Sweet Green Tomato Relish

As I came zooming down our gravel road, home from work...almost dark, I see my neighbor standing outside with a plastic bag full of something.  She held it up in the air as I passed by...I looked back, and I realized she was waiting for me!!  Slammed on the breaks ...(kind of fun on the gravel) and I backed up to her house.  There she stood with a bag full of green tomatoes... She had run out of things to do with them.  After all you can only eat so many fried green tomatoes.

I searched the good old Internet and found a couple recipes... I took a little from one and a little more from another..

After cleaning and cutting up the tomatoes; put them in the food processor and roughly chop; then put the tomatoes in a mesh cloth and squeezed as much of liquid that you can.  Chop up 4 medium onions and 4 seeded green peppers (you can use red and yellow as well)  Mix tomatoes, green pepper and onions in a large stainless steel pot.  Add 2 to 3 cups of sugar and 2 to 3 cups vinegar.  Make a spice pouch**, and fill it with pickling spices (a large tablespoon).  Add pouch to tomato mixture along with a tablespoon of celery seed, put on stove and bring to a boil for 30 minutes.  Pour into sterilized jars and seal.

** For the pickling pouch I used a coffee filter and a metal tie wrap to hold it together.

Gravy Meatball Sliders

By Joey Campanaro of The Little Owl, from New York Cooks, by Joan Krellenstein and Barbara Winkler
www.ochef.com/r546.htm
From the day The Little Owl opened, these sliders were a hit, garnering praise from The New York Times, New York magazine and other publications and blogs. Make them with the recipe here and find out for yourself what all the fuss is all about.
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground veal
3/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino-Romano cheese, plus 1/4 cup for garnish
1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
3 large eggs
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped and divided
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cups vegetable oil for frying meatballs
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 Spanish onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh garlic
1 bunch fresh basil
1 tablespoon fennel seed
1 #10 can (96 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes
1 bunch arugula, well washed and dried
36 small garlic buns
Instructions:
Mix the ground meats with the cheese, the panko, 2 cups cold water, the eggs, three-fourths of the chopped parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.
Form the mixture into 36 golf-ball-size meatballs. In a large, shallow saucepot or cast-iron skillet, heat the vegetable oil.
When hot, add the meatballs and cook until browned all over. With a slotted spoon, remove the meatballs and set aside.
Discard the vegetable oil but leave the browned bits of meat in the pan and heat the olive oil. Add the onion, the garlic, the basil, and fennel seed. Cook for 5-8 minutes until slightly brown. Add the can of tomatoes and half a can of water. Cook the sauce over medium heat for 30 minutes; pass the sauce through a food mill and return to the pan. Add the meatballs to the sauce and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
To Serve:
Either buy or make 36 small garlic buns. Cut buns in half and toast, cut sides up, in oven. Top the meatballs with the remaining Pecorino and remaining parsley. Place a few arugula leaves on the bottom half of bun, place the meatball on top with a bit of sauce; add the top of bun, using a skewer or toothpick to hold it in place. Repeat until all buns are assembled; serve 3 per portion.
Yield: Serves 12 as an appetizer

Blue Cheese Souffle

Yield: 16 servings
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup finely crumbled blue cheese
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup diced onion
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper or to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Stir together egg, milk, mayonnaise, cheeses, onion, salt and pepper. Transfer to an 8-inch-square glass or ceramic baking dish.
2. Place the baking dish in a roasting pan; place in the oven, then pour hot water into the roasting pan. The water should come halfway up the sides of the baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until set on top and lightly browned.
3. Serve hot with crusty bread or crackers or sliced apples.
Per serving: 170 calories; 16.5g fat; 5g saturated fat; 34mg cholesterol; 4g protein; 1.5g carbohydrate; 1g sugar; no fiber; 280mg sodium; 104mg calcium; 53mg potassium.

Variation: Instead of an 8-inch baking dish, use individual 3- to 4-ounce ramekins. Reduce baking time as necessary.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/food-and-cooking/recipes/blue-cheese-souffle-the-crossing/article_9a50d1c4-f003-5fd0-84cd-07821717ca2a.html#ixzz1d4DwSFdS

Sweet Potato Salad

Yield: 8 cups
Salt
8 cups peeled and diced sweet potatoes (from about 4 large sweet potatoes)
1 cup finely diced red onion (about 1 medium)
3 cups finely diced celery (about 4 ribs)
1 cup reduced-fat or regular mayonnaise
2 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3/4 cup toasted pecans

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add diced sweet potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 10 minutes. Drain and let cool.
2. In a large bowl, combine sweet potatoes, onion and celery.
3. In another bowl, stir together mayonnaise, honey and mustard. Stir into sweet potato mixture.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and refrigerate until cold.
5. Just before serving, top salad with chopped pecans.
Per 1/2-cup serving: 190 calories; 9g fat; 1g saturated fat; 5mg cholesterol; 3g protein; 27g carbohydrate; 11g sugar; 4g fiber; 185mg sodium; 50mg calcium.

Recipe from the Basket Case Deli adapted for home kitchens by the Post-Dispatch

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/food-and-cooking/recipes/article_915f4ec4-1951-5ede-b697-f0b1ea04dde5.html#ixzz1cajlab1E

Banana walnut bread pudding with a white chocolate butterscotch-banana sauce

Blue Ribbon Cookbook: Better Home Cooking by Bruce and Eric Bromberg
During one of the early days after we first opened the Blue Ribbon Market, we got it in our heads to fill the display shelves with a variety of our gorgeous homemade breads. We soon realized that we had grossly underestimated our shelf space. We had to make hundreds of loaves to make it look full — way more than we could sell.
As if on cue, a French chef (who shall remain nameless) walked into the crazy Bromberg brothers’ bread extravaganza and said he wanted to buy some loaves of white bread to make bread pudding. We were surrounded by baguettes and feeling somewhat frustrated. “You’re welcome to take any bread you want,” we told him. And he looked at us, horrified, saying, “No, no, I need pain de mie!” He walked out, disgusted that we didn’t have the proper pullman white bread for bread pudding.
As soon as he left we decided to prove him wrong. We started cutting up all those baguettes and folded the pieces into the custard we had made for crème brûlée. Then we played around and added different flavorings to different batches (banana walnut turned out to be our favorite), and cooked it all in a water bath. While baking, our puddings smelled sweet, yeasty, and eggy, and they came out golden brown, crunchy on the outside and custardy smooth on the inside. We haven’t used a traditional bread pudding recipe since.
Ingredients
Banana walnut bread pudding
1 vanilla bean
11 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 quart heavy cream
1 (12-ounce) baguette or other white bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 10 cups)
1 pound bananas, peeled and sliced 1/2-inch thick (2 to 4 bananas)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (see Note, page 111)
White chocolate butterscotch with bananas sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 pound plus 2 ounces finely chopped white chocolate (see Blue Ribbon Wisdom, page 150)
2 bananas, diced
Preparation
Banana walnut bread pudding 

1.Using a small, sharp knife, split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape the seeds into a bowl; reserve the pod. Add the egg yolks and 3/4 cup of the sugar and whisk until thick and yellow (whisk the mixture immediately to prevent the sugar from “cooking” the eggs).

2.In a medium pot, combine the cream, the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and the reserved vanilla bean pod. Bring the cream to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Immediately remove from the heat; discard the pod. Whisking constantly, pour a small amount of the cream into the egg yolk mixture. Add the rest, a little at a time, until the cream is fully incorporated. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. You can make the custard up to 1 day ahead and store it, covered, in the refrigerator.

3.Grease a 9 × 13-inch baking pan. Combine the bread, bananas, and walnuts in the pan, making sure everything is well distributed. Pour in just enough custard mixture to completely cover the bread (you may have some leftover; save it). Let stand for at least 20 minutes and up to an hour (or let it rest overnight in the refrigerator). If the bread absorbs all the custard, top it off with a little more. Then firmly press the bread down into the custard so it’s submerged.

4.Preheat the oven to 350° F.

5.Cover the pan with foil. Place the pudding pan in a larger pan, adding just enough hot water to the larger pan to come halfway up the sides of the pudding pan. Bake until the pudding is lightly set and a knife inserted in the center comes out almost clean, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The pudding may be kept, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and reheated to serve. Before serving, drizzle with the sauce.

White chocolate butterscotch with bananas sauce

We took an old-fashioned butterscotch recipe and added a little white chocolate. The result? The white chocolate softens the bitterness of the caramel and brings a luscious creamy texture to the sauce. Bananas make the perfect partner, but if you don’t have any ripe ones around, you can leave them out. Serve this over ice cream, pound cake or sliced fruit. Or eat it directly off the spoon!

1.In a heavy skillet, combine the sugar and 2 tablespoons water over medium heat. Cook, tilting the pan occasionally so that the sugar cooks evenly, until the sugar turns golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let darken to a deep, nutty brown.

2.Carefully pour in the cream (it will splatter). Return the sauce to the heat and cook, stirring, until the sugar melts again and the mixture is smooth. Bring to a simmer.

3.Put the white chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl. Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate and stir until the sauce is smooth. Stir in the bananas and cook, stirring, until heated through. Keep covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week and reheat to serve.
Tips

Blue Ribbon Wisdom:Variations: Bread pudding can take on a lot of forms. If you love fruit, you can make it with fruit; if you love chocolate, you can make it with chocolate; if you love walnuts and candied ginger ... The banana and chocolate versions are the most popular, so we always have them on the menu. But we still like to come up with new flavors, and they’ve all been well received — especially rum raisin, apple and dried cherry, and even a version with lychee, which is a great complement to the menu at Blue Ribbon Sushi. So let your taste buds be your guide, and come up with your own house favorite.

Cream Cheese Apple Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup peeled, diced tart apples
1/2 cup bran flakes cereal
TOPPING:
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, eggs, milk, butter, lemon juice and vanilla; beat until smooth. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir into cream cheese mixture just until moistened. Fold in apples and bran flakes.
2. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2011 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 10/23/2011

Toffee-Pear Sticky Pudding

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/4 cups pitted whole dates, preferably Medjool dates
1 cup chopped peeled fresh pears
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 recipe Toffee-Pear Sauce directions

1.  In a large saucepan combine the water, dates, and pears. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cook, covered, about 15 minutes or until fruit is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Mash with a potato masher, fork, or immersion blender until as smooth as possible. Stir in baking soda; set aside.

2.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x8x2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg; set aside. In a large bowl combine brown sugar and butter. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until combined. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and vanilla. Stir in date-pear mixture. Stir in flour mixture just until combined. Pour batter into prepared baking pan.

3.  Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Place pan on a wire rack. Immediately use a long skewer to prick top of cake all over. Spoon the portion of Toffee-Pear Sauce without pears over cake. Bake for 3 minutes more. Cool on the wire rack for 10 minutes. Serve warm with the portion of Toffee-Pear Sauce with pears.

Toffee-Pear Sauce: Peel and core 1 fresh pear; thinly slice pear. In a medium skillet melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add thinly sliced pear; cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until tender and lightly browned, turning pears occasionally and reducing heat to low if pears brown too quickly. Set aside. In a small saucepan melt 1/2 cup butter over medium heat. Stir in 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar. Bring to boiling, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil gently, uncovered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Carefully stir in 3/4 cup whipping cream. Bring to boiling. Remove from heat; stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Divide sauce in half. Stir pears into one portion.