Veggie burgers...

It's difficult to know where to start with Mark Bittman's cookbooks. Mainly because they're so enormous - How To Cook Everything Vegetarian clocks in at almost 1000 pages. I use his How To Cook Everything as a consummate cooking reference - anytime I want to make something I look it up there first, and his recipes almost never disappoint. But the challenge of a vegetarian meal is how to get your head out of thinking that meat has to be the center of it. So what should that center be, or is it more about several peripherals that come together to form one holistic dish?

I decided there were a couple strategies here: 1) buy an ingredient and look up his suggestions for how to prepare it 2) open a page at random, or 3) search for things I know I like already, like gratins, or pasta dishes, or things involving beans.

Strategy #1 I did with tofu. I used half a block of extra firm tofu to make pad thai, then had some extra left over. He suggests simply roasting it for an hour at 350. He offers a few ideas for things to brush the tofu with. I cut it up into cubes, brushed it with a mix of miso paste and mirin wine (left over from the Japanese food kick prior to our trip to Japan in December), and roasted. This was really nice. When it was hot and fresh out of the oven, it tasted almost like cheese with a slightly chewy yet crisp exterior. It was good.

Strategy #2 I haven't really tried yet. But here are a few that come up when I open pages at random: pearl couscous gratin with pesto and goat cheese (how could this not be good?), parsnips and wheat berry pie with phyllo crust (ummm, not sure).

Strategy #3 has resulted in several dishes so far. Creamy baked noodles with eggplant and cheese. Good, but not amazing or worth the effort it took to prepare bechamel, eggplant sauce, layer it all, bake it, etc. Today I made his Espresso black bean chili and actually used dried beans, something I don't normally do but would like to do more often. They take forever to cook, even with his recommended pre-soaking (boil 2 minutes, let sit 2 hours), but this was an excellent chili, dark & smoky without being heavy. The chili also had a cup of espresso in it, which you wouldn't be able to identify if you didn't know. I took it to a potluck supper with cornbread and it was yummm... couldn't stop eating my own potluck contribution.

But the one I've made a couple times so far has been his recipe for The Simplest Bean Burgers. Really easy, and infinitely variable, and here's another thing that's great about his cookbooks - he always gives lots of suggestions for how to adapt dishes with what you have on hand. The template is:

2 cups well-cooked beans, can be white, black, red beans, chickpeas or lentils, or 1 drained 14 ounce can
1 medium onion, quartered
1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant)
1 Tblsp. chili powder or other spice mix
salt & pepper
1 egg
Bean cooking liquid, stock, etc. if necessary.

(My additions: several crimini (baby bella) mushrooms, grated cheddar.
I've done this with chickpeas and black beans. Both have great flavor, chickpeas held together better.)

Throw all of the above into a food processor, pulse but keep it chunky. Add liquid if necessary, burgers should not be wet or pureed. With wet hands, form into patties, let stand or refrigerate if you have time. To cook, saute 5 minutes per side or broil 5 minutes per side.

These are super easy and taste much better than the pre-made patties. Could grill them but they might fall apart too easily.His infinite variations include suggestions like adding fresh herbs, sauces, cooked veggies, nuts, spinach, you name it. I don't think you could go wrong unless you lose the consistency necessary to keep them holding together.

Tortilla pizza with refried beans and sweet potato

Since watching Food, INC several weeks ago, I've changed the way I eat. It's a great documentary, a disturbing look at how farming has become thoroughly corporatized. There were a number of things that disturbed me, such as how the push to make a profit has led to chickens whose growth process is sped up before their skeletal development can catch up, and cows eating corn (not a natural part of their diet) and having more E. coli infections as a result. There was also the very sad story of a mother whose toddler died eating a hamburger, and who has argued for higher inspection standards since ground beef can come from multiple plants with only the smallest sample tested for E. Coli.

So, this was all bothersome enough that I decided to switch to a more vegetarian diet. I don't think I'm ready to completely give up meat or poultry, but I do only want to buy beef or chicken from places that can guarantee a more humane, less corporate existence. I'm inspired by my favorite NY Times columnist & cookbook author Mark Bittman, who himself switched to a 70% plant-based diet recently. I guess you could call this being flexitarian. But I'm also conscious of what I'm feeding to my now 22-month old daughter, and if that part of Food, Inc that focused on the mother who lost her child was intended as a scare tactic, it worked with me. Sofia doesn't like meat much anyway (too hard to chew), loves seafood, and will eat chicken if it's interesting (say, a drumstick rather than a bland breast that's been dressed up).

If I can get my act together to post here more often, I'm going to start writing about my recent efforts to cook from three of the vegetarian cookbooks I own: Bittman's "How To Cook Everything Vegetarian," Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian," and Nava Atlas' "Family Vegetarian. I've been trying out a lot of recipes lately. Not all of them are a success. In fact, in order to promote family harmony, I think I am going to have to frequently fry up a piece of chicken or a steak on the side. It's also challenging to rethink my own expectations for a meal at which some form of meat is the center, with vegetables a sort of dutiful supporting act. I may flake out. But I'm going to try.

So here's one that has entered the regular rotation on the dinner table. Sofia loves it. It's adapted from a Dr. Sears baby newsletter from several months ago. Basically it's a tortilla topped with a number of good savory & sweet things and then baked, but it's infinitely variable.

Tortilla Pizza - serves 2-3 people

Package of small corn or flour tortillas
1 large sweet potato
1 can refried beans
frozen corn, defrosted
grated cheese (1-2 cups cheddar, jalapeno monterey jack, etc)
Generous handful of spinach, chopped up small
Salsa, chopped tomatoes, chopped avocado, green onions - basically any extra garnish.

Preheat oven to 400. Cook sweet potato in microwave. Take skin off, mash with butter, milk, and salt to taste.

On tortillas, spread a layer of refried beans, followed by a layer of sweet potato, spinach, grated cheese and corn. Bake for 10-12 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Salt to taste, serve with salsa, toppings & Tabasco sauce.

food updates

It seems every time I think about doing an update I get stymied by an inability to find my camera to photograph the food prior to consumption, or I write an update in my head and then never transfer it to the screen. I have been cooking up a storm and have some great new cookbooks, and gone on various food obsessions over the past few months, but here are some highlights.

1) Grits. I grew up with grits, which, for non-Southerners, are basically like polenta. In the South they tend to be eaten with cheese. While visiting my parents in SC, at a restaurant I had the most incredible grits ever. I began a quest to figure out why they were so incredible, so toothsome and savory and complex, when most of the grits I've ever had have been basically a gelatinous patty on a plate next to some eggs and bacon. I decided that their deliciousness was due to the fact that they might have come from a place like Anson Mills, which went out of their way to find obscure, antebellum varieties of corn grown by bootleggers, and then grew the stuff organically, then stone-grinding them to perfection. I ordered a whole mess o'grits and experimented with them for a few weeks. Followed the directions on their website for cooking coarsely-ground grits in a slow cooker, which came out weird. Talked to my friend George, owner of Egg, a restaurant in Brooklyn famous for its Southern fare. He recommended cooking separately and then mixing coarse ground and quick grits from Anson Mills (quick=30 minutes), which seemed to do the trick. Voila, the dreamy grits from the restaurant. I ordered a second (pricey) batch from Anson Mills and am now enjoying the best grits ever, though I mostly am just making the quick cooking variety.

I think one reason these Anson Mills grits are so awesome has to do with the generic, genetically modified Frankencorn that apparently now constitutes 90% of our corn supply (and food supply, since the grocery stores are full of packaged products made out of said corn, everything from diapers to Coke to chips).

2) Vegetarian Cooking. Relates to post #1 and the notes about Frankencorn. I just saw Food, Inc, and it freaked me out. I was already not buying hamburgers anymore due to the E. Coli risk after reading this scary article in the NY Times. We only eat beef once a week or so anyway. I would love to have more vegetarian days but not all members of the household would like this. Fish is good, but how do you know whether your fish is OK or not? If it's farmed, it's probably eating corn too. If it's wild, it might be full of PCB and all other sorts of cancer and infertility-inducing endocrine disrupters. But if you're happily moving to a vegetarian diet, you're in trouble with E. Coli there, too - recall the issues of the past few years with Spinach. But this is a disturbing movie. Can't get the images of all those chickens out of my head.

Prior to all this, I already had a decent little library of vegetarian cookbooks. I really like Nava Atlas' "The Vegetarian Family Cookbook." Almost every recipe in there has been good, and I've tried 15-20 of them. A new addition is Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian. I had found one of her recipes online for Turkish red lentil soup, and it was pretty good. The cookbook came this week and last night I made Spanish swiss chard and potato soup and French Provencale chickpea pizza. Baby Sofia (now 21 months old), who will still eat pretty much anything, ate the soup and was then sick all night. I don't know whether this is due to the soup or a virus, but probably because of the negative associations and four hours of sleep upon which I'm writing this, I won't be making it again.

I think I did a little vegetarian-vegan overkill because I also made Nava Atlas' blueberry muffins, sans eggs, and a recipe for chocolate chip cookies (also without eggs) from the white, whole wheat organic pastry flour I had just bought. The blueberry muffins were just OK (I like her zucchini muffins MUCH better) and the choco chip cookies kind of pathetic. I had made all of these within a 24 hour time span. Bombarding my family all at once with these multiple experiments was a mistake. Chickpea pizza, however, was yum. Baked in a cast-iron skillet after "setting" on the stove, topped with diced tomatoes, onions, and parmesan cheese. Chickpea flour is an exciting new development in my life. It was like a protein-filled flatbread.

3) Favorite food blog: Smitten Kitchen. I've now made multiple recipes from this site. They are always amazing. Her recipe for chewy granola bars is nothing short of incredible.

4) A most awesome cookbook recommendation - Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon by Claudia Roden. My friend Delia gave it to me a while back. I made one or two side dishes/desserts from it, then, as sometimes happens with cookbooks, I stopped. Dug it out recently and started making Moroccan recipes in earnest. Found that they really and truly live up to the food my Moroccan in-laws make - i.e. they're not some weird adaptation like Pork Loin with Moroccan Spices or couscous with mint, which most Moroccans would find anathema. (Mint is for tea. Period.) So far I've made Roast Cod with Potatoes and Tomatoes, Tagine of Chicken with Preserved Lemon and Olives, and Lamb (I used beef) Tagine with Potatoes and Peas. Yum, yum, yum, best Moroccan cookbook I've found so far. Here's the chicken with preserved lemon and olives:

Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemon and Olives (Adapted from Claudia Roden)

3 Tblsp. olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped in food processor
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. crushed saffron threads or saffron powder
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
6-8 pieces of chicken, mix of legs, breasts, whatever
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 Tblsp. chopped cilantro
2 Tblsp. chopped parsley
peel of 1 large preserved lemon (can get these from a middle eastern grocery store, or make your own, just google it, but this dish would still be good without them)
16-20 kalamata olives

In a large casserole heat oil on low heat and add onions, stirring until they begin to soften, then add garlic, saffron, and ginger. Cook 1 min. Add chicken pieces, season with salt and pepper, and pour in 1.5 cups of water. Simmer, covered, turning from time to time and adding water if they become dry. Remove breasts after 15 minutes, reserve. Keep cooking remaining pieces until done, about 25 min. Return breasts to pan. Once chicken is done, add lemon juice, cilantro & parsley, lemon peel cut into strips, and olives. Simmer 5-10 minutes until sauce is quite thick. If chicken is falling off the bone, take it out and cook down until the sauce is thick.

books about food and children

In the fall, I was briefly on a kick of reading books about children & cooking. In an earlier post, pre-baby, I talked about Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, which involves making lots of purees and sneaking them into your children's food. I hoped I didn't have a child for whom I'd have to do this. And now that I actually have a 19-month old, that book seems incredibly fussy to me. Spend Sunday nights whipping up roasted butternut squash purees for the week, to be labeled and frozen in snack bags? I don't think so. I still make the effort to cook dinner most nights of the week, even if Sofia is clinging to my leg and demanding, "Up! Up!", which she does most of the time, particularly when she is hungry. But I'm not going to make special meals for her, unless I'm making something for us that is extremely spicy. However, I do recognize that childhood pickiness is a very real phenomenon, and I'm cringing as I wait for it to descend upon us. We may have seen signs of it in our winter trip to Japan. Sofia was extremely jet lagged for the first week, had a bad cold and then a stomach virus, and literally would not eat the entire time. I'm glad I brought a bag of O-shaped cereal with us for her to eat in our hotel room every morning, or otherwise she would have starved. We had tried making sushi, onigiri, teriyaki, you name it, prior to departing, which she seemed to enjoy, but faced with the actual food of Japan (and the fact she had her nights and days confused), she wasn't interested. Thankfully, now that we've returned, she's eating again.

During the fall I read two books that discuss children & food - one is Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father's Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater, by Matthew Amster-Burton, the other Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 mom, 4 kids, and 102 recipes, by Emily Franklin. Hungry Monkey was by far my favorite of the two, though neither parent seemed to have much success in getting their children to eat adventurously. However, Burton writes humorously and self-deprecatingly of his own adventures as a food writer and some of the quirky foods his daughter likes, and some of his recipes are terrific. Particularly one for cowboy beans and enchiladas. Too Many Cooks just annoyed me. Not only do the kids and the dad in this book not seem to eat much of anything, but the author keeps reminding us how she cooked on a yacht and writes smugly of how well she manages her large and chaotic family while also stealing upstairs to write numerous (published) young adult novels. Struggling to raise one baby (and unable to imagine how you handle four), I had a hard time picturing this kind of life, and I'm amazed at people who can do it. But I still tried several of her recipes, because she did write very enticingly about them. I liked one recipe for chowder, zucchini muffins could have doubled as baseballs, and everything else was kind of lackluster. Here's her recipe for comfort food: hamburger, frozen peas, salt, and elbow macaroni. No spice, no creaminess, no cheesiness, just that. Hmm.

Here, however, is Burton's awesome recipe for cowboy beans. I highly recommend the book, though, both for entertainment value and recipes.

Cowboy Beans

4 slices bacon, diced (I used turkey bacon -would be even more delicious with the real stuff)
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 can diced tomatoes (he recommends Muir-Glen fire roasted)
2 15 ounce cans pinto beans, not drained
1 Tblsp. minced pickled jalapenos
2 Tblsp. finely chopped cilantro

Cook bacon in large saucepan over medium heat until crisp. Add garlic and stir 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, cook and stir 4 minutes. Add beans, simmer over low heat 15 minutes. Add peppers (if using), then cilantro and salt to taste. Beans will be soupy. Great with his whole enchilada recipe, or as a side dish or accompaniment to other Tex-mex fare...

So for most of September, I was down with one daycare illness after another. It thwarted my plans to get back to updating this site regularly. But right now I'm okay - and making plans for a trip to Japan in December. Today we decided we needed to cook Japanese food in preparation. (An article on Bentoin the New York Times has been in the back of my mind for some time now, and I even went so far as to order a bento box to pack cute lunches for my daughter, but again, illness interfered with the cute lunches part.) With the help of the internet, a few good blogs on Japanese cuisine, a YouTube video or two, and a manga cookbook, we set out to make sushi rolls.

Our first step was going to an Asian supermarket -- I've been to a number of them on Colonial Drive here in Orlando, but today stumbled upon the best of all of them - Dong A on Mills Ave. They had absolutely everything, and one of their employees quickly led us around the store after every single thing we needed (I wanted to make miso soup too, and some other recipes). Dashi, miso, tofu, nori, sesame oil, sushi rice, mirin, curry mix, sushi-grade tuna, imitation crabmeat, scallions, sesame seeds, etc... see first pic, above. Back at home, we followed our rice cooker cookbook's recipe for sushi rice, which involved washing the rice in a special way and adding a vinegar-sugar-salt mixture at the end. Nour actually made the rolls-- california and variations on tuna-- and they were terrific. The best were the spicy tuna rolls.

Two great Internet finds: a recipe for a spicy tuna mayonnaise (1/4 cup mayo, 1 Tblsp. sriracha, 1 tsp. sesame oil), and a nice recipe for miso soup from this website:. The sushi rolls were perfect. We stuffed ourselves and calculated how much money we must be saving by making them ourselves, all you can eat. Our first venture into Japanese cuisine, hopefully more to follow.

Nutty about Quinoa

I've been on a cooking rampage since the semester started. The baby, well, she's a toddler now at 14 months, started daycare, we started back teaching, and cooking something good at the end of a long day feels like the best kind of stress relief. I'm always hopeful the next recipe I try is going to be life changing. Nine times out of ten it isn't (recent ehhh recipes included Cornish pasties and tomato pie), but experimenting is always fun. I'm also thinking about trying to send good foods to daycare with S, and happy that she still eats everything. So today I was reading somewhere about quinoa, and how it's a super food. Packed with protein, full of all 8 amino acids, plus iron, fiber, calcium, vitamins, etc etc. Claims that it can lower your blood pressure or improve your memory.

I've tried cooking with it before and wasn't that crazy about it, but I decided to give it another try. You can use quinoa as a substitute in recipes that would call for rice. Picked some up at Whole Foods, and for dinner, made a risotto I normally make with arborio rice, roasted butternut squash, and chicken. I roast 1 squash at 400 for 45 minutes, saute a shallot and garlic in butter, add 1 diced chicken breast, cook it for a minute until no longer pink, then add 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water. After ten minutes, added half the roasted squash, chopped up small. Salt & pepper to taste. Topped with parmesan cheese, the first bite was interesting, but after that it grew on me. Something about the smell or taste reminds me of cruciferous vegetables, but just a hint.

Then I had some uncooked quinoa left over, so for dessert I adapted a Martha Stewart recipe for quinoa muffins. And this one was worth writing about. May top a previous Best Ever Muffins recipe, since it's probably better for you and also has an interesting nutty crunchiness to it. You can replace blueberries with whatever you have on hand-- raisins, cranberries, dates would all be nice...

Quinoa Muffins

1 cup quinoa, rinsed (You have to do this or apparently it's very bitter)
1/4 cup vegetable oil,
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (or more!) blueberries
3/4 cup whole milk (I'll try using lowfat next time)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Boil 1 cup quinoa with 1 cup water for about 11 minutes or until water is absorbed. Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add 2 cups of the cooked quinoa (you might have slightly more) and mix well. In a small bowl, beat milk, egg, and vanilla. Add milk mixture plus blueberries to flour mixture, mix just enough to get the ingredients together or the muffins will be tough.

Pour into 12 muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack.

Moroccan Foods for Ramadan

After being married to a Moroccan for almost a decade, I finally figured out how to make harira. Harira is a tomato-based soup with meat and chickpeas that Moroccans eat to break the fast during Ramadan. I've tried a number of delicious recipes, but none of them ever tasted quite like the harira made in my husband's family. Somehow, even though I got other cooking lessons, I never learned to make harira the way they did. So finally this past summer while in Fes, I wrote down my sister-in-law's directions. I pulled out the recipe a few weeks ago and realized it was just a giant list of ingredients, a little here and there, approximated using tea glasses or small spoons, most of said ingredients thrown into a blender and then a pressure cooker, with other things added later. So I worked on the measurements until I got the recipe right. Last night we finally had some authentic food-- I've also been tinkering with the recipe for bghrir, otherwise known as the "pancake of a thousand holes," and I think I've got that one down, too. I'm writing them down now for posterity, and so I can remember what I did next time.

Harira (Serves 4)

Part 1:

1/2 lb stew beef, cut into 1 " pieces
4 large tomatoes
1 large onion
3 stalks celery, with leaves
1/2 cup parsley
1/4 cup cilantro
1 Tblsp canola oil
1 tsp. salt, add more to taste
1/2 tsp. black pepper
A can of chickpeas, drained
2 teaspoons Better than Boullion, or beef boullion cubes, or beef stock

Part 2:

1/8 cup flour
1/4 cup water
2 Tblsp. tomato paste
1/4 cup long grain rice
1/4 cup cilantro
4 cups water

Part 3:

Small handful vermicelli noodles, preferably fideo, broken up angel hair noodles that they sell at Hispanic grocery stores.

Place stew beef in a pressure cooker, or large Dutch oven (will take longer). Blend tomatoes in blender then strain them through a colander, adding strained tomatoes to pot. Blend large onion with 1/2 cup water, add to pot. Blend celery with 1/2 cup parsley, 1/4 cup cilantro and another 1/2 cup water, add to pot. Turn on the burner, bring to a simmer, keep adding stuff: oil, salt, pepper, beef stock or boullion, chickpeas (You can use canned, but if so, don't add them now, add them at the end). Seal pressure cooker, cook 45 minutes, turn off heat. If using a dutch oven, simmer about 2 hours, or until beef is tender.

In a blender, blend flour, 1/2 cup water, 2 Tblsp tomato paste. Add to pot, along with rice, cilantro, and 4 cups water. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring frequently to keep flour from sticking.

Best if you let it sit for another hour or two before eating. Salt to taste. It should be a slightly thick soup. If too thick, add more water. Just before eating, add a very small handful of fideo noodles.

Serve with lemon. Some people also put in lentils; you could do 1/4 cup or less at the same time you add the rice. This is the best soup ever; very filling.

Bghrir (Pancake with 1000 holes)

1 3/4 cups semolina
1/2 cup white flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup milk, warmed slightly
3 cups water, lukewarm
3 eggs
1 Tblsp yeast (or a yeast packet)

Sift semolina, flour and salt. In a separate bowl, mix milk, water, eggs, and yeast with a whisk. Add SOME of the milk mixture to the semolina until mixture gets thick-- like a thick soup. Put that in a blender, blend for 3-4 minutes. Now strain it through a colander and then add the rest of your milk/eggs mixture. Allow to rise in a warm place for two hours.

Batter will be frothy. Stir gently with a ladle, and fry, crepe-style (not too thick) in a small frying pan coated with nonstick cooking spray over medium heat. Pancake will gather lots of tiny holes, but don't turn it over-- when it's golden on the bottom and done on the top, place it on a cookie rack or clean dish towel, but don't stack. This makes a LOT of tiny pancakes.

Before serving, heat another skillet with some butter (or butter substitute) and honey. Warm the pancakes you will be eating in the honey mixture, then stack on a plate to keep warm. Extra ones keep well.

The Julie/Julia Movie

We lived in New York in 2002, during the time when Julie Powell was writing her blog cooking through all the recipes in the Julia Child cookbook. I followed it religiously. I was trying to finish writing my PhD dissertation and working day jobs as a temp at places like Clinique and Tiffany's, in their corporate headquarters, or in big financial firms. The names of the places sounded glamorous but the work was not-- I remember being hired to fill in for a secretary on vacation at a big financial firm and being shocked that actual shoeshine men would go from office to office, collecting shoes, sitting outside and dutifully shining them. Always at these places there was a hierarchy, still with white men at the top (I'm thinking of Mad Men), and I was usually taking orders from some guy who needed Excel spreadsheets typed up rapidly, or else someone to help him fill out Evite invitations for a party, and who could care less that I was working on a doctorate. It was an interesting year, it was fun at times, and it was also a struggle. And I had my own food blog, site designed by my husband, on its own server (that we eventually stopped subscribing to so I could do a free blogger page). I wrote a lot more back then and loved reading other people's sites. So it was cool to watch Julie Powell's rise to fame, and to reminisce about living in New York in a similar time in our lives.

The movie was great fun, and it made me fairly hungry for French food, even though many of the scenes involved not fully cooked food but ducks being deboned, or other raw scenes. Not quite as mouth watering as other food movies, such as Big Night. So this past weekend for my birthday dinner, my family and I went to Cafe de France, one of the best restaurants in our town. It was terrific. I had veal piccata, with perfectly cooked asparagus and a potato galette, and creme brulee for dessert. Because he'd heard it was my birthday, the waiter propped a tiny candle on the side of my plate in wax, a perfect gesture. I went home and dug around for my copy of the Julia Child cookbook-- I know I bought it years ago at a yard sale-- and couldn't find it anywhere. Oh well. Instead I took several yellow potatoes, sliced them thin, layered them in a gratin dish with sliced onions, parmesan, salt, and pepper between the layers. I poured milk over the whole thing, baked it for an hour at 375, and added more cheese at the end. Would have been even better with gruyere on hand but not bad, nonetheless. But now I'm desperately searching for that cookbook.

Oven French Fries with Dijon Mayo

This is a fool-proof recipe for French fries, and it always turns out well for me. An adaptation of a Cooking Light recipe, with a dipping sauce that tastes like something you'd be eating in the south of France, at a seaside cafe somewhere, with lots of fresh grilled seafood.

2 lbs Baking potatoes or yukon gold potatoes
2 Tblsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. white wine vinegar
1 minced garlic clove
3 Tblsp. mayonnaise
1 tsp. chopped parsley
1 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 450. Slice potatoes lengthwise, anywhere from 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thickness. Place in a large bowl, fill with hot water, let stand ten minutes while you make sauce.

Combine vinegar and garlic, let stand five minutes. Add mayonnaise, parsley, mustard.

Drain potatoes and pat dry with paper towels. In a dry bowl, mix them with oil and salt. Arrange on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray, place in preheated oven. Check after ten minutes to see if you need to turn them-- if they're golden brown on the bottom. Could take anywhere from 20-35 minutes total, depending on how thick you slice them.

Bibimbap with Salmon and Spinach

This recipe for Bibimbap, rice with salmon and spinach, has been in heavy rotation in my kitchen for almost a year now, since a NY Times article on the joys of rice cookers. The article made rice cookers sound so tempting that I ran out and bought one. You can get them for very cheap at places like Target, though there are also fancy versions. I got a large, basic one, and it's really great-- does excellent rice every time, and also acts as a slow cooker. This can also be made without a rice cooker, and I've improvised on it and taken a few liberties, so it's not fully authentically Korean, but the essential ingredient is kimchi, pickled cabbage. Our grocery store has it and it can also be found at stores like Whole Foods and Asian supermarkets.

Rice Cooker Bibimbap with Salmon and Spinach

10 ounces leaf spinach, fresh or frozen
Roasted sesame oil
Rice vinegar
Salt & pepper
8 ounces salmon filet, sliced into 1/4 inch strips
1 1/2 to 2 cups rice, medium or short grain, rinsed
5 Tblsp. kimchi, finely chopped
4 eggs
Sriracha (should be an authentic chili paste called Kochuj ang, but I don't like it as much)

Steam spinach in rice cooker steamer basket (with an inch of water below, boiling), or simply saute it until it just wilts. Drain and squeeze excess moisture out, season with salt, pepper, sesame oil and rice vinegar.

Seam salmon in top steamer basket of rice cooker, about 15 minutes. (Without a rice cooker, you could saute, quickly broil, or steam some other way).

Clean out cooker. Rinse rice a few times until water is no longer chalky. Add rice to cooker and cook with a bit of salt. (Here you could just make rice separately).

When timer goes off and rice is done, stir in kimchi, scraping bottom of rice cooker. Smooth top. Drizzle 4 tsp. sesame oil over rice, gently break eggs on top, one on each side of cooker. Cover, press "cook" on rice cooker again for 8-10 minutes. (Without a rice cooker, in a large pot, you could arrange everything and steam the eggs).

Switch rice cooker to warm, arrange salmon and spinach next to eggs, cover, and steam until egg whites turn white, yolks will still be runny. Place 2 tsps. chili paste in center, mix everything up. Serve.

I like to keep the rice cooker on because it makes a nice crust on the bottom of the rice. Serves 4.

sriracha mayonnaise

I learned this week in the NY Times that sriracha, a spicy red pepper sauce that we always have in the refrigerator, is not an authentic Vietnamese condiment, but in fact was invented by a Vietnamese immigrant to Los Angeles of Chinese origin. Interesting! Apparently it's all the rage among chefs in New York to use it in subtle and imaginative ways. I tried the accompanying recipe for sriracha mayonnaise, which is excellent with both French fries and steak. It's worth saving to make again. (I made a fourth of this quantity and had enough for two batches of oven fries and a steak).

Sriracha Mayo

2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 cup sriracha hot sauce
2 tablespoons condensed milk
1 tablespoon sea salt.

Mix everything together, preferably in a food processor. Spicy and good. Supposedly also a good accompaniment for onion rings.

Quick dinner idea - grilled chicken with harissa and yogurt

I have lots of updates but just haven't had time to post... but a recipe in yesterday's NY Times for beef marinated in harissa and yogurt gave me a good idea. You may know that tandoori chicken is marinated in yogurt to tenderize it, but this is a brilliant idea. Harissa is a spicy pepper paste we bring back from Morocco (it's Tunisian in origin), which you can get at Middle Eastern grocery stores and gourmet food shops. Adding harissa to yogurt for a marinade and then grilling the chicken is AWESOME. I chopped up some regular and sweet potatoes, chopped an onion into chunks, and mixed it with crushed garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and Italian seasoning, then cooked those in the oven at 450 for about 30 minutes. Very fast dinner.

Grilled chicken with harissa and yogurt, side of roasted regular and sweet potatoes

2 large boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup yogurt
2 Tblsp. harissa (could do more to make it spicier)
salt
1 crushed garlic clove

Mix the marinade, chop the chicken into small, one inch chunks. Marinate it two hours. Grill. 45 minutes before you want to eat, make the potatoes. I used about 2 pounds potatoes, one large onion, chopped, 1 crushed garlic clove, 2 tsp. Italian seasoning, 4 Tblsp. olive oil, and 1 Tblsp. balsamic vinegar. Toss well, cook at 450 for 30 minutes, turning occasionally.

another chocolate chip cookie recipe...

Can this blog stand yet another chocolate chip cookie recipe? I admit I came across this one under rather dubious circumstances. Having a craving for cookie dough, yet continuing with my resolve not to eat raw eggs while still breastfeeding the baby, I was scouring the web for eggless dough recipes I might consume. I found this one, which apparently originated in a vegan cookbook by author Chandra Moskowitz.I didn't have high hopes for the recipe at first-- where's the brown sugar? Where are the eggs? but if I could consume a little dough in the process of baking the cookies, I figured I would be happy. I was surprised when this one actually turned out to be quite delicious. Really good, in fact I'd make it just for the cookies alone. (And the dough doesn't taste half bad either). Again, the recipe is good enough to make me curious about the cookbook-- it's now on my Amazon wishlist.. I adapted it with less salt from the original recipe and with nuts.

Eggless, vegan chocolate chip cookies...

1 cup Smart Balance butter substitute, i.e. margarine
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (doesn't need much if your margarine already contains salt)
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (or vegan carob chips)
1/2 cup walnuts, pecans, whatever

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cream margarine and sugar until fluffy. Add molasses and vanilla, then dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by big spoonfulls onto an ungreased cookie sheet, bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly on baking sheets before transferring to cookie rack.

Eggplant Parmesan

A good eggplant parmesan ought to be substantial enough that you almost feel like you're eating meat. For years I've tried different recipes but haven't found anything that creates this effect. I also didn't really want to deep fry the eggplant, even if that might have been a potential secret. But I just found a great recipe-- thanks to my friend Bob. He had served it before at a dinner party and I vowed to get the recipe. I made it last night, and it's amazing. I believe the original source is Cook's Illustrated. The eggplant is baked, too, so it's almost good for you.

EGGPLANT PARMESAN

2 pounds globe eggplant (2 medium eggplants), cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1 tablespoon kosher salt
8 slices high-quality white bread, torn
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
6 tablespoons vegetable oil

Tomato Sauce

3 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 medium cloves garlic , pressed through garlic press
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped


8 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella, (2 cups)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
10 fresh basil leaves torn, for garnish


1. FOR THE EGGPLANT: Toss half of eggplant slices and 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt in large bowl until combined; transfer salted eggplant to large colander set over bowl. Repeat with remaining eggplant and kosher salt, placing second batch in colander on top of first. Let stand until eggplant releases about 2 tablespoons liquid, 30 to 45 minutes. Arrange eggplant slices on triple layer paper towels; cover with another triple layer paper towels. Firmly press each slice to remove as much liquid as possible, then wipe off excess salt.

2. Put two rimmed baking sheets on each rack, and heat oven to 425 degrees. Pulse bread in food processor to fine, even crumbs, you should have about 4 cups. Transfer crumbs to pie plate and stir in 1 cup Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; set aside.

3. Combine flour and 1 teaspoon pepper in large zipper-lock bag; shake to combine. Beat eggs in second pie plate. Place 8 to 10 eggplant slices in bag with flour; seal bag and shake to coat eggplant. Take out one baking sheet, add three Tblsp. regular oil. Remove eggplant slices, shaking off excess flour, dip in eggs, let excess egg run off, then coat evenly with bread crumb mixture; set breaded slices on heated baking sheets. Stick in oven. When sheet is full, do same thing with other baking sheet.

4. Bake until eggplant is well browned and crisp, about 30 minutes, switching and rotating baking sheets after 10 minutes, and flipping eggplant slices with wide spatula after 20 minutes. Do not turn off oven.

5. FOR THE SAUCE: While eggplant bakes, process 2 cans diced tomatoes in food processor, about 5 seconds. Heat olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and garlic is light golden, about 3 minutes; stir in processed and remaining can of diced tomatoes. Bring sauce to boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and reduced, about 15 minutes. Stir in basil and season to taste with salt and pepper.

6. TO ASSEMBLE: Spread 1 cup tomato sauce in bottom of 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Layer in half of eggplant slices, overlapping slices to fit; distribute 1 cup sauce over eggplant; sprinkle with half of mozzarella. Layer in remaining eggplant and dot with 1 cup sauce, leaving majority of eggplant exposed so it will remain crisp; sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan and remaining mozzarella. Bake until bubbling and cheese is browned, 13 to 15 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; scatter basil over top, and serve, passing remaining tomato sauce separately

best chocolate chip cookies ever...

The recipes on this blog give the appearance that my diet consists only of pasta, chicken, and cookies. Which isn't true, but I do have another another amazing cookie recipe to share. People have been rhapsodic over these cookies on various food blogs, but the hype is true-- they're great chocolate chip cookies because they have the maximum of chocolate chips and nuts. And it's nice how they cook on parchment paper, which I've never tried- they cook smoothly and come up very easily. They are made with cold butter, another difference I've noticed from other cookie recipes, and the oven is a little cooler than in standard cookie recipes. And the nuts are toasted... Those might help make these cookies so amazing, but who cares. They're just incredible. And I plan to buy the cookbook as a result of having tried this recipe...

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever
from David Lebovitz, Great Book of Chocolate

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar (I used dark brown with no problems)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped

Preheat oven to 300. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat sugars and butter until smooth, add egg, vanilla and baking soda. Mix flour and salt, add to batter. Add chocolate chips and nuts.

Scoop by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheet, three inches apart. Bake 18 minutes. Yum.

Ligurian Chicken

Been making this for five years now... adapted from a NY Times recipe from chef Jamie Oliver. I had this on my old food blog, which I kept from 2000-04, but I never transferred it to this new one, so I am always hunting for the recipe. This is an excellent chicken preparation-- good for winter, and hearty yet light.

Ligurian Chicken

2 Tblsp. flour, mixed on a plate with salt and pepper
1 four pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces (bone-in)
2 Tblsp. olive oil
4 fresh rosemary sprigs
6 thinly sliced garlic cloves
1 1/2 cups white wine
1/2 cups Kalamata olives, with or without pits
3 ripe plum tomatoes, halved, seeded, and coarsely chopped

Dredge the pieces in 2 Tblsp. flour, mixed with salt and pepper, then saute them in olive oil over medium-high heat. Don't be tempted to touch them until they develop a golden crust and the juices are sealed in. Turn them over, adding four little branches of rosemary and 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced. When garlic softens but does not color, add 1 1/2 cups white wine and bring to a boil. Then add 1/2 cup kalamata olives, and 3 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped. Simmer partially covered until chicken is cooked and broth is reduced and tastes savory. The recipe said 15 to 20 minutes but the pieces of a big bird took slightly longer, so make sure it's done without overcooking it.

holiday cookies

I found two recipes for cookies this year that I will add to my library of cookies: Lemon Cornmeal Cookies (from this month's Cooking Light) and Triple Chocolate Cookies (originally from the Food Channel, altered slightly). The Lemon Cornmeal cookies are unusual; they develop a sugary crust on the bottom but are chewy on the inside from the cornmeal. The chocolate cookies are great-- and their ingredients can be altered slightly to make a different type of cookie each time. I will definitely be making these again.

LEMON CORNMEAL COOKIES

1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup light-colored corn syrup
2 tsp. grated lemon peel
2 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 350. Mix flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt together, set aside. In mixing bowl, blend butter and sugar until smooth. Add oil, corn syrup, lemon peel, and egg whites until well mixed. Slowly add flour mixture, mix well. Drop by tablespoons one inch apart on greased baking sheet, bake 10 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool cookies on tray on top of wire rack-- this helps to crisp them up a bit.

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE COOKIES

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (OR 1/3 cup brittle chips)
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix butter and sugar in mixer until well combined, add oil, egg, vanilla and mix until creamy.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix well. Stir in the two kinds of chocolate, and the walnuts and mix well. Using a tablespoon, scoop the batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

Thanksgiving Dressing

My mother's recipe, which I make every year:

3 T butter
1 c. finely chopped onions
6-8 cups white bread chunks, 1/2 inch
3 medium-sized apples, peeled and cored and coarsely chopped
1/2 c. coarsely chopped nuts (I use walnuts)
1/4 c. finely chopped parsley
1 tsp. dried marjoram
1 tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper

Saute butter and onions, add other ingredients, toss to combine. Can be used to stuff turkey, or place in foil, covered, bake for 50 minutes at whatever temperature your turkey is cooking. Serves 4-6.

Turkish pasta with eggplant, beef, and yogurt sauce

When I used to live in Turkey in the mid 1990s, one of the best foods I tasted there was manti, meat-filled dumplings served with a warm yogurt sauce. I had a Turkish friend, Sumer, who knew a place in her neighborhood that made the best ones, and we'd get them as take-out and watch movies at her apartment. I never tried tackling them, since dumplings can be time-consuming, but when this recipe appeared in last week's NY Times for an easy version of them, I decided to give them a try. I was worried they wouldn't live up to memory, but in fact, they were terrific. So good, in fact, that I will certainly make them again. Hearty, rich, creamy, spicy, yum... but it's necessary to use the real ingredients here-- shallots and not onions, Greek yogurt and not plain Ameican yogurt... I did, however, use beef instead of ground lamb because I'm just not that crazy about ground lamb, and I used parsley instead of dill because I couldn't find it...


1 large eggplant, cut in 1/2 -inch cubes
5 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
3 fat garlic cloves, minced
1 large shallot, minced
1 pound ground beef
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, preferably Turkish or Aleppo
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 pound bowtie or orecchiette pasta

2 to 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Boil water for pasta. Toss eggplant with 4 Tblsp. oil and a generous pinch salt. Spread on baking sheet and roast until crisp and brown, 15-20 minutes.

In a skillet, heat 1 Tblsp oil. Saute 2 of the garlic cloves and shallot for 1-2 min. Add beef, salt, red pepper flakes, and black pepper, cook until done. Stir in parsley at end and saute another 2 minutes. Mix in eggplant.

Cook pasta. Meanwhile, melt as much butter as you want to use, cooking until it turns golden brown, about 5 min. In a separate bowl, mix together yogurt, remaining garlic and pinch of salt.

Drain pasta, place on serving platter. Top with meat-eggplant mixture, then yogurt sauce. Pour melted butter over top. Garnish with more parsley and pepper.

Yield: 2 to 3 servings.

Oven-fried catfish

This is one I have made several times, and each time I have to dig around to find the recipe, so it's time to launch it on the website. It's really good-- will satisfy a craving for fish and chips, but in a healthy way. I usually slice up some sweet potatoes, toss them with olive oil, cayenne pepper, paprika and salt, and roast them at about 450.

Oven-fried Catfish

Sauce:
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped pickles
2 teaspoons capers, chopped
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco

Fish:
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
4 (4-ounce) catfish fillets

Rolls, sliced tomatoes, lettuce...

Preheat oven to 450. Mix sauce ingredients: mayonnaise, relish, capers, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and Tabasco.

Combine flour, paprika, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. Place egg whites in a shallow bowl. Combine cornmeal, remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder in a shallow dish. Dredge fish in flour, then egg whites, then cornmeal. Place on baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Spray fish lightly with cooking spray, bake 6 minutes. Turn and spray again, bake another 6 minutes.

Serve immediately with sauce, making a sandwich if you like.