Recipes
New to website:  Check out SF Italy 2006 and see what happened on the trip!  Comments are welcome on our blog spot below: www.slowfoodkc.blogspot.com!!!

Divina Cuchina's Brushetta
Divina Cucina's Salame Dolce
Divina Cucina's Apple Tort
Divina Cucina's Panzanella (Tuscan Bread Salad)
Cibreo's Yellow Bell Pepper Soup




Bob's Potato Salad with Lemon and Chive Vinaigrette
Fervere Bread Pudding
Fish Tacos
Fruit Ricotta Mousse
Jasper Jr.'s Slow Pasta
Joan's Great Beer Bread
Joan's Savory Beef & Vegetable Stew
Matthew and Sara's Salsa Adventure
Matthew "Something Different" Salad
Mike's Artichoke and Mushroom Lasagna
Pappardella Con Anitra "ModoMio"
Poco's Mexican Hot Chocolate
Polenta con Funghi e Formagio
Mike's Roasted Butternut Squash, Rosemary, and Garlic Lasagne
Slow Summer Time Italian Bread Salad
Spaghetti Squash with Vegetables & Mozzarella
Sung Son Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Suzanne’s Pear, Apple Cranberry Compote
Venison Chops with Cognac Mustard Sauce
Wild Berry Crisp





Cibrèo's Yellow Bell Pepper Soup
(Passato di Peperoni Gialli)

 4 yellow bell peppers
3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, left whole
1 red onion
1 medium carrot
1 stalk celery
1 bay leaf
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cups vegetable broth
12 croutons of fried bread (for garnish)
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese


Finely chop the carrot, onion, and celery into a tiny dice. Sauté slowly in olive oil until the vegetables begin to turn golden.

Wash the bell peppers, remove the seeds and any white veins on the inside. Cut into into quarters and place in the pot to cook with the whole potatoes. Add the broth, and if necessary, water to cover. Cook for 45 minutes and then purée. In Italy we use a food mill to remove and skin and seeds, and then an immersion blender to purée. If it seems to thick, add more water. If the bell peppers seem a little acidic, add 1 cup milk. Heat with a bay leave, but do not let boil.

Remove the bay leaf before serving. Garnish with croutons fried in extra virgin olive oil. Put a drizzle of olive oil and the parmesan in a small pile in the center of the soup.

In season, Fabio Picchi of Cibrèo does this as a pumpkin soup, garnishing the soup with crushed amaretti cookies.




Divina Cucin'a Panzanella (Tuscan Bread Salad)
 

Divina Cucina's Apple Tort

Divina Cucina's Salame Dolce

Sung Son Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Makes: 20 spring rolls.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Butter the bottom only of a regular size bread loaf pan and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour and sugar, then pour the beer slowly down the side of the bowl, so it will not foam. Mix all until flour is well blended. The mixture should be sticky. You can also make this in your electric mixer-watch beer does not foam and blend a little bit by hand before you start up the mixer - using your paddle attachment for two minutes - no longer. Pour into the loaf pan, leveling out the batter as best you can.

Bake for 52 minutes. Remove from oven, brush the top of the loaf with butter and return to oven for 3 more minutes.

Remove from oven and take out of pan to cool.

Cut bread in thick slices and serve with butter

back to top

Joan’s Savory Beef and Vegetable Stew

Serves 6-8

In hot oil in Dutch oven, brown beef cubs well on all sides, remove and set aside.

Add chopped onions, peppers, and celery to Dutch oven, and sauté until tender – about 8 minutes. Return beef to pan.

Add parsley, garlic, tomato sauce, wine, beef stock, salt, pepper, thyme, bay leaf.

Bring to boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, covered 2 ¼ hours.

Add vegetables, and simmer, covered 1½ hours longer.

Remove from heat. Skim off any fat. Remove bay leaf.

Mix flour with 2 tablespoons cold water and stir into beef mixture.

Arrange tomato wedges, skin side up, on top. Simmer, covered, 10 minutes until slightly thickened

If you want to make the beef stew really special – add a puff pastry crust. Put your stew in oven-proof mugs.

On a floured surface, cut puff pastry into 4 (4-inch) rounds. Moisten rims of mugs with water. Gently adhere puff pastry to each mug. Transfer to baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. (350’ oven).

Serve this with this beer bread for an extra special treat- this bread is so easy and has very few ingredients – the type of beer you use makes the bread taste slightly different. I like to experiment with some of the local beers. Being from Denver of course I am partial to Coors.

back to top

Fervere Bread Pudding

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cut bread into six slices and then cube. Place bread on baking sheet and toast in oven (approximately 30 minutes).

Combine softened butter and honey. Beat until it has the consistency of honey butter. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each egg is added. Add vanilla and spices and continue beating. Add milk and beat until combined.

Place toasted bread cubes in a large bowl and add milk mixture. Push down the toasted pieces until all of the cubes are covered. Let site for 30 minutes to absorb the liquid.

Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees.

Sprinkle the toasted pecans into the mixture and stir. Add mixture to baking dish and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

back to top
 

Filling

For filling:

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and garlic; sauté until mushrooms release juices and begin to brown, about 7 minutes. Add artichokes and vermouth. Cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

For béchamel sauce:

Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour; stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce thickens and lightly coats spoon, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Stir in 1 1/2 cups parmesan. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg.

Spread 2/3 cup béchamel sauce over bottom of 13x9x2 inch glass baking dish. Top with enough noodles to cover bottom of dish. Spread 1/4 of artichoke mixture over. Spoon 2/3 cup béchamel sauce over. Top béchamel with1/4 mozzarella.

Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons Parmesan. Top with enough noodles to cover. Repeat layering 3 more times, finishing with layer of noodles, then remaining béchamel.

Sprinkle with remaining parmesan. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead.) Cover with foil and refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 350F .Bake Lasagna covered with foil 1 hour (or 1 hour and 15 minutes if chilled). Remove foil. Increase temperature to 450F.Bake lasagna until golden on top, about 10 minutes longer.

Makes 8 servings.

back to top
 

Venison Chops with Cognac Mustard Sauce
From The Best Little Barbecue Cookbook by Karen Adler

Venison is a very lean meat and is best when prepared medium-rare.

Serves 2

COGNAC MUSTARD SAUCE

Coat chops with oil and sprinkle with cracked pepper. Whisk all of the sauce ingredients together. Divide the sauce into two small bowls, refrigerating one bowl and using the other bowl for basting. (This avoids cross contamination of the raw meat. You may use the refrigerated bowl as a serving sauce on the table.)

Prepare a hot fire and add grape wood. Grill chops over medium-hot fire for 3 to 4 minutes each side, basting several times with the sauce. Plate the meat and serve with the extra bowl of sauce.

back to top
 

Fish Tacos

Bocordi or Talapia - rub taco seasoning on one side of fish place fish on aluminum foil - grill till opaque - shred with fork heat iron skillet - place corn tortilla in pan - sprinkle with Monterey jack cheese - remove when melted add fish, shredded cabbage, sweet onion, avocado and tomatillo salsa options: tomatoes, lettuce, olives, etc.

back to top
 

Spaghetti Squash with Vegetables & Mozzarella

This recipe makes a veggie rich, cheesy casserole, almost like lasagna.  Spaghetti Squash substitutes for the role traditionally taken by pasta in such dishes for a delicious lower calorie alternative. 

 Serves 4-6 as a main dish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix the cheese together, set aside.

Heat olive oil in a skillet and add the onion, pepper and garlic.  Sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Add crushed tomatoes, basil, and crushed red pepper (if using).  Simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes.  Mix cooked squash well with the cooked vegetables and olives and put half in the bottom of a large (13 x 9-inch) baking dish.  Top with half the cheese mixture, followed by the other half of the squash mixture, then the rest of t he cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and slightly browned.  Let cool 10-15 minutes before serving.

back to top
 

Matthew "Something Different" Salad

Makes 12 Cups
Total Time: 30 Minutes + Marinating

For the Vinaigrette--Whisk Together;
Add:

For the Salad--

Toss in 2 T. Fresh Lemon Juice;

Layer:

Serve Over:

 12 oz. mixed salad greens

Whisk together olive oil and vinegar; add shallot and seasonings.  Toss avocados in lemon juice.  Layer ingredients in order in a large non-reactive dish.  Pour vinaigrette over the layers; cover and chill 2-3 hours. Serve the marinated vegetables and vinaigrette by spooning over mixed salad greens; serve immediately.

This is slightly different from what Sara did.  She did not use a shallot or onions (because I would have picked them out anyway).  She did not add salt, just freshly-ground black pepper.  She used a mixture of cheeses that  were pre-grated (feta, provolone and something else; feta alone would  have been sufficient, but she happened to have this in the refrigerator).

Sara also prepared the avocados first, then layered on the tomatoes, then the basil, then the cheese, and THEN poured olive oil and (not white wine vinegar but) B.R. Cohn Cabernet vinegar over the whole thing.  Then she put this in the refrigerator to chill while she tore up fresh romaine lettuce, not mixed salad greens from a bag.  She cut the center veins out of the Romaine lettuce and discarded them; this made for a flatter base that held the tomato/avocado mixture better.  Probably a better idea to whisk the wine/olive oil together first, but it tasted just fine anyway.  Other than that, the recipe is the same.  I think the Cabernet vinegar is probably better, but use what you have.

back to top
 

Bob's Potato Salad with Lemon and Chive Vinaigrette

(Serves 8-12)

4 pounds small new potatoes (brown or red skin and as small as possible) wash and leave skin on, but cut out blemishes.  Put in pot and cover with water.  Add 2 to 4 sprigs fresh mint and salt.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes so the potatoes are slightly soft.

For the vinaigrette:  Mix together one to two large cloves garlic and ground sea salt to make a paste.  Whisk in 6 tablespoons lemon juice, grated zest of 2 lemons, 2 large teaspoons French grain mustard, 8-10 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.

Drain the potatoes and place in bowl.  Pour on the vinaigrette dressing while potatoes are still hot.  Toss to coat potatoes.  Place chopped fresh chives and/or chopped fresh basil and chopped green onions on top and serve hot or cold.

back to top
 

Matthew and Sara's Salsa Adventure

INGREDIENTS:

 PREPARATION:

Wash all tomatoes, peppers, celery, cilantro. Peel onions.  Cut up in slices vertically.  I quartered them first, then took out the center sections, then cut the remaining outer portions in half. Cut bell peppers apart.  Make sure all seeds and white portions are  removed from inside.  Cut into strips vertically.  Cut tops off jalapenos.  Take half of the de-topped jalapenos and remove the seeds and white inner portions.  Remove tough stems from bottom of cilantro.  Make sure cilantro is dry before use, as it will run through grinder better.  We used a salad spinner to remove moisture from the cilantro, then spread it on a towel to dry.  Peel tomatoes.  We did this by immersing them in boiling water for approx. 5-10 minutes, then immersing them in ice water until the skins peel off.  We used approximately 30 pounds of ice doing this - I got 2 25-pound bags at the store, and we had some left.  Cut celery into lengths appropriate for the food grinder.  A side note: Some of you probably already know this, but you have to peel tomatoes that you intend to can.  The acid and other chemicals in the skins can cause the contents of the jar to go bad if you don't remove the skins first.  I was not aware of this.

MAKING THE SALSA:

Put everything through a food grinder, including the tomatoes.  We processed each vegetable separately, doing the tomatoes last.  We dumped the other vegetables into the Nesco roaster after grinding, ensuring that they were thoroughly mixed, and then used other bowls to hold a batch of ground tomatoes to which we would add the Nesco mixture until it tasted good. Eventually we just added tomatoes to the Nesco roaster.  We had two large pots of salsa and the Nesco roaster full of salsa when we were done. We put all of the jalapenos through the grinder.  The ones with the tops cut off we put through seeds and all.  The de-seeded ones we also put through the grinder after removing the seeds. The cilantro also went through the grinder, although I had to | put it down the chute in wads big enough for the plunger to be able to force it into the worm screw.  This produced a cilantro paste that was just wonderful.  An alternative would have been to finely chop the cilantro.

CANNING THE SALSA:

Once the salsa was made, we started canning.  This involves heating the salsa -- not cooking it -- until it just begins to bubble.  In the meantime, we put all the canning jars into the dishwasher and washed them.  We put all the metal rings and flats (lids) for the canning jars in a pot of boiling water on the stove.  Sara has a canning processing plant, which is a very large pot with a rack inside that holds canning jars.  This rack can be suspended from the sides of the pot to place the jars into it, then lowered
completely into the water.  We filled this pot with water and set it to boil also.  We timed the dishwasher cycle to end just as the salsa was getting hot enough and the water on the stove began to boil.  This ensured that the jars would be hot.

To fill a jar: 

Fill the hot jar with the hot salsa.  Sara has a wide-mouthed funnel and ladle which makes this process much easier.  Leave approximately 1/4" head space at the top of the jar.  (Sara said 1/2", but it looked shorter to me.) Sprinkle 1 tsp. kosher salt across the top of the salsa.  WIPE OFF THE RIM AND THREADS OF THE JAR with a clean towel.  This is the most important thing.  Any errant piece of food can cause the jar to fail to seal completely and the food to go bad.  Use tongs to remove a flat from the boiling pot on the stove.  Place it across the top of the jar.  Get a ring from the same pot and screw it down over the flat.  Place the entire jar into the processing pot (the pot with the rack and the boiling water). She has a set of tongs that are designed for picking up canning jars and placing them into the rack; I would advise the use of such a tool, especially to remove the hot jars from the boiling pot after processing! Once all jars are in place, lower the rack into the pot and put the lid on. Process (boil) quarts for 30 minutes, pints for 20 minutes.

The reason you heat the salsa, jars, etc. is that if everything was not hot before you put the jar in the boiling water, the jar would crack.  After boiling the jars in the water, you take them out and put them on a rack on the counter to cool.  It is during this cooling process that the lids self-seal; you hear a "schlump" and the pop-up lid goes down.  As you can additional batches of jars, your water will begin to boil away.  We put water from the tap into the pot with the rings and lids, let it get boiling, then used this water to replenish the processing pot. This allowed us to heat up 1-2 cups of water in a smaller pot, rather than dumping it directly into the (very large) processing pot and having to wait for it to get boiling again before processing a new batch. We used the dishwasher to eliminate one of the pots on the stove that would normally be required.  To heat up the jars, we would use the rinse-hold feature of the dishwasher after the jars in the dishwasher started to cool down.  This sprays hot water on the jars for 4 minutes, ensuring that they would be hot.  Again, we timed the cycle to end just as we needed more jars to fill.  If you don't keep your hot water hot, you may not be able to do this, but it worked well for us.

We ended up with 14 quarts and 7 pints of salsa.  We learned early on in the process that we needed to strain the salsa to some extent because these particular tomatoes were extremely juicy.  At the end, we canned an additional 3 jars that were mostly juice, with maybe 1/4 salsa.  We will use the contents of these jars to cook with.  We thought, for example, that we could use the juice from these jars in place of water when preparing rice, and that this would make a good "Spanish rice" type of thing.  The salsa in the rice along with the juice should make it that much tastier!

I may be easily amused, but I'm impressed by a process that can preserve the flavor and quality of the produce at the farmer's market without the use of poly mangled hydro chlorinated beta whatever.  We got done around 11:00 last night, but it was well worth it.  The salsa we wound up with is sort of medium-hot.  It has a great flavor and has a nice kick to it.  It's made with all fresh ingredients, it has a wonderful flavor, and it will still taste that way next January when the snow is flying.

back to top
 

Slow Summer Time Italian Bread Salad

Soak the bread slices in a bowl with cold water until the bread is spongy.  Gently squeeze out the water until the bread is as dry as you can make it with your hands.  Work the bread with your fingers to make coarse crumbs.  In a bowl, combine the bread, onion, tomato, cucumber, olive oil, chopped basil, salt, and pepper.  Toss gently by hand.  Cover and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes or so.  Just before serving, toss again with the vinegar and a bit more olive oil (to taste).  Garnish with the tomato slices and the sprigs of basil.

A great salad by itself or as a prelude for just about any food associated with summer.  You will be rewarded if you make it using, whenever possible, fresh locally-grown ingredients.  Because freshness of the ingredients is so important, this salad would not be quite as good during the off-season. 

back to top
 

Fruit Ricotta Mousse

TIP:  When choice fruits are plentiful, freeze some for out-of-season enjoyment.  To prevent soft fruits – such as berries, pitted cherries, or sliced peaches – from clumping together, spread them on trays with each piece separate and not touching its neighbor.  Freeze for 24 hours.  Then, working quickly, pack the fruit into tightly sealed bags.

 * In the winter, you might use frozen blueberries, raspberries, or pitted sweet cherries.  I don’t recommend using frozen strawberries because they don’t retain their texture well.  Look faro frozen fruit that contains no added sugar or syrup.

 ** Use a spread made of the same fruit as the fresh fruit you are using.

In the bowl of a food processor or with an electric mixer, whip the ricotta for about 2 minutes, or until very smooth and slightly fluffed up.  Rinse and stem the fresh fruit.  Cut large strawberries into smaller pieces, and pit cherries.  Set aside several pieces of fruit for garnishing the finished mousse.  Fold fresh fruit and the fruit spread into the ricotta.  Whip the cream until quite stiff, and fold in.

Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes, and then serve in individu8al dessert cups, topped with the reserved fruit garnish. 

NOTE:  If you make Fruit Ricotta Mousse ahead of time, wait until just before serving to fold in the whipped cream.

back to top
 

Wild Berry Crisp

This delicious crisp tastes best with a bounty of freshly picked raspberries and blackberries.  You can use frozen or canned berries as well.  Other combinations of fruit, such as peaches and apples are also good.— just use your imagination.  Serve the crisp warm with vanilla ice cream.  You can also use whipping cream and fresh berries as garnish.

 Serves 10 – 12

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.   In a medium bowl, combine the butter, sugar, flour ands granola.  Coat an 8x8-inch baking pan with cooking spray.  Put half granola mixture in the pan.  Cover the granola with berries.  Sprinkle the sugar, ginger and cinnamon over the berries, then top with the remaining granola mixture.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 45 to 50 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes, until lightly browned.  Cool slightly and serve with vanilla ice cream and garnish with fresh berries.

 back to top
 

Polenta con Funghi e Formagio

Bring 4 cups of chicken stock to a boil in a 3-quart pot.  Add cornmeal and cook 5-6 minutes.  Whisk in butter, cheese, and cream.  Season with salt and pepper.

Gorgonzola Mushroom Sauce

Saute` mushrooms in butter in a medium skillet.  Reduce with Marsala wine.  Add cream and whisk in Gorgonzola.  Serve over polenta.  Top with fresh rosemary.  Serves 4-6

back to top
 

Pappardella Con Anitra "Modo Mio"

Roasting Duck:

Preheat oven to 400.  Place duck breast side up in a large roasting pan.  Fill cavity with carrots, onions, celery and orange.  Roast for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.  Let cool.  De-bone and shred the duck.

 Sauce:

 In a large pot, sauté onion in olive oil until onion caramelizes.  Add garlic and take off stove.  Add tomatoes, Chianti, red pepper flakes, fennel, and salt.  Place back on stove and cook for 1 hour.  Add roasted duck and simmer.  Add basil.  Cook pasta according to package directions.  Serve sauce on top of pasta, and dust with grated Romano.  Serves 6. 

Modo mio translates to "my way", and this is my personal favorite.  The red pepper really adds great flavor.  I serve this dish in the fall and winter, or serve it over freshly made polenta.

back to top
 

Jasper Jr.'s Slow Pasta

 Bring 2 qts water to a boil.  Add pasta and stir.  Cook until al dente.  In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil.  Add snails and asparagus and sauté until cooked, 4-5 minutes.  Add garlic and take off stove.  Add red pepper flakes, parsley and mint.  Drain pasta, reserving some of the water.  Toss pasta with olive oil mixture, add Sicilian bread crumbs and continue to toss.  Use reserved water and more olive oil if past is too dry.  Serve hot.  Serves 2-3.

This is a unique pasta dish I created for Slow Food USA and for my press luncheon at Jasper's to introduce Slow Food to Kansas City.  I use snails because that is the "mascot" for Slow Food.  I like the flat pasta for this dish in which you can make fresh pasta and cut little squares.

back to top
 

Home | Who We Are | How To Join | KC Cultural Center | Recipes | Links | Past Events | Contact Us

Last updated July 29, 2007

Copyright © 2004 Slow Food Kansas City Convivium.  All Rights Reserved.