Recipes for Cook

I know. Everyone has a chocolate chip cookie recipe they love, but in case you dont, I am posting this.  And since it is my go-to recipe, I figured it needed to be on this blog!  When I was in high school, I had a friend named Jeff who always brought snacks to our AP English class.  Usually they were almonds or dried mangoes, but occasionally they were these cookies.  He was a good friend and always shared. :)  His mom made these often and shared the recipe with our family.  Weve been making them ever since!  The trick is to not over-mix the dough and to take them out before you may think theyre done.  The result - an extremely soft fluffy cookie that is incredible fresh out of the oven but that stays soft for the next day too...if you havent eaten them all by then....


Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. white sugar
1 T. vanilla
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
3 c. flour
chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl or mixer, mix butter, sugars, vanilla, baking soda, salt and eggs together until combined.  Add flour and chocolate chips until just combined! (Dont over mix).  Scoop onto cookie sheets and bake for 9-10 minutes until bottoms are just beginning to brown.  Take out before they look completely done.  Remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack.

(Fresh out of the oven, puffy and barely browning on the edges, and then after theyve cooled)

A to-die-for game day chili  to serve to family and friends... [Recipe profiled on Alaska Outdoors TV on October 28, 2012 @ http://www.alaskaoutdoorstelevision.com/ cooking/]

Servings: (4)
Prep: 5 mins. |
Cook 1 hr.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. extra-lean venison burger (or moose, beef, buffalo, caribou, elk...)
½ red onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
½ large red bell pepper, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon chopped jalapeno pepper
¼ cup ketchup (Max swears by Heinz)
½ bottle beer, (Max uses Alaskan Amber) - Oh, and he just drinks the other half!
1 (14.5 oz. can) stewed tomatoes, undrained - broken up and/or smashed
1 (14.5 oz. can) chili beans, undrained (Max uses S&W)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Kosher salt and ground pepper, to taste

Garnish:
--Shredded cheddar cheese
--Dollops of sour cream
--Freshly chopped parsley

--*Prepared Sandras Premium Cornbread...

Sandras Premium Cornbread Recipe

METHOD

In a large heavy-bottom skillet over medium-high heat, brown the burger. Add the onion, garlic, bell pepper, celery, and saute just until onions are translucent. Add the chili powder, jalapeno, ketchup, beer, and stewed tomatoes and bring to boil, and then reduce and let simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. [This is when he drinks the other half of beer.]

Add chili beans, parsley, and then continue simmering, covered with lid slightly ajar, for an additional 40 minutes.  Check seasonings, adding kosher salt and ground pepper, to taste.

(*Begin preparing cornbread 20 minutes before chili is due to be done, as it takes about 15 minutes to bake ;-)

Serve chili topped with shredded cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and freshly chopped parsley, with cornbread and butter along side ~ Don’t forget to grab a fresh beer. ~ Enjoy!

Here is a meeting of the old and the new. Our potatoes are starting to get distinctly sprouty - quite a number have hit the compost pile in fact - and most of you will find spinach just starting to be available, although ours is rapidly running to seed and needs to be eaten up. We have leeks in our garden still too, although you are much more likely to find onions at the store than leeks. Still, there may be a few at farmers markets. 

The potatoes were the Pink Fir Apple which have really stored extremely well - the best storage potato we have grown yet, closely followed by the good old Russet Burbank. When I say 4 servings, I assume you will serve this with some naan or paratha, or rice at least, and maybe some other protein dish. As ever, I didnt do that and the two of us ate all of it.

This is a versatile recipe. Other greens are quite possible, such as chard or kale, and using yogurt versus tomato yields fairly different results.

4 servings
1 hour prep time


Prepare the Spices:
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon green cardamom pods
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/16 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat a dry skillet and toast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns and cardamom until fragrant but barely browned. Remove them at once to a plate to cool, then grind them finely. Mix them with the remaining spices and set aside.

Make the Palak Alu:
300 grams spinach
500 grams potatoes
1 large leek or 2 medium onions
2 to 3 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh ginger
3 tablespoons mild vegetable oil
1/2 cup yogurt OR crushed tomatoes

Wash the spinach and pick it over. Rinse it well again, and set it aside to drain. Wash the potatoes, cut them into chunks and put them in a pot with water to cover. Bring them to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Drain well. They should be almost done and still quite firm, so drain them sooner if they are getting too soft.

Meanwhile, wash, trim, and chop the leek, and rinse it again and drain well, or peel and chop the onions. Peel and mince the garlic, and the ginger. Shred the spinach fairly finely.

When the potatoes are just about ready, put 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet to heat. Drain the potatoes well and add them to the oil. Cook until well browned, turning regularly. Add the leek or onion, and let cook, turning regularly, until softened and slightly browned. Add the ginger and garlic, and cook for a minute more. Add the spices and mix in well. If the spices seem too dry, add the remaining tablespoon of oil.

Once the spices are well amalgamated, start adding the spinach in handfuls, adding more as it wilts and makes room in the pan. Once it is all in and sufficiently cooked, mix in the yogurt or tomatoes, and let the mixture simmer gently until it seems ready - for me, just a few minutes. Stir regularly as needed.




Last year at this time I made Pasta with Spring Spinach Pesto.

Download Printable Recipe (You will go to MediaFire.)

Duck. It really beats me why venison has such a bad rap. As far as "gaminess" is concerned, wild duck packs the bigger punch (if not prepared correctly, of course). Rick usually throws it on the grill wrapped in bacon, and thats how I first had it. I was completely surprised by its texture and taste, having been used to domesticated duck widely found in Asian cuisine (i.e. Peking duck). For one, wild duck meat looks very dark. It almost has a blue-ish tinge. Two, unlike farmed-raised duck, the texture is not like chicken at all. Its more like red meat. And three, it CANNOT be overcooked. Fascinated, I searched online to learn more about this popular water fowl. 

The complaints I mostly found for cooking wild duck is that it can taste fishy and/or tough. The "fishy" taste varies from species to species, depending on the birds diet. This is especially true for fish-eating ducks. There are a few ways to tame this taste, but one popular way is to use fruit. The acidity helps to mellow the flavor. 

Wild duck should also be cooked only to medium-rare, and not recommended anywhere beyond that. Unlike farm-raised duck and even venison, wild duck is much less forgiving if pushed too far.

So weve been scratching our heads about a duck recipe, but did not want to do the usual wrapped-in-bacon bore. Its been a challenge for us, having run into the usual obstacles described above. But I think we have a winner here. The spices go great with the duck and the orange sauce adds a kind of balance. 

- 1 tsp. nutmeg
- 1 tbs. cornstarch
- 1 cup orange juice 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Assemble the seasonings. Chop the chives, like so. In a small bowl, mix together chives, poultry seasoning, parsley, garlic salt and cinnamon. 





3. Remove any silver skin and fat from the duck breasts.
4. Place a piece of aluminum foil big enough to envelope all four breasts on a cookie sheet. Lay the breasts on the foil. 
5. Rub the seasonings from step one into the breasts, bottom and top. Crack black pepper over the breasts, if you desire, at this time.


6. Dot pieces of butter on top of the breasts. Then place a bay leaf on each. 

7. Crimp up the sides of the aluminum foil, making a packet. Place in preheated oven for 45 minutes. 



8. Half an hour into baking, combine sugar, nutmeg, cornstarch and a little bit of the orange juice in a small sauce pan. Mix well. Then add the rest of the orange juice.

9. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Take off heat when the sauce is slightly thickened. Since theres corn starch in it, the sauce will thicken by itself. Dont try reducing it too much, or else youll end up with jello as it cools.
Like Food for Hunters on Facebook!

2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground sausage meat or 6 sweet sausage links removed from their casing
6-7 basil leaves (or 2 frozen cubes)
salt and pepper
garlic powder
Mrs. Dash Table Blend
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp sugar

Directions:

Break up sausage with you fingers and add to a preheated pot with 1 tablespoon oil.  Add ground beef.  Saute beef ans sausage until browned. Sprinkle with garlic powder, Mrs. Dash, salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Use a potato masher or wooden spoon to break up the meat so you dont have any large chunks. Drain oil from meat and set aside.

Saute onion and garlic in EVOO. Return meat to pot and add tomatoes. Swish water in the cans and add about ½ can of water or as needed so it’s not too thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add basil. Let cook for ½ hour, stirring occasionally so sauce does not burn. Taste again for seasoning. Add 1 tsp of sugar or a little more if needed. Allow sauce to cook for ½ hour more and taste again.

Serve over your favorite pasta.

Click here for a Printable Recipe of Sausage and Beef Ragu.

Here is something we ate a lot of in Turkey. Soup was almost always lentil, or tomato, or lentil with tomato, which this kind of is. You can add your pepper or tomato element as you see fit, using canned tomatoes or peppers if you have them. I used dried because I have a lot we saved from the garden last year. Everyones soup recipe varied a little, so you should feel free to tweak it to your liking as well.

One of the reasons we ate so much soup in Turkey was the Unfortunate Chicken Incident. We had left one town very early in the morning, skipping breakfast. When we were set up at a hotel in the next town, we went out and wandered around. When we saw a restaurant with chickens cooking on a rotisserie, we decided to have an early lunch. I ignored the little voice in the back of my head saying, "Who has cooked chickens by 11:30 in the morning? I hope they arent left from yesterday."

You guessed it. They almost certainly were, and had not been handled properly in any case.  After that we spent most of the next week on the çorba diet. The çorba diet, as you may suppose, consists of çorba; çorba for lunch; çorba for dinner, and yes, çorba for breakfast. You can nibble on a little of the bread that comes with it if you want, but you mostly wont want.

We noticed, in one bus terminal we had breakfast in, that we werent the only ones having it for breakfast. In fact everyone in that cafe ignored the sad little breakfast plates in the glass display case, and ordered soup and tea. Its a perfectly civilized way to start the morning, and we may start doing it regularly even though our tummies are now fine.

6 to 8 servings
1 hour prep time, better served next day



1 large onion
1 large carrot
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup red lentils
1/3 cup dried tomatoes
2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
OR 1/3 cup dried sweet red peppers
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 cups water
1/4 cup fresh mint
OR 1 tablespoon dried mint

lemon wedges to serve

Peel and chop the onion and carrot. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook them gently in it until they are soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. If you are using the paprika, add it about halfway through this process.

Meanwhile, put the lentils, dried tomatoes, dried peppers if using, dried mint if using, cumin and salt in a large soup pot. Add the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes, until the lentils are very soft. Add more water if the level drops noticeably.

When the onions and carrots are ready, add them to the soup as it cooks.

Let the soup cool, and purée it in a food processor or blender with the fresh mint, if using. It will take 2 patches, Im sure. To serve, reheat the soup and pass a wedge of lemon with each bowl to be squeezed in. As ever with legume-based soups, it gets better after sitting in the fridge for at least a day.




Last year at this time I made Vietnamese Beef and Carrot Stew (Bo Kho) and Smoked Salmon or Trout Loaf.

Mediterranean Fish with Herbed Potato Gratin

Ingredients
4 Tilapia Fillets
2 medium courgettes
4 tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper
4 large basil leaves

For the potato
800g new potatoes
100g Gruyere cheese, grated
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp mixed chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, marjoram)

1. Quarter the potatoes and boil until just soft.
2. Mix one tbsp of olive oil, cheese, the herbs and seasoning into the potatoes.
3. Put the second tbsp of olive oil in the bottom of an ovenproof dish and put in the oven at 200C.
4. Press the potato mixture into the base of the dish and bake for 30 minutes.

For the fish
1. Oil four pieces of foil.
2. Place the fish fillet on the foil.
3. Slice the courgettes and divide between the four parcels,
4. Slice the tomatoes and divide between the parcels.
5. Tear the basil leaves and add to the parcels.
6. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
7. Fold up the foil into a tight parcel and place on a baking tray.
8. Bake in the oven for 15-20mins at 200C.

To Serve
1. After 30 mintues, remove the potato dish, loosen around the edges and turn onto an ovenproof plate, put it back into the oven for 5 minutes to brown. 
2. Remove the plated potato gratin and divide it into four slices.
3. Place the potato slice onto the plate.
4. Open the fish parcel and, using  a fish slice, lift the fish and vegetables and place on top of the potato gratin.

This is a really easy dish to make, it is light and fresh just like the Sharps Single Brew Reserve which I served with the dish.

Valentines gifts tend to focus on chocolate treats so its nice to have something a little different for Valentines Day.  This bacon and heart-shaped egg salad fills you up and also provides the freshness and crunch that I feel is so important to enjoy in the winter months and would be the prefect for a Valentines day brunch or lunch.

I was sent this little gadget, called an Eggspress, from Just Mustard which moulds hard-boiled eggs into heart shapes, so when you cut them in half you have a pretty little heart.  Just Mustard is a gift company with lots of fun novelty gifts.

The back of the packet tells you how to create your heart shaped eggs and are easy to follow.

Although it is easy to make, mine didnt turn out quite so perfect as the ones in the illustration.  The yolk does not always sit right in the middle.  The heart shape does form, but its not very pronounced and I think you need to use them fairly quickly as I found that the egg started to lose the point at the bottom after about half an hour.

Bacon and Egg Salad (serves 2)

8 slices of smoked streaky bacon
4 medium eggs, hard boiled and cooled
1/2 bag of mixed lettuce leaves
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 apple, cored and chopped
4 cherry tomatoes, halved
juice of half a lime
2 tbsp olive oil
salt & freshly ground pepper
1 tsp honey

1. Grill the bacon until crisp, drain on kitchen paper and cool
2. Press the eggs as per instructions and cut in half.  If you dont have an Eggspress then simply cut the eggs in half.
3. Place the celery, apple and 4 slices of crispy bacon (crumbled) into a bowl.
4. Make the dressing with juice of half a lime, oil, seasoning and honey, whisk or shake in a jar then pour over the celery, apple and bacon mixture
5. Spread the salad leaves on the plates,  divide the celery, apple and bacon mixture between them.
6. Top each plate with two bacon rashers crossed.  Place 4 egg halves evenly around the plate and place the tomato halves between them and serve with crusty bread.

It was fun to serve the heart shaped eggs with this salad and if you would like to try it yourself, I have two Eggspress egg moulds to giveaway.  UK residents only please.  Just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter Widget.  a Rafflecopter giveaway