Polenta Pizza

Polenta Pizza

¼ Cup olive oil
½ Cup whole milk
2 ½ Cup water
1 Cup coarse cornmeal (I use instant polenta, follow package directions)
salt/pepper
1 small onion, chopped
½ Cup pancetta, chopped
1 pound baby spinach
1 – 1 ½ C. crumbled gorgonzola

Brush a little oil on a cookie sheet or a 13" x 9" pyrex dish.

In a sauce pan on med. high heat, heat milk, water and salt. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Whisk in the cornmeal, simmer on low for 10 – 15 minutes until the consistency of thick oatmeal.

Spoon polenta onto a pan to ½" thickness, cover and chill for 1 hour or more.

Heat oven to 450°F. Put polenta in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes. Bake to crisp edges and barely brown.

Put 2 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and pancetta, cook to soft and starting to brown. Stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Remove to a bowl. Add spinach to the skillet and sauté until soft and wilted.

Take polenta from the oven and cover with gorgonzola, onion/pancetta, and spinach. Melt the cheese in the oven and serve hot or at room temperature.

For Sachiko's book, to be in the mail shortly.

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

1 1-pound loaf of broiche, egg bread, or french bread with crust, cut into 1 inch cubes
10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 Cup chocolate chips
2 1/2 Cups half & half cream
1 Cup sugar
6 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp. Vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar

Butter a 13" x 9" x 2" glass baking dish. Place the bread cubes in a large bowl. Pour 8 Tbsp. melted butter over the bread and toss to coat. Add chocolate chips and toss to combine. Transfer to baking dish.

Whisk the cream, 1 C. sugar, eggs, yolks, vanilla and salt to blend. Pour over the bread in the dish. Let stand for 30 minutes, occasionally pressing cubes into custard. Drizzle remaining melted butter over the pudding and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 350°F for about 1 hour, until puffed, brown and set in the center. Serve warm.

Makes 12 - 14 servings.


For Lynne - Morissa's Eggless Tofu Salad Sandwich



This and Sachiko's book will be off together to Sachiko shortly.

Jade Soup

Jade Soup

2 bunches of scallions with 3 inches of green left on
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 10 oz. packages of frozen green peas, thawed
6 Cups chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 C. fresh mint leaves
1 Tablespoon chopped chives as a garnish


1. Coarsely slice scallions and combine with onion, peas and brother in a heavy pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer, partially covered, until the vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Cool to room temperature.

2. Puree the pea mixture in small batches in a blender until smooth, adding mint to the last batch. Pass soup through a strainer to remove the pea skins.

3. Serve warm or chilled. Garnish with chopped chives.

This recipe is really good cold on a hot summer day with a fresh tomato salad. For Donna's Moly.

Pumpkin Butter

For Cavidanny's moly, my addition is Pumpkin Butter. I love pumpkin pie and all the yummy spices that goes in it. This is a version you can spread on your toast. Yum!

Pumpkin Butter

16 oz. solid pack pumpkin (I use from a can but you can roast a small sugar pie pumpkin too)
2/3 C. brown sugar
1/4 C. honey
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cloves

In a medium saucepan, combine the pumpkin, brown sugar, honey, lemon juice, cinnamon and cloves. Bring to a biol over medium high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until thickened. Stirring occasionally.

Ladle into clean jars or freezer containers. Cover with lids. Store in refrigerator for several weeks or freezer for several months.

SUSHI for Sachiko's book

This is my 3rd entry for our food moly exchange. A girl day dreaming of eating sushi. (chopsticks not included). ;-)

here's a version from the food network channel

Sushi Rice

4 1/2 cups water

3 cups Japanese rice, (Nishiki)

1 cup sugar

salt, to taste

1 cup to 2 cups Japanese rice wine vinegar

Preparing Sushi

10 sushi nori sheets

wasabi, to taste, plus more for serving

soy, sauce, to taste, plus more for serving

pickled ginger for garnish

Optional Ingredients

cucumber, peeled, cut into small pieces

avocado, cut into small pieces

imitation crab meat

carrot, peeled, julienne cut

shiitake mushroom, cut into small pieces

smoked salmon

fresh tuna, sushi-grade, cut into small pieces

green onion, julienne cut

tuna salad

cooked shrimp, cut into small pieces

mayonnaise

chili sauce

sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:

Sushi Rice

Stir the water, rice, sugar and salt together in a rice cooker (or cook in a pot) until salt and sugar are dissolved.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer rice for about 20 minutes or until done.

Transfer the rice to a large bowl, preferably with a flat bottom.

Fluff the rice with a wet wooden spoon to loosen grains without crushing them.

Pour 1 cup of the vinegar over the rice.

Stir and fluff rice, incorporating the vinegar as evenly as possible.

Ask someone to stand by the rice bowl and fan the rice with a magazine while you are mixing, or use an electric fan.

Add more vinegar as necessary to coat the rice.

Cool to room temperature.

Preparing Sushi

Lay a piece of nori on a sushi mat. Press a thin layer of rice evenly on top of the nori.

Spread a dab of wasabi over the rice.

Sprinkle with some soy sauce.

Lay a few pieces of 1 or several of the optional ingredients in a horizontal straight thin line across the rice, about 1 inch from the horizontal edge closest to you.

Using the mat to make a tight roll, roll the edge closest to you over the optional filling as tightly as possible.

Continue rolling away from you until a roll has formed.

Remove the sushi roll from the sushi mat and slice it cross-wise into 1 1/2-inch pieces.

Serve it with soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger.

Clam Chowder

This is my entry in Lynne's book. It's been snowing these couple of days so maybe something warm in the belly (plus bread) can chase the winter blues away.

ingredients:

5 slices bacon - chopped

1 small onion - chopped

2 tbsp celery - chopped

1 can baby clams

1 medium size potato - diced

1 cup cream

1 cup milk

bay leaf

1/4 cup parsley - chopped

Fry bacon until golden brown then chop and set aside, 

saute onions and celery in some of the bacon oil 

add cream, milk, clam juice and bay leaf

add potatoes and simmer until potatoes are tender

add clams, parsley and bacon. salt and pepper to taste.

Guinness Gingerbread

My entry for the Food Moly, Guinness Gingerbread. I know it sounds weird, but it's really moist and yummy. I just have to add my sign-in page and then I'm all set to mail it off to whomever wants it next.

Ingredients

1 Cup Guinness Stout
1 Cup molasses
1/2 Tbl. baking soda
3 large eggs
1/2 Cup white sugar
1/2 Cup brown sugar
3/4 Cup vegetable oil
2 Cups all purpose flour
2 Tbl. ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cardamom
1 Tbl. peeled, grated fresh ginger

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350°F.

- In a large saucepan, over high heat, bring the stout and molasses to a boil. Turn off the heat and add baking soda. It will foam a lot. Allow to sit until the foam dissipates.

- Whisk eggs and both sugars together, add oil and whisk to blend.

- In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients - flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom.

- Combine the stout mixture with the egg mixture until blended. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry, a half at a time. Add the fresh ginger.

- Pour into a 9" x 5" loaf pan or a 6 cup bundt pan (nonstick or buttered and floured). Bake for 1 hour or until the top springs back when gently pressed. Don't open the oven while baking or the center may fall. Cool on a wire rack. Turn out onto a plate and dust with powdered sugar or serve with whipped cream.