|
|
 Creamy Rice with Artichokes, Mushrooms & Pasta Spools Total time: 1 hour, plus sofrito and aioli time.
Adapted from Creamy rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes by José Andrés, this recipe contains no fish or meat. Daring Cooks’ August challenge.
* 1 cuttlefish or substitute
* 2 Artichokes
* 6 Mushrooms
* 1 Bay leaf
* 1/4 c of white wine
* “Sofregit”
* 1 cup short grain rice (Spanish types Calasparra or Montsant are preferred, but you can choose any other short grain)
* Water or Stock (use 1 ½ cup of liquid per ½ cup of rice)
* 3-4 saffron threads (or ground turmeric)
* Allioli (optional)
If using vegan pasta, skip steps 1 & 2. Prepare your pasta according to directions, and add to the dish near the end.
1. Cut the cuttlefish in little strips.
2. Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and put the cuttlefish in the pan.
3. If you use fresh artichokes, clean and cut into eighths.
4. Clean the mushrooms and cut them into fourths.
5. Add a bay leaf, the artichokes and the mushrooms to the cuttlefish.
6. Sauté until we get a golden color in the artichokes.
7. Put a touch of white wine so all the solids in the bottom of the pan get mixed, getting a more flavorful dish.
8. Add a couple spoonfuls/scoops of sofregit and mix to make sure everything gets impregnated with the sofregit (I’ve used anywhere from 1/4 c to 2 c).
9. Add all the liquid and bring it to boil.
10. Add all the rice. Let boil for about 5 minutes in heavy heat.
11. Add some saffron thread to enrich the dish with its flavor and color. Stir a little bit so the rice and the other ingredients get the entire flavor. If you’re using turmeric or yellow coloring, use only 1/4 teaspoon.
12. Turn to low heat and boil for another 8 minutes (or until rice is a little softer than “al dente”)
13. Put the pan away from heat and let the rice stand a couple of minutes.
 Creamy rice with mushrooms, artichokes & pasta spools; this time, with more sofregit! The first picture:
1. Vegan pasta loops shaped to look just like cuttlefish.
2. I cooked and ate my artichoke leaves and used the stock in place of fish stock.
3. I blended up my mushrooms in my food processor before adding them to the skillet (hence the excessive brown hue).
4. I’ve never owned white wine, and I found a “substitute” recipe that included lemon, vinegar and water.
5. I followed the instructions as best I could, and I used 1/3 cup of my sofrito because it tasted so awesome.
The second picture:
Steps 1-4 same.
5. I used 2 cups sofrito, and then I stirred in 1/4 cup of aioli.
 Sofrito Total time: 1 hour.
* 2 tablespoons of olive oil
* 5 big red ripe tomatoes, chopped
* 2 small onions, chopped
* 1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
* 4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
* 1 cup of button or Portobello mushrooms, chopped (optional)
* 1 Bay leaf
* Salt
* Touch of ground cumin
* Touch of dried oregano
Directions:
1. Put all the ingredients together in a frying pan and sauté slowly until all vegetables are soft.
2. Taste and salt if necessary (maybe it’s not!)
I used 1/2 cup mushrooms, no green peppers, and added 2 habaneros. This took about 30 minutes to prepare and another 30 to cook.
 Epic Aioli Fail Total time: Approximately 20 minutes.
Ingredients:
* 4 garlic cloves, peeled
* Pinch of salt
* Fresh lemon juice (some drops)
* ~1 cup Extra-virgin olive oil (Spanish preferred but not essential)
Directions:
1. Place the garlic in a mortar along with the salt.
2. Using a pestle, smash the garlic cloves to a smooth paste. (The salt stops the garlic from slipping at the bottom of the mortar as you pound it down.)
3. Add the lemon juice to the garlic.
4. Drop by drop; pour the olive oil into the mortar slowly as you continue to crush the paste with your pestle.
5. Keep turning your pestle in a slow, continuous circular motion in the mortar. The drip needs to be slow and steady. Make sure the paste soaks up the olive oil as you go.
6. Keep adding the oil, drop by drop, until you have the consistency of a very thick mayonnaise. If your allioli gets too dense, add water to thin it out. This takes time—around 20 minutes of slow motion around the mortar—to create a dense, rich sauce.
Tried this a couple of times the traditional way, and I’m still unable to get it to come out looking like mayonnaise. The flavor’s still great, but the consistency never comes out. There’s a “modern” version with eggs I might try later.
 Crunchy and chewy goodness Total time: 20 minutes or 30 minutes.
Traditional Haystacks
1 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup salted peanuts
2 cups dry chow mein noodles
1. Melt butterscotch chips and peanut butter on low on top of a double boiler (takes longer), or in a microwave. Blend together.
2. Stir peanuts and noodles gently into the melted peanut butter mixture.
3. Drop dough by forkfuls onto waxed paper. Cool until set.
Make it a beaver dam:
Replace 1/2 cup of peanut butter with 2 T peanut butter and 2 cups of marshmallows.
For “softer” beaver dams, use the traditional haystack recipe and add 1 cup of marshmallows (shown).
I didn’t have peanuts one day, and so I thought I’d throw in marshmallows – I melted them with some chocolate peanut butter chips. It turns out, when you chill marshmallows with any kind of chip (especially chocolate!), they get REALLY solid. My Canadian friend almost lost some teeth in his enthusiasm. Once they “warmed up” a little bit, no problem. That’s why we called them beaver dams instead of haystacks
 Dog & Bone crater toast Total time: 8 minutes.
1 Slice of Bread
1 Egg
1 tsp Butter
Butter one side of the bread.
Use a small cup or cookie cutter to cut a hole in the center of the bread.
Place bread and cutout piece in frying pan buttered side down. Crack egg into the hole in the bread. Cook on medium heat until egg is done sunny side up or over easy (it’s important to have the yolk). Serve on plate with cutout piece for dipping.
Works best if, when breaking the yolk open, you make erupting sounds 😀 -Chris
I used my doggy and bone cookie cutters, and they worked like a champ. Even the boy wanted one (even though he eats his eggs scrambled). Fast, convenient, and amusing!
 Olive Garden® Steak Gorgonzola-Alfredo Total time: 45 minutes, plus pasta cook time.
No longer on the menu at Olive Garden® is my absolute favorite entree from this restaurant. Lucky for all of us, Olive Garden® has always been happy to share their recipes for everything. This was pulled from their website before the menu item was removed!
Menu Description: Grilled beef medallions drizzled with balsamic glaze, served over fettuccine tossed with spinach and gorgonzola-alfredo sauce.
Serves 4
Cook time 10 minutes (depending on doneness of steak)
Prep time 30 minutes
Ingredients
2.5 pounds marinated steak (recipe follows)
1 pound uncooked pasta
16 fl oz spinach gorgonzola sauce (recipe follows)
2 tablespoons gorgonzola cheese
2 tablespoons chopped sun dried tomatoes
2 tablespoons balsamic glaze (recipe follows)
1. Grill steak to preferred doneness.
2. Cook 1 pound pasta according to the directions.
3. Place drained pasta in saute pan with heated sauce.
4. Toss pasta with sauce and place on a large platter.
5. Place grilled beef on pasta and sauce.
6. Drizzle with balsamic glaze, and sprinkle gorgonzola cheese and sun dried tomatoes.
Steak marinade
1.5 cups Italian dressing
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1. Cut beef into 1 inch cubes and set aside
2. Mix the dressing, rosemary and lemon juice together
3. Add the marinade to the beef, toss, and let marinate for at least 1 hour.
Spinach Gorgonzola Sauce
16 fl oz Alfredo sauce*
4 cups chopped spinach
½ cup chopped green onion
3 tablespoons gorgonzola cheese crumbled
1. Heat Alfredo sauce in a large saute pan.
2. Add onion, spinach and gorgonzola cheese.
Olive Garden® Alfredo Sauce
1 1/2 cup(s) White Milk
1 1/2 cup(s) Heavy Cream
1/2 cup(s) Imported Parmesan Cheese, grated
1/2 cup(s) Imported Romano Cheese, grated
6 Egg yolks, fresh jumbo eggs
Salt and black pepper
BALSAMIC GLAZE #1
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
Simmer until thickened, cool to room temperature.
BALSAMIC GLAZE #2
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
Mix together ingredients in saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer until mixture thickens slightly and becomes syrupy, whisking often, about 15 minutes.
Pick your glaze or make a combination of both. We skipped this altogether when we made it the first time. We also used our own alfredo sauce.
 Beef Stir Fry with Vegetables Total time: 25 minutes, plus rice or pasta cook time.
Citrus, soy and spice are everything nice. This works well as a marinade or sauce, grilled or stir fried or any way you like.
3 Tbsp peanut oil
3 Tbsp orange juice
3 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp spicy vinegar
1 Tbsp ginger root, minced or grated
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp sambal oelek
1 clove of garlic, minced
optional ingredients:
1 pound meat, your choice, finely sliced
1 medium onion, finely sliced
1 carrot, sliced
1 can baby corn
1 cup broccoli florets and/or pieces
1 can water chestnuts
1 bell pepper, chopped
Heat a large frying pan or wok on medium-high to high heat. Add peanut oil, swirl. Stir fry your onions for 3 minutes, then add meat, garlic, ginger, and lime juice. Continue to stir fry until meat is desired doneness (3-7 minutes). Add remaining ingredients and stir fry for 3 more minutes or until vegetables reach desired doneness.
Serve with rice or noodles!
Shown here with carrots, sliced water chestnuts, baby corn, and spinach.
I like to marinade my meat and onions in the sauce for 4-6 hours before cooking. I use the above method only if I don’t have time to set a marinade.
 Hamburger Quiche Total time: Approximately 1.5 hours.
1/2 pound ground beef
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 Tbsp sage
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp ground mustard
2/3 c ricotta cheese
4 oz cream cheese
4 Tbsp heavy cream, divided in half
4 eggs
pie crust
 Layered yumminess. Preheat oven to 350 F.
Brown hamburger with onions, then stir in seasoning. Remove from heat. While that’s cooling, mix together your cheeses and 2 T of the heavy cream. In a separate bowl, mix together your eggs and remaining 2 Tbsp heavy cream.
Spread the meat mixture across the bottom of the pie crust. Dollop and then spread the cheese mixture on top of the meat. Pour the eggs and cream evenly across the top of it all.
Bake approximately 45-50 minutes or until eggs are set. (May take up to an hour.)
If you read it, you might recognize my seasoning blend from the Un-Sausage Cheesy Meat Wad recipe. It makes the hamburger taste remarkably similar to sausage. You can, of course, replace the meat and seasonings with sausage.
For my pie crust, I used half the recipe for Empanada Dough I. It was a perfect fit, and I could pull little pieces off and “reseal” anything that broke.
 Single Serving Total time: 10 minutes with a food processor or 30 minutes by hand.
If I weren’t so afraid of the food processor, I’d use it. Instead, I peeled my tomatoes and chopped everything really teeny tiny. Your call.
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 medium tomatoes, peeled (optional) and finely chopped
2 serranos, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped (about a handful)
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste
Mix well.
Serves two.
A little warmer than I originally thought it was going to be, but perfect for JB.
Total time: Approximately 2 hours, plus overnight time to stale bread.
This comes to me via my friend Will, whose grandma writes in the notes: New Orleans recipe since that’s where I’m from, don’t judge.
10 slices day old bread, broken in pieces
4 cups milk, scalded
1 cup cream
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup seedless raisins
Combine bread, milk and cream. Beat eggs; add sugar and mix well. Stir in bread mixture and add vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in butter and raisins. Pour into buttered 2 quart baking dish, set in a pan of warm water about 1 inch deep. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. 8 servings.
Whiskey Sauce
3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 ounces brandy
In a saucepan slightly beat egg yolks then add the next three ingredients and blend well. Cook over low heat until mixture comes to a boil. Blend cornstarch in water and stir into hot mixture. Continue cooking until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in brandy. Serve when cooked.
The first bread pudding dessert I tasted had raisins in it. As with everything raisin, I’m nervous… but I want it…).
|
|
5 comments