"Rachel Ray 30-Minute Meals 2" - Spanish Beef and Rice and Spicy Chopped Salad with Tortillas

Date I made this recipe: July 24, 2011

Rachel Ray 30-Minute Meals 2 by Rachel Ray
Published by: Lake Isle Press, Inc.
ISBN: 1-891105-10-8
Recipe: Spanish Beef and Rice on top of Spicy Chopped Salad with Tortillas – p. 138-139

People, how cosmic is this: the day I decided to finally make a Rachel Ray recipe, she makes an appearance on the Food Network Star. It’s like I subconsciously planned this because until the FNS aired, I had completely forgotten that she would be on that episode.

When I first started watching the Food Network, our Rachel was a rising star. And, believe it or don’t, there just wasn’t that much programming (or at least it seemed to me) on the Food Network at that time, at least not anything like there is now. There are so many new shows popping up that even I can’t keep track.

At any rate, when she was first on, I liked her. She had lots of energy, lots of humor and recipes that could be made in 30 minutes. Loved it! But then the bloom fell off the rose for a while (as it did with Paula Deen) and I tuned out. Too many silly words like “stoup” for soup/stew kept cropping up, and that danged EVOO even made the dictionary. Enough, already! But of course, Rachel kept on going. Now she has an empire with her shows, cookbooks, cookware, a magazine and her own talk show. We can all thank (or blame, depending on how you look at it) Oprah for that one. She took a liking to Rachel and there was no turning back. So note to Oprah: my friends tell me I am absolutely hilarious, I’m a decent cook with a fantastic cook book collection and I’m half Sicilian. Call me!

At any rate, as conflicted as I feel about Rachel (although I do subscribe to her magazine), her cookbooks have a wide variety of recipes. And I needed a wide variety because I was getting together with a group of friends and one of the friends does not eat dairy. And we were supposed to bring Tex-Mex food. I know--you were like me, right, thinking cheese and sour cream and whatnot. So rather than succumb to making salsa, I went on the hunt.

After looking through my four Rachel Ray cookbooks (well, one is sort of a cookbook – it’s her $40 a Day book), I found a perfect recipe that contained not one drop of dairy AND it was darned tasty to boot. Like really tasty. Like I had to tell myself to quit nibbling prior to this party or there wouldn’t be any left.

The beauty of these two recipes is that each one can stand on its own. You can make the Spanish Beef and Rice and call it a day or you can just make the salad. But if you make the rice, then know that Rachel intends for half of it to be used for a Stuffed Chili recipe on p. 139. I could have easily cut down the rice mixture as I did not intend to make the other recipe (although it sounded good).

As to the salad, my palate does not tolerate a lot of heat and given that I was serving this to others, I cut way back on the amount of chilies she used. In fact, I used one, fresh jalapeno and that was that. I opened a can of green chilies but decided that was too much heat. I thought the one jalapeno I used was perfect, but if you’re sure you can stand the heat, fire away!

One more note before I go: the group of friends I got together with is comprised of four other attorneys and me, who worked together on a legal work project that was so bad we dubbed it “The Gulag.” Over time, instead of referring to ourselves as The Gulagees, we became “The G’s.”

One of our mates, nicknamed Tex, was back from Texas, where she now lives, for a short visit and a fellow G, nicknamed TEA, held a Tex-Mex picnic in Tex’s honor in her back yard. Actually, that should have been a “Don’t Mex with Tex” party as this little lady has been busy rounding up, I kid you not, rattlesnakes from some of her neighbors’ yards. Take that, snake! (There is no amount of money in the world that will get me near a snake, much less a rattler. She's a better woman that I, that Tex!)

Anyway, it was great to be all back together again. We email each other constantly (almost always starting the email with "G's..." and have some of the most hilarious war stories ever. One of these days, we’re going to get those suckers published but in the meantime, I have the blog and you have two really good recipes. (Or, as Rachel would say, two really "delish" recipes!) Enjoy!

Spanish Beef and Rice (warning: serves 8!)
2 cups beef stock
1 and ¾ cups water
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups white enriched rice (Note: I looked up “enriched rice” but really couldn’t figure out what the difference was. I used “regular” white rice and it was fine.)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (once around the pan)
1 & 2/3 pounds ground sirloin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
2 cups tomato sauce
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground cumin (2/3 palmful)
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (a couple of handfuls)

Bring beef stock, water, and butter to a full boil in a medium-size pot. Add rice, reduce heat and cover pot. Cook 20 minutes, until rice is tender and liquid absorbed.

Heat a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and beef and season with salt and pepper. Brown meat, 2 or 3 minutes. Add onion, garlic, bell pepper and Worcestershire. Cook 5 to 7 minutes, until veggies are just tender. Add tomato sauce, cloves, cumin, and parsley. Bring up to a bubble, then reduce heat to low.

Combine cooked rice with meat mixture and serve with Spicy Chopped Salad with Tortillas and taco dressing. (Ann’s Note: If you make the entire batch, reserve half of the beef and rice for the stuffed pepper recipe – Double-Duty Dinner: Stuffed Chilies with Beef, Rice, Spinach, and Cheese, p. 139)

Spicy Chopped Salad with Tortillas – makes 4 servings
2 hearts romaine lettuce, chopped
3 tablespoons canned or jarred slice jalapenos, drained (Ann’s warning: this would have made this salad spicy, all right! I used one, fresh jalapeno and it was fine.)
3 tablespoons salad olives, Manzanilla with pimento, drained
1 vine-ripened tomato, seeded and chopped
½ red onion, chopped
1 cup broken tortilla chips (any variety)
2 tablespoons jarred taco sauce
The juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or fresh flat-leaf parsley (Ann’s Note: some people do not like cilantro and since I had the fresh flat-leaf parsley on hand, I used that).
¼ cup olive oil (eyeball it)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Combine first five ingredients in a bowl, and toss with tortilla chip pieces. In a second bowl, combine taco sauce, lime juice and cilantro or parsley. Whisk in olive oil in a slow stream until dressing is well combined. Toss salad with dressing to coat ingredients evenly, and serve.

"Mmmmm - A Feastiary" & "The Rainbow Cooks" -Lemon Ribs and Potato Salad - July 4, 2011

Date I made this recipe: July 3, 2011

Mmmmm – A Feastiary by Ruth Reichl
Published by: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
© 1972
Recipe: Lemon Ribs – p. 107

The Rainbow Cooks – Soups, Salads & Specialties by The Rainbow
Published by: The Rainbow
© 1974
Recipe: Potato Salad – p. 30

People, where to begin this blog? Perhaps first with a rousing “Happy Fourth of July?” Or how about “And now a word or two…or twenty about Ruth Reichl?” Or how about a word or two about shopping for used cookbooks (now numbering 1,304…and growing)?

How about I tell you everything and call it a day?!

Let’s start with the 4th of July, a date that cries out for picnic food. I actually selected the Lemon Ribs recipe weeks ago, not necessarily for the 4th, but seeing as how I was out of town so much, and seeing as how the recipe was for ribs, it was a perfect entree for the national holiday. So perfect that meatballs dunked in a vat of this sauce might just replace my go-to holiday party meatball recipe. It was beyond yummy…or rather, Mmmmm good!

The potato salad was a last minute Hail Mary as my husband is not exactly fond of the stuff. But as I told him, it’s not the 4th of July without potato salad or baked beans (he’s not a fan of those, either) and so choose one! Period.! Wouldn’t you know, he actually liked this potato salad?! And so we had ourselves a tasty feast while, hahaha, watching (The Next) Food Network Star where they were showcasing 4th of July food—go figure!

And so on to the books!

I could write volumes about Ruth Reichl: former New York Times Restaurant Critic, former Gourmet Editor-in-Chief, author of several books, including perhaps, her most well-known book, Tender at the Bone, and as of this season, one of the judges on Top Chef Masters. But I had no idea that she wrote today’s featured book, Mmmmm – A Festiary until I made my (at that time) annual pilgrimage to Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks in NYC and found this tucked away on a shelf. As I am wont to do, I uttered (with almost disbelief) “Who knew?” I had no idea Ruth had written anything before Tender at the Bone. I really should get out more. (And people, can I tell you how giddy I am that I’m finally heading back to NYC this week and am practically chomping at the bit to land, already, so I can go shopping at Bonnie’s? Better news: she ships!!).

Anyway, what I especially loved was reading Ruth’s bio on the back book jacket, written long before she became mega famous: “Ruth Reichl has been a book designer, cooked for a co-op of fifty, managed a shore store, had a three-line speaking part in Z. Brought up in New York City and Norwalk, Connecticut, she attended College Marie de France in Montreal and obtained a master’s degree from the University of Michigan. She now lives in New York."

Can.you.stand.it?!! From designing books to the editor of Gourmet? I want that job trajectory!

As to the book, I absolutely love it, from the artwork to the photos to the recipes. As this book is now out of print, I feel fortunate that I nabbed it when I did but sad that some of you may have to work a bit to find it. Trust me, it’s worth the hunt.

And before I leave my unabashed adoration of Ruth (“Ruthfest 2011”), let me just say that I really loved having her as a judge on Top Chef Masters because she was critical but kind. I found myself nodding my head in agreement at her critique of the food prepared by well-know chefs and the damned thing is, I didn’t even get to taste any of it! Note to self: see about getting on the show as a guest judge….

Okay, so enough of that book and on to The Rainbow Cooks cookbook. The fact that this book was in the shape of a rainbow was what sold me although until I bought it, I had never heard of this organization – The Rainbow. But people, if you read The Rainbow Story, you’ll see that the proceeds of this book were used for The Amie Karen Cancer Fund for Children at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in California. And so even though it’s years later, I still felt like I was cooking for a cause.

I found this treasure at an estate sale last October. The homeowner, an older woman who was moving to an assisted living facility, had a huge collection of cookbooks. The sale was conducted by a church organization that helped the elderly move – yet another cause I can get behind.

And speaking of charitable causes, for the past two months, I have been on the road, back and forth to Michigan, my home state, to pack up my dad’s estate and to get things ready for an estate sale. A good portion of the contents were donated to two public libraries in the area, St. Vincent DePaul’s thrift stores in the area and in Minneapolis, Arc’s Value Village thrift stores. In theory, I should just donate and run but I can’t help moseying over to the cookbook section and, well, the last trip the other day yielded 6 new cookbooks for my collection. But since all proceeds support individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities and their families, I don’t feel guilty at all about my new “donate then shop” routine!

Okay, so, about the cookbook (yes, I know, once again I digress…), all the recipes in here sounded really good but as previously mentioned, it’s not the 4th of July with potato salad so this selection was a no-brainer. It is not heavy on the mayonnaise, and that’s good as I hate a goopy potato salad, but has a little more salt than I’m used to. Still, did that render it inedible? No. In fact, dear reader, I just polished off a small bowl of it while writing this.

Although I have no evidence to support my theory, it seems to me that you were either brought up in a “potato salad with relish added household” or you weren’t. Mine was a definite “weren’t.” Mom made hers with potatoes, celery, onions, hard-boiled eggs and radishes, topped with paprika. And okay, don’t jump on me for this, but she used Miracle Whip. It’s all we had in the house!

But I can’t tell you how many recipes I’ve seen, including this one, where pickles were added. And all I can say about the pickles in this recipe was that I wish I had added more. In fact, I wish I had more on hand but I used up all the sweet pickles (all three of them!) in the refrigerator on this recipe. Damn! Live and learn.

For fun, I bought “Teeny tiny potatoes” (yes, that’s the label) from Trader Joe’s that were about the size of a baby carrot. Cut then in two, and you had the perfect bite.

Before I conclude and get to the recipes, I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the Falling Rock Café in my hometown of Munising, Michigan as it has been a constant and great source of fun cookbooks for me for the past several years (I mean, who else has the Y2K Survival Guide and Cookbook or Madam Wu’s Art of Chinese Cooking cookbook??!).

Now that my dad is gone and the house is for sale, there’s no need for me to make a butt-busting 8-hour (one-way) car trip to the area and I am bereft at the thought of missing out on a stop at the café. Lucky for me (and you) they are on Amazon and Alibris so check them out! And in an “It’s a small world after all” moment, I recently discovered that Nancy, Falling Rock’s owner, and I have both shopped at Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks in New York. It’s no wonder, then, that their cookbook section is a veritable treasure trove of fun stuff. So if you happen to be in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula anytime soon (and why wouldn’t you be?), be sure to stop and shop, get a phenomenal sandwich, locally-made ice cream and a great cup of coffee and relax in one of their many comfy chairs. Trust me, all the world’s stresses will melt away in mere minutes.

So happy eating everyone and happy 4th!

Lemon Ribs – serves 4-6 (instead of 4 pounds, we used 1 and it was perfect for two people)
4 pounds spare ribs
1 can frozen lemonade
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup jelly (Ruth’s note: Try different kinds – I prefer marmalade, but apple is good as is currant. For a real treat, try chutney. Ann’s note: we used grape and it was outstanding!)
1 lemon, sliced

Parboil ribs 10 minutes. This removes most of the excess fat, but it’s not absolutely necessary, so don’t if you don’t feel like it. (Ann’s note: not only did I not feel like it but today’s meat is so devoid of any fat that parboiling them wouldn’t have rid the meat of anything! Sad—fat can be a good thing!)

Meanwhile, mix lemonade, sugar, and jelly in a pot, stir to boiling, reduce heat, and simmer 2 minutes.

Place ribs in a large pan. Cover with lemon slices and brush with glaze. Bake in 350 oven for 1 hour, brushing every now and then with more glaze.

Potato Salad – serves 6
3 c. cooked, peeled potatoes, chilled, then diced
1 tsp. vinegar
1 ¼ tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. sugar
½ c. chopped onion
¾ c. mayonnaise
2 hard boiled eggs
1 stalk celery, diced
½ c. chopped sweet gherkin pickles

Sprinkle potatoes with vinegar, salt, celery seed and sugar. Cover and refrigerate (overnight if you wish) until 1 hour before serving.

Add onion, mayonnaise, celery and chopped pickles to marinated potatoes. Coarsely chop eggs and fold in last. Garnish with paprika and parsley and refrigerate until served.

"The Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant Seafood Cookbook" and "Zabar's Deli Book" - Pan-Fried Oysters and Macaroni Salad

Date I made this recipe: June 18, 2011

The Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant Seafood Cookbook – Introduction by Jerome Brody
Published by: Crown Publishers, Inc.
ISBN: 0-517-54907-7; © 1977
Recipe: Pan-Fried Oysters – p. 17

Zabar’s Deli Book by Susan Katz, with Murray Klein, Saul Zabar and Stanley Zabar
Published by: Hawthorne Books
© 1979
Recipe: Macaroni Salad – p. 82

So today is Father’s Day and it’s the first one without my dad who passed away in March.

That said, it didn’t seem odd to me that he wasn’t here for the occasion. Maybe it was because he lived in Michigan and I live in Minneapolis, or maybe it’s because (sadly) Father’s Day isn’t celebrated to the extent that Mother’s Day is. (I mean, we’re talking, what, maybe one rack of FD cards to every 4 for mom???).

Earlier in the day, my husband and I went to nearby Stillwater, MN, to watch a pro-am bike race (as in bicycles) where there were tons of dads with their young kids, trying to make their way through the sizable crowd that gathered. As to the bicyclists, well, hats off to every single one of them who roared up one of Stillwater’s hills that is 20% grade. And they did it 20 times. Just recently I stood in some killer (as in cute) heels for two hours at my dad’s memorial service and had rubber legs the minute I sat down. Clearly some conditioning is in order.

At any rate, I think my dad would have liked watching the race with us. That man was a regular Charles Atlas; he hunted until he was 85 (he died at age 87), cross country skied, swam in Lake Superior every summer (something I won’t even do anymore) and went on an African safari with my brother and sister-in-law for his 87th birthday. You know what? This wears me out evening writing it.

And so onto the food. My dad was born in Manhattan and age three, the family moved to a farm in New Jersey, not all that far from the Jersey Shore. And after New Jersey, he moved to Michigan where I was born and raised. My dad had a fabulous garden, fabulous fruit trees and bushes and access to the freshest of lake (Superior) fish, and yet he practically salivated all the way back to New Jersey on family vacations, just waiting to have raw clams and oysters. He and my aunts and uncles and cousins would down these mollusks with lightning speed whereas my brother and I held back for many years before venturing toward the big metal tub to select our appetizers. Just like a martini, raw seafood is an acquired taste!

So I thought it fitting that I make a dish for dad on Father’s Day straight out of The Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant Seafood Cookbook.

Lo, though I have been in and out of Grand Central numerous times in my life, I never once stopped at the Oyster Bar. My bad. This cookbook is pretty comprehensive as to fish recipes and a not-too-shabby selection of sides.

After hemming and hawing for days (weeks?), it came down to oysters or clams and I went with oysters because they are meatier. In fact, some of the oysters we bought (from Coastal Seafoods) were pretty darned big.

I would be remiss (and totally out of character) if I did not take issue with something in the recipe or instructions and today is no exception. The directions were to coat the oysters in the flour and bread crumb mixture, then dip it in the egg wash, and then back into the flour and bread crumb mixture…and then fry! Right. Nooooooo! This was definitely not a Top Chef moment…or even Next Food Network Star moment. I had flour everywhere. Who.knew?!

That aside, the oysters were great and made me want to get in my car, stat, to get to the Jersey Shore for more!

So every oyster has to have an accompaniment, and today’s was out of the Zabar’s Deli Book. For those of you who don’t know, Zabar’s is a fabulous deli on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. I’ve been buying my coffee beans from them for years. Not only does it taste good but it’s far less expensive than buying it locally, even with shipping (which I almost never pay because I buy four pounds at a time and so get the shipping for free).

When I’m actually in NY, as I will be in a few weeks, I love going to Zabar’s to find the latest food items I can’t find anywhere else. They also have one of the most compact but fun housewares departments I’ve ever seen. It’s all good.

Many of you might be familiar with Zabar’s from watching the movie, You’ve Got Mail. There’s a hilarious scene that rings fairly true where Sally finds herself in the Cash Only line and has to be bailed out by Tom Hanks. Let’s just say the people in line as well as the cashier were not amused that she tried to pay with a credit card.

I had my own hilarious moment at Zabar’s years ago when I was buying coffee. I was in a hurry as I had to get to the airport, and this woman tried to line-jump in front of me. So we mixed it up right then and there in the coffee bean section of the store arguing about who was there first. (She said she was and she was SO lying!). At any rate, I finally said “I was here first and I have a plane to catch” and so I won and that was that. As my father always said “First fender in….” (The semi-New Yorker also came out in me years ago at the airport when some little chickie poos in stiletto heels tried to jump the cab line at LaGuardia. Let’s just say that I and a Korean man who was sharing the cab with me prevailed that day as well. It’s a jungle out there….)

Anyway, as to the deli book, this one is fun as it gives a little food history, a little Zabar’s history and some awesome recipes. My dad wasn’t especially fond of macaroni or potato salads but he would have appreciated NY deli food. I mean, what’s seafood without a deli accompaniment??

So eat and enjoy. And Happy Father’s Day dad! You don’t need to be here to be appreciated.

Pan-Fried Oysters – serving size not noted
1 pint (approximately 28 oysters) oysters, shucked and drained (reserve oyster liquor and set aside for another use)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup fine bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp. light cream
1 tsp. salt
Generous sprinkling of freshly ground white pepper
8 tbsp. (1 stick) butter

Drain oysters and pat dry with a paper towel. Thoroughly mix flour and bread crumbs in a bowl. Beat eggs with cream and salt and pepper in another bowl.

Roll oysters in crumb and flour mixture, then in egg, and then in crumbs again, coating thoroughly. (As noted above, good luck with that!).

Heat butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until just sizzling.

Fry oysters until nicely browned on one side, 3 to 5 minutes.

Turn carefully with tongs, and brown on the other side for 3 to 5 minutes.

Drain on paper towels. Serve with lemon wedges or favorite seafood sauce.

Macaroni Salad – serves 4-6
4 cups cooked, drained, cold elbow macaroni (8 ounces uncooked)
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
½ teaspoon celery seed
1 tablespoon grated onion (or more, to taste)
1 cup celery, chopped
½ cup parsley, minced
¼ cup pimiento, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Mix mayonnaise with vinegar, mustard, celery seed, and onion; pour over macaroni, and toss to coat. Add remaining ingredients and toss again. Chill thoroughly for 2-3 hours.

"The Ham Book" & "Insatiable" - Glazed Ham Ring with Red Devil Sauce and Macaroni and Cheese

Date I made these recipes: April 24, 2011 (Easter Sunday)

The Ham Book by Monette R. Harrel and Robert W. Harrel, Jr.
Published by: Donning Company Publishers
ISBN: 0-915442-14-0
Recipe: Glazed Ham Ring with Red Devil Sauce – p. 136-137


Insatiable – Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess by Gael Greene
Published by: Warner Books
ISBN: 0-446-57699-9
Recipe: Almost Like Mom’s Macaroni and Cheese – p. 19-20

People, you would think that having a book called The Ham Book would make Easter planning a walk in the park but you’d be wrong!

The first recipe in this book is for a traditional southern ham weighing 10-12 pounds. Let’s pause here for a moment: I do not have access to southern ham (nor do I need to one) and there are only two of us in this household so we didn’t need that big of a ham. I’m not even sure my oven could handle that puppy!! Besides, ham is expensive and we would have practically bankrupted ourselves had we gone with that recipe. So that was out.

Also out was canned ham as called for in many of the entrée recipes. Aside from chuckling over one of this season’s Mad Men episodes where Pete and Peggy have to advertise a canned ham, there’s nothing about a canned ham to recommend itself to me. If you’re going to go canned, go with SPAM. (Note to the good people at SPAM – Call me! I think I have a new jingle for you!!)

Lucky for me, I found a ham ring (i.e. loaf) recipe that was pretty easy and did not call for canned ham. And there was much rejoicing.

I have to say, though, that my husband looked less than enthusiastic when I told him we were having ham ring and even less so when I said it was topped with Red Devil Sauce. Silly rabbit – he was probably thinking that this would be spicy given the name but as we know, ketchup is not a spice…unless you live in Minnesota.

So, I got out my Cusinart, chopped the ham, added there rest of the ingredients, got out my ring (Jell-O) mold and holy cow – talk about overflow. The instructions said to gently pack but even if I would have really jammed it in there, we are talking too much meat. I could have easily have made two ham rings. And okay, sure, they said it the recipe would serve 8-10 but did they really think all that meat mixture would fit in one ring mold? Hardly! So I resorted to Plan B and plopped the mixture on a baking sheet (with the 1” sides as directed) and made a huge, and I do mean HUGE ham ring. It came out just fine.

The sauce was pretty easy to make although I must say the color was off-putting. Remember mixing your ketchup and mustard together on a plate and then dipping your meatloaf in it? (Well, at least I did!). Well, that’s the look we had going on. But it was tasty and that was all that mattered.

And so in the end, The Ham Book redeemed itself but alas, it gets put back on the shelf, never to be used for the blog again. Rules are rules. One recipe only, not exceptions unless I decide to make one; I feel I’m good as is.

In a complete about face from my usual scalloped potatoes, I decided I was in the mood for macaroni and cheese and remembered that Gael Greene’s book had a recipe that sounded yummy. (Thought for the day: Is it because I was deprived of mac and cheese as a child that I am so fixated on it?) And indeed, the recipe turned out to be fantastic. But oh my word, reading her book to get to the recipes was another story.

For those of you who don’t know, Gael Greene was a well-known food writer/critic for the New York magazine. Well, perhaps it was a stretch to say “well-known” since she tried to remain anonymous as much as possible and is famous for her many hats that hid her face from inquiring restaurant servers. Gael also spent two seasons as a judge on Top Chef Masters, a show I far prefer to the original, Top Chef (although careful readers will note that I watch the original show all the same). This year they changed the format and so Gael will only guest star. Bummer, that. (P.S. - Gael still writes about food - check out her Insatiable Critic blog - www.insatiable-critic.com)

Anyway, back to her book. It’s been a while since I read it but back in her youth she was known more for… well…shall we say sexual exploits than her culinary skills (thus the title)? Not that I’m a prude but I’m not always comfortable with books like this because I feel like a peeping Tom (or rather a peeping Ann). My best advice to Gael and to Paula Dean (who also wrote a similar book) is “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” I’ll forgive Gael though since the mac and cheese was exactly what I wanted.

And there you have it, Easter 2011. Questions?

Glazed Ham Ring with Red Devil Sauce – 8-10 servings
Ham ring
About 1 pound ground cooked ham
1 pound ground beef
½ cup chopped onion
¾ cup fine cracker crumbs
1 egg, slightly beaten
½ ten-ounce can tomato soup
Glaze
½ ten-ounce can tomato soup
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine the ingredients for the ham ring and mix well. Pack lightly into a ring mold or form in a ring on an inch deep baking sheet or pack lightly into a 9 ½ x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Brush with Red Devil sauce before and during backing. Bake for about 1 hour. Pour off excess fat and let stand 5 minutes, then turn out on a platter. Fill the center of the ring with warm potato salad, whipped potatoes or green peas with small potatoes. Serve with Red Devil Sauce. (But caution: if you plan to serve the sauce on the side, make sure to put it in a separate bowl, otherwise you will cross-contaminate your food!)

To make the sauce, combine all ingredients and cook, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. I used medium heat.

Almost Like Mom’s Macaroni and Cheese – serves 2 as a main course, 4 as a side dish…or just me!

Olive oil spray or ½ tbsp mild-flavored olive oil, plus 1 tbsp for tossing later
½ lb small elbow macaroni
1 tbsp salt
2 ½ cups shredded or chopped firm cheese (Gael notes “Needless to say, my mother used Velveeta, but I make this with sharp cheddar and Emmentaler, half and half. Once I threw in some leftover Brie, a triple crème from France, and a half cup of crème fraiche and the result was celestial.”)
Optional: ½ cup chopped baked ham or snipped crisp bacon
1 cup whole milk
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
4 tbsp fine dry bread crumbs
¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray the bottom and sides of a shallow 6-cup metal baking dish with olive oil spray. Bring several quarts of water to a rolling boil. Add tablespoon salt. Boil macaroni until just tender: Drain well. Immediately turn macaroni into baking dish (a flat baking pan gives more crispiness than a loaf pan). Use a pan that can go under the broiler later. Toss macaroni with tablespoon of olive oil. Then add (cheddar) cheese, optional ham or bacon, milk, salt and freshly ground pepper and mix well.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then remove from oven, close oven door, and stir. Taste for seasoning. Sprinkle fresh bread crumbs and grated Parmigiano on top. Bake another 15 minutes. If there is still some milk in the bottom, return to the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes. If topping has not browned and crisped like Mom’s used to, stick it under the broiler (three or four inches away from heat) and brown, watching so it doesn’t burn.

"Good Things to Eat Are Hard to Beat - United Methodist Church, Mason City, IA" - Chicken Casserole

Date I made this recipe: April 3, 2011

Good Things to Eat Are Hard to Beat – A Cookbook from First United Methodist Church – Mason City, Iowa – 1977
© 1977

Recipe – Chicken Casserole – submitted by LaVonne Oleson – p. 151

“We’re on a mission from God…” Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd) – The Blues Brothers

People, I couldn’t help but think of this line from The Blues Brothers movie during my week-long quest to find a casserole to make. And not just any casserole, no sir. I had ideas. Big ideas. It just took me a while to get there.

This all started a week ago when I suddenly developed a craving for a shepherd’s pie (sans lamb). This was all very simple—I wanted ground beef, cream of mushroom soup (naturally) and veggies, topped with mashed potatoes. In theory, finding a recipe among my 1300 cookbooks should have been a slam-dunk; in reality, not so much.

I found ground beef, tomato soup, green beans and mashed potatoes and that was a no. I found a couple of tater tot recipes, one of which had no vegetables (WHAT???) and one that called for only peas. But I wasn’t interested in tater tots. I wanted mashed potatoes.

I found an inordinate number of recipes for ground beef and corn (mostly from Iowa community cookbooks) but no. I found a few recipes for ground beef and hash brown and once again no.

Nothing I found seemed to do the trick. So I thought about life as we know it and then changed my search to chicken and noodles and maybe some broccoli thrown in. And again, you would think this would be easy but hell, no!

I found plenty of chicken divan recipes but those didn’t contain noodles. Then there were your chicken and rice recipes and while I loved rice, now I was obsessed with noodles.

There were plenty of recipes for chicken and soup, chicken and broccoli and soup, chicken and stuffing (tempting…but no) and on and on. There was Mexican chicken, Peruvian chicken, Moroccan chicken but no freaking chicken and noodles and cream of mushroom soup.

I was on the edge of despair. I pulled everything off the shelf that I thought could yield the recipe I wanted but no. I can tell you that a cookbook for three-star meals did not contain said recipe, nor did the Junior League of the City of New York yield what I wanted. It goes without saying that none of my international cookbooks had anything nor did any of my Jewish cookbooks (The cream of mushroom soup alone disqualified them, never mind the milk I had to add to a chicken casserole. Jewish recipes do not mix meat and dairy.).

But finally, just when all hope was lost, I once again reviewed my community cookbooks and voila, there was a chicken casserole recipe containing…wait for it…chicken AND cream of mushroom soup AND milk and noodles! No broccoli was harmed in the making of this dish but such is life. I was just happy as hell to finally score something that satisfied my craving. But I was halfway to my pantry to start pulling ingredients when…wait a second…aw nuts! I have to mix up the ingredients and refrigerate the concoction for 24 hours. Shoot.

And so I had a minor setback, so what? My mission from God was complete. I bought the few ingredients that I needed, mixed up my casserole, refrigerated it and then on Sunday popped the thing in the oven for 1 hour and…ahhhhhh. “Heaven, I’m in heaven….”

Now I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t express a few concerns. First, I try not to cook from community cookbooks seeing as you all will likely have a hard time getting your hands on the same book. But when a craving hits, a craving hits and that’s all there is to it.

Second, two cans of mushroom soup (plus ½ tsp of salt plus 13 ¾ oz chicken broth—what’s up with that) might be a bit much for those concerned about their salt intake. I am not a big salt person and didn’t find it super-salty but I definitely tasted the salt in the soup. That being said, I hesitated using reduced sodium soup because it was not as god intended and I wasn’t sure if the taste would fall flat or not.

Third, green pepper is a major ingredient in most community cookbook recipes and yet I’m not overly fond of it. And so I left it out and call the Iowa State Police already, I don’t care.

But other than that (“…Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play”) this worked for me. I actually like the fact that all I had to do was pop this in the oven on Sunday and that was that.

Now that the weather is warming up, I should be done with the need for this kind of casserole although one never knows. My latest craving is not for another casserole but rather another viewing of The Blues Brothers, if nothing else to hear them utter the word “penguin.” (“Penguin” is what we called the nuns in my Catholic grade school…among other things that cannot be repeated in mixed company.) Blockbuster, here I come!

Chicken Casserole – serving size not indicated
2 cups chicken (diced, cooked) or ham, beef, etc.)
2 cups (8 oz.) macaroni (uncooked)
2 cans mushroom soup (I’m pretty sure she meant Cream of Mushroom)
1 soup can milk
1 (13 ¾ oz.) can chicken broth (or substitute)
1 small onion (finely chopped)
½ green pepper (finely diced)
1 (2 oz.) jar pimiento (diced)
1 (5 oz.) can water chestnuts (finely sliced)
½ pound Cheddar cheese (grated)
½ teaspoon salt

In 9 x 13 inch pan, refrigerate overnight the above ingredients, well mixed. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

"The Ballymaloe Cookbook" & "Baking with the St. Paul Bread Club" - Potato and Fresh Herb Soup and Irish Soda Bread

Date I made these recipes: March 20, 2011

The Ballymaloe Cookbook by Myrtle Allen
Published by: Gill and Macmillan
ISBN: 0-7171-1339-6; © 1977, 1984, 1987
Recipe: Potato and Fresh Herb Soup – p. 17

Baking with the St. Paul Bread Club by Kim Ode
Published by: Minnesota Historical Society Press
ISBN: 10: 0-87351-567-6
Recipe: Irish Soda Bread – p. 85 (recipe submitted by Karen Vogel, a bread club member)

You can thank chef (and Food Network star) Bobby Flay for the fact that I cooked a belated ode to St. Patrick’s Day.

As per usual, I was up late at night, minding my own beeswax and Bobby came on with a show titled “Bobby’s Ireland.” Well that’s succinct!

One of the places Bobby visited was Ballymaloe which I gathered was a cooking school. But that name sounded familiar to me for reasons other than the cooking school so I went to my cookbook shelves to investigate. And sure and begorrah, people, I had a Ballymaloe cookbook just waiting for me! It’s like the heavens opened up and St. Patrick just pointed to the damned thing. Thanks, Paddy!

My version is by Myrtle Allen who may or may not be related to Darina Allen who currently runs the cooking school. Google and Wikipedia are usually so good about telling me these things but not this time around.

Anyway…nothing really hit me in this cookbook (certainly not lamb, a meat I loathe) until I went back to the beginning and found the soup recipe. Since potatoes are to Ireland what pasta is to Italians, I thought that would be a fine dish for a blustery day. The only issue I have with the recipe is that I could not find a definition for “creamy milk” (What the hell, Google?!) so I used whole milk. And all was well with the world.

And that completes the main course portion of our program.

As to bread, I am not a bread person but my dad and my brother and my husband (and really, most men I know) are. And since my dad just passed away, I reviewed the bread book several times over to see about making something that dad would have liked and I found some…but they all contained yeast. I don’t do yeast. The times I used yeast, my bread became a doorstop it was that hard.

But for all you yeast-phobic cooks out there, I am happy to report that Irish Soda Bread does NOT feature yeast and therefore passes my culinary test and what the heck—it’s even Irish. What better accompaniment could there be to (Irish) potato soup than Irish Soda Bread? The gods had spoken! (That being said, one of these days I’m going to put on my big girl undies and just make the Bittersweet Chocolate – Ginger Bread (with yeast) already! Page 138 if you are interested)

In the interest of fair disclosure, I should tell you that while I have had the pleasure to meet and greet many a cookbook author in my day, I also know personally Kim Ode, author of Baking with the St. Paul Bread Company. In fact, it’s kind of hard to miss knowing Kim seeing how she plays trombone in my community band (Calhoun-Isles Community Band – www.calhounislesband.org) and could, if she wanted to, smack me upside the head with her trombone slide as she sits right behind me. I am pleased to announce that she has not yet done so, tempting as it may be for her.

Besides being an accomplished musician and our band’s librarian (Marian), Kim writes for the local newspaper, (Minneapolis) StarTribune. When I first started reading her byline, she had a column about odds and bits (for 10) of Minnesota life but then she switched to writing for the Taste section. And somewhere along the line she started breaking bread. I am in awe.

So when Kim’s book came out and I told her about my yeast-phobia, she threw her arm around me and said “Let me tell you about yeast.” She even told me I could call her with questions. Believe me, I thought about that but who wants to get a call from me on a Sunday afternoon saying “Help me! Help me! There’s yeast in my kitchen and I don’t know what to do?!”

And this is why I chickened out and made non-yeast bread. So sue me. But dang it all, it was pretty good. And it was huge. So huge that I cut the bread into four large chunks to ensure that the middle was cooked – that kind of huge. (Added bonus: Irish Soda Bread toast!!) My husband is in hog heaven and I’m pretty chuffed that I managed to bake a bread (yeast or no yeast) that I don’t have to use on a door and that was (magically) delicious!

And there you have it—St. Patrick’s Day (with a few extra days thrown in for luck) 2011! We now return to our March (Madness) programming, already in progress…..

Potato and Fresh Herb Soup – serves approximately 7 (not unless you are feeding leprechauns!)

4 tablespoons butter (55g/2 oz)
1 cup peeled diced onions (110g/4 oz)
1 cup peeled diced scallions (110g/4 oz)
3 cups peeled diced potatoes (425g/15 oz)
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly-ground pepper
Sprig of any 3 of the following: parsley, thyme, rosemary, lovage (1/2 leaf), bay-leaf (1/2 leaf) (This time Google pulled through: lovage is a leafy plant that, from what I gather, does not grow here in North America.)
5 cups stock (1.2 liters/2 pt)
1 cup creamy milk (see my note above: I used whole milk) (250 ml/8 fl oz)

Toss the potatoes and onions in hot butter and then sweat them on a gentle heat for 10 minutes, as in the Basic Soup recipe. (Not reprinted here). Add stock and herbs and cook until soft. Remove tough herb stalks. Puree the soup, taste and adjust seasoning. Thin with creamy milk. (Ann’s Note: this last direction was a puzzler. The soup wasn’t that thick to begin with and “creamy milk” suggests it is to be used as a thickening agent, not a thinking agent. But what do I know?!)

Irish Soda Bread – makes one large loaf. (The author points out that this bread is not the sweeter and softer version many of you are used to. I thought it was great)

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup old-fashioned oatmeal
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
Extra butter to grease your hands so the dough won’t stick (this not in the original instructions!)

Preheat oven to 375. In a medium bowl mix whole wheat and all-purpose flour, oatmeal, salt and soda. In a small bowl mix together eggs and buttermilk. Add to flour mixture, and mix well. This dough will be very heavy (and sticky). Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead just to make sure that all flour is moistened. Shape into a round, and place on a greased baking sheet. Press additional oatmeal into top. With a sharp knife slash an X across loaf. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes.

Ann’s Note: I baked it for 45 minutes, then took a small piece out of the top and found it to be too moist. I put it back in for another 10 minutes then cut the bread into chunks and then put it back into the oven for about another 10 minutes. Perfect! But let me just say that prior to this, I was once again thinking that I was not meant to be a bread baker. I can only imagine what would have happened had I tried to make yeast bread!!

"Bitchin' In The Kitchen: The PMS Survival Cookbook" - Tuna Casserole

Date I made this recipe: March 6, 2010

Bitchin’ In The Kitchen: The PMS Survival Cookbook by Jennifer Evans and Fritzi Horstman
Published by: Kensington Books
ISBN: 1-57566-165-9
Recipe: Tuna Casserole – p. 115

You know, my late mother had a great sense of humor but when she gave me this cookbook a few years ago, I have to tell you I had a ‘scratch-your head” moment. Let’s just say since PMS was off the table, this led me to believe she might have been commenting on my….assertive personality from the “Bitchin’ In the Kitchen" reference. Or not – one never knew with her. I’m going to go with the fact that I think she wanted to contribute to my cookbook collection and thought I would be amused by this. And I was…once I got over my initial “What are you trying to say?" irritation!

For those of you in a burning hurry to cook and without regard to what you stuff in your face, this is the book for you. This book contained everything from Jell-O to a vodka martini (I prefer gin) to sweet to salty, to a combo of the two. It is the perfect cookbook, PMS or no PMS!

Since I was missing my mom, I decided to make the tuna casserole. Mind you, my mother never made tuna casserole and in fact, didn’t make too many casseroles at all, but there’s no reason I couldn’t get behind one of life’s favorite food groups. You’ve got your tuna, your cream of mushroom soup, your noodles and if you really want to get crazy, your peas. Let’s just say I got crazy.

The only thing I would switch is that I think I would have preferred potato chips on top instead of the breadcrumbs. In fact I know I would have preferred it but too late now. That didn’t mean I didn’t attempt to eat the whole thing it’s just that potato chips just make a casserole you know what I’m saying?

Okay, now off you go – start bitchin’ in that kitchen!

Tuna Casserole – serving amount not listed but depending on your mood, this could well be a serving for one!
2 cups cooked noodles, egg or fusilli or what’s in the cabinet
1 6-ounce can tuna, drained and flaked
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Optional: 1 cup frozen peas (this may scare some of you)
1 tablespoon butter (for the topping)
3 tablespoons dry bread crumbs (for the topping)

Put the noodles, tuna, soup and peas into a buttered 1 ½-quart casserole dish and bake at 400 for 25 minutes. Top with the topping (or potato chips). To make the topping: in a saucepan, melt the butter and add crumbs, browning them. Sprinkle on top of casserole. Serve it up!

"Perfect Cakes" - Blueberry Crumb Cake

Date I made this recipe: March 1, 2011

Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri – author of Cookies Unlimited, Chocolate, and How to Bake
Published by: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 0-06-019879-6
Recipe: Blueberry Crumb Cake – p. 62

When I was a kid, my mom read to me and my brother from this wonderful story book that has since gone AWOL in my parent’s house. (Drats!) One of the stories was about a little boy who complained to his mom that he was tired of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and wanted something else in his lunchbox. His mother then read off a long (and I mean long) list of sandwich options: egg salad, tuna salad, ham, ham and cheese and on and on and on. And after all that, the kid opted to return to the simplest sandwich of all: peanut butter and jelly.

My husband’s birthday is today, Tuesday, and on Sunday night, I handed him this cookbook and said “See if there’s something in there you like.”

Of course I had several options in mind: anything chocolate would do, most of the layer cakes would do and I was particularly salivating over a Coconut-Raspberry Layer Cake (p. 201) but it was not my birthday and so what I wanted didn’t matter. And so alas, those yummy recipes were left in the dust when he opted for the very simple, very easy Blueberry Crumb Cake.

Thinking back, I should have seen this coming. Andy loves fruit and is especially good at making fruit pies and so like the little boy in the story, he returned to the simplest recipe in the book and there it was. Might I just say that after I got over my disappointment, I was relieved that I didn’t have to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen?

And so I baked this crumb cake using Chilean blueberries (because you sure can’t find them at this time of year in Minnesota…or really anywhere in the continental United States) and had the whole thing ready when he came home from work. And for one second, he really was like a little kid in a candy store: “Oh. I didn’t think you’d make it this quickly.”

Well dude, it is your birthday after all! Of course I had it ready for you. Duh….

Not only is this cake a snap to make but it’s really good. And every day is somebody’s birthday so even if it isn’t yours go ahead and make it anyway. Any excuse for a party….

Blueberry Crumb Cake – about 24 servings

Cake Batter
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups (1 ½ pint baskets) blueberries, rinsed, picked over, and dried

Crumb topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I did not have the time or inclination to hunt down a fresh nutmeg pod so I went with dried nutmeg and used a little less than ¼ teaspoon)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

One 9 x 13 x2-inch baking pan, lined with buttered foil.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, mixing well.

In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, beat the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until soft and light. One at a time, beat the eggs, beating until smooth after each addition. (Note: sometimes I just really need to pay more attention to instructions. I saw the command “beat the eggs” and added all the eggs – 2 whole eggs and 2 yolks. And then of course I saw the next command below: “Add the yolks.” I’m happy to report that nothing bad happened. But just so you know, when it says “beat the eggs,” it means “beat just the whole eggs and nothing but the whole eggs.)

Beat in the vanilla.

Decrease the mixer speed to low. Add half the flour mixture, then scrape down the bowl and beater with a rubber spatula. Add the yolks and mix well. Finally, add the remaining flour mixture.

Use a large rubber spatula to give a final stir to the batter, then scrape it into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Scatter the blueberries evenly over the batter (don’t press them in).

To make the crumb topping, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and rub to coarse crumbs with your fingers. Scatter the crumbs as evenly as possible over the berries.

Bake for about 40 minutes, until the cake is firm and the crumbs are well colored.

Cool the cake in the pan on a rack then cut into 2-inch squares.

Serving: this is casual food—it can be served on a plate or eaten out of hand.

Storage: keep at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap.

Variations
Cherry Crumb Cake: substitute 3 cups (1 ½ pounds) pitted sour cherries for blueberries.

Apricot Crumb Cake: substitute about 16 medium apricots, rinsed, pitted, and quartered, for the blueberries. Arrange the quarters in rows, cut side up, on the batter.

Peach crumb cake: substitute 3 cups peeled, pitted and diced peaches for the blueberries.

Ann’s Note: If you are making this recipe in the winter when fruit is not in season, don’t forget to check the freezer section of your local grocery store!