Still trying to keep those resolutions? Chickpeas to the rescue!

Recently, I got one of those "recipe o' the day" emails from a site called Kitchen Daily, where they shared a Greek-style chickpea salad that looked fairly light and very tasty. As a bonus, it looked pretty quick and easy, especially if you start with canned garbanzos. So one night last week when I didn't have the time or energy for an elaborate dinner, I threw a double batch of the salad together, then I just marinated some boneless, skinless chicken breasts in fresh lemon juice and zest, lots and lots of garlic, salt, pepper, dried oregano, and a pinch of hot pepper flakes, and seared them in a skillet. In less than a half hour, I had Pan-Seared Greek-Style Chicken Breasts and Chickpeas with Red Onion, Feta, Dill and Lemon.

When I served some to my roommate, she joked around, saying it all looked too healthy, like a dietician had prepared it. But soon thereafter, I heard her "mmm's" and "ahh's," so it must not have tasted TOO healthy!  Tee hee. Actually, you can make this a little healthier by going easy on the amount of vinaigrette that you use. In the original recipe, there is more than TWICE the amount of dressing that a reasonable person would actually desire. So I am doubling the salad ingredients below, as I did when I made it so that we would have plenty left over for lunches to take to work. And you know this is the kind of thing that is even better the next day!

Chickpeas with Red Onion, Feta, Dill and Lemon
(Source: adapted from Gail Simmons at Kitchen Daily)

Salad:
3 cups dried chickpeas, (or 2 - 15.5 oz cans of chickpeas)
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 1/2 cups grape cherry tomatoes, cut in half
2/3 cup finely sliced red onion
2/3 cup roughly chopped fresh dill (I used one of those small clamshell boxes of baby dill)

Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, peeled and gently bashed (I used 3 or 4 large cloves, minced)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
kosher salt* and freshly ground black pepper
**I also added a generous teaspoon of dried oregano

Rinse dried chickpeas and place them in large bowl of water to soak overnight. Drain and place them in a medium saucepan. Cover with cold water by 2 inches; add bay leaf and cloves of garlic. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer beans until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Drain and remove the bay leaf and garlic. Allow to cool. (If using canned chickpeas, simply place in a colander and rinse under cold running water).

Make vinaigrette: In a large bowl whisk lemon juice, lemon zest, mustard and garlic. Slowly drizzle in olive oil and whisk to emulsify. Season with sugar, salt* and pepper (and oregano, if using). Set aside to macerate while you prepare vegetables then discard garlic. (I doubled the garlic, minced it, and threw it right in!)

To the bowl, add crumbled feta, sliced tomatoes, red onion, and dill. Add chickpeas and toss to coat everything evenly. Season with more cracked black pepper if desired.

*Note: I do not recommend the addition of salt, as the feta brings plenty of saltiness to the party!

You say it's your birthday...

Oh my gosh! I just realized that today is a momentous one! Not only is it my sweet puppy Grady's SEVENTH birthday (how is that possible?), but it is also the FIFTH anniversary of the creation of this little blog o' mine. My oh my, time sure does fly...



This doubly festive occasion calls for a very special treat. I started back to work today, so there was no time to make a cake or anything as troublesome. But I had another delicious plan. The new Bon Appetit arrived a few days ago, and as a February issue demands, the main focus was CHOCOLATE (a welcome change from January's interminable health consciousness)! There's a brownie recipe in there that I am dying to try in my wonderful edge pan, but I am a bit "brownied out" right now. So I thought I'd try another chocolatey recipe that caught my eye: Crisp Cocoa Pecan Cookies. Isn't the name itself enough to make you smile? It was a pretty easy recipe, although it requires a lot of passive cooling and chilling time. My advice is to make the batter the first day, then bake them off the next. Then, it's a snap!

As it turns out, and despite their name, my cookies came out more chewy than crisp--ironically, kind of like a flat brownie. Maybe I needed to bake them another minute or two? I followed what the recipe said and let them puff up and then flatten out. But on such a dark cookie, it was hard to see if they were beginning to darken around the edges. Also, I only baked one half sheet pan at a time, with six cookies about 2-3 inches apart, not 5 inches as the recipe stated. They were fine and did not spread into each other on the Silpat, but maybe those choices affected the texture? Not sure.

In any case, the cookies were very tasty, especially with the bittersweet chocolate drizzle on top! I considered leaving it off, but that would have been a mistake, as it took them over the top, both in looks and taste! And birthday or no, Grady is NOT getting one of THESE cookies! He will have to settle for some chicken-flavored Pupcorn and a big rawhide chewie. ;-)

Crisp Cocoa Pecan Cookies
(Source: Bon Appetit, February 2011)

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder (scooped into measuring spoon, then leveled)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons (11/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, cooled
1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon (generous) salt in medium bowl. Stir butter and next 5 ingredients in another medium bowl until smooth. Stir in flour mixture, then nuts. Cover and chill until firm enough to scoop, at least 4 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.

Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325°F. Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment. Measure 2 level tablespoonfuls dough; roll between palms into ball. Place on prepared sheet. Using fingers, spread out dough to 3-inch-diameter disk. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing 5 inches apart.

Bake cookies 8 minutes; reverse sheets. Bake cookies until flat and beginning to darken around edges, about 10 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment to rack (cookies will crisp as they cool). DO AHEAD Can be made 4 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Place rack inside rimmed baking sheet. Place chocolate chips in small microwave-safe bowl. Heat chips in microwave in 15-second intervals until smooth, stirring occasionally. Place cookies on rack. Drizzle melted chocolate over cookies. Let stand until chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.

Need a warm-up?

Last night, I stayed up all night--until five this morning--because the weather report predicted that it was going to hit THIRTY BELOW with a -45 wind chill factor! Having never experienced that kind of cold in this house, I was very worried about pipes freezing and such; so I was the overnight monitor, keeping the wood stove burning brightly and the taps a-trickling. However, the wind advisory was cancelled, and by 5am, it was obvious that we weren't going any lower than 21 below with no wind chill to speak of. Now to those of you from other climes, that may seem impressive (and hideous), but I experienced -23 a couple of years ago, so it wasn't especially exciting, nor worth staying up all night for! :-(

But it was cold enough that most local schools and many businesses were closed today, and my roommate even stayed home from work to try and stay inside and keep warm. (However, when I finally got up and came downstairs at noon, I found her boiling water in the kitchen in a panic because the kerosene monitor heater was "out of fuel." Um...or she could have just hit the reset button! Can I not sleep for a few hours without everything falling apart? Sheesh!)

So the goal for dinner tonight was to make something hot, hearty, and using ingredients I already had on hand, as I was not about to venture out into the frigid weather to go to the store. Of course, I thought to make a soup or stew, but my roomie has this prejudice against soup, believing that it's not substantive enough to count as a proper dinner. So I found a recipe online that I thought would fool her into believing it was, as she put it, "real food." I made a big cauldron of a copycat version of Olive Garden's pasta fagioli soup., and besides a little bit of veggie chopping, it was easy and really good.

Unfortunately, we don't have an Olive Garden in our town--the closest one is in Burlington (VT). So this recipe is handy to have to be able to make one of their tasty soups at home. Because it feed a lot of folks inexpensively, this would also be great for a potluck gathering to take in your crock pot. Actually, I found the recipe on a slow cooker website, and it can even be cooked in a crock pot, which is even handier. But I made it on the stove top in my lovely cassis-colored Le Creuset dutch oven because I was home today to tend to it. Either way, it's yummy and warm and spicy and filling--just the ticket during a deep freeze.

Olive Garden-Style Pasta Fagioli Soup
(Source: adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking)

1 pound lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, peeled and diced (about three very large)
1 cup celery, diced (about two large stalks)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
4 cups beef broth
2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (and juice)
1 jar (16.5 oz) pasta sauce (like Prego)
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup small dry pasta (cooked separately*)

In a five-quart stock pot, brown the ground beef. As the meat is browning, add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Saute until the meat is completely brown, and the veggies are somewhat tender. Add the beef broth to the pot, along with the tomatoes and pasta sauce. Stir in all of the seasonings, bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer for at least an hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the pasta separately* to an al dente consistency. Set aside. When the soup has simmered long enough to suit you, add the beans and warm them through. Add cooked pasta to individual bowls and ladle soup over. Garnish with a generous sprinkle of grated parmesan (the real stuff--not that green crap in the can!) before serving.

*If you add dry pasta to the soup to cook, it sucks up too much of the broth. Also, the pasta becomes mushy if you reheat or freeze. So it's best to add it separately. And I would prepare at least a half a (pound) box.

"Goldies" for the Globes

A couple of posts ago, I was blathering on about the short list of things that I wanted to accomplish over my winter break, but I neglected to mention the most important goal of all--to see all of the Golden Globe-nominated films before the awards. That's always my goal over winter break, and I never fully realize it, because I live in a podunk town where smaller-release films are slow to come, if they ever come at all, and one can only afford to travel to Montreal and Burlington so often! But I did pretty well this year, and I'll surely be sitting pretty come Oscar time.

So far, my favorite films of the year are The King's Speech and The Social Network (my money's on one of them for Best Picture). I think Best Actor will go to the dishy Colin Firth for playing the tongue-tied monarch, George VI, and Best Actress will be Natalie Portman for the beautiful but creepy Black Swan. The Fighter had an interesting yet predictable story, but absolutely marvelous performances, so I am rooting for Christian Bale as a crack-addicted ex-boxer for Best Supporting Actor and Melissa Leo as a tough-as-nails, opportunistic mother and boxing manager for Best Supporting Actress.

Who knows how the awards season will actually play out, but one thing is for sure--I will have a fitting and thematically-appropriate menu!  Tonight, for example, my Golden Globes dinner will include: Mixed Green Salad with Bacon, Blue Cheese, Almonds and Golden Delicious Apples, Teriyaki Pork Steaks, Creamy Golden Egg Noodles with Broccoli, and for dessert, Golden Yam Brownies (I might just call them "Goldies").  I found the recipe for these "brownies" doing a search for the word "golden" on All Recipes. In doing do, I came across these unusual treats made with...wait for it...YAMS!

I read all of the reviews before starting out (always a good idea), and many of them commented that the "brownies" were a bit bland and very, very sweet. So I followed their advice and added a little spice (cinnamon) and cut back on the sugars (from a total of two cups to one and a half). Oh, and I added a cup of chopped pecans because it seemed like the right thing to do. ;-) The recipe calls for a powdered sugar glaze, too, but even after cutting the sugar in the bars themselves, they were plenty sweet without the topping. However, as close as these come to the carrot cake family, I think I might try a cream cheese frosting in the future.

Whatever you're snacking on tonight, enjoy the Globes! And get out there and see some of the nominated films! (The winter is long, and most of you probably can't get outside to do stuff anyway.)

Sweet Potato "Goldies"
(Source: adapted from All Recipes)

1 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar (I cut this to 3/4 cup)
1 cup white sugar (I also cut this to 3/4 cup)
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
*I added 1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups peeled and finely shredded yam/sweet potato (the finer the shred, the better)
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional

Glaze (optional):
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish*.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the batter just until blended. Fold in the shredded yam. Spread the batter evenly in the greased baking dish.
3. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center, comes out clean. Mix together the confectioners' sugar, butter and milk until smooth. Spread over the brownies while they are still warm. They will absorb some of the glaze. Serve hot or warm.

*I baked these in my fabulous Baker's Edge brownie pan, and they took 35 minutes.

BRRRR! It's chilly/chili time!

You may infer from the scribblings of this blog that I am something of a gourmet. But once in awhile, I crave something lowbrow and bad for me. Often in my household, the consumption of crap food occurs on a Saturday night, accompanied by the viewing of films (which may or may not be crap). This weekend, I was overcome by desire for what I call Chili Fritos, but is alternately known as Frito Pie or Walking Tacos. You know, you love it...the dish that is comprised of Fritos corn chips on the bottom, topped with chili, and garnished with (my preference) a drizzle of ranch dressing, or perhaps sour cream and salsa. Oh, I know, I know. You don't need to say it. But once in a blue moon, it really hits the spot!

To redeem the junk food meal a bit, I did make the chili from scratch. And even though I was kind of throwing things in the pot willy-nilly, it came out GREAT! So I need to make a record of (approximately) what I did for posterity.

Beef and Bean Chili

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 large onion, diced
1 large red pepper plus 1 Fresno pepper, seeded and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 can fire-roasted tomatoes with green chiles
1 pint homemade (seasoned and herby) tomato sauce
1 small can regular tomato sauce
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained
1 can seasoned black beans, drained
2 tablespoons spicy BBQ seasoning/rub
2 tablespoons dark chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
scant cup of water

Heat the olive oil in a five-quart Dutch oven. Brown the beef. Add the onions, peppers, and garlic and cook until veggies are tender. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, all of the seasonings and the water, and stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for as long as you can stand it before you have to have some (the longer the better--add a little more water as needed).

Even after two people had a hearty helping of Chili Fritos, there was lots of chili left over. So I chucked the remainder in the freezer for a future dinner. But the future came sooner than expected when I was invited over to my friends' house for a potluck and game night a few days later. I was assigned the entree, but I had already been to the store, and it was so cold that day that I didn't want to make another trip out.

So I began to contemplate a hearty dish that could serve a lot of folks that could be made with what I had on hand. I thought about the chili, but it didn't look like there was enough to serve everyone just on its own. So I decided that it had to be some sort of casserole. Naturally, I considered involving cornbread, but I didn't want to do that thing where you bake the batter on top of the chili and then end up with runniness on the bottom and a big dry chunk on the top.

What I really wanted was to simulate something that had the flavor and texture of a tamale, but without all the work! So I stole an idea from a recipe that I found on the Whole Foods website here. And I think it turned out just as I had envisioned it. Here's what I did to make what I am now calling Tamale Casserole:

I prepared two boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix with a can of creamed corn and a can of drained whole kernel corn (making a softer, moister, denser and sweeter cake to simulate tamale texture). I baked this in a sprayed 9x13 pan for 30 minutes at 400. When cooled, I cut off about an inch all around the cornbread (saving the crispy sides for me to enjoy later!) and crumbled up the rest.

I cleaned the 9x13 pan and sprayed it again with nonstick cooking spray, then added half of the crumbled cornbread, about five cups of homemade leftover beef chili, the rest of the cornbread crumbles, and about a cup and a half of shredded co-jack cheese. I baked it for 30 minutes at 350 degrees*, and served it with salsa and sour cream on the side.

*The one thing I would do differently next time is to cover the casserole with foil while baking to keep the cheese on top soft and melty, though the dinner guests said they preferred it with a crunchy top. Personal preference, I suppose!

PHO SHO!

I don't have any major plans for my winter break except to sleep (A LOT), read (A LOT) on my new Kindle that Santa brought me for Christmas (YAY!), catch up on blogging, and maybe squeeze in a few day trips to Albany, Burlington and Montreal, should the weather allow. One of the things I love best about Montreal is all of the wonderful, authentic ethnic cuisines to be sampled there. And you can hardly go a block in that town without encountering a Vietnamese pho (noodle) shop. But I can't drive two and half hours round trip every time I want a bowl of noodles! Thus, I decided it was high time to learn to make my own.

It only took two days, but I did it--made a reasonably authentic and perfectly delicious bowl of pho! It took two days because of my poor planning in starting it too late one night. But the broth really does need to cook for at least three hours, and the longer, the better. I'm sure it actually tasted better the second day, after all the flavors melded. Also, I was able to de-fat the broth more easily after it chilled. So, it all worked out for the best.

I read a lot of recipes online, and this is my amalgamation of all those that I consulted:

Pho Bo, or Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2 large beef marrow bones (could also use knuckle bones or a combo)
1 large onion, cut in half
2-inch piece ginger, sliced into thick coins
6 large cloves garlic, peeled and cracked
8 cups water, plus more as it reduces
4 cups beef stock
1 teaspoon beef bouillon (I like "Better Than Bouillon")
1/4 cup Thai fish sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce (I used low sodium)
1 teaspoon sugar
3 whole cloves
3 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
pinch of whole peppercorns
1 lb. boneless chuck
1 lb. (dry) rice noodles
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced (optional...I had some that needed to be used up)
1/2 lb. rib steak (or steak of your choice), frozen and sliced paper-thin, against the grain

Garnishes:
bean sprouts (if you can abide them--I can't!)
red chiles, thinly sliced
green onions, thinly sliced (both green and white parts)
fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
lime wedges
soy sauce
sriracha

In a five-quart stock pot, heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil and brown the marrow bones on all sides. Also brown the onion halves, and the ginger pieces and garlic cloves. After the bones and veggies have browned, cover them with the water, beef stock, bouillon, fish sauce and soy sauce. Add in the sugar, cloves, star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about an hour.

After the broth has been simmering for about an hour, skim off any fat and impurities that have gathered on top (continue to do this periodically throughout the cooking process, also add more water as needed). Submerge the piece of chuck and cook for another two hours, until the meat is tender enough to shred with just a fork. Remove the meat, shred, and reserve. Also, use a spider or slotted spoon to remove the bones, vegetables and spices from the broth and discard.

When the broth has cooked for at least three hours total, cover the rice noodles with boiling water and let them soak for about ten minutes until tender, then rinse them in cold water and drain. Meanwhile, stir-fry the sliced mushrooms briefly in the other tablespoon of vegetable oil. Slice the frozen steak as thinly as you can manage, going against the grain. Also thinly slice the red chiles and the green onions, chop the cilantro leaves, and cut up some lime wedges.

When you are ready to assemble your soup, get the broth back up to a rolling boil. In a large soup or pasta bowl, put a good spoonful of the mushrooms, some of the shredded chuck, a handful or two of the softened noodles, 10 or 12 pieces of the raw steak, some bean sprouts (if using), red chiles slices, and green onions. Ladle the boiling broth over everything, enough to cover. Sprinkle on a generous amount of cilantro, a big splash of soy sauce and a drizzle of sriracha, and serve with a lime wedge to be squeezed over the soup. Mix it all together and enjoy!

As Ke$ha might say, "Get your drunk on!" (Drunken BEANS, that is!)

This year, I decided to give many of my dear friends the gift of BEANS for Christmas! As I have blogged before, I am completely smitten with Rancho Gordo's heirloom beans, and I just wanted to share the love and get others hooked...like a culinary crack dealer. Tee hee. Plus, with New Year's right around the corner, I figured my friends might want to cook up some beans for good luck in 2011. (You're not limited to just black-eyed peas, ya know! The luck applies to anything you eat a great number of, symbolizing the amount of wealth--or pieces of gold--you'll acquire in the New Year, or some such nonsense.)

As I was placing my gift orders (that included Christmas limas and snowcaps, naturally!), I got to wondering if I had any Rancho Gordo beans left in my own supply. So I dug around in the pantry and unearthed one solitary package of Ojo de Cabra (goat's eye) beans.  But what to do with them? The description said that they were sort of like pintos, and a quick Google search took me to a recipe from Relish Magazine (provided by Rancho Gordo themselves) called "Drunken Beans." Yet another reason to make such a dish for New Year's when there is often much imbibing of spirits, and surely an open beer bottle to be found lying about! ;-)

So I got my beans properly drunk, served them over some rice, and garnished them with some of the corn relish that I just made. I must tell you, if you like things like red beans and rice, this will be TOTALLY up your alley! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone! (It's gotta be better than 2010...just sayin'.)



Rancho Gordo Drunken Beans
(Source: Relish Magazine)
"Not sweet or tomato-y like canned baked beans, these are great over rice or served with fresh corn tortillas. Use a dark, sweet beer such as Killian’s or Michelob Amber Bock."

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced, divided (I used at least four!)
2 cups dried beans Ojo de Cabra (Goat’s Eye) or pinto beans
3/4 cup dark, sweet beer (I used a lighter lager--the whole bottle)
1 thick slice bacon (um, or eight slices, as I did?!)
3 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
1/2 pound button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
Limes wedges
teaspoon salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
Limes wedges

1. Heat oil in a heavy saucepan; add 1/4 cup chopped onion and 1 minced garlic clove. Sauté about 5 minutes. Add beans and enough cold water to cover by 3 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, 2 hours or until beans are tender, adding water as necessary to keep beans covered.
2. Add beer and simmer about 15 minutes.
3. Cook bacon large skillet until crisp. Remove bacon and all but 1 tablespoon of fat from pan, reserving bacon. Add peppers and remaining onion and garlic to pan; sauté until tender. Add mushrooms; cook until tender. Chop reserved bacon and add to pan.
4. Combine bacon mixture with bean mixture. Cook 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Serve with lime wedges. Serves 6.

Recipe courtesy of Rancho Gordo, Napa, Calif.
"Relish a New American Farmer," Feb. 2007

Pie is the Best Present of All

I have a friend who is a nightmare to buy presents for, but he loves homemade baked goods. So in lieu of purchasing a Christmas present for him this year, I decided to make him something special. I conferred with his wife, and she informed me that he loves mincemeat pie, but she herself does not, so she never makes it for him. Done, and DONE, I say!

About two weeks before Christmas, I cooked up a batch of mincemeat using just dried fruits and no actual meat or suet. I had to admit, it looked and smelled divine, even before macerating in liquor for a good long while. Here is the recipe I (mostly) followed:

Homemade Mincemeat
Makes about 6 cups (enough for two pies)
(Source: adapted from Rick Rodgers' Christmas 101 via Joy of Baking)

2 large Golden Delicious apples, peeled and grated (I used MacIntosh)
1 12 ounce (1 1/2 cups) can frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
1 cup dried apples, chopped
3/4 cup dark raisins
3/4 cup golden raisins
3/4 cup dried currants
3/4 cup dried cranberries
2/3 cup mixed candied peel
1/3 cup candied lemon peel
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup dark rum
1/2 cup brandy or cognac (I used maple whiskey)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used 1 full teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (I only used 1/4 teaspoon)
1/4 teaspoon salt
*I also added one cup of orange juice to the mix

Place all the ingredients in a large Dutch oven, and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. Then, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the mincemeat, stirring often, for about 25-30 minutes, or until the liquid is almost evaporated. Transfer the mincemeat to a large bowl and let it cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator, at least overnight, or up to a month. Note: If storing longer than a week, stir in a little rum or brandy (about 1/4 cup) every week.

Ok, so I had mincemeat, but how now to make it into a pie? Truthfully, I consulted lots and lots of recipes, but then just kind of used The Force and winged it. I started with my favorite recipe for a two-crust pie and chilled the dough thoroughly. Then I rolled out both crusts, filled the bottom one with three cups of the mincemeat to which I added a cup of roughly chopped walnuts, dotted the filling with two tablespoons of butter, covered the filling with the top crust, perforated it and added a traditional star design for flourish. Then I egg-washed the top with a whole egg mixed with a tablespoon of cream. I started baking the pie at 425 degrees for about fifteen minutes, then turned it down to 350 and baked it until golden, probably about an hour total (and I covered the edges of the pie when they threatened to get too brown).

When I presented the pie to the lucky recipient at a local pub where we exchanged gifts a few days before Christmas, my friend Tom took a fork out and dove right into the middle of it! He said it was good, but his affect displays are hard to read (=understatement). Still, I believe he was pleased. This was confirmed the next day when his wife sent me a picture of Tom enjoying his pie...for breakfast! Tee hee.

Holiday Party Potluck Ideas

I don't know how you good people are managing your social dance cards this holiday season, but mine are a bit full. Of course, this is both a blessing--to have lots of friends--and a curse--to have to prepare many potluck dishes to bring to many events during this terribly busy time, right at the end of the semester.  So let me offer a few quick-and-easy people pleasers.

First on the docket was my office potluck which I had very little advance notice about and just one evening to prepare for (after teaching a night class, I might add). It was to take place on the last day of the term after two, three-hour finals and shortly before our winter graduation ceremony. When I was bouncing ideas off of my roommate the night before, I blurted out that I really needed something that I could throw in a crock pot when I got to school in the morning, and it would take care of itself all day and be ready to serve in the late afternoon. We considered soup, but I knew of two people that were already bringing some, so we started discussing hot dips. We briefly toyed with the idea of that Rotel cheese dip that everyone is crazy about, but I HATE processed cheese sauce, and I knew I would never live it down if I served something Velveeta-based to my colleagues.

When I contemplated my favorite hot dip that I'd ever sampled at a potluck gathering, my mind went immediately to an artichoke dip that I first had at a Christmas party a few years ago. It was baked, but I thought it might work in a slow cooker. I made a few adaptations--mainly, the inclusion of crabmeat--and I took home a clean crockpot from my office party!  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Crockpot Crab and Artichoke Dip

2 cans artichoke hearts, drained
1 (8 oz.) brick cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 (8 oz.) bag shredded Italian cheese blend (mozzarella, parmesan, provolone, asiago, fontina, romano)
1 can crabmeat, drained
2 teaspoons dill weed
2 to 4 cloves garlic (to taste), peeled and minced
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
several shakes of hot sauce, to taste
juice of half a lemon

Blitz the artichoke hearts in a food processor, then blend in the cream cheese and mayo. Scrape this out into your crock pot, and add the cheese, crab, and the rest of the seasonings. Stir everything together and turn the crock pot on high for an hour or so, until it's hot all the way through, then lower the heat to keep the dip warm throughout your party. Serve with sliced rounds of a crusty baguette that you have toasted in the oven just before serving.

Right on the heels of our gathering at work was my officemate's Christmas annual Christmas party. And I was so wiped out from the crashing halt of the semester that I wasn't feeling like coming up with anything too intricate. Luckily, my divine friend, Phillip, and his lovely hubby, Rob sent me an early and very tasty Christmas present this year: Medjool dates and date crystals from Shields Date Farm near Indio, CA. So for the party, I made a special hors d'oeuvre--those ginormous, sweet, almost creamy Medjool dates filled with tangy goat cheese and wrapped in bacon. I didn't follow any recipe--you don't really need to. But here's the jist of what I did:

I sliced each date on one side, filled the cavity with goat cheese, wrapped it in a half piece of extra-thick, very smoky bacon, and secured it with a toothpick. I placed them all on Silpay-lined trays and baked them at 400 degrees until the bacon was crispy (15-20 minutes?), turning them halfway through to promote even browning. They were very yummy, although I think I might try filling them with a blue cheese next time just for kicks!

I have one last idea if you're REALLY in a time crunch and can't even cook anything for an event. I have a couple of friends--who shall remain nameless--who often bring the following salad to potluck gatherings (because they can't be bothered to actually cook?!). It's an elegant, delicious, usually lighter offering to offset so many heavy dishes, and is something that the vegetarians can enjoy, too. And the best part of all, to prepare the salad, mostly what you need to do is open bags and assemble! I'm sure many of you already have a version of this salad in your repertoire, but just in case, consider this the master formula with infinite variations.

You start with mixed baby greens, any blend you prefer. Alternately, baby spinach on its own is lovely. Secondly, you add crumbled cheese, feta (plain or flavored) or a bleu. Third, you add nuts--pecans, walnuts, sliced almonds or even sunflower seeds. Some onion is optional, scallions or slivers of red onion. Lastly, you add fruit: strawberries in the summer, apples in the fall, or dried cranberries all year round (have you tried the pomegranate juice-infused Ocean Spray craisins?). Then you dress it all with--and this is KEY--Newman's Own Raspberry Walnut Light Vinaigrette (though your favorite balsamic dressing is yummy, too).  So easy, so sophisticated, so YUMMY, that you're guaranteed to take home an empty bowl from your party or potluck! Better yet, you should make a version of this salad weekly at your own house--it's just that good!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, everyone! Enjoy them, and don't let them stress you out! :-)

What I Should NOT Be Doing During Finals Week

I'm not sure if having the first day of finals week off was serendipitous, or more likely, I'll be cursing my misfortune in a few days, as all of my exams are bunched up at the end of the week. But one thing I do know for sure is that I should have spent my day off grading papers. But instead, I spent it canning. I sometimes make little holiday gifts of jam or chutney at this time of year for friends and colleagues, but this time, I was canning for someone I didn't even know!

You see, upon learning of this humble little cooking blog, one of my students asked me if I had homemade canned goods and preserves for sale, as she wanted to put a gift basket together for her aunt who loves such things. Of course, I was happy to oblige, and so we discussed what sorts of items would her aunt would prefer. I had many things on hand that I believed would fill the bill...all except one. My student told me that her aunt's favorite thing in the world was corn relish, and of course, that was one thing I did not have. I tried to talk her into some zucchini relish, but it had to be corn. So how could I not try and make her some? After all, it was for Christmas!

The thing I was most worried about was the unseasonable lack of fresh corn on the cob, but some knowledgeable folks on my favorite canning resource, GardenWeb's Harvest Forum, assured me that corn relish, since it's pickled, can be successfully made with frozen cut kernel corn. And guess what? It can, and it's TERRIFIC! This is such an easy and delicious recipe (from our trusty old friend, the Ball Blue Book), and I am thrilled to now know that it can be made year-round!

Oh, for those of you who may be asking, what do you do with corn relish, you can use it wherever a pickle relish might be called for, like on hot dogs, hamburgers or sandwiches. It's also good mixed into a pasta salad, or you can blend it with sour cream, mayo or cream cheese to make a delicious dip. Some people eat it as a side dish on its own. As for me, I like it on nachos with some black beans. YUM!

Home-Style Corn Relish
(Source: BBB's Fresh Preserving)

2 cups white vinegar
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt (that's plain canning salt)
4 cups cooked corn kernels, about 8 ears (I used frozen, thawed but not cooked)
2 cups diced mixed red and green bell peppers, about 2 large (I used one sweet red pepper, 4 long hot peppers and 2 jalapenos, as I like a little kick to my relishes!)
3/4 cup diced celery (about 2 stalks)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion (about 1 small)
1 tablespoon dry mustard (didn't realize I was out, so I swapped out 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds)
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
*I added 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and 1 teaspoon of coriander

6 (8 oz) half pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands (I used pints and got exactly 3 jars)

1. PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside.
2. COMBINE vinegar, sugar and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add corn, red and green peppers, celery, onion, mustard, celery seeds and turmeric. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. LADLE hot relish into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center hot lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until fit is fingertip tight.
4. PROCESS filled jars in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

Birthday Presents Worth Food-Blogging About!

Way back in October--a time frought with personal misfortunes--my age advanced by another year, adding insult to injury (tee hee). My lovely colleagues at work took me out to the Japanese steakhouse in town for dinner and showered me with many excellent gifts, including a beautiful handmade Wizard of Oz lap quilt (you can see from the picture of my desk that it was a theme of the day--along with better luck!)

Another one of my favorite presents was from my very kind and generous roomie--a cooking implement that I had wanted for years, but was too cheap to pony up the 35 bucks for, the Baker's Edge brownie pan. And even after receiving the pan, it took me a long time to give it a test drive. WHY OH WHY did I wait that long? What a waste of time and awesome brownies that could have been enjoyed!

I am now convinced that this is the greatest creation in human history, especially for us edge lovers. You see, the pan has these metal dividers or channels that cause every brownie or bar to have at least two chewy edges, if not THREE! And before you inside brownie lovers start to protest (sickos that you all are), this pan bakes so beautifully and evenly, that the middles of the brownies are tender and ethereally light and just DEE-licious!

I can't wait to try other cookie bars and coffee cakes and pound cakes and cornbread and such in this magical pan! If you have been considering buying one, DO NOT hesitate. The pan is heavy and well-made, and if you take care of it and hand wash only, you will have it forever. And you will need it to make a weekly batch of brownies...which may be a problem. ;-) Oh, and before you even ask, pictured above is a mix that I highly recommend called Betty Crocker Supreme Cookie Brownie Bars. All I changed to the given instructions was to add an extra handful of mini chocolate chips to the cookie dough, along with a half cup of chopped pecans. SO GOOD!

The other commercial product/birthday present that I must recommend to you is the gift that I got for my roommate for her birthday, the Keurig Special Edition coffee maker. Now, I tried to get this for her last year, but she wasn't convinced that she would like it, coffee snob that she is. But now that she has one, she is OBSESSED with the thing! She loves how fast it makes coffee, how it makes one cup at a time so the rest of the pot is never wasted, and most of all, she loves that it make coffee dark enough for her tastes. I also got her the little adapter to make your own k-cups, so she can use any of her favorite dark roast blends, or you can buy k-cups labelled "extra bold," which means they have extra coffee grounds in them for a bolder brew.

My main concern about the device, cheapskate that I am, was the cost per cup. But if you buy the k-cups in bulk via Amazon (highly recommend Coffee People's offerings--Black Tiger is a favorite), you can often get them for less than $0.50 a cup, and even if you use two to fill a commuter mug, that's still a fraction of the price of a daily Starbucks' run! Also, make Sam's Club (or Costco) your friend. They have a Keurig bundle for $120 that includes the special edition machine, 60 k-cups, AND the little adapter to make your own k-cups. That's a heckuva deal! Also, they have a separate box of 80 k-cups of Paul Newman's Organic Extra Bold for $33 (about $0.41 a cup), another excellent bargain. You're welcome. ;-)

In which my life threatens to become a bad country song...

"Yeah, I watched that sweet old life become a bag of bones..."

--Indigo Girls, "Ozilline"

Rest in peace, old girl. You were dearly loved and will be sorely missed.

ROSIE LINDSEY
(June 6, 1996 - December 2, 2010)

A Post-Thanksgiving Post

Oh, I forgot something else on our Thanksgiving menu. Again, some credit goes to Bobby Flay for insisting that you should always start the meal with soup of some kind. Partial credit should also go to a hilarious young blogger (the niece of one of my PBGV friends) whose Thanksgiving dinner always includes her grandmother's mushroom soup. Here's my own take on it:

Cream of Mushroom Soup

4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
24 oz. crimini mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, peeled and cracked (or 1/2 teaspoon granulated)
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 cup white wine, optional
1/2 cup flour
4 cups beef or pork stock
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (a few shakes, to taste)
bunch of thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups half-and-half
salt, to taste

Melt the butter and olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Saute the mushrooms, onion and garlic clove with a pinch of red pepper flakes until the onions are soft and the mushrooms start to brown. Deglaze with white wine, if you like, scraping up all the browned bits. Let the wine almost completely cook off. (If you choose not to use the wine, just move directly on to the flour.) Add the flour to the mushrooms and cook for a couple of minutes until it starts to take on a golden color, stirring frequently.

A little at a time, add the stock, stirring constantly. When all the stock has been added, and the soup is uniformly smooth, shake in some Worcestershire sauce, throw in a bundle of thyme (or dried), add the pepper, the half-and-half, and salt to taste. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 20-30 minutes to let the flavors meld. If the soup becomes too thick, add more half-and-half or stock as you see fit.

*You may also use a stick blender to whiz this all up, but I prefer sliced mushrooms in mine.

Before I wrap up this Thanksgiving follow-up post, I have one turkey leftover idea for you: TURKEY CAESAR SALAD!  Start with mixed greens, leftover turkey, sliced olives, shredded parmesan, Cardini's Caesar dressing (there is no substitute!), and instead of croutons, top the salad with leftover french fried onions from that green bean casserole you probably made. Not exactly low-cal, but crazy good!

Very THANKFUL this year!

I have SO MUCH to be thankful for! Since this time last year, I have been blessed to move into my own home, my BFF and roomie, Cyd, returned from living in MN for over a year, and I have survived both cancer and a serious car accident. And I am so very grateful to God and to faithful friends who have sustained me through it all. HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!

Having said all that, I'm not really one for going all gourmet crazy at Thanksgiving; I'm very much a traditionalist. We went to my friend Lee Ann's, as we often do on the actual day, and they have all of the traditional fare. I was assigned an hors d'oeuvre and a chocolate dessert, so I took an easy appetizer called Swiss, Bacon and Tomato Bites (the recipe is from a friend at work, originally from Pampered Chef, that I amped up with a little minced garlic) and a classic French silk pie.

I also brought along some of my one experimental dish this year, inspired by Bobby Flay and one of my blogger friends, Kitchen Mage: cranberry-blackberry-jalapeno chutney. (Ooh...let that idea marinate in your thoughts for just a moment!) This was based on a blueberry habanero chutney that Cyd and I love, especially on grilled salmon and pork chops. But I thought I'd Thanksgiving it up with cranberries. The addition of blackberries was thanks to recent episode of Bobby Flay's "Throwdown." It turned out so well, I think it's the start of a new Thanksgiving tradition!

As for the home menu that we prepared for Black Friday, we brined and roasted a 22-pound beast of a turkey that Cyd bought from a co-worker who raises them, made a sausage, sage and veggie dressing, the Pioneer Woman's decadent mashed potatoes, homemade gravy (of course--there is NO substitute!), green beans with bacon, brussels sprouts for Cyd (ick), and we had some delicious leftover pumpkin cheesecake that we brought home from Lee Ann's. YUM! I hope you all enjoyed your holiday, too!
 
Cranberry-Blackberry-Jalapeno Chutney

2 onions, chopped
2-4 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup orange juice
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 lb. fresh cranberries
1 lb. frozen blackberries

Combine the onion, at least two of the peppers (for a pretty mild sauce), vinegar, orange juice, sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer until the liquid is reduced to about 1/3 its original volume.

Add cranberries, blackberries, and more jalapeno to taste. Simmer gently until thickened and jammy-looking, stirring every minute or so to avoid scorching. Let cool before serving.

God Save the Beets!

My beloved friend Jay has a husband named Greg, and they have a darling little four-year-old boy named Clark. Jay is a writer and works from home, and Greg...well...Greg (like Chandler Bing) has a job that nobody really understands, but has something to do with computer systems training and causes him to travel a lot all over the world. Usually Jay and Clark hold down the fort at home in Chicago, but recently, they got to accompany Daddy Greg to London for two weeks. While there, Jay sampled a cake made with beets that had a poppyseed glaze that he really fancied. It sounded quite vile to me, as I loathe beets, but Jay said it really tasted very similar to carrot cake, but without the heavy cream cheese frosting, which he feels can overwhelm a cake. (Baker's Note: Jay is ridiculous in this opinion! The only reason to eat carrot cake is for the cream cheese frosting...SHEESH!)

Nevertheless, I took up the challenge to help Jay recreate a beetroot cake back home across the Pond. I found a recipe from Nigel Slater online, and I converted it to American ingredients and measurements from British. Other than needing a little more sugar (to suit our American tastebuds) and a tad more salt, my cakes turned out quite tasty, and as Jay promised, with very little beet-y flavor. I amended the recipe to reflect the necessary additions, and here's what I ended up with:

Beetroot Cake with Poppyseed Glaze
(Source: adapted from Nigel Slater on Tender Recipes)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I swapped out one cup of white whole wheat)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar, packed (I used light)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/8 cups raw beets, grated (I used red and golden beets, about one pound total)
juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sultanas or raisins (ick! optional!)
1/2 cup mixed seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, linseed)

for the icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
lemon juice or orange blossom water
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Set the oven at 350F. Lightly butter a rectangular loaf tin (20cm x9cm x 7cm deep, measured across the bottom) then line the bottom with baking parchment. (I just used flour-added spray on a glass pan, and it came out perfectly.)

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Beat the oil and sugar in a food mixer until well creamed then introduce the beaten egg yolks one by one, reserving the whites for later. (I did this in a regular bowl and whisked by hand.)

Grate the beets coarsely and fold into the mixture then add the lemon juice, raisins or sultanas and the assorted seeds. Fold the flour and raising agents into the mixture whilst the machine is turning slowly. Beat the egg whites until light and almost stiff. Fold gently but thoroughly into the mixture using a large metal spoon (a wooden one will knock the air out).

Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 50-55 minutes, covering the to with a piece of tin foil after 30 minutes. Test with a skewer for doneness. The cake should be moist inside but not sticky. Leave the cake to settle for a good 20 minutes before turning out of its tin on to a wire cooling rack.

Make the icing. Sieve the powdered sugar and stir in enough lemon juice or orange blossom water to achieve a consistency where the icing will run over the top of the cake and dribble slowly down the sides (about one tablespoon), stirring to remove any lumps. Drizzle over the cake and scatter with poppy seeds (I just mixed the poppyseeds into the glaze and poured it over). Leave to set before eating.

Cookies to Restore Sanity

My dear friend June's birthday is only two days after mine, so we sometimes celebrate together, usually on the last weekend in October. But this year, June and her family were travelling to Washington, D.C. to attend Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity (and Stephen Colbert's Rally to Keep Fear Alive) over that weekend. I desperately wanted to go, but I was in that awful insurance limbo period where I didn't have a car. (I was driving my saintly roommate's car to get to work every day, but I wouldn't trust it all the way to D.C. and back!)

So I stayed home and watched it on the big screen and made a batch of chocolate chip cookies to celebrate the event. (If any food was going to restore sanity, I feel it would be a good chocolate chip cookie, don't you?) As it turns out, I may have been in the preferred situation, because even though June and her family had fun partying in the unseasonably warm weather with other spirited and kind-hearted moderates bearing amusing t-shirts and posters, there were SO MANY people in attendance that they couldn't even see the stage. June kept calling me to find out what was going on via the television. LOL! As for the cookies, they turned out quite well. I tried a new recipe--one with vanilla pudding in the mix to add flavor and keep the cookies tender. I read many of the over 500 reviews and made some changes accordingly--they are noted below.

Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Source: adapted from Allrecipes)

1 cup butter, softened (I used 1/2 butter and 1/2 shortening)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I reduced this to 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup white sugar (I used 1/2 cup powdered sugar)
1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I increased this to 2 teaspoons)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I reduced this to 2 cups)
1 teaspoon baking soda (I added 1 teaspoon baking powder)
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional but helps cut the sweetness)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I cut this back to 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup pecan pieces (optional but delicious!)
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (I dropped this down to 350.)
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter (and shortening, if using) and sugars. Add pudding mix, eggs and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda (and baking powder and salt, if using); add to creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts, if using.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. (Mine took 12-13 minutes at 350.)
Yield: 27 cookies using a regular cookie scoop

A couple of weeks after June's birthday, we FINALLY got around to celebrating her properly by going out to a nice dinner, and then going back to her house for coffee and dessert and board games.  Since I had to prepare the dessert on Thursday night after teaching an evening class, it couldn't be anything too elaborate. But I made some special cupcakes to honor my friend who hails from New Orleans and who loves the pairing of coffee and chocolate (as do I)! I started with the time-honored Hershey's Black Magic Cake recipe, then made a coffee cream cheese frosting, and topped the cupcakes with sliced almonds. They turned out pretty darn delicious, if I do say so myself. Happy (belated) birthday, June!

Louisiana Mud Pie Cupcakes

Black Magic Cupcakes:
(Source: Hershey's)

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa (1/4 cup black cocoa)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
2 eggs
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups.
2. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add buttermilk, eggs, water, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes (batter will be thin). Fill cups 2/3 full with batter.
3. Bake 15 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan. Cool completely. Frost. Makes 30 cupcakes (I got 27)

Coffee Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/2 cup/1 stick butter, room temperature (no substitutions!)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 tablespoons instant espresso mixed with a little hot water
pinch of salt
4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted (more if needed, must be sifted)

Whip together the butter and cream cheese until uniform and light in texture. Add the vanilla, espresso mixture, and salt and blend again. Mix in the powdered sugar at first on low speed, then until completely smooth on medium speed.

*Top each cupcake with a generous amount of frosting, then garnish with a big sprinkle of sliced and toasted almonds before serving.

More tragedy....and a little comfort.

Suffice to say, this has not been my year. I've already shared about my recent health crisis, but along with losing my mother almost five years ago, this next tragic story rounds out the top three worst things that have ever happened to me. So my 2002 Ford Focus wagon finally gave up the ghost when the electrical system went haywire. It always had been a little funky, but it was past the point of no return when it got stuck in park, and I had to bypass the safety feature with a screwdriver every time I started the car. It was probably going to cost more to fix it than it was worth, so I decided it was time to suck it up, face the inevitability of a car payment, and go buy something new and fully functioning.

I was excited to discover that a car dealership in town had changed over to selling Kias, and I had my eye on a cute little Java-colored Kia Soul Exclaim with all the bells and whistles, including a moon roof, which I had always wanted! I fought a tough battle with the salesmen, and I finally took ownership of the car on Monday evening, October 20th. And coming home Thursday evening, October 22nd, I totalled it. Yep, that's right. And though I've never caused an accident before, it was my fault.

I was travelling on a rural highway that had just gone from four lanes to two when I saw two cars parked on the shoulder with all their lights on. At first, I thought a police officer had someone stopped, but I didn't see any flashing lights. So then I thought someone had broken down and the other car had stopped to help. In either case, it was dark, and I couldn't see where the people were standing, so I moved over to get out of the way in case they were standing outside of their cars, as I didn't want to hit anyone. I don't know if I wasn't used to driving a larger car or if I had forgotten that I only had one lane or what, but I swerved too far over and hit the guy in the oncoming lane. THANK GOD neither of us was seriously injured, but the cars were another story. Oh well, that's why we have insurance, right?  Things can be replaced; people can't.

When you're feeling low, sometimes you just need a comforting meal. It may not make everything all better, but it sure helps in the moment. So I decided to make a big pot of a hearty beef barley soup, and to go with it, I made a very simple but tasty brown bread from a James Beard recipe that my sweet friend, Phil, sent me. And for dessert, I cheated and made a cake from a mix--Betty Crocker's Decadent Supreme Cinnamon Swirl. But it was pretty darn good, I must say. In fact, I'd say it tasted very close to a Cinnabon in cake form! And it went a long way to soothing the physical and emotional bruises of the unfortunate car accident.



Beef, Barley, and Mushroom Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 lbs. sirloin steak
2 tablespoons steak rub (or enough to coat the meat)
1 large onion, chopped
2 large stalks celery, chopped
4 carrots, diced (I used 3 carrots and one parsnip)
1 lb. crimini mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes in puree
6 cups beef stock
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 bundle thyme (or a teaspoon of dried thyme, if you prefer)
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup medium (not quick-cooking) barley

In a 5-qt. Dutch oven, heat the olive oil. Coat the steak(s) with your favorite spice rub, then brown the meat in the oil. Remove from the pot and add the chopped veggies (except the garlic). Cook for a few minutes until the mirepoix becomes tender and starts to brown. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.

Meanwhile, slice up the steak and add the pieces (and any juices) back into the pot. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and the beef stock, and add the seasonings. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer for a couple of hours until the meat is almost as tender as you'd like. Add the barley, bring back to a boil, and simmer for another hour, give or take. Check seasoning and serve piping hot with a slice of hearty bread.

Myrtle Allen's Brown Bread
James Beard, Beard on Bread (1973)
Yield:1 loaf

3 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour, preferably stone ground
1 1/2 packages active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (100ºF to 115ºF, approximately), divided
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon salt

Put the whole-wheat flour in a large mixing bowl and place in a warm oven (a gas oven with the pilot light on or an electric oven set as low as possible). Both the flour and the bowl should be warm when you make the bread.

Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water, and blend in the molasses. Let proof. Add another 1/2 cup water. Combine the flour, yeast mixture, and salt. Add enough warm water to make a wet, sticky dough (about 1 cup or more according to the flour). Put directly into a buttered 9 x 5 x 3-inch bread tin. Cover, set in a warm spot, allow to rise by one-third its original size. Preheat the oven and bake at 450ºF for 50 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from the pan and leave on the rack in the turned-off oven for 20 minutes more to give a crustier finish.

Amish Reflections

So this is a post about Columbus Day weekend, and I know that it's WAY LATE, but I feel like I've been treading water just to keep on top of everything this semester. Teaching seven classes and doing a round of chemo every three weeks has been a challenge, to say the very least, but I am finally DONE WITH TREATMENT (YEE-HAW!), so now I can play catch-up with some stuff that I've had to back-burner for awhile, like my poor little blog. Thanks for your continued patience...

Even though it was came right on the heels of chemo #4, I decided that I didn't want my treatments to keep me from enjoying a school holiday. Still, I didn't feel up to doing anything extremely taxing, so my roommate and I decided on a quickie driving tour of Philadelphia and the Amish Country in Lancaster County, PA. We had a very nice time, despite the fact that the fall color had yet to reach Pennsylvania. In fact, the day we visited Philadelphia, it was almost 80 degrees!

Of course, the first thing we did after checking into our motel was to go in search of the ultimate cheesesteak, but what we found was the sandwich that Philly SHOULD be famous for, the roast pork with broccoli rabe, specifically at Tony Luke's.

The next morning, we enjoyed a walk through the Reading Terminal Market and had breakfast at the Down Home Diner (featured on "$40 a Day" with Rachael Ray). 

In the afternoon, we saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall because, well, you have to.






Then that night, the Food Network theme continued, as we decided to visit the Italian Market area, and we dined at this joint called Villa di Roma that had been around for decades and had been in an episode of "Throwdown" where their meatballs bested Bobby Flay's. We had spaghetti and the famous meatballs and a decadent quattrocini alfredo (pasta alfredo with spinach and bits of prosciutto). But the best thing was this appetizer that the waitress talked into--fried spears of asparagus with a lemony, buttery dipping sauce. YUM!!

The next day, we headed west to the land of the Amish. I had always dreamed of visiting what I imagined to be a very quaint and homespun region, but as it turns out, it was pretty kitschy. The only way to escape all the tourist traps (many of which we dutifully visited--my favorite was Kitchen Kettle Village, like a theme park based on canning!) was to get off the main highway, turn off the GPS and just drive! We took in glorious scenery that way, and encountered places like September Farm in Honey Brook where we bought some delicious cheeses, and the Bird in Hand Bake Shop (don't you just love the lyrical names of the towns?), where we loaded up on rye bread and whoopie pies and snickerdoodles and sticky buns and shoofly pie. Oh, and we bought some of the BEST local milk to wash (some of) it down with...so rich and flavorful from those Amish cows, no doubt! And clearly, we chose an excellent and authentic place for lunch (Yoder's in New Holland) because we were seated next to these lovely people of whom I snuck a verboten picture! ;-)

Before we headed home the next day, we stopped at Stoltzfus Meats in (wait for it...here it comes...) Intercourse, PA to pack our coolers with lots of delicious meats and cheeses. They were also selling their homemade sausage chowder which looked wonderful, but it was $8 a quart! I thought to myself, I can make a whole purple Dutch oven full of sausage chowder for eight bucks! So when I got home, I devised the following recipe that I thought turned out very well. It's a sausage, corn and KALE chowder, because I happened the have some kale hanging around that needed to be used.  Plus, I thought the soup needed something green and healthful.



Sausage, Corn and Kale Chowder

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb. sausage (I used sweet Italian)
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 sweet pepper, seeded and chopped
4 carrots, peeled and cut into large dice
4 large potatoes, washed and cut into chunks
1 16 oz. bag frozen corn
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
2 cups fresh kale, stemmed and torn into small pieces
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
1 cup half and half
salt, to taste

In a 5-quart Dutch oven over medium heat, brown the sausage in the olive oil along with the chopped onion, celery,and pepper. When the sausage is no longer pink, add the carrots, potatoes, corn, stock and seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender. Use a potato masher to mash about half of the potato chunks to thicken the chowder. Stir in the kale, and add the milk and cream. Add salt to taste. Simmer uncovered until the liquid has reduced a bit and the kale has wilted.

*I did not do it (yet), but I think a couple of cups of shredded cheese melted into the chowder would be delicious, too! I'm thinking a swiss like emmental or gruyere.