4 small eggplants cut into large cubes
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 lbs chopped white onions
7 medium zucchini, cut into strips
2 sweet red peppers, cleaned and cut into large strips
2 green peppers, cleaned and cut into large strips
2 tbs. minced garlic
3 cans (16 oz each) plum tomatoes, drained
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
2 tbs. dried basil
2 tbs. dried oregano
black pepper, to taste
good quality (extra virgin) olive oil.

Sprinkle eggplant with salt and toss well. Let stand (to remove bitterness) while you do the next step.

Pour some olive oil into large frying pan or wok. Saut� onions, zucchini, peppers, and garlic until lightly colored (about 20 minutes). Set aside in a dish.

Add more oil to wok and saut� eggplant. Mix in tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, seasonings. Add back in the onion/zucchini/pepper that you previously set aside. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

Rinse the chicken under cold running water. Place all the ingredients in a soup pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the chicken meat falls off the bones, stirring occasionally.

Remove the chicken from the bones, discarding the bones and skin. Return the chicken to the pot and add an 8-ounce package of medium egg noodles to the hot soup; cook over high heat until the noodles are tender.

1 Large onion, chopped
4 cups medium-size thin skin-skined potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
5 slices bacon cut into 1-inch pieces.
3 10 oz cans, minced clams reserving the liquid
1 cup chopped celery, including some of the tops
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1/4 cup water
3 tbs cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 qt regular-strength chicken broth (or 4 chicken bouillon cubes in 1qt water)
1 qt milk
butter or margarine
finely chopped parsley

In an 8 to 10-quart kettle, cook bacon pieces, over medium heat until bacon is limp, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped onion and celery to bacon and drippings and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is very limp, about 10 minutes. Add the potatoes, 1/4 cup parsley, salt, pepper, and chicken broth; cover and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.

Stir in the minced clams and reserved liquid, add the milk and cook, covered, until the soup is thoroughly hot, but not boiling. Blend the cornstarch with 1/4 cup water until smooth and add to soup; continue cooking until soup boils and thickens, about 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, pour soup into a tureen and float a generous pat (about 2 tablespoons) butter or margarine on top of soup and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

5 lbs beef brisket
1/4 tsp. saltpeter
1/4 cup warm water
2 Tbs. sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. paprika
1 Tbs. mixed pickling spices
3/4 cup salt
2 quarts water

1 large cabbage
bay leaf
2 large onions
cold water to cover
2 large carrots
ground black pepper
4 potatoes

Place the meat in a large crock. Dissolve the saltpeter in the warm water. Add the next four ingredients. Dissolve the salt in the 2 quarts of water. Mix everything together and pour over the meat. Be sure the meat is beneath the surface of the liquid. Refrigerate for three weeks, turning the meat once or twice per week.

After curing the corned beef. Remove the meat from the crock, discard remaining fluid.

Quarter the cabbage and put aside. Peel and slice the other vegetables. Cover the meat with the water and bring to the boil. Skim the surface, add the vegetables (except the cabbage), the bay leaf and the pepper and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook for a further 30 minutes. Serve the meat surrounded by the vegetables with additional mashed potatoes.

Saltpeter ( KNO₃ is also known as sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate) is commonly used in veterinary medicine. Some drugstores carry it.

2 lbs beef oxtails
8 medium carrots
8 stalks celery
2 small onions
1 small turnip
1 small parsnip
1 cup cabbage
2 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. marjoram
4 Japanese peppers (dried)

Peel the onions and wash the carrots, celery, turnip and parsnip. Cut 1 onion, 4 carrots, 4 celery stalks, the turnip and parsnip into quarters. Crush the garlic. Place the quartered vegetables, garlic cloves and beef oxtails in a 4 and 1/2 quart heavy bottomed pot. Add water to cover ingredients plus 2 inches. Heat to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 1 hour. After the first 15 minutes, remove the brown scum that may have formed on the top of the stock.

Remove oxtails and set aside to cool. Remove vegetables and herbs and discard. Strain stock through a colander lined with cheese cloth. If you are concerned about fat and cholesterol, skim fat from the top of the stock.

Chop remaining vegetables into desired size and add to stock. Remove meat from the oxtails and add to stock. Add salt to taste. Bring soup to a simmer and serve.

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped celery or green pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. Black pepper
1/4 tsp. Ground red pepper
3 cups chicken broth, heated
8 ounces andouille or smoked sausage, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 1/2 cups sliced okra or one 10-ounce package frozen cut okra, thawed
2 bay leaves
12 ounces frozen shelled shrimp
6 ounces fresh or frozen crab meat

Thaw shrimp and crab, if frozen. Cut up crab.

For roux, in a large heavy saucepan or Dutch oven combine flour and oil till smooth. Cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, reduce heat to medium. Cook and stir about 15 minutes more or till roux is light reddish brown.

Stir in onion, celery or green pepper, garlic, black pepper, and red pepper. Cook over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes or till vegetables are just crisp-tender, stirring often.

Gradually stir in hot chicken broth, andouille or smoked sausage, okra, and bay leaves. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover; simmer 15 to 25 minutes, add crab and shrimp, simmer an additional 5 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Serve over rice. If desired, garnish with a carrot top.

2 Tbs. butter or margarine
2 or 3 medium onions, peeled & sliced
1 lb. carrots peeled & sliced
1/2 lb. turnips peeled & sliced
10 oz. potatoes peeled and sliced
5 Tbs. tomato paste
4 cups water
2 cloves sliced, or minced, garlic
2 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. dried basil (or 1 1/4 fresh finely minced)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. pepper
Sour cream and finely chopped parsley for garnish.
(for a spicier version, use cilantro or Chinese parsley)

Saut� the onion in the melted butter in 4 quart pot. Add everything *EXCEPT* the last cup of water, the sour cream, and the parsley.

Simmer covered 15 to 20 minutes, (25 over medium heat stirring occasionally) or until potatoes and carrots are tender.

Pur�e the soup with a blender 1 1/2 to 2 cups at a time rinsing the empty pan with the reserved cup of water to get any remaining pur�e, and add this to the soup.

Return the soup to the rinsed-out pot and reheat it before serving (use a very low heat to prevent scorching the soup). Ladle into bowls. Place sour cream in center of soup and using a spoon pull it into a spiral (Like the galaxy) and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley along the sour cream.

3 slices of bacon cut up
2 lbs of beef stew meat
1 cup dry red wine (I like to use Burgundy)
2 cans beef broth
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves
3 Tbs. minced (or grated) fresh orange peel
18 boiling onions (the little white ones) OR 1 onion cut up
3/4 LB sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cans of new potatoes
2 sliced carrots
1 can pitted black olives
10 oz frozen peas
2 Tbs. cornstarch (optional)

About 3 hours before serving, brown the stew meat and the bacon in a large pot (8 quarts). Add 1 cup of water and everything else *EXCEPT* the peas, cornstarch, and olives.

Simmer for 2 hours, then add the olives.

Simmer an additional 30 minutes, then add the peas.

Cook for 5-10 minutes more then thicken with cornstarch, if desired.

Serve!