Almost Slowfood

Tasty Treat: Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

2010-03-11T01:00:00.002-05:00

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You know you're in Bourjaily-land when you peer into a tin of brownies and see all of the edges have been removed. We are an outside in kind of family. My mother, father and older brother each got an entire long, narrow edge of brownie to munch on. While my younger brother and I had to be satisfied with the warm gooey innards. Tough life, I know. It wasn't until I started baking brownies that I finally even got to see wha the big edge deal was and boy was it fabulous. Chewy and soft and chocolatey and sweet. I really shouldn't write a post like this unless I'm armed with a fresh pan of brownies... or chocolate chip cookie bars.

Last week, in my ongoing quest for the perfect chewy chocolate chip cookie, I made some seriously tasty and chewy cookies. However, they were way too flat. So, I shoveled the rest of the dough into a brownie pan and thought, what the hey, let's see what happens. What happened is my less than perfect chocolate chip cookie became the most wonderful chocolate chip cookie bars I've ever had. I'm talking chewy edges beyond my wildest dreams and soft gooey innards that all you non-chewies would adore. I'm still determined to figure out the best chocolate chip cookie recipe, but, in the meantime, here's a recipe that knocked my socks off and hopefully will tug at yours.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

(The beauty of these bars is you don't have to wait for the butter to soften and you don't have to put tray after tray of cookie dough in the oven. When a craving strikes, you can meet it head-on in about an hour... maybe 90 minutes.)

What You'll Need:

2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 heaping tsp Salt

1 c Butter (2 sticks)

1 1/3 c Brown Sugar

2/3 c Sugar

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 large Eggs

2 cups Chocolate Chips (About 12 oz)

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9 inch square baking pan.

In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Place the butter in a small microwave-safe bowl and zap it for about 30 seconds or until the butter is partially melted and very soft.

Using the paddle attachment to your mixer, beat the butter and sugars on high until light and fluffy. Turn the the second lowest setting and beat in the eggs one at a time. Then the vanilla. Wait until it's fully incorporated and then turn it down to the lowest setting and add the flour mixture. Turn off the mixer and incorporate the chocolate chips by hand. Pour the dough in the pan and spread it out evenly. Bake until the top is brown and the dough are pulling away from the sides. About 30-40 minutes.

Approximate Cost:

Groceries: $5
Cost per Meal: Hmm, this is a tough one. Probably 12-24 servings depending on your will power.

Easy Dinner: Red Wine Spaghetti

2010-03-09T15:07:00.004-05:00

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"Where have you been!" wrote several of you last week when it became apparent I wasn't posting. Well, my other life as a freelance writer became stressful what with deadlines and contract negotiations. I apologize. Next time I have a deadline looming, I'll be sure to have something ready to go!

This weekend, the hubby's Aunt A and Uncle S came over for dinner. Thankfully, Aunt A is an avid fan and one of the first to subscribe to my weekly emails (see subscription box to the right;). Sadly, all of that evening's experiments were disappointing flops. I'd seen a recipe for braised lamb's necks, which take 10 hours to cook and I thought wouldn't that make an impressive meal! On Friday, I reserved the necks at my new favorite butcher, Dickson's Farmstand at the Chelsea Market. Baby girl and I zipped down there on the condition that I buy her a cookie. However, when we arrived at Amy's Bread, she saw a pink cupcake and demanded that. Later on, after devouring the cupcake, she asked where her cookie was - what!

On Sunday, I woke up at 6am to pop the necks and the Boston Baked Beans (another disastrous dish I tried, but will try again until I solve that mystery) into the oven. The smells that came out of my oven were delightful, but the necks, even after 10 hours of braising, weren't as tender as they should've been and the beans? Yikes, let's just say Baby Girl put them in her mouth very eagerly and then started gagging and spitting them out onto her plate while wiping the bits off her tongue with her hands. Aunt A and Uncle S were very polite, but I'll have to have them back for another round. Luckily dinner was saved by my Best Ever Chocolate Pudding for dessert.

In retrospect, I wish I'd served this delightful pasta I made recently which takes only about 30 minutes and is so friggin' tasty. I'd read somewhere about boiling spaghetti in a mixture of red wine and water. One night, as I was rummaging through the fridge for something to eat, I decided to give it a go. Of course, I expected the spaghetti to turn red, but what I didn't expect was this tangy delightful flavor! Combined with the swiss chard, lemon and anchovy paste sauce, this dish turned out to be an incredible pleasure to make and to eat. If I weren't testing so many recipes to share with you, this would make it to the weekly rotation list. Enjoy!

Red Wine Spaghetti with Swiss Chard

(With the incredible selection of great, inexpensive red wines out there, I'd choose one of those for this dish. I don't think a particular type of red is required, but I used a pinot noir. However, in the spirit of the dish, feel free to use what you have on hand.)

What You'll Need:

5 cups Water

3/4 bottle of Red Wine

8 oz Spaghetti

1 cup Walnuts chopped

2 small Onions chopped

1 bunch Swiss Chard chopped (2-4 cups depending on how much you love the chard)

1 tbsp Anchovy Paste

1/4 cup Lemon Juice

Parmesan Cheese for garnishing

Preheat the oven to 350. (Or toaster oven if you have one.)

Poor the wine and water into a large pot. Salt generously. Place the pot over a high heat and bring to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente. About 12 minutes.

Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast until brown. About 10 minutes.

While the water is getting up to temperature and the walnuts are toasting, place a pan over a medium high heat. Add a splash of olive oil. Once the oil starts shimmering, add the onions and cook until softened. Add the swiss chard and simmer.

Whisk the anchovy paste and lemon juice together and poor over the swiss chard mixture. Simmer.

Once the spaghetti is nearly done. Remove 1-2 cups of the pasta water and set aside. Strain the spaghetti and add to the swiss chard mixture. Add a cup of the past water and simmer until slightly thickened and a light sauce forms. Add more if need be. Remove from heat.

To serve, place a portion of the spaghetti and sauce on each plate. Top with a handful of walnuts and some grated parmesan cheese.

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $16 depending on the wine you choose
Cost per Meal: 4 servings at $4 each.

Tasty Side: Warm Potato Salad with Cider Vinaigrette

2010-02-24T17:53:00.000-05:00

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If Mayonnaise addiction were recognized as a sickness, then my mother would be in Mayo Anonymous. She'll eat mayonnaise in staggering amounts (Hellmann's of course) on everything from the normal - chicken sandwiches, potato salad, deviled eggs - to the severely abnormal - green salad, steak. Steak? Yes, in fact she'll eat mayo with any kind of meat if sour cream isn't available.

My first job out of college was as a writer for an Internet company. PC was not understood. There was dirty joke telling, prank calling and all around bad behavior. I loved every single minute until the day, nine months later, when we were all laid off. My mother doesn't know this (until today, that is), but we created something called Operation Meat and Mayonnaise in honor of her love for, well, meat with mayonnaise. We created billboards and screensavers and chants all celebrating this operation, which stood for nothing and achieved nothing since it was all just about the name and being silly.

Funny, all this talk about mayonnaise and today's recipe doesn't even include it. However, to know where I ended up, you must understand where I began: potato salad in my family is all about the mayo. My mayo -hater of a husband groans whenever we go to a family picnic since he knows the only thing he'll eat is ham. Everything else, all the salads, are half vegetable, half mayo.

The other day, I received 3 pounds of some kind of small potato from my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). My dear friend picked them up for me and I neglected to ask her what they were so I'm assuming they're either miniature russets or yukon golds. Anyhoo, rather than making mashed potatoes or latkes, I decided to make potato salad. However, rather than use mayonnaise (blasphemy, I know) I decided to so something more wintery with bacon, scallions, hard-boiled eggs and caramelized onions. Dressed in a cider vinegar dressing, the result was basically a meal in itself. While you could serve it alongside say, a Roast Chicken with Oregano and Lemon Zest, I've been eating the leftovers with a salad and I'm a very happy little piggy. Enjoy!

PS - Baby girl helped wash the potatoes, peel the eggs (she only mangled one!) and shake the vinaigrette. So, if you have any littl'ns under foot, they'll love helping.

Warm Potato Salad with Caramelized Onions and Cider Vinaigrette

(While this is an easy salad to prepare, there are a few steps. Happily, you can make this salad in stages or the night before. Just warm it up in the microwave before serving - should be warm not hot.)

What You'll Need:

3 pound Potatoes cut up into bite sized chunks (1-2 inches around)

4 medium Onions cut in half and then into thin slices

6 strips of Bacon

6 Eggs

6 scallions green and white parts cut into thin slices

1/2 cup Cider Vinegar

1 1/2 cup Olive Oil
1 tsp Salt

Place the eggs in a small sauce pan and cover with cold water. Set the sauce pan over a high heat, bring to a rolling boil and then turn off the heat. Let the eggs sit for 30 minutes. Then run them under cold water, peel them and slice them into moderately thin pieces.

Place a steamer basket in a stock-pot and fill with cold water just until it reaches the steamer basket. Add the potatoes to the pot and then place over a high heat. Cover, bring to a boil and steam until the potatoes are soft. Test them with a sharp knife - it should go in and come out easily.

Set a frying pan over a medium heat and add a splash of olive oil. Once with begins to shimmer, add the onions. Turn down the heat and cook slowly and gently until the onions caramelize. They'll turn a nice golden color and give off a nutty sweet smell.

Set the bacon in baking dish and cook under a broiler until they are nice and crispy, but not cooked to death. Drain them over some paper towels and then cut them up into little pieces.

To make the dressing, combine the olive oil, vinegar and salt in a sealable container. Shut it tightly and shake until the dressing is combined.

Throw everything into a large salad bowl and mix together. Serve as a side or eat with a salad.

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $10
Cost per Meal: 8-10 servings at least!

Roast Chicken with Lemon and Oregano

2010-02-23T14:22:00.002-05:00

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I've been trying so many new things in the kitchen lately: Steak Frites with Lavender Hollandaise, Pork Potstickers and Rack of Lamb with Goat Cheese come to mind. However, this week, after celebrating Chinese New Year in Chinatown on Sunday and stuffing myself silly with Peking Duck, I decided to go back to basics and roast a chicken.

Like so many other chefs and cooks, I'm madly in love with roast chicken. In fact, my first post here was about the simplicity of roasting a chicken and how a little butter, salt and pepper is all you need to make an amazing meal. The better quality your chicken the better it will taste. I avoid those fat roasters from the supermarket and go for the smaller heritage birds who are humanely raised without antibiotics and are let out to pasture to eat worms and whatever else they peck from the earth. Not only is it better for the chickies and the earth, but it's better for us.

Yesterday, I made a rub out of lemon zest, salt and some fresh oregano from my CSA (Community Support Agriculture), massaged half of it under the the breast skin and the other half all over the chicken's exterior. Oftentimes, the meat lacks seasoning since the skin that gets all the butter and salt, but with this method, the breast meat was bursting with flavor. We all loved it so much, aside from the wings, there was very little left!

*PS - sorry about the photos this week. I've bought a tripod and was trying to figure it all out. Unfortunately, the lighting wasn't what I'd hoped and we were all starving so I sort of took a few haphazard shots and called it a day.

Roast Chicken with Lemon Zest and Oregano

(While nothing gets more simple than butter and salt, this is just a smidge more complicated. Plus, with just a splash of olive oil to bring the rub together, the fat come from the chicken.)

What You'll Need:

1 3.5-4 pound Whole Chicken

2 tsp Salt

Zest of 2 large lemons (about 2-3 tbsp) minced plus the lemons quartered

1/4 cup Fresh Oregano Leaves plus 5-6 stems of oregano

Splash of Olive Oil

Pepper to taste

1/2 cup White Wine

Preheat the oven to 400. Wash and pat dry the chicken and place it in a roasting pan. Loosen the breast skin by gently running your fingers underneath it and pushing them as far back and to the sides as they'll reach.

Add the oregano, salt, lemon zest and olive oil to a mortar and smash it into a paste with a pestle. If you don't have a mortar and pestle, then chop the oregano leaves very finely and combine with the salt, lemon zest and olive oil.

Rub half of the herb paste underneath the chicken skin spreading it evenly back and to the sides of the chicken breast. With the remaining paste, rub it all over the chicken's outer skin along the breast and the drumsticks.

Stuff the chicken with the oregano sprigs and as many lemon quarters as will fit. Add the wine to the bottom of the pan along with the remaining lemon quarters. Pop in the oven.

Baste with the pan juices every 20 minutes until the thermometer reads 175. Remove from the oven and let rest for fifteen minutes. The temperature will come up to 180 which is the proper poultry temp.

To serve, carve the chicken and pour the drippings over top some rice or egg noodles. A nice salad or sauteed spinach would finish off the meal nicely.

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $15
Cost per Meal: 4-6 servings

Tasty Treat: Lavender Lemon Poundcake

2010-02-18T01:00:00.003-05:00

It was Sunday, Valentine's Day, around 2PM. Baby Girl was asleep in her crib and the hubby was asleep on the couch. I was sitting in an armchair sipping earl grey tea and thumbing through Claudia Fleming's The Last Course. Specifically, I wanted to make the Warm Chocolate Ganache Cakes, which are like molten chocolate cakes but even more intensely chocolate. My mother and I use to gobble them down at Gramercy Tavern where Fleming was the pastry chef years ago.

However, I'd already committed to making Steak Frites for dinner, which might've been a stressful undertaking and baby girl isn't one to wait patiently for a bespoke molten chocolate cake to bake after dinner's done. So, I sighed and promised myself I'd make those ganache cakes another time. I flipped some more and came across Fleming's recipe for Lavender Lemon Poundcake. It's a recipe I'd flipped past several times, but hadn't found the right time to try it out. It's a breeze to make and baby girl greatly enjoyed helping me brush the lemon sugar syrup over the cake. As she went back and forth and back and forth over the same little corner, she chanted happily, "I'm painting! I'm painting!"

Lavender Lemon Poundcake

Adapted from Claudia Fleming's The Last Course

(Light and lemony with a hint of lavender, this is about the most perfect tea cake.)

What You'll Need:

For the Cake:

1 cup Unsalted Butter

2 tbsp Dried Lavender Blossoms

5 large Eggs

1 cup Sugar

1 1/2 cup White Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tbsp Lemon Zest minced

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Syrup:

1/2 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Water

1/4 cup Lemon Juice

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan and set aside. Add the butter and lavender to a small saucepan and melt over a low heat. Remove from the heat and let the lavender infuse into the butter for 10-20 minutes. Heat up again if the butter starts to coagulate and then strain the butter into a small mixing bowl and set aside.

In a mixer fitted with a whisk, add the eggs and sugar. Beat on high until the mixture has lightened and grown immensely. 5-7 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer.

Combine the flour and salt in a separate bowl and whisk together. Gently whisk it in stages into the egg and sugar mixture. Add the vanilla.

Add a cup of the batter to the melted butter and gently combine it. Then add the butter mixture to the remaining batter and gently stir. Scrape the batter into the loaf pan and pop in the oven. Cook for 35-40 minutes until brown on top and a knife comes out clean. Set on a rack to cool.

In a small saucepan, add the water, lemon juice and sugar and warm up just enough for the sugar to dissolve. Remove from the heat.

As the cake is cooling, poke it all over with a knife and then brush the lemon syrup all over the cake. Let it cool for 10 minutes and then turn the cake out, invert it and brush the bottoms and sides with the syrup. Turn the cake right side up and brush the top with the remaining syrup.

To serve, a little fresh whipped cream is a lovely addition. Enjoy!

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $7
Cost per Meal: 8-10 servings

Classic Meals: Steak Frites

2010-02-16T21:13:00.002-05:00

When lavender comes to mind, I think relaxation, sachets and hand soap. However, I also think earl grey tea, madeleine cookies and now... Steak Frites! Yes, bizarre I know, but I read years ago about an old school restaurant in LA that used to smother steaks in lavender blossoms. I tried it and let's just say nubby strong smelling blossoms were everywhere and muscled the steak into whimpering submission.

However, about a month ago, I bought a bag of lavender from the farmer's market to add to tea and to make a Lavender Lemon Poundcake (will post that recipe on Thursday). This weekend, after I made the poundcake, I decided to make Steak Frites with Hollandaise Sauce. Then I remembered that lavender steak and thought hmm, lavender and lemon go together, lemon is integral to Hollandaise, why add some lavender to the Hollandaise. It was thrilling and delicious and best of all, I got the lavender scent without the crunchy overwhelming blossoms.

I've never made french fries or Hollandaise before so here are a couple things I learned:

I searched online for methods on how to make the perfect fry and decided to go with the easiest technique: tossing the potatoes in oil and roasting until brown. No need to soak or fry to get a soft on the inside and somewhat crunchy on the outside fry. Though, if you're going for a McDonald crunch, then you might need to soak and fry.

As for the Hollandaise, I looked to Julia Child and her tiny book, Julia's Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking. Her recipe is flawless, but her troubleshooting tips didn't work for me. I went too fast in pouring the butter into the egg yolk mixture, the sauce broke and became an oily mess. Julia suggested mixing a tablespoon of the broken sauce with a tablespoon of lemon juice to make it creamy and smooth again. It didn't work. However, I brainstormed and broke an egg yolk into a bowl. Then I ever so slowly mixed in the broken Hollandaise while whisking like a demon. The broken sauce is so hot, it will cook the egg yolk.

Phew! That was a complicated post. While it only takes an hour to make everything, I recommend trying this out for a weekend dinner when you don't mind a little sweat.

Steak Frites with Lavender Lemon Hollandaise Sauce

Hollandaise Sauce was inspired by Julia Child

(For the most part, this is an easy meal. However, the Hollandaise requires some serious arm strength. Also, while the recipe calls for two sticks of melted butter, I don't think you need that much. When the sauce starts coming together, taste every so often as you continue adding butter. I think one stick of butter should suffice.)

What You'll Need:

2-3 boneless steaks like a strip steak (We always eat local grass-fed beef)

For the French Fries:

3 large Russet Potatoes cut into long sticks about a quarter inch thick and patted dry

2-3 tbsp Olive Oil

2 tsp fresh Rosemary finely chopped

1 tsp Salt

For the Hollandaise Sauce:

3 egg yolks

2-3 tbsp Lemon Juice

2 tbsp plus 1 cup cold Butter

1 tbsp Lavender Blossoms

Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 425. Place a silpat (or parchment paper) on a cookie sheet and spread out the potatoes on the sheet. Drizzle the olive oil, rosemary and salt over the potatoes. Toss well and pop in the oven. Every 15 minutes, move the potatoes around with a spatula. Be gentle as they can break apart. Cook until browned. 40-50 minutes.

Place a pan over a medium high heat. Pat the steaks dry and generously sprinkle with salt and pepper. Test the pan with a teensy flick of water. If it sizzles, it's ready. Place the steaks in the pan and cook 6-8 minutes per side until medium rare. Remove from the pan and put aside to rest.

In a small saucepan, add 1 cup of butter and the lavender. melt the butter over a low heat and let the lavender infuse into the butter for about 10 minutes. Strain out the lavender and set the butter aside.

In another small saucepan, add the egg yolks and whisk vigorously for a minute or so until slightly thickened. Add the lemon juice and whisk. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and place over a low heat. Stir constantly. Once the eggs thicken up a but, add the second pat of butter and continue whisking. Once the mixture starts to lighten in color and become thick and creamy, start adding teeny little dribbles of the melted butter all while stirring very vigorously. Continue this way until half the butter is incorporated then taste a bit and see if the consistency and flavor is how you like it. If so, then remove from heat and pour the Hollandaise into a serving bowl. If not, then keep adding butter up until this last drop!

To serve, place a steak on each person's plate and drizzle a little Hollandaise on top. Add a few french fries and start digging in. While ketchup is the standard dipping sauce for french fries, when I have Hollandaise at my fingertips, I always use that. Bon Appetit!

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $15
Cost per Meal: Expect 3 servings of steak and french fries. However, there should be loads of Hollandaise left over. I haven't tried heating up the leftovers, but will let you know how it works.

Tasty Treat: Fudgy Brownies

2010-02-11T18:16:00.000-05:00

I had the very best intentions to share with you my Horsey Grandma's recipe for brownies. Hers are a bit fluffier and cakier and, while I prefer a chewy brownie, I grew up on these and they're darn good. You might be wondering why I call my dear grandmother Horsey. In an effort to differentiate between our grandparents and because my father's parents lived on a farm, adding the Horsey prefix was only natural. Of course, the other explanation is my father had a penchant for nicknames and his sense of humor always leaned towards sadism. My nickname was Poo Bear as in poo poo not Winnie. He only knew baby girl for nine months, but she was swiftly dubbed Grumpenella due to her colic. I really do miss his way with words.

My intentions to bring Horsey Grandma's brownies to you were dashed when I searched high and low through every cookbook, notebook and file; I couldn't find the recipe. I finally came across something labeled Horsey Grandma's Brownies, but upon perusing the ingredients, I knew this wasn't hers. It's actually mine developed several years ago in an effort to make my grandmother's brownies chewier and fudgier. The other night I decided to give it a go and boy are these brownies fudgy and chewy around the edges. I'll call Horsey Grandma to get the original, but for now, all you chocolate lovers, here's a great recipe I'm thrilled to have rediscovered.

Horsey Grandma's Peggy's Fudgy Brownies

(These are great for entertaining topped with just a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Seal them well and they'll last for days.)

What You'll Need:

8 oz. Semisweet Chocolate

2 tbsp Cocao Powder

1/2 cup Butter

2/3 Cup Sugar

1 1/2 tsp Salt

2 eggs

1tbsp Vanilla Extract

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 cup White Whole Wheat Flour

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease an 8 inch square brownie pan. To make the brownies even easier to remove, cut a square of parchment paper and lay it down on the bottom of the pan. I'm doing that next time.

Add the chocolate, cocao powder, butter, sugar and salt to a medium pot and set over a very low heat. Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted and everything is well combined. Remove from the heat and test with your fingertip to make sure it's not hot to the touch. If it is, let it cool.

Once the mixture is cool, add the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix well. Add the baking powder and flour and mix well. Scrape the batter into the greased pan and spread the batter to the edges. Pop in the oven and cook until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. About 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool in the pan on a rack.

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $6
Cost per Meal: Expect 16-32 brownies depending on how small you cut them.

Freezer Favorite: Pork Potstickers

2010-02-09T13:46:00.002-05:00

I get cravings. It starts as a thought, over time becomes a strong desire and finally ends up as an all consuming urge to fulfill. Brownies. Brick Chicken. Linguine alle Vongole. These are all examples of foods that, once they have a hold of me, you'll find me in the kitchen or on my way to a restaurant no matter what time of day it is. Strangely, I can't recall one craving from my pregnancy, but that's probably because I freely indulged every urge the minute I felt it. Last week, while I was salivating over anything dairy, I also started thinking about Chinese food, specifically Pork Potstickers and Peking Duck. While I'm pretty sure Peking Duck is above my paygrade, Pork Potstickers are doable.

I couldn't track down any pasture-fed ground pork in my neighborhood so I searched online until I found an amazing butcher, Dickson's Farmstand Meats in Chelsea Market. All of their meats are from local farmers and are humanely raised. Plus, they buy the whole animal so there a loads of hard to find cuts like lamb's neck and pork belly. When I arrived, a middle aged man and his wife were there. They kept buying and buying everything in sight! Luckily, the ground pork wasn't in the case. I also bought a whole chicken, which the butcher gladly chopped into pieces for me (My Chinese inspired chicken should be coming to you next week!).

To create the recipe, I did a little research on what generally goes in dumplings. My research led me to the conclusion that just about anything can go in there and dumplings probably were created as a repository for all the leftovers. I decided to use ginger, garlic, scallions, soy sauce and sesame oil. It's a winning flavor combination in my book and also is typical in potstickers.

While the hubby and I have a year's worth in the freezer, I recommend making these over a couple days: doing the filling and dough on day one and then filling and freezing the potstickers on day two. Otherwise you might find yourself getting tired and angry and annoyed and wondering why you read my blog and thinking that I'm a crazy crazy lady for suggesting you make these dumplings. The work comes in the actual filling of the dumplings, which is tedious. Plus, baby girl wasn't happy that she couldn't smear raw pork all over her face. I know, I'm a terrible mother. However, once you've filled them and then frozen all but the few you plan on rewarding yourself with, you'll be glad to have such a tasty meal on hand that is filled with only good things and not all that MSG and god knows what else. Enjoy!

Pork Potstickers with Dipping Sauce

I created my own recipe for the filling, but I adapted Use Real Butter's dough

(These dumplings taste just like you might find at your local Chinese restaurant, but, to me, the dough is a bit chewier and finer. Think about serving these with a helping of sauteed baby bok choy.)

What You'll Need:

For the Filling:

7 1/2 cups Nappa Cabbage finely chopped
2 pounds Ground Pork

4 tbsp Fresh Ginger minced

4 tbsp Garlic minced (About 1.5 heads)

5 tbsp Soy Sauce

3 tbsp Sesame Oil

2 bunches scallions sliced in thin rings, green and white parts (About 2 cups)

For the Dough:

6 cups All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups water (plus more on hand in case you need it

For the Dipping Sauce:

9 tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar

3 tbsp Soy Sauce

1 tsp Sesame Oil

1 Scallion thinly sliced into rings, green and white parts

Fill a large bowl with cold water, add two tablespoons of salt and stir. Add the cabbage and soak for 10 minutes. This will help draw water out of the cabbage. Drain through a cheese cloth and press out as much water as possible.

In a large bowl combine all of the filling ingredients including the drained cabbage. Mix well and set aside.

In a food processor fitted with the dough blade, add the flour and salt. Cover and turn on the processor and slowly drizzle in the water. Keep adding water until the dough comes together in a ball. Remove the dough from the processor and knead several times until it feels elastic and bouncy. If it's too wet, sprinkle with flour. Too Dry? Sprinkle with water. It's very easy to work with. You want this dough to have a lot of give. Cover with saran wrap and let rest for 10 minutes.

At this point, you can refrigerate the dough and filling overnight and resume in the morning.

Set out a rolling mat or very large cutting board. Flour the surface and turn the dough out. Working in batches, roll out about a quarter of the dough (keep the rest of it covered) to about an eighth of an inch thick. With 2 inch biscuit cutter, cut out circles of dough and set aside on a floured surface. Put the dough scraps back with the dough ball.

Now, get the pork filling out of the fridge and fill a little ramekin with water. Roll out each individual dough circle again as thinly as you can. Use Real Butter called it a second skin. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of pork filling (or more if it will fit) into the center of the dough. Dip your finger in the water and run it around the dough circle's edge. Starting in the middle, gather up either side of the dough circle and bring them up over the filling to meet. The dough should be very forgiving and very elastic and it should stretch over the filling to meet the dough. Press the two sides together and then, working your way down one side, tug one side of the dough and fold it slightly to meet the other side. Keep doing this until you get to the seam. At the seam, fold the seam over itself and into the edges and press tightly to seal the dumpling. Repeat on the other side and then place the finished dumpling on a parchment paper lined tray.

As you work, don't let the raw dumpling touch each other as the dough is somewhat sticky. I found myself with a plateful of mangled dumplings before I figured it out. Also, I did my best to describe the technique for sealing the dumplings, but don't be hard on yourself. As long as it seals, your good.

To freeze the dumplings, place the trays in the freezer and then, after about a half hour, when the dumplings are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag. Or, you can seal them individually in Press n' Seal.

To cook, set a pan over a medium high heat and add a splash of vegetable oil. Once the oil is shimmering, set the dumplings in the pan in a single layer. Cook uncovered for about 4-5 minutes until the bottoms are nicely browned. Add a 1/2 cup of water and cover. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked through.

For the dipping sauce, combine all of the ingredients and whisk vigorously.

To serve, we ate about five dumplings per person with a little ramekin of dipping sauce per person. I forgot to pick up some chopsticks and so we had some issue with losing little bits of dumpling to the sauce. I also recommend a side of bok choy sauteed in soy sauce to round out the meal. Enjoy!

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $27
Cost per Meal: Expect 6-7 dozen dumplings depending on the size you make them.

Tasty Treat: Meyer Lemon Meringues

2010-02-04T08:07:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned a couple days ago, I can't eat any dairy until Sunday. However, my body wants it. Baby girl's milk is so alluring. The butter on her toast in the morning makes me want to scream. Yes, I'm dramatic. Always have been. And, I certainly understand that if lactose intolerance is all I have to worry about, then I'm golden. That being said, I really really want a cookie... and a glass of milk.

Yesterday, it dawned on me that I still had four egg whites left over from last week's ungodly Chocolate Pudding. Then dawn struck again and I thought, aha! I'll make meringues, which are dairy-free. My mother use to buy them at the bakery and I love when there's a little chew to them. I thought about making chocolate meringues, but then remembered I had some meyer lemons in the fridge. If you haven't had a meyer lemon, they are like a cross between a lemon and an orange. I added a little zest and some fresh meyer lemon juice; the result was a melt in your mouth, mild lemon meringue. Exactly what I needed to keep me going until Sunday!

Meyer Lemon Meringues

(I like my meringues a little chewy. If you do too, then check them every so often to make sure they aren't drying out. The oven is set to such a low heat that I just reach my hand in every half hour to peel a cookie off the sheet for a taste test.)

What You'll Need:

4 large Egg Whites
1/2 cup Sugar
1tsp Meyer Lemon Zest (about one lemon)
2-3 tsp Meyer Lemon Juice
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Fill a small sauce pan with about 3 inches of water and bring to a boil. Add the egg whites and sugar to the metal bowl of your mixer. Being careful not to touch the bowl to the water, set the bowl over the sauce pan. Whisk vigorously until the sugar is dissolved.

Hook the bowl up to the mixer and, using the whisk attachment, mix it on high. Once the eggs start fluffing, it will start to look like and have the consistency of whipped cream. Mix in the zest, juice and extract.

Turn off the mixer and either pipe with a pastry bag (or use a spoon) dollops of meringue onto a silpat (or parchment paper) lined cookie sheet. Pop them in the oven and cook for 1 to 1.5 hours.

To serve pop several in your mouth, but do try to stop yourself somewhere around 4.

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $6
Cost per Meal: Expect 3 dozen 2 inch meringues at 17 cents per cookie!

Entertaining: Rack of Lamb with Herbed Goat Cheese

2010-02-02T13:38:00.001-05:00

I've had a pain in my side for the last five years. It isn't a bad or a constant pain. However, it comes and it goes often enough that I went to the doctor (yes, after 5 years!) to get it checked out. Luckily, he said It would've killed you by now if it was anything terrible. He suspects dairy is the culprit and lactose intolerance the condition. As of today I am halfway through a ten day abstinence program where I can't touch a lick of dairy...

And I'm suffering greatly. I usually eat dairy several times a day. I'm that lone adult who drinks plain old white milk for fun. I love yogurt, butter, creme fraiche, cheese, cream, milk, etc. Luckily, if lactose intolerance is the culprit, I don't have to eliminate dairy. I just have to manage it. Such is life.

In celebration of all things white and creamy, I'm telling you about the perfect Valentine's Day meal well in advance so you're not scurrying around for ideas. Rack of Lamb with Herbed Goat Cheese - I've been thinking about this dish ever since we ate it over New Years. About a decade ago, my parents discovered this easy, but incredibly decadent dish while visiting my brother at school in Philadelphia. They raved about it. My father came home and made it immediately, happy that something so good was so easy to figure out and just as easy to prepare.

Imagine a rack of lamb slathered with rosemary goat cheese, topped with breadcrumbs and then roasted for half an hour. The result is a creamy, crunchy, lamby masterpiece. Given the calories (and the price) it's perfect for an occasional meal. And, given the availability of the ingredients, it's perfect for winter since the only thing you'll have to buy from afar is fresh rosemary!

Rack of Lamb with Herbed Goat Cheese

(This is for entertaining. It's so easy to find the ingredients and quick to make. With a side of roasted potatoes and a green salad, you're good to go. Plus, you can prep the lamb in the morning and then pop it in the oven about 45 minutes before you want to eat.)

What You'll Need:

1 8-chop Rack of Lamb (2 chops or bones per person)

Salt and Pepper

8 oz. Chevre goat cheese

2 Sprigs of Rosemary finely chopped

A handful of fresh Breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Set the lamb bone-side down in a roasting pan and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl combine the rosemary and goat cheese and mix well. Spread over the top of the lamb up until it meets the bones and pat gently to make sure it's snug on there. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the goat cheese and pat down again. Pop it into the oven and roast until the temperature reaches 130-135 for medium rare. About 30 minutes.

To serve, as delicately as possible, cut the lamb into four double chops and plate.

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $40
Cost per Meal: Expect four servings at $10 each.

Tasty Treat: Best Ever Chocolate Pudding

2010-01-27T21:50:00.001-05:00

So many bloggers and food writers have written about pudding and pointed out that it's just as easy to make from scratch as from a packet. No lie, it's just as easy, it's tastier and it's better for you. However, I have yet to find a recipe that doesn't include cornstarch. Cornstarch drives me crazy because, in my humble opinion, it zaps flavor and can add a grittiness!

This week, after absentmindedly buying twice the amount of milk we usually drink, I set out on a mission to use it all up. Chocolate pudding struck me as one of the tastier options. I scoured web sites, cookbooks and magazines and failed to find any recipes without cornstarch. Then, I opened my new favorite cookbook The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco. I've already made several recipes out of it including the Spicy Caramel Popcorn and I was drawn to her chocolate pudding recipe which uses egg yolks to thicken rather than my nemesis, corn starch.

Only problem is DeMasco wanted me to bake the puddings in a water bath for 20 minutes and also called for 70% chocolate, which I didn't have. So, I decided to live on the wild side and change her recipe to suit my needs. I cooked it on the stovetop to make the recipe easier and faster. I also used 55% chocolate (basically semisweet), didn't add any extra sugar and switched out the vanilla bean in favor of vanilla extract. I must pat myself on the back: the result was a creamy, chocolatey masterpiece. Since I made a double batch, the hubby suggested I fill some jam jars with pudding and give it away. It was such fun packaging and a lovely surprise for the friends I bumped into this week. Enjoy!

Chocolate Pudding

Inspired by Karen DeMasco's Chocolate Pudding

(While I've started with chocolate, this is my new method for pudding making in general and I'm already brainstorming other creations. Oh, and I do promise, you can whip this up in about ten minutes. The hard part is waiting the two hours until it's set.)

What You'll Need:

1 cup (5 oz.) Semi sweet chocolate chips (I use the Guittard 55% extra semisweet. They are incredible!)

1 cup Heavy Cream

1 cup Milk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 moderate pinches Salt

2 Egg Yolks in a small bowl

Add the cream, milk, vanilla and salt to a medium pot. Set over a medium high heat and stir until nearly boiling. Add the chocolate and stir continuously until it's melted.

Dip a ladle into the chocolate mixture and, while vigorously whisking the egg yolks, slowly slowly slowly add the hot chocolate mixture. Whisk well and then pour it all back into the pot.

Whisking continuously, moderately boil the pudding for a few minutes until it feels thickened. You'll feel a difference almost immediately once the egg yolk mixture is added.

Remove from the heat and pour the pudding into a heat-proof bowl or ramekins or jam jars. Cover the pudding's surface with plastic wrap* (If you like the skin as my husband does, just cover the bowl itself) and refrigerate for a couple hours until it's set.

To serve, eat this luscious pudding all by itself or with a nice dollop of unsweetened whipped cream!

*Note: I don't usually use plastic in my cooking, but I don't know of a better way to prevent the skin from forming. Maybe parchment next time?

Approximate Groceries Cost:
Groceries: $4
Cost per Meal: Do your best to make it to six servings!

One Pot Meals: Simple Beef Stew

2010-01-26T15:58:00.004-05:00

Now that we're well into Winter and Spring is months away, you might wonder how much of what I cook is local. Percentage-wise, around 65%. I'm still able to cook two to three almost entirely local meals a week. How is that possible? Well, I have to give kudos to my amazing farmers who sell their wares at the market every week no matter the weather. Even now, I can still buy meat, cheese, dairy and a few fruits and vegetables. Miraculously, there are even a couple stands that sell fresh lettuce! Granted, it's at a murderously high price right now, but still it's nice to see.

These days, I do frequent the grocery store more often, but I try to plan our meals with local ingredients in mind. Last Sunday, the day after the St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake a-thon, I woke up early and ran to the market with baby girl in tow. It was one of those days where the weather was fine and everyone was there and had everything I wanted. I bought a whole pasture-fed duck, some grass-fed stew beef, a bottle of heavy cream (for the Chocolate Pudding I'm posting on Thursday), parsnips, seckel pears, a small head of cabbage, carrots, potatoes and onions.

I had just that morning finished reading The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck and found myself thinking of Wang Lung, the farmer, who is filled with pride whenever the harvest is good enough to see his family through the winter. While I hadn't grown or raised anything; hadn't done a lick of work, except pushing baby girl ten blocks, I was proud that I fed the family for nearly a week with local foods in January. Wang Lung would probably count me among the elitist city dwellers, but he becomes an elitist city dweller himself by the end of the novel. Too bad the revolution's under way.

With part of my haul, I made a very simple beef stew. I love a complicated stew as much as the next girl - check out the Vietnamese Beef Pho - but this week I was looking for minimal work and maximum flavor. It's amazing what a few root vegetables, a bottle of red wine and some stew beef can become. There is enough beef stew in this recipe to feed a family of 12 or, if you don't want to live off of it for a week, then freeze several servings. It will be wonderful on a night when warming something up is about the extent of your abilities. Enjoy!

Simple Beef Stew

(OK, OK so the thyme is from California and so was the red wine, but everything else is totally local. I have to have herbs, it's one of my things, but there is a new vintner at the market so I'll have to check out some local wines for next time. )

What You'll Need:

4-6 small Onions halved and sliced

4-6 sprigs of Thyme

5 large Carrots halved lengthwise and then cut into thirds

4-6 New Potatoes halved lengthwise and then cut into thirds

1 1/2 lbs Beef Stew Meat cut into cubes, patted dry and sprinkled with salt and pepper

1 bottle Red Wine

3-4 cups Chicken Broth (or beef broth if you have it on hand)

3-4 tbsp White Whole Wheat Flour

Salt and Pepper

Set your dutch oven (or stock pot) on the stovetop over a medium flame. Add a splash of olive oil. Once it shimmers add the onions and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to caramelize - about 15 minutes. Then add the potatoes and carrots and cook for a few minutes. Remove everything from the pan.

Add the beef, browning the pieces on all sides. Return the onions, carrots and potatoes to the pot and pour in the wine and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cover and cook for 2 to 3 hours until the potatoes and carrots are super soft and the beef shreds.

With a slotted spoon, remove the beef and vegetables from the pot and bring the broth back up to a simmer. In a measuring cup, combine the flour and about a cup and a half of broth. Mix vigorously until there are no lumps. Add mixture to the pot and stir. Simmer until the broth is thick and has reduce by about one third.

To serve, just spoon a helping into bowls and polish it off. A green salad on the side is also nice.

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $20
Cost per Meal: We've eaten six servings so far and I don't see any end in sight! I'd say about 12 servings.

Tasty Treat: St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

2010-01-21T01:00:00.005-05:00

On Tuesday I wrote to you about friendship and corn bread and the amazing Southern dinner party we attended. Today is all about the dessert I made. Among my friends, I am the dessert maker and I take this honorable role very seriously. I love dessert and I love baking and I especially love a crowd since baking extravagant desserts solely for the hubby and me is a recipe for obesity. Since the dinner was branded a Southern feast, I finally had an excuse to try the St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake Melissa Clark wrote about a few months back in the New York Times food section.

Clark is one of my favorite food writers; I always trust her recipes. However, I have to admit, any recipe with gooey in the title is a siren call to me. I love goo. In fact, when ordering pecan pie, I always ask about the goo to pecan ratio since I would really just like a bowl of goo. Chess Pie is another favorite of mine because it's all lemon/lime scented goo. That being said, I don't like weird, fake tasting goo such as is found in desserts made with unidentifiable ingredients. I like the natural goo that comes from some combination of butter, sugar and a touch of corn syrup.

The SLGBC has all the good parts of goo without the bad. It's comprised of two layers: a yeast dough topped with a less sturdy, well gooey, batter. The bottom, like a pie crust, is really just a vehicle for the top, but it's the perfect accompaniment, adding a nice chew. While Clark writes the SLGBC for her was more of a moist cake, for me it turned out to be one part chewy cake and one part gooey batter topping. I made it the day we ate it and I think that's the secret since the next day, to Clark's point, it was more a moist cake.

I don't usually have tasters beyond the hubby and baby girl so here are quotes from my friends recorded in real time as they had their first bites:

"Oh my god," munch, munch

"This is the best cake I've ever tasted," mouth full of food, "No, I'm serious, this is so so so good!"

"My doctor would kill me, but I can't stop eating," this from my friend who had Gestational Diabetes.

"Hun, sorry I was so pessimistic. This is really good," said the hubby who'd thought the cake didn't look very special when it came out of the oven.

Baby girl and her friend, baby boy, each ate adult portions because the adults were too busy in cake ecstasy to notice. They should've done something way badder than that, like draw on the walls with sharpie pens.

Convinced? I highly recommend you get together six of your closest friends and feed them this cake!!

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

Adapted (just a bit) from Melissa Clark's New York Times article, Having My Cake and Eating It Too

(This cake, chewy and gooey and moist, easily made my personal top ten list of best Southern cakes. It's second only to the Robert E. Lee Cake (recipe to come.) because my grandmother would kill me if I try to usurp its reigning king. However, she hasn't tried the SLGBC yet...)

What You'll Need:

For the Yeast Cake -
3 tbsp Milk at room temperature mixed with 2 tbsp very Warm Water
2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
6 tbsp Unsalted Butter softened
3 tbsp Sugar

1 tsp Salt
1 lg Egg at room temperature
1 3/4 cups White Whole Wheat Flour

For the Gooey Batter -
3 heaping tbsp Light Corn Syrup
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
12 tbsp Unsalted Butter softened
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1 lg Egg at room temperature
1 cup plus 3 tbsp White Whole Wheat Flour

Confectioner's Sugar for dusting

To the warm water and milk mixture add the yeast. There should be a bit of foaming, but if you don't see it, then sprinkle a bit of sugar into the bowl. After a few minutes you should see the mixture starting to puff and the yeast multiplying. If you don't then this means your yeast is dead and your cake won't rise.

In a mixer with the paddle attachment, add the butter, sugar and salt. Mix on high until very fluffy. Scrape down the sides and incorporate the egg on medium. Then, in an alternating pattern, add the flour and yeast mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then mix at a medium speed until the dough becomes smooth and elastic and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. About

Place the dough in an unbuttered 9x13 baking dish and gently spread it out with your fingers to cover the bottom of the dish. Cover with saran wrap and place in a warm dry place for about 3 hours or until it's doubled in size.

2 1/2 hours later, preheat the oven to 350 and add the corn syrup, vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of water to a small bowl. Whisk until incorporated and set aside. In a mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and salt at a high speed until it is white and very fluffy. About 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beat in the egg at a medium speed. Add the flour and corn syrup mixture in alternating turns and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Uncover the yeast cake baking dish and spoon the batter over top. Smooth it all across the cake with a spatula meeting the sides of the baking dish all around. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the top is golden brown. The center won't set and will be quite shaky. Cool in the pan.

To serve, sprinkle just a little bit of sugar overtop. This is a sweet cake so it's just for show. Cut small slices and enjoy with tea or a glass of milk!

*Note: I recommend making this the day of since it loses it crisp chewy nature on the second day. It's still really tasty, but not mind-blowingly amazing.

*Note: I also think this would do well with a few tablespoons of lime, lemon or orange zest in the batter. I may try that next time.

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $8-10
Cost per Meal: This is supposed to serve 18-20 people, but we were incredibly piggy and nearly devoured the whole thing. I'll say it makes more like 12-14 servings if people are behaving themselves.

Tasty Sides: Southern Skillet Corn Bread

2010-01-19T13:13:00.005-05:00

In college, one of my closest friends was always talking about these aunts and uncles that weren't actually related. I was totally confused since I grew up in a town where every relative lived within a five mile radius. There were so many of us, I didn't even know all of them and was often introduced to new cousins in random places such as the local Safeway or the country club.

However, for all the cousins roaming Old Town, I was essentially a girl in a family of boys and I needed some other girls in my life. Case in point, I was nearly kicked out of preschool for wrestling with (and/or beating up - potay-to/potah-to) all the boys. Years later, I became the fourth generation to attend Georgetown Visitation, an all girl's high school, and it was there that my journey in making and maintaining lifelong friendships began. I left home at 18 to go to college in New York where I stayed and met the hubby and had baby girl. And I'm still here, raising a family in a city without any relatives. And so my friendships have taken on a new meaning: that of family.

And finally, with baby girl in my life, I understand why my friend has aunts and uncles who aren't blood. They aren't related, but they have had an effect nearly as strong. Baby girl calls certain people aunt and uncle because it feels right and as long as I'm raising my family apart from my greater family and even if I'm ever lucky enough to live among them again, baby girl will still have many more aunties and uncles than the hubby and I have brothers and sisters.

Among the auntie and uncle contingent, there are two couples with whom the hubby and I share nearly everything. One perk is that one of them, B, my husband's oldest friend, is an incredible cook. If anyone should be writing a blog, B should... about his barbecue. This past weekend the six of us adults and four children went to B and his wife, A's, house for a Southern feast of pulled pork with two different barbecue sauces, cole slaw and baked beans. I provided corn bread and dessert (St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake - recipe to come on Thursday).

Corn bread is one of those breads that is so easy to make, but is often dry and overly sweet. So, when tasked with making it, I studied just about every recipe I could find and was most inspired by the Tennessee Locavore, a blog I'm now frequenting. Thank you, TL! I change the recipe a bit, deciding to use only cornmeal, double the salt and switch out the sugar for honey. The result was a light, moist and somewhat crumbly corn bread that is a perfect accompaniment to barbecue as well as chilis and stews. It's so good, I even like it on its own with a pat of butter and a swirl of honey. Enjoy!

Southern Skillet Corn Bread

(This is the lightest, freshest corn bread I've ever made and I credit the cornmeal I bought at the farmer's market. To get a noticeable corn flavor, I recommend buying the freshest stone ground corn meal you can. If you can't find local, fresh cornmeal then adding a tablespoon or two of honey will help greatly.)

What You'll Need:

2 cups Stone Ground Corn Meal

1 tbsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1-2 tbsp Honey (optional)

1 1/4 cup Buttermilk

1 large Egg

1/4 Vegetable Oil

1/3 stick butter

Place a 9 inch cast iron skillet in the oven and set the oven to 375. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together the wet ingredients in a small bowl.

Once the oven is heated, remove the skillet and add the butter. Put the skillet back in the oven. The butter should be melting and bubbling, but not burning.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix just until combined. Do not over mix - a few lumps is just fine. Remove the skillet from the oven and quickly pour the corn bread batter into the skillet. Return to the oven and cook until golden brown on top. About 20-25 minutes.

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $5
Cost per Meal: This fed 6 adults and two children.

Classic Meals: Coq au Vin

2010-01-12T16:36:00.004-05:00

In every town in America there is probably a French bistro type restaurant. During my childhood, we frequented several of them throughout the DC area, which wasn't known for its food until well after I left. Le Refuge, Le Fanion, Bistrot Francais and Chez Andre all come to mind and they all had their high points. In particular was Chez Andre's filet mignon with bernaise sauce. However, at none of them was I ever tempted to try the classic but pervasive French dish, Coq au Vin. In fact, to me, Coq au Vin always seemed to me like some sort of dingy, dry and boring stewed junk for people without taste buds.
Fast-forward ten or twenty years to last year and picture me at Daniel Boulud's restaurant, Bar Boulud. I've adored each and every meal I've had at Boulud's restaurants so, when I saw the Coq au Vin on the menu, I risked it. It was a transporting experience. Coq au vin is basically chicken stewed in red wine, not dissimilar to boef bourguignon, served over either pasta or mashed potatoes or even spaetzle. I don't remember what Boulud served it with, but his Coq au Vin was succulent and juicy and the sauce was not really a sauce, but a deep, thick and flavorful liquor. I dream about it sometimes.

Well, over the holidays, baby girl's grandma (or Amma) offered to watch her while the hubby and I went to see Up in the Air. We had a little time to kill beforehand so we stopped into the Barnes & Noble and, of course, I was immediately drawn to the cookbook section and then to Anne Willan's The Country Cooking of France. My father always revered her book, La Varenne Pratique so I knew I was in good hands. I somehow opened to the page where she describes Coq au Vin and then her recipe for it and I committed what I could to memory before being dragged off to the enjoyable, but somewhat boring (sorry critics!), Up in the Air.

I made it this past week and it was really amazing, not transporting like Boulud's but really really good. I think I might even add more red wine next time!

Coq au Vin

Lovingly Adapted from Anne Willan's The Country Cooking of France

(This recipe requires a time commitment, not in terms of active kitchen work but, to really get the deep flavor, the chicken needs to marinate in the fridge for two days. Willan suggests 3 or 4, but I just couldn't do that!)

What You'll Need:

1 Onion cut into quarters
1 Carrot cut in half lengthwise
2 Celery stalks
1 Garlic Clove peeled
1 tsp Peppercorns
1 Bottle of Red Wine (I used a French Pinot Noir)
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Whole Chicken cut up into breasts, thighs, wings and drumsticks

6 oz Bacon
3 tbsp Flour
2 cups Chicken Broth
2 Shallots chopped
2 Garlic Cloves minced
1 Bouquet Garnis (Mine was compose of several sprigs of parsley, thyme and 2 bay leaves)

1 lb Cremini Mushrooms sliced
1 lb pearl onions peeled
Parsley for garnish

Into a stock pot, pour the wine and add the onion, celery, garlic and carrot and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, simmer for a minute or two and then turn off the heat and let the marinade cool.

Place the chicken in one layer in a large baking dish and pour the marinade overtop and then the olive oil. Gently press down the chicken to get as much of it submerged as possible. Cover the dish and place it in the refrigerator to marinate. Check on it every 12 hours for two days and flip the chicken each time. You'll find it turns a deep purple!

About three hours before you plan on eating, Preheat the oven to 325 and set a large dutch oven over a medium high heat. Remove the chicken from the fridge and then from the marinade (don't discard the marinade!!). Pat the chicken dry and then put it in the dutch oven and brown it on all side. Remove the chicken and set aside. Meanwhile, strain the marinade, saving the liquid and discarding the vegetables.

Once the chicken is browned and removed, add the bacon to the dutch oven and cook until almost crispy. Pour off most of the bacon fat and add the shallot and garlic. Once they are softened, add the marinade and bring to a boil. Turn it down to a simmer and reduce by half. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and a bit of broth into a slurry and then, while whisking quite vigorously, slowly add the flour mixture to the red wine. Mix in the chicken stock. Once well mixed, place the chicken in the dutch oven in one layer and nestle the bouquet garnis in there. Cover it and cook in the oven for about 2 hours or until the chicken is tender.

About 20 minutes before you want to eat, set a saute pan over a medium high heat and add a pat of butter or a splash of olive oil. Once the oil is shimmering, add the pearl onions. When they begin to soften add the mushrooms and cook together until the mushrooms have given up their water. Remove from the heat.

To serve, place the chicken atop some spaetzle (recipe to come!), mashed potatoes or buttered noodles

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $30
Cost per Meal: We got about 6 servings out of this meal at $5 each!

Healthy Meals: Salmon with Pickled Cucumbers

2010-01-12T11:44:00.002-05:00

About a year before I became pregnant with baby girl, I discovered this amazing recipe for Salmon with Pickled Cucumbers. It was in Food & Wine magazine and it was such a simple recipe involving lots of ginger, lime juice and fish sauce, yum! It became the meal we ate whenever I was feeling like I'd eaten too much sugar or meat or butter, which was at least once a week. I also loved eating the cucumbers with brown rice for lunch. Somehow I felt lighter and springier and so much more productive.

Everything changed when I got pregnant. I was lucky not to suffer from nausea or vomiting, but I suddenly couldn't stand fish of any kind and I couldn't eat anything with strong flavors. About 6 weeks into the pregnancy, I made this dish for the hubby and me and I nearly died. That was it. Three years ago was the last time I ate this dish because my aversion to it was so strong that it lasted for an entire year. Then, I forgot about it.

Well, this past Thursday night, I was cruising through Whole Foods and I noticed that the wild sockeye salmon was back and looking marvelous. I decided to buy some for dinner and then I remembered my long lost delicious pickled cucumbers. Even when I'm at the grocery store, I do my best to buy local so I compared and contrasted three different types of cucumbers, which are certainly not in season in the Northeast. However, I was able to find some from Florida, not perfect, but better than Mexico and California. Throughout the winter months, you're not only going to see root vegetables and meat coming from me. I try to be practical about my eating and, even when what I'm buying isn't technically local, I source it as close to home as possible.

Over the years, I've tinkered with this recipe here and there and I think you'll find it's the perfect antidote to all the sweets and heavy food we usually eat over the holidays and throughout the cold winter. There is something cozy about this dish. Enjoy!

Salmon with Pickled Cucumbers

Adapted from Food & Wine Magazine

(If a dish can cleanse the body, mind and soul, then this is it. Baby girl loves it too. To make a vegetarian version, just substitute tofu for the salmon. I do that sometimes just for fun!)

What You'll Need:

1 English Cucumber or 4 persian cucumbers (peel if waxed or thick skinned and slice very thinkly - I like to use a mandoline)
2-3 tbsp Sugar
2 tbsp plus 1tsp Fresh Ginger finely chopped
2 small Garlic Cloves minced
Pinch of Red Pepper Flakes
Fish Sauce
Fresh Lime Juice (2-3 limes)
1/3 cup water

1 pound Wild Salmon filets (with the skin and bones removed)
a head of garlic cloves all peeled

2 cups Brown Rice cooked

An hour or two before you want to eat, throw the sugar, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes into a bowl. Pound it and stir it with a pestle until it's pretty well mushed. Then add equals parts fish sauce and lime juice. Stir in the water and then add the cucumbers, gently pressing them down so that they are submerged. Let it sit until dinner.

An hour before dinner, set the rice to cook.

20 minutes before you eat, set a frying pan over a medium high heat and generously coat the bottom with oil. Set out the salmon filets and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Once the oil is shimmering, gently place the salmon in the pan salt and pepper side down. Add the garlic cloves. Cook for about 8 minutes per side or until cooked through, but juicy. Remove the salmon and let the garlic cloves cook a little longer if need be, but be careful not to cook them until their crunchy.

To serve, spoon some rice onto a plate, place the salmon on top, scatter some garlic cloves around and top with the cucumbers. I like smushing it all up together, but baby girl likes compartmentalized eating and tends to go for the salmon, then the rice and finally a cucumber or two.

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $20
Cost per Meal: We got about 4 servings out of this meal at $5 each!

Tasty Treat: Molasses Cookies

2010-01-07T15:05:00.000-05:00

Like everyone else who lives in New York knows, the City Bakery makes the best cookies. While their chocolate chips are perhaps most beloved, I happen to think their molasses cookies are even better. Soft and chewy with a nice spicy, ginger-molasses bite, they are everything I want in a cookie. Unfortunately Maury Rubin hasn't revealed his cookie secrets so I have to try every other recipe in the world and tinker with them until one day maybe I'll hit pay-dirt.

I won't mention the disappointments except to say there were those bland recipes, those cakey recipes and those that I just had to wonder what they were thinking and how did they get published. However, after much research, I do think I've found something close, not perfect mind you, but close. Cook's Illustrated magazine and their website are both great resources if your looking for a recipe that's been tested and tinkered until it finally gives in and says uncle. I've rarely tried a recipe from them and been disappointed. In fact, maybe I never have.

Yesterday, in preparation for a playdate, I decided to give their Soft and Chewy Molasses Spice Cookie a go. I tinkered just barely and what came out of the oven was pretty darn good: a strong molasses flavor with a mild spice and a nice chewy texture. Of course, after a few hours, the cookies weren't as insanely chewy as the City Bakery cookies are and they were perhaps a little sturdier than I would've like, but this recipe is going in my keeper file until I unlock the secrets of the City Bakery. Enjoy!

Molasses Cookies

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated Soft and Chewy Molasses Spice Cookie

(These cookies are incredibly easy to make and the batch isn't very large so you won't feel like an incredible pig for more than a couple days. I made 2.5 inch cookies and got eighteen cookie altogether.)

What You'll Need:

2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1.5 tsp cinnamon

2-2.5 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

1/4 allspice

several turns of fresh ground black pepper (about 1/4 tsp)

1.5 sticks cold butter cut into pieces

1/3 cup granulated sugar plus extra for coating the dough

1/3 cup dark brown or muscovado sugar

1 large egg yolk

1-1.5 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup molasses (I didn't use blackstrap, but I plan on testing with it some time soon!)

Preheat the oven to 375 and line your baking sheets either with silpats (which I adore) or parchment paper (which also works very well). In a large bowl combine the flour, spice, salt and baking soda. Mix well and set aside.

In a mixing bowl add the butter and sugars and set on the mixer. Start a low speed and, once things look pretty well combined like they won't fly out of the bowl, set the mixer to medium-high. Let it go for about two or three minutes or until everything looks light and fluffy. Turn off the mixer, scrape the sides and set it to low. Add the egg yolk and mix until combined. Then add the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and turn up the mixed to medium just for a few seconds and then turn it to low again. Add the molasses (I coated my measuring cup with vegetable oil to make it easier for the molasses to slide out.). Once everything is well incorporated, add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Turn off the mixer, remove the bowl and mix the dough a few times by hand being careful to make sure you get every last bit mixed in.

To make the dough balls, take an ice cream scoop or spoon (I use a 1.5 inch diameter scoop) and scoop out equal sizes dough balls, roll them between your palms just to get them into true balls and toss in a bit of sugar. Place the balls on the cookie sheets 2-3 inches apart. I only baked six cookies per sheet. Bake them in the oven for 12 minutes if you're making 1.5 inch diameter dough balls like I did, but adjust the time depending on the size. You'll know they're ready when their surfaces break out in crackles and the crevices beneath still look a bit underdone. Cool them on a rack and then enjoy!

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $6
Cost per Meal: It's hard to gauge the exact cost, but I think this is right. There should be 9-12 servings, but um, there were far fewer for us...

It's Official!

2010-01-06T16:31:00.000-05:00

So I just committed and bought the domain name for Almost Slowfood! You can now just type in www.almostslowfood.com rather than remembering all that blogspot.com nonsense.

Want an even easier option? CLICK HERE! to subscribe to Almost Slowfood and get it delivered to your inbox.

Tasty Sides: Sweet Potato Latkes

2010-01-05T13:42:00.004-05:00

I didn't celebrate Hanukkah until I met the hubby and even then it was more of a hey! Let's go eat some latkes sort of affair. Of course, as a convent school girl from Virginia, I hadn't eaten latkes before and let me tell you, it's a crying shame it took me 22 years to try them. Of course, my sister in law is Belarussian and she use to make potato pancakes, which are incredible, but they aren't latkes. They're in their own category and I plan on begging for the recipe soon.

...but back to the latkes. So, my first bite of crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside - sounds kinda like a cookie - salty, potato, onion goodness with a dollop of sour cream and applesauce was a lifechanging experience for me. How could the potato eating Irish not have come up with some sort of equivalent? If they did, then my grandmother certainly played dumb.

This past Hanukkah, we threw a party and then went to a party and then dinnertime came on Hanukkah Sunday and I was dying for some latkes. The hubby and I called every restaurant within walking distance to ask if they had latkes on the menu. We damn near got on the subway to go down to the East Village to Veselka's - no small feat from the Upper West Side - for the real deal, but alas we settled on Vietnamese take out.

Weeks passed and I continued to crave latkes and think about them and eat them in my dreams. I couldn't take it anymore and then night before Christmas Eve right around dinner time I declared I wouldn't be satisfied without a latke for dinner. We didn't have any potatoes or even parsnips or celery root, but my heroic husband did happen to find a large sweet potato languishing in the fridge. He said he'd make sweet potato latkes.

Mind you, I can't remember the last time the hubby cooked anything so I was dubious, but he set to work with a little of this and a little of this and an Oh, Sweetie, would you get me the last of that goat cheese in the fridge? And what came out of his frying pan is now my new favorite thing. We've had sweet potato latkes twice now since Christmas. They were a little chewy, a little crunchy with that lovely sweet potato brown sugar caramel and the hint of goat cheese was creamy and wonderful. Try it out!

Sweet Potato Latkes

(If you've never had a latke or if you eat latkes every single day, you'll think you've died and gone to potato heaven. These are great with smoked salmon or as a side to almost any meal - Pork Chops with Apples and Sage anyone?)

What You'll Need:

1 large sweet potato grated on the largest setting of your box grater

1 medium onion chopped

1 large egg

1/8 to 1/4 cup flour (we always use white whole wheat)

2-3 tbsp chevre - the really soft and creamy goat cheese

Set a large frying pan over a high heat and add enough olive oil to generously coat the bottom. Set a large mixing bowl out and add all of the ingredients. Mix together thoroughly.

When the oil is shimmering in the pan, take a small handful of the latke mixture and press it pretty tightly between your palms; gently place it in the pan. Repeat until the pan is filled, but not overcrowded. Cook until the latkes are nice and brown and then flip. It should be about ten minutes per side. If the latkes are browning too quickly or, of course, burning then turn down the flame a bit. Once the latkes are done, set them on a paper towel covered plate.

To serve, we like to eat our latkes with applesauce and plain yogurt. Any kind of tangy fruit compote would go beautifully with these latkes.

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $4
Cost per Meal: Serves two to three plus a hungry toddler:)

Super Easy Dinner: Pork Chops with Apples and Sage

2009-12-29T15:45:00.006-05:00

When I first met the hubby, I was a good baker, but couldn't cook much beyond scrambled eggs. Fresh out of Fordham University (in Manhattan) where I'd survived almost entirely on the offerings of our local diner, The Olympic Flame (not to be confused with The Flame just around the corner), I wasn't aware that any New Yorkers actually cooked for themselves. The hubby, then the new boyfriend, had a few years on me and knew his way around a kitchen. He suggested I cook dinner for him one night - yeah, he's always been like that - and I bought some chicken breasts and lemons and hadn't a clue what to do beyond that. Well, that evening, the boyfriend came waltzing through the door and showed me how to whip up lemon chicken - delish!

A week later, I wanted to actually cook for him so I searched the Internet for something tasty and came across a recipe for Pork Chops with Apples and dried Rosemary. The idea was to cover the pork in dried rosemary, cook them in a frying pan and halfway through, add some sliced apples. Now I realize the idea was sound but picking spiky bits of rosemary out of my teeth throughout a supposedly romantic dinner was not.

Flash forward to Sunday night. The hubby, baby girl and I had just returned from our Christmas trip to Amma and Poppy's house (my fabulous inlaws) and we wanted something quick and simple. Of course, I'm always one to suggest dining out, but after four days of relinquishing all control of the kitchen, I needed to cook something. We happened to have some pork chops from Bradley Farm in the freezer. They're pretty thin - about a half inch - so they thawed in two hours. Leftover from our party a few weeks before, I had a bunch of lady apples that needed to be eaten and somehow a bunch of sage had survived for a couple weeks in our fridge as well.

I reached deep down and somehow remembered that first meal and then I thought, hmm that was a pretty good idea. So, I took the pork chops, salted and peppered them, threw them into a frying pan, peeled, cored and quartered the apples and tossed them in chopped sage, cooked it all up and it was really good. You really can't go wrong with combining pork, apples and sage and this dinner proved to be a satisfying and ridiculously easy to make on a cold, lazy night. Enjoy!

Pork Chops with Apples and Sage

(Think Monday night when the kids are screaming, work totally sucked that day and all you want is dinner to make itself. Yes, it will just about do that.)

What You'll Need (for 2 portions):

2 Pork Chops

6-8 Lady Apples peeled, cored, and quartered

12-20 Sage leaves chopped (I love sage and tend to go a bit batty with it.)

Set a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add a splash of olive oil. Salt and pepper the pork chops and set them in the pan salt and pepper side down. Cook about 8-10 minutes until nice and brown, salt and pepper the other side and flip. Toss the apples with the sage and throw into the frying pan. Periodically move the apples around and try to get them brown all around and to absorb all the nice porky juices. Cut into a pork chop to make sure it isn't pink or you can use a thermometer - I tend to be lazy when a roast isn't involved. Once the pork is cooked through, take them out and plate them and cook the apples a bit longer if need be. You want them to be nice and brown and soft, but still holding their shape.

To serve, just dump it all on a plate alongside some buttered noodles and enjoy!

*In case you're wondering, that's baby girl's hand trying to dig in.

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $15
Cost per Meal: Serves two plus a hungry toddler:)

Entertaining: Jelly Cake

2009-12-15T22:23:00.001-05:00

Every Christmas Eve, my grandmother, aka Grandmommie, throws a dinner party. My entire family comes as do all of my grandmother's friends. Of course, Grandmommie just celebrated her 96th birthday so, over the years, as the number of grandchildren and great grandchildren have increased, sadly the number of Grandmommie's friends and older family members have passed on. However, at 96, Grandmommie has never been one to act her age. In fact, I'm not even supposed to know her age. None of us are. It's probably a punishable offense that I am plastering the big 96 all over the Internet.

However, now that Grandmommie has made it this far, I think she's actually very proud of being what her doctor calls healthy as a horse. She still regularly takes out her adversaries at the bridge table and her memory is way better than mine. In all seriousness, Grandmommie enjoys life, which sounds like a silly thing to say, but there are many people, young and old, who don't know how to make it through the tough times, enjoy the little things and truly believe that, to quote Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind, Grandmommie's favorite movie, Tomorrow is another day.

Now that I'm married, I'm only able to make it down to my grandmother's party every other Christmas. While I love my in-laws dearly, it's always bittersweet for me since I know I'm missing out on Grandmommie's huge dining room table filled with platters of homemade brown sugar slathered hams, parker house rolls, potato salad, deviled eggs, baked beans, petit fours and, my all-time favorite, jelly cake!

I know I wrote about Jelly Omelettes a few weeks ago, but jelly cake is a totally different animal. An Old Town Alexandria, Virginia (my hometown) specialty, jelly cake was created by the owners of Schumann's bakery over a hundred years ago. Basically, it's a very thin and delicate yellow cake cut into three layers with each layer slathered in jelly and the very top dusted in powdered sugar. It may sound somewhat unexciting, but to bite into a piece of jelly cake is something else entirely. Years ago, jelly cake established an international reputation when Queen Elizabeth had one brought to her by private jet!

Jelly cake is a Christmas tradition in Old Town and so while I planned baby girl's party/ holiday open house this year I knew I had to figure out a way to recreate it. While the original recipe is under lock and key in some safety deposit box somewhere, I did a little research and found a tiny article in the Washington Post that said the cake is actually a pound cake which surprised me since I always associate pound cake with hockey pucks. The jam is red currant. I had none of that on hand so I decided to use two precious jars of my homemade raspberry jam. For the cake, I turned to Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours and her Perfection Pound Cake recipe.

As you can see in the picture below, this cake is only about 2 inches high and is cut into three layers. I had to say several prayers and have my husband's moral and physical support while cutting and then assembling this cake. Don't fret, it's only about ten minutes of terror and then you have an amazing cake to gobble up. It's so wintery and perfect with a glass of milk or a cup of tea. Enjoy!

Jelly Cake

(For the cake, I adapted Dorie Greenspan's Perfection Pound Cake recipe. I found her cake to be light with a full butter flavor. I also invested in an 11 inch cake pan which gives the jelly cake its wide flat shape. However, if you don't want to invest, then just use what you have. Your cake won't be quite as delicate, but it will still be tasty. More reminiscent of a Devonshire cake, which I think must've been the Schumann's original inspiration for this dessert.)

What You'll Need:

For the Cake -

2 cups Flour (all purpose or white whole wheat)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 sticks butter at room temperature (soft, but not oily and separating)

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs at room temperature

1 generous teaspoon vanilla extract

For Assembly -

12 ounces of Raspberry or Red Currant Jam the best you can find

Preheat the oven to 325 and generously butter your cake pan. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder; set aside. Set your mixer to high and beat the butter and sugar for 5 minutes until it's white and fluffy. Don't cut corners, the extra beating time makes a difference. Scrape the sides of the bowl and turn down the mixer to medium. Add each of the four eggs one at a time and beat for 2 minutes in between each egg. Keep scraping down the bowl as you go. Then add the vanilla. Finally, turn down the mixer to low and add the dry ingredients. Mix just a little bit and then turn off the mixer and finish incorporating the flour by hand. Pour the batter in the cake pan and pop into the oven. Bake until golden brown and a knife comes out clean. About 30-40 minutes. Turn it out of the pan and let it cool on a rack top side up.

To assemble the cake, gather your nerves and the longest, narrowest knife you have. Do your best to cut the cake into three equal layers. I did this by inserting the knife in the middle with one hand and bracing the top of the cake with the other and I kept moving very carefully around the cake.

Once the cake is cut, remove the top two layers and generously spread the bottom layer with jam. To get the middle layer on, I had to cut it into quarters and lay them on one at a time matching it up like a puzzle. Once you've done that, slather it with jam. Finally, every so gently slide the top layer onto the bottom layers - this is the easiest part - and dust generously with powdered sugar.

To serve, you can cut this cake in typical cake triangles or you can do like Grandmommie and cut it into tiny bite sized diamonds. Either way it's delicious. The best part about this cake is somehow time makes it better and better. We're on our fourth day and it's still amazing!

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $12
Cost per Meal: Oh gosh, if you're a good boy or girl, there are like 12-15 servings in here! Perfect for a party of 20 or so.

Entertaining: Spicy Caramel Popcorn Goody Bags

2009-12-08T17:02:00.000-05:00

Until this year, I always depended on my parents or my in-laws to get us in the holiday spirit. They decorated, they hosted, they provided piles of presents. I never considered hosting or putting up a Christmas tree and my husband, who is Jewish, doesn't even remember when Hanukkah is. We depended on our families to keep us in line and tell us when and where to be and we happily showed up.

Then, two years ago, I was pregnant and suddenly wanted to host Christmas dinner. I had delusions of grandeur that I would give birth and then waltz into the kitchen to whip up a gourmet meal. Uh, baby girl was what people like to call colicky or what I like to call possessed by some demon. She cried 24/7 for the first six weeks of her life. After that she was a dream but she was 3 weeks old at Christmastime and, instead of hosting, the hubby and I put out a desperate m'aider call to my in-laws to please, please whisk us away to Connecticut!

Then, last year, my father died shortly before Thanksgiving. He was sick for a year and we were expecting it, but still, no one was in the holiday mood and the season passed with a faint-hearted attempt to show baby girl how to unwrap presents and ooh and aah at my mother's Christmas tree.

This year, however, I have officially embraced the holiday season. Thanksgiving, baby girl's birthday, the hubby's birthday, Hanukkah and Christmas are all within 30 days of each other so the holiday season is the most exciting time of year for us. This weekend, in an attempt to consolidate all holidays into one, we're throwing a holiday open house / birthday party for baby girl. That means, a dozen two year olds plus loads of adults crammed into our spacious-by-Manhattan-standards apartment. Yikes!!

Entertaining in December using locally grown in ingredients isn't easy and it isn't entirely possible, but I was able to pull a few local tricks out of my hat. On Friday, as I was walking through the Farmers' Market with baby girl I spotted some popcorn at one of the stands. Eureka! I thought and decided right then to make the Spicy Caramel Popcorn from Karen DeMasco's new cookbook, The Craft of Baking. It's super simple to prepare and is very tasty with a little kick of cayenne pepper adding a nice counterpoint to the caramel's sweetness. It makes a great gift packed in a little treat bag and tied with ribbon. I'm giving little goody bags away to all of our adults guests on Saturday. Try it out and let me know what you think!!

DeMasco's recipe was also recently published in the New York Times so click here!!

Comfort Food: Potato Crusted Quiche

2009-12-01T14:12:00.007-05:00

For three weeks running I've been writing about comfort foods. From Jelly Omelettes to Shepherd's Pie, the hubby and I, in agreement with baby girl of course, have been on a rampage of warming, familiar dishes that make you want to curl up in a big comfy chair in front of a fire. Or, in our case, a long camel colored couch in front of a TV. In the coming weeks I'll be sharing with you my favorite recipes for the holidays and for entertaining, but bear with me one more week for yet another fantabulous comfort creation.

I recently treated myself to Nancy Silverton's Pastries from the La Brea Bakery (I made her graham crackers and they are to die for). Anyway, I found myself drawn in by a savory mashed potato crusted tart with a custard filling and I wanted to try something similar. As I meandered through the market, I spotted some yukon gold potatoes, some goat cheese, eggs, mushrooms and thyme and it all came together. With the arm still in a sling, I decided against mashing the potatoes, an extra step that I didn't have the energy for, so I used my mandoline and made very thin slices of potato, fried them up and lined a pie plate with them. It's lovely to look at. For the filling, I did a classic quiche custard with mushrooms and goat cheese. The result was tasty and sophisticated enough to serve at a dinner party, but also soothing and easy enough to make on a cold night. Baby girl also enjoyed it immensely, especially the goat cheese bits. Bon Appetit!

Potato Crusted Quiche with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese

(This is one of those recipes that comes from taking a classic dish and riffing on it. Walking through the market combined with reading an inspirational recipe equals yummy new dish! Have any dishes you created from a classic? I'd love to hear about them.)

What You'll Need:

For the Potato Crust -

1 1/2 Pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes sliced about a 1/4 inch thick

Olive Oil

For the Mushroom Filling -

1 Large Leek chopped

1 Pound Mushrooms sliced (I used cremini)

10 Sprigs Thyme

1/4-1/2 cup White Wine

Butter

Soft Goat Cheese

For the Custard -

8 Eggs in a 4 cup measuring cup

Milk poured up to the 4 cup mark

Set a deep frying pan over a medium high heat and add about a half inch of olive oil. When it starts to shimmer add the potatoes in a single layer. Fry until soft and browning and then remove. Don't let them get crunchy or else they'll be potato chips! Remove with a slotted spoon and drain over paper towels. Once all the potatoes are done, layer them in an overlapping pattern in a deep dish pie plate.

Preheat the oven to 375. Either rinse out the previous pan or set a fresh pan over a medium high heat and add a pat of butter. Once the butter is melted and starts to bubble, add the leeks and thyme. When the leeks are softened, add the mushrooms and a bit of salt and pepper. After the mushrooms have given up their water, add the wine and simmer for five to ten minutes until reduced. Remove from heat and smooth the mixture over the potato crust about halfway up the pie plate. Then dot the mixture with pieces of goat cheese.

Finally, in a four cup measuring cup, add 8 eggs and then pour milk over the eggs until you reach the 4 cup mark. The general rule for quiche according to Julia Child is one large egg in a cup then fill to the half cup mark. That way you can make as little or as much custard as you like. You can also make sweet variations on this. Pour the custard over the mushroom and cheese mixture and pop into the oven for about 45 minutes or until the quiche is golden brown on top and set.

To serve, slice a piece and set on the plate alongside a nice green salad. Enjoy!

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $12
Cost per Meal: We got 8 servings at $1.50 each!

My Body+Soul Article is in Print!!!

2009-11-19T16:48:00.000-05:00

In my other life I am a freelance writer and this month's Body+Soul is featuring my first food essay!! This particular article is very important to me as I tell the story of my grandmother's escape from Austria during World War II and how some of the only things she and her family could pack were a few special Christmas cookie recipes.

To read all about it and try out these amazing recipes brought to you from Austria, please pick up a copy of Body+Soul's December '09 issue and looking for my article, A Christmas Cookie Story. If you love it, send a letter to the editor and tell them just how much!!!

Click Here: to check out Body+Soul's website. It's a Martha Stewart publication so you know these cookies have got to be good;)

Comfort Food: Shepherd's Pie

2009-11-17T17:47:00.001-05:00

I haven't followed a recipe in months! While I am obsessed with reading cookbooks and food magazines and other blogs, they leave me inspired rather than tied to a shopping list full of requirements. These days, unless I'm participating in a Daring Bakers or Daring Cooks challenge, the only requirement I hold myself to is that the food must be fresh, raised without chemicals and as local as I can get it. Lucky for me, I've watched my farmer's market grow from a few fruit and vegetable stands to a cheese stand, a dairy stand, a fish stand, a grass-fed beef stand, a pastured pork stand and many more! I must say, the only thing I'm really missing is some pastured lamb.

This past Sunday, the hubby, baby girl and I were walking to the market and discussing what we should make for dinner. Baby girl immediately spoke up and said, "Apples!" Which, when paired with pork, would be delightful. However, the hubby wanted something fresh and light since we had stuffed our faces the night before at my new favorite restaurant, Tipsy Parson. He was thinking fish. But, with my shoulder still in a sling and the hubby becoming a little annoyed with all the cooking and cleaning, I encouraged him to help me make something that would last a few days.

As we sauntered through the market, I spotted some lovely ground beef at the grass-fed beef stand. We haven't eaten ground beef in ages, usually sticking to turkey or even pork, but it spoke to me. Then I saw some lovely russet potatoes and carrots and even a few tomatoes. I suddenly yelped, "Shepherd's pie!" I can now clearly see how our ancestors created classic dishes like this using the seasons as their guide. The hubby, a meat and potatoes man at heart, heartily agreed and was also thrilled that Shepherd's pie also meant no cooking for a few days. He diced an onion, the carrots and peeled the potatoes and set me loose on some one armed cookery.

The result was really an amazing Shepherd's Pie which tasted very similar to my favorite one from Tea and Sympathy. It was full of flavor with hints of thyme, sage and a wee bit of Worcestershire sauce. A delicious, comforting dish on a cold, dark evening. Baby girl loved it too, especially the mashed potato and cheese topping. Enjoy!

Shepherd's Pie

(I'd never made Shepherd's pie before, but it's very intuitive and easy to make. It's also freezes very well. Just compose it in a disposable pie tin or one that is freezer safe.)

What You'll Need:

For the Potato Topping

2 lbs Russet Potatoes peeled

A big pat of butter

1/4 - 1/2 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheese such as gouda or gruyere

For the Filling

1 lb ground beef

2 cups carrots peeled and diced
1 large onion diced
2 large cloves of garlic minced
3-5 sprigs thyme
10 sage leaves or a couple bunches with that number of leaves
1/2 cup white wine
32 oz can of diced tomatoes
A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Set a steamer basket in a large pot and then fill with water up to the basket. Set it over a high heat and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes, cover and steam until very soft. Discard the water, remove the steamer basket and return the potatoes to the pot. Add a nice chunk of butter, about 2 tablespoons, a good splash of milk, some salt and pepper and mash. If the potatoes aren't creamy enough, add milk until they are smooth. You want them to be spreadable. Set aside.

Place a large pan over a medium-high heat and add a splash of olive oil. Once it shimmers, add the onions, garlic, carrots, thyme and sage. Cook until the onions start to brown and the carrots are softened. Add the beef and cook until there is no pink. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper and then add the wine, tomatoes and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and add a bit more Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper if needed.

Preheat the oven to 350. Remove the pan from the heat and spoon the beef mixture into a pie plate. Leave just a little bit of room, about a quarter inch for the potatoes. You may have extra left over. Depending on how much, you might consider making some mini pies in ramekins. Then, smooth the potatoes on top and sprinkle the cheese on top of the potatoes. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes until you see a little bubbling and the cheese is nice and brown.

To serve, spoon a little onto a plate and consider steamed broccoli or a fresh salad on the side. It's pretty much heaven.

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $12
Cost per Meal: We got 8 servings at $1.50 each!