Recipes That Rock: 2009

[JAZ]

I had some pizza dough that needed to be used and remembered some recipes in Joanne Weir's Weir Cooking in the Wine Country that call for baking the dough with cheese and then adding various "salads" on top when it comes out of the oven. I gave two of them a try: one was arugula and shaved parm (similar to this recipe for a parsley salad) and one with cherry tomatoes and basil tossed with olive oil, garlic and red wine vinegar.

Both of them were really great, and really easy (that is, once you get the dough prepared). A nice summer pizza option.

[Lindsey]

Hello Everyone

I would like to share this wonderful chicken recipe I was given by a friend from Lebanon, very ease and truly the taste is much more than the parts, please adjust to personal preferences.

Will just give the outline as you wonderful cooks will pick up the gist, 

4 chicken breasts, skin on if preferred, chopped into large pieces

juice of 1-3 lemons depending on your taste and the juicyness of the lemons

3 tbs dark soy sauce

1- 4 crushed garlic cloves

enough Virgin Olive Oil to cover

Allow to marinate for at least 30 mins then slowly simmer in the oil until cooked. I like to serve with basmati rice mixed with petit pois and a well dressed green salad. This has  become a well loved staple recipe in our house.

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It looks wonderful and intriguing. Although I can't help but notice that using all that olive oil must be expensive. What do you do with it after you use it? Just throw it out?

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Sorry not to have got back to you sooner, I was not explicit enough, if you put the chicken to marinate in a smallish bowl you should not need more than max 3 tbls oil this oil is encorrporated into the dish and provides a sauce.

[Anna N]

This recipe for Potatoes O'Brien makes regular appearances in our house. I replace the green pepper with more red/yellow/orange pepper and use my reserve of bacon grease rather than the oil and butter. I found the recipe in a small cookbook bought at a garage sale and was very happy to find the identical recipe on the WWW otherwise I might have had to type it all up to add to my recipe file .

[Bella S.F.]

eldereno,

Sure enough there it was. Thanks! It sounds so refreshing. Looking forward to trying it.

[auds]

I just completed a move and so have been cooking just really simple stuff with good farmers' market ingredients. To add to the list of potato recipes that are sort of duh and yet AMAZINGLY good, I simply cannot get enough of these new potatoes. Tiny, just-dug, waxy guys, boiled till very tender in heavily salted water, tossed in a generous amount of beurre d'isigney, salt, and chopped chives. Eaten warm from a bowl with a fork. Like I said, duh, but sooo very tasty.

I've also been enamored of Rancho Gordos cooked in the Parsons method and topped with hot sauce, crema Mexicana or sour cream, sliced jalapeno, pickled red onion or pickled radish, cotija cheese or not, lots of cilantro, lime. Elote on the side since the corn started coming in. Not recipes exactly, I guess, and I apologize, but combos that are good beyond the sum of their parts and that I've been eating incessantly.

Edited July 28, 2009 by auds (log)

[onrushpam]

Baby new potatoes, butter, parsley or other fresh herbs... It just doesn't get any better! Sometimes, after a trip to the farmers market, I just eat baby potatoes for dinner.

[avibenshi]

zucchini and goat cheese pasta with pinenuts.

In a nutshell: slice zucchini into thin slices and sautee in some olive oil and butter until soft. add a handful of pinenuts and let fry untill golden. add thick slices of soft white goat cheese (the kind that comes in plastic tubes), let cheese melt, a bit of nutmag, some dried oregano, some grated parmesan cheese. towards the end of cooking add some of the pasta boiling water just to dillute the sauce a bit and add some starch to it. finish with a squeeze of lemon and some chopped parsley.

oh and appologies for all spelling mistakes. (English is a second language to me). I assure you they bear no effect on the quality of the recipe

[Rover]

Welcome, Avibenshi - we look forward to seeing more of your delicious food ideas!

Rover

[Lindsey]

Hello everyone, just got home from work and wanted to share this 'stuff' with you (technical word of course). Made some individual Apricot Bakewell tarts but they needed something, so I soaked 2kilo dried apricots in a strong tea made with Earl Grey tea leaves and let them soak for 1/2 hour, longer would have been better, put this mix into a saucepan with about 3 tbls chopped fresh ginger and 4 tbls good vanilla sugar (preferably home made with lots of vanilla in) lastly a few grinds of fresh black pepper. Served this warm with the tart and it really did lift the wee soul to another realm, mind you I think it would be good on about anything! Am thinking of using it in a hot sponge pudding with a few more spices maybe.

[jgm]

I have a recipe to add from Melissa Clark found on The Wednesday's Chef blog.  It's Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli.  Fast, uses one pan and is so delicious!  Try it and let me know what you think...

Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli

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Very, very good! This one's definitely a keeper!

[Katie Meadow]

Baby new potatoes, butter, parsley or other fresh herbs...  It just doesn't get any better!  Sometimes, after a trip to the farmers market, I just eat baby potatoes for dinner.

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Try this recipe for a change of pace. I think it was from Bon Appetit, a few years ago, can't recall.

POTATOES WITH SAFFRON AIOLI

1 T water

1/2 tsp crumbled saffron threads

1/2 tsp smoked hot paprika or Hungarian hot

1/2 cup mayo

1 T olive oil

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 minced or mashed garlic clove

potatoes: French fingerlings or yukon golds or red skinned new potatoes, unpeeled

fleur de sel to taste

(Orig recipe calls for chopped cilantro, but I don't add it.)

Bring the 1 T water to a boil in a very small saucepan. Add saffron. Remove from heat and cover with a plate. Let steep 15 min. Mix that with paprika, mayo, olive oil, lemon and garlic. Keeps well. I like to simply put a dollop on my plate and dip the hot boiled potatoes in as I go.

Of course there will be some left over. My husband likes to add more mayo and then use it as a sandwich spread. I've also used it in a creamy slaw.

[Emily_R]

Hey all --

I finally have a real winner to post here! This recipe for Ginger Chicken made for a fantastic weeknight meal, with a little heat, a little sweetness, and overall a great balance of flavors, ... The recipe has you make a little caramel first, then add that caramel to boneless chicken thighs cooked with lots of ginger, onion wedges, fish sauce, and some chiles. My only comment is that I used all the ginger called for (recipe indicates you can only use half if you're ginger shy) and it was perfect. Could even have added a smidge more ginger if I'd wanted. I also added more green onions which were really a good fit.

I'm posting a link to the blog where I found this recipe. Says its a Food and Wine recipe, but I couldn't find it on the Food and Wine website...

http://whatdidyoueat.typepad.com/what_did_...cken_.html#more

Edited August 2, 2009 by Emily_R (log)

[kayb]

I have a recipe to add from Melissa Clark found on The Wednesday's Chef blog.  It's Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli.  Fast, uses one pan and is so delicious!  Try it and let me know what you think...

Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli

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Very, very good! This one's definitely a keeper!

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Oh, yeah. That one goes in the file. I love broccoli this way, and I love anything you can do to shrimp, so...

[Lapin d'Argent]

Let me just say that the Crash Potatoes mentioned up-thread have truly rocked our world this summer -- we have been making them at least once or twice a week. We particularly like them finished with a little Great Hill Blue and served with homemade yogurt. To. Die. For.

And to add another favorite: Grilled Figs w/ Balsamic, Blue Cheese, & Rosemary

Slice a bunch of negroni or other small black figs in half. Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle w/ sea salt. Grill, skin side down, over a hot fire (or on HIGH on your gas grill) for about 5 minutes, until the skins are crisp, and the tops are carmelized. (DO NOT try to turn them over!)

Drizzle with really sweet, dense, balsamic vinegar -- get the absolute best you can. Top with crumbled Great Hill Blue and minced rosemary.

If you don't have a grill, place them, cut side down, on an oiled, foil-covered heavy cookie sheet under your broiler, and broil until the skins are crispy and the meat is mushy. But they're much tastier grilled. Even if a few of them stick to the grill or fall into the fire.

[Bella S.F.]

Lapin d'Argent,

I am so glad that you like the potatoes. When we started making them, I wanted to make them all the time. I actually forgot about them for a while.

Thanks for the reminder.

[Emily_R]

Hi folks --

Reviving this thread to post about a new dish I made tonight. Called zucchini salad with lemon and feta, it is made up of shredded zucchini, lemon, feta, olive oil, mint, and dill. Served with a side of sliced tomatoes it was heaven -- fresh, flavorful, and by far the best use of zucchini I've had in a while. The recipe link is below -- I probably doubled the amount of mint and dill...

http://cookingwithmichele.blogspot.com/2009/08/zucchini-salad-with-lemon-feta.html

[fooey]

Mushroom Tarragon Chicken from the Nero Wolfe Cookbook, to say nothing of the scrambled eggs a in double boiler that uses more heavy creme and butter than should be legal.

[LizD518]

I made a great recipe a couple weeks ago that is going to become a stand-by for me. It is from Rick Bayless's "Salsas that Cook" - the Spicy Vegetable Stew. I modifeid it a bit by changing the chayote to regular zucchini and the broccoli / green beans to red bell pepper, and I think it would lend itself well to other adaptions as well. The key is to have the salsa contribute to the base of the stew which helps a vegetarian stew get real depth of flavor. I believe that if you are looking for a shortcut and don't want to make his salsa, you can buy versions of the salsas from this book as part of his frontera line of products. The stew itself is packed with veggies, black beams abd garbazos and tastes sublime with a little sour cream and cilantro on top.

[Cooks With Love]

I didn't see any bread recipes so, I've included this one. It is a fantastic crusty, yeast loaf stuffed with gruyere cheese. Not only is it delicious (I practically ate all of it when they were done) but it makes the house smell wonderful!

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/gruyere-stuffed-crusty-loaves-recipe

[Aloha Steve]

I didn't see any bread recipes so, I've included this one. It is a fantastic crusty, yeast loaf stuffed with gruyere cheese. Not only is it delicious (I practically ate all of it when they were done) but it makes the house smell wonderful!

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/gruyere-stuffed-crusty-loaves-recipe

Thank you Cooks With Love for bringing this recipe to our attention. The starter is bubbling away as I

write.

I have some gruyere left over from a quiche I made and wondered what to do with it. Now I know.

I will post a picture tomorrow if it comes out half way decent, with me baking, its a 50/50 chance.

Edited October 1, 2009 by Aloha Steve (log)

[Aloha Steve]

They came out great ! My first attempt making bread from scratch to boot

If I was served this is a fine dining restaurant or bought it from a good bakery, I would be happy and satisfied.

Before baking:

After

[prasantrin]

They came out great ! My first attempt making bread from scratch to boot

If I was served this is a fine dining restaurant or bought it from a good bakery, I would be happy and satisfied.

Before baking:

After

Aw man, that looks good! I want to break off those crusty bits of cheese at the bottom and eat those up!

I think I'm going to have to make this recipe soon!

[Marlene]

They look great! I will also have to try this one soon. Cheese and bread, two of my favourite things.

[Sony]

They came out great ! My first attempt making bread from scratch to boot

If I was served this is a fine dining restaurant or bought it from a good bakery, I would be happy and satisfied.

Before baking:

After

Oooh- I'm making that this weekend! Nice job!

Any idea how well the bread keeps? Does it need to be refrigerated? I'll probably bring some into work, so just trying to decide what day to make it and how to store it. Also trying to figure out if I'll be able to keep my hands off of the extra loaf.

[Anna N]

Starter is bubbling away! Hope to make these to serve to family tomorrow night!