Breakfast for Dinner

My people are tired. My people are run-down. My people are at the ends of their proverbial ropes and, frankly, not that much fun to be around. To be fair, I count myself among them. When I headed to the store at 3:45 this afternoon, it was with simple comfort food in mind to maybe soothe the souls of my overworked, buried-in-grading husband, my end-of-the-preschool-week, one-too-many play dates, exhausted daughter and my own anxious self. So, what comfort food did I turn to? Mashers? Soup? Breakfast!

I have a wonderful old friend who works at my neighborhood Vitamin Cottage with whom I always chit-chat when I stop in. She teases me now because on at least two occasions I’ve gone in the store to buys eggs, filled up my basket and gotten home with no eggs. So, every time I see her, she reminds me: “Don’t forget the eggs!”

Eureka! If you can’t cheer people up with breakfast for dinner, I thought, then they just cannot be pleased. So, I whipped up a batch of organic blueberry pancakes (I use the Arrowhead Mills Multigrain mix) with butter and real maple syrup. At the same time, I sautéed some organic baby spinach in a bit of butter, then added beaten eggs, bacon left over from a quiche earlier in the week and diced organic tomato. The kids finished the meal with plain organic goat yogurt—Joseph has discovered he loves this and kept yelling “bipes!” (bites!) at Sophia, who was feeding him. Seriously adorable.

By the end of dinner, we were all grooving to Johnny Mathis Christmas music and in a much better place emotionally. Something to keep in my back pocket for the next time my frazzled family needs an extra touch of culinary comfort.

When Dinner is Just... Awful

I am so overdue to blog about all of the wonderful things that have happened in my kitchen in the past month, and yet I’m more motivated to write about tonight’s dinner, which was just awful! Terrible! How does this happen?

The menu was so simple, designed to be quick and easy since Ben had to leave at 5:00 for his second job (yes, that means we ate dinner at 4:30... sometimes when we do this, Sophia says “What, are we 80?”).

Here was our menu: organic chicken drumsticks and thighs, to be brushed with a lemon, olive oil and garlic dressing once off the grill, baked sweet potato chips (which were delicious the first time I made them) and sautéed fresh baby spinach. Easy peasy. Very little prep, low-maintenance cooking, quick and easy, right?

The result? Blackened chicken (inexplicably charred beyond recognition by our powerful new grill), oily spinach and overly crispy chips that tasted black as well. I am laughing out loud as I write this, thinking that it doesn’t really matter how easy or challenging a meal is. When you’re on, you’re on, and when you’re off, well, you’re off and dinner is nearly inedible.

Sophia was the only person to clean her plate tonight. I swear, that kid will eat anything.

Overdue postings...

Overdue postings coming soon on homemade waffles, thumbprint cookies and mmm, mmm, tortilla soup!

Nine Meals a Day?

I was feeding my beautiful boy a bottle tonight, just grooving in the rocking chair with him, thinking about my day. I did nothing remarkable. In fact, we didn’t even leave the house. The only item on our schedule was one hour of PT for Joseph. That’s it. And yet, I’m pooped. Yes, I know some of this is the parvo talking, but that can’t be all of it. So, as I rocked and grooved and loved on my boy (listening to Sophia read quietly to herself in the other room), I started to mull over the minutia of the day and I made a startling discovery. I served, as I do every day, NINE unique meals. Nine. How in the world is that possible? (And no wonder my hands always look a mess!)

So, here’s what we ate today:

1. Breakfast for two girls: eggs over easy, sourdough toast, orange juice and blessed coffee for me (coffee courtesy my lovely husband). I don’t mean to brag (as Ben says, Modesty is my middle name), but I’m getting really good at runny eggs.
2. Breakfast for one small boy: organic prunes (the only jarred food I buy) and organic oatmeal cereal.
3. Mid-morning snack: messy but delectable organic peach for Sophia. Juice just running down her arm. She looked overjoyed.
4. Lunch for two girls: tortellini with prosciutto and spinach from the night before. Just as good on day two.
5. Lunch for the boy: organic homemade sweet potatoes and oatmeal cereal.
6. Mid-afternoon snack: the most sinfully delicious double cream brie and more sourdough (really, who can get enough sourdough?).
7. Dinner for everyone, served once to Ben before work and once to two hungry girls: buffalo taco salads with black beans and corn. A successful experiment with buffalo, I believe.
8. Dinner for Joseph: organic homemade peas and, you guessed it, oatmeal cereal.
9. Bedtime snack for the girl: organic blueberry yogurt and five M&Ms. What a treat!

Oh, and lest I forget, Joseph’s also had five bottles today (5:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., two of which his daddy gave him). Does that count as three additional meals I served?

This is a good approximation of a typical day for me, cooking-wise. Some things from scratch, some tasty leftovers, lots of snacks, lots of bottles, lots and lots and lots of dishes.

Okay, so, no wonder I’m pooped. But, as I enjoy a well-deserved glass of red wine, at the very least I get to go to bed with the not-insignificant satisfaction that, no matter what else happened around here today, everyone went to bed well-fed.

Tortellini with Prosciutto and Spinach

How have I missed this recipe in the past six months? I just feel certain I’ve made this before, since it’s once of my easy and healthy quickie dinner recipes from Cooking Light. The first time we had this, I actually think Ben made it, and we now think of it as “his pasta,” even though I’m sure I’ve made it more now than he has. So fast, so flavorful, so little cooking. Gorgeous in a big white bowl.

I make it with frozen tortellini, and use about a pound, rather than use the packaged refrigerator ones—it’s much more cost effective. I also at least double the spinach, and use the really good imported Prosciutto di Parma. Since I’m not using more than three or four ounces for two meals, it’s worth it to splurge on the yummy stuff.

I love that this meal requires very little prep and very little cooking, but nets a meal that is chock-full of a very healthy veggie, is filling for everyone and bursting with flavor. Apparently Sophia ate a HUGE bowl of it last night (I was off getting a massage... yeah me!)

Seriously, how could you possibly go wrong with the three Ps: pine nuts, prosciutto and Parmigiano-Reggiano?

YUM!

Tangy Lentil & Chickpea Soup Recipe

Apparently everyone loves lentils as much as we do. I’ve had several requests for this recipe, which is featured in the September 2009 issue of O Magazine. For some reason the recipe’s not up on their site yet, so I’ve included it below.

2 tsp. olive oil

¾ cup chopped celery

2 medium yellow onions, chopped

1 large yellow potato, peeled and diced [I didn’t peel it, since so many nutrients are in the skin]

1 tsp. mild curry powder

1 tsp. ground turmeric

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice

1 cup dried and rinsed lentils (preferably red) [I used whatever I had on hand]

2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, well-rinsed and drained

1 tsp. salt

juice of 1 lemon

1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional) [skipped this time, will probably do some time]

Place olive oil in large pot over medium heat; sauté celery, onions and potatoes, along with curry powder, turmeric and cinnamon, 5 to 8 minutes.

Add canned tomatoes and cook for another 10 minutes.

Add 8 cups of water and the lentils, chickpeas and salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour (check that there is enough liquid; add 1 extra cup of water if necessary).

Just before serving, add lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and cilantro, if using.

Makes 6 servings.

Recipe courtesy of Catherine S. Katz, PhD, coauthor of Dr. David Katz’s Flavor-Full Diet.

Tangy Lentil & Chickpea Soup

Seriously, what is it about soup? Soup is one of my absolute favorite healthy lunches, and I just love to prepare it. I’ve been thinking about this for a few days and here’s what I’ve come up with: for me, making homemade soup is the closest I come to starring in my own cooking show.

Here’s what I mean. When I make soup, I do all my mise en place first: chop chop chop, mince mince mince, measure seasonings into little ramekins, open cans, rinse beans, etc. It’s one of the few times I’m not multitasking in the kitchen. Once my mise en place is complete, then I get to just stand at the stove and sauté, stir and savor the beautiful colors, textures and smells. Then, once everything’s in the pot... simmer! Which is when we take a commercial break and walk away from the stove for an hour or so. Buzzer beeps and I have a colorful, nutritious, hearty one-dish meal. Love it! It really is the most satisfying meal to create.

So, this week’s soup I found in O Magazine. I would have been skeptical if I hadn’t already made something else scrumptious from O (banana walnut muffins). I absolutely loved this recipe. Despite turmeric, curry powder and cinnamon, the soup isn’t overly curry-ish. The addition of lemon juice and balsamic vinegar once the soup has simmered gives it a subtle tang, and the combination of garbanzos and lentils lends a hearty texture. I made the recipe as written, but next time I’m adding a carrot or two. What’s a big soup without carrots? This meal was just lovely and delicious. One funny note: the recipe says it makes six servings. For whom? Linebackers? We got eight to 10.

Despite the not-too-curryish nature of the soup, I did serve them with my favorite new discovery: Rotiland brand Roti-Chapati (in the refrigerated section at Costco). Just throw them on a hot griddle (I used a nonstick skillet) for about 30 seconds a side and they’re just wonderful, lightly browned and just a bit puffed up. I often grapple with what to serve when I make Indian food, because I haven’t yet tackled bread making, and the rice, raita and curry components of the meal are already a lot of prep work. These are a great new find to round out those meals.

Oh, and speaking of lentils. I had the most amazing warm lentil salad with tomato and dill last night at the Montessori back-to-preschool picnic. These events seem to bring out the best in home cooks, and last night was no exception. I told Rudi, Jack B.’s mom, that it was so good I just wanted to kiss her! (Do you imagine she found that alarming?) Here’s the recipe. My people should expect to see it in heavy rotation soon!

You call THAT home cooking?

“Wow, Mom, that looks amazing!” These were Sophia’s exact words when she saw her dinner plate last night. And what amazing dinner elicited such unbridled enthusiasm from such a small diner? Grilled Coleman uncured beef hot dogs (these really are amazing!), grilled corn on the cob (wrapped in foil with butter and salt) and sautéed baby spinach with garlic. And, until I heard her response, I never in a million years would have chosen to blog about this meal, because it would never make the cut.

The cut? When I started this blog, I decided that I would only write about meals cooked “from scratch.” To me, this had a very clear definition: buy a bunch of ingredients, chop them up, cook them up, serve them up. Very little if anything pre-made or packaged. I assumed, too, that this is how the rest of the world would define home cooking. So, last night’s dinner, while delicious, didn’t qualify as homemade to me. Yes, I shucked, buttered and salted corn, minced garlic and sautéed it with baby spinach, but this is unremarkable. In fact, most of the gaps between dates on my blog are either because we’re eating leftovers or because we’re having meals like last night’s (or, if I’m really lucky, we’re out). But Sophia’s enthusiasm, and a recent article in The New York Times, got me to thinking.

Michael Pollan, who wrote In Defense of Food, had a recent piece in the Times inspired by Julie & Julia and the rising popularity of food television. The article is long, and I certainly have no intention of summarizing it, but he did make one interesting point that stuck with me. He has a long conversation with a food-marketing researcher, Harry Belzer, about what people today consider “cooking.” According to Belzer, most people consider any assembling of ingredients to be cooking from scratch. Even just washing a head of lettuce and pouring bottle dressing on it. When Pollan tried to press Belzer on the number of people who still really cook from scratch, he learned that they don’t track that degree of home cooking because so few people actually do it. Ouch!

I was fascinated to find that my definition of home cooking was a) in line with Pollans and b) a less and less common activity. It validated for me my original intention in starting this blog, to capture the details of real homemade meals, and to celebrate the outcome of my sometimes considerable efforts to feed my family well.

But now, Sophia has me thinking. Hot dogs, corn, sautéed spinach. Does this a home-cooked meal make?

Tomato & Grilled Bread Salad & Julie & Julia

I made this for Ben (with another buffalo New York strip steak, to which I will be addicted exactly as long as Whole Foods has them on sale) to celebrate his last official night of vacation. I could not have chosen a better menu—this dish perfectly captures the many flavors of summer. Incidentally, it’s also an ideal use for day-old bread.

We grilled up some sourdough slices, then cubed them and tossed them with tomatoes, basil, cucumber and red wine vinaigrette. The salad is just beautiful to look at, so colorful, and is a great starch/veggie combo to round out the meal. What’s so odd about this dish is that it tastes as though the toasts were rubbed with a garlic clove before being added to the salad... it has a delicious garlic-y tang. Yet, no garlic. It’s almost like bruschetta salad... oooh, Kalamata olives would be excellent in it. Yes, I’ll add those next time. Good idea (she said modestly to herself).

The only reason this is a four-star dish instead of five stars is because it seems almost impossible to not over-grill the bread, which leaves it a little crispy. Otherwise, it couldn’t be simpler or yummier (except, perhaps, with the aforementioned olives).

We had forgotten about this dish somehow, which is sort of sad, since it’s so easy and lovely and scrumptious. Not sure what sparked my memory... perhaps a discussion of gazpachos and other uses of stale bread? Regardless, even though summer is coming to a close, I say better late than never.

p.s. I saw Julie & Julia Saturday afternoon with Alison, then savored the most delicious French feast, al fresco, at À Côté, the bar attached to Z Cuisine Parisian Bistro in Denver. The movie was so inspiring it brought tears to my eyes and made me long for a calling. The food was so gorgeous and delicious that I will be returning there again. Soon. Very soon.

Baby Arugula Salad & Sourdough Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Friday afternoon lunch and just sinfully delicious. We’re nearing the end of our summer vacation (Ben goes back Monday morning), so this was one of the last of our “beer lunches”—tasty homemade lunches good enough to enjoy with a cold Colorado microbrew (this week it’s New Belgium’s Skinny Dip).

First, I made grilled cheese sandwiches that were just delectable. I started with slices of sourdough Parisienne from Whole Foods (which I’ve been buying to have with runny eggs, a new household favorite), buttered it lightly and filled it with Tillamook medium cheddar slices. Grilled to perfection and served with my new best salad (even better than Benji’s salad!) of baby arugula topped with hearts of palm, quartered cherry tomatoes and shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano.

I made a similar arugula salad earlier in the week and experimented with a vinaigrette made from a blend of cider and white wine vinegars. Unfortunately, the vinegars just weren’t flavorful enough to compete with the strong peppery taste of baby arugula. It tasted like argula coated in olive oil... there was no vinegar taste to speak of. Yuck.

In rethinking the salad, I remembered having an incredible microgreen salad at Radda in Boulder that had a lemon vinaigrette. Actually, if I remember correctly, the Radda salad was so good that I finished my first one and immediately ordered a second. So, I cruised over to epicurious and checked out a variety of lemon vinaigrettes. This recipe seemed the simplest and didn’t require anything I didn’t have on hand and was truly a perfect complement to the arugula salad. Yummo!

I really enjoy making big salads for lunch because a) they feel so good for you, b) we can get a few veggie servings in midday and c) there are so many steps of salad making that Sophia can help with. She filled the salad bowl with greens, rinsed the tomatoes, helped to prepare the vinaigrette, shaved the cheese with a vegetable peeler, and, of course, generously offered to sample all of the toppings for me. Such a helpful kid! I finally bought myself a simple, beautiful salad bowl several months ago at Crate & Barrel, and I really do believe that salad presentation significantly improves salad enjoyment, particularly at home.

Aunt Susan was teasing me the other day for serving complicated lunches that, in other homes, would qualify as dinners. That, to me, has been one of the greatest joys of this tail end of our summer vacation. We’ve really been enjoying the opportunity to savor three creative, healthy meals a day together at the table. I’m sad that this part of our routine has to end, at least for a few months... Sophia, Joseph and I will of course continue to sup together, but we’ll be missing our Benji at breakfast and lunch.

Buffalo New York Strip Steak

One buffalo New York strip steak. Salt and pepper. Grilled to medium rare. Served with a two forks, two knives and two glasses of red wine. Savored by husband and wife after the kids are blissfully asleep. Perfection!

Almond-Peach Crisp

Summer vacation is rapidly drawing to a close. This has been the most wonderful summer of my life, including the summer Becky Selzer’s parents went on vacation and let us stay at their house, so that’s really saying something! I’m feeling a little blue about it coming to an end and find myself drawn to homey comfort foods.

However, despite my autumnal cravings, the warm summer-y weather persists, so I’ve been searching high and low for nourishing comfort foods that feature summer produce. Thus the magnificent almond-peach crisp.

I found this recipe in a cookbook my sister-in-law, Jenn, gave me: The Bon Appétit Fast Easy Fresh Cookbook (which, incidentally, came with a one-year Bon Appétit subscription, which I’m also loving despite the radical rebranding since I last subscribed... why does everyone in the photojournalistic, party-at-home pics have a tattoo?). Everything I’ve read about in this book has seemed like a quick and healthy twist on an old favorite. My only complaint, frankly, is that it’s a hefty tome and is almost too much to slog through. Oh, and there’s a dearth of inspiring photography. Regardless, this crisp recipe was everything I was looking for.

In many ways it’s a traditional crisp—fresh fruit topped with a blend of butter, oats, brown sugar and flour. However, this crisp is subtly yet vastly improved with the addition of a hint of almond extract with the fruit and chopped toasted almonds in the topping. Delightful. Another thing I loved about this recipe is that it only calls for one pound of fruit (just two or three peaches), making two servings, but is easily scalable. I tripled the recipe and baked it in an eight-inch square Pyrex dish and it was perfect.

Unfortunately, crisp just doesn't keep very well. It’s best right out of the oven... subsequent servings found the crisp, well, not-so-crispy. Next time I’ll either scale back the number of servings or, better yet, invite more people!

Italian Sausage-Stuffed Globe Zucchinis

One of my favorite finds from the Longmont Farmers’ Market is the globe zucchini. I only learned about these a few years ago, and they’re now a summertime staple. They make a scrumptious, healthy and perfectly self-contained entrée, and they are just beautiful to look at.

My recipe for stuffed zucchini is adapted from a recipe I got years ago from Alison. Her recipe was for stuffed bell peppers, but ever since pregnancy #1 I really can’t digest peppers at all (except for the occasional roasted red pepper). I can’t even recall where I got the idea, but for years now we’ve been stuffing these beautiful summer squash and serving them with tomato sauce.

First, I scoop out the innards of each zucchini with a melon baller (after lopping off the top like a pumpkin) then blanch them in boiling water. Next, I make the stuffing—I sauté onions, garlic and a bit of the zucchini innards (but not too much or it’s too watery), then add Boulder Italian sausage and brown. I combine this sautéed mixture with already-cooked jasmine rice, beaten egg, pine nuts and grated Parmiagiano-Reggiano cheese. Fill each zucchini with the stuffing and cover with Muir Glen tomato sauce, cover with foil and bake.

I wish I’d taken a picture of these when they came out of the oven, or, better yet, Sophia’s empty plate after devouring an entire zucchini by herself!

I made these Friday afternoon before a pool party, and felt such a glow of satisfaction that I had whipped up such a beautiful dinner for my family before our evening adventure. I’ve cooked from scratch several times this week, which is a vast improvement over the past weeks and months. While it’s murder on my arthritic feet, it's wonderful for my soul.

Fried Green Tomato BLTs

These sandwiches are exactly as delicious but not nearly as sinful as they sound, and a favorite dish to originate from the Longmont Farmers’ Market.

I have the most powerful memories of Dad’s fried green tomatoes and fried eggplant on Crooked Road. I discovered this recipe in the most unlikely of places, Cooking Light, a few years ago, and we have gradually perfected it.

As per the recipe, I cook Coleman natural bacon (although I do it in the oven, Alison’s way, rather than on the stove top—too messy!) and dredge the green tomato slices with corn meal and parmesan cheese before frying them in a bit of bacon grease and some olive oil. We use red leaf lettuce and whole wheat bread, which we toast. I wonder if toasted BLTs are a regional thing, or just an us thing?

Most importantly, however, we DO NOT put mayonnaise on our sandwiches. Why? Because, to put it bluntly, mayonnaise is revolting. Disgusting. An abomination. Yes, I know it’s made from eggs and oil, but I just can’t stomach it. Ergo, I always miss out on people’s “world famous” potato salad (why is everyone’s potato salad recipe a point of pride?), and will only gag down a deviled egg under the most crucial of social situations. Actually, the first time my mom saw my sister, Becki, and I both eat a deviled egg was when they were made by my soon-to-be aunt, Eloise. We so wanted her to like us that we both choked down a deviled egg. Now that is love!

Anyway... in lieu of mayonnaise, I make yogurt cheese by straining Brown Cow plain yogurt in cheese cloth for a few hours. The texture is delightfully creamy and the flavor sufficiently tangy. Yum. And mayo free!

These BLTs scream to be devoured with a cold beer and perhaps some grilled corn on the cob. They are remarkably light, fabulously tasty and bring together a satisfying blend of textures. Simply put, they’re the essence of summer. On toast.

Benji & Sophia’s Salad

This has been christened Benji’s Salad, because it was Ben who came up with the combination of toppings. However, Sophia is insisting it be called Benji & Sophia’s salad, because she loves it so much she eats third! It has been given a five-star rating all around, which is fabulous, since I don’t consider salads to be my forte. In my experience, salad is always best if it’s made by someone else... my versions are never as good as those served to me by friends or restaurants. So, I’m tickled pink to have everyone in our house raving.

The salad is really fairly simple: organic baby spinach topped with garbanzo beans, hearts of palm and Kalamata olives. I’ve made this three times, and the third time was the best, improved with the addition of grilled chicken breast, marinated for a few hours in lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

I’ve also created a delicious vinaigrette for this salad inspired in part by recipes on epicurious and in part by wonderful salads I’ve had at Alison’s—one parts vinegar (half balsamic vinegar, half white wine vinegar), three parts olive oil, bit of salt and pepper and a hint of local wildflower honey. Yum!

I bought Ben a new grill about a month ago. Only half of our old grill worked, and the ignitors had been broken for years. We absolutely love our new purchase, and it has made pulling together healthy, speedy dinners a breeze. This was the least expensive grill that got a recommendation on Consumer Reports, and it has been really inspiring.

Shopping

I bought myself a rolling pin today! Sophia and I stopped at Brown’s Shoe Fit in downtown Longmont to buy her some new tennis shoes and decided to bop across the street to check out the new local cooking shop, Cayenne Kitchen. I’m not a big impulse shopper (frankly, I’m not a shopper at all), but we’d found a fabulous new pair of sneakers for Sophia on sale for $15 (with laces... soooo exciting!), so I was feeling lucky. I thought I might run across a paella pan, which I’m sure I don’t need to make paella, but they’re so coppery and gorgeous.

Alas, no paella pan, but Sophia did spot the rolling pins. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been using Sophia’s four-inch toy cooking set rolling pin. Sad. So, with her encouragement, I bought myself a brand-spanking-new, 12-inch, genuine Vermont maple rolling pin.

Surely this is a sign of the tides a’turning?

Parvo & Paella

I want to make homemade artisanal bread. And paella. And something, anything, with caramelized onions. I want to savor culinary triumphs and laugh uproariously at culinary failures. But I can’t. Or don’t. What has happened?

I’m exhausted. It’s not summer vacation, or depression, or even having a baby who still gets up to eat twice a night. It’s parvovirus, and I feel like it’s slowly sucking the life out of my life.

In kids, parvovirus manifests as Fifth’s Disease, which is an ominous name of an innocuous childhood illness. But in the few adults who contract it as parvovirus (those of us unlucky enough to escape it in childhood), it can be much more debilitating and it can linger. And linger. For up to six months.

My symptoms? Pseudo-arthritis, pseudo-Chronic Fatigue, with daily migraines as the proverbial cherry on top. How am I coping? Ben’s picking up so much of my slack it’s ridiculous... thank goodness he’s on summer vacation. He’s doing most of the night feedings—I make the bottles and fling myself back into bed.

The answer for all of this? Time. I’m having more blood work this week to look for possible short-term treatment ideas. For now we just wait. I’m trying so hard to grin and bear it, to find the joys and energy in every day where I can. I still laugh every day, love every day, cook every day. But I haven’t found time for much else extra. So I have let my blog languish. What was such a tremendous source of motivation and energy for me has become a guilt-inducing drain. I tell myself I’m merely on summer hiatus, much like my beloved Liz Lemon. But I’m fooling myself.

I’m just too tired to brag to myself about my culinary exploits. And I have made some marvelous things... soba salad with soy-wasabi vinaigrette with soy-marinated chicken thighs, gorgeous homemade baby food like organic nectarines and butternut squash, Nestle Tollhouse cookies vastly improved with Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips.

I’m hoping that somehow, by purging some of this self-inflicted guilt (is there any other kind?) that I can get back to doing what I loved—experimenting and laughing with my family in my kitchen, sampling new flavors and recording my adventures for posterity. Oh and a book deal. I’d love a book deal.

Here’s wishing the parvo good riddance. I’m on to bigger and better things.

Anyone have a paella pan they’re looking to unload?

Work-Shirking, Anti-Feminist Spiced Banana Walnut Muffins

Of course, my title is ridiculous, but I was so taken with a recent article in O, “Muffin Manifesto” by Suzan Colón, that I had to repeat that line. The gist of her article is that, as the economy turned sour and she became self-employed, she turned to baking as aroma-therapy. While for her baking was simply a happy, mind- and body-occupying pursuit of pleasure, her friends acted as if she were “setting feminism back 30 years.” Fascinating.

I relate so much to the idea of her interest in cooking for her family being misinterpreted by her peers. I, too, have been taken aback when people view my blog as some kind of statement about their own relationship with food and cooking. As I always say, we all have the same number of hours in the day. While I spend more of them cooking from scratch than most of my peers, I then choose not to do scads of other things: garden, clean, sew, build, shop, watch TV, etc., let alone work full-time. Cooking (and blogging about cooking) is a very personal pursuit that brings me a kind of joy and peace that I find in few other corners of my life. When faced with others who seem to have taken the frequency and fervor with which I cook personally, I want to reply, “But it’s not about you!”

So, the muffins... at the end of the article is the author’s recipe for her favorite muffins, adapted to be healthier than typical muffin recipes. I was drawn to this because a) my people love a good muffin and b) I had a bunch of overripe bananas taking up counter space.

The finished product has finally been sampled by all and I would say it earned five stars all around. Made with applesauce, vegetable oil, egg and a few mashed bananas, these muffins are incredibly moist, even 24 hours after they were baked. And with the addition of cardamom and orange zest to the to-be-expected cinnamon, they have a wonderful, dynamic flavor. This recipe also gave me a chance to use my brand-new microplane rasp grater (thank you Aunt Eloise), which I love, love, love!

The only change I made to the recipe was to omit the nutmeg. I hate nutmeg (sorry Mom... I dislike it intensely). Otherwise, we got eight tasty, relatively healthy muffins from a recipe for six and everyone had a nourishing snack this afternoon before cleaning out the sandbox. Three cheers for summer vacation and overripe bananas!

Pasta with Chopping-Board Pistachio Pesto

This dish was a huge surprise in its short journey from cutting board to tabletop to fork. I was drawn to this because, as the authors point out in the recipe introduction, “You do it all with your trusty knife and one pot.” That’s an appealing proposition in and of itself, and then I looked at the ingredient list and was definitely in: you literally just chop up the pesto on the cutting board, mixing salt and pepper, garlic, scallion tops (or chives), basil, red onion and pistachios. Easy as can be. You even stir in the olive oil right there on the cutting board. I don’t know why, but this seemed somehow radical... no Cuisinart required? Cook some linguine (I used whole grain by Barilla for added nutritional punch) and stir in some pasta water and Asiago with the pesto and dinner is done. Probably took 30 minutes, tops.

So, where was the surprise? Once the pasta cooked, I sautéed a bit of red onion and then heated the pesto before tossing with the noodles and cheese. The pesto smelled phenomenal on the cutting board and was a beautiful, almost technicolor green. However, it seemed scant when tossed in with a pound of pasta, even after adding pasta water. As I carried it from the countertop to the table, and as I dished up plates, I was already rewriting the recipe for next time—double the pesto and stir in the Asiago gradually, so it doesn’t clump (I would actually do this next time). As I twirled, there was very little pesto clinging to the noodles, and I feared a mostly bland dinner.

First bite... wow! Huge flavor! It tastes as if each strand is gently coated in the essence of the pesto, with the occasional bite loaded with herbs and pistachio and cheese for greater intensity. Looks were very deceiving, and the dish was just wonderful, bursting with flavor despite the pesto to pasta ratio.

Next time, I’ll cut the garlic by half. Since the garlic is never cooked, it leaves that raw garlic taste in the mouth, which I can do without. Ben and I both thought it would be even better served with a little protein like roasted salmon or grilled chicken and shrimp. The pesto would actually make an incredible topping for roasted salmon.

I loved being so surprised by this dish, loved being wrong about how it would taste. This is a wonderful, inventive dinner that comes together quickly and easily, doesn't make a huge mess in the kitchen and would pair nicely with a range of simple proteins. This is definitely my new favorite cookbook!

Pesky Baby!

So, I was all ready to blog about how incensed I was that Joseph was not devouring my beautiful, delicious, nourishing homemade organic baby food. So far, I’ve only made him peas and sweet potatoes because we were traveling, and, when we got home, he had no interest in these first two foods. I really wanted him to develop a test for veggies before introducing sweet fruits, so we were in a bit of a holding pattern. I even had a title for my blog, which I hardly ever write in advance: “Frankly, I’m Offended.” I had writing time set aside for Thursday night and was looking forward to venting my proverbial spleen because, well, I can’t exactly complain to him about it, can I? Well, wouldn’t you just know it? I offered him sweet potatoes Thursday night with dinner and, lo and behold, he gobbled them up. I thought he might just be showing off for his Eryc, whom he adores, but no, the next morning he ate all of his peas. While I’m of course thrilled that he’s eating the gorgeous baby food I’m making, I’m a little peeved that he ruined a perfectly good blog post. So, there you go... Joseph’s finally taken to homemade baby food. Next on the agenda—butternut squash!

The Blog as Self-Portrait

Next Monday, June 29, I’ll be participating in a panel discussion for the Mizel Museum on blogging as self-portraiture. I feel very honored to join four other fascinating bloggers:

Eric Elkins: The Dating Dad

Eryc Eyl: Mile High Makeout for Denver’s Westword

John Common: Hit Record and Play

Naomi Zeveloff: The Lady Finger

The panel is part of Mizel Museum’s current exhibition, “My Self: Original Self Portraits."

Details:

When: Monday, June 29, 8:00 p.m.

Where: Forest Room 5 Restaurant, Denver, CO

Cost: $5

Interested? RSVP online on Facebook.

Creamy Orzo II—Don’t Buy Cheap Tomatoes!

Quick note: always buy the good tomatoes! It wasn’t until I read The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper that I realized that the brand of canned tomatoes I bought even mattered. Since reading their wise words, I’ve generally been buying Muir Glen or Hunt’s Organic. Well, tonight I skimped and bought generic diced tomatoes and learned a valuable lesson. Not only was the flavor of the store-brand tomatoes less dynamic, but the cheap tomatoes were also poorly packaged. When I made this recipe the first time, I used Muir Glen diced tomatoes. The recipe says to drain them, and when I drained the Muir Glen, I was left with lovely little chunks of tomato. Period. When I tried to drain the cheap tomatoes, I realized they were packaged not in water, but in a thick purée, which was impossible to separate from the chunks. Ergo, my sauce was too runny. Yuck. Alas, lesson learned. The good tomatoes are worth it. Every time. Even for Monday night pasta.

Raspberry Honey Almond Tart

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I am completely befuddled by pie crusts. Can’t make them. Even with Mrs. Janes’s Never-Fail Pie Crust recipe, which, sadly, fails me every time. I fantasize that some day some nice pastry chef will take me under his or her wing and show me the way. Until then, I rely on tarts when I need a special dessert that wows. This is my absolute favorite from one of my favorite cookbooks. It was given to me 12 or so years ago by my dear high school and college friend, Kim, and I have used this recipe so many times that the pages have long ago fallen out and are jammed in the back of the book.

I have made this recipe as originally written with baked apricots or plums countless times, and it is phenomenal. You make a simple tart crust flavored with almond and vanilla extracts, then sprinkle the crust with ground almonds and top it with a cream, also flavored with almond and vanilla, as well as wildflower honey. Whenever I’ve made it in the past, I’ve always added halved apricots or Colorado plums, which bake up beautifully with the cream.

For Father’s Day, Ben requested some kind of fresh berry dessert. I was mulling pound cake or similar when I remembered that there is a side note variation for this tart if you want to use fresh berries. You bake the crust, top with almonds and cream and bake again. After cooling completely, you just top the baked tart and cream with fresh raspberries.

Frankly, I was skeptical, because I wasn’t sure how well the dish would come together. It was just incredible, and, honestly, tastier and more refreshing than the baked fruit versions. Everything about the apricot tart is rich... the buttery crust, the creamy topping, the deeply-flavored baked fruit. With the fresh berries, there’s a delicious contrast between the richness of the underlying tart and the lightness of fresh, cool raspberries. Even more amazing to me, this tart was even better cold after sitting in the fridge overnight (for breakfast with chilaquiles, coffee and mimosas!)

This recipe alone is reason enough to buy this beautiful, inspiring book. The only negative about this recipe is that, when it’s all gone, you’re left with plain-old Grape Nuts for breakfast.

Made-up Chilaquiles

I must confess, I do not enjoy making breakfast. I love to cook dinner and dessert, am fine with putting together lunches, but I really have no love for making eggs, pancakes, waffles, etc. A nice strata (that goes in the fridge the night before) is fine, but getting up and cooking right away is not my thing. That said, I make breakfast all the time, particularly on the weekends, and I’m always looking for ways to mix it up a bit. Well, this week’s experiment was a huge hit... so great, in fact, that we made it two days in a row!

For whatever reason, when I woke up Saturday morning it occurred to me that I might be able to whip up some facsimile of chilaquiles with my leftover bean tostada ingredients. This is where the internet is my best friend. I Googled chilaquiles recipes, looked at about eight, pulled some stuff out of the fridge and started cooking. SO DELICIOUS!

Here were my made-up chilaquiles: I crisped strips of corn tortilla (which go stale almost immediately in the fridge) in some canola oil. I definitely used less oil than most recipes called for, but they crisped very nicely. Once the strips looked like chips, I lowered the heat and added a few beaten eggs and shredded some cheddar cheese on top. Once the eggs were about done (a few minutes), I threw in some spoonfuls of Aunt Jenn’s salsa (I should post her recipe... so easy, so garlic-y, so yum). Done.

Ben and Sophia and I just devoured these. They were so good, in fact, that Benji and I had them again for Father’s Day brunch, with leftover raspberry tart, coffee and pineapple orange juice mimosas! (I'll write more about the fabulous tart later today.)

I rarely experiment like this in the kitchen, and am really thrilled to have a new, crowd-pleasing, satisfying breakfast that turned out well the first time and uses up leftovers. Yeah for me!

Bean Tostadas

Honestly, I was reluctant to blog about this dinner because, well, it involved very little cooking and lots of assembling. After mulling it for a day or so I realized that if I don’t write about assembled meals, I’ll have nothing to write about all summer! In our house, and probably in the homes of many, summer meals are often cobbled together from what is fresh and in-season at the local farmer’s market and what is affordable and beautiful at King Soopers. And what involves very little stove- and oven-time. Thus, the bean tostadas. Honestly, there’s nothing particularly summer-y about this dish other than the fact that it doesn’t require a lot of standing over the stove.

Simply, here are our bean tostadas: corn tortillas brushed with canola oil and crisped in a hot oven, a blend of vegetarian refried and pinto beans heated in the microwave, diced vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped black olives, chopped organic iceberg lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese and sliced avocado. All topped with Aunt Jenn’s homemade salsa, which is garlic-y goodness.

That’s it. Easy peasy. Not remotely authentic but devoured by all. Certainly unremarkable but very tasty and takes about 15 minutes in all to pull together.

Cooking on the Road: Creamy Orzo

I am woefully behind in posting because Ben and I took Joseph and Sophia on “vacation” for two weeks to Chicago and Indianapolis. Why the quotation marks? For the uninitiated, traveling with two children under five is in no way relaxing, which I think the term vacation implies. Not that there weren’t delightful pockets of fun, but we came home spent and are slowly recharging our batteries. However, one of the more relaxing evenings we did have on the trip was spent cooking in a foreign kitchen after a trip to a foreign Whole Foods Market. The result—four-star, soon to be five-star, creamy orzo from Giada.

After eating delicious wedding food and our body weight in stuffed Chicago-style pizza (Art of Pizza!), we were in serious need of basic, homemade dinner. So, we Google-mapped the nearest Whole Foods to Nick and Leslie’s gorgeous West Loop condo (with well-stocked kitchen) and experimented with a new recipe from one of Leslie’s Giada De Laurenttis cookbooks. It’s always more fun to cook in someone else’s kitchen... I love rummaging through cabinets and drawers for cheese graters, paring knives and hot pads (never could find these).

The resultant dinner, Creamy Orzo, was perfect for my overtired, short-on-veggies family. It’s a simple dish with a sauce made from shallots, diced tomatoes (will double next time), cream and peas (we tripled). I’ve never cooked with orzo before, and I feared it wouldn’t feel filling because it’s so wee, but it was lovely, with a very nice texture, and perfectly satisfying. We will definitely make this again, and I think it will be a five-star dinner once we double the tomatoes. Thank you to Nick and Leslie for the beautiful kitchen-away-from-home!

Peas!

Our adventures in homemade baby food have officially begun! I made all of Sophia’s food when she was a baby using the most amazing kit my mom bought me from Fresh Baby, and I really loved every step of the process. Of course, I already had a Cuisinart (also from my mom), which made everything so simple. 

Joseph started early on solids because he is so ginormous, so he has been eating organic oat cereal since May 10. Even though he was only 18 weeks old at the time, he took to solids very quickly and was really enjoying bites his second meal. At nearly five months, he already likes to grab the spoon away and feed himself, and really practices his chewing, and he’s generally eating four to five tablespoons of dry cereal, plus formula to mix, three times a day. This is a lot! 

I had planned on introducing other foods after our marathon trip to Chicago and Indianapolis, mostly to save myself the hassle of buying and/or making organic food on the road. However, we realized that if we waited it would be another three weeks, so last night we introduced organic peas.

We’re very lucky that everywhere we’re staying on the trip we’ll have a nice kitchen and access to a microwave, so it seemed feasible to make food while away. Yesterday afternoon I bought a Kid Co. food mill, which I like okay but don’t love, but which will certain suffice while we travel. It’s a bit cumbersome to assemble and use, and doesn’t puree foods as smoothly as I’d like, but it’s compact and will work anywhere. As soon as the trip is over it’s back to the Cuisinart and the Fresh Baby food trays for me!

We started with peas because I firmly believe that you should cultivate your baby’s taste for green things before introducing sweeter first foods like apples and bananas. Babies naturally prefer sweet tastes, so I think it makes sense to broaden their palate from the get-go. Our family doctor also prefers this approach, progressing from green to orange to yellow foods, and I feel it was successful with Sophia. She truly is the most omnivorous person I know, and I think this is at least in small part due to the fact that I always encouraged her to eat veggies, and that I fed her from the table from the beginning.

As soon as she started solids we all ate meals together, and we’ve always tried to model healthy eating habits and prepare beautiful, nutritious and dynamic meals. (I abhor the idea of kids’ menus at restaurants—who says kids don’t like what grownups like!) I also read a phenomenal book about kids and food, called Child of Mine by Ellyn Satter, and the author’s attitudes informed most or all of my choices in terms of food. I cannot recommend this book enough. (It’s also the only book I read that gives as much guidance about thoughtfully bottle feeding as it does about breast feeding.)

Anyway, on to peas. I think Joseph would give homemade organic peas three stars right now. He’s had them twice and spit most of them out last night and ate about half of his serving tonight. He made the most hilarious face after the first taste, which seemed to say something along the lines of, “what in the world!” I think we’ll continue to offer them once or twice a day until he learns to love them. Benji and I both tasted them and they’re really very sweet and delicious.

Such an awesome responsibility, introducing a small person to the world of food. And I just love every minute of it! A wonderful adventure for all of us. 

Cold, Lonely Kitchen

Quick update, mostly for posterity so I don’t wonder down the road where May went. Parvovirus + migraines + gastroenteritis = zero appetite and zero interest in cooking. I did make a lovely risotto last night with sweet petite peas, sautéed mushrooms and lemon zest, but only because if I didn’t there would be no dinner last night or tonight. Other than that I have pretty much subsisted on graham crackers, popsicles and peanut butter toast, when I’ve eaten at all. I am REALLY looking forward to June and reacquainting myself with the kitchen. I’ve been under the weather for 11 days now and that’s just waaaayyy too long. 

Joseph, on the other hand, has discovered solid food and is eating with a vengeance. I can’t believe he’s taken to it so beautifully, considering how young he is (we started when he was just four months/18 weeks old). All he’s had is organic oaties with formula, but I just love the way he hums and grunts at me to HURRY UP with the spoon, lady! He gets so excited! He has even grabbed the spoon, shoved it toward his mouth, scraped off the cereal and crammed it in his mouth himself. Hilarious!

We’re waiting to introduce other homemade organic foods until after our marathon Chicago/Indy trip, so it’s easier to travel with him, and I can’t wait to start blogging about our adventures together in the kitchen. A whole new chapter for him, and a really beloved part of motherhood for me. I made all of Sophia’s food and just loved the whole process. She is a truly omnivorous little person, and I can only hope that I can teach Joseph to love all kinds of flavors as well.

And, on a note completely unrelated to cooking, Sophia is really READING now, and I am loving it. She read Joseph three Sandra Boynton books today all by herself... really read them, and I was just bursting with pride. Such a big girl at four and a third! I know this has nothing to do with cooking, but what’s a mother to do?

Update: Homemade Pizza & Pizza Gear

While I try not to write more than once about things I make time and again, I do want to quickly revisit homemade pizza, since it was such a revelation for me and since we’ve made some interesting discoveries about ingredients and gear.

First of all, I’m still neutral on the whole Kitchenaid stand mixer issue, at least as far as pizza is concerned. I’ve learned to really enjoy kneading by hand. However, I do avoid making more than a single recipe (three 12-inch pizzas) if I’m cooking alone; we do make a double batch if Ben and I can both do one at the same time. Since I’ve learned how easy and delicious (and cheap!) homemade pizza is, well... we’re eating a lot more pizza! A stand mixer would probably encourage me to make multiple batches at the same time, which would be nice. But, that said, making crust by hand certainly hasn’t slowed down our consumption. We probably make this now once a week. Extra crust freezes wonderfully—we just thaw it on the counter the morning we want to make pizza and the results are great!

I’m still loving homemade sauce, using Hunt’s Organic crushed tomatoes and extra virgin olive oil. As a saucy pizza lover, I’ve had to learn not to over-sauce my crust, which I think is what led to the so-so results when my mom was here.

The biggest discovery, which was, frankly, kind of disappointing from a “foodie” perspective, is that while margherita-style pizza with fresh mozzarella is wonderful, we all prefer our pizza topped with regular-old, Kroger-brand, pre-shredded part-skim mozzarella. I used it the first time simply out of frugality, because I was making three pizzas, and fresh mozzarella is $8/lb. at the local cheese importers, and I seem to have some innate cheese spending limit. However, we all ultimately admitted that the part-skim shredded stuff was more satisfying and provided better all-over coverage without being too cheesy. We’ll definitely still make margherita-style pizza from time to time, particularly when we have basil in our garden this summer, but for day-to-day, the cheap generic stuff it is!

In terms of toppings, we’ve tried: canned mushrooms (a throwback to my old K.C. favorite, Original Pizza!), Kalamata olives (a favorite), fresh basil (always excellent), Volpi sausage (good but pricey), Hormel “natural,” nitrite-free pepperoni (fine) and fresh spinach (disappointing, because you expect it to taste like basil!). I try to always serve our pizza with a veggie-filled salad, so the meal’s more well-rounded.

In terms of gear, I’m starting to despise my 12-inch round pizza stone. It’s fairly impossible to get my amoeba-like 12-inch pizza centered on the stone without some of it dribbling over the edge. Next time I go shopping (which is never), I’m getting myself a larger, rectangular pizza stone. They’re about $40 and will be well worth it!

All in all, I will say that this one recipe has changed the way we eat more than any others during the past few years. No more Friday night happy hours at Proto’s, no more ordering in Nicolo’s delivery, and certainly no more $7 Amy’s frozen pizzas. 

Oh, and one last thing. I STILL don’t have a real rolling pin. I used to have one of those French rolling pins (with no handles), but it gradually warped over time and no longer makes meaningful and consistent contact with whatever I’m trying to roll. So (this is so sad), every time we make pizza, which as I mentioned is weekly, I have to dig out Sophia’s kid cooking set rolling pin, which she uses to play with Playdoh, scrub it down and let it air dry. Seriously, how hard would it be to just bop over to Target and buy myself a simple, grown-up rolling pin with handles? But no, I’m still using the four-inch kiddie rolling pin, which makes rolling the dough... challenging. If there is a culinary gear god out there somewhere, please remind me to get myself a rolling pin next time I’m at Target. The current state of affairs is just plain pathetic!

Easy Pot Roast with Rich Tomato Gravy

When Sophia was an infant, my mom bought me a Crock-Pot, knowing as all moms know that the easiest time of day to get anything done in the kitchen is mid-morning, particularly once your baby graduates from the sleeping-around-the-clock stage. Joseph is four months old now, so it seems a fitting time to dust off the old slow cooker. And, because Ben swears he doesn’t like beef, I decided to start with a wonderful pot roast recipe. Call me a sadist, but I secretly love serving him beef dishes I know he’ll enjoy. 

Here’s what I love about this recipe: the meat gets fall-apart tender, the gravy is delicious, and, if you leave the carrots and celery in large enough chunks, they're still intact and scrumptious after hours in the slow cooker. It probably took 20 minutes to prep this recipe in the morning, and it filled the house with the most tempting, savory, homey smell. 

Here’s where I went wrong: when given several options at the butcher, I foolishly chose the leanest pot roast they had, with really no marbling to speak of. Ergo, the roast was still a little... stringy, kind of like pulled pork. Next time I’ll pick something in the middle of the lean-to-fatty range, because I know my pot roast has been more tender in the past.

I served this with roasted Yukon Gold potatoes and a mixed green salad with Mom’s celery seed dressing. Perfect! The crispy little potato cubes are delicious dipped in the rich tomato gravy. Sophia wants mashed potatoes with it next time, but I’m not so sure. There’s something so divine about the juxtaposition of the rich, creamy sauce, the tender meat and veggies and the crispy little potato bites.

On the “not eating beef” front, Ben happily ate plates of this, so it was sufficiently delicious to push him beyond his objections. Wonderful, soothing comfort food for the end of a hectic, stressful week!

A Perfect Meal, or How I’m Getting My Groove Back

I have been absent from this personal space for far too long, because, frankly, I have been in a funk. I have felt fried and maxed out and wholly uninterested in anything but the day-to-day basics. I felt this way when Sophia was four-months-old, too, so it must have something to do with the rhythms of new motherhood. I’ve been trying to make sense of why I am where I am, and wonder if  there’s some burnout zone between the adrenaline-rush sprint that is caring for an infant and the long-haul marathon of raising a little person. Regardless, while we’ve still been eating well, my cookbooks have been growing lonely on the shelf and it is time I turn this around. This project is for me, and I’m hoping my return to this corner of my life helps me to commit a bit more each day to personal renewal. On that note, on to this perfect meal...

My expectations for Mother’s Day are fairly realistic. We have a busy four-year-old and a needy four-month-old and Ben only has two hands to do all of this tending. With that in mind, I helped plan three beautiful meals for Mother’s Day, which I happily shopped for (while Ben hung out with Joseph) and which I happily helped prepare. For breakfast, Ben and Sophia made waffles with fresh berries and whipped cream (yum) and, for lunch, we girls made homemade pizza with Kalamata olives, fresh spinach and Volpi sausage. Also yum.

But dinner. Oh, dinner! On Saturday, Sophia and I went to the Longmont Farmers’ Market and bought the most beautiful organic baby arugula from Ollin Farms here in town. Gorgeous, tender little leaves fresh from the garden. We also bought some spectacular cranberry walnut bread from the Styria Bakery, which we paired with Haystack Mountain’s Haystack Peak, a “creamy fresh-ripened goat cheese [with a] creamy interior enhanced by a bloom-rind surface that gives it character and complexity.” On Sunday, Ben made a simple vinaigrette of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and we topped the organic arugula with Parmigiano-Reggiano shavings and toasted pine nuts. To finish off this beautiful meal, a perfectly-grilled, medium-rare New York strip steak.

This meal was so simple, so divine, such an unbelievably perfect combination of fresh, seasonal flavors. It was truly perfect, and really reminded me of why I love spending time in the kitchen, enough so that I even love helping out with a little bit of cooking on Mother’s Day.

And for dessert? Well, dessert could not have been more special, and was my favorite moment of the whole day. At Montessori preschool, students made Mother’s Day cards and inside was a single peach tea bag. Preparing and serving tea with a friend is one of Sophia’s favorite works at school. So, at the end of our beautiful day together, Sophia and I got out my lovely little porcelain tea pot, filled it with hot water, and she made us tea to have with our walnut brownies. She steeped, stirred and served, just like a grown-up hostess, and we sat together, we two girls, and had our own little tea party. 

A beautiful moment, right here in my own kitchen, and one I hope will continue to inspire me as I work to reclaim my culinary groove.

Cooking (Minestrone) as Love

What do you do to help when there’s really nothing you can do? If you’re me, you cook. And cook and cook and cook. On Friday morning, my father-in-law, Bill, had emergency quadruple bypass surgery here in Longmont. As I know from personal experience, there is nothing more terrifying than seeing your parent so vulnerable and knowing there is not much you can do to ease their burden. As an in-law (and, really, an “ex” in-law at that), I felt hopeless to help Eryc and his family, and particularly Bill himself, as they struggled through these days of diagnosis, planning, surgery and recovery. The one thing I felt I could do was to feed everyone, and feed everyone I did.

With a mind on easy-to-transport, easy-to-reheat and heart-healthy meals, I made a huge batch of my homemade minestrone, adapted over the years from The New Moosewood Cookbook, an Earth mama classic. I love this cookbook, and this is my absolute favorite soup. Not to be too arrogant, but over the years I have modified it to make it really the perfect soup. I don’t make it as often as I should because it feels time-consuming, although I’m not sure it really does take that much longer than other soups. Just lots of chopping. 

My version is chockfull of veggies—carrots, celery, tomatoes, zucchini—plus garbanzo and kidney beans and a bit of organic whole wheat rotini. I’ve also started adding the leftover rinds I’ve been saving from my Parmigiano-Reggiano for a bit of added flavor. The soup is gorgeous (all of the veggies maintain their beautiful bright colors), delicious and incredibly healthy. The vegetables still have a nice crisp-tender texture, and the pasta and beans add some needed weight. It’s pretty fabulous soup, and feels entirely nourishing for body and soul, which I suppose was my real intention.

In a frenzy of cooking born entirely out of love, I also made homemade blueberry muffins, macaroni and cheese with Swiss chard, salad with mom’s celery seed dressing, dark chocolate brownies with walnuts (thank you Ghiradelli), dinner rolls to have with the soup (thank you Rhodes), homemade pizza with homemade sauce, dark chocolate chip cookies (Tollhouse recipe with Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips), Boar’s Head natural turkey and ham sandwiches, apples, assorted snacks and, for dinner tonight, tortellini with prosciutto and spinach (which I’ll write about later). 

Bill’s surgery was a huge success, and he is recovering wonderfully. Everyone at the hospital is amazed at his progress. Eryc and his family seem to be gradually emerging from a state of shock and breathing that first, deep sigh of relief. Me, I feel happy to have played a peripheral part in what has been an exhausting, but positive, weekend.

A Personal Epiphany, Made in the Kitchen

I recently wrote about my (mis)adventures in the kitchen while cooking for my mom about a week ago. Perhaps I lack a certain kind of self-awareness, but it has continued to truly puzzle me why everything seemed just so-so when it had been so delicious the first (and second) time I made these recipes.

Last night, I hosted my dear friend and culinary mentor, Alison, for dinner. I very purposely kept the menu very simple and only made dishes I’d made multiple times. Should have been a piece of cake. AGAIN, everything was good but not great. I found it less upsetting overall because, well, she’s not my mom, and I guess I care (slightly) less about impressing her.

So, the menu: I served two phenomenal cheeses with sliced baguette. Frankly, I think we both would have been satisfied with just wine and these cheeses: Pierre Robert, an incredibly rich, flavorful triple-crème cow’s milk cheese from France and Truffle Tremor, a ripened goat’s milk cheese laced with bits of truffle and made by Cypress Grove in California. I chose well! Next, we had my favorite and easy roasted salmon with lemon relish from Great Food Fast. I’ve made this at least three other times for guests. Lastly, I whipped up some dark chocolate fondue and served it with pound cake cubes (from Whole Foods), pretzels, organic strawberries, bananas and graham crackers.

So, how could things possibly go awry? My salmon was overcooked and dry, I inexplicably didn’t have enough relish to go around and, hours later, found the toasted pine nuts for the salmon still sitting in the toaster oven. 

Now, I certainly wasn’t agonizing about these things. But I did go to bed wondering, “why?”—and, suddenly, an epiphany.

I cook to be quiet, to feel calm, to be alone. In the Myers-Briggs personality test, I am almost entirely “E,” as in extroverted. I love to chit chat, hate to be alone, and am, to be honest, wildly uncomfortable with an idle mind. In fact (and this is a little secret), I am incapable of just being still even for the five minutes it takes Ben to get ready for bed before we go to sleep. I have to read or do puzzles. I’m not sure quite why, but I am really, really uneasy with stillness and quiet. Not a Zen bone in my body. Or so I thought. 

What I realized last night is that, while I love to plan meals, choose special foods that I know will please my guests, set the table with fresh linens and flowers, I really don’t like to entertain. Actually, that’s not it at all. I love to have people over, love to sit and talk for hours over wine. It’s just that what I love about cooking, and, what I probably don’t find in other aspects of my life, is lost when I’m cooking for others.

Of course, every day I’m cooking for two (and soon three) others. But, when we met, Ben ate two things: spaghetti and turkey burgers. And, while she has a phenomenal palate, Sophia is still a four-year-old. And Joseph? Well, he still thinks that his fingers are the tastiest treat. While they are, technically, an audience, I feel no pressure cooking for my family. I figure they’ll be happy with whatever I make.

A lot of why I like to cook, and why I put so much time and energy into it, is that when I’m alone in the kitchen, my mind is still while my body is at work. I like to just follow the directions and groove on the process (I’m very process-oriented). I’m sure that, while I was making dinner for Alison last night, we were gabbing a mile a minute and I forgot to pay attention to timing, quantities, garnishes. 

Of course, I’m not going to stop entertaining the people I love, and I’m surely going to continue to feel distracted when I have a favorite guest sitting at the counter while I cook. I suppose, then, that I will have to make peace with the fact that, ironically, my best cooking will be my that which I do just for myself.

Most Amazing Macaroni & Cheese

I am not a mac and cheese kind of gal... kind of boring and usually too greasy. This new recipe caught my eye in my new Bon Appétit mostly a) because it looked like it would make dinner plus lunch leftovers (true), b) because it constitutes a one-dish dinner, which theoretically should make dinner easier (not necessarily true) and c) because it had veggies in the center, and veggies are always a hit in my house (definitely true). It is OMG so delicious and completely changed my thoughts about mac and cheese forever.

I made this for Earth Day and liked that it was vegetarian and green in the middle, and I made it with as many organic ingredients as I had on hand.

I also (of course) changed several things in the recipe, mostly out of frugality. First, the original calls for a blend of two cheeses: aged gouda and edam. Now, while I am a huge fan of these two wonderful Dutch cheeses, having been introduced to them as a kid by my dad, another cheese lover, I am not a fan of $12 macaroni and cheese. I also had a big loaf of Tillamook medium cheddar on hand. So, I instead used a blend of mostly cheddar with a bit of organic Parmigiano-Reggiano added in, and it was scrumptious.

Other changes: I used the full one-pound box of noodles instead of the 12 oz. the author called for (perfectly fine change), and I probably used closer to two pounds of chard instead of 1½. Chard bunches were only 99 cents, were fresh and beautiful and I knew my crowd would appreciate extra green. It certainly didn’t seem like too much, and I’d maintain all of these changes next time. I’ll probably continue to play with the cheese combination... the possibilities are endless and surely all tasty. How can you go wrong with cheese?

The only flaw, if you can call it that, is that it felt like this recipe dirtied every pot and utensil in the kitchen—Cuisinart to shred cheeses, bowls for mixing, Pyrex cups for measuring, several pans for cooking, strainers, spoons, whisks. What a mess!

As I put the dish in the oven to bake, I wasn’t sure it was worth all the trouble. One bite... DEFINITELY worth all the trouble! A huge hit all around!

Creamy Pasta with Cremini, Asparagus & Walnuts

Giada is the master of the no-sauce pasta, and this recipe is no exception. Not remarkable, but simple and full of veggies, this is a great weeknight dinner. I also like that it’s easy to switch out the green veggie based on what’s affordable and in season. Theoretically asparagus is in season right now, but it was $3 a pound and very thick yesterday, so I opted instead for frozen petite peas, which are sweet, bright green and absolutely delicious! If you have not discovered these yet, rush right out and buy a bag. They’re fabulous in pasta or risotto, very affordable, and one of those veggies that doesn’t need to be organic.

I also used whole wheat rotini instead of farfalle, because I think whole wheat pasta makes better leftovers... it just holds up nicely. The biggest problem with this recipe is that it lacks depth of flavor and it doesn’t reheat well. I don’t really like black pepper at all, except as a flavoring in soups, but even I sprinkled this with a little pepper to add some punch. And the mascarpone that you toss in to make the “sauce” gets lost in reheating. 

I’ve made this before and I’ll continue to make it, even thought it’s a three-star recipe. It only takes about 20 minutes to prep and cook, I love the combination of walnuts, green veggie and sautéed mushrooms and it makes a lot of food, providing an extra lunch or dinner for later in the week.

Blueberry Muffins

As you may have gathered from previous posts, I try to provide snack for Sophia’s preschool class once a month. In the Montessori world, snack is actually a “work”—students serve themselves that day’s snack on glass plates, pour themselves juice or water into little glasses, join their friends at a table to eat, then clean up their dishes. It’s adorable.

For whatever reason, and probably because of where we live and my own attitudes about food, I feel self-imposed pressure for snack to be creative, delicious and healthy. It’s a huge Earth Mama no-no to bring sweets... no cupcakes, chocolate, etc. In fact, when students have their birthday celebrations at school, those snacks are supposed to be healthy, too (read: not too sugary). 

Sophia is enamored with mini-muffins, so I finally broke down and bought two mini-muffin pans. The beauty of the mini-muffin, I’ve discovered, is that a single recipe for 12 regular muffins makes 48 minis, perfect for little hands. 

We girls have been experimenting with muffin recipes all year, and, for those of you who bake (I am a super-novice), you’ll relate to our dilemma. Every recipe to date is either too buttery and greasy, but moist, or not buttery enough and dry. Since we had such amazing luck with the Irish-American soda bread recipe from the King Arthur Flour recipe site, I thought I’d give their blueberry muffins a try.

The result: delicious but not too sweet muffins that are moist but not too buttery. Pretty perfect! The main reason they get a four-star rating is because mini-muffins are always a bit dry compared to regular-sized muffins, and because I forgot (as I always do) to sprinkle the tops with cinnamon sugar. Next time we’ll try a bit of turbinado and cinnamon on top, and I bet they’ll be perfect.

Kiddos are having this snack for Earth Day, and I look forward to a report on their reception. Honestly, though, what kid doesn’t like blueberry muffins? Sophia’s also sharing organic carrot sticks, because you have to have something “healthy” with every snack. Seriously, I’m not sure how I did it, but even if she’s having a cookie or a bit of dark chocolate for bedtime snack, she’ll insist on something healthy to accompany it. Not that I mind, but is anyone else’s kid like this? Love it!

Misadventures, or, Cooking for Mom

Why, when you have an eager guest at the table, do things not turn out as you’d hoped? My mom just left today after a weekend visit, and I was so excited for the opportunity to make some of my new favorites for her. Yet, somehow, nothing I made was as I’d hoped, and I ended the weekend elated by my Mom time, but bummed about my culinary (mis)adventures.

First, let me say that my mom is an eager, supportive audience. At no level did I fear criticism or even pickiness. In fact, Mom lived with us last year for six months while she recuperated from a nasty compound ankle fracture. Not once during those six months did I feel paralyzed by her presence at my table. In fact, I found the challenge of cooking for someone on the path to recovery energizing, and successfully experimented much more than I normally would. I think it’s safe to say that my Mom was always appreciative, and left feeling well-nourished and healed.

So, what went wrong? Technically, nothing. However, everything I prepared was the weakest version I’d ever made, and these were all my new favorites: cheese-gilded linguine with smoky tomatoes, homemade pizza, even rustic jam shortbread tart. I need to state, emphatically, that at no point did my mom express anything but pleasure—lots of yums and “love it!” However, I felt that everything fell flat... the pasta was just a bit too salty, the pizza was too saucy and, subsequently, not crispy enough in the center, the tart crust didn’t quite hold together, and I found myself wishing I’d used a different flavor of jam. 

Jam flavors? Why was I worrying about jam flavors? Aside from our six months of cohabitation, which went swimmingly and forever cemented the real love between my husband, Ben, and my Mom, as well as my daughter’s unswerving devotion to her Grandma, I generally see my mom four times a year. Three months is about as long as I can go between visits. Why worry about the food when there was all that good gabbing to do?

I’ve thought about it a lot over the weekend, and what I’ve come to is that this project of recording my experiences in the kitchen has changed my sense of self, at least in part. I see myself differently because of this self-selected focus on cooking, and I wanted things to be just perfect for Mom, probably because she’s the one who taught me to love time spent in the kitchen, to read cookbooks like novels and to focus on fresh, seasonal food.

I don’t think I’ll ever completely understand why things consistently went awry. However, I do know that my culinary confidence is just a tiny bit shaken. This means, I believe, that it’s time to crack open new books, discover new chefs and rebuild my kitchen ego one new adventure at a time.  

Oh, and I’m having my friend Alison for dinner Sunday night. This gives me five days to plan a terrific dinner and another chance to entertain a dear guest. And eat chocolate. And drink wine. And plan the next great meal together.

Black Bean Enchiladas à la The New York Times

Again, big debate on star rating. Ben, Eryc, Sophia and I landed on four stars, but it’s soon to be a five with a few modifications. I got this recipe from the “Recipes for Health” series on The New York Times. It caught my eye because you make your own black beans, which I’ve always wanted to learn to do, then make the enchiladas the next day. While there are several steps to putting this dish together, requiring at least 24 hours of advance planning, no step is very time-consuming and the end result was delicious. In fact, the only reason this wasn’t a five-star recipe right away is because we would all tweak it slightly.

After soaking the beans overnight, I cooked them with onion, garlic, cilantro and salt for a few hours to make a flavorful, thick bean sauce. I finished the simmered black beans in the morning, then put together the enchiladas around 3:30 for 5:00 dinner after dying Easter eggs.

To make the enchiladas, I puréed the beans a bit, them simmered them with some whole cumin seeds and chili powder (used my immersion blender, so puréeing was a breeze). While the beans thickened, I was supposed to soften my corn tortillas in a delicious homemade enchilada sauce of tomato sauce, olive oil, more cumin and more chili powder. Well, my corn tortillas were extremely fresh, probably 30 minutes old and still warm from the neighborhood tortilleria. The first one I put in the simmering sauce disintegrated in about 10 seconds. So, I simply dipped the tortillas in warm sauce on a plate to coat lightly, filled them with black beans and white cheddar and rolled them up.

To finish, I topped them with extra black bean sauce, extra cheese and, strangely, chopped walnuts. These seemed odd, but they were actually delicious and added nice crunch. After baking, I added a bit of chopped cilantro for color and served with slices of fresh avocado, Aunt Jennifer’s homemade salsa (which we’d made the night before... so garlicky good) and Pacificos (thank you, Eryc!).

The enchiladas were delicious, to be sure, but could have been a bit more dynamic. After dinner, as we ate the pieces of the first saucy, disintegrated tortilla, we decided that next time we’d quadruple the sauce recipe and, instead of topping the rolled enchiladas with more beans, we’d pour the extra sauce over the top and then sprinkle with cheese and walnuts. I’m eager to try these changes, because I think the result will be scrumptious. Look for another enchilada post soon.