2 tablespoon olive oil
2 cup chopped sweet onions
6 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 Cubanelle pepper, chopped

2 jalapeños, seeds and ribs removed, minced

2 pounds ground turkey
1 (28-ounce) can dice organic tomatoes, undrained

1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes, drained

2 (16-ounce) cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano

1. In a large Dutch oven, sauté onions, garlic, and peppers in olive oil over medium heat until onions are translucent. Add ground turkey and cook until no longer pink.
2. Add diced tomatoes. Crush whole plum tomatoes with your hands and add those to the pot.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and combine well. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 45 minutes to one hour.

Serve with diced onions, shredded cheddar cheese, sliced scallions, sour cream, and saltines. The chili tastes even better the next day.

2 packages Golden’s Homemade Blintzes (These are larger than regular Golden’s Blintzes. Look for them in the freezer section)

1/2 stick butter

1 T brown sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

4 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Melt the butter in a saucepan.
2. Place the brown sugar, sour cream, and eggs in a food processor and pulse until blended. Add the melted butter and pulse once more until blended.
3. Place the blintzes in a 9×13″ glass baking dish. Pour the butter mixture over all. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes.
4. Cool slightly before serving.

2-3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs

15-oz can black beans, drained

1/2 cup frozen corn

16 oz. jar salsa

1/4 t cumin

1/4 t chili powder

1/4 t garlic powder

1 package of 8″ tortillas, wheat or corn

2 avocados, sliced

2 plum tomatoes, diced

1 medium onion, diced

6-8 leaves lettuce, shredded

6 oz. pepper jack cheese, shredded

2 limes, cut in wedges

1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

sour cream

1. Place the chicken thighs in the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour the jar of salsa over top. Add the black beans and corn. Season with cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder.
2. Cover and cook on LOW for about 5-6 hours. Remove the chicken from the sauce and shred with two forks. Return the chicken to the slow cooker for another 45-60 minutes, while you assemble the taco fixings.
3. Place the avocados, tomatoes, diced onion, lettuce, cheese, limes, cilantro, and sour cream in individual serving dishes. Place the tortillas on a separate plate. Set the condiments and tortillas on the table right before serving the chicken.
4. When the chicken is done, remove the stoneware pot from the slow cooker. Strain the chicken mixture, reserving the cooking liquid. Once strained, place the shredded chicken into a serving bowl.

Serves 4-5 hungry people.

I adapted this recipe from two different ones I found on the Internet.

3-3.5 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cubed

3 T vegetable oil

1 large yellow or white onion sliced + 1 medium onion sliced

6-8 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

4-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced

8 plum tomatoes, diced

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

1 lb green beans, chopped into 1″ pieces

2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 quart chicken stock

1.5 cups peanut butter

1 T + 1 t ground coriander

1/2 t cayenne pepper, or to taste

1/2 t paprika

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup chopped cilantro, for garnish

steamed jasmine rice

1. Place the sweet potatoes and a little water in a microwave-safe container. Cook on high for 3 minutes, 30 seconds. Drain the sweet potatoes and set aside.
2. In a large (9-qt) dutch oven, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Salt the chicken pieces well, then brown them in the oil. Do this in batches so you don’t crowd the chicken. Remove the browned chicken pieces to a platter.
3. Lower the heat slightly and sauté the onions for 5 minutes, scraping up the browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Add the ginger, garlic, and tomatoes and sauté for another 3 minutes. Add the mushroom, green beans, and sweet potatoes; stir well to combine.
4. Add the chicken broth and the peanut butter and stir well. Then add the coriander, cayenne pepper, paprika, salt, and pepper and mix again. Add the chicken and combine all.
5. Cover the pot and simmer for another 30 minutes, until the sweet potatoes and chicken are tender.
6. Serve over steamed jasmine rice, and top with cilantro for garnish.

Serves 10-12.

1 butternut squash (approx. 3 lb)

4 T olive oil, divided

1 large, sweet onion, sliced thin

3 T minced ginger

3 T minced garlic

1 jalapeño or Fresno pepper, seeded, deribbed, and minced

3 plum tomatoes, chopped

1 29-oz can pumpkin purée (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 (15 oz.) can coconut milk + 1/2 (15 oz.) can coconut milk

1 rounded T curry powder

1 rounded T garam masala

1/4 t cayenne pepper

3 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined

juice of 2 limes

steamed basmati rice

cilantro, chopped

finishing salt, such as fleur de sel

PREPARE AHEAD OF TIME: Preheat the oven (or toaster oven, like I did!) to 400F. Cut the butternut squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Brush each half with 1/2T olive oil. Place the squash, cut sides down, on a foil-lined pan and roast for approximately 45 minutes, or until tender. Remove the cooked squash from the oven and let cool. Once the squash is cool enough to handle. remove the skin and remaining stem. Dice squash into 1/2″ cubes.

1. Heat 3T olive oil in a large Dutch oven (9-quart recommended) over medium heat. Add onion and ginger; sauté until soft, approx. 8 minutes.
2. Add garlic and cook for one minute, then stir in plum tomatoes, jalapeño, and pumpkin purée. Cook this mixture for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the pumpkin purée is golden brown.
3. Add vegetable broth, coconut milk, curry powder, garam masala, and cayenne pepper. Simmer for 20-25 minutes.
4. Add butternut squash, shrimp, and lime juice. Simmer all until shrimp is cooked and squash is warm, approximately another 10 minutes.

To serve: place a scoop of steamed basmati rice in a bowl. Add 2 ladles of curry. Top with chopped cilantro and fleur de sel.

Yield: 10-12 servings (approx. 6-7 quarts of curry).

4-5 lbs beef shoulder or chuck roast (or boneless, skinless chicken thighs)

36 oz. bottled barbecue sauce

2/3 cup apple cider vinegar

2/3 cup ketchup

2/3 cup brown sugar

3 T dijon mustard

3 T Worcestershire sauce

3 t garlic powder

2 t onion powder

pinch cayenne pepper

black pepper to taste

1. In the bowl of the slow cooker, whisk together all the wet ingredients and spices.
2. Place the meat in the bowl, turning to coat well with the sauce.
3. Cook on LOW for 8 hours (or HIGH for 4 hours). Remove the meat and shred it with two forks.
4. Return the shredded meat to the slow cooker and heat through for another 45 minutes to 1 hours until very hot. Serve immediately.

Serves 8-10.

2 dozen brown eggs, free-range if possible, with a pull-date close to  today

generous pinch of kosher salt

1. Place the eggs in a deep saucepan  or a Dutch oven. Fill pot with water, covering the eggs by at least one inch of water. Add a generous pinch of kosher salt to the water.
2. Bring the pot to a rolling boil, then remove from the heat. Let the pot sit for 18 minutes.
3. Fill a large metal bowl with ice and water  and place the cooked  eggs in the ice-bath  until they are completely chilled.
4. Crack the eggshell all over and peel. Rinse under cool water and pat dry.

Yield:  Makes about 20 medium-sized matzah balls.

1/4 large white onion, roughly sliced

1/4 cup fresh curly parsley

2 teaspoons fresh dill, chopped fine

8 large eggs, separated

2 teaspoons salt

Dash cayenne pepper

4 tablespoons schmaltz (chicken fat; I use what I skim from defatting chicken soup)

1 1/2 cups matzah meal

7 cups gluten-free vegetable stock (or salted boiling water, if no stock on hand)

Safflower oil

Special equipment:  food processor, whisk, electric mixer

1. Place the onion slices and parsley in the food processor. Pulse briefly until until and parsley are minced together. Place this mixture into a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the egg yolks, salt, cayenne pepper, and schmaltz to the onion-parsley mix and whisk together.
3. In another large bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks.
4. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture until barely combined. Continue folding the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture until the two are just combined.
5. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours.
6. In a large pot, bring the vegetable stock or water to a boil. Moisten hands with a little safflower oil and roll the matzah mixture into 1-inch balls (about the size of a walnut). Gently drop each ball into the boiling stock. After all the balls are formed, return the stock to a boil, reduce heat to medium. Cover and simmer for 35 minutes. Remove matzah balls with a slotted spoon and serve warm in chicken soup.

Note:  You may serve the matzah balls in the same stock in which they were cooked, but the soup will be cloudy. I recommend heating up a separate pot of chicken soup while you’re forming and cooking the matzah balls. You can cook carrots, celery, and/or parsnips in the chicken stock to serve with the soup.

I see you scratching your head, asking “what is Hoppin John?” According to The Joy of Cooking, by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker (Simon & Schuster, 1997), Hoppin John is a pilau, a rice dish made with meat or vegetables. The dish is actually Middle Eastern in origin and migrated to France in the Middle Ages. When French Protestants came to America, they brought along their pilau, where it blended with rice dishes particularly from the Carolina Low Country. The result was a uniquely American pilau, or pilaf, featuring black-eyed peas. According to Southern tradition, eating Hoppin John on New Year’s Day ensures a prosperous year filled with luck.

3 T olive oil

2 large, white onions, diced:  3/4 of this is for cooking and 1/4 is reserved for garnish

4 stalks celery, diced

2 green peppers, diced

1 small habanero pepper, ribs & seeds removed, minced

2 T minced garlic

2 lb black-eyed peas, soaked overnight and rinsed

2 lb smoked turkey sausage, quartered lengthwise and sliced into small pieces

1 quart chicken stock

1 quart vegetable stock

1 15-oz can Ro-tel diced tomatoes with mild green chilies

2 bay leaves

2 t dried thyme leaves

1/4 t cayenne pepper

Salt, black pepper to taste

3 lb ground beef

3 t butter

3 cups uncooked long-grain white rice

2 large, fresh tomatoes, cored and chopped

hot sauce

1. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a heavy 9-quart soup pot or Dutch oven. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the cooking onions and saute, stirring occasionally.
2. When the onions are translucent, add the celery, green pepper, habanero pepper, and garlic and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add the black-eyed peas, sausage, chicken stock, vegetable stock, canned tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, cayenne pepper, and seasonings to taste. Stir well.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for at least one hour, stirring occasionally, until the peas are creamy and tender.
5. While the beans are cooking, prepare the rice. In a medium saucepan, bring 6 cups of water and butter to a boil, and add a large pinch of salt. Add the rice, turn the heat to low, cover the saucepan and let the rice cook undisturbed for 25 minutes. If the rice finishes cooking before the peas, keep it covered and warm until the peas are fully cooked.
6. While the rice is cooking, prepare the beef:  heat a large saute pan on medium-high until the pan is hot. Add half of the ground beef, season with salt and pepper to taste, and saute until no longer pink; drain the fat off this mixture and reserve in a covered bowl. Repeat for the remainder of the ground beef. Once all the beef is cooked and drained, cover and keep warm until service.
7. Place the chopped, fresh tomatoes in a serving bowl; place diced onions for garnish in another serving bowl; put both on the table along with your favorite hot sauce.

To serve:

Place a 1/2 cup cooked rice in a large soup bowl. Put 2 ladles of Hoppin John over the rice and add as much broth as desired. Add about 1/2 cup of ground beef over top of all. Serve with chopped fresh tomatoes and the diced onions for garnish. Add your favorite hot sauce if desired.

Serves 10-12.