Stuffing Muffins

This tasty variation on classic stuffing makes great use of leftover bread. Adapted from my recipe for the Phantom Gourmet television show.


Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Yield: 12-15 muffins

INGREDIENTS
Muffin cups
1 loaf (1 ½ lbs) sliced whole wheat bread
1 ½ tsp Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
6-8 strips bacon
1 small (pool ball size) onion, ¼ inch dice
3 stalks celery, ¼ inch dice
1 apple, cored, ¼ inch dice
2 eggs, whisked
1-2 cups chicken stock
½ cup chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven to 350F. Line a muffin pan with muffin cups, or spray with cooking spray. Cut the loaf of bread into cubes about ½” across. Place bread cubes in a large bowl, sprinkle with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and stir to combine.

Now cook the bacon until crisp in a large skillet over medium heat. Remove bacon strips to paper towels, pour off excess fat, and cook the onions and celery in the remaining bacon fat for 4 minutes, stirring. Add the apple and cook for another minute. Turn off heat in skillet, scrape mixture into the bowl of bread cubes, and stir. Add the eggs, 1 cup of chicken stock, the parsley, and the bacon, and stir gently to spread the moisture throughout. The mixture should be moist enough to cling together when squeezed with light pressure between your hands. If necessary, add a little more broth. Using your hands collect a baseball-size sphere of stuffing mixture, squeeze slightly so that it clings together, and place in a muffin cup. Make sure that this is the muffin shape you want, because these muffins won’t rise as they cook. Repeat until mixture is used up and other muffin cups are full (if you have extra stuffing mixture, make a few more muffins or a small loaf).

Slide muffin pan into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until muffins are crisp on the outside.

Serve as a side dish with your favorite oven baked meal. Roast fowl are a natural.

Variations: Add raisins, chopped apricots, toasted nuts, and other fun things to Stuffing Muffins.

Served up by Tod Dimmick

Pinzimonio: Play with your food!

Play with your food!

Leave it to the Italians to turn produce into whimsical fun.  Pinzimonio is a raw vegetable antipasto that can be as simple or as complicated as you'd like to make it.  In this version, long skinny vegetables are bundled, ready for dipping in olive oil seasoned with lemon juice and salt.  Serve with plenty of napkins.
  
Prep time:  20 minutes
Serves  4 as an appetizer or side dish.

INGREDIENTS
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Green Bell Pepper
2-3 Carrots, scraped, ends removed
1/2 pound long, slender green beans
1 bunch scallions, leaves separated and reserved.
1/2 cup olive oil
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Salt

DIRECTIONS
Slice peppers and carrots into long thin spears (about 1/8 to 1/4" wide).  Bundle a variety of spears and gently tie with scallion leaves.  Assemble these packets on a tray.

Distribute the oil and lemon juice between 4 ramekins or small bowls.  Dip a bundle into the oil, sprinkle with a little salt, and crunch.

Tip:  Scallion leaves are easier to tie if you leave them out on the counter for an hour so that the leaves lose some of their water and soften.  (This is the only recipe I can think of where I recommend a vegetable less than fresh!)

Photo and recipe by  Tod Dimmick

Green Braise

A warm, spicy vegetable dish that makes good use of late season vegetables.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20-25 minutes
Serves 6-8










INGREDIENTS
2 TB olive oil
1 small onion, sliced
1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
4 stalks celery, thinly sliced
3 leeks, cleaned and white/light green parts thinly sliced
2-3 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 tsp caraway seed
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS
Heat the oil in a large saute pan or skillet over medium heat and cook the onion, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add the cabbage, celery, and leeks, stir to coat, and add the stock. Sprinkle on the caraway, red and black pepper, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Serve in shallow bowls.

Served up by Tod Dimmick

Whole Wheat Fruit & Nut Stuffing

Photo:
Tod Dimmick












The dilemma wordlessly posed by this rich dressing is whether to treat it as a mere dressing, or a dish unto itself.

Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Servings:8-10

3 TB Olive oil
10 fresh sage leaves, coarsely chopped
1 large onion, peeled and chopped into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces
3 big ribs celery, sliced into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces
3-4 cups whole wheat bread, coarsely hacked into 1/2" cubes
1 large apple, with peel, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup dried cherries or raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Salt and pepper to taste
2-3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Melt 3 TB butter in a large skillet over medium heat and saute the sage, onion and celery, stirring, for 5 minutes or until celery is tender and onions are soft and translucent. Add the apple and saute for another two minutes, stirring, then remove skillet from heat. Mix the bread cubes, dried fruit and nuts in a large bowl. Scoop onions into the bowl on top of the bread crumbs, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to mix. Add 2 cups of the stock and gently toss to evenly spread the stuffing mixture. The bread cubes should be moist enough to cling to each other. If necessary add a more stock. Scoop stuffing mixture into an oiled baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is nicely browned. Serve warm, or refrigerate for later use. This stuffing can be frozen. It will affect the texture of the apples a little, but not enough to outweigh the convenience of pulling pre-made but home-made stuffing from the fridge.

Served up by Tod Dimmick,
AKA "The Foodie" at 1000radishes

Powisett Ravioli with Swiss Chard

(adapted from The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan, 1983)

Filling
2 large bunches Swiss chard
2 ½ T finely chopped yellow onion
3 ½ T prosciutto, rolled pancetta, or unsmoked ham
¼ cup butter
1 cup fresh ricotta
1 egg yolk
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ to ½ t. nutmeg

A sheet of homemade pasta dough, made with 2 eggs, 1 ½ cups all-purpose flower, and 2 t. milk.

Take the stalks off the chard, and cook in a covered saucepan with ¼ tsp. salt for about 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and squeeze all moisture. Chop very fine.

Saute the onion and prosciutto (I used Canadian bacon), in butter with a skillet over medium heat. Add chopped cook swiss chard and cook for 2-3 minutes until all butter is absorbed.

Transfer contents of the skillet to a mixing bowl. Add ricotta, egg yolk, Parmesan, and nutmeg and mix until well combined. Taste and correct for salt and nutmeg.

Tomato Sauce
1 small onion, chopped
3 T. finely chopped carrot
3 T. finely chopped celery
2 ½ cups roughly chopped tomatoes
2 t. salt
¼ t. granulated sugar (or 1 t. honey)
½ cup heavy cream

Saute the onion, carrot and celery in olive oil. Add tomatoes and bring to barely a simmer. Cook uncovered over low heat for at least an hour. I puree this mixture in a food processor.

Celeriac

Celeriac, or celery root, is a relative of the familiar celery plant. However, this vegetable is grown for its tasty root instead of its stalks. It has a great texture and flavor. To use, peel off the outside layer off with a sharp knife, and wash the root thoroughly (a scrub brush is useful). Grate it raw into salads or chop and boil/bake into casseroles, soups, purees, mashes, gratins or other baked dishes. If stored in a loose plastic bag in the fridge, celeriac will store 3 to 4 months!

Short article on mashed celeriac.