Fabulous Beekman Boys Contest

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Laura

You can win an all-expense-paid trip to meet Discovery-Planet Green reality TV stars The Fabulous Beekman Boys in Sharon Springs, N.Y., take a tour of the Beekman 1802 Farm and have dinner with the boys by taking part in the Beekman 1802 Heirloom Recipe Contest.

Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge – The Fabulous Beekman Boys – literally pulled recipes out of the dirt for their newly released Beekman 1802 Heirloom Recipe Cookbook. They said they received inspiration from what was growing out of the ground around their farm.

They wrote, “The meals we love and that have been passed down through generations of family members are heirlooms in and of themselves and the book includes over 100 recipes that we’ve adapted from our family archives, each given our own little Beekman 1802 twist. The recipes are both simple and ingenious. Comfort food has to be as easy to make as it is pleasing to eat.”

Now you have a chance to see if you can match the Beekman Boys by submitting your own heirloom recipes at your library. You can also win an autographed copy of the book or Terrain kitchenware.

Just fill out the entry form with your favorite family heirloom recipe and enter your favorite family heirloom recipe.

Explain what makes the recipe so special to you, then give it to your local librarian to be entered for a chance to win a signed copy of “The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook and the grand prize trip, farm tour and dinner.

Visit the contest website or official entry form (PDF) for more information.

Charlene’s Shingled Cheese

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Cindy

Need a great appetizer for a get together? My friend Charlene brought this wonderful treat, to a party recently. This recipe, is one I couldn’t wait to share.

Make both parts ahead and pour vinaigrette over right before serving. Serve with crackers or baguette.
Cheese:
On a platter, make rows like shingles of sharp cheese and cream cheese. Alternate sharp cheese slices with cream cheese slices. You can stack them up side by side or lay flat.Before serving, drizzle this vinaigrette on top and garnish with whatever fresh herbs you have on hand.
Vinaigrette:
Mix together:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
handful of fresh parsley, chopped
handful of fresh basil, chopped or 1 teaspoon dried
Salt and pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
Minced green onion or onion chives, 2-3 tablespoons or to taste
Chopped pimiento or chopped roasted or fresh red bell pepper

Cool Weather Chicken

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Laura S

Now that fall weather is finally here I feel justified in using my oven again. All summer I long for casseroles and baked treats but I can’t stand the thought of using the oven in such oppressive heat.

My very favorite recipe to make for family dinner is one that my brother Thomas concocted using an amalgamation of what he had seen on the Food Network, his one cookbook and what turned out to be a secret knack for cooking. Chicken breasts roasted in a tangy rich sauce with the side dish cooked right on top. It comes out of the oven looking complicated and time consuming but with a little blender action is easy to throw together.

Le Poulet de Thomas

Serves 4

Preparation time: 25 minutes, Cooking time: 1- 1½ hours

Ingredients:

1lb 8 oz trimmed leeks- about 3
10 oz small waxy potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic- peeled and chopped
1 cup soft cheese with garlic and herbs- Boursin is best
½ cup white wine
¾ cup chicken stock
2 tsp Cornstarch
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp butter, melted
Salt and pepper to taste

You will need:

A large, shallow oven proof dish (about 7½ cup capacity)
A skillet
A cook’s knife
Measuring cups
A cutting board
A blender

Method:

1 Preheat oven to 350 F. Clean and thickly slice leeks.

2 Slice the potatoes as thinly as possible.

3 Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and cook the leeks and garlic 3-4 minutes or until beginning to soften. Remove from skillet and put in the ovenproof dish.

4 Place the cheese, wine, stock and cornstarch in blender and process until smooth.

5 Arrange chicken pieces on top of leeks, season well and pour in the sauce.

6 Layer potatoes on top, season and brush thoroughly with melted butter.

7 Cook in the preheated oven 1- 1½ hours or until potatoes are well done and brown. Serve at once with the parsley sprinkled over.

Want some other amazing one dish family meals? Try these awesome books:

The One-Dish Chicken Cookbook : featuring 120 soups, stews, casseroles, roasts, and more from around the world by Mary Ellen Evans

The Best One-Dish Suppers: a best recipe classic by the Editor’s of Cook’s Illustrated

Perfect One-Dish Dinners: all you need for easy get-togethers by Pam Anderson

White Bean, Sausage and Kale Soup

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Laura S

Crock pot soup is the fastest, easiest way to make sure you have a delicious dinner waiting for you when you get home after a hard day of work. In my house we like to make something we affectionately refer to as Refrigerator Soup, dumping everything that we can find in a pot together.

The most recent batch was made of some leftover kale and Italian sausage and was a HUGE hit with the ladies of the Amelia Branch Library. It was spectacularly simple, delicious and deserves its own recipe designation. After spending the night in the slow cooker the beans were buttery smooth and the sausage had infused everything with a smokey, delicious taste. I usually prefer spinach in Italian style soups, but kale holds up wonderfully under the hours of slow cooking, coming out still slightly firm and delicious.

White Bean, Sausage and Kale Soup

Ingredients

1 lb Italian Sausage- browned
1 medium white onion- finely chopped
4 cloves garlic – finely chopped garlic
1 can tomato paste
3-4 cans chicken broth
4 cans white beans- rinsed
3-4 handfuls Kale loosely chopped (enough to fill up any space left in your pot)

Instructions

Brown and drain sausage, do not rinse. Set aside
In same pan sauté onions and garlic until translucent, scrapping sides to get off all the delicious sausage bits that were left.
In bowl of your slow cooker whisk together tomato paste and chicken broth.
Add sausage, onion mixture, beans, tomatoes with juice and kale.
Cook on low setting for 8+ hours.

Remember, you can assemble all the ingredients in the cooker and refrigerate overnight. Just pop the pot to your slow cooker in the base in the morning and let it simmer while you work!

Looking for more delicious slow cooker recipes? Try some of these great resources:

Slow Cooker Revolution: one test kitchen, 30 slow cookers, 200 amazing recipes by the editors at America’s Test Kitchen

The Italian Slow Cooker by Michele Scicolone

175 Essential Slow Cooker Classics by Judith Finlayson