Dates!

When the air begins to turn crisp, I think of fall recipes and begin to think about baking again. And I think of dates.  I guess it's because my mom always cooked with dates in the winter time-- she had about three wonderful date recipes.  Dates are a fruit and they grow on a date palm tree.  They are a staple in the middle eastern diet and have been for a million years. They have been cultivated since perhaps 4000 BCE. The medjool date is known as the crown jewel of dates or King of Dates.  The fruit is dried, and should have a shiny brown smooth skin.  Inside is a a long pit, which is pretty easy to remove.  If you can, buy dates at a place like Whole Foods or a Lebanese grocer or someplace for special sweetness and lusciousness, but the standard for baking (as opposed to stuffing with goat cheese and eating as an appetizer) is the familiar orange box of Dromedary dates.  These come pitted. You can even get them cut up, but usually then they are much more dried out and cease to resemble the actual fruit.

This is what they should look like.. (above) and here they are stuffed with walnuts, pine nuts cream cheese, and other stuff.  Some people wrap them in bacon and bake them.   Me, I just like to bake with them.  They are a tad sweet for just snacking, but some folks roll them and coconut and feed them to their kids.  

Now, on to baking them!  You can make date oatmeal cookies, date bars, date pie, date nut bread, you can make a compote with colorful root vegetables, chop 'em up and put them in rice with some pine nuts and a little chopped green onion. You can make a lovely strudel with dates and ricotta, a great English style warm pudding topped with bourbon whipped cream... ready for me to stop yet? Well, here are some recipes. One is new, the other is old.  And it will be hard to choose from the "old" ones because, as I have said, my mom cooked with dates a lot. She thought they were healthy, which they are in that they are really packed with iron.  Sort of like raisins.  So This is sort of what the good old basic date bars look like: They should be sort of delicate and flakey.

Here is the recipe: (From my very first cookbook, given to me by my Dad, who got it for free from the ad agency he worked for.  Sentimental, huh?) Betty Crocker circa 1968)
Heat oven to 375, and cream 3/4 cup of soft butter with a cup of packed brown sugar.  Using a pastry cutter, work in 1 1/2 cup of rolled oats, 1 3/4 cup of flour, 1/2 tsp soda and 1 tsp salt.  Press about half of this into a 13 by 9 inch cake pan- or use a larger 9 by 15 jelly roll pan like I do. Spread with the cooled date filling and then sprinkle with the reserved crumbly mixture of butter and oats, etc.  Bake for about 25 minutes. Date filling: de-pit and chop 2-3 cups dates, add 1/4 cup of sugar, and 1 1/2 cups water to a saucepan and cook on medium low until thickened and sort of like really thick applesauce. Let it cool a bit. Yum.  Great for breakfast! (hey, oats, dates, wholesome stuff. )   By the way, I usually chop some walnuts and and add those to my crumble mixture.  Thanks Betty! I have been making these.. since I was about 5 years old...  :-)

Okay the "new recipe"? I am running out of space a bit and will need to give you the Epicurious link. The recipe is for a Date, Dried-Cherry and Chocolate Torte. It has all kinds of good fall flavors- orange zest, etc.  I added a pinch of ginger, a handful of chopped walnuts, and just a tee-tiny dollop of brandy to mine.  It's one of those almost fruitcake-y kind of things that need to sit around for a few days, possibly in the fridge.  Serve it with brandied whipped cream on a chilly night with a cup of coffee and a couple of friends.. I mean you chat with the friends, you don't eat them.   If you want my two date cake recipes (one with a coconut pecan topping), or the date pudding recipe (very British) you will just have to ask me
.. The link won't work, so go to www.epicurious.com and search for "Date, Dried- Cherry and Chocolate Torte".  mmmmmm