Foodmomiac

Non-Negotiable Thanksgiving Dish #1: Creamed Corn made with Cope's Dried Corn

2009-11-22T07:32:25-06:00

I have a confession. I'm one of those people. You know those family members who throw a hissy fit if you don't make a certain, traditional item on Thanksgiving? Yeah... that would be me. If certain items aren't on my menu, I am not a happy camper. I realize that this is boring. I realize that this is out of character for someone who is obsessed with food. But, I might as well embrace my faults, no?

So.. the first item that is non-negotiable is the Creamed Corn (sorry three lactose-intolerant people coming to our Thanksgiving). I've written about this before, but I don't think I've ever actually shared the heart attack-inducing recipe. It came from a mid-90's article in Saveur Magazine by R.W. Apple, a brilliant writer who passed away two years ago. The recipe can be found right here. You'll see that it calls for four cups of milk and three cups of heavy cream. Oh, and also a half stick of butter. You can definitely cut back on the cream a bit (just up the milk). Don't lose the cream altogether, though. The texture will suffer, and this IS Thanksgiving after all. It's not a night for watching diets.

Most of you are probably wondering where to find dried corn. It's become a bit easier to find, so do call around to local gourmet stores to see if they have it in stock. If you can't find it locally, you'll need to order it. I searched around, and the best price is from John Cope's, the actual manufacturer. I realize that Thanksgiving is just a few days away. They charge $15.42 for two day shipping. That's a lot, but this dish is worth it, I promise.

(Note: I don't know where to find the corn in Chicago, but in Toledo it can be found at Churchill's, and in Ann Arbor, it can be found at Zingerman's. If anyone finds it locally in other cities, please share in the comments!)

Getting Ready for the Big Meal: Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-17T20:20:46-06:00

Last year was the year we sent out our ill-fated Thanksgiving Manifesto. The meal and the company were amazing, but it wasn't the giant family event that I associate with my favorite holiday of the year. Though I expect it will take a few years to reach maximum Thanksgiving capacity, this year we're getting close! Michael's mom and sister Melissa unfortunately can't come, but his dad will be here with bells on. I also managed to talk my brother and his girlfriend into coming which is especially exciting. David has not yet been to visit us in Chicago (yes, it's been about 3.5 years), and we'll be the first of the family to meet his girlfriend Stefanie. We're also going to be joined by my stepfather's granddaughters. They both go to college in the Chicagoland area, but their mom is now living in Spain, so we invited them to join us for the big meal.

Most thrilling (sorry to everyone else) is the fact that my Thanksgiving partner in crime Megen is coming back to join us. I haven't had a Thanksgiving with her since 2006, and that is truly a travesty. I MIGHT have given her a little bit of a guilt trip ("My childhood memories of giant Thanksgiving dinners are my best memories. It is so sad to think that you will deprive your niece and nephew of that experience.") Fact is, Thanksgiving isn't the same without Aunt Megen. Not for me. Not for the kids.

The picture above is from my beloved Thanksgiving folder. In there is every menu from every year's celebration since at least 2001 (I'll need to check). We list the attendees, the menu, and include notes about the meal ("everyone loved it" "this made too much!")

Starting this week, I'll be sharing some of my favorite recipes and talking about our preparations. What are you guys all doing for next week's holiday? (And for my Canadian friends - MARY - what did you do for Thanksgiving last month?)

Doing my duty (jury duty, that is)

2009-11-08T18:17:50-06:00

Those of you who follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook are already very much aware of this fact, but for the past week, I've been on jury duty. I went in on Monday with every intention of being released that same day. At this court, they have the one day system, where if you aren't put on a jury, you're done.

Unfortunately, I ended up with a very strict (but very awesome - I'll have lots of stories next week) judge who was not taking no for an answer from ANYONE. Those who were clearly trying to get released were sent to the back of the room with instructions to wait for a lecture from the judge at the end of the day. I am the world's biggest chicken to begin with, and I'm pretty much incapable of lying (or lying well), so the cards were stacked against me.

I'm actually an alternate, so I won't even get the satisfaction of participating in the verdict, but I have had all of the pain of sitting on the panel. Jury duty is particularly torturous for a person like me. I'm CONSTANTLY multitasking (as I'm sure you guys all are as well). Even when I'm just sitting around, I'm checking my BlackBerry, or looking through a catalog, or surfing the web. When I'm sitting at my desk at work, I have about 8 tabs open on my browser, and in between meetings and answering emails, I flit around from site to site, checking updates, reading blog posts and getting my news.

You can imagine, then, what it's like for me to just sit in the same chair every day with no multitasking at my disposal. I'm a mess. My doodles have become increasingly intricate, my sweaters are completely lint free, and I've mastered every yoga stretch that can be achieved while sitting in a jury chair.

I also should add that I'm amazed at how thoroughly exhausting it is to sit and do nothing. I think I passed out on my couch every night this week. The good news is that both sides have rested and all we have left is closing arguments and deliberation. The judge is hopeful that we'll be totally done by the end of the day tomorrow. Let's send some thoughts to the universe that the old guy is spot on.

(P.S. I'm still training for my half marathon, and I'm actually having a blast doing so. Yesterday marked the end of week two of training, and I ran four miles for the first time since 1996. I'm blogging about the training over here if you'd like to follow along...)

In Honor of Mondays and New Orleans: Red Beans and Rice (in the crockpot!)

2009-10-27T14:47:16-05:00

In the spirit of my new found lease on life, I decided that a traditional New Orleans meal was in store for our dinner last night. My sister-in-law has a very fabulous habit of bringing me traditional food items from the places she visits. And last time she went to New Orleans, she brought me Camellia brand red kidney beans (also file powder and Peychaud's bitters, YUM). The beans have been sitting patiently in my cabinet, waiting for me to be inspired, but yesterday they met their maker.

I actually started soaking them Sunday early afternoon, and then drained them, rinsed them, and popped them in the fridge overnight. Sunday night, I did the rest of the prep so that everything could be thrown in the crockpot yesterday morning without much time involved. Mornings in my house are HAIRY, and I knew I would not be up for chopping and sauteeing.

Before I share the recipe, a few notes. It is very cool to make these on Monday, because that is traditional red beans and rice day in New Orleans. You can read more about that story here, but suffice to say, it is always cool to follow tradition. Also, the original recipe is not a crockpot recipe. I adapted my version from an Emeril Lagasse recipe that most certainly did not involve any type of slow cooker, but these beans need all day to cook, and I do not have all day, my friends. Finally, the question of ham bone or NOT to ham bone is a personal one. I did not have any ham bones laying around, so I left it out. I think if you want to include one, it would be awesome. (But, if you do, pull it out before serving to shred off the meat and discard the bone.)

This recipe must be served over white rice (trust me). I used my rice cooker on timer to do this so that everything would be ready when we got home from work.

Red Beans and Rice

1 pound dried red kidney beans, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped (I used a red one, but I think green would be better)
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 links andouille sausage (feel free to use the chicken type if that's how you roll)
2 teaspoons dried thyme
4 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups water or chicken stock

Saute the onion, bell peppre and celery in the oil for about 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the sausage, thyme, bay leaves and garlic, and saute for an additional 5 minutes. Add to the crockpot along with the beans and the liquid. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Before serving, mash up some of the beans a bit with a spoon, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over white rice with lots of hot sauce.

Sources of Inspiration

2009-10-26T13:22:30-05:00

When I get caught up in the grind of everyday life, it can be hard to find the little bits of inspiration to take things to the next level. I wake up, go to work, get home, get the kids to bed and then maybe catch up on some meaningless TV. It's easy to become complacent. I don't work out. I don't write much. I don't experiment in the kitchen. I become as boring as my day-to-day.

That's where I was last week. Being stuck home with a croupy (and crabby) four-year-old didn't help. The craptacular Chicago weather didn't help. My dog deciding to become incontinent (just at night, just in one spot) didn't help. Michael going on business trips every week didn't help.

I think my brain knew that it needed to find a bit of inspiration and share it with my heart and my soul. And it found it in a blog post by Linda. I've read about lots of other people's exercise goals and just kind of admired their spunk, yet didn't do anything my self to get spunkified. But, somehow, this post spurred me to action.

I then texted Megen, my sister-in-law and partner in crime, and she was instantly on board as well. And then she posted about it on Facebook, and now our friend Amy is joining us as well. Linda also has a bunch of people joining her. I am SO FRICKIN' EXCITED for this. I started my training this morning.

(The above photo was taken on a family trip to New Orleans for Christmas of 2006).

Channeling my Inner Martha (and a recipe for Perfected Savory Noodle Kugel)

2009-10-20T13:15:19-05:00

About a week and a half ago I hosted the entree course for a Progressive Dinner. I agreed to do this back in the spring. The entire Progressive Dinner was auctioned off at our school's Spring Gala. Four couples signed up for our four course meal.

I knew what I'd make from the get go; Jewish Brisket and Noodle Kugel. The Brisket is great for entertaining because it is at its best when made the night before and then reheated to serve. And the Kugel is also a good make-ahead dish. You can assemble it earlier in the day and then just heat it up about 1/2 hour before the guests arrive.

As the night approached, though, I found myself with two issues. 1. I didn't have a great Kugel recipe, and 2. I had no idea how to decorate my house and table. For Issue #2, I decided to turn to Facebook. I have some very creative friends, so I knew someone would be able to help. Sure enough, Sea and Dwyer chimed in with ideas (and even a picture in the case of Sea) and I managed to create something pretty nice.

For the Kugel, I was kind of baffled. The recipe I have is from Joan Nathan, who is THE ultimate resource when it comes to traditional Jewish cooking. However, the one time I tried to make that Kugel, it was kind of blah. I should mention at this point that I only make (and eat) savory Kugel. Sweet Noodle Kugel is the more common variety, but I personally hate it. First, it contains raisins, which I don't do. Second, my mom always made the savory kind, so that's how I roll.

When I realized I was having a "Kugel Krisis" (sorry), I called my mom. I had some vague memory of a Kugel that used onion soup mix, which wasn't the route I wanted to go, but in order to figure out my own recipe, I wanted to capture the ingredients that created the Kugel flavors of my youth. My mom had no clue what recipe she used way back in my youth, but she was happy to brainstorm with me. We decided that the Joan Nathan recipe could be altered to have more oomph. The recipe calls for raw minced onion, and while that adds a little bit of tang, it doesn't add much savory goodness, so we added some carmelized onion as well. We also upped the hot sauce factor. The verdict? AMAZING. My altered recipe is below, with major props to Joan Nathan for providing such a lovely starting point, and my mom for being a great sounding board.

Perfected Savory Noodle Kugel

16 oz. bag of large egg noodles
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon canola oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 onion, sliced in thin half circles
2 cups cottage cheese (large curd is best here, if your store carries it)
Tabasco sauce to taste
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups sour cream
1 onion, finely minced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a large lasagna sized pan (I used a Pyrex). Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package. As the noodles cook, heat a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the butter and oil and the thinly sliced onion. Reduce heat to low and cook the onion, stirring frequently, until carmelized. This can take up to half an hour. You want them nice and brown and sweet and delicious. Add salt and pepper to taste. Combine the onions and noodles in a large bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Take a taste. It should already be delicious. If it seems bland, add more soy or Tabasco until it is awesome.

Cook uncovered until the top gets a little bit brown and crispy. Enjoy! This will serve 8-12 guests, and is terrific reheated the next day.

Foodmomiac's Guide to Chicken Stock

2009-10-16T12:34:43-05:00

I got this email yesterday from my old friend Kate:

Hi Danielle,

I've got a chicken carcass in my freezer waiting to be made into stock. And I want to use some of that stock to make chicken soup. Trouble is I've never done either. I figure you can do this in your sleep - got any great resources to guide me through the process? I figure I will get a rotisserie chicken for the dinner tomorrow and use the left over meat for the soup, giving me a second carcass for the stock so I can make a good amount of it and stash some away in the freezer. If you have any words of advice I'd appreciate it!

-kate

So... I don't really have a set recipe I follow. I kind of just do my thing and it usually works out. I take the carcass(es) and put them in a giant soup pot. Then, I cover them with filtered water. I add a couple of onions cut in quarters, some carrots, some celery (including leaves is GREAT), and some parsnips (this is optional, but makes the resulting stock taste like soup from a Jewish deli). I put the heat on medium, bring it up to a low simmer, turn down the heat to low, and let it all cook for a while. If the water gets low, you can add more. If there is scum on the surface, you can skim it.

When the stock seems "stock-y," I strain it, reserving all of the chunks in a colander. I then start sorting. I discard the onion and celery as they are tapped out, but I slice the carrots and parsnips into coins to be used in my soup. I also take on the ultra messy job of sorting through the carcasses. I pull off all of the good meat and shred it up into bite size pieces. This is also for the soup.

We actually prefer more of a stew with our stock, so I add back in the carrots, parsnips and chicken and then make spaetzle dumplings right into the pot. If this is too fancy for you, you can just dump in some egg noodles (or better yet, get the Hungarian dumplings from a gourmet market). The more noodles you add, the stew-ier the soup with be. You can also not add ANYTHING back into the stock and just use it for cooking.

Hope this helps!

Recipe for the Easiest Bread Ever: Beer Bread

2009-10-08T20:41:54-05:00

Back when we lived in Toledo, I made beer bread all the time. I'd make it from a mix that I bought from Tastefully Simple. We loved it, but the mix was kind of expensive for what it was, and when we moved to Chicago, we lost all of our Tastefully Simple connections, so I just put beer bread to the back of my mind.

And, then, I found a recipe for it (from scratch) on Chow.com. I made some modifications (of course), but hey! It's the same stuff I used to make back in T-Town and I don't need any mix. Score!

Beer Bread

3 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar (I used Turbinado - sugar in the raw)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 bottle beer (I used Guinness tonight, but you can use anything you like)
1 stick butter melted (this is actually optional, but yum)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the first five ingredients. Add half of the butter and combine again. Pour half of the remaining butter in the bottom of a loaf pan. Add the batter and top it with the rest of the butter. Bake for one hour.

Uber Healthy Soup That Your Kids Might Very Well Eat: Nutty Vanilla Sweet Potato and Kale Soup

2009-10-06T08:45:20-05:00

I've known Kath from Kath Eats for many months now (we frequently hire her to write articles on our clients' sites), but for some reason I've never tried one of her recipes until now.

What was I thinking?? We are always trying to be more healthy, and she uses the most fabulous ingredients. Consider this a lesson learned. Go make this soup!

Some changes I made (because I'm allergic to following recipes exactly):

- I peeled the sweet potatoes
- I used curry powder instead of Garam Masala
- I think I used too many sweet potatoes (I didn't pull out my scale), so I thinned the soup with two cups of chicken broth (veggie broth would have been fine too)
- I think raisins are evil, so I didn't use any, and I didn't use any shredded coconut either (not quite so evil, but I'm not a fan)

Dylan declared this the best soup she ever had. Max liked everything about this except the kale, but I think he was confused, because he actually DOES like kale, but I think he thought I said it was "cow." And, quite frankly, he also likes cow, so the whole thing was bizarre.

Michael loved this soup with every fiber of his being. And, no, I am not exaggerating. He thanked me for it about three times.

Thanks Kath!

In the groove, out of the groove

2009-10-04T20:10:46-05:00

Well, I was going at a good clip for a bit there. Sorry for the brief absence. I'm here.

Last night, Michael and I went out to a concert at the Old Town School of Folk Music. It's such a wonderful venue. It's tiny and intimate, and after the show, you can meet the artists. Of course, I never meet them myself. I'm too shy about stuff like that. It's strange. I could get up on stage in front of hundreds of people without breaking a sweat, but the thought of meeting a singer I admire in a one-on-one situation practically gives me hives.

We saw John Gorka and Alice Peacock. Two acts. Both terrific. It's amazing how much my mind travels while watching a great performance. I was thinking about all of the blog posts in my head and had I had my laptop open, (how rude would THAT have been?), I could have hammered out 5 of them. Of course, today I'm at a complete blank again, but I'm trying to get over my writers block by just writing anything at all.

Yesterday was actually pretty good day all around (despite the vicious hangover I was fighting, thanks to one too many beers on Friday night with my favorite Chicago blogger, Sassafrass herself.) The kids had ice skating lessons in the morning, and then we tried a new (to us) German restaurant. Oh my goodness. We found a GEM. It's called Laschet's Inn, and I'll eventually write it up for Chicagomomiac. So, so good.
After lunch, Dylan and I went to Kohl's for a major shopping spree. She really shot up over the summer, and we had discovered that virtually none of her fall clothes were fitting her. I have to say, Kohl's kicks butt for girl clothing, especially girls like mine, who want everything to be teal and brown and covered in peace signs.

Today was another good weekend day, with lots of cooking, relaxing and some more ice skating (open skate for the whole family).

Reminder: I'm still raising money for Healthy Schools Campaign. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated, including Rebecca, Moppy and Poppy (my in-laws) and Beth. If YOU'D like to help the cause, please click here and choose your donation amount. Every little bit helps. Seriously, every bit. If every reader donates $1, I can easily get to my goal. Thank you!