Recipes

Here are some of the recipes you can find Sidney preparing in INAPPROPRIATE MEN … bon appetit!

Blahsmopolitan

The drink of the future, make your neighborhood bar stock up on White Cranberry juice immediately!
1 ½ oz. SKYY Citrus Vodka
½ oz. Cointreau or Triple Sec
1 oz. White Cranberry Juice
Splash Rose's Lime Shake vigorously with ice, strain into martini glass and garnish with piece of fresh lime.

Dinner for Geoff
The first time Geoff comes to Sidney 's house is a very big deal for her, so she makes a romantic dinner for two…This is actually a very simple meal to pull together for a quiet evening at home, a lot of the chopping and assembly can be done ahead of time. All recipes serve two amply, but can be multiplied easily.

Endive Salad

1 head Belgian endive, chopped coarsely about 1 inch wide
1 head fennel, julienned
1 heart of celery, chopped, including the leaves
1 green apple, julienned
1 package pea shoots
parmesan curls
Dress with 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and 4 tablespoons really good extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Baked Dijon Chicken

2 T butter, softened
2 T dijon mustard
2 chicken breasts, boneless, skin on
1/3 c bread crumbs
1/3 c grated pecorino romano (can substitute grated parmesan)
Mix mustard and butter and coat chicken. Mix bread crumbs and cheese, and roll chicken in coating until completely covered. Put on a lightly greased baking sheet, and sprinkle with olive oil just before cooking. Cook 15 minutes at 375 if thin, 18 minutes if thick.

Artichoke Pasta

8 oz wide flat noodles,(like pappardelle), cooked
1 shallot, minced fine
½ T olive oil
1 c chicken stock
2 T artichoke puree, available at gourmet stores
4 cooked artichoke bottoms, preferably fresh, large dice
¼ c dry sherry
1 T butter
2 T toasted pinenuts
1 T chopped fresh parsley, Italian flat leaf
2 T grated parmesan
Heat a large skillet and add the olive oil and the finely minced shallots to wilt down. When they have sweated a bit, add a the chicken stock and let the mixture reduce by half. Whisk in two generous tablespoons of artichoke puree, throw in the chopped artichoke hearts, the sherry, and salt and pepper. When the artichoke pieces have heated through, add the butter to the simmering sauce, swirling to incorporate it without letting it get greasy. Add the pasta to the sauce in the skillet, toss a few times to coat and heat through. Just before service, throw in the toasted pine nuts and parsley, and sprinkle with parmesan.

Sidney 's Famous Pumpkin Soup

(EXCERPT FROM INAPPROPRIATE MEN)

“This is so simple, I have to share it with you, and easy enough that anyone can do it, even those of you who think you can't cook. Whip it out at your next autumnal meal, and wow the crowd. It freezes beautifully. I am not going to give you amounts here, since soup is one of those things best done by eye and taste, and unlike baking, hard to screw up. Plus, one never knows about the size of the pumpkins, nor how much meat is in them. You can substitute butternut squash for all or some of the pumpkin with no alterations necessary.
Take one medium pumpkin, cut into wedges, scrape out the seeds, and carefully slice the rind off with a sharp knife. Chop into fairly large chunks, so that they are all approximately the same size. In your stockpot, sweat a medium onion in a tiny bit of olive oil until soft, but not colored (a sprinkle of salt will ensure it doesn't caramelize on you), then put all the pumpkin pieces on top and pour in chicken stock to just barely cover the pumpkin. It is okay if some pointy bits stick out of the liquid. Cook over medium heat with a grating of fresh nutmeg until the pumpkin is very meltingly soft. Put in the fridge to cool, minimum one hour, but overnight is fine. Using a blender, regular or immersion, blend in batches until very smooth. Bring back up to heat in the pot, and taste for salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix in heavy cream until the soup lightens one shade, go slow, you can always add more. Taste again for seasoning. Eat.
I have done this with both homemade stock and canned broth with equal success. I even did it with canned pumpkin once, and it still worked, just be careful to get pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling. If using canned pumpkin, just add stock until the consistency seems thickly soupy. I pass it through a chinois (a commercial grade fine strainer) if I want that extra silkiness to the texture, but a little lumpy is okay too. You can garnish it with everything from the sweet treats Adam prefers (mini marshmallows and crumbled gingersnaps), to crème fraiche and chives, toasted pumpkin seeds tossed in curry powder, unsweetened whipped cream mixed with amaretti cookie crumbs, or white truffle shavings and extra virgin olive oil. You can serve it in a mini roasted pumpkin. You can make it vegetarian with vegetable stock, or even vegan if you leave out the cream.”

Lemon Pasta

Sidney makes this pasta after an afternoon romp with Geoff. It is ridiculously simple, and awfully satisfying, even if you haven't just had great sex.
(serves two)
8 oz. pasta, preferably linguine or fettucine
2 egg yolks
1 lemon, juice and zest
2 T grated parmesan
1/3 c heavy cream
2 T butter
2 T parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk egg yolks until creamy and slightly lightened in color. Stir in cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest and cream. Cook pasta al dente. Drain pasta and return to pot, off heat. Add butter to pasta and stir until melted and coating all the pasta. Add the sauce and mix well. Taste for salt and pepper. You may add more cream if it needs it. Add parsley just before serving, with extra grated cheese on the side.