Deception Rules!

As mom to a three year old, I am very practiced in the art of deception -- especially when it comes to hiding veggies in her favorite foods (see my previous post about the ham and bean soup). But, I am always looking for additional recipes to add to my repertoire. So, imagine my glee when I learned about Jessica Seinfeld's new cookbook entitled, Deceptively Delicious, Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food. It's an entire cookbook devoted to hiding pureed fruits and veggies in kids' standard foods: cauliflower in mac-n-cheese, spinach in mini-pizzas, carrots and spinach in brownies! I've already tried a couple of the recipes to great success with rave reviews from both adults and kids. I highly recommend it to other moms who are sick of cajoling, bribing, and trying to reason with their little ones each night.

Soup Surprise

As a mom to a three year old who won't touch a green vegetable without some elaborate bribery involved, I am always looking for ways to sneak additional nutrients into the dishes I know she'll eat. Given that today was an unseasonably cool and overcast day in the Bay Area, I decided to make soup. I let my daughter choose from a couple of recipes, and she chose the Southern Ham and Bean soup. Great choice, as she loves both beans and "hammie". It also posed the perfect opportunity for me to covertly add some pureed kale to the recipe. Oh what a tangled web we weave...

Anyway, I used the recipe from America's Test Kitchen Fast & Fresh Recipe Card Collection. The recipe calls for 2 cups of green beans to be added to the soup at the end, but I just substituted about 1/4 cup of kale juice instead. Kale juice? Yes. Okay, the full story is that I make my own baby food by steaming veggies, pureeing them, putting the puree in ice cube trays, and then defrosting a couple of cubes at a time as needed. Well, when you puree kale, you end up with a lot of little green specks in green kale juice. I strained out the kale bits and was left with the liquid -- the bits were used for baby food, and the juice went into the soup. Kale can have a tendency to smell a little like freshly mown grass, and I was a little afraid that this would have a undesirable effect on the flavor of the soup. But fortunately, the other flavors from the ham, the beans, and the brown sugar were so rich, that you couldn't even taste the kale. I think you could probably use other greens too, if you wanted. I might try Swiss chard next time.

Here is the recipe as published in America's Test Kitchen
Southern Ham and Bean Soup
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped fine
2 celery ribs, chopped fine
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ham steak, chopped fine
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 (16-ounce) cans white beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups frozen chopped green beans
Makes 4-6 servings

-- Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium-high heat
-- Cook onion, celery, garlic, ham, sugar, thyme, and half of white beans, covered until vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes
-- Using potato masher, mash beans and vegetables to rough paste
-- Stir in remaining white beans and broth
-- Simmer, covered, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes
-- Add green beans and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes

I also got a nice sourdough baguette and threw a couple of chunks into my bowl to make it just a little bit heartier. Yum! It was a great soup and even my daughter loved it, kale and all. Score one for Mommy!

And I'm Back!

Okay, it's only taken eight months, but I am finally back. My new baby is now six months old, and I am just getting back into the kitchen again. Of course, I've been cooking in those six months, but she and I are finally on a schedule that will allow me a little more time for playing in the kitchen. And, as she gets older and can amuse herself or play with her big sister, it should get even better.

Anyway, the new dynamic in our household means that I am looking for recipes that take as little time to cook as possible. I've become a more devoted devotee of Rachael Ray, I've been using recipes from Real Simple magazine, and looking for dishes that I can prep during the kids' nap times and cook quickly once they're awake.

For example, this week I cooked an oven-poached halibut Provençal. I found the recipe in Cooking Light magazine, and it was super. Even my picky three year old liked it -- now that's an endorsement!

Oven-Poached Halibut Provençale
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chopped fennel bulb
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt, divided
4 cups diced tomato
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
6 (6-ounce) halibut fillets
1 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons chopped pitted kalamata olives
1 teaspoon dried herbes de Provence
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
Fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs (optional)
Makes 6 servings

-- Preheat oven to 450°
-- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat
-- Add garlic and sauté 30 seconds
-- Add fennel, onion, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; sauté 8 minutes or until lightly browned
-- Stir in diced tomato and cook 2 minutes
-- Remove from heat and stir in fresh basil and fresh parsley.

-- Spoon half of tomato mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish
-- Place fillets over tomato mixture
-- Pour wine into the dish and sprinkle fillets with 1/4 teaspoon salt
-- Spoon remaining tomato mixture over fillets
-- Bake at 450° for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

-- Start the broiler
-- Combine the breadcrumbs, olives, herbes de Provence, 1 teaspoon oil, pepper, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl.
--Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over fillets
-- Broil 5 minutes or until lightly browned
-- Serve immediately. Garnish with parsley sprigs, if desired

I followed the recipe pretty much as Cooking Light published it. Next time, I might substitute matzo meal for breadcrumbs -- I find it to be a really good substitute if I don't have any breadcrumbs in the house. I normally have one or the other, and use them pretty much interchangeably. I also eliminated the parsley garnish as there was no way I could have gotten my daughter to eat it if she had seen it. I served it with red potatoes with butter and with asparagus drizzed with olive oil and salt. The whole meal was quick, yummy, and easy -- my kind of cooking these days!

Cooking On Hold

Well, I am officially on bedrest. That is really going to curtail my cooking endeavors for a while. The doctor is trying to get me to 36 weeks gestation, and I am at 30 now. So, for the foreseeable future, I am not going to be cooking. Hell, eating isn't even that exciting when you've been sitting on the couch for 16 hours a day (and in bed for the other 8 hours).

But as soon as I can get back on my feet, I hope to be cooking up a storm and blogging about it... at least until that baby arrives!

Christmas Cookies!

Well, I haven't been doing too much interesting in the kitchen lately. My obstetrician has been threatening bedrest, so I have been trying to stay off my feet as much as possible. But, tomorrow night I am getting together with some girlfriends for a cookie exchange. I decided to make Milk Chocolate Florentine cookies. It's certainly not an innovative recipe -- you can find dozens of them on the Web -- but, the little suckers sure are tasty! These are some of my favorite cookies and they're not hard to make. Here is the recipe -- there is no attribution. It came from my mom years ago.

Milk Chocolate Florentine Cookies
-- 2/3 cup butter
-- 2 cups quick oats
-- 1 cup sugar
-- 2/3 cup all purpose flour
-- 1/4 cup light or dark corn syrup
-- 1/4 cup milk
-- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
-- 1/4 tsp. salt
-- 11.5 oz (1 and 3/4 cup) milk chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 375. Line baking sheets with foil. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and remove from heat when melted. Stir in oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well.

Drop by level teaspoons, about 3 inches apart, onto prepared baking sheets. Spread thinly with rubber spatula. Bake 6-8 minutes, or until golden brown (you'll need less time in a convention oven). Cool completely on baking sheets on wire racks. Peel foil from cookies.

Microwave morsels in medium, microwave-safe bowl on medium-high (70%) power for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave at additional 10-20 second intervals, stirring until smooth. Spread thin layer of melted chocolate onto flat side of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies. Makes about 3 1/2 dozen sandwich cookies.

Iron Chef Wannabe?

Last night Iron Chef America on Food Network ran a special show featuring Giada De Laurentiis and Bobby Flay vs. Rachael Ray and Mario Batali. The special ingredient with which they all had to work was cranberries. One of the dishes on the Ray/Batali side featured a "drunken" pasta that made my mouth water just watching it. After the show I checked the Food Network site to see if they provided recipes from the Iron Chef dishes, but I couldn't find any. If they do provide them, they aren't easily found. Sooo, luckily I had saved the show on my DVR and rewatched it again this morning. I basically just kept playing the parts with the pasta dish until I figured out all the ingredients and how it was cooked.

I cooked it tonight and it was just as tasty as it looked on TV. My husband had THREE servings; he never eats that much! Two hours later he was still talking about it and telling me that it was the best pasta he ever had. So, if I missed any of Rachael's ingredients or techniques, it didn't seem to matter. Even my two-year-old liked it! I can't wait to make it again over the holidays when my family comes to visit.

Here's the recipe exactly as I made the dish tonight...
Drunken Pasta with Cranberry Ragout
1 tbs olive oil
1 hot Italian sausage
2 sweet Italian sausages
1 Onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 bottles of red wine
1 bunch of red chard, stems removed and leaves chopped
Pinch of nutmeg
1 lb of bucatini
1/2 cup of dried, sweetened cranberries
1-2 cups of cranberry juice
Butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmigiano cheese

-- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil
-- Remove sausages from casings, break up and add to skillet
-- Once sausage browns a little, add onions
-- When onions soften a little, add garlic
-- While sausage mixture browns, pour two bottles of wine in large pot and fill one empty wine bottle with water and add to wine in pot if more liquid is needed; add salt and bring to boil
-- When wine boils, add bucatini
-- Meanwhile, add chard and nutmeg to skillet
-- Add half of the cranberries; reserve remainder and add more if necessary
-- Add cranberry juice a 1/4 cup at a time to taste; you may not use all of the juice
-- Let the sausage ragout simmer to allow all the juices to blend
-- Add a ladleful of the wine from the pasta pot to the skillet; use more if necessary
-- Add a pat or two of butter to the skillet
-- Add salt and pepper to taste
-- Pour the sauce over the pasta when it's finished
-- Add parmigiano cheese to each plate

As you can see, my recipe isn't as precise as you would find in a cookbook, but it's a pretty good approximation. I always cook to taste and amend my amounts accordingly. The pasta will come out with a beautiful purpley-red color which looks great with the reds, purples, and greens of the sauce. And it doesn't take very long at all -- maybe 35 minutes from start to finish. It's definitely a keeper recipe.

By the way, Rachael Ray and Mario Batali won.

Chicken So Good You'll Cry

Okay, well maybe you won't cry because you're not an exhausted, hormonal, pregnant woman. And you're probably not mental. But, I am all of those. And when my husband told me this was the best chicken he's ever had, I started crying from joy. After he stared at me in open-mouthed amazement, and then stopped laughing, he said, "Maybe you're over-reacting just a little bit?" Okay, okay, that's probably true. But, it was nice to hear such a lovely compliment on my cooking, particularly something that wasn't straight from someone else's recipe.

I roasted a chicken two nights ago using a really simple recipe that is part my own and part from Mario Batali's Pollo al Diavolo recipe in his Molto Italiano cookbook; I even learned how to properly truss the bird by watching a video on foodnetwork.com (that's the beauty of having your laptop in the kitchen with you). One trick I learned from my mom is to stuff your poultry with lemons or oranges. The citric acids do a great job of keeping the bird tender and juicy. It came out really tasty and was even better as leftovers. I can see using this recipe for both family dining as well as entertaining.

Courtney's Lemon Mustard Chicken
1 4-5 lb chicken, rinsed and patted dry
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbs dijon mustard
1-2 lemons cut into wedges

-- Preheat oven to 400F.
-- Season chicken inside and out with salt and pepper.
-- Stuff cavity with lemon, making sure that you reserve one wedge to seal the opening
-- Truss the chicken, and stuff remaining wedge in neck opening
-- Brush entire chicken with 2 tbs of the olive oil
-- Place on rack in a roasting pan and roast until browned but only about half-cooked, about 40 minutes*
-- In a small bowl, combine black pepper, a pinch of salt, and mustard. Stir well.
-- Drizzle in remaining 1 tbs of olive oil, whisking until blended
-- Remove the browned chicken from the oven and brush entire bird with the mustard mixture
-- Return to oven and continue roasting until the juices run clear when a thigh is pricked, about 30 minutes*
-- Let rest for 10 minutes before carving
-- Drizzle with pan juices when serving

*I have a convection roaster, so my roasting times were shorter than those listed above. After I I added the mustard mixture, I only cooked it for another 20 minutes. You may need to adjust your cooking times accordingly.

During this time of year, I love turning to squashes and root vegetables. There is something so "harvest-y" about them that really appeals to me. So I returned to Molto Italiano for its Root Vegetable Mash recipe -- it's essentially a veggie puree. Again, I added a few touches to make it my own. Mario calls for chives, but Whole Foods was out of them, so I skipped it. I also like this kind of dish with a sweetish taste, so I used more than the pinch of cinnamon that the recipe called for and added nutmeg. This is another one that tastes better as it sits making leftovers even yummier.


Root Vegetable Mash with Orange Zest
makes 4 servings
1 large carrot, cut into 1/2 inch-thick rounds
1 russet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 medium turnip, cut into 1/-inch cubes
1 medium onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 medium parsnip, cut into 1/4-inch rounds
1 medium sweet potato, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Pinch of ground cinnamon
2 tbs of extra-virgin olive oil
Grated zest of one orange
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch chives, finely chopped

-- Combine the carrot, potato, turnip, onion, parsnip, and sweet potato in a 4-quart saucepan and add water to cover. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook untill all the vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes.
-- Drain the vegetables. At this point, Mario says to pass the them through a food mill. I don't own a food mill. I used my Cuisinart food processor instead.
-- Stir in the cinnamon, olive oil, and orange zest. This is where I added the nutmeg as well.
-- Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the chives and serve.

One of the things I like about trying out new recipes is that they often allow me to cook with foods different than those I typically use. The parsnip is a perfect example. I have eaten parsnips before, but somehow in my 35 years, I guess I have never seen one in its natural state. When I got to the produce section and went to find the parsnips, I found that Whole Foods hadn't labeled all of its veggies -- so there were about 10 different items that I knew could have been parsnips, but I was uncertain which one. Finally, I checked out the handy reference book they have there, and figured out that the parsnips look like white carrots. Am I the only one who didn't know that?!

I didn't cook last night -- I try not to cook on Friday nights as a rule. And tonight we're going to a friend's house for pizza with the kids. So, no cooking again until tomorrow night. I have no idea what I'll make.

Note: Mario Batali recipe references are courtesy of "Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home", by Mario Batali, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 2005.

Can't Beet It

I love beets -- I love them in salads. But, I've never really tried too hard to make them at home. I always thought that they would be difficult. I couldn't have been more wrong. Yesterday I went to Chowhound and got some suggestions on how to roast them. It was so easy and the beets came out great. Here is what I did:

-- Scrub four baby beets, leaving the roots intact, and cutting the greens to about an inch from the top of the beets (this helps retain the beets color and liquid)
-- Don't peel the beets
-- Put them in a sheet of tin foil with a generous amount of olive oil, salt, and pepper
-- Wrap them up in the tin foil so that you have a neat little package
-- Roast at 375 for about 45 mins (depending on the number and size of beets you use)
-- Test doneness with a toothpick; it should come out of the beets easily, but make sure not to roast them until they're mushy
-- Remove from oven and let cool
-- Once cool, use a paper towel to rub off the skin. You won't believe how easy it will be to peel the beets this way

And here is what I did for the salad:
-- Slice the beets into strips
-- Create a viniagrette with olive oil and orange juice in a 1:1 ratio, add salt and pepper to taste
-- Add the beets to romaine lettuce and goat cheese (or any number of other ingredients to your choosing)
-- Toss the beet viniagrette into the salad and added a little more salt and pepper

I served it with a ribeye steak and some asparagus tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. Delicious!

Now, what to make for tonight's dinner...

Soup Only Gets Better

So, I made the escarole soup last night and it was tasty. But, I let it sit in the refrigerator and had it for dinner again tonight and it was even tastier. All of the flavors blended and mellowed overnight. My mother makes it with beef meatballs, but this is the first time I've had it with turkey meatballs. They worked out just great.

Of course, I was the only one on the house who loved it. My daughter has an excuse -- she's a toddler -- she's not supposed to like green veggies such as escarole. Although she was a fan of the broth, orzo, and the meatballs. But my husband who came home late and decided that he would rather have prepared dishes from Whole Foods than my homemade soup. I am trying not to be insulted... I think I am going to freeze the rest and pull it out once the weather gets colder. At least I know my mom will eat it when she comes to visit.

Now I need to figure out what to make for tomorrow night. I've got some asparagus that needs to be eaten as well as some baby beets. I wonder if I can find something that incorporates them both...

Cooking with the Junior League of New Orleans

Anyone who knows me know that I am not exactly Junior League-esque. But, my best friend who is from New Orleans gave me this classic cookbook called The Plantation Cookbook from The Junior League of New Orleans. I've had the book for almost a year and haven't tackled more than one or two recipes in it. Reading Julia Powell's book has inspired me to go back into some of my more neglected cookbooks and try some new recipes. Hence, my family's trip to the Bayou last night.

So our menu from last night consisted of Tomatoes Stuffed with Mushrooms and Chicken Dijon. I was going to also make some asparagus, but since I had so much chicken (for just two adults and one toddler), I decided to forgo the green veggie just this once. Both recipes were really rich, but definitely yummy. I cut them both in half since the recipes were for 8 portions. The only thing I might do differently is to go very lightly on the cracker crumbs on the chicken. I tend to have a heavy hand for that kind of thing, and it can make the chicken end up tasting drier than it is. Next time I'll only sprinkle a few on for texture. But, the tomatoes were perfect and even Sofia (my toddler) loved them.

And, I am generally not a dessert maker. I am just as happy to buy some ice cream or a pie from the bakery. But Rick (my hubbie) saw that I was going to town in the kitchen and asked if I was going to make dessert too. Rather than brain him (as I was tempted to do), I checked to see what recipes from the cookbook I could make with what I had on hand. It turns out that I had everything I needed for caramel squares. They came out just as they were meant to, but next time I would serve them with a dollop of whipped creme or vanilla ice cream on top.

So, here are the recipes (and FYI, I chose not to use nuts in the tomatoes and dessert):

Tomatoes Stuffed with Mushrooms
8 medium-size tomatoes, firm but ripe
1 stick butter
1 1/4 pounds mushrooms, sliced
1 cup sour cream
4 teaspoons flour
1 1/2 ounces Roquefort cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
2 tablespoons dry sherry
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Worcestershire -- a dash
8 teaspoons ground almonds (optional)
Paprika

Wash tomatoes. Slice off tops, spoon out soft insides, and turn shells upside down to drain. Melt butter and saute mushrooms until moisture has evaporated. Blend sour cream and flour with mushrooms, and cook over low heat until thick and bubbly. Add Roquefort and stir until smooth. Add parsley, sherry, salt, pepper, Worcestershire, and let cool. Stuff shells, sprinkle with almonds and paprika, and bake in 375 oven until bubbly, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Chicken Dijon
16 chicken pieces, boned
Salted milk (for each 1/4 cup of milk add 1/4 teaspoon salt)
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 cup Dijon-type mustard
3 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons celery salt
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, pressed
Pepper
1 cup fine cracker crumbs

Soak chicken pieces in salted milk 1 hour. In separate bowl, mix sour cream, mustard, paprika, celery salt, Worcestershire, lemon juice, and garlic. Let stand one hour. Dry chicken and sprinkle with pepper. Heavily coat chicken pieces with sour cream mixture, sprinkle with crumbs, and place on a greased rack in a shallow baking pan. Bake in 400 oven for 15 minutes, then lower oven temperature to 325 and continue baking for 20 minutes.

Caramel Squares
1 stick butter, softened
1 pound light brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
Garnish: 1 pint whipping cream (optional)

Cream butter and sugar. Add flour, baking powder, salt, and vanilla. Mix. Add eggs and pecans. Mix. Pour into a greased flat pan 13 x 9 x 2" and bake in 375 oven for 20-30 minutes. Cool, then cut into squares, or cut into eight portions, and top with whipped cream.


Note: All recipes are courtesy of "The Plantation Cookbook", B.E. Trice Publishing, New Orleans, 1972

Beyond Turkey Burgers?

I bought some ground turkey for dinner, but I am hoping to find a different way to cook it -- I normally just make turkey burgers. I am going to check on Chowhound and see if I can find any good suggestions. I'll write later about what I've found.

Also, I am going to post about last night's New Orleans-inspired dinner. It was a tasty one!

Update: I found a good use for my ground turkey: turkey meatballs in Escarole soup. The following recipe is from a board post at Chowhound.com. I can't wait to try it for dinner tonight.

Escarole And Orzo Soup With Turkey Parmesan Meatballs
If desired, grate a little extra Parmesan cheese for passing; a sprinkling over the soup will echo the flavor in the meatballs.

1 large egg
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
12 ounces lean ground turkey
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth
1 cup chopped peeled carrots
3/4 cup orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
4 cups coarsely chopped escarole (about 1/2 medium head)

Whisk egg and 2 tablespoons water in medium bowl to blend. Mix in breadcrumbs; let stand 5 minutes. Add turkey, Parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper; gently stir to blend. Using wet hands, shape turkey mixture into 1 1/4-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on baking sheet; cover and chill 30 minutes.

Bring 8 cups chicken broth to boil in large pot. Add carrots and orzo; reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered 8 minutes. Add turkey meatballs and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in chopped escarole and simmer until turkey meatballs, orzo, and escarole are tender, about 5 minutes longer. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Rewarm over medium heat, thinning with more broth if desired.) Ladle soup into bowls and serve

Why A Chronicle of My Kitchen?

Why am I writing a blog about cooking for my family? For no good reason, really. I like to try to recipes and wanted to chronicle my reactions to them and how I might tweak them next time. Plus, I am in the middle of reading Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously and have been inspired to blog about my adventures in the kitchen. I am not as ambitious as Julie Powell to take on Julia Child -- plus I don't think I have it in me to make aspic or kill a live lobster.

I am not a "foodie" -- I like relatively simple recipes with ingredients that I can pretty easily get at Whole Foods, my local supermarket, or my farmers' market. My love of food comes from my Italian side, specifically my grandmother. She comes from hearty peasant stock in the South of Italy. She passed down a love of food and cooking to my mother, who passed it down to me. At my core, I'll always be just an Italian girl from Jersey who takes simple pleasures in cooking for family and friends -- and I'll always urge you to have a second helping!