Sriracha Bitters by Brooklyn Hemispherical Bitters. For your next cocktail.

Website (with recipes) here. Also available, rhubarb, Meyer lemon and black mission fig.

Found via A Thirsty Spirit

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This is delicious.

Tho I substitute red bells for the green peppers and splash with vodka. Plus, if I have em, I throw in some Greek giant beans (from can or jar), capers and finish with a slight drizzle of honey.

Recipe here.

The post Chicken with Olives first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Sainbury’s Fillets of Anchovies. Illustration by Sue Brown.

update
According to Sue, this particular jar was used in this incredible recipe.

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‘Ball size may very’

Video for Meiko’s latest, Stuck on You.

Recipe here.

The post Turkey Balls first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Cole’s – photographed by Heather John. Foodinista post here.

French Dip showdown here. Bunch-o-recipes here.

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Plaid Creative’s Citizen’s Guide to coffee.

Found via That’s Nerdalicious!

The post Coffee, perfect first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

‘In an effort to win Cully & Sully’s Cheffactor, a cooking competition in Ireland, Alan Travers created the Stop-Motion Biscuit Cake video of his girlfriend Dee’s legendary chocolate biscuit cake’

Found via Laughing Squid

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I have a soft spot for Arby’s.

The food isn’t great. But when I was a kid, there wasn’t an Arby’s nearby – so heading to the South City location, which showcased a super cool flashing chuckwagon-themed neon sign, was always a special trip.

It was years before I even tasted what REAL sliced roast beef was – who knew it wouldn’t have a salty, lunchmeat-like boiled flavor?

Back then, Arby’s house BBQ sauce was sold in take home bottles; which today I’ve replaced with a knockoff recipe. The trick to a good sauce is a long, slow simmer and the right non-HFCS ketchup. Trader Joe’s Organic makes a great base.

steve’s alternative to arby’s sauce

ingredients

2 cups Trader Joe’s Organic Ketchup
a splash of water
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
Dash each of nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, sumac, ground coriander seed
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black and white pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
A few dashes of Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco Pepper Sauce
Dash of Rooster Sauce (Chili Garlic preferred)

to make

Combine all in a small saucepan and bring to a light boil, stirring constantly. Simmer on low heat for around an hour or more, add more water if necessary.

Store in a canning jar, keep in fridge. Will hold up for a month or two.

Enjoy on Genuine Arby’s Food or any non-Arby’s edible that needs a sweet, spicy tang.

Recipe adapted from Todd Wilbur’s Top Secret Recipe site; mason jar photo found via Flickr

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‘Mark Preston discovered early California recipes while cataloging rare books for the UCLA library’

I picked up Mark Preston’s California Mission Cookery at one of the missions lining El Camino Real, somewhere between Santa Clara and San Luis Obispo. Or Santa Barbara. One of them.

The cookbook is all about Californio Cuisine, a long lost Spanish-influenced cooking style using local ingredients. The food of the original missions.

I’ve made the Beef Jerky soup a few times.

Jerky is great for soup, it works like a big, bouillon cube – leading to a strong savory flavor. I’ve noticed, tho, adding some water in the roasting process helps; and a food processor can cut down on grinding time.

‘sopa de carne seca y arroz’
beef jerky soup

ingredients

3 oz. Beef Jerky
1 tbs Cooking Oil
1/2 cup Rice
1 large Tomato, ripe
1 Green Chile, roasted, peeled and chopped
1 medium Onion
1/2 tsp Pepper
Salt
1 Quart Water, boiling

to make

In a non-stick skillet, roast the meat to soften it. In a mortar, preferably a metate, grind the meat to fine shreds. Heat the oil in a stew pot and sauté the rice, tomato, chile and onion. Add salt and pepper. Add the shredded meat and 1 quart of boiling water and simmer until rice is done, 15 to 20 minutes.

variants

For my latest batch, I passed on beef and went with bison; using jerky made from buffalo. I also typically use Basmati rice (adjusting the cooking time as necessary), but this week opted for a ‘Harvest Grains blend’ found at Trader Joe’s – a mix of couscous, orzo, split garbanzos and quinoa. Small multi-colored heirloom tomatoes gave the soup bite. I also added a splash of fire roasted tomatoes.

Recipe source: California Mission Cookery, copyright © 1994 Mark Preston; photos by mehallo

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Hattie Carter’s Great Cooking Ideas is this phone book sized thing that came from a garage sale.

Published in 1978 – on really cheap newsprint (just like real phone books) – this thing is quite a gem. Nothing I’ve ever made from its pages has ever let me down.

Cuisines covered are surprisingly global (for the time) – curries and sukiyaki mixed in with a homespun collection of casseroles and bakes. Not a design masterpiece tho; cute clip art-like illustrations punctuate large Helvetica type – with heds set in Souvenir, odd floral borders abound.

The Italian Beef Stew is a fantastic mix of flavors. Here’s the recipe.

italian beef stew

stew

1 1/2 lb lean beef, cut in 1-inch cubes
3/4 lb sweet Italian sausage
2 cloves garlic, minced
10 sprigs parsley, leaves only
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced thin
3 Tb olive oil
1/4 cup butter
2 oz salt pork, diced
1/2 lb onions, coarsely chopped
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf, crumbled
1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp minced celery
2 tbsp minced carrot
1 medium-sized fresh tomato, diced
1/2 cup hot water
Pinch nutmeg
Salt

to make

[1]   Remove casing from sausage. Cut in 1 inch rounds.

[2]   Chop garlic and parsley together until almost puréed.

[3]   Heat the olive oil, butter and salt pork in a Dutch oven. Add the onions and sauté slowly until they are lightly browned.

[4]   Add beef and sausage and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

[5]   Add garlic and parsley, pepper and bay leaf. Stir and cook for 10 minutes.

[6]   Add wine. Stir. Simmer, covered, 10 minutes.

[7]   Add celery, carrot, tomatoes and mushrooms. Stir and cook for 10 minutes longer.

[8]   Add hot water, stir, cover and simmer for 40 minutes.

[9]   Sprinkle a little nutmeg over top of stew. Simmer, uncovered, an additional 10 minutes, or until meat is tender.

[10]   Taste for salt and add, if needed.

polenta

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup cold water
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
3/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

to make

[1]   Bring 4 cups of water to boiling in a saucepan.

[2]   In a mixing bowl, combine cornmeal, cold water and salt. Stir into boiling water. Stir constantly over low heat for about 15 minutes.

[3]   Add 2 tbsp butter and stir.

to serve

Put polenta in large, shallow individual serving bowls. Pour melted butter over polenta and sprinkle with Parmesan. Spoon stew and gravy on top. Serve with a light, dry red wine, such as Valpolicella or Gamay Beaujolais.

Makes 4-6 servings

Recipe source: Great Cooking Ideas, copyright © 1978 I. Waldman and Son, Inc.; Illustrations credited to Al Leiner, Arthur Friedman, Marc Mallin and/or Bill Silbert; photos by mehallo

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‘Jimmy Lee is one of America’s great black chefs. A native of Louisiana, he has cooked from Natchez to Mobile, Charleston to New Orleans. Now semiretired, Jimmy Lee lives in California and cooks only for family and friends.’

Jimmy Lee’s Soul Food Cook Book. From 1970. Old paperback found at a garage sale. Dogeared, cause I’ve cooked a lot of stuff outta it.

Cheap ingredients, incredible flavors. Here’s a bucketful of recipes  . . . . 

Recipes posted (as image files): Hopping John, New Orleans Jambalaya, Red Rice, Bean Salad, Spinach Salad, Gumbo of Herbs, Brunswick Stew, Hard-Shell Crab Stew & Rusty Gravy, Jimmie’s Beautiful Chicken with Beautiful Baste, Jimmie’s Best-Ever Fried Chicken, Roast Raccoon, Stewed Raccoon, Rice Pudding, Old-Fashioned Spoon Bread. Copyright © 1970 by J. Lee Anderson.

The post Soul first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Pennsylvania Chow-Chow was a mainstay in my family.

My grandfather used to jar his own and about 15 years ago, I went in search of the Official Family Recipe.

And it turned out, no one ever wrote it down.

So I ended up questioning my mother, aunts, uncles how it was done. Pieced together what I could and whipped up a large batch.

Designed some homespun labels and sent a bunch of jars out to the family.

In my version of the recipe, I keep the veggies crisp – which I define as A California Thing. I never understood the need to make cooked vegetables come out mushy.

My grandfather’s reaction was, ‘Oh, you’ll get it right next time.’

steve’s chow-chow
a variation on the polchin family recipe

ingredients

4 cups Celery, sliced
1 large White Onion, diced
1 small Red Onion, diced
4 cups Green and Wax beans, trimmed
3 cups Cauliflower, cut into small pieces
3 cups Green, Yellow and Red Bell Peppers, cut into pieces
12 ears Corn, removed from cob
5 cups Carrots, sliced

the sauce

Kosher salt
1 heaping tbs Dried Yellow Mustard
1 heaping tbs Prepared Mustard, any variety
1 tsp Turmeric (for color)
1 tsp Ground Coriander Seed
1 tsp Ground Black Pepper

12 tablets Vitamin C, ground into a powder (using a food processor or mortar)
1/4 cup Rice bran (as a natural pickling preservative)

to make

Keeping the carrots and corn separate, cover all the vegetables with water and ice. Let stand in refrigerator for 24 hours. Drain.

Keep carrots separate. Cover the veggies with Kosher salt and bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes.

Do not cook the corn. Keep separate.

In an extremely large pot, put equal amounts prepared and dried mustard. Add turmeric, coriander, black pepper, vinegar, sugar, honey and (if using) dry white wine.

Bring to a boil. Add cornstarch. And add all the vegetables – except the carrots and corn. Taste. Add distilled water if the flavors are too powerful. Adjust sauce measurements if necessary. Bring entire mix to a rolling boil and then remove from heat.

Add the carrots and corn to the rest of the vegetables. Pack hot in sterilized canning jars, leaving at least a half inch headspace. Add to each jar, 1/4 teaspoon each of vitamin C powder and rice bran.

Seal and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. After bath, let cool. Shake bottles to mix veggies and sauce.

Yields: 12 pints

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‘Interesting to see which colors went first. PMS 485, PMS 183 and Silver 877 seemed to be the most popular’

Kim Neill’s Pantone color chips in tasty cookie format.

Details and recipe here.

Found via Chank Diesel

The post Pantone Chip Cookies first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Recently we dropped in one of our favorite places, Duarte’s Tavern in Pescadero, CA. Their incredible Cream of Artichoke Soup is worth the drive – among the other freshly grown offerings on the menu.

Snag the recipe for their artichoke wonder here. Plus, their Cream of Green Chile Soup is also pretty dang good, tho a bit quicker to make.

And, of course, ocean views on the drive to and fro are part of the package.

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I remember the first time I whipped up a batch of Chex Party Mix.

It was a quiet Friday night and we were watching this Love Boat/Charlie’s Angels airline knockoff called Flying High. It was the late 1970s and at the time the only way one could get a snack mix like this was to make their own.

Well, there was Doo Dads. An exception.

Today, there’s pre-bagged stuff everywhere. Chex makes a ‘traditional’ mix, though it doesn’t taste a thing like The Real Deal.

It has to come out of an oven. And I have my own version. Of course.

The Chex Party Mix recipe first appeared on boxes of Chex cereal in the 1950s. And by the 1970s, it was a mainstay party snack.

The original recipe was a tad different than what is found as ‘original’ on boxes today.

I like to adapt from both old and new, and amp up the flavors.

In the 1990s, I found The Secret of Thai Seasoning by El Lay restauranteur Tommy Tang. No longer available, it was a dry seasoning mix that came in a small bottle. It was also salt-free – and from memory, it was a mix of Thai red pepper, garlic powder, white pepper and something else.

Today I make my mix in large batches – with my best guess for the Thai seasoning. I start with the traditional flavors of butter, Worcestershire, seasoned salt – add far more than the original recipe calls for, drenching the ingredients before baking. The more seasonings the better.

Although prepping it this way, too much salt becomes a problem. Most of the ingredients have salt in them already, so I try to use low sodium ingredients whenever possible.

And  . . .  I also start with a prepackaged mix to add to the variety. Like Gardetto’s or Trader Joe’s incredible Honey, Pass The Snack Mix. Some of them come with great extra bite-sized bits. The more ingredients, of course, the better.

Healthy? Not really.

mehallo’s holiday chex mix

ingredients

Package or two of premade, store-bought snack mixes

Garlic powder
White pepper
Onion powder
Dried red pepper – I use a medium heat variety I found at an Indian market
Celery seed
Ground coriander seed

to make

Preheat over to 250°F.

Mix all the cereal and snack ingredients together and toss into multiple baking pans.

Place butter, most of the Worcestershire Sauce, about half the Seasoned Salt, paprika and some of the Butter Buds in a large bowl. Heat in the microwave until melted.

Pour microwaved ‘sauce’ over all the ingredients, coating as much as possible.

After, liberally sprinkle more of the Worcestershire Sauce, Butter Buds, Seasoned Salt, garlic powder, white pepper and onion powder until everything is coated. Sprinkle in red pepper, depending on how much heat you wish. Finish off with a few splashes of the celery seed and coriander.

Bake in oven for around an hour – until golden in color – stirring as necessary. Note that the Worcestershire may turn some of the pieces black, but they’re not actually burnt. Taste to check.

Cool on paper towels. Eat. Store in something airtight. Eat more.

Variants: I’ve tried a few other Chex-like cereals, with good and bad results. Oat squares were not bad, but a little too sweet. Kix and Cheerio’s are cool. Also try different nuts, as available. Or oyster crackers, Cheese Nips or anything small one can find on the snack aisle. Ground savory, herbes de Provence or five spice powder can take things to a whole other place.

On right, I’m still using my Philippe Starck for Target nesting containers

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‘Nasty.’ -Jeanne Mehallo

One either likes it or hates it. No compromises. It’s my favorite soup, the recipe was given to my mother when I was a kid.

It’s hearty and I’m pretty sure it’s responsible for hairy chests all over Europe. Hell, it could grow hair on an onion.

And it’s dang easy to make.

roots
Dave King was my best friend when I was in the second grade. And we share a Slovak heritage.

Tho our family recipes did differ a bit. A few generations back, my family went thru extreme poverty, so what we have written down is often missing elaborate ingredients. No paprika, seasonings nor expensive cuts of meat. It’s food made from really basic stuff, roasted and boiled until the flavor is coaxed out.

So the closest to this soup we’d enjoy was machanka – once a year, on Christmas eve. It’s a sour mushroom soup, made with a simple roux and sauerkraut juice. The actual sauerkraut would be used for other things.

The mushrooms were the major ingredient. My grandfather knew everything about picking and drying them without poisoning anyone. Tho he didn’t eat them himself.

And so having a soup with more than one meat in it. Crazy.

tasting
I first sampled kapusta polievka at Dave’s house. It was just pungent enough to wake up my taste buds. It was like a massive dose of MSG without the MSG. And I remember slurping several bowls.

So my mom had to get her hands on the recipe from his mom – and we’ve been boiling up pots of it ever since.

Luckily, nearby are some fantastic eastern European grocers. So these days, I’ve been able to whip it up using some great ingredients. Found that an excellent Polish sausage and a good hearty barley works wonders.

margie king’s holiday slovak soup (kapusta polievka)

ingredients

1/2 lb Polish sausage, Kielbasa, skinned and sliced
1 lb pork, cut into kabobs, cooked in water with foam skimmed

1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste

to make

Toss all ingredients into a large pot. Cover with water and simmer on medium for around 3 hours. Be careful that the barley doesn’t stick to the bottom, stir from time to time.

Serve with a nice crusty bread, fresh ground black pepper or a dollop of sour cream.

Variants: Try adding other root vegetables, carrots or seasonings (paprika, hot peppers, marjoram); shallots or leeks also work well. In my latest batch, I added fire roasted red peppers and extra sausage. Ham or pork ribs can also be used. Some versions add prunes.

I’ve often also made this Polish variation. Either way, what results is a hearty thick soup with a sour punch.

Tastes great in an extra large type mug, of course.

The post Holiday Slovak Soup first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

‘found in an old formulary book that Coca-Cola inventor, John S. Pemberton, was using shortly before his death’

Was bouncing around online and stumbled upon Coca-Cola’s Secret Formula.

Well, Coke’s original sugary, cocaine-based Secret Formula.

Not quite ‘The Real Thing’ we have today . . .

Coca-Cola ad, 1894

original coca-cola syrup, alleged

ingredients

1 oz. Citrate Caffein
1 oz. Ext. Vanilla
2 1/2 oz. Flavoring
4 oz. F.E. Coco
Caramel sufficient
3 oz Citric Acid
1 Qt. Lime Juice
20 lbs. Sugar
2 1/2 gal. Water

flavoring

80 Oil Orange
120 Oil Lemon
40 Oil Nutmeg
1 Qt. Alcohol
40 Oil Cinnamon
20 Oil Coriander
40 Oil Neroli

directions

Mix Caffein Acid and Lime Juice 1 Qt. Boiling water add vanilla and flavoring when cool. Let stand for 24 hours.

In reality, The Coca-Cola Company only makes a syrup – which is sent out to bottlers who add the fizzy water. Originally, one could mix their own Coke at home, using yeast to get the bubbles to magically appear.

I tried this once using a recipe out of a childrens book I got from the local library. Bottles kept exploding. Very dangerous.

Details about the ingredients, Pemberton and his notebook can be found here. Plus, here’s the Snopes take on the Secret Formula.

And more cola recipes here and here.

Formula found via Cover Secret; Coca-Cola syrup jar photo found via The Rocketeer; Making cola concentrate photo found via Cube-Cola; Bottles photo found via Oddee

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Apnea with pumpkin innards.

And if you have a pumpkin lying around, here’s the ‘official’ recipe for my absolute favorite pumpkin pie.

The post Pumpkin guts first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Been making my own Sweet Tea. Traditional Southern style sweet tea, but without sugar.

Here’s my recipe  . . .

mehallo’s low-cal sweet tea

ingredients

20 tea bags (I prefer Yorkshire)
4 oz. container Pure Via stevia extract
Dash baking soda
Lots of filtered water

to make

Toss all in a large stock pot, fill with water. Bring to a boil, taste for sweetness. Adjust as necessary.

Simmer gently for 12 hours or so. Sweetner should caramelize and tea will turn dark brown. Baking soda will help keep things from going cloudy.

Chill in fridge. Serve with ice.

Final tea could be served strong – or use it as a concentrate, add water and ice when serving. (I prefer it strong)

Variants: I’ve added honey, a few different types of tea (such as Pomegranate or something fancy) to swap out the flavors a bit. Can also be served with mint or stevia leaves. Mixes great with lemonade.

Mason jar photo found via The Gastronaut

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‘Rick’s Picks artisinal pickles – all natural, award winning, hand-packed pickles’

From NYC. Snag a bottle here.

And – here’s the recipe (with video).

Photo found via Sodium Girl

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Here’s a little piece of San Francisco that only a local would know about.

Riviera ‘Authentic San Francisco’ Minestrone has been around since 1934. The green cans used to show up in drug stores and markets. Made from an old Italian family recipe.

It’s a rustic, bean-based soup with Swiss chard, noodles and a deep meaty flavor. It’s owned by the Birds Eye food company – and recently, they were even carrying it with a Nalley label (above, right).

Unfortunately, any form of the Riviera ‘Original Recipe’ Minestrone has been off the market for a few months now – and the Riviera ‘Authentic San Francisco Soup’ brand is now selling more mainstream canned soup flavors.

Luckily, I have a recipe of my own.

Soup ingredients, today

Almost 20 years ago, I decided to craft my own take on this ‘San Francisco’ soup. With can label in hand, I took apart the ingredients – thumbed thru a few cookbooks – and came up with a decent substitute.

Interesting to note, the ingredients on the 1990 label were a bit different than what’s been available recently. Less  . . .  ‘artificial flavoring.’

My own version is not quite a clone. The result is a similar dish, a bit more chunky and just as hearty. Tho as I was once making the soup, my friend Ray Savage wrote another name for it across the top of my recipe:

mehallo’s san francisco minestrone
or ‘how ray died’

ingredients

2 1/2 pounds pork chops
3 or 4 boneless chicken thighs
2 strips good bacon

Juice of 1/2 lemon
Sugar, salt, black pepper to taste

to make

Put the meats, garlic and carrots in a roasting pan – drizzle with olive oil – and throw in the broiler until browned.

Chop the meats – remove the bones from the pork chops – and add the roasted ingredients to a large soup pot. Tie the roasted pork bones together and also place in the pot.

Add the rest of the fresh ingredients, plus the beans, lentils, bay leaf, seasoning and chicken/beef broth. Cover all with water and simmer for around 90 minutes.

Separately, boil the pasta in a pot of salted water per package directions, but slightly undercook. Drain and set aside.

After 90 minutes, remove and discard the pork bones and bay leaf from the soup. Transfer about a third (or half) of the soup to a food processor and blend. Add the thick mix back to the pot, add the lemon juice, sugar, salt (it may need a lot) and black pepper to taste. Simmer a bit more, stir in the cooked pasta and enjoy.

Variants: Try adding Italian sausage, chopped hard boiled eggs, some peppers or different types of beans.

Serving suggestion: Cover the final soup with mozzarella and broil in oven

The post San Francisco Minestrone first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

‘a side dish that gave Kraft Macaroni & Cheese a run for its money in the 1950s’

Pailadzo Captanian and her Armenian rice pilaf became ‘The San Francisco Treat.’

Here’s NPR taking a look at where this Armenian/Italian treat comes from. Original recipe included.

The post Rice-A-Roni first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Butterbeer: A heavy, butterscotch soda. Can be made with alcohol too. Here’s a basic recipe.

And here’s some alternates.

Photos via fuckyeahemmawatson; Food Network

The post Butterbeer! first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Here’s the recipe for Jamie Oliver’s Mad Moroccan Lamb, as prepped by Lauren Soutiere of East Village Kitchen.

(If you’re a herbivore, you might want to stay away from my blog today. Tomorrow will be much safer.)

(Probably want to stay away yesterday too.)

The post Perfect for a Darby: Mad Moroccan Lamb first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

A few weeks back I got together with a bunch of cool font designers for a Typnic (type picnic) in Golden Gate Park. Of course, I had to bring my type pasta salad.

The recipe is inspired by both Jamie Oliver and Tom Colicchio – in that I’m borrowing a few of their ideas. Alphabet pasta can be found (in California) in the Mexican section of the supermarket, or there’s online sources.

For the recipe, I’m just going to list what I start with (sometimes I make it overly complex if I have a lot of ingredients on hand); simply add whatever you want, have fun with it  . . . . 

mehallo’s type pasta salad

ingredients

Alphabet pasta
Use a package or two. Prep it by directions, then let cool before adding to salad. Note: It can help to lightly fry the pasta in olive oil before boiling, the pasta will hold up better in the salad.

Fresh veggies
I use a bunch of crunchy stuff: Chopped carrots, shallots (or onions), peppers, celery. Fresh cut corn, shaved off the cob gives the whole thing a hit of sweetness, balances out the other flavors. You can also add fresh green beans, chopped parsnips, cooked artichokes, whatever’s on hand.

Canned ingredients
Try different beans, kidney, garbanzo, black-eyed peas. Black olives, sliced are great; I use Musco’s Mediterranean Pearls which are marinated in wine vinegar and other cool stuff. Drain everything before adding to the salad.

Dressing
As a base, I use Ken’s Steak House Lite Caesar; it’s a really good oil-based Caesar with aged romano. I also mix in a store-bought balsamic dressing and a really good olive oil. And you’ll need a basic vinegar for the fresh veggie marinade.

Seasonings
Fennel seed is key to the recipe. So are smoked paprika (McCormick makes a great one), dried oregano, fresh ground pepper and some grated lemon peel (sliced lemons make a good garnish). Fresh cut parsley and oregano also work well.

Cheese and meat
These are finishes: Grate a nice hard cheese over the whole thing. And prosciutto – roasted, cut small and mixed in with large cuts thrown on top – adds the final touch. Try experimenting with different cheeses, bacon, different types of ham, salami, chicken, tofu.

to make

Veggie marinade
Marinate the crunchy stuff (carrots, shallots, celery). Throw in a small bowl filled with vinegar – and throw in some fennel seeds. Let sit for 20 minutes or so while you prep the rest of the salad. The vinegar does a great job of taming the shallots (or onions) and slightly pickling the carrots and celery.

Pasta
Prep pasta and set aside.

Roasted ingredients
Take any of the veggies that’ll roast well – such as the peppers and corn – and throw it in a roasting pan, sprinkle the smoked paprika on top and add the chopped prosciutto. Broil until browned (do not blacken the prosciutto). Cool with ice. Save the large cut prosciutto for garnish. Drain everything and add to salad bowl.

Finishing up
Drain the veggie marinade and add to bowl with pasta and roasted stuff. Add the canned ingredients.

Mix in a whole bunch of the caesar dressing, a slosh of the balsamic dressing and coat everything with the olive oil.

Stir in the rest of the seasonings, black pepper – taste for flavors (if not sweet enough, add a hit of sugar; though the corn tends to do its job). Grate cheese over the dish and add the large cuts of prosciutto on top. Chill a bit.

Eat when hungry.

The post Recipe for my type pasta salad first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

One more dish. But it’s for tomorrow. You have to soak the beans overnight.

Recipe here.

Recipe by José Andrés; photo by Patricia Heal

The post Or fucking try this first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Fucking go here.

Found via Robynne Raye
Recipe by José Andrés; photo by Sang An

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