Tag Archives: Food

Cooked: A Manifesto for Summer Reading

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As tech week for Godspell continues to have its way with me, I’ve actually started to think about life beyond Sunday. And that life includes being careful about what I eat.

It’s not that I haven’t been eating and cooking more carefully. We don’t eat takeout food for supper nearly as much as we did when I was teaching. We know which organic fruits and veggies are musts, and which don’t have to be organic. I’m learning how to make my own salad dressing to control salt, fat, additives and sugar. I’m limiting my morning trips to McDonalds for breakfast. I’m MUCH better than I was a year ago.

But I’m still eager to do more. Yesterday I sent out the call on Facebook for midweek farmers’ markets and found options for Tuesday and Wednesday. With my hometown Saturday market and the Sunday market that is on the way home from church, I can buy most of what we eat this summer from our nearby Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois farmers.

But it’s not just eating close to the soil. It’s actually being proactive about reading labels and knowing what’s in my food.

I’ve been watching Food Network Star on Sundays, and one of the chefs is staking his big chance to have a network food show on what he calls the “culinary sins” including sugar, fat, bacon and liquor.  I’m interested in watching how this plays out, because in his real life back in San Francisco, Russell Jackson “takes local, fresh ingredients and gives them a whimsical twist.” His website for his underground restaurant company is as shrouded in campy mystery as his point-of-view is on Food Network Star, but I think I’m going to like what he cooks. There’s nothing wrong with adding a little wine to one’s skillet.

You’re probably asking how my avowed plan to “eat healthy” connects with the seven culinary sins.

I also saw on Facebook — and don’t lecture me about how Facebook has become my major source of news — that Michael Pollan has written a new book. The Kitchn.com reviewed Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, and I am eager to hear what else Pollan has to say. I’ve read The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, but I think I’ll start again with a revisit to Pollan’s writings before I read Cooked. After a year of purposeful eating, I think I’m in a better mindset to read and internalize Pollan’s manifesto, but I can’t actually remember how far he wants me to go in avoiding those “culinary sins.”

So watch for reviews of Michael Pollan’s books this summer, and maybe some recipes. I’ve got my reservations with some reading!

Delicious Leftovers a la Pastitsio

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You may have noticed that I’ve been mostly AWOL from my blogs in the past few weeks. I took on the challenge of producing the musical Godspell at my church and it has turned into a massive time-sucker. I agreed to do this mostly because without participating, I would have ended up being a Godspell widow.  Translation? Music Man is the band leader and musical arranger for the show and I would be left at home by myself if I didn’t do something for the show. Perhaps taking on the role of producer was a larger step than was necessary, but as my friend Charlotte says, “Shut up and stop complaining; you’re doing it for God!”

Anyway, we didn’t have rehearsal tonight, but we did have a lot of leftovers in the refrigerator. A takeout container full of yummy curry from our favorite Thai restaurant. Mushrooms that needed the Julia Child sautee method. Right now. A plastic container full of frozen beef stew — mostly broth, onions, and carrots. Some beans and ground beef remaining from last week’s taco salad night.

What’s a girl to do with this disparate collection of bits and pieces?

Make a casserole! My favorite food in the whole world. We can’t go wrong by adding some noodles and cheese. Yum.

I used Ina Garten’s recipe for Pastitsio, and created something out of essentially nothing. I don’t think I’ve ever made a flat-out bechamel sauce, and it was so good that it was all I could do to keep from just inhaling it straight out of the pan.

Turns out my leftovers were delicious and husband-approved on a busy night. I will make this again, and I might even follow the original recipe. Or probably not, since we don’t often have leftover lambie in the house…

Fruit Salad with Candied Ginger and Mint

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I’m always looking for varied ways to serve fruit, and while reading my new tablescape book I fell in love with this recipe. I’ve made it twice, using different variations of fruit. Each time, the salad earned high marks, both from Music Man and from the ladies at my church’s luncheon.

The key to this salad is the mix of the fruit with the dressing; the candied ginger gives it a little extra zing and the vanilla creates a smooth sweetness. It’s worth the extra trip to find the candied ginger — or make your own.

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Fruit Salad with Candied Ginger and Mint

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 8 Servings

Serving Size: 1 cup

Fruit Salad with Candied Ginger and Mint

The original source of this recipe is the tablescaping book Great Settings, by Peri Wolfman and Charles Gold. Although Wolfman and Gold used peaches and blueberries, I've made it with several different kinds of fruit and it's always delicious.

Ingredients

  • 2 peaches, cut into bite-sized chunks
  • 1 bag Trader Joe's frozen mangos, thawed and drained
  • 1 pint blueberries
  • 1 pint raspberries
  • 1 pint strawberries, cleaned and quartered
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/2 cup minced candied ginger
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or rum

Instructions

Wash and prepare the fruit. Combine all the ingredients in a glass or porcelain bowl, cover, and let stand for about one hour to let the flavors blend.

https://gotmyreservations.com/2013/05/20/fruit-salad-with-candied-ginger-and-mint/

I’m linking up at StoneGable today for On the Menu Monday. Watch my sidebar for my book review of Great Settings on my other blog, The Seasoned Dish.

Today I have no reservations in recommending this fabulous summer treat!

Slow Cooker Lasagna

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The first time I saw this recipe, I was intrigued. It didn’t seem possible to make lasagna in a slow-cooker. It couldn’t be that easy. Well, it is. But I needed to Jennie-ize the recipe to get it to work for the Empty Nest. And then we had friends over to help us eat it so there wouldn’t be much left over. A win-win on all counts. 

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Slow Cooker Lasagna

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours

Total Time: 6 hours, 30 minutes

Yield: 6-8 Servings

Slow Cooker Lasagna

I originally found this recipe at The Charm of Home and revised it by adding eggs and more veggies.

Ingredients

  • 1-28 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
  • 9 whole wheat lasagna noodles -- uncooked.
  • 1 pound of cooked and crumbled lean ground beef -- optional (for a veggie version, try soy crumbles)
  • 1-15 ounce low-fat cottage cheese
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp Italian herbs of your choosing -- basil, oregano, bay leaf -- or be creative
  • 2 cups fresh baby spinach and baby kale leaves
  • 1 cup fresh mushrooms, sauteed and drained (optional)
  • 3 cups mozzarella cheese (shredded)

Instructions

In cooking and assembling the ingredients, you are making five layers -- sauce, noodles, meat (optional), soft cheese mixture, veggies, and mozzarella.

On the bottom of the slow cooker, put a thin layer of sauce to start building the lasagna. I buy jarred organic spaghetti sauce with onions, garlic, and peppers already in it. Create your own if you want to make your own sauce.

Layer three uncooked lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. My rectangular slow cooker fits three almost exactly, and you have to break them in half in my round cooker.

Add a layer of meat if you are using it.

Add a layer of the cottage cheese/egg/herbs mixture. Mix the eggs and herbs in with the cottage cheese to help hold together the custard.

Add a layer of leafy veggies and a layer of mushrooms.

Add a layer of mozzarella cheese.

Continue layering -- how many layers you have depends on the size of your slow cooker. Mine only takes two layers. Sauce, noodles, meat, cottage cheese, veggies, mozzarella cheese. I finish with one more layer of mozzarella on top of the final noodle layer.

Cover and cook on high setting for one hour; reduce heat and cook on low setting for five hours. I put the cover sideways for the last couple of hours to reduce condensation. Turn off the heat and take the container out of the slow cooker to let it sit for about half an hour before serving.

Serves 6-8

https://gotmyreservations.com/2013/05/02/slow-cooker-lasagna/

You may have noticed that there’s a little cross-pollination going on among my blogs. At The Seasoned Dish, I focus on tablescapes and how I set my table for meals. I much prefer the Zip-List format for recipes, so I’m doing some of my cooking posts here — at least for a while. Here’s the rest of the meal I served for friends last week, and here’s the link to the tablescape post at The Seasoned Dish if you’d like to see the dishes.

We started with champagne.

I made a simple salad with baby kale and baby spinach, and dressed it with a ginger balsamic vinaigrette.

 

There’s that yummy lasagna again!

Fruit and sweets for dessert — a light balance to the heavy lasagna.

The best friends are those that come bearing chocolate.

Feel free to repost — but be sure to give me appropriate credit as well as the original poster of this recipe. It’s all about being polite and ethical, friends.

25 Days of Holiday Recipes: Pecan Bourbon Chocolate Pie

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This series is turning into an ode to my favorite cooks.

When we first started, I told you that I’d been collecting favorite recipes for years. Writing this has not only been a walk through different stages in my life, it’s also been pure heaven to revisit the cooks who made these wonderful recipes.

Today’s recipe is no different. Catherine is a good friend by marriage — her marriage to one of my best friends from college. In her beautifully renovated Victorian kitchen, Catherine produces sublime food, especially desserts for her guests. And who can resist the combination of pecans, booze, and chocolate? Your guests and family will love this one!

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Pecan Bourbon Chocolate Pie

Yield: 1 Pie

Pecan Bourbon Chocolate Pie

Ingredients

    Crust: Aunt Nancy’s Foolproof Piecrust
  • 4c flour
  • 1 3/4 c shortening or butter, softened
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp vinegar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 c water
    • Filling:
  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 c packed dark brown sugar
  • 2/3 c light corn syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp butter, melted
  • 2 tbsp bourbon
  • 2 c pecans
  • 1 c chocolate chips

Instructions

For the crust:

With fork, mix first 4 ingredients. In separate dish, beat remaining ingredients. Combine the two mixtures, stirring with fork until all ingredients are moistened. With hands, mold dough into ball. Chill at least 15 minutes before rolling into desired shape.

Dough can be left in refrigerator up to 3 days or can be frozen until ready to use.

Yield: Two 9" double crust pies and one 9" shell. This recipe requires a very deep pie pan and one half of the crust recipe.

For the filling:

In a large bowl, mix eggs, brown sugar, syrup, vanilla, salt, melted butter. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips. Pour filling into pie shell and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. The filling will puff up slightly and the center will still wiggle a bit.

https://gotmyreservations.com/2012/12/09/25-days-of-holiday-recipes-pecan-bourbon-chocolate-pie/

25 Days of Holiday Recipes: Calico Baked Beans

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Shopping. Work. Cleaning the house. Going to the church potluck. Everyone needs a go-to recipe that fits into your holiday lifestyle, and Calico Baked Beans is that recipe.

Having absolutely no resemblance to the yucky baked beans people usually bring to events, your crockpot will be filled with a sweet and savory meat and bean melange that is more like stew than like beans. A teaching colleague brought this dish to every school potluck and if I was in the last lunch group, I was lucky to get even a taste of this. People seem to just inhale it.

This recipe is also one that is easily modified depending on what your family likes or what is in the fridge that needs to be used up (Using up stuff in the fridge seems to be a common theme in my recipes). We didn’t have any barbecue sauce in the house so I threw in extra ketchup and some mesquite seasoning. It worked just fine. We also added some aging tomato salsa and seriously considered opening our brand new bottle of peach salsa from Trader Joe’s. That would have been a tasty addition to the mix, but seemed unnecessary. You could also use a Rotel tomato product with chilis if you like your food a little spicier. I also used ground turkey and pancetta rather than the ground beef and bacon — I don’t think anyone would know the difference and Music Man liked it better that way.

Try it for your next caroling party — it will be ready when you get home!

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25 Days of Holiday Recipes: Calico Baked Beans

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Yield: 8 Servings

Serving Size: 1 cup

25 Days of Holiday Recipes: Calico Baked Beans

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 tbs. butter or margarine
  • 1 pound bacon, cooked, drained, in 1-inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
  • 2 tbs. prepared mustard
  • 2 tbs. molasses
  • 3/4 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 16 oz. canned kidney beans, drained
  • 16 oz. canned lima beans, drained
  • 28 oz. canned pork and beans

Instructions

In large skillet, brown beef and onion in butter. Drain well. Place in casserole with bacon.

In medium bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, ketchup, barbecue sauce, mustard, molasses, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Add kidney beans, lima beans, and pork and beans to casserole. Pour sugar mixture on top. Blend well.

Cover casserole and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Uncover casserole and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

This casserole can be held, covered, in a low oven for 1 hour. It can also be baked and kept warm in a crockpot.

https://gotmyreservations.com/2012/12/07/25-days-of-holiday-recipes-calico-baked-beans/

Dutch Cheese Soup

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Is going on a cruise all about the food?

For those of you who enjoy traveling by cruising, you already know that a cruise offers cultural and scenic delights as well as some well-deserved rest and relaxation. When I went on my first cruise to the Caribbean, I wasn’t particularly impressed with much about the food the cruise had to offer. I can barely remember what we ate, but I very clearly remember that formal dinners were difficult while traveling with two young children — even if they were well-behaved.

Fast forward twenty years and we took another cruise — just the two of us this time.

Well, just the two of us, our close friends from college, and 146-ish other intrepid travelers. And this time isn’t wasn’t a “fun ship,” it was a Viking River Cruise from Paris to Normandy. All the issues with reserved seating vanished and we didn’t have to decide whether to wait in the bingo game or the casino with the kids while the people in the late seating finished dinner. We had close to three hours every night of wonderful food, fabulous wines, great conversation, and attentive service. Now that’s the way to travel.

It’s not surprising, then, that I went directly to the Viking River Cruises web site to find a satisfying soup recipe for Soup Week. I’ve linked up both the Viking River Cruises site and another blog, A Spoonful of Thyme, where I found the photo. If you are a cheese soup lover, you will love this fall favorite!

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Dutch Cheese Soup

Yield: 4 Servings

Dutch Cheese Soup

Travel is wonderful when the food is wonderful. Originally published by Viking River Cruises, this is a yummy entry into your soup recipe book!

Don't forget that you need flameproof crocks to broil the cheese at the end.

Ingredients

  • A quarter cup vegetable oil
  • Two tablespoons butter
  • A half cup diced onions
  • One cup diced cauliflower
  • Two potatoes, cut into half-inch cubes
  • A half cup carrots, cut into half-inch cubes
  • Four cups chicken stock
  • Four ounces Canadian bacon, diced
  • Five ounces Gouda cheese, thinly sliced
  • Eight slices sourdough baguette
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat oil on medium-high heat in a 1.5-quart saucepan. Add onion and sauté until softened. Add cauliflower, carrots and potato; sauté for 5 minutes. Stir in chicken stock and bring to a boil. In a small skillet, heat the butter. Add the Canadian bacon and sauté until lightly browned. Add bacon to soup. Reduce heat to low and cover, simmering until vegetables are tender (about 15 minutes). Pour soup into four individual flameproof crocks or bowls. Top each portion with two bread slices and one-quarter of the cheese. Place under the broiler until cheese is bubbly. Serve immediately.

https://gotmyreservations.com/2012/11/06/dutch-cheese-soup/

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Chicago Day 1: Sepia Restaurant

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I’m linked up today and for the rest of the month in the 31 Days Challenge at The Nester. By clicking the tab at the top of the page, you can easily access all of the 31 Days in Chicago posts.

If you’ve got a story to tell about your experiences in Chicago, I welcome guest posts. Join the fun by emailing me, or if you’re not ready to write, go to The Nester’s web site to follow some other stories this month.

From its hidden-away front door to its sexy bathroom, Sepia is a treat for anyone who finds it. Every detail is important to the ambiance of this West Loop restaurant carved out of an old print shop. Its cocktails are creative and delicious and its wine cellar is carefully curated to match the menu. Even the coasters (which I desperately wanted to steal but didn’t) are thematic. Sepia is a total experience.

And the food speaks for itself. The Sepia menu is seasonal and inspired.

House made charcuterie selection

Carnaroli risotto, beets, walnuts, pecorino pecato, pickled lemon

Grilled albacore tuna, squid ink couscous, berbere spice

Halibut, sweet corn, fingerling potatoes, crispy onions, curry

Selection of three domestic cheeses

Our anniversary dessert — a nutella mousse

In addition to the beautiful main dining room, Sepia also has a private room available for rent. I took a photo through the door and even empty, it was stunning.

Sometimes I wonder if celebrity executive chefs (Iron Chef) actually are a part of the day-to-day operations of a restaurant, but it seems that Andrew Zimmerman really put his heart and soul into Sepia.

P.S. I’m still struggling with the gaucheness of taking photos in elegant restaurants, and we took these photos with my iPhone. I know they’re not perfect, but they didn’t cause the other people in the restaurant to roll their eyes at us.

Cheese, Glorious Cheese!

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I’m on a brief hiatus while I enjoy my out-of-town company, but I just couldn’t resist sharing this wonderful post about the Roquefort region in France.

Our House in Provence is one of my favorite finds among the French bloggers I follow; Michel lives in the United States with his family and also owns a home in Provence. I love the travelogues that are presented and every story makes me more and more eager to experience Provence for myself!

People either love or hate “moldy” cheese; does this photo of aging Roquefort make you hungry? Or do you hate it?

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Provence Week: Two Food Network French Menus

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Anchovies. I love them but many people want to “list them.”

Apparently I’ve been watching too much HGTV while I clean my house. I can’t decide if I love or hate Love It or List It. I’ve also been watching lots of Food Network since I can’t abide the thematic approach HGTV is taking with daytime programming. I miss Joan Steffend. Remember her?

Anchovies figure large in the recipes of the Provencal region because they are fished from the Mediterranean and are commonly used in bouillabaisse, pasta dishes, salad dressings, and toppings for breads.

The Food Network loves French cooking (or what purports to be French cooking).

Just this week there were two segments showing Ina Garten and Melissa Darabian making French meals. Although I haven’t yet made the full meals, they look relatively easy and something that I might attempt.

On the Ten Dollar Dinners show, Melissa Darabian presented a Provencal meal with a pizza, salad, and grilled pineapple. With the exception of the poached egg  (I don’t do runny eggs), this menu seems doable. And the pizza has anchovies on it, but I saw several different versions of Pissaladiere online, including this one which may also be vegan. I’m hoping that some of my friends actually want to eat this with me when I make it — will they love it or list it?

I couldn’t find a photo of Darabian’s pissaladiere, but this photo (Image Credit) is part of a blog story about a young man going to culinary school. Gorgeous photos of the food!

Our favorite Barefoot Contessa also created a French Bistro lunch in a segment airing this week. Her menu seemed within my ability to recreate and includes Roasted Butternut Squash, a French apple tart, and Sole Meuniere. No anchovies in these recipes, though. What initially caught my eye was how she set the outside table in anticipation of her French-inspired party.

So this gets us back to anchovies.

One of my summer goals is to learn how to make my favorite salad dressings at home with ingredients I can control. I watched Ina make Caesar Salad with Pancetta in another episode, but it got me thinking about cooking with raw eggs. It seems like there has been an awful lot of food scares recently so I researched alternates for the raw egg in the Caesar Salad Dressing. There are a lot of opinions on this issue, including that only raw eggs are appropriate, but this one by Alton Brown looks promising. It uses tofu instead of egg for the thickening agent. And this one just flat-out subs the egg with egg substitute. Will I “love” any of these recipes or want to “list them” down the garbage disposal?

Still no anchovies.

I’ve always bought my anchovies in the tin, but Costco had anchovies in the seafood case that actually looked like fish instead of sun-dried tomatoes with fur. Has anyone tried them? Do they actually have the “anchovy flavor” or is the flavor we expect from anchovies actually coming from the salt-curing process? I’m feeling as though I’m probably going to stick with the basic tin of salty goodness — and I can get them in a six-pack from Costco practically for free. 🙂

Adventures in Home Cooking continues next week — catch up with me then to see if any of these recipes actually worked — or try them yourselves and let me know what happened!

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