The Edible Journey

Curry Pumpkin Seeds

2011-11-06T07:07:00.000-05:00

Halloween is over and the "Great Pumpkin" was still sitting on my counter. We never carved the big vegetable, so it just sat there being festive - and taking up precious space. This morning I had the urge to stab Mr. Pumpkin and steal his tasty seeds for some snacking. I called upon Mira to do the deed - it was her pumpkin after all, and she is being trained to wield a knife in her culinary arts program. And so at last the end came for the pumpkin, but the seeds are still being munched happily.

Curry Pumpkin Seeds
1 pumpkin
Salt
Olive Oil
Curry Powder
Cayenne pepper (if desired)

Preheat oven to 450F. Cut open the pumpkin and remove all of the seeds into a colander. Rinse seeds and remove all stringy pumpkin stuff and discard. For each half cup of seeds you have put two cups of water in a pot with one tablespoon of salt. (My pumpkin had about 2 cups of seeds.) Simmer in salted water for about 10 minutes. Drain seeds in a colander and place in a bowl. Drizzle seeds with olive oil until all seeds are lightly coated, and then toss with curry powder. (I used two teaspoons of curry powder for my two cups of seeds. Bake in a single layer on a sheet pan in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, until seeds are lightly toasted. Allow to cool and then toss with additional salt or curry powder to taste. You can also toss a pinch of cayenne pepper in to add some heat. Enjoy!

October Bratwurst Stew

2011-10-22T16:41:00.002-04:00

Somehow I seem to accumulate bratwurst. Family members always give me their leftover packages from picnics. Now I know I have a strong German family history, but I had never actually eaten a bratwurst until I made this stew. I had to do something with them before they turned into freezer-burned mystery sausages, and it being Octoberfest time of year, I thought I would cook them somehow.

After much searching I found a reasonable recipe from Better Homes and Gardens called Loaded Bratwurst Stew. I am sure most everyone has found a recipe that looks good, but something is wrong with it. Either you don't have an ingredient, or something is on your dietary no-eat list, or you don't see the value of buying an ingredient that you will have no use for after using only a small amount. This recipe is adapted from the BHG recipe, but lots of changes have been made based upon what I can eat and what I had in the pantry. It tastes even better the second day. The moral of this recipe - mess around with what you find and you might create something delicious!

October Bratwurst Stew
2 14.5-ounce cans of fat-free low-sodium chicken broth
2 pounds uncooked regular bratwurst
1 softball sized savoy cabbage, chopped (about 4 cups)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup uncooked hulless barley (or use pearled)
1/4 cup roasted sweet red peppers (drained from a jar that is vinegar based), chopped
1 heaping tablespoon of Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
Shredded Swiss cheese

Place the barley, chopped red peppers and cabbage in a slow cooker. Combine broth, mustard, vinegar and seasonings and pour over top. In a skillet, cook bratwurst until cooked through and a nice brown color. Remove from skillet. Slice bratwurst into small 1/4-1/2 inch pieces and place over top of cabbage in slow cooker. Drain all but a teaspoon of grease from the skillet and brown onions until a nice golden brown. Remove onions and any crispy bits from skillet and place on top of brats in slow cooker. Cook on low for 7 hours or on high for 3-5 hours. Mix well and serve with shredded Swiss cheese on top.

Pork Souvlaki

2011-09-05T07:41:00.002-04:00

The end of summer is an incredibly busy time for me - with vacation, preparing kids for school, hauling them to the dorm and other activities I barely have time to cook. The temptation to make something easy is strong. But now that the frenzy is dying down I took the time to enjoy some pork souvlaki. Marinated meat on a stick gets me all the time! And if you use lean tenderloin and a good extra virgin olive oil this is a very healthy dinner.

Pork Souvlaki
2 pounds pork tenderlon
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
8 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Trim tenderloin of any membranes and cut into 2 inch chunks. Marinate for at least 3 hours in the remaining ingredients in the refrigerator. Soak bamboo stick for at least an hour before putting on meat. Grill until done, but do not overcook. Serve with whole grain pita, tzatziki or fat free yogurt with sliced cucumbers, onions and fresh tomatoes.

Cuban Steak

2011-07-16T18:05:00.000-04:00

This is one of our favorites on the grill - juicy sirloin steak marinated and sliced and served medium rare. This steak is perfect for topping a fresh green salad.

Cuban Steak
2 pounds beef sirloin steak
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup steak seasoning (Montreal or Mrs Dash)
2 cloves garlic, minced

Combine juices, seasonings, garlic and oil and let steak marinate in a sturdy plastic bag in the refrigerator for 3-6 hours. You can let it sit overnight too if you wish, but the longer the steak sits, the tangier it becomes. For a gentle flavor I always use six hours. Drain steak from marinade, pat dry and grill to your perfect doneness.

Caramel Fruit Dip

2011-07-04T14:24:00.002-04:00

This is a recipe that I have had for a while, found somewhere by my mother. It is easy to take to a party or picnic and everyone loves it so much that I couldn't resist posting it for everyone was asking for the recipe. I believe my Mom got the recipe from a Watkins distributor. To make this delicious dip, you will need to find one too, or you can purchase it online from Watkins.

Caramel Fruit Dip
1 8-ounce package of Neufchâtel or cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon Watkins Caramel extract
2 tablespoons skim milk

Combine all ingredients and blend well. Serve chilled with assorted fruit and make sure that you have plenty because it goes FAST!

NYC Halal Chicken

2011-06-25T06:05:00.001-04:00

Back in May, my daughter Mira and I took a day long trip to New York City to enjoy some shopping and of course, eating. Typically I make a point of eating something local wherever I go - doesn't have to be fancy, just something that I can't get at home. On prior trips, the Sabrett hot dog food cart was where I had lunch. I had figured it would be much the same this time. But on this trip there seemed to be an explosion of food carts catering to New York's Muslim population, all proudly displaying a halal sign. I couldn't resist and ordered the chicken. I figure that when immigrant people come to the US, we the lucky inhabitants get to eat more yummy food. And truly it was delicious. I realize that "halal" is a way of cooking as opposed to an actual recipe, so my Halal Chicken is named in honor of the food cart vendors who cook up this delicious food.

NYC Halal Chicken
2 pounds skinless boneless chicken
1/2 cup fat free Greek (strained) yogurt
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Combine garlic, seasonings, juice and yogurt and mix well. Add raw chicken (I used breasts), cut into pieces and marinate overnight. Grill on a flat top grill or saute in a skillet until golden and cooked through. Serve over rice pilaf, lettuce and fresh tomatoes. Drizzle with white sauce (recipe below) or your favorite tzatziki- or riata-style sauce. You can also serve with the white sauce on a bun. Yum-o-licious!

NYC Halal Chicken White Sauce
1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1/3 cup low fat mayonnaise
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper.

Mira poses by a food cart in New York City.

Mixed Chicken Sausage Grill

2011-06-05T17:49:00.002-04:00

On Friday nights, I am tired from a long week of work and am ready for some relaxing. This is a quick and easy meal cooked outdoors on a hot afternoon. My local meat market has tons of cool chicken sausages, and these are two of our family favorites. You can mix it up with your own favorite lean chicken sausage or other sausage, vegetables and seasonings.

Chipotle Honey Chicken Sausage with Fiesta Lime Mrs. Dash seasoning

Mixed Chicken Sausage Grill

2 pounds chicken sausage

2 medium onions, sliced

4 small baby zucchini, sliced

2 cups of grape tomatoes

1 teaspoon of your favorite salt-free seasoning mixture

1 teaspoon canola oil

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt (if desired)

Grill sausages in a hot grill until done. Slice and set aside. In a grill wok, drizzle zucchini and onion slices with canola oil and saute over hot coals. Add sausage slices and continue to cook until vegetables are tender. Add grape tomatoes and heat until the tomatoes just start to burst. Serve alone or over whole grain pasta.

Apple Maple Chicken Sausage with Penzey's Sunny Paris Seasoning

Chicken Farro Salad

2011-05-30T08:58:00.001-04:00

The warm weather has finally arrived. To celebrate I tossed up this chicken salad with farro. It keeps good in the refrigerator and is best eaten just warm or cold, which is perfect for this time of year. It's also great to pack in my lunch. This chicken is marinated and the salad is tossed in my Greek dressing, but you could also use your favorite bottled dressing in place of mine.

Chicken Farro Salad
1 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts
2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 1/3 cup Greek salad dressing
1 cup semipearled farro
1/4 cup moist dried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup sliced toasted almonds
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
zest of one lemon

Marinate the chicken in 1 cup of Greek dressing for at least two hours. Grill chicken and cut into bit size pieces. Chop dried tomatoes and mix in bowl with almonds, garlic, pepper, seasonings, lemon zest and chicken. Set aside. In a saucepan, bring two cups of water with 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil and add farro. Cover and turn down to low to simmer for about 20 minutes. Farro should be chewy when done. Drain excess water if any, and toss into chicken mixture. Add 1/3 cup Greek dressing and chopped Romaine lettuce. Serve warm. Garnish with feta cheese.

Greek Dressing
1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried Turkish oregano

Combine ingredients in a jar and shake thoroughly. Allow the dressing to sit at least a day before using.

Curry Fried Rice

2011-05-21T06:20:00.000-04:00

This recipe is adapted from one of my favorite Chinese cookbooks, Chinese Rice and Noodles from the Wei-Chuan cooking school in Taiwan. I have made it a bit lighter, and switched out some ingredients for a yummy bowl of rice. This recipe makes one large bowl of rice as a meal, or can serve two smaller side portions.

Curry Fried Rice
3/4 cup cooked leftover cold long grain brown rice
6 ounces lean ground pork
1 cup diced onion
1 small diced carrot
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon Splenda
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

Saute pork in a non-stick skillet and drain when cooked through. Wipe away all but a tiny bit of oil and saute onions and carrots until just barely tender. Return meat to pan and mix. Add rice and heat through, adding curry powder, salt and Splenda. Mix and serve. You can also add additional vegetables depending on what you have on hand.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Light Barbecue Sauce

2011-05-07T07:23:00.000-04:00

I was born in the wrong part of the country. Around here, good barbecue is hard to find. But down south - that's where the good stuff is abundant. Nothing beats the pulled pork at Jack's Bar-B-Que in Nashville, TN. As I sit here eating the sandwich below I am wearing my Jack's T-shirt from the memorable visit I took with my family in 2008. The smoke clung to the brick walls and the Tennessee Original sauce was exquisite.

And then there is Nanny's in Petersburg VA. This was a favorite pork stop on our road trip in 2010, with a vinegar based sauce. I can't even come close to these places, so no point in trying. But I did decide to create my own pulled pork - something that was delicious and light on fat and sugar and tickles the memory of those sweet 'cue joints.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Light Barbecue Sauce
2 pounds of pork shoulder, trimmed of fat (also called pork butt)
1 8-ounce can of tomato sauce, no salt added
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon ground mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon Liquid Smoke (hickory)
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon hot sauce
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 packet Splenda

Cook trimmed pork roast in a slow cooker on low for 8-10 hours. Be sure that you are using pork shoulder or butt, as this is the cut that loves to sit for hours in slow low heat. A loin roast will only get tough and dry. Pork shoulder will become meltingly tender after long cooking. While cooking, combine remaining ingredients for the sauce and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour to allow the flavors to marry. The sauce can keep for up to a week if you wish to make it in advance. When pork is done and fork tender, remove from pot and drain all liquid. Return pork to the pot and shred with two forks. Pour on sauce and allow to warm in the slow cooker. Serve alone or on buns. Yum!

Chicken Sausage and Pasta

2011-05-01T16:13:00.001-04:00

With warmer weather coming I am anxious to get some fresh veggies and lighter dishes on the table. This is a perfect warm weather pasta dish that is both easy and good for you.

Chicken Sausage and Pasta
1 - 1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian chicken sausage
8 ounces hot cooked whole wheat rotini pasta
1 large sweet Vidalia onion, chopped
1 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes with no added salt, drained
5 ounces fresh baby spinach
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha
fresh ground black pepper to taste
grated Parmagiano Reggiano (optional)

Boil or grill sausage until done and slice into disks. Set aside. In a large nonstick skillet, saute onion in olive oil until just transluscent. Add garlic, tomatoes, vinegar, salt, seasonings and Sriracha, stirring to mix together. Add baby spinach and cook until just wilted. Pour over the pasta and toss together. Add fresh ground black pepper to taste and garnish with Parmegiano.

Marinated Skirt Steak Tacos

2011-04-17T18:55:00.000-04:00

The sky has been so blue this week, breaking through a huge rainy spell, that I got the feeling for something a bit summery. I couldn't help it - so much snow and rain begin to wear you down. So I thought some tacos would fix the winter funk. And steak tacos are extra yummy.

Marinated Skirt Steak Tacos
1 skirt steak - about 1.5 pounds
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup canola oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin, divided
1 teaspoon ground ancho chili powder, divided
Whole wheat tortillas
Low fat sour cream
Fresh broccoli slaw
Tomatoes
Red onions
Shredded lettuce
Low fat shredded cheese
Karen's Salsa with Fresh Cilantro or Salsa Verde

Remove membrane from skirt steak. Marinate overnight in bag with juice, vinegar, oil, soy sauce, half of the cumin and ancho chili powder. Heat stovetop grill until it's nice and hot. Cut steak into manageable sizes and sear quickly for a couple of minutes on each side. Remove steak and let it rest. Sprinkle the remaining cumin and ancho powder on the meat. Slice thinly against the grain and serve on tortilla with your favorite taco fixings.

Braised Pork Shank

2011-04-09T17:09:00.000-04:00

Recently I discovered a local treasure - Henry's Meat Market. After years of trying to cajole and coax the grocery store meat people to get me various cuts of meat, I can now sit back and relax. These people know their meat, and didn't mind getting me some fresh pork shanks to play with. I am happily no longer stuck with "the most popular selections". So before the warm weather hits and I get off my braising kick, I decided to try pork shanks. They aren't expensive, but take some low and slow cooking in liquid. The result is fantastic.

Braised Pork Shanks
3 pork shanks (sliced into 2 inch slices)
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 large carrots, sliced into chunks
2 cups dry white wine
2 cups pork broth (or chicken)
4 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 325 F. In a large heavy pot, heat oil and brown shanks - two or three at a time on all sides. Remove from heat. Saute carrots, onions and celery until softened and just beginning to caramelize. Add wine to pot and deglaze all the cooked bits from the bottom of the pan into the liquid. Add broth and seasonings. Cover pot and place in oven for about three to three and one half hours. When shanks are fork tender, remove from pot and strain broth into a container for chilling. Return shanks and veggies to the pot and return to oven with the heat turned off. The residual heat of the oven will continue to cook the pork gently. Chill broth until you can remove the fat from the surface. (If you don't mind the extra fat, you can skip all of this and just thicken the broth and return it to the pot). If not, take the chilled de-fatted broth and reheat, adding the cornstarch and water mixture until just thick. Add the broth back into the pot and season to taste with salt or pepper. Serve shanks over veggies and drizzled with broth with a side of rice or barley grits. This is a dish you would allow time for the meat to slowly cook, so be sure to start in the late morning on a weekend. Once it's in the oven it's a matter of letting the slow heat tenderize the meat.

Chinese Barbeque Pork

2011-04-02T07:05:00.000-04:00

Char Siu
...or rather "Char Siu Done Light"
I have wandered around on this edible journey to a place where I didn't think I would find myself. I look at the many old recipes I have, and try to fit them into what I am now. I am different than when I started, both physically and mentally. Before I found a recipe and cooked it as it was. Now, I study it and try to transform it to fit what many have called a really strict set of rules. No matter, I say. If you won't be alive to eat in 10 years why bother eating now? And call me stubborn, I refuse to give in. And I refuse to give in to bad tasting food. If this is how I must eat to live, then by zinkies I am eating delicious stuff!

Char Siu
1 1.5 pound pork tenderloin
1 tablespoon dark sweet soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
1 tablespoon Hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1/4 teaspoon red food coloring (optional)

Combine sauces, honey and seasoning in a large resealable bag. Place tenderloin in and marinate for twenty four hours. The next day, preheat your oven to 450 F. Drain tenderloin and roast the tenderloin in the oven until it reaches a temperature of 150 F. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. Slice and enjoy.

Traditionally, Char Siu is made with lovely spare ribs or pork belly with lots of sweet glaze. It is brushed with maltose to make it shine. My Char Siu is marinated in a sweet sauce, but most of it drains off before we cook it. The flavor penetrates the meat, but there is no sticky glaze encrusted layer of fat like the original. And if you don't overcook the tenderloin it is sweet and tender. And I have added the red food coloring because we also eat with our eyes, and any Chinese buffet addict like me would want that extra visual cue to complete the experience!

Spinach Frittata

2011-03-27T11:36:00.002-04:00

This recipe is a new one that I have just started cooking on our "meatless mondays". What I like best about it is that I can make it ahead and pack a piece for lunch at work. Gently rewarmed in the microwave it is just as good as fresh out of the oven and very healthy.

Spinach Frittata
1 16-ounce carton of egg substitute (or 8 beaten eggs)
1 cup chopped sweet onion
1 10-ounce box of frozen spinach
1 ounce shredded low-fat mozzarella
1/2 ounce shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 ounce shredded romano cheese
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
fresh ground black pepper (about 10 grinds)

Preheat broiler and move rack to top of oven. Defrost spinach in the microwave until just warmed. Drain and squeeze out liquid and put spinach into a mixing bowl. Add egg substitute, cheese, salt, pepper and pepper flakes and mix well. In a medium sized oven safe non-stick skillet (10.5 inches) saute onion in olive oil until just translucent. Shake skillet to move all onion to the bottom of the pan and reduce heat to medium. Pour in egg mixture and cook over medium heat until bottom is crusty golden, and the edges of the frittata are beginning to set. Sprinkle a few drops of olive oil on the top and place pan under the broiler until the top is golden. If the frittata is solid, it is done and ready to slice. If it is still moving when gently shaken, turn off oven and move shelf to middle. Allow pan to sit in the warm oven for a few minutes until set. Slide out of pan and slice with a pizza cutter.

Slow Roasted Beef with Pineapple Orange Sauce

2011-03-13T16:32:00.001-04:00

This delicious recipe has been floating around my family for many years. It makes an appearance when large groups gather - graduation parties, christenings, or birthdays. It is delicious hot or cold, on it's own or in a bun. The secret is to slowly roast the beef to medium-rare, and then drizzle with the sauce.

Slow Roasted Beef with Pineapple Orange Sauce
1 beef eye of the round roast, approx 4 lbs.
4 teaspoons kosher salt (for the beef) plus 1/2 teaspoon (for the sauce
1 medium thinly sliced onion
1 cup water
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon canola oil
2/3 cup frozen pineapple-orange juice concentrate
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Rub the beef with 4 teaspoons of kosher salt and tightly wrap in plastic wrap. Let meat sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours. The next day, remove beef, allow to come to room temperature and wipe off all salt and dry with paper towel. Preheat oven to 225 F. Sear beef in a cast iron skillet with a few drops of oil until it is nicely browned all around the roast. Insert a meat thermometer in the end through the center of the beef and slowly roast. While beef is cooking, saute onions in canola oil until translucent. Add salt, cornstarch and brown sugar and mix well. Add water, ketchup and juice concentrate and heat until thick and bubbly. When the meat approaches 90 F, drizzle with a ladle of sauce. When the beef reaches 115 F, turn off the oven (be sure to keep the oven door closed!) and allow it to reach an internal temperature of 130 F (medium-rare). Remove beef from the oven, let sit for 15 minutes and slice. Serve with the remaining sauce.

This large roast will serve a large group as part of a buffet. Eye of the round is lean, so there is not much shrinkage. The sweet fruity sauce and low cooking temperature makes this great for summer parties. If you really must have your meat more well done, you can cook it initially to a temperature of 125 F, then turn the oven off and let the roast reach 140 F. This will give you a roast cooked medium. Anything more well done and you should probably choose a different cut of beef. Eye of the round will become very tough if cooked past medium, and is truly at it's best when medium-rare.

Farinata with Tomatoes, Basil and Mozzarella

2011-03-05T07:22:00.004-05:00

For the past nine months I have been working on a complete overhaul of my eating habits. The result of these changes has been dramatic. While I miss many of the things I used to eat, I have learned some new recipes to replace them. Pizza was one thing I had pretty much given up on. I had been able to create a simulated pizza on a whole wheat pita, but it just didn't taste the same. I accidentally bumped into a recipe for chickpea flour pizza by Madhur Jaffrey. Her recipe inspired me to create my own pizza below.

Farinata with Tomatoes, Basil and Mozzarella
1 1/3 cup garbanzo bean flour
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 14.5-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and sliced
low fat mozzarella, shredded
fresh grated parmesan
fresh basil, chopped
red onions, sliced thinly
extra virgin olive oil
fresh ground black pepper

Combine flour and water and mix well. Put in a covered container and let sit in refrigerator at least one hour and up to 24 hours. I had best results when I made the batter a day in advance. When ready to prepare pizzas, add salt and stir batter again as it may have settled while sitting. Preheat broiler and place on oven rack to the top and one in the middle. If you have a pizza stone, place it on the lower shelf. A baking sheet will work too. Heat about a teaspoon of olive oil in an oven safe non-stick skillet (a 10.5 inch non-stick skillet will make three 8 inch pizzas). When pan is hot, pour 1/3 of the batter in the bottom of the skillet to about pancake thickness and cook until edges turn golden brown. Use a toothpick to pierce any bubbles that form. When the edges begin to brown, place your choice of toppings on the pizza making sure that you keep them light. You don't want to overload toppings on the farinata as it will get soggy. Give the pizza a few quick lashings of olive oil and a grind of pepper and place skillet under the broiler until the top is golden. Gently remove pizza to pizza stone on lower shelf to crisp up for a few minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Smothered Pork Tenderloin

2011-02-26T15:48:00.004-05:00

This is one of my favorite roast pork dishes. The tenderloin is lean and juicy and together with the veggies it is very healthy and satisfying. There is an art to cooking pork - some cuts need to be cooked in dry heat quickly, others are best low and slow or smoked. This is quick and easy and delicious - just be careful not to overcook!

Smothered Pork Tenderloin
1 pork tenderloin - 1-1/2 to 2 lbs
1 large sweet onion, sliced thin
1 large fennel bulb, sliced thin
2 tart apples, unpeeled and sliced thin
1/2 cup fat free chicken broth
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 pinches dried thyme
fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425 F. In a non-stick skillet, heat canola oil and saute onions and fennel on stove until golden and tender. Reduce heat and add apples and chicken broth, cooking for about five minutes until apples begin to soften. Mix in thyme and salt and place on the bottom of a shallow baking dish. Grind pepper over pork and place uncovered on top of veggies. Be sure to use a meat thermometer stuck straight in the center of the tenderloin. Cook until meat reaches internal temperature of 150 F. This could take anywhere from 20-45 minutes depending on the weight of your tenderloin. When done, remove dish from the oven and cover top of tenderloin snugly with foil, allowing the bottom uncovered to let the juices mingle with the veggies. Let sit until pork reaches 155 to 160. Remove pork and slice. Add balsamic vinegar to veggies and mix. Serve pork on top of veggies and garnish with leftover fennel fronds.

Dolmas

2011-02-13T07:48:00.004-05:00

Every time my girls and I go to the Strip District in Pittsburgh, we stop at Labad's Middle Eastern Grocery. Here we find all sorts of yummy ingredients. For my daughter Zoë, this is the place to stock up on grape leaves. You can also find some somewhat-fresh stuffed grape leaves at our local grocery, but I have been wanting to give my Grandma Harvey's recipe a try. Actually, she had two recipes - one with rice and one without. One of her recipes is only a list of ingredients, and the other has some instructions. So I mushed them together a bit and made this from the combination of both.

Dolmas
1 jar of grape leaves, rinsed
1/2 pound ground lamb
1/2 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper
juice of two lemons
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Remove grape leaves from jar and rinse. Place them in a pot of boiling water for one minute, and then remove and put in cold water. When they have cooled, drain the water. Combine meat with carrots, rice, tomato paste, and seasonings. When ready to roll, place one teaspoon of the meat mixture on the back of one grape leaf and roll tightly. When the meat is gone and all leaves are rolled, place the remaining whole and broken leaves at the bottom of a heavy pot. Layer the stuffed grape leaves in snugly in the pot, making two or three layers as needed. Place a heatproof dish on top of the leaves to hold them down and then pour water in the pot to just cover the dish. Bake in the oven at 350 F for one hour. When cooled, drizzle leaves with lemon juice and olive oil. Serve warm or cold.

Sweet Heat Garlic Wings

2011-02-06T14:00:00.001-05:00

Game time is here, and I threw all caution aside to create something perfect for the Super Bowl. Tomorrow it's back to healthy eating and Meatless Monday, but today I will be watching and munching, cheering on the team. Enjoy!

Sweet Heat Garlic Wings

4 lbs chicken wings

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup Sriracha

2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic

1 teaspoon salt

pepper to taste

Bake wings on a flat baking pan at 450 F until golden, flipping once. (You can also deep fry the wings for extra crunch). While baking, melt butter in a small saucepan. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Then add remaining ingredients. When wings are done (about 20 minutes each side), toss gently in wing sauce. Season with fresh ground black pepper.

Turkish Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

2011-01-30T08:53:00.002-05:00

(Sulu Köfte)
Anybody who lives in Western Pennsylvania and regions close all have one thing on mind right now. STEELERS! Everyone is gathering their Super Bowl recipes and preparing to make an extravaganza of football munchies. Last weekend was the playoff game and I too was thinking about savory munchies. So in the tailgating spirit, with a bit of my international cravings, I found an easy Turkish recipe for meatballs in tomato sauce. No grape jelly and chili sauce meatballs in a Crock Pot this year - I am keeping things healthy and delicious.

Turkish Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
1/2 pound lean ground beef (90/10)
1/4 cup fine bulgur
1/4 cup long grain rice
2 small onions, one grated & one sliced thinly
2 cups beef broth
1 14.5 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and chopped
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon dried mint
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (Halaby pepper)
2 cloves garlic, minced
dried parsley
salt
gresh ground black pepper

Combine meat, grated onion, bulgur, rice, egg, mint, Aleppo pepper and garlic in a bowl. Season with a few grinds of fresh ground black pepper and a pinch of salt and set aside. In a heavy pot, saute sliced onion in olive oil and when transluscent, add broth, tomato paste, tomates and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. On a large dish, spread flour. Form small meatballs and roll into flour, making sure all meatballs are covered with flour. Drop meatballs into boiling tomato broth and stir slowly. Turn down heat to a simmer and cook meatballs for about 30 minutes until sauce is thick and meatballs are cooked. Garnish with parsley. After the meatballs are cooked through you can pop the meatballs and sauce in a Crock Pot and serve with the rest of your football nosh.

White Portabella Pizza

2011-01-23T08:47:00.001-05:00

Each weekend I try to explore a new recipe. I gather up information, tweak the ingredients to fit my healthy eating plan, seek the ingredients I can substitute or add and come up with something yummy. My experiments are all happily devoured. But each week I get the same comment from the man of the house. "How about something with mushrooms?" Gah! I can no longer escape this request! You see, mushrooms look scary to me. I don't eat them. I adore the mold that gives us stinky cheese and the yeast that makes bread and wine, but mushrooms are...fungus. And fungus is creepy. Sadly this is one reason I could never be a chef. I don't eat fungus and I don't eat critters who swim. Neither shrimp nor 'shroom will I consume. But he tells me these are scrumptious. Tell me if you agree, because I haven't tried one!

White Portabella Pizza
2 large portabella mushrooms
1/2 shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Parsley

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a small skillet, saute garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Remove from heat. Place portabellas top side down on a baking sheet. Drizzle with garlic oil, mound on 1/4 cup cheese over each and sprinkle with salt, pepper and parsley. Heat until bubbly and melted, abut 5-7 minutes. Serve to your favorite fungus fan.

Ethiopian Beef Tibs

2011-01-16T09:28:00.004-05:00

This recipe is inspired by one I saw on the Cooking Channel show Foodography, a show that explores the history and variations of different foods. I was immediately planning my strategy of the making of Tibs. Ethiopian ingredients are not something one finds in their local rural grocery store. And being on a budget I swapped the Injera bread for a whole grain tortilla. It was a huge stretch but unavoidable. Then I moved on to the Berbere spice. Even my overstocked spice supply was inadequate. Thanks to Amazon, Berbere was mine in two days for under $10. On to cooking!

After cooking I dug into the warm beefy tibs. Spicy delicious yum! I tossed the tortilla in the end, it was too heavy and floury. Brown rice worked beautifully instead. Maybe some day I will get me to a place to try the real dish, but for now I am feeling the sweet heat and loving it.

Ethiopian Beef Tibs
2 lbs lean sirloin roast, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 large sweet onion, sliced
1 14.5 ounce can whole tomatoes, drained and cut into large chunks
3 jalapeño peppers, seeds and pith removed, diced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons berbere
1/2 teaspoon salt

Quickly saute beef until just brown in a large skillet with about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Be sure not to overcook, let the meat be cooked medium. Remove beef and drain. Add the remaining olive oil to the skillet and saute the onions until barely translucent. Add the berbere and saute until fragrant. Add tomatoes, salt and beef and cook for a few minutes until the spices are blended in. Toss in the diced jalapeño and serve.

Spicy Beef Chili

2011-01-09T09:54:00.004-05:00

My mother used to make chili often, but I have no idea what her recipe was. It's all lost now, and that is a sad thing. But back then when she was alive and I was young her chili didn't impress me at all. It had big scary looking beans in a rather smooth meat sauce and a flavor that was not exactly memorable. Now I crave something spicy and beefy and chili is the obvious choice. Since I don't have my mom's recipe to tinker with, I made my own. The beans are too valuable nutritionally to take away, so I did some fancy footwork to make them less obtrusive.

Spicy Beef Chili

2 pounds Ground beef
1 medium Onion chopped
3 cloves Garlic minced
1 can (4 oz) Mild green chiles diced
1 can (28 oz) Crushed tomatoes
1 can (8 oz) Tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Ground cumin

3 tablespoons mixed ground chiles:

2 teaspoons Ground Ancho pepper;
2 teaspoons Ground Anaheim pepper;
2 teaspoons Ground Chipotle pepper;
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cayenne pepper;

3 tablespoons your favorite chili powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 tablespoon Canola Oil
1 can (16 oz) Pinto beans drained

Rinse and drain pinto beans and pulse once or twice in a food processor to break them up. Set beans aside. Saute onion in canola oil until just golden. Add minced garlic and continue to saute for one minute and remove from pot. Brown ground beef in pot and drain fat. Combine all ingredients back into pot and allow to heat for an hour. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and bread, or Cincinnati-style with cheese and onions over spaghetti. You can also serve it on brown rice. Garnish with sour cream if desired.

Turkish Red Lentil Soup

2011-01-01T06:17:00.001-05:00

(Kırmızı Mercimek Çorbası)
My daughter Mira and I are exploring many new meatless dishes for our "Meatless Monday" adventures. I have been trying to approach the day with more creativity than the usual weekday - to honor our new way of eating here at home. We have been keeping company with whole grain, lean meat and healthy fats simply because our low budget food choices were taking a toll on us all. At this point, the extra expense is paying for our long term health. The beauty of Turkish food is that it already uses these healthy ingredients, and is delicious. This soup is lick-the-bowl good and healthy too. What more can you ask for on a cold winter evening?

Turkish Red Lentil Soup
2 onions, finely chopped
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup red lentils, washed and picked over
1 carrot, grated
1 stalk celery, sliced thinly
1/2 cup whole grain coarse bulgur
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
32 ounces vegetarian broth
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper mixed with 1 tablespoon olive oil
Dried mint to garnish

In a heavy pot, saute onion, carrot and celery in olive oil until golden. Add paprika, cumin, lentils and bulgur and continue to saute for a few minutes. Add tomato paste, water and broth and simmer for about 30-45 minutes until thick and lentils are soft. Using an immersion blender, puree to a creamy consistency, letting the bulgur wheat provide a bit of texture. Add lemon juice, salt and drizzle some cayenne oil on the top with a sprinkle of dried mint.

Spaghetti with Garlic Oil and Chili

2010-12-25T07:09:00.015-05:00

(Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino)

This dish was inspired by one of my favorites from Luigi's Restaurant in Slippery Rock, PA. If a dish has garlic, I am intrigued. Heck - you can never have too much of the stuff. Take that as a warning all vampires and people with sensitive noses, I am chowing down the stinky cloves with joy!

Spaghetti with Garlic Oil and Chili

1/3 cup Canola/Extra Virgin Olive Oil mix
3 cloves Garlic sliced
5 cloves Garlic minced
2 dried Chile de Arbol peppers chopped
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 pound spaghetti, cooked al dente

Over medium low heat saute sliced garlic and chile in oil, adding minced garlic and salt at the end. Be sure not to over cook the garlic, it should just be starting to get a nice warm gold color. Remove from heat. Toss hot cooked pasta into the garlic oil. Garnish with Parmesan. I find that the whole wheat pasta seems to absorb the flavor better than regular pasta. It doesn't get as slippery either, and it is especially good left over and reheated. Either way, it is a tasty treat!

Stuffed Cabbage

2010-12-18T08:16:00.005-05:00

(Holupki)
In the 1890s, large groups of Eastern European immigrants came to the Pittsburgh area to work in the city's mills. The cool thing about Pittsburgh is that each ethnic group kept it's history and traditions alive. It's something that makes me very proud to say I am from the 'Burgh! These little stuffed cabbages are made in more of a Slovak style, but many groups can claim them as their own. From Turkey's Sarma to Golubtsy in Russia, every country in between has a version of their own. We call 'em "Pigs in a Blanket." It's great food for a cold day.

Stuffed Cabbage
1 large head of cabbage
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound lean ground pork
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 16-ounce can sauerkraut
1 1/2 cups cooked long grain brown rice
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large egg or egg substitute
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar (or Agave Nectar)
1 tablespoon parsley
1 teaspoon salt (divided)
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove core from cabbage and set into a large pot of boiling water. Gradually as the leaves become soft, remove from head of cabbage and put on a towel line baking sheet to cool. Continue to remove leaves making sure to not overcook until all of the large leaves are soft. The inner leaves can be set aside to use in other dishes.

Sauce: In a saucepan, saute garlic in oil until barely golden. Combine crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, two cloves of the minced garlic, vinegar, sugar and one half teaspoon of salt and slowly simmer while the rest of the dish is prepared.

Filling: In a large bowl, combine remaining salt, ground meat, rice, remaining garlic, parsley, onion, egg and pepper and mix well. Set aside. You can switch out the pork for a full pound of beef, or even use lamb if you wish.

Assembly: Drain and squeeze sauerkraut and line the bottom of a large baking dish (16x10), spooning a couple of ladles of the simmering sauce and mixing it into the kraut. Smooth to make a nice bed for the cabbage rolls. When leaves are cool, trim the large back spine of the leaf so that it is the same thickness as the rest of the leaf. Place about 1/4 cup of filling into the leaf and roll, placing the rolled cabbages over the top of the sauerkraut/sauce mixture. Pour over remaining sauce and cover dish with aluminum foil. Cook for 1 1/2-2 hours.

Chicken Balls

2010-12-11T09:01:00.000-05:00

We all have our guilty food pleasures. One of mine is the local Chinese buffet. While there are larger and more spectacular buffets in the area, En Lai in Slippery Rock has a small variety of my favorites. It's a far cry from real Chinese food - sort of an American sweetened version of Chinese food. But give me a plate and I pile on Walnut Chicken, Black Pepper Chicken and General Tso's Chicken and love it. And then there are the yummy Chicken Balls. At first I didn't know what they were - alien round fried balls. Hoping I would not encounter seafood, I took a bite and found a seasoned chicken meatball with a crispy crust. This is my interpretation.

Chicken Balls
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 carrot, shredded
3 green onions, sliced thinly
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil

Cut chicken into chunks and combine with egg whites, ginger, soy sauce, cornstarch and sesame oil in a food processor. Process until chicken is a thick puree. Add carrot and onion and pulse a couple of times. Remove mixture into a bowl. Heat canola oil to 375 degrees in a deep fryer or deep heavy pot. Drop spoonfuls of chicken mix into hot oil and fry until golden brown. Remove from oil, drain on paper and serve hot with a drizzle of sweet chili sauce or sweet and sour sauce.

Spiedies

2010-11-27T07:49:00.000-05:00

Like all home cooks, I fall into certain cooking patterns. Throughout the week I stick to the easy stuff - a good bison burger or something I can cook fast and serve with pasta or rice. There are also the "make your own" nights, a chance for everyone to eat the leftovers of their choice or something they want from the convenience food section of my pantry. Weekends are for experimenting on new dishes, and full meals at the table - steak or rotisserie chicken. This dish is a yummy weeknight quickie, and is also perfect for tailgating or picnics. And it is Steeler football season!!!

When I first tried this my tongue had one of those celestial choir moments. What is it with garlic and herbs and me? Holy heck it's good! I gobbled my sandwich, mopping the sauce with my bread and craved seconds. I called Mira to see what she thought, and before I got a clear answer she was holding her plate out asking for more. It looks like this one is a keeper. I think I could fit this on my rotating schedule - maybe for Thursdays.

Spiedies
2 pounds of chicken cubed into 2 inch squares
1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried mint
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Combine seasonings, oil, vinegar and lemon juice into a plastic bag and add chicken. Marinate for at least 24 hours. When ready to cook, arrange cubes of meat on soaked bamboo skewers and grill until golden brown, but don't overcook as the marinade has already cooked the meat partially. I doubled the marinade and set half aside as a condiment or baste for the meat. Serve on Italian bread alone or with shredded lettuce, onions and tomatoes and a drizzle of sauce.You can also use the meat to top a salad.

Spiedies are native to New York state and were originally made with lamb. You can use veal, beef or pork too.

Tabbouleh

2010-11-21T08:36:00.001-05:00

I have been searching for healthy and filling meals to pack in my little red lunch bag for work. Picking a recipe for lunch is an art in itself. Too heavy and I will be staring off into space instead of keeping production and using that brain. Too light and I will be furtively searching through my drawers for something chocolaty to tame the munchies. This tasty salad seemed to be the perfect choice.

Tabbouleh
1 cup water
1/2 cup whole grain bulgur
zest and juice of one lemon
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 scallions, sliced thinly
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 7-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Boil water and pour over bulgur and let sit until water is absorbed and bulgur is cooled. In a small bowl combine lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, garlic and seasonings mix. Pour over cool bulgur and add vegetables and toss. Serve on a bed of lettuce with a nice whole wheat pita.

City Chicken

2010-11-14T08:31:00.003-05:00

This Pittsburgh favorite is a meal-time-machine back into the 1930s. Imagine yourself feasting with the family at the table set with Fiesta - kind of like Ralphie in A Christmas Story. On the place is budget-friendly home cooked food like mashed potatoes, canned peas and chicken with gravy. Wait, chicken is too expensive. Make that city chicken, chunks of pork or veal arranged on a stick to resemble that expensive chicken leg.

It's hard to believe that at one time, chicken was more costly than veal or pork and was saved for that special Sunday night dinner. City chicken is best known in the big cities of Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the Depression. You can still find packages of pork and veal with sticks sold as "city chicken" at the butcher shop. It is delicious, and even tastes a bit like chicken. But then, that's what everyone says about all unusual food, right?

City Chicken
2 pounds veal or pork (or both) cut into two inch chunks
3/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
3/4 cup stone ground whole wheat flour
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cups canola oil
2 tablespoons arrowroot (or cornstarch)

Beat eggs and milk and place in a small tray or bowl. Combine flour, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, paprika and set aside in another small tray or bowl. Place four or five chunks of pork or veal, or alternating chunks of both on a stick. Dip stick into egg mixture, then roll in breadcrumbs until well coated. When all sticks are coated with breadcrumbs, place on a dish and cover with foil and set in the refrigerator for at least one hour to allow the breading to set. Preheat oven to 350F. Add canola oil to a hot skillet and brown the sticks on all sides. When brown, place sticks on a 9x12 baking dish. Pour chicken broth over top and cook in oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until tender. When done, remove sticks to a dish and cover with foil. Take pan dripping and pour into a sauce pan and heat to boiling. Add arrowroot mixed with a bit of water and thicken into a gravy. Serve sticks with gravy.

Tuscan Kale and White Bean Soup

2010-11-06T08:00:00.002-04:00

Meatless Monday is a worldwide initiative to help people improve their health my cutting out meat for one day a week. As someone who has been hard at work overhauling her diet into something less refined and lower in saturated fat, the idea was something I was very interested in. The only problem - I adore meat and usually find anything other than a double cheese pizza or gooey grilled cheese as being meatless purgatory.

The rumors are true - I was the kid with the poodle who secretly ate all my vegetables. Beans had to be pulverized into creamy hummus before I would even look at them. And forget green beans - they squeaked when I chewed them. Yick! So how to do this? How to eat vegetarian and not feel punished? That my friends is the big question. If you are going to work hard and give up the unhealthy food, you need to be sure that each meal is spectacular and doesn't taste like a compromise. Into the kitchen I went, stocked with beans and veggies. With spoon in hand and full of trepidation, I took a bite. What's this? It tastes...delicious! Can you believe it??? I actually had seconds. Yes, Karen, the hater of the vegetable world has eaten beans and enjoyed them. Maybe you will too.

Tuscan Kale and White Bean Soup
5 cups kale, washed, ribs removed
2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
1 carrot, sliced into thin disks
5 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups vegetarian broth (or three 14.5 cans of Swanson's Vegetarian Vegetable)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Bunch kale and shred into 1/2 inch slices and set aside. Heat oil in a large pot or dutch oven. Saute onions, carrots and celery until softened and onions are barely translucent. Add garlic and saute for 5-10 seconds until fragrant. Be sure not to overcook the garlic. Add broth, kale, beans and seasonings and cook on low for about 30 minutes. Serve with crusty whole grain bread.

Carne Adovada

2010-10-31T10:06:00.003-04:00

Something strange is happening to my taste buds. There was a time when they were compliant inhabitants on my tongue. But I think they were plotting a revolution and decided to take over. Maybe they are noticing my new eating habits and have decided that the lack of sugar and refined carbohydrates should be replaced by heat. Lots of heat. They are also controlling my mind. I found myself purchasing a large bag of dried chiles from The Spice House mindlessly obeying the prodding of my tastebuds. Must buy chiles! Must buy chiles! Time to cook something spicy from south of the border.

Carne Adovada
2-3 pounds pork shoulder trimmed of fat and cut into 2 inch cubes
16 dried Anaheim or Ancho chiles
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 medium onion, cut in quarters
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 300°F. Spread chiles on a large baking sheet and toast gently in the oven for about 5-6 minutes until fragrant. Once they are cooled, remove stems and seeds and crush into a blender. Add broth, onion, garlic and seasonings into blender and puree into a red paste. Place pork cubes in a dutch oven or slow cooker and pour chili paste over and combine. Cook slowly in the oven at 325°F for at least three to four hours, or in slow cooker set on high for 4-6 hours (or set on low for 8 hours). The longer the pork slowly braises, the more tender it becomes. When done (when you can't stand waiting any longer), skim off all fat from the surface, stir and serve pork on whole grain tortillas with brown rice, chopped onions and shredded cabbage.

Beef Barley Stew

2010-10-24T13:41:00.003-04:00

I always feel like I am taking a step back into the past when I cook beef stew. Stews cooked on the hearth while family members were busily doing their work. They fed a whole family and felt warm inside. And they are pretty humble - both in cost and looks. It's like walking back a couple of centuries. The warm hearty stew is very adaptable. You can use hulless barley or pearl barley, bison or beef, and change the veggies all about to something you like or whatever you have on hand. And cooking for an extended period of time is delicious.

Beef Barley Stew
2 lbs cubed beef or bison
2 1/2 cups beef stock
1/2 cup hulless barley
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon sweet pakrika
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Combine beef, vegetables, bay leaves, stock, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper in a covered heavy pot and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and allow to cook on low heat for three hours or in a Crock Pot for about 8 hours. Prior to serving, bring to a boil and mix cornstarch with about two tablespoons of water and pour into stew to thicken. Add mustard and paprika and additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a nice chunk of crusty bread.

Hulless barley will be chewier than pearl barley, and will require at least two hours to fully cook. Don't worry, the stew doesn't mind!

Pork and/or Chicken Adobo

2010-10-16T08:33:00.010-04:00

I first tried chicken adobo at Jordan's Restaurant in Grove City. I am still amazed that they are open and located in my town - a very very small town that historically only has two ethnic choices - Italian and Chinese. More specifically, pizza and the ubiquitous pseudo-Chinese buffet. Jordan's serves a small Filipino menu along with pizza and subs to please the uninitiated. The heck with pizza, give me the adobo!!!! I love it so much I had to create my own version. Be warned - the vinegar flavor in this dish is a delicious kick in the pants!

Pork and Chicken Adobo
2 lbs meat cubes (Pork or chicken, or a combination of both)
1 cup Coconut vinegar (or white vinegar)
1 cup Soy sauce
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 whole garlic bulb, divided and minced
4 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Combine meat, vinegar, soy sauce, half of the garlic, bay leaves and black pepper in a container and marinate overnight. Pour meat and marinade and one cup of water into a large pot and simmer until meat is cooked through. Remove meat but keep liquid simmering. In a separate skillet saute onion until golden. Add the remaining minced garlic and saute until fragrant and pour into simmering marinade. Adding extra oil if needed, brown cooked meat and return to pot. Combine cornstarch with a few tablespoons of cold water and pour into pot thicken. Simmer for about a half hour until meat is tender. Remove bay leaves and serve over rice and steamed green beans.

Swiss Steak

2010-10-09T16:56:00.004-04:00

My mom had a nice little collection of favorite recipes that she would cook. Unfortunately, most of them were found in cookbooks and never written down on cards or saved. She would only refer back to the cookbook that the recipe was in. Now that she is gone, it has been difficult to find the favorites I grew up with. Swiss steak is one of those recipes. I have no idea where she got her recipe, and it is not written down. So this leaves me to try to find a way of making it myself. Maybe one day I will replicate what she made - tender steaks with a tomato gravy. But until then, this recipe is easy and delicious. Maybe someday I will perfect the gravy!

Swiss Steak
1 1/2 pounds beef cubed steak
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped fine
2 carrots, shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper
canola oil

Dredge steaks in flour and brown on both sides in a skillet with about two tablespoons of canola oil. Set steaks aside. Saute onions, celery and carrot until softened, and when done, add garlic. Combine vegetables with can of tomatoes and paprika, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and allow to cook for a few minutes. Toss everything into a crock pot and cook 8 hours until steaks are fork tender. Serve with pasta or mashed potatoes. You can also make this on the stove top in a dutch oven instead of a slow cooker. Just add about a cup of water or broth and simmer everything low and slow for about two hours.

Salsa Verde

2010-10-02T09:03:00.003-04:00

The last of the fresh vegetables are coming in from friends and family who have gardens. It won't be long before the vegetable stand down the road shuts down until next year. My thanks to everyone who shared their green thumb with me - Steve and Audrey for the cucumbers, tomatoes and chili peppers, Burt for the tomatillos. Actually I had never eaten a tomatillo before. But last weekend I received a whole bag, so I decided to improvise a nice salsa verde.

Salsa Verde
2 pounds fresh tomatillos
4 jalapeño peppers
1 large onion, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Remove stems from peppers, slice and remove pith and seeds. (This will make the salsa mild. If you want extra heat, leave the pepper intact) Slice the pepper and put in a food processor. Set aside. Remove outer papery skin from tomatillos and rinse well under lots of warm water to remove the sticky film. Put into a sauce pan and fill with water to two inches above the vegetables and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer tomatillos for about five minutes. When they are done, remove from the water and put them into the food processor with the lime juice, cumin, salt and sugar. Pulse until the salsa is thick and lumpy. (You can also use a hand blender in a mixing bowl, pureeing to a thick consistency.) Add onions, cilantro and pepper and chill. Serve with chips or over grilled meats.

Bison Pot Roast with Dill Sauce

2010-09-25T08:04:00.002-04:00

I have been working a lot of overtime lately, and having a nice warm fork tender pot roast waiting for me when I get home is enough to soothe the stress away. My trusty Crock Pot is always bubbling away with something yummy in it. And this time of year, when the weather gets chilly, pot roast is what I crave.

I always used a beef chuck roast in my Crock Pot. But lately, I have been using Bison. It tastes just like beef - seriously! This is not the "tastes just like chicken" line. And it is leaner and better for you. Bison has 67% less fat than beef, and 46% fewer calories. Bison can be healthier than chicken. But it is a bit expensive and sometimes hard to find. So if you want to use beef, go right ahead - it all works the same.

Bison Pot Roast with Dill Sauce
1 1/2 lb chuck roast (bison or beef)
1 large onion, sliced
1 cup low sodium beef stock
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 cup low fat or fat free sour cream
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons canola oil
fresh ground black pepper

In a hot skillet with oil, sear roast on both sides until brown and place in slow cooker. In same skillet, saute onion until caramelized and put on top of roast. Combine broth, vinegar and dill weed and pour over roast. Season with fresh ground black pepper and cook on low for 9-10 hours. When ready to serve, remove roast and wrap in aluminum foil to keep warm (be careful - the roast is very very tender). Turn slow cooker up to high and allow broth to bubble. Mix flour with about 1/2 cup of water and pour into bubbling broth to thicken. When thick, stir in sour cream. Serve beef with pasta and a drizzle of sauce. Garnish with a sprinkle of additional dill weed if desired.

If you are using a beef chuck roast, you will see a lot more liquid and fat in the pot after cooking. You may want to skim off the fat, and remove some of the broth (keep about two cups or so) before making the sauce. My roast was cooked in a 3.5 quart cooker. If yours is a larger slow cooker increase the amounts on all of the ingredients.

Chana Dal

2010-09-19T08:36:00.006-04:00

I was the kid that hated all vegetables. In fact I had a long list of foods that were unsuitable for consumption - liver, fish and at a secure position at number three - beans. And then one day as an adult I tried hummus. Suddenly a light was shed on the humble legume. While I am still a bit skittish about beans in general and have a bit of hesitation when confronted with them (I blame this on residual conditioning from childhood) I do find myself wanting to try new ways of eating them. Some little beanies are kind of yummy, and downright good for you.

Chana Dal
1 cup dry chana dal
3 cups water
l large onion, diced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

Pick through the dal to make sure nothing but beans remains. Combine dal and water in a small crockpot (I used my 2.5 quart) and cook on low for about eight or nine hours. If you don't use a crockpot, you could simmer the dal in the water until tender. In a skillet, saute the onion in the olive oil until caramelized. Add to the dal with the tomato paste, cilantro and garam masala and cook for a few minutes. Puree the mixture to your desired consistency and serve with bread as a spread or dip, or add a bit more water and tomato paste for a soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Turkish Pasta with Meat and Yogurt Sauce

2010-09-11T07:43:00.007-04:00

(Yoğurtlu Kıymalı Makarna)
My taste buds' trip to Turkey is long overdue. They have had their bags packed and have been patiently waiting for me to get cooking what is one of the healthiest cuisines in the world. It's also one of the largest, full of history and influencing all of the countries around it. So off I went to imagine myself at the Bosphorus, wandering the streets of Istanbul and smelling the fragrance of the spice market. I got lost for a while, and it made me really really hungry, so I cooked up this beautiful pasta dish. It may be simple food - but there is nothing like it around here. Very yummy!

Turkish Pasta with Meat and Yogurt Sauce

8 ounces extra lean ground beef (97/3), or bison
1 medium Onion, chopped
1/2 cup all natural fat free yogurt
4 cloves Garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Tomato paste
2 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Canola Oil
1/4 teaspoon Ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon Sweet Hungarian paprika, divided
1/4 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
Kosher Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
cooked pasta

For the meat sauce:
Saute chopped onion in 1 tablespoon olive oil until golden and translucent. Add two of the cloves of minced garlic and lean ground beef and saute until meat is cooked through. Stir in tomato paste, cumin, and 1/8 teaspoons of sweet paprika and cinnamon. Turn heat to low and keep warm.

For the yogurt sauce:
Mince two of the garlic cloves and combine with one pinch of kosher salt and mash into a paste. Add to yogurt and set aside and allow to come to room temperature. I used organic fat free plain yogurt, but you could use regular yogurt too.

For the oil drizzle:
Combine 1 tablespoon canola oil with additional 1/8 teaspoon of both cayenne pepper and sweet paprika. Heat in microwave safe container for 30 seconds until warm. Set aside. Butter is most commonly used for this and you could use it instead of canola oil.

Makes two servings:
Serve 3/4 to 1 cup cooked pasta (I used whole wheat fusili) with 1/2 of the meat sauce and a dollop of yogurt. Drizzle with a few drops of the oil. Garnish with fresh cucumber slices.

Chicken Madras

2010-08-30T17:56:00.000-04:00

I have been looking at this recipe of my Grandmother's for a while. Let's face it, I love a good curry. And while I realize that most of the dishes I serve are probably more influenced by the British and are not always authentic Indian, they are delicious. This recipe called for fresh green apples. I saw some brilliant Granny Smith apples in the market today, and I knew that the time had come to give Grandma's Chicken Madras a try.

Chicken Madras
1 lb skinless boneless white meat chicken, cut into chunks
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 medium green apples, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons Madras curry powder
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

Saute chicken chunks in oil until just cooked through and remove from skillet. Saute onions and apples, sprinkle with curry powder and flour. Stir and cook for two minutes and then add broth and bring to a boil. Add chicken and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes. Add more broth as needed if curry becomes too dry. Serve over steamed rice.

Grandma Harvey's original recipe calls for a 3 lb boiler/fryer cut up and seasoned with salt and pepper and browned in 1/4 cup of butter instead of canola oil. For my somewhat healthier version above I also used low-sodium fat free chicken broth, stone-ground whole wheat flour and brown rice. The curry powder I used was Sun Madras Curry powder which already contains salt. I found that it was salty enough to properly season everything and just needed a few grinds of black pepper.

Crunchy Spicy Chickpeas

2010-08-22T07:48:00.001-04:00

My house is full of snackers. Somebody is always running in and out of the kitchen with some form of snack item. Yet, aside from my homemade salsa and an accompanying bag of tortilla chips - there are no typical junkfood snacks in the house. We have apples and cheese, lot of nuts and old fashioned non-microwave popcorn galore as well as the most sought-after snack in the kitchen - the fresh raspberry. Apparently somebody bought me some raspberries the other day. I never saw any of them. So this little crunchy bean is our newest snack item. It's spicy and hot and is crunchy like a nut, yet packed with nutrition. And it's easy and cheap to make.

Crunchy Spicy Chickpeas
2 14.5-ounce cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Drain and rinse chickpeas well. Allow most of the moisture to dry off (I twirled them in my salad spinner) and put into a large bowl. Add oil and seasonings and toss in the bowl until all chickpeas are well coated. Spread chickpeas on a sheet pan in a single layer and bake in the oven for approximately 45-50 minutes. Shake sheet pan around about every 15-20 minutes while cooking to allow the peas to brown evenly. Allow to cool thoroughly and enjoy!

Greek Salad

2010-08-14T18:45:00.007-04:00

Horiatiki
Last week I took a vacation to the beautiful state of Virginia to see all sorts of places. Our first two nights were spent in Charlottesville. One evening after a long day of sightseeing we went to the local shopping plaza in search of something yummy to snack on. We happened upon Mykonos Cafe and dined on a delicious Greek salad and cucumbers dipped in hummus. It was a yummy meze treat. And I am hooked. My mouth waters at the thought of crispy greens and cucumbers tossed with feta. Oh my! I couldn't help trying my own version.

Greek Salad
Fresh crisp Romaine lettuce or any variety of greens
English cucumbers diced
Kalamata olives
Red onions, sliced
Fresh grape tomatoes
Feta cheese packed in brine

Combine the greens, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes and onions with some of the Greek dressing (recipe below) and toss to coat all of the veggies. Serve with crumbled feta and a quick grind of pepper.

Greek Dressing
1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried Turkish oregano

Combine ingredients in a jar and shake thoroughly. Allow the dressing to sit at least a day before using.

Fried Rice

2010-07-30T08:47:00.002-04:00

But Not Too Fried!
This recipe is not the fried rice you find at a Chinese buffet. It isn't greasy or bland, and it isn't predictable. Fried rice is not supposed to be predictable - it's meant to reflects what veggies and meats you had on hand. So this recipe too should be treated with flexibility. If you don't have one thing, add another. Don't eat pork? Use chicken instead. Don't eat meat at all? Add more veggies, egg or tofu. Whatever you do, this recipe will still be packed with flavor and healthy too.

Pictured above is the recipe using steamed brown rice, grilled marinated pork, egg beaters and mixed veggies.

Fried Rice
8 cups of steamed rice
1 pound of marinated grilled meat, cubed
4 eggs, beaten
2 medium onions, chopped
1 package Dole broccoli slaw
2 large carrots, diced
4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2-3 tablespoons Sriracha
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Saute onions and carrots until onions are barely transluscent. Add broccoli slaw and stir for an additional two minutes or until barely tender. Add eggs, meat, rice and seasonings and heat through. Add more or less soy sauce and Sriracha as desired.

Hoisin Marinade
4 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 minced garlic cloves

Marinate meat (pork, chicken or beef) for at least two hours or overnight.

Chicken Spread

2010-07-25T07:37:00.004-04:00

This simple appetizer comes from my sister Kathy. She made it for us one Christmas, and forever it has become a flavor I associate with the holiday season. But I also use this for snack day at work and just for nibbling at home. Serve it on a few crackers, add a piece of fruit and you have a quick lunch.

Chicken Spread

1 can 4.5 oz can Swanson's white meat chicken
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup chopped onion

Mix ingredients well using a fork to shred chicken into the cream cheese and onion mixture. When well combined, refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to blend. Serve chilled with crackers.

Rissoles

2010-07-17T08:58:00.005-04:00

This recipe is dedicated to cyber buddy Andrew, a witty meatball who inspired me to research and create my own rissoles. I had never heard of these meat croquettes before. But what I have learned is that they are best known in the UK and Australia and are budget conscious veggie and meat mixtures perfect for deep frying or grilling on "the barbie". You can add almost any type of vegetable you have on hand, and serve them with a variety of condiments. I served mine grilled with Asian sweet chili sauce.

Rissoles
1 pound lean ground beef
1 small zucchini, shredded
1 small carrot, shredded
1 medium onion, diced
1 large egg
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons plain bread crumbs
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Saute vegetables in a few tablespoons in a skillet until softened and set aside to cool. If you are using leftover vegetables you can skip the sauteing and just mix your pre-cooked veggies with the meat. When cool, combine vegetables with meat, egg, bread crumbs, tomato paste and barbecue sauce and form into small slightly flattened balls (about 1/4 cup each). If you wish to fry, you can coat the meatballs with additional bread crumbs. Allow to chill in the refrigerator so that they will be nice and firm when cooking. Fry in hot oil (about 1/2 inch deep in a deep skillet) or grill. Gently turn rissoles over and grill or fry on the other side. Serve with barbecue sauce, chili sauce or even gravy.

Coconut Clodhoppers

2010-07-10T14:32:00.002-04:00

I dread the thought of making cookies. I don't know where this comes from, but because of it but I avoid baking at all costs. We all have obstacles to overcome! Actually, I don't think I could ever bake a better cookie than my sister Kathy. People stop in their tracks when she brings out her cookies. I swear she could be a millionaire cookie mogul if she would find herself a commercial kitchen and get baking. As for me, I can melt stuff really good - like these Coconut Clodhoppers.

Coconut Clodhoppers
1 box honey graham cracker cereal
6 cups white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups crushed salted cashews

Combine cashews, cereal and coconut in a large mixing bowl. Melt white chocolate in a double boiler and pour into mixing bowl. Mix well and spread on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and chill until solid. When hardened, break into little pieces and enjoy.

Fried Cornmeal Mush

2010-07-03T09:43:00.004-04:00

I have a really good memory. At least that is what family tells me. I can remember the tiniest detail of people and travels from years past. I get these sudden images that flash in my mind. Among them are memories of my grandmother. She made me this dish once - at her cabin in the Laurel Mountains. My mom also made it for me, along with that mysterious food "scrapple", reputedly containing all parts of the pig - even the squeal. I would eat it all for breakfast, but mush was my favorite. Delicately crispy on the outside, creamy warm on the inside and dripping with real maple syrup.

Mush used to come in these little tubs in the refrigerated section of the grocery. But why anyone would bother buying the pre-made stuff when it's so easy and cheap to do it yourself is beyond me. I was thinking of adding fresh corn to it also. You might call this stuff polenta. I call it delicious.

Fried Cornmeal Mush
4 cups water (set 1 cup aside)
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
vegetable oil for frying
flour

Combine cornmeal, salt and one cup of cold water in a bowl and combine well. Bring remaining three cups of water to a boil. While boiling, pour cold cornmeal and water into the boiling water and whisk to smooth any lumps. Cook on medium low to low heat for 20 minutes or until cornmeal becomes a thick smooth paste. Be careful with the heat as it cooks and stir constantly, because it can bubble like hot lava as it thickens.

Pour hot cornmeal into a Pyrex loaf pan and refrigerate overnight. When ready to cook the next morning, invert pan onto a dish or cutting board and cut 1/4 inch slices. Dredge in flour and fry in skillet with hot vegetable oil until golden brown on both sides.

Serve with butter or with your favorite syrup.

Zucchini Fritters

2010-06-26T06:34:00.003-04:00

(Beignets de Courgette)
It happens every summer. Like invaders from an alien planet, zucchini start appearing everywhere. At first they seem harmless vegetables, but soon as the summer draws on they grow until they become the size of an infant. Everyone seems to be trying to get rid of them. What to do? Eat. Adopt these green babies and fry them up.

Zucchini Fritters

2 small Zucchini shredded (about 1 pound)
2 large Eggs beaten
1/2 cup Flour

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 pinch Cayenne
4 cloves Garlic minced

Shred zucchini in a bowl. Add other ingredients and mix well. The mixture should be mostly zucchini in small amount of loose batter. Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a cast iron skillet. Drop batter by tablespoons into the oil and fry for a few minutes until the edges become brown. Flip fritter over with a spatula or slotted spoon and fry the other side until both sides are golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve as they are or with marinara sauce.

Dill Weed Dip

2010-06-20T08:08:00.004-04:00

This addictive recipe came to me from Audrey, who is blessed with a very large garden full of fresh vegetables during the summer months. No matter what the season, when dining at Audrey's, you will find mostly fresh vegetables served in salads and home baked bread. She claims to not like cooking, but is always a taste of the earth's abundance when I go there. This is adapted from one of her staples.

Dill Weed Dip

8 ounces mayonnaise
8 ounces sour cream
1/2 teaspoon Accent (monosodium glutamate)
3 tablespoons dill weed
1 tablespoon garlic salt

Combine all ingredients and allow to sit for a few hours to blend the seasonings. You can also add less dill weed and an equal amount of other herbs, such as chives, onion flakes, parsley or whatever you wish. Most people I know are shocked that I would use MSG, but they seem to be unaware of what it actually is. Studies have shown that most people only have reactions when they think it is in the food. It's pretty neat stuff actually. It is derived from seaweed and makes the flavors bolder. But like all sodium products, one should use it sparingly - only enough to enhance the flavor and no more. Feel free to omit the ingredient if you wish.

Pineapple Teriyaki Steak Salad

2010-06-12T09:36:00.005-04:00

Nothing beats a juicy steak. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I am truly a carnivore and the beef beastie is my favorite along with the pork beastie. I grill steaks outside all year long, but in the summer I love it best with a cool crisp salad and some fresh fruit. This dish has all three together for the perfect hot weather meal.

Pineapple Teriyaki Steak Salad

Marinade:
1/2 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup soy sauce
4 tablespoons cider vinegar
4 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 cloves garlic finely chopped

Dressing:

1/3 cup pineapple juice

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar (cider or white vinegar work too)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

Marinate two pounds of steak (flank or skirt steak) in the marinade overnight. Grill until perfect (for me perfect is medium rare) and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes. Slice thinly and serve on a bed of fresh romaine with fresh pineapple and a splash of dressing. Enjoy!

Pickled Purple Eggs

2010-06-05T09:37:00.001-04:00

To the uninitiated, they look like alien spores out of a cult 70s sci-fi film. Touch them and a creature conjured from the imagination of H.R. Giger will burst forth and implant in your viscera. Run! No, wait, they are only Pickled Purple Eggs! Harmless little eggs which are a fixture of Pennsylvania salad bars and farm markets, or anywhere there is a population of Amish or Mennonite cooks. Pickled eggs were first made as a way to preserve eggs using leftover pickle juices. The Pennsylvania Dutch brought this technique, and it continues today with the area's Amish, who still live as their ancestors did without electricity. This recipe is in homage to my own Pennsylvania Dutch ancestor - Elizabeth Barth who was born in May, 1770 and lived in Lancaster PA.

Pickled Purple Eggs
1 dozen eggs
1 14.5-ounce can of sliced or small beets
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup water
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 stick cinnamon
4 whole cloves
4 whole allspice berries

Hard boil eggs and cool immediately in ice water. Using eggs which are a few weeks old makes them easier to peel. Set aside and allow to cool.

Combine beets, vinegar, water, sugar and spices and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool. Peel eggs and add to cooled liquid. You can keep the beets with the eggs to pickle, or use separately. Refrigerate for two days to a week before eating. The eggs can keep in the refrigerator for up to two months.

Bulgarian Salad

2010-05-29T07:36:00.004-04:00

(Shopska Salata)
I first discovered this delicious salad on one of my trips to the Pittsburgh Folk Festival. After eating the small sample (I had been sampling everywhere!) I decided to try to replicate the recipe. Since then, it has been made in ample batches each week during the hot summer months. Actually, I am surprised at how quickly this salad is consumed! Now that the warm weather is here and the requests are for "light food", this salad will once again be part of the weekly menu. If only I could keep up with the demand...

Bulgarian Salad
4 large Cucumbers
3 medium Tomatoes chopped
1 medium Green peppers chopped
2 tablespoon Sugar
1 tablespoon Kosher Salt
1/2 cup Vegetable oil
1/2 cup Red wine vinegar
8 ounces Feta cheese, crumbled

Peel cucumbers and slice in half. Remove seeds with a spoon and chop into 1/4 inch squares. Place into a large bowl. Add green peppers and tomatoes. Pour vinegar and oil on vegetables and sugar and salt. Mix vegetables and dressing mixture and refrigerate for one hour to allow the flavors to combine. Serve with crumbled feta cheese.

Saffron Rice and Corn

2010-05-22T09:03:00.010-04:00

(Arroz Amarillo y Maiz)
I love to cook with rice, and this version of a Latin American dish is one of my favorites. I pair this bright flavored rice with pernil, tacos and rotisserie chicken. And sometimes I just toss chicken in the rice and use the combined mixture as a main dish.

As always, the better the ingredients, the better the dish. And this is sometimes hard for me as I do my best to keep a tight food budget. Unfortunately, I love cooking and trying new flavors. I try to keep to my philosophy of using inexpensive staples with one or two star ingredients. I think that the food traditions of nations who have been challenged throughout history to feed their people have the most to teach about this idea. It is these people who can produce food that is extraordinary using inexpensive staples such as rice or beans with amazing depth of flavor. They are my inspiration. My star ingredient today is saffron - the most costly seasoning in the world. My favorite is Penzeys Coupé Spanish Saffron. It is one of their best saffrons, packing the most flavor and color into those little pinches. A little goes a long way, and I can't resist it. The fresh cilantro is costly in the grocery, but I keep four large pots of it growing on my porch.

Saffron Rice and Corn
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups long grain white rice
2 cups sweet corn
1 cup chopped onion
1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 pinches saffron threads
1 bay leaf

In a pot, bring chicken broth to a boil. Add rice, saffron, bay leaf and olive oil and boil for one minute before covering and turning to low. Simmer on low for about 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed into rice and rice is tender. While rice is cooking, saute onion in butter in a skillet until translucent and just barely golden in color. Set aside. When rice is finished, remove bay leaf and add onions and corn. Stir and warm until corn is heated through. Add cilantro and serve.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bacon Bars

2010-05-16T15:38:00.003-04:00

Warning: this blog post contains pork which may not be suitable for all viewers. Oh yes, three sinful delights all combined into one treat - bacon, chocolate and peanut butter. After posting my favorite peanut butter bacon sandwich, it only seemed natural to add the chocolate. After all, to many devotees, bacon is indeed meat candy. The combination of smoke, sweet and salt are combined beautifully into one delicious treat.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bacon Bars
2 lbs lean smoked bacon
2 16-ounce bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Line a cookies sheet with aluminum foil and set aside. In a skillet, fry bacon strips until crispy, making sure that all of the bacon is cooked and evenly done. Crumble into pieces and set aside. In double boiler, melt semi-sweet chocolate chips until smooth. Microwave 1/2 cup of peanut butter chips until smooth. Add 2/3 of the bacon to the chocolate and pour into cookie sheet, spreading to a thin layer. Pour remaining bacon pieces along with the peanut butter chips on top and press gently into the chocolate. Chill in the refrigerator until set. Cut into small bars and serve.

Pasta with Uncooked Tomato Sauce

2010-05-08T08:40:00.002-04:00

I was informed last week by cyber buddy Antonio that I had no recipes from Italy. His observation led me to much pondering. We are truly creatures of habit, even those of us who think we are experimental. Growing up and for the most part to the present, Italian food is pizza from a restaurant or Spaghetti with Ragu from the jar. Occasionally we might visit a restaurant and enjoy spaghetti or ravioli. But throughout my life, no Italian food was homemade. My sister Kathy was blessed with Italian in-laws who shared a few recipes, but still she and I tend to shy away from something we perceive as easier to cook from a jar. As my Mother's recipes were no help, I turned to my Grandmother and did find a good recipe to begin learning about this fabulous cuisine.

As the weather is turning warm, I prefer a lighter meal over one steaming on the oven. My lack of central air conditioning plays a big part here. Grandma's Pasta with Uncooked Tomato Sauce was just the ticket to learn about fresh Italian cooking. There isn't a lot of messing around here. The quality of your ingredients make or break this delicious sauce.

Pasta with Uncooked Tomato Sauce
1 to 1 1/2 pounds of fresh tomatoes
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup of fresh chopped basil
1 cup fresh mozzarella or fresh buffalo mozzarella, diced
1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt to taste
generous pinch red pepper flakes
1 pound pasta

Blanch the tomatoes by dropping them into rapidly boiling water for one minute and then dropping them into a bowl of ice water. Peel skins from the tomatoes and gently squeeze to remove the seeds. Chop tomatoes and place in large bowl. Combine the tomatoes, garlic, basil, mozzarella, oil, vinegar and salt and pepper flakes, to taste, and let stand, covered at room temperature for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours. To serve, cook pasta until it is al dente, drain well and add it to the sauce. Toss and serve immediately.

Salsa with Fresh Cilantro

2010-05-01T09:59:00.002-04:00

Local Mexican restaurant Compadres serves up the most delicious salsa. Never before did I have a salsa that kept me dipping in the bowl and wanting more. I often went there begging for takeout salsa like a junkie looking for a fix and having it packaged with fresh cooked tortilla chips for munching at home. I began to search everywhere for an equally good jarred salsa. I opened jar after jar of flat tasting cooked tomato chunks that didn't make my tongue happy at all. So I started experimenting, and came up with this delicious salsa. Compadres is still a favorite, but this one makes my tongue cry for mama!

Salsa with Fresh Cilantro
2 14.5-ounce cans of whole peeled tomatoes
1 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes with jalapeños
1 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon Goya hot sauce
1 bunch fresh cilantro
fresh ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients except onion and cilantro. Blend with hand blender until salsa is preferred consistency (I like mine to be on the smooth side). Add diced onions and chopped cilantro and chill for several hours to blend the flavors.

Bibimbap

2010-04-25T09:18:00.007-04:00

(Korean Mixed Vegetables and Rice)
Rice is a glorious canvas to paint a delicious meal. Zoë found me this recipe, and I was all for trying something new, especially with rice. This is a Korean dish, basically a mixture of meat and leftover side-dish veggies known as banchan, beautifully arranged on a bed of rice and garnished with an egg before mixing and eating. There is no disguising leftovers here, the leftovers themselves are the star of the show. I am all for authentic food, but unfortunately I don't keep an assortment of banchan in my refrigerator. And as a busy working woman, I do my best to create the authentic flavor using what limited ingredients I can find in a dish that can be tossed in a container and eaten at work. But I did take the obligatory beauty shot...

...before I smooshed it all together for the weeks eating.

It's as close as I can get to Korean food in rural Pennsylvania, and it sure is delicious and keeps well.

Bibimbap

1 1/2 cups Long grain rice
1 pound Ground beef
4 tablespoon Soy sauce
1 tablespoon Sesame oil
2 medium Scallion
2 cloves Garlic
1 tablespoon Toasted sesame seeds crushed
1 1/2 teaspoon Sugar
2 cups Mung bean sprouts
1 cup Celery thinly sliced on the diagonal
2 medium Carrots shredded

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

Sriracha (to taste)
Fresh ground black pepper
Kosher Salt
additional peanut oil to stir fry veggies

Steam the rice, toss with rice wine vinegar and set aside. Mix beef, soy sauce, sesame oil, scallions, garlic, sesame seeds, salt and pepper and fry slowly in a skillet or wok until meat is done. Add bean sprouts (drained if using canned) and cook until heated through. Do not overcook. Remove from heat. Cut celery thin on the diagonal and sprinkle lightly with salt. Let celery stand for 15 minutes and then drain liquid squeeze excess liquid. Shred carrots.

In a second fry pan, saute celery in 2 teaspoons vegetable oil and add to meat mixture. Do the same with the carrots after the celery is done. Combine all into the meat and serve over hot cooked rice. Garnish with a nice dollop of Sriracha.

Potato Dumplings

2010-04-17T14:43:00.001-04:00

(Kartoffel Klösse)
Of the four recipe books I have of my Great Grandmother Sophia Kraft, only one contains a small amount of main course foods. The others are filled with pickles and jams and every dessert imaginable. The recipe is one of three dumpling recipes I inherited - the other two being the dreaded liver dumpling and the farina dumpling. These are all foods that originate in Germany, so by making these, I felt I was reuniting a bit with my German ancestors. Sophia's mother was from Tiergarten in Baden, and her father was from Ensfeld, Bavaria. So maybe I am cooking a family recipe that is much much older.

Serve this with a warm roast on a chilly day.

Potato Dumplings
4 medium potatoes, riced
1 1/2 tablespoons fat drippings
1 medium onion, grated
1/2 cup dry unseasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup flour, sifted
1 large egg
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon celery salt

Rice four medium cold boiled potatoes. Add fat drippings, grated onion, egg, bread crumbs, flour, and seasonings and form into 8 large or 12 small balls. Dredge lightly with flour. Chill balls. Drop into boiling salted water (1/2 tablespoon salt). Boil until firm. In small skillet, brown a few bread crumbs with butter and pour over hot dumplings. Serve with any roasted meat.

Pineapple Kielbasa

2010-04-10T14:31:00.004-04:00

This recipe comes from my sister Kathy, who made it once for a dinner party. It is a great addition to any gathering from holiday feast to tailgate party. I like to take it in to work on snack days because it is easy and delicious. It is a celebration of Pittsburgh flavors.

The pineapple juice acts as a tenderizer for the kielbasa, making it fork tender and sweet. Use as an entree or appetizer.

Pineapple Kielbasa
1 pound lowfat Polska kielbasa
1 bottle Heinz Chili Sauce
1 can crushed pineapple
1 cup brown sugar

Put chili sauce, pineapple (with juice), and brown sugar into a crock pot and mix well. Slice kielbasa into 1/2 inch pieces and add to crock pot. Cook on high for four hours, and turn to low to keep heated throughout the day.

Beef with Peanuts

2010-04-10T14:03:00.004-04:00

This recipe comes from my Grandma Harvey. My aunt Ellen tells me that her recipes came from both her mother Sophia Kraft and my grandfather's mother Ella Harvey. My Grandpa Harvey also went to gourmet cooking school. According to Ellen, she would cook "Japanese, Chinese, Greek, field game, you name it she cooked it."

Beef with Peanuts
1 pound top round steak, sliced
1/2 cup onions, sliced
4 cups bok choy, shredded
2 cups mung bean sprouts
1 cup raw peanuts
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons peanut oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Combine broth, soy sauce and cornstarch in a small bowl and set aside. In a skillet or wok, fry peanuts in peanut oil until golden. Remove peanuts from wok and set aside. Stir fry vegetables briefly until crisp tender and then remove from the wok and set aside. Put beef into wok and stir fry until just cooked through. Add broth and soy sauce mixture and heat until thick. Return vegetables and peanuts to the wok and stir until heated through. Serve over hot rice.

Hummus

2010-04-03T07:40:00.002-04:00

Who would have thought? The world's pickiest eater who never so much as touched a vegetable would like something with beans! I grew up thinking that beans were an alien life form spawned from deep space. Oh what anxiety I caused my poor Mother! I can easily say that my pet dog Buttons was the very specimen of a healthy diet full of vegetables. I can recall the day I tried hummus. It was poetry on a pita. I can't stop eating this stuff.

One of my favorites is the hummus you can buy homemade at Labad's Middle Eastern Grocery in the Strip District of Pittsburgh. When hard up I might even buy a national brand from a supermarket but it doesn't come close to my recipe. Dunk veggies, pretzels and of course - pita.

Hummus
2 15-ounce cans of chickpeas (Garbanzo beans)
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
6 tablespoons tahini
4 cloves of garlic, crushed and peeled
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
paprika
extra virgin olive oil

Drain the canned chickpeas, reserving about 3/4 of a cup of the liquid in the can. Put the reserved liquid, water and chickpeas into a blender and blend until a smooth paste. Add lemon juice, garlic, tahini, cumin, salt and cayenne and continue to blend. Garnish with paprika and drizzle of olive oil.

Chicken Curry

2010-03-28T09:21:00.008-04:00

My memories of my mother's cooking always make me smile. She wasn't the most creative cook, and during my younger years, she tended to fall into a pattern with our weekly meals. Each week followed roughly the same menu - baked chicken, spaghetti, hamburgers, steak every week. I swear Tuesday was spaghetti day. These were easy meals, using convenience foods. In the early days, they were budget meals - and were punctuated by the occasional casserole. When I was growing up, Mom was a college student and artist, and later became an art teacher. She worked for the satisfaction of doing what she loved more than the necessity of a paycheck. But still we followed a tight budget. We never ate out until I was in college. Birthday dinners were at home. Weekends we had dinner at my grandmother's house.

My mother made this recipe as one of those occasional casseroles I mentioned above. She didn't cook it often, but I became so smitten with it that it was always my requested meal on my birthday. This recipe is slightly modified from the original, but in essence it is the same. I wish I could take credit for inventing it. It first appeared in the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook in the 1930s. It is well loved in my home.

Chicken Curry

1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup tomato juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon curry powder
4 cups cooked chicken, cubed
4 cups cooked rice
4 tablespoons butter or ghee
6 tablespoons flour

salt and pepper to taste

Saute the vegetables in the butter until onions are translucent. Add flour and curry powder and mix well. Add broth, tomato juice, seasonings and allow to simmer and thicken. Add chicken and heat through. Serve over rice. I like to mix the curry powder up a bit - a couple teaspoons of Penzey's Maharajah Curry Powder with one teaspoon of hot or Madras curry powder. The Maharajah curry has lots of whole saffron threads and has an amazing flavor.

Barbeque Sauce for Beef

2010-03-21T08:56:00.004-04:00

One year a long time ago, my father took one month off work and hauled my family across country in a station wagon. We made a loop around the United States, visiting national parks, kitsch tourist spots and the best of the cities. It was the trip of a lifetime. Our breakfast was instant oatmeal or cold cereal with milk from our cooler, and our lunch was always a sandwich at the side of the road somewhere. The only meal we ate out was dinner. It was the way people traveled back then, we were always in good company at the picnic stops. Now when you travel, the picnic tables are empty and the fast food joints at the rest stops are full. You eventually got tired of ham or peanut butter sandwiches, but in observing this little economy, we were able to see the country.

This recipe is my mother's. One of our dinners out was at Jackson Lake Lodge at Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. My mother ordered a beef dish with a barbeque sauce. I remember her asking for the recipe, but I don't know if she got the recipe from the chef or developed this sauce on her own. But when we returned home, this easy sauce was always served with her roast eye of the round.

Barbeque Sauce for Beef

1 cup ketchup
1 cup water
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
garlic salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and heat until thick. Serve over roasted eye of the round or any other roasted beef.

Persian Chicken and Rice Pilav

2010-03-14T10:19:00.008-04:00

(Morgh Polo)
My daughter Zoë has been known to pack some strange things for lunch. On our trips to the Strip District in Pittsburgh she has been known to purchase Crickettes - cheese and bacon flavored crickets and dried mackerel snack packs and take them to school in her lunch for their shock value. Grove City is a small town and things like that are pretty shocking. She also loves to pack rice and noodle dishes to school each day. The more exotic and spicy the better. This recipe was my response to her request for more rice dishes. I have been informed that when Zoë is away at school next term, I must bring some of this dish each time I visit. Even Mira, who is much pickier likes this dish.

I have used two sources in the creation of this dish. I have always used a steamer to make rice, so I turned to Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen: A Culinary Journey Through Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan by Sonia Uvezian for her detailed information on the proportions and mechanics of cooking rice and vermicelli. The book Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook also provided inspiration.

Morgh Polo

1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1/2 cup vermicelli, broken into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup long grain rice
6 tablespoon butter
1 cup almonds, blanched and slivered
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup dried currants
2 teaspoons baharat
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups cooked chicken, chunked

In large pot, saute onions in 4 tablespoons of the butter until translucent and moisture from the onion has evaporated. Add uncooked vermicelli and saute until golden brown. Add rice and broth and simmer covered for approximately 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is cooked.

In a skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and gently brown almonds until golden, making sure not to overcook them. When done, add almonds to the pot with the rice. Add baharat, currants and chicken and serve.

You can purchase Baharat from Amazon, Zamouri Spices and from DedeMed. You can also make your own.

Baharat (Seven Spices)

Equal parts of:

Cinnamon

Paprika

Ground cumin

Ground cloves

Ground cardamom

Ground coriander

Nutmeg

Mexican Hot Peanuts

2010-03-13T08:52:00.008-05:00

(Cacahuates Enchilados)
My favorite place to shop is Pittsburgh's Strip District - an old warehouse district that comes alive every Saturday morning. There are ethnic groceries, excellent restaurants and lots of people. The streets are full of musicians, craftsmen and food carts, as well as an open air vegetable market. I love this place and could go weekly if I lived closer. Hidden between my favorite haunts is the man with the outdoor peanut roaster. On a cold day the roaster is warm and the air smells delicious. You can take a peek of my favorite place in the world here. I adore peanuts. I will take them sweet, hot, salted, in brittle, covered with chocolate and sprinkled on anything.

Zoë and I are the only ones who eat these little treats. We are okay with that - it's more for us that way!

Cacahuates Enchilados
2 tablespoons peanut oil
3 cups raw shelled peanuts
3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons garlic salt

Heat peanut oil in a large skillet (cast iron heats the best). Stirring constantly, toast peanuts until golden over medium-high heat for about 4 or 5 minutes. When peanuts just begin to take some color and start smelling really good, reduce the heat to low and add the cayenne and garlic salt. Keep the peanuts moving and be ready to take off the heat if they begin to get too dark. Cast iron holds the heat really well, so you have to be very careful to not overcook. Let the peanuts cool completely in a tray lined with paper towels. You can adjust both the cayenne and garlic salt to your taste.

Sausage and Spinach Soup

2010-03-06T12:35:00.005-05:00

We recently held a Soup and Chili Cook-Off at work. While I did not submit any entries, I made certain to sample the tastiest looking soups. There were two entries that I couldn't resist having a full bowl of. This soup is adapted from one of them, a soup created by my co-worker Betty.

I have added a few ingredients to Betty's soup. When I first tasted it I couldn't help but think it was Wedding Soup with a punch. I decided to add a few of my favorite ingredients from Wedding Soup, along with some extra punch. I thought about adding pastina too, but then decided to save the carbs for something else! Feel free to dump in the pasta. Betty was one of the contest winners tied for first place!

Sausage and Spinach Soup
2 quarts of chicken broth
1 cup chopped onion
1 10-ounce package of frozen chopped spinach
1 pound hot Italian sausage
2 teaspoons fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 large eggs, beaten
Parmesan cheese

Defrost spinach and squeeze out extra liquid. Brown hot sausage in a skillet until cooked through and drain well. Combine sausage, broth, spinach, fennel and red pepper flakes in a pot and bring to a boil. Slowly drizzle egg into soup while stirring well. Reduce heat and simmer. Serve with Parmesan sprinkled on top.

Rice Pudding

2010-03-06T11:22:00.004-05:00

I you were to put a dessert selection in front of me you would find that I would grab the tapioca before the cake. Sweet and creamy always comes first. The little bumps in rice pudding are far better than a cake to me. When I was growing up, Mom always made box pudding or jello for dessert. And yes, we did typically have dessert with every meal which we ate at home - every day. I only remember my Mom making this once. It's my grandmother's recipe, and I appreciate it much more than I did back then.

I like this best warm from the oven. The raisins are all soft and everything is singing sweet comfort.

Rice Pudding
1 cup cooked rice
3/4 cup golden raisins
1 can evaporated milk
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine cooked rice and raisins in a 1 quart casserole; set aside. In mixing bowl, beat together remaining ingredients until smooth; pour over rice and raisins. Place casserole in pan of hot water. Bake at 350 for 50 to 60 minutes or until custard is set. Be careful not to overcook as it will dry out. You can stir in a couple of tablespoons of butter at this point, for extra moisture and flavor. Cool and serve. Garnish with cinnamon and currants if desired.

Pickled Chicken

2010-02-28T15:23:00.004-05:00

This recipe is my grandmother's variation on Pollo en Escabeche - a Portuguese dish of cold chicken pickled in a vinegar and wine marinade. The chicken is tender and delicate in flavor and perfect for serving with a salad or for a easy meal. The chicken can also be served warm, or at room temperature.

Grandma's version does not call for any vinegar, but it is cooked in white wine. After a bit of research I find that you could replace the water in this recipe for an equal amount of red or white wine vinegar. Be sure to use a good dry white wine for this recipe. I used a Pinot Grigio.

Pickled Chicken
1 medium frying chicken cut in pieces
1 cup of white wine.
1 cup of hot water
1 small lemon, sliced
2 medium onions, chopped
3 carrots, sliced thinly
1 stalk celery, sliced thinly
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 bay leaves
2 whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon thyme
olive oil

Brown chicken in olive oil until golden. Place in casserole with vegetables and seasonings and pour water and wine over top. Simmer gently until chicken is tender. Refrigerate and serve cold.

Sour Cream Cucumber Salad

2010-02-27T08:06:00.002-05:00

It's interesting how recipes change with each cook who makes it. This recipe was a favorite of my grandmother and my mother. It was always on the table at parties and gatherings. It's not something I liked at first, but I have grown to love it. When my mother made it, the salad was more soupy and spread all over the plate. I am one of those people who believes that all inhabitants on the plate should keep to their own turf unless purposefully mingled by the supreme authority (that's me!) Gravy! Keep to your side of the plate - stay out of the corn! Hence my Cucumber Salad has a bit more body and is less disobedient. My mother and I also argued over the salt in the recipe. But I personally sat with my grandmother with notebook in hand and got the exact recipe as she made it - with salt!

This stuff doesn't last long in my house. I am lucky if I get one serving. The gremlins leave me nothing but an empty bowl if I dare leave it to chill overnight. Guess I need to make more!

Sour Cream Cucumber Salad
6 large cucumbers
1 medium onion, sliced thin
2 heaping tablespoons Kosher salt
12 ounces sour cream
2 tablespoons sugar
Additional salt, to taste

Peel and remove seeds from cucumbers and slice thinly. You can leave on some of the green cucumber peels and use red onions for a bit of color, as this salad is very white. Combine with sliced onions in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of Kosher salt and cold water to cover. Refrigerate overnight until cucumbers and onions are wilted. Drain and squeeze out extra juice from the vegetables. (Squeeze them good or the salad will be too salty and too runny). Stir in sour cream, sugar and season with additional salt to taste. Serve yourself a bowl and hope there are some left when you return for seconds!

Potato and Onion Pierogi

2010-02-21T14:38:00.013-05:00

This recipe is dedicated to my cube mate Andrea (aka "The Grand Inquisitor"). She puts up with a great deal sitting next to me, and she always has a sense of humor, even when tired from a night caring for her little one. We were both thinking of Pierogies this week, and I decided to experiment a bit. This is the result of my day of experimentation. After several hours of multitasking, I emerged from the kitchen bedraggled and dusted with flour and armed with delicious pierogies toasted in butter.

I probably will be editing this recipe as I learn to equalize the proportion of filling needed to dough, so keep that in mind if you find things different around here. I found three websites that assisted me, and I used a combination of all three to create my own.

Pierogi Dough:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs

Combine ingredients and knead into a pliable dough, about 10 minutes or so. I threw all of my ingredients into my bread machine and let it do the work of kneading. A food processor can also be used. The dough should be smooth, pliable and not too sticky. Add flour as needed, cover and set aside. You can keep the dough in the refrigerator for a few days.

Pierogi Filling:
3 large potatoes, peeled
1 large sweet onion, finely minced
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil potatoes until a fork easily pierces the potatoes. Drain and mash or process through a potato ricer. Set potatoes aside to cool. Saute onions in a skillet with butter until soft and translucent, not browned. Add to potatoes and mix well. Do not add any additional liquid. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sample the potato filling until the seasoning is good, as too little seasoning could easily leave the dumplings bland.

Dusting with flour, roll dough to 1/8th inch thickness. I used my Atlas pasta machine, because I typically don't bake and can't even remember where my rolling pin is. I gradually rolled it to a thinness of setting "4", which is about 1/8th inch thick. Lay dough out on a dusted surface, and cut rounds of about 3 1/5 to 4 inches round. Fill in the center with potato filling - approximately one generous teaspoon, moisten one half of the edge around with water and seal firmly with a fork and your fingers. I used a dumpling press to do mine. When the dough is used up, you can either cook the pierogies and serve them or freeze them for future use, laying them out on a tray until frozen, and then sealing them in a container or bag.

To serve, boil completed dumplings in water for about five minutes, until they float. Drain, and then place in a skillet heated with butter and onions. Saute until dumplings are golden and onions are browned. You can either serve them slathered with sour cream, or as I do with melted mozzarella cheese. Four of these dumplings is a filling serving. My batch of dough ran out at about 20 dumplings.

Websites used in the making of these yummy pierogies:
Helen Dyrkaz's Pierogi Recipe
Accidental Hedonist - Potato Onion Pierogi
Homemade Pittsburgh Pierogies with Sour Cream

Chimichurri

2010-02-20T06:43:00.010-05:00

I first encountered Chimichurri at my aunt Carol and uncle Juan's house. We visit yearly when we are returning from vacation, and each time we go there she serves up something fabulous for lunch. One year she and my Uncle were grilling chicken and sausages for sandwiches. Aunt Carol pulled this sauce from her refrigerator almost as an afterthought and my cousins began pouring it on their sandwiches. My sister Kathy and I shrugged and added it to ours. In my memory, I distinctly recall Kathy's eyes getting big and round. I swear I heard nothing but heaven's choir singing. My love! My Chimichurri! Where have you been all my life? We haven't parted since and my bottle of Chimichurri is always near in my refrigerator awaiting it's pairing with chicken or steak.

This is my own version of Aunt Carol's recipe. The sauce keeps for several months in the refrigerator. The olive oil will solidify with the cold, but a bit of time at room temperature will bring everything back to normal.

Chimichurri
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup water

Combine all seasonings, herbs, onions and garlic in a heat-proof bowl. Heat olive oil in microwave until hot, but not boiling and pour over seasonings in bowl. Set aside to give time for the seasonings to infuse flavor into the oil - about 30 minutes. Heat vinegar and water to a boil and pour into bowl and allow to steep for 2 or 3 hours. When cool, pour into a bottle and serve.

Chimichurri can be served as is over grilled or roasted meats. It can also be used as a marinade by combining 1/4 cup of Chimichurri with about 1/2 cup of vinegar.

Savory Cornbread

2010-02-14T07:07:00.009-05:00

In late July, Western Pennsylvania corn is at it's very best. You can find it for sale on street corners everywhere. It's one of my favorite foods, and it tastes like sweet sunshine. The snow keeps falling and I am craving some of that sunshine. So I decided to imagine some warm weather and bake my favorite cornbread. Cornbread has a different character depending on the region of the US you are in. I prefer a savory southern cornbread, the type which is found in the rural south. Unlike the drier and lighter northern cornbread, this is more dense and moist. It is also zesty with a touch of sweet. I am getting warmer already!

This recipe calls for bacon grease. The southern United States is famous for it's cured and smoked bacon. Nothing was ever wasted by struggling and hardworking families in the past, and bacon grease was saved and used in many dishes. It doesn't hurt to learn a few of these economies and put them to use today. But for those who avoid pork products, butter also works well and tastes lovely.

Savory Cornbread
2 cups of fresh sweet corn (you can use canned sweet corn)
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons sugar
fresh ground black pepper (about 6 grinds)
one good pinch kosher salt
hot sauce (to taste!)
2 tablespoons bacon grease or butter

In a bowl combine corn, cornmeal, flour, milk, egg and seasonings and mix well. Set aside. In a cast iron skillet, saute onion in bacon grease or butter until soft. Pour in corn batter and bake in skillet in oven set to 350 for about 35-40 minutes. Melt butter over the top while hot and serve. If preferred, you can bake in a 9x12 baking dish, greased with butter.

Baked Kibbee

2010-02-13T12:24:00.004-05:00

I have been searching for a good kibbee recipe for a while. I lie. Actually I would prefer to have a plane ticket to the Levant to try a homemade version made with love by a random grandma. Sigh. And so I perused cookbook after cookbook looking for a recipe that would be easy enough for a novice like me to do, and tasty enough to make me feel like I was relaxing by the Eastern Mediterranean. Lo and behold I found a recipe in my Grandma's collection. Was Grandma Harvey secretly wishing to travel the world too? Maybe! Perhaps this is the source of my wanderlust!

This makes a huge batch of kibbee - a full 9x14 pan. Next time, I am planning on dividing the recipe by half and hopefully getting something around 9x9.

Baked Kibbee
2 cups #1 fine bulgur
2 large sweet onions, chopped
1 1/2 sticks butter
1/4 pound pine nuts
2 1/2 pounds ground lamb (or mixture of ground lamb and beef)
fresh ground pepper
kosher salt
pinch mint leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup corn oil

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cover bulgur wheat with hot water and soak for about 15-20 minutes. While bulgur is soaking, saute onions with one stick of butter in a skillet until onions are soft. Remove onions and set aside. In same skillet, brown pine nuts until golden brown and set aside with onions. Brown 1/2 pound of the ground lamb until cooked through, and then add to the onion and pine nut mixture. This is your filling. Season with salt and pepper and allow filling to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine remaining meat and bulgur wheat. Using hands, mix to combine. You can also run through a food processor using ice water to keep the meat-wheat mixture cold. Add salt, pepper mint and ground cloves to the mixture. Knead well until all of the seasonings are incorporated into the mixture.

Butter a large pan (13 x 9 or larger) with generous amount of softened butter. Divide the meat/wheat mixture in half, and cover the bottom of the pan with one portion of the meat - adding in small patties and pressing together to a 1/2 inch thick solid layer. Smooth the surface with hands dipped in cold water. Add filling layer and spread evenly. Take the remaining half of the meat/wheat mixture and cover the filling, using small patties of meat until the entire surface is covered in a 1/2 inch layer. Smooth and press together using hands dipped in cold water.

Using a sharp knife, cut around the sides of the pan, and then cut the kibbee into diamond shapes about 1 1/2 inches wide. Take your finger (dipped in cold water) and poke in the center of each diamond. Pour evenly with corn oil over the top of the meat and let the oil soak into the divisions. Bake for about 1 hour. Let cool for 5 or 10 minutes and remove from the pan and serve. Drizzle the hole with extra virgin olive oil and serve with pita bread and a salad of fresh cucumbers and yogurt. It's also delicious served cold the next day.

House Salad Dressing

2010-02-13T09:15:00.005-05:00

This is more memory than recipe. It's funny how memories change over time. When I was a kid, mom always made the homemade salad dressing below and I thought it ordinary and boring. It wasn't until I was a teenager that store-bought dressing made it's entrance into our kitchen. Like all tired old things, this dressing became a thing of the past as we sampled all of the new flavors that came from the bottles. Bottled dressing now tastes strangely - "bottled" to me. It's too salty and too vinegary, or just too artificial. I kind of miss the taste of the homemade stuff. And when my mother died in 2007, I began to recall all of those silly concoctions my mother made. Like her fruit salad - a canned pineapple ring with a gob of cream cheese in the middle. And this salad dressing, once banal and ordinary, it now sparkles with her memory.

It's a simple dressing, and pretty cheap to make. I don't recommend substituting the Heinz Tomato Ketchup for any other brand. Blame it on being from Pittsburgh if you must. This ketchup is a part of my history and my city's history. Heinz Tomato Ketchup and Clark Bars rule!

House Salad Dressing
1/2 cup Heinz Tomato Ketchup
1/2 cup Miracle Whip

Mix together well and drizzle over a fresh crispy pile of iceberg lettuce. You can thin it with some milk or water if you wish, but I like it just how it is!

Boiled Salad Dressing

2010-02-07T10:13:00.007-05:00

My great-grandmother, Sophia Kraft was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in 1882 to German immigrants. At the age of 16, she was living away from home as a cook in Youngstown, Ohio. It was probably at this time she acquired the vast collection of recipes that I am fortunate to now have. This is her recipe for salad dressing. It is tangy and creamy, and perfect on a bed of greens.

This salad dressing is made without any vegetable oil. Back before 1900, commercial vegetable oil was not yet available. The Italians were newly immigrating to America, and with them came olive oil, but this was still not readily available to the average cook. One of my vintage cookbooks, Presbyterian Cook Book published in 1927 has a similar recipe. The author states that this dressing will keep "for a month or more."

Boiled Salad Dressing
1 large egg
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons butter

Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add water and mix thoroughly, removing any lumps. Beat eggs well and add vinegar and seasoned water. Heat gently in a double boiler, stirring constantly until it thickens. Take off the heat and stir in butter.

Sophia's recipe states that if desired, you can stir in a bit of sweet or sour cream. I added about one tablespoon of sour cream.

Red Beef Curry

2010-02-07T07:55:00.007-05:00

Some day I want to travel to India. Actually I have a lot of places I want to visit, but India is in the top three. I blame this fascination on my mother. Her passion was China. So great was her love of Chinese culture that she learned Chinese painting and earned her black belt in Karate. Eventually she was able to visit the country she had come to love and enjoy it's beauty and it's people. This hunger to learn about other cultures is one of the greatest gifts she gave me. So until the time comes when I can visit the places I wish to go, I imagine myself being there with the food.

This is an easy curry to make on a weeknight. It keeps and reheats well, and lets me imagine myself in a faraway place during my work lunch break. Sometimes I need that mini-vacation to keep going the rest of the day!

Red Beef Curry
1 2-pound beef flank steak
1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes
3 sweet onions, sliced
1/2 cup red curry paste
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter), or vegetable oil

Slice flank steak in half lengthwise, and then cut each half into thin strips along the bias and set aside. Saute onions in one tablespoon of the ghee until translucent. Remove onions and set aside. Saute beef strips in the remaining tablespoon of ghee until medium rare. Drain meat if needed and return to skillet. Add curry paste to the meat and saute to cook the curry paste for a minute. Add onions, tomatoes, and water and simmer gently until heated through. Serve over steamed rice.

Bacon Peanut Butter Sandwich

2010-02-06T11:58:00.006-05:00

One of my favorite memories as a child, was of my Grandparent's cabin in the Laurel Mountains of Pennsylvania. I don't remember it's exact location, but I can still see the cabin vividly in my memories. There was a huge fireplace, and a big window out the back where we would sometimes watch deer passing by. During the summers, my mother would take my sister Kathy and I to this cabin while my dad was serving his two-week active duty in the Army Reserves. On the way, we would always stop at Sadie's Bar for a root beer. I remember swimming in the pond and chasing tadpoles, and my mother giving me rides in the wheelbarrow. It was a beautiful wooded haven. On one visit, my Grandma Harvey made me this special sandwich. I will never forget it. It may be an odd combination, but something about this treat is delicious to the deepest level.

I made this last weekend, and divided it up for everyone to try. We each had a quarter. I thought my girls deserved to have this memory at least once. Shortly thereafter, Zoë went into the kitchen and did some clanking and banging. She emerged with a second sandwich to divide with us. Yep, like I said - it's delicious.

Bacon Peanut Butter Sandwich
2 slices of bread, toasted
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter - more or less as desired
3 slices hot cooked bacon, not too crunchy

Toast the bread until golden and smear both slices with peanut butter. Add hot bacon and assemble into a sandwich. Take a bite and savor the sticky oozy bacoliciousness.

Porcupine Balls

2010-01-31T09:07:00.007-05:00

This recipe belonged to my Grandma, Louise Harvey. I was the typical picky eater as a child. Going to the Harvey's for a meal was always a bit mysterious. Unlike my other grandmother who we called "Mom", The Harvey's always had different food. "Mom" served Irish fare - roast beef and potatoes, and Grandma Harvey often cooked oddities like duck, or liver. I was always a bit apprehensive when we went there to eat. When she first served me this dish, everyone was happily eating while I spent a good deal of time studying it. You never knew when liver might be hiding in something Grandma made.

I found a similar recipe in my vintage cookbook collection - The Heinz Book of Meat Cookery, published in 1934. It makes sense as we lived in Pittsburgh, and Heinz is a famous Pittsburgh food institution. The published recipe calls for cans of tomato soup. Back in the 30s women were excited about time saving in the kitchen. If you use tomato soup, you do not need the flour and butter to thicken it and you will want to use two cans of soup. Add some water if you feel it's too thick. Grandma's recipe was a bit shy on instructions, so I have done my best recreating it.

Porcupine Balls
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup long-grain rice, uncooked
2 large eggs
l large can crushed tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
1 tablespoon butter or shortening
1 tablespoon flour
pinch red pepper or cayenne

Wash rice and combine with ground meats, onion, garlic, eggs, and cayenne pepper. Form into balls and place in a large baking dish. In a saucepan, melt butter or shortening and add flour to make a roux. Add tomatoes and cook until thick. Pour tomato sauce over meatballs. Bake at 350 for an hour, or until meatballs are cooked through. I added an extra pinch of cayenne into those tomatoes for some extra punch.

Grandma's notes say that this recipe can be used as a filling for stuffed peppers by replacing the rice with bread crumbs. She also suggested that you could use veal and pork instead of beef. Back in those days, veal was sometimes less expensive than beef. I imagine you could stuff some cabbage with this too. But that is a recipe for another day!

Haluski

2010-01-30T09:20:00.010-05:00

I grew up in Pittsburgh, a city that loves it's old ethnic neighborhoods. I am always thrilled at how proud this city is about the people that made it. When I was a kid, my mother would take me to the annual Pittsburgh Folk Festival where each country's booth was well represented with food, crafts and dance. I loved it, and now that I am in a less ethnic part of the state, I realize that I miss this unique aspect of my hometown the most. I have never felt like I belonged where I currently live, and maybe this is why my heart tugs back to the "burgh."

Haluski is sturdy frugal fare from Poland, and it's well known in western Pennsylvania where immigrants from Poland came to work for a better life in the steel mills and factories in the 1840s. This dish was perfect for very hard working people, but those of us who sit at a desk all day should enjoy this meal as a special treat. This recipe makes an overflowing five-quart pot for me, so it would be great to take to a gathering. It's not the prettiest of plates, but damn it's good!

Haluski
3 8-ounce bags of extra wide egg noodles
1 head green cabbage
1 large sweet onion, sliced thinly
1 12-ounce package of uncooked bacon, cut into small pieces
4 tablespoons butter
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
white pepper to taste - about 1/2 teaspoon
Parmesan cheese, grated

Boil noodles until tender al dente and drain. Remove the core from the cabbage and cut into quarters. Boil cabbage in a pot of water for about 15 minutes, until the cabbage is tender. Drain and set aside to cool. Once cool, slice into thin shreds. Saute bacon pieces in a large pot until cooked - not crispy. Remove the bacon pieces so they don't overcook and leave the bacon grease in the pot. Saute the onion slices in the bacon grease until translucent. Melt the butter and add the garlic, sauteing for one minute. Toss the noodles, cabbage, bacon back into the pot and heat through. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with a generous tablespoon of Parmesan on top.

Easy Marinated Cheese

2010-01-24T12:10:00.008-05:00

Life in a cubicle can get a bit boring after a while. Luckily, I work with people who appreciate a good "snack day." A snack day is basically a day-long munchfest featuring everything from chips and dip and cocktail weenies to various tasty treats kept warm in a crock pot. After one long day at work I ruminated over what to bring for the next day's snack. I thought of my sister's mother-in-law's fabulous marinated cheese, but I wanted something easier to make and serve. Little did I know that this quickie appetizer would bring me to the cubicle hall of fame. My co-workers affectionately call this treat "Karen's Stinky Cheese". It is fragrant and addictive and I hope you will like it too.

Marinated Cheese
2 10-ounce packages of sharp white Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Slice the cheese into cracker sized servings and place in plastic container. Mix all other ingredients in a bowl and pour over the cheese. Let marinate overnight. Serve with crackers.

Saltines or bland "water crackers" work the best, as they let the flavor of the marinade shine. Be sure you eat some of this before anyone comes around. Once the intoxicating scent fills the air, you won't have any left!

Chicken Pancit

2010-01-24T08:55:00.012-05:00

I took a walk through town a couple of weeks ago and discovered a new restaurant. I wasn't too impressed, as it was the typical pizza and sub joint that seem to be the only choice in town. But a closer look revealed that this place featured Filipino food. Wow. Just - wow. Here in Grove City PA, international cuisine is defined as your Americanized pseudo-Chinese buffet (aka Slime-ese) and Italian restaurants. How I long for a bold soul to try something new and authentic here. I had to enter, I had to eat. And so I did. Hidden amongst the usual pizza and sub selections was a small handful of taste treasures waiting to be sampled. Chicken Pancit was the selection I chose, and I took a bit of it home for my daughter Zoë to try. The verdict was that I had to attempt my own version.

The dish echoes my frugal cooking philosophy. A star ingredient, a bit of meat for flavor and lots of inexpensive veggies and noodles. It's like Filipino fried rice, only with less oil as the rice noodles saute in broth instead. My star ingredient is Toyomansi, a Filipino soy sauce with Calamansi - a kind of citrus. You could use soy sauce instead, probably less soy than the amount of Toyomansi called for, and add some lemon, but that would be less fun. We are traveling via tastebud here, and the adventure of finding the ingredient is part of the game. Enjoy!

Chicken Pancit
1 pound chicken (skin and bones removed), chopped
2 2-ounce bundles of rice noodles (Maifun) or bean threads (
1 carrot, shredded
1 small napa cabbage, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
1 medium onion, sliced
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup Toyomansi
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 whole fresh super chili, minced (optional)
white pepper to taste
vegetable oil for stir-frying

Soak rice noodles in a large bowl of warm water for 15 minutes. When the noodles become soft, cut into 3 inch pieces and drain. In a large wok, stir fry the chicken in small amount of vegetable oil and set aside. Add the onions to the wok and stir fry until they start to become translucent. Add the cabbage and carrot and continue to stir fry until they are crisp but tender and set aside. Add the noodles to the wok with the broth, Toyomansi and garlic powder. Allow the noodles to cook in the broth for a few minutes, and when it is mostly absorbed, add the chicken and vegetables. Season with white pepper and serve. The super chili ranks about the same as a piquin chili in Scoville units, so only one little chili with seeds and pith is enough to warm your lips nicely.

Grandma Harvey's Cheeseball

2010-01-18T10:26:00.014-05:00

When I was a child, my sister and I would spend Friday nights huddled in the den, watching a small black and white TV. Sometimes my mom would join us upstairs to watch something special - like a Dracula movie. The snack of choice for Friday night was pretzels and dip. Mom rarely purchased prepackaged foods. She stuck to a very tight budget and mixed her own dressings and dips. Her idea of dip was this sublime concoction of cream, blue and cheddar cheese handed down from my Grandma, Louise Harvey. We also made this into a cheeseball.

Not too long ago I was looking through one of my favorite cookbooks Square Meals: America's Favorite Comfort Cookbook by Jane and Michael Stern, and I found an almost exact duplicate of this recipe. It turns out that Grandma Harvey probably found this recipe in a booklet with her Osterizer blender back in the 1950s and made a few modifications. The addition of ¼ cup of milk to this recipe makes it a dip. Leave the milk out and you have cheese ball.

Grandma Harvey's Cheeseball
4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 small onion, grated
2 tablespoons parsley, softened in water
ground nuts (pecans)

Combine the cheeses, Worcestershire sauce and onion in a large bowl. Form into a ball and roll in parsley and nuts. Refrigerate overnight and serve with crackers. Add ¼ cup of milk for a softer consistency. Be sure to find yourself a nice aggressive blue cheese for this recipe. I prefer to use Maytag Blue Cheese. Those crumbled tubs available in the grocery store are a bit too wimpy and the flavor falls flat even after sitting overnight.