Recipes

Many thanks to Martha’s Mom for this recipe and her 40 year old starter that has since been passed on to San Francisco and Geneva. Here it is word for word:

The night before making bread, take the sourdough starter from the refrigerator. Put it in a large mixing bowl and mix it with 3 cups of flour (I always use King Arthur white flour…) and 2 cups of lukewarm water. Cover the mixture tightly and set it in a draft-free place for the night. Room temperature is fine.

Next morning, before doing anything else, remove one cup of the mixture in the bowl and return it to your sourdough storage container. Close the container tightly and put it back in the refrigerator. This is your starter for your next batch of bread.

To the starter remaining in the bowl—and there will be quite a bit of it—add:

• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• scant teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup of sugar*

mix as well as you can and then add gradually:

flour—enough to make a bread dough, about 3-5 cups. Knead thoroughly, until all the flour is absorbed into the dough, and the ball of dough feels resilient and elastic. This takes 3-5 minutes.

Return the dough to the mixing bown and cover tightly. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 2-3 hours. Then knead again, shape into loaves, cover, and let rise again, another 2 hours or so.

Back at 350º F for 45 minutes.
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Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Marinade

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cup packed cilantro leaves
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded
• Salt and pepper

Vegetables

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. Flatten chicken breasts to 1/2 inch thickness between two sheets of plastic wrap with a mallet or rolling pin. Even better is to buy the less expensive thinly sliced chicken breasts. Place chicken breasts in glass baking dish.
2. In a blender combine 2 tbsp olive oil, lime juice, garlic, cilantro, jalapeno and salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and pour over chicken. Cover with plastic wrap and let chicken marinate for 30 minutes.
3. In a large skillet over medium heat oil. Add onions and peppers and cook until they are tender and begin to brown. Transfer to serving dish and put it in the oven to keep warm.
4. Toast flour tortillas for about 30 seconds per side and keep warm in an aluminum foil pocket.
5. Grill the chicken on each side for a few minutes.
6. To serve slice chicken into even strips. Serve hot with onions and peppers, grated jack and cheddar cheese, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream.

Alton Brown is the man. Here’s his meatloaf recipe for Good Eats.

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces garlic-flavored croutons
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and broken
• 3 whole cloves garlic
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 18 ounces ground chuck
• 18 ounces ground sirloin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 egg

For the glaze:

• 1/2 cup catsup
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• Dash Worcestershire sauce
• Dash hot pepper sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey

Heat oven to 325 degrees F.

Directions:
In a food processor bowl, combine croutons, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and thyme. Pulse until the mixture is of a fine texture. Place this mixture into a large bowl. Combine the onion, carrot, garlic, and red pepper in the food processor bowl. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped, but not pureed. Combine the vegetable mixture, ground sirloin, and ground chuck with the bread crumb mixture. Season the meat mixture with the kosher salt. Add the egg and combine thoroughly, but avoid squeezing the meat.

Pack this mixture into a 10-inch loaf pan to mold the shape of the meatloaf. Onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, turn the meatloaf out of the pan onto the center of the tray. Insert a temperature probe at a 45 degree angle into the top of the meatloaf. Avoid touching the bottom of the tray with the probe. Set the probe for 155 degrees.

Combine the catsup, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce and honey. Brush the glaze onto the meatloaf after it has been cooking for about 10 minutes.

Cook’s Illustrated – March & April 2005

I little more work then putting them in the microwave, infintely better taste.

Ingredients:

• 2 flour tortillas
• 2/3 cup shredded Monterey Jack and/or cheddar cheese
• Vegetable oil from brushing tortillas
• Kosher salt

Directions:

1. Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot, about 2 minutes. Place tortilla in skillet and toast until soft and puffed slightly at edges, about 2 minutes. Flip tortilla and toast until puffed and slightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Slip tortilla onto cutting board. Repeast to toast second tortilla while assembling first quesadilla. Sprinkle half the cheese over half of tortilla, leaving 1/2 inch border around edge. Fold tortilla in half and press to flatted. Brush top generously with oil, sprinkle lightly with salt, and set aside. Repeat to form second quesadilla.
2. Place both quesadillas in skillet, oiled sides down; cook over medium heat until crisp and well browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Brush tops with oil and sprinkly lightly with salt. Flip quesadillas and cook until second sides are crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer quesadillas to cutting board; cool about 3 minutes, cut and serve.

Cooling the quesadillas before cutting and serving is important; straight from the skillet, the cheese is molten and will ooze out. finished quesadilla can be held on a baking sheet in a 200 degree oven for up to 20 minutes.

Cook’s Illustrated – March & April 2005

Very good and easy. Cutting the tomatoes takes a bit of time, but most of the work is done by the oven so this is good for having company or just for busy people.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium shallot, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 pints (2 pounds)cherry tomatoes, each tomato halved pole to pole
• Table salt
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon sherry, or red wine vinegar
• 3 large garlic cloves, sliced thin
• 1 pound farfalle (bowtie pasta)
• 1 large bunch arugula, leaves torn into bite-sized pieces (about 4 cups loosely packed)
• 4 ounced goat cheese, crumbled (about 1/2 cup)

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. In small bowl, toss shallots with 1 teaspoon oil; set aside. In medium bowl, gently toss tomatoes with remaining oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper flakes, black pepper, sugar, vinegar, and garlic. Spread in even layer on rimmed baking sheet (about 17 by 12 inched), scatter shallots over tomatoes; roast until edges of shallots begin to brown and tomato skins are slighly shriveled (tomatoes shoes retain their shape), 35 to 40 minutes. (Do not stir tomatoes during roasting.) Remove tomatoes from oven and cool 5 to 10 minutes.
2. While tomatoes cook, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large stockpot. Just before removing tomatoes from oven, stir 1 tablespoon salt and pasta into boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain pasta and return to pot; add arugula and toss until wilted. Using rubbeer spatula, scrape tomato mixture into pot on top of pasta and toss to combine. Serve immediately, sprinkling cheese over individual bowls.