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Cauliflower au gratin

Cauliflower au gratin

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Yield: 6 to 8 Servings
Peter Karp, from http://www.food.com/recipe/cauliflower-au-gratin-43159?oc=linkback
  • 1head cauliflower, broken into florets
  • 1½tsp salt, divided
  • 1knob of butter, room temperature
  • 1cup heavy cream
  • ½cup shredded cheese (cheddar or swiss)
  • ½cup breadcrumbs
  • ¼cup melted butter


Put cauliflower in pan with 1 inch of water and 1 tsp salt. Bring to boil; cover and reduce heat. Cook for about 6 minutes until crisp tender; drain.

Butter 2-quart baking dish and add cauliflower.

Pour cream over top and sprinkle salt and cheese over all. Mix lightly with spoon.

Combine 1/4 cup melted butter and 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and sprinkle over top.

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes

Grilled Marinated London Broil

Grilled Marinated London Broil

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Yield: 2 to 4 Servings
Adapted from various others

Now you’ve done it.  You bought a London Broil and see that it also says “top round”.  Well, that’s not a traditional London Broil.  The real London Broil is usually flank steak.  Here’s a recipe that will make it taste good, but don’t expect it to be tender.  You can give it a real work-over with a meat needler if you have one, that should help a lot.

  • 5large garlic cloves
  • 1tsp salt
  • ¼cup dry red wine
  • ¼cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1TBS soy sauce
  • 1tsp honey
  • 2-2½lb top-round London broil


Peel garlic and add to blender jar. Add remaining marinade ingredients. Blend to liquefy.

Place London broil in a 1 gallon freezer bag. Pour marinade into bag and squeeze out as much air as possible. Knead steak to cover completely with marinade and place in the refrigerator in a shallow dish. Refrigerate for 4 to 24 hours, turning and kneading occasionally.

Heat grill. Remove from marinade and let marinade drip off. Grill for 6 to 7 minutes per side for medium-rare, 125°F internal temperature.

Rest, covered loosely for 10 minutes then slice across the grain with the knife held to 45 degrees from vertical.

French Green Beans and Shallots

French Green Beans and Shallots

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Yield: 4 Servings
Jacques Pepin

September 2016: This is an excellent green bean preparation: simple flavors combined into an elegant dish that goes with almost anything.

  • 4cups water
  • 1lb very small, firm green beans, cleaned
  • 3TBS butter
  • 3TBS peeled and chopped shallots
  • ¼tsp salt, or to taste
  • ¼tsp freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
  • 1tsp lemon juice


Bring the water to a boil. Add the beans and cover the pot. Continue cooking the beans, covered, for 3 to 5 minutes until tender but firm. Drain and plunge into ice water.

At serving time, heat the butter in a skillet, add the shallots and sauté for about 1 minute, until the shallots start to brown.

Add the beans, salt and pepper, and sauté briefly. Sprinkle with lemon juice and serve.

Broccolini

Broccolini

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Summer 2017 These are a pair of simple preparations of broccolini.

Steamed Broccolini

Yield: 3 to 4 Servings
  • 2bunches broccolini, rinsed
  • 1TBS olive oil
  • ⅓cup water


Cut the bottom 2-inches off of stalks and split any thick stems lengthwise.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add broccolini; sprinkle with coarse salt. Add 1/3 cup water. Cover and boil until crisp-tender and still bright green, about 4 minutes.

Roasted Broccolini

Yield: 3 to 4 Servings
Adapted from Ina Garten
  • 2bunches broccolini, rinsed
  • 1TBS olive oil
  • Kosher salt and pepper


Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Trim 2 inches off the ends of the broccolini stems and cut any thick stalks in half lengthwise. Place the broccolini in a single layer on a sheet pan. Drizzle with 1 TBS olive oil, sprinkle with ½ tsp salt and a generous amount of pepper, toss well. Roast for 15 minutes, until the broccolini is crisp-tender. Serve hot

Sliced Tomato & Blue Cheese Salad

Sliced Tomato & Blue Cheese Salad

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Yield: 4 Servings
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse, (Delmonico Steakhouse)

2015: A nice steak house style starter salad. Goes great before a good steak.

  • 3large vine-ripened tomatoes, each cut into 4 thick slices
  • 1tsp salt
  • 1tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 2TBS plus 1/2 cup Herb Vinaigrette, recipe follows
  • 12(1/8-inch thick) slices red onion, or sweet onions
  • 1/2cup crumbled blue cheese, recommended: Maytag

Place the tomatoes in a large bowl and season on both sides with the salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons of the herb vinaigrette and toss lightly to coat.

Place 1 tomato slice on each of 4 salad plates and top with 1 onion slice. Repeat layering for 3 layers each of tomatoes and onions, ending with onions on top. Crumble 2 tablespoons of the cheese on top of each stack, drizzle with the vinaigrette, and serve immediately.

Herb Vinaigrette

Yield: 1¼ cups
  • 1TBS Champagne vinegar
  • 1½tsp fresh orange juice
  • ¾tsp fresh lemon juice
  • ¾tsp fresh lime juice
  • ¾tsp fresh grapefruit juice
  • ½cup vegetable oil
  • ½cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½cup chopped assorted herbs, including thyme, parsley, chives and basil
  • ¼tsp salt
  • ¼tsp freshly ground black pepper

Combine the vinegar, and orange, lemon, lime, and grapefruit juices in a medium bowl and whisk together. Add the vegetable and olive oils in a slow stream, whisking constantly to form an emulsion. Add the herbs, salt, and pepper, and whisk well to incorporate

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Vegetable Pot-au-Feu

Vegetable Pot-au-Feu

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Yield: 4 servings
Adapted from Bon Appétit

2014: This is basically a New England Boiled Dinner without the corned beef. It is suitable as a main course of a meatless meal. Pair with a nice crusty bread for sopping.

  • 2large carrots, peeled, cut on a diagonal into 2” pieces
  • 2large leeks, white and light-green parts only, cut on a diagonal into 2” pieces
  • 2large or 3 medium parsnips, peeled, halved lengthwise if large (remove woody center, if needed), cut on a diagonal into 2” pieces
  • ½medium head of savoy cabbage, cut into 4 wedges, each with some core attached
  • 2flat-leaf parsley sprigs plus 1 tablespoon chopped for garnish
  • 5cups homemade chicken stock or low-sodium canned chicken broth
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place carrots, leeks, parsnips, cabbage, parsley sprigs, and stock in large heavy pot.

Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until vegetables are tender but not falling apart, about 20 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Red Onion, Endive and Asparagus

Red Onion, Endive and Asparagus

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Yield: 4 servings
Jacques Pépin

Circa 2000: A simple but sophisticated dish to accompany chicken or chops.

  • 2medium red onions
  • 2Belgian endives
  • 8-12asparagus spears
  • olive oil

Julienne the onions and endive. Keep the endive in lemon water while waiting for cooking. Cut 2 inches from bottom of asparagus and lightly peal the next 2 inches. Blanch the asparagus for a couple of minutes in boiling water. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add red onion and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add drained endive and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add asparagus and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve.

Broccoli with Lemon Butter

Broccoli with Lemon Butter

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Yield: 4 Servings
Scott Nowell

1984: This is a simple dish that is nearly too simple to justify a recipe. I updated the first paragraph below to add information that I find most people don’t know.
This is a great accompaniment to roast beef or about anything else that can stand the lemon bite.

  • 2bunches of broccoli
  • 4TBS unsalted butter
  • 1TBS fresh lemon juice
  • ¼tsp salt
  • ¼tsp freshly ground pepper


The outer surface of the bottom of stems on a bunch of broccoli is often quite tough, but that is easy to fix. Cut the bottom half inch off to get rid of the dry end. Then, peel the bottom few inches of the broccoli with a vegetable peeler.  Separate the broccoli into spears of the desired size. Rather than tossing out the stem, cut it on a diagonal into 1/8 to ¼ inch thick coins. When cooking, put the stem pieces in the boiling water about a minute ahead of the spears.

Add about ½ inch of water to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add 1 tsp salt.

Add broccoli and boil until crisp tender, 2 to 3 minutes. The water is really for steam, so the broccoli won’t be covered.

In a small saucepan warm the butter, lemon juice, salt and pepper over medium heat, stirring, until butter melts.

Transfer broccoli to a heated bowl and pour sauce over the broccoli.

Glazed Carrots

Glazed Carrots

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Serves 4
Old Sharp Microwave Cookbook

December 1984: I’ve been making these for a long time. They are always a hit with the family. Over time I’ve found that the stove top variety has some advantages. The glaze will cook down more which makes it thicker.

  • 1lb carrots, fresh or frozen, regular or baby
  • 3TBS packed brown sugar
  • 2TBS butter
  • 1TBS water
  • ½tsp salt
  • 1/8tsp ground cinnamon.


Large fresh carrots should be peeled and cut on a bias about 3/8 inch thick.

Microwave:

Cook carrots in microwave safe covered dish for 4 minutes. Pour off any water, add rest of ingredients and stir. Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes until cooked to desired doneness.

Time varies with microwave power and carrot size.

Stove Top:

Cook carrots in a half inch of water for 5-8 minutes or until starting to get tender.

If the water is gone, remove from heat and add 1 TBS water to pan.

Add remaining ingredients. Stir to coat. Return to heat.

Cook for a few minutes until sauce thickens and forms a glaze on carrots.

Serve.

Grilled Green Beans

Grilled Green Beans

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Yield: 4 Servings
myfridgefood.com

July 2014:  Trudy Sullivan posted the link to these beans on Facebook.  I couldn’t resist.  Just be careful  not to overcook.

  • 8oz fresh green beans
  • 1TBS lemon juice
  • 1TBS extra virgin olive oil
  • 1tsp garlic powder
  • ½tsp kosher salt (optional)
  • pepper to taste
  • parmesan cheese

Mix all ingredients except the Parmesan cheese in a large Ziploc bag. Let flavors marinate for 10 minutes or so.

Put on a grill over medium heat, turning frequently until crisp tender. About 10 minutes. (Use one of those special grill baskets or a cast iron skillet if you are worried about losing beans through the cracks.)

Remove beans from heat, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Easy!