Five or Less!

Five Recipes with 5 Ingredients or Less

Is it possible to have interesting, layers of flavor with five ingredients or less? YES!

I know I get a little involved sometimes. This idea actually came about the morning after--after I spent the previous day in the kitchen preparing a fairly elaborate (involved) meal. We were at the coast with the seafood market only a two minute bike ride away--the next thing I knew my Numero Uno (daughter) helper in the kitchen and her husband, also a great cook, and I were in the kitchen with a pound of fresh shrimp. We made two dishes and crostini in the time it took to cook pasta--less than 30 minutes--and honestly, it may have been better than the meal I worked so hard on the day before.

(I'm not counting salt and pepper in my ingredients!)

So, here they are: 5 recipes, each with 5 ingredients or less:

Garlic Shrimp

1) 1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

2) 1 T extra virgin olive oil

3) 3 garlic cloves, minced

4) 1/2 tsp. dried red chili flakes-or to taste

5) 1 cup dry white wine

Salt to taste

Add olive oil to medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chili flakes, and cook just until garlic is softened, 1-2 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for about two minutes, or until shrimp just begins to turn pink. Finally, add wine and cook until reduced to half. Season with salt to taste.

Serve with pasta, crostini, or just a spoon!

Garlic Tomatoes and Brie

1) six garlic cloves, chopped, or less according to taste

2) 2 T extra virgin olive oil

3) 4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

4) 1 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into chiffonade

5) 16 oz. Brie, cut into small pieces (don't remove outside)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Add olive oil to medium skillet over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook just until softened, about 1-2 minutes. Add tomatoes, stirring, and cook until tomatoes are warmed through and beginning to change shape.

Combine brie and basil chiffonade in serving bowl. Pour hot tomatoes and garlic over cheese, and stir to combine, letting the brie soften in the warm sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over pasta, with crostini, or again, with a spoon!

Crostini

1) 1 fresh baguette cut into half inch slices

2) 1 stick butter, melted

3) 1 T mixed Italian dried herbs

4) 1 tsp. garlic salt

Arrange bread slices on a sheet pan. Mix melted butter, dried herbs and garlic salt. Brush each crostini with melted butter mix and place in preheated oven at 350 degrees for about ten minutes, just until crostini begin to brown, and become crisp.

Flat-leaf Parsley Pasta

1) 1 lb. campanelle pasta (or your favorite pasta), cooked in salted water and drained (reserve 1 cup cooking liquid)

2) 2 T butter

3) 2 garlic cloves, minced

4) 1/3 cup chopped Flat-leaf parsley (or your favorite herb, ie Thyme or Sage)

5) grated Parmesan Cheese

Add butter to medium sized skillet over medium heat. When melted, add garlic and cook just until softened, 1-2 minutes. Add parsley cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add drained pasta, and enough of the reserved pasta water to loosen the pasta. Garnish with Parmesan cheese to taste.

Serve as is, with Garlic Tomatoes and Brie, or Garlic Shrimp.

Sgroppino

1) 2 pts. fresh strawberries, sliced (Set aside a few slices for garnish.)

2) 1/2 cup sugar

3) 1 chilled bottle Prosecco

4) 3 pts. lemon sorbetto, frozen

Add sugar to sliced strawberries and set aside.

Pulse one cup of chilled Prosecco with half the sorbetto in blender just until combined, then add half the berries and pulse again (You want this to stay icy. May have to add a cube or two of crushed ice.)

Pour into festive glasses and top with just a bit of Prosecco and a strawberry slice.

Repeat with remaining ingredients when ready for another glass.

Not Enough Time for Irish Stew? Try this!

Guinness Ribeye, Smashed Irish Potatoes and Savory Scones

St. Paddy's Day screams for a food celebration, beginning with Guinness and ending with a nice Irish Coffee, the perfect 'dessert' for any Irish meal. If you don't have the time to take a stew or corned beef to the finish line (you can use the slow cooker for both of these with some preplanning) I have a good suggestion. Guinness Ribeye can be on the table in 30 minutes, and the whole meal, potatoes, scones and all, in about an hour. I made a test run Sunday night, and with a tossed salad and the Irish Coffee, you have a full meal. Serve it country style, which at our house means 'bring the pots to the table'! I think you'll be happy with the flavor of the Guinness sauce and steak, which really does make me think of a good stew!

Guinness Steak with Irish Potatoes

4 thick Rib Eye Steaks, salted and peppered

3 T extra virgin olive oil, divided

4 T butter, divided

2 shallots, chopped

4 cups sliced mushrooms

1 cup Guinness Stout

1 T tomato paste

1 T chopped fresh parsley

8 small potatoes (or 4 larger potatoes) scrubbed and cut into 2 inch pieces

3 garlic cloves, smashed

2 T fresh herbs, chopped (ie sage, thyme, rosemary—or a combination)

Preheat oven to 375°.

Parboil potatoes in salted water just until becoming tender. Drain potatoes and toss in 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper, smashed garlic cloves, and chopped herbs. Spread on sheet pan and place in oven while preparing steaks. Stir the potatoes a couple of times while cooking. Potatoes should be browned on outside and tender on inside when done. Scrape potatoes into bowl, discarding garlic. Add 3 tablespoons butter and smash into chunks with potato masher.

Add one tablespoon olive oil and one tablespoon of butter to large skillet (preferably an iron skillet) over high heat. When melted and sizzling, add steaks and sear for about 2 minutes each side. Remove steaks, place on sheet pan in preheated 375° oven for 6-8 minutes for medium rare (this can be same oven you're using for the potatoes, just a different rack). Remove steaks from oven when they reach desired doneness, cover with foil and set aside. Remember they will cook a little more while resting.

Reduce heat to medium under iron skillet, and add mushrooms and shallots. Saute until mushrooms are lightly browned on each side. Add Guinness and tomato paste, stir to deglaze pan, and reduce heat to simmer. Cook until liquid is reduced to half. Place steaks into pan with mushrooms (along with any accumulated juice), spooning mushrooms over steak. Top with chopped parsley.

Savory Irish Scones

2 cups self-rising flour

1 tsp. Baking powder

One-half tsp. Salt

1 stick cold butter cut into small cubes

1 tsp. Mixed dried herbs

1 cup shredded cheese

One cup milk

1 egg

Preheat oven to 400°.

Spray one cake pan with butter flavored

Sift flour (White Lily is thought to be the best American scone flour—it has less protein than others, which means less gluten, and better for light pastries.) and baking powder. Add cold butter pieces, and with fingers, mix for about one minute until coarse meal consistency.

Add cheese and dried herbs to flour and mix gently with fork.

Whisk milk and egg together, then begin adding milk and fluffing with fork until dough forms. There sill be some milk mixture left to use on top of scones. This is a wet dough.

Form dough into ball shape, turn onto lightly floured board, and very gently form into thick circle. Handle as little as possible. Cut into eight triangles. Dip tops of each piece into leftover milk/egg mixture and place in cake pan..

Bake for 10 minutes on top rack, turn pan front to back, and bake five more minutes. Remove from oven and place scones on cooling rack for about 15 minutes. Remove from pan to serving platter and recut wedges.

Buena Vista Irish Coffee Story

http://www.thebuenavista.com/irishcoffee.html

Irish Coffee

(My first Irish Coffee was at the Buena Vista Café in San Francisco, which claims to perfectly recreate the classic Irish drink.)

Warm your cup with very hot water, then discard the water.

Fill your warmed cup about three-quarters full with hot, strong coffee.

Add 2 sugar cubes (or two teaspoons sugar if you don’t have the cubes) and stir to dissolve.

Add 1 ½ oz. Irish Whiskey to coffee.

Top with sweetened whipped cream which has been lightly whipped.

Pour the lightly whipped cream onto the coffee over a spoon to keep the cream floating on top of the coffee.

Meatloaf: More Than the Name Implies

Rustic Italian Torta

I'm not much of a meatloaf lover. This dish while in every way IS a loaf of meat, doesn't remind me in any way of the meatloaf that has haunted me since childhood. If you combine great complimentary ingredients that work well together in other recipes, you'll probably be happy with your creation. I use this combination for hamburgers, and for cannelloni filling. So, to have a 'meatloaf' in my repertoire, I put these same tastes together to form a rustic Italian torta. I line the pan with bread to catch and absorb all the wonderful juices--oh so good on the hamburger, and equally good here! This is one recipe that tastes even better than you think it will. The torta is very moist. After enjoying it for a Sunday supper, or a week night meal, the leftovers become great sandwiches, especially if nestled into a nice piece of foccacia.

Rustic Italian Torta

SERVES 10

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Several half inch slices of rustic Italian bread
• 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup Pinot Grigio
• 1 cup loosely packed Italian Flat Leaf Parsley leaves
• 1/4 pound hard salami, roughly chopped
• 1/4 pound prosciutto, roughly chopped
• 2 pounds ground veal (I buy veal stew meat and grind it in my food processor)
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (from rustic Italian loaf)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup shredded Parmesano Reggiano
• 1/2 cup sun dried tomato slices in oil
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella
• Fresh basil leaves to garnish
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

• 
  
• Line the outside of a 10 inch spring form pan with foil. Brush the inside bottom with olive oil, and line the inside bottom with bread slices.

Add remaining olive oil to saute pan over medium heat and cook onions until they are 'blond'. Add garlic and cook another couple of minutes. Then add wine and cook until wine is reduced, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Add parsley, salami and prosciutto to food processor and pulse to chop.

Combine breadcrumbs and milk in small bowl and set aside.

Place ground veal in large bowl. Add ground parsley and meat. Top with onion mixture. Then eggs, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and finally parmesan cheese. With a fork, gently toss to combine these ingredients. Do not over-mix, or compact!

Add half the meat mixture to the prepared spring form pan. Top with half the mozzarella cheese and half the sun-dried tomatoes. Top with remaining meat mixture. Bake for one hour.

Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and sun dried tomatoes. Return to oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, tent with foil, and rest for 10 minutes.

Run a knife around the inside of the pan. Remove sides from pan, leaving the bottom sitting on the foil to catch any stray drippings. With an offset spatula and a large bladed knife (or the largest thin spatula-like things you have), slide torta to serving plate, slice, garnish with fresh basil leaves and enjoy!

Bon Appetito!

Big Soups-Big Flavor!

This post is featured in the Wild Table portion of the current Wild River Review! Thank you, Warren Bobrow!

http://www.wildriverreview.com/wildtable/?p=1415

Tuscan/Southern

Culinary

Conspiracy Theory

Since my first experience with traditional Italian food from the Chianti region, I've been quietly obsessed with the similarities between the recipes of my Southern background and these newly found treasures. There's much more to this than I can cover in one blog post, but to give you a good example, I'll begin with my Grandmother's Chicken and Dumplings.

Everyone thinks their mother, or grandmother had the best recipes for their favorite things. I know that, but in this particular case, I am absolutely sure Mama Nell's Chicken and Dumplings were the best in the whole world. She knew we loved them, so she made them often.

I liked playing with the dough and sneaking a bite of chicken. I wish I'd been paying more attention to exactly what she was doing, because try as I do, mine still aren't as good as hers, but I'm not giving up.

Mama Nell made what she called 'slick' dumplings. She made her dough, using cooled broth from the simmering chicken. And I can still see her bringing the dough together in a big bowl. I wish it had been a dough board, but it was just a regular glass bowl. And I also remember her spreading a piece of newspaper over the counter, taping it down, and rolling her dough on the paper after flouring it. I really don't know why, unless is had to do with drying the noodles a little before dropping them in the simmering broth, or maybe it made clean up easier. Whatever the reason, making slick dumplings is a part of my Southern heritage.

On the other hand, and completely unrelated in my mind, I had a real desire to take pasta classes and learn to make fresh pasta. No matter how many times I saw Mario Batali on the Food Network make the well of flour, and mix the eggs, I didn't make the connection until I actually went to Italy and was standing in the the kitchen of a wonderful Italian 'Mama' and we made pasta together on her kitchen table, and then it hit me: this is just exactly like making slick dumplings with Mama Nell. Well, it wasn't exactly. The ingredients were basically the same, but with different proportions. The kneading and rolling were much more intense making pasta, but it's a very similar process with a very similar result!

Chicken Stew with Pasta or Slick Dumplings
Step 1:
4 lb. whole chicken cut into pieces, including neck and giblets
2 celery stalks cut into large pieces
1 onion, quartered
2 carrots cut, peeled and cut into large pieces
2 sprigs of fresh sage
4 sprigs of fresh parsley
2 tsp. Sea salt
1 tsp. Freshly ground pepper

Place chicken pieces in soup pot and cover by two inches with water. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover pot leaving a little opening, and cook until meat is tender, about 30-40 minutes. Remove chicken to bowl and set aside to cool. Discard vegetables, giblets and neck. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard bones and skin. Roughly shred chicken.

Step 2:
Slick Dumplings* OR 16 oz. dried wide egg noodle pasta

Place chicken broth over medium-high heat. When it boils, reduce heat to simmer and add noodles or dumplings to pot. Cook as directed. (Add extra chicken broth**if needed.)

Step 3:
1 T butter
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
3 T all purpose flour
One-half cup whipping cream

Add butter and olive oil to medium sized pot over medium heat. Add carrots, celery and onions, and saute until vegetables are tender. Add flour, stirring to combine, and cook for 2 minutes while continuing to stir. Add whipping cream, stir, and set aside until ready to add to soup pot.

Step 4:
When noodles are cooked, add shredded chicken and cooked vegetables with whipping cream back to pot. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about five-ten minutes until broth thickens a little.


*Slick Dumplings
2 eggs, beaten
3 oz. Broth, cooled
4 T cooking oil—a little less if using fatty broth
1 tsp. Salt
2 cups all purpose flour

Beat eggs, broth, oil, and salt together. Slowly add flour continuing to stir and mix until dough forms. Knead in bowl a couple of minutes and form smooth ball. Cover and refrigerate for one or two hours.

When ready to cook, remove dough from refrigerator and halve. Roll half the dough on lightly floured surface until thin. Cut into one inch strips, and then cut the strips into 4-5 inch pieces.

Now they are ready to drop into simmering broth. Allow to cook in simmering broth without stirring for about five minutes.



**Chicken Broth

When you roast chicken, save the bones or carcass, along with any pan drippings.
Place in soup pot, cover with water, add roughly chopped vegetables (carrots, onion, celery—or other vegetables you might have, but beware—think ahead about the flavors you might be adding to your broth). Also add any fresh herbs, sage is my favorite for chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper.
Simmer bones, pan drippings, vegetables and herbs for about 40 minutes. Cool and strain. Freeze broth and have it ready whenever you need extra chicken broth.

Once Again, FRESH IS BETTER!

The Daring Cooks Challenge this month has proved once again that FRESH IS BETTER. Michelle of Veggie Num Nums chose the challenge, and it's a great one: Pita Bread and Hummus are the mandatory parts, and can be accompanied by our choice of 'mezze'. I love brined lemons, so I made a Chicken Tagine with Brined Lemons and Olives, and added a new little recipe I'm working with, Brined Lemon/Artichoke/Garlic Spread to the Hummus. It was all delicious! Thank you, Michelle, for a great challenge!

Pita Bread – Recipe adapted from Flatbreads & Flavors by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
Prep time: 20 minutes to make, 90 minutes to rise and about 45 minutes to cook

(This is a GREAT recipe, and I will be using it again!! Very easy and really works!)

2 teaspoons regular dry yeast (.43 ounces/12.1 grams)
2.5 cups lukewarm water (21 ounces/591 grams)
5-6 cups all-purpose flour (may use a combination of 50% whole wheat and 50% all-purpose, or a combination of alternative flours for gluten free pita) (17.5 -21 ounces/497-596 grams)
1 tablespoon table salt (.50 ounces/15 grams)
2 tablespoons olive oil (.95 ounces/29 ml)

Directions:
1. In a large bread bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water. Stir to dissolve. Stir in 3 cups flour, a cup at a time, and then stir 100 times, about 1 minute, in the same direction to activate the gluten. Let this sponge rest for at least 10 minutes, or as long as 2 hours.
2. Sprinkle the salt over the sponge and stir in the olive oil. Mix well. Add more flour, a cup at a time, until the dough is too stiff to stir. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Rinse out the bowl, dry, and lightly oil. Return the dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until at least doubled in size, approximately 1 1/2 hours.
3. Place a pizza stone, or two small baking sheets, on the bottom rack of your oven, leaving a 1-inch gap all around between the stone or sheets and the oven walls to allow heat to circulate. Preheat the oven to 450F (230C).
4. Gently punch down the dough. Divide the dough in half, and then set half aside, covered, while you work with the rest. Divide the other half into 8 equal pieces and flatten each piece with lightly floured hands. Roll out each piece to a circle 8 to 9 inches in diameter and less than 1/4 inch thick. Keep the rolled-out breads covered until ready to bake, but do not stack.
5. Place 2 breads, or more if your oven is large enough, on the stone or baking sheets, and bake for 2 to 3 minutes (It took mine 5-6 minutes, and I wondered if the dough was a little too wet? It felt perfect.), or until each bread has gone into a full balloon. If for some reason your bread doesn't puff up, don't worry it should still taste delicious. Wrap the baked breads together in a large kitchen towel to keep them warm and soft while you bake the remaining rolled-out breads. Then repeat with the rest of the dough.

Hummus – Recipe adapted from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
Prep Time: Hummus can be made in about 15 minutes once the beans are cooked. If you’re using dried beans you need to soak them overnight and then cook them the next day which takes about 90 minutes. (I used canned chickpeas.)

1.5 cups dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight (or substitute well drained canned chickpeas and omit the cooking) (10 ounces/301 grams)
2-2.5 lemons, juiced (3 ounces/89ml)
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
a big pinch of salt
4 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste) OR use peanut butter or any other nut butter—feel free to experiment) (1.5 ounces/45 grams)
additional flavorings (optional) I would use about 1/3 cup or a few ounces to start, and add more to taste

Directions:
1. Drain and boil the soaked chickpeas in fresh water for about 1 ½ hours, or until tender. Drain, but reserve the cooking liquid.
2. Puree the beans in a food processor (or you can use a potato masher) adding the cooking water as needed until you have a smooth paste.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Adjust the seasonings to taste.

Braised Chicken with Brined Lemons

(Lemons are best if they have brined for a couple of days, but can be used after only a few hours.)

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. ground ginger

2 tsp paprika

Pinch of saffron (if you have it—don’t buy it just for this recipe!)

2 bay leaves

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. coarsely ground pepper

2 T extra virgin olive oil for marinade, plus 2 T for browning chicken

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 lbs. chicken thighs, most skin and excess fat removed

2 medium sweet onions, thinly sliced

1 cup pitted green olives

1/2 cup chicken broth

1⁄2 cup chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley

Juice and zest of one lemon

6 brined lemon quarters, rinsed and thinly sliced*

Mix the cinnamon, cumin, ginger, paprika and saffron in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Toast, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. Cool.

Add spices, bay leaves, salt, pepper, garlic and olive oil to large zip lock bag. Compress to mix, then add the chicken and be sure all pieces are coated. Refrigerate and let marinate for 2-3 hours.

Add remaining oil to large Dutch oven over medium heat. When oil is hot, remove chicken from bag, reserving marinade, and brown chicken on both sides. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Add onions and sauté until tender. Then add olives and sauté another 2 minutes.

Add chicken pieces, chicken broth, reserved marinade, parsley, lemon juice and zest, and preserved lemon slices. Stir once, cover, and cook over low heat for 1 ½ hours. Chicken should be very tender.

*Brined Lemons

Wash and dry 4 small lemons. Cut into quarters and toss with 1/2 cup salt. Stuff salted lemon quarters (and any remaining salt not adhering to lemons) into quart jar. Juice 2 more lemons, and add juice to jar. Finish filling jar with water to cover lemons. Close lid and turn several times to mix lemon juice and water. For the next two days, turn the jar occasionally to keep mixed. Then refrigerate for up to 3 months.

Super Super-Bowl Snack--Shrimp Ceviche!

Shrimp Ceviche

This recipe is more 'to taste' than specific quantities, so use your own judgement, but this will give you guidelines to get started!

2 lbs. peeled and deveined medium-sized shrimp, cooked for only one minute (I saute over medium heat with a little olive oil). Place in colander and immerse immediately in ice water, drain, then coarsely chop—either with knife, or pulse in food processor, CAREFULLY. You want chunks of shrimp.

3 medium tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped—knife chop. (I buy whatever tomatoes offer the best flavor. On this day it was the smaller vine tomatoes, so I used more.)

half a large sweet onion finely chopped, or equal amount of green onions. Chop with knife.

one-third cup finely chopped carrot—pulse in food processor

cilantro, roughly chopped—knife—about a cup of leaves and then rough chop

sea salt to taste

Zest of the limes (remember to zest before juicing)

red pepper flakes (or one seeded, and finely chopped jalapeno pepper) to taste

1-2 tsp. smokey sweet paprika

lots of fresh lime juice (probably four limes)

Mix your shrimp, tomatoes, onion, carrot, cilantro, lime zest, salt, and red pepper flakes. Add enough lime juice to barely cover. Top evenly with smokey sweet paprika, and garnish with cilantro leaves. Needs to ‘marinate’ in frig for about an hour.

Serve with good tortilla chips. We like the blue chips. Offer a bowl of celery sticks for those who are watching calories.

It's also nice to serve alongside good guacamole.

Careful with the food processor. Everything can be knife chopped except carrots, which are easier to finely chop in the processor.


I use the zest from all the limes it takes to cover the ceviche.

Go Saints!

Happy First Birthday, "Annelle's Table"!!

Here's to Another Year!

Annelle's Table is celebrating its first birthday today, and what a year it's been for us both! There have been lots of changes, and if memory serves me correctly, I could be in for an interesting year number two. We never had 'terrible twos' when the kids were hitting their second year, but there were challenges every day. By the time I figured out how to deal with one, it was already tomorrow, and there was a brand new challenge!

With all the changes, one thing has remained constant: the circle of family and friends that is the cornerstone of my life. I'm very grateful and thankful for each and every one of you! So, here's to another year of sharing myself, and the things that are important to me (foodfoodfood) with you! Thank you for listening...