Savory Grits With Shallots, Corn, and Green Onions

Many of the recipes I use have been found online. My very first computer with Internet access would captivate me for hours with the endless supply of recipes that I found. I especially love when the recipes have ratings, because it makes it easier to gauge how it will all really turn out in my home kitchen with out a full staff of professionals. For years I have turned to Gourmet Magazine's website www.epicurious.com for new recipes and ideas. I have made some of these recipes so many times, that they feel like my own. These are the ones I will share...

This one is on the very top of that list!

Enjoy!




SAVORY GRITS WITH SHALLOTS, CORN AND GREEN ONIONS

A quick and easy side dish that goes well with roast chicken, turkey or pork chops.

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 cup chopped shallots
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 1/2 cups frozen yellow corn kernels, thawed
5 cups (or more) water

1 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cooking grits
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Heat vegetable oil in medium nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add chopped shallots and dried thyme and sauté until shallots are tender and golden, about 6 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups thawed yellow corn and sauté 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Purée remaining 1 cup corn and 1/2 cup water in processor.

Bring 4 1/2 cups water and salt to boil in heavy large saucepan. Gradually whisk in grits. Reduce heat to medium and cook until grits boil and thicken, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Add shallot mixture, puréed corn mixture, green onions and hot pepper sauce and stir until well blended and heated through, adding more water if mixture is too thick, about 4 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl and serve. Per serving: calories, 190; total fat, 2 g; saturated fat, 0.5 g; cholesterol, 0

Makes 6 servings.

Bon Appétit
Cooking for Health
November 2000


Link to the recipe found here:http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/r...ws/views/104178

Provencal Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce

Here is one method for slow roasting tomatoes for sauce. I found the recipe on Gourmet Magazine's website. The flavors in this sauce are as sunny as can be and I will be making it again as soon as my tomatoes plants are bursting with fruit. Luckily last summer I had the foresight to freeze plenty of this sauce. It was a God send to be able to pull it out of the freezer in February and March.

Enjoy!

PROVENCAL OVEN-ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE

Freeze some of this sauce now and treat yourself to a burst of summer one cold, wintry day.

olive oil for brushing pans
1 head garlic
4 pounds vine-ripened red tomatoes (about 10 medium)
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice, or to taste

Preheat oven to 450°F. and lightly brush 2 shallow baking pans with oil.

Separate garlic head into cloves, discarding loose papery outer skin but keeping skin intact on cloves, and wrap in foil, crimping seams to seal tightly. Cut tomatoes into 1/2-inch-thick slices and arrange in one layer in baking pans. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons each of rosemary and thyme evenly over tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.

Put foil-wrapped garlic in one of baking pans with tomatoes and roast garlic and tomatoes in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of pans halfway through roasting, about 35 minutes total, or until garlic is tender and tomatoes are slightly charred. Unwrap garlic and cool slightly. Peel skins from each clove and force pulp with warm tomatoes and herbs through a food mill fitted with small disk into a bowl.
Finely chop remaining teaspoon rosemary and remaining teaspoon thyme and stir into sauce with orange juice. Season sauce with salt and pepper and reheat if necessary. Sauce keeps, covered and chilled, 4 days or, frozen, 4 months. Reheat sauce over low heat and re season with orange juice, salt, and pepper.

Makes about 3 cups, enough for 1 pound pasta.

Gourmet
August 1998

Lemon-Blueberry Marmalade

I found this recipe during a google search of South Haven, MI as we will be camping there all next week. This recipe and several others on this site has me wishing I could trade in my tent for a reservation at this Bed and Breakfast. I guess I will have to settle for sleeping under the stars and making this when I get back.

Lemon-Blueberry Marmalade

Yum! What's better than homemade jam, both on the breakfast table and as a gift to friends? But don't do all the work just to create a forgettable jam that you can just as easily find at the supermarket (I hereby decree a ban on grape and
strawberry jams!). Here's a spread that captures the bold sweetness of summer blueberries offset by the eye-opening tartness of fresh lemon zest.
It also has a wonderful texture because the pulp of the blueberry is not discarded. In August I preserve a cupboardfull of pints for serving at The Manor, but also dozens of half-pint jelly jars for "taste of my kitchen" gifts.
What's even better? If you gobble up your entire summer's harvest, you can still make this in the dead of winter with frozen blueberries! What are you waiting for?

9 cups fresh or frozen (unsweetened) blueberries
6 lemons
9 cups sugar

Sort, stem, wash and drain the blueberries. Using a zester, peel the lemon into thin strips. Be careful to peel only the yellow part, not the bitter, white pith. In a saucepan, cover the peel with water. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. Feel free to experiment with extra peel if you want to increase the tartness and/or texture of the marmalade.

Juice the lemons. Measure the juice and add water to obtain a total of 1-½ cups.

In a large preserving pan, crush the berries with a potato masher. Add the blanched peel,sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Continue to boil gently until the marmalade reaches 220 degrees F on a candy/jam thermometer. Ladle hot marmalade into sterilized jars, with ¼ inch headspace, and process in a water bath according to standard methods.

Makes 6 pints or 12 half-pints.

This recipe comes from Yelton Manor's B&B in MI

For other amazing recipes from this b & b:
http://yeltonmanor.com/tour/recipetour.php3

Purple Basil and Orange Jelly

This recipe has me wishing I had some purple basil in my garden!

Purple Basil and Orange Jelly

I can’t imagine my life without dozens and dozens of jars of this gorgeous relish on my shelf. I make it every summer after arranging with a local produce farm to grow a crop of purple basil (genus “Dark Opal”) for me, but you can grow this peppery, beautiful basil just as easily at home in pots or the perennial border. Robert bastes pork roasts with it…I serve it up to guests simply as a topper for cream cheese on plain crackers. It has an indescribable color (garnet?) and a sweet/tart taste with a subtle overtone of orange and clove. You will never find this delicacy on a supermarket shelf, and it’s sooooo worth the effort. Double and triple the recipe as you see fit and process in half-pint jelly jars according to proper canning techniques. YUM!

1 ½ cups (packed) washed and drained purple basil leaves, including tender stems and flower buds
Zest(outer peel only, no white pith) of a bright-skinned medium orange, 1” strips
6 whole cloves
1 2/3 cups strained fresh orange juice
½ cup red wine vinegar
4 cups sugar
3 oz. liquid pectin

Chop the basil into a large saucepan, Twist each orange zest over the basil to catch the oilthat will fly out in droplets, then drop zest into pan. Add the cloves, orange juice and red wine vinegar. Set over medium heat until boiling, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let stand ½ hour. Pour the mixture over a fine sieve or cheesecloth over a bowl, and press to extract as much flavor as possible. You should have 1 ¾ cups of the liquid after discarding
the solids.

Add the sugar to the liquid and heat to boiling over medium heat. When a hard boil is achieved (won’t stir down), add the pectin. After achieving a hard boil again, boil for exactly 1 minute. Remove from heat. Skim any foam and pour into hot, sterilized jars with ½ inch of headspace. Seal with paraffin or water bath with lids. Cool, label and store the jars.

Recipe from Yelton Manor B&B in MI

Lunch at a Jerusalem Bakery

I am in Lansing, MI on business this week with my husband. For lunch I could not resist a Jerusalem Bakery that I have passed every day this week. They make their own Pitas and a luscious variety of Middle Eastern deli food.

For lunch I ordered a Lebanee Sandwich. One bite of this cool refreshing sandwich and I was in love. I plan on bringing some Pitas home with me and I have a feeling we will be living on these all summer.

Lebanee is a strained homemade yogurt also known as yogurt cheese.

For this sandwich, the Lebanee is spread thickly on the pit and topped with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and dill pickle spears. It is so light, cool, and refreshing making it perfect for the hottest summer day!

Below is a recipe from Alton brown as well as the address and phone number of the bakery.

Enjoy!




Yogurt Cheese
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown


Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Yield: Approximately 1 quart
User Rating: 4 Stars


2 quarts plain yogurt

Place 4 layers of cheesecloth in colander set over a bowl. Add the yogurt and let drain overnight in the refrigerator. The desired consistency is that of soft cream cheese.

Jerusalem Bakery
1456 East Michigan Ave
Lansing, MI

517-485-9975

Blackberry and Rosemary Crumble

This recipe is amazing and the Rosemary flavor really shines through. I can not even begin to describe how heavenly this smells while baking in the oven. I wish I could find a candle in this scent. It would probably be much safer than having this dessert on my counter considering that we just can't leave it alone.

For dessert I suggest serving it with ice cream. For brunch serve this with a little pitcher of heavy cream for everyone to drizzle over their crisp.


Enjoy!

Blackberry and Rosemary Crumble

From "Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen"
Copyright 2003 by Tyler Florence
Reprinted with Permission of Clarkson Potter Publishers

CRUMBLE

* 1/2 cup (1stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1-1/2 cups sugar
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* Needles from 2 rosemary sprigs

FILLING

* 2 quarts fresh blackberries
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup cornstarch
* Juice of 1 lemon

Set oven at 350 Degrees F

To make the crumble topping, mash together the butter, sugar, flour, and rosemary in a large bowl. The best way to do this is with your hands.

In a large bowl, mix the blackberries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice together. Pour the blackberry filling into a 9x13-inch glass baking pan; even it out with a spatula. Crumble the topping over the blackberry mixture. Bake for 1 hour on a nonstick cookie sheet (to catch any overflow) until the topping is brown and the fruit is bubbly. Serve the crumble with vanilla ice cream. Make sure the crumble is still a little warm so the ice cream will melt.


Serves 8

The rosemary adds a sophisticated taste to this old favorite. It's great in the summertime when blackberries are at their peak.

Preparation Time: 1-1/2 hours

Prosciutto And Brie Sandwiches With Rosemary Fig Confit

A couple of years ago my mother was visiting us over Mother's Day weekend while we were still living in Parkersburg, West Virgina. My mom loves fruity white wines, so I paired the sandwiches with a peach wine from a local winery in Marrietta, OH along with some juicy pears. I packed everything up in a big picnic basket and we took the Stern Wheeler to Blennerhasset Island. The weather was beautiful and we had a fabulous time with my mom. Just thought I would share the memory and one of my favorite picnic recipes.

Enjoy!


PROSCIUTTO AND BRIE SANDWICHES WITH ROSEMARY FIG CONFIT

Ciabatta is a wonderfully chewy classic Italian bread that is being rediscovered by specialty bakers around the country. Look for a rather wide, flat, flour-dusted bread, whether shaped into rolls or loaves. The rolls we used were 4- to 5-inch rectangles, but one or two ciabatta loaves would work equally well.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

For sandwiches
4 ciabatta* rolls (about 4 inches square) or a long loaf (about 20 inches) French or Italian bread
about 1/2 cup rosemary fig confit
1/4 pound thinly sliced prosciutto
1/4 pound Brie, cut into thin slices

For rosemary fig confit
1 cup dried Calimyrna figs, chopped fine
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves

*Ciabatta rolls are available at some specialty bakeries.

Make sandwiches:
With a serrated knife halve rolls horizontally or cut loaf diagonally into 4 pieces, halving each piece horizontally.

Spread cut sides of bread with confit and make 4 sandwiches with prosciutto and Brie.

Make rosemary fig confit:
In a 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan stir together ingredients and simmer, covered, 20 minutes. Remove lid and simmer mixture, stirring occasionally, until most liquid is evaporated and mixture is thickened. In a food processor coarsely purée fig mixture. Confit may be made 5 days ahead and chilled, covered.

Bring confit to room temperature before using. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.

Makes 4 sandwiches.

Gourmet
A Cycling Picnic
July 1995