Easter Food Bleg
I’m surfing around on Facebook and a member of the Times posts a picture of brightly colored Easter eggs with the caption, “And to think: I don’t even like hard boiled eggs.”
Aside: awesome coloring job, you know who you are.
I used to hate hard boiled eggs myself, it could have been me a few years ago. Making that comment, that is, not the coloring job. Kitty, however, has converted me to her deviled eggs.
But that got me thinking, we haven’t had a food post in a while and since we’re known for our simple chili recipe, we probably should get some food blogging done.
So consider this a bleg for your Easter holiday meal recipes. Iff’n you don’t do Easter, Passover contributions, or just a selection of springtime-y foodie bits will do.
Feel free to email ’em to me and I’ll post a series if I get a goodly number of contributions, or just drop ’em in the comments if they’re short.
Postscript: the neighborhood home tour has completed a long term project to get a cookie cookbook done. Having sampled a bunch of the cookies over the years, including Kitty’s biscuichitos, I can recommend it.
I’m attempting to cook rabbit, onions, and turnips braised in white wine for supper tonight.Report
The recipe is that you sear the rabbit on a stove. Than you roast/braise it in white wine with vegetables at 250 in an oven for two hours.Report
Before I fell ill yesterday I was going to make potatoes au gratin. Escallop 3 pounds of potatoes with a mandoline. In a big Dutch oven, braise four minced cloves of garlic and a minced shallot in some pork fat. Add a tablespoon or two of flour to turn it into a roux. Then add in some cayenne pepper, chives, black pepper and salt. Now for the fun part: add in the potatoes, 3 cups of half-and-half, and a lotta cheese. I use a mix of shredded cheddar and jack, with some shredded Parmesean. Cook it all until the cheese and milk and roux has become silky and coats the potatoes nicely. Then spead it in a 13 x 9 Pyrex pan and cover with foil, bake at 375 for an hour. Take the top off about half an hour before service, and give it another fifteen minutes or so to brown the top. Let it rest before you serve because it’s volcanically hot right out of the oven.Report
We kind of do kind of don’t celebrate Easter. The kids still demand candy, and my youngest will be the junior verger in the church service his morning.
Sometimes we have guests over for dinner, but probably not this year, because he people we used to have Easter dinners with in the past have either moved, passed away, or are out of town this year. Still, the kids were on me to do something Eastery.
So as we speak, a 13 lb bone-in ham is smoking in my backyard. We figure if someone wants to come over it will be a fine centerpiece for a sitdown meal, and if no one comes it makes for a pretty casual meal, and lots of sandwiches later.
So hey, if you’re in Portland, you’re hungry, and you’re not a particularly orhtadox Jew or Muslim, come on over for delicious ham, bourbon drinks, and (probably) a little playoff basketball.Report
Oh! Just remembering, we are also having asparagus, risotto and kale salad. So EVERYONE is invited, even those who can’t enjoy the ham.Report
If you lived in the correct Portland, I would have been at your house in a heartbeat.Report
I’m grilling a lamb roast and making a potato pie for dinner tonight. I could post photo essays of those potentially although both recipes are largely stolen from other sources. Maybe if I provided sufficient credit?Report
I’m making Swiss steak, and I can smell the delicious aroma as I type. This is a special smell for me, evoking the best of childhood memories. We’d often have it for Sunday dinner, and let it cook while we were at church. When we’d arrive home and walk into the house, the aroma would roll around you, like you were submerged in it. Heavenly.
I’ve never had good Swiss steak in a restaurant. But this recipe comes down from my grandmother–and I believe from her mother or grandmother, and perhaps beyond–and she was 100% Swiss. So…
Prep time: ~ 1/2 hour
Cook time: 3-4 hours
1. Buy a roast, about 2 1/2 – 3 pounds. Cut it into chunks about 3″ on a side (it doesn’t have to be precise–my mom tends to make hers larger than mine). Set your oven temperature to 300 degrees.
2.Get some bacon grease sizzling in the frying pan on medium heat (or just use the pot you’re going to finish it in–and if you haven’t saved your bacon grease for just this moment, why not?).
3. Put some flour in a bowl with plenty of salt and pepper in it. Dip the pieces of meat in water, roll them in the flour, then put them in the melted bacon grease to brown. Turn them to brown all sides (take your time, the browning is crucial). When browned, transfer them to the pot. In my experience, you cannot use a thin metal pot like you might use to boil water for pasta. You need a thick metal pot that can go in the oven. (I have my grandmother’s thick aluminum pot.)
4. Grind up onion, celery and carrots in approximately equal amounts. I use my grandmother’s grinder, an antique which looks exactly like this. I’m a traditionalist, but I suppose a modern food grinder might not ruin the dish.
5. Mix the veggies together and spread them on top of the meat.
6. Pour in enough water to cover the meat and veggies, then cover with wax paper. Put cover on pot and put in oven to cook for 3-4 hours. Check at some point late in the process to make sure the water isn’t all boiling away, and if so, add a little more, but not too much.
Leave the house at some point, for at least half an hour, so when you come back in you get immersed in the aroma.
Serve with the veggie of your choice, dinner rolls, and mashed potatoes. The liquid and veggie mix that remains in the pot after you remove the meat should be made into gravy for the mashed potatoes.
Maybe that was too long for sharing in the comments, but sitting here smelling and anticipating it, I just can’t help but share it with everyone. If I’m on death row and can have a last meal, this is it.Report
Matzoh brei:
Take two matzohs per person you’re going to feed. Break them into a mixing bowl, and cover with water. Soak about five minutes, so they’re soft but not mushy. Now pour off the water, squeeze any excess water out of the matzohs and pour that off as well. In another bowl, beat 1 egg per matzoh. Add the beaten eggs to the matzoh and mix well.
Melt butter in a hot skillet, and cook the matzoh/egg mixture until it’s done, turning it over with a spatula frequently. (“Done” is a matter of taste, as with most egg dishes.) Salt and pepper to taste. Or, if you like, add maple syrup or jam.Report
I realized I didn’t leave an Easter recipe, so here’s how I do my asparagus each Easter:
Ingredients:
Large bunch of Asparagus
Clove of garlic
2 Tbls Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
Piece of Fresh Parmesan
Directions:
1. Trip ends off asparagus, place in quart or gallon a zip lock baggie — or, if you prefer, in a baking dish large enough to let them sit in a single layer.
2. Mix all the other ingredients, add to bag (or dish). Shake bag (or use hands to make sure marinade covers all of the asparagus). Let sit for at least 30 minutes, but you can also do it a few hours ahead.
3. Broil of grill asparagus until done to your liking.
4. While asparagus is cooking (or before), put balsamic vinegar in a small pot on your stove. Bring to a slow boil. Continue until until liquid is reduced by half.
5. When asparagus is done, place on serving plate. Drizzle balsamic reduction over asparagus. Take a vegetable peeler and lightly shave a few ribbons of press parmesan over asparagus.
Serve.Report
If there are leftovers, it would be really good in an appetizer served at local restaurant.
For that, you’d need:
The asparagus, cooked as Tod suggested, including the balsamic reduction.
Thinly-sliced prosciutto (one slice for every two spears of asparagus)
Marinara — a couple tablespoons per every two asparagus spears
Parmesan — teaspoon per two spears
Mozzarella cheese, grated — tablespoon per two spears
Lay out a piece of prosciutto, spread a small amount of marinara on it, and dust with parmesan. Lay two spears across, long side perpendicular to the long-side of the prosciutto, and roll the spears up with the ham. Repeat for the rest of the spears. Place on a broiler-proof baking sheet. Dribble the top with additional marinara and the mozzarella cheese. Place under the broiler for a couple minutes, until the cheese on top just begins to brown.Report
Yum!Report
It would not be Easter without deviled eggs IMO. They are a staple. Here’s how I like to take them up a notch:
Make the deviled eggs following your own recipe. Then take each one and brush a tiny bit of garlic-infused olive oil on the top of each. Then turn it over and press into a bowl of good quality bread crumbs. Transfer this to med-high pan and fry for about 15-20 seconds with the breaded side facing down.
While someone is doing this, take the leftover egg filling (there is ALWAYS leftover filling) and thin this with some olive oil and a little vinegar. Serve the eggs on a bed of fresh baby spinach and dress with the vinaigrette you have created.Report
Well, Easter dinner was:
Roasted lamb
Ham
Baked carrots with ginger and OJ
Wild rice
Grilled asparagus
A loaf of bread in the shape of a rabbit
Some potato/cheese/conflake combo that was “toned downed from the original” which meant less fat. ZOMG I’d die of a MI if I ate the real thing I guess.
Half a dozen bottles of red wine–some really good stuff–and a dram of single malt scotch.
Best part: I just showed up and ate/drank. 🙂Report