How to Host a Mardi Gras Party

Even though I’m Polish, I’ve never gone in much for the paczki, which is a Polish doughnut, containing at least a 1,000 calories and found all over southeast Michigan today, what we call Paczki Day in these parts.  Now don’t get me wrong, just because I’m not a huge fan of our local paczki, doesn’t mean I didn’t jump at the chance to try an authentic one (about half the size, filled with rosehip jam) when I was in Krakow a couple of years ago.  I’m not dumb.  If I could perhaps find that one around here, trust me, I too would be a devoted fan.  Here’s a lovely picture of Krakow, one of my favorite cities on Earth, if I may digress for just a moment.

Instead, I prefer to celebrate Mardi Gras.  Last year the girls and I went to a local semi-Cajun restaurant that had touted a Mardi Gras celebration of sorts; another year we went to the local Irish pub for their take on the festive holiday.  This year, however, I decided to host it chez moi.  We’ll see how it goes, but one thing is for sure, I can’t get through February without a little bit of New Orleans (another one of my favorite cities on Earth, and while we’re at it, I might add that the other three in my top five are, bien sûr, Paris, my absolute bestie, Chicago and Buenos Aires.  What are yours? Let me know in the comments!)

So what you need for a proper Mardi Gras party…  King Cake, fortuitously attained at local grocery, no longer need to order real thing for exorbitant, albeit justified, prices from www.kingcake.com.  It even comes with a warning that should you choose to ingest the plastic baby or the beads, you might choke.

Second, Abita Beer must be procured as well and this can take some doing (and some dollars for that matter).  Though the charmingly named Purple Haze can be found just about everywhere, the far tastier Amber is preferred, and sometimes hard to find.  And while we’re on the subject of favorites, I’d easily declare Abita Amber my favorite beer of all time, if pressed.  Which I’m not, but will nevertheless add that it is followed closely by a smooth Irish draft called Smithwicks. But again, I digress.

Along with a some beads, your closest friends, maybe some cornbread–and while we’re at it, how about a little Marc Broussard–along with an excellent prepare-ahead recipe like the following Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, you have the makings of a mighty fine February get-together. Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler!

Adapted from Bon Appétit, January 2012.  Serves 4-6.

• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 12 oz. package andouille sausage (or another smoked variety like Kielbasa), sliced 1/2 thick and quartered
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 bunch scallions, diced, divided
• 1 green pepper, finely diced
• 2 stalks celery, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen (or fresh) okra
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup Canola oil (or more, you’ll see why soon)
• 1/2 tablespoon coarse salt (plus more to taste)
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• rice, to serve over
• chopped tomatoes, for garnish
• gumbo filé, to add at the end (optional)

Warning: this a tad labor-intensive.  I did it the night before for ease today, but also to let the flavors meld in the fridge overnight.  If you do the same, bring it back to a low simmer, then stir in the gumbo filé and half of the okra.

First, sprinkle mixture of salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and paprika over the chicken thighs.  Brown them in a 1/4 cup oil over medium flame in a dutch-oven, or heavy-bottomed pan, about 5 minutes per side.  Remove to a plate and do the same with the sausage, about 4 minutes total.  Remove sausage to same plate.  Turn off flame and allow pan to cool a bit.  At this point, you can get on with chopping the vegetables.  Once the pan has cooled a bit, strain the oil into a glass measuring cup and clean out the pan (I was tempted to skip this part, but I think what you want is a really smooth roux, without any burnt bits).  Add more oil to the drippings until you reach a 1/2 cup and add back to the pan over a medium flame.  Whisk in the flour and continue whisking until the oil and flour turn a deep chocolate-brown, about 15-20 minutes.  It seems kind of miraculous when it finally happens, be patient and don’t skimp here.  Call a friend while you whisk.  Anything to make sure you get the brown roux required for gumbo.  Turn the heat to low and add the onions.  Sauté for 10 minutes.

Add the green pepper, celery, the white and light green bits of scallions, garlic and Herbes de Provence and sauté for another 10 minutes or until soft. You can play with the flame at this point but make sure not to burn your roux.  Once the veggies are soft, whisk in the chicken broth and add the bay leaf.  Add the reserved chicken and sausage. Turn up the flame to bring to a boil, then turn down the flame and simmer gently for 45 minutes.  Check every so often and skim fat off the top.  I took out at least 3/4 cup fat in this process.

Add a 1/2 cup of thawed okra, a couple of dashes of Worcestershire and hot sauce, and simmer gently for another 45 minutes so that the chicken can become really tender and easily shreds with a fork.  If you’re doing this ahead of time, salt to taste and allow to cool.  Once cool, refrigerate. 

If serving immediately, add the other 1/2 cup okra and a teaspoon gumbo filé (some can also be sprinkled on top upon serving) and simmer another five minutes.  If not, add the okra and gumbo filé once simmering.

Serve over rice with green parts of scallions, chopped tomatoes and another sprinkle of gumbo filé.  Corn bread also makes a nice accompaniment, along with a cold Abita Amber.

And since I showed you a picture of Krakow, seemingly for no reason, I might as well include a picture (or 6), to get you (and me) in the spirit, of my beloved New Orleans, a city I will once again visit in two days.

 

Happy Mardi Gras, Packzi Day, Fat Tuesday, Pancake Day or maybe just Tuesday.  Whatever you choose to call it, I hope you enjoy it, and at some point or another, try this delicious Gumbo.

Kale Chips

I know that from a foodie standpoint, kale chips are nothing new, not a revelation of any kind.  One might even say that they are “so ’08″. When I mentioned them to my friend Christine, she told me that her niece (her niece!) had been making them for years.  Ok, so fast forward to 2012 and I finally just  got around to making them.  So sue me. (Dang, what’s with the sassy tone?  Must be suffering from lack of snow days, if I were to venture a guess).  Anyways, after a couple of disastrous batches, having misread Gwyneth’s directions and included a whole tablespoon of salt (no further explanation needed) then, failed to monitor (though I was still well within suggested cooking time) second batch of said chips resulting in blackened charcoal sheets of bitterness, in others words, a mess, I’d almost given up.  Maybe me and kale chips just were not meant to be. Finally, a spur-of-the-moment third round resulted in, if not the most delicious culinary experiment of 2012, at least a moderately tasty, edible and decidedly healthier version of the much-preferred chip of the potato variety that, at least, is worth knowing about.  Like me, you might have just a couple of  large leaves leftover from a larger bunch.  Here’s what you can do with them.

Adapted from My Father’s Daughter, 2011.

• a couple of kale leaves, torn into bite-sized pieces
• dash of salt (about a 1/4 teaspoon or less)
• dash of nutmeg (less than a 1/4 teaspoon)
• extra-virgin olive oil (about a teaspoon or more depending on how much kale you’re using)

Preheat oven to 350°. (I found Gwyneth’s 400° just too high, even for these not-so-delicate greens–maybe they have heartier kale in England).  On a baking sheet coated with aluminum foil (for easy clean-up) spread out the kale pieces, trying not to overcrowd.  Drizzle with olive oil, taking care not to drown the chips, just a drizzle.  Then add the dashes of salt and nutmeg and mix to coat with your hands.  Roast for 8-12 minutes, monitoring closely.  As soon as they start to brown, test one for crispness.  They go really quickly from perfect to burnt and black so be careful.  Once done, serve in a small bowl like potato chips and watch them disappear. In fact, I ate them all immediately, so cannot inform at all as to how well they keep!

Gwyneth claims that Apple and Moses eat them as if they were potato chips.  That may be stretching things, but as long as you keep in mind that you are eating kale, this is a fairly tasty preparation, though, in my mind, not even close to a potato chip.  I shall not try to convince you that they are as good.  They are simply pretty good for what they are.

A Super Bowl of Nachos

What a difference an article and a preposition make.  I admit, I’ve been completely remiss in my blogging duties of late and I should have given you this sooner.  I can’t explain it.  Well, actually, I can.  I’ve been cooking and eating (and continuing that World War I obsession with the completely obsession-worthy Downton Abbey), but not writing.  Were I a blogger extraordinaire, I would have had the wherewithal to post my favorite Superbowl Nachos recipes well before the Superbowl, rather than…(ahem).  But, alas, I am not, and other things, mentioned above and not excluding the Paris Wife and a fascinating history of all things domestic, have gotten in the way of any and all desire to turn on my computer.  Until today.

So finally here they are, rather than the “Superbowl” Nachos they were meant to be, they are instead A Super Bowl of Nachos, which I did indeed pull together last Sunday. They’re a yearly tradition for S and I, and though we didn’t feel strongly about the game, I was anxious for these nachos (and the half-time show).  Maybe you’d prefer to call these Valentine’s Day Nachos, or maybe Mardi Gras Nachos?  How about Oscar Night Nachos?  Nah, let’s just stick with what they are and call it a day.  Eat ‘em whenever you want.  They’re pretty, um, super.

Adapted from Rachael Ray Get Togethers, 2003, serves 4-6.

Do not be dismayed by this long ingredient list or the many steps involved.  If you chop veggies, grate the cheese and make the Pico de Gallo(but not the Guacamole)earlier in the day, then follow my order of operations, it really comes together in a snap.  Really.

For the Pico de Gallo

• 5-7 vine-ripened tomatoes, seeded, diced and dried
• handful chopped cilantro
• 1/4 very finely diced red onion
• juice of one lime
• coarse salt

For the Guacamole

• 2 avocados
• 1/2 cup (or more) pico de gallo
• juice of one lime

For the Nachos

• 2 bags various tortilla chips (Tostitos Multigrain are pretty good!)
• 1 lb. ground sirloin
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• olive oil
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tbsp. chipotle chili powder (or a dash of cayenne pepper)
• 1.5 tsp. cumin
• a couple of dashes of hot sauce
• coarse salt and pepper

For the Cheese Sauce

• 2.5 cups Pepper Jack cheese, shredded (1 block Kraft brand)
• 2 cups milk (I used 2%)
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2 tbsp. flour

1. Prepare the Pico by chopping and combining in equal amounts the tomatoes, cilantro and red onion.  Make sure the tomatoes are dry if you don’t want wet pico.  You can drain them while you make the other ingredients or dry them with a paper towel after you chop them, which is what I did.  Add a squeeze of lime juice and a dash of salt before serving.

2. Start the meat topping for the Nachos.  Preheat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the onions, garlic and jalapeño and season with salt and pepper. Sauté for three minutes.  Add the ground sirloin and crumble with a wooden spoon or a potato masher.  Add the spices (chili powders, cumin, hot sauce) and continue cooking for 5 minutes.  Add the beans and turn flame to low for flavors to combine.

3.  Next, prepare the cheese sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add the flour and whisk for a minute so.  While whisking, slowly add the milk.  Doing this step slowly is actually faster since adding  the milk in small bits will bring it to a boil more quickly than adding two cups of cold milk all at once.  Get it? Once the milk boils (or lightly bubbles, a rolling boil is not necessary, but watch that it doesn’t boil over), turn down the heat and add the cheese.  Stir in a figure 8 motion until the cheese is melted into the milk and the sauce is thickened.  I added another dash of cumin at this point but you don’t have to.

4. Finally,  prepare the guacamole by dicing two avocados and adding about 1/4-1/2 cup of your pico de gallo (a trick I learned recently from The Pioneer Woman…she called it a “revelation of epic proportions” on her charming show).  Add the juice of one lime and stir. 

A trick I just discovered, my own “revelation of epic proportions”, if you will, is how to store Guacamole so that it’s still good the next day with leftovers (mine lasted two days, as green as could be with this handy trick!).  I stored mine in a small glass container topped with sour cream.  That’s it–who knew? Keeping the air away kept it completely fresh and green.  If you don’t like sour cream, you can do the “plastic wrap touching the guac” trick (but I don’t think it works quite as well).

Anyways, hope you try these soon.  You won’t be disappointed, with or without football (or Madonna).

Mediterranean Pantry Pasta

I’ve been kind of obsessed with The Pioneer Woman lately (and World War I, but more on that later).  Do you know her?  She’s certainly a queen among bloggers these days and recently landed her own Food Network Show.  I’d seen her name lots on other blogrolls, but with the “frontier” not really being my thing, I didn’t pay close attention.  One time, though, (I’m not exactly sure when), I read one of her blog posts and found myself laughing out loud.  Her posts aren’t long-winded (unlike “you know you”-ahem) and they include cheery photos with step-by-step instructions.  She is not only adept at cooking (for her cowboy husband and brood of four children “on a ranch in the middle of nowhere”) but she can crack a witty joke–in a recent post she mentioned her “mammary glands”.  And she calls her ingredients “The Cast of Characters”.  See for yourself.  She’s hilarious, seemingly down-to-earth and  makes food I want to eat.  And after watching three of her episodes in a row the other night, I found myself thinking a little wistfully “awww…I wanna marry a cowboy, move to a ranch in Oklahoma and have four kids!”.    Well, not really, of course.  That couldn’t be farther from what I actually want but maybe because it’s so far from the life I actually lead (‘cept for the cooking and blogging), I’m finding myself fascinated.  By the way, I attribute the “awww… I wanna (insert life completely removed from actual life)” to my friend Barb, and our trip to Chicago last spring, when we found ourselves among a group of exuberant and wigged young girls exiting their bachelorette party at the wildly popular Spanish joint we were trying to get into.  She became almost entranced with this group of young ladies, even posing for a picture with them, and suddenly declared “awww…I wanna be young and latina!” 

But I digress, the following is a pasta recipe that came mainly out of my pantry, just like the episode of Pioneer Woman that I watched last night.  I know, I know, I just gave you a pasta recipe, but I can’t help it.  It seems to be all I want to eat this gray and dreary January(repetitive but true).  Hey, at least I’m not thawing that chocolate chip banana bread I have stored away and calling it dinner!

Mediterranean Pantry Pasta

In the name of simplicity, I’m going to keep from being totally precise with this one because almost any combination or amount of the following ingredients will work, as long as you don’t use too much pasta (I used about a 3/4 of a box).

• 3/4 box whole wheat pasta, small cut (like shells or penne–preferably Gia Russa)
• 1 onion sliced
• 4-5 garlic cloves minced
• dash crushed red pepper, coarse salt and black pepper
• 1 bag spinach, roughly chopped (or two boxes frozen, thawed and squeezed dry)
• about 6-8 oven-dried tomato halves, chopped
• a handful chopped black olives (pitted Niçoise or Kalamata)
• some toasted pine nuts
• crumbled feta (about 1/4-1/2 cup, more for garnish)
• parmesan cheese

While pasta is boiling, heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and sauté until soft but not browned (about 5 minutes).  Turn down the heat and add a bit of salt if they seem to be browning.  Add the garlic and crushed red pepper and sauté for a couple more minutes.  At this point, you can pretty much add the rest of the ingredients, except for the cheeses.  Stir for a couple of minutes or until the spinach wilts slightly and everything warms. Turn the flame to low.

Before draining the pasta, scoop out a mug of the pasta water and reserve.  Add the pasta and the feta to the skillet, stir and allow to melt and get creamy. Add some parmesan and stir to blend.  If your final result is a little dry, add the pasta water until you get a creamy consistency.  You’ll probably need at least a 1/4 cup since there is no sauce in this dish.  Taste and season with a little more salt and pepper, if needed.  Garnish with more feta and parmesan cheese.

Serve with crusty bread, a simple spinach salad (like my “current” fave,  “currant” and parmesan) and a nice, relaxing glass of vino.  You deserve it.  (So did my dad, frankly, after crawling around his paranoid daughter’s dusty attic looking for mold–thanks Dad!).

p.s.  Just to remind myself that it’s not always gray and dreary, thought I’d throw in a couple of pix of aforementioned Chicago trip. 

Friday Night Bolognese

There’s been a first in the short history of this blog.  A friend has requested a recipe that I made during the holidays and she needs it stat!  Far be it for me to deny such a request–how’s that for inspiration, or maybe motivation?  The point is, she made me realize that you’re going to want need this one for the coming cold and dreary nights.  Jeez, now I’m feeling downright obligated.

Bolognese, or spaghetti with meat sauce, is one of my all-time favorite winter comfort foods.  It’s also excellent for serving a crowd because it’s easy and can be eaten in a casual manner, out of big bowls on laps, curled up on the sofa.  Picture a Nancy Myers movie, ladies eating and drinking around a huge coffee table with fluffy white sofas, and you’ll get the idea.  It’s homey comfort food, meant for sharing. 

For many years, I relied on Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meal recipe.  It’s always satisfying,  hits all the right notes, and includes a couple of unexpected (for me anyways) secrets, such as grated onion and a dash of allspice (Rachael always–and I stress always–says it’s the ingredient that makes people say “hmmmm…what is that?”).  I think it gives it that wintertime, earthy, quite Tuscan note, as if one were actually eating wild boar (!).

But then there’s always Ina to consider, and her take on this classic, called Weeknight Bolognese, is supposedly easy enough to cook on a, you guessed it, weeknight.  That might be taking matters a little far, so I cooked it for my girlfriends on a Friday, during the holidays, while the lights were still twinkling and champagne was still flowing.  I wanted to include Ina’s special ingredients–fresh basil, cream, nutmeg–without completely giving up Rachael’s grated onion and allspice.  What I ended up with was a mélange, if you will, of the two.  Since everyone went back for seconds, I’m pretty sure this was a successful dish!  I might add that the scant leftovers were even better the next day. 

And lest I forget that bottle of Brunello that was burning a hole on my countertop since I brought it back from Tuscany, begging to be consumed, enjoyed, savored.  It needed a hearty Italian dish. And it needed to be shared with friends.  Enough said.

Adapted from Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals and Ina Garten’s How Easy is That?, serves 6, or 2-4 with plenty of leftovers.

• 1 lb. ground sirloin
• 3/4 of a box of whole wheat shells or other small pasta (Gia Russa brand is my fave)
• 1 can crushed tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 medium onion, grated (grate right over pan)
• 4-5 garlic cloves, minced
• red wine (1/4 cup or a couple of glugs)
• 1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano or herbes de Provence
• 1 bay leaf
• dash each allspice or nutmeg (you could probably get away with one or the other, I’d go for the allspice)
• grated parmesan
• coarse salt and pepper
• extra virgin olive oil

Method

Brown the meat, in a large skillet or dutch oven, in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat for 5-7 minutes.  Add the grated onion, garlic, spices and herbs, including the bay leaf, and sauté for a couple more minutes.  Add the broth, wine, tomatoes, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper, making sure to scrape any browned bits from the pan.  Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken. 

In the meantime, boil pasta according to package directions, making sure to salt the water upon boiling.  Add to a large bowl with a drizzle of olive oil.

Add the torn basil, cream and another glug red wine and simmer for 8-10 more minutes.  Toss 1/2 cup of sauce with the cooked pasta along with a handful of grated parmesan cheese.  Pour the rest of the sauce over the pasta and serve immediately, with garlic bread for sopping up the delicious sauce.  Serve extra cheese on the side.

And there you have it, Friday Night Bolognese, à la Ina and Rachael, with a little dash of Liza! (Wow, that’s way corny.  I hope you’ll forgive me

Shrimp Pil Pil with Machego, Arugula and Oven-Dried Tomato Quesadillas

Something about the new year gives me a distinct craving for seafood.  It might be that there’s been just a tad too much turkey, squash and brown sugar hanging around.  Not that I’m complaining–man, I’ve been eating well.  Or, it might simply be that in my childhood New Years Day and shrimp went hand in hand.  I don’t remember elaborate New Years Day celebrations (and they’re not elaborate now either, just me and S, cooking the day away).  But simple shrimp cocktail and the Rose Bowl-I do remember that. 

So this year, even though S had carefully planned his traditional Louisiana Black-Eyed Peas and Cabbage, I grabbed some shrimp with only the merest glimmer of an idea of how I would present them.  I wanted to use these cazuelas that Dad got me last year, since they hadn’t been used yet (shame on me), and I wanted flavors stronger than those found in the shrimp cocktail of my childhood (I betcha I was too picky eat it then anyways!). That led me to Spanish flavors, which led me in turn to a cookbook whose only prior purpose was to decorate my coffee table.  I also had a vague recollection of shrimp and garlic and there I easily found it:  Shrimp Pil Pil.  That’s crazy sounding, isn’t it? Apparently it’s Basque in origin, “pil” referring to the little metal pan it’s served in.  I bet you’ve had this and didn’t know the true name.  I didn’t either. In the index it said “shrimp, sizzling, with garlic”–yep, that’s exactly what I wanted.   The ingredients aren’t terribly exotic, but the combination, I think, of not just olive oil, garlic and lemon but also the smokiness of a Spanish paprika, is what makes this dish so over-the-top delicious.  S and I devoured a whole pound in about 10 minutes.  That’s about how long they took to make as well (!).

Adapted from Savoring Spain and Portugal, Joyce Goldstein, 2000. Serves 2 for dinner, 4 as a tapa.

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails left on

4 Tablespoons olive oil

4 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 teaspoon each crushed red pepper and sweet paprika

juice of 1/2 a lemon

a couple of glugs of white wine

a handful chopped parsley

Method

 Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over a medium flame.  Add the garlic, crushed red and paprika and sauté for one minute.  Raise heat to high and add in the shrimp, lemon juice and wine.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the shrimp turn pink and are cooked through, about 3-4 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle on the parsley and serve immediately with some good bread for soaking up the sauce.

 

They’d also be fabulous with my unintended Christmas vacation lunch staple: whole grain tortilla + arugula + manchego +oven-dried tomatoes = Heavenly Spanish Quesadilla.  I never thought to put these flavors together in a tortilla, until I looked in the fridge needing a satisfying post-holiday lunch.  Now it’s going have its own rotation on the quesadilla calendar.  Trust me when I say there’s nothing much better than melted manchego.  Give this one a try and see for yourself.

1 tortilla

3 slices manchego cheese

2 slices white cheddar

2 chopped oven-dried tomatoes*

a handful baby arugula

Method

Super easy this one is.  Brush the tortilla with water and place in a non-stick fry pan.  Add the cheeses to one half of the tortilla and heat over a medium flame until the cheeses start to melt and the tortilla bubbles.  Add the tomatoes and the arugula and carefully fold in half.  Press so that the cheeses mix with the arugula and create a seal.  Flip and cook until the cheeses are melting.  Let rest for 2 minutes and slice in half.  Enjoy!

*Thanks to Gwyneth Paltrow and her book My Father’s Daughter, I now intend to enjoy tomatoes all winter long.  For her oven-dried version used in these quesadillas, preheat oven to 275° and cut several vine-ripened tomatoes in half horizontally.  Place on a baking sheet coated with aluminum foil (for easy cleanup).  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and season with salt (I used sea salt, but you could also use kosher).  Bake for 3-5 hours until they are almost crispy and quite shriveled.  They should resemble sun-dried tomatoes at this point.  These will last at least a week in the fridge.  I kept mine for a week and half, adding them to whatever I could,  including a bean soup and a smoked salmon frittata.

These flavors were so refreshing, yet still comforting enough for winter, that I decided one of my New Years resolutions should be to eat more Spanish food.  That just might be a resolution I can stick to.

Three Greens and White Bean Soup with Spinach Gremolata

The idea of doing a New Year’s cleanse leaves me cold, even though it’s a balmy 48° outside.  I can’t imagine depriving myself even for one day, though I hear that the best cleanses don’t leave you with that starvation feeling.  They certainly are popular these days if Facebook posts are any measure of popularity.  Whatever.  For me, when I need to get ahold of things as far as my diet goes, I cut the carbs and eat lots of greens.  That’s about as clean as I can get.

I received my first subscription copy of Bon Appétit  last month and I’ve already bookmarked several recipes to try in January.  This soup is from their “quick and easy” section and fits the bill for a post-Holiday recipe shake-up.  To make it even healthier, I took out the potatoes and added white beans.  Besides, potatoes do nothing for me in a soup.  If I’m going to go all out and eat a carb-filled potato, it better be fried, mashed or ”dauphinoised”  if you catch my drift.  White beans in a soup, however, along with a bunch of kale, give it almost a Tuscan bent.  On top, there’s a lemony fresh gremolata which adds some pep and spunk.  I was a little surprised at how tasty and satisfying this was, even better the next day.  I’ve had two servings of this healthy deliciousness so far and I feel better already.

Adapted generously from Bon Appétit, January 2012

Serves 4.

1 small onion, chopped

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little more for drizzling

1 bunch swiss chard, stems removed and chopped *

1 small bunch kale, woody stems removed and chopped

1 bunch spinach, (not baby–either bagged or bunched), stemmed and chopped, divided

5 cloves garlic, 4 minced, 1 grated

1  4 cup box Organic chicken broth, low sodium

1 can cannellini beans (preferably organic, we’re eating healthy here!), drained and rinsed

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon zest

dash nutmeg

coarse salt and black pepper

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, for the garnish

grated parmesan, to garnish (optional)

Method:

For the soup:

In a dutch oven or soup pot, begin  by sautéing the onions in 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil for about 5 minutes.  Add the minced garlic and crushed red pepper. Season with coarse salt and black pepper.  When the onions are translucent, add the chopped kale and nutmeg and sauté for another 5 minutes or so.  Add the chopped chard, white beans and broth.  Bring to a low boil, then simmer for another 5 minutes.  At this point, you can prepare the gremolata (see below).  Add the spinach (leaving one cup aside for the gremolata) and two teaspoons lemon juice and simmer for another 3 minutes.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.

For the gremolata:

Finely chop 1 cup of the spinach and add to 1 teaspoon lemon zest, the grated garlic clove, coarse salt and black pepper.  Add a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and toss.  Set aside for garnishing the soup, along with some grated parmesan cheese and toasted pine-nuts.

* To easily remove the stems from the kale and the chard, fold the leaf in half and cut along the edge of the stem.  Discard stems.  Voilà–c’est facile!

You could, of course, serve some crusty bread on the side if you’re not interested in carb-reduction. That would be downright heavenly.

Well, the oven timer just dinged.  I decided to make just one last foray into holiday baking with Chrissy’s tasty twist on soda bread.  It is Epiphany after all and in Europe, at least, they’re still celebrating.  Having not had time to make this during our holiday madness, Dad gets it for his birthday present.  Bon anniversaire, papa!

Scalloped Tomatoes

I’ve been reading all kinds of lovely and thoughtful posts wrapping up the past year and looking forward to the new one with hope and optimism, despite what you hear if you watch the news.  I’m still in “lay around the house mode” for another week and rather than throw my two cents in about the coming year, I’ll just say two things about last year.  First, it’s been one of the happiest and most tranquil in recent memory and for that I am thankful.  Second, I accomplished the goal of starting this blog.  It’s been nothing like I thought it would be, yet so much more and in so many different and surprising ways.  It’s funny, in a curious rather than comical way, that blogging has not only made my life seem better than it is, but it actually has made my life better.  I do and cook things than I probably wouldn’t get around to otherwise, oftentimes for the sole purpose of writing a post.  And I didn’t expect that.  Nor did I expect the connections that I’ve made throughout the “blogosphere” and the world.  I’ve got a long way to go  (still saving for that new camera I keep mentioning!), and at the same time I’m proud of how far I’ve come.  Let’s just say that it’s all been good. 

That said, there’s been a whole lot of cooking going on around here.   So much so, that I’m not even sure where to go with this post.  I can say, however, that I am completely done with any and all manner of holiday fare.  I don’t think I can even look at another butternut squash, cranberry or pomegranate beverage until next fall.  Now what I want are comforting winter dishes, like the bolognese I made for my girlfriends on New Years Eve Eve (December 30th, you know that one, right?), or the black eyed peas and cabbage that S made yesterday per his southern tradition, or maybe the Manchego, Arugula and Oven-Dried Tomatoes Quesadilla I whipped up today for lunch.  The Shrimp Pil Pil I made last night also fit the bill for comfort and flavor in the new year.  You can expect to see these recipes in the coming weeks since they were all worthy.

 However, the recipe that I absolutely must share tout de suite comes from my new (and beloved) cookbook, Barefoot Contessa:  How Easy is That?   Ina, and Gwyneth for that matter (I got her cookbook too!), both extoll the virtues of winter grocery store tomatoes.  Yep, you heard me right.  I haven’t thought about a tomato since October really, but both authors suggest ways of cooking those mealy and bland hothouse tomatoes until they are syrupy and delicious.  Ina says it’s an easy way to bring a little bit of summer to your winter table.  I couldn’t agree more.  You’ll really want this one in your winter recipe file, trust me.

Also, I should mention that I halved Ina’s original recipe but kept the sugar amount the same, mainly because, as soon as I saw this recipe, it took me straight back to a trip to Monticello where Wendy and I lunched at a tavern advertising “the food of yesteryear, served in the round” (whatever exactly that meant).  While all the food, supposedly that of our forebearers, was delicious, the most memorable were tomatoes just like this.  And were they ever sweet.  Whoever made them, thankfully,  did not hold back on the sugar so I didn’t either.  You could, however, reduce the sugar amount I’ve listed by half and keep it more true to Ina’s original, if you’re worried it’ll be too sweet. You could also double the entire recipe to feed a larger crowd.  People are going to want seconds of this one.

Scalloped Tomatoes

serves 4, adapted from Ina Garten’s How Easy is That?, 2010.

12 vine-ripened tomatoes, diced

1 cup baguette or country bread cubes (I used the innards of a frozen baguette I had on hand)

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup torn basil leaves

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Method

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a large skill over medium-high.  Add the bread cubes and toss to coat.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until they are nicely browned on all sides.  It’s ok if the olive oil soaks in quickly and some parts of the bread remain dry.  After the cubes have browned, add the tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper and bring to a low boil.  Turn down the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Turn off the heat completely and stir in the torn basil.  Pour the mixture into a medium-sized casserole dish (eyeball the amount you have in your pan and choose an appropriately sized dish).  Top with the grated parmesan cheese and drizzle with the last tablespoon of olive oil.  Bake for 35-45 minutes or until browned and bubbly.  This makes an excellent winter side dish, but I’d be inclined to eat a double portion with a green salad and call it a meal.

Happy New Year everyone!  And thanks for reading, and above all, commenting.  You have no idea how happy the comments make me.  Cheers!

Pomegranate Guacamole

It’s been a slow and quiet kind of holiday around here.  The kind in which I’ve yet to shower or properly dress, and it’s already 1:56 pm.  I’ve been reading and watching and pinning.  Literally not much of any import or excitement has been going on in these parts.  Except for, maybe, this festive Guacamole.  I needed a quick appetizer to accompany Aunt Carol’s sweet and delicious chili the day after Christmas, which is our traditional gift exchange and “game night” (not always with games, we’re getting older and lazier, since lately it’s been enough to watch not-quite-3-years-old Max tumble about the living room with boundless energy).

Since I had a couple of forlorn Christmas avocados staring at me from the counter, and there was leftover pomegranate reduction from the Christmas Arugula Salad with Manchego, not to mention a bowl of leftover “arils”, if you will, I decided to whip it all up into a festive bowl of green and red (wonder why?).  The results were unexpectedly delicious and, being a quite easy to prepare Christmas snack, this concoction will most likely become part of the regular holiday repertoire.  So without further ado, Pomegranate Guacamole…

2 avocados, diced

1/4 cup red onion, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 lime

kosher salt and crushed pepper

1/4 cup sour cream (optional–I added it to bulk it up a bit)

drizzle pomegranate reduction

1/4 cup pomegranate arils

Method

For the reduction

Reduce 1/4 cup pomegranate juice by simmering over a medium flame for at least 10 minutes or until syrupy. If you have any leftover, I suggest a quick pomegranate salad dressing (to follow) or mixing with champagne for a pomegranate kir royal.

For the Guacamole

First, soak the red onion in water for at least 20 minutes, then drain (this takes away the sharpness but leaves the onion flavor, my favorite guacamole trick).  While the red onion soaks, prepare the avocado, mince the garlic or grate it with a rasp, and add the juice of 1 lime.  Add the sour cream if using.  Mix and season with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.  Add the drained red onion and pomegranate arils, mix again and taste.  Add more arils if they’re to your liking.  Before serving, drizzle a bit of the pomegranate reduction over and serve with a festive mix of tortilla chips.  The veggie chips from World Market are healthily and tastefully flavored with ingredients such as beet powder and carrot powder, but of course any chip will do.

For the salad dressing

adapted from Katie Brown Celebrates, 2008

2 Tablespoons pomegranate reduction

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Mix all ingredients in a jar and shake.  Serve over a mix of winter greens.  I used my dad’s garden arugula and added shaved Manchego cheese.  The bitter bite of the arugula contrasts nicely with the sweetness of the pomegranate dressing.

Then there’s always the Pomegranate Kir Royal (thank God!). 

Now, for some more of that reading, watching and pinning.  Happy New Year!

Joyeux Noël

After weeks of dreary rain and gray skies, I woke up to this. 

And blue skies.

And then I made Butternut Squash Lasagna for tomorrow.  I’ll tell you about that soon.

With a squash from my dad’s garden.  And beans.  I’ll braise these with shallots, dijon and cream.

Joyeux Noël.