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Colonial Poppy Seed Cake
Combine ½ cup poppy seeds (2-ounce jar) ¾ cup milk Let stand at room temperature three or four hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Let remaining ingredients warm to room temperature. Place all ingredients in bowl of electric mixer, including poppy seed-milk mixture 3 eggs ¾ cup softened unsalted butter (should be very soft) 1¼…
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Blueberry Sauce
This recipe makes a good topping for cheese Blintzes. See the recipe for Cheese Filling for Blintzes. In a 2-quart saucepan, combine 2 cups blueberries (frozen are fine) 1 TBL butter 2 TBL lemon juice ½ tsp cornstarch pinch of salt and cook over a medium-low heat, stirring as it comes to a gentle boil.…
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Cheese Filling for Blintzes
First off, the amount of farmer cheese is a range because the primary producer of packaged farmer cheese, Friendship Dairies, has reduced the size of their packages from eight ounces to seven. If you can buy farmer cheese in bulk, buy the larger amount, but also, don’t bother buying 3 packages of farmer cheese just…
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Oniony Potato Filling
This is a large recipe, suitable if you are making 3-4 dozen Blintzes, I would guess. My mother would often make larger batches of this filling with 5 pounds of potatoes and 3 pounds of onions. It is dense. Very dense. Peel and dice 1¼ pounds yellow or white onions In a large skillet, heat…
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Blintzes
While this might sound like a big production, in fact you can throw these together pretty quickly once you’ve done it a couple times. The entire process consists of these steps: make the filling(s), make the batter, cook the blintz wrappers, form the blintzes, cook them, eat them. I prefer to make the filling first…
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Roasted Banana Ice Cream
This started its life as a recipe for a delicious vegan ice cream that called for an ingredient that I was having trouble locating. Not being a vegan, I decided to rework the recipe. And just to be perfectly clear, the bananas are roasted, not the ice cream.
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Cranberry Walnut Buckwheat Shortbread
Gluten-free, vegan and delicious: three words you might not think to put together, but believe me. We aren’t on any special diets and love to make this for dessert!
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Fresh Herb Kuku
This delicious frittata-like Persian dish is loaded with herbs, giving it a forest green color. Wrapped up in a piece of lavash with a bit of seasoned labneh, it’s a wonderful hors d’oeuvre.
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Hazelnut Sticks
Line the bottom and sides of a 9×5 loaf pan with foil. (See note at the end of these directions for how to do this painlessly.) In a food processor, combine ⅔ cup raw hazelnuts (with skins still on them) 1¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour scant ½ cup sugar ¼ tsp salt Pulse until the…
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Pâte Sucrée
This is a sweet tart dough. Makes 2 tart shells. Use one, freeze one to use later. Sift 16 ounces (about 1⅝ cups) all purpose flour and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream 8 ounces (2 sticks) butter 5.5 ounces granulated sugar on high speed until…
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Flourless Orange and Almond Cake
No butter, no oil, no flour: a delicious, moist cake with the flavor of almonds and orange. Served with a marmalade sauce.
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No-Knead Pizza Dough
Measure the flour by weight: you can scale this recipe up. See the note at the end. In a bowl, measure 320g type “00” soft wheat flour scant 1½ tsp salt 1/16 to ⅛ tsp yeast Regarding the yeast, for a 6-pizza recipe, you need about ½ tsp yeast, so go easy and don’t worry…
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Grilled Octopus
Purchase 1 octopus (1½ to 2 pounds), cleaned Note: A larger octopus will work, just make sure it fits in your pressure cooker and adjust the cooking time. I’ve also cooked 2 1½ pound octopuses at once in my 6-quart pressure cooker. When you (or the fishmonger) clean the octopus, be sure to remove the…
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Almond Polenta Pound Cake
Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a Bundt or 10-inch tube pan. Separate 6 eggs Reserve egg yolks. With electric mixer beat egg whites with ¼ cup sugar until soft peaks form. In an electric mixer, cream together ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter ½ cup almond paste 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon…
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Aloo Gobi (Potatoes and Cauliflower)
Wash, trim and cut into medium-sized florets 1 medium-size head of cauliflower Grate 2-inch piece of peeled ginger 3 or 4 cloves of garlic Place in a small (2-cup) bowl and add 1 TBL ground coriander ¼ tsp turmeric ½ tsp Kashmiri chili powder or paprika ½ tsp hot chili powder 1 tsp salt ½…
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Pasta with Spicy Almond Pesto
In a blender, combine to make a runny “pesto” with some chunks of almonds still visible. 1 cup roasted almonds olive oil to cover Cook 8 ounces pasta (bucatini, radiatore, etc) reserving some pasta water just before you drain them. When the pasta is almost done, saute 1 glug olive oil 2 cloves garlic, peeled…
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Oniony Noodle Kugel
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. While you’re waiting for it to boil, peel and dice 2 very large or 4 medium onions This works best with a non-stick pan, but you can do this in any 11- to 12-inch frying pan. Heat a large frying pan to a medium-high heat…
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Potica Cake
Potica (pronounced poe-TEET-sa) is a delectable Slovenian yeast pastry, filled with cinnamon and nuts. It’s a lot of work to make. The flavors of this recipe are reminiscent of potica, with far less work.
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Jerk Chicken
This is a recipe that really demands cooking on the grill with a source of smoke, such as wood chips. The kind of wood used traditionally isn’t available where I live, so I use hickory. It’s probably okay cooked in the oven, but it won’t be the same. Note that it’s pretty spicy, but you…
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Cheese Straws
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grate 6 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese In food processor, combine cheese, 4 TBL butter (cut up into pieces) ¾ cup flour ½ tsp salt ½ tsp red pepper flakes and pulse until it forms crumbs, then add 1 TBL milk Pulse for a few seconds and it will form a…
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Harissa
Simple enough. Combine in a small bowl ¼ cup red pepper flakes (with seeds) ¼ to ½ tsp cayenne Add just enough boiling water to cover and place a plate over the bowl. Meanwhile, prepare 1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced After 30 minutes, drain peppers, if needed. In a food processor, combine pepper flakes, garlic…
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Green Chili
Coat with flour ¾ pound boneless turkey, chicken or port butt Brown in 2 TBL oil Cook until meat is well browned. Meanwhile, in a 2-3 quart saucepan on medium heat, add 2 TBL oil 1 small onion diced When the onion is tender, add the browned meat and 2-3 cloves minced garlic or garlic…
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Caponata
Caponata is the perfect starter or side dish for a summer meal. Be sure to make it a day ahead and serve it at room temperature.
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Old Jew Cake
We served these at a large party. Over the next few days we received several requests for this recipe, and all the callers had two things in common: they were over 45 and Jewish. We renamed the recipe shortly thereafter. But what age is “old” these days, anyway?
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Lemon Rice Cake
This cake has an unusual texture, almost creamy like a cheesecake, and a delicious lemon flavor.
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Lemon Bars
For Paul Chazan, who can’t get enough of them. Makes one 9- by 13-inch pan, or 36 bars 1 cup unsalted butter 2½ cups sifted powdered sugar 2¼ cups sifted flour 4 eggs 2 cups sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder ¼ cup lemon juice 3 tablespoons grated lemon peel There is an alternate crust recipe…
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Hot Fudge Sauce
Chop into small pieces 6 ounces of chocolate Martha recommended semisweet chocolate, however I used dark chocolate (70%) from Trader Joe’s and the result was not too sweet. In a medium saucepan over a medium high setting, heat until boiling ½ cup heavy cream ¼ cup clear corn syrup Reduce the heat and add all…
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Coconut Mango Pudding
Make a simple syrup using ½ cup water ½ cup sugar When it comes to a boil, stir and verify the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat to cool a bit. Warm just enough to liquify ¾ cup coconut oil In a blender, combine 8 ounces silken tofu along with the syrup. Process briefly. Add…
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Dairy-Free Chocolate Pudding
Rich and delicious, with a thick, creamy consistency.