2
Beef American
Breakfast, Brunch, Snacks, BBQ, Grill, Fourth of July, Superbowl, Thanksgiving, American, Beef, Dinner, Winter, Savory

1/2 Onion
1 Clove garlic
150 grams Lean mince beef; (5oz)
1 small Beaten egg
2 tablespoons Fresh breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper
1 Pinches cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon Tomato ketchup
FOR THE BAPS
680 grams Strong white flour; (1
1 Sachet east blend yeast
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Sugar
430 mililiters Lukewarm milk and water
1 Beaten egg
2 tablespoons Sesame seeds

For the baps: Mix flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add mik and water and mix in with fingers. Turn onto floured board and knead for 5 minutes?until dough is soft and elastic. Put dough back into bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Leave until doubled in size (about 1 hour). Knock dough back and divide into about 10 portions. Shape each one into around ball, then flatten out like a bap. Put onto baking trays, leaving plenty of room for them to rise. Leave to rise until doubled in size (about 30 minutes). Press your thumb into the centre of each bap (this will make the surface flattish, rather than domed). Brush with beaten egg and scatter over samsmw seeds. Bake in a hot oven at 220?C/425F/gas mark 7 for 15 minutes. Put on a wire cooling rack and cover with a dry tea towel. This will help to keep them sot rather than crusty.
For the burgers: Chop the onion finely. Heat a non-stick frying pan and spray with oil. Saute onions over a gentle heat until transparent. Add crushed garlic. Break up minced beef with a fork in a bow. Add the saute onions, beaten egg, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper, chilli powder and tomato sauce. Mix together and squeeze with your hands. If the mixture feel very wet at this stage, add more breadcrumbs. Divide into two and shape into burgers on a floured board. Heat a nonstick frying pan and spray with oil. Fry burger for 5 minutes on each side. To serve: Slice the baps and insert the burger, adding sliced gherkins, American mustard and tomato ketchup as required. Garnish with salad for a nutritionally balanced meal. Converted by MC_Buster. Converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.

Jamieo Note.
I made these burgers using a burger press (door to door salesman). Make up burger mix and press between two foil sheets, chill for an hour. This gives an irregular size burger (see photo) but using lean minced meat means much less fat and fillers than commercial product. Jamieo

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10
Cranberry American
summer drink, Winter, Valentines Day, Thanksgiving, Summer, Spring, New Year, Fourth of July, Fall, Easter, Christmas, Drinks, American, Cranberry, Appetizer, Citrus, spring brunch

4 cups cranberry juice
2 cups pineapple juice
2 cups orange juice
1 10oz Jar Maraschino Cherries
4 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cups ginger ale
2 or 3 oranges

Drain juice from maraschino cherries and set aside. In a large punch bowl, combine cranberry juice, pineapple juice, orange juice, lemon juice and juice from cherries. Just before serving, slowly add ginger ale; gently stir to blend. Top with 4-6 orange slices. Garnish serving glasses with cherry and orange slice and add ice, then serve punch

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A couple of weeks ago, our next door neighbor came by after a long afternoon practicing fly-fishing on a nearby pond. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources stocks several ponds in our area with rainbow, golden and brown trout in the spring and fall, and Wayne and his more experienced buddy had caught quite a few beauties. Not bad for a novice fly-fisher, no? Problem for them was that neither of their families really cared for freshwater fish, so he offered us four rainbow trout from their bounty. How lucky are we?! (When we lived on Oahu, we had a similar experience when our next door neighbors gifted us with a 2lb slab of ahi tuna they had just caught that also yielded multiple wonderful meals.)

I immediately abandoned what I was doing to clean the fish, and prep two for freezing. Actually, I tried to give one of the cleaned trout to another neighbor while it was still fresh but they weren’t home that afternoon — so into the freezer they went.

One of the trout had an additional surprise: a roe sack! Not quite sure what to do with it, but knowing it was a valuable find, I removed the sack as intact as possible and left it in a sea salt brine while the preparations continued. (More on that another time.)

For this recipe I used the two smallest trout of the bunch, but they were still about a pound each. I had not had the opportunity to prepare fresh whole fish like this since we left Hawaii, so I was actually glad to have the practice even though it meant dealing with fish guts. (smile) It took almost an hour to clean and scale all four trout, so yes, I was definitely out of practice. But in the end, that marriage of sweet fish and buttery, crunchy almond sauce made it so worthwhile.

Thank you, Wayne, for this unexpected, delightful surprise!

RAINBOW TROUT AMANDINE
Serves 2 persons

2 rainbow trout, about 1 lb (455g) each, cleaned and scaled
1 lemon, scrubbed well
sea salt
ground black pepper
3-4 TBL flour, for dusting fish
4-5 TBL safflower or olive oil (safflower is preferred because it has a higher smoking point)

Pre-heat a large skillet (big enough to hold both of your fish) over medium high heat.

Slice lemon in half lengthwise, then crosswise into ¼ inch slices (you’re making little half-moons).

Pat fish dry with a paper towel, both inside and out. Season with sea salt and ground black pepper, both inside and out. Lay 3-4 half-slices of lemon inside each fish.

Sprinkle outside of fish with flour. Add oil to heated pan, then carefully lay each trout in the hot oil. If you have a splatter screen, you’ll want to use it now; if you don’t have a splatter screen (like me) use the skillet cover to reduce some of the splatter, but leave it ajar. (Yes, my stove area was a bit of a mess doing this dish!)

Cook for about 5-7 minutes, then carefully turn each fish over. Cook for additional 6-8 minutes, or until the interior of the fish flakes when probed with a fork.

Remove fish to large platter and cover to keep warm while finishing the almond butter sauce.

To finish Sauce:
½ cup (58g) sliced or slivered almonds
3 TBL unsalted butter
sea salt
juice from half a lemon (about 2 TBL)
flat-leaf parsley, minced

Drain oil from skillet, if necessary, and return pan to medium heat. Add almonds, and stir until they begin to release a toasty aroma, about 1-2 minutes. Add butter, salt and lemon juice and cook for another minute. Remove from heat and stir in parsley.

Pour butter and almonds over fish. Garnish with additional lemon slices and parsley, if desired.

Since this was an unplanned meal, we supplemented what was already available that day — pickled radishes, and the last of the nasturtium leaves and blossoms from the garden to balance the rich butter dressing; basmati rice and steamed brussels sprouts round out the meal.

We still have 2 larger trout in the freezer, and we already know how we want to prepare one of those: Sumac Trout! Stay tuned.

We do love fish! Some of the other recipes you’ll find around here:
Pan-Roasted Haddock with Mustard Cream Sauce
Cod with Mango-Sake Sauce
Steamed Fish with Ginger and Scallions
Kasu-marinated Butterfish
Baked Monchong with Hummous Crust
Mahimahi Patties with Lemongrass and Lime Leaf
Pan-Fried Opakapaka with Warm Spice Cabbage
Nori-Wrapped Walu & Shrimp with Papaya Coulis
Grilled Ehu in Banana Leaf
Kajiki with Pomegranate Ogo
Wahoo Fish Pie
Fish Tacos
Roasted Kabocha Salmon Patties

6
Chicken French
Winter, Thanksgiving, New Year, Fall, Sauces, Main Dish, Rich, Savory, OAMC, Freezer, Advance, French, Chicken, Dinner, Comforting

5 tablespoon Unsalted butter
1 cup Mushroom sliced
1/2 Red bell pepper diced
3 ounces Sugar snap peas
1/4 cup Flour
2 1/4 cups Chicken stock
3 cups Chicken breast cooked, cubed
1/2 cup Carrots chopped
6 Pepp. Farm Pastry Shells (1 package)
4 tablespoon Cream optional
1 tablespoon Sherry optional
3 teaspoon Salt

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in skillet. Add mushrooms and saute until tender, about five minutes. Set aside. Saute onions, carrots, in an additional tablespoon of butter. Set aside.

Prepare puff pastry shells according to directions; they take about 25 minutes to cook.

Make a roux out of the additional butter over medium heat until bubbling (melt the butter and mix in the flour, bit by bit, whisking with a fork or whisk to remove all clumps before adding more).

Brown the roux to a light brown color, then gradually whisk in the chicken stock. Add the rest of the stock, keeping sauce simmering but not boiling furiously, and add the sherry. Reduce heat to medium and add the vegetables and cubed chicken.

Serve over puff pastry shells. Garnish with chives or parsley.

This is a pretty rich dish. BigOven calculates this at about 917 calories per serving, and about 62g carbohydrate.

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Today is National Indian Pudding Day! (Who knew?)

Don’t be fooled by the photo of blobs of brown gooeyness — this is a heavenly dish. The scent of molasses and baking corn accented with faint whiffs of cinnamon will drive you wild as it bakes (or bubbles in a slow-cooker). With a name like “Indian Pudding,” this corn and molasses laden pudding is sure to evoke images of the first Thanksgiving, Pilgrims and Native Americans. None of this would be accurate. What’s more likely is that “indian” (not capitalized) was used as a colonial term for corn in many recipes dating back to the 18th century, so indian pudding = corn pudding! For an interesting historical review of how this pudding has evolved and how it got its name, What’s Cooking America is the place to start.

But what I call indian pudding is probably not what most people consider indian pudding. The recipe I know and love has pearl tapioca, an addition that some in the blogosphere apparently consider blasphemous. My condolences to them. My first taste of this filling pudding came 11 Thanksgivings ago. It was love at first bite: a rich and creamy cornmeal custard redolent of molasses and punctuated by chewy pearls of tapioca — what’s not to love?! I have to admit, though, that as much as I am inclined to love molasses and cornmeal in any form, it was the jewels of chewy tapioca that really stole my heart.

I begged the recipe from T’s mother, who likewise had received it from her mother-in-law (Grandma B) — a native Mainer born and bred. I only learned that indian pudding usually does not include tapioca when I misplaced my copy from T’s mom a couple of years ago and did a web search for indian pudding recipes. I was puzzled to find that none of the recipes in the first 15 pages of search results had tapioca as an ingredient. I tried a new search with “tapioca” added to the search query — this time I ended up with mostly South Asian recipes with tapioca, coconut milk and saffron. Then last year T’s parents gave me Grandma B’s recipe collection, and there I found a recipe card with Grandma’s delicate and careful writing titled “Mock Indian Pudding.” I can only guess that the tapioca is what relegates it to a mock version. But since this version is still the only one I’ve ever tried and is the one I first fell in love with, it will always be the real deal to me.

Don’t wait for Thanksgiving to try this luscious pudding. With all the milk, cornmeal, egg and tapioca, it’s quite the perfect breakfast food any time of the year. And though indian pudding is usually served with whipped cream or ice cream, it is equally indulgent with just a swirl of plain heavy cream or half-and-half for added richness without more sweetening. With a cup of hot coffee, this is a bowl that will warm the cockles of your heart on the coldest morning.

Let this be the day you discover for yourself how the humblest of ingredients can be elevated to such sublime heights.
Happy National Indian Pudding Day!

MOCK INDIAN PUDDING
Adapted from a recipe of Mrs. Helen Buzzell of Brunswick, Maine
Serves 8-10 persons

Grandma B’s original recipe was baked, but T’s mom adapted it for the slow-cooker. We always use the slow-cooker method. If you’re making this for Thanksgiving, the slow-cooker has the added advantage of freeing up precious oven space. Both methods are included here.

4 cups (946ml) milk (recommend whole milk, but anything down to 1% would be OK; non-fat will produce a watery rather than creamy pudding)
3 TBL (32g) coarse-ground cornmeal
⅔ cup (158ml) dark molasses (preferably blacktstrap molasses)
⅔ – ¾ cup (128g-144g) raw sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt
butter, to grease the baking dish

½ cup (88g) pearl tapioca (available in Asian grocery stores, and in natural food shops)
1 cup (236ml) milk

Pre-heat oven to 300F/150C

In a medium saucepan, scald milk over medium high heat. Grease 6qt or larger baking dish with butter. Combine scalded milk, cornmeal, molasses, sugar, eggs, cinnamon and salt, and pour into prepared baking dish. Bake 1 hour.

(Slow-cooker Method: After scalding milk, add milk, cornmeal, molasses, sugar, eggs, cinnamon and salt to a 5-6qt/L slow-cooker. Set on HIGH for 1 hour.)

Soak pearl tapioca (at right in photo, regular tapioca on left) in cold milk while pudding is baking.

After pudding has baked for 1 hour, add soaked tapioca and milk, stir well to distribute. Turn oven down to 250F/122C and continue baking until tapioca are transparent, another 1½ hours to 2 hours.

(Slow-cooker Method: Add soaked tapioca and milk, stir well, and turn cooker down to LOW for 3-4 hours, or until tapioca are transparent.)

Serve warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream, ice cream or a drizzle of plain heavy cream.

Looking for alternative desserts for Thanksgiving? How about a Pumpkin Cheesecake?

Like molasses? Gram’s Molasses Crinkles and Anadama Bread will tickle your molasses sweet tooth.

If you love corn as much as I do, you’ll find cornmeal in this Greek cornmeal and greens casserole called Plasto (slow-cooker version), and sweet kernel corn goes into two wonderful soups: Chilled Buttermilk Corn Chowder and Ewa Sweet Corn Soup with Kauai Shrimp; as well as Okra & Corn Stew with Jerk Salmon.

8 Servings
Asparagus American
spring brunch, Light, Asparagus, American, Winter, Thanksgiving, Spring, Christmas, Bake, Advance, Vegetables, Side Dish

2 1/2 pounds fresh asparagus (about 30 large)
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese freshly grated
1 large Lemon cut in wedges for serving

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (bake, not broil). If the stalks of the asparagus are thick, peel the bottom 1/2 of each. Lay them in a single layer on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and return to the oven for another minute. Serve with lemon wedges

Each (4 oz) serving contains:
Cals: 92, FatCals: 50, TotalFat: 6g
SatFat: 2g, PolyFat: 0g, MonoFat: 4g
Chol: 5mg, Na: 264mg, K: 403mg
TotalCarbs: 6g, Fiber:3g, Sugars: 3g
NetCarbs: 3g, Protein: 6g

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10
Apples American
Thanksgiving, Side Dish, Salads, Hors dOeuvres, American, Apples, Lunch, Summer, Tangy

1 1/4 cups Vegetable oil
1/3 cup Apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoon Apple juice concentrate thawed
2 tablespoon Red onion minced
1 3/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg ground
1/2 teaspoon Ginger ground
1/4 teaspoon Black pepper
1 cup Red onion thinly sliced
2 large Apple peeled, cored, diced
5 each Romaine hearts, halved
3/4 cup Pecan toasted, coarsley chopped

Whisk first 8 ingredients in small bowl for dressing. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Refrigerate. Rewhisk before using.)

Place sliced onion in medium bowl. Cover with cold water; let stand 30 minutes. Drain well. Place 1/3 cup dressing in another medium bowl. Add apples; toss to coat.

Trim off tips of romaine halves, leaving 5-inch lengths. Cut each romaine half lengthwise into 3 wedges. Fan wedges on large platter. Top with red onion slices. Drizzle salad with dressing, then sprinkle with apples and pecans.

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12
Pumpkin American-South
Thanksgiving, Christmas, Bake, Pie, Pumpkin, Desserts, Pies, American-South, Fall, Sweet

1 Pie crust 9″, thawed
2 large Eggs
2 cups Solid pack pumpkin
1/2 cup Granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Ground clove
1 1/2 cups Sour cream
1 cup Heavy cream
1 tablespoon Granulated sugar

1. Preheat oven to 425. Par-bake pie crust until set and dry, about 10 minutes.

2. Whip together the eggs, pumpkin, sugar, and spices until well blended. Blend in sour cream.

3. Pour into crust, reduce oven temperature to 350, and bake for 45 minutes or until set and dry on top. Cool at room temperature for 45 minutes minimum, then refrigerate.

4. Just prior to service, whip the heavy cream with the sugar until stiff peaks form. Garnish each slice with a dallop of the whipped cream.

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4
Cranberry American
Condiments, Side Dish, Advance, No Cook, Thanksgiving, American, Cranberry, Fall, Tangy

12 ounces Cranberries (1 bag – you can use frozen if necessary)
1 medium Orange
1 piece Ginger (about a 1 inch cube)
1/3 cup Sugar

1. Cut the orange – unpeeled – into about 12 chunky pieces. Peel the ginger and chop it finely.
2. Mix oranges, cranberries and ginger. Process in a food processor in batches.
3. Stir in the sugar. The longer you let this sit, the more the flavor will develop.

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16
Cream Cheese American
Low Sugar, Low Fat, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Bake, Desserts, American, Cream Cheese, Summer, Sweet

10 each graham crackers reduced fat cinnamon crumbed
1 med egg white
1 tablespoon light butter melted
12 ounces fresh cranberries
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese
12 ounces fat free cream cheese
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 Medium Egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
14 ounces fat free sweetened condensed milk

Combine the first 3 ingredients. Press into the bottom of a sprayed 9″ spring form pan, then bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.

Combine the next 4 ingredients (cranberries through orange zest) in a non-reactive saucepan, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Cool.

Beat the cream cheeses until fluffy in a food processor. Beat in the remaining ingredients. Fold in 1/3 cup of the cranberry mixture by hand, then pour into the prepared crust. Bake for 50 minutes. Turn off the oven, let the cake sit for 30 minutes. Cool completely. Top with the remaining cranberry mixture.

If you are sympathetic to the idea that one of the heaviest burdens in all of life is unlimited potential, then pity the poor cranberry. Introduced almost three hundred years ago to the founding Pilgrims by their indigenous neighbors, this bright red denizen of the bogs is still trying to get legs. In spite of its high nutritive value (more vitamin C than orange juice, more iron than prunes), gorgeous crimson color and clean, spirited flavor, the cranberry still suffers the abuse of under use. As juice, it is often mixed with more “popular” flavors, like apple or raspberry, to give it more “marketability”. And as a berry, it has been relegated almost exclusively to the role of the obligatory afterthought at the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, shunted to the perimeter of the plate, a tiny beacon soon buried under an avalanche of potatoes, turkey and dressing. Six months later a glass jar, half full of the stuff, still sits in the refrigerator. And this is a shame, because it makes wonderful baked goods (give us cranberry nut bread anytime and keep your more popular banana), scintillating sauces, a remarkable sherbet, and, we think, the very best cheesecake.

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