Molly Brown Casserole

Comfort food from my childhood and a perennial top choice for my own children's birthday dinners.  A mid-20th century take on lasagna -- this mildly tangy casserole is easy to make and easy to like.  When I can't find crinkly noodles, I use mini lasagna noodles or even regular lasagna broken in pieces or, in a pinch, egg noodles.  But the pasta's ruffled edge is part of the pleasure of this dish and worth looking for.

In lightly salted boiling water, cook

1 (16-oz) package crinkly noodles

then drain and stir with

3 Tablespoons butter

in a 9"x13" pan.

Brown

1 lb. hamburger

Mix

1½ cup cottage cheese
8 ounces cream cheese
2/3 cup sour cream
¼ cup grated onion
1 teaspoon marjoram

and pour over noodles.  Mix browned hamburger with

2 cups tomato sauce
½ Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 drops Tabasco sauce

and pour over cheese mixture. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes.

Asparagus Basil Risotto

Ah! This dish is pure spring to me. Elegant and refined and utterly delicious. We make it to celebrate Palm Sunday, the week before Easter, when Jesus entered Jerusalem and was hailed as King.  Asparagus Basil Risotto is the ideal choice, firstly because I love asparagus. It reminds me of my grandma who grew it out along the ditch bank. And secondly, because what says spring so well as this sweet green sprouting grass? And thirdly, asparagus looks so much like a king's scepter and in Greek basileus = king, so asparagus-basil anything seems almost divinely designed for our feast to welcome in Easter's King. 

 I love especially the responsiveness and delicacy of this recipe, the required admiring of its colors and scents,  not to mention the "Keep tasting" section. We began making this with a recipe from Healthy Mediterranean Cooking by Rena Salaman and have made a few adjustments to satisfy our own palates.

Cut the tips from

14 oz. asparagus, trimmed of hard stems

and set aside the tips.  Cut each stalk in two and cook in plenty of lightly salted boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon. Drop asparagus tips in boiling water, 30 seconds only.  Remove with slotted spoon. Turn the boiling asparagus cooking water down to simmer. Place just over half of the asparagus stalk pieces in blender with

3 Tablespoons cream a few basil leaves with their stems

and 2-3 Tablespoons of asparagus cooking liquid.  Blend into a light green velvety sauce and set aside. Chop the remaining stalk pieces into thin rounds and set aside. Heat a heavy skillet and add

3 Tablespoons olive oil

Sauté

1 medium onion, finely chopped4-5 green onions, coarsely chopped

until just wilted. Add gradually

14 oz. risotto rice (a short-grained type like arborio)

stirring over a gentle heat until well coated in oil. Add

½ cup white cooking wine

once absorbed, start adding by ladleful

8 cups hot chicken stock

and ½ cup of the asparagus cooking liquid.  Keep stirring to prevent rice from sticking.

After about 25 minutes -- when rice has doubled in volume, is losing its chalky color and is becoming soft -- season to taste and add the blended asparagus sauce.  Stir the sauce gently into the risotto, which will turn a lovely pale green color.  Simmer for 10 minutes more.  Keep tasting the rice at this step in order to catch it at the desired moment.  It should be soft outside but firm in the middle, with a very creamy appearance.  Add more liquid if necessary. 

Once risotto is ready, add

salt and freshly ground pepper

to taste and gently stir in

a couple handsful of basil leaves, roughly torn - reserving a few pretty leaves for garnishand 2 oz. grated parmesan

plus the asparagus rounds and half the tips.  Mix gently, cover and remove from heat.  It can now wait for 5 minutes but no more. Empty onto a warm platter, scatter the remaining asparagus tips over the top, garnish with a few more basil leaves and serve with a bowl of

1 - 2 oz. of grated parmesan

And for dessert . . .

Lemon Cakes with Basil Lemon Syrup 

is simply divine and very Kingly.

Christmas Pomegranate Tossed Green Salad

2 cloves garlic (rub inside of salad bowl)

1 lb fresh spinach leaves

1½ lb. mixed mesclun salad

1 C. basil, torn

½ C. dill, torn

1 bunch parsley, torn

1 bunch cilantro, torn

2+ C. blue cheese vinaigrette

2 cans (16 oz) kidney beans, drained

1 can (16 oz) garbanzo beans, drained

3-4 ripe avocados, chopped

1 bunch radishes, very thinly sliced

3 pomegranates, peeled and broken into seeds

½ C. GrapeNuts cereal

Mix all greens/ herbs with dressing.  Toss in avocados, beans, and radishes.  Sprinkle with pomegranate. Serve with GrapeNuts to sprinkle over top.

Apple Pie (with three variations)

The first pie I ever made was apple pie with streusel topping.

I still like it.

And I had always thought I hated apple pie.

The secret is: good apples. Fresh. Tart. Mix and match.

crust:

2 cups chilled flour

1 teaspoon salt

⅔ cup chilled leaf lard or shortening

2 Tablespoons chilled butter

¼ cup ice water (+1 teaspoon – 1 Tablespoon more if needed)

filling:

3 Tablespoons flour

½ teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest (optional)

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

⅛ teaspoon salt 

⅔ cup sugar

6+ cups tart apples, peeled, cored, wedged

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

1 ½ Tablespoon butter

1. prepare crust: Sift together flour and salt.
2. Combine lard and butter.  Cut ½ of lard mixture into the flour mixture with pastry blender until it has grain of cornmeal.  Cut remaining half coarsely into the dough until it is pea size.
3. Sprinkle dough lightly with ice water, pushing wetted dough away to one side of bowl as you sprinkle.  When you can gather dough into a ball, stop handling it.
4. Refrigerate until 1 hour before use: allow it to come to room temperature.  Pinch off just enough dough for one pie shell and press it into approximate shape needed.  Roll as lightly and as little as possible.
5. prepare filling:  Preheat oven to 425°F.
6. Whisk together flour, zest, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, salt, and sugar.
7. Gently toss with apples and lemon juice until well-coated.
8. Place in layers in pie shell.  Dot with butter.
9. Bake pie 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F and continue to bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, about 40 minutes more.
10. Cool pie to warm or room temperature on a rack, 2 to 4 hours

variations:

1st.    Autumn Apple:

Make ½ crust recipe.  For top crust, cut leaves and acorns from left-over dough with cookie cutters.  Scatter over top of pie, overlapping as desired.  (If desired, paint with beaten egg tinted with food-coloring in autumn colors.)

2nd.    Streusel:

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
6 Tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
6 Tablespoons flour (or rolled oats)

1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

3rd.   Cheesy Apple:

Substitute 1 teaspoon of fennel or anise seed for other flavorings.  After baking, sprinkle 1 cup shredded sharp cheese and place briefly under a broiler to melt.

Stir Fry Salad

Stir Fry Salad
inspired by Mollie Katzen's "Warm Salad" in Moosewood Cookbook

" . . . featuring an assortment of ultranutritious leafy greens, lightly cooked and delicately marinated. This can be a main dish unto itself, or a prelude or accompaniment to a simple pasta supper. However you serve it, be sure to include some fresh crusty bread to mop up the juices."

We substituted radicchio for escarole and used local chanterelle mushrooms. Amazingly delicious and wonderfully satisfying - you need to try this! Delicious with cornbread.


Heat

1 Tablespoon of olive oil in a deep skillet

Add to the pan, a little at a time, the following greens, adding more greens as soon as the ones in the pot cook down enough to make room, salting lightly after each addition:

1 small head radicchio, chopped  

1 medium bunch red chard, chopped  

about 10 large leaves Napa cabbage, chopped 

2 cups (packed) chopped mustard greens 

1 to 2 teaspoons salt, optional

Use a fairly intense heat under the pot, stirring as you cook.

When all the greens are wilted and tender, stir in

2 large cloves garlic, minced

Cook and stir just 1 or 2 minutes more.  Remove greens from heat and transfer to a platter.
Heat in the skillet

2 Tablespoons olive oil

and when it is hot, add

2 medium leeks, chopped 

2 cups chopped red onion 

3/4 lbs mushrooms, sliced 

1 stalk celery, sliced 

1/2 small cauliflower, chopped

Salt lightly and stir-fry quickly over medium-high heat until just tender (about 5-8 minutes).
Add to the platter, mix gently to incorporate the greens, and sprinkle while still hot with

3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar 

6 Tablespoons Parmesan, freshly grated

Grind

Black pepper

over the top, and serve hot, warm, or at room temperature, with pieces of cornbread to mop up the juices.