Date I made this recipe:
September 28, 2014 (to celebrate Jim Henson's Birthday)
(People Weekly Presents) In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy –
written and published by: Jim Henson™,
Jim Henson Publishing; People Weekly, People Magazine; Time®Life Books,
Time-Life Books
ISBN: 072440-10640-6;
copyright 1996
Purchased at Succotash, a very cool retro store in St. Paul – 781 Raymond Ave
Recipe: Candice Bergen's Tortellini Salad – p. 30
So. Miss Piggy. One of The
Muppets. One of The Muppets on the TV show, The
Muppets, a show I never watched. Oh,
I was familiar with it to be sure, but that show premiered the year I graduated
from high school so.... And I never watched Sesame
Street, either, which is where Muppet creator, Jim Henson, got his
start. Miss Piggy's love interest, Kermit the Frog, was one of Henson's
original Sesame Street characters. Miss
Piggy though, was only on The Muppets
(as well as starring on the big screen in The
Muppet movies). And so I don't have much to say about Sesame Street or The Muppets
although I can wax nostalgic forever and
ever about how I feel about Captain
Kangaroo, my childhood hero. I
especially loved Bunny Rabbit and now
that I'm older, would really kill to wear Bunny
Rabbit's glasses but alas, they don't look good on me. Anyway...
Muppet creator/puppeteer, Jim Henson's birthday was September
24, and so in his honor, I cooked from In
the Kitchen with Miss Piggy cookbook. Poor Miss
Piggy – she's forever mooning over Kermit
the Frog, "Kermi," as she
calls him, but her love is not returned.
As Kermit knows, "It's not easy being green," and it's not
easy to be the object of Miss Piggy's affection but it is darned cute to watch.
And since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Miss Piggy should be tickled to know
that many years ago, one of my friends dressed up as Miss Piggy for Halloween, right down to the (pig) nose, the ears
and the gloves. I believe she also added
pearls as they were a Miss Piggy
fashion statement at the time. This
cookbook contains several photos of Miss
Piggy along with several tidbits of advice from "Moi," as Miss Piggy calls herself.
Since Miss Piggy is uber popular, all kinds of celebrities
have appeared with her on The Muppets: Whoopie Goldberg, Katie Couric, Brooke
Shields, and so on and so on and many of them also contributed to this
cookbook. This made it difficult for
"moi" to choose which one to make as I didn't want to leave anybody
out; Miss Piggy wouldn't. But alas folks, I needed to choose just one
and so I did – eventually.
As I said in last week's blog, the weather at this time of
year makes it especially challenging to find just the right fit. In fact, I feel like Goldilocks and The Three
Bears, trying to decide which one was "too hot, too cold or just
right."
For the longest time, Whoopie Goldberg's Peas Porridge Hot, Peas Porridge Cold
soup was in the running but then time sort of ran out on the fresh vegetable
cycle so I back-burned that. Then I was
stuck on Glenn Close's Chicken, Mushroom,
and Barley Stew, except by the time I got around to making it, it was too
hot for soup. Samuel L. Jackson's Spinach Linguine and Ground Turkey Sauce
was in the running for a brief bit but again, was beat out by the weather and
so long story, short – Candice Bergen's
Tortellini Salad won out. I don't
know as I ever spent so much time debating about what to make and of course, by
that time, Jim Henson's birthday had come and gone. I wish him a heavenly belated birthday.
I can see why Miss
Piggy included Candice Bergen in her cookbook as Candice is a great
actress, just like our Miss Piggy. Although Candice made a name for herself in
movies, and more recently, as part of the cast of Boston Legal, I loved her in the TV show, Murphy Brown.
One of the running jokes of the show was that hard-hitting
newswoman, Murphy Brown, was so hard to please that she went through about a
secretary a day. Wikipedia reported that 93 secretaries came and went during the run
of the show. Many a (now) famous actor and actress was one of Murphy's
casualties but I do recall that she liked actor Paul Reubens (a/k/a "Pee-wee"
Herman) because he always called her "Miss Brown." In one memorable scene, reporter Frank Fontana
tried to take a doughnut "Pee Wee" brought for Murphy and
"Pee-wee" chastised him by saying "Is your name Miss
Brown?" (Side note: one of the companies I used to work for also
had trouble finding a receptionist at the front desk, prompting me to joke that
the receptionist du jour was just another Murphy Brown secretary.)
Out of all the episodes in the series, the two that still
make me chuckle are when Murphy was a bridesmaid in Corky Sherwood Forrest's
wedding (Season 2, Episodes 48 and 49: Going to the Chapel, Parts 1 and 2)
(OMG, that bridesmaids dress!) and of course, the most-well known of all the Murphy Brown episodes, Season 4, episode
26 – Birth 101. In one scene, we return to Murphy's hospital
room where, while in labor, and if memory serves, she has Frank and Miles
(Silverberg, her producer) by the throat and is banging their heads up and down
on the hospital bed while yelling "You son of a bitch!" After she is
done with her tirade, she releases them and they fall to the floor, probably
grateful to have lived to breathe another breath. Hilarious. Even today, I cannot stop laughing
every time I think of that scene, and if you ask me, and you didn't, that goes
in the Candice Bergen Hall of Fame.
As to her recipe, it was good but were I to make it again,
I'd want to make some adjustments.
Generally, you cannot go wrong by boiling some tortellini, nor can you
go wrong with adding vegetables to them.
Where this recipe went slightly wonky though, was in the interpretation
of the following: "Grill or broil
the bell peppers, zucchini, and onion until well browned and tender." Okay, did that. But my broiled vegetables in no way resembled
the seemingly crisp ones featured in the photo that accompanied the
recipe. I wondered about that before I
set out to make the dish and here's what I think: I think not grilling or broiling the peppers
will yield just as tasty of a result as grilling or broiling them. In fact, I contemplated using fresh
vegetables but in order to be true to the recipe, I followed her
directions. The result was not bad and
in fact, I kind of liked my very tender, broiled veggies but that might just be
me.
As to the vinaigrette, I liked it but felt that even a
quarter of a cup of oil was a tad too much.
I recommend starting with one-eighth cup and see how that works for you.
All in all, this is a fun cookbook and a fun trip down
memory lane for me with Candice Bergen.
"Moi" loves Candice Bergen.
Miss Piggy also loves Candice
Bergen. Many people love Miss Piggy AND Candice Bergen. So there you go – enjoy!
Candice Bergen's
Tortellini Salad – serves 4
1 small yellow or red bell pepper, halved and seeded
1 small green bell pepper, halved and seeded
1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise
½ small red onion, cut into thick rings
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (optional)
¼ cup olive oil or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon Dijon
mustard
½ teaspoon dillweed
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Pinch of sugar
1 ½ cups dried cheese-filled tortellini (about 6 ounces)
5 cherry tomatoes, halved
3 scallions, finely chopped
Grill or broil (Ann's Note:
Or don't!) the bell peppers, zucchini and onion until well browned and
tender. Chop them into bite-sized
pieces. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, place the lemon juice and zest (if
using) in a large salad bowl. Whisk in
the oil, mustard, dillweed, salt, pepper, and sugar to make the vinaigrette.
Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente,
10 to 12 minutes, or according to the package directions.
Drain the pasta and add it to the vinaigrette. Add the grilled vegetables, tomatoes, and
scallions. Toss well to combine. Serve the salad warm or at room temperature.
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