I present: Awesome Sauce

I made this BBQ sauce the other night, and yes, it is awesome. This is my variation of a sauce recipe found on recipezaar.com, as I can best remember it (I adjusted while cooking to get the flavor just right):

4 cups tomato sauce
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
1/4c onions (finely chopped)
1/4c + 1T soy sauce
1/4c + 1T brown sugar
1/2t mustard powder
1t cayenne
2t morrocan spice mix (Ras al Hanout listed below. You could also do 1/2t each cinnamon, corriander, cumin and black pepper and it would probably come close)
1T oregano
2 Bay leaves

Bring all to a boil and then simmer for 30 min. Done.


Ras al Hanout from Gourmet, 1998

* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
* 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Wisk together and keep in an airtight jar. Great for a spice rub, or for pumping any dish that requires cumin flavor.

Cooking Light Night #12

Here is a fun new salmon recipe if you're looking to add new flavors into your life. That's what tonight's dinner was all about. Don did say that given the title of the dish, he was a little disappointed that the horseradish didn't come through stronger. So don't be scared away if you don't like horseradish. This definitely is a sweet dish and not a spicy one. The apple jelly and champagne vinager come together to form a subtle and yet sophisticated sweet glaze. Searing the Salmon Fillets in a hot skillet before baking it off in the oven gives it a nice crispy carmelization that compliments the other flavors well. And baking the fish in the same frying pan that you seared it in, saves dishes and extra clean up after dinner. We didn't have chives so we used green onions and that worked just as well. Now that we have all the ingredients, we will certainly make this again, and will surely entertain with it.

We also tried a new salad recipe tonight. It's definitely not for everyone with it's unusual combination of flavors and textures. In this recipe, cold Spinach Salad meets warm cooked apples and caramelized onions with spicy curry, tangy cider vinegar, and crispy salty bacon crumbles. I enjoyed it but probably won't make it again. I love apples in my salads, but I think I'll stick to raw and not cooked. If you decide to try this recipe, I recommend adding a little crumbled goat cheese if you have on hand.

Apple and Horseradish-Glazed Salmon


Mild apple jelly and hot horseradish pair well with rich salmon. Serve with a neutral-flavored side of couscous or rice.


1/3 cup apple jelly
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick), skinned
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine apple jelly, chives, horseradish, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, stirring well with a whisk.

Sprinkle salmon with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add salmon, and cook 3 minutes. Turn salmon over; brush with half of apple mixture. Wrap handle of skillet with foil; bake at 350° for 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Brush with remaining apple mixture.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 fillet)

CALORIES 375 (40% from fat); FAT 16.8g (sat 4.3g,mono 7.7g,poly 3.4g); IRON 0.7mg; CHOLESTEROL 90mg; CALCIUM 30mg; CARBOHYDRATE 18.1g; SODIUM 376mg; PROTEIN 36.4g; FIBER 0.1g

Cooking Light, MAY 2004

Spinach, Walnut, and Curried-Apple Salad


This warm spinach salad is sweet, salty, spicy, and crunchy. Add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of red curry powder for a spicier dish.


Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced Granny Smith apple
1 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 teaspoon red curry powder
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon honey
8 cups fresh spinach (about 1/2 pound)
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, toasted
2 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled (drained)

Heat a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add apple and onion; sauté 3 minutes. Stir in curry powder; sauté 1 minute. Stir in vinegar, broth, and honey. Remove from heat.

Place spinach in a large bowl. Pour warm apple mixture over spinach; toss well. Sprinkle with nuts and bacon.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 3/4 cup)

CALORIES 74 (35% from fat); FAT 2.9g (sat 0.6g,mono 0.9g,poly 1.2g); IRON 1.4mg; CHOLESTEROL 2mg; CALCIUM 51mg; CARBOHYDRATE 11.3g; SODIUM 69mg; PROTEIN 2.5g; FIBER 2.4g

Cooking Light, MARCH 2002

Chicken Tagine - Moroccan Cooking

This is the tagine recipe I served Don and Cindy about a month ago. Not too much trouble, so long as you have all the ingredients. But, like all tagines, it does need time to cook. Also, watch the pot after you've added the honey. Everything may seem like its summering fine, but the honey will be burning at the bottom of the pot!
This tagine isn't too spicy as is. When I made it I added more spices to my taste, and to cover the slight burnt honey taste. ;) Enjoy!

Best Chicken Tagine Recipe #212534 From RecipeZaar.com

This was inspired by a fantatstic chicken tagine from Melbourne's Meccah Bah. It has a lovely balance of spice and sweetness. I've customised it from other tagine receipes I've found - and I think this produces the best result. Modest .. maybe.. try for yourself!

by amanda l b

1¼ hours | 10 min prep | SERVES 4

1	tablespoon olive oil
1	large onion, thinly sliced
3	large garlic cloves, finely diced
1	tablespoon chopped gingerroot
1 1/2	tablespoons paprika
1	teaspoon turmeric
1/2	teaspoon ground coriander
1/2	teaspoon ground cumin
1/2	teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)
1/8	teaspoon ground cinnamon
2	cups water or chicken stock
300	g chickpeas (or fresh)
425	g diced tomatoes
1	tablespoon coriander root (finely chopped)
1/2	cup honey
4	skinless chicken thighs or 6-8 skinless chicken drumsticks
1	teaspoon sesame seeds
1	tablespoon coriander leaves (to garnish)
1	cup couscous
2	teaspoons chicken stock powder
2	tablespoons toasted almonds

1. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat.
2. Brown chicken and remove.
3. Add onion, garlic, and ginger to the pot. Cover and cook until onion is tender, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
4. Add paprika, turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin, cayenne pepper and cinnamon and stir 1 minute to lightly 'toast' the spices.
5. Stir in 2 cups water, chickpeas, tomatoes with juices, honey and coriander roots. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 10 minutes.
6. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; add to pot. Cover and simmer for about 50 minutes - or until the chicken is cooked and tender.
7. Add more water to cover the chicken if liquid has evaporated.
8. When the chicken is almost ready, begin to prepare the cous-cous as per packet instructions. Add the chicken stock powder to the cous cous. When the cous cous has absorbed the liquid, add the almonds and stir through.
9. If using drumsticks, remove the drumsticks and strip the meat from the bones. Return the meat back to the mixture and mix through.
10. Stir sesame seeds through.
11. Serve on a bed of cous cous, garnished with coriander leaves.

Gourmet Done Family Style

Unique. Delicious. Comforting.

What a fun twist on your ordinary meatloaf. I have to say, what first attracted me to this recipe was not the meatloaf itself, but the red wine currant sauce drizzle over the top of it. If that doesn't scream fancy restaurant I don't know what does. But if sweet dark glazes are not to your liking, this turkey meatloaf stands well on it's own. There wasn't a person at gaming group last night who didn't express overwhelming satisfaction with the meal.

This recipe is super simple to assemble and makes ample proportions. The recipe even includes instructions for freezing half and baking again at a later date if 10 servings is too much all at once. I used a good quality free range ground turkey for the meat. If you cannot find sun-dried tomato sprinkles, just dice up some sun-dried tomato halves found in the dried fruit section of your grocery store. Do not use sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil or it will make your meatloaf too greasy. Also, be sure to use a meat thermometer to make sure that the ground turkey gets cooked all the way through. We enjoyed this with a nice green salad on the side and french baguette slices dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Sun-Dried Tomato Meat Loaf with Red Currant-Wine Sauce


Red currant jelly and wine make a quick, rich sauce that is a nice change from the typical ketchup topping. Serve with mashed potatoes. If you decide to freeze one of the meat loaves for later, make half the amount of red currant-wine sauce now and half when you bake the frozen meat loaf.


Meat loaf:
Cooking spray
3 (1-ounce) slices white bread
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
1/3 cup sun-dried tomato sprinkles
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 pounds ground turkey breast
2 large eggs

Sauce:
1/2 cup red currant jelly
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 400°.

Coat 2 (8 x 4-inch) loaf pans with cooking spray; set aside.

To prepare meat loaves, place bread in food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs form. Combine breadcrumbs, onion, and next 7 ingredients (onion through eggs). Divide meat mixture in half. Press each portion into prepared pans.

Bake at 400° for 55 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 180°.

To prepare sauce, combine jelly, wine, and flour in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook 5 minutes or until jelly melts.

To freeze unbaked meat loaf: Prepare through Step 3. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing to remove as much air as possible. Wrap with heavy-duty foil. Store in freezer for up to 2 months.

To prepare frozen unbaked meat loaf: Thaw completely in refrigerator (about 24 hours). Preheat oven to 400º. Remove foil; reserve foil. Remove plastic wrap; discard wrap. Cover meat loaf with reserved foil; bake at 400º for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 180º. Prepare half of red currant-wine sauce; serve over meat loaf.

Yield: 10 servings, 5 per pan (serving size: 5 ounces meat loaf and about 1 tablespoon sauce)

CALORIES 271 (19% from fat); FAT 5.6g (sat 2.8g,mono 1.6g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 35.2g; CHOLESTEROL 122mg; CALCIUM 193mg; SODIUM 435mg; FIBER 0.8g; IRON 2.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 18.4g

Cooking Light, MARCH 2003

Pizza with Pizazze

One of the things Don and I used to love trying during our early exploits in the kitchen as a young couple was putting together our own different versions of specialty pizzas. One that we turned to a lot was inspired by our favorite pizza place in Bellingham - a wood-fire grilled pizza kitchen called La Fiamma's, and one of the restaurants we miss most out of all the places we have ever lived or eaten. Not only did they have the coolest atmosphere there which included heated seating on their porch, but they also had our favorite pizza ever the "Pizza Diablo." It had a nice smoky flavor, with spicy sauce, sausage, and sliced hot cherry peppers which significantly upped the heat factor and flavor factor as the juices soaked out into the cheese and surrounding crust. Of course we always substituted pepperoni for the sausage because of it's clear superiority.

Besides having the most amazing single pizza dish we have ever tasted -- the Diablo -- La Fiamma's also had the best ranch dressing I have ever tasted, made from scratch and infused with dill so fresh it tasted like it had just been snipped form the garden that morning. The day that we happened to think to combine the two, the cherry pepper-pepperoni-goodness dipped in the buttermilk nectar of the gods, is the day that we knew we had achieved pizza perfection and that no other toppings, cooking method, or complimentary condiments could ever combine in such a way as to exceed the awesomeness of this pizza. Below is our homemade version of this delicious masterpiece. Of course it will never taste as good as it did under the warmth of the heat lamps on a cool winter's night looking out across downtown Bellingham with great friends that we miss dearly. But it will do in a pinch.

Pizza Diablo De Casa Early

1 ready made pizza crust such as Bobili
2/3 cup prepared spicy pizza sauce or spicy pasta sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Sliced pepperoni (to taste)
6 - 8 jarred hot cherry peppers stemmed and sliced with or without seeds for extra heat
Ranch dressing for dipping (optional)

Spread sauce on pizza crust. Topped with cheese, pepperoni, and peppers. Cook according to crust package directions.

Another of our favorite specialty recipes that we created again during our first year together was the Pesto-based pizza. We had fun varying the toppings and trying new combinations but they usually boiled down to something along these lines:

Greek Inspired Pesto Pizza

1 ready made pizza crust such as Bobili
1/2 cup prepared basil pesto sauce
2 cloves of thinly sliced garlic
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Thinly sliced mushrooms
Sliced Kalamata Olives
Sun-dried Tomato Strips

Spread pesto on pizza crust. Top with garlic, cheese, mushrooms, olives and sun-dried tomatoes. Bake according to crust package directions.

Finally, in the more recent years of our marriage, we discovered this new recipe for Barbecue Chicken Pizza to add to our file of exciting specialty pizzas. These days, we are upgrading the fancy factor of our homemade pizzas by starting with a ready-mixed refrigerated pizza dough from Trader Joes which we work and cook ourselves before adding the toppings. This recipe works especially well with the whole wheat crust. Be very liberal with the cilantro. It is surprising how well it compliments the barbecue sauce - a unique flavor combination you won't find elsewhere. I have never seen a grilled pizza that turned out well that wasn't cooked by a professional chef so we skip the grilling instructions and bake it directly in the oven. Katy helped me put this together last night during an exciting game of miniatures, in which I should mention that the girls completely wasted the guys. She also described to me the awesomeness of a pizza stone which I DO NOT have and now desperately want.

So I've showed you mine. Now you show me yours. What do you like to put on your homemade pizza?

Grilled Barbecued-Chicken Pizza

Ingredients

2/3 cup barbecue sauce, divided
1 cup (about 6 ounces) roasted skinned, boned chicken breast (such as Tyson), chopped
2 (10-inch) Quick-and-Easy Pizza Crusts
Cooking spray
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded smoked Gouda cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

Combine 1/4 cup barbecue sauce and chicken in a bowl. Toss well; set aside.

Prepare grill. Place 1 crust on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 3 minutes or until puffy and golden. Turn crust, grill-mark side up; spread with 3 tablespoons barbecue sauce. Top with half of Gouda, chicken mixture, mozzarella, and green onions. Cover; grill 3 to 4 minutes or until cheese melts and crust is lightly browned. Sprinkle with half of cilantro. Repeat with remaining crust and toppings.

Yield

6 servings (serving size: 1/3 pizza)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 315(24% from fat); FAT 8.4g (sat 3.3g,mono 3.1g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 17.7g; CHOLESTEROL 33mg; CALCIUM 147mg; SODIUM 686mg; FIBER 0.9g; IRON 2.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 41.1g

Cooking Light, JUNE 1997

Hunting for Cherry Peppers

What drew me to this recipe was the hot Cherry Peppers - a favorite treat of mine ever since we discovered the sausage and cherry pepper pizza at La Fiamma's woodburning oven pizza place in Bellingham, Washington. Unfortunately, I had to go to two different stores, and then called four more before I finally found the darn things and I do not even consider Cherry Peppers that exotic of an ingredient. It is a continuous gripe that I have about grocery shopping here. You would think that in this massive metropolitan you would be able to get just about any specialty food item that you could possibly think of, but it is actually a lot more difficult that you realize. Because real estate is so expensive, and the city is so crowded, though there may be 10 different grocery stores in a one mile radius, they are all tiny (by Washington suburbia standards) and packed onto little lots so that they do not have room to stock as much as I am used to. I tried Trader Joe's, two different Ralph's grocery stores, Whole Foods Market, and even the Armenian Market and Deli before I finally found these beloved peppers at Gelson's Market on Riverside in Sherman Oaks. The guy on the phone was pretty surprised when I started whooping and cheering on the phone in response to his verification that they did carry them. After all, for a few short hours there, I thought I was going to have to live a cherry pepperless life until we migrated from California some day.

Despite the secret ingredient, the recipe really was not spicy. All of the veggies and peppers cooked down and caramelized into a really hearty meal. The chicken thighs were also a nice change from normal chicken breasts. Don was quite impressed with the meal and said it really hit the spot after a very long and stressful day. This recipe is going to be filed under easy weeknight comfort food in our household. You can find it courtesy of Real Simple Magazine on www.myrecipes.com.

Chicken Thighs Braised in Garlic and White Wine

Ingredients

2 teaspoons dried oregano
Kosher salt and pepper
8 small chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 small yellow onions, quartered
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 jarred hot cherry peppers, seeded and roughly chopped, plus 3 tablespoons of the brine
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup long-grain white rice

Preparation

In a small bowl, combine the oregano, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, season with the spice mixture, and dredge in the flour.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat and brown the chicken, 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

Add the onions to the pot and cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cherry peppers and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the pepper brine, wine, and broth and bring to a boil. Return the chicken to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cook, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the rice according to the package directions. Divide among individual bowls and spoon the chicken and sauce over it.

Yield

Makes 4 servings

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 675(37% from fat); FAT 28g ; SUGAR 5g; PROTEIN 31g; CHOLESTEROL 113mg; SODIUM 960mg; FIBER 2g; CARBOHYDRATE 64g

Kate Merker , Real Simple, SEPTEMBER 2007