Frank Comito's Reuben
My friend, Gayle, who KNOWS how to celebrate St. Paddy's Day in style, shared this spectacular Reuben recipe with me. It is the BEST!
Equipment
- Grill or Panini Press
Ingredients
- 2 slices Rye Bread Marble rye is a great choice
- 2 tsp butter softened
- 2 slices Swiss cheese
- 1 oz special thousand island dressing recipe below
- 1/2 cup sauerkraut drained well and seasoned with 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
- 6 oz corned beef sliced
Special Thousand Island Dressing
- 1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 5/6 cup catsup Gayle broke this recipe down to 2/3 of how it was originally written.
- 1 1/2 tbsp dill pickle relish
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1/3 tsp dill weed
- 1/3 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Butter bread - put butter side down on griddle
- Put corned beef on griddle to get hot. Spray with a bit of water
- Put one slice of cheese on each piece of bread (off-set so every bite gets some cheese)
- Put Special Thousand Island Dressing on both pieces of bread
- Mix kraut and chili sauce together and put portion on griddle to heat through
- Put corned beef on top of Special Thousand Island Dressing. Top with kraut and put other slice of bread on top. Grill until hot and cheese has melted. Cut and Plate
Special Thousand Island Dressing
- Mix and chill all ingredients. If covered and chilled well, it will last 2 weeks
Kathy's Green Chili Burgers For 2
"These burgers are inspired by a place that is gone, but we went to many times for many years....Greasewood Flats. It was a crazy place in Arizona, up on Pinnacle Peak that included old carnival rides and a real pig walking around saying 'hi' to everyone. We sat around fire pits and enjoyed our burgers along with Margaritas."
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- ⅔-¾ lbs 80/20 burger meat
- 1 tbsp cilantro chopped
- 1 tbsp green onion chopped
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
Build The Burger
- 2 hamburger buns
- slices cheddar or pepper jack cheese
- pickled onions
- whole mild green chilis
- secret sauce recipe follows
- arugula
Secret Sauce
- ketchup to taste
- mayo to taste
- mustard to taste
- hot sauce to taste
Instructions
- Mix together burger meat, cilantro, green onion, chili powder and cumin. Form into patties, season with salt and pepper and grill to desired doneness.
- Add sliced cheese to hot burger, allowing to melt before placing on warmed hamburger buns. Top the hamburger with remaining ingredients and enjoy Watson style, (with a delicious Margarita)
Grandma Waddell's Oatmeal Rolls
Thanksgiving dinner is not complete without these heavenly rolls. They are light and slightly sweet which is a perfect complement to the turkey when making sandwiches with the leftovers.
Ingredients
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 3 tbsp salad oil
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup warm water
- 1 tbsp dry yeast
- 5 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
Instructions
- Make a sponge by combining the boiling water, rolled oats, salad oil, brown sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Allow the sponge to cool to room temperature and then add the yeast and water mixture. Add the flour, one cup at a time and knead into a soft dough.
- Place the dough into a buttered bowl and allow it to raise until doubled in size.
- Punch down the dough and raise again until doubled in size.
- Punch dough down the dough and form into rolls. Place the formed rolls on a cookie sheet and allow to raise, lightly covered, in a draft free place until doubled in size.
- Bake in a 375 degree F (preheated oven) for 20 minutes.
- Brush tops with butter while still hot from the oven and enjoy!
Banana Bran Bread
This moist bread is flecked with pieces of dried apricots. Wrapped airtight, it keeps well at room temperature for several days. I find it especially good spread with cream cheese.
Servings: 1 Loaf
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 1½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup dried apricots
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsalted butter (room temperature) 1 stick cut into 6 pieces
- 4 small very ripe bananas (1 pound) peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 cup All-Bran cereal
- ¾ cup pecans
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to lower third position and preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan or 8½ by 4½ by 2¾-inch loaf pan. (Larger pan will yield flat, wide loaf; smaller pan will produce narrow, tall loaf.)
- Insert metal blade in food processor and put flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and apricots into work bowl. Pulse 6 to 8 times, in pulses lasting 1 second each, just until apricots are very coarsely chopped. Remove and set aside.
- With metal blade in place, put sugar, eggs, and vanilla into work bowl and process for 30 seconds. Add butter and process for another 30 seconds, stopping once to scrape work bowl. Mixture may look curdled; this is all right. Add bananas and process for 10 seconds. Mixture will not be completely smooth; some small pieces of bananas should remain. Add cereal and process for 5 seconds only. Finally, add pecans and dry ingredients to work bowl. Pulse rapidly 3 times, scrape bowl well, and pulse 1 more time. Do not overprocess.
- Turn batter into prepared pan. Bang pan on countertop to level batter; use spatula to smooth top.
- Bake until loaf is very well browned and cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 60 minutes for larger pan, 70 minutes for smaller pan. A few cracks may develop on top of loaf. Cool bread in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto rack to cool completely.
Whole Grain Muffins
This is another one of those recipes I have made since my son was a baby. One summer, my younger brother lived with us and he referred to these as, "Lisa's Killer Muffins" because they have such a high fiber content. They are delicious, tender and store well for several days.
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole-wheat flour
- 2 tbsp wheat germ toasted or untoasted
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup raisins
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1½ cup quick cooking rolled oats not instant
- ½ cup boiling orange juice
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat to 375°F.Generously butter 15 standard-size muffin cups and set aside. Insert metal blade in a food processor and put flour, wheat germ, baking soda, salt, sugars, and raisins into work bowl and process until raisins are coursely chopped, about 30 seconds. Add butter and process 10 seconds.
- Transfer mixture to large sheet of parchment paper and set aside. With metal blade in place, put oats in work bowl and process until finely chopped, about 30 seconds. Pour orange juice in circle over oatmeal and pulse rapidly 3 times, just to combine; do not over process.
- Add egg, vanilla, buttermilk and pulse rapidly 4-5 times. Scrape work bowl. Pour half of flour mixture in a circle over oatmeal mixture and pulse twice. Scrape work bowl, add remaining flour mixture and pulse twice, complete mixing with spatula, if necessary.
- Fill prepared muffin cups about ¾ full and place in oven. (Allowing them to stand for 20 minutes before baking will produce lighter muffins.) Bake until tops are rich brown and muffins spring back when lightly pressed, 20-25 minutes. Turn muffins out onto racks to cool and serve warm.
Tart Cherry and Toasted Pecan Bread
This is modified from the Cooks Illustrated "Almost No-Knead Bread". Pam Zack shared this recipe with me a while back and it is one of my favorites! It is incredibly easy to make.
Equipment
- 3½ quart enameled cast iron pot
Ingredients
- 3 cups unbleached al -purpose flour plus additional for dusting work surface
- ¼ tsp instant yeast
- 1½ tsp kosher salt
- ¾ cup water, at room temperature plus 2 tablespoons, (7 ounces)
- ¼ cup mild-flavored lager, (beer) plus 2 tablespoons, (3 ounces)
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- ½ cup toasted pecan halves
- ½ cup dried tart Montmorency cherries
Instructions
- Whisk flour, yeast, and salt in large bowl. Toss in cherries and pecan halves. Add water, beer, and vinegar. Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.
- Lay 7¾-by-18-inch sheet of parchment paper inside a 3½ quart enameled cast iron pot and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead 10-15 times. Shape dough into ball by pulling edges into middle. Transfer dough, seam side down into parchment-lined pot and spray surface of dough with nonstick cooking spray. Cover and let rise at room, temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, about 2 hours.
- Remove cover and put into a cold oven, set the temperature to 425°F and **bake until loaf is deep brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 210 degrees F, approximately 50 minutes. Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to wire rack and cool to room, temperature. about 2 hours.
- **Cooks Illustrated says to bake the bread covered for the first 30 minutes and then remove lid to finish baking. I set the bread in the oven, uncovered, and programed my oven to bake at a specific temperature at a specific time and then turn off at a specific time. It bakes up beautifully this way and doesn't require any babysitting. Just be sure to be at the oven door to take it out when it is done.
