Apple, Honey & Brie Cheesy Pull-Apart Bread

INGREDIENTS

• 1 round loaf sourdough bread (or other round crusty bread)
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• Pinch of sea salt
• ½ apple, sliced thin
• ½ lb brie cheese, cut into thin 1 inch slices
• 2 Tbsp honey
• Thick sea salt (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, melt butter at 30 second intervals. Add fresh thyme and generous pinch of salt.
3. Using a serrated knife, cut the top of bread diagonally in one direction, then diagonally in the other direction, creating a criss-cross. Be careful not to cut all the way through. Gently fan the bread out slightly to accentuate the squares of bread.
4. Pour butter mixture all across the top of bread and into the crevices.
5. Place slices of brie and apple in between all the squares of bread. There is no such thing as too much in this step. Just stuff as much as you can.
6. Drizzle with honey and top with thick sea salt if desired. You can also add some additional herbs at this point on top, but it’s not necessary.
7. Place bread on top of foil lined baking sheet. Cover loosely with another piece of tin foil. Bake for 10 minutes.
8. Remove piece of foil. Bake another 10 minutes, until bread is golden and crisp, and cheese is oozing. Serve immediately.

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Original recipe: Kveller

Posted by Jasmine

Mujadara (Brown Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions)

This is the world's cheapest recipe, but it's very filling and comforting.  It's not cheese, but maybe the next best thing.

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large Spanish onions (about 1 1/2 pounds), halved and thinly sliced
• 1 1/4 cups large brown or green lentils, rinsed (9 ounces)
• 5 cups water
• 1 1/4 cups long-grain rice (8 1/2 ounces)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Directions

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions, cover and cook over med (4) heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. 
2. Uncover and cook, stirring from time to time, until the onions are golden brown, about 10 minutes longer. 
3. In a medium saucepan, combine the lentils and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat until the lentils are partially cooked, about 15 minutes. 
4. Stir in half the onions, the rice and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over low heat until the rice and lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. Add more water if needed to prevent sticking. 
5. Meanwhile, cook the remaining onions over high heat until dark brown and caramelized, about 5 minutes. Stir the onions frequently so they don't stick to the bottom of the skillet and burn. 
6. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt with the garlic, lemon juice and cumin. 
7. Transfer the lentils and rice to a shallow bowl and drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over them. 
8. Sprinkle with the caramelized onions and serve. Pass the yogurt separately.

Make Ahead This dish can be refrigerated overnight. Let it come to room temperature before serving

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Original recipe: ?

Posted by Jasmine

Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Garlic

 INGREDIENTS

• 1 pint brussels sprouts (about a pound)
• 4 to 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, to coat bottom of pan
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled
• (Chop up some Pancetta to add?)
•  Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Trim bottom of brussels sprouts, and slice each in half top to bottom. Heat oil in cast-iron pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers; put sprouts cut side down in one layer in pan. Put in garlic (and Pancetta?), and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Cook, undisturbed, until sprouts begin to brown on bottom, and transfer to oven. Roast, shaking pan every 5 minutes, until sprouts are quite brown and tender, about 10 to 20 minutes.
3. Taste, and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Stir in balsamic vinegar,* and serve hot or warm.

*Don't forget like I always do.

My friend Nathan has brought this several times when visiting, and my husband loves it.  So I asked Nathan for his recipe and made it for supper one day.  My husband insists it can't be the same recipe because Nathan's is better.  Oh well.

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Original recipe: NYT

Posted by Jasmine

Sheet Pan Low Country Boil

Ok, I know it's called a "boil," but forget that. This method is way better. The shrimp come out perfectly cooked, there's less mess, and everything tastes a little more distinct, rather than all sort of tasting like each other.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound baby Dutch yellow potatoes

• 3 ears corn, each cut crosswise into 2 or 3 pieces each

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

• 6 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 tablespoon Cajun* seasoning

• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, thawed if necessary

• 1 (12.8-ounce) package smoked andouille sausage, thinly sliced

• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray.

2. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook potatoes until just tender and parboiled, about 10-13 minutes. Stir in corn during the last 5 minutes of cooking time; drain well.

3. In a small bowl, combine butter, garlic and Cajun seasoning.

4. Place potatoes, corn, shrimp and sausage in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Stir in butter mixture and gently toss to combine.

5. Place into oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the shrimp are opaque and corn is tender.

6. Serve immediately with lemon wedges, garnished with parsley, if desired.

*Originally Old Bay, but I don't like Old Bay and I would eat Cajun seasoning or curry powder on everything, if I thought I could get away with it. Or Penzy's Ozark seasoning, that's excellent.

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Original Recipe: Damn Delicious

Posted by: Jasmine

Easy One-Pot Taco Spaghetti

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 lb extra-lean ground beef 
• 32 oz beef broth
• 1 can (14.5 oz) fire roasted crushed tomatoes
• 1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 package (1 oz) taco seasoning mix
• 12 oz uncooked spaghetti, broken in half 
• 1 cup shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese (4 oz)

Directions

1. In 5-quart Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add beef; cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until no longer pink.
2.  Stir in broth, tomatoes, chiles, water and taco seasoning mix.
3. Add spaghetti; heat to boiling. 
4. Reduce heat to simmering; cook uncovered 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until pasta is tender. 
5. Top with cheese.

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Original recipe: Pillsbury

Posted by Jasmine

Happy Salad

Ingredients

• A bunch of spinach
• A handful of blueberries
• A handful of walnuts
• 1 of those little packets of salmon, sold by the cans of tuna
• I like to put feta on it
• Some vinaigrette (for example, see below)

Directions

1. It's salad, I'm sure you'll figure it out

Rosemary Red Onion Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp minced red onion
• 2 teaspoon mustard
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 6 Tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 large garlic clove, chopped
• 2 heaping tablespoon of minced fresh rosemary + sprigs
• 1 cup olive oil

Directions

1. Put the minced onion, mustard, salt, vinegar, garlic and rosemary into a blender and purée it for a bit. 
2. Pour the olive oil in slowly and then blend that for a bit.

*So the ingredients in this salad are supposed to be good for your brain and help with depression, if you eat them regularly.  Not like one salad and you're off meds forever or anything, just that these things are good for your brain.

**The vinaigrette was originally for a fish recipe, but there was a ton leftover and it turned out to be good on this salad as well, when I had some the next day.

Old-World Jewish Penicillin

Ingredients *

• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground paprika
• 1 5 lb whole chicken** (or maybe 3 Lbs bl/sl meat, cubed)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 2 carrot sticks, diced
• 1 parsnip, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• water (or 6 cups stock, if using bl/sl meat)
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 10 large allspice berries
• Noodles (optional)
• Italian parsley for garnish

Directions

Cook it like soup vis:

1. With whole chicken (long cook, big flavor): 
1. Leave the skin on the chicken, but trim away any large pieces of fat from around the neck or cavity of the chicken. Rub the ground spices under the skin of the chicken.  Place the whole chicken and allspice berries in a soup pot and cover with water by about an inch. ***
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Keep your eye on the pot as it comes to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low and partially cover the pot as soon as the water is boiling.  Lower the heat and keep the soup at a steady simmer with the pot partially covered for 1-3 hours (until the meat is falling off the bone, us 1.5 hours, up to 3 for more flavor). ****
3. Half an hour before you're done cooking, add the vegetables, garlic, and bay leaves.
4. When done, use tongs to pull the chicken out of the liquid and transfer to a cutting board and discard the bay leaf.  When the chicken is cool enough to handle, pull the meat off the chicken bones, discarding the skin and bones. Shred or chop the meat into bite-sized pieces, then return them to the pot and either serve immediately or (if using) pop the noodles in and get them cooked through.
2. With bl/sl chicken (short cook, fine):
1. Bring a splash of olive oil to a shimmer on medium heat.  Add your onion and carrots, cook until the onion is translucent.
2. Add your garlic, celery, and ground spices and cook until fragrant, about 30 sec to 1 min.
3. Add everything else to the pot, bring to a boil, turn it down, and simmer maybe 20 to 30 min (If you want noodles, add them in the last 10 min or so of cooking, whatever it says on the package)

* Depending how you cook this, the ingredients are added in a different order, so this list is not in order

** The og recipe says to remove the giblets, but I find they make the stock more flavorful without being too organ-y.  Waste not, waste not, as they say. YMMV.  If you don't want to risk actually biting into a chicken heart bc you accidentally left it in the soup, tuck them into a cheesecloth you can just pluck out.

***Traditional versions of this soup call for simmering the vegetables right along with the chicken so they can flavor the broth, and then eating them as part of the finished soup. Super-soft vegetables are definitely a hallmark of chicken soup, but I like to have a little chew in my soup, I don't want mush.  If you want to cook like I have written, good.  For more flavorful broth, cut the vegetables in large chunks, which still give flavor to the broth, but cook more slowly. When finishing the soup, just chop the large chunks into bite-sized pieces and return them to the soup.

****You should see slow but steady bubbles and wisps of steam coming from the pot. Add more water as needed to keep the chicken covered, or if it floats, to allow it to bob in the liquid.  For the first half hour or so, you'll see foam and scum collecting on the surface of the liquid. As it clumps together, skim it off with a spoon and discard.

*****This is my favorite chicken soup recipe, for that spice mix.  Don't stress about the cooking time.  You don't have to stare at the chicken the whole time it simmers.  Just put it on and watch a movie and check on it every 45 min or so.  Many old-timey whole-chicken soup recipes call for you to leave it on a very low heat overnight, but I am not brave enough to just leave my stove going while I'm asleep.

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Original recipe: My Jewish Learning (recipe is for Instant Pot)

Posted by Jasmine

Crispy Parmesan Chicken with Creamy Lemon Garlic Pasta

Ingredients

• 2 Breasts Chicken sliced in half

• 6 Tablespoons butter divided

• 1/2 cup Italian Bread Crumbs

• 1/2 cup grated parmesan

• 1/4 cup flour

Creamy Lemon Garlic Pasta:

• 8 ounce pasta of choice (I used thin spaghetti)

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

• juice of one lemon

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

• Chopped fresh parsley for garnish if desired

Instructions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat melt 2 Tablespoons butter. To make the chicken: Melt remaining 4 tablespoons of butter in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and flour. Dip the chicken in the butter and then coat in the bread crumb mixture and place in skillet.

2. Cook on each side for about 3-4 minutes until the outside is crispy and the chicken is cooked throughout. (It shouldn't take too long because the chicken should be thin).

3. Meanwhile cook the pasta according to package directions and drain. In a medium sized skillet add the heavy whipping cream, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Whisk together and cook over medium high heat until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and add the pasta to coat in the sauce.

Serve the chicken with the pasta and garnish with chopped fresh parsley if desired.

Greek-Style Baked Cod with Lemon and Garlic

Ingredients

• 1.5 lb Cod fillet pieces (4–6 pieces)
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

Lemon Juice Mixture 

• 5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp melted butter

For Coating

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground coriander 
• 3/4 tsp sweet Spanish paprika
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Mix lemon juice, olive oil, and melted butter in a shallow bowl. Set aside
3. In another shallow bowl, mix all-purpose flour, spices, salt and pepper. Set next to the lemon juice mixture.
4. Pat fish fillet dry. Dip fish in the lemon juice mixture then dip in the flour mixture. Shake off excess flour.
5. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat (watch the oil to be sure it is sizzling but not smoking). Add fish and sear on each side to give it some color, but do not fully cook (about a couple minutes on each side) Remove pan from heat.
6. To the remaining lemon juice mixture, add the minced garlic and mix. Drizzle all over the fish fillets.
7. Bake in the heated oven for until it begins to flake easily with a fork (10 minutes should do it, but begin checking earlier). Remove from heat and sprinkle chopped parsley.

Serving suggestions: Serve immediately with rice-a-roni and Mediterranean chickpea salad or traditional Greek salad.

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Original recipe: The Mediterranean Dish

Posted by Jasmine

Quinoa and Pepper Pilaf

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
• 1 medium yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• 2 cups Vegetable Broth
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• salt and pepper
• (make it a meal by adding lightly seasoned chicken breast chunks)

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and garlic and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
2. Add the peppers and quinoa and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in the broth and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the quinoa is tender and the liquid is absorbed. 
4. Stir in the parsley. Season, with salt and pepper.

*I made this for a friend who was recovering from surgery bc the internet said "whole grains, colorful veggies, protein," and this has all of that

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Original recipe: All Recipes

Posted by Jasmine