Martian's Green Bean & Tomato Salad

Martian sent us a recipe! And it sounds lovely. She writes: The original recipe called for twice as much oil and vinegar, but it was too much for my taste. But others may prefer it that way.

• 1 pkg strawberry tomatoes (cherry would be good, too)
• some green beans
• a large handfull of chopped herbs: mint, parsley, basil
• garlic clove, chopped
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/2 T balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper

Cut tomatoes in half and place in large bowl. Cook the green beans in boiling water to your preferred doneness, drail well and add to tomatoes. In a separate bowl, mix remaining ingredients. Pour over beans and tomatoes...let sit a little bit so the beans absorb the dressing flavors. It is yummy warm or cold.

NorthenLass's Teriyaki Salmon Ramen

NorthenLass posted a picture of this dish that she took after making it recently. I drooled all over my computer & electrocuted myself. Then, I did my usual begging shctick & she sent me the recipe. NorthenLass warned that she doesn't so much measure & it changes a bit each time she makes it - since that's how many of us here cook, I assured her it would be fine.

• Salmon fillets
• Onions, chopped finely
• Garlic, chopped finely
• Red chiles or jalapenos, chopped finely
• Ginger, chopped or grated
• Cilantro, chopped
• Assorted vegetables (see below)
• Bouillon or stock cube
• Chinese five spice
• Teriyaki sauce
• Sweet chili sauce
• Soy sauce
• Fish sauce
• Soba noodles

Marinade salmon fillets in Teriyaki sauce (for as long as possible)

Sautee finely chopped onion, garlic, red chilies (or jalapeños), ginger and coriander (cilantro) stalks in a large wok.

Roughly chop (or leave whole if not too big) any vegetables you want. E.g: Red bell pepper, Mushrooms (e.g chanterelle, portabella, shiitake, whatever floats your boat really), Sugar snap peas, Bok Choy (and/or spinach)

Put boiling water into the wok. Crumble in a stock cube. Add to taste: Chinese five spice, Teriyaki sauce, sweet chili sauce (if you like it hot, normal chili sauce) fish sauce, soy sauce.

Grill (or fry in a pan with a lid) the salmon.

While the fish is cooking add the vegetables to the water. If you are using spinach rather than bok choy, add it later, i.e. a few of minutes before you are ready to serve.

Boil up some more water to cook the soba noodles in (should take about 5 minutes).

Drain the noodles and then you are ready to serve up the bowls.

Put the noodles into the bottom of the bowl. Add the vegetables and soup. Then place the salmon on top (remove the skin first). Sprinkle with coriander and finely chopped chilies.

As side dishes have bean sprouts, mint and limes.

Goldrush Girl's Carmelised Onion & Sausages

I begged for this recipe and Goldrush Girl kindly (& wisely) obliged. She also began it with a confession that proves she's one of us (one of us, one of us): I should confess, my dear Britomart, that there is not an actual recipe as such. I don't hold with following recipes because I don't like being MADE TO OBEY INSTRUCTIONS. But this is what I cobbled together, and it goes really well with very good quality butcher-made English sausages, which should be browned in a frying pan then oven-cooked till nice and crispy. All amounts are entirely up to you.

Chop an onion or two into chunks (rather than slices). Melt a bit of butter in a lidded saucepan and throw the onion in. Put the lid on and turn the heat down very low. Leave for 20 or 30 minutes. You can sprinkle a little soft brown sugar on it if desired. Occasionally you can shake the pan around a bit, or give it a little a scrape if it starts to burn, but it's best if the onion sort of sticks to the bottom of the pan a little bit.

When the onion's deliciously soft and brown and sweet-smelling (with luck, this will be the same time as the sausages are ready), scoop some lovely thick creme fraiche into the saucepan along with as much wholegrain mustard as you desire, and a bit of freshly-ground black pepper. Stir together... the onion juices are divine with the creme fraiche.

Plop some of the sauce on your plate with the sausages. A vegetable or two would be good (braised fennel works well) and maybe a starch (mash, or mashed sweet potatoes, even better). The other day I had it with a beetroot salad on the side, and that was lovely.

Britomart's Baingan Bharta

I'm apparently going through an eggplant phase. And Martian emailed me about making this last night. As I was in a hotel at the time with no access to a kitchen or Indian food, I was quite miffed & rather petulantly jealous. I remedied the situation tonight. Anyway, this turned out to be absolutely lovely!

Note: from emails with adharas tonight, this isn't the same as hers (and I'll get a full recipe of her version to post in here because she is a cook of astonishing talent), but it's awfully damn yummy.

• 1 large eggplant
• 2 medium sized onions, minced
• 1 small tomato
• 4-5 green chilies, minced (to taste, depending on your tolerance for spiciness!)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 inch piece of ginger, grated finely
• small pinch of garam masala powder
• small bunch of cilantro, chopped finely
• salt
• 2 tbsp ghee (or oil)
• 2 tsp black mustard seeds
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp asafetida (available at Indian stores)
• ½ C yogurt

Roast eggplant in oven at 475 F for around 45 minutes. After half an hour, or when the skin of eggplant loosens up from the inner flesh, insert a knife and check if the inner portion of eggplant has turned soft. Remove from oven & cut eggplant open to help cool.

Once it’s cooled, peel the skin off the eggplant and scrape out the inner flesh of the eggplant. Scoop out black seeds, if any. Mash it with a spatula or chop coarsely.

Heat ghee/oil in a pan. When it's hot, add mustard seeds. As they pop, add asafoetida and turmeric powder. Add chilies, onions, garlic & ginger and fry till onions are browned. Add tomatoes and again fry till the oil separates from the mixture. Add mashed eggplant and give it a good stir.

Add garam masala powder and salt. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in yogurt, and serve with any Indian bread or rice.

blue artemis' Clafoutis

Okay, so I've never even heard of this dish, nor am I sure I'm even pronouncing it correctly. Regardless, I rather desperately want to eat this. Right. Now. blue artemis writes: This recipe came from the LA Times Food section a few years ago. Of course, I usually stick in in the fridge and eat it for breakfast, but that is me.

• 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of firm but ripe apricots, cut in half if small, quartered if large and pitted
• 2 tablespoons peach or apricot brandy (I usually use 3)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 6 to 8 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 3 eggs
• 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped or 1/2
• teaspoon vanilla extract
• salt
• 2/3 cup sifted unbleached or all purpose flour
• butter for greasing
• powdered sugar for dusting

Toss apricots with brandy, lemon juice and 3 tablespoons granulated sugar in bowl. Let sit 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Drain liquid from apricots and combine with milk and yogurt. Beat eggs with vanilla, and rest of sugar (3 to 5 tablespoons depending on sweetness of fruit) and a dash of salt. Beat together. Slowly beat in flour, then mild mixture. Mix together well.

Arrange apricots in greased 10 or 10 1/2 ceramic tart dish or clafoutis dish,rounded side up. Pour in batter.

Bake at 400 degrees until top is browned, and clafoutis is firm, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly on rack. Use powdered sugar to dust. Serve warm.

Britomart's Eggplant Delight

As adharas has cruelly left us on her extended vacation in India, I was stuck surfing the web for Indian dishes with eggplant. I found this & enjoy it muchly. A number of recipes on this site looked yummy, so check it out. I have altered this one a bit and changed some of the instructions because that's just who I am.

• 2 medium-sized eggplants (or 6-7 little eggplants)
• I tbsp ghee or vegetable oil
• 1 medium-sized onion, diced
• 2 small tomatoes - diced
• 2- 3 green chilies - minced
• 3/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 2 tsp salt
• small piece of ginger - washed & diced
• small bunch of chopped cilantro leaves

Wash eggplants and poke them with a knife. Bake for about an hour & a half at 350F. Eggplants are done when they've collapsed and look quite wretched.

In a blender, put the tomatoes, salt, green chilies, garam masala, black pepper and ginger and puree them.

Heat oil in a skillet & add onions and tumeric. Fry them for 4 - 5 minutes until the onions turn slightly brownish.

Remove the eggplants from the oven, slice open & let cool. Peel eggplant skin & mash or chop the lovely eggplant innards. Add the eggplant to the onions & the blended mixture aND cook over low heat for 5 - 7 minutes, stirring often.

Just before removing it from heat, add lemon juice and stir in cilantro.

valosin's Moscow Mule

valosin made me this drink once! I can vouch that it is divinely delish.

• 2oz vodka
• 1oz fresh lime juice
• Ginger beer (This can be hard to find. Ginger ale will work ok, but ginger beer is darker, a litte sweeter, and more intense. It adds a lot to the drink).

Combine ingredients over ice in a highball glass. Garnish with a slice of lime.

sylph's Mock Sangria

Mix together 1 cup of orange juice, 1 cup of lemon juice, and 1 cup of sugar. Add 8 cups of grape juice--the 100% kind, not the cocktail. Chill this, then just before serving, pour it into a punch bowl with an ice ring or just a bunch of ice, add 2 cups of chopped fruit, which you can buy already done, and then add 4 cups of club soda. That will make 16 servings.

invisible girl's Sherbet Punch

Ducklet asked for punch recipes for a shower... I stole them for the recipe blog.

• Sherbet (raspberry, orange, whatever your pleasure!)
• Equal parts ginger ale & pineapple juice

Mix together for a nice fruity, frothy, spritzy punch!

Note from Britomart: I've had this punch with vodka, too. Yummy!

blue artemis' Chicken & Potato Enchiladas

blue artemis made these in her weekly cookfest this weekend. I thought they sounded wonderful, so asked for a recipe. Thank you, ba! She does warn that this is one of the approximate recipes - it was one she learned from her grandmother, so exact measurements were never involved. (In my opinion, these types of recipes always ended up being the best.)

• Chicken (can be leftover from baking or stew or something) shredded.
• Potatoes
• Green (tomatillo) salsa (TJ's works fine)
• If you want, a can of French cut green beans
• Cheese (either queso ranchero or jack or mozzarella)
• corn tortillas
• Oil for frying

Peel and chop the potatoes into little pieces. Using a non-stick frying pan, cook them (with a little oil) and some seasoned salt, until they are soft. Once they are cooked, throw in the shredded chicken and mix.

You will then need two small frying pans, in one, heat oil for frying, in the second, heat the salsa. Take your tortillas (unheated) and fry them, one at a time, until they are kind of golden, but not fried to a crisp, they should still be bendy. Then take them (one at a time) and dip them in the heated salsa. (Basically, fry them enough that they don't fall apart when you do it, but not enough to make tostadas).

Put your tortilla on a plate, then use a bit of the chicken and potato mixture to fill, throw on some shredded cheese and a bit of the green beans (if you want them), and roll your enchilada. Top with a bit more sauce and shredded cheese. Make as many as you want (or have enough chicken and tortillas for).

BeachBum's Gin of Mellow Delight

• Pour 1.5 ounches Tanqueray over crushed ice.
• Add tonic to taste.
• Squeeze many lime wedges, then drop in glass.
• Drink.
• Sigh with mellow delight.

Britomart's Pink Grapefruit Margarita

As I babbled about in the Hizzy, I recently had the most divine grapefruit margarita in a restaurant on Bainbridge Island. After much dedicated experimentation, I offer this recipe!

• 1 part tequila
• 3/4 part fresh-squeezed pink or red grapefruit juice
• slices of fresh red or pink grapefruit
• 3/4 part Cointreau
• 1/4 part fresh lime juice
• dash of seltzer water*
• coarse salt

Mix all of the ingredients (except the salt!). Rub a slice of grapefruit around the outside edge of a glass, then dip the glass into the salt. Add ice to the glass and pour in the mixed margarita ingredients. Garnish with the grapefruit slice.

* I'm a huge fan of champagne margaritas and was thinking earlier that a dash of champagne, instead of seltzer, would be delicious indeed.

adharas' Lime (or Lemon) Rice

Best recipe EVAH for leftover rice. This is soooo good. And soooo easy to make. And when mujer stayed with me recently, we discovered that this was fantastic middle of the night drunken munchy food.

• 3 handfuls of old, cooked rice - preferably a day old (leftover rice from Chinese food is perfect!)
  
• About 2 TBSP Oil or Ghee
• Small handful of yellow split peas
• 1 green chili (whole)
• 1 TBSP mustard seeds
• 1/8 tsp asafetida (powdery spice available at Indian grocery stores)
• tumeric to taste (1 teaspoon or so)
• Juice from 1-2 limes (or lemon)

Heat oil at medium heat, add mustard seeds and cover pan. Once the mustard seeds are done popping, add the split peas and fry until golden brown. Add the whole green chili (you can cut in half or quarters if you'd like this spicier), the asafetida & salt to taste. Turn off heat and add rice, breaking it up well. Add lime juice and stir in well.

Let it sit of for a couple minutes and taste, adjusting lime & salt as needed.

adharas' Dal Be-Aab

When I stayed with her the other weekend, adharas made this for me and it is so divine. You'll be in danger of addiction. I know I am.

• 1 ½ c black urad dhal, available only in Indian store, and make sure it’s whole black, the white one will result in mushy mess.
• 1 t turmeric
• 1 t red chili powder
• Salt
• 2 T butter/ ghee/ oil (ghee gives best flavor)
• 1 ¾ t cumin seeds
• 2/3 c onions, chopped
• Green chilis, according to taste
  
• 1 T ginger, chopped
• 2 t garam masala
• ½ c tomatoes, chopped
• 2 T cilantro
• ¼ c lemon juice (not lime)
• 1 t ginger paste
• 1 t garlic paste

Wash lentils in running water and boil in approx 6 c water, with turmeric, red chilies powder and salt until cooked. You can make it dry, or as liquid as you want.

Melt ghee in pan, add cumin, sauté until it begins to crackle, and add onions, gr chilis, ginger, sauté until onions are light brown. Add dal, reduce heat, stir few minutes. Add garam masala, tomatoes, cilantro, lemon juice. Cook few minutes. If too thin, just let it cook for a while, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Add ginger garlic pastes, stir & cook for a few minutes.

Britomart's MadCon Blue Cheese Dip

I threw this together for Misa since she's a fellow blue cheese nut. It ended up being a hit with many. I was worried, in fact, that if I didn't post it soon, valeriel would do me harm! I'm kinda embarrassed to even share it because it is soooo ridiculously simple. Everything else I made for MadCon was, of course, ludicrously complicated and took days to make. ::snort::

Oh, the only accurate measurement is the cream cheese. And, actually, I think I used part of another package, so um, yeah. I think this is pretty close, though. Just keep tasting.

• 8 oz package of cream cheese (room temperature)
• 2-4 oz Maytag blue cheese (room temperature)
• 1 1/2 C raw pecans
• 2 TBSP butter (melted)
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop pecans coarsely and drizzle with melted butter, making sure all the pecan pieces are evenly coated. Lightly salt pecans and bake for approximately 8 minutes (check a couple times to make sure that they're not getting too brown.)

In a bowl, mush cream cheese and blue cheese together with a fork. Taste to make sure you have the desired amount of blue cheese. (I recommend you add the blue cheese incrementally so that the dip doesn't become too strong.)

Once they've cooled a bit, put pecans in food processor - if you have one of those wee, adorable ones, that's best. Grind until they're as small as they can be. (If you don't have a food processor, or don't feel like using it, you could just chop the bejeezus out of them until they're very fine.)

Stir pecan mixture into cheese mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

MartianIceQueen's Fruit Compote/Sauce Thingy

Martian threw this together a couple weeks ago & served over angel food cake. Appropriately, it sounds divine...

Cut up some rhubarb (I used 3 stalks), add some sugar (I used about 2/3 cup), some powdered clove and cinnamon, two handfuls of dried cherries, and some orange juice (not quite covering the amount of rhubarb). Simmer until tender. Slice about 2 pints of strawberries, and stir into the rhubarb mixture (once you've taken it off the stove). Cover and chill in the fridge. It turns a really lovely color, and is tart-sweet.

valeriel's Asparagus and Cherry Tomato Salad

val doesn't love me enough to email me recipes anymore, but it sounds delicious, so I worked through my pain and posted it.

Here are her notes about the recipe: If you use cherry tomatoes, cut them in half. The key with a salad like this is to make all the pieces bite-sized or smaller.

Using asparagus with more slender stalks is recommended. Thicker stalks are tougher and can give your salad a “woody” taste.

This salad is very fresh-tasting, so using fresh ingredients is best, but using regular salt, pepper and lemon juice won’t hurt the end results.

Doubling the recipe is recommended for potlucks or any large group. You won’t have any leftover, I promise!

Once you have your serving of salad, sprinkle the top with a pinch of kosher salt. It really brings out the flavors!

• 1 lb. asparagus
• 1 pint cherry (or grape) tomatoes
• ½ red onion, finely diced
• 3 T capers, drained
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 T olive oil
• 1 ½ T red wine vinegar
• 1 T fresh lemon juice
• Kosher salt, plus extra for sprinkling
• Freshly ground black pepper

Trim the tips from the asparagus, about 1 ½ inches in lengths. Cut the woody stem ends from each spear and discard. Cut the remaining stalks into 1 ½ inch pieces.

In a medium pot, bring three cups of water to boil. Add the asparagus and blanch until tender, 1-1 ½ minutes. Remove with a strainer, and refresh in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process. Drain and put into a large bowl.

Add the tomatoes, onion, capers and garlic. Toss with olive oil, vinegar and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

adharas' Asparagus Soup

adharas reported in the Hizzy that she made this soup & pronounced it delicious. Enjoy!

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 cup sliced shallots (about 6 large)
• 2 pounds asparagus, trimmed, cut into 2-inch lengths
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 14-ounce cans vegetable broth

• 1/4 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots; sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add asparagus and coriander; stir 1 minute. Add vegetable broth and simmer until asparagus is tender, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly. Working in batches, puree soup in blender. Strain into same pan, pressing on solids to release liquid. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Stir crème fraîche, lemon juice, and lemon peel in small bowl. Divide soup among bowls. Top with dollop of lemon crème fraîche and serve.

valosin's Sesame Pork Loin

valosin emailed this to me last week! I somehow lost it in my inbox. Thank god she said something about it in the Hizzy! You know I'm stressed when I'm missing recipes... Anyway, valosin writes: I mentioned this recipe to sylph and I told her I'd send it to you to put up on the blog. It's from the Joy of Cooking.

Mix:

• 1/4c Soy sauce
• 1/4c Hoisin sauce
• 1/4c honey
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp peeled, grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp minced garlic

Trim 2 pork tenderloins (~12 oz each). Place the tenderloins in a heavy plastic bag. Add marinade and turn to coat evenly. Refrigerate for 2 to 24 hrs.

Spread 1/2 c sesame seeds on a plate.

Remove meat from the marinade and drain the excess. Roll in the seeds to coat. Place in a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Roast at 500 F until an instant read thermometer reads 150 to 155 F (20 to 25 min). Let the pork stand, loosely covered with foil for 5 to 10 min (the temp will rise 5 degrees or so), then slice. Serve with rice and stir-fried vegetables.

SaraWolfe's Bourbon-Glazed Peach Chutney Ham

Sara told us in the Hizzy how wonderful this recipe is, then kindly shared it! Thanks, Sara!

• 6-7 lb bone-in shank portion smoked ham
• 12 oz peach preserves
• 1/3 cup bourbon whiskey
• 2 tbs dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 cups sliced peaches (1/2" pieces)
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325. Trim skin, and most of the fat from the ham. Place ham on foil-lined roasting pan, on a rack, cut side down. Score fat 1/4" down, in a diamond pattern. Roast about 1 hour, 45 minutes, or until 140 degrees.

In small saucepan, over medium heat, stir preserves, whiskey, and mustard for about ten minutes, until thickened. Cool slightly, then brush over ham several times during the last half hour of cooking.

In another pan, boil the vinegar and sugar, and stir in the remaining ingredients. Simmer until thickened. This is the glaze for the peach slices.