Broccoli Rabe and Potato Pizza

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Servings: 6 to 8
Preheat: 450
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Source: Fine Cooking Issue 145

Broccoli rabe and potatoes, a classic Italian combination, is even better topped with creamy, smoky mozzarella.

Ingredients: 

1 Yukon Gold potato, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick (about 1 cup)
2-1/2 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
2 4-inch sprigs fresh rosemary 12 oz. broccoli rabe, trimmed and finely chopped (about 7-1/2 cups)
All-purpose flour, for the pizza peel
1 lb. store-bought pizza dough, at room temperature
6 oz. coarsely grated mozzarella
4 oz. coarsely grated smoked mozzarella
4 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced lengthwise
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 oz. finely grated Grana Padano (1/2 cup)

Directions: 

Position a pizza stone on a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 450°F.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, and cook the potato slices for 1 minute. Rinse under cold water, gently pat dry with paper towels, and set aside.

In a 12-inch skillet, heat 2 Tbs. oil over medium-high heat. add the rosemary and cook, stirring often, until crisp, about 1 minute. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Add the broccoli rabe to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the stalks are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.

Generously flour a pizza peel or a large cookie sheet. Stretch the pizza dough on the peel to a 14-inch circle. Evenly distribute half of both mozzarellas over the dough, then half of the potatoes, half of the broccoli rabe, and all of the garlic, covering most of the surface. Crumble the fried rosemary leaves over the pizza. Repeat with the remaining potatoes, broccoli rabe, and mozzarella. Season with a pinch of salt and a few generous grinds of pepper, and carefully slide onto the pizza stone.

Bake until the crust is browned and the cheese is just melted, 13 to 15 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven, top with the grana Padano, and drizzle with the remaining oil. Cool briefly and serve.

Phat Thai

Servings: 1
Preheat: 0
Prep Time: 1 hour
Source: Pok Pok by Andy Ricker

SERVES 1 AS A ONE-PLATE MEAL !!!
I edited ingredients slightly to facilitate purchasing of common items.
Note, the tamarind water and palm sugar syrup can/should be made ahead of time and frozen.

Ingredients: 

SHRIMP AND SAUCE
1 tablespoon medium-size dried shrimp, rinsed and patted dry
3 tablespoon Tamarind Water, page 275
2 tablespoons plus ¾ teaspoon palm sugar simple syrup, page 275
1 ½ tablespoons Thai fish sauce

STIR FRY
2 ¼ ounces (dried “phat thai” noodles, soaked in lukewarm water for about 10 minutes
2 tablespoons rendered pork fat or vegetable oil
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 ¼ ounces extra firm tofu, cut into small pieces about 1” X ½“ X ¼“, about ¼ cup
1 tablespoon shredded salted radish, soaked in water 10 minutes then drained
2 ounces bean sprouts (about 1 cup, lightly packed)
2 ounces medium shrimp (about 4), shelled and deveined
¼ cup very coarsely chopped (about 1-inch lengths) garlic chives or scallions, plus a pinch or two for finishing
2 generous tablespoons coarsely chopped unsalted roasted peanuts

TO SERVE ALONGSIDE
2 small lime wedges
fish sauce
granulated sugar
Vinegar soaked chiles
Toasted chile powder

Directions: 

TOAST THE SHRIMP AND MAKE THE SAUCE

Heat a small dry pan or wok over medium heat, add the dried shrimp, and cook, stirring frequently, until they’re dry all the way through and slightly crispy, about 5 minutes. Set them aside in a small bowl. Covered at room temperature, they’ll keep for up to 1 week.

Combine the tamarind water, simple syrup, and fish sauce in a small bowl and stir well. Measure ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons, discarding the rest.

SOAK THE NOODLES AND STIR-FRY THE DISH

Soak the noodles in lukewarm water until they’re very pliable but not fully soft, about 20 minutes. Drain them well and snip them into approximately 8-inch lengths just before stir-frying.

Heat 3 large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat (or a wok over vary high heat), add the pork fat, and swirl it to coat the sides. When it begins to smoke lightly, crack the egg into the center of the pan (it should spit and sizzle violently and the whites should bubble and puff). Add the tofu, radish, and dried shrimp beside the egg. If you’re using a skillet, decrease the heat to medium; if you’re using a wok, keep the heat very high.

Cook, stirring everything but the egg, until the edges of the egg are light golden brown, about 1 minute, then flip the egg (it’s fine if the yolk breaks), break the egg into several pieces with the spatula, and stir everything together well.

Add the noodles and bean sprouts, and stir-fry (constantly stirring, scooping, and flipping) until the noodles and bean sprouts have softened slightly; about 1 minute.

Add the shrimp, then stir the tamarind mixture once more and add it to the pan. Stir—fry, making sure the shrimp get plenty of time on the hot surface, until they are cooked through, just about all the liquid has evaporated, and the noodles are fully tender and no longer look gloppy or clumpy, 2 to 4 minutes.

Add the chives and 1 tablespoon of the peanuts. Stir-fry briefly, then transfer it all to a plate, sprinkle on the remaining peanuts and chives, and serve with the lime wedges. Season to taste with the fish sauce, sugar, vinegar—soaked chiles, and chile powder.

Smoked-Trout Spread

Servings: 8
Preheat: 0
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Source: New York Times, FLORENCE FABRICANT

The guests are trickling in, and soon the table will be overflowing. But not just yet. What to do? Several days in advance, you may want to whip up your own smoked trout spread to pack in a bowl and offer with bagel chips or squares of pumpernickel. Those impatient stomachs will thank you.

Ingredients: 

6 ounces skinned, boned smoked trout, about 2 fillets
2 tablespoons minced chives
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
Ground black pepper

Directions: 

1. Break up trout into food processor, add chives and grind until finely minced. Pulse in lemon juice and yogurt. Season with pepper.
2. Transfer to a small serving bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
3. Add additional to thin

Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Onion with Tahini and za’atar

Servings: 4
Preheat: 475
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Source: Jerusalem – A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

The flavors here are incredible–the earthy tahini is a perfect match to the sweet squash and onion, while the za’atar adds a pop of sharp, herby pungency and the pine nuts offer richness and a bit of textural contrast.

Ingredients: 

1 large butternut squash (2 1/4 lb /1.1 kg in total), cut into 3/4 by 2 1/2-inch/2 cm by 6 cm wedges
2 red onions, cut into 1 1/4-inch/3 cm wedges
3 1/2 tablespoons/50 ml olive oil
3 1/2 tablespoons light tahini paste
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
1 small clove garlic, crushed
3 1/2 tablespoons/30 g pine nuts
1 tablespoon za’atar
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 475°F / 240°C. Put the squash and onion in a large mixing bowl, add 3 tablespoons of the oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and some black pepper and toss well. Spread on a baking sheet with the skin facing down and roast in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the vegetables have taken on some color and are cooked through. Keep an eye on the onions as they might cook faster than the squash and need to be removed earlier. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

2. To make the sauce, place the tahini in a small bowl along with the lemon juice, water, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Whisk until the sauce is the consistency of honey, adding more water or tahini if necessary

3. Pour the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil into a small frying pan and place over medium-low heat. Add the pine nuts along with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often, until the nuts are golden brown. Remove from the heat and transfer the nuts and oil to a small bowl to stop the cooking.

4. To serve, spread the vegetables out on a large serving platter and drizzle over the tahini. Sprinkle the pine nuts and their oil on top, followed by the za’atar and parsley.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Servings: 4
Preheat: 0
Prep Time: 1.5 hours
Source: http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/grilled_pork_tenderloin.aspx

Brining makes for an incredibly tender and moist meat. A light coating of the Birch Island rub is perfect for grilling.

Ingredients: 

Brine
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 quart water

2 pork tenderloins (about 2 pounds total)

Dry rub
http://www.danderecipes.com/2016/06/19/birch-island-pork-shoulder-rub-and-sauce/

Directions: 

Brine the tenderloins
In a medium bowl, mix salt and sugar with 1 quart cool water until dissolved. Trim the tenderloins of excess fat and silverskin and submerge them in the brine; let stand about 45 minutes. Remove the pork from the brine, rinse thoroughly, and pat dry.

Season and grill
Rub the brined tenderloins all over with the dry rub just before grilling. Set up coals for indirect grilling. Position the pork directly over the hot coals, and cook (covered), turning once, until nicely seared on both sides. Move the tenderloins to the coolest part of the grill (over no coals), close the lid, and cook for 5 minutes more.

Vietnamese Zoodle Salad with Fragrant Herbs and Roasted Peanuts

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Servings: 4
Preheat: 0
Prep Time: 45 min
Source: http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/vietnamese-zoodle-salad.aspx

A tool called a spiralizer turns zucchini and other vegetables into long, curly, noodle-like “zoodles.” If you don’t have (or don’t want to buy) one, you can use a julienne peeler.

Ingredients: 

3 Tbs. fresh lime juice
1 Tbs. fish sauce
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
3 medium zucchinis, spiralized
2 medium carrots, peeled and spiralized
1/2 cup coarsely chopped salted peanuts
1/4 cup very thinly sliced red onions
1/4 packed cup torn fresh basil leaves
1/4 packed cup torn fresh cilantro
1/4 packed cup torn fresh mint
Sriracha sauce, for serving

Directions: 

In a large bowl, whisk together the lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar. Add the zucchini and carrots to the mixture, along with the peanuts, onions, basil, cilantro, and mint.

Toss well to combine. Transfer to bowls and serve with Sriracha on the side.

Rethinking Cornbread

Servings: 8
Preheat: 400
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Source: Erika Bruce from Cook’s Illustrated, January &February 2005, pages 10-11.

Before preparing the baking dish, measure out the frozen corn and let it stand at room temperature until needed. When corn is in season, fresh corn can be substituted for frozen corn. This recipe was developed with Quaker Yellow Cornmeal. A stone-ground, whole-grained cornmeal will work but will yield a drier, less tender cornbread. We prefer a Pyrex glass baking dish because it yields a nice golden brown crust, but a metal pan will work.

Ingredients: 

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly.
1 ½ cups (7 ½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup (5 ½ ounces) Quaker Yellow Cornmeal
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
¼ cup (1 ¾ ounces) packed light brown sugar
¾ cup (3 ½ ounces) frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs

Directions: 

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400°F. Spray an 8” square baking dish with vegetable oil spray. Whisk the flour, the cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl until combined. Set bowl aside.

In a food processor or blender, process buttermilk, corn, and sugar until combined, about 5 seconds. Add eggs and process until well combined. Corn lumps will remain about 5 seconds longer.

Use a rubber spatula. Make well in center of dry ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into well. Begin folding dry ingredients into wet, giving mixture only a few turns to barely combine. Add melted butter and continue folding until dry ingredients are just moistened. Pour batter into a prepared baking dish and smooth surface with rubber spatula.

Bake until cornbread is a deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert the wire rack. Turn right side up and let cool another 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Strawberry/Eton Mess

Servings: 4 to 6
Preheat: 0
Prep Time: 
Source: Joan Berman

Great summer dessert.

Ingredients: 

3 Cups Strawberries
2 TBS. Sugar
1 TBS. Amaretto or Cointreau

2 Cups Whipped Cream
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 TBS. Sugar

1 1/2 Cup Crumbled Meringue Cookies

Directions: 

Hull and chop the strawberries. Place them in a bowl with sugar and liquor.
Remove 1/2 cup and macerate with a fork

Whip cream until thick with soft peaks

Crumble the meringue cookies, Need some big pieces to provide texture.

Take 1/2 cup of the macerated strawberries and fold into the whipping cream

Gently fold in the remainder of the strawberries and chopped cookies into whipping cream

Raised Waffles

 

IMG_7599Servings: 4-6
Preheat: 0
Prep Time: 15 minutes + overnight
Source: Smittenkitchen.com

Awesome waffle recipe – custardy, salty, crispy, rich. Mix the batter the night before.

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup warm water (about 105 to 110 degrees, so not too hot)
1 packet (1/4 ounce, 7 grams or 2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
2 cups milk, warmed (again, not too hot
1 stick (4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until lukewarm
1 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Oil or melted butter for waffle iron
Powdered sugar, syrup or berries for serving

Directions: 

The night before: Pour warm water in the bottom of a large (larger than you think you’ll need, because the batter will rise a lot) bowl. Sprinkle yeast on top and let it dissolve and foam ever-so-slightly for 15 minutes. Stir in milk, butter, salt, sugar and flour — I do a little bit of wet ingredients then a little bit of dry, back and forth, to avoid forming lumps. If lumps form, you can mostly whisk them out.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set out on counter (see Note up top for debate on this) overnight.

The next morning, whisk in eggs and baking soda until smooth. Heat waffle iron** (a thinner one is better than a Belgian-style one, as these will not rise enough to fill a tall one out) and coat lightly with butter or oil. Ladle in 1/2 to 3/4-cup batter per waffle batch. The batter will be very thin and will spread a lot in the pan, so err on the side of underfilled until you figure out the right amount. Repeat with remaining batter.

Blueberry Buckle with Lemon Syrup (substitute guinda plums for blueberries)

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Servings: 9 to 12 – 9 inch square pan
Preheat: 350
Prep Time:
Source: David Lebovitz 8-27-15

Adapted from Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson

Adding the lemon syrup is an intriguing idea that was part of the original recipe. It’s tangy but does take some of the spotlight off the berries. If you want to omit it, you might want to increase the amount of cinnamon or nutmeg slightly in the batter to give it a little more pizzazz.

Other fruits can be used, such as sliced or diced plums, nectarines or apricots. Avoid fruits that are extra-juicy, though, as they may interfere with the batter setting. Raspberries or blackberries can be used in place of the blueberries, or mixed with them. (Blackberries are rather seedy, so I’d definitely mix them with other berries.) If you want to swap out other fruits, use the same amount by weight or volume as the blueberries listed in the ingredients. You can use frozen berries if you’d like. Just don’t defrost them first, since they’d get too juicy. Add them frozen, right to the batter.

Ingredients: 

Topping

4 tablespoons (55g) unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
1/3 cup (45g) flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Batter

6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) sugar
zest of 2 lemons (use the same lemons for the syrup, below)
1 1/2 cups+2 tablespoons (230g) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder, preferably aluminum-free
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon or 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup (125ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
3 cups (1 1/2 pints, 475g) blueberries

Lemon Syrup

1/3 cup (65g) sugar
juice of 2 medium lemons (about 6 tablespoons, 90ml)

*** ES – only use half of the lemon syrup

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Butter a 9-inch (23cm) square cake pan.

2. Make the topping by crumbling together the butter, sugar, flour and cinnamon with your hands or a pastry blender until the pieces of butter are broken up and are about the size of small peas. Set aside.

3. To make the batter, in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or by hand in a bowl using a spatula or wooden spoon, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest together until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, stopping the mixer a few moments after you add each egg to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon or nutmeg into a medium-sized bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add half the flour mixture, then stir in the buttermilk.

5. Add the remaining flour mixture, mixing just enough so it’s barely incorporated (there will still be dry bits of unincorporated flour), then remove the mixer bowl from the machine and using a flexible spatula to gently fold in the blueberries in, just until they are incorporated. Do not overmix – you don’t want to smash the blueberries and stain the batter.

6. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top. Strew the topping over the blueberry batter and bake until the buckle is lightly browned on top and feels just set in the center; it’ll spring back lightly when you touch the center. It’ll take about 55 minutes.

7. When the buckle is almost finished baking, make the syrup by heating the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, cooking it until it thickens. It’s done when the bubbles get larger, and when removed from the heat (which you might want to do a couple of times while it’s cooking, to check), the consistency will be like warm maple syrup. It’ll take about 5 minutes.

8. Remove the buckle from the oven and pour the warm lemon syrup over it, letting it soak in. Serve the buckle when it’s cool enough to slice. It’s good warm or at room temperature. Whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or white chocolate-fresh ginger ice cream make nice accompaniments, although none are really necessary.

Storage: The buckle can be kept for up to three days at room temperature, if well-wrapped. It can be frozen for up to two months. Not sure if I would pour the syrup over the buckle if I was planning on freezing it, though. You could defrost and rewarm it in a low oven, wrapped in foil, then add the syrup before you plan to serve it.