5-6 lbs pickling cucumbers
1 c pickling or kosher salt
3 quarts (12 c) water
1 quart (4 c) white vinegar
crushed garlic
fresh dill
black peppercorns

Cover the cucumbers in a large non-reactive bowl with water, and add ¼c salt, and let them soak for 8 to 12 hours. Sterilize 4 or more jars in the dishwasher. In a pot, bring 3 quarts of water and the 1 quart of vinegar and ¾ cups of salt to a rapid boil. While you’re waiting for that, crush 1-3 cloves of garlic in each jar, along with a couple of fronds of dill and 5 or 6 peppercorns. Rinse the cucumbers, and slice each in half or quarters, or slice into rounds, and fill each jar with as many as you can. Ladle the hot liquid into each jar to cover, and apply the lids. Allow the jars to cool a bit, and then let cool in the fridge.

Technically, the recipe says that you let the pickles cure for 2 weeks, but I can never wait that long, and they taste great immediately. The recipe also claims that they’ll last for a month or two, but I’ve never had them last that long. A variation on the recipe has you add a hot pepper to each jar for a little spice.

This jam in midwinter tastes as fresh as the berries tasted the previous summer. The secret is to make small batches and to not overcook. The jam tends to be thinner (excellent for pancakes or ice-cream topping!) and less gummy than store-bought, but the fresh flavor cannot be beat. If you prefer thicker jam, you might experiment with adding some pectin.

1 lb. fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or other berries
2 cups sugar

Wash and clean berries, and place whole (do not crush!) into medium sized saucepan with 1 cup of sugar. Warm over low heat while stirring gently and occasionally until the sugar melts and forms a syrup. Turn heat up to medium high and bring to a boil until foam appears on the top. Skim the foam, add the second cup of sugar, and boil just until jam forms a sheet on the end of your spoon. (Do not overcook — if you do, the jam will slowly transform itself into something that tastes no different from store-bought!) Pour into sterilized jars (leave enough headroom for ice expansion), seal jars with sterilized jar lids, cool, and store in the freezer.

This is my sister Lyn’s recipe, and I traditionally ask her for it every year at  Thanksgiving, because everyone loves it. I think I must’ve done it for at least 15 years — probably more. You’d think I’d remember it by now. I recently came across a booklet of family recipes where it was included, and thought I’d share it here. (I think I may keep asking Lyn for the recipe, though!)

1 slightly beaten egg
1 10 oz. package of frozen chopped broccoli, partially thawed
1 8½ oz can creamed style corn
1 cup herb-seasoned stuffing mix
1 tablespoon grated onion
¼ teaspoon salt
dash of pepper
3 tablespoons butter

In a greased 2-quart casserole dish, combine egg, broccoli, cream corn, onion, salt and pepper. In a small sauce pan (or in a bowl in the microwave), melt the butter; add the stuffing mix, and toss to coat. Stir three-quarters of the stuffing mixture in with the vegetables, and then top with the remaining quarter cup. Bake uncovered, 35-40 minutes in a 350° oven.

“Hey why don’t you put MY recipe on your site instead of just listing me as ‘my “other” brother?’  The homemade pasta thing is da bomb and this sauce makes it that much better..it’s basically your sauce with a few changes.  It’s turned out very well the last few times I tried it.  It is a Jeff smith recipe you showed us but with small, but important changes. I know You know how to do this recipe, but I was shocked at how much sweeter it was with the shallot not garlic.  Even when I watch it carefully, garlic seems to give some bitterness to it as the shallots and butter sweeten the alfredo really well.  When reduced, it makes a great sauce over the homemade pasta.  We added lobster that was already boiled earlier in the day.  (2 of them) and then added some sherry to make it more like a St Jaque recipe…mahvellous!”

3 or 4 tablespoons olive oil
2 SHALLOTS (not garlic)
1 small red onion finely chopped
3/4 cups whole milk (light cream)
3 tablespoons butter
finish with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (handful)

I based this recipe on something I read in a vegetarian cookbook. It sounded good, but I thought it might be even better with the addition of some country ham, but you can certainly omit it. I made the mistake, though, of using a bottled bbq sauce I’d never tried before, nor even sampled. Red pepper was the fourth item on the ingredient list. It ended up being very nearly inedible because of it. So choose the sauce you start with wisely. Better yet, make your own.

1 bunch of collard greens
½ cup onion, diced
¼ cup bell pepper, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 oz. country ham, diced
1 can black eyed peas, drained
½ cup bbq sauce

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Pick out 6 or 8 of the biggest, best leaves of the collard greens, and boil for 6 minutes, then remove them to a cold water bath. Heat the oil in a saucepan, and cook the onions and peppers until soft. Add the ham, and cook for a few minutes, then add the peas and the bbq sauce. Take some of the uncooked greens and roll them up like a cigar, and slice them and add them to the pot. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until the sauce is reduced, stirring frequently.

Using a sharp knife, carefully slice the thick stem vein off the front and back of the boiled greens, to facilitate rolling. Once the beans and sauce are reduced, remove from the heat and allow it to cool a little, then put 2 or 3 tablespoons into the middle of each of the boiled leaves, and roll them up like a burrito. Serve hot.

I made some braised spinach last night that didn’t go well with my wife. She prefers fresh spinach salad to anything that’s been cooked, even if I’m careful to wilt the greens only slightly. So I had some more greens left over, and tossed this together. The freshly ground nutmeg really makes it, giving an almost citrusy flavor. And I used bison for the minced meat, but you could use anything you had on hand, or omit it entirely for a vegetarian meal or a side dish.

¼ lb minced bison
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 good handfuls fresh spinach leaves
freshly ground nutmeg
salt, pepper to taste

Over medium high heat, melt butter in a tall saucepan. Add ground meat and brown. Toss in the onion, and soften a bit, and then the garlic. Put in the spinach, and toss until the spinach is coated, and begins to wilt, but not to the point where it’s a green mush. Add the salt and pepper and nutmeg.

Photo by WordRidden, on Flickr.

This is a great side dish, or with rice, and maybe a sliced sausage or two, a main dish. You can make it completely vegetarian starting off with olive oil, and simmering with vegetable stock or water, or, if you don’t mind a little meat, start off with a few slices of bacon and simmer in chicken stock. Add more stock or water if you want it more soupy, or hold back and monitor it while it simmers if you want it dryer. It’s based on a recipe I half-remember from Cooks Illustrated. It uses french lentils, which are the little dark green ones, sometimes called “puy lentils,” since they hold their shape better. You can either buy them prepackaged, or head over to the bulk aisle, and buy it by them by the pound.

2 T olive oil, or the drippings from 3 slices of bacon, fried
1 small onion, diced (about ½ cup)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped or sliced
2 carrots, diced (about ½ cup)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup french green lentils
1 16 oz can of tomatoes, whole or diced
1-2 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock, or water
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Resist the urge to add salt in the beginning, which tends to make the lentils tough.

If you’re starting with the bacon, chop into ¼ inch slices, and render the drippings in a medium sized saucepan (one that you have a tight lid). Remove the bacon once it’s browned and reserve for later – OR – heat the olive oil and add the onions and carrots, allowing the onions to become translucent, and the carrots to soften a little.  Add the garlic, the spices, the lentils, and the tomatoes, along with a little of the juice. Clamp on the lid and lower the heat, and let the mixture steam, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. Add the stock or water, and let simmer for 20 or 30 more minutes, until the lentils are tender. Just before serving, add the balsamic and the salt and pepper (and top with the reserved bacon if you haven’t already eaten it all while you were cooking.)

My wife found this recipe online and asked me to try making it. I’d never even heard of vital wheat gluten before. It’s used here to bind the mixture together, though I’m not sure why it doesn’t just use flour. I wouldn’t say this is the tastiest recipe, but it isn’t bad, and if you’re looking for good flexitarian fare, these aren’t bad. When cooked, patties look a lot like hamburgers.

1 cup canned chickpeas
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup vital wheat gluten
½ cup plain breadcrumbs
¼ cup vegetable broth or water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon lemon zest
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon paprika
olive oil, for pan frying

In a food processor, blend the chickpeas together with the oil to a rough paste. Add the remaining ingredients and blend together until a ball forms, then remove to a lightly floured surface, and knead for a short while.

Preheat a large heavy-bottomed nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, divide the cutlet dough into 4 equal pieces. To form cutlets, knead each piece in your hand for a few moments and then flatten and stretch each one into a roughly 6 by 4 inch rectangular cutlet shape.

Add a moderately thin layer of olive oil to the bottom of the pan. Place the cutlets in the pan and cook on each side for 6 to 7 minutes. Add more oil, if needed, when you flip the cutlets. They’re ready when lightly browned and firm to the touch.

Completely decadent, serve this with a salad, as a side, or as a first course. It’ll definitely wow them at the pot-luck dinner.

You could really go over the top with this recipe, adding cream to the potatoes, and using a ton of butter, but I tried to keep it a little less than sinful — but go ahead and use the cream, especially if you’re going vegetarian. You can use any single cheese you want. I think the smokiness of the chedder added a lot to it, though. Smoked gouda might work well, too. If you’ve never worked with phillo dough, be sure to read the hints on the box, about working quickly, and keeping the unused layers with a moistened towel — if the dough gets dried out (which doesn’t take much), you might as well be working with newspaper. You can omit the eggs — which I did, by mistake — to save even more calories, but they help firm up the potatoes, and make it much easier to cut. Either way, it’s delicious.

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
4 fist-sized yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
1 leek, cleaned and chopped
3 ounces smoked chedder cheese
3 ounces fontina
4 tablespoons butter
½ cup chicken broth
3 eggs
1 package phillo pastry
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350°. Bring two pots of water to boil, one for the potatoes (boil for about 10 minutes or until soft), one for the asparagus (parboil for 4 minutes). Saute the chopped leek in one tablespoon of the butter until softened, and melt the rest (either in a small pan, or in the microwave). Mash the potatoes, adding in the chicken stock, and the shredded cheeses, as if you’re making mashed potatoes.  Add the leeks, and the eggs, and mix until smooth.

Start lining a baking pan, or, ideally, a rectangular tart pan with a removable bottom, with the layers of phillo, spreading a little of the melted butter between layers, overlapping the edge of the pan. Keep layering until you have 6-10 layers. Spread the mashed potatoes into the middle, and smooth. Press a single layer of asparagus into the potatoes, and moisten with any of the butter left over. Fold over the hanging bits of the phillo to form a flakey crust.

Put the pan in the bottom of the oven, and cook for 20-30 minutes, then let it cool for at least 10 minutes.

Well, I’ve spent the afternoon making marinara sauce with whats left of the huge batch of tomatoes I bought the other day. Some of the tomatoes have gotten a little tender in spots, but I’ve only had to throw away two of them because of mold, and I’ve nearly used up the last of them all. I’m not making a full blown tomato sauce with them, but just processing them so that they’ll be more versatile down the road. What I’m making could be turned into tomato sauce later on, but it can also be used for a lot of other things, too. No salt yet, either. I can add that when I’m ready to cook again with them. This is one of the more foolproof canning projects, since tomatoes are so high in acid. This recipe makes about 5 pints, or 2 quarts of marinara.

So here’s a rundown of the ingredients for each batch :

6 lbs. tomatoes, peeled, and diced
1 large sweet onion
1 small pinch red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ cup water
bunch fresh basil leaves
¼ cup red wine vinegar (optional)

• Bring a big pot of water to the boil. Cut an X in the bottom of each tomato, and dunk it in the boiling water for 30-60 seconds. Remove and immediately plunge into cold water. The skins should peel right off.
• Core and chop the tomatoes. (Optionally, you can also remove the seeds and the seed membrane before chopping them.)
• In a heavy bottomed pot, heat up a couple tablespoons of olive oil, and add the chopped onion, and allow it to sweat, about 10 mins. Then add the pinch of red pepper flakes and garlic. Stir in the tomatoes, the water, and the vinegar. Cover, and let it come to a good boil, about 5 minutes.
• Remove the cover, stir, and lower the heat, and allow it to gently boil for 45 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
• 5 or 10 minutes before it’s done, stir in the basil leaves, and some more chopped garlic, if desired.

This is a good starting point for your own homemade tomato sauce, but if you’re making multiple batches, like I am, follow the standard canning method — sterilized jars, lids, and tools. If you’ve been reading this blog all summer, I’m sure you know the drill by now. If you want to make a smoother sauce, you could run it through a food mill. In any case, fill the jars leaving a little head room. Put on the lids, then process the sealed jars in a hot water bath that covers the lids by at least 1 inch, and boil for 35 minutes for pint jars, 45 minutes for quart jars. Store in a cool, dark place, and use within a year.  Be sure and examine anything you’ve canned for any signs of deterioration, or spoilage, and discard it if you find any. More canning info can be found at CanningUSA.com.