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Palm Beach Brownies
These are dark, chewy, gooey, intense brownies. This is also without question the best brownie recipe ever. Don’t question it, just believe it. Makes 24 or 32 brownies 8 ounces (8 squares) unsweetened chocolate 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter 5 large eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla 1 teaspoon almond extract 2½ tablespoons dry instant espresso…
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Ricotta and Coffee Cream
Put 1½ pounds fresh ricotta ⅔ cup sugar 5 TBL dark rum ½ cup plus 2 TBL very strong espresso coffee, cooled in the food processor and process to a creamy consistency. Pour the mixture into six individual glass dessert dishes and store in the refrigerator overnight. Just before serving you may optionally garnish each…
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Lime Curd and Toasted Almond Tart
The pure essence of lime. Makes one 9-inch tart ⅔ cup sliced almonds 1¼ cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar 1 cup vanilla wafer crumbs (from about twenty 1½-inch cookies) ¾ cup (1½ sticks) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 4 large eggs 4 or 5 limes Toast ⅔ cups sliced almonds until golden. Cool almonds completely.…
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Fideua
Clean really well: 1 pound mussels 18 little neck clams Clean but leave in their shells 8 or 12 shrimp, depending on size Clean ½ pound sea scallops, cut in half horizontally (producing shorter cylinders) Cook the clams with ⅓ cup water, covered in a 2 quart sauce pan, until the clams open. Remove from…
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Potato Blintzes
This makes about 12-14 blintzes, depending on how generously you fill them. If you don’t have any mashed potatoes around, make some. You need about 3 to 4 cups of them. Season them with butter, milk, salt and lots of pepper. While the potatoes are cooking… Dice 1½ large onions or 3 medium onions. In…
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Grilled, Stuffed Squid
Buy 1 pound of uncleaned squid. The ones I bought had bodies about 5-6 inches long and there were 8 of them in a pound. Clean the squid (directions below) reserving the ink, which is the whole reason to buy uncleaned squid and cleaning them yourself. Chop 4 scallions, napa cabbage (about 1¼ cups) and…
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Cold Sesame Noodles
Cook 1 pound of Chinese egg noodles in boiling water. Drain and cool by rinsing under cold water. Fluff to dry them out. Dress with 2 TBL sesame oil. To make the sesame dressing, combine ¼ cup smooth peanut butter, 2 TBL corn or peanut oil, ½ tsp salt, 2 TBL dark soy, 1 tsp…
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Roasted Chicken Stock
Place parts for soup (necks, backs or sometimes you can buy the bones left over from boneless chicken breasts) on an oven-proof tray with sides. Make sure the parts are in a single layer or use additional trays. My most recent batch was about 40 chicken necks – just to give you an idea of…
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Upma
A yummy grain alternative. In a large saucepan heat 3 TBL oil 1 tsp mustard seeds and cook until the seeds pop, about 2-3 minutes (or use) 3 TBL mustard oil ( the diluted mustard oil that’s ready to use) Add ½ cup chopped shallots 3 hot green chilies (stemmed, seeded and chopped) 3 tsp…
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Fiery Shrimp
Combine 1 tsp tamarind concentrate, 2 tsp cayenne pepper, ¼ tsp black pepper, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp groun cumin, 1 tsp salt. Add 1 pound of deveined shrimps with the tail left attached. Mix until spicesd are distributed evenly over the shrimps. In a glass or Corning ware dish with a glass lid, combine…
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Nell & Mindy’s Potica
Potica (pronounced poe-TEET-sa) is a Slovenian nut roll, made with a yeast dough. Our family friend Nell Simala taught my sister Mindy how to make this, except Mindy’s mistake of doubling the butter in the dough made for an even better recipe. Now I always make it this way. I would generally recommend doubling this…
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Bellevue Granola
“It’s full of nuts” Preheat oven to 300º F, convection bake if your oven does this trick. In a very large bowl, mix together 6 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (aka oatmeal) 1 cup raw pistachios, hulled 1½ cup raw almonds 1 cup raw pecans 2 cups raw pumpkin seeds, hulled 1 cup raw sunflower seeds…
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Pasta with Sardines & Breadcrumbs
This has become our standby dinner pasta when we don’t have much time. We usually have all the ingredients in the house. This would be our “midnight spaghetti” as the Italians like to say.
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Chocolate Cake with Sour Cherries
Preheat oven to 350º F. In microwave, melt 1 cup butter (2 sticks) and 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces. Let cool a bit. Drain a jar of sour cherries. I used frozen ones that were defrosted. Make sure they are well-drained. Separate 6 eggs. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form; set aside. In…
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Pie Crust
The directions are rather detailed, but the results are great. The measurements are in the table at the end of this page. Sift flour, then measure. Sift it again with the salt and place in a large bowl. Cut in the fat with a pastry blender or two butter knives. Work until the particles are…
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Portuguese Corn Bread
Make a sponge by combining 1½ cups warm water, 2 heaping TBL dry yeast and 2 cups bread flour. Cover and let rise until doubled. Meanwhile, dissolve ⅓ cup corn starch into ⅓ cup cold water; use your fingers to be sure there are no lumps remaining. Combine with 1 cup boiling water in a…
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Cornmeal Pancakes
Combine 1 cup cornmeal (I prefer Quaker brand for this recipe), 1 tsp salt and 2 TBL honey in a bowl. Stir in 1 cup boiling water, cover and leave for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, beat together 1 egg, ½ cup milk and 2 TBL vegetable oil. Separately sift together ½ cup flour and 2 tsp…
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Balık ekmek
A delicious, simple fish sandwich — the name literally means “fish bread”. Best with a fish fillet that just came out of the water. This a summer treat for us, when Boston mackerel and delicious tomatoes are both in season.
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Potato Kugel for a Crowd
Peel 8 pounds of russet potatoes and keep under water until you are ready to use them. You can peel them the night before with no ill effect. Preheat oven to 350º F. Peel and quarter 4 large onions. Place onions, 2 at a time in of the food processor or leave running until it’s…
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Striped Bass with Braised Fennel
This recipe will serve 6-8 people. Prepare Tomato-Fennel Sauce in advance. You will need one piece of boneless (skin-on) Striped Bass per serving. Cut up 2 fennel bulbs: trim root end slightly, cut off stems. With root sitting on cutting board, cut vertically to split the bulb in two. With cut side of bulb facing…
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Tomato-Fennel Sauce
Use this to make Striped Bass with Braised Fennel. You can prepare this sauce a couple days ahead of time. In large saucepan, heat 1-2 TBL oil. Saute 1 diced onion, 2 cloves garlic (sliced), ½ tsp salt, pinch red pepper flakes and 0.4g saffron threads you’ve broken up with your fingers. Cook until onions…
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Potato Gateau
Is it a potato (pan) cake? Well, yes, and no. Peel and very finely slice 5 baking potatoes. In a cast iron frying pan, heat olive oil and add the potatoes. Sprinkle generously with salt. Stir to cook them all a bit. Let them start to cook on one side without stirring — I did…
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Pan Pizza
From Mark Bittman, with some adjustments. In food processor mix together 1 cup flour, scant ½ tsp yeast, ½ tsp kosher salt. Turn on machine. Through feed tube, add ¼ cup water and 1 TBL olive oil. Process 30 seconds, adding a bit more water if necessary to get dough to form a ball. Coat…
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Kasha Fusillichkas
Okay, it’s supposed to be made with bow-tie pasta (and then it’s called Kasha Varnichkas), but I’m not so traditional. This makes a lot, so you might want to cut it in half. Just use the white of the egg if you do. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Mix together 1 beaten…
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Mascarpone Cream
Combine 750 grams (1.5 pounds) Mascarpone, 7 egg yolks and 6 TBL sugar using a wooden spoon. Beat until ingredients are incorporated smoothly. Refrigerate 8 to 24 hours and serve. It will be somewhat thick and is delicious served over a slice of Pandoro, pound cake or alone as a pudding. This supposedly serves 7…
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Gougeres
These are high-class cheesy poofs, and very simple to make. In a 2 quart saucepan, heat ½ cup milk, ½ cup water, 1 stick of butter (8 TBL) and ½ tsp kosher salt. When it comes to boil, dump in 1 cup of flour and stir with a wooden spoon until the mass congeals into…
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Creamy Polenta
Mix ½ cup corn meal, 2 cups cold water and ½ tsp salt in a saucepan. Stirring constantly, bring to boil over a high heat. Cover pan when it begins to boil and reduce heat to lowest possible temperature. It will need to cook for 5-8 minutes more. Stir in 1-2 TBL butter. NOTES If…
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Gambas a la Plancha
Combine 1 tsp pimenton, 2-3 tsp finely minced garlic and some olive oil (maybe ¼ cup). Mix with 1 pound shrimp (shelled and deveined). Grill on a hot, oiled cast iron skillet. Serve over cooked small white beans which have been dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper.
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Monkfish Liver
Purchase a very fresh monkfish liver; I bought one that weighed about a half-pound. Trim any pieces of membrane or visible blood vessels from it. Place it on a plate and arrange a steamer large enough to hold the plate. Steam the liver on the plate for about 20 minutes. A larger one will probably…
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Shorter No-Knead Bread
In large bowl, measure 8 cups flour, 2 TBL salt, ¾ tsp yeast. Stir to mix. Stir in about 3¾ cups water. Dough will be shaggy. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in warm place for 12-24 hours. Stir dough down and get lots of flour on its underside (many tricks, mine is just to…