A Year with The Barefoot Gourmet: ...and so it begins.

Friday, January 1, 2010

...and so it begins.

2010! A whole decade past Y2K and we are still going strong. Now that the confetti has fallen and the resolutions have been made, what better way to ring in the new year, slightly hungover and very hungry, than to make a new promise to ourselves to eat well this year...for the whole year. As we were alphabetizing the recipes in the updated Clarke Family Recipes yesterday we thought to ourselves, "man, there are so many recipes in here that we have not cooked." Then it hit us. We should make all of these recipes this year. Since we actually have lives, unlike Julie (of Julie-Julia) we have decided to make (well Ryon to make, Caitlin to eat) all of the 100 recipes within 365 days. Really, what better way to break in our new Le Creuset pots and the bake ware that was bestowed upon us for Christmas. We will blog regularly about the successes and tragedies of the cooking with the Barefoot Chef and maybe add in a little about what is going on down here in C'Ville...like how right now there is a 6 foot wide snowbank in front of our house that does not appear to be leaving anytime soon. Seriously, does anyone around here know how to use a snow plow? So for now back to re-hydrating and playing Mario- we are on the second to last level. Check back later for our first recipe...chicken salad.

In our best Julia Child impersonation...Bon Appetite!

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Recipes

#42 Chicken Stock

Ingredients
Backs, necks, wings, gizzards from a couple of chickens...or, as I normally do it, the gizzards and bones from a deboned chicken that I have prepared for another dish.
1 onion quartered
2 potatoes quartered
4 stalks of celery
2 carrots halved
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
1 tbs Italian seasoning (or a handful of fresh mixed herbs)
1 tbs black pepper
2 tbs sea salt
Enough water to cover all of this in a pot.

Bring to a boil and then simmer for a couple of hours. (I don’t do any of the scum skimming and clarification that many books refer to, unless I’m making a consommé.) Chill overnight. (Winter is great for this – just stick the pot outside and hope the bears, raccoons or dogs don’t get it.) The chilling makes it very easy to lift the fat off the top – something I save for Saba’s supper.

Pour the whole lot through a fine mesh sieve, and voila, the liquid is your stock. If you are not using it right away, put into tight containers and freeze.

What to do with the bones and veggies?
First, separate them and pick all the meat you can off the bones. Now you can:
1. Chop this meat up, along with the veggies and return to the stock for an
instant, nourishing soup to cure all that ails you.
2. Chop this meat up along the skin, gristle and veggies and feed this to the
dog.
3. Just throw it all away, and feel guilty.

#41 Blanchard's Corn Chowder

Ingredients

3 tbs unsalted butter
3 medium onions chopped
5 carrots cut into 1⁄4 inch slices
5 celery stalks, cut into 1⁄4 slices
6 cups fresh corn kernels (about 12 ears of corn)
3 cups chicken broth
2 large red bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1⁄2 inch pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbs chopped dill for garnish

Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook until just tender, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Add the corn and cook 2 minutes more. Remove just 4 cups of the vegetables and puree in a food processor until smooth...and return to the soup pot.

Add the chicken broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, add the peppers and simmer for two minutes. Add most of the dill, and taste for salt and pepper. Serve hot and garnish with remaining dill.

#40 Lemon Sponge Souffle'

Ingredients
1 tbs butter
1 cup sugar
2 tbs flour
2 eggs at room temperature with yolks separated
1 cup milk
1 lemon juiced and rind grated

Preheat oven to 300° Beat egg whites until stiff. Cream the butter, sugar, egg yolks, flour and lemon juice until pale and fluffy and then beat in milk and rind. Fold in egg whites and pour into a greased baking dish. Place this dish into a larger one and fill with hot water halfway up the sides of the pudding dish. Bake for about 40 minutes until the top is evenly and lightly browned. Serve it right away with thick, un-whipped cream. This is superb hot and wonderful cold as well.

#39 Righetti Ranch Mop

Secret recipe. Contact the Barefoot Gourmet for this one.

#38 Tenderloins on the fire

Ingredients

Whole tenderloin
Righetti Ranch Mop red wine BBQ Baste

Prepare fire as for Steak on a Fire. Set your grill as far away from the flame as possible. Liberally sploosh the baste onto the meat and cook away, turning the meat every 15 minutes or so and splooshing to your heart’s content. Partially cover the meat with a foil tent as this will help the meat to cook more evenly. Usually the tenderloins are done in about an hour. Rare internal temperature is 125°. Remove from fire, cover with a foil tent and let rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving.

#37 Leg of Lamb

Ingredients

1 leg of lamb removed from refrigerator 2 hours before cooking 6 fresh garlic cloves crushed
1 handful fresh rosemary chopped
Sea salt Ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350°. Rub the crushed garlic all over the leg. Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper and rosemary. Roast until medium rare, usually about one and half hours. Internal temperature of 150°. (South Africans tend to go for lamb very well done. This gives a nice crisp skin, but dries out the meat.)
Remove from oven and cover with foil and let rest 15-20 minutes before carving.

Try the above with the leg de-boned and rolled.

#36 Bread

Ingredients
2 x tablespoons dry yeast. (I like Red Star or Saf-Instant.)
2 x teaspoons sea salt
2 x cups warm water 5-6 cups flour
(I prefer King Arthur Bread Flour.)

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the water, two cups of flour, yeast and salt into a creamy batter. Add two more cups flour and stir in. (I use a stainless steel carving fork.) Turn this doughy mixture out onto the counter and scrape all the bits out of the bowl. (Put the bowl in the sink and fill with hot water.)

Now begin to knead the dough, adding flour if it is too sticky. You want to get to the point where the dough becomes satiny in texture and has some “spring” to it. About 5 minutes. Leave the dough alone for a few minutes. Let it relax while you clean your hands and the bowl. After you have dried both, pour about a tablespoon of olive oil into the bowl and smear it all around the sides with your fingers.

Go back to the bread knead it again or a couple of minutes. Then, grab the ball of dough like a bowling ball and dip it into the oil accumulated at the bottom of the bowl...then flip the dough ball over so that it lands in the bowl with the oiled side up. Voila. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put the bowl in a warm – and not draughty – place in the kitchen.

Let it rise to double its bulk. About 90 minutes. Push the dough down and turn it over and let it rise again for 45 minutes or so. Now you are ready to make loaves or buns...letting them rise again (covered with plastic wrap) until doubled in bulk.

Bake in a 400-degree oven for about 25-30 minutes. Check it every now and then. When done, you can turn off the oven and let them sit in there with the door cracked for about half an hour.

A crusty tip: Place a pan in the lower rack with about an inch of hot water – or a dozen ice cubes – in it. This will steam and give you a thicker crust.

# 35 Maple Syrup Dressing

Secret recipe. Contact Barefoot Gourmet.

#34 Asian Salsa

Ingredients
Fully ripe Thai peppers
Good quality Soy Sauce

Hand chop any quantity of the peppers and put into a glass jar. Put in enough soy sauce to cover. Shake. That’s it. Actually this sauce improves with age and will last indefinitely.

#33 Hash Browns

Ingredients
1 unpeeled potato per person (Red skinned are best.)
1 x tbs peanut oil per potato Fresh ground pepper
Sea salt

Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium high. (Make sure you have a lid for this pan, as you will need it later.) Grate potato. Scoop it up in an oval shape and carefully place it into the hot oil. Repeat per potato. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover pan and turn heat down to medium.

After about four minutes remove lid and turn each hash brown. Cover again. In about another five minutes, remove lid and turn the hash browns. What you are aiming for are hash BROWNS...so adjust your heat accordingly. Once they are nicely browned, keep the lid OFF and turn the heat down and let them cook through, turning every now and then. This usually takes 10-15 minutes.

#32 Rice & Beans

Ingredients
A
2 large yellow Onions halved and sliced
4 cloves Garlic crushed
1⁄4 lb butter
1⁄4 tsp grated nutmeg
Salt and Pepper to taste

B
1 can Black Beans

C 2 cups cooked long grain rice

1. Sauté the onions and garlic in the butter until golden brown and caramelized.
2. Stir in the spices, and the beans with their liquid.
3. Boil off some of the liquid (about 10 minutes) stirring frequently.
4. Stir in the rice and keep warm for about 30 minutes before serving to let the flavors blend.

# 31 Pannekoek

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 1/2 cup milk
pinch of salt
lemon juice
cinnamon sugar
heavy cream and/or vanilla ice cream

Whisk the flour, egg, milk and salt together – adding milk or flour as needed to get it to the consistency of thick cream. Let the mixture sit for at least five minutes to allow the flour to relax.

Butter a frying pan and heat to medium.

Fill a soup ladle half full with the mixture and spread into the pan. Tilt and swirl the pan to get the mixture spread evenly.

Using a very thin spatula, flip the pannekoek as soon as it changes color and texture. Cook the second side briefly.

Remove from pan. Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar. Roll and squeeze some lemon juice over it. Sprinkle a little cinnamon over it and then pour on a dollop of cream and/or ice cream.

#30 Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients
1 box of macaroni or a pasta of your choice
½ cup butter
4 heaped tbs flour
3-4 cups milk
3 cups grated Vermont cheddar
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
½ cup plain breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil the pasta in salted water until el dente. Drain.

While the pasta is cooking, make a roux with the butter and flour, and slowly add the milk to make a thin gravy and add the cayenne. Add 2 cups cheese and stir until mixed.

Butter a baking dish and sprinkle half the breadcrumbs on the bottom. Mix the pasta and cheese sauce together and pour into this dish. Cover with the remaining cheese and sprinkle that with the remaining breadcrumbs.

Bake in 350 oven until nicely browned on top, about 30 minutes.

Let rest 15 minutes before serving.

#29 Pork Loin Braised in Milk

Ingredients
2 tbs Butter
2 tbs Olive Oil
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
2 lbs boneless Pork Loin with fat on it
1 1⁄2 cups whole milk

Heat butter and oil over medium-high heat in a pot just large enough for the pork loin. When the butter foam subsides, add the meat, fat side down. Now turn every so often to brown on all sides. Add salt, pepper. Slowly add the milk. When the milk boils, turn the heat to low and cover – leaving the lid slight askew for steam to escape. Cook for 1 1⁄2 hours or so, turning the meat occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pot.

When the meat is tender, the milk should have coagulated into small nut-brown clusters. If it is still pale, remove the meat to a warm place and boil the milk on high – scraping often - until its nice and nutty brown. Spoon the sauce over slices of meat and serve.

#28 Petit Pois

Ingredients
1 tbs butter
1 package frozen petit pois (baby peas)
1/4 tsp salt 1 tbs sugar
Water

Put ingredients in a pot with enough water to not quite cover the peas. Bring to a boil over high heat without a lid. Stir a few times and immediately take them off the stove. Dish out with a slotted spoon.

#27 Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients
6 medium potatoes, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1⁄2 cups cream or whole milk 3 tbs butter
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup grated Vermont Cheddar

Preheat oven to 350. Cover the bottom of a buttered baking dish with about a third of the potatoes. Sprinkle with half the onions and garlic, salt and pepper. Repeat with the second third of the potatoes and the balance of onions and garlic, salt and pepper. Add the remaining potatoes and cover with the cheese, salt and pepper. Dot with butter, and gently pour in the cream. Cover with foil and bake until the potatoes are soft - about an hour. Remove the foil and let the cheese brown for about another 15 minutes. Take out the oven and cover with the foil and let it rest for about 20 minutes before serving.

#26 Veggie Soup

Ingredients
4 x cups chicken stock
1 x large onion, finely chopped
4 x large garlic cloves, finely chopped
5-6 tbs olive oil
2 x large carrots, diced
2 x large potatoes, diced
4 x stalks celery, diced
2 x smallish zucchini, diced
1 x cup cut up broccoli florets
1 x tsp fresh ground pepper
1 x tsp Italian seasoning herbs
1 x 28 0z can crushed tomato
salt to taste

Sauté spices. Add vegetables (except broccoli) and stir-fry for a few minutes. Add stock and bring to a boil. Turn down, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the crushed tomato and broccoli and just bring to a boil. Remove from heat and serve.

#25 Vegetarian Lasagna

Ingredients for sauce
2 x tablespoons of olive oil
1 x lb silky tofu finely chopped (optional)
2 x large onions finely chopped
4 x large cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 x tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 x tablespoon ground black pepper
2 x teaspoons sea salt
1 x 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes with basil

Put all ingredients, but the tomatoes in a large pot. When the onions are translucent, add tomato sauce. Simmer for about half and hour with lid on, then remove from stove and allow to cool. Best if made a day ahead :)

Ingredients for Lasagna
1 x lb box of lasagna pasta
4 x cups ricotta cheese
4 x cups mozzarella cheese, grated
4 x cups parmesan cheese, grated.

Follow the directions on the box for preparing half the pasta. (A tip: remove strips, when done, from the boiling water with tongs and a slotted spoon, and slip them into a bowl of cold water. From there, remove and lay out on clean dish towels. You won’t burn yourself this way.)

Now, in a deep roasting pan, make three layers of the filling ingredients. Sauce and cheeses, pasta...sauce and cheeses, pasta...top with sauce and cheeses. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes or so.

Remove from oven, cover with foil again and let rest at least 30 minutes before serving. This is a dish that is best when not served piping hot.

#24 Caesar Salad

Ingredients (serves 3-4)
A. THE CROUTONS
2 Handfuls French bread cut into 1”x1/2” chunks
4 tbs olive oil
4 cloves garlic sliced
1 tbs sea salt
B. THE “DRESSING”
2 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbs finely chopped anchovies (or anchovy paste from a tube.)
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
C. THE SALAD
2-3 Romaine lettuce hearts cut or torn into 1”-2” chunks
3 tbs olive oil
1 egg coddled in boiling water for just one minute
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Toss, in a large fry pan, all the ingredients in A and cook at a low heat – turning frequently – until the croutons are tan and crispy. Scoop the croutons away from the brown (and bitter) garlic and set aside. (This takes a good hour so start this first.)

Mix, in a small bowl, all the ingredients in B and stir occasionally while you are doing the other stuff. When you are ready to serve, toss, in a large salad bowl, just the lettuce and olive oil until all the leaves are coated. As you are about to do this, plop the egg into the boiling water and at one minute, drain and throw right into the oil-coated lettuce and toss vigorously to now coat the leaves with egg. Now pour in the dressing and croutons and toss briefly...then throw in the cheese and toss ever so lightly.
Serve immediately.

#23 Samoosas

Ingredients for the Filling
1 Onion diced
2 TBS Vegetable Oil
1 lb Ground Chuck
2 tsp salt
2 TBS Curry Powder (your choice of heat level)
½ tsp Anise Extract (optional)
½ cup Cilantro chopped

Method for the Filling
Saute the onions in the oil. Add the meat, salt, spices and brown the meat. Add the anise and continue cooking for another few minutes. Add the cilantro, stir for a minute and take off the heat. You should cool this down to room temperature before filling the pastries.

Ingredients for the Pastry
Follow recipe for Pie Crusts (not Jeanette’s Pie Pastry).
Or, egg roll wraps.
1 Egg beaten with on TBS water

Method for Pastry
1. Cut pastry into chunks that you can roll into a ball about the size of a large shooting marble (a goen in South Africa).
2. Roll these balls out into 3 inch diameter discs.
3. Place the disc on the empanada-sized pastry folder thingy below.

#22 Waffles

Ingredients
Bisquick
Old Fashioned Quaker Oats
Fine ground corn meal
Peanut oil
Eggs
Milk

Follow the recipe on the Bisquick box, but for every two cups of Bisquick add a half-cup of oats and a quarter cup of corn meal. I also double the amount of oil and tend to add a little more milk to make it a tad thinner than the straight recipe would have you do.

#21 TARTAR SAUCE
Ingredients
2 ripe tomatoes chopped fine
1 small onion chopped fine
4 dill pickle spears (Claussen) chopped fine
½ cup mayonnaise

Mix it all up in a bowl and keep chilled until you serve.

#20 BEER BATTERED FISH FRY

Ingredients
A
2 cups flour
2 beers
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
B
Bisquick (enough to dredge the fish)
C
Peanut oil (enough to get at least 3 inches in your cooking pot)

Beat the ingredients in A into a smooth batter and let rest for at least an hour. Cut your fish (this night it was haddock) into portions and dredge in the Bisquick at least 15 minutes before your cook. When your oil is hot, dip the fish into the batter to fully coat and slide into the oil. Do not overcrowd the pot. (You are better off cooking in batches and keeping the cooked pieces on paper towels on a warm platter.) Turn the pieces at least once and they are done when golden brown. Serve with real tartar sauce. Note: You can test the oil for temperature by dropping a little batter into it. If it sizzles and floats immediately, you are ready.

#19 JOHN WAYNE CASSEROLE

Ingredients
A
2 (4 oz) cans green chilies, chopped
2 lb. grated Monterey Jack cheese
2 lb. grated Vermont Cheddar cheese
8 egg yolks beaten
B
8 egg whites beaten until fluffy
2 cups canned milk (substitute whole milk if you want)
2 tbs flour
1 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 325.

Mix ingredients in A and spread out in a baking dish.
Fold the egg whites into the other ingredients in B and pour over the cheese. Bake for an hour. Let rest for 15 minutes to set before serving. Reheats well.

#18 CHILI

Ingredients
4 tbs butter
2 pounds beef coarsely, chopped
2 large onions, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbs oregano
1 tbs cayenne pepper
1 tbs freshly crushed cumin seeds
3 tbs paprika
1 tbs ground coriander
1 tbs sea salt
1 28 oz can crushed tomato
1 19 oz can of black beans
1/4 cup maple syrup or brown sugar
1 lime, juiced
1 bottle of beer
1 handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

Melt the butter in a large pot and mix in the beef, onions and garlic. Cook on medium high heat until brown, stirring frequently. Add all the dry seasonings and stir in for a few minutes. Add all the wet ingredients and stir in. Stir in the cilantro and turn heat to low and simmer partially covered for about two hours. Stir occasionally.

This dish is best served the next day after spending the night in the fridge.

# 17 GREEN MOUNTAIN BOBOTIE

Ingredients
A
4 onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
B
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup maple syrup
C
2 cups milk
2 eggs
4 slices white bread
2 tablespoons curry powder
D
3 lbs hamburger
E
6 bay leaves (or leaves of lemon balm, or verbena)
In a large fry pan, gently brown the onions and garlic in the oil. Mix in the
salt and curry powder and fry for a few more minutes. Add the vinegar and maple syrup and bring to a boil for two minutes. Set aside and cool. Now put the milk in a bowl and dunk the bread in it. Then break the soggy bread up over the hamburger in a large mixing bowl. Work bread into the hamburger.Beat the eggs and curry powder into the milk. Pour half this mixture onto the hamburger and mix in. Take the cooled onion mixture and mix thoroughly into the hamburger. Spoon the hamburger into a baking dish and smooth out
the surface with a spatula. Pour the rest of the milk mixture on top and arrange the bay leaves on that. Place the baking dish into a larger one and fill halfway with water. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 50 minutes.

#16 SARAH'S BANANA BREAD

Ingredients
1⁄2 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1⁄2 tsp salt
2 eggs at room temperature
3 ripe bananas mushed with a fork
2 cups flour 1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350.
Cream butter, sugar and salt. Mix in eggs and bananas. Mix in Flour and baking soda. Pour mixture into greased bread pan. Bake for 1 hour. Check to see if its done by inserting a toothpick into the center. It should come out dry.

#15 ASPARAGUS

Ingredients
1 bundle of fresh asparagus
2 tbs butter
1 tbs lemon juice
Sea Salt

Assuming you have store-bought produce, wash the asparagus and cut the bottom of the stems off to leave a spear no more than 6 inches long. Place in a shallow pot or lidded frying pan with no more than a 1⁄4 inch of water in the bottom. Add the butter and put the lid on tightly. Since these will only take a few minutes to cook and you want to serve them right away, hold off cooking them until you are about ready to serve.

Put on high heat and bring to a steaming boil for about three minutes. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and sprinkle with a little salt. Shake the spears around in the pan so they are coated with the butter and juice. Serve immediately.

#14 JERKED PORK KEBOBS

Ingredients
3-4 2” cubes of pork loin per person
3-4 1/4” slices of zucchini per person
3-4 patches of sweet pepper per person

Seasoning
5 cloves garlic
2 onions
1 tbs fresh thyme
1 tbs ground black pepper
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbs sea salt
2 habaneros
1 chunk of fresh ginger the size of your thumb

Blend the seasonings in a food processor. Toss the meat in this seasoning and marinate for a couple of hours. (You can even do this a few days prior to using by storing in the fridge in a Ziploc bag.) Build your kebabs by alternating the meat, peppers and zuccini on a skewer. Grill on a wood fire for best taste.

#13 CHOCOLATE MAPLE CHICKEN WINGS

Ingredients
6 lbs chicken wings
1 tablespoon sea salt
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon crushed cumin seeds
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 cup maple syrup

Place chicken wings in a large bowl. Toss the wings in the ingredients to coat thoroughly. Marinate one hour. Bake at 300 degrees for one hour (drizzling sauce left in bowl over the chicken in the baking dish) or BBQ over a moderate fire (using the sauce to baste). Enhance the BBQ flavor by using mesquite wood chunks on a charcoal fire.

# 12 BEEF STEW

Ingredients
2 lbs chuck steak cut into 1 inch pieces
4 tbs olive oil
4 tbs butter
4 tbs flour
3 onions cut into 1⁄2 inch chunks
4 cloves garlic chopped
4 carrots cut into 1⁄2 inch chunks
3 potatoes cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tbs thyme
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 cup chicken or beef stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Roll the beef in the flour. In a large cookpot, fry the onions and garlic in the olive oil until onions are translucent. Transfer them to a bowl. Add the butter to the pot and brown the beef in this over medium high heat. Transfer them to the above bowl and deglaze the pot with the stock. Add all the remaining ingredients and stir. Now put the onions and beef into this mixture...stir thoroughly then cover and cook very slowly on the stove top for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Substituting turnips for the potatoes gives a flavorful twist to this recipe.

# 11 GUACAMOLE

Ingredients
4-5 ripe avocados
1 small ripe tomato, diced
1 large clove garlic crushed
1 tsp sea salt
1 lime, juiced

Mix the tomato, garlic, lime juice and salt together in a bowl. Cut the avocados in half, remove pip and spoon the flesh into the bowl. (Remove any bruised flesh.) Now, using a KNIFE, cut up and mix the ingredients until you have a nice chunky mixture. Do not mix this into the pablum that most people do. Serve with tortilla chips...or better yet, fresh hot bread.

#10 CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Ingredients
3/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c white sugar
2 eggs
2 sticks butter (1 c)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda (we tried with powder once - unsuccessful!)
2 1/4 c regular unbleached flour
12 oz. Package of chocolate chips (milk chocolate is best)

Preheat oven to 375, or convectional oven to 350. Melt the butter until liquid (they say room temp. but it serves for easier stirring). Mix brown sugar, white sugar, and add butter. Stir in vanilla extract (it does NOT taste as good as it smells, believe
me). Throughout this you may want to keep testing it to make sure it’s not poison. Add eggs and stir. Add salt and baking soda, and make sure there are no unstirred bits of baking soda, it makes them taste much better. Add flour all at once or slowly, it doesn’t really matter. Stir in chocolate chips and voilà! The perfect girls- night food – cookie dough! Or you can grease cookie sheets and make cookies. There is no special way of placing them on a pan, just scoop up a spoon of dough and
place on sheet. Cook for 8-10 minutes. This recipe yields about 3 dozen medium cookies or 2 HUGE cookies.

#9 GARLICY MASHED POTATOES

Ingredients
4 medium size potatoes peeled and cut into 8ths
4 tbs butter
1⁄4 tsp salt
1/3 cup milk
1 clove garlic crushed
2 tbs chopped parsley (optional)

Rinse potatoes well and put into a pot and barely cover with cold water. Boil for ~18 minutes until fork soft. Drain. (If you are making gravy, make sure you save this water to use in the gravy.) Put in the butter and let melt, put in water, salt, garlic and parsley and mash vigorously with a potato masher just long enough to get the desired texture. Don’t overdo it. Keep on warm plate until ready to serve.

Variations: Mix in other root vegetables like carrots and turnips. Delicious in the fall.

#8 DILL SALMON

Ingredients
Salmon filets
Butter
Fresh lemon juice
Sea salt
Fresh dill sprigs

Preheat oven to 400°. Put the filets skin down on a greased baking sheet. Liberally squeeze lemon juice over the filets and sprinkle with sea salt. Dot each filet with a tablespoon of butter and dress with a sprig of dill.

Bake for about 15 minutes, being careful not to overcook. The fish should be medium rare. Any more than that and it will dry out.

#7 PIE PASTRY

Ingredients
2 x cups flour
1 x cup cold lard (Use butter for a completely different flavor.)
1 x tsp salt
About a half cup of cold water

Put the flour and salt into a mixing bowl…and, working quickly with your fingers, break up the lard into the flour so that you end up with a crumbly/chunky mixture. Ideally the pieces of lard are about the size of a pea – not round, but of that mass. (What you are aiming for is to have pockets of lard in between the flour when you roll it out. When this cooks, it makes the nice crusty flakes.)

Pour about a quarter of a cup of water into the mixture and stir in rapidly with a fork. Keep doing this, and adding a little bit of water at a time until you end up with a semi-crumbly clump that just sticks together when you push it together with your hands. Lightly mould this into a ball and wrap up with
plastic wrap. Put it into the fridge for at least half an hour. This firms up the lard again, and also evens out the moisture.
When you are ready to make your pie, cut the ball in half and roll out on a flour-laden counter, as needed, for the top and bottom of your pie.

#6 CHICKEN POT PIE

Ingredients
CHICKEN
1 Roasting chicken, jointed
2 Carrots halved
2 Onions halved
4 Stalks celery quartered
1 Bay leaf
2 Cloves
2 tbs salt

GRAVY
½ Cup butter
¾ Cup flour
5 Cups reserved chicken broth
1 Cup thick Cream
3 tbs lemon juice
Salt to taste (Note that there is no pepper in this recipe)

Put the ingredients in B into a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about an hour and a half until the chicken is tender. Remove the chicken to a bowl and allow to cool. Strain the broth through a sieve and keep the veggies.

Now in a large saucepan, make a roux with the butter and flour. Add the broth while whisking vigorously to make the gravy. Mix in the cream and lemon juice and salt to taste. Allow to cool.

#5 MIDSUMMER NIGHTS BEANS

Ingredients
1/2 Cup of olive oil
2 large onions cut in half and then into thick slices
4 large cloves of garlic coarsely chopped
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
2 19 oz can of Canellini white kidney beans
3-4 tomatoes coarsely chopped
1 large bunch of parsley coarsely chopped
1 handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Simmer onions in a pot in olive oil, breaking them up as they cook. Add garlic, salt and pepper. When the onions are soft add beans. Bring heat almost to high and boil off some of
the liquid from the beans. Usually about half an hour. When the mixture thickens up to the consistency of porridge turn down heat – or off for that matter if you are only going to serve later. Add tomatoes, parsley and Parmesan only minutes before you serve – giving them enough heat to just start them simmering then stir gently and serve.

#4 STEAKS on a FIRE

About the steak
Ideally, the steak should be 1 to 2 inches thick. The best cuts are: NY strip; sirloin; sirloin short-cut; T-bone, Porterhouse; delmonico and tenderloin. You don’t have to do anything to the meat before cooking, however, I usually prep the steak by sprinkling on sea salt and a good dose of fresh ground black pepper. Sometimes I rub crushed garlic into the meat as well.

About the fire
Start a charcoal (preferably hardwood lump, and not briquettes) fire. When it is going pretty strongly, add chunks of hardwood. (Maple, ash, apple, oak, mesquite all impart their unique flavors.) After a while, spread the fire and lumps into an even pile. When the lumps are charred on all sides and the charcoal is glowing red hot, it is okay to begin cooking. Start too soon and there will be too much flame and not enough radiant heat…start too late and the fire won’t be hot enough.

This is an art form, because every fire is different. If you are condemned to a gas grill, cook on high heat. Place your grill about 4 inches from the glowing coals and cover to allow it to get really hot. Uncover and slap the steaks on. With steaks, you want a close hot fire…with chicken and large cuts of meat, you want a medium fire and have the grill up to a foot away. In all cases NEVER close a lid on the meat. It will make it bitter. You want plenty of air and gently lapping flames. Actually with steaks, if they catch on fire it is not necessarily a bad thing if you don’t let it go on too long. Rare steaks take about 5 minutes a side. Medium rare about 8 minutes a side.

#3 PASTRAIN

Ingredients
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 lbs hamburger
2 large onions finely chopped
4 large cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes with basil
1 cup white wine (Try red for a different taste…or none at all.)

Put all ingredients but the tomatoes and wine in a large pot. Brown the meat at medium high heat. When all the meat is brown add tomato sauce and wine. Simmer for one hour with lid on. Stir occasionally.

#2 CURRY

Ingredients
2 lbs meat cut into 1 inch cubes
3 tbs butter or peanut oil
2-3 onions sliced thin
3 cloves fresh garlic chopped
2 bell peppers roughly chopped
5 slices fresh ginger
2-3 unpeeled potatoes cut into 1 inch cubes
2-3 large carrots cut into chunks
2 large ripe tomatoes chopped
1 handful fresh cilantro chopped
1 tbs sea salt
2-4 tbs curry powder

In a large pot, gently sauté the onions, peppers, garlic and ginger in the butter until the onions are golden brown. Add half the curry powder, stir and cook a few minutes longer. Remove the ingredients from the pot, turn the heat to medium hot and put in the meat. Stir often until it is beginning to brown on all sides.

Add the rest of the ingredients, stir well and turn down the heat to low. Cover and simmer for around 2 hours, stirring occasionally – making sure to scrape anything
sticking to the bottom of the pot.

You can then serve over rice, or refrigerate and serve the next day, when all the flavors will have developed better.

#1 CHICKEN SALAD

Ingredients
2-3 cups of cold, leftover, deboned chicken, cubed. Skin and all.
6 spring onions, chopped
4 Clausson dill pickle spears, chopped.
5-6 tbs dollops of mayonnaise
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
salt to taste

Toss all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl until they bind together.

Friday, January 1, 2010

...and so it begins.

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