"Full Color Chinese Cooking - 30 Recipes" & "Fowl Cooking...Chicken, That Is" - a chicken soup and a chicken casserole for the Chinese Year of the Rooster!

Date I made these recipes:  February 19, 2017 – Belated Chinese New Year—the year of the Rooster!

Full Color Chinese Cooking – 30 Recipes by Constance D. Chang

Published by Shufunomoto Co., Ltd. Tokyo, Japan

© 1969; fourth printing August 1970

Purchased at Goodwill

Recipe:  Chicken Noodle Soup – p. 25

Fowl Cooking – Chicken, That Is by Virgo Paynter Miyamoto

Published by Mutual Publishing Company

© 1989

Purchased at Kona Bay Books, Kona, Hawaii

Recipe: Cock-a-Doodle-do-da Casserole – p. 144 (Chicken with a veggie mix of artichokes, olives, pimento, green pepper and onion, topped with soup, sour cream and cheese – yum!)

Thank goodness the Chinese New Year – the Year of the Rooster – lasts the entire year because if not for that, I might not be able to do what I am doing which is to finally get around to telling you in the month of March what I made (late) in February. 

As always, life gets in the way of me making other plans!

So the Year of the Rooster – woo hoo!  Unlike the zodiac calendar we're all familiar with - Aquarius, Pisces, Libra, etc., a Chinese zodiac calendar is broken into years and each year is assigned an animal.  The animal signs are: rat; ox; rabbit; tiger; dragon; snake; horse; goat; monkey; rooster; dog, and pig, and these animal signs repeat every 12 years.

So, for example, if you were born in 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972 and so on, you are a rat – ha!  If you were born in 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, and (coming up), 2029, you are a rooster! And just like the zodiac signs we are familiar with, rats and roosters and the other animals have lucky numbers, unlucky numbers, lucky colors, personality traits, other "animals" to avoid and so on.

Here's an example: People born in a year of the Rooster are "very observant, hardworking, resourceful, courageous, and talented.  Roosters are very confident in themselves."  Rooster lucky numbers are 5, 7, and 8 and red is an unlucky color.

I have to say, much of this amuses and so every now and then, I do a deeper study into these signs although I often disagree with what I read.  One thing I read while "researching" these "year of" signs almost made me spit my coffee onto my keyboard and it was a chart titled "Famous Dogs." Ha!  Hahahahahahaha.  Let me assure you that this list did not include Lassie or Rin Tin Tin (but did include Winston Churchill so that's cool).

It should go without saying that celebrating the Chinese New Year means making Chinese food and I did that by cooking from one of my Chinese cookbooks, but I also had to – just had to - make something from this hilarious cookbook I purchased in Hawaii last year:  Fowl Cooking...Chicken, That Is.  There's a reason why this book was so fitting and so let's get to it.

You may not know this, but the island of Kauai has a poultry problem.  Many islanders raise chickens (and roosters) but when Hurricane Iniki roared through the islands years ago, those chicken coops were destroyed and the chickens went rogue and then multiplied, such that you cannot go anywhere, and I mean anywhere, on the island without tripping on a chicken. 

So we should not have been surprised, and yet were, when at 5:00 a.m. on the first morning of our most recent stay, we were rudely awakened by a rousing "Cock-a-doodle-doo" by a you know who! I wish I was able to capture that Kodak moment i.e. the look on our faces when we heard it.  I remember commenting that I felt like we were in an episode of the TV show, Green Acres!  Later that day, while relaxing by the pool, I heard a "cheep, cheep, cheep" and looked down in time to see a mama chicken and her little chicklets strolling by my beach chair on their way to the...pool?

Fast forward then to last year when we were on the Big Island and once again, on our first morning there were awakened by a rousing "Gobble, gobble, gobble" of a wild turkey, not to be confused with the alcoholic beverage, Wild Turkey which we drank after this happened.  After folks.  Once again, the look we gave each other was priceless more so because good lord, are fowls on the move?  Have they grown tired of the overcrowded Kauai and are now looking for more space in which to grow and raise their families on the Big I? (Think House Hunters Chicken [version]:  "Well, Kauai's chicken coops are 'a little small' so we're looking for more space.  We'd like to stay in the same neighborhood but would move to the bigger island if need be...")  At any rate, we shall just have to go back soon to monitor the situation.

Okay, so, with all that in mind, it was time to pull some recipes and I had no trouble finding recipes containing chicken.  These recipes don't go together at all but they contain our "secret" ingredient and that's all that matters.  By the way, unless you own a chicken farm (my paternal grandparents did), you will not find rooster (as in the Year of the "Rooster") in a grocery store, likely because it's a pretty tough bird and I don't mean "street" tough, I mean tough to eat.  So roosters are out and really, we should redub this year "The Year of the 'Hen.'"  I may need to send a letter to the Chinese government.

And so folks, let's review my two dinner selections – Cock-A-Doodle-Do-Dah Casserole from Fowl Cooking...Chicken, That Is, and Chicken Noodle Soup from the Full Color Chinese Cooking cookbook.  Think of these as a Tale of Two Chickens and by all means, feel free to make and serve these separately lest your palate and your family members get confused.

Now I could have made something Chinese-related from the Fowl Cooking cookbook, but given our experiences in Hawaii, I just could not pass up the opportunity to make the hilariously and appropriately named Cock-A-Doodle-Do-Dah Casserole.  This dish is what my mother would call a "company" casserole, not that my mother ever served any guest in our home a casserole as she favored company classics like a beef roast or Swiss steak or baked chicken. This was a yummy casserole though because in addition to the requisite chicken, it contained ingredients we casserole lovers cherish:  cream of chicken soup, sour cream and parmesan cheese.  It also includes artichoke hearts, noodles, and a few other ingredients.  We quite liked it.

As to the [Chinese] Chicken Noodle Soup, it was easy to make, the vermicelli noodles were a fun addition, but it fell flat on flavor. (Well, did I find my "f" key on the keyboard, or what?).  The recipe called for three "spices" – salt, pepper and MSG.  Now most of us know that MSG has been dubbed the evil empire of seasoning since it can trigger migraine headaches and I sure didn't want that, but I think of an appropriate substitute and I wish I had because it needed a little extra "something" to liven it up a bit.  I suppose one could use soy sauce but maybe something like star anise?  Or maybe fish sauce?  Well, play with it.

This then, concludes my post on the Chinese New Year – The Year of the Rooster.  I hope it's a good year for you all but just know it will be a while before I get around to making another dish in honor of the occasion as next year is the year of the dog and....no.  Nope.  Enjoy your chicken!

Cock-A-Doodle-Do-Da Casserole – serves 8 to 10

4 cups cubed cooked chicken

¾ cup dry white wine

2 cans (10 oz. each) cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1 pkg. noodles, cooked and drained

2 cans (14 oz. each) artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped

1 can (14 oz.) pitted ripe olives, halved

½ cup chopped pimento

½ cup slivered green pepper

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Mix wine, soup, and sour cream and set aside.  Butter a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. 

Starting with the noodles, layer the noodles, chicken, artichoke hearts, olives, pimento, green pepper and onion.  Add the wine, soup, and sour cream mixture.  Top with the Parmesan cheese.  Refrigerate overnight if desired.  (Ann's Note:  Nope, not desired!)

Bake in a 350F oven for approximately 45 minutes.

Turkey cubes may be substituted for the chicken.  The casserole can be made ahead of time and frozen.

Chicken Noodle Soup – 2-6 servings

2 oz. vermicelli or noodle

2 ½ oz. chicken breasts (Ann's Note:  I wasn't sure whether to use raw chicken breasts or not so I erred on cooking the chicken separately and then adding it to the dish at the very end to warm it up.)

12 snow peas

¼ cup dried mushroom, soaked and shredded (Ann's Note:  dried mushrooms are expensive so I used fresh.)

1/3 cup caned bamboo shoots, cut into strips

¼ cup carrot, cut into strips

7 cups chicken stock

1/3 cup ham, cut into strips

1 tablespoon salt

Pepper

MSG (monosodium glutamate)  (Ann's Note:  see discussion of MSG above)

Cut chicken, snow peas, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, carrots and ham into thin strips.

Drop vermicelli into boiling water and boil for 5 minutes.  (Ann's Note:  this is less time than normal for fully-cooked vermicelli.) Drain, rinse and drain again.  Set aside.

Bring chicken stock to boiling point.  Add chicken meat, ham, snow peas, mushroom, bamboo shoots and carrot.  Cook for 2 minutes. Add seasonings and cooked vermicelli and boil for 1 minute over medium heat.

"Barbara Cartland - The Romance of Food" & "Made With Love - The Meals On Wheels Family Cookbook" - Sirloin Steak w/Beaujolais Sauce and Potatoes au Gratin - Valentine's Day!

Date I made these recipes:  Valentine's Day 2017!

Barbara Cartland – The Romance of Food by [famous romance writer] Barbara Cartland

Published by Doubleday & Company, Inc.

© 1984

Purchased at Kona Bay Books, Kona, Hawaii

Recipe:  Sirloin Steak in Beaujolais Sauce – p. 60

Made With Love – the Meals On Wheels Family Cookbook, Edited by Enid Borden [with recipes from over 100 celebrities]

Published by BenBella Books, Inc.

ISBN: 978-193666198-5; © 2012

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Thrift Stores, Richfield, MN

Recipe:  Potatoes au Gratin from Chris Frantz, music producer, musician, and former drummer for the bands Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club – p. 206

Well, Valentine's Day has come and gone and as sometimes happen, I am now many blog posts behind schedule.  But when it came to having a book at the ready, I'll have you know I found Barbara Cartland - The Romance of Food back in May 2016 while on a 25^th anniversary trip to Hawaii. Awwww....  It was meant to be.

Some of you might be too young to be familiar with Barbara Cartland, the Grand Dame of romance writers everywhere, but not me. When I was in high school in the 70's, I worked as a student librarian and I had to re-shelve her books every day on the little spiral rack that held our paperback selections.  Although these books today are viewed as being pretty tame, (nay, even silly) back then the plot of the swashbuckling man seducing the shy timid woman (usually in a "historical" setting) were so "racy" that Cartland became known for writing the "bodice ripper." Well hardly, but you know, it only enhanced Cartland's reputation as the leading romance writer of her time.

In 1991, Cartland became a Dame ("There is nothin' like a dame/nothin' in the world" – South Pacific) when QEII awarded her an OBE [medal].  An OBE is awarded to a Knight or Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, quite, quite, quite! Why, that's practically royalty which is why you will likely find the following interesting:  Barbara Cartland's daughter, Raine [Spencer], was the late Princess Diana's stepmother.  I know, right?  Alas, Diana did not like her stepmother, calling her "Acid Raine (ouch!)" which I have to say is rather un-princess of her, right? But whereas there was no love lost for her stepmother, Diana apparently spent a lot of time reading Step-Grandmama's "bodice rippers," which might account for some of Diana's naïveté when it came to love, the subject of which we shall have to say for another day.

At any rate, whereas Barbara had a lock and load on all things bodice and ripping, I just didn't find a lot of the food in this cookbook appealing. There were plenty of lovely photos but the recipes themselves were rather underwhelming.  I mean, she means well, even throwing in the word "love"  in the recipe's title here and there to keep us on track, such as "Love in a Shell" – p. 33, a dish of scallops in a cream and wine sauce, and "Lover's Delight" – p. 41, mushrooms in olive oil and lemon juice, but these were just "meh" to me.

And then there's the other extreme of recipes that sound so bloody awful that I wouldn't make them even if you held a gun to my head, such as "Jugged Hare."  I swear to you, no British cookbook would be complete without a recipe for "Jugged Hare" which appears to be some gawd-awful concoction of rabbit (hare), wine, currant jelly and blackberry jelly.  This is supposed to be the food of love?  More like the food of divorce which is to say "Oh hell no!"

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I found a spectacularly good potatoes au gratin recipe in the Made with Love Cookbook and so hmm, what does Ms. Cartland have that would pair well with those potatotes?

In the end, steak.  Nothing pairs better with potatoes au gratin that good old beef and happily, Ms. Cartland had plenty of recipes for that – whew!  And after considering several options (but not "Steak and Kidney Pie" – p. 60), I settled on Sirloin Steak in Beaujolais Sauce because it contained two favorite ingredients in one dish – steak and wine!

In this case though, I made two substitutions:  instead of Sirloin, I used Rib Eye because it was on sale, and instead of Beaujolais, I used Merlot since I already had a bottle of that open.  I passed on using bone marrow for garnish, not because I don't like bone marrow, I do (I know, I know—I can pretty much hear many of you saying "ew"), but because I would have had to cook said bone marrow and I didn't have time.

This dish turned out to be very tasty and easily made although it called for the addition of butter and flour to make a roux and that made the sauce just a tad too thick.  The real winner though, was the Potatoes au Gratin recipe from the Made with Love – The Meals On Wheels Family Cookbook.  Let's explore!

I've got nothing but love for this cookbook and for this organization.  Meals On Wheels ensures that no senior goes hungry by delivering meals to those seniors who are unable to cook for themselves.  Many years ago, some friends and I delivered meals to seniors on Christmas Eve through a similar organization, Little Brothers of the Elderly, and it was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.

Several celebrities contributed to this cookbook to held end senior hunger and I have to tell you, most of the recipes were absolutely mouth-watering.  The challenge though, was what dish to pair with something from Barbara Cartland's book.  For a while, I considered making actress Dawn Wells' (Gilligan's Island) "Weenie Linguine" recipe (p. 140) and thought maybe I could pair it with a Cartland salad or dessert but no.  Then I thought long and hard about Adam West's (TV's Batman) "Sawtooth Mountain Pot Roast" (p. 60) (also pictured on the cover), but that didn't work either.  And sure, I could have skipped the Cartland book and just gone with a recipe from the other cookbook but I wanted to be done with "Bab's" book sooner than later.

In the end, I settled on Potatoes au Gratin (p. 206) submitted by music producer and musician, Chris Frantz and were we ever glad we did because folks, it was delicious.  Not just a little delicious, "magically delicious" just like Lucky Charms (cereal), such that Andy kept exclaiming every five minutes "These potatoes are really good!"

I think it's a good sign that my honey was groovin' on his Valentine's Day dinner!

In conclusion, while the steak was good and the sauce was yummy, the potato recipe is the one you want to keep on hand and make, especially if you are having company as they will ooh and aah and love you to pieces, Valentine's Day or no Valentine's Day!

Sirloin Steak in Beaujolais Sauce – Serves 4 – Barbara Cartland – The Romance of Food

4 thick boneless sirloin steaks

Salt and freshly ground pepper

¼ cup softened butter

1 shallot, finely chopped

½ teaspoon chopped parsley

Pinch of dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 ¼ cups Beaujolais wine

1 heaping tablespoon flour

1 clove garlic, crushed

A dash of brandy

Bone marrow for garnish (optional)

Ann's Notes:  I substituted rib-eye for sirloin, and Merlot for Beaujolais.  Also, I wasn't satisfied with the "roux" – the flour + 1 tablespoon softened butter.  I think you can get buy without it or maybe just add the butter to the wine mix and see what happens.  In this case, the flour made the sauce a tad thick.  Also?  See my note below about the steak.

Season the steaks and seal in 1 tablespoons hot butter in a skillet, then remove and keep hot and try on one side.  To the cooking juices in the pan, add the shallot, parsley thyme, bay leaf and ground pepper then add the Beaujolais.  Reduce the sauce by two-thirds by boiling down over a high heat then thicken at the last moment with a half-and-half paste of flour and 1 tablespoon softened butter.  Add the crushed garlic, the rest of the butter and brandy.  Do not allow the sauce to boil.  Pass the sauce through a fine sieve.  Garnish the steak with slices of poached bone marrow before coating with the sauce.

Ann's Note regarding the steak:  Unless you want it raw, you will need to cook it a bit longer than directed above.  Ms. Cartland wants you to "seal" the steaks in a hot skillet then remove, and by this she likely means "sear," which means you are to cook the steaks on each side until each side is brown and somewhat caramelized.  This doesn't necessarily mean your steak is cooked to your liking so if you want your meat to be more done, keep it in the skillet for longer and/or do what we did which was to add it back into the pan so as to soak in the wine sauce!

Potatoes au Gratin – serves 6 – Made with Love-The Meals on Wheels Family Cookbook

2 T. butter

1 tsp. minced garlic

2 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

Salt and ground black pepper

1 sweet yellow onion, finely chopped

2 ½ c grated Gruyere cheese, divided

1 c cooked and coarsely chopped bacon (about ½ pound)

2 T. chopped parsley

Cream, as needed (Ann's Note:  at least 1 cup for a half recipe, more for a full)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Rub a 9- by 12-inch gratin dish with butter and crushed garlic.  Ann's Note:  Ever the rogue, I opted to add my crushed garlic to the dish itself instead of "wasting it" on the pan.  Good call, that!

Make one layer of sliced potatoes overlapping like shingles on a roof in the bottom of the dish.  Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Then, add a layer of finely chopped yellow onions and 1 cup of cheese atop the potatoes.  Sprinkle with bacon and parsley. 

Add a second layer of sliced potatoes.  Season with salt and pepper, and add a top layer of remaining 1 cup Gruyere.  Gently pour light cream over the dish until the top layer of potatoes is almost covered.  Ann's Note:  I purchased one small carton of heavy cream (not "light" cream) and that almost made it to the top of the potatoes.  I made a half recipe so if you make this full recipe, buy a large carton.)

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, and flatten the top layer with a metal spatula to keep the gratin moist.  Cook until the gratin is a golden brown and the potatoes are cooked (insert a knife in the gratin to check them), about 30 more minutes. Sprinkle the top with another layer of Gruyere for the last 15 minutes of baking.  Remove from the oven and serve.  Ann's Note and it's a big one:  I missed the part about adding another layer of cheese in the final 15 minutes of baking – oops – and so baked what I had the extra 15 minutes, oh well. The result was that the cheese crisped up instead of being all gooey and man, did we love that, or what? 

This dish rocked our world.  Make it.  Make it now.  Eat it.  Eat it now!

"The New American Sampler Cookbook" - Beef Stew and Apple Crisp from two former members of Congress - Election Day 2016

Date I made these recipes – November 8, 2016 – Election Day, USA!

The NEW American Sampler Cookbook, edited by Linda Bauer (recipes submitted by members of Congress)

Published by The Kent State University Press

ISBN: 0-87338-435-0; © 1991

Purchased at Kona Bay Books, Kona (Big Island) Hawaii – May 2016

Recipes:  Beef Stew submitted by Representative Beryl Anthony (D), Arkansas – p. 59 ; and Apple Crisp submitted by actor-turned-Representative Fred Grandy (R), Iowa – p. 248.  Fred played "Gopher" in the popular TV series, The Love Boat.

So tonight, after months and months and well, years really, of political ads and primaries and debates and whatnot, We, The People, will have voted for the 45^th President of the United States (POTUS).  I know I am not alone in wanting this whole thing to be over.  O.V.E.R., over.

But I'm not here to talk politics per se because this isn't a political blog, it's a cookbook blog.  And of course I have a cookbook that fits the bill – The New (what happened to the "old?") American Sampler Cookbook.

This book, published in 1991, provides a bipartisan sample of recipes from then members of Congress as well as then President and Vice President of the United States, George H.W. Bush and Dan Quayle.  Even Guam, a U.S. territory, joined in.  All proceeds went to a charity that fights worldwide hunger.

This is one of those cookbooks that is just a straight-up book of recipes - no chit chat, no stories or anecdotes, just lots and lots of good things to eat.  The usual suspects in the Table of Contents are, of course, "Appetizers," "Salads," "Soups," "Stews," etc. all the way down to "Potpourri (Snacks, Sauces, Drinks)."  And heck, just for something completely different, there is a recipe for "Moose Swiss Steak" on page 125.  Take a guess at which state submitted that recipe?

So in terms of cookbooks, this one is pretty complete save for one thing that I desired that perhaps you don't:  party affiliations.  And the reason I wanted this was because I wanted to be fair and make a dish from each major party—Republican and Democrat (though there were a few Independents listed here as well).

Thank goodness for smart phones.  And so over the course of two evenings there I sat, watching TV shows and surfing the internet (multitasking!), looking up all the contributors to this cookbook to see who they were and what party they were with so I could cull the herd down to two.  This was no easy task but I'm no quitter!

To make my life easier though, I must confess that I defaced my own cookbook*.  Yup.  For the first time ever, I sat there with a pencil, noting a "D," "R," or "I," next to all the names listed in the back of the book.   And honestly, I think I can make a case that this is helpful information because if I didn't know a good portion of these names (25 years after publication), then it's likely the next cook book owner won't either.

I am nothing but fair.  And you are all more than welcome!

The most important thing to me about this cookbook though, is that it's a rare glimpse back in time when parties on both sides of the aisle worked together to achieve a common good.  "Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end..." (They did.)

I must say, in looking through all the recipes, some members of Congress outdid themselves by submitting not one, not two, but several recipes for our dining enjoyment.  Although it's still early in our voting day (!), I'm going to go out on a limb and declare a winner:  [former] Senator Christopher Bond, Republican, Missouri, gave up 30 recipes and that is outstanding.  I didn't cook any of them, but that is an outstanding effort, especially for a charitable endeavor.

Hot on his heels was Senator Charles Grassley, Republican from Iowa with 15 recipes, the late Senator Spark Matsunaga, Democrat from Hawaii with 10, former Senator Steve Symms from Idaho with 7, and  former Representative Beverly Byron, Democrat from Maryland with 6.

Did you notice how even-handed I was with the runners up?  Two from each side!  Again, I am so fair!

But still folks, the challenge was to try to pair one dish from each party so that the flavors didn't clash, but as with politics and life, some did and thus were eliminated from the race. It took me a while, but I think that I hit the jackpot with these two dishes:  "Beef Stew," from Representative Beryl Anthony, D, Arkansas and "Apple Crisp," from Representative Fred Grandy, R, Iowa.

Now unless you live in Arkansas (and even then...), you may not know who Beryl Albert is but I know – I. Know. – that bells will ring for many of you when you see the name Fred Grandy because in addition to serving in the House of Representatives from 1993-1995, Fred played the beloved character "Gopher" on ABC's hit TV series, The Love Boat, which aired from 1977-1987.

Yes folks, just like actor/governor/President Ronald Reagan, our "Gopher" went to Washington.

I think we need to take a moment to talk about this, don't you?

First, let's talk about the TV show. When The Love Boat premiered (1977), I was a sophomore in college and had no time to watch TV, and yet, now that I have watched a number of reruns on cable, I'm amazed at how many seem familiar.  Perhaps I caught them in reruns even back then?  Highly possible.

Today's college students will likely be surprised to learn that back in the 70's, you'd be hard pressed to find a dorm room with a TV.  Monster stereos, sure, TV's no.  TV's were expensive.  And those who had one (black and white only, and absolutely no cable) were revered, such that many of us gathered (around the campfire, after leaving our covered wagons and horses....) around the TV set in said owner's dorm room to watch our favorite shows or at least try to.

And that's because, sad to say, reception in most dorm rooms was horrible causing us to the do the following (you would call them "hacks") in order to get a picture:  1) putting tin foil on the antennas (yes, antennas—look it up) to pick up a decent picture; 2) creating rabbit ears antennas out of bent clothing hangers to do the same, or 3) creating complicated furniture set-ups resembling cat trees so we could put the TV as close as possible to the window to get a better feed.  Nothing worked though, and if it worked, we more often got sound than we got a picture.  And sure, you can "listen" to something like the movie Gone with the Wind without a picture if need be, but did you want to?  No.  (This happened to us, I kid you not!)

Sound ridiculous?  You young'uns have no idea...

At any rate, here's the basic premise of The Love Boat:  a cruise ship, dubbed The Love Boat, sets sail ("set a course for adventure, your mind on a new romance" = big hint) each week, usually to Mexico, and is manned by Captain Merrill Stubbing (played by The Mary Tyler Moore Show alum, Gavin MacLeod) and his crew.  His crew – and I know you know this – consisted of Doc, the ship's doctor; Julie McCoy, your cruise director; Isaac, the bartender; (eventually) Captain Stubbing's daughter, Vicki, and of course, the Ship's Purser, Berle "Gopher" Smith, played by Fred Grandy of the "Apple Crisp Recipe" Grandys.  As I hope you can imagine by the title, love on the ship was in the air, all day, every day, for passengers and crew alike.  Let's just say Doc took a special interest in the female human body.  Ew.  Even as I write that, it seems creepy but I didn't create the character – a total ladies' man - I just report about it. 

According to Wikipedia, "Gopher's" job, that of a ship's purser, is to handle the ship's finances or, if you will "purse" strings.  Get it?!  And he (or she) does other administrative stuff as well.  But if you ask me – and you didn't – I think "Gopher" (and the rest of the crew) spent more time on misadventures on and off the ship than on handling the money, honey.  Every single week without fail, the crew of The Love Boat got themselves into situations only rivaled by the crew of the S. S. Minnow from the TV show, Gilligan's Island, and yet people loved it.  The plots (of both shows) were ridiculous but The Love Boat lasted 10 seasons and Gilligan's Island, three so they had staying power.

As an aside, were you like me, yelling suggestions at the TV about how to get off Gilligan's Island?  Thought so.

At any rate, according to Wikipedia, Fred had an interest in politics that preceded his time as an actor so it was perhaps a natural path for him once he took a break from acting.  He has since returned to TV, appearing on The Mindy Project.

And now that we got all that out of the way – the history of TV, life in college, The Love Boat, ridiculous plots, and actor, representative, and recipe contributor, Fred Grandy – we can turn our attention to the other side of the aisle – the Democrats and the "Beef Stew" recipe submitted by Representative Beryl Anthony of Arkansas.  Sadly, this recap does not involve a look through the TV years but I will try to make this as interesting as possible.

First though, let me point out the irony of featuring a dish from someone from Arkansas given that Hillary Clinton, a former resident and First Lady of Arkansas (and The White House) is now running for President. I did not plan this.

So, a brief history of Representative Beryl Anthony:  Beryl Anthony was born and raised in – I love this – El Dorado, Arkansas, before going on to get an undergraduate and graduate (law) degree from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.  Just after law school, he was Arkansas' Assistant Attorney General, then a local prosecuting attorney, and then went into private practice before running for Congress in 1979.  He served from 1979-1993 and thereafter, returned to private practice in Washington, D.C.  While in Congress though – and how ironic is this – he was a member of the Ways and Means Committee which deals with money in the form of taxation and revenue-raising measures. In other words, he was just like our purser friend, "Gopher!"

Coincidence?  I think not.

Now I would not be doing my due diligence here if I didn't warn you that while Fred's recipe for "Apple Crisp" takes a mere hour to make, you had best plan ahead (vote early and often!) when you make this beef stew as it requires 5 hours of cooking time in a slow oven (250F).  Happily, I made another recipe (fruitcake), which I will post about next month, that required the same cooking time and temp.  I am nothing if not good at multitasking!  And as soon as the stew and fruitcake were done, I popped in the apple crisp and we had ourselves a hearty election night dinner. The stew was delicious but warning – it produced mass quantities and I only made half a recipe.  The apple crisp is perhaps now one of my new favorites because the "crisp" ingredients are only used as toppings and not crust and toppings. Why, it's practically diet food!

This now concludes Election Night 2016.  Hilariously, and prophetically perhaps, we switched between election coverage and several episodes of Food Network's Chopped.

Only in America....

Beef Stew – makes 6 servings (Ann's Note:  requires 5 hours cooking time at 250.)

Ann's Note:  When I saw how much a half recipe made, I envisioned us eating this stew until the next election cycle but I am happy to report that we have just enough for two hearty (and I mean "hearty) servings as leftovers.

3-4 pounds lean stew meat (chuck roast is great) (Ann's Note:  I used chuck roast country ribs – no bone – and cut them into small pieces.  Delicious!)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 to 3 ribs of celery, cut in 1-inch lengths

5 carrots, cut in 1-inch lengths

2 or 3 onions, diced

5 potatoes, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons minute tapioca

2 bay leaves

3 cups tomato juice

1 clove garlic, minced

½ cup red wine

2 cups frozen green peas

1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

Preheat oven to 250.  Sauté meat lightly in olive oil.  Place all ingredients in pot except frozen peas and mushrooms.  Seal pot with foil and put lid on.  Bake for 4 ½ hours at 250F.  Add peas and mushrooms and cook 30 minutes longer.

Apple Crisp – fills a 9-inch cake pan

4 cups apples

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ cup water

1 cup sugar

¾ cup flour

½ cup margarine; softened (Ann's Note:  I used butter)

Peel and slice apples.  Coat a square, 9-inch cake pan with spray shortening.  Place apple slices in it and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.  Add lemon juice and water.  Mix sugar, flour, and margarine/butter until the combination crumbles.  Spread this over the fruit.  Bake uncovered for 1 hour at 350.  Serve with vanilla ice cream.

"Paul Bocuse In Your Kitchen;" "The Culinary Cyclist;" "You Can Do Anything With Crepes" - food for the Tour de France

Date I made these recipes:  July 24, 2016 – the end of the Tour de France          

Paul Bocuse in Your Kitchen – An Introduction to Classic French Cooking by Paul Bocuse; translated, adapted, and with editors' notes by Philip and Mary Hyman

Published by:  Pantheon Books

© 1982

Purchased at Bloomington Crime Prevention Association (BCPA) Sale 2016

Recipe:  Bayaldi – p. 280 (similar to Ratatouille but layered like a casserole)

The Culinary Cyclist – A Cookbook and Companion for the Good Life by Anna Brones (vegetarian/Gluten-free)

Published by:  Taking the Lane / Elly Blue Publishing

©2013

Purchased at Kona Bay Books, Kona, Hawaii

Recipe:  Tapenade – p. 66

You Can Do Anything With Crepes – as Appetizers, Main Courses, Desserts by Virginia Pasley and Jane Green

Published by Simon and Schuster

© 1970

Purchased at Etsy

Recipe:  Cocoa Crepes – p. 34

Well folks, today the three-week-long Tour de France (bicycle competition) ended – "enfin" (French for "finally") - and as is usual and customary, we are celebrating our return to normalcy (plus the return of the remote to me) with French food.  This celebration also let's me sneak in a nod to Bastille Day (July 14^th) which I missed as I was busy with other things...like maybe watching the Tour?

Even though I am not the bicyclist my husband is (well, true confession:  I don't bicycle at all), I enjoy watching the Tour as they often ride through parts of France and Spain that we have visited.  This year, the guys were all back on Mount Ventoux and I have the most hilarious memories of a car trip up that mountain with my friend and travel companion on that trip, Susan, and my French friend's grandparents who drove us around France for the day.  

Quick backstory:  In the summer of 1988, my French friend, Edith (pronounced Ay-Deet) and her French step-grandmother, Marcelle, stopped to visit me while on a cross-country trip through the United States.  My friend, Susan, who spoke fluent French, spent a lot of time with us, and at the end of their trip, they invited me and Susan to visit in the fall.  Well, bien sur (of course) right? You should know that although I minored in Spanish in college, I also learned some French and spoke it pretty well.  That said, it pays to have someone fluent along for the ride and so – Susan!   This is especially true in Provence where Edith lives as the Provencal accent takes some getting used to.

And so, the ride.  Edit charged her grandparents with keeping me and Susan occupied one day when she had to work and so that is how we ended up sightseeing on Mount Ventoux, the same mountain that the Tour riders go up and down during their three weeks on the road.  Mount Ventoux can be a little challenging in a car with a lot of switchbacks (and a lot more challenging on a bike) but still folks.  Still.  Cars make it up and down this thing without incident every years except for ours.

Now since I believe I repeat this story every Tour, I'll spare you the details (especially since we still have no idea how this happened) except to say that when grand-pere rounded a wicked corner, Susan somehow, inexplicably ended up practically on top of me with her feet stuck under the front passenger seat. (And no, she was not wearing her seatbelt thus, the problem.)  Grand-pere had to pull over he (and we) was laughing so hard.  I have often said that the entire trip to Paris and then Provence could have been dubbed "Lucy and Ethel go to France."  That should tell you something.  (PS—after that hilarious ride, we went back to the grandparents' house for a midday meal with wine.  Lots and lots of wine.  I don't know what it says about me that I went glass for glass with grand-pere, who kept filling up my glass with quite the challenging twinkle in his eye, but there it is.)

And so every year like clockwork, I evaluate my French cookbooks, pull a few off the shelf, select the recipes and get to work.  Those books not selected go back on the shelf until next year's Tour is upon us.  So let's talk about the books I used this year.

Book number one – Paul Bocuse In Your Kitchen – is the second Paul Bocuse book I've used.  I made "Soup au Pistou" (similar to Minestrone) for last year's Tour from  Bocuse's Regional French Cooking and it was delicious.  This year, I had another hankering for vegetables and so made Bayaldi, a Turkish dish that is similar to  the famous Provencal dish, Ratatouille in that it uses some of the same vegetables; this dish is layered with zucchini, eggplant, onions and tomatoes.  Although Swiss cheese can be added on top, I went with Bocuse's alternative, olive oil, as a topping.  My only issue with this dish and it is minor, is that I ended up making 3x the spice mixture called for in this recipe as his amounts did not make enough.  Well, at least not in my humble and decidedly non-French opinion.

I liked this cookbook because it offered a wide range of fun French dishes, some of which were better suited to fall or winter, but others perfect for spring and summer.  The instructions, which were translated from French, were not too bad although I had a few "moments" with these instructions just because they were kind of clunky—very similar to how I speak French! 

While the French cookbook had a great range of recipes, I was somewhat challenged to find something I liked in the tiny tome, The Culinary Cyclist.  The book focuses mainly on vegetarian and gluten-free dishes and while there is nothing wrong with that, I was just not into buying a few ingredients that I would never use again just to make a few dishes.  As an example, the recipe for "Dutch Apple Pie with Cardamom" requires sorghum flour, rice flour, almond meal and xanthan gum so I ruled that out.  Some recipes were more doable but didn't float my boat, such as "The Perfect quinoa Picnic Salad with Mustard Citrus Vinaigrette."  And for the longest time, "Gluten Free Olive Oil and Polenta Cake" was in the running until I just decided it was too boring and went instead with the Tapenade recipe two pages over.

This recipe would have been a hit with me had it not tasted so salty but Andy thought it was fine.  In terms of degree of difficulty in making it, it was a piece of cake so that was good.  And tapenade (a popular dish in the French region, Provence) paired well with the Bayaldi so that was also tres bon (good). 

As to the salt, the only salt added was just a teaspoon of sea salt, making me wonder if I should have rinsed the black olives before using them?  The instructions don't say so but as we all know, instructions can be sneaky.  Plus, my palate may also be more salt sensitive than yours or than Andy's. 

As to the last dish, Cocoa Crepes, nothing but nothing says "French" like crepes.  But like anything, these things are best when made well.  And it's not like I botched them per se but they were not the best looking things I ever made, unlike the crepes I made back in 1988 when Edith and Marcelle came to visit.  It was the summer of the drought and the poor ladies just about in my un-air-conditioned kitchen but they were determined that I should learn how to make crepes and so I learned.  At that time, I had the right size pan – 5" is ideal – so that helped.  Their crepes, of course, were perfect, but I did my part and got a few that weren't too bad looking.  And this was tres bon. (Good)

This time around though, the only skillet/ crepe pan I had was about 7 inches.  A 7" pan is just fine for making my own manicotti shells (so easy) but manicotti shells are generally bigger and thicker and so this size skillet works for me. Crepes though, are best really thin and benefit from a smaller pan (unless you have a large just-for-crepes-pan in your kitchen battery which I don't) and though I tried my best to pour just enough batter to coat the bottom, they were a little large in the middle so the first one I made didn't quite set right.  The second one I made (the one Andy ate) though, was much better.

And wouldn't you know, we just happened to have a can of Redi Whip in the fridge so we used that as a topping.  If I had chocolate syrup, I might have really gone to town.  Next time.

By the way, some of you might remember this restaurant, The Magic Pan, where you could get crepes of all shapes, sizes and fillings, from sweet to savory.  I first went to one in 1976 in New York City and thought it was an awesome idea.  And when I moved to Minneapolis and found out there was one downtown I was practically giddy.  It's the littlest things...

Please note though, that I made half the recipe and ended up with just enough batter for two large crepes.  The entire recipe is supposed to make 18-24 which I think is just a tiny exaggeration but oh well.

So this concludes my "Vive la France, Vive la Tour" post.  Bon Appétit!

Bayaldi – Serves 4-6 – from Paul Bocuse In Your Kitchen

4 medium zucchini weighing about 1 ½ pounds total

2 small eggplants, weighing about 1 ¼ pounds total

1 ½ pounds tomatoes

½ pound onions

1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed

1 teaspoon thyme leaves

½ bay leaf, crushed

Salt, pepper

Butter (for the dish)

1 ½ cup grated Swiss cheese (see author Note)

5 tablespoons butter (total) broken into pieces (or olive oil – see author Note)

Note:  If preferred, the cheese can be omitted and ½ cup of olive oil used instead of butter.  In this case, pour all of the oil over the surface of the vegetables before putting them in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Wash the vegetables and wipe them dry, then cut them into slices about ½ inch thick (if using a large eggplant rather than 2 smaller ones, cut it in half lengthwise before slicing).  Keep all the vegetables separate from each other.

Butter a large baking dish (preferably earthenware or enameled cast iron).  Cover the bottom of the dish with the onions, then make a layer of zucchini and sprinkle with a little of the garlic, thyme, and bay leaf, salt and pepper.  Next, make a layer of eggplant, and lastly, a layer of tomato, seasoning each layer as you did the zucchini. (Ann's Note:  You should probably double, if not triple, the seasoning mixture as it makes very little in the first place and you will run out.)

Dot the surface with half the butter (Ann's Note: or, as the author said, 1/3 cup of olive oil), then place in the oven for 30 minutes.  At the end of this time, sprinkle with the cheese (Ann's Note:  I omitted the cheese), dot with the remaining butter, and bake 20 to 30 minutes more or until golden brown on top.  (If the vegetables dry out during the first 30 minutes' baking, cover them with aluminum foil; remove the foil for only the last 10 minutes of the baking time.)

Serving suggestions:  Serve with roast or boiled meat.  Ann's Note:  I cooked some rice and used the vegetables as a topping.

Author's Note:  Instead of making layers as described here, you can simply make parallel lines of overlapping vegetables and bake them in individual baking dishes rather than in one large one.

Ann's Final Note:  The only butter I used was to butter the baking dish.  Once I layered all the vegetables, I poured the 1/3 cup olive oil over the surface and baked it and it was fine.  I also covered the baking dish with foil as directed.  Finally, as I said above, you'll need to triple the spice mixture or you won't have enough for all the layers (three in all).

Tapenade – Serving size not given (about 2 cups?) – from The Culinary Cyclist

1 6-ounce can of organic black olives  

½ of a roasted pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup almonds

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon rosemary or Herbes de Provence

½ teaspoon black pepper

Mix all the ingredients in food process until well blended.  Store in an airtight container in refrigerator until serving.

Ann's Note:  Although it does not say to do this, I recommend rinsing the black olives just in case they are in a salt brine.  (I must confess I didn't even look but I found the dish a tad salty.)  You might also want to start with a quarter teaspoon of sea salt, adding more as needed.

Cocoa Crepes – makes 18-24 crepes – from You Can Do Anything with Crepes

2 eggs

½ cup flour

2 tablespoons cocoa

¼ cup sugar

1 cup milk with a little cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon butter, melted and cooled

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend for about 30 seconds at half speed.  Or mix eggs and flour by hand or in a mixer adding cocoa and sugar and then milk gradually, beating all the time.  Add vanilla and the cooled, melted butter and beat once more.  Led stand covered and hour or two.

Heat a small skillet or crepe pan – about 5 inches in diameter, brush with butter and when butter bubbles up, pour about a tablespoon and a half of crepe batter into pan, swirling so batter covers the pan.  Cook for about 1 minute, check for browning and watch carefully – both the cocoa and the sugar cause crepes to burn easily.  Turn crepe over and cook for about a half minute on the other side.  Turn out on paper towels.

This recipe will make from 18-24 crepes depending on the size of the pan and amount of batter used for each crepe.  These freeze well.  Ann's Note:  I used a larger pan but given that I halved the recipe, I only got 2 large crepes out of the deal.  Turns out that was perfect for our two-person household but if you want more, make the full recipe.

"The Theater Lover's Cookbook" & "Eating Together - Recollections & Recipes by (playwright) Lillian Hellman and Peter Feibleman - Celebrating the Tony Awards with pasta two ways

Date I made these recipes:  June 12, 2016 – The Tony Awards

The Theatre Lover's Cookbook – Recipes from 60 Favorite Plays by Mollie Ann Meserve and Walter J. Meserve

Published by:  Feedback TheatreBooks & Prospero Press

©1992

Purchased at Kona Bay Books, Kona, Big Island, Hawaii

Recipe:  Jenny's Spaghetti with Fresh Basil Sauce, inspired by the 1977 play, Chapter Two by Neil Simon – p. 33-34.

Eating Together – Recollections & Recipes by (playwright) Lillian Hellman and Peter Feibleman

Published by:  Little, Brown and Company

©1987

Purchased at Kitchen Arts & Letters, NYC* There's a great backstory about the purchase of this book; see below. 

 Recipe:  Bolognese Sauce – p. 50-51.

In a previous life, I was a Broadway musical star, never mind Tony Award winner.  I love to sing, I can act, and with proper training, I can shuffle ball change with the best of them.  Never mind film or TV, this baby is Broadway-bound.

Not that this ever happened, nor will it, but a gal can dream.

This year's Tony Awards were timely because a) they were a respite from the terrible shootings that happened in Orlando and b) because I just bought The Theater Lover's Cookbook a couple of weeks earlier at a used book store while in Hawaii for my wedding anniversary.  I cannot tell you how many times the books I buy end up being "timely."

Also pertinent is the second cookbook I used – Eating Together – Recollections & Recipes by famed playwright Lillian Hellman (& Peter Feibleman).  This book has been sitting on my shelf for years now, just waiting for the right opportunity to shine and tonight is it!

Although much of the fun and focus of the Tony Awards is the musical, a goodly portion of awards and respect must be paid to the plays.  Remember, it was Shakespeare who said "The play's the thing" and on Tony night, it is indeed.

This year, it occurred to me that I really should tune in to this award show more often.  There's just something different about a Broadway actor or actress and not just because they perform in New York.  Plays and musicals are demanding on the actors and I think that we see the stuff that they are made of when they bring their A-game performance night after night, week after week, eight shows a week to a live audience.   It's hard to articulate why but to me, the caliber of the actor or actress is just a cut above their Hollywood counterparts.  That doesn't mean that Hollywood actors don't come to New York or vice versa because that happens quite frequently, but "Broadway Babies" generally stick to Broadway probably because it's fun, they have a posse of friends in that business and it demands so much more of them than a couple minute spot in a TV commercial, TV show or movie.

A great example of the do-si-do done by actors throughout their careers was when host James Corden pointed out a few actors in the audience who had appeared in that TV juggernaut, Law & Order (and all its spin-offs) over the years.  This "sketch" was one of the funniest moments of the night:

James Corden:  "Those of you watching at home who aren't theater buffs, don't worry.  You may not know some of these Broadway actors by name but you will recognize them from your favorite television shows."  And then he proceeded to call them out:  "Claire Danes is here and you'll recognize her as [character name] in Law & Order.  Billy Porter is here and you'll recognize him as [character name] in[brief pause] Law & Order.  Michael Shannon is best know to all of us as [character name] [brief pause] in Law & Order" and so on and so on ending with Danny Burstein who, it turns out, played several roles in Law & Order which James named off, ending with "And finally, who could forget his wonderful turn as [character name] [brief pause] in Law & Order.

I about busted a gut.  And speaking of Law & Order, and other TV shows, these Broadway stars also crossed over from the stage to TV screen:

• Jerry Orbach was star of the Broadway production, The Fantastics (and was first to sing this incredible song, "Try to Remember" )long before he became know as the hilariously funny Detective Lennie Brisco in...brief pause...Law & Order.

• Funny lady Elaine Stritch who most of you know as Jack's mother, Colleen, on 30 Rock, as well as a defense attorney on...brief pause...Law & Order, made a name for herself starring in many Broadway productions, and even a one-woman show, Elaine Stritch at Liberty in 2002.  Two songs for which she is/was known are "I'm Still Here" (from the Sondheim musical, Follies) and "Ladies Who Lunch" from the musical, Company.  The last refrain is my favorite:  "Let's hear it for the ladies who lunch.  Everybody rise!  Rise!  Rise!...."

• Actress Beth Howland recently passed away and was best known for her role as the ditzy but delightful Vera Louise Gorman on the TV show Alice, but prior to that, she too, was a Broadway baby, originating the role of Amy in Stephen Sondheim's Company (same as Elaine Stritch).  One of the songs she sang in that production, "Getting Married Today," later resurfaced on the TV show, Glee.

Which is to say folks, that what goes around, comes around.  Books become musicals, plays become musicals, musicals become plays, actors and actresses do si do between Hollywood and New York and what we get is some great entertainment.  I have been lucky enough to see several productions – plays and musicals – on Broadway and have also been treated to some outstanding touring companies in Minneapolis.  And although my collection of musical theater CD's is not as vast as the cookbooks, it is also none too shabby and goes back to songs from musicals staged in the 1940's.  On my to-acquire CD list is Hamilton which will cost me far less than an airplane ride and tickets to the production in NYC to be sure.

And now, after that trip down memory Broadway lane, let's on with the cookbook show, starting with The Theatre Lover's Cookbook – Recipes from 60 Favorite Plays.  Here's a smattering of plays and musicals featured in this cookbook:

• Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring (1941) – Old Lace Pot Roast

• Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward (1941) – Hysterical Mousse
• Chapter Two by Neil Simon (1977) * featured recipe – Jenny's Spaghetti with Fresh Basil Sauce
• The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekov (1904) – Cherries Jubilee
• The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare (1592-1593) – Creamed Capon
• Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (1949) – Boiled (Steamed) Lobster (I probably read this play at least twice in high school and who knows how many times in college and I cannot say the play, nor main character, Willy Loman, are my favorites.)
• The Fantasticks by Tom Jones and Harvey L. Schmidt (1960) (Starring Jerry Orbach of Law & Order fame.) – Fantastick Bean Rolls with Cilantro
• For the Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Notzake Shange (1976) – Fried Bananas (I read this book my last year in high school.  The title has always stuck with me even if the details of the book are now fuzzy.)
• The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams (1945) – Ingenue Salmon Loaf (Yet another play that has been done to death.)
• Harvey by Mary Ellen Chase (1944) Pooka Pot "Rabbit" (tofu) (Also a delightful movie starting Jimmy Stewart)
• The King and I by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (1951) – Anna's Rice (My parents had the 1956 movie soundtrack album and my third grade class performed many selections from it for a class production.)
• The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman (1939) – Addie's Frozen Fruit Cream (*Lillian's cookbook is our second featured cookbook today.)
• The Miracle Worker by William Gibson (1959) – Breakfast Bisquits (Patty Duke, who played Helen Keller on stage and screen, passed away this year.)
• The Odd Couple by Neil Simon (1965) – Felix Ungar's Linquine (Loved the TV show and especially love "The Oscar Song."  YouTube it!)
• Our Town by Thornton Wilder (1938) – Mrs. Gibb's Wedding Day French Toast (Aaron Copland wrote the music for this play and the opening number is just haunting.  I love it.)
• South Pacific by Joshua Logan, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (1949) – Nellie's Normal Blueberry Pie (My parents loved this musical and film but I remain lukewarm.  That said, there has never been a time when I visited Hawaii when I haven't broken out into [the song] "Bali High."  Catchy song, that one!)
• A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (1947) – New Orleans Pork Chops (You know I have to say it:  "Stellllllllllaaaaaaaa")

And so on and so on.  Each  play comes with a little recap and a recipe.  Sometimes the recipe is something mentioned or featured in the play, sometimes not.  Overall, it's a fun read and for me – an English major and musician -  who "could have been a contender" (On the Waterfront) had things gone a little differently.  ("Here she is boys!  Here she is world!  Here's Rose Ann!  - Rose's Turn from the musical, Gypsy)

Anyway, the recipe I selected here is from Neil Simon's play Chapter Two.  Chapter Two is about second relationships and second chances.  The protagonist, a recently widowed George, meets a newly-divorced Jenny and they get married shortly thereafter.  The play is the tale of that second marriage.

According to this cookbook, in "Act I, Scene 1, she [Jenny] promises to make spaghetti with fresh basil sauce."  I thought the dish sounded good and so made it and it was very tasty and very simple to make. I was a tad worried about basil overkill (the full recipe requires 6 cups) but I worried for naught and in fact, liked it better than pesto, a dish I can take or leave. (My people do not "do" pesto.  We're straight-up red sauce, period.)

So that was one easy dish down with one to go from Eating Together – Recollections & Recipes by (famed playwright) Lillian Hellman and Peter Feibleman.

This book is divided into parts:  Part One:  Her Way and Part Two: His Way with each author telling stories and sharing recipes, most often of their travels together.  Mr. Feibleman was a close friend of Miss Hellman's and it sounds like they shared a love of writing, food and travel.  Since I don't know Mr. Feibleman though, I elected to cook something from Miss Hellman's "Her Way" section and don't you know, found several pasta sauce recipes from which I selected "Bolognese Sauce."

Besides her play, The Little Foxes, Miss Hellman also wrote the play, The Children's Hour which was made also into a movie staring Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine and James Garner.  I've seen this movie, as well as The Little Foxes with Bette Davis, but I didn't know much about Miss Hellman until I saw the movie, Julia, with Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave.  

The movie, Julia, is a story excerpted from Miss Hellman's play, Pentimento, and tells the story of a friendship between "Julia," a Nazi-resistance fighter, played by Vanessa Redgrave, and Lillian (as in Hellman), a budding playwright, played by Jane Fonda.  Both women end up in dire situations as Lillian is convinced by Julia to smuggle money into Nazi Germany to help the resistance movement.  This is a dangerous task for Lillian who is Jewish.

The movie then, is rather tense as we wait to find out the friend's fate but it was beautifully acted and the costumes made me just drool; the late 1930's and early 40's yielded some unbelievable dress designs.    The movie itself was nominated for 11 Academy Awards.  And now that I've talked about it, I'm thinking I'm going to purchase this DVD and re-watch it.  (Besides, there are scenes involving cocktails of the martini kind so...)

So that's the background on Miss Hellman. And although both co-authors provided some yummy-sounding recipes, since I was making Jenny's Spaghetti with Fresh Basil Sauce from the theater cookbook, I went all in and made half the "Bolognese Sauce" recipe from this book and we were good to go.   The recipe takes a little longer than the fresh basil sauce but it was worth it.  Plus, I liked having two sauces for dinner instead of one.

And so that's my very long, long....long Tony Award show blogpost, featuring anecdotes about things seen...in Law & Order and other fun factoids to amuse and enlighten.

Curtain up!

Jenny's Spaghetti with Fresh Basil Sauce – For a party of 6 – from TheTheatre Lover's Cookbook

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

6 cups coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 pound uncooked spaghetti

Romano or Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, for topping

Heat a large skillet over low heat and add the oil.  When the oil is hot, add the garlic and sauté about 2 minutes.  Add the basil, salt and pepper.  Sauté about 15 minutes.

While the sauce cooks, cook the spaghetti one minute less than called for on package directions and drain.  Add the spaghetti to the skillet, increase heat to medium and cook, carefully tossing continuously until the spaghetti is cooked al dente, about 1 minute.  Test the spaghetti for doneness by tasting.  Transfer to a warm serving platter or individual plates.  Top with the grated cheese and serve immediately with crusty Italian bread.

Bolognese Sauce – Serves 12 – from Eating Together – Recollections & Recipes

¼ cup olive oil

1 pound ground beef

2 onions, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 10-ounce can plum tomatoes *See Ann's Note below

2 6-ounce cans tomato paste

2 cups water or meat broth

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

1 tablespoon basil

1 teaspoon thyme

Dash of Tabasco sauce

Pepperoni sausage (optional)

Ann's Note:  I made half this recipe which meant that I only needed a 5-ounce can plum tomatoes, something that really doesn't exist.  But while I was in Target looking at canned tomatoes, I noticed they had a can (still too large) of fire-roasted tomatoes and thought "Ah ha!"  So at my next shopping stop – Trader Joe's – I purchased a small bag of small Roma tomatoes and roasted them using a variation of Ina Garten's directions:  slather the tomatoes with a generous amount of olive oil.  Sprinkle with Kosher salt.  Roast on a cookie sheet or roasting pan at 450F for 15-20 minutes (depending on size).  Let cool.  And then after they cooled, I pulsed them in the food processor and added them to the rest of the sauce – delicious!!

Put a small amount of olive oil in a large pan and sauté the meat, turning it until it browns.  Add the onions and garlic, the tomatoes and the tomato paste.  When you have removed the paste from the can, add 2 cups of water (or broth), scraping the remaining paste from the sides of the tin.  Season the sauce with salt, pepper, oregano, basil, thyme and Tabasco.  Simmer for 2 ½ hours.  It is often very nice to add to this sauce a small amount of very finely chopped pepperoni sausage.

*This cookbook, Lillian Hellman's Eating Together, was sourced for me by my friend and (used) cookbook store owner, Bonnie Slotnick, who, at the time, was finding and filling requests for out-of-print books from people like me at Kitchen Arts & Letters (NYC).  This was the very first "official" cookbook I collected after seeing mention of it in a food magazine (can't recall if it was in Bon Appetite or Gourmet.)  When Bonnie moved on, I thought all was lost but managed to find her, first in the West Village and now in her new home in the East Village.  Her used and out-of-print cookbook stock is not available for online viewing but if you can't make it to NYC, call or email her and she will try to track down your desired book and/or make recommendations.  And PS—she ships!  My only request:  please leave some books for me!

Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks

28 East Second Street

New York, NY 10003

212-989-8962

http://www.bonnieslotnickcookbooks.com/