The pipian could be used in quite a few other ways. Ditto the pasta.

Pasta

3/4 c cake flour
1/2 c “Better for Bread” flour
1/2 c masa harina
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs

Mix dry ingredients, make into a well. Add eggs into the well, then mix them pretty vigorously with a fork, allowing the flour to fall in from the sides of the well as the mixing progresses. As the eggs distribute, use your hands to bring the dough together. On a floured board, knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, adding cake flour as needed to prevent sticking and adjust the moistness. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and set it aside to rest.

Pipian

2/3 c raw hulled pepitas
4-5 cloves garlic, unpeeled
6-8 small tomatillos
1 coarsely chopped serrano chile, with seeds
2/3 c extra-virgin olive oil (I used Napa)
2-3 pinches of coarse-ground black pepper
1/3 c crumbled queso seco
2-3 pinches salt
1/2 c coarsely chopped cilantro, loosely packed
1/2 lime

Heat up a dry pan over a medium to medium-high flame. When hot enough for water drops to immediately hiss away, put garlic cloves on pan and allow to roast, turning every few minutes. They’re done when they’ve got black spots on at least two sided. Set aside to cool. Put the pepitas in the pan and roast them with frequent stirring until they start to brown and are popping and sizzling. Put aside to cool.

Heat up broiler. Take paper off and rinse tomatillos. Dry them off, then broil on two sides until black spots appear. Place in a bowl to cool slightly, then trim off the little hard parts where the stems were.

Add garlic, pepitas, tomatillos, and serrano to a food processor or blender. While pulsing it to make a coarse puree, pour in the olive oil, add the pepper, then the cheese and the salt. You want a consistency like that of a coarse, creamy pesto. Now add the cilantro and the juice from the lime half, then process to a refined pesto texture- you”re looking for the flavors to be well-mixed, but the sauce to have some textural interest. You should still see flecks of green cilantro. Adjust salt and acidity.

Filling

1 medium-sized green Japanese pumpkin
1/2 c (or maybe a little more) grated, loosely-packed queso anejo
1 egg
1/4 c breadcrumbs
pinch of salt
pinch of black pepper

Cut pumpkin in half, scoop out seeds and pulp. Mail them to your congressman. Face pumpkin halves down on a cookie sheet, then roast for 45 minutes or so in a 350º oven. Scoop out the guts into a bowl, mash coarsely, and put aside to cool down a bit. Add the rest of the ingredients, then blend with a fork until homogeneous.

Assembly

Start heating a very large pot of salted water. Roll out the pasta dough, fill as you would any ravioli. Ours was a little thicker than it should have been- on my Atlas machine, it was a four. A five would be better. Make a few big ones rather than many small ones, if you like that sort of presentation (we do; it shouldn’t look Italian). Save the pasta trimmings. Drop ravioli into the boiling water, add some of the doubled-over trimmings and cook until done. Use the trimmings as a tasting guide to determine if the pasta is done. Don’t make the mistake I used to with home-made pasta and undercook it- you want it to be very well-cooked, so that there’s no whitish core when a bite is taken from the doubled trimming. At the point where that white core disappears, you’re done. In our case, it was about 10 minutes. Drain.

Serving Option One

If you like huge, full-bore flavor, use this option. Plate a ravioli, then spoon the pipian over it.

Serving Option Two

For the shyer and more-refined, spoon some boiling stock onto the plate (I’d use a corn stock made from a browned mirepoix and corn cobs, if I had it). Place the ravioli on the plate, spoon a bit of stock over it to moisten, then place a blob of pipian on top. When eating, you”ll stir the pipian into the stock in the manner of a pistou.

Both Options

Garnish with matchsticks of queso anejo and a cilantro chiffonade. A tablespoon of salsa of roasted and diced poblano and red bell pepper on the side of the plate would make a nice color contrast.

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1 pineapple
2-3 tbs butter
2-3 tbs sugar
1/3 c rum (dark is better)
Smoked red savina to taste- as much as you dare

Cut off the top and bottom of a pineapple, then carve off the skin, making sure to remove all those little thorny deals. Core, then slice about 3/4″ thick, then cut the slices up into chunks.

Melt a decent knob of butter in a hot pan, then add the pineapple. Let it fry until it starts to caramelize, then turn over and caramelize the other side. Add 2-3 tbs of sugar (depending on how ripe the pineapple is). Stir around until the sugar melts into the butter, then pour in the rum. Stir that around and let the alcohol flame off (watch your eyebrows!).

When the fires die down and the liquid has reduced to a thick glaze, remove from heat, sprinkle with as much smoked red savina as you dare, then plate. Top with vanilla ice cream and remember the old joke (“Come on, ice cream!!!”).

Smoked red savina is devilishly hard to get, but worth the effort. If you can’t find it, you can substitute a mixture of dried, powdered habanero with a bit of pimenton.

1-1/2 c French green lentils (like Lentilles de Puy)
5 c unsalted water
1-1/2 c dried bulgur (medium to coarse)
1-1/2 c boiling roasted vegetable stock
1 large (or two medium) red onion
1-1/2 c chopped Italian parsley (not packed)
1/3 c sweet red wine vinegar (see note below)
1/2 c Extra Virgin olive oil, or more to taste
pepper
salt
1 lemon

Boil the lentils in the unsalted water for 20 minutes or until al dente. Drain and allow to partially cool; you can reserve the lentil water to add to stocks for earthiness and body. Put the bulgur in a bowl, add the boiling stock, then cover and let sit for 30 minutes.

Peel and dice the onion. I like the dice to be 6 mm or so, but this is a textural element you can play with. In a large bowl, toss together the lentils, the bulgur, the onion, and the parsley with the red wine vinegar and the oil.

Squeeze the lemon and toss the juice in, along with a few healthy pinches of pepper. Mix well. Taste and adjust salt; there should be enough of the vinegar to be a barely discernible sweet-and-sour element, but it should be just an accent to the earthiness of the salad ingredients. Add more olive oil if you want to pump up the richness.

Let the salad sit, covered, for at least an hour, then serve in a large bowl, family style.

Note on the vinegar: I used a product called Chateau St. Julien Red Wine Vinegar, in honor of the visitors from Michigan. It’s basically a light red wine vinegar tempered with some red wine, white grape juice, and sugar.

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I love how certain combinations of ingredients pop up in diverse cuisines- in this case, if I said, “tomato sauce and cheese,” you’d probably think Italian. But it’s also the heart of a classic Indian dish from the Punjab region, Matar Panir, a restaurant staple. This is a very simple version that rivals the best I’ve tasted. It may seem intimidating to make your own cheese, and the recipe reads long, but it’s really pretty easy and definitely worth the effort.

6 c whole milk
3/4 c plain yogurt
1 lemon
1 c neutral vegetable oil (e.g., canola)
1-2 tbs ghee
1 medium onion, finely minced
1 tbs fresh ginger, finely minced
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 c tomato, finely chopped (out of season, use crushed San Marzano or Muir Glen)
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp salt cayenne to taste
1 cup peas
2-3 tbs cilantro, chiffonade

First, prepare the panir. Heat the milk, stirring occasionally to keep it from scorching. Juice the lemon and mix the juice thoroughly with the yogurt. When the milk comes to a frothy, rising boil, turn off the flame and stir in the yogurt/lemon mixture. You should see curdling begin in just a few seconds; if the milk is stubborn, heat it again, then remove from flame and add a little more lemon juice if necessary. Strain the cheese curds through a doubled layer of cheesecloth, reserving the whey.

After the curds have drained for a few minutes, tie the cheesecloth into a ball, putting pressure on the cheese. Let the ball hang and drain for an hour. Remove the cheese from the cloth and knead it for a few minutes until it hangs together. It needn’t be as “tight” as a mozzarella ball- it will remain somewhat crumbly. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick disc, then fold it up in some cheesecloth and weight it for a few hours.

Put the cup of oil into a small saucepan, then heat it to medium-hot (bubbles should come off a wooden chopstick or skewer stuck in the oil, but it shouldn’t be so hot as to roil; 350 degrees F is about right). Cut the panir into 1/2 to 3/4 inch chunks, then fry them a few at a time until covered with brown spots. This should take about 30 seconds for each batch. Put the chunks aside to drain and cool.

Now, the tomato sauce. Add a tablespoon of the used canola oil and a tablespoon of ghee to a pan over medium-low heat. Toss in the onions and saute with stirring until they’re medium brown- get a good caramelization, but it shouldn’t be as far gone as for onion soup. The onions will first absorb the oil, then as they start to brown, they release it. If it all still looks too dry, add the other tablespoon of ghee. Add the ginger and saute with stirring a few more minutes. Add the garlic, and saute with stirring until the garlic smell is slapping you upside the head, maybe 20-30 seconds. Then add the tomato and sautee with stirring until the tomatoes have started to brown, have largely collapsed, and are starting to dry out.

Stir in the coriander, and wait for the smell to hit you, maybe 10 seconds. Then stir in the turmeric and blend thoroughly. Add the garam masala (use a good one!) and stir until the smell hits you. Then add salt, cayenne, and stir in 1/2 cup of the reserved whey. Simmer for 5 minutes or so, then add the peas and one cup of the whey.

Bring back to a simmer, then cover and cook until the peas are almost done (NB: If fresh peas are out of season, use frozen and reduce cooking time). If the sauce looks like it’s drying out, add a little more whey.

Stir in panir chunks, then cover and simmer for five more minutes. Uncover, check seasoning (add salt or cayenne if necessary- if it’s too sharp, a little sugar will tame it), stir in half the cilantro, then serve over basmati rice. Garnish with the remaining cilantro.

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JD 7/09