*Fruit & Vegetable Recipes* Part Two

*Asparagus*

 

Asparagus

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	85 kJ (20 kcal)
Carbohydrates	3.88 g
- Sugars	1.88 g
- Dietary fiber	2.1 g
Fat	0.12 g
Protein	2.20 g
Thiamine (Vit. B1)	0.143 mg (11%)
Riboflavin (Vit. B2)	0.141 mg (9%)
Niacin (Vit. B3)	0.978 mg (7%)
Pantothenic acid (B5)	0.274 mg (5%)
Vitamin B6	0.091 mg (7%)
Folate (Vit. B9)	52 μg (13%)
Vitamin C	5.6 mg (9%)
Vitamin E	1.1 mg (7%)
Vitamin K	41.6 μg (40%)
Calcium	24 mg (2%)
Iron	2.14 mg (17%)
Magnesium	14 mg (4%)
Manganese	0.2 mg (10%)
Phosphorus	52 mg (7%)
Potassium	202 mg (4%)
Zinc	0.54 mg (5%)
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient database

Only young asparagus shoots are commonly eaten: once the buds start to open ("ferning out"), the shoots quickly turn woody.
Asparagus is low in calories  and is very low in sodium. It is a good source of vitamin B₆, calcium, magnesium and zinc, and a very good source of dietary fiber, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, rutin, niacin, folic acid, iron, phosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese and selenium , as well as chromium, a trace mineral that enhances the ability of insulin to transport glucose from the bloodstream into cells. The amino acid asparagine gets its name from asparagus, the asparagus plant being rich in this compound.
The shoots are prepared and served in a number of ways around the world, typically as an appetizer or vegetable side dish. In Asian-style cooking, asparagus is often stir-fried. Cantonese restaurants in the United States often serve asparagus stir-fried with chicken, shrimp, or beef, and also wrapped in bacon. Asparagus may also be quickly grilled over charcoal or hardwood embers. It is also used as an ingredient in some stews and soups. In the French style, it is often boiled or steamed and served with hollandaise sauce, melted butter or olive oil, Parmesan cheese or mayonnaise. Tall, narrow asparagus cooking pots allow the shoots to be steamed gently, their tips staying out of the water. In recent years, almost as a cycle dating back to early culinary habits, asparagus has regained its popularity eaten raw as a component of a salad.
Asparagus can also be pickled and stored for several years. Some brands may label shoots prepared this way as "marinated".

*Asparagus Souffle*

*Asparagus Frittata*

**Easy to make, quick, and healthy egg frittata with asparagus, potato, onion, garlic.**

Ingredients:

• 7 large eggs
• 1 1/2 oz parmesan cheese
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 10 large asparagus spears
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 oz onions, chopped
• 5 small red potatoes, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Roast asparagus to taste.
2. Beat together eggs and 1 oz shredded parmesan, salt and pepper to taste, and rosemary if desired/on hand.
3. Heat olive oil in skillet, and cook garlic (crushed with side of kitchen knife) in it until garlic is softened. This infuses olive oil with garlic flavor, so you can either leave the garlic in, or remove it, depending on preference.
4. Add onions and potatoes to skillet, and cook until potatoes are cooked through and golden brown.
5. Add roasted asparagus and mix to combine. Pour egg mixture on top, and combine again.
6. Cook until bottom of eggs have set up, and top is just beginning to do so.
7. Top with remaining parmesan cheese, and put into oven set to high broil, until eggs are finished cooking and cheese browns (keep an eye on it, this happens very quickly! About 2 minutes).
8. Cool for 3-5 minutes and serve. Enjoy!

*Peaches*

Peaches have been a popular fruit in the South since the Spaniards first brought them to North America. California, Georgia and South Carolina are the largest producers of peaches in the United States.

Peaches can be dried, canned, made into jams, jellies, and preserves, used as filling for desserts, and used as an ingredient in many other dishes, from appetizers to entrees.
When shopping for peaches, choose fragrant fruits which are unblemished and not overly firm. Because fresh peaches are highly perishable, don't buy more than you plan to use. Even when unripe, they spoil easily. Peaches that are greenish colored were probably picked too early should be avoided. Sweetness does not increase after picking, so ripe-picked fruit is always the tastiest.
*Escarole*

Escarole is a variety of endive whose leaves are broader, paler and less bitter than other members of the endive family. In taste -- but not color -- it is almost indistinguishable from radicchio.
Like radicchio, kale and chard, escarole is a hearty green that thrives late into the growing season. The heart of an escarole head is less bitter because the leaves haven't gotten as much sunlight. (Some farmers even cultivate these pale leaves by covering the plants and depriving them of sunlight.)
High in folic acid, fiber, and vitamins A and K, escarole can be eaten raw or gently cooked. Try tossing a few escarole leaves into a mild salad, serving some quickly wilted with lemon juice, or stir chopped escarole into soup. A medium head of escarole usually yields about seven cups of torn leaves.

*Peach & Escarole Salad*

*Peach Muffins*

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup chopped fresh or frozen peaches
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg, sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour and baking powder; stir into creamed mixture just until moistened. Fold in peaches and pecans. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pan to a wire rack.

*Zucchini*

When used for food, zucchini are usually picked when under 8 inches in length, when the seeds are still soft and immature. Mature zucchini can be as much as three feet long, but the larger ones are often fibrous and with the flowers attached are a sign of a truly fresh and immature fruit, and are especially sought by many people.
Unlike cucumber, zucchini is usually served cooked. It can be prepared using a variety of cooking techniques, including steamed, boiled, grilled, stuffed and baked, barbecued, fried, or incorporated in other recipes such as soufflés. It also can be baked into a bread, zucchini bread or incorporated into a cake mix. Its flowers can be eaten stuffed and are a delicacy when deep fried, as tempura.

The zucchini has a delicate flavor and requires little more than quick cooking with butter or olive oil, with or without fresh herbs.  The skin is left in place. Quick cooking of barely wet zucchini in oil or butter allows the fruit to partially boil and steam, with the juices concentrated in the final moments of frying when the water has gone, prior to serving. Zucchini can also be eaten raw, sliced or shredded in a cold salad, baked into a bread similar to banana bread, as well as lightly cooked in hot salads, as in Thai or Vietnamese recipes. Mature (larger sized) zucchini, while not often eaten by themselves, are well suited for cooking in breads.
Zucchini should be stored not longer than three days. They are prone to chilling damage which shows as sunken pits in the surface of the fruit, especially when brought up to room temperature after cool storage.

*Cream Cheese Zucchini*

*Zucchini Flowers*

The female flower is a golden blossom on the end of each emergent zucchini. The male flower grows directly on the stem of the zucchini plant in the leaf axils (where leaf petiole meets stem), on a long stalk, and is slightly smaller than the female. Both flowers are edible, and are often used to dress a meal or garnish the cooked fruit.
Firm and fresh blossoms that are only slightly open are cooked to be eaten, with pistils removed from female flowers, and stamens removed from male flowers. The stem on the flowers can be retained as a way of giving the cook something to hold onto during cooking, rather than injuring the delicate petals, or they can be removed prior to cooking, or prior to serving. There are a variety of recipes in which the flowers may be deep fried as fritters or tempura (after dipping in a light tempura batter), stuffed, sautéed, baked, or used in soups.
In Mexico, the flower is often used as an ingredient for soup, sopa de flor de calabaza, and it is quite popular in a variation of the traditional quesadillas, becoming quesadillas de flor de calabaza. Zucchini is also used in a variety of other dishes (rajas), and as a side dish.
*Stuffed Zucchiini Flowers*

Ingredients

• 20 zucchini flowers
• 3/4 cup white rice
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped mint leaves
• 1-ounce onion, grated
• 1-ounce zucchini, grated
• 1-ounce tomato, grated
• 3/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 pinches salt
• 2 pinches pepper

Directions

Place the zucchini flowers in cold water to open and make the preparation easier.

In a large mixing bowl place the rice, all the chopped and grated ingredients, half of the olive oil and lemon juice, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well. With a small spoon, take small amounts of the stuffing and fill the zucchini flowers. Fold over the ends to seal the stuffing inside.
Place the flowers on the bottom of a large saucepan, with the openings facing the bottom. Pour in enough water to cover. Add 1 pinch of salt, 1 pinch of pepper and the rest of the olive oil and lemon juice. Cover and simmer gently for about 40 minutes until the rice has absorbed all the liquid.

Notes

*Cooks Note: Place a plate (upside down) on top of the stuffed vegetables before cooking so that the parcels cannot rise or move.*

*Waldorf Salad*

A Waldorf salad is a salad traditionally made of fresh apples, celery and walnuts, dressed in mayonnaise, and usually served on a bed of lettuce as an appetizer or a light meal.
The salad was first created between 1893 and 1896 at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City (the precursor of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, which opened in 1931).
Oscar Tschirky, who was the Waldorf's maître d'hôtel and developed or inspired many of its signature dishes, is widely credited with creating the recipe. In 1896, Waldorf Salad appeared in The Cook Book by 'Oscar of the Waldorf'; the original recipe did not contain nuts, but they had been added by the time the recipe appeared in the Rector Cook Book in 1928. The salad became popular enough that Cole Porter featured it in his song "You're the Top".
Cultural references
"Waldorf Salad" is the title of a 1979 episode of Fawlty Towers which concerns an American guest's increasing frustration with Basil Fawlty's incompetence, symbolised by Fawlty's continuing inability to produce the salad of the title: "I think we're just out of Waldorfs."
June serves Waldorf salad as part of a special dinner for Ward in the Leave it to Beaver episode "Beaver’s Short Pants."
In the 1991 novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, at a Christmas party thrown by protagonist Patrick Bateman's fiancé Evelyn Williams, Evelyn worries about how well the Waldorf salad is received.

*Fruit & Vegetable Recipes* Part One

The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant.
However, the word is not scientific, and its meaning is largely based on culinary and cultural tradition. Therefore, the application of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective. For example, some people consider mushrooms to be vegetables even though they are not plants,  while others consider them a separate food category.
Some vegetables can be consumed raw, some may be eaten cooked, and some must be cooked in order to be edible. Vegetables are most often cooked in savory or salty dishes. However, a few vegetables are often used in desserts and other sweet dishes, such as rhubarb pie and carrot cake.
As an adjective, the word vegetable is used in scientific and technical contexts with a different and much broader meaning, namely of "related to plants" in general, edible or not — as in vegetable matter, vegetable kingdom, vegetable origin, etc.  The meaning of "vegetable" as "plant grown for food" was not established until the 18th century.

^{*Potato Pancakes*}

Potato pancakes are commonly associated with traditional cuisines of Luxembourg, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Belarus (as draniki), Germany (f. ex. as Puffer), Poland (as placki ziemniaczane), Ukraine (as deruny), Ashkenazi Jewry (as latkes or latkas (Yiddish: לאַטקעס, Hebrew: לביבה levivah, plural לביבות levivot), Hungary, Slovakia, Persia and the Czech lands, although other cuisines (including those of India and Korea) have similar dishes, such as Gamjajeon.  It is also the national dish of Belarus. In Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian cuisines, potato pancakes are commonly known as deruny (Ukrainian: деруни) or draniki (Russian: драники, Belarusian: дранікі). Throughout Germany, potato pancakes are also very common under the names Reibekuchen or Kartoffelpuffer, and they are eaten either salty (as a side dish) or sweet with apple sauce  and cinnamon; they are a very common menu item during outdoor markets and festivals in colder seasons.
The Rösti from Swiss cuisine differs in so far as it never contains egg or flour.
A form of potato pancake known as 'Boxty' is a popular traditional dish in most of Ireland. It is made in a similar way but using more starch.
The Swedish version of unbound potato pancakes is called rårakor. When prepared with a batter of wheat flour, milk, egg, and shredded potatoes and fried like thin pancakes, they are called raggmunk, which literally translates as "hairy doughnuts" (the grated potatoes make them look hairy).  Both kinds are enjoyed with fried bacon and lingonberry jam.

*Cucumbers*

The cucumber is a creeping vine that roots in the ground and grows up trellises or other supporting frames, wrapping around ribbing with thin, spiraling tendrils. The plant has large leaves that form a canopy over the fruit. The fruit of the cucumber is roughly cylindrical, elongated with tapered ends, and may be as large as 60 centimeters (24 in) long and 10 centimeters (3.9 in) in diameter. Having an enclosed seed and developing from a flower, botanically speaking, cucumbers are classified as fruits. However, much like tomatoes and squash they are often perceived, prepared and eaten as vegetables.  Cucumbers are usually more than 90% water.

*Cucumber Salad*

Ingredients

• 2 English cucumbers (2 pounds)
• 1 small red onion
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons dried dill or 2 tablespoons fresh

Directions

Slice the cucumber lengthwise, remove the seeds, and slice thinly. Thinly slice the onion.

In a colander, toss the cucumber and onion with the salt and let it sit and drain for 20 minutes. Press the liquid out of the vegetables and rinse well with cold water.

In a medium bowl combine the vinegar and sugar and stir well. Add the cucumber mixture and toss to coat. Stir in the dill.

*Plantains*

Plantain (pronounced /ˈplæntɨn/ as in mountain;  also UK: /ˈplɑːntɨn/  or the rarer US: /plænˈteɪn/) is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana (which is sometimes referred to as the dessert banana). There is no formal botanical distinction between bananas and plantains, and the use of either term is based purely on how the fruits are consumed.
Plantains tend to be firmer and lower in sugar content than dessert bananas. Bananas are almost always eaten raw, while plantains tend to be cooked or otherwise processed, and are used either when green or unripe (and therefore starchy) or overripe (and therefore sweet). Plantains are a staple food in the tropical regions of the world, treated in much the same way as potatoes and with a similar neutral flavour and texture when the unripe fruit is cooked by steaming, boiling or frying. Regions with plantain crops include the Southern United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Central America, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Southern Brazil, the Canary Islands, the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, Madeira, Egypt, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, Okinawa, Taiwan, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Pacific Islands and northern Australia. Farmers grow plantains as far north as Northern California and as far south as KwaZulu-Natal.

*Fried Plantains*

*Plantain Soup*

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 celery rib, strings removed and finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 1/2 cups chicken broth, homemade or canned low-sodium broth, plus more if needed
• 2 green plantains, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped, reserve some for garnish
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook until the onions are soft and browned, 8 minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon. Add the chicken stock, plantains, cilantro, bay leaves and cumin, and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cook at a bare simmer, uncovered, until the plantains are very tender, 45 minutes.

Transfer half of the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. *When blending hot liquids, fill the blender less than halfway full, place the lid askew and pulse the liquid at first to release some heat, otherwise, your blender top could pop! Stir the pureed soup back into the pot with the remaining chunky soup and mix well. If the soup is too thick for your taste add more chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
*When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes.

**Beef & Pork Recipes*

Chili con carne (often known simply as chili) is a spicy stew. The name of the dish derives from the Spanish chile con carne, "chili pepper with meat". Traditional versions are made, minimally, from chili peppers, garlic, onions, and cumin, along with chopped or ground beef. Beans and tomatoes are frequently included. Variations, both geographic and personal, may involve different types of meat as well as a variety of other ingredients. It can be found worldwide in local variations and also in certain American-style fast food restaurants. The variant recipes provoke disputes among aficionados, and the dish is used as an ingredient in a number of other foods.

*Pressure Cooker Beef Chili*

          Ingredients: 2 1/2 pounds beef chuck, cut in 1-inch cubes
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic chopped
2 tablespoon ancho chili powder
2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 can (10.5-oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon ground corn chips, optional
cilantro and chopped green onions to garnish

*Sweet & Sour Pork Tenderloin*

***By the way, this is not simply fake Chinese food; it's actually fake, fake Chinese food. The aforementioned death nuggets we call sweet and sour pork are not even remotely close to any kind of authentic sweet and sour preparation in real Chinese cuisine. Or at least that’s what I heard Anthony Bourdain say one time. Now that's research.***

In North America corned beef dishes are associated with traditional Irish cuisine. However there is considerable debate about the association of corned beef with Ireland. Mark Kurlansky in his book Salt states that the Irish produced a salted beef around the Middle Ages that was the "forerunner of what today is known as Irish corned beef" and in the seventeenth century the English named the Irish salted beef, corned beef.  Some say it was not until the wave of 18th century Irish immigration to the United States that much of the ethnic Irish first began to consume corned beef dishes seen today. One reason for the popularity of corned beef over bacon to the immigrated Irish was likely due to corned beef in their native land being considered a luxury product, but was cheaply and readily available in America.  In Ireland today, the serving of corned beef is geared toward tourist consumption and most Irish in Ireland do not identify the ingredient as native cuisine.
The Jewish population produced similar koshered cured beef product made from the brisket which the Irish immigrants purchased as corned beef from Jewish butchers. This was likely facilitated by the close cultural interactions and collaboration of these two immigrant cultures.

*Coconut Milk Corned Beef & Cabbage*

*Pork Schnitzel*

Ingredients

• 6 boneless top pork loin chops (1/2 inch thick, 1 1/2 pounds), trimmed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons oil

Directions

Place chops between 2 sheets of waxed paper. With meat mallet or rolling pin, pound to 1/8-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt.

Measure flour and bread crumbs onto separate sheets of waxed paper. Whisk together egg and milk in bowl. Lightly coat cutlets in flour, shaking off excess; dip in egg mixture, then into bread crumbs, pressing crumbs to coat.
Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add cutlets to skillet; cook, turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Remove cutlets to warm platter. Serve immediately.

Bell pepper, also known as sweet pepper or capsicum, is a cultivar group of the species Capsicum annuum (chili pepper). Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orange and green. Bell peppers are sometimes grouped with less pungent pepper varieties as "sweet peppers". Peppers are native to Mexico, Central America and northern South America. Pepper seeds were later carried to Spain in 1493 and from there spread to other European, African and Asian countries. Today, Mexico remains one of the major pepper producers in the world.
*Beef & Rice Stuffed Peppers*

The sweet bitterness of the roasted pepper, along with the aromatic, meaty filling makes for a very nice plate of food. And of course, any time you can get your meat, vegetable, and starch in one neat package, you have to love that.

*Caramelized Pork Loin*

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• Pinch ground cinnamon
• 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and 1-inch diced
• 1 (5-pound) center cut, bone-out pork loin, butterflied
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup apple cider

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and diced apples and toss to coat. Saute 3 minutes, without stirring to let the apples caramelize on 1 side. Toss and saute another 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool completely.
Butterfly the tenderloin by cutting the beef lengthwise down the center to within 1/2-inch of the other side. Flatten with a meat mallet.
When the caramel apples have cooled spread the mixture down the center flap of pork. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Spoon the apple mixture down the center of the pork roast. Bring the 2 sides of the tenderloin up around filling to meet. Use butcher string and tie around the roll at 1-inch intervals.
Season the stuffed and tied pork loin with salt and pepper. Sear the pork loin in vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, turning to get all the sides. Pour the apple cider over the pork. Roast uncovered for about 1 hour and 20 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the roast registers155 degrees F.
Remove from the oven and let rest, tented with foil, for 15 minutes before slicing. Serve with pan juices.

A standing rib roast is a cut of beef from the rib section, which is one of the eight primal cuts of beef. The entire rib section comprises ribs six through twelve of the animal; a standing rib roast can comprise anywhere from two to seven ribs. It is given the name "standing" because it is most often roasted in a standing position, that is, with the ribs stacked vertically and the vertebral processes on the bottom. An alternative is to cook with the rib bones on the bottom and the vertebral processes removed for easier carving. A standing rib roast, if sliced when uncooked, would yield a number of rib steaks. Rib eye steaks result from removing the bones and most of the fat and lesser muscles (tail).
A colloquial and popular term for this cut is "prime rib". Historically, this name stands out regardless of the grade. In addition, the USDA acknowledges this historical note by not requiring the cut "to be derived from USDA prime grade beef".
A slice of standing rib roast will include portions of the so-called "eye" of the rib as well as the outer, fat-marbled muscle (spinalis dorsali) known as the "lip" or "cap".
The traditional preparation for a standing rib roast is to rub the outside of the roast with salt and seasonings and slow-roast with dry heat. In the United States, it is common for barbecue purists to apply smoke to the uncooked rib roast at low heat for 2–3 hours before dry roasting.
In the United Kingdom, Yorkshire pudding is frequently served as a side dish with prime rib. In many restaurants specializing in prime rib, several entire roasts (of varying degrees of doneness) will be placed on a large, heated cart, and carved at tableside.

Many people become paralyzed with fear when faced with having to cook a really expensive cut of meat to a perfect medium-rare.

Prime rib of beef may be the best example -- everyone sitting around the holiday table; drinking, laughing, waiting for you to appear from the kitchen with a magazine-cover-worthy slice of beef.
*Prime Rib*