devil-ish pasta salad

Dear Mom,

That sounds like quite the family picnic!  I too despise the mayonnaise-like substance with zip, however I do love mayo.  I try to avoid it and opt for mustard on most sandwiches because mayo is just a boat-load of calories and fat (yum), but when it comes to pasta, egg or tuna salad, or a good BLT, its a go-to item for me.  I do respect your break from the traditional bonds of creamy, starchy salads, but I must propose a recipe that may make you reconsider.  This is actually a recipe that is a combination of John's mom's pasta salad and the deviled eggs you taught me to make.  Intrigued?

Well, last Christmas at John's parent's place I had the pleasure of eating copious amounts of ham studded with cloves and soaked in a Christmas ale slow roasted in an oven, gooey cheesy, crispy potato casserole, green bean casserole, and pasta salad.  Pasta salad?  Yep, pasta salad.  I was surprised as well, thinking that this is a dish typically reserved for the warmer months when one fires up the grill, but when I tasted it I understood why this simple dish was making an appearance at Christmas dinner.  Simple and straightforward, just like a pasta salad should be, starchy and creamy, but with the pop of fresh celery and onion.  But what I thought truly made it special was the addition of hard-boiled eggs, something I personally reserve for egg salad alone.  And yet there they were, the whites chopped up and added to the salad, and the yolks smashed and mixed into the mayo/mustard dressing.  In a word, yum! 

After Christmas, of course, I had to make it again at Easter when John and I had ham, and again for bbq, and again most recently to go with burgers and corn on the cob.  When I made it to go with Easter dinner, I was thinking about another traditional Easter dinner hors d'oeuvres that you and I used to put together: deviled eggs.  Ahhhhh!  (That was the sound of the glorious Easter dinner angles singing their praise of my divine and delicious inspiration.)  As you know, deviled eggs around our house used to be topped with dill and paprika, so to John's mom's pasta salad I tossed in some fresh dill and paprika.  And, finally, for my generation's contribution to the pasta salad, I've added some briny, salty capers.

devil-ish pasta salad

10 oz. pasta, cooked & cooled (farfalle, penne or elbow work well)
5 eggs, hard boiled & peeled
1/2 yellow onion, chopped fine
5 celery stalks, chopped fine
2 tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
2 tbsp. capers
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
2 tbsp. spicy brown mustard (such as Gulden's)
2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. granulated garlic
juice from 1/4 lemon
salt & pepper

Cut hard boiled eggs in half and remove yolks, place yolks in medium bowl and smash with a fork.  Roughly chop the egg whites and place in a large bowl, add pasta through capers to egg whites and toss well.

In medium bowl add mayo through lemon juice to the smashed yolks and stir until well combined.  Add more mayo if necessary to create a creamy texture.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Fold the yolk mixture into the pasta mixture.  Refrigerate at least three hours.  Before serving give the salad a stir & taste, you may want to add a little more mayo or another squirt of lemon juice as the pasta will absorb some of the creaminess while chilling.

cosmo's cooking notes:
It seems like every time I read a cooking magazine or watch the food network, I always end up reading or hearing about a quick tip on the best way to hard-boil an egg.  It seems like every one out there has a different technique...  Start the eggs cold, bring them to room temperature first, start them in cold water, start them in warm water, bring to boil quickly, bring to boil slowly, boil them for 5 minutes, boil them for 15 minutes, dunk them in cold water, keep them under running water, bring them to a boil and then dance an Irish jig for 5 minutes and do two hand stands, and voila! The perfect hard-boiled egg...  I never realized that it was such a daunting task!  So my two-cents on the whole hard-boiled egg issue is: buy one of those Egg Perfect Egg Timers.  You just throw your eggs in the cold water along with this little do-hicky, bring the pot to a boil, when the egg timer says its done, take off the heat, pour out as much of the hot water as possible and then just run cold water over your eggs until they're cool.

Happy Fourth of July!

Dear Kristin,
Ah...the Fourth of July! A weekend of picnics, parades, and potlucks. I grew up with an extended family on my Mom's side that included twelve aunts and uncles and over twenty cousins. Needless to say, our family picnics were boisterous affairs, with enough people for two complete softball teams, an ump, and a gaggle of fans in the stands. Grandma would ref, but she couldn't see too well. Not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings, she always erred on the runner's side, and ruled any runner safe who even came near a base (any base would do) sometime within five minutes of the ball.

We were a typical American clan, with typical American tastes. The food at these affairs was plentiful, if not creative; burgers, hots, beans and various mayonnaise-laden salads. Once in a while, someone would get exotic and bring a dish of canned fruit cocktail with cool whip - talk about haute cuisine!

Mom always made her famous potato salad for these gatherings. Now, some people claimed to have liked her potato salad, but I was always of another opinion, and groaned (out of earshot) when we would come home from these doings with about 8 lbs. of leftover potato salad. It contained just about every food that I hated;  cold, mushy potatoes, onions, olives, and a strange dressing that consisted of bottled Thousand Island dressing mixed with pickle juice and no, not mayonnaise, but that other dressing - you know the one with the zip?

Today I declare my independence. I will not make potato salad for the Fourth of July, and I will not bequeath my mother's recipe to the future generations of America. Here is my offering instead; no olives involved, and definitely no dressing with zip! Break free from the bonds of tradition - forge a new path with this healthy alternative to the mayonnaise bound salads of yesteryear.

green bean salad

1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed
1 small red onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, cut into 1/2 inch strips
3 large stalks celery, chopped
1/2 c. cider vinegar
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. extra canola oil
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 clove garlic
4-6 small thyme sprigs, bundled with kitchen twine

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add green beans, and cook for 5 minutes. Drain beans and immerse immediately in cold water to stop the cooking process.

Mix green beans, onion, green pepper, and celery. Place in refrigerator to cool.

Meanwhile, make the dressing. Mix vinegar, sugar, olive oil, pepper, and garlic in a small saucepan. Add bundled thyme. Heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature. Remove thyme sprigs.

Pour dressing over chilled vegetables. Chill at least two hours before serving. This dish gets better the longer it chills, so it is perfect for making a day ahead.

cosmo

Dear Mom (a.k.a. Comfy) & anyone else out there who loves to eat, cook, read recipes or has a general obsession with food, like Mom & me.

So, my dear Mother, I have a confession to make, actually two confessions. The first is the very reason we've started this blog, and I know you are aware of this as you suffer from a similar dilemma:  I can't stop thinking about food!  I think technically I may just be obsessed... with food.  Not like, stalker obsessed, I'm not going to the local farmer's market and becoming insanely jealous when a perfect pint of blackberries is picked up by another customer...  Well, not too insane, but I just might complain about the nerve of that person when clearly I was giving those blackberries "the eye."  I do believe that I might just think about food a lot more than your average person, however I'm sure I'm not the only one.  In fact I know I'm not, as you yourself think about food with a high degree of frequency.  Is it something in our genes?  Anyway, what ever this problem is, I like it.  And I know you like it too.  This is why 90% of our conversations are about food, and this of course is why we've decided to write this blog!  To clear our thoughts, musings, dreams of, and even sometimes grievances about food, in all of its tasty and wonderful glory.

So, my second confession, is that although I have gladly accepted the moniker "Cosmo" and I am extremely flattered by "cosmopolitan culinairian daughter," it's not a perfect description of myself.  I'm just a humble home cook with no culinary training, just like you, but I try to make new, fun, interesting, tasty and sometimes daring things in the kitchen.  Along that note, I don't really like cosmos either.  I'm more of a beer/wine girl.  Although sometimes John and I will go out to some trendy new bar with very fancy drinks hand mixed by a mixologist and then, of course, I just have to order a cocktail.  But when it comes to the typical run of the mill cocktail, I'll pass.  So when we were planning to put together the image for this blog's title I was more excited to photograph the cosmo than to actually have to drink it.  But, I figured I'd make the most of the situation and I bought cranberry juice and some beautiful oranges and limes, and proceeded to make a cosmo.  I even did a little cocktail shaking dance hoping it would add to the overall flavor of the drink.  It didn't.  But the drink looked really pretty when I was done, and it wasn't the worse drink ever, although I didn't want another.

So what, exactly, was I supposed to do with a bottle of cranberry juice and all of this citrus laying around my kitchen?  I'm not much of a juice drinker either, so perhaps use the ingredients in an entree?  An entree that I would enjoy much more than the cosmo.  How about cosmo chicken?  Use the flavors in the cosmo for a sauce for chicken.  A cosmo's main flavors, as many Sex In the City watchers are aware, is mainly cranberry and orange, which made me think Orange Chicken like the kind you get from really good Chinese takeout.  So, I tweaked an Orange Chicken recipe I found from the wonderful blog Local Kitchen, and created Cosmo Chicken (Orange-Cranberry Chicken).  And low and behold, it was fabulous!  I think I've made a "cosmo" I can be proud to be associated with.

cosmo chicken

For the Chicken:
1-1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2"x3" pieces
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1/4 tsp. ginger
vegetable oil

For the Sauce:
1 cup water
1/2 cup 100% cranberry juice (not cranberry juice cocktail)
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
3 tbsp. soy sauce
juice from 1/2 large orange
juice from 1/2 lime
juice from 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup vodka, optional (it is "cosmo" chicken after all!)
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar, w/ 1 tbsp.separated
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
3 tbsp. corn starch

crushed red pepper
rice
lime zest
orange zest

Combine water, cranberry juice, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, vodka and all citrus juices in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.  Bring to a simmer.  In a small bowl, stir to combine 3 tbsp. cornstarch and separated 1 tbsp. brown sugar, set aside.

Heat oil for frying to 350-375 degrees in a dutch oven or wok, oil should be about 2"-3" deep.  In a bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper, cayenne and ground ginger.  Dip chicken pieces in egg, then dredge in flour mixture shaking off excess, fry in hot oil in batches.  Drain on paper towels.

Add the 3/4 cup brown sugar, garlic and fresh ginger to the sauce, stirring to combine.  Bring to boil.  Add 2 tbsp. water to the cornstarch/brown sugar mixture and stir to dissolve.  Add cornstarch mixture to the sauce and stir, the sauce will thicken almost immediately.  When the sauce is thick and bubbly, remove from heat.

To sauce the chicken, toss chicken pieces and sauce in a clean bowl to combine.  Add as much crushed red pepper flakes as you dare to the chicken (definitely put a little in, the spice adds a nice kick to the sweet sauce).  Serve over rice, garnish with lime and orange zest.

cosmo's cooking notes:
The sauce is the boss on this dish.  I would go so far to say, and this is a very unusual statement coming from me, but the chicken doesn't need to be fried.  Whoa, whoa, whoa, but doesn't frying something in oil make everything better?  Yeah, sometimes, but honestly this sauce is so good you could just bake or grill the chicken, serve with rice, and it would still be really yummy.  So its up to you how you'd like to treat the chicken (or shrimp would be awesome too).

Enjoy!

Sincerely,
Kristin (a.k.a. Cosmo)

P.S. I really need to work on my food photography skills!  Bear with me, I'm new to this!

Well Hello There!  Here we go, we've officially extended our kitchen conversations to all of you foodies out there on the web!  I hope you stuck around to read our inaugural post, but if not, hopefully you will at least try some Cosmo Chicken.  Come back soon to see the conversation continue, or join the conversation and leave us a comment below.