And it was all... YELLOW!

And it was all…..YELLOW!

It was a colorful weekend of eating!  For a new kitchen challenge, we were each randomly assigned a color to serve as a focal point for a multi-course meal.  Here is a copy of the yellow menu items Michelle served up on Friday.  The recipes can be found below the menu in their “ideal” form.  That is, they may be missing some of their yellow ingredients for the sake of better tasting versions to prepare on normal, non-yellow-themed nights of eating. 

Waldorf & Yellow Apple Endive Boat

Yellow Delicious Apples play a starring role in this traditional favorite from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.  Yellow endive leaves serve as supporting actors that make this dish utensil-free and bite-sized.  Yellow curry seasonings add a bit of zip to contrast with the sweetness of yellow raisins.  This should prepare your palate for many yellow foods to come!

 Yellow Squash & Yellow Pear Soup

Yellow Squash and yellow-skinned Bartlett pears transport us back to the days of Dennis’ first savory-sweet cooking endeavors.  Although there are certainly more yellow onions than in the old days!  Summery, refreshing, and topped off with a crunch from yellow carrots.

 Hungarian Stuffed Yellow Pepper

Thanks again to Henry’s (one of our favorite Lincoln restaurants) for inspiring another yellow menu item!  Yellow (although not the ideal Hungarian sweet yellow wax) peppers are stuffed with Hungarian spiced ground turkey.  Additions of yellow sweet corn, yellow baby potatoes, yellow tomatoes, and yellow onions fit the color theme. 

 Fried Yellow Wax Beans

Deep-fried yellow wax beans encrusted in yellow cornmeal are served alongside a yellow honey and yellow mustard dipping sauce.  Crunchy and irresistible! 

Yellow Lemon Sugar Loaf

Yellow raspberries (use your imagination here...the proper colored berries were not in season) served atop a slightly sweet, yellow lemon pound cake.  Dress your slice with zesty yellow lemon curd composed of yellow egg yolks and yellow butter-- that is if Dennis doesn’t eat the entire jar by the spoonful first!

 

Waldorf Endive Boats

Ingredients:

·         1 granny smith apple, cubed w/skin on

·         1/2 small honeycrisp apple (or other sweet variety), cubed w/skin

·         1.5 tablespoons cider vinegar

·         2 tablespoons mayonnaise

·         1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

·         1 pinch kosher salt

·         Cracked black pepper

·         1 scant teaspoon curry powder

·         1 stalk celery, thin bias cut

·         1/4 red onion, julienned

·         endive (or you can substitute with Romaine, although you will lose a bit of the zesty endive’s crunchy flavor)

·         walnuts, toasted and chopped

·         golden raisins

Directions:

1.    In a bowl, toss apples with the cider vinegar.

2.    Fold in mayo and yogurt thoroughly.

3.    Season with salt, pepper, and curry.  Add celery and red onion.

4.    Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow flavors to incorporate. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

5.    To serve, arrange endive or lettuce leaves on a plate and spoon salad on top. Top w/toasted walnuts and raisins.

(Serves about 3)

 

Pear & Summer Squash Soup

Ingredients:

·         1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped

·         1 stalk celery, finely chopped

·         yellow carrots, 1/4 cup finely chopped + additional bite-sized coins

·         2 cups chicken brother

·         2 cups milk

·         salt

·         pepper

·         nutmeg

·         oregano/thyme/or other herb-y flavors of your choosing

·         1 medium-sized yellow squash, peeled and cut into chunks

·         2 medium-sized pears, peeled and cut into chunks

·         diced mushrooms (optional)

Directions:

1.    Sautee onion, celery, and finely chopped carrot in olive oil until lightly browned.

2.    Add chicken broth and milk.  Season lightly with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and other spices.  There will be plenty of time to add more seasonings later as soup simmers and flavors continue to mature.

3.    Add pear and yellow squash.  Simmer until these elements begin to soften.

4.    Transfer to a blender and process until smooth.  You could also use and immersion blender.  Return soup to low heat.

5.    Stir in carrot coins, and continue to simmer until carrots are soft.  If you are in a hurry, you can pre-cook the carrots in a bowl with water in the microwave to speed this part of the process along.  If desired, add chopped mushrooms about 10 minutes before you plan to serve soup.

6.    Sample and adjust seasonings to your liking.  Serve with additional fresh chopped herbs. 

 

Hungarian Stuffed Yellow Peppers

Ingredients:

·         4 yellow bell peppers (you can use orange as well, but I would not recommend green or even red, as they will change the flavor profile that was so delightful about this dish); you may need 5-6 peppers, if they are smaller ones

·         olive oil

·         6-8 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 medium sized onion (1/2 finely minced, and 1/2 roughly chopped)

·         1 (14 oz) can tomato sauce

·         paprika

·         cayenne pepper

·         Kosher salt

·         freshly ground black pepper

·         sugar

·         1 lb. ground turkey

·         2 small Yukon gold potatoes

·         1 medium sized tomato, chopped (or 1 can diced tomatoes)

·         1/2 cup frozen corn (or fresh corn, removed from the husk)

·         1/2 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

·         sour cream, or Greek yogurt

·         fresh oregano and/or parsley (optional, for serving)

 Directions:

1.    Cut off the tops of the peppers, and use a melon baller to remove the membranes.  Precook peppers in boiling water for about 4 minutes.  Drain and rinse under cold water.

2.    Pre-cook your potatoes.  You can do this by boiling or using Judy Ruf’s famous baked potato bag in the microwave!  Cut into small chunks.

3.    Make the sauce.  In a medium-sized sauce pan, sauté approximately 3 cloves of garlic with the finely minced onion over medium heat.  Once lightly browned, add tomato sauce.  Season generously with paprika and freshly ground black pepper.  Add a dash of cayenne and some salt.  Add sugar to cut the acidity of the canned sauce and enhance the sweet paprika taste.  Bring sauce to a boil, and then reduce heat to low.  Simmer and sample.  Adjust seasonings to your liking.  If sauce is too thin, you can add some tomato paste as well.

4.    Make the filling.  In a skillet, brown remaining garlic and onion along with ground turkey.  Use the back of a spoon or spatula to break up meat as you would for sloppy joes.  Season with salt, pepper, paprika, and a bit of cayenne to compliment your sauce flavors.  You might also want to add some of the sauce into your meat mixture to make it extra juicy and moist.

5.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

6.    Remove meat mixture from the heat.  Fold in potatoes, tomato, corn, and Worcestershire sauce.  Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly.  It is likely that you will need to add additional spices at this point, as the taters, maters, and corn will dilute the seasonings you previously added to the meat.  And yet, be careful not to over season as you will be eating it with the paprika tomato sauce too. 

7.    Spoon mixture into peppers.  Top each stuffed pepper with a couple tablespoons of the paprika tomato sauce.  Save remainder of sauce for dipping when you serve the peppers.  Place peppers in a lightly greased casserole dish.  Bake covered for approximately 25 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. 

8.    Serve with remaining sauce and sour cream/Greek yogurt.  Garnish with fresh oregano or parsley, if desired. 

 (serves 4)

 

Fried Green Beans

 

Ingredients:

·         green beans (for yellow night, we used wax beans, but in hindsight the flavor of green beans is likely to hold up better to the cornmeal.  if you're feeling crazy, you could even do both or use other veggies cut into sticks!)

·         buttermilk

·         salt

·         cayenne pepper

·         freshly ground black pepper

·         1/8 cup plain Greek yogurt

·         approx. 2 Tablespoons mustard (I combined Dijon, whole grain, yellow, and spicy brown)

·         1/2 tablespoon honey (or more, if you’d like a sweeter sauce)

·         cornmeal

Directions:

1.    Zap green beans in the microwave until they are slightly under-cooked.

2.    Allow beans to return to room temperature. 

3.    Meanwhile, in a small/medium-sized bowl, combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, freshly ground black pepper, and 1 cup of buttermilk. 

4.    Soak beans in buttermilk mixture for at least 15 minutes and up to an hour. 

5.    While beans are soaking, prep honey mustard dipping sauce.  In a small bowl, combine greek yogurt, mustards, and honey.  Let stand in fridge as you fry the beans. 

6.    In another bowl, prepare your crunchy coating for the beans.  Season 1 cup of cornmeal with additional salt, cayenne, and pepper.

7.    Dredge beans in the cornmeal.  Deep fry in 2 inches of vegetable oil until golden brown (about 3-5 minutes). You can also use a deep fryer.  Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

8.    Serve with honey mustard dipping sauce. 

Lemon Pound Cake

Ingredients:

·         3/4 cup all purpose flour

·         1 tsp. baking soda

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         1/4 cup sugar

·         1/2 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

·         1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

·         1/4 cup vegetable/canola oil

·         1 large egg

·         1/2 teaspoon vanilla

·         milk, if needed to thin batter

Directions:

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.    Lightly grease a loaf pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray.  Dust with flour and tap out excess.

3.    In a medium-sized bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt.

4.    In another bowl, use your fingers to rub together sugar and lemon zest until sugar is moist.

5.    Whisk yogurt, oil, egg, and vanilla into lemon-sugar mixture. 

6.    Combine wet and dry ingredients just to blend.  Batter should be a little thicker than brownie or traditional cake batter, but if it’s too thick, add some milk to thin it out to desired consistency.

7.    Bake until top of cake is golden brown and tooth pick inserted into center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. 

8.    Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.  Invert onto rack and cool completely.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, if it lasts that long!  Top with lemon curd (see below) and fresh berries. 

 

Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

·         3 egg yolks

·         1/3 cup sugar

·         2 lemons, zested and juiced

·         1/3 stick butter, cut into pats and chilled

Directions:

1.    Add enough water to a medium saucepan to come about 1-inch up the side. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.

2.    Meanwhile, combine egg yolks and sugar in a medium size metal bowl and whisk until smooth, about 1 minute.

3.    Add lemon juice and zest to egg mixture and whisk smooth.

4.    Once water reaches a simmer, reduce heat to low and place bowl on top of saucepan. (Bowl should be large enough to fit on top of saucepan without touching the water to create a double boiler system.)

5.    Whisk until thickened in viscosity and you see curd begin to change to a deeper yellow color.  The curd should coat the back of a spoon when you dip it in.  This process will take at least 10 minutes, and maybe more, if your lemons are extra-juicy.  If needed, add a bit of cornstarch (combined with cold water first) to thicken further. 

6.    Remove promptly from heat and stir in butter a piece at a time, allowing each addition to melt before adding the next. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge.  Mixture will continue to set and thicken a bit more as it cools.

 

Meanwhile… Dennis the mix-ologist invented a tropical (and yellow!) rum and Bailey’s-based drink.  He blended together bananas and pineapple with a toasted coconut simple syrup.  Cheers!