cool nights, warm bellies

Dear Mom,

As much as truly loath the end of summer, I do have a soft spot in my heart for fall.  Well, maybe not my heart, more like my stomach.  Gone are the days where it is simply too hot to contemplate eating anything but things cooked on the grill, its time to fire up that oven!  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about eating burgers, hot dogs and steaks, but after a while you're ready to dig in to a nice hearty stew or pasta.  There is nothing better than slowly braising a pot of yummy meat and vegetables for half a day and then serving it over hot egg noodles, and fall is the perfect time to do this.

coq au vin

6 oz. bacon, chopped
1 5-7 lb whole chicken, cut into serving pieces
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper
1 bag frozen pearl onions
8 oz. button mushrooms, quartered
1-1/2 bottles red wine, preferably pinot noir
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 medium onion, quartered
2 stalks celery, quartered
2 carrots, quartered
3 cloves garlic, crushed
6-8 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cups chicken stock or broth

Egg noodles or mashed potatoes for serving

Heat a large french oven (coquette) over medium-high heat.  Cook bacon until crispy, remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.  Meanwhile, put chicken pieces in zip-top plastic bag with flour, season with salt and pepper.  Seal bag and shake, completely coating the chicken. 

Preheat oven to 325.  Leave bacon fat in french oven on heat, add additional oil if needed.  Brown chicken in hot oil on both sides.  Remove from french oven to plate and set aside.  Add additional oil if needed and brown (separately) pearl onions and then mushrooms.  Remove pearl onions and mushrooms from french oven and put in refrigerator.

While the french oven is still over the heat pour in about 1 cup of red wine, scrape brown bits up from the bottom.  Add remaining wine, chicken broth and tomato paste, stirring until paste is mostly dissolved.  Add chicken, onion, celery, carrots, garlic, thyme and bay leaf.  Make sure that chicken is covered with the liquid (if not add more wine or broth).  Cover and put in the oven.  Cook for 2 - 2.5 hours or until the chicken is tender. 

When the chicken is done, remove it to a heat-proof container and keep warm.  Strain the sauce through a collander and return to the stovetop over medium-high heat.  Reduce by 1/3, about 30 minuties (if sauce is still not thick go ahead and whisk in a little roux).  When the sauce is thick add the mushrooms, onions and chicken back to the pot.  When everything is hot your ready to serve, I recommend egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

more cake!

Dear Kristin,

I'm back! As you know from our telephone conversations, we recently bought/sold our house, and have been so busy moving out & in that I've not had any time to cook, let alone sit down & write about it! Somehow, no matter how much we clean in the new house, we keep on finding more areas that need attention. Your poor dad has not had much rest at all since he retired in February! As a matter of fact, I've kept him so busy that he's lost 15 pounds since we started this whole thing.

Well, we can't let dad waste away any further. So, I made one of my stand-by desserts last weekend - let's just say that it only took the two of us 3 days to finish an entire 13x9 cake.This cake is one of our all-time favorites. I've been making it for years, and there are a few reasons why:
1. Both kids and grown-ups like it.
2. I usually have everything the recipe calls for right in my kitchen. (Honestly, a kitchen without peanut butter is no kitchen at all.)
3. You can snack while you bake - first, you get to lick your fingers, spatula and measuring cup after doling out the peanut butter. Next, you get to taste-test the streusel topping (Do this before you add the eggs, please!) Sugar, peanut butter & butter crumblies? This is banned in four states. Finally, you must make sure that the chocolate or peanut butter chips you are using are still edible, and the only way to do this is to taste a small handful.. (Not that they have ever gone bad in my kitchen!)
4. When the cake comes out of the oven, all you need to do is pour a big cold glass of milk & enjoy!

peanut butter picnic cake
(adapted from Farm Journal's Complete Home Baking Book c. 1979)

2 1/4 c. flour
2 c. light brown sugar
1 c. smooth peanut butter
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
Chocolate and/or Peanut Butter Chips

Combine flour, brown sugar, peanut butter & butter in mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer at low speed until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (this is the streusel topping). Remove 1 c. crumbs & set aside.

Add baking powder, baking soda, milk, vanilla and eggs to remaining crumb mixture. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Pour into greased 13x9x2 inch pan. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs and chocolate &/or peanut butter chips.

Bake at 350 F. for 40 minutes or until cake tester or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Pour a nice tall glass of milk & enjoy!

there will be cake...

Dear Mom,

I can't remember who's quote this was, nor really how exactly it went, but it was some stand-up comedian who said something along the lines of "cake is so good, that if the DMV says they're going to 'have cake,' you know you'll want to renew your license."  Back in the days when I worked in a busy office I remember those wonderful days when someone had a birthday and there was going to be cake.  And I think no one can forget those days in elementary school when it was Jimmy So-and-So's birthday and his Mom baked cake.  In my days the cool kid's Moms made "Funfetti" cake...  That wonderful boxed white cake with the colored sprinkles both in the batter and on top of the frosting, typically it was in sheet form.  Oh those were the days!  I'm pretty sure that Funfetti cake is still available at most grocery stores, but like many things as we grow older certain foods like McDonald's cheeseburgers, Chuck-e-Cheese's pizza and Funfetti cake start to loose their magic. 

Those boxed cakes I suppose are a bit of a cheaters method of baking cake, but sometimes when you're in a hurry the box can be quite helpful.  And of course, who isn't in a hurry to eat cake?  Also, as we grow older we begin to discover the many forms cake can take on...  Not only in sheet form, but stacked high, square, round, crazy characters, Al Roker, cup-sized and bundt.  Bundt is quite pretty and easy considering you don't have to worry about frosting or decorating, just a simple dusting of powdered sugar and you're good to go.  So I've got a great bundt recipe that is kind of a cheaters cake, I use a box mix, but I add some other ingredients.  To stick with my Italian theme that I talked about in my last post, this cake is made with Limoncello.  If you're not familiar with this lovely drink, it's a Southern Italian lemon liquer.  I fell in love with it while waiting tables at an Italian restaurant.  We used to serve it over lemon sorbet, which is also an amazing use of the liquer.

limoncello bundt cake

1 box lemon cake mix
1 16oz container light sour cream
2 eggs
1 small package lemon pudding mix
1/4 cup veggie or canola oil
1/2 cup limoncello
cooking spray/flour (for prepping bundt pan)
powder sugar (for garnish)

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray the bundt pan with cooking spray and dust with flour.  Mix all ingredients and add to the bundt pan.  Tap the pan several times on the counter.  Bake for 45-60 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert onto a platter.  Dust with powder sugar.

the best way to eat your veggies

Well I suppose I really shouldn't talk, I should have posted weeks ago, but I've been busy too.  For me it's mostly been work, but also I just took my sixth of seven exams for my architectural license.  These exams are pretty brutal and require a good deal of studying.  But I just took it, and my fingers are crossed that I passed.  The test results don't come for a few weeks, so I just have to sit and wait.  In the mean time, I'm going to start planning for my trip with the hubs to Italy.  When I finally pass all seven exams that's my reward.

I've never been to Europe at all sadly, and I have been absolutely obsessed with going over there.  So, I think as part of my researching where I want to go, I'll also have to start learning more about the food!  I plan on doing a lot of eating when I get there!  If you can't already tell by a lot of my recipes I love Italian-American cuisine, but now I'll have to start experimenting with more authentic Italian.

So, for my first selection, I've prepared fried squash blossoms stuffed with herbed ricotta cheese and served with a spicy marinara.  A delicious dish that makes a great appetizer and is veggie friendly.  These little buggers are hard to find, but if you have a farmer's market nearby chances are they might be there.

stuffed fried squash blossoms with spicy marinara

for the sauce
12 oz ground tomatoes (or whole plum tomatoes, chopped)
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dry white wine, such as pinot grigio
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

for the filling
1 cup fat-free ricotta
3 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

for the batter
1 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp garlic powder
pepper
1-1/2 cups beer

canola or veggie oil for frying
10-12 squash blossoms
extra basil leaves for garnish, torn
extra parmesan for garnish

For the sauce, combine olive oil, garlic and onion over medium heat until they begin to brown.  De-glaze the pan with the white wine.  Add remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat, season to taste.

Meanwhile, mix all filling ingredients together.  Carefully cut a slice lengthwise through each squash blossom, so that you only cut through one side of the blossom.  Gently peel open, place 1 - 1-1/2 teaspoons of the filling inside.  Close the blossom up and sort of twist the top.  Set aside on a plate, and repeat with the remaining blossoms.

Heat about a half inch of the oil over medium high heat in a deep saucepan or cast iron coquette.  Combine all of the batter ingredients in a medium bowl.  Working in batches of 4 or 5, dip each squash blossom and fry in the hot oil until browned and crispy.  Set aside on paper towels.

To finish the dish, place the sauce in the bottom of a large serving bowl and top with the fried blossoms, scatter torn basil leaves and parmesan over top.

sore hands, cold beef

Dear Kristin,

Yes - you are absolutely right. I've been very remiss in posting to our blog and I sincerely apologize. What have I been doing that prevents me from posting? Ah nothing, really, just:

shifting/weeding our collection of 45,000 journals
looking for a new house
getting our house ready to put on the market (cleaning down to the tooth-brush level!)
trying to get in at least a couple of runs every week
and, yes - watching funny dog videos on You Tube

So have pity on your poor mom - either that, or get a plane ticket & come up here to help me shift & weed 45,000 volumes! Between shifting & cleaning, I'm definitely beginning to feel my age. You would think that my back and arms would suffer the most, which they did at first. What really hurts now though, are my hands. I come home at night with the sorest, most battered hands you can imagine. I'm having trouble opening the cap on my Geritol, I can't grasp the remote control for the tv, and pretty soon I'm going to have to ask dad to start cutting up my meat for me at dinner!

One thing that does ease my pain is applying cold compresses to my hands. That is why this recipe is actually therapeutic - it requires that you slice a piece of steak while it is partially frozen - so there you go - what a great segue from pain to cooking, don't you think?

So, not only is this recipe therapeutic for sore hands, but it's super quick, so that you can get dinner on the table in no time. Just add a side of rice and maybe some spring rolls and you are good to go, (Or in my case, good to park yourself in front of the tv & watch reruns of Poirot!)

quick beef & broccoli (loosely based on a recipe found in Cooking Light October, 2012)

1/2 c. lower sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
12 oz. boneless sirloin steak, thinly sliced*
4 tsp. canola oil
3 c. broccoli florets
1 red onion, sliced
4 large carrots, sliced diagonally about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
1 c. water
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. dark sesame oil

Combine soy sauce, cornstarch, and hoisin in a medium bowl. Add beef and toss, making sure all beef is coated in sauce.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over high heat. Add oil to pan. Remove beef from marinade. Reserve the marinade. Add beef to heated oil in pan. Stir fry about 2 minutes or until browned. (Do no over crowd the pan - brown beef in two batches if necessary). Remove beef from pan and keep warm.

Add broccoli, onion, carrots and water to pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender. Add reserved marinade to pan and bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until sauce begins to thicken. Add beef back into the pan and continue to cook for about 2 minutes more, or until mixture is heated through and sauce has thickened.

* Partially freezing the steak before slicing will allow you to slice the meat more thinly, and will enhance tenderness.