September Recipes

[strawberryblonde]

Here's the collection of recipes that everyone submitted in September. I know I promised to do this weekly, but my life has been too busy lately for me to even think about posting weekly. So monthly it is!

I'll try to divide them up by category, but can't promise that I'll manage it. LOL

Here goes.....

[strawberryblonde]

MEAT DISHES:

From DiscusPaul:

Thai chicken wings:

The basting sauce:
- 3 -tbspns of Thai sweet Chili Sauce
- 3 " of Soy Sauce - your choice - thick, thin, Japanese, whatever.
- 2 " of chili garlic sauce (called Sriracha - get it in the Asian food section of your supermarket)
- 1 tspn. grated fresh ginger
- 1 " of your favorite bbq sauce - whatever that may be - Diane's - Tony Roma's, etc.
- 1 " of hoisin sauce
- 1 " of plum sauce
- 1 " of apricot jam (optional)
- 1 " of sesame oil

Mix these all together very well - heat the sauce to the boiling point for a bit, if you wish.

Prepare your chicken wings any way you like - I prefer to to remove as much of the excess skin as I can, and split them in two between the drumette and the outer wing portion - but discard the final wing tip portion. Sprinkle them with salt & pepper.

Roast/bake them in a lightly oiled/greased oven pan/sheet @ 350 degrees for about 35/40 minutes, then baste them with your sauce, both sides, turning them once during your basting. (Baste more than once each side if you wish).
Bake for another 10-15 minutes in total.
Finish them off by turning on the broiler element for just 2-3 minutes to bubble up the glaze & carmelize it on one side.

Remove to a serving dish & sprinkle on some toasted sesame seeds.

Your guests SHOULD just love them - give it a go - imo they're the best chicken wings you're ever going to eat!
Bon Appetit !

STEAK AU POIVRE:

This recipe is for 2 steaks, cooked medium/rare.

Get your best butcher to cut you 2 boneless rib-eyes, at least 1.5" thick, or 2 filets (beef tenderloin) about 2" thick.

Liberally coat both sides of the steaks with freshly ground black pepper (or red, or green).
Let the steaks sit at room temp for at least one half hour before pan frying. Up to an hour is good, but remember, the longer the steaks sit with the pepper on them, the hotter they will be - I like mine quite peppery.

Rather than use freshly ground dry pepper placed right onto their steaks and let sit, some purists prefer to use whole green peppercorns (available by the jar in water or brine, or pickled). These peppercorns are mixed right into the sauce with the other ingredients, some squashed to heighten the heat.

Ingredients for your sauce:
- Approx. 1/3 cup good brandy (cognac is best if your wallet premits)
- 1/3 cup of finely chopped/minced shallots ( 1 med/lge shallot)
- 1 heaping tbspn of Dijon mustard
- 1 tspn of dried tarragon (or 1 heaping tspn chopped fresh tarragon if you can get it)
- Approx. 1/4 to 1/3 cup heavy cream (whipping cream)

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees

In a fry pan just large enough to hold the two steaks, add a tbspn of both butter and veg oil, and heat to med/high.

Fry your steaks on both sides until seared dark golden brown/blackish on the outside (about 3-4 minutes each side) - the steaks should still be fairly rare in the center.

Remove to a holding pan & place in your warmed oven.

Add the minced shallots to the still hot pan, & over med heat, cook them slightly to opaqueness while stirring, then add the cognac & cook away the alcohol (Flame it up if you wish).

Add the tarragon, the dijon mustard, and the whipping cream, and stir well to blend it all together.
If need be, add a little thickener at this point, to give the sauce the consistency you want. (A little cornstarch mixed with cool water will do fine).

Remove your steaks from the oven, place on your serving plates, and coat them both liberally with the finished sauce.
Serve the steaks with patate frites (fries), or boiled new potatoes, and either steamed broccolli, or steamed brussel sprouts - or any other favorites you have.

I do believe you'll feel like you're having a grand steak in a parisian bistro. Enjoy !

PORK BUTTON BONES ( sometimes called 'dry ribs')

Sure hope you folks can find these pork buttons at one of your supermarkets or meat market shops.
They're sometimes seldom found around here.

For those of you who don't know what they are - they're the very tail end strips of pork back ribs, and quite meaty. They are usually sold in 6" to 8" long strips, no more than 2" wide, and you simply cut them between each small flat bone, into individual pieces of approx 2" square.

Lightly coat these little riblets with some veg oil, and generously adorn them, both sides, with sea or kosher salt (or fleur de sel) and freshly ground black pepper - nothing more - simple, huh ?

Place them on a flat backing sheet & bake for 15-20 minutes on each side, @ 400-425 F (turning them once) until they just begin to brown up well, with crisping edges.
Total roasting time - about 40 minutes, or so.

An approx 2 lb. package should yield 35 up to 50 little riblets - a super appie for 6 to 10 persons.
And the best part is, they shouldn't cost you any more than about $5.

Here's a great sauce for pulled pork, Memphis-style:
-1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup bourbon
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2-3 tspns worcestershire sauce
- 2 tspns lemon juice
- 1 tspn balsamic vinegar
- 1 tspn hot mustard
- 1 tspn of your favorite hot sauce

(If it's a little too thick for your liking, to drizzle well, then add a little water to the sauce).

Mix these ingredients well together, heat the mixture to the boiling point, and stir in about 1/3 of it, into a large bowlful of the already pulled pork. Warm the pork up a little if need be.
Retain the rest as extra sauce for those who like their bunwiches 'slurpier', so they can spoon it on, or it can be used as a dipping sauce for the bunwiches, much as you do with beef dip.


From Trier:

Brandon’s Pork Butt Dry Rub

8oz kosher salt
5oz dry mustard
3oz cumin
2oz granulated onion
2oz granulated garlic
2oz dark chili powder
2oz paprika
1T Dried Oregano

Combine all ingredients in bowl and mix together. Rub pork 4-24 hrs prior to cooking.

This can be used for all pork not just pork butt. I cook the pork but at 150 degrees for 12-13 hrs

Pork Tenderloin Sliders

1 pork tenderloin, cleaned
3 cup panko
4 fl ounce egg wash
2 cup seasoned ap flour
2 cup iqf blueberries
1 cup simple syrup
2 tsp black peppercorns

1. Combine 1 cup of water on cup of sugar and 2 cups of blueberries and peppercorns in a small sauce pot and turn on medium low heat. Bring to a simmer and reduce by 1/3. Once it is reduced blend in blender and put in squeeze bottle.
2. Portion tenderloin into 2 1/3 oz slices. Pound out thin.
3. Dredge in flour, dip in egg wash then coat in the panko.
4. Fry tenderloins in 350 degree fryer until golden brown and cooked through.
5. Serve on toasted buns with lettuce tomato, berry sauce and a side of fries

Braised Chuck

15 3oz cubes of chuck
5 jalapenos halved and seeded
1 lrg onion cut into quarters
10 garlic cloves smashed
Half head of celery
3 oranges halved and juiced
¼ cup tomato paste
1 liter red rocket amber ale(brown ale)
1 pint demi

In a large braising pan sear all pieces of chuck on all sides. Remove chuck and set aside. Add to pan all veggies and sauté for 3-5 minutes. Deglaze pan with rocket and add demi tomato paste oranges and juice. Add chuck back to pan and braise for 3 to 4 hours. Once tender remove chuck from pan and puree the braising liquid (you may need to add some water or beef stock to get to desired consistency).

Serve with horseradish mashed potatoes and roasted carrots with thyme.

From Brewmaster15:

Brew's Gluten Free Meatballs...

2 pounds Ground meat of your Choice...I like Turkey but any kind works
6 whole eggs or 2 whole eggs and 8 whites
4 cups Corn Chex (general mills) Crush these with a rolling pin
5 table spoons olive oil
1-2 teaspoon salt (use your own judgement here)
3 table spoons Garlic Powder
1/4 cup dried parsley or 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh
1 small to medium onion Diced fine
1 teaspoon Black pepper

Mix all ingredients by hand thoroughly.... you may need to add more corn chex to get the right consistency to make a small ball in your hand...You can also use some Gluten free bread crumb ( though I would not recommend just using that or you will get rocks.

On a cookie sheet spread some aluminum foil...and spray with cooking oil. Preheat oven to 380-400 degrees . You can make the meatballs any size, for your typical 2" diameter balls cooktime is about an hour. Once cooked use them in sauce, make them small to use in Lasagne....your choice.

It took me a while to come up with this one as I am supposed to stay away from Gluten, but love my Italian food. I used to make my meatballs and meatloaf with Italian bread that I had made myself..... My kids actually like the Gluten Free ones here better than wheat based ones...If you know anyone thats Celiac, or has a Gluten sensitivity as I do, This recipe is a simple and easy one for meat loaf, meat balls etc. A good variation is to add 1/2-3/4 cup finely diced zucchini...

Hope that helps someone. The above recipe makes about 24 average meatballs...., these freeze real well and are a great time saver here.

[strawberryblonde]

Seafood Dishes

From Second Hand Pat:

Fried Lobster Tail:

Anyone do fried lobster tail. Now I do this with Florida lobster and you only have the tail. Remove the meat from the shell and cut along the natural divisions in the meat. This will yield bite size pieces of meat. Lightly flour the meat and place in a hot skillet with 1/2 inch hot oil and fry until nicely brown all the way around and it forks tender.

Serve hot with fried grouper, hush puppies and a nice salad or corn on the cob.


Pat's Sweet Boiled Shrimp

Alright Paul, you get several pounds of large, shell on headless shrimp, white vinegar, salt, celery seed and old bay (optional). Fill a large pot with 60% white vinegar/40% water and bring to a boil. You want enough of the while vinegar/water to nicely cover the shrimp.

As the white vinegar/water mixture is heating you add salt to taste. Allow the white vinegar/water mixture to comes to a nice rolling boil and add the washed shrimp and stir.

Here is where you add the celery seed. you want enough to give decent coverage on the shrimp but if you get too much it will give the shrimp a harsh taste. Stir again and allow the shrimp to turn pink. Now remove the shrimp from the pot BUT save an inch or two of water and place back in the pot. Now add one of those fold out streamers to the pot and add the shrimp to the top of the unfolded streamer. Bring the water back to a gentle boil and allow the shrimp to cook a couple of minutes.

Here is where I remove a shrimp to taste for doneness. Careful to not overcook here as the shrimp can get a little tough. The vinegar will make the shrimp sweet and this beats all the shrimp boil mixes.

Optional: Once the shrimp are added to the streamer add some old bay and mix it in a little...heaven and my totally favorite dish of all time. This is also my grandmother's recipe.

From Trier:

Sweet Shrimp

Ok Pat here is my sweet shrimp recipe. I start with 1 gallon of cold water 2 lemons and 3 oranges juiced into the water and the rinds thrown in. A handfull of cilantro 1T of sugar and 1/2T of whole black peppercorns. Slowly bring to boil and add 1LB of shrimp. Crank heat and cook for approx 2 min. remove from water and chill on ice. Once chillled enjoy with a Tecate with some Lime

[Eddie]

Sounds delish!

[strawberryblonde]

Appetizers

From yim11:

Sex on a Cracker

Soften a package of cream cheese, plate and cover with candied jalapenos (equal sauce and slices), about 1/2 a small jar. Serve with Ritz crackers.

Smokies wrapped in sweet bacon

Ingredients

1 pound sliced bacon, cut into thirds
1 (14 ounce) package beef cocktail wieners
1 cup brown sugar, or to taste


Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Refrigerate the bacon until needed. It is easier to wrap the wieners with cold bacon. Put the cut slices of bacon in to a zip lock bag with the brown sugar, shake to coat, Wrap each cocktail wiener with a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle extra brown sugar generously over all.
Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until the sugar is bubbly. To serve, place the wieners in a slow cooker and keep on the low setting.

From Trier20:

Smoked Salmon Cheesecake

2 cups diced and toasted French bread1/2 cup toasted
1/2 cup Swiss and/or gruyere cheese, grated
1 Tablespoon fresh dill, minced
1/2 cup melted butter
2 large shallots, chopped
3 tablespoons butter
1-3/4 lb. cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream, lightly whipped
pinch of kosher salt
coarsely ground black pepper to taste
Tabasco sauce to taste
dash worstershire sauce
4 eggs
1/2 lb Smoked Salmon, thinly sliced.

Combine first four ingredients and process in blender or food processor
until crumbled. Add to melted butter and press onto bottom and 2" up
the sides of a well greased spring form pan. Chill well.

Saute onion in butter until tender. Cream the cream cheese. Beat in
shallot, Swiss or gruyere cheese, sour cream, tabasco, worstershire
(if using) salt and pepper. Add eggs, one at a time, beating briefly
after each addition.

Next fold in lightly whipped cream. Fold in salmon. Pour into crust.
Bake at 350 degrees until set (until a toothpick comes out clean), approx. 45 to 60 min. Let cool, and chill thoroughly. You can freeze until you need it as well.

Before serving, bring to room temperature and
serve with good bread (toasted or not) or crackers.

This is pretty funky but, use it as a dip. It’s great!!!!!

Crab Rangoon Dip

16 oz. fresh crab meat (or canned, well drained)
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 T. chopped scallions or chives
2 T heavy cream
1 T horseradish
1 t salt
1 t ground white pepper
¼ t of garlic powder
Whip all ingredients minus the crab together in a mixing bowl. Once thoroughly whipped fold in crab.
Fry or bake won ton wrappers to use as a dipping vessel.

[strawberryblonde]

Breads and Desserts

From StrawberryBlonde:

Easy Pao de Queijo

INGREDIENTS
2 eggs at room temp
2/3 cup olive or vegetable oil (Olive Oil can give a strong taste, so I generally mix it half and half with the veggie oil)
1 1/3 cups milk
Scant 3 cups tapioca flour
1 cup grated cheese, your preference, but if you can find Queso Fresco you'll thank me for it.
2 teaspoons of salt (or more to taste)


1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a muffin tin. Put all of the ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth. You may need to use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the blender so that everything gets blended well.
At this point you can store the batter in the refrigerator for up to a week.


2. Fill the muffin cups half way. Any more than that and they'll puff up and run over the top.


3. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until all puffy and just lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for a few minutes.


Eat while warm or save to reheat later.
Enough batter for 8-12 muffin sized cheese breads.

From Trier20:

Brandon’s Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Bread


• 6 c all purpose flour
• 2c yellow cornmeal
• 1 ¼ c honey
• 5 T baking powder
• 3oz kosher salt
• 1 qt. milk
• 6 large eggs, beaten well
• 1# butter, unsalted
• 1 ¾# cheddar cheese
• 2/3c gr. Onions
• 1 1/4c seeded jalapenos


Directions:

Sift dry ingredients together into a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl beat eggs then add the rest of the wet ingredients and mix well. Add the wet bowl to the dry bowl and mix until most of the clumps are worked out, don’t over work the batter. This recipe will make one sheet tray(my kitchen size probably two of yours). Dump batter out onto a well greased sheet tray and smooth evenly. Bake for 13-15 min in a 350 degree pre-heated oven. If you’d like to drizzle more honey on after baking that is fine too.

From DiscusPaul:

MOCHA CHOCOLATE TORTE (flourless) - for you chocoholics out there - (to die for) !

You will need a 9" springform pan, to yield 8 to 12 servings, depending on how much 'richness' you can take at a time.

Ingredients:
- 8 oz. (225 grams) of good quality dark chocolate (Dark Swiss, Cadbury's Premium Dark, Hershey's - Lindt - whatever)
- 1/2 cup strong coffee (espresso is good)
- 8 oz. of butter (unsalted is best), cut up into small pieces
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten.
- 1/3 cup finely chopped unsalted pecans, or cashews, or walnuts - whatever nuts you like best.

First, wrap the springform pan with alum. foil around the outside bottom to prevent leakage (to avoid any messy leakage whatsoever, I also wrap the bottom plate of the pan, before insertion, with enough foil so that it clings all round & up the inside wall of the springform to fully contain all of the batter until it sets.)

Lightly grease and flour the springform pan.

Break up the chocolate into small pieces into a glass or other microwaveable bowl and add the coffee to it. Microwave for 30-40 seconds to really get the melting underway.

Stir/whisk it until fully melted, and begin adding the pieces of butter, a few chunks at a time, whisking after each batch is added, until the mixture is smooth & glossy.

Then whisk in the sugar.

Microwave the mixture a few second more, just to get it warm.
Slowly add in the beaten eggs, whisking constantly, until all is blended in.
Add the diced nuts & mix in.

Pour the finished batter into the springform pan,
and bake for 50 minutes in a 350 degree preheated oven.

Remove from the oven & cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edges, and remove the sides of the pan.
Cool completely. The cake should be around 2"-2.5" high when done, and will deflate slightly while cooling.
Cut away the excess foil wrapping.

Wrap the cake very well in saran wrap and refrigerate overnite or up to 2 days.
(Note: I leave the cake on the springform bottom plate to fully retain it's shape, and cut & serve it from that.)

Before serving, unwrap it, and let the cake sit at room temp for about an hour.

The cake is great just plain, or with fresh rasberries and whipped cream, or raspberry sauce with the whipped cream, or with custard sauce.
(I prefer raspberry sauce - just use seedless raspberry jam with a little water added to thin it out. - Heat it up a bit before drizzling it over the cake.)

The cake will be good for up to a week in the fridge.

From Trier20:

Panna Cotta

4 cups (1l) heavy cream (or half-and-half)
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 packets powdered gelatin (about 4 1/2 teaspoons)
6 tablespoons (90ml) cold water
1. Heat the heavy cream and sugar in a saucepan or microwave. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
(If using a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds from the bean into the cream and add the bean pod. Cover, and let infuse for 30 minutes. Remove the bean then rewarm the mixture before continuing.)
2. Lightly oil eight custard cups with a neutral-tasting oil.
3. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium-sized bowl and let stand 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Pour the very warm Panna Cotta mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
5. Divide the Panna Cotta mixture into the prepared cups, then chill them until firm, which will take at least two hours but I let them stand at least four hours. (Judy told me American refrigerators are colder than European ones. )
If you’re pressed for time, pour the Panna Cotta mixture into wine goblets so you can serve them in the glasses, without unmolding.
6. Run a sharp knife around the edge of each Panna Cotta and unmold each onto a serving plate, and garnish as desired.

[strawberryblonde]

Miscellaneous Recipes

These didn't fit into any of the other categories, but no WAY was I gonna leave them out of this thread!

From Trier20:

Butter Pickles

5 1/2 cups (1 1/2 pounds) thinly sliced pickling cucumbers
1 1/2 Tablespoons kosher salt
1 cup thinly sliced sweet onion
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Directions:
1. Combine cucumbers and salt in a large, shallow bowl; cover and chill 1 1/2 hours. Move cucumbers into a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water. Drain well, and return cucumbers to bowl. Add onion to the bowl.
2. Combine sugar and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour hot vinegar mixture over cucumber mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours.

This is one of my favorite pickle recipes ever.

Editor's Note: We made these every summer when I was a kid, and my Mom called them Bread and Butter Pickles. Why that name? It actually goes back to when this country had large farming communities. These pickles were made to use up any leftover cukes at the end of the cucumber growing season.
At harvest time, everyone would gather at a designated farm for the day to help bring in the harvest. The wives would bring these pickles, churn some butter, make fresh bread and boil pots and pots of corn. They'd set up large tables outdoors and this would be served as "lunch" for all the farm hands.

How to eat a Bread and Butter Pickle and Sweet Corn lunch -
1) Smear a ton of butter onto a thick slice of homemade bread.
2) Use the buttered bread to butter your ears of hot corn on the cob.
3) Now put a pile of pickles onto the slightly warmed and butter soaked pieces of bread, fold in half to hold all that delicious goodness in there and eat up!



Grilled Romaine Salad

1 head romaine lettuce
1 ounce balsamic reduction
1 ounce Caesar dressing
5 shrimp, grilled then skewerd


Remove shell from shrimp toss in oil salt and pepper then grill. Cut romaine in half and put on grill. Only grill long enough to get good marks on the lettuce. Remove lettuce and shrimp when done. Skewer shrimp on a 12 inch skewer and stick into romaine wedge. Drizzle with balsamic and Caesar.