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Creating recipes isn't a pastime—it's a passion. And a lot of fun.

The rules are few: Use 99% fresh ingredients (or thereabouts); make the dish simple but flavorful; make the dish flavorful but simple; be creative, not silly.

With this blog, I want to share new recipes, along with tips on ingredients and preparation, and, hopefully, show new cooks (and non-cooks) the pleasure in setting the table with a delicious homemade meal. The Briny Lemon is about fresh, simple, flavorful ingredients and easy cooking methods that help you bring the best to your family table. Your comments are welcome!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Ground-Turkey-Stuffed Shells with Goat Cheese



This is one of the simplest baked pasta dishes I’ve ever made. I used one pot for all three main components—boiling the shells, cooking the turkey mixture, simmering the crushed tomatoes—and kept the number of ingredients to a minimum.

The rich essence of the dish derives from the combination of a few flavorful ingredients: creamy, tangy goat cheese and sharp, salty Romano; crushed tomatoes cooked with garlic; and juicy, dark turkey meat, also cooked with garlic.

The recipe comes together easily and makes a warm, inviting, and satisfying dish to bring to the table any night of the week.

For a vegetarian stuffed shells dish, check out Pasta Shells Stuffed with Spinach, Leek, and Three Cheeses.

Serves 4

Ingredients
  • 16 jumbo pasta shells
  • 2 tbsp olive oil, divided, plus more for oiling dish
  • 1 lb ground turkey (preferably thigh meat)
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped, divided
  • 1 large shallot, finely chopped
  • sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 oz goat cheese, room temperature
  • 3 oz mascarpone (or cream cheese), room temperature
  • 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cups crushed tomatoes (from a 28-oz can)
  • 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
  • 1/4 tsp dried red chile flakes
  • 3/4 cup shredded Romano cheese
Mascarpone, Goat Cheese, and Romano
Preparation
  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
  2. Cook the shells in a large pot of salted, boiling water 8-9 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water.
  3. Heat the same pot over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the turkey, half the chopped garlic, and shallot and season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up the ground turkey, until the shallot and garlic soften and the meat is just cooked through, 9-10 minutes.
Ground Turkey Mixture Beginning to Cook
Cooked Turkey Mixture
  1. Transfer the turkey mixture to a bowl (wipe out the pot). Let cool 10 minutes, then add the goat cheese and mascarpone to the bowl. Stir until well combined and the cheeses are slightly melted.
Ground Turkey and Cheese Mixture 
  1. Meanwhile, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the same pot over medium heat. Add the red onion, remaining half of the chopped garlic, crushed tomatoes, parsley, and chile flakes and season with salt and pepper. 
  2. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool while you assemble the stuffed shells.
Cooked Crushed Tomato Mixture
  1. Lightly oil an 11 X 7-inch baking dish. Stuff each pasta shell with 2-3 tablespoons of the turkey-cheese mixture and place in the dish. Spoon the marinara on top of and around the shells and scatter the Romano cheese on top.
  2. Bake until bubbly and beginning to brown, 30-35 minutes. 
Stuffed Shells
Pasta Shells Ready to Bake
Baked Shells
To serve, place 4 stuffed shells in each of 4 pasta bowls and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve right away.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Grilled Smoked Kielbasa with Latkes



If you’ve not made latkes, it’s time to do so. This simple potato dish packs more flavor than its few, common ingredients (potato, onion, egg) may indicate. The secret is in the preparation: dry the grated potato as much as possible and fry the latkes very thin.

Don’t think of latkes as potato cakes—those puffy, pillowy-on-the-inside, golden-on-the-outside round cakes usually made from leftover mashed potatoes. Latkes are golden brown too, but very thin so the creaminess inside isn’t as pronounced. And don’t worry about making perfect circles. Irregular shapes with bits of grated potato jutting out here and there make latkes as rustic and visually appealing as they are delicious. 

Not all latke recipes call for any kind of onion. I chose to include shallot for its mild oniony flavor. If you do use onion or shallot, be sure to chop it very finely so that it will blend in well with the potato and egg.

A box grater makes shredding the potatoes easy and fast. Use the largest holes for ultra-thin shreds of potato about half an inch long. If you use a flat, hand-held grater, make long, slow strokes down the blades. Short, quick cuts result in a mound of mushy potato.

Box Grater
Lastly, place the grated potato in a bowl of cold water for a couple minutes to remove some of the starch. Take the shreds out of the water one fistful at a time and squeeze as hard as you can to remove as much water as possible. Scatter the dried shreds in a bowl and repeat with the remainder of the soaked potato.

Latkes are often served with a little sour cream or applesauce as a condiment. Here, I accompany them with soft, buttery fried apples for more of a sweet side than a creamy topping.

Serves 4 (makes 8 latkes)

Ingredients

For the Latkes
  • 3 large russet potatoes (about 1 3/4 lbs), peeled
  • 1 large shallot, very finely chopped
  • 1 large egg, whisked
  • sea salt
  • 1/4 cup plus 3 tbsp olive oil
  • fried apples, apple sauce, or sour cream, for serving (optional)
For the Kielbasa
  • olive oil, for brushing
  • 2 smoked kielbasa sausages, about 1 lb total, each cut crosswise into 3 pieces, then each piece cut lengthwise in half (12 pieces total)
  • sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
Sliced Smoked Kielbasa
Preparation

For the Latkes
  1. Preheat the oven to its lowest temperature setting.
  2. Place 2 medium bowls on a work surface and fill 1 about 3/4 full with very cold water. Shred the potatoes on the large holes of a box grater and transfer the shreds to the bowl of cold water. Soak 2 minutes.
Potatoes Shredded with a Box Grater
Grated Potatoes Soaking
  1. Remove the potato shreds from the water 1 fistful at a time and squeeze hard to eliminate as much liquid as possible. Place the dry shreds in the clean bowl and repeat with the remaining soaked potatoes.
  2. Add the shallot and whisked egg to the bowl with the dried potatoes and season with salt. Stir gently until well combined.
Grated Potatoes Squeezed Dry

Potato, Shallot, and Egg Mixture
  1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add 1/4 cup of oil, swirling to coat. Working in batches of 4 latkes, spoon 2 heaping tablespoons of the potato mixture for each latke into the skillet. Flatten each gently with the back of the spoon, spreading into ragged rounds, about 3 inches at the widest part.
  2. Cook until the potato mixtures hold together and are golden brown on the bottom, 7-8 minutes. Carefully turn the latkes over and cook until golden brown on the other side, about 5 minutes.
Latkes Beginning to Fry
Fried Latkes
  1. Remove to a plate and season with salt. Place the plate in the warm oven and add about 3 tablespoons (as needed) of oil to the skillet. Repeat with the remaining potato mixture for a total of 8 latkes.
For the Kielbasa
  1. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat and brush with oil. Add the kielbasa in a single layer and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Grill, turning several times, until slightly charred in places and fully cooked throughout, about 10 minutes total. (If the sausages are finished before the latkes, remove them to a plate and keep warm in the preheated oven.)
Kielbasa Beginning to Grill
Grilled Kielbasa
To serve, place 3 kielbasa pieces of each of 4 plates. Place 2 latkes each alongside the sausages and serve with fried apples, applesauce, or sour cream, if desired.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Smoked-Whitefish Sandwiches with Brussels Sprouts and Radicchio Slaw



Smoked whitefish, smoked trout, smoked salmon—all make delicious salads for sandwiches. Keep the dressing on the light side (not too much of any ingredient) so that the rich smokiness reigns in the dish. I added a little chopped olive and spicy chile to the creamy sauce simply for a good balance of flavors.

To top the salad, I went with a crisp, fresh mix of raw Brussels sprouts, colorful radicchio, and cilantro dressed with a light and lemony vinaigrette. Give the slaw time to marinate in the fridge to slightly soften the sprouts and develop the flavors.

Already-smoked fish is sold in lots of markets, but smoking your own is simple and takes less than half an hour once the coals are ready. If you’re smoking your own, keep it minimal: rub the filet (skin on one side) with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Smoke it skin-side down 25-30 minutes, let it cool, remove the skin, then combine the fish and sauce. That’s it.

Whitefish Ready to Smoke
Smoked Whitefish
Serves 4

Ingredients

For the Slaw
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp honey
  • sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups very thinly sliced Brussels sprouts
  • 1 cup thinly sliced (shredded) radicchio
  • 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
Slaw Ingredients
For the Whitefish Sandwiches
  • 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped pimento-stuffed green olives
  • 1 tbsp sour cream
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 scallion, finely chopped
  • 1 small serrano chile, seeded and finely chopped
  • 1 1/4 lbs boneless, skinless smoked whitefish, pulled into small chunks
  • sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 kaiser rolls or large sandwich buns, lightly toasted
Preparation

For the Slaw
  1. Combine the lemon juice, oil, and honey in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Place the Brussels sprouts, radicchio, and cilantro in a medium bowl. Add the dressing and toss well to combine. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator 2 hours.
Dressed Slaw Ready to Marinate
Marinated Slaw
For the Whitefish Sandwiches

Combine the first 7 ingredients (through serrano chile) in a medium bowl. Gently stir in the smoked whitefish and season with salt and pepper.

Mayo Mixture
Smoked Whitefish Ready for Sauce
Whitefish Combined with Sauce
To serve, divide and mound the fish salad on the bottoms of the rolls. Top with slaw and place the tops on the rolls. Slice each sandwich in half and serve.