Monday, February 18, 2008

Parmesan Orzo

Parmesan Orzo

1 tbls. Butter
1 cup orzo pasta
2 ½ cups chicken broth or water
¼ cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Brown orzo in butter, add broth and simmer until broth is absorbed by pasta, add cheese salt & pepper. Other additions, sun-dried tomatoes, pinenuts, basil.

Brown Sugar Steak

Brown Sugar Steak

¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
½ cup chicken or beef broth
¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
¼ cup Dijon mustard
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 (2 pound) flank steak, trimmed (I've also used London broil steak)
Cooking spray
½ tsp cornstarch

Marinate steak in sauce overnight. Remove steak from marinade and reserve marinade. Grill steak or cook in heavy bottomed skillet coated with cooking spray. Pour marinade into a small saucepan and whisk in ½ tsp cornstarch. Cook over medium heat until thickened.

Serve with potatoes, rice or my favorite parmesan orzo (1 tbls. Butter, 1 cup orzo pasta, 2 ½ cups chicken broth or water, ¼ cup parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste – brown orzo in butter, add broth and simmer until broth is absorbed by pasta, add cheese salt & pepper. Other additions, sun-dried tomatoes, pinenuts, basil).

Spanokopita

Spanokopita

1/2 cup olive oil
1 bunch chopped scallions, white and green parts
2 (10 ounce) boxes frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (I usually use about 1 teaspoon dried)
3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
7 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
40 sheets (1 box) frozen phyllo dough (defrosted overnight in the refrigerator)
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
½ cup plain dry breadcrumbs (I usually use Italian flavored bread crumbs)

Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and add the scallions. Cook 5 minutes or until soft. Meanwhile, squeeze most of the water out of the spinach and place it in a bowl. Add the scallions, dill, eggs, feta, salt, and pepper and mix together.

Keep the phyllo dough sheets covered with a damp kitchen towel. Unfold 1 sheet of the phyllo dough. Brush the sheet with melted butter and sprinkle with a few breadcrumbs. Repeat the process by laying a second sheet of phyllo dough over the first sheet, brush it with melted butter and sprinkle with breadcrumbs until you have used 10 sheets. Spoon ¾ cup of the spinach mixture into a sausage shape along one edge of the phyllo dough. Roll it up. Brush the top with butter and score the roll into 1-inch rounds. Place it on an oiled baking sheet. Repeat until all the pastry and filling have been used.

Place in a 400º oven and bake for 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Serve warm.

*My only major modification to this recipe is that I like to make the Spanokopita into triangle shapes. To do this, I follow the same method as above but only use 5 sheets of phyllo. Once you have the last sheet down, butter it and then cut all the sheets into four equal strips (cutting from long edge to long edge of the dough). Then place about 1 tablespoon of the spinach filling in the corner of one of the strips and then fold up flag style to create the triangle. Brush the top with butter and sprinkle with a few breadcrumbs then bake as listed above.

Strawberry Romaine Salad

Strawberry Romaine Salad – Hillary Stern

1 large romaine lettuce
1 head Boston (also called Butter) lettuce
1 pt. fresh strawberries, sliced
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese
½ cup broken walnuts

Tear lettuce into bite sized pieces. Combine slices strawberries, cheese
and walnuts. Just before serving, toss with dressing.

Dressing:
1 cup vegetable oil
¾ cup sugar
½ cup red wine vinegar
2 tsp. garlic, minced
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. paprika (for color)
½ tsp. pepper

*I usually use a raspberry vinegar in the dressing instead of red wine vinegar and add raspberries and cashews instead of the strawberries and walnuts.  It's good both ways.

Acini Salad

Acini Salad

1 package Acini pasta, cooked al dente
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoon flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¾ cup pineapple juice (usually have enough from the cans of pineapple chunks)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cans mandarin oranges
2 cans pineapple chunks or tidbits
9 oz. Cool Whip

Cook acini and drain pasta. In a saucepan whisk together sugar, flour, and salt to avoid lumps. Add pineapple juice.  Cook until thick then remove from heat and add lemon juice. Set aside to cool. Pour sauce over cooked acini and place in refrigerator overnight. Add fruit and cool whip.

Hash Brown Casserole

Hash Brown Casserole


1 26-ounce bag frozen country-style hash browns
2 cups shredded Colby cheese
½ cup minced onion
1 cup milk
½ cup beef stock or canned broth
2 Tbls butter, melted
Dash garlic powder
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425º. Combine the frozen hash browns, cheese, and onion in a large bowl. Combine the milk, beef broth, half the melted butter, the garlic powder, salt, and pepper in another bowl. Mix until well blended, then pour the mixture over the hash browns and mix well. Heat the remaining butter in a large ovenproof skillet over high heat. When the skillet is hot, spoon in the hash brown mixture. Cook the hash browns, stirring occasionally, until all of the cheese has melted (about 7 minutes). Put the skillet into the oven and bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until the surface of the hash browns is dark brown.

*I usually saute the onions in the butter and then just combine everything in a large casserole dish (I skip the cooking of potatoes and cheese in the skillet). If you do this, just make sure you stir the potatoes about every 20 minutes in the oven so the milk mixture doesn't burn on the bottom.

Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple and Tropical Salsa and Vanilla Syrup

Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple and Tropical Salsa

Salsa:
2 tablespoons flaked sweetened coconut
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
2 peeled ripe mangoes, chopped
1 pint strawberries, chopped

French toast:
1 cup egg substitute
1 cup light coconut milk
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 (16-ounce) loaf French bread, cut into 16 slices
Cooking spray

Remaining ingredients:
1 medium pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut crosswise into 8 slices
Powdered sugar (optional)

To prepare salsa, combine first 4 ingredients; cover and chill.

Preheat oven to 400°.

To prepare French toast, combine egg substitute and next 6 ingredients (egg substitute through eggs) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Place bread in egg mixture; press down with spatula to completely submerge bread in egg mixture. Let stand 15 minutes.
Arrange soaked bread in a single layer on a jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until set. Remove from oven, and keep warm. While bread bakes; heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Arrange 4 pineapple slices in pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until pineapple begins to brown. Remove from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining pineapple and cooking spray. Arrange 2 toast pieces on each of 8 plates; top each serving with 1 pineapple slice and 1/2 cup salsa. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Yield: 8 servings

*I usually don't make the salsa with this recipe. I make a fruit salsa with 1 pint strawberries, 1 small can mandarin oranges, and 1 kiwi and use a hand chopper or food processor to chop until salsa consistency. Then I serve it with this syrup:

Vanilla Syrup
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter
½ cup buttermilk (or sour milk*)
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a saucepan, boil sugar, butter, buttermilk and baking soda about 1 minute. Mix in vanilla.

Apricot Pound Cake

Apricot Pound Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups sugar
1 cup butter or margarine -- softened
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup apricot nectar
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
6 eggs
1 jar apricot preserves -- (12 ounces)
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt cake pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl with a hand mixer at low, beat all ingredients except preserves and lemon juice for about 30 seconds. Scrape bowl frequently. Turn mixer to high and beat for about 2 minutes. Pour into pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center. Cool on a rack for 20 minutes, then remove from pan. Cool thoroughly.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine preserves and lemon juice. Cook, stirring occasionally, until preserves have melted. Cool to lukewarm. Spoon half of the preserves mixture over the cake. Serve with remaining preserves and top with whipped cream, if desired.
Serves 12 to 15.

Apricot Glazed Pork

Apricot Glazed Pork

1/2 cup apricot preserves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (3-pound) boneless pork loin, trimmed
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425°.
Add 1 tablespoon water to preserves and melt in microwave for a few seconds.
Combine salt, oregano, garlic powder, and pepper; rub evenly over pork (I doubled the spice rub in case you needed more). Place pork on a rack coated with cooking spray; place rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes. Brush 1/4 cup preserves evenly over pork. Bake an additional 10 minutes. Brush remaining preserves evenly over pork. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until thermometer registers 155° (slightly pink). Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.
*I usually put a cup or two of chicken broth in the roasting pan. I think it helps keep the pork moist and also makes a really good sauce to pour over the pork.

Orange Glazed Blueberry Scones

Orange Glazed Blueberry Scones

2 cups unbleached flour, plus more for rolling berries
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut in chunks
3/4 cup buttermilk or cream
1 egg
1 pint fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar; mix thoroughly. Cut in butter using 2 forks or a pastry blender. The butter pieces should be coated with flour and resemble crumbs.
In another bowl, mix buttermilk and egg together, and then add to the flour mixture. Mix just to incorporate, do no overwork the dough.
Roll blueberries in flour to coat, this will help prevent the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the scone when baked. Fold the blueberries into batter, being careful not to bruise. Drop large tablespoons of batter on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until brown. Cool before applying orange glaze.
Orange Glaze: 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted 2 oranges, juiced and zested
To prepare Orange Glaze: combine butter, sugar, orange zest, and juice over a double boiler. Cook until butter and sugar are melted and mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and beat until smooth and slightly cool. Drizzle or brush on top of scones and let glaze get hazy and hardened.
*I usually only make 1/4 of the glaze and just use the microwave to melt the butter then add juice and powdered sugar.

Twice-Baked Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Twice-Baked Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Serves 8

4 sweet potatoes, unpeeled (can use yellow or dark orange flesh sweet potatoes)
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 Vidalia or other sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small bunch fresh collard greens, stems and ribs removed and leaves torn into bite-sized pieces (about 3 cups) *I've left this out before and they taste great or I've also used spinach
2/3 cup chicken stock
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup heavy cream
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
½ cup shredded Swiss cheese (I used Gruyere)

Preheat oven to 350º. Using the tines of a fork, pierce the entire surface of each sweet potato several times. Place in the oven and bake until soft, 1-1 ¼ hours. Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and let cool until they can be handled. Cut each potato in half lengthwise and, using a spoon, carefully scoop out the flesh from each half into a bowl, leaving about a ¼-inch lining of flesh in the skins to form shells with sturdy sides. Set the flesh and the shells aside separately.

In a frying pan over medium-high heat, combine the bacon, onion, and garlic and fry until the bacon is crisp and brown and the onion is soft, 8-10 minutes. Add the collard greens and the chicken stock to the pan, cover, and cook stirring occasionally, until the collards are tender, about 10 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the stock has evaporated, 5-7 minutes.

Add the rosemary to the sweet potato flesh and, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat until smooth. Add the butter, cream and Parmesan cheese and continue to beat. Season with salt and pepper. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the contents of the frying pan to the mashed potatoes and fold until well combined.

Divide the mixture evenly among the 8 potato shells, mounding it slightly in the center. Place the stuffed potatoes on a ungreased baking sheet and top evenly with the Swiss cheese.

Bake potatoes until the cheese is melted and the potatoes are heated through, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a platter and serve at once.

Super Soft Sugar Cookies

Super Soft Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter or margarine (softened)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp baking powder
5 to 6 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt

Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and sour cream-- beat well with vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Mix until combined.

(The dough gets really thick. Keep adding flour until you can make the dough into a ball that sticks to itself more than it sticks to the bowl or your floured hands.)

Roll on floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter and place on buttered cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges. Cookies should be large, soft and thick!