2 servings
Ingredients
12 sea scallops (10 oz)washed, dried and side muscle removed
½ teaspoon dried chili flakes
2 teaspoons sesame oil
5 oz curly soba noodles
2 carrot sliced thinly on the diagonal
1 celery stalk sliced thinly on the diagonal
Half a medium onion finely diced
6 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 tablespoon peanut oil
Sauce
1 clove garlic, grated
½ cup chicken broth
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Directions
Cover the noodles with cold water and let sit until hydrated-30 to 45 minutes. Drain in a colander and set aside.
Cover mushrooms in hot wat and let sit for 30 minutes. Drain and slice thinly, discarding the stem.
Combine the sauce ingredients in a measuring cup and set aside.
Heat peanut oil in a medium deep skillet or wok. Add the carrot, celery, and onion. Stir-fry about 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add the mushroom and sauce. Stir-fry until thickened. Add the drained noodles and mix until the noodles are completely coated in sauce. Keep warm.
Heat the sesame oil in a small skillet and add the chili flakes. Heat for a minute and add the scallops. Cook the scallops for about two minutes on each side,
Divide the noodles between two serving bowls, top each with half the scallops, and serve immediately.
Serve with Sausage and Peppers. Recipe follows.
Ciabatta Rolls
Starter
1 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup room temperature water
1/16 teaspoon instant yeast
Or you can substitute 1 3/4 cups of sourdough starter
To make the biga: Mix all of the ingredients until well blended. Cover the bowl, and let rest at room temperature for 12 to 20 hours, until the mixture is very bubbly.
Dough
All of the starter (from above)
2 teaspoons instant yeast
3 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons Baker’s Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup lukewarm water
3 tablespoons olive oil
To make the dough: Mix the biga with the remaining ingredients for 2 to 4 minutes, using an electric mixer set on slow speed. Increase the mixer speed to medium, and mix for about 4 minutes; the dough will be soft and slightly sticky.
Let the dough rise in a greased bowl, covered, for 1 to 2 hours, until very puffy.
Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, and shape it into a 6″ x 12″ rectangle. Using a bench knife, cut out eight 3″ square rolls. Space the rolls out evenly on the board. Let them rise for about 45 minutes, covered with a thin kitchen towel until they’re puffy.
Place a baking stone in the top third of the oven, and preheat the oven to 450°F. With a wide spatula place the rolls on the hot baking stone.
Bake the rolls for 15-18 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a rack.
Yield: 8 rolls.
Sausage and Peppers
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 lbs hot Italian Sausage, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large onion, diced
2 bags of mini bell peppers, stems sliced off
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups finely chopped Italian tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Heat the oil in a large skillet with a cover. Add the sausage and cook until lightly browned. Add the onion and peppers and stir fry for about 5 minutes. Cover the pan and let the mixture simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes and seasoning and simmer the mixture covered for 15 minutes more.
Ingredients
1 garlic clove grated
1 tablespoon olive oil
l1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup finely chopped onion
¼ cup finely chopped celery
3 mini red sweet peppers, finely chopped
10 oz raw shrimp (about 18), peeled and chopped
6 oz firm white fish such as sea bass, chopped
8 oz lump crab meat
1 teaspoon seafood seasoning (Old Bay)
1 cup whole milk Ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded Mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus extra for the top
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
24 large pasta shells
White Sauce
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup of water
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
3/4 teaspoon seafood seasoning
Directions
Cook the jumbo shells in boiling salted water for two minutes less than the package instructions. Drain in a colander and run cold water over them for a minute or two. Place the shells on kitchen towels while you make the filling.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.Butter a large baking dish
In a skillet, heat oil and butter over medium heat. Add in garlic, onion, celery, and mini peppers, and cook until the vegetables are softened; about 3 minutes. Add in shrimp and sea bass and season with Old Bay seasoning. Cook until the shrimp become pink and the sea bass is cooked; about 3-5 minutes. Remove from the skillet and let cool.
In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, egg, and fresh ground black pepper. Stir in cooled shrimp mixture and crab meat.
In the same skillet, you cooked the shrimp in, bring the cream and milk to a low boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, add the seafood seasoning. Remove the skillet from the heat and whisk in the flour and parmesan cheese. Return to a simmer, and cook until the sauce thickens about 5 minutes.
Fill each pasta shell with 2 tablespoons of the seafood filling and place them in the baking dish.
Pour the sauce over the filled pasta shells in the baking dish. Sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Serve with a green mixed salad.
Roasted Lemon Chicken with Potatoes and Onions
Leftovers make a great Chicken Pot Pie.
Ingredients
1 lemon, cut into thin circles
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon. kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
11/2 lbs large Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into eighths
1 large onion, cut into eighths
2 lbs chicken parts, trimmed of excess fat and skin (I used 3 thighs and 1 large breast half cut in half.)
Directions
Place 2 tablespoons of the oil in a baking dish. Add the garlic loves, onions and potatoes. Sprinkle with half the salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Place the chicken on top of the vegetable mixture and sprinkle with the remaining seasoning. Place the lemon slices on top of the chicken. Drizzle the mixture with the remaining oil.
Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil and put it in a preheated oven at 275 degrees F (135 C) for 60 minutes. Remove the foil, turn the oven temperature to 375 degrees F (190 C) and roast the chicken and potatoes for 30 minutes more.
Roasted Broccolini
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 small bunch of broccolini
Directions
Place the oil in a baking dish and place the broccolini in the dish in a single layer. Top with the chopped garlic, chili flakes, salt, and pepper. When the oven is raised to 375 degrees F for the chicken dish, place the broccoli in the oven and let it roast for 30 minutes. Remove the broccolini from the oven and squeeze the lemon over the stalks. Serve with the chicken and potatoes.
America is a melting pot that was formed by the hard-working people who migrated here from lands as far east as China and Japan, as far north as Russia and Europe. They utilized American supplies and prepared them in ways that they had prepared them in their homeland. True American food is a collection of these culinary traditions passed down from generation to generation”.Each culture brought their cooking methods, food, and spices to America. They farmed the soil, hunted game, and incorporated their ways into the food of America.
If you once lived in the New York area you may remember some of the wonderful Eastern European foods you could purchase on the Lower Eastside. But if you live anywhere else in the country, or the world, it’s not likely that you’ would have had the pleasure of enjoying one of these chewy, baked onion-stuffed bialys.
The bialy is not a type of bagel; it’s a thing unto itself. Round with a depressed middle filled with cooked onions and poppy seeds, it is simply baked (bagels are boiled, then baked). This means the outside is crispy and the inside is soft and tender, They can be eaten with cream cheese or straight-up shortly out of the oven.
The bialy was brought to the United States by Polish Jewish refugees in the late 1800s and became a staple of the Jewish bakeries in the Northeastern United States. Thousands of Jewish immigrants arrived from Poland and settled on the Lower East Side of New York City. Like most ethnic groups, they brought with them their local traditions and foods from their homeland. The Jews from Bialystok, Poland brought their local bread, called a “bialy” that they ate with every meal. The word “bialy” is actually a shortened version of “Bialystoker Kuchen” which in Yiddish means “little bread from Bialystok.”
Bialys became a popular bread and also breakfast for people in New York City, and the outlying areas; especially by American Jews. Bialys are considered an iconic food representative of New York City and can be difficult to find outside that area. However, bialys are sold frozen by a number of brands such as Ray’s New York, and others, in supermarkets across the country. Or you can make them at home.
New York Bialys
Dough
3 cups High-Gluten Flour
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm water
Filling
1 medium-large onion, peeled and finely diced
1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
Heaping 1/8 teaspoon salt
Topping
Coarse salt and poppy seeds
Directions
Place the dough ingredients in a mixer bowl, and mix and knead for about 7 minutes, until a smooth, fairly stiff dough forms.
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and allow it to rise for about 90 minutes until doubled in bulk.
While the dough is rising, make the filling. Fry the diced onion in the oil over high heat; it’ll brown very quickly, so stir often. Sprinkle with the salt, stir to combine, and remove the pan from the heat. Transfer to a small bowl to cool.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper and sprinkle lightly with cornmeal.
On a floured board or counter, punch dough down and roll into a cylinder shape. With a sharp knife, cut the cylinder into 8 rounds. Gently pat each dough round into circles each about 4 inches in diameter. I placed English Muffin rings on the baking sheets and placed the dough in each so that they would hold their shape.
Place bialys on prepared baking sheets, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise 30 minutes or until increased by about half in bulk.
Make an indention in the center of each bialy with two fingers of each hand, pressing from the center outward, leaving a 1-inch rim. Place approximately 1 teaspoon of the onion mixture in the hole of each bialy. Dust lightly with flour, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise 15 minutes.
Sprinkle with salt and poppy seeds. (Remove the muffin rings if used.)
Bake on upper and lower shelves of the oven for 10 minutes, then switch pans and reverse positions of pans and bake another 10 minutes until bialys are lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks. Serve with cream cheese, if desired.
Ingredients
1 ½ pounds hot Italian sausage links
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into eighths
1 pound sweet mini peppers, stem end removed but left whole.
1 large onion. sliced
1 teaspoon roasted garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl toss together the oil, sliced potatoes, peppers, onions, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
Spread the mixture in a large roasting pan. Top with the sausage and roast for 60-75 minutes until the sausage is cooked and the vegetables are brown turning the mixture halfway through the baking. Serve with some crusty Italian bread.
Franks and Sauerkraut
2 servings
Ingredients
4
4 all-beef organic frankfurters, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried dill or 1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
2 cups sauerkraut, drained
Directions
Heat a skillet with a cover on medium heat. Melt the butter, add the onion, garlic, and paprika, cook until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
Add the franks and sauerkraut, simmer, covered, 20 minutes.
Serve with rye bread or mashed potatoes.
My Homemade Rye Bread recipe.
Cucumbers in Sour Cream
Makes About 2 Cups
Ingredients
2 large cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, sliced into 1/4″-thick half-moons
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 tablespoons sour cream
3 tablespoons green onion (scallions), minced
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey or sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried
Directions
Place cucumber slices in a colander; sprinkle with salt, tossing to coat. Let stand for 15 minutes, then pat dry with paper towels.
Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, onion, vinegar, honey, and dill in a mixing bowl. Add cucumber slices and toss to coat. Let salad stand for at least 5 minutes before serving, or chill for up to one day.
Serve this dish with your favorite sides. I had leftover potato salad and greens beans so I used them as sides for the meatloaf.
Ingredients
1 cup milk
1 ½ cups plain panko breadcrumbs or 4 slices of bread crumbled
2 pounds ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chili sauce
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, with a rack placed in the center.
In a large bowl, pour milk over breadcrumbs or bread; stir until combined and let soak, about 5 minutes. Add beef, pork, onion, garlic, chili sauce, parsley, Parmesan, eggs, 11/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using your hands, mix until combined; do not overmix or the meatloaf will be dense.
Gently pat into a log and place it in a greased baking dish or large loaf pan.
Bake 60-75 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 160 degrees.
Remove the pan from the oven; let rest 5 minutes and slice each into 3/4-inch-thick slices.
Fillet of Fish Francese
2 servings
Ingredients
¼ cup olive oil
12 ozs white fish filets cut in half (I used triggerfish)
1/4 cup of flour
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 egg
2 tablespoons of heavy cream
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Directions
Pour flour mixed with salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a shallow dish. Whisk egg, cream, lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese in another shallow bowl..
Heat oil in a large skillet.
Dredge the fillets in the flour, make sure you coat both sides and then dip the fish in the egg mixture, and make sure it’s evenly covered.
Repeat with all of the fillets and add to your skillet. Cook each side for 3-4 minutes; you want the bottom of the filet to get lightly brown,
Squash Saute
2 servings
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 plump garlic cloves, minced
2 medium yellow summer squash, diced
1 small red pepper, diced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Directions
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat, and add the onion. Stir often and cook until tender, five to eight minutes, then add the garlic, summer squash, red pepper, and about ½ teaspoon of salt. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring, until the squash is translucent and the red pepper tender, about 10 minutes. Add freshly ground pepper, taste and adjust salt. Stir in the parsley, and remove from the heat. Serve with the fish.
Air-Fryer Baked Sweet Potato
You may bake the potato in a regular oven at 400 degrees F for 45-50 minutes.
2 servings
Ingredients
1 large sweet potato
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Directions
Wash the sweet potato and then poke air holes in the potato with a fork.
Sprinkle them with the olive oil, pepper & salt, then rub evenly on the potato.
Once the potato is coated place it into the basket.
Cook potato at 390 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until fork-tender.
Cut in half and top with a pat of butter.
Burritos
Ingredients
Marinade
1 orange
1 lime
¼ cup avocado oil
2 – 3 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped
½ teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon salt
1 pound beef flank steak
Burrito
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
½ teaspoon ground cumin
Half a large sweet onion cut into thin rings and rings halved
2 medium sweet bell peppers, cut into thin strips
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced into thin strips
6-8 inch flour tortillas, warmed
¼ cup snipped fresh cilantro
1 cup of salsa
Directions
Zest the lime and orange. Juice both the orange and lime. In a large resealable plastic bag combine 1/4 cup orange juice, 1 teaspoon orange zest, 1 teaspoon lime zest, 2 tablespoons lime juice, avocado oil, chipotle peppers, cumin, and the salt. Add steak. Seal bag; turn to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 12 hours.
Remove meat from the marinade. Reserve 2 tablespoons marinade; discard any remaining marinade. Pat meat dry with paper towels. In a large grill pan, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat. Add steak to the pan. Cook for 14 to 18 minutes or until steak reaches desired doneness, turning once halfway through cooking. (Or, for a gas or charcoal grill, grill the steak on a greased rack of a covered grill over medium heat for 17 to 21 minutes or until steak reaches desired doneness.)
Transfer meat to a cutting board. Cover and let stand 10 minutes. Cut steak across the grain into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
Heat the same grill pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and peppers to the drippings in the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Stir in the zucchini. Cook 1 minute more. Add the reserved 2 tablespoons marinade and 1/2 teaspoon cumin. Cook and stir 2 minutes more.
Lay tortillas on a flat work surface. Arrange the meat on the bottom third of the tortillas. Top with cooked vegetables, and cilantro. Roll up tortillas tightly. Serve with salsa.
Tips
If using a gas or charcoal grill, use a large skillet to cook the vegetables. Use 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in place of the drippings.
Cheese Sauce
ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese grated
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan.
Stir over medium-high heat until all cheese is melted.
Creamy Southern Succotash
Ingredients
1 recipe cooked southern field peas (see recipe), drained
2 cups fresh or frozen corn
1 teaspoon Mexican chili powder
Cheese sauce, recipe above
Directions
After the cheese sauce is complete, stir in the drained peas and corn. Add the chili powder and simmer over low heat until hot.
Serve with the burritos.
