Category Archives: Recipes

Italian Sausage Gord

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By popular demand, here is Gordon’s Italian sausage recipe.

2 1/2 pounds lean pork butt or leaner cuts if desired
3 large cloves garlic — crushed
1/8 teaspoon dry basil
1/8 teaspoon dry oregano
1/8 teaspoon rosemary — chopped
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1/8 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (or to taste)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fennel seed — browned in skillet
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese — ground
1/4 cup beef or chicken broth or dry white wine — or red
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Italian (flat leaf) parsley — chopped, (stems removed)

Hand-trim all visible fat from the outside of pork, then cube the meat, removing interior fat as you find it. Freeze, then coarsely grind (3/8″ plate) the pork and glean ground meat, picking out gristle, cartilage and veins of fat. Grind one more time. Some fat is ok, but no gristle.

After second grinding, place meat in a large bowl, add seasonings and blend by hand to mix thoroughly to ensure spread throughout the meat. Add broth or wine and mix again by hand.

Refrigerate covered en masse overnight before freezing.

Portion with #16 dipper, press into 3″ discs, and freeze.
Makes about 16 2-oz (3″) patties. For larger patties use a #12 (3 oz,), etc.

Source:CooksRecipes.com (much modified)

Quiche aux Fruits de Mer (Crab Quiche)

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For many years our Easter brunch has consisted of crab quiche, asparagus, strawberries and champagne. The quiche recipe comes from Julia Child’s book Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. One p. 149. Julia knew a thing or two! I have made modifications over the years by substituting half and half or whole milk for the whipping cream. Still delicious, but not quite as rich. I use her crust recipe, but a favorite pie crust recipe could be used in its place.

If you have never had quiche fresh out of the oven, you are in for a real treat. It is never quite the same after it has cooled off and been reheated.

As Julia would say, “Bon appetit!”

Crab Quiche
Quiche: Pâte Brisé (Crust):
  • 2 tbsp. shallots or onions, minced
  • 3 tbsp. butter
  • 1/4 lb. crab (or shrimp or lobster) fresh or canned
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • Pinch of pepper
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 c. whipping cream
  • 1 tbsp. tomato paste
  • 2 tbsp. madeira or dry white vermouth
  • 1 recipe Pâte Brisé (or crust of your choice)
  • 1/4 c. Swiss cheese, grated
  • 1 1/2 c.flour
  • 6 tbsp. butter
  • 2 tbsp. and 2 tsp. vegetable shortening
  • 4 tbsp. cold water
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • Pinch of sugar
  •  

Quiche Filling: Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook shallots or onions in the butter, 1-2 minutes over moderate heat, until tender but not browned. Add shellfish meat and stir gently 2 minutes. Sprinkle on salt and pepper. Add wine, raise heat, and boil a moment. Allow to cool slightly.

Beast eggs with cream, tomato paste, and seasonings. Gradually blend in shellfish and taste for seasoning.

Pour mixture into pastry shell and sprinkle cheese over. Bake in upper third of oven 25-30 minutes, until puffed and brown.

Pâte Brisé (Crust): Place flour, salt, sugar, butter, and shortening in mixing bowl and rub together to size of oatmeal flakes. Don’t overdo.

Add water and blend quickly with one hand as you rapidly gather the dough into a mass. Sprinkle up to 1 tbsp. more water by droplets over any unmassed remains and add to dough. Press dough into a rough ball. It should just hold together and be pliable, but not damp or sticky.

Place dough on lightly floured board and blend quickly with cool palm, two spoonfuls at a time,—frisage.

Scrape dough together into a ball, sprinkle lightly with flour and wrap in waxed paper. Chill for about an hour until firm, but not congealed—or leave overnight in the refrigerator.

Roll dough as quickly as possible so it will not soften and become difficult to handle. On lightly floured board, beat dough with rolling pin to soften, then knead it briefly into a fairly flat circle. Lightly flour the top, then roll and turn, as necessary. Sprinkle a little flour if needed to prevent sticking. Roll into a circle 1/8″ thick and about 2″ larger all around than your pan.

Pan the dough and press lightly into bottom of pan. Tuck excess around inside edge of pan to thicken the sides. Trim off top with rolling pin. Pinch dough up around the rim, the flute with back of a knife.

Line shell with foil and add dry beans or weights. Partially cook the shell by baking 8-9 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove weights and foil; prick bottom with fork at 1/2″ intervals and return to the oven for another 3 minutes.

Tortilla Soup

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Recently served at the 32nd annual summer Lunch on the Mountain (although we missed one year), this soup was deemed quite acceptable by all. The recipe came from Gourmet, May 1997, and was attributed to the Hotel Bel-Air in LA. This is the original recipe. However I often taken a few liberties with it depending on what we have on hand and never use as much oil as the recipe calls for. Continue reading →

Morning Glory Muffins

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Here, by popular demand from the Christmas 2008 family rendezvous in Utah, are the muffins Gordon thrives on. He found the recipe in a Cooking Light magazine in July 2007. It was adapted by Charlotte Moore, M.D., from a recipe that has been around for a long time. Her recipe has been modified slightly by Gordon. It is not only delicious, but also so crammed full of healthy ingredients that your general well-being will be improved by simply reading the recipe! Continue reading →

Baked Beans with Nigerian Seasonings

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A couple of years ago my neighbor, who is a vegetarian and a great cook, gave me Madhur Jaffrey’s award-winning cookbook, World Vegetarian.I was looking for a recipe for beans (because they’re good and good for you) and came across this one. It is delicious and perfect for a cool fall day. I served it with a cucumber and radish salad with sour cream, and some of my sister-in-laws homemade wheat bread. Perfect! Continue reading →

Thai-Style Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

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This comes from Cook’s Illustrated, May and June 2006. The premise is to make chicken salads with creative vinaigrettes instead of mayo. I made this version with a slight change and have ideas for a few variations. There are two other variations in the magazine, each with a different twist, that sound equally delicious

The recipe called for 5 cups of shredded roast chicken. I poached a chicken breast the Chinese way instead by covering it with cold water, bringing it to a boil, turning off the heat, covering it, and letting it sit for about 20 minutes. I wish I had also thrown in the some of the beautiful red bell pepper we had in the frig.

A vegetarian version of this using tofu instead of chicken would also be very tasty with the tofu soaking up the piquant flavors of the dressing. Continue reading →

Summer Roulade with Tomatoes, Cream Cheese, and Herbs

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Many years ago, when vegetarian restaurants were first becoming mainstream, I ate at Greens in San Francisco. Those of us present who were not vegetarians were very impressed and more than well-satisfied with the experience. As a tribute to its excellence, it continues to prosper and nourishes the body as well as the soul at its beautiful location at Fort Mason.

I was prompted to buy The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison when it first came out and still look to it when I want to prepare something that I am certain will delight and please all palates. I recently tried this Summer Roulade and found it to do exactly that. Continue reading →

Pumpkin Pie Anne and Theresa

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Here is the recipe for Pumpkin Pie with Carmel Pecan topping. This was served for many years at the restaurant. Every year after Halloween I would buy out a pumpkin patch and end up with enough pumpkins for us to make this pie until late spring.

The world’s best! Featured at Annie’s. Pumpkin by Theresa, streusel by Anne.

Any pumpkin will do, but Sugar Pie pumpkins are best. One pumpkin usually makes two pies. To prepare, cut pumpkin in half at its equator, scoop out seeds, and bake about an hour at 350F. Then remove cooked pumpkin meat and process to smooth. Continue reading →

Butternut Squash Polenta

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This comes from Gourmet, December 2005. It was delicious. I made a few minor changes. First, they called for a 12 oz. package of frozen butternut squash puree. I did not even know such a thing existed, so I peeled and seeded a butternut squash, cut it in pieces and steamed it for about 20 minutes. Worked fine. The recipe also specified instant polenta, another thing I had never encounterede. I used regular polenta and it, too, worked fine. Finally I flung in a little rosemary I had harvested and not yet used. Yum. Continue reading →

Israeli Cucumber Salad

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In order to use up our bumper crop of cucumbers this year, I scouted out many versions of cucumber salad. This was one of the best. It is from Renee Shepherd and Fran Raboff’s book, Recipes From a Kitchen Garden, that is a boon to gardener’s with too much stuff. The onions and chives came from the garden too, and the lemon came from our neighbor’s tree. The radishes would have come from the garden too if the birds hadn’t eaten all of them first. This went particularly well with Baked Beans with Nigerian Seasonings. Continue reading →

Chipotle Chicken Salad

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The July 2006 issue of Gourmet had this recipe, which claims to take only 10 minutes to prepare, and I had the breast meat of a 4 1/2 pound chicken I had roasted a couple of days earlier, a can of black beans on the shelf, cilantro in the garden, and the remains of a can of chipotles in adobo is a container in the freezer. After my next trip to the store where I picked up the rest, I threw it all together. It was delicious, with just enough zip from the smoky chiles to give it some character without much heat. Continue reading →