Past Recipes
Every month I send out a newsletter with news about my musical endeavors and things going on in my life. For a time I was including recipes in those newsletters, just as a little bonus for subscribers. However, the formatting for the page I was using was complicated, and really, it
just wasn't working. So I have decided to restart this tradition here on my blog.
Those of you subscribing to my newsletter will be directed to a blog post featuring the monthly recipe(s), and those who follow my blog will be able to see it here as well. If you have been a longtime subscriber to the newsletter, you know that you had access to all the recipes I had posted. You will still have access to them, but they will be here instead.
To that end, I am posting all of the previously published recipes here, and starting January every new recipe will be its own blog post. Additionally, I will be using my blog a lot more, so it will be worth subscribing.
So, without any further rambling, here are the previously posted recipes! Happy cooking!
May 2022 - Asparagus Carbonara
Ingredients: -1 bunch asparagus, hard stems removed and cut into pieces. -1 tbsp. Olive Oil -2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan, or Romano cheese -4 egg yolks (no whites) -1 cup chicken or vegetable broth (homemade if possible) -1 tbsp fresh tarragon -1 Lb. Penne pasta. -Black pepper -Salt Instructions:
Heat oil in a small pan, and sauté asparagus until soft.
Bring pot of water to a boil. Add hard asparagus stems. Add penne and cook until al dente.
Meanwhile, add egg yolks, chicken broth and grated cheese to a bowl.
Before draining pasta set aside a cup of pasta water. Drain pasta and return pasta to the cooking pan. Quickly add egg yolk mixture and stir vigorously until the pasta is evenly coated. If it’s too thick, add pasta water to thin out. Add sautéed asparagus and tarragon. Add a generous amount of black pepper. Salt to taste. Serve!!!
This is a great variation on a traditional pasta dish. Rome has amazing pasta carbonara and it’s available everywhere in the city. This is a vegetarian version of the same thing (provided you use vegetable broth rather than chicken broth.) The trick is quickly adding the egg mixture which allows the hot pasta to cook the egg just right and coat the penne with a flavorful film of parmesan goodness. It does not keep well though, so don’t make too much.
January 2022 - German Fladel and Bratwurst Soup
For “Fladle” 6 ½ oz flour 2 eggs Pinch of salt ½ cup sparkling water 1 Tbs butter or olive oil For Soup 6 ½ oz Bratwurst, sausage, or other ground meat (use mushrooms for meatless option) 4 Tbs heavy cream 1 Tbs chopped parsley ½ Lemon ¼ tsp thyme 6 cups meat, chicken, or veggie broth (Optional) Salt and pepper to taste Prepare Fladle first-
Mix the flour, salt, sparkling water, and eggs until smooth and let the mixture sit for a half-hour. In a hot pan or skillet add butter or olive oil and ladle the mixture and cook like pancakes. Try to make them as thin as possible.
Roll the fladle as tightly as possible then slice into small spirals with a knife. Set aside.
For the Soup -
In a pan, cook the meat (or mushrooms) until done. Drain excess fat.
In a soup pot or Dutch oven, heat broth until simmering. Squeeze juice from lemon into broth. Add parsley and thyme. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add fladle spirals and meat (or mushrooms) to the soup pot. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Turn off heat and add Heavy Cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.
January 2022 - Winekraut
Ingredients 1 15 oz.-can of Saurkraut 1 tsp caraway seeds 2 tsp juniper berries ¼ cup white wine
In a small sauce pan heat sauerkraut on medium heat. Mix in Caraway and Juniper berries. Add wine and bring to a boil.
Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes.
Serve as a side dish.
October 2021 - Egyptian Lentil Soup
Ingredients:
-1 pound yellow or red lentils
-1 tomato, quartered
-1 potato, quartered
-1 carrot, quartered
-1 tsp. Salt
-1 large onion
-1 Tbsp corn oil
-1 cup meat or veggie broth
-1 tsp. Cumin
-1 Tbsp. Chopped Parsley
-Lime wedges
-Pita bread toasted or sautéed in ghee
Instructions:
Wash lentils well. In a soup pot, cover with water. Add tomato, potato, carrot and salt and bring to a boil. Simmer for half an hour skimming any froth that forms.
Remove from heat. Strain using a vegetable strainer or puree with a blender.
Chop onion and fry in oil until golden. Add strained lentils (or puree), broth, and cumin and simmer for 10 minutes. (optional) puree in a blender if you want the soup to be smooth, or leave it all chunky.
Garnish with chopped parsley and serve hot with fried bread squares and lime wedges.
September 2021 - Zucchini Salad
Ingredients:
-1 medium zucchini
-2 or 3 Lemons
-2 Tbsp Olive Oil
-1 Tbsp Capers
-2 Tbsp Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
- Red Pepper to taste (optional)
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions:
Using a vegetable peeler, peel the entire zucchini into thin strips into a mixing bowl.
Add the lemon juice, olive oil, capers, red pepper, salt, and pepper. Mix together until the zucchini is well covered.
Refrigerate for twenty minutes before serving
I have enjoyed this salad all summer, and it always makes me excited to eat zucchini. That's a tall order when there are so many of them each season. It no longer seems like such a chore with this recipe. I hope you like it.
September 2021 - Shakshuka
Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp butter
-1 large onion - quartered and sliced
-2 cloves of garlic - sliced
-1/2 tsp. Cumin
-1/2 tsp. Coriander
1 Green Pepper - seeded and sliced into strips
-28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
-1/2 cup Feta cheese - crumbled
-6 Eggs
-Salt & Pepper to taste
-1/4 cup chopped parsley
Instructions:
Heat a dutch oven on medium heat, add butter. When butter is melted, add garlic and onions. Saute until onions are translucent. Add cumin, and coriander and mix until fragrant. Add green peppers and stir for 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes and stir until well mixed. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Add Feta cheese and stir. Form six divots in the top and crack an egg into each one. Cover and cook for 5-10 minutes depending on egg preference.
Remove from heat, add parsley and serve with toast (or pita bread).
This is made all across the Middle East and North Africa. I have heard of it attributed to Israeli cooking, Moroccan cuisine, Turkish food, etc. But, I first had it in Egypt (of course). I have 9 chickens so I'm always looking for new ways to eat eggs. I love this one, and make it often. It's not very hard, and it tastes great. You could add a spicy pepper if you want more of a kick, but it's certainly an exciting way to use up your egg stash.
August 2021 - Zucchini and Basil Flowers
Ingredients:
-1 tsp. red pepper
-2 Tbsp Olive oil
-1 Zucchini - halved and then sliced to 1/4" pieces
-1/2 cup of basil flowers - dried or fresh - chopped
-1/4 cup water
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions:
Heat oil in a pan with the red pepper.
Once the oil is hot add zucchini and basil flowers. Stir and add water. Let simmer until soft. 5-7minutes
turn heat off and add lemon juice,, salt and pepper. Stir and serve.
I have a garden and I always grow zucchini and basil. I pinch off the basil flowers throughout the summer and I used to feed them to my chickens. But they have a nice flavor, so recently I have been drying them to keep all year. This recipes is easy and delicious. Of course, regular basil leaves or dried basil would work too. Enjoy!
June/July 2021 - Stone Fruit Salad
Ingredients:
-5 medium plums
-5 apricots (or 3 peaches or nectarines)
-half bunch of mint (tarragon, cilantro, sage, and fennel fronds are also good)
-1 Tbsp. of Honey
-Juice of 1 lime or lemon
Instructions:
Cut the plums and peaches into bite sized pieces and dispose of the pits. Add them to a large bowl.
Slice the mint leaves (or other herbs) into narrow strips and scatter them over the fruit.
Drizzle honey and lemon juice over the salad and mix well. Refrigerate for 20 minutes before serving.
I learned to make this in Egypt. There was a nice fruit stand down the street from my apartment that always had seasonal fruit. Peaches and apricots have arrived at my store this month so I thought I would share this with you.
The hardest part of this salad is removing the pits from the fruit. Any type of stone fruit will work in this salad but in Egypt the apricots and plums were amazing when they were in season. We had a little mint plant on our balcony, so this was an easy dish to prepare and very popular. It is good for dessert, appetizer, breakfast, snacking, or any other situation where a healthy sweet dish is required. Naturally, if you like it sweeter add more honey, if you like it sourer add more citrus. It depends on the flavor of the stone fruit (so taste the fruit first.)
April 2021 - Alexandrian Fish
Ingredients:
-1 large fillet of fish (preferably white fish) bones removed.
-1 Tbsp olive oil (more for preparing pan)
-1 tsp cumin
-1 tsp coriander
-1 tsp chili powder
-4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
-salt and black pepper (to taste)
-1 tomato, roughly cut
-1 green pepper (or 3 stalks celery), roughly sliced
-1 small red onion, thinly sliced
-3 key limes, thinly sliced into medallions.
-fresh lemon or lime (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking pan, large enough to allow fish to lay flat, with tin foil and use olive oil to prevent fish from sticking. Lay fillet of fish in the pan skin side down.
Drizzle olive oil over the meat of the fish. Spread cumin, coriander, chili powder, salt and pepper evenly over the meat and add the tomato, green pepper and onion. Lay lime slices carefully over everything.
Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes, watching carefully so as not to over cook. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.
Serve on a large platter with fresh lemon or lime.
Alexandria is a seaport and was traditionally a Greek city. There are countless great seafood restaurants there and they all prepare fish like this. It likely comes from a Greek tradition.