Multi-Grain Pasta with Butternut Squash, Ground Lamb, and Kasseri

Yield: Makes 4 servings

Active time: 30 minutes

Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients :

• 4 8-ounce packages fresh peeled cubed butternut squash (5 to 6 cups)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 8 ounces ground lamb
• 2 1/2 cups chopped onions
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes with added puree (from 28-ounce can)
• 2 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 8 ounces multi-grain penne pasta (such as barilla)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
• 1/2 cup grated kasseri cheese, divided
• Ingredient info: Look for kasseri, a firm white cheese made from sheep’s milk, at supermarkets and greek markets.

Preparation :  

Preheat oven to 450°. Toss squash with 11/2 tablespoons oil in large bowl. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Transfer squash to large rimmed baking sheet. Roast until tender and brown around edges, using metal spatula to turn occasionally, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add lamb and onions; sauté until lamb browns and onions soften, 7 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and next 3 ingredients; stir 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, then broth and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Reduce heat; simmer until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Stir in squash. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot. Add lamb mixture, half of cilantro, and half of cheese; toss. Add reserved cooking liquid by 1/3 cupfuls to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer pasta to bowl. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro and cheese.

Chicken with Roasted Lemon and Rosemary Sauce

Calories 448; Total Fat 17g; Carbohydrates 41g

In an unusual twist on a classic, fresh lemons, brushed with olive oil and roasted, and reduced chicken stock create a richly flavored sauce for roasted chicken and potatoes. Bonus for fans of the Zone diet: By itself, this recipe is about one third each carbohydrate, fat, and protein—add some extra carbohydrates in the form of steamed broccoli, and you'll have the perfect meal (40 percent carbs, and 30 percent each of protein and fat).

Nutritional Information

Amounts per serving plus the % Daily Value (DV) based on a 2,000 calorie diet:

    * 448 Calories (22%)
    * 17g Total fat (26%)
    * 3g Saturated Fat (13%)
    * 72mg Cholesterol (24%)
    * 653mg Sodium (27%)
    * 41g Carbohydrate (14%)
    * 4g Fiber (14%)
    * 34g Protein (68%)




Ingredients :

• 1-1/2 pounds small new potatoes such as Red Bliss
• 2 large lemons
• Extra-virgin olive oil for brushing on lemons, plus 1/4 cup Gray salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 boneless chicken breast halves, skin on
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 cup double-strength chicken stock, or 2 cups canned low-salt chicken broth boiled until reduced by half
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (optional)

Preparation : 

Put the potatoes in a pot of salted cold water and bring to a boil. Cook until just tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and let cool, but do not peel. Cut in half and set aside.

Preheat the broiler. Cut a small slice off both ends of each lemon, then cut in half crosswise. Arrange the lemons, flesh side up, in a flameproof non-reactive baking dish, brush with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Broil 6 inches or more from the heat until browned and soft, about 10 minutes. Let cool. Squeeze the lemon halves over a sieve suspended over a bowl. Push and stir the pulp through the sieve with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Discard the lemon shells.

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil in a large ovenproof saut
 pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the chicken, lower the heat to medium, and cook, turning once, until brown on both sides, about 5 minutes. Remove to a platter. 

Return the pan to medium-high heat, add the potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring and tossing, until brown all over, about 5 minutes. Drain off the excess oil. Arrange the chicken breasts on top of the potatoes and place in the oven to reheat and cook through, about 10 minutes. When done,remove the chicken to a platter and put the pan with the potatoes over medium-high heat. Toss well so the pan juices are absorbed into the potatoes. Scrape the potatoes out of the pan onto the platter around the chicken. 

Return the pan to medium-high heat and add the garlic. Sauté briefly until light brown. Immediately add the reserved roasted lemon juice (this final flash of heat will cook off any residual acid flavor), stock, rosemary, and parsley. Stir and scrape up all the browned bits that cling to the bottom and sides of the pan. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If the sauce tastes too lemony, stir in the optional butter. Pour the sauce over the chicken and potatoes and serve immediately.

Crab Cakes

All winter long it's Dungeness crab season here in the Pacific Northwest. Dungeness crabs tend to weigh in between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 pounds, and have perfect meat for making crab cakes. These crab cakes are a step-up riff off a recipe I found years ago in Ruth Reichl's Comfort Me with Apples. The difficult thing with crab cakes is that they don't hold together that well when forming them, and they can easily fall apart when frying them. The trick is to handle them delicately to begin with, and then chill them on a breadcrumb-lined pan for at least an hour before cooking them. Just that time in the fridge will go a long way in helping them stay together as they cook. There isn't a lot of binder in this recipe, so it needs the chilling time.

Crab Cakes Recipe : We started with two 2 lb Dungeness crabs, which were then cleaned and cracked, resulting in about 1 1/4 pounds of lump crab meat.

Ingredients

    * 1 lb lump crabmeat, picked through and any bits of shell removed (try not to break up the lumps of crabmeat as you pick through it)
    * 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter (divided, 1 Tbsp and 3 Tbsp)
    * 1/2 cup chopped shallots
    * 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    * 2 large eggs
    * 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
    * 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika
    * 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    * 2 Tbsp prepared tartar sauce
    * 1 teaspoon lemon zest
    * 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
    * 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
    * About 4 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn into small pieces, yielding 2 cups
    * 2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs

 Method :

1 Heat one tablespoon of butter in a small skillet over medium high heat. Add the shallots and a half teaspoon of salt. Cook until the shallots are translucent, a couple minutes. Do not brown. Let the shallots cool.

2 Whisk together the eggs, Worcestershire sauce, remaining half teaspoon of salt, paprika, freshly ground black pepper, tartar sauce, lemon zest, Tabasco, parsley, and the cooked shallots. Gently fold in the crabmeat and torn bread, taking care again to not break up the lumps of crab meat. The mixture will be very wet. Using your (clean) hands, take a scoop of the crab mixture and gently form it into a patty form about 2 1/4 inches across and 3/4 inches thick. Continue until you've made 12 crab cake patties. Line a rimmed tray with a piece of wax paper just large enough to hold the cakes and sprinkle the bottom of the tray with half of the bread crumbs. Set the crab cakes in one layer on the top of the layer of bread crumbs and sprinkle them with the remaining bread crumbs. Cover the crab cakes loosely with another sheet of wax paper and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour. 

3 Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in a large non-stick skillet on medium high heat. The butter will melt and foam up. When the foam subsides, working in batches, place the crab cakes in the pan (do not crowd the pan), and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side.

Makes 12 crab cakes.

Braised Leeks

Leeks are an aristocrat of a vegetable. They require much of the year to grow, lots of space and tender care: You need to hill up soil around them on a regular basis to get that shank—the part you eat—long and white enough to be worth it. So when you find well-grown leeks, treat them regally. This braise preserves the integrity of the leeks; at the table, you cut them with a knife and fork to eat, almost like a main course.

Braised Leeks Recipe : Try to buy leeks with as long and as white a shank as possible. If you can only find ones with short shanks that are mostly green, don't buy them -- choose another recipe instead.

Ingredients

    * 4-6 leeks
    * 1 garlic clove, minced
    * 3-4 Tbsp unsalted butter
    * Salt
    * 2 teaspoons fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
    * 1 teaspoon sugar
    * 1 bay leaf
    * 1 cup white wine or vegetable stock
    * 1/4 cup parsley, chopped

Method :

1 Cut off the ends of the leeks until you get to the shank; a little of the light green part is fine, but not too much of it. If you want, you can save the unused portion of the leeks in the freezer for making stock later. Slice through the shank of the leek lengthwise until you get to the root end—do not cut through the root just yet. Clean the leeks under cold running water, as leeks are usually dirty. Once the leeks are free of any dirt or grit, cut through the root to make two long pieces of leek.

2 Get a sauté pan large enough to hold the leeks in one layer and heat the butter in it over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted and begins to foam, turn the heat down to medium and add the minced garlic and then the leeks, cut side down. Cook for 1-2 minutes, just to get them a little browned and to let the butter get into the leeks. Turn over and sprinkle with salt, then cook the other side for 1-2 minutes.

3 Turn the leeks back over so the cut side is down, sprinkle the leeks with the sugar, the thyme leaves and a touch more salt. Add the white wine with the bay leaf and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook 35-45 minutes over medium-low heat.

4 When the leeks are tender enough so that a knife blade pierces them easily, uncover the pot and bring the braising liquid to a rolling boil. Let this reduce by half, then turn off the heat. Add the parsley, swirl it around and serve.

Serves 4 as a side dish

Beef Brisket Pot Roast

Beef brisket is a fabulous cut of meat. The brisket is located between the shoulders and the forelegs of the steer; these muscles get a work-out, and they are also well marbled with fat. So they are highly flavorful and perfect for slow braises. Long cooking time is needed to melt the connective tissue. Upon serving, the meat is cut against the grain, helping it become fall-apart tender.

This recipe is fairly classic, a slow braise with lots and lots of onions. You can do so many things with brisket. One of my favorite beef brisket recipes is just simply slathering it with a BBQ sauce mixture and cooking it forever in the oven. There are versions with ketchup, onion soup, or even cocktail sauce with horseradish. With our recipe, please feel free to mix it up a bit. You could easily use other root vegetables such as parsnips, turnips, or rutabagas. You could use wine or beer instead of the beef stock. Think of this recipe as a starting point for experimentation, or just a good, basic pot roast brisket. 

Ingredients

• 4-5 pound beef brisket
• Salt
• 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 large onions, sliced
• 5-6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 3-4 bay leaves
• 2 cups of beef stock
• 2-3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 Tbsp mustard (optional) 

Method :

1 Prepare the brisket for cooking. On one side of the brisket there should be a layer of fat, which you want. If there are any large chunks of fat, cut them off and discard them. Large pieces of fat will not be able to render out completely. Using a sharp knife, score the fat in parallel lines, about 3/4-inch apart. Slice through the fat, not the beef. Repeat in the opposite direction to make a cross-hatch pattern. Salt the brisket well and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2 You'll need an oven-proof, thick-bottomed pot with a cover, or Dutch oven, that is just wide enough to hold the brisket roast with a little room for the onions. Pat the brisket dry and place it, fatty side down, into the pot and place it on medium high heat. Cook for 5-8 minutes, lightly sizzling, until the fat side is nicely browned. (If the roast seems to be cooking too fast, turn the heat down to medium. You want a steady sizzle, not a raging sear.) Turn the brisket over and cook for a few minutes more to brown the other side.

 3 When the brisket has browned, remove it from the pot and set aside. There should be a couple tablespoons of fat rendered in the pot, if not, add some olive oil. Add the chopped onions and increase the heat to high. Sprinkle a little salt on the onions. Sauté, stirring often, until the onions are lightly browned, 5-8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1-2 more minutes.

4 Preheat the oven to 300°F. Use kitchen twine to tie together the bay leaves, rosemary and thyme. Move the onions and garlic to the sides of the pot and nestle the brisket inside. Add the beef stock and the tied-up herbs. Bring the stock to a boil. Cover the pot, place the pot in the 300°F oven and cook for 3 hours. Carefully flip the brisket every hour so it cooks evenly.

5 After 3 hours, add the carrots. Cover the pot and cook for 1 hour more, or until the carrots are cooked through and the brisket is falling-apart tender.

6 When the brisket is falling-apart tender, take the pot out of the oven and remove the brisket to a cutting board. Cover it with foil. Pull out and discard the herbs.

7 At this point you have two options. You can serve as is, or you can make a sauce with the drippings and some of the onions. If you serve as is, skip this step. To make a sauce, remove the carrots and half of the onions, set aside and cover them with foil. Pour the ingredients that are remaining into the pot into a blender, and purée until smooth. If you want, add 1 tablespoon of mustard to the mix. Put into a small pot and keep warm.

8 Serve the brisket, sliced in 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch slices, against the grain of the meat, with the onions, carrots and gravy. Serve with mashed, roasted or boiled potatoes, egg noodles or polenta.