Delicious recipes from 2003

Each week, we select a few of our favorite recipes that we think are worthy of a second serving. We've flipped back through our 2003 files and found some recipes that are so delicious we are giving them to you again.

When DiMartino's New York Deli was on East Main Street, the best-selling meatballs were made by Marie DiMartino. She passed away in May, 2004. DiMartino was reared on Long Island, N.Y., by Italian parents, and her meatballs are some of the best you'll ever eat. Here's how she made the meatballs, but they're hard to duplicate because it's more the technique than the recipe.
 
Marie's meatballs
Take 1 pound chopped chuck, and add a little parsley, salt and pepper and grated Romano cheese. Add two eggs, or the meatballs won't hold together, and minced garlic, about three cloves. Roll mixture into balls. Fry in olive oil; when done, put them into tomato sauce (use canned or make your own).
To make tomato sauce: Put 3 cloves minced garlic in a pan with a little olive oil; cook until just a little brown. Add 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper. Add a little parsley.

Sisters Doralethea Rodgers, Jeralene Greenlee and Carolyn Steed, owners of JJ Johnson Sisters Restaurant and Catering on Versailles Road, got their start in catering with a booth at the Roots & Heritage Festival. They served their father's recipe for peg legs and hot dogs with Jeralene's homemade relish.
All of the sisters have their own specialties they prepare for JJ Sisters Catering. Steed is known for her cakes, especially a peach cheesecake; Greenlee makes homemade dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls, and Rodgers makes her special blend of iced tea. Although they keep their recipes carefully guarded, Greenlee shared this one for turkey salad, which she serves on crackers.

Jeralene's turkey salad
1 turkey breast, cooked
1/2 cup salad dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon hot sauce
Creole seasoning
Chopped green onions
Chopped celery
Small tomato, diced
Chopped pecans or walnuts
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine
1 cup chopped pickles
1 small jar pimentos
Grind turkey and combine with remaining ingredients. Chill and serve with crackers.

Church cook Rosemary White served good, down-home food to members of First Baptist Church Bracktown on Wednesday nights and for church activities. She was co-chairwoman of the culinary committee and sometimes cooked for 300 to 400 parishioners at all-church events.
Her specialties include pork chops and cabbage, fried chicken and mashed potatoes, hash brown casserole, broccoli casserole and corn pudding. Here's her recipe for a hearty hash brown casserole.

Hash brown casserole
1 (32-ounce) bag frozen hash brown potatoes
16 ounces sour cream
1 small onion, chopped
1 stick butter, melted
1 cup shredded cheese
2 cups cream of chicken soup
Combine all ingredients, pour into a large baking pan and bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

A.J. Caudill, executive chef at the historic Boone Tavern in Berea, began his career as a truck-stop dishwasher in Georgetown.  When he creates a dish, Caudill always thinks about the region and uses local ingredients as a starting point. Sorghum, country ham and green tomatoes are on the menu, but in non-traditional ways. He combines country ham and artichokes in this tasty appetizer.

Country ham and artichokes
1 can (12 ounces) artichoke hearts, drained
3 tablespoons shaved and chopped cooked country ham
3 to 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Pinch of white pepper
1 teaspoon chopped chives
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Bake in two 4-ounce ramekins at 350 degrees until top is slightly brown. Remove from oven and place on a plate with lavash crackers or grilled bread.

Jared Richardson and his wife, Paige, opened Wallace Station Depot in 2003 on Old Frankfort Pike in Midway. Richardson, a Whitesburg native, learned to cook from his mother and grandmother. His sister-in-law, chef Ouita Michel, encouraged him to pursue a culinary degree at the Culinary Institute of America.
His philosophy on food: "I think we should do more teaching about where we get our food, how to make bread, and the basic things that sustain us," he said. This sandwich uses locally grown produce on freshly baked bread. It's a good recipe to stash away until next summer.

Mulberry meets Midway
Ciabatta
Fresh mozzarella
Roasted red peppers
Fresh arugula
Summer tomatoes
Red onion slices
Extra-virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Pesto:
1/2 to 3/4 cup pine nuts
7 cloves garlic, whole
1 pound basil leaves
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 cups extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

To make pesto: Place pine nuts in a food processor and puree. Remove from the processor bowl and set aside. Place garlic in processor and pulverize. Add basil to the bowl in thirds and process. Return pine nuts to the processor and add the butter. Turn machine on and very slowly drizzle olive oil into the mixture. Taste: season with salt and pepper.
To assemble sandwich: Place two slices of ciabatta on a breadboard. Slather slices with pesto. Place mozzarella and roasted peppers on one slice. Place arugula, tomatoes and red onion slices on the other slice. Drizzle arugula side with a little extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Stack together.

Former Kentuckian Ronni Lundy of Asheville, N.C. writes about Appalachian food in her cookbook, Butter Beans to Blackberries. This recipe for jammy biscuits is a Southern interpretation of sticky buns.

Jammy biscuits
1/2 cup butter, plus some for the pan
1 cup peach or apricot jam, or marmalade
1/8 cup crystallized ginger, minced
2 cups flour (preferably soft wheat)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan liberally with butter, and set it aside. Melt 1/2 cup of butter in a small saucepan. Pour 1/4 cup out of the pan, and set it aside. Add the jam and crystallized ginger to the pan; stir over very low heat until mixed and of pouring consistency. Pour it into the bottom of the greased pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the middle and pour in the remaining 1/4 cup of melted butter and the milk. Use a wooden spoon or your floured fingers to quickly mix, until the dough holds together in a rough ball. Turn it out on a liberally floured flat surface and roll it into a rectangle about a foot long and 8 or so inches wide.
Mix the brown sugar with the pecans, and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the surface of the dough. Roll the dough into a log 12 inches long. Use a sharp knife to cut every 1 1/2 inches to make 8 biscuits. Place them with a cut side down in the jam, snugly. It's OK if they touch.
Bake for 15 minutes, until the tops of the biscuits are golden. Allow to cool for 3 minutes, then turn upside down onto a serving plate. Serve at once. Makes 8 biscuits.

 Johnny Carrabba, founding partner of Carrabba's Italian Grill, visited Lexington during the grand opening of the restaurant at Hamburg in 2003. His family came to the United States from Sicily and settled in Texas more than 100 years ago. Carrabba and his uncle Damian Mandola opened Carrabba's Italian Grill in 1986. They are hosts of Cucina Amore, one of public television's longest-running Italian cooking series. Their cookbook Ciao Y'all features recipes from the series, not the restaurant, that reflect the family's heritage. This recipe for Sicilian doughnuts "is my favorite dessert in the whole wide world," he said.

Sicilian doughnuts
Vegetable oil for deep frying, about 1 to 2 quarts
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
Powdered sugar for dusting or cinnamon-sugar (1 cup sugar blended with 2 tablespoons cinnamon)
Warm honey
Preheat about 3 to 4 inches of oil in a large saucepan to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and cinnamon together thoroughly. Add the egg and milk and beat until smooth. Drop the thick batter by large tablespoons into the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
Place on a plate and dust with powdered sugar or, while still hot, roll in cinnamon-sugar. Drizzle honey over the top. Makes about a dozen 1-inch balls.