This recipe is meant as a template.  Please alter, add, remove, adapt as you see fit based on your own tastes and ingredients at hand.  The ingredients, quantities, and methods are also loose suggestions.  (You may substitute homemade sauce in lieu of canned.)  Be as spontaneous as possible!

Serves

2 – 4

Preparation Time

1 hour

Ingredients

1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, sliced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2- 4 Tbs olive oil

1/2 lb. ground beef

1/2 lb. ground pork

*2 – 8 oz. cans tomato sauce

*1 – 6 oz. can tomato paste

1 tsp herbes de Provence, or your herb(s) of choice

Salt & pepper, to taste

*or equivalent in homemade sauce

Method

Sauté the onions and garlic in 2 Tbs olive oil in a medium sized sauté, or frying pan.  When the onions and garlic are cooked, opaque in color, about 4 minutes of cooking time, add the mushrooms.  Add more olive oil if necessary.   Sauté the mushrooms until well-cooked, about 5- 7 minutes.  In a separate medium sized sauté, or frying pan start cooking the beef and the sausage together.  You can add a small amount of olive oil at the start of cooking.  Once the meat is cooked, add the tomato sauce, the tomato paste, the herbs, and the onion and mushroom mixture and stir together well.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Let the sauce cook over low heat for 15 – 20 minutes.  Serve over your choice of pasta, or refrigerate or freeze to use later.

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The key to this dish is that the rest of the meal must already be on the table before it is prepared.

Ingredients

Fresh, ripe, garden Beefsteak tomatoes, or farmers market, organic tomatoes

Olive oil

Fresh ground pepper & salt

Method

The tomatoes should be warm and fragrant from the sun, just picked if possible.  As everyone begins eating, slice and serve the still warm tomatoes. They may be drizzled with olive oil if desired.  Add fresh ground salt and pepper to taste.  If using organic farmers market tomatoes try leaving them outside to ‘sun warm’ them.

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Ingredients

Fresh Garden Honey

Fresh Homemade White Bread

Sweet Butter

Method

If possible procure honey directly from a honeycomb.  This can be accomplished by finding a local farmer who sells honey with the honeycomb, or by buying the same at a local farmer’s market.  You may substitute a quality store bought honey.  Drain the honey from the honeycomb into a jar or container.  Toast several slices of bread and set aside.  Set the table with the honey, toast and butter.  Find several eager mouths and begin eating, or if small mouths feed them like baby birds.

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When I asked my 92-year-old uncle for this recipe, his reply was “a third, a third and two thirds,” his idea of a joke, one third plus one third equals two thirds, which he thought quite funny. I finally deciphered it as:

1/3 of salt

1/3 of pepper

1/3 of garlic, chopped

1-2 pounds deer meat (venison) cut in ¼” strips.

The quantity of meat may be increased or decreased. Adjust seasoning quantities accordingly. Mix salt, pepper and garlic in a large container or bowl. Coat the meat evenly with the seasoning mix. Hang seasoned meat outdoors – a clothesline or a tree will do – making sure it is in hot, direct sun if possible. To prevent the meat from attracting bugs, loosely cover or wrap it in muslin or cheesecloth. When all the moisture is gone and the meat is extremely dry to the touch, and taste, the jerky is ready.

Depending on the weather, and where one lives, an option for the industrious is to rig a type of dryer-dehydrator in a garage or basement – Uncle Herman sometimes suspended a wire rack from the ceiling, laid the meat flat, and rigged a heat source to blow over and around the meat to cure it.

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Serves

4 to 6

Preparation Time

2 hours

Ingredients

1 tri-tip or top block prime sirloin steak, Choice grade, well-aged, 3″ thick
1 Tb salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
Red oak logs, or charcoal and oak chips

Method

First, place oak wood logs in a pit with movable grate, start fire, and burn until red-hot. (You may also use charcoal mixed with oak wood chips and bark available at local markets.)  Once lit, the fire should be hot but not blazing.  It is important to slice tri-tip against the grain the long way, not across the triangle.   It won’t be a uniform cut but it will be tender.  Do not trim off the fat before putting the meat on the grill – it can easily be trimmed after cooking.  Season the meat with salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste.  Place the fat side over the fire first; that way the juice will come up through the meat, making it tender.  Sear the lean part of the meat over the fire for 5 to 10 minutes to seal in the juices, and then flip over to the fat side for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the cut and the desired degree of cooking.  When juice appears at the top of the meat, it is time to flip for another 30-45 minutes.

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There are several components to this dish but the end result is well worth the time it takes to prepare it.  The beans can easily be made ahead of time.  The sequence should be:  prepare the beans first, then prepare and cook the artichokes about 30 – 40 minutes before cooking the fish.  The preserved lemons may be purchased from a specialty food store, or you may make your own but it takes 3 – 4 weeks before they are ‘preserved’ and ready to eat.

Serves

6

Preparation Time

2 – 2 ½ hours, all components except for the preserved lemons

Cannellini Beans

Preparation Time

45 – 60 minutes

Ingredients

4 – 14 oz. cans of cannellini beans, drained OR 4 cups cooked beans

6 – 8 garlic cloves, chopped

4 – 5 medium sized tomatoes, cut in 1/4ths, or 1/8ths wedges

8 – 10 Tbs olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pan

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp herbes de Provence

Method

Sauté garlic in olive oil in medium sized skillet, or sauté pan over medium heat for 1 minute.  Do not brown.

Add tomatoes, salt and pepper, and herbes de provence.  Stir together and cook until tomatoes soften and lose their shape about 4 – 6 minutes.  Stir occasionally to keep from burning.

Add beans and stir together with tomato-garlic mixture.  Cook until beans are heated through about 5 minutes or so.  Check seasonings, and add salt if needed.

Baby Artichokes

Preparation Time

45 minutes

Ingredients

1 lb. baby artichokes, about 10 artichokes

1 lemon

3 – 4 Tbs olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, minced

¾ tsp salt

Pepper, freshly ground to taste

Method

Cut  the lemon in half, squeeze into a bowl of water with several ice cubes.  Save the lemon halves.

Remove tough outer leaves of artichoke, cut 1 inch off top, and rub with the lemon halves.  Add the artichokes to the ice water.  They can be stored in the refrigerator for several hours until ready to cook.

Cut the artichokes in half, return to ice water if not cooking immediately.  If ready to cook, cut them in half, drain off excess water but don’t dry, and place in a 10 – 12 inch skillet, cut side down.  Drizzle them with water, sprinkle garlic over.  Add 2 – 3 tablespoons of water to the pan, just enough to keep them moist while cooking.

Cover the pan and place over low heat.  After about 5 minutes check to be sure they are cooking and that the water has not cooked away.  After 10 minutes turn them over and recover.  As they cook check to be sure water doesn’t completely cook away.  Keep them barely moist.  If you hear a sizzle, add more water.  Let cook for 20 – 30 minutes.  When they are cooked they will be tender, and there will be almost no liquid left.  Season with ground pepper.

Arctic Char

Preparation Time

10 – 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 ½ lbs., Arctic char fillets, skin removed

4 -5 Tbs. olive oil, enough to coat the bottom of the pan

Method

Season the fish with salt and pepper.  Add the olive oil to a skillet over medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, add the fish.  Allow to cook until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes each side.

To Serve

Reheat the beans over low heat while the fish is cooking.  When beans are hot spoon a thick layer of beans on to a platter, or serving dish, or directly onto dinner plates.  Lay the cooked fish fillets atop the beans, add the baby artichokes around the fish, garnish top of fish with roughly sliced, or cut pieces of preserved lemon.

Preserved Lemons, (Optional)

Preparation Time

45 minutes

Ingredients

10 ripe Meyer, or organic lemons

1/2 cup coarse salt, Kosher salt may be used

Extra virgin olive oil

Method

Scrub 6 of the lemons and dry well.  Quarter the 6 lemons cutting from the top to 1/2 inch from the bottom leaving them intact at the base.  Open the lemons gently and sprinkle salt on the exposed inner flesh, then reshape the fruit.  Toss with the remaining salt and pack into a 3-4 cup dry, sterile Mason jar with a glass or plastic-coated lid.

With a wooden spoon, gently push down the lemons.  Squeeze the juice from the remaining 4 lemons and pour into the jar.  Close the jar tightly and let the lemons ripen at room temperature for 30 days, shaking the jar each day to redistribute the salt and juice.  (Within a few days the salt will draw out enough juice to completely cover the lemons.)

For longer storage, add olive oil and refrigerate for up to 1 year.  Rinse the lemons before using.

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Adapted from ‘Petit Recueil de la Gastronomie Alsacienne: 75 Recettes Simples’

250 g. de pâte brisée/ 500 g. d’oignons /100 g. de lardon fumés/ 2 dl. de crème/ 2 dl. de lait/ 2 jaunes d’œufs/  50 g. de farine/ sel, poivre, noix de muscade.

Foncer de pâte brisée, un moule à tarte; préchauffer le four; garnir la pâte d’une fondue d’oignons émincés revenus doucement dan le beurre; ajouter le lardons blanchis chauds.  Recouvrir les oignons de la crème, du lait et des œufs battus avec farine, sel, poivre et noix de muscade.  Faire cuire à four chaud 25 mn. environ.

On peut remplacer le mélange d’œufs, de lait et de crème par une sauce Béchamel.

Serves

6

Ingredients

500 g., or 1 lbs. onions, (2 medium-sized onions)

100 g., or 3 ½ oz. smoked bacon, or *lardons

2 dl, (200 ml), or ¾ cups cream

2 dl, (200 ml), or ¾ cups milk

2 eggs, yolks only

50 g., or 1/3 cups flour

4 Tbs butter

1 tsp nutmeg

Pinch salt

Pinch pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare a pie crust and set aside.

Slice the onions.  Cut the bacon into cubes (lardons).  Blanch the bacon.  Sauté the onions in the butter over a low fire.  Do not brown but cook until limp.  Add the blanched bacon and stir together.

Beat the egg yolks, flour, salt, pepper and nutmeg together.

Put the onions and bacon into the unbaked pie crust.  Pour the egg and flour mixture over.

Bake 25 – 30 minutes, top should brown slightly.

*This recipe calls for lardons fumés which are cubes of smoked bacon.  You should be able to find slabs of smoked bacon (not already sliced) at a butcher or specialty food store.  Ask for a 3 ½ oz. piece and then cube it at home.  You want ¼ inch cubes.

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Adapted from ‘The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen’ by Paul Wolfert

Preparation Time

45 minutes

Ingredients

10 ripe Meyer, or organic lemons

1/2 cup coarse salt, Kosher salt may be used

Extra virgin olive oil

Method

Scrub 6 of the lemons and dry well.  Quarter the 6 lemons cutting from the top to 1/2 inch from the bottom leaving them intact at the base.  Open the lemons gently and sprinkle salt on the exposed inner flesh, then reshape the fruit.  Toss with the remaining salt and pack into a 3-4 cup dry, sterile Mason jar with a glass or plastic-coated lid.

With a wooden spoon, gently push down the lemons.  Squeeze the juice from the remaining 4 lemons and pour into the jar.  Close the jar tightly and let the lemons ripen at room temperature for 30 days, shaking the jar each day to redistribute the salt and juice.  (Within a few days the salt will draw out enough juice to completely cover the lemons.)

For longer storage, add olive oil and refrigerate for up to 1 year.  Rinse the lemons before using.

Note: you may add spices like cloves, coriander seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, bay leaf or chiles to the lemons for an added layer of flavor.  I would do so sparingly the first time.  You may adjust the quantity in the next go around.

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Serves

4 – 6

Preparation Time

45 – 60 minutes

Ingredients

4 – 14 oz. cans of cannellini beans, drained OR 4 cups cooked beans

6 – 8 garlic cloves, chopped

4 – 5 medium sized tomatoes, cut in 1/4ths, or 1/8ths

8 – 10 Tbs olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pan

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp herbes de Provence

Method

Sauté garlic in olive oil in medium sized skillet, or sauté pan over medium heat for 1 minute.  Do not brown.

Add tomatoes, salt and pepper, and herbes de Provence.  Stir together and cook until tomatoes soften and lose their shape about 4 – 6 minutes.  Stir occasionally to keep from burning.

Add beans and stir together with tomato-garlic mixture.  Cook until beans are heated through about 5 minutes or so.

Check seasonings.  Add salt if needed.

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Provided by General Mills, Inc.

1 1/2 cups Bisquick Original baking mix

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk or water

2 tablespoons shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

Topping (below)

Heat oven to 350 F.  Grease and flour 8-inch square pan or 9-inch round pan.

Beat all ingredients except topping on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.  Beat on medium speed 4 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.  Pour into pan.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean; cool slightly.

Make Topping; spread over cake.  Set oven control to Broil.  Broil about 3 inches from heat about 3 minutes or until golden brown.

Topping

1/2 cup flaked coconut

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped nuts

3 tablespoons margarine or or butter, softened

2 tablespoons milk

Stir together all ingredients.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Heat oven to 375 F.  Use 9-inch square pan.  Decrease baking mix to 1 1/3 cups and add 1/3 cup all-purpose flour.  Increase milk to 2/3 cup.  Bake about 25 min.

Makes 8 servings.

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