Broccoli with Penne, Basil, & Ricotta

Found this on the net, and love it!  * DAT does not love this!*
The chickpeas are my addition.  Main caveat is you need a large pot.  A 12" saute pan is perfect - note you only need to clean up chopping board, pot, and one measuring cup.  

1 12-ounce box

whole wheat or whole grain penne pasta

16 ounces

fresh broccoli florets

4

large garlic cloves, peeled and slivered

2 tablespoons

olive oil

4

green onions (green tops included), thinly sliced

15 ounces

part-skim ricotta cheese

1/2 cup

chopped fresh basil

1/2 cup                        Chickpeas

-

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

-

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

-

Shredded Parmesan cheese and toasted almonds or pine nuts for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Bring a large pot of salted water  - ideally a 12" covered pan - to a boil.

Add the penne and cook according to package directions.

Add the broccoli florets and sliced garlic when there are 3 to 4 minutes left to the pasta cooking time.

When the pasta is done, remove ½ cup of the pasta water from the pot and then drain the pasta and broccoli.

Return the drained pasta and broccoli to the pot.

Drizzle with the olive oil and toss in the green onions.

Stir in the ricotta cheese, chickpeas, lemon juice and zest and season with the salt and pepper.

Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water and stir until the ricotta is creamy.

Toss in the basil, taste for seasonings and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Garnish each serving with some of the parmesan and toasted almonds or pine nuts, if desired.  Good hot, but also nice cool, as a pasta salad.

MAKES

4-6 servings

Strawberry Fruit Smoothie Soup

Northeast Strawberry Season is really quick, but this year - for the first since I've been paying attention - there are lots of berries. They don't last very long but are sweet and juicy. The main labor is hulling them. Just take a sharp paring knife and dig in to pull out the minimum of fruit - the discard will be conical.  Your Grandma Bunny will be standing on your shoulder to make sure you don't waste any berry!!
Aunt Sally has a super easy elegant strawberry dessert. Take two pints of strawberries and hull. Take about 1/4 of the berries and put them in the blender with sugar (to taste, about a ¼ c. or so) and some mint and/or any seasoning you like, added lightly. Blend. Take a really beautiful glass bowl and put in the second pint of strawberries. If they're large, slice in half. Pour the blended mixture over the whole berries and chill. With a little garnish, it is a beautiful presentation, especially if you have nice dessert size bowls.

Here's a quick strawberry smoothie, which when poured in bowls is a great soup. Since the ingredients can be chilled in advance and you don't cook it, it's good if there isn't a lot of time before you serve it.

2 pints strawberries, hulled. If they're gigunda, cut into smaller sections.
2 cups plain yogurt - you can use low fat, it's still really good!
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
mint to garnish

In a blender, combine the strawberries, yogurt, orange juice, sugar, and cardamom. Puree until well mixed. Chill and serve. You can just put the blender right in the refridge to chill.

Grandma Fritzie's Pumpkin Pie

My mom made the best pumpkin pie - it was moist and dense and smooth, mmmmmm.  Once I served it when Sharon Strassfeld was over and she was totally horrified, it seemed so Goyish to her. Parve pumpkin pie is ridiculous.  Forget it. I have made Mom's recipe a few times and it's never as good as hers was - maybe it's the crust, the oven, the pan, or just the memory.  But I pass it along.

One 9" unbaked pie shell (she originally made hers from scratch, but in time switched to pie crust sticks that you rolled out.)  Brides really worked at making good pie crusts - it was a mark of achievement. You could also skip the shell and just make it as a custard.

1 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/3 c. shortening like Crisco (this is a really old recipe!)
2 to 3 T water.
Mix and roll out flat into a large circle.  A flexible cutting board would be good for this.  Slip into the pie pan.  Flute the edges.  
Mom would take the left over pieces of pastry and sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar and bake them.  What a treat!  Kind of like kichel.

Pie Filling:
1 can pumpkin* (what size?)
1 can evaporated milk* (what size?)
    *Libby's online "Famous Pumpkin Recipe" says a 12 oz can of evaporated milk and a 15 oz can of  pumpkin)
½ t. salt
2 eggs
1 T. sugar
⅔ brown sugar
1¼ t. cinnamon
½ t. ginger
½ t. nutmeg
¼ t. cloves

Mix all ingredients.  Pour into shell.  Bake at 450° for 15 minutes and 350° for 40-45 minutes.  The pie will be baked through solid and not jiggly.  Let cool.  Good at room temperature, and also good chilled.

Chicken Diablo

This is an easy chicken recipe for which you will often have all the ingredients on hand.  My version came from the Teaneck Jewish Center Cookbook which Epsie Gerstle gave me when I was newly-wed.  A little research online shows the recipe source as Family Circle's Great Chicken Recipes - 1968.

1 chicken, cut in 8ths, or chicken breast (on the bone)

3 T olive oil

1/2 c. honey or agave
1/4 cup prepared mustard - any flavor seems to work
1 t. salt (go easy when preparing kosher chickens, since they already have a high salt content)
1 t. curry powder

Heat oven to 375°.
In a large measuring cup, add the honey, mustard, and olive oil, then the salt and curry,  stirring to mix them thoroughly.
Arrange chicken meaty size up in the smallest pan that will allow all the pieces to fit.  (This makes it easier to baste, with less of the sauce accumulating on the bottom of the pan.)  The picture below is a larger quantity - one chicken + one container of chicken breasts, so I made a larger version of the recipe.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and if time permits, cover and refrigerate to marinate for a few hours, or even over night.

Bake, basting a few times to promote glazing.
Bake about 1½ hours, until richly glazed.
This is a good dish to leave in the oven while you're at Kabbalat Shabbat!

Cold Sesame Noodles

If you measure the oil first,
the other ingredients can float above it -
a little time saver.

Sauce ingredients:

8 T Chunky Peanut Butter

4 T Veggie broth (follow instructions for your veggie broth powder)

9 T Soy Sauce

6 T Sesame Oil

2 T Cider Vinegar

3 T Honey (maybe substitute agave nectar for vegans)

3 cloves minced garlic

4 T vegetable oil

Other Ingredients:

1 lb cooked cold spaghetti
3 Tbsp sesame seeds.
4-5 Scallions
1 cucumber (in strips)

Process:

1. Put the Peanut Butter, Veggie Broth, and Soy Sauce in covered bowl (leave some space for air to escape. Microwave for 30 second. Stir until the PB is no longer stuck together and the texture is consistent. You may need to put it in the microwave for another 20 seconds to get the texture consistent. this step take some elbow grease.
2. add all the sauce ingredients. stir well.
3. add the cold pasta. mix thoroughly. (I like to do it by hand. Make sure the bowl is large enough.)
4. dice the scallions and cut the cucumbers into strips.
5. add the scallions, cucumbers, and sesame seeds.
6. serve chilled if convenient.

Stir-Fried Cabbage with Cumin Seeds

This Madhur Jaffrey recipe was modified by the NYTimes and modified again by me.  I am all for using shortcuts that don't affect the quality of food.  I really hate grating or slicing cabbage, but do like preparing it, since it's such a healthy food.  Hence I love the bags of crated cabbage at the supermarket.  I like to make this as an interesting side dish.
A really big, deep non-stick frying pan is perfect for this.  I just bought one and I love it.

Recipe: Stir-Fried Cabbage With Cumin Seeds

Adapted from “Madhur Jaffrey’s Quick and Easy Indian Cooking” (Chronicle Books, 1996)
November 15, 2006)

1 bag grated cabbage or coleslaw mix (cabbage + carrots)
oil
1 tablespoon cumin or caraway seeds
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
2 onions, halved and thinly sliced crosswise
2 teaspoons salt
2 pinches cayenne
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon garam masala (optional).

• Heat about 2 T oil in a wide skillet over high heat. When hot, add  the cumin and  sesame seeds. 
• When the sesame seeds begin to pop add the onions, and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 5 minutes.
• Add the cabbage, and cook, stirring often, until wilted and lightly browned but not cooked through, about 5 minutes more. 
• Add salt and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until cabbage is soft and sweet, about 7 minutes more. Stir in lemon juice and garam masala, and serve.

Yield: 10 servings.

Spinach Stuffed Shells: Double Recipe

Stuffed shells are much easier to make than you'd think, and better to subdivide for freezing than, say, lasagna.  This is a double recipe makes enough for a 6-8 people, x 2.  I generally do a large flat pyrex pan, + 2 or 3 8x8 pans to freeze.  These could be pie pans, they work fine. You can use chopped spinach or broccoli.

12 oz. container jumbo shells *
2 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese (or a 2 lb. container is fine) - can be whole milk, skim or lowfat
2 pkg frozen chopped broccoli or spinach, thawed or microwaved (could be fresh; chop away)
1 c (8 oz) mozzarella - half for the mixture, half for the top
2/3 c grated Parmesan cheese
2 bottles marinara sauce (or homemade - HAH!)
ground pepper
oregano
Extra marinara sauce for those who like it
Parsley for garnish

*I just counted: the shells in a 12 oz box = 39.  

• Fill a 6 qt pot about 2/3 full with water and bring to a boil.  Drop the jumbo shells in a few at a time until the water returns to a boil.  They take about 10 minutes.
• Heat oven to 400°.
• If the broccoli or spinach is still frozen, microwave in a large bowl.  Drain any excess liquid.
• Combine the vegetables, ricotta, half of the mozzarella, parmesan, and seasonings.  (if you forget and dump in all the mozzarella, no big deal, but it is nice to have it melted on top.)
• Drain the pasta in a large colander, or just in the pot.  Let it cool a few  minute, and dislodge any shells stuck to each other.
• In 2 large rectangular pans, or two to 3 smaller pans, distribute one jar of marinara.
• Using a soup spoon, fill each shell fairly full, and place open side down in the pan.  It's tricky to manage to get the filling to be just right, and doesn't matter - the usual problem is leftover filling.  If you have extra filling, just freeze it.  You can use it with other recipes - it's great with sliced, fried eggplant.
• Pour the rest of the marinara sauce on top and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella. 
• Bake for about 25 minutes until browned.
• Like all Italian food, it looks nice with chopped parsley and extra grated Parmesan.

Nomi's version with vodka sauce and fresh basil -  yummmmm.

Barbara Lissy's minhag is to make stuffed shells and deliver to whomever needs food - potluck, new baby, shiva, illness. It was nice to bring her a tray of them when Ruthie's grandma died.