INGREDIENTS:

¼ cup unsalted butter
1 cup deiced Vidalia onion
4 cups diced tomatoes
4 cups white corn kernels
4-5 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
4 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock
2 small bay leaves
1 pound Maryland jumbo lump crab meat
2 tablespoon chopped marjoram
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat butter in large saucepan over medium-low heat, and sweat onions in butter until translucent.

2. Add tomatoes and corn, and cook for 5 minutes.

3. Add Old Bay seasoning, tomato paste, chopped garlic, and bay leaves. Increase to medium heat and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Add stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 20 minutes.

5. Add crabmeat, marjoram, and salt and pepper.

6. Cook until heated through and serve.

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Adapted from Jim’s Kitchen

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup walnuts
4 pounds firm-ripe pears (preferably Bosc, about 8)
½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
pastry dough

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coarsely chop walnuts, and in a shallow baking pan, toast in the middle of the oven until it is shade darker, about 4 minutes. (Leave oven on.) Peel, quarter, and core pears.

2. In a deep 12-inch heavy skillet, caramelize the sugar, stirring occasionally until it turns to a medium brown. Add butter and stir. Add pears and cook over medium heat.

3. Turning the pears occasionally (be careful not to break them), gently stir in the syrup until pears are glazed and syrup begins to thicken, about 20 minutes.

4. Stir in rum and lemon juice and simmer, turning the pears and gently stirring frequently, until most of the syrup is evaporated and pears are tender and golden brown, about 10 minutes.

5. Remove from heat.

6. On a lightly floured surfaced with a floured rolling pin; roll out dough into a 12-inch round (a scant ¼ inch thick) and drape over pears in the skillet. Tuck edge between pears and rim of pan. With a knife, cut several steam vents in the pastry.

7. Bake tart in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, or until the juices are bubbling and the crust is golden brown.

8. Have a rimmed serving plate that’s slightly larger than the tart ready. Once the tart is removed from the oven, let stand for 5 minutes.

9. Invert serving plate over pie and, wearing oven mitts and keeping plates firmly pressed together, invert tart onto serving plate.

10. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 6-8

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Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

INGREDIENTS:

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 large egg yoke
1 large egg
2 cups vegetable oil
2 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled
2 tablespoons minced red onions
2 tablespoons fresh, chopped parsley
1 teaspoon fresh, chopped tarragon
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ freshly ground white pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Combine the mustard, egg yoke, and whole egg in the bowl of a food processor, and process on high speed. With the machine running, add the oil in a thin stream, until the mixture thickens. Transfer to a bowl. Using a spoon, force the egg through a coarse sieve into the bowl. Fold in the remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Adapted from Jim’s Kitchen

INGREDIENTS:

½ ounce dried shitake mushrooms, or any type of dried mushrooms
4 white fish fillets, about 6 ounces each
1 tablespoon olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Grind the dried mushroom in a food processor, coffee grinder or mortar and pestle until the mushrooms are the consistency of powder.

2. Season the fish with salt and pepper, and coat it with the ground mushrooms.

3. In a skillet large enough to accommodate all of the fish in a single layer, heat the remaining olive oil over medium-heat. Cook the fish until it is just cooked though, about 4 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness.

4. Serve the fish on a bed of ravigote sauce

Serves 4

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Adapted from Jim’s Kitchen

INGREDIENTS:

¼ cup butter, unsalted
3 cups half and half
6 large eggs
1 quart turnip, peeled, cooked and pureed
¼ cup roasted garlic
2/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups leek, sliced (white part only)
Parmesan cheese, grated for lining cups
Butter
Fresh chopped parsley (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 6 custard cups and dust with finely grated parmesan.

2. Melt butter in heavy bottom skillet. Sauté leeks until very tender and just beginning to color, about 10 minutes.

3. Peel and dice turnips. Boil in water until tender. Drain.

4. Transfer leeks, garlic and turnips to food processor. Process until smooth paste is formed. Add half and half and blend well. Mixture does not have to be perfectly smooth.

5. Add eggs, cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg and blend until combined.

6. Divide equally between prepared cups, place cups in a baking pan and pour enough hot water into pan to come up halfway on the sides of the cups.

8. Bake until custards are set in center, about 40-50 minutes. Remove from water and let cool for 15 minutes. Turn out onto plate to serve. Garnish with fresh, chopped parsley.

Serves 12

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Adapted from Bon Appetite

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup ricotta cheese, part skim
½ cup whole milk
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup polenta, fine ground
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ cup green onions, chopped
½ teaspoon fennel seeds, lightly crushed
½ bunch Swiss chard, deveined, coarsely chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees; oil an 8x8x2 inch glass baking dish.

2. Wisk ricotta and milk in a large bowl. Mix in parmesan, polenta, salt and pepper.

3. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in heavy skillet or pot over medium-heat. Add onion and fennel seeds. Cover and cook until the onions soften, about 5 minutes. Add the chard, cover and cook until wilted, about 1 minute.

4. Stir chard mixture into the polenta. Transfer to prepared dish. Brush top lightly with olive oil. Bake until brown around the edges and firm in the center, about 35 minutes.

5. Cut into squares and serves.

Serves 4

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INGREDIENTS:

Coarse salt
1 pound of elbow macaroni
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
8 slices of bacon, coarsely chopped
2 large leeks, trimmed of roots and dark green tops
Coarse black pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
3 cups whole milk
1 cup chicken stock or broth
3 ½ cups grated Gruyere cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
¾ cup plain bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. When the water reaches a boil, add some salt and the pasta, and cook until al dente.

2. While the pasta cooks, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and chopped bacon and cook until crisp. While bacon is cooking, split the trimmed leeks in half lengthwise, lay the leeks cut side down and thinly slice into half-moons. Fill a large bowl with water and mix the leeks into the water. Allow the water to settle and the dirt and the grit to settle to the bottle of the bowl. Using your hands, draw the leeks from the water, taking care not to unsettle the dirt. Drain the cleaned leeks on a kitchen towel, pat dry and, and then add to the pan with the bacon. Season the leeks with salt and pepper. Cook until leeks are tender, about 3 to 4 minutes.

3. To start the cheese sauce, heat a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Add the butter and melt, then add the flour, cayenne, and paprika and whisk together over the heat until the roux bubbles; cook for 1 minute more. Whisk in the milk and stock and raise the heat a little. Bring the sauce to a quick boil and simmer to thicken, about 5 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in 3 cups of the grated cheese and the mustard. Set aside.

4. Add the cherry tomatoes to the leeks and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve.

5. Preheat the broiler.

6. Drain the pasta and add it back to the pasta pot. Combine the reserved leek mixture and the cheese sauce with the pasta. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

7. Transfer the pasta to a baking dish. Combine the remaining ½ cup of grated cheese with the bread crumbs. Top the pasta with the mixture. Place the dish under the broiler until the cheese melts and the bread crumbs are brown.

Serves 4-6

Adapted from Rachael Ray’s 365: No Repeats

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