In A Nutshell

I'm sure a real Colombian person would shudder at my interpretation of this soup; I should really just call it chicken and potato soup but Colombian makes it sound more exotic and interesting. You can use leftover chicken from a roasted chicken or if you make your own chicken broth, use the chicken meat from there. 1 large white onion, chopped 1 T olive oil, veg oil or butter 1/2 t dried oregano 1 potato, shredded coarsely on a box grater 2 potatoes, peeled and diced 6 cups chicken broth 2 cups leftover roast chicken meat 1 cup corn (frozen is fine) chopped cilantro vegeta seasoning or chicken bouillon salt and pepper to taste accompaniments:  diced avocado capers, drained limes Saute the onion in the olive oil until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, oregano, 1 t salt, vegeta to taste, pepper and both the shredded potato and the cubed potato. Bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes; add the corn and cook another 5-10 minutes or so until t...

This is my favorite cookie ever; it is really more like a pastry than a cookie-- light, crisp and not too sweet. I am forced to admit, however, that they are a pain in the ass to make. They are time-consuming and don't yield a lot of cookies. The method I'm about to describe is imprecise and vague, but despite all this, I hope you'll try them anyway.... 8 oz. 4% fat, creamed or small curd cottage cheese 2 sticks (8 oz.) cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes 2 cups flour 1/4 t salt sour cherry and apricot preserves In a food processor, combine cottage cheese, salt and flour (or with a pastry blender); add the butter and process just until the dough comes together. This is a lot like a pie dough or pastry dough so you don't want to overwork it. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and shape into squares; wrap each piece in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour or more. I like to take out the dough for maybe 30 minutes before I'm going to roll it out so that it ...

I love this granola as a snack, on yogurt or with milk eaten like cereal; it's simple and very delicious. The recipe comes from a long long ago issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. 4 cups old-fashioned oats 1 1/2 cups slivered almonds (I usually use the toasted slivered almonds from Trader Joe's) 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1/4 t salt 1/2 t cinnamon 1/4 cup vegetable oil or canola oil (although, it has just occurred to me that almond oil might be yummy) 1/4 cup honey 1 t vanilla 1 1/2 cups dried tart cherries (I love the ones from Costco- Montmorency dried cherries) Preheat oven to 350º.  In a large bowl mix oats, nuts, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. In a small saucepan warm the oil and honey until the honey is melted into the oil- a little tip: pour the oil in the measuring glass first and then add the honey so that it will all pour out easily together; add the vanilla and stir. Pour the liquid over the oat mixture and stir until well-coated. Spread the gr...

This is an unholy delight; I think you can never make enough of these. I use a cast iron round griddle type thing. It's about 14" or so in diameter (just guessing)- pretty big. 6 T unsalted butter, divided- melt 2 T first and brush griddle 4 large Idaho potatoes (around 3 lbs, give or take) kosher salt ground pepper Preheat oven to 425º. Brush the cast iron griddle with 2 T of the butter. Peel the potatoes and trim the ends off; cut potatoes into 1/8" slices (using a mandoline is easiest but alas, it can be done by hand!). Arrange the slices concentrically, overlapping them slightly. Brush the whole thing with the remaining 4 T melted butter (don't be tempted to skimp here on this part- after all, Julia Child lived well into her 90's and consumed astonishing amounts of butter and cream-- just have a glass of red wine alongside!). Sprinkle generously with salt (see previous parenthetical- same argument applies) and pepper and bake for about 1 hour, turnin...

This recipe comes from Barefoot Contessa Parties ; after trying many different recipes, I have to say that this is my favorite; they are tender and perfect. If you like raisins in your rugelach, you can add them in with the filling- I'm not a fan. 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature 1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 1/4 cup sugar plus 9 T 1/4 t salt 1 t vanilla 2 cups flour 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed 1 1/2 t cinnamon 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped 1/2 cup apricot preserves, pureed smooth in the food processor 1 egg beaten with 1 T milk for the egg wash Cream the butter and cheese until light; add 1/4 cup sugar, salt and vanilla. Add the flour on low speed and mix just until combined. Form the dough into a ball and cut into 4; flatten each piece into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour. For the filling: combine 6 T sugar, the brown sugar, 1/2 t cinnamon and the walnuts. Roll each disc of dough into a 9" circle; spre...

This is another one of my sister-in-law Caroline's salad recipes. It is absolutely delicious and perfect for the festive holiday season. The genius of this salad lies with the dressing; you can improvise on the salad ingredients with whatever you like, such as pears, dried cranberries etc. For the dressing : 1/4 cup fresh cranberries 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 1 T red onion, chopped 1 T sugar 1 t Dijon mustard 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 t salt pepper For the salad : mixed greens diced apples avocado walnuts (I used candied) gorgonzola cheese crumbles dried cherries or cranberries Puree the cranberries in the food processor until finely chopped. Add all the ingredients except the oil; gradually add the oil with the processor running. Toss salad ingredients with dressing to taste.

I can even make carrots decadent! This recipe comes from Fine Cooking; I used the multi-colored carrots from Trader Joe's but any carrots will work. 1 1/2 lbs carrots 1 parsnip (that hated white thing that looks like a carrot) 2 shallots, chopped or cut into wedges 2 slices bacon, snipped into small pieces with scissors 1 T orange juice 2 t red wine vinegar 2 t honey 2 T EVOO Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat; add the carrots, parsnip, shallots and bacon along with 1 t salt and some freshly ground pepper. Partially cover and cook, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Uncover and lower the heat a bit. Stir the vegetables and try to have them in a single layer across the pan (as best you can). Brown for another 12-16 minutes. Remove from heat and add the juice, vinegar and honey. The recipe calls for fresh thyme which I don't like and never have but if you like it, add that at the end as well.

A gorgeous and festive holiday drink that tastes divine!  I tore this recipe out of a magazine and can't identify where it came from but I'm thankful with every sip. This drink is not super sweet so if you like it sweeter, add a few tablespoons of sugar to the mixture. Note added 12/22/13: I realized that the blending instructions were not very good so I have revised them a little. 1 can frozen cranberry juice cocktail concentrate (or cranberry-pomegranate), thawed 1 1/2 cups tequila 2/3 cup orange liqueur, such as Triple Sec or Grand Marnier 1 can jellied cranberry sauce 10 T fresh lime juice Blend all the ingredients except the alcohol in a blender; pour out the margarita base into a pitcher and add the tequila and triple sec; stir well. Blend 2 cups of the margarita mixture along with 3 cups of ice until it's frozen like a Slushy. Pour into (salt-rimmed, if you like) glasses and repeat until the mixture is gone. There are about 5 cups total of the mixture, s...

This is inspired by another Rachel Ray recipe but I made it even easier and faster. The only part that takes a little time is roasting and peeling the peppers, but I feel it's worth it. If you want to make it healthier, you can leave off the chips and cheese. Great for a cold day and also for the busy holidays. 2 lbs ground chicken 1 can white beans 2 T olive oil 3 poblano peppers, roasted, peeled and diced 1 onion, diced 1 garlic, minced 1/4 cup chopped cilantro 2 envelopes Frontera Grill green enchilada sauce (found in any supermarket; I used one envelope green enchilada sauce and 1 green skillet sauce) 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese crushed tortilla chips Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof or cast iron skillet and saute the onion and garlic in it until softened. Add the ground chicken and cook over high heat until cooked through, breaking up with a spoon. Add the beans, poblano peppers and Frontera sauces; simmer for about 15 minutes until wa...

This recipe is adapted from Food and Wine magazine; I made a couple of changes, the biggest one being the baking time. Sometimes I wonder if anyone tried out the recipe over there at F&W prior to publication because the 30 minute baking time they suggest seems absurd.  Conveniently, you can freeze the cookie dough logs and thaw them in the fridge the night before you want to bake them. This allows you to have freshly baked cookies at your leisure during the busy holiday season. 2 sticks (8oz.) unsalted butter 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 t salt 1 t vanilla 2 cups flour 1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped sugar for sprinkling With the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar, salt for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping once or twice.  Add the vanilla and then the flour on low speed and mix just until the dough comes together. Add the pecans and mix on low speed only until incorporated. Divide the dough in half and form into 2 inch diameter logs. This sound...

We had this drink at Prasinos in La Grange and made an honorable imitation at home. It's fresh to death and so so so yummy. Plus think of the health benefits of grapefruit juice... all that vitamin C! 1 1/2 oz. Hendrick's gin 1/2 oz. St. Germain (elderflower- no idea what that actually is) 1 t agave 1/2 small lemon, squeezed hearty splash of Simply Pure or freshly squeezed grapefruit juice Stir the agave and lemon juice in the bottom of a glass. Add the liquors and then ice; splash the grapefruit juice over to taste. I don't know if this drink would benefit from being mixed in a shaker and then poured over ice- they served it over crushed ice at the restaurant but unfortunately our refrigerator does not have the space age ice crushing technology that I've heard other fridges have.

This is without a doubt the best burger I have ever eaten (through no particular skill of my own, I might add). It is inspired by a recipe in a Rachel Ray magazine which is an adaptation of the Graze Burger from Graze in Madison, Wisconsin. You were supposed to ask your butcher to grind 1/2 lb of bacon for you (as if we all naturally have our own butchers) but when I asked them to do that at Whole Foods, they stubbornly refused, citing sanitary issues. I got around this issue by cutting up the bacon at home and chopping it very fine in the food processor. The burger is decadent and delicious beyond belief. 1 lb ground sirloin 1/2 lb ground bacon 1/2 lb ground ribeye steak (I got one smaller steak ground and it was closer to 3/4 lb) 2 large onions 4 slices white cheddar 4 slices yellow cheddar 4 eggs 4 pretzel buns (or brioche) Mix all the meats together with your hand to distribute evenly without overworking it. Form into 4 giant patties if you're feeling piggish (whic...

I absolutely love posole (and pretty much all Mexican cuisine) but the preparation can be time consuming. I decided to try a quick version (title courtesy of Leksa) and it turned out to be delicious.  Some heat on a cold day... 6 cups chicken broth 1 large can hominy, drained and rinsed 1 jar Frontera Guajillo Salsa 2 t guajillo chili powder (available in ethnic grocery stores) 2 cups shredded leftover roast or rotisserie chicken Heat all ingredients together thoroughly and serve with your favorite accompaniments: small diced radishes shredded lettuce or diced cabbage small dice red onion crushed tortilla chips (I like the blue ones for visual gratification) crumbled añejo cheese, or ricotta salata (or any cheese you like, for that matter) limes

This is our health drink- all that vitamin C to ward off evil germs... The Paloma is adapted from Bon Appetit. salt the rim of a glass 1 t agave syrup juice of 1/2 large lime Mix these in your salted glass. Add ice and then: 1 1/2 oz. tequila 3 or 4 oz. grapefruit juice (Simply Pure is very good)