Help-I Gotta Cook!

Ed Dugan

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Contents

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................... 1

Appetizers and the Ramblin’ Lady Cocktail ........................................................................................... 3

Really Easy Salmon Pate ....................................................................................................................................................... 6

Grand Marnier Pate ................................................................................................................................................................. 6

Smoked Trout Pate .................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Mushroom Pate ............................................................................................................................................................................ 7

Soft Cheese Pate ....................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Scallop Fritters with Dill Mayonnaise ........................................................................................................................... 8

Cucumbers and Salmon Bites ........................................................................................................................................... 8

Spicy Coconut Shrimp ............................................................................................................................................................. 9

Fried Chickpeas .......................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Eggplant Dip (Baba Ganoush) ...................................................................................................................................... 10

Torte Milanaise ............................................................................................................................................................................ 11

The Ramblin’ Lady Cocktail ................................................................................................................................................ 13

Philadelphia Fish House Punch ......................................................................................................................................... 14

Soups ................................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Rich Chicken Broth/Chicken Soup ................................................................................................................................. 18

French Onion Soup ................................................................................................................................................................... 19

Master Recipe for Vegetable Cream Soups ................................................................................................. 20

Cream of Cauliflower So up ............................................................................................................................................... 21

Cream of Black Bean Soup .............................................................................................................................................. 22

Caldo Xochitl ..............................................................................................................................................................................23

Chilled Borscht with a Hot Boiled Potato ............................................................................................................... 25

Vichyssoise (Cold Leek and Potato Soup) ......................................................................................................... 26

Minestrone Genovese ........................................................................................................................................................ 27

Cioppino .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 28

Menudo .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 30

Fresh Tomato Soup ................................................................................................................................................................. 31

Greek Lemon Soup .................................................................................................................................................................32

Gazpacho ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 33

Seafood Chowder ................................................................................................................................................................. 35

Oyster Stew.................................................................................................................................................................................. 37

Lentil Soup/Split Pea Soup ................................................................................................................................................ 38 Gumbo .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 39 Posole Verde ............................................................................................................................................................................. 40 Corn and Cod Chowder ..................................................................................................................................................... 41 Taco Soup: .................................................................................................................................................................................... 43

Salads ................................................................................................................................................................................ 45

Iceberg Lettuce Salad ........................................................................................................................................................ 48

Fruit Salad with Chef Dugan’s Dressing ................................................................................................................. 49

White and Black Bean Salad with Tuna................................................................................................................. 50

Mediterranean Tuna Salad .............................................................................................................................................. 51

Crab Louis Salad ...................................................................................................................................................................... 53

Combination Salad ................................................................................................................................................................ 55

Waldorf Salad............................................................................................................................................................................ 56

Black-eyed Pea Salad ........................................................................................................................................................ 57

Chicken Salad with Melon and Grapes.................................................................................................................. 59

Chicken Salad with Oranges and Cashews ..................................................................................................... 60

Mark’s Chicken Salad ............................................................................................................................................................ 61

Curried Chicken Salad ......................................................................................................................................................... 62

Baked Chicken Salad Mexicana ................................................................................................................................ 64

Smoked Turkey Salad .......................................................................................................................................................... 65

Fattoush Salad........................................................................................................................................................................... 67

Shrimp and Orange Salad ................................................................................................................................................ 68

Potato, Tomato, and Tuna Salad ................................................................................................................................ 69

Indian Raita ................................................................................................................................................................................... 70

Tomato, Pepper, and Onion Salad ............................................................................................................................ 72

Nanny’s Salad ............................................................................................................................................................................. 73

Salad Nicoise .............................................................................................................................................................................. 74

Coleslaw ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 76

Florida Coleslaw ....................................................................................................................................................................... 77

Roasted Beet Salad with Greens and Feta Cheese .................................................................................. 78

Egg Salad ......................................................................................................................................................................................80

Caesar Salad .............................................................................................................................................................................. 81

Green Bean Salad (Bohnensalat) .............................................................................................................................. 83

Chef Dugan’s Surf and Turf Salad .............................................................................................................................. 84

Chef Dugan’s Steak Salad ............................................................................................................................................... 86

Chef Dugan’s All-American Potato Salad .......................................................................................................... 87

French Potato Salad with Green Beans ................................................................................................................ 88

Mediterranean Potato Salad ....................................................................................................................................... 89

Tomato and Fresh Basil Salad ..................................................................................................................................... 90

Vegetables in Sour Cream ............................................................................................................................................... 91

Greek Salad................................................................................................................................................................................ 92 Macaroni Salad ....................................................................................................................................................................... 93 Tabouli ....................................................................................................................... ....................................................................... 94 Woodstock Salad .................................................................................................................................................................. 95 Octopus Salad .......................................................................................................................................................................... 96 Calamari Salad ..........................................................................................................................................................................98 Smoked Trout, Avocado and Grapefruit Salad ............................................................................................ 99 Thai Rice Salad ...................................................................................................................................................................... 100 Chef Dugan’s Salad Supreme ..................................................................................................................................... 101 Mediterranean Artichoke Salad ............................................................................................................................. 102 Chef Dugan’s Tomato and Whatever Salad ................................................................................................. 103 Charred Corn Salad with Fresh Basil and Tomatoes ............................................................................... 104 Roasted Asparagus Vinaigrette Salad ............................................................................................................ 105

Sandwiches ................................................................................................................................................................. 107

Club Sandwich .......................................................................................................................................................................... 110

Kentucky Hot Brown Sandw i ch ........................................................................................................................................ 111

Paper-Thin Grilled Cheese Sandwich .................................................................................................................... 112

Chef Dugan’s BLT .................................................................................................................................................................... 113

Tuna Salad Sandwich ........................................................................................................................................................... 114

Pan Bagnat ................................................................................................................................................................................... 115

Iowa Pork Cutlet (Iowa Skinny) ........................................................................................................................................ 117

Piperada Sandwich ............................................................................................................................................................... 119

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich .................................................................................................................................... 120

Eggplant Parmesan Sandwich ..................................................................................................................................... 122

Hamburgers ............................................................................................................................................................................... 123

Chef Dugan’s Grilled Cheese Burger.................................................................................................................... 124

Oklahoma Onion-fried Burger .................................................................................................................................... 125

The Messy Bessie Sandwich ......................................................................................................................................... 126

The Cuban .................................................................................................................................................................................... 127

The Reuben ................................................................................................................................................................................. 129

Grilled Turkey Breast with Cheese Sandwich ................................................................................................ 130

Chicken Salad Sandwich ................................................................................................................................................... 131

Lynne’s Peanut Butter Sandwich Supreme ......................................................................................................... 132

Lox, Bagels, and Cream Cheese .............................................................................................................................. 133

Breakfast-On-The-Run Sandwich ........................................................................................................................... 134

Cream Cheese and Olive Sandwich ...................................................................................................................... 135

Hero/Hogie/Sub ...................................................................................................................................................................... 136

Gussy’s Sandwich .................................................................................................................................................................. 137

Oyster Loaf................................................................................................................................................................................. 138

Eggs & Cheese ......................................................................................................................................................... 139

Chef Dugan’s Frittata ......................................................................................................................................................... 142

Dutch Baby................................................................................................................................................................................... 144

Egg Burritos ................................................................................................................................................................................ 145

SOS ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 147

Joe’s San Francisco Special ...........................................................................................................................................148

Hangtown Fry ............................................................................................................................................................................ 149

Huevos Rancheros .............................................................................................................................................................. 150

Chef Dugan’s Triple B Cowboy Breakfast ........................................................................................................... 151

Eggs Benedict .......................................................................................................................................................................... 152

Tomato and Cheese Strata ......................................................................................................................................... 153

Spanish Fried Eggs ............................................................................................................................................................... 155

Eggs ala Tripe ........................................................................................................................................................................... 156

Piperade ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 157

Eggs Goldenrod ..................................................................................................................................................................... 159

Western Omelet ................................................................................................................................................................... 160

Deviled Eggs ............................................................................................................................................................................... 161

Quiche ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 162

Welsh Rarebit ........................................................................................................................................................................... 164

Cheese Soufflé ....................................................................................................................................................................... 165

Beef, Veal, Liver & Tripe ...................................................................................................................................... 167

Aged Beef.................................................................................................................................................................................. 170

Chef Dugan’s Premium Beef Stew: The 2 – Stage Method .................................................................... 172

Irish Pot Roast ............................................................................................................................................................................. 174

Spiced Beef Brisket ............................................................................................................................................................... 175

French Poached Beef Tenderloin .............................................................................................................................. 176

Sauerbraten ............................................................................................................................................................................... 178

Roast Prime Rib with Yorkshire Pudding ............................................................................................................... 180

Swiss Steak ................................................................................................................................................................................. 182

Flank or Skirt Steak .................................................................................................................................................................184

Cuban Steak .............................................................................................................................................................................. 185

Chicken Fried Steak/Country Fried Steak .......................................................................................................... 186

Carpetbag Steak ................................................................................................................................................................. 188

Steak Edward ........................................................................................................................................................................... 189

Steak Au Poivre ...................................................................................................................................................................... 190

Miroton of Beef au Gratin ............................................................................................................................................... 192

Boiled Beef French Style (Pot-au-Feu) ................................................................................................................ 194

Beef, Lamb, or Chicken Shepherd’s Pie................................................................................................................ 196

Greek Beef Stew with Peppers and Feta Cheese ...................................................................................... 198

Hungarian Goulash ............................................................................................................................................................... 199

Braised Short Ribs ................................................................................................................................................................ 201 Sausage, with Black-eyed Peas and Escarole........................................................................................... 202 Oxtail Ragout ......................................................................................................................................................................... 203 Beef and Stout Stew ......................................................................................................................................................... 204 Fajitas ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 206 Johnny’s Quick and Easy Fajitas ................................................................................................................................ 208 Corned Beef and Cabbage ...................................................................................................................................... 209 Beef Stroganoff .................................................................................................................................................................... 210 Stuffed Cabbage Leaves .............................................................................................................................................. 212 Beef a la Lindstrom ............................................................................................................................................................... 214 Chef Dugan’s Heirloom Meatballs ........................................................................................................................... 216 Jamaican Meat Patties ...................................................................................................................................................... 218 Picadillo ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 220 German Meatballs with Caper Sauce .................................................................................................................. 221 Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy................................................................................................................ 223 Chef Dugan’s Meatloaf .................................................................................................................................................. 225 Stuffed Pepp ers ..................................................................................................................................................................... 227 Cream Chipped Beef ........................................................................................................................................................ 227 French Meat Patties with Cream Sauce ............................................................................................................ 228 Chef Dugan’s “In Your Face” Chili with Beans....................................................................................................... 230 Cincinnati Chili .......................................................................................................................................................................... 232 Ground Sirloin Platter ......................................................................................................................................................... 233 Vitello Tonnato – Veal with Tuna Sauce .............................................................................................................. 234 Veal Scallopini/Wiener Schnitzel ............................................................................................................................ 235 Creole Veal Grillades with Grits and Eggs ...................................................................................................... 236 Braised Veal Shanks – Osso Buco........................................................................................................................... 237 Blanquette De Veal (White Veal Stew) .............................................................................................................. 239 Liver and Onions...................................................................................................................................................................... 241 Kidney Dishes ........................................................................................................................................................................... 242 Tripe with Beans ..................................................................................................................................................................... 243

Pork & Ham ................................................................................................................................................................... 245

Monte’s Ham ............................................................................................................................................................................. 248

Chef Dugan’s Country Ham with Red-Eye Gravy ........................................................................................249

Roast Loin of Pork ................................................................................................................................................................... 251

Pork Cutlets with Butternut Squash, Apple, and Cranberries ........................................................... 253

Pork Chops with Apples and Cider ........................................................................................................................ 255

Firehouse Pork Chop Casserole ............................................................................................................................. 256

Last Meal Pork Chops ....................................................................................................................................................... 258

Cuban Pork Sauté ................................................................................................................................................................ 259

Chili Verde Burritos ................................................................................................................................................................ 261

Home-made Sausage Patties with Fried Apples ...................................................................................... 263 Bavarian Pork and Sauerkraut ................................................................................................................................... 264 Stuffed Spareribs ................................................................................................................................................................. 265 The Planet’s Best Barbecued Ribs .......................................................................................................................... 266 Ham and Potato Gratin .................................................................................................................................................... 268 Cassoulet .................................................................................................................................................................................. 270

Lamb ................................................................................................................................................................................. 273

Roast Leg of Lamb ............................................................................................................................................................... 276

Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb ................................................................................................................................... 277

French Leg of Lamb............................................................................................................................................................. 278

Moussaka ................................................................................................................................................................................. 280

Braised Lamb Shanks and Beans ............................................................................................................................. 282

Chicken, Turkey & Duck ...................................................................................................................................... 283

Fried Chicken and Cream Gravy.............................................................................................................................. 287

Chef Dugan’s Shortcut Fried Chicken & Creamed Gravy .................................................................... 289

Dominican Fried Chicken ............................................................................................................................................... 290

Austrian Oven-Fried Chicken ..................................................................................................................................... 292

Parmesan and Panko Encrusted Chicken Breasts ..................................................................................... 294

King Ranch Ch icken .............................................................................................................................................................. 296

Breaded Lemon Chicken Breasts ........................................................................................................................... 298

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Lemon & Oregano ........................................................................................ 299

Garlic Chicken ......................................................................................................................................................................... 301

Chef Dugan’s Chicken Enchiladas ......................................................................................................................... 303

Chicken with Lemon Cream Sauce ....................................................................................................................... 305

Grilled Tandoori Chicken .............................................................................................................................................. 306

Roasted Chicken and Vegetables .......................................................................................................................308

Greek Chicken and Potatoes ..................................................................................................................................... 310

Poached Chicken with Lemon Sauce ....................................................................................................................... 311

Chicken Marengo .................................................................................................................................................................. 313

Chicken Country Captain ................................................................................................................................................ 315

Chicken Divan ........................................................................................................................................................................... 316

Lynne’s Thanksgiving Dinner .......................................................................................................................................... 318

Coq au Vin ................................................................................................................................................................................... 321

Chicken Breasts Smothered with Onions .......................................................................................................... 323

Chicken Breast Scallopini ............................................................................................................................................... 325

Chef Dugan’s Chicken Pot Pie Recipes ................................................................................................................ 327

Chicken Chili ............................................................................................................................................................................... 329

Colonial Quiche or Chicken Pudding ................................................................................................................... 330

Chicken ala King ..................................................................................................................................................................... 332

Cheez-It Chicken .................................................................................................................................................................. 334 Stew-Hole Chicken Fricassee ................................................................................................................................... 335 Poached Whole Breast of Turkey .......................................................................................................................... 336 Turkey Tetrazzini .................................................................................................................................................................. 338 Spiced Duck with Pears ....................................................................................................................................................339 Whole Roasted Duck .......................................................................................................................................................... 341

Fish & Shellfish ............................................................................................................................................................ 343

Stir Fried Green Beans, Tofu, and Shrimp ........................................................................................................... 346

Shrimp Fine Champagne ................................................................................................................................................. 347

Voodoo Shrimp Uglesich ................................................................................................................................................. 349

Mediterranean Sautéed Shrimp ............................................................................................................................... 351

Chef Dugan’s Shrimp Pisano ........................................................................................................................................ 352

Shrimp Creole ......................................................................................................................................................................... 353

Shrimp and Grits .................................................................................................................................................................... 355

Shrimp Scampi.......................................................................................................................................................................... 357

Curried Shrimp ........................................................................................................................................................................ 358

Shrimp and Scallop Curry ............................................................................................................................................. 360

Shrimp or Crawfish Dump ................................................................................................................................................. 361

Garlic Shrimp ............................................................................................................................................................................ 363

Shrimp with Feta Cheese (Saganaki) .................................................................................................................... 364

Lobster Edward with Lemon Rice ............................................................................................................................. 365

Clam Hash ................................................................................................................................................................................... 367

Sautéed Calamari Steaks .............................................................................................................................................368

Portuguese Tuna and Potato Stew ....................................................................................................................... 369

Fried Catfish with Lemon Butter and Caper Sauce .................................................................................. 370

Cod Filets Poached with Tomatoes ........................................................................................................................ 371

Chef Dugan’s Crab Cakes ............................................................................................................................................ 372

Grilled Tuna Tacos ............................................................................................................................................................... 374

Fish Tacos .................................................................................................................................................................................... 376

Chef Dugan’s Seviche ....................................................................................................................................................... 377

Scallops Poached in White Wine .............................................................................................................................. 378

Gefilte Fish Platter................................................................................................................................................................. 379

Poached Salmon Filets with Lemon-Dill Mayonnaise ............................................................................. 380

Rice, Dumplings & Pasta .................................................................................................................................... 383

RICE ................................................................................................................................................................................... 385

Paella ..............................................................................................................................................................................................386

Fried Rice ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 388

Rice Tortillas ............................................................................................................................................................................ 390

Risotto ala Milanese ............................................................................................................................................................ 391

Italian Rice and Peas (Risi e Bisi)................................................................................................................................. 393 Royal Rice .................................................................................................................................................................................... 394 Mediterranean Rice and Lentils ............................................................................................................................... 396 Creole Dirty Rice ................................................................................................................................................................... 398 El Mirador Rice ........................................................................................................................................................................ 399 Low Country Rice ................................................................................................................................................................ 400 Oven-Baked Brown Rice ................................................................................................................................................ 401 Red Beans and Rice ...........................................................................................................................................................402 Hoppin’ John .............................................................................................................................................................................. 403

DUMPLINGS ............................................................................................................................................................... 405

Spaetzle .................................................................................................................................................................................... 406

Yeast Dumplings ................................................................................................................................................................... 407

Drop Dumplings .................................................................................................................................................................... 409

Potato Dumplings ................................................................................................................................................................. 410 Bread Dumplings with Bacon .......................................................................................................................................... 411 Gnocchi ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 412

PASTA, RISOTTA, AND POLENTA ................................................................................................................... 413

Polenta The Easy Way ........................................................................................................................................................ 414

Fettuccine with Shrimp and Vegetables ............................................................................................................. 415

Traditional Fettuccine Alfredo ................................................................................................................................... 416

Lynne’s “Courtship Spaghetti” ..................................................................................................................................... 417

Noodle Pudding (Kugel) .....................................................................................................................................................418

Sicilian Lasagna Lite ............................................................................................................................................................. 419

Regular Lasagna.................................................................................................................................................................... 421

Macaroni and Cheese ..................................................................................................................................................... 422

Wide Noodles and Vegetable Toss ..................................................................................................................... 423

Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce ..................................................................................................................... 424

Baked Pasta and Italian Sausage ........................................................................................................................... 425

Saucing Suggestions ......................................................................................................................................................... 426

Vegetables ................................................................................................................................................................ 429

Bubble and Squeak ............................................................................................................................................................. 432

Potato Pancakes (Latkes) ............................................................................................................................................. 433

Chef Dugan’s American Fries ..................................................................................................................................... 434

Authentic French Fried Potatoes ............................................................................................................................. 435

Super Easy French Fries .................................................................................................................................................. 437

Oven-Fries ................................................................................................................................................................................. 438

Smashed Roasted Potatoes ...................................................................................................................................... 439

“Pan-Browned” Potatoes ............................................................................................................................................. 440

Potatoes Hashed in Cream ............................................................................................................................................ 441

Peruvian Potatoes ................................................................................................................................................................ 442 Colcannon .................................................................................................................................................................................. 443 Twice-Baked Potatoes ................................................................................................................................................... 444 Hasselbach Potatoes ....................................................................................................................................................... 445 Potatoes Anna ........................................................................................................................................................................ 446 Potatoes O’Brien ................................................................................................................................................................... 447 Traditional Scalloped Potatoes ............................................................................................................................... 448 Scalloped Potatoes Baked in Cream ................................................................................................................... 449 Mediterranean Potato Patties ................................................................................................................................ 450 Champ ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 451 Stuffed Baked Potato Ideas ....................................................................................................................................... 452 Creamed New Potatoes and Peas ........................................................................................................................ 453 Potato and Tomato Gratin ............................................................................................................................................ 454 Indian Cauliflower and Potatoes ............................................................................................................................. 455 Fried Tomatoes with Tomato Cream Gravy .................................................................................................. 456 Stuffed Tomatoes ................................................................................................................................................................ 458 Ratatouille .................................................................................................................................................................................. 459 White Bean Ragout Over Toast ................................................................................................................................. 461 Sautéed Broccoli and Garlic .......................................................................................................................................462 Eggplant Gratin ...................................................................................................................................................................... 463 Fried Eggplant ......................................................................................................................................................................... 464 Eggplant Parmigiana Casserole ............................................................................................................................. 465 Incredible Baked Beans ................................................................................................................................................... 467 Zucchini Fritters ....................................................................................................................................................................... 468 Vegetable Fritters .............................................................................................................................................................. 469 Creamed Spinach ...............................................................................................................................................................470 Sweet Potato and Banana Casserole ................................................................................................................. 471 Baked Sweet Potatoes .................................................................................................................................................... 472 Chef Dugan’s Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges .......................................................................................... 472 Savory Green Beans (or Broccoli) .......................................................................................................................... 473 Green Beans and Cashews in Brown Butter Sauce .................................................................................. 474 Harvard Beets ......................................................................................................................................................................... 475 Sweet and Sour German Red Cabbage ........................................................................................................... 476 Creamed Carrots and Mushrooms with Dill Sauce ................................................................................... 477 Gourmet Hominy .................................................................................................................................................................... 478 Cauliflower with Shrimp ..................................................................................................................................................... 479 Baked Winter Squash ...................................................................................................................................................... 480 About Corn ................................................................................................................................................................................. 481 Corn Fritters .............................................................................................................................................................................. 482 Mixed Roasted Vegetables ....................................................................................................................................... 483

Sauces, Gravies, & Salad Dressings ...................................................................................................... 485 SAUCES .......................................................................................................................................................................... 487

The Red Lobster Tartar Sauce (almost) ............................................................................................................ 489

Ed’s All-Purpose Tomato Sauce ............................................................................................................................ 490

Louisiana Roux ......................................................................................................................................................................... 491

Hollandaise Sauce .............................................................................................................................................................. 492

Sauce Remoulade ............................................................................................................................................................... 493

Rouille ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 494

Aioli (eye-o-LEE) ................................................................................................................................................................... 495

Harrisa Sauce .......................................................................................................................................................................... 496

Italian Tuna Sauce ................................................................................................................................................................ 497

Chef Dugan’s Special Steak Sauce ....................................................................................................................... 498

Balsamic Vinegar & Wine Steak Sauce .............................................................................................................. 498

Creamy Horseradish Sauce ........................................................................................................................................ 499

Egg-Caper Sauce ............................................................................................................................................................ 500

Simple White Clam Sauce .............................................................................................................................................. 501

Creamy White Clam Sauce ........................................................................................................................................ 502

Red Clam Sauce .................................................................................................................................................................. 502

Court Bouillon ......................................................................................................................................................................... 502

GRAVIES .......................................................................................................................................................................503 Chef Dugan’s All-Purpose Gravy .......................................................................................................................... 504 Pan Dripping Gravy ........................................................................................................................................................... 504 SALAD DRESSINGS .............................................................................................................................................. 505

Oil and Vinegar Dressing.............................................................................................................................................. 505

Blue Cheese Dressing .................................................................................................................................................... 506

Louis Dressing ....................................................................................................................................................................... 506

Green Goddess Dressing ............................................................................................................................................ 507

Chef Dugan’s Fruit Salad Dressing ........................................................................................................................ 507

Mayonnaise Dressings .................................................................................................................................................. 508

Recipes That Don’t Fit Anywhere Else ................................................................................................. 509

The Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Milkshake ....................................................................................... 511

Mighty Fine Corn Bread .................................................................................................................................................... 512

Frito Pie ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 513

Fried Toast.................................................................................................................................................................................. 513

A Ploughman’s Lunch/Pub Onions ............................................................................................................................. 514

Cheddar Cheese Crust .................................................................................................................................................... 515

Popovers ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 516

Yorkshire Pudding ................................................................................................................................................................... 517

Yogurt Cheese - Labaneh ............................................................................................................................................. 518

Pancakes ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 519 Biscuits and Gravy .............................................................................................................................................................. 520 Cream Biscuits ........................................................................................................................................................................ 522 Ozark Pudding ........................................................................................................................................................................ 523 Bread Pudding ........................................................................................................................................................................ 524 Crisp Batter .............................................................................................................................................................................. 526 Roasted Garlic Head ......................................................................................................................................................... 527

Picnics & Tailgating ................................................................................................................................................529

PICNICS ........................................................................................................................................................................... 531

TAILGATING ............................................................................................................................................................... 532

PICNIC AND TAILGATING SUGGESTIONS ............................................................................................. 533

Introduction

M

ost of these recipes have a little information about their origin or how I learned about them. When the 19th and 20th Century immigrants came to this country, they brought with them their dietary and food traditions

and literally millions of new recipes. My grandparents were among them. I doubt if very many of them owned even one cookbook, so the recipes they used were those they had committed to memory or that had been handed down in the family. A number of the recipes in this book are from that period, and represent my salute to those individuals and families who settled the New World.

I have read over 500 cookbooks cover to cover, plus hundreds of cooking magazines, so I often don’t have a clue as to where I got the idea for a particular recipe, or whether I remembered it from several sources.

One of the points I make in Help-I Gotta Learn to Cook!,is, if you know how to treat various foods, you can do whatever you wish with a recipe. So feel free to improvise with these or just take them as they come. Finally, most of the recipes are for two people, but if you are cooking for your family or happen to be entertaining other guests, you can do the math.

Chef Ed Dugan

1

"

APPETIZERS AND THE RAMBLIN’ LADYCOCKTAIL

#

F

or many people, the thought of entertaining always brings with it a degree of stress. While the guests have an enjoyable experience, the host and hostess frequently do not. They worry about what to serve, who

to invite, the need to start a shopping list, and so forth.

A lot of that stress can be avoided if you are prepared to serve your guests drinks and something to snack on, while you’re still busy in the kitchen.

If you’re serving alcoholic beverages, a lot depends on the theme of your entertainment. Sometimes you have a beer crowd and sometime a martini crowd. Quite often you want to offer nothing but a variety of wines. However, I have included my special Ramblin’ Lady Cocktail, and that might be all you need.

There are two dishes I never serve as cocktail food, chicken wings or ribs. I love them both, but I found that no matter how careful the guests are, and no matter how many napkins or paper towels I make available, their fingers get sticky and so does my furniture. The longer the party lasts, and the more drinks are consumed, the stickier my furniture gets.

Finger food is the standard pre-dinner snack and no occasion would be complete without a stylish pate. Here are a few suggestions and don’t forget the crunchy toast or crackers. Thin slices of cucumber also work.

When it comes to having a stress-free party I have another suggestion – serve nothing but appetizers, or if you prefer, offer a finger-food extravaganza! This approach is especially good for warm weather. You can serve the food out on the patio, and the only room that you need to clean in preparation for your guests is the bathroom. Forget the rest of the house! Paper plates are also appropriate, so no dish washing chores later. Anyway, if you serve a few pates, and add some dishes I offer here, I think you will have a recipe for some great entertaining.

In addition to finger food, I always like to set out a large plate of mixed Mediterranean olives and large chunks of feta cheese drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with some dried oregano. If you want to serve a lot of guests as economically as possible, check out my recipe for Monte’s Ham which stipulates “buy the cheapest ham you can find and glaze the hell out of it.”

Really Easy Salmon Pate

This recipe comes from a smokehouse in Juneau, Alaska, and it couldn’t be any easier if you went up there to buy it. Cheaper though.

The proportions can vary according to your taste, and you may have to make it a few times until you get it just the way you like it.

2 filets of smoked salmon (lox if you like)

Juice from 1 lemon

1 tablespoon minced onion

8 oz of cream cheese

Put the salmon, onion, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor and blend until it is a nice paste. Add the cream cheese and blend until it is smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust if necessary. Really good on crackers or in finger sandwiches. (I like to add a spoonful of capers also.)

Grand Marnier Pate

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a pan over medium low heat, and add 1 small chopped sweet onion and 1 garlic clove crushed. Cook until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add 4 ounces of trimmed chicken livers and cook them for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Spoon into a blender or food processor 2 tablespoons of orange juice, 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier or a similar liqueur of your choice, 1 tablespoon of sour cream, and freshly ground pepper to your taste. Don’t skimp on the pepper. Put into a pretty serving dish and chill.

Smoked Trout Pate

Put an 8-ounce package of smoked trout cut into small pieces, 4 tablespoons of softened butter, and half of an 8-ounce package of softened cream cheese in a food processor and mix until smooth, about 20 seconds. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of prepared horseradish, 1 tablespoon of dried parsley, and 1 tablespoon of dried chives, and process for 10 seconds. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and more lemon juice if you like. Transfer to a small serving dish. This is very good with toasted pumpernickel bread or party rye.

Mushroom Pate

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan over medium heat, and add 1 pound of chopped mushrooms. I like to use a mixture of different types, but you can use just one variety. Add 2 crushed garlic cloves, and cook until the mushrooms have given up their juices and begin to brown, about 5-7 minutes. Add 3 chopped scallions, mix well, and remove from heat. When the mixture is cool, add 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 cup ricotta cheese, 1 cup of soft cream cheese and 2 tablespoons of coriander or, if you prefer, 1 tablespoon of curry powder. Process the mixture until smooth, season with salt and pepper, and spoon into a serving dish. Chill for several hours.

Soft Cheese Pate

Toast about ¾ cup of pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium low heat until they begin to brown, and put them into a food processor. Add about 1 pound of feta cheese, ¾ cup of cream, and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper. Process the mixture until smooth. Add 1 heaping tablespoon each of chopped fresh mint, parsley, and dried dill weed, and continue processing until mixed well. Transfer the mixture to a serving bowl and chill for an hour or so. Turn it out onto a plate and serve with toast triangles or crackers.

Scallop Fritters with Dill Mayonnaise

Clean and coarsely chop about 1 lb of either bay scallops or sea scallops. In a large bowl, lightly beat 6 eggs, and add ¾ cup Parmesan or Romano cheese, 3 garlic cloves crushed, 1 cup flour, 2 tablespoons each of dried oregano and thyme. Mix well and add the scallops.

Heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet (I like to use an electric skillet for this), and when it is hot, drop the scallop mixture, 1 generous tablespoon at a time, into the hot oil. Fry in batches and drain on paper towels, and salt to taste.

These can be kept warm in a 150 degree oven and served as they are needed, but they are just as good at room temperature.

In a bowl, mix 1 cup of mayo, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, a generous squeeze of lemon juice, and some dried dill weed together, and serve with the fritters.

Cucumbers and Salmon Bites

Beat an 8-ounce package of cream cheese with electric beaters until the cheese is soft. Add 1 7-ounce can of pink or red salmon along with 1 tablespoon sour cream, 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon of dried chives, 2 teaspoons of minced lemon zest, and salt and pepper to taste. (You can add a tablespoon of dried dill if you like.) Beat for about 1 minute.

Take 3-4 English cucumbers (the long ones supermarkets wrap in plastic) and cut them into ¼-inch slices. Lay a teaspoon of the mixture on the slices, and decorate them with ½ a green or black olive.

Spicy Coconut Shrimp

In a large bowl, mix 1 small can of tomato sauce, 3 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 tablespoon of chili powder, ¼ cup of lemon juice, 2 teaspoons of grated lemon rind or zest, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons of honey. Mix well and add 4 pounds of shelled and deveined shrimp, tossing to make certain the shrimp are well covered with marinade. Marinate the mixture in the refrigerator for several hours, or all day if you prefer.

When you are close to serving, drain the shrimp, but reserve the marinade. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and sauté the shrimp until they are a pretty pink, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in the reserved marinade and cook for about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of shredded coconut, stir well, and serve on a pretty platter.

Fried Chickpeas

This recipe is very easy but also very good. Open 2 or more cans of chickpeas. Rinse and drain them well. Toss with 1 teaspoon of paprika, salt and pepper, and some cayenne pepper if you want them a little on the spicy side.

Heat ¼ cup of olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat until it is almost smoking, and add the chickpeas. Stir the mixture frequently until the peas begin to brown a little. It’s a good idea to put a loose cover over the pan, since some of the chickpeas may begin to pop.

Remove the chickpeas and drain them on some paper towels to cool. Salt again to taste, and serve with some toothpicks with which to spear them.

Eggplant Dip (Baba Ganoush)

Eggplant Dip (Baba Ganoush)

20 minutes. This is to extract the natural bitterness in the meat of the eggplant. Rinse the eggplants and pat dry. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the eggplants on a baking tray and bake until tender, about 35-40 minutes. Peel away the skin. Place the eggplant, 2-3 cloves of crushed garlic, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and 2 tablespoons of tahini in a food processor. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper, and process for 20-30 seconds or until very smooth.

This is delicious served with toasted pita triangles.

NOTE: Tahini is a sesame seed paste that is the basis for hummus, and can be found in most supermarkets.

Torte Milanaise

If you follow the directions very carefully, you will have made a spectacular dish— somewhat like life imitating art. This is the perfect dish for entertaining and, if you are having more than six or eight people over, I would make two of them. A little time consuming but what a dish!

What you are doing is layering ham, cheese, spinach, and thin egg omelets, and encapsulating the whole thing in puff pastry. Think of it as a large layer cake only with a savory rather than a sweet filling.

NOTE: You’re going to need an 8-inch spring form pan—the kind that comes apart. If you don’t have one, this recipe is worth buying one for—they’re not very expensive, and most supermarkets carry them.

Serves 6-8

2 packs frozen puff pastry (Pepperidge Farm)—you won’t use it all but you need 2

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 lb package of pre

cleaned spinach blanched or steamed for 2 minutes, well-drained, and gently squeezed between paper towels to get most of the moisture out

2 garlic cloves, minced

¼ to ½ teaspoon nutmeg 2 large red peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces, and blanched for 2 minutes Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 egg, beaten

8 oz Swiss cheese, thinly sliced 8 oz ham, thinly sliced

The Omelets:

5 eggs

2 teaspoons chopped chives

2 teaspoons chopped dried parsley

½ teaspoon dried tarragon

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Lightly grease the spring form pan with soft butter, and paying particular attention to the directions on the package, lay out the puff pastry. Take the bottom of the pan, which is loose, and cut around the bottom. It will be an 8-inch circle. Do this twice, put 1 circle on a plate and refrigerate. Measure the sides of the pan and cut out enough wide strips to completely cover the sides. Refrigerate the rest of the dough. Put the pan together and carefully fit the cutout pieces onto the sides and bottom. Where the bottom piece meets the sides, gently press the dough together to seal. Put the pan in the refrigerator while you do the rest.

Heat oil and butter in a large skillet. Add spinach and garlic, and sauté 2 to 3 minutes over medium-low heat. Season to taste with nutmeg, salt, and pepper, chop coarsely, and set aside. Add red peppers to skillet and sauté briefly, about 2 minutes, and set aside.

Lightly beat the eggs, and add herbs and salt to taste. In a 7- or 8-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon butter and shake so butter coats pan evenly. Pour in half of the egg mixture. As eggs start to set, lift edges so liquid can run under. When eggs are completely set, and top of omelet is no longer moist, slide omelet onto a plate. Repeat with remaining butter and egg mixture.

You should now have the omelets, cheese, peppers, and ham all neatly laid out and ready to be assembled.

To Assemble:

Layer the ingredients in a prepared pan in the following order: 1 omelet, half of the spinach, half of the cheese, half of the ham, and all red peppers. Repeat, LAYERING IN REVERSE ORDER, using remaining ingredients. Using the second circle, place carefully over the omelet, and seal well to pastry lining with your fingers. Take the remaining pastry and cut out 8 to 9 decorative “leaves” to place around the top. Place a circle of pastry in the center. Brush entire top with the remaining beaten egg.

Place pan on a baking sheet in the lower third of a 350-degree, preheated oven. Bake until golden brown, about 70 to 75 minutes. When it’s cool, release it from the pan, stand back and take a bow. Cut with a very thin, sharp knife into wedges. This should be served at room temperature.

The Ramblin’ Lady Cocktail

Lynne and I lived full-time aboard a variety of boats for over 10 years. Two of them, our trawler and our sailboat, were named the Ramblin’ Lady, in honor of my lovely wife.

I made this drink up as a special treat for guests, and it soon garnered a small measure of fame among our friends. The recipe may look a little strange, but then, so did some of our guests. After all, we’re talking about the 70’s and 80’s.

It looks and tastes very much like a Margarita, and has quite a kick to it. If someone has more than two, you should keep a close eye on them. For every 3 guests:

1 small can of frozen limeade

1 can of beer Fill empty limeade can with the liquor of your choice (scotch, bourbon, rum)

2 cups ice cubes

Rocks or Margarita glasses

In a blender, pour in the can of limeade, the can of beer, the contents of the empty limeade can filled to the brim with whiskey or rum, and 2 cups ice cubes. Blend well until the ice is small. Pour into glasses and serve.

Philadelphia Fish House Punch

I was born and raised in Philadelphia, which has, as you know, many historical sites such as Independence Hall and Betsy Ross’ House. We lived within walking distance of Fairmont Park, the largest city park in the world, so I spent many happy hours there, some with my dog and a few friends, and some with my family.

Flowing through the park is the Schuylkill River, a nd almost any time during the day you could see rowers going up and down. Right on the river bank was a fishing and rowing club known as The State of Schuylkill Club. It wasfounded in 1732 and is still active. When any occasion for a celebration occurred, the club would feature a huge bowl of what was known as Philadelphia Fish House Punch, a powerful concoction that has kept parties going for over 250 years.

I could not finish this Appetizer Section with a clear conscience if I did not include the recipe, so here it is.

1 cup sugar

3½ cups water 1½ cups fresh lemon juice (6-8 lemons), strained

1 (750-ml) bottle of Jamaican amber rum 12 oz Cognac (about 1½ cups)

4 oz peach brandy (1/2 cup) Garnish: Lemon and fresh peach slices

Make simple syrup by gently heating the water and sugar in a saucepan. Place a large cake of ice in the punch bowl, and add the syrup and the rest of the ingredients. Allow to chill and serve.

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SOUPS

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S

oups are good for you, are economical, most are easy to make, and the human body was not meant to go through an entire winter without soup. Chilled soup is also good on a hot summer day. Remember, soup can be

“improved” in all sorts of ways. You can add sherry or brandy, use stock instead of water, add a dash of wine or balsamic vinegar, or top it with some grated cheese.

When making soup with fresh meat or poultry, brownish, white foam or scum appears on the surface during the early stages. Although this will eventually be absorbed into the soup, it’s a good practice to skim it off with a spoon so your broth will be clearer. Be patient—it will take about 10 minutes—and it will help if you stir the soup around a little so that it all rises to the top.

Some soup recipes call for the addition of cream or butter, but don’t add these ingredients until you are ready to serve. They are last minute additions because boiling cream makes it curdle.

What I have tried to do in this section is to acquaint you with a wide variety of soups made from basic broths, or some you can make simply by starting with a pot of water. There is some information about broths in Help-I Gotta Learn To

Cook! that might be helpful.

Included is a master recipe for making cream soups, which opens the door for a wide variety of vegetable-based soups. With this recipe, you can make cream soups to varying degrees of richness using skim milk, whole milk, half and half, or cream.

I use soup-making as a vacuum cleaner for my refrigerator. When little bits of vegetables pile up, or I have a few pieces of leftover chicken or beef, I put them all together and make soup.

NOTE: Making soup is not an exact science, nor is judging the number of servings you will get from each batch. Therefore the usual suggestion about the number of servings per recipe is not given in some recipes.

Rich Chicken Broth/Chicken Soup

Anyone who spends any time cooking should make up a batch of this broth on a regular basis. It’s good as a soup as well as a sauce and gravy base, and if you are unlucky enough to have a cold, itis very therapeutic. I make up a big batch, portion it out, and freeze it. The microwave will give it back to you hot in a few minutes.

When I first opened a New York style d eli, one of the items on the menu was chicken soup with matzo balls. The Jewish ladies among my customers would taste the soup and tell me how much they enjoyed it. The next sentence was invariably, “I have a recipe for matzo balls that my grandmother passed down to me—you’ve got to try it.” I eventually ended up with over 40 recipes for matzo balls, an overwhelming majority of which used the recipe off the box of Manishevitz matzo meal.

4 lbs chicken backs and wings

1 lb mixed chicken hearts, livers, and gizzards 1 large onion, quartered with skin on

2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks 2 celery stalks, cut into chunks

Wash chicken thoroughly. Place in large pot with vegetables, and just cover with water. Bring to boil, and simmer slowly over low to medium heat for 3 hours. The onion skins will impart a lovely golden color to the broth. Strain the broth, discarding everything else. If you wish to make chicken soup right away, add whatever raw chicken pieces you prefer to the broth, plus carrots, onions, and celery, and cook an additional hour.

French Onion Soup

This recipe reflects the style used in most restaurants, which is with cheese and toasted bread. You can skip that if you just want a soup for openers rather than as a main course. The secret to the flavor of this soup is the long, slow cooking of the onions. They should have a nice, mahogany color when you are finished. The sugar helps the onions to brown and imparts a good flavor.

NOTE: You need to allow at least 2-3 hours in making this soup properly. Slowcooking the onions takes about 1 hour.

8 cups thinly sliced onions 2 tablespoons flour

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt 6 cans beef broth (or 2-3 quarts of home-made)

4 tablespoons brandy

1 cup French vermouth

Over moderate heat, add the butter and oil to a saucepan and stir in the onions, cover and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the salt and sugar, raise the heat to medium high, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

Turn the heat back to moderate, add the flour, and keep stirring for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in 1 can of broth. Bring to the simmer, and add the rest of the stock, the brandy, and the vermouth.

Cover loosely and simmer for about 2 hours. Add some water if necessary.

If the soup will be the main course, you add a slice of good French bread to a serving bowl, sprinkle liberally with grated Swiss cheese, add a serving of soup, and bake in a 400-degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle more cheese on top and serve. You can use Parmesan cheese for the latter.

Master Recipe for Vegetable Cream Soups

This is a cream soup base that con tains no cream or milk. You can add almost anything to it, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, or chicken for instance, and have a winner. For those careful about such things, it contains almost zero fat. On the other hand, if you don’t care, you can add a cup of heavy cream or half and half to make it REALLY rich and delicious.

1 cup onions, chopped

2 tablespoons butter 4 cups chicken broth, canned or fresh

½ cup uncooked rice

Sauté the onions in the butter until they are soft, but not browned. Add the rice, and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, and cook over low heat for 20 minutes, or until the rice is very tender. Puree the mixture in a blender until it is very smooth and creamy. Pour into a bowl and set aside.

At this point, let’s say you want a cream of cauliflower soup, and to be daring, will add some broccoli. The right mixture is half of each vegetable. Cook the broccoli and cauliflower in a little water, or steam the vegetables until they are very soft. Drain them, put them in a blender with 1 cup of half and half, and blend until smooth. Add the vegetable mixture to the soup base, stir and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Do not allow the soup to boil. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. You have just made a wonderful soup!

NOTE: Feel free to use spinach, green beans, mushrooms, zucchini, etc.

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

A recipe from The Bakery restaurant in Chicago, which, unfortunately no longer exists. It’s typical of the late, great chef and owner, Louis Szathmary, simple ingredients with an elegant ending.

This makes about 4 servings.

2 tablespoons canola oil ½ teaspoon tarragon ½ cup onion, chopped 1 bay leaf

1 small carrot, peeled and grated

4 tablespoons butter cup flour ½ cup celery, chopped 1 cup milk ½ head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 tablespoon parsley,

chopped

4 cups chicken stock

½ cup half and half

½ cup sour cream at room temperature

Salt and pepper

Heat oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and sauté until translucent. Add carrot and celery, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add cauliflower and ½ tablespoon parsley. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Add chicken stock, tarragon, and bay leaf, and bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat, and simmer for about 7-8 minutes.

Melt butter in a saucepan, and stir in flour to make a roux. Making a roux is explained in the Sauces, Gravies, and Salad Dressings Section. Remove from heat, and stir in milk. Return to heat, and stir until sauce thickens. Add half and half and cook for 5 minutes. Stir sauce into cauliflower mixture, and cook for 5 additional minutes, adding salt and pepper if necessary. Stir in sour cream, ladle into bowls, and sprinkle remaining parsley on top.

Cream of Black Bean Soup

I’ve ma de this dish from scratch, in other words by soaking dried black beans overnight and then cooking them. I also made it using canned black beans, and cannot tell the difference. This is a wonderful soup, served either hot or chilled.

1 can black beans

¼ cup heavy cream 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped

1 small onion, chopped 1 can chicken broth

1 teaspoon cumin

1 squeeze of lime juice Salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients, except the cream, and simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes. When the mixture is cool, pour into a blender, and blend until very smooth. If you are serving it hot, reheat the soup until just below boiling, and add the cream. If you are serving it chilled, add the cream, and refrigerate until very cold. This soup is actually very good without the cream.

Caldo Xochitl

What you have here is not just a b owl of soup but an entire meal. Serve it with plenty of hot corn tortillas. It makes 6 servings, but left-over soup is always welcome.

El Mirador rice, a must with this soup, can be found in the Pasta, Rice, and Dumpling Section.

2 garlic cloves, minced 1 cup green pepper, diced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 frying chicken, cut up into 8 pieces (breast cut into quarters)

2 cans chicken broth

2 cans water

½ tablespoon ground cumin

2 bay leaves

1 sprig fresh basil

1 cup zucchini, sliced

1 cup carrots, sliced ¼-inch thick

1 small onion, halved and sliced

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

Garnishes:

1 bunch green onions,

chopped

Fresh cilantro leaves

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced

1 firm tomato, cubed

1 avocado, seeded and cubed

In a pestle, mix garlic, oregano, and cloves to a paste. Bring water and chicken stock to a boil in a large pot. Add chicken, salt, cumin, pepper, bay leaves, basil, and garlic paste. Return liquid to a boil and skim foam as it rises to the top. This will take about 5-7 minutes. Simmer chicken for 45 minutes, or until tender. Remove chicken and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, remove skin and bones from chicken and shred meat. When vegetables are tender, add chicken to pot and heat through.

For each serving, place ¼ cup El Mirador Rice in soup bowl, pour soup over, and pass garnishes to sprinkle over soup. Serve with warm corn tortillas.

Chilled Borscht with a Hot Boiled Potato

Borscht is easy to make but the bottled stuff is just as good as homemade. It’s a Jewish deli dish most likely brought over by Russian-Jewish immigrants. There was an authentic Jewish delicatessen near the college I attended, and I ate there often. Sadly, unless you are close to a large city, the authentic Jewish deli is a thing of the past.

1 jar borscht with grated beets inside, well-chilled

2 medium-sized red potatoes 1 small carton of sour cream

Peel the potatoes, and boil them whole until they are done (stick a thin knife in them to make sure). Keep them in the hot water.

Ladle the borscht into some nice, wide soup bowls. If you are using bottled borscht, shake it a little to get an even distribution of beet pieces. Place a hot potato in the center of each bowl, break in half, and add a scoop of sour cream on top.

Vichyssoise (Cold Leek and Potato Soup)

A consulting client of mine in Minneapolis used to take m eto the Minneapolis Club for lunch. They had the best vichyssoise I have ever tasted, and I still remember it that way. However, vichyssoise is not a complicated soup, and this recipe will give you one to match the Minneapolis Club.

1½ cups of potatoes—peeled, sliced, or diced 1½ cups leeks, sliced, including some light green part

3 cups chicken broth—canned is fine ½ cup whipping cream

3 tablespoons minced fresh chives Salt to taste When you clean the leeks, make sure you get all the grit out of them by slicing them in half lengthwise and running under cold water.

Simmer the vegetables in the broth, until they are very tender. Pour in a blender or food processor and blend until very liquefied. Many chefs will tell you to pour the mixture through a fine sieve. I don’t do this because I think a little body to the soup improves it. Add the cream and salt, stir, and chill. (The soup tends to be bland when chilled, so taste carefully for salt.)

Ladle into a small bowl and sprinkle chives on top.

NOTE: If you only have freeze-dried chives, do not despair. Just mix them into the soup about 15 minutes before serving.

Minestrone Genovese

This Italian soup is famous in two regions, Genoa and Milan. Although they are somewhat similar, there are regional distinctions. I like the Genovese version because they add pesto just before serving.

2 cans vegetable broth

3 cups water 1 oz dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in warm water until soft

1 large onion, chopped 3 celery sticks, chopped

2 carrots, finely diced

2 small zucchini, diced

1 cup elbow macaroni or other tube pasta

4 cups tightly packed with fresh, packaged spinach, coarsely chopped 2 14-oz cans cannelloni beans, drained

4 tablespoons ready-made pesto Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Remove mushrooms from the water, rinse, and chop, discarding hard stems. Save water.

Pour the stock, water, and porcini water into a large pot; add the onion, celery, zucchini, porcini, and carrots, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add 1 cup of the beans to a blender and blend for 1 minute. Add the pasta, spinach, and both the blended and whole beans, and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in pesto, salt, and pepper and serve. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, if you like.

NOTE: A crusty Italian loaf is a must for this dish. The Genovese tradition calls for the soup to be served at room temperature.

Cioppino

This soup originated in San Francisco over 100 years ago. You can bet that any recipe that old will have gone through several revisions, none of which are very meaningful.

With that in mind, I am going to give you the basic recipe for the broth, and you can add whatever seafood you wish. I think it’s nice to bring some fish, as well as some shellfish, into the mix. In some restaurants, they really pile on the seafood, and make the broth an accessory.

4 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 jar bottled clam juice (you can substitute 2 cups of homemade fish stock)

1 cup canned pureed tomatoes or diced tomatoes

½ cup dry, white wine

1 bay leaf

½ teaspoon oregano

½ cup water

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or ½ tablespoon dried

Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat, until the onions are just soft. Add the rest of the ingredients, and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf, and add whatever fish (cut into 1-inch chunks) and shellfish you wish, the more the merrier, and simmer for another 10 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the seafood.

It’s mandatory to have some good sourdough bread with this to dip into the broth.

Menudo

A fabled cure for a hangover, but it’s delicious even if you don’t have one. It also is one way to introduce tripe into your cooking repertoire.

It’s hard to make a small amount of menudo, but it freezes well, and will last until your next hangover.

Serves 6

2 lbs honeycomb tripe,

2 lbs honeycomb tripe, inch dice

2 lbs meaty beef shanks (some recipes call for pig’s foot as well as the beef)

1 large onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup mild or hot salsa,

puréed in a blender or food processor

1 can beef broth

6 cups water

1 teaspoon ground cumin 3 cans white or yellow

hominy

Salt and pepper

Condiments:

Dried oregano, chopped onions, fresh cilantro sprigs, and diced and seeded jalapeños. These are

usually placed in small

dishes around the table so you can help yourself.

Parboil the tripe in water to cover for 10 minutes, and drain. When it is cool, cut into 1-inch dice. In a large saucepan combine the tripe, beef shanks, onions, garlic, cumin, beef broth, and 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer over low heat for 3-4 hours, or until tripe is tender. Begin checking at 3 hours to see if tripe is tender. It should be soft but still a little bit chewy.

Skim off fat. Remove meat from shanks, cut into small pieces, and add to broth. Add the hominy, pureed salsa, and salt to taste. Cook for an additional 20 minutes. Ladle into bowls and pass the condiments. Start with a teaspoon of each condiment, and add more of those you like.

NOTE: You must serve this with hot corn tortillas or your hangover won’t go away.

Fresh Tomato Soup

Campbell’s Tomato Soup is an American food icon that is without peer. Thousands of old-fashioned drugstore and five-and-dime-store lunch counters served it with grilled cheese, chicken salad, and ham salad sandwiches for many years. DuringWW2 they even cameup with a cake made from it. The stores are gone, but the soup hasn’t changed a bit.

This recipe is a fresh version of the soup and, surprisingly, tastes a lot like Campbell’s. Use garden fresh tomatoes, not supermarket tomatoes, or forget it. This also makes a good base for tomato sauce.

3½ lbs ripe tomatoes

2 cans vegetable broth

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 3 teaspoons sugar

8–10 fresh basil leaves, torn in half Salt and freshly ground pepper

Plunge the tomatoes into a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes and drain. When the tomatoes are cool, peel and core them, and cut into large pieces. Put them in a large saucepan with the vegetable stock, and simmer them for about 20 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, and basil.

Pour the mixture into a blender (you may need to do it in 2 batches) and blend until very smooth. Return the soup to the saucepan and reheat when ready to serve.

Greek Lemon Soup

This is called avgolemono soup and every Greek restaurant inAmerica serves it, some with more success than others. It almost always contains rice, but I have chosen to make it with orzo, very small pasta, which makes it evenmore Greek. Please don’t confuse orzo with ouzo, the Greek liquor. That comes before or after the soup, but not in it.

3 cans chicken broth, or 7 cups homemade if you have it

½ cup orzo pasta 3 eggs, beaten well

Juice of 1 large lemon Salt and pepper Lemon slices for garnish

Pour the broth into a saucepan, bring to a boil, and add the orzo. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of water to the eggs and mix well.

Slowly stir a ladleful of the hot chicken broth into the egg mixture, and then add another ladleful. Pour this into the soup, and stir well. Be very careful not to let the soup boil, or the eggs will curdle, and the soup will look just like Chinese egg drop soup, which is not what we’re after here.

Serve hot, garnished with lemon slices.

Gazpacho

A soup from southern Spain, it is delicious, refreshing, and especially good in hot weather. Because the name comes from the Arabic word for bread, many recipes include bread in the body of the soup, giving it, in my opinion, the consistency and taste of tomato oatmeal. This recipe uses croutons in place of bread as well as the traditional garnishes.

3 large, ripe tomatoes

1 cucumber, peeled and diced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 green bell pepper,

seeded and diced

5 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 small onion, diced

1 15-oz can tomato juice 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup croutons, sautéed in 1 tablespoon olive oil

Plunge the tomatoes into boiling water for 2 minutes and remove. When cool, peel, core, and dice.

Set aside one fourth of the tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, parsley, and bell peppers.

Put the remainder of the vegetables, the garlic, oregano, vinegar, tomato paste, and olive oil into a blender, and pour in the tomato juice. Salt and pepper to taste, and blend until very smooth, about 2 minutes.

Pour the soup into a small pitcher and refrigerate until very cold.

To serve, pour the soup into wide, chilled glasses, similar to “rocks” glasses. Garnish with the fresh vegetables and a few croutons. Some people like to put a few ice cubes in the soup to keep it cold, as well as a few drops of Tabasco sauce to keep it hot.

Seafood Chowder

This recipe usually starts out with the words New England preceding it. Well, I am not from New England, have only been there once for a short visit, and am not ready to concede anything as universal as seafood chowder to one region. Fish also live in California, Florida, and the rest of the world, so this recipe is just what it says, seafood chowder that invites any kind of fish or shellfish you can obtain, to participate. This is truly a multi-cultural recipe!

On the other hand, since my wife is a Mayflower Descendent, I think I had better mention that New England was where the first batch of Seafood Chowder was made.

Two important things to remember here. First, the base can consist of seafood broth you make from scratch, bottled clam broth, milk, cream, or half and half, whatever you like, maybe some vegetable broth or the potato water to fill it out. Second, the other necessities are cubed potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion and, of course, seafood. You can also add mushroom slices if you wish.

If the salt pork doesn’t appeal to you, try bacon, or use half butter and half olive oil.WhatIwantyoutokeepinmindis,thisisyourcreationandyoucantakeitin any direction you want.

1 lb of seafood of your choice (lobster, clams, shrimp, fish or all of the above)

cup of salt pork, diced small

4 tablespoons butter, divided use

6 tablespoons flour (optional)

2 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning

1 large onion, halved and sliced thin

1 stalk celery, sliced thin I carrot, sliced thin

1 bay leaf

1 bottle clam broth

½ cup water

2 cups vegetable broth

3 medium Yukon or Red Salt and pepper potatoes cut into ½-inch

dice

2 cups half and half (or milk,

cream, or even

evaporated milk)

Boil the potatoes until crisp-tender and set aside. Put 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan, and sauté the salt pork over medium heat until it just begins to brown. Add the vegetables and cook until translucent, about 10 minutes over medium heat. Add the bay leaf, stock, clam juice, and water to the vegetables, and cook over medium low heat until they are still a little firm.

Now you have to make a decision. Do you fancy thick chowder or a thin one? If you like your chowder with a little more texture, as I do, take 3 tablespoons of flour and mix it with a little water, enough to make slurry. Add it to the pot, and cook for 1-2 minutes until it thickens.

Add the milk or cream to the pot and the seafood, and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes. Top it off with the rest of the butter and maybe a sprinkling of paprika to make it look pretty.

Serve with lots of crackers. I also like a few dashes of Tabasco sauce.

NOTE: Manhattan clam chowder is simply clams in a tomato-based broth. Much like the recipe for Cioppino with diced potatoes added. Any kind of chowder is really what you want to make of it, so don’t sweat the details too much.

Oyster Stew

I’ve always wondered why there are so many different recipes published for oyster stew. Oyster stew contains milk, cream, or half and half, oysters, oyster liquor, and butter. That’s it. You can add salt and pepper, celery salt, andpaprika to make it pretty, or hot sauce to make it spicy, but you still have the same three basic ingredients. So, now you have my recipe for oyster stew.

NOTE: You have to be careful not to overcook the oysters. As soon as their edges begin to curl they are ready.

5 tablespoons butter

4 cups half and half

1½ pints oysters with oyster liquor Salt and pepper

Drain oysters, then heat the half and half. Add oyster liquor and bring to a boil. Add oysters and simmer over medium heat until they begin to curl. Add butter and ladle into soup plates. You may add cayenne, celery salt, chopped parsley, or it’s great just plain.

Lentil Soup/Split Pea Soup

There is very little difference in howthese two soups are made, so I decided to put them together. You can use a leftover ham bone in place of the hot dogs or polish sausage. It does add to the flavor, but you may want some soup and not have a ham bone handy. A smoked ham hock will do as well.

NOTE: Both these soups, but especially the pea soup, have a tendency to get very thick when they are cooled. Just add more chicken broth or water until you get the consistency you want.

2 cans chicken broth

4 cups water

1 lb bag lentils or green split peas

2 carrots, cut into ¼-inch dice

1 onion, halved and sliced thin 1 clove garlic, minced

2 stalks celery, cut thinly 2 hot dogs or polish sausage, cut into ¼-inch slices

Salt and pepper

Put all the ingredients, except the hot dogs, into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover loosely, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Pour about 3 cups of the soup into a blender and blend for 1 minute. Return it to the pot. Add hot dog slices and serve.

NOTE: If you don’t use the blender, the lentils or peas will separate from the liquid and you will have a 2-layer soup.

Gumbo

There are almost as many types of gumbos as there are Cajuns. This is a basic gumbo recipe that can be expanded with whatever you have on hand at the time. You start with the gumbo and then do the TREATMENT. The treatment can consist of chicken, chicken and oysters, shrimp, shrimp and oysters, sausage, crawfish, just oysters, and certainly almost any kind of fish.

NOTE: There are 2 ways to thicken a gumbo, with okra or with File powder, ground sassafras leaves. If you use File powder, be sure the gumbo doesn’t come to a boil or the File will get stringy. Add it right before serving.

2 onions, chopped File powder (optional) 1 green pepper, chopped Salt and pepper ¾ cup celery, chopped 3 cans chicken broth

3 cups sliced okra

1 can diced tomatoes

Recipe for roux (see the Sauce Chapter)

Tabasco sauce to taste Make the roux according to the directions in the Sauce Chapter. For gumbo you want a very dark roux. Add the onion, green pepper, and celery. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, and add the okra. Cook for 5 more minutes, and add the tomatoes and the broth.

NOTE: At this point, if you are making chicken gumbo, brown the chicken pieces in a little fat, and add to the pot. This is a good way to use leftover chicken. Cook for 1 hour, uncovered, at low heat. If you are making seafood gumbo, cook the mixture for 1 hour, add the seafood, and cook for no more than 5 minutes.

If you are using File powder, add a small amount to each helping, and serve with hot rice. In New Orleans, the rice is packed into small teacups or custard cups, and inverted into the middle of a large soup bowl. The gumbo is spooned around it.

Posole Verde

This soup made its way up from Mexico and became a t rue classic. You don’t need anything to accompany it except warm tortillas, either corn or flour, and maybe some salsa or guacamole.

Serves 6 as a main course

2 tablespoons canola or safflower oil

1 large sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans diced mild green chilies

4 tablespoons dried

cilantro leaves

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, quartered

1 lb boneless pork, cut into 1-inch cubes

3 cans chicken broth

1 cup water

1 can yellow hominy

1 can white hominy

¼ cup fresh lime juice

In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil and sauté the onions and garlic over medium heat, until the onions are soft. Add the chilies, all the spices, the pork, and the chicken. Cook until the meat begins to brown a little, about 15 minutes.

Add the chicken broth and water, and simmer over low heat until the chicken and pork are very tender, about 1 hour. Add the hominy, and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Just before serving, mix in the lime juice.

Corn and Cod Chowder

A recipe from novelist Alice Hoffman, who included it in an article she wrote for Gourmet Magazineabout Cape Cod. If you ever visit there, a restaurant named Painters will make it for you. It’s one of the best chowders I have ever had.

NOTE: This recipe is similar to the Fish and Clam Chowder, also in this section, but with some subtle differences. Try them both and see which you like best.

This makes about 5 cups.

1 ear of corn in husk flour 1 small onion 1 bottle clam juice

2 medium carrots ½ cup water 1¾ lb red potatoes 1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon all-purpose Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme ½ lb cod or other firm white-fleshed fish ½ cup heavy cream

In a large bowl, cover corn in husk with water, and weight down with an inverted plate so it stays under. Soak corn for 30 minutes.

Finely chop enough onion to measure ½ of 1 cup, and enough carrot into ¼-inch dice to measure ½ of 1 cup. Cut potatoes into ½-inch cubes, and set aside in a bowl of water.

Remove corn from water and roast in the husk until just tender, about 20 minutes, and cool slightly. Remove corn husks and corn silk. Cut kernels from the cob and reserve the cob.

In a large heavy saucepan, melt butter and oil over moderate heat, and cook onion and carrots until onion is softened but not browned. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute. Stir in clam juice and water and bring to a boil. Add corn, cob, drained potatoes, bay leaf, thyme, salt, and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are just tender, about 10 minutes. You don’t want the potatoes soft and falling apart.

Discard the cob, and stir in the fish, cut into 2-inch pieces, and add the cream. Cook for about 5-7 more minutes, being sure not to bring the chowder to a boil.

NOTE: You can stop before you add the fish and cream, cool the mixture well, and refrigerate for up to 2 days. If you do this, bring the mixture to a simmer before adding the fish and cream.

Serve with plenty of crackers and a little hot sauce.

Taco Soup:

If Lynne and I could only have one soup in th e entire world this would be our choice. It freezes well, iseasy to make, and is really a classic. It also gives you a lot of leeway to use your imagination. Once you prepare the basic soup you can add anything you wish, and I’ll give you some ideas at the end of the recipe.

The only ingredient that requires cooking is the ground beef, the rest of them are additions that can vary from one batch to another.

1½ pounds of lean ground beef Package of Taco Seasoning mix

Package of dry Ranch Dressing mix

1 can beef broth

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can Rotel tomatoes (mild or hot, whichever you prefer) 1 can corn

1 can chili beans in sauce 1 can pinto beans or black beans

Brown the ground beef in a large pot. About halfway through the browning, add the Taco mix and the Ranch Dressing mix. Doing this will prevent clumping. Now add the rest of the ingredients, stir well and cook for about 20 minutes. There you go – it’s done!

Suggested additions: Chopped onion, chopped sweet pepper, chopped jalapeño pepper, beer, wine, a can of cheese soup ( or you can sprinkle some cheese or a dollop of sour cream on top just before you serve), and we always serve it with tortilla chips on the side or crumbled up on top.

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SALADS

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here are very few foods that can’t be made into a salad. Some salads can be intricate and some, like the Combination Salad in this Section, are extremely simple. However, please don’t use a salad to cover up poorly

cooked foods. If you burned the chicken, it won’t taste any better in a salad. If the lettuce is limp, it will still be limp when you try to serve your salad. And if you overcooked the green beans, don’t use them in a Salad Nicoise.

The dressing is half the salad, so make sure it’s first rate. Home-made is best but there are some excellent commercial dressings available. Most people use too much salad dressing on their salads —they are meant to moisten and flavor, not to drown the salad. I recommend that you sprinkle some salt and pepper over your salad before you dress it to add a little flavor.

When you are thinking of serving a salad as a main course remember you can use just about anything you wish for the major ingredient. For instance, in the recipe for chicken salad you could substitute shrimp, scallops or tuna and vice versa. Planning on a Caesar Salad? Think about tossing in a handful of cooked shrimp or some leftover steak sliced thin. A tossed salad can be anything you want it to be.

Iceberg Lettuce Salad

Serves 6

I started off the salad section with this because iceberg lettuce is much maligned among food snobs, and I detest food snobs. To do this salad right you must make sure the lettuce is crisp.

First take the lettuce out of the wrapper, remove the first layer of leaves and discard them. Bang the core end very hard on your counter and it will be easy to pull out. Run some cold water through the lettuce to clean it, shake out the excess water, wrap it in paper towels, and let it crisp in the fridge for about an hour or more.

Cut the crisped lettuce lengthwise i nto 6 or more wedges, removing any loose leaves. Pour the dressing of your choice over the wedges and serve. The traditional dressing, and my favorite, is Blue Cheese, the recipe for which you can find in the Salad Dressing Section.

As for the food snobs, they can stay homeand practice sniffing their wine corks.

Fruit Salad with Chef Dugan’s Dressing

This is a dressing I created because I don’t care for the usual poppy seed dressing for fruit salads. I think it’s the best fruit salad dressing ever.

Serves 4

A variety of your choice of fresh fruit in bite-sized pieces (I like watermelon, cantaloupe, apple slices, pineapple chunks, and seedless grapes).

1 package of mixed baby greens 1 8-oz carton sour cream

1 tablespoons of honey ¼ cup orange juice

Place greens on a plate, and arrange fruit on top. Mix sour cream, honey, and orange juice together. Pour over salad.

NOTE: You have a lot of leeway with this dressing. You can make it sweeter by adding honey or more tart by adding orange juice.

White and Black Bean Salad with Tuna

A delightful and verypretty salad to haveon a hot summer’s day. It’s very simple and should be served only slightly chilled or at room temperature. The leftovers are good the next day for lunch as well. You can also use poached salmon.

Serves 4

2 cans albacore tuna, drained and broken into large bite-sized pieces 1 can white northern beans, rinsed and drained (or any other white bean)

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 scallions, sliced, green part included

2 ripe tomatoes, quartered

Small can of corn

1 small green pepper, diced

6-oz mozzarella cheese, cut into ¼-inch cubes, or crumbled feta cheese

Vinaigrette dressing to suit

Put all the ingredients, except the tomato quarters and cheese, into a large bowl, add salt and freshly ground pepper, and gently stir in the dressing being careful not to break up the beans. Mound the tuna mixture in the center, sprinkle on the cheese, and surround with quartered tomatoes. Serve with some crusty French bread.

Mediterranean Tuna Salad

In Tunisia this is known as Salade Mechouia. It makes a wonderful light lunch or brunch. It’s quick, easy, and cool—very important in the hot desert.

NOTE: I cook almost everything in olive oil. For a while I used a lesser grade for some cooking, and extra virgin for salads. The difference in price isn’t really worth having both, so now I use only extra virgin.

Serves 2

1 green, yellow, or red bell pepper

1 can albacore tuna in water

2 medium-sized ripe tomatoes

2 hardboiled eggs,

quartered

1 tablespoon capers, drained

1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated

Olive oil and lemon juice to drizzle

Salt and pepper

4 slices of pita bread

Cut pepper into thin strips. Add a little olive oil to a small skillet with the pepper, cover, and sweat for about 5 minutes until the pepper is slightly limp. Remove the cover, and sauté for another 5 minutes. Set aside.

Turn out the tuna on a small plate, and drizzle with good extra virgin olive oil. Salt and pepper lightly.

Toast the bread until it is crisp, drizzle olive oil over the slices, and sprinkle oregano and parmesan over them. Set aside.

Place the quartered tomatoes around the edge of the plate evenly, and lay the pepper slices in the middle. Place the egg quarters between the tomato slices, and half the tuna in the center of each plate, leaving it in fairly large pieces. Sprinkle the capers over the tuna, and drizzle lemon juice and olive oil over everything.

Serve with the toasted pita bread.

Crab Louis Salad

This di sh originated on the West Coast, and you can make itwith shrimp and lobster as well. If you are making it with crab, be sure you only use lump crab meat or Dungeness Crab.

The dressing is so good that, even if you made too much, you will think of a lot of other reasons to use it. The recipe for Louis Dressing can be found in the Sauce Section as well. The original recipe did not includeartichoke bottoms, but I thought they added a nice touch.

Serves 2

¾ lb shrimp, shelled and deveined

1 can artichoke bottoms (if you can’t find them, use shredded lettuce as a bed for the shrimp)

1 cup mayonnaise

½ cup heavy cream

2 hardboiled eggs,

quartered

¼ cup chili sauce (the

bottled kind)

¼ cup chopped green pepper

¼ cup chopped scallions, including some of the green

2 tablespoons of green olives stuffed with

pimentos, chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice or to taste

Salt and pepper

Heat a small saucepan full of salted water. Squeeze a generous amount of lemon juice in, add the shrimp, and turn off heat. Let shrimp poach in liquid for 10 minutes.

Combine all other ingredients, except artichoke bottoms, in a small bowl. Place 2 artichoke bottoms on each plate, cover with shrimp, and spoon a generous amount of dressing over all. Place the quartered eggs around the edge of the dish. You can decorate the plate with some Kalamata olives if you wish. NOTE: You can skip the artichoke bottoms, cover each plate with 2 cups of shredded lettuce, lay the shrimp on top, then add the dressing.

I like to serve this with some French potato salad (oil and vinegar, not mayonnaise) and sliced tomatoes.

Combination Salad

This recipe comes from a remarkable cookbook called White Trash Cooking by the late Ernest Matthew Mickler. At first glance it appears as just another cookbook, but then you open it and read some of the endorsements: Senator J. William Fulbright; actress Helen Hayes; Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird; and James B. Hunt, Jr., formerGovernor of North Carolina. This recipe is typical of the book—good and simple.

Serves 2

½ head iceberg lettuce

2 ripe medium-sized tomatoes Plenty of mayo

Chop lettuce into 2-inch pieces. Clean tomatoes, and cut them into 1-inch squares. Combine tomatoes, lettuce, and enough mayonnaise to generously coat everything. Then add salt and black pepper to taste, and tumble some more. If more moisture is needed, add 1-2 spoonfuls of white vinegar.

“It’s so good with fried chicken or pork chops, and is enough to feed a whole family,” says cookbook contributor Betty Sue, “and there ain’t no secret to makin’ it.”

Waldorf Salad

I have stayed at the Waldorf a number of times. Once, when they had overbooked, they gave me President Dwight Eisenhower’s suite. There I was in these palatial rooms, with several fireplaces, an incredible view, and more bathrooms than I could ever use. Then they brought me a fold-up bed to sleep on. I guess they figured my room rate didn’t include sleeping in the President’s bed. But, being the Waldorf, the next day when they changed me to a regular room, they sent up a huge basket of fruit, cheese, and wine to apologize for my inconvenience.

This is not the salad as originally made at the Waldorf—even great hotels have renovations.

Serves 4

½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup sour cream 1 tablespoon honey

2 cups Granny Smith apples, cored and diced (you don’t have to peel them)

1 cup celery, diced ½ cup chopped walnuts

1 cup green grapes, halved

Mix all ingredients together, and serve.

Black-eyed Pea Salad

Lynne and I owned a cattle ranch in Arkansas. To get to it you had to travel over five miles of dirt road, and then come up to the top of our mountain.

Periodically one of our neighbors would throw a little pot-luck get-together. Everybody brought something to eat, and some brought other things, most of them legal. I always brought a keg of beer and a huge bowl of this salad.

Entire clans, let alone families, would show up with dozens of kids. The kids had a wonderful time in spite of the fact that we had no planned activities. Nobody had to watch them because there was no place for them to go, and they entertained themselves. The adults played horseshoes all afternoon until it got dark. After that there was always someone picking a guitar. About2:00 AM, everybody either went home or curled up in somebody’s barn until the next morning. There were never any invitations—these things just seemed to happen by word of mouth.

Try this dish. If it got any easier, you couldn’t claim to have made anything.

Serves 2

1 can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained

1 red pepper, diced

1 onion, diced

1 onion, diced inch lengths, green part included

2 stalks celery, cut into ¼inch slivers

¼ cup olive oil (or more to taste)

Juice of ½ lemon

¼ teaspoon dried oregano or ½ teaspoon dried dill

Salt and pepper to taste

Toss it all together, cover, and chill for 1 hour. Before serving, let it come to room temperature.

NOTE: A different treatment would be to use black beans or navy beans in this recipe. When I had a large amount to make, I used all 3 just to make it prettier (triple all the ingredients, of course).

Chicken Salad with Melon and Grapes

A delicious chicken salad to take on a picnic. It’s different, refreshing, and easy to make. Instead of melon and grapes you can use apple slices.

Serves 2

½ cantaloupe or other melon, diced 1 cup cooked chicken breast, cubed ½ cup seedless green grapes, halved

1 stalk celery, chopped fine ½ cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

¼ cup mayonnaise ¼ cup sour cream

2 teaspoons soy sauce 1 teaspoon curry powder

Salt to taste

Dice cantaloupe, and put in colander to drain a little. In a small bowl mix mayonnaise, sour cream, soy sauce, curry powder, and salt. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix together. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Chicken Salad with Oranges and Cashews

Back to the Mediterranean. Serve it on a hot, summer day, and the temperature will drop by 10 degrees.

Serves 2

2 navel oranges olive oil 2 cups poached chicken breasts, diced

¾ cup long grain rice

1½ cups water

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

5 tablespoons extra virgin 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

½ teaspoon sugar

½ cup cashew nuts,

toasted

Orange rind

You can use leftover chicken breast, or poach a large chicken breast in chicken broth for 20 minutes and drain.

Pare one of the oranges, being careful not to include any of the white part. Heat the water to a boil, add the orange peel and rice, and cover. Cook on very low heat for 15 minutes, and remove from heat. Set aside for 10 more minutes, and toss. Remove the orange rind, and discard. Cool the rice in a large bowl.

Peel the oranges, avoiding the white pith, and cut into small segments or 2-inch pieces, reserving any juice from the oranges.

Mix the oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard, and reserved orange juice well, until it emulsifies. Add half of it to the rice and toss. Put the rice in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to cool completely.

When ready to serve, add the nuts, chicken, and oranges to the bowl, and toss with the remaining dressing. Spoon over a bed of mixed greens and serve. NOTE: I think this goes really well with a loaf of crusty French bread, some good cheese, and some chilled, white wine.

Mark’s Chicken Salad

My son Mark has been a sous chef at several restaurants and a count ry club. He developed this recipe at the country club and, although I’m prejudiced, I highly recommend it.

Serves 2

2 small chicken breasts, poached and cut into 1-inch chunks ½ small onion, diced

1 stalk celery, diced ½ teaspoon celery seed

½ tablespoon dried basil ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon sugar ¼ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup sour cream 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

Mix together all the ingredients, except the chicken, and then fold into chicken. Chill and serve.

Curried Chicken Salad

Curry powders vary so much in flavor and intensity you should try 1 tablespoon first, and then add the second if you want to. Incidentally, anytime youare using curry powder, heat a small non-stick frying pan over moderate heat and warm the curry powder for about 30 seconds. It brings out the flavor and makes your kitchen smell yummy

Serves 2

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts 2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons curry powder ¼ cup mayonnaise

Juice of ½ lemon 6 fresh basil leaves (see note)

¼ cup almonds, slivered and toasted 1 medium apple, cored, peeled, and diced

Heat olive oil in frying pan over medium low heat. Sprinkle chicken breasts with curry powder, coating both sides well. Place in pan, and sauté about 30 minutes, turning once. Be very careful not to use too much heat. Remove from pan and let cool.

While pan is still warm, but not over heat, add mayonnaise and lemon juice to pan, and combine with drippings.

When chicken is cool, cut into ½-inch dice, place in bowl, and toss with mixture from pan.

NOTE: Stack basil leaves inside each other, and carefully roll them into a tube. With a sharp knife cut across into very thin slices. Add to bowl.

Add apples and almonds to bowl, and toss gently. Adjust to your taste, a little salt and pepper, perhaps more lemon juice or mayonnaise, and serve.

This is very good with green beans and new potatoes lightly bathed in a vinaigrette dressing, and if you add some deviled eggs, it makes a great picnic lunch.

Baked Chicken Salad Mexicana

I first came across this recipe in a cookbook called The Best of Sunset by the editors of Sunset Books. The recipe collection in the book spans over 50 years of their publication of foods common to the American West.

Serves 2

Chicken: 4 tablespoons butter

2 small chicken breasts Salad:

2 large eggs 4 cups shredded lettuce

¼ cup salsa of your choice 1 clove garlic, minced 2 scallions thinly sliced, green tops included

1 cup commercial bread crumbs

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin ¼ teaspoon oregano 12 grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half ½ sliced ripe avocado

¾ cup sour cream

1 lime, cut into wedges

Beat together salsa, eggs, and garlic in a shallow soup bowl. In another bowl mix the bread crumbs and other spices. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture, and shake off excess. Roll into bread crumb mixture, pressing gently into chicken to coat it well. Heat oven to 375 degrees, place butter in a pie plate, and put in oven until the butter is melted. Remove pie plate, and roll chicken breasts in the butter until they are well coated on both sides. Return to oven, and bake for 45 minutes.

Place shredded lettuce on each plate, arrange chicken on lettuce, and top each chicken slice with a generous spoonful of sour cream. Sprinkle the sour cream with the scallions and garnish the plate with the tomatoes, lime wedges, and avocado. Offer additional sour cream and salsa. Hot, buttered corn tortillas are delicious with this.

Smoked Turkey Salad

A recipe of the late Louis Szathmary, whom I had the pleasure of knowing. His restaurant in Chicago, The Bakery, was just that, an old bakery. Louis was an exceptionally nice person and truly a world-class chef. I used to brag about my growing cookbook collection of 300-400 books and he always complimented me, but never said a word about his. When Louis died he left his collection of over 30,000 cookbooks to Johnson and Wales University. Typical Louis behavior.

No matter h ow tempted you are to change this recipe, don’t, because, just like Louis, it will never be better than the original. It’s a little work, but will be the best smoked turkey salad you ever tasted.

NOTE: You can substitute chicken for turkey if you wish.

Serves 4

1½ cups cooked potatoes, diced (Louis sometimes used white beans instead but I like potatoes best)

2 cups smoked turkey,

skinned and cut into ¼ to ½inch cubes (save scraps from skinning and cutting)

½ cup carrots, scraped, cubed, and blanched

¼ cup sweet pickle

¼ cup onion, chopped

½ cup celery, cut into ¼-inch cubes

½ cup apples, cut into ½inch cubes

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup sour cream

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Düsseldorf mustard (or brown

mustard)

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

¼ teaspoon Tabasco

sauce

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)

Scrape, cube, and blanch carrots. Drain and chill.

Chop pickles and onions by hand to avoid losing too much liquid. Chill all ingredients separately, if they are not already cold.

Take the scraps of turkey, place them in a food processor or blender with some of the mayonnaise, and process until ground. If there are not enough scraps, use a few cubes of turkey. Scrape from processor and combine with remaining mayonnaise, sour cream, mustards, Worcestershire, Tabasco, soy sauce, sugar, and anchovy paste. Mix well. Fold in carrots, apples, potatoes, pickles, onions, and cubed turkey.

This should be a rather moist mixture, so if necessary, add more mayonnaise and sour cream. Serve at once, or cover and chill until needed, or overnight.

Fattoush Salad

There are a number of versions of this salad which is common in the Middle East. If you add feta cheese, it looks suspiciously like a Greek Salad.

NOTE: Once you toast the pita bread, coat it with olive oil so the pieces don’t get soggy when mixed with the dressing.

Serves 4 as a salad or 2 as a main course

1 cup toasted pita bread, cubed

2 small cucumbers, diced 1 bag mixed greens salad

2 medium tomatoes, diced ½ cup green pepper, diced

½ cup fresh parsley, chopped ½ cup fresh mint, chopped

½ cup olive oil ½ cup white wine vinegar

Place all ingredients, except lemon juice, in a large bowl, and toss well. Add salt, freshly ground pepper, and lemon juice to taste. NOTE: This is really good topped with shrimp.

Shrimp and Orange Salad

This makes a nice, light lunch with some crusty bread and a glass of dry, white wine. The recipe is for two but if the other person doesn’t show up, you can really eat the whole thing—you just can’t call it a light lunch.

Serves 2

12 medium cooked shrimp, shelled and de-veined 2 oranges, peeled, seeded, and cut into small segments

1 package of mixed baby greens (baby spinach will do as well) 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil ½ small red onion, sliced very thin

Mix the olive oil and vinegar until it emulsifies (or put it in a small jar and shake). Place the greens in a large bowl, and toss with the vinaigrette. Divide the greens between 2 chilled plates, and decorate them with the shrimp, orange segments, and onion.

Potato, Tomato, and Tuna Salad

A lovely salad to have on a hot day. If you can’t obtain really good tomatoes, try a box of grape tomatoes.

Serves 2

1 can albacore tuna packed in oil

3 medium red potatoes, skinned, cooked, and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 medium tomatoes, seeded, peeled, and quartered

1 can good quality green beans, rinsed and drained 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 hardboiled eggs, quartered

Kalamata olives If the tuna has been packed in water, break it up a little, and drizzle some olive oil over it. Let it sit for 15 minutes.

Place everything, except the oil and lemon juice, in a large bowl, and toss it very gently to mix. Add the olive oil and lemon juice, and toss some more. Decorate with the hardboiled eggs and olives. Salt and pepper to taste, and serve slightly chilled.

NOTE: Don’t be shocked because I specified canned beans. The good brands are very good. You can cook your own, of course, but my way teaches you to be less rigid with your food selections.

Indian Raita

A very delicious salad, served often in India as a foil for spicy food and hot weather. Take the time to drain the yogurt and the tomatoes or it will be too watery. Unfortunately, many Indian restaurants serve it that way. But you can do better! You also might recognize it as the condiment served with Gyros.

Serves 2

1 cucumber, seeded and finely diced

1 carton plain yogurt 1 large tomato, seeded and diced

½ small, sweet onion, minced 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped

Salt

Salt the tomatoes lightly, and place on 1 side of a large colander. Salt the cucumber slices a little heavier and place on other side of colander. Drain them both for 2 hours. Line a larger colander with cheesecloth and put yogurt in. Drain for at least 2 hours, 4 is better, and overnight is best. If you run out of colanders, lay the yogurt carefully in the middle of a 12-inch by12-inch piece of cheesecloth, and bring up the 4 corners to make a sling. Tie this on your sink faucet, and let the yogurt drain.

If you hang the yogurt overnight, refrigerate it and let it drain into a bowl. You will then have yogurt cheese or lebaneh as it is called in the Middle East.

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl, and mix gently. Chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. Salt to taste, and serve.

NOTE: If you omit the tomato, and add a clove of crushed garlic and 2 tablespoons of chopped dill, fresh or dried, you have a Mediterranean dish called Cacik—a different treatment but delicious.

Tomato, Pepper, and Onion Salad

If you suddenly discover you don’t have any time left to make a salad to go with dinner, try this. If you’re really handy in the kitchen, you can do it in three minutes flat.

Serves 2

2 medium ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into 1-inch dice 1 small green pepper, cut into ½-inch dice

1 medium sweet onion, cut into ½-inch dice 2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar Salt and pepper

Mix the sugar and vinegar in a bowl, and taste. You might want more sugar or more vinegar. Add salt, pepper, and the vegetables. Toss well, and if you have time, chill. Otherwise, serve immediately.

Nanny’s Salad

This salad is typical of my grandmother’s creativity in the kitchen. I imagine one day she found she didn’t have the right ingredients for a salad dressing and just made this up. Don’t discount it because it looks so simple.

Serves 2

½ head lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces 3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons vinegar 4 tablespoons heavy cream

Mix sugar and vinegar until the sugar is dissolved. Taste to make sure it is to your liking. Stir in the cream, mix well, and toss with the lettuce.

Salad Nicoise

Salad Nicoise has been around a long time and the recipes are legion, but I like this one best. Feel free to experiment.

Many restaurants will use the same ingredients and toss them in a large bowl like Caesar salad, which is a shame. It deserves better than that. This presentation really does the salad justice. This salad, with some good bread, is a meal in itself.

Serves 4

1 head of Boston or romaine lettuce, shredded into bitesized pieces

3 tablespoons good olive oil

¾ lb of fresh green beans, trimmed, and blanched to crisp-tender

½ cup lemon vinaigrette dressing with several slices garlic

3 ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered (peeled if you wish)

2 cans albacore tuna,

drained and flaked

3 cups French potato salad (see recipe in this Section)) 4 hardboiled eggs, halved lengthwise

¼ cup black Nicoise-type olives

2 tablespoons capers 3 tablespoons fresh

parsley, minced

Salt and pepper

½ can flat anchovy filets, opened and drained just before serving (optional)

Line a roomy platter with the lettuce, drizzle a little olive oil over them, then a light sprinkling of salt. Remove the garlic from the dressing, and toss the beans in a bowl with a little of it. Drizzle a spoonful of the dressing over the tomatoes, and salt well. Season the tuna with the dressing, breaking it up into large pieces. Place the potatoes in the center of the platter; mound beans at strategic intervals, interspersing them with tomatoes and mounds of tuna. Ring the salad with the eggs, and curl an anchovy filet over each. Spoon a little more vinaigrette over all, and scatter on capers, parsley, and olives.

NOTE: To be at its best, this salad should not sit long before serving. You have 5 minutes to get your act together!

Coleslaw

I think I have tried every coleslaw recipe known to man. Just like my potato salad excursions, my wife told me to stop fooling around and stick with my own. And, like my potato salad, I don’t claim this is the best, just that I haven’t tasted any better.

Serves 2

2 cups cabbage, finely shredded

½ cup carrot, finely shredded 1 teaspoon celery seed

2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Mayonnaise to taste NOTE: I started mixing one third salad dressing with two thirds mayonnaise and like the results even better.

In a deep bowl, mix the sugar and vinegar until all the sugar is dissolved. Taste the mixture, and adjust according to your liking. Some people like a sweeter slaw, some a little tart.

Mix in the cabbage, carrots, and celery seed, and stir well. Let the mixture sit for at least 30 minutes, mixing it up every so often. Drain the mixture well, and mix in the mayonnaise. Again, mix it to your liking, some people like a creamy dressing and some like a minimal amount of mayonnaise. Add a little salt and pepper, and refrigerate for an hour or so.

Florida Coleslaw

Lynne is a Florida native, and I have loved the state since I first moved here. Citrus and Florida belong together, and this is a great way to make a different kind of coleslaw.

Serves 4

½ cup mayonnaise 1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon grated orange peel

½ head of a small cabbage, very thinly sliced 1½ naval oranges, segmented and sliced into 1-inch chunks

½ cup sweet onion, sliced very thin

Mix first 4 ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Add cabbage, orange pieces, and onions. Toss well, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or even overnight).

Roasted Beet Salad with Greens and Feta Cheese

This is a great dish to serve with roast pork orlamb, or withchops. It sounds and looks Greek, so I guess it is. If you can get enough of them, because they cook down like spinach, try sautéing the beet greens alone withsome good olive oil, salt, and pepper—absolutely delicious!

Serves 2

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3–4 medium beets with greens

1¼ tablespoons wine vinegar

½ tablespoon garlic,

minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano ½ cup water

1 tablespoon capers, chopped and drained ½ cup feta cheese, crumbled

Cut the tops off the beets, leaving about 1 inch of stem remaining. Put the beets in

Cut the tops off the beets, leaving about 1 inch of stem remaining. Put the beets in degree oven until the beets are tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour 20 minutes.

When the beets have cooled enough to handle, peel them, cut into ½-inch dice, and transfer to a bowl.

Mix the oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper, and transfer to the bowl along with the capers. Toss well to coat the beets, and set aside.

Wash the greens thoroughly under cold water and, leaving some water dripping from the greens, heat in a large pot until they begin to wilt but are still a bright green, about 4 minutes. Remove, and drain. Squeeze out most of the moisture with some paper towels, and chop them coarsely.

Toss the greens and beets together until the mixture is well-coated with dressing and arrange on 2 salad plates. Sprinkle crumbled feta cheese on top and serve.

NOTE: Try doubling this recipe and serving it as a main entree with some pita bread, hummus, and Greek olives for a light lunch.

Egg Salad

I once had a consulting client in Missouri, and we used to travel back to Arkansas on weekends. On the way, we always stopped at a little country restaurant called Edith’s Café, and fell in love with their egg salad. When I asked Edith for the recipe, she broke out laughing and told me it was very difficult. “You boil some eggs, chop them up, mix with some good mayo, salt and pepper, and that’s it.” That’s the way I’ve made egg saladever since.

Of course you can add chopped onion and celery, which most people do, as well as spices like tarragon and dill, but I still prefer this salad for my sandwiches.

Take as many hardboiled eggs as you need and chop them up very coarsely. Add mayonnaise, salt and pepper, and toss gently. That’s it. For some reason, it tastes better than most of the egg salads I have eaten, and makes a great sandwich.

NOTE: Whenever I use this salad to make a sandwich, I spark it up by having slices of pickled jalapeno peppers with it. A great combination!

Caesar Salad

Created in Tijuana, Mexico, in the 1920s, this salad has become a classic, and rightfully so. It’s interesting to note that the original recipe from Caesar Cardini called for whole romaine leaves, which the diners picked up and dipped in the dressing. You can add items, as in my Surf and Turf Caesar Salad, but the basic salad should remain the same. I confess,when I’m in a hurry I resort to the packaged Caesar salads—not bad in a pinch, but home-made dressing is better.

Serves 4

Head of romaine lettuce Parmesan cheese 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tablespoon

Worcestershire sauce Juice of 1 lemon

4 tablespoons grated 1 egg, boiled exactly 1 minute

Salt and pepper

Croutons (store-bought or home-made)

Wash the lettuce, shake out the excess moisture, and tear into bite-sized pieces. Lay out the lettuce, and pat dry with a paper towel.

Rub the entire surface of a large salad bowl with the garlic clove, pressing very hard to extract the juices. Leave the garlic in the bowl.

Place the lettuce in the bowl, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. When ready to serve, first toss the salad with olive oil, followed by the lemon juice. Add the Worcestershire, and toss again. Break the egg over the salad and toss well. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese, a little salt, and freshly ground pepper over the salad, and toss once more. During the tossing, when the garlic clove surfaces, remove and discard it.

Sprinkle croutons over the salad, toss a little, and serve immediately. If you use store-bought croutons, it improves them if they are sautéed in a little olive oil before using.

NOTE: Some people add anchovies, which were not in the original salad. However, this is an authentic version.

Green Bean Salad (Bohnensalat)

A great treatment for green beans that can be completed in 10 minutes. With that name it must be German.

Serves 2

½ lb green beans, sliced lengthwise (French style)

1½ tablespoons olive oil

1½ tablespoons white wine vinegar

1½ tablespoons beef broth or cooking water ¼ cup thinly sweet onions, sliced

1 teaspoon dried dill weed ½ teaspoon sugar

Cook beans in salted water until tender-crisp; drain, saving a little of the cooking water (unless you prefer the flavor of the beef broth).

Mix the oil, vinegar, the reserved cooking water or beef broth, the onion, and the sugar. Beat with a fork to emulsify. Pour over the beans, and marinate several hours.

Chef Dugan’s Surf and Turf Salad

After reading thousands of recipes I can state with some degree of certainty, this one is mine! I had a little leftover rare steak and some cooked shrimp on hand, and ended up with a wonderful summer supper.

Serves 2

1 head romaine lettuce torn into bite-sized bits

½ lb rare steak, sliced into very thin strips

½ lb cooked medium shrimp

1 jar marinated artichokes, quartered

1 cup feta cheese cut into small dice

2 cups baby new potatoes, if available (otherwise small red potatoes, quartered) 4 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon good vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Dash of dried oregano

2 ripe tomatoes, cut into eighths, or 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Put the olive oil, lemon juice, and vinegar into a small bowl with the oregano, and beat until it emulsifies. Set aside.

Boil the potatoes until they are done, but still a little firm, and drain. Return them to the pot and cover. Let the potatoes steam for 5 minutes, remove the cover, toss with some of the dressing, and set aside to cool.

Do the same with the steak strips and the shrimp.

This dish calls for a nice presentation, so cover the serving plates with the lettuce, and arrange alternating slices of steak and pieces of shrimp in a circle on top. Lay the tomatoes around and in between, and do the same with the artichokes and feta cheese. Mound the potatoes in the center of the salad. Drizzle the remaining dressing over all, sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper, and serve with some crusty French bread.

NOTE: You can use lobster or scallops as a substitute for the shrimp.

Chef Dugan’s Steak Salad

This is a great salad to make with leftover steak, although I often sauté a steak just for that purpose. It calls for a mound of potato saladin the center of the greens, and the following recipe is perfect for the job. You can also use the French Potato Salad with Green Beans recipe as well.

Serves 4

1 head romaine, cleaned and chilled

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or red)

1 pound leftover steak, sliced very thin

½ teaspoon dried oregano 1 tablespoon dried parsley 1 cup crumbled feta cheese 2 cups grape tomatoes, sliced in half

¼ cup olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 hardboiled eggs,

quartered

Jar of marinated artichoke hearts

Combine the lemon juice, vinegar, and olive oil in a small bowl, and add the

oregano and parsley, salt and pepper. Whip the mixture with a fork until it

becomes an emulsion, adjust to your taste, and set aside.

Tear up the romaine leaves into bite-sized pieces, and place them in a wide soup bowl or salad plate. Put a mound of potato salad in the center. Sprinkle the feta cheese around. Neatly arrange the steak slices and grape tomatoes on top, and garnish with the egg and artichoke quarters.

Drizzle the dressing thoroughly around the salad, and serve with some crusty French bread.

Chef Dugan’s All-American Potato Salad

I rarely pass up an opportunity to taste a new potato salad. I probably have tried over 100 and, in my opinion, this is the best. It’s perfect to take ona picnic or to a church supper.

Serves 4

7 good-sized red or yellow potatoes, boiled, drained, peeled, and broken up into large pieces

3 hardboiled eggs, peeled and chopped coarsely

1 medium sweet onion, diced fine

2 stalks celery, diced fine

1 2-oz jar pimentos

The Dressing:

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup salad dressing

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

½ teaspoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish

Salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, thin the mayonnaise with the vinegar. Add the mustard and sweet pickle, plus a little juice from the pickle jar. Add salt and pepper and stir it up, then taste. It should taste good to you, but strong, because potatoes are bland. If it sort of shocks your tongue, you’ve got it right.

Put the potatoes in a large bowl, and break them up with a fork, leaving large and small lumps and some just sort of mashed. Add onions, celery, eggs, and pimentos. Pour the dressing over, and gently fold everything together. It should be good and moist. Now adjust to suit your taste. Serve chilled.

French Potato Salad with Green Beans

This is the potato salad that you should serve with your Salad Nicoise, and I especially like it with cold cuts and sandwiches. Although my recipe for Salad Nicoise keeps the potatoes and green beans separate, it’s okay to just use this salad instead. Serve at room temperature.

Serves 2-4

6 medium-sized red potatoes, cooked and sliced while warm

1½ tablespoons scallions, finely sliced 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

2 tablespoons red sweet pepper, chopped 4 tablespoons dry parsley

1 cup cooked green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces Dressing:

½ cup dry white wine ¼ cup white wine vinegar

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Salt and pepper

Mix thoroughly with a fork or whisk

Place the warm potatoes in a bowl, and sprinkle the dressing over them. Stir carefully, so they are all covered. Let sit for 10 minutes, tossing gently every few minutes. Be careful not to break up the potatoes. Add the beans and toss once more.

Mediterranean Potato Salad

Just when I thought I had tried every potato salad recipe under the sun, I ran across this one. It quickly jumped to the top of the list, and it’s one of myall-time favorites.

Serves 2

1½ lbs of medium red-skinned potatoes 2 hardboiled eggs, peeled

1 small sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, or more, to taste

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons dried parsley

1 small jar diced pimentos, drained

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until they are tender. Test with a sharp knife. Drain, and let cool. Peel, and cut into ¼-inch rounds, maybe a little thicker. Set aside.

Put olive oil in a small bowl, and add the yolk of 1 egg. With a fork, mash the yolk well into the oil. Add the vinegar, pimentos, salt, and pepper, and mix very well. It is important to use an electric mixer to make sure the dressing emulsifies. Taste. It should be a little sharp.

Slice the remaining egg and egg white thinly. Toss the potato slices gently with the sauce, being careful not to break up the potato. Spoon the potatoes onto a serving dish, layer the onions on top along with the egg slices, and serve.

Tomato and Fresh Basil Salad

A very simple but delicious salad that is really good if you can obtain homegrown tomatoes. You can take it to the next level and make a main dish from it by adding shrimp,, scallops, diced chicken breast or thinly sliced rare steak.

Serves 2

3 large ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into ¼-inch slices 10 large fresh basil leaves

1 small sweet onion, very thinly sliced 3 tablespoons pine nuts, sautéed in olive oil for 2 minutes (optional)

Salt and freshly ground pepper Extra virgin olive oil

1 large lemon

Lay the tomato slices on a plate in an attractive pattern, and distribute the basil leaves evenly over them. If you are using them, sprinkle pine nuts over the tomatoes. Lay the onion rings on top, and drizzle olive oil first, and then lemon juice over everything. Salt, pepper, chill, and serve.

Vegetables in Sour Cream

I first tasted this in a New York delicatessen an d fell in love with it. You can put in any vegetables you like, but I think it tastes best this way. If this salad takes you more than 5 minutes to throw together, you need to practice.

Serves 2

1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into ¾-inch dice 1 small green pepper, cut into ¾-inch dice

1 small sweet onion, cut into ¾-inch dice 1 small carton sour cream

2 tablespoons dried parsley Salt and pepper

Mix everything together in a bowl, and chill. NOTE: For a different taste, skip the parsley, and substitute 2 tablespoons dried dill weed.

Greek Salad

There are many recipes and treatments for this salad. Some have beets put in at the last moment, some have a little mound of potato saladhidden in the bottom, some use iceberg lettuce rather than romaine, but all of them are delicious. Marinated artichokes are a nice addition.

Serves 4

1 small head of romaine lettuce, sliced, not torn

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped into 1-inch cubes 3 ripe tomatoes, quartered

Diced sweet pepper 1 cup Greek olives, black or green

5 scallions, sliced, green parts included 1 cup feta cheese, cubed or broken into large pieces

Dressing: 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice Salt and pepper

Put all the ingredients into a large bowl, and toss with the dressing. If you are adding beets, place on top of the salad, but do not toss.

Serve with toasted pita bread.

Macaroni Salad

Macaroni Salad can range from delightful to dreadful. When left overnight in the refrigerator it can become very “gummy” because the pasta absorbs the mayonnaise. My method gets rid of most of that problem, but not all. Truthfully, I like it so much that “gummy” doesn’t bother me—I just add more mayonnaise the next day.

Serves 4

8 oz of macaroni 3 tablespoons green pepper, diced

3 tablespoons celery, diced 1 small jar diced pimentos, drained well

½ teaspoon celery seed 1 hardboiled egg, chopped fine

¾ cup mayonnaise ¼ cup salad dressing

2 tablespoons olive oil NOTE: This is another recipe where you can mix a little salad dressing in with the mayonnaise.

Cook the macaroni in boiling salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold running water for 3 minutes, stirring the pasta to rinse thoroughly. Let drain for 10 minutes, shaking once in a while to get most of the water out. Put in a large bowl, and toss with the olive oil. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well, and refrigerate for 1 hour, or overnight.

Tabouli

Probably the most widely eatensalad in the Middle East. It is highly flavored with mint and green onion, and will last for several days. Great to take on a picnic.

Serves 2

¾ cup bulgur wheat 1 large tomato, seeded and diced ½ sweet onion, minced

3 scallions, sliced thin, including green parts 1 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

2 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped 1 tablespoon garlic, minced

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground pepper Salt

Put the bulgur in a sieve and wash under running water for 3 minutes, tossing once in a while. Drain, place in a bowl, and cover with 2 inches water. Soak at least 1 hour.

Drain bulgur, and put in a large bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Stir well. Refrigerate for 2 hours and serve.

Woodstock Salad

This salad reminds me of the grand old days of the ’60s and ’70s. Everywhere you looked natural food restaurants were opening but, with a few exceptions, the quality of the meals they served was so awful you had to keepreminding yourself how healthy they were. A good friend of ours opened one in Coconut Grove in Miami, and she really knew what she was doing. It was called Mama Mango’s. This salad probably came from her restaurant.

Serves 2

1 head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces

2 tablespoons wheat germ 4 tablespoons sunflower seeds

½ cup mild cheddar

cheese, shredded

1 carrot, sliced thin

½ cup bean sprouts

8 medium-sized whole mushrooms

1 large tomato, quartered 1 small avocado, sliced and rubbed with lemon juice ½ cup peanuts

2 tablespoons granola

3 tablespoons olive oil ½ cup unflavored yogurt

2 tablespoons lemon juice 2 hardboiled eggs,

quartered

Salt and pepper

Place lettuce, mushrooms, and carrots in a large bowl. Add peanuts, parsley, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, granola, cheese and sprouts, and mix well. Combine yogurt, lemon juice, and olive oil. Pour dressing over salad, and toss gently. Garnish with eggs, avocado slices, and tomato quarters. Salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Octopus Salad

I have a good friend, John, a maritime officer on ocean going vessels, and we first met at the Chapman School of Seamanship where Lynne and I were living on our sailboat, anchored off the school. Our class had about 30 live-in students, all very serious about school. When classes ended each afternoon, serious went out the window. I have a picture of John, sitting ina row boat in the middle of the anchorage drinking a beer, happily watching a blank TV screen.

John was born and raised in Key West, and we stayed over night at his home a few times. His wife Maria is from Puerto Rico and she made this dish for dinner. If you feel adventurous and can find some octopus (not the baby kind), I urge you to try it. You will see how something so very ugly can turn into something very beautiful in a short period of time. It’s also delicious using squid instead of octopus.

Serves 4

1 octopus—about 2 lbs, cleaned and cut into 1-inch pieces (note: you will be using the tentacles)

3 large potatoes, peeled, cooked, and cut into 1-inch cubes

¼ cup of olive oil

1 small jar diced pimentos, drained

3 scallions, chopped,

including green parts

1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 tablespoon dried parsley 1 small can sliced black olives

3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish

Salt and pepper 3 lemons quartered,

divided use

½ cup vinegar, divided use

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Marinate the octopus in water to cover, the juice and rind from 1 quartered lemon, and half the vinegar, for several hours. Rinse the octopus, and simmer in a similar solution for 1-2 hours, checking for tenderness after 1 hour. The octopus will shrink somewhat. Drain octopus, and discard water. Cut each tentacle off as close to the head as possible. Rub skin and suckers off each tentacle under running water. The meat will be a beautiful white and pink color.

Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces and add to all the other ingredients. Make a vinaigrette dressing from the olive oil, remaining lemon, and salt and pepper. Toss with the salad and refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend.

Calamari Salad

If you like calamari (or why else would you make this recipe?), pay particular attention to how it is cooked. Deviate from the timing, and you have rubber band salad.

Serves 2

½ lb cleaned squid

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce (optional)

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

cup extra virgin olive oil 1 garlic clove, minced 1 cup sweet onion, sliced crosswise

cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved

4 Roma tomatoes,

quartered lengthwise 2 celery ribs, cut into ¼-inch slices

1 cup flat leaf parsley,

chopped

Salt and freshly ground

pepper

Cut squid bodies into 1/3-inch rounds, and half tentacles lengthwise.

Heat a pot of salted water to the simmer, remove from heat, and put in squid. Let sit for 1 minute. Drain and place in a bowl of iced water.

Whisk lemon juice, vinegar, oil, garlic, onion, salt and pepper together in a large bowl. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.

Add squid, olives, tomatoes, celery, and parsley, and toss to mix. Adjust seasonings if necessary.

NOTE: This dish gets better the longer it sits. Allow at least 1 hour for the flavors to blend, and it may be kept overnight before serving.

Smoked Trout, Avocado and Grapefruit Salad

Another one of my creations and itmakes anelegant dish whether you serve it as a brunch, lunch, or dinner.

Serves 2

1 large pink grapefruit

1 package of mixed baby greens 5 oz smoked trout (2 filets)

1 avocado, thinly sliced ½ cup sour cream

Juice from grapefruit, reduced to ¼ cup Dash Tabasco

Salt and pepper

Cut grapefruit in segments (be careful to avoid pith and membranes). Take juice from grapefruit and reduce to ¼ cup. Reduction is covered in Help-I Gotta Learn To Cook,but it simply means boiling away excess moisture. If there is not enough juice, add some from a carton of juice—there should be almost ½ cup before

reduction.

Layer two plates with greens. Break trout filets into bite-sized pieces, and place around greens. Place avocado slices and grapefruit on top in an attractive pattern.

When juice is reduced, let cool, and stir in sour cream. Spoon dressing over salad. Some crusty bread spread with Camembert or Brie cheese is good with this.

Thai Rice Salad

I can safely say that this is one ofthe best Thai recipes I have ever had. In addition to the basic salad here, you can add shrimp, scallops, and rare beef slices or chicken, to make it a main dish. The salad gets its heat from cayenne, but using dried red pepper flakes instead allows everyone to make it as spicy as they wish. However, it should be a little spicy or it wouldn’t be Thai.

Serves 2

1½ cups cooked long grain rice, cooled 2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice 3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce

1 heaping tablespoon sugar Pinch of cayenne pepper

4 scallions, chopped 3 carrots, grated

1 cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into ¼-inch dice ¼ cup fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped

Combine the oil, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and cayenne, and let stand for 5 minutes. Then combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and toss until thoroughly mixed. Let stand at room temperature.

Chef Dugan’s Salad Supreme

This salad makes a main dish if you add some crusty bread and some shrimp, rare beef slices, or chicken.

Serves 4

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 small can whole kernel corn, drained

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 stalk celery, sliced thinly on the diagonal 1 cup freshly cooked green beans, cut into 1-inch lengths

2–3 scallions, chopped, green parts included 8 small red potatoes, peeled, cooked, and quartered

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved Juice of ½ lemon

Olive oil to taste Freshly ground black pepper

Slight sprinkling of dried oregano Salt

Combine all the ingredients, except the olive oil, and toss thoroughly to disseminate the lemon juice. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Add olive oil, toss, and serve at room temperature.

Mediterranean Artichoke Salad

In my last r estaurant, Let’s Do Lunch!, this was one of our biggest sellers and, since I would not share the recipe, a numberofcaterers also bought it from us. One of my regular customers told me she had tossed it with some pasta, and it made a great main dish.

Incidentally, this recipe was published in Cruising World Magazine, a really great magazine for people who love living on the water.

Serves 4-6

Two 14-oz jars of artichoke hearts, drained

12-oz jar of roasted red peppers, drained 12-oz jar pitted Kalamata olives, drained

1 teaspoon dried oregano 1/3 cup very good olive oil

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar 3 tablespoons honey or to taste

Put the drained artichoke hearts in a large bowl, and add the roasted red peppers which you have cut up into large slices or pieces.

In a separate bowl combine the vinegar, honey, and oregano. Mix well and taste. It should be tart/sweet. Add more honey or vinegar until it tastes the way you like it. Pour the dressing into the vegetable mixture, stir well, and put in a storage container. Let it marinate for at least a day, stirring once in a while. Before you serve the salad, taste it once more and adjust if necessary.

Chef Dugan’s Tomato and Whatever Salad

For many y ears Lynne kept a number of raised-bed gardens, and tomatoes were one of her main crops. Those early tomato sandwiches, on soft white bread spread thickly with mayo and plenty of salt and pepper, were something to savor all winter. But then we needed to move and were no longer in a position to raise our own. Where we settled did not have a farmer’s market, and I sorely missed a good, home-grown tomato.

Those hard little red balls supermarkets call tomatoes had me puzzled for a while, until I came up with a dressing that overcame any shortcomings they might have. I believe I originally got the idea from Paula Dean. If there were ever an example of what I mean by treatment this is it.

Make a dressing of olive oil, vinegar, and sugar. Start with 1 part olive oil to 3 parts vinegar, and add some sugar. You can substitute lemon juice for the vinegar if you like. Whip the mixture with a fork until it forms an emulsion and the sugar is dissolved. Adjust it until it suits your taste. I prefer the dressing to be a little on the sweet side.

Add some oregano, basil, and any other herbs you might like plus some salt and pepper. Chop up some tomatoes, toss with the dressing, and set it aside for at least 3-4 hours, turning from time to time. I add green beans and cucumbers sometimes, maybe some sliced onions, some sweet peppers, whatever. The longer it marinates the better it tastes. You now have an answer for dealing with supermarket tomatoes.

Charred Corn Salad with Fresh Basil and Tomatoes

A recipe I g ot from Bon Appétit, one of the best cooking magazines anywhere. Almost by mistake I added a dimension to the salad by grilling the corn while I was smoking some ribs. The charring, plus the smoking, made the corn absolutely delicious but, either way, it’s a salad you don’t want to miss.

Serves 2-4

6 ears of corn, husked ¼ cup olive oil, divided

1 sweet onion, thinly sliced 3 large tomatoes, chopped

1 cup fresh basil, coarsely chopped 1/3 cup fresh lime juice

Salt Freshly ground pepper

Rub corn with the olive oil, and place on a medium hot grill. Turn every 15 minutes until the corn shows some prominent charring. Remove corn, cut kernels off the cob, and put in a large bowl.

Toss onion, tomatoes, basil, and corn together with most of the lime juice and 4 tablespoons of the oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add more lime juice if desired.

Roasted Asparagus Vinaigrette Salad

I’m going to give you the basics and you can fill in the rest. Buy the thickest asparagus spears available, and cut off the woody ends. Toss them with some olive oil, and roast them in a 400-degree oven for about 15 minutes. If the asparagus doesn’t have charred spots put it under the broiler for a minute. While the asparagus is roasting, boil 1 or 2 eggs. Cool the asparagus in the refrigerator, shell the egg, and cut into thin slices. Set aside. Make your favorite vinaigrette dressing (or mine).

Lay the asparagus on an attractive chilled plate and rim it with the egg slices. You can stop right there or add:

Tomatoes

Sliced Radishes Sliced Sweet Onions

Sliced Sweet Peppers Cooked Scallops

Cooked Shrimp Diced Pimentos

Julienned Jicama Capers

After you have arranged the plate to look pretty, pour the dressing over the salad and serve.

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SANDWICHES

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T

echnically a sandwich can be anything you want placed between two slices of bread, or placed on top of a single slice of bread as in an openfaced sandwich. If you consider 50% of a sandwich is bread, using

mediocre bread takes away half the flavor, so use the best bread or rolls you can find. On the other hand, my all-time favorite sandwich is bologna on Wonder Bread spread with a lot of mayo. Not exactly gourmet but when it comes to sandwiches, it’s whatever floats your boat.

The whole sandwich idea began when John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, didn’t want to leave his card game. He was probably winning so he charged his cook with bringing the meal to the table, and the sandwich was born.

Probably the most used sandwich cheese in America is American cheese, which is really not cheese and certainly not American. It was invented in 1911 by a guy in Switzerland named Walter Gerber. The idea was given an American patent by James L. Kraft, and those ubiquitous slices of “processed cheese spread” were born. Cheez Whiz and Velveeta soon followed. Just a little food history for you to think about.

Club Sandwich

During my consulting career, I flew millions of mi les and often, when I arrived at my destination and checked into a hotel room, I really didn’t want to face going out to eat. Staying in my room and orderingroom service while I watched TV seemed very attractive. Enter the Club Sandwich, a safe choice for a reliable light dinner or lunch.

It’s hard to screw up this sandwich, although some restaurants have managed to do so, and a recipe is not called for, just an assembly procedure will do. Club sandwiches have several layers, so three slices of bread are needed.

First you must decide on the type of bread. I like wheat or multi-grained, but there’s also white or rye to consider. Since the bread is traditionally toasted, rye seems to come out a little too crisp and breaks up after the first bite.

You will need some turkey or chicken breast, shredded iceberg lettuce, tomato, and crisp bacon slices. Spread mayo on each slice of bread. (I prefer to mix just a little Dijon Mustard into the mayo but that’s your choice.)

The bottom layer is composed of th e shredded lettuce anda few slices of the best tomato you can find. Then a second slice of bread is added, with more shredded lettuce and tomato slices, then turkey or chicken breast. Finally the last layer consists of the bacon.

To summarize, first a slice of toast, then lettuce and tomato, then a slice of toast, then the chicken or turkey breast, then the bacon, and last the top layer of toast.

To finish the sandwich it is required that you slice it diagonally into four triangles, and secure each one with a toothpick. Just like the old drugstore counters used to do.

Kentucky Hot Brown Sandwich

This sandwich originated many years ago in the Brown Hotel in Louisville, and was picked up by drugstore lunch counters and tea rooms around the country. The story goes that, in 1926, Fred K. Schmidt, the hotel’s Executive Chef, got tired of the traditional ham and eggs to serve the late night drunks that flocked to the place, and invented this takeoff ofthe traditional open-faced Welsh Rarebit, using Mornay Sauce instead. Mornay Sauce is a white sauce with cheese added.

Serves 2

4 slices crisp toast, crusts trimmed (toasted in the oven, not the toaster)

2 cups cheese sauce (Velveeta or Cheese Whiz will do) ½ cup whipping cream

6 oz thin sliced chicken or turkey breast 4 slices crisp bacon

½ cup Parmesan cheese

Whip the cream until stiff and fold into the cheese sauce. Divide the chicken slices between the toast, and spoon on the cheese sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, and broil until the sauce is bubbly and begins to brown. Top with the bacon and serve.

Paper-Thin Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Another recipe from White Trash Cookingby Ernest Matthew Mickler. If you are familiar with country music, you mightrecognize one of the book’s patrons, Roy Acuff. To quote Vertamae Grosvenor ofAll Things Considered fame on NPR, and another patron, “I read cookbooks like some people read music scores and I can hear these recipes sing.”

Serves 2

4 slices of Velveeta cheese (no other cheese will do)

4 slices of soft white bread (no other bread will do)

Heat your iron skillet with 1-2 pats of butter on the bottom. Put your slices of Velveeta cheese between the 2 slices of bread. Now place it in the hot skillet. With a turner, mash and toast the cheese sandwich on both sides, until the cheese is melted and the bread is grilled (the flatter the better).

NOTE: Now that you’ve mastered this very complicated recipe, let’s go beyond White Trash Cooking. In addition to the cheese, make 2 separately scrambled

eggs, fried into little round patties in a small non-stick pan. Add 4 slices of bacon,

cut in half and fried or micro-waved very crisp. Add to the sandwich before you

brown it. You are now holding a complete breakfast in your hands.

Chef Dugan’s BLT

Ordering a BLT in many restaurants is a risky thing to do. Often the sandwich is delivered with limp cold toast, limp bacon, and limp lettuce. If you want to make one with toast, refer to my comments on toast in Help-I Gotta Learn To Cook. Otherwise, this is the way to make a world-class BLT.

Serves 2

2 hoagie rolls or 6-inch lengths of French bread, either one with a crisp crust

2 ripe tomatoes

2 cups crisp shredded lettuce

6 slices bacon, fried very crisp, and drained on paper towels

Mayonnaise

Cut the roll or French bread in half lengthwise. Pull out a small amount of bread from both sides to hollow them out slightly.

Slather a lot of mayonnaise on both sides. Start with one side and carefully place a good amount of shredded lettuce in the cavity. Layer overlapping slices of tomato along the lettuce, and generously add salt and pepper. Add 3 slices of crisp bacon, but before you do, wrap paper towels completely around the bacon, and zap it in the microwave for 30 seconds to warm it. Put the other half of the bread on top. Do the same for the second sandwich. Cut the sandwiches in half—they can get sloppy—and serve. It’s the only BLT you’ll ever need.

NOTE: Don’t be afraid to pile on the tomato and bacon, this is not a tea sandwich.

Tuna Salad Sandwich

As you might suspect, there are hundreds of recipes for tuna salad and some of them are pretty terrible. I borrowed this one from the Dean and Deluca Cookbook. Dean and Deluca’s is a landmark New York food emporium that foodies all over the United States flock to. You can also order from their online catalog. A significant amount of discretionary income is advised.

I like this recipe because it has some crunchto it, and it can be used in a sandwich or stuffed into a tomato for a lovely lunch or supper.

Makes 6 sandwiches

4 6-oz cans drained chunk white tuna in water

6 tablespoons carrots, finely chopped

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon red onion, finely chopped

6 tablespoons fresh

parsley, chopped

6 tablespoons celery, finely chopped

3 scallions, finely chopped

1½ cups good mayonnaise 1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed in a mortar and pestle

3 tablespoons lemon juice Salt and pepper

6 crusty rolls Shredded lettuce

Sliced tomatoes

Put the tuna in a large bowl and mash. Add carrots, onion, parsley, celery, and scallions and mix well.

Place the mayonnaise in a small bowl and add the crushed garlic and lemon juice. Add the mayonnaise mixture to the tuna and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve on rolls with lettuce and tomato.

Pan Bagnat

This sandwich is served in Nice as street food, and when I owned a small lunch restaurant and catering business it was by far our biggest seller. It is pronounced pahn banyah.The recipe makes a perfect picnic sandwich for two people because of its staying power. It should be made at least two hours before serving; four hours is not too much. If you want to make sandwiches for more people, use hoagie rolls and double the recipe.

One innovation that we added to every sandwich at Let’s Do Lunch! was that we layered every one with a bed of baby spinach leaves. Give it a tryand I think you’ll like it.

Serves 2 1 loaf of crusty French

bread, halved horizontally 1 garlic clove, minced

½ cup extra virgin olive oil, divided use

1 tablespoon red wine

vinegar

2 ripe tomatoes, cored and sliced thin

1 6-oz can albacore tuna packed in oil, well drained

1 hard-boiled egg in thin slices

1 small red onion, very thinly sliced

2 tablespoons drained capers

1 red pepper, cored,

seeded, and cut into ¼-inch strips

6 anchovy filets packed in olive oil, drained

20 fresh baby spinach leaves

12 Nicoise or other cured olives, pitted

Cut loaf in half lengthwise, and remove some of the soft center of both sides of the bread, leaving ½-inch thickness.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small skillet, and sauté pepper until it is soft and slightly browned. Drain and set aside.

Mix the rest of the olive oil in a small bowl and stir in garlic. Brush inside of both sides of loaf with garlic oil, and then sprinkle lightly with wine vinegar. Layer both sides with baby spinach. Spread tuna evenly over bottom half and top with anchovy filets. Add onion, pepper slices, tomato slices, and egg slices. Sprinkle capers and olives evenly over all. Top with the other bread half and press together firmly, weighing down very heavily.

Wrap loaf very tightly in plastic wrap or foil. Let sit for at least 2 hours or more. Cut loaf in half and serve.

Iowa Pork Cutlet (Iowa Skinny)

If you are ever driving through Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, and maybe a few other Midwestern states and see a sign for pork cutlet sandwiches, stop. If you don’t, you will miss out on an absolute culinary delight. These sandwiches are sometimes referred to as “Skinnies,” because the pork cutlets are pounded down to the thickness of a couple of quarters. I especially like them served with oven-roasted sweet potato wedges.

They are served on regular hamburger buns and, to be really authenti c, should extend out at least 2 inches from the sides of the bun, all around. Imagine a large salad plate between two buns and you’ll get the idea.

Fortunately, there is no mystery as to how they are made, so yours can equal those of any small cafe in the Midwest.

Serves 2

2 pork loin cutlets 2 cups shredded lettuce ¼ cup flour ¼ cup canola oil ½ cup cornmeal

Salt and pepper

Dill pickle slices—these are not optional

Condiments (this is where you can get creative; some people put catsup,

mayonnaise, or mustard on their buns, some all 3)

Put a cutlet on your cutting board and pound. You can use a mallet or hammer— whatever is handy. I use a mallet from my garage. Pound the cutlet until it is paper thin, even see-through in some spots. Make sure you keep its round shape. Repeat with the other cutlet.

On a large plate, mix together the flour and corn meal. Press the cutlets into the mixture on both sides, so they are well coated. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and, when it is good and hot, fry the cutlets until they are crisp and brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot on the buns with whatever condiments you wish, plus lettuce and pickle slices.

NOTE: Do not use pork cutlets that the supermarket has run through their tenderizing machine—it doesn’t make the same dish. However, there is another similar sandwich, on the same kind of bun, which does use those cutlets, covered with cream gravy. With them, I use Libby’s canned Country Sausage Gravy—not too gourmet but very, very good, and very, very sloppy.

Piperada Sandwich

Piperada is a Basque tortilla, usually made with tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes, layered in a frying pan. This sandwich is a different take on the recipe. It’s fun to make and wonderful to eat, but serve it with plenty of napkins, because it can be a little drippy.

Serves 2

2 good hoagie rolls, or 1

French loaf

5 tablespoons olive oil, divided use

3 eggs, well beaten 2 red or yellow bell

peppers, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

2 ripe tomatoes, chopped

Hot, red pepper flakes to taste

1 teaspoon dried oregano 6 basil leaves, shredded fine

2 tablespoons butter

Salt and pepper

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium heat, and sauté the onions and peppers until they are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and tomatoes, and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes. Turn up the heat until most of the liquid is evaporated. Set aside.

Split the hoagie rolls or French loaf, and brush the open sides with the remaining olive oil. Warm in a 200-degree oven.

Heat the butter in a small skillet over moderate heat. Add the eggs and scramble, making large, soft curds. Remove from heat, and lay carefully onto the rolls or loaf. Spoon the tomato mixture over the eggs, and sprinkle with the shredded basil and hot pepper flakes.

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

I was born and raised in Philadelphia and I know my cheese steaks. Those imposters showing up around the country are not Philly Cheese Steaks! In Philly you can get original cheese steaks at Pat’sand Gino’s.Depending on who you talk to, either Pat or Gino invented the Philly Cheese Steak. Of course there are other places that serve decent cheese steaks, but why bother? The bonus you get from these two locations is that you are not very far from one of the most incredible Italian street markets in the US.

This is it—the real thing. You are going to need th e very best hoagie rolls that you can find, crusty on the outside, soft on the inside. You are also going to need a jar of Cheez Whiz. Not Velveeta, and certainly not any other kind of cheese—Cheez Whiz! Now we can begin:

Serves 2

¾ lb good round steak in 1 Olive oil piece (you can use sirloin if 2 hoagie rolls you like)

1 green pepper, cored and

Hot pepper flakes, it you like cut into long, thin slices

1 onion, halved and sliced into very thin slices

1 jar Cheez Whiz

It’s a good idea to freeze the beef until it is rather firm, but not frozen hard. That way you can slice it, across the grain, as thin as you can get it.

In a 10–12 inch non-stick skillet, sauté the peppers and onions in olive oil until they are soft and slightly brown. Set peppers and onions aside but keep warm. At this point, you can spoon the Cheez Whiz into a microwave-safe bowl and zap it in the microwave until it’s melted. Turn the heat up to high and add the beef slices. You want to fry the beef, not steam it, so keep it moving until any moisture is dissipated. Brown the beef well, and add the peppers and onions. Cut the hoagie rolls almost in half; divide the beef mixture between them. Spoon a lot of Cheez Whiz over everything. If you like it a little spicy, sprinkle the pepper flakes over your absolutely authentic Philly Cheese Steaks.

Eggplant Parmesan Sandwich

Thi s sandwich makes a wonderful lunch or supper dish when served with a nice salad. You can use leftover eggplant Parmesan, but it’s better made from scratch.

Serves 2

1 eggplant, sliced crossways into ¼-inch thick slices (about 10 slices) 2 good hoagie rolls, sliced lengthwise

6 slices mozzarella cheese 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese (or more)

Your favorite pasta sauce 4 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper Flour

Dust the eggplant slices with a little flour on both sides, and sauté them over medium heat until they are brown, about 4 minutes on each side. They should be tender, but not limp.

Pull a little of the bread from both sides of the hoagie rolls to make a trench. Spoon some pasta sauce over the roll and dust with Parmesan.

Layer 5 slices of eggplant on each roll bottom, overlapping the slices. Lay 3 slices of cheese over the eggplant. Spoon some sauce over the cheese, and dust with 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Add salt and pepper. Repeat with the other hoagie roll.

Place under a hot broiler, and broil until the cheese is brown, about 2 minutes. Remove from oven, top with the other side of the hoagie roll, and serve. Be careful, this sandwich holds its heat.

Hamburgers

Everyone knows how to make a hamburger, right? So I’ll just make a few suggestions. We all have our individual preferences about how we like our hamburgers (or cheeseburgers), but a little something different is good once in a while.

1. Use ground chuck. Fat is what gives a burger flavor. Believe me, I have had burgers made from ground sirloin, ground round, and even ground filet mignon. Chuck is better.

2. When you are making a burger, do not press down on it while it is cooking. It will lose a lot of flavor and tenderness.

3. Handle the meat as little as possible, and do not press it together. Use just enough pressure to get it to the shape you want.

4. The 21 Club in New York was as famous for its burgers, as it was for the celebrities who ate there, and the prices it charged. They put a frozen piece of herb butter in the middle of each burger to make them juicier.

5. Try putting the cheese on the bun cold. It won’t melt all over the meat, but it does give you more of a cheese taste.

6. You can take a lesson from the 21 Club and put 1-2 tablespoons of feta or blue cheese in the middle of your burger.

7. If you want to try something really different, top your burger with a slice of fried green or red tomato. I prefer red.

8. Take a lesson from the BBQ restaurants and top your burger with a layer of coleslaw.

9. Add 1-2 tablespoons of sour cream to the hamburger mixture.

10. Kaiser buns are far superior to hamburger buns. They hold together better and have much more flavor.

Chef Dugan’s Grilled Cheese Burger

I once owned a very busy deli called The Dill Pickle. It was named by my son Mark, aged 10 at the time. We served almost 1,000 pounds of corned beef every week, most of it on sandwiches, and the rest from our deli case. Every table featured a little wooden keg of dill pickles and the place really hummed. We came up with this sandwich thinking itwould only be ordered occasionally, and it turned out to be one of our best sellers.

Think grilled cheese sandwich with a hamburger as a companion.

We used real Jewish rye, but you can use any really good bread. I like to get a big round loaf and cut 2 thick slices from it. First make the hamburger patty sized to fit the bread, and sauté it slowly on both sides until it is medium-well done. Set it aside, clean the skillet, and put a large pat of butter in the pan. Turn the heat to medium low. If you are going to use mustard or mayo, spread it on the bread and then put the patty on the bread. Add 2-3 slices of cheddar cheese on top.

Put the top slice on and place the sandwich in the skillet. Move it around a little to soak up all the butter. When the bottom is a beautiful golden brown, remove the sandwich, put some more butter in, and repeat the process with the other side.

Serve with good pickles and maybe slices of raw, sweet onion.

Oklahoma Onion-fried Burger

History tells us this burger was created in the old frontier settlement of El Reno, Oklahoma, and has been around for well over 100 years. They still serve it today around the state, and I believe you will find it well worth trying.

You need a griddle or cast-iron frying pan with a lot of heat under it. When the pan is smoking hot, take a ¼ pound of lean ground beef, flatten it just slightly to a burger shape, and add about the same amount of thinly sliced raw onions, placing them very carefully on top. Now flatten the whole thing out, pushing the onions into the meat with a spatula. Don’t worry about what it looks like, just do as I say. As the burger is frying, press down with the spatula 3-4 times on a different section of the burger with each try. You are trying to mash the onions into the burger as it cooks. The burger should look a little rough around the edges and that’s good.

Once the bottom is cooked, flip the burger, let it fry for a few minutes, and lay it on a bun, onion side up. The standard toppings are lettuce, tomato, mustard, and pickles, but you really don’t need anything but the burger. No cheese please.

The Messy Bessie Sandwich

Every real deli has a version of this sandwich, and this one is typical. When I say real deli, I don’t mean those imposters that are springing up like mushrooms and are not even close to being a real delicatessen. If a place sells gasoline, it definitely is not a deli!

Delicatessens are ethnic establishments. They can be Jewish, Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern, and are almost always owned by people with these ethnic backgrounds. I built and owned an authentic Jewish deli, but I may be the only person of Irish descent that ever did (I got special dispensation from my Jewish friends in the neighborhood).

Anyone who has ever been to an authenticdeli will remember how thick the sandwiches are. I had one at the Carnegie Deli in New York and it must have measured at least five inches in height. The way they do that is to shave the meat very,verythin.Thatway,a¼poundofmeatcanbepiledveryhightolookiketwice that amount. The next time you order lunch meat, tell them you want it shaved.

Makes 2 sandwiches

½ lb real corned beef—from the brisket, not the round (shaved!) 4 slices of authentic Jewish rye, or as close as you can get

1 cup good, creamy coleslaw

2 slices Swiss cheese

6 tablespoons Thousand Island dressing

The secret in making a good corned beef sandwich is to have the meat sliced almost paper thin. Then, you pile it up very high. It looks like a lot but, by weight, really isn’t. How do you think we deli owners make all that money?

Pile the WARM meat on 1 slice of bread, top with cole slaw, then the dressing, and finally the slice of cheese. You can alter the sequence if it makes you feel creative.

Serve with a big slice of Kosher dill pickle.

The Cuban

If you ever saw the movie Scarface, starringAl Pacino, you might remember he started out working in a Cuban restaurant in Miami’s Little Havana district. One scene shows him outside the restaurant with its sign advertising the Cuban sandwich. The sandwich is also called the Media Noche, or Midnight Sandwich, because many of the nightclubs begin serving it at midnight.

There are many Cuban restaurants on Calle Oche, or Eighth Street, Little Havana’s main drag, and if you ever get a chance, go there. You can watch the old men play dominos with a passion, and grab a tiny cup of Cuban Coffee that will keep you awake for weeks.

The star of this sandwich is the roasted pork, for which Cubans ar e rightfully famous. Deli roast pork isokay, but itcan’t beat the real thing from home. Folks, this is an incredible sandwich!

You can substitute sliced turkey breast and add salami and also end up with a great sandwich, but don’t call it a Cuban.

Makes 4 sandwiches

1 loaf of Cuban bread

sliced in half lengthwise; if you can’t find Cuban bread, French bread will do

½ lb Swiss cheese, sliced thin

1 lb smoked ham, sliced thin 1 lb roast pork, sliced thin

5 slices of dill pickle (the kind you put on

hamburgers)

Yellow mustard and/or mayo (mustard is

traditional)

Cut the bread across in 7-inch pieces and layer both sides with mustard and/or mayo. Lay half the cheese on the bottom, top with the ham, then the roast pork, and finish with the other half of the cheese.

Press the sandwich flat, and put on a greased griddle, large skillet, in a waffle iron or sandwich grill. If you are using a skillet, probably the easiest choice, put a little butter in and melt it, lay the sandwich on top, and weigh it down with a heavy cast iron pan. You want this sandwich as flat as you can get it. Flip it when the cheese begins to melt. When you see the cheese melted on both sides of the sandwich, it is ready to eat.

The Reuben

Why is it called a Reuben? Legend has it that, back in the ‘50s, the host of a weekly poker game in Omaha, Nebraska, often served a grilled sandwich with corned beef, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut. His name was Reuben Kay.

There are more bad Reuben sandwiches made than good ones. Some restaurants even use corned beef round, something that should never grace your table. If you can’t find brisket, forget the sandwich, or for that matter, forget the corned beef and eat something else.

No recipe—just instructions. First, buy the best rye bread you can find, seeded if possible. You’ll need about ¼ pound of corned beef, sliced very thin, for each sandwich. The other 3 ingredients are sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and Thousand Island dressing. Spread a very thin layer of dressing on 1 slice of the bread; lay the corned beef carefully on top, followed by a slice of cheese. Put a generous layer of sauerkraut on top, add a second slice of cheese, and then some dressing. Don’t skimp on the dressing. Top the sandwich with the other slice of bread.

In a skillet large enough to hold at least 2 sandwiches, warm a couple of pats of butter until they melt. You do not want high heat, just medium low. Lay both sandwiches in the butter, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes. Take both sandwiches out of the skillet. Put more butter in, and lay the sandwiches uncooked sides down, cover, and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Serve with good kosher dills.

Grilled Turkey Breast with Cheese Sandwich

If there are just two of us eating, we split the sandwich, and serve it with a small bowl of Campbell’s Tomato Bisque. It makes a nice, light lunch reminiscent of the old drugstore lunches.

Makes 2 sandwiches

½ lb turkey breast, sliced thin 2 slices of the cheese of your choice (I use provolone)

4 large slices marble rye bread (or whatever you like) 4 tablespoons Thousand Island dressing

4 tablespoons butter

NOTE: The easiest way to make a grilled sandwich is to melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a small skillet, spread it around, and place the sandwich on top. When the bottom is done nice and brown, take the sandwich out, put another pat of butter in the pan, and repeat with the other side. You can spin the bread around the pan to make sure you catch all of the butter.

Spread each slice of bread with half the dressing, pile the turkey breast on top, followed by a slice of cheese, and the other slice of bread. Grill as directed above.

Heat soup and serve.

Chicken Salad Sandwich

This is a good way to u se leftover chicken.I think it is best using both white and dark meat, but you can use either one exclusively if you like. I guess it depends on what kind of leftover chicken you have. Plain old chicken salad sandwiches never did much for me, soI’ve added a few things to spice it up.

Makes 2 sandwiches

3 cups chicken, diced

2 tablespoons celery, diced fine 2 tablespoons sweet onion, diced fine

2 tablespoons green pimento-stuffed olives, diced fine 2 teaspoons capers, drained

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard Mayonnaise to bind

Salt and pepper to taste 2 Hoagie rolls

Mix everything together in a small bowl, and refrigerate for 30 minutes or more. Pull a little of the bread from both sides of the roll to make an indentation, and spread a little mayonnaise on both sides.

Lynne’s Peanut Butter Sandwich Supreme

My wife, Lynne, is a peanut butter addict. So much so that, when we buy a jar of peanut butter, she makes me hide it. When she wants some peanut butter she asks me to pull the jar out of its hiding place, leaves the room while I do so, returns to the room, spoons out some peanut butter, and then leaves the room while I hide it again. I’m not sure what that accomplishes, but it makes her feel better.

For 1 sandwich

2 slices good white bread Peanut butter

Mayonnaise ½ banana, sliced in ¼-inch rounds

3 Maraschino cherries, thinly sliced

Spread one slice of bread generously with mayonnaise. Spread the other slice generously with peanut butter. Arrange the banana slices neatly over the peanut butter. Top the banana slices with the Maraschino cherries, and then the other slice of bread. Do not cut the sandwich in half, just eat it whole.

Lox, Bagels, and Cream Cheese

A famous deli sandwich that I must have on a regular basis. I have some personal rules about this sandwich that you may or may not agree with. For the uninitiated, lox is smoked salmon.

The only bagels I buy for this sandwich are Lenders Plain Bagels. My wife likes them lightly toasted, I do not.

I also like this sandwich served open-faced on some good rye bread and topped with thin sweet onion slices.

This is the way I make this sandwich. Spread a generous amount of cream cheese on ½ of a sliced bagel and top it with 3-4 slices of lox. Salt and pepper the lox. Lay a thin onion slice on top, and serve open-faced.

The accompaniments I use are fresh tomato slices and good green or black olives.

A word about lox. In my opinion, there is no such thing as bad lox, just that some lox is better than others. The kind that you get in a real deli, where they slice it off the whole filet is best. That really red stuff you buy in the supermarket is at the bottom of the scale, but still good. In-between there is a vast array of smoked salmon, some imported and some domestic. You can pretty well judge the quality of the lox by the price, and buy accordingly.

Breakfast-On-The-Run Sandwich

This is a double-decker sandwich with a heavy ham influence. In other words, the ham is the driver, the rest of the ingredients are just passengers.

For 1 sandwich

¼-inch (or thicker) slice of good ham

3 slices of good bread

1 egg

2 slices of cheese of your choice Mayonnaise

Salt and pepper Sauté the ham in a little butter until it is nicely browned. Set aside.

Place a pat of butter in a small non-stick skillet, and break an egg into it. Wait until the white begins to set and, with a fork, break the yolk, and spread it all over the white. When the egg is mostly set, flip it over, and cook for 1 minute.

Spread 1 side of each of 3 slices of bread with mayonnaise. On the first slice, mayonnaise side up, lay a slice of cheese and the ham. Cover the ham with the second slice of cheese. Place the second slice of bread, mayonnaise side up, and lay the egg on top, then add salt and pepper. Cover with the third slice of bread, mayonnaise side down.

Cream Cheese and Olive Sandwich

I was helping Jerry Van Dyke, star of the TV series Coach, set up the kitchen for his restaurant and ice cream parlor in Benton, Arkansas, his wife’s hometown. We stopped for lunch, and I ordered this sandwich. It was served to me with the cream cheese on bread, and the olives dumped on top like so many golf balls. It just goes to prove someone can screw up even the simplest of recipes.

Jerry was an incredible actor and really was the star of that series. What amazed me was that he really wasn’t acting that much on the show. That’s exactly how he is all the time!

I also like this sandwich served open-faced on some good rye bread.

Makes 1 sandwich

2 slices of good whole wheat or multi-grained bread

Cream cheese Olives stuffed with pimentos, little juice also

Chop up the olives coarsely, and, with a teaspoon of juice from the jar, mix thoroughly with the cream cheese. Spread on the bread. You can make it either open-faced or not. If you really want to get fancy, trim the crusts off the bread.

Hero/Hogie/Sub

It doesn’t matter what you call it, this is a great sandwich if it’s made right. I have never found a good one made in a franchised restaurant, or in a gas station posing as a restaurant. Pay attention—this is the right way to do it.

You probably won’t use all of the meat and cheese, but it’s better to have too much than too little.

Makes 2 sandwiches

2 good crusty hoagie rolls, sliced in half lengthwise ¼ lb sliced hard salami

¼ lb sliced ham

¼ lb sliced provolone

cheese

¼ lb sliced mortadella 2 cups shredded lettuce

½ onion, sliced very thin Sliced tomato (optional)

Dried oregano Olive oil

Vinegar Mayonnaise

Tear out some bread from both sides of the roll to hollow them out a little. On 1 side drizzle olive oil and vinegar, and sprinkle oregano on it. Lay shredded lettuce over the roll half, and then onion slices. Then place a layer of salami, a layer of cheese, and a layer of ham over the onion and lettuce. Feel free to put on as much of the lunch meat and cheese as you wish. Remember, the rolls contain a lot of bread, even when they’re hollowed out.

Press down with your hand to settle everything in. If you are using tomato, place a layer of tomato over all. Spread a generous portion of mayonnaise on the other half of the roll, and put the halves together. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap until ready to serve.

NOTE: Using mayonnaise is not traditional, but I think it softens the bite of the vinegar. Some people like to add marinated artichokes.

Gussy’s Sandwich

There are times when you find yourself needing to feed a crowd in the easiest way possible and this sandwich is one great way to do it. I used to play in a weekly poker game and we changed hosts every week. Gussy was the wife of one of the players and she always served these sandwiches. The nice part is they can sit in a low oven all night, and people can partake whenever they want.

Serves as many as you want

You will need enough hamburger buns to satisfy the crowd. Spread a generous serving of mayo on both sides of the buns, put a slice of cheddar cheese on both sides, and layer a generous portion of shaved deli ham in between. Sprinkle the top layer of cheese with some caraway seeds, and enfold the sandwiches tightly in foil. Heat in a 200-degree oven for 30 minutes, and turn the heat down to the lowest possible setting. When people get hungry let them take a sandwich or 2 out of the oven and go to it. Paper plates are mandatory.

Oyster Loaf

This sandwich was known as “the peacemaker” in the New Orleans of the 1800’s. When a husband stayed a little too long atthe local tavern, he would bring one of these home as a peace offering.

The basic recipe is simple and you can add whatever you like after that.

Serves 2

Take a whole loaf of good French bread and cut it in half lengthwise. Scoop out both sides, toast the shells for about 5 minutes in a 350-degree oven, and butter them generously.

Fry up a batch of oysters which have been dipped in egg and then coarse cracker crumbs, and fill up the shell. Squeeze a generous amount of lemon juice over the oysters as well as salt and pepper. After that you can add whatever you wish, or nothing at all. Some suggestions are chopped celery, lettuce, tomato, plus a little hot sauce of course.

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EGGS & CHEESE

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ggs make foods puff up when the whites are beaten, which makes the dish lighter, they can be used as a thickener and, of course, are the staple for most breakfasts and brunches . Help – I Gotta Learn to Cook!

covers the subject of eggs pretty thoroughly but there a few things worth repeating.

Just like fish, over-cooking or having the heat too high can ruin most egg dishes. You shouldn’t just reserve your thinking about eggs to only breakfast. Not only are they required as an addition to many dishes, they make wonderful entrees as well. I like them for another reason; if you are trying to figure out an easy supper, all you need are a few potatoes, some bacon, ham or sausage, and some eggs. Or how about whipping up a cheese soufflé?

Today there are a lot of choices when you’re buying eggs. They have specially produced eggs that claim to be healthier for you, but I really don’t believe that. We’ve already gone through the egg scare, when eggs were supposed to load you up with cholesterol, but now the “experts” are telling us its okay to eat them.

From my standpoint, you should have eggs whenever you want, and I always buy the jumbo size so I’m sure I have enough egg in the dish I’m preparing.

One other thing you should remember about eggs. Although this is not a big concern today with supermarket eggs, if you put eggs in water and they float, discard them, if not, use them.

Chef Dugan’s Frittata

The Spanish call them tortillas, the Italians call them frittatas, and I call them delicious. The way I make frittatas isdifferent than other recipes, but I think it’s better, just takes a little longer. This makes a great lunch served at room temperature. Feel free to add other veggies such as sautéed zucchini, yellow squash, or mushrooms.

Serves 2

2 medium russet potatoes, pared and sliced into ¼inch thick rounds

1 can chicken broth

1 medium onion, sliced thin 1 red pepper, julienned

1 ripe tomato, sliced very thin

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

1 package fresh spinach 6 oz shredded cheddar 2 tablespoons dried oregano

3 tablespoons dried parsley

6 large eggs, well-beaten 3 tablespoons or more of olive oil

10-inch skillet that can be placed under a broiler

Place the potato rounds in the chicken broth, bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. Leave the potatoes in the broth, and remove from heat. Set aside for at least 30 minutes. The potatoes should be firm but done.

Cook the spinach until it is barely done, and cool. Squeeze as much moisture from the spinach as you can, and chop coarsely. Separate the spinach leaves as much as you can with your fingers, so that it is not in large clumps. Set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the skillet, and sauté the onions and peppers over moderate heat until they are soft. Add garlic and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and scrape the vegetables into a bowl, reserving the oil in the pan (it has taken on some of the flavor of the peppers, onion, and garlic, and adds a special touch to the dish).

Drain the potato slices well, and place them neatly around the pan in a circular pattern, covering the bottom. Lay the remaining slices over the first layer, spacing them out evenly.

Carefully spread the onion and pepper mixture over the potatoes, making an even pattern. Follow this with the spinach, again spacing it out evenly. Sprinkle half the cheese over the spinach, along with the oregano and parsley.

Cover the top with overlapping slices of tomato. The top should be completely covered. Pour the beaten eggs over all, and let them settle into the mixture for 1-2 minutes.

Now, this is the important part. Place the skillet over very, very low heat and cover. Cook until the eggs on top begin to set. This will take about 15-20 minutes. Remove the cover, and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Place the frittata under the broiler, about 4 inches from the heat, and broil until the cheese turns a golden brown. Check it constantly to avoid burning. Remove from heat, use a knife to loosen it around the edges, cut into wedges, and serve.

Dutch Baby

More than 75 year s agoSunset Books started publishing recipes from the West Coast, reflecting the various cultures and eating habits of an incredibly diverse population. This recipe came from the book,The Best of Sunset, published in 1987, and it gives credit to a Seattle restaurant run by the Victor Manca family. It looks spectacular when you serve it, and your sweet toothshould be satisfiedfor at least a week.

You’ll need a large oven-proof frying pan or skillet that is not more than 3 inches deep. For this recipe I use a 10-inch aluminum skillet. Your old standby cast iron frying pan will do just fine.

Serves 2

cup butter for a better rise) 4 large eggs 1 cup whole milk

1 cup flour (use bread flour 1 lemon, quartered

Put eggs in a blender, or use an electric hand mixer, and whirl on high speed for 1 minute. With motor running, gradually pour in milk, and then slowly add flour, mixing for 30 seconds more.

Place butter in pan and set in a 425-degree pre-heated oven. When butter is melted, remove pan from oven and pour in batter. Return pan to oven, and bake for about 20 minutes. Take a peek. The Dutch Baby should be very puffy and well browned. If not, continue baking, and check in 5 minutes.

This dish needs to come to the table immediately if you want the most spectacular presentation. It will settle as it cools, much like a soufflé. Sprinkle with fresh lemon juice, and shake powdered sugar over it, spoon sliced strawberries or any other fresh fruit over it, or pour syrup or honey on top.

I like it served with slices of crisp, fried bacon.

NOTE: This recipe is for 2 people. Using a larger pan, you can double the servings by using 6 eggs, ½ cup butter, and 1½ cups each of flour and milk.

Egg Burritos

If you are having guests for a breakfast or brunch and want to impress them, tr y this dish. It’s fun to make, and can be prepared well in advance. I believe Julia Child should get the credit for this recipe. Actually she should get the credit for a lot of recipes. She was the one who introduced many of us to the art of cooking.

For 8 burritos

12 eggs ¼ teaspoon dried thyme Salt, pepper, Tabasco sauce

2 tablespoons melted butter

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

2 cups good tomato sauce

¼ cup grated cheddar cheese

¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons cottage cheese, drained

Before you start, put the cottage cheese in a colander for 30 minutes and let it drain, stirring from time to time.

Whisk the eggs in a bowl with the salt, pepper, and Tabasco to your taste. You must have a 6-inch non-stick frying pan with a lid. Set the pan over moderately high heat and, with a pastry brush, lightly add a film of butter. Pour in 1½ tablespoons of egg, and tilt the pan in all directions to cover the bottom. Cover the pan for about 20 seconds until the egg has set, and slide it onto an 8-inch square of wax paper or foil. Cover with another small sheet of foil. Repeat until you have a total of 8 egg burritos stacked. You will have some egg left over. Lightly butter a shallow baking dish big enough to hold 8 burritos, and turn the tomato sauce into the dish. Spread evenly on the bottom.

Mix the cottage cheese with the herbs and the rest of the eggs.

Take 1 egg burrito and place about 5-6 tablespoons of cheese mixture down the center, starting and stopping about 1 inch from each edge. Carefully fold up each side of the burrito, and place, seam side down, into the baking dish. When all the burritos are in the dish, sprinkle on the cheddar cheese.

When you are ready to serve, pre-heat oven to 450 degrees, and bake in the upper third of the oven, until the cheese melts and the sauce is bubbling, about 7-10 minutes.

SOS

Not a cry for assistance but a wonderful di sh that anyone who has ever served in the Armed Forces is familiar with. If you don’t know what SOS stands for, ask someone who has served. Traditionally it is poured over a slice of toast, but I prefer it over grits or as a side to scrambled cheese eggs. There is a mistaken impression that SOS is really cream chipped beef on toast. Not so.

Serves 2

½ pound lean hamburger ½ pound bulk sausage

1 heaping tablespoon of flour 1 small onion, diced fine

1 cup of milk (varies)

Fry the hamburger and sausage in a skillet over medium heat until well browned. Add the chopped onion, and continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes. Add the flour, mix well, and add the milk. The mixture will thicken but, if it becomes too thick, just add more milk. You can also add a dash of Tabasco if you wish.

NOTE: Once you have it made, there are many things you can do with SOS. To name just a few: topping for baked potatoes, over cheese or plain grits, over toast, biscuits or English muffins, over rice, or poured over scrambles eggs.

Joe’s San Francisco Special

This dish is relatively unknown outside the Bay Area, but there are restaurants all over town that serve it regularly. The last time I visited the city there was the Original Joe’s, New Joe’s and just Joe’s. Originally made with spinach, asit is here, feel free to add or substitute other greens. It offers a different take on a breakfast dish and is quite good.

Serves 4

1 package of salad spinach (you can use other greens instead) 2 tablespoons olive oil

¾ lb ground sirloin (you can substitute sausage) 1 medium onion, chopped

4 eggs, lightly beaten Grated Parmesan cheese to taste

Blanch spinach in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain, and gently squeeze excess moisture out with paper towels. Chop coarsely, and set aside.

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat, and sauté onions until soft. Add beef and sauté until brown, breaking up the meat with the back of a fork.

Add spinach, and stir until meat and spinach are thoroughly mixed. Add eggs, stir once or twice to blend, and cook for an additional minute. Remove from heat, and season to taste with grated cheese. Salt, pepper, and serve.

This obviously calls for plenty of sour dough toast. A few sliced tomatoes also go well.

Hangtown Fry

The California gold rush centered on Placerville, sometimes called Hangtown to reflect their brand of justice. One night, a gold miner who had hit it big asked for the most expensive items on the menu. These turned out to be oysters and eggs. I added the bacon to make it a little more interesting.

Serves 2

5 large eggs

4 strips good bacon, fried crisp and kept warm 8 medium-sized oysters

2 tablespoons whipping cream ¼ cup crushed saltines (crush in a plastic bag)

3 tablespoons butter Salt and pepper

4 tablespoons flour

Beat eggs and cream together. Coat oysters with flour, dip in eggs, and then in cracker crumbs. Let the oysters rest in the cracker crumbs, while melting 2 tablespoons of butter in a small frying pan. Add oysters and cook over mediumhigh heat until golden, about 1 minute on each side. Lift out with a spatula and set aside to drain on paper towels.

Add remaining tablespoon of butter, turn down heat to low, and pour in remaining eggs. As eggs begin to cook, lift them up at the edges to allow the uncooked eggs to flow underneath. When eggs just begin to firm up, place the oysters evenly around the eggs and top with bacon strips. Continue cooking for 1 minute.

Huevos Rancheros

I could give you a standard recipe for this famous dish, but why bother? This way, you can use your imagination and add sliced avocados, hot sauce, or a sprinkle of cheese over the eggs—whatever you wish.

For each serving, you will need 4 corn tortillas, fried in very little oil, about 30 seconds on each side, 2 eggs, fried to your liking, ½-cup heated salsa, and a generous helping of refried beans.

Place 2 of the tortillas on a plate, spoon refried beans over the tortillas, then the eggs, and finally top with warm salsa. Serve plenty of warm tortillas on the side. I like mine buttered.

Chef Dugan’s Triple B Cowboy Breakfast

This is not only a recipe but a state of mi nd as well. I was watching an old Western about a cattle drive, and got to thinking of the kind of breakfast that was standard in those days. I happened to havean old tin pie pan I got from a yard sale, and I whipped up what I imagine was a typical cowboy breakfast – Bacon, Beans and Biscuits. You can find myrecipe for biscuits in the Recipes That Don’t Fit Anywhere Else Section.

Serves 2

6 strips good, thick-sliced bacon

1 can pinto beans 4 hot buttered biscuits

2 mugs hot coffee Tabasco sauce to taste

Sauté the bacon in a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron, until crisp. Remove and keep warm. Leave 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease in the skillet, and discard the rest.

Pour the can of pinto beans into the bacon grease, and heat the beans, using a fork to mash some of them, and to integrate the grease.

Spoon half the beans into each tin pie plate (you can use a regular pie plate but not a dish), and add 3 bacon slices to each plate.

It’s important that everything fits into 1 plate—cowboys didn’t have dining room tables.

Sprinkle a few drops of Tabasco on the beans, and dig in.

Eggs Benedict

Every cook needs to have this in their repertoire. It makes a delightful breakfast or brunch, especially if preceded by some Bloody Mary’s. I depart from traditional recipes and use packaged hollandaise sauce. It’s a lot less work, never fails, and frankly, I don’t see how it could be improved upon. The only deviation I make from the powdered package mix is that I use less butter than the directions call for. But feel free to make your hollandaise from scratch. The recipe is in the Sauce Section.

Serves 2

4 poached eggs 4 English muffins, toasted and buttered

4 rounds of good ham, sautéed in butter Hollandaise sauce

NOTE: You can use slices of Canadian bacon, as many recipes call for; but I prefer the taste and texture of good ham, which I cut into rounds with a 2-inch biscuit cutter so they look neat on the muffins. (You can use the scraps for something else.) Hash-browned potatoes are good with this recipe.

Toast the muffins, butter them, and keep warm in the oven. Fry the ham slices, and put them with the muffins.

Poach the eggs the way you like them, trim the rough edges from them, place 2 ham rounds on 2 of the muffin halves, top with the eggs, and then the hollandaise sauce. Repeat for the second serving.

If you have just come into some extra money, place a few slices of black truffle on top. Serve the other buttered muffins on the side, with some good jam.

Tomato and Cheese Strata

A lovely brunch dish that can include almost an y vegetable or meat you have handy. I like it this way with crisp bacon, fried ham, or sausage links on the side. It should really be prepared the night before, to let the egg mixture soak into the bread, but in a pinch you can cut the time to a few hours. What you are making is a savory bread pudding.

Serves 4

6 large eggs

1 pint of half and half

2 teaspoons dry mustard

8 slices of good French bread, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

2 tomatoes, sliced into ¼-inch slices

Salt and pepper

Whisk the eggs, mustard, and half and half together until they are well-mixed. Rub a deep casserole dish (a soufflé dish is great) with a paper towel dipped in olive oil, coating the sides and bottom.

Make 1 layer of bread on the bottom of the dish. It’s okay if the bread overlaps a little, just so the bottom is well-covered. Place a layer of sliced tomatoes on the bread, and sprinkle a generous portion of cheese on top. Salt and pepper to taste. Continue layering until the bread is used up, finishing with a layer of tomatoes and cheese. Pour the milk and egg mixture into the casserole, cover, and refrigerate overnight, or for several hours, making sure all of the bread is soaked with the mixture.

soaked with the mixture.

degree oven. Brown the top slightly under the broiler, and let the dish rest for 15 minutes before serving.

NOTE: Feel free to experiment here with other treatments. You can add diced ham, leave out the tomatoes, add a layer of cooked spinach, and change the cheese, wherever your imagination takes you.

Spanish Fried Eggs

Another slightly unusual egg dish th at is popular in Mediterranean countries. Yes, I know it uses a lot of olive oil, but that’s what the recipe is all about, eggs cooked in olive oil. Serve with warm tortillas.

Serves 2

1 cup olive oil 4 eggs

1 14-oz can of flavored diced tomatoes (with basil, roasted garlic, etc.) 1 large banana, cut in half and sliced lengthwise

2 tablespoons butter ½ cup uncooked rice

1½ cups chicken broth 1 clove garlic, crushed

Cook the rice in the chicken broth until it is tender and keep warm. Heat the tomatoes and keep warm. Heat the butter over moderate heat, and sauté the banana until it is golden brown on both sides. Set aside and keep warm.

Put the olive oil into a medium-sized skillet over moderate heat and add the eggs, being careful not to break the yolks. Cook the eggs slowly in the olive oil, until the edges are crisp and brown, and the yolks are set to your liking. It’s okay to turn the eggs over.

Divide the rice onto 2 warm plates, and spoon some tomatoes over. Place 2 eggs and banana slices alongside the rice.

Eggs ala Tripe

This dish has nothing whatsoever to do with tripe, and no one has ever been able to discover its origin. So, we have eggs masquerading as tripe coming from a mysterious background. Is there a TV series here?

This is a delicious light lunch or brunch dish, and there’s no mystery about that.

Serves 4

3 tablespoons butter

2 cups onions, halved and thinly sliced 1½ cups milk or light cream

3 tablespoons flour 1 tablespoon lemon juice

4 hardboiled eggs, cut into rounds Salt and pepper

4 slices fried toast, cut in half diagonally (The recipe for fried toast can be found in the Recipes That Don’t Fit Anywhere Else Section.)

Melt the butter over moderate heat in a small saucepan, and add the onions. Cover and sweat for 15 minutes, being careful not to brown the onions. Remove cover and stir in the flour. Cook for 5 minutes, remove from heat, and stir in the milk. Return to heat, and cook until the sauce is fairly thick and smooth. If it is too thick, add more milk. Add salt and pepper to taste, and the lemon juice. Carefully stir in the egg rounds so as not to break them up too much.

Piperade

A Basque specialty that is made from sautéed onions, green peppers, and tomatoes with an addition of spices and hot red peppers or, more to my taste, Hungarian paprika. Many things can then be added, such as ham or sausage, but in this recipeI have used it as an addition to scrambled eggs.

Serves 4

½ red pepper, diced

½ sweet onion, halved and sliced thin 1 garlic clove, minced

½ can diced tomatoes, drained 1 teaspoon dried basil

2 tablespoons dried parsley 2 tablespoons imported Hungarian paprika

3 tablespoons olive oil 4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon butter Salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the red pepper, onion, and garlic. Cover and sweat for 5 minutes. Remove cover and add the basil, parsley, paprika, salt, pepper, and drained diced tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes and set aside to cool.

Return the pan to medium heat and stir in the eggs. Cook until the eggs are set to your liking and serve. Another way to serve this is to spoon the cooked mixture into a hollowed out Hoagie roll, and serve it as a sandwich.

NOTE: A different treatment for this recipe is to keep the tomato mixture warm while you are poaching a few eggs. Spoon some tomato mixture onto a plate, and lay the poached eggs on top. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Eggs Goldenrod

This recipe is over 100 years old and was a standby in early home economics classes. It’s easy to make and was often the only dish a young bride could handle. It might have been a contributing factor in the rising divorce rate as well.

Serves 2

4 hardboiled eggs, coarsely chopped 1 cup medium white sauce (see Sauce Chapter)

Small jar diced pimentos 4 slices Fried Toast (see Special Recipes Chapter)

Salt and pepper Mix the chopped eggs and the pimentos into the white sauce. Salt and pepper to taste.

NOTE: Anytime you have a food mixture like this, you can use it as a topping over potatoes, rice or, as is the custom, over toast triangles.

Western Omelet

Presumably this recipe came from the West. It’s sometimes called a Denver omelet. I don’t think there’s anything else to say about it except it can be either an omelet or a sandwich, depending on what restaurant you are in.

Serves 2

1 small onion, diced 3 tablespoons green pepper, diced

4 tablespoons ham, diced 1 tablespoon butter

3 eggs, lightly beaten Salt and pepper

Sauté onion, green pepper, and ham in the butter over low heat for 10 minutes, or until the onions and peppers are soft. Turn up heat to moderate, and pour in eggs, stirring once quickly. Cook until the eggs are set on the underside, about 2 minutes, and flip over to finish. Salt and pepper to taste.

At this point, either put it between 2 buttered bread or toast slices, or on a plate with some hash browns.

Deviled Eggs

The standard deviled egg filling contains hardboiled egg yolks, dry mustard, salt, pepper, and mayonnaise. But you can also add fresh or dried herbs, sweet pickle, finely chopped anchovies or sardines, finely chopped green onions, or just about anything that strikes your fancy.

You can use a pastry tube to fill them or simply spoon in the mixture, and top with a piece of pimento or some parsley. There must be hundreds of ways to use stuffed eggs including parties, picnics, as an addition toa buffet, or as an accompaniment to a sandwich – just use your imagination.

You can also use salad dressing, sour cream, yogurt, or a mixture of several of them. After you have selected whichever moistener you plan to use, hard-boil the eggs and shell them. The eggs will shell easier if you cool them in ice water for about 5 minutes after taking them out of the water.

Then halve them lengthwise, remove the yolks, mash them, and add a moistener. From there on, only your imagination limits what comes next. Some obvious choices are chives, anchovies, chopped onion, and perhaps mustard. There is also Cajun or seafood seasoning. Often, things like anchovies or pimento slices are placed on top as decoration.

Quiche

This is my basic recipe that takes you to the point where you can add different treatments: seafood, meat, vegetables, or leave it plain. I have tried quiche with every conceivable kind of cheese and, disregarding the advice of just about everyone in the food industry, I opt for Laughing Cow Cheese. It is a processed Gruyere cheese that comes in little round cartons filled with foil-wrapped wedges of cheese, and can be found in just about any supermarket. I have had quiche in many, many restaurants, and they have never come close to being as good as this one.

Serves 4

1 9-inch frozen deep-dish pie shell

3 large beaten eggs, blended with enough half and half or cream to make up 1¾ cups

4 wedges of Laughing Cow Cheese, cut into ½ inch pieces (it helps to freeze it a little to make it easier to cut)

Salt and pepper

Suggested fillings

1 cup cooked shrimp, chopped coarsely

6 strips crisp bacon, crumbled (the original Quiche Lorraine)

1 package of spinach, blanched and chopped 1 cup cooked broccoli, chopped

1 small jar pimentos 1 cup cooked asparagus, chopped

1 cup bay scallops

1 cup diced ham

2 cups sautéed mushrooms

1 cup crabmeat

Pre-heat oven to 375. Prick the pie shell with a fork all around the sides and on the bottom. Bake in oven for about 10 minutes, watching carefully to see that it just browns. Remove the shell, cool it. Arrange the cheese and whatever filling you have chosen evenly over the bottom, and pour in the egg mixture. It should reach to about ¼ inch from the rim.

NOTE: I try to err on the side of too much egg mixture rather than too little, so you may have a small amount that won’t fit. Don’t try to force it.

Place on the middle rack of the oven, with a plate underneath to catch any overflow, and bake for 40-45 minutes until it becomes puffed and brown. Let the quiche cool for 30 minutes before slicing it into wedges. You can test for doneness by sticking a toothpick down the center. If it comes out clean, it’s done; if not, put it back in the oven a little longer.

NOTE: Quiche freezes well and, since 2 pie shells come in one package, you could make 2 and freeze 1.

Welsh Rarebit

If you’re not very careful, making Welsh rarebit according to most standard recipes can result in a mess of stringy cheese. After experiencing that a few times, I decided to do it my way, and it has never failed.

Serves 2

2 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon flour

1 8-oz package of grated sharp cheddar cheese 1 cup ale or beer

¼ teaspoon Tabasco 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Melt butter in heavy saucepan, add flour, and stir for 1 minute. Take off heat and add beer, stirring constantly. Return to heat until mixture thickens. Add Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco, and slowly stir in cheese.

Serve over toast, English muffins, or use as a sauce for Eggs Benedict. Old time taverns served it with a layer of toast, a slice of tomato, and topped with 2 slices of crisp bacon.

NOTE: Welsh rarebit has a tendency to thicken quickly after it is served. If you want to avoid that, serve it on hot plates.

Cheese Soufflé

I don’t have a clue why people approach making a soufflé with such timidity. I’ve been making soufflés for years and have never had one collapse in the oven. You hear stories about how you must tiptoe around the kitchen while it is baking or the thing will fall. That’s hogwash. Justassemble it, put it in the oven, and go have a glass of iced tea!

To put this in perspective, what you are doing here is making a white sauce (Sauce Veloute), stirring in the beaten egg and milk mixture, adding the cheese, and then folding in the egg whites. That’s all.

You really need a soufflé dish for this recipe. The one I use is a Pyrex dish that measures 7 inches across and 3 inches high. If you are planning a larger soufflé, use a larger dish.

Serves 2

1 tablespoon or more of finely grated Parmesan cheese

Speck of nutmeg

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons butter 3 egg yolks

3 tablespoons flour 4 egg whites

¾ cup hot milk ¾ cup grated cheddar cheese

½ teaspoon paprika This works better if you get the eggs to room temperature before you use them.

Make a sauce with the butter and flour and cook for 2 minutes, being careful not to brown the mixture. Remove from heat and stir in the milk. Return to heat and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the sauce becomes very thick and creamy. Remove from heat, add spices, and let cool. Whisk the egg yolks, 1 at a time, into the sauce, and set aside.

Put the whites in a clean, dry bowl, and with an electric mixer, beat the whites until the peaks become stiff and shiny.

NOTE: It’s essential that you beat the egg whites until they are very stiff—this is what makes the soufflé light and airy. It’s also important that the bowl and the beaters be absolutely clean and dry. Also, there should not be a speck of egg yolks in the whites.

Put the sauce in a large bowl, and scoop a quarter of the egg whites into the sauce, and stir them in. Spoon the rest of the egg whites on top, and very gently fold them into the sauce. After each spoonful, scatter in some of the cheese. Continue until all of the egg whites and the cheese have been used.

Butter the soufflé dish all around, and dust the bottom and sides with the Parmesan cheese. Pour the mixture into the soufflé dish, and place on the middle rack of a 400-degree oven. Immediately turn the heat down to 375, and bake for 25-30 minutes. Don’t peek.

After 25 minutes, take a look and see if the soufflé is a nice, dark brown. If not, give it another 5 minutes. If you want it to stay puffed, bring it to the table and serve immediately. To quote Julia Child, “Hold your serving spoon and fork upright, and back to back, plunge them into the crust and tear it apart.”

NOTE: Now that you know how to do a soufflé, you can try different treatments, such as chopped broccoli, spinach, crab, lobster, shrimp, or whatever, in your next one. Soufflés do not have to be savory. You can also make a sweet one by adding fruit and berries.

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BEEF, VEAL, LIVER & TRIPE

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ne thing you should know about beef is that the tougher cuts often have a more intense beef flavor. So, don’t always go for the strip steaks or filet mignon because the short ribs can be even tastier. You should also

know that when carving any type of beef, other than prime rib and filet mignon, it’s best to always cut across the grain.

When cooking any piece of beef, particularly steaks, always let them come to room temperature before exposing them to heat. This prevents “seizing” (having the proteins tighten up) and helps keep the meat tender.

I think the most you need to know about the anatomy of a steer is that the front and back are a little tough, and the middle is where all the tender meat is. I said tender, not better. The meat from higher-end cuts are noted for their marbling, the network of fat you see running through the steak and which makes them more tender. Since the labels can be somewhat confusing here is an explanation of the different cuts:

Top eye ,and bottom round steaks and roasts are very lean and do better braised or in a stew.

Top round steak is often sold as London broil. It is mostly grilled, but can also be roasted or pan-fried. If you go beyond medium-rare it becomes tough and dry. Shoulder roasts, chuck roasts, and steaks from these cuts are very lean. I’ve grilled a few chuck steaks and they are flavorful but chewy. The roasts are best braised or stewed.

Cuts from the short loin, N.Y. strips, sometimes called shell steaks, Tbones, Porterhouse, and tenderloin are very tender and much higher in fat. Grill them or pan fry them. I do not recommend broiling these cuts because, as I have explained in Help-I Gotta Learn To Cook, the home broiler simply doesn’t get hot enough. The tenderloin is the most expensive and the most tender.

Sirloin and top sirloin cuts are less expensive, can be very good, and are also suited for grilling or pan frying. If I want to make a really good beef also suited for grilling or pan frying. If I want to make a really good beef stage stews.

A cut you don’t want to overlook is fairly new to the scene and was first launched in California. It’s called a Tri-Tip and was formerly used as hamburger since there is only one per side of beef. A little hard to find, but it is fantastic marinated and grilled, and is superb on sandwiches.

Aged Beef

Aged beef can be found on the menus of some very upscale steakhouses, as well as in the catalogs of specialty food purveyors. The prices for this product are always very high. I saw a catalog that featured aged sirloins for $39 a pound. Aged beef often develops a surface of green mold which can be easily scraped off. Don’t let this persuade you not to try it.

Cook’s Illustrated Magazine did some research a few years ago, and came up with a way to age beef at home. I had already tried aged beef bought from a market and wanted to see how one compared to the other. It turned out to be a very simple process. You put a cut of beef (they used a chuck roast) on a rack in the refrigerator for exactly four days. Increasing the number of days past four does not improve the process. After the fourth day, you trim the dried, crusty edges off the beef, and cook it.

I came to the following conclusions. The beef was tender, delicious, very “beefy” tasting, a little bit like wild game. I cut some off the chuck roast in the middle of the preferred cooking time to see just how tender the aging might make it. Surprisingly it was more tender than you would expect from that kind of cut.

The strip steaks I aged, and cooked to medium-rare, didn’t improve as much as the roast, but they were still very tender and the taste was wonderful. I did find out why aged beef costs so much. By the time I trimmed the dehydrated, leathery parts off the meat, at least 20% of the beef was gone!

It’s kind of a fun project, and I know the dedicated cooks reading this will try aging beef at home. Why? If they weren’t really curious human beings, they wouldn’t be dedicated cooks.

There is also a highly prized and very expensive treatment of beef called Kobe Beef. The steers are raised with a strenuous Japanese method of daily massages, beer to stimulate their appetites, and special diets. The animals are never allowed to roam a pasture, but are kept in special pens.

My cattle ranch was one of the very first in the United States to raise them, and we started with two steers. I can state with absolute certainty that it was the best beef I have ever tasted, and everyone that sampled it, including some notable chefs, agreed. However, the wholesale price at that time was over $35 per pound, and the steaks retailed in restaurants for $225. We got to the point where we either had to invest a huge sum of money to expand, or get out of the business. We decided to get out.

Finally, I know there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the raising of veal, or young beef. Whether you buy veal or shun it is up to you. I have no intention of entering that battle, but I would not give up a good dish of veal shanks for anyone.

Chef Dugan’s Premium Beef Stew: The 2 Stage Method

The idea is to have the vegetables maintain their integrity and not turn into mush while the meat is cooking. It’s also meant to have a stew with premium beef, rare if you like, rather than the usual tough cuts ordinarily used.

To summarize, you first make a vegeta ble stew, making sure the veggies are crisp-tender, and then add some Filet Mignon, New York Strip, whatever, and poach it in the stew until it is done exactly to your liking.

Serves 4

1 lb New York Strip, Rib-Eye or Filet Mignon, 1-inch thick, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch lengths

1 onion, halved and cut into ¼-inch slices

2 celery stalks, cut into ½inch slices

3 medium red potatoes, peeled and cut in half 1 tablespoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons dried

parsley

1 clove garlic, chopped 1 32-oz carton beef broth

1 tablespoon brown sugar, light or dark

1 tablespoon Kitchen

Bouquet

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

Stage 1

Put the oil in a pot over medium heat, and add the carrots, onion, celery, potatoes, and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the thyme and all but 1 cup of the beef broth. Simmer the mixture until the vegetables are crisp-tender.

While the vegetables are cooking, put the flour in a small bowl, and gradually mix in the remaining beef broth. Mix well, making sure all of the flour is dissolved, and add the Kitchen Bouquet and the brown sugar.

Stir the flour mixture into the vegetable mixture, and cook until the sauce thickens.

Stage 2

Add the meat, and the juices from the meat, to the pot, and cook for an additional 5 minutes. If you prefer the meat a little pink, reduce the cooking time.

I serve this with wedge lettuce and blue cheese dressing, and some yeast rolls to sop up the sauce.

NOTE: When making any other kind of beef stew, as opposed to this one using premium beef, you can guarantee success if you simply reverse the process. Take any cut of beef you have, no matter how tough it might be, and pre-cook it before you add the vegetables. Cut the beef into ½-inch pieces, brown them thoroughly in some fat, add beef stock, a pinch of rosemary and tarragon, and cook over very low heat for about 2 hours. At that point the beef will be very tender, and you can add the vegetables and continue until they are done to your liking.

Irish Pot Roast

The first time I saw this recipe in an Irish cookbook, I thought there must be a misprint. I had always believed that pot roasts had to be braised in some kind of broth or wine. Not necessarily. This makes an incredible pot roast, and when it is finished, you have lots of natural juices withwhich to make gravy. The flavor of the meat and gravy will be outstanding.

Serves 4-6

3–4 lbs pot roast with a little fat on it (I prefer chuck) 1 can beef stock

Salt and freshly ground pepper 1 tablespoon thyme

3 tablespoons flour

Cut a little fat from the roast and render it in a heavy roasting pan. I prefer a cast iron pan with a lid. Brown the roast and discard the fat. Sprinkle the roast with thyme (the Irish sometimes rub it with grainy mustard). Cover with a lid and cook for 2½-3 hours at 250 degrees. The secret is in long, slow roasting at a low temperature.

Remove the roast, bring the pan to the top of the stove, add flour, and brown slightly. Remove from heat and stir in broth. Return to heat and cook until gravy thickens.

NOTE: Everyone has their own favorite vegetables they like with pot roast, so I won’t even bother to suggest any, although the Irish like to serve this with elbow macaroni.

Spiced Beef Brisket

This recipe calls for long, slow cooking (not a bad idea with a lot of roasts), and just as important, a tightly sealed cooking casserole. This is a delicious way to make a brisket. There’s another treatment that calls for leaving out the pickling spices and substituting the white wine with beer. Also very good.

Serves 4-6

4–5 lbs brisket of beef

2 tablespoons pickling spices 4 cups dry white wine

2 bay leaves 2–3 tablespoons canola oil

1 large onion, quartered

Heat the seasonings and the wine until the wine begins to simmer and pour over the brisket. Marinate overnight. Remove the brisket from the marinade, and brown it well in oil. Reheat marinade, and place brisket and marinade in a heavy casserole dish.

Seal the casserole dish very tightly with foil, place it in a cold oven, and cover. Braise for 4 hours at 200 degrees. Remove brisket, strain marinade, and return to pot. Reduce to 2 cups. I guarantee the brisket will be as tender as any you have ever had.

Suggested sides: mashed potatoes and a green vegetable.

French Poached Beef Tenderloin

This recipe is not for the faint of heart but trust me, the French have made this for years and know what they’re doing. It’s very similar to my 2-Stage Stew. You’re talking about several pounds of very expensive beef here, and the recipe is only for 4 people, so invite guests that you really like, or your boss.

The technique translated is tenderloin on a stri ng, or “a la ficelle.” The concept is easy: you tie up the meat with a string and suspend it from the sides of the pot into broth and vegetables. The tenderloin must not touch the bottom of the pot, thus the string.

It is poached briefly in broth and served rare to medium-rare. I don’t know how you can get beef any more succulent thanwhat this recipe provides, and the flavor is remarkable.

Note: Instead of beef broth you can use other liquids such as vegetable broth, maybe add a little wine or beer, whatever comes to mind.

Serves 4-6

2-3 lbs beef tenderloin in a uniform piece, tied, with 2 ends of string left loose

5 cans beef broth

¼ cup olive oil

2 cups water

1 large garlic clove,

quartered

6-8 small red potatoes, peeled and cut into

quarters

2 carrots, peeled, cut into 3-inch julienne

3-inch julienne inch julienne

1 medium onion, halved and sliced thinly

½ teaspoon dried thyme

NOTE: You can add turnips, rutabaga or winter squash if you wish. The more

vegetables the better! In a heavy, fairly deep saucepan with two handles, add the oil and sauté the cutup vegetables over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the beef broth and the water, and simmer the vegetables for about 20 minutes until they are tender but still a little crisp. You can let the mixture rest off the heat.

NOTE: If you don’t have a saucepan with 2 handles, tie the string to a long spoon in 2 places and suspend over the liquid. Make sure the string is long enough.

About 15 minutes before you are ready to serve, reheat the vegetables to a simmer, tie the tenderloin to both handles and submerge in the hot liquid, being careful not to let the meat touch the bottom of the pot. Poach the tenderloin for about 15 minutes. Lift the meat out of the broth, and let rest for 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon remove the vegetables to a platter.

Slice the meat across into 4 pieces, place some of the vegetables around each serving, and pass the Creamy Horseradish Sauce – see the Sauce Section.

NOTE: There are other recipes for this dish using rump or sirloin roast poached for several hours. In that case, the string is not necessary and the dish is not authentic.

Sauerbraten

The beef in this recipe must be marinated for three days so advanced planning is required. You should also know that the marinating and subsequent spicing of the beef gives it a wonderful flavor, but it is not really suited for making sandwiches or other normal left-over beef recipes. What I do is to extend the leftover gravy by adding a can ofbeef broth to it, cut the remaining meat into two-meal portions, and freeze them with the broth included. Now you have several more sauerbraten meals.

Serves 4-6

4 lbs boneless beef roast 2 large bay leaves

1 teaspoon ground ginger 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns

2 cups apple cider vinegar 8 whole cloves

2 cups dry white wine cup sugar

2 medium onions, halved and sliced thin

2 tablespoons pickling spice

2 tablespoons safflower oil

1 cup gingersnaps, crumbled

Rub meat with salt and ginger, and put in a large bowl. Combine the remaining ingredients, except the ginger snaps and oil, in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and pour over the meat. Cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 3 days, turning every 8 hours.

Remove the meat and reserve the marinade. Dry the meat with paper towels. Heat fat in a large skillet, and brown the meat on all sides. Put on a rack in a roast pan, and add half the onions and spices and 1 cup of the reserved marinade. Cover tightly and braise in a 300-degree oven for 3½ hours, or until fork tender. Remove the meat and set aside. Strain the liquid in the roasting pan and the other reserved marinade to remove the onions and spices, and put in a small saucepan. You should have about 2-3 cups of plain liquid.

Add the crumbled gingersnaps and heat until the gravy thickens. If too thin, add a few more gingersnaps. Slice the beef in ½-inch slices across the grain.

Red cabbage and spaetzle (see my recipe in the Rice, Dumplings and Pasta Section) will make this a typical German meal. It is also wonderful with bread or potato dumplings. Horseradish on the side and some good rye bread is traditional.

Roast Prime Rib with Yorkshire Pudding

Everyone needs this recipe in their repe rtoire for those special dinners when you want to celebrate something. The roasting method described here is a result of a lot of research (not mine) that had to do with proteins, molecules, and connective tissues.

You can plan on two people per rib plus some leftovers. For easier carving, have the butcher remover the ribs and tie them back on, so the roast and ribs can be separated when ready to carve. The ribs are a treat for another day. There is a lot of waste to a prime rib, particularly ifyou buy the shoulder section. Trim off all but a thin layer of covering fat.

Serves 4-6

5-6 lbs prime rib roast Salt and pepper

2 cans beef broth Flour (optional)

Salt and pepper the roast, and place on a rack in a roasting pan. If you don’t have a roasting pan, buy a throw-away at the supermarket. An instant-read thermometer is an absolute must.

Roast at 250 degrees until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 110 degrees. This could take several hours.

Remove the roast, increase the oven to 500 degrees; return the roast and continue roasting for about 15-20 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 125 degrees. Allow the roast to rest for at least 30 minutes while you make the Yorkshire pudding (see recipe in Recipes That Don’t Fit Anywhere Else Section).

For gravy with a prime rib roast I prefer Au Jus (just the roasting juices) or with a little bit of thickener. When you remove the roast and rack, it’s best to use the roasting pan to make the gravy. It gets all of those nice brown bits and cleans the pan at the same time. Use a little flour or none, and pour the beef broth into the pan. Reduce for about 10 minutes and pour into a gravy dish. However, if you are making Yorkshire pudding, be sure to reserve ¼ cup of the beef drippings before you make the gravy.

NOTE: If you prefer the older method of roasting, pre-heat the oven to 325

degrees and roast for 2-3 hours. The internal temperature for rare will be 120

degrees, for medium-rare 130 degrees, and for medium 140 degrees. Keep in mind that the temperature will continue to rise while the roast is resting. Allow for about an 8-10 degree rise.

Swiss Steak

The name is misleading because it has nothing to do with the Swiss. It comes from the British term “swissing,” meaning tosmooth and flatten meat before cooking. The British call it stewed steak although it really isn’t a stew. It’s not to be confused with Chicken Fried or Country Fried steak.

This is a typical braise so long, slow cooking is involved. It can be done on top of the stove or in the oven. I have already stated my preference for braising in the oven, as a way to better control the outcome, but it can be done either way. ome, but it can be done either way. 3 cups of liquid, otherwise you have a stew.

Serves 4

2 lbs sirloin or round steak, at least 1-inch thick, trimmed of fat (save the fat)

Flour as needed

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped 1 carrot, finely chopped

1 sweet pepper, chopped

1 stalk celery, finely

chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can beef broth

1 small can tomato sauce

½ cup red wine 1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon dried rosemary

Use a meat tenderizer or the edge of a saucer, and pound the steak until it is about half its original thickness. Take the heel of your hand and press as much flour into the meat as it will hold.

Put the saved fat scraps, along with the olive oil in a heavy, oven-proof casserole; over medium heat, render as much fat as you can from the scraps. Discard them, and add the meat. You can cut the meat into serving pieces first, if you wish. Brown the meat slowly, about 15 minutes on each side, and set aside. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and the herbs to the pan; stir and cook for 1 minute. Add the beef broth, tomato sauce, wine, and diced tomatoes; stir well and return the meat to the pan.

When the sauce begins to bubble slightly, cover the casserole tightly and put in a 250-degree oven. Roast 2½ hours or more. (NOTE: If you choose to do this on the top of the stove, keep the dish to a slow simmer.)

You can either thicken the sauce with a flour and beef broth mixture, or leave it slightly thinner. If you want to thicken it, reserve about a ¼ cup of the beef broth to mix with the flour.

Serve the meat with the sauce and either boiled or mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles.

Flank or Skirt Steak

Until the fajita craze hit the American culinary scene, flank or skirt steak was an inexpensive cut. Now the price has soared out of sight. It used to be called London broil, but now a different cut is being sold in its place.

This steak is good for marinating, but has a wonderful flavor just as it is. Since it’s so thin, you should sauté or grill it quickly, and keep it medium-rare. The important thing to remember is to slice the steak very thinly on the diagonal and across the grain. This means aiming your knife a little sideways, rather than straight up and down.

NOTE: A popular marinade for this steak is 1 cup of soy sauce, 1 cup of sherry, and a ½ cup of oil. Add some sliced garlic and some herbs for additional flavor.

Cuban Steak

This is from a restaurant in Miami’s Little Havana area. It was called Lila’s and, as with many things in Miami, the restaurant is no longer there. I don’t know if the recipe is Cuban, but it sure is good

Serves 2

1 lb of any fairly thin steak (round, sirloin, rump) in 2 pieces 6 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1 lime 1 small onion, chopped

2 medium russet potatoes 2 tablespoons olive oil

Recipe for Super Easy French Fries (in Vegetable Section)

With a meat tenderizer or edge of a saucer pound steaks until they are quite thin. Squeeze lime juice on both sides and set aside. Peel potatoes and slice lengthwise into ¼-inch slices. Cut slices across so they are about 3 inches in length. Then cut these slices into matchstick size. Begin frying as in the recipe for Super Easy French Fries. When the fries are about halfway done (just starting to color), heat the oil until it is hot but not smoking, and fry steaks on both sides until they are brown.

Place steaks in the middle of 2 plates, squeeze a generous amount of lime juice over them, sprinkle chopped onion and parsley over the steaks, and cover completely with French fries. The French fries should be in a huge mound almost covering the entire plate. Add salt and pepper, and serve with a salad of your choice.

Chicken Fried Steak/Country Fried Steak

Here is a perfect example of two different ways to treat the same cut of beef. For Chicken Fried Steak, the steak is first battered, then almost always deep fried. It’s served with gravy that has some cream or evaporated milk in it. The batter puts a semi-hard crust on the steak.

For CountryFried Steak the steak i sbrowned, and then brown gravy ismade. During the old days on the trail, the gravy consisted of some evaporated milk, some leftover coffee and a little water, using flour as a thickener.

The truth is, once the steak is pounded to about a ¼-inch thickness and some flour is rubbed into it, you can do almost anything you want with it. Here is a recipe for Country Fried Steakthat will give you the basics. The idea is to tenderize the steak and then fry it. If you don’t have a meat tenderizer, you can use the edge of a saucer, just like the pioneers did.

However you make the steaks, they fit right in with buttermilk, cornbread, greens, and mashed potatoes.

Serves 2

1 lb round steak, top or bottom (feel free to use sirloin)

4 tablespoons peanut oil (or lard)

4 tablespoons flour plus ¼ cup

½ cup cream

1 cup beef broth

Salt

Freshly ground pepper (generous amount) All the cookbooks I have read tell you to use a metal meat tenderizer or the edge of a saucer to pound the flour into the meat. It works, but you end up with a floury mess. My method is to use the saucer or tenderizer to make both sides of the surface of the meat very rough and indented. Then, using the heel of your hand, press as much flour as you can into the ridges. Do this to both sides. Put a layer of flour on a plate and lay the steak on top. Then sprinkle another layer of flour on top of the steak, and set aside for 15 minutes. No mess.

This dish really calls for an iron skillet with a heavy lid. If you don’t have one, you should. Put 3 tablespoons of oil in the skillet, and heat until it’s almost smoking, using a medium-hot setting. Cut the meat into 2 individual steaks, and brown thoroughly on both sides; turn the heat down to moderate, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the steaks, and place in a warm 200-degree oven. Add enough oil to the skillet to equal about 3 tablespoons. Add the 4 tablespoons of flour and stir, making sure you get the brown bits on the bottom. When the flour begins to brown just a little, remove the pan from the heat, add the beef broth, and mix well. Return to heat and stir until it thickens. Add the cream and a good amount of pepper, and cook for another 3 minutes. Serve the steak smothered in gravy.

Carpetbag Steak

This is a very old recipe that seems to have passed out of existence, so I’m reviving it. Try grilling one of these guys if you want to impress your guests.

Get a 2-inch thick steak, a New York Strip, a Sirloin or a tri-tip. Cut a pocket almost all the way through the middle and stuff it with oysters. Secure the open end with toothpicks. Grill it over hot coals for about 10 minutes on each side. Remember you want the oysters to cook also. Put a large pat of butter on top, let it rest for a few minutes, and slice it across the grain. Another version calls for the steak to be stuffed with fried oysters, but take care not to overcook them.

Steak Edward

I am fond of Irish whiskey. In my opinion, even the cheaper brands of Irish whiskey match what other whiskeys call “sippin’ grade,” generally their most expensive and most aged products. However, this dish will be almost as good if you use bourbon or scotch.

Serves 2

2 individual steaks, at least 1½-inches thick

Olive oil ½ cup Irish whiskey, divided use

Several hours before you plan to cook the steaks, take a fork and punch holes into both sides of the steak (a lot of holes—the more the merrier).

Pour ¼ cup of the whiskey over both steaks, turning them so they are well coated. Let them sit on a plate, at room temperature for at least 2 hours. The whiskey will puddle at the bottom, so turn the steaks every once in a while. While the steaks are marinating, take the remaining ¼ cup of whiskey and sip, while preparing the rest of the meal.

WARNING:This method of cooking steaks produces a lot of smoke.

You really should have a cast iron skillet to do this right, but any heavy skillet will do. Get the skillet very hot and sprinkle the bottom with a thin layer of salt. Dry the steaks well and cook about 5 minutes on each side, turning once. They will be a beautiful reddish brown on the outside, and a perfect medium-rare inside.

Steak Au Poivre

I was first introduced to this dish by Art Buchwald, the late Washington Post syndicated columnist and humorist. Art was also a Pulitzer Prize winner and, for many years, wrote a column from Paris for the New York Herald Tribune.

When he returned from Paris, we met for dinner and he suggested I try this dish. When it turned out too spicy for my taste, he reached across the table, speared it and put in on his plate. He toldme he was counting on that happening when he suggested it. I have since discovered you can make it as spicy as you wish. But you must use freshly cracked pepper. How much you use isup to you.

Serves 2

2 New York Strips, 1½-inches thick

2 tablespoons black peppercorns, coarsely crushed (use a plastic bag and hammer)

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided use 4 tablespoons butter, divided use

¼ cup brandy ½ cup red wine

Salt

Using 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, thoroughly coat the steaks on both sides. Sprinkle ½ tablespoon of pepper on 1 side of a steak, and press in firmly with your hands. Repeat on the second side. Do the same with the other steak.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a heavy skillet, and sauté the steaks over medium-high heat, turning once, until they are done to your liking (2 minutes on each side will give you a rare steak). Keep the steaks warm in a 200-degree oven while you are making the sauce.

Over medium-high heat, warm the pan for 1 minute and pour in the brandy. Ignite with a kitchen match, and shake the pan until the flames cease. Add the wine and, 1 tablespoon at a time, swirl in the remaining butter. Remove the sauce from the heat immediately. Pour the sauce over the steaks and serve at once.

Miroton of Beef au Gratin

This is a 19thcentury French country dish that uses leftover roast beef or pot roast. You can add sliced mushrooms and garlic if you like, but the dish is wonderful as presented.

Serves 2

1 lb leftover pot roast or boiled beef from a pot-aufeu (see recipe below)

3 medium onions, sliced very thin

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 cups of beef broth or leftover beef gravy, or a mixture of both

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf 2 tablespoons flour

½ cup dried bread crumbs 2 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons dried parsley

Slice the beef into very thin slices and set aside.

Heat 4 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy skillet, and add the onions. Cook them slowly over low heat until they are lightly browned and soft. Add the thyme and stir. Sprinkle the flour over the onions, and stir for 2-3 minutes. Add the vinegar and continue to stir. Add 1 cup of the beef broth, and stir until the sauce thickens. It should be fairly thin. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer for about 30 minutes. If the sauce gets too thick, add more broth.

Spread a thin layer of the onion mixture over the bottom of a shallow, ovenproof dish. Place overlapping slices of beef neatly around the dish, and pour the rest of the sauce over all. Cover lightly with foil, and bake in a 325-degree oven for 1 hour. Check once in a while to see if the dish needs more beef broth. Remove the dish from the oven, discard the foil, and sprinkle the bread crumbs tossed in the melted butter evenly over the meat. Put the dish back in the oven, and continue baking until the crumbs turn golden and a crust forms, about another 30 minutes.

Sprinkle the top with parsley and serve.

Accompaniments might include a puree of carrots, turnips, and potatoes, and a tomato salad.

Boiled Beef French Style (Pot-au-Feu)

Pot-au-Feu is one of the many beef dishes developed by the French that has withstood the test of time. It’s similar to other French beef dishes in that you can pretty much add or subtract vegetables, depending on what you have on hand.

Serves 4

3–4 lbs boneless beef (rump, top round, chuck, or top sirloin—never use a bottom round), tied into a neat piece

4 cans beef broth

4 carrots, scraped, cut into 3-inch chunks

1 stalk celery, cut into 3-inch chunks

2 leaks, white part plus a little green, halved

lengthwise and thoroughly rinsed

2 whole medium onions, stuck with 2 cloves each

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2 bay leaves ½ teaspoon dried thyme

4–6 pieces marrow bone if available

Place the beef in a kettle just large enough to hold it, and pour broth over it to cover. Heat until just at the boil, and start removing any scum that appears on the surface. Continue skimming until the scum is almost gone, about 15 minutes. Make sure the broth is just at the simmer; add the garlic, bay leaves, and thyme. Partially cover the pot. Do not allow the broth to boil. You are really poaching the meat.

Cook for 2 hours. Remove the beef, cut a slice off, and test for tenderness. If it is done to your liking, set aside, if not, return to the pot. Add the vegetables, cover again, and cook for an additional hour. Return the beef to the pot if it was done when you removed it, and cook for 15 minutes to warm it. If the dish is done before you wish to serve, turn off the heat and allow it to keep warm in the pot until you are ready.

When ready to serve, remove the beef and slice. Place in shallow bowls. Surround the servings with the vegetables, and spoon the broth over all. Boiled potatoes go very well with this dish, and some people like a little horseradish with it. Make Miroton of Beef with the leftovers. The leftover broth makes wonderful gravy.

Beef, Lamb, or Chicken Shepherd’s Pie

Shepherd’s Pie is simply a meat, potato, and vegetable meal put together in layers, and a great way to make leftovers shine. Leftover short ribs and their gravy are especially good this way.

To be absolutely correct from a culinary standpoint, in Europe when lamb is used it’s called Shepherd’s Pie, when beef or ground beef is used it’s called Cottage Pie. The latter is made frequently in Great Britain. Using chicken is strictly American.

Any combination of vegetables canbe used. I especially like diced winter squash mixed in when I make it with chicken. Serves 2

2 cups leftover beef, lamb, or chicken cut into ½-inch dice

1 cup beef or chicken broth ½ cup frozen baby peas

½ cup carrots, cut into ¼inch dice

½ cup onions, cut into ¼inch dice

1 cup mushrooms, sliced 2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon dry sherry 1 clove garlic, minced

2 medium potatoes,

cooked and mashed with 3 tablespoons butter, milk or cream, and 1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 tablespoon olive oil

Paprika

Over medium heat melt butter and oil in small frying pan. Add mushrooms and cook until they give up their juices and are slightly brown. Add garlic, diced carrots, and onions, cover and cook over low heat until the vegetables are soft. Add flour and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add broth. Stir until mixed, and return to heat until sauce thickens. Add sherry and peas. If you have any leftover gravy from the previous meal, feel free to add it to the sauce. Add meat and mix well. It should be like a very thick stew. Spoon into the bottom of the casserole.

The mashed potatoes should be fairly firm. If you need them a little softer, add another tablespoon mayonnaise. Spoon them over the meat and vegetable mixture. Sprinkle top with paprika, and bake in a 350-degree oven for 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven, and let the dish rest for 20 minutes while you toss a nice salad.

NOTE: It’s very important that you keep the gravy fairly thick, not runny. The same goes for the potatoes. Make them stiffer than you normally would. Otherwise, the dish will turn into a runny mess, when what you want is a clear definition between the various mixtures.

Greek Beef Stew with Peppers and Feta Cheese

There are a number of beef stews that I especially like and this is one of my favorites. It’s enough for two people, twice.

Serves 4

2 lbs chuck roast, trimmed well and cut into 2-inch cubes

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon thyme

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 large onion, chopped

1 tablespoon tomato puree

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can beef broth 1 cup dry red wine

1 red bell pepper and 1 green pepper, seeded and cut into ½-inch strips

1 cup or more feta cheese, crumbled

3 tablespoons olive oil 3 tablespoons flour

Salt and pepper

Heat oil in a heavy casserole dish over medium heat. Toss meat cubes with flour to coat and sauté, stirring frequently, until a deep brown. Be careful not to crowd the dish or the meat will steam, not fry. Set aside. Adding more oil if necessary, sauté onion for 5 minutes.

Stir in spices, cook for an additional 3 minutes, and stir in wine. Cook for 3 minutes and add beef broth, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste. Salt and pepper to taste, cover, and bake in a 300-degree oven for 1½ hours. Add peppers, stir well, and bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Just before serving, crumble up a generous portion of feta cheese over the top.

NOTE: For a different treatment, leave out the feta cheese and use my cheddar crust. This can be found in the Recipes That Don’t Fit Anywhere Else Section.

Hungarian Goulash

My grandmother was Austrian-Hungarian and she would be disappointed if I did not includeher version of goulash in this book. It’s a wonderful dish if you use imported Hungarian paprika. If you use ordinary supermarket paprika, just call it goulash and skip the Hungarian part or strange people from Transylvania will visit you in the middle of the night.

NOTE: This recipe is also delicious made with veal or chicken instead of beef. Serves 4

3 lbs trimmed beef chuck cut into 2-inch cubes

½ cup lard 2 large onions, finely

chopped

4 tablespoons or more of sweet paprika

½ teaspoon caraway

seeds, toasted in a dry pan

1 green bell pepper, cut into ½-inch dice

1 can diced tomatoes

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 large garlic clove,

chopped

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon flour

3 cups beef broth

1 cup dry white wine

1 bay leaf

2 cups sour cream at room temperature

Season meat with salt and pepper. Heat lard in a heavy skillet until it’s almost smoking, and add meat, browning on all sides. You may have to do this in batches, depending on the size of your skillet. Reduce heat to medium, and add onions, garlic, caraway seeds, green pepper and thyme, stir, and add paprika. Sprinkle flour over the dish, stir, and add wine. Cook for 2 minutes, and add beef broth, tomato paste and tomatoes with their juices. There should be enough liquid to barely cover the meat. Reduce heat until the dish is simmering, cover, and cook over low heat for 2 hours. If necessary, add a little water.

When ready to serve, remove from heat and stir in the sour cream. Serve with buttered wide noodles.

NOTE: If you prefer a little thicker broth, before you stir in the sour cream, mix 2

tablespoons broth with 1 tablespoon of flour, add to the dish, and cook for 3

minutes.

Braised Short Ribs

Of all the beef dishes, I think this produces the “beefiest” taste. The beef flavor is intense, and I’m sure it has to do with the cut, not the recipe. I have been seeing a lot ofboneless short ribs in the supermarket in the past few years. Boneless, or bone-in, it makes no difference, althoughthe ribs with the bones will give you slightly richer gravy. The ribs will yield quite a bit of fat, so be sure to trim the meat before you cook it, and skim some off the gravy before serving. I know the recipe calls for a long cooking time, but you won’t be sorry you waited.

Serves 2

2 lbs beef short ribs ½ teaspoon dried thyme 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks

1 tablespoon fresh

rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 medium onion, chopped 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 can beef broth 1 cup red wine

3 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon flour

Heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, and brown the ribs on all sides. Remove and set aside.

Sauté the onion and carrots for 5 minutes, add the garlic, spices, tomato paste, and the flour. Cook for 3 minutes and then add the beef broth and wine. Stir until the broth thickens slightly. Add the beef ribs, bring to a simmer, cover tightly, and bake in a 300-degree oven for 3 hours.

Skim the fat from the juices, and serve the meat and vegetables with some boiled potatoes.

Sausage, with Black-eyed Peas and Escarole

A good, hearty meal that comes in handy when your food budget is low and/or you need something in a hurry.

Serves 2

1 can black-eyed peas

½ onion, finely chopped 1 can chicken broth

½ lb small red potatoes, halved and cooked until tender 1 lb sausage of your choice (beef, pork, or turkey)

2 tablespoons butter 1 garlic clove, minced

¾ lb chopped escarole Salt and pepper

Sauté the onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon butter, until lightly browned. Add the escarole and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the can of peas, potatoes, and chicken broth, stir and set aside.

Sauté the sausage in the remaining butter, until nicely browned. Cut into 2-inch pieces. Reheat the peas and potato mixture and simmer for 5 minutes. Divide into 2 bowls, and arrange sausage pieces on top. Season with salt and pepper.

Oxtail Ragout

The term ragout comes from the French expression “to revive the taste.” There is really no difference between a ragout and a stew, both are rather free-form. For some reason oxtails are rarely seen on restaurant menus. You know you’ve made a good oxtail ragout when your lips seem to stick together after the first bite.

Serves 4

4 lbs oxtails, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can beef broth

½ cup red wine

2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons olive oil

3 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1-inch rounds

2 turnips, peeled and quartered

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon thyme Flour

Flour the oxtails, and brown them in the butter and safflower oil over medium heat. Transfer to an oven-proof casserole. Brown the onions and garlic, adding more oil if necessary, and add to the casserole along with the carrots and turnips. Add the broth and wine, bring to a boil, and cook for 10 minutes, spooning off any scum that forms. Add the seasonings and bring to a slow simmer, cover, and cook over low heat for 3 hours.

Remove the oxtails from the dish, turn the heat to high, and reduce the sauce for about 5 minutes. Return the oxtails, and keep warm until you are ready to serve.

This dish goes great with boiled potatoes and a small green salad or coleslaw. Crusty bread will help you sop up the juices.

Beef and Stout Stew

This is an Iris h recipe. If you use beer instead of stout, add three cups of sliced onions, and a few tablespoons oflight brown sugar, you have made a wellknown Belgium recipe, Carbonnades Ala Flamande. To repeat my mantra once again, it’s the treatment that makes the dish, and the long, slow cooking is part of it. If you can wait to sample this delectable stew for a few days, it gets even better.

NOTE: You can also make this dish substituting beef broth for the stout—not very Irish, but very good. Serves 2

1 lb lean beef, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes

3 shallots, peeled and chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup stout

1 cup beef broth

3 tablespoons canola oil, divided use

2 tablespoons flour

2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks

½ tablespoon dried thyme

Salt and pepper

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy casserole, preferably cast-iron, until it is almost smoking.

Toss the beet cubes in some oil to coat, toss them in the flour, and then add to the skillet. Brown the beef cubes on all sides. Reduce the heat to moderate, and add the shallots, garlic, tomato paste, salt, and pepper.

Cover the casserole and cook gently for 6-7 minutes. Bring the heat up to medium-high, and pour in the stout. Stir around to pick up the pan juices, and add the beef broth. Add the carrots, bring to a simmer, and cover.

Bake in a 275-degree oven for 3½ hours.

NOTE: The Irish would serve this with colcannon (see recipe) or plain boiled potatoes, with a little Guinness on the side, of course.

Fajitas

No one really knows how fajitas were born, but they are simply stir-fried, usually mixed with peppers and onions, and meat wrapped in tortillas. You can do anything you want with them beyond that. They are fun to make and serve to a crowd.

Serves 4

2 lbs steak, sliced thin (skirt is best but sirloin will do as well)

½ cup fresh lime juice

cup fresh lemon juice

½ cup safflower oil, divided use

2 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon dried cilantro 1 small red pepper, sliced thin

1 small green pepper, sliced thin

1 onion, halved and sliced thin

Salt and pepper

Salsa

2 cans refried beans mixed with ½ cup water

1 tablespoon chili powder

10-inch flour tortillas

NOTE: It helps to partially freeze the meat to make slicing easier.

Combine the lime juice, lemon juice, 1/3 cup oil, garlic, cumin, oregano, cilantro, salt and pepper in a bowl, and toss with the steak strips. Refrigerate and marinate for 4 hours, or overnight.

Sauté the pepper and onion strips in a little oil until softened, and set aside. Mix the chili powder with the beans and set aside.

Microwave the tortillas for 45 seconds, or wrap them in foil and heat them in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes.

Drain the meat and reserve the marinade. Heat the remaining oil in a large skillet over high heat and sauté the meat strips, adding 1-2 spoonfuls of marinade while tossing the meat.

To serve, place some meat strips along the center of a tortilla, top with beans, and then some pepper and onion strips. Spoon some salsa on top. Fold in the 2 ends, and then fold the 2 sides to enclose.

NOTE: You can use pork, chicken, or even fish as well as the beef. I serve these with a tomato and lettuce salad and some yellow rice. Some people like a little sour cream with the fajitas.

Johnny’s Quick and Easy Fajitas

Johnny, a fellow-vendor at a flea market, was on e of those people whose glass was not just half-full, it was always overflowing. He bragged about these fajitas over and over, and finally I asked him to bring some to the market. When he did, I couldn’t stop eating them, they were so good. They also make a great lunch at room temperature. If you only have thirty minutes to get something on the table, try these, but be sure to make enough. Johnny’s other claim to fame was that he twice won the contest for Fastest Draw in the West.

Serves 4

1½ lbs beef, 1-inch thick (I like sirloin) 1 12-oz jar of salsa of your choice

2 tablespoons oil 10-inch flour tortillas

This dish can also be made with pork or chicken.

Cut the beef into ½-inch or smaller cubes. Heat the oil in a large skillet until it is almost smoking, and brown the beef, about 5 minutes. Pour on the salsa and mix well. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 45 minutes, stirring every so often. If you let the salsa reduce over medium-low heat for 1 hour or more it gets even better.

While the mixture is cooking, heat the tortillas, wrap in foil, and keep warm in a 250-degree oven.

When the beef has absorbed most of the moisture, and the salsa is just a glaze, take a tortilla, spoon 3-4 tablespoons of the meat mixture down the center, fold in the ends, and roll it up. That’s all there is to it. Any side will do fine: refried beans, lettuce and tomato salad topped with sour cream, whatever.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

In some quarters you can find people who will tell you that th is really isn’t an Irish dish. Just so you know, the Irish have been corning beef since the 11thCentury! In New England they call it a New England boiled dinner.

It’s very easy to make, and doesn’t really require a recipe, but I want to give you a few guidelines. A lot of people cook the corned beef and vegetables together, usually adding the vegetables for the last hour. You can do this if you wish, but the vegetables will pick up a lot of taste from the heavily seasoned broth. I prefer to cook the vegetables by themselves in some boiling, salted water, thus preserving their natural taste.

Never buy corned beef round, only brisket. The round has very little fat and therefore much less flavor. Buy the largest piece you can find. Corned beef shrinks when cooking, and you want some left over for sandwiches. Although the cooking time for corned beef is long, about 3 hours, you can overcook it, so test it after 2½ hours for tenderness. If you boil corned beef rather than keeping it at a low simmer, it will get tough. Just follow the directions on the package.

After the corned beef is done, remove it from the pot, and let it cool. You will find that it appears to be in 2 pieces. Between these pieces is some unwanted fat you should cut out, as well as trimming some of the covering fat on top. However, to be good, corned beef needs a little fat.

As for your choice of vegetables, the usual is carrots, celery, turnips, onions, potatoes, and cabbage. Cut the cabbage into wedges, and tie them with a string across the middle to keep them from falling apart. Leave some root end on the onions for the same reason. Some people serve beets on the side. Rather than cook the vegetables in the beef broth, you can get a much fresher taste by cooking them in canned chicken broth separately, and then add them just before serving.

It is very important that you remember to cut the corned beef across the grain in thin slices.The more the beef cools, the easier it is to slice. The broth is delicious

and should be spooned over the beef and vegetables. As for condiments,

horseradish and mustard are traditional.

Beef Stroganoff

A Russian dish that is frequently abused, the most common reason being that something other than beef tenderloin is used. If you use anything other than beef tenderloin, you are not making Beef Stroganoff.

Serves 2

1 lb beef tenderloin—any end will do 2 large onions, chopped fine

4 tablespoons butter (divided use) cup reduced beef stock (1 can reduced to cup)

¼ pint sour cream 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon tomato paste Juice of ½ lemon

NOTE: If you partially freeze the beef it makes it easier to cut. Cut across the grain.

Trim the beef, and cut into short, 1-inch thick strips. Melt the butter in a skillet over very high heat. Toss in the strips of beef and fry hard for 1 minute. Put on a plate and keep warm in a 150-degree oven. While in the oven, the meat will exude some juices. Set the skillet aside.

In a new frying pan, add the rest of the butter, and sauté the onion gently for about 3 minutes until it softens. Add the reduced beef stock and bring to a boil. Set aside.

Return the first skillet to the heat, and deglaze with the sour cream. Add the meat and its accumulated juices and the onion mixture. Stir in the mustard, tomato paste, and lemon juice and reheat very gently; make sure the mixture does not boil.

This dish is traditionally served with buttered noodles tossed with a few caraway seeds. A nice green salad will complete the meal.

NOTE: You can also make a delicious meal by using chicken breasts, leftover or fresh, instead of the beef. Substitute chicken broth for the beef broth when making the sauce.

Stuffed Cabbage Leaves

This is a European dish with many mothers. A few of the names for it are Galumpkis, Hallupkis, and Prokes. I think its origins are in the Jewish-PolishHungarian circuit, but whatever you want to call them they are outstanding.

Serves 2

1 large head of cabbage (Savoy or regular)

½ lb ground beef

1cup cooked rice

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter 1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 egg, beaten lightly

1 large can crushed tomatoes

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut about 2 inches of cabbage off the core, end and gently remove 7-8 leaves. Boil them in the water until they are limp, about 3 or 4 minutes.

Drain and cool. Trim the heavy ends off the leaves, chop them fine, and set aside. Sauté the onions in the butter until they are limp, about 5 minutes. Mix all the ingredients, including the chopped cabbage, except the crushed tomatoes, in a large bowl with your hands.

Take a cabbage leaf, place 4 tablespoons of meat mixture in the center and, starting with the core end, gently roll it about half way. Fold the 2 ends into the center and roll up the rest. Secure it with 2 toothpicks. Repeat until the meat mixture is used up. Place the cabbage rolls, seam side down, in a shallow casserole, and cover with crushed tomatoes. Bring crushed tomatoes almost to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 1 hour.

Serve with mashed potatoes and buttered carrots.

NOTE: Another treatment for this recipe would be to use it to stuff peppers, not the common green kind, but the yellow, red, and orange kind. You can use any tomato sauce mixture that appeals to you and other spices if you wish.

Beef a la Lindstrom

A very old r ecipe, by Anna Maria Lindstrom, that originated at the Hotel Witt in Kamar, Sweden. This recipe for Swedish hamburgers is authentic with the exception of one addition I have made—the mashed potatoes. I believe they improve the texture and the taste bysimply changing the treatment a little.

What makes these patties so delicious is very slow cooking in butter and oil, basting frequently with the pan juices, and the beets of course.

Serves 2

1 lb ground beef 2 egg yolks 2 tablespoons butter ½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon canola oil

½ cup mashed potato (you can used instant or

leftovers)

1 tablespoon onion or sweet peppers, finely chopped

½ tablespoon capers, finely chopped

Freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon vinegar cup heavy cream

cup pickled beets plus a teaspoon of the juice – you can also use regular

canned beets.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a small pan over medium heat, and sauté the onions until they are soft but not brown, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer the onions to a large bowl, and add the meat, egg yolks, capers, salt, and a few grindings of pepper and the vinegar. Mix together and moisten with the heavy cream. Stir in the beets and mashed potato.

Shape the mixture into 4 round patties. Add the rest of the butter and the oil to a skillet large enough to hold all the patties, and cook them over medium heat until they are brown on both sides, about 10-12 minutes. You want the patties to be just well done but not overcooked.

NOTE: In Sweden, these patties are frequently topped with a fried egg, making a delightful brunch or supper dish.

Chef Dugan’s Heirloom Meatballs

This whole cookbook undertaking started when both my daughters, Patricia an d Pamela, asked for my meatball recipe. The fact that theyremembered it from when they were kids made me feel good, making these sort of heirloom meatballs.

Almost every meatball recipe requires you to shape the meatballs and brown them in a skillet. Since they’re round, that means you have to keep turning them to brown them all over. Sometimes they stick to the pan and start breaking up. That’s dumb! Just bake those little suckers, as I suggest, and you’ll have no problems.

NOTE: Never use store-bought breadcrumbs to make meatballs—your meatballs will be hard as golf balls. The crumbs compact and begin to harden as they are cooked. Crumbs made from bread a few days old expand, and make the meatballs light.

Serves 4

1 lb ground round 6 slices good white bread (I use Pepperidge Farm) 1 medium onion, chopped fine

1 stalk celery, chopped fine

2 garlic cloves, minced 1 large egg, beaten lightly

cup Parmesan or Romano cheese

¾ tablespoon lemon rind, minced (be careful not to include white pith)

1 tablespoon dried

oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

4 tablespoons dried parsley

Pinch nutmeg

Salt and pepper

Beef broth

Cut the bread, crust and all, into ¼-inch squares, place in small bowl, and almost cover with beef broth. Set aside.

Put beef, onion, garlic, cheese, lemon, and spices into a large bowl and, with your hands, blend well. Add egg and continue to blend. Squeeze most of the broth out of the bread, and add to bowl. Mix thoroughly with the meat mixture.

It helps if you can refrigerate the meatball mixture for about an hour to firm it up, but it isn’t essential. Use an ice cream scoop or a large spoon to measure out uniform amounts of the beef mixture, wet your hands, and roll into balls the size of golf balls.

of golf balls. degree oven for 30 minutes.

If you are having meatballs and spaghetti, which is a good reason to make them in the first place, cook your spaghetti, place as many meatballs as you need for the meal in your spaghetti sauce (store-bought or homemade), and simmer for about 20 minutes, and you’re ready to serve.

Jamaican Meat Patties

Lynne and I spent a lot of time in Jamaica, a wonderful country populated by wonderful people. I could sit for hours and just listen to them talking to each other in that lilting sound they call patios or patwah.

Meat patties in Jamaica are as common as hamburgers in the US, and have almost as many recipes. This recipe is authentic Jamaican.

You can make the dough from s cratch or, as I do, buy either frozen discs by Goya or a package of chilled pie crust. If you make it from scratch, it will have a slight taste of curry to it.

To Make 10 Patties

For the Pastry: ½ stick butter

2 cups flour 1/3 cup cold water

½ teaspoon curry powder ¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup shortening

Place the flour, curry powder, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Add the shortening and butter, and mix with your fingers until the mixture is reduced to large crumbs. Add the water and mix to make a stiff dough. Roll out until it’s about 1/8 inch thick, and cut into 8-inch circles. At this point you can set it aside for a few minutes, or refrigerate it overnight, being sure to bring it to room temperature before use.

For the Filling: ¼ cup bread crumbs

½ pound lean ground beef ¼ cup beef stock

2 tablespoons olive oil 1 egg beaten

Small sweet onion,

chopped

½ teaspoon curry powder

½ teaspoon dried thyme ¼ cup water Salt and pepper

¼ teaspoon chopped Scotch Bonnet or other hot pepper

Heat the oil in a skillet, and sauté the onion and the Scotch Bonnet pepper until soft. Add the ground beef, salt, pepper, curry powder, and dried thyme. Brown the meat, and add the bread crumbs and stock. Cover and cook slowly for about 10 minutes. The filling should be fairly thick, but if it’s too moist, add some bread crumbs.

Beat the egg and water together and set aside. If you are using the pie crust, roll out and, using a saucer of at least 6-inch diameter, cut out circles. If you are using the Goya discs, lay them out on a cutting board.

Fill each disc with 3-4 tablespoons meat mixture along the middle, and fold over to make a half-moon patty. Moisten the edges and crimp together with a fork. Brush the patties with the egg mixture, and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes until they are golden brown.

The uneaten patties can be frozen for later use.

Picadillo

This dish is pretty common around the Caribbean, each island having its own special twists. A simple salad or some fruit goes well with it.

Serves 2

2 cups cooked rice 1 medium onion, chopped 1 lb lean ground beef 1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons parsley

1 14-oz can crushed tomatoes or diced tomatoes

¼ cup raisins (or more) ¼ cup green olives with pimentos, sliced in half 2 tablespoons capers 1 clove garlic, minced

¼ cup white wine 1 packaged salad of your choice

Crusty rolls or warm corn tortillas

Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet over moderate heat, and brown beef. Add onions and garlic, and cook until onions are soft. Add olives, capers, and 1 tablespoon juice from the olive jar, salt and pepper to taste, and cook for 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, wine, and raisins, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Spoon the picadillo over rice. Toss the salad, and serve the bread or tortillas.

German Meatballs with Caper Sauce

When my grandmother made these, she called them Konigsberger Klopse. She always served them with steamed potatoes and a green bean salad. Both of these recipes can be found elsewhere in this book.

Serves 4-6

1 cup slightly stale bread, from rolls or good white bread, cut into ½-inch cubes

1 lb ground sirloin

½ lb ground pork

2 medium potatoes,

cooked and mashed

1 shallot, minced

Scant ½ teaspoon grated lemon rind

½ teaspoon lemon juice

½ tablespoon juice from a jar of capers

1 teaspoon anchovy paste 1 egg, beaten

1 egg white and 1 egg yolk, separated (see sauce recipe)

2 cans beef broth

Salt and pepper

Caper Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter 1 shallot, minced

2 tablespoons flour

¼ cup dry, white wine

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon capers

Few drops lemon juice Salt and pepper

Pour water over the crumbs and, when soaked, squeeze out the excess water. Add bread and potatoes to the beef and pork, and work the mixture with your fingers until it forms a paste. Add the shallots, lemon rind, lemon, caper juices, and anchovy paste, then the beaten egg and egg white. Work with a spoon until smooth.

Form meat mixture into 2-inch balls. Bring broth to a slow boil. Add meat balls, taking care not to crowd the pot. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until meatballs rise to top. Remove the meatballs, and strain the broth through a layer of cheesecloth.

For the sauce, melt the butter in a skillet, and add minced shallot. Cook until soft, and stir in flour. Cook for 1 minute, stirring often. Remove from heat, and stir in 1½ cups broth and the wine. Return to heat, and cook until the sauce thickens. Beat the egg yolk until thick, and stir in a little broth. Add to sauce and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce has the consistency of thick cream. Add the capers and lemon juice. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more broth. Add the meatballs and serve.

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy

This was once a popular dish at business clubs and lunchtime bars. It is almost always served with mashed potatoes and a vegetable. Why is it called Salisbury steak? Sometime in the 1800s, Dr. J. H. Salisbury suggested eating beef three times a day for good health. He must havebeen very popular in Texas and other beef-raising states. More likely, he owned a cattle ranch.

Serves 2

¾ lb ground lean chuck ½ tablespoon dried thyme

1 small onion, chopped— divided use

2 tablespoons green pepper, minced

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon dried parsley 1 egg, beaten lightly

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 slices good bread, dried, cut into 1-inch cubes (do not use store-bought bread crumbs)

¼ cup beef broth

Gravy:

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

¼ cup dry red wine

4 oz (half a package)

mushrooms, sliced

1½ cups beef broth

Soak bread in beef broth. Put beef, half of onion, green pepper, mustard, garlic, parsley, egg, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, bread, and the beef broth it has been soaked in, into a large bowl, and mix gently with your hands. Put in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Remove from refrigerator and mold into 2 elongated ovals about 1-inch thick. Over medium heat, heat oil in a heavy skillet, and sauté the steaks until brown on both sides, but not yet done. Remove steaks and set aside.

Add butter to skillet and pan juices along with onion. Sauté for 2 minutes over medium heat, and add mushrooms. Continue cooking until mushrooms begin to yield their juices. Add flour, stir, and cook for 3 more minutes. Add wine, stir for 1 minute, and add beef broth. Cook for 4 minutes until the gravy is smooth and thick.

Return Salisbury steaks to pan, and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Serve with mashed potatoes, gravy, and a veggie if you want to simulate a diner meal.

Chef Dugan’s Meatloaf

I always make a meatloaf with two purposes in mind: a meatloaf meal and meatloaf sandwiches. I pay special attention to the two “t’s,” taste and texture. This recipe is a little different from most, since I like to load my meatloaf with a lot of veggies.

I also try to stay away from commercial bread crumbs since they make the meatloaf kind of dense. Instead I use one or two slices of bread, white, multigrain, whatever, and dry them in a 200-degree oven for about an hour so they get nice and crisp.

Finally, this recipe uses only beef, but you can add ground pork and/or veal if you wish.

NOTE: I like a free-form meatloaf which I shape with my hands, but you can use a loaf pan. If you use a pan, use the kind that self-drains the meatloaf, so the juices don’t drown out the loaf.

Serves 4-6 2 lbs ground beef chuck

1 large onion, chopped coarsely

2 stalks of celery, chopped coarsely

1 large carrot, chopped coarsely

1 large or 3 baby sweet red peppers, chopped

coarsely

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup ketchup, divided use 1 teaspoon crushed

rosemary

2 slices good bread, torn into pieces

2 eggs, beaten

¼ cup heavy cream:

optional (You can use cream, or broth, the idea being to make sure the meat mixture is just a little moist before you put it in the oven; it may not need anything.)

Salt and pepper

Using your hands, mix together the meats, onion, carrots, garlic, ½ cup ketchup, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. When thoroughly mixed, add the egg, bread, and cream, and continue mixing.

Form the mixture into a firm evenly shaped loaf, either round or oblong, and place in a shallow baking dish. Spread the remaining ½ cup of ketchup evenly over the top. Bake in a 325-degree oven for 2 hours. Let the loaf rest for about 30 minutes before serving.

Stuffed Peppers

Using the above meatloaf recipe, skip the bread, and add 2 cups of cooked rice, cut the top off green, yellow, or red peppers, and stuff them. Put them in a pan with about an inch of water, and bake for 1 hour, 15 minutes.

Cream Chipped Beef

This dish must be a hundred years old. I know I ate it as a child. Some cookbooks tell you to soak the beef in water to leach out the salt, but that takes away all of the taste. However, the beef is very salty, so I suggest you run it under hot water for thirty seconds to get some of the salt out. Actually, I like it right out of the jar. This dish is sometimes mistakenly labeled as SOS, but it really isn’t. I have included a recipe for real SOS in the Eggs and Cheese Section.

This is really good with grits, soft scrambled eggs, and fried toast, and my wife Lynne loves it over a baked potato.

Serves 2

1 jar chipped beef (I really like this dish so I buy the large one) 2 tablespoons flour

1 cup, or more, whole milk or half and half

2 tablespoons butter

Cut the beef into thin slivers, and break the slices apart with your fingers, otherwise they tend to lump together. Heat the butter, add the flour, and make a roux. Cook over low heat for a few minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the milk, and return to heat (this prevents lumps in your sauce). Add the beef, mix well, and simmer for 3 minutes. Serve hot.

French Meat Patties with Cream Sauce

This recipe illustrates how, through a different treatment, th e French are able to elevate a common meat patty to gourmet status. Be sure to buy ground beef that is at least 90% lean.

Serves 4

1½ lbs lean ground beef 1 tablespoon safflower oil ¼ teaspoon thyme Flour

1 cup onion or sweet pepper, minced

Sauce:

¼ cup beef broth 1 clove garlic, minced ½ cup heavy cream 1 egg, beaten lightly ½ teaspoon lemon juice Salt and pepper

5 tablespoons butter, divided use

2 tablespoons softened butter

1 teaspoon parsley

Sauté the onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons of the butter until they are soft, about 10 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, and add 2 tablespoons of softened butter, salt, pepper, thyme, and the beaten egg. Mix together, add the ground beef, and continue mixing until it is well blended. Form the meat mixture into patties about an inch thick, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This will firm up the patties.

Just before you sauté the patties, sprinkle 3-4 tablespoons of flour onto a large plate, lay each patty on the flour, and flip them over so both sides have a light coating of flour.

Add 1 tablespoon oil and the remaining tablespoon of butter to the skillet and, over medium-high heat, sauté the patties, browning them on both sides until they are at least medium-well done. Set aside in a warm oven.

Empty any fat out of the skillet, bring heat to medium, and add the stock. Stir the stock to incorporate any pan juices, turn up the heat, and add the cream, parsley, salt, and pepper to taste. Reduce the mixture until it begins to thicken, and add the lemon juice. Remove from the heat, and stir in the softened butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Spoon the sauce over the hamburger patties.

Oven-baked potato wedges and green peas are excellent accompaniments.

Chef Dugan’s “In Your Face” Chili with Beans

Chili was introduced into the United States by Mexicans. They were mostly poor, and the only meat they could afford to raise was goat. Using their incredible knowledge of peppers, they made the tough leg meat of the goat tender by using chili peppers to break it down to slurry. They ate it with beans and tortillas.

Fast forward and what we have today are countless “chili cook-offs” featuring a bunch of one-dish cooks, mostly men, who go into a kitchen once a year and pretend to be chefs. Having no cooking skills to speak of, they have covered up their lack of knowledge by creating a mystique around chili that is just so much hogwash. “Never make it with beans.” “Never use ground beef, always chunks.” “No tomatoes.” And of course they all have secret ingredients, like road kill, that only they know about.

This is my chili. It has never won an award, it contains tomato products and ha mburger, and, worst of all, itcontains beans—lots of beans. Unlike those “masculine” recipes I mentioned,I’vemadeitalitlesoupy,sothecrackersyoucrunchinoitdon’tstandup straight like pieces of a demolished building. I don’t try to test your manhood, or womanhood for that matter, by making it so hot and spicy you can’t eat it. I pass a bottle of Tabasco around and you can be as manly, or womanly, as you wish. It’s very good chili, folks, and I urge you to try it.

Serves 4-6 1½ lbs ground chuck chilies

2 cups onions, chopped

¾ cup red peppers, seeds and ribs removed and diced

1 large jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed and diced

2 cloves garlic, minced 1 small can diced mild green 2 cans Bush’s Chili Beans in mild sauce

2 tablespoons (or more) good chili powder—

Gephardt’s, for instance

½ tablespoon paprika

¼ teaspoon ground

coriander

¼ teaspoon ground cumin ¼ teaspoon dried cilantro 1 can beer

1 4.5-oz can tomato sauce 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 can beef broth Salt and freshly ground pepper

Put the beef, onions, peppers, garlic, and jalapeño in a large bowl, and mix it thoroughly with your hands. In a heavy cast-iron skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and add the meat mixture. With a large spoon, toss it around for 2 minutes, pat it down flat with the bottom of the spoon, turn the heat to medium, and cover. Cook for 5 minutes, mix it around some more, pat it down, cover, and cook for 5 more minutes. Do this 2 more times, uncover, and cook for another 5 minutes to evaporate some of the moisture.

Add the spices and beer, turn heat up to high, and reduce the broth slightly for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, green chilies, and beef broth, turn the heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour. Adjust seasonings and serve. It’s better the next day, but I can never wait.

NOTE: While the chili is simmering, a skin, caused by fat, will appear on the surface. You can take your spoon and skim as much of this off as you like, to reduce the fat content.

Cincinnati Chili

You need to know that this chili is not like any other you have ever tasted, and it has some unusual applications.

It was first served in Cincinnati in 1922. They still have Cincinnati chili parlors around the Midwest, and there is a small chain, Skyline Chili, in various parts of the country that serves Cincinnati Chili. I have seen a number of recipes in cookbooks but, after trying them, decided they weren’t very close to the original, which I believe has Greek origins. It was also the basis for the chili in the original Coney Island hotdog.

I did a little research and discovered a mail order source. Their chili tastes so authentic that even the mayor of Cincinnati said it compared favorably. The source is called the Hard Times Café. You can find them on the Internet at www. hardtimes.com. A single package seasons 5 pounds of meat, but it has 2 packets of spice mix, so you don’t have to make it all at once. It also freezes extremely well.

I must warn you, if you try it once, you will become addicted. Especially if you try the 5-way deal: a layer of thin spaghetti, covered with a layer of chili, covered with a layer of kidney beans, covered with a layer of shredded Cheddar, then topped with diced onions.

Ground Sirloin Platter

If I were going to rank dishes in order of their difficulty, this would be the easiest, by far. You will spend more time developing the side dishes than you will the main course. As simple as it is, it’s delicious. And it makes great leftovers served cold.

A heavy black iron skillet works best, but any heavy pan at least 10-inches in diameter will work.

Serves 4

2 lbs ground sirloin (I like to pick out the steak and have the butcher grind it)

4 tablespoons butter Salt and pepper

Layer the bottom of the pan with salt, and heat to medium hot. Form the ground sirloin into a large cake, as big as the pan, and lay it in. Cook for 4-5 minutes and, using 2 spatulas, flip it over, and do the other side for another 4-5 minutes. If you prefer it done a little more, lower the heat and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes. It should be crusty on the outside and medium-rare inside. If you prefer it less rare, flip once more, and cook for an additional 3 minutes. How well done it is will not affect the taste. Remove the patty from the pan, put on a serving plate and let it rest for about 10 minutes.

Cut into pie shaped wedges, and serve with a large pat of butter on top. I like a few drops of Worcestershire sauce as well.

Vitello Tonnato Veal with Tuna Sauce

This dish is rightfully famous as something to serve on a hot, summer day or evening. The recipe for the sauce is in the Sauce Section, so here we will just deal with the roast. Keep in mind that the sauce is at least half of the attraction. It’s so good I’ll bet you find other ways to use it.

Serves 4-6

3 lb roast of veal from the loin or leg (have it boned and tied)

1 sweet onion stuck with several whole cloves Bay leaf

1 cup white wine ½ cup water

Combine the wine and water. Place the veal in a deep casserole, add the onion, the liquid, and bay leaf. Cover and roast in a 325-degree oven for 2 hours, or until the veal is tender. Let the roast cool in the casserole. Once the roast is cooled, remove the strings, and cut into very thin slices. Spoon Tuna Sauce over the slices, and decorate with a few anchovy slices and capers. This dish is very good with either rice or French potato salad.

Veal Scallopini/Wiener Schnitzel

This dish is quick and easy. I like it served with a side of spaghetti. Both the veal and the spaghetti can be sauced any way you like. The French favor just a squeeze of lemon and some butter. I like it with a white wine sauce.

I would also recommend another recipe that is close to this one, but is the German version called Wiener Schnitzel. Simply take the scallops, dip them in flour, then beaten egg, and finally bread crumbs, and sauté them for a few minutes until they are golden brown on both sides. It is frequently served with a fried egg on top.

Serves 2

1 lb veal scallops

2 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon olive oil

Flour

Coat the scallops lightly with flour, and sauté over moderately-high heat for 2 minutes on the first side, and 1 minute on the second. Remove from heat, and make sauce.

Creole Veal Grillades with Grits and Eggs

In Louisiana, grillades are a weekly treat and have been for over 100 y ears. This is a really good brunch or breakfast dish for a holiday morning, especially if you are lucky enough to have French Roast coffee and a few beignets handy. If not, some Bloody Marys will do the trick. Grillades are traditionally made withpieces of round steak rather than veal, but either can be used.

Serves 4

1 medium onion, chopped 1 cup beef broth

½ green pepper, chopped ½ teaspoon dried thyme ¼ cup celery, minced

1 garlic clove, minced ½ cup diced tomatoes with their juice

1 lb veal scallops or round steak

2 tablespoons butter, divided use

2 tablespoon olive oil, divided use

2 tablespoons flour Salt and pepper

Put 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet, and bring to medium heat. Add the veal scallops, and sauté until they are brown on both sides (you may have to do this in 2 batches). Remove the veal and keep warm in a low oven.

You are now going to make a roux. Add the rest of the butter and oil, and turn the heat up to medium. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until it reaches a rich brown color, about 4-5 minutes. As with any roux, if you burn it, you dump it, so keep an eye on the skillet, taking it off the heat for a while if necessary. Turn the heat down a little, and add the onions, garlic, peppers, celery, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables have softened, stirring frequently. Add the beef broth and tomatoes, and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the veal scallops, and cover them with the mixture. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes. It’s good served with grits.

Braised Veal Shanks Osso Buco

It’s difficult to tell you how much meat to buy because veal shanks can be cut to almost any thickness. This recipe is for two people and you’ll just have to see the shanks in the supermarket to judge how much you need. Remember though, the leftovers are delicious. Traditionally the dish is topped with Gremolata, a mixture of minced garlic, lemon zest, and parsley. Look it up in Help-I Gotta Learn To Cook

NOTE: This dish is also good if you substitute turkey drumsticks for the veal shanks. Serves 2

2 lbs veal shanks 4 tablespoons butter

1 medium sweet onion,

halved and sliced ¼-inch thick

2 carrots, peeled and cut into a small dice

1 rib celery, sliced thin on the diagonal

1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 tablespoon dried parsley 4 tablespoons olive oil 1 cup beef broth

2 tablespoons fresh

rosemary, chopped fine 1 can diced tomatoes

3 tablespoons tomato paste

Flour for dusting the shanks 2 strips lemon zest, minced

Place the flour in a large bowl, and toss the veal shanks to get them well-coated. Heat the oil and butter in a heavy casserole dish or iron skillet, and brown the shanks on all sides. Remove and set aside.

Sauté the onion, carrots, and celery until they are light brown. Stir in rosemary, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, thyme, and lemon zest. Cook for 3 minutes and add veal shanks. Cover tightly, and cook in a 325-degree oven for 3 hours. The meat should be very tender and falling off the bones.

NOTE: This is traditionally served with saffron rice. Cook the rice in chicken broth, and stir in ½ teaspoon saffron soaked in water.

Risotto Milanese or Polenta, both of which can be found in the Recipes That Don’t Fit Anywhere Else Section, are also delicious with Osso Buco.

Blanquette De Veal (White Veal Stew)

My recipe for this dish is much simpler than most others, but I think it tastes just as good. It’s rich, so just some crusty bread, a salad, and some buttered noodles are all the accompaniments it needs.

Serves 4

1½ lbs veal shoulder or leg meat, cut into 1½-inch cubes

1 small onion, stuck with 2 cloves

1 garlic clove, minced 1 carrot, sliced

½ teaspoon dry thyme 12 small mushroom caps 1 jar white onions

¼ cup dry white wine 2 cups chicken broth

4 tablespoons butter 4 tablespoons flour

2 egg yolks ¼ cup heavy cream

Juice of half a lemon

Put veal in a pan with enough boiling water to cover by 2 inches, and simmer for 1½ hours or until the veal is tender. For the first 10 minutes, skim off the scum that comes to the surface. When done, remove the veal and set aside.

Put the carrot, onion, mushroom caps, and thyme in the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and simmer over moderate heat for 20 minutes. Remove the onion with the cloves, and discard. Spoon 8-10 onions from the jar and add them to the broth. Set aside.

Heat the butter in a skillet and, when melted, add the flour, and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat, and add the white wine and cream. Return to heat and cook for 2 minutes, until the sauce becomes smooth and creamy. Remove from heat, and let cool for 15 minutes. Stir in the egg yolks, and then add the entire mixture to the chicken broth and vegetables. Add the veal. Heat very slowly, being extra careful you do not let it come to a boil (or the eggs will curdle). Add the lemon juice, cook for 5 minutes while the mixture thickens, and serve.

Liver and Onions

This is a recipe that has been pirated many times from the world famous Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy. The only difference between this meal and Harry’s is about $100. I realize a lot of people don’t like liver. If you try this recipe and don’t care for it, you really don’t like liver.

Incidentally, most of the time liver should be cooked from rare to medium-rare. However, here, you can forget that and get the pieces nice and crispy. You can use pork, beef, or calves liver, but I search out veal liver because I think it’s the best.

Serves 2

¾ lb veal or calves liver

1 large onion, halved and sliced very thin 2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter Place liver in the freezer until almost frozen hard. With a sharp knife slice it into the thinnest strips you can, and about 2-3 inches in length. Set aside.

Heat butter and olive oil in a 10-inch skillet, add onions, and sauté slowly, stirring frequently until the onions are very brown and almost caramelized, about 20 minutes. Remove from skillet, and set aside.

Add a little more olive oil to skillet, turn heat to medium-high, and sauté liver until brown and slightly crispy. Add onions to pan, stir, and serve.

A conventional pairing would be polenta and a salad with vinaigrette dressing.

Kidney Dishes

An often overlooked delicacy, most people will be familiar with that famous English dish, Beefsteak and Kidney Pie. Basically, kidneys can be used in just about any stew, fricassee, or braise. They are also good grilled or broiled.

Although you can use pork, beef, or lamb kidneys, I think the veal kidneys are far superior in taste. Not many supermarkets stock kidneys on a regular basis, so you might need to special order them. Most meat sections are happy to do this.

The main thing you need to keep in mind about kidneys is that overcooking them makes them very tough. My advice is to treat them like you would seafood. Stewed kidneys work really well when used in a meat pie, and you can use a store-bought pastry crust or a package of puff pastry for the topping.

Many recipes call for soaking the kidneys in milk for a few hours, although I haven’t noticed much difference after doing that. Trim off all the fat and cube them, or cook them whole and slice before serving. Just don’t overcook them.

You can use just about any of the recipes for chicken or beef stew and substitute kidneys. Give them a try and I think you’ll like them.

Tripe with Beans

Tripe is the lining of a cow’s stomach. Now that you know that, either you overcome any food prejudice you might have or give up a wonderful dish. For those who delight in trying new foods, I recommend you try this dish.

In spite of what you find in the United States, tripe is widely eaten all over the world, especially in France, Italy, and in the Southern Hemisphere. This is a traditional Italian recipe that makes a delicious stew and freezes well. There is also a wonderful recipe for tripe in the Soup Section called Menudo.

NOTE: This is a two-step process. First you blanch the tripe with a few vegetables; then drain it, discard the vegetables, cut it up, and start making the stew.

Serves 4-6

1 carrot, peeled

1 stalk celery

Skin from a large onion

2 lbs honeycomb tripe, thawed, and roughly cut into 5- to 6-inch pieces

Add 4 quarts of water to a large, heavy pot with a tight-fitting cover. Put the carrot, celery, and onion skin, along with the tripe into pot, bring to a boil, and simmer for 20 minutes. The onion skin gives the tripe a nice, golden color.

Meanwhile, you will need: cup olive oil

1 cup celery, chopped 1 cup onions, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped 1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped 2 tablespoons dried parsley

Zest of ½ lemon, minced

1 cup dry white wine 1 pig’s foot, cut in half (optional)

1 can beef broth

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 can cannelloni or other white beans

1 can diced tomatoes with their juice

Drain the pot, discard the vegetables, and let tripe cool until it is cool enough to handle. Cut it into ½-inch by 3-inch strips.

Rinse the casserole; add the olive oil and onion, and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add carrots and celery, and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the beans, stir well to mix, cover, and place in the middle of a 350-degree pre-heated oven. Cook for 2 to 2½ hours. Remove the pot, and taste the tripe for texture. It should still retain just a little bit of bite. If it is not tender, replace pot, and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Remove the pig’s foot, add the beans, stir, and serve with Parmesan cheese.

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POR K

& HAM

#

B

ack in the day, farmers raising pigs called them “mortgage busters” because they were always easy to sell for ready cash. Today most hogs are raised on commercial farms and that has made a big difference. The

animals have much less fat, which translates into slightly tougher meat and less flavor.

The amazing thing about a pig is the astonishing variety of cuts it offers. From the tail to the snout and even its feet, the pig contributes every part of its body to the kitchen for your use. Even the skin is used for cracklings and a few footballs. If you look in the supermarket pork section you will find pig’s tails, chitlins, pig’s feet, pig’s snout, and even that wonderful Pennsylvania Dutch dish called Scrapple, which I dearly love.

My wife had a friend who was dating a member of the Temptations singing group. The three of us were talking about soul music, and the conversation shifted over to soul food. To give us a taste of it she invited us over for dinner and made chitlins. I took one bite and knew they were just not my kind of food. Fortunately, anticipating my reaction, she had also made a delicious pot of spaghetti and meatballs!

Monte’s Ham

This recipe is named af ter Monte Mathews, an advertising copywriter, author, and chef. When he first arrived in New York he was given two pieces of advice: if you go to a party and wear a very expensive watch, you can wear anything else you want; and if you’re entertaining a lot of people, buy the cheapest ham you can find and glaze the hell out of it.

Here’s the recipe for the ham – the watch is up to you.

15 lbs smoked ham on the bone—the cheaper the better The Glaze:

1½ cups orange marmalade

1 cup Dijon mustard 1½ cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 rounded tablespoon whole cloves

Trim the outer skin and excess fat from the ham. Making crosshatch incisions, score the ham all over with a sharp knife. Roast in a large roasting pan for 2 hours at 300 degrees. Remove ham from oven, and increase heat to 350 degrees.

Combine all glaze ingredients, except cloves, in a bowl, and mix well. Stud ham with the cloves, and brush entire surface of ham generously with the glaze. Return ham to oven and cook for 1½ hours, brushing with the glaze every 30 minutes. Remove from oven, brush with any remaining glaze, and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Put several loaves of good bread on the table, a variety of mustards, and let your guests cut themselves some ham. Some good potato salad and coleslaw, and that’s all you need!

Chef Dugan’s Country Ham with Red-Eye Gravy

There are many stories about how this dish got its name, the most common being that Andrew Jackson’s cook had a huge hangover, and the General said he wanted his ham gravy to look just like the cook’s red eyes. The simplest version uses the fat and pan drippings from some cooked country ham mixed with some coffee and reduced slightly. I like my gravy with a little body to it, so I thicken it slightly with cornstarch and add some beef stock as well.

The best way to have this is with grits, either cheese or plain, eggs, and hot biscuits. Thisis my version of the meal, which I eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, whichever strikes my fancy.

First you need some slices of country ham like Smithfield ham. It is dry-cured and very salty, and we’ll deal with that in a minute. You can use regular ham slices but it’s really not the same.

As I said, the ham is very salty, so my remedy is to put the slices in a large Zip Lock and add a cup of milk. Let the ham sit in this for 1-2 hours, turning from time to time. Before you do, trim a little fat off the slices, and render them in a frying pan.

When you’re ready to start the meal, drain the ham slices, rinse with some water, and dry thoroughly.

While the slices are marinating, put a ½ cup of strong coffee, a ¼ cup of water, and a ¼ cup of beef stock in a bowl, with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Mix until the cornstarch is dissolved and set aside. You can also make the grits at this time. If you are serving the meal with biscuits, do them as well. (This is not a meal that you can just slap together, it takes a little finesse.)

Now, for the final assembly. Fry the ham over moderate heat until it is nice and brown on both sides and set aside. Pour in the coffee mixture, and stir until it thickens. Put the ham slices back in the gravy, and turn the heat to low. I like to serve plain grits and scrambled cheese eggs with the ham, so that’s what we’re going to do. Mix however many eggs you will need in a bowl, and add some crumbled-up sharp cheddar cheese. Put in a buttered nonstick pan and cook very gently over medium heat. Stir the eggs gently so you end up with large curds of egg and cheese. Be careful not to overcook the eggs.

Put 1-2 slices of ham on a plate, add a good helping of grits, and spoon some gravy over them, making an indentation so you have a little pool of gravy sitting in the middle. Add the eggs and hot biscuits, and there you have it!

NOTE: You might have some leftovers and that’s good. What you really have is the makings of a great lunch, a typical Southern dish. Take a biscuit and cut it in two. Dip both open ends in hot gravy, and then place a slice of ham on them. A country ham and biscuit sandwich – Oh My!

Roast Loin of Pork

My grandmother was Austrian/Hungarian and she made pork roast frequently. Italians have many recipes for it, and Cubans are famous for it. Many of the recipes, including my grandmother’s, call for potatoes to beroasted along with it. If you’ve never tasted potatoes roasted in the pan juices of roast pork, you missed a great treat.

As with most dishes, treatment is everything. You can roast the pork with any number of spices, or with apples, or you can marinate it in Mojo sauce or other marinades. This recipe is simplicity itself, and it has the mandatory (in my opinion) potatoes roasted with it.

Serves 4-6

3–4 lbs boneless pork loin, tied if necessary 1 medium sweet onion, halved and sliced thin

1 tablespoon of crushed, black peppercorns (not ground) 1 cup dry, white wine

3 tablespoons olive oil 8 small to medium red potatoes, peeled

Salt and pepper

Rub the roast, with a little of the oil, salt, and pepper, and place on a rack in a roasting pan. Pat the crushed pepper carefully on top of the roast, and follow with the onions. It should be well covered.

Roast in a 325-degree oven for 1 hour, stirring the potatoes around from time to time so they brown on all sides. Add the wine, and roast for an additional hour, or until the internal temperature reads 160 degrees on a meat thermometer. Remove the roast and allow it to rest for at least 30 minutes. Keep the potatoes warming in the turned-off oven with the door open. When ready to serve, slice the roast in ½-inch slices, and spoon some of the pan juices over the roast and the potatoes.

NOTE: I love creamed spinach with this dish, but any green veggie will do.

Pork Cutlets with Butternut Squash, Apple, and Cranberries

This is a typical sauté with a delicious combination of flavors and textures. As with most sautés, it should be served as soon as it’s finished, so have any sides ready to go.

Serves 4

1 pound pork tenderloin slices 1 cup dried cranberries

3 cups peeled butternut squash cut into ½-inch cubes 1 cup chopped sweet onion

1 cup peeled apple cut into ½-inch cubes 2 tablespoons flour

1 cup chicken stock 2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons sugar

Salt and freshly ground pepper Put squash and cranberries in a bowl, add ½ cup water, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave for 4-5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Dredge cutlets with flour. Add olive oil to a large skillet, and sauté them for 5 minutes per side over medium-high heat. Remove cutlets from pan and keep warm in a 250-degree oven.

Deglaze pan with the chicken stock, reducing the liquid by half. Set aside.

In a separate skillet add the butter, onion, sugar, and apples, and sauté for 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add squash mixture, and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste, arrange cutlets on a plate, and pour sauce over all.

Pork Chops with Apples and Cider

This is a different way to treat pork chops that makes a simple meal seem elegant. I’ll bet if you make it once, you’ll make it again.

Serves 2

2 1-inch thick bone-in pork chops

2 granny smith apples, cored and thinly sliced ¼ cup flour

½ cup raisins ½ cup brown sugar

½ cup apple cider 2 tablespoons butter—divided use

Salt and pepper Combine flour, salt, and pepper in a small paper or plastic bag. Add chops, 1 at a time, and shake to coat. Remove and set aside.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet, add chops, and cook over medium heat until they are browned on both sides, about 5 minutes.

Grease a small, shallow-sided baking dish with the remaining butter. Place apple slices in bottom of dish with raisins, and sprinkle with brown sugar. Place chops over brown sugar, and drizzle with apple cider. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour in a 350-degree oven.

Firehouse Pork Chop Casserole

This is a very simple dish that is always well received. It truly is a firehouse veteran, so you know that timing isn’t too important. Serve with the saladof your choice, sliced tomatoes with a vinaigrette, or a tossed green salad. Some warm, crusty bread will also go well with the meal.

What you are doing here is building several layers of food, starting with the chops, then the onion, then thick-sliced potatoes, then lima beans, finally adding some beef broth, salt, and pepper.

Serves 2

2 thick-cut bone-in pork chops

1 can lima beans (or green beans if you prefer)

2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced (about inch)

1 can beef broth

2 medium onions, sliced thin

Peel the potatoes, slice them thick (about so they don’t turn brown.

Salt and freshly ground

pepper

inch), and put aside in a bowl of water

Peel the onions, cut them in half (any way you want), and slice them thin. Set aside.

Open the can of lima beans and drain.

The pork chops should have a layer of fat around part of them; slice this off, and put the fat in a skillet. Turn the heat to medium, and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the fat pieces are brown and crisp, and have given up their fat. Discard the pieces.

Turn the heat up slightly, place the chops in the skillet, and brown them on both sides.

Layer the onion slices over the chops, then the lima beans, then the potatoes. Pour enough beef broth over the mixture to a depth of about ¾-inch. Salt and pepper to taste, and cover.

Turn the heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour or more. If you still have time before you want to serve, turn off the heat, and let the dish sit. Warm it up before serving.

Last Meal Pork Chops

I call these Last Meal Pork Chops because the meal is very rich, so before you embark on yet anotherdiet, make this the last meal before you start. It will leave you with fond memories of what real food is like.

Unless, of course, you are using my book Help – I GottaLose Weight!In that case you don’t have to worry eating this meal.

Serves 4

4 1-inch thick pork chops, bone in 2 large sweet onions, cut in half and sliced very thin

1 cup heavy cream Salt and pepper

Trim off a few slivers of fat from the pork chops, leaving the rest on. In a 15-inch skillet, over high heat, render the slivers of fat, remove them, and then add the pork chops. Brown them on both sides.

Smother the chops with the onions, add salt and pepper, and cover the skillet securely. Turn the heat down very low, and cook for 2½ hours. DO NOT PEEK!

After the time has elapsed, uncover the chops, and remove them to a warm oven.

Add the cream to the onions and liquid in the pan, raise the heat, and boil until the mixture is reduced to a sauce-like consistency.

NOTE: This meal is not complete without having some creamy mashed potatoes and greens (collard or mustard greens sprinkled with pepper sauce), or some spinach sautéed in olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar. Season the onion sauce with salt and pepper, and spoon over the chops and potatoes.

Cuban Pork Sauté

This is a wonderful dish if you have leftover pork roast. Even if you don’t, go out and buy fresh pork cutlets—it’s that good. I have suggested black beans and rice to make it a complete meal. To make the meal truly Cuban, add fried plantains.

Serves 2

¾ lb leftover pork or fresh pork cutlets, cut into ½-inch cubes

4 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup chicken broth

1 large garlic clove, minced

½ tablespoon dried

oregano

½ tablespoon dried thyme 1 medium onion, halved and sliced paper thin

1 can black beans 1 can diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon cumin 1 small jalapeno, cleaned and cut into small dice 1 cup uncooked rice

The pork needs to marinate to get the best flavor from the dish. Overnight is good, most of the day is also okay.

Mix the meat, garlic, oregano, thyme, and onions together with the olive oil in a bowl, seal tightly and refrigerate.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the black beans, cumin, tomatoes, and jalapenos. Stir, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Place the meat mixture in a sauté pan, cover, and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove cover, add the chicken broth, and turn up heat slightly.

While the meat mixture and beans are cooking, make rice.

To serve, place a mound of rice in the center of a plate, spoon meat mixture over it, and surround with the beans and tomatoes. If you can get it, a loaf of Cuban bread is good with this, as well as a light salad. French bread works well also. I like to squeeze a fresh lime all over everything before I serve it.

Chili Verde Burritos

An excellent example of the green sauce used extensively in Mexican cooking. It is enough for two people if they have some refried beans and yellow rice with it. The burritos would also be good with cubed chicken breasts.

Serves 2

Sauce: The Pork:

1 cup water 1 tablespoon olive oil ½ lb tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and halved

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 large jalapeno chili, halved and seeded

1 teaspoon dried oregano ¾ lb pork tenderloin, cut into ½-inch cubes

½ onion, chopped

½ sweet red pepper,

seeded and diced

¼ cup fresh cilantro,

chopped fine

2 burrito-sized (10 inch) flour tortillas

Combine all the sauce ingredients in a heavy saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for 15-20 minutes. Puree in a blender or food processor only until the mixture is coarse in texture.

Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat, and sauté the pork and onions until the pork is slightly brown, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low, add the tomatillo sauce and cilantro, and simmer until the sauce becomes thick and sticks to the pork. Stir occasionally to prevent burning. This should take about 30 minutes, but can continue to simmer for as much as 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and wrap the tortillas loosely in foil. Heat the tortillas for about 10 minutes.

Place 1 tortilla on a plate, and spoon half the pork mixture along the center, leaving room on both ends. Fold the 2 ends in, and then the sides over the ends. Arrange seam side down, and repeat with the second tortilla.

NOTE: This sauce is excellent spooned over sautéed chicken breasts or fish filets and, for a very nice presentation, spoon the sauce on a plate and place the chicken or fish on top.

Home-made Sausage Patties with Fried Apples

This dish is no more complicated than frying hamburgers. However, with scrambled eggs and good toast, it makes a great breakfast or brunch.

Serves 2

¾ lb ground pork

1 tablespoon poultry seasoning 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Pinch ground nutmeg Salt and pepper

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ½-inch slices 2 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons butter

Thoroughly mix the pork, seasoning, thyme, salt, and pepper together in a bowl, and shape into flat patties. Brown in a skillet over medium heat, about 5 minutes on each side. Keep warm in a 250-degree oven.

Add butter to the skillet, then add the apple slices, and brown over medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the slices, and for about 5 minutes on each side. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the slices, and 4 more minutes

Bavarian Pork and Sauerkraut

What makes this dish special is an old German way of c ooking sauerkraut. It really does make a difference. As far as most Germans are concerned, you can’t overcook sauerkraut – the longer the better. There is an especially good brand of sauerkraut imported from Germany and made with white wine. It comes in jars shaped like little barrels.

Serves 2

1 lb of any pork (regular or country spareribs, pork steaks, pork chops, or better yet, pig’s hocks)

1 can or jar of sauerkraut 1 can beef broth

2 tablespoons butter 1 small onion, chopped

1 tablespoon caraway seeds (optional)

Lightly rinse the sauerkraut in a colander, being careful not to rinse away too much of the brine (I like it better not rinsed at all). Heat butter in a large 10-inch skillet and, when it is melted, mix with the kraut. Turn heat low, cover, and cook gently for 30 minutes, stirring kraut every so often (German cooks do this as a matter of course, and it makes a world of difference in the final product). Sprinkle caraway seeds, if using, over the kraut, and then lay on the onions. Place pork over the kraut, and add half the can of beef broth. Cover again, and simmer over low heat for at least 1 hour. Add more broth as needed.

It is almost a requirement that you serve mashed potatoes or spaetzle (you can find the recipe in the Pasta Section) and good rye bread with this dish.

Stuffed Spareribs

Another 100-year-oldrecipe that is a different take on the usual sauerkraut recipes that spareribs are famous for. It is exceptionally good.

NOTE: It’s perfectly acceptable to use a packaged dry stuffing such as Pepperidge Farm. If you do, substitute the water with chicken or beef broth and add sautéed chopped celery and onions. My recipe for bread stuffing can be found under Recipes That Don’t Fit Anywhere Else.

Serves 4

2 racks spare ribs (not baby backs)

8 cups bread stuffing of your choice

Either use a cookie sheet or a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil to cover the middle rack of your oven. Place the stuffing on the foil, molding it to the approximate size of the rib rack, and cover it with the ribs. Roast at 325 degrees for 1½ hours, or until the ribs are a little crisp.

NOTE: If you are making several racks of ribs, you can “sandwich” the stuffing between the 2 racks and bake them that way but put them on the bare oven rack and place a drip pan underneath. Otherwise, the bottom ribs will get stewed in the juices.

The Planet’s Best Barbecued Ribs

I admit I’m not much of an expert on the grill, but I do love good barbecued ribs. It’s more than just how the ribs taste, it’s all about the great sides as well. Cole slaw, potato salad, beans and anything else that appeals to you. Just like my comments about Chili, there are many onerecipe “experts” out there that claim to make the best ribs on the planet. As a chef I want you to know HERE is the best recipe on the planet, and I thank BonAppetite Magazinefor the help.

Choose baby back ribs or just plain spareribs, and then follow these three simple steps: First you season the ribs, then you bake them, and finally you grill them.

Serves Four

4 lbs. baby back (4 racks) or St. Louis-Style spareribs (2 racks)

2 tablespoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon paprika

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup BBQ sauce (I like Kraft Thick ‘N Spicy)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and combine the salt, dry mustard, paprika, cayenne pepper, and black pepper in a small bowl.

Place each rack on a double layer of foil, and sprinkle the rub all over the ribs. Wrap the foil around the racks, and place on a baking sheet.

Bake the ribs until they are very tender but not falling apart, so check the baby backs after 2 hours and the spareribs after 3 hours.

Unwrap the ribs carefully, and pour any residual juice into a small cup and reserve. When the ribs have cooled completely, rewrap and set aside. NOTE: At this point you can refrigerate them for up to 3 days until the final step. Actually they get firmer and develop much more taste if you wait at least a couple of days before you finish them off.

For the final step, build a medium-hot fire in either a charcoal or a gas grill. At this point you add enough chicken broth or water to the reserved juices to make 1½ cups, and whisk in the BBQ sauce to blend. Grill the ribs, basting with the sauce and turning frequently, until lacquered and charred in places and heated through – about 10 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board, cut the ribs into serving pieces and serve with additional sauce. WOW!

Ham and Potato Gratin

A wonderful dish to make ahead of time because it keeps well and i sa great way to use leftover ham. You can alter the amount of ingredients to suit your fancy, and can actually make this dish for up to twenty people. Good to bring to a church supper or maybe for a Super Bowl party, because it just needs a salad to top off the meal.

Serves 2

2 lbs Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced ¼-inch thick—kept in a bowl of cold water

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Pinch nutmeg

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon thyme 1½ cups grated cheddar cheese, divided

2 cups diced ham

Boil the potatoes in salted water until just barely cooked through. Test them from time to time, drain, return to the pot, and cover for 3-4 minutes to firm them up.

Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When it is melted, add flour, and stir constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and add milk slowly, stirring all the time. Return to heat, and cook for 3 minutes until the sauce is smooth and thick. Add salt, pepper, mustard, garlic, and nutmeg, and slowly stir in half the cheese. Adjust the seasonings to your liking and set aside. The sauce should have the consistency of heavy cream.

To assemble, spoon a thin layer of sauce to cover the bottom of a buttered baking dish. You want to have 3 layers so start with 1/3 the potatoes, 1/3 the ham, and 1/3 the sauce. Repeat the layering until you finish with a layer of potatoes and ham. Spoon the remaining cheese sauce over the top, and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

NOTE: I like to make more cheese sauce than is called for as well as having some extra grated cheese, just so I don’t run out in the middle of one of the layers. The fact is, even if you did, the dish wouldn’t look as pretty but would taste just as good.

Cassoulet

A famous French co untry dish that can be very complicated. One recipe, an authentic one I’m sure, is over four pages, contains such exotic items as preserved goose, and takes three days to make. After studying a number of recipes, I decided to try to simplify the dish enough so that the average cook could at least get an idea of what it’s like. When you get right down to it, it’s simply beans baked with meat.

Serves 4-6

1 lb boneless pork loin, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 lb boneless and skinless

1 lb boneless and skinless inch chunks

2 links of turkey or other soft sausage, cut into 1-inch slices

3 cans cannelloni beans ¼ lb salt pork, cut into ½inch slices

3 garlic cloves, chopped 1 large onion, chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cans diced tomatoes 2 bay leaves

4 tablespoons olive oil ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1½ cups commercial bread crumbs

Salt and pepper

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet, and sauté the pork chunks until brown. Remove and set aside. Adding more oil if necessary, sauté the chicken thighs until well browned, and set aside. Sauté the turkey sausage until slightly browned, and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the skillet, and sauté the salt pork until slightly browned. Add the onions, bay leaves, tomato paste, cloves, and garlic, and cook over moderate heat for 10 minutes, or until the onions are soft. Salt and pepper to taste.

Put the beans in a large bowl, and thoroughly mix together all ingredients, except the bread crumbs. Transfer the bean mixture to an oven-proof except the bread crumbs. Transfer the bean mixture to an oven-proof degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is slightly browned. With a spoon, break the crust of crumbs, and add another layer of crumbs. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees, and bake for another 30 minutes, breaking the crust 1 more time, but then allowing a solid crust to form on top. If the mixture appears too dry, add 1 cup of chicken broth.

Serve from the casserole with a green salad.

NOTE: You can cut this recipe in half, but it will still be a pretty large meal for just 2 people. The leftovers freeze well.

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LAMB

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amb has always been much more popular in other parts of the world than in the United States. First, it’s been around a lot longer than beef, going back to pre-biblical times. Second, when the American West was settled

and range wars broke out between sheep herders and cattle ranchers, the sheep herders lost. Which may be why per capita, Americans consume a lot less lamb than people in many other countries.

On the other hand, it’s hard to find fault with a well made Gyros.

You won’t find any recipes for lamb chops in this section. They are almost always sautéed or grilled, which you already know how to do. In most cases, but not always, lamb should be eaten on the rare side but that depends on individual tastes.

If you are one of those people who don’t particularly care for lamb, you should definitely try the recipe for French Leg of Lamb. It could easily make you a convert.

Roast Leg of Lamb

You can buya leg of lamb whole, halved, or boned and tied. A whole leg is pretty big; either a half leg or a tied leg will give you plenty of leftovers for Moussaka or Shepherd’s Pie. I like the boned and tied leg because it’s much easier to carve. Most (but not all) of the time, lamb should be served either rare or medium-rare.

You really don’t need a recipe for this, but you certainly need a meat thermometer. There are several standard treatments for roast lamb. You can cut little slivers of garlic and press them into slits you make in the meat with a knife. Another treatment is to simply rub spices, oregano or rosemary for instance, into the meat before roasting. You can also marinate the leg in red wine and spices for a few hours.

Trim excess fat off the lamb before roasting. Roast at 325 degrees until your meat thermometer reads whatever degree of rareness you want. Incidentally, in the Middle East, people often eat raw ground lamb in several dishes, so don’t be afraid to make it rare. As usual with roasts, let it sit for 30 minutes before carving.

A lot of people, especially my wife, love to eat mint jelly with their lamb. Roast lamb is also wonderful with oven roasted potatoes.

Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb

You can have the butcher bone and butterfly a leg for you or, better yet, buy an already boned leg. Take off the netting that holds it together and spread it out. At this point you should remove as much fell as possible. Fell is that shiny transparent layer you see on some parts of the leg. Carefully slide a point of a knife under it and slice up. When it tears you can pull most of it off. This is not something you need to worry about—get as much as you can and forget about it.

Spread the leg out so that it is open and flat. There will be thin spots and thick spots. Keeping in mind that you always want to keep the lamb in 1 piece, make some vertical slices in the middle of the thick spots, so that as much meat is exposed as possible. You will still have thick pieces as well as those that are not so thick. When it is finished, some of the meat will be rare, some medium rare, and some crispy.

Rub the meat generously with olive oil, and spice it anyway you wish. Slivers of garlic stuck in the meat are one of the best ways. Oregano is always nice.

Get the grill good and hot, and lay the meat, cut side down, about 6 inches from the coals or flames. Cover, and grill for about 10 minutes. Do not allow it to char. Flip the meat over, cover, and grill for another 10 minutes.

Check the thickest part with your meat thermometer, and when it registers whatever degree of doneness you want, remove it from the grill, and let it rest. Carve in diagonal slices across the grain. It’s okay to flip it a few times while grilling to make sure you get it nice and brown on both sides.

French Leg of Lamb

The English name for this dish is Spoon Leg of Lamb, because the lamb becomes so tender you can eat it with a spoon. You won’t find this recipe in very many cookbooks but, if you like lamb, I urge you to try it. I’ve made this many times and it is more than delicious, it’s delectable!

NOTE: Be forewarned, the lamb cooks for as much as 7 hours. However, 6 of those hours can be unsupervised. Serves 4-6

5-6 lbs boned leg of lamb 1 teaspoon dried thyme

5-6 lamb neck bones 1 tablespoon dried parsley 3 medium sized onions, each stuck with 2 cloves 3 carrots split lengthwise

6 cloves garlic

½ cup olive oil

1 bay leaf

2 cans diced tomatoes 1 cup red wine

Salt and pepper 1 can white beans

Rub the lamb with salt and pepper, and arrange on a rack in a roasting pan. Surround with the neck bones, onions, carrots, and 3 garlic cloves. Pour the olive oil over the bones and vegetables, and roast in a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees, and continue roasting for 30 more minutes. Remove from heat, and reduce heat to 200 degrees.

Transfer the lamb to a large casserole, and add the remaining 3 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, thyme, bay leaf, parsley, tomatoes, neck bones, and vegetables from the roasting pan. Rinse the roasting pan with the red wine, and pour over the lamb.

Cover the casserole tightly with heavy duty foil, and also the casserole cover. Return to oven, and bake for 6 hours.

Transfer the lamb to a platter. Discard the neck bones and bay leaf, and skim any excess fat from the pan juices. Remove the cloves from the onions and, in a blender, puree all the vegetables. Combine puree with pan juices, and sprinkle with parsley.

Serve the meat with some sauce spooned on top and a side of white beans. A green salad with a little feta cheese and vinaigrette dressing is also nice.

Moussaka

This is a pretty authen tic recipe for that famous Greek dish. There are many variations, including using ground beef, a very common departure from this recipe. Even many Greek restaurants serve marginal Moussaka. If you do not like eggplant, or even if you do, you can substitute sliced and sautéed zucchini or potatoes. Personally, I like to use them together in place of the eggplant from time to time.

NOTE: What we’re making here is first, a meat sauce; second, sliced and sautéed eggplant; and third, a custard sauce poured over the top. It looks timeconsuming, but it really can be done, start to finish, in less than an hour.

Serves 4-6

2 medium eggplants

Salt

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 lb ground lamb 1 large onion, chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 can diced tomatoes

3 tablespoons dried parsley

¼ cup red wine ¼ cup water ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup bread crumbs

The Sauce:

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1½ cups milk

2 egg yolks, lightly beaten

Dash grated nutmeg

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 tablespoons commercial bread crumbs

Dash cinnamon First, make the sauce: In a saucepan, melt the 3 tablespoons butter over low heat. Add flour, and stir until well blended. Remove from heat, and gradually stir in milk. Return to heat and cook, stirring until sauce is thick and smooth. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Combine the egg yolks with a little of the hot sauce, then stir egg mixture into sauce, and cook over very low heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Set aside.

Second, prepare the eggplant: Remove ½-inch-wide strips of outer skin lengthwise from eggplant, leaving ½-inch peel between the strips. Cut into ½inch thick slices, sprinkle with salt, and let drain in a colander for 30 minutes. Wipe salt from eggplant slices, and dry with paper towels. Brown slices on both sides in olive oil, adding more oil if needed. Butter an ovenproof casserole, and sprinkle bottom with remaining bread crumbs. Line the bottom (and sides if you wish) with the eggplant slices. Cut the eggplant slices to fit the casserole so that the layers are evenly covered.

Third, prepare the meat filling: In a frying pan melt the 2 tablespoons butter, and sauté meat and onions until meat is browned. Add tomato paste, diced tomatoes, wine, parsley, salt, pepper, and water. Simmer until the liquid is absorbed. Set aside in a bowl to cool. When cool, stir in cinnamon, cheese, and half the breadcrumbs.

Fourth, assemble the dish: Add half the meat mixture on top of the eggplant, add a second layer of eggplant, followed by more meat mixture, and top with the remaining eggplant slices.

Pour sauce mixture over the meat and eggplant mixture, and sprinkle with grated cheese and remaining breadcrumbs. Bake in a 325-degree oven for 1 hour. Let rest for 10 minutes, and serve.

NOTE: Leftovers can be frozen, and gently reheated in a 300-degree oven.

Braised Lamb Shanks and Beans

The lamb in this dish will be some of the most succulent you have ever had. It is very similar to Osso Buco, an Italian version of veal shanks.

Because you’re never quite sure how big the shanks are going to be until you see them, I can’t tell you how much to buy. Just eyeball the meat and figure how much you’regoing to need. This recipe is based on shanks for four people. Don’t worry, if your guests don’t show up, the shanks freeze well.

Serves 4

4 lamb shanks

1 cup onions, sliced ½ cup dry white wine

½ cup dry red wine 1 clove garlic, minced

½ teaspoon dried

rosemary or 1 teaspoon fresh

1 can cannelloni or other white beans

1 bay leaf

1 can beef broth

1 cup carrots, diced

1 cup celery, diced

5 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 can diced tomatoes and their juice

Heat the oil in a heavy casserole over medium heat, and sauté the onions until they are slightly browned. Remove the onions from the casserole and set aside. Place the shanks in the casserole, and brown well on all sides. Turn the heat up, and deglaze the pan by adding both the red and white wines. Reduce heat to medium; add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, tomatoes, bay leaf, and spices. Stir to combine. Add the shanks and enough broth to barely cover

the shanks. Cover and simmer slowly for 2 hours. Remove the shanks, turn up heat, and reduce the sauce by one-third. Add the beans and shanks, and heat for 5 minutes before serving.

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CHICKEN, TURKEY

& DUCK

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ince the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, poultry has been a major part of the American diet. We have gone from raising our own out in the backyard, to chicken farms that supply an unending source of chickens,

but do nothing to enhance their taste. To help alleviate that fault please refer to

Help-I Gotta Learn to C ook!where I refer to brining. You should always brine your chicken before cooking it. Chemical-free chickens or kosher poultry are my choice, and almost all supermarkets carry them.

I want to say a few things about roasting chicken. A lot of cookbooks will tell you to roast the chicken on a rack, and they explain how to properly truss it, and ask you to roast it at any number of temperatures. I’ve done all that, and have a better and much easier way to do it.

First, remove the little bundles of fat from near the tail. You don’t use a rack and you don’t truss the bird. What you do is roast it at 500 degrees, moving it around every so often to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the roasting pan. Check from time to time with your thermometer until it reads 175 degrees, take the chicken out, and let it rest for at least 20 minutes.

If you want a lovely brown chicken, before you roast it, cover it all over with a thick coating of soft butter. Don’t bother to baste. These instructions apply whether the bird is stuffed or not. Incidentally, the back of the oven is hotter than the front so that’s where you want to stick the chicken’s feet. You know, sort of putting its feet to the fire.

You might notice that a number of these recipes call for the use of lemons. I think the combination of lemon and chicken is a match made in heaven. One seems to compliment the other as very few foods do.

I haven’t included any recipes for wild game birds. I’ve done a lot of pheasant hunting, and could come up with only one way to do them that produced a satisfactory result. I think the same would apply to wild turkeys as well. In the old days, before Pampers, I would soak a new cloth diaper with two pounds of melted butter, lay it over the bird, and roast it until it was done. Once in a while, I would pour more butter over the top. Today, I would use cheesecloth. I don’t think Pampers will work.

I use chicken and game hens interchangeably, so there are no recipes here specifically for game hens. One last thought on poultry, if you don’t have a good pair of poultry shears, get some. They really are invaluable. If you want a fast and delicious meal, use the shears to cut out the backbone of the bird and, using a sharp chef’s knife, split the breast bone to give you two halves. Sometimes I just cut out the backbone and butterfly the bird. I cover that technique in Help-I Gotta Learn To Cook. Sprinkle on a few herbs, rub generously with olive oil, and put it on the grill or broil or roast at 450 degrees. Wow!

There is a product I have seen fairly recently called Turducken. It is a duck, stuffed inside a chicken, stuffed inside a turkey. I can’t think of a worse way to treat three delicious food items but then, there’s no accounting for taste, especially bad taste.

A word about beer can chicken: Kenji Lopez-Alt, of Serious Eats fame, did a test with four chickens, using one beer can with beer in it, one with water, one with Mountain Dew, and one empty. Not a bit of difference in the taste! What the can does is put the legs closer to the heat source (as I said earlier), so the breast can cook more gently and stay moist.

Fried Chicken and Cream Gravy

Everyone has a recipefor fried chicken. The Homestead, that famous Virginia landmark, served their fried chicken on waffles, which were topped by slices of sweet potatoes cooked in brown sugar, which were topped by slices of bananas, which were topped by the fried chicken, after which maple syrup was poured over everything. The calorie count must have been astronomical.

I think what everyone looks for in fried ch icken is a crisp coating and a tender and juicy interior. This is a good dish for you to try different treatments. For instance, try dipping your chicken pieces into either a blue cheese or ranch dressing before coating them with Panko. Using a thin layer of mayonnaise is also good. As I mentioned in Help-I Gotta Learn to Cook!, the key to getting fried chicken just the way youwant is the heat of the oil. If it is too high the chicken could burn, and if too low it absorbs too much fat.

The following recipe is a pretty standard approach to frying chicken.

I don’t cook fried foods a lot, but when I do, I sometimes cook them in lard, the way our grandparents did. Lard gives food a distinctive taste and it freezes well. Most supermarkets stock lard. If you don’t want to use lard, the standard for chicken frying is peanut oil.

Serves 4 1 chicken, cut up into serving pieces

1 carton of buttermilk

1 cup lard

1 lemon

2 cups flour seasoned with salt, pepper, and paprika (about a tablespoon of each.

1 cup half and half

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup canned chicken broth

Tabasco sauce to taste Pour buttermilk into a pan large enough to hold all the chicken in 1 layer. Squeeze entire lemon into buttermilk, add salt and pepper, Tabasco sauce, and stir well. Place chicken in pan, and pour buttermilk mixture over all. Marinate 4 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

Using tongs, drain chicken pieces until most of the marinade has dripped off, roll in flour mixture, and set aside on a rack.

In a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron, heat the lard, or other fat until it “spits” a drop of water but is not smoking (about 350 degrees). There should be about ½ inch of fat. Carefully add chicken pieces to pan, reduce heat to medium-low, and cover. Cook, without lifting cover, for about 10 minutes. Turn chicken pieces, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove cover, and continue to cook chicken until it is a rich brown on all sides.

Remove chicken, drain all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the skillet, add 3 tablespoons of flour, and cook for about 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat, and stir in 1 cupful of chicken broth and 1 cup of half and half. Return to heat, and cook until gravy thickens. Some people like to use evaporated milk instead of half and half.

Serve with mashed potatoes and greens sprinkled with pickled pepper sauce and cornbread.

Leftover chicken can be used for an “at home” picnic, or a real one, served with home-made potato salad and coleslaw. It’s best eaten at room temperature.

NOTE: For a different treatment, fry up a couple of boneless breasts, take a couple of homemade biscuits, spoon a little gravy over the biscuits, place the chicken on top, pour more gravy over the chicken, and serve.

Chef Dugan’s Shortcut Fried Chicken & Creamed Gravy

Somewhere along the way I came to the conclusion that I just didn’t want t oinvest the money ina deep fryer, since I rarely used one. I also didn’t want to miss out on that wonderful cream gravy that my favorite down-home restaurant offered with their fried chicken. Culinary expert that Iam, I came up with a wonderful solution and here it is.

To start, most supermarket deli operations, as well as KFC and other well-known fried chicken chains, offer pretty good fried chicken. Some of it’s very good. So go out and buy a bucket, or a basket or whatever amount you need.

Next, take the pieces of chicken and pick or rub off some of the fried batter, taking only the crispy parts but no skin. You almost can’t have too much, but a ¼ cup should be sufficient for 2 people.

Take a small skillet, add 3-4 tablespoons of butter and a dash of olive oil, and slowly melt the butter over medium heat. Add the batter pieces, and sauté for a few minutes. Then add several tablespoons of flour, depending on how much gravy you want. Cook for a few minutes.

Finally, add a ¼ cup of canned chicken broth and a ½ cup of milk, cream, half and half or evaporated milk, whatever strikes your fancy. When the gravy thickens, add some salt and LOTS of freshly ground pepper. Adjust the gravy with more milk until it gets to a nice consistency. You won’t believe how good that gravy is – creamy, flecked with cracklings, and spicy with pepper!

Mix up a big batch of mashed potatoes, not forgetting my trick of adding a few tablespoons of mayo to make them nice and creamy.

Crisp up the chicken in a 450-degree oven, and serve with a gracious plenty of mashed potatoes and cream gravy. Greens go well with this meal.

Dominican Fried Chicken

Lynne and I lived on a sailboat for almost ten years and made numerous trips to the Caribbean and Bahamas. Some island friends served us this dish and then gave me the recipe. I don’t usually drink rum, but now the liquor stores stock those little bottles that airlines used to give away (and now sell for exorbitant prices). You can sip any rum over the quarter of a cup needed for this recipe, while you’re making it.

Serves 2-4

3½ lb fryer 1 tablespoon paprika 2 cups Safflower oil ¼ cup soy sauce

1 cup flour ¼ cup rum, dark preferred Salt and pepper ¼ cup fresh lime juice

Cut the chicken up into small pieces thus: divide the wings into 2 pieces each; cut the breast in half and then half each piece; cut each drumstick in half as well as the thighs. Use a sharp cleaver to make nice, neat pieces. Place the chicken pieces in a bowl.

Heat the rum in a pan over low heat. Remove from heat, and ignite the rum with a match, sliding the pan back and forth until the flame dies. Add the lime juice and soy sauce, and pour over the chicken pieces. Marinate at room temperature for 2 hours. You can refrigerate the chicken for up to 5 hours. Toss from time to time to keep the chicken covered with the marinade.

Heat oil in a skillet large enough to hold all the chicken pieces in 1 layer, or do the chicken in shifts. Toss the chicken in the flour mixture, shake off excess flour, and fry over medium-high heat for about 6 minutes on each side. The chicken should be a nice, dark brown.

Drain chicken on paper towels, and keep warm in a 200-degree oven until ready to serve.

Any dish like this in the Caribbean or Bahamas will likely come with pigeon peas and rice. I noticed that the supermarkets are stocking canned pigeon peas now. Traditionally, the peas and rice are tossed together before serving.

Austrian Oven-Fried Chicken

This is called Wiener Backhun in Vienna, my grandmother’s birthplace, and is a different take on American fried chicken. Because the skin is taken off it removes some calories, but then the butter puts a few back in.

Serves 2-4

1 cut-up chicken or 6

chicken pieces (I like

drumsticks) – if you are using breast pieces flatten them a little so they cook evenly

Juice 1 lemon

Flour seasoned with salt and pepper for dredging

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups commercial bread crumbs

¼ cup canola oil

¾ cup melted butter

NOTE: Remove the skin. Since it tends to be a little slippery, I use a paper towel to give me some purchase when removing it.

Sprinkle chicken with lemon juice, and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

Have 3 shallow bowls ready: 1 with beaten egg, 1 with flour, and 1 with breadcrumbs.

Dredge the chicken in the flour, shaking off the excess, dip the chicken pieces in the egg, letting the excess drip off, and roll the pieces in the bread crumbs, pressing them in gently. Set the chicken on a plate, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. You can leave the chicken like this, uncovered, overnight if you wish.

In a large skillet (I like an electric skillet for temperature control) heat ¼ cup each of butter and oil to 360 degrees. Fry the chicken until it becomes a golden brown, turning as necessary. This should take about 5 minutes. Remember, bread crumbs brown quickly.

Drain chicken on several layers of paper towels, and pour remaining butter over all, making sure they are well coated. Arrange chicken on a rack in a shallow pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, turning once.

Parmesan and Panko Encrusted Chicken Breasts

This dish is pretty to look at and very easy to make. You can substitute salmon filets for the chicken breasts. I prefer to buy the thin chicken filets but if you have to buy a whole breast, cut it in half lengthwise with a sharp knife. The dish is just as good with a regular skinned and boned chicken breast. It just takes a little longer to cook.

To finish the meal, see note about white beans and grape tomatoes. Serves 2

1 can Cannellini or other white beans

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 box grape tomatoes

1 egg, lightly beaten with 2 tablespoons of water ½ cup Panko bread crumbs

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons dried parsley

Fresh basil leaves Olive oil

Mix the panko, Parmesan and parsley together. Take a plate (I use paper plates for stuff like this) and cover the bottom with some of the crumb mixture. Dip the filets in the egg wash and let the excess drip off. Lay on the crumb mixture and cover the top of the filet with more of it. Press down on the filet, pushing the crumbs into the meat. Set the filet on another plate also covered with some of the crumb mixture, and cover lightly with more crumbs. Repeat with a second filet. Put them in the fridge for about 15 minutes to set.

NOTE: To make this a complete meal you can add a side of white beans and grape tomatoes, and maybe add some crumbled feta cheese to top it off. Rinse and drain the beans and put them in a pan. Cut a generous amount of grape tomatoes in half and add them to the beans. Chop up the basil leaves and add them as well. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and warm over low heat. You can add a shake of oregano if you wish.

Put about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and add the filets. Cook for about 15 minutes until they are golden brown, turning from time to time.

Put a good portion of the warm bean mixture on a plate, and place a filet on top. Serve with a nice salad and some crusty bread.

King Ranch Chicken

Legend has it that this d ish originated on the famous King Ranch in Texas. If you want to serve six to eight people on the cheap, this is the way to go, but a word of warning first. After making it a dozen times, gourmet that I am, I thought I would improve it by making real creamed mushrooms and creamed sauce rather than using the canned soups. Big mistake. Stick with the recipe because it was never meant to do anything but feed a crowd of hungry ranch hands.

NOTE: You can easily cut this recipe in half for fewer people. What do you do with two half-cans of soup? Combine them into a Cream of Mushroom/Chicken soup and freeze it. It also makes good gravy.

Serves 4-6

4 skinned and boned

chicken breast halves 2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon safflower oil

1 green bell pepper,

chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 (10-ounce) cans Rotel diced tomatoes with chilies 1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

12 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into quarters

8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

1 can chicken broth

1 cup water

Put the chicken breasts in a saucepan with the broth and water. Heat to simmer, turn heat low, and poach for 20 minutes. Remove chicken and coarsely chop or shred.

Melt butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add bell pepper and onion, and cook until slightly soft but not brown. Remove to a large bowl, and thoroughly mix the chicken, onions, peppers, diced tomatoes, both cans of soup, the broth, and the water.

Arrange one third of the tortilla quarters on the bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2 greased baking dish. (I use a soufflé dish because it’s round and the tortilla quarters make a nice pattern.) Top the tortillas with one third of the chicken mixture, and sprinkle evenly with 2/3 cup of cheese. Repeat layers twice, reserving 2/3 cup of cheese. Cover the top loosely with foil.

Bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes, remove foil, and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake another 5 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

I like to serve this with a Combination Salad that I got from one of my favorite cookbooks. The recipe for this salad can be found in the Salad Section.

NOTE: Don’t be concerned about how the divided chicken mixture works out. If you have a lot left for the top layer or just a little, it really doesn’t matter. This dish is somewhat like a thick stew, and once you serve it, everything will blend in together. The cowboys were not interested in presentation. Serve with a generous dollop of sour cream.

In spite of the number of tortillas in the dish, I still like to serve a few of them warm on the side

Breaded Lemon Chicken Breasts

A simple recipe but very good. Sometimes I think that if it weren’t for lemons, the number of chicken recipes in the world would be cut in half.

Serves 2

2 skinned and boneless chicken breasts

1 egg, beaten with 3 tablespoons of water

Juice 1 lemon 1 cup flour 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed

1 cup dried bread crumbs

1 tablespoon olive oil 2 tablespoons butter

Place chicken breasts, smooth side up, in shallow dish, pour lemon juice over, add garlic clove broken into several pieces, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. After 2 hours turn chicken, cover, and marinate for 1 more hour.

Place egg in shallow bowl, flour in another, and bread crumbs in another. Dip chicken breast in egg wash, then in flour, back in egg wash, and finally into bread crumbs. Press bread crumbs firmly into chicken, and place on clean plate. Repeat with other breast. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Warm butter and olive oil in sauté pan over moderate heat. Place chicken breasts in pan, and sauté gently for 15 minutes. Turn breasts, and repeat for 15 minutes. Be careful not to have the heat too high or the coating will turn too dark before the chicken is done. Squeeze a little lemon juice on top of the breasts, and serve. “Oven roasted” potatoes and creamed spinach go well.

NOTE: If you double this recipe, you will have enough for 2 wonderful chicken sandwiches on a hoagie roll with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise to be enjoyed at a later date. They freeze well. Just reheat gently and serve.

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Lemon & Oregano

If you like the taste of lemon, this is a great recipe for you. Basically you have softened as well as caramelized lemon slices cooked with succulent chicken thighs in a wonderful sauce. I believe I got the idea for this from Bon Appétit, one of my favorite cooking magazines.

Fast, easy, and delicious, what more could you want? If you like the taste of lemon you will love this one.

Serves 4

1 lemon

4 large or 8 small skin-on boneless thighs

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 shallot, minced

½ clove garlic, minced (optional)

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ cup dry white wine

½ cup chicken broth

Salt & freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Very thinly slice ½ the lemon, discarding any

seeds. Cut remaining lemon into 2 wedges.

Add 1 tablespoon oil to an oven-proof skillet, and warm over medium heat. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook until it is a nice, golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Lay half of the lemon slices nicely over the chicken, and place the rest directly on the bottom of the skillet (the slices on the bottom will carmelize, those on top will soften). Transfer the skillet to the oven, and roast for about 15 minutes.

Remove the chicken, skin side up, and the caramelized lemon slices, and set aside, leaving the softened lemon slices in the skillet.

Return skillet to top of range over medium heat, and add oregano, shallot, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook for about 2 minutes. Add wine and reduce by half, about 2 minutes, then add broth, and cook for another 3 minutes.

Squeeze the juice from the lemon wedges into the sauce, and season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken, skin side up, and cook for another minute to warm. Serve topped with the caramelized lemon slices.

I think this recipe goes well with rice and a green salad.

Garlic Chicken

This recipe has been around forever. It’s usually called“Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic.” I have found this amount of garlic to be excessive, but if you really like garlic, go for it. The drill is, after the chicken is ready to serve, you squeeze the garlic onto a crisp piece of French bread, spread it like butter, and dip it in the sauce—it’s delicious.

Serves 4

12 good-sized cloves of garlic, unpeeled 1 whole frying chicken

6 tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon dried tarragon

Salt and pepper Rub the olive oil all over the chicken, until it is well coated. Sprinkle the tarragon all over the top of the chicken.

Place chicken in a deep kettle, and pour any remaining olive oil into the bottom. Place the garlic cloves all around the chicken, between the legs and body, and putting a few inside the cavity. Add salt and pepper. Cover the kettle tightly with foil, and place a lid over the foil. The chicken must be sealed as tight as you can manage.

Either place in a pre-heated 275-degree oven for 1½ hours or on the stovetop. If you are doing it stovetop, heat the pot until you can barely hear the oil sizzle; then turn the heat down to low. Cook for 1½ hours.

This is a simple dish. The only thing that can mess it up is having the heat too high, so be careful.

Remove chicken from the kettle, and carve to your liking. Pass the garlic cloves around with the French bread.

This dish is pretty rich so keep the side dishes simple; a tomato and cucumber salad is good. The leftover chicken can be served cold with a nice vinaigrette sauce.

Chef Dugan’s Chicken Enchiladas

You could also classify this under burritos. Basically both are wraps of either corn or flour tortillas. This one is especially good and you can use either kind of tortilla. What makes this dish special are the tomatillos (Mexican tomatoes).

Serves 2-4

2 small skinless and

boneless chicken breasts 1 can chicken broth

1 small onion, chopped 1 red pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped (optional)

2 tomatillos, chopped 2 tablespoons salsa (red or green)

6 medium-sized flour tortillas (or corn tortillas) 2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese

½ cup cream cheese

1 tablespoon dry cumin 1 tablespoon dried cilantro flakes

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons Safflower oil

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

1 small can diced green chilies

Place chicken breasts in a saucepan of heated broth, and poach gently until

cooked through—about 10 minutes. Cool and shred.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes. Add red pepper and garlic, and continue cooking for 3 minutes. Add tomatillos and cook until they soften, about 5 minutes. Add chicken, cumin, cilantro, and the salsa, stir well and set aside. Add remaining oil and butter to pan. When butter is melted, add flour and cook for 1 minute. Take pan off heat, and add milk. Mix well, and return to heat. When sauce thickens, add 1 cup of cheese, and stir until the cheese is thoroughly incorporated into sauce. Add 3 tablespoons of chopped chilies and the cream cheese. Stir until well mixed.

Lightly cover the bottom of a shallow casserole with several spoonfuls of the cheese sauce.

Lay out 6 flour tortillas, and sprinkle each with the remaining cheese. Spoon about 4-5 tablespoons of chicken mixture along the center of each tortilla, leaving about 1 inch on each end. Fold each side of tortilla over the chicken mixture, making a tube. Place the tortilla in the casserole, seam side down. Continue with the rest of the tortillas. Spoon the remaining cheese sauce over the tortillas, making sure they are completely covered. Sprinkle a little paprika over the dish if you like.

Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. This meal is good with rice and refried beans.

Chicken with Lemon Cream Sauce

The number of treatments for chicken breasts is endless. This one is fast, delicious, and makes a pretty presentation. There are those lemons again, but you can substitute an orange instead.

Serves 2

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 2 bay leaves

1 can chicken broth 1 cup half and half

3 tablespoons flour 3 tablespoons butter

Juice of 1 large lemon Rind from ½ of lemon, minced

Thin slices of lemon for decoration

Bring chicken broth, bay leaves, and lemon juice to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Lower heat, and add chicken breasts. Poach breasts over low heat for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and let breasts cool in broth. When broth is at room temperature, remove chicken, and discard bay leaves. Set chicken aside.

In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat, and when the butter is foaming, add flour, and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat, and stir in chicken broth. When broth thickens, add lemon rind and half and half. Cook over medium-high heat until the broth is reduced by about one third, approximately 10 minutes. Add chicken breasts, and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Serve chicken with plenty of sauce and lemon slices on top. This is good with the sauce spooned over rice, mashed potatoes, or pasta.

Grilled Tandoori Chicken

If you like Indian food, this is a fun dish to make over the weekend. If you have never tried Indian food, this recipe is a good introduction. I have never been to an Indian restaurant that didn’t have their version of Tandoori Chicken. In India the chicken is cooked in a clay grill called a tandoor.

Serves 4

8 chicken drumsticks, skin removed

1 large carton of plain yogurt

1 tablespoon red chili powder

1 tablespoon coriander powder

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon dried ginger 1 tablespoon Garam

Masala powder (most supermarkets now carry this, otherwise try an Indian grocery store)

1 tablespoon salt

Red food coloring

1 stick butter

1 sweet onion, halved and cut into ¼-inch slices

Lemon juice to taste

Prick the chicken with a fork all over, about 10 times for each drumstick.

In a wide, deep bowl, large enough to hold all the chicken pieces, add the yogurt and 1 cup of water. Add the next 6 ingredients and mix well. Add 1 teaspoon red food coloring, and stir until you have a beautiful red mixture. If you like it more colorful, add more coloring, it won’t hurt anything. Stir in the chicken, making sure every piece is totally covered. Cover, and marinate for about 6 hours or overnight. The longer you marinate, the better it will be.

Heat up a charcoal grill until the coals are gray and very hot. Melt the butter. Remove the chicken from the marinade, and let most of it drip off. With a basting brush apply the melted butter all over the chicken, and grill as you normally would, until the chicken is done to your satisfaction.

Halve the onion, and cut crosswise into ¼-inch slices. Toss the onion slices with salt and lemon juice, and serve with the chicken.

NOTE: Any Indian side dish will go well with this. I like Raiti, a recipe that can be found in the Salad Section. A rice pilaf is also nice.

Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

This is pure comfort food. It’s easy to prepare, and I suggest you do more vegetables than you normally would. They make a wonderful hash with the leftover chicken, which I have noted at the end of this recipe.

Serves 4

3–4 lb frying chicken 4-5 medium red potatoes, unpeeled

3 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

1 medium acorn squash, peeled and cut into chunks

3 medium yellow squash, cut into chunks

2 red peppers, cut into eighths

2 medium onions, peeled and quartered

2 large cloves of garlic, chopped

10–12 cherry tomatoes

4 tablespoons fresh

rosemary, chopped, plus 1 large sprig

3 tablespoons olive oil

NOTE: If you like a little crisper skin on your chicken put it uncovered on a plate in the refrigerator overnight.

Place chicken in a roasting pan (not on a rack) and surround it with all the vegetables, except the tomatoes. Drizzle the olive oil over the chicken and vegetables, and sprinkle the rosemary over all. Put a large sprig in the chicken cavity.

Place in a 375-degree oven and bake for 1½ hours. From time to time, stir the vegetables around in the pan drippings. Add the cherry tomatoes to the dish during the last 15 minutes of cooking.

Remove chicken from roasting pan, and carve into serving pieces. Place on a platter, and surround with vegetables. Spoon pan juices over all, and serve. You’ve got to have plenty of crisp rolls or bread to sop up the juices with this meal, as well as a simple salad.

Chicken Hash from the remains : Cut up the leftover chicken and vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Mix everything together well, and add salt and pepper. Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and add the chicken and vegetable mixture. Press down with a spatula and sauté for about 10 minutes. Flip the mixture over, brown on other side, and serve. I like scrambled eggs or a green salad with this.

Greek Chicken and Potatoes

There are some dishes that look like the cook has gone to a great deal of trouble, but are really no trouble at all. This is one of them and it is delicious as well as healthy. It may seem that it containsa lot of olive oil (and it does), but don’t be tempted to cut back—the stuff is good for you.

Serves 4

1 chicken, quartered or 1 cut-up chicken

3 russet potatoes, peeled and quartered lengthwise 2 large garlic cloves, chopped

½ cup chicken broth ½ cup olive oil

½ cup lemon juice 1 large sweet onion, quartered

1 cup green beans (I use canned beans and add them at the end) 1 teaspoon dried oregano

Arrange chicken, potatoes, onion, and garlic neatly in a casserole dish. Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, chicken broth, and oregano until combined. Pour evenly over the casserole.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 1 hour, 15 minutes, basting occasionally with the pan juices. Add beans for the last 15 minutes. Serve directly out of the casserole.

Poached Chicken with Lemon Sauce

This meal is simplicity itself. If only one or two people are enjoying it, the leftovers can easily provide another four to six meals. The only thing that can ruin the chicken is overcooking, so pay attention to the timing and temperature.

Serves 4

2½-3 lb chicken, trussed if you wish

1 onion stuck with 2 whole cloves

1 bay leaf 1 tablespoon salt 1 carrot, scraped Water

Place the whole chicken in a deep pot, and add enough water to reach halfway up the chicken. Cover, bring to a simmer, and cook for about 45 minutes.

The key is to keep the water at a bare simmer. If the water boils, the chicken will be tough.

Remove from heat, discard vegetables and bay leaf, and let chicken rest in broth until the broth is cool, about another 30 minutes. Remove chicken, and strain broth through a cheesecloth.

Sauce: nice)

2 tablespoons butter ½ cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons flour Salt and pepper 2 tablespoons lemon zest, chopped fine

1 cup strained chicken broth Juice of ½ lemon, or to taste

1 tablespoon of herbs of your choice (tarragon is Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat, add flour, and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat, and stir in chicken broth, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and herbs. Return to heat, bring to a slow boil, and cook for 2 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Add cream, and cook for 1 minute.

Slice chicken, dress with sauce, and serve.

NOTE: Since this dish yields great leftovers, I like to start serving thick slices of the breast meat. Buttered noodles, boiled potatoes, or rice should accompany the chicken. Spoon the sauce over all. Any green vegetable or salad will go nicely with this meal.

A few treatment suggestions for leftovers: chicken salad, chicken ala king, chicken and dumplings, chicken hash, chicken Tetrazzini, and chicken soup. Don’t forget to freeze the leftover broth.

Chicken Marengo

Napoleon’s chef invented this recipe to celebrate the 1800 victory over the Austrians at Marengo, in the Italian Piedmont. Since then there have been many variations of the dish. There is one withshrimp on the side, croutons and fried eggs on top, which is the way it was served originally.

Serves 4

2½–3 lb chicken, cut up into 8 pieces

3 tablespoons olive oil 1 small onion, halved and sliced

½ lb fresh mushrooms, sliced ¼ cup dry white wine

½ can beef broth 1 can diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped 1 bay leaf

¼ teaspoon thyme 1 tablespoon flour

3 tablespoons sliced pimiento-stuffed olives

Brown chicken in hot oil, over medium heat. Drain, and transfer to shallow baking dish. Sauté mushrooms and onions in drippings, adding more oil it necessary. Add flour, and stir to mix. Add all the ingredients, except the olives, to the pan and stir well. Pour over chicken, and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Remove bay leaf, add olives, and serve.

NOTE: This is a good lesson on treatment. By adding some sautéed green peppers and substituting chicken for beef broth, and adding a little red wine, you have Chicken Cacciatore.

Chicken Country Captain

Reputedly, one of FDR’s favorite dishes. It’s old enough to be one of Thomas Jefferson’s as well. If you don’t recognize either name, you need to repeat your history course.

Since the dish is so old, there area lot of variations of this recipe floating around. I think this one is the best.

Serves 4

¼ cup flour 1 tablespoon fresh parsley 1 small fryer, cut up into 8 pieces

¼ cup butter

1 cup onions, chopped ½ cup green peppers, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced 1 can diced tomatoes 1½ teaspoons curry

powder

½ teaspoon ground thyme

2 cups hot, cooked rice

¾ cup currants or raisins, soaked in a little white wine for 1 hour

1 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Combine flour, salt, and pepper, and mix well. Dredge chicken pieces in flour, shake off excess. Heat butter in a heavy skillet, over low to medium heat (you don’t want to burn the butter), and brown chicken on all sides. Drain well, and transfer to a shallow baking dish large enough to hold the chicken in one layer. Add onion, pepper, and garlic to pan drippings, and sauté until almost soft. Add tomatoes, parsley, curry powder, thyme, salt, and pepper, mix and pour mixture over chicken.

Cover, and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Remove chicken to a serving platter, reserving sauce. Spoon rice around chicken. Add currents to sauce mixture, and stir well. Spoon sauce over rice, and sprinkle with almonds. Serve Major Grey’s chutney as an

accompaniment.

Chicken Divan

The Chatham Hotel in New York first served this dish in its restaurant, The Divan Parisienne, as its signature dish in the early part of the 20thcentury, which is how it got its name. A majorityof the older recipes called for broccoli to be used, and it often turned out to be a soggy mess. This recipe is a beautiful adaptation of the dish, using asparagus, and brings it into the 21stcentury.

NOTE: Instead of asparagus, you can layer the bottom of the dish with spinach. Any dish with spinach is apt to be labeled Florentine, so now you have Chicken Florentine. Just a different treatment, folks.

Serves 2

2 whole boneless and skinless chicken breasts 2 tablespoons flour

6 tablespoons butter, divided

3 green onions, diced

1 cup half and half

½ cup chicken broth

¼ cup dry white wine ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Juice of 1 lemon

1 lb asparagus, cooked but still firm

Salt and pepper

Sauté chicken breasts in half the butter, over medium heat until brown on both sides. Add chicken broth, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool in broth.

Melt remaining butter in a small saucepan or skillet over medium heat, and add onions. Sauté for 2 minutes, add flour, and cook for 1 more minute. Remove from heat, and stir in half and half and wine. Return to heat and cook, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Add half the Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and mix well. Spoon a little sauce on the bottom of a buttered, shallow baking dish. Arrange the asparagus spears in 2 equal portions in the dish, and lay chicken breasts on top. Spoon remainder of sauce over all, and sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes. If you wish, dust a little paprika on top, and serve.

For an accompaniment you can serve almost anything: rice, scalloped potatoes, or buttered pasta.

Lynne’s Thanksgiving Dinner

This is one of my wife’s all-time favorite meals an d we have it frequently, not just at Thanksgiving. Since we have it often, I have experimented with every conceivable kind of stuffing known to man. Oyster, cornbread, chestnut, shrimp, mashed potato, sausage—you name it.

We always came back to my simple bread stuffing, and Lynne finally laid down the law: there will be no other stuffing but mine. Since there are only the two of us, I use a small whole frying chicken. I have tried the so-called baking hens and found them to be too tough. If you’re pressed for time a rotisserie chicken from the market will do just fine.

Serves 4-6

3½ lb chicken - excess fat removed and set aside Stuffing:

8 slices dried bread from a good loaf—I use

Pepperidge Farm sandwich bread

½ cup celery, diced

½ cup onion, diced

¼ cup carrot, diced

3 tablespoons poultry seasoning

1 tablespoon thyme

3 tablespoons dried

parsley

2 tablespoons butter

¼ cup olive oil

1 large egg, lightly beaten 4 tablespoons flour

2 cans chicken broth,

divided

Chicken giblets, except

liver, chopped fine

(optional)

Cut up bread slices into ½-inch dice, and place in a large bowl.

Put the excess chicken fat in a skillet over medium heat, and render the fat until the pieces begin to brown. Remove chicken fat pieces and discard. Add the butter, onion, carrot, and celery. Cover the pan, and sweat the vegetables for about 10 minutes. Remove the lid, add the poultry seasoning, parsley, and thyme, and cook for another 5 minutes. Scrape into bowl with bread, and toss until well mixed. Mix in the egg, and then slowly add some chicken broth.

NOTE: Since breads differ in dryness, add the chicken broth carefully, ¼ cup at a time. You want the stuffing moist, but not wet. It’s better to be drier than too wet.

Let the stuffing sit for about 15 minutes, and then test to see if it needs more moisture. At this point I like to cover the stuffing with plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator to, as they say, let the flavors marry. When you remove it to stuff the chicken, test it for moistness, and add a little more broth if necessary.

Stuff the chicken, and fold the skin over the cavity. Secure with toothpicks. (You can also fit a small piece of foil over the cavity and tuck it in.) Tie the legs together, and run some twine around the wings as well, so that the chicken holds its shape.

NOTE: I tried for years, without success, to get my roast chicken to come out of the oven a deep golden brown, just like in all the pictures, by basting with oil. They looked okay but not great. One day I softened an entire stick of butter, and rubbed it all over the chicken, nice and thick. Without any basting, it came out just like the pictures.

Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan, and roast it for 1½ hours at 375 degrees. If you wish to use the giblets in your gravy, put a half can of chicken stock in a pan, and cook the giblets while the chicken is roasting.

NOTE: Some cookbooks tell you to baste frequently, which is a good way to waste your time. When the chicken is well browned, about 15 minutes before it is done, turn the heat up to 450 degrees, and baste for about 10 minutes. Let the oven do the work for you.

Remove chicken from pan, place pan on top of stove over low heat (you may have to use 2 burners), add the flour, and scrape the browned bits into the flour. Add 1 can chicken broth, and stir constantly until the gravy thickens. Add the giblets if you have cooked them. Salt and pepper to taste.

Since this is a rather filling meal, cranberry sauce, an absolute must according to Lynne, some green beans, and my recipe for sweet potato and banana casserole will top off the meal.

Coq au Vin

Another na me for this dish is Chicken Braised in Red Wine. When you use red wine, the chicken turns an unappetizing brown. I used to switch to white wine because of this problem, but then came across a recipe by John Varnom, a London based chef. In his book French Bistro Cookinghe states that Coq au Vin is really braised chicken, with a red wine sauce made separately. He also, rather boldly, says that people who do it the customary way do not know what they’re doing. I’ve changed his recipe slightly, and if you want to know how everyone else makes this dish, almost any comprehensive cookbook will tell you. This is a good way for you to judge which treatment you prefer.

Serves 4

2 chicken breast halves with wings attached

24 button mushrooms, stems trimmed

6 chicken legs with thighs attached

1 bottle red wine—the best you can afford

3 tablespoons butter cup heavy cream 1 tablespoon olive oil

24 pearl onions

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (preferred), or 1 tablespoon dried

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel the onions, and quarter the mushrooms. Brown chicken over medium heat in the oil and butter. When the pieces are browned, add the onions and mushrooms. Cook briefly together, a minute or so, then transfer to an oven-proof dish.

Cover the chicken, and bake in the oven until tender—about 40 minutes. Remove the chicken pieces, mushrooms, and onions, and set aside.

Add the chopped onion to the pan, and sweat it. Add the red wine, and boil hard until the volume is reduce by half. Add the cream, and simmer until the sauce will coat the back of a spoon.

Place the chicken pieces on a platter, pour the sauce over it, and serve.

Chicken Breasts Smothered with Onions

I discovered this recipe years ago, made it two or three times, loved it and lost it. I tried to duplicate it from memory, and the result was close but not quite there. Then, going through some old cooking magazines, I found it and here itis. Let this be a lesson—if you find a recipe you like, write it down.

The paprika I use for all such dishes is Pride ofSzeged brand, imported from Hungary. I don’t recommend using any other brand. You can find it in most supermarkets in a pretty red and white can.

NOTE: You should really serve mashed potatoes with this dish because the gravy is so good. Another treatment is to cook up a batch of biscuits, lay the chicken on top and cover with gravy.

Serves 2

2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts

1 large onion, sliced very thin

2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons paprika

1 cup canned chicken broth ½ cup dry white wine

cup whipping cream

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons flour

Grated nutmeg Dried parsley to decorate

Melt butter in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Salt and pepper the chicken breasts, and sprinkle a generous amount of paprika on both sides of breasts. If you need more, don’t hesitate to use it.

Brown the chicken breasts on both sides until they achieve a nice, brown color, about 15 minutes. Be careful to keep the heat fairly low or the paprika will burn. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside. Add the onion slices, stir well, cover skillet, and sweat the onions for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove cover, add white wine, and turn up heat to medium-high. Reduce until the mixture becomes syrupy. Place chicken on top of onion mixture, add bay leaf and the chicken broth. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the chicken breasts, and keep warm in a 200-degree oven. Mix flour and 2 tablespoons of the cream until a paste forms. Add to the broth in the skillet, and add rest of cream. Put in a few grates of nutmeg, turn up the heat, and simmer until the sauce thickens to a nice gravy consistency, about 5 minutes.

Place a warm chicken breast on each plate, spoon a generous amount of gravy over, and sprinkle some parsley over the entire plate.

Serve with a salad or veggie.

Chicken Breast Scallopini

I bless the day when supermarkets started selling thin-sli ced chicken breasts. They vary in thickness, but it’s easy to pound out those you want less dense. When treated right, they are everybit as good as veal scallops and a lot less expensive. When served with the right combination of other dishes they, are a true comfort meal.

NOTE: If you can’t find the thin-sliced chicken breast, get regular breasts and slice them in half lengthwise, like you would filet a fish. This dish is equally delicious using veal scallops instead of chicken.

Serves 4

1 package of thin-sliced chicken breasts

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon paprika 1 egg, beaten with 2

tablespoons of water

2 cups commercial bread crumbs, or more

3 tablespoons cornmeal ½ lemon Salt and pepper

4 tablespoons olive or canola oil

Mix the bread crumbs, cornmeal, flour, and paprika in a bowl, and place in a large, shallow soup bowl. Put the egg wash in another bowl. Take a dinner plate and cover the bottom with plain bread crumbs.

Dip the chicken breasts, 1 at a time, into the egg wash, and let the excess drip off. Lay the chicken in the bread crumb mixture, and press down to make the crumbs adhere. Turn the chicken over, and press more crumbs on the upper side. Carefully lay the chicken breast on the plate with the plain bread crumbs. Repeat with the other breasts, using a second plate if necessary. Cover all of the chicken breasts with the leftover crumb mix, and continue to press lightly. Turn and do the other side.

Carefully dust the tops with more crumbs, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the eggs set.

NOTE: What you are trying to do here is make as thick a crumb crust as you can, while letting some of it dry on the chicken. It’s harder to describe than it is to do.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over low heat, and sauté the breasts until they are golden brown on 1 side. Turn, and brown the other side. You can keep the breasts on very low heat, turning occasionally, for as much as 30 minutes. Just be careful that you do not burn the crumb coating.

Just before serving, squeeze some lemon, and salt and pepper to taste. You can serve the breast with a little piece of lemon on the side.

I really like this dish with some macaroni and cheese, and fried tomatoes with tomato gravy. The tomato gravy and fried tomato recipes can be found elsewhere in this book, as well as my thoughts on macaroni and cheese.

Chef Dugan’s Chicken Pot Pie Recipes

There are so many recipes for Chicken Pot Pie that it really depends on the treatment you want to use.

The Pennsylvania Dutch make this dish by using broad noodles to cover the chicken; others use pastry; still others cover the top with biscuits. In this recipe I use puff pastry to give it a continental flair. Basically, you are taking chicken, mixing it up with some vegetables and herbs, and then enfolding the entire mixture in a cream sauce.

Serves 4

2 cups leftover chicken, cubed (no leftovers? poach a couple of

boneless, skinless chicken breasts in chicken broth and now you have

leftovers)

½ can chicken broth

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium carrot, diced 1 stalk celery, diced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced 2 medium red potatoes, cooked and diced

½ cup frozen baby peas 2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons canola oil ½ teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon dried thyme 2 tablespoons dried parsley

½ cup cream 1 small jar diced pimentos

3 tablespoons dry sherry 2 tablespoons flour

1 package frozen puff pastry

Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and add the onions, celery, and carrots. Cover and sweat the vegetables for 10 minutes, until they are soft. Remove cover and cook until moisture is evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the flour, and all the spices, and cook for 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth, peas, potatoes, pimentos, and chicken, and cook until the sauce becomes smooth and thick. Blend in the cream, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the sherry, and set aside to cool.

Defrost enough puff pastry to cover the top of a shallow baking or casserole dish. Spoon the cooled chicken mixture into the dish, and cover carefully with the puff pastry, overlapping the edges. Cut the pastry about ¼ inch over the edge of the baking dish, and press to make a good seal. Trim the edges with a sharp knife.

Bake in a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes, or until the puff pastry is golden brown.

Some Other Treatments:

Make the chicken recipe for Chicken Pot Pie and start improvising. Skip the puff pastry, and cover the top entirely with UNBAKED Cream Biscuits (the recipe can be found in the Recipes That Don’t Fit Anywhere Else Section). Bake the dish in a 375-degree oven for 30 minutes, or until the biscuits are nicely browned.

One of my favorite ways to do this is to make a cornbread batter, and use it to cover the chicken mixture. I also have used a standard pie crust from the market, only I put a double layer over the top.

Perhaps the thing that will change the taste more than anything is to take the basic cream sauce and add a generous helping of cheese to it.

Chicken Chili

Good chicken chili is not just regular chili in which the beef has been replaced by chicken. If you make meat chili, and simply substitute chicken for meat, you will have a dish that completely misses the mark on both counts.

Serves 4-6

1 lb boneless, skinless

chicken thighs cut into ½inch chunks

2 medium carrots, diced 2 medium onions, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

2 jalapeño peppers, seeds and ribs removed and diced

1 can vegetable broth

1 can chicken broth

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 cloves garlic, minced 2 15-oz cans white beans

4 tomatillos, coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried cilantro 1 tablespoon cumin

3 tablespoons olive oil Lime wedges Salt and pepper

Tabasco sauce to taste

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, and sauté the onion, celery, garlic, jalapeño, and carrot until just soft, about 10 minutes. Add the chicken, and sauté for another 10 minutes. Add spices, chicken broth, vegetable broth, and chopped tomatillos; cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove cover, add beans, and cook for 10 minutes. Serve with lime wedges and Tabasco on the side.

Colonial Quiche or Chicken Pudding

This recipe is over 250 years old. It’s nothing more than quiche in an iron skillet, and those people who joke about “real men don’t eat quiche” should have told that to Davy Crockett when he ate it. You don’t need an iron skillet, but a heavy pan or casserole dish that can be placed inthe oven is necessary. The iron skillet looks more authentic.

Serves 2

2 large chicken breasts, poached in chicken broth and cut into ¾-inch dice

½ cup reserved chicken broth

1 stalk celery, diced

1 onion, diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

½ teaspoon dried thyme ½ teaspoon dried

rosemary

1 small jar pimentos 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced 4 tablespoons butter

3 eggs, beaten

2 cups half and half

1 tablespoon flour

Salt and pepper

Over medium heat, heat the onion, celery, and carrots in the butter for 1 minute; cover, and sweat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the beaten eggs with the half and half. Uncover, and continue cooking until most of the moisture is gone. Add the thyme, rosemary, and flour, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the broth, and continue cooking until the sauce is slightly thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste, and let cool for 10 minutes. Add the pimentos, apple, chicken, and egg mixture, and mix well.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for 1 hour. If the top is not brown enough, place under the broiler for 1 or 2 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes. Slice into wedges, and serve.

NOTE: This dish doesn’t need more than a nice green salad, and some crusty French bread in honor of Lafayette.

Chicken ala King

How can you have a poultry section without Chicken Ala King? It’s been a menu mainstay for thousands of little diners and mom and pop operations for 100 years. It can vary from really goodto downright awful, but this recipe is one of the best.

A warning: if you are si ngle, and have invited the current love of your life for a home-cooked meal, don’t serve this! Go to the supermarket, get a rotisserie chicken, a packaged Caesar salad, and a bottle of dry white wine. Keep your mouth shut and accept all compliments.

Serves 2

2 cups diced cooked

chicken, or 2 poached chicken breasts

¼ lb mushrooms, sliced 1 small jar diced pimentos

½ cup frozen peas

½ cup cooked carrots, diced

¼ cup green pepper, diced

4–6 biscuits (store-bought is fine)

¼ cup chicken broth ½ cup half and half

2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes

Pinch ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons flour 2 tablespoons butter

Salt and pepper

Bake biscuits according to directions, and set aside.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, pepper, and carrots. Cover, and sweat for 10 minutes. Remove cover, add mushrooms, and cook for another 5 minutes. Add flour, stir, and add chicken broth. Stir, cook until the sauce begins to thicken, and add half and half. Add parsley, chicken, peas, pimentos, and nutmeg, and cook for 10 minutes.

Pour mixture into a shallow baking dish. Cover top neatly with biscuits, and bake in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes.

NOTE: If you want a little fancier presentation, you can skip the biscuits, and spoon the mixture into baked puff pastry shells, and bake for 10 minutes.

Cheez-It Chicken

If there were ever a recipe for a mother anxious to feed the kids, this is it. It’s fast, easy, and the kids will love it. Just throw in some French fries and a veggie, and you have it made.

Note: It helps the flavor a lot if you brine the chicken breasts for 30 minutes in a mixture of salt water and a few dashes of Worchester sauce.

Serves 2-4

Get some boneless, skinless chicken breasts and a box of Cheez-Its. Cut the breasts into strips as thick as your little finger, and toss them in a bowl with some mayo.

Take about 2-3 cups of the Cheez-Its, put them in a freezer or storage bag and, using a mallet, or a meat tenderizer, or even a hammer, pound them until they are coarse crumbs. Put the chicken strips in the bag and toss until they are well coated.

Sauté the strips in a mixture of half butter, half olive oil until they are nicely browned and crisp.

I also suggest you mix half mayo and half ketchup in a dipping bowl, and let them dip the pieces in it. Yum!

Stew-Hole Chicken Fricassee

A stew hole was a section of the top of old wood-fired stoves. It consisted of an iron grate, set away from the direct fire, which allowed for slow, gentle cooking. This recipe is a demonstration of using “brown flour,” which gives the dish a unique flavor.

Serves 4

1 small fryer, cut up 1 can chicken broth 1 onion, chopped 1 can diced tomatoes

2 stalks celery, in ½-inch slices

cup safflower oil

cup flour 1 small green pepper, chopped

Salt and pepper

1 bay leaf Tabasco sauce to taste

4 cups cooked rice

Brown the chicken in hot fat in a Dutch oven or heavy skillet. Remove the chicken, and drain on paper towels. Add the onion, celery, and green pepper to the pan, and sauté until soft, about 7 to 8 minutes.

While the vegetables are cooking, put the flour in a small, dry skillet, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until a golden brown. If the flour begins to darken too quickly, remove it from the heat, and continue to stir. Add the flour to the vegetables, and cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes and bay leaf. Cook for 3 minutes, and add the broth. Stir and cover. Reduce heat to low, and cook for 45 minutes.

Poached Whole Breast of Turkey

My recipes are mostly for two people, and even the smallest turkey is too much for a couple. My method for a whole turkey is the same as for roasting chicken, it just takes longer.

But a turkey breast is another matter. A well poached turkey breast can be turned into so many great dishes that I have some frozen most of the time. Let’s do the recipe, and then I’ll give you some suggestions.

Serves 4-6

1 turkey breast, fresh or frozen

2 large cartons of chicken broth, and water if needed 2 bay leaves

1 whole onion, peeled and stuck with 3 whole cloves 1 lemon, quartered

1 whole carrot, peeled and cut into large chunks

Place the thawed turkey breast in a large pot with the rest of the ingredients. The liquid should come up to midway on the turkey. If it doesn’t, add water. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a slow simmer. Skim the broth for 10 minutes if necessary. Cover, and cook very slowly for 2 hours. Turn off heat, and let the turkey cool in the cooking liquid until it reaches room temperature.

Remove the turkey, discard the vegetables and bay leaves, and freeze the broth for future use.

These are just a few of the different treatments you can do with the turkey breast:

1. Slice very thin for turkey sandwiches

2. Slice into ½-inch slices for turkey with gravy and dressing

3. Cut into small chunks for Turkey Tetrazzini (see following recipe)

4. Cut into ½-inch slices and serve with any number of sauces

5. Cut into chunks for a turkey breast salad

6. Add to soup

7. Shred for turkey tamales

Turkey Tetrazzini

Named after a famous opera star around the beginning of the 20th century, this is a wonderful dish to serve to a fewdinner guests. You can enjoy their company while it is baking, and if you have already prepared a green salad, the meal is effortless.

The thing to watch here is the consistency of the sauce. When the dish i sdone, I like the sauce to be somewhat creamy. Since pasta absorbs liquid so readily, you might want to start with a thinner sauce than you think necessary. This dish is nothing more than turkey in a creamy cheese sauce tossed with pasta, mushrooms, and baked. You can use any kind of pasta, not just thin spaghetti.

Obviously, you can also use chicken in place of turkey.

Serves 2-4

3-4 cups leftover turkey ¾ lb thin spaghetti

1 can chicken broth 3 tablespoons flour 1 cup dry white wine 3 tablespoons butter 1 cup sliced mushrooms, sautéed in butter

1 small jar diced pimentos, drained

1 cup half and half

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat butter in a small skillet, add flour, and stir well until blended. Remove from heat, and add half and half. Stir well and return to heat, stirring until it is thickened. If it is too thick, add more half and half—it should be the consistency of heavy cream.

Make spaghetti according to directions and drain well.

Cut turkey into 1-inch dice. Stir the Parmesan into the cream sauce, and add the turkey, spaghetti, mushrooms, and pimentos. Mix very well. Pour the mixture into a baking dish, and bake in a 450-degree oven for 20 minutes. You may put it under the broiler for a few minutes if you like. Serve with a green vegetable and a salad.

Spiced Duck with Pears

This dish is a specialty of the Catalan region, and I promise you, if you make it once, you will make it again. It’s the most delicious way to treat duck that I have found. Duck with orange sauce is nice, but this is even better.

Serves 4

1 duck, cut into 2 leg, 2 thigh, and 2 breast pieces

cored, and cut in half lengthwise

1 tablespoon olive oil 1 garlic clove, sliced 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced

½ cinnamon stick

2 teaspoons dried thyme 2 cups chicken stock

2 firm, ripe pears, peeled, cup pine nuts

½ teaspoon saffron strands

2 tablespoons raisins Salt and freshly ground black pepper

NOTE: A good stock is essential to this dish. For a really rich stock, after you have cut the 6 pieces from the duck, place the carcass and giblets into a pan with the chicken broth, and simmer for 1 hour (or cheat and just use chicken broth).

Sauté the duck pieces in 1 tablespoon of olive oil for about 5 minutes, until the skin is golden. Transfer the duck to an ovenproof casserole dish, and drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat left in the pan.

Add the onion to the pan, and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon stick, thyme, and stock, and bring to a boil. Pour over the duck, and bake in a 350-degree oven for 1¼ hours.

While the duck is baking, sauté the pears in the remaining fat, cut side down, until they turn a golden brown. Pound the garlic, pine nuts, and saffron using a mortar and pestle to make a thick, smooth paste.

Remove the casserole from the oven, and set aside the duck pieces. Add the paste and raisins to the casserole, and mix well with the juices. Return the duck, and bake for another 15 minutes until the pears are tender.

Serve with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable.

Whole Roasted Duck

If you put a supermarket duck in the oven and roast it, several things will happen. You will get a lot of rendered fat, the breast will be tender, and the leg and thighs will be dry. For that reason I always avoided roasting a duck until I saw this recipe, and I believe I have to give Julia Child credit for it. If you like duck, be sure totry it.

It should be noted that this way of roasting duck will take about 2 hours, start to finish.

NOTE: You will need a covered roaster or casserole with a rack, or a steamer large enough to hold the duck. For the final cooking, a shallow roasting pan will do just fine.

Serves 4

5 lb duckling ½ cup onion, chopped

1 lemon ½ cup carrot, chopped Salt ½ cup celery, chopped Thyme 1½ cups white wine

Pull all the loose fat from the cavity of the duck and cut out the wishbone, for easier carving. Chop off the wings at the elbows. You can use these and the neck and giblets to make stock if you wish.

Wipe the duck dry, and rub all over with the lemon, including the cavity. Salt the outside, and sprinkle with a little thyme.

Place the duck, breast up, in whatever utensil you will use for the steaming, add an inch of water, and bring to a boil. Cover tightly, reduce the heat, and let the duck steam for 30 minutes.

Remove the duck and drain. Place a double thickness of foil over the rack, and return the duck, breast down. Strew the vegetables around the duck (other people place them around—Julia “strews”), and pour in the wine. Bring to the simmer, cover, and braise in a 325-degree oven for 30 minutes.

Remove the duck to the rack in the shallow roasting pan, saving the cooking liquid, and roast, uncovered, for 45 minutes at 375 degrees. The duck is done when the legs move easily.

Skim off the fat in the cooking liquid, and bring to a simmer, mashing down the vegetables. Boil until it is almost syrupy. Strain, pressing the juice out of the vegetables. The liquid that is left will be fabulous, and you will have just enough to moisten each serving.

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FISH & SHELLFISH

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H

aving lived on a sailboat for almost 10 years, Lynne and I developed a love of fresh seafood of all kinds. Often I could simply dive overboard and bring up a lobster or conch for lunch. I remember going to the

Nassau market, just under the Paradise Island Bridge, and picking out conch, shrimp, and fish that were caught that morning. Or going ashore to explore one of the hundreds of small settlements in the Bahamas, and buying some freshly caught fish from one of the families.

The Bahamas have a lobster season, after which it is against the law to harvest them. That explains why, as you go further down the Islands, the restaurants sometimes serve you “last year’s lobsters,” supposedly frozen during the season, but actually harvested that day. I also learned that fish vendors in the Islands rub their fish with limes. The limes are plentiful and the fishy odor, if there is any, goes away.

Seafood needs to be prepared low and slow. High heat does nothing to seafood except insure that it will be tough and dry. An exception can be made for grilled seafood, in which case the rule is hot and quick.

I covered the fish cooking rule developed by the Canadian Department of Fisheries in Help-I Gotta Learn To Cook,but it bears repeating. Measure the fish at its thickest point, and cook approximately 10 minutes for each inch. A ½-inch filet will take about 5 minutes to cook; a whole fish measuring 4 inches at its thickest point will take 40 minutes.

Stir Fried Green Beans, Tofu, and Shrimp

I adopted this recipe after eating it in a San Antonio restaurant a doz en times. There are two ways to prepare this dish; you can serve it without sauce, as shown here, or you can make a sauce common to many Asian dishes, by combing a cup of chicken broth with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and the same of soy sauce. Just before serving, and before you take the pan off the heat, pour in the mixture and stir until it thickens, about a minute or so.

Serves 4

¾ lb fresh green beans

1 lb shrimp 1 package of firm tofu

Soy sauce 3 cups hot cooked rice

4 tablespoons safflower oil Cut green beans into 2- or 3-inch lengths, and blanch for 5 minutes in boiling, salted water. Drain, and run under cold water to stop cooking. Set aside.

Take the tofu cake and slice 1 inch slabs off. Heat the oil until medium hot and brown the slabs on both sides. Drain and place on some paper towels to absorb the oil. Cut the slabs into 1 inch cubes.

Shell and de-vein shrimp, and toss with a little soy sauce. Set aside.

Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan until it is very hot, but not smoking. Stir fry beans until they start to brown. Some may shrivel up a little and that’s good.

Add shrimp, and stir fry until they are pink. Add tofu, and toss carefully until it is hot. Add a few dashes of soy sauce, stir for 1 more minute, and serve with rice. I like this dish with some Sriracha Hot Chile Sauce.

Shrimp Fine Champagne

I first had this dish at a private club in Dallas that no longer exists. The chef wrote the recipe down for me, and I have made it ever since. Not exactly a low calorie dish, but absolutely delicious. The moral of this story is, if you fall in love with a dish in a restaurant, try to get the recipe right away—you never know how long the place will last.

Serves 2

¾ lb medium shrimp, peeled and de-veined ½ cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons fine champagne cognac 2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon flour 2 tablespoons shallots, minced

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped Salt and white pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 cups cooked white rice, held to serving temperature

Heat the butter and sauté the shallots over medium-low heat for 2 minutes, until they are soft but not colored. Turn up the heat to medium-high, and add the shrimp.

Stir quickly for 3 minutes or until they turn pink, pour cognac into the pan, and carefully light with a kitchen match. Shake the pan in a circular motion until the flames are gone, add the flour, and cook for 30 seconds. Add the cream, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

Turn up heat to very high to reduce the cream for 1 minute. Remove from heat immediately, and serve over rice.

NOTE: Although this dish needs to be made quickly, once it is finished it can rest for 5 to 7 minutes over very low heat, while you toss a salad.

Voodoo Shrimp Uglesich

Uglesich’s was a restaurant in New Orleans that tourists rarely, if ever, discovered. If I could only eat in one restaurant in the city, that would be the one. It was in the same location since the 1920s, on the corner of Barrone and Erato Streets.

Anthony and Gail Uglesich ran the place. Anthony is the son of the founder Sam Uglesich. The last time my wife and I ate there was six months before Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. About two weeks before Katrina, Anthony and Gail decided to retire, and closed the restaurant. Talk about timing.

This is one of the recipes from the restaurant with a few changes I incorporated.

Serves 2

Angel hair pasta 1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon olive oil Black pepper ½ small onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 10 large shrimp, peeled, de-veined, tails left on

1 tablespoon Chinese black bean sauce

1 teaspoon sugar 1 sprig fresh rosemary

8 pitted black olives, sliced in half

4 Roma tomatoes, julienned Cook the angel hair pasta according to directions. Pour olive oil into a skillet, and set on medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, black bean paste, sugar, and bay leaf, and sauté until onions are translucent.

Salt and pepper shrimp, and add to skillet. Stir constantly until shrimp turn pink, about 5 minutes. Add the rosemary, olives, and tomatoes, and stir.

Place pasta on plate, remove bay leaf, and pour shrimp and sauce over pasta. NOTE: When Anthony signed the restaurant’s cookbook for me he added, “Good food makes good friends,” and I don’t believe he’ll mind if I tinker with the dish a little bit. After all, what are friends for?

Mediterranean Sautéed Shrimp

This is often served at Tapas bars in Spain. Tapas are little snacks, but I liked it so much I decided to turn it into a big snack.

Serves 2

1 lb medium shrimp, shelled and de-veined

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons safflower or other light oil

¾ cup fine bread crumbs 1 small garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon dried parsley Salt

Freshly ground pepper Lemon wedges

Put the oils in a bowl, and add the crumbs, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well. Add the shrimp, and toss until evenly coated. Cover, and marinate for at least 1 hour, preferably longer.

Heat a skillet large enough to hold the shrimp in 1 layer over medium heat. Spoon in the shrimp mixture, and sauté until shrimp are just done, about 5 minutes, turning the shrimp frequently to cook them on both sides.

Serve with lemon wedges. These are great with almost any Mediterranean dish such as risotto, rice pilaf, or grilled eggplant.

Chef Dugan’s Shrimp Pisano

I think the basis for this dish came from some long forgotten San Antonio restaurant.ItstayedwihmeandIdecidedtodoarecipeofmyown.It’srichand delicious, and really great with a side of rice cooked in chicken broth.

Serves 2

10 jumbo shrimp (as large as you can get) 1 stick unsalted butter

1 tablespoon flour ¼ cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest 4 slices lemon

Use a skillet that can be put under a broiler.

Melt the butter over medium heat, being careful not to burn it. Add shrimp and sauté gently until they start to turn pink; flip over, and sauté for another 1 to 2 minutes, being very careful not to overcook. Remove shrimp, and add the flour and lemon zest. Cook for another minute, and add lemon juice. Return shrimp to pan, and place under broiler to brown lightly, about 1 minute. Place 2 lemon slices on each plate, and top with 5 shrimp. Repeat for other plate. Spoon the butter sauce over shrimp.

NOTE: For a special treat, cook 2 Florida lobster tails in boiling salted water for about 3 to 5 minutes, depending on their size. Remove, and let them cool. With kitchen shears, cut the shell away. The lobster will still be opaque in the middle. Slice into 1-inch rounds, and do them the same way you did the shrimp.

Shrimp Creole

Many of the cookbooks and cooking magazines I’ve read have a recipe for Shrimp Creole. I’ve tried quite a few, maybe 10, and have never found a reason to stray from this one by the late Paul Prudhomme. I think it is the definitive Shrimp Creole.

Serves 4

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

½ tablespoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon dried basil 1 cup seafood stock, or ½ cup bottled clam juice and ½ cup water

1 cup onions, chopped

½ cup celery, chopped ¾ cup green pepper,

chopped

1 large clove garlic,

chopped

1 bay leaf

1 can diced tomatoes 1 small can tomato sauce

1 teaspoon sugar 1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons butter Salt and pepper

4 cups cooked rice

In a 10-inch sauté pan, heat olive oil and butter until butter is melted. Add the onions, and cook until brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add celery, pepper, garlic, and bay leaf, and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes. Add half of the stock, and cook down for 10 minutes. Add spices, tomatoes, rest of stock, and cook for 10 additional minutes. Add tomato sauce and sugar, turn heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes. Just before serving add shrimp, and cook until pink.

I like to serve this in a wide soup bowl. Take a custard cup, spray it with cooking spray, and pack it with hot rice. Invert the cup in the middle of the soup bowl and tap gently so the rice comes out. Spoon the Shrimp Creole all around the rice, and sprinkle the entire dish with parsley. Welcome to the French Quarter!

Shrimp and Grits

When Henry Flagler was heading to Key West building his railroad, he had a lot of workmen to feed every day, and Henry didn’t get to be as rich as he was by being a spendthrift. Grits were cheap (they still are), and fish and shrimp were close by and free for the taking. I’m sure this dish was served a lot. There are many ways to make it, but this one, from Charleston Receipts(no, I didn’t misspell the name), published by the Junior League of Charleston in I950, is my favorite.

Serves 2

1½ cups small raw shrimp, peeled

catsup

1½ tablespoons flour 2 tablespoons onion, chopped

1 cup of water, or more

2 tablespoons green pepper, chopped

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper

3 tablespoons safflower oil or bacon grease

4 hot hardboiled eggs 1 tablespoon tomato Tabasco sauce Make grits according to package, and cover. Keep warm.

Fry onion and green pepper in fat, over medium heat. Add flour, and cook until it is well mixed with the vegetables.

Remove skillet from heat, add water, and stir. Return skillet to heat, and cook until sauce thickens. Add Worcestershire sauce, catsup, and shrimp. Simmer for 4 minutes, until the shrimp are just done.

Shell eggs, cut in half, and place 2 eggs on each plate. Sprinkle with Tabasco. Spoon grits onto plate, and serve shrimp alongside.

NOTE: The gravy will mix with the grits and that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Biscuits are good with this meal also.

Shrimp Scampi

This is an Ita lian-American dish and it has many mothers. I think this recipe is one of the best. I recommend serving pasta with it. You could serve polenta but it just seems to betailor-made for pasta—any pasta. I certainlywouldn’t recommend sauerkraut.

Serves 2

1 lb medium shrimp, peeled, de-veined, and butterflied

½ cup flour ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup dry, white wine 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced 3 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ cup chicken stock 4 tablespoons butter, in small pieces

Salt and pepper 2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, minced

Dredge shrimp in flour, and, working in batches, sauté shrimp over medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat until all the shrimp have been sautéed.

Drain, and discard excess oil from pan. Add wine, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, lemon juice, and stock to pan. Cook over high heat until reduced by half, about 4 to 5 minutes. Whisk in butter a piece at a time, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium, and add shrimp to reheat, tossing to coat well with the sauce. Divide on 2 plates, and sprinkle with parsley.

Curried Shrimp

At one time I was president of an engineering university, and we always had several hundred students from India. A group of them came to me and asked if the faculty and staff would be their guests at a buffet to help them celebrate Indian Independence Day. I agreed, with the provision that the curries were not to be the highly spiced dishes they normally ate, but toned down for American appetites. They assured me everything would be mild. The buffet was a huge success, but the next day a lot of my faculty and staff failed to show up for work.

T hisrecipeismyfavoriecurryanditcanbeasspicyasyoulike,dependingon how much curry powder you use. Curry powders vary widely in their degree of hotness, so be careful. Feel free to substitute lamb, chicken or beef for the shrimp.

NOTE: Whenever you have Indian spices such as curry and garam marsala, warm them gently in a non-stick frying pan for a few minutes. Your kitchen will fill up with the most delicious aroma. Garam Marsala can be found on most supermarket spice sections.

Serves 4

1 lb large shrimp, peeled and de-veined

drained

1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 granny Smith apple,

peeled, cored, and cut into ½-inch dice

½ cup celery, diced

1 cup onion, diced

2 tablespoons safflower oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 small can diced pineapple, 1 cup chicken broth 1 teaspoon garam marsala

1 tablespoon curry powder, or to taste

2 tablespoons flour ½ cup heavy cream

½ teaspoon turmeric Salt and pepper Chutney

4 cups cooked rice

Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and add onion and celery. Cover, and steam for about 5 minutes. Uncover, and continue cooking for 5 more minutes. Add flour, cook for 2 minutes, and remove from heat. Stir in chicken broth and apple, and cook until the mixture thickens. Set aside. Heat a small skillet over low heat, and add the curry powder, turmeric, and garam marsala. Stir and heat until the spices become fragrant, and remove from heat. Add to larger skillet along with the tomato paste. Return to medium heat, add shrimp, and cook until the shrimp turn pink. Add the cream, pineapple, salt, and pepper, and cook for another 4 minutes. Serve with hot rice and chutney.

Shrimp and Scallop Curry

A slightly different treatment compared to the previous recipe although you can add scallops to either one. You can make this dish ahead of time, andadd the shrimp and scallops at the last minute. Don’t forget to cook the rice and have it waiting.

NOTE: Many curry dishes include a cup of coconut milk, which can be purchased in most supermarkets. I highly recommend it. Most curried dishes are accompanied by a chutney and I recommend Major Grey’s.

Serves 2

1 sweet apple, peeled, cored, and diced

1 large onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped fine 1 medium carrot, pared and cut into small dice

cup seedless raisins or currants, soaked in white wine for 30 minutes to plump

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 can chicken broth 3 tablespoons flour

2–4 tablespoons curry powder

½ lb shrimp, peeled and de-veined

½ lb sea scallops

3 tablespoons safflower oil 1 cup cooked rice, held to serving temperature

Heat oil in saucepan, and add onions, carrot, and celery. Cover, and sweat until soft. Remove cover, and stir in flour and curry powder. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, and add tomato paste, thyme, and chicken stock. Stir until thickened, add apple and drained raisins, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the seafood, and cook for 5 minutes more. Serve with rice.

Shrimp or Crawfish Dump

If you have visited New Orleans or the Texas coast very often, you’ll b efamiliar with this dish. It’s a wonderful dish for casual entertaining. It’s also great using blue crabs or crab legs. Eating crawfishrequires a special technique. Ask your local Cajun.

Serves 2-4

3 lbs of crawfish or shrimp in the shell

6 medium red potatoes, unpeeled 4 ears corn on the cob

1 lb prepared coleslaw (or your own) 1 jar prepared seafood cocktail sauce

1 package shrimp-boil seasoning 2 sticks clarified butter (see Help-I Gotta Learn To Cook

Lots of leftover newspaper

Bring a large kettle of water to the boil, pour in the seasoning, and simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare another large kettle with boiling water, and add the potatoes and corn. Cook for 30 minutes.

After 15 minutes, add the shellfish to the seasoned water, and turn off the heat. Let it sit for another 15 minutes. Get the condiments ready. Cover the entire kitchen or dining table with 3 to 4 layers of newspaper. Drain the shellfish and vegetables from the kettles, and dump in the middle of the table.

When I say dump, that doesn’t mean you can’t have paper plates full of coleslaw, boiled red potatoes, and corn on the cob placed around the table. You will also need a bowl of melted butter flavored with lemon juice, and 1 of seafood sauce. I usually just fill a bowl full of Chili Sauce and add horseradish and lemon juice to it. You also might want a bowl of Ranch Dressing as well. This is a casual meal, so relax and forget your table manners! If you want to take it to the extreme, try it with 4-5 Maine lobsters or Florida lobster tails.

Garlic Shrimp

This is a little like Shrimp Scampi, but it really brings out the taste of the shrimp.

Serves 2

¾ lb shrimp, peeled, de-veined, and butterflied

1 large clove garlic, sliced thin into several pieces

1 bay leaf ¼ cup olive oil

1 tablespoon dried parsley Dried red pepper flakes (optional)

Salt Put the shrimp in a small bowl with water to cover. Add 1 tablespoon salt, and stir well. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to cook, at least 1 hour.

Over low heat, warm oil, bay leaf, and garlic in a skillet until the oil just begins to move. Remove from heat, and set aside for 20 minutes or longer.

When ready to serve, drain shrimp, and dry with paper towels. Remove garlic and bay leaf from oil, and re-heat to medium-hot. Add shrimp, and cook for 2 minutes. Turn shrimp over with a fork, and continue cooking for another 2 minutes, or until they turn a nice pink. Toss with parsley, and pepper flakes if you wish.

Shrimp with Feta Cheese (Saganaki)

This authentic Greek recipe is called Saganaki after the pan in which it’s prepared. It’s best served straight from the skillet. It goes well with pasta and a nice salad. You should also serve plenty ofcrusty bread to sop up the wonderful tomato sauce.

Serves 2

¾ lb of large shrimp, shelled and de-veined

broth 2 tablespoons olive oil ½ small onion, chopped 1 teaspoon dried oregano ¼ cup sweet pepper, chopped

1 can diced tomatoes, drained

½ cup white wine

2 tablespoons, or a little more, of Ouzo

1/3 cup canned vegetable 1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped, plus a few sprigs for garnish

¼ pound block of feta cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat olive oil in a large skillet, and cook onions and pepper over medium heat until soft, but not browned. Add oregano, parsley, salt, pepper, and tomatoes, and cook for 5 more minutes, until the flavors are blended.

Remove from heat and add wine, vegetable broth, ouzo, and the spices. Return to medium heat, and cook for about 5-7 minutes.

Add shrimp around the edges of the pan, and place the block of feta in the center. Cover, and cook for an additional 5 minutes, until the shrimp are pink and the cheese is warm.

Transfer to a large plate or bowl, and garnish with dill sprigs and a little parsley.

Lobster Edward with Lemon Rice

This recipe is a little bit of Lobster Newburg, a little bit of L obster Thermidor, and a little bit of Chef Dugan. I actually started out to make Lobster Thermidor, but decided I wanted to take a few shortcuts and enhance the results with lemon flavored rice. It’s a pretty rich dish, and a plain salad with vinaigrette dressing is a good foil for that.

NOTE: This dish is also very good using shrimp or scallops.

Serves 2

10-ounce Florida lobster tail

½ teaspoon

Worcestershire sauce

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

2 tablespoons minced sweet onion

2 tablespoons diced pimentos (or sweet pepper)

½ cup white wine

½ cup half and half 1 teaspoon dry mustard ½ cup rice 1 cup water

2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Cook lobster tail in salted water until still opaque through the center, about 10 minutes. Remove shell, and cut as much membrane as you can from the tail. Cut into ½-inch pieces, and set aside.

Bring water to a boil and add rice, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Cook until rice is tender. Keep warm.

Combine the half and half with the white wine in a small bowl. Add Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat, and slowly cook onion until soft but not brown. If you’re using sweet pepper, add that as well. Add flour, mix well, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly so the flour does not burn.

Add the wine mixture, and stir until the sauce thickens. Add pimentos, stir in lobster and Parmesan, and turn heat to very low. Cook for 3 minutes.

Place a mound of rice on a plate, spoon a generous helping of lobster mixture over the top, and sprinkle with a little paprika. Serve with salad.

Clam Hash

This is a nice breakfast or brunch dish. Just imagine you are eating it in a seaside café on Cape Cod, and it tastes even better.

Serves 2

2 cans minced clams, drained (fresh are MUCH better)

1 large russet potato in ¼-inch dice

1 small onion, diced fine

1 small jar diced pimentos 1 tablespoon dried parsley, or 2 of fresh

6 strips bacon, fried crisp 2 tablespoons olive oil

4 hot hardboiled eggs, peeled Tabasco sauce

Cook potatoes and onions over medium heat in a covered frying pan. When medium soft, add clams, pimentos, and parsley. Mix well, and mash down into a cake. Brown both sides well, and serve with bacon slices and quartered hardboiled eggs, sprinkled with hot sauce.

Sautéed Calamari Steaks

These are truly a delicacy that reminds me a lot of Abalone Steaks, a west coast dish. I have used a special treatment of mine rather than the usual way to bread them, but first, they must be pounded with a tenderizer on both sides.

After that, just spread a thin layer ofmayonnaise over both sides, and press some bread crumbs into them with your hands. Make sure they are well coated.

Heat some butter, or a mixture of butter an d olive oil, in a pan and, over low to medium heat, sauté the steaks until they are a golden brown on both sides. It should take about 5 minutes or less. Serve immediately with some lemonwedges or tartar sauce.

Portuguese Tuna and Potato Stew

Be very careful not to cook the tuna more than a few minutes. Remember, a lot of people eat itraw—it’s called Sushi. This is pretty typical of Portuguese cuisine.

Serves 2

¼ cup olive oil

1 cup onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped

1 can of diced tomatoes ½ cup dry white wine

½ cup water 1 bottle clam juice

¾ lb fresh tuna, cut into 1-inch chunks 1 cup French bread, torn into bite-sized pieces

1 teaspoon each of paprika, oregano, thyme, and basil 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and sliced into ¼-inch rounds

Sauté onion and garlic over medium heat until onions are soft, add tomatoes with juice, and reduce until slightly syrupy. Stir in potatoes, water, wine, and spices. Cover, and cook until potatoes are tender. Add tuna, and cook for 2 minutes more. Sprinkle bread on top (do not stir), cover again, and let rest for 2 minutes. Bring to the table and serve from the pot.

Fried Catfish with Lemon Butter and Caper Sauce

We lived in Arkansas for quite a few years, an d it has hundreds of restaurants featuring catfish. I always thought it funny that so many advertised their fried catfish as the best. The truth is that it was all deep fried, with basically the same batter, so there really wasn’t much difference between one restaurant and another.

NOTE: Instead of catfish, you can use any firm fleshed fish filet like snapper, mahi mahi, tilapia, salmon, or whatever else is available.

Serves 2

2 catfish filets 3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil 4 tablespoons capers, drained

¼ cup flour 1 large lemon

Make sure your lemon is quartered and your capers drained before you start the fish. Spread the flour on a large plate and dip the fish filets into it, coating both sides.

Over moderate heat, warm the butter and oil in a skillet, and sauté the filets for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. They should be a golden brown. Set aside on 2 warm plates. Quickly turn up the heat, squeeze 2 quarters of the lemon into the pan, and add the capers. Pour this sauce over the filets, and serve with the remaining lemon quarter

Cod Filets Poached with Tomatoes

A very simple meal that Lynne and I eat often. It’s the combination of flavors and textures that we like best. To add a different twist to this recipe top it with crumbled feta cheese just before serving. In that case youmight want to serve some orzo rather than the potatoes.

Serves 2

1 can stewed tomatoes (use diced if you prefer)

¼ cup dry white wine 1 pound cod filets

2 medium potatoes

Heat the stewed tomatoes, add the cod, and simmer gently for about 10 minutes. Or you can poach the cod in lemon flavored water, and add before serving. What you are trying to do is not overcook the cod.

Make mashed potatoes. The way I like to make them is to put in the butter, milk and 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise. The mayo makes them very creamy and, with this meal, great with the stewed tomatoes spooned over them.

Chef Dugan’s Crab Cakes

While growing up in Philadelphia, I remember being taken to the corner tavern on Friday nights for crab cakes, French fries, and coleslaw. To show you how long ago that was, beer distributors actually delivered cases of beer to your home, just like the milkman.

I was too young to drink, but I still remember the damp, beery smell of th e tavern. Over the years I have tried everyone else’s recipe for crab cakes, but still like mine best. Anyone in Baltimore will tell you to only use fresh blue crab, not the kind that is pasteurized. But for those of us who live elsewhere, the only suggestion I have is use only lump crabmeat.

Serves 2

½ lb crab meat (lump

crabmeat only)

3 tablespoons mayonnaise ½ teaspoon celery seed

½ teaspoon dry mustard ½ teaspoon

Worcestershire sauce ½ teaspoon Old Bay

Seasoning

¼ cup green pepper,

minced

2 scallions, minced, white part only

1 tablespoon celery,

minced

1 small jar diced pimentos, drained

2 slices of good stale bread, cut into ½-inch cubes

Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

1 egg white, beaten lightly

1 cup dried bread crumbs 2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil Soak the bread in ¼ cup of milk until soft. Drain, and squeeze excess moisture out. In a bowl gently mix together all ingredients, except dried bread crumbs, being careful not to break up the crabmeat too much. Spread half of the dried bread crumbs on a plate. Shape the mixture into 4 small cakes, and place on plate. Sprinkle some more dried crumbs on top, and gently press into cakes. Fry in the butter and olive oil for about 4 minutes on each side.

Grilled Tuna Tacos

For those of you unfamiliar with Southern Ca lifornia, there are fish taco stands all over the place. Lynne and I spent a good deal of time in California, and it truly is an incredible state. The reason they come up with so many new ideas there, is everyone has a lot of time to think while parked on the freeways.

Serves 2

1½ teaspoons ground coriander

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1½ teaspoons ground cumin 1½ teaspoons chili powder

1½ teaspoons freshly ground pepper

¾ lb thick tuna steak, sushigrade

2 flour tortillas (9–10 inch)

2 tablespoons olive oil ½ cup good salsa at room temperature (any kind you like)

1 cup lettuce, shredded

1 ripe tomato, diced

Stir spices together. Rub olive oil over both sides of tuna steak, and coat well with spices. Grill tuna on lightly oiled rack until brown on both sides, but still rare in center. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Grill flour tortillas, turning over once. Remove from heat, and wrap in foil. Toss lettuce and tomato with lime juice, salt, and pepper. Slice tuna across the grain into ¼-inch slices.

Put a tortilla on each plate, lay half of the tuna on each tortilla, neatly down the center. Spread salsa over tuna, followed by lettuce and tomato. Roll up tacos to enclose filling.

NOTE: I love these tacos, but don’t always feel like heating up the grill. A wellseasoned ridged pan works just as well over moderately-high heat. Use your imagination for side dishes.

Fish Tacos

A different version of Grilled Tuna Tacos, using catfish, tilapia, mahi mahi, snapper, or grouper, and hard taco shells. I like to keep this meal simple, so to accompanythe tacos I just open a can of refried beans and a can of diced tomatoes, mix them together, heat, and serve. Not exactly gourmet, just very good.

Serves 2

1 lb tilapia or other firm fish 1 teaspoon chili powder

Shredded lettuce 1 teaspoon dried cilantro 2 jumbo hard taco shells Salt and pepper

1 cup flour 1 cup cornmeal 4 tablespoons olive or safflower oil

NOTE: I use Green Mountain Gringo Salsa, and if your market carries it, I urge you to try it. It’s very fresh tasting, comes in a jar, must be refrigerated after opening, and should be used within 3 weeks. Once you taste it, the time won’t be a problem. I use mild, but it also comes in a hot version.

To make a neater taco, it helps if you cut the fish into “fingers,” about 1-inch thick.

Combine the flour, cornmeal, chili powder, and cilantro in a large bowl. Wet the fish with water, and roll in the flour mixture until well coated. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Place the taco shells in a 325-degree oven to warm.

Shred the lettuce, and heat the salsa in a microwave until it is warm. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the fish. Brown the fish on all sides, making sure it is cooked through.

Layer the bottom of the taco shell with lettuce, then a layer of fish, and top with the warm salsa, and serve.

Chef Dugan’s Seviche

There are many different recipes for this Caribbean dish, depending on the kind of seafood you use. It can be made with scallops, shrimp, or fish. I tried them all, and then developed my own. It makes an incredible appetizer, and the fresher the fish the better.

Serves 2

¾ lb of fresh snapper or grouper, sliced paper-thin (you can do this better if the fish is slightly frozen)

1 can diced tomatoes, with a little bit of the juice

Juice of 4–6 limes

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Tabasco sauce to taste

1 small onion, very thinly sliced

1 sweet yellow pepper, thinly sliced or chopped

1 teaspoon cilantro

Cover fish with lime juice, and marinate for 3 hours. The lime juice will “cook” the fish. Drain, and toss with other ingredients. Squeeze fresh lime juice over and serve.

Scallops Poached in White Wine

Once the scallops are poached, there are a number of ways to treat them. You can have them simply poached and sautéed in butter, but you should try other ways to serve these delectable morsels. I have some suggestions at the end of the recipe. I really don’t think poaching is the best way to treat the smaller bay scallops, unless you are very careful with your timing. Scallops can get tough fast.

Serves 2

1 lb sea scallops

1 tablespoon scallions, minced 1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon salt 1 cup dry white wine

½ cup water

Heat the water, wine, scallions, bay leaf, and salt in a small skillet, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the scallops. The liquid should almost cover the scallops. If not, add some more water, and return to the simmer. Remove from heat immediately, and let the scallops cool to room temperature in the liquid. When cool, strain the liquid, and save.

NOTE: Here are 2 suggestions to stimulate your imagination: Serve the scallops cold in a salad with pasta or other seafood; make a sauce with diced tomatoes and cream, reduce the poaching liquid, add heavy cream, and further reduce the poaching liquid, and add, 1 at a time, 4 tablespoons butter, and some lemon juice.

Gefilte Fish Platter

I used to order this at a famous Miami Be ach deli called Wolfie’s. It was the first place I took the lady who was to become my wife. Even though she was born and raised in Miami, she had never been to a real deli, and didn’t know chopped liver from pastrami. Speaking for myself, I had grown up with this kind of food, and would have had all my meals at Wolfie’s if I could. Eating Gefilte fish all by itself is okay, but this recipe gives you the whole picture.

Serves 2

1 jar Gefilte fish, chilled (there are several kinds in the supermarket—try to get the jar that has some carrots in it)

1 jar of good, hot horseradish

Some good Jewish rye bread, if you can find it

A generous amount of unsalted butter

Slices of sweet onion

Potato salad of your choice

Coleslaw of your choice

1 big kosher dill pickle

Salt and pepper

Place 1 or 2 pieces of fish on a big plate. Lay a couple slices of onion alongside. Cut the pickle in half and lay that on the plate. Place a portion each of coleslaw and potato salad on the plate. Butter several slices of rye bread, and add those as well.

Poached Salmon Filets with Lemon-Dill Mayonnaise

This makes an elegant lunch or dinner, especially in hot weather. It looks pretty, tastes great, and is easy to make—just what you need on a hot day.

Serves 2

1½ lbs filet of salmon, skinned (they’ll do this at the market)

1 bottle clam broth ½ cup dry white wine

1 cup water 1 bay leaf

1 small onion, quartered 1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice ½ cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons capers, drained 1 tablespoon dried dill

Put the clam broth, wine, water, bay leaf, onion and salt in a deep skillet or casserole dish, and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and onion, and bring to a boil. Place the salmon in the pan, return to a simmer for 2 minutes, remove from the heat, and cover. Let it sit for 30 minutes. Remove the salmon to a serving dish, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

While the salmon is chilling, place the mayonnaise, lemon juice, capers, and dill in a bowl, and mix thoroughly. Spoon the sauce carefully over the filets, and serve when ready.

NOTE: I like to serve this with thinly sliced cucumbers tossed with vinaigrette of half sugar and half white wine vinegar, and a French potato salad. Chilled, sliced tomatoes are nice with it as well.

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RICE, DUMPLINGS & PASTA

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RICE

T

here are many ways to cook rice correctly. Justin Wilson, the famous Cajun cook, had a good way: watch the rice cook over high heat until craters appear on the top. Remove it from the heat, cover, and set it

aside. It will be just right in about 15 minutes.

After trying for years to get cooking rice just right, I developed a fool-proof method. I buy rice-in-the-bag and cook it in water flavored with chicken bouillon. It really doesn’t make much difference how long you keep it in the hot water after the range is turned off. I then put the bag in the sink, and once it’s cooled, I squeeze as much water out of it as I can. Then I cut open the bag, put the rice in a glass bowl, and, when I’m ready to serve it, I zap it in the microwave for 1 minute. Turns out perfect every time!

Another thing about rice, it freezes splendidly, so always make more than the meal calls for. Then the next time you want shrimp fried rice, just defrost some.

Many oriental recipes recommend that you sauté the rice in oil for a few minutes before cooking it; and some others also call for rinsing the rice first to get some of the starch out. Frankly, I have never been able to detect the difference when I to that.

Paella

When the Moors brought rice and saffron to Spain, they provided the basis for this dish. It consists of chicken, shellfish, and vegetables simmered together in a broad, flat pan, much like a large skillet. It can be considered a second cousin to Pilaf, which originated in Persia.

This particular recipe is very authentic, but feel free to change the seafood mix if you wish. Often chunks of fish are added and the shellfish skipped, or other vegetables like artichoke hearts, zucchini, and yellow squash are added. This is your chance to really improvise!

You will need a paella pan or a large oven-proof skillet or casserole dish with a cover.

Serves 8-10

1 tablespoon dried saffron 4-5 cups of half

chicken/half clam broth 1 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic

3 lb chicken, cut into 2-inch pieces (use a cleaver to cut the breast and legs)

Salt and pepper

1 large onion, finely

chopped

2 cups rice

1 can diced tomatoes 2 lobster tails, cut into chunks

12 clams in their shells, scrubbed

12 large shrimp, shelled and de-veined

2 chorizos or Italian

sausages

1 small jar diced pimentos

1 cup cooked green peas Bring broth to a boil, and add the saffron, stirring until most of it is dissolved. Set aside. Heat half the oil in a skillet, and fry the garlic until brown. Remove the garlic and discard it.

Fry the chicken pieces, skin side down, in the oil until nice and brown. Season with salt and pepper, turn, and add oil as needed. Add the onion and cook until brown. Add the rest of the oil and the rice, and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the tomatoes, simmer for 2-3 minutes, and add 4 cups of the broth. Bury the seafood in the rice, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or more until the rice is tender. Discard any unopened clam shells. If rice needs more cooking, add more broth as needed.

Place the pan in a pre-heated 450-degree oven for 10 minutes, uncovered. Meanwhile slice the sausage, and fry in a little olive oil for a few minutes. Set aside. Remove the pan, and stir in the peas and sausage. Top the dish neatly with the pimentos, to make it attractive. Serve very hot.

Fried Rice

A basic recipe that can be alteredin many ways. The most common additions are shrimp, chicken, and pork. If you are adding chicken or pork, they must be pre-cooked, and should be in bite-sized pieces or thinly sliced.

Serves 2

3 cups cooked rice (leftover and frozen is fine) ¼ cup safflower or other oil (not olive oil)

3 scallions, chopped ¼ cup frozen baby green peas

1 jar diced pimentos (optional) 3 tablespoons soy sauce

½ teaspoon sesame oil (optional) 2 eggs, beaten

NOTE: You might want to add sliced water chestnuts or bamboo shoots.

Put a little oil in a small non-stick skillet over moderate heat, and pour in the eggs. Cook very slowly until the tops of the eggs are almost cooked. Turn the pancake over, and cook for 30 seconds more before removing to a cutting board. When it cools, cut into ¼-inch slices, and then do the same crosswise. You don’t have to be too careful; you’re just looking for small pieces of egg. Set aside.

Toss the rice with a little oil and egg pieces; the amount doesn’t matter too much. This keeps the rice from sticking.

Heat the remaining oil in a large skillet (non-stick is best), and add the scallions, peas, and any other solid you have chosen (water chestnuts, etc.). Cook for 2 minutes, and add the rice and egg mixture, and pimentos if you are using them. When everything is well mixed, add the soy sauce and sesame oil, if you are using it. Cook for an additional 2 minutes, and add the shrimp, chicken, or pork. If you are adding shrimp, continue to cook until they turn pink, about 5 minutes. The pre-cooked chicken or pork only needs to be warmed.

Rice Tortillas

A Spanish dish that is a great way to use leftov er rice. Serve them hot with just about anything your imagination can come up with. The recipe serves four for a snack or two for a meal.

Serves 2

1 cup cooked rice

1 medium potato, peeled and grated

2 scallions, sliced thin, green part included

½ small onion, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

3 large eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons paprika

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

Salt and pepper

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the rice, potato, onions, and garlic, and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture begins to color.

Spoon the mixture into a large bowl, and stir in the eggs, paprika, and parsley. Add quite a lot of freshly ground pepper and salt, or the dish will be too bland.

Clean the skillet, and heat the remaining oil over medium heat. Using a 1/3 cup measure, spoon the mixture into the pan, allowing some space for the tortillas to spread. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until they are a beautiful golden brown. Drain on paper towels, and keep warm in a 200-degree oven until the entire batch is done. I like these tortillas with a variety of salsas brought to room temperature.

Risotto ala Milanese

A good introduction to the world of risotto. The variations are almost endless, and they give you a wonderful chance to use your imagination.

If you have never made risotto before, there are a few rules you mu st follow. First, only use imported Italian Arborio wide grain rice. The rice must be sautéed in butter for three to four minutes until it turns a transparent, milky color. For each cup of raw rice, use two cups of liquid. Carefully regulate the heat so that the liquid is not absorbed too quickly, or the rice will not be tender. The liquid is added a little at a time. Wait until it has been absorbed and add some more, stirring constantly.

Serves 2

¼ cup butter 2 cups uncooked Arborio rice

1 onion, minced ½ cup dry white wine

4 cups heated chicken broth ½ teaspoon saffron, dissolved in 4 tablespoons chicken broth

cup grated Parmesan cheese Salt and pepper

NOTE: Since temperature control is critical here, it helps if you use an electric skillet with a heat dial. If you don’t have one, just be careful.

Heat the butter in a heavy saucepan and, over medium heat, cook the onion until it is soft but not brown. Add rice and cook for an additional 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the wine and cook for 3 minutes. Add ½ cup broth, and cook until the broth is almost absorbed. Stir the rice well. Repeat this procedure, adding half cups of broth at a time. If you are using an electric skillet, the temperature setting should be around 300 degrees.

After about 15 minutes of cooking time, stir in the saffron and broth mixture, salt, pepper, and the Parmesan cheese. The finished product should be soft and creamy, not dry.

If you are not going to serve the risotto immediately, you can keep it warm by putting the serving dish or pan in some hot water, but not over direct heat.

Pass extra Parmesan cheese at the table.

NOTE: There are an infinite number of variations you can do when making risotto. You can use beef broth, vegetable broth, or fish broth for the liquid. You can add dried mushrooms with their soaking liquid, fresh mushrooms, spices, herbs, fresh or frozen peas, shrimp, broccoli, or asparagus. You get the idea.

Italian Rice and Peas (Risi e Bisi)

This is a traditional Venetian dish that is the perfect example of how to treat Italian rice, in this case Arborio rice. It’sreally best with fresh garden peas, but frozen can also be used.

Serves 4

2 lbs fresh peas, shelled

4 tablespoons butter

2 oz pancetta ham, diced

Small sweet onion, minced

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cans vegetable broth

1½ cups Arborio rice

½ cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Cook peas in broth until tender; remove with a slotted spoon and reserve broth. Set the peas aside.

In a large, heavy pot over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and then the oil. Add the pancetta and onion, and cook until the onions turn golden, about 10 minutes. Add the peas, ½ cup of warm broth, and turn the heat up to medium-high.

Add the rice, and stir constantly until the liquid is absorbed. Add liquid (¾ cup of liquid at a time). Continue stirring and adding liquid until all the broth is absorbed, and the rice is nice and creamy. Stir in the remaining butter, salt and pepper, and ¼ cup of cheese.

The mixture should be slightly soupy. Most other risotto recipes call for a firmer mixture, but not this one. Serve with additional cheese.

Royal Rice

I believe we should give Julia Child credit for this recipe. More than her recipes, I think she deserves credit for opening up an entirely new world of cooking to the American public. What would we have done without her?

This makes an outstanding presentation if you happen to be entertaining. It takes a little prep time, and is hard to make in small amounts, but it is a spectacular main course for a small dinner party. Once it’sassembled, you can relax with your guests.

Serves 4-6

4 cups rice, cooked in chicken broth

Extra virgin olive oil, as needed

Freshly squeezed lemon juice

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup fresh parsley,

chopped

1 red pepper, diced

3 scallions, sliced, including green parts

½ cup pine nuts, sautéed in olive oil

6 fresh basil leaves, sliced thin

1 cucumber, seeded, salted, and drained

¾ cup diced feta cheese 2 cups broccoli florets, blanched to crisp-tender

½ cup pimento stuffed olives, sliced in half

3 tablespoons capers, drained

2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

2 lbs cooked shrimp, shelled and de-veined

Mayonnaise to be passed separately

NOTE: You can also use lobster, crab, scallops, chicken, pork, whatever you wish. I like shellfish with this dish.

Toss the rice in a bowl with a little olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and the parsley. Taste and correct seasonings. This is important because the flavor of the rice will set the standard for the rest of the dish. You want it not too oily and a little tart.

Add the red pepper, scallions, basil leaves, cucumber, and shrimp, and toss gently until it is well-mixed.

Arrange the rice on a serving platter, on a bed of greens if you wish. Decorate the platter by arranging the broccoli florets around the edge, and sprinkling the green olives, capers, pine nuts, tomatoes, and the feta cheese over all to make a pretty presentation. A final touch could be quartered hardboiled eggs. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving time. Serve with a small bowl of mayonnaise.

Mediterranean Rice and Lentils

This dish is h earty enough to serve as a maincourse, and is a great vegetarian meal. It has a wonderful flavor, and can be served either hot or at room temperature, which makes it a great candidate to take to work for lunch the next day. Have your leftovers with some quartered tomatoes and a side of plain yogurt.

Serves 4-6

1½ cups lentils, brown or yellow

2 large onions, 1 chopped, 1 sliced thinly

2 cups rice

1 cup chicken broth

3 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of nutmeg Pinch of sugar

Salt and pepper

NOTE: You should really invest in a nutmeg grater. I keep mine in a plastic bag with 4 or 5 nutmegs, which I grind fresh when I need that wonderful flavor. Simmer the lentils according to the instructions on the bag, about 45 minutes, and drain.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium heat, and add the onion, salt, pepper, cumin, and cinnamon. Sauté until the onions are soft, then add the lentils and stir. Add the rice and the cup of chicken broth, stir, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside, still covered.

While the rice mixture is cooking, add 2 tablespoons oil to a small skillet, and sauté the onion rings. After about 10 minutes, sprinkle some sugar over the onions, stir, and turn up the heat slightly. Continue cooking until the onions are caramelized and a very deep brown.

Spoon a good portion of the rice mixture onto a plate, and sprinkle onions on top.

NOTE: Almost any kind of salad will go well with this dish. Some warm pita bread is also nice.

Creole Dirty Rice

The people of Louisiana have given the rest of us some incredible dishes based on their Creole and Acadian heritage. To myway of thinking, they have also given us a role model for the term “laid back.” A Cajun friend of mine put it best: “If you get too much rain, have a party; if you don’t get enough rain, have a party; if you lose your job, have a party; if you get a big raise and a promotion, have a party. If it’s a real Louisiana party, by the time it’s over, you’ll have a whole new outlook on life.” They don’t have parties down there without dirty rice and dancing, and maybe a little beer.

This recipe makes a wonderful side dish, especially for Cajun food. It’s sometimes used as the basis for Boudin, a Cajun sausage.

Serves 2-4

1 cup uncooked rice ½ lb ground pork 1 green pepper, chopped 1 can chicken broth 1 stalk celery, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped ½ lb ground chicken gizzards

½ lb ground beef Salt, pepper, Tabasco to taste

1 tablespoon oil, butter, or lard

3–4 cooked chicken livers (optional)

Sauté onions, peppers, celery, and garlic in oil until soft, but not browned. Add chicken gizzards, ground beef, and ground pork and sauté for 15 – 20 minutes, tossing frequently. Add rice stock, cover, and cook over very low heat for 30 minutes. Chop and add the chicken livers right before serving, if you wish.

El Mirador Rice

In San Antonio, Saturday lunch at El Mirador is where you go to meet friends and be seen. During the week you can witness a lot of power lunches there as well. They make some wonderful soups as well asmany other dishes, and a lot of them have a mound of this rice in the center of the bowl. It’s also wonderful as a side dish.

Serves 2

¾ cup long grain rice, uncooked 2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium tomatoes, chopped 1 medium green pepper, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced 1 cup hot water

1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon, dissolved in ¼ cup water

Lemon juice Salt and pepper

Cover rice with hot water, add a squeeze of lemon, and let soak for 5 minutes. Drain thoroughly in a colander. Heat the oil in a large skillet, and sauté rice until golden. Stir in tomatoes, peppers, and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes. Add chicken base dissolved in ¼ cup water. Add seasonings, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.

Low Country Rice

At one time, rice helped make Charleston, South Carolina, a very wealthy city. If you grow it, you have a tendency to eat it, and eat it they did. This recipe is sometimes called Red Rice, and although it makes a “gracious plenty” as they say in the South, you can’t make too much. Besides, it freezes very well.

Serves 4

2 cups long grain rice

1 medium onion, chopped 1 stalk celery, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes

4 strips bacon, fried crisp, and grease reserved 2 cups water

Add onions, celery, and pepper to bacon grease, and sauté over medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Add rice to skillet and mix thoroughly with vegetables. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring so rice doesn’t stick to pan. Add diced tomatoes with their juice and the water. Mix well, and transfer to a large casserole dish. Cover tightly with several layers of aluminum foil, and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Just before serving, crumble bacon on top.

Oven-Baked Brown Rice

T hisrecipeisbywayofCooks Illustrated the folks who do a wonderful job in their test kitchens. You can zip up the flavor of the brown rice by cooking it in chicken or vegetable broth.

Serves 2

1½ cups long, medium, or short grain brown rice 2½ cups water or broth

2 teaspoons butter ½ teaspoon salt

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Spread the rice into an 8-inch square baking dish. Bring the water or broth to a boil with the butter, stir in the salt, and pour over the rice. Cover the dish tightly with a double layer of foil, and bake on the middle oven rack, for 1 hour.

Remove from oven, uncover, and fluff the rice with a fork. Cover the dish with a clean kitchen towel, and let stand for 5 minutes. Uncover, let stand for an additional 5 minutes, and serve.

NOTE: As with other rice recipes, you can add just about anything to this dish: minced onions, garlic, peas, and carrots, whatever.

Red Beans and Rice

A famous Louisiana dish that I’m sure you’ve heard about. You can add some sliced Boudin sausage if you want, and some folks believe the beans require long cooking with a smoked ham hock. Here’s a basic recipe and you can improvise to your heart’s content.

Serves 2

1 can red kidney beans

1 small onion, minced 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced

1 cup chicken broth 1½ cups cooked rice

2 strips bacon, cut into ¼-inch dice Tabasco sauce to taste

Salt and pepper

Heat a small saucepan over moderate heat, and add the diced bacon. Cook until the bacon is a little crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the onions and pepper, and sauté for 5 more minutes. Add the beans and their liquid to the pot with the chicken broth. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Reheat the rice in a microwave for 2 minutes. Mound the rice in a shallow soup bowl, and surround it with the bean mixture. Sprinkle with Tabasco.

Hoppin’ John

Although there are many versions of how this dish got its name, it was really introduced by black slaves to the rice plantations of the South, and its roots lie in Africa and the West Indies.

For some reason, it became associated with New Year’s Eve, and is now a tradition for many people to serve then, believing it brings good luck. You can make the peas from scratch if you wish, soaking them and all that. To me, it’s a tasty dish but not worth the trouble doing it that way, so I use canned. Don’t leave out the ham hocks though.

Serves 2

1 cup uncooked rice, preferably long-grained

2 cups chicken broth 1 small onion, chopped fine

2 smoked ham hocks 1 can black-eyed peas

2 teaspoons canola oil 2 tablespoons dried parsley

Tabasco or hot pepper vinegar to taste

Heat the oil in a small saucepan, and sauté the onions until they are soft and slightly browned. Stir in the rice and cook for 2 minutes, and add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over very low heat for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, and let the rice sit for another 15 minutes.

Add a ½ can of water to the black-eyed peas, and then the ham hocks and parsley. Cook over low heat for about 30 minutes. Cut the meat off the ham hocks into bite-sized pieces, and mix back into the peas. Put a big helping of rice on a plate, and top with the pea mixture.

NOTE: You can use this as a side dish, or if you want to go really country, serve it as the main course with cornbread, buttermilk, and the Combination Salad in the Salad Section.

DUMPLINGS

T

he best advice I can give you about dumplings is, once you put them in liquid, cover them and don’t peek for 20 minutes. By then, they will be firmed up and you can test them for doneness. You can’t really overcook

a dumpling, but some of them fall apart if not rescued from the liquid in time.

To be perfectly truthful, I have never had much luck cooking dumplings. When I want some, I pick up a package of vacuum packed gnocchi from the grocery store. On the other hand, I know relatively inexperienced cooks who can make wonderful dumplings. Just because I’m a chef doesn’t mean I’m good at cooking everything.

Spaetzle

These are sometimes called Swabian Noodlesbut the name really means little sparrows. Supermarkets sell a packaged version from Germany, which is not as good as this. You can buy a spaetzle maker for less than $20 at most utensil purveyors like cooking.com. They give you a much smaller dumpling, almost like large rice. I prefer the larger size but it’s your choice.

Serves 2-4

2½ cups sifted all purpose flour 2 eggs, beaten

½ cup water (more or less) NOTE: For a nice change, try mixing some chopped spinach into the batter.

Combine flour and salt in mixing bowl. Make a well in the center; add eggs and ¼ cup of the water. Beat with a heavy spoon, adding more water until you have stiff dough that comes away from the sides of the bowl. Let stand for 20 minutes.

Heat a kettle of salted water to boiling. If you don’t have a spaetzle maker, use the following technique. Take a large spoon and fill it with dough, scraping the top against the edge of the bowl until you have a fairly flat spoonful. Take a knife and, holding the spoon over the water, cut off thin slivers of the dough and let them fall into the water. Dipping the knife in the water from time to time makes the dough break away easier. Repeat with several spoonfuls. Spaetzle will rise to the surface when cooked, about 3 to 4 minutes, but you can scrape a spoon along the bottom if you like, and let them cook on the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain in a colander. Repeat the process until all the dough has been used.

I like to sauté the noodles in butter for a few minutes before serving.

Yeast Dumplings

Whenever my grandmother had leftover pot roast or roast beef, she would make wonderful, huge, light dumplings to eat with the gravy and meat. When I asked her what they were, she would say what Ithought was “Half a Glass.” She never gave me a recipe. For years I would ask every woman of German, Austrian, or Hungarian heritage I met if they had ever heard of Half a Glass dumplings.

One day while reading a book on German cooking, I came across a recipe for yeast dumplings. Under the title was the German translation, Hefeklosse, and after thirty five years, I had it.

More often than not, Germans stuff a prune or an apricot in the middle of the dumpling, thereby making it sweet rather than savory.

The dumplings should be eaten immediately, so have the rest of the dinner ready to serve before you remove them from the pot.

As with anything with yeast in it, these require a little patience, but believe me, they are worth it. This recipe makes about 12 medium-sized dumplings. You can cut the recipe in half, and leftovers are good quartered and fried in butter.

Serves 2-4

3¼ cups flour melted and cooled

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

¾ cup tepid milk (110–115 degrees)

½ cup tepid water (110–115 degrees)

1 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg 1 teaspoon sugar 1 egg, lightly beaten

4 tablespoons butter, Pour the water into a small bowl, and sprinkle it with the yeast and sugar. Let it stand for 2 to 3 minutes, then stir to dissolve the yeast and sugar completely. Set in a warm, draft-free place (such as a slightly warm oven) for about 7 minutes, or until the mixture almost doubles in volume.

Put the beaten egg in a large mixing bowl, and beat in the melted butter; add the tepid milk, salt, nutmeg, and yeast solution. Then add the flour, a ½ cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix with a large spoon, or your hands, until the dough is firm enough to be gathered into a compact ball. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface, and knead it by pushing it down with the heels of your hands, pressing it forward, and folding it back on itself. Add flour to keep the dough from sticking. Repeat for 10 minutes. (This is really good exercise.)

NOTE: If you have a mixer with a dough paddle, such as a Kitchen Aid, use it, unless you like the exercise. When the dough is smooth and elastic, place it in a buttered bowl, drape it with a towel, or elastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 1 hour, or until it doubles in bulk. Punch the dough down, and knead it again for 3 or 4 minutes, this time by hand. Return to oven for about 15 minutes.

Flour your hands lightly, pinch off pieces of the dough, and shape them into balls about 2 inches in diameter. You should get around 10 to 12, but don’t worry about the final count.

Spread a damp kitchen towel over a rack set in a large roasting pan or steamer, and arrange the dumplings about 2 inches apart. Add enough water to the pan to come to within 1 inch of the rack. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover tightly, and reduce the heat to medium. Steam the dumplings undisturbed for 20 minutes, or until they are firm to the touch.

Drop Dumplings

As their name implies, drop dumplings are dumplings you drop into a liquid. They are simplicity itself, and the only thing to remember is once you drop them into the liquid and cover the pot, don’t peek! The liquid can be broth, plain water, or water in which you have added some seasonings. These are delicious with meat or poultry.

Serves 2

1 cup flour 1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt ½ cup milk

2 tablespoons safflower oil

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, and mix to a thick batter. Drop by spoonfuls into the boiling liquid, cover, and cook for 15 minutes. Uncover and turn them over. Cook for another 5 minutes.

NOTE: Don’t use too large a spoon or the dumplings will be too big and fall apart. A generous tablespoon is just right.

Potato Dumplings

These are wonderful in any stew or braise or alone, sautéed with a little butter.

Serves 2

2 large russet potatoes, peeled, grated through a coarse grater, and put in a bowl of water

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup flour

½ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon melted butter

3 cans chicken or beef broth

Heat the stock to the boiling point, and reduce to a simmer.

Drain the potatoes, and place on a layer of 3 or 4 paper towels. Wrap the towels around the potatoes and squeeze as much moisture as you can from them. Put the flour in a large bowl, and mix it well with the baking powder. Add the potatoes, eggs, salt, pepper, and melted butter. Mix well. Wet your hands, and shape the mixture into dumplings about the size of golf balls. Drop the dumplings into the stock. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Check with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean. If not, continue cooking for another 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the dumplings with a slotted spoon, and serve.

Bread Dumplings with Bacon

In Austria, these dumplings are traditionally served in a plain beef broth. However, you can use them any way you want, with some sauerkraut and pork for instance.

Serves 2-4

1½ cups warm milk 1 cup good bacon, chopped, fried crisp, and drained

½ lb cubed quality bread or rolls (¼-inch cubes) 4 tablespoons dried parsley

3 eggs 3 tablespoons butter

1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped ½ cup (or more) flour

Salt and pepper Lay the bread cubes out on a baking sheet, and toast in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes. Set aside.

NOTE: If the bread was stale to begin with, skip this step.

Whisk the eggs, parsley, and milk together in a large bowl. Add bacon and bread cubes, toss, and set aside. If the mixture seems too wet, add more flour, a little at a time, until it becomes somewhat firm.

Over medium heat, melt the butter in a small skillet, and add onions. Cook until softened, and add to the bread mixture. Add flour, salt, and pepper, and mix well.

Heat a large pot of water to the boil. Using a ¼ cup measure, dip out the bread mixture and form into balls. Drop into water, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes without lifting the cover. Using a slotted spoon, lift the dumplings from the water, and set on a rack to drain.

Gnocchi

Gnocchi are small dumplings that are made out of dough, sometimes mixed with potatoes and other pureed vegetables. Basically they are pasta dough dumplings with some additions. I have always forgone making pasta from scratch, but if you want to do it, the dough recipe can be found easily on the internet, and then just get a pasta machine and go to it.

As I said earlier, I go to the grocery store and buythe vacuumed packed servings of potato gnocchi. It is a wonderful product from Italy, and all you need to do is boil them in a pot of saltedwater, drain, and add whatever sauce you want. They also freeze well.

PASTA, RISOTTA, AND POLENTA

T

he subject of pasta is covered quite thoroughly in Help-I Gotta Learn to Cook!Italians have made an art of cooking it, and there are literally hundreds of cookbooks specializing in pasta alone.

If there were ever a food that begged for special treatment, it’s pasta. It gives you endless opportunities to improvise, and it’s really not that hard to make from scratch. Here’s how:

Combine 4 cups flour with 4 beaten eggs and ½ teaspoon olive oil. Mix well, and knead with your hands for about 5-7 minutes. Roll or shape.

Polenta The Easy Way

There is a mystique surrounding polenta that needs to be challenged. Most traditional recipes call for you to stand over the pot 45 minutes to an hour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. I could never figure out how the polenta knew the difference between a wooden spoon and a metal one.

Russ Parsons of the Los Angeles Times,published an article that makes the process much easier.

Serves 2-4

2 quarts water

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups coarse-ground cornmeal

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

Combine water, salt, cornmeal, and butter in a 3 or 4 quart, oven-proof baking or casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, 20 minutes. Stir and bake 10 more minutes. Remove from oven, and let it rest for 10 minutes. This technique will get the polenta done nicely, after which tradition must take over. Stir in ½ cup Parmesan cheese and 2 more tablespoons of butter before serving.

Fettuccine with Shrimp and Vegetables

This recipe should take twenty minutes from start to finish.

Serves 2

1 small zucchini

1 small yellow squash

3 Roma tomatoes, diced ½ lb shrimp

1 lemon 3 tablespoons olive oil

Grated Parmesan cheese Salt and pepper

½ lb fettuccine Cut zucchini and yellow squash ¼-inch slices. Blanch in salted boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and set aside.

Boil shrimp in salted water until just pink. Remove, peel, and de-vein. Place in small bowl, and toss with a little lemon juice.

Boil fettuccine until done and drain. Put back in pot, and toss with a little olive oil. Add all other ingredients and additional olive oil. Add salt, pepper, and a little lemon juice, and toss with Parmesan cheese. Serve with a nice green salad and crusty bread.

Traditional Fettuccine Alfredo

This is the traditional way to make the dish, unlike the on e that is served in a majority of Italian or other restaurants. You’ll notice that it does not call for the addition of heavy cream, so you get two benefits: authenticity and lower calories.

NOTE: If you absolutely crave a higher calorie count, and sometimes I do, forget tradition and substitute heavy cream for the pasta cooking water. Serves 4

¾ lb dried egg fettuccine

6 tablespoons unsalted butter ½ cup pasta cooking water

1 cup (or more) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl for about a minute, until it just barely melts.

Cook pasta until done to your taste. Drain pasta, saving ½ cup of the cooking water.

Toss pasta, butter, and cheese thoroughly, adding pasta water to keep it moist, and serve. Pass additional cheese.

Lynne’s “Courtship Spaghetti”

When I first dated Lynne, she invited me over to her apartment for dinner and served a tuna casserole. I was too much in love to pay much attention to the food. The next time she invited me for dinner she made this dish. After the meal I casually asked her if she ever made anything that didn’t have a can of soup in it, and her reply was, “No, not really.” Ever since then I have cooked every single meal for us for over forty years.

Some good friends have suggested that she is really a gourmet cook and used those two meals to do a number on me. If so, it worked.

Serves 2

1 lb ground chuck 1 can water

½ cup onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, minced ¼ cup green pepper, chopped

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can tomato soup

½ lb spaghetti, cooked and drained

½ cup shredded cheddar

2 tablespoons safflower oil

Brown chuck, onion, garlic, and pepper in a skillet for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add soups and water. Stir thoroughly. Mix in spaghetti, and pour into an oven-proof casserole dish. Top with cheese, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

NOTE: This really is a tasty dish. If you have a group of kids (or young-at-heart grownups) to feed, they will love it.

Noodle Pudding (Kugel)

My grandmother made this dish frequently. She called it Lukshen Kugel. Of course, in our neighborhood, almost everybody’s grandmother made it. There are a number of versions, as you might expect when more than one grandmother is involved, but this is the one I like.

Serves 2-4

2 cups dried eggs noodles (I like wide but medium is okay)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup regular cottage cheese (not low-fat)

½ cup regular sour cream (not low-fat)

½ cup raisins, pre-softened in water or white wine

1 sweet apple, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch dice

¼ cup dried apricots, cut into ¼-inch dice

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon combined with ¾ teaspoon sugar

Cook noodles in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until tender. Drain well in a colander, and toss with butter in a large bowl.

While noodles are cooking, whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, apples, raisins, apricots, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Stir into noodles.

Butter a deep 1-quart casserole or baking dish, and add noodle mixture. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour. If you want a more savory dish (less sweet), skip the cinnamon sugar.

NOTE: Before you put the dish in the oven, make sure it is a little bit moist. Baking and the absorption of the pasta will take up a lot of the moisture. You don’t want it too dry, so add some half and half if you feel the need to.

Sicilian Lasagna Lite

I have always made it a point to avoid anything that is low-fat or no-fat. As I’ve said many times, if I want to reduce my fat intake, I will eat smaller portions of real food. However, I realize that people trying to cut down on their caloric intake might consider lasagna too fattening, and I think this recipe will solve that problem.

It only has 350 calories per serving, not bad for a pasta dish. If you consider how much work it is, you probably burned 350 calories making it, so you broke even. The important thing is that it tastes wonderful.

Serves 4

12 oz dried lasagna

noodles (not the pre

cooked kind)

2 eggplants (about 2 lbs total), cut crosswise into 3/8 inch slices

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cups 2% cottage cheese

2 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoons corn starch

¼ cup fresh basil, chopped ¼ cup freshly grated

Parmesan cheese

3 cups prepared spaghetti sauce, divided use

1 14-oz can diced

tomatoes, drained

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

1 cup grated part-skim milk mozzarella cheese (3 oz)

Salt and pepper

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook lasagna noodles until barely tender (about 8 minutes). Drain, rinse under cold water, and spread out on a lightly greased counter top or on a clean, dry towel.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees, and place rack on the lower third.

In a large bowl, dot eggplant slices with 1½ tablespoons salt. Add cold water, and place a bowl on top of the slices to keep them submerged. Let soak for 5 minutes, drain, and pat dry.

Brush 2 non-stick baking pans with ½ tablespoon oil. Spread the eggplant slices, and bake for 7 to 10 minutes until the top is browned. Flip slices over, and bake for 7 minutes more. You may need to do this in 2 operations if your pan isn’t large enough. When the eggplant slices are all browned, move the rack into the middle of the oven.

Combine cottage cheese, garlic, and corn starch in a food processor or blender, and process until very smooth. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in the chopped basil and 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

In another bowl, combine spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.

NOTE: The recipe calls for the use of a 9 × 13 inch baking pan. Instead, I use a meatloaf pan because I like higher, denser lasagna.

Lightly oil a 9 × 13 inch baking dish. Smear the bottom of the dish with ½ cup of the tomato sauce. Line the bottom with a single layer of noodles. Cover the noodles with half of the eggplant slices. Spread ¾ cup of the tomato sauce over the eggplant, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the remaining Parmesan. Top with another layer of noodles, and spread all of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Add another layer of noodles and the remaining eggplant slices. Spread with ¾ cup of the tomato sauce, and sprinkle with the rest of the Parmesan cheese. Cover the top with the mozzarella cheese.

Lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil and use it to tightly cover the dish. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover the pan, and bake for 15 minutes more. Remove from oven, and decorate with a few fresh basil leaves.

NOTE: I think you get much neater slices of lasagna if you let it rest for 1 hour. Also make enough tomato sauce so that you can spread a little on each slice before you serve.

Remember, this recipe is only 350 calories per serving. Of course, if you add some crusty bread dipped in flavored olive oil, and a salad, plus apple pie and ice cream for dessert, you’re right back up there with the rest of us.

Regular Lasagna

Lasagna dates back to Roman times so you might expect a lot of variations. Bolognese lasagna uses only spinach pasta, in Liguria they use pesto, Neapolitans layer the sheets with tomato sauce and mozzarella, and Calabrians prefer ricotta. This is the recipe I prefer.

For the meat sauce you can use your favorite spaghetti sauce mixed with ground meat. The recipe for white sauce is in the Sauce Section, and I recommend the medium variety.

Serves 4

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil I package lasagna noodles

1 jar spaghetti sauce 1 pound ground chuck

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 recipe of white sauce (see Sauce Section)

Fry the meat in a skillet over medium heat until it is brown. Pour in the pasta sauce, mix well, and set aside. Mix the cheese and white sauce together, and set aside. Cook the lasagna noodles according to directions and drain.

Line the bottom of your lasagna pan with a layer of pasta, trimming it with a sharp knife or scissors so it fits evenly. Spread a layer of your meat mixture, and sprinkle lightly with some more Parmesan cheese. Add another layer of pasta, and spread with about 1 cup of the white sauce. Repeat until you have 3 layers of meat sauce and 2 layers of white sauce, ending with the meat sauce. Bake for 30 minutes until it is slightly browned on top. Let it rest for 10 minutes, and serve.

Macaroni and Cheese

Macaroni and cheese is one of those dishes where you can let you imagination run wild. Basically it’s nothing more than cooked macaroni, or other pasta of your choice, mixed with a cheese sauce, and baked for a while.

As easy as that is, I have developed a great f ondness for Stouffer’s Macaroni and Cheese. As a variation I sometimes defrost it, mix it with a ½ can of diced tomatoes, and maybe throw in some chopped chicken breasts. After that I bake it for 20 minutes at 350 degrees, and serve.

When I do w ant to make it from scratch, I just use my recipe for Welsh rarebit, but substitute an equal amount of half and half rather than the beer, and there you have it.

Wide Noodles and Vegetable Toss

I was making pork chops one evening and wanted to make someth ing a little different to serve with them. I had some leftover grape tomatoes and mushrooms in the refrigerator, and decided to make this dish. I don’t claim it as one of my own. After reading as many cookbooks and food magazines as I have, some recipes become imbedded in my brain and pop out every once in a while, unannounced. Leftovers make a great lunch at room temperature.

Serves 2

3 cups dried wide noodles

1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half 2 cups sliced mushrooms

2 tablespoons safflower oil 2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

Heat the safflower oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and add the mushroom slices. Cook and stir until they become slightly brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

Put the noodles into a pot of boiling salted water, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, and toss with the olive oil.

Place the skillet with the mushrooms back over medium-high heat, and add the tomatoes. Stir and mix until the tomatoes just begin to soften.

Toss the mushroom and tomato mixture with the noodles, and serve.

Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce

This dish is simplicity itself, quite delici ous, and healthy to boot. You can add other vegetables,such as sautéed broccoli, asparagus, or even pre-cooked shrimp, but this is the way I first made it, and it got me hooked. The key to this dish is the quality of the tomatoes. If you can’t find home grown tomatoes, use grape tomatoes.

Serves 2

½ lb spaghetti (regular, thin, angel hair) 2 ripe tomatoes, cored, diced, and drained

4 tablespoons black olive slices or Kalamata olives, sliced thin ¼ lb fresh mozzarella, cut into small dice

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 6–8 fresh basil leaves, torn in small pieces

Salt and pepper

Make the spaghetti, drain, and toss with the olive oil. Add the vegetables, cheese, basil, olives, salt, and pepper, and toss some more. Serve with a green salad and some crusty bread. Don’t you feel healthy? I also use this basic recipe, and add shrimp or sautéed chicken breasts.

Baked Pasta and Italian Sausage

You can use any large pasta you wi sh: ziti, rigatoni, shells, or large macaroni. Buy your favorite Italian or other sausage (you might try turkey sausage), storebought pasta sauce, and the grated mozzarella cheese. I assume you always have Parmesan cheese on hand.

NOTE: Of course this dish would be better with your home-made pasta sauce.

Serves 2

¼ lb (or more) sausage, casing removed 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 small jar pasta sauce of your choice 1 small package grated mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoons dried parsley Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon olive oil

Cut the sausage into small pieces, and sauté in oil over moderate heat, until slightly browned. While the sausage is cooking, break it up with a fork into smaller pieces. Add garlic, and continue cooking for 3-4 minutes. Stir in about 2 cups of pasta sauce, and set aside.

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until it is done, drain, and add to the sauce. Pour into a baking dish, and top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Sprinkle with parsley, and place under broiler until cheese melts and begins to brown.

Saucing Suggestions

I disagree with the pasta rule that says pasta is best when served al dente. I don’t like pasta that is only three-fourths cooked, and I have never been able to tell the difference between the taste of well-cooked pasta and pasta served al dente. However, that’s your decision.

Pasta should be cooked in large amounts of boiling, salted water. Sometimes it needs to be rinsed after cooking. If you are making macaroni salad, for instance, rinse it 3 to 4 times under the faucet, drain it thoroughly, and toss it with a little olive oil. Then, when you mix in mayonnaise or salad dressing, it won’t turn into a sticky mass after it cools.

As a way to stimulate your imagination, I’ve listed the basic sauces and some suggestions about how to incorporate them into your pasta dishes.

The 4 basic sauces are tomato, pesto (basil, olive oil, and garlic), butter and cream, and olive oil. Additionally, there are a number of sauces made with clams, and they are covered in the Sauce Section.

Tomato Sauce: There are millions of people who adore garlic, and others who can’t stand it. This is a garlic-free sauce and you can add as much as you like, or not.

Put 1 can of Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes into a blender, and add a small can of tomato sauce, 2/3 cup of red wine, 2 chopped sweet mini-peppers, a teaspoon of sugar, and 1/3 cup olive oil. For seasonings I use either a tablespoon of Italian Seasoning or the same of Oregano. Mix it all together for about a minute, and then cook it over medium heat for 10 minutes. If you want a smoother sauce, use a food processor.

Pesto: Pesto is almost a necessary ingredient in flavoring Italian vegetablebased soups. If you want to make your own, put 2 tightly packed cups of fresh basil leaves, 2 tablespoons of pine nuts, 2 chopped cloves of garlic, ½ cup olive oil, and ½ cup good Parmesan or Romano cheese into a blender, and blend well. Pesto also freezes well. Or you can buy jars of some pretty good pesto at most supermarkets.

Butter and Cream: Heavy cream is called for here. It’s best to heat the cream, add a lot of butter, and then grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. You can make it as rich as you want, but please don’t try this with non-fat or 2% milk. This is the sauce you use for Fettuccine Alfredo, but I have a dietetic version under that listing in the Pasta Section.

Olive Oil: It’s not a bad idea to toss your pasta with a little bit of olive oil or butter before adding anything else. It helps separate the strands or pieces, and adds a little flavor. On the other hand, you can use generous portions of fine olive oil, almost as a sauce.

Suggestions for additions to your pasta dishes:

Shrimp Green beans

Clams Broccoli

Scallops Cauliflower

Lobster Green peas

Mussels Zucchini

Pork or beef Yellow squash

Italian sausage Sautéed green or

Chicken breasts red peppers

Meatballs Sautéed eggplant

Meat sauce Asparagus

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VEGETABLES

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t’s difficult to tell someone the right way to cook vegetables, since people like them cooked to many different degrees of doneness. Perhaps more than other food types, vegetables almost always demand a thorough

knowledge of treatment techniques. Timing is often critical, so the only way to accurately tell if vegetables are ready is to taste a piece every minute or so.

One way to make delicious vegetables is to cook them in a lot of butter and a little water. Cover them at first to cook them, and then remove the cover to reduce the cooking liquid to a buttery film.

My personal preference is to serve most vegetables with just some butter or olive oil, and maybe a squeeze of lemon. Sometimes I sauté the vegetables in olive oil. However, there are a large number of delicious sauces you can use to enhance the taste of vegetables as long as the sauces don’t overpower them.

I’ve noticed recently that supermarkets are now selling packaged sliced vegetables ready to cook, such as zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, broccoli, even onions. They usually call for steaming in the bag by microwaving them.

A few years back, someone gave me an electric vegetable steamer that I really didn’t want at the time. Then I started to steam vegetables and fell in love with the thing. You might want to think about purchasing one—use it and you’ll have a healthier diet.

Bubble and Squeak

Even Queen Elizabeth would recognize this di sh. It’s very English, and I make it whenever I have leftover potatoes and cabbage. I even make it when I don’t. If you’re going to serve this dish, take the advice of one of the Two Fat Ladies from the British TV cooking show: “If you don’t havelard, don’tmake it.” Thisis a natural partner with pork chops or ham.

Serves 2

2 cups cooked potatoes, cut into large uneven pieces 3 tablespoons lard

1 small onion, minced 1 cup cooked cabbage, chopped

Put half of the lard into a skillet, and sauté the onions for about 5 minutes over moderate heat. Mix the potatoes and cabbage together, add to the skillet, and toss with the onions. Add the rest of the lard. Press down to flatten the mixture, and cook for about 10 minutes. Flip the mixture over, and cook for another 10 minutes.

Potato Pancakes (Latkes)

You don’t have to be Jewish and it doesn’t have to be Hanukkah for you to enjoy these incredible potato delights. However, it doesn’t just come down to shredding some potatoes, mixing them with onions and egg, and frying them up. There are some very important steps you must take to reach your ultimate goal: crispy on the outside, moist and flavorful on the inside.

The way to achieve this is, first make su re as much moisture as possible is squeezed out of the shredded potatoes, then use some schmaltz (chicken fat) if possible to mix withthe oil, and finally, use mediumheat so as not to burn the potatoes.

Serves 2

2 medium russet potatoes

1 onion 1 large egg, beaten

2 tablespoons matzo meal

1 teaspoon baking powder

Vegetable oil for frying (you need a good high temperature oil)

Salt and pepper

Apple sauce

Sour cream

Coarsely grate the potatoes and the onion. Put the potatoes between 2 triple sheets of paper towels and squeeze until most of the moisture is soaked up. Squeeze REALLY hard! Transfer the potato mixture to a bowl and stir in the onion, egg, and matzo meal. Season the mixture with salt and plenty of pepper.

Heat a ½-inch layer of oil in a heavy frying pan, preferably black iron, until the oil is almost smoking. Carefully place 2 tablespoons of the potato mixture for each pancake into the oil, and continue adding additional spoonfuls, leaving space between pancakes. Flatten the pancakes slightly with the back of a spatula. Fry for a few minutes until the Latkes are golden brown on the underside. Carefully turn them over, and continue frying until golden brown. Drain the pancakes on a paper towel and, while frying the remainder, keep them warm in a 200-degree oven. To make sure they stay crisp put them on a rack, not in a dish. They are best right out of the pan and onto your plate.

Serve with applesauce and sour cream.

Chef Dugan’s American Fries

These potatoes not only taste won derful, they also look pretty. Try adding some onions or diced pimentos or green peppers. They are great with ham and eggs. Basically I start with potato slices and chicken broth, cook them until the liquid starts to boil, take them off the heat, and let them steep while the chicken flavor is infused in the potatoes. You remember steeping and infusing from Volume One, right?

Serves 2

2 medium russet potatoes, peeled, and sliced in ¼-inch rounds

3 heaping tablespoons chicken bouillon, or a can of chicken broth 3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

Large pot of water

Run some hot water into the pot and stir in the bouillon. It should be a strong mixture with a lot of color. Drop in the potato slices, and make sure they are completely covered. Heat until the broth is just at the boil, turn down the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, and let the potatoes cool to room temperature, at least 20 minutes or longer.

Drain the potatoes and pat them dry with paper towels. Heat the olive oil and butter in a 10-inch frying pan; place the potatoes evenly around the pan, mostly in 1 layer, and sauté over low to medium heat for 20 minutes. Flip potatoes, and continue cooking. When they are a golden brown, flip 1 more time, and turn the heat down to low. They can stay in the skillet for about another 20 minutes or so while you prepare the rest of the meal. You don’t want to remove the potatoes until you are ready to serve so they stay nice and crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside.

NOTE: Here is another treatment for these fries. Put a mound of potatoes in the middle of a plate, top with grated cheddar cheese, then add warmed, spicy salsa, and finally a big spoonful of sour cream.

Authentic French Fried Potatoes

Although they’re universally known as French fries, they pr obably eat more of them in Belgium, and the folks there will quickly tell you that Belgium is the real home of the French fry. They have restaurants there that serve nothing but Frites, as they are called, usually with a flavored mayonnaise for dipping. If you pay careful attention to this recipe, you will have made the best French fries you’ve ever had.

Basically, you are going to cook the fries twice. The first time, you blanch them in hot fat, then drain, and set them aside for as much as two hours. The second time, using the same temperature, you fry them until they are a beautiful golden brown.

NOTE: As I stated in Help-I Gotta Learn To Cook, don’t attempt to deep fry unless you have either a deep-fat thermometer or an electric frying pan. Temperature control is critical.

Serves 4

6 medium-sized russet potatoes Oil for deep frying (5–7 cups)

Peel the potatoes, and cut them into 1/3-inch sticks. Don’t worry if some are thicker than others. Rinse them in a bowl of water containing a few ice cubes; rinse them in fresh water an additional 4 or 5 times. When the water is clear, keep them in the water until ready to cook. You can keep them in the cold water for up to 8 hours.

Just before you are ready to fry the potatoes, drain them, and pat them dry with paper towels.

Pour enough oil in a heavy pot to reach a depth of 3 inches. Heat it until the temperature reaches 325 degrees. Carefully add the potatoes (you might need to do this in several batches), and cook them for 3 to 4 minutes, until they are slightly opaque. If you are doing the potatoes in batches, bring the oil back up to 325 degrees before adding another batch. Transfer to a colander for 1 minute, and then place them on 3 to 4 layers of paper towels to drain further. Repeat until all the potatoes are blanched. You can keep the blanched potatoes at room temperature for several hours.

When ready to do the second frying, reheat the oil until it reaches 375 degrees, and fry the potatoes until they reach a deep, golden color. Drain, and serve immediately.

Super Easy French Fries

You’re going to read this recipe and scoff, but I suggest you not rush to judgment. This recipe is for four to six people. You also won’t believe me when I tell you French fries made this way absorb less fat than doing them the standard way.

Pour 2½ cups of peanut oil (not olive oil) into a skillet, and stir in 2 pounds of potatoes cut into strips. That’s right, you put the potatoes into UNHEATED oil. Turn the heat to medium-high, and cook for 30 minutes or until they are as dark as you like. Drain them on some paper towels and that’s it!

Oven-Fries

This is a recipe I use frequently, and quite often I throw in a carrot or two and an onion with the potatoes.It’s a way to cut down on the calories and still get a nice potato taste.

Serves 2

2 russet potatoes, peeled 5 tablespoons safflower or canola oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Cut each potato lengthwise into evenly sized wedges. Place the potatoes in a large bowl, and cover with very hot tap water. Soak for 10 minutes. This is very important!

Pre-heat oven to 475 degrees. Adjust the oven rack to the lowest position. You will need a cookie or baking sheet, preferably non-stick, lightly coated with oil. (The non-stick pans are darker and will produce browner oven-fries.)

Drain the potatoes, and dry them on several thicknesses of paper towels. Dry out the bowl, return the potatoes, and toss with remaining oil. Make sure they are totally coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Arrange potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet, cover tightly with foil, and bake 5 minutes. Remove foil, and continue to bake until bottoms of potatoes are spotty golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Rotate baking sheet. Using a metal spatula and tongs, scrape to loosen potatoes from pan, then flip each wedge, keeping potatoes in a single layer.

Continue baking until fries are golden and crisp, about 10 minutes longer. If the fries are browning unevenly, rotate pan. Transfer fries to some paper towels to drain.

Smashed Roasted Potatoes

There is a little restaur ant in Uruguay that you will probably never patronize. It has been described as the best seaside restaurant on the planet, and it is called La Huella (pronounced La WAY-shuh). I can’t say it’s worth the price of the trip just to eat there, especially since I am about to give you one of their best recipes, but after eating these potatoes you might want to consider it. They are best made over a hot charcoal grill, but your home oven will turn them out just about as well.

Note: Anoth er way to make these is to first cook them inwater until they are almost tender, make a little cross on top with a knife, and smash them. Then put on the butter or oil, and bake them at 450 degrees until they are nice and brown. This method makes sure the potatoes will be cooked enough since sizes vary so much.

Serves 4

4 medium-sized red2 tbs coarse salt

skinned or Yukon Gold Freshly ground pepper potatoes

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and wrap each potato in foil. I usually don’t wrap potatoes in foil but this is an exception. Place the potatoes on the oven rack and bake until tender, about 1 hour or a little more. If you pull them out and they are still a little hard, remove the foil and microwave them for about 5 minutes.

Place the potatoes on a baking sheet. Pour a little oil on them, and turn so they are coated all over. Cut about a 1-inch cross on top of each one, place a plate over it, and press gently until the potato starts to cave a little. You want it slightly flattened to about half its original height, and broken up so that some of the flesh is showing. Pour some more oil on them, or substitute the oil with a large pat of butter. That’s what I recommend. Do the same with the rest of the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle about half the oil over them. Turn the oven up to 500 degrees, and roast them for about 30 minutes. They should be crispy and golden brown. If you need to, put them under the broiler for a few minutes. Drizzle with the rest of the oil. I like to add a little butter on top.

NOTE: There is also another way to serve these by flattening the potatoes even more and covering them with beef stew, creamed chipped beef, chicken stew, or even ground beef flavored with a little taco mix.

“Pan-Browned” Potatoes

After you taste these potatoes, you might not ever use the oven to make ovenbrowned potatoes again.

Serves 4

8 small red potatoes—about 2 inches in diameter 4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons water

Peel potatoes, place in small frying pan with butter and water. Bring to simmer and cover. Cook gently for 1 hour, tossing frequently as they brown. The water will be absorbed, and the potatoes will come out with a crisp, buttery skin, and fluffy on the inside. Olive oil may be used in place of butter.

Potatoes Hashed in Cream

This dish is pretty rich. O nce in a while you just have to go with rich or miss out on some really delectable meals. Try fasting the next day. I like these potatoes with a rare steak and sliced tomatoes.

Serves 2

2 medium russet potatoes 4 tablespoons butter

½ cup or more heavy cream 2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped

Peel and cut potatoes into ½-inch dice. Heat butter over low heat in a mediumsized sauté or frying pan. Toss potatoes so they are all coated with butter, cover the pan, and cook for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Remove cover, turn up heat to medium, and cook for several minutes to evaporate any moisture. Add cream and chives. Let the cream cook down for several minutes, being careful not to burn it. You want a rich crust on the bottom. Loosen potatoes at the bottom of the pan, and invert them on a serving dish. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to your taste.

Peruvian Potatoes

An unusual potato dish, typical of the South American approach to cooking. Good for a picnic or tailgate party or for a cookout.

Serves 2

2 large russet potatoes ¼ cup olive oil

1 medium-sized onion, minced

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice Salt and pepper

Cayenne pepper to taste

Cook potatoes and mash lightly. Combine all other ingredients, add to the potatoes, and beat potatoes with an electric hand mixer until consistency and flavor are right. They should resemble a puree. Serve at room temperature.

Colcannon

This delectable dish from Ireland has, like success, many mothers. In Ireland, a heaped portion is served on each plate. A well is made in the center to hold a very generous amount of butter. The colcannon is eatenfrom around the edges, with each forkful being dipped into the melted butter. You can add almost any combination of greens, spinach, parsley, kale, or cabbage. I think kale is the most authentic. The right percentage is the greens should equal half the bulk of the potatoes.

Serves 4

4 large russet potatoes, peeled, and quartered 1 lb greens (about 1 tightly packed cup), chopped

2 scallions, chopped ½ cup half and half

8 tablespoons unsalted butter

Cook potatoes until they are fork-tender, drain well, return to pot, cover, salt, and let sit for 5 minutes. Remove cover, add 3 tablespoons butter, and break up potatoes with a fork. Add milk and, with an electric mixer, beat the potatoes until they are light and fluffy. Don’t beat too long or they will become gummy.

While the potatoes are cooking, sauté the greens and scallions in 2 tablespoons of butter until they begin to wilt. Add to potatoes and mix well. Return to stove, turn off the heat, and cover for 3 minutes. When you serve, don’t forget the well in the middle with the melted butter.

Twice-Baked Potatoes

You have a lot of choices when it comes to this recipe . Thisis the standard way with sour cream and chives, but you can add cheese, other spices or herbs, or whatever, depending on what else you are serving. For instance you might want to add a little chili powder if you are serving fajitas.

Serves 2

2 good-sized russet potatoes

¾ cup sour cream (not low fat) 2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, or 2 tablespoons of freeze dried chives

Put the potatoes in a cold oven, and turn the heat to 450 degrees. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the skins are crisp and the potatoes are soft when you squeeze them. Don’t worry about overcooking them.

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes, slice off the top 1 inch, lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp with a small spoon into a mixing bowl, being careful to leave a ¼-inch layer of potato.

Add the butter and mix well, breaking up the potatoes with a fork. Add the olive oil and, with an electric hand mixer, beat them at high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sour cream and chives, and beat for an additional 1 minute, until they are nice and fluffy.

Spoon the potatoes back into the bottom of the shells in equal portions. Sprinkle with a little paprika.

Hasselbach Potatoes

A specialty of the Hasselbachen Hotel & Restaurant in Stockholm, Sw eden, they can best be described as the Swedish version of baked potatoes. They make a really nice presentation, and kids seem to love them. You can also make this dish with sweet potatoes.

Serves 2

2 large Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes

¼ cup bread crumbs (store-bought are fine) 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon butter 1 teaspoon paprika

3 tablespoons olive oil Salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees, and oil a large baking dish.

In a small saucepan, over very low heat, melt the butter and add the bread crumbs, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and paprika. Stir until well-mixed, and remove from heat.

Wash the potatoes and dry with some paper towels. Arrange 2 chopsticks or skewers on each side (this is to prevent you from cutting through the potato). Slice the potatoes thinly across. Drizzle potatoes with olive oil, carefully bending them to separate the sections so that the oil penetrates down through the slices. Roll the top of the potato in the crumb mixture, and place in the baking dish. Cover the baking dish with foil, and bake for 1 hour. Remove the foil, and continue baking until browned.

Potatoes Anna

Potatoes A nna came into existence during the time of Napoleon III, but who the dish was named after seems to be a mystery. They even developed a special cooking dish for it. Traditionally it was made in the oven, but I like the stove-top method better because it gives me more control over the heat.

What we are dealing with here is basically just sliced potatoes and butter. Some recipes call for clarified butter, but I don’t think that’s necessary. You can also use olive oil for a little healthier dish, but I don’t think that’s necessary either. Just don’t serve it with 2 other rich counterparts.

Serves 2

2 large russet potatoes, peeled, and sliced in ¼-inch rounds

½ cup butter, or more Salt and pepper

Put 3 tablespoons butter in a small frying pan, and when melted, arrange potato slices around the pan and into the center, overlapping the slices to cover the bottom completely. Cut some more butter around the top of the potatoes, and do another layer. Repeat this for the third layer, finishing with butter, salt, and pepper. Do not skimp on the butter. Cook the potatoes over moderately-high heat for 5 minutes, cover, and cook for 35 minutes over very low heat. Be very careful not to burn the potatoes on the bottom. Slow and low is better. When ready to serve, slide a spatula around the bottom to loosen the potatoes, and invert the whole thing onto a serving plate. If you have to keep the serving dish warm for a while, keep it in some simmering water. Absolutely do not cover it again.

When ready to serve, cut into wedges with a very sharp knife, so as to keep its design, because the potatoes like to slide around.

Potatoes O’Brien

This dish originated during the early part of the last century at Jack’s 6th Avenue Restaurant in New York. Many theatrical types and sports figures ate there when after-theater dining was still popular. Does that bit of information make the potatoes taste any better? Not really, but too little history is taught and remembered today, so this is my contribution. Not many ordinary people can afford both the theater and a dinner out in New York anymore.

Serves 2

2 russet potatoes, peeled, and cut into ½-inch dice

1 red pepper, cut into ¼-inch dice 1 small onion, cut into ¼-inch dice

1 small green pepper, cut into ¼-inch dice 3 tablespoons dried parsley

¼ cup heavy cream 2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

Heat the oil and butter in a heavy skillet. Add the potatoes, onion, red and green pepper. Cover, and sweat over moderate heat for 15 minutes. Uncover, turn the heat up to medium-high, and cook the mixture until the moisture evaporates and the potatoes begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the parsley, stir, and add the cream. Continue stirring, and let the cream cook down to where it just coats the vegetables.

Traditional Scalloped Potatoes

Scalloped potatoes are potato slices baked with some kind of liquid and perhaps some thinly sliced vegetables, like onions, garlic or tomatoes.

You can use chicken or beef broth, milk, halfand half, or cream. Pour liquid in until you can just see it, and stop (otherwise the dish will be too moist). Bake until they are tender.

This is a traditional recipe, the one I grew up with.

Serves 2

2 large russet potatoes, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, and sliced thin

3 tablespoons flour ½ cup milk

5 tablespoons butter Salt and pepper

1 small onion, halved, and sliced very thin

In a small casserole dish, place 1 layer of potato slices so that they overlap each other. Take 1 tablespoon of flour and sprinkle it over the potatoes. Lay some onion slices over all. With a small knife, cut off pieces of butter, and drop them onto the potatoes. Salt and pepper the first layer, and repeat until you run out of potatoes. Finish the layering with a heavy dose of butter. Pour the milk down the side of the casserole, and cover tightly with foil.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for 1 hour. Remove the foil, and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Scalloped Potatoes Baked in Cream

This recipe is for those who want to take scalloped potatoes to the next level.

The potatoes are good reheated several days later. Not as good as when they were first made, but close. It’s also a good show-off dish for entertaining.

Serves 4-6

1½–2 cups each of heavy cream and half and half

1 large clove of garlic, mashed with a mortar and pestle

Salt and freshly ground pepper, white preferably 1 bay leaf

5 peeled russet potatoes, sliced

3–4 tablespoons of grated cheese, cheddar or Swiss

In a heavy saucepan with a cover, pour 1½ cups each of the cream and half and half. Stir in the garlic, a ½ teaspoon salt, a few grinds of pepper, and the bay leaf. Slice the potatoes evenly, 1/8-inch thick, dropping them as sliced into the cream. When all are in, add more cream if necessary to cover the potatoes by a ½ inch.

Bring the mixture to below the simmer, cover, and maintain at just below the simmer for 1 hour or up to 1½ hours. Check the potatoes frequently to make absolutely certain they are not bubbling or the cream will curdle. Transfer the potatoes and their liquid to a buttered, shallow baking and serving dish, and sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes, until the dish is bubbling and lightly browned on top. Rest the dish for 20 minutes, and serve.

Mediterranean Potato Patties

This is a good way to use leftover mashed potatoes, but I like it well enough to make mashed potatoes on purpose.

Serves 2

2 large russet potatoes, quartered

1½ tablespoons dried dill weed, or 3 tablespoons chopped fresh

1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ lb feta cheese, crumbled 1 small onion, diced

1 tablespoon dried parsley 1 egg, beaten lightly

Salt and pepper 4 tablespoons olive oil

Flour for dredging

Boil and mash the potatoes. Place in a bowl, and add the feta cheese, onion, dill, parsley, and lemon juice. Mix in the egg, cover, and chill the mixture for about 30 minutes. Remove 1/3-cup portions of the mixture and, with wet hands, shape them into balls, and then flatten slightly. Dust with flour, and sauté in heated oil over moderate heat, until they are golden brown on both sides. Drain and serve.

Champ

There is probably not a single household in Ireland that doesn’t have a champ recipe of one kind or another. Champ is nothing more than potatoes mashed with something else. Among the more common pairings in Ireland are scallions, kale, parsley, chives, peas, and leeks. Often, the finely minced scallions are heated with the milk, and left to sit so the scallion flavor is infused with the liquid.

The proportions of potatoes to greens vary, but 60% potatoes and 40% scallions are about right. This is not a prescription, just a suggestion. An unusual, but delicious combination is potatoes mixed with crispy fried onions.

This is an excellent example of the treatment I write so much about. It’s not the mashed potatoes, it’s how you treat them that counts.

NOTE: The traditional way to make this dish is to mince the scallions, guess about how much milk you might need, add the scallions to the milk, and heat to the simmer. Remove from heat, put in 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter, and let sit for 1 to 2 hours so the flavors are blended. (Chefs call this “marrying flavors.”)

Stuffed Baked Potato Ideas

The idea of serving stuffed baked potatoes d oes not have a very long history, but I think it’s wonderful. It’s the perfect kind of comfort food and a good way to take advantage of your leftovers.

You can get some basic information about baking potatoes in Help-I Gotta Learn To Cook.What I want to do here is give you some suggestions on some of

the things you might consider for stuffing:

Leftover beef stew

Any chicken stew or fricassee

Creamed chipped beef

Poached eggs

Steamed vegetables with cheese sauce

Ground beef or lamb with gravy

Sausage gravy

I’ve even heated up some salsa and poured it over the top. Not bad at al

Creamed New Potatoes and Peas

This dish is heavenly when you can get small new potatoes and fresh June peas. It tastes almost as good with just plain new potatoes and frozen peas. I mention this because I have found it almost impossible to find fresh, early June peas. They seemed to have disappeared from supermarket produce departments, although you can grow your own oroccasionally find them at a good farmer’s market.

Serves 2

8-10 baby new potatoes

1 cup peas, fresh or frozen (if frozen, use baby peas) 2 tablespoons flour

3 tablespoons butter 1 cup whole milk or cream

Melt butter over medium heat, and add flour. Stir constantly for about 2 minutes, remove from heat, and add milk. Stir and return to heat. Cook until the sauce is smooth and thickened, and set aside.

Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until tender. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon, set aside, and add peas if they are fresh. If the peas are frozen, simply defrost.

Add the cooked potatoes and peas to the white sauce, and heat gently for 5 minutes and serve.

Potato and Tomato Gratin

This is a Southern Italian dish. You can use canned Italian tomatoes if you cannot find sweet, ripe tomatoes in season. Sometimes I make it without the cheese, for a lighter dish.

Serves 4

1 large red onion, sliced thin 3 large russet potatoes, peeled and sliced thin

3 medium fresh tomatoes, sliced thin 3 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup Parmesan or cheddar cheese 6 fresh basil leaves, torn into quarters

3 tablespoons water Salt and pepper

Brush a shallow baking or gratin dish with olive oil. Arrange a layer of onions in the base of the dish, followed by potato slices and tomato slices, alternating and overlapping them. Scatter a few basil pieces over all. Pour a little oil over the vegetables, and sprinkle with cheese if you are using it. Repeat these layers, ending with potatoes and tomatoes. Sprinkle the top with the remaining oil and cheese. Pour the water over the dish, and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Serve hot.

Indian Cauliflower and Potatoes

If you’re looking for a different take on a vegetable dish, try this. It’s colorful, spicy, and delicious.

Serves 4

4 medium-sized red potatoes, peeled 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

3 cups cauliflower florets, in bite-sized pieces

1 teaspoon ground cumin ½ teaspoon turmeric 2 tablespoons safflower oil 3 whole cloves 1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 bay leaf ½ medium onion, sliced very thin

½ cup water

Boil potatoes until crisp-tender. Remove from heat, and let stand in the boiling water for 15 minutes. Cut into bite-sized pieces.

Heat oil in a skillet until almost smoking. Add mustard seeds, and stir until they begin to pop. It helps to put a loose cover over the skillet at this point, or the mustard seeds will pop all over your kitchen. Reduce heat to moderate, and add the bay leaf, cardamom, and cloves. Stir for 1 minute, and add the onion slices. Cook until the onion starts to brown. Add the coriander and cumin, stir for 1 minute, and add cauliflower. Continue cooking for 2 minutes, stirring every so often. Add the water, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes, and test the vegetables for doneness. If not quite done, cook for another 5 minutes, adding water if necessary.

Salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

NOTE: Although I am not a vegetarian, I like to make a vegetarian meal fairly frequently, and sometimes this is the main course. Try it with a cucumber and yogurt salad, and some sliced tomatoes.

Fried Tomatoes with Tomato Cream Gravy

Among just plain folks, f ried green tomatoes were famous before the book and the movie. However, your choices shouldn’t be limited to the green variety. I actually like fried red tomatoes better, and my favorite is fried yellow tomatoes with tomato gravy. Whatever color appeals to you, pick firm tomatoes so they hold up to the heat.

Serves 2

2-3 large ripe but firm tomatoes, sliced ½-inch thick

1 cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon olive oil

Safflower oil for frying ¼ cup flour, divided use 2 cups cornmeal

¼ cup heavy cream 1 cup chicken broth

Freshly ground pepper (a generous amount)

NOTE: Uglesich’s great New Orleans restaurant, now gone, topped the tomato slices with several sautéed shrimp and spooned some remoulade sauce over all. Delicious! The recipe for remoulade sauce can be found in the Sauce Section. Another treatment is to mix some crumbled, crisp bacon into the gravy.

Cut up one of the tomatoes, or the ends and odd pieces of the tomatoes you sliced, into a coarse dice. Heat the butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the diced tomato, and cook until it dissolves and becomes a thick sauce, about 10 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of the flour, stir, and cook for another 2 minutes, and add the chicken broth and cream. Cook until the gravy thickens, and set aside. Clean skillet, and heat enough safflower oil, over medium heat, to a depth of ½-inch, over medium heat.

Dip the tomato slices in the buttermilk, letting the excess drip off. You can even marinate them this way for an hour or so. Mix the cornmeal with the remaining flour, and add salt and pepper (you can add other spices or flavorings if you wish, like Cajun Seasoning). Toss the tomato slices so they are well coated, and fry until they are browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels. The tomatoes can be kept warm in a 200-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes. When ready to serve, place the tomatoes on a plate, and spoon the gravy on top.

NOTE: Double the amount of the gravy and use it as a sauce over rice, mashed potatoes, chicken, or fish.

Stuffed Tomatoes

I explain about stuffed vegetables in Help-I Gotta Learn To Cook, but I want to go into a little more detail here.

First, cut off about an inch from the stem end and, using a small spoon, dig out the center, leaving a generous ¼-inch of tomato as a shell. In some instances, you might want to save what you scraped out to add to the stuffing. Salt the tomato well, and turn it upside down to drain for 15 minutes.

Wipe out the excess salt with a paper towel, and stuff. If you are going to bake the stuffed tomato, be sure you have enough absorbent, such as rice or bread crumbs, because the tomato will continue to exude moisture when being cooked.

While baking, check on the tomato from time to time to make certain it doesn’t overcook and collapse. About 20 minutes at 350 degrees should do it for most recipes.

For cold recipes, the tomato will also exude juice, so dry it out with paper towels, and don’t stuff it until you are ready to serve. Remember, you also can use vegetables, like corn, to stuff tomatoes.

Ratatouille

This Mediterranean dish is delicious hot or cold, but it isn’t as simple as thr owing a lot of vegetables into a pan and cooking them into a soggy mess, as many people do.

You must allow the vegetables to maintain their character, and you do this by cooking each one carefully to a perfect point, and then blending them together.

The usual recipe for Ratatouille, as opposed to mine, is something like the difference between Beethoven and rap music.

Serves 4-6

2 lbs ripe tomatoes (not from the supermarket if you can help it)

2 onions, halved, and sliced into ½-inch slices

1 yellow bell pepper,

seeded, and cut into chunks 1 red bell pepper, seeded, and cut into chunks

1 green bell pepper,

seeded, and cut into chunks 1 eggplant, cut into chunks

2 zucchini, cut into 1-inch slices

slices

inch slices

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon dried thyme 1 tablespoon dried

oregano

1 tablespoon dried parsley 2 bay leaves

½ cup olive oil

½ cup Kalamata olives

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Peel the tomatoes by placing them in boiling water for 2 minutes. Cool, and remove skins. Chop tomatoes coarsely.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over moderate heat, and sauté the onions for 5 minutes, or until they just begin to soften. Remove from heat, and add peppers to the skillet, adding more oil if necessary. Sauté for 5 minutes, and set aside with the onions. Add more oil, if necessary, and sauté the eggplant for 3 minutes; add the zucchini and squash, and sauté for another 3 to 4 minutes. Put all of the vegetables into a colander, and drain for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, olives, and garlic to the pan along with the spices and bay leaves. Cook until the tomatoes begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Return all the vegetables to the pan, and cook gently for about 10 minutes. They should be fairly pulpy, but still retain some texture. Remove the bay leaves, and season with salt and pepper.

NOTE: In a pinch, you can use supermarket tomatoes if you add a dash of sugar and 3 tablespoons tomato paste. I also like to crumble some feta cheese over the dish just before serving. Leftovers make a great lunch.

White Bean Ragout Over Toast

This is a two-lesson recipe. It demonstrates what a soffritto is, as well as what a ragout is (see Language of Cooking in Help-I Gotta Learn To Cook). It’s also a really delicious vegetarian meal. Lynne and I try to have at least one vegetarian meal every week, a good idea for most folks. It’s also a great way to fill a lot of empty tummies on the cheap.

Since you’re going to make soffritto, you might as well make a big batch because it freezes well,and can be used in lots of dishes. By the way,soffritto has an Italian heritage, in case you were wondering.

Serves 4-6

1 large onion, chopped

1 sweet pepper, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

¼ cup olive oil 1/3 cup grated Parmesan 2 15-ounce cans cannellini or great northern beans 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

3 tablespoons dried

parsley

2 cans vegetable broth

4-6 thick slices of toasted ciabatta, or other crusty bread

Add olive oil to the pan, and warm over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and peppers, and cook until they are soft but not browned. Add beans and vegetable broth, and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, and parsley and cook for 10 minutes.

Stir in the Parmesan, and divide bread among some wide soup bowls. Top with the bean mixture, and pass the Parmesan.

Sautéed Broccoli and Garlic

This recipe couldn’t be any easier. I use it to go with an entrée that is a little complicated, so I don’t spend all of my time doing prep work.

Serves 2

½ head broccoli, florets only

2 cloves garlic, sliced very thin lengthwise

3 tablespoons olive oil

In a pot of boiling, salted water, parboil the florets until they are crisp-tender, about 5 to 6 minutes. Test them in 4 minutes because you don’t want them to get soft. Drain well.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, and sauté the garlic slices for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add the broccoli, and toss with the garlic for another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

NOTE: Once the dish is done, you can keep it indefinitely until you are ready to serve. Just microwave for 1 minute on high to heat it.

Eggplant Gratin

Don’t confuse this with eggplant Parmesan. This is a Greek version and is very good. It stays hot a long time, so a twenty-minute rest won’t hurt it.

NOTE: Whenever you sauté eggplant for a preliminary browning, the first side will absorb the oil. If you need more, don’t pour cold oil into the pan, or the eggplant will become soggy. Remove the eggplant, and heat the oil before returning the slices to the pan.

Serves 2

1 medium eggplant, sliced ¼-inch thick

3 tablespoons olive oil 1 medium tomato, sliced ¼-inch thick

Parmesan cheese Feta cheese

1 jar of good pasta sauce 5 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped fine

Heat oil in a frying pan until it is very hot, but not smoking. Fry eggplant slices quickly, until they are brown on both sides. Set aside.

Cover the bottom of the casserole dish with a thin layer of pasta sauce, and place a layer of eggplant on top. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Follow with a layer of tomatoes, some parsley, and crumbled feta on top. Continue with pasta sauce, Parmesan, tomatoes, and parsley, in that order. Finish with a layer of eggplant covered with pasta sauce, and dotted with feta cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, and let rest for 15 minutes.

Fried Eggplant

This is a different way to use eggplant, and even those who are not fond of the vegetable almost always like it. I happen to love eggplant, and this is my favorite way to have it.

Serves 2

1 eggplant, thinly sliced into ¼-inch rounds Canola or safflower oil

1 cup flour 1¼ cups dry white wine

Salt and pepper 1 lemon, quartered

Lay out the eggplant, and salt 1 side of each slice. Let sit for 30 minutes, and wipe salt off with some damp paper towels.

Whisk wine and flour together to form a thin batter. Add oil to a heavy skillet to a depth of at least 2 inches. Heat oil until a little batter sizzles when you drop it in—it must be hot enough or the eggplant slices will take on too much oil. (I like to use an electric skillet for dishes like this so I can regulate the temperature better.)

Dip eggplant slices into the batter, and shake off excess. Drop the slices into the oil, being careful not to crowd the skillet. As they turn golden brown, turn them over and cook the other side. Remove them, drain on paper towels, and keep warm in a 200-degree oven.

When all the slices have been cooked, add salt and pepper, and squeeze some lemon over them.

Eggplant Parmigiana Casserole

This is a simple recipe that can be used as a main course, with veal scallops and pasta. If you want to make an eggplant Parmesan sub, just take a sub roll, pull out the center from both sides, layer as below, and put under the broiler for a few minutes. Be careful not to burn it.

You can use whatever tomato mixture you wish, but I recommend my tomato sauce in the Sauce Section.

There are two ways to make this dish, one where the eggplant slices are dipped in a flour and egg batter, and one where they are simply sautéed, which is the one I prefer because it’s easier.

What you are doing here is creating layers of tomato sauce, eggplant, vegetables, and cheese. Remember what I saidin Help-I Gotta Learn to Cook!, eggplant absorbs oil like a sponge, so pay attention to my comments in the recipe for eggplant gratin.

Serves 4 1 large eggplant, peeled, and cut into ½-inch slices 1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced

1 sweet pepper, finely chopped

1 clove garlic

¼ cup olive oil

1½ cups of my tomato sauce (Sauce Section)

½ cup Parmesan cheese

Sliced fresh mozzarella – enough ½-inch slices to cover the top of the

casserole

6 slices provolone cheese Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté the onion, garlic, and pepper in the olive oil until soft but not browned. Put a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish, and lay overlapping slices of eggplant to cover the bottom. Sprinkle some of the vegetable mixture over the eggplant, and layer the mozzarella on top, add 3 slices of provolone and some Parmesan. Cover with half the remaining tomato sauce.

Add another layer of eggplant, the rest of the vegetables, and the remaining tomato sauce. Top with the remaining provolone and Parmesan.

Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour.

Incredible Baked Beans

Move over Boston, because these beans will give yours a run for your money. Try them, and you won’t ever make them from scratch again. They are wonderful, and a great way to feed a crowd.

Serves 4

1 large can (1 lb, 2 oz) of Campbell’s pork and beans 3 slices bacon, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped 1 small onion, chopped

1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 teaspoon chili powder

½ cup catsup ½ cup water

1 small jalapeño, chopped fine Mix everything together in a 1½-quart casserole uncovered, and bake in a 300-degree oven for 3 hours. Stir often. I promise these beans will be a big hit.

Zucchini Fritters

You can’t have too many recipes for zucchini, especially if you or your neighbors grow them. They are the rabbits of the vegetable kingdom.

This is a recipe from the south of France; the fritters are so good that even if you don’t have too much zucchini, it’s worth going out and buying some.

Serves 4

2 medium zucchini, grated, salted, and placed in a colander to drain for 1 hour

cup flour

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried thyme

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg, separated

4 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 tablespoons safflower or canola oil

Salt and pepper

Rinse the grated zucchini, and gently squeeze dry with paper towels. Put the flour in a bowl, and make a well in the center. Add the egg yolk and 2 tablespoons water, and mix well, gradually incorporating the flour. Add more water to make a smooth batter, about the consistency of pancake batter. Set aside for 30 minutes.

NOTE: It will save some time if you grate the zucchini, salt it, and while it is draining in the colander, whip up the batter. Meanwhile, beat the egg white until stiff. Fold the zucchini into the batter, followed by the egg white. Using a 1/3-cup measure, spoon the batter into a skillet in which you have heated the safflower or canola oil over medium-high heat. Fry the fritters for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until they are golden brown. Drain on paper towels, and keep warm in a 200-degree oven until the batch is done. Serve as a side dish with almost anything.

Vegetable Fritters

Quite often, when I buy vegetables,broccoli, z ucchini, spinach, and cauliflower for instance, I have more than I want to make for a particular meal. You hate to throw good food away,but there might not be enough surplus to make another meal. Here’s a wonderful solution to that problem – make fritters!

Basically you are making an egg, flour, and milk batter, adding the vegetable, and dropping it into some hot oil, much like a pancake. I’ve found that adding about a quarter cup of grated Parmesan cheese does wonders for the flavor. You want the batter about the consistency of pancake batter.

Grate or chop the vegetables, and add them to the batter. In the case of broccoli, you might have to steam it a little first to get ittender. The first time I tried this, it was with a batch of broccoli slaw, those packages of julienned broccoli you find in the salad section of most supermarkets.

Drop the fritters into the hot oil, and fry on both sides until they are nicely browned. You can serve them plain, with sour cream, or maybe a little apple sauce.

Creamed Spinach

This recipe is from the kitchen of a great Chicago landmark, the Berghoff. Unfortunately, the restaurant closed a few years ago and now only does catering. This was one of their signature vegetable dishes and it’s delicious.

Serves 2

1 slice bacon, diced 2 tablespoons butter, divided

1 tablespoon flour ¾ cup half and half, scalding hot

1 small onion, diced 1 package of cleaned spinach, finely chopped

Salt and pepper Grated nutmeg

Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a small skillet, add onion, and cook over medium heat until soft. Set aside.

Sauté bacon in medium saucepan until crisp. Reduce heat to medium-low, and add 1 tablespoon butter. When melted, whisk in flour to make a roux, and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly add hot half and half, whisking constantly, until sauce is smooth and thickened. Continue simmering and stirring, while it cooks another 10 minutes.

Add spinach, onions, salt, pepper, and a few grates of nutmeg. Heat through for about 5 minutes, and serve.

Sweet Potato and Banana Casserole

I like this with roast duck or pork. If you can make it so that people know there is something besides sweet potatoes in it, but can’t tell what, you have succeeded. This was the first recipe I gave to my future wife for a Thanksgiving dinner at her parents’ home. It was a big hit.

Serves 4-6

2 large sweet potatoes

1 ripe banana 1 teaspoon brown sugar

3 tablespoons butter 4 tablespoons orange juice (or more)

Salt and pepper

Peel the sweet potatoes, and cut them into large chunks. Boil in salted water until they are tender, and drain. Peel banana, and cut into 2-inch slices. Put the banana, brown sugar, and the sweet potatoes in a large bowl, and mash slightly with a fork. Add butter and orange juice and, using a hand mixer, beat at high speed until they are light and creamy. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Baked Sweet Potatoes

These should be treated a little differently than baked white potatoes. Unlike white potatoes, I like to wrap them infoil because they tend to leak a little. During cooking, their starch is converted to sugar syrup, which makes them moist and sweet. The conversion will not occur if they reach too high a temperature so, unlike white potatoes, your oven setting should be no higher than 375 degrees.

Sweet potatoes can also be “twice-baked,” and herbs and spices added before you re-stuff them. It would be nice if the potatoes were close to the same size.The only problem is that sweet potato growers have fiendishly implanted a gene that prevents any two sweet potatoes from being the same size and shape (I think the growers of russet potatoes have also used this gene).

Chef Dugan’s Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges

These are very much like the oven-baked potatoes in the earlier recipe. Normally I would just put them together in the same recipe, but then I tried something a little different and they were so good I decided they deserved their own recipe.

Peel the sweet potatoes, and cut them in ¼-inch slices lengthwise. Lay the slices flat and cut those into thirds. Basically you want a somewhat flat French fry look. Lay them on a cookie sheet covered with foil (so you don’t have to clean the pan afterward).

Melt about 5 tablespoons of butter in the microwave, pour it over the potatoes, and mix thoroughly so that all surfaces are covered.

Bake for 1 hour in a 375 degree oven. The timing is not crucial, so another 10-15 minutes won’t hurt.

These sweet potatoes will be a little crisp on the outside, and nice and creamy on the inside.

Savory Green Beans (or Broccoli)

If you can get really beautiful green beans, I see no reason to cover up their flavor with sauces. Consequently, almost every time I have green beans, which is often, I make them this way. Then I have plenty of time to concentrate on making the rest of the meal.

Serves 2

1 lb green beans (or broccoli florets)

Olive oil Salt

Snap the stem ends of the beans off as closely as possible, and put them in a pot of rapidly boiling salt water. Cook them for about 4 minutes, and begin testing them. As soon as they lose a little of their crunch, or are done to your taste, drain them, and cool under cold water.

Place the beans neatly in a shallow casserole dish, and drizzle some good olive oil over them, along with some salt. Cover the casserole with plastic wrap and, when ready to serve, microwave them on high for 1 minute.

When made this way, any leftover beans can be used for a salad after drizzling with some lemon juice.

NOTE: Some people were brought up with a beans and salt pork combination. If you like them that way, just put a good-sized piece of salt pork in the pot with about 3 cups of water, and boil them for 1 to 2 hours. Serve with hot pepper sauce, buttermilk, and corn bread. (See, I can cook country when I want to.)

Green Beans and Cashews in Brown Butter Sauce

This is another very simple way to enjoy green beans. You have to make certain the beans are not overdone, and remain a little crisp.

1 cup fresh green beans per serving 2-3 tablespoons butter

¼ cup cashews per serving

Trim and cook the green beans until a little crisp, and set aside. Melt the butter over moderate heat, and add the cashews. Sauté until they turn slightly brown, and add the beans. Turn the heat up to medium-high, and toss the mixture until the butter starts to turn slightly brown. Add salt to taste, and serve immediately.

Harvard Beets

These beets have absolutely nothi ng to do with Harvard other than their color. They are one of Lynne’s favorites, maybe because her grandfather attended Harvard as an undergrad, and then graduated from Harvard Medical School.

NOTE: I don’t think anyone can tell the difference if canned or fresh beets are used in this recipe. Most of the time I’ll vote for the canned.

Serves 2

1 can quartered or whole beets, drained ¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch ¼ cup vinegar

1 tablespoon butter

Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and vinegar in a small pot, and bring to a gentle boil. Cook for 3 minutes, pour the beets in and stir. Just before serving, stir in the butter.

NOTE: You can substitute ¼ cup orange juice and a ½ tablespoon lemon juice in place of the vinegar, which will give you Yale Beets I suppose. (My wife disagrees

– wrong color for Yale.)

Sweet and Sour German Red Cabbage

I don’t know how you can make very many r ecipes of German origin without having this as a side dish. It is especiallygood with Spaetzle,a recipe found in the Rice, Dumplings & Pasta Section

Serves 4

2 tablespoons safflower oil 4 cups red cabbage, shredded

2 medium pared apples, cubed 1 medium onion, halved and sliced thin

4 whole cloves ¼ cup dark brown sugar

¼ cup lemon juice ¼ cup water

Salt and pepper

In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat, and add all ingredients. Turn heat to low, cover, and cook for 30 minutes. Test to see if the cabbage is done to your liking (some people like it soft, some a little crisp). Adjust seasonings by adding more lemon juice or more brown sugar.

NOTE: If you want red cabbage but are pressed for time, supermarkets carry an excellent brand imported from Germany. Not as good as this though.

Creamed Carrots and Mushrooms with Dill Sauce

I really like both of these vegetables cooked singly, but I think they are much more interesting treated in this fashion.

Serves 2

½ lb mushrooms, sliced

3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into ¼-inch rounds ½ cup half and half

1 tablespoon flour 2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons dried dill weed Salt and pepper

Cook the carrots in boiling, salted water until they are crisp-tender. Sauté the mushrooms in the butter until they just begin to give up their juices. Add the flour, and stir for 1 minute. Remove pan from heat, and stir in the half and half. Return to heat, and stir until the sauce gets thick and smooth. Add carrots and dill, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Keep warm over very low heat until you are ready to serve. If the sauce is too thick, thin it with additional half and half.

Gourmet Hominy

Canned hominy needs something, anything, to give it some taste. Otherwise it tastes, well, like hominy. This recipe, and maybe some cheese sauce, just about exhausts my repertoire, except for Menudo of course.

Serves 2

1 can white or yellow hominy ½ green pepper, chopped

½ small onion, chopped 3 tablespoons diced pimentos

2 tablespoons butter

Melt butter in small saucepan, and sauté pepper and onion until soft. Add pimentos and hominy. When good and hot, add salt and pepper and serve. Good with scrambled eggs.

Cauliflower with Shrimp

I suppose this recipe could rightfully be listed under cheese or shellfish, as well as vegetables. I think it’s Danish in origin. If you really like cauliflower, as I do, there aren’t a lot of recipes you can find. This one is for cauliflower lovers and it will make a whole meal with a salad.

Serves 4

1 whole head of cauliflower, trimmed of all leaves

¾ lb medium shrimp, shelled and de-veined Juice of ½ lemon

My recipe for Welsh Rarebit, doubled (you can find it in the Eggs and Cheese Section)

Make the Welsh rarebit, and set aside. Bring 3 cups of water and the lemon juice to a boil in a small saucepan. Put in the shrimp, bring to a boil, and remove from heat. Poach shrimp in the water for 15 minutes, and drain.

Either immerse the cauliflower in a large pot of boiling water or steam in a large steamer, and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until tender when tested with a sharp knife.

Drain and place on a plate in a 250-degree oven to keep warm. Reheat the Welsh rarebit over low heat, and add all but 6 shrimp. Heat for 3 minutes, and ladle the shrimp and sauce over the whole cauliflower. Decorate the plate with the 6 shrimp, and serve. This makes a beautiful presentation.

Baked Winter Squash

There are a number of varieties of winter squash, and they can all be treated pretty much the same. They are baked in their skins if you are going to serve them as a stand-alone vegetable. If you want to use them with other vegetables, as in my recipe for Roasted Chicken and Vegetables, they need to be peeled.

Serves 2

1 large acorn, butternut, or other squash 4 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons brown sugar

Cut the squash in half lengthwise. The best way to do this is with a cleaver and a rubber headed mallet, but a large chef’s knife will also work. With a spoon, scrape out the seeds and stringy center.

Place the squash, cut side up, in a deep dish pie plate to which 1 cup of water has been added. Pour the butter evenly over the squash, making sure you have coated the edges as well as the center. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the top.

Bake in a 375-degree oven for about 45 minutes, testing for tenderness with a fork. Be careful not to overbake.

About Corn

Corn is an unusual vegetable in that, if it is not eaten on the cob, most of it is consumed from a can or frozen. At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be any treatments in between, except maybe creamed corn and corn pudding. Mix up a batch of eggs and milk, pour in lots of corn, and you have corn pudding.

The next time you are grilling, take some corn on the cob, clean it, put a generous coating of butter on it, and wrap it tightly in foil. I know you do this routinely, but I suggest you put 2 or 3 extra ears, treated like this, on the grill for future use. Then the next time you are tossing a salad, scrape the kernels off the cob (they should be a mixture of charred and regular kernels), and add it to the salad. Delicious! Incidentally, when you grill corn, your goal should be to have some kernels charred, otherwise why grill it?

My second suggestion is to scrape the kernels off cobs of uncooked corn into a large bowl. Also run the dull edge of your knife down the cobs to extract the “milk” from them. Plan on 2 cobs per person.

Place several tablespoons of butter in a skillet, and add the corn. Sauté over medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Then add 1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar, depending on how much corn you’re using, and continue cooking for another 5 minutes, or until the corn begins to brown a little. Add ½ cup of heavy cream, and simmer until the cream has almost disappeared. This makes a nice side dish with a slice of ham steak or pork chops. Once in awhile, I substitute a tablespoon of brown sugar and a squeeze of lemon.

Corn Fritters

There are other ways to treat fresh corn and I think one of the best is with the following recipe.

Serves 2

2 ears corn, shucked ¼ cup corn meal (yellow or white)

3 tablespoons flour

1 large egg ½ cup milk

Salt and pepper 3 tablespoons olive oil

Mix the flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper together in a bowl, and set aside. Cut the kernels from the corn, and scrape the cobs to extract the corn milk. Whisk the eggs and milk together, and add the corn and corn milk. Slowly stir the egg mixture into the flour/cornmeal to make a smooth batter.

Over medium heat, get the oil very hot but not smoking. Add the batter to the oil, 2-3 tablespoons at a time, to make 4 fritters. After about 2-3 minutes, flip the fritters, and fry another 2 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels.

NOTE: These fritters can be eaten as a savory topped with your favorite salsa, or as a sweet breakfast item using maple syrup and butter.

Mixed Roasted Vegetables

I can’t think of a better way to serve vegetables. It’s easy, healthy, and delicious.

Just cut up the vegetables to about the same size so they are done at the same time. There are a few exceptions to that rule like tomatoes, which should be added in the last 15 minutes or so.

Potatoes

Carrots

Winter Squash

Celery

Onions

Broccoli

Parsnips

Turnips

Rutabaga

Tomatoes (I like grape tomatoes cut in half)

Toss the vegetables in melted butter or olive oil until they are well coated, lay out on a flat baking pan, and roast for 1 hour at 375 degrees. This is a very forgiving dish, so if you have to keep them warm for a half hour or so don’t worry about it. At the end of the roasting time, probe them with a sharp knife to make sure they’re done.

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SAUC E S, GRAVIES, & SALADDRESSINGS

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auces, gravies, and salad dressings can take a dish from being good to something really spectacular. Without them, some of our meals would be pretty bland, so you should familiarize yourself with the standard sauces,

and also think about making some up on your own.

SAUCES

Since this Cookbook contains a number of Mediterranean recipes, I have included a few of the favorite sauces from the Middle East and North Africa that compliment them. A sauce is a special treatment for some dishes, and a necessity for others, like spaghetti for instance.

For those of you who have read Help-I Gotta Learn to Cook!, you will recognize the next few pages. They give you the basics of sauce making, and I hope will give you some ideas for making up your own sauces as well.

Below are portions for thin, medium, and thick white sauces. You use a thin sauce for soups, meats, chicken, or fish; a medium sauce for pasta, casseroles, or vegetables; and a thick sauce for soufflés and dips. The following proportions make 1 cup of sauce.

When making a sauce, you must be certain to cook the flour for a minute over very low heat, or the sauce will taste like flour. I suggest you take the pan off the heat before adding a liquid to a flour-based sauce. This prevents the sauce from getting lumpy.

STEP 1: PICK YOUR SAUCE

Thin Sauce:

1 tbs butter

1 tbs flour

1 cup liquid

Medium Sauce:

2 tbs butter

2 tbs flour

1 cup liquid

Thick Sauce:

3 tbs butter

2½ tbs flour

1 cup liquid

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat, and add flour. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and add liquid. Stir until combined, and return to heat. Cook for another 2 minutes, until it thickens.

STEP 2: PICK YOUR LIQUID

Your choice of liquid depends on what kind of sauce you need. For example, you can use chicken broth for chicken dishes, beef broth for beef dishes, fish broth for fish dishes, and vegetable broth for just about anything.

You can also use red or white wine. If you want a deeper color to the sauce you made with beef broth, use some Kitchen Bouquet. Adding spices, such as dill weed, thyme, or parsley, or lemon or lime juice, will give these sauces a different taste. A spoonful of tomato paste will produce a lovely tomato cream sauce, and a tablespoon of curry powder will produce a curry sauce. Swirling in 2 extra tablespoons of butter, 1 at a time, will make a very rich sauce.

STEP 3: PICK YOUR HERBS, SPICES, AND FLAVORINGS

Basil Mustard Catsup Orange Zest or Juice

Cayenne Pepper Oregano Cheese Parsley

Chili Powder Rosemary Chives Tarragon

Curry Powder Thyme Dill Tomato Paste

Dry Mustard Tomato Relish Horseradish Tomato Sauce Lemon Zest or Juice Worcestershire Sauce

Lime Zest or Juice

NOTE: Béarnaise Sauce is a classic sauce used with steaks and beef tenderloin. It’s really hollandaise sauce with tarragon added. You can make it from scratch or buy a packaged sauce mix, and add some dried tarragon. I tell you how to make Sauce Mueniere, a simple lemon and butter sauce for fish, in the Fish and Shellfish Section.

Keep in mind that quite often the only difference between a sauce and a soup is the presentation. For instance, you can use a pureed cream of black bean soup as a sauce with chicken breasts, or the recipe for Greek Avgolemono soup as a sauce with vegetables such as asparagus.

The Red Lobster Tartar Sauce (almost)

I can truthfully say I’ve never had a bad meal from Red Lobster. I’ve never been able to get them to part with one oftheir recipes either. I used to put this tartar sauce on crackers, witha little Tabasco, and could have made a whole meal out of just that. This recipe comes very close to theirs.

¼ cup salad dressing

¼ cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons shredded carrot (shred on medium, not small part of shredder)

½ teaspoon sugar

1½ tablespoons sweet pickle relish

Combine all the ingredients, and chill. Makes about ½ cup.

Ed’s All-Purpose Tomato Sauce

There are hundreds of spaghetti and other tomato-based sauces available, some good, some bad, and many of them overpriced. This is a slightly different version than the one in the Pasta Section.

This is a tomato sauce you can use for just about anything, over pasta, over chicken breasts, with my recipe for Eggplant Parmigiana, whatever else pleases you.

It’s not a recipe as much as it is an assembly operation, and all you need is a blender or food processor and a pot.

Buy a large can of whole tomatoes, preferably one of the Italian imports. Also a small can of tomato sauce.

Chop up some onions, sweet peppers, and a few cloves of garlic. Put them in a medium-sized pot, and sauté them in 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil over low heat until they soften. You don’t want the vegetables to brown.

Put the canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, 6-7 fresh basil leaves, and the vegetables in the food processor, and blend until they are pureed.

Return the mixture to the pot, add a teaspoon of oregano, or other Italian spices, and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Taste the sauce, and increase or decrease the spices and other ingredients according to your taste. Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.

Louisiana Roux

Every time you mix flour and butter or oil together to make a sauce, you are making a roux.

This is a different kind of sauce, and is the basis for all gumbos and many other Cajun dishes. You will have to stay with it from start to finish, and keep in mind you are dealing with some hot stuff. Not spicy hot, “burny” hot.

The proper proportions are half oil and half flour. Butter is not really very good for this, so either a solid shortening, like lard or Crisco, or peanut oil will do. You are going to need a heavy skillet, preferably black iron.

As you make it, the roux will change from a light tan to reddish brown to a very dark brown. The color will depend on the dish you are making. Although it is a thickener, you should be aware that the darker the roux, the less it will thicken. Seafood gumbos, for instance, are usually made with a dark roux. The longer it cooks, the darker it gets, and the nuttier will be the taste.

A roux has to be stirred constantly until it is the color you want. If it looks like it is coloring too fast, take it off the range until it cools down a little. If it begins to burn you have to throw it away and start all over.

A recipe for a few types of gumbo and other Cajun dishes can be found in other parts of this book, and most start with a roux. Most of them also require the “Cajun trinity”—chopped onion, green pepper, and celery, and this should be ready before you start the roux.

cup of vegetable oil

cup flour

Place the oil in a heavy skillet, and heat until almost smoking. Add the flour one third at a time, and start stirring with a heavy spoon or ladle. Turn the heat down to moderate and stir continuously, and the roux will start to color. Be careful

because even a drop of this on your skin will burn.

How deep a color you want depends on the recipe. As soon as the roux has reached the desired color, stir in the chopped onion, celery, and green peppers. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, and you are ready for the next stage.

Hollandaise Sauce

You can make this sauce on top of the range, but using a blender is by far the easiest andmost foolproof method. It ranks as one of the two most popular sauces in the US and has many uses. You can also find a packaged version in any supermarket. I almost always use the packaged kind, but you should try making it from scratch at least once.

Yields 1 cup

4 egg yolks ½ tsp salt

Dash of Tabasco 1 tbs lemon juice

1 stick butter, melted

Place the egg yolks, salt, and lemon juice in a food processor, and pulse the yolks until everything is well mixed. Remove the top of the blender, and very gradually pour a thin stream of melted butter into the mixture while the blender is running. It will get thick and turn a pretty yellow.

Place the mixture in a bowl, and keep warm in a 200-degree oven until ready for use. If the mixture should curdle, don’t fret; just put it back in the blender, and add a tablespoon of boiling water while the blender is running.

Sauce Remoulade

This recipe is from Galatoire’s, one of the oldest and most respected restaurants in New Orleans. There are many different recipes for this sauce, almost all of them using a mayonnaise base.However, I find it hard to deviate from what the chefs at Galatoire’s recommend. Remoulade sauce can also be used with any shellfish. I especially like it with Florida lobster tails.

2 celery ribs, coarsely chopped

2 green onions, coarsely chopped

½ sweet onion, chopped (about ¼ cup)

½ cup fresh Italian parsley

¼ cup red wine vinegar

¼ cup ketchup

¼ cup tomato puree

¼ cup Creole mustard

½ tablespoon prepared horseradish

½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon canola oil

1 lb cooked fresh shrimp, peeled and de-veined

Pulse first 4 ingredients in a food processor until finely chopped. Add vinegar and next 5 ingredients, and process until well blended and smooth.

Remove the mixture from the processor, and pour into a large bowl. Slowly pour in the oil, whisking vigorously until it is all assimilated. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

When ready to use, bring to almost room temperature, stir well, and serve with shrimp or other shellfish as a dipping sauce.

Rouille

A very spicyMiddle Eastern sauce that is always served separately for diners to swirl in their soup, or spoon over the dish being served.

1 red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 red chili, seeded and sliced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

5 tablespoons olive oil

¼ cup fresh bread crumbs

Process everything in a blender until smooth, chill and serve.

Aioli (eye-o-LEE)

This sauce has achieved almost religious status in Provence where Aioli festivals abound in the summer. Actually, they have Aioli festivals all over the world, wherever you find an abundance of garlic.In the US the festivals can be can be found in Texas and California.

Very fresh garlic is crucial, and the better the olive oil the better the sauce. I am going to give you the traditional method of making it, using a mortar and pestle. Be forewarned it requires a lot of work and about 20 minutes of your time.

You can save some time and effort by pulverizing the garlic with some sea salt to a smooth paste in a blender or food processor. Basically you are taking the pulverized, very fresh garlic and slowly addingolive oil, almost drop by drop, until you have a thick paste. You must be patient since adding too much olive oil all at once will cause the emulsion to break down, and it willnot combine. If that happens you have to start all over.

½ cup coarsely chopped very fresh garlic (or use the blender and a little sea salt as suggested)

2 teaspoons sea salt or kosher salt

2 cups of extra virgin olive oil (the best you can find)

Add the garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil to your food processor or blender, and blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy. This should take about a minute or so.

Transfer the mixture to a mortar, and add ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons of oil VERY SLOWLY, a teaspoon at a time. You must continually stir and mash the mixture at a vigorous rate. This is about as much as you can take on for one batch. If you need more, do the same with a second batch.

The finished Aioli will be very thick and shiny. Try testing it by dipping a carrot or celery stick into it as a treat for the cook.

NOTE: Anticipating that a majority of people will not want to do this the traditional way, you can make it in a food processor if you are very careful about adding the oil slowly. Processors have a chute so it’s very easy to add the oil.

Harrisa Sauce

Another Middle Eastern sauce used as a co ndiment for grilled meat or fish, or add it to roasted vegetables, or stir into stews and soups. The number of chiles you use will determine how hot it is.

1 bottled roasted red pepper

½ teaspoon coriander seeds

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon caraway seeds

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ sweet onion coarsely chopped

3 cloves garlic

3 hot red chilies, seeded and coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Toast the coriander, cumin, and caraway seeds over very low heat in a skillet. Remove them and grind to a powder in a food processor. Heat the onion, garlic, and chilies in the olive oil, over medium heat, until they are almost caramelized, about 15 minutes.

Add to blender and blend until smooth, adding a little more oil if necessary. This will keep refrigerated for several weeks.

Italian Tuna Sauce

This is a delicious sauce that is always associated with an Italian dish called Vitello Tonnato—cold roast veal with tuna sauce. You can find it in the Beef Section.

Roasts of veal are hard to find in many American markets, and I love the sauce so much I knew there just had to be other uses for it. I have used it with cold poached chicken breasts, cold leftover roast pork, over chilled green beans, sliced tomatoes, cold poached salmon filets, and sliced turkey breast. It’s even good as a substitute for mayonnaise in sandwiches. Make a batch and try it—you won’t be sorry.

1 3-oz can albacore tuna packed in oil, drained and flaked

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (this is the time to use the good stuff)

2 tablespoons water

1½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon anchovy paste

1½ tablespoons capers, drained

3 tablespoons Nicoise or Greek olives

2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

In a blender or food processor, puree the tuna, lemon juice, olive oil, water, anchovy paste, and capers until very smooth, scraping down the sides when necessary.

Spoon sauce over whatever you are having, and decorate with parsley and olives.

Chef Dugan’s Special Steak Sauce

I made this sauce one evening because I happened to have all the ingredients handy. It turned out tobe utterly delicious, and I urge you to give it a try with your next steak. 4-5 large button mushrooms, diced or sliced

½ cup beef broth

½ cup red wine

5 tablespoons of butter, divided use

Put half the butter in a saucepan, and sauté the mushrooms until they are very brown. Don’t forget, they will give up their juices first and then start browning. Add the wine and broth, turn the heat up to high, and reduce the mixture by half. Swirl in the remaining butter, and serve over the steak.

Balsamic Vinegar & Wine Steak Sauce

This one is also a keeper. My wife thinks it’s the best steak sauce she ever had, so that counts for a lot.

This is really a vinaigrette reduced to a thin syrup. The ultimate taste will be up to you, depending on how sweet or how tart you prefer the sauce.

½ cup red wine

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon, or more, of either white or brown sugar

Mix the wine and vinegar together in a small bowl, and add the sugar. Adjust the taste by adding more sugar if you wish.

Once the steak is done, remove from the pan and, while it is resting, add the sauce mixture to the pan. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom, turn the heat to high, and reduce until it becomes a thin sauce. Ladle several tablespoons on to a serving plate, and lay the steak on top. Or top the steak with the sauce if you wish.

Creamy Horseradish Sauce

Some people believe you shouldn’t eat any sort of beef dish without this sauce as an accompaniment. I think it’s great once in a while, especially with prime rib, but prefer something else for steaks.

1 garlic clove

½ small sweet onion, minced

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup prepared horseradish

Salt and pepper

Heat the butter and oil over moderate heat, and sauté the onion and garlic until the onion is soft, about 3 minutes. Add the cream and horseradish, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

Egg-Caper Sauce

This is a traditional sauce used as an accompaniment to poached or sautéed salmon, but it’s also good with trout or any other mild-fleshed fish. 1 cup bottled clam broth or fish stock

½ cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoon butter

2 hardboiled eggs, chopped very fine

3 tablespoons capers, rinsed and chopped

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Melt butter in a small saucepan over moderate heat, and add the flour. Stir well and cook for about 2 minutes. Do not brown the flour. Remove from heat, add the fish stock, and then add the cream. Return to heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat, and cool slightly before adding the capers, eggs, and lemon juice. Keep warm before serving.

Simple White Clam Sauce

Clam sauce is not difficult to make an d there are many approaches you can find, depending on the chef. These are pretty basic and I think, in this case, basic is good.

NOTE: If available always use fresh clams. Steam them in a little water until they open, remove them from their shells, and chop coarsely. If they don’t open, discard them. Strain the clam broth, and incorporate into the sauce.

2 cans diced clams

1 bottle clam juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon dried parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

You will need about 2 cups of broth and clams. Use the bottled clam juice to make up the difference.

Place the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat, and sauté the garlic until it becomes soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. Be careful not to brown it. Add the clams, juice, oregano, and parsley, and cook for 2 minutes.

This sauce is almost always tossed with warm spaghetti.

NOTE: Italians normally do not use cheese over seafood dishes, but suit yourself.

Creamy White Clam Sauce

Refer to the Simple White Clam Sauce. Substitute 3 tablespoons of butter for the olive oil in the above recipe. Heat it in a small skillet over medium heat, and add 2 tablespoons of flour. Cook for 2 minutes, and add the Simple White Clam Sauce. Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice and ½ teaspoon grated lemon rind, and cook for 2 more minutes. Stir and serve.

Red Clam Sauce

Refer to the recipe for Simple White Clam Sauce. Reduce the amount of clam juice used by ½ cup, and add 2 cups of crushed tomatoes, and 6 basil leaves torn into small pieces.

Court Bouillon

Court bouillon is an all-purpose poaching liquid used primarily for fish, chicken, and vegetables. In spite of its rather classy name, it is nothing more than vegetable broth with some wine and a few spices added.

2 cans vegetable broth

1 cup white wine

1 bay leaf

5–6 black peppercorns

Put all the ingredients in a pan, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the peppercorns and bay leaf. That’s it.

NOTE: If you want a fish bouillon, just add a jar of clam broth.

GRAVIES

No matter how much gravy I seem to make with a roast, it’s never enough to deal with leftovers. Or, if I poach a turkey breast and want to turn the leftovers into a Thanksgiving meal, I have to make gravy without the help of any pan drippings. You can go to the supermarket and buy a jar or can of gravy or a dry mix. What you get is mediocre gravy with a lot of chemical additives in it. A good friend of mine once said this about something else but it fits here—bad gravy is better than no gravy at all.

However, I have created an answer to that dilemma, and I call it Chef Dugan’s All-purpose Gravy. When you have leftover roast beef or chicken and really need some gravy to accompany the dish, here’s the answer.

Chef Dugan’s All-Purpose Gravy

1 can of beef or chicken broth

1 cup Mirepoix

Note: Mirepoix is described in Help-I Gotta Learn To Cook, but it is a mixture of minced celery, carrots, onion, and anything else you would like to add such as minced mushrooms or sweet peppers. Add a couple of tablespoons of butter and the same of olive oil, add the miraproix, and sauté gently until the vegetables are soft. Add 3 tablespoons of flour, and cook for 1-2 minutes, keeping the heat low. Add a can of broth, turn up the heat a little, and cook until the mixture thickens. Add salt, pepper, and any herbs or spices to taste, and there you have it!

Pan Dripping Gravy

The best way to make gravy with pan drippings is to leave 2 to 3 tablespoons of fat in the roasting or sautéing pan, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter or oil or a mixture of both, cook the flour for 1 minute over medium heat, remove the pan from the heat, and stir in your liquid, a little at a time. The liquid can be milk, stock, water, or flat beer.

Remember, it’s easier to thin gravy than to make it thicker, but if you need to, mix 2 tablespoons of softened butter with 3 to 4 tablespoons of flour, and knead it into a few little balls. Mix them in the gravy 1 at a time, cook a little and, if you want it thicker, repeat.

Basically the kind of gravy you end up with depends somewhat on the dish and somewhat on your inclinations. Starting with the pan drippings, you can add beef or chicken broth, plain milk, a mixture of cream or half and half with broth, or simply milk or cream. What actually makes gravy taste yummy is plenty of salt and pepper.

Finally, if you want to make your brown gravy a richer brown, just add 2 tablespoons of Kitchen Bouquet.

SALAD DRESSINGS

The main thing to remember about salad dressings is to avoid putting too much on your salad. The dressing is supposed to flavor the salad, not drench it. If you toss a salad and it puddles on the bottom of the bowl, you have used too much.

There are a zillion dressings on the market. I always look at the label and if it looks like I need a chemistry lesson to understand the ingredients I leave it on the shelf.

Oil and Vinegar Dressing

This is your basic vinaigrette dressing: olive oil and vinegar. Itused to be called French dressing until the 1950’s when some food companies started putting paprika and tomato products into it, turning it into a sweet, orange concoction.

It can be no better than the quality of the oil used and should be made fresh. The usual proportions are 4 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, plus salt and freshly ground pepper. When mixing vinaigrette, I use a fork and whip it until it emulsifies, or thickens. It will stay this way for a while, but you may have to mix it again just before using.

NOTE: There are specialty oils, such as walnut oil and grapeseed oil, that you can use and you should try a few. There are also some exotic vinegars on the shelves you might try.

From the basic recipe you can do all sorts of things. I’ve listed some suggestions here:

Rub the mixing bowl with a cut clove of garlic, or leave it in. Add a bit of Dijon mustard before mixing.

Add a few drops of Worcestershire sauce.

Add some herbs such as tarragon or oregano. Add a mashed hardboiled egg yolk for a creamy dressing that’s really good on potato salad and cold vegetables.

Use lemon juice instead of vinegar, with oregano, for a Greek dressing. Add a squeeze of anchovy paste.

Add a spoonful of capers.

Add a teaspoon full of dill weed (great tossed with cold shrimp).

Blue Cheese Dressing

As I mentioned, I use Marie’s Blue Cheese Dressing a lot, but if you want to make your own, take the basic French dressing, add 3-4 tablespoons of chopped blue cheese, and stir.

Louis Dressing

This also can be seen in the Shrimp Louis Salad. You can go upscale with this dressing by whipping the cream until it shows some peaks, and then mixing it with the mayonnaise.

1 cup mayonnaise

½ cup heavy cream

¼ cup chili sauce (the bottled kind)

¼ cup chopped green pepper

¼ cup chopped scallions, including some of the green

2 tablespoons of chopped green olives stuffed with pimentos

1 tablespoon lemon juice or to taste

Salt and pepper

Green Goddess Dressing

A delicious dressing that was created in the 1920’s by the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. The dressing disappeared from the culinary scene for reasons that are unclear to me, but it is outstanding in seafood and fish salads, and it’s pretty as well.

1½ cups mayonnaise

4 anchovy filets, patted dry

2 scallions, green parts only

1½ tablespoons parsley, chopped

2 tablespoons tarragon, chopped

2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar

2 tablespoons minced chives

Lightly puree all the ingredients in a food processor or blender, and serve.

Chef Dugan’s Fruit Salad Dressing

You might remember this from my recipe for fruit salad. One advantage it has is that you can make it as sweet as you wish. Fruit and honey are a wonderful combination.

1 8-oz carton sour cream

1 tablespoons of honey

¼ cup orange juice

Taste the dressing. If you want it sweeter, add more honey.

Mayonnaise Dressings

You can use mayonnaise as a dressing base by adding a number of flavorings. Using 1 cup of mayonnaise, add any of the following flavorings, 1 teaspoon at a time, and taste until you get the dressing where it suits you. You can also add an equal amount of sour cream to the mayonnaise if you wish.

Capers, drained and chopped

Dill weed, or fresh chopped dill

Dijon mustard

Lemon or lime juice

Horseradish

Ketchup

Chopped green onions

Minced red or green peppers

Soy sauce

Chili or curry powder

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RECIPES THAT DON’T FIT ANYWHERE ELSE

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T

hese are recipes that I didn’t want to leave out of the book, but they really didn’t qualify to have their own section. How many pages can you devote to milkshakes?

The Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Milkshake

4 tablespoons chocolate syrup

1 cup chocolate milk

2 cups chocolate ice cream

Mix everything well in a blender until smooth, and enjoy. Serve with Oreo Cookies.

Mighty Fine Corn Bread

I think I discovered this recipe in a 1970’s Gourmet Magazine, and I have never made any other cornbread since. As I recall it came from an editor’s grandmother. It just can’t be beat.

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal (white, yellow, stone ground, whatever) 1 cup evaporated milk

2 teaspoons baking powder ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons of Crisco or (preferably) white lard

1 egg, beaten Juice of ½ lemon Pour evaporated milk into a small bowl, and add lemon juice. Cover with plastic wrap, and let sit at room temperature for 3 hours.

Place all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Put the ¼ cup of shortening or lard into the bowl, and with your fingers, mix it up until the mixture is like coarse meal. Make a hole in the center of the mixture, and pour in 1 cup of the evaporated milk and the beaten egg. Stir well with a large spoon, but do not over mix.

Heat oven to 400 degrees, put the remaining 2 tablespoons of shortening or lard into a heavy black iron skillet, and heat in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove the skillet, pour in the cornbread mixture, and return to oven. Bake 18 to 25 minutes until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Frito Pie

Chances are, if you have ever attended a high school football game i nTexas, you have eaten a Frito Pie. In the realm of gourmet cooking, it’s really not much, but, in the realm of junk food, it’s a classic. Be careful, it’s also addictive.

1 small bag of Fritos

Chili of your choice (I like Hormel without beans) Shredded cheddar cheese

Chopped onions (optional)

Pour the Fritos into a wide bowl, or anything else that’s handy. Cover with a generous portion of chili (it should pretty much cover the Fritos), and then sprinkle some cheddar cheese on top. Add onions also if you want them.

Fried Toast

The British have it right. Forget the usual dried, sometimes limp, stuff we call toast in America. Try it their way, and you might never go back.

Basically I make this the same way I make a grilled cheese sandwich only I skip the cheese. Put some butter in a skillet over low heat, and when it’s melted, put a slice of bread in and move itaround to absorb it all. When it is a nice, golden brown, flip the bread, and repeat the process for the other side. Remember, the better the bread, the better the toast.

Keep warm in a 200-degree oven until you are ready. A traditional English breakfast dish is baked beans over fried toast. Nothing to get excited about, but you might like it. They also like to cut the toasted bread into ½-inch slices, and dip them in soft-boiled eggs. They call them “soldiers.”

A Ploughman’s Lunch/Pub Onions

You can find this lunch in almost every English or Irish pub. It’s a simple meal of smoked sausage or kielbasa, crusty bread, and big chunks of cheddar cheese, and it is always served with a generous helping of pickled pub onions. It was one of our best sellers in my deli, Let’s Do Lunch!

You can use other kinds of hard cheese such as Roquefort or Gouda, but I think aged cheddar goes best with it. I had a hard time finding pickled pub onions, so I decided to make my own. According to many of my customers, they were better than the commercial ones, and are very simple to make.

First, buy a jar of pickled onions (the small ones they use for Gibson Cocktails). They can be found in just about any supermarket. Empty the jar of any liquid, fill it to the brim with balsamic vinegar, and let the onions marinate for a day or two on a shelf. Once they are marinated, you can keep them in the fridge, and they will last for several months.

All you need to complete the lunch is the cheese, sausage, and bread cut into large chunks. You won’t believe how delicious the onions are as a perfect mate to the rest of the lunch. To be correct, you should have a pint of beer or ale along with the lunch.

Cheddar Cheese Crust

This is a delicious way to give stew a special treatment. It’s good on beef, chicken, or pork stews, and is really easy to make.

2¼ cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup cold butter (1 stick), cut up

¼ cup lard or Crisco

1 cup extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

8–9 tablespoons ice water

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in butter and shortening, using either a pastry blender or, as I do, your fingers. You want the mixture to resemble coarse crumbs. Stir in cheese.

Sprinkle in ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing lightly with a fork after each addition, until the dough is just moist enough to hold together. Shape dough into 2 parts, one slightly larger than the other.

NOTE: You have made more dough then you will need for a single crust. Freeze the remainder, and use for another purpose. It makes good cheese sticks.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, shaping it like a small disc, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can keep it refrigerated overnight; just bring it to room temperature before rolling it out.

On a lightly floured surface, using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a 12-inch round. If your stew casserole is smaller, adjust the size of the round. Place the dough carefully over the filling, making sure it has a little overhang. Press the edges down with your hands, and then use the tines of a fork to make a little decoration.

Bake in a 375-degree oven for 30 minutes, or until the crust is a deep, golden brown.

Popovers

These were once know n as Laplanders and I haven’t a clue as to why. For years you were told to pre-heat the oven to very high, put them in, and reduce the heat after twenty minutes. Then, I suppose, someone lost track of time, forgot to preheat the oven, and just put them in the cold oven. It worked even better.

You will need a muffin pan.

2 eggs

1 cup of sifted flour 1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons melted butter

Beat the eggs lightly, and add the flour and salt. Beat for 1 minute, and add the milk. Stir to make a fairly smooth batter, and add the melted butter. The less you beat the batter, the better your popovers will be.

Take a piece of butter in a paper towel and rub on the bottom and sides of the muffin cups. Fill the cups with batter up to about two thirds full. Place in a cold oven set for 425 degrees, and bake 30 to 35 minutes. Do not open the oven door for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature if the popovers seem to be getting too brown.

You can pierce the puffs with a fork to dry them out a little, if you like. With my family, they never last long enough to worry about that.

NOTE: You have just received a two-in-one cooking lesson. This is almost the same recipe you use for Yorkshire pudding.

NOTE: Another treatment for popovers is to add some grated cheese to the top before you bake them.

Yorkshire Pudding

This is a traditional accompaniment to Roast Prime Rib, and if it looks suspiciously familiar it’s because it’s almost identical to the recipe above for Popovers.

2 eggs 1 cup milk

1 cup sifted flour ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper

3 tablespoons beef drippings

NOTE: You can get fancy and bake this in a muffin pan for individual servings, or in a shallow baking dish. If you are having a number of guests, I would suggest you double the quantities.

Beat the eggs until very light, and beat in the milk and sifted flour. Add salt and pepper, and set aside at room temperature for 1 hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Pour a ½ cup of beef drippings into a 10×12 pan, and heat until smoking hot, about 10 minutes. Pour in the batter and bake, and, as with popovers, do not open the oven door until the pudding has risen and is golden brown, about 20 minutes. For the best effect, you should serve the pudding immediately. However, you can keep it warm in the oven, but it will deflate somewhat.

Yogurt Cheese - Labaneh

If you want a real treat, try this: Set a strainer over a large bowl, and line it with three layers of cheesecloth, allowing the cheesecloth to extend over the side. The strainer should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Spoon about four cups of yogurt into the strainer, and bring the ends of the cheesecloth together and fold over the yogurt. Refrigerate for four or five days until no more liquid leaks out of the yogurt. Place the thickened yogurt in a bowl, and sprinkle some pepper flakes, oregano, or whatever suits your fancy. Use as a spread over toasted pita triangles or crackers. You have just made Labaneh - yogurt cheese!

Pancakes

This recipe produces a nice, fluffy pancake with good flavor.

I have a peculiar way of eating them, though, in addition to the butter and syrup route. I first take one and butter it, shake lots of salt and pepper over it, and eat it topped with an egg. Then I pour the syrup over the rest of them. Check out my pancake sandwich in the Sandwich Section for a different way to have them.

Serves 2

¾ cup milk 2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup flour 2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda

1 beaten egg 3 tablespoons melted butter

½ teaspoon salt Add the lemon juice to the milk, and let sit for a few minutes to curdle.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl, and mix well. Add the beaten egg and melted butter, and then the milk. Whisk until the batter is fairly smooth.

Heat a large skillet, add a small portion of oil, and pour ¼ cups of batter into it. When bubbles appear on the surface, flip the pancakes, and cook for another 2 minutes.

Biscuits and Gravy

I don’t know of a single restaurant (small town or chain) that serves breakfast and doesn’t serve biscuits and gravy. This is about as country as you can get, and if there is a truly American breakfast dish, this has got to be it.

I found an unbeatable biscuit recipe in WhiteTrashCookingand changed it slightly. This recipe makes a “gracious plenty” as they say in the South, so it will serve 6 people, or 4 very hungry people.

The Biscuits:

2 cups flour 3-4 pinches of salt

1½ tablespoons baking powder 4 tablespoons lard or hard shortening (lard is best)

1 cup milk (sweet, evaporated, or buttermilk)

Sift all the dry ingredients. With a fork, cut the shortening into the flour until it’s all blended, like a bunch of crumbs (I like to use my hands). Make a big hole in the flour, and pour in all the milk at once, stirring until everything is well blended. Then dump the mixture onto a floured table and knead it for a little while, but not too long. Pat the mixture flat with your hands until it’s about a 1/2-inch thick, maybe a little thicker. Use a 2-inch biscuit cutter or the edge of a glass the same size. Place on a nonstick cookie sheet, and bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. After your first go-round with the cookie cutter, gather the scraps up, mold them into a small ball, and pat them out to a 1/2-inch thickness. Cut out some more biscuits, and then discard the remaining scraps of dough.

NOTE: If you want to try a little different kind of biscuit, add 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese to the mixture. I promise, you won’t be sorry.

The Gravy:

1 pound package of your favorite breakfast sausage 1/3 cup of all purpose flour

4 cups of milk (more or less) Salt and lots of freshly ground pepper

Crumble up the sausage with your hands, and fry until it’s nice and brown. Add about half the flour, and stir until it has been absorbed, then add the rest. The sausage mixture should be very dry.

Add about half the milk and mix thoroughly, and then add the rest a little at a time. At this point you need to decide how thick you want the gravy, since all flour does not react the same way. I like my mixture to be a little bit on the runny side, but that’s your choice. If you want to thin it out, just add some more milk.

Pour the sausage mixture over some hot biscuits that have been cut in half, and there you have it. Some scrambled cheese eggs on the side are nice.

Cream Biscuits

Cream bis cuits go back hundreds of years. The variety of food in the old days didn’t comeanywhere near what we have today, so people did many different things with what they had. I make these biscuits especially as the topping for my Old Fashioned Chicken Pot Pie. This makes about eighteen biscuits.

4 cups flour 2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper 2½ tablespoons baking powder

2 cups plus 3 tablespoons heavy cream

Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, and make a well in the center. Add the 2 cups of cream all at once, and stir with a large spoon until smooth dough is formed. Scrape out onto a well floured surface, flour your hands, and knead for 1 minute. Pat out the dough to about a 1/2-inch thickness. Using a 2½-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter (if you don’t have one use a glass of the same diameter), cut out the biscuit rounds, and arrange them on a nonstick baking sheet. You will have some dough scraps. Roll them into a ball, pat them down to a ½-inch thickness, and cut some more. Then discard the rest of the scraps.

Brush the tops of the biscuits with the remaining 3 tablespoons of cream, and bake in a 375-degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until they are nicely risen and golden brown.

NOTE: As with my other biscuits, the first one, loaded with butter, goes to the cook as soon as they are taken from the oven. Just a taste test, you know.

Ozark Pudding

I always admired Harry Truman w hen he was President, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to give you his favorite dessert. It’s just like he was, straightforward and simple to understand.

¾ cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten ½ cup flour

1 teaspoon lemon juice teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder 1 cup peeled tart apples, corsely chopped ½ cup chopped nuts

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat sugar into eggs. Toss apple with lemon juice. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into greased 8-inch pie pan. Bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes. Serve with ice cream.

Bread Pudding

I have a fondness for bread pudding—any kind of bread pudding. Bread pudding is simply half and half or cream, mixed with sugar and eggs, maybe a little vanilla extract. It’s just baked custard with bread, and sometimes fruit.

This recipe is the easiest one I have ever come across. As you gain experience, I encourage you to experiment. For instance, try making a bread pudding with some leftover croissants and some fruit, like peaches and blackberries. However, if you are like me, there are rarely leftover croissants, so use fresh.

2 medium sweet apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into ¼-inch slices

4-5 slices of cinnamon raisin bread or other sweet bread, cut into quarters

¼ cup softened butter

½ cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups half and half 6 large eggs, beaten

Lay the bread slices directly on the middle rack of your oven, which has been pre-heated to 375 degrees. Toast for 10 minutes, and remove the slices, but leave the oven on.

While the bread is baking, toss 3 tablespoons of the sugar with the apple slices. Cook in a dry, non-stick skillet over moderate heat, flipping them over occasionally to get them an even pale brown on both sides, about 15 minutes.

Whisk the eggs and half and half together with the ½ cup of sugar, until the sugar has completely dissolved.

Take the bread out of the oven a butter each slice with a heavy layer of soft butter. Cut into quarters.

Arrange layers of the bread and apple slices neatly in a shallow baking dish (about 8x12), and pour the egg mixture over all. Place the baking dish in a large dish with about 1 inch of water in it. Bake for 45 minutes, and test with a toothpick. If it does not come out clean, bake another 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and let rest for 1 hour. The pudding will continue to bake after it is removed from the oven.

NOTE: I prefer to make bread pudding in a deep soufflé dish so the pudding is piled higher.

Crisp Batter

Getting a good batter for frying fish or chicken is sometimes difficult. The supermarkets sell some that are not too bad, but I like to make my own. This recipe gives youa crisp batter but, as with any kind of frying, deep or otherwise, the temperature of the oil is the most important thing. It needs to be hot enough.

1½ cups flour 1 cup stale beer

1½ teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon Tabasco Sift the dry ingredients and blend together. Clear out a center well, and pour in the liquids. Mix until smooth, and let sit for 20 minutes.

Dip whatever you’re going to fry in the batter, let the excess drip off, and fry away.

Roasted Garlic Head

This is not so much a vegetable as i tis a delicious spread. Don’t be fearful—the garlic loses its strong taste after roasting. If you don’t have some crusty French or Italian bread handy to spread it on while it’s hot, you’re going to feel really foolish. Why else would you roast garlic?

2 heads large-budded garlic Olive oil

Salt and pepper Remove the loose outer skin of the garlic. Cut the base just enough so that you can spread out the cloves a little, and also to allow the garlic heads to sit upright.

Place the garlic heads on a sheet of heavy duty foil, drizzle a good amount of olive oil between the spread cloves, make a foil package, seal, and bake in a 275-degree oven for 30 minutes. Open the packet, and pour some more olive oil over the garlic. Seal and bake for 1 more hour. To eat, separate the cloves, squeeze, and “squirt” the softened garlic onto a piece of bread.

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PICNICS & TAILGATING

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PICNICS

There are two kinds of picnics—the romantic kind and the “lots of people” kind. Let’s start with the romantic kind. The nicest thing about romantic picnics is that you always go with someone you love. I think the best romantic picnics are those where only one person knows what’s on the menu. Then you can surprise the other person with wine, champagne, flowers, an engagement ring— whatever.

A good romantic picnic should be a carefully staged affair, always by virtue of the food as well as the surroundings. Although you can get your romantic picnic catered by a good deli, I think it adds something when the food has been prepared by one of the participants. Otherwise, it seems a little like there’s a third person at the picnic feeding you.

The “lots of people” picnics are an entirely different story. They often include children and the gourmet quality of the food is less important than the quantity. Its okay to run out of food on a romantic picnic because there are other things you can do, but you better have enough food for the lots of people kind.

Speaking of food, for any kind of picnic, keep the food COLD. I know you may serve hotdogs, hamburgers, or other heated dishes, but until cooking time rolls around, keep everything on ice.

TAILGATING

Tailgating, to the extent that it is done today, is a fairly recent occurrence. There have probably always been tailgate parties at football games, but nowhere near as elaborate as they have become. I love it. Any activity that challenges people to outdo each other in the food department is wonderful as far as I’m concerned.

As a consultant, I had a number of major football powers as clients. Consequently, I was usually the guest of the Athletic Director or Head Coach and watched the games, either from the sidelines or in the luxury suites, which was a real pleasure. It was interesting to see how the food at the tailgate parties changed from region to region, but it always smelled and looked great.

Obviously, there is a major difference between a picnic that is fully selfcontained and one that requires a grill. However, I have a little propane grill, no bigger than a briefcase, that I carry in my pickup at all times. You never know when the idea of a picnic will occur to you

PICNIC AND TAILGATING SUGGESTIONS

Keep in mind that it will probably be hours between the time you leave home and the time you eat. So think about the food you are going to serve, and don’t make a sandwich ahead of time that will likely turn soft and drippy before you serve it. If you need some ideas, just refer to the Sandwich and Salad Sections, but remember one thing: don’t forget the deviled eggs!

NOTE: When you pack your cooler keep this in mind:

Your cooler keeps things cold, it does not make things cold. Chill the food and drinks before you put them in.

A full cooler will keep food better than a half-empty one. Pack it in nice and tight between ice or ice packs.

Use empty milk containers, fill them with water, and freeze.