Happy New Year from the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains!

It's cold here today (about 20 F. and partly cloudy) and our vegetable garden wears a blanket of snow. The perennial beds are made up of an abundance of evergreens (juniper and spruce), red twig dogwood shrubbery and red orange rose hips for color to cheer us in this colorless season. Residential landscapes here in south central Montana are planned with some interest for the bleak winter season in mind.

This blog will focus on overcoming the challenges of cooking in the heartland or the "fly over" zone. Many ingredients are not readily available here. We can order online from anywhere in the world, but it is time consuming and costly. So serious cooks depend on vegetable gardens, local farmers' markets, and neighborhood sharing to create fresh seasonal dishes. The growing season is short (outdoors about 90 days) but hot (often over 100 degrees ) so we dig in early and take advantage of everything we can.

The first quarter of the year is time to review last year's garden notes, plan the next garden, read our seed catalogs, and experiment with recipes. The deep freeze is full of stocks and sauces from the summer production, and dried herbsin their glass jars are still fragrant. It's time to fire up the ovens and have some fun.

In response to an invitation for another football bowl, I made my favorite holiday nut filled cake this morning, an Italian Panforte. This is my modification of an ancient classic, and comments will come in from Italian grandmothers whose relatives took this treat along on the Crusades, but if authenticity is your only goal, there are many published cookbooks......

Panforte for 2010 (Nuts + fruit + honey + seasonings)

Preheat oven to 325 F
9 or 10 inch spring form pan lined with buttered parchment

Combine in a mixing bowl:

2/3 cup all purpose flour (80 grams)
1/4 cup powdered cocoa (not cocoa mix) (25 grams)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon dried lavender flowers (rubbed between your palms)
(If you do not have lavender, substitute 1/2 tsp. powdered vanilla, cinnamon, or candied ginger)
Pinch of dried thyme (about 1/4 teaspoon) (rubbed as above)

2 1/2 cups of very roughly chopped nuts (Hazelnuts are a MUST for at least 1 cup. I also love Brazil nuts and almonds, which I used today. Pine nuts are also a great substitute for half the nuts). Toast the nuts to develop flavor on a baking sheet at 325 F for about 10 minutes. Optional: While hot, dump nuts onto a CLEAN terrycloth towel and rub to remove nut skins. Then rough chop. Be able to identify the kind of nuts in the baked result.

While the nuts are roasting, combine in a heavy bottom sauce pan:
1 cup honey
2/3 cup sugar
Bring to a boil and whisk until sugar is completely dissolved--about 2 minutes. Turn off heat.

Add 2 cups of chopped, dried fruits to the honey mix and stir to coat fruit. My favorites are 1 cup candied orange peel or citron and 1 cup chopped dates, but any combination of dried fruits is fine (raisins, dried figs,, dried plums, dried apricots, etc.)

Scrape the honey fruit mix into the bowl with dried ingredients. Mix well with a wooden spoon or paddle. It should be very stiff--this is not a batter. If you can't incorporate all the dry ingredients, add a little more honey and a few drop of water. When mixed, dump into the cake pan and with a wet hand, smooth is evenly.

Bake 30 minutes at 325 F.
Remove from oven and cool.
Dust with powdered sugar or powdered cocoa or both. (about 1/4 cup total)
If you don't have a sifter, use a fine strainer (even tea strainer) and tap the powders evenly over the top.

Cut small wedges with a serrated knife. Serve with any hot or cold drinks.

Until next time!