Grilled Asparagus Salad

When the weather is hot and sticky I find myself yearning for fruits and vegetables, not meat. I want salads, cold rice or noodles. Easy food, easy to prepare, easy to digest.

I recently had some grilled asparagus left over and used them for salad the next day. This dish was the perfect accompaniment to a rice salad that had other leftover vegetables in it!

 

Grilled Asparagus Salad

• 1 pound asparagus
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cups mixed cut up salad greens
• 1 cup halved grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue or feta cheese
• 2-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat an outdoor grill (or turn oven to 450 degrees). Trim the asparagus and place them in a shallow dish. Pour about 2 teaspoons of the olive oil over the asparagus and roll the spears to coat them evenly. Grill the spears, turning them once or twice, for 5-8 minutes, depending on thickness. Cut the spears into bite size pieces and place in a salad bowl. Add the salad greens, tomatoes and cheese and toss the ingredients. Mix the remaining olive oil, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar and mustard and pour the dressing over the salad. Toss and taste. Add more vinegar to taste. Sprinkle with pepper and serve.

Makes 6-8 servings

Herbed Feta Cheese with Sundried Tomatoes and Olives

A few weeks ago I took a quickie trip to Berlin with my daughter. We took a stroll through the Turkish outdoor market, where I saw someone selling a gorgeous hunk of feta cheese, scattered with sundried tomatoes and olives, seasoned with herbs and sprinkled with a drizzle of olive oil.

I noted the ingredients and took a photo. 

It looked so delicious that the moment I saw this cheese thing I knew I had to make it at home.

I did.

It is as good as I thought it would be. I served it to guests last weekend.

They raved.

Here's the recipe. 

Herbed Feta Cheese with Sundried Tomatoes and Olives

• 1/2 pound feta cheese
• 3 sundried tomatoes in oil
• 8-10 imported black pitted olives
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• Aleppo pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Cut the feta cheese into thick slices and place on a serving dish. Chop the sundried tomatoes and scatter them over the cheese. Scatter the olives around the cheese and dish. Scatter the parsley over the ingredients and sprinkle with the oregano and some Aleppo pepper to taste. Drizzle the olive oil on top.

Makes 8-10 servings

Potato Cheese and Spinach Kugel

Tell me Shavuot is coming and my first thought is cheesecake.

Of course. Cheesecake the dish most associated with the holiday. I love it. Make all kinds. Some plain. Some spiced. Some covered with fruit. Some with chocolate.

On the other hand you can't just eat cheesecake. 

Shavuot is generally a dairy holiday.

I love dairy.

Especially if there is a potato involved.

Like in this kugel, which is a wonder all by itself. But also good with salad, other dairy dishes or served with sunnyside eggs on top.

Perfect dish for the holiday.

 

Potato Cheese and Spinach Kugel

• 4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1-1/2 pounds)

• 8-10 ounces fresh spinach

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

• 6 large eggs

• 5 tablespoons melted butter

• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 3/4 cup panko crumbs

• 2-3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish. Peel the potatoes, cut them into chunks and boil them in lightly salted water for about 15 minutes or until tender. Let cool and chop into small pieces. Place the potatoes in a bowl. While the potatoes are cooking, wash and dry the spinach and chop it coarsely. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 3 minutes or until softened. Add the spinach and cook for 2-3 minutes or until wilted (if there is liquid in the pan, raise the heat and cook until it evaporates, or drain using a strainer). Add the spinach mixture, the feta cheese and dill to the potatoes and mix gently to distribute the ingredients evenly. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Mix in 3 tablespoons of the melted butter and pour over the potato mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Gently mix the ingredients. Place the mixture inside the greased baking dish. In a small bowl, mix the panko, the remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter and the Parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the ingredients. Bake for about 30 minutes or until hot and crispy.

Makes 8-10 servings

Cheese and Vegetable Kugel

When my kids were young and still living at home, I made kugel a lot. My daughters were not terribly anti-vegetable, but I realized that pairing veggies and noodles would make it even easier to have more vegetables at our meals.

Also, it is a good way to use leftovers -- the recipe below is extremely versatile. Add cut up cooked green beans or asparagus, corn kernels, peas. Like that.

This kugel is filling enough for dinner. Also yummy with a sunny-side egg or two on top of each serving for a meatless (Monday) dinner. And a wonderful choice for dairy-fest Shavuot.

Veggie Kugel

• 4 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 10-12 ounces mushrooms, chopped
• 1 bunch spinach or kale, washed and dried, coarsely cut
• 2 medium carrots, shredded
• 12 ounces medium-wide egg noodles
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup grated Swiss cheese
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• paprika

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9”x9” baking dish. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and mushrooms and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the spinach and cook for another 1-2 minutes or until it has wilted (kale may take a minute or so longer). Add the carrots and cook for another minute. Remove from the heat and set aside. Cook the noodles according to package directions, drain and place in a large bowl. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, the cooked vegetables, eggs, sour cream and 3/4 cup of the Swiss cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir to mix ingredients well. Place in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the top with the remaining Swiss cheese, Parmesan cheese and paprika. Bake for about 35 minutes or until the top is crispy and brown.

Makes 6-8 servings

Banana Marble Cake

Whenever my mother had leftover sour cream that was still safe to eat but had been hanging around the fridge for too long for it to taste fresh, she would use it to bake something. Like her marble cake. 

That cake was a simple wonder. Tender, vaguely sweet, with just enough melted chocolate swirling through the vanilla crumb. Rarely frosted, we ate it like coffee cake, just as is.

I've made that cake many times, and for the same reasons. Leftover sour cream (I also use leftover plain Greek yogurt when I have some). I've made it the original way and with coconut oil in place of shortening. 

Recently I had sour cream and yogurt leftover, the not exactly new kind.

I also had bananas left over. I always have bananas left over. I usually make banana bread with the leftover bananas.

So I took a cue from my mother and decided to bake marble cake. Using bananas.

So good.

Banana Marble Cake

• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 very ripe medium bananas, mashed
• 1 cup dairy sour cream or plain Greek yogurt 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a (10-inch) 8-cup bundt pan. Melt the chocolate and set it aside. Mix the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed, beat the sugar and eggs for 2-3 minutes or until well blended. Add the vanilla extract and vegetable oil and beat for 1-2 minutes or until thoroughly blended. Add the bananas and sour cream and beat them in. Add the flour mixture and beat for 1-2 minutes or until the batter is well blended. Pour half the batter into the prepared pan. Pour in half the melted chocolate and swirl it into the batter using a knife or wooden spoon. Repeat with the remaining batter and melted chocolate. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove to a cake rack to cool completely.

Makes one bread, serving 12-16

Mashed Potato Pancakes

It has been said that on St. Patrick's Day everyone is Irish.

That's okay by me! I've been to Ireland. It's gorgeous. The people are friendly, the sites are interesting, the weather is glorious, the food is awesome. What's not to like?

The potato dishes are especially good.

Like mashed potato pancakes. You absolutely cannot go wrong making these. A terrific side dish with fish or at a vegetarian dinner. But, ya know, I've had these for dinner just by themselves, topped with sunnyside eggs (and served with some grilled tomatoes) and that's a perfect meal as far as I am concerned.

Mashed Potato Latkes

• 2 pounds boiling potatoes (such as Yukon Golds)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, optional
• 1 large egg
• Panko crumbs
• vegetable oil for frying

Wash the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Bring them to a boil in a large pan in lightly salted water. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Drain and, when cool enough to handle, peel the potatoes. Mash the potatoes in a bowl using a potato masher or ricer. Add the butter and the milk and stir them in. Stir in the chives, if used, and the egg. Make flat cakes, about 1/4-inch thick out of the potato mixture. Press each side of the cake into Panko crumbs. Heat about 1/4" vegetable oil in a cast iron or other heavy heat retaining skillet over moderately high heat. Fry for 2-3 minutes per side or until the pancakes are golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Makes about 12

Latkes of a Different Kind

Hanukkah wouldn't be right without latkes. And, while classic potato latkes are my favorite and I once made 200 of them for my sister-in-law and brother's annual holiday party, I also like to cook up different varieties.

In addition to fried foods, dairy is also an iconic food for Hanukkah.

So -- dairy latke!

This one is made with cornmeal and cheddar cheese. Good for breakfast, lunch or as a side dish at a vegetarian meal. Perfect accompaniment to sunnyside eggs, for dipping into runny yolks.

Also, versatile. Add chives, scallions, corn kernels, chili peppers. Whatever.

Also -- make them ahead and rewarm. 

 

Cornmeal-Cheddar Latkes

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 cups cornmeal
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2-1/3 cups milk, approximately
• 2 large eggs
• 5 ounces shredded cheddar cheese 
• butter for frying
• optional: 1 small chopped jalapeno or serrano pepper; 1 cup corn kernels; 2 tablespoon chopped chives

Melt the butter and set it aside to cool. In a bowl, mix together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, eggs and cooled melted butter. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture, stirring gently. Fold in the cheese. If the mixture seems too thick, stir in more milk.

Heat about 1 tablespoon butter in a sauté pan over medium-low heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, drop 1/4 cup of the batter per pancake and cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown.

Makes about 24

Cleveland Cuisine! Really.

Cleveland cuisine? Really?

Yes!

Cleveland is an important place.

For one thing, it's the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

And that should be enough.

But there's also The Cleveland Museum of Art -- it has a large, diverse collection. And unlike so many museums of its kind, admission is FREE!!!!

Also -- Cleveland has a world-famous orchestra, a distinguished university (Case Western Reserve), an AFC football team (the Browns) and a major league baseball team (the Indians).

AND, of course, their basketball team is this year's NBA Champions! (You've surely heard of the Cavaliers!)

I'm impressed!

And now there's more. This summer Cleveland will be home to the 2016 Republican National Convention (July 18-21).

And, whatever the goings on at the convention itself, the city will get lots of extra attention in the press. There will be loads and loads of extra people in Cleveland.

So, me being me, I got to wondering about what those people might be eating during their stay. 

I don't mean the food they're going to get at the convention. I mean real, special, famous Cleveland food. 

Not every city has its own culinary specialties. Surely nothing in Stamford, CT., where I live. 

But Cleveland does! And some real goodies, at that! 

For example, because the city is home to large numbers of families whose origins trace back to central and eastern Europe, bratwurst (on a bun) and crunchy apple fritters are really popular.

The apple fritters alone are worth a visit I think.

But also this -- among the most famous of "Cleveland food" is something called the Polish Boy (basically a kielbasa sandwich with coleslaw, french fries and barbecue sauce all on a club roll).

Well, okay. Maybe.

Then I discovered that among the iconic Cleveland dishes are pierogi.

Pierogi. Do you hear my heart pounding? Can you see my grin?

Oh! How I love pierogi! Doughy dumplings stuffed with stuff. Like beef cheeks or potato and cheese (served with thick, tangy sour cream).

Pierogi. The kind of food some of us used to get at grandma's, if we were lucky.

I haven't had a pierogi for as long as I can remember. Thanks to Cleveland I was reminded of that fact.

I had to have some. But the only ones I could find in Stamford, CT. were packaged.

So I decided to make some myself. And after a couple of tries -- oh!

They are as wonderful as I remember.

Thank you, Cleveland, for inspiring this recipe. Good luck this summer.

 

Potato Cheese Pierogi

Filling:

• 3 large Yukon Gold potatoes (about one pound), peeled, cut into chunks (about 3 cups mashed potatoes)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 cup farmer cheese
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the potato chunks in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Drain the potatoes and spoon into a bowl. While the potatoes are cooking, heat the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 12-15 minutes or until soft and golden brown. Add the onions to the potatoes. Add the farmer cheese, sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix the ingredients until well blended. Set aside to cool before filling the dough.

Dough:

• 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, cut into chunks
• 1/2 cup water, approximately
• 1 cup dairy sour cream

Extras:

• butter
• vegetable oil
• sour cream

To make the dough: place the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and work it into the dough until the mixture is crumbly. Add 1/2 cup of the water and the sour cream and mix the dough until it is smooth, soft and well blended. If the dough seems too dry, add more water. (You can do this in a food processor.) Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes. Using portions of the dough, roll the dough on a floured surface to 1/8-inch thick and cut out circles with a 3-inch cookie cutter. Place the circles on a board or cookie sheet and cover them with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel while you cut the rest of the dough. Fill the dough using about one tablespoon of the filling for each circle.

To fill the pierogis: place the filling in the center of the dough circle. Fold the circle in half, pinching the edges to seal in the filling.

To cook the pierogis: bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the filled pierogis, 6-8 at a time, and boil for about 3-8 minutes depending on whether they are at room temperature, refrigerated or frozen (or until they float to the surface). Remove the pierogis with a slotted spoon and set aside; repeat with remaining pierogis.

Extras: To serve the pierogis: serve boiled (as above), with sour cream (can also serve with caramelized onions – make more when making filling above). OR, heat 1 tablespoon butter plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add some of the pierogi (do not crowd the pan) and cook for 3-4 minutes on the flat side, or until golden brown on the bottom, then turn the pierogis over and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until crusty and golden brown. Repeat using more butter/vegetable oil with the remaining pierogis. Serve with sour cream (and sautéed onion if desired). 

Makes about 4 dozen

Salmon Spread for Easy Summer Entertaining

My mother was one of those women who always had too much food in the house. Just in case.

Just in case company came. You can't just let them sit there and not eat.

Just in case you needed a little something extra for supper. Or as a snack over the weekend.

Just in case you had some leftovers and you didn't want to throw them out.

If you ever took a look in my freezer, my fridge and my kitchen cabinets you would know, like mother, like daughter.

I have a ton of food things.

Just in case.

This past weekend when my cousins came for a sleepover, I discussed this with my cousin Leslie, whose mother was my Mom's sister. She was bemoaning her overstuffed freezer, refrig, pantry. With all the "just-in-case" stuff. 

We are who we are, products of our upbringing, including our need for just-in-case food.

But I did point out to her that with the leftover salmon I made the other day, the dill, lemons, celery and cream cheese I always have on hand, I made this spread. Which is a perfectly easy-to-make, quick-as-a-wink to make hors d'oeuvre to be served with chips or crudites. And I served it over the weekend.

Easy. 

You can do it too. And if you don't have leftover salmon, you can used canned salmon, tuna or sardines. It's also delicious with leftover cooked bluefish.

 

Salmon Spread

• 8 ounces cooked salmon, crumbled
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Place the salmon, scallions, celery, cream cheese, lemon juice, dill and Dijon mustard in the workbowl of a food processor and process until thoroughly blended. 

Makes about 1-1/2 cups

Red Velvet Cake

Last week a New York Times article bemoaned the fate of Red Velvet, which, like so many other American products, got twisted and turned and commercialized beyond repair and has been reproduced in so many gimmicky ways — red velvet candles, red velvet body mist, and so on — that it has become preposterous.

We’ve all seen this happen before. When something, anything is popular, there are going to be those who want to cash in on it in ways never intended.

They can sell it, but of course we don’t have to buy it. And if we don’t buy it, they will stop selling it and we can move on.

But that doesn’t mean that the original product was outlandish. There is a reason that Red Velvet Cake has endured. People love how it tastes. It has a miraculously soft texture. In its article, the New York Times, while ridiculing the commercialization, deemed Red Velvet Cake a classic.

Truth to tell, I never understood the wow in the whole red velvet cake thing. To me the versions I tasted seemed as if they couldn’t make up their minds about whether to be a vanilla cake with too much color and too-little cocoa to make a flavor difference or a devil’s-food cake.

But after experimenting somewhat with recipes, I came up with one that’s mighty good! So, now I get it. It isn’t vanilla cake. Or devil’s-food. Or chocolate cake. It’s its own thing. A classic. Here’s the recipe, plus a recipe for frosting that’s way less sweet than most:

Red Velvet Cake

• 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  1/3 cup cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
  1 teaspoon salt
  2 cups sugar
  1-1/2 cups vegetable oil
  3 large eggs, at room temperature
  1 ounce red food coloring mixed with 6 tablespoons water
  1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  1-1/4 cups plain yogurt
  2 teaspoons baking soda
  2 teaspoons white vinegar
  Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 3 9-inch cake pans. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt into a bowl and set aside. Beat the sugar and vegetable oil together at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until thoroughly blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the food coloring mixture and vanilla extract and stir the ingredients at low speed until thoroughly blended. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the yogurt, beating the ingredients after each addition. Mix the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl, pour it into the batter and blend it in thoroughly. Spoon the batter equally among the cake pans. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool for about 10 minutes, then insert them onto a cake rack to cool completely. Before serving, frost the cake.

Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 pound cream cheese at room temperature
  1/2 cup butter at room temperature
  2 cups confectioner sugar
  1 tablespoon lemon juice
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon peel

Beat the cream cheese, butter, confectioners sugar, lemon juice, vanilla extract and lemon peel together at low-medium speed until smooth, creamy and well blended.

Makes 10-12 servings

Tagged: red velvet cake, cake, dessert

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