6 ears of corn, as fresh as possible
2 avocados
2 red, orange, or yellow bell peppers
1 large sweet onion
3-4 large stalks celery
smoked or roasted turkey breast, cut into chunks (optional)
fresh cilantro (optional)
juice of 3 limes
white wine vinegar
salad oil (I use walnut, but any light flavored oil should work, do not use olive)
white pepper
salt
ground coriander (omit if using fresh cilantro)
red pepper flakes
Make the dressing first so the flavors can start to combine. Juice three limes into a glass/Pyrex measuring pitcher. Add vinegar until you have a third a cup of liquid. Add salt, white pepper, ground coriander, and pepper flakes to taste. Whisk in salad oil until you have two thirds of a cup of liquid. Some people may prefer a higher oil to vinegar ratio, since this can be kind of tart, if so, increase oil accordingly.
Boil (or microwave) the corn, being careful not to overcook. Let cool and cut the kernels off the cobs. Put corn in large bowl. Dice the peppers into medium sized chunks (maybe 1/2" square?). Chop the onion (maybe 1/4" bits--not too finely). Cut the celery once or twice lengthwise and then across as needed to wind up with small chunks. Add peppers, onions, celery and stir together.
The first time I made this, I stirred half the dressing in the corn-pepper-onion-celery mixture and let it sit overnight. The next day I diced the avocado and turkey into 1/2" pieces, and threw those in with the rest of the dressing. If using canned black beans, I would also drain and rinse and add at this point. If using fresh cilantro, add right before serving. If you don't overdress it, this keeps well for a couple days in an airtight container.
27 September 2005
16 September 2005
chocolate rum cake
1 pkg Duncan Heinz Devils Food Cake mix
1 small pkg chocolate instant pudding mix
1 c sour cream
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/4 to 1/2 c cold coffee
1/4 to 1/2 c dark rum
4 eggs
2 c chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips. Mix until blended. Beat at medium speed for one min, scrape sides of bowl and beat one more minute. Fold in chips. Pour into greased Bundt or tube pan. Bake 40-60 minutes or until cake springs back when touched. Cool in pan on rack for 30 minutes. Turn onto platter and glaze with:
1/2 c butter or margarine
1/4 c water
1 c sugar
1/2 c dark rum
Melt butter in pan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Poke small holes in the cake with a toothpick. Pour glaze onto cake.
It is better to let the cake sit overnight for the chocolate chips to harden.
1 small pkg chocolate instant pudding mix
1 c sour cream
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/4 to 1/2 c cold coffee
1/4 to 1/2 c dark rum
4 eggs
2 c chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips. Mix until blended. Beat at medium speed for one min, scrape sides of bowl and beat one more minute. Fold in chips. Pour into greased Bundt or tube pan. Bake 40-60 minutes or until cake springs back when touched. Cool in pan on rack for 30 minutes. Turn onto platter and glaze with:
1/2 c butter or margarine
1/4 c water
1 c sugar
1/2 c dark rum
Melt butter in pan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Poke small holes in the cake with a toothpick. Pour glaze onto cake.
It is better to let the cake sit overnight for the chocolate chips to harden.
04 September 2005
salsa
10 large ripe tomatoes, blanched**, peeled, diced
at least a pound of tomatillos, blanched, peeled, diced
2 large bell peppers, diced
2 onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
6 jalapenos, finely diced
juice of 2 limes
red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar, at least 2 T
salt
red pepper flakes
green onions, finely chopped
cilantro, finely chopped
Combine first six ingredients. Season to taste with lime juice, vinegar, salt, pepper flakes. Keep in mind that the jalapenos and garlic get stronger as the salsa sits and the flavors meld. finish with green onions and cilantro, but if you're making this ahead of time, it's not a bad idea to leave out the green onions and cilantro until it's time to eat. That way they don't turn into little green slimy bits overnight.
**To blanche tomatoes, take a large pot full of water and bring it to a rolling boil. While it's getting to boiling point, fill a large bowl with cold water. Carefully drop each tomato into the boiling water with tongs or a large spoon. After a short while, usually within a minute or two, the skin of the tomato will start to split. Once this happens, remove the tomato from the hot water and drop it into the cold water. This will stop it cooking as quickly as possible. Once it's cool, you should be able to slide the skin off easily.
To blanche tomatillos, follow the procedure above, but if the skins don't split within three minutes, remove from hot water when the tomatillo turns a yellower green in color.
at least a pound of tomatillos, blanched, peeled, diced
2 large bell peppers, diced
2 onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
6 jalapenos, finely diced
juice of 2 limes
red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar, at least 2 T
salt
red pepper flakes
green onions, finely chopped
cilantro, finely chopped
Combine first six ingredients. Season to taste with lime juice, vinegar, salt, pepper flakes. Keep in mind that the jalapenos and garlic get stronger as the salsa sits and the flavors meld. finish with green onions and cilantro, but if you're making this ahead of time, it's not a bad idea to leave out the green onions and cilantro until it's time to eat. That way they don't turn into little green slimy bits overnight.
**To blanche tomatoes, take a large pot full of water and bring it to a rolling boil. While it's getting to boiling point, fill a large bowl with cold water. Carefully drop each tomato into the boiling water with tongs or a large spoon. After a short while, usually within a minute or two, the skin of the tomato will start to split. Once this happens, remove the tomato from the hot water and drop it into the cold water. This will stop it cooking as quickly as possible. Once it's cool, you should be able to slide the skin off easily.
To blanche tomatillos, follow the procedure above, but if the skins don't split within three minutes, remove from hot water when the tomatillo turns a yellower green in color.
30 August 2005
Spicy Bean, Pasta & Sausage Soup
2 15- to 16-oz cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas) [or 1 can chickpeas, 1 can cannellini]
2 T olive oil [more if using turkey sausage]
1 pound Italian hot sausages, casings removed [turkey sausage worked just fine]
4 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped [maybe 3]
1/4 t dried crushed red pepper
1 28-oz can of diced tomatoes instead
4-6 c canned low-salt chicken broth
8 oz orecchiette (little ear-shaped pasta) or other small pasta [elbow works well]
3/4 - 1 c grated Romano cheese
2 T olive oil [more if using turkey sausage]
1 pound Italian hot sausages, casings removed [turkey sausage worked just fine]
4 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped [maybe 3]
1/4 t dried crushed red pepper
1 28-oz can of diced tomatoes instead
4-6 c canned low-salt chicken broth
8 oz orecchiette (little ear-shaped pasta) or other small pasta [elbow works well]
3/4 - 1 c grated Romano cheese
Strain liquid from canned beans into blender. Add 1 cup beans and puree until smooth. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add sausages, rosemary, garlic, and crushed red pepper. Sauté until sausages are cooked through, breaking up with fork, about 8 minutes. Mix in tomato paste. Add bean puree, remaining beans, broth, and pasta. Simmer until pasta is tender and mixture is thick, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Mix in cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
Put a handful of fresh spinach in each bowl, ladle soup onto spinach. Let stand a minute and serve.
23 August 2005
ginger peach cobbler
adapted from Diner Desserts, by Tish Boyle
3 pounds ripe peaches
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 T all purpose flour
1 t peeled and grated fresh ginger
1/2 t cinnamon
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T heavy cream
1 1/4 c all purpose flour
1/4 c granulated sugar
1 t baking pwder
1/4 t ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 T chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 c plus 1 T heavy cream
1 T finely chopped crystallized ginger
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9x13" glass baking dish.
To make filling: blanch peaches by plunging them into boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove them to a bowl of ice water, and, using your hands, slip off the skins. Cut into 1/4" thick slices off the pit, and put slices into a large bowl. In a small bowl, stir together well the sugar, flour, fresh ginger, cinnamon, lemon juice, and cream. Pour the mixture over the peach slices and toss to coat. Transfer the fruit to the prepared baking dish.
To make biscuits: put the flour, sugar, baking powder, ground ginger, and salt in a food processor and pulse until combined. Add the butter pieces and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir the vanilla into 1/2 c of the cream and add to the flour mixture. Pulse just until the dough starts to hold together. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured piece of waxed paper and shape it into a disk. Roll the dough out 1/4" thick. Using a 2" round biscuit cutter, cut out as many biscuits as possible. Gather up the scraps, roll and repeat until you have 12 biscuits.
Arrange the biscuits on top of the fruit filling, spacing them evenly (they will not spread much if at all). Brush the biscuits with the remaining 1 T cream and sprinkle with the crystallized ginger.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and the biscuits are golden brown. Serve warm.
3 pounds ripe peaches
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 T all purpose flour
1 t peeled and grated fresh ginger
1/2 t cinnamon
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T heavy cream
1 1/4 c all purpose flour
1/4 c granulated sugar
1 t baking pwder
1/4 t ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 T chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 c plus 1 T heavy cream
1 T finely chopped crystallized ginger
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9x13" glass baking dish.
To make filling: blanch peaches by plunging them into boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove them to a bowl of ice water, and, using your hands, slip off the skins. Cut into 1/4" thick slices off the pit, and put slices into a large bowl. In a small bowl, stir together well the sugar, flour, fresh ginger, cinnamon, lemon juice, and cream. Pour the mixture over the peach slices and toss to coat. Transfer the fruit to the prepared baking dish.
To make biscuits: put the flour, sugar, baking powder, ground ginger, and salt in a food processor and pulse until combined. Add the butter pieces and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir the vanilla into 1/2 c of the cream and add to the flour mixture. Pulse just until the dough starts to hold together. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured piece of waxed paper and shape it into a disk. Roll the dough out 1/4" thick. Using a 2" round biscuit cutter, cut out as many biscuits as possible. Gather up the scraps, roll and repeat until you have 12 biscuits.
Arrange the biscuits on top of the fruit filling, spacing them evenly (they will not spread much if at all). Brush the biscuits with the remaining 1 T cream and sprinkle with the crystallized ginger.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and the biscuits are golden brown. Serve warm.
10 August 2005
Asian Vegetable Salad
Serves 2
2 tbsp soy sauce
½ tbsp honey
½ tbsp fresh ginger, finely diced
½ tsp chilli flakes (optional)
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
75g fine Chinese egg noodles
85g mangetout, trimmed
115g red cabbage, finely sliced
1 carrot, peeled and sliced into julienne (matchstick-sized) strips
¼ cucumber, peeled and sliced into julienne strips
2 spring onions, finely sliced
115g fresh bean sprouts
115g tofu, diced into small cubes
Juice of lime
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place the soy sauce, honey and ginger and chilli, if using, in a small saucepan. Set over a low heat and keep just below boiling point for 2-3 minutes. Pour the sesame oil into the warm ginger soy sauce and whisk in the vinegar. Tip into a large mixing bowl.
Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions — usually, this is to drop them into a pan of boiling water and cook for 3-4 minutes. Drain thoroughly and shake dry, then mix into the ginger soy sauce.
Bring a pan of water to the boil, then add the mangetout to the pan. Slowly count to 10, then drain the mangetout and cool under the cold tap. Pat dry on kitchen paper and finely slice at an angle. Mix into the noodles with the sliced cabbage, carrots, cucumber, spring onions and bean sprouts. Pat dry the diced tofu and add to the bowl. Add the lime juice, adjust the seasoning to taste and serve.
05 August 2005
pasta with leeks and lobster tails
lobster tails
pasta, preferably smaller pasta like gemelli, orrechiette
dry white wine, maybe a sauvignon blanc
fresh tomatoes, chopped
tarragon, marjoram
leeks, white part, cut into 1/4" inch rounds, soaked and rinsed and soaked to remove sand
shallots, finely chopped
garlic
olive oil/butter
kosher salt
white pepper, red pepper
Boil the lobster tails until done, let cool, remove from shell. Cut into bite sized chunks. Cook pasta to preferred doneness, drain.
While cooking pasta, saute leeks in olive oil/butter, adding garlic, shallots, and a splash of wine as the leeks soften (garlic may burn if you add it too early). Add more wine as the pan gets dry. When leeks are almost done, the tomatoes, herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a couple minutes, then add the lobster just until heated through. Turn off heat, adjust seasoning, and toss with pasta.
Serve immediately in shallow bowls.
Seasoning notes: Do not add parmesan or other cheese, as it will obscure the more delicate flavor of the lobster and leeks. This turns out fairly sweet from the lobster meat and the cooked leeks, so I like a little white pepper for contrast. Red pepper flakes might work too, but that could wind up too strong. The amount of wine you add dictates how liquid the non-pasta mixture winds up. It never turns into a sauce, but I like to use enough wine that every piece of pasta picks up the wine-leek-lobster-herb flavor.
pasta, preferably smaller pasta like gemelli, orrechiette
dry white wine, maybe a sauvignon blanc
fresh tomatoes, chopped
tarragon, marjoram
leeks, white part, cut into 1/4" inch rounds, soaked and rinsed and soaked to remove sand
shallots, finely chopped
garlic
olive oil/butter
kosher salt
white pepper, red pepper
Boil the lobster tails until done, let cool, remove from shell. Cut into bite sized chunks. Cook pasta to preferred doneness, drain.
While cooking pasta, saute leeks in olive oil/butter, adding garlic, shallots, and a splash of wine as the leeks soften (garlic may burn if you add it too early). Add more wine as the pan gets dry. When leeks are almost done, the tomatoes, herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a couple minutes, then add the lobster just until heated through. Turn off heat, adjust seasoning, and toss with pasta.
Serve immediately in shallow bowls.
Seasoning notes: Do not add parmesan or other cheese, as it will obscure the more delicate flavor of the lobster and leeks. This turns out fairly sweet from the lobster meat and the cooked leeks, so I like a little white pepper for contrast. Red pepper flakes might work too, but that could wind up too strong. The amount of wine you add dictates how liquid the non-pasta mixture winds up. It never turns into a sauce, but I like to use enough wine that every piece of pasta picks up the wine-leek-lobster-herb flavor.
03 August 2005
bleu cheese risotto
from Garrison’s Broiler and Tap, published in the AJC 08/03/05
6 c low-sodium chicken stock
4 slices bacon, diced
1 T butter
1/4 c diced yellow onion
1 c arborio rice
1/4 c white wine
4 oz crumbled bleu cheese
white pepper to taste
26 July 2005
apricot cherry sauce (for lamb, pork, etc.)
8 fresh apricots, blanched, peeled, pitted, halved
20-30 fresh cherries, pitted
1-2 T butter
2 T turbinado or demerara sugar
2 T balsamic vinegar, preferably white*
1/4 t. ground cloves
1/8 t. ground coriander
1 t almond extract
fresh rosemary
dash salt
Melt butter slowly in heavy bottomed pan over low heat. Cut the apricot halves into quarters. Add apricots and cherries to pan and cook for a couple minutes until fruit starts to soften noticably. If your fruit is not juicy, you may want to add just a little water to help it get started. Add a tablespoon of the vinegar and the almond extract, the cloves, coriander and stir. Cook until the alcohol from the almond extract has burned off and taste. Add a dash of salt and the sugar and cook a few more minutes. Taste again, adjust the sugar/vinegar and add some fresh rosemary. I used the torn leaves of most of a five inch stalk. Cook a few more minutes and taste. The rosemary adds a fair amount of depth, but a lot depends on the flavor/quality of your fruit. Cook until it reaches desired thickness and fruit-broken-down-ness, stirring occasionally.
Made this as an accompaniment for the rosemary lamb for tomorrow's dinner. Would probably be awesome with pork. You could substitute peaches or nectarines for the apricots. We just made this up tonight, so it may get adjusted/refined for dinners to come.
*I prefer white balsamic for this recipe as it doesn't darken the fruit, but I had better quality regular balsamic so I compromised with 1.5 T white, and .5 T regular balsamic, which still darkened it quite a bit.
20-30 fresh cherries, pitted
1-2 T butter
2 T turbinado or demerara sugar
2 T balsamic vinegar, preferably white*
1/4 t. ground cloves
1/8 t. ground coriander
1 t almond extract
fresh rosemary
dash salt
Melt butter slowly in heavy bottomed pan over low heat. Cut the apricot halves into quarters. Add apricots and cherries to pan and cook for a couple minutes until fruit starts to soften noticably. If your fruit is not juicy, you may want to add just a little water to help it get started. Add a tablespoon of the vinegar and the almond extract, the cloves, coriander and stir. Cook until the alcohol from the almond extract has burned off and taste. Add a dash of salt and the sugar and cook a few more minutes. Taste again, adjust the sugar/vinegar and add some fresh rosemary. I used the torn leaves of most of a five inch stalk. Cook a few more minutes and taste. The rosemary adds a fair amount of depth, but a lot depends on the flavor/quality of your fruit. Cook until it reaches desired thickness and fruit-broken-down-ness, stirring occasionally.
Made this as an accompaniment for the rosemary lamb for tomorrow's dinner. Would probably be awesome with pork. You could substitute peaches or nectarines for the apricots. We just made this up tonight, so it may get adjusted/refined for dinners to come.
*I prefer white balsamic for this recipe as it doesn't darken the fruit, but I had better quality regular balsamic so I compromised with 1.5 T white, and .5 T regular balsamic, which still darkened it quite a bit.
24 July 2005
superior hummus
Ingredients (my proportions in parentheses):
Combine all in food processor, until desired consistency.
For me, good hummus is a balance between all the flavors and it's easy to get carried away, so taste often and adjust seasonings a little at a time. Usually hummus has tahini, a sesame seed paste, in it. Since tahini is high fat, this recipe leaves it out, achieving a very similar taste with the sesame seed oil. Start with at least a tablespoon, and adjust to your taste. If too thick, thin with liquid from beans, extra lemon juice (carefully, as this can quickly overwhelm the other flavors), a little more oil, or more yogurt.
Probably this will not keep as long as traditional hummus (because of the yogurt), but it's so good that won't be a problem. Serve with whatever you like, but we think it's good with red bell pepper strips, cucumbers, toasted pita bread triangles.
Note on sesame oil: It's easy to find at any Asian market, or even the Asian section of most grocery stores. You may have to go to a specialty market to find toasted sesame seed oil, but it's worth it. The flavor is much richer and deeper, and when using oil for a flavoring, that lets you use less oil to better effect.
- 1 large can (19 oz) garbanzo beans, drained, liquid reserved
- 1 can (14 oz) cannellini (Italian white beans)
- juice of a large lemon (around half)
- garlic cloves, peeled (2-4)
- olive oil (1 T)
- lowfat plain yogurt (4 T)
- sesame seed oil, preferably toasted sesame seed oil (2 T)
- kosher salt (1/2 T)
- fresh ground black pepper (1 t)
- cumin (1 t)
Combine all in food processor, until desired consistency.
For me, good hummus is a balance between all the flavors and it's easy to get carried away, so taste often and adjust seasonings a little at a time. Usually hummus has tahini, a sesame seed paste, in it. Since tahini is high fat, this recipe leaves it out, achieving a very similar taste with the sesame seed oil. Start with at least a tablespoon, and adjust to your taste. If too thick, thin with liquid from beans, extra lemon juice (carefully, as this can quickly overwhelm the other flavors), a little more oil, or more yogurt.
Probably this will not keep as long as traditional hummus (because of the yogurt), but it's so good that won't be a problem. Serve with whatever you like, but we think it's good with red bell pepper strips, cucumbers, toasted pita bread triangles.
Note on sesame oil: It's easy to find at any Asian market, or even the Asian section of most grocery stores. You may have to go to a specialty market to find toasted sesame seed oil, but it's worth it. The flavor is much richer and deeper, and when using oil for a flavoring, that lets you use less oil to better effect.
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