Huge Salad by Sicut Cervus

Just made one of those for dinner, using pretty much everything in the fridge and then some:

meat loaf, cubed

rice

1 endive, sliced

onion, chopped

basil, from garden (LOTS)

grated mozzarella

leftover peas

vinaigrette salad dressing

2 large fresh tomatoes (no, not from garden, though we're getting close), diced

juice of one lemon

lots of fresh ground black pepper

Broiled Crab Cakes by Grizzled Adams

I just made broiled crab cakes last night, easiest recipe ever....

1 egg yolk

1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon dry mustard

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 pound Maryland jumbo lump crab meat

Preheat the broiler.

In a large bowl, combine the egg yolk, salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, mayonnaise and parsley. Then, gently fold in the crab meat (be careful not to break up the lumps). Shape into cakes and broil for 5 minutes.

I dusted the 4, 1/4lb cakes with Old Bay b4 broiling....very tasty

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo by Erythrosine

four chicken leg quarters, or ten chicken thighs (with bones)
one pound of smoked sausage such as Andouille or a slightly
dried smoked sausage labeled "Cajun flavor", or any
smoked sausage
1/2 cup bacon grease, or vegetable oil, or clarified butter
[I used the fat from a 12-ounce package of bacon]
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
2 onions (preferably hot), diced
two bell peppers (one red and one green), diced
half a large bunch of celery, diced
one 32-ounce can of diced or crushed tomatoes
one pound of sliced okra, fresh or frozen (16-ounce bag)
one 16-ounce bag of frozen corn kernels
5 dried or fresh bay leaves
1.5 teaspoons dried thyme, or the fresh equivalent (grocery
store dried thyme is often moldy-smelling, so I prefer
Penzey's dried thyme)
one teaspoon salt (to taste)
1/8 teaspoon ground celery seed
one teaspoon ground cumin seed
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
one teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika

Making the broth might be most conveniently done the night before, or in the morning. Cook the chicken thighs or leg quarters in just enough water to mostly cover, with a lid on the pot, turning the chicken pieces once or twice, for about an hour. You do not need to remove the skin first. Remove the chicken pieces to a plate and allow to cool. remove the meat from the bones and put the bones, skin, and hard bits back into the broth. Cook the broth on low for another hour or longer, to extract more flavor from the skin and bones. Cool the broth and chill it so that you can easily remove the thick layer of fat from the top. Discard the bones, etc., and reserve the broth. I think I had about six cups of broth.

Then, start by making the roux. In a heavy-bottomed frying pan, over medium heat, cook flour in grease or oil, stirring constantly, until distinctly browned. Do not burn the roux; if it burns and gets black specks in it, throw it away and start again. Don't allow the roux to spatter, because it can cause bad burns on your skin.

Allow the roux to cool a little, then try tossing in a piece of diced onion. If the sizzling is not too dramatic, add the onion and celery to the roux and cook until the onion is somewhat translucent. Add the bell peppers. If you want to add a chopped seeded jalapeño, now is the time.

At this point, transfer to a soup pot or a slow cooker. Place the roux and vegetables in the slow cooker or soup pot, along with canned tomatoes, okra, and corn. Add bay leaves and thyme. Slice smoked sausage and add to the gumbo. Add reserved chicken broth and stir. Cook on the highest setting in the slow cooker, or medium heat on the stove top, until the gumbo starts to simmer (small bubbles at the edges and hot throughout). Chop the chicken into bite-sizes squares and add it to the gumbo, turn the heat to low and cook for several hours. If the low setting on your slow cooker is too high, so that it causes the gumbo to boil at the edges, turn to the "keep warm" setting instead. If the low setting on your stove is not low enough to prevent burning and sticking, then watch carefully and stir frequently, and turn the heat off for up to one hour at a time (not more than two hours off at a time). Taste the gumbo, and add salt as needed (one teaspoon was right for me), plus ground celery seed, ground cumin, red pepper flakes, and paprika (preferably smoked paprika, if you can get it). If, after eating a quarter-cup of the gumbo, you decide it's too mild, add more crushed red pepper, or chopped seed

Paneer by Pagan Mama

So I Googled, and by golly, believe it or not, you too can make your own Indian fresh cheese in about an hour. It's incredibly easy and fun and it WORKS. We've just finished a glorious mess o' saag paneer. This is the paneer recipe I used:

Paneer
Yield: 1 1/2 cups
1/2 gallon whole milk
2 TBSP lemon juice


1. In a heavy saucepan, bring milk to a boil. (When it has reached full boil, it will look very foamy and quickly - QUICKLY, I say - rise in the pot. To avoid the ensuing mess, remove it from the heat right away.) Add lemon juice and stir until small curds separate from the whey, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Let sit 10 minutes so curds can develop, then drain into a collander lined with 2 layers of cheesecloth. When cool enough to handle, tie up opposite ends of the cheese cloth and squeeze out remaining liquid.
3. Place paneer, still in cheese cloth, on a plate. Flatten to 1/2" thick and top with another plate. Rest something heavy on top (such as several cans or the Joy of Cooking) and let sit 20 minutes.
4. Pour off any liquid that remains and refrigerate overnight, or use immediately by cutting paneer into 1/2" cubes and frying gently in oil, turning to brown each side.

Watermelon, Feta, and Arugula Salad by Grizzled Adams

Ingredients:

4 cups watermelon, cut into one inch cubes
3 cups loosely packed baby arugula
6 ounces crumbled or cubed feta cheese
About 20 peppermint leaves, chiffonaded (wash them, dry them, roll them up, then thinly slice into strips)
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

Make the vinaigrette: In a small bowl or container, whisk together the orange juice, lemon juice, shallots, honey, salt and pepper.

Pour in the olive oil into the vinaigrette mixture in one thin stream, whisking briskly as you pour to blend.

In a large bowl, gently toss the watermelon, arugula, feta, and peppermint.

Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and toss until evenly distributed.

Enjoy!

And NO, I did not "chiffonaded" the fucking mint, I just chopped it into strips....

Sophie's Choice Cocktail by bookseller

I peeled about 6 oz. of fresh ginger, and threw it into the food processor with half a peeled cucumber, half a bunch of mint (I had more), and the heart of a stalk of lemongrass; processed till everything was very finely chopped. Dumped this slush into a small saucepan with 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, half a cup of brown sugar (ok, I used my much loved sugar sub, the brown version), and 6 tablespoons of honey (or, if you're me, 6 tablespoons of mint syrup, which is pretty much the sweetness and consistency of honey). Also half a tablespoon of whole black peppercorns, and a cup of water. I simmered everything for about 10 minutes, strained it, and am now boiling down the syrup to...syrup consistency.

It's pretty amazing. You smell the mint first, then you get a sweet-lime taste with a slight floral note from the cucumber, and then a real bite from the ginger and the pepper. According to the original recipe, it's supposed to be mixed in equal parts with whiskey, lime juice, and club soda, over ice. I'm thinking this is going to be pretty fabulous. I have no recollection of what the original cocktail was called, and in any case I did tweak it fairly substantially, so I reserve the right to name my version.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you....the Sophie's Choice.