Recipe(tried): This Weeks Winners - Mexican-Style Vegetable Saute, Penne with Ricotta and Tomato Sauce, Oven Fried Chicken, Quick Onion Pullao, Pasta with Nut Pesto

**** This Weeks Winners ****

# 1 - Mexican-Style Vegetable Saute

This was easy and delicious. Very fresh tasting. An interesting
way to use avocado. Normally I cut it up and make guacamole.
In this recipe it is actually cooked a bit. Very good.

Mexican-Style Vegetable Saute
Recipe By : RisaG
Servings: 4

1 med avocado
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
1 tbsp garlic-flavored oil
5 lg cloves garlic -- minced
1 hot chile pepper -- minced
1 med bell pepper (yellow, red or orange) -- julienne strips
1 cup summer squash -- thinly sliced
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels -- thawed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp Mexican oregano -- crumbled
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup cilantro -- coarsely chopped

Peel and seed the avocado and cut it into chunks. Toss with the lime juice and cover tightly. Set aside.

Toast the seeds in a dry cast-iron skillet over low heat until lightly brown and nutty, about 5 minutes. Watch closely so they don't burn. They will pop as they toast. Shake the pan as they are toasting. Pour them out when done.

Add the oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add chile. Cook for another minute or so. Add the peppers and squash, stirring constantly. Continue to saute for several minutes, until vegetables are tender. Add corn, cumin and Mexican oregano and saute for 1 minute, just until the vegetables are done. Add the salt.

Stir in the avocado and remove from heat. Add black pepper and cilantro. Add salt, if necessary. Serve immediately, garnished with the seeds and some fat-free sour cream.

Serving Ideas : basmati rice or tortillas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
# 2 - Pasta

Most of the recipes from this weeks TWW are from Food & Wine 1997 Annual. This one came from Michael Romano, a chef in NYC. It was very easy to do and interesting texture. The cheese is mixed with oil and salt & pepper and set aside and used as a garnish at serving time. I stirred it in to make more of a sauce. I thought DH would like it better that way. He did. I also used some Italian seasoning in the cheese mixture, which I did not note in the recipe.

Penne with Ricotta and Tomato Sauce
Recipe By : Food & Wine Annual, 1997 issue, p. 90
Serving Sizes : 4

1 cup ricotta cheese (full milk if possible)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
3 lb ripe tomatoes -- cored & chopped
1/2 cup onion -- diced
1 clove garlic -- minced
2 tbsp fresh basil -- chopped
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese -- freshly grated
3/4 lb penne pasta

In a small bowl, whisk the ricotta with 2 tbsp of oil, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Cover and set aside at room temperature for up to 4 hours.

In a large stainless steel saucepan, simmer the tomatoes over moderate heat until very soft, about 10 minutes. Pass them through the medium disk of a food mill or use a rubber spatula to push them through a coarse strainer.

Wipe out the saucepan and heat the remaining 2 tbsp of oil in it. Add the onion and garlic and cook over low heat until softened but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and 1 tbsp of the basil and simmer over moderately low heat until the sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper.

Fill a large pot of water, cover and bring to a boil. Add salt and the penne. Cover partially until the water just returns to a boil, then uncover, stir the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce; toss to coat the pasta well. Serve immediately in warmed bowls, topped with a dollop of ricotta mixture and a sprinkling of remaining basil.

NOTES : Recipe by Michael Romano.

Book note: to make a richer sauce, add 1 tbsp of mascarpone chese into the ricotta in Step 1.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
# 3 - Oven Fried Chicken

This was really good. I turned the chicken over halfway through cooking.
If you are going to do this, place the chicken on a greased cookie sheet
or piece of foil on cookie sheet. If you have one of those special
baking sheets that you put on top of your cookie sheet pan, use it here
so the chicken doesn't stick. I served it with roasted red potatoes and
roasted brussel sprouts.

Oven-Fried Chicken

Recipe By : Food & Wine 1997 Annual, p. 173
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00

1 1/4 cups bread crumbs (fresh)
1/2 cup dry jack or parmesan -- freshly grated
1 1/2 tsp thyme leaves
1 1/2 tsp rosemary -- coarsely chopped
3/4 tsp salt -- + 1 tsp
3/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 3.5 lb chickens -- cut in 8 pc.

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a medium bowl, combine bread crumbs with the cheese, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper. Pour the buttermilk into a second bowl. Working in batches, soak the chicken in the buttermilk and then dredge in the seasoned bread crumbs. Arrange the chicken pieces on four large baking sheets and bake, two sheets at a time, for about 1 hour, or until the chicken is golden and cooked through. Serve the chicken hot or at room temperature.

Recipe created by David Page.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
# 4 - Quick Onion Pullao

I hadn't made anything Indian-style in a long time. This sounded so good.
My DH loves onions and rice and I thought I would put them together. This
was great. Served with a salad. Some plain yogurt would be great to top it.
I didn't do that. I did put some sriracha sauce (hot sauce) on top and it
was also good with some soy sauce.

Quick Onion Pullao
Recipe By : Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
Serving Sizes : 2

1/4 cup raw cashews
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp asafetida -- optional
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1 lb onions (3-4) -- thinly sliced
4 jalapeno peppers -- minced
2 tbsp fresh ginger -- minced
5 fresh or dried curry leaves
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
4 cups cooked Govindobhog Rice or basmati rice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice

In a small heavy skillet, toast the cashews over high heat, stirring constantly, until golden. Remove from the heat and stir for 15 seconds, then transfer to a plate.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil until it shimmers. Add the asafetida and stir briefly to dissolve, then stir in the mustard seeds. When they stop popping, stir in the turmeric. Add the onions, jalapenos, ginger and curry leaves and stir to coat with the oil.

Lower the heat to moderate and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions start to brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the salt and sugar. Add the rice; gently turn and stir until well mixed and heated through. Drizzle in the lime juice and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Discard the curry leaves (make sure to leave the dried ones whole). Mound the pullao on a deep platter, top with the cashews and serve.

From Food & Wine 1997 Annual, p. 271

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
# 5 - Pasta with Nut Pesto

This was unbelievably good and very fattening. It has 5 kinds of nuts in it.
I mixed the basil with some parsley because I didn't have enough fresh basil.
It was still great. I served it with garlic knots.

Pasta with Five Nut Pesto
Recipe By : adapted from Food & Wine 1997 Annual, p. 90
Servings : 6

1/4 cup hazelnuts -- * see note
2 cups basil leaves -- lightly packed
1/4 cup whole almonds -- blanched
1/4 cup walnut pieces
1/4 cup unsalted pistachios -- shelled**
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese -- freshly grated
1/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese -- freshly grated
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley -- chopped
3 lg cloves garlic
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil -- + more as needed
2 tbsp water -- if needed
1 tbsp unsalted butter -- *** see note
1 lb penne pasta

If you have regular hazelnuts that are not peeled: Preheat oven to 350 F. Toast the hazelnuts in a small baking pan until fragrant, about 12 minutes. Transfer the nuts to a clean kitchen towel and rub them against each other to remove the skins. Let cool completely.

In a food processor, add the garlic and process. Then add the herbs. Process until chopped up well. Then add the nuts, cheeses, salt, pepper. With machine running, pour in the oil in a thin stream and process until the nuts are finely chopped. Add the butter and process until blended but still grainy.

Fill a large pot with water, cover and bring to a boil. Add salt and the pasta. Cover partially until the water just returns to a boil, then uncover, stir the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Transfer the pasta to a warmed large serving bowl. Add the pesto and toss to combine. Add 2-3 tbsp of the reserved pasta cooking water if the sauce is too thick. Serve immediately.

Make ahead: After Step 2, transfer the pesto to a large jar, tap out any air bubbles and press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface. Cover and refrigerate for up to one week. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.

NOTES : Risa's notes:
* I used packaged hazelnuts that were already chopped & had their skin peeled off. If not, follow directions.
** I couldn't find unsalted pistachios so I bought salted but cut a lot of the extra salt from the recipe.
*** I did not put the butter into the pesto mixture. I put it in at the end after I put the sauce on the pasta. I let it melt. I also used low fat butter.

RisaG