Easy, delicious recipes shamelessly collected, swiped, begged & borrowed from friends & family, TV chefs, cookbooks & magazines ~~ and some original creations too.
Aug 3, 2014
Warm Halloumi Cheese with Cold, Minty Watermelon
If you're looking for a simple new way to enjoy 'grilling cheese' you may love this summery recipe from Michael Symon. The appeal of an easy low-carb appetizer drew me into its satisfying taste --- warm, melty cheese topped with cool, minty watermelon triangles.
Halloumi is most often marketed and labeled as "grilling cheese" and served with bread. A little research disclosed that this appetizer is an old Cypriot recipe and that the cheese is usually part-goat, part-sheep's milk. Halloumi retains its shape, and is milder than feta or chevre. The exterior stays somewhat firm, so watch it carefully to avoid burning.
Whisk together one TB each of grated garlic and grated shallot. Add 2 oz red wine vinegar and one TB honey (I used sugar-free). Whisk in 4 oz extra virgin olive oil, 2 TB toasted thin-sliced almonds, chopped, and 2 TB finely chopped fresh mint. Cut a 1" slice from a small round watermelon. Trim off the rind and white, and cut the melon in 8 triangles. Place them in a shallow bowl and pour the marinade over the melon. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
Using 1 TB extra virgin olive oil, heat a skillet (cast-iron preferred) , and when it's hot, fry 8 triangles ( 8 oz) of room-temperature halloumi cheese* about a minute per side just 'til browned a bit on both sides. Remove to a serving plate, top with watermelon triangles and toothpicks. Serve and enjoy the warm/icy cold bites.
*Halloumi is generally sold in rectangular slices about 1/2" -3/4". It's often called frying cheese and may be "Italian grilling cheese" or "Greek frying cheese" or some similar flavor. "Plain" is fine too. If yours is thicker, the cheese may not soften quite enough during cooking. If it's too thick to use as-is but too thin to cut in half horizontally, nuke less than 30 seconds in the microwave either before or after searing, and then proceed. Poke it to be sure its soft inside before removing from the pan...it keeps it shape even when soft. This makes 8 one-or-two-bite appetizers.
** If you're concerned about sodium substitute Indian paneer cheese - it's almost-zero -sodium and fries well without melting.
Jul 13, 2014
Sweet & Spicy Sriracha Sweet Potato Fries
Brown sugar, Sriracha, lime juice, bacon...need I say more?
Bake a 16-20 oz bag of frozen sweet potato fries according to directions... the thinner ones work better than crinkle-cut.
While they're baking, cook 3 chopped strips of bacon in a skillet til crisp, about 8 minutes. Don't be tempted to short-cut by nuking the bacon; you need the drippings. Drain the bacon and to those drippings, add 1 TB Asian fish sauce, 2 TB packed dark brown sugar, 2 tsp Sriracha sauce, 1 1/2 TB lime juice, 1/2 tsp lime zest. Stir to dissolve the sugar. No need to heat the sauce.
Move the crisp fries to a serving platter, drizzle with the sauce, and sprinkle with the crisp crumbles of bacon and 2 TB chopped fresh cilantro. Top with frizzle-fried onions- green or regular.
I swiped this recipe - and their photo - from Food Network Magazine a couple years ago. Surprise your favorite diners by serving this delish side with burgers and all sorts of things.
Bake a 16-20 oz bag of frozen sweet potato fries according to directions... the thinner ones work better than crinkle-cut.
While they're baking, cook 3 chopped strips of bacon in a skillet til crisp, about 8 minutes. Don't be tempted to short-cut by nuking the bacon; you need the drippings. Drain the bacon and to those drippings, add 1 TB Asian fish sauce, 2 TB packed dark brown sugar, 2 tsp Sriracha sauce, 1 1/2 TB lime juice, 1/2 tsp lime zest. Stir to dissolve the sugar. No need to heat the sauce.
Move the crisp fries to a serving platter, drizzle with the sauce, and sprinkle with the crisp crumbles of bacon and 2 TB chopped fresh cilantro. Top with frizzle-fried onions- green or regular.
I swiped this recipe - and their photo - from Food Network Magazine a couple years ago. Surprise your favorite diners by serving this delish side with burgers and all sorts of things.
Caprese Toasts
'Caprese' is being mutilated, verbally, by servers everywhere these days. I assume the chefs they work for know better but don't bother to tell them it means 'in the style of Capri' and is pronounced Ca-pray-say.
These tasty toasts are a really quick simple version of the famous Caprese trio --- tomato, basil, and mozzarella . You can make trays of them hours ahead, and they don't need to be refrigerated.
They're terrific appetizers, or accompaniment to all sorts of soups, salads, and entrees. I was told some years ago that Carrabba's once served this as 'bruschetta'...
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Cut a baguette or narrow French loaves in thin slices, a bit diagonally. Barely toast one side in the oven or broiler. When toasted, flip them over to cool. Then spread each toast with garlic butter, top with a slice of mozzarella cheese (or provolone), a thin slice ( or half-slice) of a Roma tomato, then slide about 1/2 tsp pesto over each.
Bake 4-5 minutes, until toasty and a bit browned.
See? I told you it was simple!
Apr 28, 2014
Rhubarb ( and Strawberry) Boneless Ribs
Adapted from a magazine recipe, this oven-baked dish has an interesting, slightly sweet flavor and falling-apart pork.
Allow 3 hours from start to table. Preheat oven to 325. The fruit can be fresh or frozen.
In a large pot, place 5c. chopped rhubarb and 4c. chopped strawberries and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Remove about 2 c. of the berries and rhubarb, draining the liquid back into the pan. Set aside until serving. Continue to boil the rest in the covered pot for 5 minutes more, then drain and set aside to be added in the sauce.
Make a rub with 2 T salt, 2 T paprika, 1 T pepper, and rub on 3-4 lbs boneless country-style ribs.
Brown them in batches ( not letting sides touch) and place in a 3-4 qt baking dish. In the remaining oil, sauté 1 chopped onion for 3-4 minutes ( adding a little more oil if needed) and then adding
1 cup packed brown sugar or brown-sugar replacement
3/4 cup ketchup ( I use low carb or low sodium)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup bourbon
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup honey (sugar-free is fine)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
the larger berry-barb mixture
Allow 3 hours from start to table. Preheat oven to 325. The fruit can be fresh or frozen.
In a large pot, place 5c. chopped rhubarb and 4c. chopped strawberries and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Remove about 2 c. of the berries and rhubarb, draining the liquid back into the pan. Set aside until serving. Continue to boil the rest in the covered pot for 5 minutes more, then drain and set aside to be added in the sauce.
Make a rub with 2 T salt, 2 T paprika, 1 T pepper, and rub on 3-4 lbs boneless country-style ribs.
Brown them in batches ( not letting sides touch) and place in a 3-4 qt baking dish. In the remaining oil, sauté 1 chopped onion for 3-4 minutes ( adding a little more oil if needed) and then adding
1 cup packed brown sugar or brown-sugar replacement
Bring to a boil, and pour over the ribs. Cover and bake 2 hours, then uncover for another 30 minutes. Remove a cup or two of the delicious sauce and mix it with the reserved rhubarb and strawberries, and serve it over or with the ribs.
Feb 9, 2014
Sticky - Sweet Asian Lamb Lollipops with Creamy Asian Pasta
When a single dish makes a restaurant famous, it's worth a visit to find out what all the hoopla is about. If , inconveniently, there's an ocean between you and Kailua-Kona, make it yourself. This dish of barbecued lamb chops served atop a creamy Parmesan-veg pasta is reportedly Sam Choy's signature dish. It will serve 4 people, assuming most will easily devour 2-3 little lamb chops.
In quite a large bowl, combine 2 c. brown sugar or brown Splenda, 3/4 cup minced or shredded fresh garlic, 1/2 c. fresh minced cilantro leaves, 1/2 c. soy sauce, 1 TB fresh ginger, peeled & minced, 1/2 tsp Chinese 5-spice, 1/2 tsp red chili pepper flakes, and salt to taste.
Add 8-12 rib lamb chops* and turn over and over in the mixture, then massage each one well, to be sure the sticky rub penetrates the lamb. Submerge the chops in the thick sauce and refrigerate 4-6 hours or overnight.
Ready to finish? Cook 16 oz. cooked, drained trottole, cavatappi or fusilli - or any fat, spiral-y pasta with nooks and crannies that allow sauce to linger. Drain. Preheat the broiler for at least 15 minutes, and start the prep for the pasta sauce: In a large pan, heat 4 TB olive oil and 2 TB butter. Add 1 1/2 Tb minced or shredded garlic for 2-3 minutes, don't let it brown. Add 2 medium zucchini, julienned, and a peeled and julienned or shredded carrot. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring now and then. Add Stir, then add 4 cups heavy cream and bring to a boil- immediately lower to a simmer and cook 5 minutes. Just before serving add 1 c. Parmesan cheese, 1/2 c. chopped cilantro leaves, salt and pepper. If your cream doesn't thicken enough, (mine sometimes doesn't)n stir in some diced softened cream cheese - maybe 4 ounces.
Broil the chops close to the flame 2-3 minutes per side for rare, about 5-7 for well. You may want to cut into one to check for doneness - because the almost-candied outside is already dark, it's hard to tell what's really going on inside. If you have really good ventilation over the stove, you could also use a very large cast-iron skillet or stovetop grill, heated to smoking-hot. Watch the chops, they'll cook quickly and will tend to burn in a skillet because of the sugar content. Place the cooked chops on top of the pasta, and eat them (they're tiny, after all!) with your fingers, like a lollipop. Licking your fingers and sucking every last bit of that flavor from the bone afterward is socially acceptable. Really.
* a rack of lamb is 8 rib chops - cut them apart, and holding each by the bone, scrape the bone with a knife, to expose it, and resemble a lollipop. Most of the time the rack you'll purchase has already been frenched. If not, ask the butcher to do it. It only takes a minute.
Feb 5, 2014
Cowpies
It's probably unpatriotic to confess that I don't like Oreos unless they are an ingredient, bravely offering themselves up for a higher purpose. Somewhere on this blog I've posted more-than-awesome recipes for Oreo Muffins and Oreo Truffles, for example. Here they appear crammed into massive dark-cocoa cookies along with Mounds bars and chocolate chips.
The cookies have been around for years, often known as "Gobs" but I have renamed them, thanks to suggestions by Facebook friends. My Minnesota cousin Margy gets credit for the new name.
Don't go rogue and use all-butter or all-Crisco. Or substitute Kit -Kats or Milky Ways for Mounds Bars. And it's pointless to attempt to 'healthify' it with whole- wheat flour. The recipe shouldn't be messed with.
Beat together 3/4 c softened, unsalted butter and 1/3 c. butter-flavored Crisco. Use a mixer, and when it's creamy add 1 cup white sugar and 2/3 c brown sugar, beat til creamy then 2 large eggs and 2 tsp. vanilla, beat a little more.
Combine the dry ingredients : 2 cups flour, 2/3 c. dry cocoa ( preferably dark) , 1 tsp. baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, til blended. By hand, stir in 16 coarsely chopped Oreos, 1 or 2 cups chocolate chips and 8 oz. chopped Mounds bars ( they chop easier if chilled).
Chill the dough for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350 and put parchment paper on cookie sheets.
I make huge cookies, very thick and the size of the palm of my hand, and get about 24. I just scoop out maybe a fat 1/3 cup , push it into a ball of sorts, and very gently shape & very lightly flatten it out just a tiny bit , only to be sure the whole thing is about equally thick and there are no thin edges to burn or over-crisp. Don't overdo the shaping - due to the irregular bits of heaven poking out, they will never be smooth and pretty.
The size I described bake for about 15-18 minutes, with smaller ones you should probably start checking at 10 minutes. Since we all make slightly-different sized cookies, times will vary. To be safe, test- bake just a couple before you bake the rest. The tricky part is removing them before they are quite set, which is hard to judge with all the gooey-ness oozing from them. Touch the center and take your best shot. They should still look a bit wet. They'll firm up as they cool --- first on the paper for 10 minutes (carefully slide the whole sheet of paper off the hot baking sheet to stop the cooking process) then on wire racks. If they are crunchy, you left them in a little too long. If that happens, uh-oh, you'll just have to eat this batch and start over when you recover from chocolate overload.
The cookies have been around for years, often known as "Gobs" but I have renamed them, thanks to suggestions by Facebook friends. My Minnesota cousin Margy gets credit for the new name.
Don't go rogue and use all-butter or all-Crisco. Or substitute Kit -Kats or Milky Ways for Mounds Bars. And it's pointless to attempt to 'healthify' it with whole- wheat flour. The recipe shouldn't be messed with.
Beat together 3/4 c softened, unsalted butter and 1/3 c. butter-flavored Crisco. Use a mixer, and when it's creamy add 1 cup white sugar and 2/3 c brown sugar, beat til creamy then 2 large eggs and 2 tsp. vanilla, beat a little more.
Combine the dry ingredients : 2 cups flour, 2/3 c. dry cocoa ( preferably dark) , 1 tsp. baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, til blended. By hand, stir in 16 coarsely chopped Oreos, 1 or 2 cups chocolate chips and 8 oz. chopped Mounds bars ( they chop easier if chilled).
Chill the dough for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350 and put parchment paper on cookie sheets.
I make huge cookies, very thick and the size of the palm of my hand, and get about 24. I just scoop out maybe a fat 1/3 cup , push it into a ball of sorts, and very gently shape & very lightly flatten it out just a tiny bit , only to be sure the whole thing is about equally thick and there are no thin edges to burn or over-crisp. Don't overdo the shaping - due to the irregular bits of heaven poking out, they will never be smooth and pretty.
The size I described bake for about 15-18 minutes, with smaller ones you should probably start checking at 10 minutes. Since we all make slightly-different sized cookies, times will vary. To be safe, test- bake just a couple before you bake the rest. The tricky part is removing them before they are quite set, which is hard to judge with all the gooey-ness oozing from them. Touch the center and take your best shot. They should still look a bit wet. They'll firm up as they cool --- first on the paper for 10 minutes (carefully slide the whole sheet of paper off the hot baking sheet to stop the cooking process) then on wire racks. If they are crunchy, you left them in a little too long. If that happens, uh-oh, you'll just have to eat this batch and start over when you recover from chocolate overload.