Chicken Gyro

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Allison Woods

I’ve been known to use cooked leftover chicken for this recipe. Simply shred or chop the chicken and then steep in the marinade cooked rather than raw as called for in the recipe.

4 servings

Meat

1# boneless skinless chicken

2T lemon juice

1 1/2 t garlic powder

1/2 t salt

2T olive oil

1T dried oregano

skewers

Tzatsiki sauce

1 c plain low-fat yogurt

1 small clove garlic, pressed or minced

1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded, grated, and wrung out a bit in a clean tea towel

Seasoned Lettuce

2c finely chopped lettuce—use something crunchy like iceberg or romaine

about 2T vinegar

about 1/4 t salt

about 1/2 t dried oregano

 

1/2 small onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 plum tomatoes, chopped

olive oil spray

4 pita bread

1/4 c feta cheese

Cut the chicken into 1” cubes and put into a bowl. Combine the lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, olive oil, oregano. Pour over chicken and marinate, at least 15 minutes.

for the tzatziki: Whisk yogurt until smooth and creamy. whisk in the garlic, add the cucumber.

for the lettuce: Season lettuce with vinegar, salt and oregano.

chop tomatoes, onions, set aside

Spray pita with olive oil spray and brown slightly on each side. Can be done without the spray if you have a decent nonstick pan. Push chicken onto skewers and grill until cooked, or saute them.

Assembly: stick some chicken in a pita. Add sauce, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, and feta cheese. Yum!!

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Spaghetti w/Pine Nuts

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Allison Woods

I eat this way more than I care to admit.

1# spaghetti

1/2 c pine nuts

6-8 oz. softened butter

1/2 c  grated Parmesean or similar

Salt and pepper as needed

Toast pine nuts. Cook spaghetti. Toss drained noodles with butter. Add cheese and pine nuts. Top with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Alternative: sub chopped fresh herbs for the pine nuts.

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Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Pears and Sausages

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Allison Woods

This is a delicious simple meal. I used to make this one a lot, maybe it’s time for it to come back. It was in the Seattle Times in the mid 1990s.

By Cece Sullivan

4 servings

Mashed potatoes:

3 large baking potatoes, about 2 1/2 pounds

3 ripe but firm pears (Bosc or Bartlett)

3 tablespoons butter, room temperature or melted

3/4 teaspoon salt

Sausages:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large shallot, peeled and minced

1 large clove garlic, peeled and minced

1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and thinly sliced

Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed

4 chicken or turkey Italian sausages

1/2 cup dry white wine

 

 

1. To prepare the mashed potatoes: Scrub the potatoes and pierce in several places. Place on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 450-degree oven 50 minutes.

2. Peel, quarter and core the pears. Place on the baking sheet with the potatoes and roast until the potatoes and pears are soft, about 20 minutes more.

3. While the potatoes and pears are cooking, start the sausages. Heat the olive oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the shallot, garlic and bell pepper. Saute 3 minutes. Add the crushed pepper and basil; saute 5 minutes. Remove from the pan.

4. Put the sausages in the pan and brown lightly on all sides.

Add the wine, cover and simmer 10 minutes.

5. Uncover and put the peppers back into the pan. Cook until the juices have thickened slightly. Keep warm.

6. Cut the baked potatoes in halves. Using an oven mitt to protect your hand, scoop out the insides into a large bowl. Add the pears, butter and salt. Mash with a potato masher or electric mixer.

7. Serve the mashed potatoes with the sausages, peppers and cooking juices on the side.

Potato recipe from "Nicole Routhier’s Fruit Cookbook."

Copyright (c) 1996 Seattle Times Company, All Rights Reserved.

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Pork Chops and Spaghetti

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Allison Woods

Classic 70s food. Mom used to make this in an electric frying pan…I mean who has one of those things anymore? The original had the vegetables pretty lightly cooked, but I caramelize the crap out of everything but the tomatoes. It’s delicious, and perhaps a little rough on the cardiac system. The proportions are not precise AT ALL, which is why I’ve omitted the amounts of everything.

pork chops, bone in

yellow mustard

brown sugar

tomato

mushrooms, cleaned and quartered

green peppers, sliced

zucchini, sliced

white onion, sliced

spaghetti

cream, parmesean, poppy seeds, butter

shredded Swiss cheese

Roll chops in mustard, then in brown sugar. Saute in oil until mostly cooked. You just want them browned, the oven can do the heavy lifting here. Once they are browned, stick them in the oven at 250F or so, and tent with a bit of foil.

Toss the vegetables into the drippings and do one of two things: Cook them all the way through only, which involves tossing them in in reverse order of how long it takes for them to cook. Start with the zucchini, onion, and mushrooms, then do the green pepper and end with the tomatoes. OR, everything goes in except the tomatoes, cook them until they are pretty broken down, about 15 minutes over low heat. At some point, pull out the tented pork chops, and turn the oven up to BROIL.

While the vegetables are doing their thing, boil water and cook pasta. After you drop the pasta, melt some butter in yet ANOTHER pan (everything in your kitchen will be dirty by the end of this) and add cream to make a simple white sauce. Add some parmesean, poppy seeds, and salt if needed, to taste. Drain pasta and add to sauce. It should be fairly dry.

Assembly: do a pile of the pasta. Stick a pork chop on top at a sort of jaunty angle. Top this with the vegetable and then cover the whole mess with a bunch of shredded Swiss cheese. Broil until cheese is melted, then transfer to regular plates, you’ve probably done this in a broiling pan or similar. Yeah BABY!

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Those Damn* Pecan Ball Cookies

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Allison Woods

More from the family recipe box. For those not in the know, Nana is my mother’s mom, Alice Jean. AJ/Nana DID participate in the Domestic Arts, but at least in MY lifetime, it always seemed to be somewhat…how can I put this delicately….under duress? She was a lot more comfortable at the Alexandra di Markoff counter at Frederick and Nelson or jetting off to Greece or something along those lines.

Mom was kind enough to digitize this so I could just cut/paste.

aka Russian tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cookies, etc. etc.

1 c butter, room temperature

½ c powdered sugar

2 t vanilla

2 c flour

¼ t baking powder

1 c pecans, chopped small (abt 4 oz)

plus more powdered sugar

Beat butter in a large bowl w/mixer on medium speed w/ ½ c powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth and light. Mix flour w/baking powder and add to butter mixture. Blend until smooth, and add pecans. Shape into 1” balls and place at least 1” apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake 25 minutes until cookies are pale gold and bottoms are barely browned. Let cookies cool on baking sheet ‘til just barely warm (important). Place more powder sugar in a shallow bowl and roll cookies gently to coat. Note: if you jump the gun and the cookies are too hot, the powdered sugar will melt and your cookies will be sort of homely. Finally, let cookies set up on a rack for about a half an hour. Makes 32-36, but I always double this recipe because these are so popular.

* Allison and I always made Nana bake these, and I think she was so bored with them that they became the Damn Cookies . (from Mom)

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Beef Bourginonne

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Allison Woods

This is another one from the family treasury. I do not know if there is anything correct about this in a culinary sense, but it’s a classic, and it’s yummy.

3T olive oil

3# beef

seasoned flour

bouquet garni

18 small white onions

1/2 # sliced mushrooms

2c + red wine

2 m onions, sliced thin

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 c beef stock

5 carrots, peeled and sliced

3T butter

parsley for garnish

Dredge meat in seasoned flour, brown in oil. Add onions, garlic, and saute until golden. Add wine, boullion, and garni. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hour. Add other vegetables and cook until tender, maybe an hour. (This is confusing, I think what the recipe means to say is the sliced onions go in with the garlic and the pearl onions go in with the carrots). Saute mushrooms in butter and add to stew. Thicken gravy as needed. Garnish with parsley. Serve with crusty bread or buttered egg noodles. Better the second day.

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Poached Smoked Black Cod with Fruit Salsa

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Allison Woods

This one is from the wayback machine. I don’t even know if you can get smoked cod any more.

350F

serves 2

1# smoked black cod

2 roma tomatoes, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1/4 c yellow pepper, diced

1/2 ripe pineapple, diced

2T brown sugar

3T rice vinegar

2T cilantro

1t red pepper flakes

1/4 c olive oil

salt

Combine salsa ingredients. Skin and trim cod and cut into 2” pieces. Place h20 1” deep in casserole. Cover and bake 15 minutes.

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Grilled Copper River Salmon w/Hazelnut Butter

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Allison Woods

I don’t like doing much to salmon, but the unctuousness of the hazelnuts is soooo heavenly with the salmon. Feel free to use any salmon you want.

this much serves 4

2 oz. hazelnuts, toasted

1/2 c butter, softened

chopped shallots or herbs, optional

zest of one lemon, optional

4-8oz. salmon fillets

salt/seasoning salt/salt & pepper

Chop toasted nuts to a fine mist. Add to butter. Fluff with a fork, add optional ingredients. Grill fish with a smear of butter on it. Just before it’s done, add more butter and seasonings. I always use unsalted butter (for everything) because that way I control the saltiness rather than having the butter dictate the saltiness.

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Chilled Poached Salmon with Red Pepper Puree

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Allison Woods

A good use of leftover salmon, like there is such a thing. Sometimes I do this if there’s some that’s been in the freezer for a time.

 

Pour 1qt fish broth or stock, or half white wine and half water into a wide saucepan and bring to a simmer. Drop your salmon into the liquid and cook 6-8 minutes, then chill. Drizzle with red pepper puree.

2 red or yellow bell peppers, fresh or roasted, chopped

2T butter or olive oil

1/2 c h2o

1T balsamic vinegar

s/p

Saute peppers (if using fresh) in butter 2 mins, then add h20, cover, cook til soft, 8-10 minutes. Puree, add vinegar and s/p. If using roasted, simply puree with olive oil, then add vinegar and salt and pepper.

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Rum Balls

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Allison Woods

800px-Rum_ball_cookies

Another top-secret recipe from the family arsenal. Good thing no one really reads this blog or everything would be ruined that is good about the world. Anyway, if you are one of my four readers, enjoy these.

1 small box vanilla wafers, crushed (about 3c)

1 c walnuts, chopped

3T Light Karo Syrup

1 ½ T cocoa

½ t vanilla

¼ c powdered sugar

some rum or bourbon

and some more powdered sugar for rolling in (the cookies, not you)

Mix wafer crumbs, cocoa, walnuts and 1/4 c sugar, add Karo and vanilla. Drizzle in the liquor until the dough holds together enough to roll into 1” balls. If you go overboard (likely) just add more powdered sugar. Try not to scrape your hands clean with your teeth.

Roll the cookies in powdered sugar and store in your fridge to allow the flavors to mellow at least a day.

IMPORTANT: tell no one, otherwise they will disappear before you know it.

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