Wednesday Recipes

Here are today's six recipes to help you through the day. Enjoy!

ALMOND CAKE

This is from Mark Bittman and Sam Sifton in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. The recipe begins, “This moist and fragrant cake from Molly Wizenberg, the author of the popular food blog Orangette, calls for a whole orange and lemon, almonds and olive oil. It does require a little effort and the use of some equipment – a food processor and a mixer – but the ingredient list is short, and once you've boiled and puréed the citrus and ground the almonds, the whole thing comes together in a snap. It's excellent on its own, but we also like it with poached pears or grilled figs.” Yield: 8 servings; Time: 2 hours 15 minutes.

This was featured in “Feast in a Day”, and can be viewed online by clicking here.

Ingredients

1 small to medium orange

1 lemon

6 ounces raw almonds

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cup olive oil

Confectioners’ sugar

Preparation

Place the orange and the lemon in a saucepan, and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain and cool.

Heat the oven to 325 degrees, and set a rack in the middle position. Bake the almonds 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool completely. When the almonds are cool, pulse them in a food processor until ground.

Set oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9-inch springform pan.

When the citrus is cool, cut the lemon in half, and discard the pulp and seeds. Cut the orange in half, and discard seeds. Put the fruits in the food processor and process almost to a paste.

In a small bowl, whisk the flour and baking powder. Combine eggs and salt. Beat until foamy. Beat in the sugar. Fold in the flour mixture. Add the citrus, almonds and olive oil, and beat on low speed until incorporated. Pour the batter into the pan, and bake for about 1 hour. Let cool for 10 minutes, unmold and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

GRANDMA'S PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

This and the next recipe (Grandma's Oatmeal Cookies) are from my Grandma Hallock (my mom's mom). They can be found in my e-cookbook, Off the Wall Cooking.

1/2 C butter

1 1/4 C flour

1/2 C peanut butter

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 C sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 egg, well beaten

1/4 tsp. salt

Cream butter & peanut butter together. Add sugar gradually & cream thoroughly. Add egg. Sift flour once before measuring. Sift flour, soda, baking powder & salt together & add to creamed mixture. Chill dough well, then form into balls the size of walnuts. Place balls on lightly greased baking sheet. Flatten with fork dipped in flour, making criss-cross pattern. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

GRANDMA'S OATMEAL COOKIES

Cookies were one of Grandma Hallock's specialties. Both of her cookie recipes included here were extremely popular.

1 C flour

1 C butter or margarine

1 C brown sugar

1/4 C boiling water

3 C quick cooking oatmeal

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Mix flour & brown sugar. Add oatmeal; stir. Melt butter; add to dry ingredients. Mix baking soda into boiling water; add to other ingredients, stirring well. Place batter into loaf pan, lined with aluminum foil & place in freeze for several hours. Slice & bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

HONEY PISTACHIO ICE CREAM

This comes from Anita Schecter, About.com’s Middle Eastern Food expert. Anita wrote, “As much as I love all desserts, nothing quite makes me swoon as much as the combination of sweet and salty. It's why chocolate covered salty pretzels and I are old friends and caramel sauce only interests me if it's got a good hit of sea salt. Candied or chocolate covered nuts are good but way more awesome if the nuts are salted.

“And so, as fond as I am of pistachios, pistachio ice cream and, basically all things pistachio, store bought pistachio ice cream is usually too sweet and one note for me. I'm missing the balance of the salt.

“Fortunately, I can easily remedy this situation by making my own and by using roasted and salted pistachios. You can make this with sugar only and omit the honey, if you like, but honey vanilla is another favorite flavor of mine so I decided to combine the two.

“When it comes to homemade ice cream, you can use a cooked custard base, which contains eggs. Or you can go for a straight dairy only option which doesn't require cooking. Because I wanted little bits and pieces of pistachios in my finished ice cream, I went with a no-cook method. If I wanted to strain them out, I would have cooked them with the base mix.

“I should also note that the color of pistachios, while definitely green, is nowhere near the deep green shade you find in store bought pistachio or even mint ice cream. You can certainly add some green food color to your ice cream if you really want that bright green shade. But I prefer to keep it all natural so my ice cream is still mostly beige but with green flecks from the bits of pistachios.

“This recipe is easy and simple and results in the perfect hit of sweet, salty and creamy. A perfect treat for a hot summer day. Enjoy!”

Prep Time: 12 minutes; Cook Time: 40 minutes; Freeze: 240 minutes; Total Time: 292 minutes; Yield: 8 (1/2 Cup) Servings

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1 Cup whole milk

2 Cups heavy cream

1/2 Cup honey

1/4 Cup sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla (vanilla paste is best, if you have it)

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup shelled roasted and salted pistachios

Preparation

In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, heavy cream, honey, sugar, vanilla and salt. Add the pistachios to a food processor and pulse a few times until the nuts are very broken down but not powder or paste. Add to the bowl.

Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions for use. Churn for 40 minutes and freeze for at least 4 hours before serving.

ONE-PAN CRISPY CHICKEN THIGHS WITH ROASTED VEGETABLES

This comes from Stephanie Wise in her blog Girl Versus Dough and reposted in the Tablespoon e-newsletter. This recipe starts off, “Crispy chicken thighs and caramelized vegetables all baked on one sheet pan.” Prep Time: 15 minutes; Total Time: 60 minutes; Makes 4 servings.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, halved and quartered

4 to 5 carrots, peeled, halved and quartered

1 red onion, halved and quartered

1 garlic bulb, cloves separated and skins removed

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

3 1/2 to 4 lbs skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs

Salt and pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

Directions

Heat oven to 450°F.

In a large bowl, toss potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic with 3 tablespoons olive oil. Spread in an even layer on a large rimmed baking sheet.

Use paper towel to blot chicken thighs to remove excess moisture. Arrange chicken thighs on top of vegetables, and brush chicken skin with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle thighs generously with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle thyme, oregano and parsley flakes evenly over thighs and vegetables. Bake on center rack of oven 40 to 45 minutes until an internal thermometer inserted in center of largest piece of chicken reads 175°F, chicken skin is crispy and browned and vegetables are tender.

BULGUR-STUFFED SUMMER VEGETABLES

This comes from Melissa d’Arabian of The Food Network’s Ten Dollar Dinners. Total Time: 1 hr 45 min; Prep: 30 min; Cook: 1 hr 15 min; Yield: 4 servings; Level: Easy

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/bulgur-stuffed-summer-vegetables-recipe.html?oc=linkback

Ingredients

1 cup bulgur wheat

1 1/4 cups chicken broth

2 bell peppers (1 red, 1 yellow)

2 zucchini and/or yellow summer squash

2 tomatoes

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1/4 pound crimini mushrooms, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the bulgur in a heatproof bowl. In a sauce pan, bring the chicken broth and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. When the liquid has come to a boil, pour over the bulgur. Let sit until the bulgur absorbs the liquid, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prep the vegetables: Cut off the top third of the bell peppers. Remove the seeds and ribs leaving a 'cup' for the stuffing. Dice the flesh from the top 1/3 and reserve. Cut a 1/3 of the zucchini lengthwise to reveal the seeds. Scoop out the seeds to create a boat. Dice the remaining 1/3 pieces. Slice the tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds to create a cup.

In a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and sweat until translucent. Add the reserved chopped peppers, squash, mushrooms, and garlic to the pan. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the cooked vegetables, if necessary, and add to the cooked bulgur.

Cook's Note: You may need to drain the excess liquid from the bowl of bulgur, too.

Stir in the chopped tarragon.

Sprinkle salt and pepper on the inside of the vegetable 'cups.' Stuff the vegetables with the bulgur mixture, place in a shallow baking dish, cover with foil, and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, then bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the cheese is brown and melted.