Imagine this was a new picture. Imagine these were Korean-ish. Imagine I'm not a failure.

My current fail category in life is pretty much full.  Sleep?  FAIL.  It's currently 2:40 in the morning and I am too hot to sleep.  What's that about air conditioning?  Oh we have it, and it's on.  I'm just still too hot to sleep.  So I guess that would put me at a fail for body temperature regulation as well.  Returning phone calls and texts?  SUPER FAIL.  I haven't called back my darling cousin who I adore and am massively proud of because she just graduated from med school.  I haven't texted or called back two lovely people I work with who just wanted to check in with me and have been supremely kind to me.  Preparing for the baby I am supposed to be having in less than 3 weeks?  PROCRASTINATOR FAIL.  Carseat? Not installed.  Crib or other similar sleeping device?  Not in place.  Diapers of any sort? Not purchased.  Any type of book on how to actual keep a baby alive once you get home from the hospital? Unread.  And of course, the one you all are familiar with, keeping up with my blogging?  EMBARRASSING FAIL.  And the worst of it is, it didn't need to be this bad.  I have things to say about food.  Last night Ryan and I went out to a fancy dinner, probably for the last time pre-baby.  I fully intended to write about it here (even if I didn't cook it, I thought you might be interested) but of course, another fail, this time in the category of taking pictures.  I made sure to pack my phone which takes much better pictures than Ryan's phone.  I told Ryan to remind me to take pictures.  And then I ate my appetizer without taking one.  So in between courses, again, I told Ryan to remind me.  I reminded myself.  And then I ate my dinner, without taking a picture.  I didn't even bother with that charade by dessert.  I just shoveled it down without a thought.

So, PHOTOGRAPHY FAIL.  That would be why, instead a of brand-spanking new photo up there, you're getting a recycled one.  But that seems only fair, because instead of a brand-spanking new recipe, you're getting a recycled one.  Or at least a twist on a recycled one.  Remember these deliciously tasty lettuce wraps? Well, while spending far too long in the doctor's waiting room reading magazines, I stumbled across a suggestion to make lettuce wraps with Korean flavors.  They had me at gochujang.  I e-mailed myself some sketchy notes on what ingredients to include and then came home and (I know, brace yourself here) actually made dinner.  Right?  I never would have expected it of me either.

Anyway, they were completely delicious, so my fail category must have been full, because cooking? When I actually get around to it?  Actually competent!!

KOREAN-ISH LETTUCE WRAPS
Inspired by some magazine.  Good Housekeeping?  Southern Living?  What do they normally have at the doctor's office...

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb ground turkey
1 T grated fresh ginger
2 cloves of garlic
1 T peanut or vegetable oil
2.5 T soy sauce
3 T rice wine vinegar
2 T brown sugar
1.5 T gochujang (I am a huge wimp about spicy right now. If you like spice, add at least 2 T)
1/4 C dry roasted, unsalted peanuts
lettuce - about 3 big leaves per person

DIRECTIONS:
In a large skillet, heat up the oil to medium.  Add the garlic and ginger and cook for about 3 minutes or until the garlic is slightly golden.  Increase your temperature to medium high and add the turkey and cook until mostly browned (look, once you add the other stuff, it's kind of hard to tell if the turkey's fully cooked, so go ahead and cook until until done if you don't trust yourself with that kind of thing).  Add the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar and gochujang.  It gets a bit soupy with all those things, so you'll need to stir it and cook it a bit longer to make sure they're all incorporated.   Then toss in the peanuts and stir again to coat them.  Serve on a lettuce leaf.  If you've made yours spicy, you will be relieved to have rice as a side.

For Boston

Today I read an article somewhere in the great internets about how the current generation is so self-absorbed that they tend to co-opt tragedy as their own.  They regale people with stories of how they could have been there at the site of the tragedy du jour.  There but for the grace of God...

This Boston tragedy was not mine.  It belonged to others, some near and dear to me who were at the scene of the bombings.  Others I've known and cared about over the years.  But it could not have happened to me.  I have been a long time gone from that city.  But in a time when the Yankees are playing Sweet Caroline to honor Boston, certainly I can say that in my heart of hearts, Boston you're my home.

And that my heart is breaking for all of those who have no need to co-opt tragedy, because it is their own.  Because it came right up to their doors and into their homes. Should you want to help, rather than retell your own plans to someday maybe run the marathon, check out charity navigator's advice on ways to donate.

And since you came here for food (you did come here for food, right?) rather than lectures on how to properly handle your reactions to crisis, how about a recipe from The New England Clam Shack Cookbook for some delicious scallops?  It's a much better way to feel like an honorary New Englander.

Verdict:  If I have any common sense, I'll get this in regular rotation in time for the summer.  Curing homesickness through cooking is something I definitely sign on for.




PAN-SEARED SCALLOPS
modified slightly from The New England Clam Shack Cookbook

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb sea scallops - select scallops that aren't sitting in a lot of liquid, scallops are better when dry.  Also pick ones that haven't started to separate
1/4  t salt
1/4 t sugar
1/2 t thyme
1/8 t garlic powder
1/8 t onion powder
olive oil
lemon wedges

DIRECTIONS:
Mix together the salt, sugar, thyme, garlic powder and onion powder.  Heat a cast-iron pan to medium high and add a bit of olive oil, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan (I used a paper towel to help smear it around and make sure I didn't have too much oil).  Pat your scallops dry and then sprinkle them top and bottom with the seasoning mix.  When the pan is hot, place the scallops in the pan, not touching.  Cook for 2-3 minutes on the first side, then if they are golden brown, flip and cook for 2-4 minutes on the other side.  Cooked scallops should be more opaque than when they started, firm to the touch and have those nice golden edges.  Garnish with lemon wedges (you know, so you can squeeze lemon on them).

Best Quarter I Ever Spent

  A few years ago, I lived in Philadelphia, with access to its enormous and well-stocked library system.  Much as a supermarket seeds its checkout lanes with candy in order to inspire impulse buys, my local branch arranged a rack of books, recently removed from the collection right near the circulation desk.  So while you wait for the person in front of you to pay fines dating back to 1984 or argue that their adorable little cherub returned The Best of Barney DVD, at least, the nanny said she did, you would have something to browse, and hopefully purchase.  During one of these waits, I spied a copy of Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals for twenty-five cents.  An older edition than the one shown here, but nonetheless, a cookbook for a quarter?  That is a win, my friends.  It's been in use ever since, in fact, the falafel recipe and the Welsh rabbit recipe are both from the book.  But it had been a long time since I thumbed through it looking for something new.  Last week, spurred on by my recently neglected New Year's resolution I discovered Middle Eastern Meatball Sandwiches.  Mmmm.  They were ridiculously easy and completely delicious.

Verdict:  This cookbook is one of the MUST owns of my collection.  Also, I love Sara.

MIDDLE EASTERN MEATBALL SANDWICHES
adapted from Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals

INGREDIENTS:
1 recipe tzatziki  - you can use Sara's from here, I make mine up.  My edition of the cookbook is dated enough that it's called cucumber yogurt sauce.

1 lb ground turkey (or beef or lamb, but I used turkey)
1/2 C chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
1 large egg slightly beaten
1/2 t or so oregano
salt and pepper

pita bread with pockets (warmed)
lettuce washed dried and cut into ribbons to stuff into the pita

Make it gluten-free: The pita is the only gluten containing component here, so serve these over rice or alongside a nice greek salad to enjoy the flavors without the wheat.

DIRECTIONS:
Mix the turkey, onion, garlic, egg, oregano, salt and pepper together.  Form these into oval patties, bigger than a meatball but smaller than a burger.  I divided my ground meat evenly into 8 sections and made each a patty and was quite pleased with the size.

Cook them.  Now, I found this a bit tricksy.  Sara says you can skewer, brush with olive oil and grill for 8 minutes a side, which sounds heavenly, but I am without a grill.  She also says you can broil for 8 minutes a side, which is what I tried, but perhaps my toaster oven's broiler is inferior, because after the first 8 minutes in the oven, I began to panic and the rare state of things and had to improvise.  I slid them into a hot non-stick pan for 4 minutes (with the side that had been touching the broiler pan into the pan first because it was RAW) and then flipped for 2 more minutes. They ended up with a nice little crust but still very moist.  I'd hesitate to do it all in the pan, lest they dry out.  I'll let you know if I hit upon a better method, but this was still pretty painless.

Cut each pita in half, stuff each half with some lettuce and one patty.  Generously drizzle with tzatziki.  Start planning when you're going to make them again.

Kibbeh

I started off my cookbook challenge with a book that is not actually a cookbook.  Instead it's a food memoir with recipes. But it just might be my favorite food memoir with recipes. The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber tells of the author's experience growing up with a Jordanian father who is absolutely food obsessed.  She's an amazing writer and her descriptions just leave you dying for the meals she describes.  StellaCarolyn and I have long dreamed of getting together and trying some of the more tempting elaborate recipes.

But Ryan has always had a different objective.  Ever since he heard the word kibbeh, he's declared that he loves it and wants to eat it.  I cannot even begin to tell you how much pressure that put on this recipe (and on me!)  I even tried to tempt him with a roast chicken recipe, but there was no negotiation.  Kibbeh.  That was it.

I modified her recipe somewhat because, of course, she calls for ground lamb and we needed to use ground turkey.  Because of that, I researched some other kibbeh recipes to hunt for spice options because there's no way turkey can stand on its own.  So the cinnamon and cumin are not in the original recipe and I've changed amounts (because stores sell meat by the pound, not the pound and a half) to make life easier.

The Language of Baklava - Verdict:  This is one to own.  Even though I altered the recipe quite a bit, it was delicious.  But you should own it for the stories and writing alone.  The recipes are just a bonus.

KIBBEH
adapted from The Language of Baklava

INGREDIENTS:

For Stuffing:
2/3 C minced onion
1-2 t olive oil
3 1/2 T pine nuts (Italian are supposedly better than Chinese if you can find them)
1/3 lb ground turkey (look for something with some fat, 99% fat free is like cardboard)
salt and pepper
1/4 t cinnamon (needless to say I didn't measure, I just gave a quick shake of the cinnamon jar)

For Bulgar Mixture:
2/3 C "medium" bulgar (I've no idea what medium bulgar is.  I had exactly one option at Whole Foods and bought it - Bob's Red Mill) - ALSO - bulgar is a wheat, so definitely not gluten-free
2/3 lb ground turkey
2/3 C water
2/3 C chopped onion (but really, processed in your food processor - see below)
salt and pepper
1/2 t cinnamon
1 t cumin

Topping
Sliced tomato

DIRECTIONS:

Two hours before cooking: Soak the bulgar.  Put it in a bowl and cover it with water.  Let sit for 2 hours.  Drain.  (If you know a better way, feel free to say so in the comments). Set aside until you're ready to use.

Preheat the oven: 350 F.

Make the stuffing: In a small pan, add the onion, the olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.  Cook for 5-8 minutes or until the onions are a dark golden color.  Remove the onions from the pan and set aside.  Add the pine nuts (don't even wipe out the pan, just toss 'em in) and saute for a few minutes.  Remove and add to the bowl with the onions.  Mix the turkey with the cinnamon and some salt and pepper.  Brown the meat (same pan!) and break apart, then add to the onion and pine nut mixtures and stir gently until incorporated.

Make the bulgar layers:  In a large bowl, combine the bulgar and the remaining raw ground turkey and the spices. (Don't even mix, just chuck it in there).  Then take your onion, chopped as it is, and give it a good spin in the food processor so it's nice and minced.  I did this instead of doing it by hand because I didn't want any chunks of onion.  Add the onion to the bulgar mixture.  Then add the water.  Using your hands, mix it all together.  It should be smooth sort of like a paste.

Assemble:  I used an 8 x 8 baking dish.  Use half of the bulgar mixture and gently press it down to cover the bottom of the baking dish.  It will be a fairly thin layer.  Also, you know, it will be raw and mushy.  Then add all the cooked fluffy stuffing, distributing it evenly over the bottom layer.  Then, top with the rest of the bulgar mixture, patting very gently so you don't end up mixing it with the stuffing.  Finally top with slices of tomato (Abu-Jabar calls this optional, and from the other recipes I saw it's not traditional, but it is REALLY tasty, so do it).

Bake: for 35-45 minutes, until cooked through.


Serve: We served this with a made up sour cream sauce that was vaguely tzatziki-esque.  Traditionally it is served with a yogurt sauce but I didn't have yogurt. It really does benefit from the cool creamy addition, so look one up or wing it, depending on your comfort level.

BLT Pizza

When I was growing up my parents were seriously into food.  Most of the time this meant Julia Child level French cuisine.  When I was particularly lucky, it was various cuisines of the world - my birthday picks were usually enchiladas or moo shu pork.  But I think it was impossible for anyone to make it through the eighties unscathed, and my parents were no exception; they certainly owned cookbooks that were dead on trend (Martha Stewart Entertaining, I'm looking at you).  Among the most dated was a book of pizza recipes.  Shot on a black countertop and served up by a man in a bright yellow short-sleeved dress shirt, the pizzas almost always had the ingredients arranged in geometric patterns.  I can't quite imagine how that works from a flavor standpoint...BUT  despite all that, many of the recipes actually look, dare I say it? tasty!

Although I didn't use the recipe at all (true confession: I also didn't really write a real recipe either), my BLT pizza was completely inspired by this book.  And it was completely amazing. I will make this again, and again and again.  And if it is this good with runty little winter cherry tomatoes, just think of how it will be when the real Jersey tomatoes of summer are in.  I can't wait.

Right. So about that recipe...

BLT PIZZA NOT QUITE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:
dough - buy some or use 1/3 of my usual recipe
mozzarella cheese, shredded (a few cups)
6-8 slices of bacon (or turkey bacon) cooked until crispy
1/2 bag of pre-washed baby spinach
cherry tomatoes (no clue how many)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper
olive oil

NOT REALLY DIRECTIONS:
Crumble or chop your cooked bacon.  Set it aside in a bowl.  Rinse and halve your cherry tomatoes.  On a baking sheet, toss them with the garlic and a bit of olive oil.  Put in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes.  I'm not sure exactly how long.  You want them nice and roasty.   Roll out the dough and prebake it for 5-7 minutes.  While it's cooking rewash your spinach if you're compulsive like that and saute it up with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper.  Just long enough to wilt it. Pull the dough out cover it with mozzarella.  Then top with the bacon, tomatoes and spinach.  Pop in the oven for another 2-3 minutes until the cheese is melty and delicious.  Enjoy the spoils of the 80s.

Winging It

This year I made the most beautiful Thanksgiving turkey I have ever cooked.  I swear you could have put that bird on the cover of a magazine.  Of course, there's no evidence of this, because even though I packed the camera, I didn't exactly manage to get it out of the suitcase.

You're used to taking my word on how things taste though, so maybe you'll believe me when I claim that not only was the turkey gorgeous, it was delicious.  Nice crispy skin, juicy meat, I couldn't have been more thrilled with the outcome.

Because here is my Thanksgiving truth:  I always wing it.

I have no tried and true Turkey recipe.  I don't swear by Alton and his brining or the siren lure of the deep fryer.  I just kind of make it up as I go along.  Which is usually something I'm pretty comfortable with, but Thanksgiving is different.  First of all, it comes right after the most stressful week in my entire working year, a week of meetings and professional reviews and long hours.  This means I am effectively brain dead by the time I have to cook Thanksgiving dinner.  Secondly, (and most of you know this) I make Thanksgiving dinner at my mother-in-law's house which means I am not responsible for the equipment available or the exact ingredients purchased.  And then there's the fact that it's pretty hard to properly wing a recipe that you only use once a year.

So in the interest of my sanity more than anything else, here's a rough guide to winging your Thanksgiving turkey.

Ingredients:
1 turkey (not 2, unless of course you have 2 ovens) defrosted (seriously, if you haven't defrosted it, I am not your girl)
onions
carrots
celery
lemon
garlic
poultry seasoning
an obscene amount of butter
kosher salt
pepper
maybe one of those packs of fresh herbs like sage, rosemary and thyme
chicken stock (1 box)

Equipment:
1 poultry lacing kit, preferably one that comes with directions printed on it
1 roasting pan large enough to fit your turkey
a turkey baster
a roasting rack
something to lift the turkey out of the pan with later (old oven mitts, actual forks designed for this, be creative if necessary)
a pot on your stove (medium sized)

Directions:
Before you turn on your oven, check out your rack situation.  You may need to remove a rack to fit the turkey in the oven and not have it squished against the top.  It is SO much better to remove this rack before the oven is hot.  Ask me how I know.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Stare at your turkey.  Remove the plastic covering.  Poke at it a bit.  Decide what is what.  Turkeys have 2 cavities.  There are generally things shoved in these cavities.  One of ours had the neck, the other had a paper packet of other turkey innards.  So, toss the neck into that pot on your stove.   Open the paper packet of innards.  The big thing is the liver.  Toss it, unless you actually know what to do with a turkey liver and want to eat it.  Toss the other junk in with the neck.  Poke at the turkey again.  If it has any weird plastic-y things, cut them off (ours had both a stupid pop-up thermometer and a weird thing holding the legs together like some type of twisted turkey chastity belt).

Debate rinsing your turkey.  Pros: You can feel like you rinsed your turkey.  Cons:  You can coat your sink in salmonella.  Which means that really, you should probably use some bleach to clean the sink once you've rinsed the turkey in it.

Definitely pour off any weird liquid lurking in the turkey.

Pop that puppy on top of your roasting rack in your roasting pan.  Commence project stuff things into the turkey holes.  NB: Stuffing is not an acceptable option.  It is a total pain to have to monitor whether or not it's cooked and whether or not the turkey is bleeding raw poultry juices into it thereby turning one of the best parts of dinner into a veritable breeding ground for all things causing food-bourne illness.

Right.  So.  You are going to put things in the holes.  Start with salt and pepper.  Be generous.  Then a healthy dose of poultry seasoning (a few tablespoons, don't skimp).  Have someone else hold up the turkey because it is really hard to lift it and drop things in it simultaneously.  Once you've seasoned the insides, wash your hands.  Prepare your veggies.  You don't need to peel carrots or onions, but at least rinse the carrots.  Chop them into bits that will fit into a turkey cavity.  So, maybe quarter the onions, halve the lemon, chop the carrots and celery in fourths.  Cut the garlic clove so you can see all the little cloves.  Shove this into the bigger cavity, use the onions, carrots celery, half of the lemon, the garlic  Then head to the smaller cavity and shove some of the stuff in there.  Take some of those fresh herbs and pop them in the larger cavity.  Cut a few tablespoons off your log of butter and pop those in too.  (If you weren't washing your hands between each journey into the turkey you should have been).

So he's stuffed.  It's time to do the poultry lacing.  Follow the directions on the package.  Save them for next year if you're that type.  I close the big cavity but not the little one.

Once the bird is stuffed, it's time for his butter massage.  I rub the whole critter down with butter, even getting some under the breast skin.  Then wash your hands and sprinkle it with salt and pepper.  Then it's time for some more poultry seasoning, a few tablespoons probably.  Sprinkle that over the bird too.

Finally it can go in the oven.  I cooked mine at 350, basting and rotating every 20 minutes. Rotating just means that if his feet face right, you turn the whole pan and face the feet left.  Basting also goes easier if you have someone to tip the pan so you can get enough juice.  If you don't have enough liquid to baste with, sub in some chicken stock.  There's no shame in it.  If it gets brown, cover with foil.

Ina Garten claimed a 10-12 lb bird needs to cook for 2 - 2 1/2 hours.  Something else said to add 15 minutes for each additional pound.  So, for an 18 lb bird (which is what I had) it should have taken 2 1/2 plus 6 x 15 minutes.  Which according to my resident math-smart person is 4 hours total. We put the bird in at 10:30 and pulled it at 1:45 which is 3 hours and 15 minutes. Which just goes to show you that there is no percentage in planning a dinner time.  Just get people over early enough, feed them apps and alcohol and go with the flow.

Your bird should be close to 170 when you pull it (it will increase a bit as it sits).  Let it rest for 20-30 minutes before carving.  If anything is still too rare, pop it back in the pan and serve what is cooked.

Most of all, try not to worry too much.  Everyone else should just be grateful that they didn't cook.

Hamburger Hybrid

When I went to high school in the early nineties, it was enormously on trend to be vegetarian.  Always one for half-measures, I did not join my friends in this, but went for the far more conservative "no red meat" stance.  Of course, when I went away to college, land of the inedible food, this was something of a liability.  For the first few months of school I subsisted entirely on a diet of hot buttered rice and apple jacks.  The food offerings of the few dining halls that served Freshman were as far from my mother's gourmet kitchen as you could possibly conceive.  At one point a group of boys in my dorm even got me a pizza from the outside because they were so concerned I might starve.  Slowly, slowly I began to introduce more foods:  chicken nuggets from the kosher kitchen downstairs, baked ziti from the mostly vegetarian cafe, salads from (urban legend has it) the longest salad bar in the state, and my dear dear friend the grilled cheese on white bread.  But midway through freshman year there was an exciting announcement! We were getting turkey burgers!  I cannot even begin to explain to you how revolutionary this was.  They were these little brown lumps on soft soft buns and you would have to wait to get a nice fresh one that a) didn't have time to get condensation on the plate, because you don't want a soggy bun and b) came with melted cheese. With that mouth-watering description I'm sure you'll have a hard time understanding why, during my sophomore year, I started eating red meat again.  As bleak as Freshman food options may have been, those available to the rest of the school were bountiful.  My friends and I favored a place that sold chicken wings (entirely too messy for any college girl to risk eating in public), grilled chicken sandwiches and beautiful, juicy burgers.  I remember staring at the menu full of pathos and longing when a friend said "Seriously, just GET one."  I was nothing if not a pushover, so I ordered a bacon cheese burger.  It quickly became a staple of my sophomore year diet.  These days I don't get much red meat anymore, but there's no reason for my turkey burgers to be sad specimens like the ones offered by my freshman dining hall.  Now they're juicy, flavorful and topped with bacon and cheddar.  I kept the nice soft roll though.  It is just a turkey burger after all.


BACON CHEDDAR TURKEY BURGER

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb ground turkey
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t salt
more than 1 t black pepper
2 t ketchup
2 T shredded onion
1 strip of (turkey) bacon per burger
cheddar cheese (or whatever you like!)
butter

DIRECTIONS:
In a non-stick pan, melt a tablespoon of butter.  Cook the bacon until crispy.  I used medium-high heat and did 3 minutes on one side, and 1 minute on the other side.  Then set aside the bacon.  Ideally, I'd do the burgers in a cast iron pan, but mine was dirty, so I used the non-stick but I didn't wipe out the bacon grease.  Because the burgers are tastier that way.

So you need to mix up the burger mixture.  Turkey burgers require extra things in order to be tasty, so don't skip the add ins.  Add the Worcesterhire, the salt, the pepper (be generous, especially if you like pepper), the ketchup and the shredded onion.  You should shred the onion on a regular grater. A microplane results in just mush. Shredding is better than chopping because it adds flavor and moisture with no weird chunks in the burgers.  Gently mix the meat, don't handle too much.  Form into 4 patties. Heat the pan to medium high and cook for 4 minutes on the first side.  Flip the burgers and cook for 2 minutes on the second side.  Then top with the cheese and cover (I used a standard metal bowl - the steaming is perfect) so that the cheese melts.  Cook for 2 more minutes.  Serve on toasted buns.

Worthy of the Barley Neck Inn, circa 1983

When I was a very little girl, Cape Cod was a lot less built up than it is today.  In particular, nice restaurants (as opposed to tiny fried fish and clam shacks) were often quite far from my grandmother's home in quiet Falmouth. But the Barley Neck Inn* wasn't just a "nice" restaurant.  It was truly fine dining, in a quintessential New England setting, a sea captain's house built in the late 1800s.  Back in those days, you used to dress up for this sort of thing, and the Barley Neck was formal.  I can still hear my grandfather complaining bitterly about wearing a tie, while my Nana would tell him to stop fussing with it.  We would drive a solid hour out to Orleans; it was an occasion and I loved it.  Going out to a fancy dinner was just about one of my favorite things.  In truth, I was a precocious brat who would have been insulted if a place had a kid's menu, much less invited me to select from one. I don't remember too much about the specifics of the menu probably because when I was little I was a creature of habit, more even than I am now and I likely ordered the same thing every time.  My favorite appetizer was artichoke hearts au gratin which came in its own little casserole dish and was completely heavenly.  I'm fairly sure that the piece de resistance was Beef Wellington (sweet heavens how I love Beef Wellington).  It was that kind of restaurant.  Classic dishes, New England dishes, but never banal, the chef clearly knew how to innovate. (e.g. my grandfather's favorite was a cauliflower and clam chowder).  While I could never tell you if they featured a shrimp (more likely lobster, considering New England's seafood supply) pot pie, it's certainly the kind of dish that would have fit in perfectly: elegant, rich, well-executed and with a classic Cape Cod spirit.

*Don't bother looking it up, the horror show currently bearing the name has no resemblance to the fine old institution.

SHRIMP POT PIE
This makes two hearty main dish portions.

INGREDIENTS:
puff pastry (I needed 1/3 of a sheet) - thawed
1 lb shrimp, cleaned, deveined and chopped into bite-sized pieces
3 T butter
3 T flour
1/2 C white or yellow onion chopped fine
1/2 C mushrooms (I used baby bella) chopped
2 t Old Bay Seasoning
2 T vermouth or dry white wine
1/3 C milk
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 400 F.
Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with foil and placing the two oven safe dishes you plan on using on top of it.  It will be much easier to pull a pan out of the oven instead of two smallish dishes.  I used these Pyrex baking dishes of my Nana's that are marked 12 oz.  They're smaller than a bowl, but bigger than a ramekin.

In a large skillet, melt your butter over low heat.  Add the flour and whisk to make a thick paste.  Allow this (the roux) to cook for 3-4 minutes until a nice warm goldeny-brown color.  Add the onions and mushrooms and stir to incorporate them with the roux.  Cook for 5-7 minutes over medium heat until they are soft. Add the shrimp and toss with the Old Bay Seasoning. Increase the heat for medium high.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.  When the shrimp have lost their translucence (honestly, you're going to bake them later, they'll be cooked, don't worry about it) add the vermouth and continue to stir or whisk until the liquid is sort of absorbed to make a sauce.  Then add the milk and continue stirring a bit.  Give it a few minutes to thicken.  Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper accordingly (mine needed quite a bit of salt).

On a well floured surface, roll out the puff pastry and cut two pieces that will fit the top of your baking dishes. Spoon your thickened pot pie mixture into the bowls, top with the puff pastry and place in the oven.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  You want the top to be golden brown and puffed up.  Serve immediately.

Happy Birthday Gene Kelly!

Earlier this month, my dearest friend had a dinner in honor of the 100th anniversary of Julia Child's birth.   You can read all about her celebration and her family's special relationship with Julia over at My Family Table.  Probably unsurprisingly, I couldn't get my act together to whip up a fancy french dinner in the heat of August.

But today is another hundredth birthday - that of one of my favorite childhood movie stars, Gene Kelly.  While everyone else my age was building up a common knowledge of popular 80's culture, I was watching old musicals.  One of my very favorites has always been On the Town, starring Gene Kelly.  The combination of sailors on shore leave and girls in amazing costumes taking in the sights of New York City made it irresistible to me.  (True confession: I currently own two dresses I love primarily because they remind me of the costumes in the movie. a gorgeous full skirted black and white plaid that looks like the trim on Ann Miller's costume and a black dress with a coral underskirt that makes me think of the stunning crinolines under Vera Ellen and Betty Garret's dresses.)  While it's probably not Kelly's best exhibition of dancing (except for a dream ballet sequence, he doesn't get to truly show his abilities), it's really worth watching if you at all go in for this kind of thing.  If nothing else, you'll get to see Frank Sinatra at the height of his popularity acting sheepish and awkward around girls.

In honor of Kelly's birthday, TCM is running his films all day, with On the Town showing at 6:15.  So why not make it dinner and a movie?  I'll admit, the meal comes solely from my imagination as the movie is almost entirely without food.  Sure, there are few mentions briefly in song, but despite the movie running through a full 24 hours, the only eating shown is when the boys manage to grab a few apples from a fruit stand.  So what would I serve sailors on leave?  Most certainly something they could not afford, a beautiful juicy steak.

It's a perfect New York treat for a perfect New York movie.

New York Strip Steak

INGREDIENTS:
A New York strip steak
salt and pepper
olive oil

DIRECTIONS:
Selecting the steak:  You want to buy a steak that is about 1.5 to 1.75 inches thick and has a nice amount of marbling throughout (marbling is the strands of fat that run through the meat which make it flavorful and delicious).  The thickness of the steak is recommended so that you have a good ration of nice juicy middle to crispy outside.  In my world you want a nice thin outside with a pink center, not a thin strip of pink between two chewy crusts.  Choose USDA prime for the best quality.

Equipment: You need a cast-iron pan.

Preparation:  Take the steak out of the fridge about 15 minutes before you want to cook it so that it can warm up.  Salt and pepper it generously (don't coat it or anything, just a nice sprinkling on each side).  With a few minutes to go, heat up your cast-iron pan.  Use a paper towel and pour a bit of olive oil on the towel.  Use tongs to press the oiled towel all over the cooking surface of the pan.  You want a nice even coating, but you don't want to just pour oil in there and make a pool.

Your pan should be over medium high heat and it will be ready for the steak when a drop of water placed in the pan sizzles.  Place the steak in the pan and cook it for 4-5 minutes.  Do not poke it or press it or anything once you put it down.  Just leave it alone.  After 4-5 minutes, turn it over and let it go for 3 more minutes.  You should have a beautifully cooked side facing up at you once you flip it.  Use a meat thermometer to check the temperature at both ends of the steak (I know, I know the juice will run out, be delicate, don't maul the things and when you get better at it maybe you won't need a thermometer).  You can pull the steak between 115 degrees and 118 degrees for medium-rare.  When you take it out of the pan, cover it with foil and let it sit a few minutes.  The temperature will go up a smidge more which is probably good and the juices will be less likely to pour out all over the place.

Serve your perfectly cooked steak with a good red wine (or if you're playing sailor, a mug of good beer) and don't forget to toast one of the greatest dancers of all time.

Cooking it Old School

Some recipes are passed-down-from-your-grandmother's-grandmother old.  Some recipes are original-Good-Housekeeping-Joy-of-Cooking-whatever-is-your-recipe-bible old.  Some recipes are just I-honestly-can't-remember-when-I-started-making-this-I-can't-remember-when-I-didn't-know-how old.  This is the latter.  I have a very dear (and sadly pretty empty) cookbook that my mother gave me.  In it she wrote some "recipes" and some recipes for things we a) made a lot and b)she thought I could actually cook.  This recipe isn't in there.  Instead I have a recipe card, presumably right out of her recipe box, possibly predating my cookbook.  It was one of the first dinners I could make that you could actually serve to people.  I have never once made it for a dinner party (true confession:  I have never in my life had a dinner party.  I think I'm depressed by that.  I should have a dinner party.  Why don't my friends live close enough for a dinner party?).  But close to 10 years ago, I did walk my dearest friend Lizzie through making it for a dinner party she was throwing.  This strikes me as pretty hilarious in retrospect.  It's not like I was a particularly accomplished chef back then, but Lizzie is the kind of person who needs to be told that garlic is not supposed to turn black when you saute it in butter.  But evidently I considered myself enough of an expert (at least in comparison to her) to play the part of Cyrano de Berger-chef.  Although this may seem like a nasty put down of my friend and a disturbing display of overconfidence on my part, there's really only one take away.  This recipe is obscenely easy.  It had to be. When I walked her through it, I was in San Francisco, at least 3000 miles from any recipes I possessed and I was not at a point when I could cook without a recipe. She had exactly the culinary chops listed above.  And yet, instant dinner party!

Can you remember back to the first thing you knew how to cook?  Was it simple or dinner party ready?  Share in the comments!

SHRIMP WITH FETA

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 C canned chopped tomatoes
1 lb raw shrimp (peeled and deveined)
3 T olive oil
1/4 C chopped onion
1/4 to 1/2 C dry white wine (or vermouth)
1/2 t oregano
2 oz feta, crumbled
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
In a large pan, heat your olive oil to medium low. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring periodically.  They shouldn't brown.   Stir in the tomatoes, wine, oregano, and bring to a boil.  Cook uncovered until it thickens to a light puree (probably around 5 minutes).  Add the shrimp and cook over moderate heat about 7-10 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and opaque.  The exact amount of time for the shrimp varies depending on whether you have a pound of little shrimp (which will cook more quickly) or a pound of big shrimp (which will cook more slowly).  Remove from the heat and crumble in the feta.  Give it a good mix. Serve over rice.  Pretend you know how to cook.

Korean Obsession

Sometimes, it is really hard to order at our favorite restaurant, so many things sound delicious.  And it is a rare, rare night when we order wrong.  But a few weeks ago, the unthinkable happened.  Ryan ordered an appetizer that was not great, but merely fine.  And maybe he could have lived with that, but he made the mistake of asking for more details about his second choice, the Korean Rice Cakes.  When he heard the name of the sauce, he said something along the lines of "that stuff is the shit," and promptly pulled up an e-mail he'd sent to himself earlier in the week consisting of exactly one word: gochujang. For the rest of the meal, those rice cakes were all he talked about.  By dessert, it was time for extreme measures.  After a brief consultation with our favorite waiter who advised "Just do it, or you'll be in her ear about it for the rest of the night," he ordered the rice cakes for dessert.  It was a very happy time for him.  But he hasn't really let it go.  He can't stop thinking about the gochujang.  Finally, we made a trip to a massive Asian grocery and bought some of our very own. Of course, I had to make something using it right away to shut him up show my love.  I'm nice like that.

SALMON IN GOCHUJANG
recipe from Indonesia Eats,
serves 2

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb salmon
1/4 C gochujang
2 T + 1 t rice wine vinegar
2 T soy sauce
2 cloves minced garlic
1 T honey
1 T vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS:
Whisk together the gochujang, rice wine vinegar, soy, garlic and honey.  Rinse the salmon and pat dry.  Pour the marinade in dish large enough to hold the piece of salmon.  Place the salmon in the marinade skin side up, then flip and place it skin side down, then return it to the skin side up position once the salmon is fully coated.  Marinate for 1 hour.

Heat up a large skilled with a little bit of cooking oil, something flavorless is best.  On medium high heat, cook the salmon 3-4 minutes a side or until an opaque pinkish-salmon color.

If you'd like to use the marinade as a dipping sauce, transfer it to a small pan and heat to a boil.  Then you're all set to use it again.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

 

 

 My love for corned beef is deep and verges on tragic. Since Ryan doesn't eat red meat, there is no corned beef here waiting to be the star of a St. Patrick's Day supper.  Honestly, I don't even know how to make one. If it weren't for my mother, I would probably be doomed to a life without corned beef.  Except.  Remember how I said it verges on tragic?  There is exactly one thing that keeps it from being tragic, and that is that I am a cold-hearted shrew. I have taken matters into my own hands and invited myself to my mother's house for dinner.  My poor husband will have to pack himself something to eat if he comes along.  I know I should feel shame at this, but really the only thing I feel right now is hungry.  My mouth is watering just looking at the tender, juicy corned beef in the photos.  Don't you want some?

CORNED BEEF

"Recipe"from my mother.  And you know how her recipes are.  

INGREDIENTS:

1 3-5 lb nitrate-free, organic, corned beef with lots of tasty spices on top(Why nitrate free? Damned if I know.  But I do know that nitrates are essentially saltpeter and my extensive exposure to the Revolutionary War has taught me that you use saltpeter to make gunpowder and there are many, many things I would put in my food before I put an additive that they use to make gunpowder).

water

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 325 F.

Take the corned beef out of its package and rinse lightly. Try not to rinse off all the good spices, you want them to cook with the corned beef.  Find a large pan, hopefully something with a cover, that will also fit a rack to set the corned beef on, and room for some water.  I would do this in my dutch oven, but my mom has to use a pan, which she lines with tin foil and then covers with foil.  You want to avoid this if you can because the brine and tinfoil don't always play nice together and can give you an off flavor.  

So, put your rack in the pan, put the corned beef on the rack and the pour water in the pan up to the bottom of the corned beef. Cover with a lid or with foil as described above, cover tightly, not loosely. 

Pop it in the oven and check hourly, to see how the water is doing.  It's okay if there's more water, because the meat will give off some, you just don't want there to be less water.  That will make the meat dry out.

 

See?  The corned beef shrinks a lot, but it's getting all delicious and flavorful.  You should cook it for about an hour per pound.  At the end you'll get a glorious piece of meat.  Be sure to pick off the green leafy things from the spice mixture, because these are bay leaves and not particularly edible.  

Lenten Excess

 

Lent is supposed to be a time of austerity. I'm usually pretty big on doing without. Over the years, I've given up caffeine, diet drinks, shopping, sweets in all forms; really any number of bad vices, fun pastimes or delicious indulgences. This year I'm giving up sloth (no not this kind of sloth, the kind where you're really lazy and never exercise) which means I've sort of hit the double negative of going without.  If I do without doing nothing, I must be doing something, right?  

And a lucky thing that is too, because this macaroni and cheese has to be the most decadent meatless dish I've ever served up on a Lenten Friday.  It is so creamy and cheesy and rich and delicious, but it also uses up all the little bits of leftover cheese lurking in your cheese drawer.  And come on, how slothful can you be if you're efficient enough that use each morsel of food in you fridge, letting none go to waste?

Right.  It's a really good thing I'll be getting plenty of exercise.

 DELICIOUS MIXED UP MACARONI AND CHEESE

Evidently Sara Moulton reads my mind, because I ended up watching this episode the day I planned this dinner.  Kismet I say.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb pasta, I used elbows, but little shells are cute too

6 T butter

1 1/2 C milk

4 T flour

1 T Worcestershire sauce

4-5 drops hot sauce

1 T dijon mustard

plenty of cheese - I used monterey jack, cheddar and blue cheese (incidentally, this would be a great way to hide blue cheese if you have some but your family is not into it).  Sara suggested an 8-12 oz guideline.  I totally eyeballed it.

For optional topping:  1 T butter, 1/4 C panko breadcrumbs, olive oil, about 8 cherry tomatoes per person

DIRECTIONS:

Put the water for the pasta on to boil, when ready cook according to the directions on the package.  While the pasta is cooking, get the sauce ready.  In a large pot, melt the butter on medium heat.  Mix in the flour to make a roux, cook for 3-4 minutes while stirring until the butter and flour are all mixed together.  Remove from heat and add the milk and whisk well to incorporate.  Add the Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and mustard.  Return to the heat (now on low) and slowly add the cheese.  Hard cheese should be shredded, things like blue cheese or goat cheese you can crumble in.  Stir as you go.  You want the cheese to slowly melt into the the milk.  When it's all melted and the pasta is cooked and drained you can mix the sauce and the pasta.  At this point taste it and decide if it needs salt and pepper.  Mine didn't need salt because of the cheeses I used.  

OPTIONAL TOPPINGS:

The slow cooked cherry tomatoes are heaven and provide a sharp and sweet balance to the richness of the cheese.  I put them on a foil covered tray, tossed them in a bit of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and stuck them in a 300 F oven for about 40 minutes.  Delicious.

The panko breadcrumbs give a nice crunch.  Heat up the tablespoon of butter in a pan, toss in the breadcrumbs until golden and sprinkle over the top.

Drag Me Kicking and Screaming

                               

If you need me, I'll be in my closet, on the floor, next to the dog in the sorted piles of dirty laundry.  I don't even care.  Judge me if you must, but seriously, I'm really not coming out.  You'll have to drag me, kicking and screaming.  I'm sure it's no surprise to you that I pretty much loathe confrontation.  So much so that I would rather compete with a snarling terrier for floor space among dirty clothes than have to deal with the work situation that I desperately want to avoid.  I'm squirming inside even contemplating it and yet, I can't stop. My head aches and my heart hurts and I can't stop turning over every single detail of what has already happened and what will have to happen.  So I'll just be here, in the closet, with the dog.  If I give you a recipe will you go quietly?  There.  See?  I knew you could be bought off you cheap thing you. 

CHICKEN STEW WITH LEEKS AND MUSHROOMS
adapted from Donna Hay.  Lord how I love Donna Hay.

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound of chicken thighs (I used boneless skinless ones)
plain flour (for dredging) - make the recipe gluten free by using rice flour or a gluten-free mix
2 T olive oil
5 oz pancetta (I use duck bacon)
2 leeks, pale green parts only, sliced and cleaned (I slice these and then pop them in bowl of water to rinse. Make sure to separate the rings so the dirt and sand fall out )
8 oz button mushrooms (you could half or quarter them, I buy them presliced because of being lazy)
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1.5 C chicken stock
1 C white wine
1/2 C cream (feel free to use half and half)
1 T flat-leaf parsley (I always skip)
1 T thyme
salt and pepper.

DIRECTIONS:

Start by cutting any nasty bits off the thighs.  I cooked this in a dutch oven, but any large pan or pot will do. So put half of the oil in the pot and heat until medium.  Dredge the chicken thighs in flour, shaking off any excess flour.  Then put the thighs in the hot pan, make sure there's room for them all to touch the bottom.  Brown the thighs, but they don't need to cook through, so basically do about 2-3 minutes per side and then pull them out, set them on a plate and keep to the side.  Then add the rest of the oil and the duck bacon or pancetta. Let your bacony product render some of its fat, so about 2-3 minutes, then add the leeks, mushrooms and garlic.  Let cook until the mushrooms are nice and golden and the leeks are getting tender, about 8-10 minutes. Remove them to a bowl and set aside.  Lower the heat and add the wine and stock to the pot.  Scrape up any tasty brown bits from the bottom.  Raise the heat until it is simmering and simmer for 3-5 minutes.  Then pop the chicken back in, lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.  You can pull it apart if you like, or keep it in big pieces for serving.  Once the chicken is cooked, add the pancetta, leek, mushroom and garlic mixture back in. Then pour in the cream, thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5 more minutes. 

This is delicious served over mashed potatoes or rice, even brown rice, all of which are gluten-free options. If you don't care about the gluten, you can serve it over pasta - I used egg noodles this time.

New Year? No Thanks.

I'm one of those people that totally buys into the concept of a New Year.  There's something sort of magical about that tiptoe crossing out of one year and into something shiny, new, fresh unmarred by disappointments and pain.  I made it exactly eight days into 2012 before I wanted to give it back.  Crawl back to the familiar if somewhat worn 2011.  Unfortunately, unlike unwanted Christmas presents, you are unable to return unwanted years.  You're stuck with them.  You can hope that they get better (hey, we even get a whole extra day to try this year); you can hope that how they start is the opposite of how they'll end, but you can't really do anything else.  So when the only way out is through, I'm the kind of person who'd rather not eat.  I don't want to give a false impression, I'm a real believer in comfort food and the ability of delicious things to lift up your mood, but when things are really, really tough, my appetite goes missing.

This is a soup you can eat when you don't think you can force yourself to swallow one spoonful.  This is a soup you can cook when you don't think you can stand at the stove.

AVGOLEMONO
Adapted slightly from my mother's trusty Time-Life series. Serves two with some leftover.
I even messed up and kind of curdled the eggs, but it was still delicious.

INGREDIENTS:
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
6-8 C chicken stock
3 T freshly squeezed lemon juice (really, seriously, fresh juice, don't use bottled)
1/2 C rice
4 eggs
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:
In a large, heavy bottomed stockpot (I used my dutch oven), pour two-three cups of the chicken stock.  Rinse and dry your chicken breast and lightly salt and pepper the breast.  Heat the stock to a low simmer.  Add the chicken breast and cook 4-6 minutes a side until cooked through.  Tear the chicken into little bite sized bits.  Add the rest of the stock. I cook my rice separately because I am rice impaired.  I put the 1/2 C rice with the appropriate amount of chicken stock into my rice cooker and dealt with it that way. You can certainly cook it directly in the soup. I would add raw rice to the stock after removing the chicken and then cook it for 15 minutes or until tender.  Using cooked rice, I simply added it to the stock when it was done, along with the torn chicken.

In a small bowl, whisk the 4 eggs until light and frothy.  Then whisk in the lemon juice.  Stir in a quarter cup of the simmering stock, this will help keep the eggs from curdling.  Lower the heat under your soup because I felt like I couldn't get it low enough.  Slowly pour the egg/lemon juice/stock mixture into the soup pot, stirring constantly.  Cook over low heat for 3-5 minutes or until the soup thickens enough to coat the spoon lightly.  Do not let this boil or even bubble really because the eggs will curdle.  Add additional salt to taste.

Christmas Presents

 

One of my very best presents this year did not come in a box under the tree, wrapped in pretty paper and tied with a bow.  It arrived instead, by plane, from Seattle. My aunt, uncle and cousin came to stay for the holidays!  Not only did this mean excellent company, it meant that once I finished my marathon baking extravaganza, I barely cooked a thing for the rest of December. Better still, the food was delicious.  Because Ryan doesn't eat red meat, he had a special Christmas dinner, duck breast with a soy balsamic glaze.  The rest of us were begging for scraps around the cutting board and once we'd tasted our quarry we insisted that the duck make another dinner appearance.  Luckily my husband is very easily convinced to eat the same thing two nights in a row when it's something he really loves. 

DUCK BREAST WITH SOY BALSAMIC GLAZE

recipe from Uncle John

INGREDIENTS:

for 2 people

1 duck breast - we buy D'Artagnan brand, preferably the Moulard, but the Muscovy will work as well, it will just give off more fat.

kosher salt

pepper

1/3 C soy sauce - if you want to make this gluten-free, please be sure you use a gluten-free soy sauce.

1/3 C balsamic vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

Fat side up, score the duck breast by making diagonal cuts in the fat (you can see this in the picture above).  Make sure you do not cut deeper than the fat.  On your stovetop, heat a stainless steel or cast iron pan to medium.  Once hot, place the duck in the pan, fat side down.  It should sizzle, if it does not, the pan is not yet hot, so remove the breast and return it once hot.  Cook for 6-8 minutes until the fat side is browned and tasty looking as shown above.  Then flip the breast and cook another 3-5 minutes or until the duck reaches an internal temperature of about 110 F.  You will be letting the duck rest under foil for 10 minutes or so and it should come up to 120.  Slice the duck and drizzle the glaze over the slices.

For the glaze:

In a shallow pan, combine the soy and balsamic.  Heat on medium-low until it reduces and becomes syrupy in consistency. 

Recovery

It has been a whirlwind around here for the last week or so and I have barely cooked. There was a solid 10-15 minute block of time on Christmas Eve where I tried to help with the cooking, but my eyes were closing as I was working and I had to be forcibly sent to the couch for a nap. So have I baked, yes. Oh my yes, but cooked? Not so much. NB: in the last two sentences I have typed cookied instead of cooked each time and had to go back and fix it. Clearly there has been some rewiring of my brain following the week o' baked goods.

Last night all I could think of was clean, fresh, non-butter infused flavors. Something hearty and warming though (because have you been outside? It is insanely cold out there) but not rich or creamy or anything like that. Stellacarolyn's vegetable soup sounded so tempting but I was a bit short in the vegetable departments so instead I turned to Lidia. I adapted a barley and bean soup to make it a bit less labor intensive and it is so delicious. Tomato soup, but better. Vegetable soup, but with fewer pesky vegetables. I am so very happy it made an excessively large quantity.

BARLEY AND BEAN SOUP
gluten-free adaptation at the end...

INGREDIENTS:
1 C chopped turkey bacon
1 C chopped onion
3 cloves garlic
5-6 baby carrots (maybe 2 if using full sized?)
2/3 C crushed tomatoes (from can)
8 C chicken stock
2 baking potatoes, peeled and diced
2/3 C barley
3 bay leaves
1 large sprig of fresh rosemary
about a cup of small white beans, rinsed and drained (or pick your own bean!)
olive oil
1/4 C parm (which I skipped because I accidentally over salted)
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:
In a large stock pot, crisp up some turkey bacon. I cooked mine on medium for 8-10 minutes. Remove the bacon, but not the lovely bacon leavings. Toss in the chopped onion and again cook for 8-10 minutes. Toss the onion in the bacon fat so it gets all golden. In a food processor, combine the garlic and carrots with 2 T olive oil. Mix until it is very smooth. Once the onions are softened, add the garlic and carrot mixture to the pot and cook for 2 more minutes over medium low heat. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 8 more minutes. Then add the stock, the potatoes, the barley, the bay leaves and the rosemary. Bring up to a boil and the reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste at this point. Add the beans and cook for 10-15 minutes more. I served mine with little toasts with mozzarella broiled on them, but as long as you have some delicious bread to soak up the sauce, you'll be all set. If adding the parm, I would mix it in right before serving. Sprinkle the reserved bacon on top.

to make gluten-free:
Make sure you're using a gluten-free chicken stock and bacon (believe me, your bacon really shouldn't have gluten in it, if it does you really need to look into better bacon). Barley is a wheat product, so you can substitute rice instead. I'd use about 1 C cooked rice. The rice should be added at the very end, after the beans. I don't like to cook rice directly in soup because it can take on too much water.

Mood Mexican

On Friday, Ryan and I went out to one of our favorite local Mexican spots. When we got there, the place was dark. The sign on the door read: We've moved. I was still trying to process it when I read the next sign. Turn around. Across the street, light poured from the windows and the door swung open as people bustled in from the cold. Their new space is beautiful, so much nicer than the cafeteria level decor they'd had for the last 20+ years (yes, I've been going there for that long). We'll definitely be going back more often now that it's a pleasant place to eat. I had enchiladas, which were completely delicious. Of course, it also reminded me that I have a homemade enchilada recipe which is also completely delicious. And which I've been keeping from you due to sheer laziness and a lack of decent photos.



See? Messy. They really only look so sloppy because I used queso fresco instead of cheddar or monterery jack. It's delicious, but it certainly isn't pretty. But these enchiladas are really tasty and will definitely tide you over just in case your favorite Mexican place hasn't just moved to a lovely, cosy new spot.

DELICIOUS ENCHILADAS
adapted from Cook's Illustrated May & June 2005 issue

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 T vegetable or corn oil
1 onion chopped fine
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 T chili powder
2 t ground cumin
1/2 t salt
2 t sugar
12 oz of chicken, I used breasts but you could use thighs
1 14 oz can of crushed tomatoes
3 oz of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce - this was about 4 peppers for me
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated for filling plus 3 more for topping
corn tortillas

DIRECTIONS:
In a large pan, heat the oil to medium. Add the onion and cook until it's softened and starting to brown about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt and sugar and cook stirring constantly for 30 seconds. Chop the chicken into bite sized slices and add to the pan. Toss it so it is coated with the spices. Then add the tomato sauce and a 1/2 C of water. Chop up your chipotles and add them along with the adobo sauce. Bring it up to a simmer and stir to make sure the chicken is all separated so it doesn't clump together. Cook, stirring frequently for 6-8 minutes. Try to separate out about a cup or so of sauce, by shoving the chicken to the side, so that you have a bowl of mostly sauce and a bowl of mostly chicken mixture. If you really want you can strain the sauce, but it is a huge pain in the ass and makes me dread making the recipe. Also, it is a nightmare to clean the strainer after. So feel free to go informal with it. Remove from heat, pop in the fridge to cool.

Preheat your oven to 300. Spray the tortillas (10 of them) with cooking oil. You can brush it on if you don't have a spray. Make sure you get both sides. Pop them on baking sheets in the oven for 4 minutes, until they are pliable. You can roll cold tortillas they will break on you. Once you take them out, increase the oven temp to 400 degrees F. Okay, get a large baking dish, a 13x9. Cover the bottom with a thin layer of sauce. Then take the chicken mixture and mix it with your shredded cheese. Fill the tortillas (I scooped the filling into all the tortillas and then rolled to make sure I was being fair about the filling). Then roll each one up and tuck it into the pan. Cover with the remaining chicken-free sauce. Finally, sprinkle with the rest of the grated cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes.

Why I Love My Husband

Growing up, I never was allowed to eat processed food. I wasn't even really aware of the whole "not allowed" part. We just didn't. It has often lead to cravings for things that I'm not actually even sure I like. Once in high school I wanted nothing but Spaghettios. For weeks, I was dying for Spaghettios. And then I had them, and they were SO gross. But tater tots? Tater tots are not gross. Tater tots are crispy balls of joy. And when we were first dating and I had a fabulous, talented repertoire of say, maybe, two whole dishes that I knew how to cook, we ate a lot of chicken nuggets and tater tots. They weren't regular chicken nuggets though, they were some special organic, all white meat, magically healthy chicken nuggets that I got from a health food store near where I lived. It's been years. (Fine, a freakin' decade!) But the other day, I decided that I really, really, really wanted to eat chicken nuggets and tater tots. And then I searched. And I could not find a single store bought nugget that I felt okay about. So I didn't buy any and I whined about it loudly and frequently. And this is why I love my husband. Because he made me, especially from scratch, without a single word, comment or expectation, homemade chicken nuggets. They are delicious. They might not fool a kid raised on the packaged (or fast food restaurant) ones, but they certainly were enough for me.


HOMEMADE NUGGETS

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless breasts
1 t paprika
1/2 t red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
bread crumbs
egg

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Salt and pepper the chicken breasts generously. Cut the breasts in chicken nugget sized pieces. In a small bowl, whisk an egg. Add a bit of pepper to the egg. On a plate, put the bread crumbs, between a half cup and a cup, mix in a teaspoon of paprika and the red pepper flakes, a bit more salt and pepper. Then take the raw nugget hunks and dip in egg, shake, then dip in the breadcrumbs, shake again and place on a cooking sheet lined with tinfoil. Bake at 400 F for 10-12 minutes. You can flip them at 5 minutes.

This Space Unintentionally Left Blank

One of the things I find truly fascinating is that busy is relative. Right now, I am busy. So busy, that I have been neglecting both my blogs, totally phoning in the dinners (hello, frozen tortellini you tasty beast) and generally shirking anything I think I can, things like exercise and vacuuming. I feel this incredible sense of stress and busy because it is evaluation time in my work life, and because I have a massive work presentation tomorrow. But honestly, I'm not all that busy. Last year, I worked 3 tutoring jobs, ran an after school club and pretty much got home 2-3 hours later than I do now. Two years ago I had physical therapy for an hour and a half to two hours 3 night a week and would still make the dinner. Clearly I am not so busy as all that. Clearly I am not so busy as many of you, who are reading this. But it is really amazing how many of us have this base level of functioning that we can sustain, and then if something else is added, that's when you feel busy. It's completely relative. And I want to be clear that it is entirely my own fault that my brain is leaking out my ears and I am unable to compose a coherent post let alone come up with an interesting title.

Okay then. About that dinner. Bone in skin on chicken breasts, with a spicy crisp coating. All you need to do is "massage the bird" (thank you Julia) and stick it in the oven. It's soothing comfort food, just what you'd want someone to make for you if you were stressed and didn't have the same illicit relationship with frozen pasta or tater tots that I do.

DEVILED CHICKEN
inspired by a recipe from Cook's Illustrated book about Chicken

INGREDIENTS:
2 bone in skin on chicken breasts
2 T butter, softened
1 T dijon mustard
1 T white or red wine vinegar
1 t hot sauce (more if you like spice!)
1/4 t cayenne pepper (again, more if you like spice)
1/3 C bread crumbs
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 425. Prepare a cooking sheet with a rack over it, I've used flat racks and roasting racks, it doesn't really matter, so long as there's a way for the heat to circulate around the bird and the breading won't get mushy. Soften the butter and mash in a healthy pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Divide the butter equally between the breasts. Then lift the skin and rub the butter under the skin of each bird.

Mix the mustard, vinegar, hot sauce and cayenne in a small bowl. Massage the mixture over the breasts, front and back. Then coat each breast in bread crumbs.

Place on the rack and into the oven. Cook 40-45 minutes. You may want to start checking the temperature at about 30 minutes to see how it's going. You'll want 165 F for cooked poultry.