Greetings gang! Hope everyone had a good February and is on their way to an even better March. St. Patrick's Day is coming up. I guess I should probably send you all a recipe for corned beef and cabbage or something with potatoes, but this time we're going with something a bit different. This recipe comes from an Oprah magazine (Jan '01). Every year or so I buy one of her magazines and read through it, but truly I get so annoyed with all the advertisements that I can't read the publication with any regularity. Still, when I sift through all the junk to buy this and look at that and be like Oprah by doing something her editors think everyone should do (and hey, wouldn't we all love to sip tea from Limoges and strut around in our Jimmy Choos while deciding which Versace to where to what) to be a better person, the magazine does have a few articles worth reading and even some recipes worth trying. I must say, however, that the name of this one annoys me. The adjective seems to be in the wrong place. It's not like we have a problem growing chickens in this country and have to import them from anywhere, and the recipe itself doesn't call specifically for an African chicken (as opposed to say a Mongolian one or a Bolivian one), but maybe I'm just being too persnickety. Regardless or my irritation at the name, the recipe was really quite good. If you like peppers and onions, you might find it good as well. I sure hope so. As always, enjoy! - Devon
African Chicken in Peanut Sauce (aka Chicken with African Peanut Sauce)
4 lbs bone-in chicken pieces, skin removed (You can use boneless if you want. Bone-in is cheaper, but you just have to remove the bones eventually.)
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
3/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
3 TBSP vegetable oil (I used a shot or two of olive without measuring: you're just lubing a pan)
1 small onion, finely diced
1/2 red pepper, seeded and diced (I used the whole thing)
1/2 green pepper, seeded and diced (again, I used the whole thing)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp finely diced and seeded jalapeno chile (I used a whole chile: I didn't even know it was measured until just now when I typed it out for you. Guess I should learn to read more carefully!)
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (might I recommend the kind without sugar added)
1/2 tomato, seeded and diced (I used the whole thing)
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 tsp dried) (I went with dried)
1/2 tsp peeled, grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup well-mixed (shake the can pretty vigorously before opening) coconut milk*
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Stir together the salt, pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper and rub it on the chicken pieces. Heat 1 TBSP of the oil and sear the spiced chicken in it, browning on all sides (but don't burn your spices). Transfer the pieces to a platter and set them aside. (Don't worry: we'll finish cooking them later.) Blot out the pan and put the rest of the oil in. Sautee the onion, peppers, and garlic until the vegs are soft (about 5 minutes). Add the chicken broth and simmer until reduced by half (about 20 minutes). (And may I just say that this is a really pretty dish with the two peppers and onions. Very colorful.) Reduce the heat to low and stir in the rest of the ingredients except the chicken and simmer for it about 2 more minutes. Now put the chicken back in the pan and cook 24-30 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked-through. Be sure to stir this frequently because the peanut butter will stick to the bottom of the pan. Turn the chicken pieces over about halfway through the cook time to make sure that they get cooked all the way through. Serve over rice. I boned the (cooked) chicken and then shredded it into the sauce, and it has made for pretty nice leftovers this week.
This is a recipe I would use again. If you were to look it up in the Oprah magazine (page 161 if you really want to), you would find that I altered the recipe in giving it to you. I didn't add a carrot because the store I was in didn't sell them bulk and I only wanted ONE carrot, not three pounds worth, nor did I add tomato paste to the mix because I loathe tomato paste. (Seriously: I think it exists merely to increase the sodium content and to add a slightly tinny taste to everything to which it is added.) If you want to be a purist about it, throw in a finely diced carrot with the other vegetables and 1 TBSP of tomato paste into the sauce. ("1 TBSP" is another reason not to use tomato paste in my opinion. Granted it's a small can, but what do you do with the REST of it besides leave it in the refrigerator for a couple of months as some kind of germ warfare experiment? I guess you could make spaghetti sauce for the next night--when you have your pina coladas. Plech!) You are also supposed to garnish it with 1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley. That would be pretty I am sure.
*This is about 1/3 of a can, so I would suggest either figuring out if this freezes--more importantly thaws-- well, making pina coladas, or whipping up a pot full of Kai Tom Kah (though probably not on the same night: Thai food plus African food sounds like indigestion waiting to happen) to use up the remainder of the milk.
Monday, June 30, 2008
FCG: Turkish Recipes 05/30/05
Hi Gang! Happy (belated) Memorial Day to everyone! Hope it was safe and pleasant for all. I was at the Library recently (okay, that's a safe statement since you all know me and know I'm ALWAYS at one Library or another it seems), and while down in the Children's section I noticed that they had a display of cookbooks for foods from various lands. Just for a switch I picked up the "Cooking the Turkish Way" one, and was delited by both of the recipes I tried from it. The first recipe is for Chicken with Rice, Tomatoes, Peppers, and Tarragon, and now you know all the ingredients. The second one is for Eggplant with Onion and Tomatoes. The Turkish name for the chicken dish is "Domatesli Prinicli Pilic" where the Cs in those last two words have the little tail sticking down. I assume that makes an "s" sound like in facade where it has the little tail on the c--Abby and Emily who speak French are cringing at my linguistic abuse--but that also assumes that that diacritical mark (see: I know some words--apparently it's letters that throw me) makes it do the same thing in Turkish as it does in French. I liked the dish because it was kind of spicy so I felt like I was eating really exotic food (even if it came out of a children's cookbook). The Turkish name for the Eggplant one is Imam Bayildi. From the cookbook, "The Turkish name for this dish means 'The Imam Swooned,' and that is just what an imam, a religious leader, did when he first tasted this delightful concoction." I won't guarantee swooning, but it was mighty darn tasty if you ask me. With summer coming in, I'm excited about a more vegetable-heavy diet, and this is a dish that includes roasted tomatoes and onions and garlic--hard to go wrong with that. :) As always, enjoy! -Devon
Chicken with Rice, Tomatoes, Peppers, and Tarragon
Domatesli Pirincli Pilic
3 TBSP olive oil
2 large onions, chopped fine
1 whole chicken in pieces (or if you're me, some chicken breast. What am I going to do with a whole chicken?)
2 red or green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped fine
3 TBSP fresh tarragon, chopped (I used dry and thought it worked well, but by all means use fresh if you've got it!)
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped (I didn't peel mine, but if you're so inclined, go get 'em tiger!)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 8-oz cans low-fat chicken broth (or some water and a boullion cube)
2 cups short-grain rice, rinsed and drained (or not rinsed and drained: whatever you prefer)
Heat the oil in a large skillet and saute the onions for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the onions from the oil and set aside. Brown the chicken on all sides in the oil and then push it to the side of the pan. Add your bell peppers, jalapeno and tarragon and saute for a minute. Add the tomatoes and put your browned onions back in. Stir it all up really well so that it's saucy and then cover and simmer for 20 minutes. (You might want to move your chicken around a bit to make sure it doesn't burn or stick.) "Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, heat chicken stock." Yeah. If you want to dirty more pans, go right ahead. "Transfer chicken to a clean plate and set aside. (Leave tomato mixture in skillet.") Again, yeah. If you want to. Stir your rice into your tomato mix and add your chicken stock. Raise heat to high and boil for 1 minute (says recipe). Then the recipe says you need to put your chicken back into the pot (there seems to be a lot of in and out of the pot in this recipe), reduce the heat simmer for 15 minutes until your rice is done and the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir and serve hot.
********
Eggplant with Onion and Tomatoes
Imam Bayildi
2 medium eggplants
1 tsp salt
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped (I skipped the peeling my ownself, but it's probably a good idea.)
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 c fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 c fresh basil, chopped (I used dry, but fresh would be wonderful)
1/4 c fresh dill, chopped (see above)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 TBSP sugar
1 lemon, cut in wedges
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Wash your eggplants, cut off the tops, and slice in half the long way. Put these halvs (cut side up) in a roasting pan. Line the pan with foil. Trust me on that. If you do not line the pan with foil, you will spend a whole lot more time scrubbing said roaster with a scouring pad and some baking soda than you want to. Trust me: line the pan. I will never lie to you about when to line a pan. Okay. So, tirade aside, I'll get back to the recipe. Your eggplants are sitting cut-up in your foil-lined pan. In a large bowl, combine your salt, onion, tomatoes, garlic, parsley, dill, and basil. Stir in 2 TBSP of the olive oil and then spoon all this yummy mix over your eggplant halves. Combine the remaining olive oil, water and sugar and drizzle that over the top of your tomato-topped eggplants. Bake for 1 1/2 hours (mine was done in 1, but then I had a pretty small eggplant and I halved the recipe. Use your judgement: I trust you), pressing the tomato mixture into eggplant flesh once or twice as the thing bakes. The eggplant is done when it is very soft. Serve this (and make sure you scoop up the oily tomato mix that has slid off your eggplant in the cooking process) with your cut up lemon and you and whoever you serve it to will be very happy. I do think that if your kitchen gets too hot in the summertime, you could probably wrap the eggplant halves with stuff on top in foil and throw them on a grill outside if you're so inclined. Anyone want to experiment with that and let us know if it works? :)
Chicken with Rice, Tomatoes, Peppers, and Tarragon
Domatesli Pirincli Pilic
3 TBSP olive oil
2 large onions, chopped fine
1 whole chicken in pieces (or if you're me, some chicken breast. What am I going to do with a whole chicken?)
2 red or green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped fine
3 TBSP fresh tarragon, chopped (I used dry and thought it worked well, but by all means use fresh if you've got it!)
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped (I didn't peel mine, but if you're so inclined, go get 'em tiger!)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 8-oz cans low-fat chicken broth (or some water and a boullion cube)
2 cups short-grain rice, rinsed and drained (or not rinsed and drained: whatever you prefer)
Heat the oil in a large skillet and saute the onions for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the onions from the oil and set aside. Brown the chicken on all sides in the oil and then push it to the side of the pan. Add your bell peppers, jalapeno and tarragon and saute for a minute. Add the tomatoes and put your browned onions back in. Stir it all up really well so that it's saucy and then cover and simmer for 20 minutes. (You might want to move your chicken around a bit to make sure it doesn't burn or stick.) "Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, heat chicken stock." Yeah. If you want to dirty more pans, go right ahead. "Transfer chicken to a clean plate and set aside. (Leave tomato mixture in skillet.") Again, yeah. If you want to. Stir your rice into your tomato mix and add your chicken stock. Raise heat to high and boil for 1 minute (says recipe). Then the recipe says you need to put your chicken back into the pot (there seems to be a lot of in and out of the pot in this recipe), reduce the heat simmer for 15 minutes until your rice is done and the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir and serve hot.
********
Eggplant with Onion and Tomatoes
Imam Bayildi
2 medium eggplants
1 tsp salt
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped (I skipped the peeling my ownself, but it's probably a good idea.)
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 c fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 c fresh basil, chopped (I used dry, but fresh would be wonderful)
1/4 c fresh dill, chopped (see above)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 TBSP sugar
1 lemon, cut in wedges
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Wash your eggplants, cut off the tops, and slice in half the long way. Put these halvs (cut side up) in a roasting pan. Line the pan with foil. Trust me on that. If you do not line the pan with foil, you will spend a whole lot more time scrubbing said roaster with a scouring pad and some baking soda than you want to. Trust me: line the pan. I will never lie to you about when to line a pan. Okay. So, tirade aside, I'll get back to the recipe. Your eggplants are sitting cut-up in your foil-lined pan. In a large bowl, combine your salt, onion, tomatoes, garlic, parsley, dill, and basil. Stir in 2 TBSP of the olive oil and then spoon all this yummy mix over your eggplant halves. Combine the remaining olive oil, water and sugar and drizzle that over the top of your tomato-topped eggplants. Bake for 1 1/2 hours (mine was done in 1, but then I had a pretty small eggplant and I halved the recipe. Use your judgement: I trust you), pressing the tomato mixture into eggplant flesh once or twice as the thing bakes. The eggplant is done when it is very soft. Serve this (and make sure you scoop up the oily tomato mix that has slid off your eggplant in the cooking process) with your cut up lemon and you and whoever you serve it to will be very happy. I do think that if your kitchen gets too hot in the summertime, you could probably wrap the eggplant halves with stuff on top in foil and throw them on a grill outside if you're so inclined. Anyone want to experiment with that and let us know if it works? :)
FCG: Tunnel of Dove 06/29/05
Erin of our group recently sent this recipe to me. I have not yet had the opportunity to try it, but it sure sounds wonderful! While I usually try to stay away from sending out dessert type stuff, this was one I just couldn’t pass up. Try it and enjoy it! – Devon
Tunnel of Dove
2 bags Dove Brand Dark Chocolate Promises (trademarked: yes, it’s a Dove recipe, but really, what would be a good enough substitute? Maybe something by Tobler or Lindt, but I think Dove is still cheaper than Swiss chocolate, at least in this country. I guess if you can find Ghirardelli cheap it might be worth trying to substitute that. Dove is probably easiest to find, though.)
3 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 tsp orange zest
3 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup Karo syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a bundt pan and set it aside.
Combine the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. Unwrap one bag of the dove chocolates and melt them (about 1 1/ 2 minutes in the microwave), stirring occasionally, and then set that melty chocolate aside. In another bowl (a lot of bowls get used in this recipe), beat the shortening, sugar, and zest until fluffy. Then add the eggs, beating well after each addition. Then the recipe says to dirty another bowl by combining the milk and sour cream. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture into the shortening mixture, and beat it until smooth.
Stir 1 cup of the batter into your melted chocolate and put that back to the side. Spoon half the plain batter into the bottom of the bundt pan. Then cover it with the chocolate batter and top with the remaining plain batter. Bake 55-60 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean). Remove from oven, transfer to a wire rack, and let it cool completely.
Then you get to make the glaze, and this sounds downright decadent. First, unwrap your other bag of Chocolate and set aside eight of them. The rest you will melt with the Karo syrup and Heavy cream. In the microwave, this should take about 1-2 minutes with frequent stirring. Once it is all melted and smooth, let it sit a bit. (The recipe says 3 minutes.) Remove the cake from the pan and put it back on the rack over some waxed paper. Spoon the glaze over the top of the cake, allowing the excess to drip down over the cake. (This is why the waxed paper is such an important part of the process: you can let it firm up and eat the drips. See: it’s all about conservation and being a thrifty person! Well, okay, it’s about the chocolate.) Decorate it with your eight unmelted dark promises and enjoy.
Tunnel of Dove
2 bags Dove Brand Dark Chocolate Promises (trademarked: yes, it’s a Dove recipe, but really, what would be a good enough substitute? Maybe something by Tobler or Lindt, but I think Dove is still cheaper than Swiss chocolate, at least in this country. I guess if you can find Ghirardelli cheap it might be worth trying to substitute that. Dove is probably easiest to find, though.)
3 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 tsp orange zest
3 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup Karo syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a bundt pan and set it aside.
Combine the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. Unwrap one bag of the dove chocolates and melt them (about 1 1/ 2 minutes in the microwave), stirring occasionally, and then set that melty chocolate aside. In another bowl (a lot of bowls get used in this recipe), beat the shortening, sugar, and zest until fluffy. Then add the eggs, beating well after each addition. Then the recipe says to dirty another bowl by combining the milk and sour cream. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture into the shortening mixture, and beat it until smooth.
Stir 1 cup of the batter into your melted chocolate and put that back to the side. Spoon half the plain batter into the bottom of the bundt pan. Then cover it with the chocolate batter and top with the remaining plain batter. Bake 55-60 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean). Remove from oven, transfer to a wire rack, and let it cool completely.
Then you get to make the glaze, and this sounds downright decadent. First, unwrap your other bag of Chocolate and set aside eight of them. The rest you will melt with the Karo syrup and Heavy cream. In the microwave, this should take about 1-2 minutes with frequent stirring. Once it is all melted and smooth, let it sit a bit. (The recipe says 3 minutes.) Remove the cake from the pan and put it back on the rack over some waxed paper. Spoon the glaze over the top of the cake, allowing the excess to drip down over the cake. (This is why the waxed paper is such an important part of the process: you can let it firm up and eat the drips. See: it’s all about conservation and being a thrifty person! Well, okay, it’s about the chocolate.) Decorate it with your eight unmelted dark promises and enjoy.
Friday, June 27, 2008
FCG: Larrupin' Good Sweet Potatoes and Cheese Ball 11/22/04
Thanksgiving greetings gang! The time swiftly approaches. As I logged in to write this gang offering, I discovered an e-mail from Erin of our group requesting a cheese ball recipe. How great is that timing? Anyhow, some of my family had an early Thanksgiving Day dinner last night because a lot of the fam will be out of town on Thursday. Family potlucks are great because you have a roomfull of guinea pigs that you can try new stuff on. This year my experiment was two-fold: a cheese ball and a vegetable. The Hot Pepper Cheese Ball recipe comes from Allrecipe.com and the Larrupin Good Sweet Potatoes comes from The Sweet Potato Queen's Big-Ass Cookbook (and Financial Planner). Both are worth doing in my opinion, though if I do that cheese ball again, I will probably add some crushed red pepper flakes because it really wasn't the hottest Hot Pepper Cheese Ball I've ever had. I also may cut back on the sugar in the Larrupin Good Sweet Potatoes recipe--I had potatoes that were REALLY sweet to start with, but then again, sweet potatoes are just a lesson in turning a vegetable into candy anyhow, aren't they? No marshmallows on these ones, though, which for me is a plus. (I'm not fond of the melty marshmallow yam thing, though I will eat it. I need to be more discriminating or I won't be able to fit in my pants any more.) Happy Thanksgiving gang, however you spend it. Enjoy! -- Devon
Hot Pepper Cheese Ball
1 8-oz package cream cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar (you could maybe substitute pepper jack for this for more of a kick)
1 cup shredded Extra Sharp Cheddar
1 cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese
1/4 tsp onion powder (I used onion salt because that's all I had, so now we'll all die from sodium poisoning)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 TBSP mayonnaise
1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chopped pecans (I left these out: not a fan of nutty cheese)
In a large bowl, mix everything together except the nuts. Cover and chill it for an hour. Then take the cheese goo out and roll it into a ball (or whatever shape you want, really: there's no food police going to arrest you for making a cheese triangle if you want) and then roll the ball (shape) in the pecans. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Larrupin Good Sweet Potatoes
Boil enough sweet potatoes to end up with 3 cups of mashed ones. I think about three sweet potatoes will do it. Boil with the skins on: attempting to skin uncooked sweet potatoes is an exercise in extreme frustration as it's akin to skinning a brick. If, however, you boil them up, the skins literally slide right off. They're done when you can stick a fork into them easily, just like regular potatoes.
To your three cups of cooked, mashed sweet potatoes, add the following:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 stick butter
1 "running-over teaspoon" of vanilla (a little more than a teaspoon, just like it sounds)
1 dash of salt (keeps it from tasting "flat")
Stir that up and taste it. If it needs more sugar, add that. It just needs to be however you like it. You do need to taste it before you finish cooking it, though, because next you add:
2 eggs
and you don't want to be eating raw egg stuff, especially not warmed up raw eggs in sweet potatoes because that just gets the bacteria all super-poisonous but doesn't cook it to death. Stir the eggs in with the sweetened-enough potatoes and then top it with the following mixture:
1 cup dark brown sugar (I used light, but I can see how dark would be luscious)
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
1 cup pecan pieces
Mix these all up well and sprinkle over the top of the potatoes. You can also add 1 cup coconut to this (I did my pan - 8x8" by the way - half and half, and the coconut half disappeared first: just decide if you want cocount or no). Bake for 1/2 hour at 350 degrees. Spoon up and enjoy.
Hot Pepper Cheese Ball
1 8-oz package cream cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar (you could maybe substitute pepper jack for this for more of a kick)
1 cup shredded Extra Sharp Cheddar
1 cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese
1/4 tsp onion powder (I used onion salt because that's all I had, so now we'll all die from sodium poisoning)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 TBSP mayonnaise
1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chopped pecans (I left these out: not a fan of nutty cheese)
In a large bowl, mix everything together except the nuts. Cover and chill it for an hour. Then take the cheese goo out and roll it into a ball (or whatever shape you want, really: there's no food police going to arrest you for making a cheese triangle if you want) and then roll the ball (shape) in the pecans. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Larrupin Good Sweet Potatoes
Boil enough sweet potatoes to end up with 3 cups of mashed ones. I think about three sweet potatoes will do it. Boil with the skins on: attempting to skin uncooked sweet potatoes is an exercise in extreme frustration as it's akin to skinning a brick. If, however, you boil them up, the skins literally slide right off. They're done when you can stick a fork into them easily, just like regular potatoes.
To your three cups of cooked, mashed sweet potatoes, add the following:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 stick butter
1 "running-over teaspoon" of vanilla (a little more than a teaspoon, just like it sounds)
1 dash of salt (keeps it from tasting "flat")
Stir that up and taste it. If it needs more sugar, add that. It just needs to be however you like it. You do need to taste it before you finish cooking it, though, because next you add:
2 eggs
and you don't want to be eating raw egg stuff, especially not warmed up raw eggs in sweet potatoes because that just gets the bacteria all super-poisonous but doesn't cook it to death. Stir the eggs in with the sweetened-enough potatoes and then top it with the following mixture:
1 cup dark brown sugar (I used light, but I can see how dark would be luscious)
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
1 cup pecan pieces
Mix these all up well and sprinkle over the top of the potatoes. You can also add 1 cup coconut to this (I did my pan - 8x8" by the way - half and half, and the coconut half disappeared first: just decide if you want cocount or no). Bake for 1/2 hour at 350 degrees. Spoon up and enjoy.
FCG: Emily Olsen's Clam Chowder 01/13/05
Happy New Year to you gang! I hope that everyone's celebrations were safe and happy. Mine were spent with bronchitis, which is my excuse for not sending the wonderful stuffing recipe I managed to acquire out to you all closer to when people actually eat stuffing (or "dressing" if you're in the south, but I don't think anyone is just now--all y'all are a bunch of yankees). I'll have to send it soon, though: it's good enough not to wait until Thanksgiving to try it in my opinion. Greetings to all of you from Philadelphia where I have had the opportunity to eat at a friend's house a couple of times and she has generously shared recipes with me (her being a fabulous cook doesn't hurt either). In honor of it being winter and my being an unabashed soup lover, I give you Emily Olsen's Clam Chowder recipe as she has given it to me. I hope you enjoy it! -Devon
Clam Chowder
2 cans minced clams
2 c diced potatoes
1 c diced celery
1 c chopped onion
1/2 c butter
3/4 c flour
1 qt whole milk
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t sugar
pepper to taste
"Drain clam juice over veggies in sauce pan. Add just enough water to cover veggies. Simmer till soft, about 20 min. In another saucepan, melt butter, whisk in flour, add milk and cook till thickened and smooth. Add veggies & liquid and clams, season with salt, sugar, and pepper, heat through. Yum! "This recipe makes quite a bit, but the recipe is easily halved, or doubled if you've got a crowd. I've heard that the leftovers freeze well, though I've never needed to resort to that myself. If you don't have whole milk, other variations work. I've been known to combine lower fat milk with half and half or cream, and my sister once made it with all cream (very thick). I love a flexible recipe!" (Me too! :) )
Clam Chowder
2 cans minced clams
2 c diced potatoes
1 c diced celery
1 c chopped onion
1/2 c butter
3/4 c flour
1 qt whole milk
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t sugar
pepper to taste
"Drain clam juice over veggies in sauce pan. Add just enough water to cover veggies. Simmer till soft, about 20 min. In another saucepan, melt butter, whisk in flour, add milk and cook till thickened and smooth. Add veggies & liquid and clams, season with salt, sugar, and pepper, heat through. Yum! "This recipe makes quite a bit, but the recipe is easily halved, or doubled if you've got a crowd. I've heard that the leftovers freeze well, though I've never needed to resort to that myself. If you don't have whole milk, other variations work. I've been known to combine lower fat milk with half and half or cream, and my sister once made it with all cream (very thick). I love a flexible recipe!" (Me too! :) )
FCG: Shrimp & Macadamia Nut Stuffing 01/21/05
Greetings gangsters! It's another one of Emily's recipes today: the stuffing one I was telling you about in the Clam Chowder e-mail. Seriously folks, this one you don't have to wait until "the holidays" to try. (Why when we say "the holidays" does that only mean the end-of-the-year ones? And why do we only eat stuffing then? Or do other people eat stuffing at other times of the year and I'm just missing out?) Again, quoting directly from Emily, I give you her recipe. Enjoy! - Devon
Shrimp & Macadamia Nut Stuffing
1 lb shrimp, peeled & deveined (cut in half if they're big)
1/2 c chopped celery
1/4 c chopped onion
1/2 c butter
2 c herb seasoned stuffing mix
1/2 c roughly chopped macadamia nuts
1/4 c hot milk
1 egg
"Cook celery & onion in butter till soft. Add shrimp for the last couple of minutes till cooked through and pink. Combine all ingredients and mix well. "This is enough for a smallish turkey I think. I was told to double it in case of a 20 lb bird. When I made it for christmas I cooked it separately in a pan and added about another 1/4-1/3 c milk and cooked it covered.* According to Joy of Cooking stuffing can also be cooked in a pan uncovered for a bit of a crispy crust."
*I had it in the separate-pan thing and it was delicious. I did not know you could still cook stuffing inside of a bird (rather makes "stuffing" a misnomer, doesn't it?) because of the bacteria concerns, but if you're someone who actually stuffs your stuffing into the carcas of a turkey (or other bird for that matter), I guess you cook that however you cook a stuffed bird. :) Seriously folks: try this recipe. It's great!
Shrimp & Macadamia Nut Stuffing
1 lb shrimp, peeled & deveined (cut in half if they're big)
1/2 c chopped celery
1/4 c chopped onion
1/2 c butter
2 c herb seasoned stuffing mix
1/2 c roughly chopped macadamia nuts
1/4 c hot milk
1 egg
"Cook celery & onion in butter till soft. Add shrimp for the last couple of minutes till cooked through and pink. Combine all ingredients and mix well. "This is enough for a smallish turkey I think. I was told to double it in case of a 20 lb bird. When I made it for christmas I cooked it separately in a pan and added about another 1/4-1/3 c milk and cooked it covered.* According to Joy of Cooking stuffing can also be cooked in a pan uncovered for a bit of a crispy crust."
*I had it in the separate-pan thing and it was delicious. I did not know you could still cook stuffing inside of a bird (rather makes "stuffing" a misnomer, doesn't it?) because of the bacteria concerns, but if you're someone who actually stuffs your stuffing into the carcas of a turkey (or other bird for that matter), I guess you cook that however you cook a stuffed bird. :) Seriously folks: try this recipe. It's great!
FCG: Risotto with Leeks and Roasted Asparagus 02/08/05
Greetings Gang!
Happy February to all. Presidents' Day is this month. I would say fix a "Presidential" meal, but I don't know what that would be. I guess we could have an American Cheese sandwich (if you can stomach that plastic cheese) or something. That other holiday (which shall remain nameless--you don't even get off work for it so it doesn't coutn anyhow) is only good for the abundance of all things chocolate and the excuse to eat them in my opinion. :) Since everyone in the gang not only can cook but also has a sense of humor (bet you didn't know I held such a stringent application program, did you?), I hereby share with you a joke my mother recently shared with me.What does a fish say when it runs into a cement wall?"Dam."
Today's recipe coems from the Better Homes & Gardens America's Ethnic Cuisines cookbook. I actually stood and cooked and stirred constantly (which for me is saying something--cooking and stirring constantly is the very definition of tedium to me) and was most pleased with the result. (Though if I could figure out how to do this without cooking & stirring constantly, I'd be all over that!) Trying this recipe marked the second time in my life I've had Risotto. When I had it last time, we used regular rice and found that if you cook/stir constantly it too gets creamy, but not quite to the extent that the Arborio does. It's up to you: special rice or pantry stock (unless you keep arborio in your pantry: I personally keep only the cheapest rice I can find). Enjoy! -Devon
Risotto with Leeks and Roasted Asparagus .
3/4 lb asparagus spears, trimmed
1 TBSP Olive Oil
salt & pepper
Place the spears on a baking sheet and brush the oil on them and sprinkle them with salt & pepper. Bake these at 450 for about 10 minutes (check at 8) until crips/tender. Cut the spears into 2" pieces.
1 1/2 cup sliced leeks
1 TBSP Olive Oil
Cook the leeks in the olive oil until tender.
1 cup uncooked Arborio Rice
Add this to the leeks and cook and stir for five minutes until the rice browns. (Or at least until the rice is coated with the olive oil: you really don't have to brown it if you don't want to.)
3 cups Chicken Broth
Bring this to a boil (in a separate saucepan) and then reduce it to simmer. (Do this while you're cooking the leeks and rice actually.) Add 1 cup of the broth to the rice mixture and cook and stir until the liquid is absorbed. Add the rest of the broth, 1/2 cup (or 1 cup if you're as impatient as I am) at a time, cooking and stirring after each addition until all the liquid is absorbed. Stir in the Roasted Asparagus pieces along with the following:
1/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
2 TBSP snipped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
1 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 tsp coarse black pepper
Serve warm.
Doubles nicely.
Happy February to all. Presidents' Day is this month. I would say fix a "Presidential" meal, but I don't know what that would be. I guess we could have an American Cheese sandwich (if you can stomach that plastic cheese) or something. That other holiday (which shall remain nameless--you don't even get off work for it so it doesn't coutn anyhow) is only good for the abundance of all things chocolate and the excuse to eat them in my opinion. :) Since everyone in the gang not only can cook but also has a sense of humor (bet you didn't know I held such a stringent application program, did you?), I hereby share with you a joke my mother recently shared with me.What does a fish say when it runs into a cement wall?"Dam."
Today's recipe coems from the Better Homes & Gardens America's Ethnic Cuisines cookbook. I actually stood and cooked and stirred constantly (which for me is saying something--cooking and stirring constantly is the very definition of tedium to me) and was most pleased with the result. (Though if I could figure out how to do this without cooking & stirring constantly, I'd be all over that!) Trying this recipe marked the second time in my life I've had Risotto. When I had it last time, we used regular rice and found that if you cook/stir constantly it too gets creamy, but not quite to the extent that the Arborio does. It's up to you: special rice or pantry stock (unless you keep arborio in your pantry: I personally keep only the cheapest rice I can find). Enjoy! -Devon
Risotto with Leeks and Roasted Asparagus .
3/4 lb asparagus spears, trimmed
1 TBSP Olive Oil
salt & pepper
Place the spears on a baking sheet and brush the oil on them and sprinkle them with salt & pepper. Bake these at 450 for about 10 minutes (check at 8) until crips/tender. Cut the spears into 2" pieces.
1 1/2 cup sliced leeks
1 TBSP Olive Oil
Cook the leeks in the olive oil until tender.
1 cup uncooked Arborio Rice
Add this to the leeks and cook and stir for five minutes until the rice browns. (Or at least until the rice is coated with the olive oil: you really don't have to brown it if you don't want to.)
3 cups Chicken Broth
Bring this to a boil (in a separate saucepan) and then reduce it to simmer. (Do this while you're cooking the leeks and rice actually.) Add 1 cup of the broth to the rice mixture and cook and stir until the liquid is absorbed. Add the rest of the broth, 1/2 cup (or 1 cup if you're as impatient as I am) at a time, cooking and stirring after each addition until all the liquid is absorbed. Stir in the Roasted Asparagus pieces along with the following:
1/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
2 TBSP snipped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
1 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 tsp coarse black pepper
Serve warm.
Doubles nicely.
FCG: Dinner in a Pumpkin 10/22/04
Hi Gang!How is everyone? Enjoying the fall weather...wherever you are? Another candy holiday looms on the horizon for us: in fact, maybe the most candy-centric of them all. I'm talking about Halloween, the night of begging strangers for candy, something every parent warns against. Maybe it IS still about letting evil rule the night (and not just about the candy like some of us think). Hmmm.... The bastardization (can I say that gang?) of holidays is an interesting phenomenon to me. Not that I'm about to join a wicca and start celebrating dark rites this time of year, nor is it that I'm superstitious about evil spirits lurking in wait, coming out to dance one night a year until the cock crows at dawn (echoes of Danse Macabre by Saint-Saens going through my head), but what if we celebrated holidays as they were intended instead of a feast of stomach-churning candy corn? That means we would get two holidays because of All Souls Day being November First. Think of the possibilities! Two days of candy corn! (Aaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!) (When you're my age, it's all about the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, though, let me tell you! Forget dressing up, I just like that my favorite candies go on sale.)
Today's recipe comes from Eva of our group. Each year she hosts her annual dinner-in-a-pumpkin and pumpkin-carving night at her home wherein everyone is invited to bring a pumpkin to carve and to join in the feast of dinner cooked (guess where!) in a pumpkin. It's a pretty neat presentation (I've been to a couple in years past). I imagine you could fill the pumpkin with whatever kind of casserole you like. I even looked through a book about pumpkins recently that had a soup you baked right in the pumpkin which was made of layers of gruyere and croutons covered by cream and then baked slowly. It was called "Soupe de Courge" which we'll have to have Abby of our group pronounce (my own French being terrible) if you want to know how it's said. Of course, a soup concocted exclusively of cream and cheese will probably kill one, so maybe this year we'll stick with the dinner-in-a-pumpkin recipe. :) Without further ado, I give you:
Dinner in a Pumpkin
1 medium pumpkin (I take "medium" in this case to mean however big your pumpkin needs to be to house the amount of casserole you're willing to make and eat.)
1 1/2 lbs ground beef (I cut this way down myself, but whatever you want.)
1 tsp salt (Right. There's soy sauce later in the recipe, may want to cut back on the sodium.)
2/3 c chopped celery
1/3 c diced green pepper
1 4-oz can sliced mushrooms
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 8-oz can sliced water chestnuts
2 TBSP soy sauce
2 cups hot cooked rice
Cut off the top of the pumpkin and clear out the seeds and fibers and grossies inside that you don't want to deal with, just like if you were going to carve it. (You could assembly-line your pumpkins early in the day if you're carving and serving this on the same day: get all gross once, but have your pumpkins prepped and ready for carving later.) Preheat the oven to 350 F. Brown the beef and stir in the salt, celery, mushrooms, pepper, and soup. Cover that and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the rice, soy sauce, and water chestnuts and stir it all up. Spoon it all into your lovely cleaned-out pumpkin, replace the top, and put the whole thing on a baking sheet. Bake at 1 hour or until the pumpkin meat is tender. Put the pumpkin on a serving plate (carefully: it's not as firm as it used to be), remove the lid, and eat up. Scoop out some of the cooked pumpkin to serve on the side.
Today's recipe comes from Eva of our group. Each year she hosts her annual dinner-in-a-pumpkin and pumpkin-carving night at her home wherein everyone is invited to bring a pumpkin to carve and to join in the feast of dinner cooked (guess where!) in a pumpkin. It's a pretty neat presentation (I've been to a couple in years past). I imagine you could fill the pumpkin with whatever kind of casserole you like. I even looked through a book about pumpkins recently that had a soup you baked right in the pumpkin which was made of layers of gruyere and croutons covered by cream and then baked slowly. It was called "Soupe de Courge" which we'll have to have Abby of our group pronounce (my own French being terrible) if you want to know how it's said. Of course, a soup concocted exclusively of cream and cheese will probably kill one, so maybe this year we'll stick with the dinner-in-a-pumpkin recipe. :) Without further ado, I give you:
Dinner in a Pumpkin
1 medium pumpkin (I take "medium" in this case to mean however big your pumpkin needs to be to house the amount of casserole you're willing to make and eat.)
1 1/2 lbs ground beef (I cut this way down myself, but whatever you want.)
1 tsp salt (Right. There's soy sauce later in the recipe, may want to cut back on the sodium.)
2/3 c chopped celery
1/3 c diced green pepper
1 4-oz can sliced mushrooms
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 8-oz can sliced water chestnuts
2 TBSP soy sauce
2 cups hot cooked rice
Cut off the top of the pumpkin and clear out the seeds and fibers and grossies inside that you don't want to deal with, just like if you were going to carve it. (You could assembly-line your pumpkins early in the day if you're carving and serving this on the same day: get all gross once, but have your pumpkins prepped and ready for carving later.) Preheat the oven to 350 F. Brown the beef and stir in the salt, celery, mushrooms, pepper, and soup. Cover that and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the rice, soy sauce, and water chestnuts and stir it all up. Spoon it all into your lovely cleaned-out pumpkin, replace the top, and put the whole thing on a baking sheet. Bake at 1 hour or until the pumpkin meat is tender. Put the pumpkin on a serving plate (carefully: it's not as firm as it used to be), remove the lid, and eat up. Scoop out some of the cooked pumpkin to serve on the side.
FCG: Zwiebelkuchen 02/07/04
How's that for a name for you? Hi gang. Today's recipe is for an onion tart. (In German, zwiebel (f)is onion or bulb [such as a tulip, but the recipe doesn't call for those] and a kuchen (f) is a cake, a tart, or a pie. For those gluttons for punishment, the pronunciation is something like tsveebel kooken. [Actually, that ch is not pronounced as a "k" in German, but that's how most Americans interpret it. It's a sound we don't make in English unless we're annoyed or clearing our throats.]) This recipe is easier than the name might imply, and really tasty. Hope you enjoy it. --Devon
Zwiebelkuchen
3/4 cup milk
5 TBSP butter (divide into 4 TBSP and 1 TBSP)
1/4 cup sugar
salt
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon (a little more than a teaspoon if you're using dried lemon peel I think)
3 large egg yolks (I used 2 eggs: I had nothing else to do with the whites at the time.)
1 package active dry yeast
3 cups plus 1 1/2 tsp flour
3 slices bacon, cut into 1/2" dice
3 large onions, finely chopped
1/3 plus 2 TBSP sour cream
1 large egg (another one)
1 tsp caraway seeds
Place milk and 4 TBSP butter in small saucepan and heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat and let mixture cool until tepid. Place in mixing bowl and blend in sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, lemon zest, egg yolks, and yeast. Gradually add the 3 cups flour, creating a dough that is soft, but not sticky. (Mine stayed kind of sticky, though.) Turn onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (springs back when you poke it). Place in a large greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set in a warm place until dough has doubled in size (~1 hour). Heat oven to 400. Punch dough down and roll it to 1/4" thick. Put it on a 11X17" baking sheet that has been greased or lined with parchment. Cover the dough again with plastic wrap (recommend buttered) and let it rise until the dough doesn't spring back when you poke it (~20 minutes). Melt remaining TBSP butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon (this recipe will kill you, by the way: consider not frying your bacon in butter--you don't really need it) and cook until golden and crisp and most of the fat has been rendered. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the 1 1/2 tsp flour. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and the egg and then stir it into the onion mixture. Cook, stirring until the mixture thickens (about 1 minute). Remove from heat and add salt (if you want it). Spread mixture on top of the dough and then let it rise 15 minutes more. Sprinkle the top with caraway seeds. Bake until edges are crisp and brown, about 30 minutes. (Check at 20: it may be that my oven is either a whole lot hotter than 400 when I set it there, but I'm more inclined to think that a dough this light doesn't need to be cooked quite so long, so hot.) transfer to a wire rack and cool enough to serve. The recipe then goes on to say that this bread will keep wrapped and unrefrigerated up to 4 days, but I'm not brave enough to leave meat on my counter (unless it's jerky) for that long. It kept in the refrigerator for me. :) It's a pretty big tart, so be hungry or have guests when you make it.
Zwiebelkuchen
3/4 cup milk
5 TBSP butter (divide into 4 TBSP and 1 TBSP)
1/4 cup sugar
salt
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon (a little more than a teaspoon if you're using dried lemon peel I think)
3 large egg yolks (I used 2 eggs: I had nothing else to do with the whites at the time.)
1 package active dry yeast
3 cups plus 1 1/2 tsp flour
3 slices bacon, cut into 1/2" dice
3 large onions, finely chopped
1/3 plus 2 TBSP sour cream
1 large egg (another one)
1 tsp caraway seeds
Place milk and 4 TBSP butter in small saucepan and heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat and let mixture cool until tepid. Place in mixing bowl and blend in sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, lemon zest, egg yolks, and yeast. Gradually add the 3 cups flour, creating a dough that is soft, but not sticky. (Mine stayed kind of sticky, though.) Turn onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (springs back when you poke it). Place in a large greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set in a warm place until dough has doubled in size (~1 hour). Heat oven to 400. Punch dough down and roll it to 1/4" thick. Put it on a 11X17" baking sheet that has been greased or lined with parchment. Cover the dough again with plastic wrap (recommend buttered) and let it rise until the dough doesn't spring back when you poke it (~20 minutes). Melt remaining TBSP butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon (this recipe will kill you, by the way: consider not frying your bacon in butter--you don't really need it) and cook until golden and crisp and most of the fat has been rendered. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the 1 1/2 tsp flour. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and the egg and then stir it into the onion mixture. Cook, stirring until the mixture thickens (about 1 minute). Remove from heat and add salt (if you want it). Spread mixture on top of the dough and then let it rise 15 minutes more. Sprinkle the top with caraway seeds. Bake until edges are crisp and brown, about 30 minutes. (Check at 20: it may be that my oven is either a whole lot hotter than 400 when I set it there, but I'm more inclined to think that a dough this light doesn't need to be cooked quite so long, so hot.) transfer to a wire rack and cool enough to serve. The recipe then goes on to say that this bread will keep wrapped and unrefrigerated up to 4 days, but I'm not brave enough to leave meat on my counter (unless it's jerky) for that long. It kept in the refrigerator for me. :) It's a pretty big tart, so be hungry or have guests when you make it.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
FCG: Scampi and Lemon Parmesan Pasta 04/23/05
Greetings to you gangsters! Been a while since I've written to you all, so let me get caught up. First off, congratulations to Gina of our gang on the birth of her son! Congratulations to Kelly of our gang on the birth of their son! Congratulations to Heather & Brad of our group on the purchase of their new home! Those are all the highlights I know of right now, but congratulations to anyone else on any other milestone! Today I think I'll give you two recipes for the price of one (and you all have to admit, all this junk I send you is worth the price of admission :) as it were). The first one is for a Chicken Scampi which I liked: nice and simple. The second is for Lemon Parmesan spaghetti which is good, but is not a good leftover food, so it doesn't get as much of a recommendation. As always, enjoy! - Devon
Chicken Scampi
In a pan with 1 TBSP Olive oil, sautee the following:
1 large sweet onion (red onions work well. Vidalias or Walla Walla sweets would be good too.)
2-4 TBSP minced garlicLet that go until the onion starts to get soft a bit
and then add a sliced green peppera sliced red pepperand cook until these are crisp/tender. Spoon them out of the pan.
Into the pan, put:
2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts cut up
Stir this to coat the chicken with oil. As the chicken cooks, add
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup butter (do not substitute says the recipe and I didn't so I don't know the consequences)1/4 cup lemon juice
cook until the chicken is done.
Spoon the vegetables back into the pot and stir until warm. Serve over cooked pasta of your choice and top with parmesan cheese. This warms up pretty well, but the peppers get soft (unless you cooked them soft in the first place). Still tastes good, though. The peppers were my own personal addition (because I like peppers), so you could leave those out, but it would be a less colorful dish. Also, you could easily substitute shrimp for the chicken in this if you were so inclined. Obviously it would diminish the cook time, but I don't think you'd have to change anything with the olive-oil butter sauce.
********
Lemon Parmesan Pasta
Cook 8 oz spaghetti (al dente) and put it into a casserole. (Don't really put it in the casserole if you don't want to, though. More on that later.)
In a saucepan, melt1/3 cup butter (I used marg: maybe that was the problem)and I also threw a couple of TBSP garlic into that just because I like garlic (and we all know I'm not kissin' nobody! :) )
Once the butter is melted (and your garlic is to your liking), add
8 oz sour cream
1 tsp lemon zest (I just grated a whole lemon into it)
3 TBSP lemon juice (I used all the juice I could squeeze out of my grated lemon)
and mix this all up. Stir it over your noodles.
The recipe then says to bake your sauced up noodles for 15-20 minutes at 400 F. I don't think that's necessary: sour cream burns pretty quickly, and all you're really doing is heating the stuff through, so if you don't want to dirty another pan, just stir your pasta up with the sauce and set it on the stove for a minute or so until it's as warm as you want it.
I think this would be good served with some grilled chicken or something, but the leftovers (at least if you use marg) tend to have the sauce separate and curd up a bit. It's still tasty, but the marg is kind of "greezy and obvious" (to quote from the Sweet Potato Queen: although this particular recipe actually came from allrecipes.com), so if presentation is important to you, don't make enough of this for leftovers.
Chicken Scampi
In a pan with 1 TBSP Olive oil, sautee the following:
1 large sweet onion (red onions work well. Vidalias or Walla Walla sweets would be good too.)
2-4 TBSP minced garlicLet that go until the onion starts to get soft a bit
and then add a sliced green peppera sliced red pepperand cook until these are crisp/tender. Spoon them out of the pan.
Into the pan, put:
2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts cut up
Stir this to coat the chicken with oil. As the chicken cooks, add
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup butter (do not substitute says the recipe and I didn't so I don't know the consequences)1/4 cup lemon juice
cook until the chicken is done.
Spoon the vegetables back into the pot and stir until warm. Serve over cooked pasta of your choice and top with parmesan cheese. This warms up pretty well, but the peppers get soft (unless you cooked them soft in the first place). Still tastes good, though. The peppers were my own personal addition (because I like peppers), so you could leave those out, but it would be a less colorful dish. Also, you could easily substitute shrimp for the chicken in this if you were so inclined. Obviously it would diminish the cook time, but I don't think you'd have to change anything with the olive-oil butter sauce.
********
Lemon Parmesan Pasta
Cook 8 oz spaghetti (al dente) and put it into a casserole. (Don't really put it in the casserole if you don't want to, though. More on that later.)
In a saucepan, melt1/3 cup butter (I used marg: maybe that was the problem)and I also threw a couple of TBSP garlic into that just because I like garlic (and we all know I'm not kissin' nobody! :) )
Once the butter is melted (and your garlic is to your liking), add
8 oz sour cream
1 tsp lemon zest (I just grated a whole lemon into it)
3 TBSP lemon juice (I used all the juice I could squeeze out of my grated lemon)
and mix this all up. Stir it over your noodles.
The recipe then says to bake your sauced up noodles for 15-20 minutes at 400 F. I don't think that's necessary: sour cream burns pretty quickly, and all you're really doing is heating the stuff through, so if you don't want to dirty another pan, just stir your pasta up with the sauce and set it on the stove for a minute or so until it's as warm as you want it.
I think this would be good served with some grilled chicken or something, but the leftovers (at least if you use marg) tend to have the sauce separate and curd up a bit. It's still tasty, but the marg is kind of "greezy and obvious" (to quote from the Sweet Potato Queen: although this particular recipe actually came from allrecipes.com), so if presentation is important to you, don't make enough of this for leftovers.
FCG: Jamaican Chicken 11/30/04
Greetings Gangsters! I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Today's recipe comes from "The Party Girl Cookbook" because I'm such a party girl. Right. But that's what the book is really called. The recipe is called "Jamaican Chicken" and frankly, I don't comprehend why it isn't just "Jerk Chicken" because it has a jerk marinade on it. I call it Jerk Chicken my own self, but y'all can call it what you want. I thought it nice served over rice, but it could also be served just as an appetizer I guess. I like that the recipe halved nice and evenly. :) Also, it wasn't terribly spicy as I had thought it would be, though that may be because jalapenos are out of season right now so they're not as hot. I also came across something in the phone book recently that I thought interesting. From Transwest Publishing: "Trivia about Chocolate Chip Cookies: These delights were originally developed in 1937 in a local country inn in Massachusetts. Experiments led to a recipe combining bits of chocolate candy with a shortbread-type cookie dough. Chocolate Chip cookies have revolutionized the dessert industry ever since." I wouldn't say "delights," or "revolutionized." myself, but then, CC isn't my favorite cookie in the whole world. (And I'm personally not local to Massachusetts nor any inn therein.) But that has nothing to do with Jerk Chicken. Without further ado, I give you the recipe. Enjoy!-Devon
Jamaican Chicken
2 onions finely chopped*
1 cup green onions, finely chopped*
2 jalapeno peppers, sliced*
2 tsp pepper
4 tsp fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried
2 tsp salt
4 tsp sugar
2 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
6 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP canola oil
2 TBSP vinegar (any kind. I used red wine vinegar and really liked it.)
4 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Combine everything except the chicken in a blender/food processor until smooth. *I just chopped the stuff small enough to go into the food processor. I see no point in chopping stuff up that you're going to grind into smithereens in the food processor: just get it all small enough to fit and let the blender do the work. If you're not as lazy as I am, chop chop away and have loads of fun. If you have other stuff to do, let the food processor do the bulk of the work. :) Put the chicken in a glass baking dish and cover it with the marinade: turn to couat well and let chill overnight. I personally cut my chicken up BEFORE the marinade thing: I already had a cutting board out for chunking up the vegetables, why do dishes twice? (Again, laziness.) The marinade is not the liquidy stuff you normally think of: it's more like marinading chicken in salsa. It's a rather thick marinade, but it's worth it.
Next day, preheat the oven to 350 F and soak 36 bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes. Slice each chicken breast into 8 thin slices. (Okay, math is NOT my thing, so someone explain to me why you would need 36 skewers if you have 4 chicken breasts sliced into 8 slices each. Wouldn't that give you 4 extra skewers? I guess not being a party girl, I just don't get the finer nuances of skewering 32 pieces of chicken onto 36 sticks.) Thread the slices onto the skewers, piercing three times. (I don't know what would happen if you pierced less than thrice, but some of my pieces got skewered more times and they turned out okay I thought.) Line a baking sheet with foil , put baking racks on top of that and place the skewered chicken on the racks. Bake 15-20 minutes (until done) and serve warm. These will keep a few days in the fridge, but the smell becomes more and more potent. They still taste good, but it's kind of stinky.
This would probably be great on the grill too.
Jamaican Chicken
2 onions finely chopped*
1 cup green onions, finely chopped*
2 jalapeno peppers, sliced*
2 tsp pepper
4 tsp fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried
2 tsp salt
4 tsp sugar
2 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
6 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP canola oil
2 TBSP vinegar (any kind. I used red wine vinegar and really liked it.)
4 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Combine everything except the chicken in a blender/food processor until smooth. *I just chopped the stuff small enough to go into the food processor. I see no point in chopping stuff up that you're going to grind into smithereens in the food processor: just get it all small enough to fit and let the blender do the work. If you're not as lazy as I am, chop chop away and have loads of fun. If you have other stuff to do, let the food processor do the bulk of the work. :) Put the chicken in a glass baking dish and cover it with the marinade: turn to couat well and let chill overnight. I personally cut my chicken up BEFORE the marinade thing: I already had a cutting board out for chunking up the vegetables, why do dishes twice? (Again, laziness.) The marinade is not the liquidy stuff you normally think of: it's more like marinading chicken in salsa. It's a rather thick marinade, but it's worth it.
Next day, preheat the oven to 350 F and soak 36 bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes. Slice each chicken breast into 8 thin slices. (Okay, math is NOT my thing, so someone explain to me why you would need 36 skewers if you have 4 chicken breasts sliced into 8 slices each. Wouldn't that give you 4 extra skewers? I guess not being a party girl, I just don't get the finer nuances of skewering 32 pieces of chicken onto 36 sticks.) Thread the slices onto the skewers, piercing three times. (I don't know what would happen if you pierced less than thrice, but some of my pieces got skewered more times and they turned out okay I thought.) Line a baking sheet with foil , put baking racks on top of that and place the skewered chicken on the racks. Bake 15-20 minutes (until done) and serve warm. These will keep a few days in the fridge, but the smell becomes more and more potent. They still taste good, but it's kind of stinky.
This would probably be great on the grill too.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
FCG: Dips 12/07/07
Seasons’ Greetings Gang!
Hope your holiday seasons are going well. I got to visit with some family and cull some great recipes, one of which is listed below. My season is so far marked by stress as I try to manage teaching my Seminary class (those teenagers require a lot of prep work), working my job, Christmas Shopping, Figuring out how many things I can jam in the boxes I will use to ship said Christmas junk to people, assisting with (read: running) a service project at church, and just for extra fun putting myself through the torture of trying to sell myself to a University PhD program. I’ve had more fun, let me tell you. Fortunately, most of my shopping is done, I will be able to face the marathon wait at the Post Office (since all waits there are marathon these days), and next Saturday (15th) is the due-date for most of my applications, so soon I will have time just sitting around that is not already slated for six overlapping activities. I can hardly wait! At that time, I intend to do some cooking, but until then, I’m kind of living on takeout and snacks much of the time. Not the healthiest way to go, so I’ve been trying to come up with easy-to-fix, easy-to-store things to eat that have some redeeming nutritional value. Here are two recipes for your holiday enjoyment that can be dressed up for company or eaten out of the old cool-whip containers (for those of us who dine alone) easily and quickly and with relatively little trouble. Thanks to Erin of our group for the Sweet Pumpkin Dip recipe: something that just might turn me into a pumpkin eater someday. The other dip recipe comes from allrecipes.com and was really good. Happy Holidays, Peace to You & Yours, and as always, enjoy! – Devon
Sweet Pumpkin Dip
2 packages (8-oz/each) cream cheese
1 can (15-oz) pumpkin (this is the smaller can)
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
Beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the sugar (to taste: I didn’t use quite two cups because I didn’t think it needed it. Maybe I got a sweeter batch of pumpkin in my can) and spices and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate for at least one hour prior to serving. Serve with sliced fruit, cinnamon graham crackers, gingersnap cookies (my personal favorite), toasted bagels or toast slices, etc.
Dukkah
(This is “an Egyptian spice blend that is wonderful. The more you eat it the more addictive it becomes. Serve with toasted crusty bread and olive oil. Dip bread into olive oil, then into hazelnut mixture and enjoy this unique and addictive mix.”)
2/3 cup hazelnuts
1/2 cup sesame seeds (your typical spice container holds just less than a half cup)
2 TBSP Coriander Seeds
2 TBSP Cumin Seeds
2 TBSP freshly-ground Black Pepper (I substituted this with 1 TBSP f/g black pepper and 1 TBSP f/g Grains of Paradise and was quite pleased with the result.)
1 tsp flaked sea salt (or whatever you have on hand)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Put your hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake them for about 5 minutes until fragrant. Remove from oven and put hot nuts into a tea towel and rub them around in this until the skins are gone. Let these cool. In a dry skillet (I used a saucepan and just shook my pan more often) over medium heat, toast your sesame seeds until light golden brown and then dump them in a bowl to stop the cooking. In the same skillet, toast the coriander and cumin until it begins to pop. Transfer these two spices to a food processor (you could use a mortar & pestle if you’ve got it, but the food processor would be easier)and process until finely ground. Add this to the sesame seeds and then process your cooled hazelnuts until they are finely ground. (Watch this: You do NOT want hazelnut butter!). Stir this into your spices and sesame seeds and add your pepper and salt and mix the whole thing up. Get yourself some olive oil and a hunk of good bread (I think Wonderbread would be a desecration) and enjoy.
Hope your holiday seasons are going well. I got to visit with some family and cull some great recipes, one of which is listed below. My season is so far marked by stress as I try to manage teaching my Seminary class (those teenagers require a lot of prep work), working my job, Christmas Shopping, Figuring out how many things I can jam in the boxes I will use to ship said Christmas junk to people, assisting with (read: running) a service project at church, and just for extra fun putting myself through the torture of trying to sell myself to a University PhD program. I’ve had more fun, let me tell you. Fortunately, most of my shopping is done, I will be able to face the marathon wait at the Post Office (since all waits there are marathon these days), and next Saturday (15th) is the due-date for most of my applications, so soon I will have time just sitting around that is not already slated for six overlapping activities. I can hardly wait! At that time, I intend to do some cooking, but until then, I’m kind of living on takeout and snacks much of the time. Not the healthiest way to go, so I’ve been trying to come up with easy-to-fix, easy-to-store things to eat that have some redeeming nutritional value. Here are two recipes for your holiday enjoyment that can be dressed up for company or eaten out of the old cool-whip containers (for those of us who dine alone) easily and quickly and with relatively little trouble. Thanks to Erin of our group for the Sweet Pumpkin Dip recipe: something that just might turn me into a pumpkin eater someday. The other dip recipe comes from allrecipes.com and was really good. Happy Holidays, Peace to You & Yours, and as always, enjoy! – Devon
Sweet Pumpkin Dip
2 packages (8-oz/each) cream cheese
1 can (15-oz) pumpkin (this is the smaller can)
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
Beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the sugar (to taste: I didn’t use quite two cups because I didn’t think it needed it. Maybe I got a sweeter batch of pumpkin in my can) and spices and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate for at least one hour prior to serving. Serve with sliced fruit, cinnamon graham crackers, gingersnap cookies (my personal favorite), toasted bagels or toast slices, etc.
Dukkah
(This is “an Egyptian spice blend that is wonderful. The more you eat it the more addictive it becomes. Serve with toasted crusty bread and olive oil. Dip bread into olive oil, then into hazelnut mixture and enjoy this unique and addictive mix.”)
2/3 cup hazelnuts
1/2 cup sesame seeds (your typical spice container holds just less than a half cup)
2 TBSP Coriander Seeds
2 TBSP Cumin Seeds
2 TBSP freshly-ground Black Pepper (I substituted this with 1 TBSP f/g black pepper and 1 TBSP f/g Grains of Paradise and was quite pleased with the result.)
1 tsp flaked sea salt (or whatever you have on hand)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Put your hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake them for about 5 minutes until fragrant. Remove from oven and put hot nuts into a tea towel and rub them around in this until the skins are gone. Let these cool. In a dry skillet (I used a saucepan and just shook my pan more often) over medium heat, toast your sesame seeds until light golden brown and then dump them in a bowl to stop the cooking. In the same skillet, toast the coriander and cumin until it begins to pop. Transfer these two spices to a food processor (you could use a mortar & pestle if you’ve got it, but the food processor would be easier)and process until finely ground. Add this to the sesame seeds and then process your cooled hazelnuts until they are finely ground. (Watch this: You do NOT want hazelnut butter!). Stir this into your spices and sesame seeds and add your pepper and salt and mix the whole thing up. Get yourself some olive oil and a hunk of good bread (I think Wonderbread would be a desecration) and enjoy.
FCG: Salsa Verde Primera 02/05/08
Winter Greetings to you Gangsters! Of course, here in the northeast, that's not precisely proven by the weather: we're having an unseasonably warm winter up here. Well, so far. Now that I've written that, it'll be freezing rain and snow from here on out. Today's recipe comes from my dad, who likes to cook (and eat) Mexican Food--and who does his own puttering in the kitchen to find flavor combinations he likes. Next time you think about making (eating) salsa, here's something to try that isn't the standard tomato-onion-garlic-jalapeno-cilantro for you. As always, enjoy! - Devon
VERDE SALSA PRIMERA
2 cups Tomatillos pureed in blender
1 cup Onion chopped fine
¼ cup Green chiles (or more to taste)*
1 tbs Lime juice
½ tsp Garlic salt
¼ tsp Dried Oregano (or ½ tsp fresh oregano)
¼ tsp Ground cumin
Chopped fresh cilantro to taste
_________________________________________
A large can of tomatillos (28 oz.) will blend into 2 cups of tomatillo purée.
Be sure to remove any remaining husk or skins from the tomatillos before putting in the blender. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Chill for about an hour.
You can make this salsa in advance for later use, but it is recommended that you do not add the cilantro until just before serving for the best fresh flavor possible.
The use of fresh brown or white (traditional use) onions and fresh cilantro is highly recommended. Fresh squeezed lime juice is recommended also.
*If using Ortega green chiles you can double up to a half cup or one small can. You can also substitute some Serrano or Jalapeno peppers if you want it hotter. The New Mexico Hatch chile or 550 chile has more heat so be slow to add to taste.
You can also add some drained diced or crushed tomatoes to add some extra color to the bowl and to give it some more volume.
Serve with corn chips or tortilla chips. It can also be served over meats, burritos, or any other dish looking for a bit of spiciness. Great over eggs.
Note: Older cilantro or cilantro that has been in the salsa for a couple of days will give a coriander taste, not the fresh cilantro taste.
VERDE SALSA PRIMERA
2 cups Tomatillos pureed in blender
1 cup Onion chopped fine
¼ cup Green chiles (or more to taste)*
1 tbs Lime juice
½ tsp Garlic salt
¼ tsp Dried Oregano (or ½ tsp fresh oregano)
¼ tsp Ground cumin
Chopped fresh cilantro to taste
_________________________________________
A large can of tomatillos (28 oz.) will blend into 2 cups of tomatillo purée.
Be sure to remove any remaining husk or skins from the tomatillos before putting in the blender. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Chill for about an hour.
You can make this salsa in advance for later use, but it is recommended that you do not add the cilantro until just before serving for the best fresh flavor possible.
The use of fresh brown or white (traditional use) onions and fresh cilantro is highly recommended. Fresh squeezed lime juice is recommended also.
*If using Ortega green chiles you can double up to a half cup or one small can. You can also substitute some Serrano or Jalapeno peppers if you want it hotter. The New Mexico Hatch chile or 550 chile has more heat so be slow to add to taste.
You can also add some drained diced or crushed tomatoes to add some extra color to the bowl and to give it some more volume.
Serve with corn chips or tortilla chips. It can also be served over meats, burritos, or any other dish looking for a bit of spiciness. Great over eggs.
Note: Older cilantro or cilantro that has been in the salsa for a couple of days will give a coriander taste, not the fresh cilantro taste.
Monday, June 23, 2008
At Heather's Request: Pesto
This is the pesto recipe we use the most frequently. It freezes extremely well, so we'll often make a double (or triple) batch and freeze it in 1/4 cup portions. The recipe comes from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.
1 c firmly packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 c firmly packed fresh parsley sprigs, stems removed
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c pine nuts
1 lg clove garlic
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 t salt
Chop all together in food processor till it becomes a thick paste.
1 c firmly packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 c firmly packed fresh parsley sprigs, stems removed
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c pine nuts
1 lg clove garlic
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 t salt
Chop all together in food processor till it becomes a thick paste.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Two for the Price of One
A lot of my recipes come from watching Food Network which I loooove to do. The following were inspired by a recipe by Giada DeLaurentiis, but I did so much altering that I'm prepared to call them my own. The dressing (my son's favorite balsamic vinaigrette) is true to Giada's original, but I've changed just about everything else about the dish.
Version 1
Penne Picanha
(Before we begin, a word on the title. I hate titles that just list everything in the dish. Giada's original recipe is called "Penne with Beef and Arugula" or something like that. We started calling it Penne Picanha because "picanha" is the Portuguese word for sirloin and because it is alliterative. And just way more catchy!)
1 lb sirloin
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 t italian seasoning
salt and pepper
12 oz penne pasta
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
2 T Dijon mustard
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
3/4 c extra virgin olive oil
1 T dried basil (or 1/4 c fresh, chopped)
2 c baby spinach
Season both sides od sirloin with salt and pepper, then rub in minced garlic and italian seasoning. Grill till cooked the way you like it (sorry, I never do the grilling, so I can't even guess how many minutes per side for medium, or whatever). Meanwhile, cook pasta till al dente. Whisk together vinegar, mustard, s&p, and dried basil (if using fresh, hold off for now). Slowly drizzle in olive oil, whisking vigorously to combine. Toss pasta with spinach (and fresh basil if you opted for it). Slice sirloin into bite size pieces and add to pasta. Toss with dressing. Serve immediately (or take it on a picnic and serve at room temp).
Version 2
For which we do not yet have a good name. I sometimes call it Chicken Picanha but that makes no sense as there's no Picanha involved. Suggestions anyone?
1-2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 t to 1 t italian seasoning
1 T dried basil (or 1/4 c fresh, chopped)
12 oz penne
2 c baby spinach
1 big ball fresh mozzarella
balsamic vinaigrette as described above
Cook the chicken. I leave the technique up to you. I tend to poach it because I think it soaks up the dressing really well, but roasting or grilling it would also be really good and would add a different depth of flavor. Cook pasta. Make dressing just like above, but add in italian seasoning. Toss pasta with spinach (and fresh basil). Cut chicken and mozzarella into bite size pieces, add to pasta. Toss all with dressing.
This is a universal favorite in our house. My 6 year old begs for it, my one year old gobbles it up, my 32 year old and I fight over the leftovers, and my finicky 4 year old was lately heard to say "Mmmm, Mom, this is good!" Hope you enjoy it as well!
Version 1
Penne Picanha
(Before we begin, a word on the title. I hate titles that just list everything in the dish. Giada's original recipe is called "Penne with Beef and Arugula" or something like that. We started calling it Penne Picanha because "picanha" is the Portuguese word for sirloin and because it is alliterative. And just way more catchy!)
1 lb sirloin
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 t italian seasoning
salt and pepper
12 oz penne pasta
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
2 T Dijon mustard
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
3/4 c extra virgin olive oil
1 T dried basil (or 1/4 c fresh, chopped)
2 c baby spinach
Season both sides od sirloin with salt and pepper, then rub in minced garlic and italian seasoning. Grill till cooked the way you like it (sorry, I never do the grilling, so I can't even guess how many minutes per side for medium, or whatever). Meanwhile, cook pasta till al dente. Whisk together vinegar, mustard, s&p, and dried basil (if using fresh, hold off for now). Slowly drizzle in olive oil, whisking vigorously to combine. Toss pasta with spinach (and fresh basil if you opted for it). Slice sirloin into bite size pieces and add to pasta. Toss with dressing. Serve immediately (or take it on a picnic and serve at room temp).
Version 2
For which we do not yet have a good name. I sometimes call it Chicken Picanha but that makes no sense as there's no Picanha involved. Suggestions anyone?
1-2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 t to 1 t italian seasoning
1 T dried basil (or 1/4 c fresh, chopped)
12 oz penne
2 c baby spinach
1 big ball fresh mozzarella
balsamic vinaigrette as described above
Cook the chicken. I leave the technique up to you. I tend to poach it because I think it soaks up the dressing really well, but roasting or grilling it would also be really good and would add a different depth of flavor. Cook pasta. Make dressing just like above, but add in italian seasoning. Toss pasta with spinach (and fresh basil). Cut chicken and mozzarella into bite size pieces, add to pasta. Toss all with dressing.
This is a universal favorite in our house. My 6 year old begs for it, my one year old gobbles it up, my 32 year old and I fight over the leftovers, and my finicky 4 year old was lately heard to say "Mmmm, Mom, this is good!" Hope you enjoy it as well!
FCG: Greek Summer Salad 9/19/05
Greetings Gang!I saw in the elevator this morning--we have one of those little ad screens that they attempt to legitimize by having news updates on it as well as "interesting" facts--that today is "Talk Like a Pirate Day." This special day was apparently started in 1995 by two friends from Oregon who decided that today was the day to use such phrases as "Shiver Me Timbers," etc. If that's what you want, today is YOUR day! (Maybe it's more popular than I think, but I lived in Oregon for three years and never heard of it. I guess I'm not in with the in-crowd. Guess I didn't pay my pieces of eight or adequately salute the Jolly Roger or something.) Anyhow...Today's recipe comes from my mom. This past weekend I tried this recipe because it sounded good, and the only drawback I can think of is that I didn't triple the recipe. Seriously: I could live on this salad. I hope some of you enjoy it too. - Devon
Greek Summer Salad
1 red or sweet onion (like a vidalia or walla walla sweet)
1 tsp white vinegar
5 medium tomatoes
1 cucumber
1 large green or red pepper
2-3 TBSP red wine vinegar
4-6 TBSP olive oil
3 oz crumbled Feta Cheese
12-16 Greek or regular black olives
Slice your onion and cover it with water and add the 1 tsp white vinegar. Let this sit for at least 10 minutes. In the mean time, cut the rest of your vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Drain the onions and toss the salad with the vinegar and oil, cheese, and olives. This is excellent right away. It's heavenly when it is chilled. The shelf-life, however, does have limits. It still tastes great the next day, but the cucumbers (as cucumbers do) sort of weep a bit, so you have to start serving it with a slotted spoon to get everything out of the liquid. Delicious, though. Also, next time I do this, I think I would use Kalamatas instead of Greek olives since they have a bit more body to them. Greek olives are tasty, but I (personally) think they're a little on the mushy side. Kalamatas tend to be a little firmer.
Red Onions are pretty in this, but at the height of the season, using a Vidalia will make you think you've ascended into the realms of Heaven. Avoid white onions, though: they're a little too sharp for this. If you just have to have this in the off-season, use a colored pepper instead of a green one: it will have a higher sugar content and be more palatable. It won't be as nice as it is in the summer when the ingredients are ripe, but while you can, if you're desperate enough, get away with cardboard-y tomatoes, a bitter pepper is hard to mask, no matter what you do to it.
Greek Summer Salad
1 red or sweet onion (like a vidalia or walla walla sweet)
1 tsp white vinegar
5 medium tomatoes
1 cucumber
1 large green or red pepper
2-3 TBSP red wine vinegar
4-6 TBSP olive oil
3 oz crumbled Feta Cheese
12-16 Greek or regular black olives
Slice your onion and cover it with water and add the 1 tsp white vinegar. Let this sit for at least 10 minutes. In the mean time, cut the rest of your vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Drain the onions and toss the salad with the vinegar and oil, cheese, and olives. This is excellent right away. It's heavenly when it is chilled. The shelf-life, however, does have limits. It still tastes great the next day, but the cucumbers (as cucumbers do) sort of weep a bit, so you have to start serving it with a slotted spoon to get everything out of the liquid. Delicious, though. Also, next time I do this, I think I would use Kalamatas instead of Greek olives since they have a bit more body to them. Greek olives are tasty, but I (personally) think they're a little on the mushy side. Kalamatas tend to be a little firmer.
Red Onions are pretty in this, but at the height of the season, using a Vidalia will make you think you've ascended into the realms of Heaven. Avoid white onions, though: they're a little too sharp for this. If you just have to have this in the off-season, use a colored pepper instead of a green one: it will have a higher sugar content and be more palatable. It won't be as nice as it is in the summer when the ingredients are ripe, but while you can, if you're desperate enough, get away with cardboard-y tomatoes, a bitter pepper is hard to mask, no matter what you do to it.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
FCG: Men's Favorite and Vegetable Salads 1/21/06
Happy 2006 Gang! I hope all had a safe and happy new year. So far 2006 has been busy for me: I've taken one course already (my school offers a super-condensed workshop course each semester that counts for one whole course credit, but you take the whole thing in one week) and am going to start another one on Monday. I never seem to find the time to try recipes any more--well, at least not nearly as often as I would like. I did find and manage to try a couple lately. The Cole Slaw, formally known as "Men's Favorite Salad" comes from the January 2006 issue of Gourmet magazine. While normally not much of a periodical reader, I will occasionally peruse the pages of Gourmet (while waiting for something better to come along, like my turn in line). I liked what I saw in this month's so much that I went and bought myself a copy. If your library has it and you're looking for new recipe ideas, I'd recommend checking out this particular issue. The Vegetable salad comes from my mom, formally known as Carol of our group. Thanks for sending this to me! I love getting ideas from other people! Without further ado, the recipes. Enjoy - Devon
Men's Favorite Salad
1 (2 1/2 lb) green cabbage, washed, outer leaves discarded (I used about a 1 1/2 lb head and thought the proportion was right on. How much cabbage do you like?)
1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise (Hey, it's from Gourmet: they've got to make "chop up your onion" into some kind of fancy schmancy chore, otherwise they'd just be some dumb magazine that talks about food.)
2 TBSP chopped fresh, flat-leaf parsley
2 cups 4% cottage cheese, preferably small-curd (16 oz)
1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP mayonnaise
1 tsp fresh lemon juice or to taste (My taste is a whole lot more than 1 tsp, especially since cabbage is a little bitter this time of year, but start there and add as you like.)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Cut cabbage into 2-inch wedges and core, then very thinly slice crosswise. (See above comment on onion chopping. Thanks.) Transfer to a large bowl. (For those of you who were just going to slop it on the floor and walk in it. I love recipe language!) Add remaining ingredients (into the bowl!!!) and toss to coat. Let stand 15 minutes (or chill up to 2 hours) to allow flavors to meld. I thought it kept pretty good too. I liked this. Definitely a change from the candied mayonnaise concoction that KFC calls Cole Slaw. Men, you'll have to let us all know if this REALLY is your favorite. :)
Vegetable Salad
1 can baby Laseur peas (drained)
1 can white corn (drained)
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
1/3 cup chopped green onions
small jar of pimiento if desired
Dressing:
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup sugar
Mix all these things together and chill. Drain off the dressing before serving. The sweet/sour dressing really helped tone down the "canned" flavor. I imagine this would be pretty darn good with frozen vegs and downright heavenly with fresh. The best part, though, is how easy it is and how you can do it any time of the year because it's canned stuff. :)
Men's Favorite Salad
1 (2 1/2 lb) green cabbage, washed, outer leaves discarded (I used about a 1 1/2 lb head and thought the proportion was right on. How much cabbage do you like?)
1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise (Hey, it's from Gourmet: they've got to make "chop up your onion" into some kind of fancy schmancy chore, otherwise they'd just be some dumb magazine that talks about food.)
2 TBSP chopped fresh, flat-leaf parsley
2 cups 4% cottage cheese, preferably small-curd (16 oz)
1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP mayonnaise
1 tsp fresh lemon juice or to taste (My taste is a whole lot more than 1 tsp, especially since cabbage is a little bitter this time of year, but start there and add as you like.)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Cut cabbage into 2-inch wedges and core, then very thinly slice crosswise. (See above comment on onion chopping. Thanks.) Transfer to a large bowl. (For those of you who were just going to slop it on the floor and walk in it. I love recipe language!) Add remaining ingredients (into the bowl!!!) and toss to coat. Let stand 15 minutes (or chill up to 2 hours) to allow flavors to meld. I thought it kept pretty good too. I liked this. Definitely a change from the candied mayonnaise concoction that KFC calls Cole Slaw. Men, you'll have to let us all know if this REALLY is your favorite. :)
Vegetable Salad
1 can baby Laseur peas (drained)
1 can white corn (drained)
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
1/3 cup chopped green onions
small jar of pimiento if desired
Dressing:
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup sugar
Mix all these things together and chill. Drain off the dressing before serving. The sweet/sour dressing really helped tone down the "canned" flavor. I imagine this would be pretty darn good with frozen vegs and downright heavenly with fresh. The best part, though, is how easy it is and how you can do it any time of the year because it's canned stuff. :)
FCG: Spicy Three-Bean Salad 7/12/07
Greetings Gang! I hope everyone’s summer is going well. Mine is so far: I’ve signed up for a stained glass class which is really cool. Congratulations go to Mitzi of our group on the birth of her son. Always pretty exciting news. I have to admit that I have hated the very idea of 3-bean salad for many years now. I blame it on the trauma of having been forced to eat 3-bean salad from a can at a young age. The particular salad in question consisted of kidney beans, green beans, and wax beans. I blame this experience for my long-standing aversion to kidney beans too because really, there is nothing wrong with a kidney bean qua kidney bean. It’s the wax beans that are an abomination. Few things in nature are so aptly named as the wax bean. It looks like wax. It has about as much flavor as wax. Once canned, it has the consistency and texture of soft wax. (I can’t speak to the texture of a fresh wax bean: I’ve never actually seen one.) The wax bean is a poisonously nasty piece of botanical flotsam and has no part nor portion in my kitchen. Same goes for canned green beans. (Home-bottled I can tolerate much better: less tinny tasting.) Notwithstanding my long-term horror of the dreaded words “three bean salad,” being accompanied by the query “do you want some,” someone recently gave me some that did not contain a single wax bean in the mix. It didn’t even have green beans. It had black beans! I like black beans! I decided to try it and was pleasantly surprised to find that not all 3-bean salads are created equally. Indeed, there are some that are actually edible! Hallelujah! Easy, fast, non-cooking (important in my current humid heat wave up here in the Northeast), and distinctly nutritious. It even redeems the kidney bean from its banishment to the special realm reserved for the inedible foodstuffs (like wax beans). That is a good thing because I was reading on the Internet (the repository of all truth…and everything else) that kidney beans are high in fiber, folate, iron, and thiamin, all of which is important for brain (and overall general) health. So, it is without further ado that I present to you the redeemed 3-bean salad recipe in the hopes that you too can enjoy it. Maybe you can even lay your own 3-bean demon to rest too. Enjoy! - Devon
Spicy 3-bean Salad
1 can (15oz) black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can (20oz, unless you can find 15oz) red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 can (15oz) white kidney beans, white navy beans, or garbanzo beans, drained & guess what!
1/2 cup chopped celery (I didn’t add this: I didn’t have any)
1 red onion, chopped fine (I used a Vidalia and liked it)
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used olive and liked it)
1/3 cup vinegar (I used red wine and liked it)
1/3 cup sugar (recipe says you can substitute Splenda) The sugar is actually necessary: do not leave this out.
In a bowl, mix everything up and let it marinate in the refrigerator overnight (or at least for a couple of hours). Stir it around once in a while and serve when you’re ready to eat it. The recipe says that you can also add some sliced fresh mushrooms or cucumber, but I was pretty happy with just the pepper, onion, and cilantro myself. I know I’m usually really down on the canned bean thing (taste metallic to me), but if you drain and rinse them (and then soak them for a bit), it really helps. By the time this has marinated, the dressing has permeated the beans enough to mask the came-from-a-can taste, which is also helped a lot by the cilantro.
Spicy 3-bean Salad
1 can (15oz) black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can (20oz, unless you can find 15oz) red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 can (15oz) white kidney beans, white navy beans, or garbanzo beans, drained & guess what!
1/2 cup chopped celery (I didn’t add this: I didn’t have any)
1 red onion, chopped fine (I used a Vidalia and liked it)
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used olive and liked it)
1/3 cup vinegar (I used red wine and liked it)
1/3 cup sugar (recipe says you can substitute Splenda) The sugar is actually necessary: do not leave this out.
In a bowl, mix everything up and let it marinate in the refrigerator overnight (or at least for a couple of hours). Stir it around once in a while and serve when you’re ready to eat it. The recipe says that you can also add some sliced fresh mushrooms or cucumber, but I was pretty happy with just the pepper, onion, and cilantro myself. I know I’m usually really down on the canned bean thing (taste metallic to me), but if you drain and rinse them (and then soak them for a bit), it really helps. By the time this has marinated, the dressing has permeated the beans enough to mask the came-from-a-can taste, which is also helped a lot by the cilantro.
FCG Summer Salads 6/21/05
Happy First Day of Summer to all of you! I hope each of you have a safe and pleasant one this year, one filled with wonder and excitement and joy. Today I’m sending out two recipes for salads. It seemed a good way to kick off the summer with something easy to make and delicious to eat with little to no cooking required. :) The first is a broccoli salad recipe from Eva of our group. She assures me it is delicious, and reading through it, I’m inclined to believe it. The second is for a cucumber salad that I discovered a while ago and enjoy very much. Happy and Safe Fourth of July to you all and be good! – Devon
Broccoli Salad
2 Bunches of Broccoli – wash and cut into florets
½ red onion, minced
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup sunflower seeds
1 lb bacon, cooked & crumbled
Toss all that together and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
2 TBSP white wine vinegar (Eva says she used cider & it turned out)
2 TBSP brown sugar
Mix together and keep refrigerated until ready to serve. “Okay—so I mixed up the first batch of stuff the night before. I also mixed the dressing up and put it in the fridge. I did not use the whole batch of dressing. It makes the salad a little slimy. I added the dressing to the salad just before I was ready to serve it and I added a little bit at a time until I thought it was enough. I don’t think I had a whole bunch left over, but I know I didn’t use it all. And this is a salad (as are most salads) best eaten quickly. You can refrigerate it and eat it over several days, but it tends to make the broccoli slimy and the dressing gets really watery.” (Eva)
Cucumber Salad
1 cup light sour cream (regular works in this recipe too, but I’ve found that this is one of the few times regular and light sour cream are interchangeable as far as taste and texture are concerned.)
¼ cup chopped red onion (I usually just chop a small whole red onion)
2 TBSP Lemon Juice
2 TBSP Cider Vinegar
1 TBSP Sugar
¼ tsp salt (I never add this)
1/8 tsp pepper (I never add this either)
3 cucumbers, peeled & sliced
Mix together the sour cream, onion, juice, vinegar, sugar, salt, & pepper. Then stir in your peeled & sliced cucumber. It is good right away, but even better if you let it sit at least an hour in the fridge. This will keep (dressed) in the fridge for a couple of days but you may have to stir it back together (especially if you use light sour cream). It keeps better if you don’t slice your cucumbers super-thing too. I have found that I like to do mine in half-circles about ¼” thick, but play around with it and do whatever you like. It’s pretty with the red onions peeking through the dressing.
Broccoli Salad
2 Bunches of Broccoli – wash and cut into florets
½ red onion, minced
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup sunflower seeds
1 lb bacon, cooked & crumbled
Toss all that together and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
2 TBSP white wine vinegar (Eva says she used cider & it turned out)
2 TBSP brown sugar
Mix together and keep refrigerated until ready to serve. “Okay—so I mixed up the first batch of stuff the night before. I also mixed the dressing up and put it in the fridge. I did not use the whole batch of dressing. It makes the salad a little slimy. I added the dressing to the salad just before I was ready to serve it and I added a little bit at a time until I thought it was enough. I don’t think I had a whole bunch left over, but I know I didn’t use it all. And this is a salad (as are most salads) best eaten quickly. You can refrigerate it and eat it over several days, but it tends to make the broccoli slimy and the dressing gets really watery.” (Eva)
Cucumber Salad
1 cup light sour cream (regular works in this recipe too, but I’ve found that this is one of the few times regular and light sour cream are interchangeable as far as taste and texture are concerned.)
¼ cup chopped red onion (I usually just chop a small whole red onion)
2 TBSP Lemon Juice
2 TBSP Cider Vinegar
1 TBSP Sugar
¼ tsp salt (I never add this)
1/8 tsp pepper (I never add this either)
3 cucumbers, peeled & sliced
Mix together the sour cream, onion, juice, vinegar, sugar, salt, & pepper. Then stir in your peeled & sliced cucumber. It is good right away, but even better if you let it sit at least an hour in the fridge. This will keep (dressed) in the fridge for a couple of days but you may have to stir it back together (especially if you use light sour cream). It keeps better if you don’t slice your cucumbers super-thing too. I have found that I like to do mine in half-circles about ¼” thick, but play around with it and do whatever you like. It’s pretty with the red onions peeking through the dressing.
Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime?
Me, I make ice cream! Actually I make it all year round but since summer suddenly hit here, I've been making a bunch. So, here are a couple of my favorite recipes.
Pistachio Ice Cream
2/3 c unshelled pistachios
2 oz (1/4 c) egg substitute
1/3 c half & half
2/3 c milk
2 c whipping cream
3/4 c sugar
1/4 t almond extract
1 t vanilla extract
4 drops green food coloring
If your pistachios are salted, give them a quick rinse to get some of the salt off. In a food processor (or blender) combine nuts, egg, half&half, and milk. Pulse to start chopping the nuts, but don't chop them too fine (you're going for a rough chop. If they get too fine it turns out like sandpaper ice cream... not as appetizing). Add the rest off the ingredients and process to combine. Following your manufacturer's instructions, freeze in your handy dandy ice cream maker. Remove to a freezer safe container and place in freezer for several hours or overnight to allow flavors to blend and to firm up the ice cream. This recipe makes about a quart of ice cream mix, perfect for a 1 1/2 qt ice cream maker.
And my other latest favorite...
Brownie Berry Cheesecake Ice Cream
4 oz egg substitute (1/2 c)
1 c sugar
1/2 c half & half
2 c heavy cream
1 1/2 t vanilla
8 oz cream cheese
a handful of berries of your choice, crushed (I recommend raspberries)
a couple of brownies, crumbled
Beat eggs and sugar till thick and cream colored. Add half&half, cream, vanilla, and softened cream cheese. Mix thoroughly in a blender or food processor till smooth. Freeze in your ice cream maker. Remove to freezer safe container and gently fold in berries and brownies. Freeze overnight or several hours. Enjoy!!! (This recipe also makes a generous quart of ice cream mix.)
A couple of notes on ice cream making: The colder your ingredients are, the more success you'll have. After you mix everything together, stash your concoction in the fridge for a while to chill it thoroughly before putting it in your ice cream maker. Also, both of these recipes call for egg substitute which means you don't have to cook the base. If you prefer to use real eggs (and I can't blame you) gently heat the mixture till it becomes thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon. This adds a step and then makes that chilling part really important which is why I generally go for the fake eggs.
So, now it's your turn. What kinds of ice cream (or other frozen delectables) do you love to make? Please share!
Pistachio Ice Cream
2/3 c unshelled pistachios
2 oz (1/4 c) egg substitute
1/3 c half & half
2/3 c milk
2 c whipping cream
3/4 c sugar
1/4 t almond extract
1 t vanilla extract
4 drops green food coloring
If your pistachios are salted, give them a quick rinse to get some of the salt off. In a food processor (or blender) combine nuts, egg, half&half, and milk. Pulse to start chopping the nuts, but don't chop them too fine (you're going for a rough chop. If they get too fine it turns out like sandpaper ice cream... not as appetizing). Add the rest off the ingredients and process to combine. Following your manufacturer's instructions, freeze in your handy dandy ice cream maker. Remove to a freezer safe container and place in freezer for several hours or overnight to allow flavors to blend and to firm up the ice cream. This recipe makes about a quart of ice cream mix, perfect for a 1 1/2 qt ice cream maker.
And my other latest favorite...
Brownie Berry Cheesecake Ice Cream
4 oz egg substitute (1/2 c)
1 c sugar
1/2 c half & half
2 c heavy cream
1 1/2 t vanilla
8 oz cream cheese
a handful of berries of your choice, crushed (I recommend raspberries)
a couple of brownies, crumbled
Beat eggs and sugar till thick and cream colored. Add half&half, cream, vanilla, and softened cream cheese. Mix thoroughly in a blender or food processor till smooth. Freeze in your ice cream maker. Remove to freezer safe container and gently fold in berries and brownies. Freeze overnight or several hours. Enjoy!!! (This recipe also makes a generous quart of ice cream mix.)
A couple of notes on ice cream making: The colder your ingredients are, the more success you'll have. After you mix everything together, stash your concoction in the fridge for a while to chill it thoroughly before putting it in your ice cream maker. Also, both of these recipes call for egg substitute which means you don't have to cook the base. If you prefer to use real eggs (and I can't blame you) gently heat the mixture till it becomes thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon. This adds a step and then makes that chilling part really important which is why I generally go for the fake eggs.
So, now it's your turn. What kinds of ice cream (or other frozen delectables) do you love to make? Please share!
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