You Wanted Recipes?

Well we were surprised and flattered by the number of recipe requests from our Christmas celebration! And since we don't like to disappoint, hey, here's our goodies one by one! If we missed anything, let us know and we'll deliver!

Cioppino

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 onion, chopped
3 large shallots, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
5 cups fish stock
1 bay leaf
2 pounds snow crab clusters
1 pound mussels, scrubbed, debearded
1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 1/2 pounds assorted firm-fleshed fish fillets such as halibut or salmon, cut into 2-inch chunks. We used salmon, tilapia, and cod.
Directions:
Heat the oil in a very large pot over medium heat. Add the fennel, onion, shallots, and salt and saute until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and 3/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and saute 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Add tomatoes with their juices, wine, fish stock and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the flavors blend, about 30 minutes.
Add the crab and mussels to the cooking liquid. Cover and cook until the clams and mussels begin to open, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and fish. Simmer gently until the fish and shrimp are just cooked through, and the mussels are completely open, stirring gently, about 5 minutes longer (discard any mussels that do not open). Season the soup, to taste, with more salt and red
pepper flakes.
Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.
This is seriously easy and quick enough to make its way to the table on a week night, but impressive enough for guests.

Very Basic Bread

Ingredients
1 pound bread flour, plus extra for shaping
1 teaspoon instant rapid rise yeast
2 teaspoons honey
10 ounces bottled or filtered water
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 quarts hot water
Vegetable oil, for greasing the rising container
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Directions:
Combine 5 ounces of the flour, 1/4 teaspoon of the yeast, all of the honey, and all of the bottled water in a straight-sided container; cover loosely and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours.
Place the remaining 11 ounces of flour, remaining yeast, and all the salt into the bowl of a stand mixer, and add the pre-ferment from the refrigerator. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the mixture on low for 2 to 3 minutes just until it comes together. Cover the dough in the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, knead the dough on medium speed for 5 to
10 minutes or until you are able to gently pull the dough into a thin sheet that light will pass through. The dough will be sticky, but not so sticky that you can't handle it.
While the dough is kneading, pour half of the hot water into a shallow pan and place on the bottom rack of your oven. Grease the inside of a large straight-sided container with the vegetable oil. Place the dough ball into the container and set on the rack above the pan of water. Allow to rise until doubled in size, approximately 1 to 2 hours.
Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it onto a counter top, lightly dust your hands with flour, and press the dough out with your knuckles; then fold 1 side in towards the middle of the mass and then the other, as if you were making a tri-fold wallet. Repeat the folding a second time. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for another 10 minutes.
Flatten dough again with your knuckles and then fold the dough in onto itself, like you are shaping something that looks like a jellyfish.
Turn the dough over and squeeze the bottom together so that the top surface of the dough is smooth. Place the dough back onto the
counter and begin to roll gently between your hands. Do not grab the dough but allow it to move gently back and forth between your
hands, moving in a circular motion. Move the dough ball to a pizza peel or the bottom of a sheet pan that has been sprinkled with the
cornmeal. Cover with the kitchen towel and allow to bench proof for 1 hour, or until you poke the dough and it quickly fills back in where you poked it.
Place an unglazed pizza stone in the oven and heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Combine the 1/3 cup of water and the cornstarch in a small bowl. Uncover the dough and brush the surface with this mixture. Gently slash the top surface of the dough ball in several places, approximately 1/3 to 1/2-inch deep. Add more of the hot water to the shallow pan if it has evaporated. Slide the bread onto the pizza stone in the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Once the bread has reached an internal temperature of 205 to 210 degrees F, remove to a cooling rack and allow to sit for 30 minutes before slicing. This has a thick, chewy crust and a wonderful texture.

Roast Prime Rib of Beef with Yorkshire Pudding

Ingredients
Prime Rib:
1/4 cup smooth Dijon mustard
1/4 cup grainy mustard
1 (14 to 16-pound, 7-bone) whole prime rib roast
1 tablespoon whole white peppercorns
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon whole green peppercorns
1 tablespoon whole Sichuan peppercorns
Kosher salt

Yorkshire Pudding:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 eggs, preferably at room temperature
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup warm milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus a little extra for greasing the baking dish
Beef drippings from the roast
Special equipment: We like to use muffin top pans for individual servings on the Yorkshire pudding. This way we can also put beef drippings in some and melted butter in others to please the vegetarians and the carnivores.

For the prime rib: In a medium bowl, combine the mustards and peppercorns. Stir to blend until it forms a paste. Place the prime rib in
the roasting pan (fitted with a rack) you intend to cook it in. Place the roast, fat side up, and spread the peppercorn paste over the
whole top. If marinating, refrigerate overnight.
For the Yorkshire pudding: In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt. Stir to blend. Whisk in the eggs, one by one, and then the
water. Refrigerate.
For the prime rib: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Remove the prime rib from the refrigerator about a half hour before cooking. This will allow the meat to come closer to room
temperature and help the meat cook more evenly. Season the roast with salt. When the oven is hot, place the meat in the center of the oven. Allow it to cook 12 to 15 minutes per pound (2 1/2 to 3 hours). Cook until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 135
degrees F. When the roast is close to finished, remove the Yorkshire pudding mixture from the refrigerator to allow it to come close to
room temperature. Then, remove the pan from the oven and allow the meat to rest at least 20 minutes before slicing.

To finish the Yorkshire pudding: Raise the temperature of the oven to 400 degrees F and place the muffin pans for the Yorkshire pudding inside. Whisk all of the warm milk and some of the melted butter into the batter. When the baking dish is hot, carefully remove it from the oven and quickly add the remaining melted butter or beef drippings to the pans. Pour the batter over the butter or drippings and place the pans in the center of the oven. Bake in the oven until golden brown and puffy, 15 to 20 minutes. Pop them out of the wells and serve!

Roasted Root Vegetables

Preheat oven to 400°
2 Red potatoes, 1/2 inch chop
2 Sweet potatoes, 1/2 inch chop
2 Turnips, 1/2 inch chop
1 Parsnip, 1/2 inch chop
2 Carrots 1/2 inch chop
2 Onion, cut into 1/8
2 Cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbs Olive oil
1/4 tsp Rosemary
1/4 tsp Oregano
1/4 tsp Basil
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Cooking procedure:
Place a heavy cookie sheet lined with foil in the preheated oven till hot.
Toss root veggies in olive oil and spices to coat.
Throw the oiled veggies on the cookie sheet and roast for 30-40 minutes. Turn veggies
half way through roasting time.
Slide into a bowl and serve hot.

Shrimp Bisque

(Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence. Sorta. We changed some things.)
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds shrimp, shelled and deveined. Hang onto the shells
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
2 1eeks, trimmed, halved lengthwise, and rinsed well
3 stalks celery, cut into big chunks
2 carrots, cut into big chunks
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 strips orange zest
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup sherry
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups heavy cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Finely chopped fresh chives, for garnish
Directions:
Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and melt the butter into it. Then add the shrimp shells, the leeks, celery, carrots, 3 sprigs thyme, the bay leaf, orange zest, and tomato paste. Cook, stirring every now and then, until the shells are red and the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.
Take the pot off the heat and carefully pour in the sherry. Return the pot to the heat, sprinkle in the flour, give it a stir, and cook for another 2 minutes. Now add water to cover and deglaze, scraping up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add the cream and bring to a boil.
Immediately turn the heat down to low and gently simmer until the soup is reduced and thickened, 30 to 45 minutes. Strain into a clean pot and season with salt and pepper. Chop the shrimp. Return the bisque to a simmer, add the shrimp and cook 2 to 3 minutes just to cook the shrimp through. Give the
bisque a final taste for seasoning, pour it into warmed soup bowls and serve garnished with the chives.

And believe it or not, I didn't put on so much as an extra pound.