European (31)
Au Jus (pronounced: \aww-zhoo\) is a French term meaning "at juice" or "with juice". Au Jus is a finishing sauce, served alongside something like Beef Roast or Prime Rib, or a dipping sauce (also called French Dip) for something like a Roast Beef and Cheese Sandwich. Au Jus is traditionally made by mixing pan drippings (including the fond), with meat broth, and wine. Au Jus can also be used as a base to make a tasty Mire Poix, by adding Onions, Celery, and Carrots before reducing for an hour. This recipe is designed to be an "Instant" Au Jus, when actual Meat Drippings are not available. Although Red Wine is a common ingredient in Au Jus, this recipe is made without any Wine.
Ćevap Lepinje (pronounced /'Che-vap Lay-'pin-yay/) are "Balkan Kebab Buns". A quick and easy bread that can be eaten alone or with any meat dish. Serve the Ćevap Lepinje with kebab meat, burgers, pulled pork, or shredded chicken.
Cheese Fondue is a fun dish to serve for special occasions or when entertaining company. Cheese Fondue, however, can be temperamental: one wrong move and the cheese can "seize". Instead of delicious Fondue, you can end up with a pile of useless semi-melted cheese in a pot full of milky apple cider. Some folks may make the claim that Cheese will never Fondue properly without adding alcohol to the mix. This recipe proves otherwise. This recipe can serve as a starting point for a large number of Cheese Fondue variations, including sweet and savory herbs and spices.
The Ratatouille dish served at the end of the Pixar movie Ratatouille, is a Confit Byaldi that requires two different preparations:
1. Pipérade is a thin sauce, with Basque origins, traditionally made with onions and a "mildly-hot" red pepper called Espelette pepper. Since Espelette peppers may not be readily available, this Pipérade recipe uses even milder peppers, the Poblano and the Red Pimento.
2. The Pipérade is spread across the bottom of a casserole pan and then covered with thinly sliced vegetables and slow roasted for several hours.
Refrigerating the dish overnight will allow the flavors to mature. Reheat in the oven before serving.
Traditionally, this dish could be served hot as a side-dish with meat (like Rosemary Chicken), Basil Rice, or with a sliced baguette.
Store the leftovers in an airtight refrigerator dish. The leftovers only get better.
Crème Fraîche is a traditional creamy French sauce, made by mixing cultured Buttermilk and Heavy Cream and then incubating the culture to thicken the cream. Crème Fraîche can be a tasty addition to fresh fruit, a thickener for sauces, or even added as a creamy thickener for soups. Because of the high percentage of milk fat, Crème Fraîche can survive high heat, even boiling, without breaking down. This recipe can be easily scaled to produce a larger yield by maintaining a buttermilk/cream ratio of 1:8. Note: Buttermilk that does not have an active culture will fail to incubate properly. The Borden brand "Country Store Bulgarian Cultured Whole Buttermilk" seems to be available most places across the US.
Dutch Baby is the sweeter, more pancaker version of Yorkshire pudding. The batter can be made as much as 3 days in advance. The finished Dutch Baby can be topped with fresh fruit, maple syrup, or even powdered sugar.
(Pronounced /brä-chē-ˈō-lə/) - a Braciola is a bundle of food wrapped in a large cut of meat, then sliced crosswise to make individual pinwheels. Flank steak comes from the bottom abdominal area of the cow, contains tough muscle fibers with very little fat. Flank Steak can be tenderized by using an acidic marinade and then cutting the final steak across the grain, making it the perfect cut for these pinwheels.
Risotto is easy to make, but it requires constant stirring. Cooking Risotto in the Sous Vide removes the need for such focused attention: Just prepare the ingredients, seal them in a heat safe bag, and drop it in the Sous Vide. 45 minutes later, you will have a perfect Risotto. Just watch the time so that you do not overcook it.
Herbed compound butter is an easy method for introducing a complex flavor to your meal. Use compound butter to saute vegetables, or for finishing a high quality steak.
Pesto is a tasty replacement for Marinara sauce when you are want some variation from the standard tomato-based sauce. However, Pesto can be expensive to make. This Pesto recipe is a tasty, cheaper option, that can be made easily in less than half an hour. Leaving out the Parmasan Cheese will significantly lower the cost. Using a small amount of Marmite will replace the Umami falvor that typically came from the Parmasan, and the reduced price makes this Pesto fit better in your budget. The cost can be further reduced by replacing Pine Nuts with raw, chopped Almonds. Pesto can be a great addition to any pasta dish, a tasty relish for an italian sandwhich, or a Pizza sauce. The Olive Oil should be integrated by hand, since using a blender to mix in the Olive Oil can cause the Oil to break down and result in a bitter flavor.
Perhaps the perfect meal to celebrate St. Patrick's day, is Irish Stew. While Irish Stew typically requires the inclusion of a "pint of stout" for additional flavor, I have found that the deep complexity can be easily accomplished by replacing the stout with a tablespoon of Marmite. We dissolve the Marmite in hot water to ensure that it is fully integrated throughout the final stew.
Jammie Dodgers are a common British desert sandwich using short-bread biscuits (called cookies in the US), with a raspberry jam filling. Based on the size of the cookie cutters used, this recipe yields about 6 to 8 finished Jammie Dodgers, depending on the size of your cookie cutters.
Koláč or Kolach /kəˈläch/ (the singular form), meaning a "cake", is a traditional Czech pastry, filled with fruit compote and/or quark cheese or soft new cheese. Koláčé or Kolache /kəˈlächē/ (the plural form) was brought to the United States during the European Texas migration of the late 1800's. Contrary to the menu at any donut shop in Texas, there is no dish called a savory Kolach. A savory Kolach should be called a Klobásník /kləˈbäsnik/ (the singular form), meaning a "small sausage" or Klobásníky /kləˈbäsˈnik ē/ (the plural form). Surprisingly, the Klobásník is not a traditional Czech dish, although it was invented by a Czech immigrant, living in Texas. This dough recipe can be used to make both Kolache and Klobásníky.
Marquis Potatoes are a versatile dish that can be eaten as a finger food or served as a side with a Beef Roast. This French potato recipe is made by piping mashed potatoes into donut-shaped rings, then baking the mashed potato donuts. The open center of the baked potatoes are filled with a savory sauce. This recipe uses a Tomato-based sauce. You can make mashed potatoes from scratch for this recipe, but instant mashed potatoes will reduce the prep time by more than an hour, with no real benefit to the recipe.
Minestrone is a hearty, flavorful soup made with vegetables and pasta. This Minestrone includes Kielbasa, but you could use Sweet Italian Sausage, or leave out the meat altogether for a vegetarian version. This soup can be eaten the same day it is prepared, or it can be prepared and then stored in the refrigerator or freezer for a meal on another day.
Mire Poix - (pronounced /mir pwaw/) is a classic base for soups and stews in French Cuisine. In the traditional form, this is a vegetarian base, however, you can add a few slices of fatback (also called salted pork) for a more complex flavor.
Oven Roasted Cauliflower is a non-traditional cauliflower use that makes a great appetizer or even a main dish.
You can use a variety of seasonings to flavor Roasted Cauliflower
This recipe calls for either Russet potatoes or Yukon Golds. They each have a unique texture and can provide nice character to this dish: Russets will have a better crunch, while the Yukon Golds have a more creamy inside. In order to save time, the potatoes can be par-boiled up to a day in advance.
This is a simple recipe that is easy to prepare but will impress everyone with a great flavor.
Pair this dish with a nice salad.
Poached Chicken is similar to boiling chicken, but produces a much better result. Boiling involves cooking the chicken in rapidly boiling water. This will result in a dry and tough final product. Poaching chicken involves reaching a high initial temperature, then cooking at a lower temperature until the meat is cooked. Poaching chicken results in moist, flavorful meat.
Whether it is spelled "quark", "quarg", or "kvarg", the German word for "curd" is a common soft cheese in Slavik, German, and other Northern European countries.
Quark is a creamy, soft cheese, with an extremely mild flavor. It can be made from any milk, from whole to skim, although a whole milk will provide a slightly larger yield. Quark works well as a rich and creamy butter replacement, as a base for cheesecake, or for a variety of other savory uses. This recipe uses the "Yogurt" setting on an "Instant Pot" to incubate the culture into Quark Cheese. The yield for this recipe (using 2% Milkfat) is about 4 ounces (1/4 Cup) of Quark.
Cottage Pie is the same as Shepherd’s Pie except that Shepherd's Pie is made with ground lamb, and Cottage Pie is made with ground beef. This recipe is simplified and scaled down for an easy 4 serving meal.
Dutch Baby Pancakes are a fun and tasty breakfast treat. But adding a drizzle of Raspberry Syrup, just before it goes in the oven will create the perfect sweet breakfast. A proper rise is accomplished by cooking the Dutch Baby rapidly. For best results, ensure that the pan is well heated, and that the batter is room temperature, before it is poured into the pan.
Flognarde or Flonarde (pronounced /floo-nyard/) is a French fruit dessert, traditionally made with a stiff custard, almost like flan. Flognarde can include wheat flour, or corn starch. While Flognarde is traditionally made with milk and cream, I have found Greek Yogurt to provide the perfect low-fat replacement. For additional flavor variations, you can also replace the raspberries with other fruits or berries, like apples, pear, blackberries, etc. If you use black cherries, the dish is called Clafoutis (pronounced /kla-fu-ti/).
As we all learned from watching the movie of the same name, ratatouille (pronounced /rat-a-too-ee/) is a generally regarded as a "peasant stew". This means that it was typically made with whatever ingredients the cook had on hand. I have seen many different recipes for ratatouille. It seems that the only ingredient that is required to make ratatouille, is eggplant. Here is my ratatouille recipe..
Burek (pronounced /booˈ-ɾec/) is a traditional meal, where an unleavened dough, similar to phyllo, is filled with meat, potatoes, spinach, cheese, or other fillings. Burek is common throughout the region previously controlled by the Ottoman empire. In the Baltics, Burek is rolled into a large spiral pastry and baked. It is often cut into pie wedge sections for serving. A Bosnian cheese-filled Burek is called "Sirnica" (pronounced /Seer'-nitz-a/), meaning "cheesecake" or "cheese pie". Sirnica is filled with a Bosnian soft cheese, "Sitnog sira", which is similar to cottage cheese. I like the nice "soft, tangy" flavor profile caused by using a mixture of cottage cheese, feta cheese, and neufchatel cheese. Make this into a tasty Sirnica dessert by adding Homemade Raspberry Syrup into the cheese filling.
Spatch-cocked Chicken is a preparation method for whole Chicken. Spatch-cocked chicken can then be baked, grilled, poached or cooked any number of cooking methods. Spatch-cocking a chicken will help it to cook at a more uniform rate as it flattens the bird.
Manicotti is a type of pasta, shaped into large tubes and are usually filled with a ricotta or cottage cheese filling and then covered with pasta sauce. Manicotti can provide a nice variation to the typical "Plate of Noodles and Red Sauce".
Toad in the Hole is a traditional British dish where sausages are cooked in Yorkshire pudding. The various steps required to successfully create Yorkshire pudding are oftentimes approached with all the fervor of religious dogma. However, good Yorkshire Pudding is actually quite easy to make. The batter can be made 30 minutes to 3 days in advance. The heated oven and preheated pan causes the Yorkshire pudding to rise and then crisp, as it turns a golden brown color. As a side note, if the pudding fails to rise properly, the dish is called "Toad in the Bog". Toad in the Hole is traditionally topped with grilled onions and a few scoops of beef or chicken gravy.
Wassail is a festive holiday fruity drink that is typically consumed warm. This drink has the added benefit of making the whole house smell like Christmas exploded in your kitchen. This Wassail can simmer all day long. Just spoon the servings directly into mugs, while the pot continues to simmer.
