Casey & Matt's Recipes

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Here are some of our favorite recipes. The formatting is inconsistent, but hopefully the content will be clear. Many of these are simply text files, so you may have to hit your browser's "back" button to return here. We'll add more here in our copious spare time.

Hors D'oeuvres, Appetizers, and First Courses

Spinach Soup

A very dramatic, deep green soup, this simple and easy recipe is from the Chez Pannise cookbook. It must be served immediately upon preparation, or the lovely green color will start to turn an awful brown.

Parmesan Walnut Salad in Endive Leaves

This is a terrific hors d'oeuvres. It's quick to prepare, looks attractive, and is always very popular. Be sure to use Parmesan Regiano!

Pumpkin Tortelloni

By taking advantage of pre-made wonton wrappers, this is a fine shortcut to having homemade pasta.

Steak Tartar

This recipe comes from Casey's mom, and it's the old family standby. It probably goes without saying, but be sure to use only the best quality meat from a reputable butcher, and don't leave it sitting around in the sun! This goes very well with some bree and apples and sourdough baguette rounds. Don't forget the Tobasco sauce and capers.

Food that used to swim: fish and seafood

Crab Cakes

If you're not from Maryland, then forget everything you know about crabcakes. Those bread-filled musket-balls they serve around the rest of the country are a shameful pretender to the true throne of crab cake greatness. The real things are moist, tender, and 100% crab without any bread fillers. Although you can probably use dungeness or king crab, to get the one true taste you'll need to get some blue crab. These smaller crabs from the Cheasapeak and Gulf Coast are more of a nuasance to pick and eat, but they've got a much stronger flavor than their bigger cousins. If you can find it, buy it already cleaned and picked by the pound.

Salmon Steaks with Black Pepper

This is a pretty easy dish to prepare. It uses a lot of black pepper, so it's pretty fiery on the palate. Also, it generates a lot of smoke in the kitchen, so if your fan doesn't work so well, you might want to cook this one in a cast-iron skillet over a hot outdoor grill.

Food that used to walk: meat and poultry

Turkey Burgers

These are by far the best turkey burgers I've ever had. They are very satisfying, especially to died-in-the-wool beef eaters. The shredded veggies keep the burgers moist, while the mushroom and soy give them an almost musky flavor that really tastes good.

Flank Steak

It used to be that flank steaks were garbage meat, and was a real bargain. Somehow in the last 5-10 years, the whole world has discovered that with a nice marinade, this can be delicious. So now it's always $5-$6/lb, but it's still very tasty.

Veal Chops with Morel Sauce

This is a Big entree, to roll out for fancy dinners. Not nearly as involved as Beef Wellington, but this still takes a little time. The morel sauce is really wonderful, a slightly sweet, sour reduction with a rich demiglace base. Instead of following the base recipe with red wine, I like Ed Cheng's variation with cognac and a dramatic flambe!

Just Deserts

Sherry Cake

Classic comfort food. A recent experiment demonstrated that burbon can substitute for the sherry in a pinch.

Pine nut & Almond Tart

Extremely fine, fancy enough for any formal occasion, or just when you really feel like nothing but the best will do. Some serious butter though.

Good Standby Recipies

Spinach Fritata

A very easy and tasty one-dish meal. Can be mixed up beforehand and then baked directly from the refrigerator. Also scales well for brunches.

Worcestershire Chicken

We haven't made this dish in a while, but back when we were living in the married student apartments at MIT, we nearly lived on this. Quick, simple, and tasty. Be sure to have some good crusty bread to mop up the sauce with.

Miscellanea

No-Apologies Garlic and Basil Sauce

I stumbled into this simple sauce one evening with some extra basil we had lying around, and was plesantly surprised. It would be great on steamed clams or escargot.

Nancy's Cilantro Sauce

Here's a great sauce for salmon or other fish, courtesy of Nancy Copeland.