Avocado and Grapefruit Salad

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1/2 cup good olive oil

• 4 ripe Hass avocados

• 2 large red grapefruits

Directions

Place the mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until the vinaigrette is emulsified.
Before serving, cut the avocados in 1/2, remove the seeds, and carefully peel off the skin. Cut each half into 4 thick slices. Toss the avocado slices in the vinaigrette to prevent them from turning brown. Use a large, sharp knife to slice the peel off the grapefruits (be sure to remove all the white pith), then cut between the membranes to release the grapefruit segments.
Arrange the avocado slices around the edge of a large platter. Arrange the grapefruit segments in the center. Spoon the vinaigrette on top, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve.

- Laura from Ina Garten

Raspberry Almond Tort - Market Street Grill

This is the cake Curtis and I had at our wedding, so I made it for the December "traditional" Gourmet Night since our anniversary was coming up. I had never made it before, but it will definitely become a tradition now, as it was completely delicious and much less complicated than it looks.

Below is the recipe straight off their site. My only tip is that the pastry cream quantity was definitely out of proportion for my cakes, so I had enough to fill two separate torts (NOT a problem :) ), so plan to have at least a bit of pastry cream left over. Also, it says to beat the yolks for 10 min, they're not joking. I went for almost 15 and they were actually kind of fluffy. Amazing.

Enjoy!!

Sponge Layer
5 egg whites
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
pinch of salt

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and salt until thick. Continue beating while slowly adding sugar and beat until stiff and shiny but not dry. Set aside.

5 egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
¼ cup melted cooled butter
½ cup finely chopped, lightly toasted almonds

Beat yolks, sugar and salt together until thick and creamy (at least 10 minutes). Add cornstarch and mix until well combined. Fold in melted butter and chopped almonds. Fold this mixture into egg white mixture. Divide batter between two 9" cake pans that have been lined with parchment and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in the pan.

Pastry Cream
3 cups milk
1 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
6 egg yolks
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
½ cup milk (additional)
4 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
4 egg whites
¼ cup sugar (additional)
1 pint container of fresh raspberries

Place 3 cups milk in a saucepan and sprinkle unflavored gelatin over top. Let set for 5 minutes for gelatin to soften. Add sugar and salt, place over medium high heat and stirring constantly, bring to a simmer. In a separate bowl, combine egg yolks, flour, cornstarch and ½ cup milk. Whisk until well combined. Whisk some of the hot milk mixture into the yolk mixture, and then return all to the saucepan. Whisking constantly, bring to a simmer and remove from heat. Add butter and extracts. Beat egg whites and ¼ cup sugar until will hold soft peaks. Fold hot mixture into egg whites until well combined and let cool.

To Assemble:
Place one of the sponge layers on a serving plate. Spread a ½ inch thick layer of pastry cream over top, to within ½ inch of edge of layer. Place a ring of raspberries around edge of pastry cream and sprinkle remaining raspberries equally in the center. Add another layer of pastry cream over raspberries, spreading evenly. Place second layer, top-side up, over pastry cream and press gently. Sift powdered sugar over top, serve and enjoy!

Misty Lefrandt

Roasted Curry Cauliflower

To make this dish I think I used this blog:

Roasted Curried Cauliflower Recipe

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

1 large cauliflower (or several small ones), ~2 lb

Curry powder

Olive oil

Kosher or sea salt

pepper

I added diced green and red peppers, carrots and onions to the chopped cauliflower. I put all the vegetables in a bowl and poured the dressing on top. I cooked it in the oven on a cookie sheet at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes. I covered it with aluminum foil when it came out to keep it warm and that softened it. To keep it crispier don't cover. Or cover it for the first half of the oven cooking.

But I used Alton Brown's curry powder recipe because I was out of bottled curry powder:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds, toasted
• 2 tablespoons whole cardamom seeds, toasted
• 2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds, toasted
• 1/4 cup ground turmeric
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon cayenne

I followed these proportions but with ground spices.

Yummy, yummy cauliflower!

Brittany Turley

Granola Bars

These make a super healthy snack -- no sugar or butter, and plenty of protein in the oats, almonds, and wheat germ.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/09/granola-bars/.

I used dried apples and cranberries for my fruit, but you could put together any delicious combination of dried fruits. (And I may add some mini semi-sweet chocolate chips next time if I'm feeling like I need a treat.)

(Posted by Ashley)

Braised Beef Brisket

When I made this I halved the recipe. A few modifications I made were adding 2 Tbs of brown sugar to the vegetable mix after taking it out of the oven. Using only half of the balsamic vinegar and used baby portabella mushrooms instead. It was a hit! Enjoy.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/braised-beef-brisket-with-onions-
mushrooms-and-balsamic-recipe/index.html

Coconut Curry Beef and Vegetables

1 ½ lb sirloin steak tips, sliced thinly against grain
salt and pepper
4 t vegetable oil
1 T green curry paste
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 (14 oz) cans coconut milk
12 oz broccoli, florets chopped; stems peeled and sliced thin
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
¼ c chopped Thai basil
2T fish sauce
Rice

1. Pat meat dry with paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook half of meat until browned, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to plate and repeat with remaining oil and meat.
2. Add curry paste and garlic to now-empty skillet and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in coconut milk, broccoli, bell pepper, and any accumulated meat juices, scraping up any browned bits. Cook until vegetables are tender and sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in Thai basil, fish sauce, and browned meat with accumulated juices and cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Serve over rice.

Laura from America's Test Kitchen

The Best Broccoli You've Ever Had

You preheat the oven to 425.

Cut broccoli into florets (relatively big ones.)

Toss with Olive Oil, salt, and Pepper and garlic

Spread onto cookie sheet and roast in the oven 20 to 25 minutes, until “crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.”

When it’s done, take it out of the oven–and here’s where it gets really good–zest a lemon over the broccoli, squeeze the lemon juice over the broccoli, add a little more olive oil, toasted pine nuts (optional) and 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. You can also add 2 Tbs julienned fresh basil.

DELICIOUS!

Tiffany Rinne

got recipe from Pinterest

shared at Brookline Recipe Group on 1/24/12