Roasted Garlic

Years ago my pal Peter showed me how to roast garlic whole and eat the warm, toasty cloves right out of the head. How wonderfully simple! And perfect for garlic lovers.

Roasted Garlic Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2 Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.

3 Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.

4 Allow the garlic to cool enough so you can touch it without burning yourself. Use a small small knife cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.

Eat as is (I love straight roasted garlic) or mash with a fork and use for cooking. Can be spread over warm French bread, mixed with sour cream for a topping for baked potatoes, or mixed in with Parmesan and pasta.

Cold Pea Salad

This delightful cold pea salad recipe comes from my friend Chigiy's friend Beth, who brought it to a recent BBQ. It calls for Smokehouse Almonds, but I think it could easily be made with tamari almonds too. Perfect for picnics on hot summer days, it's made with frozen peas which help keep the salad chilled. The peas do thaw a bit, but they're good crunchy and cold too.

Cold Pea Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 16-ounces frozen petite peas (do not thaw)
• 6 ounces smokehouse almonds, rinsed to take off the excess salt, chopped (preferably by hand)
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 8 ounces chopped water chestnuts
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tsp yellow curry powder
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method

1 Combine the frozen peas, green onions, almonds, and water chestnuts. Mix together the mayonnaise and curry powder in a separate bowl.

2 Gently fold the mayonnaise mixture into peas. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Serves 6.

Notes from Beth: You make this salad the morning of, but add the almonds when you serve it. The salad is still good the next day but it's best if it's made the day you serve. Wonderful served with sliced tomato and avocado and chicken for lunch.

Cucumber Yogurt Salad

We eat a lot of hot and spicy dishes around here; a great way to cool the palate is with the delicious combination of yogurt and cucumber. This easy-to-make cucumber salad, also called "tzatziki", is a refreshing accompaniment to spicy dishes such as chili beans, enchiladas, and Indian food.

Cucumber Yogurt Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cucumbers, peeled, quartered lengthwise, then sliced
• Plain yogurt, about 1 cup
• 1 teaspoon dried dill, or a couple of teaspoons of fresh dill
• Sprinkling of salt and pepper

Method

First taste the cucumbers to make sure that they are not bitter. Depending on the variety of cucumber you are using, and many other factors, you may find a cucumber that is distinctly bitter in taste. If this happens, soak the cucumber slices in salted water for half an hour, or longer, until the bitterness is reduced, then rinse and drain before using.

To make the salad, simply gently mix together the ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.

Yield: Serves 4.

Hamburger and Macaroni

Rachael Ray has nothing on my mother. As far as this family is concerned, my mom invented healthful, delicious comfort food that one can cook in 30 minutes or less. This hamburger and macaroni dish has been served in our house at least twice a month for the last 45 years. We even have a special name for it - HMO (HamburgerMacaroniOnions). Dad gets a song in his voice when he announces that we're having HMO for dinner. And it only takes 20 minutes to make.

Hamburger and Macaroni Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 yellow onion, chopped (or mixed chopped green onion greens and yellow onion)
• Olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Vegesal or other seasoned salt
• Dash crushed red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 large can (28 oz) of diced tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 2 cups uncooked macaroni (use rice pasta for wheat-free version)

Method

1 Get a large pot of hot water heating and begin cooking the macaroni as per the directions on the macaroni package.

2 In a skillet, brown the ground beef in a tablespoon of olive oil on high heat. Stir only infrequently so that the ground beef has an opportunity to brown.

3 In a large skillet, sauté chopped onion with a tablespoon of olive oil on medium high heat. Add the ground beef and lower the heat to medium. Add a dash of crushed red pepper. Add Vegesal or other seasoned salt. Add celery seed. Add canned tomatoes. Add Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 5 minutes. Mix in the drained and cooked macaroni and parsley. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

Serves 4.

Tuna Patties

Tuna patties! All you have to do is say these two words and I'm flooded with childhood memories. We kids are only a few feet high, have tiny feet, scabbed knees, and boundless energy. In between chasing each other around the dining room table we are squealing to our mother, "We're having tuna patties!" We were enthusiastic about food, to say the least. And always hungry. Back then, this was one of my mother's go-to dishes. No idea what her recipe was, and it's been so long since she's made them, it's long forgotten. This recipe is as close as I can come to what I remember, probably with a few added flourishes. What I love about the recipe is that I almost always have the necessary ingredients in the pantry and fridge, the patties are incredibly easy and quick to make, and they're budget friendly too. Oh yes, and they taste great! (At least to us. Big fans of canned tuna here.)

Tuna Patties Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 6-ounce cans tuna
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup white bread torn into small pieces
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp water (or liquid from the cans of tuna)
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives, green onions, or shallots
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• A couple squirts of Crystal hot sauce or tabasco
• 1 raw egg
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon butter

Method

1 Drain the liquid from the tuna cans. If you are using tuna packed in water, reserve a tablespoon of the tuna water, and add a teaspoon of olive oil to the tuna mixture in the next step.

2 In a medium bowl, mix together the tuna, mustard, torn white bread, lemon zest, lemon juice, water, parsley, chives, and hot sauce. Sprinkle on salt and freshly ground black pepper. Taste the mixture before adding the egg to see if it needs more seasoning to your taste. Mix in the egg.

3 Divide the mixture into 4 parts. With each part, form into a ball and then flatten into a patty. Place onto a wax paper lined tray and chill for an hour. (You can skip the chilling if you want, chilling just helps the patties stay together when you cook them.)

4 Heat the olive oil and a little butter (for taste) in a cast iron or stick-free skillet on medium high. Gently place the patties in the pan, and cook until nicely browned, 3-4 minutes on each side.

Serve with wedges of lemon. You can also serve with tartar sauce on slider buns for a tuna burger.

Yield: Makes 4 patties.

Chicken Curry Salad

I love this curry chicken salad. I made up this recipe 20 years ago after a friend of mine gave me a gift box of curry spices and have been making it ever since. It's quite easy to make. The important thing to remember is that you need to "cook" the curry powder in the olive oil before adding it to the rest of the salad ingredients. Heat releases the flavor of the curry. It's also easy to make ahead, the added time just allows the flavors to blend.

Chicken Curry Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 lb skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes
• Salt
• 1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 2 heaping Tbsp yellow curry powder
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 apple (tart or sweet, your preference), peeled, cored, and diced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (just lightly packed)
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 Tbsp mayonnaise optional

Method

1 Heat olive oil on medium/medium-high heat in a thick-bottomed sauté pan. Add chicken pieces and cook, stirring frequently until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle some salt on the chicken pieces while cooking. Check doneness by removing the thickest piece and cutting it in half. If it is still pink in the middle, keep cooking. Try not to overcook the chicken or it will be dry. Remove chicken pieces with a slotted spoon, set aside in a bowl.

2 Add yellow onion and cook. After a few minutes, when the onions are beginning to get translucent, add 2 heaping tablespoons of yellow curry powder. Cook a few minutes more, stirring frequently. If the curry sticks to the bottom or the mixture gets dry, add a bit more olive oil to the pan. As you stir, scrape up the stuck curry bits. Add raisins, and cook, stirring another minute. (If adding optional mayonnaise, remove curry from heat and mix in mayo.) Add raisin and onion mixture to chicken and mix well, coating the chicken pieces with the curry infused olive oil. Refrigerate until cool. At this point you can make the salad a day a head of time.

3 When you are ready to serve the salad, mix in the apple, green onions, and cilantro.

Serves 4.

Perfect Lemonade

Everybody knows how to make lemonade, right? Squeeze some lemons, add sugar and water. But how to make lemonade so that it tastes right everytime? Here's a surefire method.

Remember the starting proportions - 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of lemon juice.

(This ratio makes a pretty sweet lemonade. Reduce the amount of sugar if you want your lemonade less sweet or if you are using Meyer lemons which are naturally sweeter than standard lemons.)

The secret to perfect lemonade is to start by making sugar syrup, also known as "simple syrup". Dissolving the sugar in hot water effectively disperses the sugar in the lemonade, instead of having the sugar sink to the bottom.

Perfect Lemonade Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

Method

1 Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.

2 While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.

3 Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.

Serve with ice, sliced lemons.

Yield: Serves 6.

Corn Chowder

With sweet, fresh corn, still available at the local farmers market, we just couldn't resist trying our hands at some fresh corn chowder. The recipe is adapted from one by Mitchell Davis in Kitchen Sense and is full of flavor. The original recipe calls for a strip of bacon, but you can add a little bacon fat instead, if you have some on hand, or just add a little more butter.

Corn Chowder Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 strip of bacon or 1 teaspoon of bacon fat (substitute 1/2 Tbsp of butter for vegetarian option)
• 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 large carrot, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
• 1/2 celery stalk, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
• 3 ears of sweet corn, kernels removed from the cobs (about 2 cups), cobs reserved (see steps for taking corn off the cob)
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 1/2 cups milk, whole or low fat
• 1 medium Yukon Gold potato, or Russet, peeled and diced
• 1/4 red bell pepper, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
• Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Method

1 In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the bacon strip (skip this step for vegetarian option, just add more butter) and fry until the bacon renders its fat, but doesn't begin to brown, 3 or 4 minutes. Add the onion and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, until soft. Add the carrot and celery and cook for 4 or 5 more minutes.

2 Break the corn cobs in half and add them to the saucepan. Add the milk and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a bare simmer. Cover the pot and cook for 30 minutes. Make sure the heat is as low as can be and still maintain a gentle simmer (on our stove we had to use the "warm" setting) to prevent scalding the milk on the bottom of the pan.

3 Discard the cobs, the bacon strip, and the bay leaf. Raise the heat, add the potatoes, red pepper, 1 teaspoon of salt, fresh ground pepper to taste, bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are almost fork tender.

4 Raise the heat, add the corn kernels and the thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Serves 4.

Dad's Greek Salad

I'm on vacation this week, so am pulling forward a few recipes from the archives that we've recently updated. This gorgeous Greek salad is one of them, originally posted in 2005. So pretty, isn't it? And perfect for the hot weather. ~Elise

This Greek salad is a favorite of my father's to make during the summer. We usually have plenty of tomatoes and cucumbers growing in the garden, and all you have to do is toss in some red onions, olives, bell pepper, feta cheese, a few herbs, and some olive oil and vinegar and you have beautiful, cooling, fresh, Greek salad.

Dad's Greek Salad Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes

Tip from my mom: to take some of the bite away from the onions, after you chop them, soak them in a little vinegar or lemon juice.

Ingredients

• 6 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dill weed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 large plum tomatoes, seeded, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cucumber, peeled, seeded, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 red onion, peeled, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, seeded, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup pitted black olives (preferably brine-cured), coarsely chopped
• A heaping half cup crumbled feta cheese

Method

1 Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, vinegar, oregano and dill weed together until blended. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. (Can be prepared 3 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewhisk before using.)

2 Combine the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, olives in a bowl. Toss with dressing. Sprinkle cheese over and serve.

Yield: Serves 6.

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak

Flank steak is a lean, somewhat tough but flavorful cut of beef that benefits from the tenderizing effects of a marinade. It is best cooked medium rare and thinly sliced at an angle. It actually could be sliced even more at a diagonal than what I've shown here in the photo. My father is the real expert around here at making beautiful thin slices, not I.

Prepared this way, marinated, cooked quickly at high heat, thinly sliced, flank steak practically melts in your mouth. This recipe calls for grilling the steak, but if you don't have a grill, you can prepare the steak on a large cast iron frying pan as well. I recently updated the marinade recipe based on a few suggestions from our readers. Thank you! There are more marinade ideas in the links to other food blogs at the bottom of the recipe. For more Southwestern flavors, see our carne asada recipe. Do you have a favorite flank steak marinade? or grilling trick for flank steak? If so, please let us know in the comments.

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak Recipe

Ingredients

Marinade Ingredients

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Other ingredients

• 2 pounds flank steak
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper

Method

1 Score the surface of the steak with 1/4 inch deep knife cuts, about an inch apart, across the grain of the meat. Combine the marinade ingredients. Place steak and marinade ingredients in a large freezer bag. Coat the steak well with the marinade. Seal the bag and place in a bowl. Chill and marinate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

2 Using olive oil soaked onto a paper towel, coat the grill rack of your grill with olive oil. Preheat the grill with high, direct heat. The grill is hot enough when you hold your hand about an inch over it and you can only hold it there for about a second.

3 Take the steak out of the marinade bag and sprinkle generously on all sides with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. The salt and pepper will help form a savory crust on the steak. Place steak on the hot grill. If you are using a gas grill, cover the grill. Grill for 4-6 minutes on each side. Half way through grilling on each side, turn the steak 90° so that you get more grill marks.

How do you know if the steak is done? The best way to tell is to poke it with your finger tips. While the steak is still raw, test it with your fingers; it will be quite squishy. That's what a very rare steak feels like. As the steak cooks the muscles contract and firm up. Touch the tip of your nose and that's what a very well done steak feels like. Here's a visual guide, the finger test to check the doneness of steak.

4 Flank steak is best eaten medium rare; well done will make it too tough. When the steak has cooked to your preferred level of doneness, remove from the grill and place on a cutting board. Cover with aluminum foil to hold in the heat and to keep the steak from drying out, and let rest for 10 minutes.

5 Make very thin slices, against the grain, and at a slight diagonal so that the slices are wide.

If you want, you can take the excess marinade and bring it to a boil, simmer for several minutes, and serve with the flank steak. Great also with salsa or horseradish sauce.

Serves 6.

Veggie Tacos

Why I didn't think of this earlier in the summer, when the zucchini beast was putting out two zukes a day, I don't know. But here it is, a veggie taco that combines the best of summer produce, that you can pull together in about 20 minutes or less. I've made these for lunch for the last 3 days straight with summer squash, green chiles, tomatoes, and jalapeños from our garden. You can improvise with the vegetables, a little fresh corn would work great added in, or some cooked beans as well. We have fresh chiles, so I included them, you could always just add some salsa or jalapeño pickles to taste. The key to the overall taste is the addition at the end of cotija cheese, a Mexican cheese that is salty and crumbly, much like Greek feta. Remember, unless you have just made your tortillas fresh from scratch, packaged corn tortillas need to be heated and softened first, before being used for tacos.

Veggie Tacos Recipe

Packaged corn tortillas vary in quality. Look for a thick tortilla, it will hold up better in the cooking. Otherwise, if your tortillas are more fragile, you may need to double them up - 2 per taco.

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 1 cup of roughly chopped zucchini or summer squash (1-2 zucchini or squash, depending on the size)
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 large fresh mild green chile (Anaheim or Hatch), seeds and stem discarded, chopped
• 1/2 fresh jalapeño chile pepper, seeds and stem discarded, minced (or more, if you desire more heat)
• Salt
• Pinch of ground cumin
• Pinch of ground oregano
• 1 small to medium tomato, chopped
• 4 corn tortillas
• 4 slices cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup crumbled Mexican cotija cheese (a salty, crumbly cheese, you can substitute feta)
• A few sprigs of fresh cilantro, chopped (okay to include the stems, if small)

Method

1 Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Add the zucchini, onions, garlic, green chiles, and jalapeño to the pan. Sprinkle with salt and cumin. Stir to coat the vegetables with the oil in the pan. Spread the veggies out in the pan and then stir only occasionally, until they are all lightly browned. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and oregano, lower the heat to low. Let gently cook for several minutes while you are preparing the tortillas.

2 You are going to want to heat up the tortillas first, first to soften them, and then to melt the cheese. There are two basic ways of doing this. One way is on the stove top, preferably in a cast iron pan. Another way is to use the microwave. In both methods you will work in batches. (A third way is to use fresh homemade corn tortillas, which is a great option if you are set up for it.)

2a Preparing tortillas on the stove-top Heat a dollop of olive oil (or other vegetable oil) in a large cast iron frying pan, on medium high. Add a tortilla to the pan, moving it around a bit, and turning it over, so that it spreads around the oil. Let the tortilla heat until it develops little bubbles of air pockets. Then place a piece of cheese on one side of the tortilla, and use a metal spatula to fold the other side of the tortilla over the cheese. Heat until cheese is melted, then remove from pan. Note that if you have a big enough pan, you can have one tortilla folded over while you have another tortilla doing its initial heating.

2b Preparing tortillas in the microwave Place a paper towel (or half a paper towel) on the heating surface of your microwave. Spread out 2 tortillas on the paper towels. Cook on high heat for 20 seconds per tortilla, in the case of 2 tortillas, 40 seconds. The tortillas should develop air pockets. (Note that every microwave is a little different, and corn tortillas differ as well. So you may need to adjust the times for your particular setup.) Then place a slice of cheese on one side of each tortilla and fold the tortillas over the cheese. Cook for an additional 10 seconds per tortilla (20 seconds for 2 tortillas), or until the cheese is melted.

3 Open the tacos and spoon some of the cooked veggie filling into them. Sprinkle on chopped cilantro and crumbled cotija cheese. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 tacos. Serves 2.

Zucchini Bread

I still remember the first time I encountered zucchini bread as a teenager. I had a hard time getting my mind around the concept. At the time, zucchini was something my mom made me eat, and not anything you would bake into something sweet. Fortunately, the pathway into my naturally resistant-to-new-foods teenage mind had already been cut with carrot cake. Heck, if you could get something that good out of carrots, why not zucchini? After one bite, I was sold forever. Grated zucchini, mixed into the batter, brings moisture and tender texture to what is essentially a spice cake.

Zucchini Bread Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups grated fresh zucchini
• 2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• Pinch salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
• 1 cup dried cranberries or raisins (optional)

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour, a third at a time. Sprinkle in the cinnamon and nutmeg and mix. Fold in the nuts and dried cranberries or raisins if using.

2 Divide the batter equally between 2 buttered 5 by 9 inch loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour (check for doneness at 50 minutes) or until a wooden pick inserted in to the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool thoroughly.

Makes 2 loaves.

Zucchini Bread with Pineapple

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup olive oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups coarsely grated zucchini
• 1 can (8oz) crushed pineapple, drained
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup raisins

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. In a mixer, beat eggs. Add oil, sugar, and vanilla; continue beating mixture until thick and foamy. With a spoon, stir in the zucchini and pineapple.

2 In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. A third at a time, add dry ingredients into wet and gently stir (by hand) after each addition. Add the walnuts and raisins, blend gently.

3 Divide the batter equally between 2 greased and flour-dusted 5 by 9 inch loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in to the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool thoroughly.

Makes 2 loaves.

Adapted from a 1974 Sunset Magazine recipe

Arroz Con Pollo

Arroz con pollo means "Rice with Chicken" in Spanish. It is a classic dish of Spain and Latin America, with many different traditional ways to prepare it, unique to various countries. An arroz con pollo you find in Cuba may be quite different than one you find in Peru. Please read the comments at the end of this recipe to see some wonderful classic versions of this dish. What follows is my mother's basic arroz con pollo recipe, which she adjusts depending on her mood and what she has on hand. For instance, she might substitute chipotle chile powder or red chile powder for the paprika. We never use saffron in our arroz con pollo, but many people do. You can also add chopped bell peppers (cook with the onions) or peas (mix in at the end). It's an easy, stove-top, one pan dish, great for family meals.

Arroz Con Pollo Recipe

Ingredients

Chicken

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 broiler-fryer chicken, about 2 1/2-3 pounds, cut into serving pieces, or 2 1/2 to 3 pounds of chicken thighs or breasts, bone-in, with skin on, rinsed and patted dry
• 1/2 cup of flour for dredging
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Paprika

Rice

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (can use up to 1/4 cup)
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 cups of medium or long-grain white rice
• 3 cups* chicken stock
• 1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste or 1 cup of diced fresh or cooked tomatoes, strained
• Pinch of oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt

*Check the instructions on the rice package for the proportions of liquid to rice. They can range from 1:1 to 2:1. If your rice calls for 2 cups of water for every cup of rice, then for this recipe, use 4 cups of stock for 2 cups of rice.

Method

1 Heat 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet (a skillet that has a cover) on medium high heat. Put the flour in a wide bowl, mix in a generous sprinkling of salt, pepper, and paprika. Dredge the chicken pieces lightly in the flour mixture and put in the pan to brown. (You can skip the flour dredging part if you want. It just makes a nicer coating for the chicken.) Cook a few minutes on each side, just enough so that the chicken has browned. Use a slotted spoon to remove from pan and set aside.

2 Add the rice to the pan to brown. Add a little more olive oil if necessary. Stir first to coat the rice with the olive oil in the pan. Then don't stir too much or you will prevent it from browning. Let it brown and then stir a little to let more of it brown. Then add the onion and garlic. Cook the onion, garlic and rice mixture, stirring frequently, until the onions have softened, about 4 minutes.

3 Place the chicken pieces, skin-side up, on top of the rice. In a separate bowl, mix together the stock, tomato, salt, and oregano. Pour the stock mixture over the rice and chicken. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Let cook for 20-25 minutes, depending on the type of rice and the instructions on the rice package, until the rice and chicken are done. Fluff the rice with a fork. If you want you can sprinkle with some peas. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4-6.

Lentils and Ham

One of the reasons we love serving ham for Easter is the leftover ham, especially the ham bone. That bone can be used to make a flavorful stock for split pea or white bean soup, helping to stretch out that ham for days. Another great pairing with ham is lentils. Make an easy ham broth with the bone, cook the lentils in it, and serve with some leftover ham slices. Inexpensive, easy, and satisfying.

Lentils and Ham Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Any leftover ham will do here, or you could use a smoked ham shank or ham hock in its place. Slices of thick-cut bacon are a good substitute for the slices of leftover ham.

Ingredients

Ham Stock

• Ham bone, and stray bits of leftover ham
• 3 quarts water
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme

Lentils

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup minced yellow onion
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 pound green, black or brown lentils, about 2 cups (we used French green lentils which cook up a little on the firm side)
• 5 cups ham broth
• Salt
• Slices of leftover ham

Method

1 First make the ham stock. Put the ham bone and any stray bits of ham into a large, thick-bottomed pot and cover with the water. Add the bay leaves. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 30 minutes. Add the remaining ham stock ingredients and simmer for at least another 30 minutes, preferably another hour. Strain the ham stock through a fine-meshed sieve and set in a large bowl. Taste and add salt if needed.

2 Heat the olive oil in a medium, heavy pot set over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Don't let the onions brown. Add the garlic and cook another minute, then add the lentils and stir to combine. Cook the lentils, stirring often, for 2 minutes.

3 Add 5 cups of ham stock and bring to a simmer. Cook very gently, you want the broth to barely be bubbling, until the lentils are done. That could be as little as 20 minutes, or as long as 1 hour, depending on how old your lentils are. Expect about 35 minutes. Check and taste the lentils from time to time while they cook. You don't want them to be mushy. When they are done, strain them from the stock (reserve the stock to make soup like split pea soup or ham and white bean soup, or just another batch of these lentils) in a fine meshed sieve.

Toss with a little more olive oil and serve with chopped pieces or slices of leftover ham. Serve either hot or at room temperature.

Yield: Serves 6-8.

Refried Beans

Frijoles Refritos

Pinto beans, prepared Mexican style, are such a staple in our house a week rarely goes by without my mother making up a batch. Although beans have a relatively long shelf life, the older they are the longer you'll have to cook them to get them to soften. Find a source that supplies fresh beans. If you have some that have been sitting around for more than a year, they'll be tough and not as good, you'll need to cook them longer.

"Refried" is actually a misnomer. In this instance, refritos means "well fried", not "refried", though you can certainly reheat the beans as you go through a batch. Before frying them though you'll need to cook them, in water, to soften them. There are basically two ways to initially cook the beans - with a pressure cooker and without. Since we make beans so often, we use a pressure cooker. It greatly cuts down on the cooking time. Here are directions for both methods.

Refried Beans Recipe

• Cook time: 45 minutes

We use bacon fat in this recipe, though you can easily use olive oil or lard. Although the recipe only calls for 2 Tbsp, we find that the flavor is greatly enhanced with the addition of a couple more tablespoons of bacon fat, just for flavor. You can also get some smokey flavor in the beans by adding a bit of chipotle powder, sauce, or chipotle Tabasco.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups of dry pinto beans (about 1 lb or 450gm)
• 3 quarts of water
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (optional)
• 2 Tbsp (or more to taste) pork lard, bacon fat, or olive oil (for vegetarian option)
• 1/4 cup water
• Salt to taste
• Cheddar cheese (optional)

Method

1 Rinse the beans in water and remove any small stones, pieces of dirt, or bad beans.

2 Cook the beans in water.
Regular method Put beans into a pot and cover beans with at least 3 inches of water - about 3 quarts for 2 1/2 cups of dry beans. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer, covered, for about 2 1/2 hours. The cooking time will vary depending on the batch of beans you have. The beans are done when they are soft and the skin is just beginning to break open.
Pressure Cooker method Put beans into a 4 quart pressure cooker with a 15 lb weight. Fill up the pressure cooker with water, up to the line that indicates the capacity for the pot. Cook for 30-35 minutes - until the beans are soft and the skins are barely breaking open. Allow the pressure cooker to cool completely before opening. If there is resistance when attempting to open the cooker, do not open it, allow it to cool further. Follow the directions for your brand of pressure cooker. (See safety tips on using pressure cookers.)

Strain the beans from the cooking water.

3 Add the onions and lard/fat/oil to a wide, sturdy (not with a flimsy stick-free lining) frying pan on medium high heat. Cook onions until translucent. (Note the onions are optional, you can skip them if you want.) Add the strained beans and about a 1/4 cup of water to the pan. Using a potato masher, mash the beans in the pan, while you are cooking them, until they are a rough purée. Add more water if necessary to keep the fried beans from getting too dried out. Add salt to taste. Add a few slices of cheddar cheese, or some (1/2 cup) grated cheddar cheese if you want. When beans are heated through (and optional cheese melted) the beans are ready to serve.

Note that many recipes call for soaking the beans overnight and discarding the soaking liquid. We don't. We discard the cooking liquid and just add some water back into the frying pan when we are frying the beans.

Chicken Salad

Updated, from the recipe archive, my dad's favorite chicken salad. It's great! First posted 2006. ~Elise

My mother and father make the best chicken salad. It's a joint effort; my dad assembles the ingredients, while my mom makes the dressing. It's not exactly your standard chicken salad. They like to include chopped apple, for a sweet note, and also chopped green olives, for their tangy saltiness. They'll use leftover chicken from a roast chicken, or their favorite baked chicken dish, and even include some of the crispy skin. You could also just poach some boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs in salted water for this salad.

Chicken Salad Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes

You can use any leftover cooked chicken meat for this salad, with or without the skin. Or you can poach some boneless skinless chicken breasts in salted water for this salad.

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb (2-3 cups) of cooked chicken meat*, coarsely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 4-6 green olives, pitted and minced
• 1/4 cup of chopped red onion
• 1/2 to a whole apple, cored and chopped
• 1/3 head of iceberg head lettuce, sliced and chopped

Dressing:

• 5 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp plum preserves, or any sweet berry preserve (or a lesser amount of honey)
• 2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

*To poach chicken for this recipe, start with a pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into large (2 to 3-inch) pieces. Bring a 2 quart pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Add the chicken to the boiling water, turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let the chicken pieces sit in the hot water for 15 minutes, then drain the water and chop the chicken pieces into smaller pieces for the salad.

Method

1 Prep all of the salad ingredients and toss them together in a large bowl.

2 Prepare the chicken salad dressing in a separate smaller bowl. Mix together the mayonnaise, preserves, and lemon juice. Taste for the proper balance of sweetness and acidity. The salad dressing should not be too sweet nor too sour. Add more preserves or lemon juice until you have reached the balance you want. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3 Gently stir the dressing in with the chicken salad ingredients. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Yield: Serves four.

Chicken Salad with Tarragon

Inspiration for good food can be found anywhere, even Starbucks, where I had a delicious chicken salad sandwich recently. The key ingredients other than chicken? Cranberries and tarragon. French tarragon is a distinctive herb, with a slight anise or licorice aroma. We don't use it that often; I grew some last year and don't think we used it more than once or twice the whole season. But it does pair well with chicken. The dried cranberries add some sweetness to the chicken salad, and the lemon juice just enough acidity to brighten all the flavors.

Chicken Salad with Tarragon Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped, cooked chicken meat*
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1-2 teaspoons dried tarragon (or 1-2 Tbsp fresh chopped tarragon)
• Salt and pepper to taste

* Poach about 1 1/2 lbs of skinless chicken breasts and thighs, preferably bone-in (for flavor), in a quart of salted (1 teaspoon) water, for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove from water, let cool, remove bones, chop the meat into 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch cubes.

Method

Mix all of the ingredients together. Adjust seasoning. Serve with lettuce for a simple salad, in a tomato that has been cut open for a stuffed tomato, or with slices of bread for a chicken salad sandwich.

Yield: Serves 4.

Perfect Cheesecake

It takes a bit of hubris to describe a recipe as "perfect", especially for a recipe such as cheesecake, for which so many have their own personal favorite. But, this is simply the best, most wonderful cheesecake I have ever had, and have ever made. It is based on a master recipe, from the master of baking herself, Dorie Greenspan. My young friend Audrey (15) and I made this particular cake twice together, with me documenting the steps. I've made it on my own a couple of times, and I think Audrey has made it so many times she's lost count. She's changed it ever so slightly from Dorie's base recipe, including keeping the graham cracker crust at the bottom instead of up the sides of the cake, and finishing with a sour cream topping and a raspberry sauce.

Perfect Cheesecake Recipe

• Cook time: 3 hours

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 cups (475 ml) of Graham cracker crumbs (from a little less than 2 packages Graham crackers
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• Pinch salt
• 5 Tbsp (70 g) unsalted butter (if using salted butter, omit the pinch of salt), melted

Filling

• 2 pounds cream cheese (900 g), room temperature
• 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar (270 g)
• Pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 large eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream (160 ml)
• 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream (160 ml)

Toppings

• 2 cups sour cream (475 ml)
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar (35 g)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 12 ounces (340 g) fresh raspberries
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 g)
• 1/2 cup water (120 ml)

Special equipment needed

• 9-inch, 2 3/4-inch high springform pan
• Heavy-duty, 18-inch wide aluminum foil
• A large, high-sided roasting pan

Method

Prepare the crust

1 Prepare the springform pan so that no water leaks into it while cooking.* Place a large 18-inch by 18-inch square of aluminum foil on a flat surface. Place the springform pan in the middle of the foil. Gently fold up the sides of the foil around the pan. Make sure to do this gently so that you don't create any holes in the foil. If there are any holes, water will get into the pan and ruin the crust. Press the foil around the edges of the pan. Place a second large square of foil underneath the pan, and repeat, gently folding up the sides of the foil around the pan and pressing the foil against the pan. Gently crimp the top of the foil sheets around the top edge of the pan.

2 Preheat oven to 350°F, with rack in lower third of oven. Pulse the graham crackers in a food processor or blender until finely ground. Put in a large bowl, and stir in the sugar and salt. Use your (clean) hands to stir in the melted butter.

3 Put all but 1/4 cup of the graham cracker crumbs in the bottom of the springform pan. (Save the remaining 1/4 cup for if you happen to have any holes that need to be filled in, either while you are making the crust, or after the cake has cooked and you've unmolded it.) Gently press down on the crumbs using your fingers, until the crumbs are a nice even layer at the bottom of the pan, with maybe just a slight rise along the inside edges of the pan. Be careful as you do this, as not to tear the aluminum foil. Place in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

Make the filling

4 Cut the cream cheese into chunks and place in the bowl of an electric mixer, with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed for 4 minutes until smooth, soft and creamy. Add the sugar, beat for 4 minutes more. Add the salt and vanilla, beating after each addition. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition. Add the sour cream, beat until incorporated. Add the heavy cream, beat until incorporated. Remember to scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl, and scrape up any thicker bits of cream cheese that have stuck to the bottom of the mixer that paddle attachment has failed to incorporate.

Cook the cheesecake

5 Place the foil-wrapped springform pan in a large, high-sided roasting pan. Prepare 2 quarts of boiling water. Pour the cream cheese filling into the springform pan, over the graham cracker bottom layer. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Place the roasting pan with the springform pan in it, in the oven, on the lower rack. Carefully pour the hot water into the roasting pan (without touching the hot oven), to create a water bath for the cheesecake, pouring until the water reaches halfway up the side of the springform pan, about 1 1/4 inches. (Alternatively you can add the water before putting the pan in the oven, whichever is easier for you.) Cook at 325°F for 1 1/2 hours.

6 Turn off the heat of the oven. Crack open the oven door 1-inch, and let the cake cool in the oven, as the oven cools, for another hour. This gentle cooling will help prevent the cheesecake surface from cracking.

7 Cover the top of the cheesecake with foil, so that it doesn't actually touch the cheesecake. Chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours, or overnight.

Prepare sour cream topping

8 Place sour cream in a medium sized bowl, stir in the powdered sugar and vanilla, until smooth. Chill until you are ready to serve the cake.

Note that this recipe produces enough sour cream topping for a thick topping and some extra to spoon over individual pieces of cheesecake, if desired. If you would like a thinner layer of topping and no extra, reduce the sour cream topping ingredients in half.

Prepare the raspberry sauce

9 Place raspberries, sugar, and water in a small saucepan. Use a potato masher to mash the raspberries. Heat on medium, whisking, about 5 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat. Let cool.

Prepare the cake to serve

10 Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Remove the foil from the sides of the pan, and place the cake on your cake serving dish. Run the side of a blunt knife between the edge of the cake and the pan. Dorie recommends, and we've done with success, that you use a hair dryer to heat the sides of the pan to make it easier to remove. Open the springform latch and gently open the pan and lift up the sides. Spread the top with the sour cream mixture. Serve plain or drizzled with raspberry sauce.

Yield: Makes 16 servings.