Chef Patti Anastasia
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Serving Southern New Hampshire &
the Merrimack Valley since 2003
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Great meals & the time to enjoy them!
Chef Patti Anastasia Serving Southern New Hampshire & |
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Table Talk » Recipes ArchivesApril 14, 2008What, no shallots in the house?I just read about these Caramelized Shallots on the Smitten Kitchen blog. I want to dive into this dish. Right now. Damn, I don't have any shallots in the house. Not a one. Last week I had a pile of shallots. Why did I use them all? Why don't I have an emergency shallot supply? March 25, 2008Baking for Jayne: Gluten-Free and Vegan Chocolate Chip CookiesJayne has Celiac disease, is allergic to soy and eggs and is sensitive to dairy. All of the food that I prepare for her and her family is gluten-free, soy-free, egg-free, and uses limited dairy. Lately, I've been making a dessert or other treat for Jayne. Today, thanks to Karina of Karina's Kitchen, I made gluten-free and vegan chocolate chip cookies for Jayne. I've tried a few gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipes and Karina's recipe beats all of them. The first test was the cookie dough. Of course, I had to try the unbaked dough. One good thing about vegan cookie dough is that you don't have to concern yourself with the food safety issue of raw eggs in the dough. Yum, this dough is delicious. It wasn't grainy/gritty like many gluten-free recipes.
The dough is chilled for one hour before you make the cookies. You roll the dough into balls, then flatten them slightly before baking. I used a heaping tablespoon of dough to form the cookies.
After 12-15 minutes, you have beautiful and delicious cookies. The cookies came out of the oven right after my client came home for lunch. We all tried them and everyone loved them. At one point, Jayne's mother asked me to move the cookies away from her so she wouldn't eat them all.
Don't you just love how the third cookie from the left in the second row from the bottom has a face? Karina's recipe is delicious. If you know someone who is gluten-free and doesn't eat eggs, be sure to make these cookies for them.
March 23, 2008Crispy Potato Cakes RevisitedBack in September, I posted this recipe for Crispy Potato Cakes. This is an updated version of that recipe. The original recipe called for grating potatoes, soaking them in water, squeezing them dry, then mixing with cornstarch, green onions, and seasoning. I've done some Cooks Illustrated-style experimenting with the recipe because I wanted to see if could find a faster way to make these without affecting the quality. To me, the changes are an improvement. They take less time to make and I like the new potato cakes even better. Test 2: Frozen Hashed Browns -- Since shredding the potatoes in the food processor worked so well, I decided to try using frozen hashed brown potatoes. I used Alexia Foods Organic Hashed Browns. To defrost the potatoes, I simply opened the bags and spread the potatoes out on a baking sheet and let them sit at room temperature for 1/2 hour. The defrosted potatoes didn't have very much moisture in them, so I decided to skip the soaking and squeezing steps. I tossed the defrosted potatoes with the cornstarch, scallions, and spices. This time, I also experimenting with forming the potato cakes freehand. I filled the measuring cup with 1/2 cup of potatoes and tipped the cup over onto the foil-lined baking sheet. I found that I didn't really need the 3-inch ring to form the potato cakes. The potatoes are moist enough to hold together. I pressed them lightly to slightly flatten them. Eliminating the ring saves a little bit of time. These were baked at 425F for 20 minutes, then flipped and baked for 15 minutes longer. They weren't quite crispy enough after 15 minutes, so I baked them for five more minutes. Ultimately, the baking time depends on how crispy you like them. The potato cakes made using the frozen hashed browns were delicious and took significantly less time to make. This method is the winner in my book.
Continue reading "Crispy Potato Cakes Revisited" » March 19, 2008Hit of the Day: Sweet Orange SalmonOf the dishes that I made today, my favorite was Sweet Orange Salmon. The salmon is rubbed with a mixture of brown sugar, chili powder, orange zest, cumin, paprika, coriander, and black pepper. I let the salmon "marinate" with the rub for 30 minutes before broiling it. The sweet and spicy rub caramelized beautifully under the broiler. I paired the salmon with roasted sesame zucchini and yellow squash.
Continue reading "Hit of the Day: Sweet Orange Salmon" » March 8, 2008My New Go-To Shrimp CocktailFine Cooking does it again with a scrumptious recipe for shrimp cocktail. Every time I've made this Garlic-Roasted Shrimp Cocktail, it's been gobbled up and I've had requests for the recipe. While it's tempting to start with precooked shrimp for shrimp cocktail, if you do, you'll save some time, but you'll sacrifice taste and texture. Traditionally, the shrimp for shrimp cocktail are poached. In this version, the shrimp are roasted. To me, it's easier than poaching and produces tastier shrimp. The shrimp are peeled and tossed with some salt, pepper, olive oil, and minced garlic. They are quickly roasted at 450ºF. That's it. The cocktail sauce is spiked with red onion, minced jalepeno, and horseradish. This is so easy and so delicous. Try it the next time you serve shrimp cocktail.
Continue reading "My New Go-To Shrimp Cocktail" » February 4, 2008Fast (and Healthy) Pork Chops with Apples and ThymeI write a column called Fast (and Healthy) for Applaud, a local women's magazine. The column provides a quick and healthful recipe and some information about the health benefits of ingredients used in the recipe. This article appeared in the Winter 2008 issue. In the fall, I like to use local apples in my cooking. Apples not only taste delicious, they provide many health benefits. I’m sure that you’ve made apple desserts, but apples can also be a part of a fast and healthy dinner. Apples are an excellent source of dietary fiber, which helps aid digestion and promotes weight loss. When you snack on an apple, you are getting five grams of fiber, virtually no fat, and no cholesterol. Apples are delicious snacks that are good for you. When you snack on apples, it’s a good idea to eat apples with their skin. Almost half of the vitamin C content is just underneath the skin. The fiber and phytonutrients in apples have been shown to help in lowering cholesterol. Studies indicate that two apples a day reduced the damaging effects of LDL cholesterol, the “bad” cholesterol. Apples can help fight cancer. Studies have linked apples with reduced cancer risk in several studies. A Mayo Clinic study indicates that quercetin, a flavonoid in apples, helps prevent the growth of prostate cancer cells. A Cornell University study indicates that phytochemicals in the skin of an apple inhibited the reproduction of colon cancer cells by 43 percent. The National Cancer Institute has reported that foods containing flavonoids like those found in apples may reduce the risk of lung cancer by as much as 50 percent. So grab some apples and let’s make dinner.
Continue reading "Fast (and Healthy) Pork Chops with Apples and Thyme" » January 6, 2008Grains of Paradise and Autumn Blend LentilsI'm on a mission to try some of the interesting new ingredients that I've bought, but haven't made time to use. This lentil soup uses two items that have been sitting on my new ingredient shelf for a while: Grains of Paradise and an Autumn lentil blend. I bought the Grains of Paradise at A Market Natural Foods, a local natural foods store. The Autumn lentil blend came from Sid Wainer & Sons, a purveyor of specialty produce and speciality foods located in New Bedford, MA. Grains of Paradise have a peppery taste, with a fruity flavor like coriander and an aroma that reminds me of cardamom. I'm going to add some to my pepper mill the next time I fill it. The Autumn lentil blend was a rainbow of autumn colors. It would have been wiser to use them in dish that wasn't blended, but they've been on my shelf for a while, so in the pot they went. My lentil soup recipe is a slight modification of a recipe from Alton Brown. Of course I had to make a few modifications. I didn't have any celery, so I added some extra onion and carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon of ground celery seed. Soup needs garlic, in goes three cloves of minced garlic. Tomatoes are dreadful at this time of year, so I knew that I'd be using canned diced tomatoes. When I opened the cabinet to get the tomatoes, a can of fire-roasted tomatoes said "pick me". Oh, and I didn't bother finely chopping the vegetables because the soup gets blended with an immersion blender before serving.
Continue reading "Grains of Paradise and Autumn Blend Lentils" » December 21, 2007Eat Your Veggies in a BurgerMy favorite veggie burger is an adaptation of Eating Well's Mediterranean Burgers. Their recipe uses millet, which is hard for me to find, so I adapted it to use quinoa, one of my favorite grains. I knew that these veggies burgers would appeal to some of my clients, so I streamlined the recipe to make it easier and faster to prepare. Except for using quinoa instead of millet, I didn't make many changes to the ingredients. Rather than pan-frying them, which is time-consuming, I bake them so that I can cook them all at the same time and not have to watch them carefully while they cook. The burgers are packed with the hearty, whole-grain goodness of quinoa, along with spinach, onions, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and feta cheese. A great way to eat your veggies. These veggie burgers are served with Olive Ketchup. This yummy condiment is so easy and the perfect topping for these burgers. In September, a client asked for these veggie burgers. They've requested them over and over again since they first tried them. These veggie burgers freeze very well. I vacuum seal the burgers and the olive ketchup separately and advise my clients to defrost, but not heat the olive ketchup. You can heat the burgers in the microwave, in a frying pan on the stovetop, or in the oven. Since the olive ketchup takes just a few minutes to make, you could make a small batch whenever you serve the burgers. Grr, there is no photo today because I just discovered that I didn't have a memory card in my camera when I took pictures of the veggie burger. You can get an idea of what the veggie burgers look like by looking at the picture on the Eating Well site. I puree the spinach in my version, so my burgers are green throughout, not brown flecked with spinach. Note to self, always check to see if there is a memory card in the camera before you start taking pictures. The next time I make these I'll come back here and update this post with a photo. Continue reading "Eat Your Veggies in a Burger" » December 9, 2007Whole Wheat Cheese Danish Biscuits for Maxine and RufusI recently got a "birth announcement" from one of my clients. They had welcomed Rufus, a 4 year old Papillon into their family. They've been looking for a friend for their Maxine for about a year and are delighted to have found Rufus. When I got the announcement, I was looking at Joe's blog and he had made some treats for his dogs. He inspired me to look at his collection of dog treat recipes and make something for Maxine and Rufus. The Whole Wheat Cheese Danish Biscuits caught my eye and I had everything that I needed to make them. I made one slight change to the ingredients. Joe uses canola oil. I use safflower oil. The technique is the same, except that I kneaded the dough in the mixing bowl (a trick my mom uses when she makes pizza dough) and to make cleanup easier, I lay out a large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil on the counter whenever I work with dough. If the foil shifts around, use freezer tape to tape it to the counter top. Maxine and Rufus are very small dogs, so I used a 1-inch star cutter to cut out the cookies. The cookies bake for 20 minutes, then you turn off the oven and leave them for 2 hours. These cookies are flavored with vanilla and they filled the house with the delicious smell of vanilla. When I added in the vanilla, I was thinking that I should really be using bacon extract! I have plans to make these biscuits for more of my dog friends. Instead of the vanilla, I want to try Savory Choice Beef Broth Concentrate Maxine and Rufus loved them! That's Maxine on the right and Rufus on the left.
Continue reading "Whole Wheat Cheese Danish Biscuits for Maxine and Rufus" » December 2, 2007Pumpkin Oatmeal for BreakfastOatmeal is so good for you, but I don't like the consistency of oatmeal cooked as a hot breakfast cereal. I want to add oatmeal to my breakfast, so I adapted my friend Marcy's recipe for baked oatmeal in the hope of making an oatmeal dish that I would like. With baked oatmeal, you get all the goodness of oatmeal, but the consistency is that of a dense bar. I made a few changes to Marcy's recipe; the most significant change was adding some pumpkin puree. Now I love oatmeal. Baked oatmeal that is! I've been making a batch of it on Sunday to have for breakfast during the week. I have a piece of baked oatmeal with some fruit. Sometimes I have it with an ounce or two of Hormel® Natural Choice® ham, which is a nitrate-free ham. Baked oatmeal is not the most photogenic food, but here it is. Baked Oatmeal with Pumpkin
Continue reading "Pumpkin Oatmeal for Breakfast" » November 27, 2007My Post-Thanksgiving TurkeyI grew up in Plymouth, MA and my family still lives there. If you grew up in the land of the first Thanksgiving, that is where you go for Thanksgiving. My mom cooks the turkey and most of the dinner. That means we don't get a lot of luscious turkey leftovers. So this year, rather than raiding mom's turkey leftovers, I roasted a turkey breast a few days after Thanksgiving. My friend Kris shared this Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast with Pan Gravy that she had made for her Thanksgiving dinner and gave it rave reviews. Ah, I found the starting point for my turkey breast. The recipe from Rachael Ray calls for boned turkey breast halves. I decided to skip splitting and boning my whole turkey breast. I added a bit of garlic to the herb rub. And I used a few more bay leaves, and since I didn't have any apple cider, I decided to use white wine and turkey broth in the gravy. I wanted lots of gravy, so I also added 1 cup of white wine to the roasting pan. I also made some Stuffing Muffins, but I don't have a recipe for them because stuffing is something that I make by adding this and that. The base for the stuffing muffins is whole wheat bread that I dried in the oven. They have celery, onion, sage, sweet Italian sausage, turkey broth, butter, and white wine, but I have no idea how much of each. Speaking of turkey broth, I use Savory Choice Turkey Broth Concentrate. Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast and Stuffing Muffins
Continue reading "My Post-Thanksgiving Turkey" » November 25, 2007Pumpkin Chiffon Cup PiesI love pumpkin, but I am not a fan of traditional pumpkin pie. It's the texture of the custardy filling more than the flavor that I dislike. Last month I found a recipe for pumpkin chiffon tarts in the October issue of Martha Stewart Living. What first appealed to me is that the recipe is for individual tarts. I'm a sucker for individual desserts. I'll happily make mini pies, but I have no interest in making a normal pie. The Martha recipe had a gingersnap crust and a fluffy pumpkin filling, of course I would like it. As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew that I wanted to make it for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the perfect time for both pumpkin and mini desserts. Although the recipe called for using six 5-inch pie tins, I decided to use a cupcake pan so they would truly be mini pies. I decided not to use sugar in the crust and to use maple sugar in the filling. I also used nonfat milk instead of the whole milk that the recipe called for. Cooling the filling in an ice bath helped reduce the cooling time. Whisking the filling after chilling it improved its texture. Unfortunately, Martha's recipe is not online, so I can't link to it so you can compare it to my version. I made them on Thanksgiving Eve, and after watching Pushing Daisies later that night, I named them Pumpkin Chiffon Cup Pies. (If you aren't watching Pushing Daisies, you should be. In the 11/21 episode, Chuck decided to create cup pies, mini pies baked in cupcake pans.) Pumpkin Chiffon Cup Pie
The recipe looks more complicated than it is. It took about 20 minutes to make the crusts and 30 minutes to make the filling. This is the perfect recipe to make the night before you want to serve them. Continue reading "Pumpkin Chiffon Cup Pies" » November 11, 2007Cinnamon Apple CoffeecakeI don't enjoy baking, but I really don't like cleaning and since my husband Tom happily does most of the cleaning and laundry, I try to thank him by making him muffins, coffeecakes and other breakfast treats. A cinnamon apple coffeecake in Cooking Light's November issue caught my eye. It sounded both tasty and easy to make, which is definitely important to me. I decided to try the recipe using King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour. And some of the reviewers on the Cooking Light site said that they wished it had more apple, so I added more. I used 1 1/2 apples because my apples were very large. Plus, I wanted a snack, so I snacked on 1/2 of an apple while I made this. I also reduced the sugar from 1 cup to 3/4 cup. This is a great recipe for me since it went together in no time and uses ingredients that I always have. Tom had it for breakfast this morning and loved it. Cinnamon Apple Coffeecake Continue reading "Cinnamon Apple Coffeecake" » November 4, 2007Weeknight SaviorI always have canned diced tomatoes, capers, white wine, shallots, and garlic in my pantry. These ingredients pair well with chicken breasts to make a quick weeknight dinner. I've added this recipe to my list of Weeknight Saviors, recipes that I can make out of the pantry when I need a quick weeknight dinner. I love the sharp and salty flavor of capers and it just takes a few capers to perk up a sauce. This dish is delicious served over pasta and can be made in the time that it takes to cook your pasta. Toss some green beans with minced garlic and a tablespoon of olive oil and roast at 400 for 8-10 minutes and you'll have dinner ready in less than 30 minutes. Continue reading "Weeknight Savior" » October 21, 2007Oven-Baked Brown RiceLast week I had a client menu that had a lot of stovetop dishes, including brown and wild rice. The oven wasn't very busy that day, so I decided to try oven-baked brown rice. I've read about it, but have never tried it. I went to the Cook's Illustrated web site to see what they had to say about baking brown rice. Their recipe was simple and turned out perfectly. During the week, I like to have cooked brown rice and other grains in the refrigerator so that I can just grab them and use them for our dinners. I'll be making a pan of oven-baked brown rice and wild rice every weekend to use during the week. It takes an hour to cook, but once it is in the oven, you don't have to pay any attention to it. Rice isn't very photogenic, but here it is. Continue reading "Oven-Baked Brown Rice" » October 13, 2007Country Captain ChickenI miss my Sunday mornings with Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven, but I'm enjoying the recipes of Adam Ried, their replacement. Adam Ried's recent recipe for Country Captain Chicken caught my eye. I've seen lots of recipes for this dish, but have never been enticed to try any of them. Ried's addition of fresh mango intrigued me. While cooking the chicken on the bone results in deeper flavor, I wanted to decrease the cooking time, so I opted to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs. They cook quickly and most of the people I cook for prefer boneless meats and poultry. We loved the flavor of this dish. The raisins and mango in the stew and the apple garnish are the perfect complement to the heat of the curry and cayenne.
Continue reading "Country Captain Chicken" » October 7, 2007Lemon Cupcakes and More No-Knead BreadRecently, I was discussing whoopie pies with some of my personal chef buddies. The discussion of whoopie pies reminded me of the filled chocolate cupcakes that my mom made because mom used her whoopie pie filling to fill the chocolate cupcakes. When I mentioned this, my friend Rachel said that her mom made lemon-filled lemon cupcakes. I love all things lemon and asked Rachel for her mom's recipe. I got my love of lemon from both my mom and dad, and decided to make these cupcakes for his 84th birthday celebration on Saturday. Rachel's mom filled her cupcakes with lemon pudding, but I decided to fill them with homemade lemon curd. I'm much better at cooking than I am at baking, but the cupcakes came out beautifully. I even forgot to set the timer when I put them in the oven, but managed to cook them just the right amount of time. This summer, my friend Marcy did a cupcake demonstration for us and her presentation gave me the confidence to cook the cupcakes perfectly even though I had no idea how long they had been in the oven before I realized that I forgot the timer. My mom always cut a cone out of the cupcakes, filled the hole with filling, then put the cone in the filling. My sister Marcia showed me how to cut the cones in half and set them in the filling so they look like butterflies. Her husband's family always makes their filled cupcakes this way and calls them butterfly cupcakes. I've also been wanting to try the No-Knead Bread with a mixture of whole wheat and white flour, and decided to make bread for our family dinner. I made two loaves of bread, one 50/50 whole wheat and white flour and one all white flour. I used a small amount (1/3 cup) of semolina flour as part of the while flour in both loaves. Continue reading "Lemon Cupcakes and More No-Knead Bread" » September 29, 2007Crispy Potato CakesNOTE: See revised recipe I'm bored with making the same old potato side dishes and my search for new potato recipes led me to a Cooking Light recipe for Crispy Potato Hash Browns. The technique used in this recipe interested me. You combine grated potatoes with cornstarch, form them into "cakes" using a 3-inch biscuit cutter, then bake them in a 475º oven. The online reviews for the recipe were good, and they sounded like a good side dish for the meatloaf I was making for one of my clients this week, so I put them on the menu. Some side benefits of this recipe is that it is gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, and it has just a trace of fat. I don't have a 3-inch biscuit cutter, but I am a whiz with aluminum foil, so I made a 3-inch ring form with foil. Take a 2 foot long strip of foil, fold it in half the long way, then continue to fold it in half the long way until you have a strip that is about an inch wide. Then twist the strip into a rope. Fold the twisted strip in half and form it into a 3-inch diameter loop. You'll get something that looks like this.
The potatoes are grated, then soaked in cold water for 5 minutes. The comments for the recipe indicated that the box grater gives much better results than grating in the food processor, so stick with the box grater. It doesn't take long to grate the potatoes. I didn't have a salad spinner to spin dry the potatoes. I set them in a colander and used a clean towel to press down on them until I couldn't squeeze out any more water. It worked perfectly for me. Even with the hand grating, the recipe was quick and easy to prep and the results were very tasty. I renamed these to Crispy Potato Cakes because that is what they are. I see myself adding different herbs and spices to them to pair them with different dishes. How about some chili powder or cayenne pepper for a spicy potato cake? Or fresh thyme. Or curry powder. The possibilities are endless. Continue reading "Crispy Potato Cakes " » August 5, 2007Finally, it's not too hot to cookThis past week was brutally hot. I was completely wilted at the end of each workday. Everything we ate for dinner last week was grilled because after hot days in other people's kitchen's I couldn't bear to turn on my stove. This morning we woke up to a cool, dry day. One of my first thoughts was "hooray, I can use the stove again!" I had some ground turkey that I needed to cook, so I made Taco Stuffed Peppers. I was planning to save these for my lunches this week and to bake some chicken for dinner, but Tom smelled the taco meat mixture cooking and asked if we could have them for dinner tonight. We'll have the chicken tomorrow. Continue reading "Finally, it's not too hot to cook" » July 15, 2007Local BlueberriesWhen I was a kid, every summer included a family outing to pick blueberries. We even had one of those enormous wood-sided station wagon, which was perfect for our family outings. My grandmother joined us and sat in the shade with a cooler of drinks and snacks for us kids when we got tired of picking. Our goal for the day was to fill a 20 quart blue enameled pot. Armed with coffee cans with string loops around our necks so we could use both hands to pick, we'd venture off into the blueberry fields. To this day, one of my favorite sounds is the plunk plunk plunk that blueberries make when they land at the bottom of any empty picking container. The picking containers at Sunnycrest Farm are plastic. But the blueberries still make a wonderful sound when they hit the empty container. And since the farm is just a few miles from my house, you'll find me there almost every week until the blueberry season is over. Their blueberry bushes are tall and easy to pick from, and for me, it's relaxing to be among the blueberry bushes filling my bucket. During July and August, we eat a lot of blueberries. There's always a bowl of blueberries in the refrigerator to snack on. This morning I made one of my favorite blueberry coffeecakes.
Continue reading "Local Blueberries" » July 13, 2007Spicy Basque-Style ChickenAnother weeknight winner from Cooking Light. The Spicy Basque-Style Chicken from the June 2007 issue was my test kitchen recipe this week. It's quick, easy, and full of flavor. In the time it takes to cook the rice to accompany it, you'll have dinner on the table.
Spicy Basque-Style Chicken, Saffron Rice, Roasted Asparagus I forgot to buy green olives, so I used capers. I really liked the dish with capers and will keep that change. The bottled minced garlic was replaced with fresh minced garlic. When I made this, I added the prosciutto, but I thought the prosciutto got lost in the dish so I omitted it from the final recipe. I get my smoked Spanish paprika from Penzeys. I've been buying herbs and spices from Penzeys for over 20 years. When I first started ordering from them, their catalog was a newsprint catalog; it was long before they had a web site and retail stores. Smoked Spanish paprika adds a smoky spicy flavor. Try it, you'll love it. Good paprika is nothing like grocery store paprika. When you buy Penzeys' Smoked Spanish Paprika, add some Hungarian sweet paprika and Hungarian half-sharp paprika to your order. You'll never buy grocery store paprika again. Continue reading "Spicy Basque-Style Chicken" » July 8, 2007Salmon for SupperThis super speedy recipe is perfect for a weeknight meal. It's based on Cooking Light's Broiled Tilapia with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce. I don't care for the texture of tilapia, so I made it with salmon. Red curry paste can be quite hot, so I add 1/2 teaspoon at a time until the heat level of the dish is right for us. In this dish, 1 teaspoon of red curry paste gave us the perfect heat level. We love ginger and garlic, so I used more than the original recipe called for. Adding more brown sugar can temper the heat of this dish if you unwittingly add too much curry paste. I also made just two portions of salmon, but the full amount of sauce. I served this with Brown Basmati Rice with Edamame. I use the pasta method to cook brown rice, then toss in the edamame for a minute once the rice is cooked to the desired tenderness, about 25 minutes. The extra sauce was much hotter the next day when I had it for lunch served over the leftover brown rice with edamame.
Continue reading "Salmon for Supper" » June 30, 2007Cherry HeavenYesterday I picked 12 pounds of cherries at my favorite farm: 8 pounds of sweet cherries and 4 pounds of sour cherries. For me, the day that I pick cherries is the official start of summer. I usually pick only sweet cherries, but after hearing Jeremy Jackson talk about his Little Meatballs with Cherry Sauce, I've been waiting for sour cherries to be ready to pick. When I got the announcement that the theme for the June meeting of the Massachusetts chapter of Personal Chefs Network was picnics, I selected this recipe to make for our meeting. Last night I pitted a pound of cherries for the recipe (not a whole lot of fun) so I could make the recipe in the morning. I made the meatballs this morning with some minor modifications to the recipe. The lamb meatballs filled the house with a wonderful aroma. My husband Tom came looking for lunch when I took the meatballs out of the oven. He had his before I added them to the cherry sauce. This isn't a great picture because I was in a hurry when I plated them and took the picture. There were 10 hungry personal chefs waiting to dig into them.
The bright and sharp flavor of the sour cherries is a perfect match for the lamb meatballs. Tomorrow I'll pit the rest of the sour cherries and freeze them. Then I'll be looking for more savory recipes that use sour cherries. My reward for pitting them will be a big bowl of sweet cherries. Continue reading "Cherry Heaven" » June 10, 2007Pizza NightMy mom made pizza every Friday night and still does. Some of my earliest cooking memories are helping her make pizza. When I got home from school, she would let me help her make the dough. After the dough had risen, I'd help her form the pizzas and bake them. I loved punching down the dough! Pizza that you make yourself always tastes wonderful. These days, I use Eating Well's Whole Wheat Pizza Dough recipe for my dough. It goes together very quickly in the food processor, uses a 50/50 mix of whole wheat and all-purpose flour, and is ready to use in 20 minutes because it uses quick-rising yeast. This dough is also easy to roll out. I roll it onto parchment paper then place the parchment paper on my pizza stone. My mom's pizza hails from before I was born. Her dough recipe comes from a Fleischmann's cookbook, but her toppings come from a bar and grill in Malden, MA that my parents frequented when they lived in Everett, MA. In 1959, when my family moved to Peabody, MA, my mom asked the pizza guy if he would share his secrets because she loved his pizza. She's been making his pizza every since. One of the surprising things is the sauce. It is simply Pastene ground peeled tomatoes. Pure tomatoes, nothing else. His cheese was a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella, but my mom switched to all cheddar after consulting with my dad's cousin Rose, who owned a pizza parlor in Falmouth, MA. Although I don't use my mom's dough recipe, I do use Pastene ground peeled tomatoes for the sauce. Just spread them lightly over the rolled out dough. Not too much sauce. At Christmas, a friend gave me some fair trade Sonoran oregano from the Seri Indians. I've reserved this oregano for my pizzas. So, I crumble some of the Sonoran oregano on top of the sauce. Then spread grated cheddar cheese over the pizza. I sometimes add other cheeses, like parmesan or provolone. My husband Tom loves sausage pizza, so that is what we usually have. He grew up on pizza from Stan's Chitch's Cafe in Bound Brook, NJ. What's different about Chitch's sausage pizza is that the sausage is ground and covers the entire pie. When we visit Tom's family in NJ, we always go to Chitch's for pizza. If you like thin-crust pizza, it is the best that there is. For our pizzas, I bake hot Italian chicken sausages and then grind them in the food processor. I sprinkle a bit more of the oregano over the top of the sausage. I don't have time to make my mom's pizza dough, but with the Eating Well dough recipe, it is easy to keep our family tradition of homemade pizza.
June 9, 2007Herbed Cheese Eggplant RollsA few months ago, a client left me her well-loved copy of The Victory Garden Cookbook and asked me if I could make a recipe for eggplant rolls from this book. The eggplant rolls are stuffed with a seasoned ground beef recipe. My client wanted me to make these with the ground beef filling from the recipe and also with a cheese filling. They love my cheese-filled eggplant rolls and have requested them for the past few months. This week was no exception.
2 large eggplants Wash eggplant, but do not peel. Remove the cap and stem end. Cut into thin slices, no thicker than 1/4". For 6 servings, you need 12 slices. Arrange the eggplant slices in a colander, sprinkling salt between the layers. Let eggplant drain for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the farmers cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, oregano, and 2 eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Place about 1/2 cup flour on a plate. You'll use this to coat the eggplant slices. Add more flour as needed. Pat the eggplant slices dry. Beat the remaining eggs with 2 tablespoons water. Dip the eggplant sliced into the eggs, then into flour. In a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil. Shake the excess flour from the eggplant slices and cook 2-3 eggplants slices until browned on each side, about 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining eggplant slices, adding more oil to the pan as needed. Preheat oven to 350. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread a thin layer of marinara sauce on the baking sheet. Lay an eggplant slice on a cutting board or plate. Place a large spoonful of the cheese mixture on the eggplant slice. Using a fork, spread the cheese mixture over the eggplant in a thin layer. Roll the eggplant over the filling like a jelly roll. Place the eggplant roll on the baking sheet, seam side down. . Repeat with remaining eggplant slices. Spread 2 tablespoons marinara sauce on each eggplant roll. Notes: To make these gluten-free I used Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour and a gluten-free marinara sauce such as Muir Glen. Friendship Farmers Cheese is a low-lactose cheese and works wonderfully as a replacement for ricotta cheese.
May 25, 2007Jamaican Jerk Chicken ThighsIt's a great night for grilling. Summer slammed into NH and it hit 90 today. This Jamaican Jerk Chicken recipe is a favorite. I've been making this recipe for about 15 years, but I don't remember where it came from. I've tweaked it a bit over the years. The marinade is great with chicken or pork. Don't be intimidated by the long ingredient list. It's mostly spices and it goes together very quickly. Make it mild or hot by adjusting the amount of cayenne and minced chile pepper. The herbs in my AeroGarden were starting to take over the world, so I gave them all a good haircut and tossed the chopped herbs with basmati rice. I used a big bunch of herbs that included basil, cilantro, parsley, thyme, mint, oregano, and chives. Our salad included a few radishes that I pulled from the garden. They are still pretty small, but I just couldn't wait any longer to try a few.
Jamaican Jerk Chicken 1 tablespoon ground allspice Combine allspice, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme, and brown sugar. Mix thoroughly. Whisk in orange juice, vinegars, and soy sauce. Add the scallions, garlic, ginger, and chile pepper. Stir to combine. Marinate chicken thighs in jerk marinade for at least 1 hour. Drain chicken and discard marinade. Grill over medium heat, 5-7 minutes on each side or until until temperature is 165F. May 12, 2007Bacon-Wrapped BBQ Chicken-Cheese RollsThis recipe for Bacon-Wrapped BBQ Chicken-Cheese Rolls was inspired by Jayne, who asked me to make her chicken with barbecue sauce, bacon, and cheese.
The chicken rolls are shown with Mini Cornbread Puddings from Everyday Food, March 2007. (Note, the Mini Cornbread Puddings are not gluten-free.) Jayne's mother and sister sampled the chicken rolls when they came home for lunch and they both loved them. I used a homemade barbecue sauce because I prefer it and also Jayne has many food allergies, but you could use your favorite bottled barbecue sauce. |
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to give them a beefy flavor.
