The Knights at the Round Table: Life's Funny Moments and Eclectic Recipes to Match!

By Judith Knight

The Knights at the Round Table is a collection of humorous tales and fabulous, easy-to-prepare recipes guaranteed to fill your homes with love, laughter, and satisfied appetites. The time tested recipes and fresh new ones bring: the warmth of family traditions; the personal touch of shared recipes from friends; and delightful new dishes created from the authors travels and dining experiences.

This eclectic collection of recipes have their origins in various parts of the world including America, Italy, Mexico, Central and Eastern Europe, and Spain. Because of changing lifestyles and the eating habits of health-conscious friends, the author has included some vegan and vegetarian dishes and pointed out ways you can change regular recipes to meatless fare.

Recognizing that our fast paced world has created a need for two kinds of cookingweeknight and weekend mealsthe author included both. Weeknight eating requires quick, easy-to-prepare meals and weekend dining and entertaining calling for slightly more elaborate but still easy-to-prepare fare. The Knights at the Round Table serves up a plentiful helping of appetizers, soups, bread, salads, light dishes, entres, sides, and a generous mixture of incredible desserts to satisfy both those needs. It offers something for everyone to enjoy!

The authors instructions are easy to follow and are blended together with tips that simplify and explain methods of food preparations that make once difficult tasks actually quite easy. Her real life tales will delight, amuse, and inform yousome will have you laughing as you cook!

Meals will never be the same as you savor the mouth-watering dishes in
The Knights at the Round Table.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 21, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479741397

Judith Knight

Born into a home where food was synonymous with love, I started cooking at the early age of three as Sous-chef to my mother, peeling carrots and potatoes. If there was an occasion, there was food! My chosen career, catalog advertising, paid the bills but cooking was my love. I found it to be great fun, great therapy and a source of great pleasure to those I cooked for. I’ve shared my recipes with family and friends, who found them amazing and easy to prepare. I would love to share them with you, so that you can enjoy them as much as they do.

Book preview

Copyright © 2012 by Judith Knight.

Library of Congress Control Number:                     2012920337

ISBN:                     Hardcover                     978-1-4797-4138-0

                     Softcover                     978-1-4797-4137-3

                     Ebook                     978-1-4797-4139-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CHAPTER I: Appetizers, Nosh, Tapas, and a Drink

CHAPTER II: Soups and Salads

CHAPTER III: Bread and Rolls

CHAPTER IV: Light Fare

CHAPTER V: Entrées

CHAPTER VI: Side Dishes—Vegetables, Grains, Pasta, and Potatoes

CHAPTER VII: Desserts, Cookies, and Cake

HANDY COOKING TIPS

DEDICATION

For Ari and Leslie,

who inspired and encouraged me

to write this book.

You are my pride and joy!

For Doug,

My Knight in Shining Armor!

For ongoing

Love, Faith, Support!

For Pete,

who has been part of all

these life experiences and has tasted

both the good and the bad!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There are so many people who have contributed to making this book possible, beginning with my mother Charlotte Burke who taught me to cook and my father Thomas Burke who encouraged my varied taste in foods. Pete Tourtellotte, my best friend, part of my family for forty-three years, and always a positive force! Gerald Hirsch who blessed me with my wonderful son Ari and years of laughter, good times, and memorable stories. Ari Hirsch who was part of so many of these funny moments and will always be a part of my heart. All the Knights who have sat at the Round Table and enjoyed our feasts and encouraged me to write this book: Jason, Janet, Zak, Alyssa, and Wendy.

Family and friends who have either contributed recipes over the years or been part of life’s funny moments: Gussie Berg, Joseph Burke, Hildegard, Harriet Tolk, the 20th floor at 343 East 30th Street, NYC. Irving Gostin, Rita Butler, Lou Castelli, Alice and Paul Baker, Patrick Murphy, Marie Furno-Hart, Isabel Nash, Eva Knight, Louise Knight, Karen Payne, Cathy Minson, Niki de Saint Phalle, and Al Lightman.

Cyndy Ruhoff, a friend and excellent writer and editor, who helped me get through some of the rough spots in the book. Rick Peterson, a friend and the photographer, who created the cover photographs.

A special thanks to all of our friends who put up with tasting and testing so many of the recipes during the final phases of putting this book to bed.

CHAPTER I

Appetizers, Nosh, Tapas, and a Drink

The Icemaker

It was in the late 1970s and my first husband had a close friend named Irving who was married to a very glamorous woman. Irving was an executive in a large publishing firm, and his wife reaped the benefits. She was always dressed in designer clothes, went to the gym religiously, arranged dinners and parties, and lounged at the beach club.

Irving never set foot in the kitchen or bought groceries. His wife took care of everything related to home and entertainment.

One day, Irving came home to find the apartment cleaned out and his wife gone. She had left for Florida with another man. Just before she left she had finished remodeling the kitchen and had all new appliances installed.

Irving was really heartbroken. After a while, he began to get over this trauma and agreed to have dinner with us. Halfway through the dinner he stopped and said he had a problem that we needed to help him with. We of course said yes.

His problem was, every night when he went to bed he would hear the icemaker in the refrigerator dumping new ice and making more. Prior to the kitchen remodel, his refrigerator did not have an icemaker.

He would wake up several times during the night to the sound of the icemaker and began to lose sleep worrying that the icemaker would not turn off and would fill the kitchen with ice. In order to prevent this from happening, he would get up and empty the ice out of the icemaker and then go back to sleep only to be awakened by the icemaker making more ice. This went on all night, and he was not getting enough sleep to function at work.

Well, my husband and I had tears in our eyes and could not stop laughing. When we regained our composure, we told Irving that icemakers turn themselves off automatically once they have filled their tray. By emptying the ice he was just causing the ice machine to make more ice.

Problem solved!

To this day, I can’t go to the refrigerator for ice without thinking of Irving.

Sangria

A wine punch typical of Argentina, Spain, and Portugal

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

PREPARATION:

Either refrigerate the wine prior to making sangria, or start to make this at least 4 hours prior to serving. If the wine is refrigerated prior to making the sangria, you can serve the sangria immediately. In a large pitcher, put the first three ingredients and mix until the frozen orange juice completely dissolves. Add the oranges and apples, mix and refrigerate. Just before serving, add the can of 7up®. Serve over ice.

Other seasonal fruits such as peaches, strawberries, etc., can be used.

*Use the inexpensive burgundy jug wine you find in the supermarket.

Drinks and Appetizers . . .

. . . and a wonderful setting can lift you spirits, even when you are really down in the dumps!

I was working for Avon Products, Inc., in the early 1980s and had the unpleasant task of having to fire a really nice but incompetent guy. I was down in the dumps and my first husband Jerry asked me if I would like to meet him at the Oak Bar in the Plaza Hotel for drinks. The Oak Bar was world famous and was a very elegant place to have drinks.

At that time, Avon was right across the street from the Plaza. I accepted and planned to meet him after the nasty deed was done.

You need to know that Jerry had a great sense of humor and loved to tell stories and jokes. He also had a canned answer to every question, joke or reference he made. That answer was Pittsburgh.

No, I can’t explain it!

When I met Jerry at in the Oak Bar, he was talking to a man I did not know. He introduced me to the man, and I shook his hand. Then Jerry asked me to tell the man what city he lives in. Without hesitation I said, Pittsburgh. The man immediately turned around, put on his coat and left the bar, never to be seen again.

I asked Jerry what did I do to make this man so nervous that he bolted from the bar? It seems that during their conversation before I arrived, Jerry told him that his wife was psychic and that I could tell just by shaking his hand what city he lived in. He went on to say that my powers included reading someone’s mind. I guess this man had something really big to hide and was afraid that I would immediately read his mind and know what he was hiding.

We laughed and laughed over drinks and appetizers, which drifted into a delightful dinner at the Oak Room, and the uplifting of my spirits.

Stuffed Mushrooms

INGREDIENTS:

PREPARATION:

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Spray a large frying pan with cooking spray and heat on high. Crumble the ground beef and sausage into the pan and cook until brown, breaking up any large pieces. Pour the cooked meat into a strainer over the sink and drain. Set aside.

Wipe or wash the mushrooms, pop out the stems and set the caps aside on a paper towel. Trim any hard ends off the stems and discard. Finely chop the stems and set aside.

Heat on high the pan you cooked the beef in and add the oil. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until the onions are lightly browned, stirring often. Add the mushroom stems and sprinkle with salt. Cook until the mushroom stems are soft (for about 2 minutes), stirring occasionally. Take off the burner and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl add the cream cheese, egg yolk, and mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Mix until well blended. Add the meats mixture, onion and stem mixture and flavored breadcrumbs. Mix until all the ingredients are well blended.

BAKE:

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Dip or brush the outside of the mushroom buttons with the melted butter. Using a teaspoon, fill each mushroom button with the meat and cheese mixture, giving it a healthy mound on top. Bake the mushrooms at 375°F for 20-25 minutes, or until brown. Cool for a few minutes before serving.

If these are planned as appetizers, select small button mushrooms. If the dish is being served as an entrée, choose large button mushrooms. If there is any of the mixture left over after you fill the mushrooms, you can fill mini bell peppers that have been sliced in half and seeded. Fill each half of the pepper with the meat and cheese mixture with a heaping mound on top. Bake the same as mushrooms.

As a main dish, the stuffed mushrooms go great with Heavenly Mashed Potatoes (see page 141 for recipe).

Garlic Dill Dip

Great vegetable and chip dip!

INGREDIENTS:

PREPARATION:

Mix all ingredients together. Chill at least 1 hour before serving to allow the flavors to blend and the mixture to firm up a little.

A fun way to serve this is to hollow-out a small red cabbage or any color bell peppers and put the dip in these instead of a bowl. Surround with cut up vegetables and chips.

Spectacular Spinach and Kale Turnovers

Serve hors d’oeuvres or as a side dish

Makes 9 turnovers

INGREDIENTS:

PREPARATION:

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Take the puff pastry out of the refrigerator and set aside.

Heat a large frying pan on high and add oil. Reduce heat to medium and add the chopped onions. Sauté the onions for about 5 minutes until they are lightly brown. Add garlic and sauté an additional 1-2 minutes. Add the kale and 1 tablespoon water and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the spinach. Cover and continue to sauté for 3-5 minutes more or until the spinach is wilted and the kale is tender. If you need to add a little additional water to help the spinach and kale wilt, do so but the mixture should not be wet! Uncover and cook until any excess liquid is cooked off. Mix in salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool while you prepare the dough. You can prepare this mixture a day ahead of time and refrigerate overnight.

ASSEMBLY:

Unroll the sheet of puff pastry. On a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin, roll the puff pastry so it is about 12-nches long × 12-inches wide. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough in thirds lengthwise and then in thirds widthwise. You should have nine 4-inch squares. If you are making hors d’oeuvre-size turnovers, roll the pastry slightly thinner and divide into 16 squares.

Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water for the egg wash.

Add the feta cheese to the cooled spinach and kale mixture and mix to evenly distribute the cheese. Divide the mixture into nine portions in the frying pan. Place each portion on a square of puff pastry and shape into a triangle, staying approximately 1/2-inch from the sides. Fold the pastry diagonally over the spinach and kale forming a triangle and seal the edges of the pastry together by crimping with a fork.

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and lightly spray with cooking spray. Transfer the turnover triangles to the baking sheet spacing them so they don’t touch. You can prepare these 3-4 hours ahead of when you want to bake them. Cover the turnovers with waxed paper and refrigerate.

BAKE:

Brush each turnover with the egg wash and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Place the cookie sheet on the center rack in the oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes. Turn the heat up to 400°F, and bake an