In the hopes that others will follow - here are two of the recipes from yesterday's "Pig-Out". Someone asked Bill for the recipe for the Carrot Cake -

quote:

Venitian Carrot Cake

Preheat oven to 350. Oil a 9” spring form pan

3 medium carrots (8 oz)
½ cup golden raisins
¼ cup rum
½ cup olive oil
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup ground almonds
½ tsp nutmeg
zest of ½ lemon
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp pine nuts

1 Grate carrots; press gently with towels to soak up excess liquid
2. Soak raisins in rum; simmer 3 min., cool slightly.

3. Beat sugar and olive oil until creamy; add vanilla and eggs.

4. Add flour, baking soda, almonds, nutmeg, grated carrots, raisins and lemon. Fold together.

5. Pour into prepared spring form pan; smooth top and sprinkle with pine nuts.

6. Bake @ 350 about 30 min. Remove sides of pan and allow to cool. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

And here is the minestrone - adapted from a Jeff Smith recipe.

quote:

Minestrone

3 (14 oz) cans cannellini beans (white kidney beans)
1 can borlotti beans or pinto beans – or omit if you prefer
8 cups chicken stock
½ lb. (more or less) pancetta, sliced and chopped – you can substitute bacon
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves crushed garlic
2 carrots, peeled & diced
2 yellow onions, chopped
1 cup thinly sliced celery
2 ½ c. chopped ripe tomatoes – or 1 can diced tomatoes (no salt added)
2 cup peeled and cubed potatoes (I use red potatoes, or Yukon gold)
½ cup dry red wine
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp oregano or marjoram
1 – ½ cup cubed zucchini
1 lb. kale – remove stems and chop coarsely
½ cup grated parmesan
salt – pepper to taste.

Puree cannellini beans, adding a little stock if needed. Put in large soup pot. Add borlotti beans and balance of chicken stock.

In frying pan, brown chopped pancetta; discard fat and add browned meat to stock pot.

Using same pan, add olive oil, garlic, onions, carrots, celery; sautee until vegetables are soft, add to stock pot.

Add tomatoes, potatoes, wine, parsley, herbs. Bring to simmer and cook covered for 1/2 hr., stirring often.

Add chopped kale – simmer an additional 30 minutes

Add zucchini and parmesan, stir well, simmer gently another 30 minutes, or until kale is fully cooked and soup has thickened. Add salt/pepper to taste.

Note – I sometimes add pasta when zucchini is added – never measure, so can’t tell you how much.

Serve garnished with olive oil, grated cheese.

Sharon, I really enjoyed your shrimp and orzo dish. Will you post the recipe? I also really enjoyed the two barley salads. I think KT brought one but I don't know who brought the other one. I'd love those recipes also if they are gold members.

And I loved those cucumbers with sesame. I hope Gloria posts that one.

For Joan(Cubbies):
Cucumber Salad

2-3 cucumbers, sliced
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tsp. sesame oil
2 tsps. toasted sesame seeds

Mix together.

I taste, then add what I think it needs, maybe a little more sugar, a little more vinegar, etc.

Enjoy, Joan. My best to Fred.

gloria

Marta, here you go ...

This recipe claims to serve 20, but there was way more than enough for the 30 of us (along with all the many other incredibly delicious dishes).

Shrimp and Orzo Salad

3 C orzo
1-1/2 bunches green onions, thinly sliced or chopped
3 medium red/orange/yellow peppers, finely diced
1/4 C fresh tarragon, chopped (I think that basil would work as well)
8 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (or to taste)
6 Tbsp olive oil
3 lbs cooked medium shrimp

Cook orzo in large pot of boiling, salted water until just tender (~8 minutes). Drain. Rinse with cold water to cool; drain well. Transfer to large bowl. Add green onions, peppers, tarragon, lemon juice and oil. Mix well. Cook shrimp in large pot of boiling salted water until pink and just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Rinse with cold water to cool; drain well. (Note: I grilled the shrimp, but it did add a little more time and effort to the recipe). Mix shrimp into salad. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Note: I found that I needed more salt than I thought.)

Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

-- Sharon

I really like the grilled shrimp. I could taste it and I think it added a lot to the dish. Thanks Sharon.

Gloria, the cucumber salad was great. Thanks!

Hi all. Well, I'm glad it's turned to food again. We made the barley salad in the silver bowl--the one at the very end of the table. It was based on this recipe I found on epicurious.com We ended up adding much more lemon juice than it called for, probably because our lemons are Meyers so don't have that same pucker. We had one Eureka lemon that finally made the dressing stand up a bit. Also, we just used water instead of chicken stock, mainly so it would be a vegetarian dish, and we grilled the vegetables instead of roasting them in the oven, mainly out of convenience. It's one of those recipes that has a lot of room for experimentation.

Thanks Marcy. That will be perfect for my vegetarian husband.

Thanks everyone, especially Gloria! I've been saving a few cucumbers from the garden for this.

Joan

Marinated Green Beans and Tomatoes with Dill

Make this a day ahead so the beans can absorb the flavor of the marinade.

3 cups fresh green beans, trimmed
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill, or 1 tsp. dried dill weed
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds tomatoes, peeled, cored, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1) Cook beans until crisp-tender
2) Place dill and next 3 ingredients in a large heatproof glass bowl. Drain beans well, and add to dill mixture. Add olive oil and toss well. Add tomato and onion and toss gently. Cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours.
3) Remove beans from refrigerator and let stand, covered at room temperature 1 hour. Add 2 tbsp lemon juice and toss gently. Taste for seasoning, and add remaining lemon juice if desired.

Notes:
*I used frozen green beans last weekend because I ran out of time to use fresh - this is much better with fresh beans!
*I used mandarin olive oil along with the fresh lemon juice to kick up the citrus element.
*In the past I used dried dill and liked the flavor; this time I used fresh dill - but should have used more.

This recipe is from last year from a magazine, but I don't remember which one ...
===
Thanks, everyone for posting your recipes! Judy, your minestrone was awesome! (Yes, I realize it had pancetta in it. )
I also loved gloria's cucumber salad, and am going to try making it for a BBQ on the 4th.

Thanks for the recipes everyone. They were all delish!

I know what I will be doing this weekend.

--Sharon

Could we please have the recipe for the chard pie?

Thanks.

Gloria, I made your Cucumber Salad last night - delicious! What a great recipe. It's perfect for this brutal heat we're having now. Thanks!