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Welcome to Paul's Kitchen! Many people have been following my food postings on Facebook, and asking for recipes, so I am finally opening a forum to accommodate the many requests.

My feeling about food is that it is an indicator of how well we live. It is my belief that one does not have to be a "gourmet" to eat well, nor does good quality food have to be expensive.

This blog is about cooking, food, dining, dining out, beverages, and sometimes a little humor.

Enjoy, and thank you for visiting!!
Showing posts with label parsley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parsley. Show all posts

Monday, May 9, 2016

Green Goddess Dressing






Green Goddess Dressing originates from the famed Palace Hotel, in San Francisco.  In 1923,  Philip Roemer (the hotel's chef) wanted to create something to pay tribute to actor George Arliss and the play, The Green Goddess.  Roemer then concocted the dressing, which, like the play, became a tremendous hit. 

The dressing is a variation of a dressing originated in France by a chef to Louis XIII who made a sauce au vert (green sauce), which was traditionally served with "green eel."

Green Goddess Dressing was a favorite of mine when I was a child.  It was popular in the 1970s, into the early 1980s, and has all but disappeared from stores.  In addition to the dressing's scarcity, I have become decreasingly less impressed with store bought dressings, as they have a weird gelatinous texture, that is not a substitute for creaminess.  This is my version of the San Francisco classic, which is very simple to make.


Skill level:

Ingredients



  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/3 cup fresh chives (loosely packed)
  • 1/3 cup fresh parsley (loosely packed)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation


1.  Place chives and parsley into a food processor, and pulse two to three times, until coarsely chopped. 
 
2.  Add mayonnaise and sour cream, and pulse until ingredients are combined

3.  Add all remaining ingredients, and pulse until the mixture is smooth, with a greenish color, and small amounts of the fresh herbs are still visible.

4.  Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Tabbouleh!

After some really heavy meals last week, I want to come into the holiday season eating healthy, and I will try to eat mainly vegan or vegetarian until Thanksgiving. While this may sound like a challenge, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Indian cuisines offer many flavorful vegetable dishes.  

I chop my parsley in a food processor. 
It only requires a few pulses to have
roughly chopped herbs.
Tonight I am serving Tabbouleh (Arabic: تبولة‎ tabūlah), which is a seasoned salad originating from the mountain regions of Syria, and Lebanon. It is popular throughout the Middle East, with countless regional variations. Traditionally, tabbouleh is made of herbs (usually parsley) and bulgar.  This variation uses barley.

Tabbouleh

Skill level: 


Ingredients


1/4 cup barley
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
2 Roma tomatoes
1 cup finely chopped cucumber
1 cup roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
fresh ground pepper (10 turns, or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped mint
juice from 1/2 lemon

Preparation


  1. Boil water, and add barley.  Boil for 20 to 25 minutes, until tender.
  2. Drain barley, and rinse thoroughly with cold water.
  3. combine all ingredients in a bowl, and stir to combine.
  4. Chill for at least one hour to allow flavors to combine.
Tabbouleh, served with hummus garnished with olive oil and paprika, sliced and toasted pita bread, and olive orzo salad.










Friday, August 10, 2012

Orzo Salad With Kalamata Olives & Goat Cheese



One of my favorite pasta salads is a simple orzo salad.  Orzo is Italian for "barley" and is a macaroni product, cut into short lengths, and shaped like long grains of rice.  Orzo is commonly used in Greek, Turkish, Italian, and Arab cooking.

My recipe is simple to prepare, and has a light and slightly rich flavor, reminiscent of foods commonly found around the Mediterranean.

Skill level:
Serves 4 to 6, as a side dish.

Ingredients


3 cups water
1 cup dry (uncooked) orzo
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 ounces goat cheese
corn starch
1/2 cup loosely packed parsley
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
8 turns of a pepper grinder (1/2 teaspoon of black pepper)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1/2 of a Meyer lemon, juiced
1/4 cup pine nuts

Preparation


  1. Bring water to a rapid boil.
  2. Add orzo and salt, to the water, reduce heat to a rolling boil, and cook until minimum cook time of the orzo package.
  3. While pasta cooks, crumble the goat cheese by sprinkling a small amount (less than 1 tablespoon) of corn starch on the cheese.  (The corn starch keeps the cheese from sticking together as it is crumbled). Spread around, and crumble to pea sized chunks. (Usually, a small log of goat cheese is 4 to 6 ounces, so I cut it the log in half, and keep the remaining for another day). 
  4. Put the cheese in the freezer for about 10 minutes, or until frozen.
  5. Put the olives, parsley, and paper in a food processor.  Pulse a few times until olives and parsley are roughly chopped.
  6. When pasta is cooked, drain in using a colander or pasta strainer, and rinse thoroughly with cold water.
  7. Put drained pasta in a bowl.  Dump the Olive and parsley mixture on top.  Add the olive oil, lemon juice, sesame seeds, and pine nuts.  Stir until combined.
  8. Remove cheese from freezer, and gentley fold into the pasta salad.  The reason I freeze the cheese is to keep it a bit chunky when folding into the salad.  Unfrozen cheese sometime combines, and breaks down while stirring....so the quick freeze maintains the chunky texture of the cheese.

  9. Chill for orzo salad for at least one hour before serving.  The pasta will absorb most of the oil and lemon juice while chilling.
  10. When ready to serve, fluff lightly with a fork, while transferring to a serving dish










Friday, August 3, 2012

Gazpacho!

Gazpacho, garnished with yogurt, balsamic vinegar, pine nuts, and olive oil,
served with cornmeal shrimp, and toasted bread.
It is going to be hot, hot, hot, in the Willamette Valley this weekend, making me not want to spend time in the kitchen tomorrow.  With that in mind, and summer vegetables readily available, I thought it was time to make this "make ahead" summer treat.

For those not framailiar with gazpacho, it is a chilled tomato soup, originating Andelucia region of Spain.  There are infinite variations to the recipes available, but I like this simple recipe.
Skill level:

Ingredients 


3 garlic cloves 
1/2 large cucumber, (not peeled) 
1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded 
3 large tomatoes 
1 yellow onion 
3 cups tomato juice 
1/4 cup white wine vinegar 
1/4 cup good olive oil 
2 teaspoons kosher salt 
1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 
1/2 cup chopped parsley 
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (if you do not have smoked, regular works well) 

Directions 

  1. Roughly cut the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions into 1 inch cubes. 
  2. Put tomato juice,garlic, and 1/2 of the tomatoes in the blender. Blend two to three minutes, until smooth. 
  3. Put the cucumbers, onion, peppers a food processor and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. 
  4. Add remaining tomatoes, vinegar, oil, salt, paprika, black pepper, and chopped vegetables to the tomato juice mixture in the blender. Blend until vegetables are small, like one would find in salsa. 
  5. Pour mixture into an air tight bowl, and add the parsley. Stir until combined. 
  6. Place lid on container, and chill at least 2 hours 

Note: The longer gazpacho chills, the more the flavors develop. 

Garnish with fresh mint, pine nuts, balsamic vinegar, yogurt, sour cream, or cilantro

Deep Fried Macaroni & Cheese Balls

I have made several different recipes of fried macaroni & cheese balls, all of which have been flavorful.  What I have not liked about the recipes that I have tried, is that they are not super creamy, so I decided to experiment, resulting in this recipe.

There are seemingly a lot of steps, but each step is quite simple.  

As you work, the mac balls start off looking very rough and crude. These are very creamy inside, so the rounds require several steps of rolling, coating, and chilling to get the shape.  When you are ready to fry them, they will have a nicely rounded shape.  I seldom roll mine perfectly round, as I like them to have a slightly rustic, and homemade appearance.

When complete, these have a lightly crunchy crust, and very creamy interior.  These are a great as a side dish, or an unusual appetizer. When serving as an appetizer, I like to call these "fried pasta au gratin croquets." 

Recipe


Prep time, including freezing and cooking, 1 hour. (Half of this is waiting time, so it really is not as long of a process, as it seems).
Skill level:

Ingredients 


Macaroni Balls 

1 1/4 dry, uncooked macaroni (I prefer fusilli) 
1/2 teaspoon of salt 
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter 
3/4 cup sour cream 
1/4 teaspoon of rosemary, very finely chopped 
1/4 cup milk 
2 teaspoons flour 
1 tablespoon parsley, roughly chopped 
8 turns of a pepper grinder (1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper, if you do not have a pepper grinder) 
1 cup (heaping) of sharp cheddar or Gruyère cheese 
1 egg 
1 tablespoon milk 
1/2 cup flour 
1/2 cup breadcrumbs or Panko (I prefer seasoned & herbed bread crumbs) 

Cooking Oil 

Tomato Wine Sauce (optional)

1 tablespoon butter 
2/3 cup red wine 
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar 
1/4 cup of tomato paste 
16 turns of pepper grinder (1/2 teaspoon black pepper) 
1 tablespoon of honey 
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 
pinch of salt 

Preparation 


Macaroni Balls


1. Boil water, and add salt and macaroni. Cook macaroni to minimum cook time suggested on the package.
2. While macaroni is cooking, and in a separate sauce pan, brown 1 tablespoon of butter. (If you are not comfortable browning butter, melted is fine).
3. When butter has browned, add 1/4 cup of milk, 2 teaspoons of flour, black pepper, and 1/2 cup of sour cream. Bring to light boil.
4. Reduce heat, and add 1/2 cup of the cheese, stirring rigorously.
5. When cheese has melted and mixed with the milk mixture, remove from heat, and set aside. Sauce will be quite thick.
6. When macaroni is done cooking, pour into a colander, and rinse with cold water. This stops it from cooking. Allow to drain.
7. Add macaroni to the sauce mixture.  
8. Add rosemary, and parsley to the macaroni and sauce mixture. 
9. Using the back of a large spoon, pack macaroni and cheese flat in the bottom of the pan, and put in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes, to set the macaroni.
10. When macaroni and cheese is cool, and the sauce begins to “harden” add remaining cheese and sour cream. Stir until combined, and cheese shreds are visible in the mix.
11. Again, pack down, using a large spoon, and return to the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
12. At the end of the chill, roll pasta balls in your hand, like rolling a dough ball, and then roll in the 1/2 cup of flour after each is rolled in the flour, re-roll with your hands. If the balls become sticky, just roll in the flour again. When each ball is rolled, return to the freezer for 5 more minutes. At this step, you may feel ice crystals, or a slight "crunchiness" to the balls as you roll them.  That is fine, just do not allow the mixture to completely freeze between steps 11 and 12.

13. At the and of the chilling, using a scoop or tablespoon, scoop the macaroni and cheese onto roughly formed balls (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches across) onto a plate lined with parchment or waxed paper. You should be able to make 8 to 10 mounds with the mixture.
14. Using your hands, pack the macaroni balls a bit. and return to the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes. Do not worry is the pasta balls are rough looking, we are not done with the rolling process.
15. While the balls chill, heat coking oil in a deep frier to 325 degrees. (If you do not have a fryer, fill a tall sauce pan with oil, until oil is roughly 3 inches deep. DO NOT OVER FILL PAN).
16. Remove the floured pasta balls from the freezer.
17. Mix the egg, and remaining tablespoon of milk. Whisk until combined, and eggs are not streaky. One by one, dip the balls in the egg mixture, and immediately roll in the 1/2 cup of bread crumbs.
18. Each ball should be nicely coated. Using your hands, roll balls again to smooth the shape. If there are sticky spots on the balls, re-roll in the breadcrumbs.

19. Refrigerate until ready to cook.
20. About 15 minutes before you want to serve, remove the pasta balls from the refrigerator. (I like to give the pasta rounds one last quick roll at this point).

21. Drop 1/2 of the batch (4 to 5 balls) in the hot oil, and cook for about 5 minutes, until deep golden brown.  (If you have a very large deep fryer, these can be cooked all at once, skipping the remaining steps, other than draining on a paper towel).
22. Drain on paper towels, and keep warm in 350 degree oven while you wait for the last half of the batch to fry.
23. Fry remaining balls in the oil, as above, for 5 minutes, until deep golden brown.
24. Drain on paper towels.
25. Remove balls from the oven. Serve while hot/warm with a drizzle of the sauce (see below).

Sauce (optional)

This can be made while waiting for the balls to chill, at Step 11

1. Brown 1 tablespoon of butter. (If you are not comfortable browning butter, melted is fine).
2. When butter is lightly browned, add (all at once) the wine, balsamic vinegar, a pinch of salt, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir over high heat until combines.
3. Add the pepper, and bring to a rapid boil.
4. When boil is achieved, reduce heat to medium high, and reduce mixture by 1/4 to 1/3 (stir occasionally), and has the thickness of chocolate syrup.
 
5. Reduce heat to low, and keep sauce warm on the stove. Stir occasionally to keep from scalding.


















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For a simpler recipe, using mac & cheese leftovers, I have made this version as well: http://norecipes.com/blog/fried-mac-cheese-balls-recipe/. Frankly, I like my recipe better  ;)

Monday, July 30, 2012

Fresh & Flavorful; Zucchini Patties With Feta!

My friend Trixi recently asked me for a recipe which uses zucchini.

I like zucchini, but seem to seldom use it. Feeling inspired, I dug through recipes I had archived, and found this nice recipe I have enjoyed in years past.

These zucchini patties are very flavorful, and simple to make, and yogurt if the perfect garnish to top this fried delight.



Zucchini Patties With Feta

Skill level:


Ingredients


2 1/2 cups coarsely grated zucchini (from about 3 medium)
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup (or more) flour
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (herbed goat cheese works VERY well, too)
1 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/2 cup chopped green onions (stems, and all)
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1/2 cup (about) olive oil
1/2 cup (about) corn oil

Plain Greek yogurt

Preparation

  1. Toss zucchini and 1/2 teaspoon salt in large bowl. Let stand 5 minutes. Transfer to sieve. Press out excess liquid; place zucchini in dry bowl. 
  2. Mix in egg, yolk, 1/2 cup flour, cheese, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix in parsley, onions, and dill. If batter is very wet, add more flour by spoonfuls.
  3. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons corn oil in large skillet over medium heat. 
  4. Working in batches, drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls into skillet. Press flat, so that the frying patties are 2 to 2 1/2 inches wide,
  5. Fry patties until golden, 5 minutes per side, adding more olive oil and corn oil as needed. 
  6. Transfer to paper towels. 
  7. Serve with yogurt.

Additional Notes


  • Can be made 1 day ahead. Place on baking sheet, cover, and chill. Rewarm uncovered in 350°F oven 12 minutes. 
  • Corn oil can be skipped, using just olive oil.
  • A dusting of paprika over the yogurt adds a splash of color and flavor.