Potato and Green Bean Salad

Potato and Green Bean Salad

Vinaigrette
2 heaping soup spoons of grainy brown mustard
1 shallot, minced
red wine vinegar
olive oil
rosemary
thyme

Mix to taste and add:
3 lbs. new red potatoes, quartered and cooked
1-1/2 lbs. green beans, cooked crisp-tender
big scoop of walnuts, toasted and broken into small pieces
2/3 cup (?) crumbled bleu cheese

Next time I make this, I'll put in more bleu cheese but otherwise I was pretty happy with it.

Stephanie K.
(5/29/01)

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Linzertorte

Linzertorte

I am so pleased that people liked the Linzertorte. I generally avoid cooking/baking because I don't particularly enjoy it, and I honestly think that no-one has EVER asked me for a recipe before.......

This was the cake I requested for every birthday when I was a kid. This recipe comes straight out of a Swiss cookbook that my Swiss mom toted over from the Old Country back in the sixties. Everything is thus measured out in grams, as European people generally bake using a small kitchen scale to measure out ingredients rather than using cup measures. Thus, without a kitchen scale, this recipe might be useless, but here goes:

Directions are for a cake baked in a 15-1/2" by 10-1/2" cookie sheet with 3/4" high sides.

Crust

• 300 grams flour
• 1 slightly heaping tsp baking powder (4-1/2 grams if your scale is that good, mine isn't)
• 180 grams sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract plus a few more drops
• 3 drops of Dr. Oelker Bittermandel essence -- it might be possible to get this at a German deli (my mom left me some from her last trip to Switzerland) but if you can't get it, either leave it out or substitute some almond extract.
• Pinch of cloves (the recipe actually says a "knife tip full" -- I generously dip the tip of a butter knife in the cloves)
• 1-1/2 level tsp of cinnamon
• 1-1/2 egg whites and 1 egg yolk (separate them, obviously)
• 180 grams butter at room temperature
• 180 grams finely ground up almonds

Put flour and baking powder in bowl and mix. Make a hole in the flour with a spoon. Put the sugar, vanilla, cloves, cinnamon, egg whites and half of the egg yolk in the hole (save the other half of the egg yolk to stroke onto the crust with a pastry brush later). Mix with a fork into a dough using approximately half the flour. Cut the soft butter into small pieces and put on top of the dough. Put in the almonds. Knead the dough together with your hands. Don't knead too long or the dough will become tough....just enough so that the whole thing holds together and the butter pieces are well mixed in. If the dough is too soft at this point, refrigerate it for awhile.

Take barely one-half of the dough and pat and press it into the bottom of the pan with your hands to cover to the edges. Now spread most of the contents of a largish jar of raspberry jam on the dough, keeping the jam about one inch away from all the edges. Don't be stingy with the jam! If you don't like raspberry, this cake tastes great with any jam variety.

Reserve a handful of the dough for the decoration.

Take the remainder of the dough and roll it into a long roll. Put the roll against all four edges of the pan and press it in to form the outer crust. Take a fork and use the tines to press a decorative edge onto the crust.

Roll out the last handful of dough with a rolling pin until it is fairly thin. Cut out shapes with your favorite cookie cutter and place the cut-outs on top of the raspberry jam.

Using a pastry brush, brush the crust and the cut-outs with the left-over egg yolk at least twice. Get another egg yolk if you run out.

Bake at 350° F for 25-30 minutes. Let completely cool.

This cake tastes even better the next day and keeps wonderfully for days.

Let me know if you make it, how it turned out.

Claudia LB
(5/28/01)

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Pasta Salad with Olives, Gorgonzola and Sun-dried Tomatoes

Pasta Salad with Olives, Gorgonzola and Sun-dried Tomatoes
(just threw this together)

1 lb fusilli
olive oil, extra virgin
balsamic vinegar
handful of fresh basil, chopped
1 lb olives (before pitting), pitted and chopped
1 (4 oz) jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained
2 cloves garlic, minced (mine were big cloves, or I'd use more)
one red onion, sliced thinly
a couple of handfuls of shredded carrots, for color
a handful of fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
one head (smallish) of radicchio, cut into chiffonade
8 oz Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
pinch cayenne pepper

Cook fusilli until just a bit past al dente. Run cold water over, which will firm it up to al dente again. (If you cook pasta for pasta salad as if you were going to serve it hot, when you chill it by running cold water on it, it firms up a bit, and it would be too hard).

Combine with remaining ingredients, add vinegar in small doses to taste, until it tastes right to you. Add olive oil the same way. I don't measure anything. You probably won't need any salt, because of the olives and cheese. Best to chill it for a while to let the flavors blend.

This rocks! If I say so myself (and when have I been modest?)

Carolyn D.
(5/26/01)

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David's Broccoli Salad

David's Broccoli Salad

• Clean up a bunch of broccoli and cut up into bite-sized pieces.
• Throw it all in a *big* bowl.
• Add two or three cans of your favorite kinds of beans. (Personal faves for this salad: garbanzo, red kidney and Great Northern.)
• Chop up some celery and carrots and throw in.
• Dice up at least one cucumber and add to the mix.
• Dice and add some sharp cheddar and provolone. (You could substitute feta here).
• Make a dressing of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lots of crushed garlic and any other spices you'd like to add to jazz it up.
• Toss it all together.

Cheryl D.
(5/25/01)

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Kimchee

Kimchee

1 small cabbage
    (works best with Chinese cabbage but it's not easy to find in Israel)
3 tbsp + 2 tsp salt
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
1-1/2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 tbsp hot red pepper (or more, to taste)
1 tsp sugar

Core the cabbage and cut into 1" pieces. Dissolve the salt in 1-1/2 liters of water. Pour over the cabbage, in a large bowl. There should be enough salt water to cover. If you need more liquid, dissolve 1 tbsp salt in .5 liter water and add. Weight down with a glass plate and a cup. Leave for 12 hours, turning the cabbage occasionally.

Put the ginger, garlic, red pepper, sugar and the 2 tsp of salt in another large bowl. Mix well.

Take the cabbage out of its soaking liquid with a slotted spoon (save the liquid) and put it in the bowl with the seasonings. Mix well.

Put this cabbage mixture into a 2 liter jar or crock. Pour enough salt water over it to cover the cabbage, leaving 1" of empty space at the top of the jar. Cover loosely with a clean cloth and set aside for 3 to 7 days. In the summer, fermentation takes place much faster. Taste the pickle after 3 days to check on the sourness. When it is done to your liking, cover the jar with a non-metallic lid and refrigerate.

To serve, remove about 1/4 cup per person of the kimchee solids. The liquid is left behind in the jar and may be used to flavour stews and soups.

Avital
(5/22/01) 
 
Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey, "Eastern Vegetarian Cooking" (1990).

(Editor note: Kimchee is included in the canning section, being a fermented food, in the preserve-family of techniques.)

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No-Boil Lasagna

No-Boil Lasagna
(with a comment at the end)

This isn't a hot weather recipe. It takes too much oven time I have written this down before. The trouble is, I made it so many times for meetings and potlucks that I got tired of it, and I haven't made it in a year. This makes two 9"x13" or slightly larger pans.

1 jar or can of spaghetti sauce (28 oz. or so)
1 (15 oz) can tomatoes, in any form, chop if necessary, and keep liquid
1 cup red wine
1 to 2 lbs. ground beef
1 to 2 tbsp. olive oil
1 pkg lasagna noodles (1lb.)
2 close-to-a-pound cartons of ricotta, or substitute cottage cheese
4 eggs
2 square pkg. frozen spinach
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
grated parmesan or romano cheese
1 lb. shredded mozzarella
salt
pepper
other herbs, if needed
Choose a well seasoned spaghetti sauce, or make your own.

Brown and break up the ground beef, pour off any fat, and add the spaghetti sauce, wine and tomatoes.

Season if needed, and simmer for a short while (15min.) I like to add a dollop of flavorful olive oil. Don't substitute any other oil; it's just for the flavor.

Meanwhile, defrost the spinach and squeeze out the liquid. Press in a fine strainer or wring in a clean dishtowel. Mix the eggs, ricotta, spinach and nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.

Divide your meat sauce and your cheese spinach mixture in halves. Put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of your pans. Lay your noodles on this in one layer, touching or leaving a little space between, rather than overlapping. One of my pans has curved corners, and I always have to break the corners off the noodles to fit. Top with a layer of spinach mix, and a layer of meat sauce, a good sprinkle of parmesan, and 2 or 3 handfuls of mozzarella. Repeat. Depending on your pan, you may repeat again.* Sprinkle extra parmesan and mozzarella on top.

Cover with foil and bake at 350º F for 1/2 hr to 45 min. Check at the half hour point. If it looks at all dry when you uncover it, pour some water around the edges, and cover again for 10 min. or so. If you can stick a knife or cooking fork into the pan without resistance, it is done. You can uncover and brown it for a few minutes if you wish. Letting it set for 15 min. will make it easier to serve.

*End with sauce as the top layer, or the top noodles may not get enough liquid to cook. Mine usually goes: noodles, spinach mix, meat sauce, cheeses, noodles, spinach mix, meat sauce, cheeses, noodles, meat sauce, cheeses. If you have deeper pans you can do 3 complete layers.

I think the hard part is making them come out even, so that's why I divide things. Actually, I mix the ricotta - spinach in 2 batches.

Maryanne in SE WI
(5/22/01)

---

 

I made a similar version to take to my friends house as a condolence offering.  Substituted sausage (well rendered beforehand) for the ground beef.

 

The Barilla brand no boil noodles, imho, are the best to use for this, they do not get soggy.  Also, make sure you have plenty of sauce for the lasagna to cook properly.

 

My grandmother would turn in her grave, but it really isn't a bad quickie lasagna.

 

For a really fancy, Christmas dinner lasagna, try the one with homemade spinach lasagna noodles, fresh mozzerella and basil, in Guiliani Bugialli's Foods of Italy.

 

Carolyn

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Kate's Brazilian-Inspired Salad

Kate's Brazilian-Inspired Salad

I threw this together for a potluck last night, and it went over really big, so thought I'd share it:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can hearts of palm, drained and diced
1 small (2 oz?) can sliced black olives, drained and rinsed
6 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 cup diced sweet onion (1015 or Vidalia)
1 avocado, diced
a generous handful of cilantro, chopped

Combine the above ingredients.

Add:
juice of 1 lime
3-4 glugs of extra light olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Stir to coat.

I served some garlic-herb crusty bread (from the bakery) alongside.

Kate
(5/19/01)

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Couscous

Couscous

I love couscous. Most are the same basic idea (there are dessert couscouses, btw, but those are less well known).

Saute the onions and garlic in plenty of olive oil.

Brown the meat (in this case, cubes of lamb).

Add the veggies (peppers, carrots, zucchini, chickpeas if you want, tomatoes) and any fruit (prunes or dates are very good with beef). For seasonings, plenty of chopped fresh parsley, fresh coriander, ground cumin, ground coriander, salt, pepper.

Simmer for a long time. When the stew is done, take out a small amount of the liquid and stir in a good spoonful of harissa (fiery hot sauce made from red chilis and garlic--I can give you a recipe for that if you can't find it in your local stores) and serve on the side as a condiment.

As for the couscous, if you buy the quick-cooking kind, you just prepare it according to the directions (add hot water, butter or oil, salt, and fluff with a fork to get out the lumps). If you're preparing the more traditional long-cooking couscous, you pour cold water over it, then drain immediately. Then you line the top of your couscousier (yes, I actually own one) with cheesecloth. (A couscousier is a double pot. The bottom holds the stew and the top has holes in it and holds the couscous.) You steam the couscous over the stew for half an hour, then transfer the couscous to a large flat platter, sprinkle with a little salt, separate the lumps, and mix in a little clarified butter or oil.

If you're going back even further in the process, with a bag of coarsely ground semolina, you put a few cups in a bowl, then add water and mix it quickly with your fingertips in a "scouring" motion so that it forms little balls (grains). Put through a coarse strainer so that the balls are not too big. Then cook like traditional couscous.

Dessert couscous, fwiw, is regular cooked couscous served in a huge mound with trails of cinnamon, melted butter and fine sugar poured over the top. Can be garnished with raisins, dates, and almonds sauteed in butter.

Avital
(5/17/01)

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Summer Salad

Summer Salad

• coarsely chop tomatoes (I use the little oval ones (Roma?) that are lots of meat and not much juice)
• coarsely chop cucumber and green pepper
• break up walnut halves
• add chunks of provolone cheese or crumble up feta (or use monterey jack or mozzarella)
• top with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

I've also added garbanzo beans, cooked and drained black-eyed peas, frozen corn, avocado and/or whatever else looks to be good.

Eat with crusty french bread whenever possible, because that's good to soak up the last of the juice.

lea bob
Mother-of-All
(5/17/01)

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Spinach Salad

Spinach Salad

Here is a salad recipe that I got from my brother Luke. It's really delicious, and he said that feta cheese on it is just as good as the parmesan. Other substitutions are walnuts and dried cranberries instead of the avocado.

• Chop up about half a red onion.
• Put it in a bowel and generously sprinkle some salt and pepper on top.
• Then pour some red-wine vinegar over top, enough to come up to the top of the onion, and stir.
• Let it marinate for at least a half hour; the longer the better.
• Wash and rip the spinach.
• Cut up at least a half an avocado and then pour the marinade over top, along with some olive oil.
• Toss, then sprinkle on some parmesan cheese to taste (toss again, but don't be shy about adding more!).

It's great!

Helen
(5/17/01)

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