MartianIceQueen's Cheesecake

Is it weird if just reading this makes me drool?

Crust:

• 3/4 C. all-purpose flour
• 3 T sugar
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
• 6 T butter
• 1 slightly beaten egg yolk
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

Combine first 3 ingredients; cut in butter till crumbly. Add egg yolk and vanilla; mix well. Pat 1/3 of dough on bottom of 8-inch springform pan (sides removed). Bake at 400 degrees ~ 7 min or until golden; cool. Butter sides of pan; attach to bottom. Pat remaining dough on sides of pan to height of 1 3/4 inches.

Filling:

• 3 8-oz packages cream cheese
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp grated lemon peel
• 1 C sugar
• 2 T flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 C milk

Let the cream cheese stand at room temperature to soften ( 1-1.5 hours). Beat until creamy; add vanilla and lemon peel. Mix sugar, flour, and salt; gradually blend into cheese. Add eggs and egg yolk all at once; beat until just blended. Gently stir in milk.

Turn into crust-lined pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake 55 minutes or until center appears set. Remove from oven; cool 15 minutes. Loosen sides of chesecake from pan with spatula. Cool 1/2 hour more; remove sides of pan. Cool 2 hours longer.

adharas' Kachumbar (salad)

adharas says that this makes a good side dish with the dhal and pita/naan/rice. And I believe it, for I trust her cooking/food judgment implicitly.

• ½ red onion
• 1-2 tomatoes
• ½ - 1 cuke
• ¼ c fresh cilantro
• Lemon juice
• Salt to taste

Chop the veggies really fine. Add the lemon juice and salt.

adharas' Dhal (for leftover Sambar)

You can freeze the leftover cooked tooar dahl from the sambar recipe, or you can make this! You can also make this with red lentils that you've cooked ahead of time.

• 1 onion chopped
• 1 tomato
• 1 green chili
• ½ t cumin seeds
• Dash turmeric
• Salt to taste

Heat oil or ghee. Add cumin seeds. Fry. Add veggies, fry till tomatoes are soft. Add dhal, salt turmeric. Serve with hot cooked rice. Or naan, or pita bread.

adharas' Curry

This curry is worthy of song and worship. adharas served bluelu & me the cabbage version and we went nuts. As did bluelu's adorable dog Paddy. The little minx chewed open tupperware to get to it. Really, it's just that good.

Vegetables that can be used:

• 1 lb French cut green beans or
• 6 cups shredded cabbage or
• 4 potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed with a fork while hot.

Spices:

• ½ t black mustard seeds
• 3 dried red chilies
• 10-12 curry leaves, more if desired, torn in half
• 3-5 T finely grated coconut
• 1 T vegetable oil

Heat oil over medium heat. Add mustard seeds and cover pan. When seeds pop, add the red chilis and curry leaves, stir 10-15 seconds, and veggies, salt, cover and cook. If there is water in the pan when the beans or cabbage is done, leave pan open, turn heat up, and stir continuously until it dries a bit. Add salt to taste. Stir in coconut. Done!!

adharas' Absolutely Divine Sambar

This is beyond delicious. This is happiness in a bowl. This is food nirvana. This is good enough that it makes putting up with Ed worthwhile.

• ¼ c Tamarind ( fruit, not instant paste)
• 2 medium red onions, sliced, and kept separate
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut into pieces

Spices:

• ¾ t fenugreek seeds
• 3 ½ T coriander seeds
• 1 ½ T yellow split peas, dry
• 12 pepper corns
• 4 dried red chilis, more if you like it hot, less if not
• ¼ c unsweetened coconut, either dried, or fresh. Not canned.
• ¾ t black mustard seeds
• ¼ t asafetida
• ¼ t turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 30 curry leaves, torn in half
• 1 ½ cups toor dhal, uncooked, rinsed and soaked for a few hours.

Bring the toor dhal to boil in a pot, with water to cover it, and cook until absolutely mushy. Add water as necessary, to make sure that the dhal does not absorb all water and go dry. It should be the consistency of a campbell’s soup when done. Nice and thick.

Soak tamarind in 2 cups hot water, overnight. Squeeze the pulp out, and strain the liquid into a bowl. (This little hint has been added exclusively for Eilan’s benefit).Add another ½ c water to the strained solids, and repeat smushing and straining. Discard the solids. Set tamarind liquid aside for 5 minutes, then decant to another bowl. Leave any grainy solids (remnants of fruit pod) at the bottom behind and discard. Discarded amount should be less than 1/3 cup.

Heat 1 t vegetable oil, in 4 quart pot. Add 1 sliced red onion to the oil. Saute until limp and starts turning brown. Remove from pot into a cup. Heat 1 t oil. Add the red chilis, fry 15-30 secs, add to onion. Heat another 1 t oil. Add fenugreek seeds, wait 15 secs, or until reddish brown, add coriander seeds and yellow split peas. Saute until spices turn color, light brown. Add peppercorns and coconut. Take off heat, stir a few secs so the coconut is fragrant, and add to onions. Let cool. Put in blender, with ½ c water, blend until quite finely ground.

Heat 1 T oil over medium heat, add mustard seeds. Cover pot. As soon as the popping subsides, add remaining red onion, green pepper, carrot, and sauté for 2 minutes or so. Add asafetida, turmeric, salt and tamarind liquid. Add curry leaves. Cover and let come to boil, lower heat slightly, leave the lid tilted slightly to release steam, and simmer, for a good 45 minutes.

Add 3 cups of the cooked dhal. Bring to a boil, and turn off heat.

Adjust salt as needed, and if the sambar is too heavy in consistency, add some boiling water to lighten it. It should be a soupy consistency. If too spicy, you can add more dhal into the sambar.

Serve with plain white cooked rice, and curry.

ersatzreality's Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

ersatz mentioned having this the other night. We immediately begged for the recipe, of course. Thanks, ersatz!

• 1 (4 pound) chicken, rinsed and patted dry
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 scant cup olive oil
• 2 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• 1 fresh thyme sprig
• 1 fresh sage sprig
• 1 Turkish bay leaf (or 1/2 California bay leaf)
• 1 celery rib
• 40 garlic cloves, peeled (from 3-4 heads)

Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 350.

Sprinkle chicken inside an dout with salt and pepper. Tie legs together with kitchen string and fold wings under chicken. Heat oil in a 6- to 8-quart heavy ovenproof pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Add chicken and sear, turning it carefully, until golden brown all over, about 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate.

Tie herbs and celery together with string to make a bouquet garni and add to pot (we usually skip the tying part and just toss 'em in). Scatter carlic over bottom of pot and put chicken breast side up on top of garlic. Cover tightly, transfer to overn, and bake, basting twice, until termometer inserted into thickest part of a thigh (without touching bone) registers 170 F, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let stand for 10 minutes; reserve pan juices.

Spread roasted garlic on toasts and cut chicken into serving pieces. Serve chicken drizzled with some pan juices.

We use baguette slices - mashing the garlic and oil into those is delicious. Usually also serve with buttered carrots.

sylph's Savvy Sauces

I was looking for things to do with a package of fillo dough, and went to the website of the manufacturer, Athens Foods. What I mostly found were recipes a little beyond my time and needs just now, yet I thought these sauces sounded great, and they could be used in a variety of dishes. If you try any of them, be sure to share what you thought of the process and end results in the comments field.

--the sylph

for a duck or pork dish:

BLUEBERRY SAUCE

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
3/4 cup dry red wine
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon crushed rosemary
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoons cold butter, cubed

In small saucepan, combine blueberries, wine, water, sugar and rosemary, Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 7 minutes. In small bowl stir cream and corn starch together until smooth. Purée and strain blueberry sauce, add cream mixture, bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and stir in butter until incorporated into sauce. Do not allow sauce to simmer after butter is added.


for smoked chicken:

ROASTED GARLIC CREAM

12 unpeeled cloves garlic
1 quart heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Place garlic on ungreased cookie sheet and roast in preheated 400ºF oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and soft. Peel and mash garlic. Add cream to saucepan with mashed garlic and simmer until reduced to 2 cups. Season with salt and pepper.


for a roast lamb salad--a roast leg of lamb is cut into strips and seasoned with garlic, thyme, and black pepper. You can toss it with this dressing and top mixed greens with it.

KONA COFFEE VINAIGRETTE

1/2 cup ground Kona coffee beans (or other robust coffee beans)
1/2 cup champagne vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 clove minced garlic
1 egg
1 cup walnut oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

In small saucepan, bring coffee and vinegar to a simmer. Remove from heat and let stand for 2 hours at room temperature. Strain through coffee filter. Pour coffee-flavored vinegar into food processor and add mustard, garlic and egg. Process 3 to 4 minutes. Slowly pour oil into running food processor. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Leftover vinaigrette can be used as a delicious and different salad dressing.

bibliosylph's Pupusas

sylph mentioned in the Hizzy tonight that she knew a lot about Latin American cooking, and I offered to be her slave for a good pupusa recipe. And she knew one! And sent it to me! And pretty much made my night! Causing me, clearly, to abuse exclamation points outrageously.

When I was a kid, I lived in El Salvador briefly where I fell in love with these. Living in the D.C. area for junior & high school, my family discovered a wonderful Salvadorean restaurant that made these. Madison has an almost dizzying wealth of diverse ethnic restaurants, but sadly, no place to get pupusas. In my opinion the curtido is the key. Pickled cabbage doesn't, perhaps, sound like the most palatable thing, but it's tangy & delicious & just makes these!

Pupusas

• 2 c. masa harina
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 c. hot tap water
• 8 oz grated queso asadero or crumbled queso fresco (asadero melts like the cheese we usually eat Mexican-style, and is milder than fresco.)
• Curtido (recipe follows) or a salsa that you like. (Or, try some of the shredded pork in the recipe below this one.)

Using your hands, mix the masa harina, salt and water in a bowl until the dough come together in a soft ball.**When preparing the masa, it's a good idea to add 1 cup of the hot water, then gradually add the rest as you mix it into a ball. If you need a little more, add a tablespoon at a time. You want the dough to be soft but not sticky. Divide dough into 8 golf ball size pieces. Cover with plastic wrap to keep moist. Place a corn dough ball in the center of a sheet of plastic wrap. Place another sheet over the dough and press down with the palm of your hand, flattening it to a 6 inch diameter circle. Remove top plastic wrap.

Put some cheese or 2 tbs of pork in center to within 1 inch of tortilla edge. Place a second ball between two plastic sheets and flatten to a 4 inch diameter circle. Remove plastic and place 4 inch tortilla on top of filling. Curl up edge of bottom tortilla around top tortilla and press edges together. Place plastic sheet over top tortilla and gently flatten, spreading cheese toward edge but making sure not to squeeze it out. Top and bottom tortillas should be both smooth when you're done. Repeat process for rest of balls.

Cook pupusa in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Pupusas should be crisp and lightly browned when done. Serve hot topped with curtido or salsa. Makes 4.

Green Chile Pork

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 pounds cubed pork stew meat (or some nice loin, if you like.)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 (4.5 ounce) can diced green chile peppers, drained (you can use 3 or 4 chopped roasted chiles instead.)
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 5 tablespoons tomato sauce
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• salt and black pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Stir in cubed pork, and cook until browned and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and allow to cool briefly. Once cool, remove & shred pork with a fork, then return to the pan.

Sprinkle flour over pork. With a wooden spoon, stir pork to coat, scraping the bottom of the skillet to loosen browned bits. Add chile peppers and onions. Stir in tomato sauce, garlic and water. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Return skillet to medium heat. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove cover, and cook 10 minutes more.

Curtido (Pickled Cabbage)

• 1 medium cabbage, shredded
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1 small red onion, sliced thin
• 4 cups cider vinegar
• 4 cups water
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves, crushed
• 2 teaspoons crushed red chile flakes
• 1 red bell pepper or 4 ajies dulces (sweet red peppers), sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon salt

Preparing the curtido: In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, carrots, onion, vinegar, water, oregano, chile flakes, red bell pepper, and salt until well mixed. Trasfer to a glass or plastic 1-gallon jar. Secure with the lid and agitate to mix well. Let marinate at least 1 day. Makes 1 gallon. This mixture will keep up to 1 month in the refrigerator.

Eilan's Crispy Potato Chicken

So, I was a total, shameless brat in the Hizzy earlier & it looks like I guilted poor Eilan into sending this recipe. I am sorry for my behavior, but not for getting this recipe! Proving that she's a woman after my own heart, Eilan writes: "I would use more cheese, but I always use more cheese. Also, you can combine the potatoes with the other stuff and roll the egg-coated chicken in all of it at once."

• 1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (3 1/2 to 4 pound) chicken, cut up and skin removed
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 cups mashed potato flakes
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 375*F (190*C). In a large zip-lock style plastic bag, combine first five ingredients. Add chicken in batches; shake to coat. In a shallow bowl, beat eggs and water. Dip chicken in egg mixture, then coat with potato flakes. Pour butter into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan; add chicken. Bake for 30 minutes; turn chicken and bake for another 30 minutes or until juices run clear.

Serves 4 to 6.

bluelucia's New Year's Eve Feta Spread

bluelu sent this wonderful recipe to me -- mmmmm, feta... And if you read her notes below you'll discover a fiendish secret!

• 1 (6 ounce) package feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 ounces sun-dried tomatoes, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 cup chopped black olives, drained

In a food processor, place the feta cheese, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and oregano. Using the pulse setting, blend the mixture until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl. Blend in the olives by hand or with a spoon. Refrigerate until serving.

Be a little ginger with the lemon juice -- the spread gets tart fast. I also like to add more olives than this, cuz I'm an olive fiend. And last time I added some fresh basil, which was lovely.