My foot

A very brief update: I am free to walk SOME. The broken bone is mostly healed, but not entirely. But the doctor gave me my "walking papers," so to speak. However, I can barely stand up, let alone walk. The foot and muscles and tendons have all forgotten what to do and it hurts to put weight on that foot - just because it hasn't had to perform that function for 7 weeks. And my left foot (the good foot) has developed tendonitis from all the extra work it's had to do in recent weeks, so it hurts more than the broken foot does. I'm nowhere near trying to cook. Or really walk more than about 20 very-slow-paces and that with a cane. Hopefully this will improve with practice in the next week.

Apple, Dried Cherry and Walnut Green Salad

(photo from wholefoodsmarkets.com)
There's maple syrup in this salad dressing. Sounds way too sweet, doesn't it? Well, it is on the sweet side for a green salad, I'll admit. But there is something seductive about the mixture of mayo, maple syrup and champagne wine vinegar. You counter the sweet with the vinegar, and it's sublime. Usually I serve this in the Fall, and we're steamy here in So. California these days, so I'm waiting for the new crop of apples to come in before I make this again. Although Granny Smiths are good year around, I know. This is kind of reminiscent of a waldorf salad, except there isn't any celery in it. So think of this as a waldorf-ish green salad maybe.

This came from a cooking class with Phillis Carey, a cooking instructor I've mentioned before on this blog. She has such a creative culinary mind. I'm not that inventive - sure, I can put something together if the ingredients are plopped down in front of me, but I'd never have thought to make a salad dressing with mayo and maple syrup. And the combo of the apples, dried cherries and walnuts too.

I think there are too many apples in this salad, although maybe Phillis wanted the apples to be predominant. I prefer to make the lettuce the star (I may use more greens than noted) and the dressing shines through. Then the fruit comes in as secondary. The recipe below is exactly as Phillis made it, with my notes in parens. But, as you start thinking about apples, maybe you'll think about this salad. It's excellent in whatever proportion you choose to use!

Apple, Dried Cherry and Walnut Salad
Recipe By :From a cooking class with Phillis Carey
Servings: 8
DRESSING:
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
6 tablespoons maple syrup
4 1/2 tablespoons champagne wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
SALAD:
10 ounces baby lettuce leaves (I use more)
4 whole Granny Smith apple -- or pears (I use 1, not 4)
3/4 cup dried cherries -- not sweetened
3/4 cup chopped walnuts -- toasted
1. Dressing: whisk mayonnaise, syrup, vinegar and sugar in a medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in oil mixture, until it is slightly thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Will keep in refrigerator for 2-3 days.
2. In a large salad bowl combine the lettuce, cherries and half of the toasted nuts. It is not necessary to peel the apples or pears, but you may if you choose. Cut the apples into julienne strips and add to the salad, then toss with enough dressing to coat the salad.
3. Divide salad equally onto 8 plates and sprinkle with remaining walnuts.
NOTES : This has a sweet tinge, obviously, with the maple syrup as a sweetener, but it's very tasty and easy. It helps if you have a mandoline to do the julienne apple strips.
To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Normandy Apricot Custard

(photo wholefoodsmarket.com)

Maybe I'll have a photo of this special dessert this summer. But only if I can still find apricots in the market by the time I'm able to walk again.

Several years ago I attended a cooking class taught by Susan Hermann Loomis. She's an American woman who took a left turn in her life and went to Paris. Attended culinary school, found jobs here and there cooking for wealthy families, met a Frenchman, married, bought a home in Normandy, settled down, had two children, then wrote a cookbook. And opened her home for cooking classes. And no, I didn't attend a class at her home in Normandy. Maybe one day.

Susan's a fun personality, and her cooking is quite straightforward. She cooks rustic. Country French. Seasonal. But oh, so delicious. This was the one recipe from her class that I made as soon as it was apricot season. I bought her cookbook and memoir On Rue Tatin and read it cover to cover as soon as I brought it home from the class. It's not currently in print, but you can find used copies. But, I very much enjoyed her breezy style, and learning more details about her life. I can't say that I've made very many of the dishes (you know, so many cookbooks, so little time, especially with a broken FOOT!), but I loved reading about them. I tagged the book in many places to remind me of the things I want to make.

I don't cook with apricots very often. They have such a short season, after all. But they're very much a celebrated fruit in Normandy, the region where Susan lives. She obviously subscribes to the Slow Food movement, using only local and seasonal ingredients. Some apricot varieties cook better than others - if you're not careful they become mush. But if you have a good source, and they are full of flavor, by all means, this would make a super end to a meal. Be sure to make this in a baking dish that's got at least 1/2 inch of space once you add all the ingredients, or it may bubble over in your oven. My notes remind me that it's the topping that makes the dish. Otherwise it would be a fruit with a custard on top, I suppose. But this has a simple eggy topping that adds a piquant taste to it. Goes very well with those perfectly baked apricots.

Normandy Apricot Custard
Recipe: Susan Herrmann Loomis, chef and author
Servings: 8
FRUIT LAYER:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 pounds apricots -- slightly under-ripe
1/4 cup light brown sugar

CUSTARD LAYER:
6 tablespoons sugar -- infused with vanilla
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup milk

TOPPING LAYER:
1/3 cup sugar -- infused with vanilla
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg
1. Preheat oven to 400°. Thoroughly butter and flour a 2-quart round baking dish about 4 inches deep. You may also use 1-cup ramekins.
2. Fruit Layer: Melt butter in medium wide skillet over medium heat. Add apricots and brown sugar, stir and saute until they are hot through and sugar has melted and begun to caramelize, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Custard Layer: In a large bowl mix together the sugar and 2 T. of butter until the mixture is pale yellow and light, about 3-5 minutes. Mix in eggs one at a time until thoroughly combined. Use a whisk on the mixture until it is light and pale yellow. Sift the flour and baking powder over the bowl, whisking as you do, so it incorporates smoothly into the mixture. Then whisk in the milk. Fold in the warm apricots and the cooking juices, then pour the entire mixture into the prepared mold. Bake in center of oven until it begins to puff and look golden, about 30 minutes.
4. Topping Layer: While the custard is baking, whisk together vanilla sugar and remaining 4 T. butter until light and fluffy. Whisk in the egg until combined. Remove the baked apricot custard from the oven and spread this topping over it. Return it to the oven and bake until golden and bubbling, an additional 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature before serving.
5. Serve with a rosemary sprig as garnish.
NOTES : The topping mixture is what makes this dish. Can be made several hours ahead of serving. Whatever bowl you bake this in, be sure to leave at least 1/2 inch of space below the edge, as it may overflow. Use a tall bowl, not a wide flat one. Vanilla sugar is simply regular sugar to which you have added a vanilla bean, cut in half. It will exude some scent to the sugar. Remove after a couple of months. When you add new sugar to your canister, add another vanilla bean. Since apricot season is so short, maybe this could be made with pluots instead.

Per Serving: 335 Calories; 16g Fat (41.9% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 44g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 118mg Cholesterol; 103mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 3 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

To print the recipe, click title at top.

Spicy Garlic Cashew Chicken

Thanks to my DH, he managed to make a nice chicken dinner the other night. Albeit, we only had one chicken thigh and some frozen asparagus each, but it worked. The freezer-burned asparagus was over the hill - but the chicken was scrumptious. We have leftovers, which is a good thing, and I would definitely make this again.

The recipe came from Elise, over at Simply Recipes. I've made several of her recipes in the last 6 months, and have enjoyed them all. This one is a stand-out, for sure. The marinade and sauce (one in the same) is just delicious. You could eat it right out of the bowl it's so tasty. Her recipe was adapted from an article in the New York Times, she said.

The recipe is very simple - you make a cashew-based marinade in the food processor, with cilantro, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, lime juice and some fresh chiles. Some of this is reserved to scoop on top at serving time, but you marinate the chicken in this stuff for at least an hour, then grill or broil or bake and serve. Even my DH, who doesn't cook, found this fairly easy to make. That's saying a lot from him! This marinade kind of resembles pesto, except rather than basil and pine nuts, this is cilantro and cashews.

My recipe will include a few changes: (1) next time I'll use boneless, skinless thighs (because I don't like to eat the fatty chicken skin and most of the thick marinade sticks to the skin); (2) we used one small jalapeno and a part of a poblano chile, and I'd definitely do that again; and maybe if baking these (3) I'll pat a bit of Panko crumbs on top of the chicken (I like the crunch of Panko); (4) I'll make more of the sauce since it's just so unbelievably yummy (I'd like to try it on other things - like a grilled pork chop - or as a spread on a sandwich, maybe even as a salad dressing - we both just l-o-v-e-d the sauce; and (5) I substituted brown sugar Splenda for the brown sugar just because we try to limit sugar in our diets.

Although the recipe says to marinate just an hour or two, most likely it would be fine up to 24 hours. No more, though, or the chicken will begin to "cook" with the lime juice in it.

Spicy Garlic Cashew Chicken Recipe
Recipe: From Simply Recipes food blog
Servings: 6
1 cup cashews -- salted
6 Tbsp cilantro -- chopped with stems
1/4 cup olive oil -- or grapeseed oil
4 whole garlic cloves -- roughly chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar -- or Splenda brown sugar
1 whole jalapeño peppers -- seeded, chopped

1/2 poblano chile, seeded, chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 pounds chicken thighs -- boneless, skinless
1. In a blender or food processor, blend together the cashews, cilantro, oil, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, chiles, lime juice, and 2 tablespoons of water. Blend until a smooth paste. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reserve a third of the marinade for serving with the chicken. Use the rest for coating the chicken.
2. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the chicken pieces. Coat the chicken pieces with the marinade. Chill for an hour or two. Bring to room temperature before cooking.
3. Preheat broiler or grill. Broil or grill chicken, turning frequently, until golden and crisp and a meat thermometer reads 175°F when inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (not touching a bone), or when the juices run clear (not pink) when cut into with a knife. About 20 to 30 minutes. Serve with lime wedges, reserved marinade, and cilantro.
Per Serving: 600 Calories; 47g Fat (70.0% calories from fat); 35g Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 151mg Cholesterol; 487mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 4 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 6 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

To view a printable recipe, click title at top.

What's Sicilian about Sicilian Tuna Salad?

It's the capers, of course, that make this uniquely Sicilian. Whether the Sicilians were the first to utilize the little buds, I don't know. I buy a giant economy sized bottle of capers at my local Italian market. A large jar isn't cheap, but I've had this jar for about 5 years, I think. Caper berries are also available - they've just been allowed to mature to a bigger size, hence they're berries, rather than buds. I do like capers a lot, but only in small quanitity. I once ordered chicken piccatta at some restaurant and it had so darned many of them, and probably a bit of the pickle juice, I couldn't eat it. But in moderation, they add a kind of piquant character to any dish in which you choose to use them. Just be sure to rinse them a little before using them.

I think capers are not common in tuna salad, but when I had this, it was just really, really good. There's nothing else in it that is that unusual. I've never been able to put my finger on why this combination is so darned good, but maybe it's the capers and lemon juice together that bring something different to the equation. And the fact that you use imported tuna packed in oil. And there's no mayo in it. There's just lots of flavor there.

Sicily abounds with lemons. There are lemons on trees obviously, lemons in the market, lemons in art, lemons in ceramics, lemons even in the ancient carvings. If you buy dinnerware, often it will contain pictures of lemons. The early people obviously found every possible way to utilize the citrus. Sicilians use lemon juice in lieu of vinegar, so it's found in every avenue of their cuisine. And how could I forget Lemoncello? Oh, so good is that liqueur.

But we're talking about a pasta salad here . . . this came from a Joanne Weir cooking class some years ago. I'd have gone right on by this recipe had I not tasted it, figuring what's one more cold pasta salad with tuna. But this was just different. Better. Tastier. Tangier. Every time I've made this it has renewed my enjoyment of it.

Sicilian Tuna Salad
Recipe: Joanne Weir, author and instructor
Serving Size : 4
6 ounces tuna in oil -- drained
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 pound penne pasta
2 tablespoons lemon juice -- must be fresh
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons capers -- rinsed and drained
1/4 cup Italian parsley -- chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil -- chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro -- chopped
1. Drain the tuna as much as possible. Place tuna in a large bowl and using a fork break it into flakes. Set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a teaspoon of salt, then add the penne, stir well, and cook ONLY until pasta is "al dente," firm to the tooth. This will be about 10-12 minutes depending on the brand. Drain well.
3. Meanwhile, into the bowl add the lemon juice, olive oil, remaining salt, and the pepper. Then add the hot, drained pasta and stir well.
4. Add the capers, parsley, basil, and cilantro and mix gently. Taste and adjust for seasonings. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
5. Transfer the salad to a serving bowl or divide amount individual plates. It is better if it is served at near room temperature. Garnish with additional Italian parsley sprigs or basil leaves.

NOTES : Buy the oil-packed tuna, since the flavor is significantly better. The salad is really good and can be made up ahead. It keeps for 4-5 days with little or no deterioration. It is a fairly dry pasta salad - you can add more oil if you want to. If it's summer and you can find good tomatoes, they are a wonderful addition to the top of the salad or on the plate with it.You can use different pasta if you would prefer.
Per Serving: 359 Calories; 11g Fat (28.4% calories from fat); 20g Protein; 44g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 8mg Cholesterol; 970mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.
To view a printable recipe, click on title at top. (photo from diabetes.org/nz)

Italian Braciole - Bragiole - Braesiola

(photo from thatsanice.com)

Update about my broken foot: I'm on a countdown - 5 days to go and I hope to be walking again. Maybe not walking well, but at least not in a wheelchair. Back to cooking again and photographing my blog food! Back to driving again. I hope.

We went to an Italian restaurant the other night - Vessia - in Irvine. One of the chefs from Prego opened it a couple of years ago. Good food. We'd been there when it first opened and were disappointed, but last night was a big improvement. My DH ordered their Braesiola.

When I looked at the word on the menu I wondered if it was something similar to the Braciole that I've made for years. Or if it was a completely different dish. Reading the fine print it sounded very similar. Why the different spelling, I wonder? Maybe some reader of mine who is Italian, or knows Italian cuisine can tell me why a dish can have so many different spellings? I did an internet search and found several also. Confusing to me! I think the meat roll is Sicilian in origin, but it's claimed by all Italians, now.

So, I decided to take a look again at my version of this standby, Braciole - I think it's pronounced brah-jol. Our Mexican waiter butchered the word big time as well as every other Italian word he tried to pronounce. I think I previously asked an Italian how to pronounce it.

Anyway, today I read online of many variations on the braciole theme. I liked reading about the addition of pine nuts, garlic, Pecorino-Romano cheese, parsley too. Here's one version I liked. And I also like the option of cooking it on a bed of tomato sauce. I may have to try some of those options next time I make this. My recipe dates back to the 1960's.

Because refrigerators with large freezers were a new fangled thing back then, there were lots of books and articles in magazines about how to use your freezer. Hard to imagine but I even bought a small BOOK about how to freeze. It seems like second nature now. But back then we didn't have plastic bags. And initially we didn't even have plastic containers (boxes) to store or freeze in either. You just used the ceramic (lidded Pyrex) or metal containers things were cooked in. Hard to believe, I know.

Because I still have the original clipping from this recipe, it was from an article about freezing meals ahead. About buying a larger amount of meat, prepping it, then fixing half and freezing half. Seemed like a logical thing to do. Have done it every since when I make this dish.

At the time I'm sure the refrigerator manufacturers probably paid marketing writers to punch out lots of material about why we needed to have these new-fangled refrigerator-freezers so they'd have umpteen more customers. Freezers had been around for awhile, but they were tiny little cubby-holes nested inside the top of the refrigerator. And they weren't frost-free. Far from it. I remember many a time on a weekend putting bowls of hot-hot water inside the freezer unit trying to hurry-up the process of defrosting the thing. Using an ice pick to pry the chunks of ice off the sides. The opening was so clogged with ice and frost that you could hardly store anything in it. Or what was in it was completely enveloped in ice so you couldn't remove it to use it. Then there were the piles of towels you needed to use to mop of the dripping water. And sponges and bowls to mop up the water on shelves below the freezer. It was an awful process. I hated it. Hated it. Hated it. But do it every homemaker did; otherwise the freezer was a useless feature.

But then they came out with frost-free. I wasn't exactly first in line because such refrigerator/freezers were pricey and beyond the budget, but I do remember, in about 1967 finally getting one. Oh, was I excited! I can hardly believe it now, but my former husband, always pinching pennies, gave me a choice (I was a stay-at-home wife) of getting an old used car of my very own OR a new frost-free refrigerator freezer. We had one car only and he used it to go to and from work. Twice a week I took him to work and used those days for errands, shopping, etc. Then I had to pick him up from work too. The other days of the week I was at home all day. Baking, cooking, cleaning, writing letters, reading, etc. Anyway, I chose the refrigerator/freezer. I was greedy: I wanted both. But both I could not have. It was probably 5 more years before I finally had a car of my own.

So, back to freezing food and braciole. However you pronounce it, it's a very simple stuffed meat roll. You start out with round steak, cut 1" thick, then you butterfly it to make a big flat surface. Then it's filled and rolled with Italian sausage, red bell pepper strips, some cheese and a bit of bread stuffing. You tie it, bake it, adding some additional cheese near the end. Remove, let sit briefly, then slice to serve.

Italian Braciole
Recipe: Magazine recipe from 1960's
Servings: 12
2 whole round steaks -- 1" thick, butterflied
1 lb Italian sausage -- hot or sweet
1 whole onion -- sliced, separated
1 c herb-seasoned stuffing cubes -- Pepperidge Farms
1 whole egg
1/4 c water
1 whole red bell pepper -- strips
8 oz Mozzarella cheese -- packaged, sliced
1. Ask the butcher to split the steaks butterfly fashion, but not all the way; open each steak to 1 large piece. Pound both steaks with mallet until somewhat thin and tenderized. Cut pieces of kitchen string about 12-14" long and lay underneath meat at 2" intervals.
2. Cook the sausage meat briefly in a large skillet, drain well and spread meat on both steaks. Briefly sauté onions and red pepper strips in pan and spread on meat. Add stuffing mix to pan, then egg mixed with water and mix well. Do not cook stuffing. Add to steaks. Remove one slice of cheese, chop and save. Halve lengthwise remaining cheese and lay on steaks. Roll each steak carefully, keeping stuffing inside and tie meat carefully, but not too tight as meat and filling expand as they bake.
3. If cooking immediately: Place rolls in shallow baking pan large enough to hold steak and pour 3/4 cup water over rolls. Bake in moderate oven (350) for 40 minutes, basting occasionally. Sprinkle reserved chopped cheese over rolls. Bake 10 minutes longer, or until cheese melts. Remove to serving or cutting board and remove strings, then slice. Serve immediately.
4. If freezing: wrap uncooked rolls in foil; label & freeze. To bake frozen rolls: unwrap, place in baking pan and pour 3/4 cup water over. Bake in 350 oven for 1 hour and 40 minutes, basting occasionally. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake 10 minutes longer.
Serving Ideas : Wonderful with corn casserole, garlic bread, green salad.
NOTES : The magazine article from which this recipe came was about freezing entrees for ease of serving later. This entree will keep in the freezer well and can be baked right out of the freezer. Do not add the cheese until the last or it will drip off the meat.

Per Serving: 246 Calories; 19g Fat (70.7% calories from fat); 14g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 74mg Cholesterol; 436mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 2 1/2 Fat.

To print recipe, click title at top.

Goat Cheese with Warm Apricot, Cherry and Green Chile Chutney

(photo from hormel.com)

Sometimes when I entertain I don't have a whole day to devote to preparing dinner. But then, when I entertain I always serve an appetizer, a salad, a vegetable, usually a carb of some kind, and a protein, maybe even with a sauce or salsa or something alongside. And dessert. That's a whole lot of food prep.

I'd like to say that as I've gotten older I've gotten wiser about the work and stress of entertaining, but my DH would heartily disagree. I still do a too-ambitious menu. I choose things that require too much work. Once in awhile I either buy an appetizer, or sometimes buy a ready-made dessert. Or, I cut out the carb. But most often I think I can do it all and still be full of energy at 6 pm. But more often than not I'm still working furiously 5 minutes before the guests arrive. My DH loves to entertain (and he does deal with the wine, the wine glasses, and he even sets the table AND does all the dishes). I can't complain at ALL that he doesn't help. He just doesn't help with any of the FOOD unless it's a grilled meal we're having. So when I start working up a menu I forget to think about the hours of work. I often underestimate how much time it will take. And I must not work at the frenetic level I used to. So I'm normally at work in the kitchen all day. One of these days I'll learn. Maybe.

On occasion I start working on my entertaining menu several days ahead and do some of the work a day or so before. This is one of those recipes to do ahead - it's not all that difficult, but you do have to make the chutney. It's easy enough - just takes about 45 minutes total time, with a bit of chopping and mincing before you start. Then when the guests arrive, you can just whip this out and heat it up.

Poblano chiles are a favorite of mine. They have some kind of deep, complex flavor. They have character. That's it. I don't think I've ever had them and not liked them. This recipe came from a cooking class with Tarla Fallgatter. And the chutney is just wonderful. On my notes from the class I wrote "fabulous." That means it's a "must fix this" dish. And I have. You'll have some leftover chutney, but it's also delicious served with a pork chop or chicken breast popped on the grill.

The picture at the top - of the cheese - isn't actually the right kind of cheese - you want the plain chevre or montrachet. A fresh and plain goat cheese log. Then you make the chutney, have it warm. Heat the log of cheese for 5 minutes, then plate it and mound the chutney over and around it. Some crackers, and you're done. I think you'll get raves.

Goat Cheese with Warm Apricot, Cherry & Green Chile Chutney
Recipe: Tarla Fallgatter
Servings: 8
8 ounces goat cheese -- log
2 1/2 cups dried apricots -- coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar -- or sugar substitute
1 cup poblano peppers -- roasted, peeled, chopped
1/2 cup dried cherries -- chopped
1/2 cup red onion -- chopped
1 whole cinnamon stick -- 3 inches
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons Italian parsley -- chopped
8 ounces crackers

Italian parsley sprigs for garnish
1. In a 3-4 quart pan over high heat, combine apricots, vinegar, sugar, chiles, cherries, onion, cinnamon stick, mustard seed and salt.
2. Bring to a boil, turn heat to low, partially cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the apricots are soft when pierced, about 20-25 minutes. Uncover and simmer until most of the liquid evaporates, about 5 more minutes.
3. Let cool, discard cinnamon stick and stir in the chopped parsley. Preheat oven to 350. Place goat cheese in an ovenproof dish and heat about 5 minutes or until JUST warm. Transfer to a serving plate and spoon some of the chutney over the top. Garnish with the Italian parsley sprigs, surround with crackers and serve.
Per Serving: 549 Calories; 14g Fat (22.0% calories from fat); 14g Protein; 98g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 30mg Cholesterol; 609mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 2 Fruit; 2 Fat; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Salmon with Pickled Ginger/Butter Sauce

(photo from wildoats.com)

When I watched Phillis Carey make this sauce at a cooking class, I thought, piously, oh, I won't eat but a bite of that, it's just got too much fat in it. Hmmm. Yea. Sure. I tasted it and my resolve went right out the window - my mouth went into a heavenly state. Well, why not, with that much butter in it? But the combination of the butter, the pickled ginger and the basil. Oh my.

I really considered not posting this recipe because of the quantity of butter. But this is just so darned good, I just had to. If you want to watch fat grams, then reduce the quantity of sauce. I think you could. As I recall a lot of the butter sauce drizzles around the plate anyway - you don't get it all right ON the salmon. The calorie and fat content assumes you consume all that sauce, which you won't. So that makes it better for us, right? Sure.

Previously I've mentioned Phillis Carey, her cookbooks, and her creativity with chicken. I mean, the woman is a magician and an Einstein all rolled into one when she invents new dishes using chicken. Plus, she makes them really flavorful and moist. Phillis applies the same ingredient creativity to salmon. I mean, she can't do chicken at every cooking class, right? But, who would have thought to use pickled ginger with salmon? My mind just doesn't work in those tangents, I guess. But I'm glad Phillis' does. And so will you if you try this. This makes a wonderful company meal. And if you read my posting about how I grade cooking class recipes, this one merited a "fabulous." That means it's a MUST FIX. And I did. And I do. And I will.

Salmon with Pickled Ginger and Basil Butter Sauce
Recipe: Phillis Carey, from a cooking class
Servings: 6
36 ounces salmon fillets -- in 6-ounce steaks
1 cup white wine -- not Chardonnay
1/4 cup rice vinegar -- not seasoned style
2 whole shallots -- chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger -- chilled
3 tablespoons pickled ginger -- divided use
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh basil -- minced
1. Preheat oven to 375. Arrange salmon fillets on a parchment lined baking sheet.
2. In a heavy saucepan over high heat, bring to a boil the wine, vinegar, shallots, fresh ginger and HALF of the pickled ginger. Boil it until it is reduced by half. (You can do this up to one day ahead.) Reduced heat to medium low and slowly add the 1 1/2 cups of butter, one tablespoon at a time. Do NOT boil. Strain the sauce, then season with salt and pepper and stir in the basil and remaining pickled ginger.
3. Melt the remaining 2 T. of butter and brush on the salmon. Season with salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 20 minutes, or until just cooked through.Serve salmon with some of the sauce and pour remaining sauce in a pitcher and serve at the table.
Serving Ideas : This can also be made with halibut. Broccoli or asparagus are great sides for this.
NOTES : Chardonnay is too tart for this dish - the chef preferred a Sauvignon Blanc or something a little sweeter than Chardonnay.
Per Serving: 669 Calories; 56g Fat (77.6% calories from fat); 35g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 223mg Cholesterol; 123mg Sodium. Exchanges: 5 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 10 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

I know it isn't asparagus season . . . Roasted Asparagus with Chile Citrus Butter

(photo seedfest.co.uk)

I was trying to put away a stack of miscellaneous recipes yesterday. I'm an inveterate recipe collector. I even have a sort-of-a furniture piece where I now store all of my clippings and miscellaneous food related paper. It's a sort of file cabinet, but looks more like furniture. Sort of. Since I've been doing this recipe-collecting for about 45 years, there are a LOT of recipes and papers in there. I rarely purge. I have, but not much. I'm always certain that as soon as I do so, I'll decide I really wanted that recipe.

These are rattan-type baskets inside a kind of 3-shelf stand in a wrought-iron frame. Doesn't look like a file cabinet, exactly, and isn't too unsightly. It sits in a hallway about 15 feet from my kitchen. When I file, I have to take a chair there and sit and sort. Because it's not very convenient, I tend to pile up recipes and other filing (restaurant reviews, and a little bit of other food trivia stuff) until I have a bunch to go through. There are frames inside each basket which allow you to hang Pentaflex folders, so then I have pocket file folders for lots of food categories. You can see one pocket folder sticking up there. In case you're interested, you can buy this piece at FurnitureFind. That's not where I bought it, but since I couldn't remember where it came from, I did a search and they do have it for $218.

So, I got distracted there. I was going through my stack of recipes to file. I was really trying to find a cauliflower and bacon soup I'd made awhile back (we had some from the freezer the other day and it was just wonderful, but I can't find the original recipe . . . I'd like to make it again). But while sorting I ran across this recipe for asparagus. Brought back a pleasant mouth-watering memory.

I really should be posting this in about March when asparagus hits the markets in abundance. We can buy it year around, but surely it's at its peak in the late spring. Some years ago I bought a Dacor oven. I L-O-V-E my Dacor oven. It has convection and regular baking options. I'd had a convection oven before, but never seemed to figure out, exactly, the best ways to use it, or when NOT to use it. So I was delighted to know that I could attend a cooking class at the Dacor headquarters, which are here in Southern California. In fact they're only about 15 miles from our house. My friend Cherrie, who also owns a Dacor full range, and I have been to 2 or 3 Dacor classes. They've been great fun. Some are for Dacor owners; others you can attend for a fee.

Twice now she and I have been to the convection class. We keep needing refresher courses. I probably should have some kind of cheat-sheet I use to help me decide whether to use convection or not. Even with classes, I don't always know. But this recipe was by far the standout recipe for convection use. And it was served both times, and I've made this innumerable times myself. It's super easy. And scrumptiously delicious. I could make an entire MEAL of this asparagus. Don't overwhelm the piquant flavors with a complicated or highly spiced entree. Allow the citrus flavors to bloom and predominate. The first time I made this, for a company dinner, I bought 3 pounds of asparagus, assuming we'd have lots of leftovers. At least that was my plan. Ha. Gone. All gone.

Roasted Asparagus with Chile Citrus Butter
Recipe: Dacor
Serving Size : 6
2 pounds asparagus
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup orange juice -- freshly squeezed
1/2 cup lemon juice -- freshly squeezed
3 tablespoons cold butter
1 tablespoon Cayenne
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon orange zest
salt and pepper -- to taste
1. Preheat oven to 375° on pure convection, if available. Cut off the ends of the asparagus. Rinse to remove any dirt or debris. Dry them on a dry towel to remove all moisture and allow to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before proceeding.
2. Layer the asparagus in a flat pan and season with salt and pepper, then drizzle on some olive oil, and toss with your fingers to cover all of the asparagus.
3. Bake for 15 minutes if they are of medium thickness. Use fewer or more minutes depending on asparagus size. If you don't have a convection oven, just increase cooking time by a little bit.
4. Meanwhile heat a small saucepan containing the lemon and orange juice. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5-6 minutes until the juice is reduced by half. Whisk in the butter, cayenne, salt and pepper. When asparagus is cooked, toss with this dressing and garnish with lemon and orange zest.
Per Serving: 127 Calories; 11g Fat (69.6% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 16mg Cholesterol; 61mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fruit; 2 Fat.

To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Want a little kick in your meatballs?

(photo from kitchengardeners.org)

This is about chiles. You want a bit of chile heat in your meatballs? This is your recipe, then. Usually I make these during cool weather, not in the summer, as the spicy heat seems to taste better when the rain is falling or the wind is blowing. But, there's no reason why this couldn't be eaten any time of year.

We'd been on a hiatus from eating beef when I made this some years ago. The recipe was in Bon Appetit, and just hit a taste button with me and I promptly went out to buy the ingredients. I made a moderate batch of them and froze the remaining in dinner-sized portions. I freeze the rice in a separate quart-sized Ziploc bag but put it with the meatballs in the gallon sized bags. Then my meal is all together.

This could be made with ground turkey or chicken, or a mixture. It's the little bit of capers in the middle that make the meatballs unusual. And the chipotle chiles. Then the fresh tomato sauce is also different. Fresh Tomato Sauce merely means you use fresh tomatoes and you don't cook it very long. So the sauce retains some semblance of a "fresh" taste. It's easy and delicious. Summertime is a good season to use up your abundance of home grown tomatoes.

As I mentioned, the recipe called for rice (I use brown basmati), but it could also go over mashed potatoes just as easily. Or pasta for that matter. But you might want some kind of carb to soak up the good sauce. Generally I make more sauce than the recipe says, but it's truly not necessary unless you like sauce like we do.

Chipotle chiles are an ancient condiment, I'm sure, with all the Mexican or South American cuisines that include hot chiles. They're merely jalapeno chiles that have been smoked and canned or bottled in an adobo tomato sauce. They're spicy. Very spicy. I'd open a can and use a mere teaspoon or two, put it in the refrigerator and months later would discover this moldy messy gunk in there. So I was overjoyed when at one of the cooking classes I attended, the instructor suggested piling the chipotles into a plastic bag and freezing the leftovers. Then when you need some, you just use a spoon and scrape out whatever you need. Very easy, and certainly a better use for the contents of the can. I don't cook Mexican food very often - we have such wonderful restaurants here in our part of the world that I don't need to make it. But I use lots and lots of Mexican food products in my cooking. And this meatball dish certainly isn't Mexican particularly.

Are any of you enjoying Rick Bayless' cooking program on public television? I've been Tivo-ing it for awhile, and have enjoyed it immensely. Rick is a famous American chef from Oklahoma, although he lives in Chicago now, where he has two very popular Mexican restaurants. He's a very unassuming kind of guy - I don't detect a bit of ego in his style. He just adores Mexican cuisine, particularly from the Yucatan. He uses copious amounts of chipotle and other chiles in nearly everything he makes. Some chiles I'd never heard of. Rick has published six cookbooks. (Just an aside here for those of you who follow my cookbook obsession, I own not one single Rick Bayless cookbook . . . aren't you proud of me?) This series, with the recipes from the PBS series is from his book called Mexican Everyday, although the series is called Mexico One Plate at a Time.

My hands are particularly sensitive to chiles. No matter how careful I am with cutting up a chile, I always manage to feel some heat from it - usually underneath my fingernails. Not everybody has this problem, so this is just a friendly warning. I use plastic gloves. The staff in my dentist's office has been kind enough (thanks Joan and others) to give me a box of their gloves every couple of years. They're a must for me. Particularly with the chipotles. Getting a little bit of that spicy chipotle sauce under my fingernails can be so painful for hours and hours.

So, if you're looking for something a bit different, give this a try. Use gloves. :-)

Chipotle Meatballs in Fresh Tomato Sauce
Recipe: Bon Appetit, May, 2003
Servings: 6
3 pounds plum tomatoes -- chopped
1 medium white onion -- chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons chipotle chile canned in adobo -- minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons capers -- drained
1. Puree first five ingredients in blender (in batches, if necessary) until almost smooth.
2. Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat, add tomatoes, cover and simmer for 10 minutes just to blend flavors and thicken slightly. Stir occasionally and season with salt and pepper. This can be prepared up to 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.
3. In a large bowl combine the beef and pork and next six ingredients. Add 1/2 cup of the cooled tomato mixture and stir well. Using your hands, form about 1 rounded tablespoon of meat mixture into a ball. Insert 2-3 capers into the center and reshape to cover them. Repeat with remaining meat mixture and capers.
4. Bring sauce to a simmer over medium heat. Add meatballs, cover and simmer until meatballs are cooked through, about 20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, prepare a batch of basmati rice. I use brown basmati rice because it's better for us. Spoon rice into a large shallow bowl and ladle meatballs and sauce on top.
NOTES : At a cooking class I learned to open a can of chipotle chiles, divide them up into small plastic bags, place those in a larger plastic bag that can be labeled. Since you never use much chipotle for any one dish, at least you'll always have it on hand. The chipotle adds a subtle, but important kick to this dish. I make this in at least double quantity and freeze both meatballs (in sauce) and rice in separate bags, and on evenings when I don't want to cook, it's really easy to pop out one of each bag and there's dinner with a vegetable and/or salad.

Per Serving : 511 Calories; 38g Fat (66.6% calories from fat); 30g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 147mg Cholesterol; 635mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 4 Lean Meat; 2 Vegetable; 5 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Bet you don't know what Schnecken is?

I probably wouldn't ever have known about Schnecken had I not lived next door to a woman who was German by heritage, and she made these rolls often. Very often. The couple invited us for dinner one night and these were served with dinner.

Now anybody reading this who has a German-Jewish heritage, you may leap all over me to tell me that Schnecken are NOT dinner rolls. They're sweet rolls that are a standard, but special occasion, sweet roll, usually filled with nuts or a caramel nut mixture. And generally they're eaten in the morning, at breakfast, like biscuits, a doughnut, or a bear claw. And actually, I found out that Schnecken is a Yiddish word. And here in the U.S. there seem to be lots of bakeries in the Cincinnati area that offer them. Must be a big German/Jewish population there who know about a good thing when they find it.

I did a google search for these guys, hoping that now that the internet has "everything" I'd find something about Schnecken ROLLS. Nay. Nada. Just a bunch of recipes for sweet dough with a sweet, nut filling. And believe it or not there's even a blog out there dedicated to Schnecken memories. No recipes, just reminiscences. Really. That's where I learned about Cincinnati's love affair with Schnecken. But, I truly don't know whether these are authentic, other than my neighbor was German, and she served these with dinner. They need no added butter as they're layered with some before the second rise.

What these are, are sweet. Certainly sweeter than regular dinner rolls. They're kind of like King's Hawaiian Bread, if you have that where you live. Also kind of like Hot Cross Buns, but without the frosting/glaze on top. But the dough is very tender. Once I got the technique down, and did some research about them, I discovered that they're akin to the Refrigerator Yeast Rolls of old. For those of you young'uns, Refrigerator Yeast Bread came into high esteem after the advent of . . . well, refrigerators. Duh. But no, really, you need to understand a bit more yeast fact and lore. Yeast dough likes a warm rising environment. It needs the time to rise too - that's what we like about raised bread, it has all those tiny little holes in it filled with air. But, homemakers couldn't always stay home all day waiting to work on the dough just when the dough said so. Probably some housewife had to take her children to the lake to swim, or she needed to help weed the south 40, so in desperation, she stuck the dough in the refrigerator. When she returned hours later and removed the dough, and let it come to room temperature she discovered the dough had risen anyway, even being chilled. But it was delayed. Perfect. Hence, Refrigerator Rolls were born. That's my explanation and I'm sticking to it!

The refrigerator thing is what makes these so fun and easy to do. You mix up the dough and let it do its thing in the frig. A couple of hours before you need them, remove from the refrigerator, roll out and cut with a biscuit cutter, set aside, lightly covered in a semi-warm place, and give them 1 - 1 1/2 hours to rise and pop them in the oven. The most heavenly fragrance will perfume the air. Betcha you can't not eat one right away!

Schnecken Rolls
Recipe By : from a neighbor I knew in Washington, D.C. (1963)
Servings : 24
YEAST MIXTURE:
2 packages dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
BREAD MIXTURE:
3/4 cup warm water
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter -- room temperature
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup boiling water
2 whole egg -- slightly beaten
6 1/2 cups bread flour -- approximately
1. In a glass measuring cup combine the 1/4 cup water, sugar and ground ginger; then add the yeast packages, stir and set aside until bubbly.
2. In a large bowl combine the water, sugar, butter and salt. Add the boiling water and stir until the butter melts. Add 2 cups of the flour and beat well.
3. Add the eggs and yeast mixture, stir well, then add all the remaining flour. Beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth. Chill for 4 hours.
4. Roll the dough out onto a floured board and use a rolling pin to roll it into a 10" by 18" rectangle. Spread the dough with a little bit of butter all over. Fold the dough in half.
5. Cut the folded dough with a biscuit cutter and place in metal pans with the rolls almost touching. Allow to rise for about 1-1 1/4 hours.
6. Preheat oven to 375° and bake rolls for 20-25 minutes.
NOTES : I actually used to make these a lot because they could be made in the morning, put into the refrigerator to chill the dough, then about 2 hours before guests arrived I'd roll it out, cut them, allow them to rise, and bake them just as guests arrived. It made the house smell wonderful! And they're absolutely delicious.
Per Serving: 243 Calories; 9g Fat (32.4% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 36g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 38mg Cholesterol; 174mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

New Wave Garlic Bread

(photo from napastyle.com)

Who doesn't like garlic bread, I ask you? Back in the days when we didn't know any better, I served garlic bread with some frequency. I really, REALLY like garlic. And butter too. Put those two together with French bread? Ah. . . But then the butter police arrived on the scene. Then the carbohydrate police joined the parade. So this doesn't get fixed except when we're having hungry guests. Usually family and grandchildren.

This isn't ordinary garlic bread, though. I don't seem to go for anything traditional anymore. I crave the unusual, different ingredients, or something that allows an item to stand out from the crowd. That's this bread. If your family doesn't like a bit of heat (chile type heat) this may not be the right fit for you. I don't mean it's the grab-the-beer or water brigade exactly, but this has some definite bite to it. You can certainly tame it down a bit to try it anyway. It calls for Sichuan pepper. Be very cautious about how much you add - it's very hot. Also, the spicy hot chili sauce has heat as well. Everybody has a different heat decibel tolerance, so add some of the heat, then taste it with a bite of bread before you spread it on the entire loaf.

This is Hugh Carpenter's recipe from one of the cookbooks I own of his. I first served it at a party to celebrate our son's graduation from UCI (University of California, Irvine) at our home in 1990. With a band of hungry young men, I didn't have anywhere near enough, but it went well with the Asian-inspired dinner (all Hugh Carpenter's recipes) I served that night. It was a weeknight, and I was still working full time then. I don't know how I did it - we had just had our kitchen remodeled (this was our previous home), and this was the first meal I cooked in the new kitchen. I must been a whirling dervish.

I suppose this bread would be ideally suited for a meal with some Asian flavors, but it goes just fine with nearly any kind of meal where you'd serve garlic bread. So, give it a go.

New Wave Garlic Bread
Recipe: Hugh Carpenter
Servings: 8
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon Chinese chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon Sichuan pepper
8 cloves garlic -- finely minced
1 bunch chives -- minced
1/3 cup cilantro -- minced
1 whole French bread loaf
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese -- grated
1. In a small saucepan, heat butter, chili sauce, Sichuan pepper and garlic. When it has begun to bubble around the edges and the butter is melted completely, remove from the heat and stir in the chives and cilantro.
2. Split the bread loaf in half lengthwise. Brush on a thin layer of the butter sauce. Add a generous amount of cheese to the half. Shake the bread a little to even distribute the cheese. Repeat with second half.
3. Heat oven to broil and toast until golden brown. WATCH CAREFULLY so it won't burn. Cut into slices and serve.
NOTES : If you don't want to use the Sichuan pepper, or you don't have it, that's fine. But the bread needs the Chinese chili sauce. It's available in most grocery stores - a clear plastic bottle, white printing, with a rooster on it. That's the best brand. I think the butter will make more than enough for two loaves of bread, but that depends on how thick you want the butter!
Per Serving: 288 Calories; 15g Fat (46.1% calories from fat); 8g Protein; 31g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 35mg Cholesterol; 443mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 2 1/2 Fat.
To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Do you have a soup library?

Do you know what this is? It's my soup library. We're not into soup season yet. I look forward to making soups - lots of soups - when the weather turns colder. That certainly hasn't happened here in Southern California - the weather turning cooler I mean. It's been hotter in the last couple of days than it's been all summer. In the 90's. Sticky. At least it's sticky for us. Yet I really love soups any time of year. But hearty soups don't frequent my table when it's hot. Except yesterday.

Soups are so comforting. Yesterday, my DH was (and still is today) suffering from a reaction to a drug he was taking, so I thought about defrosting some soup that will go down smoothly. His tongue is swollen. He's itchy all over. Has a sore throat as part of the drug reaction too. So I said, how about I defrost some soup for lunch? He nodded yes since it hurts to talk.

When I make soup I usually make extra. Usually a lot of extra. It's basically the same amount of work to make a soup for 4 as it is to make it for 10. Maybe a bit more chopping and mincing, but that's it. But then we've got leftovers for a day or two later AND some to freeze.

My standard operating procedure is to pour hot soup out into a large flat pan (one of those quarter sheets) or anything large and flatish. Then I label the Ziploc half gallon size freezer bags (not the kind with a zipper) using a grease pencil, so the writing doesn't come off in the freezer. I even write the quantity so I know how many each bag will serve. When the soup has cooled enough to handle, usually within 30-60 minutes, I scoop, ladle, or pour it into the bags, trying to portion out the contents - like getting equal amounts of chicken pieces or other chunky ingredients equalized. When I do this task I make sure there's virtually no air in the bag. This is do-able with some patience by laying the bag flat on the counter and leaving just a corner of the bag open. Holding up that tiny open corner I slide the air bubbles toward the corner, easing air out of the bag before sealing it tight. Then I lay the bags flat on our cool granite countertop for a little longer to cool some more (maybe 20-30 minutes total, usually about 10-15 minutes per side, moving the bags to a different - cool - spot). Then they're plopped into the refrigerator to cool down completely.

A couple of hours later, using a smallish cookie sheet that's just the same size as the Ziploc bag, I lay a soup bag on the sheet and place it in a level place in the freezer. The levelness is critical because you don't want to stand up bags later that are heavier weighted at one end. They cause problems in the "library." I carefully straighten the bag first, so corners aren't crinkled (wrinkled corners will sometimes crack in the freezer if you juggle the frozen "flats" around now and then. Once frozen solid, another bag goes onto the sheet and I continue until all bags are frozen. Once frozen the bags stand upright in the "library." Much easier to handle. Much easier to see. Much easier to remove from the shelf too.

I still have 11 soups lined up in waiting, even after removing one today. We had some tomato soup for lunch. Some of that wonderful cream of tomato soup I made in June from the French bistro cooking class in Sonoma. You can spot the bags of tomato soup in the library - all the same color, all lined up like soldiers. Or sardines in a can. Or books on the shelf.

Halibut Osso Buco. Yes, you read that right!

(photo wildalaskansalmoncompany.com)

You know Osso Buco, don't you? Traditionally made with veal shanks, Osso Buco is one of those standbys from nearly every upscale Italian, sometimes even French, restaurants and home kitchens. But if your meat market is like MY meat market, veal shanks are dear. Very dear. So when I saw this recipe in 2001 for halibut prepared osso buco style, it sounded wonderful. I promptly made the dish and we have enjoyed it several times since. You just have to visualize the above halibut steak resting on a bed of herbed and garlic mashed potatoes.

If there's a down side to this, it's that a bit of the preparation must be done at the last minute. And there's a modicum of chopping and mincing to be done. You can make the mashed potatoes an hour or so ahead. You must make the pan sauce ahead - the bed the halibut rests in while it bakes. But, at the last minute you have to saute the fish and bake for 10-15 minutes before plating this up. And then there's the gremolata, an essential - absolutely essential garnish for osso buco - can be made a few hours ahead too. What's gremolata, you ask? Simple: lemon zest, parsley and garlic. Mix them together and let them sit just a bit to meld their flavors before garnishing the fish with it.

There's only one caution: be sure to use low-sodium broth because the broth mixture is reduced (boiled down to a fraction of its original volume) and salted broth would concentrate that salt. Not good - unless you use low sodium. But this is a wonderfully aromatic dish, and anything placed atop a mound of garlic mashed potatoes is bound to be delicious.

Osso Buco-Style Halibut and Whipped Potatoes with Herbs
Recipe: Adapted from a recipe in Bon Appetit, 2001
Servings: 6
SAUCE & FISH:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion -- chopped
1/2 cup carrot -- chopped
3/4 cup celery -- chopped
2 whole garlic cloves -- minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup white wine
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup crushed tomatoes -- in puree
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/3 cup lemongrass -- chopped
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 whole bay leaf
2 pounds halibut fillets
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
POTATOES:
1 1/2 pounds potatoes -- Yukon Gold preferred
5 whole garlic cloves
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup mixed herbs -- fresh, chopped (your choice)
GREMOLATA:
1 whole lemon
1/4 cup fresh parsley -- minced
3 whole garlic cloves -- minced
1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, carrot and garlic; sauté until brown, about 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook 2 minutes. Add white wine and simmer until liquid is reduced by half, scraping up browned bits, about 5 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes, orange juice, lemongrass, soy sauce, thyme and bay leaf, and simmer until mixture is reduced to 3 cups, about 50 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
2. Preheat oven to 350°. Sprinkle halibut with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add fish to skillet and cook until brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer fish to plate. Pour off oil from skillet. Reduce heat to low. Add balsamic vinegar to skillet; simmer 1 minute. Add sauce. Whisk in butter. Season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce into 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Place fish atop sauce in dish. Bake until fish is opaque in center, about 10 minutes.
3. Divide potatoes among 6 plates. Top potatoes with fish and sauce. Sprinkle with Gremolata and serve immediately.
4. POTATOES: Cook potatoes and garlic in large saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain well. Return potatoes and garlic to pot. Using handheld electric mixer, beat potato mixture at low speed until smooth. Add butter; beat until melted and smooth. Increase speed and whip potatoes just until light and fluffy. Stir in herbs. Season with salt and pepper; serve.
5. GREMOLATA: Using vegetable peeler, remove peel in long strips from lemon. Mince lemon peel. Transfer to small bowl. Mix in parsley and garlic. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
Serving Ideas : This could be almost a complete meal, but it's also nice served with a few asparagus spears, or steamed broccoli on the side. A lightly dressed green salad is a nice accompaniment.
NOTES : This recipe appeared in the April 2001 Bon Appetit magazine. I lightened it up just a little bit, although it was a fairly low-calorie and low-fat dish to begin with. Be sure to use the low-salt ingredients mentioned. If you don't have them, don't add any additional salt as the recipe mentions.
Per Serving: 444 Calories; 11g Fat (22.4% calories from fat); 45g Protein; 38g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 55mg Cholesterol; 961mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 5 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat.

To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Not your standard German Chocolate Cake

(photo from bettycrocker.com)

Probably most of you have heard and/or made a German Chocolate Cake. You know the kind - two layers with a coconut brown sugar filling and frosting. A very popular cake back in the 70's, as I recall. This ISN'T one of those cakes. And I don't know the origin of this. I've never seen it in any of the cookbooks that come from the cake mix craze, either years ago and recently.

A family friend gave me this recipe way back then, but bears no resemblance either in taste or appearance. Although it IS made with a cake mix. This is baked in a 9x13 pan and requires little more than mixing up the cake mix box. Cake mixes were introduced to the world in the 1960's or 70's. What a boon they were to the home cook. And my recollection is that nearly every homemaker was baking all varieties of cakes from the mixes. Back then it was just the standard white, chocolate, German chocolate, and marble. Later came lemon and other mixes for brownies, angel food, etc. And later yet, the ones with pudding inside. So if you can find it, use a German Chocolate mix without any additions to it. Just the plain, regular stuff. But actually, the pudding inside works just fine too.

Back then, it took a year or two before cooks began to come up with variations on cake mixes - not even mixing them up like a cake, but using them as streusel on top of fruit, or combining different ones. And it was a year or two before they introduced the frosting in a can. I never liked that stuff - way too sweet for me and cloying.

So, when my mother's friend Mary served the cake that day (there were four of us who had a Mah Jong group back then and each time we met the hostess served lunch and dessert), I just went crazy for this cake. It was light and flavorful, but not overly rich. No frosting. But then I'm a nut when it comes to chocolate anyway. There were some chocolate chips in it and nuts. And this elusive sprinkle on the top. It was so simple - just some cinnamon and sugar.

In years following that, my former husband and I used to go camping in the Colorado mountains (we lived in Denver then) during the summer months. This cake was a staple in the camping or picnic category for me. My daughter Dana has always loved this cake, and she makes it herself now, but for many, many years, growing up, this was her most requested cake for her birthday.

This recipe came to the forefront of my mind this week because my friend Cherrie phoned me a couple of days ago and asked, since they're going cabin camping this weekend, if I had a different recipe for garlic bread (I do, will post at a later date) and when she mentioned needing something for dessert my mind leaped to this cake. This cake is so EASY, and I've yet to have anyone not like it. You can serve it with vanilla ice cream, but it's not necessary, really.

The photo from Betty Crocker shows a drizzle of caramel on the top. That would be a nice addition to this cake, even though I've never done it. Give it a try and let me know how THAT tastes.

German Chocolate Chip Cake
Recipe: From Mary Wilfert, a friend of my mother's, about 1970.
Serving Size : 12
1 pkg German chocolate cake mix
12 oz chocolate chips
1/2 c walnuts -- chopped, or pecans
4 tsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1. Heat oven to temperature indicated on package.
2. Prepare cake mix as specified on the box. Pour into a greased & floured 9 x 12 inch cake pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and nuts over the top of the batter. Then sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top of that. Bake as directed on cake box and set on a wire rack to cool.
3. Cake will keep in a sealed cake tin for several days, if it lasts that long.
NOTES : Cake mixes were new in the 1970's, so almost every dessert was made with them. Once I had this cake, it became one of our family's favorites. In fact, my daughter Dana usually requests this cake on her birthday. I have used regular chocolate cake mix if I didn't have the German chocolate variety.
Per Serving : 289 Calories; 14g Fat (40.4% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 43g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 189mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 3 Fat; 3 Other Carbohydrates.

To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Crostini with Blue Cheese, Apples & Watercress

(photo from crostini.com)

I really need to get a photo of this appetizer for you all. The above photo looks sort of like it. Wish I could prepare this right now and could photograph it for real. Soon. Hopefully. The broken bone in my foot is improving, thank goodness.

Crostini is an Italian word - I think it means little toasts, or something similar. That's exactly what these are. The recipe calls for a nut or fruited bread. Here in Southern California we can buy bread from La Brea Bakery (Nancy Silverton's famous bakery, although it's been sold to a big baking conglomerate). They have a raisin and pecan baguette that is perfect for this crostini. Otherwise find some kind of nut bread or fruit bread if at all possible. You slice and lightly toast the pieces, spread on a little bit of the cheese mixture containing mascarpone and blue cheese, some thinly sliced apples, then you top each one with some watercress leaves, THEN you lightly drizzle the top with honey. Oh. My. Goodness. Delicious. This recipe is going into my TOP FAV's over on the right column.

Last Fall Cherrie and I attended a cooking class at Our House South County, in San Juan Capistrano. It was all about apples. The cooking school had about 10 varieties of apples from New England shipped to them and they developed recipes all around them. We did a tasting of 6 different apples with 6 different artisanal honey varieties. Gosh were those good. Many of the apples are varieties we can't buy here in California. They're never available in our local markets. So they have to be shipped.

Remember my adage about cooking classes - if I come home from a cooking class with even one special recipe that I'll make, then I count that class as successful and worth the class fee. THIS is the recipe from that class, and I've made them several times.

With apples, you sort of have to cut them up just before you eat them or they will turn brown. If you want to get everything ready before you serve them, you could toss the apples with lemon juice, but I'm not crazy about the lemon juice taste on the crostini. So maybe just acidulated water (a bit of lemon juice in a cup of water) would be better. You can leave the skin on the apples - in fact the crostini look prettier with it on, especially if you're using a red skinned apple. Everything else can be prepared ahead and then it's just a matter of assembling them. I've been known to ask a guest to make them for me. But, you may want to make one and taste it so you know the proportion of cheese to watercress, apple and honey. The honey helps everything stick, so usually you layer the cheese, then the apples, then a bit of watercress, then honey on top.

This is one of those recipes that had I read it in a magazine or a cookbook, I probably would NEVER have made it. Why? Well, I'm not sure I can say. There isn't anything I don't like in this combination, but I don't know that I would have bothered to layer everything up, toast the toasts, etc. Lots of detail work. And yes, that's true, there is a bit of fussy work to be done to serve these. But the end result is extraordinary. And worth it. Absolutely everyone I've served this to has raved about it. So will you, if you try it. I guarantee it.

Crostini with Blue Cheese, Apples & Watercress
Recipe from: Our House South County Cooking School
Servings: 30
BLUE CHEESE SPREAD:
1 cup mascarpone cheese -- softened
2 tablespoons heavy cream
4 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons fresh thyme -- minced and crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper -- freshly ground
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 cups blue cheese -- crumbled
CROSTINI:
30 slices baguette bread -- nut or raisin, toasted lightly
2 large apple -- thinly sliced
4 teaspoons honey
3 cups watercress -- leaves only
1. CHEESE: Mix mascarpone, cream, lemon juice, thyme, salt, pepper, cayenne together in a medium bowl. Gently stir in blue cheese. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
2. CROSTINI: Allow cheese spread to warm to room temperature, then spread it onto the toasted bread slices. On half of the blue cheese spread, place thin apple slices, and on the other half lay a few pieces of watercress, pushing it on slightly so it will adhere. Drizzle the honey over the top and serve.
Serving Ideas : You can't assemble this ahead, but it doesn't take much time to assemble if you have everything ready in small dishes. A tray of these will keep at room temperature for about an hour. AND, leftovers the next morning are just fine. NOTES : This sounds kind of ho-hum. But the combination of the mild blue cheese spread with the fresh, crispy apple slices, the watercress for crunch, and the drizzle of honey makes it sublime. I buy La Brea Bakery's pecan and raisin bread, slice it thin, toast it for about 8-10 minutes at 350. This is best with some kind of fruited bread.
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 123 Calories; 5g Fat (38.1% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 15g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 12mg Cholesterol; 280mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.
To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Calabacitas con Crema

(photo from piercecollege.edu)

Ever heard of Calabacitas? I hadn't until a few years ago when DH and I traveled to New Mexico and the mountains of Colorado. Dear friends from England joined us and we took a late September driving trip. We met up in Denver, rented an SUV and headed out. It took us 10 days to do the mountains of Colorado, then we headed south to New Mexico, ending up in Santa Fe. Our last night there we had dinner at the restaurant in the Inn at the Anasazi, and with my entree came this vegetable side. of zucchini, corn and poblano chiles. I was in heaven. I nearly licked the plate. Asked the waiter to tell me all about it, which he did.

So once I reached home I started searching around the internet for recipes for Calabacitas. It's quite common in southwest cuisine - it's just a combination of some typical vegetables of southwest but the seasoning and chiles from Mexico. Found several recipes, and have made a couple of different versions. But once I found this one from Rick Bayless (from the internet, but it's from his cookbook Authentic Mexican), I've reverted to it more times than not. Most calabacitas versions are served without cream - traditional calabacitas just combine those three vegies -corn, zucchini and poblano chiles (that have been blackened over the gas range or under the broiler). But with the addition of the cream (or fat-free half and half as I've used also) it's just meltingly delicious in the mouth. I really do plan to make this as my full meal one night. It's that good. Or, I could just add to the dish some chicken broth and make it a great soup. The calories come from the cream, so really, do use the fat-free product instead and it'll be nearly healthy.

Poblano chiles are quite mild - don't be tempted to use any kind of hot chile in this recipe. If you can't get poblanos, you could use a hotter chile but in very reduced quantity. Adding poblanos is not about heat, but about the depth of flavor poblanos bring to any dish. Since corn is on the wane these days, I want to enjoy this one more time before the season is completely gone.

Calabacitas con Crema
Source: Rick Bayless, restaurateur, from his book Authentic Mexican
Servings: 8
1 lb zucchini -- (about four small)
1 1/2 cups corn kernels, fresh if possible
1/2 whole onion -- thinly sliced
2/3 cup heavy cream (or use fat-free half and half) - optional
1 whole poblano pepper -- roasted, seeded, peeled and cut in thin strips
1 tsp salt
1 Tb butter
1 Tb vegetable oil -- or vegetable oil
1. Chop the zucchini in large chunks (about 3/4 inch to 1 inch) and set aside. Prepare onions ahead and set aside. Grill the poblano chile directly on a gas flame, cool, remove skin, then cut into small strips.
2. Using a very large skillet, heat butter and oil until very hot. Add zucchini and toss until tender. Remove the zucchini from the pan with a slotted spoon, allowing it to drain well. In the remaining oil and butter, fry the onion slices until soft and sweet, then add the corn and pepper slices. Add the zucchini and cream and cook until nice and hot. Taste for salt and pepper and serve.

Per Serving: 449 Calories; 46g Fat (89.9% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 58mg Cholesterol; 395mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 9 Fat.
To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Bifteck Hache a la Lyonnaise - aka French Hamburgers

(photo from tallgrassbeef.com)

I probably should start out this posting with the sentence: I love thyme. It is this recipe that introduced me to its virtues. And I've been a frequent user ever since.

My memory served me poorly on this recipe. I've been making it for so long, and it's been written into my old recipe binder for so many years that I didn't remember who gave it to me. When I did a search for the title (in French) sure enough, I found it. This is Julia Child's recipe from her first major tome, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1. I found a write-up about the recipe on the Julia-Julie Project (the young woman who decided to methodically cook the entire contents of Julia's book in a year, all the while blogging about it, and she subsequently wrote a book based on her blog). I tried to read her blog a couple of years ago (after I read Julia's memoir, My Life in France, written by her nephew, which I just loved), but this woman, named Julie, has such a foul mouth I just couldn't continue. (I'm not even going to insert a link to her site because I disliked it so much.) I don't understand why people feel they have to use the f and s words in every sentence.

But, I also found the recipe on one of my favorite blogs, Sweet Napa. If you want to see what these French Hamburgers look like when finished, click on over to her blog to see it.

So, obviously, this isn't anything original. This has been a staple in my cooking repertoire for 40 years. I've even served it to guests (I double the sauce in that case), and whenever I do make these I make extra and freeze at least 4 patties so I can make them just by defrosting. They aren't difficult. Not in the least, although they do take a bit more time than just making patties from raw meat and cooking them.

Since I haven't read Julia Child's take on using minced beef (raw), I don't know the origin of this either. But she recommends using lean beef, then you ADD butter to the raw meat. Interesting, huh? Most current chefs and cooking magazines recommend using nothing leaner than ground chuck. But, realize that when you cook these, if the cold butter is in the middle, when the heat finally reaches the butter, it melts right into the meat, not out into the pan. That's what gives the meat it's richness. But first you saute some onion and butter, cool it, then combine that with egg and thyme to make thick patties. It's necessary to allow these to chill a little bit (with the egg to hold it together). That's an important step. Then you dredge them in flour, then fry them up until done to your liking.

You remove them from the pan and set in a warm oven while you make the sauce. Then you drain the fat from the pan, and add wine or broth. I usually use red wine, but have also used sherry. You can also use broth, or white wine for that matter. You deglaze the pan, scraping up any of those pan juices and little sticky parts, until the wine has evaporated some. Remove from heat and add some additional butter, in bits. Pour into a HOT little pitcher to serve at the table. The recipe says pour the sauce on the burgers, but then most of the sauce ends up on the platter, not on the burger, so I prefer a pitcher.

I like serving this with pasta, just simple buttered pasta. Because some of that sauce tastes great with the pasta. Then with a bright colored veg - like broccoli, or green beans perhaps. And a salad. This used to be - back in the days when nobody thought anything of eating beef 3-4 nights a week - a frequent visitor on my regular family menu. Now it's a treat.

French Hamburgers
(aka Bifteck Hache a la Lyonnaise)
Recipe: Julia Child, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1
Servings: 4
BEEF PATTIES
3/4 c onion -- minced
2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 lb lean ground beef
2 tbsp butter -- softened
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp thyme
1 whole egg

DREDGING MIXTURE:
1/2 c flour

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil

SAUCE:
1/2 cup red wine -- or sherry or port or broth
2 tablespoons butter
1. Cook minced onion slowly for 10 minutes in butter, until tender, but not brown. Pour into a mixing bowl. Add the ground beef, additional butter, and seasonings to the onions and beat just until combined. Form into 4 patties, 3/4 inch thick. Cover with wax paper and chill several hours.
2. Just before sauteeing the patties, gently roll them in the flour. In a large, heavy frying pan, melt butter and oil, bring to a moderately high temperature and add patties. Sear them until they're brown on both sides, then reduce heat until they're done to your liking. This usually takes longer than I think - about 15 minutes.
3. Remove patties to a heated oven. Pour fat out of the pan and add sherry (or other wine), scraping up the pan juices, until it's reduced to a thick syrup. Take off the heat and add the butter and serve in a small pitcher to pour over the patties.
4. Note: the original recipe calls for red wine, white wine, vermouth or beef stock for the sauce. Use either red wine, sherry or light port.
NOTES : Originally this dish was called "Bifteck Hache a la Lyonnaise" but we always called them French Hamburgers. I believe it is a Julia Child recipe from way-back, when we didn't care (or know) much about watching fat. But, it's a wonderful company meal. I've altered the original a little by reducing some of the butter. When making these I usually buy extra beef and make additional patties to freeze.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 766 Calories; 60g Fat (73.4% calories from fat); 34g Protein; 15g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 235mg Cholesterol; 1160mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 4 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 9 Fat.

To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Chicken Bamako - what's that you ask?

(photo from Food Network, Canada)

This photo, above, is about as close as I could find to my Chicken Bamako. This shows chicken drumsticks. I use boneless breasts or thighs. And the photo doesn't show all the jillions of herbs sticking to the chicken.

This is another one of those tried and true recipes I've been making since about 1970. Some friends, an older couple, served it one night. Ruth Cormack (now deceased) was a very good cook, and she inspired me to try any number of different food dishes when I was still a young bride. Believe it or not, this is a recipe that she acquired from one of her weight loss diets, likely a precursor to the all-protein diet. I have no idea where, so I can't give credit to anyone. I looked up the recipe on the internet and came up empty-handed. There is a place called Bamako in Africa (on the Niger River), but this kind of chicken combo doesn't sound African to me. So I really don't know its origin.

But nevertheless, it's very easy. Incredibly easy. Even my DH who is cooking these days, could make this. I'll have to remind him about this one, which he likes a lot. Very flavorful. You all know I like bacon already. You can vary the herbs you use - whatever suits your fancy, although the recipe calls out specific ones. If you don't like rosemary, leave it out. Put in what you like. But use lots of herbs. Lots and lots. I never seem to make enough of the dry herb mix, no matter how much I concoct, and always have to sprinkle out some more to go around. So, in other words, be generous with the herbs.

It can be thrown together in a big hurry. If you don't have time to marinate the chicken meat in the lemon juice, that's okay too. Marinate it as long as you can and add the lemon juice to the pan, dribbled over the chicken instead. If you are concerned about the fat and calories in bacon, use 2 pieces instead of 4 and cut the bacon into small squares and toothpick those pieces to the top of the chicken instead of using a half slice each. Or use turkey bacon instead. Usually I serve this with rice and a veg. If you marinate overnight, don't allow it to sit any longer than 24 hours or the chicken will start to become mushy.

Generally I use this vacuum box, pictured below, when I marinate - providing the meat is small enough to fit in the thing. It won't do a roast or tall things or a lot of pieces of anything, but it would do 6-10 boneless chicken pieces. You put the chicken pieces inside, place the lid on top, then pop that tall handle on top and pump the handle, which sucks all the air out of the box, thereby creating a vacuum. Supposedly this forces the marinade to be absorbed into the meat faster than otherwise. It's called a Vacu Multi Dish, made by VacuVin, and I bought it at Sur la Table some years ago when it was demonstrated in a cooking class. Allow it to sit in the refrigerator for an hour or so. If you don't have this box, just use a ziploc plastic bag.

Then you drain the chicken, dry it off with a paper towel and slick some olive oil (using your hands) over each piece, then dip and roll in the multitude of herbs. Mound the meat up a little bit and place on a foil or Silpat lined cookie sheet or baking pan and top with bacon. That's it. Ideally you should cook the thighs longer than the breasts, so to have them come out perfectly juicy, add the breasts later. Usually I use either breasts OR thighs, so I don't have to make those adjustments. Obviously thighs take the longer cooking time - the 30-35 minutes noted in the recipe. Happy herbing.

Chicken Bamako
Recipe from: Ruth Cormack
Servings: 6
4 each skinless boneless chicken breasts
4 each skinless chicken thighs
1/2 cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed

salt and pepper -- to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon bay leaves -- powdered
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon tarragon
2 tablespoons parsley -- minced
4 slices bacon
1. Place the chicken pieces into a plastic bag and add the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate a few hours, or at the most overnight. Drain well before continuing.
2. On a large piece of waxed paper combine the dry herbs. If time permits, combine the herbs in a mortar and pestle and grind them together to release their flavors a little. The measurements are estimates - you may need more.
3. Rub the chicken pieces with a little oil, then roll in the herbs and place a half slice of bacon on the top, securing it with a toothpick. Place the chicken pieces in a baking dish in one layer and bake in a 350 oven for 30-35 minutes, or until tender, but not dry.
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 299 Calories; 10g Fat (32.3% calories from fat); 47g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 133mg Cholesterol; 210mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 6 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 Fat.
To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Baked Fennel with Parmesan Cheese

About 5 years ago our friends Joan and Tom decided to rent an old villa in Tuscany for a week. In a little village called Bucine (pronounced BOO-shin-ay, which is contrary to normal Italian pronunciation). The place had come recommended to them by mutual friends, and was exceedingly inexpensive. Between them and us we invited other friends. We had 12 people on that trip. We actually rented the house again 2 years later too. About 2 weeks before our first departure all of the group gathered to talk logistics, timing, tour planning, and to share a delicious potluck Tuscan dinner. Joan brought this succulent fennel dish, which has become a regular on my menus ever since.

(photo from wholefoodsmarket.com)

Fennel is not an everyday vegetable. Lots of people profess to not like it because of its anise/licorice flavor. Indeed, it does have a little bit of that. And I'm not a licorice fan at all. But I like fennel raw or cooked. . . I love it raw, cut in small slivers, or shaved with a vegetable peeler. I can eat it like eating a stick of celery. But I also l-o-v-e it in this format too. When cooked, it's a different vegetable altogether First you remove the tops and nearly all the stems, cut each fennel bulb in either wedges or slices, simmer in water briefly, then bake with chicken broth, butter, parsley sage and Parmesan cheese on top. It becomes not quite soft, but sort of silky, but still with some substance to it. Italians love fennel and use it in many different ways. Obviously it's one of those vegetables that thrives in the Tuscan climate.

Joan said this recipe came from a cookbook she picked up when she and Tom lived in Rome for a few years when their daughters were young. The book is Five Brothers: A Year in Tuscan Cooking. It's available in used copies through Amazon for a ridiculously low price, in case you're interested. From what I read about it, Five Brothers is a brand of tomato sauce and other Italian canned products, and one criticism of the book was that the recipes called out the family's products too often. Another review simply said just substitute those ready-made products with your own. One nice aspect of this dish is that any leftovers are easily reheated in the microwave. DH and I made this last week. He schlepped stuff for me and I did most of the prep work on it from my little card table "kitchen" that I can reach. Even DH, who said some years ago that he didn't think he liked fennel, loves this preparation. You might like it too.

Baked Fennel with Parmigiano-Reggiano
Recipe from my friend Joan, from a cookbook called: Five Brothers: A Year of Tuscan Cooking

Servings: 8
6 whole fennel bulbs
2 tablespoons butter -- cut in pieces
1 tablespoon Italian parsley -- chopped
1 tablespoon fresh sage -- divided

salt and ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese -- grated
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Cut off the tops, clean and quarter the fennel bulbs. Or, if the bulbs are irregularly shaped, they can be cut in wide, flat slices. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a splash of salt and cook the fennel quarters for 5 minutes only. Drain and pat dry.
3. Lightly oil a baking dish then layer half the fennel inside. Dot with butter, half the parsley, sage, salt and pepper. Top with remaining fennel and seasonings. Pour broth over fennel and sprinkle with the cheese. Cover the dish with foil or a lid and bake for 45 minutes. Remove lid/foil and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese is golden brown. If you're in a hurry, increase the temperature to 400° and it may take less time to brown.
NOTES : The fennel's delicate anise flavor actually sweetens when cooked. It's a staple in the Italian vegetable repertoire.
Per Serving: 104 Calories; 5g Fat (38.0% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 12mg Cholesterol; 238mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 1/2 Fat.
To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Scallion Goat Cheese Muffins

Sometimes it just seems that a dinner requires a different kind of bread. I love ciabatta loaves - they're so tasty and so easy. Buy them, serve them. But, once in awhile for a company meal or for breakfast I will serve some different kind of bread. I think the first time I served these it was for a breakfast for my group of girlfriends along with fresh fruit, juice, coffee and yogurt. They were a big hit.

The recipe came from Gourmet Magazine, back in 1999, according to my notes. I've made them several times and never been disappointed. The goat cheese adds a little zing to the texture and the flavor. Sometimes I have chives in my garden, which makes it particularly easy to throw together. Make these when you have a simple protein and sides, not with something like a hearty lasagna or beef Stroganoff which would overwhelm the subtle goat cheese and chive flavors of the muffins. Instead, serve it alongside a simple grilled pork chop, or chicken breast. Or quiche. Or chili. Or make them for Sunday breakfast, which is my favorite.

Scallion Goat Cheese Muffins
Recipe By: Gourmet Magazine, January 1999
Servings: 12
1 cup whole milk
4 ounces soft goat cheese
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg -- slightly beaten
1 bunch scallions
1. Preheat oven to 400°. Butter 12 small muffin cups. In a small bowl stir together the goat cheese and 2 T. of the whole milk until combined. It helps if the goat cheese is left out at room temp awhile before you try to do this.
2. In a medium-sized bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Melt the butter. Remove from heat and add the remaining milk and the egg to the butter. Finely chop the scallions to measure one cup. Add them to the flour bowl with the butter mixture and stir gently. Don't overmix.
3. Kind of estimate how much is half of the biscuit batter and scoop a large tablespoon of the biscuit mixture into each muffin cup and spread with the spoon to fill the bottom. Place a spoonful of the goat cheese mixture into the center (if possible) of the muffin, then cover that with the remaining biscuit mix.
4. Bake in the middle of the oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Serve while hot.
NOTES : These are really delicious - and easy to make. They would go well with a nice salad, or even with a traditional meat and potatoes dinner.
Per Serving: 155 Calories; 9g Fat (52.2% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 40mg Cholesterol; 263mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.
To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Food Genes - are there such things?

I was reading a blog over at Tea and Cookies a few days ago about the blogger's younger years and how she developed a love of cooking. It's a cute story, if any of you want to click over to read it. She poses the question in her posting about how it happened that she ended up with a food gene since her mother doesn't really like to cook and rarely cooked when she was growing up. She wonders how she and her brother ever developed their love of cooking with that kind of background. Good question!

So this got me to thinking about the food gene in my DNA. In the last week or so I've mentioned my mother's cooking a couple of times. Maybe a bit disparagingly. I'm having some guilt pangs about that, although my mother died 10 years ago. I've written some of this before - my mother and father both grew up during the Depression. Money was very hard to come by. Both families were farmers in the San Joaquin Valley of California. They grew some of their own food. Both families had chickens. Neither had cows. One family had pigs. One family grew tomatoes some years. The other grew hay and tomatoes. Or corn. Remember - crop rotation. Can't grow the same crop year after year as the soil is leeched of nutrients that way. My mother and father, both in their 20's, actually met one summer, in line, in their respective family's trucks, waiting to deliver the tomato crop to market, to a group cooperative, I think it was, actually. My mother was accompanying her father to the market that day. The trucks were in side by side lines, and a conversation began, chatting from one truck to the other. Finally, my mother climbed onto my dad's family truck and the two talked and got to know one another. A romance was born atop a truck full of tomatoes. Awww.

So that brings me to my early years . . . my mother never really complained about the cooking she had to do. She was a housewife and stay at home mom when that was the accepted profession for every wife. We had simple meals. Entertaining usually meant gathering in our backyard over a simple picnic table with my dad wielding the tongs and spatula at the grill. We ate hamburgers and hot dogs, home made potato salad and cole slaw and strawberry shortcake. Bisquick was one of my mother's favorites. Along with Minute Rice. We had some canned vegetables and some fresh. Frozen vegetables came into existence during the 50's, I think, and my mom was a happy consumer of frozen spinach, corn, peas which we ate in rotation with occasional fresh zucchini or yellow squash inserted. I think you get the picture!

My recollection about how food piqued my interest started in 7th grade when I took Home Ec. I looked forward to the class, but retain no memories whatsoever of the food we made with the exception of the one meal I made at home. We'd done chicken sub gum and egg fu yung with white rice. So I asked my mother if I could recreate the meal at home. I made it all alone and I was so proud I could hardly contain myself. I was 13. The chicken was quite bland, considering how much I enjoy spices and seasonings now, but my mom and dad gave me all the praise I needed to nurture that little gene somewhere.

I don't remember cooking full meals much at home even after that success. My mother did the cooking. She did enjoy baking, though. She made great pies. She was quite well known in her circle of friends for her great pie crusts. She tried her darndest to teach me her technique (she of the Crisco, ice water type) to no avail. She made great apple, berry and stone fruit pies. And she baked cakes from scratch and other desserts as well. So I learned how to do some of those, but I never got the pie crust thing down. (Now, I use a butter-based crust that whips together in the food processor and succeeds well enough. I still can't do the Crisco type.) So, I began helping her with baking, and I suppose that's a gene I did inherit from my mother.

When I got married the first time I was 20, and cooking was what was expected of me. I didn't resent it - I looked forward to it. I suppose it was a form of relaxation. I worked for some years, stayed home when my daughter was young, then went back to work full time in the 1970's and worked continuously until I retired in 1995. During that time I shed one husband and married the love of my life, who also really enjoys food and entertaining. We're a good match.

Generally, when I'm not down with a broken foot like I am now, I do all the cooking and he does the dishes. Although in recent years he took on breakfast. He enjoys doing that, although we eat the same breakfast every single day, by choice. It used to be fruit smoothies (mango, to be exact), but we're eating more low carb now, so have our single sausage link, half a piece of toast (usually with a tad of peanut butter on top) and a very small scoop of Greek yogurt. Coffee, but no juice.

In all those years I've derived a huge amount of satisfaction from cooking. I love entertaining (although I will say that now that I'm in my mid 60's, cooking a full dinner is a lot of work . . . rarely can I put on a dinner that meets my satisfaction anyway, in less than about 6-8 hours of preparation) and probably the most important thing to me is what people say about the food when it's served. Hopefully they enjoyed it. I cook what I like and not everyone's tastes are like mine.

I love hearing stories from friends about their cooking experiences. About the history of a certain family meal. About the failures too. Those are always good for a few laughs. And believe me, I've had my share of them too. I probably won't share recipes here from something that doesn't taste good or that was an abject failure. I've read other bloggers who do post such recipes. I doubt I'll do that. Since I still have about 300 recipes to go (to post here) I'll be at this a good long time giving you recipes that are GOOD, rather than things that aren't.

So, I know I have people who come visit my blog now and then. Rarely do people comment, though. But, I'd love to know how you happened to get a food gene. Surely you have one since you read this blog, right? Tell me about your food gene.

Spinach Salad with Mango, Strawberries and Candied Pecans

(photo from wholefoodsmarkets.com)

Is a salad just a salad? Or can it be lifted to some higher elevation of flavor. Well, obviously I think the latter. Why didn't I think of this combination myself? I just never would have thought to put fresh mango in a salad. But putting it with spinach is just a marriage made in heaven. Strawberries aren't too unusual in salads these days - I've seen them listed often in magazines and cookbooks.

I've mentioned Phillis Carey before - the cooking instructor. She's another one of Cherrie's and my favorite teachers. This is one of her recipes. And a lovely one it is. Nothing difficult. You can make the candied pecans ahead of time, the fruit can be sliced and refrigerated a few hours before, and Trader Joe's carries baby spinach pre-washed. So it's a cinch to put together with the balsamic and orange juice dressing. It's the mangoes, though, that "make" this salad in my view. Mangoes have such a unique piquant, tart and sweet taste all at the same time.

Remembering the first time I ate fresh mango transports me to the Philippines in 1965. How I got there and why will make for another story when I tell you about how to make lumpia, a sensational appetizer that is ubiquitous (to me, anyway) with that country. Mangoes are as everyday there as perhaps apples are to us. And those were the most juicy succulent mangoes I've ever had in my life. Because of that introduction to mangoes, I've enjoyed the fruit ever since. So I just loved this salad when it was served to me and have made it many times since.

Spinach Salad with Mango, Strawberries and Candied Pecans
Recipe: Phillis Carey
Servings: 8
Balsamic Dressing:
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 dash Tabasco sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Spinach Salad:
12 ounces spinach leaves -- baby spinach if possible
1 whole mango -- peeled and cubed
1 cup strawberries, sliced
3 tablespoons green onions -- minced
Candied Pecans:
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup pecan halves
1. Dressing: Whisk vinegar, orange juice, Tabasco and sugar in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside for 30 minutes at room temperature of chill up to 24 hours.
2. Pecans: Preheat oven to 350°. Place pecans on a large baking sheet and toast them for just a few minutes, about 3-5 at the most, until they are just barely toasted. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
3. In a medium sized skillet with a heavy bottom, stir together the sugar, oil and vinegar over medium heat until the sugar melts and the syrup bubbles. Meanwhile, prepare a large baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper in it and have it ready near the range. Add the pecans and stir continuously until the nuts are warmed through and the syrup coats the nuts evenly, about 3 minutes. When the color of the shiny syrup begins to dull, or you smell the sure sign of burning, remove the nuts and pour out onto the parchment lined pan. Using a fork, separate the nuts and allow to cool completely. These will store for 2 days in an airtight container.
4. Salad: Place spinach in a large salad bowl and top with mango cubes, strawberries and green onions. Pour on half of the dressing and gently toss to combine, adding more dressing just to coat the leaves. Divide salad among plates and sprinkle each with a few candied pecans.
Per Serving: 253 Calories; 20g Fat (67.5% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 20g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 28mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 1/2 Fruit; 4 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Strawberry Gazpacho - yes, really

March, '08: I'm updating this recipe with a new photo. But it's timely, since strawberries are just in season where we live.

I know. You're going to think I'm nuts. Strawberry Gazpacho? What more unlikely combination could there be? Savory tomatoes with sweet, juicy strawberries? Well, trust me on this one. It was served to me at one of the cooking classes I attended in Coto de Caza. And Tarla Fallgatter, the instructor, said we'd really like it. And like it we did. I liked it so much I made a batch the next day. And another batch a week after that. And the week after that.

It makes a lovely little respite on a hot summer night. It's quite refreshing. It could be served in plastic cups, even, for people to enjoy before an outdoor meal. Or you could make it a sit-down course, but I like the appetizer idea better. It's not difficult, although you will likely need to go shopping first - it's not like you're going to have all the ingredients on hand. But it's worth doing so. And this is very low calorie too. Surprising - once you try this, you'll be surprised too, as it's very rich tasting.

Strawberry Gazpacho
Recipe: Tarla Falgatter
Serving Size : 6
SOUP:
1 quart strawberries -- lightly crushed
1/2 cup white onions -- thinly sliced
1/2 cup red bell pepper -- chopped
3/4 cup hothouse cucumber -- peeled, seeded, thinly sliced
1/2 whole garlic clove -- crushed
1/4 cup fresh tarragon
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil salt and pepper to taste
GARNISH:
1/2 cup strawberries -- hulled and finely diced
3 tablespoons chives
1/4 cup red bell pepper -- minced
1/4 cup hothouse cucumber -- peeled, seeded, finely diced
6 sprigs chervil -- optional
1. Combine all the soup ingredients except salt and pepper in a plastic or non-reactive bowl (or plastic bag), cover and chill overnight. Place the ingredients in a blender and puree, adding cold water(about 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup, no more) to thin it to a light soup consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper and chill. Chill the soup bowls, if possible.
2. Mix together the garnish ingredients in a non-reactive bowl. Pour each portion of soup into a small bowl and add the garnish to the center, trying to mound it in the center.
Serving Ideas : If you're serving this on a warm day, chill the soup ahead, in a bowl that will nest into another bowl that you fill with ice. Then set out the soup on the ice and put the garnish bowl next to it with a ladle and soup bowls and let people help themselves. Be prepared for people to take seconds.
NOTES : There are layers of flavors in this soup - you can't quite pick it out, but it just mellows in your mouth. The riper the strawberries the better. If you use mostly unripe ones the flavors just don't come through. The overnight marinating is important so don't skip this step.
Per Serving : 133 Calories; 10g Fat (60.1% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 4mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fruit; 2 Fat.

To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Update, sort of, on my foot, and my new "kitchen:

This doesn't look much different than it did 2+ weeks ago, but thought I'd take another photo of my foot anyway. The upper calf is NOT as big around as the photo appears. Nothing's really changed since the last picture 3 weeks ago. The bone isn't healing very fast (according to the dr.). When people say how are you? my response is: the bone is still broken. I may be in this boot longer than I'd planned because it's slow healing. Probable reason: I had too much movement in the boot during the first 2 weeks, so what little movement I did make (not knowing) probably kept reopening the fracture a little bit. So, now my foot is wrapped in an ace bandage, THEN it goes into the boot. My foot has much less ability to rattle around inside it. My foot and ankle still swell every day. Especially if I don't lie down some a couple of times a day, which is ever so boring.

But today a "bone stimulator" was delivered to me that I will use once or twice a day until the bone heals. A little plastic boxy thing, about 5" x 1" x 1" with an attachment that wraps around my foot and showers ultrasound waves to stimulate bone growth. Costs $3,000. Can't rent it. Insurance will pay 80%. It better work, that's all I have to say about it!

So, DH said about an hour ago, I'll go shopping and maybe I'll make grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. Okay, he asked? Sure, hon. When he got home, I said, why don't you go get the Cuisinart electric frypan. I'd asked him at least 2 weeks ago to go dig it out of the shelves in the laundry room where it lives, but he hadn't done it. I bought it last year when our kitchen was being remodeled, and cooked with it and a 2-burner hotplate for the 4-month construction of the new kitchen. He dug that out, then brought in our ancient card table from the garage and voila, I have a kitchen setup that will maybe, just maybe, work for me. So here's a picture of it. It helps that DH will be my schlepper - get this please, get that please, but he's content to do that rather than cook. I'd far rather cook than schlep, so it's a good combo!

I know, doesn't exactly look exciting to you, but after not cooking for a month, this is a big deal for me. Now I'll have to rethink our menus - what dishes can I cook in this frypan - and photograph them, since that's been my biggest problem posting my tried and true recipes to my blog! One or two of my cookbooks have sections titled Skillet Dishes. I think I need to go research that, AND look through my entire main MasterCook cookbook and see what recipes will adapt to this. Bye now. I have a new project for the afternoon.

If you can't go to Bombay, at least try Bombay Chicken

For a year or so, my friend Linda has talked about her Bombay Chicken. About how good it is. About how great it is for guests. Just overall fabulous. So instead of waiting for me to get around to making it myself, she came up to visit us on Sunday and fixed it (remember, I'm still not cooking at all because of my fractured foot). We were delighted - not only to have her stop for a visit, but to fix this great dish. DH was thrilled that once again, he didn't have to cook dinner! She made it with 6 chicken breasts, and we enjoyed 3 full meals out of it with another in the freezer because the chicken pieces were so big. This is worth making. It's delicious and would make a great company meal. You can make it ahead, too, except for baking.

The rice is so tasty - I love all the additions - mandarin oranges, coconut, golden raisins, almonds. And the curry flavor is subtle - not overwhelming at all. And you could make it without the curry if you are averse to it. Linda says she got this recipe about 1974 from her Aunt Ida. What a winner. Thank you, Linda!

Bombay Chicken
Recipe: From my friend Linda, from her Aunt Ida, circa 1974
Servings: 8
8 pieces chicken breast halves -- with skin and bone in
2 teaspoons paprika
2 whole onions -- sliced thin
7 cups water -- boiling
2 cups long-grain white rice
1 cup coconut -- flaked
16 ounces mandarin oranges -- canned, drained
1 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup almonds -- toasted
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
8 chicken bouillon cubes -- or use "Better Than Bouillon"
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon curry powder
1. Mix flour, salt, dash of pepper and paprika. Dredge chicken pieces in flour mixture and brown in butter in large frying pan. Once browned, remove from pan and drain. Add onion slices and cook in the remaining butter until tender but not brown.
2. Spray a large (9x13) baking dish (glass or ceramic, not metal), sprayed with Pam. Pour in raw rice first, then drained mandarin oranges on top. Sprinkle raisins and coconut over the top. Place browned chicken breasts on top of rice. You can prepare it up to this point and refrigerate, covered.
3. Preheat oven to 350°. Dissolve the bouillon cubes in boiling water and add to the onions. Add the curry powder and any browned bits in the bottom of the skillet. Pour this hot mixture over the rice and chicken.
4. Bake chicken for 1 1/4 hours or until chicken is cooked through. Test the rice for tenderness before removing.

Serving Ideas : Tastes just wonderful with green beans as a side dish and a salad.
NOTES : If you make this ahead, reheat the bouillon mixture before pouring over the rice. And it may take longer to bake if the dish has been refrigerated, so take that into consideration when planning the sit-down time.
Per Serving: 721 Calories; 33g Fat (41.6% calories from fat); 38g Protein; 68g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 124mg Cholesterol; 756mg Sodium. Exchanges: 3 Grain(Starch); 4 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fruit; 4 Fat.
To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Green Beans with Roasted Shallots and Balsamic Glaze

Sometimes the simplest of ingredients can make the most magnificent of tastes. Such with this easy vegetable. It was only in the last 15 years or so that I have come to appreciate the flavor enhancements, the joy, of cooking with shallots. They have a kind of elusive taste. Not an onion. Not garlic, either. But somewhere in between. And you most likely know they're expensive. Certainly more than onions. And since you usually use more quantity of shallot than of garlic, they can add up if you use very many of them. But I try to keep a few in my pantry all the time now. So I have them when I want them and don't have to make a special trip to the market.

As with onions, once you cook them for awhile they develop this lovely seductive smoothness, and if allowed to caramelize, so the natural sugars in them darken and nearly burn, they have a whole other taste. Unforgettable, really.

And then there's the simple green bean. I go through spells of like and dislike with them. Sometimes I love them dearly, when they're smooth and tender. Other times, after I've prepared some and they've been tough and stringy (even fresh) I've sworn off them for a season. I particularly like Blue Lake green beans. And don't mind paying the price if the market carries them, as they more than likely will be tender. I also absolutely L-O-V-E haricot verts (heh-ree-co-verr), the tiny little green beans originally made popular in France, hence the French name. They're merely young green beans. If you grow beans yourself, just pick them very young and you're most likely guaranteed of a tender mess of them. They're available sometimes at Trader Joe's, although they've been spotty as far as how fresh they are and the tenderness. But if I find them at our local farmer's market, I fall for them every time.

My mother used to make green beans quite often, and the usual method was to boil the heck out of them, until they were nearly mushy and quite gray. Sometimes she added a little onion, and some bacon. They're really not too bad that way, but I prefer my green beans to be a little firm to the tooth, al dente, as they say. And I like them to be truly GREEN, not gray.

In this dish, the shallots and the oil and vinegar are popped into a foil package to roast for an hour. You'll want to serve this dish immediately when they're done, so during that time you'll cook the beans (the photo above is a combination of green beans and sugar snap peas) at the very last minute and combine them, pile them into a serving bowl and the beans will still be nice and green. Do be sure to scrape every last bit of shallots and balsamic glaze out of the foil package. If you're not a real lover of green beans, this might convert you.

Green Beans with Roasted Shallots and Balsamic Glaze
Recipe: From a cooking class at ourhousesouthcounty.com
Servings: 6
12 ounces shallots
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
8 ounces green beans
salt and pepper -- to taste
1. To roast shallots: Peel the shallots and cut in 1/2 inch pieces. Place in the middle of a large piece of aluminum foil. Pour oil and vinegar over the shallots, then sprinkle with salt and pepper, tossing the shallots to coat. Fold and seal the foil, place on a large baking sheet and bake at 375° for about one hour.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the cleaned and trimmed green beans. Cook until they are just barely done (al dente). Remove from water and plunge into cold or iced water to stop the cooking. Drain for a few minutes.
3. Open the foil and stir to loosen some of the caramelized bits on the foil, then add the green beans and stir and toss to coat the beans thoroughly. Season with additional salt or pepper as needed.
Serving Ideas : This can be served hot, room temp, or cold.
NOTES : These are really very easy. The beans may be cooked ahead, but bake the shallots near to the time to serve.
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 131 Calories; 9g Fat (59.0% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 9mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 2 Fat.
To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Grandgirl's Fresh Apple Cake

My friend Linda emailed me one day just to tell me about this glorious apple cake. With the most unlikely name: Grandgirl’s Fresh Apple Cake from Georgia. Huh? She mentioned it again a few weeks later. We do share recipes all the time, and she’s a good cook. She still works full time, so can’t go to cooking classes much, if at all.

She has the MasterCook software also, and I’ve taught her how to use it, how to capture recipes off the web and easily import them into the software. It’s really quite easy. MasterCook is not expensive software, but it’s a very powerful program that accomplishes nearly everything I need to do to save my recipes. I have over 400 recipes in My Cookbook within MasterCook 9. It has a lot of functions that aren’t exactly "advertised," but are subtle enhancements the program offers if you learn how to use them. Like scaling recipes. You’re having 10 for dinner and the recipe serves 6? No problem. Two keystrokes and you have the recipe re-sized for 10.

One of the things I like the best is the fact that I can create my own custom cookbook design. In other words, I’ve set up a pretty design for all of my recipes. If you have printed out one of the recipes from my blog, the recipe was entered into MasterCook 9, then I converted it to a PDF file (for Adobe Acrobat) so you can print the exact recipe, with picture, in the format I’ve chosen.

I love working with MasterCook. One of its better features is how easy it is the copy and paste a web-based recipe into the program. It takes about 3 keystrokes to get to the import assistant, a small help screen that requires very little to get the recipe into MasterCook. I move a few things around sometimes (the program likes the recipe to be in a certain order), I hit a couple more keystrokes and the recipe is there. Sometimes a photo is available; if so, I import that too. I never forget that adage - a picture speaks a thousand words. Or, I use a fairly new feature called the Web Import Bar which will help you transfer a web recipe into the program. Also very easy. I highly recommend MasterCook 9. You can buy it here at Valusoft for $19.99 or here at Amazon for $18.99.

So back to the fresh apple cake. Last weekend Linda drove up to our house (she lives about 50 miles south of us) on Sunday JUST to fix a wonderful dinner for us. Bless her heart! DH was delighted not to have to cook. I was delighted to finally eat two of Linda’s favorites that I’d not gotten around to trying. Grandgirl’s Apple Cake from Georgia was one of them. We’re still eating off the cake 5 days later. It’s SO SO good.

The recipe came from Paula Deen, and unfortunately it’s no longer available online at the food network, but you can find it at a couple of other sites if you do a search on the web for the title. It doesn’t need any changes or embellishments. It’s perfect just the way it is. It’s a dense, nutty cake. Just overflowing with apple flavor. And once the cake is baked, you pour over it this luscious buttermilk sauce that takes a bit of time to soak in. Please try this recipe. It doesn’t need anything to serve with it, but it’s good with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or even a drizzle of heavy cream too. So, thanks Linda, for another winning recipe.

Grandgirl's Fresh Apple Cake from Georgia
Recipe By: Paula Deen via my friend Linda
Servings: 20
CAKE:
Butter -- for greasing pan
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
1/4 cup orange juice
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups apples -- peeled and finely chopped
1 cup coconut -- shredded
1 cup chopped pecans
SAUCE:
½ cup butter -- (1 stick)
1 cup sugar
½ cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon baking soda
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously grease a tube pan.
2. For the cake: in a large bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, oil, orange juice, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and vanilla extract; and mix well. Fold apples, coconut, and pecans into batter.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a tester comes out clean, about 1 ½ hours.
4. Shortly before the cake is done, make the sauce: Melt the butter in a large saucepan, stir in the sugar, buttermilk, and baking soda, and bring to a good rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Pour the sauce over the hot cake in the pan as soon as you remove it from the oven. Let stand 1 hour, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
To view a printable recipe, click title at top.

Wicked Pineapple Upside Down French Toast

(photo from King's Hawaiian bread)

Whenever the family (our kids and the grandkids and/or other relatives) come to visit over the holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter), I try to have something in mind for breakfast on the holiday morning. Some kind of a breakfast casserole, so I don't have to become a short order cook for all the varied appetites. As I've mentioned before, I have a variety of brunch casseroles in my repertoire, and this is another one that competes for first place.

The original recipe for this came from Gourmet Magazine some years back. I adapted the recipe just a little - I couldn't find brioche or challah bread the first time I made this, and King's Hawaiian bread was available. If you don't have that where you live, it's just a very soft, eggy and SWEET bread. It's too sweet for sandwiches. But it makes great toast. And it's probably wickedly bad for you because it's made with white flour and contains a fair amount of sugar. But it makes wonderful French Toast - by this recipe or any other.

But, because Hawaiian bread IS so sweet, I knew I needed to reduce the sugar. So if you use different kinds of bread, you'll want to adjust the sugar accordingly.

The pineapple, just the crushed, canned type, is what makes this different. There isn't all that much in it, so you really can't SEE the pineapple much - but you can taste it. You can serve this with syrup if you choose, but it's already so sweet and flavorful - and moist - it doesn't really need anything. Maybe some fresh fruit, fresh juice, hot steaming coffee and you're done. As with many of my brunch recipes, I get all the ingredients ready the night before so it's very easy to make this the morning of.

Pineapple Upside-Down French Toast
Recipe Adapted from Gourmet Magazine
Serving Size : 4
1/4 cup unsalted butter -- (1/2 stick)
1/4 cup brown sugar -- firmly packed
3/4 cup crushed pineapple -- pack & drain well
1 whole egg
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 1/2 cups 2% low-fat milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 slices egg bread -- or Hawaiian bread
1. Preheat oven to 400. In a saucepan melt butter over moderate heat and stir in sugar and pineapple, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
2. In a shallow bowl whisk together eggs, milk and salt.
3. In a baking dish, 9 x 13 inches, spread pineapple mixture evenly over bottom. Dip bread slices into milk mixture in batches and arrange in one layer on top of pineapple mixture. If you have spaces in the pan, just mush the bread a little to squeeze in some more slices. It's fairly easy to mix up a little more egg/milk mixture to make the dish feed more people.
4. Bake French Toast in middle of oven for 20-25 minutes, or until bread is golden brown. Cool in pan for one minute and serve.
NOTES : The original recipe didn't use any low-fat ingredients, so I adapted it some. You can cut down even more on the butter if you wish, and can use all egg substitute if you would prefer. The original called for challah or brioche bread, but since I couldn't find itve any of that I used Hawaiian bread. It's quite sweet and rich, so that's why the sugar has been reduced by half. If you're going to prepare this for breakfast and don't have much time, just get all the ingredients ready the night before, including mixing up the milk, eggs, etc. It doesn't take long to put it together.
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 424 Calories; 20g Fat (41.7% calories from fat); 12g Protein; 50g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 122mg Cholesterol; 527mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 3 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Bruschetta with Artichokes & Garlic

(photo from artichoke-festival.org)
One of the things - - that I may have mentioned before - - is that when I attend a cooking class, even though I usually know what the menu is before I go, a class will often open my taste buds to something different. Not necessarily a different food. There aren't many American foodstuffs I haven't eaten (except deep fried insects, and most organ meat). No, I mean that the chef/instructor makes something with a different twist. Or, makes something that would not have appealed to me if I'd just read the recipe. But at a class, it's there, he/she is making it and I eat it. And I find that I enjoy it. It's one of those a-ha moments. Like wow, this is really good. That's what keeps me going back to cooking classes.

So, this recipe came from a class several years ago, and I wrote on the recipe handout that it was "really good." I have my own culinary shorthand for note-taking at cooking classes. I scribble all over the handout, adding little notes here and there, describing cooking techniques, alternatives to ingredients, and even food additions the chef mentions. You'd be surprised how frequently the chef forgets to write in an ingredient or has the wrong measurement. Then, when the dish is served I have my hierarchy of (adverb) superlatives that I scribble in larger writing after the dish is served:

• no superlatives means it's not worth making
  
• "Good" means it's okay, probably not worth making
  
• "Very good" or "really good" means better than average and probably worth making
  
• "Excellent" means it was really very, very good
  
• "Fabulous" or "outstanding" means I must make this dish

So this one was a Very Good on my scale. Worth making, but maybe won't gain "oh my gosh" kinds of comments at a dinner party. But still worth doing. You can't have every single dish be the recipient of the highest of superlatives.

The chef/instructor was Nadia Frageri. She's a native Italian who lives in San Diego, and still has a very pronounced accent. In fact her speech is so thick you must pay very close attention to her speaking, or you'll miss things. She's a very accomplished cook. Doesn't have her own restaurant. Doesn't even have a website. I don't think she does computers. I don't think she does catering. Hasn't written a cookbook, either. But she teaches lots of classes in the San Diego area, and some in our area of Orange County. Nadia isn't flamboyant or a comedian like some instructors are - she doesn't have a running glib commentary to offer; she's just a very good cook and wants you to go home with some of her family recipes.

So this is one of Nadia's recipes. She recommended buying the artichoke hearts frozen at Trader Joe's. The last time I checked they weren't stocking them, however. You don't want marinated ones for sure. If you can't find frozen, then use canned. But still don't use marinated. The goat cheese is the trump card here. It gives the artichoke hearts and garlic and cheese mixture a softness it wouldn't otherwise have. It's quite easy to make, the mixture can be made up ahead, and you just have to have the Italian bread on hand. French bread will work, but it has a much firmer crust, which you don't want. And a smaller loaf - smaller around that is - is what you want, rather than a 4-inch diameter loaf. Or buy 2 smaller loaves. The larger slices are too hard to handle as finger food. Try it and let me know what superlatives you'd give this one.

Bruschetta with Artichokes & Garlic
Recipe By : Nadia Frigeri
Servings: 16
12 ounces artichoke hearts -- Trader Joe's frozen
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Italian parsley -- chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic
6 ounces soft goat cheese -- crumbled
1 whole Italian bread
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 whole garlic cloves -- peeled and sliced
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1. Defrost the artichoke hearts and drain. In a medium skillet add olive oil, parsley and artichoke hearts. Season with salt and pepper and sauté about 3-4 minutes, adding a little water or chicken broth if necessary to keep the vegetables from browning. Remove from heat, cool, pour out onto a cutting board and chop coarsely. You may also pour mixture into the food processor and process just until the hearts are minced, but do not puree the mixture.
2. Add a little olive oil to the same pan and cook the garlic slowly. Do not brown; in fact, add chicken broth to prevent it from browning. Cook until the garlic is soft. Then, in a bowl combine the artichoke mixture, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. You may make this ahead to this point. When ready to proceed, add the crumbled goat cheese and the first portion of Parmesan cheese. 3. Meanwhile, slice the bread in 1/3 inch slices. Brush them with olive oil and quickly grill or bake until barely toasted on the edges. Do not overbake these or they become too brittle. Allow to cool briefly, then with the pieces of sliced garlic, rub each slice with it. Mound the bread with the artichoke mixture, then sprinkle them with the additional Parmesan cheese and dust with additional Italian parsley.
Serving Ideas : If you're watching the calories, you can reduce the amount of cheese, or eliminate it altogether, and add sun dried tomatoes, minced, instead.
NOTES : Italian bread is quite soft, and doesn't have a firm crust like French bread does, but you can use French bread instead. Just be careful not to overbake the slices.
Per Serving: 126 Calories; 11g Fat (73.9% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 8mg Cholesterol; 145mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fat.
To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Peppered Pecans

I suppose seasoned and/or sugared nuts have been around for a long time. Nut companies surely try to devise any way they can to entice us to buy more of their product. And I've tasted a variety of caramelized nuts, either walnuts or pecans, that go onto different dishes, most often salads. I've even tried the packaged ones from the grocery store. Didn't like them. Too sweet.

So when Cathy Thomas, the Food Editor of our local daily newspaper, The Orange County Register, gave a cooking class at Sur la Table several years ago, I signed up. I've taken several of her classes - she's fun and entertaining. She even leads food tours in our local Vietnamese community a couple of times a year. I've done that too.

But this particular class she prepared some kind of salad with THESE nuts. The only thing I remember about the salad is that it had sliced pears and blue cheese crumbles in it. But I'll tell you, my taste buds were all over these nuts. You know the word addicting. Addiction: at dictionary.com it's explained as the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming.

Oh my. That's me with these nuts. If you can stay out of the nuts, you're a better person than I am.

I've made them dozens and DOZENS of times. I usually start out with the original recipe size, thinking oh, these will be enough to last for several salads. DH loves them too. We'll enjoy having these for a week or so. WRONG. After I've made them I have to taste them to make sure they're not too hot (what kind of lame reasoning is that for snacking?) Usually I'm cooking other things, making the salad. You know, the usual kitchen detail for any dinner. One more nut. Set the table. Another nut. Maybe two. Start the vegetable. Another nut. Measure out the 1/4 cup I think is appropriate for the salad and leave the rest to continue to rest on the foil. Another nut. And so it goes. I think you've got the picture.

These are not overly sweet, although they surely do have some sugar in them. The pepper is what's a bit different. Addicting. Spicy. Lovely. And I highly recommend you double the recipe!

Peppered Pecans
Recipe: Cathy Thomas, Food Editor of the Orange County Register
Servings: 8
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper -- coarsely ground
1 cup pecan halves

1. Place a baking sheet or jelly roll pan next to your range before you start.
2. In a small bowl combine sugar, salt and pepper, and stir to combine.
3. Heat a large wok or heavy skillet over high heat. Add pecans and toss until pecans are warm, about 1 minute.
4. Sprinkle pecans with HALF of the sugar mixture and toss until the sugar melts. Add remaining sugar mixture and toss again until sugar melts, then IMMEDIATELY pour out onto the baking sheet. Spread nuts out and allow to cool. These will keep, stored in a plastic bag, for about 3-4 weeks. (They'll never last that long.)
NOTES : These nuts were served in a lovely green salad garnished with blue cheese crumbles and pears at a cooking class I attended.
Per Serving: 115 Calories; 9g Fat (67.4% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 235mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.