stove top potatoes

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 8 small red potatoes
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Place the potatoes in a skillet filled with water to cover. Add the oil and garlic, bring to a boil, and cook at a rolling boil until the water has evaporated, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cook the potatoes 2 to 3 minutes more, until the skins are seared and golden, stirring the potatoes with a wooden spoon once or twice.
2. Divide among 4 plates and serve, sprinkled with parsley.

Chard Quiche

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 3/4 cup toasted wheat germ
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound Swiss chard (1 large bunch), leaves chopped, stems minced
• 1/2 medium onion, minced
• 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese (2 ounces)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch ground mustard powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, wheat germ, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside. In a medium skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium. Add half the chard to skillet, season with salt and pepper, and cook until chard wilts and releases liquid. Wipe skillet, set aside.
2. Add cooked chard to flour mixture and mix with fork to incorporate. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate; firmly press mixture into bottom and up the side of pan. Bake until golden and firm, about 25 minutes. Cool.
3. In reserved skillet, heat remaining tablespoon oil over medium. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add remaining chard to skillet, season with salt and pepper, and cook until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Transfer chard mixture to a colander. Press firmly with the back of a spoon to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Top prepared crust with chard mixture and cheese; place on rimmed baking sheet.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, nutmeg, mustard powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Pour custard over chard mixture. Bake until custard is set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Helpful Hint

Serve this quiche either warm or at room temperature.

White Chili

Four cups of cooked chicken, diced or thickly shredded

About 40 ounces of Northern or Cannelli beans
One tablespoon of olive oil
Two medium chopped onions
Four cloves of garlic, minced
Eight ounces of green chiles, chopped (I use canned.)
Two teaspoons of cumin
One and one-half teaspoons of oregano
One-quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper
Approximately six cups of chicken broth
Three cups of shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Sour cream (optional)

Saute onion in oil. Add garlic. Then, add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for 30 minutes. Top with cheese and, if desired, sour cream.

Recipe courtesy of http://yourfavoritewife.xanga.com/567064374/item/

Grilled Tomatoes

Serves: 4

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 4 large tomatoes (about 3” diameter), halved
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Cooking instructions:

1. Preheat grill to medium heat.
2. In a large bowl, combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and pepper.
3. Place the tomato halves in the bowl and rotate them until completely coated with marinade.
4. Place tomatoes cut-side down on the grill. Brush tomatoes one last time with the marinade. Grill for approximately 5-7 minutes then flip and grill for another 5-7 minutes or until they turn soft and brown.
5. Remove tomatoes from grill and sprinkle basil and Parmesan cheese on each one. Serve immediately.

Nutrient content:
Per serving (1 whole tomato topped with basil and cheese): 85 calories, 8 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 3 g protein, 85 mg sodium, 445 mg potassium (10% daily need), 25 mg vitamin C (33 % daily need)

pasta asparagus, arugula and ricotta

3/4 pound thin asparagus, woody ends snapped off, cut into 1-inch lengths

Salt

3/4 pound penne, fusilli or bow-tie pasta

1/2 cup fresh ricotta

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

A generous handful of baby arugula or wild arugula leaves, rinsed and spun dry (about 1 ounce, or 1 cup tightly packed)

Freshly ground pepper

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add a generous amount of salt. Add the asparagus. Cook pencil-thin asparagus for two minutes, three to four minutes if stems are medium-thick. Transfer to a bowl of ice-cold water. Drain and set aside.

2. Place the ricotta in a large pasta bowl.

3. Bring the water back to a boil, and add the pasta. Cookal dente, following the directions for timing on the package but checking a minute before the suggested cooking time. Stir 1/3 cup of the pasta cooking water into the ricotta. Drain the pasta and toss at once with the olive oil and ricotta, the arugula, asparagus and Parmesan. Serve hot.

Yield: Serves four

Advance preparation: Have everything prepped and ready to go hours ahead of time, then throw together this pasta at the last minute.

Snapper Veracruzana

3/4 - 1 lb. skinless red snapper fillets
1 lime, juiced
1 c. cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 dzn. green olives, halved
2 tbsp. capers
1 jalapeno, cut in 1/8" strips
1 bell pepper (yellow, red, or orange), cut in 1/4" strips
or 
3 baby bell peppers, cut in 1/8" rings
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, chopped
2 tbsp. flat leaf parsley, minced
3/4 c. dry white wine
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Optional:
1 c. cooked couscous
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp. flat leaf parsley, minced

Preheat the oven to 350°F & line a medium baking dish with foil. Meanwhile, lightly salt and pepper the snapper fillets and drizzle them with lime juice. Toss all of the veggies (olives, peppers, capers, tomatoes, garlic, shallots) in the dish. Add the wine, about 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Pop in the oven for 5 minutes.

Optional step: If preparing couscous, bring 1 c. water and olive oil to boil. Add couscous, remove from heat and cover. Prior to serving, fluff with a fork and fold in the parsley and garlic. (This can all be done while the fish is in the oven.)

After cooking for 5 minutes, nestle the snapper fillets on top of the veggies and cook for 20 minutes more. Serve over a bed of couscous or simply as is.

Tiramisu Bread Pudding

Bread Pudding
(adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home To Yours)

12 ounces bread (brioche, challah or white), preferably stale
2 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cup heavy cram
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
6 tablespoons dark rum
3 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

GETTING READY:

Have a 9-x-13 inch baking pan at hand (a Pyrex pan is perfect here), as well as a roasting pan big enough to hold the baking pan and how water. Line the roasting pan with a double thickness of paper towels.

Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes. It the bread is stale, put it and the raisins or cherries, if you are using them, into the baking pan. If it is not stale, spread it out on a a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat and bake in a 350-degree-F oven to "stale" it for 10 minutes, then toss into the pan (with the fruit).

Bring the milk and cream just to a boil.

Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, yolks, rum, brewed coffee and sugar together in a bow. Still whisking, slowly drizzle in about one quarter of the hot milk mixture--this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they don't curdle. Whisking all the while slowly pour in the rest of the hot milk. Add the chocolate and whisk it in gently until it is melted and the custard is smooth. Rap the bowl against the counter to pop bubbles that might have formed, then pour the custard over the bread and press the bread gently with the back of a spoon to help cover it with liquid. Leave the pan on the counter, giving the bread the back-of-the-spoon treatment now and then, for 30 minutes.

GETTING READY TO BAKE: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. F.

Slide the pan setup into the oven and very carefully pour enough how water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the pudding pan. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the pudding is uniformly puffed, the top is dull and dry and a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Transfer the baking pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.

Tiramisu Cream 
(adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

4 tbsp dark rum
6 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 pound mascarpone cheese
3/4 cup heavy cream (cold)

In a heat proof bowl set over simmering water, beat yolks at low speed with a hand mixer until just combined. Add sugar and salt and beat at medium-hgih speed until pale yellow, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl with a rubber spatula once or twice. Add remaining 4 tablespoons rum and beat at medium speed until just combined, 20 to 30 seconds; scrape bowl. Add mascarpone and beat at medium speed until no lumps remain, 30 to 45 seconds, scraping down bowl once or twice.

In a separate bowl, beat cream at medium speed until frothy, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Increase speed to high and contine to beat until cream holds stiff peaks, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes longer. Using rubber spatula, fold one-third of whipped cream into mascarpone mixture to lighten, then gently fold in remaining whipped cream until no white streaks remain.

To Assemble
Refrigerate the bread pudding for 1 hour to let it firm up. Cut it in half and place it on a plate. Top with 1/2 tiramisu cream and sift 1 tbsp cocoa powder over the top. At this point, you can either put it back in the fridge to let the cream firm up a bit (an hour would be fine) and then top it with the other half of the bread pudding, or just immediately top it with the other half (but the cream will spill out of the sides a bit!). Top the second half with the remaining tiramisu cream and, again, add 1 tbsp sifted cocoa powder. You can also top it with shaved chocolate. Refrigerate 6-24 hours.