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Latkes
This recipe will make large latkes with a nice crisp edges. I grew up with a different style of latke (grated potatoes) and also enjoy making them that way, too. Fried potatoes are wonderful, however you prepare them!
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Not Really Cassoulet
Genuine cassoulet involves using a lot of pork, especially fat-laden cuts of meat. Half of our household doesn’t eat mammals and the other half is avoiding saturated fats. Enter this recipe… We hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we do. While it’s easy to prepare, it takes 2 hours to cook. It’s worth the…
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Prune Ice Cream with Coffee and Brandy
If you’re going to bother making ice cream at home, don’t waste your time with flavors you can buy in the store. Try this classic flavor combination.
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Quick Yeast Loaf Bread
Great bread for making toast or sandwiches. It mixes easily without a mixer and rises quickly.
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Underwater Chicken
This dish, with the most unusual name and cooking method, is one of the most flavorful Asian chicken dishes I have ever encountered. We’ve become addicted to it and kept looking for a reliable recipe until we found this one.
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Sugar-and-Spice-Baked Shrimp
These are wonderfully delicious — the perfect thing with cocktails. Spicy-salty-sweet shrimp. Just make sure you check the temperature before serving them as they are deadly when they first emerge from the oven.
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Squid Stuffed with Scallops and Shrimp in a Saffron Sauce
A bit of trouble but so yummy. You can probably cut down on the cream but using fish stock to make the filling, but why would you?
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Taramosalata on Cucumber
This is a tasty (fishy) hors d’oeuvre that comes together in minutes.
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Arroz con Calamares (a.k.a. Squid Rice)
Made with canned cuttlefish, this is a real favorite of ours. When we are feeling lazy, it’s an easy meal. And faster than calling Jiffy Squid for a delivery! We’d never serve this to friends, who generally don’t like fishy flavors or things with tentacles, but for us it’s perfect comfort food.
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Cardio-Dental Bars
Yes, we did rename this recipe after finding it years ago. We couldn’t decide whether the American Dental Association or American College of Cardiology might benefit more from this recipe — loaded with sugar and butter. These are delicious. Just don’t tell your doctor or dentist you ate them!
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Ice Box Cake
My mother made this for my birthday (mid-July). She’d make bigger cakes than the one in this recipe and yet I don’t recall them serving anywhere near 12 people. Usually the leftovers were gone by the next day (just in time for my sister’s birthday). Our appetites are now under better control.
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Wedding Cake
The afternoon we returned from our elopement/wedding, Bob decided to bake a wedding cake. We do everything backwards, don’t we? Evan volunteers on Tuesday mornings, so he took the cake next day, shared it with his fellow volunteers and brought a piece back for Bob to eat afterwards. We’ll make another one and maybe we…
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Crisp-Braised Duck Legs with Aromatic Vegetables
This is a sure-fire way to make duck with lean, crisp skin.
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Mischievous Squid Rice (arroz de lulas malandrinho)
A Portuguese rice dish that’s tasty and simple. I can’t explain why it’s considered mischievous though — it’s just delicious!
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Salmorejo (cold Spanish tomato soup)
This is a delicious alternative to gazpacho: this traditional cold soup highlights the flavors of ripe tomatoes perfectly. You can make this in a blender, food processor or with an immersion blender. I am fixated on a super-smooth soup and therefore prefer a traditional blender, but they have all done the trick for me at…
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Black Tea and Fig Jam
Not too sweet: the black tea helps tone down the intense sweetness of the dried figs.
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Garlic Allioli
This is sheer garlic heaven. I originally used this to accompany Shellfish Paella, but it’s equally fantastic with grilled vegetables or anything else that needs a little garlic creaminess.
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Shellfish Paella
This recipe is a bit involved, but truly worth the trouble. The traditional shellfish paella is a little soupy and is typically served with a dab of Garlic Allioli on the side. Feel free to vary the seafood according to your taste and its availability.
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Farm Wife’s Fresh Pear Tart
Rustic and simple to make, this cake is an incredibly delicious treat in fall and winter. it has become one of our seasonal favorites.
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Chocolate Cake of My Dreams
I had a dream that involved a chocolate cake. The next day I felt compelled to make one. You can mix this cake faster than your oven will heat up.
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Duck Cholent
Cholent was a traditional, hearty meat stew cooked by the Jews of eastern Europe for the Sabbath meal. This is an updated version that relies on duck meat. It cooks overnight in the oven or a slow cooker.
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Banana-Walnut Yeast Bread
I wanted to create a yeast bread that was flavored with bananas, filled with nuts and not too sweet. This hits the spot.
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Salt Cod (Porto Style)
Throughout Portugal you will will find a variety of recipes for bacalhau à brás, a dish of potatoes, onions and salt cod, bound together with beaten eggs. While traveling to Porto, we were served something more like this recipe, topped with poached eggs instead of being held together by softly scrambled eggs. We added the…
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Black Risotto with Braised Squid
Braising the squid provides tasty liquid for cooking the rice and ensures that the squid meat is tender. This is even better if you add some roasted red pepper strips near the end.
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Fennel with White Beans and Tomato
This started out as a fish main dish, but after tasting it, we decided to just have it as a vegetable dish. Side or main? Who knows.
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Non-Dairy Hamentaschen Dough
After trying numerous recipes over the years, this is the winner. Hands down. Just enough crispness and not too sweet. It’s become our favorite, and hopefully it will be yours, too.
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Cantucci/Biscotti
Mix together in a bowl 1 egg 1 egg white 125g white sugar ½ tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp sesame seeds ½ tsp fennel seeds In a small bowl, combine 200g flour 1½ tsp baking powder Stir the flour mixture into the batter along with 125ml (½ cup) canola oil When mixed completely, add (by…
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Honey Cake Crisps
If you want to make a vegan version of this recipe, see the note at the end. Butter and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 325º F. Brew ¾ cup strong coffee Alternatively you can dissolve 2 TBL instant espresso coffee in ¾ cup hot water. Set the coffee aside and let it…
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Dried Scallop Congee (Conpoy Congee)
In a pressure cooker, combine ¼ cup (45g) dried scallops ¾ cup (170g) white rice 8 cups water Cook at high pressure for 30 minutes, let cool for 15 minutes and then release remaining pressure. Add salt to taste, probably about 1 to 1½ tsp salt Serve with your favorite condiments: I like pickled mustard…
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Gigantes
Pick through 2 cups picked over dried large lima beans removing any foreign objects (rocks) you find. Place them in a 3-quart saucepan, cover them with plenty of water and soak them overnight, at least 5 hours. Drain off the water and add fresh water to cover them by at least two inches, add 2-3…