Our Comfort Food

Cauliflower Gratinée Cupcakes, well, they're probably quiche

2012-01-02T17:41:00.000-05:00

An exercise in food processing inspired by the pineapplesoufflé recipe my mother gave me to make for Christmas dinner.

1 medium head cauliflower, cut into large chunks

1 medium clove garlic, peeled

½ stick softened butter, with a tad bit of bacon fat thrownin just because.

5 eggs

1 – 1 ½ cup assorted cheeses, grated. Make sure there issome Pecorino and some sharp cheddar in this assortment

2 pieces sliced bread, cut into small cubes

Generous squeeze of spicy mustard, about 1 ½ tsp

½ tsp smoked or regular paprika

½ tsp cumin

Salt & freshly-ground black pepper

Non-stick spray

If I had a little nutmeg, I’d have used that too.

Preheat your oven to 350°. If you store anything in youroven, don’t forget to remove it first! Gah!

Using the slicing or grating disk of your food processor,deconstruct the cauliflower and the garlic. Dump into a mixing bowl.

If the cheese is not already grated, run it through the foodprocessor now. Let the cheese join the cauliflower in the mixing bowl.

Switch from the disk to the blade and combine the butter,eggs, and seasonings. Pour this over the cauliflower and the cheese. Add thebread pieces and toss to combine.

Be brave and taste for seasonings. Correct them asnecessary.

Evenly coat a muffin tin with non-stick spray. The thoughtdid occur to me that there is so much butter in this recipe that the spray maybe unnecessary, but I figured better safe than sorry. Divide the mixture evenlyamongst the 12 little cups.

Bake for about 30 minutes until g, b & d. Allow to coolin the tin. I may try to freeze a couple of these. Or, I may eat them all fordinner momentarily.

Indian Spiced Cauliflower Soup

2012-01-02T16:55:00.000-05:00

I’ve been trying for a long time to learn to like Indianfood. I let this be known to coworkers afew years ago. Fortunately, there were some really good Indian home cooks atthat job. One day, a coworker approached my desk with a Ziploc bag full ofseeds in it. An illicit deal was about to happen. Actually, he explained that the bag containedan Indian spice mixture called panch puran, a mixture of cumin, mustard,nigella, fennel, and fenugreek seeds. (Please correct me if I’m wrong aboutthis combo of seeds.) I used it a couple of times, but without success.

Until now. I’m not saying I like any and all Indian food.I’m just saying that this is the first time I’ve used panch puran and have beenhappy with the results. Well, I’m more than happy. This soup is delicious!I do admire that Indian cuisines tend to use a lot of cauliflower, one of myfavorite vegetables, so it’s not that surprising that this turned out so well.Once again, I found inspiration in a NYTrecipe.

1 medium head cauliflower, cleaned, leaves removed, and cutinto large chunks.

Scant ½ cup converted rice

5 – 7 parsley and/or cilantro stems

2 medium bay leaves

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated. That’s about 1 piece ¼ inch indiameter and length of fresh ginger, pre-grated.

3 tsp or so panch puran

2 tsp cumin

Salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Enough water to cover (about 2 pints)

Optional toppings:

Greek yogurt

Finely chopped parsley, cilantro, and/or green onion

Sweat onions and garlic over low heat until soft. Add gratedginger, panch puran, and cumin and cook for 20 or 30 seconds. Downloadthe rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Skim off any foam that floatsto the top. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until the cauliflower istender and the rice is cooked. Taste for seasonings throughout the cookingprocess. You may want to add more of any of them at any time.

Allow to cool to not scalding. Remove stems and bay leaves.Whip out your trusty immersion blender and further deconstruct. Serve as is, orwith optional toppings.

This soup is rather unattractive in color. A half carrotadded with the cauliflower would probably add a pleasing hue and sweetness. And hey, look!! There's no fat to be found in this recipe!

Mexitalo Pastandcheech

2011-09-02T21:20:00.003-04:00

Dedicated to my father, who will think this an unholy combination.

This is another dish that I’ve made many a time, but never considered blog-worthy until recently.

¼ - ½ lb cooked small pasta like elbows or ditalini
1 15-oz can ceci (chick peas)
½ stalk celery, chopped
¼ green bell pepper, chopped
½ - 1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped
½ small tomato, chopped, or a dollop of tomato sauce
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
¼ chipotle pepper, cut in half
½ tbsp dried oregano
¾ tbsp ground cumin
Small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley or cilantro, chopped
S & P
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp or so olive oil and/or bacon fat
Grated locatelli for topping

Sauté celery, green pepper, garlic, and onion in enough fat to slightly more than coat them. When you get a good sizzle going for a minute or 2, add salt, black pepper, a little of the cumin and oregano, and the bay leaf.

When the vegetables become tender, add the beans (and their liquid, if you wish), the tomato, and more cumin and oregano. You’ll probably need to sprinkle in some more S & P too.

Simmer for several minutes. Continue tasting for seasoning until you are more or less pleased. Remember that you still have a powerful flavor to add: the chipotle. Add that about 5 – 7 minutes before you’re ready to eat. The longer the chipotle is in there, the spicier the dish. I like to keep the chipotle in 2 or 3 big pieces so I can easily pluck them out when the heat approaches my danger zone.

You can make this as soupy or tight as you like by adding more or less of the pasta cooking water, the beans’ canning liquid, or some broth to the bean mixture as it cooks. I like it more on the soupy side.

Once this mixture has comingled for 10 minutes or so, remove the chipotle if you haven’t already and want to. Remove the bay leaf. Add your cooked pasta and fresh herbs. Be sure to pile some grated Locatelli on top of your heaping bowl before you mangi/comes.

-Elena

Couscous Cubanelles

2011-09-02T20:35:00.005-04:00

As you may have noticed, every season, I become obsessed with a different vegetable. This summer, it seems my attention is focused on sweet peppers. I got a good deal on a basket of beautiful orange, red and yellow cubanelle (Italian frying) peppers yesterday at the farmers’ market. This helped to feed my addiction.

My mother makes a delicious dish from these peppers, which she learned from my grandmother. She stuffs them with breadcrumbs tossed with parsley, Locatelli, capers, chopped garlic, salt and pepper, and olive oil. Why should I bother describing this tastiness any further? You can get all the details here.

I was inspired by this recipe and what I had in my fridge to create this dish. It seems appropriate, too, because the uncooked Israeli couscous resembles the peppers’ seeds. I don’t know if they surpass my chorizo stuffed peppers, but my dining companion and I both enjoyed them very much. In fact, my dining companion had the leftover half for breakfast.

2 large cubanelle peppers. Choose the straightest and roundest you can find. Halve them and remove the ribs, stem, and seeds.
¾ cup Israeli couscous
¼ cup diced yellow onion
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp olive oil/bacon fat
1 medium tomato, small dice
Large handful of fresh basil and or fresh flat-leafed parsley
2 pieces Canadian bacon, finely cubed
Dollop of cream cheese. You can probably also use ricotta, cottage cheese, or the like.
¼ cup grated Locatelli cheese
1 cup grated cheddar cheese. Mozzarella would have been better, but I didn’t have any.
Salt
Lots of freshly-ground black pepper
½ - 1 cup tomato sauce
1 ½ - 1 ¾ cup water
2 sprigs of basil

Sweat garlic and onion over medium heat for 2 or 3 minutes. Add couscous and sauté until it smells nutty and some of the pieces are lightly tanned. Add about 1 ¼ cup water. (Check the directions on the box for specifics.) Bring to boil and salt to taste. Once it’s boiling, reduce to a simmer and keep it there for 1 or 2 minutes less than directed on the box. It will probably simmer for 7 – 9 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°. Cook the cubanelle halves on a paper towel in the microwave for about 2 minutes per side. They should be rather flimsy but still have a little bite when they finish their microwave session.

When the couscous is has simmered for several minutes, stir in the tomato, parsley, basil, Canadian bacon, Locatelli, cream cheese, salt and a lot of black pepper. Stir this mixture on a warm burner until the cream cheese melts.

Spray a 9 x 9 casserole with nonstick spray. Spread a thin (or thick) layer of tomato sauce at the bottom of the dish; add a splash of water and the 2 sprigs of basil. Arrange the peppers in the tomato sauce and evenly distribute the couscous mixture among them.

Bake covered for 15 minutes, then uncovered for another 20. When you uncover it, check out the tomato sauce situation and add a little more water if it’s getting too dry for you. After 20 uncovered minutes top with Cheddar or whichever cheese you decide to use as a topping and put back in the oven until the cheese melts, maybe 3 – 5 minutes. You can put it under the broiler for a few minutes if you’d like the cheese to get a bit bubbly and brown.

Plate, spooning some tomato sauce over the top of each. You can eat now if you want to scald your mouth.

-Elena

Mother's Day Breakfast Bake

2011-05-13T12:36:00.031-04:00

“Yeah this one right here goes out to all the baby's mamas, mamas. Mamas, mamas, baby mamas, “
-OutKast, Ms. Jackson, 2000

1 dozen large eggs
1 whole baguette, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 ½ cups frozen chopped spinach
1 cup cottage cheese
½ - 1 cup grated Locatelli cheese
1 tsp. mustard
1 green onion, finely sliced
¼ cup flat-leaf green parsley, chopped
1 ½ tsp. bacon fat
1 small tomato, sliced
Salt and pepper
Spray oil

Cook spinach in microwave for about 3 minutes. Let it cool, then squeeze out most of the water.
Ensure that this concoction won’t stick to a 9x 13 oven-safe pan by spraying the pan with spray oil. Next, apply 10 – 12 small dollops of bacon fat to the bottom of the pan.
Arrange the pieces of baguette in a single layer in the bottom of the pan, or as close as you can get it to a single layer.
Break the eggs one by one into a small bowl. After examining each for any signs of funkiness and removing any rogue pieces of shell, dump them into the large mixing bowl you’ll be using to whip up this mixture. Since there are so many eggs in this recipe, I think it’s a good idea to do this picky step.
Add the spinach, cheeses, green onion, parsley, mustard, salt, and pepper to the eggs and whisk to combine.
When it is all well-mixed, pour the egg mixture onto the pieces of baguette in the baking pan. Cover and let sit in the fridge overnight, or at least for maybe 4 hours.
Around 30 minutes before you want to bake this, take it out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 350°. Slice your tomato and arrange prettily on top of the casserole. Bake, covered with foil, for about 30 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for about 15 minutes more, until the egg is set and the exposed bread begins to get a little toasty.
Bring to your mother’s house and share the goodness with her!
-Elena

Google's New Recipe Search Features

2011-05-09T10:10:00.002-04:00
Here's an interesting post by Amanda Hesser about Google's new recipe search features and how they may effect home cooking.

http://www.food52.com/blog/1838_googles_new_recipe_search

Smoked Salmon Carbonara

2011-04-11T17:51:00.006-04:00

On Saturday night, we had smoked salmon soft tacos. Amazingly, we had some leftovers. While paging through my cookbooks, I came across, this recipe for carbonara, which the author claims is the “only recipe you need.” I'm sure she herself doesn't even believe this. If she did, she probably wouldn't need to have umpteen TV shows and a gazillion cookbooks. Anyhow, I put two and two together for a dinner that was quick, easy, and delish. Best of all, you get creamy richness without cream and its accompanying discomfort. This is another dish that rejects the “no cheese with fish” dictum. That also adds to its appeal.

1 lb orecchiette, but any chunky or long pasta would probably be great in this.
¼ lb smoked salmon, chopped

2 eggs

1 tsp. mustard

2 green onions, chopped

Handful chopped parsley

Handful grape tomatoes, quartered

1 tbsp. capers, rinsed and chopped
sprinkle of hot pepper flakes

¼ cup Locatelli cheese

Salt

Pepper

½ cup pasta cooking water

Cook pasta in salted water for about 1 minute or so less than package directions. Mid-way through the cooking time, scoop out about ½ cup of the cooking water.

While the pasta cooks, beat the 2 eggs, mustard, cheese, salt, pepper, capers, hot pepper flakes, and some of the parsley and chopped green onions together. Keep some of the parsley and onions aside with the tomatoes and salmon. These will be added right before serving for some freshness.

Temper the egg mixture by mixing in a bit of the hot pasta cooking water. Add a bit at a time until you have added about 2 tablespoons. Save any remaining water. You may need it later.

When the pasta is finished, drain it. Avoid the urge to combine the egg mixture and the pasta in one fell swoop. The eggs will scramble. This is not what we’re wanting here. We’re going for creamy goodness. A gentle touch is required, so add ¼ cup of the pasta to the egg mixture and combine. Repeat with another ¼ cup of pasta. Now, it’s probably safe to add the egg and pasta mixture back to the larger quantity of pasta in the cooking pot. Toss in the tomatoes, smoked salmon, and the parsley and green onion you’d set aside.

Put the pot over low heat and stir. If it seems dry, add more pasta cooking water everything is silky and yummy-looking. Heat through gently. It does seem a shame to ruin the luxurious texture of smoked salmon by subjecting it to even the lowest heat setting, but I think the overall tastiness of this dish makes up for that.

Top each bowl with a sprinkling of cheese, and freshly-ground black pepper. If you have a bit of parsley and green onion still, that’d be nice, too. Pretty darn good, especially when you consider that I was feeling migrainy about an hour before creating and cooking this.

I reheated leftovers (I know; leftovers of leftovers, but big whoop.) gently (microwave – 50% power for 2 minutes, stir, then 50% for another minute) for lunch today. The smell was exactly like Lean Cuisine Chicken Carbonara, which I used to love. I hope we can still be friends.
-Elena

Beef Stew with Spanish Flavors

2011-03-17T16:40:00.002-04:00
I’m usually quite veggie-centric, but a recent visit with my friend Jen and her son reminded my of the comforting and flavorful potential of beef stew. On a rainy Sunday during Flower Show week, I really needed to avail myself of this comfort.

Inspired by Jen’s recipe and this one, I was hoping for beefy, oniony, olivey goodness, but it really didn’t turn out that way. I think it turned out better. Next time, though, I’ll increase the capers, olives and garlic.

1 ½ # beef stew meat cut into large cubes or chunks, all of similar size
4 – 5 red skinned potatoes cut into chunks of similar size
3 – 4 onions cut into chunks
2 carrots cut into chunks
6 – 7 cloves of garlic, cut in half
1 packet Herb-Ox unsalted beef bouillon
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
1 tbsp Wondra flour. (You could probably use AP flour here, but I’m guessing you’d need less of it.)
½ - 1/3 cup sherry
½ - 1/3 cup water
15 – 20 oil cured olives, pitted and roughly chopped
2 or 3 tbsp capers, rinsed and chopped
Generous squeeze of tomato paste
Slightly less generous squeeze of anchovy paste
2-inch strip of rind from a fresh, clean orange
1 ½ tbsp bacon fat, olive oil, or combo
3 bay leaves
5 or 6 parsley stems
Dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
1 or 2 finely sliced green onions, or ¼ cup chopped parsley

Blot excess moisture off meat with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper. In 2 or 3 installments, sprinkle on Wondra, and toss to coat. Wondra is a very finely-ground flour, and will dissolve, disappearing into the meat. Don’t be tempted to keep adding more until you can see it. This will be too much flour.

Brown meat in the fat of your choice in a large pot over medium heat. You may want to do this in 2 batches to achieve better browning, but I didn’t bother. Add a few pieces of onion and a bit of the garlic for more flavor a few minutes into the browning. After a few more minutes, add anchovy and tomato pastes and stir. A tasty brown crust will be forming at the bottom of the pan. This is what you want. When meat is browned on all sides, remove it from the pan.

Deglaze the pan by pouring water and sherry into it and scraping the crust off the bottom. Add the tomato sauce (rinse the can half full of water) and bouillon and continue to scrape the pan until the majority of the tastiness is off the bottom and incorporated into the liquid.

Add parsley, orange rind, oregano and bay leaves. Taste for salt and pepper. Be careful with the salt. This liquid will reduce, becoming saltier. You also will be adding some salty ingredients in a little while.

Add the vegetables and put the meat back into the pot. Make sure there is just enough liquid to cover all of the ingredients. If not, add more water, and possibly more sherry. Bring this to a boil, and then turn the temperature down to low for a slow simmer.

Toss the capers and the olives into the mix. Simmer until meat is cooked through and veggies are tender. This could take an hour or more. If the water level falls below that of the ingredients, add just enough to cover. Taste the seasonings throughout cooking. The broth will become thick, velvety, and tasty. Remove parsley stems, orange rind, and bay leaves. If you should somehow end up eating the orange rind, I can’t say I’d blame you.

Serve in big bowls with nice bread, rice, or noodles. Top each bowl with sliced green onion or parsley. This makes a big batch, so you’ll be enjoying this for a few days. You’re welcome.

Black Bean and Quinoa Cakes

2011-01-14T21:32:00.003-05:00
Yield: about 1 dozen patties

1/3 yellow onion, peeled and cut into chunks
3 or 4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
½ bell pepper cut into chunks
¼ - ½ chipotle pepper in adobo, cut into chunks
½ cup flat leaf parsley and/or cilantro, roughly chopped
¼ cup quinoa, prepared according to package microwave directions. Don’t forget to rinse it first.
1/8 or so cup frozen corn. Throw it in with the quinoa when it has about 3 minutes remaining to cook.
1 15 oz can black beans
½ cup breadcrumb
1 egg - The egg may not be necessary. The protein and carbs in the beans and quinoa may be enough to make it hold together in a patty. The next time I make these, I’ll see what happens if I omit the egg
½ tbsp cumin
½ tbsp oregano
1 tsp lemon or lime juice
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Finely chop first 5 ingredients in a food processor. Empty into a mixing bowl.

Now, put about ¾ of the black beans and ¾ of the quinoa and corn mixture into the food processor and pulse until the mixture is a rough paste. Empty this paste into the mixing bowl.

The rest of the beans and quinoa go into the food processor to be roughly chopped. Then, into the mixing bowl with them.

Mix the contents of the mixing bowl, add the egg, and then add enough breadcrumbs so that the mixture holds its shape when formed into a patty. Stir in cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, and lemon juice to taste. If the lemon juice makes the mixture too wet again, add a bit more breadcrumbs so that the mixture is the correct consistency once again.

Form into patties about 1 ½ inch in diameter and ½ inch thick. This should make 11 or 12 patties. Bake for about 20 – 25 minutes in a 350° oven.

As with most of the “cake” or patty recipes I make, I froze these to eat later. I arranged them in a single layer on a wax-paper lined baking sheet, covered with plastic wrap as best as I could. When they are frozen, pop them into a food storage bag. On the busy work night when I want to eat them, I preheat my toaster oven to 350° or so and bake 3 or 4 of them (or 6, depending on if Jeff is eating too) until hot.

-Elena

A Frittata for Thursday the Thirteenth

2011-01-14T20:57:00.004-05:00

Another pretty frittata. This time it featured:
Leftover roasted purple potatoes, red skinned potatoes, and carrots
A handful of grape tomatoes, halved
Leftover bacon
A bit of cheddar cut into small cubes
Frozen spinach
7 eggs beaten with lots of Locatelli cheese, salt, pepper, and a little water

It was topped with panko crumbs, shredded mozzarella and more Locatelli before going under the broil.

Of course, I put a splash of hot sauce on mine when it was done. It was delicious!

-Elena

Celery Root and Apple Soup

2011-01-13T18:30:00.006-05:00
Wondering what to do with poor, ol’ homely celery root?

While this was simmering, Jeff described its smell as “Old Bay gone wild,” which he meant as a compliment, I’m sure. Mom gives it 2 thumbs up.

1 medium celery root, peeled well and cut into large chunks
2 medium tart apples, washed and cut into chunks. Save 1 apple core.
2 stalks celery, with leaves, if possible, washed and coarsely chopped
1 large or 2 small onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 large garlic clove, peeled and smashed
1 small red potato, washed and cut into chunks
½ - 1 tsp. cumin
Dash of cinnamon
Dash of paprika
2 bay leaves
5 – 7 parsley stems
1 tbs. olive oil or bacon fat, or combination
Salt and black pepper
2 – 4 cups water

Bring olive oil or bacon fat to temperature over medium heat in the deep pot in which you’ll cook the soup. When it’s hot, add 1 apple and its core, 1 celery stalk, ½ of the onions, the garlic clove and a bit of cumin. When the ingredients start to sizzle, add some salt and pepper. Allow the ingredients to cook for about 5 -7 minutes to get some golden brown color. Remove anything that seems to have gotten too dark. This could happen with the celery leaves.

Add the celery root, the other celery stalk, the remainder of the onion, and the potato to the pot and fill with enough water to just cover all of the ingredients by about ½ an inch. It probably will take 2 or 3 cups of water, depending on the size of your vegetables. Drop in the bay leaves, parsley stems, more cumin, black pepper, the cinnamon and paprika. Bring to a slow boil and skim off any foam that comes to the top. Add salt. Reduce heat to medium low, where it will remain for the rest of the process.

Cook uncovered until the celery root is tender. This could take 40-45 minutes. Taste for seasonings along the way. You may also need to add more water at some point. When you think only 10 or 15 minutes more cooking time will be needed, add the second apple (no core).

When the celery root is tender, remove the apple core, bay leaves, and parsley stems. Allow the soup to cool for a while. Then, break out your trusty immersion blender and have at it until it reaches the consistency you like.

Mom enjoyed this for lunch today, topped with a splash of half and half after reheating. I think it would also be good with bits of finely cubed raw apple and/or bacon bits (not raw, of course!) sprinkled on top.

-Elena

Cumin Roasted Cauliflower

2010-10-15T21:06:00.003-04:00

I’ve had a few requests for this recipe/method, so I thought I’d add it to the blog. When the weather turns chilly, I crave this.

1 medium head cauliflower, green leaves removed
Generous sprinklings of salt, pepper, and garlic powder
More than generous sprinkling of cumin
Olive oil
Bacon fat (optional)

Preheat your oven to about 450°. Clean the cauliflower and break it into florets. Peel and cut the stems into chunks, too. Spread it all out in a single layer on a greased baking sheet and season generously with S & P, garlic powder, and a ton of cumin. Lightly coat with olive oil, and a few dabs of bacon fat, if you want (and I always want). Roast for about 40-45 minutes, stirring midway through. You may want take this opportunity to refresh the cauliflower with even more cumin.

This sounds like a long cooking time and it is, but you want the cauliflower to be well-browned. It will be crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside. It takes all of my self-control to not eat the entire head off the pan as it is cooling. Sometimes I fail.

-Elena

Yellow Squash Risotto

2010-09-16T20:05:00.003-04:00
For the risotto:
2 medium-sized yellow summer squash, grated on the large holes of a box grater. When the grater gets too close to your fingers, add the remaining pieces of squash to the cooking liquid.
1 cup Arborio rice
3 or 4 cloves garlic, chopped
½ onion or 1 large shallot, finely diced
¼ cup carrot, grated on the large holes of a box grater
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp bacon fat (optional - or just use a little more olive oil)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter (optional)
¼ - 1/3 cup Pinot Grigio
¼ cup grated Locatelli cheese
Salt and black pepper

For the cooking liquid:
I think of a risotto’s cooking liquid as an opportunity to reinforce the flavor that you’re cooking into the rice.

3 cups water
¼ cup Pinot Grigio
¼ onion, peeled
1 or 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
½ stalk celery
5 parsley stems
2 inches or so carrot. It can be grated if you want
Ends of the squash and any raggedy pieces left over from grating
2-inch piece of cheese rind
1 dried bay leaf
Salt and black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients for the cooking liquid and simmer while you prepare the ingredients for the risotto.

Heat the bacon fat (if using) and olive oil over medium in a nonstick pan. Cook the onion or shallot, garlic and about ¾ of the grated squash and carrots in it for a about 3 minutes. When the vegetables just start to become tender, add a touch of salt and pepper and continue to cook for about 2 more minutes, or until they just start to turn brown. Add the rice. Sauté and stir until rice looks pearly and smells nutty. Add the wine. Cook and stir until there is hardly any wine visible.

Add cooking liquid one or two ladles full at a time. Stir thoroughly after each addition. When the rice has absorbed most of the liquid in each addition, it is ready for more. If you think you are going to run out of liquid, add some water and more of the seasonings to the remaining liquid before you run out. Make sure the liquid you add to the rice is hot, though, otherwise you really slow down the rice’s cooking. A few times throughout this process, taste the sauce forming in the risotto for salt and pepper.

Midway through this process (about 10 minutes in), add the rest of the grated carrot and squash with another ladle of the cooking liquid. Then, continue the ladling and stirring process until rice is almost completely tender, yet still has some resistance in the center of each grain. This should take about 10 or 12 more minutes. Risotto really only takes about 20 minutes to cook.

At this point turn off the heat and stir in the Locatelli, parsley, and butter, if you decide to use it, and I strongly urge that you do. I used to go butterless, but was amazed at the difference it made when I tried it the first time. It rounds out the flavor very nicely.

Remove the solids from any leftover cooking liquid and use it to cook pasta or rice, or as the beginning of a soup.

-Elena

Mushroom Ragout

2010-08-02T21:24:00.005-04:00
This recipe is inspired by one I saw a few years ago on Everyday Food. I’ve made it a gazillion times, but thought it wasn’t blog-worthy because it is so simple. Well, I’ve changed my mind.

½ # mushrooms. I usually use crimini or button, but have used shiitake. I guess you can use whatever mushroom you’d like.
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 Tbs chopped onion
1 Tbs tomato paste
¼ C sherry
¼ C water
¼ tsp dried thyme
Small handful roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
Olive oil or bacon fat or combo
Salt
Black pepper

Clean any lingering dirt off mushrooms with a damp towel. Cut them in half or in quarters depending on their size. To cook off some of the water in the mushrooms, sauté over medium heat in a non-stick skillet with no fat in the pan for a few minutes. When the mushrooms start smelling aromatic and just begin to glisten, add whatever fat you’re using and the onions and garlic. Add salt and pepper. Cook until the onions and garlic are almost tender. Add tomato paste and cook for a few seconds. Pour in a few glugs of sherry and an approximately equal amount of water. Add the thyme and more salt and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes until sauce thickens a bit, maybe 5 to 10 more minutes. Throw in the parsley. Taste again and reseason if necessary.

You have now created a pan of versatile deliciousness. You will enjoy it as suggested in the original recipe, over broiled polenta topped with goat cheese. Or, you can choose one of these combinations: over pasta, gnocchi, grits (whisk in a little cream cheese and Locatelli), toasted slices of baguette, or Israeli couscous, and topped with goat cheese, Locatelli, ricotta, or mozzarella; any of which I have consumed con mucho gusto on many an occasion. (OK, I never had it with ricotta, but I’m sure it would be good).

Bastille Day Frittata

2010-08-01T20:21:00.007-04:00
I whipped up this frittata a few weeks ago with odds and ends I had in the fridge and freezer. It looked so pretty as it was cooling that I was inspired to snap a photo.

This frittata included:
8 eggs
roasted fingerling potatoes with red onion, lemon, and capers
leftover piccolini rotelli pasta that I had seasoned with olive oil, Locatelli, salt and pepper
about 1/2 large tomato, cut into large dice and sauteed in bacon fat with some of the larger pieces of red onion from the potato dish
1 green onion, some beaten into egg, and some sprinkled on top of frittata before going under the broiler
frozen spinach
bread crumbs, for sprinkling on top before the broiler
Locatelli, beaten into eggs and sprinkled on top before the broiler
salt and pepper
bacon fat

Yellow Summer Squash and Basil Soup

2010-07-28T21:11:00.024-04:00

Huzzah! I finally discovered the secret to keeping stems of basil fresh and vibrant for longer than an hour, thanks to a tip that made me slap my forehead, it was so obvious! A reliable source suggested I trim the stems and change the water every few days. I’ve been told to keep basil as I would fresh cut flowers, in a container of water on the counter, but I guess I never carried that logic far enough.

So, it’s been 4 days and the basil is still looking good. Being the pessimist that I am, though, I’m anxious that the spell will break at any moment. We’ve eaten plenty of delicious tomato salads, but I still wanted to find a non-pesto way to use quite a bit of the basil at once. I also had 3 beautiful farmers market yellow squash in the veggie drawer just waiting to be turned delicious. Inspired by the zucchini soup recipe posted a few days ago, here’s what I created:

2 Tbs olive oil or bacon fat or combo
1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped
4 or 5 medium cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
½ carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 small stalk celery, leaves included, if possible, roughly chopped
3 medium-sized summer squash, roughly chopped. Trim the yucky tips off the stem end but save the stem ends to infuse the broth.
2 stems parsley w/leaves
2 stems basil w/leaves
2 1-inch pieces of cheese rind (from a hard grating cheese like Locatelli or Manchego)
1 generous glug Pinot Grigio
1 small bay leaf
1/3 C Arborio rice
1 C basil leaves, torn
Sprinkle of hot pepper flakes
Water
Salt and pepper

In a 3-quart saucepan, over medium heat, sweat onions, garlic, celery, and carrot for a few minutes in the olive oil or bacon fat. Add squash. Let cook a few minutes before adding a pinch of salt. Continue cooking 7 - 10 minutes until veg (excluding carrots) become opaque and very close to tender (including carrots).

Add enough water to cover all of the vegetables, and to go over them by about ½ to ¼ inch. Add a pinch more salt, black pepper, a generous glug of Pinot Grigio, bay leaf, parsley stems, cheese rinds, and squash tops and bring to boil.

When the concoction is boiling, add 1/3 C Arborio rice. Continue to cook at boiling until rice is tender, or even a bit overcooked, about another 10 -12 minutes. At this point, the veg should be very tender as well.

Turn off heat and remove bay leaf, parsley stems, cheese rinds and squash tops. Taste for salt and pepper, and add if necessary.

Add a sprinkle of red pepper flake and 2 or 3 basil stems that you’ve crumpled between your hands. Allow to cool. When cool, remove basil stems and add a bunch of torn basil leaves.

Purée with an immersion blender, or in a regular blender until as smooth as possible. Taste again for seasoning and reseason if necessary before your last purée episode.

Serve hot or cold. If serving cold, garnish as described in the zucchini soup recipe on this blog. I froze some for summery savor in the middle of winter.

You could use potatoes as the thickener in this soup, and please do if you’re making it for my father. I didn’t have any potatoes on hand when I made this, but I had plenty of rice. I think the rice actually worked out really well because the immersion blender didn’t have to decimate big ol’ chunks of potato. The little overcooked rice grains were no match for it.

Zucchini Soup

2010-07-19T11:04:00.000-04:00
I served it room temp (because it is stinkin' hot here) with a dollop of sour cream and a basil leaf in each bowl.

Here goes: (actually I just adapted it from the Silver Palate Zucchini and Watercress Sour recipe)

!/2 stick of butter
2 cups small dice onions
2-3 cloves minced garlic
2 small potatoes cut in small dice
about 4 medium zucchini cut into small chunks
parsley, basil, salt and black pepper--lots of parsley and fresh basil.
about 4 cups of chicken broth

Saute onions, garlic, potatoes in butter till soft, add zucchini and seasonings. Saute awhile till zucchini gets tender, add broth. Let cool, then puree in food processor. Oh, I also added some diced fresh tomatoes as I wanted to use them up. I am making another batch tomorrow which I will freeze for the winter and serve hot.

~Lucille

Parsley and Pistachio Pesto

2010-05-25T21:40:00.003-04:00
This creation is inspired by my Parsley, Scallion and Pistachio Pasta recipe, which is basically a deconstructed pesto dish. It was also prompted by the fact that it is impossible for me to keep basil fresh and beautiful for any longer than 5 minutes and that it is very difficult for me to obtain enough of it to make a significant amount of traditional pesto. I made a batch of this scrumptious concoction yesterday, and have eaten it at 3 meals already; twice on spaghetti, and once on a broiled steak. Delicious! I’m fairly obsessed.

3 cups Italian flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped. Remove the tough stems, but some of the smaller tender stems are fine.
2 scallions, roughly chopped. Use the white and the green parts, for heaven's sake! You can omit the little roots at the end, though.
2 large or 3 medium cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 cup pistachios, shelled and roughly chopped. Mine were salted, but if yours aren’t just add a little more salt.
½ - 1/3 cup freshly-grated Pecorino Romano
1/3 cup olive oil
½ cup water
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Combine a portion of all ingredients except for water and olive oil in a food processor and pulse to begin chopping into a paste. Add a little olive oil and some water and pulse to combine. Don’t worry, the oil and water should emulsify, and if they don’t its not a big deal. Add more of the ingredients and pulse again. Continue processing in this way until all ingredients are incorporated, or until the taste and consistency of the sauce are delicious to you.

Use as a topping for pasta, meat, or grilled or roasted vegetables. Say Grace and devour!

- Elena

Halibut Packets with Asian Flavor

2010-02-03T11:35:00.010-05:00

If you have parchment paper instead of foil, you can get fancy and call these “Les Flétan en Papillote à la Mode d'Asie.” Use any meaty fish in this recipe. Of course, you’d then have to change the fancy French title to correspond with the fish that you choose.

3 ¼ - ⅓ lb halibut steaks

3 pieces of foil or parchment paper, approximately double the size of the fish steaks, sprayed with non-stick spray

2 thinly-sliced scallions, or ½ cup thinly-sliced onion

3 thinly-sliced garlic cloves

9 – 12 thin slices fresh ginger

1 cup grated carrot (I grated the carrot on a microplane so it dissolved into the sauce)

1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce

3 sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley or cilantro

Red pepper flake or a few thin slices of jalapeño, if you want some kick. Keep in mind that the ginger does bring some heat of its own.

Bacon fat and/or sesame oil

Salt

Black pepper

Preheat oven to 350°

Season the fish with salt and pepper and place each on a piece of foil. Be stingy with the salt, since you will also be using soy sauce in this recipe. It’s helpful to make the foil into a cup or bowl shape so that when you add the soy, it won’t flow onto your counter. Combine scallions or onions, pepper or jalapeño, garlic, ginger, and carrot. Divide the veg evenly on top of the pieces of fish. Add a sprig of parsley or cilantro to each packet. Divide the soy sauce evenly into each packet. Season again with a tiny bit of salt and as much black pepper as you’d like. Anoint each with a few drops of sesame oil or a raindrop-sized bit of bacon fat.

Loosely seal each packet. They need to be tight enough to contain the liquid that is in them now and that which will be produced during cooking. However, they should be loose enough to let some steam escape; otherwise, you will have a mess on your hands (or, more precisely, in your oven.) Place the packets on a baking sheet for easy handling.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the fish is moist, yet flaky. It will not ruin the dish if you peek into a packet and check for doneness, then decide let it cook longer.

Be sure to eat rice along with this. It soaks up the yummy sauce that develops in each packet. I devoured a few heads of soy and ginger braised baby bok choy as another side. In fact, you could probably put a few leaves of baby bok choy in each packet and increase the cooking time by 5 minutes or so.

Crock Pot Artichokes

2009-10-01T21:49:00.005-04:00
Its easy to make great artichokes in a crock pot. Basically, just clean up a few artichokes- get as many that will fit in the bottom of the crock pot. Add a cup or so of vegetable broth or stock and a chopped clove of garlic. If you have capers, add them. Turn the pot on high for 4 hours and occasionally turn the artichokes so that one side is not against the side of the pot the entire time. They should be soft and fully cooked after 4 hours on high, but you can let them go on low for a while if need be.

Summer Squash and Spaghetti (or Linguini)

2009-09-26T22:18:00.009-04:00
This recipe taught me to love these extremely abundant, but sometimes extremely bland and slimy summer vegetables that I disliked not so long ago.

½ lb. spaghetti or linguini, cooked
1 cup pasta cooking water

Summer squash – I’ve used zucchini, large patty pans, or yellow crookneck. The latter are my favorite. Slice it as thinly as possible, ideally ¼ to 1/16 of an inch. If the squash is very fat, halve it lengthwise first, and then do the slicing. You may prefer to use a mandolin for the slicing. If you do, you are braver than I.

It is difficult to give a specific amount of the squash you will need. It depends on the size of the squash and the size of the skillet you use. I would guess that it will take 1 to 1 ½ cups.

1 tbsp. olive oil or bacon fat or combination thereof
½ medium-sized onion, sliced as thinly as possible, ideally 1/16 of an inch
3 or 4 garlic cloves sliced, but not as thinly as the onion. You don’t want it to burn.
¼ - ½ cup dry white wine
Dash of red pepper flakes
Any fresh herbs you have handy, torn. I prefer basil, but parsley works well, too.
Salt
Freshly-ground black pepper
Locatelli cheese

Sauté the squash, onion, and garlic in a large nonstick skillet with the fat over medium heat. Do not overcrowd the skillet with the squash. It should be in one layer in the bottom of the pan; or in 2 layers, if you must. As much of the squash as possible should have contact with the surface of the pan. When the vegetables begin to soften, season with salt and pepper and stir.

Every few minutes, stir the veggies and pat down into one layer so that everything has an opportunity to cook evenly.

Continue cooking until the squash is golden brown and much of it seems to have melded and melted into the onions. This could take about 7 to 10 minutes.

Switch the heat to low and add the wine, some of the herbs and red pepper flakes. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon so that the wine deglazes any bits that may have gotten stuck. Simmer for 5 – 10 more minutes so the squash absorbs the wine’s flavor and the sauce reduces. Taste for salt and pepper.

When you are satisfied with the seasoning and texture of the sauce and veggies, add the cooked pasta to the pot and combine. This sauce tends to be dry, so add enough of the pasta cooking water you’ve reserved to reach the desired proportion of sauce to pasta. There should be some silky liquid in the pan, but the pasta should not be swimming in it. Stir in the rest of the herbs and let everything get acquainted for a few moments.

Serve in warm bowls and top with grated Locatelli, or other “pasta cheese” and more black pepper.
-Elena

Aunt Marie's Corn Chowder

2009-08-15T18:23:00.005-04:00
-Scrape corn off about 4 ears of raw corn. Reserve corn and cobs.
-Saute( in 3 tbsp. of butter) 2 cloves garlic, 1 medium onion, 1 carrot, celery, a handfull of basil and parsley (fresh) and a couple of fresh tomatoes, chopped. If you want to be fussy, you can boil the tomatoes to remove the skins.
-When veggies are soft, lower heat and add about 3 cups of chicken broth and all the corn.
-Oh, a medium potato, diced small, can go in also.
-I threw the cobs in as I figured they provided more flavor. Not really necessary. Simmer till corn and potatoes are soft.
-Add a half cup of light cream. Do NOT let the soup come to a boil after the cream has been added.
-Just warm and serve. Yummy!
~Lucille

Smoked Salmon Soft Tacos

2009-08-02T19:55:00.001-04:00
SSST + fresh corn on the cob = great summer dinner

4 – 6 oz smoked salmon, thinly sliced
¾ cup softened cream cheese
1 heaping tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained
1 heaping teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon plain yogurt
Dash of freshly-ground black pepper
4 small corn tortillas
Vegetables and herbs you like to eat with smoked salmon, cut into strips. I used tomato, onion, cucumber, jalapeño, basil and mint.

Diced hard boiled egg would be good with this, as would a squeeze of lemon, but I used neither.

Combine cream cheese, capers, mustard, yogurt, and black pepper.

Soften the tortillas by wrapping them in a damp paper towel and microwaving for 15-20 seconds.

Spread the cream cheese and caper mixture onto the softened tortillas and stuff as you’d like with the other ingredients. Finish with a squeeze of lemon, if desired.

If you want to be fancy, instead of folding them taco style, you can roll them and slice as you would a sushi roll. How pretty!

-Elena

Jeff's Eggplant

2009-07-05T02:10:00.003-04:00

I have given this dish the above name because Jeff, who is not known as a big lover of vegetables, seemed to enjoy it the other night when he was over. Maybe he was just being polite?

1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut vertically into thin slices
6 oz. of crumbled feta cheese (I used "garlic flavored")
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup or so of my seasoned breadcrumbs

Salt the eggplant slices, put in a colander and weight down for about an hour. Rinse off and dry. Place them on a foil covered cookie sheet, brush with a mixture of oil and vinegar and place under the broiler. When one side is browned, turn the slices over and repeat above procedure.

Drain the slices on paper when cooked. Make one layer of slices in a casserole dish. sprinkle the feta cheese, the breadcrumb and some additional olive oil. Continue with a second (or third) layer. End with breadcrumb and olive oil. Bake in a hot 350 oven for 20-30 minutes. The amounts of the last 4 ingredients obviously depend on the size of the eggplant, as does the cooking time.

Enjoy!

~Lucille

Artichoke Heart and Potato Pizza

2009-06-14T14:42:00.000-04:00
Beautiful and kind of breakfast-y.

1 prepared, prebaked pizza crust (like Boboli. Whole wheat is nice)
6 – 8 frozen artichoke hearts
1 medium red potato, thinly sliced (Try a mandolin, if you dare.)
2 slices bacon, cooked and chopped or crumbled
1 or 2 scallions, sliced thinly on the bias, or ¼ cup thinly-sliced red onion
¼ to ½ cup shredded mozzarella
1/8 to ¼ cup bleu cheese crumbles
1 tsp rosemary
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper

Partially cook potato slices for 3 or 4 minutes in a skillet of boiling, salted water. Remove and allow to cool. In the same pan of water, partially cook artichoke hearts, for 3 or 4 minutes. Remove, allow to cool and cut into halves or thirds.

Preheat oven to temperature indicated on crust package.

Brush pizza crust with olive oil. Evenly distribute all other ingredients on top of it, and drizzle with a bit more oil.

Bake at time and temp stated on pizza crust packaging, or until cheese has melted and toppings are golden brown around the edges.

Mushroom and Fettuccine Fauxfredo

2009-06-14T14:14:00.002-04:00
Sorry about the Rachael Ray-esque title.

1 lb crimini or button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1 cup Italian parsley
1 tablespoon bacon fat or olive oil, or combo thereof
1 generous swig dry white wine
salt
pepper
¼ tsp dried thyme or oregano
1 sprinkle crushed red pepper flakes

1 cup chicken broth
¾ cup cream cheese
½ - 1 cup grated Locatelli cheese
splash of whey, if you have any left over from making Greek yogurt
black pepper

½ lb fettuccine (or other long, flat pasta) cooked just shy of al dente. Save some cooking water for use if the finished product is too dry.

Sauté mushrooms over medium high heat without any fat or seasonings in a large non-stick skillet for 3 minutes or so to cook off some of the water in them.

Reduce heat to medium, and add fat, garlic, and a bit of salt and pepper. Cook for another 3 or 4 minutes until garlic begins to soften. Then, add half of the parsley, wine, thyme, and more s & p if necessary. Cook until wine is absorbed and garlic is soft. Add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and reduce heat to keep warm until mushrooms are needed.

In a saucepan, over low heat, whisk together chicken broth, cream cheese, Locatelli cheese, whey (if you have it – it adds a nice dairy tang), and black pepper until it is as smooth as you can get it. Whisk periodically as cream cheese melts. It will get smoother through the process. Be careful not to let it boil. Keep it nice and low. Voila, fauxfredo sauce!

Speaking of whey, you can add some to the pasta cooking water to help flavor it. Be sure to keep a sharp eye on it and only partially cover the pot as the water comes to a boil. It foams up and boils over very easily. You will have a huge mess on your hands. You will be sorry.

Combine pasta and sauce in the large skillet with the mushrooms. Top with the rest of the parsley and let everything cook together over low heat for a few minutes. If there is not enough sauce, or if you think it has become too gluey, add some of the pasta cooking water or more chicken broth.

Add more Locatelli and black pepper when serving.

Super umami!

-Elena

An Interesting Potato Salad

2009-05-31T17:49:00.010-04:00
I threw this together today. Here's what you do:

Peel and boil a bunch of potatoes. I used two Russet and about 6 baby potatoes. Boil in salted water until they are al dente. Drain in a colander for a few minutes. Add to a large mixing bowl and toss in about 2 tbs of olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, parsley (chopped or dry), garlic (chopped or powder) and about 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar. Mix it all up and put it aside.

Fry and scramble about a half cup of egg beaters. Shred it up and add to the potatoes, mixing it in thoroughly.

Rinse and drain one can of black beans in a colander. Add that to the potatoes. If you have some cooked bacon around- add a few chopped pieces. I added maybe 3 slices of turkey bacon. Refrigerate for a couple hours.

It came out great and is a relatively healthy & filling side for a veggie burger!

~Dominic

Cheese wrapped olives

2009-05-11T19:21:00.000-04:00
Can of black olives or a jar of green--pitted
1 cup shredded cheddar
1/4 cup soft butter
1 cup flour (start with 3/4 cup and add more if necessary)
paprika, chili powder, etc to season the dough

Put a small piece of pepperoni or provolone into each olive.
Have all other ingredients in a large bowl. Let cheese and butter soften. Work the whole thing with your hand until it forms a ball. Break off a piece at a time and wrap around olive, then roll as if it were a meatball. Place on a waxed paper covered cookie sheet and freeze (unless you are using them right away). After they are frozen I put them into a zip-lock.
Bake on a cookie sheet at 375 for about 30 minutes--a little longer if frozen.

~Lucille

Parsley, Scallion and Pistachio Pasta

2009-04-18T21:42:00.010-04:00
A no-cook pasta topping that is beautiful, easy, and deceptively rich.

½ lb pasta, any shape or size
½ cup pasta cooking water
½ cup scallion, sliced thinly and on the bias
½ cup fresh, flat-leaf parsley, chopped
½ cup shelled pistachios, chopped (what recall?)
butter
freshly grated Locatelli cheese
freshly ground black pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions. Serve individual servings in warm bowls. On top of each serving, place a generous pat of butter and a gorgeous sprinkle each of the scallions, parsley, and pistachios. Give it a healthy dose of Locatelli and black pepper. Add some of the warm cooking water if you think it needs some additional moisture and to wilt the veggies a bit. Dig in and revel in your genius!
Pistachio image: Giovanni Battista Ferrari, Hesperides, 1646

Chinese Dumplings

2009-04-02T22:41:00.012-04:00
Every couple of weeks, I typically buy a bag of pork dumplings and a bag of veggie dumplings at our local Korean grocery store in East Lansing. I like to have them around for a quick meal. Lately, we've really only been eating the veggie ones. But this preparation works with either kind.

So what you do is heat up a small bit of peanut, linseed, or veggie oil in a wok. Then spray the wok with non-fat frying spray. Basically, we're just substituting all of the oil with a bit of spray.

When the oil is hot, drop in the dumplings- they can even be totally frozen. Toss them around so that they don't burn and brown the outer shell. The pinched part of the pocket might get brown first. Just keep moving them around.

Then when they are relatively brown/tan, add a shot or two (to taste) of Srirachi chili paste or sauce. I prefer the paste. It is thicker and has seeds, and thus more heat. Toss that all around, being careful not to inhale the fried chili seed fumes!

To all that add a cup or two of chicken broth. Now this should only be enough to simmer the dumplings b/c the goal is not to make a soup. It will soften them up and add flavor. If you want to use veggie broth or stock, go for it. Let it all simmer down for awhile, reducing the liquid to a sauce like consistency.

Enjoy with a cold pilsner or pale ale.

White Baked Penne with Kale

2009-02-22T18:29:00.003-05:00
1 small bunch fresh kale (about 1 lb or so), cleaned, with tough stems removed, and torn into bite-sized pieces
½ lb whole wheat penne, cooked and cooled
2 – 2 ½ cups ricotta
6 cloves garlic: 3 smashed, 3 minced; or more, if you like it
large handful of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 egg
1 cup Locatelli cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 tsp. olive oil
salt
pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/3 cup breadcrumbs

Season kale with salt, pepper, olive oil, and maybe some red pepper flakes. Cook in a large frying pan with about ¼ cup water and the smashed garlic cloves until tender. You may need to add more water, a little at a time, before it reaches tenderness. If there is a little water that is left when kale is cooked, save about ¼ cup of it. Leave the garlic in there, too. Allow kale to cool.

Preheat oven to 350°

Combine ricotta, minced garlic, tomatoes, egg, ½ cup of each of Locatelli and mozzarella cheeses, parsley, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste. Add kale and water (if any). Add pasta, and combine.

Put into a greased 9 x 13 oven-safe casserole dish. Top with rest of the Locatelli and mozzarella and breadcrumbs. Bake until bubbly and brown and crunchy on top. This should take about 25 – 30 minutes. If the casserole is getting hot and you’re afraid its getting too dry, but the top isn’t golden brown and delicious yet, put it under the broiler for a few minutes.

This is a good way to introduce someone to the deliciousness that is kale. You could probably substitute any green in this recipe, but kale is great!

-Elena

Stuffed Olives

2008-12-30T20:01:00.002-05:00
This recipe is a reproduction of the one published in the St. Louis Church Cookbook, 2003. It was a contribution made by our cousin Barbara Avila, and is posted here for the benefit of our loyal reader, John Regan, Jr.

2 c. grated sharp cheese
1/2 c. butter
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. paprika
1-2 cans large pitted black olives
1/4 lb. slicing pepperoni
1/4 lb. cubed provolone cheese

Blend cheese & butter, cut in flour & paprika. Mix well. Stuff olives with pepperoni and provolone cheese. Shape dough into balls, make an indentation into each call, place the olive inside, shape around so olive is completely covered. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Shrimp Scampi

2008-12-07T20:38:00.014-05:00
Here's a quick & easy recipe for shrimp scampi over pasta. Serves two.

Buy a 16oz bag of frozen cooked shrimp. Yup- I said 'cooked'. I used 36/40's from Meijer. Defrost by running under cool water and peel off the tails.

Start your pasta water. Plan on making about 2/3 lb of pasta. I use whole wheat capellini for this dish, but you could use linguini or spaghetti. Heck, even short pastas would probably be great too. Just get the pot boiling and add the pasta while you do the next few steps for the scampi.

In a large frying pan or wok, sauté a few chopped or pressed cloves of garlic in about two tablespoons of olive oil and one tablespoon of butter. Mix in chopped Italian parsley to taste.

Add the shrimp to the pan. Turn down the heat. Pour a shot of white wine and about a half cup of chicken broth. If you want to add lemon juice, go for it.

Warm it all back up. But don't overdo it. It shouldn't take more than about 5 mins once the shrimp is added to bring it all back to temp.

Hopefully your pasta is about ready. Drain pasta and place back in pot. Add pasta into frying pan/wok and stir it in the sauce. Then serve...or serve pasta and then ladle shrimp and sauce over it.

Sorry, it is sacrilegious to top this dish with grated cheese.

Depression Cooking with Clara: Pasta & Peas

2008-12-05T22:43:00.004-05:00
Clara is awesome! She reminds me of Grandmom Olga : )

Broccoli Patties

2008-11-28T23:21:00.005-05:00
Here are some images to go along with the recipe for broccoli patties.

Pizza Paparazzi- Turkey Meatloaf Pizza

2008-11-28T23:19:00.003-05:00

Asian Flavored Meatballs

2008-10-18T22:21:00.005-04:00
For meatballs:
1 ½ lb ground beef (I used 80/20)
1 egg
¼ to ½ cup breadcrumb
5 or 6 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ inch slice of onion
1 inch piece peeled fresh ginger
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
¼ cup fresh parsley leaves and tender stems
1 tablespoon low salt soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoons amontillado sherry
1 shake hot pepper flakes, or more if you like
salt and black pepper to taste

For sauce:
9 oz Heinz’s Homestyle Gravy, savory beef flavor (from a 12 oz jar)
1 or 2 tablespoons water
2 or 3 small pieces peeled fresh ginger
1 small clove garlic, crushed
1 small piece onion
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 glugs amontillado sherry
dash of hot pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400º. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick spray.

In a food processor, process garlic, onion, ginger, parsley, cilantro and red pepper flakes until very finely chopped and well combined. Combine these ingredients with beef, egg, soy sauce, sherry, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Be careful with the salt because the soy sauce already contains quite a bit, even though it may be the low salt variety. To check the seasonings, fry a bite-sized patty of the meat mixture and taste it.

Loosely roll into golf-ball sized balls. You will probably get 24 or 25 of them. Dip your fingers into warm water to prevent the mixture from sticking to them too much. Place them on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 or 15 minutes, and then carefully turn each one. Cook for another 10 minutes or so until golden brown on both sides.

Allow to cool. Then freeze in 2 batches in zip-top bags for a busy work night.

On the busy work night when you want to eat the meatballs, combine all ingredients for the sauce in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Sure, you could use home made beef gravy if you have it on hand, but come on, this is a busy work night. When gravy is warmed through, add meatballs from freezer and continue simmering until hot.

Serve over rice or pasta. I used whole wheat spaghetti and it worked very well in this dish. It resembled lo mein noodles. Make it a complete meal by adding cooked vegetables to each serving. Steamed broccoli was great with it. I imagine string beans, snow peas, or carrots would also be good.

A teaspoon or so of this meat mixture placed between wonton wrappers and steamed or boiled would probably make a tasty dumpling.

This mixture would likely taste better with ground pork, but I didn’t have that on hand when I created it. I did not have green onion either, but I think that would be good sliced finely and sprinkled on top of each serving. However, it was a tasty and clever Asian flavored meal as it was.

Tuna Risotto

2008-10-18T15:17:00.005-04:00
This recipe is inspired by this one from the New York Times. It is kind of like a fancy tuna casserole, or a warm take on my Rice & Tuna Salad.

For the risotto:
A little more than 1 cup Arborio rice
1 6oz can tuna in water
4 or 5 sliced garlic cloves
½ cup minced onion
1 ½ to 2 inch squirt of anchovy paste
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup frozen peas
¼ to ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 medium-sized tomato, diced
2 tablespoons of olive oil, bacon fat, or combo of the 2
shake or 2 red pepper flake
salt and pepper
grated Locatelli cheese (optional)

For the cooking liquid:
Water from the can of tuna
3 cups water
1 – 2 inch squeeze anchovy paste
1 inch squeeze tomato paste
salt and pepper

Combine ingredients for cooking liquid in a sauce pan and bring to simmer

Heat the fat over medium in a sauté pan, and cook the onion it for a few minutes. Add the garlic. When both become tender, add rice. Sauté and stir rice with onion and garlic until rice looks pearly and smells nutty.
Add the wine. Cook until there is hardly any wine visible.

Add cooking liquid one or two ladles full at a time. Stir thoroughly after each addition. When the rice has absorbed most of the liquid in each addition, it is ready for more. If you think you are going to run out of liquid, add some water and more of the seasonings to the remaining liquid before you run out. Make sure the liquid you add to the rice is at hot, though, otherwise you really slow down the rice’s cooking. A few times throughout this process, taste the sauce forming in the risotto for salt and pepper.

Continue in this until the rice is tender on the outside, but still has a bit of a tough core. This takes less time than you think; maybe 20 minutes. Add the tuna and frozen peas, along with some more of the cooking liquid, and stir. You may need to go through the liquid addition and stirring process a few more times until the peas have thawed and the rice is cooked through. This will probably take 3 to 5 more minutes. Turn heat to low, add tomato, parsley and the red pepper flakes. Cover and let it all warm through for a few minutes. You may need to stir in more liquid before serving, if the risotto looks too dry for you.

You may have heard of the Italian culinary dictum that forbids cheese with fish or seafood. I ignored this, and topped my generous serving tuna risotto with some grated Locatelli cheese and black pepper. Delicious!

Vanilla Lavender Blueberry Sauce

2008-10-18T14:24:00.003-04:00
1 cup frozen blueberries
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons honey (or more according to taste)
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon dried lavender
3 or 4 pieces peeled, fresh ginger, about ¼ inch cubes
dash of salt and freshly-ground black pepper
lemon juice, if necessary

Combine first 7 ingredients in saucepan, and cook over medium low heat until blueberries cook down and reach desired thickness. I like it to coat the back of a spoon, and to maintain the line drawn on the back of the spoon with your finger. (Be careful: that spoon is hot!) I would say that took about 10 or 15 minutes. When close to the desired thickness, taste for seasonings. Add a squirt of lemon juice if you think it is too sweet. Add more honey, vanilla, lavender, ginger, salt and pepper if you think you need to. (Be careful: too much lavender can taste like soap.) You may need to continue cooking a few minutes to correct the thickness.

When you’re done with the cooking process, carefully (this is super hot! – it’s like a caramel sauce) pour into a glass jar and store in the fridge. Serve over Greek yogurt. You made that yogurt yourself, right? I had this sauce over waffles and bananas this morning, but I prefer it over the yogurt.

Tomato and Chick Pea Salad

2008-09-29T19:03:00.008-04:00
I often buy the small portions of Tomato and Chick Pea Salad from Au Bon Pain to go along with my lunch. It is so tasty! I’ve been wondering, though why I spend money on it when I could probably so easily whip it up at home. Another benefit of making it at home is that I can have more control of what goes into it (no unpronounceable chemicals) and dress it up as I see fit. It was a great idea!

1 lb or so tomatoes cut up into smallish pieces or cubes
1 15oz can chick peas, drained
½ finely chopped jalapeño, or the equivalent amount of any pepper
½ cup cucumber cut into small cubes
¼ finely diced onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste
freshly-ground black pepper to taste
a few sprinkles of cumin (not the tons I usually recommend)
a few squirts of fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients and leave alone for a few minutes before eating to let the flavors get to know each other better.

Yellow Split Pea Soup

2008-09-24T22:16:00.001-04:00
I lb yellow split peas or red lentils (1 bag)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 carrots diced
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1 medium potatoe, small dice
1-2 cups cooked escarole, chopped
2 tbsp parsley
2 chicken bullion cubes
8 cups of water
salt and pepper

Optional - bacon bits, ham, pancetta, etc.

Saute onion, garlic, carrots, celery, potatoes and parsley in olive oil till softened.
Add peas which you have rinsed and sorted
Add water and bullion
Season to taste
Bring to a mild simmer, cover partially and cook for about 30 minutes
Add cooked escarole and cook till peas are tender.
Small, cooked pasta can be added right before serving

Enjoy! ~Lucille

Collards Agridolce

2008-07-19T19:26:00.004-04:00

Last year, I received a bunch of collards in my CSA share. You know I love greens, but I wasn’t quite sure what to do with these prehistoric-looking leaves, especially since I know they could take several hours to cook.

I did a bit of internet research and found this recipe that takes less than an hour.

Food Network is good for something (besides Alton Brown)! This is really good, and I’ve made it a few times since then, even though I no longer have a CSA share.

I used the proscribed method of precooking the greens in the microwave, then gussied up the sautéing and simmering part a bit.

1 ½ - 2 lbs collard greens
½ onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
¼ cup pancetta, cubed
1 – 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 – 2 tablespoons maple syrup
Red pepper flakes
Olive oil
Bacon fat
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Water

Clean the greens by floating them in a sink full of water for several minutes. Repeat in fresh water until there is no grit at the bottom of the sink. Remove the center rib of each leaf, and any big, tough veins. Leave any water clinging to the leaves, and maybe add a bit more. Add some salt, sort of in the middle of your pile of leaves. Microwave on full power for 4 – 6 minutes. If there isn’t enough water, the leaves will burn and will be inedible. This has happened to me. You may have to do this in batches, depending on how much greens you have and the size of your microwave. Try to save any water released in this step for use in the simmering step.

In a large frying pan, sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil and bacon fat until softened. Add the pancetta and continue to cook until everything is just starting to get a bit of color.

Now, bring the collards to the party, along with about ¼ cup of the cooking water from the previous step. If you didn’t manage to save any of this, just use regular water.

Pour in about a glug each of the vinegar and the syrup. I know, it sounds weird to add maple syrup to this dish. At first I was skeptical, too. Trust me, its delicious! Shake on some red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Stir, then simmer a minute or 2, then taste. Think about if you’d like it sweeter, spicier, saltier, or sourer. Add more of what you think is appropriate.

Simmer until the greens are as tender as you like, which will probably take 20 – 30 more minutes. Adjust seasonings and add water through cooking as necessary.

Did you know collard greens have protein in them? That’s good eats!

Garden Herb Pizza

2008-07-16T20:46:00.012-04:00
For this pie, I used fresh basil, oregano, parsley, and hot peppers- small (very) hot thai chilis and a long green chili. I chopped all the herbs in a mini-processor, added a can of tomatoes (with roasted garlic and onion), and used the mix as the sauce. It was great.

There was a bit of heat but it was not intense. The fresh basil really came through; it did not taste like pesto. It received rave reviews from the judge (Corinne).

~Dominic

Spicy Asian Noodles

2008-07-14T20:42:00.008-04:00
Here's an easy one, but you'll need to make a stop at your neighborhood Korean grocery store for some rice noodles & Korean chili sauce; I recommend SRIRACHA brand.

Start a pot of water, to boil the noodles- about 1/2 lb.

Fire up a wok with a tablespoon of vegetable oil- or another light oil. Slice up some firm tofu and add it to the hot oil. While that is cooking, add two tablespoons of chunky peanut butter and a generous helping of chili sauce.

Drop your noodles in the boiling water, and cook for a few minutes. Pull them off when they are al dente and strain them under cold water, toss in a tablespoon of oil so that the noodles don't stick together. Just let them hang out in the colander. We'll toss them into the wok last.

To the tofu, add some par boiled chicken or raw chicken. Brown the tofu and cook chicken through on a low heat. Add some lemongrass, more chili sauce, and some Penzy's Bangkok Blend.

Cook a bag of SteamFresh Asian Medley- but not fully- only about 3 minutes in the micro. We'll be adding these to the wok.

Once the chicken is cooked, add the veggies. Toss in the sauce. Add a little water if it is too thick. Then add back the noodles, toss some more and serve. ~ Dominic

Saffron Paella

2008-07-13T14:45:00.002-04:00
For a variation on the basic shrimp and rice recipe try adding mussels and clams, with a saffron based seasoning, such as Goya Sazón. End result: a delicious paella.

Pizza Paparazzi: Broccoli Rabe Pizza

2008-07-13T14:42:00.003-04:00

Farm Share Cook-off

2008-07-06T19:52:00.004-04:00
We picked up a month of our friend's farm share and got some interesting things: radishes, beets, all sorts of leafy lettuce, a few garlic scapes, swiss chard, green beans and more.

I roasted the beets and radishes, with sweet potatoes and some scapes. Add a generous amount of rosemary, sprinkles of thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper. Pour some olive oil over the mix, and roast at about 400F, for 45 minutes.

For a quick stir fry, dice up the scapes, and add them to hot olive oil, let them diffuse their flavor and brown a little bit. They are interesting, having a subtle garlic flavor, but it is definitely there. This was the first time I had tried them. Then take your (washed) beet greens, radish greens, swiss chard and just throw them in to the pan/wok, add a little water, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and let it all simmer down. Pull the pan off the heat when the greens are all wilted; don't overcook- let the stalks be al dente.

I made a little couscous for the side, and the greens went very nicely with it. ~Dominic

Buffalo Chicken Po' Boy

2008-05-26T10:53:00.017-04:00

Did you ever order a pizza- starving- and add buffalo wings to the order, only to find the pizza would have been enough? Well fear not, you can take the buffalo wings the next day and create a wonderful luncheon delight. Just cut off the wing meat, reheat in the microwave, and put it on a toasted hot dog bun.
For more great tips on what to do with leftovers, see The Left Over Queen's excellent blog.

~Dominic

Cheese Tortellini and Broccoli Rabe

2008-05-22T17:34:00.006-04:00
This was very easy to prepare and delicious. Make sure to add some romano or parmesan cheese. I added cracked red pepper. Mangia!! ~ Dom(inic)

Italian Americans' Dinner Schedule (circa 1950's, 60's)

2008-04-20T19:12:00.007-04:00
Here's the traditional IA schedule for dinner, written up by Mom. This has pretty much been the general line up for dinner in the 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's, at least among South Philly/Delco Italians. Imagine the horror of having pasta and meatballs on Saturday, when it just "doesn't go!!"

***
Sunday - Full family dinner- all present at Grandmom's- pasta, meatballs, sausage, braciole, salad, maybe another meat (chicken or veal)
Monday- Soup (usually chicken) served with the boiled chicken.
Tuesday-Pasta again-usually with gravy
Wednesday-"American" platter i.e. steak, veggie, potato, salad
Thursday- see Tuesday
Friday- no meat -peas and pasta followed by a broiled fish, salad etc. or seafood and pasta or frittata followed by a tuna salad (Italian style-no mayo -dressed with oil.)
Saturday- pizza, sandwiches, going out, casual.
***
~Dominic

Creating the Perfect Cubano

2008-03-26T20:54:00.009-04:00
The cubano sandwich is a hearty pork sandwich, from Cuba, that has become increasingly popular in the US. My first cubano experience was at a Cuban lunch counter in Miami in 1999. I still remember it. Its been my favorite sandwich ever since.

To make one yourself, you'll need good bread- a sourdough or country white bread. If you can get your hands on some Italian bread, all the better. You'll also need some roasted pork, ham, cheese (I used pepper jack, though swiss is traditional), pickles and high quality mustard.

We had some leftover pork loin from Easter dinner so I used that, some healthy choice ham, long Meijer brand "Slickles" and fancy mustard (that was full of whole mustard seeds). Another important ingredient is butter. I prefer Brummel & Brown yogurt butter (tub) to regular butter or margarine. And they claim its healthier, but who knows anymore.

You'll want to assemble your sandwich as in the photos and grill it on a nonstick pan with a press (we just got one as a wedding gift. It is awesome.) Butter the pan and the sandwich and grill away! Enjoy with a beer or two and a bowl of black bean soup! ~Dominic

Easter Dinner in East Lansing

2008-03-24T22:32:00.002-04:00

Egg Rolls!!

2008-03-16T16:29:00.010-04:00
-2 pkg egg roll wrappers (20 per pack)
-2 lb shrimp, raw, shelled
-1 lb ground beef or ground pork
-1 head of loose cabbage, shredded
-1 medium onion, chopped
-3 celery stalks, diced
-garlic, chopped
-3 eggs
-salt, pepper
-brown sugar
-cornstarch
-sherry
-vegetable oil for frying

1. Shell shrimp, cut into pieces, mix in 1 tbsp sherry, add 2 tbsp cornstarch
2. Mix ground meat with 1 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp cornstarch
3. Shred cabbage- do not use heavy veins
4. Heat oil in wok until it is smoking; saute cabbage until it is crisp-tender; remove; place in bowl and chill
5. Saute celery; add salt, pepper & some brown sugar to each vegetable; chill
6. Saute shrimp; chill
7. Saute ground meat; remove, chill
8. Scramble two eggs; remove, chill
9. When all ingredients are chilled, combine in a large bowl
10. Beat 1 egg in a small bowl
11. Place egg roll wrapper on wooden board, put 1 heaping tsp of filling in center of wrapper. Fold up one pointed end, fold in 2 sides, and complete roll-up after dampening edges with beaten egg.
12. Fry in deep medium hot oil until golden brown
13. Lay out on cookie sheets covered with paper towels

**Eat the egg rolls right out of the fryer, while they're hot; or they can even be frozen for later use, just reheat them in the oven.

Good luck!!

~Lucille

You can now post a comment.

2008-03-12T20:31:00.002-04:00
Hi there, Feel free to let us know how you like our recipes. Please write a comment or share a thought or suggestion. Enjoy, Dominic

Broccoli Rabe and Turkey Roast

2008-03-12T20:08:00.007-04:00
This is a very simple wholesome meal.

Take broccoli rabe- in the Midwest they call it rappinni- wash it and cut off the thick stems. Then steam it in a cup of water, until it wilts. Drain off water. (You can reserve some in a mug to drink as a fortified tea!)

Slice and dice garlic and saute it in olive oil. Drop in steamed broccoli and saute until it is...well... done. It should look like the picture!
For the turkey roast- I just bought it marinated in lemon and garlic, then I wrapped it in aluminum foil and baked it on a cookie sheet for about 90 minutes at 325. It was fantastic and a fat free alternative to pork, which is the typical roast you see with rabe.

Spanish rice was served as the starch for this meal- not pictured.

-Dominic

Pork Roast, Broccoli Rabe, Root Vegetables, Asparagus

2008-03-12T19:18:00.002-04:00
The pork and the root veggies were roasted in the same roasting pan, with some rosemary, salt, pepper, etc. The rabe was cooked in the conventional steam then saute in garlic and oil method. Same with the asparagus. -Dominic

Pizza Paparazzi

2008-03-01T19:00:00.005-05:00

White Pizza with Olives

Tomato pie

From the Pizza Paparazzi

2007-12-19T23:15:00.001-05:00

Two words...

2007-12-02T16:29:00.002-05:00

Anthony Bourdain

12.01.07
Free Library of Philadelphia, Central Library
Thanks to Amy for insisting on taking photos.
Mom and Phyl were there, too.

A Nice Autumnal Salad

2007-10-20T13:25:00.001-04:00
This salad can be enjoyed at anytime of year. I particularly like it in the fall.

About ½ cup mixed salad greens per serving. Make sure there are some bitter greens in there.
Half moon slices of red onion or shallot
Sharp cheese, like cheddar, cut into small cubes
About ½ tart red apple per serving, cut into small cubes
Olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
A bit of dried or fresh herbs, like basil, rosemary, or oregano, optional
Lemon juice, even more optional

Place the salad greens in individual salad bowls, and top with the onion, cheddar and apple. Be generous with all of these ingredients. The combination is very tasty. Generously salt and pepper the top and christen with olive oil. Add a sprinkle of fresh or dried herbs if you want. Finish with a squirt of lemon juice if you must.

-Elena

Mom's Meatballs

2007-09-03T15:27:00.001-04:00
1 lb. meatloaf mix ( that is, ground beef, pork and veal)
2 eggs
1/4 cup locatelli cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
2-3 cloves chopped garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
Seasoned breadcrumbs-enough to achieve desired constitency or 2 slices white bread soaked in a little milk, which produces a softer meatball than the breadcrumbs. Mixture should be very soft and moist. DO NOT use meat when it is cold- allow to sit out a little. You can add some hot water to make it softer.
Shape into small balls (golf ball size) and fry in olive oil over medium heat till brown on all sides. Add to spaghetti sauce to complete cooking.

Garden Gravy

2007-08-18T22:23:00.002-04:00

Today I had a paper to finish, so I procrastinated a bit by making gravy from tomatoes from our garden. We have two tomato plants- a cherry and a beefsteak. They are both enormous and, we think, mutant plants, having sent vines throughout our garden and even next door. Anyway, we had a load of tomatoes and have been eating them everyday for a couple weeks. So today, I decided to make gravy that way we could freeze some. I started with the nice harvest in the picture.

Here is what I did (as always, click on the picture for a close-up and the back button to return here):

In a fairly large pot, boil water, core the large tomatoes (but don't chop them) and place them in the boiling water. Wait til the skin breaks, remove them and with tongs pull the skin off. Throw the tomato in a bowl.

Wash all the cherry tomatoes and chop them in a food processor- leave somewhat chunky.

Chop up a bunch of onions, garlic, and basil (also from garden) and sautée it all in olive oil in the pot you plan to use to simmer the gravy.

When this mix is starting to brown, add the skinned and chopped tomatoes. Add salt, some sugar, oregano, thyme, and whatever else you like. We added grated parmesan cheese. I also added Aunt Marie's secret ingredient.

I simmered it for about 1hour, reducing the water content by about 50%. In the end it was great, and made about two normal jars of gravy.

~Dominic

UPDATE: This article from the Inquirer has some great recipes for your bounty of late summer tomatoes.

Roasted Beets with Lavender

2007-07-24T21:45:00.001-04:00

5 or 6 medium-sized beets, peeled and quartered vertically; greens, if any removed.
About ¼ to ½ cup half-moons of red or white onion
Pinch or 2 dried food-grade lavender
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Greek yogurt

Preheat oven to 425°

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Coat beets with olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper and toss so that pieces are evenly coated. Arrange beet pieces on it in a single layer, spaced somewhat evenly.

Roast beets in the oven until just turning brown. Actually, they will be more of a dark maroon color. This will take about 30 – 45 minutes. Stir once during cooking process.

When beets are finished cooking and still hot, toss in a bowl with the onion. Add olive oil, a generous amount of red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and the lavender. Taste and adjust for seasoning, keeping in mind that the warm beets will absorb a lot of the oil and vinegar.

Let cool. Top individual servings with a dab of Greek yogurt.

This would probably also be good with rosemary if you don’t have lavender.

-Elena

Couscous Salad

2007-07-15T21:38:00.001-04:00
This is not so much a recipe as a vehicle for using up some of the vegetables in my fridge. Dom liked it so much when I brought it to Mom and Dad’s for dinner last night that he asked me to blog it.

½ cob worth of corn, kernels removed, and the “milk” from scraping the bald cob with the back of your knife
1 small can (7¾ oz) chick peas, about 1/8 full, chick peas drained and rinsed
About 2 inches of a cucumber, cut into little cubes
About ¼ cup red onion that had been minced finely with a bit of cilantro
A few leaves from the inside of a head of radicchio, cut in chiffonade
½ large clove garlic, very finely chopped
About 8 – 10 grape tomatoes, quartered long-wise
About 1 inch worth of a small banana pepper (Thanks, Merle!)
½ small, red, sometimes spicy pepper whose name I forget, deribbed and deseeded
- both peppers cut into tiny cubes
Salt
Black pepper
Good Seasons Italian dressing, prepared as directed, but with Pinot Grigio vinegar (Thanks, Jen Paine!). I probably used about ½ cup.
1 box plain couscous, prepared according to package directions, with olive oil, and a little dried oregano thrown into the cooking water. I cooked it all, but probably only used about ½ of it.

Combine all vegetables in bottom of bowl. When couscous is done cooking, fluff with a fork, and add about half of it to the bowl while still hot. Add some salt and pepper, the salad dressing and mix everything together with the fork. The hot couscous will wilt the veggies a little and absorb a lot of the dressing. Taste, and add more salt, pepper, or salad dressing as needed. You want the salad to be full of flavor, but you don’t want a puddle of salad dressing at the bottom of the bowl.

When we were finished dinner, there was some of this salad left, as well as some other food from the meal. Mom cut up and added a few leftover slices of tomato and onion, some grilled shrimp and peppers, possibly a slice of breaded and fried zucchini, and I don’t know what else. Dom threw in a bit of fresh basil, and a new salad was born. Ah, the circle of life. Its a beautiful thing.

-Elena

Meatball Stromboli

2007-07-04T14:01:00.001-04:00
Just a couple pictures of a 'boli I made last week.
~Dominic

Feijoada with Turkey Sausage

2007-07-04T13:35:00.000-04:00

I made a variation of the Brazilian national dish, feijoada (fezsh-WAH-da), today. In Brazil, feijoada is an all day affair both in its preparation and consumption. I first enjoyed feijoada on my travels to Brasilia, Goiania, and São Paulo. This version is a bit less onerous and ceremonial, and not quite as fattening. I used turkey sausage as the main meat, but of course it should really be pork. Nonetheless, it turned out really well. Here is how I made it:

Soak half a pound of black beans in hot water for 1 hour. Then boil them for another hour until soft but firm. Drain and rinse. Put back on stove. Add half a cup of water and a teaspoon of beef bullion. Keep on low heat.

Fry six links of turkey sausage- I used the hot Italian flavor. Brown sausage and cut into slices. It won't be completely done, but that is okay because you will then put it all into the simmering bean broth.

Add a few whole chili peppers- cut lengthwise. Add a dash or two of corn starch to thicken it up - I'd recommend about a tablespoon. Let it simmer all day or until you are ready to eat it.

Serve feijoada with rice, refried collard greens (couve mineira), roasted cassava flour (farofa), a sliced orange, and light beer. To learn more about feijoada, click here.

~Dominic

Grandmom Olga's Aglio Olio with Zucchini

2007-07-03T10:30:00.000-04:00

Cut two small zucchini into rounds after scraping off the skin a bit. Chop
a couple of cloves of garlic and a good amount of fresh Italian parsley.
Don't ever bother with the other parsley! Saute the zucchini in a few tblsp.
of olive oil till they turn golden brown. Do in batches, if necessary.
Remove and drain on paper. Saute garlic and parsley in same oil, add
chicken broth or pasta water sufficient for the amount of pasta you are
having. Thin spaghetti is best for this dish. Pour sauce over pasta, mix
and serve with zucchini on the side.
~Lucille

Corn Salad

2007-07-03T10:26:00.000-04:00

2 ears of fresh corn, cut off cob, uncooked
1/2 c. chopped onions or shallots
2 cloves chopped garlic
cup diced tomatoes
lots of chopped parsley and basil
salt pepper, olive oil

Saute onions, garlic and corn in olive oil till slightly browned and corn is
cooked. Cool.
Add remaining ingredients and serve.
~Lucille

Cherried Cabbage

2007-06-24T20:50:00.000-04:00
This was inspired by my most recent CSA fruit and vegetable shares and Mom’s Cabbage and Pears recipe. I expect it would be delicious with roasted pork loin. Bring on the antioxidants!

1 head cabbage
24 fresh cherries, washed and pitted. Save as much juice as possible during the pitting process.
½ white onion, sliced
1 small clove garlic, sliced
½ jalapeño, seeds and ribs removed
1 teaspoon bacon fat (or same amount olive oil)
1 teaspoon olive oil
¼ cup dry white wine
1 cup pomegranate juice
Pinch or 3 ground ginger
Salt and pepper to taste
Few squirts lemon juice

Cut cabbage in half, then slice each half thinly, discarding the core. Place in frying pan with onion, garlic, jalapeño, and desired fat or oil. Cook on medium/medium high heat until cabbage wilts. Some salt will help this process. It will probably take about 15 minutes or so. Then, add the wine. Continue cooking the cabbage until it gets slightly brown around its pretty, scalloped edges and just begins to have that smell that cabbage is famous for (about 5 – 10 more minutes). Salt and pepper to taste. At this point, you can stop cooking. It’s already a delicious side dish.

Or, you could…

Add pomegranate juice and ginger and cook for a few more minutes. Stir in the cherries and any juice and continue cooking until the fruits break down a little and the liquid reduces a bit. Taste again for salt, pepper and ginger. Turn off the heat and add a few acidic squirts of lemon juice. Congratulations! You’ve cherried your cabbage.

-Elena

Neopolitan Deep Fried Pizza

2007-06-11T20:32:00.000-04:00
This looks delicious. I had to link over to it. Perhaps I'll try to make it.
[fxcuisine.com]

Taco Pizza

2007-05-09T17:46:00.000-04:00
I love pizza. I could eat it everyday. This is a fantastic variation of the traditional pie. Click on the pictures for close ups -your mouth will water. After you wipe the drool from your mouse, click the back button on your browser to get back here.

Here is what you do: Buy a ball of bread/pizza dough at the supermarket- I find it in the frozen food aisle at Meijer. They are about $1.25 a piece. Let it defrost and proof for a few hours in an (olive) oiled bowl. When the dough is ready, make your taco meat:
-1/4 ground beef
-Penzy's Taco spice (admixture of chili powder, cumin, etc)
-more chili powder
-1/2 chopped yellow onion
Saute it all and let it cook on low for awhile; cook the meat fully, and let the onion become soft. Preheat the oven to 400.

While the meat is cooking, take your dough and, with a rolling pin and some flour, roll it out to fit a standard pizza pan. The one I have has little holes in the bottom, but its not a screen.
Put the rolled out dough on to the pan. It should be relatively thin.

Let the meat cool off a bit and then scoop it out, draining fat and liquid with a slotted spoon. Spread over dough. Add some salsa, mixing it in and spreading it over the dough to the edge of the crust.
Now, add slices of plum tomato, sliced black olives, and lots of mixed taco cheese and mozzarella. Sprinkle grated Parmesan over it all. Also sprinkle dried basil and garlic salt.

Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Add fresh, chopped lettuce to your slice and enjoy with a glass of red wine or cervesa!

~Dominic

A Tasty & Low Fat Breakfast Sandwich

2007-04-28T16:14:00.000-04:00
I credit academic success during my formative years to scrapple and bagelettes- these foods provided the protein I needed to concentrate in school and retain multiplication tables, spelling, and may have fueled my 4th grade obsession with geography.

I discovered the importance of a good breakfast and love breakfast sandwiches. Unfortunately, this is typically an unhealthy habit, especially when satisfied by sandwiches sold at gas stations, WaWa, Quality Dairy, or fast food chains.

So I took matters into my own hands and invented these a couple weeks ago. Since then, Cori and I have eaten them every few mornings. There's only about 5 grams of fat and plenty of soy protein in one sandwich.

Here is what you need:
One Morningstar Veggie Sausage Patties
One English muffin (I recommend Bays whole wheat muffins)
One slice of pepper jack cheese (sandwich size)

-Quickly pan fry Morningstar Veggie Sausage pattie; if it was frozen you can microwave it for about 30 seconds and then brown and crisp it in a pan.
-Toast English muffin
-Melt cheese on pattie in pan.
-Place on toasted muffin and enjoy.

Your morning will be off to a healthy and satisfying start. Consider making and refrigerating or freezing a batch for easy microwaving. (Let me know how that goes, as I haven't tried it yet.)

~Dominic

An Easy Meal for Two

2007-04-23T01:36:00.000-04:00

I made this the other night for Cori and me. This is a pretty good meal. Enjoy with wine or light beer. Leftover cod tastes great the next day.

Cod
-Saute garlic in butter until slightly brown.
-Add three chopped plum tomatoes.
-Add some parsley and other spices that you like. You can even add green olives and/or capers.
-Add a dash of wine- believe it or not I just used some Cabernet we had open, so it doesn't have to be white wine.
-Add 1lb of cod fillet to pan and cook low for - oh I don't know- 10 minutes?

Asparagus
-Over high heat, fill deep frying pan with water, salt, and lemon juice.
-Add asparagus- prepped the standard way (break the stalk at its soft point).
-Cook until al dente.
-Put on pie plate and drizzle olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice.

Zatarin's Rice and Black-eyed Peas
-Follow directions on box.

Not Stuffed Artichokes

2007-04-10T01:20:00.000-04:00
For the Petitti family

Whenever I tell my mother I’m cooking artichokes her standard response is: “Oh, stuffed?” My response to that is always “no,” because I always prepare them in this way.
Artichokes are one of my top 10 favorite foods. I have been known to be less than generous when they are on the menu.

3 medium-sized globe artichokes
7 or 8 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
Small handful of capers, roughly chopped
¼ lemon
A few shakes of hot pepper flakes
½-inch squeeze anchovy paste
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Water

To trim the artichokes:

Wash the artichokes by letting them sit submerged in a bowl of cold, slightly salted water for several minutes, then rinse. Cut the stem off of the vegetable at the bottom where it meets the base (or heart). Peel the stem and cut into ½- to ¼- inch slices. Be sure you have cut the bottom so that the artichoke can stand up on its base in the pot, but avoid cutting too much off the heart. It is the most bestest part. Using a sharp, serrated knife, cut off the top of the vegetable from where it starts to come to a point. Now, the vegetable should be pretty much flat on the top and bottom. With scissors, snip off the pointy tips of the remaining leaves. Next, use your fingers to open the artichoke up a bit and loosen the leaves so that when you put the seasonings in the pot, some will land between the leaves.

Preparation:

Arrange the artichokes so they are standing upright in a pot and won’t fall over. Add the peeled slices of stem. If the stems become tender within the cooking time of the artichokes, you will be able to eat them. However, this may not happen. You won’t know this until the end of the cooking process. Add them anyway. At the very least, they’ll flavor the cooking liquid. You paid for them; why throw them away?

Toss the pieces of garlic in to the pot and “accidentally” get some between the artichoke leaves. If you are using salt-packed capers, rinse the salt off of them several times, and add them, roughly chopped to the pot too. You’ll probably want to rinse the vinegar-packed capers as well, if you’re using them. Squeeze the juice from the lemon piece, and then cut it up into smaller pieces. Add them to the pot. Shake on some black pepper, red pepper flake, and a few generous shakes of salt. Drizzle on a good amount of olive oil.

If you happen to know someone who loves spicy food, particularly peperoncini, you may want to slice one up and add it and some of its brine to the cooking liquid in lieu of the hot pepper flakes. I sometimes slice up half a jalapeño to use instead of the flakes.

Add enough water to the pot to just cover the hearts of the vegetables. This will essentially steam the artichokes. Add a squirt of anchovy paste.

Simmer covered over medium heat until the leaves pull easily away from the base. This could take up to 60 or 75 minutes, possibly more. Check periodically to make sure there is enough water in the bottom of the pan. Taste every so often for seasoning.

Serve the artichoke with the cooking liquid and dip the leaves in it before eating. When you get to the scrumptious heart, dip that in, too. Heaven…
- Elena

Artichoke image by Basilius Besler

Cabbage & Pears

2007-03-15T21:50:00.000-04:00
This is one of Corinne's favorite dishes.
Slice cabbage finely. Do the same with an onion.
Saute cabbage and onions in olive oil till softened and tender. Add salt and pepper. Then, add some sliced pears just long enough to get the pears warm. I used fresh pears.

~Lucille

Spinach Tart

2007-02-23T09:17:00.000-05:00
1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach, cooked slightly and well drained
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup onion, finely minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 anchovy fillets, chopped or anchovy paste
1/2 pound ricotta
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup Pecorino or Parmigiano cheese
Salt, pepper
1 prepared piecrust (I use Pillsbury Ready crusts)

Place the piecrust in a pie plate. Prick a few times with a fork. Set aside.

Heat butter and oil over medium heat. Add onion and let cook about 4 minutes before adding garlic and anchovies. Add the drained spinach, salt and pepper to taste, and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl to cool.

Preheat oven to 375. Add the ricotta, eggs and pecorino to the cooled spinach mix and combine well. Fill the pieshell with the mixture. Bake about 20 minutes till lightly golden and firm to the touch. May be served warm or room temp.

This is one of Elena's favorite dishes. In fact, she has even requested this in place of a birthday cake! Can be served as a light luncheon dish or as a side vegetable for dinner. Enjoy! ~Lucille

“This is a cuisine of adaptation, of nostalgia, of comfort...”

2007-02-21T09:03:00.000-05:00
A Grandchild of Italy Cracks the Spaghetti Code

Here is a fun and nicely written article by Kim Severson in today's New York Times.

Here is the recipe for the Zappa Family Spaghetti Sauce.

Potato Tian

2007-02-13T23:43:00.001-05:00
1 red potato, sliced very thinly
1 clove garlic, sliced very thinly
1/8 cup very thinly sliced onion
3 or 4 grape tomatoes, halved
A few sprinkles of dried and/or fresh herbs (I recently used fresh parsley and dried rosemary, and it was delicious)
½ teaspoon butter
1 olive oil
1 tablespoon Locatelli
Salt
Black pepper

Preheat oven to 475º. Coat bottom of 8 x 8 casserole dish with foil and/or non-stick spray.

I’m not exactly sure how much of each ingredient is needed, but you will be arranging them in a thin layer at the bottom of the casserole. Try not to exceed ¼ to ½ inch thickness.

Tile first 3 ingredients in bottom of casserole. Evenly space tomato halves on top. Cut butter into small pieces and sprinkle on top. Sprinkle on herbs, salt, and pepper. Drizzle some olive oil. Sprinkle some Locatelli on top, or you can do so when serving.

Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Some of the potatoes will be crunchy and some will be soft and buttery. It will all be delicious. Serves 2.

-Elena

Bolognese Sauce

2007-02-11T20:30:00.001-05:00
1 lb meatloaf mix or ground beef
1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large carrot, finely cubed
1 rib celery, including leaves, finely cubed
2 bay leaves
2-3 tablespoons dried oregano
1 cup dry wine (whatever you have – I like white)
1 – 1 ½ inch squirt anchovy paste
1 – 1 ½ inch squirt tomato paste
¼ cup pork product like cooked bacon, Canadian bacon, or pepperoni; sliced or cubed
A lot of fresh flat-leafed parsley
Quite a bit of salt
Freshly-ground black pepper
Olive oil
Bacon fat (optional)

In a large skillet or sauce pan, sauté onion, garlic, carrot and celery over medium high heat in enough fat to coat all pieces. Add a bit of salt. Sauté until onions and garlic are almost opaque, and the vegetables have some browning, but are not quite tender. They will continue to cook throughout this process. Add meat, to pan and cook until meat is brown. If there is too much fat in the pan, remove some with a spoon.

Stir in anchovy and tomato pastes and cook for a few minutes. Add tomatoes. Use a little water to rinse out the can and add that to the pan, or use the wine for this purpose. Add the wine, a mess of oregano, the bay leaves, a lot of salt, and some black pepper. Add whatever pork product you’re using. Lower heat to medium or medium-low and cook uncovered until sauce is quite thick and mahogany in color, about 30 -45 minutes. Stir and taste often for seasoning. Finish by stirring in some fresh chopped parsley leaves and by removing the bay leaves.

Serve immediately with pasta, or freeze to use on a busy work night. If you do freeze, you may want to add some jarred tomato sauce to thin it out a bit while reheating.

Frozen peas would also be delicious in this dish. As my dining partner does not like peas, I leave them out. Once, when I was out of wine, I used vodka and lemon juice instead.

-Elena

Greens and Beans

2007-02-11T19:26:00.001-05:00
Another recipe featuring 2 of my favorite ingredients!

1 bunch kale, washed, deribbed, and roughly chopped or torn
1 small can (7 ¾ oz) chick peas, mostly drained
10 – 12 grape tomatoes, halved
5 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 – 1 ½ inch squirt anchovy paste
2 tblspns olive oil
½ tblspn bacon fat (optional) or same amount of olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Hot pepper flakes
Lemon juice
Water, if needed

In the bottom of a large sauté pan, over medium heat, add bacon fat and olive oil. Put as much kale as possible and some garlic in the pan. If you’ve just washed the kale, allow water to cling to the leaves for use in its cooking. If not, add about 1/4 cup water. You know how greens are. You may have to wait for some of the kale to wilt before you are able to add the remainder of the bunch. When you add the rest of the kale, add the rest of the garlic, too. Pour a bit more olive oil and some salt on top.

When the kale wilts enough so that it all fits comfortably in the pan, add the anchovy paste, tomatoes, and some salt and pepper. Cover and cook until kale is almost as tender as desired. If bottom of pan becomes dry during this process, add water, about ¼ cup at a time. When the kale is almost where you want it, add chick peas and some of their liquid. Let this cook together until the kale reaches desired tenderness. Finish with more salt and pepper, if needed; a squirt of lemon juice, and a shake of red pepper flakes.

I love the rich, iron-y green taste of kale combined with the buttery nuttiness of chick peas!

-Elena

Italian Stuffing

2007-01-20T23:42:00.000-05:00
Thanks to my friends Matt and Lisa for this great recipe. This stuff is incredible. ~Dom

Italian Stuffing with Sausage and Parmesan Cheese
Makes about 10 cups

Tons of garlic
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium celery ribs with leaves, chopped
2 medium red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed (We used sweet)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper (We didn’t use)
12 ounces day-old crusty Italian bread, cut into 1 inch cubes (about 7 cups) (We just used regular bread crumbs)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 4 ounces)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup dry white wine
1.5 cups homemade turkey stock or canned reduced sodium chicken broth

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, bell peppers, and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until it loses its pink color; 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in basil, oregano, salt, and crushed red pepper. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the bread and cheese and mix well. Stir in the butter, wine, and enough of the stock to moisten the dressing, about 1 cup. Use to stuff the turkey, or place in a buttered baking dish, drizzle with addition 1/2 cup stock, cover, and bake as a side dish.

Shrimp and Rice

2007-01-14T22:48:00.000-05:00
2 lbs. raw shrimp
2 cups rice (uncooked)
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp. Italian parsley, minced
2 cans chicken broth or homemade broth
salt and pepper

Shell and de-vein shrimp. In a large skillet, heat about 2 tbsp. of olive oil, add garlic and parsley for about a minute (don't let garlic brown) and then the shrimp. Cook shrimp only till it turns pink as you will cook it more later. Remove shrimp from pan, add more oil if necessary and add the rice. On medium heat stir rice around till it gets golden. Add chicken broth a can at a time. Lower heat, put a lid on and keep an eye on it. As the rice cooks, it will absorb the broth, so add more till the rice is cooked to the tenderness you like. Return shrimp to pan and cook for a few more minutes to finish shrimp. Salt, pepper to taste.

~Lucille

Purple Soup

2006-12-11T22:45:00.000-05:00
1 head red kale, cleaned and coarsely chopped
2 – 3 carrots, sliced thickly
2 – 3 ribs celery, sliced thickly
1 – 2 potatoes, cut into chunks
1 large onion, cut into chunks
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
Water or chicken broth
1 small can chick peas
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Hot pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

Place first 6 ingredients in a large pot. Add water or chicken broth to just cover vegetables. Drizzle a bit of olive oil into the mix. Cook over medium until all vegetables are tender. Don’t be alarmed. The broth will be vividly purple. However, the kale will have turned green. Coincidence? No.

Drain small can of chick peas and add to the pot. Chick peas and kale are great together! Add a squirt of lemon juice and a shake or two of hot pepper flakes. Taste for salt and pepper.

Add small cooked pasta, if desired. Dine while listening to Prince, but please, no Barney.
-Elena

Lentil Soup Additions

2006-12-11T14:11:00.001-05:00
I like to add frozen chopped spinach and/or slices of cooked Italian sausage shortly before serving Lentil Soup.

-Elena

Lentil Soup

2006-12-10T22:29:00.000-05:00
1 bag of dried lentils(1 pound)
large onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
2-3 stalks of celery
2-3 carrots
2-3 bay leaves
8 cups liquid, either water or chicken broth or a combination
salt and pepper
2-3 tbsp olive oil

Chop all veggies into a small dice. Heat oil in a large pot and saute all veggies. Go through lentils, tossing out yellow ones or pieces of stones etc. Rinse lentils and add to pot along with liquid, salt, pepper, parsley and bay leaves. Cook at a low simmer, partially covered until lentils are tender (about 40 minutes). You may add some tomato sauce or paste during cooking, if desired. Serve with some tiny cooked pasta or cooked rice.

Short Ribs

2006-12-09T20:30:00.000-05:00

3 lbs short ribs ( I used boneless, but bone-in would work also)
Half cup sliced onion
Half cup chopped celery
Minced garlic (to taste)
One 14 oz. can beef broth
Flour, salt and pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

Use a heavy skillet or pot with a good lid that can also go in the oven.

Saute onion, garlic and celery in oil for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, dredge short ribs in seasoned flour (salt, pepper,etc) . Remove veggies when wilted and brown ribs in the same pan. You may need more oil. Brown on all sides. Return veggies to skillet and add the beef broth. Put the lid on and place in a 300 degree oven for about 2 1/2 hours.Toward the end of the cooking time, you can add some mushrooms or peas or both. For a little tang, stir in about a tablespoon of prepared horseradish before putting in the oven. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes.

~Lucille

Italian-Jewish Vegetable Soup

2006-12-09T18:07:00.000-05:00
I just invented this today. This is comfort food on steroids and its quick. Here’s what you do for about 4 servings:

Boil up half a pound of short pasta. I used rotini. Strain.
Put back in pot.
Add a large can of chicken broth and a can or two of Manischewitz matzo balls in broth.
Prepare a bag of microwave-steamed mixed veggies. (Carrots, broccoli, water chestnuts, snap peas)
Then add the veggies to the soup. Simmer.
Add some pepper and begin noshing! Molto bene!!

~Dominic

Elena's Stuffed Peppers

2006-12-04T23:36:00.001-05:00
For Linda and Tim

Sorry about the vagueness of this recipe. I’ve never written it down. I just make it. I just know how it should look and taste. Usually, it turns out. In fact, it turns out so well, its been known to cause married couples to fight over the last remaining portion. Also, I never really remember the proportion of peppers to chorizo, or the amount of rice. I think the stuffing mixture should have more meat than rice - that’s where the flavor is. I just make a lot of rice and add it to the meat until it’s the proportion that I like. Leftover rice never hurt anyone. If you have too much stuffing and not enough peppers, the stuffing is delicious by itself.

3 bell peppers, preferably green or red
4 or 5 links uncooked chorizo (you can find Primo brand chorizo at Giant)
3 or 4 servings rice (check the chart on the back of the box for the amount in cups), cooked. Please use orzo if making this for my dad.
A lot of garlic, chopped
A lot of olives chopped, but less than the garlic
A ton of dried oregano
A good amount of hot pepper flakes, I like these stuffed peppers with a delayed kick
Tomato sauce - I used jarred Barilla, the plainer the better. You’ll probably use nearly an entire jar
Fresh flat-leaf parsley
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Salt (you don’t need much)
Pepper (not much)

Preheat oven to around 325-350º.

Slice peppers lengthwise and clean out stem, seeds and ribs. You may have to hollow the pepper out a bit so that you can get a lot of stuffing in it. Place them on a paper towel, all the same side down. Cook on high in the microwave for about 4 minutes. Then, turn the peppers to the other side and cook for 4 more minutes. At the end of the microwave session, the peppers should be rather floppy, but still have some body and texture. Adjust the time in the microwave as necessary.

Remove chorizo from casings and cook in nonstick pan until light brown. Break it up as it cooks. Chorizo is very fatty, so after cooking it, you can drain off a lot of the fat. However, save some for flavor, and because you will still be doing some cooking with it. Now, add the garlic and olives to cook for a few minutes. Add the tomato sauce, rice, parsley, oregano and pepper flakes. Heat the mixture through and adjust seasonings to your taste.

Spray a baking dish with Pam. Spoon chorizo and rice mixture into each pepper half. Don’t be stingy. Place peppers in the baking dish. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until peppers get brown around the edges. You can add a little water here so the peppers steam to get more cooked. Honestly, I’ve been thinking of skipping this baking step and going right to the next one…

Top the peppers with more tomato sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella. Broil until cheese is bubbly, or even brown, if you like it that way.

Makes 6 stuffed pepper halves.

If I liked seafood, I might substitute teeny tiny or chopped shrimp for chorizo or use a combination of chorizo and shrimp in this recipe.

- Elena

Pasta and Peas

2006-12-04T23:06:00.002-05:00
Given the title of this blog, I am long overdue in including this recipe. I learned it from Mom, who learned it from Grandmom, who probably learned it from her mother and so on. Peas n past is my idea of true comfort food.

1/2 large onion, diced
3 large cloves of garlic, diced
1 small can (8.5 oz) peas
1/4 lb cooked small pasta like elbows, orzo, or acini de pepe
salt and black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
patience

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until soft. Patience, patience... Add a little salt and pepper. When onions and garlic are soft, open the can of peas and pour the liquid only into the pan with the vegetables. Let this simmer for five minutes or so. Patience, patience... Add the peas and heat through. Combine with pasta. Add some reserved pasta water if it is too dry. When its finally ready to eat, top with a good layer of locatelli, grinds of black pepper, and dig in with a big spoon.

Though not part of the original recipe, I sometimes like to add a little tomato to add some acidic flavor, more color, and a bit more vegetable.

Its not that this takes very long to make, its just that its so good it is very difficult to wait for it to be cooked properly. When you need this sort of comforting, patience is sometimes hard to come by, but in this case, it does pay off.

Call me what you will, but I think this is best made with canned peas, rather than frozen or fresh.

-Elena

Mexican Meatballs

2006-11-27T20:05:00.001-05:00
Inspired by a recipe in Real Simple, July 2006

1 lb ground pork
5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
½ to ¼ jalapeño, ribs and seeds removed.
¼ cup cilantro
¼ cup flat leaf parsley
small piece of onion (half a slice)
1 egg
½ cup dried bread crumbs
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon oregano
1 teaspoon warm water
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400º. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick spray. Finely mince garlic, cilantro, parsley, onion, and jalapeño in mini food processor. Combine all ingredients well in large bowl. Roll into about a dozen similarly-sized meatballs. Try not to pack them down too much or they will be tough. Place on baking sheet. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes. Carefully turn meatballs midway through cooking time.

Freeze in batches of 6 and save for a busy work night. Reheat in a shallow pan with salsa thinned a bit with water. Serve over rice and top with shredded cheddar, Monterey Jack, or manchego cheese, finely minced red onion and cilantro.

These meatballs would probably also be good made with ground lamb. They would have more of a Middle Eastern flavor. They could also be made smaller and served as hors-d'ouevres, with salsa for dipping.

- Elena

Cauliflower, Carrot and Cumin Soup

2006-11-15T00:02:00.000-05:00
This recipe can be adjusted according to taste and to availability of ingredients. I never measure anything, so amounts shown are estimates. Makes 3 wonton soup containers full. Duration: 60 – 75 minutes.

2 shallots
4 cloves garlic
1 rib celery
½ jalapeño
1 head cauliflower
5 – 6 carrots, peeled
1 white onion (or more if you don’t have shallots)
1 handful flat-leaf parsley with stems
1 small potato, peeled (optional)
2 bay leaves
bacon fat
olive oil (enough of each fat to just coat first 4 ingredients while they are sweating in the bottom of soup pot)
1tblspn oregano
2 tblspn cumin
shake or 2 hot pepper flake
1 tspn fresh lemon juice
water
salt
black pepper

Dice shallot (or onion), 2 cloves garlic, celery and jalapeño. Cook in either bacon fat, olive oil, or combination, and a pinch of salt, over medium low heat in bottom of soup pot until soft and translucent.

While the aromatics are cooking, cut cauliflower, carrots, and potato into chunks. Peel remaining garlic cloves. Trim yucky tips off parsley stems.

When the aromatics are soft and translucent, add these other vegetables to the pot. Add water to the pot just to cover veggies. Bring to boil for a few minutes. Skim off any foam that may come to the surface.

Reduce heat to medium low. Add bay leaves, oregano, cumin, salt and black pepper. Cook until all vegetables are tender, tasting frequently to adjust all seasonings.

When veggies are tender, fish out the parsley and bay leaves. Add a few squirts of lemon juice and a few shakes of hot pepper flake.

Purée soup in a food processor or with an immersion blender. Sit back and enjoy!

Pot Roast and Veggies

2006-10-31T22:28:00.000-05:00

3lb top round
2 sweet potatoes chopped
Pearl Onions
Whole radishes
Cloves of garlic
Rosemary
Salt and Pepper
Dried Basil
Chopped Italian parsley
1/2 cup Worcester Sauce
1 cup Red Wine

Throw it all into a crock pot. Turn it on low. Come back in 8 hours. Eat.

I made this overnight last night so I could have it for lunch today. It was a perfect plan. I also had it for dinner and will probably eat it for the next three days. Makes a great sandwich.

Baked Ziti

2006-10-30T23:23:00.000-05:00
1 pound short-cut pasta
1 pound ricotta cheese
2 eggs
half cup of pecorino romana
lots of chopped parsley
1-2 cloves of minced garlic (to taste)
bag of shredded mozzarella or a ball of mozz. that you grate(about 8 0zs.)
About 4 cups of gravy

Cook pasta in the usual way. Meanwhile mix all ingredients except gravy and mozzarella. Prepare a 13 x9 casserole dish by spraying with Pam and covering the bottom with a thin layer of gravy. Begin to layer pasta, cheese mixture, gravy and so on. End with gravy and finish with the grated mozzarella. Bake in a 350 oven, loosely covered with tin foil, for about 45 min. or till bubbly. Let sit about 10 min. before serving. Don't skimp on the gravy and have extra gravy to serve at the table.

Variations
Use same ricotta mixture and buy Barilla's Ready to Use lasagna (no boil). Follow directions on the box.
-OR-

Use same ricotta mixture. Buy regular lasagna, boil and lay out the strips on a clean towel. Spread each strip with cheese mixture. Roll up each strip and place in a prepared casserole. Pour gravy over all rolls and follow baking procedure above. Ground meat or loose sausage (remove casing) can be added to any of the above. Just saute meat first before using.

Cranberry "Recipes"

2006-10-29T21:52:00.000-05:00
From Dad- from his Army days. (Not sure how legit these are.)

CRANBERRY-PEAR CONSERVE

1 [12 OZ.] PKG. fresh cranberries ¼ c. water

1/3 C. golden raisins 1/3 c. pear Schnapps

½ c.sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a 13x9 inch pan [baking] combine all ingredients but the Schnapps. Cover with foil and bake for 45 mins. Carefully remove foil [conserve will be steaming] and drizzle with Schnapps. Cool completely [can be made ahead]. Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week. Makes 2½ cups.

CRANBERRY SALAD

1 Small box raspberry, strawberry or lemon jello ½ c. water

1 can whole cranberry sauce chopped apple and nuts [optional]

1 orange, ground in food processor [use small amount of skin also]

Dissolve jello in water in double boiler. Add cranberry sauce and orange. Mold. Fill center with chicken salad for a lunch or serve with chicken or meat for dinner. Serves about 6.

Easy Salmon Cakes

2006-10-15T00:36:00.000-04:00
This is another recipe that I just created in my head and never actually put to paper. That is, until I used it as an example in a paper for my Natural Language Processing course. The paragraph below the recipe explains further. Hope you like it! These salmon cakes would probably be good with the Tartar/Remoulade-Type Sauce recipe on this blog

⅓ cup finely chopped bell pepper
¼ cup finely chopped celery
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
⅛ teaspoon minced lemon rind
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley
½ tsp garlic powder
1 ½ tsp Old Bay Seasoning
½ tbsp hot sauce
2 6oz cans salmon
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350º.
Combine bell pepper, celery, parsley, lemon rind, lemon juice, mayonnaise, Old Bay, hot sauce, salt and pepper.
Mix in salmon, egg, and ½ cup breadcrumbs.
Roll mixture into balls.
Roll balls into remaining breadcrumb.
Flatten into cakes.
Spray 8x8 inch oven-safe pan with cooking spray.
Arrange cakes in pan.
Bake cakes for 10 to15 minutes until cakes begin to brown.
Broil for 10 to 15 minutes until tops of cakes are golden brown.

Please note that this sample recipe is one of my own creation. It is based on a recipe called “Easy Crab Cakes,” which was a promotion for Chicken of the Sea canned crab that I found in a Sunday coupon circular. As I don’t like crab, I substituted salmon. I made other changes to suit my taste. As I’d prefer my waist not to expand, I changed cooking method from frying in butter to a combination of baking and broiling, to approximate the texture of frying. Most importantly, please note that when I make this recipe, I do not measure anything (except for the egg and cans of salmon). I add everything to taste, and am always pleased. For the purposes of this paper, I guesstimated the amounts of the ingredients. I do not guarantee good, let alone edible, results if you follow the recipe exactly as it appears here. You have been warned. Also, for the purposes of this paper, I arranged the individual steps on separate lines, for easier viewing. The procedures of most recipes are written in paragraph form.

-Elena

Linguine and Spinach Frittata

2006-10-14T01:18:00.000-04:00
7 or 8 eggs (all or some yolks removed, if desired)
3/4 cup Locatelli cheese
1 & 1/4 cup cooked linguine
3/4 cup frozen chopped spinach
6 grape tomatoes
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
Black pepper
Water
Non-stick spray
Butter and/or bacon fat

Use an oven-safe, 12- or 14-inch frying pan to prepare this. Spray it with non-stick spray. You can’t be too careful in preventing this from sticking, especially if you’re like me and use a cast iron pan that’s older than you are.

Set oven to broil.

Combine eggs, about 1/2 cup cheese and plenty of black pepper. When you think you have enough cheese, add more. If the mixture seems to be too thick and pasty, add a few drops of water to reach a thinner consistency.

Melt butter and/or bacon fat in bottom of pan over medium heat, just enough to cover bottom of pan.

Stir egg and cheese mixture well once more. Add to pan and cook over medium heat for about a minute. Do not stir very much, but, with a spatula, pull eggs from edges into the center occasionally. We are not going for scrambled eggs here.

Add linguine and spinach (Yes, straight out of the freezer. Bang it on the counter while still in the bag to break it up), distributing evenly around the pan. Press the linguine and spinach into the eggs a little with the spatula. Press a few tomatoes into the mixture for color and a bit of acidic flavor to cut the richness of this dish.

When the eggs are beginning to be cooked around the edges, but are still pretty wet everywhere else, top with remaining cheese and breadcrumbs and place under the broiler.

Broil until eggs are no longer wet, and the frittata is brown and puffy, and a bit crunchy on top. This may take about 15 minutes, but peek at it after 10 minutes.

- Elena

Tartar/Remoulade-Type Sauce

2006-10-14T01:14:00.000-04:00
For Marifel

This is a salty, tangy sauce that’s good on crunchy, breaded fish. Its probably also good with French fries (but what isn’t?).

1/3 cup lowfat mayonnaise
2 small garlic cloves, very finely chopped
2 pimento-stuffed olives, very finely chopped
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, very finely chopped
Few squirts of fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon rind, very finely chopped
Hot sauce to taste
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste

You may find this easier to make in a mini food processor, but I like to chop everything by hand and mix it in a little bowl. I think clean up is easier that way. If making by hand, combine all ingredients. If using a food processor, roughly chop all ingredients that need chopping and place in food processor. Add all other ingredients and combine in food processor until mixture is fairly smooth.

- Elena

Broccoli Patties

2006-10-13T22:39:00.002-04:00
Two or Three large bunches of broccoli. (I buy the crowns only. Wash and cut up)
Special breadcrumb
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
one half cup of locatelli cheese
2-3 eggs
olive oil for frying

Steam broccoli until quite tender. Mince the flower part very fine and put into a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients. You may have to change the quantity of eggs or breadcrumb so as to be able to handle the mixture easily. Mix very well and form into oval shaped patties. Heat about 2 tbsp of olive oil in a non-stick pan. Fry till golden on both sides. Do not fry too fast. Drain on paper towels. Can be frozen. Defrost and reheat in a 350 oven. ~Lucille

Variation: Instead of making patties, Aunt Marie put the entire mixture into a greased casserole and baked it in a 350 oven. This can then be cut into squares for an appetizer. Also has less fat this way. ~Lucille

Stuffed Peppers

2006-10-05T23:30:00.000-04:00
-Eight Italian frying peppers. Look for straight, medium sized ones, not bent or twisted.
-enough of Lucille's basic breadcrumb mixture to fill all loosely olive oil

Cut off stem end of washed and dried peppers. Keep stem ends to put back into pepper. Put some breadcrumb (about 1 cup) in a bowl and add a few tsps. of olive oil. Mix oil into crumbs with a fork Crumbs should be moist. Spoon breadcrumbs into pepper loosely, adding a little olive oil on top. Fit stem end back on. You may have to trim stems with a knife. Do all the peppers and then heat a large (12 inch) non stick pan. Add a few tbsp. of olive oil to heat up. The secret to this is to fry at medium heat turning frequently. Keep the pan covered with a screen covering while frying. Turn carefully with tongs so you don't pierce the pepper. If the heat is too high, they will burn on the outside and not be done inside. If it is too low, they will boil, not fry and absorb all the oil. Be careful when turning as they spatter a lot. The stem lids will fall out-don't worry about it. When all sides are cooked and wrinkly, remove with tongs. Can be eaten at room temp. ~Lucille

[Stuffed peppers are one of my all time favorite dishes. ~Dominic]

Chicken Soup & Chicken Pot Pie

2006-10-05T23:27:00.000-04:00
This is a bit complicated because I usually make chicken soup first, then use the boiled chicken for the pot pie. Here goes.
~Lucille

Soup
One whole chicken breast
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 stalks celery chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 small potatoes, cubed
2 tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley
8 cups of water
salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients together and bring pot to a gentle simmer. Put a lid half on and simmer (slow boil) for about 45 minutes to an hour. Remove chicken, cover with saran. Let chicken cool off a little before you attempt to de-bone it. Set meat aside. Let broth cool off and then I puree the vegetables and return them to the broth. When cool, you can put in plastic containers and freeze. When you want soup, just defrost and add some cooked, small pasta to the broth.

Pot Pie
Chicken, cut into small pieces (from soup)
1 pkg. Pillsbury Ready Crust (remove one crust--second one can be frozen for another time)
4 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. flour
2-3 cups of milk, or broth or a combination of both
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add flour and stir so flour is absorbed and cooks. Add milk and/or broth slowly to flour mixture, stirring all the time. This should get thick. If too thick add more liquid. The consistency should not be runny, nor should it be solid. Add chicken, frozen veggies (uncooked), salt and pepper. Spray a pyrex or a casserole dish with Pam and pour mixture into it. Arrange pie crust on top. Crimp around the edges and cut some slits in the top. Place in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes. You may want to put a cookie sheet below the pie in case of overflow. Serve soup, then pot pie for a great winter meal.