Curried Ketchup

Ingredients

1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Pinch ground cloves

Directions

Put the tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, curry powder, salt, pepper and cloves into a saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, stir to dissolve the sugar and cook until the tomatoes have broken down and the mixture is slightly thick, about 10 minutes. Pour the mix into a food processor and pulse until smooth. Let cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Place in a decorative bowl to serve.

Yield: 1 cup

Light Rye Bread

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup light molasses

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 tablespoons caraway seeds

1 cup boiling water

1 package yeast

3/4 cup warm water

2 cups rye flour

2 1/2 - 3 whole wheat flour

DIRECTIONS

Combine honey, molasses, salt, butter, caraway seeds and boiling water in a small bowl. Stir until honey dissolves. Cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed bowl. Add lukewarm honey mixture and rye flour and mix. Knead remaining flour until dough is smooth and elastic.

Place in a greased bowl and roll until the top is geased. Let rest covered until double in size.

Punch down dough and divide in half. Shape each half into a round loaf. Place on greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise intil double in size.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove form sheets and brush entire surface with shortening or cooking oil.

Spicy Roast Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes and Marjoram

Marjoram's full flavor does all the work in this incredibly simple recipe. Serve with crusty bread to soak up the delicious juices.

Servings: Makes 4 servings.

ingredients

24 ounces cherry tomatoes (about 4 cups), stemmed
1/4 cup olive oil
5 garlic cloves, pressed
1 1/4 teaspoons dried crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh marjoram
4 chicken breast halves with ribs

preparation

Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, crushed red pepper, and 1 tablespoon marjoram in large bowl. Place chicken on rimmed baking sheet. Pour tomato mixture over chicken, arranging tomatoes in single layer on sheet around chicken. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast until chicken is cooked through and tomatoes are blistered, about 35 minutes. Transfer chicken to plates. Spoon tomatoes and juices over. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon marjoram.

Makes 4 servings.

Tomato Onion Tart

Tomato Onion Tart

 

Pâte Brisée (tart dough) for one 10-inch tart
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 and 1/2 Lb yellow onions, sliced
1 and 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
6 oz gruyère, grated
1 Lb cherry tomatoes, halved

1. Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick. Fit into tart pan, trim, and chill 30 minutes while preparing the onions and preheating the oven.
   
2. Preheat the oven to 425F with racks in the bottom third and upper third of the oven. If you have a pizza stone, place it on the bottom rack.
   
3. Set a large, heavy pot oven medium heat. Add oil and butter. When butter is melted, add onions and salt. Cook stirring occasionally until onions are tender, about 12 minutes. Turn down the heat to medium-low and cook stirring occasionally until onions are medium brown, about 45 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar (optional), and cook stirring occasionally until onions are dark nutty brown, about 15 minutes. Take off heat and set aside.
   
4. Place the tart pan on a cookie sheet. Line the tart shell with parchment paper or foil and dry beans (or some other weigh) and bake in the bottom third of the oven for 18 minutes. Remove parchment paper with beans, lightly poke dough with a fork at 1/4 inch intervals to prevent it from puffing up, and return to the bottom third of the oven for 5 more minutes.
   
5. Turn down the oven to 375F.
   
6. Fill the tart shell with caramelized onions. Sprinkle with a layer of gruyère. Arrange cherry tomatoes cut side down in concentric circles starting with the outer circle and working your way in towards the center of the tart. Bake tart on the bottom rack for 15 minutes. Move tart to the top rack and bake until tomatoes are just starting to brown, 15 more minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.
   

Tortilla Soup With Diced Chicken

Tortilla Soup With Diced Chicken

 

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped

1 19 oz can stewed tomatoes (I used Aylmer "Original" and it worked well)

1 small jalapeno pepper chopped (with seeds, damn spicy soup though)

2 cubanelle peppers, chopped & seeded

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Dash or two of ancho chili powder (approx 1 tsp)

Dash or two of cayenne pepper (approx 1 tsp) (again, more if you like spice, less if you don't)

1 tsp lemon pepper – If you don't have lemon pepper, I think a few drops of lemon juice would be OK too.

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 tbsps vegetable oil

4 cups chicken stock

½ cup water

4 tbsps flour

4 soft tortillas

 

6 cobs of corn, grilled, remove kernels from cob

 
Directions:

 1. In a large soup pot, add the oil and heat on low heat. (3 or 4 on the stove worked well for me)

2. Add chopped onion, jalapeno, cubanelles, and garlic. Cook until the onion is soft.

3. While the onion is cooking, preheat the oven to 400 F.

4. Add the can of tomatoes, including the juice. Pour in the chicken stock. Add the lemon pepper, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. Raise heat (5 or 6 on the stove) and simmer 20 mins.

5. While the soup simmers, season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, place on baking sheet and cook in the oven for 20 mins.

6. After 20 mins of simmering, in a small bowl, whisk the water and flour until it is smooth. Pour in to the soup.

7. With a hand blender, blend the soup until the chunks of tomato are gone and the onion is in small pieces.

8. Cut the chicken into small pieces and add to the soup. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Add the corn.

9. Simmer 10 mins.

10. While the soup simmers, cut the tortillas in to strips ¼ in. wide and 3 or so in. long. Spray a baking sheet with Pam and place tortilla strips on it. Lightly salt for taste.

11. Cook the tortillas in the oven until they are very lightly browned – don't let them get too brown or they taste burnt!

Leg of Lamb

1 cup whole plain yogurt

1 tablespoon smoked sweet Spanish paprika

1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander

1 head garlic, peeled

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup packed mint leaves

¼ cup kosher salt, plus more as needed

Freshly ground black pepper

1 8-to-10 pound leg of American lamb, boned and butterflied

½ loaf French bread, cut into ½ -inch thick slices.

1. In a food processor, combine the yogurt, paprika, cumin, coriander, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, mint and ¼ cup kosher salt. Pulse until the mint and garlic are finely chopped.

2. Season the lamb on all sides with salt and black pepper. Lay the lamb fat-side down, roll into a tight cylinder and tie with cooking twine. Place in a container just large enough to hold it. Pour the marinade over the lamb and massage it into the meat. Dip both sides of the bread pieces into the marinade and place evenly over the meat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Transfer the lamb to a large roasting pan, discard the bread and reserve the excess marinade. Baste the lamb with the marinade. Cook in the oven until a meat thermometer reads 130 degrees, for medium rare, about 2 to 2 ½ hours depending on the thickness of the lamb. Baste with the marinade from time to time during the first hour of cooking. Remove from oven, tent with foil and let rest for 20 minutes before slicing. Serves 10 to 12.

Falafel

3 cups chickpeas

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon bulgur

3 medium yellow onions, roughly chopped

15 cloves garlic, peeled

3 tablespoons whole cumin seed

3 tablespoons whole coriander seed

1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns

1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

3 tablespoons finely chopped mint

3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

3 tablespoons white sesame seeds

3 tablespoons baking soda

1 to 2 quarts canola oil.

1. Place the chickpeas and bulgur each in a bowl and add water to cover by 2 inches. Cover and soak overnight.

2. Drain well and grind through the small dye of a meat grinder into a large bowl. Grind the onions and garlic through the meat grinder into a bowl set under a fine-mesh strainer. Press on the onions to release the excess juice. Discard the juices, then add the onion mixture to the chickpea mixture.

3. In a small skillet over medium heat, toast the cumin and coriander until fragrant. Transfer to a spice grinder, add the peppercorns and grind into a powder. Transfer the spices to the chickpea mixture, along with the salt, mint, cilantro, parsley and sesame seeds. Stir to combine. Mix in the baking soda and let stand for 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

4. Heat a medium pot filled 2 inches with canola oil to 350 degrees. Using your hands, shape the chickpea mixture into 2-inch balls. Fry in batches for 3 minutes or until dark brown and cooked through. Serve with hummus, raita and pita bread. Makes 32 pieces, serves 8.