Winner’s Circle Pie

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Susan

This is a once-a-year recipe that should be baked early in the morning on the 1st Saturday in May.   Buy a bunch of red roses for your dinner table and enjoy this treat after dinner and the Kentucky Derby.

Winner’s Circle Pie

Serves 6 to 8

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter, melted and cooled
½ cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 unbaked 9” pie shell
whipped cream

In a mixing bowl, combine the sugar, flour, eggs and butter.  Stir in the nuts, chocolate chips, and vanilla.  Spoon the mixture into a pie shell.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until the surface is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Serve with whipped cream.

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Derby Day Mint Juleps and Benedictine Dip

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Susan

Saturday marks the 136th Kentucky Derby, a day right up there with the Super Bowl, the NBA finals and Wimbledon for giving us great excuses to have a party!  Post time is set for about 6:15 p.m.—the perfect hour for a refreshing cocktail and a cool and creamy dip to honor the occasion.  We’re serving mint juleps and Benedictine dip (named for Benedict’s restaurant in Louisville) with crackle bread—nothing too fancy, but honoring the culinary traditions of the day.

If you’re feeling really “authentic,” you could complete the menu and have Derby Hot Browns (turkey, bacon, cheese and cream gravy open-faced sandwich extravaganzas) or Kentucky burgoo  (a thick stew of beef, chicken, pork and vegetables).

We may just keep practicing our southern drawl and skip right to Derby Pie.  Cheers to this year’s Run for the Roses!

Traditional Mint Juleps

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Premium Bourbon Whisky (we like Maker’s Mark)
Fresh mint (a nice big bunch), rinsed and dried
1 Cup of water (preferably purified)
1 Cup of granulated sugar
Crushed Ice

In a saucepan, combine the water and the sugar and boil together for about 5 minutes until it is clear.  Put ¼ cup of mint leaves in a glass container, pour the simple syrup over them and allow the mixture to cool (the longer the better for the best minty flavor).  When you’re ready to serve, half fill a julep cup (preferably silver) with crushed ice.  Add one tablespoon of the syrup and two ounces of bourbon to the cup, and fill to the top with more crushed ice.   Stir until the outside of the cup is frosted and garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

Benedictine—A Derby Day Dip

Makes about 1 ½ Cups

Ingredients:

1 large cucumber
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons grated onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons mayonnaise

Preparation:

Peel, grate, drain and squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the grated cucumber.  Put the cucumber and all of the remaining ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined.  Let the dip chill for an hour or so to let the flavors blend and then serve with crisp crackers.

Posted in Appetizer, Drinks, Snack | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Ham and Egg Gratin

Posted on April 28, 2010 by Susan

We’re always on the lookout for new breakfast dishes—we are a family of dedicated breakfast eaters.  Here is a quick and easy way to make a special egg dish, adapted from an old recipe my mother used to use.  We had this last weekend as part of a Sunday brunch—and served it with cinnamon toast and blueberries topped with vanilla yogurt and granola.  This is a good recipe to play with—the ham could be changed to bacon or any kind of sausage, and for a change of cheese—I’m going to try Gouda or Gruyère.

Ham and Egg Gratin

Serves 4

Preparation Time:  10 minutes
Cook Time:  25 minutes

Ingredients

2 teaspoons butter
2 ¾ ounces cooked ham, diced
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk, heated just to the boil
Salt and pepper
2/3 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly grease 4 small ramekins with the butter.  Crack the eggs into a small mixing bowl.   Whisk them well.  Stir in the ham and then gradually add the hot milk, stirring the mixture constantly.  Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Pour the mixture into the ramekins and sprinkle each with equal parts of the cheese.  Place on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until set.  Let cool for 5 minutes and then serve.

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Shrimp Salad with Lime Vinaigrette

Posted on April 21, 2010 by Susan

This is what you call a “floating recipe”.  Meaning that it comes from a friend, who got it from her neighbor who got it from…who knows anymore?

Anyway, I was at my friend’s house for lunch last week, and she served this delicious, bright, easy-to-make salad.  This is just one of those great combinations of ingredients that afterwards, you can’t wait to eat again.  I asked her for the recipe while my mouth was still full (and she’s the amazing kind of friend that sends it right away).   I made it the next day for my family—and ended up sharing it with our neighbors—who asked for the recipe while their mouths were still full…and now I’m casting it even further into the universe because this really should belong to everyone—it’s just that good.

Shrimp Salad with Lime Vinaigrette

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 pound large cooked shrimp
1 avocado, in large dice
1 cup fresh or canned corn
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped red onion
½ cup fresh lime juice
¼ cup honey
1 garlic clove, pressed or chopped
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup olive oil

Combine the shrimp, avocado, corn, cilantro and onion in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, honey, garlic clove, salt, pepper and olive oil and whisk until well combined.

Pour the vinaigrette over the salad (you may want to go a little at a time and taste as you go—I used most, but not quite all of the vinaigrette) and gently toss to combine.  Cover and chill for at least an hour before serving.   Don’t chill overnight, the whole thing will taste like shrimp and the avocado will fall apart.

Posted in Fish, Salad | Tagged , , , , , | 23 Comments

Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Posted on April 17, 2010 by Susan

My first introduction to Satay was from a friend who spent many years living in Southeast Asia with her husband who was with the U.S. State Department.  I don’t know if the dish originated in Indonesia or Malaysia or Singapore or Thailand or Vietnam—but they lived in all of those places.  I do know that the first restaurant where I had Satay was an Indonesian restaurant in Amsterdam—where it was served as part of their wonderful rice table.
The chicken is good on its own, but really enhanced by the sauce.  The sauce I could eat with a tablespoon but is really great with the chicken.  You can use other meats—I’ve also tried beef, pork and shrimp, which are all good, but the chicken seems to appeal to everyone—even kids—and they like the peanut butter sauce, even though it is spicy (at least mine do…) And it is a good recipe in which to introduce turmeric to the family—it’s a delicious spice that is really good for you because of its anti-inflammatory properties.
This is a nice recipe to do the prep for in the afternoon, and then you can quickly finish it off and serve this as a featured item for hors d’oeurves or as a nice light meat course of a spring or summer dinner.

Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Serves 4

Preparation Time:  30 minutes
Inactive Preparation Time:  Up to 4 hours for marinating
Cook Time:  10 minutes

Ingredients for the Marinade:

½ cup light coconut milk
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 shallot, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into long, thin strips (about 1 inch wide)
Bamboo skewers

Ingredients for the Spicy Peanut Sauce

½ cup light coconut milk
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup chicken broth
1 Tablespoon red curry paste
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
1 ½ tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Preparation:

To marinate the chicken, combine all of the marinade ingredients into a glass bowl and add the chicken breast strips.  Refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours.  Soak the bamboo skewers in water for at least an hour so they won’t burn up on the grill.

Meanwhile prepare the spicy peanut sauce by placing all of the ingredients in a blender and blending until smooth. (The sauce can be made up to a day ahead of time.)

Preheat the grill or a broiler.  Remove the chicken from the marinade and thread onto the bamboo skewers.  Cook on the grill or under the broiler for about 3 minutes per side, or until cooked through.  Serve on the skewers with the spicy peanut sauce for dipping.

Posted in Appetizer, Chicken, Main Course | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Posted on April 15, 2010 by Susan

One of the great things about spring in Florida is the bounty of locally grown strawberries that we enjoy each year.  When they were smaller, one of our kids’ favorite field trips at school was a visit to Oak Haven Farm where the kids could all pick their own berries.  The kids would pick the fruit—occasionally popping one in their mouth—and proudly call out when they’d filled their flat.  So, each time we went, I came home with several flats of perfectly patch-ripened fruit and started paging through my recipe files for great things to do with all those strawberries.  Here is a good one.

This recipe pairs strawberries with another quintessential spring treat—which is a cool weather, northern spring crop—rhubarb.  I guess somebody in the produce section of our market feels sorry for us northern transplants, and each year—for a couple of weeks—we’ll have rhubarb in our store.  As soon as I see those bright red stalks in the grocery store or farmer’s market, I grab these imports and our local strawberries and head home to make this favorite dessert.  The tartness of the rhubarb goes perfectly with the sweet strawberries–and the two kinds of sugar don’t hurt either.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients:

5 cups strawberries, washed, dried and sliced
2 cups rhubarb, washed, dried and sliced
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup uncooked oatmeal (old-fashioned, not quick-cooking)
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons of water



Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, mix together the strawberries, rhubarb, and sugars.  Spread the fruit in the bottom of a 9 x 12-inch baking dish.

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, oatmeal, salt, and cinnamon. Cut the butter into small pieces and with very clean hands; rub the butter into the dry mixture until it is well blended and crumbly.  Sprinkle this mixture over the fruit.  (You can prepare this a couple of hours ahead of time and let it sit on the counter until you’re ready to bake.)

Just before baking, mix together the lemon juice and the water—and sprinkle it over the top.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the fruit is bubbling at the edges.  Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

For another amazing strawberry recipe try this one:

Strawberry Scones at Jane’s Sweets

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