Sarrica - Never Trust a Skinny Cook

Created with Vellum

I 've always wanted to make a cookbook and, low and behold, the recipe software I use, MacGourmet Deluxe, has an automated cookbook creation function. Boom, baby! Here it is...

An extra portion of thanks to my family, both my family unit growing up and my current nuclear family. My parents made sure that Karen and I could cook and are also the source for many of the recipes that I ripped-off, err, included here. Kris and I struggle daily to make an interesting variety of healthy meals to satiate the bipedal-piranhas we call Cameron and Ian. If we ever find any healthy meals, we'll be sure to add them here. In the meantime, I've included what we have been cooking. This is the first edition of what I intend to be a living document.

If you are one of the select folks I've given this book to, I'd love for you to send me your favorite recipes as well as feedback on those you find here. I don't know when a second edition will appear, but the good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, there will be one. Drop me a line at sarrica@umich.edu if you'd like your culinary creation in the next edition. Steve Sarrica Dexter, Michigan April 12, 2009

The first edition of this book hit the shelves in 2009. Well, to be more accurate, the single printed and bound copy of the book hit a shelf at my parents house in 2009. Ive also distributed individual recipes on request and my sister Karen got the entire crockpot chapter when she bought one of those magical devices.

In the intervening years I have expanded the work and investigated production costs for a small print run to hand out to friends and family. Atoms, it turns out, are expensive while electrons are cheap. Ive spent an embarrassing amount of time transferring the book into an ebook creation program (Vellum, recommended) to make it available electronically the beauty being that once the conversion is complete, the duplication cost is essentially zero. I still do intend to make this a living document. Shoot me a line () with your favorite recipes and/or feedback on the ones already here. Steve Sarrica Dexter, Michigan December 5, 2015

T his is a small chapter .

I think this means we need to get ourselves invited to more parties, either that, or host more of our own.

---

I'm still on the lookout for crab cake recipes. This one is okay, but there is lots of room for improvement. S ource : Heidi Rable 4 servings I ngredients 2 cups crab meat cup lime juice cup green onion, finely chopped cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped cup mild green chili, finely chopped cup mayonnaise teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 cup bread crumbs cup olive oil 2 tablespoons unsalted butter M ethod 1. Put the crab meat into a mixing bowl and drizzle strained lime or lemon juice over it. Add onion, cilantro or parsley, and chopped chili, and mix lightly with a fork.

Mix mayonnaise, pepper flakes, and mustard together, then add to crab and mix with fork. Add cup bread crumbs, mix, and see if it can hold in a bundle. If not, add more, 1 tbsp. at a time, until it holds. Form into 8 cakes, approximately 3" in diameter and " thick. 2. 2.

Heat butter and oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat. Dredge cakes in remaining bread crumbs and fry until crisp and golden brown on the bottom (3 - 5 minutes). Turn carefully and brown on the other side. Variations: Codfish Cakes, substitute 1 cup soaked and cooked salt cod plus 1 cups cooked true or Ling cod, and lemon and parsley; substitute green bell pepper for mild chili pepper. Smoked Salmon Cakes, substitute hard smoked salmon for crab; eliminate the cilantro and green chili. Shrimp Cakes, substitute chopped cooked shrimp for crab.

This produces light, flakey, seafood-tasting cakes, as opposed to the more traditional, breadier ones. So mix everything with a fork and use just enough bread crumbs to bind them through the first turn in the pan. Serve with Quick Tomato Salsa, Tartar Sauce or lime wasabi mayonnaise (1 cup good mayonnaise, juice of 1 lime, 1 tbsp. wasabi horseradish). Yield: 4 servings.

---

This is one of the sacramental offerings that is a traditional part of the Super Bowl religious observances in the United States.

---

This is one of the sacramental offerings that is a traditional part of the Super Bowl religious observances in the United States.

S ource : Jeanne Takeda, modified by Steve Sarrica I ngredients 4 packages Karl Buddig corned beef, chopped 8 oz Swiss cheese, grated 8 oz cheddar cheese, grated cup mayonnaise cup thousand island dressing 14 oz can sauerkraut, drained 2 loaves cocktail rye bread M ethod Mix all ingredients well (excluding cocktail rye bread). Microwave until bubbly or bake in oven at 350F for 30 minutes. Serve on cocktail rye bread.

---

I think this dish was named by someone who'd never eaten caviar. It certainly doesn't taste or look like caviar, but other than that the name makes perfect sense. This is Rachel Ray's version.

It's pretty good certainly a worthy choice when you're not sure what to do with that last eggplant. S ource : Rachael Ray I ngredients 1 medium eggplant, should be firm 1 clove garlic, cracked away from the skin 2 pinches ground allspice coarse salt and black pepper, to taste 1 handful flat-leaf parsley tops drizzle extra-virgin olive oil 1 whole grain baguette or other long crusty bread, sliced at bread counter M ethod 1. Preheat oven to highest setting, at least 500F. 2. Cut 2 or 3 slits into whole eggplant. Place eggplant directly on the oven rack in the middle of the oven and roast the eggplant until it is tender, about 20 minutes.

Keep the slits facing up so that the eggplant does not loose liquids as it roasts. 3. The roasted eggplant will look like a flat tire when you remove it from the oven. Using a sharp utility knife, carefully peel skin away from eggplant flesh. Add cooked eggplant flesh and juice to food processor and combine with garlic, allspice, salt, and pepper and parsley. Pulse grind the eggplant into a paste, add a drizzle of olive oil.

Transfer to a serving dish. The seeds of the eggplant will make the spread resemble caviar eggs, and so the name: Poor Man's Caviar. 4. To serve, surround a bowlful of spread with crusty bread rounds. M ixed olives and selections of Italian sheep's milk cheeses are suggested accompaniments to this menu to round out your buffet. They require no recipe or preparation and add something to the offering overall.