"Dining Out at Home" - Beef Stew for Men

Date I made this recipe:  November 4, 2012

Dining Out at Home by Sophie Leavitt

Published by:  Stackpole Books

© 1966

Recipe:  Beef Stew for Men – p. 60

You wouldn’t necessarily think that a recipe titled “Beef Stew for Men” would set off a firestorm within me, but it did.  Call me sensitive, but after hearing some very interesting things coming out of some politicians’ mouths this election season, I feel like women’s lib has been pushed back into the dark ages.   I mean, come on – “binders of women?” 

So then along came this recipe and I have to say, at first I laughed - “Beef stew for men?  So what—I can cook it but I can’t eat it? Suddenly I was thrust back in time to an Irish Spring commercial from the 70’s featuring a woman picnicking with her man (boyfriend, husband – not sure). (And they’re both Irish which of course makes perfect sense for an Irish Spring commercial.) He says that the bar of soap features “two deodorants to help keep a man clean and fresh” and then she utters the famous tag-line:  “Manly, yes, but I like it, too.”

So in the spirit of the Irish Spring commercial, I just had to ask myself just what about this recipe made it “manly?”  Was it the fact that it contained glazed carrots (Ooh fancy, fancy)?  Was it the addition of wine?  Was it that beef is something only men enjoy? (If you think that’s the case, you clearly haven’t seen me tuck in a filet!) 

Suddenly my snort upon seeing this recipe turned into a rant.  My poor husband started backing out of the room as I went on a mini tirade about this recipe:  “Oh sure, women end up cooking it but it’s intended for men?  What the hell is that all about, huh, huh? And did you know that for years and years most professional chefs were men, not women?  So what recipe do women get to make, Baked Chicken for Women….”

If we had a dog, I’m pretty sure the dog would have been halfway down the alley while I was having this “discussion” with my beloved.

I am not a feminist per se but having grown up during the dawn of the women’s movement (the 60’s and particularly the 70’s), I get particularly irked when I see what appears to be dings at all the strides women have made over the ages.  Never mind that this recipe is from 1966 – I’m making it now, damn it!  I am not a binder, I am woman, hear me roar!  (Okay, true confession time:  I appreciate Helen Reddy’s battle-cry, I Am Woman, but as a singer, I thought the song ended on a weak note instead of a powerful one, and Helen seemed almost apologetic as her voice faded away into the night.  Think about some of today’s kick-ass female vocalists like Pink or Gwen Steffani or even Beyonce and oh yeah, no apologies there.  And if Whitney Houston had gotten a hold of it well, can I just say whoa?  Talk about a roar….)

Speaking of roaring about women’s issues, comedienne Ellen DeGeneres, who cracks me up to no end, went on a particularly funny rant of her own in the past couple weeks against the Bic pen company.  Having worked in marketing, I can tell you that every company lives, breathes and dies with selecting the right product for the right market, and the Bic [pen] company is no exception. Ellen announced that we’ve made a lot of progress toward equality but something made her think that we still have a way to go and then announced – true story – that Bic had made a line of pens for women called “Bic for Her.”  In classic Ellen fashion, she said “I know what you’re thinking – it’s about damned time.”  She’s right – that was my very first thought besides What the Hell??

So okay, now we have Beef Stew for Men and Bic [pens] for Her.  Wow, I’m feeling so…special.  I mean, men get their beef stew and we get pens (in women’s colors of pink and purple).  We HAVE made strides, haven’t we?! ;)

So one more comment about women before I actually get to the recipe…for men…and that is that whereas once upon a time, a woman chef in the kitchen was about as rare as roast beef, these days women are making strides.  As you may imagine, I watch a lot of cooking shows and I am pleased to see more and more women competing in some of the chef competitions.  Last night, I watched the next iteration of the Food Network’s The Next Iron Chef Redemption and hey, a big whopping four out of ten competitors were women.  So we should be pleased, right?  Well…perhaps if the numbers were half and half, or even better, the majority of cheftestants were women I’d be happier but then again beggars cannot be choosers.  A woman in the kitchen competing alongside men is a good thing.  (And can I just say that I have met Alex(andra) Guarnaschelli who kicked butt and won the evening’s competition?  Oh yeah, she rocks it.).  I cannot wait to see if some of these cheftestants make Beef Stew…for Men!

Despite all this gripping and ranting, the recipe was pretty tasty but then why wouldn’t it be?  The cookbook was written by a woman and cooked by a woman.  Oh yeah—I am woman, hear me roar….(and get the hell out of the way of my chef’s knife [for her?!].  You’ve been warned…)

PS—tomorrow is Election Day.  Get out and vote!

Beef Stew for Men – serves 8

4-lb chuck roast, 2-inch pieces, room temperature (I cut the recipe in half and used two pounds of stew meat)

8 carrots, each cut into 3 pieces

1 T fat to glaze carrots (I used Crisco)

1 ½ T sugar

4 T fat as needed (to brown the meat)

4 T flour

3 cups strained, canned onion soup or dehydrated onion soup as per instructions or 4 bouillon cubes, diluted with 3 cups water

1 cup red burgundy wine

3 T tomato sauce

4 allspice (I happened to have whole allspice on hand but if you don’t, then I would use ground allspice but sparingly)

2 large bay leaves

1 tsp thyme

3 large garlic cloves

¼ tsp pepper to taste

1 ½ tsp salt or more to taste

Glaze carrots by melting fat, adding sugar over carrots, shaking, rolling them around until glazed; then set aside on a plate, getting all the glaze up with a rubber spatula.

Wash out skillet, heat with 1 T fat, brown beef, adding fat as needed; avoid crowding, so as to brown better.  Place in casserole; remove fat from skillet but leave brownings in; set aside while you sprinkle 2 T flour over beef in casserole, shake to distribute, heat in oven over 5 minutes, sprinkle other 2 T flour and shake, heat 5 minutes.

Pour rest of ingredients into skillet, scraping up brownings, and bring to boil.  Pour over beef in casserole adding carrots, bring back to boil before putting in the oven with a lid on.  Reduce heat to 300 degrees.  Cook, stirring once in a while, 2-2 ½ hours.  Correct seasonings.

  

"A Chicken in Every Pot" & "The Roasted Vegetable" - Chicken Baked in Cider & Roasted Beet Salad

Date I made these recipes:  October 28, 2012

A Chicken in Every Pot by Edith Vanocur

Published by:  Thomas Y. Crowell Company

© 1976

Recipe:  Chicken Baked in Cider – p. 22

The Roasted Vegetable by Andrea Chesman

Published by:  The Harvard Common Press

ISBN:  1-55832-169-1

Recipe:  Blue Cheese, Roasted Beet and Endive Salad with Orange Vinaigrette – p. 93-94

I was feeling in a fall kind of mood this weekend.  The weather has turned colder, Halloween is around the corner and so why not bake and roast and just hunker down for the day (especially with Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the east coast as we speak?)

Selecting today’s entrée was really easy (how convenient that the cookbook’s cover was a lovely shade of orange just in time for Halloween) and the dish itself took no time to assemble.  It’s a basic dish of chicken with apples, onions and a sauce of frozen apple cider concentrate mixed with Calvados (French apple brandy).  What I didn’t expect though, was that the apples would completely disintegrate, turning my lovely apples into applesauce.  No matter, we ate it anyway. (This gives new meaning to the term “October surprise,” usually used in politics.)

Finding a dish to accompany my chicken proved to be more challenging.  I wanted to do something with onions (I have a cookbook devoted to onions, onions and more onions) but my husband nixed that saying he wasn’t that fond of onions.  Say what?!  I think he feared I was going to make French onion soup, a threat I keep throwing at him and for whatever reason he is just not keen on that concept.  Silly rabbit—what is not to like about an onion soup topped with cheese and croutons?  That wasn’t what I suggested but he wrinkled his nose anyway and so I put that cookbook aside and brought out The Roasted Vegetable cookbook instead.

The challenge with this cookbook was not a lack of good recipes because there were plenty, but rather finding something that complimented my chicken.  At last I found something he could get behind – a roasted beet salad.

Michelle Obama was recently asked how she felt about beets and she said you’re either a beet person (with a beet “gene”) or you’re not and she’s not.  We are.  We love beets and he especially loves beets and blue cheese and so when my man’s eyes lit up when I read this recipe, we had ourselves a side dish. 

Don’t ask me why I was hell-bent on roasting a vegetable though.  It just seemed like the right thing to do despite the fact that I have many, many other cookbooks that I could have selected.  When the weather turns dour (“dour” is anything that is less than 75 degrees and it’s cloudy and gloomy), I hit the books that bring me comfort and roasting (and the warmth of ovens) gives me comfort.

The beauty of these two recipes is that they both cooked in a 400 degree oven so that made is easy—I hate adjusting oven temperatures.  And when I realized that my apples had turned to applesauce, I just turned that into a potato topping and went about my way – no fuss, no muss, no bother.

Enjoy fall.

Chicken Baked in Cider – serves 2 or 3

1 whole fryer

Salt and pepper

2 medium-sized onion, peeled

4 tart apples, peeled and quartered

¼ cup Calvados (optional)

1 6-ounce can frozen cider concentrate

Season the chicken inside and out.  Place the onions in the cavity of the chicken.  Place the apples in the bottom of a casserole and the chicken on top of the apples.  Mix the Calvados and cider and pour over the chicken.

Cover the casserole tightly and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour or less, until tender but not quite “done.”  Baste once or twice during baking.  Uncover and bake 10 more minutes, basting frequently.  The sugar in the liquids will glaze the chicken a beautiful brown.

Blue Cheese, Roasted Beet, and Endive Salad – serves 4 to 6

3 or 4 medium-size beets (about 1 pound), tops and roots trimmed to 1 inch

4 heads Belgian endive, sliced crosswise into 2-inch pieces

2 ounces Roquefort or other blue cheese, crumbled (about ½ cup)

¼ cup slivered almonds or chopped walnuts, toasted

½ cup Orange Vinaigrette (p. 94)

For Orange Vinaigrette – makes about ½ cup

¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

White or freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons grapeseed, sunflower, or canola oil

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Place the beets on a large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil and wrap to form a well-sealed packet.  Roast for 1 to 1 ¼ hours, until the beets are tender.  When the beets are cool enough to handle, peel and cut into 2-inch matchsticks.

In a large salad bowl, combine the endive, blue cheese, and nuts.  Toss lightly.  Add the beets and toss again.  Drizzle the dressing over the salad, toss and serve at once.

To make the vinaigrette, combine the orange juice, orange zest, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl to taste.  Slowly whisk in the oil until emulsified.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.  Use immediately.

"The Flavor of the South" & "Deep South Staples - Grits and Grillades

Date I made these recipes:  October 21, 2012

The Flavor of the South – Delicacies and Staples of Southern Cuisine by Jeanne A. Voltz

Published by:  Greenwich House

© 1978; 1983 reprint

Recipe:  Grillades – p. 32

Deep South Stapes – how to survive in a southern kitchen without a can of cream of mushroom soup by Robert St. John

Published by Different Drummer Press

ISBN: 0-9721972-2-2

Recipe:  Garlic Cheese Grits p. 34 (Creole Seasoning Recipe p. 252)

“I’m in a southern kind of mood,” I told my husband, “so we’re having Grits and Grillades for dinner.”

“Grits and what?” said the man I married. 

“Grits and Grillades.  Grillades.  You know – grilled meats.  It’s French.  You speak French, remember?  We’re having grits and grilled meats for dinner. Sheesh.”

Actually, a quick look at Wikipedia confirms that this is a staple dish in New Orleans.  When it comes to the south, I’ve always had the impression that there’s New Orleans, a region unto itself, and then there’s everyone else.  And having been to the region and to New Orleans several times, I can tell you that there is indeed a difference in attitude, in culture and in food. (And drink but I won’t bore you with my cocktail stories from my last sojourn to that city!)

Any who…while I can appreciate and have eaten most southern and New Orleans’ specialties, I am still on the fence about grits.  My first, close encounter with them was on a family trip to Florida way back in the 60’s.  We stopped off in Mississippi and Georgia and naturally, grits were on the menu.

Shall I just tell you that I was not impressed?  Grits looked like Cream of Wheat (yum!), complete with the requisite pat of butter, but when I tasted them….ew?  And I mean ew.  So I never ate them again on the rest of the trip.

Fast forward to 1992 when my husband and I took a driving tour of the south, ending in New Orleans, when once again, we encountered grits on the menu.  This time around we ordered them at the Waffle House, a place I have to say usually gets pretty decent reviews for their food and their grits.  But again, the people spoke (“people” meaning me and Andy) and we’re back to “ew.” 

A friend of mine, Tex, who as you might imagine, is from Texas, told me that the secret is a lot of butter and a lot of salt.  I wasn’t buying it.  But once before, I made a grit recipe that called for cheese to be added and I tell you what, that just opened up a whole new grit world for me!  Because cheese is good with just about anything, grits included.

So in my search for grits to go with my grillades, I found this recipe for garlic cheese grits that was loaded with cheddar and cream cheese (a 2’fer) and thought I should try them.  And they were good.

But when I emailed Tex and another friend, Ann, who goes by the nickname, TEA, she came back with an emphatic “’No’ as in “No, no, no, no, no!”  TEA lived in the south for 5 years and never did experience grit love.  I tried to tell her that the cheese made all the difference and she responded with the statement that this was a perfectly good waste of perfectly good cheese.

Being a Libra, I always see both sides and so will let you decide for yourself whether or not these grits pass muster but I liked them and so did Andy. We’re trying to get out of our comfort zone of Great Northern Food, but this grit experience wasn’t too bad and certainly not painful like the other couple go-rounds.

Before leaving this fascinating discussion about grits, let me tell you that any time I think of grits, two things come to mind:  1) the song Grits Ain’t Groceries written by Titus Turner, covered by Little Milton and Van Morrison and 2) the movie My Cousin Vinny.  So let’s discuss.

For years, I thought the song Grits Ain’t Groceries was really “Grits and Groceries” but I was wrong.  Blame it on my ear wax.  The lyrics are “Grits ain’t groceries, eggs ain’t poultry and Mona Lisa was a man.”  Hahahaha.  Well, that’s the south for you!

As to My Cousin Vinny, was there ever a funnier moment than when Vinny said “Grits?  What’s a grit?  I think not.  An even funnier exchange took place when Vinny had Mr. Tipton on the witness stand talking about grits as part of his defense of his cousin, Bill Gambini, and Bill’s friend, Stan Rothenstein.  Vinny asks Mr. Tipton how he likes his grits and Mr. Tipton says “Regular, I guess.”  Vinny then says “Regular.  Instant grits?” and Tipton gives the best line that I believe summarizes the entire Southern “grit-eating world” (as Vinny called it):  “No self-respectin’ Southerner uses instant grits.”  You shouldn’t, either.

As to grillades, well, class, these are simply grilled cuts of meat all gussied up with a sauce of tomatoes, onions and green peppers.  “Grillades” just sounds better though, doesn’t it?  And if you have any aggressions you want to get out (and you do, don’t you?), then this is your dish.  According to the recipe, you’re supposed to pound your round steak into ¼-inch thick pieces.  So okay, I did that because I follow directions but despite really taking a whack or two or twenty at the meat, I still didn’t get it as thin as I liked.  The solution, you ask?  Cook it longer!  (Might I also say that this pounding thing is kind of a messy endeavor—have a dish rag handy.)  I put the lid on my large fry pan, turned the flame down really low and went back to watching the Amazing Race for an additional half an hour until I was satisfied they were done. (Let me digress for just a moment:   Why, CBS, did you move The Good Wife to Sundays?  You know damned well that the football games you broadcast are always late, making 60 Minutes late, making the Amazing Race late therefore making The Good Wife late.  This is rude.  Stop it!)

Now most grits and grillades recipes call for putting the grillades and sauce on top of the grits but I kept mine separate so I could better appreciate the flavors.  I cannot say that I liked the pairing of these cheesy grits with this grillades recipe but that is perhaps just me and my Yankee palate.  You should also know that this dish is typically served for brunch and I would not be my mother’s daughter if I didn’t raise an eyebrow over that concept; this dish is heavy and so I decided it was best suited for an evening repast.

And that folks is all y’all need to know about that.  So give grits a chance and make this recipe and if you are so inclined, get your French Creole on and serve it up with some meat that you pounded the hell out of and y’all feel better about life as you know it.

Grillades – makes 4-5 servings

1 ½ pound sound steak, ½ inch thick (pounded to 1/4 inch thick)

Salt

Cayenne

1 tablespoon oil

2 onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon flour

1 green pepper, chopped

2 tomatoes, sliced, or 1 cup canned

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 cup hot water

1 bay leaf, crumbled

¼ teaspoon thyme

Pound steak with meat mallet or edge of heavy saucer to break up fibers and flatten to ¼ inch thick.  Cut in 4-inch squares.  Season well with salt and cayenne.  Brown in oil in heavy skillet.  Remove and keep warm.  Add onion and garlic to pan drippings and cook until tender but now browned.  Add flour and cook and stir until browned.  Add green pepper, tomatoes, vinegar, water, bay leaf, and thyme.  Stir until well mixed.  Arrange grillades in sauce.  Cover and simmer until tender.

Garlic Cheese Grits – yield:  8 servings

1 T Bacon grease or oil

1 T Garlic, minced

1 tsp salt

2 cups milk

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup Grits

1 tsp Creole Seasoning (recipe page 252 – see below)

1 tsp hot sauce

8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

4 oz cream cheese

For Creole Seasoning (Makes 1 cup – 1 used scant amount of each ingredient for my recipe)

½ cup Lawry’s Seasoned Salt

2 T onion powder

2 T Paprika

1 T Cayenne pepper

1 T white pepper

1 T plus 1 tsp garlic powder

1 T black pepper

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp oregano, dry

1 tsp thyme, dry

Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Store in an airtight container.

Melt bacon grease or oil over low heat in a 1-1/2 quart saucepot.  Add garlic and salt and cook for 1-2 minutes being careful not to brown the garlic.  Add milk and broth and increase heat.  Bring to a simmer and slowly pour in the grits.  Lower heat and cook grits for 15 minutes, stirring often.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir until cheeses are melted.  Serve immediately.

"The Italian Table" & "Cooking with by Sisters" - Classic Polpettine (Meatballs) and Lasagna with Meat and Cheese

Date I made these recipes:  October 14, 2012

The Italian Table – Eating Together for Every Occasion by Ron Suhanosky

Published by:  Kyle Books

ISBN:  978-1-906868-56-7

Recipe:  Classic Polpettine (Meatballs) with Ricotta and Creamy Polenta – p. 98-99

Cooking with My Sisters by Adriana Trigiani

Published by:  Random House

ISBN:  1-4000-6259-4

Recipe:  Trigiani Lasagna with Meat and Cheese – p. 62-64

It’s October!  On the 8^th, we celebrated Columbus Day, the day that Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa, Italy, discovered America.  Naturally, it only follows that Italian food became extremely popular with the American public, am I right? 

And on October 9^th, this half-Sicilian gal celebrated yet another birthday but with a busy schedule, I was unable to get my “Italian” on until the weekend rolled around. (Truth be told, I was at my community band rehearsal, prepping for a big concert on the 23^rd.  Oh yeah, we’re talking about birthday excitement!!).

Contrary to popular belief, I don’t have an inordinate amount of Italian cookbooks in my collection, probably because as I’ve mentioned before in this blog, I am kind of a regional snob when it comes to Italian cooking – no white sauce, no gnocchi, no pesto.  These items are just not found in Sicilian cuisine.  But I do so love red sauce and meatballs and ricotta cheese and so these recipes fed my birthday soul.

Oddly enough, there was a Minnesota connection in both books even though neither author is from here.  So let’s start with the first book, The Italian Table.

Now, I don’t want to sound picky, but [author] Ron Suhanosky’s name does not sound like an Italian name.  For the record, neither does mine although let me assure you that it is a) Italian (it means “worm”) and b) it’s the un-altered last name of my grandfather, Arcangelo Verme.  Oh yeah, now that name works, doesn’t it??  Well, turns out Ron has street cred:  his great-grandmother’s name was Rose Carbone and grandma’s name was Rachel Gaudino.  So the guy gets a pass and that helps a lot.

But here’s what really drew my eye as I was looking at this book (sold at Common Good Books in St. Paul, owned by author and MPR radio star, Garrison Keilor):  the author’s wife’s grandfather was Joe Piazza who owned and operated Café di Napoli, an Italian restaurant (read:  institution) in downtown Minneapolis for many years.

I loved that restaurant.  I loved the leather booths, I loved the classic Italian (red-sauce) food and I loved the murals of Italy that adorned the building.  So when I saw a photo in this cookbook of the Café di Napoli booths, and read the Café di Napli story (p. 96) as I was looking at this book in the bookstore, I decided that I had to have it in my collection right then and there.  And then I decided to make the meatballs on the page following the photo because well, why wouldn’t I?  What I did not make though, was the polenta as that is just not in my Sicilian-cooking wheelhouse.  Instead, I made Adriana Trigiani’s family lasagna and had the meatballs on the side as we often did at my family table.

Author Adriana Trigiani’s Minnesota connection hits close to home:  her grandfather, Carlo Bonicelli, immigrated to New York from Italy and then decided to head to Minnesota and Minnesota’s Iron Range in Chisholm, Minnesota, to start a shoe shop.  It is often a surprise to non-Minnesotans that there are a lot of Italians up on the Iron Range but many of them went to work in the mines and if they didn’t work in the mines, they ran businesses catering to the miners and their families.

Well, never mind that I am a huge fan of Adriana’s to begin with but her latest book, The Shoemaker’s Wife, loosely based on her grandparent’s story of coming to America, made me cry.  I am a sucker for an immigrant story, and this book made me think about the similar struggles my grandparents had when they came to America from Sicily.  You should run, not walk, to a bookstore to pick up a copy of that book and while there peruse the shelves for some of her other “family” stories, like my favorite, Lucia, Lucia.

Since I was already launched on my Italian theme, I decided to throw Adriana’s cookbook into the mix, making her family’s lasagna recipe to go with my meatballs (or was it the other way around?!).  Both recipes were simply scrumptious and earned a rousing “molto benne” from me and my husband; we are now enjoying leftovers as we speak.

So I’m getting everything prepped for these recipes and damn it all, I ran out of bread crumbs for both recipes and I also realized that I forgot mozzarella for the lasagna, a near-tragedy in this household. (Where.was.my.head?) Lucky for me, my husband volunteered to go to the store while I continued my prep while watching the NY Yankees, my favorite baseball team, battle the Detroit Tigers; Michigan is my home state but I just don’t have the loyalty to them like I do to New York where my father is from.  Both cookbook authors also live in Manhattan and so I felt like the circle was complete with my recipe cooking and baseball viewing!

The only warning I will give to us with regard to the meatballs, is that I needed more sauce so I added some chopped tomatoes from my panty to what I already had on hand rather than adding water as the recipes calls for.  The meatballs, with their unique filling of ricotta and Parmesan cheese, were also a little soft and crumbly, prompting my husband to call them Meatball Sloppy Joes, but they were tasty and so who cares?

By the way, there’s a group shot of Adriana’s family on the same page as the lasagna recipe with a caption:  “A party in Grandmom’s basement.  Italian-Americans love to give parties in their basements and garage.  Please don’t ask why.”  I have almost the exact same photo of my family taken in my aunt’s basement and I can tell you why—because in New Jersey in the summer it is hotter than Hades and so to the cooling basement we go. No sense packing in lasagna and meatballs and raviolis and pizza while sitting in the sizzling heat!

When it’s time for dinner in my family, we use our family battle cry to signal it’s time to start eating:  “A Mangia!”  Enjoy these recipes.

Classic Polpettine with Ricotta and Creamy Polenta – serves 6 to 8 (Makes about 16 2-inch meatballs or a whole lot of 1-inch ones!)

3 pounds ground veal

2 cups whole milk ricotta

1 cup dried unseasoned bread crumbs

2 large brown eggs

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Pinch of red pepper flakes

½ cup fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, finely chopped

2 teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon cracked black pepper

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

Two 28-ounce cans whole San Marzano tomatoes, pureed by passing through a food mill

Creamy Polenta (note:  this requires 2 hours advance prep)

6 cups water, at room temperature

2 cups coarsely ground cornmeal (polenta), soaked in water for 2 hours in advance and drained

1 small garlic clove, thinly sliced

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste

About ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

To make the meatballs:

Preheat the oven to 400F. 

Combine the ground veal, ricotta, bread crumbs, eggs, one-half of the minced garlic, the Parmigiano-Reggiano, red pepper flakes, parsley, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl.  Use your hands to thoroughly mix and work all the ingredients together.  Form and roll the mixture into somewhat firm meatballs 2 inches in diameter; these quantities should yield about 16 meatballs.

Position the meatballs 2 inches apart, so they are not touching, on a large sheet pan.  Bake until they are slightly brown and firm, 30 to 35 minutes.

Place the grapeseed oil (I used olive oil) in a heavy-bottomed casserole or cast-iron pot over high heat.  Lightly sauté the remaining garlic.  Add the pureed tomatoes and 1 tomato can of water.  Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 3 ½ hours.  The meatballs should remain submerged to braise in the tomato sauce; add a small amount of water to the sauce if necessary.

To make the polenta:

Place the water, cornmeal, garlic, 1 teaspoon of the salt and 1/8 teaspoon of the red pepper flakes in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Whisk continuously until the ingredients are fully incorporated and a smooth, lump-free consistency is achieved.  Continue to stir.  (At this point, you may want to switch from a whisk to a wooden spoon.)  Continue to cook, while stirring continuously, until the polenta pulls away from the side of the pan, 15 to 18 minutes total.  Add the butter and the Parmigiano-Reggiano.  Adjust the seasonings, adding salt and red pepper flakes to taste.

Ann’s note:  I did not make the polenta, substituting the lasagna instead.  I don’t add red pepper flakes to my food—it’s not my family’s way of cooking and I used some of the sauce for my lasagna recipe to cook my meatballs instead of his recipe as they were pretty close in ingredients. 

Trigiani Lasagna with Meat and Cheese – makes 9 entrée portions or 12 side portions

Sauce

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 ½ cup crushed tomatoes

12 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Ricotta Cheese Filing

15 to 16 ounces ricotta cheese

5 ounces shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano

4 ounces bread crumbs

½ teaspoon salt

4 to 5 sprigs of Italian parsley, finely chopped

Meat filing

1 pound very lean ground beef

Salt and pepper to taste

Pasta

12 lasagna noodles, either oven-ready or precooked

Sprinkling cheese

10 ounces shredded mozzarella (use 5 ounces in the layers and 5 ounces for the topping)

5 ounces shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano

Make the sauce by combining the sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan and simmer until the tomatoes have been liquefied, 20 to 30 minutes.  While the sauce is simmering, mix the ingredients for the cheese filling.  Brown the ground beef, season with salt and pepper and dry.  Set aside.  Cook the pasta noodles.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Coast a large roasting pan with live oil, lightly.  Assemble the lasagna as follows:

Layer of pasta

Thin layer of sauce

Meat

5 ounces mozzarella

Ricotta cheese filling

5 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano

Layer of pasta

Thin layer of sauce

5 ounces mozzarella

Bake for one hour, covered.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes.  Slice into squares and serve.

"Pasta Presto" - Scallops and Mushrooms in Martini Cream Sauce

Date I made this recipe:  September 17, 2012

Pasta Presto – 100 Fast & Fabulous Pasta Sauces by Norman Kolpas

Published by:  Contemporary Books

ISBN:  0-8092-4676-7

Recipe:  Scallops and Mushrooms in Martini Cream – p. 16

Many people often dream about being a restaurant reviewer because “how fun would that be, right?”  Well, often it’s not – fun, that is.  Not only do you have to find people to go with you (not as easy as you think), but you have to make repeat visits and then, of course, you have to write about it.

Some reviewers pride themselves on waxing poetic about the food while others, like my late friend, Tall (Carol), can summarize a dish in one word for example, “goopy.”  Yes, folks, with one word, Tall told you everything you needed to know about the taste of a dish and if you want to be cool you’ll add this to your food vocabulary as well. But you should know that “goopy” isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just means the dish is rich, often containing cream or cream cheese or just cheese – or maybe, if you are extremely fortunate all three.  This is the essence of “goopy” in “Tall World.”  It was oh-so-good going down but after a while, she’d feel guilty about eating it and would switch back to something healthier to “cleanse” the system.

This dish – Scallops and Mushrooms with Martini Cream - is goopy but in a good way.  I can almost see Tall downing the dish then stating she was full (as was I) and that it was “goopy” but then I hope she’d also give me her other trademark phrase:  “This is exxxxxxxxxxx-cellent.”  Just so you know “This is exxxxxxxxxxx-cellent” was high praise coming from her.  So was “I can’t believe I ate it all, but it was sooooo good!”

The reason I’m telling you about Tall’s food critic comments is that today’s book was from her collection.  She didn’t have as many cookbooks as I have, maybe a dozen compared to my 1,460 books (and counting) but they were reflective of her cooking interests. She tended to make things that she could freeze in bulk and the majority of her recipes were geared toward healthy eating.  In the summer, she grew many of her own vegetables and used them in numerous ways in various dishes. And that is why, when she was first diagnosed with cancer, she was so mad because she was always so careful about diet and exercise.  Sadly, cancer doesn’t give a rat’s rump about these things.  It was also very sad that her cancer manifested itself just outside of the stomach area making eating and drinking very difficult in the first stages of cancer and at the end of her days, impossible.  There is nothing sadder than seeing someone wanting to eat and enjoy just the smallest taste of food only to be denied that pleasure by her body.

 Without her around, I cannot ask her which of the recipes on the pages she bookmarked she actually made.  She either made Chicken with Lemon-Caper Cream on page 36 or she made Turkey with Peppers, Olives and Tomato on page 37.  On page 44, she either enjoyed Veal Sausage in Mustard Cream or the Bacon and Garlic Sauté on page 45.  And so on and so forth.  My guess is that she probably went with a healthier choice more often than not.  I do know for a fact though, that she made the Classic Basil Pesto recipe on page 88 with basil she grew in her garden.  She served it on a few occasions and it was delicious. 

And so I was all set to make one of her bookmarked items when I saw this recipe for Scallops and Mushrooms in Martini Cream and decided that this was definitely it.  When it came to imbibing alcoholic beverages Tall was first a beer drinker and then a wine connoisseur but then she was introduced to a classic martini (perhaps by me, but perhaps by one of her other friends) and we were off and running.   I must confess that my martinis are rather killer as I make them as dry as dry can be and by that I mean sans vermouth, but she adapted well to my version of paint thinner.

So “martini” cream sauce it was and how fitting was that?!  It’s like I was meant to make this dish.  That said, I do think that the cream sauce might have scared her off from making it herself because of the “goopy” factor.  I wish I could say the richness of the cream sauce was offset by the gin and vermouth but alas, no, but no matter, it was the idea of a martini that was important here.  Still, if I had to make it again, I would play around with the alcohol quantities, likely upping them just a wee bit.  And it should go without saying that I should keep increasing the booze quotient whilst sipping on my own chilled martini, no?  (Shaken, not stirred, “up” as opposed to on the rocks and with an olive or two.)

Now I also taught my husband to enjoy a good martini (and yes, there is such a thing as a “bad” martini) and he was all over the recipe and we both ate until we were stuffed.  And then of course, we paused for a moment of silence and guilt, remembering my fallen comrade and how we enjoyed something which she could not, in her last stages of cancer, enjoy along with us. 

If she had lived, I would have told her about this recipe and had she made it herself, I’m pretty sure she would have pronounced it “exxxxxxxxxxx-cellent.”  I hope you find it excellent as well.

Scallops and Mushrooms in Martini Cream – serves 4-6

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

6 ounces button mushrooms, cut into ¼-inch-thick slices

6 medium shallots, finely chopped

4 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped

4½ cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons gin

1 tablespoon dry vermouth

¾ teaspoon salt

¾ pound bay scallops

Pasta – angel hair, spaghettini or vermicelli

In a saucepan or skillet, melt the butter over moderate heat.  Add the mushrooms, shallots and garlic; sauté until tender, 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the cream, gin, vermouth, and salt.  Raise the heat and gently boil until the mixture is thick and reduced by a third t a half, 15 to 20 minutes.

Stir in the scallops and simmer 2 to 3 minutes more (for larger scallops, 4 to 5 minutes more).  Serve immediately over cooked pasta.

"Ladies Who Lunch" - Sour Cream Souffle

Date I made this recipe:  September 9, 2012

Ladies Who Lunch by Ann Reed and Marilyn Pfaltz

Published by:  Charles Scribner‘s Sons

© 1972

Recipe:  Sour Cream Soufflé – p. 40

And then there were two.

For 18 years, I was privileged to belong to a Ladies Lunch group of former co-workers from a data processing company I worked for from 1985-1994.  When I left, a bunch of us decided to meet and greet once a month at various restaurants in the Twin Cities metro area and the Ladies Who Lunch Bunch was off and running.

At first there were six of us, but then three others dropped out leaving me and my friends, Vicki and Arlene.  Of the three, I was the youngest although Vicki and I shared October as our birth month.  Arlene, the oldest of the three, but perhaps the youngest at heart, had just celebrated her 75^th birthday in June.  It turns out that our last Ladies Lunch in celebration of her birthday would be our last.  Two weeks after that date, Arlene fell ill and was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.  Although the prognosis was initially positive, things took a turn for the worse and she died weeks later on September 3rd. To say Vicki and I and other former co-workers were stunned would be an gross understatement.  Arlene was just one of those people who seemed destined to outlive us all.

When Vicki and I first went to see Arlene in the hospital, we were shocked.  She was in pain, she was defeated, and we tried our best to rally her.  I was so discombobulated by my visit that when I left the hospital, I missed my exit back to my house.  Seconds later, I turned around but missed the exit again and then yet again until I finally gave up and took the longest route home (the one without any more exits), arriving 45 minutes later completely exasperated.  When I told that story to Arlene on my last visit, she laughed.

On our very last visit just a few weeks before she died, the difference in Arlene was astonishing.  She was back to her old self, holding court, laughing and telling stories.  When we worked together, Arlene was the Executive Secretary to our company’s CEO and she also held a command post, and I do mean command post, at the front reception desk.  Nobody worked a switchboard like her and when her always-manicured finger swept across the switchboard, it was like watching an elegant ballet.  For years and years, I teased her about that hand motion and she laughed; during the last visit, she asked me to mimic her so that some other visiting friends could see what she was like.  I did so with the greatest pleasure.

I also teased Arlene about the way in which she would track you down like a dog if you didn’t answer an overhead page.  If a customer called in asking for me and I wasn’t at my desk, she paged me.  At first it was polite – “Ann Verme, line 1.  Ann Verme, line 1 please.”  By the second time around, she was a little bit firmer in her request and oh my god, if you didn’t pick up after that, this is what you got:  ANN. VERME.LINE.1. ANN.VERME.LINE.1…PLEASE!!!!!”  I wouldn’t go so far as to say she was shouting, but you knew you had better haul ass and get the phone, even if you were stuck in the restroom.  The programmers, mostly male, used to joke that they came flying out of the restroom with the toilet paper flying behind them.  This image continues to make me laugh to this day.  

The other story that I told to the friends that were visiting Arlene on the last time I saw her was also one of my favorites about her.  Arlene was told by our company president to keep an eye on the supply cabinet and by god, she did.  As the sole holder of the cabinet key, she held a lot of power and I am not kidding when I say that she often made you show her your old pencil before deciding you were worthy of a new one:  “There’s still a little lead on that pencil,” she’d say or “You can still use that eraser, can’t you?” 

Even after deciding you were indeed worthy of a new pencil, you received one and only one brand new one.  Don’t ever kid yourself that in a wild moment she would give you two.  Several newcomers suffered from such delusions until we set them straight.

The drill when one was about to receive the new pencil/pen/what have you was always the same:  Arlene would put the switchboard on “transfer calls” and then would walk, slowly and stately, to the file cabinet, with the requestor walking behind at about five paces – kind of like the Duke of Edinburgh does with the Queen of England.  Heads were also respectfully bowed.  And then she would open the cabinet a mere crack, just enough to get her hand (never yours) in there and then would ask you again what you needed.  And out came the one pencil and you bowed appropriately and perhaps curtseyed and then she resumed her stately walk back to the front desk.  I tell you what she could have substituted for the Queen as she was just that regal. (And I love the Queen so…)

Well one day, toward the end of my time at the company, Arlene was busier than a bee and she didn’t have time to do the “perp” walk (I’m referring to all of us underlings, never Arlene) and so she handed me the key.  Oh.My.God. I got the key to the cabinet!!!  So I ran over to the programming department and said “You guys, you guys.  Arlene gave me the key!!!!”  And just like rats deserting a sinking ship, they fell in behind me and we ran with lightning speed to the cabinet.  This time around, the doors fell open automatically revealing quite the stash of supplies and let me just say that for one, brief shinning moment I swear we saw a glow and heard the most beautiful celestial sounds.  It was just like Christmas only better: “Look at all those notepads,” we chimed.  “Look at the pens – holy cow!”

You might think that with access to all those goodies we would have raided the cabinet but you would be wrong.  The one thing one did not do at that company was to get on Arlene’s bad side, a side she rarely displayed but you knew you were in deep doo-doo if she went there.  And so out of respect for the woman and out of fear for our work lives, I took the one thing I needed from the supply cabinet and with one last, longing look from me and from my coworkers, I shut and locked the door and walked back, as Arlene-like as I could to give her the key. 

Now some people might have walloped me over the head for retelling that story over and over again but Arlene loved it.  She was the quintessential Executive Assistant—loyal to her boss and to the company, gate-keeper (literally since our building was a secure building and she had to buzz you in if you didn’t have a pass), better than an attorney at keeping secrets and keeping her mouth shut, all-wise and all-knowing and above all, professional.  She would listen to your tales of woe but in the end she would often say quite simply and without a touch of snarkiness – “Well, if you don’t like your job here, perhaps you should find another one.”  Above all, Arlene wanted our workplace to be a happy, harmonious one and those years that we all worked at that company were just some of my favorites.  When we experienced a corporate take-over by a much larger company we grew bigger but experienced a lot of growing pains.  Our work family sort of fell apart and eventually we started experiencing a ton of layoffs, layoffs that Arlene knew about in advance but obviously couldn’t talk about.  A few of the layoffs pained her greatly and it wasn’t too long after I left that she decided to retire.  And out of those "ashes," the Ladies Lunch was born!

Being free from the confines of her Executive Assistant position didn’t automatically make Arlene sing like a canary but over the years, she shared her thoughts and insights with me and Vicki.  She was always so funny about how she did it, usually sweeping her gaze around the room to make sure there weren’t any “enemies” afoot and then lowering her head to deliver the dirt.  She would often start out lunch (really brunch-I cannot recall a time when we actually had lunch) by asking (hilariously) “Who has had a sighting?” By "sighting," she meant “of a former co-worker” and not UFO’s.  Just so we’re clear.  Then she would regale us with tales of work as well as family stories and friend stories that had me and Vicki doubled over.  She never thought she was that funny but she was and we told her that a thousand times over.  Vicki and I also told stories but somehow the stories always sounded better coming from Arlene.

Out of all the things that made Arlene unique, her thoughtfulness stood out as her number one best quality.  When she was invited to a party at my house, she always brought a hostess gift and frequently sent a thank-you note on note cards she made herself.  (She was also well-known for the fabulous jewelry she made after her retirement and at her funeral service, there was hardly a woman in attendance who wasn’t wearing a piece by Arlene.) When my parents died, she sent cards and when I lost one of my best friends of almost 32 years to cancer in March, she sent me a card for that as well.  And when Vicki and I took her out for her birthday lunch, she sent a thank you card out despite having thanked us in person.  It goes without saying that I’m keeping that one.

Now I’ve said before in this blog that I have a cookbook for about every occasion and wouldn’t you know, I already had this book on my bookshelf – Ladies Who Lunch – and so the day after her service, I made this wonderful Sour Cream Soufflé. If Arlene was alive, I know she probably would have tried it at home, likely saying “Well this was just delicious and so easy, too.” 

And so my dear Arlene, Vicki and I will soldier on with our lunches with the heaviest of hearts as we miss you already, and this special recipe is a final homage to you.  I know you were watching when I made it.  And I will never see a supply cabinet or a switchboard without thinking of you.  I do so hope that there’s a huge switchboard in the afterlife and that you are at the center of it all saying “God, line one.  God, line one please.”  It’s only fitting.

Sour Cream Souffle – serves 6

1 ½ cups sour cream

¾ cup sifted flour

1 ¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

2 tbsp chopped chives

½ cup grated (nonprocessed) Gruyere cheese (Ann’s Note:  I have no idea what nonprocessed cheese means!)

5 eggs, separated

Preheat oven to 350.  Thoroughly blend sour cream, flour, salt and pepper.  Stir in chives and grated cheese.  Beat egg yolks until thick and stir into the cheese mixture.  Pour into a 2-qt soufflé dish.  Place dish in a shallow pan of hot water and bake about 30-40 minutes or until puffed and set.  Serve immediately.

Ann’s Note:  I roasted some small yellow potatoes at the same time I baked this soufflé and tossed them in olive oil and sea salt for extra flavor.  I also served the soufflé with asparagus to add a little green to the plate.  Enjoy!

"Lemonade for the Lawnboy - The Executives' Wives' Cookbook Committee" & "Corn - Meals & More" & "The Picnic Gourmet" - lemonade, chicken enchiladas and peaches with sweet cream cheese

Still Life: Mrs. Jonathan Hurlinger with martini glass

Date I made these recipes:  September 3, 2012 (Labor Day)

Lemonade for the Lawnboy – The Executives’ Wives’ Cookbook Committee by David W. Cook and Janet Letnes Martin

Published by:  Martin House Publications

ISBN:  978-1-886627-14-7

Recipe:  Mrs. Jonathan Hurlinger’s Thirst-Quenching Recipe for the Lawnboy –p. 5

CORN – Meals & More by Tastemaker-Award Winning Author Olwen Woodier

Published by:  A Garden Way Publishing Book Published by Storey Communications, Inc.

ISBN:  0-88266-456-5

Recipe:  Chicken Enchiladas – p. 78-79

The Picnic Gourmet by Joan Hemingway and Connie Maricich

Published by:  Vintage Books

© 1975, 1977; First Vintage Books Edition , June 1978

Recipe:  Peaches Stuffed with Sweet Almond Cream Cheese - 279

I don’t care if Labor Day typically signals the end of summer as we know it - when it’s time to make “Mrs. Jonathan Hurlinger’s Thirst-Quenching Recipe for the Lawnboy,” it’s time to make Mrs. Jonathan Hurlinger’s Thist-Quenching Recipe for the Lawnboy!

My friend, Lolo, gave me this hilarious cookbook, Lemonade for the Lawnboy – The Executives’ Wives’ Cookbook Committee, a while ago and I truly meant to make the lemonade recipe this summer but things got away from me.  So what if the temperature dipped down a bit by the time I made it?  When you’re thirsty, you’re thirsty and nobody appreciated it more than my own “lawnboy,” Andy.

This book is a total send-up of the classic society cookbook and by “society” I am referring to the Junior League cookbooks that have dotted the cookbook landscape for years now.  From Mrs. Biff Johnson to the fake Mrs. Jonathan Hurlinger, these ladies have submitted enough recipes to paper many a beach-front condo in Boca and then some while raising money for a good cause.  Good causes are a good thing.

Out of all the society ladies featured in this book, none drew my attention more than Mrs. J.H. who was, appropriately, pictured with her martini glass.  Aside from the fact that her green outfit would not look good against my skin tone, Mrs. J. H. and I could be twins as I do so love my martini.  I also think that the look on Mrs. J.H.’s face is quite similar to the look I wear when I am not amused, and lately people, I have not been amused.  (And this is why gin typically fixes everything.)  Lucky for me, Mrs. J.H’s lemonade saved the day.  It was simple, yet elegant and quite refreshing - quite.

By the way, here is my favorite description of Mrs. J.H –and funny how it describes me to a “t!” (This is from page 5 of Lemonade for the Lawnboy – The Executives’ Wives’ Cookbook Committee by David W. Cook II and Janet Letnes Martin.)

“…If that was not enough, the same week she threw a grand and most elegant birthday party for her dear friend, Mrs. Charles Chatterton.  Her devotion to details was unsurpassed, down to party favors of French crystal martini glasses etched with Mrs. Charles Chatterton’s favorite martini recipe.  Her brilliance and creativity is quite amazing.  It is no wonder she was chosen President of The Executives’ Wives’ Cookbook Committee.”

This lemonade paired quite well with my main course, Chicken Enchiladas.  Now people, I don’t know about you, but I expected this recipe to contain some corn seeing as how it came from a corn cookbook, but alas, no.  I re-read the recipe several times and even contemplated using frozen corn in the enchilada mixture but decided against it and instead opted for corn tortillas.  The book said I could make my own cornmeal pancakes but I had enough going on without having to pull another recipe together. 

While most of us are probably used to the “goopy” cheese-laden enchiladas served in most Mexican restaurants these days, this recipe didn’t call for cheese at all and that’s why I liked it, corn or no corn.  But the inclusion of this recipe in the (corn) cookbok, even if it was under “Ethnic Specialties,” still boggles the mind.

Last, but not least, was a (fresh) peaches dessert recipe taken from The Picnic Gourmet written by Joan Hemingway and Connie Maricich.  Joan Hemmingway is celebrated author Earnest Hemingway’s granddaughter.  (On my list of books to read is A Moveable Feast, written by “Papa” Hemingway in 1961 that recounts his days in Paris in the 1920’s and includes names and addresses of all his watering holes. (Somehow, this was one of the few Hemmingway books this English major did not read in high school or college.)

This book is divided into two parts.  Part one lists picnics by theme and contains menus for a Sunday Ski Picnic, a Boating Picnic (Oh darn, I forgot my boat-bummer) and an Italian Beach Picnic just to name a few.  The second half of the book contains recipe by category – soups, salads, fruit, etc.  As the title Picnic Gourmet suggests, this book does not contain your average Labor Day cook-out recipes of beans and weenies although many people would consider that “high end” picnic food if the beans were a mix of heirloom beans and the weenies were fancy stuffed sausages.  But although the recipes sound high end, many of them are pretty easy, like the recipe for Peaches Stuffed with Sweet Almond Cream Cheese.  Whew. 

All in all, this was a great meal to make on Labor Day and that’s a good thing as neither Mrs. Jonathan Hurlinger nor I like fuss or muss when it comes to holiday entertaining.

Mrs. Jonathan Hurlinger’s Thirst-Quenching Recipe for the Lawnboy – serving size not listed

1 cup water

1 cup white sugar

5 ounces of reconstituted lemon juice

1 ¾ cups ice water

Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Stir constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Chill for 3 to 4 hours.  Pour the mixture and the ice water into a tall pitcher and add the lemon juice.  Cut the lemon into thin wedges and put them in a pitcher.  Stir the mixture and pour it into chilled glasses.  Add ice to each glass.

Chicken Enchiladas – yield:  4 servings

1 pound boneless chicken breasts

¼ cup chicken stock, tomato juice, or water

6 tablespoons cream cheese

2 tablespoons chunky Mexican sauce (salsa) (mild or hot)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (3 cups)

1 3 ½ -ounce can green chili peppers, chopped

1 teaspoon ground coriander

¼ vegetable oil

8 6-inch tortillas

1 ½ cups sour cream (optional)

¼ cup chopped chives or scallion greens (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Put the chicken breasts in a skillet, pour in the stock, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Reserve 1/3 cup of the liquid.  Thinly slice the chicken breast.  Blend the cream cheese, reserved liquid, and Mexican sauce together.  Stir in the chicken strips.

While the chicken is poaching, heat the 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet and sauté the onion and garlic for 2 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, chili pepper, and coriander.  Simmer for 15 minutes.

Heat the ¼ cup oil in a skillet and drop each tortilla into the hot fat for about 10 seconds.  This is not to cook them but to make them pliable.  (Note:  this did not work well at all for the corn tortillas as they were too soft.  My guess is that this method would work well for flour tortillas.)

Remove immediately to a baking dish measuring approximately 12” x 9” x 2” and spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture along the center of each tortilla.  Roll up and place seam-side down in the dish.  Repeat until all tortillas and the filling have been used up.

Spoon the tomato sauce over the top and bake for 15 minutes.

Mix the sour cream and chives and spoon over each cooked tortilla.

Peaches Stuffed with Sweet Almond Cream Cheese – serves 6

3 large peaches

½ pound cream cheese

3 good macaroons, crumbled in a blender (or three biscotti or other “hard” cookie)

1 teaspoon ground almonds (grind in blender)

Peach pulp from seed cavities

Fresh mint leaves (optional)

Choose large ripe peaches, and scrub the outside skin.  Cut each peach in half, take out the seed, and enlarge the seed cavity with a spoon.  Reserve the peach pulp taken out.

Mix the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl.  [If going on a picnic] Pack the peaches and filling separately.  To serve, place a teaspoonful of filling on each peach center.  Garnish and decorate the plate of filled peach halves with fresh mint leaves. 

Ann’s Note:  this last line just makes me hoot:  [mint leaves] “These can usually be picked on the trail or at the picnic site.”  Hahahahaha……Hardly.

**Both Corn and The Picnic Gourmet were purchased at the Bloomington Crime Prevention Association Sale held in June.