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This month's Secret Recipe Club

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0000

For this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned Jenny’s Savour the Senses blog. Jenny is a relatively new but prolific blogger, with a variety of recipes, from tasty breakfasts, interesting appetizers, lots of fish recipes, fun guest blogs (her mom was a longtime IBMer like me, now turned chef, my dream!), beautiful photos, and lovely quotes. It was fun to read her recipes and challenging to decide what to select and make.

I originally planned to make Jenny’s Loaded Baked Potato Soup, but I ended up making too many changes, all good, but didn’t feel it kept in the spirit of the original recipe (my soup). No problem, I easily decided on one of her many fish recipes, Mahi Mahi and Creamy Polenta with Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette. Unfortunately in landlocked St. Louis, fish options are limited. Whole Foods had no mahi mahi, but the fishmonger suggested swordfish as a nice alternative. Sold.

This recipe is spot on in taste and texture. The cooking time for the fish is FLAWLESS. I don’t think I’ve ever cooked fish so perfectly, with the key being to take it off the flame when it is pink. Really pink. It DOES continue to cook to the just the right doneness. Jenny’s recipe uses asparagus, which Craig doesn’t care for, so I subbed fennel that she says was used in the original Emeril recipe. I roasted half an onion with the tomatoes and fennel, a nice addition, threw in a big spoonful of capers, and used red wine vinegar in the vinaigrette. I had leftover polenta in the ‘frig from my favorite polenta recipe from Frank Stitt, so I didn't make Jenny’s recipe, which I’ve included here. I’m sure it’s great. This is a keeper dinner.

Swordfish and Creamy Polenta with Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette

(recipe reflects my changes)

Serves 2

1 1/3 Cwater

1 1/3 C low-fat milk

1 T butter

2/3 C polenta

2 T Creme Fraiche (or low-fat sour cream)

1/3 C parmesan cheese

1 1/2 T olive oil (plus extra for cooking)

Half a large onion, sliced thickly

Fennel bulb, sliced, core discarded

3 ripe roma tomatoes, sliced in half

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 bunch fresh rosemary

2 t dried thyme

Spoonful of capers

1 1/2 T red vinegar

2 6 oz. swordfish fillets

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

For the polenta:

In a large saucepan, bring the water, milk and butter to a boil, then add 1/2 tsp salt to the mixture. Quickly whisk the polenta into the mixture, stirring constantly until any lumps are gone (about 4 minutes). Reduce heat and let the polenta simmer, partially covered, stirring every 10 minutes, until the polenta is smooth and thick (about 45 minutes).

For the fish:

While the polenta is cooking, cover a sheet pan with heavy duty foil and spray with olive oil. Arrange the onions, fennel, and tomatoes (cut side down and at the end of the pan), and on the pan and sprinkle with capers. Drizzle olive oil over the vegetables and season with 1 tbsp chopped rosemary, 1 tsp thyme, salt and pepper.

Bake at 350F until the tomatoes are very tender (about 20-25 minutes). Set aside three tomato halves for the vinaigrette and cover the pan with foil to keep warm.

For the vinaigrette, process 3 tomato halves, 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil, vinegar, 1/8 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper in a food processor until smooth.

Once the polenta is thick and smooth, add the Creme Fraiche (or sour cream) and parmesan, then stir until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper and keep warm over low heat.

Season each fish fillet with salt, pepper, thyme and chopped rosemary.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a sauté pan and sear the fish until cooked through, 3 minutes per side. USE THE TIMER, AND DO NOT COOK ANY LONGER, because it will cook longer as it rests and you plate up the rest of the dinner.

Split the polenta between two dishes, top each with a fish fillet and drizzle the tomato vinaigrette over each. Place the roasted vegetables around the fish and serve.

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Our Super Bowl Food - MUSSELS!

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:11:00 +0000

We certainly didn’t have traditional game day food for Sunday’s Super Bowl, but I’ll take mussels steamed in white wine over chicken wings (yuck!) or potato skins in a heart beat. Mussels are one of my favorite foods from childhood. They were only eaten in a restaurant, Diablo-style, where their unique taste was often lost in the spicy tomato sauce. Fast forward 30 years to my own kitchen, a refined palate, and an appreciation for the light, sweet, meatiness of good mussels. These black beauties are not fishy in the least, but they do have an ocean essence and are ever-so-slightly chewy but nothing like clams. If you haven’t prepared mussels before or think you don’t care for them, give this recipe for Mediterranean Mussels with Farro and White Wine a try. It’s easy enough to make for a weeknight supper, but pretty and sophisticated to serve to company. Farro is an ancient grain, popular in Europe, particularly Italy, and is now becoming more fashionable in the U.S. Being a whole grain, it has a nutty, earthy flavor that is a nutritional powerhouse and works well with mussels. Loaded with vegetables, the dish is exceptionally healthy.

It seems I’ve been posting a lot recently from cookbooks and about cookbooks. Admittedly, I am a cookbook cook. While I rarely prepare a recipe as written in a cookbook, I seldom just throw something together without a recipe as a guide. With that introduction, this recipe is from Ancient Grains for Modern Meals: Mediterranean Whole Grain Recipes for Barley, Farro, Kamut, Polenta, Wheat Berries & More, a 2011 NY Times Notable Cookbook, by Maria Speck. It has recipes highlighting grains for all courses, breakfast through dessert. The photos are lovely, recipes clearly written, easy to follow, and none are complicated. I’m trying to cook more Mediterranean so it’s a nice addition to my collection. Be sure I’ll post more recipes from this five-star cookbook. The recipe below reflects the changes I made, namely the addition of fennel, which I think is a natural in a Mediterranean stews, and I used chicken broth in lieu of water. As Anne Cori from the Kitchen Conservatory wisely teaches, water has no flavor. Why cook with it in something like this?

A note: if you have Wholes Foods near you, buy mussels there. Their mussels are farmed raised and ready to cook, with those nasty beards removed and cleaned of sand and residue. Best of all, no waste. I have never had a mussel from Whole Foods not open, which just doesn’t happen if purchased elsewhere.

Mediterranean Mussels with Farro and White Wine

Original recipe from Ancient Grains for Modern Meals: Mediterranean Whole Grain Recipes for Barley, Farro, Kamut, Polenta, Wheat Berries & More

Serves 3 to 4 as a main course or 4 to 6 as a starter

For the Farro
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup farro
1 small bay leaf
2 whole peppercorns
Pinch of fine sea salt

For the Stew
2 pounds fresh mussels in their shells
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion (about 1 small)
1 cup thinly sliced carrots (about 2 small)
1 cup thinly sliced celery stalks (1 to 2 pieces)
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced

2 to 3 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
2 tsp. minced dried rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. red chili flakes, or to taste
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh or diced canned tomatoes with their juices, (one 14-ounce can)
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken stock, preferably homemade
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus lemon wedges to serve
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

To prepare the farro, bring the water, farro, bay leaf, peppercorns, and salt to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan. Decrease the heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and cook until the grain is tender but still slightly chewy, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, drain any remaining liquid, and set aside.

While the farro simmers, rinse the mussels under cold running water, brushing to remove sand and residue on the shells. Remove the beards (hairy clumps around the shell) with tweezers or a sharp knife. Discard chipped mussels. Tap any open mussels and discard if they don’t close. Set the cleaned mussels aside.

To make the stew, heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion, carrots, celery, fennel, garlic, 1 teaspoon of the rosemary, the bay leaves, chili flakes, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high, add 1/4 cup of the white wine, and cook until syrupy and the liquid is almost gone, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, the stock, the remaining 11/4 cups white wine, the pepper, and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, at a lively simmer until the carrots are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sugar.

Add the mussels and the farro together with the remaining 1 teaspoon rosemary to the pot and bring to a boil. Cover and steam over medium to medium-high heat, shaking the pot once or twice in between, until the mussels open, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, and discard any unopened mussels.

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Book Clubs and Food

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:34:00 +0000

About a year ago, Judy Gelman contacted me about contributing to her revised The Book Club Cookbook. We exchanged a few emails, and when she learned my book club had read – and lovedlovedloved – South of Broad, we were set. When it’s my chance to host, it’s a good bet that we will read something Southern, and Pat Conroy is my favorite author. Coincidently, I had recently read The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes and Stories of My Life for the monthly Kitchen Conservatory book club, so I thought it would be fun to cook from that as well. While my revised Pat Conroy gumbo recipe did not make it into the Judy’s book, she did include a nice quote about my book club, affectionately named Book Club Girls Club.

My book club has been together for over ten years, a group I started with some moms from Connor’s Montessori preschool, a neighbor, and a friend Connor introduced us to after starting up a conversation with her and her husband at a local Mexican restaurant (he was about seven at the time). We started out as a book club but have evolved into much more, thus, the “girls club” addition. We’ve been through a lot together, watching our kids grow up, health and job successes and challenges, and through it all, a lot of great food moments (and more than a few bottles of vino too). We allow our husbands to join us for a multi-course dinner around Christmas, which has always been a fun evening of fine dining.

I would highly recommend Judy’s book, and more than just for recipes. Many of personal favorites are highlighted, such as To Kill a Mockingbird, A Prayer for Owen Meany, The Kite Runner, and The Red Tent. It’s a terrific reference for choosing books with an extensive list, from newer fiction (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Help, Freedom ), to classics (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which was the first book the BCGC read, Anna Karenina, The Great Gatsby), and interesting titles that even the most well-read may not be familiar with – atleast me (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Mama Day). And then there are the recipes – fabulous. They wonderfully coordinate food with the theme of the book, and sometimes that means restaurant dining (one of our members would highly recommend this approach – NOT!). The “Novel Thoughts” sections present specific thoughts on the book from featured book clubs, which run the gamut of life: women/moms like my book club, those that read a single author or only the classics or mysteries, men only (really, men read other than on vacation?), some clubs together for decades, but almost have one thing in common: all an escape from our real lives, and overall – just fun. Like ours, food is likely a powerful connector, not just of books but relationships and life.

(Apologizing in advance for the poor (scan) quality, couldn't figure out how to save the file as a .jpg!)

Boozy Banana Bread that's OHHHH So Good

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:07:00 +0000

Last week I was in the mood to bake, a feeling that doesn’t come to me often. When this happens, I typically turn to a quick bread recipe because that’s just what it is – a snap to pull together and pretty much guaranteed to be a hit. We had bananas that needed to be used, but I wanted something new, and no chocolate, just not in the mood. In perusing old Cooking Light annuals, I came upon a new-to-us banana bread that was a bit edgy for something as staid as banana bread. How so? Because it had booze in it. Drum roll, please, as I present Bananas Foster Banana Bread.

This is absolutely delicious. Some online Cooking Light reviewers complained it was too boozy, but we didn’t find the flavor overpowering in the least. I used banana liqueur since that’s what I use in bananas Foster. The bread was moist and the glaze gave it a dessert feel rather than a humble breakfast bread. You begin by caramelizing the bananas in brown sugar, butter, and the liqueur, similar to preparing real bananas Foster but with no risk of burning yourself while flambéing. With that combo, it does not taste light. I successfully substituted half white whole wheat pastry flour for half of the all-purpose flour, and you feel good about all the omega-3s you get when eating this thanks to flaxseed. This may become our new fav banana bread.

Banana Foster Bread

Originally recipe from Cooking Light

About 12 servings for real people

1 1/2 C mashed ripe banana

3/4 C packed brown sugar, divided

6 T butter, melted and divided

1/4 C banana liquor (or cognac or dark rum), divided

1/3 C plain fat-free yogurt, preferably Greek yogurt.

2 large eggs, room temperature

3 3/4 ounces white whole wheat pastry flour (about 3/4 cups)

3 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cups)

1/4 C ground flaxseed

3/4 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1/2 t ground cinnamon

1/8 t ground allspice

Cooking spray

1/3 C powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°.

(Yes, this really is mashed bananas, not sure why it came out so yellow.)

Combine banana, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 5 tablespoons butter, and 3 tablespoons liqueur in a nonstick skillet. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat; cool. Place banana mixture in a large bowl. Add yogurt, remaining brown sugar, and eggs. Beat with a mixer at medium speed.

Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; place on wire rack.

Combine remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter, remaining 1 tablespoon liqueur, and powdered sugar; stir until well blended. Drizzle over the warm bread.

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My FAV Soup When I Was a Kid – Cream of Celery

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:46:00 +0000

I was not your typical tomato soup kid. Maybe it’s because I remember eating cream of celery soup for lunch in kindergarten (I went to a Montessori-like school) so it evokes a sense of nostalgia. Celery’s flavor is mild and pretty humble, certainly not trendy or sexy like kale, broccolini, asparagus, and Brussels sprouts. Celery is clean-tasting and so versatile, essential in soups, stews, salads, or simply braised. In this straightforward preparation, it results in a creamy, light, highly satisfying soup and can easily be adapted to any vegetables you have in the frig. Using an immersion blender, no cream is needed (skim milk actually) so it’s easy on the waist line too. A splash of sherry just before serving adds elegance and updates it from the red and white can you remember from childhood.

Cream of Celery Soup

Serves 2 generous bowls

1 small onion, diced

5 large celery stalks with leaves, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 cup mushrooms, coarsely chopped

1 cups low-sodium chicken stock, preferably homemade

1 heaping tablespoon all-purpose flour

Salt and freshly ground black pepper (white pepper for a more elegant presentation)

1 cup milk (skim is fine)

Dry sherry

Croutons for garnish

In a medium pan, add a good swirl of olive oil and sauté onions over medium-low heat about five minutes. Add celery, carrots, and mushrooms and continue cooking until softened. Add the chicken stock.

Whisk together flour, salt, pepper, and milk. Add it to the pan. Simmer until thickened. Using an immersion or conventional blender, puree until smooth. Add a splash of sherry, garnish with croutons, and serve immediately. **Bacon would also be a wonderful garnish!

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Company's Coming Apple Cake and a Plug for a GREAT New Cookbook

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:30:00 +0000

Even though I’ve never seen the TV show, I am a huge fan of the Fabulous Beekman Boys, and Craig surprised me with the 1802 Heirloom Cookbook when it came out a few months ago. It is nothing short of fabulous (pun intended). And, yes, this is an unpaid endorsement for this cookbook! The photos of the food, the produce, and the farm are all gorgeous. It is laid out by season, the way I like to cook, and the recipes are authentic, homey, and easy to follow even for a novice, with interesting narratives about most recipes. Since I scribble all over my cookbooks, Josh and Brent provide space on every page for recipe notes. I like that. Visiting the farm is certainly on my bucket list.

I’m a bit reluctant to post yet-another less-than-light recipe because I do try to keep our diet healthy, but the apple cake is just too good not to praise. It’s made with simple ingredients you typically have on hand, other than perhaps apples, and it comes together quickly. Any kind of apple can be used, but the recipe cautions against Granny Smiths that tend to be too dry and McIntoshes, which get mushy. Rich-tasting, low-fat** buttermilk results in a tender crumb and more body. I used slightly less sugar and changed the ratio of whole wheat and all-purpose flours; with two sticks of butter, it was still melt-in-your mouth moist. I upped the cinnamon and nutmeg and added cloves and ground ginger, producing more of an apple SPICE cake, so your house will smell heavenly. The original recipe indicates it keeps several days at room temperature, assuming it lasts that long.

Company’s Coming Apple Cake

Original recipe from The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook

(This recipe reflects the changes I made.)

Serves 12-16

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 C granulated sugar
3/4 C packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 C white whole wheat pastry flour
1 C all-purpose flour
2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 t cloves

1/4 t ground ginger

1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 C buttermilk (mix 1 T lemon juice with enough skim milk to make 1 C and allow to thicken)

2 C diced, peeled apple, 1/2"-dice, about 2-3 apples

Streusel:
1/4 C light brown sugar, packed
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 t ground cinnamon
4 T butter, melted
1/2 C walnuts (original recipe indicates pecans as an option)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan and line it with a layer of heavy-duty foil, leaving a two-inch overhang on each of the short ends. Butter the foil.

With a stand-mixer or hand-beaters, beat the butter until creamy, roughly 1 minute. Gradually beat in the two sugars until fluffy, 2-3 minutes. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flours, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together with a fork or small whisk. Set aside.

Add the eggs to the butter mixture, one at a time, beating after each addition just to incorporate. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour.

Fold in the apples just until combined. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan; don’t overmix the batter

For the streusel:

Use a pastry blender or two knives, and mix together all of the ingredients except the nuts together until it is coarse crumbles. Add the nuts and scatter the topping over the coffee cake batter in an even layer.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Cool completely on a rack before serving. Lift it out of the pan using the foil overhang as handles.

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A Celebration of Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:30:00 +0000

With sadness, one of my favorite holidays is almost over. January is National Soup Month, and we still can sneak in a tasty bowl or two and celebrate National Soup Day on February 4th. If you are going to partake in soup merriment, a reminder of two things not to do: do not touch the can-opener (eee-gads, think of allllll that sodium, the preservatives, and nasties you cannot pronounce). Do not go near Whole Foods take-out counter either (soup should not consume your entire next paycheck). Every culture – and most families – have their soup traditions, and next to bread, it’s one of the oldest forms of food. It can be highly nutritious, versatile, cheap, easy, and quick to make, one of the first fast foods, too. Soup gives the dishwasher a break, often requiring not much more than a Dutch oven, a cutting board, and a knife. It can be humble with lentils or rich with lobster. Soup’s on, c’mon and get it!

Soup is also very “green”, and I don’t mean made of spinach, although that makes a fine soup. It can be the tasty, economical, reuse/recycle catch-all for cleaning out your refrigerator, which is what I did soup last night. This is loosely based on a baked potato soup I found at Savour the Senses, but I had leftover cauliflower, which is a perfect low-carb companion to potatoes, as well as roasted broccoli that needed to be used. It turned out decadently creamy and rich – without one drop of cream – and very filling. It’s a great way to sneak a lot of veggies into a meal, and I don’t think Connor detected the mashed cauliflower. You could make it vegetarian by omitting the bacon, but none of us can resist the stuff and a little goes a long way.

Loaded Baked Potato and Veggie Soup

Makes 6 servings

2 yukon gold potatoes and cauliflower to measure 3 pounds in total, cut into chunks

A good drizzle of olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 stalks celery, diced

2/3 C all-purpose flour

6 C 1% milk

1 C sharp cheddar cheese, divided (Cabots lowfat cheddar is good)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 C low-fat sour cream

Cooked and crumbled bacon to taste (about six slices)

Diced green onions for garnish

Boil the potatoes and cauliflower in a large pot of salted water until soft, about 20 minutes, or if you have a vegetable setting on your microwave, place in a microwave safe bowl and steam until softened. Allow to cool slightly and mash with a potato masher. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium head and add the onions, cooking until tender. Add the garlic and cook about 30 seconds. Add the carrots and celery and sauté until softened. Remove from the pan and wipe the pan clean.

Heat the flour in the Dutch oven over medium heat. Slowly add the milk, whisking until well-blended. Continue to cook, stirring frequently until the milk has thickened and has bubbles around the edges of the pan, about 8-10 minutes.

Add the potato-cauliflower mash, the cooked vegetables, 3/4 cup cheese, and salt and pepper to taste, and stir until the cheese is completely melted. **Feel free to add any other vegetables at this point. I finely diced leftover roasted broccoli that complements potatoes nicely.**

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sour cream. If the soup is too thick, add additional milk to get the desired consistency. Return the pan over medium heat and cook until warmed, about 10 minutes, but do not let the soup boil. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Top each bowl with bacon, green onions, and additional cheese and serve.

Printable Recipe

Stuffed Barbequed Jalapeños - Show-Stopper' Appetizer

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:00:00 +0000

A friend from Austin, Texas gave us Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman Cooks a few months ago and warned us that most of the recipes are not “light”, but they reflect the way a rancher’s wife cooks. I’ve only made one thing, and it certainly justifies the purchase of the cookbook for that recipe alone, which was the barbequed stuffed jalapeños. They are a-may-zing. The slow, low-temp baking results in peppers cooked through without sogginess, luscious, creamy cheese that stays in the peppers, crispy bacon that lends the right saltiness, all caramelized with a brush of barbeque sauce. Be forewarned if you take these to a party, they get eaten very quickly. Very quickly. They’re addictive, and it’s hard to stop at one or two or five or six. You get the point. Snag a few just as you serve them, otherwise you may not get any. If this is how a rancher’s wife cook, sign me up.

They are easily prepared with the most time-consuming task removing the seeds and membrane. I used low-fat cream cheese, more green onions, and homemade beer barbeque sauce that is zippier than sweet, which I canned in the fall. Ree suggests a simplification of using only cream cheese as the stuffing, but the slight tang the extra sharp cheddar adds is a nice contract to the rather bland cream cheese and the green onions add color and texture. I’m thinking they could be prepared in advance up to smearing with barbeque sauce and frozen.

Stuffed Barbequed Jalapeños

Makes 36

18 fresh jalapeños

One 8-ounce package cream cheese, low fat is fine

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

3 green onion, sliced

18 slices thin bacon, cut into half lengthwise and width-wise

Barbecue sauce

Toothpicks

Rubber gloves (or plastic bags) for working with the jalapeños

Preheat the oven to 275°

Cut the jalapeños in half lengthwise, keeping the stem in tact for a nicer presentation. Remove the seeds and membranes with a spoon. For more heat, you can leave some seeds.
In a bowl combine the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and chopped green onions. Mix gently. Stuff each half with the cream cheese mixture.

Wrap the bacon slices around each half, be careful not to stretch the bacon and wrap too tightly (it contracts when it cooks). Secure the jalapeños with toothpicks.

Brush the surface of the bacon with your favorite barbeque sauce. Place on a foil-lined cookie sheet and bake for until the bacon is sizzling, about one hour and 15 minutes. I broiled them for a few minutes to get the bacon really crispy.

(The original recipe indicates chutney or apricot jelly works well and suggests baking on a rack, which I did not do).

Homemade Pop-Tarts!

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:48:00 +0000

Yikes, it’s been nearly two months since I last blogged. For three weeks of that time, I have a great excuse. We were vacationing in Argentina and Chile so I wasn’t cooking. Being out of the kitchen that long makes you aware of how much you do enjoy it – and miss it. We got back days before Christmas and time has flown by since New Years. I do have some fun catch-up to blog about because we've made a few amazing culinary creations since we've been home.

The first recipe to share is purely reminiscent of childhood, decadent, and crazy scrumptious. Connor declared it’s the best pastry he’s ever eaten. Homemade pop-tarts. Based on a Bon Appetit recipe, we first had them for Christmas breakfast. Craig made the dough and I filled them, half with homemade strawberry preserves and half with cinnamon sugar. These are so good that we made a batch again yesterday, this time with apricot filling, to take as dessert for a dinner party that we paired with homemade lavender almond ice cream (instead of eight pop-tarts, we made 16 smaller ones). Plan ahead because you have at least three hours rest time, and they are not light with two sticks of butter. But you have to splurge occasionally, and they are worth the indulgence. It's really an insult to a pastry this flaky to call it a pop-tart.

Christmas breakfast - "pop tarts," winter fruits, individual egg bakes

Homemade Pop-Tarts

Makes 8

2 C plus 2 T all purpose flour plus additional for shaping and rolling

1 t coarse kosher salt

1 t sugar

1 C (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

4 T ice water

12 T preserves (preferably homemade)

Variation for Cinnamon Sugar Filling (for 4 pop-tarts, reduce preserves accordingly)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 t cinnamon

2 t all purpose flour

Glaze

1/2 C powdered sugar

2 t milk

1/4 t vanilla extract

Whisk 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour, coarse salt, and sugar in large bowl. Add butter. Using fingertips or back of fork, blend in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water by tablespoonfuls, tossing until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball. Divide in half; shape each half into disk. Wrap in plastic. Chill at least 1 hour.

Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough on floured surface to about 13x11 inches. Trim to 12x10-inch rectangle, then cut into eight 5x3-inch rectangles.

Arrange 4 rectangles, spaced apart, on each sheet. Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons preserves in row down center of each rectangle. Top preserves with second dough rectangle. Use a ravioli cutter/sealer to seal each tart. Otherwise, use your fingertips to press all edges of each tart to seal and then press all edges with tines of fork to double-seal. Using toothpick, poke a few holes in center of top dough rectangle. Cover; freeze tarts on sheets at least 2 hours and up to 1 week.

Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake frozen tarts uncovered until golden, reversing sheets after 15 minutes, 25 to 30 minutes total (some preserves may leak out). Immediately transfer tarts to rack.

For glaze, wish all ingredients together and drizzle over hot pastries.

Serve warm.

Secret Recipe Club - Amazing Chicken, Corn, and Potato Chowder

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:00:00 +0000

For this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I was paired up with Aimee from Shugary Sweets, a mother of four active kids who loves to cook but especially bake. In her About Me section she suggests grabbing a cup of coffee and staying for a while, and that’s exactly what I did. I found it a very enjoyable way to spend a blustering fall afternoon. Aimee does have a lot of tempting sweet treats that I bookmarked, and her large assortment of donut recipes (“The Donut Shop”) is truly impressive. Glad I don’t have the right equipment to make these as it would be dangerous for our waistlines.

I debated between the Italian beef and giardiniera recipe, which Chicago boy Craig would adore, crockpot barbacoa and cilantro lime rice – cilantro and chipotle – what’s not to love?, but I finally settled for something a little lighter, chicken, corn, and potato chowder. Originally a slow cooker recipe, I made it on the cook top, and the recipe below reflects my changes, including a few slices of bacon, diced bell peppers, regular (frozen) corn instead of creamed corn (I added some milk and spooned out and pureed some of the cooked potatoes and corn to add creaminess). I also had some green beans from our CSA that needed to be used so I threw those in too, and I forgot to add the cream cheese, but we never missed it. The salsa verde adds a distinct brightness so don’t omit it. Sadly, I defrosted the last of the tomatillo salsa I froze last summer. With the high temps this summer I only got two tomatillos from the garden so we have none to get us through the winter. This comes together quickly and is very flavorful on a chilly evening.

Chicken, Corn and Potato Chowder Recipe

2-3 slices bacon, diced

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced

1 red onion, roughly chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

1 colored bell pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

3 baking potatoes, washed and cubed

2 C chicken broth

1 C milk

2 C frozen corn

1/2 C salsa verde

2 t cumin

2 t Southwest seasoning (I used Penzey’s Arizona mix)

1/3 c sour cream

1/2 C cheddar cheese, shredded

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a Dutch oven, sauté the bacon until crispy. Remove to a paper towel and set aside. Drain all but one tablespoon of the bacon fat from the pan and add the chicken, cooking until no longer pink. Remove and set aside.

Add the onions, carrots, bell pepper, garlic, and jalapeno and sauté until vegetables are soft, adding olive oil by the teaspoon if needed. Add the chicken broth, milk, potatoes, corn, salsa, cumin, and Southwest seasoning. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and cook until the potatoes are soft. Spoon out some of the potatoes and corn and puree in a blender or with a stick blender. Return to the pan along with the chicken and cook until heated through, about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in cheese, salt and pepper, stirring to melt cheese.

When serving, top with bacon.

Slow Cooker Version:

In the slow cooker, add vegetables, chicken breasts, broth, corn, salsa and seasonings. Heat on low for 6-8 hours. Remove chicken, dice or shred, and return to slow cooker. In last half hour before serving, add sour cream and cheddar cheese.

Stir thoroughly before serving.

Another Weird Pizza that We Loved

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 23:00:00 +0000

If you’re looking for a kid-kind-of-sausage-and-pepperoni-Domino’s-pizza, read no further. If you’re interested in a sophisticated, exceptional pizza, you will love this. It rocks, really rather simple, but full of remarkable tastes and textures that work. Calling it pizza does not do it justice.

We had two leftover grilled duck breasts glazed with molasses and black pepper. I immediately knew what I’d make with them in my never-ending quest for what Craig deems as the world’s weirdest pizzas. Duck pizza. I was thinking of Mai Lee’s famous Vietnamese Roast duck with its unctuous sweet, sour, salty sauce, the perfect example of umami. I didn’t have the time or inclination to reproduce a similar sauce and decided hoisin would be a fine substitute to use as the pizza sauce. Super simple to prepare and although the list of ingredients is short, and it’s a classic example that less is often more. Cut into bite-sized pieces, this would also make an exceptional appetizer.

Stayed tuned for my next installment of the world's weirdest pizza.

Duck Pizza

Prepared pizza dough

2 grilled duck breasts, thinly sliced on the diagonal and cut in half
Enough hoisin sauce to cover the pizza dough
1/2 red onion, thinly liced
1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced

Baby spinach, chopped
Shredded part-skim mozzarella

Heat oven to 450°F.

Spread hoisin sauce on pizza crust leaving about an inch to the edge. Top with duck, onion, bell pepper, spinach, and cheese.

Bake until cheese is melted and bubbly, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and let rest five minutes.

The Perfect Pork Roast

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:37:00 +0000

Saturday evening we participated in our neighborhood’s autumn-themed progressive dinner party, and we volunteered as one of the main course homes. I was greatly looking forward to it but knew it would be a slight challenge with the timing of whatever we prepared for the entrée. We wanted to partake in the hors d'oeuvres so we knew it had to be something prepared in advanced and re-warmed; something we stuck in as we were walking out the door; or something with a quick cook since we were allotted only an hour and a half before heading to the dessert home. And it had to be seasonal. In an ah-ha moment, I remembered the cover recipe from October’s Bon Appetit, a gorgeous pork roast stuffed with mushrooms, apples, and kale, wrapped in prosciutto and baked with apples and hard cider. Talk about shouting Fall. Plus, it could be semi-prepared up to a day in advance and had a long enough bake time to allow us a few nibbles of appetizers and glass of wine at home #1.

I cannot take credit for preparing this beauty. That all goes to Craig. As we set out to prep on Saturday morning, I asked if he wanted to begin the pork, and he took charge. Other than soaking the dried mushrooms and apples and steaming the kale, he did the whole thing. Lots of steps, but certainly nothing difficult. Do have your butcher butterfly the pork loin and do not use pork tenderloin unless you significantly alter the cook time.

Since we changed none of the ingredients, I am simply including the link to the original recipe – with one very big PAY ATTENTION TO THIS note. The indicated oven temperature and cooking time are both WRONG. I used an oven temp of 375 degrees F., and it cooked in about an hour and fifteen minutes to 142 degrees F. stuffing temp. Next time I will take it out at 135 degrees F as it was ever so slightly overcooked.

This is truly an impressive dish. Make it. When you take it out of the oven, you'll guests will gasp. And it's as delicious as it's stunning.

We served it with butternut squash risotto and roasted broccoli.

Fusion Comfort Food

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 02:20:00 +0000

One night last week I was in the mood for something homey for dinner, comfort food – or – perhaps Asian. I know, different ends of the spectrum, but we’ll get to how I satisfied both cravings in a moment.

As I sat down to write this post, I got thinking about cravings, particularly for comfort foods, and why we have them. It’s clearly not linked to fulfilling a nutritional need, because typically comfort foods are not healthy, e.g., mac and cheese, green bean casserole, ice cream sundaes, etc. Comfort foods often take us back in time, and we associate a specific food with memories, some funny, some nostalgic. Comfort foods can soothe our psyches and invoke a sense of calm and security. Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches remind me of Friday night dinners when I was little, or we went to Howard Johnson’s for fried clam strips. Coffee milkshakes still provide comfort just as they did 35 years ago after a visit to the orthodontist for an adjustment to braces. And the mention of tuna noodle casserole immediately reminds me of one person. My dad. It always has been one of his favorite dinners. American cuisine is defined by these kinds of foods, and interesting how so many upscale chefs have added buttermilk fried chicken, truffled mashed potatoes, and even cabbage rolls (check it out at Sidney Street with the rabbit!) to their menus over the last few years. These guys know what sells – and tastes so wonderful. Long live comfort foods.

Back to my cravings. I know, comfort foods typically do not invoke images of stir fry, kung pao, pad thai, lettuce wraps, or seared soy-marinated tuna. But sesame soy Udon noodles and cilantro and ginger meatballs do. Can I call it Americanized-Asian spaghetti and meatballs, with a side of (spicy) un-green bean-casserole? I had a recipe for ginger meatballs from Cooking Light that calls for ground pork, but I find these versatile enough that ground turkey, ground chicken, or grass-fed beef, which is what I had, works nicely. The noodles from the original recipe are rather blah, so I threw something together by instinct that turned out really tasty. So if you have a fusion comfort food craving, give this a try. You will be satisfied in a 2011 kind of way.

Gingery Meatballs with Noodles and Spicy Green Beans

Serves 4

Meatballs

1/2 C chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 C dry breadcrumbs

1/4 C finely chopped red onion

2 T low sodium soy sauce

2 t grated peeled fresh ginger

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound lean ground pork, turkey, chicken, or lean ground beef

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Place a foil-lined jelly-roll pan in oven. Preheat oven to 450°.

Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl; stir gently just until blended. Cover and chill 30 minutes. Divide pork mixture into 20 equal portions; shape each portion into a meatball. Arrange meatballs in a single layer on preheated pan.

Bake at 450° for 20 minutes or until done.

Sesame Noodle

Serves 4

6 ounces Udon noodles, cooked and drained

Onions and/or colored pepper, thinly sliced and sautéed or any other vegetables you have on hand

Ginger, grated

Cilantro

2 – 3 T low sodium soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T rice vinegar

1 1/2 T sesame oil

Asian chili-garlic sauce to taste

Green onions, thinly sliced

Whisk all ingredients (except noodles, vegetables, and green onions) together in a bowl. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed. Pour sauce over warm noodles and vegetables and toss to coat. Sprinkle with green onions and toss.

Spicy Green Beans

Slightly undercooked green beans – I did in the microwave on vegetable/fresh setting

Sauce:

2 T soy sauce

1 T rice vinegar

Asian chili-garlic sauce

Ginger, grated

Garlic, minced

Combine sauce ingredients and set aside.

Sauté ginger and garlic. Add green beans and sauté until starting to darken in spots. Add sauce and cook until thickened slightly.

Farewell to Fresh Figs

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:11:00 +0000

Despite our failure to grow a fig tree in the back yard this summer, we still enjoyed these nougats fresh a number of times in late summer and early autumn, thanks to the abundance of them at Whole Foods. I had never eaten figs other than in Newtons, but over the last few years I’ve fallen for them. Fallen hard, especially fresh. What’ not to love with their luscious, juicy texture, their earthy sweetness, and the ever so slight crunch from their seeds? They've starred in salads, stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in prosciutto, in baked goods, and even just eaten fresh for breakfast. The last ones we had found their way into muffins, which were light and fluffy with a tender crumb. The figs provide noticeable moistness and distinctly a figy flavor. The crunchy, rich brown sugar and oatmeal topping finishes these quite nicely.

And now, we say bonjour, until next season, fresh figs.

Fresh Fig Muffins

Makes 18

1/3 C firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 C quick-cooking oats, uncooked
3 T finely chopped walnuts
2 T butter, melted
1 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 C white whole wheat pastry flour

1 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 C chopped fresh figs (3/4 pound) – or – 1 C chopped fresh figs and 1/2 C dried cranberries (NOT Craisins)
1 C nonfat buttermilk
3 T vegetable oil
2 t vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl; stir well, and set aside.

Combine flours and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine figs and next 4 ingredients; stir well. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened.

Divide batter evenly among 18 muffin cups coated with cooking spray, and sprinkle oat mixture evenly over muffins.

Bake at 400*F for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pans immediately, and let cool on a wire rack.

For muffin tops, bake at 375 and check at 11 minutes.

I baked! And it was good! Peanut Butter Blondies

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 02:23:00 +0000

I had such a frustrating day at the office last week that I had the desire to bake after work, something I never do (Craig almost fainted when he came into the kitchen). But I do know my parameters: given the choice, I’ll always opt for a cheese plate or a glass of bubbly after dinner, so it could not be something too sweet since I’m definitely a savory person, and if we’re talking chocolate, it has to be dark. Not being a weekend where calories and fat don’t count, and I do watch our nutrition more, I headed to Cooking Light. What did I find but Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies?

The only changes I made to the recipe were to switch to half all purpose and half whole wheat pastry flour, reduce the sugar, up the peanut butter, and use dark chocolate – goodness, I did make a number of changes. These are super easy, and you likely have all the ingredients in your pantry. They are quite delicious, especially warm when the chocolate is gooey, with a distinct peanut butter flavor, and I like the recipe only make an 8x8” pan so you’re not tempted to overindulge – too much. A double catch will be mailed to Cincinnati pronto 'cuz Connor will love these.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies
12 servings realistically

Cooking spray
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pasty pastry flour
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips or chunked from a bar, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg white

Preheat oven to 350°.
Coat bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray (do not coat sides of pan).
Combine flours, chocolate chips, soda, and salt in a bowl.

Combine sugars and remaining ingredients in a bowl; stir until well-blended. Add flour mixture, stirring just until blended. Spread batter in bottom of prepared pan.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool on a wire rack.

The Secret Recipe Club - Yummy Spicy Corn Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:00:00 +0000

For this month’s The Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned Erin’s My Big Fat Baker blog. At first I was intimidated what I’d prepare since baking is not my forte (look to the right, and you’ll notice few baking recipes). When I looked at her “About” section, I saw Erin’s a Purdue Boilermaker, just like Craig, so I knew I’d find something good. By the time this is posted, we’ll know who won the Penn State-Purdue game. Nittany Lions roar! I appreciate how philanthropic Erin is in her support of various online bake-offs, such as Frosting for the Cause and championing the use of local and organic.

A number of things did catch my eye (Tomato Jam, Peanut Butter, and Banana Cookies with Chocolate Frosting), but I settled on the Spicy Corn Muffins since we were having black bean butternut squash chili, and we had the last of our CSA fresh corn to use. We learned late season corn is weird. Some ears are so crazy-spare that you get 20 kernels per ear, and the worms love this stuff. Nonetheless, I really liked the idea of individual cornbreads since we're only cooking for two these days, and I’m assuming these will freeze well for future soup/chili nights. I made minimal changes, not surprising really since I was baking, one of the few times I cannot embellish a recipe. I subbed some white whole wheat flour for the AP, amazing cumin cheese from The Cheese People we got at the last Ellisville Farmers’ Market for the cheddar, and used red jalapenos I roasted and froze this summer. The only issue I had was that my muffins browned much quicker than the recipe indicates, which was actually quite to my liking. I really appreciated Erin’s hints and tips below in italics. These are really good.

Spicy Corn Muffins

Makes 15

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup white whole wheat flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

4 T sugar

2-1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 cup buttermilk

3 T butter, melted and cooled – may be a tablespoon less next time

3 T olive oil

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1-1/3 - 1 1-1/2 cups fresh, frozen, or canned corn kernels – I had a

1 medium jalapeño, seeded and very finely chopped (leave the seeds in for spicier muffins)

1/2 cup shredded cheddar, jalapeño Jack, or any other hard Mexican cheese

Pre-heat the oven to 400 F and grease/line two muffin pan (I got 15 muffins out of a batch).

Chop the jalapeño.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flours, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Set aside.

In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, butter, olive oil, egg, and egg yolk. I did this in my 2 cup pyrex measuring cup.

Slowly pour the liquid into the flour mixture and carefully whisk it all together. Mix only until the liquid and flour are just barely incorporated. Over mixed muffins are a sin.

Gently fold in the corn kernels, jalapeños, and cheese. Scoop into the muffins tins. Be sure to only fill 2/3 of the way full!

Bake 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Mine bakes much faster; check at 11-12 minutes.

Allow to cool before consuming! That is actually important with this recipe because the muffins fall apart if you try and eat them hot out of the oven.

Great Autumn Salad Dressing

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 02:53:00 +0000

This is a classic recipe in our home in the fall. I have no idea where I got the recipe (and made changes of course), but it's good. Really, really good. A few years ago some non-vegetable, non-salad friends were here for dinner, raved about it, and wanted the the recipe, the ultimate compliment. What’s not to like? It’s so creamy, a bit sweet, a bit of a bite from spicy Dijon, relatively low fat, versatile on whatever autumn greens/fruits you have on hand, and super simple to make. The pics really don’t do it justice. Trust me. Just try it.

Creamy Maple Salad Dressing

1/4 cup good quality mayonnaise (lowfat is okay)

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons white balsamic or Champagne vinegar

2 heaping tablespoons minced shallots, about 1 medium to large shallot

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground pepper and salt to taste

I just throw everything in a large measuring cup and blended with the stick blender until thickened. It can be up to three days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Re-whisk before using.

Salad Ideas:

Romaine, mixed greens, spinach, blue cheese, bacon, dried tart cherries, spiced cashews, and diced apples or pears. What is seasonal and you have on hand.

Super Foods Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 01:54:00 +0000

We had Super Foods soup for dinner tonight. This one knocked it out of the park with nutritional powerhouses – green foods (kale), sweet potatoes, nuts (peanut butter), alliums (garlic and onions), hot peppers, and (cannellini) beans. It was like a magical and delicious elixir to good health. Vitamins, fiber, disease-fighting nutrients, antioxidants, readily available and seasonal ingredients, and super easy (and cheap) to prepare. Even the ever-carnivorous Craig commented that if you are a vegetarian you'd love it and I'm sure with sausage he would agree with that.

We were very excited to attend the book signing party for Stone Soup Cottage's cookbook, and I wanted something light but warming we could simply re-heat when we got home. It finally feels like fall here in St. Louis, yippee! Our larder is overflowing with freshly dug “uncured” sweet potatoes from the CSA box, and we’d picked up gorgeous kale at the Clayton Farmers’ Market. And – soup is usually a tolerable vegetarian meal, so I knew what I was making.

The potatoes and beans impart a bit of sweetness as a foil to the kale’s bitterness and mashing the cannellinis adds creaminess and thickens it to a stew consistency. I threw in a few tablespoons of chunky peanut butter as a last minute addition for crunch, and I love how PB compliments sweet potatoes (as you’d find in an African dish). Nice play of sweet and spicy, too, thanks to red pepper flakes and a roasted jalapeno I had in the freezer.

I’ve read some researchers attribute these kinds of super foods to slowing the aging process and preventing diabetes, obesity, wrinkles, and a host of degenerative diseases. Bring it on. This one goes into our regular rotation of winter soups.

Super Foods Soup

Generously serves 4

1 T olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 t salt, divided

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 t crushed red pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

Three medium sweet potatoes, washed but unpeeled, coarsely chopped peeled sweet potato (about a pound or so)

1 jalapeno, minced (seeded for less-spice tolerant palates)

4 C fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth or more as needed for desired consistency

A few handfuls kale, stem removed or 1 package kale, torn into bite-sized

1 can cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed, drained, and mashed

2 -3 T chunky peanut butter

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 5 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, peppers, and garlic; sauté for a few minutes. Add potato, jalapeno, and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer about 10 minutes. Gradually add kale; cook 10 minutes or until tender. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and mashed beans; cook about 5 minutes. Add peanut butter and stir until dissolved and soup is thoroughly heated.

Vietnamese Chicken Meatballs, Summer Rolls, and the Secret Recipe Club

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:00:00 +0000

This month for the Secret Recipe Club, where each member is assigned another participant’s blog, selects a recipe, makes it, then blogs about it, with all entries going up on the same day, I was assigned Jo-Anna’s A Pretty Life in the Suburbs. She is a stay-at-home-mom from the suburbs in Canada who not only cooks and bakes but also is quite crafty. Her blog is filled with gorgeous photos and great ideas. I especially liked her pretty jars. I never knew chalkboard paper existed, and I can envision lots of uses for such with my own organizing fetish. The SRC is an easy and fun way to meet fellow food bloggers and find wonderful recipes. Consider joining if you food blog!

It was still quite hot here in St. Louis when I got the assignment and was looking for something light. The Vietnamese Chicken Bites sounded delightful, and we love Asian. Other than cutting the recipe in half, I followed the recipe exactly. As we head into soup weather, I can see dropping these in a spicy Asian broth with lots of veggies. YUM.

I followed Jo-Anna’s recommendation and also made her mother’s summer rolls, but with quite a few changes. I used my standard peanut sauce, which I’ve made for years, originally from Cooking Light, and Udon noodles because that’s what we had. Unfortunately I was multi-tasking and over-soaked the rice papers, so pay attention. That, in addition to over-stuffing them, made the rolls nearly impossible to neatly assemble (and messy to eat), but they are very fresh tasting and delicious. You can include other vegetables as I did, such as green onions,red bell peppers, and cucumbers would also be a nice addition. The mint and cilantro are quite pronounced, which was fine with us. Definitely both recipes are repeaters. Thanks Jo-Anna for such an interesting blog and delish recipes!

Vietnamese Chicken Meatballs
2 lb ground chicken or turkey
1/2 C chopped fresh cilantro
4 green onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T grated lemon zest
4 t cornstarch
2 t minced gingerroot
6 T soy sauce (I used low sodium soy sauce)

Combine chicken, cilantro, onions, garlic, zest, cornstarch, gingerroot, and soy sauce. Roll into 1 inch meatballs.

Place on to a baking sheet, lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Turn once.

Summer Rolls

1 ounce Udon noodles

1 T seasoned rice vinegar

4 (8-inch) rice-paper rounds, plus additional in case some tear

2 large leaves of Romaine lettuce, ribs cut out and discarded and leaves julienned

1/4 C fresh mint leaves

1/4 C fresh basil leaves (preferably Thai)

1/2 C thinly sliced Napa cabbage or “regular” cabbage

1/4 C fresh cilantro leaves

1/3 C coarsely shredded carrot

1/3 C red bell pepper, julienned

1/3 C green onions, finely sliced

Pat noodles dry between paper towels and toss with vinegar and salt to taste.

Put a double thickness of paper towel on a work surface and fill a shallow baking pan with warm water. Soak 1 rice-paper round (make sure there are no holes) in warm water until pliable, 30 seconds to 1 minute, then transfer to paper towels.

Arrange lettuce on bottom half of soaked rice paper, folding or tearing to fit and leaving a 1-inch border along edge. Spread a bit of peanut sauce over the lettuce and top with mint, basil, vegetables, and noodles. Roll up rice paper tightly around the filling and then fold in sides and continue rolling. Transfer summer roll to a plate and cover with dampened paper towels.

Serve rolls halved on the diagonal.

Hunger Challenge – Final Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 20:27:00 +0000

We successfully completed the hunger challenge. We were never hungry as we predicted, but we did not expect the monotony we experienced with what we did have to eat, admittedly a small price to pay if you have few food dollars.

We mostly heard astonishment from people when we shared we were doing the challenge. “You can’t eat for $4 a day,” and not surprising it was new news that $29 is all that is allotted per person weekly for food while on SNAP (food stamps). Someone suggested eating from the McDonald’s dollar menu, which is not possible since SNAP cannot be used for prepared foods. People asked if we were eating a lot of pasta and rice, which may be a fill-up-you-belly option, but one that lacks vegetables, is higher calorie, and is hard if you are living with a disease like diabetes, prevalent with many Food Outreach clients.

The most arrogant, rude, and ignorant comment we heard was from someone who said that if people would just get a job they wouldn’t need food stamps. WRONG. An August 2011 USDA report stated 60% of those who receive SNAP DO have income, granted they have to earn below 130% of the Federal poverty line. For a family of four that’s a monthly gross income of $2,748. Trying to actually LIVE on that would make the hunger challenge child's play.

We’ve posted some lessons learned in prior posts, but to recap:

You shop somewhere inexpensive, close to your home, and infrequently. Most SNAP recipients shop monthly and then run the risk of not having enough food at month’s end. Hopefully they have access to other resources such as Food Outreach or a pantry that gets food from Operation Food Search.

Coupons are helpful in keeping food costs down, but a SNAP recipient may not have access to newspapers or the Internet/printer.

You eat inexpensive foods and have VERY limited choices. Fresh fruits and vegetables are infrequent. Ditto for low fat meats and fish (other than canned, fish is not likely in your food budget at all). And forget about a pantry of spices, which is an easy way to jazz up bland foods without a lot of added sodium (key for someone with hypertension, another secondary condition of some diseases such as HIV/AIDS).

Healthy eating is very doable, but it requires a lot of planning, time (e.g., dried beans are much cheaper than canned, lower sodium too, but must be soaked and take a while to cook), and discipline (you make your meal plan for the week and you stick to it).

Your social life does not revolve around food like ours does. Likely you eat to survive. Period. But it’s not joyful or celebratory. Certainly no nice dinners out – because you don’t feel like cooking (you don’t eat then!) – or even to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, or graduation.

The simplest things, like a pot of freshly brewed coffee (or a second pot if you want more) or a mid-afternoon snack like an apple to combat a bit of hunger fatigue, ARE luxuries.

These few days have been a miniscule view of what it’s like to eat the way those reliant on SNAP do. An eye-opening experience for sure. We’re blessed that we have the choice to go back to our normal routine. The night after we ended our challenge, we had grilled grass-fed tenderloin filets, and organic red potatoes and corn on the cob (from our CSA box) with basil butter. Did we think twice about how lavish our meal was? YES. I really struggled in writing this post. We are so fortunate, and it was hard for me to really capture how this experience has impacted us. We already know we are doing the challenge for a full week next September.

We did end up finding a new black bean chili we really enjoyed and will add it our ever-expanding chili recipe collection.

Hunger Chili Challenge Recipe

Adapted from the San Francisco Food Bank Hunger Challenge Blog

Serves 12

1 pound of dried black beans, soaked overnight, water drained and then cooked with fresh water (or approximately six cups of cooked beans)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 pounds ground beef, leanest your budget will allow
1 1/2 cup chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
2-4 jalapenos, seeded for milder kick if desired, and minced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 can (28-32 ounces) of diced, peeled tomatoes with juices
2 plus cups of water
Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the black beans. Set aside.

In a large pot, add the oil and heat over medium high heat. Sauté the beef, using a spoon or spatula to break up any clumps. Cook until browned but not cooked through. Work in batches if all the meat doesn't fit or if it doesn't seem to be browning. If the pan is too crowded the meat will steam rather than brown.

Remove to a plate or bowl and set aside. Pour all but 2 tablespoons of drippings out of pan.

Increase heat to medium high, and when a bit of the onion sizzles immediately on contact with the oil, add the chopped onions and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion are beginning to turn golden brown. Add the garlic and the jalapenos, cook, stirring often, until the garlic is beginning to turn golden. Add the carrots, celery, and green peppers and cook for a minute or two, stirring often. Add the chili powder and cook, stirring constantly, for a minute. Add the diced tomatoes with juices and 2 cups of water. Mix well. Cover and let come to simmer (not quite boiling). Add the cooked meat with any liquids it may have collected and stir well. Cover and return to simmer.

Let simmer for 20-30 minutes until meat is cooked through and flavors well combined. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste and additional chili powder if desired. Add additional water if needed. With cover off, return to simmer and let cook a few more minutes.

Serve with grated cheddar cheese.

Hunger Challenge Day Three – “Food Outreach clients aren’t hassled about nutrition daily like I am” -- Craig

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 02:48:00 +0000

That about says it all. We got into a lively conversation about filling your belly cheaply versus nutrition. Lots of talking tonight, unlike Monday’s dinner when we had the veg rice casserole. It helped because we liked the pizza we made. I never concede in a discussion, but Craig had more compelling points than I countered: cheap food does taste good (loaded with fat and sugar – Denise’s comment). Packaged/prepared foods are easy. It takes time and resources to cook from scratch (it took an hour to make/rise the pizza dough and how much did the pizza peel and stone cost, which make homemade pizza easier to prepare/taste better). We always eat grass-fed ground beef that is so lean that you need to ADD a bit of oil to cook it. We always eat vegetables and fruits on the USDA’s list of must-eat organic. We only eat fish off the Monterey Bay’s list of sustainable. You’re dreaming if you think this purchasing power is possibly on SNAP. Me: you CAN eat healthy and filling on the cheap – beans, lentils, carrots (albeit maybe not as tasty as a piece of grilled salmon from Whole Foods). And so goes my nutrition preaching. He contends you can’t eat healthy, have it taste good – over the long term – on the cheap.

Nutritionally, the disparity between haves and have-nots in our nation is CRAZY. A few folks we know are doing the challenge all organic. We stretched our food dollars A LOT more with conventionally grown. If this IS your only option economically, you are forced to eat celery and apples (among other things) that are grown with pesticides and loaded with toxins (reference the USDA)? On SNAP, you are forced to eat higher fat meats; little or no fish; bread, rice, pasta with little fiber; peanut butter with added sugar and trans fats; and cook blandly because you can afford no seasonings. WHYWHYWHY? Shouldn’t access to enough nutritious food be the RIGHT of every American, like education and healthcare?

Enough on my soapbox. Our makeshift pizza tonight was really good, pizza dough (which is the easiest and cheapest thing to make – about 60 cents) and ground beef, chili powder, garlic, onions, diced bell peppers, and cheddar cheese all planned leftover ingredients from yesterday’s lunch of chili. I added some (leftover) spinach to my portion for added flavor and fiber. Not the interesting, California Pizza Kitchen style pizza we typically make, but REALLY tasty. We decided it’s been our best meal during the whole challenge. Basically, sauté onions and garlic. Cover homemade pizza dough with tomato sauce mixed with chili powder, cooked ground beef, onion/garlic mixture, diced bell peppers, spinach, and cheddar cheese. Bake at 500 for about 10 minutes. Let sit long enough to photograph. Slice and enjoy.

Hunger Challenge Day Two – A Less than Exciting Dinner on Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 02:28:00 +0000

Last evening’s dinner was vegetable rice casserole, based on a recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook. It was healthy, inexpensive, filling, kind of dry, very bland, and really boring. I will likely make it again and use the white wine and the amounts of cheeses and sour cream the recipe specifies, which my budget did not allow this time. For instance, I used no cheddar. And with spices other than just salt and pepper, perhaps nutmeg and a little cayenne. Any way, we know we must eat it for lunch one of the next few days. Craig debated having it for lunch today so it’s gone, but the aroma of the spicy chili I made early this morning lingered in the kitchen and won him over hands down. At least we now have a few choices.

I made an observation while we were eating last evening: we were politely quiet. Actually, I don’t think we said a word. We just ate to be done so we could clean up and get on with the rest of our evening. Eating is – and should be – profoundly social. Meals are where people gather and food is shared. Delicious foods add joy to life and bring great pleasure – the tastes, aromas, texture, and appearance for food all enhance the experience of eating.

PONDER: are those living on food stamps forced to give up this pleasure? Do they feel an isolation associated with eating, like dinner felt last evening? If you are a Food Outreach client, do you get the same pleasure from eating as most of us – or – do you view eating as a chore to get enough food to simply fill your belly and fuel your body for a day?

PONDER: Do folks on SNAP recipients ever have an opportunity to snack? I did an early evening work out and came home “ravished” (not really, but I sure would have appreciated a bit of protein). Unfortunately, we had nothing in our budget to allow for noshing.

Broccoli Mushroom Noodle (or Rice) Casserole

The recipe below is a combination of the original recipe and the changes I’d make if I had full resources to make it yummy. I’d cut it half for the two of use and we’d still have leftovers (the original yields six servings). This would also make a lovely side dish as well as a meatless entrée.

12 ounce wide egg noodles, cooked or equivalent cooked rice

2 T butter

2 C minced onions

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 fresh bunch broccoli, minced or two large packages, frozen broccoli

11/2 pound mushrooms, sliced

3-4 large carrots, sliced

3-4 large celery stalks, sliced

1/2 tsp salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 C low fat cottage cheese

1 C low fat sour cream

1/4 C dry white wine

3 large eggs, beaten

1 C fine bread crumbs, preferably homemade

1 C grated sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350F.

Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

Melt the butter and add onions and garlic. Sauté for about 5 minutes over medium heat, then add broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, celery, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the broccoli is bright green and the vegetables are just tender. Remove from heat and add the white wine.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs with cottage cheese, sour cream, and cheddar cheese. Add rice (or noodles) and sautéed vegetables. Mix well. Spread into the prepared pan, and top with bread crumbs. Bake covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 15 minutes more.

Hunger Challenge Day One – and Craig’s first ever solely meatless day

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:44:00 +0000

Day one and all is well. Our bellies are full, and we’ve eaten healthy today. It’s probably the first day in Craig’s entire life that he has gone 100% without meat, and he survived. Perhaps Meatless Mondays may become an occasional reality as a result of our experiment.

Breakfast was similar to what Craig eats every day, but with one big exception. While grocery shopping, we cut English muffins from our list. One package of six muffins costs twice what a loaf of 100% whole wheat bread (16 slices of bread, enough for eight servings of toast) costs. Spread two tablespoons of peanut butter on the toast, a serving size that is actually quite generous, a banana, and coffee, and you’re off to a great start to the day. I can live without wine, but I couldn’t work with a caffeine headache, so we agreed we HAD to budget coffee into our total. We didn’t finish the pot, and it seemed like SUCH a treat – and pick me up – iced this afternoon.

LESSON: if you prefer one food over another, too bad. You eat what’s cheapest.

LESSON: “Real” plates, glassware, and flatware make food taste better as I experienced drinking my iced coffee in a glass (versus the old, plastic Kreiger cup I had been drinking water from up until then today). This is one of the reasons Food Outreach’s Monday hot lunch program is so vital. It allows clients to experience a three-course, restaurant-style meal. The kind of thing most of us take for granted, but not folks living on SNAP.

Lunch was really tasty and very filling, but frankly repetitious, due to a few errors on my part. Because I forgot to soak and cook the dried black beans, I couldn’t make chili yesterday, and I ended up making lentil-sweet potato soup for Monday’s lunch. The problem is I made this last week, and we finished the leftovers for Saturday lunch. This means we’ll have eaten the same thing four out of the last five days if I don’t make chili tonight for lunch tomorrow, in addition to what we’re having for dinner (vegetarian broccoli and rice casserole). And there was another problem. I forgot to cook rice that we were going to eat with the soup, and we ended up eating plain soup. While it was reheating, Craig mused that most days he snacks while we’re getting lunch ready, and we almost always have cheese and crackers with a glass of wine while we make dinner. Not today because we have nothing easy to snack on (we did get real popcorn but that takes too much time to pop for quick snacking). I missed my after lunch, fun size Peppermint Patty, something I consider a not-too-bad-indulgence – dark chocolate and low fat/calories, right?

LESSONS: eating cheap requires planning and time, things someone battling HIV/AIDS or cancer has in short supply. And snacking and simple indulgences are never considerations. Typically I would never think of spices (such as a good curry powder that is excellent in this super simple soup) a luxury, but they are on a budget.

Lentil- Sweet Potato Soup

4 generous servings

1 1/3 C lentils (I used red because that’s what I had)
1 pound sweet potatoes, scrubbed and diced (I left the skins on because they came in last week’s CSA box, and being freshly harvested they have a very thin skin)
1/2 C diced onion
2 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 stalks celery, sliced
2 large carrots, sliced
4 C chicken broth
2 C water
1 T olive oil*
1 t salt*
2 t freshly ground black pepper*

2 – 3 large handfuls of spinach

Sauté onions and garlic in oil until soft. Add all other ingredients except for the spinach. Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes or until vegetables are soft. (This can be made ahead, refrigerated, and reheated at this pont.) Add the spinach, and cook until it wilts. Serve piping hot.

If you using red lentils, they will disintegrate with this long cooking time and lend a very creamy texture to the soup. Spices such as curry powder, thyme, or basil add wonderful flavor to the soup.

* We are counting salt, pepper, and olive oil as “free” on our challenge. To make up for the absence of any other spices in this soup, I used a LOT of black pepper.

Eating for $4 a day - really?? HUNGER ACTION MONTH

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 22:25:00 +0000

As we were enjoying amazing sushi, cocktails, and wine last evening with friends, the tone of the conversation turned serious as we talked about Food Outreach’s Hunger Action Month. Craig and I (and one of our dining companions) are taking the hunger challenge where we eat on $29 for a week, the USDA/SNAP food stamp allotment in Missouri. Why are we doing this? To understand what it’s like to walk in the shoes of the hungry and to raise awareness how widespread food insecurity is in our own community.

I am confident we’ll have enough to eat and our meals will be healthy. But we’re fortunate because I know how to cook. I am well-versed in meal planning and cooking nutritiously and inexpensively – rice, beans, lentils – with planned leftovers for lunches. We also have access to many resources that most Food Outreach clients – and the 16% of Missouri residents the USDA estimates are food insecure – do not have in order to fill their bellies with tasty, wholesome food. We will drive to a farmers’ market to get seasonal (and cheaper) produce. I have hundreds of cookbooks and can easily go online and retrieve millions of recipes. Our kitchen (in our nice home in a safe neighborhood) is well-stocked with appliances and enough pots, pans, baking dishes, bowls, blah, blah, blah to easily prepare dinner for 25. And we’re really, really healthy! We’re not taking chemo or antiretroviral drugs that leave us too exhausted or nauseated to cook, and we’re not battling hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol. Hunger is only one of the many hardships experienced by those living with a terminal illness – and – living in poverty.

It took us an hour and a half to plan our meals for the four days we are doing the challenge. It never takes me that long to plan meals for an entire week. I usually ask Craig what he’s hungry for. Not this week. Even buying frozen, (cheaper) tilapia from Whole Foods, the only place we buy fish, is not feasible this week ($2.99 for six ounces). Typically if we have lentil, sweet potato, and spinach soup, I’d pick up a whole-grain baguette from Trader Joe’s. Not this week. Since I’m making brown rice for a vegetarian broccoli casserole, we’ll have the soup over rice. And we usually have at least three or four things for dinner (salad/soup, protein, starch, vegetable). Nope. A small, simple salad – OR – homemade applesauce will be the only other thing we can afford with our soup, chili, pizza, or casserole. Choices on a food budget are extremely limited. And if I didn’t cook, our eating would be likely be peanut butter sandwiches, cereal, and canned and boxed foods (soup, stew, chili, tuna helper), all of which are so much more expensive and nutritionally inferior to home-cooking. And how do you fill half your plate with fruits and veggies as the USDA recommends?

After we shop, what we purchase is what we’ll be forced to eat. We will have no flexibility to change our minds if we’re in the mood for something else. Since we’re planning on eating dinner leftovers for lunches, I will make the soup and chili before we start the challenge so we have lunch for day one, and we don’t need to eat the same thing for dinner and then lunch the next day. Again, it hits you how little variety you have eating on $4 per day.

Please support Hunger Action Month. Consider hosting a canned food drive at your work or school, shop Food Outreach's wish list at Amazon, or make a donation. Facebook or twitter to spread the word about Hunger Action Month. Take action.

Asian-Inspired Appetizers: Baked Turkey-Vegetable Wontons and Asian Chex Mix

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Evans) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:30:00 +0000

A few neighbors got together for happy hour on Sunday evening, and we volunteered to bring an appetizer. The Silver Fox* suggested one of our favorite standbys, baked wontons. We’ve been making these for so long I have no idea where the recipe originated. They are versatile and delicious with whatever veggies you have in the frig, chicken, turkey, tofu if that’s to your liking, or meatless. Being baked and not fried, they are crispy but relatively healthy and easy thanks to the food processor. The secret ingredient is the cilantro-peanut sauce, loosely based on a Cooking Light recipe, sweet, salty, a little crunchy, and a touch spicy. These are always a hit at parties, as was the case on Sunday (all 24 wontons were eaten between the six of us), and the filling can be made earlier in the day, refrigerated, and the wontons baked just before serving.

Since it was happy hour, some sort of crunchy munch food was in order to make the adult grape juice appealing and keep it flowing (not that much encouragement is needed). In the spirit of the loose Asian theme of the wontons, I decided to make Cooking Light’s Asian Chex Mix (slightly modified). This Oriental riff on the classic party mix is crazy-addictive. This method slowly bakes at a low temperature to result in a crisp mix, but don’t open the oven door to ensure an even temperature.

* Craig will be known as The Silver Fox from this post forward. I’ve noticed recently that many bloggers have pseudonyms for a significant other, and this is what I’ve called Craig since I first laid eyes on him with that maim of silver locks.

Baked Wontons with Cilantro-Peanut Sauce

Makes 40 wontons

2 stalks celery

2 small carrots

2 cloves garlic

1 medium onion

Half a can - 8-ounce can water chestnuts

1 lb ground chicken or turkey breast

2 cups coleslaw mix

2 t grated fresh ginger

1 T low-sodium soy sauce

1/2 C cilantro peanut sauce (recipe below)

1/2 C chopped cilantro

1 package wonton wrappers

In a food processor, finely chop the celery, carrot, garlic, onion, and water chestnuts. The pieces should be small and fairly uniform, but not liquid.

In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the meat until it is no longer pink. Add the vegetables, coleslaw, and ginger. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the vegetables are soft and any moisture has evaporated. Add the soy and peanut sauces and cook for five minutes. Add the cilantro. This may be made ahead and refrigerated at this point.

Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Press one wonton wrapper into each cup of a mini-muffin pan with the edges flared out to the sides (you will need two pans). Place one scoop of the meat mixture into each cup.

Bake for 15 minutes until the wrappers are crisp and golden. Allow to cool slightly in the pan before removing to a serving tray.

Serve with additional peanut sauce.

Cilantro-Peanut Sauce

Yield - 1 1/3 cups

1/2 C balsamic vinegar

3 T sugar

3 T brown sugar

1/4 C low-sodium soy sauce

1 t crushed red pepper

2 clove garlic, minced

1/4 C chunky peanut butter

1 C chopped cilantro

Combine first seven ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add peanut butter, stirring frequently with a whisk. Cool. Stir in cilantro.

Asian Party Mix

Makes 8 1/2-cup servings
2 C crispy corn cereal squares
2 C crispy wheat cereal squares
3 C sesame sticks broken (such as Pepperidge Farms) – you can use less, but these are so yummy that people search them out in the mix
1 C tiny fat-free pretzel twists
1 C wasabi peas
1/4 C lightly salted peanuts
4 T unsalted butter
1 T sugar
1 T curry powder – I use Penzey’s hot curry powder
1 T low-sodium soy sauce
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t ground cumin
1/4 t salt
1/4 t ground red pepper
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 200°.

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; set aside. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Pour butter mixture over cereal mixture, tossing gently to coat. Spread the mixture onto a jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 200° for 45 minutes. Cool completely before serving.