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Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Dilled-Vegetable Barley Soup

A flavorful vegetable and barley soup with mushrooms, fresh dill and fennel.

Recipe Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup pearl barley
  • 5 1/2 cups water – divided use
  • 1 tablespoon butter 2 cups minced onion
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 pound mushrooms, chopped
  • 2 carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1 celery rib, minced
  • 6 tablespoons dry white wine (optional) – Not optional if the theme is alcohol
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup minced fresh fennel (I used leek instread)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh snipped dill
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Optional sprinkle with toasted sunflower seeds before serving

Cooking Directions:

  1. In a small saucepan combine barley with 1½ cups of the water. Bring to a boil; cover, lower heat, and simmer until tender, 30 to 40 minutes.
  2. In a large, heavy stockpot melt butter; sauté onion with salt and bay leaf; cook over medium heat until onion begins to soften, 5 to 8 minutes.
  3. Add mushrooms, carrots and celery; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Add remaining 4 cups water, wine, lemon juice and barley. Lower heat to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes. The soup will thicken, add more water, if desired.
  4. Shortly before serving, stir in the fennel, dillweed, garlic and pepper. Taste to adjust seasonings.

Makes 6 servings.

 

Posted on » by Dana & Nancy » Theme:

Bacon Crusted Beer Mac and Cheese

Adapted from How Sweet Eats

serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups uncooked whole wheat elbow noodles
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
8 ounces milk
8 ounces beer
8 ounces freshly grated cheddar cheese
4 ounces freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
pinch of black pepper
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare water for pasta and boil according to directions, shaving 1-2 minutes off of cooking time since pasta will continue to cook in the oven.

Heat a saucepan over medium high heat and add butter. Once melted and sizzling, whisk in flour to create a roux and cook until bubbly and golden in color, about 2 minutes. Add milk and beer into saucepan whisking constantly, then add cheeses and stir until melted. Turn heat down to medium and continue to stir, cooking for 5-6 minutes while mixture thickens. It will most likely NOT thicken like regular mac and cheese because of the beer, but you want it to thicken a little bit. Stir in pepper and paprika.

Add noodles (once cooked and drained) to a casserole dish, then pour cheese over top, mixing gently to combine. Top with panko bread crumbs and an additional sprinkle of cheese if desired. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

 

Posted on » by Ashley » Theme:

Salmon Gravlaks with Cucumber Jelly

Arctic Char Gravlaks with Cucumber Jelly
Gourmet August 2005

Yield: Makes 6 first-course servings
Active time: 30 min
Total time: 1 1/2 days (includes curing fish)

Gravlaks — fish cured with salt, sugar, and dill — is usually made with salmon, but we like the milder flavor of arctic char for this particular dish.

Keep in mind before starting to cure your fish that you will need to turn it every 12 hours for a total of 36 hours.
ingredients

For gravlaks
1 (1 1/4-lb) center-cut piece arctic char fillet with skin, pin bones removed
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
3 cups coarsely chopped fresh dill (from 2 large bunches)

For cucumber jelly
3 seedless cucumbers (usually plastic-wrapped; 3 lb total)
3/4 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (from 1 envelope)
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1 tablespoon tiny fresh dill fronds
Accompaniment: thin Scandinavian crispbread such as Kavli

Make gravlaks:
Pat fish dry, then transfer, skin side up, to a large sheet of plastic wrap. Stir together sugar, salt, and pepper, then rub 3 tablespoons of mixture onto skin of fish. Turn fish over and thickly coat with remaining sugar mixture, then pack dill on top.
Wrap fish tightly in 2 or 3 layers of plastic wrap (to prevent leakage; salt mixture will liquefy as fish cures) and transfer to a large shallow baking pan. Put another baking pan or a cutting board on top of fish and weight down with 3 or 4 full cans (about 3 lb total). Let fish cure, chilled, turning wrapped fillet over roughly every 12 hours and then replacing weight, for 36 hours total.

Make jelly while fish is curing:
Peel cucumbers, making sure to remove all green (for a clearer jelly), then halve lengthwise and core. Coarsely chop cucumbers and purée in a food processor until smooth, then drain in a large fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl, pressing hard on solids to extract 2 cups liquid. Discard solids.
Stir together salt and 1/2 cup cucumber liquid in a small saucepan and sprinkle with gelatin. Let stand 1 minute to soften, then heat over moderate heat, stirring, just until gelatin is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Cool mixture to room temperature, then stir into remaining 1 1/2 cups cucumber liquid along with vinegar. Pour mixture into an 8-inch square glass baking dish and sprinkle with dill fronds, pressing gently to submerge. Chill, covered, until set, at least 8 hours.

To serve:
Unwrap gravlaks, discarding liquid, and gently scrape off dill. Transfer gravlaks, skin side down, to a cutting board. Holding a very sharp long thin-bladed knife at a 30-degree angle, cut gravlaks across the grain into very thin slices, being careful not to cut through skin. Discard skin.
Cut jelly into 6 pieces and divide among 6 plates with a metal spatula. Serve with several slices of gravlaks.

Cooks’ notes:
• Cured gravlaks can be drained, scraped, and wrapped in clean plastic wrap, then chilled up to 5 days.
• Jelly can be chilled up to 4 days