Ivria's Kugel

From epicurious...

Ingredients:
For noodles

• 1 pound dried wide egg noodles
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup whole milk
• 5 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (1-pound) container sour cream
• 1 (1-pound) container small curd cottage cheese (4% fat)
• 1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained

For topping

• 2 cups cornflakes, coarsely crushed
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits

Prep:

Prepare kugel:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat to 350°F. Butter a 13- by 9- by 2-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.

Cook noodles in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well in a colander, then return to warm pot and add butter, tossing until noodles are coated.

Whisk together milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt until combined, then whisk in sour cream. Stir in cottage cheese and pineapple and add to noodles, stirring to coat well, then spoon into baking dish.

Make topping and bake kugel:
Stir together cornflakes, sugar, and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over noodles. Dot with butter and bake until kugel is set and edges are golden brown, about 1 hour. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Becky's Polish Pierogis

These have been a staple of the Murdock family for generations.

4 c flour
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
cup cold water
3-5 potatoes
sauerkraut
stick butter
1-2 chopped onions
salt and pepper

Make a well in the flour, add eggs and salt, slowly beat water in until flour is just taken in. Don't add all the water if you don't need to, it'll get too sticky.

On floured surface, knead dough.

Peel and chop potatoes, boil with salt. When done, pour off water. In a saucepan, heat butter and add onion. Add to potatoes and mash, leaving some chunks. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cut dough into even halves, roll out dough thinly. Cut into squares, about 3x3 inches. Put small scoop of potato mixture into middle of square. Fold diagonally and pinch corners to make triangles. Once finished with first dough portion, add sauerkraut to remaining potato mixture and stir. Roll out dough, and repeat with sauerkraut/potato mixture. Set pierogis out on a towel, not touching, to dry for at least 2 hours. Boil in batches for a few minutes, until floating for a minute or so. Scoop back out onto towel to drain. You can package them up at this point in a container with a little butter and onion. Otherwise, fry in a pan with some butter and onion. Serve with sour cream.

Etan's Moroccan Matbucha

Ingredients:
4 cans of diced tomatoes (28 oz each)
1 bag frozen diced green peppers (10oz), or similar amount fresh chopped
1 bag frozen chopped/diced onions, or similar amount fresh chopped
cayenne pepper (amount depends on how spicy you want it - i usually put about 2 teaspoons)
============
Prep:
Dump the tomatoes with the liquid into a pot and turn flame on high.
When the liquid start boil, lower the flame to medium.
While it's cooking, pour a bit of olive oil in a frying pan and saute the onions and peppers until light brown. Pour the onions and peppers into the tomatoes.
Keep stirring otherwise it'll stick to the bottom of the pan (if you feel that it's sticking, lower the flame a little).

It takes about 2 hours to cook.

After you turn off the stove pour the cayenne pepper (it's very strong, so pour a little at a time and taste) and stir WELL otherwise some might end up with a hunk of cayenne in their mouth.

Papa Barman's Hummus and Pita

(note: not edited so you get the full impact of Barman's foul mouth)

Here's my dad's hummus recipe and the pita recipe I used. The measurements for the hummus are a little archaic and if you use fresh chickpeas as opposed to canned like I did then you have to do most of it by taste. The ratio of chickpeas to tahini is around 2:1.

1/2 a can of tahini
2 cans of chickpeas
2-4 cloves fresh garlic
1-2 lemons (juice)
salt to taste

Pour the full can of tahini into a blender and mix well, pour half back. Add chickpeas and blend well until smooth, adding some of the chickpea water as needed for a paste-like consistnecy. Mince garlic and blend, keep in mind that the garlic will be stronger as it has time to sit in the humus, so if it's going to sit overnight use a little less than you think you want. Add and mix the juice of 1-2 lemmons to taste. Salt to taste. Rub it all over your naked chest and enjoy ;-)


Pita (12 pitas)

1pk yeast (scant tblsp)
3-4 cups all purpose or whole-wheat flour
1 tbl olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup warm water

Mix yeast with warm water in a large mixing bowl until yeast is dissolved. Add the oil and salt and mix well. Add and stir in flour aboout 1/2 a cup at a time until it becomes difficult to stir and the mixture becomes doughy like a drunken fat girl's ass after a frat party.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead well for 10 min adding flour as necessary to make a firm, elastic dough (you can also use a food processor or mixer w/ a dough hook). Place the dough in a grease bowl and cover for about 1 1/2 or until the dough doubles in size.

Turn dough onto floured surface and cut into 12 equal peices. Using hands roll peices into a ball about the size of a ping-pong ball on steriods, cover them with a towel and let sit for 5 min.

Using a rolling pin or some other long, hard, cylindrical object, roll each ball firmly into a 6" flat circle (do this on a floured surface). Cover the discs with a towel and let sit for 15 min. During this time, preheat your oven and backing stone, tiles, or cookie sheets to 500 degrees.

Frisbee-golf your pita discs into the oven and bake for 3 min. Now you've got some motha fuckin' pita beatch!

Back to Your Roots!

Flora and Jon were up again in April with a tasty theme of roots and heritage foods! No contest, no rules, just bring us some good home-cookin.

We're talkin' hummus and pita, matbucha, ham-wrapped dates and almonds, toasted ravioli, pierogis, chicken paprikash, sweet lemony lettuce, chilean stuffed zucchini, clapshot, rugelach and kugel! Oh and papaya piscos!

Flora's Flourless Chocolate Cake

This won top prize, good stuff, from epicurious.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup coffee liqueur
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 7 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar

• Powdered sugar

Prep:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Stir chocolate, butter, coffee liqueur, and vanilla in heavy large saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool to lukewarm. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and 1 cup sugar in large bowl until thick and pale, and slowly dissolving ribbon forms when beaters are lifted, about 6 minutes. Fold 1/3 of egg mixture into lukewarm chocolate mixture. Fold remaining egg mixture into chocolate mixture.

Place prepared pan on baking sheet. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 55 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Gently press down edges of cake. Cool completely in pan. (Cake can be prepared up to 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before continuing.)

Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Remove sides of pan; transfer cake to platter. Remove parchment paper. Sprinkle cake with powdered sugar and serve.

Tasting Plate Dinner!

Noah got fancy here (via Tara), and we did tasting plates in pairs. Tips: the plate must be relatively self-sufficient and balanced. Each pair had up to 30 mins in the kitchen to prep and plate their dish. And it was a contest! Drink pairings encouraged.

We had cioppino, quiche and greens, salad with cherries and cheese, country shredded pork over polenta and greens, striped bass with rice, cookies and flourless chocolate cake. Really upped the level here. Good stuff. Flora's cake took top prize!

Becky's Shrimp and Gouda Grits

Creamy Grits with Shrimp Recipe

1 pound large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup milk or 1/2 and 1/2
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups hot stock (shrimp, chicken, or vegetable)
1/4 cup butter
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 cup stone-ground grits**
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped green or red bell pepper
some gouda or cheddar or other tasty cheese

** If using quick-cooking grits (not instant, reduce cream to 1/2 cup and reduce stock to 1 cup.

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine cream water, and hot stock; bring to a gentle boil. Add butter salt, and pepper. Slowly add grits, stirring constantly (so that the grits do not settle to the bottom and scorch), until all are added; reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally (be careful not to scorch mixture), or until the grits are tender.

NOTE: Grits should have absorbed all of the liquid and become soft and should have the same consistency as oatmeal (moist, not dry). If the grits become too thick, add warm stock or water to thin. remove from heat.

Sprinkle shrimp with lemon juice, salt, and pepper; set aside. In a pan, add onion, garlic, and green or red bell pepper; saute 10 minutes or until the onion is transparent. Add shrimp mixture; saute 5 to 7 minutes or until shrimp are opaque in center (cut to test). Remove from heat.

To serve, spoon hot grits onto individual serving plates and top with shrimp mixture and cheese, stir.

Makes 4 servings.

Tara's Breakfast Casserole

Paula Deen's Breakfast Casserole (I got the recipe from my friend Lesleigh, she changed it a bit)

Breakfast Casserole ingredients:

5 slices thickly sliced white bread-- crusts and all, buttered and cubed

1 lb. mild sausage, crumbled, cooked, and drained (Lesleigh likes spicy sausage... that's what I used)

3 c. grated, extra-sharp cheddar cheese

4 eggs

2 c. milk

1 tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. hot sauce

1. Spray a 1.5 quart casserole dish with vegetable oil cooking spray (I used butter, but it obviously stuck).

2. Put bread cubes in the dish. Put sausage over the bread. Sprinkle with cheese.

3. Combine eggs, milk, mustard, salt and hot sauce (I used more than 1 tsp.). Mix well and pour over the bread.

4. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

5. The next day, let the casserole sit out while preheating oven to 350°F. Uncover casserole and bake for one hour.

6. Eat and eat.

Brunch!

Fancy! Heidi and Rob mixed it up with a brunch in February. Pisco sours, bloody marys, whole wheat pancakes with fresh compote, cinnamon buns, egg casserole, shrimp and gouda grits, smoked salmon tea sandwiches, and of course more. We lounged and eventually broke out the scrabble. Good times.

I know there are pictures from these things? Anybody have some?