Whatever Floats Your Boat

Here's a trick.  If you are making baked potatoes, and you think your kid will probably say things like "yuck" and "I don't like baked potatoes," then tell them you are very excited because it is Potato Boat Night.  And tell them they can put whatever they want in their potato boat, like salt, peas (?), and leftover pork ragu, and that melty cheese is completely optional.  They might just get all excited and, in the spirit of Potato Boat Night, make toothpick sails for the potato boats, and then eat the whole thing with no complaining. 

I know I promised a chicken trifecta.  I will get to it soon.

PIE!

My friend Emily has a good job with a lot of perks, but unfortunately, it isn't really doing a lot for her soul.  Let's face it.  Not many of us have jobs that do anything for our souls.  Those jobs are hard to find.  Emily does have some hobbies, however, that are GREAT for her soul.  Running, knitting, reading, and making pie.  She is especially good at making pie.  Like State Fair of Texas Blue Ribbon Winning good.  Winning a blue ribbon at the State Fair of Texas is HUGE.  Those Texas ladies are serious about their pie, and she showed them how it's done.

Emily has decided to write a pie book.  For her soul.  I am 100% in favor of this.  And because I am her friend, I have already read the first couple of chapters (which are great) PLUS I got to be a recipe tester for this Nutella Buttermilk Pie.  Yesterday, I cleaned the glass on my oven door.  Since you could actually see through it for the first time in four years, I thought there needed to be something in there worth looking at.  So, it was the perfect day for pie recipe testing.

After I put the pie in the oven, I saw this guy on my kitchen floor.  Apparently, he heard there was going to be pie.  With Nutella.  Who can resist that?  You can't tell, but he is HUGE and scary.  I covered him with a tupperware container and tried to ignore him.  Ugh. Let's get back to the pie.

TA-DA!

Isn't it pretty?  And it tastes really good, too.  Daphne was running around the house singing, "Awesome, awesome...awesome, awesome...awesome, awesome... "

I'm sorry to say I can't post the recipe.  You will just have to wait and buy the book.  But, you will totally be glad you did.  I'll let you know when it's at an Amazon near you.

I'd Like to Propose Some Toast

Well, hello there, food blog!  It's been a long time!  Let's just say, summer didn't inspire a whole lotta cooking.  We were hot and busy and out of town a lot, so it just didn't happen.  But now, fall has arrived.  My favorite season.  It's time to start thinking about soup and stew and pumpkin bread and pie.  Oh, yeah.

I do have a few things to post from the last couple of weeks, and I thought I'd start with some toast.  I love toast.  And recently, I've been making it by grilling bread on my grill pan.  I just brush some good French or Italian bread with some olive oil and grill away.

Making a frequent appearance on my grilled toast is my new friend, avocado:

I thought I didn't like avocado.  I hate guacamole, so how could I possibly like avocado?  But I recently tried it in it's non-guacamole form and loved it!  I had it at a party, wrapped in prosciutto with a little melon.  Delicious.  Then, I saw it on some toast in a copy of Bon Appetit, so I decided to make my own.  All I did was grill the bread with olive oil, rub a little garlic clove on the hot bread just off the grill, spread on some avocado, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle on a little more olive oil.  So good.  And healthy!  Bonus!

Last week, we had pasta, so I decided to make more toast.  This time, I added pesto and parmesan cheese to the grilled bread and warmed it in the oven to melt the cheese a little.  Yum. 

I like all this toast.  I'm sure there are a million possibilities.  I like that, too.  Possibilities are good.  And toast is easy.

Coming soon, chicken marsala, chicken apple curry, and white bean chicken chili.  A CHICKEN TRIFECTA, if you will!  And stay tuned also for my attempt at being a recipe tester for my friend Emily, who is writing a book about one of my very most favorite things ever: PIE. 

It's good to be back, food blog.  It's good to be back.

Question of the day:  What is your favorite thing to put on toast?

I Found My Thrill...

I love warm fruit desserts, and wanted to make one with my giant supply of blueberries.  I was tempted by this slump recipe, but opted for a more simple Williams Sonoma blueberry crisp that got good reviews on line.

It was really really good, and I will definitely make it again because it was so quick and easy.  Daphne had a great time helping me make it (and helping me and Kev eat it!).

Next time, I'll try the slump, though. 

Here's the crisp recipe...I almost want to go get more blueberries so I can make more.  I melted a little extra butter and poured it over the oats mixture to get a crispier crust.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream for maximum enjoyment.

Williams Sonoma Blueberry Crisp

Ingredients:

• 4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter or margarine,
   at room temperature, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup rolled oats

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 375°F. Grease a shallow 1 1/2-quart baking dish with butter or margarine, or spray with vegetable cooking spray.

Spread the blueberries evenly over the bottom of the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the lemon juice.

In a bowl, using a pastry blender or fork, mix together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, butter and rolled oats until well combined. Sprinkle evenly over the blueberries.

Bake until the top is golden and the blueberries are bubbling, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. Serve hot or warm.

Serves 6.

Summer is for Grilling

So, we - or actually Kev - grilled some salmon on cedar planks, which makes it taste extra good.  You should be able to find cedar planks at the grocery store with the charcoal and other grilling things.  Read the directions.  You have to soak them first or they will catch on fire.

The recipe we used is just one I found on line, here.  I followed it exactly,  except I left off the chopped green onions.  Daphne loves salmon, so it's something we should try to make more often.  It's so easy to just cook it in the oven if it isn't grilling season.  You may remember this one...so good.

Anyway, here's what we did on the grill.  Healthy and delicious.

Cedar Plank Salmon

Ingredients

• 3 (12 inch) untreated cedar planks
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 (2 pound) salmon fillets, skin removed

Directions

1. Soak the cedar planks for at least 1 hour in warm water. Soak longer if you have time.
2. In a shallow dish, stir together the vegetable oil, rice vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, green onions, ginger, and garlic. Place the salmon fillets in the marinade and turn to coat. Cover and marinate for at least 15 minutes, or up to one hour.
3. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat. Place the planks on the grate. The boards are ready when they start to smoke and crackle just a little.
4. Place the salmon fillets onto the planks and discard the marinade. Cover, and grill for about 20 minutes. Fish is done when you can flake it with a fork. It will continue to cook after you remove it from the grill.

Summer Ain't Bad, Part 2

My favorite summer activity is blueberry picking at Eagle Tree Farm.   It is so relaxing.  You just sort of get in a rhythm and go.

We made it home with 8.5 pounds of blueberries.  I have big plans for them.  But since I had some buttermilk, I decided the first thing to do was make blueberry pancakes.  For dinner.  Summer ain't bad.

 I used this recipe from Williams Sonoma for the buttermilk pancakes, and  dropped a few blueberries on each of them as they cooked on the first side.  It was like having dessert. For dinner.

Here is the recipe.  You can just ignore tha part about the molds.  Unless you want to use molds.  And don't forget to add blueberries if you have 'em!

Williams Sonoma Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 Tbs. vegetable oil or nonstick cooking spray
• Maple syrup for serving

Directions:

In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs on medium speed until frothy. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla. Stir just until the batter is smooth and no lumps of flour remain; do not overbeat.

Heat a griddle over medium-high heat until a few drops of water flicked onto the surface skitter across it. Lightly grease the griddle and the inside surface of the pancake molds with vegetable oil, or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set the molds on the griddle and heat until hot.

Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter into each mold. Cook until bubbles form on top and the batter is set, about 2 minutes. Remove the molds and, using a spatula, flip the pancakes. Cook until golden brown on the other side, about 2 minutes more. Keep warm until all the pancakes are cooked.

Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more oil to the griddle as needed. Serve with maple syrup.

Makes 12 pancakes; serves 4.

Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.

Summer Ain't Bad - Part 1

Most people who know me probably know that summer is my least favorite season.  I shall spare you the (long) list of all the things that create significant drag for me in the summertime, because this blog is a happy place.  Instead, I am going to try to embrace summer this year by celebrating the things about it that are good.

For example, corn.  Corn is good.  It's really hard to beat fresh local sweet summer corn.  It's so good, you don't even need to do anything to it.  Just eat it right off the cob.  It's like candy.

That being said, there are ways to kick up corn, and my favorite way is Chili Lime Butter.  Oh my goodness.

Here is what you do.  Mash up about 1/2 a stick of room temperature butter with about a teaspoon (heaping) of chili powder and the zest of a lime until it's combined.  Cook some corn.  It really should be fresh summer corn, but you could do this with frozen stuff if it's the middle of winter and you're desperate.   Put some of the chili lime butter on the corn when it's nice and hot so it melts through.  Then, squeeze some lime juice over it.  Don't be shy with the lime juice.  You can add salt and pepper if you want, but you won't really need it.  Taste it first, and then decide. So good.  I swear.  Thank you, summer, for corn.

One of my Favorites

On Tuesday, I spent the afternoon volunteering at Daphne's school and knew I wouldn't have a lot of time to cook, so I decided to make one of my favorite easy meals, Pappardelle with Pork Ragu.  I found this recipe last year on one of my favorite food blogs, Dinner A Love Story (link on sidebar).  I usually make this in the oven, but this time I tried doing it in the slow cooker.  It was still good, but not quite as good as if it had been braised in the oven.  This recipe makes a LOT of food, so it's great for guests, or for weeks when you need leftovers.  The only things I change are swapping the tomatoes for tomato sauce, and adding some garlic.  It's better with garlic. I served it with this salad made with lettuce from our garden!  Yay! 

Here is the original recipe...all credit goes to DALS.  Check out their blog...really good stuff.  And a cookbook from them is coming soon!

Pappardelle with Pork Ragu

2 to 2 1/2-pound boneless pork shoulder roast
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small pat butter
1 large can whole tomatoes, with juice
1 cup red wine
5 sprigs fresh thyme
5 sprigs fresh oregano
Small handful of fennel seeds
1 tablespoon hot sauce, for smokiness (I used Trader Joe’s Hot Chili Sauce)
Pappardelle
Freshly grated Parmesean

Preheat oven to 325°F. Liberally salt and pepper the pork roast. Add olive oil and butter to large Dutch oven and heat over medium-high until butter melts, but does not burn. Add pork roast to pan and brown on all sides, about 8-10 minutes in all. Add tomatoes, wine, thyme, oregano, and hot sauce and bring to a boil. Cover, and put in oven. Braise for 3-4 hours, turning every hour or so. Add more liquid (water, wine, or tomato sauce) if needed. (The liquid should come to about 1/3 of the way up the pork.) Meat is done when it’s practically falling apart. Put on a cutting board and pull it apart with two forks, then add back to pot and stir. Cook 1 to 2 pounds pasta according to package directions. When it’s is ready, put into individual bowls and top with ragu and lots of Parm.

Birthday Pie

Over the weekend, we hosted Daphne's sixth birthday party.  She decided on a Texas/Cowgirl theme, and I was struggling with what to put on the cupcakes I usually make for birthday parties.  (I always opt for cupcakes instead of one big cake because of the potential germs and/or spit generated from little kids blowing out the candles.  Yuck.  You may feel free to make fun of me now for being germophobic.  It's just how I am.  Don't even get me started on library books...). Anyway, as a little side treat to go along with the theme,  I was planning to make these s'mores pops that I saw on pinterest:

                                                                           Source: prettyfoods.tumblr.com via Tara on Pinterest

And then I got an idea.  Why not just make the s'mores into little pies, and have S'mores Birthday Pie instead of cupcakes!  Clever, huh?  Perhaps I should go on Sweet Genius!  Cupcake problem solved.

So, I searched my cookbooks and the internet for a good chocolate pie filling, and ended up choosing a NY Times recipe for Chocolate Hazelnut Panna Cotta.  Because it is mostly Nutella.  I made the filling, put it in mini graham cracker shells, and later topped it with mini marshmallows, which I toasted with my kitchen torch.  The recipe made 15 mini pies and two small ramekins of panna cotta for Kev and I to enjoy later.  Which we did.  This stuff was GOOD.  Not overly sweet, very creamy.  Yum.

I bought Daphne a sparkler candle shaped into a six because I thought it would be fun.  It wouldn't stand up in the pie filling, so I anchored it in a jumbo marshmallow:

Then, I forgot to warn her that it was going to explode into sparkly flames, so when it lit, she ran away in fear and I couldn't get a photo of her with her pie.  (The table did not catch on fire, by the way).  It was a pretty exciting birthday moment.

Anyway, I highly recommend this panna cotta recipe.  It really is good, and it's easy because you don't have to bother with eggs.  It does take a while to set, though.  It never really firmed up...it was the consistency of jell-o pudding.  Only it was better.  Because it was made out of Nutella.  NUTELLA!  Recipe here and  below:

Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Panna Cotta

Adapted from “The Craft of Baking,” by Karen DeMasco (Clarkson Potter, 2009)

Time: 20 minutes, plus at least 6 hours’ chilling

1 1/8 teaspoon powdered gelatin
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup Nutella
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup chopped, toasted hazelnuts, for serving (optional).

1. In a medium bowl, whisk gelatin with 3 tablespoons cold water. Place chopped chocolate in another medium bowl. In a large bowl, combine Nutella and salt.
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring cream to a boil. Pour half the cream over gelatin mixture and whisk gently to combine; stir in vanilla. Pour remaining cream over chopped chocolate; whisk until smooth. Combine two mixtures; whisk well.
3. Pour one-third of the gelatin-chocolate mixture over Nutella; beat using an electric mixer on low speed until a smooth paste forms. Pour in remaining mixture and milk; beat until fully combined.
4. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into six ramekins. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator until set, about six hours or overnight. Serve sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts, if desired.
Yield: 6 servings.

Fun with Gadgets!

Last Christmas, I got some Amazon money, and decided to use it to buy a mandoline slicer.  After reading lots of reviews of various slicers, I chose this one by Norpro (also the maker of my ravioli press!).  And yesterday, I finally got around to using it.

Kev.  He's always trying to get there to be more vegetables.  So, he recently sent me this link to a bunch of recipes for veggie chips.  I decided to start with the curried sweet potato chips.  So, I busted out my new slicer and got to work.  The slicer is awesome and so much fun!  It's really easy to use, and slices very evenly.  I haven't tried any of the other blades, but I'll let you know when I do.

After I sliced up the sweet potatoes, I put them in a bag with the oil and spices and let Daphne mix them up:

I had to cook them quite a bit longer than the directions said, so just make sure that if you make these, you keep an eye on them and cook them until they get crispy but not burnt.  Here they are, right out of the oven:

These were really tasty, full of Vitamin A, and made the house smell really good.  They make a nice side dish on sandwich night.  Yum!  I bet you could use butter, brown sugar and cinnamon instead of olive oil and curry spices too.  Might have to try that sometime...

Original recipe below:

Curried Sweet Potato Chips from NPR

2 medium sweet potatoes, sliced paper-thin
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon hot curry powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. For easy cleanup, line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place sweet potato slices in a large bowl and, using your hands, toss with oil and spices until coated. Arrange in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden and crisp. Remove from oven and eat.

Aloha!

If you read my other blog, then you know it's been a crazy month.  Cooking has not been at the top of my list.  But on Wednesday, I needed a good super easy meal, because that afternoon, we took the Daisies on their long-awaited field trip to learn about horses at Red Gate Farm, and I knew there would be no time to cook.  So, it was the perfect time to try a new recipe that has been going around Pinterest.  This recipe can be found on so many different sites that I don't know the original source.  All you have to do is Google "Crock Pot Hawaiian Chicken," and you'll find many many links.  Maybe even a link to this blog!

Three ingredients.  That's it.  Five minutes, and you're done.

In your slow cooker, put some chicken breasts (I used 6 Wegman's Organic boneless/skinless chicken breasts), one bottle of BBQ sauce (The original recipe calls for Archer Farms Hawaiian Barbecue Sauce from Target, but I used Wegman's Brown Sugar Barbecue Sauce), and one can of pineapple chunks (without the juice) (I just cut up some fresh pineapple into chunks and used that).  Cook it all on low for 6 hours.

While you're waiting, you can go ride a horse:

And when you get home, shred the chicken with a fork and serve it with some rice, like this:

Now, this chicken was very sweet.  Daphne loved it.  Kevin and I liked it, but thought it needed something.  Kev thought it needed some kind of vegetable. Meh.  Personally, I was thinking something more like  BACON might be just the thing to compliment all that sweetness and add some crunch.  The bottom line is, this is not the VERY best thing you will ever eat, but it is easy and pretty good, and if your kids are anything like ours, they will probably love you more for letting them eat this for dinner.

At the Buzzer

April is National Grilled Cheese Month.  I almost forgot!  So, just in the nick of time, we celebrated.  But instead of a regular grilled cheese, this time I made Monte Cristo sandwiches.  Not the deep-fried kind like you get a Bennigans, but with French toast, similar to one I saw on a recent episode of Sandwich King.  This sandwich is easy to make...grilled French toast with ham, turkey, and grated gruyere cheese, dusted with powdered sugar and served with raspberry jam for dipping.  And a nice little salad makes it dinner.  Happy Grilled Cheese Month!

And (drum roll, please)- LOOK WHAT I FOUND!  At last.  So, over the weekend, we had these raviolis again, only with crumbled cookies on top this time.  On the porch.  Good times.  Thank you, Wegman's.

Spring Break

And by that, I mean Spring has decided to take a Break.  It got cold outside again.  So for now, I am off the hook for finding and making light springy meals.

Instead, I made some good old down home delicious southern style Louisiana shrimp and grits.
Hooooo-weeeeee!

Oh, grits, how I missed you.  Recipe below:

It's Shrimp and Grits Time Oh Yeah

For the Grits:
Prepare grits according to package directions, but use milk instead of water (or a combination of milk and chicken stock).  Quick cooking grits are fine, but don't use the instant ones.  When the grits are done, stir in some grated cheddar cheese and butter until melted.  Sorry I don't have measurements here...do this to taste.  It's pretty hard to ever have too much cheese and butter in this situation, so just go for it.  You can always have a salad tomorrow.  Add some cayenne or tabasco if you want some kick. The grits will be all nice and creamy now.  Taste to see if you need more salt.  Grits need a lot of salt.  But still, be careful not to overdo it.  Pour all the yummy creamy cheesy grits into a baking dish.  Sprinkle more cheese (that's right) on top and bake at about 375 until the cheese on top is all golden and bubbly.  Yep.  You can use the broiler to get a crispier top but still keep the grits all creamy.

For the Shrimp:
My friend and neighbor, Michelle, used to make these shrimps at parties as an appetizer.  Then she moved away.  So, if I wanted to, I could pretend they were all my brilliant idea.  They're not my idea.  But they're SO so easy and fast and tasty.  So, thanks, Michelle! (Please come and visit us - we miss you!)
All you have to do is heat some olive oil in a large frying pan.  Add some minced garlic and cook for a few seconds.  Then, add some shrimp (I used a bag of Wegman's frozen uncooked peeled and deveined shrimp- thawed, rinsed, and dried).  Add quite a bit of Chef Paul's Seafood Magic seasoning and saute until shrimps are cooked through.  Sorry again for not having exact amounts of things.  You'll just have to play around with it.  The seasoning is a little spicy, but not so spicy that you need a glass of milk.  It's just right spicy.  Add cayenne if you want it to be glass of milk spicy.

Serve with a salad, or vegetable of your choice (I had grilled zucchini this time), and maybe a nice baguette.  Invite people over to join you for dinner, and listen to some Tab Benoit or Mississippi John Hurt.  Shrimp and grits night is one of my favorite nights.

Stuffed

Sometimes, we just have easy snacky dinners.  Cheese and crackers.  Sandwiches and a smoothie.   Last night, I wanted to keep things light and simple, so we had a spinach salad with strawberries and fresh mozzarella, some good rosemary bread with dipping oil, and some stuffed mushrooms.  I am positive there are more complicated and much tastier stuffed mushrooms out there, but these are really simple and quick.  I usually just serve these right out of the baking dish, but this time I copied Fireworks Pizza...they serve their stuffed mushroom appetizer on a bed of tomato sauce, so I did the same, and grated some parmesan cheese over it.  Points for presentation.  To make these, all I did was cook some Italian turkey sausage and combine it in a bowl with some bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese.  I took the stems out of some large mushrooms and filled them with the sausage mixture, put them in a baking dish, drizzled with olive oil, and grated some more parmesan on top.  I baked them at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes, heated up some Trader Joe's Pizza Sauce, and served as above.  Simple, filling, and pretty tasty for as easy as they are.  If you are more organized, you can chop up the mushroom stems and add them to the filling.  Sometime, I want to try using crab meat, too.  But that's way too complicated for a Thursday.

My quest for finding lighter springtime recipes continues.  You will be the first to know if I succeed.

Cooking Light

Well, Spring is here.  And, for me, this presents some mealtime challenges.  Because as you can probably tell from the contents of this blog so far, I like cooking big pots of warm comforting wintery things.   I am a fan of soups and stews and heavy pasta dishes.  I am not crazy about cold meals and salads and crisp raw vegetables.  But, I am determined this year to find some new lighter easy meals for warmer weather.  And I am going to try to take advantage of things we have in the garden or can buy in season at the farmer's market. 

We started yesterday by making a nice light springtime pasta:  Linguini with a mushroom lemon basil sauce.  It was really easy, and it turned out great.  But when I decided to make it, I had a feeling Daphne would refuse to try it, because she has turned against mushrooms, which she used to love.  I had to be strategic. So I went into the playroom looking exasperated, and asked her if she knew anything about zesting lemons, and telling her I needed help inventing dinner.  Inventing was the magic word - Daphne loves inventing -so we got right to work.

Before we started cooking, I let Daphne play around with the ingredients a little.  I sent her out to get some basil leaves, and had her invent a "Daphne Sample."  (Daphne Samples are little one-bite things she likes to put together with various ingredients we happen to have at mealtime.  She wants to sell them someday at something like a lemonade stand as her "business.")  She jumped at the chance.  First, she just put some salt on some raw mushroom slices and ate those.  She liked them!  Then, she decided to get fancy, and rolled up a mushroom slice and grape tomato in a basil leaf with a little salt.  She was about to eat it, but Kev came home so she gave it to him.  But that's OK...by then, she was TOTALLY into cooking this meal.

Here she is, finishing the sauce with a little fresh basil.  That's my girl!

We had to serve this meal three ways.  Kev's dish had the works.  Mine had no tomatoes but lots of parmesan, and Daphne's had no tomatoes or cheese.  But it worked out nicely, everyone liked it, and we'll definitely make it again.  And it was VERY springy!

Linguini with Mushroom Lemon Basil Sauce
 Ingredients:
Linguini noodles (I used Wegman's fresh pasta)
1 stick of butter
2 cloves of garlic, minced
10-12 large button mushrooms, sliced
salt
1/2 cup white wine
3-4 Tbsp lemon juice
fresh basil
lemon zest
parmesan cheese
grape or cherry tomatoes

For the sauce:
Melt the butter is a large saute pan.  Add the garlic and mushrooms (and salt) and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.  Add the white wine and gently simmer the sauce to reduce.  Meanwhile, boil some water for the linguini, add salt, and cook the pasta.  When the pasta is almost done, reduce the heat on the saute pan and add the lemon juice to the sauce, tasting as you go to make sure it isn't TOO lemony.   Reserve some pasta water, drain the pasta, and toss it into the sauce.  Add a little pasta water to bring it all together (maybe 1/3 cup).  Add a little bit of lemon zest and fresh basil (we just tore it into small pieces and dropped it in), and toss.  Serve with parmesan cheese and tomatoes if you like.  Yum!


As Kev said, this would be good with shrimp.  Maybe next time!
  

Dear Ricotta Cheese,

I am so sorry that I misjudged you all these years.  You see, I never liked the cheap lumpy substitutes I was exposed to in the past.  But YOU, smooth and delicious Bel Gioioso Ricotta con Latte from Wegman's, YOU are delicious.  Thank you for allowing me to make this giant dish of lasagna to share with my family (at least the ones who will eat things with melty cheese).  I promise to continue to make you part of my meal plan, and to extol your greatness to anyone who will listen.  And if I ever make it back to the Dream Cafe, I most definitely WILL order the Cloud Cakes.  You are nothing like Cottage Cheese.

Your friend and fan,
Tara

PS.  And like almost everything else, you taste better when eaten on the front porch. Recipe below.

Lasagna on the Porch with Kev

Aaaaah, yeah.

Mommy Loves LASAGNA!

Layer the following ingredients in a baking dish, cover with foil, and bake at 400 degrees for about an hour.  Then remove foil and continue to cook until the cheese on top is all bubbly.  You can use the broiler for this if the lasagna is heated through. Yep.

1. Kev's Sauce  (follow this link to the recipe)
2.  Cooked lasagna noodles (I used fresh Wegman's noodles)
3.  More sauce
4.  Cooked ground Italian turkey sausage
5.  Bel Gioioso Ricotta con Latte
6.  Shredded mozzarella cheese
7.  Grated parmesan cheese
Repeat from number 2 in as many layers as you want.  Leave out the ricotta on the top layer, but use lots of mozzarella and parmesan, and sprinkle on a little dried oregano if you want.  Bake according to directions above.  Let it sit for several minutes before cutting.  It's even better left over.  Next time I will make two and freeze one for later.

Porch Season

I haven't been cooking a lot of new things recently.  I don't know why, really.  I go through phases I guess.  The food pictured above isn't really new, or even that interesting.  It's just a panini (ham, mozzarella, and pesto) and a salad (spring greens, strawberries, goat cheese, honey cashews, and blush vinaigrette).  But it was one of the best sandwiches and salads we've had in a long time, because we ate it on the porch.  Food tastes better outside.  I don't know why.  It just does.  And now that spring is here, there will be a lot more of that. 

Cold Cold Monday

Potato Soup doesn't photograph well, but it tastes really good.

Yesterday it was cold again.  In fact, it snowed most of the morning.  So, since we are supposed to be getting a significant warm-up tomorrow, I figured this might be my last opportunity to make soup.  I decided on potato.

Daphne asked me what was for dinner.  I said potato soup.  Her head hung low.  "But MOM. I don't LIKE potato soup." And she slunk away sadly.

A little while later, we were playing and I told her it was time for me to go start on dinner.  Suddenly, she perked up and said, "Mom!  I know someone who is here and can HELP you make it!"  I looked around and guessed Quincy:

Quincy

 But she was talking about herself.  She volunteered to help, without me even asking.  A good sign.

So, we started on the soup.  I let her wash the potatoes while I cut up the carrots.  Then, when we got everything going in the dutch oven, I asked her, "So, are you going to eat this soup since you're helping me make it?"  "Of course!" she said.  Can I get a HECK YEAH!

And so, I sent her off to play while the soup cooked.  And while it cooked, I stewed.  I had a moral dilemma.  You see, at the end of the cooking time, when the potatoes are all nice and tender, a nice big handful of cheddar cheese is added to the soup.  To melt.  And that means Melty Cheese, and THAT means Daphne's Kryptonite.  I began to grate the cheese.  "For me and Daddy to put on top," I told her.  "Promise you won't put any on mine," she said.  "I promise I won't put any on top of yours," I said.  And when she wasn't looking, I added the cheese.  Oh, the guilt. 

But here's the thing.  She ATE it and she LIKED it.  But I feel like the world's worst mother because I promised I'd never lie to her about food.  And I guess I didn't lie...I just didn't tell the whole truth.

I'm going to have to tell her the whole truth.  Maybe Thursday.  Because on Wednesday, we're having the left-overs.  She is going to be so mad at me.  I don't blame her.

So, Future Daphne, when you grow up and read this, I'm sorry for not telling you about the cheese.  I really am.  But you liked this soup.  I hope you will forgive me.

Recipe below.  Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese and serve with good crusty bread.

Potato Soup

 Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 small ham steaks, cut into small cubes
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups diced peeled white potatoes
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups half-and-half or whole milk
• 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (Shhhhhhhh)
• salt, to taste

Directions:

Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add garlic and country ham. Sauté, stirring frequently, until ham starts to brown. Add flour and stir until well blended. Add the chicken broth and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Add potatoes; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add pepper, to taste. Add half-and-half or milk, and cheese; stir until cheese is melted. Taste and add salt if necessary.

Accidentally Stew

Using a recipe as a guide is a good thing to be able to do.  That way, you can tailor things to the way you like them, substitute ingredients, change it up a little.  I never ever used to be able to do that, as I've discussed here before.  Back in the day, I would follow recipes exactly as written.  Sometimes, this would work out for me, sometimes not.  As I got more confident in the kitchen, I was more willing to experiment a little, and change recipes to suit my family's tastes.  Good, right?

But yesterday, I got cocky.

You see, we were having a little hootenanny, and I wanted to get something in the slow cooker so that when everyone left, dinner would be ready.  Kev found a slow-cooked minestrone recipe in the Wegman's magazine.  It got great reviews, and looked really good and easy.  So I decided to use it as a guide and make a few little changes.  For example, I didn't want to get the plastic bag of pre-cut  veggies, so I got some carrots, celery, garlic, and an onion, and chopped them up myself.  I also don't like diced tomatoes, so I left those out.  Instead of Wegman's Italian tomato sauce, I used Hunt's plain tomato sauce (the big can), and added basil and oregano, and salt and pepper for seasoning, and I added a couple tablespoons of tomato paste.  And just for fun, I added some corn, cut off the cob, when I added the garbanzo beans and pasta.

And that's when things went wrong.  I forgot to consult my "guide" when it was time to add the pasta, and instead of 1/2 cup, I let Daphne pour in the whole box.  Yep. The whole box. Probably at least 2 cups of pasta, maybe more.

When I went back to check on things, I was shocked to find a giant pot of minestrone STEW.  There was barely any liquid left at all.  I am proud to say I did not panic.  I added a can of beef stock and about a cup of water, and adjusted the seasoning. This helped a little, but it was still far from being soupy.  Live and learn.

The good news is, I like stew.  It was still really really tasty.  Just very ditalini-intensive. Daphne helped make it, which was fun, and she got a couple of points toward her next New Food Chart goal (still undetermined) for trying minestrone and garbanzo beans.  Kev really liked it too.  And we had so much that he took some to lunch today, I froze a bunch of it, and we still have enough for leftovers tomorrow.  In spite of my huge mistake,  things ended well.  Yay!

There it is.  Sort of like Gourmet Spaghetti-o's. 

So, here is the original recipe, below.  I recommend it highly.  If you don't have a Wegman's, you'll have to work around their prepared products in the ingredients list.  You can use my changes above, or do your own thing.  But I don't recommend using a whole box of pasta.

Wegman's Slow-Cooked Beef Minestrone

Ingredients:

1 pkg (about 1.6 lbs) Boneless Beef Chuck Roast, cut into 1-inch cubes  (I used stew meat)
Wegmans Pan Searing Flour  (I skipped this)
2 Tbsp Wegmans Pure Olive Oil
1 pkg (16 oz) Food You Feel Good About Cleaned & Cut Minestrone Soup Vegetables  (I chopped my own - onion, celery, carrots, garlic)
Salt and pepper 
1 carton (32 oz) Food You Feel Good About Beef Culinary Stock  (I used Swanson's)
1 can (14.5 oz) Wegmans Italian-Style Diced Tomatoes  (I skipped this too)
1 pkg (24 oz) Italian Classics Seasoned Tomato Sauce (Prepared Foods)  (I used plain Hunt's sauce, plus basil and oregano to season the soup)
1/2 cup dry Italian Classics Ditalini Soup Pasta  (um...oops.)
1 can (15.5 oz) Italian Classics Garbanzo Beans, drained and rinsed 

(I added corn cut off the cob)
1 pkg (6 oz) Food You Feel Good About Baby Spinach  ( I used regular spinach) 

Directions:

1. Dust beef with pan-searing flour; pat off excess.
    
2. Heat oil in large braising pan on MEDIUM-HIGH until oil faintly smokes. Add beef; sear 10 min until all sides are paper-bag brown.
    
3. Transfer beef to slow cooker; don't discard pan drippings. Add vegetables to pan with beef drippings; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, 3 min; add to slow cooker.
    
4. Add stock, tomatoes, and sauce to slow cooker. Cover, cook 4 1/2-6 hours on HIGH or 8-10 hours on LOW.
     
5. Add dry pasta and beans 30 minutes before end of cooking on HIGH (45 minutes before end of cooking on LOW).
    
6. Add spinach to slow cooker; stir to blend well. Allow spinach to lightly wilt, about 2 min.