10 take a bow

Chicago Tribune (MCT) - Hard to believe, but it's that time again. Time to look back and marvel over the many outstanding recipes we've tested and tasted in the Tribune test kitchen.

Not to brag, but there were some real winners. That simple, but decadent rib-eye steak topped with a tangle of sweet onions and tarragon, for example. And those addictive sandwich cookies that reminded us of lunch box days gone by with their flavor of peanut butter and a filling of jelly. A favorite dip combined chopped bacon, lettuce and tomato for a new take on a BLT_and it didn't last long.

We liked these recipes_and seven others_so much, we've brought them back for a new life in a new year. If you missed them the last time around, clip them now (or download them, if you like, at chicagotribune.com/food) and enjoy them throughout 2009.

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BARLEY-BUTTERNUT SQUASH PILAF

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 40 minutes

Makes: 6 servings

This dish was featured as part of our newly expanded Health Watch coverage. It's adapted from "The Woman's Day Cookbook for Healthy Living." The lemon zest provides a surprising zing.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small butternut squash, peeled, cut in 1 ˝-inch pieces

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

1 cup pearled barley (not quick-cooking)

1 can (14 ounces) low-sodium chicken broth

˝ cup water

˝ teaspoon dried sage, crumbled

˝ teaspoon dried thyme

Ľ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add squash, onion and bell pepper. Cook 3 minutes, stirring often. Add barley; cook, stirring often, until toasted slightly, about 3 minutes.

2. Add broth, water, sage, thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Cover; heat to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer; cook, covered, until barley is just tender, about 35 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in lemon zest.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 175 calories, 15 percent of calories from fat, 3 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 33 g carbohydrates, 5 g protein, 123 mg sodium, 7 g fiber

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BEEF RIB-EYE STEAKS WITH SWEET ONION-TARRAGON TOPPING

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 25 minutes

Makes: 4 servings

For a Dinner Tonight column, food editor Carol Mighton Haddix offered up this lighter alternative to steak with Bearnaise sauce. It takes the main flavors of onion and tarragon but mixes them into a lighter topping.

2 large beef rib-eye steaks, trimmed

˝ teaspoon salt

Ľ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons butter

1 large sweet onion, such as Vidalia, halved, thinly sliced

2 sprigs fresh tarragon, chopped

1. Season the steaks on both sides with half of the salt and half of the pepper; set aside.

2. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until tender and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add tarragon; cook, stirring often, 2 minutes. Stir in remaining salt and pepper; transfer to small serving bowl.

3. Heat skillet over high heat; add steaks. Cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Turn; cook until browned, 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook to desired doneness, about 5 minutes for medium. Transfer steaks to cutting board; let rest 5 minutes. Cut steaks in half, or slice if desired. Serve with onion topping.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 280 calories, 63 percent of calories from fat, 19 g fat, 9 g saturated fat, 117 mg cholesterol, 3 g carbohydrates, 22 g protein, 336 mg sodium, 0 g fiber

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BITTER GREENS WITH BACON, PECANS AND WARM BALSAMIC DRESSING

Prep: 30 minutes

Cook: 10 minutes

Makes: 4 servings

This salad was developed by Emily Nunn for our October "Columbian Exchange" special section, using Lynn Rosetto Kasper's "The Splendid Table" and the memory of a recipe in a very old issue of Metropolitan Home magazine as her guides.

4 to 5 slices bacon, cut crosswise into ˝-inch pieces

1 cup pecan halves

Ľ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, chopped

2 shallots, halved lengthwise, sliced into Ľ-inch slices

˝ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Ľ cup balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar

8 cups mixed bitter greens (arugula, radicchio, endive)

1. Cook bacon in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until crisp; remove to a paper-towel-lined plate. Cool; crumble. Remove all but Ľ cup of the bacon grease in the skillet; add pecans. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, being careful not to burn, about 1 minute. Remove with slotted spoon to paper towel.

2. Add olive oil to skillet; heat over medium heat. Add garlic, shallots, salt and pepper; cook until garlic and shallots are softened, 1-2 minutes. Add the vinegars and brown sugar; cook until dressing comes to a boil, about 2 minutes. Adjust seasonings. Place greens, pecans and bacon in a salad bowl; drizzle with dressing to taste.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 389 calories, 80 percent of calories from fat, 36 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 7 mg cholesterol, 14 g carbohydrates, 6 g protein, 455 mg sodium, 3 g fiber

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BLT DIP

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 6 minutes

Makes: 3 cups

This dip for a June cover story on the classic party food was developed by former test kitchen director Donna Pierce. Serve with pita crisps, kettle chips or toast points brushed with olive oil.

4 slices bacon

3 green onions, thinly sliced

Ľ cup each: mayonnaise, low-fat Greek yogurt

Ľ cup arugula, chopped

Ľ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered

1. Place the bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat; cook, turning, until crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel.

2. Combine the onions, mayonnaise, yogurt, arugula, salt and pepper to taste in a food processor; pulse until chunky, about 5 times. Transfer to a medium bowl.

3. Crumble the bacon into the bowl; stir into the mayonnaise mixture. Stir in the tomatoes.

Nutrition information:

Per 1 tablespoon serving: 13 calories, 78 percent of calories from fat, 1 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 1 mg cholesterol, 0 g carbohydrates, 0 g protein, 32 mg sodium, 0 g fiber

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GRILLED CHICKEN TACOS WITH HARISSA MAYO

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook: 15 minutes

Makes: 4 servings

For a summer Dinner Tonight column, assistant editor Joe Gray brought a North African sauce to a Mexican staple, the taco. Look for harissa sauce in larger grocery stores or Middle Eastern markets, or use your favorite salsa or chili sauce.

1 to 2 teaspoons bottled or canned harissa sauce

˝ cup mayonnaise

1 small jicama, diced

1 avocado, pitted, peeled, diced

1 small red onion, diced

Juice from 1 lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

˝ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

8 (6-inch) flour tortillas

Ľ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Stir the harissa into mayonnaise in a small bowl; taste for spiciness. Add more harissa or more mayonnaise according to taste; set aside.

2. Prepare a grill or grill pan for medium heat. Meanwhile, combine the jicama, avocado and onion in a bowl; stir in the lemon juice, olive oil, Ľ teaspoon of the salt and pepper to taste.

3. Season the chicken with remaining Ľ teaspoon of the salt and pepper to taste; grill, turning as needed, until done, about 5 minutes per side. Cut chicken into small dice, or shred. Warm tortillas on the grill until softened, taking care not to burn.

4. Divide chicken among tortillas; top with about 2 tablespoons of the jicama mixture. Add ˝ teaspoon of the harissa mayonnaise or to taste; top with cilantro. Fold tortilla around filling.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 460 calories, 43 percent of calories from fat, 22 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 75 mg cholesterol, 38 g carbohydrates, 26 g protein, 711 mg sodium, 5 g fiber

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JALAPENO SALMON BURGERS

Prep: 20 minutes

Chill/rest: 1 hour, 35 minutes

Cook: 8 minutes

Makes: 4 servings

From one of the best cookbooks of the year, "Fish Without a Doubt," by Rick Moonen and Roy Finemore.

1 pound skinless wild salmon fillets, chilled in freezer 1 ˝ hours

5 green onions, chopped

Ľ cup minced red bell pepper

2 tablespoons each: minced jalapeno, sour cream

2 teaspoons hot red pepper sauce

˝ teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon coarse salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 large egg white, beaten to soft peaks

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

4 pita breads

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 avocado

Juice of 1 lime

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the salmon into 1/3-inch dice. Place salmon, green onions, bell pepper, jalapeno, sour cream, red pepper sauce, ˝ teaspoon of the salt and black pepper to taste in medium bowl; fold together with a spatula. Add the egg white; fold in gently but thoroughly. (The mixture will be loose.)

2. Heat the oil in a large oven-proof non-stick skillet over medium-high heat; form the fish into 4 burgers. Slide the burgers into the skillet, reshaping, if necessary with a spatula. Cook to set bottoms, 1 minute. Place skillet in oven; bake until tops are opaque and milky, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from oven; let burgers rest in skillet 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, split the pitas; brush the insides with olive oil. Grill or toast pitas until hot. Mash the avocado in a small bowl; stir in lime juice and remaining 1/8 teaspoon of the salt. Put each burger on a pita half; divide avocado to top the burgers. Top with remaining pita halves.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 483 calories, 38 percent of calories from fat, 21 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 75 mg cholesterol, 41 g carbohydrates, 34 g protein, 762 mg sodium, 3 g fiber

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PB&J SHORTBREAD SANDWICHES

Prep: 50 minutes

Chill: 2 hours

Cook: 18 minutes per batch

Makes: 35 sandwiches

With an eye toward stretching the food budget during these tough economic times, we revisited peanut butter in September and included this recipe, adapted from "The Good Cookie," by Tish Boyle.

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into

tablespoons, at room temperature

˝ cup granulated sugar

Ľ cup packed light brown sugar

2/3 cup natural peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

ľ teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

ľ cup raspberry jam

1. Beat the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed 1 minute. Gradually add the sugars, beating until well blended, about 1 ˝ minutes. Mix in the peanut butter, vanilla and salt; lower the speed to medium-low. Beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes; lower the speed to low.

2. Beat in the flour slowly, until just blended. Turn the dough out onto a work surface; divide the dough in half. Shape into two disks. Wrap each disk in plastic; refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours. (Dough may be chilled up to 2 days.)

3. Heat oven to 300 degrees. Place one of the chilled disks on a lightly floured work surface; roll the dough to a thickness of less than Ľ inch. Cut out cookies with a 1 ľ-inch round cookie cutter; transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing cookies about ľ-inch apart. (Gather up scraps; rewrap. Chill 15 minutes before rerolling and cutting.)

4. Bake one cookie sheet at a time until cookies are just firm but not browned, 18-20 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 10 minutes; transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

5. Spread half of the cookies with 1 teaspoon raspberry jam each; top with remaining cookies, forming sandwiches.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 136 calories, 50 percent of calories from fat, 8 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 14 mg cholesterol, 15 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein, 69 mg sodium, 0 g fiber

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SMOKY TOMATO AND SEAFOOD SOUP

Prep: 40 minutes

Cook: 40 minutes

Makes: 6 servings

JeanMarie Brownson recalled the seafood of Spain in this recipe for her column, Dinner at Home, in October.

8 to 10 ripe plum tomatoes or 1 can (15 ounces) diced fire-roasted tomatoes, undrained

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 large shallots, finely chopped

1 small leek, trimmed, chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded, chopped, or 1 bottled roasted red bell pepper, diced

6 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 quart vegetable broth

1 bottle (8 ounces) clam juice or water

˝ cup dry white wine

Ľ cup tomato paste

1 teaspoon salt or to taste

ľ teaspoon smoked sweet Spanish paprika

1 pound small fresh clams, scrubbed clean, or 1 box (16 ounces) frozen steamer clams in garlic butter sauce, left frozen

˝ pound large (26-30 count) raw shrimp, peeled, deveined

1 pound boneless, skinless fish fillets, such as tilapia, pollock or snapper, cut into 1 ˝-inch pieces

˝ pound bay scallops

Garlic mayo, optional, see recipe below

Chopped fresh parsley and chives

1. If using fresh tomatoes, heat the broiler to high; put tomatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil 6 inches from the heat source, turning occasionally, until the skin is lightly charred on all sides, 10-12 minutes. Cool, peel and chop coarsely, collecting all the juices.

2. Heat the oil in a 4- to 5-quart Dutch oven or deep saucepan. Cook the shallots and leek until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the red pepper and garlic; cook 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, broth, clam juice, wine, tomato paste, salt and paprika. Simmer 15 minutes.

3. Add the clams; cook 3 minutes. Add the shrimp and fish; cook 2 minutes. Add the scallops; cook 1 minute or until all fish is opaque but still tender. Ladle the soup into wide serving bowls. Place a dollop of the garlic mayo into the center. Sprinkle with parsley and chives.

Garlic mayo: Mix 1/3 cup mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice in a small bowl. Use a garlic press to crush in 1 large clove of garlic; mix well. Add a pinch of salt if needed. This can be made up to 1 day in advance; cover and refrigerate.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 392 calories, 27 percent of calories from fat, 12 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 211 mg cholesterol, 20 g carbohydrates, 51 g protein, 1,420 mg sodium, 3 g fiber

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SWISS CHARD, LEEK AND GOAT CHEESE TART

Prep: 40 minutes

Chill: 1 hour

Cook: 1 hour

Makes: 10 servings

For Bill Daley's February cover story on "Dot.com cooking," which tracked the burgeoning realm of recipe Web sites, we included this savory tart from David Leite's Leitesculinaria.com.

Pastry:

1˝ cups flour

1 tablespoon each: minced fresh rosemary, fresh thyme leaves

˝ teaspoon salt

1˝ sticks (12 tablespoons) cold, unsalted butter, cut into ˝-inch cubes

Ľ cup plus 2 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

ľ pound leeks, white and pale green parts, cut into ˝-inch pieces

1 pound Swiss chard, stems optional, roughly chopped

3 eggs

1/3 cup whipping cream

1 teaspoon salt

Ľ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

3 tablespoons golden raisins, soaked in boiling water 10 minutes, drained

3 tablespoons pine nuts

6 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled

1. Place the flour, rosemary, thyme and salt in a food processor; process until blended. Add the butter; pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, with pieces no bigger than small peas, about 13 to 15 one-second pulses.

2. Transfer dough to a medium bowl; drizzle with Ľ cup of the water. Mix with a fork to form a "shaggy" dough. Squeeze some in your hand. If it doesn't hold together, add the remaining water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Form into a disc; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

3. Position the oven rack in the lower third of the oven; heat oven to 400 degrees. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 13-inch circle. Ease dough into a 10-inch tart pan, fitting it snugly against the sides and bottom; trim the excess. Prick the bottom of the tart with a fork; cover with parchment paper. Fill the tart with pie weights or beans; bake 25 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment; set shell aside to cool.

4. Meanwhile, for the filling, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks; cover skillet. Cook, stirring often, until leeks soften, 8-10 minutes. Add the chard; cook, uncovered, until excess water evaporates, 6-8 minutes.

5. Beat the eggs, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Add the vegetable mixture; toss to coat. Pour the mixture into the tart shell. Sprinkle raisins and pine nuts over the top; dot with the goat cheese. Place on a baking sheet; bake until the filling is set and puffy, about 25 minutes. Cool on a rack to room temperature.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 374 calories, 67 percent of calories from fat, 29 g fat, 17 g saturated fat, 133 mg cholesterol, 22 g carbohydrates, 9 g protein, 556 mg sodium, 2 g fiber

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TARRAGON EGG SALAD

Prep: 10 minutes

Makes: About 2 cups

We saluted that classic all-American condiment mayonnaise in July in time for summer salads, including this egg salad. Use it to make sandwiches or serve it on a bed of lettuce garnished with shrimp or lobster.

2 tablespoons each: mayonnaise, sour cream

1 tablespoon each, freshly minced: tarragon

leaves, flat-leaf parsley

2 teaspoons each: Dijon-style mustard, fresh lemon juice

1 ˝ teaspoons each: celery seed, salt

Freshly ground pepper

6 hard-cooked eggs, peeled, mashed or chopped

Mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, tarragon, parsley, mustard, lemon juice, celery seed, salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Stir in the eggs.

Nutrition information

Per ˝ cup serving: 187 calories, 74 percent of calories from fat, 15 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 324 mg cholesterol, 2 g carbohydrates, 10 g protein, 1,028 mg sodium, 0 g fiber

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© 2008, Chicago Tribune.