Cooking without a Net

Red Hot Popcorn

2012-01-25T08:00:00.001-06:00

I recently decided to try my hand at making kettle-style popcorn. Basically, you add sugar and a little salt along with the kernels to the hot oil, and then you have to shake the pot like crazy to keep the sugar from burning. It tastes good, but I am not sure it is worth the effort of having to keep such a close eye on it to keep it from burning. And believe me, the smell of burnt kettle-style popcorn is something you want to avoid at all costs.

But I liked the idea of it and started to think about how I could make something similar without having to be so careful about it.

Then I remembered by freshman year of college, the year I lived in a dorm. We were not allowed to cook in our rooms. The only kitchen appliance we were allowed to have was a popcorn popper.

In those days, plastic popcorn poppers were becoming the norm, but I knew I wanted a metal one. Why, you ask? Because you can make so much more than popcorn in a metal popcorn popper. They operate on the same principle as the Easy-bake oven, only instead of light bulbs they use heated coils. The coils are on the base, and you put the metal bowl on top of it and fill it with the popcorn and oil. But, you can also fill it with water and Rice-a-Roni (this was before the days of five-for-a-dollar ramen soup packets and Rice-a-Roni was the cheapest thing around). Or mac and cheese. Or even brownie mix. Quite versatile.

But I mainly used it for popcorn. I don't remember if she had ever done it before, but when one of my floor-mates suggested that we put Red Hots into the bowl along with the kernels and the oil, it seemed a reasonable enough thing to do, to an 18-year old with few cooking skills, at any rate.

To my delight, it worked. Instant cinnamon-flavored popcorn. The candy melted and coated the popcorn as the kernels popped. You do have to be careful not to let it burn at the end, but you do not have to shake it constantly while it is popping. It is the easiest form of sugared popcorn that I have seen.

When I first remembered this and went looking for Red Hots, I had some trouble finding them. They used to be a staple in the drugstore candy aisle, but I did not find them at Walgreen's, or Jewel/Osco. I finally found them at my neighborhood Treasure Island. Once again my local grocery store comes through!

There is one slight drawback. The pan will end up with bits of cinnamon candy stuck to it. But a quick soak in hot water takes care of that. It is well worth it when you want to fancy up your popcorn.

RED HOT POPCORN
3 Tbsp grapeseed or peanut oil
1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
1/3 cup red hots
salt

Pour the oil in the bottom of a 3 or 4-quart pot with a heavy bottom. Add the popcorn, then gently pour the red hots over the popcorn. Place the pot over medium-high heat and cover, leaving the lid slightly ajar.

When the popcorn starts popping, remove from the pan for 1 minute, then place it back over the medium-high heat and let it pop until the popping has slowed down, shaking it gently back and forth as the popping starts to slow down, if you like. Do not let it go more than 3 seconds without hearing a pop.

Remove from the heat immediately and pour it into a large bowl. Sprinkle with a little salt and stir it up to break apart the kernels (because of the melted candy, the popcorn will be sticking together in clumps). Chopsticks are a handy tool to use to separate the kernels.

Let cool and enjoy.

Project Vegetable: Stir-Fried Rapini, Pepper and Radicchio

2012-01-22T08:00:00.003-06:00

This year is shaping up to be the year of the stir fry for me. It started with my decision to find a way to cook more vegetables, so I have been buying them like there is no tomorrow. And then the challenge is to find ways to cook them that are delicious, satisfying, and more healthy than cooking them in butter.

And what could be healthier than a stir fry? Now that I am learning how to be the master of the wok, I can't seem to get enough of it. It is fun, easy, and - most importantly - fast. In the past, I could never get the vegetables cooked properly. They would be either too near raw crunchy or overcooked and mushy. But, like everything else, if you do it often enough you start to get the hang of it and it just gets better and better. I've even successfully stir-fried eggplant, but more on that later.

Treasure Island had radicchio on sale for a ridiculous price so I grabbed one. They also had ancient sweets - long thin red peppers that were also on sale and of which I had never heard, so of course I had to get those as well. The broccoli rabe also looked good so I threw a bunch of that in my cart.

I decided that a stir-fry would be the perfect way to highlight these vegetables. As you will soon see, this is a thought that I have had many times this year. I am loving the stir fries. They are fast, easy, and delicious. They can have a lot of ingredients and a complicated sauce, or they can highlight one or two ingredients with simpler sauce.

The ingredient list always looks long in a stir-fry recipe. Most of those ingredients are for the sauce. Once you have put that together, it's just a matter of chopping some vegetables.

You do want to have everything ready before you start, but there is some leeway so if want to get started before you have everything prepped.

The sweetness of the pepper and the orange juice in the sauce help to counter the bitterness of the radicchio and the rapini. It is a wonderfully complex layering of flavors that offers the perfect balance to the tongue.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

STIR-FRIED RAPINI, PEPPERS AND RADICCHIOmakes 4 servings

1/4 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp sherry
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp garlic chili sauce (or to taste)
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp water, plus more as needed
2 Tbsp peanut oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced ginger
1 bunch rapini, chopped, stems and tops separated
2 ancient sweets peppers, cored, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 head radicchio, coarsely chopped
Toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts, plus some for garnish
Toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Combine the orange juice, sherry, vinegar, soy and chili sauces in a small bowl and set aside. In a smaller bowl, combine the cornstarch and tablespoon of water, stir, and set aside.

Heat wok until it just starts to smoke. Add the garlic and ginger and let it sit for a few seconds before stirring it around. Cook it for about 30 seconds, then add the rapini stems. Cook for a few seconds, then pour water around the edges of the wok to create steam. Cook for about 2 minutes and then add the peppers. Cook for a minute, then add the rapini tops. Cook for another minute.

Add the walnuts and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the orange juice mixture. As soon as it starts to boil, add the radicchio, stir once or twice, and then add the cornstarch and water mixture. Stir until the mixture thickens and remove from the heat. Add about a teaspoon of the sesame oil and stir everything together.

Serve over brown rice garnished with walnuts and sesame seeds.

01/07/12

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

How To Turn off Google Search Plus Your World

2012-01-19T09:00:00.003-06:00

I have recently noticed that whenever I do a search on Google, my photos or links show up first with the word "You" underneath. Today there was a note as well, saying it was a free preview of a new program that would show my stuff, and that of anyone else with whom I am connected on Google, first.

Here's what I don't understand: If I am doing a Google search, why on earth would I want to see my own shit? I already know what I have done. And if I want to see any of my friends' stuff, then I just add their name to my search.

I definitely do not want this option, but I did not know how to get rid of it.

An ironic twist here. I googled "How do I turn off Google Search Plus Your World?" and found the following link:

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-turn-off-googles-personal-results-2012-1#heres-a-google-search-that-now-automatically-uses-search-plus-your-world-its-filled-with-little-google-avatar-icons-1

It is actually pretty easy to do, and I have learned something new about Google settings.

You're welcome.

DIY Condiments: Garlic Ginger Paste

2012-01-18T08:30:00.000-06:00

I learned this trick from watching "Aarti Party" on the Food Network. Aarti Sequeira won Season 6 of the "Next Food Network Star," and is the only winner that I actually thought should win. She had a fresh point of view and was personable and, more importantly, I thought I could learn something from her. And I have learned many things from watching her show. (Although she is in some danger of falling into the Rachel Ray/Sunny Anderson terminal cuteness trap. Please stop giggling so much, girl!)

The best thing I have learned from her is this tip about ginger and garlic. I'm not proud of this, but one of the main things that keeps me from cooking more Indian food (and Chinese too, for that matter) is that it is such a hassle to cut both the garlic and the ginger. I don't mind chopping one or the other, but something about the thought of having to cut both often seems like more effort than it is worth, so unless I have planned to make a dish that requires both, it does not lend itself to a spur-of-the-moment I-need-something-quick kind of thing. In addition, I always end up having to throw away that knob of ginger that is inevitably left over. There is something about the texture that develops when I throw it in the freezer, as many experts recommend, that puts me off too much so I can't do that, and it is a lot of trouble to chop it all and freeze it in ice cube trays, which is what I was doing to avoid having it go bad. I wasn't all that happy with the results from that, either, but it was the best I could come up with to deal with problem.

And then I was watching "Aarti Party" and she grabbed a jar out of the refrigerator, brought it over to the stove, and explained that it was equal parts of ginger and garlic chopped up with some oil in the food processor that she keeps around all the time. Made me sit up, that's for sure.

And then she pulled it out for another dish on another episode. And then she pulled it out again. The third time is the charm, and I decided this was something I should try. I got a 3-inch knob of ginger and a head of garlic. I peeled and chopped the ginger and peeled an equal amount of garlic cloves and cut them into fourths. I put them in the processor attachment of my stick blender and poured a little olive oil into the bowl, then I let her rip.

The result? Nothing short of miraculous. Having both the ginger and the garlic already minced and available whenever I need them makes it so much easier to throw together a curry, dal, or stir fry. Now it is one of the first things that pops into my head when I deciding what to cook.

I have heard that garlic loses much of it's healthy properties if left too long after it has been cut, so I have avoided all of those jars of pre-minced garlic over the years. I did give a thought to that when I decided to give this a try, but I still use enough garlic in other dishes on a regular basis that I cut as I need, so I do not worry about that.

This mixture will keep for weeks in the refrigerator. Having it around has broadened my options every time I have to decide what to make for dinner. I've only recently started keeping it on hand, and I already can't imagine what I would do without it.

TO MAKE GARLIC GINGER PASTE:
Peel a 3-inch knob of ginger and cut into 1/4-inch pieces. Peel and quarter an equal amount of garlic cloves. Place in a small food processor or chopper and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Process until a rough paste has formed, being sure to leave visible pieces of garlic and ginger. Place in a jar and store in the refrigerator. It should keep for a few weeks.

Chuck Roast Braised with Port

2012-01-15T08:00:00.002-06:00

Ahhhhh . . . the first braise of the new year. Color me content. I had one last hunk of chuck roast in the freezer and it was calling to me, even though the temperature around here was more like early fall than winter at the time. But, we have had our first snow and the temperature is closer to where it should be, so I plan to be braising and stewing and souping quite a bit over the next couple of months.

But while the meat is certainly a big attraction, I am still focused on my vegetable project, so I focused more on those for this braise. I usually cook the vegetables in the pot with the meat, but the meat is so big it leaves little room for a lot of vegetables, and they can get a little too tender for my taste. So this time I roasted the vegetables separately from the meat. It worked out ok, but not great. The meat cooks at 325 degrees, and the vegetables were taking too long at that temperature, and they were not caramelizing. After an hour and a half, I finally decided to put them in a baking dish, added a little vegetable stock, covered them with foil and baked them off.

The end result is that they tasted good, and they had a little of that roasted flavor, but next time I think I will roast them before I put the meat in the oven, and then warm them up again just before I'm ready to serve them. I think that will make a big difference in the flavor.

I braised the meat in a little bit of ketchup (homemade, of course), vegetable stock, and port. The only spice I used was fennel seed. To the vegetables I added some olive oil, dried rosemary, thyme and marjoram. The dumplings, from a recipe I found in Saveur magazine, are brightened up with fresh parsley. They absorbed the braising liquid, which wonderfully enhanced their flavor, but there was very little left over. I think that is more because I did not use as much as I should have in the first place than because of the dumplings. I did wonder as I was putting it into the oven if I shouldn't add more stock, but decided against it. Next time I will bring the liquid closer to the top of the meat, so I will be sure to have enough afterwards to sauce the vegetables.

In case it is not obvious in the photo, the vegetables are carrots, fennel and rutabaga. I used garlic, onions, leeks and the fennel stems to braise the meat. I think that qualifies this dish for my vegetable project. I usually run out of vegetables before everything else; this time there was more than enough to last through the leftovers.

All in all, a satisfying dish. The vegetables were tender, but not mushy, and the dumplings provided a light component to the heaviness of the meat, which was fork-tender and rich with the flavors of the aromatics, ketchup and port.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

CHUCK ROAST BRAISED WITH PORTMakes 4-6 Servings

2-1/2 to 3 lb chuck roast
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 leek, well-rinsed and chopped,
1 medium onion, chopped
3 fennel stalks, chopped (optional)
2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 bay leaves
1-1/2 c chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup port or other strong red wine
1/4 cup ketchup
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 deg. F. Take the roast out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Layer a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the meat on the dish. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large dutch oven. Add the fennel seeds and cook until their aroma has released, 30 to 60 seconds. Add the leeks, the onion and the garlic and cook until the leeks are soft, at
least the 15 minutes that the meat is browning in the oven.

Remove the meat from the oven and lower the temperature to 325 deg. F. Raise the heat under the dutch oven to medium high and push the aromatics around to the sides of the pot. Place the meat with the unbrowned side down into the middle of the pot and cook for about 3 minutes, until it has had a chance to brown. Add the bay leaves, the broth and the port and as much water as needed to reach about three-fourths up the sides of the meat. Bring to a boil, cover, and place in the oven.

Cook for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, checking every half hour after the first hour to make sure the water level is good and it is not boiling. When the meat comes apart with a fork, it is ready. Remove it from the liquid and reduce the liquid on the stovetop until it has reached the desired consistency.

Serve with root vegetables and dumplings.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Spaghetti with Swiss Chard

2012-01-11T08:00:00.001-06:00

Doesn't this look good? I sure wish I could remember how I made it. I have gotten into the habit of taking pictures of just about everything I make, thinking I will remember how I made it when it comes time to write about it. By now, I have realized that I need a more methodical process, and toward that end I have gotten better at writing down recipes sooner rather than later, but I just stumbled across this photograph and, while I do remember eating and enjoying the pasta, I have no memory of making it.

Looking at this photo and trying to remember what I did, I thought it might be interesting if I tried to deconstruct it here on my blog, and illustrate the process by which one might reconstruct a dish just by looking at it. Of course, it most likely will not come out exactly like the original, but if the ideas give you something delicious, that doesn't really matter, does it?

Looking at the photograph, I see:

whole wheat spaghetti
swiss chard leaves
swiss chard stems
tomatoes
garlic
parsley
cheese

That seems pretty basic. I don't think I see basil in there, but I am positive that I would have used it if I had it, so I am going to add it to my recipe. If I didn't have swiss chard, I would substitute another green, or another vegetable altogether. Zucchini would work, peppers would work, you could add meat or sausage if you wanted a more substantial dish. If I didn't have spaghetti, I would use a different kind of pasta. If I didn't have garlic (but that's never going to happen) I would use onion. Or both, although lately I have been using one or the other when I make pasta. Every once in a while I like to let them shine on their own right.

Taking those ingredients, and what I know about making sauces and pasta, I came up with the following recipe. What would you have done with those ingredients?

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

SPAGHETTI WITH SWISS CHARDMakes 4 servings

1 lb whole wheat spaghetti
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 batch swiss chard, stems and leaves separated (stems chopped, leaves roughly shredded)
4-5 plum tomatoes, skins removed and chopped (or 1 14.5-oz can)
3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil, plus some for garnish
3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, plus some for garnish
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiana Reggiano cheese, plus some for garnish

Set a large pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two, then add the chard stems. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the chard stems have
softened and are translucent. Add the tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes have just started to break down.

At this point you should be ready to cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than instructed to on the package directions. Reserve a cup of the pasta water and then drain.

Add the chard leaves to the sauce, and then the pasta. Continue to cook for another minute or two until the flavors have combined and the chard leaves have wilted. Remove from the heat and add the basil, parsley, and cheese. Add pasta water as needed to thin out the sauce.

Serve garnished with more basil, parsley, and cheese.

1/10/11

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baking Class: Golden Oat Cookies

2012-01-08T08:00:00.003-06:00

This post has been edited by the addition of this link to Sweet As Sugar Cookies' event Sweets for a Saturday #51:

I know, I know - not barely a week into the new year and I'm already writing about cookies. But I made these right after Thanksgiving and they are too good not to share with you now.

My brother and nephews came up to spend Thanksgiving with me here in Chicago, since I was unable to make it down to Austin. They did not stay with me, however, as all four of them (three close to or over 6 feet tall) are just too much for my tiny apartment, especially the way it is set up now. So they stayed at a La Quinta downtown (I didn't even know there was a La Quinta in the city) and we got together during the day. Which meant I had mornings and evenings to myself, which kind of made it the perfect visit. Being young, they slept late, which meant I had quite a bit of time in the mornings. And when they went to the Museum of Science and Industry on Friday I had even more time. I had not cooked in a while and I was feeling the itch, so I decided to bake some cookies for them to take on the road back home with them.

As far as I know, none of them are big fans of oatmeal cookies so I am not completely sure why I decided to make these Golden Oat Cookies. But they looked different enough from the usual oatmeal cookies (and, more importantly, did not contain raisins), and the recipe calls for golden syrup, my new favorite sweetener. So I decided to go for it.

And they were worth it. Unlike the soft, chewy oatmeal cookies with which I am most familiar, these are still somewhat chewy, but like their name they are golden and crisp. I am still loving the International Cookie Cookbook, which is where I got the recipe. I have not found a dud yet.

One of the things I like the best about these cookies is that they are not too sweet, and the oats lend a wonderful toasty sensation to the flavor. I am glad that I kept some behind for myself because they were quite a treat.

Did the boys like them? All I know is that the cookies had disappeared before they got home.

So when that first urge of the new year comes creeping up on you, give these a try. They will satisfy your sweet tooth without making you feel too guilty.

Home Cookin Chapter: Cookies

GOLDEN OAT COOKIES Makes about 30 2-1/2 - 2-3/4-inch cookies

1 cup all-purpose or unbleached white flour (I used white whole wheat)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
7 Tbsp unsalted butter, slightly softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
3 Tbsp golden syrup
1-3/4 cups rolled oats

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F. Grease several baking sheets and set aside. Thoroughly stir together flour, baking powder and baking soda.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until light. Add granulated and brown sugars, and beat until fluffy and smooth. Add egg and golden syrup, and continue beating until thoroughly blended. Beat in dry ingredients. Stir in oats using a large wooden spoon. Let mixture stand for 5 minutes to allow oats to absorb some of the moisture in the dough. Drop cookies onto baking sheets by heaping rounded teaspoonsful, spacing them about 2-1/2 inches
apart.

Place in upper third of preheated oven and bake for 9 to12 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown all over and slightly darker around edges. Let stand for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Store cookies in an airtight container for up to a week. Freeze for longer storage.

from The International Cookie Cookbook, by Nancy Baggett (Stewart, Tabori & Chang 1993)

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Almonds

2012-01-05T09:00:00.002-06:00

Vegetables don't come easy to me. They are the hardest foods for me to incorporate into my diet. One of the reasons is that they need to be prepped, and then cooked (carrots, celery, and salad ingredients notwithstanding). But the biggest reason is that I grew up eating vegetables out of frozen boxes or cans.

Not that there is anything wrong with that, especially the frozen vegetables. It is just that, except for salt, we really did eat them out of the can or the box. Occasionally my Mom would doctor up some spinach with minced onions and cottage cheese (don't knock it until you've tried it), but most of the time our vegetables were naked and overcooked. No butter, no pepper, no garlic, no onion, no nothing.

My workaround is to add as many vegetables as possible into my main dishes. I cram them into soups, stews, frittatas, and braises. Onions and garlic are the base of almost everything I make, and tomatoes figure heavily into the rotation as well. Carrots and celery are a close second, and squash, fennel, eggplant, potatoes, rutabaga, zucchini and the occasional cauliflower find their way into much of what I cook. In the summer I do better because of all of the fresh vegetables available at the Green Market.

But when I am not making soups or stews, I find myself challenged to find ways to prepare vegetables that don't load them up with butter. They are tasty that way, for sure, but it kind of takes away some of the benefit that they provide. I tell myself that it is better than not eating them at all, but I am not really fooling myself.

I have made it a goal for the year to master the art of cooking vegetables in a way that makes them shine, but not because of butter. I eat plenty of beans and grains, and I get more than enough fruit, but I need to eat my vegetables.

This bok choy stir-fry is my first effort, and I am quite pleased with how it turned out. I reached a turning point with stir-fry when I made this zucchini with cashews dish, and I now approach stir fries with much more confidence. I am no longer afraid that everything will burn if I leave it for a few seconds, which has made it a much more calming thing to cook.

After spending a few minutes on prep, the actual stir-fry took less than 10 minutes. And clean-up is a snap - all you have to do is wipe out the wok with a paper towel (although in all honesty, I must confess that I usually have to rinse it with warm water since I do not clean it right away). No soap required.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

STIR-FRIED BOK CHOY WITH ALMONDSMakes 2 large or 4 small servings

1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp sherry
1 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp grapeseed oil (or other oil with a high smoke point)
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 Tbsp minced garlic
4 medium-sized baby bok choy, chopped, stems and leaves separated
Approximately 1/4 cup water
1/4 cup toasted blanched almonds
1 tsp dark sesame oil
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Combine the orange juice, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sherry in a small bowl and set aside. In an even smaller bowl, combine the corn starch and water and stir it together, then set it aside as well.

Place the wok over high heat. When it just starts to smoke, add the grapeseed oil and let it sit for a few seconds. Add the ginger and garlic and let that sit for a few seconds, then start moving it around
the wok continuously so that it does not burn. After about half a minute, add the bok choy stems, continuing to move everything around the wok. After about a minute, pour water around the edges of the pan to create steam and to loosen up any of the garlic and ginger that might have gotten stuck to the bottom of the wok.

Cook the stems for about 2 minutes more, adding more water if necessary. Add the bok choy leaves and cook for another minute, until they have just wilted. Add the almonds and cook for another few seconds, just
long enough for them get hot.

Add the orange juice mixture and stir until it starts to bubble, then add the cornstarch mixture. Continue to stir until the mixture has thickened, then remove from the heat. Add the sesame oil immediately.

Garnish with sesame seeds before serving.

01/03/12

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Dandelion Green and Butternut Squash Frittata

2012-01-03T08:00:00.001-06:00

I got back from Austin Friday evening. I was looking forward to having three days to work on recipes, cooking, blogging, and knitting (in that order). After all of the holiday treats and sweets, I was also looking forward to getting back to a healthier, more vegetable-oriented diet.

But the best laid plans often go wrong, and on my trip to the grocery store Saturday morning I took a different kind of trip and landed face down on the sidewalk, having scraped the hell out of my knee, the side of my right hand, and somehow (and I still don't know exactly how) right above my right eye. As has been the case in previous falls, the knee was the most painful and what I was most worried about, but it was my hand that turned out to be the most problematic. For one thing, it wouldn't stop bleeding the whole time I was at the store, and once it did stop it took forever to scab over, and then it hurt like hell for quite a while when it got wet. Not only was cooking difficult, washing up afterwards was nearly impossible. The bruise on the inside of my hand has not made it any easier.

So I have cooked some, but nothing new or too strenuous. This is actually a frittata I made last year (all right, last month), but it was delicious and it isn't a cooky or candy, so I am going to go with it for my first post of the new year.

I first discovered dandelion greens in one of those bagged organic pre-made salads I used to buy. I didn't know what it was, but there was something in there that had a musty, almost skunky flavor. I know that sounds really bad, but it is actually quite delicious when it is subtle, as it was in the salad mix. It wasn't until I bought a bunch of dandelion greens for the first time and tasted them that I realized that they were what had provided that wonderful umami sensation.

I needed something more to fill out my frittata and I had some roasted butternut squash in the refrigerator. I had already put diced sweet potato in a previous frittata, so I knew the squash would work. And it was a beautiful combination of ingredients. I used my usual frittata technique, putting the butternut squash into the egg mixture without heating it. As you can see, the top came dangerously close to burning, but I managed to pull it out of the oven just in time.

If you haven't tried your hand at one yet, you really should. Once you get the hang of it they are quite easy, and since they can be eaten at room temperature they make a great carry-along breakfast for those days when you don't have time to eat before you leave the house in the morning (and I know we all have those days).

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-26T22:30:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. I'm having a lovely time with my family in Austin and I am taking a mini vacation from blogging.

I am not doing much cooking down here, but I did make this Tunisian Soup with Chard and Egg Noodles for dinner on Christmas Eve, which received many compliments. Paired with a fresh salad and warm, crusty bread, it made for a festive, satisfying dinner that was enjoyed by the whole family. It is fast and healthy, and would also be great for New Year's Eve.

I will be back in time for the New Year. See you then!

Baking Class: Snickerdoodles

2011-12-19T08:00:00.005-06:00

We are having a cookie exchange at work today. I'm kind of excited because I've never participated in one before. The closest I have come is when I lived at Five Girl Farm in Austin and we all baked for the holidays together, so we had a variety of cookies around the house for the whole holiday season. I have tried to do it by myself over the years, but there are only so many cookies one person can make in any given season, and even less that one can consume and only so many one can give away.

And I was getting tired of my usual rotation, as I've mentioned in an earlier post. I wanted to make something new our exchange, but something that I associated with Christmas. And I thought back to that time when we all baked our holiday treats together at the Farm, and I remembered Susie's Snickerdoodles.

I had never heard of Snickerdoodles before my housemate Susie made them, and I laughed at their silly name. A native Austinite, Susie had grown up making them. They looked like a sugar cookie with cinnamon and sugar instead of just plain sugar, but when I took a bite of them it was immediately evident to me that these were much more than sugar cookies. Crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, there was a unique, tangy undertone from the cream of tartar that was like nothing in the world I had ever tasted. She was kind enough to give me the recipe, but I never made them.

So I thought this would be a good time to pull out the recipe and give them a try. But when I went to get it, I could not find it. I have no idea where it went. I do still have all of my old recipe index cards in the original box, and as far as I know it has stayed there untouched for all of this time, but the recipe was not there. So I looked in my backup book, and then my computer files, but it was nowhere to be found.

This bummed me out. I couldn't make the same cookie that Susie made all of those years ago without her recipe. And, if I don't have the Snickerdoodles recipe, what other recipes have I lost over the years that I don't yet know are gone?

I turned to my many cookbooks, but could not find a recipe for Snickerdoodles in any of them. I finally found one in the International Cookie Cookbook, but it used baking powder and baking soda instead of cream of tartar. I know that shouldn't make that big of a difference, but I wanted to get as close to the original recipe as I could and the cream of tartar lended that indefinable tang that made those cookies so darned good. I finally found some recipes online and, after comparing a few of them, came up with what looked like it would work.

And it did work. These are delicous, and almost as good as I remember them. I am betting that the original recipe had shortening in it, because they were softer and not as crisp as mine turned out, and the centers were more chewy as well. But these are definitely keepers. I won't wait so long to make them again.

I am looking forward to our exchange. I wonder what everyone else will bring? (And, because it's me, I'm also bringing a batch of sand tarts. Those have nuts, though, and we have allergies in the office so this way I have something for everyone.)

Home Cookin Chapter: Cookies
SNICKERDOODLES
makes about 5 dozen cookies

2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and
set aside.

Beat the butter with a hand mixer on medium speed until it is creamy.
Add the sugar and continue beating until the butter and sugar are well
combined and fluffy.

Raise the speed to medium high and add the eggs, one at a time, making
sure it is well blended before adding the second egg.

Set the hand mixer to low and mix in half of the dry ingredients. When
the batter gets too thick for the beateres, switch to a wooden spoon
and add in the rest of the dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball
and set it in the smaller bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and
refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to 3 days).

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F. and line baking sheets with parchment
paper. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place them on the baking
sheet, leaving plenty of room for the cookies to spread. Place the
dough back in the refrigerator between batches.

Bake the cookies for 13-16 minutes, until the edges are slightly firm.
For best results, turn the cookies around in the oven after about 7
minutes. Do not let the cookies get too brown.

Remove the baking sheets from the oven and place on cooling racks for
about 2 minutes, then remove the cookies from the sheets and let them
cool completely on the racks. Store in an airtight container.

adapted from several recipes found online, but mostly this one.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

How To Make Peanut Butter

2011-12-12T08:00:00.007-06:00

The last time I was in Austin I was browsing the cooking section of the bookstore (yes, there are still bookstores out there and yes, I go to them) and my eyes were caught by a book called Make the Bread, Buy the Butter, by Jennifer Reese. I picked it up and thumbed through it. Now that I am making so many things myself, I was curious to see what she had to say about it, especially the idea that there are some things one should not try to make from scratch.

I already had my own, informal and relatively unformed, list of those things that are best bought, but that list is constantly changing as I learn how to make more and more of my own food. Five years ago I would never have thought I would be making my own mayonnaise; two years ago the idea of making my own mustard, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce would have been unthinkable. And I have been making my own bread, granola and crackers (yes, crackers) for years now.

I thought it would be interesting to compare my experiential list to hers. And mostly, I agreed with what she said. There are certainly some things better left to the experts. Until I get a bigger kitchen, canning is not in my future, nor do I see myself making a home for cows, goats and chickens anytime soon. And while I do plan to experiment with cheese and yogurt, I doubt I will go past the basic simple paneer and ricotta, possibly mozzarella. But nothing that needs to be aged or kept in a dank, dark cave.

Jennifer Reese started her project when she lost her job and was mainly looking for economical ways to feed herself and her family. While I care about my money and how I am spending it, my primary motivating force is keeping the foods that I eat as chemical and preservative free as possible. On the way, I have discovered that I actually prefer the taste of homemade to store-bought, and I can often (though not always, I admit) taste and feel the difference between the two. That was not always the case. When I first started making my own condiments, for example, they tasted nothing like the mayonnaise, ketchup, and ballpark mustard that long were my standards. And salad dressings never tasted right. But after a period of not having the commercial brands around, my attempts tasted better and better, and now I do prefer the taste of what I make myself. Like everything else, it is a process.

Nothing comes out the same every time, but it is all good, and when it is really good, it can be transcendent. As with life, if you aren't willing to experience any of the lows, you won't be able to enjoy the highs.

I was pleased to discover that peanut butter fell into the "make it yourself" category in the book, as I have been making my own peanut butter for the past six months, and I was interested to see her recipe.

I don't remember all of the details of it, but I do remember that there were several ingredients, including oil. The first time I made my own peanut butter I added oil, but I soon realized that it was completely unnecessary. All you need to make peanut butter is peanuts. Maybe salt, if you want it to be a little salty.

But you should never need to add oil to peanut butter. It can look like you do, because when you first start grinding it up it makes a thick paste of the ground peanuts that doesn't look like it will ever break up. But if you are patient and let the food processor continue to do its work, the paste does break up and you end up with the smoothest, creamiest peanut butter, one that looks and tastes exactly like the natural brands that are on the grocery store shelf.

A lot of my friends (and family) don't buy natural peanut butter because it is so hard and messy to stir together the nuts and oil that have separated after sitting on the shelf for so long. One trick I learned from my brother to solve that problem is to store your jar upside down on the shelf, so that all of the oil is on the bottom when you turn it over and open it. But if you make your own, that will never be a problem because there is no separation when it is fresh, and if you put it right into the refrigerator, it stays together. And because everything is already well integrated, you don't get that impenetrable mass of peanut paste that you sometimes get when you didn't combine it evenly.

It took me a few tries to get it to the right consistency, so I thought it might be helpful to offer a step-by-step tutorial of the process, with photos to show how it should look throughout the process. All you need is a pan, the peanuts, and a food processor. Do note that this will not work in a blender. I have it on good authority that it will burn out the motor.

This might sound like a lot of work, but it doesn't take long at all, and the food processor does all of the work. The whole process takes less than an hour (slightly more if you roast the peanuts, but you can do that as early as a few days ahead).

The first thing you need to do is to get your peanuts. I buy roasted valencia organic peanuts in bulk at Whole Foods, but you can really use any roasted (not dry-roasted, though)peanuts. I like a dark roast, though, so I put them in a pan and roast them at 350 deg. F. for about 12 minutes, and then let them cool. Sometimes there is still some of the red peel on the nuts. I will go through them and remove as much as I can, but I do not get overstressed about it. A little won't hurt.

After the nuts have cooled, place them in the food processor bowl. I usually use a pound of nuts. That fits nicely into the food processor, and the finished product goes right into a leftover peanut butter jar from when I used to buy it.

If you have more than one setting on your food processor, put it to the highest setting and turn it on. Let it go for a few minutes, until your peanuts have been ground into teeny little pieces that look like this. While you can just let the processor go until you have peanut butter, it is a good idea to stop every once in a while and see how it looks, especially at the beginning, when you are still not sure how it supposed to look at each stage of the process.

At some point the peanuts will start to clump together as they are whizzing around the food processor bowl. Eventually, it will solidify into a solid mass on one side of the bowl that looks it will never budge and just might possibly burn out your motor. This is the point where most people believe it needs some oil to get it going. They would be mistaken. You can let it keep going and it will eventually work through the mass or, if you don't believe it will ever make it through, you can turn it off and let it pulse every few seconds. The stopping and starting of the motor will slowly move the lump around the bowl until it is evenly spaced around the bowl and moving smoothly again.

Eventually, it will look like this. You can still see the pieces of peanut, but you can also see that the oil has separated out and it is starting to get smooth. Let it run for another 2 or 3 minutes, but be careful. I have heard that it is possible to overwork it and end up with a liquid that cannot be saved, but I have not had that happen yet and I have let it run for up to 3 minutes.

And just when you think it will never happen, the last little pieces of peanut disappear and you are left with a bowl full of beautiful, smooth, creamy peanut butter, just like this. If you prefer crunchy, set aside half a cup or so (to your taste) of the peanuts and grind them to the desired size. Follow this process withe rest of the peanuts and then stir in the ground peanuts.

Baking Class: Cornish Fairings

2011-12-08T08:00:00.001-06:00

Well, it's that time of the year kids. Christmas = cookies! And I hope not to disappoint. I'm not going to be as unrealistically ridiculous as to try to make a different cookie every day, but I have gotten a little tired of my usual Christmas baking (except for the Mexican Wine Cookies - the butter is softening for those as I write) so I am experimenting with other options.

I found this recipe for Cornish Fairings in my new favorite cookie cookbook, The International Cookie Cookbook, by Nancy Baggett. It has been sitting on my bookshelf for years now, and I finally went through recently and started marking recipes I wanted to try. By the time I was done, the book had dozens of post-it tabs sticking out of the top. In fact, I was intimidated by how many cookies I wanted to try, so back on the shelf it went so I wouldn't have to decide where to start.

I have been in a cookie-making mode lately, so I decided it was time to pull it back down and start making some decisions. I have been experimenting with spice/ginger/molasses cookies lately so when I read through the recipe for Cornish Fairings it seemed like a good place to start.

Not surprisingly, the Cornish Fairing is most commonly found in Cornwall, where a fairing was originally known as any edible treat found or sold at a local fair. Over the years it has come to be more specifically associated with this spicy gingery biscuit, or cookie as we would call it here in the States.

The main thing that interested me about this cookie is that, while it is similar to the cookies I have been making recently, it does not have any molasses in it. I was interested to see how that would make it distinguishable from the other cookies I have been making.

And it did make a difference. Without the molasses, the cookies are lighter and sweeter. The spices are there, but they do not overtake the overall flavor of the cookie. While I do love the dark, sultry flavor that molasses provides, it was a refreshing change to have a lighter spice flavor come shining through.

This recipe (and several others in the book) calls for golden syrup, which is common in Great Britain but not so common here. For years I had no idea what that was and assumed it was the same as corn syrup. It is not. According to Baggett, you can substitute dark corn syrup for the golden syrup, but the cookie will not come out the same.

After searching for years, I finally found Lyle's Golden Syrup at my neighborhood Treasure Island, but the last time I was in Austin I actually found some at HEB, a local chain, so it has gotten easier to find. It is worth seeking out if you plan to make this recipe, or any recipe that specifically calls for it. Corn syrup is not at all the same. Golden syrup has the same taste, look and feel as pure cane syrup (or perhaps I should say, as I imagine pure cane syrup to taste; I can't say as I've ever tasted it). Corn syrup, while probably just as sweet, has less flavor, and the flavor is more muddled. There's a muted tone to it that somehow blunts the sweetness in an undesirable (to me) way. Your mileage may vary, of course.

But, whether you use the golden syrup or dark corn syrup, you really should try these cookies. They are light, sweet, and spicy without the sometimes cloying cloak of molasses.

Home Cookin Chapter: Cookies

CORNISH FAIRINGS
Makes about 4 dozen cookies

2 cups all-purpose or unbleached white flour
1-1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/4 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 Tbsp golden syrup

Preheat the oven to 375 deg. F. Generously grease several baking sheets and set aside. Thoroughly stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.

In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and smooth. Add egg, lemon zest, and golden syrup and continue beating until thoroughly blended and smooth. Gradually beat in about half the dry ingredients. As dough stiffens, stir in remaining dry ingredients using a large wooden spoon.

To form cookies, pull off small pieces of dough and roll between the palms to form 1-inch balls. Space about 2-1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Press down balls with the heel of the hand to flatten them just slightly.

Place in the upper third of the oven and bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until cookies are a rich brown and slightly darker around edges. (The cookies will puff up and then "fall" as they bake, which gives them a crackled surface.) Remove baking sheets from oven and let stand for 1 to 2 minutes. Then, use a spatula to transfer cookies to wire racks and let stand until cooled completely.

Store cookies in an airtight container for up to a week. Freeze for longer storage.

from The International Cookie Cookbook, by Nancy Baggett (Stewart Tabori & Chang, 1988)

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Can Organic Feed the World?

2011-12-06T09:00:00.006-06:00

I don't write as often as I would like to about food politics because I do not take the time that I should to do the research to make sure that I know my facts, and can produce sources with which to back them. Of course, I have my opinions, and those come through regularly in my posts - at least I hope they do.

Fortunately, there are others who do take the time to do the research. Barry Estabrook is one of those people. In this piece, he provides a cogent rebuttal to a post by Steve Kopperud, a lobbyist for agribusiness, who claims that Michael Pollan and Marion Nestle are living in an ivory tower and have an unrealistic approach to food production, and that sustainable, diverse, organic farming cannot feed the world.

However, from what Mr. Estabrook is saying, and from the studies he cites (something conspicuously lacking in Mr. Kopperud's post), it looks like sustainable, diverse, organic farming may be the only thing that will feed the world.

But don't take my word for it. Read the piece yourself.

Photo found at tiki.oneworld.net

Chicken Noodle Egg-drop Soup

2011-12-05T08:00:00.001-06:00

This lovely soup was born of my desire for something quick and comforting when I was recovering from a nasty virus I picked up the last time I was in Austin. The last thing I felt like doing was cooking, let alone making a trip to the grocery store, so my only option was to forage through my freezer and pantry.

It is a good thing I keep my freezer so well stocked, even though I often complain about how full it is. I was pleased to discover a quart of chicken stock in there, and some noodles on my pantry shelf. A quick chicken noodle soup was just the ticket.

But of course I had to get creative with it, even as awful as I was feeling. I did not have any chicken and I wanted to use some kind of protein, so I decided to make an egg-drop soup, which inspired me to give the soup an Asian twist. I quickly revised my plan and added ginger, napa cabbage, fish sauce and garlic chili paste to the broth.

In record time I had a delicious, soothing, nourishing dinner. The Marsala added a sweet counterpoint to the sourness of the fish sauce and the heat of the chili paste. The pungent garlic chili paste cleared out my sinuses for the rest of the evening, so I was able to get my first good night's sleep since getting sick.

Until now, I had never made egg-drop soup. Several online sources that I looked at before adding them said that the strands would be more silky if cornstarch was added to the liquid, but I did not feel like messing with it so I just dropped them into the liquid as it was. As you can see in the photo, the eggs did not make those lovely strands you find in the egg-drop soup they serve in Chinese restaurants. I might try it with the cornstarch next time, but I can say with no hesitation at all that there was no loss of flavor doing it this way.

The beauty of this soup is that all you really need is the chicken stock, the noodles and the eggs. You can add whatever vegetables you happen to have. Instead of ginger, fish sauce and garlic chili paste, you can add thyme or poultry seasoning. The options are virtually endless.

The beauty of this soup is the quickness and ease with which you can make such a hearty meal - perfect for those evenings when you get home late from a mind-numbing round of Christmas shopping and want to indulge yourself without having to work for it. It will rejuvenate you enough to go back out and do it all over again the next day. And if you want to make it vegetarian, just use vegetable broth and leave out the fish sauce - nothing could be simpler.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

CHICKEN NOODLE EGG-DROP SOUP
Makes 4 servings

2 Tbsp + 1 tsp oil, divided
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced ginger
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 napa cabbage, sliced
Salt
1 quart chicken stock
1 tsp fish sauce
1/4 tsp garlic chili paste
1/4 cup thin noodles
1 Tbsp Marsala wine
2 eggs, well beaten
green onion and fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Heat oil over medium-low heat in soup pan. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add cabbage and salt and cook for about 10 more minutes.

Add the stock, chili paste, and fish sauce and bring to a boil. While the stock is coming to a boil, heat the remaining teaspoon of oil in a small skillet. Add the pasta and cook, stirring constantly, until the pasta is toasty brown. Remove from the heat.

When the stock is boiling, add the noodles. Cook them for 2 minutes less than the package directions. Stir in the sherry. Turn off the heat and slowly add the beaten egg in a thin stream, stirring constantly.

Garnish with green onion and parsley and serve immediately.

11/12/11

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (http://www.mountain-software.com/)

Baking Class: Sweet Rolls

2011-12-01T08:00:00.003-06:00

Bagels were a staple in our house when I was growing up, and every Saturday morning my father would drive down to Three Brothers Bakery and come home with a couple dozen assorted bagels, which would last us through the week until the next Saturday, when he would go get more.

But every once in a while he would surprise us, and come home with a box of assorted Danish instead (or on those rare, special occasions, both). This was mostly when we had company for brunch. Cherry, apple, lemon, pineapple and cheese - I loved them all and it was always a little bit of torture having to decide which one I was going to have, because it meant that I would not be having any of the others. The dough was more chewy than flaky, and it was soft and buttery. The fillings were fruity and not too sweet, and there was just a hint of glaze threaded over the top to add a touch of sweetness to the dough. Left alone, I could have eaten the whole box myself but, alas, two was the most I ever managed to wrangle.

When we moved to Dallas it took a while, but my father finally found a place that had decent bagels. But that was all they had, and I don't believe I ever had a Three Brothers danish ever again. And no danish I have had since has been able to come close to my memory of the taste of those lovely treats. I realized that it was probably my memory of how they tasted that made later pastries suffer in comparison. Whatever the reason, I just haven't been all that interested in sweet rolls.

A search for a recipe for hamantashen, however, led me back to sweet rolls in a curious way. In my memory they were cookies, and we made them in Sabbath school one year - at least we put the filling in the pre-made, pre-rolled dough and folded over the corners to make the hat-shaped triangles - but I kept running into recipes that had a yeast dough. It confused me - was it a cookie or a pastry? Having worked so successfully with yeast these past few years, I decided to go for the yeasted version. (More on that later; I flaked out and missed writing about them in time for Purim, but I hope to get to it this year.)

It turns out that the base for the hamantashen was a basic sweet bread recipe that could not only be made into hamantashen, but was also good for sweet rolls and other sweet breads. I don't know what prompted my decision, but I was happy enough with my success with the hamantashen that I decided to take a stab at the sweet rolls.

The recipe looks daunting, but it is actually fairly easy and does not take that long. It was easy enough, and the sweet rolls went over well enough (including a request for the recipe) that I have already made them again, and plan to put them into a semi-regular rotation. And now that I am making my own jams, I don't have to worry about whether or not I have any in the pantry. These days I almost always have a jar of some kind of home-made jam in the freezer.

These sweet rolls are actually not like those ever-elusive Three Brothers sweet rolls at all. But they are very, very good.

I believe it is worth mentioning that the directions for the recipe in the cookbook is one paragraph long. It tells you what to do, and assumes that you know how to do it. If I hadn't been making breads and baking as much as I have been these past few years, I don't know that I would have known what to do, so I have expanded the recipe to include more detailed instructions.

Here are the instructions for making the dough:

"Dissolve the yeast in warm water. To the scalded milk add the butter, sugar, salt, a little nutmeg and lemon. When lukewarm, add 1 beaten egg or the beaten yolks of 2 eggs; stir in the yeast and only enough flour to knead. Knead dough until smooth and elastic. Cover tightly and let rise until doubled in bulk. Cut dough down, form into desired shape and bake in a moderately hot oven (375 deg. F.) until browned."

It seems easy to me now, but there was a time when I would not have known what to do. I hope my version will be easier for the less experienced cook to feel comfortable enough to jump on in and get started.

Home Cookin Chapter: Breads and Muffins

SWEET ROLLSMakes about 20 rolls

Dough:

1 package active dry yeast (3/4 Tbsp)
1/4 cup warm water (105-115 deg. F.)
1-3/4 cup scalded milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
Dash nutmeg
Grated rind of 1/2 lemon
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed*
2 cups white whole wheat flour*
1 egg
1 egg white mixed with 1 tsp water
Coarse (sanding) sugar, optional

Filling:

1 lb blueberries, strawberries, figs, or any other fruit, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup sugar
grated rind of 1/2 lemon
2-4 Tbsp water

*I have also successfully made this dough using 100% whole wheat white flour.

Put the warm water in a small bowl. Add the yeast and let it dissolve.

Once the milk is scalded (do not let it boil), remove from the heat and add the butter, sugar, salt, nutmeg and lemon zest. When the mixture is lukewarm, pour it into a large mixing bowl. Add the egg and the yeast and mix well.

Combine 2 cups of all-purpose flour and 2 cups of white whole wheat flour and whisk together. Add to the yeast mixture and stir vigorously. Add more flour as necessary until a soft dough has formed. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until it is smooth and elastic, adding only as much flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking.

Put the dough back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place to rise until it has doubled, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

While the dough is rising, make the filling: Combine the blueberries, sugar, lemon zest and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and let simmer until the blueberries have broken down and the sauce has thickened. Set aside to cool.

When the dough has risen, punch it down and turn it out of the bowl. Preheat the oven to 375 deg. F.

Divide the dough into two equal pieces and set one aside, covering it with plastic wrap. Roll the first piece into a 1-inch thick rectangle. Cut into 2-1/2-inch circles and place close together on a baking sheet that has either been greased or covered with parchment paper (I use parchment paper). Repeat with the second piece of dough, re-rolling the leftover scraps and cutting more circles until you have used up the dough. Let rise for about half an hour, until they have almost doubled.

With your fingertips, make a cavity in the center of each roll (dip your fingers in flour if necessary). Drop about 1/2 teaspoon of the blueberry filling into each hole. Brush the dough with the egg white mixed with water, being careful not to smear the filling. Sprinkle the coarse sugar over both the dough and the filling.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until the rolls are golden. Start checking after 10 minutes. Let them cool enough for the filling to set.

Adapted from The Settlement Cookbook, Third Edition Newly Revised (Simon and Schuster, 1976)

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Braised Pot Roast with Leeks

2011-11-28T08:00:00.008-06:00

Ah, braising. If you've been following my blog at all, then you know how fond I am of this technique. It makes everything tender and flavorful - meat or vegetables. And it is so easy! And even though it takes a long time, there is little work involved and once the braise is going you can pretty much ignore it and still end up with a a delicious dinner. And the leftovers just seem to get better.

But as much as I love the process, and the layers of flavor you get when you load up with aromatics and root vegetables, sometimes even that is too much work. I had pulled a chuck shoulder out of the freezer and let it defrost overnight in the refrigerator, but by the time it was ready to be braised I was not so ready to braise it.

But braise it I must, so I decided to follow Mark Bittman's lead and make it as minimalist as possible. I decided a leek would add enough flavor to some chicken stock, along with some home-made ketchup and fennel seeds. The carrots, potatoes, and squash could wait for the next day.

I browned the meat in the oven while I cooked down the leeks. The whole thing was in the oven within a half hour and there was very little to clean up when it was done. Easy peasy and out-of-this-world delicious! The next day I didn't even bother with the rest of the vegetables, I just cooked up some potatoes and mashed them with some squash and garlic I had roasted earlier in the week (and was the basis for this Thanksgiving dish) to use as a bed for the roast.

I made it the weekend before I went down to Austin for my nephew's bar mitzvah and I had more of both the beef and the potatoes left over than I could finish before leaving. I gave them to a co-worker so he could have them for lunch. When I got back he asked for the recipe. Can't get better validation than that!

So not only will I give it to him, I will give it to you as well.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

POT ROAST WITH LEEKSServes 4

2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1 leek, cut in half lengthwise, well rinsed and thinly sliced
2 to 2-1/2 lb chuck shoulder roast
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup ketchup, preferably home made (or any tomato-based sauce)
2 cups beef or chicken stock (or water)

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 425 deg. F. and line a baking sheet with foil. Bring the meat to room temperature and put it on the sheet. Season both sides liberally with salt and pepper and bake in the 425 deg. oven for 15 minutes.

While the meat is browning, in an oven-proof dutch oven or heavy pan heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the fennel seeds and cook for 1 minute, being careful not to let them burn. Add the leek and garlic and turn the heat to low. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until they have turned translucent and tender.

Two minutes before the meat is done, raise the heat back to medium-high and add the tomato paste to the leeks and garlic and cook, stirring frequently.

Take the meat out of the oven and lower the heat to 275 deg. F. Put the roast into the pot browned side up. Cook for two to three minutes without moving the meat.

Add the ketchup and the stock to cover the roast about halfway up the sides. Add more stock or water if necessary. Bring to a boil, cover with a tight fitting lid, and put in the 275-degree oven. Bake 2-1/2 to 3 hours, until the meat is falling off of the bone.

Remove the meat from the pot and set it aside, covering loosely with foil. Return the pot with the cooking liquid to the stove and cook over medium heat until it has reduced to the desired thickness.

Can be served immediately or the next day. Store the meat separately from the sauce. Before serving the sauce, remove the cold layer of fat from the top before reheating it.

10/31/11

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Veggie Spring Rolls from Bun Mi Express

2011-11-24T08:00:00.002-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving! This year I stayed put while some of my family has traveled to Chicago. Space and other challenges make cooking problematic, so we follow a longstanding tradition of eating out when Thanksgiving is celebrated in Chi-town.

And we won't be alone. According to this piece in the Huffington Post, some 14 million Americans are expected to eat out this Thanksgiving.

In the meantime, I thought I would share these veggie spring rolls from what has become my regular takeout spot these days, Bun Mi Express. They were inexpensive, and good, but the ratio of noddles to veggie was too high, in my opinion, and they were rather loosely wrapped. The sauce was good, if maybe a little thick and sweet, but overall it made for a nice meal. While I prefer their sandwiches, these make for a nice change.

So if you, too, eat out for Thanksgiving, or there just weren't enough leftovers to go around, these would make a lovely day-after Thanksgiving lunch.

Mashed Potatoes with Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic

2011-11-21T08:00:00.003-06:00

Here is a new take on an old Thanksgiving work horse. It's a little bit of a twist, because it looks like those are sweet potatoes mashed up with the potatoes, but they're not. That's butternut squash in there. And it adds a more complex, savory dimension to the potatoes. Mix in some roasted garlic and a little gruyere cheese and you have an exciting new addition to the Thanksgiving table.

This is another one of those dishes that came about by accident. I was making mashed potatoes and accidentally poured in too much cream and butter, so it was quite soupy. I had to think quickly to figure out how to save them when I remembered that I had some roasted squash in the refrigerator for which I had no clear plans. I knew they would mash well so I figured I had nothing to lose. I mashed them up and added them to the potatoes. They turned the potatoes a lovely shade of orange, so it was a little disconcerting as I was eating them because I kept expecting that sweetness that sweet potatoes added. I don't remember what kind of squash it was, but it was a subtle flavor, adding just a hint of nuttiness.

It was intriguing enough that I decided it was worth playing with it to see if I could come up with something intentional. This time I thought a butternut squash would work better, given it's sturdier texture and more pronounced flavor. I peeled, deseeded, cubed and roasted it in a little olive oil, salt and pepper. I separated, but did not peel, two heads of garlic and scattered the cloves among the squash. I baked it for about 35 minutes at 350 deg. F., until both the squash and the garlic were soft.

The most time-consuming part of this dish is roasting the squash and garlic, and you can do that up to two days ahead of time. After that, it's pretty much like making regular mashed potatoes. But it adds an unexpected, wonderful new dimension to an old favorite so you get the best of both worlds - tradition and innovation.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

MASHED POTATOES WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND ROASTED GARLIC
Serves 6 to 8

1/2 medium butternut squash, (about 1-1/2 cups) peeled, seeded and cut into 1-1/2-inch cubes*
2 heads of garlic, separated but not peeled
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup cream (or milk)
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese
Salt and freshly grated black pepper to taste
Parsley for garnish (optional)

*I usually roast the whole squash and use the rest of it for soup, or a frittata, or some other purpose.

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Place squash and unpeeled garlic cloves in a large bowl and add salt, pepper, and the olive oil. Toss well and lay out onto a baking sheet that is large enough to allow for a single layer. Place on a center rack in the oven and cook until the squash and the garlic are tender, about 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. (This can be done up to two days ahead of time.)

Place the cubed potatoes in a pan with salted cold water to cover. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are fork-tender. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan, placing it over the low flame. Let the potatoes sit for a minute or two to dry.

Take a potato masher, a ricer, or a food mill (whatever is your usual process) and mash the potatoes, adding the milk and butter about halfway through. Add the mashed squash and mix it in with the potatoes. Add more cream as needed if the mixture gets too thick. Add the cheese and roasted garlic and stir until the cheese is melted and the garlic is blended in.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

11/19/11

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

A Good Idea That Didn't Quite Work

2011-11-17T08:00:00.001-06:00

Here's a good idea that just didn't make it. The spices are right, it's potatoes and onions, and the yogurt should have made it nice and creamy.

But alas, it was not to be. The potatoes developed that tightness that comes when they are too dry as they cook, and the sauce curdled.

I think the main problems were that the dish I used was too big, so there wasn't enough of the yogurt and stock to cover the potatoes. It's one of those things that I noticed as I was putting the dish in the oven, but for whatever reason decided to keep going instead of pulling it out and adding more liquid.

It's a decent enough idea that it should have worked, so I hope to try it again, since the flavors were there. At least this mistake was still edible, even if it wasn't perfect. You can't always hit a home run, but if you learn something in the process then it's not a total loss.

When I figure out how to make it work, I will let you know how I did it.

Silken Eggplant

2011-11-14T08:00:00.002-06:00

This is a dish that I made before the Eggplant Braised in Marsala about which I wrote last month. It is equally delicious and went especially well with couscous. If it had occurred to me at the time, I would have added the Marsala, but it was under the radar at the time. Now that I have been using it, I am finding all kinds of uses for it.

I am now firmly convinced that this is the best way to cook eggplant. It is soft, and silky, and the long cooking time allows the flavor of the eggplant to shine.

Couscous cooked with vegetable broth and cranberries highlighted the eggplant perfectly, I added a garnish of toasted walnuts for a contrasting texture, which was much needed.

By now, this is more of a technique than a recipe. Here is how it works:

Trim the ends off the eggplant. Heat a scant tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the eggplant in the skillet, cut side down and in a single layer, and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn the eggplant skin-side down and cook for another 5 minutes. Turn the eggplant back over and pour stock or water to cover about one inch of the eggplant. Reduce heat to low, cover, and braise until silky and tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from skillet and reduce the liquid to desired consistency for a sauce.

Pasta Shells with Rapini and Pesto

2011-11-10T09:00:00.003-06:00

Ah, the joys of modern living. An email with this subject header was waiting for me in my spam folder this morning: "FBI OFFICE GET BACK TO US IMMEDIATELY IF YOU DONT WANT US TO ARREST YOU AND JAIL YOU FOR YOUR OWN G0OD." Do people actually fall for this?

As much as I am constantly complaining about how full my freezer is, there is something to be said for having a little bit of everything in there for those days when you have nothing in the house and need to whip up something fast and easy.

I had a wonderful long weekend in Austin, but I could already tell I was coming down with something potentially virile on my way home from the airport. I had purposely worked my way down to the bare essentials in the kitchen the week before, taking advantage of the opportunity to clear out my refrigerator, so I did not have much and knew I was not going to up for a full-on visit to the grocery store.

Instead, I toted my carry-on bag and backpack into Treasure Island and picked up a few things I knew I needed (milk), a thing or two I knew I wanted (chicken salad, sourdough bread, and - yes - ice cream), and a lovely bunch of rapini that was on sale. I figured I could put together a quick pasta dish and the rapini would be easy to prep and quick to cook.

I have only used rapini once or twice before, and I know that it can be bitter, which I used to hate. I had a low tolerance for it, maybe because my mother had a high tolerance for it and whenever I would complain that something was bitter she would take a bite of it, chew reflectively for a minute, and proclaim definitively that there was nothing wrong with whatever it was at all, and I would have to do my best to force it down. Ah, memories.

Now I find that I like a little bitterness in my food. Not too much, mind you, but some. And rapini has a lovely pungent bitterness, due most likely to its relation to mustard. A little honey or sugar could help offset the bitterness factor, but I find these days that a dash or two of red wine vinegar works just as well and freshens it up enough to offset the bitterness without adding sweet.

While I was thinking about the quickest way to prepare it, I remembered all of those little jars of pesto I had put away over the past few months for future use. What could be more simple? Pasta shells on the larger side (but not the huge ones) seemed ideal for catching the pasta. With little thought and ingredients I already had on hand, I was able to make a delicious dinner, with enough left over for a couple of lunches. Just what I needed to get me through a few days of not feeling like cooking.

You don't really need a recipe for this, but I can tell you what I did.

PASTA SHELLS WITH RAPINI AND PESTO
Makes 2-3 servings

Wash and trim a bunch of rapini and give it a rough chop. While bringing water to boil in a 3-quart saucepan, heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds and cook for 1 minute. Add 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes and cook for about 30 more seconds. Add 4 cloves of chopped garlic and lower the heat to medium-low. Cook the garlic for a few minutes. Add the rapini and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, until the greens have started to wilt. If the water is not boiling yet, reduce the heat under the skillet so there is just enough heat to keep the rapini warm without overcooking it.

When the water is boiling, add a heaping tablespoon of salt and then add 1-1/2 cups of medium-sized shell whole wheat pasta. Cook according to package directions, but remove from the water 1 minute earlier than instructed. Save some pasta water to thin the sauce if necessary. If you had to lower the heat under the skillet, raise it back to medium-high and add a tablespoon of red wine vinegar to the rapini, then the pasta. Cook for about 1 minute, adding pasta water if the mixture looks too tight. When the pasta is ready, remove from the heat and stir in about 1/4 a cup of pesto and 1/4 a cup of grated parmesan or pecorino cheese. Add more pasta water if necessary.

Garnish with parsley and more cheese, if desired.

Eggplant Casserole

2011-11-07T08:00:00.001-06:00

More work with eggplant. I had eggplant and tomatoes and cheese, which made me think of the dish I used to make that I called Eggplant Parmigiana, but was really more of a lasagna in which I used eggplant slices instead of noodles. It was the first dish I made on a regular basis that I had created myself, using lasagna as a template, and I must say it was pretty good, and it was a great go-to for company. But as my repertoire expanded, it fell by the wayside and I had not made it for years.

One of the reasons that my dish was not a true eggplant parmigiana is because I did not bread and fry the eggplant before layering it into the casserole dish. I just sliced it thinly lengthwise and layered it with the cheese and sauce. In those days, I pretty much used our family's spaghetti sauce recipe, which at that time was the only sauce we knew of for pasta (not to mention spaghetti being the only pasta of which we were aware other than macaroni, which we did not think of as pasta since it came out of that blue box and was mixed with milk, margarine, and that packet of powdered cheese and was one of my all-time favorite dishes. And lasagna noodles, which were a later discovery in our house, and again, was not pasta. It was lasagna!)

My family's spaghetti sauce was a mixture of onions, ground beef, several cans of tomato sauce, tomato paste, ground oregano and salt. (No pepper! Not in our house!) The recipe instructions were to cook it for a few hours but my mother never did, so while it always tasted good to me, it was watery and there would always be a pool of water underneath my spaghetti on the plate. I still remember what a revelation it was to me the first time I made it where I left on the stove to simmer all day, which resulted in a thick, velvety rich sauce. Wow. By then I was also using dried oregano instead of ground, and that also enhanced the flavor a great deal.

These days I usually just heat up some olive oil, add sliced garlic, throw in a can of whole tomatoes, some thyme, basil, salt and pepper, and cook it down for about half an hour and it is delicious with any kind of whole-wheat short pasta.

But I wanted to do something with eggplant. So I decided to make my old standby.

I must say it came out quite lovely. The only mistake I made (and I realized it as soon as I had done it) is that, when layering it, I put in a little bit of sauce, the eggplant, then the sauce, then the cheese. I should have put the cheese before the sauce, especially on the top layer. It didn't really affect the flavor, but it caused the cheese to separate from the eggplant so that there were two separate layers, rather than one cheezy oozy mess of goodness. But that is easily fixed, and I will not make that mistake again.

I am sure I will improve upon this dish in the future, but for now, here is what I did.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

BAKED EGGPLANT CASSEROLE
Serves 4

1 large or 2 medium eggplants, sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch thick pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 batch tomato sauce (recipe follows)
1/2 lb fresh ricotta cheese
1 egg
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (1 Tbsp dried), plus extra for garnish
8 oz grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmagiana Reggiano cheese

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. When it is hot, add the eggplant slices in one layer (cook in batches if necessary) and cook until browned, about 2-3 minutes and they release from the bottom of the pan. Turn the slices and brown them on the other side. Remove and set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, mix the ricotta cheese with the egg and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F. and grease an 8 x 12" casserole dish.

Spread about half a cup of the sauce in the bottom of a greased 8 x 9-inch casserole dish. Cover with a single layer of the eggplant slices (should be half of the total), then cover with half of the ricotta
cheese mixture and half the shredded mozzarella. Spread half of the tomato sauce over the cheese. Repeat one more layer, starting with the eggplant and ending with the tomato sauce.

Bake, covered, for 30 minutes, then remove the cover and sprinkle the Parmagiana Reggiano over the top and bake uncovered for another 30 minutes, until the cheese topping is golden brown.

Let sit for 15 minutes, the serve hot.

11/06/11

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

BASIC TOMATO SAUCE
Makes 2-1/2 to 3 cups

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
4 to 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 28-oz can of whole tomatoes (preferably San Marzano or plum)
2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until it just starts to brown. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, thyme and basil.

Break the tomatoes down while bringing to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, until the liquid has reduced to desired consistency.

11/06/11

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Three Cheese Mac and Cheese

2011-11-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

The weather has definitely turned here in Chicago. And it's a turn for the better in my book - cold and windy. Autumn is here and that means one thing: comfort food.

And what better comfort food than macaroni and cheese? I felt so good about the success of my last attempt that I thought I would see if I could improve upon it.

And I believe I did. And it came about kind of by accident. Isn't that how most good things happen? After I decided I wanted to make it, I bought some gruyere cheese, but after I got it home I realized I hadn't bought enough. I didn't want to wait and I certainly did not want to have to go back to the store right then, so I took stock of what cheese I already had in the refrigerator. Thanks to coupons, I actually had quite a bit of mozzarella, some of which was even grated from the last pizza I made. I also had a sizable chunk of pecorino Romano. I no longer remember why I bought that, but it seemed to me that the milder mozzarella would add a smoothness to the nutty richness of the gruyere, and the pecorino would add a sharp bite to finish off the effect.

And as good as my earlier mac and cheeses have been, this was by far the best. It was rich and smooth and full of flavor, and the mozzarella added a lightness that kept it from being too rich.

Adding butter and cheese to the bread crumb topping seemed like overkill to me, so I decided to use just the breadcrumbs. They absorbed enough fat from the cheese and the sauce so I will do it that way from now on.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

THREE CHEESE MAC AND CHEESE
Makes 4 side servings

1 cup whole wheat elbow macaroni
1 recipe basic cheese sauce, made with grated gruyere cheese (recipe here)
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano
1 Tbsp bread crumbs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F. Grease a 1-1/2-quart baking dish.

Cook the pasta 1 to 2 minutes less than package directions and put in a mixing bowl. Stir in a scant tablespoon of cold water to keep the pasta from sticking.

Prepare the cheese sauce and add it to the pasta along with the grated mozzarella and pecorino cheeses, stirring it together. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Pour the mixture into the greased baking dish. Combine the melted butter, breadcrumbs, and parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the top of the casserole.

Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake another 30 minutes to brown the cheese and breadcrumb mixture.

10/10/11

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baking Class: Deep Chocolate Sables

2011-10-31T09:30:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween! I thought I would give the adults a treat and make something a little less spooky and a little less tooth-achingly sweet this year. These deep chocolate sables fit the bill. They are soft, with a deep chocolate flavor. There is just the right amount of sweetness to balance the darkness of the rich dark chocolate.

This recipe calls for finely chopped semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate. I had just the right amount of leftover chocolate (from bars) on hand from earlier baking projects - 2 parts semisweet to 1 part bittersweet. What a perfect way to finally use them! I was afraid I was chopping it too fine, as there was quite a bit of "dust" accumulating, but there were still chunks that got in the way when I was slicing the finished logs, so I think I didn't chop it finely enough. You also want to roll the logs slightly bigger than you think you want them, because they will get smaller yet when you roll them in the sugar.

And there is one thing I have learned with the most recent batches of cookies that I have made, and is the hardest thing to do: you should really wait at least overnight before tasting your baked goods. The only exception I can think of is chocolate chip cookies, of which there is nothing better than taking a bite when they are still soft and warm from the oven. Everything else needs time for the ingredients to settle down and the flavors to combine. And actually, now that I think about it, even chocolate chip cookies are better the next day.

When I tried one not long after baking it (I did wait until it had cooled completely), it was ok, but not great. And I could really taste the cocoa, which left a slight bitter aftertaste. I was pretty sure I had ruined them because I did not use the Dutch-processed cocoa as specified in the recipe. I did not have any on hand and I was not going out just for that so I used regular cocoa. I did not think it would matter that much to my palate, since I had grown up with everyday American cocoa, but maybe for this recipe it really did matter.

But I tried them again the next day with my morning coffee, and that slightly bitter aftertaste had mellowed, and all I tasted was rich, deep, velvety chocolate. Very good. Worth making again.

Another thing I love about these cookies is that you can mix up the dough, roll out the logs, and then put them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before you bake them. I'm sure they would freeze well, too. I love cooking in installments.

Home Cookin Chapter: Cookies

DEEP CHOCOLATE SABLES
Makes about 4 dozen cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
3 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup coarse or granulated sugar

Cream together the butter and confectioner's sugar until well blended. Add the cocoa powder and mix until it is also well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure each one is fully blended. Beat in the vanilla and the salt.

Add the flour in three installments, mixing until just blended each time. Add the chocolate and stir only as much as necessary for the mixture to come together.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured survace. The dough will be soft. Divide it in half and shape into 2 logs about 1-1/4 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the sugar onto the work surface and roll the dough
in it, making sure each log is well coated. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 3 days.

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cut the dough logs into 1/4-inch slices with a sharp knife. Lay the slices on the parchment paper about 1 inch apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cookies are no longer shiny. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

from The Good Cookie, by Tish Boyle (John Wiley and Sons 2002)

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

DIY Condiments: Homemade Jam

2011-10-27T09:00:00.002-05:00

A few weeks before summer's end Treasure Island had organic raspberries on sale for a ridiculously low price so I bought a couple of pints. (Although, after reading the piece I wrote about here I am no longer sure they really are organic - bummer.)

I wasn't until after I got home that I began to wonder just what I thought I was going to do with them. While I love the flavor, I am not so fond of the fruit. But I am fond of raspberry jam, so I decided to make some.

I had already been experimenting with making my own jams from both fresh and frozen fruits. It is surprisingly easy. You just cook the fruit down with sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest until it has reduced to the thickness you want. It started with the strawberry jam I made a few years ago, but it didn't take off until this year. So far I have made blueberry jam, the raspberry jam you see here, and several batches of fig jam. All have been delicious, especially on my flaky buttermillk biscuits.

These are what I believe is called "freezer jam." I am nowhere near the idea of canning. Not that I haven't thought about it, mind you. I just don't have the space, either to do the canning or to store the end results. This jam will last a few weeks in the refrigerator, and it can be frozen (hence the term freezer jam). So when I make a batch, I usually freeze half of it immediately, since I am not likely to eat that much jam in such a short time.

Does this mean I will never buy jam or jelly again? Probably not. But it does mean that I can have it whenever I need it, as long as I have some fruit around the house.

And, more to the point, I know exactly what is in it when I make it myself.

Would You Like a Little Sugar with Your Sugar?

2011-10-24T13:00:00.003-05:00

Some graffiti artist decided to tell it like it is on this BK billboard in Seattle. I wonder how long it will last.

from eater.com

Eggplant Braised in Marsala

2011-10-23T08:00:00.002-05:00

I am still working on eggplant. I have been making great progress since I theorized that the trick is to make sure it is well cooked. And my latest experiment continues to support my thesis.

Braised eggplant is soft and silky, with a deep, almost smoky flavor. When combined with Marsala, it develops a velvety, luxurious umami richness that is insanely good. Add a topping of chopped toasted walnuts and fresh parsley and it is pretty near Nirvana.

This would make an excellent side dish for any dish, meat, poultry, or seafood. It packs a wallop of flavor for little effort.

You may notice that there is grated cheese on top of the photo. It makes for a prettier dish, but to my taste it overpowered the rest of the ingredients and I regretted using it. I left it off of the recipe, and I would strongly suggest that you do, too.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

EGGPLANT BRAISED IN MARSALA
Makes 4 side servings

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 medium eggplants
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup Marsala (or other fortified wine)
Salt to taste
pinch of nutmeg
2 Tbsp cream or butter
Parsley and toasted walnuts for garnish

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cut the stem end off of the eggplants and slice them into thirds lengthwise. When the oil is hot, add the eggplant flesh-side down and let sit without
touching until well browned, about 5 minutes. Turn the pieces and cook another 5 minutes, until they are also well browned.

Add the chicken stock, wine, salt and nutmeg. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pan, and cook for about 30 minutes, until the eggplant is silky and almost falling apart.

Remove the eggplant from the skillet and place on a serving platter. Let the liquid cook down, 5 to 10 more minutes. Add the cream or butter and cook for another minute, then pour the sauce over the
eggplant. Garnish with the parsley and walnuts and serve immediately.

10/2/2011

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Cheese Pizza with Marinara Sauce and Pesto

2011-10-20T08:00:00.003-05:00

I still have quite a bit of marinara sauce and pesto in my freezer. These pizzas are the first dishes I have made with them.

This first one is just your basic cheese garlic pizza - a layer of the sauce covered with grated mozzarella cheese and garlic, and then topped off with grated Parmagiana Reggiano and the last of the fresh basil.

This pizza proves, once again, that simple pleasures really are the best.

But that's no reason not to keep experimenting. This pizza is a blend of the marinara sauce and some of the pesto, covered with the cheese, garlic, and sliced green olives and, as always, finished off with some Parmagiana Reggiano.

The pesto added an extra depth of flavor, but remember that it has a lot of olive oil in it, so if you are going to put it on your pizza put it on the bottom and spread as thin a layer as you can or it will be too greasy. And yes, there is such a thing as a too-greasy pizza.

For my basic pizza crust recipe go here. To see how to make a pizza, go here. For all pizza posts, click on the Pizza label.

Sardine Banh Mi from Bun Mi Express

2011-10-17T09:00:00.001-05:00

I'm getting ready for a visitor this week so I did not do much cooking over the weekend. I did, however, stop at Bun Mi Express to try their sardine banh mi.

I stopped in on my way home from work on Friday night. They were busy, and had just pulled the loaves of bread from the oven. (They do not make the bread on-site, as I had originally thought they might. They are delivered par-baked, and they bake them off there.) Because they were busy, it also took a while, but I figured it was worth the wait.

When I got home, I unwrapped my sandwich with much anticipation. It had the same fresh ingredients as the BBQ Pork sandwich I had previously ordered, but there was a critical difference with this sandwich. The bread was still hot-out-of-the-oven when they made my sandwich and wrapped it, so by the time I unwrapped it all of the crunch had steamed out of the crust of the bread. It still tasted ok, but it was a bit of a disappointment.

I'm not sure of the answer to this problem, other than to make sure I only go when they are not busy and the bread has been sitting around long enough for the crust to stay crusty.

And I have one more (milder) issue with the restaurant. They do not open until noon on the weekends. Twice now I have thought I might stop in on the way home from the grocery store on a Sunday and treat myself, but both times it was before noon. It was 11:30 one week and 11:45 the next. If they opened at 11:00, I think they might get a little more business. They would certainly have gotten more business from me.

Chicken with Zucchini, Cashews and Thai Basil

2011-10-13T08:00:00.004-05:00

I pulled out the wok over the weekend for the first time in over a year. Last week another co-worker gave me bunches of herbs - sage, rosemary, oregano, and Thai basil. I seem to have developed something of a reputation around the building as a foodie. I can't imagine how anyone would have gotten that idea. I mean, it's not like I come into work every Wednesday morning with a bag or two bulging with Green Market produce. Oh wait - I do.

I made a big batch of Faki , replacing the dried oregano with the fresh, for workday lunches. The rosemary and sage are still waiting, but not for long. The Thai basil made me think of stir-fry, so I pondered that for a while before deciding maybe it was time to get busy with the wok.

My wok repertoire is limited, and lately I have been using it mainly to make my Tofu stir-fry. I have not had much luck with it beyond that, but I have been watching Ching-He Huang cook up the most amazing dishes on Chinese Food Made Easy on the Cooking Channel. I must admit, she does indeed make it look easy; easy enough for me to believe that I might have been able to come up with a decent Thai-inspired chicken stir-fry.

And I have to say, I was successful beyond my wildest dreams. I think the main thing I learned from watching Ching-He Huang do her thing is that you actually can relax and enjoy the process. It is true that you have to move quickly, and you definitely want your ingredients prepped and ready to go, but it's not the frantic "GET EVERYTHING IN THE WOK AND STIR IT AROUND FRANTICALLY OR IT WILL BURN AND YOU'D BETTER NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF OF IT OR DINNER WILL BE RUINED BEYOND RECOGNITION AND YOUR KITCHEN WILL CATCH FIRE AND THE FIREMEN WILL BREAK YOUR DOOR DOWN AND YOU WILL NEVER, EVER, BE ABLE TO LOOK AT A WOK AGAIN!!!!" I have always found it to be. One thing I have discovered about myself in recent years is how literally I take everything, and how much I overcomplicate things because of it. Everything I have read about stir-fry says you have to work quickly and not let the food sit for a second, so I believed it.

Here are the two main tips I have learned that made this stir-fry so successful. First, if you are using meat, let it sit for a few seconds after you have put it into the hot oil, and then just make sure you are moving everything around briskly, not frantically. Second, once you added your vegetables, you should add water in small amounts at a time to create steam, which helps the vegetables cook more quickly on the inside so you aren't burning the outside before they are done.

Both of those tips made all the difference here. I can't believe I am saying it, but this was restaurant-quality stir fry. The sauce was perfect, with a good blend of sweet, sour, and salty (bitter, not so much). It is sure to impress. I can't wait to see what I can do next!

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

CHICKEN WITH ZUCCHINI, CASHEWS AND THAI BASIL Makes 2 servings

1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or breasts), cut into 1-inch pieces
Corn, grapeseed, or canola oil
2 Tbsp cornstarch, divided
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp sherry (I used Marsala)
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1/4 tsp garlic chili sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 zucchini, quarted and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 scallions, divided, white parts cut into 1/2-inch pieces, the greens thinly sliced
2 Tbsp garlic/ginger mix (or 1 Tbsp each, chopped)
1/2 cup toasted cashews or other nuts
2 Tbsp fresh thai basil leaves
Toasted sesame oil
Sesame seeds for garnish

Coat chicken with 1 tablespoon of the cornstarch and set aside. In a small bowl, mix the vinegar, soy sauce, sherry, fish sauce, garlic chili sauce and brown sugar, and set aside.

Mix the other tablespoon of corn starch with a tablespoon of cold water and set aside.

Heat wok over high heat. When it starts smoking, add about 2 tablespoons of oil and let it heat up. Add the chicken to the wok, letting it sit for a few seconds, then let it cook until just cooked through, moving it constantly. Remove the chicken from the wok.

If necessary, add more oil to the wok. Add the garlic and ginger and let it sit for a second, then add the zucchini and the white part of the scallions. Cook until the zucchini is just tender, adding water as needed to create steam.

Add the chicken back to the wok and cook for a couple of minutes more, until it is thorougly cooked. Add the sauce and about a teaspoon of the sesame oil and cook for a few seconds, then add the cornstarch slurry and cook until the sauce has thickened.

Remove the wok from the heat and add the basil, the cashews and most of the green onions immediately, reserving a few for garnish.

10/09/2011

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Mediterranean Lentil and Couscous Salad

2011-10-10T08:00:00.002-05:00

This is another recipe from my go-to book on beans, Lean Bean Cuisine by Jay Solomon. As I mentioned before, it is out of print, but I believe there are still copies available online and I cannot recommend this book highly enough. While not every recipe has been completely to my taste, none of them have been failures. And the ones that I like I really, really like.

This is no exception. It cooks quickly and is easy to put together. The ingredients are fresh and the dressing is light and refreshing. Using fresh basil and parsley makes it even more light and refreshing, but dried herbs work just as well. If you do use dried herbs, though, only use half of the amount, as dried herbs are stronger than fresh. You can also use other herbs, if you would like. I'm thinking a touch of mint would be quite lovely.

For the best flavor, serve the salad at room temperature. This makes it quite nice for workday lunches and picnics.

Home Cookin Chapter: Beans and Vegetables

MEDITERRANEAN COUSCOUS AND LENTIL SALAD
Makes 4 servings

1/2 cup brown or red lentils
3 cups water
1 cup boiling water
2/3 cup uncooked couscous
1/4 cup oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon-style mustard
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 red bell pepper, diced
3-4 scallions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

Place lentils and water in saucepan and cook for 45 minutes, until tender. Drain.

Meanwhile, combine couscous and boiling water in small saucepan. Cover and let stand for 10 mins.

In mixing bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, mustard, herbs and seasonings. Add lentils, bell pepper, scallions, garlic and couscous and blend well.

Chill 1 hour before serving.

From Lean Bean Cuisine: Over 100 Tasty Meatless Recipes from Around the World, by Jay Solomon (Prima, 1994)

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Borscht Style Roasted Beets and Kale

2011-10-06T08:00:00.002-05:00

This is what I did with the beautiful beets that came attached to the greens I used in last week's frittata, and the kale I had bought the week before. I needed to do something with the kale right away and I had half of the beet greens still left. I knew all three ingredients would go well together, but I wasn't sure how I wanted to prepare them.

Before I decided to use them all together I was playing with the idea of making a batch of borscht, so I was anticipating that sweet and sour flavor and I didn't want to give up that idea. I thought about it for while the day before I was going to make whatever it was I was going to make, so I had time to think about the best way to use them. And that is when the idea to use borscht flavorings for a kale and beet (and beet greens) side dish came to me. I would make them sweet and sour and add dill at the end.

It was an unequivocal success, and pretty too! This would make a beautiful, healthy, delicious addition to your holiday table.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

BORSCHT STYLE ROASTED BEETS AND KALE
Makes 4 servings

This dish can be served hot or cold - it is delicious either way.

3 large beets with their greens
2 Tbsp olive oil, plus 1 tsp for beets
1 bunch kale
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth, or water
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar, or to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill, or to taste
chopped toasted walnuts, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 deg. F.

Remove the greens from the beets and set aside. Trim the stem end of the beets to about half an inch. Do not cut off the stems or the roots. Wrap each beet in a packet of foil, sprinkle with salt, and pour a scant teaspoon of oil over the beet before wrapping them securely. Place the foil packets on a baking dish (they will most likely leak) and bake until a knife inserted through the foil goes in and out without resistance, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool, peel, and cut into half-inch pieces.

Trim the leafy parts of the kale and beet greens from the stems. Loosely chop the greens and rinse them. Set aside.

Chop the kale and beet stems into half-inch pieces. In a large skillet, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the stems and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the broth and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer.

Add the greens and stir until they have cooked down a little. Lower the heat and cover the pan and let the greens steam until tender, about ten minutes. Remove the lid, add the beets, and bring the heat back up to medium-high. Cook until the liquid reduces, about 5 more minutes.

Add the vinegar and sugar. Taste and adjust as necessary to reach the desired sweet-and-sour flavor. Remove from the heat and add the dill. Garnish with walnuts and serve.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Taco Bell Dorito Taco

2011-10-05T09:00:00.003-05:00

Apparently, people all over the country have been clamoring for a Taco Bell crispy taco with a Nacho Dorito shell. It looks like the wait is over, at least on a trial basis in some California cities:

The story was reported here in the LA Times. There was a pre-trial trial in Ohio, of all places, where it was reviewed by this lover of food:

His main reaction? It tastes like a taco. Duh. He was not impressed. The shell does not seem to be actually made of doritos to him. It tastes like a regular crispy taco shell with the nacho cheese flavoring. They would probably have been better off leaving the taco alone and putting smashed up doritos inside of it. Perhaps that would have satisfied the discerning palates who have been salivating for this food gem.

Pesto Chicken

2011-10-03T08:00:00.003-05:00

What is one to do with all of the pesto one has made in such a short period of time that one has several jars of the stuff in one's freezer?

That was the question of the day for me, after assessing how much pesto I have actually made in the past couple of weeks. Pesto with pasta can get tiring, and I had just finished a batch of fusilli with pesto and still had half of a batch I made with walnuts in the refrigerator. Fortunately for me, I also had a package of chicken thighs in the freezer that needed to be used up to help make room for all of that marinara sauce and pesto.

I'm sure I am not the first person to think of combining chicken with pesto, and I hope I am not the last, because it made for a mighty tasty meal. It is a little less brown in real life than in the photo, but even if it had been brown it would not have mattered because it was so delicious. The combination of basil, cheese and nuts cooked through the entire piece of chicken for a flavor that just did not quit. The only thing that could possibly make it better would be a splash of lemon juice squeezed over everything before baking.

And it couldn't be easier to make. Here is the recipe:

PESTO CHICKEN
Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.

Arrange chicken thighs (or breasts if you would prefer)evenly in a baking dish. Cover the top of the chicken with home-made or store-bought pesto. Cover the pan loosely with foil. (I would usually season the chicken with salt and pepper, but the pesto has enough salt that I did not bother and the chicken was perfectly seasoned with just the pesto. YMMV.)

Bake for 45 minutes, then uncover and finish baking for another half hour, or until the pesto has set and the chicken is done. (For chicken breasts, you should probably reduce the covered time to half an hour and then another half hour uncovered, but I don't cook that many chicken breasts so I am not sure exactly how long it will take.)

If you want to be fancy when serving, sprinkle toasted nuts over each serving. I used walnuts here because I used walnuts in the pesto. There are only so many pine nuts a gal has hanging around in her freezer at any given time.

Curried Beet Greens Frittata

2011-09-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

Ok, so this is Frittata post number eight. What can I say? I love to make them, and each one is different from the one before. Some are better than others, but I must say they are all delicious. And eight is a mere fraction of the total that I have made since I discovered them. I owe the friend who asked me if I had a good frittata recipe a boatload of thanks, given how many I have made and how much I love them.

This weekend's was no exception. I was at the Green Market, mostly looking for tomatoes and basil so my co-worker and I could make those last batches of marinara sauce and pesto, when I saw the most beautiful bunch of beets. They just had to come home with me. I put the beets in the crisper and steamed the greens so I could put them into my Sunday breakfast.

How did I steam the greens? It couldn't be easier. I rinsed them and then cut off the stems and set them aside for later use. I put a saucepan on the stove and turned the heat on to medium so it would heat up some. Then I put the rinsed greens in the pan, turned it to low, and let it cook for about ten minutes. That's all it takes. Then I made my frittata.

I cook the stems from the greens with the onions and garlic in olive oil. I love how they turn everything red. I let them cook until they are soft, and then I add the faster cooking greens toward the end, so they don't overcook. It wasn't until after the onions and stem ends were cooking that I decided to make this a curried frittata, so I inserted some mustard seeds and a spoonful of tandoori masala and let them cook for a minute or two before I added the greens.

I used my new technique of adding the vegetables to the three beaten eggs, tempering them with a little bit of the hot mixture before adding the rest and then pouring everything back into the pan after adding a little bit of butter (to help keep it from sticking and for that little boost of flavor.)

After I flipped it, I covered the top with a mix of Parmigiana Reggiano and Pecorino Romano cheeses. As usual, it was delicious.

For the basic recipe, go here. For the how to, go here. For tips, go here. For all of my frittatas, click on the tag.

Classic Basil Pesto

2011-09-26T08:00:00.003-05:00

Every time it looks like I am finally finished with summer, something comes along to change my mind. In this case it was the last big beautiful bunches of fresh basil at the Smits Farms stand. A friend at work and I have been comparing market notes and wondering when the basil and the tomatoes were going to be gone, and the talk turned to pesto and other things you can do with basil once you have made enough sauce.

During the course of our conversation, we convinced ourselves that maybe we didn't have enough stashed away in the freezer to get us through the winter, so I agreed that if they were still available, I would get enough tomatoes and basil for each of us to make another batch of sauce. Well, there was, but I wasn't sure how much basil to get. Two each seemed like an awful lot, but one didn't seem like it would be enough for the sauce and pesto. So I bought two each, along with a bunch of Roma and Britain's Breakfast tomatoes for the sauce.

Which, as it turned out, was enough basil to make a big batch of the sauce plus two batches of pesto. One batch went into the freezer to accompany the batch I had made the week before; the other batch was delicious mixed with rotini, and made great work lunches for the rest of the week.

My sister discovered pesto years ago, and made it so often that it became one of her signature dishes. She made it so often, and with so many different combinations of nuts and herbs, that I never felt the need to tackle it myself. I did make it once when I moved to Chicago, and it was all right, but it was not worth the trouble to make again, I thought.

Until I had a big batch of basil and no idea how I was going to use it. I had pine nuts in the freezer, both Parmigiana Reggiano and Pecorino Romano in the refrigerator, and I always have extra virgin olive oil on hand, so it seemed inevitable. All I had to do was pull out the food processor and fill it up. And iIt was much easier and went much faster than I remember from the last time I made it. I divided it into two equal parts and froze it. I thought about freezing it in cubes, but I doubt I'll ever want that small of an amount, so I figured half a cup was a good amount for one use.

I wasn't sure whether or not I should freeze it with the cheese, but it always seemed like one step too many to have to add the cheese later. I looked around online and found enough people who said they have frozen it with the cheese without any problem, so I thought it was worth the risk. I will keep you posted on that issue.

I still have half a batch in the refrigerator. I plan to bake it with chicken for tonight's dinner.

I got this from my sister years ago, and I don't remember where she got it. But it is common enough and easily found all over the internet, so I am not going to worry that much about it.

Home Cookin Chapter: Appetizers, Spreads and Dips

Classic Basil Pesto

2 cups fresh basil leaves
3-4 large cloves garlic
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (walnuts)
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine basil, garlic, cheeses and nuts in food processor/blender. Process to mix. With machine running, slowly add the oil.

Season to taste with salt and pepper, and process to desired consistency. Let sit/stand 5 minutes before serving.

Toss with hot pasta and serve immediately, with additional pine nuts and parmesan.

Yield: 1 cup. Freezes well.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Are Organic Strawberries Really Organic? Not So Much

2011-09-23T09:00:00.002-05:00

Every time I come across a story that interests me and that I would like to share, I save the link and file it away, hoping that I will have time to craft a well-written, thoughtful post that will best express my thoughts on the matter.

Unfortunately, that rarely happens, and by the time I am ready to think about writing the post, the time has passed for it to be relevant.

I have decided not to worry about how eloquent my post is - it is the information that matters. So, without further ado, here is a link to a story I think anyone should read who thinks that the strawberries they are buying are organic.

I have often wondered, as I have placed the brand-name package of strawberries labelled "organic" into my basket, if they were truly organic, or if the producer had just figured out a way to pimp the system and still be able to call their produce organic.

It looks like my concerns were valid, as illustrated by this story.

I don't know about you, but I am even more offended by producers who have found ways to circumvent the system and manage to call their products organic than I am by those who farm conventionally. At least they are honest, and you know what you are getting.

Photo from http://www.biovia.ca/; story from Environmental Health News

Purple Kale and Potato Frittata

2011-09-22T08:00:00.005-05:00

I was actually heading over to the stall for the Swiss chard when I saw the most beautiful purple kale a little further down on the table at the Green City Market this Saturday. I did not let the "Organic Cilantro" tie around the stems fool me (I know my cilantro, even if I don't always know my kale). I bought a bunch of it so I could have a frittata for breakfast.

I've been using fresh herbs all summer, but I had a hankering for tarragon so I used dried tarragon. The cheese is Grass Point Farms Sharp Cheddar. As always, the frittata was delicious. I love the versatility of it - you really can just throw in whatever is around and have a truly delicious, satisfying breakfast. And since they are good both warm and cold, they travel well.

The recipe for the basic frittata can be found here. For a tutorial on how to make one, go here.

Summer's Bounty: Marinara Sauce

2011-09-19T08:00:00.001-05:00

More summer goodness. I do believe I have taken advantage of summer's bounty more this year than any other summer since I first started going to the Green Market eleven years ago. That might be due to my newly-reconditioned air conditioners that have kept my apartment cooler than my old unreliable ones were able to do. That has made the summer more bearable, but I am still happy to feel the weather changing. Fall is definitely right around the corner.

But until it comes, I have started stockpiling some of summer's goodness in the freezer, for use when I have had one too many rutabagas and am longing for a taste of summer freshness. To that end, I put together a batch of marinara sauce using fresh San Marzano tomatoes I found at the Leaning Shed Farm, which has become one of my favorite stands at the Green Market. They have the widest variety of heirloom tomatoes and peppers, and some killer garlic. They are now the first place I head as soon as I hit the market.

I didn't know that they can officially call them San Marzano tomatoes, since the ones that come from San Marzano, Italy, are D.O.P., but I guess they can, as long as they don't pretend that these are the genuine Italian tomatoes it's ok to call them San Marzanos. They are similar to a plum tomato, but smaller, and have a more intense, sweeter flavor.

Last week they had something called Super San Marzano tomatoes, which looked just like the San Marzanos but were just a little bigger. They were the most luscious deep red, so those are the ones I bought that day. I made a lovely Marinara sauce that served as a delicious base for pizza (just the sauce, some garlic, and mozzarella and parmigiana reggiano - scrumptious!). I wanted to get more so I could make a batch or two to freeze, but by the time I made it back to the Green Market this weekend (darn those family visits!) they were out of the supers. But they did still have the regulars so I gt those instead.

I am all for opening up a can of tomatoes and whipping up a tasty sauce in the middle of winter, but I have to say, there is definitely a difference using fresh. The only way I can think to describe it is that you can taste summer. The sauce is bright, fresh, and you get a more intense flavor without having to cook it down quite so much.

Right now I have two jars in my freezer. I plan to have more by the time the tomatoes are gone. Which will be all too soon, I know.

If you want to capture a bit of summer for yourself, here's how I did it:

First, make sure you have plenty of fresh basil on hand. The potted basil I bought for myself did not make it through the summer, so I bought this big bunch of green at the market for two dollars. It was more than I needed for my sauce, so I have plans for a batch of pesto that will go well with pizza or pasta sometime down the road.

If I had been thinking faster, I would have taken pictures of the tomatoes before I started the sauce, but I was halfway through chopping them when I decided to start snapping pictures. This is about half of what I started with. I cut an x in the base of each one and dropped them, about 6 at a time, into a pot of boiling water and left them for about 15 seconds. Then I took them out and dropped them into a bowl of cold water. After that, it was easy to peel off the skins. And then it was short work to cut off the stem end and chop them. They are quite meaty and do not have too many seeds, so they were not as messy to chop as the bigger, more round varieties tend to be.

To start the sauce, I thinly sliced 6 cloves of garlic and put them in a large skillet with olive oil. I turned the heat on low and let the garlic heat up with the oil so it would cook without browning, or burning. Usually, I believe you would then take the garlic out of the oil, leaving behind just the flavor, but I like garlic too much to do that so I left it in.

While the garlic was cooking I was chopping the peeled tomatoes. This is the first half that I had chopped before realizing I wanted to take pictures. My chopping board is on the small side and I couldn't fit all of the tomatoes on it, so I raised the heat on the skillet and added these first, giving them a good stir, and then I finished chopping the rest of the tomatoes and added them to the skillet. At this point I seasoned with salt and a little freshly ground pepper. I also added a pinch of sugar after tasting it. These tomatoes were a little more acidic than the supers were.

This is what it looks like when the tomatoes have first been added. Even though the tomatoes are not terribly juicy, they turned liquid soon enough. It never looks like they are going to cook down, but I just lowered the heat and let them simmer for about 45 minutes, until they were nice and thick. I turned off the heat and stirred in a generous handful of roughly chopped basil, then I tasted for seasoning and added a little more salt.

The sauce can be used right away, or frozen for future use.

BBQ Pork Banh Mi from Bun Mi Express

2011-09-14T14:00:00.006-05:00

I was in Austin visiting family over the weekend so I haven't been cooking much. I got home in the afternoon and, rather than having to come up with something as soon as I got home, I decided to splurge on a BBQ Pork banh mi from the Bun Mi Express franchise that recently opened around the corner from my apartment. I have been wanting to try them since they opened in June, and this was the perfect time to visit.

I have been somewhat disappointed with most of the Vietnamese sandwiches I have had in Chicago, mostly because of the bread. The crust is thick and chewy, without that signature crunch that yields to the soft, tender bread, and the whole loaf is so thick that I cannot take a bite of the sandwich without the inner ingredients sliding out the other side. There is just too much bread for the sandwich.

I have read (but not confirmed) that the bread at Bun Mi Express, while not made at the shop, comes from Montreal and is baked on-site. It is the right size in comparison with the ingredients, and has the right texture and consistency. The crust is thin and crisp, and the interior is soft and tender. The ingredients are all fresh, and they used the perfect ratio of mayonnaise to vegetables to meat. The BBQ pork was sweet and tender, and for this sandwich had just enough fat to enhance the flavor.

They had samples of the pork roll on the counter, which was filled with pork and pate and was quite delicious. I will definitely have to go back for more. The sardine sandwich is calling my name.

Project Freezerburn: Eggplant Pizza

2011-09-05T08:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Labor Day to my fellow USAians. I don't know how most of you celebrate it, but I like to celebrate by getting ready for the fall. Labor to me signals the end of my least favorite time of year and the beginning of my favorite season.

I bought my first pot roast last weekend (it was beautiful and on sale, what can I say?). When I got home and went to put it in the freezer, I had to rearrange the entire space to get just enough room to squeeze that meat in there. Since I like to have a lot of frozen stock on hand during soup and stew season, I decided it was time to take stock (see what I did there?) and revive Project Freezerburn so I could make room for my fall stash, which includes quite a bit of summer's bounty of corn, lima beans, and tomatoes. That's a lot of stuff for a small over-the-fridge freezer, so I have to rotate items frequently.

I don't cook out of the freezer that much in the summer - there's so much fresh produce available that I don't have the need to squirrel things away for later use. But while I am enjoying all of that bounty, everything in the freezer just stays there. So I have several things that need to go if I am going to be able to store some summer vegetables and start accumulating stew and soup meats.

I started Project Freezerburn in January of 2007. Looking at the picture of my freezer from back then, I have to laugh. It looks so empty compared to what is in there these days. In my defense, I have started keeping nuts, certain flours, and a lot of my spices in there so there is less room for actual food, but there is not one little bit of free space showing.

Oh heck, I might as well show you. This actually doesn't look too bad now that I am looking at it, but there are lots of little packages stuffed in there behind the cornmeal (one of two kinds I keep in there) and the meat. In addition, keep in mind that I have taken out the following:

1 package of cooked, chopped white meat chicken
2 packages of kreplach (oops - that's for a later post!)
1 package of skirt steak
1 quart jar of chicken stock
1 quart jar of eggplant tomato sauce

Now picture all of that in there as well!

And just for grins, here's a shot of the side door, or what I like to call my second spice cabinet. You also can't see everything that's stuffed behind those jars on the bottom, either.

How do I keep track of it all? Most of it is in my head, but I finally had to create a spreadsheet for my spices, since I have so many and they are all over place. I am proud to admit that very seldom do I look at something in the freezer and have no idea what it is.

That doesn't mean that I am utilizing everything, though, and that is why I first created Project Freezerburn. It forces me to take a look at everything in the freezer and make sure I am getting rid of some those items that have been in there a long time.

So what does all of this have to do with Eggplant Pizza? I hear you ask. If you were astute enough to notice that last item that I took out of the freezer, you might have figured it out already. The eggplant tomato sauce made an excellent base for pizza, which is something I haven't made for a while and for which I was so ready.

I took it easy with the ingredients for this pizza. After I spread out the dough, I sprinkled a light layer of whole-milk mozzarella over it, then spread a think layer of the eggplant tomato sauce over the cheese. I sprinkled a pinch of my home-made Italian spice mixture (2 parts oregano and thyme to 1 part basil) over the sauce (not too much, as the sauce was already flavored), and then I sprinkled about 2 tablespoons of grated parmagiana reggiano over the whole thing. I was a little nervous that the sauce might make the pizza soggy, so I went especially light wit it. It turned out to be the perfect amount. I am beginning to realize that with pizza, less really is more. I left off my usual garlic/onion/green olives combination, so the eggplant and the cheeses really shone. I will make this again.

So far, Operation Freezerburn is a success. I am looking forward to finishing the rest of my freezer goodies.

I have posted my recipe for pizza dough before, but over the past few years I have made small changes that I think enhance the flavor and quality, so I am re-posting the recipe here with those revisions.

PIZZA DOUGHMakes 1 large or 2 small pizzas

Note: any combination of flour works with this dough, for a total of about 2-1/2 cups. If you are not using semolina flour, reduce the amount of water to 1 cup.

1-1/4 cup warm water (105 - 115 deg. F.)
1 Tbsp active dry yeast (or two 1/4-oz. packets)
1 cup bread flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup semolina flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp olive oil
cornmeal, for dusting the baking sheet

Combine the flours, salt and sugar in a small bowl and whisk together to mix well. Place warm water in a large bowl and add the yeast, whisking it together. Add the oil,then add the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together.

Turn the mixture onto a floured surface and set the bowl aside. Bring the dough together into a ball and knead, sprinkling more flour over the dough if necessary, until the dough is smooth and elastic and is just at the point where it is not sticking to your hands. Try not to add too much flour. If making one large pizza, form the dough into a ball and put it in a bowl with a little olive oil, turning it to make sure the entire surface is coated with the oil. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rise until it doubles in size (between one and two hours).

If making two small pizzas, cut the dough in half and form 2 balls. Put one ball in an oiled bowl and follow the instructions for the pizza. Cover the other ball of dough in flour and place in a plastic bag, then put it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days (or it can be frozen for a few months). Remove from the refrigerator and let sit for about an hour and a half. Proceed with the following directions.

Turn the dough out of the bowl. Move the oven rack to the lowest position and preheat the oven to 475 deg. F. and sprinkle some cornmeal on your baking sheet (you can use a round or rectangular sheet). Roll out or pat out the dough until it fits the contours of the baking sheet, pinching out the dough to make it slightly thicker around the edge. If you are pulling the dough out from the center, be sure to slowly move out with your fingers as you spread so you are not pulling from the center the whole time. If you pull from the center your pizza will be too thin in the middle.

Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then start adding the toppings. Keep in mind that you don't want the topping to be too heavy or too wet. If you are using a thin sauce, put the cheese down first so it can provide some protection.

When the oven has reached the correct temperature, place the pizza on the bottom rack and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the crust has browned and the cheese and toppings have caramelized.

adapted from the recipe on the package of Bob's Red Mill Unbleached White Flour

Recipe Recap: Corn Griddle Cakes

2011-09-01T08:00:00.008-05:00

With fresh corn so much in abundance right now, I am sure I am not the only one wondering what to do with those small amounts that get left over from all the succotash, salads and sautes.

I'm also not the only one to notice how much work it is to cook with all of these fresh summer vegetables. Beans, corn, and tomatoes are all wonderful, but they have to be used right away and involve a lot of shucking, shelling and peeling. Not to mention blanching! I was commiserating with a co-worker yesterday about how busy my weekends have seemed, while I don't have much to show for my efforts. That is when it occurred to me that the reason I have been feeling that way is because I have pretty much been cooking non-stop from Friday nights through Sunday evenings. It's not that I am cooking more dishes, or eating more than usual. I believe I am actually cooking less dishes. It is because every thing I am making requires quite a bit of prep work, and that is why I feel like I am spending so much time in the kitchen. I am spending so much time in the kitchen.

I am not really complaining; I love all of this fresh bounty, and come February I will be sorely missing it. But during the week I have little energy to cook and am finding myself a little stretched to come up with ideas for dinner.

Tuesday night was a perfect case in point. I knew that all I had in the refrigerator (other than what was earmarked for workday lunches) was a small container of leftover corn from the last batch of succotash I made, so on the bus ride home I started thinking about my options. I did not want to have to stop at the store but I knew I didn't have much at home. I was hungry enough to consider just eating the corn cold from the container, but I knew that it would not satisfy on so many levels.

Then I remembered a recipe I had discovered for Corn Griddle Cakes, about which I posted back in April of 2008. They had tasted quite good, yet I had never again made them. It seemed a simple enough meal, and one that should not take too long to prepare. I ran over a mental list in my mind and was sure that I already had all of the ingredients.

I pulled out the recipe when I got home and collected the ingredients. The first thing I did was to set my cast iron skillet over a medium-low flame so it would be ready when the batter was finished. It took about ten minutes to mix up the batter, and maybe twenty minutes to cook the griddle cakes.

Within half an hour, I was eating dinner. The cakes were soft, fluffy, and delicious. The fresh corn elevated them from pancake status to something more substantial. I used just a little maple syrup with them, but I'm thinking they would be good with something a bit more savory.

This recipe is worth re-posting because these corn griddle cakes make an excellent meal when you need something fast and easy.

Home Cookin Chapter: Breads and Muffins

CORN GRIDDLE CAKESServings: 4

1 cup all-purpose or white whole wheat flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
about 3/4 cup fresh sweet corn kernels, cut from the cob
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp oil

Place all of the dry ingredients into a bowl and sift them together. Combine the corn, egg and milk in a small bowl and whisk together. Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the oil and stir it into the mixture.

Spoon the batter onto a hot griddle, using 2 to 3 tablespoons for each cake. Cook the batter until bubbles show on the surface, about 2 to 3 minutes, then flip them over and cook the other side until golden brown, about 2 more minutes.

from a recipe I found unattributed on a recipe collection site and subsequently discovered with further research came from the Two Fat Ladies (Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright)

Exported from Home Cookin 5.5 (www.mountain-software.com)

Sausage and Corn Saute

2011-08-29T08:00:00.011-05:00

I've been blogging for so long now that I sometimes forget whether or not I have posted a specific recipe, especially if it is one that I have had for a long time. And I have had this one for a very long time, indeed. I got it from my co-worker and boss in a two-person office when I worked for the League of Women Voters in Austin - the only job from which I have fired myself. I enjoyed working there, but it got routine after a while and I was bored, so I started going in later and later, and wasting more and more time while I was there, although how I do not remember since there was no internet at the time. We were high tech, though, for the times. We even had a word processor!

I don't remember the circumstances under which she gave me the recipes, but both of them have been in heavy use since then. One of the recipes was this Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuit Topping, about which I wrote recently. The other one was this sausage and corn saute. I love this dish because I love sausage, but it has always been a guilty pleasure for me because of that. And the more I try to avoid heavily processed foods, the more I have avoided buying commercial brands of sausage, like the Eckrich smoked sausage that was my favorite for a long, long time. But my changing palate (and, I suspect, a changing formula) has made it more difficult for me to justify using it, even rarely. Somehow, this no longer appeals:

I have been looking for different things to do with this summer's abundance of corn and tomatoes, and this recipe came to mind. I decided it could be lightened up if I found a different kind of sausage to use. The rest of the ingredients are quite healthy, so I figured it should not be too hard to make that one change.

The Apple Market, where I buy the majority of my meat, recently added chicken sausage to their rotation. I had used it before with my Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup, so I knew it tasted good, and is quite lean compared to the Eckrich sausage.

It worked beautifully. And with fresh corn and tomatoes, the whole dish is lighter and fresher, and much better than the original. A few tablespoons of chopped fresh oregano that my co-worker was generous enough to give me (again!) made it even better.

As it turns out, I have posted this recipe before. But since this version is lighter, fresher, and more healthy, I think it bears re-posting. Here is what I did:

Heat a scant tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add one pound of chicken or turkey sausage (it will need the oil to get started, since it does not have a lot of fat), sliced into 1/2-inch rounds, and let it brown well on both sides.

While the sausage is browning, cut a large onion in half lengthwise and slice into thin half-rings. Once the sausage is browned (Make sure it is well browned), add the onions and a handful of salt and, lowering the heat if necessary, cook until the onions are soft and translucent.

While the onions are cooking, peel 2 large or 3 medium tomatoes and chop them roughly. You do not have to take out the seeds.

Once the onions are translucent, add the tomatoes and stir well, making sure to pick up any of the brown bits on the bottom of the skillet that were not picked up by the onion. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cover.

Cook for 20 minutes. Add 3-1/2 cups of blanched corn and cook until the corn is heated through, about 10 more minutes. Remove from the heat and, if desired, add 3 tablespoons of fresh chopped oregano (or herb of choice) just before serving.

This dish should serve 4. If my experience is any indication, there won't be any leftovers.

Chicken with Apricots and Lemon Thyme

2011-08-22T08:00:00.002-05:00

Last week one of my co-workers brought me a beautiful bounty of fresh herbs from her garden - basil, boxwood basil (a relatively new variety that has small, tight leaves that have a concentrated basil flavor and which I am going to try to find so I can grow it myself), a beautiful variegated oregano and some lemon thyme. What a treat!

I have been having fun deciding how to use them. The basil went into a few batches of succotash. The variegated oregano went into a frittata and an eggplant dish. And the lemon thyme? The apricots at the market were so beautiful last week that I knew on the spot that they were destined to be baked with chicken and the lemon thyme. I could hardly wait to get home and get started.

It was delicious paired with kennebec potatoes roasted with garlic and rosemary. The apricot has that beautiful tartness that counterbalances its sweetness, and the lemon thyme imparts a gentle tang of citrus and earthiness that brings everything together.

In addition to being a delicious, satisfying dish for company or family, it is quite simple to make. Here's how:

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F. Take 1 roughly chopped onion and layer it on the bottom of an 8-inch by 12-inch baking dish. Place 8 pieces of chicken (any cuts, but I like the dark-meat of the thigh, which is full of flavor and doesn't dry out as easily as breast meat), skin side up, over the onion. Season the chicken well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cut 1 pint of fresh apricots into 4 pieces each, removing the pit. Layer the apricots over the chicken. Take a generous amount of lemon (or regular) thyme (about 20 small sprigs) and sprinkle them over the chicken and apricots. If the herb is older and has a thick stem, then remove the leaves and sprinkle them over the top. Pour a little olive oil over the chicken, and then cover with foil.

Bake the chicken for abount 45 minutes, then take off the foil. Bake for another 30 to 45 minutes, until the chicken has browned and the juice runs clear when pricked with a fork.

Remove the chicken and the apricots from the pan. Strain the remaining liquids and either use as a sauce or reserve for later use. (I actually found that the chicken did not need any sauce, so I put the strained liquid in the refrigerator, then removed the fat, and used it later in the week for a different dish. Double duty!

Blueberry Tease

2011-08-18T09:30:00.000-05:00

Blueberries are abundant in Chicago right now, and I find myself buying a couple of pints once a week. They have been delicious in yogurt with strawberries, and I have made my new favorite blueberry buttermilk cake a couple of times, but I have been looking for something new.

What you see above is my first attempt at blueberry pie. It was not bad, although there are definitely some adjustments that need to be made.

Once I have made them, and come up with a winner, I will share with you what I did, something that tastes as good as I think this one looks.

Pasta with Eggplant and Tomato Sauce

2011-08-15T08:00:00.003-05:00

I have always had a love-hate relationship with eggplant. I love the way it tastes, but I have a hard time cooking it properly. And eggplant that is not well cooked is not good. I am convinced that is the reason why so many of my friends don't like it. When it is bad, it is very, very, bad.

I have, however, recently discovered the secret to cooking eggplant. This is it: cook the shit out of it. And then, cook it a little more. There is no such thing as al dente eggplant. If eggplant is not cooked all the way through it is rubbery and has very little taste. Cooked right, it is a smooth, silky pillow of flavor. Even then, not everyone will like it, I guess, but I think more people would appreciate it's earthy flavor if it were properly cooked. It should be a heartbeat away from falling apart. That's how you know it is ready.

Some people may stay away from eggplant due to the belief that the peel and the seeds can be bitter, and you need to salt it, soak it and peel it before using, which is a lot of work. I am pleased to report that these days that is no longer necessary. I have never salted and soaked my eggplant, and I have not yet run into one that has a remotely bitter skin, or seeds. So that is no longer an excuse.

Eggplant is one of the clean 15, so I buy conventional from my local grocery store, rather than organic at Whole Foods. And they must be in season right now, because they are inexpensive and gorgeous. So I brought one home with me the other day, even though I was not sure how I wanted to use it. And in one of those serendipitous moments that occur now and then in life, I was watching Barefoot Contessa and her guest was Antonia Bellanca with a pasta with eggplant recipe. It looked like a great way to take advantage of the season's tomatoes and basil, so I decided to try it. Of course, I used it more as a guideline and fiddled with it along the way.

The result? Quite delicious. The eggplant is soft, smooth and silky, and adds an almost smoky tone to the sauce. I used whole wheat orecchiette, which was a good choice because the sauce filled the little hollows and clung beautifully. A crisp, crunchy green salad complements the smoothness of the sauce.

This actually made quite a bit more sauce than I needed, so I was able to freeze some of it in two pint-size jars. For one of those, I cooked up a cup of orzo and threw it into the sauce (which I heated in a 3-quart saucepan), and then added 1/4 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano. I added more cheese for garnish, and sprinkled some fresh basil on top as well. (If the cheese looks a little funky, chalk it up to my mini food-processer. The blade was slightly angled and it clumped more than grated. Another reason why I usually grate it, but I was feeling lazy. I will remember this the next time I decide to grate my cheese in the processor.)

If you're tired of your same old pasta sauce, or have been relying on jars lately, give this a try. (And much as I am plugging the eggplant here, it would actually work with any vegetable.)

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

PASTA WITH EGGPLANT AND TOMATO SAUCE
Makes 4-6 servings

3 Tbsp olive oil
1Tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 medium eggplant, chopped
1/4 cup marsala or chianti or other red wine
4 large medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped, liquids strained from seeds and pulp
(or 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved)
1 lb dried short pasta (orecchiette, farfalle, rotini, cavatappi, etc.)
1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped (or 1 Tbsp dried), plus more for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
Grated Parmagiana Reggiano, for topping

Heat oil and butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until just translucent, then add eggplant and cook for another 2 minutes, until eggplant just begins to soften. Add the liquid from the tomatoes. Cover the skillet and lower the heat. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the eggplant has softened. Add the garlic and the tomatoes and season to taste with the salt and pepper. Continue to cook until the eggplant is well cooked and the tomatoes have broken down, another 20 to 30 minutes. Cook longer if needed, to make sure the eggplant is thoroughly cooked.

Cook the pasta 2 minutes less time than is indicated on the package instructions. Reserve a cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta and add it to the skillet. Combine with the sauce and cook for another 2 minutes, to let the flavors blend and to finish cooking the pasta.

Remove from the heat and stir in the basil and the mozarella. Stir well to melt the cheese.

Sprinkle Parmagiana Reggiano over the top and add fresh basil for garnish.

Adapted from Antonia Bellanca's Pasta alle Melenzana recipe, as shown on "Barefoot Contessa," Episode: Italian Old and New.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Lima Beans with Corn and Tomato

2011-08-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

Ah, summer. I've made no secret of the fact that I am not a fan, but I must say there are some redeeming features that make it almost worthwhile. It is worth it for the fresh tomatoes and corn alone.

And then there are the unexpected pleasures, like fresh beans. This is the third year that I have brought home at least one batch of fresh lima beans. I've never been a big fan of dried, although I do enjoy running into the occasional bean in a bowl of soup. They are too mealy for me to enjoy all by themselves, though.

Except when they're fresh. As I discovered last year, they are fantabulous. Soft and buttery, they almost melt in your mouth. I have been waiting for their appearance at the market, and when they finally showed up yesterday I grabbed a bunch, along with tomatoes and corn.

I knew I wanted to make something like the succotash I made the first time I brought them home, but I wanted something a little lighter and fresher. So I used a fresh tomato instead of canned, and I only used one tomato. I added a little butter and used olive oil instead of canola. And I had some beautiful basil that I thought would add a little extra burst of freshness.

I like this version much better than the succotash I made the year before last. The buttery beans, the sweet corn, and the slightly tangy tomato make for a perfect combination of summer flavors. This would make a nice change from baked beans or potato salad at your next barbecue.

The recipe as I made it serves two, maybe three at best. It can be easily doubled. And all of the amounts are really to taste, and can vary depending on what you have available.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

LIMA BEANS WITH CORN AND TOMATO
Makes 2 servings

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 large tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/4 tsp sugar
1-1/2 cups shelled fresh lima beans (about 1-1/2 lbs in pods)
2 ears fresh corn, blanched and cut from the cob (1-1/2 cups)
2 Tbsp fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste

Shell the lima beans. Bring about 1/2 an inch of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add salt and lima beans. Cover, lower heat, and cook for about 10 minutes. The beans should still be a little undercooked.

Heat oil and butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add tomatoes, sugar, and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt and cook until the tomatoes have started to break down and have formed a liquid. Add the lima beans.
Cover, lower the heat, and cook for about 10 minutes, until the lima beans are cooked.

Remove the lid and add the corn to the skillet. Cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until the corn is heated through. Add more salt if necessary, and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Remove from the heat and tear the basil over the lima beans and corn just before serving.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Recall of the Week: Cargill Ground Turkey

2011-08-05T09:00:00.002-05:00

From the USDA Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection service website Wednesday:

Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation, a Springdale, Ark. establishment, is recalling approximately 36 million pounds of ground turkey products that may be contaminated with a multi-drug resistant strain of Salmonella Heidelberg, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

Here's some perspective: 36 million pounds is 18,000 tons of meat. That's about 2,800 elephants. Imagine how many people that would feed.

I just heard someone on NPR say that feeding low-levels of antibiotics to animals ensures the best quality of meat for the best prices. If that's true, then why is so much of it being recalled?

If there is anyone out there who is still surprised by these super-large recalls, then I have little hope that anything will change.

Chana Dal with Cabbage and Eggplant

2011-08-01T08:00:00.007-05:00

While we have had by no means the hottest weather in the country these past few weeks, it's been mighty hot here. And while I still want to cook, I just don't feel like it. So I make grand plans, but when it comes time to execute them I often end up waffling.

A few weeks ago my friend gave me a bag with some CSA items she wasn't going to be able to use before leaving on her vacation. I thought it was just going to be a few zucchini, but I also ended up with a bunch of white beets, a small head of cabbage, a radish (!) and 2 small kohlrabi. All lovely, but what was I going to do with it?

Several years ago, not long after I first started this blog, a friend suggested that I tackle the subject of how to plan meals, especially for beginning cooks. She said she knew how to follow a recipe, but she wanted to do a better job of looking at ingredients (either in her kitchen or at the store) and coming up with a meal plan that would utilize them.

At the time, I was really just starting to figure out how to do that myself, so I did not know how to put into words what I was just beginning to get a feel for myself. But the thought stayed in my mind and informed many of the posts I wrote, and it did start a project that lasted for a few months, that might just be worth reviving. It was interesting to see what items I had to purchase for my cooking, and what I already had on hand. I think I might have to start that up again.

Which I will do with this post in a less formal manner. I had grand plans for those vegetables, but heat and inertia caught up with me and I ended up using them more on the fly. Here's what I did:

Zucchini - Of the three, one went into frittatas and the other two I used as pizza topping.

Beets, kohlrabi and radish - I boiled the beets, then sliced them with the kohlrabi and the radish and made a salad with red onion, fresh oregano, and a lovely honey mustard vinaigrette. If I had any greens I would have added them as well, but I made do with what I had.

Cabbage - Ah, the cabbage. I had big plans for that cabbage but just couldn't get to the point of actually going into the kitchen and starting any of those dishes. By the time it needed to be used, I also had two small eggplants that were getting a little past their prime. I also have a large amount of dried chana dal right now, so I decided to make soup.

The picture above is a little fuzzy, but the soup was quite good. I combined a few techniques I had picked up from other recipes, most notably Madhur Jaffrey's recipe for Spicy Eggplant Stew with Potatoes, Mushrooms and Chickpeas, but it seemed more effortless to just start chopping the vegetables and throw them in the pot than it is when I am following a recipe. It wasn't perfect this first time around, but it was pretty close, and with just a few tweaks it will be excellent. I love the toasty nuttiness of the chana dal, but regular chickpeas would work just as well, or any legume for that matter. And any vegetables would work instead of cabbage and eggplant - you can use whatever you have on hand.

So this is a dish that, if you have the basics down, you can make any time with any vegetables. I also happened to have some chickpea stock in the freezer so I used that, but you could use vegetable or chicken stock, or even water if that's all you have.

The best advice I can think of to give someone who has just started cooking and wants to go further than just following recipes is this: Consider recipes as suggestions, and start looking at specific ingredients as recommendations. If you have some vegetables in your refrigerator that you need to use and you don't have any specific recipes for them, think of some dishes that you do like and imagine how they would taste with what you have. I think you will be surprised at how quickly you learn how easy it is to start creating your own dishes.

But recipes are still necessary, at least to me, if for nothing else than the "suggestion" of how to use something in a way I might not have thought of myself. And so I give you the recipe for my Chana Dal with Cabbage and Eggplant.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

CHANA DAL WITH CABBAGE AND EGGPLANT
Makes 8 servings

1 cup dried chana dal (or 1/2 cup dried chickpeas)
4 cups water
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger (or 1 tsp ground)
1 serrano pepper, chopped
2 small or 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 small head of cabbage, shredded
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala, or tandoori masala, or curry powder of choice
1 cup diced tomatoes, with liquid.
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup whole wheat couscous
Salt to taste

Sort through the chana dal and rinse thoroughly. Place in a medium bowl with the four cups of water and let soak for 2 hours. (If using chickpeas, let them soak overnight - or you can use 1 14.5-ounce can, drained and rinsed.)

After soaking, drain the chana dal and put it into a medium saucepan with 3 cups of water (to cover by about 2 inches). Bring to a boil, lower, then cook until tender, about 40 minutes. (The beans can be
cooked a few days ahead and refrigerated.)

Heat oil in a large pot. Add the onions and cook until just translucent. Add the garlic, ginger and serrano pepper and cook another 2 minutes. Add eggplant and half a teaspoon of salt and cook for about ten minutes. Add cumin, turmeric and masala and cook for 1 minute more, being careful not to burn the spices. Add the cabbage and cook for a few minutes, until it has started to wilt. Add the tomatoes, the stock, and salt to taste. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until the eggplant is tender. Add the chana dal (or chickpeas) and the couscous and continue to cook until the chickpeas are heated through and the couscous have cooked. Remove from the heat and add the cilantro and the parsley before serving.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Green Market Find: Fresh Chickpeas

2011-07-18T08:00:00.004-05:00

Every year at the Green Market I make it a goal to bring home at least one thing that I am either unfamiliar with or have never used before. That has become more of a challenge every year, as the list of items with which I am unfamiliar is shrinking thanks to this very project.

But so far I have been able to find something. This year was no exception, thanks to Nichols Farms, who decided to start growing garbanzo beans.

Garbanzo is the Spanish name for what many people call chickpeas. Growing up in Texas, I knew them as garbanzo beans and thought they were one of the most disgusting foods around. That is probably because I only ever saw them in salad bars, mostly in health food stores. I never saw anyone ever take any, not once.

My first taste of hummus helped change my mind. I still didn't like the beans themselves, but I loved hummus. And when I found out that falafel was made with chickpeas I was even more of a convert and even bought some so I could make it. And once I discovered how easy it is to make hummus, I always had them around.

But I still did not care for the beans themselves. They were so big and mealy to me that I couldn't imagine ever wanting to eat them just for themselves. But somewhere along the way that changed too, and now I love their solid nutty goodness and have been known to eat them in all kinds of soups, stews, and even all by themselves.

So when I saw these green little pods at the market this week, I was curious. One thing that makes them stand out from other beans I have seen is that there is usually only one bean per pod, sometimes two. Just looking at them, I would never have known what they were.

But once I held one in my hand, there was no mistaking them. I peeled off the thick skin (that dries into thin shell that surrounds the dried versions) and popped one into my mouth. It was sweet and fresh, and while it did not taste like a chickpea, it was delicious.

I thought I would post this picture of some dried chickpeas for comparison. They are as hard as wood and need to be soaked overnight before they are ready to be cooked. And even then, they seem to take forever to get tender.

They taste so much better to me than the canned beans, though, that I do take the trouble to cook them myself.

After I got the fresh pods home I got to work shucking them because I knew it would take some time to work through all of those pods. I bought about one-and-a-third pounds, thinking that would be enough to give me about a pound of the beans. But I quickly discovered that some of the pods, the darker ones, didn't have any beans in them. There weren't too many, but there were enough that I noticed. All told, by the time I had them shucked I was left with about two-thirds of a pound. Which, at 3 cups, was no small amount.

It wasn't until after I had shelled them that I did a little online reading, and one site said to boil the pods for a minute or two, then peel them. I do not know if that was necessary - I just boiled the shelled beans for about 2 minutes. They were a pale green when I first took them out of the pods, and you could clearly see the skins around them, much like the skin on a fava bean. I considered peeling them but decided to boil them first, and the boiling must have tightened up the skins because they are still there but you can't really see them.

But you can see what a beautiful bright green they are, nothing like their usual drab, tan color. It was a little weird because they feel like chickpeas, and they have a similar texture, but they don't taste the same as the dried. They taste faintly of regular peas, but just barely. They mostly taste fresh. That's the best way I can think of to describe them.

The guy at the market said they had been making a lot of hummus with them, but it made more sense to me to do something that would leave them as unchanged as possible, so I decided to do something that would leave them whole. I have quite a bit of fresh rosemary growing in a pot on the windowsill, and I have a lovely recipe for chickpeas simmered with rosemary and tomatoes that I had grown tired of and taken out of rotation a few years ago. It seemed like a good idea.

And it was a lovely idea, along the lines of of an Italian succotash. The garlic, rosemary and tomato were the perfect foil for the beans, flavoring them but not taking over.

But oddly enough, I think I prefer the dried version. Maybe it's because I am more used to them.

I was sure I had posted this recipe before, but I just looked for it and I'm not finding it. Maybe I took it out of rotation before I started this blog. If that is the case, I am doubly glad that I decided to make it. It's just as delicious with dried chickpeas.

Home Cookin Chapter: Beans and Vegetables

CHICKPEAS SIMMERED WITH TOMATOES AND ROSEMARY
Makes 4 side servings

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 medium cloves minced garlic
2 tsp minched fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3/4 cup crushed tomatoes
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 cups cooked chickpeas
2 Tbsp minced parsley

From The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook, by Jack Bishop (Houghton
Mifflin, 1997)

Heat the oil over medium heat in a three-quart saucepan. Add the garlic and saute until it is lightly covered, about 1 minute. Stir in the rosemary and the red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds more.

Add the tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste and simmer just until the sauce thickens a bit, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas and parsley and simmer just until the flavors have blended, about 10 minutes.

Adjust seasonings and serve immediately.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuit Topping

2011-07-11T08:00:00.004-05:00

I've been in a bit of a cooking slump lately. I'm still cooking, but most of my experiments have not been coming out as well as I had expected (or hoped, more specifically). My cooking tends to run in phases. I will have a burst of creativity where everything comes together exactly how I wanted it to, or at the very least, it is a tasty deviation.

But then there are those times when nothing comes together exactly as I had planned. I try to look at these as learning opportunities. It is all edible, just not something I would share with anyone. Add to that (or maybe because of it) the fact that I am working on my apartment and that is taking a lot of my time. I'm hardly even knitting these days.

It's a good thing overall, but I can feel myself itching to get in the kitchen. I do have some projects in the works there, which I will share as they occur, but I haven't really had time to sit down and work out any kind of cooking plans so everything is kind of a mishmash and nothing is going together. Which is making for some interesting meals.

Whenever I get disorganized in the kitchen, I tend to fall back on old tried-and-true standards. If they are long-time standards, I might play with them a little, but nothing too far outside the box.

Take this chicken pot pie with a biscuit topping. Some might say it looks more like chicken and dumplings, and they wouldn't be far wrong. They aren't quite as dense as dumplings are (at least the dumplings I have had - although I am from the south chicken and dumplings was not a standard in our house). I think one of the differences is that this dish is baked, and dumplings are usually cooked in a dutch oven, whether in the oven or on the stove top.

One of the last times I made this dish, I used turkey that I needed to get out of my freezer, and I forgot the baking powder so the topping, while tasty, did not rise at all. This time I remembered baking powder, but I forgot the sesame seeds. Because it was a spur of the moment decision to make it, I did play with some of the ingredients.

It came about because I needed a pot of chicken broth, but not the meat. I used several chicken quarters for the stock, so I had a lot of chicken for which I had no plans (and little inspiration). So I decided to make a version of my chicken pot pie.

The only problem with that recipe is that it makes a small pie, to serve 2 people, and I had a lot more chicken on my hands than just enough for two. So I doubled the recipe and changed around the ingredients a little. I did not have celery, but I had some beautiful cremini mushrooms, which made a lovely substitute. I threw in some celery seed to replicate the flavor, and that worked.

All told, the result was delicious. I am always pleasantly surprised by how flavorful this is. It's comforting and satisfying enough for a quiet night by yourself, and flavorful enough for company.

The topping did not rise quite as much as I had expected it to rise, but in looking back I am thinking I did not double the baking powder. What is it with me and baking powder? No matter, it was still delicious.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

CHICKEN POT PIE WITH BISCUIT TOPPINGServes 4 to 6

FOR PIE:
4 chicken quarters
Water to cover
3 Tbsp butter
2 large carrots, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
8-oz crimini mushrooms, quartered
3 Tsp flour
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp celery seed (optional)
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

FOR BISCUIT TOPPING:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
4 Tbsp butter (half a stick), cut into thin slices
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds

Place the chicken in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add water until chicken is barely covered (at least 3 cups). Bring to a boil and lower heat immediately. Simmer the chicken over low heat for about an hour. Remove the chicken from the liquid, let cool, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Pour the liquid into a bowl, reserving 3 cups.

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F.

Melt the butter in the saucepan. Saute the carrots for 5 minutes, then add the onion and saute for 3 more minutes. Add the mushrooms and stir for about 2 more minutes, until the mushrooms have darkened a little and have absorbed some of the oil.

Add the flour and stir to make a roux. Cook for about 2 minutes to cook out the taste of the raw flour. Gradually stir in the 3 cups of broth. Add the thyme, celery seed, and salt and pepper to taste. When
the sauce has thickened enough that you draw a line through it on the back of spoon, remove from the heat. Add the peas and chicken.

Pour into a greased 8 x 12-inch baking dish and set aside.

For the topping, place the dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk together. Add the butter and cut it in with a pastry cutter, two knives, or your fingers. Add the milk and toss briefly but thoroughly until a sticky dough is formed. Drop by heaping tablespoonsful onto the chicken mixture. Sprinkle the sesame seeds evenly over the top.

Place on a middle rack in the oven and cook for 30 minutes, or until the topping is browned and the chicken mixture is bubbling.

Let rest about 15 minutes before serving.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Black Bean, Corn and Radish Salad

2011-07-04T08:00:00.004-05:00

Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention, other times it is desperation that inspires.

Take this salad. I had all the makings for a delicious black bean, corn and mango salad. I made the beans using a new technique that I am excited about and will share after I have tested it a few more times to make sure it really works and wasn't just beginner's luck. The corn was fresh off of a truck (which, to be honest, I suspect had to drive quite a way to get to Chicago, but was sweet and delicious regardless of its provenance). Unfortunately, the mango did not seem to want to cooperate. While it was soft on the outside and smelled nice and ripe, it was actually as hard as a rock and not sweet at all when I cut into it. Not quite ripe I don't mind, but this was too hard even to cut.

I love the flavors of black beans and corn together, but they work best to me when they are played against a third equally strong ingredient that plays the two off of each other. Mango and tomato are my two favorite items to achieve that effect, but the mango wasn't going to work and I did not have any tomatoes. What was I to do?

I had brought home too many ingredients from the Green Market the weekend before, as usual. One of the items I could not resist was a bunch of beautiful Japanese red radishes, which I had never before seen. Since one of my goals is to bring home something with which I am not familiar or which I have never before used, they had to come home with me. I used a few of them to make a Russian red kale and Japanese red radish frittata (doesn't that have a lovely ring to it?), but I still had quite a few left and no real plans for them.

They are quite delicious, and slightly milder than the globe radishes whose bite makes for a delicious addition to a garden salad, but they still have that lovely radish flavor. The minute I thought of them I realized they would be up to the task and would balance out the black beans and corn beautifully.

And I was right. They add a crisp, juicy, slightly earthy flavor to the salad that frames the beans and corn, neither overpowering nor being overpowered. In a word, delicious.

Oh, I also didn't have any fresh jalapeno or serrano on hand. Cayenne added the needed heat nicely.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

BLACK BEAN, CORN AND RADISH SALAD
3 cups cooked black beans, drained (if using canned non-organic, drain and rinse)
3 cups fresh or frozen corn, cooked or defrosted
6 large radishes, quartered and sliced
1/4 of a medium red or white onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed or grated
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground (or ground smoked cumin)
dash of cayenne or red chili flakes
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
juice of 1 lime
1 Tbsp honey
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup fresh cilantro

Combine the first eight ingredients in a mixing bowl. In a small jar, combine the lime juice, honey and olive oil. Cover tightly and shake well. Add to the salad, along with the cilantro, and stir gently until everything is well mixed. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.

Best when made ahead and brought to room temperature before serving.

6/28/11

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Japanese Red Radish photo from Local Seasonal Eats

Recall of the Week: Dole Italian Blend Salad

2011-06-27T08:00:00.004-05:00

I knew we wouldn't have to wait long for the next recall. This time it's a precautionary recall of some 2,880 cases of Dole Italian Blend Salad.

The recall was issued on the 22nd. The Use-by date is 6/19. Seems to me it's a little like locking the barn door after the horse has escaped. No reported illnesses, just some contamination found in one isolated package.

This recall evokes another issue I have with the "three-times washed" packaged salads. Many people believe that means the produce is actually clean. I believed that too, up until the time I bought the package of three-times washed spinach and found a big old gooey glop of clay-like mud smeared over about a third of the package. I no longer buy packaged salads, but if I did, I sure would wash them regardless of how many times the producer alleged that it had been washed.

Organic Valencia Peanut Butter

2011-06-24T09:00:00.004-05:00

I have crossed a line, dear reader. I'm not sure whether it is for the better or for the worse, but cross it I have. Actually, that is a lie. I'm pretty sure it is for the better, all things considered, but it does make me feel like I have taken one more step away from the mainstream.

It started when Arrowhead Mills stopped making their organic Valencia peanut butter, a situation which I lamented here. Since that fateful day, I have tried several different brands of organic peanut butter, trying to find a reasonable substitute. The ones that had the right consistency did not taste all that good. The ones that tasted good had a bad consistency. Nothing came close. I thought I would never be able to enjoy peanut butter again.

I did find a brand that was palatable, but not great. I have been using it, but my peanut butter consumption has gone down significantly because it just does not satisfy that basic peanut butter craving. It has been over a year since Arrowhead Mills changed their recipe, and I have not found a decent substitute for it.

Hence the inevitable. Earlier this week I was at Whole Foods to pick up some organic apples, pinto beans and cilantro. While I was in the bulk section getting the beans, I noticed a bin of organic roasted Valencia peanuts. Hmmmmm. How hard would it be to make my own peanut butter?

And as you can see above, it's not hard at all. I decided to try a small batch in the processor attachment that came with my stick blender. I just sorted through the nuts, making sure to get rid of any pieces of red skin that was still attached to any of them, placed them in the processor bowl, turned on the motor, and let it rip.

At first I didn't think it was going to work. It did chop the peanuts, very fine, but nowhere near a paste, let alone a butter. I had read that it might be necessary to add a little vegetable oil to make it creamy, so I did (less than a teaspoon in all), and all of a sudden I had peanut butter! What a surprise!

But, I think if I had been more patient I would not have had to add any oil. This is definitely a first attempt, and there will be some tweaking to get it to suit my taste, but it's not at all bad for a prototype. Next time I will let it process longer and see if I can get it creamy enough without the oil.

When I think I have a keeper, I will let you know.

I am excited about this. It isn't that much cheaper to make than to buy, but there is a certain satisfaction in making my own. And I'm starting to think about other possibilities as well: almonds, cashews, hazelnuts . . .

The list of processed foods that I buy is getting shorter every day.

Tip of the Day: Frittatas

2011-06-20T08:00:00.004-05:00

I now make frittatas on a regular basis. I have started cutting my basic recipe in half and making it in a smaller pan so it is an ideal weekend breakfast. Actually, I have cut it down to 3 eggs, which is a little less than half, but that makes it the equivalent of the three-egg omelet I would have if I went out for breakfast so I can eat it in one or two sittings without too much guilt. In addition, I have learned a trick or two since my last post, and thought I would share them with you.

A few weeks ago my friend gifted me with an abundance of CSA veggies she was not going to be able to use before leaving town. It was an inspiring assortment of goodies - turnips, lettuce, Swiss chard, and a different green I had never before seen. I did a little online searching, but nothing I found quite matched what I had. It was more leafy than the greens with which I am familiar, with red, almost rhubarb-looking stems. I knew it could not be rhubarb, however, because rhubarb leaves are actually toxic and should not be eaten. Ha! That's an unplanned tip I just gave you, free of charge.

This is what my mystery greens looked like. I was stumped, so I threw one of the leafy stems into my lunch bag the next morning and took it in to work with me. I figured if anyone would know what it was it would be my boss, an expert gardener and an inspiration to me with her knowledge of all things flora and fauna.

And sure enough, I handed it to her and she said, "That's Russian red kale." Reassured, I decided it would make a lovely frittata.

And, in fact, it made three lovely frittatas over the course of the week. Yes, that's how much there was of it. I chopped up the stems and cooked them with the onion and garlic, and then added the chopped leaves just before adding the eggs. (Unplanned tip number two: When using greens that have a thick stem, don't discard the stems. Chop them separately from the leaves and cook them with the aromatics before adding the greens. They're full of nutritional goodies and you won't feel nearly so wasteful.)

I was forced (poor me) to buy some double cream cheese when I couldn't find organic cream cheese at the two stores I had access to when I needed it, then after I got the cream cheese I no longer needed the double cream, which freed it up for use here. You can see how lovely it looks in the picture up there, and I can tell you that it tasted delicious. A Russian Red Kale and Double Cream Cheese frittata is a very good thing, to quote some other person out there who cooks a little.

And here is another very good thing for a frittata. Instead of putting the cheese on top at the very end, mix about one fourth of a cup of grated parmesan cheese in with the egg and vegetables. It sets up beautifully and tastes delicious.

Now for the main tip. This is something I had heard from different sources, but didn't think it would really make that much of a difference, so I ignored it. Then I was watching the show "Extra Virgin" on the Cooking Channel. I love this show. I have always like Debi Mazar and now I think I have a little girl-crush on her. Her husband Gabriele Corcos isn't so bad either. Now that I think of it, I guess it would be more accurate to say I have a couple-crush on the both of them. They are just too cute together . . .

Ok, I'm back. On one episode they made a frittata, and Gabriele was quite insistent that you should mix the vegetables into the egg mixture and then pour the whole thing back into the pan, rather than adding the egg mixture while the vegetables were already in the pan. And since Gabriele was telling me I had to do it that way, I realized I had to do it that way.

And guess what? He was right. With this method, the vegetables get spread evenly throughout the frittata, rather than staying on the bottom. But you have to be a little careful or you will cook the eggs when you add the hot vegetables. You have to temper them. Here's how.

Saute the onions, garlic, and whatever other vegetables you will be using in one or two tablespoons of olive oil. While the vegetables are still cooking in the pan, crack the eggs into a bowl large enough to hold everything and add whatever seasoning you are going to be adding (I like to add about one-half of a teaspoon of crushed dried tarragon in addition to the salt and pepper). Whisk together until well blended and the eggs are frothy.

Take the skillet with the vegetables off of the heat. Add a scant spoonful of the vegetables to the egg mixture and whisk it in immediately. This will bring down the temperature of the eggs so they match the vegetables, and this keeps them from cooking. You can add another, bigger, spoonful of vegetables and stir them in, and then you can add the rest of the vegetables without worries.

When the skillet is empty, return it to the burner. Add about a tablespoon of butter and let it melt. Slowly pour in the egg mixture so it spreads the butter out ahead of it. Turn the heat as low as it will go and cook until the egg is mostly set, then finish the frittata the usual way.

EWG Shopper's Guide: An Apple a Day? As Long As It's Organic

2011-06-16T08:00:00.005-05:00

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently published the 2011 Shopper's Guide, which rates produce according to their pesticide loads. (For a pdf of the list, click here.)

Recognizing that not everyone can afford, nor wants, to only eat organic produce, the group publishes the guide so people can make more informed decisions about organic versus conventional when buying their food.

“Though buying organic is always the best choice, we know that sometimes people do not have access to that produce or cannot afford it,” said EWG President Ken Cook. “Our guide helps consumers concerned about pesticides to make better choices among conventional produce, and lets them know which fruits and vegetables they may want to buy organic.” - from EWG Press Release

According to the EWG, if you choose to eat your five servings of fruits and vegetables from the Clean 15 list, you can lower the volume of pesticides you consume by 92 percent, and you will be ingesting fewer types of pesticides as well.

Guess what debuted at the number one spot on the dirty dozen list this year (last year it was celery). Yep, it's the apple. So if you're going to eat one of those a day to keep the doctor away, you might want to make it organic.

Photo source: This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: Fruit picking, aka SAS training

Baking Class: Banana Bread

2011-06-13T08:00:00.004-05:00

I can't remember whether or not I have written about banana bread before. It was something my mother made frequently, I suppose owing to the simple fact that it calls for over-ripe bananas, and for some reason that happened fairly often in our house, even with six people living in it. I always loved the smell of it baking, but it was not my favorite sweet thing to eat. I hated most banana-flavored foods, but because it was so often the only sweet option in the house, I learned to tolerate it.

And I would even bake it as an adult, whenever I found that I had bought more bananas than I could eat before they turned. And while I still loved the way it smelled, the taste, not so much. I would take it to work or bring it to friends after one piece confirmed to me that my taste had not changed.

With this loaf, I am surprised to say, it has. This banana bread is moist, rich, and sweet, with just the right amount of banana flavor. I am not sure why, but I suspect part of it might be the ingredients, and part of it might be how over-ripe my bananas were. In addition, as I have grown more aware of the huge disconnect in this country between the food we eat, how it is produced, and from whence it comes, I have made the choice to use ingredients as close to their original states as possible.

So, the bananas are fair trade, the flour is white whole wheat, the butter and eggs are organic, and the sugar is fair trade organic evaporated cane. The baking soda is the only conventional name-brand product in the mix. And now that I have decided to do some research on that, I have discovered allegations that they test on animals, so I will have to look further into that and decide what I want to do about it.

In the meantime, this recipe is ultra easy to prepare. The trickiest part is making sure you have the ripe bananas, and that they they are over-ripe enough. This was so good, however, that I think there will be many occasions in the future when I will take a look at my bananas, see a brown spot or two, and decide that they are beyond edible consumption and I might as well wait another three or four days and make banana bread with them.

The recipe as originally written is just a list of ingredients and two short sentences. In those days, it was assumed that one would know what to do with the ingredients without needing step by step instructions.

Home Cookin Chapter: Breads and Muffins

BANANA BREADMakes 1 loaf

3 over-ripe bananas
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter,at room temperature
1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Peel the bananas. Put them in a small bowl and mash them well with a fork unti they have become liquid.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt, then whisk well to blend the ingredients together.

In a larger mixing bowl, beat the egg. Whisk in the melted butter and then the mashed banana. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.

Pour the mixture into a greased loaf pan (approximately 8 x 4 x 2 1/2 inches). Bake at 350 deg. F. for 50 minutes to an hour, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Homemade Mayonnaise

2011-06-06T08:00:00.004-05:00

Whenever I thought about making mayonnaise, I thought of failure. All I had heard about was how difficult it is to make and keep the emulsion, and how easy it is to break it and end up with an oily, gloppy mess. In addition, it is labor intensive; you have to add the oil drop by drop, whisking vigorously with every drop, which seemed both time-consuming and labor-intensive, neither of which have any appeal for me.

And then I read about a method of making it with a stick blender. You just throw an egg, some lemon juice, dried mustard, salt, and the oil (in that order) into a tall narrow container, and insert the stick blender down to the bottom of the container, turn it on, and slowly bring it up, and when you are done you have a nice batch of mayonnaise. It seemed pretty straightforward, so I tried it, and knock me down if it didn't work beautifully. The first time. I was hooked.

I was a little concerned about using raw egg, but not overly. I was already buying from local brands, if not organic, and none of the brands I buy have ever been listed on any of the recent egg recalls. But then I heard about Vital Farms eggs, which come from organic pasture-raised chickens down in Austin. I know it's always a crap shoot, but it seems the chances are less likely that there will be any contamination problems with these eggs. They are expensive, so like Laura at Wringing out My Sponge (which is where I found out about them), I use them only for mayonnaise or when I need raw eggs. So far, a dozen eggs has lasted me quite a while (and no, I don't worry that much about the best by date on eggs).

The only problem I had with the stick blender recipe was that it used a whole egg, and I wasn't sure what those egg whites were doing to the overall effect. I also wasn't sure what would happen if I used only the egg yolk with the immersion blender, however, and I didn't want to end up with an oily, gloppy mess. And then I read online about someone who made mayonnaise with a stick blender using only the yolk, so I decided to try it. It worked just fine.

But I think that was just beginner's luck. The next time I decided to make it I was not so lucky. I finally ended up with that oily, gloppy mess about which I had heard so much. I knew the way to fix a broken emulsion was to start over with another egg yolk, and then gradually add the gloppy mess. So I put another yolk at the bottom of the jar, added the gloppy mess, inserted the stick blender down into the bottom of the jar, turned it on, and slowly brought it to the top, which is the way to make mayonnaise with a stick blender.

But alas, it was not to be. I now had two very expensive egg yolks invested in this batch, so I wasn't about to give up. But I did know better than to try yet another yolk with the stick blender. I decided it was time to try the old fashioned, drop by drop whisking method.

It was an intense process, because I didn't really know what I was doing and you don't know if it is working properly until you're well committed. Never having done it by hand before, I was sweating it. I heard you should add the oil a drop at a time, so I was literally adding one single drop at a time. I don't know if you've ever tried to pour one single drop of oil out of a measuring cup, especially when it has failed mayonnaise ingredients in it as well, but it is a messy business. But I persevered long past the feeling that my arms were going to fall off and, lo and behold, an emulsion was formed and I had mayonnaise.

As you can see if you compare this mayonnaise to the batch up at the top, it was rather yellow from the three yolks, and it was quite thick. I added some hot water to thin it out and it thinned out to a more mayonnaise-like consistency.

It was not the best tasting mayonnaise, but it was good enough to eat, especially in tuna salad, which is where most of it went. And I was proud of myself for having finally mastered the elusive emulsion.

But I went back to my stick blender when I whipped up my next batch. And ended up with another oily mess. Part of me suspects it was subconsciously intentional because I wanted to see if I could do it again by hand. I could. With only two yolks it was not as yellow as this version, but it was still one more yolk than I wanted or needed.

The next time I decided to just skip the stick blender altogether. I felt comfortable enough with the hand method that it just seemed easier. And I discovered that when they say to add the oil a "drop at a time," they don't literally mean one drop at a time. They just mean in really small batches. So it wasn't nearly as labor intensive as the first two times. And since I knew what I was looking for in terms of successful emulsion, I didn't have to beat the mixture nearly as frantically as I had before.

The result was what you see in the picture above. It was my most successful to date, in look, texture, and taste. Much better than what I had been producing with the stick blender. Enough better that I have decided to use this method from now on. Yes, it is labor intensive, but I don't make it that often and when I do make it, I want it to be the best that it can be. And, as with every other condiment that I have started to make myself, it gets easier every time.

If you've never made mayonnaise before and are nervous about it, I would recommend that you start with the stick blender (if you have one), so you can get an idea of how the process works. I will post the recipe for that as well as the hand version. But if you are like me, it won't be long before you are whisking it up by hand.

Whichever method you use, I think you will find that it tastes so much better than what you find at the grocery store.

The first time I made the stick blender mayonnaise, I used olive oil. While successful, it was almost fluorescent green in color and tasted like olive oil. Which was not bad in and of itself and it was quite tasty with saffron added and mixed into this lovely potato salad that I made for a spice blogging event. But for everyday use, I like to use an unflavored oil like canola or grapeseed.

The biggest secret to a successful mayonnaise? Make sure all of the ingredients are at room temperature.

Home Cookin Chapter: Sauces

STICK BLENDER MAYONNAISEMakes about 3/4 cup

1 egg, room temperature
1-1/2 tsp Fresh lime juice, room temperature
1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup oil

Place all of the ingredients in the order listed into a jar that is just wider than the wand of the stick blender.

Position the blender at the bottom of the jar so that the egg yolk is sitting directly under the blade. Turn it on and, rocking side to side, slowly pull it up to the top. This should only take about 5 to 7 seconds. The mixture will emulsify as you bring the blades up, so you should have mayonnaise by the time the blender reaches the top of the jar.

Check the seasonings and adjust to taste.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

HOMEMADE MAYONNAISEMakes about 3/4 cup

1 egg yolk, room temperature
1 tsp dijon mustard, room temperature
1 Tbsp lemon juice, room temperature
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup oil

In a very small bowl combine the lemon juice, vinegar and salt and set aside.

Combine the egg yolk and the mustard in a small, heavy mixing bowl. With a whisk, break the yolk and blend well with the mustard. Add a scant dribble of the oil and whisk it thoroughly into the egg and mustard mixture. Once it has been incorporated, add another dribble and whisk thoroughly. Continue until you have added about one half of a cup of the oil, dribble by dribble.

By now the emulsion should be set and the mixture should be somewhat thick. Add about half of the lemon juice, vinegar and salt mixture and whisk well. This should thin the mixture but will not break the emulsion. Start adding the oil in larger amounts, about a teaspoon at a time. After the next half cup of oil, or when the mixture becomes unwieldy, add the rest of the lemon, vinegar and salt mixture. Continue whisking in the oil in larger amounts, up to a tablespoon at a time, until it has all been incorporated. If the mayonnaise is too thick, you can thin it with hot water, adding in small amounts at a time until it reaches the desired consistency. It will thicken in the refrigerator.

Creamy Root Vegetable Soup

2011-06-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Remember those braised vegetables that I mentioned in this last-braise-of-the-season post? This is the soup I made from them. It was super easy, and most delicious. I don't know if the picture does it justice, but the beets added a beautiful red tinge to the orange and a fresh tartness to the flavor.

This is more of a technique than a recipe. You just take your braised (or roasted - also delicious!) vegetables and put them in soup pot with enough chicken or vegetable broth (you can even use water if that's all you have) to just barely cover the vegetables, bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for a few minutes. Using either a stick blender (my preference) or a regular blender, puree the vegetables together until you have a smooth soup. Return to the heat and adjust for seasonings. If it's too thick, add more broth. Finish it off with about 1/4 cup of cream, milk, or even yogurt.

For a garnish, I highly suggest this Cucina Viva Truffle Balsamic Cream that comes from Tuscany. It was a holiday gift from a knitting friend, and it is marvelous. The rich, tart sweetness of the balsamic vinegar is pungently infused with the dark, earthy tone of the truffle.

Just a small amount is all you need to bring out the rich, earthy flavors of the root vegetables. I cannot wait to see what other things can be done with this wonderful condiment.

In the cold winter months, roasting the vegetables is the way to go. When it gets warmer and you don't want to heat up your house, braised vegetables make an equally delicious dish.

If my brief recap up above wasn't enough, the recipe follows.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

CREAMY ROOT VEGETABLE SOUPServes 4 large or 6 starter

2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1 large onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, cut on the diagonal 1/4-inch wide
1 celery rib, roughly chopped
2 medium or 1 large rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 medium or 1 large fennel bulb, cored and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
2 medium or 1 large beet, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted
1/2 tsp caraway seeds, toasted
2 cups tomato puree
2 cups water
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1-2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 quart vegetable or chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
Truffle balsamic cream, for garnish (or anything acidic - regular balsamic vinegar, sherry vinegar, or lemon juice)

Preheat oven to 325 deg. F.

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until just softened. Add the garlic, carrots and celery and cook another 5 minutes, still stirring frequently. Add the rutabaga, fennel, and beets and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the toasted fennel seeds and cook for 2 minutes more.

Add the tomato puree, water, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil and then cover tightly. Remove from the stove and place in the 325-degree oven.

1 to 2 hours, until the vegetables are soft. Remove from the oven and place on the stove over medium heat. (At this point you could store the vegetables in the refrigerator and make the soup later, wthin 3 or
4 days.)

Add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and puree the mixture, using a stick blender, or in a regular blender. Return to the heat and add the cream. If it is too thick, add more
broth or water. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Serve warm, with a small swirl of truffle balsamic cream to garnish.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Product of the Week: Moramarco 00 Pasta Flour

2011-05-31T09:00:00.001-05:00

Several weeks ago I took a knife skills class at the Chopping Block with my friend Nicole. I have been wanting to take this class for a long time and, since I have been trying to learn the proper techniques by myself (mostly via the internet - this is actually a decent video on the subject), I have been curious to see what I would learn in the class.

As it turns out, I learned quite a bit. I was gratified to discover that I have been holding my knife correctly, and my basic handling of the foods that were to be cut were decent enough, although I did learn a thing or two there. What I had not been doing properly, or maybe I should say to maximum effect, was the slicing itself. Every time you make a cut you must follow through with the knife on the board, positioning it for the next cut on the way back. That turned out to be worth the price of the class in itself. My chopping speed and precision have both improved amazingly since I took that class.

I arrived early, as is my wont these days, so I had plenty of time to look around the shop. They have all kinds of lovely kitchen tools, dishes, pots, knives and utensils, all top quality (and the price shows it). They also have a good selection of gourmet (for lack of a better term) food products, which seemed inordinately expensive to me. There were a few items they carried that I had seen for a considerably lower price at Treasure Island, and I do not consider Treasure Island to be expensive. So I just wandered around, looking, with no intent to purchase.

And then I saw the one thing I have been unable to find anywhere else that I have looked. Ever since I started making my own pasta, I have been reading about "00" flour, from Italy, which is a finer grind than the all-purpose flour we have here in the States. Several chefs swear by it for pasta and for pizza, so of course I was curious. But I was having trouble finding it. So I was pleasantly surprised to find it on the Chopping Block shelves. As with their other products it was quite expensive, but I decided it was worth the price to see how it compared to my regular flour.

It may be difficult to see in this picture, but this flour does, indeed, have a finer grain than all-purpose flour.

It also seems to be a brighter white. That might be due to it being milled from a different kind of wheat than we use here in the States. But it is an almost blinding white, compared to the off-white hue of the King Arthur all-purpose flour I usually buy.

I decided to start with a half-batch, using my usual by-hand process. The flour seemed a little more stiff than the all-purpose, but other than that it behaved pretty much the same. I was maybe a touch more elastic, and I wasn't sure at first that I would be able to roll the dough out as thin as I usually can roll the all-purpose. But in the end, the noodles looked the same. Now the test was in the cooking.

I decided to make a cream sauce with radicchio, which needed to be used sooner rather than later. The flavors seemed subtle enough for the texture and flavor of the pasta to come through so I could compare it to my regular pasta.

And I have to say, there was a difference. The 00 flour made for a denser, more chewy noodle. As for taste, there was a subtle difference that is difficult to describe - maybe a little more wheat-y, if that is a word.

The final result? There is a discernible difference between the two pastas. Whether it is a strong enough difference to justify the extra cost of the 00 flour remains to be seen. For now, I think it might be nice for special occasions, but the all-purpose flour is good enough for all-purpose use.

Mac and Cheese

2011-05-23T08:00:00.002-05:00

This is my second recent attempt at macaroni and cheese. For the first attempt, I used a pound of whole wheat macaroni and doubled a cheese sauce recipe. It was just a shade too much for my small casserole dish (but not enough for the larger one), and it came out on the dry side, but it was tasty enough for me to work on again. I had to wait, though, while I waded through the first batch. It's a good thing I like leftovers.

While I was working on those leftovers, I started thinking about my cooking habits. I grew up in a large family so I got used to cooking in large quantities. Even though I am no longer cooking for seven, and haven't been for a long time, I still cook enough to feed the proverbial army when I make certain things. I tend to cook in package quantities. When you're cooking for one or two, a pound of pasta easily makes a week's worth of lasagna, spaghetti, or mac and cheese. A head of cabbage makes a mountain of cole slaw.

While my knee-jerk reaction is still to cook certain items in large quantities, I am starting to be more conscious of it and I have been able to scale back on many of these dishes. Instead of using a whole head of cabbage for my slaw, I only use a portion of it, and then I find another use for the rest of it. While it was necessary to use two cans of tuna when I made tuna salad in the past, one can works just fine for me. And, most importantly to me (and for some reason the one around which I had the most trouble wrapping my mind), I started measuring out my pasta by the cup instead of by the package.

Which is why, when I decided to try my hand at mac and cheese again, I decided I could halve the recipe, which would still give me leftovers, but only for a few days instead of for the rest of the week.

It was easy to cut the ingredients in half. Because so much of savory cooking is a matter of taste, it is easy to cut back on ingredients. I will admit that it's hard to do in baking, when you have to try to cut an egg in half (but it is not impossible), but when you're talking about cheese, or meat, or vegetables, it won't ruin the dish if you have more of one thing or less of another. It's all pretty much a matter of taste anyway.

Cutting this mac and cheese recipe in half worked extremely well. It provided four generous servings that lasted me a few days. I was even able to skip a day without running the risk that it would go bad before I could eat it all.

And it was easy and delicious. It takes a little longer to make than the packaged versions, but it is just as easy and tastes much better. And I know exactly what has gone into it.

And if you do want to feed an army, it is easy enough to double the recipe.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

MAC AND CHEESEMakes 4 servings

1 cup whole wheat elbow macaroni
1 recipe basic cheese sauce (recipe follows)
3/4 cup grated cheese (any good melting cheese with some body)
1 tsp melted butter
1 Tbsp bread crumbs
1 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F. Grease a 1-1/2-qt baking dish.

Cook the pasta 1 to 2 minutes less than package directions and put in a mixing bowl. Stir in about a tablespoon of cold water, to keep the pasta from sticking.

Prepare the cheese sauce and add it to the pasta, stirring it together. Add the grated cheese and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Pour the mixture into the greased baking dish. Combine the melted butter, breadcrumbs, and parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the top of the casserole.

Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake another 30 minutes to brown the cheese and breadcrumb mixture.

4/26/11

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Home Cookin Chapter: Sauces

CHEESE SAUCE (Mornay)
Makes about 1-1/2 cups.

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 bay leaf
1-1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup grated cheese*
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
*any kind of melting cheese will do; I usually use half mild and half sharp cheddar

Melt butter in medium-sized saucepan over medium low heat. Stir in flour and cook until the flour mixture starts to bubble. Add bay leaf and stir. Raise the heat to medium high and stir in one-third of the
milk. Stir briskly until the sauce is thick and smooth, then repeat the process with the remaining milk. Continue to cook stirring frequently, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the cheese, mustard, cayenne. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baking Class: Bagels

2011-05-16T08:00:00.002-05:00

We are experiencing temperatures well below average this weekend in Chicago, so it seemed like an ideal opportunity to turn on the oven. I was in a bagel kind of mood, so that is what I decided to make. Bagels are deceptively easy to make. I always thought they would be a lot of trouble, maybe more trouble than they are worth. Which says a lot, because I think they are actually worth a lot.

I have a memory of my father making bagels. I must have been about 3 or 4 years old, and it was one of those rare occasions when he was home (he was a traveling salesman at the time). It must have been a weekend, but every day was pretty much the same to me so I can't say for sure.

When it was time to shape the bagels, he turned the balls of dough over to me and instructed me to roll them into snakes, and then shape the snakes into circles. I knew how to do that because I had already rolled out many Play-doh snakes in my short time on the planet, so I felt confident in my ability. I don't remember if my father told me to be sure that the circles were well secured, or if he checked my work, but according to my brother they came apart in the water bath and we ended up with bagel snakes instead of bagels. I don't remember that. All I remember is that they were delicious.

When I was growing up in Houston, there were only two places I knew of where we could get bagels. We could get them at Alfred's, which was a regular lunch spot for my parents and their closest friends and where we spent many a Saturday afternoon after Temple. And there was the 3 Brothers Bakery from where, in addition to a baker's dozen of bagels, on special occasions my father would pick up a dozen assorted danishes (cheese danish was my favorite, but cherry, lemon and pineapple were close contenders). (Heck, who am I kidding? I loved all of the flavors and plan to tackle them some day soon.)

Back to bagels. I found a recipe in Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Bread that looked quite simple. I always thought the boiling process would be messy and time-consuming, but it turned out to be neither. It's only slightly more complicated than pizza dough, which has become second nature to me since I started making it a couple of years ago. The dough only rises once, so it is not an all-day process. In fact, if you get up and get started early enough, you could be eating them for a lovely weekend brunch. Although I have not yet tested this, you could probably even mix it up the night before, stick it in the refrigerator, and then finish the process in the morning. (I'll get back to you on that.)

But whatever you do, I suggest you make them. It is virtually impossible to get real bagels, even in a big city like Chicago. What most people call bagels is just bread in a circle. Real bagels have a tough, chewy exterior with a dense, chewy interior. At least the bagels I grew up with were like that. These come the closest to my childhood memories.

Close enough that a co-worker who came into my office and saw one I had brought in for breakfast asked me where I got the real bagel. I told her I made them and gave her one, which she took home and toasted for lunch. When she came back, she agreed it was the real deal. That's all the validation I need!

The first time I made them I used different toppings - sesame seed, poppy seeds, garlic, and plain. After that, I realized that sesame seeds are my favorite so I just started making them all sesame seed bagels. Obviously, your mileage may vary.

The original recipe has you divide the dough into 10 pieces, roll them into balls, and use your thumb to make the hole. They made pretty enough bagels, but did not seem quite authentic to me. For the next batch I tried rolling the dough into snakes and making a circle out of them. I liked the way they looked more, although they were not quite as even and consistent as the thumb-punching method. Either way is fine, but if you use the snake-rolling method, be sure to roll the ends together well so they don't come apart when they are boiled. I have included both methods in the recipe below.

Bagels are good with butter, but really ought to be eaten with a schmear of cream cheese. (Lox is highly desirable, but not necessary.)

Home Cookin Chapter: Breads and Muffins

BAGELS
3-1/2 cups bread or all-purpose flour, approximately*
1-1/2 Tbsp dry yeast (2 packages)
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp salt
1-1/2 cups hot water (120-130 deg. F)
4 quarts water
1-1/2 Tbsp malt syrup or sugar
1 egg white, beaten, mixed with 1 tsp water
Toppings of choice (sesame seeds, poppy seeds, onion, garlic, etc.)

Measure 3 cups flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and whisk together. Add the hot water and, with a wooden spoon, stir it in vigorously. Add the rest of the flour, a little bit at a time, until the dough gets thick and heavy. Turn it out onto a floured work surface. Oil the mixing bowl.

Knead the dough for about ten minutes, until it is firm and solid. Add flour as necessary. Form it into a ball and place it top side down in the oiled mixing bowl. Twirl the dough around in the oil and then turn it over so the oiled side is now on top. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled, about one hour.

While the dough is rising, fill a large saucepan with 3 to 4 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Add the malt syrup or sugar and turn it down to a simmer. The water should just barely be moving. At this time, prepare a large baking sheet by covering it with parchment paper and then sprinkling cornmeal over the parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 400 deg. F.

METHOD 1:

Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured work surface and punch it down with your fingertips. Divide the dough into 12 even pieces and let them rest for 2 to 3 minutes.

Take each piece and roll it into a long strip by applying pressure with both hands in the middle. You want the ends to be thicker than the middle. Wrap the rolled out strip around your hand, overlapping the two thicker ends across your palm. Roll the two edges together, palm down against the work surface, until they are well connected and you have a circle of dough. Lay it on the work surface to rest and repeat with the rest of the pieces.

METHOD 2:

Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured work surface and punch it down with your fingertips. Divide the dough into 12 even pieces and form them into balls. Allow them to relax 2 to 3 minutes, then flatten them slightly.

With your thumb, press down in the middle of the bagel and work it through the dough. Twirl the dough between your two index fingers until it is about two inches wide and then put it back on the work surface (the hole will shirnk back once you put it down). Do the same until you have ten bagels shaped.

ALL:

Working in batches of two or three, place each bagel carefully in the simmering water. Cook for one minute, turning them over halfway. Remove them carefully and drain them briefly on a towel, and then place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. If you are not using parchment paper, grease the baking sheet. It is ok to place them close together; they can even be touching.

When all of the bagels are done, brush the tops lightly with the egg wash, and then sprinkle on the toppings - sesame seeds, poppy seeds, garlic, onion, or salt. Or, you can leave them plain.

Put the baking sheet in the middle oven rack and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. After about ten minutes, when the tops have just started to brown, turn the bagels over so they will stay round. Remove them from the oven when they are shiny and brown. Place on a metal rack to cool.

*any combination of bread, all-purpose, or whole wheat flour will work here. I have been using half white whole wheat and half bread flour. I think next time I will use all white whole wheat flour.

adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads, by Bernard Clayton (Simon & Schuster, 2003)

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Green Market Spinach and Potato Frittata

2011-05-05T08:00:00.003-05:00

The Green Market started up outdoors this week. Hooray! It is starting a little earlier than usual, but I am not complaining.

It was a little on the chilly side, but that did not stop me and Misreall from venturing forth. I was determined not to go crazy, but I ended up with a few more items than I had planned to purchase. I bought two bunches of spinach, some of last year's potatoes and a couple of turnips. Those were within the range of what I had planned. What I did not take into account was the big bright green head (bunch? stalk?) of bok choy and the container of freshly churned butter. I can live with that.

The bok choy will go into a pasta dish over the weekend. I plan to make clapshot with the blue potatoes and the turnips. The red potatoes (yes, I did buy two different kinds) will go into a salad.

The spinach (and one of the purple potatoes) has already gone into this frittata. With a hint of tarragon and some mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano cheeses it makes for a quick, easy and delicious breakfast that will last me the rest of the work week, and some. It's still cool enough to put it under the broiler at the end so it puffs up and browns the cheeses.

SPINACH AND POTATO FRITTATA
Makes 4 servings

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 baby blue potato, cut in half and thinly sliced
1 bunch of spinach, rinsed and dried and cut into strips
6 eggs
1/2 tsp tarragon
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 Tbsp grated Mozzarella cheese
2 Tbsp grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

Heat oil and butter together in an 8-inch non-stick oven-proof or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook for a minute or two, then add the garlic. Cook for another 2 minutes, until the onions are just translucent. Season with salt and pepper. Add potatoes and continue to cook until the potatoes have softened.

Add the spinach to the skillet, letting it cook down and soften. Turn on the broiler.
While the spinach is cooking down, crack the eggs into a medium-sized mixing bowl and add the tarragon, salt and pepper. Whisk briskly until the eggs are blended and frothy, and then pour them slowly into the pan with the potatoes and spinach. Lower the heat and cook until the eggs have mostly set, running a spatula around the base every once in a while to make sure it is not sticking.

When there is just a little bit of runny egg on the top, layer with the cheeses. Put under the broiler and cook for about 2 minutes, until the top has puffed up and the cheeses are brown.

Recall of the Week: . . . wait for it . . . Tomatoes!

2011-05-03T12:00:00.008-05:00

This time it's Salmonella. In tomatoes. Packaged by Six L's Packing Company.

No illness has been reported yet. For once it was caught before any ill effects were reported.

A mini victory.

Affected states are:

Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Canada

Details can be found here.

I will still continue to buy organic, and as local as I can find.

Photo from Six L's.

Curried Sweet Potato

2011-05-02T08:00:00.006-05:00

A weekend visit to Austin and a little bit of a malaise led to a mini blog vacation for me. I'm not sure the cause of the malaise, but I just did not have the mental energy to write a post and malaise sounds like a good enough excuse to me so I am running with it.

I also flubbed the recipe for the Easter post I was going to make and that put me in a bit of a bad mood. The general idea is still there, but I could not get it where I wanted it to be in time. Maybe next year.

I have become somewhat adept at improvising Indian-style dishes and I am quite proud of that. For the longest time I had reconciled myself to the idea that Indian cuisine was just one of those cuisines that I would never be able to replicate at home. For one thing, it was the food with which I was least familiar and I only had it on rare occasions. There was one Indian restaurant in Austin that I knew of at the time, and I was hard pressed to find anyone willing to go there with me on a regular basis. After I moved to Chicago and discovered a few Indian restaurants in my neighborhood alone, however, all of that changed and I began to enjoy it regularly.

But I still did not believe it was anything I could recreate. I knew true Indian cooking involved more than just throwing curry powder into everything. I would say that my spice cabinet was more broadly stocked than the average American cook, but the only Indian spice in there was curry powder. And I knew that was a shortcut spice, and not truly, authentically Indian (I was only half right about that), but regardless, it made everything taste the same, and I knew by then that most Indians made their own spice blends, depending on what they were making.

And then I found a recipe that looked easy enough and only had a few spices. I did not have any of them, but ground coriander and cumin seed were easy enough to find. As I have written before, the asafoetida was a bit of a challenge, but the recipe said garlic could be substituted for that so I didn't even worry about it, until after I made the recipe and loved it enough to seek asaefoetida out at my local spice shop.

After my initial success, I was inspired to keep going. Each recipe I made built on the ingredients I already had on hand, plus one or two new ones, so I never had to buy too many new spices at a time. And each time I made something new, I became more familiar with how the spices were used and how the flavor profiles were built.

It wasn't long before I was grinding my own spices and making my own spice blends.

And creating my own dishes. Like this curried sweet potato. This dish was born out the fact that I had some chapati dough to use up and nothing with which to eat it. I wanted something I could whip up fast. I had stopped at the store on the way home from work and grabbed a couple of organic tomatoes, some red onion and a sweet potato. From there it was a quick half hour to a hearty, satisfying dinner.

I did not use every spice in my cabinet, contrary to what you might think from looking at the list. If there are any spices that you don't have, or don't like, just leave them out. Heck, you could even just use a tablespoon of your favorite curry powder and call it a day. I'm sure the result will be just as delicious.

How did I make the chapatis? That's for another post.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

CURRIED SWEET POTATO
Makes 4 servings

1 medium to large sweet potato (about 1 lb), peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Cayenne pepper to taste
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup vegetable broth or water
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Place chopped sweet potatoes with cold water to cover in 3-quart saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until just tender, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet. Add mustard seeds. When they begin to pop add the onion and cook for about 1 minute, then add garlic and ginger. Cook until the onions are soft and translucent.

Add the coriander, garam masala, paprika, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon and cayennte. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook for an additional 2 minutes to let the spices bloom. Do not let them burn.

Add the tomatoes and cook for another 10 minutes, until they have cooked down and formed a thick sauce. Add the sweet potatoes and the vegetable broth. Cook until the sweet potatoes are heated through. With a fork or a potato masher, crush the sweet potatoes to desired consistency, leaving them somewhat lumpy.

Remove from the heat and add the cilantro. Serve with chapatis or rice and garnish with more cilantro.
4/27/2011

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Braised Pot Roast with Fennel Seeds

2011-04-21T13:00:00.002-05:00

Even with Passover underway and Easter on the doorstep, the weather here has been cold enough (with one exception which I don't even want to discuss) for one last braising hurrah.

And this one is a doozy, wherein I learn, once again, that less actually can be more.

I didn't have any stock in the freezer so I wasn't sure what to use for the braising liquid for this pot roast. I did, however, have some leftover canned tomatoes in the refrigerator and I wasn't going to be making any pizza soon, so I decided I could puree that up with my handy dandy stick blender and braise the pot roast and root vegetables in that.

I wasn't sure how to season it and I was feeling a little lazy, so I decided to just throw some fennels seeds into the oil before adding the vegetables and call it a day. With a couple of bay leaves, salt, and pepper, it was delicious. The brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and apple cider vinegar both sweetened and kicked up the flavor.

I decided to try my hand at dumplings and used a recipe from the Settlement Cookbook and they were ok, but nothing special. And of course this would be delicious with any of the usual side suspects - mashed potatoes, polenta, rice, or noodles.

If you have any cool temperatures left this season, I strongly recommend you make this dish. If not, save it and pull it out at the first sign of autumn chill. You won't regret it.

How do I know? I've already made it again twice.

This is the kind of recipe to use as a guideline. Don't have red onion and a shallot or two? I didn't have anything else so that's why I used them. I have also used leeks and regular onion and they all worked out perfectly. The same goes for the root vegetables - parsnips would probably be good, or beets, and potatoes would be especially nice.

You don't even need the meat. The last time I made this I had a rutabaga, fennel, sweet potato, and beets that all needed to be used pronto. I also added caraway seeds in a flash of inspiration which turned out to be a brilliant idea. I braised them up and then made soup, which I am eating right now for lunch. Perfection.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

POT ROAST WITH FENNEL SEEDS
2-1/2 to 3 lb chuck shoulder roast
Garlic powder
Paprika
2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted
1/2 tsp caraway seeds (optional)
1/4 red onion, roughly chopped
2 shallots, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, cut on the diagonal 1/4-inch wide
1 celery rib, roughly chopped
1 medium to large rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes*
1 large fennel, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups tomato puree
2 cups water (or vegetable broth)
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1-2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 deg. F.

Place roast on an aluminum-lined rimmed baking sheet and season liberally with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Place in the oven and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until the top is browned. Turn the
roast over and season the other side with salt, peper, garlic powder and paprika. Return to the oven and cook another 5 to 10 minutes, until that side is also browned. Remove from the oven and lower the heat to 325 deg. F.

While the meat is browning, heat the oil in a dutch oven large enough to hold the meat over medium-high heat. Add the onions and shallots and let them cook, stirring frequently, until just softened. Add the garlic, carrots and celery and cook another 5 minutes, still stirring frequently. Add the rutabaga and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the toasted fennel seeds and cook for 2 minutes more.

Nestle the meat into the vegetables. Add the tomato puree, water, Worcestershire sauce, brown subar, and apple cider vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil and then cover tightly. Remove from the stove and place in the 325-degree oven.

Cook for 2 to 3 hours, until the vegetables are soft and the meat is falling from the bone. Remove the meat from the dutch oven and continue to cook the remaining liquid, if necessary, until it reaches the
desired thickness.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Matzoh Brei (Fried Matzoh)

2011-04-18T08:00:00.002-05:00

Passover begins at sundown tonight. While I no longer celebrate it, I have many fond memories of Passover seders from my childhood. Unfortunately, the food is not one of them.

Except that, in a way, it is. My mother, never the most enthusiastic of cooks, happened to make the best matzoh ball soup I have had to date, and my father made a mean chopped liver, which is one of the few dishes that is actually better to me with matzoh than with regular bread (challah being a close second). The charoset, sweetened with concord grape wine and honey, was always welcome. And I was one of those rare childs who actually liked gefilte fish, especially when paired with a robust nostril-clearing horseradish. (And thanks to this link, I know that is because of my Lithuanian heritage on my father's side.)

But the rest of the meal was somewhat pedestrian and a little bland. The roast chicken was adequate, the frozen broccoli was usually overcooked, the matzoh stuffing was a far, disappointing cry from the Pepperidge Farms stuffing that accompanied our Thanksgiving and Christmas (yes, I get the irony) turkeys. And the sponge cake with either whipped cream and strawberries or chocolate sauce? Only good because it was the only dessert we were going to get, unless we wanted to eat the stale chocolate-covered coconut Passover macaroons our Great Aunt Hansi (who was neither great nor an aunt, but that's a different story) brought to the seder every year. Like the ubiquitous Christmas fruitcake, it might even have been the same box. Passover chocolate is not the best chocolate, but when it is covering the dreaded shredded coconut, it is awful. And yet, every year I would take one and take a gingerly bite, hoping against hope that it had somehow miraculously turned into a Snicker's bar but, alas, no such luck.

And the week would get progressively worse. There is only so much matzoh and butter or matzoh and peanut butter a schoolchild can tolerate at lunchtime. And tuna or chicken salad and matzoh sandwiches leave a lot to be desired. So, much as I actually did enjoy the seder, not to mention the four glasses of concord wine we were allowed - nay, required - to drink, the rest of the week dragged. Especially if Easter happened to fall during Passover, because my all-time favorite sandwich in the world was an egg salad sandwich, and my mother only made them on special occasions, and after we had gathered the 3 or 4 dozen dyed hard-boiled eggs the easter bunny had hidden all around our yard on Easter Sunday. Normally, that meant egg salad sandwiches for a week! Sometimes, though, it meant egg salad matzoh sandwiches, which was always such a disappointment to me because I knew it might well be a year before I would see egg salad again.

But I digress. And there was one other dish that made it much easier to give up bread for the duration. And that was my father's fried matzoh, or matzoh brei as I have come to learn it is called.

Matzoh brei is basically a version of french toast that uses matzoh instead of bread. You take the matzoh, break it into pieces, pour boiling water over it over a colander, coat it with an egg mixture, and fry it in butter or oil until the egg sets.

I used to love to watch my father break up the matzoh and run it under the faucet, then mix it up with the eggs and cook it over a low heat in the same electric skillet in which he worked such wonderful hash brown magic. When it was done, we would eat it with strawberry jam or apple jelly, and it was delicious with either. For some reason, it did not go well with syrup. Believe me, I tried. I think strawberry jam was my favorite, although these days my jam of choice is apricot or cherry.

As with my father's hash browns, I had trouble replicating his skill the times I tried to make fried matzoh in the past. Mostly, I think, it is because I did not have a recipe and just tried to follow what I remembered him doing back when I was a child. It always came out ok, but the matzoh was either too hard or too soggy. I could not find that perfect balance of water and egg to get the soft-on-the-inside crunchy-on-the-outside perfection.

I don't know when it occurred to me to look for the recipe in The Settlement Cookbook or why it hadn't occurred to me earlier, but look I did, and there I found the recipe.

It turns out that the secret is boiling water. Who knew? After the water has been poured and drained, you fold the matzoh into the egg mixture, then cook it in a large skillet.

The secret is that you cook it over a low heat and do not touch it for a while. Like Dad's hash browns, this dish does require some patience. Of course, it doesn't take nearly as long, but the lower the heat and, therefore, the cooking time, the softer the matzoh gets without getting soggy.

Matzoh brei is the only Passover dish I would have gladly eaten all year long. If you are looking for something special to get you through the breadless holiday, try this. As with other breakfast goodies, it can also make a delicious dinner.

If you are not Jewish or do not celebrate Passover, I would still recommend that you try it. It's quite delicious.

Home Cookin Chapter: Untried Recipes

MATZOH BREI
Makes 4 servings

3 matzoh
3 whole eggs
Salt
4 Tbsp fat or oil

Break matzoh in small pieces in a colander. Pour boiling water through them; drain quickly. They should be moist but not soggy.

Beat eggs well, fold the matzoh in lightly. Add salt to taste.

Heat the fat in the skillet, add the egg mixture. Cook slowly, stirring from the bottom as the egg sets. Continue to cook gently until the eggs are set.

from The Settlement Cookbook, Third Edition/Newly Revised (Simon & Schuster, 1976)

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

He Gives Food a Good Name

2011-04-15T12:00:00.001-05:00

I've never been a fan of Jon Bon Jovi, althought I have grudgingly had to admit that the man can act.

And now he's given an entirely new meaning to celebrity restaurant.

That's the kind of celebrity restaurant I would consider visiting.

I'd love to say that I thought of that title all by myself, but I got it from someone in the comments.

Photo from FishbowlDC

Baking Class: Pizza Blanca with Asparagus

2011-04-08T12:00:00.001-05:00

My pizzas just keep getting better, if I do say so myself. Now that I have the method down I am not making them so often, and when I do make them, I am looking for something different from the usual tomato, garlic, olives-plus that I make most often. My forays into different styles have had mixed results, in particular my attempts at a white pizza. It has been hard for me to find the right sauce to use, and then to use the right amount of it.

Two things made this pizza the best of my non-traditional varieties. One is the way I made the dough; the other is the white sauce.

Let's start with the dough. The picture doesn't even begin to do justice to how soft and smooth it was after rising. I could not get the thought of babies' bottoms out of my mind as I admired this before turning it out to make the pizza. I think I might have even kissed it (is that so wrong?). It was smooth and shiny and I could tell just by looking at it that it was going to be the smoothest dough I've ever made.

And it was. It had a more dense, crispier texture than my usual crusts, without being as hard. All this time I thought it was the white whole wheat flour that was making my pizzas on the stiff side, but I think it might be how I was making it.

What made the difference this time was that I paid much more attention to how much bench flour I was adding as I was kneading the dough. I don't like to have a lot of mucky stuff on my hands, and wet dough definitely falls into that category, so I have a tendency to keep adding flour until the dough does not stick to the palms of my hands at all. This time, I monitored it closely and stopped adding flour as soon as it stopped clumping onto my palms. It's a fine distinction, but the best way I can describe it is that if I move my hands quickly enough, then I can get free of the dough without it sticking, but if I move them more slowly it will stick. As soon as I reached this stage, I stopped, whereas in the past I would have kept adding more flour until it didn't matter how fast or slowly I kneaded the dough, nothing would stick.

And that, I think, is what made this dough so good.

What made the pizza so good was the sauce. I started with a basic white sauce and added a few items that were subtle in and of themselves, but enhanced the overall flavor. And they were simple ingredients - onions and fennel seeds. I sauteed them in olive oil before adding the roux and then took it from there.

The result was most satisfactory. I think I have finally nailed the white-sauce pizza with this one. It was not too saucy, not too dry, and the fennel seeds gave it a bright burst of flavor without being overpowering. It worked beautifully with the asparagus I had on hand (In season! Yay!), but it would work just as well with any vegetable.

To make the pizza, spread the white sauce over the dough. Add a light layer of mozzarella cheese, then spread out the asparagus, or whatever vegetable(s) you are using. I also added minced garlic, of course. After that comes a light sprinkling of Parmagiano Reggiano. Bake at 475 deg. F. for 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbling.

For my latest go-to pizza crust go here. If you're new to roux, here's the recipe for the white sauce.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

FENNEL AND ONION WHITE SAUCEMakes about 1 cup

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 medium onion, thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup)
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

Heat oil in medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Add fennel seeds and cook for 1 or 2 minutes until browned, but do not let them burn. Add onion and cook for another minute or two, until it is
translucent.

Add flour and stir well to coat the onion and fennel seeds. Cook for 2 minutes but do not let it brown. Add the milk, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Without raising the heat, let the sauce come to a boil. Lower the heat and cook until the sauce has thickened and coats the back of a spoon (run your finger through the sauce, and it should stay on the spoon on either side of the "line" you have created).

If sauce gets too thick, add milk in small increments to make it thinner.

4/5/11

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Oboy Obol

2011-04-05T12:00:00.002-05:00

Is it just me, or does this seem a little silly?

Do watch the video. Because, you know, everyone gets those urges in the middle of eating a bowl of cereal.

Photo taken from Obol.com

Recall of the Week: Jennie-O Ground Turkey

2011-04-04T09:00:00.003-05:00

I have been going back and forth over whether or not it is feasible to have a "Recall of the Week" series.

I mean, it's not likely that there could be that many recalls, right?

Wrong.

I wonder how long it will be before these recalls are seen as just the nature of how we do business in this day and age. Or has that already happened?

Photo from Minnesota Public Radio's website

Baking Class: Soft Molasses Cookies

2011-04-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

Before I took on the challenge of ginger snaps, I took a stab at re-creating one of my favorite cookies, Archway's molasses cookies, which I love, but will no longer buy, and would not buy even if they hadn't perverted that beautiful round shape with those stupid petals. They were soft and spicy and, other than the Dutch Windmills of which I have fond childhood memories (and which, the last time I tasted them several years ago, were nothing like my memory), the only Archway cookie that I would buy.

The last time I went looking for them I could not find them, nor could I find any Archway cookies on the shelf. A quick internet search confirmed that they had, indeed, closed in 2008. I was mildly disappointed, but was already not buying very many processed foods so it was not a terrible loss. I later discovered that Lance was buying the company so the brand was revived, but by then I was to the point where I basically could not put anything in my shopping cart that had HFCS, transfats, or chemicals in it.

So I decided that it might be interesting to see if I could find a recipe.

I found two recipes, both in Nick Malgieri's Cookies Unlimited. I have found the recipes in this book to be hit and miss, and this experience kind of highlights that. The first recipe was sounded like it might be the recipe for which I was searching, but it turned out to be a disappointment. The cookies, pictured left, were hard and smooth and tasted more of flour than molasses. I had not yet found my molasses cookie.

There was also a soft molasses cookie recipe in Malgieri's book, so I decided to try that. The result, pictured above, was also disappointing to me when I pulled them out of the oven. They were too soft, and too puffy, and had a cake-like texture and they also didn't have much of a flavor outside of flour. But I liked them well enough to take them to work and let ~~the guinea pigs~~ my co-workers taste them.

And to my surprise, everyone liked them. Some liked the ginger snaps much better, but there were a few who actually preferred these. And I must say, like gingerbread, after a few days they tasted much better. The texture got a little heavier and the molasses flavor got stronger.

There was one more recipe I had earmarked to try, from Tish Boyle's The Good Cookie, but when I read it over I realized it was basically a ginger snap. So I think I will let go of the search for the perfect molasses cookie (it was probably the chemicals and preservatives that made it so soft and chewy anyway) and go with the ginger snaps when I want a crispy, crunchy snap, and the soft molasses cookies when I want something a little softer.

I have not been the biggest fan of Cookies Unlimited, especially when measured against The Good Cookie, but in all fairness I should say that I have found some good recipes, that I will make again. This is one of them.

Home Cookin Chapter: Cookies

PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH SOFT MOLASSES COOKIES
Makes 40 cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup hot water

Set two cooking racks in the top and bottom parts of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 deg. F.

Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and spices in a large bowl and whisk together until completely blended.

In a different bowl, using cream together the butter and the sugar. You can use a stand mixer, a hand mixer, or good old elbow grease to do this. Add the egg and beat until the mixture is smooth, then add the molasses and beat that into the mix.

Add the dry ingredients and the hot water, alternating half of the flour mixture, then the water, and then the rest of the flour mixture, using a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl between the hot
water and the rest of the dry ingredients. Make sure the dough is well mixed.

Drop the dough by tablespoons onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, keeping them 3 inches apart from each other. Bake them for 12 to 15 minutes, until they have risen and are firm. Slide
the paper onto a rack to let them cool and then take the cookies off of the parchment paper.

from Cookies Unlimited, by Nick Malgieri (HarperCollins, 2000

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Golden Gown

2011-03-31T00:00:00.003-05:00

Eat your heart out, Project Runway: http://home.comcast.net/~ryannovelline/10.html#X

Not food related, but it does look good enough to eat.

Recall of the Week: Cantaloupe

2011-03-27T08:00:00.003-05:00

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm248103.htm

:sigh:

I can't even talk about it anymore.

Tossed Greens Salad with Fried Egg

2011-03-24T08:00:00.001-05:00

Sometimes, it's the simple things that make life most enjoyable. Sometimes, all I want for dinner is a simple tossed salad. Red leaf lettuce, arugula, frisee, radish, tomato (up there at the back, you can just barely see one peeking out), sunflower seeds and dried cranberries tossed in a home-made mustard and apple cider vinegar vinaigrette is a little piece of heaven.

Throw a lightly-fried egg on top and that little piece of heaven got much, much bigger. Crack the yolk and let it mix with the greens and the vinaigrette and you just might have reached nirvana.

Whole Wheat Pasta

2011-03-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here's the good news: white whole wheat flour makes great pasta. I used my usual half-pound recipe, but I started with less flour. I put a cup of flour in the food processor, two eggs, and a generous pinch of salt and let it rip for a few seconds until it clumped together into a ball. I scraped the too-wet dough onto a well-floured counter and kneaded it, adding more flour until it reached the right consistency - tacky, but not sticky. I let the dough rest for half an hour and then rolled it out. I was afraid it would not roll out well, but it was as easy to roll out as the all-purpose flour dough.

The roasted red peppers in wine sauce was decent, but nothing about which to write. When I come up with a better sauce, I will tell you about it.

Healthy School Lunches Are Possible

2011-03-18T11:00:00.003-05:00

In case there was any doubt, it is possible to prepare healthy, fresh meals and stay within the pitiful budgets with which they are allocated, at least here in Chicago.

This story in yesterday's Tribune highlights the work of Paul Boundas at Holy Trinity. Check it out if you want a little bit of feel good.

Photo from the Holy Trinity Website.

Hat tip - Eater National