Spinach and Artichoke Brie Stuffing (Jessie)

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 lbs spinach, washed ( 3 cups cooked and roughly chopped) 
2 cups chopped yellow onions 
1 tablespoon roughly chopped garlic 
1 tablespoon emeril's italian spice essence or 1 tablespoon other italian seasoning 
2 teaspoons emeril's italian spice essence or 2 teaspoons other italian seasoning 
2 1/2 teaspoons salt 
1 1/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper 
3 (8 1/2 ounce) cans quartered artichoke hearts, any tough outer leaves removed 
2 large eggs 
1 1/2 cups heavy cream 
2 cups chicken stock 
2 tablespoons lemon juice 
12 -14 cups cubed stale French bread ( 1-inch, 1 loaf) 
1 lb brie cheese, rind removed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes 
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese 
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil.


2. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted, about 30 
seconds. Drain and rinse with cold water. Once cool, squeeze as much water from spinach as 
possible, then roughly chop, and reserve.


3. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until  golden brown and tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, 2 teaspoons of Italian Essence, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the artichokes and cook, stirring, another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve.


4. Combine the eggs, cream, chicken stock, lemon juice, remaining 1 tablespoon Italian Essence, 
remaining 2 teaspoons salt, and remaining 1 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. 
Add the bread, spinach, artichoke mixture, brie, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and parsley and stir to 
combine. If bread does not absorb all of liquid immediately then let rest until this happens, about 
20 minutes.


5. Pour the bread pudding mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan 
over the top and drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Bake until firm in the center and 
golden brown, about 1 hour. Serve warm.

Tashini Sauce (Wendy)

Ingredients

2/3 cup light tahini paste (I recommend Soom)

3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/3 cup water

1 medium clove garlic crushed

1/4 tsp salt

Directions

Whisk together...the sauce should be a bit runnier than honey;  add 1 to 2 tbsp water if needed.

Comments

Some of you may remember a dish that I made at the island, lamb sausage with pine nuts and a tahini sauce.  The recipe came from the Jerusalem cookbook:  Kofta b'siniyah.  The tahini sauce was amazing...I used tahini from Soom (soomfoods.org), a new company based in Philadelphia and Israel.  Some of you will be receiving a jar around the new year. 

Enjoy!

CAULIFLOWER SOUP A LA NIRELLE - 2014

Easy and light but you need a Trader Joe, which we now have in , and some 
Bangladeshi spices.

Ingredients

Everything is chunkily chopped, unless noted, because it will be creamed with an 
immersion wand right in the cooking pot.


1 head cauliflower cut into small bits, esp. The stems.  Discard central part
 1 large onion 
3 cloves garlic smashed
1 large potato, Russet is best
2 to 3 carrots, depending on size, finely chopped
1 stalk celery with leaves, finely chopped
A few grids of aromatic pepper
A big pinch of your fave Garam masala or Bangladesh five spice blend
4 cups TJoe free rang chicken broth, or reduced sodium
1 cup TJoe reduced sodium veggi broth, or a bit more if you like it

Directions

Make a white sauce while veggies are cooking, made of one cup milk, half cup 
Half and Half and half cup water.  Or just use 2% milk, 3Tablespoons flour, 1 
Tabs olive oil and 2 Tabs sweet butter.  Keep warm.

Put all veg and flavoring in large pot with 3 cups chicken soup, bring to gentle 
boil, reduce heat and cook very gently till veg is almost soft, then add 1 cup 
chicken broth and ditto for the veg broth, continue cooking till soft but not 
mushy.   I divide liquids so as not to overlook them, esp the veg broth.

Use wand to partially cream the soup, leaving some bite size bits.  NOW add the 
white sauce and stir with something but not the wand!  This makes it a bit 
fluffier.  Serve hot but do not cook more.  It heats up well in micro ondes.

Adjust spices and serve with fluffy grated cheddar cheese - let diners put a 
spoon full on top of their soup.

Implements

Immersion wand 

Comments

Makes a whole meal. Good with pita bread stuffed with coleslaw and Babaganoush,

or Hommos, and Boar salami wo preservatives, or hot dogs, or small meatballs,

chicken or the like, warmed up in the soup......

Squash and Hazelnut Lasagna - Sue Horwitz

Ingredients
For squash filling:
1 large onion chopped
1 hot pepper minced (optional)
3.5 lbs butternut squash, partly cooked, peeled, and cut into small cubes
2 cloves minced garlic
2 T chopped parsley
2 T chopped fresh sage
1 c. hazelnuts, roasted, skins rubbed off, then coarsely chopped

For sauce:
2 cloves garlic minced
3 T unsalted butter
5 T flour (whole wheat is best but can use white)
5 cups milk (can use some or all unsweetened soy milk)
1 bay leaf

Misc:
1/2 lb mozzarella grated
1 c. finely grated parmesan cheese
no-boil lasagna noodles

Directions
MAKE FILLING:
Cook hot pepper and onion in butter or oil until golden.
Add squash, garlic, salt & pepper to taste.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender (may need to
add some water to keep it from sticking).
Remove from heat and stir in sage, parsley, nuts.

MAKE SAUCE:
Cook garlic in butter 1 minute.
Whisk in flour and cook, whisking, 5 mins.
Add milk in a stream, whisking.  (I like to heat the milk first)
Add bay leaf.
Bring to boil, whisking constantly.
Lower heat, simmer 10 mins whisking often.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Remove bay leaf.

ASSEMBLE:
Preheat oven to 425.
Toss cheeses together.
Butter or oil a 13x9x2 inch baking dish.
Put 1/2 cup sauce in bottom.
Add pasta sheets (w/o overlap) then 1/2 of remaining sauce, then 1/2 of
filling, then 1/2 of cheese.  Repeat to form 2 layers.  (Or do 3 layers
if you have enough room and enough filling.)

Cover with foil.
Bake 30 mins.
Remove foil.
Bake 10-15 mins more until golden and bubbling.
Let stand 15 mins before serving.


Comments

Makes 6-8 servings (I think it's more like 10-12)

Rubarb Cake from Eva

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup white sugar

1tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups all purpose flour

2 eggs beaten

1 cup sour cream (I use yogurt)

4 cups diced rhubarb

Topping

1cup white sugar

1'4 cup softened butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease pans

In a large bowl, stir together the 1 1/4 c sugarbaking soda salt and 2 cups of flour. Stir in the eggs and sour cream(yogurt) until smooth, then fold in the rhubarb. pour into prepared dish and spread evenly. In a small bowl. stir together the remaining 1 cup of sugar and butter until smooth. Stir in the flour and cinnamon until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle the mixture on top of the cake.

Bake until a toothpick comes out clean - about 45 minutes.

Implements
Here is an easy recipe. Takes one bowl for mixing - no blender or mixer required. Can be baked in one 9 x 13 pan, or two 8 x 8 pans.

Comments

Allen's Granola

Directions: 
I like my version of breakfast cereal, not as artsy other's but worth giving it a try. I make it (actually, I prefer the term assemble it) fresh every day one bowl at a time, which gives it an artisan-variability-surprise quality. 

Here is the recipe: provide a base of Grape nut Cereal, add wheat germ, raisins or either color, crumbled walnuts and/or other nuts, sliced bananas, pieces of any other fruit hanging out in your kitchen (I like apple, but strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and even pineapple are possibilities) being careful not to over fill your bowl, and finally add milk (I use 2% but full fat natural milk is better of course and cream is still better and who knows these days perhaps better for you. I have been know to use yogurt - it is so in now but really milk is easier with the complexity of this mix) and stir. For variety throw in toasted oats. 
No need to add oil, sugar, molasses or honey. 

Implements:

Bowl, spoon, imagination

Comments:

No need to worry about burning the oats, the slivered almonds or your tongue because all ingredients are cold and remain so during prep and eating. And if you do wish to add ingredients such as toasted oats and slivered almonds, toast them on their own so you can give them your full attention or subcontract that bit to your sous chef. Best to make the coffee first so that it is ready when you have completed the assembly of your cereal. Note that no measurements are required or even desireable for the assemblage. Every day is different.

Updates from Sour Chef Nirelle:

Oats are placed in a more or less flat layer on a plate, or the glass bottom of the Microwave.  Toast on high for a minute, stir, and toast again for less time, till color is just chaned - careful, they burn easily once alsmost done, so just a very light color chane is what you need.

Almonds, whole, a fistful, placed on the glass bottom of the Microwave and done for 1min 20 secs; stir, for another 1 min., or min and 20 secs.  Imperceptible change of color but a slight aroma is present.

Slivered almonds done the same way just less time.

The wheat Germ is Kretchmer's toasted wheatgerm, the only tasty one and very slightly toasted.

If you hate the Microwave idea, then do dry in frying pan stirrin constantly and bein careful not to burn by taking off flame way before you think they are toasted.  A very light toasting indeed is all you need.