Cauliflower Alfredo

I roasted the cauliflower and garlic, and added about a cup of chicken stock, and a quarter cup of microplaned parmesan to the sauce. I tossed a few handfuls of frozen peas in with the pasta just before draining it, and more parm on top to serve. Next time, I will crisp up a little pancetta and sear some butterflied shrimp in the pancetta drippings. Nothing like pork, seafood and cheese to improve on a vegan pasta sauce...

Magical Muhammara

Pomegranate-Cumin Dressing

Perfect on a kebab.

Balsamic Jelly

With bread and butter...

Pickled Cherries

Perfect on a cheese plate, or tossed in a salad.

Sausage and Leek Ragu

Tomato Vinaigrette

Add a half cup of chopped olives and this is golden.

Oxtail Marmalade

Insanely indulgent: expensive, time-consuming, artery-clogging and mmmmmmmmm...

CJ's Pesto

Well, it turns out this is really Marcella Hazan's pesto recipe, but since it was passed down to me almost twenty years ago by the lovely and inimitable Courtia Jay Worth, I will always think of it as "CJ's pesto" whenever I make it. It is life-affirming, verdant and-- ah, that reminds me. There's a word for all of that in Spanish: reverdecer. It means to become green again, as in fields after a winter frost. Maybe that's what I need a little dose of right about now.

2 cups fresh basil
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons freshly grated Romano cheese
3 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature


Blend first 5 ingredients to a paste in a blender. When evenly blended, pour into a bowl and beat in the cheeses by hand. Incorporate the butter.

Before spooning over pasta, add a tablespoon or so of the pasta cooking water to achieve the desired consistency.

Scallion Spinach Pesto

I adapted this recipe from the Wild Leek Pesto over at Kalofagas, using almonds instead of walnuts, and changing all of the proportions in little ways, to suit my tastes. It was extremely delicious on pasta the first night; equally tasty smeared on a piece of broiled fish the next; and finally, tonight, wickedly good stuffed into brined and pan-roasted chicken breasts. (Bill's favorite variation.)

Looks like the scallion pesto may stay in regular rotation for a while...Thanks, Kalofagas!


Ingredients:
1/2 cup almonds
1 cup chopped scallions (green part only)
1 clove of garlic
1 1/2 cup of baby spinach
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup grated Romano cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste

Blend. Taste. Adjust. Apply liberally.

Scallion Oil

(Recipe by Eileen Yin Fei-Lo)
3 bunches of scallions, washed, dried, ends cut off, each scallion cut into 4 pieces
3 cups of peanut oil

Heat wok over medium heat. Add peanut oil, then add scallions. When the scallions turn brown, the oil is done. Strain the oil through a fine strainer into a bowl and allow it to cool to room temperature.

Pour the scallion oil into a glass jar and refrigerate until needed.

Thai-style Cashew Sauce

Cashew butter
Water
Soy sauce
Thai fish Sauce
Coconut milk
Thai roasted chili paste
Thai red curry paste
Lemon juice
minced garlic
minced scallion

Blackberry Vinaigrette

1/2 cup Ripe Blackberries, pureed and strained
Balsamic Vinegar
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Agave Syrup
Salt and Pepper
(to taste)

Lemon Chess Pie with Blackberry Compote

This pie was a hit at xmas. My mother-in-law was completely blissed out while eating it, and that's really why we bake, after all, isn't it? I'd like to get the pie to slice a little more cleanly next time. (More cornmeal? Next time I'll try 3 tablespoons. More eggs? Dunno. We'll see)
The blackberry compote is essential to the dish, and such a welcome, unexpected flavor -- like a sudden burst of sun-drenched-August-well-being right smack in the dead of winter. The compote comes from a recipe in Gourmet magazine, but the chess pie recipe is all mine. Gourmet makes their lemon chess with buttermilk and six eggs and a coconut shortbread crust, and I'll certainly get around to trying all of those variations at some point -- but for now, I'm very happy with my lemon pie.

1 9 inch pie shell
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup half and half
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
Zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
Blackberry compote

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a mixing bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla. Add flour, cornmeal, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix until smooth. Pour mixture into prepared pie crust. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until set in center. Cool completely and serve chilled or at room temperature, with blackberry compote.

Blackberry Compote:

1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 whole allspice
3 cups fresh or frozen blackberries (1 1/2 pints)

Preparation

Bring water, sugar, juice, and allspice to a boil in a small saucepan over moderate heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil until reduced to about 1/4 cup. Cool syrup to lukewarm and discard allspice. Purée 2 cups blackberries with all of syrup in a blender. Force purée through a fine sieve into a bowl to remove seeds. Stir remaining cup berries into sauce.


(Photo by Romulo Yanes)

Mario's Cranberry Mostarda

I've become mildly obsessed with mostarda, since Bill brought a couple of jars of the stuff home from Milan. John and I conjured up this first batch together in the sinkless-and-still-under-construction kitchen tonight. So much fun.

2 cups water
2 cups granulated sugar
1 lb fresh cranberries
3 tbsp Colman’s dry mustard
1 tsp mustard oil
2 tbsp black mustard seeds
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, ground cayenne to taste

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar and 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add the cranberries and cook over high heat for 10 minutes, or until the cranberries begin to burst.

While the cranberries are cooking, place the mustard in a small bowl and add just enough water to form a thin paste.
In a saucepan, heat the mustard oil to smoking, add the mustard seeds, cover tightly until popped and fragrant. Allow to cool slightly. Add the mustard oil, seeds, salt and peppers to the Colman's mixture. Stir this mixture into the berries and cook over high heat until the mixture is thick and syrupy, 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. The mostarda can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week. It can also be canned.

Prep time: well under an hour.

Yield: 4 cups.

Joan Nathan's Hummus

1 cup dried chickpeas
1 cup tahina
1/2 cup lemon juice, or to taste
2 cloves garlic, or to taste
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, or to taste
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons pine nuts
Dash of paprika or sumac
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or cilantro



1. Put the raw chickpeas in a bowl with cold water to cover and soak overnight.
2. Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then place them in a heavy pot with enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer, partially covered, for about an hour or until the chickpeas are soft and the skin begins to separate. Add more water as needed.
3. Drain the chickpeas, reserving about 1-1/2cups of the cooking liquid. Set aside 1/4cup of the cooked chickpeas for garnish. In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, process the remaining chickpeas with the tahina, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, and at least 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking liquid. If the hummus is too thick, add more reserved cooking liquid or water until you have a paste-like consistency.
4. Heat a frying pan and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Spread the pine nuts in the pan and stir-fry, browning on all sides.
5. To serve, transfer the hummus to a large, flat plate, and with the back of a spoon make a slight depression in the center. Drizzle the remaining olive oil on top and sprinkle the reserved chickpeas, pine nuts, paprika or sumac, and parsley or cilantro over the surface.
6. Serve with cut-up raw vegetables and warm pita cut into wedges


YIELD: About four cups, or six-to-eight servings

Nancy Silverton's Hot Fudge Sauce

7 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tablespoon instant coffee granules
3 tablespoons Cognac or brandy

1. Melt chocolate pieces in large stainless steel mixing bowl (or top of double boiler) over saucepan of gently simmering water. Be sure water does not touch bottom of mixing bowl to prevent chocolate from burning. Turn off heat and keep warm over warm water until ready to use.

2. Bring sugar, corn syrup, water, cocoa powder and instant coffee to boil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly to dissolve cocoa powder and sugar and to prevent burning on bottom of pan.

3. Whisk in melted chocolate. Boil hot fudge for few minutes to reduce to consistency you desire. It should be quite viscous and surface should have glossy shine. Cool slightly and beat in Cognac or brandy.

Lebanese Tahini Dressing

Rich and lemony, with loads of flavor. This dressing (my attempt at using up the half empty jar of tahini in the fridge) brightens up everything from grilled chicken to vegetable salads to sandwich wraps. I like it best slathered all over a warm round of lavash...

4 garlic cloves, minced to a paste
Juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup tahini
1 T Ground cumin, or to taste
1 T Ground coriander, or to taste
1 T Spanish paprika, or to taste
2 T Ground sumac, or to taste
Pinch of cinammon
1/2 cup freshly chopped parsley and/or cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 2 cups

Orangette's Cranberry Chutney

I saw this on Orangette's lovely site.
http://orangette.blogspot.com/2006/11/combine-and-boil.html
It looked too special not to "clip out" and save in our family cookbook. When I start making this year's Channukah/Xmas presents, I'm going to include a few jars of this gorgeous ruby-red chutney for people to eat on sandwiches, on toast, with goat cheese, or just by the spoonfull.

24 ounces apricot preserves
¾ cup raspberry vinegar, or ¾ cup white distilled vinegar plus 1 ½ tsp raspberry preserves
A pinch of salt
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ cup Grand Marnier
2 bags fresh cranberries
½ cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 ¼ cups dried tart cherries

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the apricot preserves, raspberry vinegar (or vinegar and raspberry preserves), salt, cloves, and Grand Marnier. Stir to mix, and place over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, and continue to cook – it will bubble aggressively, and you should stir regularly to keep it from scorching – for about 10-15 minutes, or until it has thickened slightly. Reduce the heat to medium, add the cranberries, and cook until they are soft but not popped. [I know that they’re ready when I hear one or two of them pop; that’s a good indicator that most of them must be getting pretty soft.] Add the ginger and cherries, stir well, and remove from the heat. Cool completely before serving. The chutney will thicken considerably as it cools.

Yield: 8-10 servings

Apple Compote

We eat this for breakfast constantly, usually on top of Irish oatmeal. Cold compote transforms hot cereal into something extraordinary.

4 apples, peeled, cored, chopped into large dice
3/4 cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, etc)
1/2 cup apple juice or cider, or cranberry juice. Fuji apple juice tastes best.
Liberal amount of ground cinammon (a pinch of allspice, cloves or nutmeg would also be great)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Honey, to taste -- about 1/3 cup
1 teaspoon or so of butter

Saute all ingredients except for the butter together in a large saute pan. Even though the apples are technically stewing in the juice, keep them moving and rotating constantly, until they soften, but well before they reach the stage of losing their integrity. Adjust for seasoning. Off the heat, swirl in the butter. Let cool. Makes a little less than 1 quart.