Recipes

 

Updated January 2014

I'm the sort of cook who doesn't measure my ingredients. Rather, I rely on gut instinct (excuse the pun), experience, and whatever leaves me with the fewest dishes and utensils to clean up.

Ingredients

  • Flank steak
  • Goya's Mojo Criollo (marinade)

Directions

Score a flank steak with a sharp knife--diagonal cuts on both sides, at least 1/4" deep.

Put the meat in a large ziplock bag with plenty of Goya's Mojo Criollo and marinate overnight (in the refrigerator!).

Grill. When done--and this part is CRITICAL--cut in strips, on the grill, across the grain.

Serve! Since you cut it ACROSS the grain on the grill, your diners will cut it WITH the grain, and it will be tender.

Back to top

This recipe comes from Michelle Stinson.

Ingredients

  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray (e.g., Pam)
  • One and one-half pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3x1/2-inch wedges
  • One and one-half pounds rutabagas, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges
  • One and one-quarter pounds yams, cut into 2x3/4-inch wedges
  • Two tablespoons olive oil
  • One-quarter teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • One-half cup finely chopped red onion
  • One-quarter cup chopped fresh chives
  • Two tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray large rimmed baking sheet with oil spray.

Combine squash, rutabagas, and yams in large bowl. Add oil and cayenne pepper (not too much!) and toss to coat. Sprinke with salt and pepper. Spread vegetable mixture on oiled baking sheet.

Roast until vegetables are tender, stirring and turning occasionally--about one hour. (Vegetables can be prepped four hours ahead of time. Let stand on baking sheet at room temperature. Rewarm in 350 degree oven until heated through, about 15 minutes.)

Transfer roasted vegetables to bowl. Add red onion, chives, and vinegar, and toss to blend. Season with salt and pepper.

Back to top

Union Square Cafe biscotti recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 and 1/3 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup whole almonds
  • 1/3 cup sliced almonds
  • 2 tablespoons cornmeal
  • 1 and 1/2 tablespoons whole aniseed
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon Pernod
  • 1 egg white, lightly beaten
  • 1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling on top of logs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine flour, sugar, almonds, cornmeal, aniseed, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Mix thoroughly.

Add butter and mix on low speed until the dough has consistency of wet sand. Mix in the eggs, vanilla, and Pernod until a soft dough is formed.

Divide the dough in half and form two logs, each 4 x 15 inches. Place the logs on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Lightly beat the egg white. Brush evenly on the logs and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown. The logs should be firm but still pliable. Cool to room temperature.

When the logs are cool enough to handle, cut them into 1/4-inch thick slices with a serrated knife. lay the slice cookies out on the cookie sheet, sliced edges up and down. Lower the oven to 325 degrees and bake until lightly golden and crisp, about 15 minutes. Cool and store, well covered.

Tom Mead says: "I sometimes add a 1/2 cup dried cranberries, and I frequently don't do the egg-white & sugar step at the end. Pernod is strange green stuff at the liquor store. The loaves cut with precision (using a serrated knive) IF they're cool."

Back to top

This recipe comes from Michelle Stinson.

Ingredients

  • One package cole slaw salad mix
  • One bunch scallions
  • One Oriental Ramen noodle soup mix package
  • One-quarter to one-half cup sliced almonds
  • One tablespoon butter
  • One half-cup canola oil
  • Two tablespoons sugar
  • Three tablespoons cider vinegar
  • Salt and pepper

Directions

Break up the noodles and brown them and the almonds in a skillet with the butter.

In a bowl, mix the scallions and the cole slaw salad mix. Mix in the browned noodles and almonds.

Mix the oil, sugar, vinegar, and the flavor packet from the soup mix. Pour over and mix into the salad when ready to serve. Salt and pepper to taste.

Back to top

Ingredients

  • Potatoes
  • Butter--at least a half-stick
  • Cream or half-and-half--at least a quarter-cup
  • Salt
  • White pepper

Directions

Peel, quarter, and boil the potatoes--cook them but don't overdo it--don't let them get soggy. Mash half-way with a potato masher. Do not use--EVER!--a mixer or food processor; these will turn the potatoes into glue. Add butter--I use lots--at least a half-stick for three or four large potatoes.

And following are the key parts. Add the cream or half-and-half--maybe a quarter-cup for three or four large potatoes. Whip vigorously with a hand whip--enough to destroy lumps left over from the half-way mash with the potato masher. Add salt--don't be stingy!--and white pepper to taste. Serve!

Another recipe from Leite's Culinaria. 

Back to top

Ingredients

  • Tequila--you don't have to be fussy about what kind--this is just a Margarita
  • Triple Sec
  • Margarita mix--Jose Cuervo's isn't bad
  • Cointreau
  • Grand Marnier

Directions

Salt a glass. I usually use a Highball---with a classic Margarita glass, everything just sloshes over the side.

Fill with ice. Half-fill with Tequila. Add a finger of Triple Sec. Fill to within a quarter-inch of the top with mix. Stir. Add splashes of Cointreau and Grand Marnier. Serve!

If you want to be sophisticated, fill a cocktail shaker with ice and shake the Tequila, Triple Sec, and mix in that, and then pour into a salted, ice-filled glass and add splashes of Cointreau and Grand Marnier.

Back to top

Ingredients

Filling
  • Four eggs
  • One cup sugar
  • Twenty-four ounces cream cheese (three bricks)
  • One tablespoon vanilla
Topping
  • One pint sour cream
  • Four tablespoons sugar
  • One tablespoon vanilla
Crust
  • One box graham-cracker pie crust

Directions

Start on the filling--cream the eggs and the sugar in a mixer for ten minutes. Add the cream cheese and vanilla and mix for at least 30 minutes until velvety. It helps to add the cream cheese s-l-o-w-l-y, in pieces, with the mixer on a low speed--and then crank up the mixer.

Make a graham-cracker crust per directions on the box. Be sure to use a cheesecake pan--one of those spring-form deals with the removable bottoms.

Pour the filling into the crust and bake at 375 degrees for 20-50 minutes--there really is such a range of time--or until the cake "cracks" in the middle. Keep your eye on it! The definitive signal is when the cake cracks.

Mix the topping ingredients and pour on top of the baked cake and then bake it again at 425 degrees for six minutes.

Cool for an hour-and-a-half and then refrigerate for eight hours. Enjoy!

Back to top

Ingredients

  • Pasta shells--shells hold the sauce better than other pastas. One 16-ounce package
  • Eggs--four or five, beaten well
  • Salt
  • One large onion, chopped
  • Butter--one stick
  • Bacon--one pound, chopped into thumbnail-sized pieces. The classic recipe calls for Prosciutto, of course, but I prefer bacon
  • Freshly ground Parmesan cheese
  • Heavy cream
  • Parsley, freshly chopped

Directions

Fry the bacon, pretty crispy. Drain off most of the fat. Add onion and cook until the onion starts to brown. Keep warm.

Cook pasta and drain. While the pasta is still hot, add the eggs and stir well. The hot pasta will cook the egg. Work quickly--add butter, then lots of Parmesan cheese. Add enough cream to give the sauce the consistency you want.

Mix in the bacon and onion. Salt to taste. Mix with pasta and sprinkle on parsley. Serve!

Back to top

Ingredients

  • Vodka--any old vodka will do, but I often use pepper-infused vodka
  • Fresh-ground pepper
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Horseradish sauce
  • Lemon juice
  • Spicy Hot V-8, or Beefamato. Do not use regular old tomato juice!
  • Tabasco sauce (especially if using Beefamato)
  • A-1 steak sauce (if using Spicy Hot V-8)
  • Celery salt

Directions

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Fill half-full with vodka. Add a bunch of fresh-ground pepper, and good dollops of Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice. Add a good dollop of A-1 (if you're using Spicy Hot V-8).

Add a spoonful of Horseradish sauce. Add more Tabasco, because you probably didn't add enough the first time.

Fill to top with Spicy Hot V-8 or Beefamato. Shake it, baby!

Pour into a glass--I generally use an Old Fashioned--over ice, or not. Sprinkle celery salt on top. Don't serve with any froufrou celery stalk!

These are great for Sunday brunch, with Bill's Hearty Hashed Brown Potatoes, a pile of scrambled eggs, and rafts of bacon. They're also good after coming in from skiing/boarding, or snowshoeing. They also go well with Bill's Artery-Clogging Carbonara.

Back to top

Ingredients

  • Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • Eggs
  • Flour
  • Progresso Italian Style Bread Crumbs
  • Vegetable oil

Directions

Have a casserole dish warming in the oven--about 200 degrees.

Put the chicken between sheets of waxed paper and pound it until it's good and flat. Beat some eggs in a bowl. Dip the chicken in the egg mix, then in the flour, then in the egg again, and then roll it in the bread crumbs until thoroughly coated.

Fry in the vegetable oil, both sides, until nice and crisp. Keep pieces warm in the oven while you cook them all.

Back to top

Ingredients

  • Frozen french fried potatoes, chopped
  • One large onion, chopped
  • Fresh-ground pepper
  • Salt
  • Butter

Directions

The trick is to use frozen or left-over french fried potatoes--they're already mostly chopped and impregnated with oil.

Saute the chopped potatoes and onions in the butter. Season with pepper (liberally) and salt.

Back to top

Ingredients

  • Lobster meat, cooked--one-and-a-half pounds
  • Shrimp, shelled and deveined--one pound
  • Clams; small, scrubbed--one dozen or more
  • Mussels, scrubbed--one quart
  • Chicken; boneless, skinless breast--one-and-a-half pounds
  • Oregano, dried--one teaspoon
  • Peppercorns--two
  • Garlic, peeled--one clove
  • Salt--one-and-a-half teaspoons
  • Olive oil--six tablespoons
  • Vinegar--one teaspoon
  • Ham, cut in thin strips--two ounces
  • Chorizo, sliced--one
  • Salt pork, finely chopped--one ounce
  • Onion, peeled and chopped--one
  • Green pepper, seeded and chopped--one
  • Coriander, ground--one-half teaspoon
  • Capers--one teaspoon
  • Tomato sauce--three tablespoons
  • Rice, small- or medium-grain, washed and drained; try Arborio rice--two-and-a-quarter cups
  • Boiling water--four cups
  • Saffron--one teaspoon
  • Peas, frozen--one cup
  • Pimentos--one can

Directions

Cut the chicken into medium-sized serving pieces.

Combine the oregano, peppercorns, garlic, salt, two tablespoons of the olive oil, and the vinegar and mash in a mortar. Rub the chicken with the mixture.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a deep, heavy skillet--a paella pan, if you have one--and brown the chicken lightly over medium heat. Add the ham, chorizo, salt pork, onion, green pepper, coriander, and capers. Cook ten minutes over low heat. Add the tomato sauce and rice and cook for five minutes.

Add the boiling water, saffron, and shrimp. Mix well and cook rapidly, covered, until the liquid is absorbed, about twenty minutes. Use a large spoon and turn the rice over from top to bottom.

Add the lobster meat and peas. Cover and cook five minutes.

Steam the mussels and clams in a little water until the shells open. Heat the pimentos and drain. Use the mussels, clams, and pimentos as a garnish.

Source: The New York Times.

Back to top

Ingredients

  • Chicken; boneless, skinless breast--two pounds
  • Onion, peeled and chopped--two
  • Garlic, peeled and minced--two cloves
  • Cumin, ground--two teaspoons
  • Oregano, dried--one-half teaspoon
  • Coriander, ground--one teaspoon
  • Green chiles, chopped and undrained--two four-and-a-half ounce cans
  • Water--one cup
  • Cannellini beans, rinsed and drained--two sixteen-ounce cans
  • Chicken broth--one fourteen-ounce cans
  • Hot pepper sauce--one-half teaspoon
  • Monterey Jack cheese, shredded--one cup
  • Cilantro; fresh, chopped--one-half cup
  • Green onions, chopped--one-half cup

Directions

Cut the chicken into medium-sized serving pieces.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken and cook ten minutes or until browned, stirring frequently.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and saute six minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add garlic and saute two minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in cumin, oregano, and coriander and saute one minute.

Stir in chiles, reduce heat to low, and cook ten minutes, partially covered.

Add the chicken, water, cannellini beans, and broth. Bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for ten minutes.

Stir in hot sauce.

Ladle one cup of chili into each of eight bowls. Sprinkle each serving with two tablespoons cheese, one tablespoon cilantro, and one tablespoon green onions.

Back to top