Category Archives: Recipes

Hot Bacon Salad Dressing

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  • 10 slices smoked lean bacon
  • 2 teaspoons brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon prepared horseradish
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 10 green onions, chopped
  • 1 egg yolk, boiled and grated
  • salt and pepper, to taste (optional)

In a skillet, sauté bacon until crisp; crumble into pan. Drain, reserving a tablespoon of bacon drippings. Add sugar, vinegar, horseradish and pepper.  Chop green onions (use the green tops as well as the white portions). Sauté for 1 minute.  Pour immediately over baby lettuce or potatoes. Sprinkle boiled, grated egg over the salad as a garnish.  Note: Be sure lettuce or potatoes are dry so they are better able to absorb the dressing.  Season, if desired, with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

From cooks.com.

Hot and Sour Chicken Stew

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  • 1 pound chicken tenders or boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 3 to 4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms
  • 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, as desired
  • 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons Oriental sesame oil
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons cold water
  • 2 cups sliced bok choy or Napa cabbage
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions with tops

Sprinkle chicken with soy sauce and set aside. Discard stems from mushrooms. Slice caps in half and set aside.

Heat peanut oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chicken mixture, garlic and pepper flakes. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add broth, vinegar, sesame oil and reserved mushroom caps and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered until chicken is cooked through, about 2 minutes.  In a small bowl, combine cornstarch with cold water and stir into stew. Cook, stirring frequently, until sauce has thickened. Stir in bok choy and green onions; heat through.

Makes 4 servings.

Reprinted from Twenty Minute Chicken Dishes, copyright 1991 by Karen A. Levin

Honey-Glazed Pear Upside-Down Cake

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  • ¼ c. chestnut or other intense honey
  • 4-5 Bosc pears, peeled, cored and quartered lengthwise
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • finely grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbs. vanilla extract
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • ½ c. plus 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • ¼ c. sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degees. In a 9-inch ovenproof skillet (not nonstick), simmer honey until it begins to reduce, carmelize and darken in color, 6-10 minutes. Do not let honey burn;  if it starts to smell burned turn off heat.

Arrange pears, close together and cut-side down, in a circular pattern in skillet, stem ends pointing toward center. Simmer over medium heat, turning them from one cut side to the other, until they begin to  turn golden, about 10 minutes. Flip pears to their curved side and scatter with thyme sprigs if using. Transfer skillet to oven and roast, uncovered, until very tender, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together sugar and lemon zest. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Fold in flour and salt; stir in ½ cup butter. When pears are soft, remove skillet from oven, discard thyme sprigs and brush edges with 1 Tbsp. melted butter. Pour batter on roasted pears and scatter almonds over batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Let cake cool for 30 minutes in pan. Loosen edges of cake and carefully invert onto serving platter.

From New York Times 10/17/07.

Haricot Melange

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  • 6 cups water
  • 1/2 pound dry white beans or small limas
  • 2 1/2 pounds Swiss chard, stems removed
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
  • 6 to 8 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
  • 3 medium cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon fresh basil, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried
  • salt and pepper

Bring water to boil in a saucepan, add beans, and boil 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand 1 hour.  Return to boil, reduce heat, and simmer until beans are tender, about 1 1/2 hours.  Drain.  Wash chard, shake off extra water, and cook in a large saucepan over high heat until wilted, 3 to 4 minutes.  Stir frequently so it doesn’t scorch.  Drain well, squeeze dry, and chop coarsely.  Heat olive oil in heavy skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and sauté until softened.  Stir in beans, chard, tomatoes, garlic, basil, and thyme.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes to blend flavors, stirring frequently.  Adjust seasoning and serve.

Serves 6.

From Winter Harvest Cookbook by Lane Morgan.

Ham and Black-Eyed Pea Soup with Collard Greens

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  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 garlic clove
  • a 4-ounce piece cooked ham
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 pound collard greens
  • 1 cup chicken broth (8 fluid ounces)
  • 3 cups water
  • a 16-ounce can black-eyed peas (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 1 teaspoon cider vinegar

Chop onion and garlic and cut ham into 1/4-inch dice. In a 3-quart saucepan cook onion, garlic, and ham in oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is pale golden.  While onion mixture is cooking, discard stems and center ribs from collards and finely chop leaves. Add collards, broth, and water to onion mixture and simmer until collards are tender, about 20 minutes. Rinse and drain black-eyed peas. In a bowl mash half of peas with a fork. Stir mashed and whole peas into soup and simmer 5 minutes. Season soup with salt and pepper and stir in vinegar.

From Gourmet December 1998.

Guandong-Style Bok Choy

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  • 1/4 pound shiitake mushrooms (or substitute enoki or straw mushrooms)
  • 1/2 pound bok choy
  • 5 tsp. oyster or soy sauce
  • 3 tsp. oil

Heat oil and stir-fry mushrooms in a wok for about 2 minutes. Add bok choy and stir fry until limp, about 1-2 minutes. Add oyster sauce (or soy sauce) and simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes. Serve with rice as a typical Chinese meal or substitute quinoa or amaranth, both grains with superior protein profiles.

Grilled Zucchini and Red Onion Salad

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  • 6 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise
  • 1 large red onion, cut into ½” slices
  • ¼ c. plus 2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
  • 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
  • 1 ¼ c. feta, crumbled
  • 1/3 c. pitted kalamata or nicoise olives, chopped
  • salt and pepper

Sprinkle zucchini with 1 tsp. salt and set on baking sheet lined with paper towels. Let sit for 15 minutes, then pat dry and cut into 2” pieces. Brush zucchini and onion slices with 2 Tbs. of olive oil, sprinkle with 1 ½ tsp. thyme and some black pepper. Sprinkle onions lightly with salt.

Prepare a medium-hot grill. set the vegetables on grill, cover if using a gas grill, and cook without touching so that the vegetables brown and get good grill marks, about 4 minutes. Flip and continue cooking so that other sides brown and the zucchini is just tender, about 5 minutes.

Transfer zucchini to a serving platter and continue to cook onions over a cooler part of fire until they start to soften (10 more minutes).  Add onions to platter with zucchini.

In a small bowl, whisk lemon juice, ½ tsp. salt and remaining ¼ cup of olive oil together with 1 ½ tsp thyme and black pepper. Drizzle over vegetables. Sprinkle with feta and olives and serve immediately or let sit for up to 1 hour at room temperature before serving.

Serves 8.

From Fooday 8/7/07

Grilled Tofu and Asian Greens

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  • 1 14 oz. package firm tofu, drained
  • ¼ c. low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 ½ tsp. firmly-packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp. finely-grated fresh ginger
  • 1 small clove garlic, minced
  • ¼ tsp. Tabasco or crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. vegetable oil
  • 6 cups chopped Asian greens

Cut tofu crosswise into 6 slices. Arrange in 1 layer on a triple layer of paper towels and top with another triple layer of paper towels. Weight with a shallow baking pan and let stand two minutes. Repeat weighing with dry paper towels two more times. Stir together soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, Tabasco and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a glass dish. Lay tofu slices in dish in one layer and marinate for 8 minutes, turning over every couple of minutes. Heat an oiled, well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Lift tofu from marinade with a slotted spatula (reserve marinade) and grill, turning over once carefully with spatula, until grill marks appear and tofu is heated through, 4-6 minutes. While tofu grills, heat remaining teaspoon vegetable oil in a 12-inch skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Sauté greens, tossing with tongs until beginning to wilt. Add reserved marinade and sauté, tossing, for about 1 minute. Lift greens from skillet with tongs, allowing excess marinade to drip off, and divide between 3 plates. Serve greens with tofu slices.

Serves 3.

From Gourmet magazine, October 2003.

Grilled Summer Squash Marinade

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  • 3-4 Tbs rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
  • chopped fresh herbs (oregano, parsley, thyme, rosemary etc)
  • dash of Worcestershire sauce
  • ½ cup olive oil

Place garlic and salt in bottom of a bowl and mash together with a fork.  Add vinegar, Worcestershire and herbs, mix well.  Whisk in olive oil.  Cut squash lengthwise and toss in marinade.  Let sit at least 20 minutes.  Grill over hot coals until browned on both sides.  Place grilled squash back into the bowl containing the remaining marinade before serving.

Greens, Sausage and Bean Soup

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Note:  Use any green variety of kale, collard, turnip or mustard greens or swiss chard.  Makes 3 quarts.

  • 1 pound greens, rinsed and chopped
  • 2 cups onions (1/2 lb)
  • 1 cup sliced carrots
  • 1 cup sliced celery
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic
  • 2 tsp dried thyme leaves
  • 1/2 pound Kielbasa (Polish) sausage, thinly sliced (it is easier to slice if it is slightly frozen) (I used some chicken sausage and it was yummy)
  • 1 cup dry white wine (which I omitted since we do not drink alcohol)
  • 2 quarts chicken broth
  • 2 cans Cannellini (white) beans ( I used 1 and 1/2 cups dry Adzuki beans and cooked them separately before adding to soup – I think most types of beans would work well)
  • Pepper to taste

1. In 6 – 8 quart stock pot over medium-high heat, frequently stir onions, carrots, celery, oil, garlic, thyme, and sausage until sausage is browned, about 10 minutes

2. Add wine, broth, cooked beans, and greens.  Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the greens are tender (15 – 25 minutes).  Season with pepper.