Chili, Muffins and Apple Butter

DEAR SOS: I was recently taken to Nowhere Cafe, a vegetarian restaurant in Los Angeles that serves a wonderful lentil chili recipe. I hope they’re willing to share the recipe.

--CAROL

DEAR CAROL: Willing and able.

NOWHERE CAFE

LENTIL CHILI

1 pound lentils

2 quarts vegetable stock or water

2 cups diced onions

1 cup crushed tomatoes

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons chile powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Cilantro sprigs

Red onion slices

Combine lentils, stock, onions, tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, vinegar, lime juice, cumin, salt, chile powder and cayenne in large saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer over medium-low heat until lentils are tender, about 30 to 35 minutes, adding more water or broth if needed for proper chili consistency.

Garnish each serving with sprig of cilantro and slice of red onion. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Note: Vegetable stock can be made with stock base available in granule, paste or bouillon form at most markets.

DEAR SOS: Some years ago you ran a recipe for New York-style corn muffins. I’ve lost the recipe and haven’t had any luck trying to duplicate it. Would you reprint it?

--REBEKAH

DEAR REBEKAH: New York muffins are sweeter and more crumbly than most corn muffins. The muffin caps, usually large and golden, are lopped off and, after buttering carefully, sandwiched. They’re terrific dunked in coffee at breakfast or served with salads, soups, fried fish and even chili.

This recipe was reconstructed to resemble the muffins baked at my father’s Greenwich Village cafe in the 1950s. The facsimile muffins are especially fragile and crumbly. My father’s original recipe was more stable, but unfortunately the formula is lost.

AL’S NEW YORK

CORN MUFFINS

2 cups corn meal

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

Dash salt

1 cup shortening

1 egg

1 1/4 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat egg in small bowl. Stir in milk and vanilla. Add to corn meal mixture, stirring just enough to moisten. Do not over beat.

Fill 12 muffin cups 2/3 full or fill 11 muffin cups to rim to have caps form properly. Bake at 350 degrees 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Let cool thoroughly in muffin cups before loosening from pan or they will fall apart. Carefully remove from pan. Makes 11 or 12 muffins.

DEAR SOS: My recipe for apple butter has disappeared, and the whole family is quite upset. I recall that it contained apples (yes, we were surprised too), cloves and cinnamon, and it was poured into sterilized jars. Sound familiar?

--SHEREE

DEAR SHEREE: Here’s a recipe using brown sugar and apple cider. We hope it’ll do.

APPLE-CIDER BUTTER

4 pounds apples

Apple cider

Brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Peel and slice apples. Measure fruit and place in large kettle. Add equal amount of apple cider and cook until fruit is tender.

Puree cooked fruit in food processor or blender. Measure fruit pulp and place in large kettle. Add half as much brown sugar as pulp. (More may be added if mixture is not sweet enough.) Add salt. Cook, stirring constantly to prevent sticking and scorching, until mixture starts to thicken. Stir in cinnamon, allspice and cloves.

Reduce heat and continue cooking until fruit butter is thick (add more cider, if needed, to prevent excessive thickening). Test for doneness by pouring small quantity on cold dish. Butter is done when no rim of liquid separates out around edge of butter.

Pour boiling butter into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Adjust caps. Process pints and quarts 10 minutes in boiling water bath. When cool, test for seal. Makes 1 1/2 quarts.

Only recipes of general interest will be printed. Send recipe request to Culinary SOS, Food Section, The Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, Calif. 90053. Include restaurant address when requesting recipes from restaurants. We are unable to answer recipe requests by mail.