Tuscan Chickpea Soup

Tuscan Chickpea Soup
Makes 6 servings

At the request of Laura J for her daughter, here is the recipe for the soup I made back in February for the spinning gathering. :)

2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups finely chopped onion
8 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups water
1 tsp. minced fresh or 1/4 tsp. dried rosemary
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
3 (15-1/2 oz) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 (14-1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 to 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Fresh grated parmesan cheese

Heat oil olive in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in water and next 5 ingredients, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.

The next part of the instructions say to take 2 cups of the soup, and place in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth. Continue doing this with all of the soup. But I found that using a hand blender (if you have one) is faster, and processes the soup into a nice consistency.

Stir in the vinegar, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Serve in bowls, and garnish with grated cheese.

Helen
(3/25/02)

Godiva Cookies

Godiva Cookies
Yield: Makes 32 cookies
Difficulty: Easy

Preparation: 50 minutes plus baking, cooling and setting times

For all of us who consider chocolate a food group:
Godiva Chocolate-Dipped Lime Petticoat Tails

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp grated lime zest
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 bars (1.5 ounces each) Godiva Dark Chocolate or Solid Ivory, coarsely chopped*

  1. Preheat oven to 325ºF.
  2. Beat butter and sugar in bowl until light and fluffy, using electric mixer on medium speed. Beat in lime zest and vanilla. Beat in salt. On low speed, beat in flour in 2 additions.
  3. Divide dough in half. Press each portion evenly into ungreased 9" round cake pan. With fork, make decorative border around edge of each round.
  4. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until center is golden brown (edges will be slightly darker); do not under-bake. Cool in pans on wire rack for 5 minutes. With sharp heavy knife, cut each shortbread into 16 wedges. Cool completely in pans on rack.
  5. Place chocolate in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium (50% power) for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave 30 seconds more or until chocolate is softened. Stir until smooth.
  6. Carefully remove shortbread triangles from pans and brush off crumbs. Dip point of cookies into melted chocolate, covering about one-third of cookie. Shake off excess chocolate and place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Let stand until chocolate is set, about 30 minutes. (Cookies can be stored, between layers of waxed paper, in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 5 days.)

*Or use 1-1/2 bars of each.

If you prefer the taste of lemon over lime, just substitute lemon zest for the lime zest.

Ellen S.
(3/20/02)

T's Truffles

T's Truffles

I don't really have a recipe per se.  Make a ganache and put the alcohol in then dip.  OK, so you were looking for something a bit more detailed, I take it?

Take a container of heavy cream (1 cup) and bring it to a boil.

Remove from the heat and skim off the crud.  Put in 12 oz of dark chocolate that's been chopped up (or 2 cups chopped choc.  I don't actually weigh it) and maybe three tbsp of butter (again, I'm not the greatest at measuring when it comes to this stuff, so that's a guess) and stir it all together until everything is melted.  Stir in 3-4 tbsp of whatever type of liqueur you want then put it in the fridge for 4-5 hours.

I usually do this part at night and the rest in the morning.  Once it's set up really well, scoop out balls and set them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Freeze them.

Temper chocolate then dip the frozen balls in and plop them down on wax paper to set up.  And there you have truffles.  Not exactly complicated.  :0D  Freezing just makes dipping easier and the chocolate sets up faster.

Grins,
T
(3/13/02)

Lamb Shanks with Red Wine and Lentils

Lamb Shanks with Red Wine and Lentils

SO there was this recipe in the NYT about Lamb Shanks with Red Wine and Lentils. So I had a different lamb shank crock-shapped recipe, so I knew it was possible. Here is what I did:

two lamb shanks one large onion, chopped up. If you do dice, it will look less gross than my strips did.
about a cup and a half of mung dal (how could I be out of lentils?
a cup and a half of red wine (Bittman wanted a BOTTLE of red wine, but jeeze, I only had decent stuff)
garlic, rosemary, salt

Brown the lamb with some oil on the stove (Bittman roasted his). Keep turning onto different sides (I used a dutch oven). While it is browning, bring the beans, lentils, whathave you, to a boil and cook for ten minutes or so. Cut up the onion, and put it in the CP with the herbs and some salt. Drain and rinse the legumes, and put them in the CP. Put the lamb and wine in. Look at it critically and add about as much water as wine so you feel secure about the lentils.

Cook the living daylights out of it (high for 8 hours?).

It was very very good. Probably would serve 4.
LauraJ
(3/11/02)

Boola Boola

I was leafing through a couple of cook books before posting them to ebay, when this caught my eye:

Boola Boola

Combine equal amounts of strained green turtle soup, condensed pea soup (or fresh cooked peas in the blender), and bouillon.

For each 3 cups mixture, add 1/4 tsp each dried basil, marjoram, rosemary and thyme; add small piece bay leaf and 3 cloves. Add the smallest possible pinch of anise. Heat to steaming.

I guess this would be *perfect* for those days when you just *don't* know what to do with that left over green turtle soup...

Denise
(3/10/02)

Whole Chicken Baked in Aluminum Foil (Indian Cooking)

Whole Chicken Baked in Aluminum Foil (Indian Cooking)
Serves 4-6 (or for us, 3 meals)

I wanted to share a dynamite Indian recipe from my now-favorite cookbook by Madhur Jaffrey "Indian Cooking" (reprinted 1995). We've never 'not' liked anything we've made from this book.
There is lots of sauce - I cleaned up the foil after the chicken was finished, by scooping up the remaining sauce with bread!

Marinade
1" cube (chunk) fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, peeled
6 tbsp yogurt
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1-1/4 tsp salt (I usually use less)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne (to taste)
ground black pepper

Put all ingredients into blender or food processor, blend into paste (it's pretty thick). Empty into a large-ish bowl, but don't wash out the blender yet.

3-1/2 lb chicken, whole
8 oz. onions
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1-1/2" cube (chunk) fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 oz. almonds (recipe calls for blanched, slivered - I used whole and chopped them)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
1-1/2 tsp salt
8 tbsp vegetable oil (I used less)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garam masala

Skin the entire chicken, rub inside and out with marinade and let sit for up to 2 hours. Meanwhile put the next 10 ingredients (onions through salt)in the blender (I added a little water now and then to make the blender work properly - this is really thick).

Put the oil in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat, and when hot put in the paste. Fry, stirring for 8-9 minutes. Add the lemon juice, black pepper, and garam masala. Mix and turn off the heat to let the paste cool.

Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C).

Spread out a large piece of aluminum foil (large enough to enclose the chicken). Rub the chicken inside and out with the fried spice paste, then place in the middle of the foil. Wrap the foil up and around the chicken into a tight packet. Any 'seams' should be 2" above the bottom of the packet to keep the juices in.

Place wrapped chicken, seam-side up, on a baking tray and bake for 1-1/2 hours or until the chicken is tender.

Oh my - the sauce is absolutely wonderful and the chicken is remarkably tender and moist. Make sure you have lots of rice with this so you can spoon the sauce over the top.

Deb
paca_mama
(3/9/02)

Skorthalia (the Greek garlic bread sauce)

Skorthalia
...the Greek garlic bread sauce. Used as a dip or to top dishes.

Here is a recipe that I had dug out of the mothballs for a friend, and decided that the Garlic Hound Thrillers might like it too.

Great with fish, or on vegetables. Maybe artichokes, eggplant, or green beans.I can imagine some chicken breasts grilled and topped with this sauce as well.

1 large Head Garlic, peeled and well crushed. (Yes, 1 entire head of garlic!)
10 slices White Bread, crusts removed, torn into large pieces
1 cup Olive oil - I prefer extra virgin, something fruity
1/2 cup White Vinegar
2 tbsp fresh squeezed Lemon Juice
3 tbsp Water
1 pinch Coarse Salt - Optional
1 pinch White Pepper - Optional
1 pinch Cayenne - Optional


Place the garlic, torn up bread, olive oil, and vinegar in a mixing bowl. Allow to sit and soften for about an hour.

Beat the mixture with an electric mixer until smooth. Don't use a food processor, cause you don't want the sauce to be too smooth. Gradually add the lemon juice and water while the mixer is running. You want the sauce to be thick and fluffy.

I like to add a pinch of salt, white pepper, and cayenne at the end, but that is optional. Warning, this stuff packs a punch!

Enjoy,
Denise L. aka Spinbear
(3/2/02)

High Calorie Yogurt

High Calorie Yogurt

A member asked:
Yogurt makers, does any one have a recipe for a high calorie yogurt?? I am a PCA for a guy with Muscular dystrophy. He is having difficulty eating. He likes yogurt but most of what you buy is low calorie. If I could find a HIGH calorie yogurt We would be so grateful!


I did this for a friend with AIDS once. You make the yogurt with half and half or add a pint of whipping cream to each quart of *whole* milk.

Makes scrumptious yogurt that I wish I dared to eat more often! Any yogurt recipe will work for this. is best if you use a mellow, not too tart starter yogurt. My friends who live in India say that if you can use water buffalo milk it's even richer and more high-calorie. (grin) I haven't tried this, there's a shortage of water buffalo in my area!

Joy
(3/1/02)

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