Caponata

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Caponata
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Instructions
  1. Half onions, peppers crosswise and slice thin lengthwise. Slice garlic and celery thinly. Cute eggplant into 1/2 inch cubes
  2. In a large, deep skillet, combine 1/4 cup of the olive oil with the onions and a pinch of salt
  3. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent. About 5 minutes.
  4. Add peppers with another pinch of salt, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes
  5. Add garlic and cook just until fragrant, about 2 minutes
  6. Add tomatoes, parsley stems and thyme sprigs
  7. Cover and simmer gently, stirring from time to time, until the onions and peppers are tender, about 15 minutes
  8. Meanwhile, in another skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil
  9. Add the celery ribs and leaves and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until beginning to soften, about 8 minutes
  10. Transfer the celery to a bowl, season lightly with salt and stir in the thyme leaves
  11. In the same skillet, heat the remaining 1/2 cup olive oil
  12. Add the eggplant and cook over moderate heat, tossing occasionally, until lightly browned, about 8 minutes
  13. Transfer the eggplant and the celery to the skillet with the tomatoes, peppers and onions. Season with salt.
  14. Cover and simmer gently until all the vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes
  15. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the vinegar and sugar; stir to dissolve the sugar
  16. Add the vinegar mixture, capers and olives to the vegetables and simmer over low heat to blend the flavors, 1-2 minutes
  17. Season with salt and black pepper
  18. Discard the parsley stems and thyme sprigs and transfer the caponata to a large serving bowl to cool
  19. Serve warm or at room temperature but not chilled
Recipe Notes

Can be refrigerated for up to 2 days

Beef, Marco Polo

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Beef, Marco Polo
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Instructions
  1. Place the beef fillet in a non-corrosible container just large enough to hold comfortably; cut meat crosswise in half if necessary to fit
  2. Add the cognac, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and enough red wine to reach halfway up the side of the meat
  3. Cover and marinate at room temperature, turning occasionally, for at least 4 hours or overnight in the fridge if you wish
  4. Preheat over to 500
  5. Remove the meat from the marinade and pat dry
  6. Reserve the marinade
  7. Brush the fillet with the oil and season with the salt and pepper
  8. Place a large skillet over moderately high heat
  9. Add the beef and cook, turning, until well browned all over
  10. Transfer the fillet to a baking dish and roast, uncovered for 20 minutes
  11. Turn off the heat and leave the meat in the hot oven for 20 minutes longer
  12. Meanwhile, strain the marinade into a medium noncorrosible skillet.
  13. Boil over high heat until reduced by half, about 10 minutes
  14. Remove the tenderloin from the oven and transfer to a cutting board
  15. Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing
  16. Add the cooking juices and any juices from the sliced meat to the marinate
  17. Boil for 3 minutes longer and serve with the beef
Recipe Notes

Have filet of beef trimmed of excess fat but with silvery outer membranes left on

Green Bean and Benne Salad

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Green Bean and Benne Salad
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Instructions
  1. Toast sesame seeds over medium flame until just golden
  2. Trim and wash green beans
  3. Steam for 3-5 minutes until starchy flavor gone
  4. Rinse immediately under cold water
  5. Combine all ingredients and toss

Shepherd’s Pie (Alton Brown)

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Shepherd's Pie (Alton Brown)
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Potatoes
Meat Filling
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Potatoes
Meat Filling
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Instructions
  1. Peel the potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch dice. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Set over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover, decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until tender and easily crushed with tongs, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Place the half-and-half and butter into a microwave-safe container and heat in the microwave until warmed through, about 35 seconds. Drain the potatoes in a colander and then return to the saucepan. Mash the potatoes and then add the half and half, butter, salt and pepper and continue to mash until smooth. Stir in the yolk until well combined.
  2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  3. While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the filling. Place the canola oil into a 12-inch saute pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion and carrots and saute just until they begin to take on color, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the lamb, salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, approximately 3 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with the flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer slowly 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.
  4. Add the corn and peas to the lamb mixture and spread evenly into an 11 by 7-inch glass baking dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up and smooth with a rubber spatula. Place on a parchment lined half sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Ottolenghi’s Maqluba

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Ottolenghi's Maqluba
A Middle Eastern vegetable, chicken and rice torte, that translates to "upside-down." Think of it like a savory pineapple upside down cake chock full of tomatoes, cauliflower and eggplant.
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Course Dinner
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 100 minutes
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Course Dinner
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 100 minutes
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Instructions
  1. Salt both sides of the eggplant slices and layout on paper towels for about 30 minutes. The eggplant will literally bead up with water.
  2. Rinse rice until the rinse water is clear. Put rice in a bowl and cover with water to soak for about half an hour.
  3. Pound the chicken thighs with a tenderizing mallet. Season with salt and pepper on both sides. Put a teaspoon of sunflower oil in a large medium hot sauce pan. Sear chicken for 3-4 minutes on both sides. Add onion, pepper corns, bay leaves and 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover, turn down heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside. Strain broth and reserve.
  4. In a dutch oven that is about 10" in diameter and 5" deep, add remaining sunflower oil. The oil should be about 3/4" deep. Heat oil over a medium hot burner. Working in batches, cook cauliflower florets in the hot oil until they begin to brown, about 4 - 5 minutes, turning with tongs as they brown. Remove to paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
  5. Dry the eggplant slices and fry them in batches in the same oil until they begin to brown, about 5-6 minutes. Let drain on paper towels.
  6. Discard the oil and wipe clean. Cut a parchment circle the size of the pan and lay it in the bottom. Brush the parchment and the sides of the pan with melted butter.
  7. Begin layering the maqluba, starting with the tomatoes. Arrange the tomatoes in an overlapping circular pattern. Then layer the eggplant on top of the tomatoes. Next scatter the cauliflower over the eggplant. Place the cooked chicken thighs on top of the cauliflower. Scatter the rice and garlic over the top. Using your hands press the rice evenly.
  8. Skim any residual fat off the chicken broth. Put 3 cups of broth into a bowl. Whisk in the spices and 1 t salt. Pour the seasoned broth over the rice. Using your hands press down on the rice until the broth covers the rice. At first it may seem too dry, but if you keep pressing the broth will surface to the top. If there is not enough broth to cover the rice you can add a bit more liquid, but just enough to cover.
  9. Now you are ready to cook the maqluba. Put the pot on a medium burner and heat until the liquid just begins to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 30 minutes. Keep the lid on as the steam is necessary to cook the rice through. Don't peek! After 30 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the lid briefly. Place a clean kitchen cloth over the top of the pot. Quickly put the lid back on and allow the maqluba to sit for 10 minutes.
  10. When you are ready to serve, remove the lid and place a serving dish over the top. Invert the pan and let the maqluba sit for three minutes before removing the pan.
  11. Scatter pine nuts over the top of the maqluba and serve with the cold herbed yogurt and cucumber sauce. Serve with a wedge of lemon.
Recipe Notes
1) I used skin on thighs, and cut each thigh in half.  Don't know if you need to do that though, but it made each half almost bite size, once cooked..  I also got 2 breasts (each cut in thirds), but I thought the  thighs were MUCH more moist.  By the way, I got the butcher at Whole Foods to take the bones out.
2)  I heavily seasoned both sides of the chicken with a mixture of about 1 tablespoons of the Bharat and powdered chicken broth mix (mixed these two together), and salt and pepper, and browned quickly, over high flame on both sides (longer on skin side, so it was crispy).   I couldn't fit it all in a single layer in the pot, so probably left out 6 pieces.  IN retrospect, I could/should have overlapped it and put all the chicken in.
3) I skipped do the whole step of cooking the chicken in water with the peppercorns and bay leaves.  When the time came to add liquid, I simply used regular water, with all the seasonings mentioned in the recipe to add to the "broth".
4) I roasted the eggplant instead of frying it.  I  brush both sides very well with olive oil and sprinkling with salt/pepper at 450 degrees until browned.  Note that I usually microwave olive oil with sliced garlic, so that the oil is nicely garlicky scented, and then used the garlicky oil    I used 3 italian eggplant (don't know why) but I could/should have used more.  I had enough to make a single layer on the dish, but not enough to overlap, as they suggested.
5) I also roasted the cauliflower same was as above, and added a tad of numeric for color.
NOTE that I did step 4 and 5 earlier in the week.
6) As to the tomatoes, again, I sliced them and salted them and left them in a colander to drain, but you don't have to do that.  Again, I probably could have used more - I had enough for a single layer, but not overlapped.
7)  I always rinse basmati rice well before using it (most basmati recipes recommend doing such, but this one didn't - I wonder if the starch (that was rinsed off) would have been useful in the dish?   I used 2 cups instead of 1 2/3 and added about an extra 1/2 cup water.
8) When done, I tasted the rice and thought it needed to be softer, and added another 1/2 cup water for about 5-10 more minutes.
8) I used a high sided sauce pan (11 inches) instead of a dutch oven.  Be careful with your choices, as you have to turn it all upside down onto a plate when you are done, and the heavier the pot, the harder it is.  This step needs 2 sets of hands, for sure.

Zahav’s Hummus Tehina

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Zahav's Hummus Tehina
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Instructions
  1. Place the chickpeas in a large bowl with 1 teaspoon of the baking soda and cover with plenty of water. (The chickpeas will double in volume, so use more water than you think you need.) Soak the chickpeas overnight at room temperature. The next day, drain the chickpeas and rinse under cold water.
  2. Place the chickpeas in a large pot with the remaining 1 teaspoon baking soda and add cold water to cover by at least 4 inches. Bring the chickpeas to a boil over high heat, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface. Lower the heat to medium, cover the pot, and continue to simmer for about 1 hour, until the chickpeas are completely tender. Then simmer them a little more. (The secret to creamy hummus is overcooked chickpeas; don't worry if they are mushy and falling apart a little.) Drain.
  3. Meanwhile, process garlic, lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon salt in a food processor until coarsely puréed; let sit 10 minutes to allow garlic to mellow. 

  4. Strain garlic mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl, pressing on solids to release as much liquid as possible. Return liquid to food processor; discard solids. Add tahini and pulse to combine. With motor running, add 1/4 cup ice water by the tablespoonful and process (it may seize up at first) until mixture is very smooth, pale, and thick. Add chickpeas and cumin and puree for several minutes, until the hummus is smooth and uber-creamy. Then purée it some more! Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, lemon juice, and cumin if you like. 

  5. To serve, spread the hummus in a shallow bowl, dust with paprika, top with parsley and more tehina sauce if you have any left, and drizzle generously with oil.

Flank Steak Marinade

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Flank Steak Marinade
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Instructions
  1. Pour over meat and marinate 24 hours

Butternut Squash Soup

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Butternut Squash Soup
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  1. 1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a 6-quart stockpot. Add the onion and cook until soft but not brown, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, allspice and ginger, and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute more.
  2. 2. Add the squash, broth and salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender and the broth is slightly reduced, about 15 minutes for fresh squash and 5 minutes for frozen. Remove from heat and stir in maple syrup. Allow soup to cool slightly, then puree in a blender until smooth.

Beef Tenderloin Crostini

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Beef Tenderloin Crostini
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  1. Preheat oven to 400º. Arrange bread slices on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with ¼ tsp. salt. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Leave oven on.
  2. Spray a small baking sheet with vegetable oil cooking spray.
  3. Combine ½ tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. pepper, cumin, coriander and garlic. Rub the mixture all over the steaks. In a nonstick skillet, heat 2 tbsp. oil over medium–high heat. Add steaks and cook for 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing across the grain into 20 (¼–in.–thick) slices.
  4. Whisk together mayonnaise, mascarpone cheese, basil, curry powder, smoked paprika, ½ tsp. salt and ½ tsp. pepper.
  5. Spread ½ tsp. of mayonnaise over each toast slice. Top each with a slice of steak. Place ¼ tsp. of mayonnaise on top of the steak. Finish with a cilantro leaf.
Recipe Notes

https://people.com/royals/prince-william-and-kate-middletons-california-crostini-make-it-at-home/

Zalouk Salad (La Maison Arabe)

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Zalouk Salad (La Maison Arabe)
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Instructions
  1. Partially peel and dice eggplant.
  2. In a frying pan put eggplant, add one peeled and finely chopped garlic mashed with 1 tsp of salt and 1 tbs of olive oil.
  3. Cook on low heat with lid for 5 minutes then start to turn and mash the eggplant until it goes soft and brown.
  4. Peel and dice a tomato; add it to the eggplant; add paprika, cumin, pepper and chili; keep mashing until tomato is cooked.
  5. Add white wine vinegar before you turn the heat off and sprinkle with parsley before you serve.