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Caponata Serves 12 as Appetizer. I've done this three times in a row in this particular manner- so that officially makes it a recipe. The key is how you cook the eggplant. I've tried doing it in chunks. I've tried baking it split and then scooping out the interior. This is the way that gives the best texture and taste. Go no further if you are afraid of oil, because I use a lot of it here and it gives the end result a luxurious, rich quality. 1 Large Eggplant 1/2 c Flour 1 Medium Onion, diced 2 Cloves Garlic, sliced 1 Rib Celery, diced 1/2 Roasted Red Pepper, diced 1 Can Tomatoes, drained 1/8 c Capers, rinsed 4 Basil Leaves 1 c Olive Oil, or more 1/4 c Balsamic Vinegar Salt as required 1- Place the tomatoes in a bowl and coarsely squish them between your fingers. 2- Cut eggplant into 1" rounds, skin on. Salt each side and place in colander with a heavy weight on top. Allow to drain. 3- Preheat oven to 350F. 4- Rinse eggplant and pat dry. Dredge with flour, shaking off the excess. Heat a oven-proof saute pan to medium high and place 1/4" olive oil covering bottom of pan. Saute one side of eggplant slices, adding more oil as needed (the eggplant will soak up the oil like a sponge). Turn over and add more oil to the pan as well as a drizzle on top of the eggplant slices. Place the pan in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the eggplant is soft and cooked through. You may need to turn the slices one more time and add another drizzle of oil mid-way through the cooking process. 5- Remove from oven and place the eggplant slices to the side. Peel and coarsely chop. 6- In the same pan add a bit of fresh oil, just to film the bottom, and add the onion, celery and garlic. Saute until translucent. Add capers, peppers and basil leaves. Toss until heated through. Add the tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, eggplant and a bit of salt as required. Stir and bring to a simmer. 7- Return the pan to the oven and allow to cook uncovered for 30 minutes more, stirring occasionally. 8- Remove and refrigerate overnight. Serve chilled with bread as an antipasto. Keywords: Intermediate, Vegetarian, Vegetables, Italian, Dip, Appetizer ( RG1685 )

Pastrami Spiced Gravlax (or Smoked Salmon) Serves 6 as Appetizeror 4 as Main Dish. This recipe makes a great cured salmon. Then it can either be turned into a Pastrami-spiced gravlax or into fantastic smoked salmon. The main requirement is to buy a very good fresh piece of salmon to start with, with firm flesh and fresh smell. Gravlax 2 lb center-cut salmon fillet with skin 1-1/2 T fresh lemon juice 1-1/2 T Bourbon or rum 1/2 c kosher salt 4 T raw sugar, such as turbinado, or light brown sugar 2 T coarsely cracked black pepper 1-1/2 c coarsely chopped cilantro leaves and stems 1 c coarsely chopped parsley leaves and stems 2 shallots, minced Pastrami Glaze 3 T molasses 3 bay leaves, torn into large pieces 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 1-1/2 tsp caraway seeds 1-1/2 tsp coriander seeds 1-1/2 tsp sweet paprika 1-1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper 1. Cure the salmon: Rub the salmon fillet all over with the lemon juice and bourbon and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the salt, raw sugar, cracked black pepper, cilantro, parsley and shallots. Sprinkle half of this mixture in a glass baking dish that will snuggly fit the salmon. Lay the salmon skin side down on the salt mixture. Cover the salmon with the rest of the salt mixture and rub it in. Cover the salmon loosely with plastic wrap. Weigh the fish down with another baking dish or a flat piece of cardboard with a few heavy cans on top. Refrigerate for 48 hours or until the fish releases a lot of liquid and feels firm instead of squishy if pressed with your finger on it’s thickest part. If not, then leave it to cure some more in the liquid. 2. Make the Pastrami Glaze: In a very small saucepan or in the microwave, combine the molasses, bay leaves and cayenne and bring to a simmer over low heat(or microwave in a small measuring cup for 20 seconds at a time and stir, then repeat). Let cool to room temperature. 3. In a small skillet, lightly toast the caraway and coriander seeds over moderate heat, shaking the pan, until fragrant. Transfer the seeds to a mortar or a spice grinder (coffee grinder) and let cool completely. Crush the seeds as finely as possible. Stir in the paprika and ground pepper. 4. Remove the gravlax from the cure and rinse under cold water. Dry well and set it on a plate, skin side down. Brush the gravlax with the molasses; pick off the bay leaves. Sprinkle the ground spices evenly over the fillet. Refrigerate the gravlax uncovered for at least 12 hours or overnight. 5. Once ready to serve, remove the skin using a sharp knife (or you can leave it on if you don't mind it). It should come off easily. Using a long, sharp knife, cut the gravlax crosswise into very thin slices. Arrange the slices on plates and serve. I like it with good onion rye, shallots and cream cheese. It will last wrapped tightly in plastic for about a week in the refrigerator. For Smoked Salmon variation: Omit the glaze and the pastrami spices. After removing from the cure, rinsing and drying, let the salmon dry uncovered for 6-12 hours on a plate skin side down in the refrigerator to develop a pellicle. Then hot-smoke it on the stove top (I use an old wok) or in an outdoor smoker over apple or cherry wood until flaky. Should take about 20 minutes under hot smoke. Keywords: Fish, Easy, Hors d'oeuvre, Appetizer ( RG1684 )

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls This recipe makes about 20 rolls. 1 c hot mashed sweet potatoes 1 c warm potato water, warm water, or scalded milk 1 c scalded milk 7 c all purpose flour 2 T dry yeast 1 c butter, softened 1 c sugar 1 tsp salt 4 large eggs 1/2 tsp mace, ground The spread: 1/2 c butter, softened Brown sugar 1 tsp cinnamon, ground 1/2 c broken pecan pieces (or walnuts, or hazelnuts if chopped fine) (optional) melted butter Mix the mashed sweet potatoes, potato water, milk and 1 cup of flour and cool until the mixture is tepid. Add the yeast and cover and let rise for 1/2 hour. Punch down with a wooden spoon In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar, add the salt and then the eggs and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Stir butter/egg mixture and the remainding flour into potato mixture. Mix until the dough is firm, but not stiff. Knead on a floured board until the dough becomes elastic. Place in a buttered bowl and let rise until doubled, approximately 1 hour. Roll out the dough on a floured board with a floured rolling pin into a retangle about 1/4 inch thick. Spread the dough with softened butter and sprinkle with a generous amount of brown sugar, then sprinkle over the cinnamon and the nuts. Roll length wise into a log, pinch the seal and cut into 1-inch slices. Put the slices, cut side down in a buttered cake pan or in a muffin tin. Brush with melted butter. Cover and let rise for approximately 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375F/190C and bake for 20 minutes. You can put the pans in the refrigerator overnight, take them out in the morning and let them rise and then bake them. Keywords: Intermediate, Bread, Potatoes, Vegetarian, Breakfast, Brunch ( RG1681 )

Gateau aux Crepes Serves 6 as Dessert. This cake is based on a recipe by Amanda Hesser, which in turn was based on a dessert created by Lady M Confections, a bakery on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It's gorgeous and delicious, and though it takes time to put together, it takes relatively little skill. No crumb coat, no fussy buttercream...so go for it! The pastry cream described below is vanilla, but you could flavor it with coffee, chocolate...whatever strikes your fancy. The batter and the pastry cream will need to rest overnight, so be sure to plan ahead. For the crepe batter: 6 T unsalted butter 3 c milk 6 eggs 1-1/2 c flour Pinch salt 7 T sugar For the pastry cream: 2 c whole milk 1 vanilla bean, halved and scraped 6 egg yolks 1/2 c sugar 1/3 c cornstarch, sifted 3-1/2 T butter, softened To put it all together: Neutral oil, such as corn or canola 2 c heavy cream 1 T sugar, plus extra for the brulee 2 T Grand Marnier To make the batter: Brown the butter in a small pan until it darkens and turns nutty. Set aside to cool a bit, and heat the milk in another pan until steaming, but not boiling, and set that aside to cool for ten minutes. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the eggs, flour, sugar and salt on medium speed. Once combined into a smooth, thick batter, slowly add the hot milk in a thin stream, with the mixer on low speed. Do the same with the browned butter. Cover the batter and refrigerate overnight. To make the pastry cream: In a small pan, bring the milk, the vanilla bean and the scraped seeds just to a boil, then set aside to cool for ten minutes. Build an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice and nesting a medium bowl inside it - you'll use this to cool down the pastry cream. In a medium pan, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch. Remove the vanilla bean from the hot milk, and then add the milk gradually to the egg-cornstarch mixutre. Place the pan over medium heat and bring just to a boil, whisking the mixture all the while. It will start to come together into a loose paste when it reaches boiling. Remove the pan from the heat, and press the cream through a mesh sieve or chinois set over the smaller bowl nested in the ice bath. Once the cream has cooled for a few minutes, mix in the butter. Allow the pastry cream to cool to room temperature before covering and refrigerating it overnight. Putting it all together: Remove the crepe batter from the fridge an hour ahead of time and let it come to room temperature. You may need to mix it up a bit, as some of the flour may have gathered on the surface or settled to the bottom. Place a non-stick 9- or 10-inch crepe pan over medium heat, and swab it with a bit of the oil. Once the pan is hot, add enough batter to just cover the bottom of the pan and tilt the pan to coat. Cook until the edges become brown and lacy (just like making a pancake) and flip the crepe using a large, non-stick spatula. Cook on the other side until done, another 5-30 seconds, depending on your pan, your stove, and the batter. Transfer the crepe to a sheet of parchment paper and allow to cool, laid out flat. Repeat until the batter is gone - you should have enough batter for about 25 crepes. Press the pastry cream through the sieve one more time. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream, sugar and Grand Marnier on high speed until the mixture forms soft peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream until evenly and well-combined. Now you're ready to assemble. Put your heartiest crepe on a cake plate and top with enough cream to cover the crepe with a thin layer - you should need just under 1/4 cup or so. Spread the cream evenly using an off-set spatula, and repeat until you have stacked 20 or so crepes on top of one another, saving your prettiest crepe for your top layer (you will not cover this one with cream). Put the cake in the fridge for at least two hours. When you're ready to eat it, sprinkle the top crepe evenly with sugar and brulee it as you would a creme brulee - if you have a torch. If you don't, just dust the top with granulated or confectioner's sugar. If you brulee the top, return the cake to the fridge for ten minutes to allow the top layers of cream to set up again after their bout with the heat, and then serve. Keywords: Dessert, Intermediate, Cake ( RG1679 )

Cantucci Serves 50. 200 g almonds 2 eggs 200 g sugar 1 tsp dry yeast 250 g flour salt Dissolve yeast, add eggs. Mix dry ingredients, add egg/yeast mixture, knead to dough. Let rest for 30 min. Shape into logs. Bake for 20 min. at 160 degrees. Cool, slice like bicottis, dry in oven again for 20 min. Serve with good coffee or italian wine. (DIP!) Flavor with Frangelico if you like. For chocolate cantucci, replace some of the flour for good cocoa powder dip ends in dark couverture. Keywords: Easy, Cookie ( RG1678 )

Passover Pecan Cranberry Biscotti Jewish biscotti suitable for Passover. 3 large eggs 1-1/2 c ground pecans 1 c oil (cottonseed) 1 tsp vanilla 1 c sugar 2 tsp Passover baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1 T orange zest 1/4 c potato starch 1-3/4 c cake meal 1/2 c dried cranberries Use an electric mixer with a paddle attachment to combine the eggs, oil, vanilla, sugar, baking powder, salt and orange zest. Mix on medium until well combined. (You can also use a wooden spoon and mix by hand.) Turn the machine off and add the potato starch, cake meal and pecans. Turn the machine on low to combine and mix until all of the ingredients come together. Add the cranberries and mix to evenly distribute. Divide the dough in two and form into logs, approximately 3 inches by 12 inches. If you find the dough too sticky, dust your hands with cake meal to work with the dough. Place the logs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in a preheated 350 F oven for 20-25 minutes. The biscotti will crack and loose the shine it had when it first went into the oven. Let cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 F. Carefully slice the logs into pieces, about 3/4 inches each. Arrange on a cookie sheet so that there is space between each cookie and return to the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes until dry. Keywords: Dessert, Kosher, Jewish, Passover ( RG1677 )

"Goullabaisse" Serves 8 as Main Dishor 12 as Soup. I wanted to try a bouillabaisse, but I dislike fennel, and didn't want to blow the money on all the seafood for a dish I wouldn't like, so I decided to try different seasonings. I ended up deciding on the goulash seasonings: paprika and caraway seed. Seafood stock 1 small onion, chopped 1 carrot, chopped 1 celery stalk, chopped 1 large clove garlic, crushed 1 sprig fresh parsley 1 lb assorted white fish skeletons and scraps shells from shrimp 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper "Goullabaisse" 2 medium onions, chopped 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1 carrot, minced 1 celery stalk, minced 2 large cloves garlic, minced or pressed 2 T EVOO 1 lb tomatoes, peeled (optional), seeded and chopped 2 T paprika (non-smoked) 1 tsp caraway seeds 1 lb boiling potatoes, cubed 2 lb assorted white fish, cut into bite-sized chunks 1 lb raw shrimp, peels reserved for stock 1 lb clams and/or mussels For the seafood stock: Put the chopped veggies & parsley into a small stockpot with about two quarts or so of water. If you have fish skeletons, add them in as well (I never have them on hand, so I usually chop up a bit of the fish I'm going to put into the soup). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Reserve the peels from the shrimp for the soup and add them to the pot. Simmer about 15 minutes. For the soup: 1. In a 8-qt stockpot, heat EVOO over high heat until shimmering. 2. Add onion, carrot and celery and season with a little salt and black pepper. Saute over high heat until onions are translucent. 3. Add tomatoes (I never bother peeling tomatoes, but you'll wind up with the peels separated and curled into little tubes in your soup if you don't) and stir for a minute over high heat. 4. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and let sweat for a few minutes. 5. Add paprika and caraway seed, stirring until well combined. Simmer for a few minutes. 6. Add potatoes. 7. Using a wire-mesh strainer, strain seafood stock directly into the soup pot. 8. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer about 15 minutes. 9. Dump in seafood and turn heat to high. Stir gently until shrimp are fully pink and shellfish are opened (the soup probably won't return to a boil; that's OK). Serve with french bread to sop up yummy juices. Keywords: Soup, Main Dish, Seafood, Easy, Fish, Shrimp, Dinner ( RG1676 )

Farfel Stuffing for Veal Breast/Turkey Serves 8 as Main Dish. Oil and/or schmaltz (2-4 Tbsps) Vegetables: celery, onion, mushrooms,red, yellow,green bell peppers Rubashkin kosher Polish sausage, chopped up roughly Farfel 3-4 cups or more, depending on the veal breast size 2-3 eggs, beaten 2 C chicken broth or water (chicken broth gives a deeper, richer flavor) salt, pepper, paprika, sage, thyme, chopped parsley Veal breast Saute all vegetables and chopped sausages in oil/schmaltz til tender and golden(ish) Soak farfel in the hot broth Add beaten eggs to wet farfel, then add seasonings,and the veg/sausage mixture Stuff into veal breast, sew the opening closed but don’t pack too tightly since it will swell when cooked ... (remaining stuffing can be baked in a small oiled pan and served with the cut up roasted veal breast later on) Roast the breast and slice .. the vegetable colors, the sausage pieces, and the pale gold farfel will look lovely when sliced and plated! Keywords: Jewish, Dinner, Kosher, Passover, Veal, Main Dish ( RG1675 )

Pistachio and herb filling for choux puffs I think this may be based on an old James Beard recipe; it's been years since I wrote it down. You might try lightening it with some sour cream or yogurt. 1-1/2 c cream cheese 3 T chopped chives 1 T chopped parsley 1 tsp dijon mustard 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 c coarsely chopped pistachios Cream together all the ingredients except the nuts. Stir in the nuts. Keywords: Hors d'oeuvre, Vegetarian, Easy ( RG1674 )

Fois Gras and Black Truffle Wontons Serves 15 as Amuse. An amazing dish that takes asian technique and fuses it with classic french ingredients. An easy dish to prepare once the prep work is done. 3 oz sonoma or hudson valley foie gras 20 wonton skin black truffle puree 12 fl oz balsamic vinegar 1 vanilla bean star anise score the slab of foie and seare it for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side in a dry pan until just crusted on both sides, reserve to a plate with paper towels to drain. ( RG1673 )

Rotkohl in Red Wine Rotkohl in Red Wine My take on the classic German side dish of braised red cabbage. Serves 3-4 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1/2 head red cabbage, shredded 2 tablespoons cider vinegar 2 teaspoons sugar 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 2 to 3 tablespoons red wine Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add cabbage and sauté until coated. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, 20 minutes or longer, stirring occasionally, until sauce reduces and cabbage is tender. Keywords: Side, Easy, Vegetables, Lunch, Dinner, German ( RG1672 )

Chocolate creme d'amandes Use in place of creme d'amandes when a chocolate flavor is preferred. Chocolate creme d'amandes: Cream: 3# 6 oz. butter + 3#6 oz. sugar Add gradually: 4# 2 oz. egg and scrape Blend and add: 3# 6 oz. almond meal 9 oz. cocoa Add gradually and blend: 1 # 5 oz. heavy cream The preparation may be made ahead and reserved if refrigerated. Bake the same as classical creme d'amande. For home use, just reduce the amounts of the ingredients proportionally Keywords: Chocolate, Easy, French, Hors d'oeuvre ( RG1671 )

Mom's Irish Soda Bread Mom thinks she got this from a decorating magazine at least 30 years ago, but she's not sure. 3-1/2 c flour 1/2 c sugar 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 2 tsp baking powder 2 eggs 1 pt sour cream 1 c raisins (I use currants.) 2 tsp caraway seeds Mix dry ingredients. Fold in eggs and sour cream. Stir in raisins or currants and caraway seeds. Mold into a round loaf (dough will be sticky), put into a greased pan (a pie pan works well) and sprinkle with flour. Cut a cross in the top and bake at 350 degrees F. for about 1 hour or until light brown. Keywords: Easy, Bread ( RG1670 )

Ice Cream Sandwiches Serves 8 as Dessert. This is Cook's Illustrated's take on the cardboard-y, flavorless version you find at the grocery store. Ice Cream Sandwiches Makes eight 3-inch sandwiches 1 c unbleached all-purpose flour (5 ounces) 1/2 c Dutch-processed cocoa powder (1 1/2 ounces) 1/4 tsp table salt 1/8 tsp baking soda 2 large eggs 2/3 c granulated sugar (about 4 3/4 ounces) 1/4 c chocolate syrup (2 3/4 ounces) 8 T unsalted butter (1 stick), melted 2 pt vanilla ice cream , chocolate ice cream, or coffee ice cream 1. Preheat oven to 350* with oven rack set in the middle. Spray a 17 1/2 x 12" half-sheet pan or 17 x 11" jellyroll pan with cooking spray and line with parchment. 2. Sift the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl. 3. Beat the eggs, sugar, and chocolate syrup in a large bowl until light brown in color. Add the melted butter and whisk everything together. 4. Add the dry ingredients (flour thru baking soda) to egg mixture. Gradually incorporate dry ingredients into wet. Stir until the mixture is evenly moistened. Pour batter into prepared baking sheet and spread batter evenly in pan. 5. Bake until the cookie springs back when touched with finger, about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool in the pan on cooling rack 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the baking sheet to loosen. Invert cookie onto work surface and peel off parchment. Cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. 6. Using a 2 3/4- to 3" round biscuit cutter, cut 16 rounds from the baked cookie. 7. Slice eight 3/4"-thick rounds from ice cream pints. Peel away container. Use the same size biscuit cutter to cut rounds out of each ice cream slice, so they will fit the cookies. Assemble ice cream sandwiches. 8. Serve immediately or place sandwiches on foil-lined baking sheet, cover tightly with another sheet of foil, and freeze up to 3 hours. To store sandwiches longer, wrap individually in wax paper, then with foil; freeze for up to 7 days. Let sandwiches frozen for more than 30 minutes stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving. Keywords: Dessert, Chocolate ( RG1669 )

Cornell Recipe Barbecued Chicken Serves 10 as Main Dish. Dr. Robert Baker of Cornell University's Ag School developed this legendary recipe for broiled / barbecued chicken. It is broiled outdoors over a hot, non-flaming bed of coals. Bastng Sauce 1 Egg 1 c Cooking Oil 3 pt Cider Vinegar 1 T Poultry Seasoning 1/2 tsp Black Pepper 1 T Salt 5 Fresh Broiling Chickens Cut In Half 1. Beat the egg. Add Oil. Beat again. 2. Add other ingredients. Stir. 3. Using a brush baste both sides of the chicken halves and place on a grill over the coals. 4. After 5 minutes, turn the chicken halves and baste again. 5. Keep basting and turning until the chicken halves are cooked. Keywords: Chicken, Main Dish ( RG1668 )

Chocolate Buttercream 1 c plus 2 tbsp sugar 1/2 c water 1/4 tsp cream of tartar 2 extra large eggs 2 extra large egg yolks 14 oz salted butter, room temperature 4 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled 3 drops Loranne Gourmet Chocolate Flavour Bring water and sugar to boil in small sauce pan. Boil to 240 F. Meanwhile beat eggs, yolks and cream of tartar in mixer with wire whip. By the time the syrup is ready the egg mixture will be fluffy and light in colour. With mixer on highest speed drizzle hot syrup down side of bowl until incorporated. Beat until cool. Add butter a couple of tbsp at a time. Mix in cooled chocolate and flavour. If separates heat outside of the bowl with hair dryer, heat gun or hot water soaked towel just until incorporates. Keywords: Topping/Frosting ( RG1667 )

Gingerbread Hamantashen Nice change from the typical hamantashen. Fill with pear or apricot lekvar. 2-1/2 c all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp salt 2 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp allspice 1/4 tsp cloves 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1 tsp baking soda 3/4 c brown sugar 1/2 c margarine 1 large egg 1/2 c molasses 1 tsp vanilla Mix together the flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg and baking soda. Use an electric mixer to cream together the brown sugar and margarine. Add the egg, mixing it in, then the molasses and the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. This will make a very soft dough. Turn it out onto a work surface, cut in half and form into 2 flat squares. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour (can be done a day or two ahead and kept in the refrigerator). Generously flour worktop (I like to roll this dough out on parchment paper because it tends to stick a little as it's so soft). Roll the dough approximately 1/4" thick. Use a cutter to cut 2 to 3" circles. Place about 1 tsp. of filling in the center of each circle and fold up three side, pinching to form triangles. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes, until the edges are just starting to brown. Cool. Keywords: Jewish, Kosher, Easy, Cookie ( RG1666 )

Beef Stew Serves 8 as Main Dish. Ok this stew is almost to the letter a direct lift from The New Best Recipe which is a compilation from the Cook's Illustrated people. Good book. You'll need a half hour for prep, about a half-hour of active cook time after that, then 2-3 hours in the oven, so do this on a weekend. It's not that time or labor intensive, but you need to be around. Please note, I am writing this for a relative that doesn't cook much, so please excuse the detailed explanation of some of the basics, like mise en place. To see the instructions with the detailed recipe steps and pictures, go to the original post. 3 lbs (1.5 kg) chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch (3.5 cm) cubes. (See note) salt and freshly ground black pepper 3 T vegetable oil 2 medium onions, coarsely chopped (about 2 cups) 1 rib celery, medium dice 3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press 3 T unbleached all-purpose flour 1 c. full-bodied dry red wine 1 T Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce 2 c. low-sodium chicken broth (I used homemade beef stock, because I'm a fag like that, but canned chicken broth is fine.) 2 bay leaves (make sure they have some smell to them, if they don't smell citrusy, throw them out, they've been in your cupboard for years, get some fresh ones.) 1 tsp dried thyme (ditto) 4 medium red potatoes, (about 1.5 lbs [2/3 kg]) peeled and cut into 1 inch (2 cm) chunks 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) thick rounds (about 1 lb [1/2 kg]) 1 cup frozen peas, thawed Open the wine and let it breathe. Note about the beef: While you can buy pre-cut "stew meat" at most grocery stores, I wouldn't. That meat is usually going to be bottom round, which has almost no intramuscular fat, meaning the texture will be dry, and the flavor is not nearly as rich and beefy as the shoulder muscles. Ever had a beef stew with tough, dry little nubs of meat in it? That's bottom round. Grab a chuck roast, pull it apart along its natural separations, and trim off any silverskin and large pieces of fat and gristle. It really doesn't take that long, it's not that complicated, and the finished stew will really benefit from the effort. Ok, good! Peel and chunk potatoes into one inch pieces. (To keep them from browning, put them in a larger bowl than this and cover with cold water.) Put a medium dice on the celery and onion. I peel and cut carrots into round pieces, 1/4 inch thick. Wash, dry, and mince the parsley. Peel and mince the garlic. Measure out the thyme and get the bay leaves out. See we're getting everything together before cooking? This is called getting your "mise en place" together, which is just a fancy french way of saying "setting in place." It makes cooking a lot easier and more fun if you aren't scrambling with the prep while your garlic is burning in the pan! Here is one of the natural separations in the chuck roast. Just grab with two hands and pull it apart! Then trim the excess fat and gristle off the pieces. Cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Turn the oven on to preheat; set it for 300F (150C). Sprinkle the beef liberally with salt and pepper, and toss with your hands to get it all coated. I'm going to guess that I used two teaspoons of each. Heat one tbsp of oil over med-hi heat in the largest heavy-bottom pot you have, preferably a six or eight quart enameled iron dutch oven. Put in as much meat as you can without crowding. Don't fiddle with the meat for a few minutes. Let it brown 2-3 minutes before turning. Flip 'em over with tongs, brown the other side another 3-5 minutes. They'll be giving up some juice at this point, which is why you don't want to crowd them, or they won't brown, they'll steam. Remove the pieces to a bowl. Add another tbsp of oil, brown the next batch exactly the same way. Note the brown gunk accumulating on the bottom of the pot. The french call this "fond" and it's very important to the flavor of the dish. Put the rest of the meat in the bowl, add the last tbsp of oil, drop the heat to medium, then add the onion and celery and a teaspoon of salt. Stir occasionally as the onion softens, scraping the bottom of the pot as you go. A wooden spoon is the best thing for this, or a flat-bottomed wooden spatula like I'm using here. Sweat the onion and celery 4-5 minutes. Pour yourself a glass of wine! The juices from the onion and celery have dissolved a lot of the fond at this point. Add the garlic and sweat another minute or so. Add the flour and stir and scrape constantly, distributing the flour evenly through the vegetables. The flour will take a light brown color after a minute or so. As soon as that happens, add the wine, a little at a time, stirring constantly to get it incorporated with the roux and vegetables. Let it keep cooking, stirring and scraping, until it gets kind of thick. Add the worcestershire. Add the stock gradually, keep stirring! Add the thyme and bay leaf, bring the stew to a simmer. Put the meat back in, and any juices from the meat bowl. Bring it to a simmer again. Then cover with the lid and stick it in the oven. Kick back and enjoy your wine. Leave it in the oven for an hour. After an hour, take it out, drain the potatoes, and add the potato and carrot. Mix 'em up, and put it back in the oven for another hour and fifteen minutes. At this point, a few things are going to depend on the ingredients. The original recipe I'm following says an hour, but 15 minutes more were often required. My run took almost two hours. Just check it every 20 minutes or so. The meat should be tender, and the potatoes cooked through. You'll really notice a difference between "almost done" meat and the tender deliciousness when it hits the sweet spot. Pierce a larger piece of potato with a fork to make sure they're cooked through as well. When it does, take it out and give it a stir. Mine was a little too thin for my tastes, so I smashed 2-3 pieces each of potato and carrot with the wooden spoon and stirred them through the stew to thicken it up a little more. Taste and adjust the seasoning at this point. Does it need salt and pepper? If so, add it now. Add the peas, stir, and re-cover the pot. Let it stand for 5 minutes to heat the peas. Stir in the parsley and serve immediately! Keywords: Main Dish, Beef ( RG1665 )

Whisky Fudge This recipe is from the website http://www.scotlandforvisitors.com/wfudge.php and I've varied the instructions just enough to publish here, added the American weights and measures in the ingredients list and added some storage and freezing hints. Whisky Fudge Ingredients: 1 Kilo white sugar (2.2 lb) 300 grams butter (10.5 oz) 1 tin Nestles sweet condensed milk 1 tea cup of (Scottish, Scotch) whisky (5 oz) 2 pints of freshly made, plain, hot tea Method Melt butter in a large saucepan, then add the tea. Add all sugar stir continuously until all the sugar has melted. Stir in the milk and whisky and stir continuously until the correct consistency is reached (about 10 to 15 min.--soft ball stage on a thermometer). Without a thermometer, to check the consistency have a cup of ice cold water handy and add a teaspoon of the mixture to it from time to time until it sets firm in the water--makes a "soft ball" Pour into a large buttered tray and when just firm enough to keep the shape, cut it into bite sized squares. Layer for storage between waxed paper, tin foil or parchment in an airtight container. The fudge can be frozen to keep for up to three months, wrap well with plastic wrap and put in an airtight container. Keywords: Candy, Intermediate, Chocolate, Snack ( RG1664 )

Rez Bread My friend Big Lou, who pays an visit to my shop early most mornings for coffee and the latest gossip, is a member of the White Earth band of the Ojibway/Chippewa American Indian tribe. Although he's never lived on the reservation, at one-half blood he's a legal member of the band and entitled to their hunting, fishing and wild ricing rights. One of the other benefits available through the tribal government is access to commodities through the USDA food assistance programs. Every time Lou visits his relatives on "The Rez" they send him home with far more food than he can use. Last week, for instance, he brought flour, corn meal, raisins and a Trial Mix consisting primarily of chopped dates and walnuts. I try and come up with recipes using as many of the surplus commodities as possible. In the spirit in which the government made the food available, I always bring a sample for Big Lou. We hope to develop enough recipes to make up a small cookbook to distribute on the reservations. Using a quick bread recipe named from “The Bread Book” by Betsy Oppeneer called "Vi's Brown Bread", (after her MIL), I came up with this recipe: REZ BREAD (* indicates USDA Commodity) 1 c Raisins* 2-1/4 c Hot Coffee 1-1/2 c Sugar 3 T Butter (room temp) 2 Eggs (or 4 Tbl Dried Egg Mixture* + 6 Tbl Water) 2 T Molasses (or 2 Tbl Corn Syrup*) 2/3 c Milk (or 3 Tbl Dried Milk Powder* + 1/2 Cup 2Tbl Water) 1-1/2 tsp Vanilla 3-1/4 c AP Flour* (or substitute 1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour*) 1/2 c Corn Meal* 1-1/2 tsp Salt 1-1/2 tsp Baking Powder 2 c USDA Trail Mix* (or any dried fruit and nut mixture) In a Large Bowl, Soak Raisins in Hot Coffee about 30 min, unitl lukewarm Preheat Oven to 350, Grease two 8.5 x 4.25 Pans Add Sugar, Butter, Eggs, Molasses, Milk and Vanilla with Raisin/Coffee mixture. Mix Well. In Medium Bowl Whisk together Flour, Corn Meal, Salt, Baking Soda and Trail Mix. Add Flour mixture to Raisin Mixture all at once and Stir until just combined. Spoon Batter into Prepared Pans. Bake for 1 - 1 hr 15 min. (toothpick test or 190 degrees) Cool in Pans for 10 min. Remove from Pans and wrap in Foil, let set overnight SB (it's a VERY hearty bread) Keywords: Bread, Intermediate ( RG1663 )

Lahem B'Ajeen A Lebanese street food. Translates to 'meat in dough'. Pizza dough for 12-6" rounds. 1-1/4 lb ground Lamb* 1-1/2 c finely diced onion 1-1/2 c finely diced tomatoes drained 2 T Tomato paste 1/4 c finely chopped Parsley 1-1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp Lebanese 7 spice mixture(ask for it at any M.E. store). 1/2 tsp Cinnamon 1/2 tsp black pepper Mix everything together. Taste and correct for salt and heat. Drain excess moisture. For 6" rounds of very thin pizza dough (1/8-3/16"), use 2 golf ball sized er.. balls of mixture and spread thinly with the back of a spoon or your hand. Bake @550 for 7-8 minutes on a slightly greased pan on the bottom rack of an electric oven. I can fit three rounds on a 1/2 sheet pan. * Fat in the Lamb is great in this recipe. However, too much fat and the meat will shrink away from the edges of the rounds. So experiment with your mixture. You can't get ground Lamb? Use 1/2 pork and 1/2 lean beef, or just ground Chuck. Best served warm with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Keywords: Easy, Lamb, Lebanese, Middle Eastern ( RG1662 )

GG's Sweet Coleslaw and Dressing 1 cabbage, finely shredded or a 16-ounce package of shredded coleslaw mix 1 medium red onion, quartered and thinly sliced 1 red bell pepper, cut in very thin slices Dressing: 1 c sugar 1 tsp salt 1 tsp dry mustard 1 tsp celery seed 1 c vinegar 2/3 c vegetable oil Combine shredded cabbage with sliced onion. Combine dressing ingredients and bring to boil. Pour over cabbage and toss. Cool, then refrigerate. Keywords: Salad, Vegetarian, Kosher, Easy ( RG1661 )

My Best Potato Salad Serves 8 as Salad. 3 lb small red potatoes, cooked, peeled, and cubed 1 large red or green bell pepper, chopped 1 medium onion, chopped (Vidalia, preferably, or green onions) fresh dill, chopped ground pepper, to taste, salt, of course, as well 1/3 c cider or wine vinegar 1 c mayonnaise (best available, or homemade) Mix well and chill before serving. Keywords: Salad, Easy, Vegetarian, Potatoes ( RG1660 )

Reinvented Chocolate Pudding Cake Serves 4 as Dessert. Remember that great chocolate dessert you had as a child that when baked separated into a chocolatey cake layer with a pudding layer underneath? Tasting my mothers recipe for chocolate pudding cake after so many years, I discovered that with age related taste bud changes it was a bit watery and anemic. So I fiddled a bit by adding the bittersweet chocolate (hers only had cocoa), changed some of the milk to yogurt to get a bit more fullness in the cake part, cut the sugar way back, added expresso powder and mocca compound to round out the flavour and voila reinvented chocolate pudding cake! Mocha compound is a flavouring used by pastry chefs and chocolatiers. At home you can replace it with some expresso powder. Cake 2 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted 1 oz softened butter 1/2 c toasted pecans 2 T natural cocoa powder (not dutch processed) 1 c all purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c plain yogurt 1/2 c milk 1 T mocha compound(or 1 tsp expresso powder) 1 tsp vanilla extract Topping 4 T cocoa 1 c brown sugar 1 T instant expresso 1 T mocha compound (optional) 2 c boiling water Mix together the cake ingredients in a bowl and place in 8 or 9 inch cake pan (I prefer pyrex). Sprinkle over the topping mixture, then pour over boiling water. Do not mix. Bake at 325 F for about 30 minutes. Keywords: Dessert, American, Chocolate, Easy, Pudding ( RG1659 )

Chicken Breast stuffed with prosciutto, asparagus, and gorgonzola Serves 1 as Main Dish. This is a very low-fat (but tasty!) main dish. I've put the ingredients in for one serving but obviously the recipe can be expanded for as many servings as desired. 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast 15 g prosciutto (shaved) 15 g crumbled gorgonzola cheese 4 asparagus spears 1 large egg, lightly beaten 1/4 c fine dry breadcrumbs Pound out chicken breast to about 1/4" thickness. Cover with thinly shaved prosciutto and gorgonzola cheese. Lay the asparagus spears across the chicken breast. (I had two going in one direction and two in the other and allowed the tips to stick out of the roll.) Roll the chicken breast up and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for an hour or so. Preheat oven to 350 F. Remove plastic wrap (I know, it seems like such an obvious thing to say...) and dip roll first in the beaten egg and then in the breadcrumbs. Bake for 45 minutes. Keywords: Main Dish, Easy, Chicken, Dinner ( RG1658 )