nina in the kitchen

Preheat oven to 425. Into a 1 1/2 – 2 quart gratin or baking dish add the rhubarb, sugar, salt and zest. Then scrape in the vanilla paste or add extract. Stir well. Let macerate while making biscuit dough.

To make the biscuit dough, in a medium bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Toss in and coat butter cubes. Cut in butter with a pastry blender, 2 knives or pinch and mix with your fingers until pea size morsels develop. Add 1/2 cup heavy cream and mix just until blended with a rubber spatula or spoon.

Pour dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat gently into a ball. Divide into 6 pieces. Form each piece into a round disc. Place on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 30 minutes to 6 hours

Place rhubarb in oven. Roast about 25-30 minutes or until tender and a syrup develops. Stir halfway through.

Place the dough rounds over cobbler evenly spaced. Brush rounds with remaining 1 tablespoon heavy cream and sprinkle with Demerara sugar.

Lower temperature to 375 and bake 20-30 minutes or until biscuits are lightly browned.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Drizzle each serving with heavy cream just before eating.

Voila!

In a large pot combine all the ingredients. These are my go to seasonings, but you can choose your own.

Add cold water and fill pot to cover chicken and vegetables by 2 inches.

Place pot on medium high heat and stand at the stove.

With your instant read thermometer check the water temperature every 2 minutes. Don’t let it go above 180 degrees. It only takes a few minutes

When the water temperature is 180 degrees, remove the pot from the heat and cover it.

Check the internal temperature of the chicken every 1-3 minutes. If the pieces are various sizes you’ll have to check each piece.

The water cools down once it’s off the heat. If you’re getting impatient and the chicken isn’t quite done you can put it back on the heat again, but don’t let the water get above 180 degrees! Do this only a minute or two and watch closely!

When each piece of chicken reaches 160 degrees, remove it from the pot and place it in a colander to drain and cool. I use 160 degrees as my guide because food continues to cook after it’s removed from the heat source. So the 160 degree chicken will increase to 165 while it’s cooling.

Save the broth to make soup or risotto!

Heat the oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk in lemon rind. Stir in almonds. Set aside.

In a medium size bowl whisk together eggs, vanilla and lemon juice.

Using a rubber spatula, add liquid mixture to dry ingredients. It will be sticky. Add 3 tablespoons of flour or more and mix until it is dry enough to handle, using a spatula.

Sprinkle a flat surface with flour and pour dough onto it. Sprinkle the dough with flour. Knead it in quarter turns for 1 minute, adding flour to keep it from being too sticky. Also keep your hands floured to prevent sticking.

Using a bread knife or another knife, cut dough into 2 even pieces.

Adding more flour as necessary, roll each piece into a 12 inch log.

Place logs onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Flatten the ends and the top of the logs so they form a 2 inch wide flattened log shape.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Cool on a rack.

In about 1 hour or when they are cooled but not cold, slice the cookies 1/4 inch wide on a slight angle for longer cookies or perpendicular to the log if you want shorter cookies.

Place cookies on one side on 2 baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes. You don’t need parchment paper for the second baking.

Store in a cookie tin.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. When hot add the olive oil.

Add garlic and sauté and stir 30 seconds.

Add beans and 1/2 cup water; mix well.

Add spices and cherry tomatoes and cook throughly until hot, about 5-10 minutes.

Add Parmesan, Romano, parsley and lemon juice. Mix well.

Voila! That’s it! You’re done. Serves 4 as a main dish or 6-8 as a side

You can serve with warmed pita or crusty bread as you like

Heat oven to 450 degrees

Remove outer leaves from cauliflower and cut into large pieces. Trim stem so the cauliflower can stand upright. Slice thick slabs, about 5, and break off flowerettes. Pieces can be small or quite large and you can cut them into bites at the table.

Place all cauliflower bits and pieces on a large baking sheet. Toss with capers and olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread cauliflower evenly without overlapping to promote browning.

Turn cauliflower mixture over after 15 minutes and roast another 15 minutes. Color should be lightly or medium browned. Capers will be crisped.

Remove from oven and set aside. In a large bowl combine dressing ingredients: zest and juice of 1 lemon, mayonnaise, Parmesan, Dijon, garlic, anchovies, salt and pepper. I don’t add the anchovies.

Just before serving scrape all of the cauliflower into the salad dressing. Toss in as much parsley as you like. I added 2 cups which is twice as much as the original recipe.

Serve onto plates and add more Parmesan to each.

Serves 4 as a main course or 6 as side dishes.

In a wide heavy bottom sauce pan or casserole over medium high heat place 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Add the sausage and chop it with a large spoon or metal spatula into large chunks as you brown it. You want large size pieces about 1 inch or so in size.

When browned, remove meat from pan. Then add another 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pan. Reduce heat to low and add the onion and fennel. Stir and sauté until tender.

Add the garlic and sauté 30 seconds. Increase heat to medium and add wine and let bubble for 1 minute.

Add tomatoes, sugar and cooked sausage meat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer gently 20 minutes.

Add the basil and reserve some for the table. Taste for seasoning. Voila!

This sauce can be made the day before. The polenta can not because it thickens up too much as it cools and becomes too solid.

Immediately before you are ready to serve the Polenta on the Table, make the polenta. It thickens too much as it sits in the saucepan to be made ahead of time.

Bring stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Slowly add the polenta while whisking.

Reduce heat to a simmer. Whisk constantly while simmering 10 minutes or until thick, creamy and tender.

Add butter and Parmesan, whisking till blended in. Another option for the polenta is in the same saucepan melt 2 tablespoons butter and sauté a chopped onion and then when translucent add 2 cloves minced garlic for 30 seconds. Then add the stock and proceed.

Another option for the polenta is in the same saucepan melt 2 tablespoons butter and sauté a chopped onion and then when translucent add 2 cloves minced garlic for 30 seconds. Then add the stock and proceed.

You are now ready to serve!

If you are serving 8, make 2 mounds of polenta at the table. If you are serving 4, then make 1 mound.

Use a large spoon to make a bowl shape in the polenta with sides high enough to hold the sauce.

Pour 1/2 the Sausage Tomato Sauce into each polenta bowl.

Sprinkle some Parmesan over the sauce and toss basil over it all.

Voila! Time to eat! Everyone helps themselves. I like to use a flat metal spatula for serving.

Heat a medium saucepan over medium high heat.

Add onion and green pepper and sauté until wilted

Add garlic, cumin and oregano and simmer and stir over medium heat 1 -2 minutes.

Add black beans and tomatoes. Stir well and simmer 10 minutes

Ladle soup into serving bowls. Top with a scoop of rice. You can make a nice looking mound by packing the rice in a scoop or measuring cup. Top with vinegar and chopped eggs

In a saucepan or frypan combine tomatoes, onion, butter and salt

Bring to a simmer for 30-45 minutes, covered at least partially. Stirring occasionally. I try to keep it covered.

Break any tomato pieces with a spoon on the side of the pan.

Remove onion and add 1/2 to 1 pound cooked and drained pasta. It depends how saucy you like your pasta. I like mine saucy so I add only 1/2 pound or so of pasta.

Fill a large pot with water and add onion, celery sticks, 2 teaspoons salt, peppercorns and bay leaf. Bring to a boil.

Add chicken breasts. Try to make sure they’re all about the same size so they cook evenly.

Bring to a boil, cover and turn off the heat. If you have a gas stove turn the heat on as low as possible. An electric stove will maintain a low heat for some time.

Using an instant read digital thermometer check the temperature of the breasts every 5 minutes. When it reaches 155 remove from hot water and place in a colander to drain. The chicken will continue cooking as it cools. All the breast halves may not get to the 155 degrees at the same time.

When it’s cooled start shredding the chicken into a large bowl

In a medium bowl combine mayonnaise, yogurt, sour cream, dill, salt, pepper, and white balsamic vinegar. Taste the dressing and add seasonings if you think it’s needed.

Add chickpeas to the dressing and smash them against the side of the bowl with a fork. Smash as many as you like. They all don’t need to be smashed.

Add the dressing to the chicken and mix well. Then add the celery and mix again.

That’s it! Ready to serve or store in the frig. This keeps about 4 days.