veal and wild mushroom ragu

This is based very closely on Marcella Hazan's recipe in Marcella Says...

I don't think the exact proportions of the different varieties of mushrooms are essential; however, you do want both dried and fresh, as the dried provide an earthy richness that makes the dish much more interesting.

1 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1 oz dried shiitake mushrooms
2-4 oz sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped
8 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms
8-12 oz fresh cremini mushrooms
8-12 oz fresh white button mushrooms
olive oil
1 c finely chopped shallots
4 T butter
1 c finely chopped onion
1-1 1/2 lbs ground veal
1 c dry white wine
1/4 c dry vermouth
6-10 fresh ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

The day before, put the dried porcini and shiitake mushrooms in a heat safe container (I use a 3-cup glass measuring pitcher) and pour very hot or boiling water over them. Let soak overnight. Do the same for the tomatoes if they are very dehydrated. If not, maybe soak for an hour or two before preparing.

When ready to prepare, remove and discard the fresh shiitake stems. Brush mushrooms with a damp cloth as needed to clean them, then slice very thin.

Strain dried mushrooms, pouring liquid into a bowl to set aside. Wash the soaked mushrooms, and cut any oversized pieces into bite-sized ones. Pour the soaking liquid through a coffee filter or paper towel to remove grit and dirt.

Heat the olive oil over medium high in a 12" saute pan, and add the shallots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until colored a deep gold. Add the soaked mushrooms, cook for a minute or two, then add the soaking liquid and cook until liquid has evaporated.

Once liquid is gone, add as many of the fresh mushrooms as will fit, and sprinkle with salt. Turn them over once or twice to coat well, then turn the heat down to medium/medium-low. When the mushrooms have released some liquid and shrunk in bulk, add the remaining mushrooms. Cook, turning over occasionally, until they are very soft and all liquid has evaporated; this will probably take about 90 minutes. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, when mushrooms are cooking, put the butter and the chopped onion in a second saute pan. Cook the onion, stirring from time to time, until it begins to brown. Add the ground veal, crumbling it with your fingers or a fork, and turn to coat well. When the meat has browned lightly and uniformly, pour the wine and vermouth into the pan, and add salt/pepper to taste.

Once the wine has bubbled away completely, add the sundried tomatoes and fresh tomatoes, and turn the heat down to the lowest setting possible (on your smallest burner). Cook uncovered for about 45 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Once both meat and mushrooms are finished, empty contents of both pants into a large bowl, and stir gently but thoroughly to combine.

Wipe both pans clean. Divide the meat-mushroom mixture between both pans, and cook on medium low for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently. If not using the sauce the same day, empty the contents of both pans into the bowl, cover and refrigerate. Reheat gently but thoroughly before using.

You can refrigerate the finished sauce in a tightly sealed container for 5 days, or you can freeze it for up to 3 months. Bring to room temp before reheating.

fried black eyed peas

adapted from a recipe I found in the paper, and inspired by the fried black eyed peas at Relish, in Roswell

16 oz dried black eyed peas (although, if you're Sherm, use chick peas)
1 carrot, peeled and cut in half lengthways
1 celery, cut in half lengthways
1/2 onion, peeled
1 bay leaf
1-2 t Old Bay seasoning (could use any spicy seasoning blend, such as creole)
canola oil, at least a few quarts
salt
other seasonings to taste

Rinse and drain the peas, pick through for stones or other debris.  Put in big pot and cover with cold water.  Let soak overnight.

In the morning, add the celery, carrot, onion, bay leaf and seasoning to the beans and water, and simmer until peas are almost done (done but still a little firm), usually around 40 minutes.  Drain and chill.

When ready to fry, heat the oil in a deep fryer or heavy, deep pot to 350 degrees.  Fry peas in batches, using a slotted spoon to transfer them to hot oil.  Be careful not to put too many in, because of the high moisture content, the oil will bubble up significantly when you add the peas.  The oil will drop in temp with each batch, so let it heat back up before doing the next batch.

Fry each batch around 2 minutes, until peas are starting to brown a bit.  Remove with a slotted spoon onto a strainer or paper towels to cool.  Sprinkle with salt and other seasonings of your choice.  Creole seasoning is good, as is lemon pepper.

basler brunsli (traditional swiss cookies, revised)

This is supposedly a traditional Swiss Christmas cookie--I fiddled with the recipe until it turned out the way I wanted.

8 oz Trader Joe’s almond meal
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
250g Trader Joe’s bittersweet chocolate with almonds, roughly chopped (I buy the half kilo bars in the baking chocolates section).
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large egg whites

In a food processor combine almond meal and chocolate and pulse until chocolate is well ground. Add sugars and spices and mix until fine. (Do not overmix or chocolate will melt.) Add spices and egg whites and mix until dough comes together. I usually turn the dough out into a metal bowl and finish mixing with my hands, just to make sure the dry stuff in the corners gets well incorporated. Chill dough for about 1/2 hour.

Preheat oven to 350º F. On a surface covered with sugar, roll dough to about 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out cookies with a small cookie cutter (heart or star shaped is traditional) and transfer onto baking pan lined with parchment paper.

Put cookies into the oven and reduce the temperature to 325º F. Bake for 15 minutes or until firm. Be careful not to overbake or the cookies will be too hard.

pan-fried onion dip

adapted from one of my new favorite food bloggers, Rebecca at Ezra Pound Cake, who adapted it from Ina Garten's recipe in The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

2 large yellow onions, or 3 medium
2 T unsalted butter
1/8 c vegetable oil
1/4 t ground cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 t kosher salt, or to taste
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1/4 t white pepper, freshly ground if possible
1/4 - 1/2 t dried thyme
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature, light is fine
1/2 c yogurt, lowfat is fine
1/4 - 1/2 c mayonnaise (as usual, we recommend Blue Plate or Duke's)
onion salt to taste, optional

1. Cut the onions in half and then slice them into 1/8-inch thick half-rounds. (You will have about 3 cups of onions.) Heat the butter and oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions, cayenne, salt and pepper, and saute for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 more minutes until the onions are browned and caramelized. Allow the onions to cool.

2. Place the cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Add the onions and mix well. Taste for seasonings. Depending on how much bite your onions have, you may need to add onion salt or granulated onion at this point. Depending on how dense you want the finished product, you can mix at a medium high speed for a few more minutes to get it nice and airy. This can be refrigerated until needed in an air-tight container, but take it out of the fridge ahead of time so that you can serve at room temperature.

Key Lime Pie

crust:
1 1/4 c gingersnap crumbs
2 T sugar
1/3 c butter,melted

filling:
5 large eggs yolks
1/2 c key lime juice, freshly squeezed
1/3 c sugar
1/8 t salt
2 T lime peel coarsely grated
2 1/2 c heavy cream
1 small lime,sliced,optional

Prepare crust:
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
In 9" pie plate combine gingersnap crumbs and 2 T. sugar; stir in butter until blended.
Press mixture firmly and evenly over bottom and sides of pie plate; bake 10 minutes until browned. Cool completely on wire rack.

Prepare filling:
In top of double boiler using wire whisk, beat egg yolks, lime juice, 1/3 cup sugar and salt until well blended. Set over simmering water; cook about 5 minutes, stirring constantly until mixture is thick enough to coat back of metal spoon. Remove from heat; stir in grated lime peel.

Refrigerate mixture about 45 minutes until cool. Meanwhile, in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed, beat cream until soft peaks form. Set 1 cup whipped cream asidefor garnish; fold cooled lime mixture into remaining cream. Spoon filling into prepared crust; refrigerate at least 2 hours until set.

To serve:
Spoon remaining whipped cream decoratively over top of pie; sprinkle cream with remaining 1 T lime peel. Garnish with limeslices, if desired.

Serves: 8

Carrot Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

from Allrecipes.com

makes 12 regular-sized cupcakes.

2 oz white chocolate
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t orange extract
4 c confectioner's sugar

2 T heavy cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c + 2 t white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 t vanilla extract
2 c shredded carrots
1/2 c crushed pineapple
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/4 t ground ginger
1 c chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350F and put muffin cups into a muffin pan.

In a small saucepan, melt white chocolate over a low heat. Stir until the melted chocolate is smooth, and then let it cool to room temperature.

In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter till it's smooth. Mix in the melted white chocolate, one teasspoon of vanilla, and orange extract. Gradually beat in the confectioner's sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Mix in the heavy cream.

Beat together the eggs, white sugar and brown sugar in a bowl, and mix in the oil and the other teaspoon of vanilla. Fold in the carrots and the pineapple. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Mix the flour mixture into the carrot mixture until it's moist. Fold in HALF of the nuts and then spoon the mix into the muffin cups.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool completely on a cooling rack, before topping with the icing and a sprinkle of the remaining nuts.

baby back ribs

ribs:

3 slabs baby back pork ribs (about 6 lbs)

1/4 c lemon juice

1/4 c olive oil

rib rub:

1 c Greek seasoning (sometimes we use rib rub or make our own)

1/4 c garlic powder

1/4 c paprika

1/4 c firmly packed brown sugar

sauce:

1 T butter

1 T olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced

1 c firmly packed brown sugar

1 c cider vinegar

1 c chili sauce

1 c bottled barbecue sauce

1 T mustard powder

1 T paprika

3 T fresh lemon juice

2 T Worcestershire sauce

2 T hot sauce

2 T molasses

salt

pepper

Make rub by mixing together the Greek seasoning, garlic powder, paprika, and brown sugar.

To make the sauce, melt butter with olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion and next 3 ingredients, and saute 5-6 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in brown sugar and remaining ingredients, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes. Pour mixture through a wire-mesh strainer to bowl, discarding solids. Rub and sauce can be made days ahead of time.

Rinse and pat ribs dry. Remove the thin membrane from back of ribs by slicing into it with a knife and then pulling. Place lemon juice in small bowl and add oil in slow stream, whisking. Coat ribs evenly with lemon juice mix. Sprinkle evenly with rub and rub it into the meat. Wrap ribs in plastic, let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, then put in fridge to chill overnight.

The next day remove the plastic, wrap in heavy foil, and put then on baking sheets, and put the ribs in a 200-degree oven. Cook for at least six hours. You can unwrap the foil at the top but make sure the ribs do not dry out by basting with the juices in the foil packets.

We like to finish these up on the grill right before serving, basting with some of the sauce until heated completely through.

tomato feta pasta

all quantities are rough estimates. this dish is an art, not a science.

1 yellow onion, or 4 shallots, diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed, or finely minced
decent olive oil
red pepper flakes (optional)
4 medium tomatoes, chopped into small chunks
8 oz good feta, preferably packed in brine, crumbled**
freshly ground black pepper
fresh basil chiffonade

If serving with pasta, start the water before you do any prep work. By the time you're done chopping, the water should be hot enough to add the pasta. The sauce doesn't take long to make but it does require frequent attention. We like thin spaghetti or angel hair with this sauce, but smaller pasta like penne works too.

Heat olive oil in a good sized skillet over medium high heat until shimmering, then add onion, stir for a minute, turn down heat to medium, and add garlic. Stir frequently so garlic does not turn brown. Throw in red pepper flakes to taste.

When onion and garlic are soft, add tomatoes including any juices they produced when chopped. cook for another few minutes until tomatoes begin to soften. Turn heat to low, add feta, stir gently. Cook at least long enough to warm the feta through, but keep an eye on it as the feta chunks will break down quickly.

Remove from heat, add black pepper to taste. Serve over pasta, sprinkling basil on top.

**Good feta makes or breaks this sauce. I have been fond of a certain goat-sheep's milk imported blend from the DeKalb Farmers Market, but they don't seem to have it anymore. The Pastures of Eden feta from Trader Joe's is a very good alternative. It's not cheap, but has the right blend of creamy, tangy, and salty; and we consistently prefer it to other more expensive feta from Whole Foods.

mascarpone tart with fresh strawberries and port glaze

from Epicurious.com

For tart shell:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons cold water

For filling:
1 1/2 pounds strawberries (about 1 1/2 quarts), trimmed and halved lengthwise
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup ruby Port
1 pound mascarpone (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To make tart shell:
Blend together flour, sugar, salt, and butter in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Beat together yolk, vanilla, lemon juice, and water with a fork, then drizzle over flour mixture and stir with fork (or pulse) until mixture comes together.

Gently knead with floured hands on a lightly floured surface until a dough forms, then gently knead 4 or 5 times. Press into a 5-inch disk. Place in center of tart pan and cover with plastic wrap. Using your fingers and bottom of a flat-bottomed measuring cup, spread and push dough to evenly cover bottom and side of pan. Prick bottom of tart shell all over with a fork and freeze until firm, about 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.

Line tart shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until side is set and edge is pale golden, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and continue to bake until shell is deep golden all over, about 20 minutes more. Cool in pan, about 45 minutes.

Make filling while tart shell cools:
Stir together strawberries and granulated sugar in a bowl and let stand, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Strain in a sieve set over a small saucepan, reserving berries. Add Port to liquid in saucepan and boil until reduced to about 1/4 cup, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, whisk together mascarpone, confectioners sugar, lemon juice, zest, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until stiff.

Assemble tart:
Spread mascarpone mixture evenly in cooled tart shell, then top with strawberries. Drizzle Port glaze all over tart.

two-bite brownies

about 72 mini-cupcakes

vegetable-oil cooking spray

4 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces

8 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour

1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

1/2 t salt

3 3/4 c granulated sugar

8 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line mini-cupcake tins with liners. Spray liners with cooking spray. If not using liners, mix 1 T cocoa powder with 1/2 c flour, spray tins with cooking spray and dust cups thoroughly with the cocoa-flour mixture.

Melt butter and chocolate in a 4-qt heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring until smooth. Whisk together flour, cocoa and salt. Remove pan from heat and whisk in granulated sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, whisking after each addition until incorporated, and stir in flour mixture until blended.

Spoon batter into muffin liners, filling cups to top, and bake in middle of the oven 25-30 minutes, or until a tester comes out with crumbs adhering. Cool 5 minutes in tins and turn out onto racks. Repeat with remaining batter.