[1] Fusilli (corkscrew) pasta with white beans and kale. The recipe is below (both photos © DeLallo).

[2] Delallo”s biodynamic whole wheat fusilli. You can get it online.

[3] Lacinto kale, also known as Tuscan kale, Italian kale and dinosaur kale, among other names (photo © Good Eggs).

[4] Dried cannellini beans from Fortuna Sausage (photo © Fortuna Sausage).

In our continuing series of green main courses for St. Patrick’s Day, we present a simple dish that’s chock full of protein from beans, plus and vitamins and bright green color from kale.

The fragrant, garlicky greens and white beans team up with fusilli pasta, the familiar corkscrew shape.

You can use whole wheat fusilli for even more nutrition.

The name fusilli comes from fuso, spindle. The shape was traditionally “spun” by skilled pasta makers who rapidly twirled spaghetti around a rod, resulting in a long corkscrew shape called fusilli lunghi bucati.

It is still made in that long shape, along with shorter corkscrews.

This popular shape was born in Sicily and spread throughout southern Italy and the rest of the peninsula.

One reason why: The corkscrew curves are great sauce catchers and easily hold thick meat sauces, like Bolognese sauce.
 
 
RECIPE: FUSILLI WITH CANNELLINI BEANS & KALE

Want more green? Add broccoli, broccolini or broccoli rabe.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COOL the pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving ½ cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Meanwhile…

2. HEAT the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Reduce the heat and add the garlic and anchovies. Simmer on low for 20 minutes. While the mixture is still warm, add the butter.

3. RETURN the heat level to medium and add the tomatoes. Cook for 6-7 minutes, stir in the red pepper flakes, and then add the kale.

4. COVER and cook for 10 more minutes, until the kale is tender and wilted.

5. ADD the beans, pasta (and some of the pasta water if needed for thinning), salt and pepper. Toss, plate, and serve with grated parmesan cheese.
 
 
MORE GREEN RECIPES

 
>>> CHECK OUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PASTA
IN OUR PASTA GLOSSARY >>>

OK, a green-topped pizza is not just for St. Patrick’s Day. You can go green any time you’d like a pizza with assorted green veggies.

Think green for spring; green for summer; green for National Pizza Month, October; and green for National Pizza Day in the [typically] cold, gray weather of February 9th.

Depending on the green vegetable, you’ll get supplies of calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium, and vitamins K, C, E, and many of the B vitamins.

Do the healthy and nutritious green vegetables offset the carbs in the crust?

Well…it doesn’t hurt to think so.

The recipe for Brussels Sprouts & Broccolini Pizza is below.
 
 
GO GREEN WITH THESE VEGETABLES

Top your pizza with a selection of these green veggies:

In The Oven

 
After The Pizza Comes Out Of The Oven…

Toss these on top:

 
There are others, including the not-very-green artichoke hearts and fennel.

And if you want to go super-green, tint ricotta cheese with green food color.
 
 
RECIPE: BRUSSELS SPROUTS & BROCCOLINI PIZZA WITH PESTO

This is an easy weeknight recipe.

If you can’t find broccolini, then broccoli rabe or regular broccoli florets and their stems (yes, slice the stems like pepperoni!) do just fine.

Broccoli and Brussels sprouts are both better-for-you cruciferous vegetables and the basil pesto adds antioxidant vitamins and phenolics, calcium, dietary fiber, magnesium, potassium, vitamin K, zinc, and protein from the cheese and nuts in the pesto.

You can substitute any of the vegetables in the recipe above for the broccolini and Brussels Sprouts.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 500°F. If you’re using ready-made dough, skip to Step 4.

2. COMBINE the flour mix and yeast packet in a large mixing bowl with 1-1/4 cups lukewarm water. Stir with a fork until dough begins to form. Knead by hand for 3 minutes, or until the dough is soft and smooth.

3. TRANSFER to a clean, lightly oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. (After this step, you can refrigerate for use within 1-3 days.) Meanwhile…

4. BRING 2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepot. Add 1 tablespoon of salt. Blanch the broccolini by submerging in the boiling water for about 3 minutes. Once they are bright green, remove them with a slotted spoon and transfer immediately to a bowl of ice water to halt the cooking process. SAVE the boiling water.

5. BLANCH the Brussels sprouts in the same pot of boiling water, by submerging for about 2 minutes. Once they are bright green, drain and transfer them to a separate bowl of ice water. Once vegetables have cooled, drain and pat dry.

6. CUT the prepared pizza dough in half. Roll out the dough into a circle on a floured surface and spread evenly with pesto. Top with mozzarella, broccolini and Brussels sprouts.

7. BAKE for 12-15 minutes, or until the crust becomes golden. Remove the pizza from the oven and top with the Parmigiano-Reggiano and pepper flakes.
 
 
>>> GREEN GODDESS PIZZA RECIPE <<<
 
 
>>> THE HISTORY OF PIZZA <<<

[1] A harbinger of spring: asparagus and spring peas (photo © Oath Pizza).

[2] Avocado lovers can slice or dice avocado, here atop serrano ham (photo © Avocados From Chile).

[3] Brussels sprouts and broccolini top this green pizza. The recipe is at below (photo and recipe © DeLallo.

[4] Another harbinger of spring: pea shoots and green peas (photo © King Arthur Flour).

[5] One of our favorite toppings for a Margarita pizza: arugula (photo © Good Eggs).

[6] Here’s the recipe for this Green Goddess Pizza © (photo © Broma Bakery | DeLallo.

[1] A bottle of Yondu seasoning concentrate (photo © Yondu | Serpio).

[2] Pasta and other sauces will taste better. Spaghetti With King Trumpet & Maitake Mushrooms (photo © Yondu).

[3] Splash some Yondu into a stir-fry to heighten the flavors (photo © Yondu).

[4] Three-minute vegetable soup with Yondu. The recipe is below (photo © Yondu).

Some home cooks have kitchen secrets for enhancing the flavor of cooked foods.

For my mother’s generation, it was MSG, created in Japan in 1908 by a biochemist who was trying to duplicate the umami taste of kombu, a seaweed used as a base for many Japanese soups.

He found that MSG balanced, blended, and rounded the perception of other flavors in the food.

When it became broadly used in the U.S. in the 1960s, MSG was found to add more flavor than the time-honored bouillon cube or broth.

But it affected some people negatively. Its use became controversial.

So many people returned to the bouillon cube and broth; and over time, other alternatives entered the flavoring mainstream.

Today, many kitchens add flavor with fish sauce, flavor bases, miso, oyster sauce, soy sauce, tamari, umami powders, and lesser-known flavor sauces like coconut aminos and liquid aminos.
 
 
2020: YONDU SEASONING

A favorite new discovery, Yondu* is a versatile savory seasoning from Korea that brings out the inherent flavor of your ingredients.

It’s a premium plant-based seasoning concentrate that’s an all-purpose, instant flavor booster.

It enhances the flavors of each individual ingredient in your dish, while balancing the overall taste with delicate flavor.

We love it!

Yondu provides natural umami flavor by slowly fermenting and simmering its ingredients:

 
The company uses the term “vegetable essence” to describe its product, but we’re not sure how that translates to most people.

Even though one of the meanings of essence is “an extract or concentrate obtained from a particular plant or other matter and used for flavoring or scent,” we don’t think it’s a common use in the U.S. for food.

The magical combination of ingredients delivers layers of flavors that we just can’t get from the herbs and spices on our shelf.
 
 
YONDU USES

Even if you don’t use flavor bases, your eyes will be opened when you add a couple of teaspoons of Yondu to your cooking. It instantly seasons:

 
And when we have no fresh herbs in the fridge, we toss in a splash of Yondu.

For a low-calorie pick-me-up, microwave a cup of water with some Yondu for a terrific broth that tastes like it’s been simmered for hours (and in fact, it has been so simmered).

You may find yourself buying bottles as stocking stuffers for friends who cook or are dieters.

Check out more about Yondu on the company website, Yondu.us.
 
 
RECIPE #1: 3-MINUTE VEGETABLE SOUP

Water + Yondu = delicious vegetable broth (photo #4). Make this 3-minute soup: You’ll have a major “aha!”
moment.
 
Ingredients Per Serving

 
Preparation

1. BOIL for 3 minutes, then add 1 tablespoon Yondu. That’s it!
 
 
RECIPE #2: YONDU VINAIGRETTE

Ingredients Proportion

 
Preparation

1. WHISK vigorously to combine.
________________

*Yondu Vegetable Essence has no relation to Yondu, the Marvel Comics character.

Plan ahead to enjoy this delicious sandwich on St. Patrick’s Day.

It was created by DiBruno Bros. in Philadelphia, where it’s called the Irish Hoagie.

The biggest challenge is finding a pumpernickel baguette in our area. We did find pumpernickel rolls.

If you can’t find anything similar, a pumpernickel bagel (cultural fusion!) or a loaf of sliced pumpernickel bread will do.

(We’re using the bagel. One of our colleagues couldn’t find a recipe for pumpernickel baguettes, so she’s baking this pumpernickel loaf recipe and cutting it horizontally to emulate a hoagie roll.)
 
 
RECIPE: IRISH HOAGIE

Ingredients

 
________________

*Have fun with this Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato Slaw.
________________

To Drink

 
Preparation

1. SLICE the bread as desired. Layer the mustard, corned beef, and cabbage slaw.

 
PUMPERNICKEL BREAD HISTORY

Pumpernickel is a type of rye bread that originated in Germany, possibly in the Westphalia region, where a print reference dates to 1450.

Westphalian pumpernickel uses coarse rye meal and a very long baking period to give the bread its characteristic dark color. It is traditionally made with an acidic sourdough starter.

It is a typically heavy, slightly sweet rye bread traditionally made with sourdough starter and coarsely ground rye. Today, it is often made with a combination of rye flour and whole rye grains.

Traditional German pumpernickel contains no coloring agents, instead relying on the Maillard reaction to produce its characteristic deep brown color, sweet, dark chocolate, coffee flavor, and earthy aroma.

To achieve this, loaves are baked in long, narrow, lidded pans for 16 to 24 hours in a low-temperature steam-filled oven (120°C or 250°F).

Like the French pain de mie, Westphalian pumpernickel has little or no crust.

At one time pumpernickel was traditional peasant fare as were all brown breads.

Until the Industrial Revolution, the brown endosperm and germ of grain had to be removed laboriously by hand, in order to get white flour. As a result, white flour goods were very expensive.

With the German immigration in the late 19th century, various forms of pumpernickel became popular in delicatessens and other food markets.
 
 
Pumpernickel is made with pumpernickel flour, which is made from coarsely ground whole rye berries.

There is often confusion about dark rye bread, which is made from the ground endosperm of the rye berry (the outer endosperm.

 
In present-day European and the U.S., pumpernickel differs in several characteristics. In the U.S. mass-produced pumpernickel has:

[1] DiBruno Bros. makes these wonderful pumpernickel baguettes, but we can only find pumpernickel rolls (photo © DiBruno Bros.).

[2] Pumpernickel loaves. Here’s the recipe from Red Star Yeast (photo © Red Star Yeast).

[3] Pumpernickel baked in a tube. Here’s the recipe from Thrive Cuisine (photo © Thrive Cuisins).

[4] Pumpernickel loaf (photo © Eli Zabar).

[5] Pumpernickel bagels may be the best choice if you can’t find a baguette (photo © New Yorker Bagels).

 
The result is a loaf that is often indiscernible from dark rye bread.
 
 
Oh: and the name, pumpernickel?

Pumpern was a New High German word for being flatulent. Nickel was a form of the name Nicholas, commonly associated with a goblin or devil (e.g. Old Nick, a familiar name for Satan).

Hence, pumpernickel means “devil’s fart.” Why? The loaf was not easily digested, leading to flatulence.

Some shops and boutique bakeries in America still use the old recipes. If you can find them, you’re lucky!

Otherwise, for a true pumpernickel experience, search out boutique bakeries on your next trip to Germany.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

[1] Cream cheese pound cake. The recipe is below (photo and recipe © The Baker Chick).

[2] Maple pound cake. Here’s the recipe (photo © King Arthur Flour).

[3] Pumpkin Spice Pound Cake. Here’s the recipe from Spice Islands (photo © Spice Islands).

[4] Pound cake with berries and whipped cream (photo © Knudsen Dairy).

[5] Pistachio Chocolate Chip Pound Cake. Here’s the recipe from King Arthur Flour (photo © King Arthur Flour).

[6] Turn a pound cake into a layer cake with a berry-whipped cream filling. Here’s the recipe from The Baker Chick (photo © The Baker Chick).

March 4th celebrates one of our favorite holidays: National Pound Cake Day.

We admit to fighting the trend, and would much rather have a dense slice of pound cake than an airy cupcake.

Pound cake is a loaf cake, although some people make them in Bundt pans.

The original pound cake, buttery and moist, recipe was made with one pound each of butter, flour, sugar and eggs (that’s about eight eggs)—hence the name.

Vanilla or lemon are the classic flavors added to pound cake flavors, but quite a few variations have evolved through the years. See the history of pound cake, below.

This recipe from The Baker Chick adds a later addition, cream cheese, which first appeared in the 1880s (the history of cream cheese).

There’s a vanilla bean glaze, but the gustatory experience is just as wonderful without it.

Thanks to The Baker Chick for the recipe. Sign up for her emails and get a steady stream of irresistible sweet and savory recipes.
 
 
RECIPE: CREAM CHEESE POUND CAKE

Ingredients

For The Glaze

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 325°F. Spray well or grease a 10-inch bundt cake pan.

2. CREAM together the butter, cream cheese and sugar for about 5 minutes or until very light and fluffy. Stir in the extracts.

3. ADD the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed.

4. TURN the mixer to low speed and add the flour slowly and gradually. Do not over-mix (it toughens the crumb‡).

5. POUR the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 325°F for 65-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6. MAKE the glaze: Pour the milk into a glass measuring cup and scrape in the vanilla bean. Let the bean steep for an hour to give the milk mixture a strong vanilla flavor. (If you start the glaze it when the cake goes into the oven, it will be ready as the cake is cooling.)

7. ADD the powdered sugar and whisk with a fork until the glaze is thick and the right consistency for drizzling. Drizzle over the cooled cake.
 
 
Baking Notes

* Use cake flour for the perfect velvety texture. If you don’t have it, you can use all-purpose and subtract 3 tablespoons of flour. Substitute 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and gently whisk together before using.

† You can substitute a mixture of lowfat milk and heavy cream for whole milk.

‡ The crumb is the professional term for the inside of a bread or cake. Depending on the recipe, the crumb can be soft or firm, dense or full of holes.
 
 
MORE POUND CAKE RECIPES

 
POUND CAKE HISTORY

The original recipe, developed in England in the 1700s, made a very large and dense cake, like fruit cake. By the mid-1800s, the ingredient proportions had been adjusted to make the smaller, relatively lighter cake we know and love today.

The original pound cake, buttery and moist, recipe was made with one pound each of butter, flour, sugar and eggs (that’s about eight eggs), plus flavoring—hence the name.

In fact, the British pound cake is actually a fruit cake, containing currants, raisins, sultanas (golden raisins) and glacé cherries. Pound cakes were the traditional wedding cakes.

Since the ingredients are so simple, it’s hard to make a bad pound cake—just use the freshest eggs and butter you can find, real vanilla extract, and don’t over-bake.

Today’s pound cake is a loaf cake, although some people make them in Bundt pans.

Vanilla or lemon are the classic pound cake flavors, but quite a few variations have evolved through the years, adding:

 
While a plain piece of pound cake is a joy, you can make the dessert fancier with:

 
No matter how you slice it, we’ll take a piece…or two.

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