"The Underground Gourmet Cookbook" - Split Pea Soup

Date I made this recipe: November 5, 2007

The Underground Gourmet Cookbook by Milton Glaser and Jerome Snyder, edited by Joyce Zonana
Published by: Simon and Schuster
© 1975
Recipe: Split Pea Soup – p. 236

Sometimes the cover of the book is what sells it. In this case, it was the men in plainclothes (one in sunglasses - love it!), looking suspiciously like CIA operatives, standing amongst some of the chefs featured in this book that did it for me. Indeed, the subtitle of this book is “Over 250 Exciting Recipes for the Home Cook from the Best Inexpensive Ethnic Restaurants Discovered by Milton Glaser & Jerome Snyder)." I couldn’t have said it better myself!

Just out of curiosity on this cold, windy and (can you believe it?) snowy day in Minneapolis (not even enough for ground cover but enough in the air to depress the heck out of me), I hit the internet to see how many of the 72 restaurants listed in this book are still in business and to my surprise, 10 are still standing. That’s not too bad considering the often short life of restaurants, the fact that New York City in particular chews them up and spits them out and the book was written 32 years ago.

Sadly, the restaurant that produced my Split Pea Soup, La Potagerie, formerly located at 554 Fifth Avenue in New York, was not one of the survivors despite the fact that Jacques Pepin was once the executive chef. But leave it to a Frenchman to come up with a very tasty split pea soup, just right for a cold day. La Potagerie may not be around but pea soup lives forever!

Split Pea Soup – Serves 8 to 10
¾ pound bacon, chopped coarsely
1 ½ pounds split peas
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced onions
2 10 ¾ ounce cans each of condensed or concentrated beef broth and chicken broth (I used only chicken since I had it on hand)
2 leeks, sliced
1 tablespoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon thyme leaves
2 tablespoons grated horseradish

Place half of bacon in a baking tray and brown in the oven.

Place peas, potatoes, onions, celery, broth, leeks, salt, pepper, thyme and remaining bacon in a kettle. Add enough water to reach approximately 1 ½ inches above the ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2/1 hours. Add water if the liquid evaporates too quickly. Mix every 10 minutes with a whisk to avoid scorching.

When the soup is cooked, whip with the whisk or use an electric beater to break down the potatoes and peas into smooth soup. Add the browned bacon and cook another 10 minutes. Add the horseradish.

To serve, garnish each bowl with 1 tablespoon each of chopped celery and grated Swiss cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

"La Comida Del Barrio" by Aaron Sanchez -Sopes de chorizo and potato filling (corn tarts wtih sausage and potato filling)

Date I made this recipe: November 4, 2007

La Comida Del Barrio – Latin-American cooking in the U.S.A. by Aaron Sanchez
Published by: Clarkson Potter/Publishers
ISBN – 0-609-61075-9
Recipe: Sopes de chorizo and potato filling – p. 91

Once upon a time there were a few cooking shows of note: Julia Child and Graham Kerr (The Galloping Gourmet) are the top two that I remember. And then it seemed like TV cooking shows fell into a vast wasteland until the likes of Emeril, Mario (Batali) and Bobby Flay came along on one of the greatest inventions since sliced bread—Food Network. http://www.foodnetwork.com/

I have waxed poetic about this channel before but every year, I find myself taping more and more shows off this channel and less and less off the network. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that I’m deeply interested in all that is food. And it doesn’t hurt that the Food Network, sensing a gold mine, cranks out numerous books containing the selected sticker “As seen on Food Network.” I do not have the complete collection offered by the Food Network but I’m coming close.

Aaron Sanchez, today’s featured cookbook author, is one of the “As seen” celebrities. But I hate to report that until recently, he wasn’t seen by me. Somehow, and I know you’ll be shocked I missed his show Melting Pot…as seen on the Food Network. Missed it, didn’t even know it existed…how could that be? Lo siento, Aaron, lo siento. (I’m sorry).

Well, I might have missed him on his own show, but one day while watching Iron Chef America, he appeared as a contestant and I was intrigued. I can’t recall whether or not he won (and note to the Food Network: you sure don’t make it easy for me to research this!) but before you knew it, he was one of eight contestants on The Next Iron Chef (America) that is currently playing on the Food Network (and is down to the final two – John Besh v. Michael Symon). Although he was eliminated in week 4, I still enjoyed watching him, and the rest of the chefs (including two women) duke it out week after week.

Lucky for you and me, we are not in contention for a spot of a popular TV show nor do we have to prove our culinary talents by making the best airline cuisine ever. (I’m sorry but “excellent,” “airline” and “cuisine” are three words that do not belong together. Ever.) Instead, you simply have to wield a knife and work a frying pan. How hard can that be?

For those of you who have the cookbook, you’ll note that the chorizo (spicy Mexican sausage) and potato filling recipe listed below is meant to fill a Mexican dish called Sopes which means corn tarts. Sopes are basically little corn flour boats, similar to tortillas that contain all kinds of fillings. I would have loved to have made Sopes except for the fact that it called for Masa Harina (corn flour) that was only available where I lived in four-pound bags and I feared that the flour would sit and sit and sit after being used just once and I hate to waste food like that. So, my husband put his filling in some left-over tortillas we had and I ate mine plain. It’s my blog and I can bend the rules if I want too!

I think you’ll really enjoy this filling and can even, as Aaron suggests in the cookbook, use it to accompany your eggs in the morning to add a little zip to your breakfast. Ole’!

Sopes de chorizo and potato filling – Makes 1 quart
2 Idaho potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 pound Spanish chorizo sausage (about 4 links), diced small
1 medium white onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, cored and diced
1 yellow bell pepper, cored and diced
1 green bell pepper, cored and diced
1 cup Chicken Broth
1 scallion, white and green parts, chopped
½ cup chopped cilantro
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Put the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water; add the salt and bring to a boil, uncovered. Simmer until fork-tender, about 15 minutes. (Note: I used the microwave and cooked them for about 4 minutes).

Meanwhile, coat a large skillet with the oil and heat over a medium flame. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, until the sausage renders its fat and gets crispy. Add the onion, garlic, and all the peppers. Cook for 8 minutes, until the vegetables soften. Pour in the broth and simmer for 3 minutes. Drain the tender potatoes and add them to the pan, along with the scallions and cilantro. Cook for 3 more minutes to reduce the liquid, then season with salt and pepper to taste.

Notes: Okay, if you’re like me, you’re tired of putting a vegetable in the crisper only to forget about it until months have gone by which time it – whatever it was – has turned into something that you don’t want to deal with. And so for this reason, as well as cost, I skipped buying a scallion and instead of cilantro, I used about a teaspoon of dried coriander. The recipe seemed to work out just fine.

"Rodney Dangerfield's 'I Couldn't Stand My Wife's Cooking, So I Opened a Restaurant'" & "Morey Amsterdam's Benny Cooker Crock Book for Drinkers"

Date I made these recipes: October 21, 2007

Rodney Dangerfield’s “I Couldn’t Stand My Wife’s Cooking, So I Opened a Restaurant!!” – Respectable Recipes Spiced with Humor by Rodney Dangerfield
© 1972
Published by: Jonathan David Publishers
Recipe: Whiskey Wafers – p. 171

Morey Amsterdam’s Benny Cooker Crock Book for Drinkers by Morey Amsterdam
© 1977
Published by: Henry Regnery Company
Recipe: Chicken au Grand Mariner – p. 53-54

Well who knew that out of 800 or so cookbooks, two of them would be written by comedians. Everybody wants to get in the cooking act!

Depending on how old you are, you will either know Rodney Dangerfield from seeing him on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson delivering his famous line “I don’t get no respect” or you know him from movies such as Caddyshack or Back to School, both favorite movies of the younger set in the 80’s. At one point, Rodney really did open up a restaurant/comedy club although who knows if it was really because he couldn’t stand his wife’s cooking.

And then there’s Morey Amsterdam. Fans of the Dick Van Dyke Show will know him as the hilariously funny Buddy Sorrell. When he, Dick and Sally (played by Rose Marie) got going that show really cooked with Crisco! Some might remember Morey and Rose Marie appearing on Hollywood Squares together after the Dick Van Dyke show ended in 1966 where they were just as funny as when they were on a TV sitcom.

Oddly enough, both recipes selected contained alcohol. While every recipe in Morey’s book contained alcohol, not all of Rodney’s did but it was just by chance that I decided to make the incredibly delicious Whiskey Wafers. Okay, maybe the booze is what attracted me to the recipe in the first place…but still…. Both books also contained a ton of jokes and it would be remiss of me not to include a couple from the masters of comedy. Don’t groan—some of them are somewhat dated – but they’re a nice compliment to the recipes, which were mighty tasty if I do say so myself…hic! (Kidding!)

From Morey’s book: “Judge: I hope you understand that you are here for drinking. Defendant: Okay, Judge. Get the bottle and let’s get started.” (I’m an attorney and I can assure you that somebody somewhere has probably said the exact thing to a judge. Don’t get me started….)

From Morey’s book: “Doctor: I can’t find anything wrong with you, Mr. Jones. It must be due to drinking. Boozer: Okay, Doc, I’ll come back when you’re sober.”

From Rodney’s book: “I’ll tell you again, I don’t like fancy restaurants! The other day I tried a new restaurant. It looked kind of homey. It was called: YEE OLDE COFFEE SHOPPEE. I said to the waitress, “Do you know what I WANTEE?”

From Rodney’s book: “I’ve always been unlucky in any kind of restaurant. I remember one night I had dinner in a restaurant and some guy stole my wallet. I came home and told my wife. I said to her, “I was in a restaurant and some guy stole my wallet. I’m depressed!” She said, “That makes two of you. You and the guy who found it!”

Whiskey Wafers - makes about a dozen wafers
1/2 cup molasses (unsulfured)
½ cup butter
1 ½ cups cake flour
Dash of salt
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ginger
½ jigger whiskey

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Stir butter into heated molasses (boiling point) and mix until butter is melted. Combine flour, salt, sugar and ginger and add gradually. Add whiskey and mix thoroughly. Spoon out small amounts onto greased cookie sheet, allowing 3 inches between each. Bake about 10 minutes.

Notes: these ended up being more like a candy than a cookie. Also, when they say allow 3 inches between each one, they mean it! I didn’t leave enough space and ended up with one great big wafer at the end.

Chicken au Grand Marnier – Serves 4
1 disjointed frying chicken 2 ½ to 3 pounds
½ cup orange sections
½ cup Grand Marnier
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1 ½ cup large sliced frozen peaches
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon basil
1 clove chopped garlic
½ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
½ tablespoon vegetable shortening

Combine in a saucepan orange sections, Grand Mariner, sugar, peaches, vinegar, nutmeg, basil and garlic. Cook slowly about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile roll chicken in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, and brown in vegetable shortening in a heavy skillet. Remove chicken from skillet. Pour off the shortening retaining the residue in the bottom.

Return chicken to the skillet and add contents of saucepan. Cover and simmer about 25 minutes.

"The 'I Love Lucy' Cookbook" - Hotel Royale Steak au Poivre

Date I made this recipe: September 30, 2007

The “I Love Lucy” Cookbook by Sarah Key, Vicki Wells and Jennifer Newman Brazil
Published by: Abbeville Press Publishers
ISBN: 1-55859-855-3
© 1994
Recipe: Hotel Royale Steak au Poivre – p. 8

Three weeks ago on September 16, 2007, the 59th Emmy Awards were broadcast. I intended to make this dish that evening but one thing led to another and well, I made it this past weekend. We were busy on Emmy weekend, the following weekend we were in Lambeau Field watching my Packers play (!) and so it fell to this weekend to make the dish.

Although I watched the broadcast, I can tell you very few names of those who won, seeing as how I tend to watch more cable than network TV. But if asked, I can bore you to tears with scenes and lines of my favorite comedy show of all time, I Love Lucy.

I Love Lucy premiered in 1951 and in 1952 received its first nomination for Best Situation Comedy. It didn’t win that year but won in 1953 and 1954. Lucille Ball won Best Comedienne of 1953, which is equivalent to today’s Best Actress-Comedy, as well as Best Actress-Continuing Performance of 1956, and Vivian Vance who played Ethel Mertz won Best Supporting Actress in 1954.

This cookbook, which really isn’t a cookbook per se as a walk down memory lane of the show, contains some quotes that are just hilarious. On page 45, for instance, the authors have a quote from one of my all-time favorite episodes – Lucy Does a TV Commercial. In the episode, Lucy has to demonstrate Vitameatavegamin, an health syrup that is loaded with alcohol, such that she becomes quite drunk the longer the demonstration goes on:

“and get a great big bottle of Mightameatamigamin. Remember that name, Mightavatameatymat.”

But my favorite line from that episode was: “Are you unpoopular? Do you pop out at parties?” when she should have said “Are you unpopular? Do you poop out at parties?” Ah, poor Lucy—so close to making it in show business and yet so far.

To this day, I record I Love Lucy episodes on TV Land and still howl with laughter at most of them such as “The Operetta;” “The Indian Show; “Equal Rights;” Lucy Learns to Drive (“Who knew you couldn’t make a U-turn in the Holland Tunnel?”); Lucy’s Mother-in-Law (where she pantomimes that they’re having chicken and rice for dinner to Ricky’s Cuban mother who doesn’t speak English) and Ethel’s Home Town (“Ethel Mae Potter, we never forgot her”), just to name a few.

This recipe is meant to compliment the episodes where Ricky, Lucy, Fred and Ethel went to Europe on a band tour. Of course they stopped in Paris and of course, the episodes were hilarious. This recipe, however, is pretty staid and typical of what you’d find in a French bistro. My only caution is to not over-poivre (pepper) the thing. I can only imagine what Lucy would have done with that!

Hotel Royale Steak au Poivre – makes 4 servings

2 tablespoons cracked black peppercorns (see note below)
4 boneless strip steaks (8 ounces) trimmed of all fat
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons minced shallots
2/3 cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cognac
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Note: we cut the recipe in half as two steaks cost about $22. The sauce seemed to work fine cut in half.

Spread cracked pepper on a plate. Press pepper into both sides of each steak. Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil. Saute steaks in hot oil over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes on each side, until cooked to desired doneness. Remove steaks to a warm serving platter and discard any oil in the pan. Add the remaining tablespoons oil to pan with shallots. Saute over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Add cream and salt. Cook for 2 minutes. Add cognac and thyme sprigs. Continue to simmer over medium heat for another 1 to 2 minutes. Add vinegar and adjust seasoning. Pour sauce over steaks. Garnish with whole peppercorns and sprigs of thyme if desired. Traditionally, steak au poivre is served with potatoes and watercress.

Note: To crack pepper, spread whole peppercorns on work surface. Press with the bottom of a heavy pan until peppercorns are crushed. Precracked pepper is also available.

Ann’s Notes: Be very careful that your pan doesn’t get too hot and the steak doesn’t stick. This happened to me and so when I flipped the steaks after 4 minutes on one side, I cooked them for 2 minutes instead of an additional four so as not to have them be too crusty. I like my steaks medium rare and they came out perfect.

Also, although the recipe calls for adding the shallots to the pan along with the remaining oil, I used a clean pan; the browned bits didn’t scrape up very well and I didn’t want my shallots to end up as one brown glob. But it’s your call and if you don’t get the pan too hot (although I swear mine was on medium-high), you might be just fine.

"The Chicago Daily News Cook Book" & "The New York Times Cook Book" (Claiborne) - Spanish Omelet two ways

Date I made these recipes: September 8, 2007

The Chicago Daily News Cook Book by Edith G. Shuck, Home Economics Expert for The Chicago Daily News and Editor of Cookery and Dr. Herman N. Bundesen, Health Editor of The Chicago Daily News and Editor of Special Dietetics
Published by: The Chicago Daily News (Note: This book cost one whole dollar back in 1930. Sounds expensive for back then!)
© 1930
Recipe: Spanish Omelet – p. 111

The New York Times Cook Book edited by Craig Claiborne
Published by Harper& Row
© 1961
Recipe: Spanish Omelet – p. 306

This is a tale of two cities, a tale of two omelets.

For those of you who watch The Food Network on cable, think of this blog posting as Iron Chef America meets Throwdown with Bobby Flay.

The popular show Iron Chef America pits an Iron Chef (either Bobby Flay, Mario Battali, Masaharu Morimoto or Cat Cora) against a challenger who is always a professional chef, usually the executive chef or owner of a restaurant. Each week, The Chairman decides on a secret ingredient that they have to use in all of their recipes, for example Battle Citrus, Battle Pork, Battle Peppers, etc. After giving the contestants a few minutes to think through their dishes and what they’re going to make, The Chairman yells “Let the battle begin!” (And yes, he’s called The Chairman. The Chairman ran the original Iron Chef TV show in Japan and now his nephew is The Chairman of the American version. I have no idea why The Chairman is named The Chairman—it just is what it is. I don’t make the rules!)

Throwdown with Bobby Flay pits Bobby Flay (also an Iron Chef) against an average Joe or Jane who just happens to make the country’s best: ice cream, wedding cake, Cuban pork, clam chowder, etc. Bobby gets the dirt on these people and their recipes and then comes up with a version he thinks will sway the guest judges. He often loses and as much as I like Bobby Flay (he grew on me), I love that fact that the “little guy” often prevails. It is only fitting and proper that this be so.

And so, dear reader, this week was Battle Newspaper combined with a Spanish Omelet Throwdown. On the one hand, we had the Chicago Daily News Cook Book, published in 1930 by the Chicago Daily News (now defunct). On the other hand we had The New York Times Cook Book published in 1961. This was Battle Newspaper at its best. And then we had Mrs. C.W. Scheef who submitted the Chicago Daily News’ Spanish Omelet recipe against that of the venerable Craig Claiborne, editor (and former food critic) of The New York Times. Although it was not exactly a fair fight, Mrs. C.W. Scheef certainly held her own.

These recipes were different enough that it really did feel like a Throwdown. Mrs. Scheef’s was more in line with how I imagined a Spanish omelet would taste which is to say, a nice mix of vegetables (onion and tomato) with celery coming in through the use of celery salt. Back in 1930, they probably didn’t get too wild with the ingredients.

Craig’s was definitely lighter in taste and seemed like something I would find in any restaurant today. It is also loaded with herbs. I passed on the saffron, though, as it’s so expensive and I use it so little, but if you wanted to stay true to the recipe, knock yourself out and buy some. (By the way, if I wrote my blog according to The New York Times standards, I would refer to Craig as Mr. Claiborne but it’s my blog and I’ll call him what I want to!)

So we didn’t have a camera crew and nobody was chewing their fingernails over the results but I’d say this Battle was quite enjoyable. And as the sole judge and jury, I’m going to declare it a draw. It would break my heart to tell Mrs. C.W. Scheef that she had to pack up her knives and go home. Oh wait, that’s another show……

Spanish Omelet (Mrs. C.W. Scheef)
1 tablespoon fat
1 teaspoon chopped onion
½ tablespoon flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup tomatoes
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon chopped green pepper
3 chopped mushrooms
¼ teaspoon celery salt

Note: the recipe actually included how to make the omelet but the New York Times recipe was for the filling only. So I made just a generic omelet and called it a day, seeing as how the filling was really what I was interested in.

Also note that she doesn’t say how many this serves but it sounds like you use 6 eggs to make one omelet. We made one, three-egg omelet and the filling was sufficient for that.

Melt the tablespoon of fat and add [the] green pepper, onion and mushrooms. Cook slowly for 3 minutes. Add flour, celery salt, remaining salt and pepper. Mix well. Add tomatoes and simmer gently until thick.

Spanish Omelet (Craig Claiborne) – 6 servings
6 fresh tomatoes
3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 leek, chopped
½ bulb fennel, chopped, or ½ teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
1 clove garlic, minced
3 sprigs parsley, chopped
1 clove
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon oregano
½ bay leaf
Pinch of saffron
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peel the tomatoes, cut in half and gently press out the seeds and liquid. Chop the tomatoes.

Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion, green pepper, celery, leek, fennel, garlic and parsley. Saute five minutes. Add the tomatoes and season with the clove, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, saffron and salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer the mixture gently until the vegetables are tender, about ten minutes. Discard the clove and bay leaf. Use to fill and garnish six three-egg omelets.

"Prairie Avenue Cookbook" & "Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen" - Green Corn Pudding and Seared Zucchini with Roasted Tomato, Chipotle and Chorizo

Date I made these recipes: September 3, 2007

Prairie Avenue Cookbook – Recipes and Recollections from Prominent 19th-Century Chicago Families by Carol Callahan
Published by: Southern Illinois University Press
ISBN: 0-8093-1815-6
© 1993
Recipe: Green Corn Pudding (Harvey Family Recipe) – p. 116

Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen – Capturing the Vibrant Flavors of a World-Class Cuisine by Rick Bayless with Deann Groen Bayless and JeanMarie Brownson
Published by: Scribner
ISBN: 0-684-800006-3
© 1996
Recipe: Seared Zucchini with Roasted Tomato, Chipotle and Chorizo (Tinga de Calabacitas) – p. 216-217

“My kind of town, Chicago is, my kind of town, Chicago is…”

The weekend before Labor Day, my husband and I went on our annual road trip to Chicago to visit some friends who live in the Chicago suburb of Mt. Prospect. Our friends have always been gracious enough to line up an activity or two in the city itself over the weekend and when not exploring the sights, we feast on great Chicago food.

This time around, we feasted a little bit more than usual because they were without power from Thursday of that week until Sunday night after we left. It is not for nothing that Chicago is nicknamed “The Windy City.” A big storm pretty much knocked over every other tree in Mt. Prospect and adjoining suburbs, taking power lines down as they went, flooding basements and creating general havoc in the area. Businesses were down for days, people made do without electricity and generators could be heard all over the neighborhood. It really looked like a war zone when we drove up.

But even though our friends said they’d understand if we backed out, we were not deterred as a good time is usually had by all. I considered it to be an urban camping experience—the only kind of camping I like—as the only hardship was bringing a flashlight into the bathroom morning, noon and night.

Our pattern quickly became this: eat breakfast out, spend the entire day outside, spend a happy hour inside by candlelight and then once the sun set, break for a restaurant to wine and dine in air-conditioned splendor. Not a bad way to go.

And so in honor of our adventure, I pulled out my Chicago-related cookbooks. I have three, but am reserving the third one for another blog as it was hard to find a recipe to fit in with my selections for this week.

The first book I pulled off the shelf is the Prairie Avenue Cookbook, purchased years ago on another Chicago adventure. Out of all the recipes, the corn pudding recipe caught my eye as summer is now waning and I wanted to imbibe some sweet corn before it was too late.

The second book is Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen. After all these years of visiting Chicago, I hate to say that I’ve never eaten in either of Rick’s restaurants, Frontera Grill or Topolobampo, but there it is. One only has so much time but they’re on my list.

Although a friend gave me Rick’s book years ago, I had yet to make anything from it. Tonight, Mexican food seemed like a good thing to have with the corn pudding and so down off the shelf it came. But I have to tell you folks, finding a recipe that wouldn’t scorch the skin off the roof of my mouth was challenging. As it is, I thought the recipe was slightly on the hot side whereas my husband thought it was perfect. He definitely tolerates spice better than I but then again, he misses a lot of the nuances that I pick up. He also loved the corn pudding whereas I thought it was a bit too sweet. So he gave the recipes two thumbs up whereas I gave it one and a half thumbs, sort of along the lines of the famous movie reviewer duo from Chicago, Siskel and Ebert.

And so about the corn pudding…the recipe said 12 ears of corn nicely grated. (as opposed to not nicely grated or angrily grated??!) Hmmm…did they mean “grated” grated or “grated” grated?!! I wasn’t sure if they meant for me to just strip the corn off the cob or to actually grate it with a grater. I consulted Andy and we decided it mean strip the corn off the cob. And this, of course, was entirely the wrong conclusion! The dish was good but very watery and we could have avoided that problem had we grated the corn which would have stripped the water out of the cob before cooking. Oh well, live and learn.

As to the tinga, we visited one of the best Mexican markets in the Twin Cities, El Burrito Mercado, http://www.elburritomercado.com/home.htm to find the chorizo, the queso fresco and the chipotles…and some Mexican pastries…and some Mexican drinks…and… Well, you get the picture. El Burrito also has a cafeteria with such good food that it was tempting just to order takeout and call it a day.

El Burrito Mercado also has a fine selection of votive candles which we will likely pack the next time we plan a trip to the Windy City. Maybe next time, we’ll even eat out at one of Rick’s restaurants. In the meantime, enjoy a wonderful taste of Chicago food…via Mexico…and the 19th century!

(By the way, one of the restaurants we visited time was Twin Anchors, located at 1655 North Sedgwick Street in Chicago’s Old Town. It’s a Chicago institution as evidenced by the crowd packed shoulder to shoulder in every space available. And so danged if I didn’t open up the magazine section of The Chicago Tribune to find a review of the place the day after we ate there! Way too cosmic. Even more cosmic than that: when I went to the website, Frank Sinatra started singing “My kind of Town Chicago is.” Ol’ Blue Eyes must have been channeling me when I wrote this because I had no idea when I started writing this review that the song I quoted at the beginning “My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)” would be playing on the website. Coincidence? I think not!

Green Corn Pudding (Harvey Family recipe) – Makes 10 servings.

12 large ears of sweet corn nicely grated (6 cups grated corn)
1 ½ pints sweet milk (3 cups whole milk)
4 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar

The original recipe said: Bake slowly 2 hours. To be eaten without sauce. The author filled in the gaps: Modern Cooking Tip: The missing steps in preparation of this recipe are as follows: Mix all ingredients well and pour into buttered 3-quart mold. Place in a pan filled halfway up the side of the mold with warm water. Bake the pudding at 350 degrees for 2-2 ½ hours or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Puree the mixture in a blender if you prefer a smooth-textured pudding.

As I mentioned above, I thought the cup of sugar was overkill but perhaps it wouldn’t have been had we followed the directions to “nicely grate” the corn. Sometimes, what is written is what is meant!

Seared Zucchini with Roasted Tomato, Chipotle and Chorizo – Makes 3 cups, 6 servings as an appetizer or side dish, 4 servings as a small main course

Note: we happened to have some zucchini on hand that we wanted to use up but this can be made with any tender summer squash or 3-4 cups of any vegetable cut into small pieces.

For 1 cup essential quick-cooked tomato-chipotle sauce base
1 to 2 stemmed, dried chipotle chiles (or canned chipotle chiles en adobo)
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
12 ounces (2 medium-small round or 4 to 5 plum) ripe tomatoes (note: you can also use one 15-ounce can of tomatoes in place of the roasted ones)
Salt, about ¼ teaspoon

For the main dish
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
4 medium zucchini, chopped into 3/8-inch dice
1 medium white onion, sliced
½ cup (4 ounces) chorizo sausage, casing removed
1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
1/3 cup crumbled Mexican queso fresco, queso anejo, mild feta, pressed, salted farmer’s cheese or Parmesan

Making the sauce:
Toast the dried chipotles on an ungreased griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat, turning regularly and pressing flat with a spatula, until they fully release their aroma into the kitchen, about 30 seconds. In a small bowl, cover chiles with hot water and let rehydrate 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even soaking. Drain and discard the water. (Canned chiles need only be removed from their sauce. Note: although Rick doesn’t mention this, if using canned chiles and you want less heat, you may want to rinse the sauce from the chiles. But if you’re like my husband, keep the sauce and go full throttle!)

While the chiles are soaking, roast the unpeeled garlic on the griddle or skillet turning occasionally, until soft and blackened in spots, about 15 minutes; cool and peel. Roast the tomatoes on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler until blackened on one side, about 6 minutes, then flip and roast the other side. Cool, then peel, collecting all the juices.

In a food processor or blender, process the tomatoes, rehydrated or canned chiles and garlic until almost completely pureed (there should still be a little texture left to give the dish an attractive presentation). Taste and season with salt.

Finishing the dish:
Measure 1 tablespoon of the oil into a large (10- to 12-inch) heavy skillet and set over medium-high. When very hot, add the zucchini (the pieces should fit comfortably in a single layer), and stir regularly until nicely browned, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove to a plate, spreading them into a single layer to stop the cooking.

Return the skillet to the heat, adding the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, and scoop in the onion and chorizo. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is very soft and golden (and the chorizo is nearly cooked), about 7 minutes. Drain off all excess fat, and return the pan to the heat.

Add the tomato-chipotle sauce and the oregano, and stir for about 5 minutes as the sauce sears and thickens. Add the zucchini and heat through. Scoop into warm serving bowl, sprinkle with the cheese and your tinga is ready to eat.

"The Arthur Avenue Cookbook" (Volkwein) & "99 Ways to Cook Pasta" - Bocconcini Salad and Vermicelli alla Santa Lucia

Date I made these recipes: August 11, 2007

The Arthur Avenue Cookbook – Recipes and Memories from the Real Little Italy by Ann Volkwein. Foreword by Mario Batali
Published by ReganBooks
ISBN: 0-06-056715-5
© 2004
Recipe: Bocconcini Salad - p. 27

99 Ways to Cook Pasta by Flora and Robert Alda. Preface by Alan Alda
Published by: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.
ISNB: 0-02-500740-8
© 1980
Recipe: Vermicelli alla Santa Lucia – p. 54

As my friend Andrea would say: “Huh.” As in, “Huh, I thought these recipes would turn out better than they did.”

Let's start with tomato salad. After last week's very good but very heavy casserole, I was in the mood for something lighter, something Italian. (Contrary to popular belief, not all Italian food is heavy). So I grabbed The Arthur Avenue Cookbook because, well, it was staring right at me. While flipping through it, I came across the tomato recipe and then remembered my husband brought home some cherry tomatoes a couple of days earlier and so rather than make something a bit more interesting, I decided to make this very simple recipe. While there was nothing inherently wrong with the recipe, it didn't float my boat, either. Maybe it needed to sit a bit longer for the flavor (of fresh basil) to set in. But I also think that working with fresh mozzarella (Bocconcini are small mozzarella balls) is tricky. By itself, mozzarella can be rather bland. Cooked tomato sauce enhances it a great deal but just plain tomatoes? Not so much.

By the way, unless there are several Ann Volkwein’s who used to work for an online company, that, among other things, produced online restaurant review guides, I’ve met the author of this cookbook. Years ago, after I finished working on the Zagat Survey for Minneapolis and St. Paul, Ann contacted me to see if I would be interested in working on a similar project for the company she worked for. I said sure, signed the contract and even happened to be in New York shortly thereafter so I went to meet her and deliver it in person. And then, of course, everything changed and the project was no more. End of story. But Ann was very nice and I was glad to see her name on the cookbook. I’m also glad that a couple of years ago, some friends and I went to the Bronx, where Arthur Avenue is located to go to the Bronx Zoo and to check out the food finds there. We didn’t get to all the places Ann mentioned but it was fun to have a connection to the place.

So on to the next book by Robert and Flora Alda and our next recipe, Vermicelli alla Santa Lucia. Robert Alda was Alan Alda’s father. Alan Alda, as many of you know, was the star of the TV show, MASH as well as a cast member of The West Wing the last couple of seasons. His father, Robert, was a talented actor who starred on Broadway in, among other things, one of my favorite musicals, Guys and Dolls.

But despite this lineup of talent, I hate to report that the recipe just fell flat, as flat as a pancake. I suspect it was the tomatoes.

Unlike the very nice and juicy cherry tomatoes used in the Bocconcini Salad, this recipe called for Roma tomatoes. But people, let me tell you, just because it is now summer does not guarantee a nice, vine-ripened tomato. In fact, once I started slicing and dicing the tomatoes, I found just the opposite and was disappointed that they looked like winter tomatoes instead of ones becoming plump, tender and juicy under the summer sun.

I’m pretty convinced that had the tomatoes been ripe, they would have added considerable flavor to this dish. As it is, they added nothing.

And so it was up to the other main ingredient, the peppers, to take over, and they failed that task miserably. The recipe also called for the peppers to be julienned but cutting them that way made them harder to eat. I would definitely cut all slices in half.

None of the remaining ingredients, the cheese, the wine, the basil or the garlic picked up the slack and so while it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever eaten, it wasn’t something I would make again.

The Alda’s also called for Vermicelli pasta but I think that this recipe might have been better served by using rigatoni or something that could capture the sauce better than the vermicelli. By the way, the Alda’s also noted that in Italian, this recipe means “Little Worms” but I waited until now to tell you--who wants to see that when deciding which recipe to make?! (“Let’s see honey, how do you fee about little worms tonight?”) Ew.

Actually, I have no right to cringe. My last name, Verme, means “worm” in Italian, and Vermicelli means little worm. Now, most people, with the exception of my junior high classmates, do not get that connection and ask if it’s German or French or “What is it exactly?” But bless my classmates’ heart, they heard Verme (and it is pronounced with a silent “e”), turned it to Worm and so my junior high yearbooks are littered with salutations such as “To Worm, you’re a nice girl and you’ll go far” or “Worm, remember all the good times we had at camp.” Awww.

At any rate, little worms or not, if you make this, make sure you get the juiciest tomatoes available, perhaps play around with the seasonings and see if you can’t resurrect this dish from the “wouldn’t make it again” graveyard. Good luck.

Bocconcini Salad – Serves 4
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 pound bocconcini
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or basil
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Slice each of the cherry tomatoes in half and toss in a bowl with the Bocconcini, chopped herb, garlic, oil and salt and pepper. Serve on a platter garnished with herb leaves.

Note: you can substitute slices of mozzarella in this recipe if you can’t find Bocconcini.

Vermicelli alla Santa Lucia – serves 6 to 8
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, cut in half
2 cups plum tomatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (canned varieties are usually peeled)
4 bell peppers (preferably red or yellow or both), cut into julienne strips
1 tablespoons freshly grated Pecorino cheese (or Romano cheese)
½ cup dry white win
8 fresh basil leaves, chopped (or 1 tsp. dried)
1 ½ lb vermicelli (or spaghettini)
Freshly grated parmigiano cheese to taste (optional)

In a large skillet, heat the oil and sauté the garlic until golden brown, then discard. Allow the oil to cool a moment, then add the tomatoes and bring to a boil, lower the flame, cover and let simmer. Add the peppers and salt to the simmering sauce and continue cooking about 20 minutes. Mix in the cheese, wine and basil, cover and let simmer for three more minutes. Turn off the flame and let stand.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and pour into warmed serving bowl. Cover with the sauce and gently toss. Serve in warmed soup dishes or bowls.

"Joyce Lamont's Favorite Recipes" (Minneapolis radio reporter) - Chicken-Wild Rice Casserole Supreme

Joyce Lamont’s Favorite Recipes by Joyce Lamont; edited by Carol Jackson, Home Economist (Note: Joyce Lamont was a broadcaster with WCCO Radio, a local Minneapolis station)

Published by: Meyers Printing Company, Minneapolis, MN
©1979

Recipe: Chicken-Wild Rice Casserole Supreme – p. 64


When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

When life hands you a catastrophe, make comfort food.

According to the newspapers, after 9/11 people wanted comfort food. If they couldn’t have mama, then they wanted the comfort of mama’s favorite recipes to soothe their tattered and shattered hearts.

After the I-35W Bridge fell last week in Minneapolis, I too, wanted comfort food.

My husband and I live a couple miles away from that bridge and while we didn’t drive over it too often, we did drive underneath it on the River Parkway at least a couple times a week. The parkway was our little shortcut from downtown Minneapolis to our home, just across the river in southeast Minneapolis. My husband also biked on a bike path on the opposite side of the river under the same bridge. It was unnerving, to say the least, to think that we could have been driving or riding along as sweet as you please, when the bridge came down.

And so to pull my rattled self back together, I pulled out my “Minnesota” cookbooks to find just the right thing to soothe the soul. And find it I did.

This recipe represents Minnesota comfort food at its best: a casserole, containing two cans of cream of “something” soup (like it matters what kind it is!), sausage and chicken (because why stop at one type of meat?) and Minnesota wild rice.

Although it’s called rice, wild rice is really a grass, not a grain. When it cooks, though, it looks like rice so that’s probably why it was named such. The Ojibway Indians (sometimes referred to as Chippewa) have harvested this product for centuries and it is a popular item on many a Minnesota menu. Minnesota wild rice is the main ingredient in Byerly’s Wild Rice Soup, a soup which Minnesotans gulp down by the gallon, spring, summer, winter, and fall.

Speaking of gallons, the first thing you do when making this recipe is to basically make a chicken soup and then use that broth to cook the wild rice. Even though three cups of broth were used to cook the rice, I had plenty left over for a couple of bowls of chicken soup in the future. The chicken is then used in the casserole itself. Nothing goes to waste in this town!

Thankfully, the day I made this dish, the temperature finally dropped to around 75, much more comfortable than the searing 90 degrees experienced the week before and so turning on the oven to cook the casserole wasn’t an exercise in torture. But I’m not sure it would have mattered—when life hands you a catastrophe, make a Minnesota casserole.

Chicken-Wild Rice Casserole Supreme – serves 8-10
For the chicken broth
1 3-to-4 pound broiler-fryer, cut up
1 carrot, sliced
1 cup celery, sliced including tops
1 small onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, mashed
6 peppercorns
2 teaspoons salt
For the casserole
1 cup wild rice
1 pound seasoned pork sausage
1 cup fresh or 1 cup drained canned mushrooms
1 cup diced onion
2 tablespoons butter
1 10 ¾ ounce can cream of chicken soup
1 10 ¾ ounce can condensed cream of celery soup
1/3 cup milk or 1/3 cup dry sherry
¼ cup diced pimiento
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon EACH oregano, thyme and marjoram
½ cup sliced almonds

Put chicken pieces in a heavy saucepan. Add water to cover, and the sliced carrot, celery, onion, garlic, peppercorns and salt. Bring to a boil; then reduce heat and let chicken simmer until it is tender. Drain, reserving stock.

A couple of notes: I did not add the 2 teaspoons salt this part of the recipe called for nor did I add a full ½ teaspoon of salt to the casserole because the soups contained a lot of salt and I didn’t feel the need for any more. Also, Joyce doesn’t say how long to cook the chicken but “until tender” seemed to take at least an hour, particularly since the chicken breasts I bought in a chicken packet were huge. You’ll have to keep checking to make sure all parts are done.

Let chicken pieces cool, the strip the cooked meat from the bones and cube it.

Grease a 2 ½ - 3 quart casserole. Set aside. Cook wild rice (according to the package), using chicken stock in place of water. Note that the rice I bought had instructions for how much broth and/or water to use – nice!

Brown pork sausage in a skillet.

In melted butter, sauté mushrooms and onion.

In the casserole, mix the soups, milk (or sherry), pimiento, salt and spices. Stir in the cubed chicken, browned sausage, cooked wild rice, sautéed mushrooms and onions. Top with almonds.

Cover the casserole. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cover for the last 10 minutes of cooking time.