Thursday Recipes

Enjoy!

LEMONY GREEK ORZO PASTA SALAD

This also comes from The Baker Chick. Prep Time: 15 min; Cook Time: 10 min; Total Time: 25 min; Yield: 2 – 4 servings.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked orzo

juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 Persian cucumbers*, chopped

1/2 cup of grape tomatoes, quartered

1/4 cup of kalmata olives, chopped

1/4 cup of crumbled feta cheese

1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh dill

salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Toss the Orzo with the olive oil and lemon juice.

Add the cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, feta and dill. Toss well to combine.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Store in the fridge- serve room temperature or cold.

CRANBERRY-NUT RUGALACH

Not sure if someone sent this to me on an emailing list, or if I simply sent it to myself so I wouldn't lose the recipe. Either way, it's originally from Weight Watchers. The points value is from 2007.

POINTS® Value: 2

Servings: 16

Preparation Time: 12 min; Cooking Time: 15 min; Level of Difficulty: Easy

The recipe begins, “There's just one word for these flaky, traditional Jewish cookies filled with cranberries and nuts: Delicious! Try them for the Jewish New Year.”

Ingredients

1 sprays cooking spray

1/4 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped (coat knife with cooking spray before chopping to prevent sticking)

1/4 cup walnut halves, finely chopped

1 Tbsp sugar, granulated

8 oz Pillsbury Reduced-Fat Crescent(s), or similar product

1 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

To make filling, combine cranberries, walnuts and granulated sugar in a small bowl; set aside.

Roll out crescent rolls on a lightly floured surface (use 1 tablespoon flour) to an 11-inch square. Separate along perforations into 8 triangles. Cut each in half lengthwise, making 16 long triangles. Spoon a generous teaspoon of filling onto each triangle, leaving bare pastry at top and bottom of triangle. Roll each triangle from wide end to narrow tip.

Spread out rolled wedges on prepared cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes. Move rugalach close together so they are just touching each other. Place powdered sugar in a sieve and dust over rugalach. Yields 1 cookie per serving. (Note: These cookies taste best served warm. Reheat for 5 minutes in a preheated 325°F oven. Do not microwave – it will toughen the dough.)

BAKED RISOTTO WITH WINTER SQUASH

This comes from David Tanis in The New York Times Cooking e-newsletter. David wrote, “This is not a classic stirred risotto, in which broth is added little by little, requiring the cook to stir and stir. Instead, the rice is tossed with squash and cheese then baked under a layer of bread crumbs until fragrant and browned on top. Welcome as a hearty meatless main course, it may also be served alongside a roasted chicken. Use any kind of hard winter squash, such as butternut, kabocha or Hubbard.” Time: 1 hour; Makes 6 to 8 servings.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1/2 pound winter squash

1 pound Carnaroli or Arborio rice

4 tablespoons butter, plus 2 tablespoons for greasing dish

1 medium onion, diced, about 1 cup

1 medium leek, white and tender green part, diced, about 1 cup

Pinch of saffron (optional)

Salt and pepper

3 cups squash broth (see note) or chicken broth, hot

8 ounces Gruyère or Fontina, grated, about 2 loosely packed cups

1 cup fresh ricotta

4 ounces Parmesan, grated, about 3/4 cup

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1 cup coarse dry bread crumbs

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

Preparation

Peel squash and cut into very thin slices, 1/16-inch thick. Then cut slices into flat 2-inch squares. (Reserve the scraps, including peels, to make squash stock if desired.)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add rice and let simmer for 8 minutes so it is parcooked, with the grains still hard in the center. Drain rice in a colander, rinse with cold water, then spread on a baking sheet to cool. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a Dutch oven, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add leek and saffron, if using, and stir to coat. When leek is softened but still green, after 2 minutes, add squash, stir to coat and turn off heat. Season well with salt and pepper.

Add parcooked rice, hot broth, Gruyère, ricotta, Parmesan and lemon zest, mixing gently with a wooden spoon. Pour rice mixture into a buttered 3-quart baking dish.

Sprinkle top with bread crumbs, pressing down to smooth surface. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Tent with foil if necessary. Garnish with parsley just before serving.

UPSIDE-DOWN CHERRY COBBLER

This comes from Carroll Pellegrinelli, About.com's Desserts and Baking expert. Carroll wrote, “Upside Down Cobblers are not like upside down cakes in that they are dumped upside down after baking. Upside down cobblers are cobblers that have the topping ingredients put on the bottom of the baking pan. Then, the fruit is put on the top of the batter. When Upside Down Cobblers bake the topping floats to the top of the fruit.

“Enjoy this recipe for Upside-Down Cherry Cobbler. There is a canned cherries or cherry pie filling option in the recipe. Of course, you could use fresh cherries too, but you would have to slightly cook the cherries and the sugar to soften them up.” Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 45 minutes; Total Time: 64 minutes; Yield: 6 to 8 servings

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1-1/2 cup sugar, divided

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter, melted, melted

1/2 cup milk

15 ounce can pitted cherries

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease an 8x8 square or equivalent pan. (I make mine in a pretty baking dish.) In a medium bowl with a wire whisk, stir together the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in 2 teaspoons melted butter and milk. Combine completely. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Drain the canned cherries reserving juice. Add the cherries to bowl. Stir in sugar. Heat, not to boiling, add the cherry juice either using microwave or stove.

Mix the hot juice and 1 teaspoon butter with the cherry mixture. Pour the mixture over batter in a pan. Bake it for 40 to 45 minutes. The cobbler crust will rise up through cherry mixture.

Serve the cobbler with whipped or ice cream. This recipe for Upside-Down Cherry Cobbler serves 6 - 8 people. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Notes in the Margin:

*Replace canned cherries and 1 cup sugar with 21 ounce can of cherry or other fruit pie filling.

This dessert freezes beautifully.

You could double this cobbler recipe, and freeze half. Bake them in separate metal baking pans. Allow one to cool, wrap it tightly and freeze it. Bake wrapped frozen cobbler for one hour at 350 degrees F. For the last 15 minutes, uncover the cobbler to crisp up the topping.

FUSILLI BUCATI LUNGHI WITH ROASTED RED PEPPER SAUCE

This comes from the September 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 36. It begins, “Roasted red bell peppers star in this recipe for red sauce.” Serves 4 in 30 minutes or less.

To view this online, click here.

2 Tbs. garlic-flavored olive oil

1 cup jarred roasted red bell peppers, rinsed, drained, and chopped

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)

1 large carrot, finely diced (1/2 cup)

8 oz. dry fusilli bucati lunghi

Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add roasted peppers, onion, and carrot; sauté 5 minutes, or until onion begins to brown. Add 3/4 cup water, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in pot of boiling salted water according to package directions.

Remove roasted pepper mixture from heat, and purée in blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

Drain pasta, and return to pot. Stir in red pepper sauce.

nutritional information Per 1-cup serving: Calories: 295; Protein: 8 g; Total Fat: 8 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 49 g; Cholesterol: less than 1 mg; Sodium: 273 mg; Fiber: 3 g; Sugar: 6 g; Vegan

BAKED APPLES

This comes from Alton Brown of Good Eats on the Food Networks. Serves 4.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

3/4 cup oats

3/4 cup flour

2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch kosher salt

1 stick cold unsalted butter, diced

4 Braeburn apples (Fuji will substitute)

4 teaspoons honey

Directions

In a bowl combine all the dry ingredients and diced butter. Rub mixture briskly between finger tips until it forms small moist clumps in a loose sandy mixture. Refrigerate while preparing the apples.

Cut a small layer off the bottom of each apple to create a flat, stable bottom surface. With a small paring knife, cut a cylindrical cone out of the top of the apple, moving about 1-inch outside of the core, similar to removing the top of a pumpkin when carving a Jack O'Lantern. Remove the top and discard. With a melon baller or a teaspoon, remove the remaining core and seeds taking care not to puncture the base of the apple.

Place apples on a baking sheet or pie dish and fill each center with a teaspoon of honey. Spoon in mixture, packing lightly until heaped and overflowing over sides of the apples.

Bake in oven at 350 degrees on the top or middle rack for 40 minutes or until filling is golden brown and the tip of a paring knife can be inserted into the side of the apple with little or no resistance. Let apples stand for 10 minutes before serving.