Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium carrots, chopped fine
1 large stalk celery, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 cup lentils, rinsed and sorted
4 cups broth (beef, chicken or vegetable-whatever you have on hand)
1 15 oz can diced tomato
2 tsp thyme (or more to taste)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp pepper (or more, to taste)
Salt, to taste

Methods
Saute mirepoix over medium heat until translucent and starting to color. Add garlic, and continue cooking another 30 seconds. Add lentils, seasonings, and broth. Bring to a boil, then let simmer until lentils are tender, about 45 minutes. At that point add the tomatoes and continue cooking another 5 minutes. If you want a slightly thicker consistency, use an immersion blender for a few seconds to break up some of the soup.

This is a simple, healthy, yet surprisingly filling soup that is particularly good for cold winter days. As with most soups, it goes very well with buttered toast.

Ingredients
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp sugar
2 tbsp plain flour
2 1/4 tsp curry powder
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp Indian chili powder
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2-3 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped (or 2 tsp garlic paste)
2 cups water
1 tbsp mayonaise
1 squeeze lemon juice

Method
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. In small sauce pan, heat oil, then add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. Add dry ingredients and toast for another 30-60 seconds. Gradually add water, stirring constantly, until you have a smooth sauce. Bring it to a boil to fully thicken, then turn down to low and add mayo and lemon. Adjust seasoning as needed, and serve with chips.

Even with the mediocre baked fries we had, the sauce was fantastic. We’re going to continue tinkering with the spice blends, but it was still a fantastic first effort, and incredibly easy.

Ingredients
Rolls
1 head savoy cabbage, leaves separated (you’ll want at least 2 large leaves per roll, so plan accordingly)
12 oz ground pork (or 6 pork, 6 veal if you can find it)
6 oz ground beef (90-95% lean, if you can)
2 tsp Polish sausage seasoning (I used Krakow Nights from Penzey’s)
1 tsp ground horseradish
10 oz small diced onion, sauteed and cooled
4 fl oz heavy cream (1/2 cup for volumetric folks)
2 eggs
3 oz bread crumbs

6 oz mirepoix (for this, equal carrot, onion celery, small diced)
~2 cups beef stock (to partly cover assembled rolls)
Bacon (optional)
Bay leaf

Sauce
1.5 tbsp butter
1/2 medium onion
1 small can (15 oz) tomato puree
Aleppo pepper
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup sour cream

Method
Cook onion for rolls, set aside to cool. Meanwhile, bring large pot of water to a boil and cook cabbage. Drain and rinse, trying not to tear the leaves. Remove ribs and set aside. Add meats to a stand mixer and mix together on low. Add onion. Add cream and egg, let combine (it will be soft-that’s ok). Add breadcrumbs and seasonings. At this point, it may be good to stick this in the fridge and make sure it’s nice and cool before making the rolls.
When you’re ready to assemble, get a 1-1.5 ft square piece of cheesecloth and an 8 oz round bowl. Place the cheesecloth in the bottom of the bowl. Take two cabbage leaves and place them in the bowl so they overlap by about an inch at the base of the bowl. Fill the leaves with about a racquetball sized amount of the sauce mix. Fold the cabbage leaves over the meat. Twist the cheesecloth to make the roll form a sphere, and to help ensure the cabbage is closed around it. Have ready a stove and oven safe braising pan (or large covered skilled that is oven safe). Place the mirepoix in the bottom of the pan, and place the rolls on top of the mirepoix, seam side down. Repeat with the rolls until you’ve used all your meat mixture. Then, pour stock into the pan until it comes half way up the rolls. Add bay leaf, and place bacon, if using, over the tops of the rolls. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring stock to a boil over medium heat on the stove top. Once it’s boiling, place rolls in oven for 45-50 minutes, or until internal temp hits 160 degrees.

While this is cooking, you can prepare the tomato sauce. Mince onion and saute in butter until starting to turn golden. Add tomato puree, adding water as needed to maintain consistency. Bring to simmer. Add 1 tsp aleppo, or more to taste, and 1/2 tsp garlic powder (again, to taste). Salt to taste as well. Keep warm until rolls are done. Once rolls are done, stir in sour cream.

Plate the sauce first, then the rolls on top of it. We served with mashed potatoes as well.
As you can see in the photo, we served the tomato sauce and sour cream separately, but after dinner, decided to make a sour cream-tomato sauce instead, which we both agree is a big improvement.

Overall, not a perfect first outing for the recipe, but certainly a keeper, and one I look forward to trying again. Despite the long and complicated sounded method, it’s really pretty straightforward, and could be an outstanding dinner party offering, as it can be made ahead and easily scaled to the group being served.

For clarity (and to include alterations) the recipe will appear here as well.

Ingredients
~1 lb brussels sprouts
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Black pepper (or white)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
2-3 shallots, thinly sliced
2 tbsp heavy cream
2+ tbsp smooth dijon mustard
1 tbsp country style dijon (or other mustard seed mustard)
2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

Method
Clean and half sprouts. Heat oils in wide skilled over medium heat, and place sprouts, cut side down in the pan. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and allow to brown (may take about 5 minutes-keep an eye on them). We failed a measuring the first time, so ended up with closer to 2 or 3 lbs of sprouts. If this happens to you, just work in batches. After sprouts have browned, add shallots. After another 30 seconds or so, deglaze with wine. Add stock, bring it all to a simmer. Reduce heat and lid, then simmer gently about 15-20 minutes. Sprouts should be tender, but not mushy. Remove lid, remove sprouts (to build the sauce). Add cream and whisk sauce together until thickened slightly. Whisk mustards in, tasting and adjusting seasoning as needed. Once the sauce is ready you can either pour the sauce over the sprouts in the serving bowl (formal) or just dump sprouts back in to pan to coat with sauce (informal). Either way, sprinkle parsley over the top and serve.

This is a great side dish to serve with pork or poultry. If you want to take this a different direction, you could use cognac instead of the wine. In the future, we’ll probably use half a stalk of sprouts for roasting, then keep the remainder on the stalk for later in the week, when we’ll do this.

Day 1
Ingredients
1 lb bread flour
9.5 oz water
1/8th tsp yeast
1/2 tbsp salt

Method
Mix ingredients together until dough forms. For me, this is best done in a stand mixer. The dough will probably be pretty stiff-that’s ok. Once together, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and stash it out of the way until the next day. It should sit, undisturbed for 12-16 hours. From what I’ve been able to gather, this is basically a biga.

Day 2
Ingredients
10 oz bread flour
6 oz whole wheat flour
12.5 oz water
1/2 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp yeast
Day 1 Dough

Method
Mix new ingredients together to form a dough. Then, with dough hook in and mixer on, gradually incorporate small pieces of the biga until you have it all together. Let kneed another 5-10 minutes, until the mixture is fairly homogenous. Place dough in greased bowl, cover and let rise for 1-1.5 hours. Punch down, let rise again. Punch down once more and let rise. At this point, shape dough into loaves (2 works for me). Let rise again. Halfway through this rise, preheat oven to 450 degrees. I have a baking stone that I use, which I really enjoy. Also, if you use a tray for water or ice cubes, get that in there when it was preheating. Then, score loaves, and put them in the oven (with water or ice cubes added at the same time). Let bake about 30-35 minutes. I find that I can bake on a tray with cornmeal dusted parchment for about 20 minutes, then I remove the tray and place loaves upside down on the stone for the remaining time. This allows them to get a nice even brown all the way around. Remove from oven and let cool.

The resulting bread is a really nice, lightly nutty wheat loaf, with the characteristic wheat bread taste, but not the cardboard characteristics too many whole wheat breads have. While I still need to work on my own technique with this (more kneading time when assembling), I’m still very pleased with this recipe, and I look forward to further refining my execution of it.

Chicken Cordon Bleu
Ingredients
1/8″ thick deli ham, 1 per cordon bleu
2 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts, butterflied into cutlets
1/8″ thick slices of swiss cheese, 1 per cordon bleu
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs (approximately, adding more as needed)
1/2 cup flour (approximately, adding more as needed)
1 egg, beaten with a tablespoon of water
salt and pepper.
olive oil and butter, 1.5 tbsp each

Method
Slice each chicken breast in half, then pound each to 1/8″ thick. Place a slice of ham, cut 1/2 the size of the chicken piece, on top of the chicken. Place a similarly sized slice of cheese on it, season lightly with salt and pepper and then fold the chicken closed.

Place flour, seasoned with salt and pepper in one bowl, beaten egg with water added in another bowl, and next to that, the bread crumbs in a 3rd bowl, next to the first two. Finally place a plate next to the last bowl.

Dredge the folded chicken through the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs. When they are all dredged, pan fry them in 3 tbsps of a half and half butter/olive oil mixture over medium heat until they are golden brown. If you need to, you can finish them in the oven for a few minutes at 250. This really isn’t rocket science.

Since the chicken is thin, it should stay closed without a problem.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts:
Ingredients
1.5 to 2lbs Brussels Sprouts
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Method
Toss the sprouts with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. They should be *salty* but not ridiculously so.

Roast them, uncovered in a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes. Stir them around about halfway through cooking so they don’t burn. They can be covered with foil if they look as though they’re going to get too brown. They should be quite browned and crunch on the outsides though.

Risotto alla Milanese
Ingredients
2 cups arborio rice
1 medium onion, diced
3tbsp butter
2 quarts chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup grated parmiggiano-reggiano (or grana padano) cheese
1/2 to 1tsp salt
ground black pepper to taste
Pinch of saffron threads, ground with a few grains of salt (starting with powdered saffron is ok, but not quite the same)

Method
Heat 1 quart of chicken broth to a simmer in a saucepan, and the wine.
Sautee the onion in the butter in a large, straight walled skillet, until translucent.
Add the rice to the pan, and let it toast for a minute or so, stirring it. Reduce heat to medium low.
Add a ladle full of the broth/wine mixture, and stir it into the rice.
Slowly add a ladle of broth at a time, constantly stirring the rice. Top off the broth pan now and then. As the rice takes up the broth, add more broth to the rice. The whole process will probably take up the full 2 quarts of broth, plus some additional water if you need it, and the better part of half an hour to 45 minutes. The idea is that the rice cooks and breaks down, releasing starch a little at a time, which thickens the broth. When the rice is just done, add the saffron, using hot broth or water to clean out the mortar and pestle that I hope you ground the saffron in. Finally, add the cheese, adjust the consistency with additional water, and serve.

There is a prior risotto recipe on the blog, but the proportions aren’t really as accurate as the could be – the method description may be more complete, however.

Ingredients
3-4 large eggplant (we used 6 small-medium eggplants)
4 eggs
Flour, for dredging
Breadcrumbs, for dredging
Tomato Sauce (we used the standard puree-based recipe found earlier on the blog)
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated parmesan (we used a Grana Padano)

Method
Cut tops off of eggplants and slice lengthwise into 1/4″ slivers. Set a colander in a bowl, and layer the eggplant slices, dusted with a considerable amount of salt, in the colander. Place an inverted plate over the eggplant and place a heavy weight on top of it (we used an 8 lb and a 5 lb hand weight). Let drain for about an hour. While the eggplant is setting, you can go ahead and make your sauce, if you’re using homemade. After one hour, the eggplant should be pretty soft and limp. Rinse the slices with water, then pat them dry. Set up three bowl for your dredging stations, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take the dried eggplant slices and dredge them through the flour, egg and seasoned breadcrumb mixtures, then place them on a baking tray that has been lined with foil and spritzed with cooking spray (we used olive oil). After you have filled the tray, spritz the top of the slices with more oil, then pop them in the oven for 20 minutes, flipping the slices after 10 minutes. This will probably take multiple trays. Let the eggplant cool slightly, then you can start building your dish. In a greased 9″x 13″ tray, spoon an thin layer of tomato sauce and evenly coat the bottom. Then spread an even layer of the eggplant into the dish. Sprinkle with 1/3rd of each cheese. Repeat the layers twice more, but on the final layer finish with the cheese on top. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or until browned on top. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving-this will allow it to set enough to avoid the baked Italian red-sauce soup that can be typical of some lasagnas.

This resulted in a wonderfully flavorful and surprisingly filling main dish, and I look forward to making it again.

Ingredients
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp heavy cream
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
5 or 6 tbsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup brandy or cognac
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
Pinch of salt

Method
There are two basic methods, depending on whether you’re cooking your steak in the pan you make the sauce in, or are grilling the steak separately. Because we are apartment dwellers who have a sensitive fire alarm, we’re grilling the steaks outdoors.

Heat the oil and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the rosemary and thyme, and let cook for a couple of minutes. Make sure not to burn the butter/oil.

Remove from heat, add cognac, return to heat and lower the heat to low. Let the cognac cook off for a couple of minutes, then add the mustard, worcestershire sauce, and stir it together. Finally, add the cream and stir it in. let it cook for another couple of minutes and serve. You can thin it with beef or chicken broth if necessary, or dilute a bit with more cognac. This is a fairly zippy sauce, and it’s not really an exact science.

We served this sauce over the steaks and grilled green onions, and also had boiled kale and spinach that were tossed with salt, pepper and roasted garlic paste.

Ingredients

For pastry:
225g flour
175g butter, frozen
2 tsp mustard powder
Ice water, as needed
Pinch of salt.

For egg wash:
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp water.

For filling:
1 lb ground pork
1/2 medium onion, minced
Zest of 1/2 a lemon.

Spice mix for filling:
1 tbsp Penzey’s bratwurst seasoning
1 tbsp crushed dried thyme leaves
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp mace
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp black pepper
8 sage leaves, chopped, or 1 tbsp dried sage

(or)

Spice mix from scratch:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp mace
1/4 tsp ground coriander
The herbs from the prior spice mix

Method

For the Pastry:
Mix flour, mustard powder, and salt in a bowl. Cut or grate in the butter in small pieces (1/2 cm cubes or so). Stir in with a fork, so that it is a coarse crumble. Add ice water and mix gently until you have a dough that not sticky, but pulls away from the bowl. Don’t mash the butter chunks up too much if you avoid it. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour.

For the Filling:
Mix the ground pork with the spice mix.

Preheat oven to 430F.

To assemble:
Roll out the dough to about 1/2cm thick, and try to keep the edges somewhat straight. Make sausage meat logs about 1/2 to 3/4 in diameter, and place them just a little way from the edge of one side of the pastry. Put egg wash on the edge, overlap the dough and seal. cut the rolls into 1 inch lengths, and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush egg wash over the top of each piece.

To cook:
Bake for 25 minutes at 430F, until golden. Do not let them sit in their grease slick after you remove them from the oven.

These turned out quite well, although a little on the greasy side. In the future, we may alter the meat to be a mix of turkey and pork, or even all turkey to cut down on the rather ridiculous amount of fat that seeped out during the cooking. Although I’m not sure what the proper British method of consuming these treats is, we found that dipping them in some dijon mustard was wonderful.

These are not health food: Each roll clocks in at 113 cal, 7.2g Fat, 6.8g Carbs, 5g Protein.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb large white mushroom, cleaned and quartered
1 tablespoon coriander seed, cracked
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 teaspoon salt (to taste)
black pepper, freshly ground
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 -1 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Method
Heat oil over medium heat and saute mushrooms for 3-4 minutes, until softening. Add wine and coriander, and continue cooking for another 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are soft and the wine is nearly gone. Turn down and add remaining ingredients. Serve.