"How to Eat Better for Less Money" by Janes Beard - Old-Fashioned Beach Meat Loaf

Date I made this recipe: September 20, 2010

How to Eat Better for Less Money by James Beard and Sam Aaron
Published by: Simon and Schuster
© 1954, 1970
Recipe: Old-Fashioned Beach Meat Loaf – p. 100

When I was in my hometown visiting my dad in August of this year, one of the things I found was a fee statement from my undergraduate alma mater. The year was 1977, my sophomore year. The fee per credit hour was (brace yourselves parents of current college students) - $25.00. That’s right - twenty five dollars a credit hour. By my calculations, my dad (who paid for my education with U.S. Savings Bonds) was out a whopping $3,200 and change for my four-year degree. But of course that was a lot of money back then.

Well talk about how times have changed. By contrast, my law school education cost a lot more…and I mean a LOT more. I don’t think $25.00 even touched the cost of one of my books. I mean, I know it’s been a while but really—does it cost that much more to teach students today than it did 33 years ago?

So speaking of today, let’s do some fast forwarding. I toyed with getting either an MBA or a law degree and finally decided on law because I wouldn’t have to take statistics or the GMAT that contained math—I hate math and it hates me. (And for the record – calculating billable hours is “law math” and I stink at that as well). I was what was known as a “second career student”—someone who had a career and was looking to change it up. Yes, well, all I can say is I wish I would have read the fine print about how unemployable an older female law graduate would be. (But that’s another story best told over cocktails to other older female law school graduates who are in the same boat. We p&m and order more drinks and suddenly things look brighter…unless we’re in a dimly-lit bar to begin with, of course!).

Since graduating, I have pretty much been forced to become a legal contractor (some would say “whore”), going where the job is for as long as the jobs last. And in a “who would have thought” moment, contract jobs in corporations are generally more stable than jobs at a law firm where litigation support (for those in the know—“document review”) jobs can last for three days or three minutes...and you never know which until you get there. (I swear to you the drill goes like this: They say “The project will last 3 months.” And then two minutes after you’re in it to win it, it changes to: “Did we say 3 months? We meant 3 weeks. Did we say 3 weeks? We meant 3 days. Did we say 3 days? We meant 3 hours…”)

The current job I’m on (back at a corporation I worked for last summer) was supposed to come to an end this past Friday but at the last minute I got a stay of execution. So instead of hearing “One day you’re in...but please pack your knives and go” I heard: “We’re thinking three more weeks.”

By this time, of course, the loin-girding had already started as I performed a mental lockdown on our checking account. I’ve gotten over the stigma of going on and off unemployment but haven’t quite come to grips with the fact that my “hourly” on unemployment is equivalent to a salary last seen by me somewhere around the year 1977! Well, even for that time period, that was a little much so let’s go with
1987. Final answer.

Anyway...feeling the need to cook something on a budget, I pulled out James
Beard’s How to Eat Better for Less Money book. And then promptly cracked up laughing because many of the recipes called for cuts of meat that I consider to be expensive—like saddle of lamb, or even the veal used in my meatloaf (one package was priced at a whopping $8.50—for meatloaf?!) Had I not found a cheaper package of veal, I would have just gone with pork and ground beef although even that would also have been expensive; my recipe called for four pounds of meat. (Well mooo-oooo!) Instead, I made a half recipe and that was more within my budget.

This recipe was good and flavorful and somewhat cheap but you know what, it wasn’t my mom’s. Talk about economical—my mom used oatmeal as filler and that’s the taste I wanted. This one was close, but no cigar. And I didn’t use the amount of bacon called for because I considered that overkill and more expensive (I can buy my bacon by the slice at Whole Foods). But this was fine and we have leftovers and that is the whole point of meatloaf, am I right?

So kids, for three more weeks, I get to earn enough money to sweeten the pot to perhaps make something a little more expensive next week…or not. We’ll see where the recipe wind takes me. But for now I’m safe…and I didn’t even need to cook the meal of my life or channel Jackie Kennedy to do so. (And for those of you lost in America, I reference Top Chef and Project Runway; same with the “one day you’re in…” quote above).

In the words of Tim Gunn from Project Runway - “Make it work…”

Old-Fashioned Beach Meat Loaf (“Beach meatloaf?” As opposed to your “alley” meatloaf or your “swamp meat loaf”???!!) (This is the full recipe but I don’t know how many it is intended to feed. My guess is a lot!)
2 pounds chopped beef, ground twice
1 pound chopped pork, ground twice
1 pound chopped veal, ground twice
1 large onion, chopped or grated
1 carrot, grated
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon rosemary leaves, crushed
½ bay leaf, crushed
2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 eggs
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Bacon or salt pork strips

Mix all ingredients but bacon or salt pork together and knead thoroughly. Press down. Form into a tight loaf and place on strips of bacon or salt pork in a shallow baking pan. Cover with more strips of bacon and bake in 350 oven, basting frequently for 1 ½ to 2 hours, according to the size of the loaf. (Beard’s note: “This is delicious hot, but even better cold, when it resembles a good pate de campagne of the French provinces. It must not be baked in a loaf pan and it must be well pressed together with the hands before baking).

And now here are my notes: Get out a Cuisinart. Dump in your onion and your carrots and pulse until the vegetables are finely chopped. Add all ingredients, including the meat, turn the thing on and walk away for a minute. Blend the ingredients, turn it back on, walk away for another minute, come back and dump the mixture in a shallow pan. You will not believe how finely ground your ingredients are. Shape with hands then cover with some strips of bacon (as opposed to practically wrapping the thing in bacon like a snuggi), and bake for 1 hour or until the internal temp reaches 165. Serve. Eat the leftovers for several days until the meatloaf is gone or you can’t take it any more!

"Cook it Outdoors" by James Beard and "KCMR Casseroles and Salad" - Pig Hamburgers and Lentil Confetti Salad

Date I made these recipes: May 31, 2010 (Memorial Day)

Cook it Outdoors by James Beard
Published by: M. Barrows and Company
Copyright: 1941
Recipe: Pig (Pork) Hamburgers – p. 88

KCMR Casseroles and Salads by KCMR Radio, Mason City, Iowa; recipe submitted by Sylvia Duenow
Published by KCMR
Copyright: 1992
Recipe: Lentil Confetti Salad – p. 37

Oh, the pressure.

Memorial Day usually signals the start of the grilling season but for the past two years, our grill has been down and out.

Now, we had the replacement part all ready to go, having purchased it two years ago in, of all places, Pamida (a modern day five and dime store) in my hometown in Michigan. But did we get it installed? No, reader, we did not. Given that half the year is cold and wintery, where was the pressure?

But now it’s fixed and off my husband’s “honey do” list and we have achieved grill and so the only thing left to decide was what to make.

This wasn’t easy because I’ve already cooked from most of my grilling or barbecue cookbooks but then I spied my James Beard Cook it Outdoors cookbook and we were set.

Or were we? James Beard was more of a gourmet (or is it gourmand) than just a chef or a cook and so finding just a basic burger was a challenge. Lucky for us there was the pig burgers recipe (although seriously—can we talk about how unappetizing that name is?); easy to make and fun to eat!

All that was left was to find a salad recipe and for that, I turned to my stash of community cookbooks. Nobody knows how to put together a picnic salad recipe like a hometown cook.

Although the taste flavors of this salad – Italian – clashed a bit with the Asian-oriented pig burgers, I made it anyway as it seemed more heart healthy than some of the others and it took less time (can we talk about the inordinate number of recipes that required overnight chilling?). And on a sunny holiday weekend, I am all about time.

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend!

Pig Hamburgers – no quantity listed but it made about 12 burgers
3 pounds lean pork, ground
½ teaspoon sweet basil (Italian)
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon grated garlic
½ teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper

Mix the pork and the herbs and spices thoroughly, using gingers to blend it all. Shape into think cakes about three inches in diameter and grill over the coals. Serve with buns and barbecue sauce.

Lentil Confetti Salad – makes 5 small servings
½ cup Lentils (1/4 lb)
1 ½ cups water
1 cup cooked rice
½ cup Italian dressing (Can we talk about how many choices there are? Sheesh)
½ cup tomatoes, seeded and diced
¼ cup chopped green pepper
3 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons pimento
2 tablespoons stuffed green olives
2 tablespoons parsley (garnish)

Wash and drain lentils. (Lentils require no soaking). Place in heavy saucepan, add water and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Do not overcook! Lentils should be tender with skin intact. Drain immediately. Combine with rice, pour dressing over mixture and refrigerate until cool. Add remaining ingredients, except parsley. Mix well. Garnish with parsley.

"James Beard's American Cookery" - Corned Beef Hash

Date I made this recipe: Wednesday, March 18, 2009

James Beard’s American Cookery by James Beard
Published by: Little, Brown and Company
© 1972
Recipe: Corned Beef Hash – p. 304-305

As I mentioned in my previous blog about corned beef and cabbage, corned beef hash is one of my favorite meals and so I made sure to save enough of it to have leftovers.

Unlike previous blog postings where I can be a bit…chatty, there isn’t much to say about corned beef hash because it is so simple to make. You dice your leftover corned beef and potatoes, add a little onion that’s also been chopped, melt some butter in a pan, throw on some salt and pepper and, if desired, nutmeg and there you have it! Comfort food 101! I think my husband and I ate the entire pan of it in less than 15 minutes (I was starving).

Of course, inhaling the dish as quickly as we did didn’t allow us to appreciate it in the way the legendary author, James Beard, intended, but some things are meant to be eaten with gusto.

For those of you who don’t have leftover corned beef lying around, James included a recipe using canned corned beef and canned corned beef hash and so I will include instructions below. It’s the least I can do seeing that out of all the (probably) wonderful recipes included in this book, I selected a dish using leftovers, but hey, the guy had me at “For many people this is the best part of the corned beef.”

I couldn’t agree more. Enjoy!

Corned Beef Hash - serving size unknown but note: the yield on this dish is dependent on how much leftover corned beef and potatoes you have!
2 pounds cold corned beef
4 to 6 cold boiled potatoes of medium size, coarsely chopped
1 medium size onion, finely chopped
Freshly ground pepper
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Butter of beef drippings
Heavy cream or boiling water (optional)

Chop the meat fairly fine with a knife rather than put it through the grinder. Combine the potatoes and onion with the meat and add a few good grinds of black pepper and the nutmeg. Blend well and allow to rest in the refrigerator several hours or overnight. (I skipped that step—who has time to wait?!)

When ready to cook, melt just enough butter or beef drippings in a heavy skillet to cover the bottom – 4 to 6 tablespoons. Add the hash and press down somewhat firmly. When the hash begins to develop a crust on the bottom, turn with a spatula so that some of the crust is brought to the top. At this point many people add about ½ cup of heavy cream or some boiling water, which enables the bottom crust to form more quickly. I prefer to cook the hash slowly to develop the crust, turning it several times. (This is James Beard’s instruction). When it has crusted nicely, loosen it with a spatula, fold it once, and turn it out on a platter, crusty side up. Serve with poached eggs, toast, and chili sauce.

Quick Corned Beef Hash
1 can corned beef
1 can corned beef hash
1 small onion, finely chopped
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
5 tablespoons butter or beef drippings

Chop the canned corned beef rather coarsely and combine with the corned beef hash and chopped onion. Heat the butter or beef drippings in a heavy skillet, and cook the hash, pressing it down well to start a crust. Scrape the bottom with a spatula and bring some of the crisp bits to the top. Continue doing this until the crusty and the soft parts are equally mixed. Then let the bottom crust uniformly. Using a spatula, fold over the hash as you would an omelet and turn out on a hot platter.

PS-This book probably came with a dust jacket and no doubt it was way more interesting than the boring cover on this blog but I don’t have it so there you go.

"The Casserole Cookbook" by James Beard & "The Seducer's Cookbook" by Mimi Sheraton - Veal and Noodles and Apple-Pecan Tart

Date I made these recipes: February 17, 2008

The Casserole Cookbook by Jim Beard (as in the legendary James Beard)
Published by: The Bobbs-Merril Company, Inc.
© 1955
Recipe: Veal and Noodles – p. 25

The Seducer’s Cookbook by Mimi Sheraton
Published by: Random House
© 1962, 1963
Recipe: Apple-Pecan Tart - p. 58-59

Valentine’s Day this year found me working days and my husband working nights. I left him cupcakes and a card for when he came home and he left me cookies and a card for when I woke up. It was actually kind of fun—sort of like Santa coming only in February.

So dinner had to wait until the weekend when we were both home. I don’t know why I pulled out Jim Beard’s Casserole book but I just did although I’ll argue that a veal casserole is slightly more romantic than say, tater tot casserole.

As to dessert, I thought the Seducer’s Cookbook by Mimi Sheraton would be a good place to look for a recipe although the chapter it came from - How to Get Him to Marry You - is a moot point seeing as how we already passed Go on that almost 17 years ago. Recipes in this section, however, were a far better choice than The Gay Divorcee and Can’t We Be Friends.

On the “how cosmic is that?” front, I had just finished making out a shopping list that included Damson Plum Jam when a neighbor popped over to check out our kitchen (we remodeled years ago and she wanted to see what we had done). As I was showing her the panty, I opened the door and danged if right there, front and center, was a jar of Damson Plum Jam, given to us by friends who now live in Maine. I was meant to make this tart!

As to the recipes themselves, they were good but not great, certainly not the level of a seductive meal. I never anticipated the difficulty in finding a simple veal cutlet in a city of this size but we went to a couple of stores before finally settling on veal stew meat. I cut down some of the pieces so as to make them stretch as buying three pounds of veal was out of the question at $12.00 a pound. So we had ourselves noodles and veal instead of veal and noodles! Were I to do this recipe again, I would also substitute small, white onions with diced onions as the white onions tend to run on the large size and therefore get picked out of the recipe.

As to the tart, it was good although I thought the topping was a little heavy for the thinly sliced apples resting below it but it didn’t affect the taste at all. I forgot to buy pecans but my husband is not a big fan of nuts so it all worked out in the end.

Veal and Noodles - Serves 8
1 pound noodles
1 pound small white onions (or substitute sliced or diced onions)
1 can condensed chicken broth
1 can white wine
1 package frozen peas
**note, I had to double the broth and wine in order to make the 2 cups necessary to finish the dish
3 pounds veal (I used 1.5 pounds)
Flour for coating the veal
Dry mustard, thyme, marjoram, salt and pepper to season the veal
Grated lemon rind, enough to coat veal slices
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk

Cook the noodles in boiling salted water about 9 minutes until tender, not mushy. Peel 1 pound small white onions and boil until tender in 1 can condensed chicken broth and an equal amount of white wine. Skim out onions, reserving broth (note, you will need 2 cups by the time you are done; if you fall short, add broth and/or wine to the pan).

Dredge well 3 pounds of veal, sliced very thin, in flour seasoned with dry mustard, thyme, marjoram, salt and pepper. Brown the veal well in fat in a skillet. When browned and drained on absorbent paper, sprinkle each slice with grated lemon rind. Cook 1 package of frozen peas according to instructions.

In a large, shallow casserole place layers of veal, noodles, onions and peas.

Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in top of a double-boiler then blend in 6 tablespoons of flour. Add 2 cups of milk and 2 cups of the onion broth. Stir constantly until creamy smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour this mixture over the layers in casserole and bake at 375 until bubbly – about 45 minutes.

Apple-Pecan Tart - serving size not given
4 apples (firm but not too sour)
3 tablespoons butter
½ cup Damson Plum Jam
1 tablespoon rum
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
½ lemon rind, finely grated
1 tablespoon flour
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups breadcrumbs, preferably made from light pumpernickel
1/3 cup finely ground pecans
2 egg whites
Salt

Peel, quarter and core apples and slice into thin lengths. Put 1 ½ tablespoons butter into a 10” skillet and when it bubbles, add half the apple slices. Saute until apples are golden brown on both sides and are firm but tender. Put them into a buttered 8” baking dish about 1 ½” to 2” deep. Add another 1 ½ tablespoons butter to the skillet, sauté the remaining apple slices and put them into the baking dish when they are done.

Rub the jam through a sieve into the skillet and add the rum. Cook slowly for 4 or 5 minutes so that the jam melts, but be careful that it does not scorch. Add this mixture to the apples and turn it through them gently.

Cream 3 tablespoons butter with the sugar in a mixing bowl, add yolks, lemon rind, cinnamon and flour and mix lightly before adding breadcrumbs and ground nuts. Add salt to the egg whites, beat until stiff, and fold into egg-crumb mixture. (Pet peeve: how MUCH salt? She doesn’t say so I threw in a very small amount. I would have liked to have known what effect this would have on the mixture but alas, it will remain a mystery).

Spoon mixture onto apples and spread evenly over them with a spatula. Bake in 325 oven for 40-50 minutes or until the topping is a deep golden brown.

This tart is best made a day in advance and kept in the refrigerator overnight. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar before serving and/or whipped cream.

"Hors D'Oeuvre and Canapes" (Beard) & "Quick & Easy Recipes: Appetizers" & "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook" (Garten) & "Feast" (Lawson) - 4 appetizers

Date I made these recipes: December 16, 2006 and December 31, 2005

Hors D’Oeuvre and Canapes by James Beard
Published by M. Barrows and Company, Inc.
© 1940 (my version is the 9th printing, December, 1953)

Recipe: Roquefort Spread – p. 83

Okay, a show of hands…how many of you know what a hors d’oeuvre is but don’t know how to spell it? Exactly. So people, let’s just call a hors d’oeuvre what it really is – an appetizer – so we can all relax and get on with life. (And note: thinking of it as a “horse do-vers” doesn’t help with the spelling as so many Home-Ec teachers promised)

For those of you who don’t know, James Beard was the male version of Julia Child. He authored many a cookbook in his day, Hors D’Oeuvre and Canapes being his first, and had such a profound effect on the culinary world that his former home in Manhattan is now a shrine that houses the James Beard Foundation. His name is also attached to one of the most prestigious awards an author can ever achieve – The James Beard Foundation Awards - for excellence in several cook book categories.

Despite its difficult-to-spell name, the appetizers in the book are fairly easy and straightforward which seems to be a hallmark of Beard’s cooking career. I do, however, have to take issue with the man on one of his instructions: “Force one-half pound of Roquefort cheese through a fine sieve with one-quarter pound of butter and the same quantity of cream cheese.”

Hmmm….I was perplexed because the type of sieve in my kitchen is so fine that I didn’t think that anything would actually get through it. The visual image of how to do this also escaped me. But I am nothing if not resourceful, so instead of using a sieve, I broke up the Roquefort cheese in my Cuisinart and then creamed the cheese, butter and cream cheese in my KitchenAid as I would a cake batter. Note that the color of the cheese changed from its distinctive blue and white to mostly blue which was slightly unappetizing but don’t worry, the flavor stayed the same. (All I could think of was that the cheese would turn the color blue as the soup featured in the movie, Bridget Jones’ Diary, but it never even got close. Whew!)

This recipe was a hit at the dinner party I recently attended, and a friend commented that she liked it because although she likes blue cheese, she doesn’t LOVE blue cheese and the other ingredients in the spread provided a nice balance.

Roquefort Spread
½ pound Roquefort cheese
¼ pound butter
¼ pound cream cheese
½ tsp dry mustard
2 T Cognac
(Note: Beard listed variations including adding a tablespoon of chopped chives or two tablespoons of chopped, raw mushroom after the dish is creamed. He indicated that if you substitute these ingredients, use the spread at once.)

Force one-half pound of Roquefort cheese through a fine sieve with one-quarter pound of butter and the same quantity of cream cheese (or break up the cheese by lightly pulsing in a food processor). Cream the cheeses then add one-half teaspoonful of dry mustard and two tablespoonfuls of Cognac. This may be stored in a glass jar or stone crock and kept for a couple of weeks.

Although Beard doesn’t suggest it, I would bring the cheese spread to room temperature before serving to make it easier to spread. I used crackers rather than bread and also think that was a good idea as even warm, the spread managed to crack a few crackers, hahahaha….


Quick & Easy Recipes: Appetizers – Food Writers’ Favorites
Edited by Barbara Gibbs Ostmann and Jane Baker
Published by: Dial Publishing Company

ISBN: 0-911479-05-8

Recipe: Horseradish Cream for Asparagus Roll-Ups – p. 31
Submitted by Constance Hay, Free-Lance Food Writer, Columbia, MD

If you love horseradish, as I do, you’re going to love this recipe. It’s very easy to make and the author notes that it can be used to accompany meats and even fish. The recipe says you can use roast beef or ham but I’ve always associated horseradish sauce with beef so I went with the beef.

There are several types of horseradish out on the market but I went with a creamy concoction rather than some of the chunkier brands that are out there – your preference. How much you add is also a matter of taste. I went with the full amount (4 tablespoons) although had I any of my maternal grandmother’s homemade horseradish on hand, I doubt I would have used even a tablespoon full. Let’s just say it took the hair off your chest…if you had hair on your chest…not that I did, but you get my drift…. She died many years ago but the woman knew her way around the kitchen and definitely knew how to make some mean horseradish sauce from scratch.

And so before I get too welled up here (from the memories or the horseradish cream I’m eating as we speak)…

Horseradish Cream for Asparagus Roll-Ups
1 pound cooked asparagus (fresh or canned)
1 pound thinly sliced roast beef or cooked ham
1 c. heavy cream
Juice of 1 lemon
2-4 tablespoons prepared horseradish, to taste
1 tsp salt
Cayenne pepper, to taste

Wrap each asparagus spear with a slice of roast beef or ham. Arrange on a platter. Note: the asparagus I bought was on the thin side, it being December, so rather than include a scrawny piece of asparagus in a huge slice of roast beef, I wrapped 5 per bundle. I used up most of my asparagus and all of the beef and the portion size was perfect. I also bought just asparagus tips since that’s the part I like best, anyway.

In a large mixing bowl, combine cream, lemon juice, horseradish, salt and cayenne. Beat on high speed of electric mixer until cream forms stiff peaks. Serve the cream with the roll-ups.

I made this recipe the night before to let the flavors combine and it was just fine but I’m not sure I’d make it any earlier than that or the whipped cream might start breaking down.

This makes 2 cups.

The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten
Published by: Clarkson Potter/Publishers (http://www.randomhouse.com/) or http://www.barefootcontessa.com/
ISBN: 0-609-60219-5

Pan-fried onion dip – p. 53

I made this appetizer for a New Year’s party last year (2005) and never mind the champagne, bring on this dip! All four of us at this dinner party took a bite at the same time, paused and gave each other that “oh my god, this is wonderful” look, and then proceeded to inhale the entire thing without saying another word. Bowl scrapping may or may not have taken place.

And I’ve got to tell you people, I was relieved because the previous year’s appetizers just didn’t work out as I planned (which is not to say we didn’t eat them because we’ll eat just about anything but we didn’t enjoy them as much as this dip). So, thank you, Ina, thank you! (By the way, I’ve met Ina and had her sign my cookbooks, and she is just a wonderful lady. If you haven’t seen her show, The Barefoot Contessa, on the Food Network, tune in right now. I mean it!)

Pan-friend onion dip
2 large yellow onions
4 T unsalted butter
¼ c. vegetable oil
¼ tsp ground cayenne
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
½ c. sour cream
½ cup good mayonnaise (Or, as the TV commercial used to say, “Bring out the Hellmann’s and bring out the best.”)

Cut the onions in half, then slice them into 1/8-inch-thick half-rounds. (You will have about 3 cups of onions).

I would go one step further than Ina and cut the rounds in half, otherwise, some of the onion pieces can get rather long and a bit more difficult to eat. But that’s just one woman’s opinion.

Heat the butter and oil in a large sauté pan on medium heat. Add the onions, cayenne, salt and pepper and sauté for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 more minutes, until the onions are browned and caramelized. Allow the onions to cool.

Place the cream cheese, sour cream, and mayonnaise in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Add the onions and mix well. Taste for seasonings. Serve at room temperature. Makes 2 cups (which is hardly enough once you taste how positively delicious this is).

Ina suggests serving this dip with homemade potato chips, fresh vegetables or crackers. I didn’t quite picture myself making homemade chips so I went with crackers.

Feast – Food to Celebrate Life by Nigella Lawson
Published by Hyperion Books – http://www.hyperionbooks.com/
ISBN: 1-4013-0136-3

Recipe: Parma Ham Bundles – p. 393

In addition to Ina Garten’s onion dip, I also made these ham bundles for the same dinner and they were also inhaled.

I love watching Nigella on her cooking shows because the woman just loves food and loves to eat, and given how obesity-trans fat-no foi gras obsessed we are, it’s a nice change of pace. Good food is meant to be enjoyed so enjoy this recipe. I know I did!

Parma Ham Bundles
14 oz sliced Parma ham (not sliced ultra-thinly)
1 ½ c. dried mission figs or other dried figs (get more if you do like I do – one fig for the recipe, one for me, one for the recipe, one for me….)
½ c. mild soft goat’s cheese

Cut or tear each slice of Parma ham into two or three strips. Scissor each fig in half (you may need to quarter them if they’re really large) and spread a teaspoon of goat’s cheese onto the cut half of the fig. Place the piece of fig cheese-side down on to the center of a strip of ham and then make it into a bundle. Sit each bulging pink parcel so that the darkness of the fig is hidden plate-side down. Makes 25

As good as Nigella’s instructions are, here’s how I ended up doing them:

Most ham slices yielded only two strips and I used a knife to cut them as it was the easiest method for me.

Scissoring each fig was fraught with problems, namely sticky scissor blades, so I cut them with my knife, and yes, I probably am slightly knife-obsessed.

Spreading the goat cheese onto the cut half of the fig was also a “no-go.” The cheese kept falling off so I spread the goat cheese, but not without some difficulty, on the ham slice itself. That seemed to be the easiest way to go.

And because I ate many of the figs that were supposed to go into the recipe, let’s just say that a yield of 25 bundles is a little high. Be thinking 15 and you’ll probably be on the mark. Make that 10….