Sundried Tomato Naan Pizza

6-8 oz sundried tomatoes
6 cloves garlic, crushed (or more to taste)
1 1/2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Package of 4 garlic naan*
1 half pint basil pesto
8 oz plain goat cheese
3 oz pine nuts
Red pepper flakes (optional)
 

Pasta with Tuna, Garlic and Lemon

Some recipes are so simple, they almost seem to disappear right off the page. When I first came across this one, some two years ago, I wasn't impressed. Huh, I thought, pasta, canned tuna, garlic, a little lemon: sounds kind of nice, but what's so special about that? When I finally got around to trying it, though, I realized that—as is so often the case—freshness and care in choosing ingredients make all the difference. Using freshly-crushed garlic simmered in quality olive oil, fresh lemon and parsley, premium tuna, and finishing with fluffy Parmesan you grate yourself, this simple recipe really sings.

 Pasta with Tuna, Garlic and Lemon

This is my take on a recipe by Adam Reid,

which originally appeared in the
Boston Globe Magazine, September 26, 2010

1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
2 cans water-packed solid white tuna*, undrained
2 teaspoons zest and 1/4 cup juice from 1 or 2 lemons
salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste
1 pound short and stubby or tubular pasta: shells are fun, but ziti or elbow macaroni also work fine
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley
freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

Smoked Salmon Sandwiches With Everything On 'Em

I just tried out this new sandwich recipe, and I have to tell you, although it's simple, it is amazingly good. The combo of smoked salmon and everything that's good with it—lemon, dill, capers, red onion, honey mustard, etc.—rather than being over-the-top, is luscious, if I do say so.

 

Smoked Salmon Sandwiches With Everything On 'Em

Anne Milton

April, 2012

4 ounces tub-style cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1-2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill, or 1/4 teaspoon dried
2 teaspoons minced red onion
2 teaspoons small capers
1 Tablespoon coarse-grained mustard
1 teaspoon honey
4 medium slices pumpernickel bread
3 ounces smoked salmon
1 small pickling cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced 1/4" thick
a few thin slices red onion
4 slices tomato (optional)

In Praise of Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

This post is dedicated to my wonderful doctor, James M. Cleary, M.D., PhD. (who probably has far too little time to make grilled cheese sandwiches for his kids.)

There are at least two kinds of homemade sandwiches commonly referred to as grilled cheese.  One (the kind I grew up with) involves melting cheese over bread in the broiler or toaster-oven.  I think of this now as a toasted cheese sandwich; they are wonderful, but we won't be discussing them here at all.  The second kind is the diner classic: two slices of bread, cheese in the middle, fried in a pan or on a griddle until the bread is brown on the outside and the cheese goo-ily melted within.  There's a kind of magic, or alchemy to this—at least for a watching child—since you can't see the cheese melt.  You have to trust that the browning outside corresponds to the melting inside, and that the sandwich will (if you have your heat set right) turn into something more than the sum of its parts.  It's a valuable lesson in the power of the unknowable.

To Make a Basic Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Things you will need:
Frying pan of correct size for the number of sandwiches you wish to make (pan should have a cover)
Butter
Bread: twice as many slices as the number of sandwiches desired
Cheese: usually a mild, medium-hard cheese like American, Swiss, Monterey Jack, etc., 1-2 oz. per sandwich, thinly sliced

To prepare the sandwiches:

Anne’s Ukrainian Borscht with Meat

Anne’s Ukrainian Borscht with Meat

 Anne Milton
February, 2010

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not Ukranian—not one bit.  

My father's Russian Jewish family came over here bringing a recipe for meaty 'winter' borscht—a deep maroon, sweet-and-sour stew thick with prunes, tomatoes and cabbage—it's delicious, and maybe I'll post the recipe someday.  When I joined Boston Organics a couple years ago, I began getting relatively exotic things like celery root and parsnips along with my beets in the wintertime.  I originally found Ukranian Borscht described in a book called Cooking in the Litchfield Hills—a find-raiser for the Pratt Nature Center in New Milford, CT—so I don't know who provided the recipe.  Because the Pratt Center recipe contained many different root veggies, I started fiddling with it, adapting it to my taste and to the contents of my Boston Organics box.  Eventually, a new variant was born.  The borscht unquestionably shares DNA with the original recipe, but I have to call it mine as well, since the proportions, much of the method, and all the notes are my own.  If any actual Ukranians would like to weigh in on this subject, I'd be intrigued to hear from them!

1 1/2 to 2 lbs. beef flank steak or short ribs
, untrimmed (total meat weight excluding bone about 1 lb.)
1 1/2 quarts water

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 medium carrot, scraped

1 medium celery root, peeled, 1/4 cut out for broth, remaining cut in 1/2-inch cubes

1 whole small onion, peeled, stuck with 2 cloves

4 whole allspice berries, roughly crushed
1-2 medium-large, or 3-4 small red or golden beets, without tops (don't use more, or it will overwhelm the soup.)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tablespoon tomato paste

2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 tablespoon butter

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

1 medium parsnip, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 medium rutabaga or 2 purple-top turnips, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup chopped cabbage (optional; use more or less to taste)


1 small potato—unpeeled, if you prefer—cut in 1/2-inch cubes (optional: use depending on quantity of other vegetables)
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried dill, or 1-2 teaspoons fresh, minced
1 teaspoon crushed dried parsley, or 2-3 teaspoons fresh, minced

3/4-1 cup sour cream or drained yogurt


Cheaper and Better Turkey Sandwiches...a Success Story

Cheaper and Better Turkey Sandwiches

...a Success Story

I have to give a big round of applause to my friend Tamara, because recently, she made a great leap forward for all lunch-eating-kind.  This is exactly the kind of cooking busy people (and aren't we all?) can do to make life so much better for themselves.  As Tamara writes on her facebook page:

"Several years ago, someone mentioned to me that you can save money on lunches by cooking your own turkey to put in sandwiches. Since we are trying to eat better and save money, and I got sticker shock the last time I bought high quality deli meat, I thought I would try it. It came out great - I think this will become a regular thing. Even though the time from start to finish was a few hours, it doesn't require that much babysitting during the process, so you can do it while you are accomplishing other important things around the house, like catching up on Grey's Anatomy.

Kharcho: Georgian Soup with Walnuts and Fresh Herbs

Kharcho: Georgian Soup with Walnuts and Fresh Herbs

Anne Milton

October, 2010

(Adapted from a recipe by DJ Park

via food.com January, 2002)

1 lb. boneless lean beef or lamb, cut in big chunks
1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
6 cups meat stock: beef is best, but chicken will also do
6 cloves garlic, crushed or finely minced
1 bay leaf
1 medium/large tomato or a 16 oz. can diced tomatoes

Sherry's Russo's Ravioli Dinner

Here's what our friend Sherry had for dinner last night:

it looks so gorgeous and tasty, I can't stand it!

This is what she had to say about the meal:
"I went to Russo's [our wonderful local fresh food market: http://russos.com/] and bought butternut squash ravioli, goat cheese, lots of mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes.  Cooked the mushrooms with garlic and chopped lots of fresh basil and hazelnuts for the top. Yummy."
It sounds fast and straightforward to prepare: just the thing after a long, hungry day.  This definitely qualifies as an 'Off  The Top Of My Head' recipe.  Thanks,  Sherry, for one of those genius ideas that makes you wonder, 'why didn't I think of that?'

e-mail us: you can send your comments, recipes, or a personal message to Anne and Colin at: everything-tasty@annedesigns.com

Mediterranean flatbread and "Italian Toast", both with pesto aioli

Hello all! A bit of a schedule reshuffle for me: I decided Chef Alishah’s (the Bosnian place) merited a second visit, and I haven’t been able to go get the ingredients for my attempt to improve on the Time Market’s green gringo sandwich, so those have been pushed back to the end of the week. The good news (at least I hope its good news), though, is a big block of posts from me—I’m gonna try for four over the course of the next week; coming attractions will include a Mexican food review of La Botana and El Guero Canelo, the Kale Pesto recipe I mentioned in the comments, and at least one of the features mentioned above. Today though, it’s recipe time, and I’m inaugurating a new feature I’d like to call Off The Top Of My Head—dedicated to cataloging those things you whip up on the spot and wind up being pretty good. Today, that recipe will be for Mediterranean flatbread with a light pesto aioli—PLUS, as a special bonus, a tasty breakfast dish that you can top with said same aioli.
So, anyhow—partial credit has to go to my mother on this one.

Carbonara, part 2--With Recipe!

Well, the Carbonara came out pretty nicely. We went to HEB Central Market here in Houston, which is without a doubt the most amazing supermarket I’ve ever been to. The place is vast—occupying an entire shopping center by itself—and the selection is marvelous. There were fruit of every imaginable variety, potatoes both large and fingerling in 10 or so varieties (including purple!), and a selection of olive oils, vinegars, and pastas to rival the best of Italian specialty stores.

I was going to just use basic applewood bacon, which I know my girlfriend’s father is fond of, but at the deli counter they had some imported Italian pancetta that looked absolutely marvelous, so I decided I might as well get it.

Now, as Anne can tell you, I can never leave any recipe well enough alone,