Braised Red Potatoes with Lemon and Chives from America’s Test Kitchen Season

Posted on December 17, 2015 by admin

For a simple, one-pot potato side dish that featured the benefits of both boiling and roasting, we had to get creative. We combined halved small red potatoes, butter, and salted water in a 12-inch skillet and simmered this mixture until the potatoes turned creamy and the water fully evaporated. In the then-dry skillet, the potatoes and butter were left alone to fry and develop great flavor and color. Subtle aromatics like thyme and garlic balance well with last-minute additions like lemon juice.

Use small red potatoes measuring about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

1 1/2 lbs. small red potatoes, unpeeled, halved
2 cups water
3 tablespoons unsalted butter|
3 garlic cloves, peeled
3 sprigs fresh thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

Arrange potatoes in single layer, cut side down, in 12-inch nonstick skillet. Add water, butter, garlic, thyme, and salt and bring to simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer until potatoes are just tender, about 15 minutes.

Remove lid and use slotted spoon to transfer garlic to cutting board; discard thyme. Increase heat to medium-high and vigorously simmer, swirling pan occasionally, until water evaporates and butter starts to sizzle, 15 to 20 minutes. When cool enough to handle, mince garlic to paste. Transfer paste to bowl and stir in lemon juice and pepper.

Continue to cook potatoes, swirling pan frequently, until butter browns and cut sides of potatoes turn spotty brown, 4 to 6 minutes longer. Off heat, add garlic mixture and chives and toss to thoroughly coat. Serve immediately. Serving Size: 4

Terry’s notes:

i believe I posted this the other day but I made them last night and they were fabulous! Okay, Aside from the fact that they have nicely brown crispy bits that make them good the BEST is the garlic.

The garlic is cooked until soft in the water, then after 15 minutes it is wonderfully sweet and so soft. I put the cooked garlic into a little cup, mashed it up and added a teaspoon of lemon juice. A bit of salt and pepper. It’s wonderful on the potatoes but it’s going to be great on steamed green beans or broccoli. I liked the SteamFresh brand green beans and brussels sprouts since you just put the bag in the microwave five minutes and they are cooked. I usually then pop them into some butter and season. Tonight I’m doing them but I’m going to use the soft garlic and lemon.

Quinoa Chili from Nettie Cronish

Posted on December 16, 2015 by admin

Use organic diced tomatoes for best flavour. The crunch from celery compliments sautéed thinly sliced purple eggplant. Great cabbage roll filling. Delicious hot or cold.

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
¼ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, thinly sliced or sweet mini peppers
2 Japanese eggplant, chopped (about 2 cups) OR 2 c. regular eggplant
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 tbsp. chili powder & dried oregano
1 tsp. paprika
½ tsp. salt & pepper
2 x 28 fl.oz. diced tomatoes USE 1 can rotel and 1 can crushed
2 green onions, sliced

In a skillet over medium heat, roast the rinsed quinoa for 5 minutes or until fragrant and the quinoa begins to pop. In a small pot bring 2 cups water and salt to boil. Add roasted quinoa . Cover and simmer over medium heat 15 to 20 minutes, until water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat, stir and let stand covered 5 minutes.
Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic 5 minutes or until softened Stir in green pepper, eggplant, celery, chili,oregano, paprika, salt and pepper. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring often.
Stir in the tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the quinoa and green onions. Serves: 6

Quinoa, white bead and kale soup from chelseasmessyapron.com

Posted on December 11, 2015 by admin

3/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1 container (32 ounces) Tuscan Chicken Flavor-Infused Broth (Swanson makes this)
1 can (14.5 ounces) petite diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cans (15.5 ounces each) cannellini beans, undrained
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
3 cups chopped kale
Salt and pepper, to taste
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly and add it to your slow cooker with 2 cups of the broth.
Add in the undrained petite diced tomatoes, and one can of undrained cannellini beans.
Add in the garlic, chopped yellow onion, Italian seasoning, and some salt and pepper.
In a blender or food processor, combine the remaining 2 cups broth with the remaining can of cannellini beans. Blend until smooth. Pour into the slow cooker.
Give everything a good stir and cover the slow cooker.
Cook on high for 3-4 hours.
Remove the stems, wash the kale, and finely chop the kale.
About 15 minutes before ready to serve, adjust any seasonings (add some salt and pepper if desired), and stir in the finely chopped kale.
Garnish each bowl with a handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Spiced Crazy Wacky Cake (No Eggs, Milk or Butter)

Posted on December 8, 2015 by admin

1 1/2 Cups flour + 2 Tablespoons (all-purpose)
1 Tbsp. pumpkin spice
1 Cup white sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
5 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 Cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix first 5 dry ingredients in a greased 8″ square baking pan. Make 3 depressions in dry ingredients – two small, one larger (see #3 in photo below). Pour vinegar in one depression, vanilla in the other and the vegetable oil in third larger depression. Pour water over all. Mix well until smooth.

Bake on middle rack of oven for 35 minutes. Check with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. Cool. Top with your favorite frosting ( I used vanilla). Enjoy!

Frosting Recipes
Vegan Fluffy Buttercream frosting
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (contains dairy)

Other flavors: http://www.sweetlittlebluebird.com/p/recipes.html

Beurre Monté from Thomas Keller

Posted on December 8, 2015 by admin

Water
4 tablespoons to 1 pound of butter, cut into chunks

Beurre Monté can be made in any amount using the same cooking method. Bring the water to a boil in an appropriate size saucepan. Reduce the heat to low and begin whisking the butter into the water, bit by bit, to emulsify. Once you have established the emulsion, you can continue to add pieces of butter until you have the quantity of beurre monté that you need (the French Laundry makes 20 pounds at a time). It is important to keep the level of heat gentle and consistent in order to maintain the emulsification.

NOTES

Make the beurre monte close to the time it will be used and maintain it in a warm place. If you have extra beurre monte, it can be refrigerated and reheated to use as melted butter or it can be clarified.

The Workhorse Sauce

Roasted Sausage with Broccoli and Fennel

Posted on December 7, 2015 by admin

12 ounces (about 3 or 4 links) good quality pork sausage, removed from casings and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2 small heads of broccoli, cut into small florets
1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and cut into thin slices, about 1/4-inch thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard
Finely grated zest and one 1 teaspoon of juice from 1 small lemon
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, or a lesser amount of red pepper flakes or cayenne (omit if you’re using spicy sausage)

Heat oven to 425° F. Combine broccoli florets and sliced fennel in a shallow casserole or baking dish.

You want them to fit snugly in a single, even layer. Season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, whole-grain mustard, lemon juice and zest, and Aleppo pepper.

Add to broccoli and fennel and toss well to coat evenly. Nestle the pieces of sausage among the broccoli and fennel.

Roast for about 20 minutes, or until the broccoli and fennel are tender and the sausage is no longer pink. For extra security, you can toss about halfway through the cooking time to ensure even cooking.

Optional but highly recommended: Heat broiler, and place the pan under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp the sausage and slightly char the broccoli and fennel in spots. Taste and add more salt, pepper, or lemon juice if needed. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 4

Christmas Carol Cake from Patty Foust

Posted on December 3, 2015 by admin

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

2 cups sugar
1 cup veg. oil
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup golden raisins
1 ½ cup peeled and chopped red delicious apples(about 1 ½ apples)

Mix in each ingredient at a time in order given above.

Makes a very stiff batter.
Pour mix into a greased and floured Bundt pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 ½ hours.
Cool before removing from pan.

Pumpkin Pie-four ingredient vegan

Posted on November 24, 2015 by admin

1 1/4 cups raw soaked cashews
1 cup maple syrup
1 can organic pumpkin puree (16 ounces) (or use fresh puree)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
a bit of grated nutmeg

optional: 1/2 tsp salt to taste (depends how much salt you soaked your cashews in)

ingredients notes: using high quality spice is helpful. Also, I prefer grade B maple syrup for its rich amber tones and caramelized flavor – but grade A works too.

One standard vegan pie crust.

1. Soak about one cup of raw cashews in about 2 1/2 cups of water in a large bowl. Add about 1/2 – 1 tsp of salt to the bowl – mix to dissolve. The salt allows the water to absorb more efficiently into the cashews and also adds some salt for your recipe

2. Soak this cashew bowl overnight in the fridge. You want well-soaked cashews so that your pie mix blends up perfectly creamy. I soaked my cashews for about 18 hours. At least 8 is optimal. Don’t soak for more than two days or the cashews can get grimy in my opinion.

3. The day of your actual pie making allow at least 3 hours from the time you start to the time you wish to serve the pie. I like a cool time of at least 2 hours.

4. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

5. Drain the water from your cashews. They should be very soft to bite and a slight purplish dark hue. This is normal. Add 1 1/4 cups of cashews to your food processor – or even better, a Vitamix or high speed blender.

6. Add pumpkin to blender. Next, add in the maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice. Blend on low -> high for about 3-5 minutes until the mixture is completely creamy. If your mixture is a bit thick for some reason – you can add in a few teaspoons of either water, maple syrup or even non-dairy milk. After blending, do a taste test and add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt if needed. I added in about 1/3 tsp extra salt. But taste before adding.

7. Pour your mix into a par-baked vegan pie shell, doc crust, add al foil and pie weights bake for 15 min, remove foil and weights and bake for additional 10-15 min).

8. Add filling and bake pie at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Then reduce to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes – or until the edges look fluffy and a darker caramel orange tone. Use a toothpick in center if unsure. The tooth-picked filling should come out slightly wet – but very thick and dark. It is important to remember that your pie will firm up significantly upon cooling and chilling in the fridge.

9. Remove pie from oven. Cool on counter for at least 30 minutes. Then place in fridge until ready to serve. At least 2 hours cooling and/or chilling time is my preference. A warm pie will be tasty, but still a bit “wet” to slice.

10. I serve chilled with a swirl of my vegan coconut whip on top!!

Jane Grigson’s Celery Soup from food52.com

Posted on November 24, 2015 by admin

1/2 pound celery, chopped (outside stalks or celeriac — about 2 cups)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup diced potato
6 tablespoons butter
4 cups veggie stock
1/2 to 1cups milk (optional)
About 1teaspoons dill weed (2 teaspoons for fresh dill)
2 1/2 tablespoons cream

Stew celery, onion, and potato gently in the butter in a covered pan for 10 minutes. Don’t let the vegetables brown. Add stock or water and 1/2 teaspoon of dill weed. Simmer for 20 minutes if you have a blender, 40 minutes if you use a food mill.
Blend or purée the soup. Pour through a strainer into a clean pan (to remove the last few threads of celery), adding a little milk if too thick. Bring slowly to just under the boil, seasoning with salt, pepper and more dill weed if required.
Put the cream into the soup dish, and pour the soup in on top. Swirl round with the ladle before serving, to mix in the cream.

Smoked Bluefish Pâté, foodandwine.com

Posted on November 23, 2015 by admin

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/2 medium red onion, minced
4 to 6 dashes of hot sauce
1/4 cup minced chives
1/2 pound skinless, boneless smoked bluefish, flaked
Toasts or crackers, for serving

In a bowl, blend the cream cheese with the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, parsley, onion, hot sauce and half of the chives. Fold the smoked bluefish into the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle the remaining chives on top and serve with toasts.

MAKE AHEAD

The pâté can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

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