"Atlanta Cooks for Company" - Green Rice

Date I made this recipe: January 17, 2010

Atlanta Cooks for Company by The Junior Associates of The Atlanta Music Club (spiral-bound)
Published by: Conger Printing Company
© 1968
Recipe: Green Rice – submitted by Mrs. Harry G. Haisten, Jr. – p. 229

Tomorrow the nation observes Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday and since he was born in Atlanta, GA, I searched through my cookbooks to find some from that area. Of the two I found, one is going to be a challenge for me – it’s a reprint of recipes from the Atlanta Exposition held in 1895. The recipes give no oven temperatures, no cooking time and rather interesting ingredient measurements: “lump of butter the size of an egg.” And so I passed on making something from that book for the time being and went with the cookbook written in 1968. Nineteen sixty eight I can do, 1895 not so much!

But even though I got myself into the modern age, finding something that seemed to fit what MLK would have eaten was another story. Not that I want to speculate, but music associations of any type seem to be mighty white and pretty monied and that didn’t fit the profile of MLK at all, at all, at all.

So I was getting rather discouraged when I spied this recipe for Green Rice and determined that this one would fit the bill. Rice and cotton were huge money-makers for the South, especially during the Civil War (or “that unpleasantness” as some Southerners say), and some friends who are from the south mentioned that rice is still pretty much a staple of every meal so perhaps Martin Luther King, Jr. ate a lot of rice as well.

And so green rice it was. This recipe is easy and tasty and healthy (if you leave out the cheese). I was going to pare it with some chicken breasts but alas, it was only after I came home from the grocery store that I discovered that I had used up my chicken breasts a few weeks ago and that nothing currently in the freezer (such as Trader Joe’s froze appetizers) would work very well so we went totally vegetarian and it was fine.

Back to Martin Luther King, Jr…had he lived he would be 81 years old and one just has to wonder what he would have thought of life today with a black president in office and many blacks in leadership positions throughout the south. I was only 9 years old when he (and later Bobby Kennedy) were killed and the images of that awful day in Memphis still come back to haunt me. And so as per usual, I turned to the thing that brings me the most comfort – cooking…and food - and for one brief moment life was good again.

Green Rice – yield: 6 servings (Note: the owner of this cookbook liked this dish a lot because she wrote “Very Good” in the margin. I like that about a cookbook!)
2 ½ cups rice, cooked
¾ cup milk
3 tablespoons cheddar cheese, grated
¼ cup parsley, minced
¾ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 eggs, well-beaten
3 tablespoons butter
1 ½ teaspoons onion, grated
1 10-ounce package frozen spinach
1 ½ teaspoons salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease casserole or ring mould. Cook and drain frozen spinach. Blend together all ingredients. Turn into greased casserole or ring mould. Bake at 325 degrees for forty-five minutes.

Note: I used a microplane grater for the onion and it worked out much better than using a regular grater although be warned that it does make your onion somewhat watery.

"Are You Hungry Tonight? - Elvis' Favorite Recipes" - Mississippi Barbecued Pork

Date I made this recipe: January 10, 2010

Are You Hungry Tonight? – Elvis’ Favorite Recipes by Brenda Arlene Butler
Published by: Metro Books
ISBN: 978-0-7607-6302-5
Recipe: Mississippi Barbecued Pork – p. 28

Well who knew? Friday, January 8th, would have been Elvis’ 75th birthday. That just doesn’t seem right, does it? How on earth could the man who stared in Viva Las Vegas and Blue Hawaii, not to mention Jailhouse Rock, have left us so soon? It ain’t right.

So confession time—years ago my husband and I stopped at Graceland after a tour of the south and I was honestly disappointed that not one single person threw themselves on the grave sobbing “Oh Elvis, Elvis.” Not a one. Sheesh-where was the love, people? I mean, the man was the King (in the same way that Bruce Springsteen is The Boss and Frank Sinatra was Chairman of the Board—what is it with singers, anyway?) Show some respect already!

And I also have to confess to you is that there was something about that tacky 70’s decorating at Graceland that I found oddly comforting. I mean, what’s not to like about lemon yellow, black and mirrors (gotta have the mirrors!). All I’m saying is that I took pictures.

My favorite Elvis moment, however, did not come from touring Graceland but rather Elvis’ birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi. Because it was there, people, that one could by a small sliver of clothing worn by The King. After cracking up laughing, I bought one small sliver of one of Elvis’ clothing to give to a friend of mine who likes to sew. Feel the love and pass it on, I say!

By the way, years and years ago, this same friend and I went to Hawaii on vacation, staying with her aunt and uncle who lived on the island of Oahu. And somewhere on that island (if memory serves, it was in the International Village in Waikiki Beach), was a huge display of Elvis memorabilia (including what I call The Vel-vi Elvi – a velvet rendition of Elvis (in better days, of course). Naturally, I had to document that display as well and now that I made a recipe from this book, will have to dig out my photo albums and find said proof of the exhibit’s existence as sadly, it wasn’t there when I went back in 2004. (For those of you who don’t know, Elvis was extremely popular in Hawaii—extremely).

And so it goes. It would have been interesting to see a 75 year-old Elvis parading around in those jump suits that he wore (yikes!) but alas, it was not meant to be. So I’ll console myself with this Memphis Barbecue recipe, his old movies, and a rousing rendition of some of my favorite Elvis songs.

By the way folks, this recipe made for some damned fine barbecue. Damned fine!

Mississippi Barbecued Pork – serves 6
2 ½ pounds butt pork roast
1 teaspoon corn oil
1 4-ounce can tomato sauce (Note: Is there such a thing? The smallest I found was an 8-ounce can.)
¼ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
½ teaspoon celery seeds
½ teaspoon chili powder
Dash red pepper sauce

Randomly pierce the surface of the roast with a sharp knife. In a Dutch oven, over high heat, brown the roast on all sides in the corn oil. In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour the mixture over the roast and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer, basting frequently for 2 hours, or until pork is fork tender. Let the roast stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

"What Can I Bring" & "The Cornbread Book" - Ozark Cornbread and Slow Cooker Chicken and Dressing

Date I made these recipes: December 31, 2009

What Can I Bring? Cookbook by Anne Byrn (a/k/a The Cake Mix Doctor)
Published by: Workman Publishing
ISBN: 13: 978-0-7611-4392-5
Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken and Dressing p. 172-173

The Cornbread Book – a love story with recipes by Jeremy Jackson
Published by: William Morrow
ISBN: 0-06-009679-9
Recipe: Ozark Cornbread – p. 36

Well, folks, my family came in to town to help ring in 2010 and amid all the celebration, I managed to cook up a storm.

On Tuesday when everyone arrived, I made spaghetti and meatballs using my family’s sauce and meatball recipe as well as Italian Wedding Soup, made from a recipe I saved from a Good Housekeeping magazine from the early 1990’s. (Dang, that soup is good). But seeing as how the recipes aren’t in cookbooks, I will not post them on my blog (and you can beg and beg all you want but nobody is getting my Aunt Rose’s sauce and meatball recipes - nobody.)

As to New Year’s Eve, I was planning to do a basic pot roast in a crock pot and then a turkey breast with stuffing but seeing as how I had so much leftover chicken from the Italian Wedding Soup recipe, I changed it up and went with a slow-cooker chicken and dressing recipe instead. Both were made in a crock pot which allowed us to spend most of the day tooling about town just enjoying being together. (I think the first lines of this recipe says it all – “Don’t you just love the slow cooker? It truly is the busy cook’s best friend.”)

Since the dressing recipe called for cornbread, I pulled out The Cornbread Book and looked for a recipe that did not include sugar; it’s not the sugar is a no-no, it’s just that I believe cornbread used in a stuffing shouldn’t contain the sweet stuff. The recipe for Ozark Cornbread turned out to be perfect. (By the way, the author of this cookbook was all of 27 when he wrote it – sheesh.).

As to the chicken and dressing recipe itself, once again, my own failure to read the serving size (8 to 10—there were 5 of us) resulted in an overabundance of dressing but I wrapped up leftovers for my sister-in-law to take to her brother and sister-in-law, reducing our quantity to something more reasonable.

And of course, what all-American meal would be complete without a viewing of the very Italian-American movie, Big Night? (It’s a family favorite). So we stuffed ourselves at the dinner table, drooled over all the wonderful dishes in the movie, poured the champagne, rang in the New Year and everybody but my husband and I went back to the hotel…only to return what seemed like mere hours later to go to breakfast! (Can we say "doggie bag?")

Ozark Cornbread – makes 9 pieces (Note: if you are going to make the entire chicken and dressing recipe, then make 1 and ½ the cornbread recipe) (I’ll list them conversions below)
2 tablespoons plus ¼ cup canola oil (or 1 ½ tablespoons per pan plus 1/3 cup oil)
1 2/3 cups cornmeal (preferably whole-grain) (or 2 ½ cups cornmeal)
1 tablespoon baking powder (or 1 ½ tablespoons baking powder)
1 teaspoon salt (or 1 ½ teaspoons salt)
1 cup milk (or 1 ½ cups milk)
1 large egg (or 2 eggs)

Preheat your oven to 400F. Put the canola oil in an 8x8 or 9x9-inch baking pan and put the pan in the oven to heat.

Stir together the cornmeal, baking powder, sand salt. Add the milk, egg and the ¼ cup oil and stir until just combined. There should still be small lumps in the batter.

Remove the hot pan from the oven, pour the batter into it, then shake it carefully to spread the batter into the corners. Bake for 22 to 28 minutes or until firm and just beginning to brown.

Slow-Cooker Chicken and Dressing –serves 8 to 10
4 cups shredded cooked chicken (about 1 pound; from 1 rotisserie chicken)
6 cups coarsely crumbled corn bread (I put the corn bread in my Cuisinart)
8 slices firm white bread, torn into pieces
2 cans (about 14 ounces each) chicken broth
2 cans (10 ¾ ounces each) cream of chicken soup
1 cup chopped onion (1 medium-size onion)
3 ribs celery, chopped (about ¾ cup)
4 larges eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon ground sage
½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil spray, for misting the cooker
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

Place the chicken, corn bread, white bread, chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, onion, celery, eggs, sage, pepper and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine well.

Mist a 5-quart round slow cooker with vegetable oil spray and add the chicken mixture to the cooker. Dot the top with the butter. Cover the cooker and cook until eggs are done, 3 to 4 hours on high heat or 7 hours on low hit. Stir the chicken before serving.

The author notes that if you want to double this recipe, you will need to use another crock pot as it’s not possible to make a double batch in one pot.

"Kennedy Center Performing Artists Cookbook" - Chocolate Poppy Seed Torte

Date I made this recipe: December 30, 2009

Kennedy Center Performing Artists Cookbook – a Collection of favorite recipes from artists who have appeared at the Center, edited by Ann Terry Pincus
Published by: John F. Kennedy for the Performing Art
© 1973
Recipe: Chocolate Poppy Seed Torte - p. 145

“If I knew you were ‘coming, I’d’ve baked a cake…”

Actually, I did know that my family was coming to visit and so I did bake a cake to honor them as well as the 2009 Kennedy Center Honors recipients who were being recognized with a TV awards show later that evening. And naturally, the recipe came from my Kennedy Center Performing Artists Cookbook because I’m telling you I pretty much have a cookbook for every occasion.

This year marks the 32nd year of the Kennedy Center Honors and I have pretty much been along for the ride since the beginning; perhaps a few years were missed in the days before I had a VCR but not too many.

Now geek artist wanna be that I am there have been few years where I haven’t known the vast majority of honorees and this year, I came oh-so-close as four out of five were familiar to me. In addition to opera singer Grace Bumbry who I did not know (but whose dress I really loved), there was jazz master Dave Brubeck, funny man Mel Brooks, actor Robert DeNiro and singer Bruce (“Bruuuuuuuce”) Springsteen. Wow—quite the impressive line up of talent.

For those of you not familiar with the Kennedy Center Honors (named after the late president John F. Kennedy), one star or significant member of that artist’s community comes out and does a video montage introduction to the honoree’s works. After that, several more tributes are paid as other stars perform that star’s works. It’s oftentimes as much fun to see who will perform the tribute as it is to see the honoree’s works.

When it came time honor Dave Brubeck, I just had to smile when a jazz band, including some of his own sons, played Dave’s most famous arrangements because a few years back, my community band played those same pieces – Take Five, Blue Rondo a la Turk and Unsquare Dance. Now, not to disparage fellow band mates, but out of all the instruments in the band, the oboe and the French horn just do not fit in a jazz ensemble nor do they swing. (Not that the rest of us can find a jazz beat, either). And so the pieces we played were okay not great and were torturous to play—5/4 beats, offbeats – oy! (Onetwothree, one two, onetwothree, one two) And yet we soldiered through. And this is why Dave Brubeck was the one honored instead of us!

As to Mel Brooks, the guy is just flat out funny. One of my favorite movies is Young Frankenstein and to this day, I can quote half the lines from it, especially Madeline Kahn’s who played Dr. Frankenstein’s fiancé. I am also fond of singing “High Annnnnnxiety,” the theme song from the movie by the same name, High Anxiety, as well as breaking into the song “The Inquisition” from his movie, History of the World, Part I. Like the Kennedy Honors, there’s something in Mel’s movies to appeal to everyone.

Speaking of broad appeal, wrapping up the ceremony was a tribute to The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. Now at the risk of being walloped with the internet version of a rotten tomato, I have to tell you that Bruce is not one of my favorites. Sure, some of his songs are a blast, particularly Pink Cadillac and Born in the USA but honestly, the guy mumbles and I could not tell you what he was singing at any particular time. But he’s The Boss and so there it is.

As to a recipe to honor the occasion, I had already decided on the main courses for Tuesday night’s dinner and so decided to bake a cake. It was a lovely cake and it was submitted by an opera singer, Arlene Saunders who sadly was also unknown to me, and the making of this cake was hilarious.

Let’s start with the instructions. I’m about halfway through making this sucker when I realized that no where in the recipe did it give a cooking time. Just like Santa, I made a list and checked it twice and…nope. So I decided that 350 was the average cooking temperature for most things and so I went with that. But honestly, editors, did it never occur to you that this was important? Tsk, tsk!

The other near calamity was the frosting and again, I say unto you that a few more instructions might have helped. The recipe said “Beat and frost the cake” when it should have said “Beat and pour over (not spread) the cake immediately, and I mean immediately.” In the seconds or so that elapsed after starting to frost one side of the cake, the frosting started to harden and I kid you not, by the time we got the cake completely iced, we went from “On Golden Pond” smoothness to Rocky Mountain fudge peaks.

Now my sister-in-law helped me try to rectify this little problem, alas to no avail. First we tried dipping the spatula in hot water but that didn’t work. Next I decided to try microwaving it for a few seconds to melt the frosting, also to no avail. Nancy then suggested that I try to put powdered sugar on top to disguise the mess but wouldn’t you know I had just used up all my powdered sugar for another recipe. Needless to say, we ended up laughing our butts of, doing imitations of Julia Child saying “Save the frosting! You must save the frosting!”

Seeing as how we were unable to save the frosting we did the next best thing – we served the cake, poured everyone some more wine and called it a day. (I highly recommend this method.)

Chocolate Poppy Seed Torte – makes one nine-inch layer cake
Torte Recipe
¼ cup butter or margarine
½ cup sugar
6 eggs, separated
½ cup fine bread crumbs
¼ pound semi-sweet chocolate, melted (you can use chocolate morsels if you like)
½ cup ground poppy seeds (I used my coffee grinder to grind them)
½ cup strawberry or apricot jam
Frosting Recipe
8 one-ounce squares semi-sweet chocolate
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup water
1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Since the instructions as published are confusing, I’m rewriting them below. (I also beat the egg whites first, then cleaned the mixing bowl then beat the egg yolks then cleaned the mixing bowl again and beat the butter and sugar. How you do it is up to you but in the end, everything gets mixed together.)

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat egg whites until stuff but not dry then fold in poppy seeds. Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored, then beat butter mixture and the crumbs into the egg yolks. Fold the chocolate into the egg yolk mixture. Fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture.

Line two nine-inch greased layer pans with wax paper then spread batter into the pans evenly. Bake in oven for thirty minutes [at 350 degrees]. Turn out cake and remove paper at once. Spread the jam in the middle and then prepare the frosting.

Combine the semi-sweet squares, sugar and water and cook to soft ball stage (234 to 236 degrees) (and believe me, this took some doing) then remove from the heat and add the butter.

Beat and frost the cake in a burning hurry and I do mean burning hurry! (For those of you familiar with the sport of curling, you will want to do the culinary version of “sweep, sweep, sweep” at warp speed or you’ll end up with a big rock candy mountain!)

"La Bella Cucina" & "Family Circle Great Chicken Recipes" - (Italian) Sunday Meat Sauce and Chicken Breasts Mornay

Date I made these recipes: December 24th and 25th, 2009

La Bella Cucina – How to Cook, Eat, and Live Like an Italian by Viana La Place
Published by: Clarkson Potter/Publishers
ISBN: 0-609-60518-6
Recipe: Sunday Meat Sauce – p. 139

Family Circle Great Chicken Recipes by Family Circle magazine, edited by Patricia Curtis
Published by: Cowles
© 1968
Recipe: Chicken Breasts Mornay – p. 114

You know, just about everyone else I know stresses out about presents and family gatherings and getting the Christmas cards out on time and decorating and whatnot at this time of year but not me. I stress out about food, specifically: what do I serve for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?

You think I’d be prepared by now given that I went through the same stress last year…and the year before…but alas, no. Guess I’m a slow learner.

You’d also think that with a cookbook collection of almost 1,150 cookbooks that this wouldn’t be a problem and again you’d be wrong. There’s something about a holiday dinner that makes me feel like I should be cooking something fancy and complicated like beef Wellington when what I really crave is a good casserole. (Actually, what I really wanted was a greasy hamburger but for that, one really needs to go out to a greasy dive to get one and good luck finding a greasy dive that was open for Christmas!). And so I pored over recipe books and finally came across a chicken and cheese sauce dish to which I added side dishes of noodles and broccoli—all the components of a good casserole had I mixed them all together.

As to Christmas Eve, it is traditional in my family to have spaghetti and meatballs (or sans meatballs depending on what the Pope had to say about meat on Christmas Eve –can you say buzzkill?) and this dish wasn’t quite that but it did involve meat and so na-na! This recipe came from one of my mom’s cookbooks, one of the few she had on Italian cooking and while it’s not our family recipe, it did in a pinch.

As far as Christmas dinner was concerned, I used another one of my mom’s recipe books – Family Circle’s Great Chicken Recipes. (My mother loved Family Circle and Women’s Day magazines and every time I see them on the shelf I think of her) I think we can safely establish that it wasn’t even close to something like Beef Wellington but I wanted comfort food and I wanted easy and so voila, mission accomplished.

Now I’m gearing up for the next cooking dilemma – what to make for my family when they come to town for New Year’s? The first order of business was to make reservations for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in town, The Lexington, (because I have my priorities straight) and I think the rest of the time, I’ll cook yet another round of spaghetti, this time with meatballs, and a roast and perhaps even a turkey breast—or not. But while I mull over that conundrum, the Green Bay Packers are playing and so “Tally ho and away we go, see you next week in a brand new show!” (It’s from the Heckle & Jeckle [cartoon] Show in case you were wondering—and yes, I am that old! And yes, Heckle & Jeckle are two talking crows—what’s your point?!).

Sunday Meat Sauce – serves 4 to 6
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1 ½ pounds assorted veal, pork, beef and lamb not ground but cut with scissors or a sharp knife into small pieces or dice (ask your butcher to do this; most will happily oblige). Note: I used just beef and veal.
Sea salt and a grinding of black pepper
Pinch of hot red pepper flakes
1 fresh bay leaf
½ cup red wine
1 pound very ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced
Spring or filtered water, as needed
1 pound imported artisanal pasta (almost any shape works with this sauce except very delicate ones, but ruffled lasangette pasta is a particularly fine match)
Freshly grated recorino or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, or a mixture of the two

Heat the olive oil and onion in a braising pan our soup pot. Cook over low heat until the onion is golden and tender. Add the meat and brown over medium heat for several minutes.

Add the salt and pepper to taste, hot pepper flakes, bay leaf torn in half, and red wine. Let the wine bubble until it evaporates.

Add the tomatoes, stir, and cook, covered over low heat for 1 ½ hours, stirring regularly, until the flavors develop fully. Check often and add water as needed to prevent scorching.

Cook the pasta of your choice in abundant salted boiling water. (I can’t say as I’ve ever seen a directive to use “abundant” salted boiling water before but I like it!) When al dente, drain well and toss with the sauce. Generously sprinkle with a handful of cheese and toss again before serving. Serve with extra cheese at the table.

NOTES: as previously discussed in my blog about The French Laundry’s lasagna, this is a bad time of year to buy fresh tomatoes so I used Pomi, a boxed product that can be purchased at an Italian grocery store or more of an upscale grocery such as Lund’s or Byerly’s (local stores). As to the meat, I diced it as small as I could but still felt the result was more like stew meat in tomatoes than a true ragu which typically consists of slow-braised meat that just falls apart after cooking.

Chicken Breasts Mornay – Makes 4 servings
I just had to hoot at the tag line for this recipe: “A nippy cheese sauce sparks bland and delicate white meat.” I don’t know if “nippy” is the right word but it made me chuckle.
4 chicken breasts
¼ cup flour seasoned with ½ teaspoon salt and a dash of pepper
¼ cup (1/2 stick) melted butter or margarine
Mornay sauce (makes about 1 ¼ cups)
2 teaspoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ cup milk
½ cup chicken stock
¾ cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
½ teaspoon prepared mustard
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Melt butter or margarine in small saucepan; remove from heat. Blend in flour, salt, and pepper; stir in milk and chicken stock. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and boils 1 minute.

Add cheese, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce; continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until cheese melts; remove from heat. Stir in parsley; serve hot.

"Homestyle Mexican Cooking" - Chicken Tabasco

Date I made this recipe: December 20, 2009

Homestyle Mexican Cooking by Lourdes Nichols
Published by: The Crossing Press
ISBN: 0-89594-861-3
Recipe: Chicken Tabasco (Pollo a la Tabaquena) – p. 127

Ah December; so much celebrating to do, so little time.

One of the things Andy and I are celebrating this year is the 20th anniversary of the first time we went out. To clarify, it really wasn’t our first “date” date, more like a meet and greet to get caught up on some mutual friends of ours, the Hartman sisters.

Older sister, Susan P. Hartman, worked with me at one of my companies and it was she who was responsible for me meeting Andy. Lisa Hartman was one of Andy’s roommates in a house he shared with three other people. Yes, you can all start singing “It’s a Small World.”

In the summer of 1989, I went across country with Susan P. to help her move back to her native New Jersey so that she could start grad school at NYU. As mentioned in a previous blog about Paris, traveling with Susan P. is a little like watching an episode of I Love Lucy. To this day, I cannot look at windshield washing fluid without thinking of the hilarity that ensued when we had to add it to her car (don’t ask), nor can I think of Lexington, KY, without thinking about this damned circle drive (from hell) that we kept getting ourselves on, over and over again. In exasperation, we finally pulled off the circle drive, went to a Hyatt Hotel and proceeded to the bar for a calming cocktail before getting better directions that got us the hell out of Lexington (not that it wasn’t lovely).

And so when Andy called in early November and suggested we get together to compare notes on the Hartman sisters, I was loaded for bear with stories. I can’t recall why we decided to meet at Pepitos, a Mexican restaurant located near my home at the time in south Minneapolis, but meet there we did; maybe we were in a Mexican phase back then? Given that I was then (and still am) a social butterfly, we were unable to meet and greet until December 22, 1989 and once we did, folks, well, it was all over but the crying. We’ve been together ever since and in May 2010, we will celebrate 19 years of (pretty much) wedded bliss. All of this, of course, is Susan P’s fault and is something that I tease her about from time to time (all in good fun, of course).

Although Andy and I do plan to revisit the scene of the crime on Tuesday, I thought it would be fun to cook something from one of the Mexican cookbooks I acquired and decided on the chicken recipe because it didn’t require a long marinade nor did it require me to go out and purchase lard—not that there’s anything wrong with lard. I tend to like lighter Mexican dishes and indeed, this cookbook was full of them.

This was one tasty dish that just capped off a day of sheer laziness on our part but hey, that’s one of the perks of being together this long. And speaking of being together a long time, Pepitos actually cleans our clock on the anniversary thing—according to their website, they have been in business since 1974 (they opened in 1971 under a different name). I guess that 20 years is nothing to them but we are happy to be able to return there on this auspicious anniversary. Congratulations, Pepitos! (And hooray for us!!)

For those of you living in the Twin Cities area, Pepitos is located at 4820 Chicago Ave S in Minneapolis. Their website is: www.pepitosrestaurant.com

Chicken Tabasco – Pollo a la Tabasquena – serves 6
6 chicken quarters, skinned
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons malt vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground allspice
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium onion, charred and chopped
4 cloves garlic, charred and minced
6 medium tomatoes, charred, peeled and chopped
1 red bell pepper, deseeded and cut into strips
2 tablespoons green olives, sliced
2 tablespoons capers, drained
2 tablespoons seedless raisins
4 ounces ham, chopped
4 tablespoons slivered almonds
2 cloves
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons cold water, divided
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Season the chicken with the lime juice, vinegar, salt and allspice, and let marinate for 20 minutes.

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan with a tight-fitting lid and fry the chicken until golden. Remove the chicken from the pan and fry all the other ingredients, except the water and cornstarch for about 5 minutes. Drain off any excess oil and return the chicken to the pan. Add 1 cup water, cover, and simmer for about 1 hour, turning the chicken pieces frequently.

Remove the chicken to a warmed serving dish. Mix the cornstarch with the remaining 3 tablespoons cold water and stir it into the pan juices. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened. Pour over the chicken and serve hot.

Note: I didn’t drain off any excess oil because the liquid from the chopped tomatoes, onions, etc. made it nearly impossible to tell what constituted the oil and what constituted the liquid. The taste didn’t seem to suffer at all from not draining anything. Also, I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs and they were quite tasty. Finally, I made up a little rice to go with the dish; the recipe didn’t call for it but I love rice and so there it is.

Mistletoe Madness-A Holiday Party (various cookbooks)

Date I made these recipes: December 6, 2009

Better Homes & Gardens Best Buffets by Better Homes and Gardens
Published by: Meredith Corporation
© 1963
Recipe: Hot Mulled Cider – p. 50

Betty Crocker’s Hostess Cookbook – Guest-Tested Recipes and Party Plans for Every Occasion by Betty Crocker
Published by: Golden Press
© 1967, 1970 – Third Printing 1970
Recipe: Chafing Dish Meatballs – p. 136

Leisure Arts Presents The Spirit of Christmas – Creative Holiday Ideas Book Four by Leisure Arts, Inc.
Published by: Leisure Arts, Inc.
© 1990
Recipe: Layered Crab Taco Dip – p. 136

Always Superb: Recipes for Every Occasion – a collaborative cookbook from the Junior Leagues of Minneapolis and Saint PaulPublished by: The Junior Leagues of Minneapolis and Saint Paul
ISBN: 0-9729882-0-3
Recipe: Martini Dip – p. 36
Other recipes made but not featured: Layered Asian Appetizer -. 45

Betty Crocker Party Food by Betty Crocker
Published by: Wiley Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-470-17349-7; © 2007
Recipe: Roasted Sesame and Honey Snack Mix – 26
Other recipes made but not featured: Southwestern Spiced Party Nuts – p. 14; Chex® Party Mix – p. 24 and Almond Caramel Corn – p. 21

FARM Journal Country Cookbook – Edited by Nell B. Nichols, Food Editor, FARM Journal
Published by: Doubleday & Company, Inc.
© 1959
Recipe: Holiday Fruitcake Cookies – p. 95

Well folks, here it is December 8th and I am already exhausted by the holidays! On December 6th, my husband and I decided it was high time we threw a party and what better way to kick off the holiday season than by throwing a Mistletoe Madness open house for 50 or so of our closest, personal friends!

And so just call me Betty (as in Crocker, my idol) because I was a cooking fool for at least a week making appetizers and goodies to satisfy every taste bud. And yes, I probably made too many things but given that it was our first open house party, I wanted to run a number of things up the flagpole to see how they’d fly. For the most part, all the dishes got accolades so that was good. Sadly, many of the recipes won’t be reprinted here since my own personal rule is to only publish recipes from my own collection and some of the ones I made are from borrowed library books. But I can at least give you a hint as to where I found some of them: Desperation Entertaining by Alicia Ross and Beverly Mills (I have their Desperation Dinners book but not this one); Pillsbury Best Cookies; Betty Crocker’s Christmas Cookbook; Barefoot Contessa Parties! (I already posted this recipe for her pan-friend onion dip on my blog in 2007); Feast by Nigella Lawson (also posted her parma ham bundle recipes on my blog) and a community cookbook from my home town using some of my mom’s cookie recipes.

As to the recipes, let me just say that the yield on each of these wasn’t necessarily what was written. In general, any recipe that stated it made 5 or more dozen was a “liar, liar pants on fire.” On the other hand, recipes that said they made one cup usually yielded two or more. Go figure. Depending on your crowd, one serving may be enough but it’s up to you to determine that.

Finally, and I hate to disparage Betty Crocker, but here’s a little story that I had to email in advance to some of my friends who were attending (which I titled “What the hell, Betty?): one of the recipes I made was Betty Crocker’s Southwestern Spiced Party Nuts. The recipe called for ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon but I knew that one of my guests was allergic to cinnamon and so I called the B. Crocker Hotline for assistance. I asked the woman on the phone what else I could substitute for cinnamon and after putting me on hold, she came back and stunned me into silence by saying that she couldn’t advise me because they hadn’t tested the recipe.

What?! What?! What?! I could see other test kitchens not testing a recipe but this was Betty Frickin’ Crocker for God’s sake - my hero, my idol, the person whose kitchen I would readily die in. WTF? (I made it without the cinnamon and nobody was the wiser).

Lucky for all of you, I got over my distress and made all the recipes without too much ado. For one, brief shinning moment I considered just buying the Chex® Party Mix but then I caught myself and pressed on regardless. There’s too much salt in packaged stuff anyway!

And so here we go with my list of goodies. The Martini Dip was probably the biggest hit, no doubt because of the vermouth marinated olives. I did warn people but they still imbibed at their own risk!

Hot Mulled Cider – makes 10 servings
Before I get into the ingredients, I just have to say that this was found in a chapter called “Something for the boys” – Bachelor’s Feast. Let me just say that the “girls” liked it, too!
½ cup brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 quarts cider
1 teaspoon whole allspice
1 teaspoon whole cloves
3 inches stick cinnamon
Dash nutmeg

Combine brown sugar, salt, and cider. Tie spices in small piece of cheese cloth; add. Slowly bring to a boil; cover and simmer 20 minutes. Remove spices. Serve hot.

Chafing Dish Meatballs – makes 5 dozen meatballs (Ann’s note: no freakin’ way! I doubled the meat and spices and only then did I achieve 60 or so meatballs. I also used 1 and ½ bottles of chili sauce and 1 and 1/3 jar of grape jelly).
1 pound ground beef
½ cup dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup minced onion
¼ cup milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon snipped parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup shortening
1 bottle (12 oz) chili sauce
1 jar (10 oz) grape jelly

Mix ground beef, crumbs, onion, milk, egg and next 4 seasonings; gently shape into 1-inch balls. Melt shortening in large skillet; brown meatballs. Remove meatballs from skillet; drain fat. Heat chili sauce and jelly in skillet until jelly is melted, stirring sauce and jelly in skillet until jelly is melted, stirring constantly. Add meatballs and stir until coated. Simmer 30 minutes. Serve hot in chafing dish.

Layered Crab Taco Dip – about 5 ¾ cups of dip (which is about right)
My Auntie Mare gave me the book containing this dip years ago. I put it away waiting for the right occasion to use it and here it is! Thanks, Auntie Mare!

2 cans (6 ounces each) lump crabmeat, drained
2 green onion, minced
½ cup diced cucumber
½ cup diced red onion
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup orange juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and diced
Tortilla chips to serve

Because this makes so much, I recommend skipping the cream cheese and just putting the dip in a bowl to be served with the taco chips. I also recommend skipping the red onion. I diced it as small as I could but at the end of the day, the flavor still can be a little harsh. But by all means, add the avocado!

In a glass bowl, combine crabmeat, green onions, cucumber, red onion, tomato, and parsley. In a small bowl, combines juices. Stir into crab mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.

Combine cream cheese and mayonnaise, blending well. Spread mixture over the bottom of a serving platter. Spread avocado over cream cheese mixture. Drain crab mixture, pressing out as much moisture as possible. Spread mixture over avocado. Serve with tortilla chips.

Martini Dip – Yield 8 servings (Nope. Try two-martini glasses full of dip-sized servings!)
As I mentioned above, this dip was the big hit. Martinis are my drink of choice and so I just happened to have all the olives I needed on hand along with the vermouth. And some gin although it wasn’t called for in this dip. I also have a set of what I call travel martini glasses—plastic glasses with a green stem with a martini olive “imbedded” in the middle. Naturally, I used these glasses to serve seeing as how the colors fit so well with the holiday. I also decided I’d best let people know there was booze in them there glasses and so I put up little food name tags on my table—one can’t be too careful!

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ cup mayonnaise
12 ounces vermouth-marinated chopped olives, drained

Combine the cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce and mayonnaise in a bowl and mix until smooth. Stir in the olives. Chill, covered, in the refrigerator until serving time. Excellent served with crackers or vegetables.

By the way, I highly recommend the Layered Asian Appetizer on p. 45 of this book. Yummy!


Roasted Sesame and Honey Snack Mix – 20 servings of ½ cup each
3 cups Chex cereal (any variety)
3 cups checkerboard-shaped pretzels
3 cups sesame sticks
1 cup mixed nuts
¼ cup honey
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
2 tablespoons sesame seed, toasted, if desired

Heat oven to 275F. Mix cereal, pretzels, sesame sticks and nuts in ungreased jelly roll pan, 15 ½ x 10 ½ x 1 inch.

Mix remaining ingredients. Pour over cereal mixture, stirring until evenly coated.

Bake 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spread on waxed paper; cool. Store in airtight container up to 1 week.

Holiday Fruitcake Cookies – makes 8 dozen (and that’s about right)
Call me sentimental but my mom used to make cookies like these when I was growing up and I loved them. But then again, we are fruitcake people. There wasn’t a time that I don’t remember Jane Parker Fruitcake being on the table. We love Jane Parker. Jane Parker is an A&P store brand but we don’t have an A&P store in my hometown anymore so my sister-in-law has had to find other (black market) sources! Kidding. A few years ago, though, we did have trouble sourcing the stuff but I just looked up A&P online and it said “Click to order your holiday Fruitcake online.” I tell you what, folks the holidays are a great thing.

Anyway, when a friend gave me the FARM Journal cookbook for my collection, it just happened to fall open to the cookie page (I took this as a sign) and decided right then and there (this was October) that this was going on the party list.

Now mind you, I didn’t tell anyone that these were fruitcake cookies because you either like fruitcake or you don’t (and most don’t) but they were still eaten and I didn’t find any balled up napkins after the fact with the remains of the day so I think we’re good. Still, the recipe does make a bazillion cookies so I hope you really do like fruitcake if you make them!

4 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 c. shortening
2 c. brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 c. thick sour milk or buttermilk
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. candied cherries, cut in quarter
2 c. dates, cut up
2 (4 oz.) cans candied fruits and peels (1 c.) Note: I just bought a container of cut up fruitcake fruit and called it a day. Do they even make cans anymore?
Red or green candied cherries for top (optional)

Sift together flour, soda and salt
Cream shortening; add sugar and eggs; beat until light and fluffy.
Add sour milk and flour; then fold in nuts, cherries, dates and candied fruit.
Chill the dough.
Drop teaspoonfuls about 2” apart, on lightly greased baking sheet. Top each with a cherry half if desired.
Bake in a moderate oven (375) 8 to 10 minutes. Makes 8 dozen.

Note: these were slightly on the sweet side although they probably always were and I had just forgotten!

By the way, I just have to put in a plug for one of my favorite organizations, Arc Greater Twin Cities. Arc runs four Value Village Thrift Stores in the Twin Cities metropolitan area and every year starting in November, features a Merry Thriftmas boutique. This year I scored 3 holiday tablecloths, 11 holiday platters, 9 holiday party bowls and assorted table decorations all for about $50. To be fair, as a member of Arc Greater Twin Cities, I do get a 20% discount, but folks, probably the most expensive thing I bought came to $3.95. Most platters and bowls ranged from $.99 to $2.99. Can you say bargain?! To add to the fun, I bought a beautiful top in red silk and black velvet for...are you ready...$7.95. So if you live in the area and are looking for holiday items for your own holiday party,run, do not walk, to your nearest VV Store! Store locations and hours can be found at: http://www.arcsvaluevillage.org/

"The French Laundry Cookbook" - Eric's Staff Lasagna

Date I made this recipe: November 25, 2009

The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller
Published by: Artisan
ISBN: 1-57965-126-7

Recipe: Eric’s Staff Lasagna – p. 116

Thomas Keller was a guest judge on last week’s Top Chef episode. I don’t know whether to be impressed or depressed by the fact that this great chef is judging a cooking contest on a reality TV channel.

Thomas Keller owns and operates The French Laundry restaurant in California; it is considered a Mecca to many. Thomas Keller is a hero to many culinary aspirants. Sadly, Thomas Keller is unknown to likely three-quarters (if not more) of the population. That is not a good thing.

Thomas Keller should know that although I admire all the recipes made with lobster and fish and whatnot, I did not make them. I don’t really like fish, Thomas Keller, and lobster is out of my budget. The fact that there are several recipes for these ingredients in this book cracks me up, Thomas Keller, seeing as how your restaurant is in Napa Valley—emphasis on “valley.”

And so I did not aspire to recreate a Thomas Keller original because that would be way too hard; rather, I made the lasagna recipe made for a staff meal by Eric (no last name given).

Now lasagna is something I have a handle on and this recipe is close to but in no way compares with the master chef in my family, my Aunt Rose. And so whereas I am no Thomas Keller in the making, neither is Eric (no last name) my Aunt Rose. My Aunt Rose could cook the pants off these guys in a New York minute (never mind that she lives in New Jersey).

This lasagna recipe was okay – neither good nor bad – and I can’t believe I am saying this because I’m not a fan of salt but it could have used more salt. And some sugar in the sauce (although I added some myself).

Why sugar, you ask? Because tomatoes are tart and unless you add something to cut the acidity, you will be mightily puckered up by the end of dinner. I always start off small, adding a quarter teaspoon at a time until my taste buds are satisfied. I could have gone with a little more here but it still worked out fine.

The other thing that Eric (no last name) did that didn’t really dawn on me until the very end was that he only used the mozzarella on top of the lasagna. While it certainly created a cleaner flavor, let’s be honest here: is there anything more fun that pulling on goopy strings of melted mozzarella cheese? I think not!

Here’s what else I think: this dish is probably best made in the summertime when tomatoes are at their peak but hey, what are you going to do? The man was on TV in November and so one thing led to another and voila – here we are! I can’t control the timing of these things.

So eat and enjoy your lasagna but do add some salt and sugar to the sauce as you go along. It’ll make my Aunt Rose happy!

Eric’s Staff Lasagna – makes about 9 servings
Sauce
½ cup olive oil (I’d recommend a little less—you don’t want this to be oily)
1 ½ cups minced yellow onion
2 tablespoons minced garlic
½ cup tomato paste
8 cups cut-up peeled tomatoes (about 12 to 14 medium tomatoes, cut into rough 1-inch pieces)
¼ cup chopped oregano or ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons chopped basil)
As well as some sugar (a couple teaspoons or to taste) and definitely some salt!

Filling
1 ½ pounds whole-milk ricotta (Note: I bought a 2 pound contained and used it all. There is no such thing as too much ricotta)
3 large eggs
½ cup chopped parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pound lasagna noodles
½ pound mozzarella, grated
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce: Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Add the onions and garlic and cook gently for 4 to 5 minutes, or until translucent. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes (the tomato paste will separate from the oil and the oil will turn a vivid orange). Add the tomatoes and stir to combine.

The sauce can be completed on the stove top or in the oven. The oven method requires less attention but a longer cooking time. For the stove top, simmer the sauce gently for 1 ½ to 2 hours, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot every 10 minutes to prevent scorching. (Ann’s note: Yeah, right, like I’m going to bound into my kitchen every 10 minutes! I am a busy gal and you probably are too so take it from me when I say that you can put this on the lowest setting and leave it alone for at least a half hour, if not more, without stirring and scraping and the sauce will be fine. If not, a little charcoal never hurt anyone!)

For the oven method, preheat the oven to 325. Bring the tomatoes to a simmer on top of the stove, cover the pot with a parchment lid, and place the pot in the oven for 3 to 4 hours.

When the sauce is done, it should be thick, slightly chunky, and reduced to about 1 quart. Add the oregano (or basil) and let cool to room temperature (about 1 hour) before assembling the lasagna.

Meanwhile, for the filling: In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta and eggs until completely blended. Add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste and mix until well combined. Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the lasagna.

Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the package directions. Drain the n oodles and allow them to cool slightly.

Preheat the oven to 350.

To assemble the lasagna: Spread a think layer (3/4 to 1 cup) of sauce over the bottom of a 9- by 13-inch baking pan. Place a layer of noodles (no more than one quarter of them) in the pan, slightly overlapping them. Spread half the ricotta mixture evenly over the noodles and top with another layer of noodles. Reserve 1 cup of the remaining sauce and spread the rest over the noodles, completely covering them. Arrange another layer of noodles on top and cover with the remaining ricotta mixture. Top with a final layer of noodles and spoon the reserved sauce over them. Toss the grated mozzarella with salt and pepper to taste (to give the cheese more flavor) and sprinkle it over the top.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the mozzarella is a spotted golden brown and the lasagna is hot throughout. (This line actually reads “is a spotted golden grown…” in the book. I think that is a very cosmic typo consider this recipe calls for fresh tomatoes!).