Nanny's Crescents

By all accounts, Ryan's grandmother was an excellent cook.  This means that when Ryan's father (who lives alone, in Alabama) comes to visit, he is an extremely appreciative audience.  He knows good home cooking, but he almost never gets it.  Since he was coming into town this weekend, I wanted to make sure to have some dessert on hand and proposed making cookies.  Ryan's mother suggested that I make his favorites, crescents.  She e-mailed his sister for his mom's recipe and in no time, we were mixing up a batch.  They are delicate and crumbly and sweet, even when slightly overdone (which is how Ryan's dad likes them).

NANNY'S CRESCENTS

INGREDIENTS:
2 C flour
1/2 lb butter
4 1/2 T powdered sugar (plus more for rolling)
1 t vanilla
1 t orange juice
1 t cold water
1/2 C chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:
Pre-heat your oven to 350 F.  Start by cutting the 2 sticks (that's usually how many are in a half pound) of butter into smaller bits.  Then, in your stand mixer, mix your butter until creamy and add the powdered sugar. Then add the orange juice, water and vanilla, continuing to mix.  Slowly add the flour while mixing on low until it is incorporated.  Finally add the walnuts.  Mix one last time to distribute the walnuts evenly.  Form into crescent shapes and set on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done (mine were definitely done at 20 minutes, any longer would possibly have made them too brown even for Ryan's dad).  Take them out and toss them in powdered sugar and set to cool. Try to keep them in the house for more than a day.

Christmas Past

Every other year, my grandparents would come for Christmas. I went to school exactly one block away from my house. From school, you'd cross the street, walk to the end of the block and turn the corner. As I approached that corner I would be so excited hoping for a glimpse of their car parked in front of our house. Nana and I had a special Christmas ritual when she came; we'd make the bows for all the gifts. Since she and Grampy drove down from Cape Cod, they'd have wrapped the presents, but bows would have been smooshed on the journey. Nana and I would sit down with long strings of ribbon and she'd show me just how to make the first loop over my thumb, then each loop to the side growing in size until the bow was finished. We'd staple the middle and tape our handiwork to each gift. It was something special we always did, just the two of us. I didn't often cook with Nana. The treats at her house were usually made and waiting when I arrived, but I do remember making applesauce with her. Once you're old enough to be trusted around a stove, it's the perfect thing for a child to make, since other than the chopping and peeling, all the stirring, tasting and sweetening and spicing can be done by even the smallest of cooks. NANA'S APPLESAUCE

INGREDIENTS:
2 apples (although make as much as you want!!)
1 t lemon juice
1 T water
1 tsp sugar (although this you should change depending on how sweet your apples are and how you like your applesauce).
1/2 t cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
Peel, core and chop your apples (this is the job an adult needs to do). Put them in a saucepan on the stove. Add the lemon juice and water and let the apples cook down until they are soft and mushy. Add the sugar and cinnamon, I wrote you how I like it, but this is a perfect experiment for beginning chefs to try adding a bit more of each until it's how they enjoy it. You can serve it homestyle or make it smoother by putting it through a food mill or mashing it with a potato masher.

Saving a Favorite

As we sat newly stuffed in front of our Thanksgiving dinner plates, I was already cataloging the leftovers. And when I mentioned ragout my father's face fell. He hadn't thought about ragout. It's not one of the big, obvious in your face things that he can't eat like pasta or pizza. It's just one of his childhood favorites that happens to have homemade dumplings. I reassured him without even being sure of what I could accomplish. I promised that I would come over and make him ragout and that it would be okay. And of course I went over and made it and much to my great relief (and I'll admit, amazement) it really was okay. More than okay. It was completely saved. So just in case someone else out there is longing for some chicken and dumplings that are safely gluten-free, here's my nana's ragout:


NANA GRENON'S CHICKEN RAGOUT

Ingredients:
For the soup -
1 C onion, chopped
1 C celery chopped (I mince mine because Ryan does not like celery)
2 C carrots (cut into disks, coins, whatever you call them)
5-6 C chicken stock (or turkey stock) preferably homemade
salt and pepper
2-3 T olive oil
1 T sage
1 T thyme
approximately 2 C of chopped leftover chicken or turkey. Use what you have. The dumplings will make up for it if you don't have enough. You can use chopped white meat or all the little bits you have, it's up to you.

For the dumplings -1 C stock - cooled
2.5 C gluten-free flour - I used Annalise Robert's mix, which you can either find in her cookbook Gluten-Free Baking Classics or purchase it ready mixed from Authentic Foods.
salt and pepper
thyme

DIRECTIONS:
Pour the oil in a large stockpot. Add the onion and celery and cook on low for about 5 minutes. Add the stock, carrots and whatever chicken or turkey bits you're add. Add salt and pepper for taste. This recipe takes a lot of salt, so taste carefully. Bring the stock almost to a boil. While you're waiting for it to boil, make the dumplings. Use a cup of cool stock (I usually set it aside before I start cooking) and mix it together with the gluten-free flour and about a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of pepper. Add about 2 t fresh thyme to the dumplings if you like. The thyme is completely inauthentic, but it is tasty. The dough will be sticky and hard to work with. Roll out the dough between two pieces of Saran Wrap, you can use cheaper rice flour to assist in the de-sticking of the dough. If you don't get it thin you will have yucky gloppy dumplings. When it's thin (maybe less than a 1/4 inch thick?) slice in 1" squares. These can and will be very irregular, some will sort of stick as you pick them up, I sort of use the knife to scrape them up and then drop them in the soup as described below. Don't worry about the irregularity, it gives the soup character. When the stock is very hot but not boiling, Add the thyme and sage and throw in the squares of dough and cook for 3-5 more minutes until the dough is cooked.

The soup is better on the second or third day because the flavors will meld.

'Tis the Season...For Deviled Eggs

We are currently at a crossroads - smack in between Easter and Mother's Day. Whether you have some left over hard boileds that you're dreading facing or are organizing your brunch menu for next Sunday, it is critical that you be able to devil. Besides shower season is upon us and whether they be bridal showers or baby showers, deviled eggs are always a hit. Even when your tray of them has slid off the seat during a particularly violent braking at a stoplight.* Trust me, a bit of paprika, some cosmetic work with a spoon and paper towel, no one will be the wiser.

*Amazingly enough, while I was involved with the repair work, I was not responsible for the egg accident. I will never reveal the name of Melanie the person who was.

DEVILED EGGS

INGREDIENTS:
6 hard-boiled eggs
4 T plus 1 t mayonnaise (Hellman's is GF)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dijon mustard (Maille is GF)
black pepper to taste
paprika

DIRECTIONS:
Carefully peel the eggs. Slice each egg in half and with a spoon coax out the yolk into a small bowl. When you've gathered all the yolks add the mayonnaise and mustard and mix well. I usually break up the mixture with the tines of a fork, but people who like it smoother may prefer to something else. Sprinkle in the salt and add the pepper to taste. You can pipe the filling in with a piping bag or by filling a plastic ziploc with eggy goodness, chopping off a corner of the ziploc and squeezing it through. I am usually too lazy for these and instead use a spoon to heap the mixture back into the holes. Sprinkle the tops with paprika.

Monkeying With Tradition

Those of you who know me well know that I don't like to mess with tradition, particularly around Christmastime, but desperate times call for desperate measures. You see, Christmas has always meant a pork pie. My nana has always had a pork pie. Like any good French-Canadian, her mother used to make them for Christmas Eve. Of course, Nana Grenon wasn't much for a recipe, so she showed my grandmother what to do. I tried to write that recipe up last year, but there were too many variables. You see, in my family, a pork pie recipe works a bit like this: grind up some leftover pork with some onions, mix some salt and pepper and poultry seasoning with mashed potatoes, toss it all together with leftover pork gravy and tuck between two pie crusts. How much? How wet? How fluffy? The answer to all three is enough, which isn't exactly helpful for recipe writing.

But this year Nana had a bit of a challenge for me. She needs a pork pie recipe without pork so that her holiday guests can share in her favorite holiday meal. I'd needed to improvise one some time ago since Ryan doesn't eat pork. And so here I am, the ultimate traditionalist, monkeying with tradition.

You'll have to bear with me a bit for this recipe. It's really for my Nana, but I'm sharing it with you. I know that there are parts where she'll be thinking "I know that!" or "That's not how I'd do it!" So Nana, you're probably right, do what you think is best! And there are parts where you'll be wishing I gave better instructions, but I'm afraid it can't be helped. I did my best.

PORKLESS PORK PIE
This amount of filling makes a slightly scant 9" pie. I don't want to be guessing at proportions which is what I'd be doing if I wanted to make it more stuffed.

Using up Thanksgiving leftovers? No problem. Get 12 oz of cooked turkey instead of the raw. You'll need to grind it up using your meat grinder.

INGREDIENTS:
1 recipe dough
12 oz ground turkey - preferably a high ratio of fat, so 93% fat free if you can get it. 99% fat free will taste like cardboard. Also as this is not a whole package of ground turkey, you can use the rest for something else, white turkey chili would be great.
2 C mashed potatoes
1/2 a large onion chopped - this was about a cup for me
2 garlic cloves chopped
2-3 tablespoons butter
approximately a 1/4 C of homemade turkey gravy
salt and pepper
6 leaves fresh sage (Nana - I have these in the house, you can use poultry seasoning to taste if you prefer!)

DIRECTIONS:
Make the dough and put it in the fridge. In a large pan, melt a tablespoon of butter and add the garlic and onions and a small pinch of salt. Saute for 3-5 minutes until softened. Add the ground turkey and brown over medium heat, using your spoon to break apart the meat until crumbly. Add salt and pepper to taste, plus the well minced sage leaves. Thanksgiving leftover version - still cook those garlic and onions, but mix it in with your meat grinder turkey. Then mix it with the potatoes by hand, skip the food processing step below.

Now Nana usually combines the ground meat and the potatoes by hand, but I did it in my food processor. Don't over process because you don't want a paste, but make sure the mashed potatoes and turkey don't have any big chunks left. Working with warm or room temperature potatoes helps matters. The resulting mixture should be sort of fluffy and crumbly but should smoosh together if you press it. See below:


Moisten with a 1/4 C of turkey gravy. You don't want this too wet, just moist and flavorful. If it's too dry (a real problem especially if you started with dry mashed potatoes) use more gravy or some chicken stock in a pinch. Taste this. You have to. Add more salt and pepper as needed, clearly how much you add depends on how seasoned your potatoes, gravy and turkey were to begin with. Don't worry if it feels like you're adding a lot of salt. Anything that's made primarily from a mild flavored meat and potatoes needs salt.

Preheat the oven to 325 F (Nana cook this however you would normally, if you don't use 325/45 minutes tell me and I'll fix it in this recipe!).

Roll out the bottom crust and place in your pie plate. Fill with the turkey and potato mixture. Top with another tablespoon or so of butter, pinched off.


Then roll out the top crust, add the top, pinch the sides closed, cut slits in the top and bake for 45 minutes or until the crust is golden and the pie is warm.

Merry Christmas!

Dinner and Movie

I have to say, I admire my parents' style of entertaining. Back in the day, they'd have friends in for fabulous dinner parties. The next morning, while my parents and their guests were still in bed, I would pad through the living room and dining room in my jammies surveying the damage. Empty bottles of wine were lined up along the mantle; small plates holding uneaten chocolate bonbons waited on the table (fine, maybe I stole a few for breakfast). So where was I whilst all the merry-making took place? My parents hired the best babysitter money can buy - Fred Astaire (actually, he was totally free). Since TV watching was a rare treat, and eating in front of the TV, absolutely verboten, my Saturday night dinner and a movie set-up was just about the biggest treat I could imagine. My father would make me a special pasta dinner and set me up with an old musical and I'd be in heaven. It became such a tradition for me that when I was old enough to babysit on weekends instead of stay home I really missed my special movie time.

Start out with Swing Time, one of my favorite Astaire-Rogers films, and another classic, chicken with shells. And while this very first dinner and a movie post is perfect for occupying small children so that you can have an evening to yourself on the cheap, stay tuned. I'm planning on featuring some of my favorite movies and meals that would perfect accompaniments, because even though I'm a grown-up now I still love settling down to a delicious dinner in front of a terrific film.


DADDY'S CHICKEN AND SHELLS
serves 2

INGREDIENTS:
1 large breast of chicken
6 slices bacon
1 C frozen peas
1/2 lb shells
1/2 C chicken stock
1/4 C - 1/2 C cream
2 T butter
1 T olive oil
1/4 C Parmigiano-Reggiano

DIRECTIONS:
Chop the bacon into medium sized squares. Cook in a skillet for 5-7 minutes or until crisp. Set aside. Then raise the heat to high and add your tablespoon of olive oil. Sear for 2 minutes per side, then add the 1/2 C of stock and reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for about 5 minutes or until cooked through. When it's done remove it from the pan and let it stand for a few minutes so the juices don't all run out when you cut it. After it has rested cut it into bite sized pieces. Cook the shells according to the package directions. When they're done drain them quite thoroughly. Make sure to shake them a bit to get the water out. Then melt 2 T of butter over them and mix gently to coat. Cook off half the chicken broth, then add 1 C of frozen peas and cook them for 3 minutes. Add the 1/4 C of cream and the chicken to the broth and peas. Add the shells and 1/4 C parm. Add the bacon. Mix gently and serve.

Mom's (and Grandmama's) Potato Salad

You will not likely be seeing many recipes from my Grandmama on this blog. She was beautiful, vivacious, and talkative, but cooking was not her thing. It didn't have to be. She was the youngest of thirteen children. Not all of them needed to learn to cook. She didn't particularly take to people asking about her cooking either. If anyone dared ask her What's for dinner?, she would reply Shit on a Shingle, which is not quite as rude as it sounds, since it's an old army term for chipped beef on toast. (Incidentally, if you ask my mother about SOS, she will tell you how to make it and even about the glass jar the beef comes in that you can repurpose as a juice glass, so consider yourself warned). At any rate, Grandmama's potato salad was a good deal better than shit on a shingle, possibly because this recipe was one also favored by her sisters (including ones that could and did cook well).

MARSHALL POTATO SALAD

INGREDIENTS:
4 medium boiling potatoes (I like the red ones or baby new potatoes)
white vinegar
4T mayo
1T Dijon mustard
6 chopped baby sweet gherkins
1t onion salt
1t garlic salt
2 hard boiled eggs
lots of pepper (see picture) and some salt to taste

gluten-free note: Check labels, but you should be able to get gf mustard and mayo.

DIRECTIONS:
Cut potatoes into large chunks or leave the babies whole. Bring water to a boil and cook about 12-15 minutes. This is not really science. It depends on whether the water was really at a boil and how large your chunks are. Use that army fork and test them after 12 minutes. If you cook them too much, they fall apart and then you have potato mush instead of potato salad.

Drain and let cool in colander for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with plain old white vinegar. I think this is to keep the potatoes white while they cool, but it could also be to add some tang to all that creamy mayo.
When cool, cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
It is important to wait until the potatoes are cool before assembling the salad or you are back to mush.
Place in a large bowl.
Cut hard boiled eggs into slightly larger cubes. Set aside.
Mix the mayo, mustard, gherkins and flavorings in a small bowl. Mix gently into the potatoes. When almost incorporated. Add the eggs. This is a very delicate operation because if you are too forceful or energetic with the tossing in of mayo, you will get- mush. again. Add salt and plenty of pepper to taste.

"Chinese" Chicken or Rename this Recipe!

Truth - I have been avoiding posting this recipe because it is Chinese chicken, and we've always called it Chinese chicken, I wouldn't know what else to call it. And yet, I can acknowledge, that no matter what the Time-Life Foods of the World Series would have you think, this is definitely not a real, true, chinese recipe. Not even a bit. But it's delicious, easy and great to bring to all those damn summer potlucks, barbecues and backyard parties. So I'm going to swallow the shame that wells inside me for calling this Chinese and give you the recipe. You're on your own when people ask you what it is.

CHINESE CHICKEN
From Time-Life Foods of the World, via Mom (again - thanks Mom!)

INGREDIENTS:
8 chicken thighs or 2 breasts (Mom always used thighs, they honestly taste better, but Ryan only eats breasts, so we adapt)
2T soy sauce
1T rice wine
2 scallions, sliced 2" long segments and julienned
4 slices ginger, crushed and minced
if making stovetop
flour for dredging
peanut (or other) oil

gluten-free note: Make on the grill, without dredging in flour and find a gf soy sauce.

DIRECTIONS:
If you are using breasts, cut them into 2" chunks; thighs you can cut in two, after removing all the gunky bits. That is why I don't use thighs, but the original recipe called for them. They are easier because you don't have to be so careful of the timing; using the breasts there is a danger of overcooking. Beware.

Mix together the soy, rice wine, scallions and ginger. Set the chicken in to marinate.Marinate the chicken in the mixture for at least 3 hours(Mom has more free time than I do, I marinate for an hour. This also may explain why hers are better than mine) . The original recipe called for the chicken to be floured and fried in peanut oil. Mom made it that way for years and it is delicious. You take the pieces of chicken, and coat them with flour, then shake off the excess flour. Prepare a skillet with some oil (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan), and heat to medium-high. When it's nice a warm, add the flour dredged chicken. The pieces are pretty small, so it does cook up pretty quickly. Watch carefully and flip halfway through. I won't try to give you times, since breast and thigh meat take different amounts.

Then one day Mom decided that was too much oil and too much flour and tried the recipe without the flour and just put the chicken right on the grill. De-licious. It worked like a dream and now that is the way she makes it all the time. I have no grill and have never grilled, so you know, use whatever grill expertise you have to cook the stuff. The best thing about this is that it can be eaten hot or cold or in between. It is an easy do-ahead recipe to take along to a pot luck dinner. Also it goes wonderfully with sesame noodles. Yum.

Maryland Crab Cakes

My mother's crab cakes are to die for. The recipe comes direct from the Governor of Maryland. Of course, probably over 50% of all Maryland crab cake recipes claim to come from the Governor of Maryland. Then again Maryland has had over 60 governors since ye olde Revolutionary War, so hell, maybe all of them are authentic. I mean, if you're even willing to believe the governor himself (rather than his hardworking chef) has anything to do with it. Isn't everyone's enduring memory of Spiro Agnew(MD gov. 1967-1969) that of him carefully forming crab cakes and placing them in a hot pan? I know. There's nothing more confidence inspiring than Spiro Agnew. So with no further ado, a bona fide recipe from the Governor of Maryland.

MARYLAND CRABCAKES
from the Governor of Maryland or you know, my mom

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb crabmeat (use backfin and remove all the cartilage or use jumbo lump which is a bit easier to clean - either way, get Maryland crab, there's no substitute for that.)
1/2C breadcrumbs (unflavored)
1 egg
1t dry mustard
2t Worcestershire
3 drops Tabasco
for cooking the cakes
olive oil

We part ways with the governor, because he calls for 1/4 C light cream which we have never used.

for the sauce (family recipe, not governor's)
3 T mayonnaise
1 t dijon mustard
2 t lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:
Clean crabmeat. Mix all ingredients and form into flattened cakes. Pat cakes into more breadcrumbs to form a bit of a crust. I used to fry them in a small amount of olive oil, but lately I have broiled them. Cover the broiling pan with tin foil and and grease with olive oil. Using a spoon, smear about a teaspoon of olive oil on top of each crabcake (which you have placed on the broiling pan). If you fry the cakes, cook over medium heat for 5-8 minutes per side. They should be firm and nicely brown. If you broil them, cook about 5 minutes per side, turning the pan for evenness halfway through each side.

The traditional family sauce has been a mix of 3T mayonnaise, 1t Dijon mustard and 2t lemon juice.

Mom's Macaroni and Cheese

I believe that I was in college before I'd ever had macaroni and cheese from the infamous blue box. My mother always made it from scratch. Honestly, there's a time and place for everything, and as far as I'm concerned, the time and place for the blue box is the after party. (I'm afraid to admit how many times I was invited to an after party based on my ability to whip up blue box mac and cheese). Now mom's mac and cheese? That's for when you need true comfort. And am I in need of comfort. In just two weeks I'm having surgery on that damn torn ankle ligament. That will be followed by SIX weeks of cast/crutches/no weight bearing. So yesterday I put some cheesy goodness away for a grumpy day. A frustrated day. A day when I want my cast off, when I'm hot or itchy or otherwise annoyed. And it is waiting in the freezer to cheer me up. I'll be grateful. Not nearly as grateful as I'd be if my mom were there but it will do in a pinch.

MOM'S MACARONI AND CHEESE

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 lb elbow macaroni
1 T flour
3 T butter
1/2 C milk (whole milk is best, but any will do)
1 T mustard (I use whatever I can grab first)
1 1/2 C grated cheddar cheese
breadcrumbs
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Fill a large pot with water, toss in a healthy pinch of salt and bring to a boil. When it reaches a rolling boil, toss in the pasta and cook until done 8-10 minutes. Drain, and set the pasta aside in the colander. In the pan you made the pasta in, melt the butter and add the flour. Mix well and cook on very low heat for about four minutes. Turn off the heat and add the milk and the mustard. Whisk to blend. Return to heat. I always add back the cheese and cooked macaroni alternately, stirring to combine in between each addition. Add salt and pepper to taste at this point. If you are feeling in a hurry, or lazy, you may stop here, and serve from the pan.

To make it even more delicious:
Spray a casserole dish, add the mac and cheese. Top with bread crumbs (bonus points if you want to drizzle a bit of melted butter over those crumbs). Bake at 325 for 20-30 minutes.

Wammy

When I was small I had a very best friend. She was the very best kind of best friend, with an infectious laugh, an old house filled with secret passageways and a tire swing and she lived right around the corner from me. We played countless games of tag, sardines, ghost in the graveyard and hide and seek, and when things got dull, we'd find new ways to torture her baby brother, like telling him the potato chips tinged with green gave you magical powers. When it was finally time to say goodbye we'd take turns walking each other home until one of our mothers hollered, and even then we'd walk to the midpoint together, part and slowly head back home alone. Back in those days, Chrissy and I were so close. And Chrissy's most beloved stuffed animal was a lamb named Wammy. So while I ate beef and pork and veal and lobster and crabs and liverwurst and calamari and all sorts of other things that many children would refuse, I absolutely, positively, under no conditions would try lamb. I couldn't. "But....but...Wammy!" I'd cry, and my patient and somewhat indulgent mother would sigh and let it drop.

I'm not sure exactly when I relaxed my ban on Wammy's relatives, but now only a very small part of me winces when I enjoy a delicious piece of lamb. Tonight my mother made this super easy recipe, and provided that you have no interfering attachments to the loveys of your childhood friends, you'll very much enjoy it.

DON'T WORRY, IT'S NOT WAMMY

INGREDIENTS:
2 pieces boneless lamb loin
1-2 cloves garlic minced
1 T fresh or 1-2 t dried rosemary
1 t olive oil for the loin plus 2 t for the pan
kosher salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Mince the garlic and add 1/2 t kosher salt and mash together to make a sort of paste. Rubbing the lamb with the oil and add 1/2 t kosher salt plus as much pepper as you like. Then rub in the garlic mixture and pat on the rosemary. In a large cast iron pan add the 2 t olive oil and turn the heat to medium high. When the pan is hot, add the lamb loins and cook for 4 minutes per side for rare and 5-6 for medium.

Thanksgiving Leftovers: Nana Grenon's Ragout

My nana's mother was by all accounts a lovely woman and very talented at cooking in the old fashioned "a pinch of this, enough of that, cook until it's done" style. My nana was the baby of the family, and for a time after she had my father, she and my grampy lived with her parents. The result of this is that my father was completely beloved and spoiled by his grandparents. Grampy Grenon would wake my father up early and take him everywhere with him. His nana (Nana Grenon) would always cook up my father's favorites. One of his absolute all time favorites is Nana's Chicken Ragout. It also happens to be an ideal use of Thanksgiving leftovers. Nana Grenon is French Canadian, and like many French Canadian dishes this is meant to stretch a meal, with the dumplings being a substantial part of the soup. It's the French Canadian version of chicken noodle soup, and it's perfect comfort food. Feel free to adjust or adapt the ingredients. Think like a grandmother.

NANA GRENON'S CHICKEN RAGOUT

Ingredients:
For the soup -
1 C onion, chopped
1 C celery chopped (I mince mine because Ryan does not like celery)
2 C carrots (cut into disks, coins, whatever you call them)
5-6 C chicken stock (or turkey stock) preferably homemade
salt and pepper
2-3 T olive oil
1 T sage
1 T thyme
approximately 2 C of chopped leftover chicken or turkey. Use what you have. The dumplings will make up for it if you don't have enough. You can use chopped white meat or all the little bits you have, it's up to you.

For the dumplings -
1 C stock - cooled
2.5 C flour
salt and pepper
thyme

DIRECTIONS:
Pour the oil in a large stockpot. Add the onion and celery and cook on low for about 5 minutes. Add the stock, carrots and whatever chicken or turkey bits you're add. Add salt and pepper for taste. This recipe takes a lot of salt, so taste carefully. Bring the stock almost to a boil. While you're waiting for it to boil, make the dumplings. Use a cup of cool stock (I usually set it aside before I start cooking) and mix it together with the flour and about a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of pepper. Add about 2 t fresh thyme to the dumplings if you like. The thyme is completely inauthentic, but it is tasty. The dough will be incredibly sticky and hard to work with. With very well floured hands, roll out the dough very thin. If you don't get it thin you will have yucky gloppy dumplings. Make sure you move the dough a lot while rolling and keep it well floured. When it's thin (maybe less than a 1/4 inch thick?) slice in 1" squares. These can be very irregular, it gives the soup character. When the stock is very hot but not boiling, Add the thyme and sage and throw in the squares of dough and cook for 3-5 more minutes until the dough is cooked.

Raspberry - Walnut Shortbread Bars

Everyone despairs when at the mercy of a repair or delivery person*. You are instructed, in no uncertain terms that you must remain in your home between certain specified hours, which are always representing an unfathomable window of time. Moreover, the moment the clock clicks over to the first minute of your designated window, you are seized with the urge to be anywhere but at home. You remember a million errands you have to run. The dog barks for a walk. You realize you have to shower, but can't, because you won't hear the phone, or doorbell, or you will hear the phone and doorbell and be forced to meet the repair/delivery person in nothing but a towel. It is not good. So here is my handy dandy plan for not going stir-crazy.

Step #1 - An hour before the window commences, make sure you have showered and dressed.
Step #2 - Pick a favorite recipe and check for ingredients.
Step #3 - Run to the store for any ingredients you might be missing.
Step #4 - With 15-20 minutes left before you're ordered inside, walk the dog.
Step #5 - You are trapped. The repair/delivery person could arrive at any moment. (Won't of course, but could).
Step #6 - BAKE!!!

Baking is the perfect occupation for being stuck in the house. Think of how often you put something in the oven, and then think of something that needs doing outside the house. Well, don't worry! This time you know you're stuck! Your house smells delicious, and you will need something to eat as you become more and more agitated. Maybe the sugar will calm you.

If you don't know what to make, try my Nana's raspberry-walnut bars. They have a delicious buttery shortcake base, a sweet jam-y layer and a chewy, sugary top. Yum. The best thing is that you can really pick whatever jam you like, although I strongly recommend picking something higher quality. You can be flexible about the nuts too, I didn't have enough walnuts, so used a combination of walnuts and pecans. Still fabulous.

*In my case, the delivery turned out to be a surprise cake from my best friend! Entirely exciting and not at all anger inducing to wait for. Also, now I have a delicious array of treats to choose from.

RASPBERRY (or other) - WALNUT (or other nut) SHORTBREAD BARS
by my Nana

INGREDIENTS:

for the shortbread crust
1 1/4 C all purpose flour
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C butter

for the topping
1/3 C jam (I used Bonne Maman Four Fruits Preserves, which is a mix of cherry, strawberry, raspberry and currants)
2 eggs
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1 t vanilla
2 T flour
1/8 t salt
1/8 t baking soda
1 C chopped walnuts (or pecans, or a mix of walnuts and pecans, or something else you want)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 350 F.

For the shortbread crust -
Combine the flour, the 1/2 C sugar and cut in the butter until the mix is like fine meal (sort of sandy). Get a 9" square baking dish and grease it. Press the shortbread mix down into the bottom of the pan to make and even layer - pay special attention to the corners which sometimes don't get quite enough crust. Bake for 20 minutes or just unilt edges become lightly golden.

For the rest -
Spread the jam over the shortbread. Beat the eggs with brown sugar and vanilla until well blended. Stir in the flour mixed with the salt and baking soda. Add the walnuts. Spoon over the jam and spread lightly until completely covered. Return it to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is set (it will be kind of spongey, it will harden on cooling). Cool in pan and then cut into bars. Make sure you go around the edges with a sharp knife before you try to remove it from the pan.

Birthday Cake

Truth: I have had the same birthday cake every year since my very first birthday.
I have never made this cake myself. My mother does it, with love, as she always has.

It is delicious.

Just as a great birthday cake should be, it is moist. It is not so chocolatey as to coat your mouth (just the cheeks of a one year old). It can be iced with chocolate or as I request now, mocha. It's simple, basic, tasty - what storebought cake mixes are trying so desperately to replicate.
Also, it's incredibly easy.

I'm simply going to pass along my mother's recipe and her comments, unedited, because really, mother knows best.

BIRTHDAY CAKE AND FROSTING
Ultimate Chocolate Cake -
This came from one of those hippie parenting books. It is made in one pan, with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of taste. It was a great book with all sorts of crafts and activities for having fun with kids.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 C evaporated milk (no, it is not the whole can; you are just going to have to make two cakes!)
1 t vinegar
4 squares chocolate (1 square = 1 oz) I use a combo of semi-sweetened and unsweetened or whatever I have on had. Who knows what it was meant to be?
1/2 C butter, cut into pieces
1 C boiling water
2 C flour
2 C sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 t baking SODA
1/2 t vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

In a bowl, combine 1/2 C evaporated milk, 1 t vinegar. In a sauce pan, combine 4 squares chocolate, 1/2 C butter, 1 C boiling water. Stir until melted. Add the canned milk/vinegar. Stir again. Add 2 C flour, 2 eggs, 1 1/2 t baking SODA, 1/2 t vanilla. Beat well with a wooden spoon. Pour into two greased and floured cake pans. Bake 35-40 min at 375 degrees.

Mocha Icing

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 C sweet butter (I use regular butter; sweet butter is w/out salt)
2 1/2 C confectioner's sugar
2 T cocoa
2 T hot coffee
1/2 t vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Cream butter. Add sugar gradually, beating well between additions. As it becomes thick, add cocoa. Add hot coffee and vanilla. Continue to beat until light and fluffy and thick enough to spread. Use for filling and to frost top and sides of cold cake.

Do not eat it or there will not be enough to cover the cake.

Butter Frosting (CHOCOLATE!)
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 C butter
3 C confectioner's sugar
4 T evaporated milk
3 T cocoa
1 T vanilla

DIRECTIONS: Cream butter. Add remaining ingredients and beat til fluffy.

These (frosting recipes) are from The Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedia Cookbook- the new revised deluxe edition. I think you already have a picture of it on your blog. My mother's was bound neatly.Published 1950. Apparently, as in the case of Nana, it was available earlier in segmented sections, including Your Leftovers; Your Canning, Freezing and Preserving; Your Lunch Box; Your Quick Dinners for the Woman in a Hurry. I think the segments were in the supermarket and you could buy one a week or month or whatever and then they sold a wire apparatus so you could clip them into a neat little binder. It was my mother's bible, but then again, she didn't really like to cook!

Inheritance

When I was about 13, my parents took me to France. We spent much time driving in order to see the sights, which in my teenaged opinion included far too many walled cities. We saw St. Malo, Avignon, Aigue Mortes, Eze, so many more, from the impressive Carcassonne to tiny little towns; it seemed that every where we went was enclosed in medieval fortifications. I complained (possibly loudly and bitterly) about how incredibly sick I was of walled cities. But there was something I did not complain about. Not at all. That inside each walled city, there was inenvitably a patisserie. And my father had a personal mission, which required my personal expertise: to try every available tarte citron (lemon tart) in the search for the very best, most lemony tart in all of France. You see, I come by my love of lemon completely honestly. I live a relatively tart deprived existance these days, but for a real lemon fix, I turn to the source, where my father probably developed his taste for lemon in the first place, my nana's lemon bars.

Nana's Lemon Bars

Ingredients:
Base -
1/3 C powdered sugar
1 1/2 C flour
3/4 C butter (although my nana uses margarine, and I had a slight problem with the base being too crumbly and she does not)

Lemony Top -
3 eggs
1 C sugar
1/2 C lemon juice
3 T flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Mix together the powdered sugar, flour and butter as though you were making a pie crust. It will be very crumbly, sort of like sand. Take a 9x13 pan and line it well with tin foil. Grease it well. Do not skim. Make sure your foil comes up high on the sides, because later, if you get any of the lemon mixture between the foil and pan, it will act as glue, and you will not be happy. Press the crust down into the pan, trying to make sure it is level. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 F.

Beat together the 3 eggs until lemony. Mix the sugar and flour together and add to the eggs. Add the lemon juice. Mix well and when the crust is done, pour on top. Return to the oven for 25 minutes. Cool. Sprinkle with more confectioner's sugar.

Lazy, Lazy, Stir Crazy

I am B-O-R-E-D. I have spent today at home courtesy of the lovely March snow, and I have barely budged from my sofa and now I'm BORED. So just in case you are housebound like me and have spent hours clicking on everything you ever bookmarked online or hitting refresh on your browser while hoping desperately that someone has e-mailed you, here's a little something to perk you up. If you haven't started making dinner you can even use it as an excuse to get off your lazy butt. Not that you're lazy. That's probably just me.


In the interest of fighting boredom I present you with my mother's list of ingredients recipe for enchiladas, with some slight modifications (including directions, which she did not include). These are not restaurant quality enchiladas. I made those once from a Cook's Illustrated recipe and it took a few hours and about half the dishes I own and a strainer. We still have them occasionally, but Ryan makes them, because I refused. So yeah, not best-restaurant-I've-eaten-in quality. They are however easy, tasty and good home cooking.

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS:

INGREDIENTS:

FOR SAUCE:
1 C broth (use whatever broth matches your main ingredient if possible - beef broth for beef chicken broth for chicken)
1.5 C chopped canned tomatoes
1/2 t garlic powder
4 T chili powder (feel free to up this if you like more spice, I was running out)
1 t cumin
2 T cornstarch (I have never in my life cooked with cornstarch. I usually make a slurry, but I could not even begin to tell anyone how to make a slurry so buy some cornstarch and make things easy on yourself.)

FOR FILLING:
1/2 C chopped yellow onion
3 garlic cloves minced
1 lb chicken sliced thin
1/3 C chopped black olives
1 C sauce (see above)
1 C cheddar cheese

TOPPING/ENCHILADAS
1 package flour torillas
1 C cheddar cheese (additional to what's in the filling)
sauce (whatever's left after you've used the 1 C for the filling)
sour cream

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 F.

Combine the broth, tomatoes, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Cook on medium high heat until it thickens and reduces. I'm not sure how long this will take as I used a different thickening method, but it should reduce by about a third and the sauce should be thick enough that it leaves a coating on a spoon. Lower or turn off heat and set aside.

In a nonstick pan, saute the garlic and onion in a tablespoon of olive oil, until golden, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken and cook for about 6 minutes, turning once, so that it is mostly white, not pink. Add 1 C of the sauce you made and the olives. Cook the chicken in the sauce for about another 4 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Using leftover cooked poultry? Just add the cooked meat to the garlic and onion and toss with sauce, only heat up until the meat is warm again.

Find a large baking dish, my 9 1/2 x 11 was too small. Along the bottom, smear some of the remaining sauce. Lay down a tortilla. Scoop 1/3 C of enchilada filling into the tortilla and give it a good sprinkling of cheddar.



Fold up the right edge like so:


Then fold it over one more time so the seam side is facing down. Continue until you've filled your whole pan with enchiladas. Take whatever sauce you have left and combine it with any of the saucy bits left from your filling and pour this all over the enchiladas in the pan. It is very important that the tortillas have sauce over all of them or they will become hard and yucky in the oven. After the sauce, sprinkle the remaining cup of cheddar over the top like this.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Top with a dollop of sour cream.

Christmas Cookies Episode 2: Ginger Crinkles

I know, I know, you have certainly finished all your Christmas baking because you are on top of things. I on the other hand, have barely begun. In fact, the only cookies I have managed are these ginger crinkles. My mother and I had a serious discussion this year about cutting back after last year's Christmas overload. We agreed that for with only four people, we needed less of everything. Fewer appetizers on Christmas eve, fewer presents and fewer Christmas cookies. And so we began negotiating. I declared that gingerbread was essential. My mother felt my father might have a fit if we skipped our bird's nest cookies. Neither of us could fathom a year without bourbon balls. And so the cookie we agreed we could eliminate was the poor, unsuspecting ginger crinkle. Which is too bad really, because it's my grandmother's recipe, and I've always rather liked them. Then, I found out that my mother had decided we could decorate the Christmas tree just fine with no cookies. Clearly she doesn't understand motivation very well. So I whipped up a batch of the ginger crinkles, and good cheer was reestablished. They took almost no time at all, so if you're short on time or patience this year, give them a try. They are sweet, molassesy and somewhere between crisp and chewy.

NANA'S GINGER CRINKLES

Ingredients:
2/3 C vegetable or canola oil
1 C sugar
1 egg
4 T molasses
2 C sifted flour
2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 t ginger

1/4 C sugar for dipping

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix the oil and sugar thoroughly. Then add the egg beat well. Add the molasses and stir until thoroughly incorporated.

In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring as you go to form a dough. Get a small bowl and fill it with the 1/4 C of sugar for dipping. Form cookies by making small ball of dough in your hand, then dropping it in the sugar and rolling it until coated. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Leave plenty of room between cookies because they spread flat while cooking. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Chicken Pot Pie

When I was a little girl, one of my absolute winter favorites was chicken pot pie. That's why it came as somewhat as a shock to me that I had no recipe for it in the cookbook my mother put together for me. It's been over ten years since I've lived at my parents' house and at least five years since I really mastered cooking, and I have never made a chicken pot pie. I don't know if it was fear of being unable to recreate it the way my mom made it, or my lazy nature, as chicken pot pie is rather work intensive. Either way, I never should have let this get to this point, because chicken pot pie is really damn good.

CHICKEN POT PIE
makes 2 pies in 1.4 L dishes

Ingredients:
1 recipe pie crust
3 chicken breasts
~ 1 cup cream (1/2 cup for poaching, 1/2 cup for adding liquid)
1/4 C white wine
4 carrots, peeled and coined
1/2 package Birdseye frozen peas (this is about 5 oz)
1/2 mushrooms, stemmed and chopped
1/2 large onion chopped
1 T flour
1 T olive oil
2 t tarragon
salt and pepper
1 egg or 1/4 c egg beaters for egg wash on crust

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 F. Trim and rinse chicken, pat dry. Place in a ovenproof dish in a single layer and season breasts with salt and pepper. Then pour over the first 1/2 c of cream, add slightly more if needed. Poach in your oven for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes the chicken should be cooked, let it cool and then cut into bite sized pieces. Reserve the poaching liquids. Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add your coined carrots. Let them cook for 2 minutes and then drain and set aside. In a large pan, sautee the onion in the olive oil. Add the tablespoon of flour. Cook for 5 minutes to allow the flour to cook. Then add the poaching liquid, stir well so that the flour mixture does not clump. Add the 1/4 C of white wine (or vermouth). Cook for 5 minutes. Then add the cut up chicken, peas, carrots, mushroom. Add the tarragon. Give it a quick taste, add more salt and pepper if necessary. Stir mixture together. If it seems really dry, you can add the other 1/2 c cream. Remember the mixture will release more liquid in the oven, so it will become juicer as it cooks, you don't want it overly soupy. Split the pot pie mixture between two ovenproof dishes. Roll out your two pie crusts. They will be thicker than a normal pie crust. Mold them down over the top of your dishes as shown above. Slash three vents in the top and use a basting brush to apply the egg beaters or well stirred egg as a wash to get the nice brown crust. Bake for 25 minutes at 425.

Boston Baked Scrod

Boston Baked Scrod is an old-school Boston favorite, like Parker House Rolls or Jordan's Blueberry Muffins. There are many recipes, but this one is my Nana's and is one of my family's top requested dishes when we go to visit her.

Scrod itself is a bit of a mystery. Google it, and you'll find all sorts of dissenting opinions on what kind of fish it really is. If you're willing to take my word for it, it's probably young cod, but might be young haddock. You can ask your fishmonger. But if you're outside of New England, he might look at you like you have two heads for even suggesting that scrod be something other than cod.
As far as this recipe goes, it doesn't matter what the devil scrod is. And yes, you can use haddock.

BOSTON BAKED SCROD

Ingredients:
1 lb scrod or haddock
2-3 T butter
1 T dried thyme
1 T dried oregano
2 t garlic powder
1 T lemon juice
1/2 sleeve of Ritz crackers.

Directions:

Crush Ritz crackers in a bowl to create crumbs. Combine cracker crumbs, with thyme, oregano and garlic powder. Line a baking dish with foil. Butter the bottom a bit so the fish doesn't stick. Add the fish. Drizzle the fish with the lemon juice and the melted butter. Press the crumb mixture down on top of the fish. Preheat the toaster oven to 400F. Cook for 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish.

Baked Shells and Sausage

Growing up, my mother was generally home around 4 o'clock. I'd sit with her in the kitchen when she made dinner, and I'd stir the onions. When I got to high school, she started to have meetings after work. Important meetings. That ran late. And so one night, she called and told me I'd just have to make dinner. I had never made dinner. I could bake, but my real-food experience was, well, zip. I couldn't scramble an egg, or make mac and cheese from a box or anything. I'd watched a million times, but never had to do it. So did she take pity on me, and pick a nice, easy recipe to start? No, she started me in grand style, with this cheesy baked pasta. Of course, it must not have traumatized me too much, since I'm still making it.

MOM'S BAKED SHELLS AND SAUSAGE
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb Italian sausage
sauce (see below or use a recipe of your own)
3/4 lb - 1 lb grated mozzarella
1/3 C grated Parmesan
1 lb package of medium shells

INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS FOR THE SAUCE (Or hey, used jarred sauce, I'm not my mother, I'm not perfect!)

1/2 C chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1 (28 oz) can of Italian plum tomatoes

Saute onion and garlic about 5 min. Chop up or crush tomatoes (removing icky bits), add to skillet with oregano salt and pepper. Cook about 20 minutes or until a lot of the moisture evaporates.

DIRECTIONS FOR THE REST

Cook sausage til brown. Drain well. Slice into disks. After cooking sauce (or pouring jarred sauce in pan), add sausage to warm sauce. Cook pasta (a few minutes less than the package recommends), drain. In a greased casserole dish,(maybe a 2 qt?) layer half the pasta, then half the sauce with sausage, then half the cheeses. You should get two layers.

Bake at 350 F for 35-40 min.