Great for prelims!
Presoak overnight (or longer) in bourbon (enough to cover ~1c)
1 c dates, sliced
1 c raisins
Combine wet ingredients
½ c butter
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 ½ c applesauce
Combine dry ingredients
½ t cinnamon
¼ t ground cloves
2 c flour
2 t baking soda
1 t salt
Add dry to wet and mix
Add dates, raisins and bourbon
Add 1 c walnuts
bake 1 hr 350 F in bundt pan
leg of lamb cut into grillable pieces ~2 inch chunks
Marinade
quartish bottle apricot nectar
¾ c Sauterne wine
½ c Worchestershire sauce
¾ c soy sauce
4 cloves garlic minced
Combine, marinade grillable chunks (~2-3”) of leg of lamb overnight.
Notes
1-Looza apricot nectar works well
2-Sauterne is expensive. Need some sort of wine for acid-semillon/sauvignon blanc blends work well-stay away from oaky stuff.
3-I use low sodium Tamari instead of soy and it is plenty salty
¼ c olive oil
2 cloves garlic sliced
12 large shrimp (oxymoron!)
zest and juice of 1 lemon
½ c limoncello liqueur
salt and pepper to taste
parsley
Heat oil, add garlic and cook until starting to brown DO NOT BURN. Add shrimp and cook 2-3 min, Turn shrimp and cook 1 min then add lemon juice, zest and limoncello, cook until reduced to 1/3 about 2 min. Season to taste with salt and pepper, top with chopped parsley.
Serve over toasted baguette or pasta (Orzo works well 2/3-3/4 c dry for this amount.
Recipes by Dawn Yanagihara, From Cook’s Illustrated May 2001
If you cannot find Asian noodles, linguine may be substituted. If you are using natural peanut butter or Asian sesame paste that has a pourable rather than spreadable consistency, use only 1 cup of chicken stock. Also note that the amount of sauce will coat 1 pound of fresh noodles but only 12 ounces of dried noodles, which bulk up during boiling.
8 ounces ground pork
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry
Ground white pepper
2 tablespoons oyster-flavored sauce
4 tablespoons peanut butter or Asian sesame paste
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1–1 1/4 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
6 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
12 ounces dried Asian noodles or 1 pound fresh Asian noodles (width between linguine and fettuccine or 12 ounces linguine
3 medium scallions, sliced thin (about 1/3 cup)
2 cups (about 6 ounces) bean sprouts (optional)
1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns, toasted in small dry skillet until fragrant, and ground (optional)
1. Combine pork, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, sherry, and pinch white pepper in small bowl; stir well with fork and set aside while preparing other ingredients. Whisk together oyster-flavored sauce, remaining soy sauce, peanut butter or sesame paste, vinegar, and pinch white pepper in medium bowl. Whisk in chicken stock and set aside.
2. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large stockpot over high heat.
3. Meanwhile, heat 12-inch skillet over high heat until hot, about 2 minutes. Add peanut oil and swirl to coat pan bottom. Add pork and cook, scraping along pan bottom and breaking up pork into small pieces with wide metal or wooden spatula, until pork is in small well-browned bits, about 5 minutes. Stir in ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add peanut butter/chicken stock mixture; bring to boil, whisking to combine, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer to blend flavors, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Stir in sesame oil.
4. While sauce simmers, add noodles to boiling water and cook until tender (refer to package directions, but use them only as a guideline and be sure to taste for doneness). Drain noodles; divide noodles among individual bowls, ladle a portion of sauce over noodles, sprinkle with scallions, bean sprouts, and ground Sichuan peppercorns, if using; serve immediately.
Laura’s Comments:
1. One of my favorite recipes of all time.
2. Don’t use cheap oyster sauce, it’s the heart of the sauce’s flavor. The best oyster sauce is Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce. There’s a picture of a lady and a little boy in a boat on the label.
3. The sauce with ground pork can be rather rich. Ground turkey or chicken is an excellent substitute. It won’t be nearly so fatty and the flavor won’t be affected significantly.
4. I’ve always used peanut butter for this recipe. Any kind will work but the best flavor is from the freshly ground stuff you can get at “Whole Food’s” type stores. Cashew butter if you can find it is fantastic.
5. I find that Chinese noodles are too tender for this weighty sauce, linguine or fettuccine works better.
6. The recipe can be stretched and lightened a little by including sliced onions (yellow) and/or white mushrooms. Add them after the meat has been stir fried.
7. For heat I substitute sambal oelek (~1/2 to 1T) for the red pepper flakes.
Soak 8 small dried shiitake mushrooms in 1 cup boiling water until softened, 15 to 20 minutes; drain, reserving 1/2 cup soaking liquid. Trim and discard stems; cut mushrooms into 1/4-inch slices and set aside. Follow recipe for Spicy Sichuan Noodles, substituting reserved mushroom liquid for an equal amount of chicken stock and stirring sliced mushrooms into sauce along with sesame oil.
One medium onion
Olive oil
One 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes
One 12 ounce can of tomato paste
Garlic powder
1-1/2 teaspoons of oregano
1-1/2 teaspoons of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1 tablespoon of sugar
Pour a coating of olive oil into the bottom of a large stew kettle. Dice the onion and stir-fry it on high for about three minutes (until the union pieces start getting a bit soft). While you are frying the onions sprinkle in a little garlic powder.
After about three minutes, turn the heat to simmer, dump in the entire can of can of diced tomatoes (juice and all), dump in the entire can of tomato paste, and stir all this around. Then add the salt, pepper, oregano, and sugar. Stir this until it's consistent. Then cover the kettle, and keep the heat on low (this stuff burns easily). You will need to simmer this for about 1/2 hour. Stir occasionally.
1 lb. lean ground beef
4 pieces of white bread
1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
A sprinkle of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of oregano
1 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of pepper
While the spaghetti sauce is simmering, fill a large mixing bowl about half way with warm water. Drop the bread in the water and let it soak for a minute or two. Grab the bread with your hands, and squeeze all the excess water out of it, forming a big bread ball. Dump out the water and drop the big bread ball back into the bowl. Add all of the other ingredients, cracking the egg and adding it last. Then (and this is the fun part), knead all of the ingredients by hand until everything is totally consistent. (Usually the phone rings about now). This should take about three or four minutes (longer than a commercial, but shorter than "Hey, Jude"). Then shape the resulting big ball into a bunch of meatball sized balls. Drop each ball into the simmering sauce as you shape it. You may need to turn off the heat for this maneuver, since the sauce tends to bubble and splash. After all of the meatballs are in the sauce, cover the kettle again, and keep this whole thing simmering. A good way to time the cooking is to fill a pasta kettle with cold water at this point and set that to boil for your pasta. By the time this boils, and the pasta cooks, everything should come out at just the right time together.
If there are any leftovers, this stuff keeps pretty well in the refrigerator, or you can even freeze it for future use.
Bon appetit!
---RUK