"(Sunset Magazine) Cooking for Two..." (Pork Chops with Rhubarb Dressing) & "The Savory Way" (Winter Vegetable Puree) by Deborah Madison & "Leo Buscaglia's Love Cookbook with Biba Caggiano" (Honey Bread Pudding) - Valentine's Day 2016

Date I made these recipes:  February 14, 2016 – Valentine's Day

Sunset Cooking for Two...or Just for You

Published by: Lane Publishing Co.

© 1978

Purchased at Hennepin County Library Used Book Sale

Recipe:  Pork Chops with Rhubarb Dressing – p. 45

The Savory Way by Deborah Madison

Published by:  Bantam Books

© 1990; ISBN 0-553-05780-4

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Thrift Stores

Recipe: Winter Vegetable Puree – p. 197

Leo Buscaglia's Love Cookbook with Biba Caggiano

Published by:  SLACK Incorporated

ISBN: 0-8050-3725-X

Purchased at: Barnes and Noble Used Books, Roseville, MN

Recipe:  Honey Bread Pudding – p. 139

Well Valentine's Day has come and gone and although I barely had my act together when it came to selecting a menu, I managed to pull this meal out for the win!  Valentine's Day was saved, be still my heart! (Pun intended.)

Occasions like this often require a consultation with my better half as to which recipe(s) to select.  Normally, I'd go through a couple of cookbooks, earmarking recipes for him to consider, but this year I didn't and he was not at all happy: "What?  You don't have anything marked for me to look at?"  [Insert look of horror here.]  "No, I don't and that's because you often look through the entire book anyway and select something that I didn't mark."

Like tonight's entree, Pork Chops with Rhubarb Dressing.  I saw the recipe but ignored it; he saw it and thought it had potential.  And this is why we work so well together.

So he selected that recipe and I filled in the rest of the dinner with the winter vegetable puree and also the bread pudding from Leo Buscaglia and Biba Caggiano's "Love" Cookbook.   I toyed with making something chocolate but that is just so expected and I hate doing the expected so I switched it up and made honey bread pudding out of a "Love" cookbook; honey + "love" = perfect for Valentine's Day.  And so with that, our menu was all set and all that was left to do was to go shopping for the few ingredients I needed to make our day complete.

One and a half days later...

...Okay, this dinner almost didn't get off the ground because I couldn't find rhubarb.  Actually, I found it, I just didn't buy it when I found it (frozen) at the Lunds & Byerlys grocery store nearest our house because that would have been too easy.  Instead, I intended to purchase it at another Lunds & Byerlys in the city of Edina, where Andy and I were running some errands on Valentine's Day.

Except, of course, that Lunds & Byerlys was out of the frozen rhubarb.  What?  Let's review:  it's winter in Minnesota and a grocery store is out of frozen rhubarb?  Because....why?

Well this was puzzling and irritating at the same time because that meant we had to go all the way back to the other Lunds & Byerlys just to get rhubarb.  I was most certainly not feeling the love at that point, "L&B."  Not feeling the love.  But we made the trip because once we had our minds set on the dish, we had to have it which meant we had to have the rhubarb which meant that we had to waste gas going right back to the original source.  I could have screamed.

Luckily, the dish turned out and was very tasty even though I was skeptical that the spices – cinnamon and allspice - would overpower the dish.  They did not.  And as crazy as this sounds, I like the fact that a Cooking for Two cookbook delivered just the right amount of food.  I know, right?  Because folks, I've made a few other dishes from alleged "two person" cookbooks and either we both starved or we had way too many leftovers.  This amount was perfect plus, there were many other tasty-sounded recipes that will likely appeal if this one doesn't float your heart-shaped boat. 

Next up:  the side dish!  And now it's true confession time because I have to admit to you that I spent all of ten seconds leafing through The Savory Way  before finding what I wanted – potatoes – and calling it a day.  Some cookbooks are like that and I mean absolutely no disrespect to the author, Deborah Madison, because she writes excellent cookbooks.  I just needed to get on with my meal planning already, and that meant time was of the essence.  For those with plenty of time, this is a great cookbook and you'll be hard pressed not to find several recipes to suit your fancy.

For tonight's dinner, I made her dish pretty much to order although I barely added any butter (you can add butter or cream as optional ingredients) and I could have used a bit more salt because without it, the vegetables were not as flavorful.  I think that any type of root vegetables will do in this dish but I chose to go with potatoes, celery root, rutabaga and leeks. 

Although the flavors were slightly more savory than the pork chop dish, they worked pretty well together and we enjoyed eating them.  I wish we could say the same about the bread pudding which was not at all bad, it just wasn't the bread pudding we were used to.

For one thing, this recipe called for Italian bread and I don't know—I think it was the wrong flavor and consistency for the dish.  And instead of breaking the bread into cubes and baking it in a round casserole dish or soufflé dish, the bread was layered like a lasagna.  And....no.  And then there was the rum and I want it noted that while I am always a fan of using liquor in cooking, the recipe called for 1/3 a cup and that's a lot of rum.  A lot of rum.  We could smell it in the living room, that's how much rum there was.  So if we made this recipe again and it's unlikely, we would not layer the dish, use different bread and – I cannot believe I am saying this – cut way down on the dark rum. 

The nice thing about Leo and Biba's cookbook is that they've created menus to help you with your menu planning -  Loving Dinners for Two; Loving Dinners for Friends; Loving Dinners for Family which can be a great thing if you're trying to design a special dinner for Valentine's Day. 

So I was just sitting here contemplating the bread pudding recipe and Valentine's Day and how disappointing this dish was when it sounded so promising, when out of the blue, this scene from the movie, The Godfather, played in my head:  "I know it was you, Fredo.  You broke my heart.  You broke my heart."  This recipe broke my heart but if you tweak it just a little, I think you could have a winner (and then Fredo won't die and then Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) won't be mad and it'll all be good).

Until next Valentine's Day....

Pork Chops with Rhubarb Dressing – serves 2- From Sunset Cooking for Two...or Just for You

1/8 teaspoon dry rosemary, crumbled

½ teaspoon salt

Dash pepper

2 pork loin or shoulder chops, cut ¾ inch thick

1 tablespoon salad oil

2 slices firm-textured bread, cut into ½-inch cubes (about 1 ¾ cups)

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/2 –inch pieces (about 3 cups)

1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour

Mix together rosemary, salt, and pepper.  Sprinkle evenly over chops.  Heat oil in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat; add chops and brown on both sides; set aside with drippings.

Stir together bread cubes, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, rhubarb, and flour; spread half the mixture in a greased shallow 1 ½ to 2-quart baking dish.  Arrange chops on top; spoon over 2 tablespoons drippings (add water if necessary, to make this amount); top with remaining rhubarb mixture.  (Cover and refrigerate if made ahead.)

Bake, covered, in a 350 oven for 45 minutes; then uncover and bake for 15 minutes longer or until pork is fork tender.

Winter Vegetable Puree – makes about 2 ½ cups, serving 4 to 6 – From The Savory  Way

2 cups White Rose or red potatoes, scrubbed and diced into ½-inch pieces

3 cups mixed winter vegetables such as turnips, rutabagas, leeks, celery root, and fennel, diced into ½-inch pieces

3 sprigs chopped parsley

1 pinch of dried thyme

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

Salt

Butter or cream (optional)

Champagne vinegar

Freshly ground white pepper

Put the vegetables in a saucepan with the parsley, thyme, garlic, salt, and enough water to cover.  (Ann's Note:  just saying the word "salt" is not a good indication of how much.  I did not use enough.  You've been warned.)  Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer until the vegetables are completely soft, about 20 minutes.  Pour them into a colander set over a bowl; reserve the liquid.

Pass the vegetables through a food mill or mash by hand.  (The food processor will tend to make them too gummy and glutinous.)  Use the cooking water to thin the puree to the proper consistency.  Stir in additional butter or cream to taste and season with salt, a dash of vinegar and pepper.

Ann's Note:  I didn't use the vinegar and used just a scant amount of butter.  The resulting flavor was okay but a little bland so I added more salt.  If I made this again, I might use some chicken broth in place of some of the vegetable liquid; vegetarians, ignore that note!

Honey Bread Pudding – makes 6 servings – From Leo Buscalia's Love Cookbook with Biba Caggiano

Ann's Note:  As stated above, I think I would have liked this recipe a lot better had I used different bread, torn it into cubes instead of slicing and layering it, baked it in a round casserole and used less rum.  "But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln..."

8 to 10 (1/2-inch thick slices crusty Italian bread, preferably one to two days old, with crust removed

¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter

½ cup honey

1/3 cup dark rum

½ cup golden raisins, soaked in lukewarm water for 20 minutes, then drained

4 large eggs

½ cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream

3 cups milk

Preheat the oven to 375F.  Generously butter a 9 x 12-inch baking dish.  Arrange the bread slices in a single layer in the dish, slightly overlapping each other.  Set aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add the honey and rum, and raise the heat to high.  Cook, stirring, until sauce begins to thicken and is foamy and bubbling, 3 to 4 minutes.  Stir in the raisins, remove from heat, and pour over the bread evenly.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with 1/3 cup of the sugar.  Add the cream and milk, and beat well to combine.  Pour over the bread and sprinkle with remaining sugar.

Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325F and bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until pudding is set and the bread has a nice golden color.  Remove pudding from oven, and let it stand.  Cool to room temperature and serve.

Prepare ahead:  Complete steps one through four a day or two ahead.  Cover and refrigerate.  If pudding is refrigerated, allow it to come to room temperature before serving.

"The A-Z of Casserole Cooking" - Pork Chop Casserole

Date I made this recipe:  January 18, 2015

The A-Z of Casserole Cooking by Jennie Reekie

Published by:  Galahad Books

© 1976

Recipe:  Pork Chop Casserole – p. 54

Like most people, I hate to waste food and so for two weeks now, I've been contemplating what to do with three Idaho potatoes I bought for my New Year's Eve dinner that I never made.  I thought this would be easier; it wasn't.

See, it's not like I have 100 recipe books about potatoes sitting around my house and so I had to go through my collection to find a dish that would just float my boat.  Ten books later, I was beginning to despair. Surely every recipe book had at least one potato recipe, right?

Well yes...but no.  I was in the mood for a main dish but instead found recipes for side dishes, potato salad (not my husband's favorite), and a few for soups but I was running out of patience as nothing clicked.  I kept picturing a recipe for something simple like Shepherd's Pie but alas, if one existed, it was not in any of the books I pulled off the shelf.  I even turned to an Indian cookbook thinking that surely a dish existed with something like potatoes and peas and curry or potatoes and cauliflower but again, no.  No, no, no.

And then finally – finally – I found this A-Z casserole book and praise Jesus, at last I had a recipe that used up my three potatoes.  And it was easy. And it was tasty.  And hearty.  It worked.  It wasn't gourmet fare by any means but it worked.

Except...I needed three hours to cook the thing.  Well, this almost put me over the edge but I was determined to make this meal and make it tonight.  And so at half-time during the Packers v. Seahawks playoff game of which we will NEVER speak, I went to the grocery store and was back in time for the first play of the second half.  When your recipe calls for only a few ingredients, you can do things like that.  Plus, I even had time to gas up the car!

Upon arriving home, I turned on the TV in my kitchen and got to work:  slice the potatoes (thin), dice an onion, brown the chops and then open cans.  Combine.  Then put it all in an oven, watch the game, have a meltdown, pour a cocktail and serve the dinner.

Easiest dinner ever, especially during these "trying" times.  This may not have been the fanciest dish ever but it did the trick:  comfort me with comfort food.

Had I not been so focused on using up my potatoes, several other recipes in this book would have done nicely...well, except for "Creamed Kidneys."  This book was originally published in Hong Kong and definitely had a British flair to it.  All recipes were fairly simple and ingredients were listed by metric/imperial and "American" measurements.

PS—Any book titled The A-Z of Casserole Cooking had to be spot-checked to make sure it contained foods from A-Z and it passed with flying colors:  Almonds to Zucchini.  As the Brits would say: "Smashing!"

Enjoy.

Pork Chop Casserole – Serves 4

2 tablespoons dripping

4 pork chops (loin or spare rib)

14 oz can tomatoes

15 ¾ oz can baked beans

1 onion, chopped

1 ½ lb. potatoes, thinly sliced

Salt and pepper

¼ teaspoon dried mixed herbs (Ann's Note:  I used Herbs de Provence)

Heat the dripping in a frying pan and fry the pork chops on each side for 5 minutes.  Put half the tomatoes, with the juice from the can, baked beans, onion and potatoes in layers in a casserole.  Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with half the herbs.  Lay the pork chops on top, then cover with the remaining ingredients in layers, finishing with the potatoes and seasoning.  Cover the casserole and cook in a cool oven, 300F for 3 hours.

"Poppy Cannon's Bride's Cookbook" by Poppy Cannon - Iowa Pork Chop Casserole

Date I made this recipe:  August 4, 2013

Poppy Cannon’s Bride’s Cookbook by Poppy Cannon (originally published in 1954 as The Bride’s Cookbook.  Revised edition published in 1961 as The ABC’s of Quick and Glamorous Cooking.)

Published by: Paperback Library

© 1954; Paperback Library Edition First Printing: May, 1970

Recipe:  Iowa Pork Chop Casserole – p. 202

“We’ve only just begun to live…white lace and promises…a kiss for luck and we’re on our way….”

I cannot get this song out of my head!  This is We’ve Only Just Begun, written in 1970 by Roger Nichols and Paul Williams, and made famous by The Carpenters (brother and sister Richard and Karen Carpenter).  This had to have been the most played wedding songs of the 1970’s.  I certainly heard it over and over and over again at weddings I attended back in the day.  It does not have a beat and you cannot dance to it but it’s catchy, right?

Seems to me that when it comes to wedding invites, it either rains or it pours.  This year, it’s pouring.  (Disclaimer:  the older we get, the fewer the weddings so to us more than one is a deluge).  We started off our wedding season with a family wedding at the end of July, another wedding locally last Sunday, August 11^th, and have another one scheduled for September 28^th.  And in between, we received a notice that one of our male friends, someone who we thought was a confirmed bachelor, got married in June – congratulations, Mike and Rhonda! So weddings abound!

The first wedding of the summer was of a cousin’s daughter, held in New Jersey at a lovely church and then later a lovely country club.  The bride and groom are in their late 20’s but showed great sophistication and attention to detail in their arrangements.  The entire thing was a blast and let me just say that the dance floor was never empty.  Not once.  The DJ played a fabulous mix of music and impressively, a lot of men were up there dancing (and dancing well, I might add).  Hats off to them, I say!

The second wedding this past weekend, was of a completely different nature.  The bride and groom were older (50’s and 60’s) and the focus was on inclusiveness.  Both are active members of their church and the bride also sings with the choir.  While she sat out her own ceremony, some 50-odd choir members sang for her and if that wasn’t impressive enough, they also had an organist, vocal soloists and two violinists to round out the musical portion of our program.  And that was just at the church.  At the reception, table cards notified us that family and friends would perform in an “open mike” setting.  We had no idea what to expect and so were pleasantly surprised at the song selections (The Beatles – unplugged) and caliber of the musicians – there was not a clunker in the room which is to say that this was most assuredly not Karaoke Night at the local bar!

Weddings though, were not always this unique or that personalized.  Back when my parents got married (1957), you typically had your cake and your punch and maybe you had a dinner or a brunch but maybe not. It was noted in newspaper articles if the ceremony was double-ring, meaning both the bride and the groom wore wedding bands – again, not common for both like they are today.  Bands and most certainly not DJ’s were not often found at the reception.  Favors were not de rigueur.  And brides and bridesmaids were certainly not of the “zilla” (i.e. “bridezilla”) nature.  You had your personalized matchbooks and napkins, you had certain friends designated to do various tasks (pour coffee, cut cake, unwrap gifts) and that was about that.  No bells, no whistles, just a focus on the ceremony and most importantly, the marriage.  Easy peasey.

If 50’s weddings were streamlined and easy, so was cooking preparation.  Although the cover of Poppy Cannon’s Bride’s Cookbook shows a 70’s bride (the paperback was published in 1970), the book was published originally in 1954 and let me tell you, it confirms everything that I know about cooking in the 50’s – canned food was king!  Many of the recipes in this book call upon you to use canned macaroni and cheese or canned spaghetti or basically canned [fill in the blank].  If it was in a can, you were cooking with Crisco.  Women in the 50’s wanted food in a hurry and what better way to make that happen then to open a can, Stan.

And so along came Poppy Cannon and she gave you everything you needed in 343 pages to make sure that the new bride was going to make her man happy by getting dinner on the table as soon as he came home.  Entertaining also increased during this period but our Poppy was ready for it --there’s a chapter titled “Meat for Your Man to Eat” as well as “Secrets to Make You a Star Hostess.”  There’s even a chapter called “Cater Your Own Wedding,” something many brides-to-be employed when the budget was an issue.  (It should go without saying that budget-busting weddings were not a happenin’ thing back then.) 

Okay, so…after reviewing the cookbook a couple of times, I started the elimination process, taking out my “absolutely not” recipes, beginning with recipes like Dressed-Up Chip Beef with Almonds to which I say “You can’t put lipstick on that pig” then adding a recipe for “Bile Fish” (Boiled Halibut) Virgin Island Style.  Right.  The way to make a new husband happy is to say “How was your day, dear?  I thought I’d serve “bile fish” tonight.”  And while I love chicken, I am so not ever using canned chicken, especially for something so easy at Roast Chicken with Stuffing.  I mean – really?  Canned chicken for that???

My list kept whittling and whittling until finally, in near desperation, I settled on today’s recipe:  Iowa Pork Chop Casserole.  And okay, yes, this recipe includes a can of soup but that’s to be expected – soup and casseroles go together like peanut butter and jelly.  If it had called for canned pork chops however, all bets would have been off.

I’ve mentioned before in this blog that my mother had to ease into cooking but I can see her making this recipe for dad.  It contains meat (very important), is easy and she could have made up a bowl of mashed potatoes for an instant full meal.  My mom likely would have set the table with a tablecloth of some sort and maybe candles whereas Andy and I go the total casual route and eat our food in front of the TV set as we have always done since the day we got married 22 years ago.  Bad bride!  Bad!

Although I have several cookbooks by Poppy Cannon in my collection, the cover (and the bride dressed in what I consider to be a hideous 1970’s wedding dress) is the sole reason I bought this book on Etsy.  The recipes were rather disappointing, most of them calling for what I call “rude food” (like canned chicken) and nothing really stood out but that’s okay – sometimes you just have to have a cookbook for reasons other than the food. If all else fails, be sure to peruse the “Beverages ‘Round the Clock” chapter, pour yourself a glass of said beverage and call it a day.

Iowa Pork Chop Casserole – 4 servings

1 can condensed Cream of Chicken soup

2 cups canned peas

4 pork chops

2 bay leaves, halved

Put the can of cream of chicken soup (undiluted) in a baking dish with 2 cups drained canned peas.  Season the pork chops with salt and pepper and arrange on top of baking dish, placing ½ bay leaf under each.  Bake in a low oven, 325F, about 45 minutes.  Uncover and continue to bake about 15 minutes until chops brown.

Make or buy mashed potatoes to accompany your meal.

"The Black Family Reunion Cookbook" & "Sylvia's Family Soul Food Cookbook" - Yam Pork Chop Skillet and Golden Brown Macaroni and Cheese

Date I made these recipes: January 25, 2009

The Black Family Reunion Cookbook – Recipes and Food Memories from the National Council of Negro Women
Published by: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 0-671-79629-1 © 1991
Recipe: Yam Pork Chop Skillet – p. 104

Sylvia’s Family Soul Food Cookbook – From Hemingway, South Carolina, to Harlem by Sylvia Woods and Family
Published by: William Morrow & Company, Inc.
ISBN: 0-688-16219-3 © 1999
Recipe: Golden Brown Macaroni and Cheese – p. 206-207

Well, this is part two of Inauguration food and today’s focus is on food from African-American kitchens.

One of the first things I think about when thinking about African-American foods is macaroni and cheese, something that until recently was almost exclusive to the African-American household. (Sorry, Kraft macaroni and cheese does not count in my book). In my household, the only time we ever had macaroni and cheese was when we made a dish called “Western Mac” that contained macaroni, cheese, ground beef, tomato paste and corn. This does not count as macaroni and cheese, either. Nope, if you’re going to have it, you need to make the real deal.

The mac and cheese recipe I used is from Sylvia’s Family Soul Food Cookbook. Sylvia Woods, the owner, runs Sylvia’s Restaurant in Harlem and try as I might on many and many a trip, I have never gotten up that far to try her restaurant but I am determined. Still, if you can’t get the real thing, making something from her recipe book is the way to go.

The other cookbook I used, The Black Family Reunion Cookbook had to have been sponsored by Crisco because there was hardly a recipe that didn’t call for Crisco oil or shortening. Lucky for me, I had both in my cupboards.

These dishes are easy to make and were darned good on yet another below zero day here in the heartland. The mac and cheese in particular was very tasty; what was surprising about this recipe is that it didn’t call for mustard (a typical component of macaroni and cheese) and yet the flavor didn’t suffer at all.

So happy post-inauguration, everyone and now dig in!

Yam Pork Chop Skillet – 4 servings
1 tablespoon Crisco Shortening or Crisco Oil
4 pork shoulder chops
4 medium yams or sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into rings
¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
¼ teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can (14 ½ ounces) tomatoes

Heat Crisco Shortening or Crisco Oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Brown the pork chops.

Arrange the yam slices, onion slices and green pepper rings over pork chops. Sprinkle with thyme, marjoram, salt and pepper. Top with tomatoes. Cover. Cook on low heat one hour or until tender.

Golden Brown Macaroni and Cheese – Makes 5 to 6 servings or more as a side dish
6 cups water
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
2 ½ cups grated mild Cheddar grated cheese, divided
2 large eggs
½ cup milk
Paprika, for the top

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease an 8-inch-square baking pan.

In a 6-quart pot, bring the water and salt to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain. Return the macaroni to the pot and stir in the butter or margarine until melted. Add 2 cups of the Cheddar cheese.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs then beat in the milk. Add the milk mixture to the pot with the macaroni. Stir until combined. Spoon into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup Cheddar cheese on top. Dust with paprika. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the casserole is warm throughout.

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

Date I made these recipes: December 14, 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Untangling My Chopsticks" & "Japanese Cooking" - Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl and Japanese Fried Pork

Date I made these recipes: August 3, 2008

Untangling my Chopsticks – A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto by Victoria Abbott Riccardi (this is an essay with recipes)
Published by: Broadway Books
ISBN: 0-7679-0851-1 © 2003
Recipe: Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl (Oyako Donburi) – p. 31-32

Japanese Cooking by Gail Weinshel Katz
Published by: Weathervane Books (This book is part of a Creative Cooking Series that published cookbooks of food from several countries)
ISBN: 0-517-244861 © 1978
Recipe: Fried Pork – p. 35

“Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese, I really think so…” (lyrics from Turning Japanese by The Vapors, 1980).

Okay, perhaps that is a slight exaggeration and yet for one moment in the kitchen, I did turn Japanese in order to make these recipes.

I was inspired to take out these two books after meeting with a Japanese friend who used to play clarinet with me in my community band when she and her husband lived here while he was going to graduate school. Now, ten years later, she and her husband returned for a brief visit along with her two sons, now ten and eight and I met up with them for a very American dinner. She wanted someplace kid friendly and so we met up at Yum, a very fun restaurant by Minneapolis’ Lake Calhoun. (I highly recommend the macaroni and cheese)

No sooner had they caught the plane back to Tokyo then I made a grocery list and went shopping at an Asian market, United Noodles, in Minneapolis.

Even if you don’t intend to buy anything, United Noodles is a fun store. They carry grocery items for every Asian food imaginable along with house wares and even Chinese herbs. I was soon overwhelmed in the Japanese aisles, mostly because I didn’t know what I was looking for, but quickly sought help and all was well. Well, actually, all was almost well; I was so excited to have the dashi I needed for a recipe that I didn’t stop to consider that the jar I bought contained a half a cup and not the cup I needed for the recipe. Oh well, oh well. It still turned out just fine.

I do apologize to those of you who are not near an Asian market because you will likely not find the two main ingredients, mirin (Japanese cooking wine) and dashi (Japanese cooking stock, similar to bouillon) , in a regular grocery store. But you might be able to substitute by using another type of cooking wine and regular granulated bouillon. Let me know if you try it. If all else fails, it looks like you can mail order some ingredients; check out United Noodle’s website for more details: (By the way, dashi is listed under the full product name of AJINOMOTO hondashi. Make sure you buy two bottles!)
http://www.unitednoodles.com/catalog2/index.php

Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl (Oyako Donburi) – makes 4 servings
4 cups hot cooked rice
1 cup dashi
¼ cup soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon mirin
4 large eggs
½ pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into ½-inch nuggets
1 bunch of scallions (about 6), trimmed and cut into 1-inch batons

Prepare the rice

Pour the dashi into a medium heavy-bottom saucepan, along with the soy sauce, sugar and mirin. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 2 minutes.

Break the eggs into a bowl and stir with chopsticks until the yokes and whites are mixed but not totally blended.

Add the chicken to the dashi mixture and then gently pour in the egg. Sprinkle the scallions over the egg. When the egg starts to become firm, after about 3 minutes of cooking, gently stir it with your chopsticks. (The chicken and scallions will have finished cooking in the hot liquid). NOTE: That’s not quite what happened. The egg was firming up way before the chicken got done and since nobody likes raw chicken, I threw the whole thing in the microwave for a minute or so. The egg got a little bit more done than I would have liked but the flavor was still there.).

Lay out four deep soup bowls. Spoon even portions of the rice into each bowl and top with the soupy chicken and egg mixture.

Fried Pork – Makes 4 servings
1 medium red pepper
2 tablespoons chopped scallions
2 tablespoons ground sesame seeds (Note: forget that noise—I threw them in whole!)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine or sherry (Not to be confused with rice wine vinegar)
1 pound sliced pork, ¼ inch thick
2 tablespoons oil
2 ounces transparent noodles or very thin spaghetti
1 medium cucumber, cut into thin strips
1 medium tomato, cut into thin strips

Sauce
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar

Remove seeds from pepper; dice it fine. Mix with scallions, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and rice win or sherry. Marinate pork in this mixture for at least an hour.

Heat oil in frying pan. Drain pork; brown well on both sides in hot oil. Cut into smaller pieces, if desired.

Prepare noodles or thin spaghetti. Combine with cucumber and tomato strips. Place on platter along with the pork.

Prepare sauce by blending the vinegar, black pepper and sugar.

"My Fair Lady Cooks" - Different Pork Chops and Potatoes in Red Wine

Date I made this recipe: January 28, 2007

My Fair Lady Cooks by Emma Dempster
Published by: Peter Glenn Publications, Ltd.
Copyright 1964
Recipes: Different Pork Chops – p. 135 and Potatoes in Red Wine – p. 139

Well, talk about cosmic: just as I decided to select some recipes from this cookbook, the SAG (Screen Actor’s Guild – not to be confused with “sag” as in what some of the women did in their dresses) Awards came on and Julie Andrews was given a lifetime achievement award.

Some of you may not know that Julie Andrews was the original Eliza Doolittle on Broadway in the musical, My Fair Lady. Julie was hoping to reprise the role in the movie version but alas, that went to Audrey Hepburn. But poor Audrey – although her singing voice is actually not too bad, all of the songs were dubbed by Marni Nixon who has been the voice of many a character on a movie soundtrack.

It’s a cold, cruel world out there in stage and television land. That being said, I’ve always thought that Rex Harrison, who played Professor Higgins (make that “Poor" Professor Higgins) had the best songs in the whole thing. Who doesn’t love “I’m an Ordinary Man” (which includes the phrase “but let a woman in your life…”) and “Why Can’t the English?” Poor Rex really couldn’t sing, either, but that was beside the point. He was just hilarious as he “talked” his way through his songs.

This cookbook was written by Emma Dempster. Emma’s husband, Hugh Dempster, played the character of Colonel Pickering in the National Company of My Fair Lady. Emma later spent 14 weeks in summer stock playing the role of Mrs. Higgins, Henry Higgins’ mother. Part One of the book features section called “Why Can’t A Woman Cook Like a Man,” “On the Trains Where We Lived” and “Why Can’t the English Teach Their Children How To Cook,” all witty take-offs of songs from the musical.

In Part Two, titled “Loverly Cooking & Meet the Movie Stars,” Emma features recipes from various cities the tour stopped at as well as recipes from Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison and other members of the movie cast.

I selected the recipes shown here, in part, because the pork chop recipe called for two pork chops and since we are a two-person household, I’m all about that, and the potatoes in wine were a nice change of pace from the standard, and often boring, baked or mashed. Alas, I did not select a movie star’s recipe but I think you’ll find these recipes absolutely Loverly!

Different Pork Chops – Serves 2
2 pork chops (I used thicker pork chops for this)
1 small can light cherries in syrup (as opposed to “dark” cherries which I ended up using)
½ cup port wine
A few cloves
Salt and pepper
Slivered almonds

Brown chops in just a flick of fat. Pit the cherries and add them to the pan along with a little of their syrup. Add the cloves (or, in my case, powdered cloves since I was out of whole cloves), almonds and port. Season to taste. Cover the skillet and simmer for about 25 minutes, or until meat is tender.

Potatoes in Red Wine
8 medium potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup water
1 cup red wine
Salt and pepper
Bouquet Garni
3 small onions or 1 small can

Wash, peel and quarter potatoes. Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Stir in flour and when it is lightly browned, add water, wine, seasoning and Bouquet Garni. NOTE: Bouquet Garni is typically comprised of fresh celery stalks, bay leaves and thyme which are wrapped in cheesecloth, tied and added to the recipe. I just saw Martha (Stewart) make one yesterday. I didn’t have celery and Lord knows where my cheesecloth went to (I did have it at one time) so I added whole bay leaves and dried sprigs of thyme and then fished them out of the pot when done.

Once you’ve added the Bouquet Garni, stir the sauce until smooth. Add potatoes and the small peeled onions. Cover and simmer one hour. If you use canned onions, put them in after half an hour.

Now then, I cut the recipe in half and all was well until I opened the pot lid partway through and realized that most of my liquid was burning off. The potatoes weren’t done yet so I added more water and wine (likely the same amount called for in the full recipe) and then turned the flame down even lower than I had it and we had a lift-off.

Both items were very yummy and, as the author noted, a nice departure from the usual way of cooking pork chops (plain or with applesauce added) and potatoes (boiled or mashed).

"The New American Cheese" - Grilled Pork Chops with Cheddar-Corn Spoon Bread and Apple-Sage Chutney

Date I made this recipe: October 22, 2006
The New American Cheese by Laura Werlin
Published by Stewart Tabori & Chang
ISBN: 1-55670-990-0
© 2000

To learn more about Laura and some of her other books, go to: http://www.laurawerlin.com/

Recipe: Grilled Pork Chops with Cheddar-Corn Spoon Bread and Apple-Sage Chutney – p. 176-177

On June 9, 2000 (and I know this because of the inscription), a co-worker of mine from the Italian deli and restaurant where I worked at the time, went to the author’s book signing to get this book for me since I couldn't get off my shift to go myself. Laura wrote the following inscription: “To Ann, Maybe this will be enough to create a switch from Italian to American cheeses! Well, at least I hope you enjoy learning about the new American cheese.”

Laura, I am happy to report that I am indeed enjoying learning about the new American cheese…and the new French cheeses and Spanish cheeses and…..

To say my husband and I love cheese is an understatement. We love all types of cheeses – goat cheese, cow’s milk cheese, sheep cheese – and enjoy stinking up our refrigerator with ripe cheeses such as Taleggio and Gorgonzola. We are frequent shoppers at Surdyk’s, a local liquor store/cheese shop/deli – http://www.surdyks.com/, and Whole Foods - http://www.wholefoods.com/, both of which are not that far from us.

Although cheese is included in the spoon bread accompaniment, the recipe really should read: pork chops (with sage), with cheddar-corn spoon bread (with sage) and apple-sage chutney(whew, sage was already in there) since sage was in every component of the dish. If you’re not a big fan of sage, you might not like this recipe, but if you are, press on.

Take note that the pork chop recipe must marinade at least 6 hours, something I usually miss until right before I’m ready to roll. I’m trying to train my eye to pick up those fine points. (Don’t we all hate that when we miss it?!)

So here’s the thing that just kills me about going meat shopping these days: in my day, pork chops came 4 to a pack but now it’s 3 to a pack. Why three? Did pork manufacturers determine that families now consist of mom, dad and one kid? Is a 4th pork chop excessive? I just want to know these things.

Three chops or not, the marinade recipe was for four and I stuck with it and it was delicious. My only complaint about the chops was that I stuck to the time limit for broiling and that was a bit too long. I like my chops to be tenderer than what I got but use your personal preference as a guide. The recipe calls for 6-7 minutes per side.

The chutney was easy to make and was your basic mix of apples, raisins and then the savory items such as onion, mustard seeds and crushed red pepper flakes. I think this recipe could easily be matched with other meats.

As to the spoon bread…with cheese (and sage, naturally), it was delicious although I thought it was a bit salty, likely due to the uh…cheese. This recipe uses sharp cheddar cheese; the book recommended Bass Lake cheddar but Whole Foods didn’t have it so I asked for the next best thing (Widmer’s aged cheddar – http://www.widmerscheese.com/) and it was quite tasty. I also recommend pulling this out at the 40 minute mark (the recipe recommended 40 to 45 minutes) and then testing it for doneness as ours got a little too brown and a little too firm. (As a note, I am puzzled that Whole Foods didn’t carry Bass Lake cheese since they’re located in Somerset, WI which is not too far away but maybe I missed something…or maybe Whole Foods needs a write-in campaign, no?!)

Timing is also everything when it comes to (randomly) selecting the cookbook to use. A mere three days before this, the New York Times reported that cheese maker Laura Chenel, creator and owner of Laura Chenel Chevre, sold her business to a French cheese producer. Wouldn’t you know, Laura’s bio and accompanying recipe are on pages 116-118 of the book – small world.

What’s impressive about the sale and about Laura is the fact that she will retain her entire herd of 500 sheep, all of which have been personally named by her (yes, but Laura, for 10 points, recall those names!). That alone is enough to entice me to revisit this book in the future to make her recipe (once I get done with my other 700 or so cookbooks, you understand!).

Grilled Pork Chops with Cheddar-Corn Spoon Bread and Apple-Sage Chutney
For the pork chops
4 bone-in loin pork chops (8-12 oz each)
2 ½ T Dijon mustard
1 ½ T. Calvados (apple brandy) or apple juice (Note: I had Calvados on hand so I used that)
2 tsp red wine vinegar
3 T. olive oil
2 tsp chopped fresh sage leaves
Freshly ground black pepper

For the chutney
1 ¼ c. cider vinegar
5 T. packed light brown sugar
1 ¼ pounds Granny Smith apples (about 2 ½ apples), peeled, cored and chopped into 3/4-inch cubes
Juice from 1 lemon (about ¼ c.)
Grated zest of 1 lemon (about 1 ½ T)
Heaping 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/3 c. golden raisins
1 yellow onion, chopped (about 1 c)
2 tsp chopped fresh sage leaves

For the spoon bread
¾ fresh corn kernels (or use ¾ c drained canned or defrosted frozen corn)
¾ c. yellow cornmeal
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp sugar
Freshly ground pepper
2 c. whole or low-fat milk
1 c. buttermilk
¼ c. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs, separated, yolks lightly beaten
2 tsp chopped fresh sage leaves
4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, such as Bass Lake cheddar, coarsely grated (about 1 c.) (Note: you will use ½ c. at a time)

NOTE: The directions took up almost an entire page of the cookbook but don’t despair. This dish was relatively easy to put together.

To marinate the pork chops: In a nonreactive dish (i.e. glass) arrange the chops in one layer. In a small bowl, mix together the mustard, Calvados (or cider), vinegar, olive oil, sage, and pepper to taste. Pour over the chops and coat both sides with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.

To make the chutney: In a medium-size heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the vinegar and brown sugar and bring to a boil. (Are you like me? Do you just once want to see someone call for a light-bottomed saucepan?!) Cook until the mixture is reduced by one third, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the apples, lemon juice and zest, raisins and onions. Stir the ingredients together, turn the heat to a low simmer, partially cover and cook for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally but gently, to avoid breaking the apples.

Add the chopped sage and cook until the apples are very soft and the vinegar has mellowed, about 30 to 40 minutes. (Okay, just what constitutes “mellowed” vinegar? For some reason, I’m picturing the vinegar laid out on a couch sipping a glass of wine but that’s just my overactive imagination….). You may need to add a little extra brown sugar. The mixture should be thick. If you will be serving the chutney the same day, let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours before serving. Otherwise, refrigerate it overnight and bring it to room temperature.

To make the spoon bread: About an hour before serving time, preheat the over to 375F. Butter a 2-quart casserole or soufflé dish.

In a small saucepan, bring about 1 c. of water to a boil. Add the corn and blanch for 1 minute. Drain and run cold water over it to stop the cooking process. Pat dry and set aside.

Place the cornmeal in a large heatproof bow. In another bowl, mix the salt, baking powder, sugar and pepper together and set aside.

In a 1-quart saucepan, bring the milk to a low boil over medium heat. Be sure it doesn’t boil over. Pour over the cornmeal, stirring until all lumps are gone and the cornmeal has thickened slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the buttermilk, melted butter, egg yolks, corn and sage. Mix well. Stir in the reserved dry ingredients. (Note: most recipes recommend that your dairy products – milk, eggs, butter – be at room temperature. This one doesn’t say so but you get better results that way so I’d take the ingredients out of the refrigerator in plenty of time to have them warm up to room temperature.)

In a mixing bowl, beat 2 egg whites until stiff peaks form. (Again, the recipe doesn’t say but cold egg whites do not form peaks very easily. I’m just saying…). Save the third egg white for another use (or do like I do and shoot the thing down the drain since really, who ends up having another use for an egg white so soon after making a recipe?!)

Gently fold the egg whites into the cornmeal mixture along with half of the cheese. Mix just enough to incorporate the egg whites but try not to overmix. (This is critical because you don’t want to loose the fluffy consistency of those egg whites). Pour into the prepared casserole and sprinkle with the remaining ½ c. cheese.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until the cheese is brown and the center is still somewhat loose, jiggling slightly when touched. Let cool for 4 minutes before serving. (As I said earlier, I’d test the recipe around the 30-35 minute mark to avoid overcooking the spoon bread).

Just before the spoon bread is done, preheat the broiler (or fire up the grill). Remove the pork chops from the marinade and broil (or grill) on one side 6-7 minutes, then turn and cook on the other side for 5-7 minutes. The meat should be slightly pink on the inside…but trust me, I followed these times to the minute and thought the chop was still a bit overdone so use your best judgment.

Spoon the chutney onto the pork, serve up some spoon bread and you are ready to roll.