Time: Prep 15 + 15 minutes to cook

Ingredients:

1 tbs vegetable oil

1 12 oz package of dried rice noodles

1 onion finely dieced

3 cloves of garlic minced

2 cups of skinnless chicken breast, pork, or tofu sliced thin

1 small head of cabbage thinly sliced (I also like purple cabbage in part for color)

4 carrot, thinly sliced or use matchsticks

1/4 cup soy source

Garnish:

2 lemons cut into wedges

2 hard boiled eggs sliced for garnish

1. Soften the rice noodles. Place rice noodles in a large bowl; cover with warm water and let soften for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. Slice chicken, pork, or tofu thin and pan fry until cooked through. Set aside

3. Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until onion is tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in chicken, cabbage, carrots, and soy sauce. Cook until cabbage begins to soften.

4. Toss in noodles and meat/tofu and cook, stirring constantly, until heated through.

5. Transfer pancit to a serving dish and garnish with lemon wedges.

6. Season and serve. Squeeze lemon on individual servings.

-3/4 cup vegetable shortening

-1 cup sugar

-1 egg

-1/4 cup dark molasses

-1/4 teaspoon salt

-2 teaspoons baking soda

-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-1 teaspoon ground ginger

-granulated sugar

Steps:

1. Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses; beat well.

2. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Blend dry ingredients into molasses mixture.

3. Chill dough for 1 hour.

4. Form dough into 1-inch ball and roll in granulated sugar. Place on a greased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.

5. Bake cookies at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly; remove cookies from sheet on wire racks.

Makes about 5 dozen.

Serves a party

Time: Prep 10 minutes. Curing time: 2 days and 12 hours.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon white peppercorns

• ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar

• ¼ cup kosher salt

• 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill

• 2- pound skin on salmon filet sushi-grade, pin bones removed

• 3 tablespoons aquavit or gin, vodka or brandy

  
  

  Serving options:

• Thinly sliced rye bread or crispbread

• Small lemon wedges

• Fresh dill sprigs

• Mustard and Dill Sauce (recipe below)

Instructions

• Crush the peppercorns with the bottom of a small heavy skillet, the side of a chef’s knife, a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle. Combine the brown sugar, kosher salt and crushed peppercorns in a small bowl. Set aside.

• Pat the salmon dry and lay skin side down in a 9x13 glass baking dish. Drizzle with the gin or other booze and rub it into the surface of the salmon with your fingers. Sprinkle the salmon with the salt, pepper and sugar mixture and rub to coat the surface evenly, making sure it is completely covered. Top with an even layer of chopped dill.

• Tightly wrap the baking dish in plastic wrap. Place a cutting board, smaller baking dish or something else that is about the same size as the piece of salmon on top of the fish. Stack a few cans or jars of vegetables or beans on top to weigh the salmon down. Transfer everything to the refrigerator and let the salmon cure for 12 hours or overnight.

• Take the salmon out of the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap, cutting board and weights. Drizzle the top of the salmon with some of the accumulated juices from the bottom of the dish and pour off and discard any remaining juices at the bottom of the pan. Flip the salmon over so that it is now skin side up. Wrap with a new piece of plastic wrap and top again with the cutting board and weights. Place it back in the refrigerator for another 12 hours.

• Repeat the process above one more time, flipping the salmon so that it is now skin side down again. Rewrap with fresh plastic wrap and replace the board and weights. Back to the refrigerator for 12 more hours.

• Take the salmon out of the refrigerator (the total cure time should be about 36 hours) and remove the plastic wrap, cutting board and weights. Using a paper towel, wipe the dill and any remaining rub from the top of the salmon.

• Transfer to a platter or cutting board and slice on the bias against the grain of the fish into very thin slices, leaving the skin behind. Serve with crackers, rye bread and/or crispbread, optional mustard dill sauce, lemon wedges and/ or dill sprigs.

To make the sauce, whisk together:

• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise

• 2-3 teaspoons honey

  
  

Then slowly whisk in 7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or a neutral flavored oil like canola

Add in at least 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill and salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Ingredients:

4 large cucumbers or 5 small

1½ Tablespoons of salt

¼ cup white vinegar

½ teaspoons of sugar (scant rather than heaping)

3 heaping Tablespoons (dollops) of sour cream (½ pint)

Paprika

Select uniformly green, medium sized round cucumbers with little bumps on them if you can get them. Peel with a vegetable peeler. Slice on a grater that has a single slot slicer on one side. The slices should be quite thin, but thick enough to hold together.

In a bowl combine sliced cucumbers and salt. Mix to distribute salt evenly and then let stand for 30-45 minutes. The cucumbers will shed their excess, and usually bitter water during this process. Take them by the handful and wring out as much water as you can, transferring the wrung cucumbers to another bowl.

Sprinkle with sugar and mix. Sprinkle with vinegar and mix. Add dollops of sour cream and mix. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Refrigerate until time to serve. Sprinkle paprika on top for a garnish.

Time: Prep 15 min + 1hr 45 minutes to cook

Prep time: 10 min - Cook time: 35 min

1 cup / 7 oz / 200g yellow split peas
1 cup 7 oz / 200g red split lentils (masoor dal)
4 cups / 1.6 liters vegetable broth (make it a soup by adding more broth, or make it more like a stew)
1 medium carrot, cut into 1/2-inch dice
LB_4 tablespoons fresh peeled and minced ginger
1 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoons butter or ghee
4 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced
1/3 cup / 1.5 oz / 45g golden raisins (or sometimes I sub in sliced dried apricots)
1/3 / 80 ml cup tomato paste
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
small handful parsley, chopped
cooked brown rice or farro, or breadsticks,(optional)

I cook this in the pressure cooker, but can also cook it stovetop.

Directions:

• Give the split peas and lentils a good rinse - until they no longer put off murky water. Place them in an extra-large soup pot, cover with the water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the carrot and 1/4 of the ginger. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the split peas are soft.

• In the meantime, in a small dry skillet or saucepan over low heat, toast the curry powder until it is quite fragrant. Be careful though, you don't want to burn the curry powder, just toast it. Set aside. Place the butter in a pan over medium heat, add half of the green onions, the remaining ginger, and raisins. Saute for two minutes stirring constantly, then add the tomato paste and saute for another minute or two more.

• Add the toasted curry powder to the tomato paste mixture, mix well, and then add this to the simmering soup along with the coconut milk and salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so. The texture should thicken up, but you can play around with the consistency if you like by adding more water, a bit at a time, if you like. Or simmer longer for a thicker consistency. The thicker this soup got, the more I liked it.

I've been enjoying big ladles of this soup over ~1/2 cup of warm farro (leftover from this Farro & Bean Stew) - brown rice was good as well. Sprinkle each bowl generously with cilantro and the remaining green onions.