Don't Talk With Your Mouth Full

Mini Lasagnas: Too Cute To Eat, Too Twee To Live

2011-08-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

This week has been productive as fuck. We finally finished painting all of the downstairs walls (just the trim to do, now), Jeffrey a.k.a. My Hero got on a very tall ladder and did the 30 foot walls in the entry AND put together ikea shelves - which are two things I hate doing, so, round of applause for Jeffrey. Finally started hanging art, finally unpacked our books and board games. Ordered a dining room set. It's really feeling like a home, now.

Last night we cleaned ourselves up and took a break to go wish our friend Nestor a happy birthday and drink some whiskey and eat some cake. May I recommend Berkshire Mountain Distiller's bourbon? It is tasty and immensely drinkable. I have tried almost all of their gins, and like them very much. I am pretty sure they have a small distribution area but if you can get it, do.

Before we headed over there, I whipped together some Muffin Tin Lasagnas. I may never make a regular lasagna again! They are so easy and the cook in a fraction of the time. I couldn't get a decent picture of the ones I made, so I suggest clicking the link and oohing and ahhing. I'm into the idea of making a bunch of muffin tin mini casseroles and freezing them for school lunches.

I did manage to take a picture of my pretty Greek Salad.

Not my best post, but I may have had more than one glass of that bourbon last night. I promise something with an actual recipe, later.

Chicken Tostadas

2011-08-10T06:21:00.000-07:00

You know what I love about Americanized Mexican food? It's all the same ten ingredients in different presentations. Take my Tostadas, for example; basically an open-faced taco.

This is a great meal for a busy weeknight. We needed something quick and filling before we went to the Britney Spears concert (it was awesome, don't judge) and these took about ten minutes to make and five minutes to eat.

Please enjoy the background of IKEA items that clutter my counter.

You can pick up pre-made tostadas like these (I find them in any grocery), or you can just fry your own corn tortillas. Then you pile on the fixings: meat, beans, sautee'd veggies, cheese, taco sauce, salsa, guac, you name it. Apollo Grill (aka my favorite) does one with goat cheese and sweet potato that is super good. Our filling, last night, was ground chicken with peppers and onions.

Ground Chicken for Tostadas and Tacos and Burritos and Stuff

1# Ground Chicken

1 red onion, diced

2 bell peppers, diced

2T chopped garlic

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

2T seasoning*

Saute' onions, peppers, garlic until soft. Add chicken and seasoning, cook through. Add black beans, toss to heat.

*I am leaving this at the vague "seasoning" because in this case I used a Trader Joe's spice blend and not everyone has access to it. I used the South African Smoke blend, which upon closer inspection appears to be smoked paprika, sea salt, garlic, and basil. I also added about a teaspoon of ground cumin. You could go with a packet of taco seasoning and just make life easy, or just dump in whatever you've got hanging around in the chili department.

Slow Cooker Beef Curry/IKEA trip

2011-08-09T07:15:00.000-07:00

That's right, I'm using my slow cooker in summer. What.

We've been through this before, I know. I lapse on my updates and I come back and ask for another chance. Come on baby, you know I love you. I just got a lot going on right now.

BOY do I have a lot going on right now. The last time I updated was March, and now it is August. In the past five months I have bought a house, been to the West Coast and back three times, decided to go back to school, and gotten engaged. It has been a beautiful, crazy year - and it is fixing to get busy. Not in like, the sexy way but like, augh where does the time go. I function better with a schedule, so I am looking forward to September. August is being spent doing projects and planning our Housewarming/Engagement party. I bought a turkey fryer. Shit is going to get real.

Yesterday, I dusted off the slow cooker because the kids had morning dentist appointments and then I had to go to IKEA and then I wanted to go to Crafty-Craft-Times and I knew that I wouldn't want to also cook dinner plus we had just had pizza. IKEA is my favorite, but it is also an hour and a half away - so we really have to make a day of it. We picked up all the staples from the food market (meatballs, almond cookies, caviar) and we like to buy at least one thing that we've never seen before or have never tried. This time, it was crab spread.

I'm a sucker for packaging. It's in a TUBE. Also, look at the crab. Look at him. Adorbs. According to the handy recipe cards that IKEA now supplies, this is eaten on rye flatbread with boiled egg. Sounds good to me! EDIT: It's frigging delicious, if you like that sort of thing.

Back to the slow-cooker. I skipped a month of our meat CSA share, because we were in California, so pickings are getting slim in the ol' deep freezer. I had a few pounds of stew beef, and I was afraid that stew or chili would be too heavy for muggy hot August. The curry came out nice and light and fresh-tasting. We ate it with couscous, which doesn't really require use of the stove because you just boil water and let it soak (and you can boil water in a microwave, if necessary).

Slow Cooker: Summer Beef Curry

2# stew beef

2 cans light coconut milk

2 tsp red curry paste

heaping tablespoon brown sugar

1 head of garlic, chopped

1 large red onion, diced

1/2# carrots, sliced

salt to taste

1 c chopped scallions

1 c chopped thai basil

chopped roasted peanuts

Brown stew beef and garlic in a hot skillet, then transfer to slow cooker. Add carrots, onion, and brown sugar. Stir curry paste into coconut milk before pouring over other ingredients. Cook on low for ten hours or high for six hours. Before serving, stir in basil and scallions. Serve over couscous or rice, with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts.

This comes out a little 'soupy' - easily thickened by adding a can of rinsed and drained garbanzo beans, or two diced potatoes at the beginning.

A Muffin And A Crumble Walked Into A Party

2011-03-11T13:41:00.000-08:00

I was invited to a party, I was told there would be chili, I volunteered corn bread, I also made dessert.

Elka and Eric threw their second annual pre-PAX shindig last night, and though I am skipping PAX this year I am always up for a party. They provided chili and rice and baked pasta and salad and strawberries and cocktails, so the least I could do was bring a thing or two.

I think I've mentioned that I don't really bake from scratch so much, but I am a big fan of "hacking" mixes (my favorite being pretzels and caramel on top of brownies. Good stuff.). I took Bob's Red Mill cornbread mix and added a generous cup of shredded smoked cheddar and a small can of roasted green chilis and it was really tasty, I mean really. The mix was almost five bucks at the grocery store, but it makes 20 good sized muffins so I feel that it's worth it. Plus, it's all natural and Bob's is employee-owned, so you can feel good about supporting a stand up company.

I also made McIntosh Maple Crumble With Candied Bacon. I did it a little differently - I chopped up the candied bacon and mixed it in with the apples. If you like bacon, I highly recommend trying it candied sometime. I will also warn you that I used maple syrup and the result is really sweet, so if you're looking to tone that down I would use maple liqueur instead. We ate the crumble with Burnt Sugar & Butter ice cream. Incredible.

Eggs For Dinner

2011-03-10T05:56:00.000-08:00

The other night, in the midst of my funk, I asked my Twitter friends/followers what they have been cooking lately. The number one answer was curry, followed by various stews, and one frittata. Yesterday morning when I woke up, all I wanted was frittata. Our fridge was barren save for the door full of condiments and some moldy ricotta cheese (I was gone for a week, don't judge) so I hit the store and then made frittata for dinner.

Frittata is like a crustless quiche. It cooks faster, is less delicate, and is a great way to use up leftover bits of veggies and meat you may have kicking around. I pulled the prosciutto and artichokes out of my freezer, and added things that I thought would taste good with those. Big hit with the family - the kids didn't realize they were eating artichoke hearts and Jeffrey said, "This frittata is frincredible." A high compliment.

I served with fresh multigrain bread, and mixed greens tossed in olive oil, lemon vinegar, sea salt, and cracked pepper.

Weeknight Frittata

6 eggs

1/3 c half and half or heavy cream

2 c chopped cooked vegetables and meat (or not meat, whatever) - I used swiss chard, artichoke hearts, prosciutto, and grape tomatoes

1 tsp thyme (or any herb that will go with your ingredients)

1/2 small onion, diced

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 c shredded or crumbled cheese

1 T butter

olive oil (about 2T)

Preheat the oven to 400°. You'll want to use a skillet, such as cast iron, that can transfer from stove top to oven. Beat the eggs and cream together. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Heat the skillet to medium high, and saute' the onions and garlic in the olive oil. Add the rest of your veggies and lower the heat to medium, the same temperature you would normally use to cook eggs.

"...but I always burn my eggs!" you say. Here is what I learned about eggs; you need your pan to be the right temperature, and you need to cook them in butter. You know how eggs always stick to the pan? Right. Your pan is either too high or too low, and you're probably using oil or pan spray. (Obviously the exception is non-stick pans, but I don't use those because I'm a snob.) If you are using a gas range, you want the flame to be just touching the bottom of your pan. If you are using an electric range, it's going to take a little trial and error since they wildly vary. On mine, the setting is "6". Start there and tweak as necessary. Anyway, back to the recipe.

Add the butter to the filling and toss to melt. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the filling. Sprinkle with cheese. Now you're going to let it set. That means don't touch it for a couple minutes, but watch for bubbles in the center and for it to start firming up the sides of the pan. Transfer to oven, let bake for 10 - 15 minutes. The center will feel firm to the touch, when done. Let sit for 5 minutes before slicing.

Blah

2011-03-09T07:31:00.000-08:00

I have been so uninspired in the kitchen. As happy as I am that comfort food is no longer a secret shame, I am actually getting tired of macaroni & cheese and short ribs. Every restaurant I go to, every magazine I pick up, every website I visit is prominently featuring heavy, rich, meaty and cheesy dishes. Not that there's anything wrong with it - but that's in my wheelhouse already. There's no challenge in it for me.

This is also an icky time of year, food-wise. It's impossible to get decent vegetables, since they're all shipped from California and taste like cardboard. (Except winter squash, but one can only eat so much of that.) I'm yearning for all this snow to melt, to see the grass turn green, for the farmer's markets to open. I'm actually looking forward to the April mud.

It took me hours to plan our next week of meals, but I think I managed to incorporate enough different flavors to keep it interesting. Hopefully the family will agree and I won't be chucking five pounds of leftovers come Sunday. The lesson here is to always freeze extras right away. They say that they'll eat them, but they never do......

Spinach Salad

2011-02-08T16:48:00.000-08:00

I have three incomplete recipes/blog posts from over the past week saved as drafts. Sometimes I start writing the posts in the morning, well before I start cooking dinner, because evenings can be busy and I don't always have time to sit and do a whole post at once. In the case of two of the drafts, I didn't feel like the recipe was as good as I wanted - so I will tinker with those before final posting. In the case of the third, life got in the way and we ordered pizza that night.

Today's post is completely different than I originally planned. I was going to post a recipe for a blood orange and jicama salad that I made to go with tacos. I have made a few versions of this salad over the years, and it's quite tasty. However, last night's salad was not. It was pretty gross and I ended up throwing it down the garbage disposal...which is a thing I never do. I absolutely hate wasting food and will usually just deal, but this was just nasty. The jicama was kind of funky tasting and ruined the whole thing. I'm going to try it again another day, we'll see what happens.

Anyway, for dinner tonight I had made tuna casserole and a spinach salad.

February 8, 2011 - Spinach Salad

1 lb spinach - washed, dried, stems removed

1 red bell pepper, seeded and julienned

1/2 red onion, julienned

1 avocado - peeled and sliced, then tossed in 1 tsp lemon juice and 1/4 tsp salt

6 hard boiled eggs, peeled and quartered or sliced

6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Dress with a basic vinaigrette: 1/4c vinegar (I used cider) 1/2 c olive oil , 1 clove grated or pressed garlic, 1 tsp fancy mustard, 1 tsp sugar, s/p to taste

BACON WHAT LOL (I've been near the Internet too long)

2011-01-26T07:56:00.000-08:00

I swear I'm going grocery shopping today. Unfortunately, there is a forecast of two inches of snow. This means that the grocery store will be packed, because people are afraid of being snowed in and having to resort to cannibalism. I'm going in. If you don't hear from me in a day or two, it's because I cut a bitch in Whole Foods with a broken bottle of organic gluten-free beer and I'm in jail.

Spaghetti Carbonara is not exactly "healthy", per se, but it's tasty and filling and cheap. It is also made of things that I always have lying around the house: bacon, eggs, and pasta.

It can be a little tricky; the hot pasta cooks the eggs on contact. This means that you have to drain the pasta and immediately toss it with the egg mixture before the pasta starts to cool off. Now normally you want to get the pasta really drained and dry as to not water down your sauce, but in this case it's good to have some cooking water in there. Really the biggest hassle of this whole recipe is cooking the bacon. I have switched to the oven method and I am never going back. I heat my oven to 450 degrees. I line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and I lay the bacon out on the paper. I pop the bacon on to the middle rack of oven for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it while it cooks. Cooking time depends on your oven, the thickness/fattiness of the bacon, and how crispy you like it. Flip the bacon strips halfway through, if you like. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven, transfer the bacon strips to a paper-towel lined plate to drain.

The benefits of this method are as follows:

1) You can cook a whole package of bacon at once. More than one package if you need to!

2) No splatter mess, and your hair/clothes/house don't get that grody cold grease smell.

3) Easy clean-up; Let the pan cool and the drippings solidify, and you just grab the parchment from the pan and throw it away. I don't have to drain hot grease into a jar like my mom used to, I don't have to scrub a pan.

I'm telling you, it's the best.

Okay, so here's what you do once you've got your bacon cooked up and ready to go:

Spaghetti Carbonara

1# dried spaghetti, linguini, or fettucini

1/2# cooked chopped bacon

4 large eggs

2T cooled melted butter

1c grated parmesan cheese

1 c chopped fresh spinach

s/p to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions, just in case you are unsure of how to cook pasta. I am not here to judge. While pasta is cooking, beat together eggs, cheese, and butter in a large bowl. Set aside. Right before draining pasta, reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Drain pasta, and add to egg/cheese mixture. Toss to coat, adding reserved cooking water a little at a time. The eggs will cook on contact, the cheese will melt, and the cooking water will thin it out into a sauce. You want to use the cooking water as opposed to regular hot water because the starch left by the cooking pasta is what holds the sauce together. Toss/mix in the bacon and the spinach and serve!

I was a little skeptical as to how this would taste as leftovers, but I reheated some in the microwave and it's still totally tasty.

More soup? Sure, why not.

2011-01-26T07:15:00.000-08:00

Lately, all I want to make/eat is soup, so here comes another one. I know, my kids are just as thrilled as you are.

This recipe is one of those last minute meals that ended up working out really well. I was kind of slack on doing proper planning last week, and our meat stash had been whittled down to a few steaks and a package of sausage. Sausage is much more forgiving of the microwave defrost cycle so I started there. A rummage around the pantry, and I came up with;

Slow Cooker Black Bean & Sausage Soup

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 package of italian sausage, crumbled and browned
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
1 lg onion, chopped
2-3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1T chopped garlic
1T Italian seasoning - or - 1/4c fresh chopped herbs such as rosemary, oregano, thyme
8 c chicken or vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
1 28oz can of chopped tomatoes (in juice or puree, your choice)
a couple handfuls of leafy greens - such as spinach, kale, or chard - chopped

Throw everything except for the greens in your slow cooker and set for appropriate amount of time. Something like this, it doesn't matter if you set it high or low or how long you let it simmer. Right before serving, stir in the greens. If you add them at the end they won't get all manky. No one likes manky greens.

I served with a drizzle of basil oil and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. On the side we had warm crusty bread, and strawberries and goat cheese.

Sorry for the lack of photos, I've been spacing on it until we're already eating and I'm like, "Oh hey I should post this recipe but I'm so hungry NAM NAM NAM"

Squash Soup & Pizza Stones

2011-01-16T06:57:00.000-08:00

I'm going to be honest with you; I like snow when it's falling and for like, a day after that. Then it becomes an immovable mass that makes getting around rather annoying. I cleared a path from the front door to the driveway, but our driveway is so narrow that one ends up knee-deep in snow before getting into the car anyway. As I get older and my upper back gets more jacked-up, I am starting to be envious of all the old people on my street with snowblowers. When we buy a house, we are getting a snow blower. End of story.

It is soup weather, bitches*! That is just fine with me. I think it may be some kind of law around New England that 60% of non-ethnic restaurants must serve Butternut Squash Soup. The best that I've had is at Apollo Grill and since I used to work there in a former life I remember the recipe. Mwah-ha-ha.

BUT since I don't think Casey would appreciate me broadcasting the recipe for one of his key menu items on the internet, I'm going to give you a different version that I think is just as tasty. It is also super easy and CHEAP. In season, butternut squash runs about 39 cents per pound. If you have a farm share, you probably have a ton of it lying around anyway.

I cooked the squash in my crockpot. Slice the squash lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. I quartered it to fit, and cooked with 1/4 c water - high for four hours.

You don't have to puree' the final result, but I like a silky textured soup. This will serve four if it's your main course.

Butternut Squash Soup

1 medium butternut squash, roasted, skin removed

3 c broth (I used chicken, or strong veg stock)

1 onion, diced

1 T chopped garlic

1 stalk celery, diced

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2T butter

2T olive oil

1 c heavy cream or half & half (or milk, it will just be thinner and not as creamy)

s/p to taste

Sautee' onions, garlic and celery in the oil and butter. Add squash, nutmeg, and chicken broth. Lower heat and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Puree using immersion blender, stir in cream, season to taste.

We like to have it like Apollo serves it, with crumbles of blue cheese and shredded pear (or apple).

I also made pizza, using my shiny new KitchenAid mixer (best boyfriend, best Christmas gift) for the dough. So good! I like a big, bready, chewy pizza crust. I always use Red Star yeast and Hecklers' unbleached flour when I bake bread, and I recommend both. I started using a pizza stone years ago, and I'll never go back to pans. I have one round stone that I've probably had for ten years now, and then my friend Gary showed up with a stack of quarry tiles from Home Depot and I was all whaaaaaaaaat and he was all "duh". Quarry tiles are unglazed terra cotta tiles used for flooring. You can also use them as pizza/bread stones because guess what - it's the same material.

Here's the thing: Pizza stones are expensive. Quarry tile is cheap. A pizza stone comes in a size. If you want to make more than one pizza at a time, you have to buy more pizza stones. Quarry tiles are generally 6x6 squares and a box of ten or so is like, three bucks. I can line both of my oven racks end to end with quarry tiles and bake four small pizzas at once for less than ten dollars.

Like with a pizza stone, quarry tiles should be seasoned to prevent the dough from sticking. Just rub them with a little vegetable oil before popping them in the oven, the first few times you use them.

*Bitches like, "my bitches" - a term of endearment. You are all my bitches, and I love you.

Sharing Time

2011-01-14T05:50:00.000-08:00

Image taken from the fantastic site "A Year Of Slow Cooking", linked below.

I just have to pass along this recipe. I made it with pork ribs, and I lined the bottom of my crockpot with crinkled tinfoil. That kept the ribs from stewing in their own juices (lovely, but not what I was going for). Then I transferred the ribs to a serving dish and poured the pan juices right over them.

So so so so good, and so easy. I served with mashed potatoes, and a frozen veg mix called "soycutash" - edamame, corn, and red peppers - to which I added butter and sautee'd garlic and shallots. Everyone ate everything, even the vegetables.

Never Slurp The Stroganoff

2011-01-13T12:23:00.000-08:00

It snowed yesterday, and everyone freaked the eff out. Seriously, it's New England. We've seen snow before. The first major snowstorm of the winter always has people acting like fools. We took full advantage of the snow day, and laid around the house in a way only rivaled by the cats.

I had already planned Lamb Stroganoff for dinner, and it ended up being perfect for such a cold night. This recipe can be made with any ground meat, or even a vegetarian protein like seitan.

Easy Lamb Stroganoff

1# ground lamb

4 oz portobella mushrooms, sliced or chopped (I chopped mine to hide them from the kids)

1 diced onion

2 T chopped garlic

1 splash white wine or cooking sherry

1 c chicken broth

8 oz condensed cream of mushroom soup (I like Trader Joe's if you can get it)

1 tsp dried dill

1T fresh thyme

1 c frozen or fresh peas

1 c plain yogurt or sour cream (Greek yogurt is nice and thick and gives the dish a little tangy bite)

Brown lamb in a large skillet. Add mushrooms, onion and garlic. Saute' until onion is translucent and mushrooms have released their juices, about five minutes. Deglaze the pan with wine or sherry, add chicken broth and herbs. Bring to a boil. Add peas, boil for about two minutes. Reduce heat to low, stir in yogurt, heat through. Remove from heat. Serve with wide noodles. I tossed whole wheat egg noodles with minced garlic, olive oil, chopped parsley. cracked pepper and sea salt.

As a side dish, I steamed green beans. A traditional spinach salad would also go nicely. Stroganoff is pretty heavy, so you want to team it with some light vegetables to balance out.

I leave you with what I assume is the only song with the word "stroganoff" in it. They even manage to find a rhyme.

Do I get this stuck in my head every time I make stroganoff? Yep. Now I'm sharing.

Pee Poop (I'm five)

2011-01-11T06:22:00.000-08:00

While searching for this image I was subjected to Anne Geddes' photos of Celine Dion, dressed as a flower, holding her baby. YOU'RE WELCOME.

Here's the thing about pea soup: it looks like poopy. Baby poopy, really. I'm not even going to post a photo of the soup I made last night, because it is not a beautiful thing. It is a delicious thing, and you should not think about the poop factor.

Pea soup is easy, especially in a slow cooker. If you can't get a ham hock, get a bone-in ham steak and drop it on top of the other ingredients., then carefully remove it before you puree'.

Slow Cooker Pea Soup

1 bag dried spilt peas

6 c chicken broth

1 onion, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

3 carrots, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 sprigs thyme - or - 1 tsp dried

1 bay leaf

1 smoked ham hock

2 c (or so) chopped ham

Drop all ingredients except for the chopped ham into the crock pot, and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8. Don't worry, there is no such thing as overcooking this soup.

Remove the ham hock, bay leaves, and the thyme sprigs. Pick any meat off the hock, discard everything else. Puree' soup with an immersion blender. You could also use a regular blender, but for goodness' sake be careful with the boiling soup! Stir in the ham bits, and enjoy!

I served this with warm crusty bread, goat cheese, and sliced Honeycrisp apples.

I went out for our weekly Stitch & Bitch after dinner and drank a wonderful beer - Berkshire Brewing Company's Nitro Coffee Porter. It was the perfect beer for the weather (cold cold cold), but also would have gone so well with our meal. That's not something I would say about many dark beers, as I tend to like then on their own and not as an accompaniment.

Happy New Year! Resolve To Cook Dinner.

2011-01-03T16:06:00.000-08:00

I enjoy Googling phrases like, "cat in chef hat".

The Holidays are OVAH. Done done done. I love holidays, I love presents, I love the big deal of it all. I do not love how stressful it becomes for us to do business between October and January. I also do not love not having time to cook.

....but now I do have time! ...and I have been cooking! It is exciting - for me, to not be chained to the office and for the family, who is tired of pizza. Think about what I just said; My KIDS are tired of PIZZA. I know, right? This is the second week since I have gone back to planning our meals ahead of time and shopping with an actual shopping list.

As it is a new year, and some of us like to make resolutions and get re-organized and start fresh, I am going to reiterate my advice to you busy people out there; planning ahead is invaluable. I sit down on Sunday with a cup of coffee, my laptop, and maybe a cookbook or magazine if something has caught my eye. Since we have a share in a local meat CSA, I have a base to start with. For example, this week I knew I wanted to use a whole chicken, pork ribs, and ground lamb. I look at our family calendar and figure out which evenings I have time to prepare, and which evenings it would be best to come home to dinner already made in the crockpot. I try to work in at least one Tex-Mex dish (everyone's favorite) and one pasta (budget-friendly and versatile). As I choose recipes, I make a grocery list.

We have a whiteboard in our kitchen, on which I've drawn out a weekly calendar. On Sundays I update the calendar with everyone's appointments and activities for the week. Each day also has a space on which I write the dinner menu for that day. This serves a few purposes. It's a reminder for me of what we're having on which night, it keeps the kids from asking, "What's for dinner?" every day, and it makes me feel obligated to cook........because some nights I am sorely tempted to let them eat Trader Joe-Joes* from the can while I knit and watch Lie To Me.

Why yes, that is a cat with Miley Cyrus' face.

This system also saves me money. With proper meal planning and a grocery list, I spend an average of $150 per week on groceries (including the meat share). This is for a family of four, three meals a day (brown bag lunch for Eliza, Cammy likes to buy lunch at school, Jeffrey and I eat leftovers). We always have snacks in the house, and we usually have ice cream, and we drink nice organic coffee. I am no spendthrift when it comes to food, I just plan ahead and shop smart.

Here's our menu for this week, as example:

Monday: Crockpot Split Pea Soup, crusty bread

Tuesday: Turkey Burgers, Fries, Caesar Salad

Wednesday: Lamb Stroganoff on Whole Wheat Noodles, Sautee'd Green Beans

Thursday: (crockpot) Orange-Chipotle Pork Ribs, Mashed Potatoes, Soycutash (edamame, corn and pepper blend from Trader Joe's)

Friday: Butternut Squash Soup, Foccacia

Saturday: Black Bean & Sweet Potato Enchiladas, Fruit Salad

Sunday: Roast Chicken, Pasta w/ Olives, Lemon & Thyme, Spinach & Strawberry Salad

With the exception of roasting the chicken and the crockpot recipes, which are throw-it-in-the-pan-walk-away, none of these meals will take more than an hour to prepare. I looked in my chest freezer and my cabinets and took stock of what I had, then kept that in mind. The lamb stroganoff is because I had nearly all the ingredients already. The burgers are because the kids demand "kid food" one night a week, and Tuesdays are tough because E gets home from school at 5, but C leaves the house at 6, and Jeffrey is usually at the office until late. We have an hour together, so some kind of grilled cheese or burger or quick pasta is usually the best bet.

At least half of the week, I will make enough for leftovers. If it can be frozen (i.e. the soups, the enchiladas, the stroganoff), then I break it down into single servings with my Seal-A-Meal and pop them in the freezer. Single servings work best, because there is not usually enough left over for an entire second meal for four people......but I can grab a piece of frozen lasagna, take it to the office, and nuke it for lunch.

As for the salads, it's easier to just make what you need for the meal - but sometimes I will make lunch salads as I go so that it makes the next morning a little easier.

I'll be posting recipes this week, I promise! Now I am off to the kitchen, bag of split peas in hand. Have an excellent Monday!

*Trader Joe-Joes are the Trader Joe version of Spaghetti-o's. E eats them cold, from the can, for breakfast, like a hobo. Since they don't contain any HFCS or funky ingredients, they are better than actual Spaghetti-o's - or at least that's what I tell myself.

Shame Spiral

2010-12-12T06:47:00.000-08:00

Dudes. DUDES. I am so sorry. I haven't posted since August, and I feel like a jerk. I have let myself down. I hope you do not also feel let down by me, the jerk.

Basically what happened was; I got busy. I went to Provincetown (so fun), then I went to Puerto Rico (gorgeous), then the kids started school and it got busy at work and everything snowballed and the few times I did get to cook fun and/or interesting things I neglected to take pictures and also I felt like a slacker for not updating and I am so ashamed.

I have not really been cooking lately, since I'm spending 12 hours a day in the office frantically shipping packages so as not to ruin Christmas for a bunch of nerds*, but I will be trying to update as much as possible. Then, once Christmas passes, I have a lot of free time for a couple months while I hibernate. I live in Massachusetts, guys. It's cold and dark and it's all you can do you stave off the ennui.

If I don't get time to post before then, I hope you all have the best of holidays (if that is your thing). I will definitely be back right after Christmas, since we have some cool stuff planned for Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner and I want to show you the results!

xo,

H

* what up nerds, solidarity

Quickie

2010-08-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

I am home, briefly. I returned from San Diego last Wednesday, and this coming Monday I will be heading to Provincetown: The Gayest Town On Cape Cod. I am totally excited for the trip, as it will be a Real Vacation. I may even start working on Secret Project #2, while I have the time and am waiting for Secret Project #1 to begin. Projects! I hesitate to say more, I believe in jinxes.

In the meantime, I am cooking to use up the farm veggies - nothing too exciting, just broiled mixed vegetables with noodles here and a pasta salad there. Though I did learn that brown rice pasta is waaaay better than regular rice pasta, but you have to eat it the same day or it turns to glue in the fridge overnight.

Last night I thought that I was going to make steak on the grill with some awesome Cuban grilled corn and a potato thing, but then I accidentally fell asleep on the couch reading Scott Pilgrim 6 and by the time I woke up I was all "FUCK IT" and cooked burgers instead. I would have felt terrible had I not served a vegetable, so I came up with a ten-minute salad using Things I Dug Out Of The Fridge.

Summer Green Bean Salad

Pesto Vinaigrette

1/4 c wine vinegar

1 garlic clove

1/2 c olive oil

1 T pesto

Salad

1# fresh green beans, trimmed and blanched

1 large tomato, in 1/2" cubes

handful (about 1/2 c) kalamata oilives, roughly chopped

1/2 c feta cheese, crumbled

Toss dressing with salad ingredients. BOOM. DONE.

I served cubed watermelon to round out the meal. Hit with the whole family, even if C did pick out the tomatoes while making retching sounds. She's a charmer.

Twofer

2010-07-12T06:17:00.000-07:00

My, this has been an eventful week. Two engagements were announced, I saw an old friend after 6 or 7 years apart, we're shopping and packing and getting ready for our trip to San Diego/kids' trip to camp, and I tried to sit through New Moon. This coming week (we leave next Monday) is shaping up to be pretty busy as well! I am going to try my best to get a couple posts in, hopefully I will cook more than just quesadillas and cereal.

I've got two quick ideas for you today. First, and I cannot believe I've never done this before, I made Tea-Poached Tilapia. It was so easy, and so delicious. Time it right and the fish comes out flaky and tender. You could always marinate, Tilapia takes well to marinade, but I was literally digging around in my freezer and found the fish last minute and had no time to do so. I had only planned on making a veggie stir fry and rice that evening.

Tea Poached Tilapia

4 herbal or green tea bags (I used Twinings lemon ginger)
2 c boiling water
2 T chopped garlic
1 T minced or grated fresh ginger
1 standard bunch scallions, thinly sliced
4 tilapia fillets

Steep tea bags in boiling water for at least 10 minutes. You want a strong brew. Set aside. Saute' the garlic and ginger in approximately 2T oil until garlic is softened. Remove tea bags from water, add brewed tea to the garlic and ginger. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to a strong simmer. Add the fish fillets to the simmering tea, add the scallions. Cover, simmer for about 3-5 minutes until fish is cooked through. Salt to taste.

Now that you have it, how you serve it is up to you! I pulled the fish out of the poaching liquid (which you can save and freeze and use for soup, or to steam shellfish) and served it on top of jasmine brown rice with stir fried vegetables. I set out an assortment of Asian condiments: like chili sauce, tamari, plum sauce, hoisen, and let everyone dress their own dinner. A fruit salsa would be lovely. You can also turn this into a soup with soba noodles or ramen, and some bean sprouts and snow peas.

-------------------------------------

Cameron and I love pickles. Pickled anything. Cam is a fan of anything sour (Salt & Vinegar chips, sour candy), and if it's also spicy she is so down. I have a feeling that she will be the one that I eventually travel to China with, they appreciate sour way more than the West.

I want this to be the year that I can, or "put up" preserves but it has just been too frigging hot to boil mason jars. I'm also disappointed in the low yield of my farm share this year, not sure whether that's just how the season is moving along, or if they're just spread too thin, share wise - but I haven't been really getting enough of any one thing to justify such a large scale project.

Anyway, I'm messing around with refrigerator pickles. I prefer a fresh pickle over cooked, and I guess that this is technically a brine, but I'm really happy with the result. I've tried three, so far. Two of which are great, the other one I just put together yesterday so I can't taste it until the weekend.

Like a vinaigrette, once you have a base you can create your own flavor combo from there. You can use any kind or vinegar, though with balsamic you may want to mess with the sugar proportion since balsamic is so sweet.

Basic Pickling Brine (for one jar)

2 c vinegar
1 1/2 - 2 c raw sugar
1/4 c salt

"Jeebus, that's a lot of sugar!" you say, and you are right - but you need it to counteract the vinegar, especially if you are using white. You could maybe use less if you are pickling fruit (my next experiment), as the fruit has a higher sugar content than cucumbers (duh).

Cucumber, Garlic, Chives, Dill, White Vinegar, Lemon Zest

Cucumber, Coriander, Lemon, Ginger, White Vinegar

Radish, Red Onion, Rice Vinegar, Ginger

July, July, July.. never seemed so strange

2010-07-07T13:19:00.000-07:00

Augh, it's hot. We're going through a "heat wave", which in New England means that it's over 80 degrees. Listen, I know that it could be worse - but when your winter is half your friggin' year, you're so busy trying not to kill your family Shining Style that you forget what's it's like to be warm. Plus, it's humid and that is GROSS. We don't have AC, save for in Jeffrey's little home office*, and my small house is set up such that cooking on the stove raises the temperature substantially.

The weekend was for barbecues (it was Independence Day, after all), Monday we had rotisserie chicken, last night we ate at Apollo. Tomorrow and Friday we are invited out to other people's houses, but tonight I have to cook. Tonight is for cold food. Minimal stove time. Tonight is peanut noodles and fresh rolls.

I don't usually make peanut noodles from a recipe, I just kind of mess around until it tastes right, but I came across the following and I have to say that it tastes exactly how I want it to. (I added more garlic and an extra tablespoon of vinegar, but that's just me. I also used whole wheat vermicelli)

Cold Peanut Noodles

recipe courtesy of Catherine Newman

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup orange juice
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon ginger, freshly grated
1/4 cup hot water
1 pound angel hair pasta, cooked, drained and rinsed
2 scallions, very thinly sliced (optional)
1 English cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced into long, narrow strips, then cut crosswise
2 tablespoons cilantro, coarsely chopped (optional)

Whisk together first 9 ingredients in a large bowl. Add pasta, scallions, cucumber, and cilantro, and use your fingers to toss and coat the noodles. Add salt or more vinegar if it isn't as vibrant as you like. Let sit at room temperature if you're going to eat fairly soon — otherwise refrigerate.

Our accompaniment was asian-inspired fresh rolls. These are a great way to trick children into eating salad, by the way. There are near endless possibilities as to what you can put in these light, tasty, little packages; once you get the hang of rolling them you will want to make them all the time. I like to put rice noodles in there, usually, but since noodles were the main course it seemed like overkill. Tonight was simple, using what I had on hand.

Chicken, Basil, & Romaine Fresh Rolls

1T rice vinegar
1T soy sauce
1 tsp raw sugar
1 small clove of garlic, pressed or minced
1 tsp fish sauce
zest & juice of 1 lime
2 c cooked chicken, shredded
4 c chiffonade romaine lettuce
1 c chiffonade basil, any variety
1 carrot, grated
package of rice spring roll wrappers, available at any asian market

Whisk together first six ingredients until sugar is dissolved, then toss with shredded chicken. Let marinate for at least 20 minutes, then toss with lettuce, basil, and carrot.

That's your filling, now you need to know how to wrap it up.

First of all: spring roll wrappers come stiff, like uncooked noodles. "IF I BEND THEM THEY WILL BREAK, OH GOD." Don't be scared. Let me walk you through, friend.

1. Set up your work space. The bowl of filling, your package of wraps, a plate or some kind of dish with cold water, and a cutting board or dish to roll them in.

2. Lay one wrapper in the cold water. Wait 30 seconds. Take the wrapper out, being cautious not to rip it. If it falls apart, you left it in too long. If it still feels stiff, like it won't be pliable enough to work with, put it back in the water for a few seconds.

3. Place the wrapper on the work area, and a large pinch of filling in the middle.

4. Wrap it like you would a burrito, keeping in mind that unlike a tortilla this will stick to itself. You also have to work kind of fast so it doesn't get too tacky or soggy. If you don't know how to wrap a burrito, it's pretty simple. Fold the southern "flap" up over the filling. Bring the eastern flap over, then west. Roll it all north.

I have made a video that demonstrates. It was shot by my eleven year old daughter, who spends a lot of time making Ke$ha tribute videos and is handy with a camera.

Once you get used to it, you can soak the next wrap while you're wrapping. Serve as-is, or with a dipping sauce. An easy one is soy, fish sauce and a squeeze of lime. Thai sweet chili is excellent, especially when accompanied by sweet soy sauce. Hoisen, grated ginger, and a shot of lime juice or orange juice is good too.

*that we have totally taken over, the poor man gets no peace.

Musings On Body Image

2010-07-02T06:21:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about body image lately. I'm almost 5' 10", and I weigh about 160 pounds. This is the "biggest" I've ever been, not counting when I was pregnant and postpartum. I'm well within the BMI for a woman my height, but I feel huge - and that's not okay.

Maybe it's because I used to be super thin. Period stopping, anemic thin. I just was. I had a really fast metabolism on top of constant anxiety, and I couldn't have put on pounds if I tried. People (read: other girls) would comment on it, tell me how jealous they were. I was constantly uncomfortable in my own skin. I wore huge clothes (it was the 90's, after all). If you're tall and skinny and awkward, you get called things like "stork" and "giraffe". I hated my small breasts, my bony knees, my pointy elbows.

In my twenties, after I had both of my kids, I felt pretty good. I was comfortable enough to walk around in a bikini top (stretch marks be damned). I started wearing closer fitting shirts. I didn't really think about it very much.

It started a couple years ago. My metabolism slowed down. It was bound to happen. I passed thirty. My job changed. Instead of running around a restaurant five days a week, I was walking around an office and sitting in front of a computer. One day I notice that I have the dreaded Muffin Top. Then my tee shirts are riding up. Then I have to buy new pants.

"Who cares?" you say. "You aren't obese. You're healthy. It's all in your middle and there's not much there. Shut up."

See, that's what the rational part of my brain says too. But my rational brain is speaking in a calm level voice, and being drowned out by the shrieking hysterical part of my brain that's telling me if I keep it up I'm going to be a tall fat lady like Julia Child; towering over everyone and scaring the neighborhood children. I'll have to shop in men's big and tall stores and dress like a lumberjack. I'll have a heart attack at 40.

Where does this come from? Certainly not my family. They don't give a fuck. They're all shapes and sizes and I've never heard the word "diet" come out of their mouths unless it was immediately followed by "Coke". Not my friends, they're not exactly Bridget Jones types. The media? The American standard of beauty? Maybe? Who the hell knows, but it's stupid and I hate it.

The biggest thing here is that it's starting to affect my relationship with food. I don't want to have to hold off on the fries. I really like beer, and bagels, and butter. I don't want to feel guilty for eating mac and cheese......but it keeps happening. Considering that I eat mostly whole foods, that we rarely if ever get fast food and that a good meal makes me really happy, it shouldn't be like this.

So here is what I've been doing:

1. Exercise, and more of it. This needs to happen anyway. Exercise is vital in anyone's life, but most people hate it because "Exercise" is not fun. Going to the gym, running on a treadmill, working out in front of the tv while Jillian Michaels yells at you suuuuuucks. You feel like you have to do these sort of things, and then you resent it. Fuck it. Go outside. Go for a walk, go for a run, push your kid in a stroller or pull them in a wagon, walk your dog. That's exercise. Last night we went down to the town's ratty tennis courts (that nobody goes to because everyone uses the fancy courts at the private school down the road) and hit balls at each other for an hour. We were terrible and every third ball went up and over the fence, but it was really fun. Boom. Exercise. Think about what small things you can do in your day to day life to make it more active. Ride your bike. Take the stairs. Walk to the store. If you hate to Exercise, then don't. At some point you'll give up and be back where you started - getting winded walking from your car into Wal-Mart. Don't be that guy. Are you going to give up walking your dog or running around with your kids? If your answer is yes, then you are terrible and should rethink your life.

2. Don't count calories. First of all, the average person doesn't even know how this works. They're like midichlorians or something? Second, if you count calories, you will CONSTANTLY feel bad about yourself. It doesn't make any sense to me to feel guilty for drinking orange juice. It's the JUICE of an ORANGE for fuck's sake. I don't care about calories. I use common sense. Is the salad better for me than the fried chicken sandwich? Yes. Is the oil and vinegar on the salad a better choice than the blue cheese ranch? Yes. There you go, I just cut calories. How many? Who the hell knows - but clearly the salad was a healthier choice. Frankly, you could put fried chicken on that salad and still be pretty ok. Once you remove the bun, the mayo or whatever, and the french fries you're ahead of the game.

3. I don't own a scale. I don't weigh myself unless I have a doctor's appointment. I have no idea how much I weigh. It's somewhere between 150 and 170 pounds. I don't need to know. Do I feel healthy? Do I like the way I look? Am I getting regular exercise? Do I eat well, and often? If the answer to those questions is "yes", then that's the goal. Not a number. Numbers fluctuate. You can weigh 150 pounds, check two days later and weigh 152. Why would I want to beat myself up over 2 pounds? I'm not going to look any different, or feel any different - and maybe this time next week I'll weigh 148, depending on what I eat and how active I am over that time. By not weighing myself, I cut out all of the guilt and doubt and bad feelings.

4. I remind myself that I am raising girls. Gorgeous girls. I will cry if I ever hear them complain that they "look fat" or if I see them dieting, and will consider myself a failure. It's so important to teach young girls to love and respect themselves. Let's lead by example.

Solstice Cleaning

2010-06-21T16:15:00.001-07:00

It's the first day of summer, and I'm hot. Not "hott" like Christina Hendricks, but "hot" like sticky, and I smell like I've been riding the rails. My day has been full of various flavors of annoying first world problems, and as I was telling E how crabby I felt I knocked over a two gallon pitcher of fruit punch. Inside my fridge. It poured into all of the drawers, all over the kitchen floor, and into the dark recesses underneath the refrigerator. This is our third summer here, and as I helplessly watched sticky pink liquid run everywhere I realized that I have never moved the fridge to clean under/behind it.

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE F*@%ING KIDDING ME," I hollered while E tried really hard to keep a straight face, and I could swear I heard a laugh track and a sad trombone off in the distance.

Well, I really needed to clean out the fridge anyway.......and as I pulled produce out of the drawers I noticed that some of our farm veggies from last week were starting to look a little busted, especially the greens.

Woe.

If you catch wilty greens in time, you can bring them back to life by trimming the end and setting them in a big bowl or sink full of ice water. Sometimes they're just too dried out and/or bruised to make it back but it's always worth a shot. It will take anywhere between 20 minutes and an hour to see results. You'll be able to tell which ones are disposal-bound, because they're the ones that look worse after sitting in the ice bath - soggy and sad. I managed to save some lettuce and some parsley, my beet greens and escarole didn't make it, and the kohlrabi tops had started to yellow. Don't bother with yellowed leafy greens (and broccoli, for that matter). Most of them taste bitter and nasty, and are mostly bereft of nutrients anyway. The longer that produce hangs out after it's been picked, the more vitamins it loses. It's best 4-5 days after it's been harvested (buy local!).

The best thing to do, I decided, was to take the pile of vegetables and turn them into dinner.

Here is the pile.

I weeded out the fruit and put it back, made an herbed avocado and tomato salsa for later, saved the celeriac and scallions for slaw (look for that in a couple days), and started trimming and peeling and chopping what was left.

I sliced the kohlrabi into 1/4" rounds, peeled and quartered the beets, and peeled and sliced the sweet potato. I blanched them in a pot of boiling salted water for about a minute, then shocked in ice water, then set aside in a large bowl. I trimmed the snow peas and garlic scapes, quartered the haruki turnips, peeled and sliced the red onion, and set those in a second bowl. I marinated the vegetables in a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, some chopped garlic and salt and pepper for about a half hour (overnight is also fine if you want to plan ahead). I did so in two separate bowls because I didn't want to pick through before I put them on the grill. As you can see in the photo: I grilled the sweet potato, kohlrabi, and beets directly on the rack because they're bigger. For the smaller stuff I used my grill wok.

I heart my grill wok. It was pretty cheap, I've had it for years, and with a hot grill and a little practice you can make kick ass grilled stir fry. SO great for smaller pieces of food, like shrimp. Nothing falls through the grate!

After the bigger pieces were done, I took them off and sliced them up, then tossed them with olive oil and salt and fresh ground pepper. I sprinkled the whole deal with chopped fresh herbs from my garden.

The veggies were served with crusty bread and mushroom risotto. I didn't make my own risotto this time, I had a bag of Trader Joe's in the freezer. Like I said, it's hot. I was not about to hang around the stove any longer than necessary. Any kind of grain would be nice - or a quick, light pasta like aglio olio.

Super Fast Dinner!

2010-06-18T12:37:00.000-07:00

Time - we never have as much as we need. For most of us, it's because we have terrible time management skills. The internet has ruined us. For most people it used to be a luxury to be able to sit and read the newspaper, now we get all pissy if we don't get to spend an hour or two every day dicking around Digg or whatever. I've been reading a lot about how constant access to information is rewiring our brains, and it's scary. I've been implementing some new rules for myself; Don't refresh Facebook. Don't carry your phone around and check it every minute (I leave it in the car, my bag, the other side of the house, I don't give a fig anymore). Close the laptop if you're watching a movie. You don't want to look at Reddit, so don't (it's a time-suck, and it's stupid).

It HELPS. I get so much more done. I focus on one thing at a time. I don't want to stab my friends and colleagues (well, just a little less).

Even so, some days I don't have the time to assemble anything too complicated - but I still need to get something tasty-and-nutritious-that-is-not-pizza on the table for the fam.

If I don't kick out a frozen Trader Joe's entree (surprisingly tasty, but not enough in one bag to feed us all), my go-to is pasta. As I've mentioned before, I like to use enriched whole wheat pasta for it's flavor and nutritive value. One pound of cooked pasta, one jar of pesto (or about a cup of home-made, and 4 oz cream cheese mixed together is a big winner around here. This time I used Tofutti's 'Better Than Cream Cheese' so that Jeffrey could enjoy without pain, and I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised at how good that stuff tastes. Very very close to actual cream cheese flavor, tastier than store brand cheap cream cheese for sure. Before you drain the pasta, reserve about a cup of the cooking water, then mix it with the pasta, pesto and cheese. It turns it into more of a sauce by warming and thinning the cream cheese.

On the side, I made braised greens with bacon. Our CSA farm share just started up and that means that we have leafy greens to spare. I used bok choy and dinosaur kale this round.

Braised Greens With Bacon

1/2 lb good quality bacon

1 large bunch hardy leafy greens (kale, collards, bok choy, mustard)

1/4 c white wine

1 shallot, minced

Rinse and roughly chop greens. Set aside.

Slice raw bacon into 1/4" cubes or slices. Heat a wok or very large skillet on medium high, and fry the bacon bits until crispy. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Fry shallots in bacon grease until they just start to brown, then add white wine. Add greens, stir, cover. Cook, covered, for 2-3 minutes until greens are wilted and tender. Stir in bacon bits, season to taste with salt and pepper. Best served immediately.

If you add bacon to anything, my kids will eat it. Anything. I wish it was better for us.

Another Arabian Night

2010-06-15T06:21:00.000-07:00

The lighting in my dining room is whack.

Middle Eastern food is perfect summer fare - there's a lot of grilled meats and cold dishes. There is also the added benefit of their diet traditionally being low in fat and high in fiber, and rich in olive oil - good for your heart! I've been ready for a flavor change - as I've been doing a lot of Tex Mex, Asian, and pizza (the Holy Trinity in our house) - and I love the complexity of Middle Eastern cuisine. Pungent spice blends, fresh herbs, tangy yogurt, earthy grains; it's all wonderful.

On the menu last night were kofta (a grilled spiced meatball), cucumber/carrot/onion salad with yogurt dill dressing, and lemony boiled potatoes with carrot greens.

I've never made my own kofta, so I spent quite a bit of time looking up different recipes to see if there is a hard and fast traditional spice blend to use. Turns out that it varies by region, like barbecue here in the states, so I made up my own. There are also a few different ways to cook the meatballs, including skewered, baked, and directly on hot coals. I went with making little slider-sized patties on the grill. The only thing I forgot was some pita or lavash type bread, and I didn't feel like going to the store, but these would also be great stuffed into a pita with the carrot/cuke salad on top.

Spice Blend

This makes more than you need for the recipe - save the rest to rub on meat or fish - with a little olive oil - for the next time you grill!

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp allspice

1 tsp good quality paprika

1 tsp cardamom

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cracked pepper

********************************

Kofte

1# ground beef or lamb

1 T minced garlic

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1 tsp fresh mint, chopped

1 handful chopped fresh parsley

2 tsp spice blend

Combine all ingredients, shape into meatballs or small patties, and grill to preferred temperature.

Carrot Cucumber Feta Salad w/ Yogurt Dill Dressing

Dressing

2T mayo

3T yogurt

1T lemon juice

1 tsp raw sugar

handful fresh dill

s/p

Salad

2 cucumbers, seeded and sliced

3 -4 carrots, sliced

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

4 oz feta cheese, cubed or crumbled

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add carrots, cook for 1-2 minutes until bright orange and al dente (tender to the bite). Drain, then drop carrot slices into large bowl of ice water. (This arrests this cooking process and retains the nice bright color of the carrot as it flash-cools them.) Drain well.

Toss all ingredients with the dressing, chill for at least a half hour to allow flavors to blend.

You know in the movies when someone goes to the grocery store and they leave with the paper bag that has a baguette and the fronds of a bunch of carrots sticking out of the top? Yeah, what is that?

I am going to assume that if you have ever purchased a bunch of carrots that still have the tops attached, you have cut them off and thrown them away. Big mistake! They taste a little like carrot and a lot like parsley, and are chock full of vitamins. I used them straight up in place of parsley in the following recipe, so if your store only carries carrots in plastic bags just use parsley instead.

Lemony Potatoes with Carrot Greens

2# red potatoes, quartered and boiled

1 bunch carrot greens

1/4 c olive oil

2 T lemon juice

Toss, serve warm or room temperature.

Sunday Night Dinner Party

2010-06-14T06:22:00.000-07:00

My friends found a trivia board game in which you place bets (with poker chips) on whether or not your opponents will answer the question correctly. It is ridiculously fun if you enjoy trivia and not having any faith in your friends.

We played for the first time last night, after dinner and a dramatic reading of the first few chapters of "My Immortal" courtesy of E. I don't care if it's for real or not, it is the most amazing piece of literature ever written. (Yes I know it's four years old, no I had never heard of it before.)

Dinner was a series of "And And And Food", as my old boss used to call it. Lemon and Herb Roast Pork Shoulder with Spinach, Shiitake, and Goat Cheese Ravioli and Roasted Grape Tomatoes, Zucchini, and Garlic Scapes in Balsamic Brown Butter. Julia supplied a Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with vanilla Haagen Daz for dessert. We tried Lost Angel Mischief, which I picked up based on how I usually choose wine - the pretty label. I'm (mostly) kidding. It was really nice, very lush and berry. I could happily drink it all summer, it's an "easy" red and would go down well even in hot weather. Plus, it's a steal for $10.

For the pork, I dug out my terra cotta roaster that I usually forget that I have. I had used it a couple times in the past to make oven stews, but this was the first time I used it to roast meat. I'm a convert! The pork was so juicy, but still had a nice crust to it. The onions perfectly caramelized and nothing stuck to the pan. I'll definitely be experimenting with the roaster again soon. I picked mine up at TJ Maxx, years ago for about $20, a quick Google search shows that they're generally affordable and come in all different sizes. Mine has a glazed interior, which I would recommend as the clay will absorb flavors and the glaze will hinder that from happening.

Here is a thing that I like to do for pork, and sometimes for chicken; make a salt & garlic paste, rub the pork down with it, then roll it in chopped fresh herbs and a little bit of olive oil. Garlic paste is made by mincing fresh garlic cloves with a pinch of salt added in. The salt works to break down the garlic. (You can also add a little bit of lemon or lime zest in there for extra flavor) This is a helpful video, though I don't see why she's so fussy with slicing the garlic in the beginning. I just smash the clove with the side of my big knife, pull off the paper and root end, and chop from there. So much faster, and you're just grinding it down anyway.

I soaked my roaster in cold water for about a half hour, then added the pork, a sliced red onion, and poured a little less than a cup of white wine and the juice of half a lemon over the roast. Start in a cold oven, set the temp to 475, and cook for 45 minutes to an hour, until the internal temperature of the pork is about 160.

Home-made ravioli is not as daunting as you might think! My secret? Won Ton wrappers.* For real. You can get them at the Asian market for a couple of bucks, and you can keep them in your freezer until you're ready to use them. Then you can stuff them with anything! A little bit of cheese, your favorite vegetables minced or mashed, some ground meat, some chopped seafood, the list is endless. It can be a little time consuming while you're getting the hang of stuffing and folding, but I threw these together in about a half hour - 45 minutes if you count the cooking time.

Shiitake Spinach Goat Cheese Ravioli

1 package won ton wrappers (I use round)

12 oz goat cheese

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 c minced shiitake mushrooms

1 bunch spinach, stemmed and chopped fine

1/4 c vermouth or sherry (or white wine, whatever)

Heat a skillet on high. Sautee' mushrooms and garlic in a couple tablespoons of olive oil until mushrooms have released all of their liquid and begin to stick to the pan. Deglaze the pan with vermouth, add spinach. Sautee' until spinach has wilted. remove from heat and let cool. (You can cheat by popping the mix in to the freezer for a few minutes while you prep your work area.) When cool, mix with goat cheese and salt/pepper to taste.

Here's how to set up your stuffing station; take two cutting boards or cookie sheets and sprinkle a layer of cornstarch over each. (One is going to be your work area, and the other is where you will set the finished ravioli.) Two bowls: water in one, in the other a beat an egg with a teaspoon of water. A pastry brush would be helpful here, but I have used my fingers more than once.

Ok! Lay out won ton wrappers over board #1. Using the pastry brush (or your fingers), paint the outer rim of each wrapper with egg. Set about a teaspoon of filling in the center of each wrapper. Keep your left hand dry, pick up the ravioli with your left hand and fold it in half. (If you dip your right fingers into the water bowl, you can use that hand to tuck the filling into place without it sticking to your fingers.) Pinch along the seam, sealing the ravioli closed. Repeat until you're out of filling.

Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the ravioli one at a time - I do it in batches of 6 -8. When the ravioli floats, it's done. Since your filling is already cooked, you're just cooking the pasta. Fish each ravioli out using a slotted spoon, and transfer to a plate where it can sit and wait for saucification. (Real word, I say so.)

This makes quite a few, but you can freeze them before they're boiled.

This is one of the easiest sauces out there, and incredibly versatile. Also fantastic on chicken, fish, or roasted vegetables.

Balsamic Brown Butter

6T unsalted butter

2T balsamic vinegar

s/p to taste

Melt butter in a skillet on med/high heat until golden brown, stirring or swirling occasionally. Remove from heat, whisk in balsamic vinegar. Season to taste.

That's the base recipe but it's simplicity leaves a lot of room for creativity. When I made this last night, for the ravioli and roasted summer veg, I minced a shallot and about a teaspoon of fresh sage and fried them in the butter before removing from the heat and adding the vinegar.

*photo courtesy of Burning Pasta - I forgot to take a picture, and this is the brand I use.

Infinity Tacos

2010-06-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

How many different ways can one family eat tacos? The answer is infinity. (Infinity Tacos is the name of my Los Lonely Boys/Evanescence cover band.)

I had a small beef brisket from our CSA, and decided to slow cook it for taco filling. Since I don't give a frig about authenticity, I rummaged around in the cabinets and came up with a melange of ingredients to throw in the crock.

I rubbed the roast with Lime Pepper and Kitchen Bouquet, and let it sit while I chopped a head of garlic. I sautee'd the garlic in a few tablespoons of oil, and then quickly seared the meat on all sides. I then transferred the meat to the crock and topped it with a can of roasted green chiles, a couple of quartered tomatoes, a sliced onion, a half a jar of pizza sauce that I had in my fridge and some agave syrup to balance out the acid in the onions and tomatoes (probably about 2T?). Then I set it on low nd came back to it eight or nine hours later. I took the roast out, shredded it by ripping it apart with a fork in each hand, and returned it to the pot, mixing it back with the cooking juices.

fig. 1

fig. 2

The results were tender and flavorful, peppery without being too spicy. I used a jarred tomatillo salsa and smoked shredded cheese to complement the meat.

The reason that I didn't write this up in my traditional recipe format is that I don't intend this as a strict recipe (which it certainly can be), but more of an example of how I take what I have and wing it from there. I know a lot of people don't feel comfortable cooking without a recipe, and I don't blame you! When I was first teaching myself to cook, before I was working in kitchens and learning from more experienced people, I didn't trust myself to experiment. Even now - when dealing with flavors and cooking styles that I am unfamiliar with - I will stick hard and fast to recipes until I get the feel. Eventually I get to the point where I instinctively know what something will ultimately taste like as I'm composing a dish.

Maybe we don't all have this ability, and I'm taking it for granted. Maybe it's kind of like how anyone can be taught to play the guitar, but not just anyone can be Clapton. I'm certainly no Keller (the food world's Clapton), but I'm just as good as half the hacks on Food Network (eff you Bobby Flay) and I think that anyone with a love for interesting food and some core knowledge can throw together an impressive meal any day.

Here is another example: pasta salad. Like Taco Guts (what we refer to taco filling as), the possibilities are endless. Do you have pasta? Good, you're halfway there. I made the following salad for a pot-luck at E's school. I wanted something a little different but not "weird", and something that the parents could enjoy in the sea of mac and cheese and meatballs that everyone always brings to these events.

Chicken Chipotle Pasta Salad

Dressing:

3 cloves garlic, minced
zest + juice of 1 lime
3/4 c mayo
3/4 c sour cream
1 scant tsp chipotle powder

Blend together, set aside.

2 c corn
1 bunch scallions, sliced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 whole chicken - roasted, boned and chopped (can you say "rotisserie", boys and girls? I can, especially in summer.)
1 c chopped fresh cilantro
1 # pasta

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain, and then immediately rinse in cold water. Drain off as much water as possible.

Toss pasta with remaining ingredients and dressing. Chill for at least one hour to allow the flavors to blend.

FINALLY

2010-06-02T17:27:00.000-07:00

FINALLY it is summer weather and FINALLY I get to bust out the grill and ALSO I got a new computer machine from which to "update" this "blog" - and the world is back in balance once again.

Quick post tonight! I am sleepy as heck and not feeling very wordy, but I made some pretty skewers that I want to share.

Grilled Tuna & Fruit Skewers

Marinade:

the zest and juice of 1 large or 2 small limes
1/4 c lemon juice
1/2 c oil (canola, soybean, etc)
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
handful of chopped cilantro
s/p to taste
-----------------------
4 tuna steaks, cubed into 1" pieces
1 bell pepper, 1 small red onion, also cut into 1" pieces
pineapple chunks, fresh work best but canned is ok too. Frozen may fall apart!
strawberries, tops removed

Marinate the tuna chunks for at least 1 hour. Toss the fruit and onions and peppers with a little bit of oil. Thread all ingredients on to skewers. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side.

There are two ways to keep the food from sticking on to the grill - first, get your grill super super hot. The hotter the grate, the faster it will sear the food. You can also cover the grill grate with a layer of heavy aluminum foil, and spray that with pan spray.

Serve with some kind of rice.

Apologies!

2010-05-29T05:29:00.000-07:00

Hey friends,

Sorry for not posting lately, I'm in between laptops. My new Mac is on it's way and I've got a bunch of stuff to show you as soon as it gets here. In the meantime, please enjoy this picture of my cat.

Can you tell me how to make, how to make that Sesame Slaw?

2010-05-17T06:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I started this post about three weeks ago, before my old laptop ate itself. Let's go back in time, shall we?

- H

Yesterday we hit the first barbeque of the season after a relaxing weekend of working on the yard and hanging around the house. When you tell me, "bring whatever" I generally kick into overdrive. I brought three things to this particular shindig: Bacon Spinach Deviled Eggs, Balsamic Strawberry Rhubarb Tart, and an Asian-style slaw. I neglected to get photos of the eggs and the tart. Sorry. Trust me when I tell you that they were very pretty.

The slaw idea came from having a lot of leftover Thai Basil and bean sprouts after I made pho the other day. I shredded my cabbage by hand, but I've had a lot of practice and I have a really big, sharp knife. You could use a food processor or even buy the pre-shredded bags of slaw mix, I am not here to judge.

Sesame-Ginger Slaw

1 small head of cabbage, shredded
4-5 carrots, shredded
1 lb mung bean sprouts
1 c chopped Thai Basil
1/2 c sesame seeds: black ones look pretty but regular ones are just as good!

Dressing:

1/4 c rice vinegar

1/4 c salad oil (canola, etc.)

1/4 sesame oil

1 T grated fresh ginger

1 tsp grated or minced fresh garlic

if you prefer your dressing sweet, 1 tsp - 1T sugar

salt to taste

Simple! Good enough as just a side dish, but later this week I plan to make shredded hoisin pork sandwiches and make this slaw again to use as a topping.

We want the pho, gotta have the pho.

2010-05-13T16:57:00.000-07:00

It is pronounced "FUH" like "funk" and not "fo" like "fo sho", and that is why the title of this post works and I am funny.

Pho is Vietnamese beef and rice noodle soup, typically sold as street food. You start with the noodles and some raw beef, pour boiling stock over them to heat up the noodles and cook the beef, and then choose from a variety of fresh herbs and greens to garnish.

The stock is the first "layer" of flavor in your dish. I've had pho at a few different restaurants, and found the broth to be pretty similar. From what I could tell, at a taste, it was beef broth, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mirin and sugar. When I was looking around online at different recipes to get the basic gist of what I would need to make my own I discovered that pho is a dish with many regional variations - in some areas they use cardamom and/or fennel, in some the broth is bitter from charred onion, in some the broth is sweeter. (For this meal I decided to go with a pretty basic recipe, to see what the family thought. )

The next layer of flavor comes from the garnishes. This is the fun part.

Greens include but are not limited to: Thai Basil, cilantro, fresh mung bean sprouts, scallions, any kind of leafy green (watercress, baby spinach), and culantro. Limes or lemon can be squeezed into your bowl, and you can basically go crazy on the sauces. I love going into the local Asian market and buying sauces and condiments, even if I don't know what they are. Here's some examples from my pantry:

L-R: Plum Sauce is kind of like duck sauce but tangy-er, Chili Garlic "Rooster" Sauce is hot with a nice rounded garlic flavor. Sweet Soy is what it sounds like; it's a thick, almost molasses-like syrup. It's kind of weird on it's own, but excellent when paired with Sweet Chili sauce. The two of those drizzled over any fried Asian appetizer like won tons or spring rolls or Crab rangoons = OMG SO GOOD. The last sauce is Sirracha. Sirracha fans will put that sh*t on everything. Pizza, burgers, scrambled eggs, you name it. It's spicy, like burn your lips spicy, but it's got a great kind of fresh flavor all it's own.

You can switch up/ add on to the protein, as well! I've had pho with brisket and meatballs, and I've seen tripe, tendon, and different organ meat on the menu. As you can see, tonight we added hard boiled eggs. I just found out that my local market has fresh quail eggs - so excited - they're going in next time.

Okay so the point is that there is a lot of choices here, don't get confused. Try whatever you like! As long as you have a nice rich broth, you can't go wrong.

Traditionally, the broth is simmered for hours and hours and starts with an oxtail. I was not up for an all day project, and Stop & Shop was fresh out of oxtail. You can definitely fake it if you start with a good quality beef stock.

I also want to add that you really need access to an Asian market or bodega for this one. Regular grocery stores might have some of this stuff, but it's going to be that super overpriced 'Taste Of Thai' nonsense.

White Girl Pho

1/2 gallon beef stock
1" piece of fresh ginger, smashed
1/4 small onion
1 tsp fish sauce
1 T mirin
1/2 tsp Five Spice powder, or more to taste
1T sugar

Place all of the above ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and then lower hear and simmer for as long as it takes you to prep all of the other ingredients. (minimum 30 minutes)

Cook one package "rice sticks" according to directions. Rice sticks are those flat, clear noodles that are also used in Pad Thai. Remove from heat, drain, and rinse with cold water. This will stop the noodles from cooking and keep them from sticking together in a big sad clump.

Prep all of your vegetables and herbs. I don't bother chopping the herbs like basil and such, we tear them with our hands, straight into our individual bowls.

(Thai Basil, watercress, cucumber, mung sprouts, limes, scallion)

Slice a 1 pound steak in very thin strips. Thin is the key here, you want it to cook on contact with the boiling broth.

Like so.

Now assemble; noodles, then raw beef, then ladle the broth in. Garnish to taste, then enjoy!

This was devoured by the whole family, by the way. It's nice because we all had slightly different dinners, to our own taste. Kind of like build-your-own-taco night.

"Life is a combination of magic and pasta" - Federico Fellini

2010-05-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

So I just got back from a weekend in Boston, and I am home for three days before flying to Toronto for TCAF and I have a bazillion things to do before I go and oh my god aaaaahhh. I didn't really have time to cook yesterday, but I also feel terrible about the amount of take-out and frozen stir-fry that I've been subjecting my kids to. Last night I made a full meal in less than 20 minutes - and you can, too!

If you do not own a crock pot, you are wrong and go get one. Seriously, I bet you even know someone who has one that they never use and will give it to you. They are fools, those people. They know not the amazing tool that they have at their disposal.

Before I left the house, yesterday morning, I rubbed a whole roaster chicken down with olive oil and seasoned salt.* I set my crock pot on high/4 hours. Line the bottom of the crock with crinkled aluminum foil.

Not only does the foil keep the chicken away from it's own drippings (stew is nice but not what you want, here), for some scientific reason that I have not given much thought to it gives it more of a crispy skin than when there's no foil. (Same holds true for roasting potatoes in there.)

Pour about a half cup of water in the bottom of the pot, this will keep the meat nice and moist while it's cooking. Place the chicken on the foil, close the lid.

That's basically it, walk away. Come back in a few hours and your chicken is ready to go.

Along with the chicken I made a quickie pasta saute'.

Wicked Easy Weeknight Pasta

1# large pasta shape

12 oz can of diced tomato, or if you can find them, canned cherry tomatoes
1/2 red onion, diced
minced garlic to taste, I seriously used a whole head
a handful (a cup or so) of fresh basil, roughly chopped

1/4 c white wine
2 T balsamic vinegar
1/2 c olive oil
s/p to taste

Boil pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Get a large saute' pan or wok really really hot - high heat for a minute or two until it just starts to smoke. (This is all in the heat and timing. Saute' takes practice, but this is an easy one.) Add olive oil and immediately add onion and garlic. Stir (or wrist flip if you're fancy) until the onion is translucent. You want to keep the onion & garlic moving around as much as possible - if the garlic browns too much it will turn bitter. Add the wine. If your pan is hot enough, the alcohol will burn off almost immediately and the wine will reduce by half. Add the tomatoes, juice and all. Stir. You'll notice after about a minute that the sauce will have thickened, the goal is to reduce the sauce by about 1/3. Add vinegar, stir, then add the pasta. Give it a quick toss to coat the pasta and remove from heat. Toss in the basil at the end, season with salt and pepper.

The whole active saute' process takes less than five minutes once your ingredients are chopped and the pasta is cooked.

This is so basic that you could easily add other things at the end - capers and shrimp might be nice, for example - or kalamata olives and feta cheese!

*You can buy seasoned salt already mixed, but be careful because a lot of brands have MSG and silica and weird additives. I like Jane's Krazy Mixed Up Seasonings, but you can easily mix your own. I have a problem, I impulse-buy different spices and seasoning mixes just about every time I'm in the store. It's ridiculous.

Bina Osteria, Boston

2010-05-04T05:20:00.000-07:00

Man, Boston's "Theater District" is gross and sketchy! Even though I grew up close to Boston, I had not been to that area before this past Saturday. E and I had tickets to see the touring company of Young Frankenstein; The Musical, and I thought that instead of Yelp-ing the neighborhood we could just "walk around and find something". Great idea in theory.

From what I can tell, the Theater District in the the beginning stages of what is charmingly known as "urban renewal". They recently renovated the Opera House (it is stunning, that's where we saw the play), The Paramount just reopened thanks to Emerson College, and tucked in between the numerous Dunkin' Donuts, the wig shop, and the Army-Navy store are a handful of four star Italian restaurants. After a quick lap around the block, we landed at Bina Osteria.

The weather was beautiful that day, so we chose to sit outside. The view is only a T stop and some Emerson dorms, but the fresh air was nice. I started with the Duck Confit, and was surprised when I discovered that it was duck breast (as opposed to legs, which is what is usually used for confit), and that it was served cold. I was not disappointed; it was light and flavorful and perfect for the warm evening. I also ordered their Glass Sipper cocktail - gin, cucumber, basil and lemon. Lovely. (...and HUGE, easily a double)

E started with the Mussels in Marinara. Soft and wonderful, light sauce. Near perfect.

Due to a kitchen problem, our entree's took a little too long; since we had to be at the theater by a certain time, we ended up wolfing our food down. No regrets! E loved her Squid Ink Spaghetti with Shellfish and Fresh Tomato. I had the Loin of lamb in a house-made chestnut tortilla, with portobella mushrooms and Fontina cheese. The staff couldn't be nicer, and the manager comped our drinks to make up for the wait (unnecessary, the entree's still arrived faster than any other full house on a weekend). I would absolutely eat there again, maybe the next time we see a show at the Opera House. Perhaps we'll have time for dessert.

"Would you like a bite of my Sloppy Joseph?"

2010-04-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

Nostalgia kicked in the door again today, and reminded me about Sloppy Joes. How could I forget? Just as all-American as the hamburger and twice as hard to eat in public. Notice that you never see Sloppy Joes on restaurant menus? It's because they are more unattractive to watch someone eat than buffalo wings - and watching someone eat buffalo wings can be a friendship killer.

But if you are eating them in the privacy of your own home, who's going to judge? Your kids? Your cats? The Sex & The City re-runs that you watch while you eat so that you don't feel lonely? None of them will judge. They all got problems, too.

Sloppy Joes, also known as "Manwiches" usually come out of a can. You buy a hunk of ground beef, open a can of sauce, add sauce to beef and slap it on a burger bun. The sauce not only has high fructose corn syrup and various dehydrated vegetables (gross), but it is crazy high in sodium. Sure it's easy, but so is my recipe. It doesn't take that much longer to cook these from scratch - I had dinner ready in about a half hour and that includes throwing together the salad.

I have not had a 'Joe' in many years, so I basically winged this from memory. It doesn't taste just like a Manwich, but it tastes really good! We always used to have them with Ruffles potato chips (also terrible for you), so tonight I served them with our favorite kettle-cooked salt and pepper chips and a basic salad. Everyone loved it, and actually finished their meals. Hooray for......

Sloppy Josephs

1 bell pepper, diced
1 small red onion, diced
8 oz mushrooms, chopped fine
3-6 cloves of garlic to taste, chopped fine
splash of red wine
1# ground beef
16 oz tomato sauce (I like the roasted garlic flavor, but plain is fine too)
2T ketchup
2T steak sauce (like A1)
1/2 tsp chili powder (I used chipotle, regular is fine)
1 tsp paprika
1/4 c brown sugar
s/p to taste

Saute' the onions, garlic, mushrooms, and bell pepper in about 2T of oil on high heat for 2-3 minutes. When the vegetables are soft and the mushrooms have released their moisture*, deglaze the pan with the red wine. Cook down the wine (about 1 minute) and then add the ground beef. Brown the ground beef in with the vegetables, frequently chopping it up with a wooden spoon as you go. When the beef is evenly browned, add the chili powder and paprika. Give it a quick stir and then lower the heat to med-low and add in the tomato sauce, steak sauce, and brown sugar. Let simmer for about 15 minutes, season with salt and pepper to taste.

I served this on toasted bulkie rolls with melted smoked Gouda cheese.

Not Very Detailed Restaurant Reviews, by Holly

2010-04-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

The past month and a half or so has been a busy time around here. We've been traveling around doing the first leg of our convention schedule and, while it hasn't really afforded me time to cook much more than basic pasta and take-out pizza, I've been trying out some fantastic restaurants.

The highlights so far:

Sky City at the Space Needle in Seattle, WA - This was not my first time at the Space Needle, I had been once before duing the same convention last year. Sure, it's touristy to go to a revolving restaurant but you know what? The food is wonderful, the portions are generous, and the staff is lovely. Highly recommended for a splurge. We started with the Carpaccio and the Prosciutto Wrapped Flagship Cheese, and my entree' was the Seafood Pasta. It was rich, and delicious, and such a large portion that I couldn't finish.

Junior's in Times Square, NYC - Guys, I'm not going to lie to you. I love diner food. I love deli food. Junior's will give me those things, they will give me a huge pile of those things. They give you a selection of complimentary pickles before your meal. My chicken salad was simple, just like I like it. Chicken, mayo, celery. Perfect. I would be remiss not to mention the cheesecake, which is as heavenly as cheesecake gets.

Mercat a la Planxa, Chicago - The ideal review of this place would just be a recording of the gutteral noises that we made while trying the food. High end tapas shared between the six of us, we tried about 20 dishes and I could honestly not pick a favorite. Excellent cocktail menu, as well.

I also updated my flickr stream with some shots of various things including our lovely Easter feast, most of which was provided by Kaliis, all of which was scrumptious. Ogle away.

I will leave you with Food and Wine's recipe for a pitcher of Limoncello Collins, a light and lovely cocktail for the current warm and lovely weather. We drank these with Easter dinner.

Limoncello Collins

SERVINGS: Makes 8 Drinks

Ingredients

16 ounces limoncello
12 ounces gin
8 ounces fresh lemon juice
24 paper thin lemon slices
Ice
16 ounces chilled club soda
8 mint sprigs

Directions

In a pitcher, combine the limoncello, gin and lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours. Press 3 thin lemon slices against the inside of each of 8 collins glasses. Add ice to the glasses. Stir the limoncello mixture and pour it into the glasses. Stir 2 ounces of club soda into each drink and garnish with a mint sprig.

Goat Cheese, Yes Please

2010-03-04T16:55:00.000-08:00

Thursday night is often Pasta Night around here, because it's a kind of hectic evening. I do car pool after school and then hustle E off to tap class while C has guitar lessons. So I need to either have something in the crock pot ready to go, or I need to cook something that takes less than 45 minutes start to finish. (That's the window between dropping E off at the studio and having to run back to get her.) I like to mix it up; as good as marinara and meatballs are, we get sick of them pretty quick.

While browsing online for ideas, I found out this: when goat cheese comes in contact with hot pasta it melts into a perfect sauce.

Why the hell did this not occur to me before? OF COURSE it does. Goat cheese is so soft that it will melt at a much lower heat point than cheese made from cow's milk. Just leave some out on the table in the summer and you'll see what I mean. Bonus: goat milk is higher in protein than cow milk and gentler on people who have lactose intolerance.

So I stuck my head into the fridge and came up with this pasta dish. It was a huge hit, and I will definitely make it again.

Rotini With Sausage And Goat Cheese

16 oz whole wheat pasta
10.5 oz package goat cheese
28 oz can of diced tomatoes in juice, drained
1 head's worth or 1 package broccoli florets
1 small red onion, diced
1 T chopped garlic
2 T chopped fresh oregano
1# sausage (I used lamb), casings removed, crumbled
1/4 c reserved cooking water

Cook pasta according to package directions. Right before the pasta is done and ready to drain, dip a measuring cup in and pull out some of the cooking water. (You want the starch and salt in the water to help make the sauce.) Set aside. Toss the broccoli florets right in with the cooking pasta, lower the heat to medium, and cover. Cook for about a minute and drain the whole deal.

While the pasta is cooking, brown the sausage in a large skillet or wok - while breaking it up into smaller with a spoon. When the sausage has browned, add the onions and garlic. Cook until soft, 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stir, cook another minute or so. Add fresh oregano. Toss the pasta/broccoli with the sausage/tomato. Crumble in the goat cheese, give it a couple tosses with a spoon, add the cooking water, and stir until all of the goat cheese is evenly melted. Salt and pepper to taste.

Note: Depending on the fat content of your sausage, you may want to drain the pan before adding the vegetables. Mine was really lean, so I didn't have to do that.

Tuna Casserole Of The Gods

2010-03-04T06:06:00.000-08:00

"I refuse to believe that trading recipes is silly. Tuna Fish casserole is at least as real as corporate stock." - Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

It's cold. It's dark. It's been cold and dark for months. It's winter in New England, my Vitamin D level is low, I'm so pale and the bags under my eyes are so huge that I look like a fat Lindsay Lohan, and all I want to do is lay on the floor and watch crime shows until the sun comes out and it's at least 55 degrees again. I suck at winter.

It comes down to this; I love comfort food. Meatloaf, mac and cheese, beef stew, and mashed potatoes, and that skillet chicken that you make with rice and cream of mushroom soup all have a special place in my heart. So when it's February and it's gross out and I've lost all will to go to the gym anyway so I might as well have a glass of wine and cook something that is mostly carbs I turn to my absolute favorite: Tuna Noodle Casserole.

The kind of tuna casserole that most of us grew up with was made popular by the Campbell's Soup company in the 1940's, as part of their campaign to show that their cream soups made a quick and easy sauce. Do you actually know anyone who eats canned cream soup as soup? Maybe the Cream Of Broccoli but not Cream Of Celery and certainly not Cream Of Mushroom. It gets turned into something else before consumption.

My problem is that canned soup is terrible. It's got a ton of sodium, for one thing, and the leading brand has an ingredient list a mile long. Last time I checked, one of those ingredients was MSG.* It is also in my personal opinion that canned soup tastes like ass. I eat pretty clean, and it's made me hyper-aware of the taste of preservatives and artificial colors and chemical tastes as such. (This is not always to my benefit; such as when we travel and the only place to eat is Outback Steak House or Applebee's or some such strip mall horror and I just want to have dinner and not feel like a giant douche because I can't choke down my salty salty food with my overly sweet margarita.)

On top of this, tuna casserole is not very good for you. Most people make it with egg noodles (bleached flour, fat, cholesterol), the aforementioned canned soup, and Ritz cracker crumbs. Ritz crackers are a big giant fat and salt bomb. Crackers should not leave me wiping grease off my hands like I'm eating bacon. So gross.

I figured out how to make really excellent tuna casserole that has no preservatives, is low-fat, and is just as yum as you remember. It's pretty easy, too! Not as easy as opening a couple of cans and dumping them together but come on guys - you gotta work for the good stuff sometimes.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

1/2 small onion, minced
2 stalks celery, minced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c unbleached flour
2 c low-fat or skim milk
2T butter or margarine
2T olive oil
1/2 c grated parmesan cheese
2 cans tuna packed in water
1/4 tsp dried dill
1/2# (half package) frozen peas
12 oz whole wheat pasta
1/2 c breadcrumbs or crushed crackers

Preheat the oven to 375F. "Grease" a 9x12 casserole dish with pan spray or oil and set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, set your colander in the sink and throw the frozen peas in the bottom of the colander. That way when you drain the pasta, the hot cooking water will defrost the peas and they'll be good to go for mixing in the rest of the ingredients.

While waiting for the pasta to cook, saute' the onion, celery, and garlic in the butter and olive oil over medium high heatuntil the vegetables start to soften and turn translucent. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir. This will turn to a paste-like consistency, and you want that. Lower the heat to medium and cook for one minute while stirring. Continue to stir and slowly add the milk in a steady stream. Stir and cook for another minute or two until the sauce sarts to thicken. Add the dill. Remove from heat.

When the pasta/peas are done, mix (in a bowl) with the tuna and sauce. Transfer mixture to the casserole dish, and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs or crushed crackers. Bake for 20 minutes, let stand five minutes before serving.

Happy Valentimes Day!

2010-02-14T12:01:00.000-08:00

We insist on saying ValenTIMES day, much to the chagrin of my eldest.

I am happy to report that my infused vodka came out wonderfully! I used the cherry/vanilla/ginger with a tiny splash of Frangelico in a chocolate shot glass. I think next time I'll put one of the vodka-soaked cherries in the bottom of cup, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. I regret not taking pictures of the finished product..... but let's just say that it was not my first drink of the evening and leave it at that.

I love Valentine's Day! I think it's sweet and I adore all the tickey-tackey pink and red and sparkly decor. I'm also into the chocolate aspect of the day LADIES AMIRIGHT

This morning I made special Valentimes pancakes for the fam.

Here's my pancake recipe; 1) purchase Krusteaze instant pancake mix 2) follow package directions 3) add a bunch of pink food coloring left over from your kid's birthday cupcakes. The end.

Not pictured: Berry Compote

The compote is very simple. I almost always use frozen fruit - it's easy and I usually have it in the house already. This should make enough for four people.

Quick Berry Compote

2 c frozen berries
1 T sugar
1/2 c juice or water, divided
1 T cornstarch

Place berries, sugar, and 1/4 c. liquid in a small saucepan on medium heat. Simmer until berries are heated through. Whisk cornstarch in to remaining 1/4 c liquid to make a slurry. Gently stir slurry into hot berry mixture. Keep stirring for about a minute until compote has thickened. Remove from heat and serve.

This is not a traditional compote by far, but it's a fast fix and right tasty. Top with whipped cream, or sour cream with a little lemon zest.

I am not cooking anything else today because we have been invited to an eight course dinner party with full wine pairings (!) and I am saving my appetite. Did I mention how much I love my friends?

Haiku: Brussel Sprouts

2010-02-11T07:27:00.000-08:00

why do they boil me
down to a mushy grey blob
I taste best roasted

Okay so maybe poetry is not my forte', but you get the point.

There is a subconcious list that we all carry around with us;

Things That Are Yucky

Lima Beans
Meatloaf
Liver
Brussel Sprouts

Where did we get this list? TV? Can't you just hear Bobby and Cindy Brady's little voices in your head bitching about what Alice made for dinner? Or, maybe your mom was like mine and would cook the hell out of everything - dry meat, formerly green vegetables boiled down to an unappetizing, soft, khaki mess. The woman could make a shaker of Italian seasoning - the only herbs we had in the house - last a year.

I like brussel sprouts. In all honesty, I like all four things on the above list. I figured out how to cook each of them so that they don't taste like poops, so that helps. I am going to tell you how I cook brussel sprouts so that they look like this:

...and taste nothing like the horrors of your youth.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Boil a pot of water, with a small handful of salt added.
Take each sprout, and slice in half the long way (as shown). Remove any outer leaves that may be dried out or brown.
When the water comes to a boil, add the sprouts. You will notice that they almost immediately become a more vivid green, isn't that pretty? Let them boil for about a minute, then drain.
In a large bowl, toss the sprouts with 1T olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. A little fresh garlic would also be very nice, here!
Spread sprouts on a baking sheet, put in oven.
Check after ten minutes, stir sprouts around on baking sheet so that they roast evenly.
Ten more minutes should do it, but if they don't look browned enough to you then by all means put them back in the oven! At this stage I would check every five minutes, and stir every time you pop them back in the oven.

So what is happening, here? First, you're parboiling the sprouts in the water. This cuts down on your roasting time, keeps the veg from drying out while they roast, and gives you that brilliant green color. The salt in the water brings out the flavor of the sprouts and helps maintain the green for the duration of the cooking process. Roasting the sprouts in the oil caramelizes the naturally occurring sugars and creates a wonderfully sweet nuance to the taste.

If you're not normally a fan of cruciferous veg anyway you may not like this, but you never know! I always thought I hated asparagus because my mother would boil it to limp and lifeless and then pour melted Velveeta all over the poor things. The first time I had it steamed I became a convert - then I had it grilled and it moved to the top of my List of Favorite Vegetables.

Yes I have one.

I make a lot of lists.

Don't judge me.

No Longer Confused About Vodka, Infused

2010-02-09T07:21:00.000-08:00

I have been a little trepidatious about alcohol and vinegar infusions. It seemed that it could not possibly be as simple as dropping stuff into liquid and then ignoring it for a few days. Apparently it is? Then why have I waited so long? The lesson here kids, is Carpe Diem (or something to that effect).

In honor of Valentine's Day, our cocktail club theme is "Pink Drinks". I am currently infusing vodka with cherries to achieve the necessary blush. I have two set up: Cherry/Vanilla/Ginger and Cherry/Lime.

The next step is to create a cocktail. I don't care for very sweet drinks; I will partake of an occasional chocolatini and call it dessert, but I tend to go for simpler tastes like vodka tonics and dirty martinis. I am also fairly new to mixology. When learning to cook, you don't jump right from toast to rack of lamb - I'm not ready to attempt anything too complex. I've decided to make a Rickey* with the Cherry/Lime Vodka. I know that Rickeys are traditionally a summer drink, but I could use a little taste of summer right about now. I'm still deciding with what to blend the Cherry/Vanilla/Ginger. I kind of want to try it with cola, but that won't be pink.

In addition to the vodka, I am infusing white vinegar with garlic, rosemary, and lemon peel. I am trying to eat mostly salads for lunch, and I prefer oil and vinegar over most salad dressings. Infusing the vinegar and/or oil adds a nice punch of flavor. Zeke, my crystal skull, is working on it for me:

I didn't measure anything for these infusions. I "eyeballed" it (yes, that is the scientific term) and am hoping for the best. The vodka should be ready in five days, I'm going to test the vinegar after two weeks, because that it what The Internet told me to do.

I'll post the cocktail recipes after I try them out!

*Basic Rickey: Lime juice, simple syrup, club soda.

Wheaty Baked Ziti

2010-02-03T05:27:00.000-08:00

This weekend, after a crazy dinner party that left me with four dishwasher loads of dishes and six kinds of cheese in the fridge, I found myself hungrily eyeing my slow cooker and trying to think of what I could make that would involve as little prep and as few dishes as humanly possible. If I could use up some of that cheese, even better. The answer, my friends, was baked ziti.

I will admit that I was skeptical about slow-cooked pasta. The very nature of the noodle is that it's a quick, easy, meal. If you know how to boil water, you're pretty much good to go. I was afraid that the long cooking time would make the noodles mushy and unappetizing, and that they would absorb too much of the sauce. I found that as long as you don't leave it in too long ad you keep an eye on it, it works perfectly. This isn't a recipe for a workday when you'll be gone for eight or nine hours, it's more for when you're home but otherwise occupied.

I highly recommend the use of whole-grain pasta in this dish. Because they are denser than refined noodles, they're less likely to lose integrity during the slow cooking process and you are less likely to end up with a crock full of glop.

Slow Cooker Baked Ziti

1 box of whole grain ziti, or shape of your choice
1 jar of prepared marinara sauce
1 cup water
2-3 cups assorted cheese (I used shredded mozzarella, crumbled goat cheese, and a grated hard cheese - Roth's Private Reserve)

Spray the inside of the crock with pan spray, you'll thank me when it's clean-up time. Layer as such: One third of the sauce, half the pasta, half the cheese, one third of the sauce, the remaining half box of pasta, the rest of the sauce, the cup of water, the rest of the cheese. Cut a piece of aluminum foil about the size of the inside of the crock, spray one side with pan spray, and place it (spray side down) lightly on the ingredients. Like this:

This will keep the moisture down in the lower half of the crock, where it belongs, and the top layer of pasta will cook but not get all crunchy. Cook on high for four hours. Keep an eye on it, if it looks like it's drying out but the noodles aren't cooked through, sprinkle another 1/4 of water over the top.

This was a big hit with the family. I served it with chewy whole grain bread, and mixed greens.

P.S. My current favorite salad dressing is a sprinkling of tamari and a sprinkling of orange muscat champagne vinegar. I find the vinegar at my food boyfriend's place (Trader Joe's). It's zesty, sweet, and a little tart on the finish, and works perfectly against the subtle salt and umami of a nice tamari. Did I mention it's fat free? Because it is.

P.P.S. I started a Twitter account for notices of updates and random blurbs that won't fill a whole blog post. You can follow @mouthfull_blog, and I will attempt to be entertaining.

Risotto, ti voglio bene

2010-01-26T05:38:00.000-08:00

It was raining on Monday, and when I say it was raining I mean it was a "should we tape the windows, was that Miss Gulch I just saw fly by" crazy storm. This was not typical weather for Massachusetts in January but as we all know, climate change is a myth perpetrated by the liberal media.

...but I digress.

I did not do my usual menu planning this week out of sheer laziness, so I didn't have a plan for dinner. It was early afternoon when the craving for risotto hit and I decided just to run with it.

Oh risotto, you time-consuming temptress. Your comforting, soft creaminess totally makes the 45 minutes I have to spend standing at the stove tending you worthwhile.

I have been known to order an entree' only for the fact that it came with risotto on the side. I have made risotto in my crock pot. I have tried it with the earthiness of mushrooms and chianti, I have tried it tinted gold by saffron threads served as a bed for garlicky seafood, I have tried it as a thick and hearty breakfast food with cinnamon and raisins. I have eaten it after it was rolled into a ball, coated with breadcrumbs and deep fried, then nestled into a spoonful of whipped potatoes.

(I highly recommend that last one.)

Despite my devotion, I rarely make risotto at home. There used to be the reason of cost; Arborio rice (the highly starched grains you need to make the dish work) is much pricier than it's humble cousins, brown rice and white rice. Now it is mostly lack of time that keeps me away. Risotto takes about an hour from start to finish, and you have to tend the pot the entire time. When you've got kids tugging at your proverbial apron, this may not be a project you want to take on. But, if you've got the time then the result is totally worth it.

Why does it take so much time and attention? Here's the basic science behind it:

Arborio rice is high in a starch called Amylopectin, which detaches from the grain during the cooking process and forms the creamy sauce that makes the dish what it is. By adding the broth to the dish in small increments instead of all at once, and by stirring and agitating the rice near-constantly, you are helping the Amylopectin separate itself and fulfill it's destiny as a delicious bonding agent.

As I was researching for this post (after I made my risotto), I came across this episode of Good Eats in which Alton Brown drops the bomb that you don't have to stand there and stir the rice the whole time and you can get the same result. WHAT. Whether or not this is true, I have not had a chance to find out for myself; you can bet we're having risotto again this weekend. Just for the sake of experiment. Yeah.

So, okay, fine, Alton is one to be trusted and we may never obsessively stir our rice again. FINE. Here is my recipe, in case you want an excuse to stand in one place for an hour and watch highlight clips of Oprah's interview with Rosie O'Donnell. (I will neither deny nor confirm that is what I did with my time at the stove.)

Mushroom Risotto For Sad And Rainy Days

1 heaping cup of Arborio rice
2 T oilive oil
about 1 cup of finely chopped onion (1 small onion or so, does not need to be exact)
1-2 T chopped garlic (to taste)
12 oz pkg baby bella mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 -3/4 cup wine - I have used both white and red to equal success
chopped fresh herbs - you can pick your favorite or what you have on hand. I like to pick up the "poultry blend"; it's a mix of rosemary, thyme and sage - you want about 1/2 cup, chopped.
5-6 cups of your choice of broth, brought to a boil then kept at a simmer within reach
2T butter
1/4 c parmesan cheese

It is best to make this in a wide-bottomed pot, like a soup pot.

Saute' the onions, garlic, and mushroom in the olive oil over medium high heat. After the mushrooms have released all of their liquid, add the rice. Stir for a minute or two until you notice that everything is starting to stick to the bottom of the pot, then deglaze with the wine, making sure to scrape up all the nicely caramelized bits off the bottom. Reduce heat to medium/medium low.

Add a ladle of hot stock. Stir. When you notice that the liquid has been absorbed and the rice might start to stick - repeat. Keep doing that.

Basically you're adding a little bit of stock, then watching it absorb into the rice, then adding a little more, then waching that absorb. As you stir (it doesn't have to be a constant stir, just every minute or so give it a quick toss), the starch will separate and the "sauce" will form and thicken around the rice kernels.

You want to keep adding and stirring, adding and stirring, until the rice is cooked through but is still al dente. Not crunchy, just a little firm in the middle.

Reduce the heat again to low. Add the herbs, butter, and cheese. Stir for a minute to melt the butter and incorporate the flavors. Serve immediately.

If you have leftovers, you can make the aforementioned risotto balls. Mmmmmm.

Creative leftovers

2010-01-21T06:54:00.000-08:00

Remember the Crispy Kale & Tofu Salad that I mentioned last post? It's very tasty! Easy to make, filling, and good for you. Even my kids liked it.

I took the leftovers, poured miso soup base over it, and ate 2 bowls for lunch yesterday. I will probably do the same today. Do you even know how easy miso soup base is? I am ashamed to say that I never really looked into making miso soup until recently. Now I feel like a fool for not having this in my repertoire all along.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Easy Miso Soup Base

3 cups water
1 tsp dashi
2 T miso

Bring water to a boil. Reduce heat to low, stir in dashi. Simmer one minute. Stir in miso. Remove from heat.
Important; do not boil the soup after miso has been added.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Seriously. That's it. Then you're free to add whatever you want; tofu, kombu, veggies, egg, rice, noodles, chicken, the possibilities are near endless. Japanese Food Report has a fantastic post about miso soup here.

It's nice to know that which will not make a good burrito* could possibly make a tasty soup.

*Holly's Leftover Rule #1; Everything solid (and non-pasta) is a potential burrito filling.

The Freezer Challenge

2010-01-19T06:41:00.000-08:00

My freezer is full. We also have a small chest freezer in the basement, which is not full, and I was fixin' to move stuff from one freezer to another when I realized my folly. If I moved all this food to the basement freezer, I would forget it there and I would have to throw it out in 6 months - thus negating the point of keeping it all in the first place.

The solution, and the challenge, was to make myself build our weekly menu out of what we have in house - refrigerator and pantry included. What I actually will end up shopping for (minus the basics like juice and lunchmeat and Oreos) will fit in a hand basket. It was kind of fun! It was like when I was a cook and I would have to come up with dinner specials. You work with what you've got, and you turn it into something interesting and (hopefully) delicious.

Here's what I pulled out of the freezer;

1 plastic container of bean & bacon soup
1 loaf of crusty rosemary bread
1 boneless turkey breast; marinated in garlic, dill, and IKEA lemon salt
1 vacuum-sealed bag of chili squash with black beans and quinoa
1 box of breaded eggplant cutlets
4 salmon fillets
1 # ground beef
4 chicken legs
2 bags of pizza dough - one wheat, one herb

Here's my menu for the week;

Monday - bean & bacon soup with warm rosemary bread (see what I did there?)
Tuesday - pan seared turkey breast with Crispy Kale and Tofu Salad (I actually already had everything for this meal!)
Wednesday - squash, black bean, and quinoa burritos with salad
Thursday - eggplant parmigiana, whole wheat pasta with aglio olio
Friday - crispy salmon with greens and noodles
Saturday - Breakfast For Dinner Party at our friends' house, so I'm bringing sausage and cheese bread made with the frozen pizza dough
Sunday - (this is the day I cook a more elaborate meal than the rest of the week) truffle stuffed chicken legs in puff pastry. I guarantee I will end up changing this recipe.
Monday - I don't know what to call this dish, because it's basically homemade Hamburger Helper. This recipe is the closest I could find to what I make.

I have to get a few things, like mushrooms and beef broth, but there it is. I also pulled a few bags of turkey neck and chicken gizzards out of the back of the freezer, so I'm gonna make some stock!

I keep a gallon sized zip bag in my freezer, and as I cook I throw all the odds and ends of vegetables in there instead of down the disposal. You want to keep things like celery bits, carrot peels and ends, onion, scallion, and leek scraps, even apple peels and cores. Mushroom stems add a nice "meaty" taste that the Japanese call umami. I tend to avoid cabbage, broccoli, asparagus, and other stinky vegetables. The taste will overpower everything else in your stock, and won't be as useful as a base if the taste conflicts with he rest of the dish.

I also keep chicken and turkey gizzards and carcasses. If I roast a bird, I'll hang on to whatever is leftover. If I buy bone-in breasts or legs and end up de-boning them, I keep the bones.

The key to a deep, rich stock is easier than you think. First, roast the ingredients. Throw them in a roasting pan at 425 degrees - I would say maybe an hour? If you're dealing with a big frozen chunk, you may want to go longer. Transfer to a stock pot or crock pot. Add a few bay leaves, a small handful of peppercorns, some fresh herbs ( I buy the "poultry mix" in winter, in summer I grab handfuls from the farm. You may want thyme, rosemary, parsley, savory, things like that). I don't salt my stock, I salt the dish that I use the stock in, but feel free to add some salt too.

Cover the ingredients with water, I'd fill the pot as much as you can. I always do mine on the stove so that I can control the temperature, but if you're using a crock pot just turn it on and walk away. If you're doing it stove-top; bring to a boil, turn it down low, then partially cover and walk away.

After it starts to boil, you're going to notice a grey foamy scuzz thing happening. Skim that off and chuck it. It's not dangerous, but it's impurities from the bones and you want to clear it out of there.

You can simmer for as little as two hours, I leave my stock on for a LONG time. Like, overnight.

Very carefully strain the stock, using a colander, into a large bowl or container. Throw away all the solids, they've done their job. Line the colander with cheesecloth and strain again. This will get rid of all of the weird little sediment that's hiding out in there. Put the bowl in the fridge for a few hours, and the fat will rise to the top and solidify - making it easier to de-fat your stock. Once that's done, your stock is ready to use!

If you're not using it right away, there's a couple of solutions. Ambitious people could can it, I freeze mine. I divide into quart size zipper bags, label and date them, and pop them in the freezer. Another good idea that I use sometimes is to pour some into ice cube trays and freeze. Then you can dump the cubes into a container or baggie (so as not to get confused and ruin your martini), and that way you have small amounts of stock for things like pasta dishes, or cooking ramen in, or whatnot.

Remember - official food safety rules say that frozen stuff is good for 6 months. Time to throw out the leftover boiled dinner from St. Patrick's Day 2008, kids.

Doctor Holly's Hangover Remedy

2010-01-17T08:30:00.000-08:00

Last night was my sister's 30th birthday party. We (of course) ended up back at our house for a long night of Rock Band and I-Don't-Know-What-Kaliis-Put-In-This-Drink-But-Okay. Good times.

Inspired by my friend Other Holly, who makes one for New Year's Day to feed the hungover crash crowd, I made a breakfast strata. I am the only one awake, and I'm eating it right now. It's delicious. The best part is that you make it a day ahead, so all you have to do is stumble to the kitchen when you wake up and pop it in the oven. It's cheap, and it feeds a crowd. I think I'm going to put this into semi-regular breakfast rotation - I notoriously hate cooking breakfast, but if I'm prepping it the day before and I can sit and drink coffee and read the Huff Post while it bakes? Awesome.

Strata, like many things that I post about, has a basic recipe that you can tweak to your tastes. Here's how I did it;

Breakfast Strata

8 lg eggs
2 c milk
2 c -or so- shredded cheese
1 loaf of bread, cubed
2 c diced ham
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp italian seasoning

Beat the eggs, milk and seasonings together, set aside. Butter or spray a 9 x 12 pan, then layer half the bread, half the ham, half the cheese. Repeat. Pour the egg mixture all over the bread etc., cover, and pop in the fridge overnight. This lets the bread properly absorb all the egg batter, but you can kind of fake it if you're doing this last minute by tossing the bread cubes with the egg mixture and letting it sit for about 10 minutes before you put it in the oven.

The next day, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover the dish with foil and bake for about an hour, until the top is nice and crusty and the center is cooked through.

You can swap out the seasonings, the kind of cheese, meat or veggies at will - as long as the egg batter and bread ratio stay the same. You can make this without cheese as well, but why would you do that I mean come on.

Filling ideas!

browned crumbled sausage
bacon
broccoli
spinach and fresh garlic
chopped tomato
mushrooms
chopped, cooked potato or hash browns
onion and pepper

.....basically anything that you would throw in an omelet, throw it in here! If you'd rather go sweet over savory, then may I suggest a teaspoon of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla extract? You end up with baked french toast! Delicious with maple syrup. You can throw in dried fruit, chopped apples, a handful of berries or what have you for a little something extra. My friend Chris got me in to topping my french toast with a dollop of lemon-zested sour cream along with the maple syrup, and it's surprisingly excellent.

Ok, now to double-fist another cup of coffee/glass of ice water. Cheers!

Hope & Olive

2010-01-12T06:50:00.000-08:00

Oh my, how fast a week goes by. Let's do a restaurant review, shall we?

On Friday we finally tried Hope & Olive in Greenfield (MA). The Greenfield/Turner's Falls area appears to be going through a little food renaissance. This coincides with the fact that a lot of young first-time home-buyers, like our friends Ryan and Becca, are moving up there. I will happily make the 40 minute drive to eat at Hope & Olive on a semi-regular basis. (I know that 40 minutes is not a big deal, but we live next to a huge food town so we rarely stray very far).

The food was delicious. I started with their sake martini, called the Cukesake. It's a perfectly balanced mix of Hendrick's gin, sake, lemon juice and muddled cucumber. It's so smooth and cool, I could just picture losing a whole summer day drinking those and reading while sprawled on a hammock. *note to self: buy a hammock*

For appetizers, we went with their fried polenta with roasted veggies and balsamic reduction. It was really tasty, though I like my polenta to be super-soft in the middle (Apollo Grill does it like that) and it could have used more balsamic. We also had the fried brussel sprouts which were delicious. No batter on these, just split and fried, served with a horseradish aoli. You get a HUGE pile, so be warned! We had to make ourselves stop eating them for fear of not finishing dinner.

I had hand cut fettuccine with smoked trout, roasted tomatoes and fennel, and a dill sour cream sauce. Heavenly, even though I picked out the fennel (I do not care for fennel). They don't smoke the trout in-house, but it was moist and not overly smokey tasting. The pasta was perfectly al dente and there was the perfect amount of sauce.

Jeffrey had what he insisted on repeatedly referring to as 'The $17 Meatloaf". It was very good, served with baked mac and cheese and braised greens. Nothing outstanding, but delicious comfort food.

We skipped dessert, as we were heading over to the aforementioned friends' house for dessert.

Hope & Olive is small and comfy. The staff is young, hip, and beautiful - and extremely nice. Their drink menu is gorgeous, and they have a separate tapas-style bar menu - which makes me want to go set up at the bar for a couple hours and just try different drinks and small plates. I can't wait to go back, I have a plan to systematically bring everyone I know just to have excusues to visit.

TomAYto Soup, TomAHto Soup

2010-01-06T06:06:00.000-08:00

I don't want to brag, but I totally scored this Christmas. I got an iPod Touch, and almost immediately installed the Epicurious app. I was excited to find out that there is an Epicurious app, since I spend a good amount of time searching that site. My cookbooks gather dust. I also found a fun mixology app - one of the features is that you make a list of all the hootch and mixers that you have in the house, and it generates a list of recipes for you. I have a mishmash of leftovers right now, all those weird things that you buy to go into something else (in my case, truffles) and I got the most insane list of drinks. Mix tequila with Chambord? No thank you. (However, I did try the tequila/Kahlua drink and it's not half bad.) Mixology is another thing I (being the dilettante that I am) want to learn more about. I can cook intuitively, but I don't have the same feel for mixing drinks. A few of our friends are super into infusions and tinctures and carbonating things that are not normally carbonated and it is fascinating to witness. Plus I like to drink so, hey! Win/win.

Jeffrey also gave me an immersion blender and a nice mandolin, ensuring that I will be fingerless by my birthday. I'm kidding, I worked in enough kitchens to have a healthy fear of both of those instruments. It's like people who keep pit bulls - you love them and they are useful, but you know not to poke them in the eye - or in this case, really sharp blade. I have not had a chance to use the mandolin yet, but I have a gratin planned for later this week. I did get to use the blender, and I loooove it. It's short - so it's easy to manipulate with one hand, if you need to hold the pot/bowl/cup with your other hand. It's got a lot of power, for a compact non-commercial blender. I christened it in a batch of delicious tomato soup.

Campbell's Tomato Soup was a staple of my childhood. I think I probably ate it once a week until I moved out of my parents' house. We always ate it with grilled cheese sandwiches, and we always floated either goldfish crackers or Smartfood in the soup. Heaven, especially in the winter.

As I got older and ate less processed foods, I lost my taste for Campbell's. It's too sweet (there's a lot of high fructose corn syrup) and it tastes tinny to me. I don't know if that's from the can or from the preservatives. I've tried a bunch of different organic/natural brands, and they are all So Bland. It's like warm, low-salt tomato juice. So, I started making my own. It doesn't taste like my memories, but it will do.

The key here is to use really good tomatoes. Ambitious people (not me, hopefully this year it will be me) can their own tomatoes and can crack open that summer flavor in January. To the rest of us, I recommend Muir Glen Organics. I can find this brand pretty much everywhere, even in my weird little mom & pop down the street. The fire-roasted tomatoes are delicious, and I've used them in everything you would throw regular tomatoes in for a little extra flavor. They make really nice salsa, too. You can use any of their tomatoes for this soup.

Basic Tomato Soup

Two 28 oz cans of tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
chopped garlic to taste (I use a whole head, but I love garlic)
3 stalks celery, chopped -OR- 1 T celery seed
1T sugar
about 1/4 - 1/2 cup white wine (red works too, but I prefer white for soup)
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
salt and pepper

Saute' the onion, garlic, and celery in a couple tablespoons of olive oil over med/high heat until translucent. Deglaze the pan with wine. Let the wine reduce by half (this will only take a minute if your pan is nice and hot), then add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat, and blend. This is where the immersion blender come in handy, failing that a regular blender works just fine. Adjust the seasonings and you're ready to go.

Now, this is just a basic tomato soup. There are so many directions that you could take this in! When we had this for dinner the other night, I swirled in some pesto and served it with baked mac & cheese, and seared kale with garlic and balsamic vinegar.

Here are a few suggestions;

*A little spoonful of curry paste or powder, some chopped fresh cilantro and a dollop of yogurt

* grilled cheese croutons - grilled cheese sandwiches cut into little cubes, floating in the soup

* Chili powder or taco seasoning, add some corn and black beans after you blend the base. Serve with a garnish of shredded lettuce, tortilla chips, and a dollop of sour cream and/or guacamole

*fresh herbs - mix them in after you blend the soup, then return to heat on a low simmer for 5 minutes to blend flavors. I like a crumble of goat cheese and some spinach in this version.

Experiment! That's part of the fun. Sometimes it works, sometimes you're trying to give away leftovers to whoever (Whomever? Can never get that straight) is wandering by.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T09:12:00.000-08:00

My, it has been a long time. I didn't realize how long, until I logged in and saw the date of my last post. Sorry, 11 faithful followers.

Aside from a wild foray into truffle-making and a couple of slow-cooker successes, I have not been cooking all that much - or all that creatively. Considering that I am eating cold lo mein straight from the box and planning on combining a jar of pesto and a box of pasta for dinner later; cooking starts again tomorrow, for real.

I just wrote a really long post about where I was ten years ago, and then realized that I was off by a year. It was really emotional and nostalgic and everything. I honestly can't remember what I did for New Year's Eve 2000. I think I may have even fallen asleep on the couch. Cammy had just turned two, Eliza was just about to turn four. That was the winter that I was a baker/barista and would walk to work at 3 a.m.

What I do remember about that time in my life is that I baked my own bread every day and made everything from scratch. It was partially a personal challenge, partially because we were super broke and I wanted to be able to feed my family well on what we had. I still feel a twinge of guilt when I rip open a box of Trader Joe's mini-tacos, thinking how a) I could totally just make tacos and b) $4.99 used to be a huge splurge. I can't imagine doing that today - between running the business, the kids' schedules and my need to sit down once in a while - but I still try to keep it as DIY as possible.

So here are my food resolutions for 2010!

1) Eat breakfast. I am terrible at eating breakfast. I am also turning 35 this year and need to knock that shit off. Fortunately for my health and my pant size, I don't like sweet things for breakfast so you won't find me chowing down on a donut on the way to work and calling it good. I'm going to keep yogurt in the fridge, hard boiled eggs on hand, and bagels at arm's length unless there are veggies tucked inside. Bagels are not good for you.

2) Eat local! As I have mentioned, we have a share at a local CSA for veggies. We get our milk and eggs from another local farm, and I just signed us up for a meat CSA. We got our first share last week, and could not be more excited. I like knowing where my food comes from.

3) Bring lunch to work. There is no good reason that I should be getting takeout four times a week, and the fifth day is the one where I forget to eat lunch. Mind you, our town (though it is wonderful) does not have many choices so I mostly get sandwiches and pizza. I'm going to add lunch planning to my weekly meal plan. It will be better for the kids as well, and save me about $150 a month on school lunches.

4) Learn more about Japanese food. I looooove Japanese food, and there's so much more to it than sushi. There are two good Asian markets right near me, and I'm going to spend some serious quality time roaming the aisles and trying random pickles. This blog is an incredible resource, and I was lucky enough to meet Harris. He is a stand up guy and a wealth of information.

5) Update this journal! It's fun for me, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Have a wonderful, healthy, happy year!

Tacostacostacos

2009-10-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

There are quite a few ways to feed a crowd, but I almost always go with TACOS. We had visitors on Saturday and here's the filling that I made, served along with the usual toppings.

Pineapple Chipotle Carnitas

5# pork picnic shoulder or butt
2 cans diced tomatoes with chiles
12 oz beer, or hard cider, or regular cider
1/2 - 1 can chipotle sauce (depending how spicy you like it)
1 can pineapple tidbits
1 small onion, diced
1 head garlic, chopped
ground cumin
Adobo all purpose seasoning

How I did it:

Trim all the big chunks of fat off of the pork. Sprinkle Adobo and cumin all over the pork, and rub it on in. Set aside. Heat a big pan or wok on med-high, add about 1T oil, then saute' the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent. Remove the onions and garlic from the pan and return to heat. Add another 2T of oil, the sear the pork on all sides.

Transfer pork to roasting pan or crockpot. Add all of the other ingredients. If cooking in the oven, cover with foil. Cook on 350F for 3-4 hours, or in the crock pot on low for 8-10. The longer that this cooks, the softer the meat will get. You want to be able to shred it easily with a fork.

The easiest way to do that is the two-fork method, holding the meat with one fork and shredding with the grain with the other fork. If you've cooked the meat long enough, this is super easy. If you have to fight with the meat, you need to cook it longer. You can do this right in the pan, and mix it with all of the chunky bits and cooking juice before serving.

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I actually did a 10# shoulder - it fed 10 of us and I have an insane amount of leftovers. We should have had them for dinner last night, but someone was drinking drinks that taste like candy and someone really needed Chinese food while she lay on the couch watching Dollhouse and regretting her folly.

Someone = me

Curry In A Hurry

2009-10-09T05:39:00.000-07:00

(That was the name of the restaurant where I first had Indian food. It was on Thayer St. in Providence. We may have gone the same day I got my nose pierced in a sketchy loft with a skate ramp built up one wall....I can't remember and that is a story for another day, anyway.)

Keely was invited for dinner last night, and as of 11 o'clock yesterday morning I had no idea what I was going to cook. Years ago we used to have weekly dinner parties, where we would drink a bunch of wine and spend four hours trying out Jamie Oliver recipes and stuffing our own raviolis before finally eating at 9 or 10 at night. Good times. I was thinking about that, which made me remember this amazing rice pudding with cardamom and pistachios, which made me want Indian food. I poked around in the cabinets and came up with Curried Tomato Soup and Roasted Squash with Cardamom. (I also made rice pudding, but it was from a hippie mix I had sitting around.) I put too much olive oil on the squash, which was sad. I've made it a few times before and it's usually very good.

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Curried Tomato Soup

2 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes - Tuttorosso brand "New World Style w/ Basil" is good for soups, because it's more of a puree'.
1 small red onion, finely minced
1/4 c. minced garlic
1/4 c. grated fresh ginger
2T curry powder
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 c chopped cilantro leaves
1 can coconut milk
2 c. broth (chicken or veg)
1/2 bag of frozen peas
1 tsp lime zest
2 tsp sugar
salt to taste

How I did it;

Saute' the onion, garlic and ginger in a large pot until onions are translucent, about 2 minutes. Add broth and peas, come to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium and stir in the tomatoes, bring to a simmer. Stir in curry powder, coriander, and sugar. Simmer, covered and stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes to blend all flavors.
Gently stir in the coconut milk and heat through. Remove from heat, add cilantro and lime zest and salt to taste.

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Everyone liked this! Even Eliza, who normally does not care for curry. This makes a good amount of soup - five of us each had a bowl, I froze a quart for later, and Liza and I are both taking it for lunch today. The recipe can easily be halved.

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Roasted Squash w/ Cardamom

1 large butternut squash, peeled & cubed
1 small red onion, halved and sliced
1 T ground cardamom (I would go for coarse ground over powder)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1T sugar
seeds of 1 pomegranate
salt/pepper to taste
1-2 T olive oil

How I did it;

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl, transfer to roasting pan. Roast at 375F for about 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of your squash cubes and how your oven runs. Stir halfway through, so that nothing sticks to the pan and you get a more even roast.

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Cardamom smells GORGEOUS. It's one of my absolute favorite scents. If you want to get crazy you can also add a tiny pinch of ground cloves to the mix. This is a nice side dish for roast meats, like lamb or chicken or pork, as well. Feel free to sub dried currants or cranberries for the pomegranate seeds, or to leave out the onion. The squash is really the star here.

A brisket, a brasket.....or something.

2009-10-07T05:29:00.000-07:00

The brisket that was intended for Sunday's dinner was re-heated for Mondays dinner, to a resounding chorus of, "Eh." I will do it again, because I love slow cooked shredded meat, but will definitely mess around with the seasonings.

I saw this recipe and I happened to have a bottle of liquid smoke (Kaliis uses it in her collards and often cooks at my house on holidays). Now The Crockpot Lady is not kidding when she says that a little liquid smoke goes a long way, and I was not thrilled at the prospect of "wet beef jerky", so I only used two tablespoons. I also used fresh garlic, as that is what I do. It really does make the house smell amazing while it's cooking, garlicky and smoky and oh my god good. I shredded it, mixed it with apple cider and bottled bbq sauce, and left in in the crock for another hour.

Verdict; it was not smoky enough for me. I'll add more liquid smoke next time. Other than that, it's hard to go wrong with slow-cooked beef.

I served it with seared greens and mashed celeriac. Celeriac is a delicious sub for mashed potatoes and abundant this time of year. We get them through our CSA. They are delighfully wierd looking and subtly flavored - I mashed mine up with cream, butter, rosemary and roasted garlic. The only thing to watch out for is that sometimes they are really starchy and won't get creamy when you mash them. A lot of people will throw in a couple potatoes to the mash, and that's really nice too.

Almost forgot - I roasted garlic in the crock-pot! When I cooked the brisket, I put a layer of foil on top to reduce the cooking area so that it wouldn't dry out. Then I prepped the garlic like you would for the oven, wrapped it in the foil packet, and just tossed it in on top of the other foil. It was perfect! I actually have a small crock and will be roasting garlic in that from now on.

Speaking of smoked foods, Jeffrey and I had a Business Dinner at Apollo Grill last night. (I'm serious you guys, there were spreadsheets and everything.) They are running a gnocchi special that is de-friggin-licious. Gnocchi with smoked chicken, cranberries, walnuts and winter squash in a light gravy-like pan sauce. It took all my willpower not to lick the bowl. I'm going to try to figure out the pan sauce part and make this at home, because when they take it off the menu I'm going to be a sad girl. I had a dirty martini with organic tomato vodka - so yummy. Hayes makes a damn good martini.

Weekend wrap-up

2009-10-05T05:21:00.000-07:00

I did not cook this weekend. Well, I cooked once but I'll give you that at the end of the post.

On Thursday night we took a couple of friends out to the newest place in town, Venus. Venus is partially owned and partially chef-ed by my friend Casey, and it is my new favorite restaurant. Absolutely amazing meal.
We started with a round of drinks and appetizers for the table. My Hendricks martini was perfect. My friend Sarah says that you can judge a place by the quality of their martini and I have found this to be true. The Escargot was out of the shell and done with mushrooms, a rich reduction, and butter foam. It was a perfect flavor balance and the snails were perfectly cooked, not at all rubbery. You really have to be careful not to overcook snails and they got it on the nose. The mussels were done simply in a tomato-garlic-wine broth, but did not suffer for the simplicity. The ricotta gnocchi was outstanding. Each bite literally melted once it hit the tongue. We actually asked for extra bread (grainy, chewy inside, crusty outside) to sop up the sauces.
After the first course we were treated to a sample of 'Deconstructed Corn Chowder'. It was basically a corn chowder, but instead of finishing it with cream, it's finished with a cream foam.

Say what you will about the showiness of molecular gastronomy, but it was so delicious.

For the main course, Jeffrey had the Cornish Game Hen, Bob had the Cassoulet, Sarah had the Filet Mignon and I had the duck special. It was a pan seared duck breast with cranberry compote, duck confit "latkes" (I can't think of the proper word right now), and a brussel sprout/fingerling potato/winter squash hash. I want this meal every day for a year. It was incredible, everyone was extremely happy with the food, the service and the atmosphere. If you're in the area and want to splurge - go to Venus. They have a very nice, reasonably priced wine list and craft beers on tap, and the Cellar Bar downstairs is cozy and warm. I look forward to dropping in there this winter and sitting by the fireplace in the corner.

Friday was Kid Free Friday, for the evening, and Lloyd Cole was playing at Apollo Grill. We were excited to see Lloyd live - he lives in our town and I've been saying hi to him for about four years now, but I hadn't actually seen him play. It was fantastic.
For the sake of full disclosure, I will tell you that I cooked at Apollo for a couple years. It's owned by the aforementioned Casey (of Venus). It's conveniently located downstairs from our office. None of these things effect what I'm about to say; Apollo has great food. When we're not rocking the lunchovers it's always our first choice for lunch at work, and Jeffrey and I like to go sit at the bar, grab a burger and a drink, and verbally process business. We eat here a lot, and I've never had a bad meal. On this night, Jeffrey went with the burger and I was thrilled to discover the Bratwurst back on the menu. Apollo changes the menu seasonally, and the bratwurst is a fall/winter dish. The links are split and grilled, then served with cider-braised red cabbage, a mushroom gravy, and whole grain mustard mashed potatoes. I had it with a pint of Rapscallion. It was a good night.

It was such a good night that I was completely useless the next day and spent most of it blobbing it out on the couch. The kids took off, and Jeffrey and I were left to our own devices. So we went out for tacos.
La Casita Azteca is the only taco place in town. (I say this to mean that if we drove four more miles we could get to Northampton where there are three taco places, but we were dirty and lazy and it was raining out.) We had tried it right after it opened (in 2008) and were hugely disappointed. The prices were high, the portions were small, nothing had flavor, and everything was soggy. We didn't bother going back.
Then, a couple months ago, I was going for lunch with a friend and she suggested La Casita Azteca. When I told her about my bad experience she looked at me like I was crazy, and then took me there anyway. (This lady actually briefly lived in Mexico, so I trust her opinion.) I have to tell you, it was great. Two weeks ago, different lunch date, she wants tacos, we go here, also great. Saturday night, go with Jeffrey - still great. He had a giant burrito, I had a giant torta. Definitely going back. It's a cute little place, brightly colored inside and out. They even have a pretty courtyard with picnic tables and fairy lights for when the weather is nice. Bonus - beer & wine license, so you can have a Tecate' with your meal.

Sunday I started feeling guilty that we had take-out three days in a row, so I made brunch. Pumpkin muffins (from a box, thanks Trader Joe), bacon, and Shirred Eggs. This was actually my first time making my own shirred eggs. I first had them a few years ago at Cafe Gitane in Manhattan, and I don't know why I don't make them all the time. Super easy, super yummy, and you can use whatever you have in the house!

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Shirred Eggs

(serves 2 or 3)

6 eggs
1 tomato, chopped
chopped garlic to taste
1/4 c of chopped onion
a couple handfuls of chopped spinach
1/2 cup cheese (I used cheddar & parm this time)
1/4 c olive oil
1 T butter
cream or milk (about 1/3 c)

How I did it:

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat (does that make sense? maybe). Add the oil to the skillet, then the butter. Melt the butter in the olive oil, then add the onions and garlic. Cook until translucent (1-2 minutes). Saute' the tomato and spinach in with the onions and garlic, until the spinach is wilted and the tomatoes are heated through.

Remove from heat, and crack the eggs onto the vegetable mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. Pop it into the oven for about five minutes. Pull it out, sprinkle with cheese. Back into the oven for about five more minutes.

Those times are estimated. I actually "overcooked" ours, because we like our eggs runny and at a total of 15 minutes, ours were solid. I am guessing that 10 gives you runnier eggs, but I'm no scientist. Whatever, they were yummy and may become a weekend staple.

Yesterday I visited friends who live about an hour and a half away. I had a brisket waiting for us in the crock pot but we got too hungry during the trip, said eff it, and got Chinese. No regrets.

I'm re-heating the brisket as I type, and will report back tomorrow.

"Why are there still no photos?", you ask. Well, it's because children are horrible and my child deleted all of my food photos off the memory card and took pictures of THE CAT.

Teriyaki? More like TeriYUCKY, amiright?

2009-10-01T05:44:00.000-07:00

I came to a sad realization yesterday - I do not like bottled teriyaki sauce. It's only sad to me because it was a staple in the house when I was a kid. Sweet and salty, it was the best thing since ranch dressing and we used to use it as a condiment on anything plain that my mother served up.

As an adult, I don't really use it very much. It has a ton of sodium for one thing, and I did go through a long period of making almost everything from scratch. However, the kids like it (of course) and so once it a while it comes into play. Hibachi at our favorite Japanese place, for example. I just can't eat it any more. It just tastes like salt to me, no matter what I do with it or whatever small amount I use.

Last night's dinner was supposed to be Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs w/ Rice Balls, but things got a little hectic after school and I just didn't feel like taking the time to make the kabobs and the rice balls, or to stand at the grill and wait for the kabobs to be done. So, I deconstructed the planned meal and made Teryaki Chicken with Pineapple and Broccoli, and Sushi Rice. The kids loved it, and I ate it because I was hungry. I think this goes into the repetoire under Things I Cook For The Kids On Nights When I Have Alternate Dinner Plans.

This is super easy. We had leftovers, so I guess it would probably serve 6 depending on how big your family's average portion is.

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Teriyaki Chicken With Pineapple & Broccoli

2# Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, cubed
1 lg can chunk pineapple -or- 1 fresh pineapple, cubed
2 crowns broccoli, chopped - or- 1 bag pre-cut
1 bottle teriyaki sauce (I like Trader Joe's Island Soyaki, or any other pineapple teriyaki)
1T cornstarch
1/4 c water
1 bunch scallions, sliced
cooking oil (2 - 3 T)

How I did it;

Marinate the chicken in about 1/2 the bottle of teriyaki. I put it together in the morning and it was perfect by the time I started cooking at 6. Drain the marinade right before cooking the chicken, and discard.

Get a wok or a large skillet REALLY hot. The best thing that pro kitchen work ever taught me was that if you don't get the pan super-hot for a stir fry, you end up with a soggy mess instead. When the pan is smoking hot, add the oil and then quickly add the chicken cubes. Brown the chicken on all sides, then add the broccoli. Add a splash of water and cover for 1 minute to steam the broccoli a little. Uncover, then add the pineapple. Allow the chicken to cook through, stirring a couple of times. Add the rest of the bottle of teriyaki. It should come to an almost immediate boil.

Whisk the cornstarch into the 1/4 water to make a slurry, then stir the slurry into the wok. Keep stirring, this will thicken the sauce and you don't want it to stick and burn. (about 1 minute)

Toss in the scallions, remove from heat, and serve with rice.

I made sushi rice, with black sesame seeds. It looked pretty.

Someday I will find my camera cord and add photos to the blog. Someday.

Hide The Veggies, The Kids Are Looking

2009-09-30T05:35:00.000-07:00

If I continue to be good at updating this, and you continue to read, you will notice a recurring "Tex-Mex" theme. It is undeniably my family's favorite kind of food. It's cheap, it's easy, and you if you don't give a frig about authenticity you can throw in whatever you have in the house. It's also a fantastic way to hide vegetables from your kids.

Last night was Burrito Night. Burrito Night differs from Taco Night in that the wraps are bigger and I make rice. I also plan for leftovers - I make a crazy amount of filling and I buy two packages of wraps. Then I make, individually wrap, and freeze a bunch of burritos. We can take them to school and work, they're good for when The Teen is hungry and rummaging around (always) and Jeffrey has a midnight snack when he's up late making comics. Sometimes I throw together a salad or a smoothie to go with, but if the filling has enough of the aforementioned hidden veggies I don't stress about it too much.

Here's the deal with hiding vegetables; if you chop them up small enough and it's in a sauce, they will not notice that the vegetables are there. You can do this in a food processor, but I don't. I have to keep my processor in the basement due to lack of cabinet space and I can never find all the parts and I hate cleaning it. I use this instead, and it is the best. Do not be fooled by it's Slap-Chop-like appearance. It works, it's machine washable and it fits in my cabinet and on my woefully small counter.

Here's a by-no-means-comprehensive list of things that I have put in burritos;

Spanish Rice
Leftover Rice Pilaf
Sweet Potato (with black beans...soooooo gooood)
Spinach or whatever greens I got from the CSA and have to use up
Carrot
Potato, mashed or otherwise
Rotisserie Chicken
Dal/Lentils
Broccoli
Summer Squash
Asparagus
Roasted Winter Veg

Basically if you can put avocado and cheese on it and wrap it in a tortilla, I will serve it as a burrito. We once had roasted winter veg with dinner and the kids wouldn't even look at it. The next night I chopped up the vegetables really small, added a can of beans and a packet of taco seasoning and they each had seconds. I win.

Last night was ground beef, potato, onion/garlic and spinach with yellow rice. We will all be having lunchovers today.

Family (Meal) Planning

2009-09-29T05:27:00.000-07:00

I have kids and, as everyone knows, in order for kids to grow into healthy functional adults that don't open meth labs in the back of the trailer in order to earn enough to feed their seven bastard children all named Jayden you have to provide them with a rich buffet of activities and experiences. This school year brings guitar lessons, voice lessons, fencing practice, tutoring, two different dance classes, and carpooling from Eliza's school which is two towns away. Plus, I work.

This could all easily result in the consumption of Burger King four times a week with frozen pizza bagels on the off days. It's easy to get overwhelmed by a schedule, and it seems that a lot of families just eliminate mealtimes all together - they throw any quick food into their kids as they run out the door because hey you have to eat and hurry up and grab your cleats we're late as it is. My daughter brought home a flyer from school for Eat Dinner With Your Kids Day, and I felt profoundly sad. I make a point, even with our schedule, to eat dinner as a family. We're averaging about five nights out of seven, as weekends are more casual and once in a while we eat in front of the TV. The rules are; no phones, no laptops, no TV (you can see it from our dining room table), and no answering "I don't know" and "Nothing" to questions about your day. Even if dinner lasts 15 minutes before we run back out the door, it still counts.

"How DO you do it Holly you are amazing," you say. Oh, you.

The key is planning. I sit down on Sunday and come up with at least six dinners.* I try to get the kids to suggest stuff, it's nice to have them involved in the process. Then I make my shopping list and hit the stores. I've also come to terms with shortcuts. I used to be militant about everything being from scratch, but you learn to make concessions (Rotisserie chicken is now a kitchen staple, makes my life a little easier).

For example, here's our menu for the week;

Monday - Stuffed Shells with Panzanella

Tuesday - Burrito Night

Wednesday - Teriyaki Chicken & Pineapple Kabobs with Sushi Rice Balls

Thursday - Caribbean Quinoa & Peas with Tropical Fruit

Friday - Tomato Gorgonzola Soup with Popovers and Salad

Saturday - Pizza Night

Sunday - Crockpot Smoked Brisket, Polenta, Roasted Broccoli

Sounds fancy and complicated, but none of these will take me more than a half hour prep time. I always have pizza dough in my freezer and I usually budget for take-out pizza just in case we have a Day. I use my crockpot at least once a week, more in the winter.

I feed a family of four for an average of $150 a week - that's three meals a day, because the kids like to bring lunch to school. I do belong to a CSA, which is pretty great for the budget. I throw away a lot less un-used, funky food now.

I realize that every family is different. I understand working 3rd shift and sleeping during the day, and I understand being broke, and I understand Circumstances more than you know. This is what works for me, in my life, with my family, and maybe it will work out for you too.

Hey you know what? Here's a recipe for Panzanella!

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Panzanella (Bread Salad)

8 oz Ciliegine (those little balls of fresh mozzarella), drained
16 oz cherry or grape tomatoes
1 c chopped basil (I like a nice chiffonade)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 head green or red leaf lettuce, rough chopped
1 tsp - 1 T finely chopped garlic (to taste)
1/2 c olive oil
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
s/p to taste

about 6 cups of cubed bread. I recommend a nice dense loaf. I usually use a whole grain peasant boule', which sounds fancy but I can get it at Stop & Shop. Day old bread works best. If you have time to plan ahead, cube the bread in the morning, leave it out on a cookie sheet or your cutting board or what-have-you, and let it dry out. This dish was born out of a need to use up day old bread so think untoasted crouton.

How I did it:

It's a salad, so it's not real hard to figure this one out. I like to toss everything but the bread and lettuce together and let it sit and marinate a little while I cook the rest of the meal. (This can, however, be a nice meal on it's own - especially in the summer when it's too hot & gross to cook.) Then you can toss in the bread cubes about 5 minutes before serving. It is a style choice of whether or not you toss in the lettuce. I like to, but it also looks real pretty sitting in a bed of greens.

*Most often used for inspiration & recipes: Food Network, Real Simple, The Crockpot Lady

I only read Real Simple for the recipes, I swear.

I do read other magazines, visit other blogs, and have a f-ton of cookbooks...but if I just want to hurry up and figure it out and be done with it, those are my favorite three.

Chillin' With Chilaquiles

2009-09-28T05:25:00.000-07:00

The weather was gross yesterday, the kind of New England fall rain that sucks all ambition and energy out of you and leaves you a soggy brain dead heap huddled under a blanket on the couch, staring soullessly at the TV. I've been so busy lately that I didn't even put up a fight. I ran some laundry, cooked some stuff, and my friend Kaliis and I drank wine and caught up on a bunch of shows. It was glorious.

I made Chilaquiles-Style Chicken and Rice & Goat Cheese Stuffed Acorn Squash. Kaliis contributed delicious and seasonal apple crisp, and my daughter Eliza baked 3 Hour Cookies.

(3 Hour Cookies are just like chocolate chip cookies, but it takes Eliza 3 hours to make them because she keeps getting distracted. Teens, man. Teens.)

I did not think to take pictures of dinner, this time. I promise that I will for future posts.

The Chilaquiles-Style Chicken is based on a recipe from the October 2009 issue of Food & Wine. I tend to look at recipes, retain the basic info, chuck it aside and start thinking bout how to change it. (It's never that the original recipe isn't good, I just have Ideas.) It was really easy, it tasted delicious, and my boyfriend did a little dance he liked it so much. Here's the recipe;

Ingredients:

family-sized package of chicken thighs (about 8 or 9 thighs)
garlic
ground cumin
chili powder -or- taco seasoning
olive oil
small red onion, diced
4 oz can of green chiles (I like fire-roasted, if you can get them)
28 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
can hominy, drained
bag of tortilla chips

Pre-heat the oven to 450.

How I did it:

First, crush the garlic into a paste. The best way to do this is with a mortar and pestle, but I realize that not everyone has that lying around. An easy way is to finely chop the garlic, then add a little bit of salt and work it around with the back of a spoon. The salt will help macerate the garlic with Science. I did not give a measurement here, because I cook with a lot of garlic. The average person will probably want to use about 3 cloves or so.

Mix the garlic paste with your cumin (about 2 tsp) your chili or taco seasoning (about 1T) and a tablespoon or two of olive oil. I used taco seasoning because I have a big thing of it that I bought at Costco, but if/when I make this again I will probably switch to chili powder. Chipotle chili powder would also work nicely! Set this mixture aside.

In a 9 x 12 casserole dish; mix the onion, tomatoes, hominy, green chiles, and half of the spice paste. Lightly crush the tortilla chips, then fold into the sauce.

- a note on chips: I used Trader Joe's tri-color veggie and flax chips, to add a little more flavor and because they're denser and heartier than the average chip. Blue corn would also be nice, but you can use whatever chips you want and they will be fine, don't worry.

Trim any extraneous fat/skin from the chicken thighs, but leave the skin on for the most part. You want the skin, and you want to use thighs instead of boneless skinless breasts so that as the chicken bakes, the juices blend with the rest of the casserole and the flavor all comes together. If you're concerned about fat content and you choose to go with naked breasts, then I would mix some bouillion powder or concentrated broth* into the sauce.

Rub the rest of the spice paste on the thighs, and lay them on top of the chip & sauce mixture. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

*more on concentrated broth packets in a later post, but you can get really good ones at Trader Joe's

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Rice-Stuffed Acorn Squash

My kids hate squash. I love squash. We belong to a CSA, which means that come September, we have tons and tons of....squash. I always take it home in the hopes that someday I will find the magical recipe that tricks the kids into liking squash. This was not that recipe, but they did pick the rice stuffing out and eat that, and sometimes you take what you can get.

This recipe was thrown together with things I had kicking around, but it came out GREAT. I am looking forward to having the lunchovers later.

This makes 4 servings as a main course, 8 as a side dish.

Ingredients

1/2 c uncooked rice (I like basmati, any rice will do)
1 packet Sazon Goya Culantro y Achiote (best rice seasoning ever, I can get it at any chain grocery and at Costco)

chopped garlic (to taste)
1/4 c diced onion
2 cooked sausages, chopped - I used chicken and apple, I would highly recommend it
handful of chopped scallion
1 c crumbled goat cheese

Cook the rice, like you do, in your choice of broth or water with the Goya seasoning packet. It will be fragrant and bright yellow and wonderful. In the meantime, halve the squash and scoop out the seeds and guts.

Now, I am a cheater when it comes to stuffed squash, and I always give the squash a microwave head start. Place the halves face-down on a plate with a little bit of water in the bottom. Microwave on high for 5 minutes. Remove from the microwave and pop them (face-up) into a baking dish, also with a little bit of water in the bottom. This helps the squash cook faster and keeps it from drying out.

Give the onions, garlic, and sausage a quick saute', until the onions are translucent. Remove from heat and toss the cooked rice, sausage mixture, scallions and goat cheese together. Spoon into the acorn squash - don't be afraid to pack it in.

Loosely cover with tinfoil and bake for about 30 minutes at 450 degrees.

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We had Bota Box Shiraz with dinner. Yeah, box wine, I know I know. I have to say that Bota is pretty tasty, it's a really good value, and it's environmentally friendly. I give it two thumbs up, but I also sometimes choose wine by who has the prettiest label so what do I know. I'm a beer snob more than a wine snob.

We were all excited to crack into the mead that I had picked up to go with dessert. I realize what that sounds like to the average person - "Oh fie, I hath eaten so much that I must loosen my corset...pass the mead kind sir!" - but mead is enjoying a resurgence. A lot of wineries have taken to producing signature meads, and some of them are just amazing. This one, however, was not. I stuck my nose in the glass, deeply inhaled, and my frst thought was, "Liquid Ricola??"

This mead was extremely medicinal tasting. I understand how it happened, some kinds of honey taste like that. Last winter I bought some local wildflower honey and mixed it into a mulled wine and my whole house smelled like cough drops. However, it wasn't what I wanted or what I was expecting - especially since the label boasted that it was flavored with vanilla bean and spices. I will keep it in mind for later in the winter when I'm sick. I can warm it up and have a nice toddy before bed.

Uh, I just tried to find the bottle because I can't remember the name - and the bottle is gone. Stolen in the night by the brewers to avoid a bad review? Spirited away by Kaliis in her need to mix bad with good to make better? Who knows...but I'll remember it eventually.

A little background....

2009-09-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

It always seems that chefs, and food writers, and even your average foodies have a great back story as to why they go into food in the first place. Tales of loving Italian Grandmothers, or family vacations in France, or growing up in a big city where they had a world of flavors at their fingertips. Me, I have no idea where this all came from.

I grew up in a flavorless small town in New England. We had four greasy pizza places, an even greasier Chinese restaurant, and a typical Massachusetts fish-and-chips-and-ice-cream drive in shack. My mother is from the "Dump A Box Of Fishsticks On A Cookie Sheet And Call It Good" school of cooking. I don't even know how it started, but as far as I can tell it was because I spent a lot of time at the library. You do that, when you're skinny and tall and kind of weird and poor and nobody invites you to thier house after school. After blowing through all of the fiction (seriously, I read Watership Down in fifth grade), I wandered over to the non-fiction stacks and started leafing through a series of kids' cookbooks that featured recipes from around the world. I didn't get to actually cook any of the dishes in the books, mostly because I had never heard of half the ingredients and also my parents regarded my interest with little more than passing confusion (I once asked for pan-fried shrimp from the Chinese place and my father made a comment on my "expensive tastes"), but I loved the photos of the food and the idea that there was more out there than bright orange mac & cheese.

I left my parents' house when I was 19, moved into a college town, and had sushi for the for the first time. It all snowballed from there. I started working in restaurants, and teaching myself to cook at home. I had kids, and had dreams of raising well-rounded little gourmands...kids who turned up their tiny noses at the mere idea of processed chicken nuggets and who had never heard of Lunchables. They're about halfway there - they do watch TV and you know, leave the house- but way ahead of a lot of their friends in their food repertoire.

I don't cook for a paycheck anymore, so I cook more at home. I'm lucky, because I get to go out to eat pretty often. I travel for work, so I get to try restaurants all over the country (and parts of Canada). I really like to talk about food. My boyfriend tries to humor me, but I can see his eyes glaze over. He just doesn't give a frig about what I read in the latest Food & Wine, and he doesn't want a review of the meal we just had. So here I am, doing what anybody with a free half hour a day and a love of the sound of their own voice would do.......

I started a food blog.