Recipes from Cooking with Doyle Moore on Focus 580

January 4, 2006:  New Things You Have Tried and New “Gadgets” You Have and You Are Afraid To Try

PEA GUACAMOLE

• 1 package (10 ounce) frozen peas, thawed

• 1 rip avocado, halved and pitted, flesh scooped out

• 1/3 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

• ¼ cup minced red onion

• 1 tablespoons fresh lime juice

• 2 teaspoons minced jalapeño chile

• coarse salt

In a food processor, purée peas until smooth.  In a medium bowl, coarsely mash avocado.  Stir in cilantro, onion, lime juice, jalapeño, salt, and puréed peas.  To store, place a piece of plastic directly on the guacamole; refrigerate up to overnight.

Can be served with sliced radishes and carrot sticks, as well as baked pita (or tortilla) chips.

PASTA WITH ALMOND-PEA PESTO

• Coarse salt and ground pepper

• 1 pound penne (or other short tubular pasta)

• 2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen peas, thawed

• ½ cup blanched almonds

• finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

• ¼ cup olive oil

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions, adding 1 package of peas during last minute of cooking time.  Reserve 1 cup pasta water; drain pasta and peas, and return to pot.

2. Meanwhile, in a food processor, finely grind almonds.  Add lemon zest and juice, remaining package of peas, and 1 ½ teaspoons salt; process until well combined.  With motor running, gradually add oil; process until smooth.

3. Add almond-pea pesto to pasta; toss to coat, adding reserved pasta water (as needed) to adjust consistency of sauce.  Season with salt and pepper; serve.

CURING CAST-IRON COOKWARE

(Modified from another web site)

Have you ever wondered how to cure your cast-iron cookware so it doesn't rust every time you wash it and keeps the surface nice? Here are some steps to follow to cure your cast-iron cookware:

1. Scrub it very, very clean. Use a hard plastic scrub pad rather than steel wool.

2. Rinse it very well and dry with a lint free towel.

3. Liberally coat the inside with cooking oil. Use something with fairly high heat tolerance like peanut oil.

4. Bake it for a good hour or so at about 350 degrees.

5. When it cools, clean out the excess oil with another lint free towel.

6. Give it a second very light coat of oil and bake it for 10 more minutes.

7. Use the item. Be careful to not use it for something that will remove the seasoning like a deep dish pizza. (Beware of intense heat items.)

8. Clean it well with as little soap as possible and gentle cleaning.

9. Apply the oil and bake again for 30 minutes or so.

10. After this second going over, you end up with a cast iron skillet that is virtually impregnable. If it isn't, give it another short curing session. Also, rub it with oil every so often and then wipe it out to help.

Advice from a lady who is from the “Lodge” Cast Iron Company family:

To season: take your ‘raw’ cast iron skillet coat, wipe inside lightly with “Crisco” and put upside down in oven and bake for several hours.

To clean: clean with boiling water and scrub brush, put on stove to dry and rub with little oil afterwards.

If  you have a cast iron skillet that has a cracked or bubbly seasoning to it, put in self cleaning oven and then re-season.

SAUSAGE STUFFING ATTACHMENT FOR FOOD PROCESSOR

A listener called to say she had received a sausage-stuffing attachment and called to find out where to buy sausage casings in the Champaign-Urbana area.  Doyle suggested trying the University of Illinois Meat Science Lab.

Another listener called and suggested www.sausagemaker.com