Family Feast February 2012

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February 25, 2012
Berkeley

Negronis
double-cream cow/goat "Cremont" cheese
Raincoast "Salty Date and Almond" crackers

Moroccan salad of orange sections, kalamata olives, garlic, olive oil, all kinds of chile seasoning, and Michael's home-grown giant Italian parsley

Braised Short Ribes with Brandy and Dried Cherry Reduction
Zuni Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans sautéed in butter with lemon juice

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake with Marlon's pecans from El Reno, Oklahoma
 whipped cream plus rum-sprinkled coconut and cinnamon


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Cookbook #4: Cheese Board: Collective Works

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Adapted from Cookbook #4:  Cheese Board:  Collective Works (2003) Recipe: Four-Cheese, Three-Onion, Four-Herb Pizza Four cheeses?   I needed four cheeses to make one pizza?  When you're the Cheese Board, the answer is yes. Four cheeses: four gospels, four noble truths, four horsemen of the apocalypse,  four chambers to mammalian heart, the fantastic four ... And so, to follow in this illustrious suit of four, I give you four reasons why this was a good recipe for me to make: 1.  I don't make pizza. My husband does.  For his thirtieth birthday in 2003, he and I were envisioning our ideal kitchen, so I gathered together an immoral amount with the kitchen-themed presents, including a pizza stone.  Since then, he has been delegated head pizza chef, so this is another one of those recipes I would never make but would foist upon him.  When I pull this cookbook off the shelf, I go straight to the scones pages (which are relatively easy to find as they are currently the butte
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Ottolenghi's Semolina, Coconut and Marmalade Cake

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"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight, from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman, and a ride home."  This week I did two very important things: I made Ottolenghi's Semolina, Coconut and Orange Blossom Cake and I rewatched The Outsiders . These two events are not related; however, they were both delightful. Let's start with the cake, shall we? This cake is a light - in - texture - but - heavy - in - flavor take on the ubiquitous Eastern Mediterranean semolina cake. From Greece to Syria, Egypt to Turkey, this cake, well, takes the cake. Call it revani , basbousa , shamali, harisi , mix in yogurt, coconut, rose water instead of orange blossom water--no matter what, you're going to do all right.   Ottolenghi's version adds coconut and marmalade to a large dose of sunflower oil and semolina. He also serves it with a dallop of Greek yogurt freshened with orange blossom water. However, this is the kind of
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Ottolenghi's Lemon and Eggplant Risotto

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Whole Roasted Celery Root from NOPI

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Lamb Stew with Apples (Estofado de Cordero Con Manzana)

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