Wild Rice Stuffing with Hazelnuts and Dried Cranberries

Bon Appétit | November 1999

Ann Zieglemaier served this as a side to crab cakes , served over a simple salad at a dinner at her house (1-25-13).  -jb

Yield: Makes 12 to 16 servings

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 large onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
6 3/4 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
2 cups wild rice (about 13 ounces)
2 cups long-grain brown rice

2 cups dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 1/2 cups hazelnuts, toasted, husked, coarsely chopped
1 cup chopped green onions

Melt 1/2 cup butter in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté until tender, about 4 minutes. Add chicken broth. Bring to boil. Add wild rice. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Mix in brown rice; cover and simmer until rice is just tender and most liquid is absorbed, about 30 minutes longer.

Stir cranberries, parsley and thyme into rice. Cover and cook until liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes longer. Mix in hazelnuts and green onions. Season generously with salt and pepper.

To bake stuffing in turkey:

Loosely fill main cavity with stuffing. Butter ceramic baking dish. Spoon remaining stuffing into prepared dish. Cover with buttered foil, buttered side down. Bake stuffing in dish alongside turkey until heated through, about 30 minutes.

To bake all of stuffing in baking dish:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 15x10x2-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Cover dish with buttered foil, buttered side down; bake stuffing until heated through, about 40 minutes.

Green Lime Salad

One of our all-time favorites.

1 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
soft lettuce greens (i.e. Boston lettuce)
white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced very thin

Mix ingredients and shake well to thoroughly mix ingredients. Toss with the salad and mushrooms.

Scampinski–Shrimp & Pasta

serves four

The pasta:

If you can find a pasta store that sells fresh pasta, by all means get fresh fusilli. The dried variety works, of course, but the taste and consistency of fresh is superior.

1/2 cup of olive oil
2-3 dashes, Tabasco
2-3 dashes, Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 teaspoon, Salt (or even slightly less)
1/4 teaspoon, Black Pepper
3/4 teaspoon, Garlic powder
1/4 cup Parsley flakes
32-40 fresh, medium shrimp (i.e. 24 to the lb. size), peeled & deveined. (note: Slice open and clean both the backs and bellies. This is painstaking, but not only is the shrimp cleaned, but the sliced edges curl up nicely during cooking.)

1-1/4 lbs. Fusilli pasta (or Rotini)(Fresh pasta, if available)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Preparation:

Combine the first seven (7) ingredients in a bowl. Add the shrimp and mix well. If possible, prepare this in the morning and let it sit in the fridge (covered).

Place dinner plates or pasta bowls into a 180 deg. F oven. Or, if microwave safe,  heat them them in a microwave for a minute or two before serving.

Bring three to four quarts of water to a rolling boil and add pasta along with 3/4 teaspoons salt. Drain when done, add 1/4 cup olive oil and stir. Set aside.

Place the shrimp mixture to a 12” skillet (I use a non-stick type) and arrange them so that each is lying down flat. Sauté over a medium-high flame until they are cooked through half way and beginning to brown (perhaps five minutes). Then flip each shrimp and to sauté for another 2-3 minutes.  Add the drained pasta and mix everything. Cook on a high flame for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. A dry white white (suggestion: Vernaccia di San Gimignano) pairs well. And, whenever possible, serve with a Green Lime Salad.

Italian Sausage with Tomatoes & Beans with Polenta

Note: Make the polenta at least 5 hours ahead of time.

Polenta:  
2 cups yellow corn meal
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring 7 cups of water, with the salt added, to a boil. Gradually add 2 cups of yellow corn meal in a steady stream, stirring the entire time. Cook on moderate heat, stirring continuously until thick and stiff (about 10 minutes). Add one cup Parmesan and stir until well blended. Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap and fill with the polenta and chill for 5 hours. Turn our and slice. Fry in a heavy skillet in butter until slightly browned and crisp.

Stew:
2 teaspoons olive oil
7 links Italian sausage
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cans dices tomatoes with basil, garlic, oregano, with some liquid drained (double the following spices if using plain canned tomatoes)
2 cans cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoon fennel
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground rosemary
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon thyme
4 teaspoon oregano
1-1/2 T chopped garlic
1 Knorr’s vegetable bullion
Polenta (see recipe)
1/8 cup grated Parmesan

Remove one sausage from casing and break up into small pieces in a large non-stick skillet. Drizzle one teaspoon olive oil over the sausage and cook over medium heat (about 3 minutes). Add the remaining four sausages and brown for 3-4 minutes on each side (i.e. 6-8 minutes total). Add the wine and deglaze. Add the tomatoes and herbs; stir; cover and cook over lowest heat for 30 minutes. Stir in the beans, cover, and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Arrange two slices of polenta on each plate, overlapping. Place one sausage on each plate and spoon tomato & beans over. Sprinkle with the grated cheese.

Serve with Italian bread or garlic toast.

Kitchen Tips & Tricks

1. How to keep celery fresh: Cut off the bottom and top ends. Wrap tightly with aluminum foil. It will easily keep for three weeks in the refrigerator when wrapped this way.

2. How to avoid overcooking steamed vegetables: Add a half inch of water to your pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, but make a note of where, exactly, the dial is set. Add the strainer and vegetables. Cover immediately and note the time (or use a timer). Exactly4 minutes later prick the vegetables with a fork to test doneness. Not ready? Cover, wait 30 seconds, and test again. Soon you will find the precise point at which the vegetables are ready. Write it on a piece of paper and tape on the inside face of a kitchen cabinet. Now you can repeat this every time. On our cooktop, for example, I set the heat to 6 bars and cook for exactly 5 minutes for green beans, carrots, and broccoli, which are the vegetables we cook most often.

Gravy Out Of Thin Air

I was at a loss about what I was going to do for a gravy to drizzle over the Kopytka (Polish Dumplings) that were scheduled to accompany our New Year’s Eve dinner. Carolyn rooted around to find a package of demi-glace that she remembered was hiding in the cupboard. Hmm . . . it looked more promising than any other option. It made quite a nice gravy.

.7 oz. Jus de Poulet Lie Gold – Classic Roasted Chicken Demi-Glace
4 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 cups water
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons water
Salt – to taste

I added 4 tablespoons of butter, 1-1/2 cups of water, and the demi-glace to a pan. Heat and whisk over a medium heat until the ingredients are well combined. Combine flour and 2 tablespoons cold water in a small glass and mix thoroughly. Add to the pan and whisk until the gravy thickens. Serve in a hot gravy dish. Or drink directly from the pan.

Homemade Bratwurst No. 1

For New Year’s Eve 2012 we invited Mary Rose and Jens for dinner and decided to make homemade sausages. We made chorizo, chaurice and Italian sausage (see previous post about sausage making). We also wanted to make a German sausage. I scoured the internet for bratwurst recipes. I was surprised that none of the recipes I found matched . . . at all. In one case, a website had Bratwurst No. 1 and Bratwurst No. 2. The only common ingredient between the two recipes was pork shoulder and salt. I finally settled on the No. 1 recipe and added a few other spices (savory, allspice and marjoram).  Although the flavor of the product was nothing like the Sheboygan brats that we’re accustomed to buying in a store, this proved to be a very tasty sausage.

We used the cookie press again which works fine for small quantities. Also, I adjusted the Italian Sausage recipe and it turned out perfect. See the sausage making post for the updated recipe.

2 lbs. ground pork (ground to a hamburger consistency; medium coarse)
3/4 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground dried coriander
2 teaspoons ground rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground dried rosemary
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon savory

Panna Cotta

Panna Cota is about as simple a dessert as you can imagine to make. However, if you want fluted molds, instead of ramekins, you better start shopping early for them. We went to several stores and came up empty handed. We finally found fluted tin molds in an antique mall.

I made a Panna Cotta, based on a recipe I found on a Polish recipe blog, for New Year’s Eve dinner 2012. It was a Panna Cotta “lite” recipe and it proved to be a disaster. So today I made a second batch as follows. I didn’t include the vanilla extract because we plan to serve it with kinoto marmalade drizzled over the Panna Cotta.

1/4 cup cold milk
1 package gelatin (2.5 teaspoons)
2-1/4 cups of half and half (or heavy cream, if you don’t care about your waist line)
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract (optional)

Spray or lightly oil your mold or ramekins. Sprinkle the gelatin over the milk and allow to sit. It will soak up the milk and “bloom.” Meanwhile, heat the milk and sugar in a medium saucepan until it’s very hot. Remove it from heat right at the point it is about to boil.

Add the gelatin and whisk the liquid until it is completely dissolved in the milk. You can put the pan over a medium heat, as you whisk.

Pour the liquid into your ramekins or molds. Place into the refrigerator for about 2 hours to cool and set. Serve.

Kopytka (Polish Dumplings)

 Kopytka, a word that translates to “little hooves,” are dumplings that are similar to gnocchi or spaetzle. This recipe is based on my mother’s oral recipe. Kopytka refrigerate well. Serve with a gravy or simply buttered.   -jb 12-31-12

2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-1/2 pieces
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2+ cups of flour
2 tablespoons butter (optional)

Fill a large pot with water, the potatoes and the salt. Boil the potatoes until fork tender.  Remove from heat, drain, and allow to cool, covered. When the potatoes are warm (i.e. not hot to the touch), mash them until they are smooth and not lumpy. Spread 2 tablespoons of flour on the working surface. Heat a large pot of water to boiling.

Add the eggs and mix well. Add the flour, one cup at a time, and work it into the  potatoes with your hands. Place the dough on the work surface and sprinkle with some flour. Create a log shape and squeeze it into the shape of a thin baguette. Use flour, as needed, but just until the dough is no longer sticky. The less you “work” the dough the better. Cut the dough into equal medallions (about 1” wide). (Or you can cut the “baguette” in half lengthwise and make smaller kopytka.)  Heat a large (microwave safe) bowl in the microwave. If you are planning to serve the kopytka without gravy, add 2 T of butter to melt.

Drop 1/2 of the medallions, two at a time, into the boiling water. In about 4 or 5 minutes, the kopytka will float to the surface. After a minute or two, remove them to the hot bowl with a slotted spoon. Repeat until all the kopytka are done cooking and transferred to the bowl. Mix them to coat them with the butter. Cover with aluminum foil to retain heat until serving.

The kopytka store well in the refrigerator. To reheat, simply add some butter and a tablespoon or two of water to a pan. Cover and place pan over low heat until warm. Optionally, you can fry them in butter.

Smacznego!  (translation: bon appétit!)