Zucchini stir-fry with coconut and basil

This dish was designed to use up one of those monster zucchini--so don't hesitate if you've got one lurking on your counter!  Young, tender zucchini would work equally well, but I am forever forgetting to pick zucchini when they're lovely and petite.

1 yellow onion, cut in half, then both halves chopped thinly into half-rings
1 yellow pepper, chopped into thin slices (I like the look of the longer slices rather than dices)
1 T. garlic
1 large zucchini, diced (or at least 2 smaller ones)
1 medium yellow squash, diced
1 handful fresh basil, chiffonaded
2/3 c. coconut milk
1 can diced pineapple, drained, juice reserved
shredded coconut for garnish
**I also used 2 T. jarred pad thai sauce for a hint of heat--I would tell you the brand but it's in Chinese so I have no clue. 

extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper to taste

Heat olive oil, then saute the zucchini and yellow squash in batches, adding salt to taste (I also added balsamic vinegar at this stage but couldn't taste it later).  Remove zucchini and squash when tender, then saute the garlic for thirty seconds (I had to add more oil).  Add onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, then add peppers.  Continue to cook another 3-4 minutes until the peppers have begun to soften slightly.  Add coconut milk and some of the pineapple juice (maybe 1/4 c.?); let sauce reduce slightly.  Add diced pineapple, heat through.  Serve with chiffonaded basil and coconut as garnish (although the basil really adds a lot of flavor, so don't skimp!)

Serve with brown rice (2 c. water to 1 c.rice; plan on cooking for about 40 minutes) and some delicious fruit!

Panini with grilled zucchini and mushroom-chive mayonnaise

A note on panini breads: you can buy or make foccacia or ciabatta rolls, which are the traditional choices for panini. We have also had great success with sourdough, light rye, and--believe it or not--thinly sliced bagels (pictured). If you don't have a panini press, seriously consider acquiring one, as they're fairly inexpensive--I use mine constantly.  My children (even the mushroom-hater) love this sandwich, so that's a definite plus for any quick meal!

This recipe comes from the book Panini Express--which I love. 
Mushroom mayonnaise
8 oz white button mushrooms, wiped clean and finely minced
1 t. chopped fresh chives
3 T. mayonnaise
2 t. lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

For the sandwich
2 zucchini (you could also add in an eggplant; treat it exactly as you would the zucchini--I love grilled eggplant and I save the leftovers to use on pizza)
White cheese (we've used provolone, Swiss, mozzarella, Monterey Jack, and Gouda with equal enjoyment on this particular sandwich.  Gouda is pictured.)

Saute the mushrooms in olive oil until they begin to release their juices (2 minutes).  Sprinkle with the lemon juice and continue to cook another 3-4 minutes until they're brown (brown as in cooked down, not brown as in getting crunchy and burned).  Remove from pan and let cool, then mix in mayonnaise, chives, and salt/pepper.

Slice zucchini (or eggplant) lengthwise in 1/4 inch thick strips.  Brush each side with olive oil (I simply use spray olive oil from a can--less mess!) and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Grill on a panini press until browned and softened, approximately 5 minutes.

Compose the sandwich by spreading mushroom mayonnaise on one slice of bread, layering in the zucchini, then topping with the cheese and another slice of bread.  Grill on the press until browned and golden, approximately 3-5 minutes, depending on your press.

Grilled lemon artichokes with spinach and fettucine

I used fresh artichokes to make this recipe because that's what I had on hand; you could also use canned artichoke hearts to shorten the prep time, but they won't have the smoky depth of flavor that you get from grilling fresh artichokes.  For more information about preparing the artichokes for cooking, go here.  Basically, you need to get rid of all the poky parts; you'll know if you missed any because you'll stab your fingers and it will hurt way out of proportion.

1 lb baby artichokes, trimmed and stemmed, with outer petals removed
5 oz fresh spinach
8 oz fettucine noodles
fresh Parmesan cheese

Dressing:
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. olive oil
1 T. Dijon mustard


Heat up your grill (I used my panini press so I wouldn't lose any artichokes through the barbeque grill grate, since they sort of fell apart as I was preparing them.  You could also use a George Foreman or other countertop grill.  But seriously--I love my panini press and I use it to grill constantly, not just for paninis...so think about getting one.  :-)

Boil prepared artichokes until fork-tender, approximately 10 minutes.  Drain artichokes and immerse immediately in cold water to prevent further cooking.  Drain again once they've cooled; toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper (I use a Ziploc bag for this and just dump everything in together so I can be sure things are evenly coated).  Grill artichokes for about five minutes or until they're visibly browned. 

Start cooking your pasta.

Toss the artichokes with the dressing and let sit for half an hour or so, if possible (or you can just eat right away).  Toss with cooked pasta, several generous handfuls of torn-up spinach, and another generous handful or two of fresh Parmesan.  Voila!

Roast Garlic Soup

This soup comes from Martha Stewart Living.  Despite the large quantity of garlic, this soup is a mellow velvety broth (picky eater-approved!).  It makes an elegant first course for a fancy meal; alternately, pair it with a loaf of crusty bread and a green salad for a weeknight meal that requires only minutes of prep time.  I like to snip fresh chives over the top to give it a little extra pizazz.


Roast Garlic Soup
serves 4

2 garlic bulbs, cloves separated (about 40)
1 large russet potato (12 oz), peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 large yellow onion (12 oz), trimmed, peeled, and cut into wedges
1 1/2 t. ground sage
1 T. olive oil
1 1/2 t. coarse salt
freshly ground pepper
1/3 c. apple juice (or sherry if you prefer)
3 1/2 c. chicken or vegetable stock
1 t. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400.  Toss whole garlic cloves, potato, onion, sage, oil, 1 t. salt, and a pinch of pepper in a large ovenproof skillet or dish.  Cover and transfer to oven.  Roast, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.  (I use a Corningware baking dish for the oven step and then transfer to a stockpot for the stovetop steps.)

Remove pan from oven; stir in 1/3 c. water.  Cover, return to oven, and roast until potato is deep gold brown and garlic and onion are very soft (about 30 minutes).  Transfer garlic cloves to a plate, let cool slightly.  Squeeze garlic from skins into skillet; discard skins.

Heat skillet over medium-high heat.  Add sherry or juice and cook, stirring to scrape up browned bits (this is where the flavor is!) about 1 minute.  Add stock and 1/2 c. water, bring to a simmer.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly. 

Puree soup in a blender in batches, or use an immersion blender in the dish itself (my preferred method).  Heat over low heat; stir in lemon juice and remaining 1/2 t. salt, and 1/4 t. pepper. 

artisanal-style pizza

This is honestly the best pizza I've ever had in my life.  The original recipe comes from Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix via May 2009's Martha Stewart Living.  This recipe has a delicate crumb and a perfectly crunchy crust--use a preheated baking stone for best results.  And I'll be honest with you--you need toppings that are worthy of this crust! We have also found that this works very well if you refrigerate it after the first rise, making a perfect choice if you have afternoon church--just divide, cover with plastic wrap, and stick in the fridge, then take it out when you get home while the oven heats up.

Dough (makes 4 12-inch pizzas)
2 1/4 t. active dry yeast
2 c. warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
5 to 5 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. fine sea salt
Extra-virgin olive oil, for greasing bowl
**scroll down for topping suggestions**

Dissolve yeast in warm water, let stand for 5 minutes.  Stir in 3 c. flour and the salt, stirring until smooth.  Stir in additional 2 c. flour, adding flour (up to 1/2 c.) 1 T. at a time, stirring until dough comes away from bowl but is still sticky (I use my KitchenAid stand mixer for all this).

Turn dough out of bowl and onto a lightly floured surface, kneading with floured hands.  Fold the dough back over itself, repeating until it's easily to handle and less sticky, about ten times.  Knead normally until dough is smooth, elastic, and soft, but still a little tacky, about 10 minutes.

Shape dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl; turn to coat.  Cover with plastic, let rise in a warm place until it doubles in volume (2-3 hours; when pressed with finger the indent should remain).

Place pizza stone in oven and preheat to 500 for an hour.  Scrape dough out of bowl onto floured surface, cut into 4 pieces, and shape into balls.  Dust with flour, and cover with plastic.  Let rest 20-30 minutes until dough relaxes and almost doubles.  Turn over a baking sheet (we like jelly roll pans) and cover it liberally with cornmeal.

Holding top edge of 1 dough ball in both hands, let bottom edge touch work surface.  Carefully move hands around edge to form a circle, as if turning a wheel.  Hold dough on back of your hand, letting its weight stretch into a 12-inch round (Neil likes to toss it at this point, but I always ruin it, so if he's not home I just stretch it). 

Transfer dough to inverted baking sheet (on cornmeal side).  Arrange toppings, then carefully slide the dough off the baking sheet and onto the hot stone.  We find that this generally requires two people with metal spatulas (see picture).  Bake pizza for 12 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden brown; remove from oven with peel and serve hot!























Toppings:

Our favorite combination (pictured) is pesto, grilled eggplant (brush cut eggplant with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, grill on panini press or George Foreman-style grill for 4-5 minutes or until done), red onion rings, shaved Parmesan, and black olives.  In summer, we add thick slices of heirloom tomatoes (Brandywine is our favorite).  We also make one with olives, peppers, onions, and mushrooms for the kids, who aren't crazy about eggplant.  Our favorite jarred sauce is Classico Traditional Sweet Basil. 

other suggestions from the MS Living article:

• tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, basil
• tomato sauce, oregano, garlic
• tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, gaeta olives, salami
• fresh mozzarella, ricotta, parmigiano-reggiano, arugula
• parmigiano-reggiano, red onion, rosemary, pistachios
• smoked mozzarella, fennel sausage, oven-roasted onion
• fresh mozzarella, mortadella, garlic
• heirloom tomatoes, pecorino, dried oregano, pancetta

Dijon Fruited Salad

The original recipe comes from my sister Ruth's mother-in-law, Adrienne.  She served it at Ruth's bridal shower and I ate three plates of this salad (I think everyone else at my table did as well!)  It was SO good.  Adrienne says that the salad was originally made without chicken; the recipe that I have includes 2 lbs of cooked diced chicken, which I generally leave out, but if you're a meat-eater and you want this to be more substantial, I would recommend baking a couple of chicken breasts (350 for 35 minutes), then dicing and adding to the salad after the chicken has been chilled. 

Dijon Fruited Salad


Dressing (prepare and refrigerate overnight; I toss everything in a pint jar and shake vigorously):
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. lemon juice
2 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. poppy seeds
3/4 c. oil
1/2 t. salt
2 T. finely chopped red onion



Salad:
2 heads chopped romaine lettuce
2 unpeeled diced red apples
2 unpeeled diced pears (rinse diced fruit in lemon juice to prevent browning)
1 1/2 c. cashews
1 c. dried cranberries
1 c. shredded mozzarella (I generally leave this out these days...but it's really tasty.  :-)
**2-3 diced avocadoes
**1 lb sliced strawberries

**not in original recipe but extremely tasty additions!!

Waldorf-style tuna sandwich on cranberry seeded bread

Take ten minutes to assemble this sandwich for a simple dinner when you've made Dakota bread earlier in the day. The dried cranberries, nuts, and seeds in the bread are echoed in the salad itself, elevating this from a plain tuna sandwich to an elegant little bistro number. I like to serve this with baby spinach and/or alfalfa sprouts; it goes well into a tortilla as well. Even if tuna isn't usually your thing, give this a try!

Waldorf-style tuna salad
The salad is adapted from a recipe from Stephanie Nielson of NieNie Dialogues; she has since taken down her cooking blog (although when I emailed her wondering if it was permanent she said that she was planning to put it back up when her surgeries finished) so I'm listing the recipe here as I make it, rather than linking back and noting my modifications.

Dressing:
1/3 c. plain yogurt or mayonnaise
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 T. chili sauce
1/4 t. salt, freshly ground pepper
Salad:

3 cans tuna in water, drained
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/3 c. chopped red onion
1/3 c. chopped celery
3/4 c. chopped red apple
1/3 c. chopped toasted nuts

Roasted portobello mushrooms

These thick, meaty mushrooms are divine sandwiched between slices of focaccia with a bit of avocado and red onion dressing. If I'm serving this alongside a spinach salad (the one picture here also includes oranges, pecans, dried cranberries, and avocado), I'll often put some salad in with the mushroom. Alternatively, you could slice the mushroom and serve it atop the salad!

This recipe comes straight from Veganomicon.

Marinade:
1/2 c. cooking wine (I use white grape or apple juice)
1 T. olive oil
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large or up to 4 small portobello caps.

Combine all ingredients in a glass pie plate. Place the mushrooms caps-up in the marinade and spoon marinade liberally into each cap to form a small pool. Marinate for 20 minutes; cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, flip the caps over, and cook, uncovered, for another 10 minutes.

Chicken Tikka Masala

**recipe from My Kitchen Cafe**

Marinade:
2 chicken breasts*
1 c. plain yogurt
1 T. lemon juice
2 t. cumin
1 t. cinnamon
2 t. black pepper
1 T. minced ginger
1 t. salt
1 t. cayenne
1 t. paprika

Marinate chicken for 1 hr, then grill or fry chicken.**

Sauce
1 T. butter
1 clove minced garlic
1 chopped jalapeno
2 t. cumin
2 t. paprika
½ t. salt
8 oz tomato sauce
1 c. cream
¼ c. chopped cilantro

1. Melt butter, then sauté garlic and jalapeno for 1-2 minutes.
2. Add cumin, paprika, salt, fry for a minute.
3. Add tomato sauce and cream.
4. Simmer over low heat until thickened (about 20 minutes).
5. Add chicken and simmer 10 minutes, add cilantro before serving.
   
   *I cut my chicken into strips about ¾ in. thick before marinating, then cut it into bite-sized pieces after cooking.
   **I like to broil the chicken—5 minutes on the first side, 4 minutes on the other.
   

Chicken Saag

10 oz frozen spinach, defrosted
1 in. fresh ginger root, grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 fresh green chili, chopped
Scant 1 c. water
2 T. oil
2 bay leaves
¼ t. black peppercorns
1 onion, finely chopped
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 t. curry powder
1 t. salt
1 t. chili powder
3 T. plain yogurt
2 chicken breasts, chopped

1. Put the spinach, ginger, garlic, and chili with ¼ c. water into food processor and puree.
2. Heat oil, add bay leaves and peppercorns and fry for 2 minutes. Add onion and fry 6-8 minutes more.
3. Add tomatoes to pan and simmer 5 minutes. Add curry powder, salt, chili powder and stir well. Cook for 2 more minutes.
4. Add spinach puree and remaining water to pan; simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Stir in yogurt, 1 T. at a time, and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Add chicken. Cover and cook for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is tender. Serve with warm naan, drizzle with plain yogurt and dust lightly with chili powder.

Note: original recipe calls for fresh spinach, fresh tomatoes, and chicken thighs. I use all the tomato juice in place of some of the water.

Fresh strawberry pie

No time for witty comments; all you need to know is that this is quite possibly the best pie I've ever had in my life. I love the fact that the berries are unbaked, so they're still at that ecstatically fresh peak of heavenly taste.

Fresh Strawberry Pie
Baked pie crust
1 1/2 quarts strawberries
1 c. sugar
3 T. cornstarch
1/2 c. water
3 oz. cream cheese, softened

Prepare pie crust and bake as directed. Mash enough strawberries to measure 1 cup. Mix sugar and cornstarch in saucepan, gradually stir in water and mashed berries. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir one minute; cool.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Spread in pie shell, and fill shell with remaining berries (slice them prior to filling the shell). Pour cooked strawberry mixture over top. Refrigerate about 3 hours or until set (refrigerate any remaining pie).

Cranapple Pie

I'm kind of failing on the Recipe Week front, especially in the area of balanced menus. However, I do have a fantastically delicious pie to share!

This was going to be an apple pie, until I realized I didn't have enough apples. It's a bit improvised, therefore, and could probably stand some more fine-tuning and improvisation. But if you don't feel comfortable playing around, this pie is pretty darn tasty--and fairly easy--as it is.

Pie Crust

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup shortening, chilled
8 - 10 Tbsp ice cold water

Instructions

Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Gently cut in shortening with a pastry blender or two knives until pea-sized. Sprinkle 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp) of the cold water over flour mixture, tossing lightly with a fork. Add the remaining water 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork, and press to the side of the bowl until all is moistened.

Divide dough in half, and gently pat into 2 lightly flattened balls. (Don't overwork your dough at this point!) Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Filling

Ingredients

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
6 cups baking apples (around 5 apples)
1 1/2 cups frozen cranberries
2 Tbsp margarine or butter, cut up

2-3 Tbsp milk
sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F. Peel, core, and thinly slice apples.

In a mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Add apples and toss to coat. Transfer apple mixture to a large pot over medium heat; simmer, stirring often, for 3 to 5 minutes, until apples are softening. Add granulated sugar and cranberries and mix thoroughly. Pre-cooking the filling will ensure that the filling and crust don't separate as the pie cooks.

Assembly

On a lightly floured surface, roll one ball of pastry from the center ot the edges, to form a 12" circle. Fold in half or roll the pastry around the rolling pin. Unfold or unroll it over a 9" pie plate. Ease the pastry into the plate, and, using kitchen shears or a sharp knife, trim even with the rim.

Pour filling into the prepared pie crust. Cut margarine into small pieces and dot filling with margarine bits.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the second ball of pastry from center to edges, to form a 12" circle. Place the top crust on the filling, and cut slits or shapes to allow steam to escape. Using kitchen shears, trim the pastry 1/4" beyond the rim. Fold the top edge over the trimmed bottom edge, and flute the edge to seal.

Brush the top crust with milk, and sprinkle with sugar.

Fold a 12" square of aluminum foil into quarters. Cut out the center section, making a 7 1/2" circle. Unfold the foil and place the square section over the pie. Loosely mold the foil over the edges to protect them from burning.

Bake for 35 minutes in the center rack of the oven, with a cookie sheet underneath to catch spills. Remove foil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly.

Let cool for at least 1 1/2 hours and up to 4 hours before eating with a generous serving of vanilla ice cream on the side.

Mushroom and Chile Carbonara

Continuing the parade of favorites...I have been known to make this more than once in the same week. Mmm, mmm. You really can't beat mushrooms cooked with chile flakes in a cream sauce.

One of the sad days of my life was when I realized that whipping cream isn't very good for you. But some days, like today, I just pretend I don't know that and run an extra few miles to compensate.

I admit, these pictures aren't the most attractive. Trust me, it tastes better than the poorly lit shot would seem to indicate.


Also, I sort of had to stop taking pictures because Abigail was eating Parmesan cheese straight out of the thingie (but I didn't stop until I'd taken a picture of her. Go figure).



Oh, and yes, I use canned Parmesan, because Neil shakes his head at me when I look pleadingly towards the $$$$$/lb chunks of real Parmesan at the grocery store. He's a wise and prudent man...what more can I say?

Mushroom and Chile Carbonara

8 oz thin spaghetti Parmesan cheese
2 T. butter 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed 1 t. dried oregano
8 oz mushrooms, thinly sliced 1 t. dried parsley
1 t. dried red pepper flakes 1 t. dried chives
2 eggs 1 t. dried basil
1 ¼ c. light cream Salt and ground black pepper

Cook the spaghetti according to package directions, drain and rinse.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, then add the cream and herbs, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Chop the tomatoes and set them aside.

In a large saucepan heat the butter and oil together and lightly sauté the garlic for half a minute. Add the mushrooms and chile flakes to the pan of garlic and stir well so everything cooks evenly. The original recipe tells me to only cook the mushrooms for two minutes, but we like them to be more well-done, so cook them until you're happy.

At this point, theoretically you should add about half a cup of water. However, because I generally use half and half rather than cream (unless I've run about a hundred miles the preceding week, or more honestly, if cream was on sale), I skip the water.

Turn the cooked spaghetti into the mushroom sauce and then toss in the eggs and cream. Reheat the mixture, WITHOUT BOILING. Add the tomatoes, toss, and sprinkle each portion liberally with Parmesan to taste.

Abigail's favorites

Sweet potatoes--they're not just for Thanksgiving!!

We eat them a lot. Mostly because both Abigail and Juliet absolutely adore anything with sweet potatoes in them, like this soup:

which Abigail gobbled down in about two seconds.

But our hands-down favorite is the classic sweet potato casserole, except because we eat it so much we try to make it a little healthier. And simpler, so that it can be thrown together in about five minutes (not counting the roasting time).

Sweet Potato and Applesauce Casserole

3 lbs sweet potatoes
3-4 cups applesauce (I just use the stuff we canned in fall; if you buy it from the store make sure it's unsweetened)
1-2 t. each of ginger, cinnamon
sprinkle of nutmeg
brown sugar
sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 c. butter, if you're feeling wild and crazy

Wash the sweet potatoes and pierce them with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until soft. Peel, then combine (I use my stand mixer) with applesauce and spices (add the butter at this point if you so desire). Spoon into a casserole dish and top LIGHTLY with brown sugar, then with flaked coconut. At this point you can refrigerate it for dinner later, or pop back in the oven to brown the coconut. If you refrigerate it, plan on warming again at 350 degrees until it's warmed through (20-30 minutes).

When combined with broccoli, and grilled dill-and-lemon salmon, this is Abigail's absolute favorite dinner in the world--it's one where she requests thirds (and getting her to finish her first serving is usually an enormous battle on a regular night).

Thai-almost-takeout

Sundays are always a really hard dinner day. We start church at 1 pm and get out at 4 (which means we get home around 4:30) and there are two tiny people who didn't nap, didn't really eat much lunch, and are now ravenous and want to EAT RIGHT NOW.

When we first switched to the afternoon block, we experimented for a few weeks with putting things in the oven and programming the oven to switch on. Except it didn't. Oh, it would switch on just fine when we programmed it and sat there watching it, but if we left the house...nada.
We'd come home to room-temperature lasagnas that were likely harboring pathogens by this point.

Four months into afternoon church, I'm starting to run out of crock pot and oven-for-three-hour recipes. So I'm cheating and making things that mostly come out of cans and jars and packets and can be on the table in about twenty minutes (which is how long it takes the girls to run around the house like crazy, be persuaded to change out of their dresses and finally find something else to wear).

Anyway. Now that I've gotten that whole not-cooking-from-scratch thing off my chest...let us proceed. But not before noting that I'm ashamed of my cans-and-packets dinner and I can't believe I'm posting this, but for the sake of truth...oh, and yeah, it's really tasty. Which is why I'm posting it.

Green Curry Chicken with Hot and Sour Soup

1-3 T. green curry paste, depending on how adventurous you are (I use the Thai Kitchen brand)

chicken, diced into bite-size pieces (I used two boneless skinless breasts, about a pound)

1 14-oz can light coconut milk

green peas

1 can bamboo shoots

2 T. oyster sauce (the recipe on the curry paste jar says fish sauce, which I think stinks too much to eat)

1/3 c. chicken stock

Jasmine rice

1 packet Sunbird hot and sour soup mix

1 egg

Start rice--generally I cook 1 c. dry rice with 1.5 c. water on the stove. It needs about 15-20 minutes; then let it sit for about 10 minutes off the heat.

Simmer curry paste and coconut milk together for about five minutes. Add chicken and simmer for another seven minutes, then add bamboo, peas, oyster sauce, and chicken stock.

Using egg, make soup according to package directions.

Quiche a la Julia Child

In matters of eggs and custard-y things, I defer to Julia Child. I don't even try to mess around.

Ok, that's not true.

I defer to Julia Child on egg-to-milk proportions. But I do mess around with everything else.

For instance, I don't think Julia Child would ever tell you to use a storebought crust, but seriously, if I have to make the crust, I'd rather just not make quiche. I tried making it without the crust, but Neil revolted. And I don't like making crusts because it adds a good 40 minutes to prep time, and why do that, I say, when crusts are on sale at the grocery store for $1.50 a pair?

So buy a crust.

And these too:

3 "large" eggs

Cream (says Julia)/Milk (says I)

Meat (crispy bacon, sliced ham, turkey, etc.)

Salt

Pepper

Onions

Cheese (Swiss is sort of the accepted quiche cheese because of its propensity to not make everything really wet, but Neil likes the taste of Cheddar better)

Parsley, oregano, basil, chives

Other things in the fridge that need to be eaten (last time I grated in some carrots)

**If you want spinach quiche, blend in 1 c. cooked spinach into the custard.

Ok, so I just realized that the Julia Child version only calls for eggs, cream, bacon, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, so this really isn't quiche according to Julia Child, it's messed-up-Julia-based-quiche. But I still think it's good.

Here's what's important when making quiche:

"Any quiche can be made with either heavy or light cream or with milk. The proportions are always 1 egg in a measuring cup plus milk or cream to the 1/2 cup level; 2 eggs and milk or cream to the 1-cup level; 3 eggs and milk or cream to the 1 1/2 cup level; and so forth."

--Julia Child

I prefer to use milk because a) cream is expensive and b) cream is fattening. I'm sure it tastes delicious, however, but I'll go on in my skim-milk ignorance, so please don't tell me if you use cream and it's just out of this world.

Ok, the actual makings:

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 450.

Step 2:

Arrange pie crust in dish, put in either pie weights or dried beans/rice to prevent crust from puffing up (a Julia trick), and bake for 10-15 minutes. The crust should be set but still soft. now turn your oven down to 375.

Step 3:

Grate your cheese, slice your onions, and cut up your meat things. Put in however much you feel like putting in. I usually put in half to three-quarters of an onion, a couple of ounces of chopped meat, and enough grated cheese so that it covers the onion and meat but doesn't obscure them completely from sight. I think the Julia rule is 2 T. (which doesn't seem like much. I definitely do more). Dump all your cut-up things into the bottom of the shell.

Step 4:

Mix up your custard. I usually go for the 3 eggs variant and then end up adding another egg and another slog of milk. It depends on how big your pie dish is and how much "good stuff" you already put in. I then add about a teaspoon each of parsley, basil, chives, and oregano, with about a half teaspoon of salt and a couple grinds of pepper.

Step 5:

Pour the custard over the yummy things already in the pie crust.

Step 6:

Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes. The quiche is done when it's puffed up and brown (it should not jiggle wildly when you take it out of the oven. That is egg soup and it's nasty, so put it back in the oven until it turns into quiche.)

We like to eat our quiche warm or cold as either breakfast or lunch, depending on how early I got up that day to make it. Yum.

Curried Pumpkin Soup

**no soup picture because ravenous family devoured it too fast

I made this recipe a couple of weeks ago with some of the leftover canned pumpkin filling my pantry. It was pretty hurried, and I was a bit unsure of how it would turn out, since I was smashing together several different recipes and adding in my own ideas.

So I was watching anxiously when Neil took his first bite. He rolled the soup around in his mouth. His eyes widened, and he started gulping that soup down.

We both decided it was a winner. Oh yum. I'm looking at the pumpkin-besmeared scrap of paper I jotted my measurements down on and getting hungry all over again.

The nice thing about this soup is that it requires very little time both in preparation and in cooking. You're only chopping one thing! (or two if you don't buy pre-minced garlic, which I highly recommend).

Anyway, here's what you'll need:

1 onion, chopped
1/4 c. butter

3 t. minced garlic

4 c. milk

3 t. chicken bouillion

1 15oz can pumpkin

1 t. curry

1 t. salt

1-2 bay leaves

Heat the butter over medium high heat until it's melted. Just as it starts to sizzle and pop, add the garlic and bay leaves for 30 seconds, then add the onions and cook 3-4 minutes. Add remaining ingredients.

Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Puree the soup (an immersion blender works really well for this! It's a nifty little gadget that I dearly love).

Dad's molasses cookies

Do you like cookies?



We sure do.



These are my absolute favorites: my dad's molasses cookies. Oh...they're just good. So good.


Molasses Cookies

½ c. oil
1 cup sugar
¼ cup molasses
1 egg
2 cup flour (I like whole wheat best)
1 tsp soda
½ tsp cloves
½ tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt

Mix oil, sugar, molasses, egg. Add dry ingredients. Roll into balls and roll in cinnamon sugar. Bake 8 minutes at 375 degrees.

Take them off the pans right away and transfer to a cooling rack to preserve the deliciously chewy-ness of these cookies!!

Savory Lentil Soup

About six months ago, I tried a recipe from Martha Stewart Living for French lentil soup. I don't know what happened, but it was horrendous. We ate a bowl each, and then froze the rest to eat later. Neil started referring to it as "that nasty stuff" for the duration of its freezer life, as in "I know you had a really crazy day today--why don't you just defrost that nasty stuff for dinner?"

This is much, much better. It's based on my mom's recipe for lentil soup, but it has a few variations (I try not to post anything on here that you could find in another cookbook or something, because then why bother reading this blog? This is only my made-up or adapted recipes).

Here's what you'll need:

One 16-oz bag green lentils
Large onion
Two or three carrots, peeled and chopped
Three or four stalks of celery, diced
1 1/2 t. ground cumin
Olive oil
1 t. Salt
1/4 to 1/2 t. ground red pepper
Chicken broth or bouillion (enough for about 7 cups of water)
3 cloves garlic, minced
Sausage, if desired

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. When it's hot, dump in the garlic and the cumin and let them saute for about thirty seconds, then add the onion. Cook the onion for about three minutes until it begins to soften, then add the carrots and celery and cook for another two minutes.

Add chicken broth (I use bouillion and 7 c. water because I'm cheap; if you use chicken broth I would use about 4 cups of broth and 3 of water), then stir in the lentils. Add salt and a couple of shakes of red pepper (depending on how much spice you like).

Bring it back up to a boil, then turn down to simmer for about half an hour. I like to stop the simmering process before the lentils turn into mush--I prefer them soft, but still retaining their individual shapes.

If you want to add sausage, add it at the end. I prefer to use kielbasa or smoked sausage because it retains its shape and can be microwaved rather than requiring another pot. DO NOT add the sausage at the beginning--it will taste all woody and lentily and not like sausage at all. Just chop it up and microwave it.

I am particularly fond of the smoked sausage breakfast links for this--they are very small and nicely compact. I use about 5 oz, chopped in small pieces.

And if you do not have cumin, which you should, because it's very good and very important, then I suggest that rather than buying it at the grocery store you seek out an ethnic foods store, because they will probably sell it in very cheap packets where it's like 99 cents for a huge bag instead of being $4 an ounce at the grocery store. In fact, I highly recommend that you check your ethnic foods store for all the spices you use regularly--I think you'll be surprised.

For instance, at the one I frequent (down by the WL library parking garage, for you locals!), I can buy a big packet of nutmeg for less than a dollar. Love it!

Just make sure you save random containers, so that you have containers in your pantry instead of baggies. This is what my "cool spices" shelf of my spice cupboard looks like. Super attractive, eh?

Make-a-Meal-Out-of-It Spaghetti

I don't know about you, but I really like spaghetti. For instance, I used to ask for it on my birthday. And when we did "spotlight books" in Primary, they glued dried strands of spaghetti in mine on the "favorite foods" page. In fact, I like spaghetti so much that I secretly ate all the dried pieces of spaghetti after carefully peeling them off the glue.

Now, you don't have to be a spaghetti fiend like I am to like this recipe, but my gripe with spaghetti is that it seems to be a last-minute "I'm really tired and it's late...let's just have spaghetti" kind of dish. So you get out your canned sauce (which if you're cheap like I am probably isn't anything too special, and it's full of preservatives, which I personally have no problem with but I'll complain about to strengthen my case, even though I like my food to last until I want to eat it) and you dump some spaghetti in some water and in ten minutes you have dinner. It sort of fills you up, but hey, at least you ate something.

Those noodles deserve something more. They deserve a real sauce that requires a bit of chewing. And they also deserve a bit more healthiness themselves, so give whole wheat spaghetti a try. I think you'll be surprised at how yummy it is.

This isn't a dish that I typically buy special ingredients for--I just use what I have on hand. Of course, it also depends what you typically have kicking around. I'm fortunate enough to have most of what I need growing in my garden, so you may need to add a few items to your shopping list.

Here's the lineup:


Whole wheat spaghetti noodles, mushrooms, green pepper, carrots, celery, onions, garlic (I buy the pre-minced kind), fresh roma tomatoes (you could probably use canned diced tomatoes without losing much flavor), sun-dried tomatoes, a can of tomato sauce or tomato paste (depending on how thick you like your sauce) extra virgin olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper, red pepper flakes, parsley, oregano, and rosemary. I'm not giving measurements because this is really a to-taste thing and also depends on ingredient quantities and the number of people you're cooking for. Sorry, you'll just have to eyeball it!

Start off with everything chopped--it'll take a bit, but this cooks pretty quickly once you get going.

Before you begin chopping, you'll need to reconstitute your sun-dried tomatoes if they're fully dried (if they're oil-packed, you can just go ahead and chop them up).

Put your tomatoes in a small bowl, just barely cover them with very hot water, put a lid on the bowl, and let them sit for about twenty minutes. Save the water afterwards to add to your sauce later.

When you're about five minutes from the end of your chopping, start a pot of salted water boiling (the salt will help it to boil faster). As soon as it reaches its boiling pot, drop in your spaghetti (make sure you stir it so the noodles don't stick together. Adding a few drops of olive oil will also prevent sticking). Set a timer on your pasta.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat and add some olive oil. As soon as the skillet's hot enough that the olive oil glides easily over the pan when you pick it up and turn it, throw in your garlic and a couple of pinches of red pepper flakes. Neil likes lots of garlic, so I put in four or five teaspoons.

Let that cook for about thirty seconds, stirring frequently to prevent scorching, then add about a teaspoon each of rosemary and oregano (and parsley if you want it). Give it another fifteen seconds, then throw in your salt and pepper.

After another fifteen seconds, add your onions. Cook them for about three minutes until they're starting to turn a bit translucent, then add the mushrooms and cook for two minutes, then add the peppers and cook those for a couple of minutes. Typically you'd cook all of these for much longer to reach a fullness of flavor, but I'm kind of still in the spaghetti-hurry mode, so it's your call.

Add the carrots and celery and let the whole pile cook for another minute or two, then add in your sun-dried tomato soaking liquid. If you didn't do sun-dried tomatoes, just move ahead. In any case, let everything boil for a bit to get some of the water out with the flavor left behind, then add in the chopped tomatoes and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Give it a minute or two, then add in your tomato sauce or paste, plus water to get it to your desired sauce consistency.

And voila! You have a nice hearty sauce. Now drain your pasta and mix the two up together and eat your dinner, feeling virtuous about your whole-wheat pasta and all those yummy veggies you're consuming.