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Recipes

Recipes from "The Last Aria"

Here are samples from the 25 delicious recipes in the book.

Beef Roulades

Crown Roast with Jeweled Basmati Rice Filling

Spicy Peanut Brittle

Easy Apple Tarts

Greek Olive Tapenade  

Spicy Peanut Brittle

Click here to watch Chef Elizabeth make peanut brittle. Video and photo courtesy San Diego Channel 6.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup  peanuts (roasted salted)
1, 1/2 cups  sugar
1/2 cup lite corn syrup
1/4 cup  water
1, 1/2 tablespoons  butter
1/4 teaspoon  salt
1 teaspoon  baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Butter sides of a heavy 3-quart saucepan.  Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in saucepan.  Stirring constantly, cook over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves.  Using a pastry brush dipped in hot water, wash down any sugar crystals on sides of pan.  Stir in peanuts. Attach a candy thermometer to pan, making sure thermometer does not touch bottom of pan.

Increase heat to medium and bring to a boil.  Cook, without stirring, until mixture reaches hard-crack stage (approx. 300 - 310) degrees and turns light golden in color.  Test about 1/2 teaspoon mixture in ice water.  Mixture should form brittle threads in ice water and remain brittle when removed from the water.  Remove from heat and stir in butter, cumin, cayenne and salt; stir until butter melts.  Stir in baking soda (mixture will foam).  Pour candy unto a buttered 10,1/2 x15, 1/2 inch jelly roll pan.  Use a buttered spatula to spread candy to edges of pan.  Cool completely.  Break into pieces.  Store in an air-tight container.  Makes one pound.

  Easy Apple Tarts

  Click here to watch Chef Elizabeth make apple tarts. Video courtesy San Diego Channel 6.

Ingredients
1 box (two sheets) puff pastry (thawed enough to unfold without cracking)

6 small Granny Smith or Pippin Apples (any tart apple is good)

1 glass edged bowl about 4" in diameter

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

3 tablespoons butter

Pinch salt

Small cookie cutter (leaf shape is nice)

 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Line a jelly roll pan or baking sheet with parchment 

Unfold puff pastry onto a cutting board

Using glass bowl cut four circles out of puff pastry (twisting the bowl on dough works great)

Place circles onto baking sheet

In a small bowl mix together the cinnamon, sugar and salt

Peel apples and cut in half removing core.  Slice into 1/8inch slices by hand or by using a mandoline slicer.  Arrange apples onto pastry in a spiral design

Sprinkle with the cinnamon  and sugar mixture. Dot each tart with butter

If you use both puff pastry sheets this makes 8 servings

NOTE: Smaller apples work well on this size tart

 

Place in preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until sugar is carmelized.

Serve warm.  Back to top

Opera Singing Chef's Greek Olive Tapenade

 Servings: 30
15 1/2 Ounces Black Olives, Pitted

7 1/4 Ounces Greek Olives, Pitted
1 Can Anchovies, With Oil
2 Teaspoons Capers
2 Cloves Garlic, Crushed
1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 Teaspoon Fresh Thyme
1/2 Lemon Juice, Juice of 1/2 Lemon
18 Ounces Cream Cheese
6 Ounces Goat Cheese

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
 

Place all ingredients except cheese in a food processor and blend. Tapenade should not be a puree, nor chunky. Strive for in-between!
Blend the cheeses together, add half and half to enhance spreadability.
Serve on sliced French bread - the small loaves.

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Beef Roulades

Serving Size: 4 Prep time 1 hour, cook time 1 hour

3 pounds beef flank – cut thin

2 dill pickles – quartered lengthwise 2 medium onion – quartered

4 slices bacon 3 foot string (butcher’s twine or cotton thread)

2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup pickle juice

(You may end up with more than 4 rolls. Meat for roll should be cut into approximately 4x5" rectangles and will probably make more than 6 rolls.)

  • Tenderize meat fillets with a mallet.

  • Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

  • Place 1/4 piece of bacon, the onion and a quarter pickle on beef fillet and roll up. Tie with string to secure.

  • Melt butter in a deep stainless or non-stick skillet on medium high heat. Add beef rolls and brown for 20 minutes, turning to insure even browning.

  • Once nice and brown, fill pan half full with filtered water.

  • Add salt and pepper and the 1/4 cup pickle juice. Cook for 1 hour.

  • Remove meat rolls from broth and let cool. Keep broth at a low simmer with a lid on.

  • While meat is cooling, whisk flour with milk in a medium sized bowl until mixture is smooth. Set aside.

  • Remove strings from the meat but DO NOT place back into the broth just yet.

  • Bring the broth up from a low simmer to a rolling boil. Whisk the milk and flour mixture and add to the boiling broth.

  • Take a flat-bottomed spatula and stir the broth and milk mixture, scraping the bottom to insure the flour doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

  • Continue cooking and stirring until it resumes to a boil.

  • Turn down the heat and allow to cook for 5 minutes stirring to insure a smooth gravy. NOTE: If you were not successful in keeping lumps out of your gravy, pour the gravy through a sieve into another bowl. Take the strained gravy and place it back in the pan.

  • Place the meat rolls back into the pan with the hot gravy and allow to cook for five minutes more.

Serving Ideas: Serve with seasoned green beans, mashed potatoes and if you have German guests, offer some delicious dill pickles with your meal. Traditional German side dishes also include spaetzle and red cabbage.

NOTE: You can ask the butcher to run the meat through a tenderizer one time to save you from having to pound the meat.

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Crown Roast with Jeweled Basmati Rice Filling

Servings: 18

A feast fit for a king. Ask your butcher to "French" the ribs meaning to remove the meat from between the bones of the ribs about 1 1/2 inch down. This gives the "crown" a traditional look.

If you are having 18 guests, you will need 18 ribs. Also, because each roast is slightly different in how lean it is or how much water it may be holding, an exact baking time cannot be given.


SMALLER ROAST. You can make a standing rib roast by ordering only a few ribs. Using 8 ribs you might bake it for
1 1/2 hours. Bringing temperature to 150. It’s delicious and juicy.

2 crown (bone in rib) pork roasts, totaling 10 to 12 pounds. You will get two racks.

1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, or more if needed to lightly cover entire roast inside and out.

Butcher’s twine

  GARNISH

1 bunch rosemary sprigs, washed and left whole

6 small apples, rubbed to a fine shine

1 cup fresh cranberries, washed

1 branch California laurel or bay, washed and dried to a shine

 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove one metal rack from oven and set aside. Bring remaining rack to bottom or second to bottom shelf so there is enough height for roast to stand without hitting the top of the oven.

  • Rinse ribs and pat dry using a paper towel.

  • Lightly sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the roast. You can ask the butcher to tie the two racks into a crown or do it yourself. To tie the ribs together bend them in a circle so that the ribs curve out and the meat is on the inside of the roast. Tie them by wrapping the butcher’s twine twice around the two racks like a belt, then knot.

  • Place the roast on a wire rack and place the rack in a large baking pan with at least 2 inch high sides.

  • Bake for 2 hours, then remove from oven and insert meat thermometer into the thickest part of the roast without hitting a bone. You want the roast to measure 160 degrees. While you are waiting for the temperature reading, use foil to individually cover each bone ending so they don’t scorch or blacken. If the roast has not yet reached 160 degrees, put it back into the oven and check it again in 20 minutes. Repeat after another 20 minutes until it measures 160 degrees.

    • NOTE: While you are roasting the pork prepare your rice. Cook rice according to directions on package. Be sure not to over cook rice. Should be tender but firm. Place in a strainer and rinse off excess starch.

    BASMATI RICE FILLING

    10 cups basmati rice (measures 5 cups before cooked), cooked to al dente

    2 tablespoons unsalted butter

    1 medium onion, chopped fine

    1 large clove garlic, chopped fine

    2 tablespoons capers

    1/2 cup golden raisins

    1/2 cup pistachio nuts, roasted, chopped fine

    1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped fine

    1 dash salt and pepper, to taste

  • In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat.

  • Add the onion and garlic and saute for five minutes till soft.

  • Stir in the capers, raisins, and pistachios and cook for 5 minutes more over medium heat.

  • Add the cooked rice one cup at a time and stir between additions until all the ingredients are well blended.

  • Add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and allow to cool. The rice can be made well in advance then reheated just before putting it into the crown roast center.

  • When roast is done, pull from oven and allow to sit on the counter. Take the temperature, it should measure 160. As it sits the thermometer should and likely will rise to 165 to 170 which is what you want. Remove roast from rack and place on a serving platter. Surround with the rosemary sprigs, apples, cranberries and bay leaf branch. Put the hot rice into the cavity of the crown and serve.

  • One rib equals one serving. Slice roast between ribs and using granny fork place meat on each plate. Then place a rounded spoonful of the rice along side the chop.

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