One of my favorites.

Goat cheese and shallots spread
The heavy cream cuts the tanginess of the goat cheese and makes it easier to spread.

Ingredients:
5 oz. soft goat cheese, at room temperature
3 to 6 Tbs. heavy cream
2 or 3 small shallots, minced
1/2 tsp of salt

Directions:
Put the goat cheese in a bowl and mash it with a fork. Add 1 Tbs. of the cream and mash it in. Continue to add the cream, 1 Tbs. at a time, until you have a soft, mild spread. Mix in the shallots and salt to taste. The more shallots the better, I've found.

I usually serve this with thin slices of baguette, but it tastes great with about anything, including salty potato chips.

Blackberry Muffins a la Musicasacra (from Williams-Sonoma)

The abundance of fresh ripe berries is one of the pleasures of summer. Each variety in the seasonal trinity—blackberries, blueberries and raspberries—works beautifully in this recipe. Remember to treat fresh berries gently after purchase. If not using them immediately, store them for up to 2 days in the refrigerator. Rinse the berries briefly in a colander before use, then pick over the berries and discard any that are moldy or mushy. Let dry in the colander or on a layer of paper towels.

Ingredients:

For the topping:

1/3 cup sugar

3 Tbs. all-purpose flour

Grated zest of 1/2 lemon

2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup pecans, finely chopped

For the muffins:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Grated zest of 1/2 lemon

1/4 tsp. salt

1 egg, beaten

5 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups fresh blackberries or 2 1/2 cups frozen
unsweetened blackberries, unthawed

Unsalted butter for serving
Directions:

Preheat an oven to 375°F. Grease 12 standard muffin cups with butter or butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray.

To make the topping, in a small bowl, stir together the sugar, flour and lemon zest. Stir in the melted butter until the mixture is crumbly. Add the pecans and stir to combine. Set aside.

To make the muffins, in a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, lemon zest and salt. Make a well in the center and add the egg, melted butter and buttermilk. Stir just until evenly moistened. The batter will be slightly lumpy. Sprinkle with the blackberries and gently fold in with a large rubber spatula just until evenly distributed, no more than a few strokes. Take care not to break up the fruit. Do not overmix.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each to a bit above the rim of the cup. Top each muffin with the topping, dividing it evenly (the sugar will melt and produce a glaze effect).

Bake until the muffins are golden, dry and springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Unmold the muffins. Serve warm or at room temperature, with butter. Makes 12 muffins.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Muffins, by Beth Hensperger (Simon & Schuster, 2003).

Those muffins are tasty. I use 1/2 cup of sugar instead of 3/4 cup.

From AdagioM and this website: :

Carrot and Squash Curry Soup

Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour Difficulty: Easy Servings: 8
Ingredients

* 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
* 5 cloves Garlic, Minced
* 1 whole Large Onion, Diced
* 3 whole Carrots, Washed And Sliced Thin
* 4 whole Yellow Squash (sliced)
* Salt To Taste
* 1 Tablespoon Curry Powder (more To Taste!)
* ½ cups Dry White Wine (optional)
* 48 ounces, fluid Chicken Broth
* Heavy Cream (optional)

Preparation Instructions

Heat olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add garlic and onions and stir to coat. Add carrots and cook for 3 minutes, or until they start to get soft. Sprinkle in a little salt.

Add squash. Stir and cook for a few minutes, until squash is soft and tender. After a few minutes, add salt to taste and the curry powder.

Pour in wine if using. Let evaporate for about 30 seconds, then pour in chicken broth. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover pot, and cook for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, taste and adjust seasonings. Turn off heat.

Puree soup using an immersion blender, or in batches in a regular blender. Return to soup pot and bring to a simmer. Serve hot. If you’re feeling naughty, drizzle heavy cream over the top.

APPLE - PUMPKIN BUTTER

Ingredients:

29 or 30 ounce can pumpkin puree
1 ripe banana
¾ to 1 cup apple cider (or juice)
1 cup sugar or maple syrup
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon cloves

In a blender, blend all ingredients except canned pumpkin into a puree. Transfer to a large pot, add canned pumpkin and mix till smooth. If too thick add a little more liquid of choice (cider, syrup, lemon juice, water...) Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 mins to 1 hour until mixture thickens. Stir often, but be careful - the mixture will splatter and it is hot! Wear long sleeves and stand away from the stove if you can.

If canning, follow appropriate canning process.

Great on buttered toast, pancakes, waffles, french toast, yogurt, also to flavor sauces and marinades.

BLACK BEAN BROWNIES (wheat and gluten free)

(makes one 8”x 8” pan)

To make the black bean purée, drain and rinse one 19 oz tin of black beans, then whizz them in the blender with a little water until they reach a good, smooth consistency. One tin will yield a little more than a cup of purée, which may mean that you have to make two batches of brownies. There are worse things.

½ cup unsalted butter
½ cocoa powder (splurge on the best you can find)
2 eggs
1 cup dark brown sugar or ½ cup brown sugar and ½ cup muscovado sugar
½ cup black bean purée
2 tablespoons instant coffee
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts, or ¼ cup mini white chocolate chips (optional) or shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line your pan with parchment paper so that there’s some overhang on two sides; this way you’ll be able to lift the brownies out of the pan.
2. Melt butter and add to cocoa; stir until smooth.
3. Beat eggs and sugar until light. Mix in bean purée, cocoa mixture, instant coffee, and salt until well combined.
4. Stir in pecans or chocolate chips, if using.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Smooth top and bake about 35 minutes, or until top is dry and centre is set. Let cool in pan on a rack. When completely cool, lift brownie slab out by the parchment paper overhang and cut into pieces.
If you want to make these in the ever-popular two-bite style, grease a mini-muffin tin, fill cups ¾ full, and bake about 15 minutes. Cool completely before tipping out of the pan.

I love this recipe because it is so fast and most of the time I have the ingredients at home anyway. It is also very very yummy!

Old Fashioned Apple Crumble

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 40 mins

Ingredients
For The Filling
3 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and cut
2 oz brown sugar
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
For The Crumble
10 oz plain flour, sifted
6 oz brown sugar
200g unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp cinammon
a pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
To Make The Filling : Place fruit in a large bowl. Sprinkle with dry ingredients and set aside while you make the crumble.
To Make The Crumble : Place flour and sugar in a large bowl and mix well. Take a little butter at a time and rub into the flour and sugar mixture. Keep rubbing until all the butter is used up and the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Butter a 9 inch ovenproof dish. Spoon fruit mixture into the bottom. Sprinkle crumble on top. Bake for 40 minutes.

Serving suggestions
Serve hot with a clotted cream or cold with a dollop of vanilla icecream.

Pennsylvania Dutch Sour Cream Apple Pie

Crust:
11/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut in chunks
2 to 4 tablespoons ice cold apple cider or juice to bind

Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and cut in the cold butter chunks with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles pea gravel. Carefully add the apple juice a little at a time until the dough comes together in a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour before rolling. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and place in a deep 10 inch pie pan, crimping the edges in a decorative pattern. Chill the pie shell while filling is assembled.

Filling:
11/4 cup sour cream
1 large egg
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
7 Granny Smith peeled, cored, and sliced

Preheat oven to 400F. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sour cream and the egg. Combine the sugar and flour and whisk into the liquid mixture. Add the salt and vanilla. Place the apple slices in the custard as they are sliced. Pour the apple custard into the prepared pie shell, place on a cookie sheet, and bake for 10 minutes at 400F to set the crust. Lower the heat to 350F and bake for 40 minutes more. While pie is baking, prepare topping.

Topping:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
a dash of salt
1 cup walnut pieces
6 tablespoons melted butter

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and carefully add melted butter, working with hands to form a crumbly topping. When the pie has baked 40 minutes, remove from oven, completely cover the apples with topping and return to oven for 10 minutes more at 350F. Remove from oven and cool on a rack. This pie must be stored in the refrigerator but it tastes best at room temperature or warmed just a bit. It will serve 10 people and there are rarely any leftovers.

The above ones I make on a regular basis. This next one I have never made as it is more labor intensive than I like (I have also never made a cheesecake), but a friend of mine made it and it was the best cheesecake I ever had (she made a raspberry one with chocolate crust). If any of you make cheesecakes I highly recommend this recipe:

LINDY'S RESTAURANT FAMOUS CHEESECAKE
Lindy's Restaurant in New York served a cheesecake that has been one of the most famous cheesecakes for decades. The following recipe has been around for almost as long, and is said to be an accurate recipe. Lindy's never made their cheese cake recipe public.

CRUST:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tsp. grated lemon rind
1 Tsp. vanilla
1 egg yolk
1/4 lb. softened butter


FILLING:
2 1/2 lbs. cream cheese
1 3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbs. flour
1 1/2 tsp. each of grated orange and lemon rind

5 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup heavy cream


INSTRUCTIONS

In large bowl combine flour, sugar, lemon rind and vanilla.

Make a well in the center of mixture, add egg yolk and butter and form into a dough (adding a little water if necessary to make it pliable).

Wrap in waxed paper and chill for 1 hour.

In another bowl combine the cream cheese, sugar, flour and orange and lemon rind with an electric mixer.

Add eggs, egg yolks, vanilla and beat well.

Add heavy cream and blend thoroughly.

Butter the sides and bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

Roll out 1/3 of dough to 1/8 inch thickness and mold to the pan's bottom.

Bake in preheated 400°F oven for 15 minutes until lightly browned, then remove and cool.

Cut remaining dough to line the sides of the pan thoroughly.

Add cream cheese mixture, bake at 550°F for 10 minutes, then bake at 200°F for 1 hour.

Allow cheese cake to cool.

Some advice from my friend who seems to be a cheesecake connoiseur:

"I didn't make the crust according to this recipe. I used one package - 300 grams - of DARE chocolate wafers, crushed, plus 8 oz of honey and around half a stick of butter. Any simple cookies would work, whatever kind suits your fancy. It's good to grease the springform pan pretty well - otherwise the crust could stick or burn.

Also I baked the cake at 200 for close to two hours, not one. If you stick a knife in it, it doesn't have to come out completely clean, but it should feel thickened and creamy, not liquid.

If your springform pan is less than 9" you'll definitely want to reduce the recipe, it won't fit! It rises a little bit but not much.

I've experimented with a lot of different things on this recipe. Swirl in brownie batter for totally decadent marble cheesecake. I've mixed it with pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices to get a pumpkin cheesecake. This time I layered the bottom with around a quart and a half of raspberries, which seems to have worked well and made the crust lovely and gooey. (Otherwise the crust is considerably harder.)

A lemon version would probably be good too. Maybe some very thin slices of lemon on the bottom? I think I'll try that next time, whenever the next time might be. Incidentally I left out the lemon & orange zest in the one I brought today, since with the raspberries it didn't seem like a good idea. I always put in a lot more vanilla than the recipe calls for - just pour it in! I actually used nonfat condensed milk instead of the heavy cream, too, which may have made it a little creamier than usual since it's thinner. Tho I did it because I didn't feel like having left over heavy cream. I've never done that before.

MACHACA BEEF

~ 5 lb beef roast

3 TBS veggie shortening or lard
1-3 onions, chopped
1 7-oz can chopped green chile or about 3/4 c fresh, seeded and diced

green chile salsa, to taste (I start with about 1 cup of canned/jarred green medium hot salsa if I don't have any fresh around)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
4 TBS flour (I use 2TB)
4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin

juices from roast


Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place roast in Dutch oven or other contraption that can be covered tightly. Roast about 12 hours, until well done. (I often do mine overnight.)

When done, remove from oven and let cool a bit so you can handle it. Take the meat out, and reserve the juice.

Shred the beef.

Melt shortening (lard) in large skillet. Add onions and green chiles. Saute a few minutes until onions are soft. Add green chile salsa, garlic powder, flour, salt and cumin. Cook 1 minute over low heat. Stir in reserved juices and let thicken. (This is the part where I've only used 2 TBS flour--since I don't like gravy-esque consistency, just thicker than water.)

Add meat, reheat everything or let cool again and stick in fridge if you're going to eat it later.

I've multiplied this recipe on occasion--I think the most has been about 20 lbs of beef for a large group. I just upped everything accordingly and added to taste to adjust.

The only heat comes from the chiles and salsa--so it's easy to adjust. If you're worried about the spice element, look for mild salsa. If you really want it hot, use hot salsa. You can always add serrano chiles (minced) if you really want a kick.

Summer Pasta Salad

With this early heat wave, and the humidity that we have on the coast this week, I whipped out a summer pasta salad for dinner (and for a few days).

The base pasta salad below is for more than one meal and has many variations!

I begin with:

Package of white chicken or you could use thighs. This is used for more than one purpose.

Boil several in a big pot quickly. Here 20 minutes with frozen herbs from my garden - parsley and garlic chives. Whatever you would like.

Take out chicken and when cold cut up into bite size pieces.

Use the stock - freeze it if you don't use it.

Now cook your pasta in half this stock. Use the other half for chicken soup.

Do not over cook the pasta. Add whatever herbs you wish in your dishes - soup or salad.

In both the pasta salad beginnings and in the stock, I use hot peppers from the garden that were dried and sea salt.

Drain pasta (mine was squigglies)

From the fridge I add what might be leftovers for both dishes, but will now concentrate on the summer cold salad. The soup got made and put into the freezer.


Add:

Grapes
Raisons
Left over baby carrots
Left over broccoli
Half cooked, not cooked, or cooked red/green/yellow peppers
Olives if you have them
Goat cheese if you have it


Anything of your choice

Mayo to your taste.

Make ahead so that it gets cold.

Serve for several days if there is any left over

Just had mine - YUM! Cold summer pasta salad!

BTW, I hardly eat any pasta all winter.

Sub shrimp for chicken and add what you wish for variety.

From well-tempered gardener:

Baked Seafood, Orzo, and Feta Cheese Casserole

1 T vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, choppped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large can (28 ozs) tomatoes, chopped, juice from can included
1/4 cup white wine
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup orzo
1 pound halibut, cut into bite-sized pieces
3/4 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 T chopped parsley
4 ozs feta cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a Dutch oven, warm oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, wine, seasonings and orzo. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes.

Fold in halibut and shrimp and bake, covered, until halibut is white and shrimp is pink, about 15 minutes. Stir in parsley and cheese and bake, uncovered, until bubbly, about 10 minutes longer.

from Maryana Vollstedt's The Big Book of Casseroles. (great book if you like casseroles!)

From apple and this website.

Cioppino Recipe

Ingredients

Seafood

* 3 pounds halibut, sea bass, or other firm white fish, cut into inch-long cubes
* 1 large (2 lb or more) cooked Dungeness crab (hard shell) or a cooked lobster
* 1 pound (or more) of large shrimp
* 2 pounds little neck clams, mussels, or oysters or all three

Sauce

* 1/2 cup olive oil
* 1 1/2 cups chopped onion (1 large onion)
* 1 cup chopped green bell pepper (1 large green bell pepper)
* 3 coves garlic, minced
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 28 ounce can tomatoes
* Broth from the mollusks
* 2 cups red wine
* 2 cups tomato juice
* 2 cups fish or shellfish stock
* An herb bouquet of bay leaf, parsley, and basil wrapped in a layer of cheesecloth and secured with kitchen string
* Salt and pepper to taste
* 1/2 cup minced parsley for garnish


Optional seasonings: a dash of Tabasco sauce and or Worcestershire sauce


Method

1 Steam mollusks (clams, mussels, oysters) in a small amount of water (about a cup) until they just open. Set aside. Strain and reserve the cooking broth.

2 If using crab, removed the crab legs from the body and use a nut cracker to crack the shells so that the meat can be easily removed once it is served (leave the meat in the shell). Break the body in half, and then cut each half again into either halves or thirds. Keep the top shell of the crab for making stock.

If you are using lobster, cut the tail in pieces and reserve the body and legs for making stock.

Note you can use prepared fish or shellfish stock, or you can make your own. If you are not making your own stock, you can discard the crab top shell or lobster body. If prepared shellfish stock is not available, I would combine some prepared fish stock (available at many markets, including Trader Joe's) with clam juice.

3 Split the shrimp shells down the back and remove the black vein. (See how to peel and devein shrimp.) I found the easiest way to do this, without removing the shell, is to lay the shrimp on its side and insert a small knife into the large end of the shrimp, with the blade pointing outward from the back (away from the shrimp and your hands). Once you have split the shrimp shells, you can turn the knife toward the shrimp, and cut in a little to find the black vein. Pull out the vein as much as you can. You can probably also use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut the backs of the shrimp.

Alternatively, you can shell the shrimps and devein them. Shell-on imparts more flavor; shell-off is easier to eat.

4 In a deep 8-quart covered pot, sauté onions and green pepper on medium heat in olive oil until soft. Add the garlic, sauté 1 minute more. Add tomatoes, broth from the mollusks, red wine, tomato juice, fish or shellfish stock, the herb bouquet, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Remove herb bouquet. Taste and correct seasoning.

5 Add the fish and cook, covered, until the fish is just cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the steamed mollusks, crabmeat, and shrimp. Heat just until shrimp are cooked (just 2-3 minutes, until they are bright pink). Do not overcook.

6 Serve in large bowls, shells included. Sprinkle with minced parsley. Serve with crusty French or Italian bread and a robust red wine. Have plenty of napkins available, a few extra bowls for the shells, and nut crackers and tiny forks for the crab.

Serves 8.

Thanks, Nina! I forgot about this thread.

If this thread ever gets 86'd, my family will starve.