a little of each

A family's cookbook

Favorite Vegetable Soup March 27, 2013

Filed under: Soups and Salads — alittlemoreofeach @ 7:53 pm
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The best thing about this soup recipe is anything goes.  Everyone has their own version depending on their own tastes. I don’t add the nutmeg. Robin and Adam add sweet potatoes. And everyone agrees that fresh corn really adds something.

 Ingredients

3 medium leeks (with 1 inch of green left on)

4 medium carrots

3 medium parsnips

2 Tbl minced garlic

2 Tbl unsalted butter

2 Tbl olive oil

4 cups vegetable broth

6 red new potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes

8 ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, or 1 (28 oz) can plum tomatoes drained

¼ cup coarsely chopped parsley

1 tsp dried tarragon or thyme

1 tsp ground nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Directions 

Trim, clean and finely dice leeks, carrots, and parsnips. Combine in a bowl with garlic. Melt the butter with the oil in a large, heavy pot over low heat. Add the diced vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, about 10 minutes. Add the broth and potatoes; cook, covered, over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Uncover and cook 15 minutes more to enrich the broth.

 

Citrus, Mango, Avocado Salad

Filed under: Soups and Salads — alittlemoreofeach @ 10:26 am
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I’ve recently become aware that I really like grapefruit.  And from a most unexpected source: my six-year-old daughter. As a child myself growing up in Florida, I found grapefruit to be worthless abominations that were Not Tangerines.  They were bitter, full of seeds, bitter, not tasty, bitter, and made a rotten fruit mess of the backyard. I will admit to a certain thrill and eewww-factor when a mushy grapefruit got pulverized by the lawn mower.  So, see? No love lost.

But then one day during this past year, Adeline tried a grapefruit, and, yes, it did have a healthy topping of powdered sugar, but she tasted it, liked it, and then proceded to devour the whole thing, including the juices, with abandon and impolite sucking noises.   I eyed the other half of the fruit and thought, heck, don’t I always encourage them to try things? Shouldn’t I pony up to this grapefruit?

So I did.  And wow, it was wonderful!  Tangy, fresh, sweet, and, yes, still slightly bitter, but not unpleasantly so.  I ate that sucker, Adeline happily drank the juice, and my worldview of grapefruit was changed.

When I saw this salad on Pinterest (love me some Pinterest – yes!!), I thought, let’s go for it!  When I saw the recipe was from Lauren Conrad, I thought who? what? why…?  (Seriously, who is this person, and why is she a thing?)  When I served it to my seder guests, I was a bit nervous.  When they loved it and went back for seconds and thirds, I knew we had a keeper recipe.  Thanks, Lauren Conrad, whoever you are!

 

Citrus, Mango, Avocado Salad

adapted from Lauren Conrad

Serves 8

 

Ingredients
2 grapefruit
2 navel orange
2 avocado
2 mango
bag of baby spinach
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup real maple syrup
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

  1. Segment grapefruit and orange by removing both ends, cutting off all the peel, and cutting each segment of fruit between the white membranes. Do this over a bowl to save the juice that will spill out.
  2. Slice avocado and mango into large dices.
  3. Gently mix avocado and mango with citrus.
  4. Mix reserved grapefruit juice with maple syrup and oil.
  5. Plate baby spinach topped with a heap of the fruit mixture.
  6. Drizzle dressing on the salad, then top with sliced almonds.
 

Honey Horseradish Chicken

Filed under: Main Dishes — alittlemoreofeach @ 9:47 am
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If you are invited to my house for a meal, you will be experimented on. As much as I want to stick with tried and true standbys, I can’t resist the urge to try new recipes on unsuspecting palettes. Even at times like Thanksgiving and Passover when a dud could really put a damper on things.

Last night’s seder had no duds. Not even close. The dilled matzo ball soup turned out well, the salmon was tasty, the haroset was tweaked nicely, the roasted root vegetables were perfect in their simplicity and not al dente as I feared, but the stars were this roasted chicken dish and an unusual salad.

I am a sucker for sweet and hot or sweet and tangy or other somewhat unexpected flavor combinations. So when I saw the recipe for Honey Horseradish chicken come through my inbox (via Kveller.com), I pounced. I used an oven bag (a really useful tip from my mother-in-law that has never let me down), and reduced the amount of garlic to one bulb (honestly, I don’t know how five bulbs of garlic could even think about fitting inside a five-pound chicken…). Next time I might reserve some of the honey and horseradish blend, or make a slightly thicker version, to use as a condiment.

 

Honey Horseradish Chicken

from The Nosher

 

Ingredients

1, 5-pound whole chicken, rinsed well and with innards removed
½ lemon
5 bulbs garlic (I reduced this to one bulb of garlic.)
½ white onion
5 fresh rosemary springs
¼ cup kosher for Passover prepared horseradish
¼ cup kosher for Passover honey
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
Parsley for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Rinse the chicken under cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Then put the chicken breast side up on a roasting rack in a roasting pan.

Stuff chicken with the lemon, garlic, onion, and rosemary sprigs.

In a small bowl, whisk together horseradish, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread all over the chicken, making sure to get under the skin as well.

Place in oven bag, if desired.

Roast chicken for 1 hour and 20 minutes, and then turn the oven up to 450 degrees F to brown the skin. Continue cooking about 20 more minutes until the internal temperature near the thighbone is 160 degrees F and the juices run clear (it should continue to cook once removed from the oven until the temperature is 165 degrees F).

Let chicken rest for 20 minutes. Garnish with parsley if desired.

 

Brunch Casserole January 9, 2013

Filed under: Breakfast — alittlemoreofeach @ 3:45 pm
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14 slices white bread, cubed
2 ½ cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 lb sausage, sautéed until cooked
1 lb bacon, fried crisp and crumbled, mixed with the sausage
9 eggs
4 cups milk
1 tsp dry mustard
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

Grease bottom of an 11 x 14 baking dish. Place half of the bread cubes in dish. Add half of the cheese and all of the bacon and sausage mixture. Then add remaining bread and cheese. Beat eggs and add to them the milk, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Pour egg mixture over ingredients in the baking dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, let dish sit at room temperature for a bit to bring the temperature up and then bake it uncovered at 325 for 45 minutes or until it is brown and bubbly.

 

Puffed Apple Pancake

Filed under: Breakfast — alittlemoreofeach @ 3:45 pm
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1 cup whole milk
4 large eggs
½ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 Tbl unsalted butter
2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and sliced
3 Tbl golden brown sugar, packed

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl until well blended. Add flour, and whisk until batter is smooth. Place butter in 9 x 13 glass baking dish. Place dish in oven until butter melts, about 5 minutes. Remove dish from oven. Place apple slices in overlapping rows atop melted butter in baking dish. Return to oven and continue to bake until apples begin to soften slightly and butter is bubbling and beginning to brown around edges of dish, about 10 minutes. Pour batter over apples in dish and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake pancake until puffed and brown, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Serve warm.

From Bon Appetit, September 2002.

 

Lemon Souffle Pancakes with Raspberry Sauce

Filed under: Breakfast — alittlemoreofeach @ 3:44 pm
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These were a traditional Christmas Morning breakfast at the Yellen house. The sauce can be prepared the night before to speed things up.

1 cup + 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
grated zest of 5 lemons
¾ cup ricotta cheese
6 Tablespoons buttermilk
6 Tablespoons melted butter
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¾ tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs, separated

In large bowl, stir flour, one Tbl of sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and lemon zest. In small bowl, combine ricotta cheese, buttermilk, melted butter, lemon juice, vanilla extract and egg yolks and whisk until smooth. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until smooth. Batter will be quite dense. In a bowl, use mixer on medium speed to beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add two Tbl sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Using spatula, fold about ¼ of egg whites into batter, then fold in remaining egg whites. Don’t attempt to make batter completely uniform; streaks of egg white are fine. Cover and refrigerate for up to one hour. Lightly coat griddle with cooking spray and preheat over medium heat for two to three minutes. For each pancake, spoon about ¾ cup of batter into pan to form pancakes about five inches in diameter. Cook until large bubbles form (three to four minutes), turn with spatula and cook on second side. Place on warmed individual serving dishes and top with raspberry sauce. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar. Enjoy.

Raspberry sauce:
1 ½ cups corn syrup
1 ½ cups raspberries
1 ½ Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

To make the raspberry sauce: combine raspberries, corn syrup and lemon juice in small saucepan over medium heat. Bring slowly to boil. Reduce heat and continue to simmer until light, crimson colored syrup forms, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and strain through fine-mesh sieve into bowl. Press berry pulp with spoon to extract as much liquid as possible.

 

Baked French Toast

Filed under: Breakfast — alittlemoreofeach @ 3:44 pm
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Mother’s Day Brunch 2005. The recipe was prepared with Challah and served with a Berry Compote.

1 lb loaf French bread, 1-inch thick slices
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1 ½ cups half and half
2 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¾ cup butter
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
3 Tbl light corn syrup

Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish. Arrange bread slices in bottom. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, half and half, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour over bread slices, cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and corn syrup; heat until bubbling. Pour over bread and egg mixture. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes with a cookie sheet below to catch drips.

 

Apple and Spice Baked French Toast

Filed under: Breakfast — alittlemoreofeach @ 3:43 pm
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From Girlie Weekend 2003

1 lb loaf unsliced French, sliced into 1-½-inch thick slices
8 large eggs
1 cup sugar, divided in half
3 ½ cups milk
1 Tbl vanilla extract
8 ½ cups Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced (about 6-8 medium apples)
1 Tbl ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 Tbl butter
Warm maple syrup
Whipped cream

Arrange bread slices tightly together in lightly greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Beat milk, eggs, ½ cup sugar and vanilla with wire whisk until blended. Pour half of egg mixture over bread. Place sliced apples over bread to cover. Pour remaining egg mixture over apples. Combine remaining ½ cup sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sprinkle evenly over apples. Dot with butter. Cover and chill at least 8 hours. Bake uncovered at 350 for one hour. Remove from oven, and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving. Cut into squares. Serve with warm maple syrup and top with whipped cream.

 

Rhode Island Johnny Cakes

Filed under: Breakfast — alittlemoreofeach @ 3:43 pm
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Mix together one cup of corn meal, one tsp sugar and ½ tsp salt. Add 1 ½ cups boiling water. Mix well. Batter will be thick. Drop by tablespoonful on any well-greased fry pan or griddle. (Medium hot – 380 degrees for electric fry pans.) Do not touch or turn over for six minutes. After six minutes, turn over and cook for about five minutes. This will yield eight to ten golden brown Johnny Cakes every time. For thin crisp Johnny Cakes thin batter with milk or water – about ½ cup. Cook as above.

To order stone ground Johnny Cake meal write or call:
Kenyon’s Corn Meal Company
21 Glen Rock Road
Usquepaugh, RI 02892
401-783-4054
http://www.kenyonsgristmill.com

 

Oatmeal Souffle

Filed under: Breakfast — alittlemoreofeach @ 3:42 pm
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We served this at Girlie Weekend 2002. You can omit the raisins or add dried cranberries or blueberries instead. Yum!

1 cup milk
2 Tbl butter
¾ cup quick-cooking oats
1/3 cup low-fat cream cheese
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
½ cup raisins
½ cup chopped walnuts
3 egg whites

Coat sides and bottom of 1½ quart soufflé dish with butter. Sprinkle lightly with sugar. Combine milk and butter in saucepan. Heat just until mixture comes to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add oats gradually, stirring constantly. Cook until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add cream cheese, brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt to oat mixture, and mix until blended. Add egg yolks gradually, beating constantly until mixed. Stir in raisins and walnuts. Beat egg whites in a mixer bowl until stiff but moist peaks form. Fold into oats mixture. Spoon into prepared dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Serve immediately with cream or heated milk. Do not discard the leftovers. This soufflé is just as tasty when cold and fallen.