Salmon Rub

Offered by Jim Coleman

¼ cup brown sugar

3T Spanish smoked paprika

2 t dry thyme

1t salt

½ t pepper

Mix together

Rub-2T of mix with 1/8 cup olive oil stir to paste

Alton Brown Buff Smoothie

This was a part of Alton Brown's diet plan, and he lost 50 lbs!

Ingredients

4 ounces plain, low-fat soy milk
4 ounces acai, grape or pomegranate juice (acai used for nutritional value calculation)
4 ounces frozen banana
4 ounces frozen strawberries
4 ounces frozen blueberries
4 ounces frozen peaches

Directions

Combine the soy milk, juice, banana, strawberries, blueberries, and the peaches in the carafe of a blender. Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 8 hours.

In the morning, or when the fruit is partially thawed, put the carafe on the base of the blender, start at the lowest speed and slowly accelerate to medium, until you achieve a vortex. Blend on medium for 1 minute. Increase the speed to high and blend for an additional minute. Serve immediately.
Makes 1 - 24 ounce serving

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

(From Nancy Fleener)

1 ½ cups large elbow macaroni (use whole grain pasta)
3 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
½ tsp salt
2 cups shredded cheese* (Set ¾ cups of cheese aside)
3 Tbsp Butter
2 cups milk
Dash of White Pepper

Cook macaroni in boiling water until tender but not too done.

In a separate saucepan and on medium heat, melt butter and blend in flour. Add salt. Slowly stir in milk until mixture is fluid but thick (if you don’t stir, mixture will be lumpy). Add pepper and cheese to sauce. Stir until cheese melts.

Mix macaroni and sauce together and put in 1 ½ quart baking dish. Put the cheese that you set aside on top.

Bake at 350ºF for about 20 minutes or until cheese melted and bubbly on top.

Serves 6-8 people.

* ½ cup sharp cheddar, ½ cup Monterey, and 1 cup medium cheddar

Nancy Note: I use more than 2 cups cheese total and a little heavy on the sharp to give it a bit of a nip.

Baklava

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2008

Cook Time:1 hr 0 min

Serves:about 28 pieces

Ingredients

For the filling:

• 1 (5-inch piece) cinnamon stick, broken into 2 to 3 pieces or 2 teaspoons ground
• 15 to 20 whole allspice berries
• 6 ounces blanched almonds
• 6 ounces raw or roasted walnuts
• 6 ounces raw or roasted pistachio
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon rose water
• 1 pound phyllo dough, thawed
• 8 ounces clarified unsalted butter, melted

For the syrup:

• 1 1/4 cups honey
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 (2-inch) piece fresh orange peel

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the cinnamon stick and whole allspice into a spice grinder and grind. Or just use what you have that is already ground up! J

Place the almonds, walnuts, pistachios, (I use just walnuts (twice as much and no pistachios) sugar and freshly ground spices into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, but not pasty or powdery, approximately 15 quick pulses. Set aside.

Combine the water and rose water (plain tap water works just as well!) in a small spritz bottle and set aside.

Trim the sheets of phyllo to fit the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch metal pan. Brush the bottom and sides of the pan with butter; lay down a sheet of phyllo and brush with butter. Repeat this step 9 more times for a total of 10 sheets of phyllo. Top with 1/3 of the nut mixture and spread thinly. Spritz thoroughly with the rose water. Layer 6 more sheets of phyllo with butter in between each of them, followed by another third of the nuts and spritz with rose water. Repeat with another 6 sheets of phyllo, butter, remaining nuts, and rose water. Top with 8 sheets of phyllo brushing with butter in between each sheet. Brush the top generously with butter. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cut into 28 squares. Return pan to the oven and continue to bake for another 30 minutes. Remove pan from the oven, place on a cooling rack, and cool for 2 hours before adding the syrup.

Make the syrup during the last 30 minutes of cooling. Combine the honey, water, sugar, cinnamon stick and orange peel in a 4-quart saucepan and set over high heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Once boiling, boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and discard the orange peel and cinnamon stick.

After the baklava has cooled for 2 hours, re-cut the entire pan following the same lines as before. Pour the hot syrup evenly over the top of the baklava, allowing it to run into the cuts and around the edges of the pan. Allow the pan to sit, uncovered until completely cool. Cover and store at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to overnight before serving. Store, covered, at room temperature for up to 5 days (Ha! It never lasts that long).