a little of each

A family's cookbook

Pink Ladies May 15, 2013

Filed under: Drinks — alittlemoreofeach @ 2:44 pm
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This refreshingly delicious drink is served at Savannah’s Pink House. Stephanie and her sister-in-law, Kim Stratton, walked all over Savannah for the ingredients and spent an hour in their hotel room perfecting the ratio of the ingredients. It was tough work, but so worth it.

Ingredients
Absolut Raspberry Vodka
Raspberry lemonade
Fresh raspberries
Fancy ice

Directions

Mix in an ice-filled glass or pitcher, four parts lemonade to one part vodka.  Add fresh raspberries to the glass as an edible garnish.

 

Perfect White Sangria

Filed under: Drinks — alittlemoreofeach @ 2:39 pm
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This sangria is so delicious, it became Emily and Jeff’s signature cocktail at their wedding in October 2012.

white sangria

Ingredients

4 ounces brandy
6 ounces Monin White Sangria Mix*
1 bottle Pinot Grigio
Slices of oranges, lemons, and limes
Fancy ice (in a bag)

Directions

Fill a pitcher with ice.  Add all ingredients and stir.  Pour into ice-filled glasses and garnish with fresh citrus slices.  Serves four (or one in Stephanie’s case).

*If you cannot find the Monin mix, make a simple syrup with equal parts sugar and water, and add a couple cinnamon sticks for flavor.

 

Special Raspberry Lemonade

Filed under: Drinks — alittlemoreofeach @ 2:31 pm
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special raspberry lemonade

Ingredients

1 ounce Bacardi Limon
1 ounce Chambord (raspberry liqueur)
3 ounces fresh squeeze lemonade

 

Directions
Fill a martini shaker with ice.  Add all ingredients and shake well.  Pour into a Champagne flute or martini glass.  Serve immediately.  Makes one.  Caution:  these go down too easy!

 

(But I Don’t Like) Pimento Cheese

Filed under: Appetizers,Sandwiches — alittlemoreofeach @ 2:23 pm
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Adapted from a recipe from the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.

Ingredients

8 oz block white cheddar, shredded
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 – 4 oz chopped pimento (depending how much you like or dislike the red stuff)
1 – 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Mix all the ingredients together, by hand or with a mixer.  Chill.  bring to room temp before serving.  Serve on thinly sliced pieces of sour dough bread, toasted if desired.  Can also be used as a sandwich spread, with crackers, on top of a hamburger, in grilled cheese, and as a facial masque.  (Just kidding about the last one.)

 

Biltmore Macaroni and Cheese

Filed under: Main Dishes,Pasta and Grains — alittlemoreofeach @ 2:18 pm
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While Stephanie is not a big fan of macaroni and cheese, she does like this rich version adapted from a Biltmore recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup shredded Gouda cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs

Directions

Place cooked macaroni into a baking dish.  In a sauce pan, heat cream and add Gouda and half of the Parmesan.  Whisk vigorously over low heat, making sure the bottom does not scorch.  When cheese is melted into cream, pour mixture over macaroni.  Sprinkle Panko and rest of Parmesan cheese on top and bake at 350 for 20 minutes until golden brown.  Serves four.

 

Sunday Gravy

Filed under: Pasta and Grains — alittlemoreofeach @ 2:15 pm
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Ingredients
4 Tablespoons Vegetable oil
1 Large onion, diced
2 Tablespoons fresh basil chopped & divided
5 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped or 4 tsp. dried oregano
3 28 oz. cans plum tomatoes
3 28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
3 1/2 cups water
6 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 lb sweet Italian sausage links
1 lb uncooked meatballs

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large stockpot for 30 seconds. Add onion and saute for 3 minutes, Add 1 Tbl. basil, garlic, and oregano. Saute for 1 minute.

2. Add tomatoes, water, sugar and salt. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and add sausage and meatballs if desired.

3. Simmer for 3 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally to make sure nothing sticks to the pot. Remove the meats to a platter. Stir in remaining  basil. Taste and add salt if needed.

4. Serve over pasta, adding meats and topping with Parmesan cheese, if  desired.

 

Smoky Spanish Chicken April 2, 2013

Filed under: Main Dishes — alittlemoreofeach @ 10:23 am
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According to Emily:
This recipe has very unassuming origins (the Philadelphia Cream Cheese cookbook, which my mom gave me after finding it on sale somewhere), but is delicious and very easy to make.  Last year, during my LL.M. program, my roommate and I made it at least once a month, and it always receives rave reviews from anyone who tries it.  Generally, I pair it with mashed potatoes and veggies, but rice (yellow, brown, or white) is also a good alternative.

From the Kraft website.

Ingredients
1 Tbsp. oil
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)
1 large onion, slivered
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbl flour
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup cream cheese
2 Tbl chopped fresh chives

Directions
Heat half the oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 to 4 min. on each side or until browned on both sides. Remove from skillet.

Heat remaining oil in skillet on medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook and stir 5 min. or until crisp-tender. Stir in flour and paprika; cook and stir 1 min. Add broth and tomatoes. Return chicken to skillet; cover. Simmer 15 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF).

Add cream cheese spread; cook 2 to 3 min. or until melted, stirring frequently. Stir in chives.

 

Citrus, Mango, Avocado Salad March 27, 2013

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.

 

Chick Pea Nuts January 2, 2013

Filed under: Appetizers — alittlemoreofeach @ 1:56 pm
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3 cups cooked and dried chick peas
2 Tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon paprika
2 Tablespoons olive oil
cooking spray

In a large bowl coat the chick peas with the flour, salt, paprika, and olive oil. Place them on baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400 F for 20-30 minutes until brown and crunchy.

Alternate or additional spices include cayenne pepper, chili powder, and cumin.

 

chickpea