"The Beautiful You" by Mary Kay (cosmetics) consultants & "A Taste of Texas" - Cheese Spoon Bread and Spanish Pork Chops

Date I made these recipes: December 14, 2008

“The Beautiful You” Cookbook – a collection of personal recipes from Mary Kay consultants and directors by Mary Kay
Published by: Mary Kay Consultants/Communicative Arts Group
© 1980
Recipe: Cheese Spoon Bread submitted by Connie Hyde – p.32

A Taste of Texas – A Cookbook, edited by Jane Trahey; compiled for Neiman-Marcus by Marihelen McDuff
Published by: Random House
© 1949
Recipe: Spanish Pork Chops submitted by Mrs. Byron Nelson; Fairway Ranch, Roanoke, Texas– p. 125

People, every once in a while, I get lucky and get someone to work with who is a real panic. This year, it is Sarah F. who just brightens up my day on this miserable project I’ve been working on for the last seven months.

Prior to this gig, who knew that banquet tables, otherwise reserved for uh, banquets, could be used as a workspace? Without going into the gory details, Sarah, I and nineteen other attorneys have been working on a litigation project for a law firm and we sit two to a banquet table on an otherwise empty floor of the building in which the firm is located. Our table partners changed frequently due to the constant rearrangement of the deck chairs by “management” (the attorneys on staff at the firm) and eventually Sarah ended up sitting at a table behind me, initially with Mike as a seat partner but then with Sue.

So anyway, Sarah is a hoot and a half. She’s originally from Texas and therefore was unaware of some Minnesota’s famous State Fair personalities, namely, Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Princess Kay is the fake name of the princess named by the Dairy Association to represent the association at the fair and at other events. “PK” and her court have their likenesses sculpted in butter each year by a butter sculptor in a large refrigerated windowed-booth (that rotates) in the Dairy Building. PK and court sit in this booth for hours in a snowmobile suit and then afterwards they usually bring their likeness home to be stored forevermore (or until the first big corn roast—I’m not kidding) in the family freezer. You have to be there. Anyway, Sarah screwed up the name and called her Mary Kay of the Milky Way, to which Mike, her tablemate, chimed in “Can I interest you in some dairy-based makeup products?” I laughed on and off for at least half the day.

But people, what are the odds of this—two weeks before the famous Mary Kay of the Milky Way comment, I was surfing Old Cookbooks.com (http://www.oldcookbooks.com/) and there it was—“The Beautiful You” Cookbook, written in 1980 by a group of Mary Kay consultants! And so I put that on my “buy” list for a future date but after Sarah’s comments I just had purchase it right then and there and so that’s how one of the recipes came to end up on this blog (Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics is from Texas – how fitting!).

So anyway, even though she’s been living her quite some time, Sarah still longs for the openness of Texas (whereas my motto in life – honest to god -- is “Nature is not your friend) and one day talked about squirrel hunting with her daddy and then she moved on to the squirrels in her yard and then mentioned that she even had “huffing squirrels.”

Well, it’s not for nothing that I am the daughter of a wildlife biologist and so I thought she was talking about a new breed of squirrels. But no, she told the tale of how the squirrels in her yard chewed through her gas cap and got high by “huffing” (sniffing) the fumes.

Well, my table-mate, Jen, and I started laughing and then riffed about this new gang of squirrels, complete with acorn tattoos, small leather jackets and cigs hanging out of their mouths hanging out around her yard and we were all quite entertained.

But then I started thinking about these squirrels and wondering how the hell they got the gas cap off her car when there’s usually a metal plate over it and she said (in her best Texas accent) “Oh my God, no! Can you imagine? I can just see rounding the corner in my car with a damned squirrel hanging off it. No, I was talking about my lawnmower gas cap (who knew?)! But at the price of gas these days, I’d shoot those ‘sums’ of bitches before I’d let them get at my gas again.”

My stomach still hurts from that one. The other day to add to the hilarity, she brought in a photo of a squirrel from her yard to which she added, via Paint, a jacket, eye patch, acorn tattoo and a sign that said “Born to Huff.” We about died.

Now don’t be disappointed but there weren’t any squirrel recipes in the other cookbook I used, A Taste of Texas, nor, to my surprise, were there a lot of beef recipes (I guess the Texas saying “all hat, no cattle” is really true– hahaha!) so I made do with a pork chop recipe.

Both recipes were really good so y’all get ready to do some fine eat’n. And as to Miss Sarah, if you live in St. Paul, be on alert for those huffing squirrels. They’re probably hanging off one of those Mary Kay pink Cadillacs as we speak!

Cheese Spoon Bread – serves 6
1 cup cornmeal
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
3 cups milk, scalded
1 cup Cheddar cheese, grated
6 eggs, beaten

Mix cornmeal, salt, dry mustard and pepper together. Add to milk and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens.

Let’s pause here a minute so I can tell you about my latest near-kitchen disaster: people, to be clear, the recipe calls for 3 cups of milk and 1 cup of cornmeal, but I misread it as 3 cups milk, 3 cups cornmeal. And this is how I ended up with a huge glob that most certainly could not be stirred! And here I just went and had my reading glasses adjusted!

Add cheese and continue to cook and stir until the cheese melts, about two or three minutes. Add to the eggs and mix thoroughly.

Pour into buttered baking dish and bake at 350 for 45 minutes, until light and puffy and browned.

Spanish Pork Chops – serves 4
1 onion, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
3 potatoes, sliced
3 carrots, sliced
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon red pepper
10 ½ ounce can condensed tomato soup

Brown pork chops in own fat. Place in Dutch oven or roaster. Cover with slices of onion, pepper, potatoes, carrots, salt, red pepper and tomato soup. Cover and bake at 350 for one hour.

"Betty Crocker's Cooky Book" & "Good Housekeeping's Cookie-Jar Cookbook" - Glazed Fresh-Apple Cookies and Chocolate Crinkles

Date my husband made these recipes: December 11th and 12th, 2008

Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book by General Mills
Published by: Golden Press
© 1963
Recipe: Chocolate Crinkles – p. 23

Good Housekeeping’s Cookie-Jar Cookbook by Good Housekeeping Magazine
Published by: Consolidated Book Publishers
© 1971, 1967
Recipe: Glazed Fresh-Apple Cookies – p. 4

Well, it’s the holiday season and for the first time ever, we’ve been invited to two cookie exchanges, both of which, of course, fell on the same night. So I sent my regrets to the one hostess and RSVP’d to the party we are going to and then set off to find cookie recipes.

We’re not big cookie people in this house in terms of actually baking them; buying them already made from a grocery store or bakery is another thing altogether. And so for this endeavor, I enlisted my husband, Andy, previously our household’s “pie guy” to help review my cookie cookbooks.

Although I didn’t do a detailed search of my collection, I did notice two books on my shelf that specifically spoke to cookies; the Good Housekeeping book is from my mother’s collection whereas the Betty Crocker is part of quite the little stack of Betty’s spiral-bound cookbooks from the 60’s and 70’s that I’ve been collecting.

Since Andy is the pie guy, he initially selected two fruit cookies, one from each book to bring to the party. I told him that this violated what I knew of cookie exchanges – that chocolate is required if not expected. Who wants to eat a healthy cookie at a cookie exchange at this time of year? These things give us permission to indulge!

And so I vetoed one of the cookies and substituted the Chocolate Crinkles. (He thanked me later). One can never go wrong with melted unsweetened chocolate and sugar. Never.

Since I am on a deadline at work, I asked if he wouldn’t mind starting the apple cookies that he selected and he did, and then since I got home at 7:30, I asked him if he wouldn’t mind making the second batch, my Chocolate Crinkles and he did. What.a.guy.

And so people, for the first time ever on my blog, someone else actually made the recipe instead of me but hey, I helped select them from my cookbooks so there! (By the way, he’ll be back in the kitchen at some point when I pull out my His Turn to Cook cookbook. I can’t wait for that!).

As you might suspect, the chocolate cookies were the hit of the party and the apple ones weren’t far behind. And might I point out that ours were homemade whereas some friends (who shall remain nameless—Autumn!) brought store-bought cookies to the gig. But then again, these are all busy people who don’t necessarily have a pie guy waiting in the wings who easily converted to cookie baker extraordinaire! (I didn’t see a cape involved in that transition but maybe next time).

Glazed Fresh-Apple Cookies – Makes 3 ½ dozen
2 cups sifted regular all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup soft shortening
1 1/3 cups brown sugar, packed
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg, unbeaten
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup finely-chopped unpared apple
1 cup dark or light raisins, chopped
¼ cup apple juice or milk

Vanilla Glaze
1 ½ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon soft butter or margarine
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 ½ tablespoons light cream

Notes: I inadvertently hid the confectioners’ sugar from Andy so he substituted superfine sugar and that worked just dandy. Also, we were unsure what constituted light cream (further research indicates it has a fat content between half and half and heavy cream), but since our grocery store didn’t specifically carry that, we used heavy cream and nobody knew the difference.

To make the cookies
Heat the oven to 400. Sift the flour with the baking soda and set aside. Mix together shortening, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and egg until well blended. Stir in half the flour mixture, then nuts, apple and raisins. Blend in apple juice or milk then remaining flour mixture, mixing well.

Drop, by rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake 11 to 14 minutes, or until done. While cookies are still hot, spread thinly with Vanilla Glaze.


To make the glaze, in a small bowl blend the sugar, butter or margarine, vanilla extract, salt and cream.

Chocolate Crinkles – Makes about 6 dozen cookies
½ cup vegetable oil
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups Gold Medal Flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Mix oil, chocolate and granulated sugar. Blend in one egg at a time until well mixed. Add vanilla. Sift flour then add the flour, baking powder, and salt into oil mixture. Chill several hours or overnight.

Heat the oven to 350. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough into confectioner’s sugar. Roll in sugar; shape into balls. Place about 2” apart on greased baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake!!

By the way, we used our Silpat baking liner instead of greasing the cookie sheets. They are easy to use and easy to clean. If you don’t have on already, I highly suggest buying one, especially if you’re going to make these cookies!

"Autumn Nights, Winter Mornings - A Collection of Cold-Weather Comfort Food" - Potato Gratin

Date I made this recipe: December 5, 2008

Autumn Nights, Winter Mornings – A Collection of Cold-Weather Comfort Foods by Barbara Scott-Goodman with Mary Goodbody
Published by: Chronicle Books
ISBN: 0811810380 © 1995
Recipe: Potato Gratin – p. 46-47

Well you would know it. For the past fourteen years, I’ve been part of a Ladies Who Lunch Bunch comprised of women I used to work with starting back in 1985. We got together for breakfast once a month or so after I left the company in 1994 and although we originally had six people we’re now down to three: me, Arlene and Vicki (a/k/a Beeker).

So Beeker decided that since we hadn’t seen her house since she got divorced and moved down the road a bit that we should have breakfast at her house. And so for the first time ever, instead of eating out at a restaurant (always on a Saturday, always at noon and almost always for a place serving breakfast), invited us over and told us to bring a dish.

And so I chose this gratin and here’s what I have to say about that: Bad choice.

I don’t know what it is with potato gratins but they never turn out like I anticipate. Maybe my expectations are too high and I envision a cheese goopiness that was never anticipated by the author or maybe I just have bad luck selecting gratin recipes but regardless, this was a clunker.

Here’s what went wrong: unless you have a professional potato-slicer (and I don’t—although we have a mandolin – the kitchen mandolin, not the instrument - but I’m afraid to use it for fear of sacrificing a finger tip to the great good) I think it’s tough to be consistent on thickness and this is what causes some potatoes to get done faster than others. I get annoyed biting into a semi-cooked potato and that’s what happened here.

Next, the cheese, in my humble opinion, was rather on the stingy side. The recipe calls for 4 ounces of cheese to 3 pounds of potatoes. What the heck? That’s barely a ground cover and it’s something that should have dawned on me but didn’t. Similarly, the parmesan cheese allotment could have been greater but wasn’t and so what I got was dry potatoes, some cooked through, some not, with a slight layer of cheese. Yech.

And wouldn’t you know that Beeker, who hates to cook, made a very tasty quiche? And Arlenie, bless her heart, made her mother’s fruit salad that was oh-so-yummy, and there I was, author of this COOKING blog who made the stinker of the day. Oh well, I guess every day can’t be a successful one in the kitchen.

Before I get to the recipe, let me just say a word about the Ladies Who Lunch. Beeker, who was operations manager at the company I worked at, is an October baby like me and is able to quote, as am I, Monty Python and the Holy Grail movie script almost word for word. You don’t find many friends like that. (“I’m not dead yet.” “No, but you will be.”)

Arlenie was the executive secretary for the company’s CEO and ran a very tight ship. Arlene was in charge of the supply cabinet and the joke was that you had to show your pencil stub before receiving a new one. She always denies that that was true but I’m here to tell you it wasn’t that far off.

Arlene always dispensed one item at a time (she should have been a corporate CFO, so good was she at cost-containment) and would always walk very slowly and regally (well, she was Queen of the front desk) back to the cabinet, then would take our her key, slowly unlock the door, crack open the door just a tich, retrieve said item, hand it to you and then walk slowly and regally back to her office. I love to imitate her doing that (that and the way she answered the phone is second to none).

One day however, Arlene was distracted and gave me the key to the cabinet. People, I thought I died and went to heaven. When news got out, a group of coworkers formed a circle behind me. I opened the door wide this time and (no, a glow didn’t emit, but close!) heard this gasp rise up behind me. “Oh my god, just LOOK at those supplies!,” I heard someone say.

You would think that we found the gold supply at Fort Knox. We all drew back just a bit to take in the full impact of the supply cabinet and then I started dispensing the goodies, one item at a time but only if you demonstrated a need for it. Pillaging the cabinet was not an option, tempting as it was and besides, I wanted Arlene to trust me with the key again. She did not disappoint.

And speaking of disappointing, I have often been saddened to lose touch with people I used to work with but our little lunch group has held together through thick and thin, through stupid jobs, new careers, my law school graduation, weddings, divorces, grandchildren, birthdays—you name it, we’ve seen it. And we continue to have a great time despite the fact that my food flopped. Knowing them, they didn’t hold it against me (but just in case, we’re going to go back to eating at a restaurant and leave the driving to the trained professionals).

Potato Gratin – Serves 6
6 to 8 baking potatoes (about 3 pounds), peeled and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 teaspoons crumbled dried sage
1 cup (about 4 ounces) freshly grated Gruyere cheese
½ cup (about 2 ounces) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup half-and-half

Preheat the oven to 400. Butter a 14-by-9-inch gratin or baking dish.

Arrange a third of the potato slices in an overlapping pattern in the dish. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with one third of the sage. Sprinkle with one third of the cheeses. Repeat twice more to make three layers each of potatoes, seasonings and cheese, ending with cheese.

In a small bowl, whisk the wine into the half-and-half. Pour over the potatoes, tilting the dish slightly to distribute the liquid evenly without disturbing the potatoes. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork and are golden brown.

NOTE: If I were you, I’d add more cheese, possibly more half-and-half and would definitely bake for longer then 50 minutes.

"Babalu! Favorite Recipes from the World's Top Latin Chefs and Celebrities" - Arnaz Picadillo

Date I made this recipe: November 30, 2008

Babalu! Favorite Recipes from the World’s Top Latin Chefs and Celebrities by Michael Valdes and Art Torres
Published by: General Publishing Group
ISBN: 1575440318 © 1998

Recipe: Arnaz Picadillo (a kind of Cuban hash) – p. 16 (p. 17 contains instructions in Spanish)

So Thanksgiving has come and gone and for the first time ever, I didn’t cook a Thanksgiving dinner. Instead, my husband, mother-in-law and I went out to a restaurant for a Thanksgiving buffet and because of that, I didn’t have any leftovers. But not to worry, people, my dinner inspiration came to me whilst I was lounging around all Thanksgiving weekend watching TV, in particular I Love Lucy on TV Land.

TV Land is a cable station that shows reruns of favorite shows and my favorite show of all time is I Love Lucy. TV Land ran a mini-marathon of Lucy episodes and one that I watched this weekend was Job Switching, the famous episode where Lucy and Ethel get a job in the chocolate factory and end up stuffing their faces and clothing with chocolates when the supervisor speeds up the assembly line thinking they were incredibly speedy at wrapping chocolates. Of course, it all goes wrong and they end up coming home sicker than a dog from all the chocolates they were forced to eat in an attempt to keep their jobs (because if one, stray chocolate got done the line unwrapped, they would be fired).

I have to confess that this is on my personal list as a top-ten favorite. It’s funny all right but to me, it’s not so much because of the chocolate factory, it’s what happened when Ricky and Fred said they’d take care of the house if the women went to work.

First, Ricky serves Lucy a delicious breakfast, pretending that he made it before Lucy finds out he got it at the corner drugstore. Then Ricky tries to make chicken and rice but decides that a pound of rice per person should do and of course, the pot overflows sending rice flowing down to the floor like molten lava. Then Fred walks in on Ricky ironing Lucy’s stockings and tells Ricky he’s got it all wrong -- you don't iron the stockings, you starch them and then presents Ricky with a pair of stockings that are stiffer than a board. I found all that to be pretty hilarious.

So the premise of this episode was the ineptitude of the sexes doing each other’s jobs, particularly the men, but in fact, Desi Arnaz, the actor who played Ricky Ricardo (and who was also married in real life to Lucille Ball who played Lucy), was a great cook. I read this in several books but it was confirmed in this cookbook tome but daughter Lucie Arnaz who submitted her version of Picadillo. Picadillo, as she states, is like a Cuban (or Puerto Rican) hash. And so what the heck—after spending half my Thanksgiving weekend watching a marathon session of I Love Lucy reruns, I thought I’d give it a try.

I enjoyed this recipe a lot my only complaint being that the potatoes didn’t brown as I expected them to but no matter, the dish was still delicious. I served it over white rice since that’s how it was served to me when I was in Puerto Rico. And I tell you what, if we Americans are ever allowed to visit Cuba again, I will be there in a New York minute, if only to step back in time and imagine my favorite Cuban bandleader there singing his famous hit song (and title of the book) Babalu and cooking his famous picadillo.

Arnaz Picadillo - Serves 6 to 8
1 medium onion
1 medium green bell pepper
4 cloves (or more) garlic
3 small potatoes
1 large egg, hard-boiled
½ cup canned baby peas
2 large pimientos
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup Spanish olive oil
1 ½ pounds ground beef
½ cp canned crushed tomatoes (fresh would be terric, just peel them or substitute tomato sauce)
¼ cup dry sherry
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
¼ cup dark raisins
Salt and black pepper

Chop the onion, seed and chop the bell pepper, mince the garlic, peel the potatoes and chop into ¼-inch pieces, chop the egg, drain the peas and chop the pimientos.

Heat the vegetable oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat and toss in the chopped potatoes. Fry until crispy brown (10 to 12 minutes). Set pan aside.

In a large, deep skillet or casserole pot, heat the olive oil over low heat until it begins to smell fantastic. Add the garlic and onion and stir it up a bit. Then add the bell pepper. Stir over low heat for 8 to 12 minutes (or until tender). Add ground beef and stir until it turns brown (maybe 10 minutes0.

Add the tomatoes and any juices, sherry, salt, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco. Stir over medium heat 15 to 20 minutes. No need to cover.

Toss in the potatoes and raisins. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook until the liquid is absorbed (maybe another 10 minutes0.

When it’s ready, serve on a large platter. Make a small hole in the center and sprinkle the chopped egg into it. Decorate the outer rim with the peas and lay the pimiento pieces wherever they make you happy.

Note: You will want to drain off the ridiculously large amount of grease this dish generates before adding the tomatoes and other ingredients. I filled a small pasta bowl with the drippings from this dish – yikes!

P.S. - a blog reader sent this posting to a Puerto Rican friend who in turn sent him a left-over recipe suggestion: What Puerto Rican and Domincans also do with the picadillo left-overs -- You take a very ripe yellow plaintain, peel it then split it right down the middle with out cutting into two pieces. Scoop some picadillo all along the inside of the platano and then wrap in tinfoil. Place in oven at 375 for about 30-35 minutes and you then have a second delicious serving of picadillo. Thanks for the suggestion, Dick!

"The New York City Marathon Cookbook" - Orange-Grilled Chicken with Curry

Date I made this recipe: November 23, 2008

The New York City Marathon Cookbook by Nancy Clark, M.S., R.D.
Published by: Rutledge Hill Press
© 1994 – ISBN 1-55853-306-0
Recipe: Orange-Grilled Chicken with Curry – p. 151

Okay, sure, so the annual New York City Marathon was held a couple weeks ago at the beginning of November. Sue me!

I honestly meant to put this book aside in order to cook from it for the annual event but in a fit of cleaning, I put it back on the shelf, only to be discovered when I went looking for another cookbook. Oops. No matter, this recipe is easy to make and would suit many an occasion.

But speaking of the New York City Marathon, in 1999 I had the pleasure of watching the
Marathon, first on TV before we left my friend’s apartment (only in New York would you find a cable station with “play-by-play” coverage) and then in Central Park with about two miles to go before the finish. And boy oh boy, there was stuff about marathons that I never knew.

First of all, there are paid runners called Rabbits who set the pace for the race and then drop out after a certain number of miles. One of the lead rabbits that year dyed his hair green but I don’t think that was a statement about the fact that rabbits eat “rabbit food” such as lettuce. Anyway…after they ran the allotted miles, they all hopped in the back of a pickup truck and went off to…wherever race rabbits go. Had I know a person could get paid for doing that, I think I might have taken up running (although I didn’t see a woman in the bunch) and skipped law school all together!

Second, I had no idea the number of family cheering sections that came to see their loved ones race (or limp) to the finish line. The deli my girlfriend and I ate at near the 59th Street Queensboro Bridge (a/k/a the “Feelin’ Groovy” Bridge from Simon and Garfunkle’s song) was packed to the rafters with people wearing racing team colors—sort of like NASCAR drivers but obviously rooting for people wearing running gear and running shoes.

And then there were the crowds ten deep or more standing around said bridge that were amazing. Susan and I were supposed to meet another friend working the first aid station there but this was before cell phones really took off and we finally aborted our mission because we didn’t think we’d ever find her. Besides, the runners had already crossed the bridge and were on the way to the finish.

So we ran like little rabbits ourselves to get to Central Park and managed to see the lead runners round the corner before running the last mile or so to Tavern on the Green a/k/a The Finish Line! And I have to tell you, it was exciting. First the male runners came through and then we managed to press through the crowd to get a front-row look at the women runners (big issue there: we saw on TV that one of the women lapped the front-runner a couple of miles into the race and held onto the lead to win the big prize, something that apparently doesn’t happen all that often.) And bless their hearts, the lead women were not all that far behind the men. You go, girls!

Now this gal has never liked running in the least, much less 26 miles, but I do enjoy walking and I do like to keep my diet in line with my exercise program so this recipe hit the mark. (You may not know it from my blog postings but it’s true) It’s higher in protein than most of the recipes in the book (25 grams per serving) and low in carbohydrates and fat. Carbs are great for race-running but in terms of muscle building muscle tone and weight management, protein is better.

Although this recipe was easy to make (marinate for an hour and then grill or broil) it seemed boring so I made up my own curry sauce that I poured on top of the chicken to add a little extra flavor. I’m pretty proud of it if I do say so myself (although note: your kitchen will really, really smell like curry!).

And now it’s off to the races – hahaha….

Orange-Grilled Chicken with Curry – Serves 4
4 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
1 cup orange juice
4 teaspoons curry powder
4 teaspoons dried tarragon or 2 tablespoons fresh minced
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (6 ounces each)

Ann’s topping
4 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
2 cups orange juice (add more if needed)
4 teaspoons curry powder
(I ran out of tarragon but would have used the amount called for)
2 sliced onions

To make the chicken
In a large bowl whisk together the mustard, orange juice, curry powder and tarragon. Arrange the chicken in a shallow baking dish then pour the marinade evenly over the chicken. Marinate the chicken for at least 1 hour, or overnight. Grill the chicken breasts for about 5 to 7 minutes on each side or until done. The chicken may also be broiled.

To make the topping
Slice onions then place them and the other ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer over low heat until the onions are soft (I think I cooked them for about 20 minutes to a half an hour). Be careful not to burn the mixture. I served the chicken breasts on top of rice, topped with this mixture – yum!

"Hawaiian and Pacific Foods" - Green Pepper, Beef and Tomatoes

Date I made this recipe: November 16, 2008

Hawaiian and Pacific Foods – A Cook Book of Culinary Customs and Recipes Adapted for the American Hostess by Katherine Bazore
Published by M. Barrows and Company
© 1940-1947; seventh printing 1956
Recipe: Green Pepper, Beef and Tomatoes (Fan Keh Lut Tsiu Ngau Yuk) – p. 214-215

Even though I was a couple of days behind schedule, this recipe was made in honor of Veteran’s Day – November 11, 2008. You might ask yourself what on earth a cookbook of Hawaiian food has to do with Veteran’s Day but my answer is easy: my father, who served in the Marines on Iwo Jima, was stationed on Maui prior to leaving for Iwo (where he was wounded and received a purple heart). This cookbook was initially printed in the 40’s and so the recipes are authentic for the time that my father was in Maui--not that his camp necessarily served these foods. (But boy, if they did…)

Of course back thenthere was little development (if any) on Maui and according to dad, the camp’s conditions were pretty primitive (it was not for nothing that they called it “Camp Swampy”). Dad and his fellow Marines hiked up nearby Mt. Haleakala on a regular basis; these days, tourists coast down it on bicycles for fun!

My dad likes to mention that back then the big hotels on the island of Oahu were the Royal Hawaiian and the Ala Moana and that was about that. These days, those hotels are almost lost in the shuffle of development that has run rampant on the islands. Of course, to me, the Hawaiian Islands are still paradise to visit even if they are bumper-to-bumper with tourists.

I must admit to being surprised that this cookbook did not contain recipes for Spam (Spam is very popular in Hawaii) nor the Hawaiian lunch plate but maybe those items didn’t become popular until after publication. (I’ve had the lunch plate and it is outstanding even if it is not exactly heart-healthy. The lunch plate consists of a piece of meat, a scoop of rice with gravy on it and usually some macaroni salad - heavy on the mayo! Yum!!)

And while I’m not surprised that this cookbook contains many Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese and Filipino recipes (the islands are home to many an ethnic group), I am surprised that this recipe was included. The author often noted if a recipe was not authentic, yet I can’t help but wonder if this recipe was really authentic Chinese. Beef with peppers is something that I expect today in most “Chinese” restaurants but hey, it was included here so we’ll go with it.

This recipe was relatively easy to make and was fairly straightforward except for the instructions for making a “smooth” paste out of some of the ingredients. The paste I made was smooth all right—in fact, it was more of a marinade than anything but I went with it and it worked.

Another item that wasn’t clear was what, if anything, to do with the leftover chopped ginger. The recipe said to combine the ginger juice with other ingredients but it didn’t say how to dispose of the actual ginger itself so I added most of it to the recipe and it only enhanced the dish. (When in doubt, do not throw it out!)

Finally, the recipe didn’t say what to do with the beef (you cook the beef, then the veggies, and then serve) so I added the beef back to the veggie mixture and warmed up the entire dish for a few minutes over a low flame. I think the veggies could have used a few more minutes to cook but that’s my opinion.

And speaking of opinion, I know it’s hard to tear oneself away from the beautiful beaches of Maui, but if you are ever there, take a moment to go to the Marine Memorial where you can see photos of the old base from back in my dad’s day and the memorial plaques that are scattered throughout the area. It’s a lovely drive (although a little tricky to find) and a good way to honor all of our veterans who served our country so admirably. Ladies and Gentlemen of the armed forces (both former and current members), I salute you!

Green Pepper, Beef and Tomatoes – Serves 6
2 cups sliced green peppers (2 large peppers)
2/3 cup sliced onions
½ cup sliced round steak (are they kidding? I used about a pound, sliced thin. As if I had time to stuff the steak into a measuring cup!)
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon soya (Note: I’m pretty sure they mean soy sauce here but when I looked it up online, soya also refers to the soy bean itself. Since the recipe called for 1 tablespoon, I’m thinking they meant the sauce)
Dash of pepper
2 2/3 cups tomatoes (3 medium)
½ cup celery
1 teaspoon cornstarch
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or dried ginger root soaked in 2 tablespoons water

For the “gravy”
½ tablespoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons whiskey or wine
¼ cup water
Dash of pepper

Cut the peppers into strips ½-inch wide and 1 ½ -inches long. Cut the onions into sections ½-inch wide and the tomatoes into eighths. Cut the celery and round steak into thin strips 1 ½-inches long. Mix the soya, cornstarch, sugar, ginger juice, and salt to form a smooth paste. (Mine was runny but it didn’t matter. Just toss your meat and throw it into a skillet or wok). Combine with the meat and fry in hot oil. When browned, remove the meat, and fry all the vegetables except the tomatoes in the same pan. Stir constantly and after 1 minute, add ¼ cup water and simmer for 2 minutes. Make a smooth paste of the ingredients for the gravy. Combine the gravy, tomatoes and cooked vegetables. Boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly. (Note: I added the beef back to the wok and heated it for another couple of minutes on low).

Serve hot. (I served it with rice).

"Perfect Soups" by Anne Willan - German Split Pea Soup

Date I made this recipe: November 9, 2008

Perfect Soups by Anne Willan
Published by: DK Publishing Inc.
ISBN: 0-7894-2853-9 © 1994, 1998
Recipe: German Split Pea Soup – p. 86-89

Well this week, I was, as my mother used to say, “busy, busy, busy,” such that I didn’t have time until now (almost a week later) to post this recipe for German Split Pea Soup.

As far as pea soups go, my mother was the standard-bearer for how split pea soup should be: as thick as all get-out, such that a spoon could stand by itself if necessary. Mom’s recipe was simple, calling for peas, carrots, onion, potatoes and one ham bone (as opposed to ham hock), usually left over from a ham Sunday dinner.

By comparison, the pea soup served by my grade school, Sacred Heart Catholic School, is a shining example of something that should never be called pea soup, much less soup. Sacred Heart’s version was ground peas (yes, if “split” peas are good, pulverized peas were better) and water. Thirty eight years after being served my last bowl of that slop, I still have nightmares. (And so it’s amazing that I made this recipe!)

This recipe falls somewhere in between greatness and disaster. The soup wasn’t overly thick or thin but there were issues. First and foremost was the fact that despite extending the cooking time by at least another hour, the peas never softened up and in all the years I’ve been making pea soup, that’s a head-scratcher. The cookbook author gives you the option of soaking the peas in cold water for eight hours in order to shorten the cooking time, but never before have I experienced problems with peas. It might be because I used green split peas instead of yellow (I couldn’t find yellow) but I doubt it.

Next was the general lack of flavor of the soup. My mother’s was robust but here, even with the addition of dark beer, the flavors fell short. The ham hock added some flavor but not much and my husband was not overly impressed with the frankfurters. So I don’t know—you might try experimenting with it and maybe add some additional spices to see what happens…or you might be fine with it the way it is. It’s not that we snubbed it in favor of other foods because we at it to the last drop (probably because my mother's voice was in my head admonishing me against wasting food!) but it could have been way better.

Anne included "how to" photos in her book that I must say helped quite a bit because my diced vegetables were exquisite. Left to my own devices, I likely would have been a lot more cavalier with the whole thing.

Finally, I didn’t realize until I was dicing vegetables and watching my Packers play that I had subconsciously selected a green pea…or yellow pea soup recipe for the annual Packer/Viking game. (Green and gold are Packer colors). But alas, it didn’t help as my Packers lost by 1 point having missed a last-minute field goal. That’s okay, we beat them earlier in the season so now we’re even-steven! Perhaps if my Packers had just had some hearty soup in advance of playing things might have been different. Food for thought (pun intended!)

German Split Pea Soup – Serves 6-8
Work Time – 35-40 minutes; Cooking Time 2-2 ¼ hours (or longer)

2 large onions
½ lb carrots
½ lb potatoes
½ lb rutabaga
2 celery stalks
1 cup dried yellow peas
3 whole cloves
1 bouquet garni, made with 5-6 parsley stems, 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme, and 1 bay leaf
1 smoked ham hock, weighing about 1 lb
1 quart water, more if needed
2 cups dark beer
Salt and pepper
½ lb frankfurters
1 medium bunch of parsley
1 tsp mustard powder

Peel the onions and trim the tops, leaving a little of the roots. Chop into a small dice.

Peel the carrots and trim off the ends. Cut each carrot across into 2-inch pieces. Cut each piece lengthwise into ¼-inch slices. Stack the slices and cut them into 4-6 strips together and cut into dice.

Peel the potatoes and follow the directions above for dicing; same with the rutabaga.

Peel the strings from the celery with the vegetable peeler. Cut the stalks lengthwise into ¼-inch strips, then crosswise into a dice.

Put the split peas into a strainer and rinse thoroughly under cold running water. Pick over and discard any stones. Leave the split peas to drain.

Assemble the bouquet garni using a cheese cloth and string. The author says to tuck the cloves into the string tied around the bouquet garni but it seemed easier just to include them in the cheese cloth packet and call it a day.

Combine the diced vegetables and split peas in a casserole and add the ham hock, water, bouquet garni, dark beer, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Skim off the scum that rises to the surface, then cover, and simmer until the split peas are very tender, 2-2 ¼ hours (Or not as I found out! After 3 ¼ hours, I still had some not-so-tender peas on my hands but we were starving and so I gave up!) Stir the soup from time to time and add more water if it seems too thick.

Meanwhile, using a chef’s knife cut the frankfurter into ½-inch slices on the diagonal. If you are going to add chopped parsley as a garnish, chop them now and reserve until the very last minute.

Put the mustard powder into a small bowl. Spoon in 1-2 T of the hot soup liquid and stir together well until the mustard powder has dissolved completely. Reserve.

Remove the ham hock and bouquet garni from the casserole. Let the ham cool slightly, then pull of any meat and chop coarsely, discarding any skin and fat. Return the ham to the soup.

Add the frankfurters and cook gently without boiling until they are heated through, 3-5 minutes.

Stir in the mustard mixture and most of the chopped parsley. Taste the soup for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

"The Working Wives' (Salaried or Otherwise) Cookbook" - Spicy Shrimp Dinner

Date I made this recipe: November 1 and 2

The Working Wives’ (Salaried or Otherwise) Cookbook – Cook-Ahead Cookery: All Recipes Based On Preparation Of Each Day’s Dinner The Night Before by Theodora Zavin and Freda Stuart
Published by: Crown Publishers, Inc.
© 1963
Recipe: Spicy Shrimp Dinner – p. 51

I bought this cookbook this spring while back in Michigan for my mom’s funeral (and later, burial) in what is now Falling Rock Café and Bookstore (http://www.fallingrockcafe.com/) but what used to be Leeches Bar and Grill. I never, ever went in Leeches when I lived there, probably because I was underage, but I do remember my friends and I singing “Let’s all go to Leeches Bar and Grill, food’s more fun at Leeches Bar and Grill” to the tune of the A&W song (“Let’s all go to A&W, food’s more fun at A&W….”) Hey, it was a small town without a lot going on.

I hadn’t been up to that neck of the woods in quite some time and was really impressed with what the new owners had done to the place. The bar was still there but instead of booze, you could get soup, sandwiches, desserts, ice cream and coffee. Apparently, one could buy a membership in a coffee club and for that low, low price, you got your own mug (many of them lined the walls of the place) and I gathered bottomless coffee. The coffee there was really good and I oftentimes bought two cups, one to microwave at home. (My parents weren’t really decaf connoisseurs).

Just off the “bar” were tables with computers allowing for internet access. What a godsend! I was nervous that I couldn’t hook up to the internet from my parents (and indeed, my sister-in-law said she had to balance on the toilet seat while making a call back to Rochester, NY.) and with this set-up, I was able to get my coffee, connect with friends and family who lived elsewhere and keep up with the news.

And then there was the used book area. To my amazement, their cookbook collection was mighty impressive, such that I think I picked up two bags each time I was there. I’ve been to many a place in the Twin Cities that had less to offer.

Not that you want to make a trip to Michigan’s U.P. just to go to this place, but should you find yourself there vacationing (and there’s a ton of stuff to see and do in the area), you should stop in and pick up a book…or two!

As to the book, the cover caught my eye with it’s “Salaried or Otherwise” notation in the title. What I didn’t realize until I opened it up a few days ago was that everything was intended to be made the night before. (When all else fails, read the instructions). No matter. The dish was easy to assemble and the final cooking time is only thirty minutes. I may actually get dinner on the table “on time” (in Ann’s world, anytime before 8:00!)

Spicy Shrimp Dinner – Serves 6
4 slices bacon
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
½ cup celery, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon flour
1 green pepper, diced
1 can (1 lb) tomatoes (Note: it doesn’t say what kind – whole, diced, stewed – nor does it say whether or not to drain the tomatoes. I didn’t and I also used whole.
¼ cup tomato juice
¼ cup finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons chili powder
¼ teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon horseradish
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon dry mustard
1 ½ lbs. cooked, cleaned shrimp (buy 2 ¾ pounds if you buy them with shells)
1 can (1 lb). okra or peas
1 can (3 oz). whole mushrooms

The night before – Preparation time: 20 min. Cooking time: 35 min.
Chop the onion, garlic and celery. Cook the bacon until crisp, but do not discard bacon fat during the cooking process. Remove the bacon from the pan and set it aside. Add the olive oil to the bacon fat and cook the onion, celery, and garlic in the combined fats for abut 5 min., until the onion is transparent. Add the flour, stir, and remove the pan from the stove. Add the crumbled bacon and all the other ingredients (except the shrimp, okra/peas and mushrooms). Stir well and simmer over a low flame for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly, cover and refrigerate.

Before Serving – Preparation time: 2 min. Cooking time: 30 min.
Add the shrimp, okra or peas and mushrooms to the sauce and cook over a low flame for 30 minutes. This is excellent served with boiled rice.

NOTE: This recipe was most certainly not spicy despite the chili powder and the horseradish, but it was darned tasty.