Cranberry Apricot Relish

4 Cups cranberries
2 cups chopped dried apricots
1 cup raisins (1/2 black 1/2 white)
1 Tablespoon of grated orange peel
1/4 teaspon of ginger powder
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1/2 cup French Brandy

Put all ingredientes except sugsr into a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the berries pop open. Remove from heat. Add sugar and stir until dissolved.
Cool. Can be frozen.

People will ask you for this recipe. Either send them here for a copy or have a copy ready in a 3x5 card, you will need it!! Its that good.

Summer Rice Salad

I first ate this salad at Sally Kabinoff's Fourth of July Swim party seven thousand years ago. To give credit where credit is due it originated from Ilene Berman's kitchen. I adopted it as mine, modified some ingredients and I now call it Henri's Summer Rice salad. Why Not.

Two things make this one a winner. You have to use "Success" Rice.
The one that comes in the boil a bag. You Have to use the right proportion of vinaigrette dressing. I said two but it is three, you have to use fresh dill and fresh parsley.

Vinaigrette Dressing

1/2 Cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbs Dijon Mustard
1 Tsp Salt
1 Cup olive oil
1/2 Tsp Pepper
2 Tbs Sugar

Mix and set aside.

The veggies: Plus or minus whatever you like! It has to be colorful.
8 Cups of Cooked and Cold Rice ( That Would be 4 Success Bags)

Chop into very small dice

1 Green Pepper
1 Red Pepper
1 Orange Pepper or Yellow or Both
1 Red Onion
1 Bunch of Green Onions
1 cup of Currants or chopped raisins
1/2 Cup of Dried apricots or white raisins
1/2 Cup of Dried Cherries or Cranberries
Note that I say one or the other, not both. If you want to use both reduce to 1/4 cups.
It really does not matter what you put in it as long as you whatch the proportions
(yellow or green squash, cucumber, celery, etc)

10 oz of frozen Pettit Pois (little peas) a must
1/2 cup of Fresh Parsley chopped
1/4 cup of Fresh dill chopped.

Add all the chopped vegetables to the rice, only after rice is cold, then add the vinaigrette and toss.


You will be asked for this recipe over and over again. Guaranteed!!

You can send them here.

Italian Ricotta Cheese Cake

Every Time Hank Farrentino came to visit he would bring this fabulous cheesecake.Finally I got the recipe from him.
12 oz Ricotta
3 eight oz packages of cream cheese
1 and 1/2 Pts (24 oz.) Sour Cream
9 Tablespoons of flour
1 1/2 Tablespoons of Vanilla
1 2/3 cups of Sugar
9 eggs

Mix Ricotta cream cheese and sugar till well blended. Add eggs one at the time, blend well after each egg. Add sour cream, flour and vanilla making sure that each ingredient is well incorporated. Pour into a ten inch well greased spring form pan.

Bake at 350 degrees, in a pan of water (1-2 inches of water for 90 to 100 minutes.
Cake will rise above lip of spring pan and top will brown. . A good indication that it is done(If the top is not too brown don't wory and go to next step). Turn oven off and allow to cool in the oven for two hours. Cool cake using a cooling rack further till room temperature before refrigerating.


You will need a large mixing bowl, probably 5 quarts or better. Wrapping the outside of the spring form pan with aluminum foil will minimize leakage. Hank puts the spring pan into the larger pan and then pour the batter into it, then he adds the water.

Spanish tortilla 10.000 miles away from Spain

Spanish tortilla 10.000 miles away from Spain

Since you want it nice and easy…



TORTILLA A LA ESPAÑOLA ( by Luisito)



2 lbs French fries (if possible done from peeled raw potatoes cut in two and thinly sliced)

2 lbs. Fried onion up to a brownish colour

Cheddar cheese grated or sliced

1 Dried Spanish sausage (salamín) slice thin

12 eggs

¼ cup olive oil



Heat half of the oil in a good heavy Teflon coated frying pan.

Place half of the French fries on the bottom

Add half of the fried onion on top of the French fries.

Enough slice or grated Cheddar cheese to make another layer

Same with the Spanish sausage

The rest of the fried onion making another layer

The French fries as final layer



Very carefully move the frying pan so as to heat the oil evenly

Pour the beaten eggs.

Keep the frying pan on the move over low heat so as to cook evenly and slowly

Be sure the “tortilla” moves independently from the pan so it won´t stick when ready to turn.

When the egg is creamy on the top (and solid on the bottom), flip over a serving dish.

Heat the rest of the oil in the same frying pan.

Return the overturn tortilla by sliding it.

Couple of minutes moving the pan around and it is ready to serve.

It should be golden yellow on both sides and slightly creamy in the middle.



Great with a good Cabernet Sauvignon, but if you can find a Uruguayan Tannat “with some time in an oak barrel” you will achieve perfection.

Buen Apetito!

Luis

French Bistro Dinner Party for Six Friends

Menu

1. Onion Pies with Blue Cheese (Roquefort), Prosciutto (Jambon de Bayonne) and Walnuts as appetizer
2. Bouillabaisse Provencal with a Spicy Rouille Sauce for the Soup course
3. Beef En Daube with Polenta a Bordeaux Sauce and Caramelized Shallots. Main Course
4. Eggplant Souflee . Side Dish
5. Chocolate Raspberry Napoleons. Dessert

Plenty of French wines. cheese, pate and your party gets going.

Cote is a great place to stop by for the pate and the cheeses . If you cannot find it at Cote

you can try Wegmans or mail order from D'Artagnan

1.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
2 vidalia onions very thinly sliced with mandoline
1/4 cup water
4 oz Blue cheeese crumbled into small pieces
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 Tbl melted butter
2Boxes (3 sheets) puff pastry . Save the third sheet for the Napoleons (store it in Refrigerator until ready for use. They have to truly thaw for them to work best.
1 egg
4 slices of jambon

Place a baking sheet in a freezer.
Warm the olive oil in a sute pan.
Saute onions until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
Add the water and continue to saute until all the moisture evaporates, about another 5 minutes. Add the Blue cheese and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until melted, about 5 minutes longer.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Stir in the walnuts, then spread the mixture out onto the chilled sheet pan. Place in the freezer until the onions cool down completely, about 10 minutes.

Preheat an oven to 450 degrees. Brush a baking sheet evenly with the melted butter.
Cut 12 rounds from pastry sheets about 5 in in diameter. You can use the edges of a Tupper or a lid that is approximate 5 in wide.
Place 6 of the rounds on the prepared baking sheet.
Brush their outer rims and tops with the beaten egg.
Spread evenly the cooled onion mixture onto the middle of each of the 6 rounds, leaving 1 inch uncovered around the edges. Place 1 jambon slice on top of each mound of the onion mixture. Cover each round with a second pastry round, making sure to pinch down firmly around the edges to seal in the filling. Brush the top of each pie with more of the beaten egg.
Pierce the top of eachpie making one slit
Bake for 20 minutes
Idea taken form a Weldon Owen Book
.

Rutabaga and Winter Roots Apple Soup

¼ lb (1 stick) butter (113gm)
1 cup roughly chopped onion (1/4 Kilo)
1 cup Granny Smith apple (1/4 Kilo)
1 cup rutabaga (1/4 Kilo)
1 cup butternut squash (1/4 Kilo)
1 cup carrots (1/4 Kilo)
1cup sweet potato (1/4 Kilo)
2 cups chicken stock (1/2 L)
1 cup white wine ( 1/4 L)
1 cup apple juice or hard cider(1/4L)
2 cups heavy cream (1/2 L)
¼ cup maple syrup (60ml)
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste
Sour Cream for decoration
Peel and chop and discard seeds of fruit and root veggies.
In a large pot over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the onions, apple, rutabaga, squash, carrots, and sweet potato and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent.
Add the chicken stock, wine and apple cider and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes or until all of the veggies are cooked through and tender.
Puree the vegetables in a blender or food processor. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into the same pot you used to cook the vegetables. Add the cream, maple syrup, salt, and cayenne pepper. Heat to desired temp serp with a dollop of sour cream.

Marinated Eggplants

1 Lb Eggplants
3 Cloves of garlic
3 Bay Leaves
olive oil
white vinegar 1/3
white wine 1/3
water 1/3
Kosher salt
crushed hot red peppers
black peppercorns

• Wash and dry the eggplants
• Cut both ends and slice them1/2 in thick spread the slices out on a colander
• shake the Kosher salt on the eggplants for 1/2 an hour trying to sweat the bitterness out them
• Pat the slices dry with some paper towels.
• Put slices on a pot and cover them with a mixture of 1/3 each of water wine and vinegar
• Bring to a boil till they are tender but not soft.
• Dry the slices with paper towels.
• In a glass jar put three slices some chopped garlic and some crushed red pepper and some peppercorns
• the bay leaves should go on the side of the jar once you are finished with the previous step
• fill the jar with olive oil till it covers all the eggplant, let it sit for three days

You can use a glass bowl if you don't have a jar. You should not use red pepper if you don't like them hot.

Tortellini Salad

1 Red onion
1 Red pepper
1 Yellow pepper
1 Green Pepper
1 cup of chopped celery
1 cup chopped Genoa Salami
1 cup chopped cheese (Provolone or whatever you like)
1 cup green olives stuffed with pimentos (sliced in half )
1 Pint of grape or cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)
1 cup chopped roasted peppers (optional)
1 cup marinated artichokes chopped (optional)
1/2 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
5 lbs of tortellini

Vinaigrette:
2 tlb Dijon mustard
2 tlb Sugar
1/2 cup wine vinegar
1 1/4 cup of olive oil

Chop all ingredients except tortellini, tomatoes ,and olives.
Prepare the vinaigrette while cooking the tortellini according to package. Usually you have to boil water add the tortellini for about 4 minutes and they are ready. Immediately run cold water after the are done so they stop cooking. It is better to have them all dente.

Add the chopped ingredients to the tortellini in a large bowl, + the tomatoes , the olives and the vinaigrette. Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you hate olives or any other ingredient omit it. If you have stuff in the fridge that you think you like, add it don't be bashful e.g. zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli,carrots left over chicken or turkey.

Arleusian Garlic Soup

2 Tablespoons of butter
3/4 cup whole garlic cloves peeled
1 1/4 lb potatoes quartered
2 carrots quartered
8 cups (1/2 water 1/2 chicken broth)
1/2 cup of heavy cream
3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
3 dashes hot sauce
chopped parsley for decoration (optional)

In a large saucepan, melt the butter and gently cook the garlic, stirring often till it begins to brown. Add the rest of the ingredients except cream and hot sauce.
Bring to a boil, cover and cook gently for an hour.
The veggies should be soft. Let it cool. Pure the soup in a blender or food processor.

Reheat, add cream and hot sauce.

Serves 6
Note if you multiply the ingredients times four you do not need 32 cups of liquid. 26 to 28 cups will be enough. Cook the veggies in 20 cups of liquid and add 6 to 8 more cups after you blend according to your taste and the consistency you would like.