Roasted Brussels Sprouts — Ina Garten

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  • 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
  • 3 tablespoons good olive oil
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves. Mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Shake the pan from time to time to brown the sprouts evenly. Sprinkle with more kosher salt ( I like these salty like French fries), and serve immediately.v

Cauliflower Dal with Panch Phoran

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Panch phoran (also spelled panch phoron and panch puran) is a Bengali blend of five spices– fenugreek, mustard, kalonji (nigella), fennel, and cumin, in equal amounts. (In Bengal, radhuni would be used instead of mustard, but it’s not available in the U.S.) You can buy this spice blend in Indian grocery stores or you can make it yourself.

If you want a more assertive panch phoran taste, grind an additional 1/2 tablespoon of it and add it during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

  • 1 1/2 cups masoor dal or red lentils
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 1/8 teaspoon canola oil (or canola oil spray)
  • 1 tablespoon panch phoran
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon ginger paste (or 1 tsp. minced ginger)
  • 16 ounces diced tomatoes (or 1 can)
  • 1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets)
  • 1/2 cup water
  1. Pick over and rinse the lentils and add them to a pot with the water and turmeric. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer until the dal is tender, about 20 to 35 minutes. When done, add salt and set aside.
  2. While the dal is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Heat a large, deep skillet, preferably non-stick. When hot, add the canola oil and shake it to spread it around. Add the panch phoran and stir. (You may instead use oil spray; spray before and after adding the panch phoran.) When the first seed pops, immediately add the onion, garlic, pepper flakes, and ginger paste. Stir and cook until the onion softens, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, cauliflower, and water, and stir. Cover and cook until the cauliflower is just tender, about 10 minutes.
  3. When the dal and cauliflower are both done, add the dal to the cauliflower mixture. Stir well, and check seasoning, adding more salt if needed. Simmer gently for about 10 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Serve hot, over rice if desired.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s) | Cooking time: 55 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 6

 

Saag

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(Indian spiced spinach) Saag, or palak, dishes are spiced purees of spinach or other greens common in northern India. They often contain additional ingredients such as potatos, fresh cheese, chicken or chickpeas to make a more substantial dish.

  • Oil or ghee — 2 tablespoons
  • Onion, chopped — 1
  • Garlic, minced — 3 to 6 cloves
  • Gingerroot, minced — 1 tablespoon
  • Coriander, ground — 2 teaspoons
  • Turmeric — 1/2 teaspoon
  • Cayenne pepper (optional) — 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon
  • Spinach, chopped — 1 pound fresh or package of chopped frozen spinach thawed
  • Water — 1 cup
  • Salt — 1/2-1 teaspoons
  • Yogurt (optional) — 1 cup
  • Cream (optional) — 1/4 cup

 

  1. Heat the oil or ghee in a large pot or saucepan over medium flame. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic, ginger and spices and sauté for another 2 to 3 minutes.
  2. Stir in the spinach, water and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat, allow to cool a bit. Don’t bother to use a blender or food processor to puree in batches.
  4. Add a little water if necessary and simmer another 5 to 10 minutes.
  5. OPtional — Stir in yogurt and return to brief simmer and immediately remove from heat. Stir in the optional cream, adjust seasoning and serve.

Variations

  • Saag, or Palak, Paneer (Spinach with fresh cheese): add 1/2 pound of paneer, cut into cubes, after pureeing the spinach. You may substitute tofu for the paneer if you can’t find paneer. Tofu is not an Indian ingredient, but it has a similar texture and flavor. Press tofu, cut in triangles and  brown in oil.
  • Jhinga Saag (Spinach with shrimp): add 1/2 pound peeled and deveined shrimp after pureeing the spinach. Simmer until the shrimp is just cooked through, 3-4 minutes.
  • Chana Saag (Spinach with chickpeas): add 1/2 pound cooked chickpeas after pureeing the spinach.
  • Saag Murgh (Spinach with chicken): add 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into cubes, after pureeing the spinach. Simmer just until the chicken is cooked through.
  • Saag Aloo (Spinach with potatoes): add 1/2 pound cooked, cubed potatoes after pureeing the spinach.
  • You may use frozen or fresh spinach. Try substituting mustard or other greens.
  • A squeeze of lemon added at the end will brighten the flavor of this dish.

From whatsforeats.com

Lemon Meringue Pie — Alton Brown

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Lemon Filling

  • 4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 (9-inch) pre-baked pie shell
  • 1 recipe Meringue, recipe follows

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture.

Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter, lemon juice, and zest until well combined. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with meringue while filling is still hot. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make sure pie is cooled completely before slicing.

Meringue Topping:

  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 pinch cream of tartar
  • 2 tablespoons sugar

Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Use to top lemon filling.

Yield: topping for 1 (9-inch) pie

mushroom barley soup — allrecipes.com

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  • 2-3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 3/4 cup diced carrots
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
  • 6 cups veggie broth
  • 3/4 cup barley
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • chopped parsley 2-3 tbsp
 Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic; cook and stir until onions are tender and transparent. Stir in mushrooms and continue to cook for a few minutes. Pour in the chicken broth, thyme a bit parsley and barley. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer until barley is tender, about 50 minutes. Season with salt and pepper before serving. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Stilton Pate — Helen Krafsur

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1 pound Stilton, room temp
3 oz cream cheese, room temp
1 stick butter, room temp
1/2 cup of whipping cream
1/3 chopped gherkins
1/3 chopped capers
parsley or watercress sprigs (garnish)

Combine all ingredients except garnish in large bowl or processor and mix until light and creamy.

nana’s oatmeal pancakes

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1 cup flour
1 cup oatmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (don’t substitute, it won’t be the same!)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs

Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another.  Add wet to dry and mix well (batter will be thin).  Let sit for at least fifteen minutes so the oatmeal softens.

Melt half a tablespoon of butter (or just spray with Pam) in a preheated skillet (preferably cast iron); add 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.  Grill until brown on one side, flip and grill until second side is brown.  Serve with butter and syrup!

this recipe is from a great blog: the wicked noodle

Barley Soup

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6 c. water
4-6 tsp veggie stock base
1/2 c. pearl Barley
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2-4 sm potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 medium sweet onion, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2-1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/3 c. parsley, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp dill

Heat the water in a stock pot over medium heat. Add the soup base and stir to dissolve. Add barley, carrots, celery, potatoes, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, bay leaf and dill. Bring all to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes until the barley is cooked. Serves 4-6

Eggplant Mushroom Quiche Sherry Golden

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1 pre-baked crust

1 small onion
4 oz. mushrooms, chopped coarse
1 garlic clove minced
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
3 eggs
3/4 c. milk or cream
1 cup seasoned eggplant puree
1/4 c, grated parm. or romano cheese
2 tbsp tomato paste
pepper to taste
a grating of fresh nutmeg
about 1/4 c. tomato sauce
grated cheese–parm and or mozzarella

Preheat the oven to 375.  Have the pre-baked crust ready
Saute the onion, mushrooms and garlic in butter.  Add the basil and oregano and saute for a few minutes more.  Let cool slightly.

Place this in a blender or food processor along with the eggs, milk or cream, seasoned eggplant puree, grated cheese, tomato paste, salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Puree then pour this mixture into the prebaked crust and bake for 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean.

Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce over the surface of the pie, sprinkle with cheese and return to oven for 5 minutes to allow the cheese to melt.

Make a 9-10 inch quiche.

Second pie, used too much tomato sauce which made the filling soft, tasted fine but not as pretty not did it hold together.

2nd quiche

 

 

Pat-in yogurt and mayonnaise pastry Sherry Golden

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This soft pastry is not rolled out.  It is simply patted onto the bottom and sides of a pie or quiche pan.

1 c. AP flour
6 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
generous 1 tbsp yogurt
generous 1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp (or more) dijion or grainy mustard
a bit of cold water

Put all ingredients in a food processor and mix until it resembles cornmeal.  Add a bit of water if it doesn’t come together.

Pat into pan, dock, line with parchment paper, put in pie weights.  Place in frig.  Set oven to 400 degrees.

Bake for 10min, remove weights and parch. paper and bake for 10 min more.

It’s very important to pre-bake pie shells for quiches.