Spätzle (Garlic Dumplings with Emmentaler)

Very tasty noodle.  This recipe adds cheese and parsley which can be left out to make a basic Spätzle.  I like making a pot of chicken soup then adding Spätzle, just press the dough into the soup as it is simmering.

Recipe and photo from www.saveur.com

2 heads of garlic
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1⁄2 cup milk
1⁄4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
1⁄4 cup finely chopped basil leaves
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups flour
1 cup grated emmentaler cheese

1. Heat oven to 450°. Halve garlic crosswise with a knife and brush with olive oil; wrap with foil. Roast until soft, 1 hour. Let cool and squeeze roasted garlic cloves from their skins into a bowl; mash with a fork to a paste.

2. Melt 2 tbsp. of the butter and add to paste. Then add milk, parsley, basil, salt, and eggs; stir until smooth.

3. Put flour into a large bowl; form a well in center. Slowly pour in the garlic–milk mixture, stirring with a fork to form a smooth batter.

4. Bring a 5-qt. saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat. Set a perforated spätzle-making disk over the pot. Working in batches, scrape batter through holes into water. Cook until dumplings rise to surface, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer dumplings to a baking sheet.


If you don't have a "spätzle-making disk ", try using a cheese grater with larger holes, a colander, large slotted spoon or something else with holes large enough to press the dough through.  A potato ricer is a good substitute. You can also do it the old-style method buy cutting the spätzle off of a cutting board.   Here are some examples of makers - Spätzle Maker at Amazon, Wiki-Pedia Spätzle Entry or Board Method.    

5. Heat remaining 4 tbsp. of butter in a 12" ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add dumplings; cook, stirring, until lightly browned, 6–8 minutes. Meanwhile, heat broiler; put rack 5" from heating element. Sprinkle dumplings with cheese; broil until melted, about 2 minutes.

Brown Rice, Lentil, and Spinach Soup

From www.saveur.com

1⁄2 lb. sweet Italian sausage - or ground chicken
Heat 1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. cumin seeds,
1⁄2 tsp. dried thyme
1 dried chile de árbol
12 cups chicken broth
1 cup long-grain brown rice, rinsed
3⁄4 cup brown lentils, rinsed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1⁄2 lb. spinach, coarsely chopped

1. Remove sausage from its casings. Heat oil in a 5-quart pot over medium-high heat; add sausage and cook, stirring and breaking it up into small pieces, until browned, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to a plate.

2. Add carrots, celery, and onions, along with cumin, thyme, and chile de árbol. Cook, stirring, until lightly browned, 10–15 minutes. Add reserved sausage, chicken broth, rice, and lentils and season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium-low, and cook, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until rice and lentils are soft, about 45 minutes. Stir in spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 minute.

SERVES 6 – 8

Shrimp Bisque

Leftover raw shrimp shells lend a rich, briny flavor to this creamy soup.

8 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 plum tomatoes, chopped

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 rib celery, chopped

6 cups uncooked shrimp shells

1⁄2 cup uncooked rice,  preferably basmati

2 tbsp. tomato paste

1⁄2 cup plus 2 tbsp. brandy

6 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley

6 sprigs fresh thyme

1 dried bay leaf

Kosher salt, to taste

1⁄2 cup heavy cream

4 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Cayenne pepper, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper,  to taste

Crème fraîche, for garnish

Chopped chives, for garnish

1. Melt 4 tbsp. of the butter in an 8-qt. pot over medium heat. Add the tomatoes, onions, carrots, and celery; cover and cook, stirring, until soft, about 7 minutes. Increase heat to high and add the shrimp shells and rice; cook until shells are deep red, 2–3 minutes. Stir in tomato paste; cook until browned, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and pour in 1⁄2 cup brandy; return pan to high heat and cook until liquid has almost evaporated, 1–2 minutes.

2. Tie parsley, thyme, and bay leaf together with kitchen twine; add to saucepan. Add salt and 9 cups water; boil. Lower heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let soup cool.

3. Discard herb bundle. Purée soup mixture in batches in a blender. Set a sieve over a 6-qt. saucepan; strain, -discarding solids. Heat bisque over medium heat. Whisk in remaining butter, brandy, cream, lemon juice, and cayenne until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Divide bisque between bowls; garnish with crème fraîche and chives.

SERVES 6 – 8

Shellfish and Tomato Stew

Variation on Cioppino.

TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes SERVES: 2-4
By Yotam Ottolenghi

¾ cup white wine
1¼ pounds clams
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to finish
2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 pound ripe tomatoes, cut into ½-inch dice
½ teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, roughly chopped
½ teaspoon salt, plus extra to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 lemon
6 ounces large scallops
7 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 ounces feta, crumbled
1 scallion, outer layer removed and sliced thin on bias
WHAT TO DO:
1. Set medium pot fitted with lid over medium-high heat. Add wine and reduce for 2 minutes, or until ¼ its original volume. Meanwhile, set fine mesh strainer over small bowl.

2. Add clams to pot and cover with lid. Shaking pot occasionally, cook 3-4 minutes, or until all clams open. Pour contents through strainer, separating clams from cooking liquid.

3. Set 10-inch oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Stir in olive oil and garlic and cook 1 minute, or until garlic turns golden. Add tomato paste and cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly so garlic does not burn.

4. Add tomatoes, clam cooking liquid, sugar, oregano, ½ teaspoon salt and pepper to pan. Using a vegetable peeler, remove 2 long strips of zest from lemon and add to pan. Simmer 15-17 minutes, or until sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper to taste. While sauce simmers, preheat broiler and remove ¾ of clams from shells.

5. Stir scallops into sauce and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat, stir in shelled clams and shrimp, and scatter feta and scallions over top. Nestle clams in shells into sauce.

6. Transfer pan to oven and broil 3-5 minutes, or until shrimp and scallops are just cooked through.

7. To serve, squeeze ½ tablespoon lemon juice over top. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil.

Cioppino

Tasty seafood stew.

Recipe from > www.wsj.com

Total Time: About 1 hour
Serves: 8 to 10

16 large tomatoes, cut into ½-inch slices
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup onion, peeled and finely diced
¾ cup celery, thinly sliced
¾ cup fresh fennel, diced
¾ cup carrots, peeled and diced small
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
¾ cup Pernod or other anise-flavored liqueur
8 cups rich fish stock
Finely grated zest of one orange
1 teaspoon saffron threads
40 mussels, debearded and well scrubbed
40 cherrystone clams, rinsed
40 medium shrimp
2 pounds monkfish, cut into 1-inch squares
2 pounds cleaned squid bodies, cut into ¼-inch rings
¼ cup parsley, minced
¼ cup basil, julienned
Tabasco Sauce, to taste
Garlic Mayonnaise (see recipe below)
Crusty peasant or French bread, toasted

What to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lay the tomato slices on a greased baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until caramelized, about 30-40 minutes. Cool and chop tomatoes into medium dice. Set aside in a small bowl.

2. Meanwhile, over medium heat and in a large casserole or stockpot, heat remaining tablespoon olive oil with onions, celery, fennel and carrots. Cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. If the mixture becomes too dry or brown, add a bit of fish stock or water.

3. After the 10 minutes, add garlic and cook until vegetables are soft and beginning to color, adding water or stock again if necessary, approximately 10-15 minutes more.

4.When the vegetables are ready, warm the Pernod in a small saucepan. Turn off both burners, and flame the vegetables with the Pernod, stirring until the flames have completely subsided.

5. Return pot to medium heat and add the fish stock, zest, saffron, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper and reserved tomatoes. Bring to a simmer—but do not boil—stir, reduce heat and cook 5 minutes. (Note: The recipe can be prepared up to 48 hours ahead to this point and refrigerated after cooling completely.)

6. When ready to serve, heat broth over medium heat to a simmer, but do not boil. Add mussels and clams and cover. Cook 2 minutes, then add shrimp and monkfish. Cook 2 more minutes, covered. Add squid and cook for 1 minute or so. Do not overcook but make sure clams and mussels are open and everything else is done.

7. Add parsley and basil, and season with salt, pepper and Tabasco Sauce.

8. Serve, divided into oven-warmed bowls, making sure to give everyone some of everything. Pass the garlic mayonnaise and lots of toasted crusty French bread, sourdough or baguettes. Alternatively, place a piece of toast spread with garlic mayonnaise in the bottom of each bowl before adding the cioppino.

Potato Soup

Simple, tasty and easy to make potato soup.   A complete meal by itself or a nice starter

6 potatoes
1 med onion
1 cup cream or half & half
1/4 c butter
1-2 tsp whole allspice
2 bayleafs

Dice potatoes and onion.  Add allspice, bayleaf and salt to taste.  Add just enough water to cover the potatoes.  Boil 7-10 mins until potatoes are done.   Reduce heat, add butter.  When butter is melted, take off heat and add cream.   Let sit, covered, for at least 15 mins.  

Jamie Oliver's Party Sqaush Soup

starter | serves 4
I like to think of this as a happy soup. The amazing heat from the chilli will really get your endorphins going and the rice is so comforting. It’s just what you need in the cold winter months. The secret to making it so good is to really work the seasoning at the end, and pimp it up with some beautiful fresh lime juice. You can vary it by using noodles instead of rice, or adding some pulled chicken or sweetcorn, but as it stands, this is a great veggie dish.

I saw Jamie cook this recipe on one of his Christmas shows. The soup looks really good. I think you could make the soup with out the coconut milk and increase the broth.

• 1¼ litres chicken or vegetable stock, preferably free-range or organic (around 42 ounces)
• 6–7 lime leaves
• 3 fresh red chillies, deseeded
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 large thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled
• 3 sticks of lemongrass, trimmed and squashed with the back of a knife
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a small bunch of fresh cilantro
• olive oil
• 1 heaped teaspoon five-spice
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 large butternut or acorn squash, halved, deseeded and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1 cup basmati rice, washed
• 2 cans coconut milk
• juice of 3-4 limes
optional: 1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced

Get a high-sided pan or wok on a medium-high heat to get nice and hot, and pour your stock into a small pan on a low heat to get warm. To make your fragrant soup base, add the lime leaves, chillies, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and a pinch of salt to a food processor. Chop the top few leaves off your bunch of coriander and pop to one side, then add the rest to the processor and blitz for 30 seconds or so until fairly fine. With the processor still running, add a few good lugs of olive oil, the five-spice and ground cumin. Tip this mixture straight into your hot pan, you can add a splash of stock to loosen it if you want, and fry and stir for a couple of minutes so it starts smelling fantastic. Add your sliced onion, then cook gently for 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the squash to the pan and stir well, then pour in the stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until the squash is lovely and soft. At this point, add the rice and give it a really good stir. If it looks a bit dry, you can add a splash of water here. Continue to simmer for about 8 minutes until the rice is almost cooked, then add the coconut milk and bring back to the boil. Simmer for a couple of minutes until hot through and thickened a little. I like to squash up some of the squash at this point too.

Take the pan off the heat, give it a good stir, then taste and season carefully with salt and pepper. To give it a bit of twang add the lime juice – the amount you need will depend on how juicy your limes are, so keep tasting it as you go. Scatter with more sliced fresh chilli and your reserved coriander leaves before serving.

Ted Williams’s Fenway Chowder

Gotta love a taste bowl of New England style chowder.    This one looks great, it is loaded with clams and mussels.  One recommendation is to use half clams and half scallops.  Could also make a mixture of scallops, clams, shrimp and/or crab.
www.nytimes.com; Published: December 7, 2010

Time: 30 minutes
3 tablespoons bacon fat, lard or vegetable oil
1 small onion, minced
1 large shallot, minced
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
2 teaspoons Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons dried garlic flakes
8 ounces skinless fillets of grouper, red snapper or a combination, cut into bite-size pieces
1 pint chopped shucked clams (or use half clams and half bay scallops), drained, juices reserved
4 cups whole milk
2 cups half-and-half
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 pound mussels in the shell, scrubbed and debearded
1 dozen (about 8 ounces) chopped shucked oysters, with their juice
2 small white potatoes, peeled and diced small
1/2 cup fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
Kosher salt and black pepper.

1. In a large heavy pot, heat fat over medium heat. Add onion, shallot and bell peppers, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add seasoned salt, Old Bay, thyme and garlic flakes and cook about 1 minute, until aromatic. Add fish and clams and cook, stirring, 3 minutes, until fish is just opaque.

2. Add milk, half-and-half, sherry and reserved clam juices and bring to a simmer. Add mussels, oysters with their juices, potatoes and corn, and simmer very gently until mussels open and potatoes are tender, 5 to 8 minutes. If desired, remove mussels from shell and return to the soup.

3. Stir in lemon juice and cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.

Yield: 10 to 12 servings.

Woody DeSilva's Championship Chili

Great chili recipe.  Instead of beef, you could use venison, elk, buffalo and Turkey.  Might be a good recipe for some wild turkey breast. 
www.saveur.com 12/1/10

4 lbs. beef chuck, trimmed and   cut into 1⁄2" cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper,   to taste
4 tbsp. canola oil
5 medium onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2  6-oz. cans tomato paste
4 tbsp. dried oregano
3 tbsp. chili powder
4 tsp. ground chile pequín
   or cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. sweet paprika
1 tbsp. Tabasco
1 tsp. ground cumin
4 tbsp. masa harina

1. Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 6-qt. pot over high heat. Working in 4 batches, brown beef, about 3 minutes per batch. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beef to a plate.

2. Add onions and garlic; cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Return beef to pot; stir in tomato paste. Cook, stirring frequently and scraping bottom of pot with a wooden spoon, until tomato paste is caramelized, about 12 minutes. Add oregano, chili powder, chile pequín, paprika, Tabasco, and cumin; cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute.

3. Add 5 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender, about 2 hours. Stir in masa harina; season with salt. Simmer, stirring, until thickened, about 5 minutes.

SERVES 6

Butternut Squash Soup

Tasty soup which makes a great appetizer.   Add some bread with cheese and call it a meal.   This one is from Charla Eccles.

1 Butternut Squash (3 pds.) unpeeled, seeds removed, cut into 4 large pieces

2T butter

1C chopped Yellow Onion

1 Clove Garlic, minced

5C Chicken stock or broth

3/4t Salt

1/2t Curry powder

1/8t ground White Pepper

Crème Fraiche, sour cream or nonfat yogurt for topping

Chopped Chives for topping

Preheat oven to 400. Place squash pieces in flat baking pan. Pour about 1 cup water around squash. Bake until soft, about 1 hour. Remove to plate and cool. When cool enough to handle, scoop out the squash pulp. You should have about 4 cups. Set aside.

In a large soup pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add onion and garlic and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add squash pulp and 1 cup of the stock and mix well. Transfer to a food processor or blender in batches and process until smooth. Return to pan and add the remaining 4 cups stock and seasonings. Simmer, uncovered, until flavors are blended, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Ladle into bowls and top with crème and chives.

Herbed White Bean and Sausage Stew

Nice winter hearty stew.  No need to pre-cook the beans.  If you are short on time, use canned beans but watch you simmer time.
www.nytimes.com; Oct 29, 2010

Time: 2 1/2 hours

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, more for serving
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, sliced 3/4-inch thick
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 medium carrots, finely diced
2 celery stalks, finely diced
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 pound dried Great Northern beans, rinsed and picked through
2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
2 thyme sprigs
1 large rosemary sprig
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, more for serving
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, more to taste.

1. Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and brown until cooked through, about 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel.

2. Add the tomato paste and cumin to the pot. Cook, stirring, until dark golden, about 2 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the beans, 8 cups water, salt, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low and simmer gently until the beans are tender, about 2 hours, adding more water if needed to make sure the beans remain submerged.

3. When the beans are tender, return the sausage to the pot. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning. Ladle into warm bowls and serve drizzled with additional vinegar and olive oil.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.