Over the years, Grid has published hundreds of recipes. For this food issue, we took a trip back to the stacks to find a sumptuous selection you can incorporate into any holiday spread.
Spiced Pear Bread
by Marisa McClellan, Food in Jars
Makes one large loaf or two small ones.
2 cups finely chopped pear
1 teaspoon lemon juice
¼ cup softened butter
¾ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup apple sauce
2 eggs
1 ¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
- Preheat oven to 350˚F and butter one standard loaf pan or two small ones.
- Peel and chop pears and toss them with the lemon juice to prevent browning. Set aside.
- In a large bowl (a stand mixer works nicely, but you can use elbow grease as well), cream together butter and sugar. Add apple sauce and eggs and beat to combine. Stir in chopped pears, taking care not to stir too vigorously — they’ll dissolve into the batter.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. Integrate the dry ingredients into the wet ones in several batches until combined.
- Scrape batter into your buttered pan(s) and place in a hot oven. Bake 50-55 minutes for large loaves, 35-40 minutes for smaller ones. I like wrapping this bread in a couple layers of parchment or wax paper secured with baker’s string or ribbon for an old-fashioned look.
Cranberry Walnut Granola
by Marisa McClellan, Food in Jars
3 cups old-fashioned oats
2 cups chopped walnuts
1 orange, zested
¼ cup sunflower oil (or other neutral oil)
½ cup honey
¼ cup orange juice
1 cup dried cranberries
- Preheat oven to 325˚F.
- Combine oats, walnuts and orange zest in a large bowl. Use your hands to toss together.
- Pour oil into a one-cup measure and swirl it around before adding it to the bowl. Using the same, unwashed cup to measure the honey. (The residual oil will make pouring the honey out easier.) Add orange juice and toss everything together until evenly coated. Pour onto a rimmed baking pan.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, stirring two to three times during baking to ensure even browning.
- When the granola is finished baking, remove the pan from the oven and scatter the dried cranberries over the cereal. Gently stir to incorporate.
- When the granola is completely cool, scoop into an airtight container. For long-term storage, keep it in the freezer.
Quick No-Knead Multi-Grain Bread
by Anna Herman
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
½ cup all-purpose white or bread flour
½ cup whole rye or oat flour
½ cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Sesame or poppy seeds for top of bread
Oil as needed
- Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Add 1 ½ cups very warm water and stir well with a wooden spoon until blended. Dough will be sticky and rough.
- Cover bowl with a dishcloth. Let dough rise about 4-6 hours until doubled in bulk — time will depend on the ambient room temperature.
- Oil an 8- or 9-inch loaf pan very well, as dough tends to be sticky. Lightly oil your hands and form dough into a rectangle to fit in the pan neatly. Sprinkle with seeds if desired.
- Lightly oil top of loaf and cover with waxed paper. Let dough rise in the pan for about one hour until it has clearly puffed and just risen over the top edge. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- Bake bread for 40-45 minutes. To ensure bread is done, you can check the internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer (every cook should have one!). It should be 195-205˚F. Remove bread from pan and cool on a rack.
Roasted Acorn Squash
by Marisa McClellan, Food in Jars
Serves four as a side dish.
2 acorn squash (approximately 2-3 lbs total weight)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons real maple syrup
1 teaspoon sea salt
- Preheat oven to 400˚F. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent maple syrup from burning on your pan.
- Wash squash well and cut in half. Scoop seeds and stringy flesh out and set aside.
- Trim away the stem end and cut squash into half moons of approximately a half-inch in width. Place squash slices in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and maple syrup. Toss with hands to coat.
- Arrange squash slices on the prepared baking sheet. They should all fit on one pan. Pour any remaining oil/syrup from the bowl over the squash. Sprinkle with salt.
- Roast for 15-20 minutes until squash is tender and browned on top.
Gingery Apple Salad
by Marisa McClellan, Food in Jars
2 Ginger Gold apples (or any other tart variety)
2 Gala apples (or any other sweet, crisp variety)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
½ cup Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons honey
2 inches of ginger root
½ cup chopped and toasted walnuts
- Cut apples into matchsticks (if you have a mandoline slicer, the julienne blade works really well for this) and put them in your serving bowl. Toss with the lemon juice and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt and honey. Peel the length of ginger and grate it on a fine grater (a Microplane is ideal) into yogurt and honey. Stir to combine and then pour over apples. Toss to coat. Top individual portions with toasted nuts and serve.
Savory Winter Stew
by Anna Herman
Serves 8-10
3 tablespoons olive oil
1-3 teaspoons cumin seeds, or ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground hot peppers or flakes
½ teaspoon fennel seed
4 tablespoons grated fresh ginger (or half-inch piece of ginger, minced fine)
2 onions, minced
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 carrots, tops removed, chopped fine
2 sticks of celery, chopped fine
1 butternut squash (or other hard winter squash), peeled, seeded and cubed
2 cups cubed assorted other root vegetables, such as celeriac, parsnip, turnip, potato
2 cups red lentils
8-10 cups water or vegetable stock
1 28-ounce can chopped or crushed tomatoes
1-2 cans coconut milk
Optional garnishes
- Heat olive oil in a large soup pot.
Add onions and garlic and sauté until onions are soft and just browning.
Add spices and cook another few minutes, stirring often. - Add the chopped vegetables, water or stock and lentils. Stir well and bring to a boil. Simmer gently until the veggies are soft and the lentils break down.
- Add the tomatoes and coconut milk and cook for about 30 more minutes. Season well with salt and black pepper. Adjust other seasonings to your taste.
- Partially or fully purée (depending on the consistency you prefer) with an immersion or stand blender.
- Stir in or garnish with chopped cilantro, browned butter and/or thick yogurt (full-fat, Greek style is especially good), toasted chopped pecans, minced garlic, salt and pepper.
Pumpkin Curry
by Marisa McClellan, Food in Jars
1 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil
1 onion, cut into strips
¾ cup yellow curry paste
1 can coconut milk
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons fish sauce
6 cups cubed pumpkin (approximately 2 pounds squash)
1 red pepper, cubed
1 green pepper, chopped
1 pound cooked chicken or tofu, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
- Heat oil in a large Dutch oven until it shimmers.
- Add onions and cook 2-3 minutes, until they’ve browned just slightly. Add curry paste and stir to combine. Add coconut milk, stock and fish sauce and stir until the curry paste is spread throughout. Add pumpkin cubes and simmer with the lid off until tender. This can take 10-25 minutes, depending on the type of pumpkin you use.
- When the pumpkin is tender and the sauce has thickened slightly, add chopped peppers and tofu or chicken. Cook until the peppers and protein are heated through.
- Stir in chopped cilantro before serving.
Yellow Curry Paste
Makes approximately 1½ cups, enough for two batches of pumpkin curry.
5 ounces shallots (approximately 4-6)
10 cloves garlic
3 long red chilies
2 tablespoons chopped lemongrass (just the tender inner part)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 inch ginger, peeled juice and zest of one lime
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon shrimp or tom yum paste
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
½ teaspoon salt
- Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until mostly smooth (it won’t be perfect, that’s okay). Add water if it needs extra moisture. Scrape sides of processor down several times during blending. Excess curry paste will keep up to one week in the refrigerator. For longer storage, freeze.
Caramel Pudding
by Marisa McClellan, Food in Jars
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
¼ cup water
4 cups milk (preferably whole)
1/3 cup corn starch
¼ teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Let simmer for 8-10 minutes, until a deep, rich color develops.
- While the sugar cooks, whisk the corn starch, sea salt and vanilla extract into ½ cup milk. Set aside.
- When the sugar is a rich, tan color, remove the pot from heat and whisk in the remaining 3 ½ cups of milk. The mixture will hiss and bubble madly. Return pot to heat and stir until the sugar dissolves into the milk and has thickened slightly, about 10 minutes.
- Whisk in the cornstarch slurry and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the pudding has thickened. Remove pot from heat and spoon pudding into serving dishes or a storage container.
- Set in refrigerator until cool.
Brownie Pudding Cake
by Marisa McClellan, Food in Jars
1 cup flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, divided
½ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup white sugar
¾ cup whole milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons hazelnut liqueur
¾ cup firmly packed dark-brown sugar
1½ cups boiling water
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- Combine flour, a third cup of the cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together to combine.
- In another bowl, combine eggs, white sugar, milk, butter, vanilla and liqueur. Whisk together. Once integrated, add to the dry ingredients and stir until the batter just comes together. Pour into an 8-inch baking dish and set aside.
- In a large, heat-proof measuring cup, whisk together the remaining cocoa powder, brown sugar and boiling water. Pour over the batter and resist the temptation to mix. Scatter chocolate chips across the surface of the batter.
- Bake 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
