Linguine With Caramelized Lemon And Pepper Flakes

Linguine With Caramelized 

Lemon And Pepper Flakes

You probably already have a favorite pantry pasta dish that you habitually whip up when there’s nothing in the house for dinner. Next time, try this one instead. It has all the usual players – olive oil, Parmesan, flaky sea salt — along with fried lemons for brightness and chile flakes for heat. Don’t skip the step of blanching the lemon slices before frying. It may seem fussy, but it eliminates any bitterness in the lemon pith and takes only a few extra minutes. Then dry the lemon slices well before adding them to the hot oil; this helps them brown more deeply.

Featured in: Weeknight Dinner Success Starts With Lemon, Olive Oil And Salt. 

Lemon, Linguine, Parmigiano Reggiano

1633 ratings

Ingredients:

4 lemons
1 pound linguine or spaghetti
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
1 teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed
Pinch of sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ teaspoon chile flakes, more to taste
⅔ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, more to taste
Black pepper, as needed
½ cup celery leaves, coarsely chopped (optional)
⅓ cup parsley, coarsely chopped (optional) 

Flaky sea salt, for garnish

Preparation:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Finely zest 2 of the lemons and set aside. Trim the tops and bottoms off the other 2 lemons and cut lengthwise into quarters; remove seeds. Thinly slice the quarters crosswise into triangles. Blanch the lemon pieces in the boiling water for 2 minutes, then transfer with a slotted spoon to a dish towel. Blot dry. 

In the boiling water, add pasta and cook until just barely al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. 

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over high heat. Add the dried lemon pieces and season with a pinch each of salt and sugar. Cook until the lemons are caramelized and browned at the edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. 

Melt the butter with the remaining oil in the pan over medium heat. Add the chile flakes and zest of both lemons; cook until fragrant. Whisk in the reserved pasta water. 

Toss in pasta, juice of 1 lemon, cheese, pepper and the remaining salt. Cook until pasta is well coated with sauce. Toss in the caramelized lemon and the celery leaves and parsley if using. Taste and add lemon juice if needed. Serve, topped with a drizzle of oil, more cheese if you like, and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Chicken Marbella

Craig Lee for The New York Times

Chicken Marbella

If there’s such a thing as boomer cuisine, it can be found in the pages of “The Silver Palate Cookbook” by Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso. With its chirpy tone and “Moosewood”-in-the-city illustrations, the book, published in time for Mother’s Day in 1982, gave millions of home cooks who hadn’t mastered the art of French cooking the courage to try sophisticated dishes like escabeche, wild mushroom soup and that new thing called pesto. This recipe, also in the book, came to The Times in a 2007 article celebrating the 25th anniversary edition. The briny-sweet combination once seemed as risky (capers! prunes!) as the East Village, but now it's considered as classic as Grand Central.

Featured in: The Way We Eat; Book Of Revelations. 

Chicken, Garlic, Olive Oil

171 ratings

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup olive oil
• ½ cup red wine vinegar
• 1 cup pitted prunes
• ½ cup pitted Spanish green olives
• ½ cup capers, with a bit of juice
• 6 bay leaves
• 1 head of garlic, peeled and puréed
• ½ cup fresh oregano, chopped, or 1/4 cup dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 chickens, 3 1/2 to 4 pounds each, quartered
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

PREPARATION

1. In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers and juice, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces and turn to coat. Refrigerate overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a shallow roasting pan; spoon the marinade over it evenly. Pour in the wine and sprinkle the chicken with the brown sugar.
3. Bake until the thigh pieces yield clear yellow juice when pricked with a fork, 50 to 60 minutes, basting two or three times with the pan juices once the chicken begins to brown. (When basting, do not brush off the sugar. If the chicken browns too quickly, cover lightly with foil.)
4. Transfer the chicken pieces to a warm serving platter and top with the prunes, olives and capers; keep warm. Place the roasting pan over medium heat and bring the pan juices to a boil. Reduce to about 1/2 cup. Strain into a heatproof bowl, add the parsley and pour over the chicken.

Taco Slaw

Ingredients:

1 - 14 oz pkg Cole slaw
1 - 16 oz bottle of Western Dressing
2 big handfuls of Shredded Cheese

Mix all together and add 1/2 a regular bag (10 oz.) of crushed Doritos right before serving.

Asparagus And Fettuccine

Craig Lee for The New York Times

Finding a 30-minute dish that's elegant enough for a dinner party is no simple task, but this warm-weather pasta is one to fit the bill. It is gleefully easy to put together. Just toss slices of blanched asparagus with a tangle of cooked fettuccine slicked with butter. Shower with grated Parmesan and serve.

Featured in: 60 Minute Gourmet. 

LEARN: How to Cook Asparagus

Asparagus, Fettuccine, Italian

116 ratings

INGREDIENTS

• 6 fresh asparagus spears, about 1/2 pound
• 10 ounces fresh fettuccine or 3/4 pound dried fettuccine
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil or parsley
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
•  Freshly ground pepper and salt to taste

• 
  

  Nutritional Information

PREPARATION

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
2. Cut off tough ends of asparagus spears. Cut each on the bias into 1-inch lengths. There should be about 1 1/2 cups. Rinse well and drain.
3. Add the asparagus to the boiling water and cook about 2 minutes. Remove asparagus with a slotted spoon and set aside.
4. Drop the fettuccine into salted boiling water. Let cook to desired degree of doneness (cooking time will range from about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes for fresh pasta to 9 minutes or more for dried). Reserve 2 tablespoons cooking water. Drain the pasta.
5. Heat the butter in the pot in which the pasta was cooked. Add the asparagus pieces and the fettuccine. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add the reserved 2 tablespoons of cooking water and basil. Toss to blend. Serve hot with Parmesan cheese on the side.

Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions

Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions

Yield: 3-4 cups

Ingredients

4 pounds yellow onions, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pats
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
brown sugar, optional
balsamic vinegar, optional

Directions

Place chopped onions in slow cooker and arrange butter pats on top.

Cover slow cooker and cook on LOW for 8 hours, stirring once or twice in between.

After 8 hours, check onions and see how they look and if they’re tender. 

Optional: season with salt, pepper, brown sugar or balsamic vinaigrette.
Cover again, leaving lid just slightly ajar, and cook for another 2 hours, or until onions have reached desired tenderness and cooking juices have mostly evaporated.
Store in an air-tight container and serve hot or cold.

Homemade Blackberry Cobbler

Homemade Kentucky Blackberry Cobbler

2 1/2 C Fresh blackberries, washed
1 C Sugar
1 C Flour
2 t Baking powder
1/2 t Salt
1 C Milk
1 Stick of unsalted butter, melted

First you should take care of the blackberry and sugar mixture because it needs to sit for a while. Stir together just the berries and sugar in a large bowl and let it sit out for 25-30 minutes. This will coax out the juices of the blackberries so that they can be sweetened up by the sugar, and we can taste the full spectrum of the fruit–this process is called macerating.

After about 20 minutes, you should turn on the oven to about 375º and start preparing your batter.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and milk with a wooden spoon. Next, stir in the melted butter and hand-mix it until the ingredients are well incorporated and you have few clumps.

Pick out a clean baking dish– a smaller one will do– pour in the batter and smooth it out. You can choose to line it with parchment paper or not, but don’t grease the pan (there is enough butter in there already!). Finally, pour the macerated blackberries on top with all the sugar included and evenly distribute it over the batter.

Bake this promising pan of happiness in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how golden you prefer it to be. Let it set up for a good 15 minutes so it will hold its shape. It will be bubbling like crazy and quite hot, so be careful!

This hour goes a little like this: you can hear it bubbling through the vent behind the stove, you can smell the buttery dough caramelizing with the sugar, and you can see the dotted crown of blackberries creating that quintessential golden cobbler crust. It is a marvel to have in your oven, let me tell you!

Serve warm or room temperature with warmed cream or fresh whipped cream. You can store this at room temperature with foil over it for 2-3 days, probably longer in the fridge…but it never lasts that long for me!

Polish Sausage And Cabbage Soup, Kapusnyak

Polish Sausage and Cabbage Soup 

Crock Pot "Kapusnyak."

Ingredients:
2 cups potatoes, cubed and peeled
4 cups cabbage, shred it fine
1 carrot, shredded it fine...
1 large onion, chopped
2 teaspoons caraway seeds, crushed (optional)
1-1/4 lb Polish sausage, cooked, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch slices
4 cups fat free chicken broth or you can just use water
black pepper and salt to taste

*

Directions:

Place potatoes, cabbage, carrot, onion, caraway seeds, sausage, pepper and salt in crock pot. Pour broth over all.Cover, cook on low for 10 - 12 hours or high for 5 hours.

Easy Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
2 cups tomatoes, in addition to their juices (for example, a 28-ounce can of San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes)
5 tablespoons butter
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
Salt

Directions:
Combine the tomatoes, their juices, the butter and the onion halves in a saucepan. Add a pinch or two of salt.

Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, mashing any large pieces of tomato with a spoon. 

Add salt as needed.

Discard the onion before tossing the sauce with pasta. This recipe makes enough sauce for a pound of pasta.

Pluma Mousse

Pluma Mousse

1 1/2 cup dried prunes
1 cup raisins
1 cup dried apricots

Cook dried fruit in pot covered with water to 2 inches from top of pot.  Cook until prunes come free of the stone.

1 package red jello (sugarless)  add two pkgs if you need more color.

Mix 4 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with water and added to the liquid.  Continue to cook about 5 more minutes.  

Cut lemon into half and add to the mixture.  (don't juice or zest)  Set aside to cool.  Taste and if you need a little tartness, squeeze the lemon for some juice and taste as you add the juice for the desired tartness.

Limoncello Cream Pie

Limoncello Cream Pie

Ingredients:
1 quart vanilla ice cream, softened
1/3 cup lemon curd, divided
3 tablespoons limoncello
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 graham cracker crust (9 inches)
6 ounces white baking chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream, divided
1/4 cup marshmallow creme
Grated lemon peel, optional

*

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine ice cream, half of the lemon curd and all of the limoncello and lemon peel. Spoon into crust. Freeze, covered, several hours or overnight.

In a microwave, heat chocolate with 1/4 cup cream at 70% power until melted; stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, beat remaining cream until soft peaks form. Beat in marshmallow creme. Fold in remaining curd. With a spatula, fold half of the cream mixture into cooled chocolate mixture just until blended. Fold in remaining cream mixture; spread or pipe over top of pie. Freeze, covered, 1 hour.

Remove from freezer 10 minutes before serving. If desired, top with lemon peel. Yield: 8 servings.