Cook Like Mad

I’m going to be out of town until March 3rd, so check back next week for new posts. Keep cooking while I’m gone!

Scallop Ceviche in Cucumber Cups

So Thursday night I catered a cocktail party for 15 people and let me tell you, it took me all of yesterday to recover. The cooking itself was not particularly difficult, but combined with the menu planning, the inevitable readjustments, the shopping and the assembly, I had my work cut out for me. I spent all of Wednesday (til 3am…) cooking and baking and then Thursday morning I spent another few hours cooking and prepping garnishes. By the time 3pm rolled around, it was time for me to go to the client’s house and start setting up platters and assembling dishes. It was at this point that I started to realize why there are so few parties catered by a sole individual. This was a lot of work! Not only was I in charge of keeping the polenta triangles, beef, and chicken warm in the oven, but I had to use that same oven to toast the bread. This meant switching back and forth from the broiler to the lowest setting on the oven all night, while simultaneously assembling and refilling platters of appetizers and keeping the garnishes fresh.

Thankfully, the night went perfectly smoothly and everyone was delighted by the food, the atmosphere, and the company. I was very anxious about not having enough food, since 15 adults can be a vague number to cook for. Are they big eaters? Are they just interested in drinking and will nibble on something once in a while? Who knew? Not me at least. In the end, there were a few leftovers, but I calculated well. Those interested in eating balanced out those abstaining, and I never ran out of a dish, nor did I have too much left over. My menu is listed below, as well as a few pictures from the event. Please excuse the picture quality here, since taking well adjusted pictures was the farthest thing from my mind that night. Btw, if you’re ever interested in catering a party yourself, I highly suggesst making up some business cards. They’re no more than $10 on many websites, such as overnightprints.com, vistaprint.com, and 123print.com, and some are even free. The moral of the story? Cook as much as you can ahead of time, including preparing your garnishes, and you’ll be well prepared for a smoothly executed evening. Recipes will be posted tomorrow. Today, I rest. : )

Menu:

Muhammara Spread (on whole grain crackers)

Blue Cheese Mousse (on water crackers, made with Valdeon)

Homemade Blue Cheese and Pecan Crackers

Scallop Ceviche in Cucumber Cups

Crab and Avocado Profiteroles

Roast Beef with Pesto Cream on Homemade Garlic and Herb Focaccia

Rosemary and Lemon Chicken with Black Olives on Thyme-infused Polenta Triangles

Chocolate Meringue Sandwich Cookies

Boysenberry Bars

Coconut and Tropical Fruit Chewy Cookies

Mini Chocolate Rum Balls

Spiced Glazed Nuts

Pics:

blue cheese mousse

scallop ceviche, marinating

crab and avocado profiteroles

-M

This is a very old recipe in origin, with many noted variations, but whether you use graham crackers, saltines, or even shortbread as the base of this candy-cookie hybrid, it’s an easy, delicious treat. For anyone who knows my mother, author of the blog Chocolate Ratings, it will be no surprise that this recipe is hers. Rarely did I eat a cookie, candy, or cake in my childhood that was baked without the addition of chocolate. Rarely, too, did I eat a cookie, candy, or cake in that time that didn’t include oats, zucchini, or even mashed beans(!), but that’s a story for another time.

Now mom’s chocolate obsession didn’t just mean chocolate in every treat. Dark, high quality chocolate was the preferred choice, even for small kiddies like my brother and myself. While our friends noshed on toll house cookies, we came home from school to an afternoon snack of dark chocolate brownies with cinnamon and orange zest, peanut butter and chocolate blondies, or chocolate chip banana bread. In these recipes, chocolate was the predominant flavor and for that reason, high quality chocolate was used. In no way do I mean to sound pretentious. The fact is, quality matters more at certain times than at others. Here’s a rule I’ve learned from my mother. The quality of chocolate is increasingly important, just like good olive oil, as the number of ingredients in the recipe goes down. The fewer the ingredients, the less diluted the chocolate flavor, and hence the more important it is for high quality chocolate to be used from the start. These cracker candies have six ingredients, and the chocolate remains pure as its own layer, so use the best chocolate you can afford. Since you only need 7 ozs for this recipe, my mom recommends buying two high quality dark chocolate bars, at 3.5 oz each. If you’re a fan of milk chocolate, go for one that lists the cocoa content on the label. It will be a softer flavor than dark chocolate, but will still exhibit the complete flavor profile dark chocolate is known for. If you want a good recommendation on which chocolate to buy, check out my mom’s blog (it’s not a shameless plug if it’s for your mom, right?) Also, as with nearly any nut recipe, choose your favorite(s) for this recipe. For a yummy twist, use roasted salted nuts, as the chocolate and salt are a great combination. Enjoy!

Chocolate Pistachio Cracker Candy

Makes 30 pieces’

1 package honey graham crackers (1/3 of a box)

1 stick butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/8 cup maple syrup (real, not fake!)

7 oz best quality dark chocolate, in chips or chopped into small pieces from whole bars.

3/4 cup toasted pistachios, coarsely chopped (or any nut of your choice)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 pan with foil, lightly grease foil, and fit tightly with graham crackers so the entire bottom of the pan is covered. Break up grahams if necessary.

2. Melt butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup over medium heat in a small saucepan. Stir til smooth and bubbly and lightly golden brown. Pour hot syrup over graham crackers and bake for 10 minutes until golden and absorbed.

3. Scatter chocolate chips or chopped chocolate over crackers and put in the oven for 1 minute to melt it. Spread chocolate with an offset spatula over the crust in a thin layer. If chocolate isn’t smooth enough to spread, place it back in the oven for another minute.

4.Once chocolate is in a thin layer but still warm, sprinkle nuts over the top and let chill in the fridge in the pan. After 1 hour, lift foil with cracker candy out of the pan and cut into 2 inch x 2 inch squares. Store in the fridge. Enjoy!

-M : )

I have searched high and low for a long time to find this peanut butter cookie recipe. It results in moist cookies full of intense peanut butter flavor with a soft, nearly chewy texture. These aren’t your typical forked cross-hatch peanut butter cookies in two ways: they are baked as cookie balls rather than as squashed discs and they have an extra healthy dose of peanut butter in the center, doled out after they finish their stint in the oven. These are not tame, nor low-cal, but I find one truly does satisfy me, so I promise, they’re safe to keep on your counter. Since the peanut butter “ganache” sets up so nicely in the center, these cookies would be perfect for a bake-sale, since they won’t get smushed on the jostled ride to school. Additionally, you can make them small and drizzle them with the peanut butter ganache instead and serve them to guests after dinner as an elegant cookie with their coffee.

One final note, and then on to the recipe. These are even better eaten straight from the freezer. Oh, to die for! The texture turns very dense and chewy and the filling (or drizzle) becomes even firmer, so when you sink your teeth in you think you’re biting into a chewy, peanutty truffle. Enough said! Enjoy : )

Double the Fun Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes 30 cookies.

For cookie dough:

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar (make sure you pack it in the measuring cup)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup sugar, for rolling dough balls in

For filling:

1 1/4 cups peanut butter chips

1/2 cup heavy cream (if you’re drizzling, you’ll need extra cream to thin this mixture out to your liking)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp powdered sugar

Method

1. Line 2 small or 1 large baking sheets with parchment or silicone pan liners, or lightly grease them. Combine ingredients for the filling in a small, microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 45 seconds to melt the chips. Stir until smooth and set aside on the counter. If your kitchen is very warm, or you’re making this in the summer, you can place the mixture in the fridge.

2. Mix flour, salt and baking soda in a small bowl with a whisk to combine. Cream butter and sugars until light yellow and doubled in volume, then fully incorporate peanut butter. Beat in the egg and vanilla until just combined. Refrigerate in the mixing bowl for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place 1 cup sugar in a small bowl. Remove dough from the fridge and take approximately 1 tablespoon of the cooled mixture and roll it into a ball in your hands, roll in sugar, and place on the baking sheet. Continue with the rest of the dough, making sure you leave 1 inch on either side of your dough balls on the cookie sheet to allow them to spread. Bake for 8 minutes exactly.

4. Immediately when the cookies are done, take the back end of your spatula or another rounded, thin object (the back of a butter knife would be fine in a pinch), and make an indent in the center of each cookie, about 1/2 inch to 1 inch wide. let cookies cool on parchment, off the hot baking sheets, for 20 minutes. Spoon 1 tsp of filling in each cookie’s indent, using two spoons to make this process easier. Cool on the counter, in the fridge, or in the freezer, depending on how chewy you want your cookies. The colder the environment, the chewier they’ll be. Enjoy!

-M : )

photo courtesy of Amazon.com

Since my childhood when I sat on the kitchen floor reading my mother’s french cookbooks from the 1950s to now, when I still sit on the floor, but with a book from my own collection, I have had a fascination with cookbooks.

When I went to college, unable to take my library with me due to lack of space on my dorm room shelves, I began using sites like epicurious.com, allrecipes.com, and recipezaar.com to fuel my interest in sleuthing recipes from around the country and even the world. When it came time to move to NYC, I had even less space than in college, so my cookbooks remained in the attic at my parent’s house, collecting time and dust. Now, finally in an apartment that has enough space to shelve my collection, which has grown probably 300% since college, I am rekindling my love affair with these books.

Sure, there are millions of recipes on the web, and that’s a wonderful resource to have. Its nearly impossible to type a recipe title into Google without yielding at least a few pages of results, but increasingly, I find these search engine recipes take the fun out of cooking. Where is the personality? Where is the love? Is there even such a thing as your own recipe anymore? The amount of redundancy makes me sick sometimes, honestly, and that is why I find myself increasingly turning back to the recipe textbooks of my youth.

One cookbook that I cherish for its personality, accuracy, and breadth is Nick Malgieri’s How To Bake. This is not your typical Bittman bible that shows you how to cook everything (don’t even get me started on his use of the word “everything”). What ICE pastry and baking chief Malgieri means by “how to bake” is that he will provide you with guidance and solid recipes as you learn fundamental baking skills from him. “Fundamental” should not be confused with “beginner,” however, as some of these recipes, such as his Danish Walnut Braid, will take some practice to yield a result as beautiful as the accompanying picture. I have made many recipes from this book, and every single one, from Chris Gargone’s Chocolate Chews to the Swiss Chard Tart from Nice to the Peach Pie with Almond Crumble Topping, has been incredible. In fairness, it’s important to point out here that cookbook recipes seem just as susceptible to errors as internet recipes, so finding a cookbook where every recipe works the way it says it will is a treat.

I alter recipes more than Anthony Bourdain’s liver filters alcohol, so when I say I wouldn’t change a thing about one recipe in this book, it’s a rare occasion, and I mean it. The Pate a Choux recipe yields perfect, airy puffs, the Best and Easiest Banana Cake turns out what everyone’s banana cake aspires to be, and the pie crust recipes are flawless. They’re flaky when he says they’re flaky and they’re easy when he says they’re easy.

Malgieri appeared on Julia Child’s PBS show Baking with Julia, a re-run of which I saw last week, and watching him cook was half like watching an Italian grandmother and half like watching a 4 star chef. The qualities I found to overlap were his aptitude for instruction, his ease with difficult recipes, and his wide knowledge base. Nick Malgieri’s recipes are worth the price of any book he has written or will write, but I have a particular affinity to How To Bake. Whether you’re eager to learn baking and pastry basics, or you’re experienced and are looking to refine your technique, this is a must-have cookbook for your collection. Look at it as an investment, it only gets more valuable over time. As more and more people turn to the web for culinary resources, quality gets diluted, and trustworthy recipes become needles in haystacks. Nick Malgieri will put your mind at ease with his tried and true collection of recipes and tips in How To Bake.

Today has not been the best day. Few things could boost my spirits after a day full of frustration and irritation, but this dish has (thankfully) managed to. What I needed was a quick, calming sweet treat, and this is just that. Crepes are easy and fast to make, and the pear caramel uses ingredients you already have in your fridge. What’s really great is that this little treat really isn’t that big of an indulgence, so the end of my night isn’t going to end with a sugar high. The pear caramel is more pear than caramel, but the sauce has an undeniable caramel flavor that ties the soft crepe and tender pear together.

What may shock you about the recipe is my use of milk instead of cream. While cream and butter are traditionally used to make a thick, rich caramel, using milk allowed me to create a thinner caramel with the same bold flavor you’re used to. There is still a touch of butter included for a boost of flavor, but overall, this is a delicate and largely healthy dessert. In fact, since each serving contains 1 whole pear, I would even say this would be great for breakfast, too. Surely this has less sugar in it per serving than the maple syrup you pour on your pancakes, or the brown sugar you add to your oatmeal, so why not start your morning right with with these crepes, loaded with fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals? Day or night, these pear caramel stuffed crepes are delicious, and soothing too, if you need that kind of food tonight. I know I did. Enjoy : )

Crepes with Pear Caramel

Makes 4 Servings

For Crepes:

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup flour

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp sugar

For Pears:

4 ripe pears, bartlett, anjou, or bosc (my preference)

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups water

2 tbsp butter

1 cup milk

oil or cooking spray, for cooking

Method

1. Mix flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl. Beat egg, add in milk and vanilla, and mix the wet into the dry. Mix until there are no clumps of flour. This can be done in the blender to ensure a smooth batter.

2. Heat a small pan over medium high heat, spray or grease with a small amount of oil and pour about 1/4 cup batter into the pan. Since pan sizes vary, I recommend adding just enough batter to fully coat the bottom of your pan, no more. Cook 30 seconds to 1 minute on the first side (until lightly golden brown), carefully flip, and let the second side cook for another 10-20 seconds. Place finished crepe on a plate and continue making crepes in the same fashion with the rest of the batter.

3. Slice pears 1/4 inch thick, but no less since you don’t want them to fall apart while cooking. Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat, add a little oil, and add the pears. Once the pears are warm, add the sugar, let melt and turn light brown, then add the water. Cook until the caramel begins to bubble more slowly and looks slightly thicker. Add the butter and milk, and stir well to incorporate them fully. Cook until caramel turn a deeper golden, bubbles even more slowly, and looks a little thicker. Turn off heat and let sit in the warm pan while you set up two crepes, flat on each plate.

4. Place 1/2 cup (approximately) inside each crepe, roll up, seam side down, and repeat until crepes are all full. For each duo of crepes, spoon over a little extra caramel sauce left in the pan. Enjoy!

-M

Blood oranges are in most supermarkets this time of year, showing off their blushed exteriors, beckoning us, daring us, to buy them to see if they’re as deeply hued inside as they suggest. Most times, I pass these slightly smaller, rosier oranges by- they’re a little pricier than their cousins and a bit more tart as well- but as I was perusing the aisles last night, I couldn’t help but think of buying just one to slice up and layer in a trifle with some lady fingers, whipped cream, and some of those crushed glazed mixed nuts I showed off in my last post. So here is just a little snack for your eyes on this cloudy, cold afternoon. A little bit of color to brighten your day. Hopefully this dessert will inspire you, with its balance of tartness, sweetness, spiciness, and of course, lusciousness, to try some of those lesser known fruits in your supermarket. No recipe today, just a suggestions of trifle components: whipped cream (sweetened or flavored with fruit juice), cake, lady fingers or even muffin slices, fruit slices, and a little something for crunch, like those delectable mixed nuts. Enjoy : )

Some people who know me for not liking nuts will probably be surprised to find me writing so enthusiastically about these mixed nuts, but the truth is, even though I’m not a nut-lover, these are my new favorite snack. They are at once salty, sweet, earthy and spicy, and there is just the right amount of coating on them- enough to create an intense flavor, but not so much that you feel like calling your dentist after munching through a handful. Now before devising my own recipe, I researched a bit, as I usually do, to find approximate proportions of ingredients to use for the size batch I wanted to make. What surprised me in my search was the predominant use of egg whites in this type of recipe. I guess I thought making mixed nuts with a glaze would just involve sugar, maybe butter, and some corn syrup, as if I was making a less-liquidy version of brittle. What I realized was that egg whites, along with sugar, were the key ingredient to getting that airy, less dense crunch to stick to the exterior of the nuts. I know I’ve written before about the different textural properties that eggs give to a variety of dishes, such as custard, angel food cake, and mayonnaise, but this was a totally new application to me.

So what does a curious cook do in this situation? She looks up why! Now the place to look was not on food websites or cookbooks (well, unless you consider Harold McGee’s books “cookbooks”..), but instead on science websites, or even food manufacturing websites. Why? Because the same properties of the egg whites that give these nuts their sheen, their resilient coating, and their ability to block moisture (therefore preventing them from spoilage longer) are the same properties that food scientists and manufacturers capitalize on to make the gelatin capsules that encase your daily vitamin e pill, the sausage casings that prevent their spoilage, and “candy shells” around loose pieces of gum. Edible protein films such as these protect fresh foods from flavor and nutrient losses, protect dried fruits from moisture loss, and even those that thinly coat apples help to lessen a producer or shipper’s dependency on nonrenewable food packaging materials by offering added protection to the produce. This is due to the protein film’s ability not only to provide a hydrophobic coating, thereby preventing changes in the food’s moisture content and subsequently reducing spoilage, but also its ability to evenly and thoroughly adhere to the given product. Do you see where I’m going with this now?

The use of egg whites in this recipe not only guarantees a crisp crunch and a shiny reflection (thanks in no small part to it’s partner in crime, sugar), but it ensures the sweet and spicy coating covers every nut, fills every crevice, and does so consistently and evenly. Additionally, I was thankful for the egg whites’ adhering abilities as I broke apart pieces of the mixed nuts that had stuck together in brittle fashion and didn’t lose any coating as I separated the clusters.

So make these mixed nuts for yourself, your friends, or for your next party and revel in their gleaming, hard-shelled goodness. They won’t get spice dust everywhere as some mixed nuts do, thanks to the candy-like coating, but I will warn you, they are addictive. Thankfully, nuts are good for you, so dig in

Note: one other thing I love (what am I up to, number 10, on the “let me count the ways I love these nuts” list??) is the fact that you can blitz them in the food processor and they make a delicious topping for ice cream, pudding, and trifles. Or, try mixing the blitzed bits into brownies, cookies, or pie crusts for added texture and flavor. Heck, I’m thinking of just mixing them in straight chocolate and making a dark mixed nut bark out of them….mmm…stay posted!

Sweet and Spicy Mixed Nuts

Makes 5 cups- you determine how many servings that is….

2 egg whites

1 tsp water

4 1/2 cups roasted mixed nuts, unsalted (or a single nut, your choice;- you can also buy salted roasted nuts, but then you should omit the salt from the recipe)

1 1/8 cup sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp allspice

1/2 to 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a large baking sheet (or two small ones) with a silpat (if you don’t own a silpat, first, let me recommend buying one for $10 online, and second, let me suggest using a very well greased sheet of parchment paper, instead). Whisk egg whites and water in a large bowl until frothy, about 1 minute, then add the nuts, and stir to coat evenly.

2. Mix together all the other ingredients, and pour the mixture into the bowl with the coated nuts. Mix well to coat and dump the nuts on the lined baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until the nuts look a little dry and there is noticeably less moisture on the baking sheet. Take the nuts out of the oven, cool on the baking sheet, and once completely cool, peel them off the tray and break up any bunches that have formed. Store in an airtight container, or in sealed plastic bags, up to 1 month. Enjoy!

-M

After reading each post I write, D tells me he’s looking forward to coming back home to raid our ever-expanding (or is it ever-contracting?) freezer. I thought, why make him wait? I’ll send him a little care package of edible goodies to munch on, simultaneously filling him tummy with good food and his mind with good thoughts (of me, that is). But when it comes to actually making the goodies, I was unsettled on what to send.

Cookies seem dependable yet predictable, quick breads (i.e. banana bread) get stale too quickly if pre-sliced and are cumbersome if they’re sent whole, and muffins get smooshed easily. Then I thought, why does a care package have to be limited to sweet foods? It doesn’t, and here are two recipes for savory treats that will make your care package recipient the happiest he’s ever been away from home. Enjoy : )

Care package necessity number 1:

Crackers in Two Varieties: Plain and Salsa

Makes 5-6 dozen crackers (depending on size)

3 cups all purpose flour (you can subsitute half this amount for whole wheat or ww pastry flour, if desired)

1 tbsp salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup water

optional: 1/4 cup salsa (I prefer the finely chopped kind with a medium amount of heat, but it’s your choice).

* If using salsa, reduce water to 3/4 cup)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchments paper. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl, then add oil and water (and salsa, if using). Mix well to create a fairly stiff dough, adding a little more water if necessary (depending on climate, humidity, etc, you might need a little more water to make the dough easier to roll out).

2. Cut the dough in 4 even pieces, and wrap in plastic. Let rest on the counter for 15 minutes to fully relax.

3. Taking on piece of dough at a time, roll dough out on a very lightly floured surface, to no more than 1/8th of an inch, and less if possible. If you have a pasta machin, feel free to use it to thin out the dough to less than 1/8th of an inch thickness.

4. Use a small (about 2 inch diameter) round cookie cutter, a knife, or a pastry cutter to cut crackers from the dough. Prick each cracker with a fork to prevent it from rising too much in the oven. (If you don’t care about the crackers looking uniform, you can save time and prick the dough prior to cutting it into shapes.) Place crackers on the baking sheets. Spacing isn’t necessary since they really don’t expand much, just don’t let them touch.

5. Place baking sheets in the oven, rotating them half way, to ensure even cooking, for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool on a rack and serve, or place in tins or bags to store. They keep for 1 month.

Note: If you like saltier crackers, brush on a thin coat of olive oil once they are on the baking sheets and sprinkle them with coarse salt prior to baking.

Some goat gouda and blackberry jam pair well with the plain variety of these crackers

Care package necessity number 2:

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Makes 6 pretzels

1/8 oz (1 1/2 tsp) rapid rise yeast (1/2 a package- just estimate, you’ll be fine)

1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

2 tbsp butter, cold, cut into small pieces

coarse salt, for sprinkling

oil for greasing baking sheet

Method

1. Grease 1 large baking sheet or two small ones. Add yeast to warm water in a small bowl. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Cut in butter, using a pastry cutter or rubbing the mixture between your hands, until the butter pieces are no larger than small peas. Pour in yeast mixture and mix well to create a wet dough. Grease a large bowl and dump dough into it, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until nearly double in size.

2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Flour your rolling surface well and place dough on top of it. Sprinkle more flour over the dough and gently work the dough for just 1 minute, until it is smooth and soft and no longer feels wet to the touch. Cut the dough in half, then cut each half into three even pieces. Place 5 pieces under a towel while you roll the first one into a rope. bring the two ends up to make a “U”, cross the ends, and bring the loop up over the cross and 1 inch below the ends. See picture below for assistance. Place formed pretzel under the towel and repeat with remaining dough pieces. Proof for an additional 20 minutes. When time is about up, bring a pot of salted water to a boil on the stove.

3. Two at a time, drop pretzels into boiling water. Boil for 45 seconds, then remove to a large piece of wax paper and immediately sprinkle with coarse salt. Repeat with other 4 pretzels. Place pretzels on the greased baking sheet(s) and bake 15-20 minutes, or until golden, risen, and cooked through. Enjoy hot, or let cool and rewarm in an oven, toaster oven, or microwave. Enjoy!

-M : )

There are some dishes that are best pure and simple. Buttermilk pancakes, eggs over easy, and buttered cinnamon raisin toast come to mind in the breakfast category. Grilled cheese with silky tomato soup and pb&j are foods that qualify in the lunch category. For dinner? I think of whole broiled fish with lemon, lamb chops with mint, and most of all, gnocchi with cream sauce.

Little potato dumplings sliced from a long rope, tossed in cream sauce flavored by chopped kale- this dish is the grandfather of comfort food. The next time you’re in the mood for this kind of food (think: mac and cheese, spaghetti carbonara, anything white on white…) make this dish. Not only is it cheap (1 russet potato makes 2 servings of gnocchi), it’s also not as bad for you as other comfort foods. I used half and half as the base of the cream sauce, kale to add depth of flavor, and left out the other usual suspects from the guilt-inducing line up, like cheese and bacon (not that the addition of them would taste bad here!). What we’re left with is the essence of purity, so each one of the few flavors included in the dish can share and harmonize in the spotlight. Enjoy!

Note: gnocchi freeze very well, so if you prefer, follow the recipe through cutting them into dumplings, then instead of cooking them, place them on a tray, lined with parchment and sprinkled with flour, so they do not touch. Set in the freezer for 1 hour, remove from the tray, and place in plastic freezer bags for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to cook them, simply bring a pot of water to boil and follow the rest of the directions below. They will take an extra minute to cook in the boiling water, but do not defrost them ahead of time to avoid this.

Gnocchi with Creamed Kale

Makes 2 Servings

Gnocchi

1 russet potato (about 1 lb), peeled, cut in half lengthwise, and sliced thinly crosswise

1 egg yolk

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

pinch nutmeg

salt and pepper

Creamed Kale

2 cups half and half

2 cups chopped kale, fresh or frozen

pinch nutmeg

pinch cayenne or dried red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

Method

1. Place potato sliced in a large pot and cover them with plenty of water (at least 1 1/2 quarts or 6 cups) and bring to a boil, covered, over high heat.

2. Meanwhile, chop kale if it is fresh, or take it out of the freezer if it is frozen, to allow it to slightly defrost.

3. When potatoes are very tender, easily pierced with a knife, and practically falling apart, drain them in the pot, and place the pot back on the stove for a few minutes just to evaporate any extra water. Do not let the potatoes brown!

4. Mash the dried potatoes with a potato masher, ricer, or food mill, and spread mash out on a plate to cool. Maximizing the surface area will help cool it faster. Once cooled (they don’t have to be cold, just not warmer than lukewarm, to avoid scrambling the eggs), dump the potato mash into a mixing bowl, add the egg yolk, nutmeg, salt and pepper, then the flour last, stirring just until the dough comes together, no more.

5. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, roll out gnocchi balls into ropes, about 3/4 inch thick. Using a small, sharp knife, cut gnocchi into dumplings, about 3/4 inch to 1 inch apart. If your knife begins to stick to the dough, take care to wash it off before continuing, or your gnocchi will look ragged. let gnocchi sit out while you make the cream sauce.

6. Ready? Pour half and half, kale, nutmeg, cayenne, salt and pepper into a saucepan. bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and let it reduce to sauce consistency. While it reduced, drop the gnocchi into the boiling water and cook uncovered. When the gnocchi rise to the top, they are done (it should take about 1 minute). Drain the gnocchi, place in the saucepan, which is now turned off, toss to coat, and spoon them into 2 shallow bowls to serve. Enjoy!

-M : )

When I think of icebox pies, I think of those super sweet, cool-whip(or pudding) based, high rise pies often seen in diners and old country cookbooks. In one of my favorite southern cookbooks, A Taste of Louisiana, by the Louisiana Federation of Women’s Clubs, among the many pie recipes, there is a recipe for Peanut Butter Pie that calls for chunky peanut butter, raisins, vanilla pudding mix, whipped topping, and salted peanuts, all set up in a graham cracker crust. Now I haven’t made this pie, but it did give me an idea to make the one below, modified from this epicurious.com recipe.

The epicurious recipe uses creamy rather than chunky peanut butter, whipped cream rather than pudding mix, and swaps the raisins for a layer of chocolate ganache. I like the fact that epicurious keeps the graham cracker crust, but I thought the pie recipe needed to be (forgive me) “kicked-up a notch.” So I made raspberry preserves to spread over the chocolate ganache to revive the fruit component established in the first version by the raisins. The raspberry preserves give a much-needed tartness to the rich and creamy pie, without adding “chew,” which no doubt was an effect of adding raisins to a chilled pie. The chocolate ganache is made from 60% cocoa-content chocolate chips, adding to the complexity of the pie’s flavors. This is not your average refrigerator pie, it is a pie for adults, in addition to children, and speaking of children, it’s a great recipe to make with them. If you prefer to use store-bought raspberry preserves, just make sure you stir it up a bit before spreading it over the chocolate layer, so it’s loose and easy to manipulate. Also, feel free to make this pie in 8 of those individual graham cracker crust molds you can buy in the store- that way there’s no worrying about cutting perfect slices and each guest will feel particularly royal : ) So give this old-school pie a try. It’s a perfect, comfy winter dessert and it’s easy to boot. Enjoy!

Chocolate Pb & J Mousse Pie

Adapted from this Epicurious.com recipe

Makes 8 Servings

1 bag frozen raspberries
2 tablespoons sugar

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
7 whole graham crackers, finely crushed into crumbs (the food processor works best here)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
4 tablespoons sugar, divided

1 1/3 cups (about 8 oz) 60% bittersweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup plus 1 3/4 cups chilled whipping cream, divided
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided

1 cup (about 6 oz) peanut butter chips
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

Bittersweet chocolate chips, melted, to serve
Roasted, lightly salted peanuts, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. If making raspberry preserves from scratch, dump bag of frozen raspberries in a small pot with 1/3 cup water and bring to a boil Lower to medium heat, stir occasionally, and add 2 tbsp sugar. Stir frequently for another 10 minutes and then turn off heat, transfer to a bowl, and let cool. Meanwhile, make other pie components.

2. Spray 9-inch pie dish lightly with vegetable oil spray. Mix graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 melted butter and 2 tbsp sugar with a fork until it comes together and spread out evenly in the bottom of the pie dish, making sure, to patch up any holes, as you work the mixture up the sides of the dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until just lightly golden brown and firm to the touch. Let cool on the counter.

2. Mix chocolate chips, 2/3 cup whipping cream, 2 tbsp corn syrup and 1 tsp vanilla in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on half power for 2 minutes. Let sit for 30 seconds, and stir, until fully incorporated. At first the mixture will look like it won’t combine, but be patient, it will become quite thick and dark with a little stirring. Pour overcooled crust and set pie dish in the freezer for 20 minutes.

3. Mix peanut butter chips, 3/4 cup whipping cream, 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter, and 1 tsp vanilla in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on half power for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir the same way as the chocolate chip mixture. Let cool in the freezer for 10 minutes.

4. Once chocolate mixture has cooled in the crust, spread cooled raspberry preserves over chocolate layer, ensuring to create an even layer, as it will be pretty thin. I like to use the back of a tablespoon for this if there is no offset spatula available.

5. Chill 10 minutes in the fridge. After this point, the peanut butter mixture will be cool, so whip 1 cup whipping cream with 2 tbsp sugar until it is thickened but has not reached soft peaks. It is very important to not whip the cream to soft peaks or beyond, to keep the mixture creamy. Fold in the peanut mixture to the whipped cream in thirds, trying to keep the volume you created. Dump this peanut mousse in the middle of the raspberry preserves layer and spread to the outer edges of the pie crust. It will look as if there is too much mousse mixture, but it is exactly the right amount, so don’t skimp. Place the pie in the fridge for at least one hour, but up to overnight, to allow it to set. Do not cut the pie until the pie has chilled for 1 hour. To serve, drizzle with melted chocolate and roasted, lightly salted peanuts. Enjoy!

-M : )

So you’ll notice that I am constantly updating the look of the website with additions to the sidebars, such as flickr photos and Amazon links, but one I want to draw attention to more than any is the Foodie Blogroll on the righthand sidebar, a little bit down on the page. There are some amazing food blogs on the web these days and while some people may scorn those writers just “getting on the bandwagon,” I think it’s wonderful that there is such brewing enthusiasm for food on the web. So check out my fellow food writers below- its a talented bunch and I’m proud to be among them. : )

-M

p.s. As long as we’re talking about great food sites, check out my newest favorite site for food photography, Tastespotting.

So I kind of wish this idea for roasted carrot bean dip came to me before this past weekend, because it would have been a great contribution to the hoards of Superbowl recipes that flew around the food blog universe last week, but alas, some ideas just don’t come to me on demand. This recipe is the direct result of me being sick of eating raw carrots, having bought one of those 5 lb bags, and needing a recipe to avoid “forgetting” them in the fridge and ultimately tossing them out.

From that hearthbread I made a couple days ago, I had some roasted garlic left over (I always roast extra garlic once I’m going to the trouble of turning the oven on for a solid hour), and thought it would be a marvelous idea to mix that with some carrot puree and make a dip. To give the carrot puree extra flavor, I roasted them on a sheet tray first. To give texture to the dip, I added half a can of white beans, which is why the dip looks oddly yellow and not orange…though, I assure you part of the reason for this is my lack of picture-taking ability. The dip really was a more carrot-induced color.

Anyway, add a few flavorings that harmonize these three ingredients (namely, thyme) and toast up some whole grain bread and you’ve got yourself a great, healthy appetizer to add to your party food line-up. Put bowls of salsa and guacamole on the table and your guests will be astounded by how colorful your table looks. Enjoy!

Roasted Carrot White Bean Dip

Makes 2 1/2 cups

1 1/2 lbs carrots, sliced (or use baby carrots ,whole)

1 head garlic, top sliced off about 1/2 inch from the top.

1 can cannellini or broad beans, drained and rinsed with cold water

1 tsp thyme, fresh (fine to subsitute dried)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

olive oil, for roasting carrots and garlic, about 2 tbsp

salt and pepper, to taste

toast points, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350, toss carrots in olive oil in a bowl to coat and spread carrots out on a sheet tray. Wrap head of garlic in foil, and before closing the package, drizzle in a little olive oil (about 1 tsp). Place foil wrapped garlic on the same sheet tray as the carrots and roast for 45 minutes until both the garlic and carrots are completely soft and golden.

2. While the carrots and garlic are roasting, get the rest of your mise en place ready (i.e. open the can of beans, measure your cheese, olive oil and thyme, and make sure your food processor isn’t dusty.

3. Place roasted carrots in bowl of food processor and squeeze garlic cloves out of the head into the bowl, as well. Add beans and thyme and puree until very smooth, but it will never be baby food, so don’t try for that. Add in cheese and extra virgin olive oil, and process until fully incorporated. If the mixture is a little dry, add more olive oil, about a tablespoon at a time. Season with salt and pepper and serve with toast points. Enjoy!

-M

For a long time organizations such as the Center for Consumer Freedom have been educating and warning the public about hysterical food police attempting to restrict and dictate our consumption decisions in America. From this proposed Mississippi bill, you can now understand, in just one example, why they have been so insistent on their admonitions to the public that we must stand up for ourselves in the face of these self righteous food regulators. Here is the main clause, taken from HB 282 itself, if you aren’t already familiar with the news:

from: http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2008/pdf/history/HB/HB0282.xml

…you get the point. The bill goes on to say that it will be within state rights to revoke the permit of any restaurant caught violating this bill, and that the bill is set to go into effect on July 1, 2008. Oh, and the restaurants that qualify? Any that contain five or more seats for customers.

While it’s not easy to write with my stomach turning from this news, let me say a few words about this bill and it’s demented focus. It is easy to find out on the web that Mississippi is the U.S.’s fattest state. With 31.4% of their population obese, and 66.7% obese or overweight, they top the chart, but not too far above even the leanest state, Colorado, whose population is 18.2% obese and 54.9% obese or overweight. It should also be noted that every single state in the U.S. (excluding Hawaii, for lack of available data), has seen the percent of their obese population increase in the last year, so let’s not act like Mississippi is the only state struggling with the health problems an obese population faces. If I lived in Colorado, I wouldn’t be throwing a parade over my state’s statistics.

However, there are ways to help overweight and obese individuals become healthier, and denying them food, is not a moral solution, in fact, it is bigotry. While this bill does not directly state that it “hates” obese people, as my use of bigotry would infer, it does mandate a policy of intolerance on these individuals, which is key to the definition of this term.

I have touched before on topics like schools disallowing students from bringing in birthday cakes, but this trumps puny school rules. This is going to take more than a PTA meeting to override; it is going to require cultivating a fresh perspective on our American obesity epidemic. While this bill tries to slim down the obese Mississippi population by denying them food at the restaurants they have the right to dine in, what stops these same individuals from buying food that maintains or increases their weight? Are supermarkets going to follow suit and place scales and BMI calculators at their entrances? Are cameras going to be placed in homes and on the streets to monitor each morsel of food an obese person puts in his/her mouth? Furthermore, is this movement going to stay in the reactive realm or move to the preventative one? As states become more and more overweight, are individuals with BMIs in the “healthy” range going to face restrictions, too? Surely some individuals counted among the obese population were once within a healthy BMI range- can the state legislators prevent this transition from normal to obese by slowly increasing the margins of what we consider obese, thereby preventing these individuals the pleasure to dine in their desired restaurants, too?

There are many other factors here that many have not yet addressed in regards to the topics of weight and responsibility (both of the restaurants and the individuals). Trans fat was recently banned in New York City, but portion sizes are larger than ever in NYC and around the country. Can’t we have both value and reasonable portions? Can we not tell when we’re full anymore? Do we even care? Has the sense of fullness shifted from a biological signal to a perturbance we slowly train ourselves to ignore?

I think the solution to our growing obesity problem is greater responsibility for both individuals and restaurants. While customers may be dismayed initially to see portion sizes decrease, prices would also, and that’s always welcome. In the short term, restaurants may have difficulty reestimating the amount of food they need to serve their customers, and they may also have to deal with angry customers, but if the quality remains, and prices decrease, I believe the upset would be short lived.

In terms of individual responsibility, it all comes down to education. There are very successful children’s programs known around the country for their effectiveness in teaching the next generation how to eat to live, and respect their body’s internal signals of fullness and hunger. For adults, the path may be trickier, but public outreach, community nutrition counseling, more transparent food labeling are all steps in the right direction. I am not an expert on this topic, and these are just my opinions, but education is often an effective tool for positive long-term change.

If you had not heard the news of the Mississippi bill before reading this, I am glad I was able to alert you to this important piece of consumer news, and if you had, I hope this post brought something new to the discussion. Please feel free to comment on this post and let me know your sentiments.

-M

When I was at Whole Foods yesterday stocking up on some baking essentials, I noticed quite the selection of baking mixes. It’s not like this was my first time in a Whole Foods, but I am aware of their promise to keep preservatives, chemical additives and chemical sweeteners out of their markets, and I didn’t know there was such a huge collection of mixes without these unnatural ingredients. Sure, we’ve all seen that box of vegan fudge mix with the happy pig on the front, but that never looked too appetizing. To see a whole tier of yummy, polished baking mixes at a store known for having nothing to do with most processed foods, shocked me. While these mixes normally contain your typically long list of unpronounceable ingredients, the one ingredient that is difficult to get rid of in these baking mixes is trans fats such as hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. All those ready-made pie crusts in your supermarket have shortening in them, and so do those muffin and cookie mixes. All you need are eggs, water, and oil and you’re on your way to a clogged artery. Yum. So, how do companies like Sticky Fingers Bakery (the makers of scone mixes, a mix notorious for being high in trans fats under other brands), keep their product shelf-stable and trans-fat free? They use a combination of canola oil and buttermilk powder to keep the scones rich and moist without the addition of hydrogenated fats.

While I’m not normally a baking mix kind of girl, I do understand the need to have some convenient foods in the pantry. Also, just because I don’t personally use mixes frequently, doesn’t mean they are worth a review for everyone else interested in these products. Moreover, having worked at a bakery that used mostly baking mixes to produce “homemade” cakes and cookies, I know a bit about the good, the bad, and the ugly.

So once you’ve found yourself in Whole Foods or another natural market, looking up at the tier of baking mixes, which one do you choose? For me, its about maximizing convenience. I’m not interested in a baking mix that mandates additions to my shopping list of oil, eggs, and nuts, raisins, or other mix-ins. For that matter, I don’t really want to add more than one or two ingredients to the mix, because by that time, once I’m getting messy separating eggs, I might as well have made it from scratch. Especially when we’re talking scones, which normally have less than 5 ingredients, anyway! So these scone mixes from Sticky Fingers Bakeries in Spokane, Washington, suit me perfectly. They only require water (yay!) and take 20 minutes from opening the package to presenting them on a platter. For convenience baking mixes, these are the tops. I bought the “original recipe” scones and they turned out perfectly: delicate, richly flavored by the buttermilk, and temptingly moist inside.

You can order them online at their website, or go to your local market and see if they carry them. If they don’t, you can always talk to someone at customer service and they may be able to order them for you or even begin stocking them regularly. Enjoy!

-M : )

p.s. Don’t worry, D, there’s some in the freezer for when you get back : )

I told D before we moved in together that we were going to have to make room for my enormous cookbook collection in our new apartment, but it wasn’t until I started piling the books against the wall last month for lack of bookshelf space, that he quite understood what I meant. Thankfully we “inherited” a second bookshelf from a past roommate, giving my collection a proper home, as well as freeing up some floor space…

This recipe for Garlic and Parsley Hearthbread comes from Nigella Lawson’s cookbook, How to be a Domestic Goddess. Nigella has a talent for making baked goods, both rustic and refined, seem utterly simplistic, and leads you through recipes as a friend would, with gentle nudgings in the right direction. One thing I particularly love about Nigella’s writing is the unparalleled way she describes a treat’s deliciousness. She says of dream bars, “on top is a sticky mixture of nuts and coconut bound by a tender, toffeelike chewy gunge,” and of chocolate macaroons, “Though description is irrelevant: the utter gorgeousness of just one mouthful of these chocolate macaroons…reveals the rank inadequacy of language.” For someone who describes her chocolate loaf cake as having “damp, heady aromatic denseness” and her cream cheese brownies as “rich, sweet, sharp, palate-cleaving,” its quite the complement to a dessert that it is beyond her ability to describe its lusciousness. Then again, if you’ve ever watched Nigella on TV, you are already aware that her words hold no flame to the look on her face when she takes a bite of her creation. Nothing makes you want to cook more than watching her hedonistic smile as she licks chocolate brownie batter off a wooden spoon. If you’re a guy, maybe you’re not thinking so much about cooking…However, if you’re attracted to men, then most likely you’re thinking about making those brownies to see the same smile on your guests faces as they delight in another fabulous Nigella recipe.

Back to the hearthbread (sorry guys…). All you need is your hands, a baking sheet, and a hot oven. Sure you can use the dough hook on your stand mixer to knead the dough, but for me, the whole point of baking bread from scratch is feeling the dough elasticize and strengthen in your palms. Nigella describes this hearthbread as “something between garlic naan and herby focaccia: dimpled, doughy, and headily pungent.” As usual, she gives an honest and accurate description of what will come from your oven. Enjoy!

Garlic and Parsley Hearthbreads (adapted from Nigella Lawson’s How To Be a Domestic Goddess)

Makes 2 6” x 10” breads, but you can shape them into rolls or rounds as you wish.

3 1/2 cups white bread flour (secretly, I used all purpose, and they turned out great! Don’t waste money on buying special flour if you don’t want to)

1 package (1/4 oz) rapid-rise yeast

1 tbsp salt

1 1/3 cup warm water

5 tbsp olive oil, plus 3 tbsp for garlic parley mixture, and more for greasing

1 large head fresh garlic, top sliced, drizzled with oil, roasted in the oven in foil at 375 for 45 minutes, until golden and soft

1/2 cup flat leaf parsely, minced

salt, for sprinkling

1 large or 2 small baking sheets, lightly oiled

Method (I’m being brief to avoid copyright issues, ok?)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine warm water and 5 tbsp olive oil in a measuring cup and flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Stir wet mixture into the dry one, combine and dump on your cutting board. Knead 15 minutes, or until dough is stiff and elastic and smooth. Clean your large bowl, lightly oil it and place the bread inside. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place (on top of your stove, while the oven is heating is nice) for 1 hour.

2. Meanwhile, mince together your roasted garlic (which you’ve extracted from its bulb) and parsley and place in a small bowl. Add 3 tbsp olive oil and stir to combine.

3. After your bread has risen for one hour (it should be about double in size), punch down dough and dump onto your clean counter. Form into desired shapes and set on greased baking sheet(s). With your finger tips, take a pinch of the garlic and parsley mixture and press it into the top of the bread, creating green and golden flecked dimples on the top of your dough. Repeat until the mixture is gone and your bread is covered. Let rest for 20 minutes on the baking sheet(s) under a damp paper towel (or two).

4. Once the dough is rested, place in the oven on the baking sheets, and bake for 20 minutes, until the top is golden, and totally firm to the touch. You can tap the bottoms of the breads and if it sounds hollow, they’re done. Let cool for at least 20 minutes, to allow the crumb to set and dry. Enjoy!

-M : )

So my breakfast this morning, as you can see in the pic, involved some of my all-time favorite breakfast treats: yogurt, raw honey, blueberries, and dried fruit. For a long time now I’ve been interested in “superfoods.” Yes, way before it became cool to bond with mystery jungle purple foods rich in antioxidants, I was all over blueberries, dark chocolate bars, prunes and broccoli like a drunk college student on a 2am breakfast sandwich- you know who you are.

Growing up with a mother who loved these foods explains my gravitation to them, but it’s not just about my palate recognizing healthy food from my childhood; it’s also about visual appeal. I mean, just look at this colorful list of a few of my favorite superfoods below:

10 Superfoods and their benefits:

• Allium family edibles, like garlic and onion- fights heart disease, bacterias, cancers (esp. oral, throat, ovarian)
• Beans- helps lower cholesterol and blood pressure, stabilize blood sugar, lowers risk of heart disease
• Blueberries- boosts memory and brain function, immune system, and vision
• Broccoli- boosts memory function, fights cancer
  
• Grapes (red)- helps reduce cardiovascular disease, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-oxidant
• Oats- helps reduce cholesterol
• Oranges- helps prevent arthritis, and by reducing free-radical damage to DNA, helps prevent cancers.
• Pumpkin- promotes lung health, helps prevent artery plaque and colon cancer, lowers blood pressure.
• Salmon (wild)- helps protect against heart disease and other inflammatory diseases
• Spinach- provides more nutrients than any other food, per calorie; promotes bone, brain, heart and eye health
• Tea (green)- boosts immune system, helps prevent tumors, cancer, heart disease and stroke risk
• Tomatoes- boosts immune system, cancer fighting (esp. prostate cancer)
• Walnuts- helps reduce artery plaque and heart disease with Omega-3s
• Yogurt- live active cultures promote healthy digestion

It’s no coincidence that all of these foods have deep pigmentation, of course. The colors are nature’s way of alerting us that they’re extra nutritious. I say “extra” nutritious only because there exist innumerable varieties of fruits, vegetables, grains, spices, herbs, and natural proteins that have some health benefits, but “superfoods” like the ones listed above are especially nutrient-dense. For more information on this subject, check out one of my favorite health websites, World’s Healthiest Foods.

Also, if you’re interested in the nutrient breakdowns of more than just the world’s healthiest foods, go to NutritionData.com for detailed reports on both health and junk foods. You can even search their database to find only the foods that are highest in specific nutrients, to ensure you’re getting the most bang for your bite.

No recipe in this entry, but come back tomorrow for a twist on a Nigella Lawson recipe from her book, “How to be a Domestic Goddess.”