You’ve heard of Montreal bagels and the Montreal Express, but what about Montreal Slaw? That’s the style of no-mayonnaise coleslaw our friend Joanne has been making for years, and to everyone’s delight. Lightly pickled, sweet and crunchy, it makes you wonder why mayo ever intruded in the first place. I recently stumbled upon the name “Montreal Slaw” in Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven’s marvelous book, The Way We Cook: Recipes from the New American Kitchen. Coleslaw recipes date back to the 1700s in the Netherlands (koolsla, or “cabbage salad”), before the Era of Mayonnaise. And while Americans gleefully embraced mayo in slaw, Europeans—and apparently our Northern Neighbors as well—chose to stick with a simple, tangy vinaigrette.…
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Broccoli-Cheddar Soup
This soup hits the spot when I want a simple, quick, yet indulgent way to enjoy my all-time favorite veggie. It captures the bright taste of broccoli sweetened by aromatics and smoothed out with melted sharp cheddar. The real recipephany here is a bit of magic. Instead of turning olive drab—as broccoli likes to do after a few minutes of cooking—this soup stays vibrant green. How? A few handfuls of spinach do the trick. So it looks as fresh as it tastes. Crusty bread makes it a meal. Don’t confuse this with the thick, cream-laden broccoli-cheddar soup made popular by Panera restaurants. Our favorite cream alternative, bouillon, rounds out the flavor so you get…
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Tante Marie’s French Sorrel Soup from Charlotte Turgeon
If you could cross baby spinach with lemon, you’d get something like sorrel. It brightens salads, sauces and omelets, but best of all makes a marvel of a soup. And nothing captures the flavor and simple pleasures of the French countryside like this dish: French Sorrel Soup. Remarkably fast and easy to make, this elegant, tangy soup goes from zero to the table in less than 15 minutes. No potatoes, no aromatics, no cream. An egg yolk swirled in at the end adds a bit of richness, and some toasted bread served in the bowl gives it depth. The hardest part might be finding the main ingredient. Popular throughout Europe, sorrel is rarely seen…
- Appetizers, Beans, Cheese dishes, Main Dish, Mexican, Side Dishes, Vegetable, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Raegan’s “Quesabeanas,” Refried-Bean Quesadillas
Recipephany Test Kitchen’s Chief Taster, Dan, likes to call these “Yummy Chongas” or “Tacodilla Grandes.” But their developer, Raegan Sales (also known for the best No-Knead Focaccia), calls them “Quesabeanas,” and that sums them up pretty well. Refried beans sweetened with caramelized aromatics and spiked with hot sauce bulk up the humble quesadilla. A soft bean filling fuses with melted cheese so when you bite into the toasty flour tortilla, you taste nothing but delicious squishiness inside. And while it masquerades as fun food, the Quesabeana—especially with lots of toppings—includes all manner of healthy food groups. While Raegan came up with the Quesabeana, her husband, our son Andrew, inspired the crispy cheese crust. “He…
- Appetizers, Breakfast, Cheese dishes, Egg dishes, Main Dish, Side Dishes, Snacks, Vegetable, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Spinach Squares
We could say that good old-fashioned Spinach Squares are staging a comeback, but they never actually went away. Also called “spinach brownies,”—no, there’s no chocolate—these squares bring to the savory portion of a meal what fudgy brownies bring to dessert. Cheesy-rich and luscious, they invite you to have just one—and then one more. Stir these up in minutes as an easy alternative to Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie). An appetizer, snack, side dish or even main attraction, Spinach Squares freeze and reheat well. The recipe makes a big batch, so you can serve some and still have enough for another occasion. And they make great finger food, even sneaked cold from the fridge. Surprisingly, Spinach…
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Punched Potatoes from Richard Nasser
Our friend Richard Nasser served these heavenly punched potatoes and they made us think of what makes a great french fry: crispy outsides with soft, creamy insides. Our daughter, when she was little, nailed it when she said her favorite fries have “a lot of filling.” Yes, we want them crisp, but the real potato punch is in the “filling.” “Punched potatoes” apparently come from Portugal, creating some nice English alliteration. They are also known as ”smashed potatoes.” As both names imply, the idea is to flatten them. As our guest contributor, Richard shares his technique for creating the optimal “flesh/skin ratio” that make these potatoes totally irresistible. “I don’t know the national provenance…
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Mary DiNardo’s Italian Baked Stuffed Mushrooms
Stuffed mushrooms aren’t just for passing around on trays anymore. This recipe turns them inside out to create a luscious mushroom stuffing, perfect as an appetizer or side dish. Moist, rich in umami, sharp with Parmesan and bright with herbs, it has a marvelous Italian accent. And in the finest Italian tradition, it offers good food in abundance—abbondanza! We’re happy to be able to share this gem from Lisa DiNardo, who grew up surrounded by great cooks and who loves to cook herself. This favorite from her mother, Mary, makes a clever casserole and, as a bonus, offers an option for traditional mushroom canapés. Here’s Lisa’s story: “I grew up in an Italian-American family…
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Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie)
At the risk of sounding like a midnight infomercial, here is the best spanakopita, or Greek spinach pie, you’ll ever eat. It’s oniony-sweet, cheesy, and the herbs melt into the spinach to deepen the flavor. I have yet to find a restaurant version that can beat this. We usually see spanakopita as either an appetizer or a main dish. But with today’s “mezze mania,” you can bake up a batch, freeze it, then reheat a few triangles to go along with hummus, a few diamonds of kibbee, or whatnot to turn a meal into a party. I like to bake from scratch, but draw the line at filo. Other than my friend Wendy, who…
