Mom's Recipe Book

Chicken with Mango Chutney Sauce

2009-05-02T00:22:00.000-07:00

If I think about the way we most often eat chicken, it's simply oven-roasted and served with mango chutney and plain rice or Spanish rice. There's just something wonderful about the way the sweet and sour chutney balances the savory chicken. If you don't have mango chutney on hand, you can easily make your own chutney-based sauce with a couple mangos, onions, ginger, spices, and some sugar and vinegar. An easy mid-week meal.

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs chicken thighs, bone in, skin on, trimmed of excess fat
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

2 ripe but firm mangos, cut and peeled, cubed into 1/2-inch cubes
Olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup chopped onion)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp chopped candied ginger (or fresh ginger)
2 Tbsp chopped raisins
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
Scant pinch of red pepper flakes
4 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp white vinegar
1/2 cup water
Salt to taste

METHOD

1 Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add the chopped mango, ginger, raisins, mustard seeds, red pepper flakes, vinegar, water, and sugar. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, cover the pan, and let cook gently for 30 minutes.

2 While the chutney is cooking, cook the chicken. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in the middle position. Coat the bottom of a roasting pan with olive oil. Rinse the chicken thighs in water, pat dry. Rub some olive oil all over the chicken pieces, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place chicken pieces in roasting pan. Cook in oven until the juices run clear when poked with a sharp knife, or when the internal temperature of the thighs is 180°F, about 30 minutes. If the chicken pieces are not browned enough for you, you can finish them in the broiler for the last 5 minutes of cooking. If your chicken pieces are extra large, after 30 minutes, lower the heat to 350°F and cook until the chicken pieces are cooked through. Remove chicken and roasting pan from oven.

3 Remove chicken pieces from roasting pan. Pour off rendered chicken fat, save for a teaspoon or so. (Do not pour down the drain or it will solidify and block your drain). Put mango sauce into the roasting pan with remaining chicken drippings. Spread the sauce over the whole bottom of the pan. Let sit for a few minutes to soften the drippings, then scoop up and place into a serving dish. Adjust seasonings. If too acidic, add more sugar. Add salt to taste.

Serve chicken with mango chutney sauce and steamed rice orSpanish rice.

Serves 4.

Apple and Sausage Pie

2009-04-28T00:41:00.001-07:00

With apple season in full swing, and cooler weather on the way, here's a casserole pie that combines sweet Italian sausage with Granny Smith apples, and a mix of cheeses. Our neighbor Pat (the wonderful neighbor who has been teaching me all about organic gardening) brought over this delicious casserole for a block party recently. What a hit!

INGREDIENTS

1 basic pie dough recipe, rolled out and lining a 9 or 10-inch pie dish, or 8x8 baking dish, chilled (or one frozen pie crust)
2 large tart Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 medium onion, chopped (about half a cup)
1 teaspoon sugar
3 Tbsp butter
3/4 lb sweet Italian sausage (bulk, or removed from casings)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups shredded fontina, provalone, and or asiago cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup feta cheese
2 eggs, slightly beaten

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 425°F. Line the inside of a pie shell with heavy aluminum foil, pressing the dough against the side. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove foil, poke the bottom of the pie crust with the tines of a fork to create air vents. Return crust to oven, bake for an additional 4 minutes, or until the crust just begins to brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

2 Melt butter in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the apples, onions, and sugar, cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. In the last 30 seconds or so, add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Transfer mixture to a separate bowl. Increase the heat to medium high and in the same skillet add the Italian sausage. Cook, stirring only infrequently, until sausage is browned on all sides and is cooked through. Remove from heat. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon to a dish lined with paper towels to absorb the excess fat.

3 In medium sized bowl, mix together the cheeses and beaten eggs.

4 Place sausage on bottom of pre-baked pie crust. Add the cooked apple onion mixture over the sausage. Pour the cheese egg mixture over the apple mixture and spread it so it evenly covers the pie.

5 Bake at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 8.

Apple Cranberry Stuffed Pork Roast

2009-04-21T02:43:00.001-07:00

Are you familiar with Cook's Illustrated? It's a magazine and a website from the same people who create the PBS show America's Test Kitchen. It's the only cooking show we watch with any regularity, and we read each issue of the magazine from cover to cover. What I love about the magazine is that they go into great deal of detail about the how's and why's of various cooking methods; I always learn something new. (What I don't love about the magazine is that they tend to overcomplicate things, just for that n-th degree of perfection.)

This apple cranberry stuffed pork roast recipe is based on a recipe from Cook's Illustrated (Sept 07). We absolutely loved it; I've been eating the leftovers for days. The filling is essentially a sweet sour chutney, made with brown sugar, vinegar, dried apples and cranberries. Though pretty much any chutney would work in this recipe. The roast is "double butterflied", filling applied, meat rolled up and roasted. The acidity of the chutney-ish filling tenderizes the pork roast from the inside. The original recipe calls for grilling the roast with soaked wood chips but you can easily make this roast in the oven. The recipe also uses dried apples, which can be a little hard to find. I think next time we may try making this with peeled, diced, fresh apples.

INGREDIENTS

Filling
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large shallot, peeled, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups dried apples (packed)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp yellow mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Pork Roast
2 1/2 pound boneless center-cut pork loin roast (short and wide - about 7-8 inches long and 4-5 inches wide)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

1 Before starting on the pork, put the pork roast in the freezer for 30 minutes to make it easier to cut. While the pork is chilling, you can make the filling.

2 Bring all the filling ingredients to simmer in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until apples are very soft, about 20 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, reserving the liquid. Use a rubber spatula to press against the apple mixture in the sieve to extract as much liquid out as possible. Return liquid to saucepan and simmer over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, set aside and reserve this liquid for use as a glaze. Pulse apple mixture in food processor, about fifteen 1-second pulses. Set aside.

2 Preheat oven to 350°F or prepare your grill for indirect heat. You will be "double-butterflying" the pork roast. Lay the roast down, fat side up. Insert the knife into the roast 1/2-inch horizontally from the bottom of the roast, along the long side of the roast. Make a long cut along the bottom of the roast, stopping 1/2 inch before the edge of the roast. You might find it easier to handle by starting at a corner of the roast.

Open up the roast and continue to cut through the thicker half of the roast, again keeping 1/2 inch from the bottom. Repeat until the roast is an even 1/2-inch thickness all over when laid out.

If necessary, pound the roast to an even thickness with a meat pounder.

3 Season the inside of the roast well with salt and pepper. Spread out the filling on the roast, leaving a 1/2-inch border from the edges. Starting with the short side of the roast, roll it up very tightly. Secure with kitchen twine at 1-inch intervals. Season the outside of the roast generously with salt and pepper.

4 Place roast on a rack in a roasting pan, place in oven, on the middle rack.

You can also grill the roast, using indirect heat either gas or charcoal. If you are using charcoal, use about 5 pounds of coals, bank them to one side. Preheat the grill, covered. Wipe the grates with olive oil. Place roast, fat side up, on the side of the grill that has no coals underneath. Place the lid on the grill, with the vent directly over the roast. If you are grilling with gas, place all the burners on high for 15 minutes to heat the grates, brush grates with olive oil, turn off the middle burner, place roast fat-side up on middle burner. If you are grilling, turn roast half way through the cooking.

Cook for 45 to 60 minutes, until the internal temperature of the roast is 130 to 135 degrees. Brush with half of the glaze and cook for 5 minutes longer. Remove the roast from the oven or grill. Place it on a cutting board. Tent it with foil to rest and keep warm for 15 minutes before slicing.

5 Slice into 1/2-inch wide pieces, removing the cooking twine as you cut the roast. Serve with remaining glaze.

Serves 6-8.

Apple Carrot Cupcake

2009-04-21T02:00:00.000-07:00

It's as if our carrot cake and our apple cake decided to get together and have babies. (What really happened is that my father wanted to make a great 3-layer spice cake from Sunset magazine for the 3rd time in a month and I convinced him that cupcakes would be a better way to go.)

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil (light olive oil, canola oil, grapeseed oil)
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups packed coarsely grated carrots (about 3 medium)
1 1/2 cups packed coarsely grated tart apples, such as Granny Smith (about 2 medium)
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (or walnuts)

5 ounce fresh, mild chèvre (goat cheese), at room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cups powdered sugar

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 350° and place rack in the center of the oven.

2 In a large bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, spices, cocoa, pepper, and salt. Whisk to combine, then stir in oil and eggs. Stir in carrots, apples, and pecans.

3 Set aluminum or paper cupcake holders in muffin tins. Spoon the batter into the cupcake paper cups, three-quarters of the way to the top. Bake approximately 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

4 Beat goat cheese, cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Gradually add powdered sugar and mix until combined.
Once cupcakes are cool, apply frosting.

Makes 24 to 28 cupcakes.

Meatballs with Ricotta in Tomato Sauce

2009-04-21T00:42:00.000-07:00

Do you like Italian meatballs? I've been fishing around for a while for a good meatball recipe and have found it in this one. The basic idea is to take a base of ground pork, mix in other meat such as ground beef, pork fat, pancetta or prosciutto, add herbs, bread cubes, ricotta cheese and eggs, then brown them on high heat in the oven, add some crushed tomatoes and cook on lower heat until they are done. The following is an adaptation from a couple recipes from San Francisco's A16 restaurant (the book A16: Food + Wine and an A16 recipe in Food and Wine). We used half ground pork and half Italian sweet sausage, with some minced prosciutto for these meatballs. Sausage because of the seasoning and the higher fat content which will help keep the meatballs from drying out. The ricotta helps as a binder and also helps smooth out the texture and enrich the flavor.

We're meatball lovers here, so if you have a favorite meatball recipe to share, please let us know about it in the comments.

INGREDIENTS

10 ounces ground pork shoulder
10 ounces sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing
2 ounces prosciutto or pancetta, minced (helps to put in freezer for 15 min first, before mincing, will make it easier to cut)
4 cups cubed white bread, crusts removed first.
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
2/3 cup ricotta cheese
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Olive oil
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (high quality, either San Marzano or Muir Glen)
1/4 cup chiffonaded* fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

* to chiffonade basil leaves, stack leaves on top of each other, then roll up leaves lengthwise like a cigar, slice thinly starting at the end.

METHOD

1 In a large bowl, add the pork, Italian sausage, bread cubes, parsley, oregano, fennel, red pepper flakes, and salt. Use your hands to mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Do not over-work.

2 Whisk the beaten eggs and ricotta together in a separate bowl until there are no more large clumps of ricotta. Pour into the bowl of the meat mixture. Mix with your hands until just incorporated. Again, do not over-mix.

If you want, to test seasoning, you can take a small bit of the mix, form into a patty, and heat in a small skillet on the stovetop until cooked through. Depending on how this test patty tastes to you, add more herbs, chili, or salt to taste to the meat mixture. Keep meat mixture in refrigerator while doing this.

3 Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat the bottom of a large roasting pan with olive oil. Form meatballs in your hand, about 1 1/2-inches in diameter, using about 3 Tbsp of the mixture to form each meatball. Arrange in pan so there is some space between them. If too crowded they will steam and not brown.

4 Roast meatballs in the oven for about 30 minutes, turning the meatballs after about 20 minutes, until the meatballs are beginning to brown.

5 Remove pan from oven. Use a metal spatula to dislodge meatballs from being stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the crushed tomatoes to the pan. Carefully cover the pan with aluminum foil (carefully because the pan is still hot!) Return the pan to the oven. Lower the heat to 300°F. Cook for an additional hour to 1 1/2 hours.

Sprinkle basil into sauce before serving.

Makes about 24 meatballs. Top with grated Parmesan.

Serves 5-6.

Asparagus Pesto with Pasta

2009-04-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

From the recipe archive, spring is here! And so are asparagus. ~Elise

A while ago I got together with Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks to try out one of the recipes from her cookbook, Super Natural Cooking. The recipe we selected is perfect for spring, a pesto made with blanched asparagus, baby spinach, pine nuts, Parmesan, garlic and olive oil, tossed with a mix of egg and green spinach noodles. Heidi calls this recipe "Straw and Hay Fettuccini Tangle, with Spring Asparagus Purée" in her book, a nod to the mixing up of different colors of noodles. The asparagus pesto would work with any pasta or even as a sauce for pizza or potatoes.

INGREDIENTS

1 bunch asparagus spears (about 1 lb), trimmed of tough ends and halved crosswise
3 handfuls baby spinach leaves
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
1 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for topping
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

8 ounces of dried pasta or 12 ounces fresh -linguini, fettuccini, spaghetti Mix spinach pasta with regular wheat pasta for a medley of colors.

METHOD

1 Bring 2 pots of water to a rolling boil, one large for the pasta and one medium sized for the asparagus.

2 While the water is heating, put the pine nuts in a single layer in a large skillet. Heat on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and lightly browned. Remove pine nuts from pan and set aside. You will use 3/4 cup of the pine nuts for the pesto paste and 1/4 cup to mix in whole.

3 Salt the asparagus water and drop the spears into the pan. Cook for only 2 or 3 minutes, until the spears are bright green and barely tender. Drain under cool water to stop the cooking. Cut the tips off, and set aside, several of the asparagus (diagonal cut about an inch from the end) to use for garnish.

4 Add the asparagus, spinach, garlic, Parmesan, and 3/4 cup of the pine nuts to a food processor. Purée and, with the motor running, drizzle in the 1/4 cup of olive oil until a paste forms. If too thick, thin it with a bit of the pasta water. Add the lemon juice and salt, taste and adjust seasoning.

Here's a trick that Heidi taught me. When emptying the food processor bowl of its contents, hold the bottom of the bowl with one hand with a finger in the center hole, holding the blade in place and keeping it from falling out.

This fresh pasta cooked up in no time at all.

5 Salt the pasta water well and cook the pasta until just tender. Check the directions on the pasta package. You'll need more time for dried pasta and less for fresh. Drain and toss immediately with 1 cup of the asparagus pesto.

Serve sprinkled with the remaining 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, a dusting of Parmesan, and a light drizzle of olive oil.

Serves 4 to 6.

Avocado Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes

2009-04-20T08:15:00.001-07:00

Mark Bittman of the New York Times recently did a write up of simple meals ready in 10 minutes or less. This avocado tomato salad would be my entry, but in five minutes or less, and that would include picking the chives and tomato from the garden.

All one really needs to dress an avocado is a little bit of lemon juice. No need for oil, there's enough of it in the avocado. If you're in a real hurry, just remove the pit from one half of an avocado still in its skin, squeeze in some lemon juice, and eat it up with a spoon. But with this beautiful heirloom tomato just looking for an excuse to be eaten, it takes all of one minute more to slice and arrange both. Fleur de sel sea salt is lovely on the tomatoes and avocado. Balsamic works as well, but lemon juice does a better job at accenting the simple flavor of the avocado.

INGREDIENTS

1 half avocado, peeled, sliced
1 half ripe heirloom tomato, sliced
A pinch of chopped fresh chives or sliced green onions
Juice from one slice of lemon
A pinch of coarse salt (fleur de sel if you can get it)

METHOD

Arrange slices of avocado and tomato on a plate. Sprinkle with chives, lemon juice, and coarse salt.

Serves one.

Apple Carrot Cupcake

2009-04-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil (light olive oil, canola oil, grapeseed oil)
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups packed coarsely grated carrots (about 3 medium)
1 1/2 cups packed coarsely grated tart apples, such as Granny Smith (about 2 medium)
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (or walnuts)

5 ounce fresh, mild chèvre (goat cheese), at room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cups powdered sugar

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 350° and place rack in the center of the oven.

2 In a large bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, spices, cocoa, pepper, and salt. Whisk to combine, then stir in oil and eggs. Stir in carrots, apples, and pecans.

4 Beat goat cheese, cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Gradually add powdered sugar and mix until combined.
Once cupcakes are cool, apply frosting.

Makes 24 to 28 cupcakes.

Herb Marinated Braised Lamb Shanks

2009-04-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

What is it about September that the minute it's no longer oppressively hot we can't wait to make a slow-cooked, braised stew? Perhaps it was that these lamb shanks had been sitting in our large freezer all summer long, and every time I opened it (usually to get out the ice cream maker bowl) there they were, just asking to be cooked. Finally it has cooled down enough that we can enjoy a hearty stew. Lamb shanks come from either the forelegs or the lower hind legs of a lamb, which get a lot of exercise, and therefore are great cuts for stews and slow-cooked braises. The long cooking time is needed to break down the tough connective tissue in the muscles. At the end of cooking the meat should just fall off the bone. With the addition of fresh tomatoes and zucchini, this herb-marinated lamb stew is a great dish for the end of summer and beginning of fall.

INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
½ Tbsp curry powder
½ teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2-4 lamb shanks (1 to 1¼ lb each)

6 cups chicken stock or low-salt chicken broth
4 garlic cloves, peeled, smashed

2 carrots, peeled, cut lengthwise and then and cut into 2 inch segments
1 pound red-skinned new potatoes, quartered lengthwise
4 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
2 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise
1 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 Tbsp tomato paste

METHOD

1 Stir together in a small bowl the ground cumin, coriander, thyme, rosemary, curry powder, and salt. Mix in 1/4 cup olive oil. Place lamb shanks in large freezer bag. Add the spice oil to the bag. Rub spice oil all over shanks. Press the air out of the bag and seal the bag. Place in a dish to catch any leakage. Marinate 4 hours or overnight.

2 Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in heavy large ovenproof pot over high heat. Remove lamb shanks from marinade bag and place in heated pan. Discard remaining marinade. Cook lamb shanks until brown on all sides, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add stock and garlic; bring to boil, cover and transfer to oven. Cook 1 hour; remove from oven and turn lamb shanks over. Cover and continue cooking until lamb is tender, about 45 minutes longer.

Using tongs, transfer lamb to platter; tent with foil to keep warm.

3 Bring liquid in pot to simmer over medium heat. Add carrots; simmer 10 minutes. Add potatoes to liquid and simmer 5 minutes longer. Add tomatoes and zucchini to liquid and simmer until vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to platter with lamb. Spoon off fat from braising liquid, reserving 1 tablespoon.

4 Heat reserved fat in heavy large skillet over medium heat. (If there is no fat, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil instead.) Whisk in flour; stir 2 minutes. Whisk in tomato paste and 1 cup of the braising liquid. Add back into the pot with the rest of the braising liquid. Boil for a couple minutes until slightly thickened. Add back the vegetables and the lamb shanks. If you want, use a couple forks to break away the lamb meat from the bones. Discard the bones.

Serves 4.

Cardamom Honey Chicken

2009-04-20T06:11:00.000-07:00

On my recent trip to New Zealand, my hosts sent me home with a wonderful cookbook from BeesOnline, a local café and honey factory right outside Auckland. The Cardamom and Honey-Glazed Chicken recipe caught our eye and we made it a few days ago. I've never thought to use cardamom as a spice for chicken before; the result was quite fragrant and delicious. The leftovers made for a flavorful chicken salad the next day.

INGREDIENTS

Marinade
4 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp sherry
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds, ground
1 teaspoon peppercorns, ground

Chicken
6 chicken breasts, or one whole chicken, cut into parts
2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 lemon, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper

METHOD

If a recipe calls for ground cardamom, it is best to start with whole pods. Break open the pods to release the tiny brown and black cardamom seeds. Use a spice grinder or mortar and pestle to grind the seeds.

1 Preheat oven to 390°F. Warm the honey, stir in the sherry, cardamom and peppercorns. Place marinade and chicken in a large bowl, coat chicken with marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2 Heat olive oil in a large frying pan at medium high heat. Sear the chicken, skin side down, until golden.

3 Place lemon slices in a roasting pan. Lay the chicken pieces on top. Brush with the marinade. Season generously with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and bake until done, approximately 15 minutes for breasts, 20 minutes for thighs, wings, and drumsticks. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Pour out drippings from the pan into a gravy boat for gravy.

Serve with rice, mashed potatoes, or couscous.

Apple Chicken Quesadilla

2009-04-20T06:09:00.000-07:00

I was charged with providing lunch for several kids (ages 4, 6, 7, and 9) a few days ago and prepared for them one of my favorite quickie lunches - chicken and apple quesadillas. The kids gobbled them up, and one of them, Teddy, exclaimed loudly after the first one, "Elise, you HAVE to put these on your website!" The others nodded in agreement, while busily chomping away. So for all you quesadilla-loving kids out there, here you go.

INGREDIENTS

4 Flour tortillas (approximately 8-inches wide)
1 cup cooked, shredded or chopped, chicken meat
1/4 lb cheddar or Monterey jack cheese, sliced or grated
1 apple, sliced
1/4 cup salsa

METHOD

1 Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Place one tortilla in the skillet. Flip it a couple of times with a spatula, then let it sit in the pan heating up until air pockets form and parts of the tortilla begin to puff up. Flip it again.

2 Place cheese slices on half of the tortilla, at least 1/2-inch from the edge of the tortilla. Add chicken pieces on top of the cheese. Fold the tortilla over like an omelette, and press down on the folded tortilla with the spatula. Lower the heat to medium. At this point, if you have enough room in your skillet, you can add a second tortilla to the pan to begin to heat it up.

3 When the cheese inside the quesadilla has melted, remove the quesadilla to a cutting board. Open it wide and layer on apple slices and salsa. Fold the tortilla back again, and cut it into 3 triangles, as if you were cutting a pie. (You don't have to cut the quesadilla into triangles, it just makes it easier for kids to eat.)

4 Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Makes 12 quesadilla triangles.

Beef Goulash with Dumplings

2009-04-20T00:45:00.001-07:00

What better on a chilly day than a plate of steaming hot beef stew with light, fluffy dumplings? My super-hero father decided to make goulash for us recently and when the first recipe he tried didn't work out (go figure - it asked for a quarter pound of paprika), down the drain it went (just the base, thank goodness), and back to the drawing board went dad. The recipe we did end up with dad pulled from one of his thick recipe binders, with his own notes from a Wolfgang Puck Food Network show. The dumpling recipe comes from my friend Elizabeth who brought it back with her from a summer in Prague. The combination is a knock-out. Rich, flavorful, spicy beef stew balanced with light dumplings.

INGREDIENTS

Goulash

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cups onions, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp sugar
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp caraway seeds, toasted and ground
1 1/2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon spicy Hungarian paprika
2 Tbsp minced fresh marjoram leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
3 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 cups chicken stock
2 1/2 pounds chuck roast, cut into 2-inch cubes (remove excess fat)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Dumplings

2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp melted butter

METHOD

1 In a large covered sauté pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the onions and sugar until caramelized. Add the garlic and caraway seed. Cook another minute.

2 Add the sweet and spicy paprika, marjoram, thyme and bay leaf. Sauté another minute, until fragrant.

3 Add the tomato paste. Deglaze with the vinegar and the stock and add the pieces of beef, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cover and cook until very tender, about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

4 To prepare the dumplings, sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Combine with the milk and melted butter, mixing lightly. After the stew has cooked until tender in step 3, drop the dumpling batter by (heaping) teaspoonfuls into the simmering stew. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Once you have covered the pan, donot uncover while the dumplings are cooking! In order for them to be light and fluffy, they must steam. If you uncover the pan, the steam will escape and the dumplings will boil instead. After 15 minutes, test the dumplings with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, the dumplings are done.

Serves 4 to 6.

Braised Turkey Legs

2009-04-20T00:41:00.000-07:00

Everybody loves turkey breast for their turkey sandwiches but the more flavorful meat comes from the dark meat found in turkey thighs and legs. These, by the way, are much less expensive than the breasts. Mom and dad have a great way of preparing braised turkey legs, perfect for a cold winter day.

INGREDIENTS

2 turkey legs and 2 thighs, about 4 lbs
Olive oil
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 cup of finely chopped celery
Salt, pepper, and cayenne
Water or other braising liquid (dry wine or stock)
Corn starch
Parsley, chopped, about 1/4 cup

Optional winter vegetables such as:

Potatoes, peeled and quartered
Carrots, chopped
Turnips, quartered
Rutabagas, quartered
Parsnips, chopped

METHOD

1 Sprinkle turkey thighs and legs with salt and pepper. Brown the turkey thighs and legs on medium high heat in a little bit of olive oil in a large sauté pan with high sides. Add chopped onion and celery to form a nest under the turkey pieces. Sauté an additional 5 minutes.

2 Add enough braising liquid - either water, stock, wine, or a combination - so that the liquid covers the bottom inch of the pan, about 1 cup. Bring to a simmer. Lower heat and simmer covered for an hour and a half, or until the turkey is so well cooked and tender that the meat easily falls off of the bones. Remove the turkey meat from the pan and remove the bones, taking special care to remove the many small narrow bones of the legs. Remove the skin.

Optional: At this point you can use the liquid remaining in the sauté pan to cook the potatoes, carrots and turnips. Add the vegetables to the pan and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Cook covered until they are done, about 20 minutes. Remove from pan so you can reduce the remaining liquid without overcooking the vegetables.

3 Reduce the liquid remaining in the pan to intensify some of the meat juices for added flavor. Take a teaspoon of cornstarch and dissolve in a 1/2 cup of water. Add cornstarch mixture a little at a time to sauce, adding more liquid, until the sauce achieves the desired body. Adjust seasoning. Add salt and pepper if needed, add a little cayenne or Tabasco sauce. If the sauce is too sweet, add a little vinegar or lemon. Add parsley.

4 Add the turkey meat back in the pan with the sauce. Serve immediately over rice or bread or with the vegetables if you have chose to make them.

Serves 6-8.