Tag Archives: food

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Apple Cranberry Sauce

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Cranberry sauce always seems like the dish that gets most forgotten about at the Thanksgiving table. The tart cranberry – who needs that when you’ve got rich gravy, juicy turkey, creamy mashed potatoes, and buttery stuffing?

I agree with Samin Nosrat that cranberry sauce is a necessary part of the Thanksgiving menu as it’s one of the only acidic dishes to make an appearance. It cuts through the buttery, the creamy and the richness. It also is the most beautiful dish to accentuate your holiday table with a ruby-red glow.

You could easily open up a can, slide it out onto a platter and call it a day, but with minimal effort you could have a gorgeous side dish that’s sure to delight your Thanksgiving guests.

I add apple to my recipe because it counterbalances the tartness of the cranberries and it’s my foolproof method to ensure the sauce thickens. The apples become the same color as the cranberries so no one will even realize they are there.

I use foraged lowbush cranberries (also called lingonberries) but you can use the cranberries from the grocery store and it works the same way.

Easy Cranberry Sauce with Apples

Serves 6-8
Prep & Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 12-14 ounces cranberries, fresh or frozen
  • 2 cups finely diced apples (peel the apples first)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • A pinch of salt
  • 1/3 cup apple cider
  • 1 cinnamon stick

Directions:

Add all the ingredients to a pot and heat over medium high, stirring all the while. When it comes to a simmer, turn down the heat and cook until the cranberries have popped and the apples are soft, about 15-20 minutes (till it looks like jam). Gently smash the berries with a wooden spoon against the side of the pan as they simmer. At first it’ll seem like it’s never going to look like cranberry sauce and then it transforms and becomes deep red and sort of glossy.

Let cool, remove cinnamon stick, transfer to an airtight container, and store in the fridge till ready to serve.

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My Favorite Thanksgiving Stuffing

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My dad’s stuffing recipe has been a family tradition for as long as I can remember. Many years ago I took over making the stuffing and now it’s technically considered dressing because we don’t stuff the turkey anymore and I prepare it in a slow cooker. Not only is this less likely to cause a food-borne illness it also makes the turkey cook faster and frees up oven space. The slow cooker makes the stuffing fluffy and moist – you’d never know it wasn’t resting inside the cavity of a bird for several hours!

If you don’t have a slow cooker, I provided oven instructions at the end of the recipe.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Natasha

Daddy O’s Thanksgiving Stuffing

Serves 8-10
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 4-5 hours

Ingredients:

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 celery stalks, chopped
  • 6-8 ounces sliced crimini or button mushrooms
  • 1.5 packets of breakfast sausage links
  • 1 cup cup golden raisins
  • 1 can of medium black olives, drained and chopped
  • 14 oz. bag seasoned bread cubes (or two boxes of Mrs. Cubbison’s since there are fewer cubes in the boxes)
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 3/4 stick of butter
  • About 1 cup chicken stock

Directions:

Start making this when you’re ready to eat breakfast. This way you can eat a couple of sausage links with some eggs while the other ones are cooling.

Brown all the sausage links in a big sauté pan. Once they are cooled, chop them into little rounds.

Secret ingredient: meat

Add 2 tablespoons butter in the sauté pan and heat on medium-high. Add the celery, onion and mushrooms and cook till everything is softened, about 7 minutes.

In a very large mixing bowl, add the breakfast sausage, celery, onion, mushrooms, bread cubes, raisins, olives, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly with your hands (they are truly the best tool for this).

Cut the remaining butter into little cubes and mix into the stuffing. Periodically pour in the chicken stock between mixing so everything is well incorporated. You don’t want to overdo it with the stock as it can make everything soggy, so splash some in here and there until the cubes are moistened but not saturated.

Spray the inside of your slow cooker with cooking spray and add the stuffing. Dot with a little more butter if you have some.

Cover the slow cooker and turn it to low. Let it cook for 4-5 hours. Don’t remove the lid until you’re good and ready because it takes a long time to reheat a slow cooker.

When dinner is ready, transfer to a pretty serving dish, reserving any extra in the covered slow cooker to keep warm.

Oven method: Follow the same instructions using a large Dutch oven and bake at 275F for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. 

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Beef Stew with Anchovies & Thyme, Revisited

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Years ago when I was a newlywed trying to impress my husband with my cooking skills I found a recipe for a lamb stew in a random cookbook and would make it often using beef instead. He really loved it and I thought I did too. I even blogged about it, but I stopped making it and eventually forgot about it.

A few months ago my husband asked me about that dish and why I never make it anymore. He requested I make it again. I was surprised to find my hastily written blog post about it and when I read through it I realized how much I’ve learned as a cook in the past 15 years. My original recipe doesn’t cook the flour – I just toss it in with the wine and stock. It only calls for braising the stew meat for 30 minutes. No wonder I remember this dish as being tough and difficult to digest. It needs to be slow cooked in the oven like a proper stew so the flavors can meld and the meat can get nice and tender!

So with my seasoned chef’s hat securely on my head, I set to reimagine this recipe and make it more palatable but with the same flavors my husband yearned for. I turned to the stew queen herself, Julia Child, whose boeuf bourguignon recipe is pretty much considered the holiest of stew recipes.

I’ve hybridized her recipe with mine. And I quite like it!

Beef Stew with Anchovies and Thyme

Serves 4
Total prep & cook time: 3.5-4 hours

Ingredients:

  • 6 ounces bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • 2-3 pounds beef chuck, cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 1 medium carrot, roughly sliced
  • 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • black pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 cups red wine
  • 1 1/2 – 2 cups beef or chicken stock
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 6 anchovy fillets, minced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • Parsley, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450F.

Bring 1 1/2 quarts of water to a boil and add the chopped bacon. Simmer the bacon for 10 minutes and then remove bacon with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate. Dab the bacon pieces dry. This removes the smoky flavor from the bacon so it doesn’t overpower your stew.

In a large enameled Dutch oven, heat the oil. Add the bacon pieces and cook until bacon is browned. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate. Pat dry the beef pieces and add about 1/3 of them to the Dutch oven. You don’t want to add too many or the pot will cool down and the meat won’t get nicely browned. Brown the beef, turning with tongs till there’s a nice crust on them. Place on the plate with the bacon. Repeat with the remaining pieces of beef in batches till it’s all browned.

Add the chopped carrot and onion to the pot and sauté until onion is starting to brown, just a few minutes. Drain the remaining oil from the pot.

Place the bacon and beef pieces back into the pot and add the salt and pepper. Sprinkle the flour all over till the beef is coated in the flour. Place the Dutch oven in the oven for 4 minutes. Remove, stir the beef, and place in the oven for another 4 minutes. Place the pot on the stove and turn the oven down to 325F.

Pour the wine and stock into the pot and add the garlic, anchovies and thyme. The liquid should just cover all the beef pieces, so add more stock if you need to. Bring this to a simmer, then cover and place in the oven for 2 1/2-3 hours or until the meat is falling apart tender.

Remove from the oven and bring to a simmer on the stove over low flame. Skim off any excess fat from the stew. Stir in the frozen peas until they are thawed and heated through. If the stew liquid is too thin, simmer over the stove until some of the liquid evaporates. If the liquid is too thick, add a little more stock.

Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with potatoes or egg noodles.

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Salmon Smashburgers

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Everyone has a salmon burger recipe. But THIS salmon burger recipe is really, really good. My friend Matt adapted a Mark Bittman recipe and served them up to my family a few months ago. I coined them “salmon smashburgers” by the way he haphazardly tossed balls of the salmon mixture into a pan and smashed them with a spatula (I cover a potato masher in parchment paper and secure with a rubber band around the handle. This keeps the salmon from sticking to the masher).

These burgers are so good, no bun is needed (but you can certainly add a bun if you’d like). They are moist, super flavorful, and a total hit.

This is also a great way to use the extra salmon meat when you’re filleting salmon. I filleted about 70 sockeye salmon over the past week and I used a serrated grapefruit spoon to scrape away any meat I might have left on the ribs after I filleted each fish.

Salmon Smashburgers

Makes about 4 burgers
Cook time from start to finish: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless salmon
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 3 scallions
  • 1/2 cup panko
  • Juice of half a lime
  • 1 tablespoon capers
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • Arugula, for serving
  • Sriracha mayo, for serving (See recipe below)
  • Lemon or lime wedges, for serving

Sriracha mayo:

  • 1/3 cup Kewpie mayo (the non-American kind with MSG is the best)
  • 2 tablespoons Sriracha (or more to taste)
  • Juice of half a lime
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Directions:

Cut the salmon into chunks and place a quarter of it in a food processor with the mustard. Turn on the food processor and and let it run, scraping down the sides if necessary, until it’s a paste.

Add the scallions and remaining salmon and pulse the food processor until the fish is chopped and well combined with the salmon puree. The salmon pieces should be about 1/4-inch big.

Scrape the mixture into a bowl and stir in the panko, capers, salt and pepper. Form into four equal balls and set on a plate.

Combine all the ingredients for the Sriracha mayo and set aside.

Heat a griddle or large frying pan over medium high and melt the butter. When the foam subsides, add each salmon ball, smashing it down so each one is nice and thin. Cook till browned, about 3-4 minutes, then flip and cook the other side for 1-2 minutes.

Serve on a bed of arugula and top with Sriracha mayo and a squeeze of lemon or lime.

Salmon smashburgers
Cooking, Pasta, recipes

Homemade Russian Pelmeni – Updated

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Back in 2011 I posted a recipe for one of my favorite dumpling recipes – pelmeni. This was back before I had all the recipe-writing knowledge I have today, so I wanted to update this recipe for anyone wanting to make these delicious dumplings at home.

It’s super helpful to have a pelmeni mold, but you can always make them using a small glass as a dough cutter and folding them into half moon shapes.

Russian Pelmeni

Makes about 60 dumplings

Ingredients for the dough:
1/2 cup warm water
2 eggs
About 260-270 grams AP or 00 flour, plus more for dusting

Ingredients for the meat filling:
1/2 medium onion, chopped very finely (I recommend using a small food processor)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pepper, to taste

For the topping:
Butter
Rice vinegar
Curry powder
Sriracha
Fresh cilantro
Sour cream

Directions:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Incorporate flour till you have a soft, stretchy dough that isn’t sticky to the touch. Knead on a floured surface for five minutes, incorporating flour if it’s still too sticky. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a pan with the oil over medium-high. Add the onions and sauté until onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to medium, add the curry powder and garlic, and cook for 1 more minute. Let this cool off the stove while you combine the beef, pork, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Once onions are mostly cooled, add to the meat and combine well. Cook a small sample in your frying pan to sample, if you like, then adjust for salt. Once the meat mixture is seasoned to your liking, place it in a gallon sized zip top bag and cut a small hole in one of the bottom corners.

If you have a pelmeni mold, use 1/4 of the dough and roll out a large, thin, round sheet of dough, incorporating flour if needed so it doesn’t stick. Sprinkle flour over the mold and drape the dough on top. If you don’t have a mold, use a biscuit cutter or the edge of a glass and cut circles out of the dough.

Using your makeshift piping bag, add about a teaspoon of filling to each divot in the pelmeni mold. If the dough seems too dry, you may want to lightly spritz the whole sheet with a water sprayer because you want the other sheet of dough to stick. Roll out another 1/4 of the dough into a large, round sheet and place it on top of the filled mold. Using your rolling pin, gently roll back and forth along the dough side of the mold until the mold starts to pierce through the edges of each pelmeni. Lightly dust a counter with flour and turn the mold upside down to shake/poke the pelmeni out of the mold.

Repeat with the remaining dough to make one more set of pelmeni with the mold.

If not using a mold, add about 1 teaspoon of filling to each cut circle. Crimp closed with your fingers. The dough should be sticky enough to stay closed on its own without additional moisture.

Set each finished pelmeni on a flour-lined baking sheet.

From here you could either boil the dumplings right away or place them in the freezer for later. If you freeze them, make sure to freeze them on the baking sheet before putting them in a zip top bag or container, otherwise they will stick together.

To prepare, bring a big pot of salted water to a boil. Add the dumplings and return to a boil. Cook until dumplings float — about 5 minutes (7 minutes if frozen).

Use a slotted spoon to remove dumplings and place them in bowls. Top with butter, vinegar, curry powder, Sriracha, cilantro and sour cream.

Cooking, recipes

Legit Falafel Mix

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I’m usually not one to write more than a few sentences before a recipe, but this one warrants a little explanation.

I am not too familiar with making my own falafel patties. I’ve used a box mix before but that wasn’t worth writing about. The other day my sister told me she had the most delicious falafel at work and asked her coworker for the recipe. My sis came over last week with the recipe and ingredients, but we realized parts of the recipe were unclear so we had to make some guesses.

One thing was clear: you have to make falafel from dried chickpeas and not canned chickpeas. I didn’t know this having not grown up eating falafel. But soaking the chickpeas for 12-18 hours is the base ingredient for crispy, flavorful falafel that hold together perfectly. You don’t cook the chickpeas first. Frying the falafel cooks the chickpeas. If you use canned they will not hold together well and will be mushy.

Note: we soaked enough chickpeas for two batches of falafel. You can freeze the remaining soaked chickpeas for another time – it still comes out great!

Ok, four paragraphs wasn’t so bad! Here’s how we made the falafel. I included a recipe for a tomato cucumber salad as well.

Delicious Falafel Mix

1 batch makes about 25 falafel patties

Ingredients for the chickpeas (enough for 2 batches of falafel):

  • 2 quarts water
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 pound dry chickpeas

Ingredients for the falafel:

  • ¼ of a leek, roughly chopped
  • 1 pound of soaked chickpeas (NOT CANNED OR COOKED), fully drained
  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
  • 1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
  • ¼ cup chopped onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • Squeeze of fresh lemon
  • 1.5-2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
  • ½ teaspoon ground pepper
  • 2 tablespoons ground coriander
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • A pinch of ground allspice
  • 2-3 tablespoons chickpea flour
  • ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
  • Cooking oil, for frying

Directions:

The day before you want to make falafel, you’ll need to start soaking the chickpeas. Fill a pot with the water and add the baking soda. Add the chickpeas, cover, and soak them 12-18 hours. Drain and store in the fridge or freezer until ready to make your falafel.

On falafel day:

Soak the leek pieces in water to remove any grit. Put the leeks and chickpeas in a salad spinner and spin to remove as much water as possible.

Place the leeks, chickpeas, cilantro, parsley, celery, onion and garlic in a food processor and pulse it until it is paste-like, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula often.

Place mixture in a bowl and add the lemon juice, salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, allspice, chickpea flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well and form into falafel patties. If mixture is too moist, add a little more chickpea flour. If too dry, add a little more lemon juice. The falafel should be sort of wet but should hold together without bits falling off. 

Heat a half inch of oil in a cast iron skillet till about 350F. Fry 6-8 falafel at a time so as not to bring down the heat of the oil. Fry till crispy and dark brown, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Place on a paper towel-lined sheet pan. Serve with all the falafel fixins.

Tomato and cucumber salad

Ingredients:

  • 2 roma tomatoes or 15 cherry tomatoes, diced
  • Half an English cucumber, diced
  • ¼ cups minced red onion
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • 1 tablespoon garlic infused olive oil (or plain olive oil)
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients and place in fridge until ready to serve.

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Potato, Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

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There was a chill in the air today and it’s definitely wintertime now. I had a sack of potatoes in the pantry, three slices of bacon and some broccoli, so I figured I could make a comforting soup to ward off the wintertime blues. It was simple and delicious – almost like a baked potato soup. And now I have leftovers for tomorrow!

Potato, Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

Prep/cook time: 45 minutes
Serves 8-ish

Ingredients:

  • 3 slices bacon, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 medium onion, chopped small
  • 2 carrots, chopped small
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 3 1/2 cups chicken stock, divided
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
  • 1, 15-ounce can white beans, partially drained
  • 12 ounces broccoli, cut into small bits
  • 1-2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Chopped scallions and sour cream, to serve

Directions:

In a large dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat, until cooked through but not crispy. Add the butter, onions and carrots and cook until onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and mix into the ingredients in the pot. Let the flour cook for about a minute. Add the milk, 3 cups of chicken stock, the bay leaf and the potatoes. Bring to a simmer.

Turn the heat to low, partially cover and let simmer for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are just tender, stirring occasionally so the bottom of the pot doesn’t burn. Meanwhile, combine the partially drained canned beans with 1/2 cup of chicken stock in a liquid measuring cup and purée with an immersion blender until creamy.

When the potatoes are just starting to get tender, add the beans and the broccoli to the pot. Cover again and bring to a simmer. Simmer on low for another 7 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender, stirring occasionally. (If using cooked leftover broccoli, don’t add it with the puréed beans. Let the beans cook for 5 minutes, then add the leftover broccoli and cook until it’s heated through and continue with the recipe.)

Turn off the heat. Stir in the grated cheese until it’s all melted into the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. I am not liberal with the salt because the bacon and cheese have already added salt to the soup, which is why I add salt at the end to make sure it isn’t over-salted.

Ladle into bowls and top with dollops of sour cream and chopped scallions (and maybe some more cheese if you like).

Cooking, Italian, Pasta

Colcannon Ravioli

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It’s St. Patrick’s Day and although I don’t really have much of a connection to this day, I thought it would be fun to serve something festive for dinner.

I’ve made colcannon in the past, which is a traditional Irish potato dish with cabbage, and as I was leafing through an Alice Waters cookbook I saw a recipe for potato and spinach ravioli and I thought it would be the perfect dish for St. Patrick’s Day. I didn’t follow her recipe, but made up my own and after boiling the ravioli I sautéd them like pierogis.

Spinach and Potato ravioli in a garlicky cream sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the pasta dough:

  • 225 grams 00 flour
  • 75 grams fine semolina flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

For the filling:

  • 1 pound potatoes, any variety (I used a combination of russet, new potatoes and fingerling)
  • 8 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/4 cup cream, divided
  • salt and pepper, to taste

For the sauce:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup cream
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • zest of 1 lemon

Special supplies:

  • Small food processor or immersion blender
  • Potato ricer (you could use a potato masher but it won’t be as smooth)
  • KitchenAid pasta roller adapter (or a hand cranked version would work too)
  • Ravioli cutter (or a pizza cutter would work)
  • Shot glass
  • Large spider strainer (a slotted spoon would work)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl or on a clean, dry countertop, combine the flours. Make a well in the center and add the eggs and olive oil. Whisk the eggs and oil till scrambled, slowly incorporating the flour. Mix into a rough ball and knead for 10 minutes. Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside for at least 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into roughly the same sized pieces. Boil in salted water until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Place the squeezed spinach and 2 tablespoons of cream in a food processor and run it till the spinach is puréed. You may need to add a little more cream to get it going. When the potatoes are done, drain them and press through a potato ricer into a medium mixing bowl. Add the spinach, Parmesan, butter, remaining cream and salt and pepper. This should be a relatively homogenous consistency. Add more cream if necessary to make it smooth. Place mixture in a gallon zip top bag and refrigerate until cool.

3. Time to assemble the ravioli. Tear a small handful of dough away from your pasta ball and flatten it with your hand. Set the pasta roller on the largest setting and run the dough through. It’s ok if it tears apart a little. Roughly fold the dough into thirds and run it through again on the same setting. Repeat this three or four times until your dough is smooth.

4. Adjust the roller to the next thinnest setting and run the dough through once. Repeat this step making the roller thinner each time until you’ve run it through the thinnest setting.

5. Place the sheet of dough on a clean counter top. With a ravioli or pizza cutter, cut the sheet in half, across the width, not the length.

6. Cut a hole in the corner of the bag containing the filling and place about 1 teaspoon of filling on one half of the pasta sheet. Repeat so you have them evenly spaced on the dough, about 6-8 on the sheet. Place the other half of the dough on top and gently press the air out between the sheets without smashing down the filling. Use a shot glass to center the filling and lightly press down (don’t cut through the dough with the shot glass). This makes the ravioli look more uniform.

7. Use your ravioli cutter to cut out 6-8 ravioli. Pick up each ravioli and make sure the edges are sealed. Pinch any areas that look separated. Place on a semolina lined tray. Cover with foil.

8. Repeat steps 3-7 with the remaining dough and filling.

9. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Just before the water is boiling, place a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil and butter. Add the garlic and cook till fragrant, turning down the heat to prevent the garlic from burning, about 1 minute. Add the cream, stir, and turn off the heat while you cook the ravioli.

10. Add the ravioli to the boiling water, gently stirring with a spider strainer. Boil the ravioli for 3-5 minutes, until al dente. Remove one ravioli and cut off a corner to see if the dough is cooked to your liking.

11. Heat the sauté pan again over medium-low heat. Remove the ravioli from the water using the spider strainer, give it a good shake to remove excess water, and place into the sauté pan. Gently toss the ravioli till they are all coated with the sauce. Add salt, pepper and lemon zest to taste. You could either serve right away or continue cooking the ravioli until they ever so lightly brown, like pierogis.

12. Serve the ravioli with a drizzle of cream and a grind of pepper.