Seafood Watch list, and Grist’s Lou Bendrick has previously explored catfish’s pros and cons in depth.

Everything you need for this sweet and savory dishIn this recipe, I’m tipping my hat to the large Vietnamese-fishing communities on the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts, some of whom will bear the brunt of this disaster for years to come. Let’s remember them and the rest of the fishing community when we’re holding BP accountable for the damage done. (Southern Foodways Alliance has a terrific oral history collection of Biloxi’s ethnic shrimping communities.)

Vietnamese-style Caramelized Catfish

Serves 3-4

This dish is traditionally made in a clay pot, and I highly recommend them. However, it is equally delicious when cooked in an enameled cast iron or other heavy-duty pot. This is a quick and easy weeknight dish, but definitely special enough for company. I couldn’t resist adding some tender spring greens, in this case spinach, to make it a complete meal along with some steamed rice. A cool and refreshing cucumber-mint salad would be delicious alongside. For a vegetarian version, substitute Japanese eggplant, tofu, tempeh, or even portobello mushrooms for the catfish, and two tablespoons tamari soy sauce for the fish sauce.

Note that the sauce for this dish is intensely flavored and meant to be served with unseasoned rice. If you are salt-shy, you can reduce the fish sauce called for to two tablespoons.

2 tablespoons palm sugar or raw cane sugar (such as turbinado)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Serrano pepper, or jalapeño cut in half lengthwise (optional)
½ cup water or coconut water (not coconut milk!)
3 tablespoons fish sauce
12 ounces catfish fillets, cut into 1-inch-wide strips
4 scallions, cut into 1-inch-long pieces
Handful of cilantro leaves (optional)
2 cups fresh spinach leaves (optional)
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a heavy bottomed, non-reactive pot, place the sugar and ¼ cup of the water. Cover with the lid and bring to a boil over high heat. After a few minutes remove the lid and continue cooking until the sugar begins to burn. It will smell burnt and should just begin to smoke. (Burning the sugar is what gives this dish its incredible smoky flavor, so don’t be afraid!)

Immediately add the sliced shallots, garlic, and the Serrano pepper. Toss to coat with the caramel, then quickly add the water, fish sauce, and the catfish filets. Turn the catfish to coat with the sauce, then cover the pot and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Uncover and cook for 2-3 more minutes, until the sauce has thickened.

Take the pan off heat and add the scallions, cilantro, spinach, and black pepper. Toss to coat with the sauce and serve immediately with steamed rice.

Why can’t a revolution based on traditional Appalachian foodways be televised?Photo: April McGreger

Having watched the first three episodes, I’ve been thinking a lot about Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution” TV Show. Who can argue with his efforts to get fresh food into West Virginia’s schools? No doubt, the pantries and fridges in most school cafeterias need to be purged and restocked.

However, from what I can tell so far, our imported food revolutionary could stand to slow down and think a little bit harder about what he’s up to.

First, Oliver has demonstrated little knowledge of (or interest in) the traditional food culture of the region whose people he has set out to “save.” Over the decades, Southern Appalachians have been plagued by many well meaning do-gooders who wanted to teach those poor, underprivileged folks how to act more civilized–and eat better. Problem is, time and again, those reformers proved to be wrong.

According to the scholar and Appalachian native Elizabeth Engelhardt, for example, public health officials in the early 20th century targeted cornbread as the latest source of diet-based diseases in the South. Activists set out to create a social revolution in Appalachia by switching mountain women from cornbread to beaten biscuits, the symbol of aristocratic Southern cooking, for which their efforts were sardonically christened the “Beaten Biscuit Crusade.”

These biscuits required prohibitively expensive wheat flour, elaborate middle-class equipment– including a marble slab and modern ovens– and much more labor and time than their common cornbread. Beaten biscuits became an aspirational dish, separating the privileged from the poor and—following now discredited public-heath logic–the healthy from the unhealthy.

On the contrary, replacing whole-grain, freshly milled cornmeal with chemically bleached, nutrient-stripped, shelf-stable industrial flour proved nothing but detrimental to Appalachian health. You need only watch Appalshop’s 1977 documentary Waterground, about fifth-generation miller Walter Winebarger, to know that traditional wisdom foresaw this sad outcome.

Cornbread is just one of a long list of other traditional foods that were replaced with inferior industrial ones–many of which succeeded through propaganda campaigns. Lard from pastured hogs was demonized (largely by nutritionists funded by the vegetable oil industry) and replaced by now-maligned partially hydrogenated vegetable shortening, touted for its “purity.” Fresh-churned butter gave way to another trans-fat bomb, margarine. Much-beloved, live-cultured, and naturally low-fat buttermilk was banished in favor of inert, homogenized, pasteurized, growth hormone-injected, high-fat milk. Wholesome beans, greens, and cornbread gave way to sad casseroles based on canned soup and highly processed “cheese food.”

Overall, I worry that Oliver’s “Food Revolution” show obscures the fact that our food crisis is a symptom of underlying structural problems. In Appalachia, the government watched idly while the coal industry grabbed control of the region’s abundant natural resources. Widespread erosion of topsoil, contamination of drinking water, devastation of forests, and gut-wrenching destruction of the world’s oldest mountain range has resulted. The area remains in dire need of environmental protection. Is it any wonder why its economy is in ruins and the people in Huntington, West Virginia, are the unhealthiest in the country, as Oliver repeatedly reminds us?

Then there’s the workers’ rights crisis. Since stagnant wages compelled many women to leave the household and go to work a generation ago, who is supposed to make the from-scratch meals Oliver talks about? Many working mothers are on the clock until 5 or 6 o’clock. Add to that a long commute that many families endure to find jobs, and there is just no way. The system is unsustainable. Long hours at sedentary jobs with fast-food lunches produce unhealthy parents who then produce unhealthy children.

Moreover, the outrageous school district nutrition guidelines that Oliver struggles with are just one of a whole host of government policies that prop up the industrial food system that supplies most school cafeterias.

Our food system’s problems run deep–and the solutions won’t come easy. However, we can begin by recognizing, celebrating, and supporting wholesome, traditional foodways. They hang on despite being ground down by industrialization. Here, we find much-needed common ground between two often opposed groups–the liberal outsider and the mountain old-timer. This partnership could provide the fire for a real, lasting food revolution–one that heals Appalachian people, Appalachian economies, and Appalachian environments.

In that spirit, here are a couple of recipes meant to fuel a food revolution while celebrating mountain food culture, clean and healthy environments, and glorious spring!

(Next page: Recipe for Spring Vegetable Cornbread ).

Collard greens, pork stock, and corn dumplings soak in the rich broth of history.  (Photos by April McGreger)

Recently I was one of more than 1,000 Southern farmers, chefs, and co-producers attending the Georgia Organics Conference in Athens, Ga. The theme of the conference was “Reclaiming Agriculture,” with the spotlight on “culture.” The keynote speaker, Slow Food International founder Carlo Petrini, gave an inspiring speech calling on all there to remember that Slow Food‘s mission is not simply to support local food, but to preserve local, cultural food practices. He suggested that if we can reconnect food to culture, we can restore a healthy relationship with food. He stressed that we must get back to the place where food is sacred, with important ties to both family and religion, just as animals were sacred to the hunter gatherers thousands of years ago.

One of the greatest problems with our current industrialized food system, Petrini argued, is that we have become so preoccupied with price that we have forgotten all about value. He suggested that we combat the higher price of good, clean, and fair food by valuing it more and wasting less. Currently 22,000 tons of food are wasted daily in the United States. No wonder we insist on it being cheap; we are buying twice as much as we need.

Carlo Petrini inspires farmers and cooks in GeorgiaPetrini challenged us to take a hard look into our refrigerators, where we were sure to find “parsley begging for mercy,” and encouraged us to be less wasteful cooks. He called on chefs and home cooks alike to bring back the art of recycling leftovers, invoking the great Italian peasant soup ribollita, which is made from yesterday’s leftover beans, greens, and bread. He also praised Georgia’s collard greens, which he called “a monument to Georgia.” The greens are resilient and easy to grow, cooked in a rich pork broth made of less desirable cuts of pork or various pork scraps, and served with simple, aromatic corn bread for a satisfying meal.

“Who is the 3-star Michelin chef who invented this dish?” Petrini teased, encouraging us to recognize the wisdom and resourcefulness of the traditional culture from which the dish arose. “I want to travel the world and speak of your collard greens,” he exclaimed to a laughing — but proud — Georgia audience.  

Petrini’s words struck a chord with me. I have long been troubled by how the environmental and good-food movements in the U.S. largely ignore traditional food knowledge and culture. So today I offer you a recipe for soup that is delicious, nutritious, economical, resourceful, recycled, and an ingenious product of my traditional food culture.

The basis of the soup is what we in the South refer to as potlikker, a mineral-rich broth leftover from cooking a pot of greens that was born out of privation. It is said to have its origins amongst slaves who had to feed their own families with the leftovers from the big house. Little did the well-to-do masters know, they were tossing out the most nutritious part of their pot of greens.

Regardless of its origins, potlikker and greens are an important and beloved dish for all Southerners, regardless of class or race. Those nutritionists who scold us for boiling all the nutrients out of our food do not understand the way we eat. We know well the value of the potlikker, and we relish it ladled over a wedge of crispy cornbread. We save it for the makings of tomorrow’s soup. We’re even known to sip it in a juice glass alongside our supper. We use it to make cornmeal dumplings (see recipe below), also known as Indian dumplings, as they were one of the first foods English settlers in coastal Virginia and North Carolina learned to make from Indians. This dish has persevered for 400 years (though admittedly gets scarcer every year) and is most commonly found on top of a pot of greens.

Here, with these historic Southern dishes, I proudly salute the American Indians, slave cooks, and homesteaders with whom these dishes originated, as well as my grandparents and my parents who made sure to pass the love and value of these foods on to me. I for one am happier eating potlikker soup with corn dumplings at my Mama’s house than eating in the finest Michelin-starred restaurants in France. 

Homemade corn dumplings turn potlikker soup into a satisfying meal. Potlikker Soup with Greens, Turnips, and Corn Dumplings

The cooking liquid from yesterday’s mess (the Southern term to designate a potful of greens), is often recycled as a base for soup (along with any leftover greens). Here, however, we start from scratch.

1 bunch of greens: collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, kale, or chard
1 medium to large turnip or rutabaga
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
~ 1 teaspoon salt, depending on the saltiness of your pork stock
Rich Pork Stock, recipe below (you may substitute a stock made from simmering a several parmesan rinds, a smoked turkey wing stock, or a rich chicken stock)
Corn Dumplings, recipe below

Bring the pork stock to a simmer in a large soup pot. Wash your greens well. Remove tough stems and cut large leaves in half lengthwise. Julienne the greens so that you have thin strips about 3 inches long and 1/8-inch wide. Add greens to the pork stock.

Peel and dice the turnip and add it to the stock along with the chopped onion, garlic, bay leaf, crushed red pepper, and salt to the stock.  Cover and simmer the soup about 1 hour and 15 minutes. You may need to add a bit more water if your soup looks too thick. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and black pepper as needed.

Make dumpling batter (see below). Drop the batter by the teaspoonful into the simmering broth. Cover the pot and cook until the dumplings are firm and cooked through, about 12-15 minutes. Serve with pepper sauce (pepper-spiked vinegar) or hot sauce.

Rich Pork Stock

3 smoked ham hocks or 6 pieces of bacon or a ham bone and a few ham scraps
10 cups water

In a soup pot, place the ham hocks and cover with the water. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer for about 2 to 2.5 hours. Strain the broth and discard the hocks or other seasoning meats. You should have about 8 cups of stock.

Corn Dumplings

Makes about 20 dumplings

1 cup of white or yellow, fine or medium cornmeal
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup hot potlikker
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped scallions or onion (optional)

Mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Stir in potlikker, a little at a time, to make smooth batter that is stiff enough to hold together. Vigorously stir in the egg, then fold in the scallions or onions. Let the batter rest for a few minutes.

Now that’s a hole lot of love. All photos by April McGreger

I’m no fan of the hyped-up consumerist, romantic fantasy of Valentine’s Day. But I won’t stand between you, your chocolate, and your special friend. Forget the box of candy from the drugstore; I’m promoting Valentine’s Day as a chance to spread a little love through baking. Let us rise to the chocolate challenge! What could be better than handmade chocolate truffles or a luscious chocolate cake? Well, how about … chocolate for breakfast?

This year Valentine’s Day falls on a Sunday, and that makes it an opportunity to combine two of my favorite things — chocolate and brunch. After considering an array of possibilities, chocolate-filled doughnuts captured my imagination.

Doughnuts are an old love of mine. As child, there was nothing that delighted me more than waking up at my grandparents’ house to a dozen doughnuts that my grandfather had procured from the local doughnut shop while I slept. I could never decide in those days which doughnut was my favorite, the cinnamon twist or the chocolate glazed. I would have one of each, taking a bite of one, then the other. It dawned on me that a spiced chocolate doughnut would be the ultimate for me.

Putting the art in “I [heart] you.”There was only one problem to fanning the flames of this old love: I’d outgrown it. These days, store-bought doughnuts — heavy, greasy, tooth-achingly sweet — make me feel terrible. I had to find a new and improved fried pastry that would treat me right. All the recent snow in North Carolina has given me time to move beyond wheat flour and experiment with alternative grains. My new favorite: spelt.

Despite misconceptions, spelt isn’t gluten-free, but it is much lower in gluten and easier to digest than regular wheat. This makes it suitable for many people with minor wheat sensitivities. Spelt is very nutritious as well. It is a superb source of fiber and B-complex vitamins and contains special carbohydrates that stimulate the immune system.

It is also higher in protein than commercial wheat — and, its high water solubility allows its superior nutrients to be easily absorbed by the body. And since it’s been in agricultural production for 9,000 years old, we know it’s got history on its side.

Spelt’s wonderfully nutty, sweet taste, and the fact that it behaves similarly to wheat, makes it a pleasure to use in baking. It can be substituted in almost any recipe calling for wheat. Just note that spelt absorbs water more readily, so a bit of extra moisture may be required in some cases. It also develops its gluten quickly, so long and laborious kneading sessions can be omitted, which makes it a boon to our doughnut recipe.

There’s a hole in my heart! Along with replacing white flour with more nutritious spelt, I replaced most of the sugar with natural, less processed sweeteners. For the lactose-sensitive, I’ve given dairy-free options as well. If you use egg replacer, the recipe can be made vegan as well. Don’t want to fuss with filling your doughnuts? Take the easy way out. Warm the chocolate ganache and dunk your doughnuts! It’s like doughnut fondue.

Serve with broiled pink grapefruit, blood orange mimosas (or juice), and organic coffee or tea for a day-time feast fit for any Valentine.

Spiced Spelt Doughnuts with Chocolate Ganache Filling
Makes about fifteen 2 1/2 inch heart shaped doughnuts

Doughnut ingredients
1 cup buttermilk, whole milk, or milk substitute (e.g., soy or almond milk)
1 tablespoon sweetener–I used evaporated palm sugar, but honey and agave nectar are good substitutes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons warm water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 3/4 cups spelt ,whole-wheat or regular all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
1 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Ganache ingredients
4 ounces organic, fair-trade bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream or coconut milk (not light)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature, optional

Be still, my hearts. To finish
Confectioner’s sugar for sifting over doughnuts; or spiced turbinado sugar for tossing doughnuts in (1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger + 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon); or basic doughnut glaze for dipping doughnuts

For basic doughnut glaze:
Stir 1 cup sifted powdered sugar into 2 tablespoons milk and ½ teaspoon vanilla. Heat on stove until warm and sugar has dissolved. Dip doughnuts and place a rack to drain.) I colored my glaze pink with the tiniest pinch of dehydrated beet powder.

Special equipment:
2 1/2-inch heart shaped cookie cutter; a deep-fat thermometer; a pastry bag with a small basic tip, or a plastic quart storage bag.

Instructions:
Bring milk to a simmer in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, then remove from heat and stir in granulated sugar and salt. If you use buttermilk, it will likely curdle, but don’t worry about it. Cool milk to lukewarm (about 90 degrees F).

While milk is cooling, dissolve yeast in warm water in the bowl of your mixer, stirring until creamy, then let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If yeast doesn’t foam, discard and start over with fresh yeast.)

Pour the lukewarm milk mixture into the bowl with the yeast. Be sure the mixture is not about 100 degrees F. Stir in 1 cup flour, 1 tablespoon soft butter, and the eggs with the paddle attachment to make a soft dough. Gradually mix another 3/4 cup of flour in the mixer. Switch to the dough hook and knead the dough for 2-3 minutes, until smooth and elastic. You can also knead the dough by hand on a well floured board for 5 minutes. Remember, spelt is sensitive to overkneading. **If using wheat, increase kneading to 5 minutes with the dough hook or 10 minutes by hand.

Transfer dough to another large, greased bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight. Alternatively, you can cover the dough with a towel and let rise at warm room temperature for about 2 hours until double in bulk.

Meanwhile, make your ganache. Chop chocolate and transfer into a heat proof bowl. Heat cream until bubbles form around the edge of the pan. Pour hot cream over the chocolate and let stand for 1 minute. Then stir until combined. Add butter and stir to combine.

Let cool then cover. Leave at room temperature or refrigerate. Can be made ahead, but needs to be brought to room temperature before filling doughnuts.

Next day, remove dough from refrigerator and turn out onto a floured surface. Roll out with a floured rolling pin until 1 inch thick. Cutout rounds with 2 1/2 inch cutter heart shaped cutter.

Transfer hearts to a floured parchment lined baking sheet, then reroll scraps and make more doughnuts in same manner. Let dough rest for 10 minutes after rolling out and before cutting more circles. When finished with your second batch of doughnuts, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm spot for about 45 minutes.

About 5 minutes before your doughnuts have finished rising, heat 3 inches oil (about 8 cups) in a deep 4-quart pot or large cast-iron skillet until it registers 350 degrees F on thermometer. Be careful and do not let the oil overheat. Fry doughnuts 4 or so at a time, turning occasionally, until puffed and golden brown, about 2 minutes per batch. You will need to hold the bobbing doughnuts down or flip them in the oil with your slotted spoon or skimmer in order to get them evenly browned. Transfer browned doughnuts to a wire rack to drain and then fill with chocolate.

With a chopstick or a small knife, poke a hole at the top end edge of the heart, between the two humps of the heart. Be careful not to poke the hole through the other side. Place your pastry bag or plastic storage bag in a large mug and fold the side of the bag back over the mug. Fill with some ganache, fold the sides back up and push the ganache to the end. If using a plastic bag, snip a 1/4-inch line diagonally across the bottom corner of your bag to create a small opening that you can squeeze the ganache through.

Fill the doughnuts with ganache and place back on the rack. Top with powdered sugar, toss in spiced granulated sugar or dip in glaze. Transfer to a plate and serve immediately!