Apple’s Locust Creole

1 1/2 lbs small locust, shelled,reserving the shells
1/4 cup butter
2 cloves garlic, halved
1/3 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell peppers
1/2 cup finely chopped green bell peppers
3 ounces chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce, to taste
rice, ring (recipe is in my cookbook)
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

Rinse locust well and pat dry on paper towels.
In a bowl, rinse reserved shells well in several changes of water, drain them in a colander.
Combine them with 2 cups water in a saucepan.
Bring to boil and simmer mixture for 20 minutes.
Strain broth through a sieve lined with a dampened paper towel (there should be about 1 ¼ cups of broth, if not, add enough water to measure, or reduce).

Reserve.

In a large skillet, melt 2 tblsps butter over moderately-low heat and in it cook the garlic, stirring, until it is pale golden.
Discard garlic and add locust to the oil.
Cook over moderate heat, stirring, for 3 minutes, or until barely purple, but not cooked through.

Transfer locust to a bowl, add remaining 2 tblsps of butter to the skillet and cook onion, peppers, mushrooms and celery, stirring, for 5 minutes.

Add paprika and flour and cook over moderately-low heat, stirring, for 3 minutes.
Stir in tomato paste and reserved locust broth and bring to boil.

Add locust mixture and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes, or until locust are cooked through.

Stir in sour cream and Tabasco.

Bring mixture to a simmer, stirring, and season with salt and pepper (may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. Reheat in skillet over moderately-low heat, stirring, until heated through, but do not let boil.)

Spoon Locust Creole in center and around edge of rice ring and garnish with parsley.

Soup

Apple’s Soup
November 28, 2006

Shopping list:
1 beef soup bone.. a knuckle or leg slice
beef base - Tone's is the best.. any beef bullion will do.
one pot roast (to be divided)
frozen mixed vegetables
onions and celery
can of tomatoes or tomato paste
rice or potatoes (i like rice)

10. AM
boil the beef bone.. simmer in water all day
cut pot roast in 2 to 4 pieces. 1/2 a pot roast is enough meat for almost 6 quarts of soup (enough to feed 6 hungry people).
freeze 3 of the 4 pieces.. put the other piece in the simmering water and cover
add bay leaf, sprinkle of oregano it you wish.

4 PM
chop a stalk of celery and 1/2 to one onion and add to soup stock add water to make about 5 - 6 cups liquid

5 PM
remove bone and beef - chop into pieces discard bone (or leave it in)
add 1 tbsp beef base - add more to taste later if you wish
1 can of tomatoes
1 to 2 cups frozen veggies
1/2 cup rice (or less)
spices: (not necessary) b

5.30 PM
it should be ready.
at this point i add quite a bit of pepper
- might need a little more liquid
the important ingredients are the soup bone.. cut of meat and the beef base for flavor (pot roast, shoulder roast work best.. stew meat is often trimmed from the round and it does not have a soupy flavor and tends to be dry.. of course it is ok to use if you wish)
i change it all the time.. love barley
wrote the recipe to match the soup Brendan tried.

(don't forget to skim for fat)

Piqué’s Squash Soup

Just invented this recipe the other night:

cut a winter squash in half and lay it face down in a roasting pan, add water to the pan until it is about 1/4 inch up the sides of the squash. roast in the oven at 450 degrees until it is collapsing.

scoop out mushy squash into a large bowl. with a wire wisk add chicken broth to desired consistency. add a dash of whole milk or cream.

seasonings:

fresh ground pepper
garlic salt
cumin
dried mustard
paprika
marjoram
oregano
dill
coriander
liquid aminos (just a dash)

wisk all ingredients in a saucepan over a medium-high flame until steaming hot.

Sides

Apple’s Stuffing

i like whole wheat croutons (saved from heels or just a new loaf)
garlic, fresh sage, rosemary, celery, onion, giblets and lots of pretoasted pecans.

White Castle Stuffing from MattG’s Mom

This is NOT my recipe, and I have never had it, either. But, my mom made it one year and everyone that tried it loved it (or so it is said). You'll need White Castle hamburgers, which are usually available frozen at grocery stores if you're not near an actual White Castle outlet.

INGREDIENTS
10 White Castle hamburgers (remove pickles)
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 1/4 teaspoons ground thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons ground sage
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup chicken broth

DIRECTIONS
Tear the hamburgers in to small pieces, and place in a large bowl. Toss with celery, thyme, sage, and pepper. Pour in the chicken broth while stirring to moisten the stuffing. Stuff into the cavity of a turkey just before roasting. This makes enough to stuff a 10 to 12 pound bird.

Jodi’s Bread Stuffing with Chard and Sausage

5 T butter
1 pound hot or mild Italian Sausage crumbled, casings removed
1 1/4 C chopped celery
1 lg. onion, chopped
1/4 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 pounds Swiss Chard or spinach (ends trimmed) rinsed well and finely chopped
1/2 C raisins
1 1/4 C grated parmesan cheese
1 1/4 t. each dry rosemary leaves, and dry oregono leaves
1/2 pound sweet French or Sourdough bread cut into 1/4 inch cubes (8 cups)
1 C dry white wine

In a 5 - 6 quart pan, melt butter on medium heat. Add sausage; cook and stir often until browned, about 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove sausage to a large bowl.

To the pan, add celery and onion. Cook until vegetable are limp, about 5 minutes; stir often. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to sausage. Add mushrooms to pan; stir often until liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to sausage. Add chard to pan; stir until it is wilted and juices are evaporated. Stir chard into sausage mixture with raisins, parmesan, rosmary, and oregano.

Soak bread in wine, then work with your hands until is is mashed. Combine bread and sausage mixture, mixing well . Fill turkey with stuffing, place excess stuffing about 1 inch deep in a buttered baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven, uncovered, until top is lightly browned, about 25 minutes. Makes 8 cups, 8 - 10 servings.

Mary Anna’s Cornbread Dressing for a Crowd
Cornbread

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a tablespoon of bacon grease in the bottom of two black iron skillets. Place in oven to heat while stirring up batter. Mix 3 cups self-rising cornmeal (not cornmeal mix!), 3 eggs, and enough milk to make a very thick batter. Divide batter between pans, pouring directly into hot grease. It should sizzle for the best crust. Bake until light brown on top--about 10-15 minutes.

Dressing
Put turkey neck and giblets in a saucepan. Add half a bunch of celery, minced fine, including some of the green feathery part. Also add a bunch of finely minced green onions. Cover with water and simmer an hour or so to make stock.

In the meantime, hard-boil nine eggs.

Crumble the cooled cornbread into a large casserole. Sometimes I use the pan I roasted the turkey in. Crumble in a couple of pieces of dry white bread and/or a fistful of saltines.

Take the neckbone and giblets out of the stock. Reserve giblets for gravy. Pour stock, celery, and green onions over the cornbread. Drizzle some turkey drippings over the top. The mixture should be moist throughout, but with out liquid standing in the bottom of the pan. If you need more liquid, you can use canned chicken broth. Chop six of the boiled eggs and stir into mixture. Season to taste with sage, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bake at 375 degrees until lightly brown on top. Serve with giblet gravy.

Giblet gravy
Cover the bottom of a skillet with vegetable oil or melted shortening. Add two or three tablespoons of flour and cook over medium-low heat while stirring until the mixture is light brown. Pour in the rest of the turkey drippings, then thin with water or chicken broth to the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Chop giblets and stir into gravy. Slice the remaining three hardboiled eggs cross-wise to make disks of yolk and rings of white. Float atop the gravy and serve.

Salads

Jodi’s Thai Beef Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

I modified it somewhat from a cookbook called "The Frog Commissary Cookbook":

Dressing:

1/2 c unseasoned rice wine vinegar
1/3 c olive oil
1 T. sugar
3/4 t. minced garlic
1 1/4 t. minced fresh ginger
2 T. lime juice
1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1 t. Guilin chili sauce (it's in the asian food section, you can vary the amount depending on how spicy you like things)
1 - 2 T soy sauce (depending on how salty you want it, sometimes I add less salt and more soy sauce)
salt to taste (I think I left this out and added extra soy sauce)
1/2 cup chopped salted roasted peanuts

Salad:

Thin strips of beef that have been marinated in part of the dressing (just enough to coat them) for about a half hour, then stir-fried til done and chopped into bite sized pieces, OR pre-cooked sliced bits of leftover steak from a previous meal - as much or as little meat as you want. (reserve the rest of the dressing for the salad, don't dress your salad with anything that has touched raw meat...)

2 cups english cucumber chopped
tomatoes (cherry, grape, or chopped large tomatoes)
Several cups of leafy greens and reds - romaine, chopped red cabbage, spinach, whatever you like
1 large red or yellow pepper sliced
And whatever else you feel like throwing into the bowl (I lightly sauted some shallots and broccoflower and tossed those in too)

Mix it all together and enjoy.

Cindysphinx’s Guacamole Salad (from the Barefoot Contessa)
[Cindy's notes with *]

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 yellow pepper, seeded and 1/2 inch dice
1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. small-diced red onion (*or sub green onion)
2 T minced jalapeno, seeded
1/2 t lime zest
1/4 c. freshly squeezed lime juice (2-3 limes)
1/4 c. olive oil (*maybe cut this back)
1 t kosher salt
1/2 t freshly ground pepper
1/2 t minced garlic (*extra is good)
1/4 t ground cayenne pepper (*I usually skip this)
2 ripe Hass avocados, seeded, peeled and 1/2 inch dice
Place the tomatoes, yellow pepper, black beans, red onion, jalapeno peppers and lime zest in a large bowl. Whisk together everything else except the avocados. Pour dressing over veggies. When ready to serve, stir in the avocados.
Serve at room temperature. Serves six.
Here's a pic off of the internet, but I think this pic is *way* too bean-y, and the beans are too light. Goya brand tends to be darker and nicer looking. Use more veggies so the black beans are just a nice accent, not the star of the dish. The avacado should the dominant veggie, IMHO.

Note on the beans: I usually use canned beans if color and texture are important in a recipe. If I cook them myself, they tend to get more mushy. I suspect a bit of oil in the water while they cook would fix the problem, but I don't care enough to experiment.

Store brand and some Italian brand tend to be overexposed. Progresso and Goya work better for me.

Michaeloh’s Quick Ceasar

1/4 c mayo
2 T EV Olive oil
two cloves of garlic peeled
2 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 c parmesan
4 anchovies
Blend in whatever appliance you like. Toss with Romaine and croutons, preferably homemade. A lot like Bravo's dressing.

Apple’s Salad
- i never used commercial dressing.

i just sprinkle with herbs, a salt blend (usually Canadian Steak seasoning), olive oil and vinegar or lemon juice.

a great salad i like is cauliflower chopped, avacado, onion, fresh rosemary and above dressing.

Veggies

Apple’s Gazpacho
July 17, 2007

i just food process tomatoes, a small onion and a peeled and seeded cucumber.. maybe a hot pepper and some green like cilantro or Italian parsley. we eat it a couple times a week.
salt.. a little lemon perhaps.. you can't miss and you can add just about anything.. destringed celery is good too.

Nina’s Gazpacho Garlic Trick
July 17 2007

Take about a half of a day-old (or older, it can be rock hard) decent but dried up dinner roll, about 2-3 tbs of good olive oil and at least 1 big clove of garlic, more if you are a garlic fanatic.

Whir the bread and garlic together in your food processor until it's completely pulverized. Add the olive oil slowly, together with maybe 1/2 cup or so of your gazpacho. Whir around until it's completely blended/emulsified.

Add to your gazpacho for a great garlic flavor without the pitfalls of chomping down on a hunk of raw garlic.

Also a few shakes of Tabasco (probably about 1/2 tsp) adds a nice flavor and a very subtle kick.

I'm also really fond of mincing up green (bell) pepper in gazpacho.

EDIT: the amounts above are for a LOT of gazpacho-- like 8 qts or more.

Mary Anna’s Cooler

And today, another summer cooler--my mother picked her first cucumbers and we had some sliced, mixed with chopped tomato, and sprinkled with red wine vinegar, salt, and cayenne pepper.

Plays88keys’ A Taste of Summer Bliss
July 18, 2007

2 slices of artisan white bread (like Ecce Panis Neo Tuscan) or even something less wonderful like Pepperidge Farm white bread
1 extremely ripe garden tomato (not those nasty store bought things)
Duke's mayonnaise (or, if you are unfortunate enough to live outside their distribution area, Hellmann's will do)
salt and cracked black pepper

Eat over your sink.