Family Recipes

1. Make the meatballs

Heat oven to 350, if baking meatballs, or get a large skillet ready. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg, then add breadcrumbs, milk and oregano to mix. Season with salt and pepper, then add meats and mix thoroughly. Grate a little cheese on top and mix it in.

Roll the meatballs into little balls, just a bit bigger than a marble. Either fry these to brown in a little oil, or put in the oven for 20 minutes or so. Leave space between the meatballs so they brown, and don’t just steam.

Set aside.

 

2. Make the soup

Bring the stock and water to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes, skimming foam if any. Add carrot and cook for 5 minutes. Add escarole and cook for 10-15 minutes, until it is dark green and very soft. Add the pastina, shredded chicken and meatballs, and simmer until pastina is cooked, about 5 minutes.

 

Ladle into bowls and serve with more grated cheese.

Method:

• Powder the cashew in a coffee grinder, blender or a dry grinder. The cashews should be in powdered form and not become pasty or oily.
• On a low flame heat sugar and water in a thick bottomed or non-stick pan.
• Meanwhile grease a plate with ghee/clarified butter and keep butter papers ready.
• When all the sugar has dissolved in the water, add the cashew powder.
• Mix and keep on stirring the cashew mixture non-stop on a low flame.
• The cashew mixture will start thickening.
• Cook the cashew mixture for approximately 7 to 9 minutes until the whole dough starts to come together.
• Remove the whole lump of the cashew dough from the pan and place it on the greased plate.
• Add ghee or clarified butter to the cashew mixture.
• When the heat in the dough is hot enough to handle, then knead the cashew mixture lightly.
• Flatten the dough and place it on a butter paper.
• Place a butter paper on top and then using a rolling pin, gently roll the dough from all sides till you reach a thickness of 1/8 inch in the dough.
• Remove the butter paper and let the rolled dough cool.
• When completely cooled, using a sharp knife cut the cashew dough giving square or diamond shapes.
• Gently remove the kaju katli with a butter knife.
• Serve the kaju katli straight away or keep in an airtight container.

Jalapenos – cut in half & remove seeds.  Soak in ice water several hours or all night if possible

Monterey Jack Cheese – cut into cubes that will fit into the peppers.

Put the cheese inside on half of a pepper and fit the other half on — WRAP THE PEPPER IN A THIN LAYER OF SAUSAGE (uncooked)  I make a thin patty and wrap around make sure it seals the entire pepper.

Biscuits – flatten and wrap around the sausage& pepper, make sure it seals all openings.

Bake at 350* till golden brown.  There will be some grease cook out, so you do not have to grease the cookie sheet before cooking.

Preparation

1. Simmer rice, 3 scallions, turkey carcass (break into pieces if necessary), half of ginger, and water in a 6-to 8-quart heavy pot, covered, stirring occasionally, until soup has a creamy, porridge-like consistency, 50 minutes to 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, thinly slice remaining 3 scallions and julienne remaining ginger.
3. Discard turkey bones. Serve jook sprinkled with scallions and ginger.

Preparation:

• Boil all root vegetables and eggs. It’s best to leave the skin on the vegetables for boiling. You can do it all in one pot. Take the eggs out first. Beets will take the longest. Check with a paring knife until soft all the way through. Let cool off and peel.
• Layer everything on a plate just so (about 1/2″ thick):

1. Thinly sliced herring(make sure there are no bones)
2. Finely chopped onion
3. Coarsely grated potatoes; season with salt and pepper and spread the whole layer with some mayo
4. Coarsely grated 2 hard-boiled eggs (save one egg for later); gently spread the egg layer with mayo
5. Coarsely grated carrots, spread with mayo
6. Finelygrated beets; spread with good amount of mayo

 

Shape up and smooth out your “pie”, so it is nice and round.

Leave to rest in the fridge for a few hours. If you got up early, as you should have on the day of your dinner party, and began your work right away, your “shuba” will have plenty of time to marry all of its flavors.

 

Before serving, separate the last hard-boiled egg. Finely grate, first the white in a large circle on top of the “shuba”, then the yolk to fill in the white circle. You can stick a sprig of dill in the middle. Make it look good!

Directions

• Boil potatoes, peel, and cut them into medium sized cubes.
• Thinly slice carrots, radish and cucumber (remove the watery part).
• Slice green chilis.
• Toast brown sesame seeds in a pan and grind to a powder.
• Combine potatoes, carrots, cucumber, radish and a green chili in a bowl.
• Add salt, garlic ginger paste, red chili powder and sesame seed powder
• In a small pan, heat mustard oil and fry fenugreek seeds.
• When fenugreek seeds turns black, add turmeric powder and a few chopped chilies, stir; and pour the oil in the achar mixture bowl.
• Mix it together and add lemon juice and salt to taste.
• Garnish with cilantro.

Prepare ingredients and start the sauce

• Place rack in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees
• Wash and dry fresh produce
• Cut off the ends of squash and halve lengthwise.
• Scoop out and discard seeds and pulp.  Medium dice.
• Cut off ends of Brussel sprouts and quarter length wise.
• Peel carrots and cut in half and cut in 2” lengths.
• Core and medium dice an apple.
• Pick sage leaves off the stems, discard stems, and thinly slice the leaves.
• In a bowl, mix together mustard, maple syrup, and ¼ cup of water.

 

Roast the vegetables

• Place the vegetables (squash, carrots, Brussels sprouts) on a sheet pan.
• Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper
• Roast 18-20 minutes in the oven until browned and tender
• Remove from oven

 

Cook the pork and apple

• Pat the pork dry with paper towels.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• In medium sauce pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil on medium high until hot.
• Add pork and diced apple in single layer
• Cook 4-6 minutes stirring occasionally until pork is browned
• Flip the pork and cover pan with lid. Cook another 4-6 minutes until pork is cooked through and apples are tender.
• Remove port to cutting board and let rest 5 minutes with apples remain in pan

 

Finish sauce and serve

• Add sauce to apples in the pan
• Add sliced sage leaves to pan
• Cook 1-2 minutes on medium high and stir or scrape browned bits (or fond) into the sauce.
• Turn off heat, taste, season as desired with salt and pepper
• Slice the pork crosswise in ¼” slices.
• Serve the sliced port, with the roasted vegetables, and top the pork with the finished sauce and apples and serve
• Enjoy!

Instructions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
• Mix Butter and Sugar together until creamy.
• Mix in Almond Extract & Egg until well blended.
• Mix in Flour – dough will become dense and stick together in a ball.

• Transfer ball of dough into 9” x 9” square metal pan.
• Spread and flatten dough to leave a ½” – 1” space to edge of pan.
• Dough will fill in to edges as it bakes.

• Bake on center rack at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes.
• It is done when golden in the center and golden-brown around the edges.

• Let cookies completely cool in pan = 3-4 hours or overnight.
• Remove from pan and cut into equal cookies
• (5 cuts vertically and 5 cuts horizontally).