Stew In Summertime

Thanksgiving Turkey

2010-11-17T17:27:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's here already; the Culinary Olympics if you will, otherwise known as Thanksgiving. I've been thinking of my menu since October when the November issue of Bon Appetit arrived in my mailbox with a turkey on the cover. It always shocks me when it first comes and then before I know it I still haven't figured out my menu. Not to sound like the over 30 year old that I am, but seriously, where does the time go? This is the first year that we are officially hosting. Last year Johnny and I did most of the cooking at his parents house, but this year we will officially host the 'meal of the year' in our own kitchen. It was a great practice run last year and little did I know that the pictures taken from last year would end up being a blog post this year. (You'll forgive me if I don't actually make an entire additional turkey just for your sake because seriously once in two weeks is plenty, in fact once a year is plenty. Although you might not think that when you make this one.)

I wish I had a family recipe to pass on, but my mom actually didn't host Thanksgiving while we were growing up. Christmas Eve was always her big holiday meal and we usually spent Thanksgiving at my Mimi and Grandpa Winn's. I'm sure my mom brought something to contribute to the meal, my guess would be pie, although I was young enough and cared too little about cooking at the time to remember. There were a couple of years when my mom did host after it was a bit too much for my grandparents to handle. I'm not sure that we ever had a crowd less than 15 so it was always an enormous bird and I remember my mom getting up in the wee hours (okay wee hours for a teenager/college student, but that could mean 9 am) to put the turkey in. For me the turkey was never the star of the show, just a very elaborate means to make gravy. I mostly cared about the stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and sides... until last year that is. You see it's not that everyone else doesn't make a turkey as good as the one we had last year (if I do say so myself) it's just that this one is that good. First of all, I think it's pretty difficult to get a moist bird that is 20 lbs or so. By the time the inside is cooked the outside is dry. Second of all I was introduced to brining a couple of years ago at a cooking class and will never NEVER go back on brining a bird, or any white meat for that matter, I first started with pork tenderloin and now am brine addicted.

This recipe comes from my foodie friend/culinary inspiration and one of my best friends, Patty. She found it in Cooks Illustrated and said the first time she made it everyone at the table said it was the best turkey they had ever had. I told her she need not say more and to send me the recipe. Last year when we made it, Johnny removed it from the oven and we each tried a little nibble. I had a piece of a carmelized vegetable at the bottom of the pan and thought if it was any indication of how good the turkey itself would be then we would all be quite pleased. It was and and we were and it's what I am making a week from tomorrow (eek! a week from tomorrow?!?)... now, just what to have with it is in question...

Trish's Tips: This is clearly an involved recipe, but like I wrote above, this is the culinary olympics, and the turkey is the star of the show... go for it! Here are some things to keep in mind.

1. You will need to start Wednesday afternoon to allow time for brining, drying and cooking. The brining makes for a moist bird. The drying makes for crisp skin. (That doesn't include thawing time if you are starting with a frozen bird.)
2. If you've never trussed meat (and seriously, who has?) then it may seem confusing. Basically the reason to do so is that everything is held tight and so that the legs and wings aren't burnt by the time the breasts and the rest of the turkey is done. Need help on trussing the turkey? Check out this link.
3. If this is your first time making a turkey then you might want to held really tight to every step here, but like with most recipes you have a lot to take into consideration like the size of your bird, etc when determining cooking time. Be flexible and buy a good thermometer.
4. The flipping seemed a bit cumbersome in light of the millions of other things that the chef has to do the day of, but it again adds to a moist bird.
5. It is so important to let any meat rest after taking it out of the oven and before carving. If you cut into it right away all of those precious juices that you worked so hard to attain will just rush right out. Give it 30-45 minutes at to rest. This will give you time to finish the gravy.
6. What? Carving? Check this out...
7. If using giblets weirds you out then just omit that step and start with the onions. I went for it last year but can see how people have a hard time with it.
8. Don't forget to thaw your turkey completely! It also doesn't hurt to take it out of the fridge a half hour or so before you cook it, give it time to take the chill off.
9. Buy the best turkey you can afford. We ordered a hormone free organic one from the farmers market. At first it seemed expensive, but anything compared to 99 cents a pound at the grocery store will seem expensive. The price of a good one is what you would pay for a decent meal out for two people but meanwhile it will feed many more... with leftovers. The flavor is unmatched. Don't cheap out here....
10. My anal tendencies came out when I made a spreadsheet last year to plot everything out; when to put what in, flip what, start potatoes, etc. Of course keep in mind I do make a spreadsheet for just about everything. Don't worry, it's not required but it doesn't hurt to work backwards from when you want to eat, just a piece of scratch paper will work! The cooking time here for us for the same size bird was basically spot on. I initially added a half hour to my timeline thinking with all of the opening of the oven, etc it would be off but it wasn't.
11. I've had salmonella before and you don't want to be known for giving it to your guests and definitely not on Thanksgiving. As with all poultry practice precautions. Wash your hands after you touch it every time and give everything the raw turkey touches a good spray down.
12. Have more of just about everything here. Your turkey may need more stuffing, or your roasting pan may need less depending on it's size. I always find I need more stock and can you ever have enough butter?
13. Lastly, roll with it. Mistakes are bound to happen and imagine them as future stories to tell around the Thanksgiving table. Delicious gravy can cure an overdone/dry and/or burnt bird.

p.s. As the photos may suggest I wasn't alone in cooking the turkey. Okay, truth be told it was truly Johnny's responsibility under the very close watch of yours truly. Okay, I will give credit where credit is due. I found the recipe, wrote the instructions, created the timeline and supervised, but it was really Johnny who made it. And he's not even a foodie! See, now don't you feel even more empowered to conquer the task! Oh and one more thing... Happy Thanksgiving! May we all be grateful for everything we have been blessed with. Hope you have a blessed holiday.

Roast Thanksgiving Turkey

Equipment needed:
Large bucket, cooler or brining bag that will hold turkey with brine
Aluminum foil
Roasting pan with v-rack
String to tie turkey
Meat Thermometer

Ingredients:
4 cups kosher salt
1 turkey (12 to 14 lb gross weight), rinsed thoroughly; giblets, neck and tailpiece removed. (reserve for gravy if you wish)
3 medium onions, chopped coarse
2 small carrots, chopped coarse
2 celery ribs, chopped coarse
several sprigs fresh thyme
several leaves fresh sage
1 TBL whole peppercorns
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. Dissolve salt in 2 gallons cold water in large stockpot or clean bucket. Add a few sage leaves and peppercorns. Add turkey and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours. (Alternatively you can halve the salt and brine for 12 hours or overnight. If you don't half the salt it will be overly salty.)
2. Remove turkey from salt water and rinse well under cool running water. Pat dry inside and out with paper towels. Place turkey breast-side up on flat wire rack over rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan and refrigerate, uncovered, 8 to 24 hours.
3. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Toss one-third of onions, carrots and celery with 2 sprigs of thyme and 3 sage leaves and 1 TBL butter in medium bowl, fill cavity with mixture. Tuck wings behind back. Truss Turkey.
4. Scatter remaining vegetables (use less or more depending on the size of your pan/turkey), a few sage leaves and sprigs of thyme in shallow roasting pan: pour 1 cup of water over vegetables. Set v-rack in pan and line with heavy duty aluminum foil. Spray foil with cooking spray; then pierce 20 to 30 small holes in the foil with a pairing knife. Spread turkey breast with butter then set breast side down on foil lined v-rack. Brush back of turkey with butter. Roast 45 minutes.
5. Remove roasting pan with turkey from oven; brush back with butter. Using thick wads of paper towels or potholders, rotate turkey leg/wing-side up. If liquid in bottom of roasting pan has evaporated, add 1/2 cup of water. Roast 15 minutes longer.
6. Remove roasting pan with turkey from oven, brush exposed surfaces with butter and using thick wads of paper towels or potholders, rotate turkey on second leg/wing-side up; roast for 15 minutes longer.
7. Remove roasting pan with turkey from oven, brush exposed surfaces with butter and using thick wads of paper towels or potholders, rotate turkey breast-side up. Roast until thickest part of breast registers 165 degrees and thickest part of thigh registers 170 to 175 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 30 to 45 minutes longer. Move turkey from rack to carving board and let rest about 20 to 45 minutes. Carve and serve with gravy if desired.

Pan Gravy:

Steps 1 & 2 can be completed while the turkey is brining. While the bird is roasting proceed with step three then complete step 4 while the bird is resting.

Ingredients:
1 TBL canola oil
reserved turkey giblets, neck and tailpiece
1 onion, chopped
6 cups turkey stock
2 sprigs fresh thyme
8 parsley stems
3 sage leaves
3 TBL unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup dry white wine
salt and ground black pepper

1. Heat oil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium high heat until shimmering but not smoking: add giblets, neck and tail and saute until golden, about 5 minutes. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally until softened about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low: cover and cook until turkey parts and onion release their juices about 20 minutes. Add stock and herbs, increase heat to Medium-high and bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, skimming any scum that may rise to the surface until broth is rich and flavorful about 30 minutes longer.
2. Strain broth (you should have about 5 cups). Discard solids.
3. While turkey is roasting, bring reserved turkey broth to simmer in medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat butter in large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. When foam subsides, vigorously whisk in flour to make a roux. Cook slowly, stirring constantly until nutty brown and fragrant, 10 to 15 minutes. Vigorously whisk all but 1 cup of hot broth into roux. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened and flavorful, about 30 minutes longer. Set aside until turkey is done.
4. While turkey is resting spoon out and discard some fat from roasting pan. Leave behind carmelized herbs and vegetables. Place roasting pan over two burners at medium-high heat. Return gravy in saucepan to simmer over medium heat. Add wine to roasting pan and scrape up browned bits clinging to pan bottom: boil until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add remaining 1 cup broth to roasting pan, then strain mixture into gravy, pressing on solids in strainer to extract as much liquid as possible. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper: serve with turkey.

Orzo Salad with Lemon, Feta and Pine Nuts

2010-07-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

Where I come from everyone has a signature dish. My mom had several. Her signature cookies were probably oatmeal butterscotch, her signature bars were Mrs. Carmodie's and she had, despite her lack of seasonal cooking, quite a few seasonal summer salads. One of her famous ones was potato salad, which true to all of her dishes, there is no actual "recipe". And I think through her confidence in making it she got a bit 'food snobbish' I guess if you will about anyone who served a store bought version that was most certainly not as good as hers... (So that's where I get it....) I can picture her on a hot summer day making this. The process involved enormous metal bowls as my mom never did anything small, pounds of potatoes and pouring vinegar, squirting in mustard and scooping in mayo (or as my grandma calls it "salad dressing"). Another salad that made quite a few appearances was a tuna salad, which also had celery and onion, and mayo oddly.... wait, also vinegar... come to think of it they were almost the same. Besides the tuna/noodle/potato thing.

Whenever there was a barbecue or graduation party and my mom would offer to bring something, people would request for her to bring this (it was her specialty after all) the same way she always knew what to ask her friends to bring. Everyone has a strength I guess which is how your signature dish becomes your signature dish. That and the predictability of it. My good friends wouldn't be surprised if I was asked to bring a side dish in the summer and I showed up with this so I guess you could say this is my signature summer salad. But don't worry, it can be yours too... it's definitely not difficult.

Whenever I have made it for barbeques or friends I have always been asked for the recipe so I'm pretty sure you will like it too. It comes from a cookbook that I have shared with you before, The Bride & Groom Cookbook. The dressing is light; no mayo (or salad dressing) here, and instead of vinegar it has lemon juice. I like that it's easy to eat since it's made with orzo (a rice sized shaped pasta), so if you're outside balancing a beer in one hand and a plate in another you could probably manage.

My mom and I had different tastes when it came to some things but she was quite a fan of this recipe as well, in fact over Memorial Day when we were cleaning up camp (for those of you non-Yoopers out there, that means cabin/cottage) I found a piece of notebook paper with this recipe written on it. I remember making it and bringing it out to camp for a day on the pontoon and everyone loved it so my mom had to have the recipe, but I'm not sure that she ever made it. Although I guess that doesn't surprise me, she clearly had already claimed her signature dish; there wasn't much room for one more.

Trish's Tips:
This keeps well but I would hold off on adding the basil until right before you serve it. I've made it without olives for some olive-hating friends but I think it's pretty perfect as is. Add more or less of whatever you like. Have you toasted pine nuts before? I've probably told you this, but toast them in a dry skillet. Watch closely though as they go from lightly golden to black real quick! I buy a whole bag and do it all at once then keep them in the freezer in a jar so I have them at the ready.

Orzo Salad with Lemon, Feta and Pine Nuts
Adapted from The Bride & Groom Cookbook
by Mary Corpening Barber & Sara Corpening Whiteford

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
2 TBL fresh lemon juice
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper, plus more as needed
1 Cup Orzo
1/4 cup pine nuts (toasted)
1/4 cup golden raisins
3 TBL finely chopped kalamata olives
3 TBL finley chopped red onion
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
2 oz feta cheese, drained & crumbled

Directions:

Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano and salt and pepper. Set aside. Cook orzo according to package directions in boiling salted water. Drain, put in large bowl and pour dressing over and mix. Let cool to room temperature while you chop the remaining ingredients.

Add the pine nuts, raisins, olives, red onion and basil and stir to combine. Add the feta and toss lightly. Adjust the seasonings with more salt and pepper as necessary.

Carrot Cake

2010-05-05T17:14:00.000-07:00

My family is very big on tradition. Especially when it comes to food traditions. Once something is made once and everyone likes it for a specific occasion you cannot under any circumstances change that tradition. We wouldn't for example around Christmas just 'try' a new sugar cookie recipe. Oh no no... that would NOT go over well with our family. Or try asking for a different pancake recipe, like the 'thick' ones everyone else's mom made as opposed to the Swedish ones my mom always made on Saturday mornings. Nope, always the same pancake. Nothing new, nothing different, traditions are just that.

It wasn't even just my mom initiating this 'rule'. In fact it may not have been my mom at all. I think with five kids and my dad to please once my mom found a formula that worked it was smart to just stick with that rather than risking a change and having someone be unhappy with the results. I have at times tried to break recipes that selfishly aren't my favorite. I'm not a big mashed potatoes fan so one time tried to put a different mashed potato recipe on the menu. As in, one that did not involve gravy. Let's just say my responsibilities of making this dish were removed. Although I have to say I'm not much different; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Once I find a recipe I really, really like I have absolutely zero interest in trying a new version of it. Why for example would I ever make a different hummus or mac 'n cheese recipe when the one I currently make is so perfect? I think I'm starting to understand my mom's reasoning.

Birthdays were no different although we did have free reign over our meal of choice but somehow traditions emerged there as my mom tended to make the same thing year after year, per the birthday boy/girl's request. Somehow I guess we just assumed that's how it worked. Our tradition as a kid was to have a birthday party with your friends a few days before or after your birthday, usually on the weekend and then on our actual birthdays we would have a family dinner with our grandparents and then would choose the meal and cake that my mom would make. Oddly enough I can't remember what I usually would pick, probably marble as that seemed to be the perfect choice for an indecisive person like myself...

This carrot cake was my sister's choice. Although this wasn't her 'birthday-cake-of-choice' until I had moved off to college so I never actually had my mom's version, but last year for my sisters birthday I made it for her. Of course my mom had adapted it quite a bit from the original and La told me the modifications, albeit loosely. She told me how my mom would open up the fridge and come back with buttermilk and sour cream and would make the cake with olive oil all the while, La telling her to follow the recipe, but my mom would just say "I know what I'm doing!" and she did. I tried to recreate it last year and not surprisingly it was a bit off. It's all a matter of preference and my mom and La prefer it very dense and moist and mine wasn't quite dense enough for La's preference. This one is a much lighter version, especially compared to most carrot cake recipes, although there is a quick modification to make it more moist and dense if that is how you like it.

When we celebrated my dad and my uncle (his twin)'s birthday here in Chicago I suddenly became the cake maker asking them to choose their cakes. (How else does one celebrate a birthday?) My dad chose cheesecake and I have a hunch it may just be cheesecake for now until eternity. It is oddly also my brother-in-law's and my brother's choice. Looks like in my family we may be having that recipe at least three times a year, but no complaints here as it really is that good. Since there would be 12 or so of us celebrating I figured two cakes were in order, and really, shouldn't both birthday boys (okay, more appropriately men) have their own separate choice of cake? When my uncle requested carrot cake was I immediately knew which recipe I would make.

Luckily for me La wasn't here to celebrate (we missed you La!) as she would have been my toughest critic since I went for the lighter version sans sour cream. Seeing as this is 'her' birthday cake she wouldn't have been happy with the lighter result. Although there just may be room for both... two separate birthdays, two different cakes.... We're already on our second year of celebrating my dad and uncles birthday in Chicago so who knows, this may now be my uncle's birthday tradition as well. Actually whether he chooses it or not, this may be his 'birthday-cake-of-choice'. There could be some serious uproar if he tried to change it. Traditions are hard to break in our family...

For some reason they aren't in front of their respective cakes. That's my dad on the right with the carrot cake and my Uncle Fish on the left with the cheesecake.

Trish's Tips: To make the moister version replace half the buttermilk with sour cream. This was how I did it last year and it was much more moist than the version below but still not dense enough for La. If I made it for her again I would do the same as I did last year but add an additional tablespoon of sour cream. Also I would grate the carrots on the coarser side vs. the finer side for this version. Walnuts would also be good here instead of the pecans if you prefer. Did you know that you could make buttermilk? That way you can make only what you need. I no longer buy it because it would always go to waste. Have you made a layer cake before? I come from a family of 'delicious' cake bakers but not so much 'beautiful' cake bakers. Although this is a Martha Stewart recipe, mine certainly doesn't look like Martha Stewart, although there are a couple of tips that I follow to make it both delicious and beautiful. 1. Absolutely positively wait until the cake has cooled before you frost it and that the cake is at room temp. 2. If you leave the house as I did while the cake is cooling just cover on the cooling rack with a clean towel. 3. When frosting, put the cake over strips of wax paper (that can easily be pulled out after you are done frosting). This will ensure that your cake stand won't look messy for presentation. 4. There is this concept of a 'crumb layer'. Frost one layer first, then let kind of dry before applying the second. This is especially helpful for a chocolate cake with white frosting, but I didn't have a problem here. 5. This cake makes an incredible amount of frosting and in hindsight I realized I skimped on the middle layer. Be generous. 6. I don't have any fancy cake tools and just used a knife to frost and a plastic bag to do the piping. Be creative! 7. If your powdered sugar is chunky as mine is usually, make sure to sift so you have nice creamy frosting. Just a mesh strainer will work, a bit of a tedious process but worth it.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Carrot Cake

Ingredients:
Unsalted butter, for pans
3 Cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
1 cup pecan pieces
1 lb large carrots, peeled
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup nonfat buttermilk
1 tsp pure vanilla
2 Cups sugar
1 1/2 Cups canola oil
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Butter two 8 by 2 inch round cake pans. Dust pans with flour and tap out any access. Set pans aside Spread pecans in a dry skillet and toast until fragrant and slightly golden, about 5 minutes. Finely chop pecans and set aside.

Using the smallest holes of a box grater, grate carrots, yielding 2 1/2 cups. Place carrots, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, sugar and canola oil in a large bowl; whisk until well combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the carrot mixture until combined. Fold in the toasted pecans.

Divide batter between the two cake pans, and bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean about 1 hour. (Start checking at 40 minutes.) Remove pans from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool, 15 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack; let stand until completely cool.

Place bottom layer on cake stand, frost put top layer on top and finish frosting.

Frosting

Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 (8-oz each) cream cheese, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Directions:
Place butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes more. Add the remaining ingredients and beat for 5 minutes more. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to two days.

Lasagna

2010-04-07T19:22:00.000-07:00

Like many siblings, my aunt and mom were always a bit competitive with one another. They were extremely close and each considered each other's best friends so it was definitely just a friendly competition, but still a competition nonetheless. They weren't competitive at all about money/looks/success or things that I guess people might be competitive with one another about. They both love garage sales and the thrill of the hunt of finding a great antique. That may be one of the times the competitiveness would come out. There was also a lot of "copying one another" going on as also often happens with sisters. My mom had oh so many collections. Cookie jars, dishes, the list goes on and on. My aunt was much more choosy about what she would collect, but you better believe she couldn't start a collection without my mom deciding to collect that too. Or at Christmas my grandma would almost always give them the same Christmas present (even as adults) and they would rush to be the first one to rip off the wrapping paper to be the one to see the gift first. My aunt tells me my mom had to do everything first and since my aunt is the younger sister I'm sure that was true... I would say they were particularly competitive when it came to cooking. I think my mom thought she had the upper hand since she had much more time to cook (she only worked part-time and my aunt worked full-time). That's probably why she would be particularly peeved when she would make lasagna and we would all tell her it wasn't as good as my Aunt Susan's.

The thing is... I can see how she had a hard time getting it right. It's hard to get it the right consistency.

The way I see it there are three kinds of lasagna. 1. The frozen kind (I think you know how I feel about this) 2. Dry Lasagna 3. Soupy Lasagna. Okay, quite clearly I am oversimplifying things here because as you well know there are white lasagnas and veggie lasagnas and clearly more than three categories, but these three are the ones that I mostly encounter. Or I guess I should say the three unpleasant kinds that I encounter. (I know, I know, there are some good frozen lasagnas out there, but of course I'd always rather have homemade.)

I've made lasagna several times before and ended up with a soupy mess. Perhaps you've experienced this as well where you cut out and scoop out your piece and it seems like all the tomato sauce and juice squirts out into the square where you cut your piece. As for the dry kind... I'm a sauce lover (as you know from my other blog) so have zero interest in dry lasagna. I'll take the super liquid-y one instead.

This recipe doesn't fall in any of the three categories. Unless of course you choose to make it and then freeze, but frozen yet homemade is not the kind I was talking about above. I was talking about the kind in the flimsy aluminum pan that you buy in a box. We've all had it... you know what I'm talking about. I like this one because it is the perfect consistency. Moist, but not dry. Although when making it I was kind of holding my breath scared that it would be dry, but it turned out perfect. I think the fresh mozzarella is the secret as it adds the perfect amount of moisture.

I also like that the ingredients are a little bit more exciting than your run-of-the-mill hamburger and shredded mozzarella that are often used. Using sausage instead makes a huge difference in flavor in addition to using freshly grated parmesan and goat cheese. Plus of course the traditional ricotta and red sauce. It is the perfect 'make-ahead' dish and actually does freeze well. (Don't worry the non-aluminum pan will give it away that it is definitely homemade, not to mention, of course,the flavor.)

I'm pretty sure my mom would like this recipe too. Just don't tell her how it compares to my Aunt Susan's.

Trish's Tips: For some reason I find it hard to find regular old lasagna noodles. As in not the 'no boil' ones. Either will work here, but if you use the no boil only soak the noodles for 5 minutes or so. Use either sweet or spicy sausage depending on your preference. Turkey sausage will also work well here and would make for a bit lighter lasagna (if it's really possible for lasagna to be light). Goes great with a green salad and a baguette dipped in olive oil. This is the epitome of easy entertaining as it is perfect to make in advance. If you aren't serving 8, I would recommend making the full recipe into two smaller square pans and freezing one. The thawed and then cooked lasagna may be a bit drier than the original so you may want to add either a bit more sauce or not let the sauce cook down as much.

Lasagna
Adapted from Ina Garten
Serves 8

Ingredients:
2 TBL Olive Oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 lbs sausage, casings removed (Turkey or Pork will both work)
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes in tomato puree
1 6-oz can tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lb lasagna noodles
15 oz ricotta cheese
4 oz creamy goat cheese, crumbled
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus 1/3 cup for sprinkling
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 lb fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook for 7-10 minutes over medium-low heat until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the sausage and cook over medium-low heat, breaking it up with a fork, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until it is no longer pink. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 TBL of the parsley, the basil, 1 1/2 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp of pepper. Simmer, uncovered over medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes or until thickened.

Meanwhile fill a large bowl with the hottest tap water. Add the noodles and allow them to sit in the water for 20 minutes. Drain.

In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, goat cheese, 1 cup of Parmesan, the egg, the remaining 2 TBL of parsley, 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper. Set aside.

Ladle 1/3 of the sauce into a 9x12x2 inch rectangular baking dish, spreading the sauce over the bottom of the dish. Then add the layers as follows: half of the pasta, half the mozzarella, half the ricotta and one third of the sauce. Add the rest of the pasta, mozzarella, ricotta and finally, sauce. Sprinkle with 1/3 C of parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling.

Fettuccine with Short Rib Ragu

2010-03-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

The sun is shining, the snow is (almost) gone, spring is near... and I'm making slow cooked braised short ribs. True to my blog title I'm still hanging on to winter, from a food perspective that is. In fact I made this more than once last summer and another time early fall. It's not really a winter dish, but is good on a cold night with a glass of red wine and a fire.

This is the epitome of the type of recipe that my mom would make. Her menus often revolved around beef and she loved to cook things that she could start earlier in the day and cook for hours and meals that didn't require being served immediately out of the oven. With five kids and a husband on different schedules I think she appreciated the ease of a recipe that would reheat well and serve a crowd. This does both. She would have loved it although I'm pretty sure she would serve it over mashed potatoes instead of pasta. She was a potato lover but I guess more than anything, the people she was always cooking for, (us kids) were the potato lovers and she always had them on hand. She would do the same for Beef Burgundy as it always called to serve over egg noodles or a garlic rubbed crostini but my mom always just bypassed that part of the recipe and made her usual mashed potatoes.

I think I just got burnt out on mashed potatoes as a kid because I'm definitely now more of a pasta lover. It's a lot easier too, but serve it however you like.

This does take a rather large time commitment. However, do not let that deter you because most of it is 'inactive' time meaning it is just simmering away while you are doing your Sunday chores, a few loads of laundry or maybe more realistically (like me) reading food blogs and watching Food Network. It starts out this kind of soupy mixture and somehow over the coarse of a few hours transfers into a thick, rich, flavorful Ragu.

I made it recently for a friend who had a baby and Johnny was incredibly envious. In fact this is apparently my "bring to a friend who just had a baby" dish because I made it last summer for another friend. It's great for that because it would be fine to make even a day in advance, but also good for entertaining, or you know, just you and your husband on a warm spring day...

Trish's Tips: If you can't find pancetta or prosciutto you could also use bacon. The original recipe calls for pancetta, but I've used prosciutto and it turned out great. If you are feeling adventurous... this recipe calls for a sprinkling of shaved bittersweet chocolate. I KNOW... it sounds weird, but it seriously is good. If you grate it on a microplane you won't even know it is there, it just adds complexity. Kind of like a Mexican mole. But feel free to omit as well. As always, really take the time to let the meat brown very well over high heat, this will give it incredible flavor.

Fettuccine with Short Rib Ragu
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis
4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:
3 TBL olive oil
2 oz pancetta or prosciutto, coarsely chopped
2 1/2 lb beef short ribs
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, quartered
1 carrot, peeled and very roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 garlic cloves
1 (14.5 oz) can tomatoes (whole or diced)
1 TBL tomato paste
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 TBL fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
2 1/2 cups beef broth
3/4 cup red wine
1 lb fettuccine
4 to 6 tsp shaved bittersweet chocolate (optional)

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot over medium heat. Cook the pancetta until golden and crisp, about 4 minutes. Meanwhile, season the short ribs with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta from the pan and set it aside. Shake the excess flour off the short ribs and add them to the pan and cook until browned on all sides about 20 minutes total. Meanwhile, combine the onion, carrot, parsley, garlic, tomatoes and tomato paste in a food processor and pulse until finely minced. Once the short ribs are browned, add the minced vegetables to the pot along with the pancetta and stir. Add the rosemary, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, beef broth, wine, 1/2 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for another hour and 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Using a slotted spoon, lift out the short ribs and cool briefly on a plate. Shred the meat with two forks and return it to the pot, discarding the bones. Discard the bay leaf.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, following package directions. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the pot with the short rib ragu and stir to combine. If needed, add the reserved pasta liquid a little at a time to moisten the pasta. Transfer to serving bowls and top each bowl with 1 tsp of chocolate shavings and serve immediately.

Banana Bread

2010-03-02T19:06:00.000-08:00

Banana Bread showed up pretty often around our house growing up and I would imagine yours too. I can't think of anyone who hasn't tried it. It's got to be up there in popularity with chocolate chip cookies, and there has got to be a million different recipe combinations out there, just try googling it. In general I like a lot of different, bold flavors but when it comes to some things I'm a purist. Like mac 'n cheese for example (I always like to give examples). I don't want bacon in it and I definitely don't want peas, just the cheese... and macaroni. And when it comes to a hamburger, yes I love some caramelized onions and mushrooms but I certainly don't want a 'taco' burger with guacamole and taco seasoning. I just want the burger. I'm the same way with banana bread. I've tried banana bread with lime zest and coconut (which was delicious) but generally I just want the standard, traditional recipe. If you are searching for the same, you have found it.

As I have learned from making this several times, banana bread is not really bread per se, at least not by my definition. Bread to me is something that requires copious amounts of time and kneading and rising and basically an incredible amount of patience. So based on that description banana bread certainly does not fit the bill. To me it was almost like cake batter and I say that because it is quite sweet. The original recipe called for over two cups of sugar, but I did take that down a bit. And as my mom would do, I threw in a little healthy ingredient, some flaxseed meal, but you could leave that out if you don't have it.

I don't know about you but no matter how many bananas I buy at least one goes bad. How is it that they are green in the store and then two days later they are overripe? Rather than throwing them away I will just put them in the freezer and when I have enough, will make this bread. In fact, I don't know that I have ever actually bought bananas for it. If you use frozen they will defrost in only a few hours or of course you can use fresh bananas just make sure that they are really, really ripe as in more ripe than you would normally like to eat.

I know I was just ranting and raving about being a purist and what not with this but I do love walnuts in it, because to me that's what 'goes'. I'm a big believer that there are two different types of people in this world, those that like nuts and those that don't. I am a nut lover so always add them although as a kid I didn't like them. My mom would always make one loaf with nuts and one without to satisfy everyone's tastes so I tend to do the same if I'm not making it for myself.

This recipe comes from an adorable cookbook I received as a wedding shower gift and has plenty of good, homey recipes. The authors suggest making one loaf to eat now, then, slicing and freezing the other. You can take directly out of the freezer, toast it and put peanut butter on top. I've tried it and it's delicious. (Okay, so maybe I'm not always a purist when it comes to banana bread.) So go ahead and start collecting those bananas in your freezer. If you're as terrible an estimator as me it won't take you long to have enough for this recipe. It's relatively simple to make and the smell of baking it alone will be reason enough to make it.

Trish's Tips: Make sure to mash the bananas well or you will have bits of banana show up in the bread, not the end of the world, but not quite the right consistency you are looking for. I just use a potato masher. If you are like me, you almost never use buttermilk. Don't buy it, make it instead. In a small bowl mix 1/2 cup regular milk with 1 1/2 tsp either lemon juice or white vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes.

Unbelievable Banana Bread
makes 2 loaves
Adapted from Bride & Groom First & Forever Cookbook
by Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Whiteford

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C walnuts
2 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 C canola oil
2 C sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 C buttermilk
2 C very ripe mashed bananas (about 5 small bananas)
Cooking spray
2 TBL flaxseed meal (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Preheat oven in dry skillet over medium heat tossing occasionally until fragrant and golden. Roughly chop and set aside.

Spray 2 - 9x3 or 9x5 inch loaf pans with cooking spray. Stir together the flour, kosher salt, cinnamon and flaxseed meal if using in medium-bowl. Set aside.

Combine the oil and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Alternatively, use a hand mixer and beat on low until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute.

Stir the baking soda into the buttermilk in a small bowl. Add one third of the dry ingredients to the mixer, followed by half of the buttermilk and mix on low speed until barely combined, 10 to 15 seconds. Repeat. Scrape down the sides and mix in the remaining dry ingredients. Add the mashed bananas and walnuts and mix until just incorporated. Do not overmix.

Pour the batter into prepared pans. Bake until the bread is a golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. (Start checking at 45 mins.) Transfer the pans to wire racks and let cool for 5 minutes, then remove the loaves from the pans and let cool.

Spiced Peanut Butter Dip

2010-02-17T18:33:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite snacks as a kid was ants on a log. Three simple ingredients, yet so good. My strategy was to get an 'ant' in every bite. I remember my mom packing these in my lunch as a kid and being so excited for lunchtime to pull them out of the Ziploc, or 'baggie' as everyone in my family calls them. Sure they ended up a bit mangled with peanut butter smeared on the inside of the baggie and the ants were all mashed down into the peanut butter but still very much worth looking forward to.

Ants on a log... you must have had one at some point as a kid. It's like having a PB&J or Peanut Butter & Banana sandwich. You know what I'm talking about, right? Celery with smeared peanut butter and raisins on top? I thought I should force a reminder in case of the small possibility that my mom made up the name herself. Like how I thought all kids knew that new shoes could make you run faster then realized later that the only other kids that 'knew' this were my siblings.

Regardless of what you call it, everyone's had one... Unless you were one of those kids I feel bad for that were allergic to peanuts and missed out on all good things that come with that. Like Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs at Easter or Reese's Pieces at the Movie Theatre (that was always my choice), peanut butter cookies or those totally awesome Little Debbie peanut butter wafer things. The cool kids (obviously including me) would always eat it layer by layer. Yeah I feel pretty sorry for the kids who couldn't have peanut butter and you should just stop reading now because you're missing out on something even better...

I found this recipe in a cookbook I received as a wedding present. Which when I was roaming around Crate & Barrel registering for wedding gifts a few years ago with the little gun thing and saw the title "Delicious Dips" I knew it belonged in my collection. Anything that I can dip or dunk into I am a fan of, and this dip I am definitely a fan of. It has peanut butter (of course) and is great served with celery, but that's where the differences to ant on a log end. There is no 'ant' here and instead is ginger, sugar, garlic, soy sauce all blended up with the peanut butter and then you use the celery to dip in it. So dip, peanut butter and Asian, three great reasons why I am in love with this dip.

Most of my family is huge peanut butter fans. My dad's favorite snack is a scoop of peanut butter on a spoon. And of course his favorite cookie is peanut butter. Johnny's not much different, if I ask him to make me a piece of toast I am always alarmed at the inch thick layer of peanut butter, the same as he does for his own, so needless to say he loves peanut butter as well and is a HUGE fan of this dip.

In my mind this is the 'adult' version of an ants on a log. But go ahead and throw yours in a baggie anyway... for old times sake.

Trish's Tips: This keeps very well in the fridge for a few days.

Spiced Peanut Butter Dip
Adapted from Delicious Dips by Diane Morgan

Ingredients:
2 TBL fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
1 green onion, including green tops, cut into 1/2 inch lengths
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup chunky peanut butter (I used all-natural)
2 TBL low-sodium soy sauce
1 TBL Asian sesame oil

Directions:
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process the ginger, green onions, garlic, sugar and red pepper flakes until minced. Add the peanut butter, soy sauce and sesame oil. Process until all the ingredients are well combined. Transfer to a serving bowl. Cover and set aside at room temperature until ready to serve. Serve with celery sticks.

Lemon Chicken Soup with Orzo

2010-02-05T20:52:00.000-08:00

There are just some recipes that you make again and again. Maybe it's ease of making them, maybe it's the memory attached to them or maybe it's just that they are absolutely delicious, but we all have those recipes that constantly make it into our weekly menu. This is one of mine. Ever since I found it I've made it over and over, at least during the winter months. Of course I should tell you that I can get a bit obsessive. Like last summer when I seriously would make my hummus recipe at least once a week and sometimes twice a week. When invited as a guest to dinner, I think people stopped asked me to bring an appetizer for fear that I would bring it... again. Although it is still one of my favorites and very delicious, I did get a bit sick of it. Not sick of it like I'm not going to make it again, but just down to the hummus-eating pattern of a normal person. This recipe I'm not sick of yet and I'm on year two of making it. Although I guess I only make it during the fall and winter so maybe that's why. But it's not just me. My friend Steph makes it basically weekly now after getting the cookbook it is written in as a Christmas gift. That's the sign of a great recipe.

Everyone I know that has tried this soup loves it, which is funny because it is pretty simple. It has a relatively straightforward ingredient list and doesn't take long to make at all, but I think maybe it just reminds everyone of home. I made this at my parents once last year and my uncle came over for lunch and said, "What is it about the Pond women, they all know how to make soup so well?" Of course this was in comparison to my mom's soup skills. Quite the high compliment in my book.

Everyone craves chicken soup when they are sick. My mom would always make us soup when we were sick. And not the kind from the can, but the homemade kind. With real chicken and real homemade noodles. (Mental note, another recipe I need to figure out of hers.) And although I love that one, this one is a bit different. When I am sick I don't want any of the other ones, just the simple straightforward one, but when I'm not sick I tend to crave a bit bolder flavors so will be more apt to make chicken soup with a twist. Like a Thai version with coconut milk, a Mexican chicken tortilla soup or recently I tried a Polish pickle soup that my friend Kasia made for me. (Very good, give it a try.)

Or, more than likely, I will make this one and of course it has a twist as well. It's actually very similar to a Greek Soup called Chicken Avgolemono or Chicken Lemon Rice Soup. You've probably had some version of it at some point. I like it because it's just a bit turned up from your regular soup. There's some lemon in it and the teeny tiny orzo noodles instead of the long egg noodles. Which I love because I never did like eating chicken noodle soup when the noodles slop all over and won't stay on your spoon. And the process of adding the egg threw me off too; it thickens it a bit so it's not as thin as regular chicken noodle soup so I think it makes it a bit more hearty. It's different, but yet familiar.

Of course there's still a place for both. I still need to figure out my mom's chicken noodle, but for now this will probably remain on my menu. For the next few months at least.

Trish's Tips: This, like most soups, keeps well. It does however thicken quite a bit in the fridge. I like to keep extra chicken stock on hand to thin out the next day, mainly because I'm a broth-loving girl. I tried whole-wheat orzo for the first time. And... not a fan. I do love whole wheat and try to use it in almost everything but just didn't feel like it went here. It turned out a bit gummier than the regular white pasta. Make sure the vegetables are cooked before you add the orzo because once you add that your time is limited and you will then either have underdone veggies or overcooked noodles. I like to cut up a lemon and serve it with the soup for those that like it with a bit more zest. (Like me!)

Lemon Chicken Soup with Orzo
Adapted from Ellie Krieger

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 bone-in, skin-on split chicken breast
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
2 tsp chopped fresh thme
6-8 cups chicken broth
1 cup orzo pasta
2 large eggs
3 TBL fresh lemon juice
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Put chicken in pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper then drizzle with olive oil. Rub with your hands over the chicken to coat all sides of the chicken. Put in oven and roast for 35-40 minutes or until done. Let cool until cool enough to handle, remove and discard skin and shred or cube chicken. Set aside.

Heat soup pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 TBL olive oil. When oil is heated add the onion, celery, carrot and thyme and cook, stirring over medium-high heat until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add 5 cups of the broth and bring to a boil. Add the orzo and let simmer until tender, about 8 minutes. Turn the heat down to low to keep soup hot but not boiling.

Warm the remaining 1 cup broth in a small saucepan until it is hot but not boiling. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs. Gradually whisk the lemon juice into the eggs. Then gradually add the hot broth to the egg-lemon mixture, whisking all the while. Add the mixture to the soup, stirring well until the soup is thickened. Do NOT let the soup come to a boil. Add the cooked chicken to the soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add remaining broth if desired depending on the level of thickness that you like or save the extra for when reheating to thin out.

Spaghetti with Meatballs

2010-01-28T18:08:00.000-08:00

As I have written before, my mom was famous for saying, "We could make this!" after trying a restaurant dish that she admired. Usually her attempts were still very good, albeit off, from the original. I, though, am far less adventurous although I am getting better, making attempts at crazy things such as you know, salad recreations or copying a cheese plate from a restaurant, but clearly still have a long way to go to get to my mom's optimistic and adventurous approach.

So I bet after that you are now waiting for me to debut this adventurous, optimistic side that I supposedly should have learned from my mother? Nope. I'm not there yet, besides the aforementioned territories of salads and cheese plates. However, I am good at taking a recipe from a magazine that in it recreates a fabulous dish from one of my favorite restaurants. That I am good at.

Food & Wine debuted an article with the famed recipe from "Meatball Monday's" at A16, where this recipe comes from. I had the great pleasure of meeting A16's wine director/owner, Shelley Lindgren, when I took a cooking class in San Francisco titled "Food and Wine of California" at the adorable cooking school, Tante Marie. I was just (sob) about to leave San Francisco and wanted to absorb all I could. She led the wine section of the class and was delightful. She is the coauthor of their beautiful cookbook, which after taking the class and reading the Food & Wine Article, I absolutely had to have the cookbook. (Well that one and about 50 others, but trust me, it's a good one.) So I then had two copies of the recipe, was leaving San Francisco and could no longer go to Meatball Mondays. It was time to make the meatballs.

My original theory about meatballs was, "Meatballs, how good can they be?" It's just a meatball and there are good ones, but not truly 'great' ones although my husband vehemently disagrees, even pre-A16 meatballs. My point of view was of course before I tried these. I quickly then became a convert to my husbands perspective. These are so much more flavorful than any other meatball. And so light and moist! After making them several times, I know the secret is the ricotta cheese and fresh breadcrumbs. My mom always made meatballs with ground beef, but this also has prosciutto and ground pork, which I think adds a lot of flavor. And there is no complicated sauce to cloud the flavor of the meatballs, just delicious San Marzanos, which if you haven't yet tried, after one taste you will for sure be a convert from regular old canned tomatoes. This isn't your sloppy spaghetti meatballs for kids. This is entertaining fare. Once you try these, you'll be a convert too.

So, one restaurant dish recreated... check! Yes, I had the recipe, but I did make a couple of substitutions, that puts me in the adventurous category, right?

Trish's Tips: This recipe calls for freshly made breadcrumbs. Every time I buy a baguette I end up not eating it all and it turns rock hard and ends up getting thrown out. My new strategy is to freeze the leftover baguette then just pull it out of the freezer 30 minutes or so before I need to make breadcrumbs so that it can defrost. Just cut into cubes and put in your food processor. These meatballs freeze great and can be made in advance. To do so, roast the meatballs and freeze them. Before braising, defrost completely then braise as directed in the recipe. Through this recipe I learned that if you can't find the right meat ground, buy it unground, cut into cubes and put in your food processor. You won't know the difference. This time I was able to find it ground, but another time I just ground the pork myself. I always end up grinding the prosciutto and bread crumbs myself. If you are doing the same then do the bread crumbs and prosciutto before the other messy meats.

Monday Meatballs

Adapted from A16 Food & Wine Cookbook

Makes about 24 meatballs

Ingredients:

10 oz boneless pork shoulder (Either pre-ground from your butcher or cut up in cubes and finely chopped in a food processor)

10 oz beef chuck (Either ground or cut up in cubes and finely chopped in food processor)

6 oz. day old good baguette, ciabatta or country bread, cut into cubes and finely chopped in food processor

4 oz prosciutto, cut into slices and ground in food processor

1 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped

1 TBL plus 2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp dried oregano

1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp dried chile flakes

1/3 cup ricotta cheese

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 TBL milk

2 - 28 oz cans San Marzano Tomatoes with juices

handful of fresh basil leaves, torn

block of parmesan cheese for grating

Extra virgin olive oil for finishing

Spaghetti to serve with

Preheat the oven to 400. Coat 2 rimmed baking sheets with olive oil. In a large bowl, combine the pork, beef, bread, prosciutto, parsley, 1 TBL of the salt, oregano, fennel seeds and chile flakes and mix with your hands until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the ricotta and milk. Add the ricotta mixture to the ground meat mixture and mix lightly with your hands until just incorporated. The mixture should feel wet and tacky.

If desired, you can test your meatball at this stage by taking a spoonful of it, flattening into a disk and sauteeing in olive oil. Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed.

Form the mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls about 2 oz. each and place on the prepared baking sheets. You should have about 24 meatballs.

Bake, rotating the sheets once from front to back, for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are browned. Remove from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 300.

Sprinkle the tomatoes with the remaining 2 tsp of salt and squeeze the tomatoes with your hands into small pieces.

Pack the meatballs into 1 large roasting pan. Pour the tomato sauce over the meatballs, cover tightly with aluminum foil and braise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the meatballs are tender and have absorbed some of the tomato sauce.

Meanwhile cook spaghetti according to package directions. Pull the pans out of the oven and uncover. Top the pasta with the sauce, then meatballs, torn basil leaves and drizzle with olive oil. Top with shredded parmesan.

Road Trip!

2010-01-24T16:37:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit MIA, I know. I was on a weeklong cross-country road trip with my sister who moved to Portland. It was a ton of fun, but now I am so anxious to get home and get cooking! Although I did do a quite a bit of cooking before I left. I made loads of road trip snacks. I knew our trip would mean lots of greasy foods like burgers and fries, which we did have and thoroughly enjoyed, but also knew that we would feel much better if we had a pack of healthy snacks so as to prevent a panicked gas station snack stop that inevitably would have ended up with a bag of premade cheddar chex mix followed by what I like to call 'junk food stomach'.

I'm no stranger to road trips. Being in a family of five children, we did a lot of traveling by car. I think the idea of buying 7 plane tickets put my parents over the edge, so most trips were in the family Suburban and there was always a cooler in the back with sandwich fixings and snacks and homemade cookies. I think my mom couldn't stand the idea of stopping every time one of us was hungry and my dad couldn't stand the idea of going out for every meal. Growing up in the 'great lakes state', most of our trips involved us never being far from the lake so my mom always packed us a picnic. With 5 picky eaters she just let us make our own sandwiches and would pack several kids of meats, mayo, mustard, chips, sweets and even some candy. I think as a kid I always wished we could stop for the McDonald's happy meal or whatever that now makes me wince.

So with that on my mind I packed sandwiches for our first day. There was no notable stops/cities on our first day anyway, so I figured starting out with a homemade lunch would be better. I've made this one a few times now, and it always hits the spot. With the skin off and the addition of yogurt to make it creamy, this really is a pretty healthy lunch. The aioli is DELICIOUS and also great on other things. There was a bit leftover that Johnny used to make a quick salad dressing. Just add some white wine vinegar and olive oil and put over salad. The aioli also has an anchovy in it but please don't let that scare you. In fact, Johnny couldn't believe when I told him that it was in there. Did you know that almost all caesar salad dressing have it? It certainly doesn't taste fishy, just adds another flavor dimension. If you are a total wimp, feel free to leave out ;) Oh and don't throw the rest of the can out when you just use one itty-bitty half of an anchovy. I put the rest in a small jar and throw it in the freezer until I need them again. As my mom would say, "It is a sin to waste", and I therefore cannot STAND to waste. I do the same trick with chipotle chiles in adobo and tomato paste. I mean how often do you really use a whole can of tomato paste? I digress...

I probably should have taken pictures of this sandwich before I left, along with all the snacks that I made, but I'm sure you can relate to the chaos that ensues right before going on vacation. The laundry, packing, planning and for me grocery shopping and cooking was too much for me to stop to take pictures at each stage. So I recreated the sandwich when I got back. I'm not going to recreate everything, at least right now, so I thought I would share links to the rest. For your next road trip!

1. My friend Patty's granola. Delicious and about a million ways to mix and match to make it how you like it. This time I used almonds and coconut and dried cherries. In the past I've done blueberries, pecans and vanilla.
2. Granola Bars. Oh so healthy, from the Mayo Clinic Cookbook.
3. Spiced Pepitas. I knew that all of those sweets would make me crave something salty. This hit the spot.
4. Trail Mix. There really is no recipe for this, just mix whatever you like best. I mixed 1 cup of almonds, 1 cup of walnuts and 1 cup of dried cranberries, then just scooped it by the 1/3 cupfuls into snack bags. Use whatever nuts you like, these are great to have on hand. Hopefully this leaves you craving not only a sandwich but also a road trip! Loads of fun!

Trish's Tips: The original recipe calls for arugula, parsley and chives, but I just used what I had which was basil, parsley and spinach. Don't make the mistake that I made (especially if this is to go) and forget to check the seasonings after you mixed in the chicken. My sister and I were both wishing it was more salty because I seasoned the aioli but didn't check it when I added the chicken. The original recipe calls for a whole-wheat tortilla, which I have used before and liked, but this time I had a whole loaf of bread I was trying to get rid of so used that instead. Use what you like.

Chicken Sandwich with Spinach and Basil Aioli
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis
Makes 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:
Aioli:
1/3 cup lightly packed spinach leaves
1/4 cup lightly packed flat-leaf parsley
8-10 basil leaves
1/2 anchovy fillet
1 small garlic clove
1/4 cup lowfat greek style plain yogurt
1 tsp white whine vinegar
1/2 tsp lemon zest
salt and freshly ground pepper
Sandwich:
1 - Bone in, skin on chicken breast (Between .75 & 1 lb)
1 TBL Olive Oil
salt and pepper
4 slices bread (I like Ezekial)
1/2 C spinach leaves

Directions:
Preheat Oven to 350. Put chicken in pan and pour 1 TBL of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Rub to coat all sides. Put in oven and roast for 35-40 minutes. While chicken is roasting, make aioli. Put garlic in mini food processor. Pulse until it is minced. Add anchovy and do the same. Add the rest of ingredients and blend until mixture is smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

When chicken is done and cool enough to handle, remove skin (if desired) and shred with 2 forks. Add enough aioli to moisten. Taste for seasoning, you may need more salt and pepper. You may have some leftover aioli. Assemble sandwiches. Put spinach on one side of bread, then spoon chicken mixture on top and top with other slice of bread.

If you are taking this to go: Put spinach on both sides of the bread so that the aioli doesn't absorb in the bread and make it soggy. Make sure the chicken mixture is extra wet, it will absorb and be drier by the time you eat it. Slice sandwich and wrap first in wax paper then in tinfoil. Make sure to pack napkins!

White Bean Dip

2010-01-11T19:19:00.000-08:00

I had a fabulous weekend doing what I love: cooking. My friend, Marcie, and I hosted a baby shower this Saturday along with a few other girls, and we were in charge of food. We scoured through cookbooks for menu planning, did some strategic list making, hit three grocery stores and spent two days cooking. We had a ton of fun doing it and it all ended up pretty good, if I do say so myself. I kind of felt like my mom this weekend in the party planning zone, three recipes going at once. What can I say, I learned from the best.

We made a pretty good mix of tried and true favorites, such as the tomato soup recipe I have posted here previously, and a few newbies as well. I had several advertisers of my blog (slash followers of my blog telling others about it) at the party, so hopefully some of you have found me. Sorry, but not all of the recipes will be posted because the added stress of taking photos of each recipe at each stage of cooking/chopping would have potentially put me over the edge. But who knows, some of the recipes may just make an appearance here eventually. For those of you interested, here was our menu: Tomato soup in mini cups with grilled cheeses made with sharp white cheddar to dip in the soup. We also served mini mac n cheese servings that we baked in a muffin tin and a spinach salad with hazelnuts and blood oranges. For appetizers we served stuffed mushrooms filled with pecorino and turkey sausage, walnut pesto crostinis and..... White Bean Dip with crudites.

The White Bean Dip was definitely one that fell in the 'tried and true' category and is one that's been around in my family for a while. My mom, sisters and I are all fans of Giada, whom this recipe comes from. And I'm pretty sure we all had the cookbook that this comes from within the first few months of it being out. In fact, I think this was one of the last things that my mom made for me because she knew it was one of my favorites. I'm a hummus lover as you know, and this is a twist on hummus using white beans instead of chickpeas. The original recipe calls for parsley and I made it that way for a couple of years, but one time as I went to make it, realized that I didn't have any parsley, but did have a huge bunch of basil from the farmers market. I tried that instead and have yet to go back to making it the original way.

I often serve it with the pita chips as Giada calls for here, but don't have photos of it, as our menu for the shower was carb heavy enough so we served it with crudites. Maybe try a mix of both, or depending on your mood or just pick one. I love recipes like this because as long as you have a food processor it's pretty simple. These are all ingredients that I generally have on hand, so this can be your go to recipe when you have unexpected hungry guests. Or maybe even 18 or so expected guests and a pregnant guest of honor. This will work for that too.

Trish's Tips: I have adjusted this recipe to be how I like it, but add more citrus, more oil, more salt and pepper if you like. Or less, of course. Make it your own. Try it with parsley and basil and let me know which one you like better. The hummus will keep in the fridge, but I think is best at room temperature. I made it the night before the shower, but made sure to bring to room temperature. The pita chips won't be the right consistency if made the day before; they tend to get a bit chewy.

White Bean Dip
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis

Ingredients:

Pita Chips:
4 pita breads, split horizontally in half
2 TBL olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Dip:
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 (15 - ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup (loosely packed) fresh basil leaves (or parsley)
2 TBL fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove

Directions:
To make the pita chips: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut each pita half into 8 wedges. Arrange the pita wedges evenly over a baking sheet. Brush the pita wedges with the oil, then sprinkle with the oregano and salt and pepper. Bake for 8 minutes, then turn the pita wedges over and bake until they are crisp and golden, about 8 minutes longer.

To make the dip: In the bowl of a food processor, put in garlic clove. Turn processor on until garlic clove is sufficiently minced. Add beans, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Turn on until the ingredients are well mixed. Add basil. Slowly add olive oil until the mixture is creamy, adding more olive oil or water to get to desired consistency. Taste and add salt as needed. Serve with pita chips or crudites.

Chicken Enchiladas

2010-01-05T17:59:00.000-08:00

My mom was famous for throwing enormous parties. Our graduation parties never had less than 100 people. My mom couldn't stand to not include everyone and between church and her Yahtzee and birthday clubs she had many friends. Plus I grew up in one of those neighborhoods where everyone not only knows each other but also likes each other. Regardless of the guest count she never, ever had her parties catered. She would just plan ahead and serve the food buffet style and our dining room table would be filled with all of her specialties. Since I have four siblings that is a lot of graduation parties and when you start to throw in college graduations and bridal showers she definitely had it down to a tee. Our shower was no different.

My husband and I got married in San Francisco, where we lived at the time, so my parents threw a couple's shower as sort of a bridal shower/reception at home. Since she had done so many parties she wanted to do it a bit different than all of the others. She had done a brunch for my brother's graduation, an Italian theme for one of my sister's and several with numerous pasta salads and sandwich options. So we decided on a Mexican theme. We talked about what would be the best options to serve the 80 or so guests and enchiladas seemed like a good choice. For one they were my personal favorite and since they could also be made in advance it seemed like the perfect option. We must have made 500 of these. I think we grossly overestimated how many people would consume, I'm sure my terrible estimation skills were at fault. My family was eating leftover pans of these for months. In fact a year later my mom claimed she was still sick of enchiladas, although they were a hit.

So if you are planning an enormous meal for 80 guests then this will definitely work. But if you are just planning dinner for your family it is a good option as well. In a sense it is a bit involved because you cook three separate things then assemble, but most of the prepping is pretty easy and can be done in advance. See the note at the bottom. Also you could dumb this down if you wanted to save time. You could buy one of those rotisserie chickens and just use the meat you need, omit the onion mixture completely, or buy bottled enchilada sauce. This goes great with Guacamole Salad.

I remember flying in a couple of days or so before the shower to help with all of the preparations that entail throwing a party that size and walking in the door to see sombreros and Mexican blankets everywhere. My mom had done such a great job of planning it all and had thought of every detail. There were sombreros that she had hung up as a decoration, she had collected Mexican blankets from friends to use as tablecloths and had a chip and dip bowl shaped like a hat. I am laughing right now as I write this because this is what my mom lived for, to pull out all of these things that she had collected and put them to use. We served margaritas, chips and salsa, guacamole, enchiladas and a Marquette favorite, taco dip. Everyone raved about the food and couldn't believe we had made it ourselves. My mom was a fabulous hostess and one of the many things she taught me to do is entertain. I only hope my next party will be as much as a hit!

Trish's Tips: Have all of your ingredients ready for the sauce because I was busy measuring while my chicken stock was boiling away. I ended up adding another cup or two to thin out so I have modified the recipe here to have extra on hand if needed. This is the absolute best way to cook chicken. You could use boneless, skinless, but you will never eat more moist chicken unless you cook it this way. I've been doing it for several years now ever since Ina Garten taught me, you know, through the tv.

Easy Enchilada Sauce
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients:
6 TBL Canola Oil
2 TBL flour
1/2 C chili powder
4-6 Cups Chicken Stock
20 oz. tomato paste
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt

Directions:
In a medium saucepan heat oil, add flour, smoothing and stirring with a whisk. Cook for 1 minute. Add 4 C of chicken stock, tomato paste, oregano, cumin and salt. Whisk to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and let thicken slightly. If needed add remaining 2C of chicken stock to thin out if sauce gets too thick.

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1 lb Chicken Breast, bone-in, skin on
3-4 TBL Olive Oil
2 Medium Sized onions, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
10 corn tortillas
12 oz cheddar cheese or mexican blend cheese, grated
sour cream for garnish
scallions for garnish

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Put chicken on sheet pan and coat with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and rub to coat all sides. Roast for 35-40 minutes. Let chicken cool, remove skin (or leave on if you wish) and shred with two forks. Set aside.

While chicken is cooking, heat pan to medium-high heat. Heat 1 TBL olive oil and add onions. Cook until browned and softened, but not completely broken down. Add oregano, cumin and salt. Set aside.

Preheat Oven to 350. Pour a ladle full of enchilada sauce in to 8x10 or 9x12 glass baking dish. Set up an area, your hands will get messy when you start. Put enchilada sauce in shallow, wide bowl. Dip tortillas with thongs in enchilada sauce to coat both sides. If you don't do this, they will tear. Put tortilla on plate and put spoonful of onion mixture, spoonful of chicken and sprinkling of cheese onto each tortilla remembering to leave some remaining cheese for the top. Don't fill too much or the filling will spill out. Roll up making sure that tortilla ends overlap and place seam side down in baking dish. Repeat until finished and pour remaining enchilada sauce over top. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 20 minutes. To serve, top with sour cream and scallions.

Do Ahead: You can make the sauce, onions and chicken ahead of time, then just assemble the day of. Or think of as lasagna, assemble the night before and just put in the oven the day of. If you do this make sure to be very generous with enchilada sauce (potentially make more) as the tops of the tortillas could dry out and crack. This recipe will make one 9x12 pan or two 8x8 pans eat one tonight and freeze one for later!

Swiss Fondue

2010-01-02T16:23:00.000-08:00

The pressure of a New Years Eve Dinner Menu is enough to put even me over the edge. Although I love getting all of my cookbooks out and menu planning I was pretty pooped from all of the Christmas cooking and planning and even I was almost sick of thinking about food. I was just out of ideas, or out of good ideas at least. I consulted with a good friend of mine and fellow foodie on menu suggestions and she suggested a fondue menu. It was simple and didn't mean all the perfect timing required with the other elaborate options that I was pondering.

We served this fondue with bread cubes (of course), baby red skinned potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and also had another fondue pot with oil. With that we served even more veggies, cubed steak and several dipping sauces. And what fondue party is not complete without chocolate fondue for dessert. It was a really fun, interactive menu but does take a considerable more time than a normal meal. Which I don't think is such a bad thing. Sometimes I feel like we spend so much time making a meal only to have it consumed in twenty or thirty minutes and then on to the task of dishes or whatever. In fact this took so long that we missed the party we were supposed to head to, so I would caution you to plan accordingly if you do the whole menu. But definitely do it. It is so much fun and then when the guests arrive the hostess can have fun too.

Part of the reason I initially wanted to make this fondue was because it made me think back to another year that we had fondue on the menu for New Years Eve. As we toasted the New Year of 2005 we made this same fondue recipe at my parent's house. Johnny and I haven't spent many New Years Eves at my parents, but for whatever reason that year it worked out for us to. I think most of my siblings decided to stay in that night and we made Fondue. Not the whole menu that I did this year, but for a cheese lover like myself this is the one I like best anyway. I remember sitting in the living room at my parents house over a fondue pot that I think my sister got for Christmas, or maybe it was mine. Either way we all wished one another a Happy New Year over champagne and ooey gooey cheese. And it was a damn good year, 2005. It was the year I got engaged and the year I was promoted at work. So for superstitious sake this was another good reason to ring in the new year with this recipe. Its only day two, but I'm pretty sure the fondue is the clincher that is going to make my year. Hoping 2010 is one of your best years yet. Happy New Year to you and your family!

Trish's Tips: We learned the hard way, but do NOT put the flame on an empty fondue pot. Only put the flame under it after the cheese (or whatever liquid) is in the ceramic pot. It will crack and you will be fondue-less. Any cheese fondue takes somewhat of a careful moderation of temperature. I usually use my electric pot (which is a great investment in my opinion) but we used that for the oil fondue so I used a small ceramic pot instead and the little tea light could only do so much. Once the cheese gets really stringy it needs to be warmed up. If you have leftoers, don't pitch, they will reheat easily in the microwave.

Swiss Fondue

Ingredients:
1.25 lb Gruyere Cheese
.65 lb Emmentaler Cheese
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 TBL plus 1 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 C white wine
2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 TBL kirsch, optional
pepper
nutmeg

Directions:

Cut off rind from cheeses. You should be left with about 1 lb. of gruyere and 1/2 lb of Emmentaler. Shred cheeses on a box grater or food processor. Put aside. Dissolve cornstarch in wine. Heat saucepan over medium-low heat. Rub smashed garlic clove on inside of pan until fragrant. Heat wine/cornstarch mixture and lemon juice over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stir cheese in graduatlly stirring until combined and no longer stringy. Stir in the kirsch if using and sprinkle with pepper and ground nutmeg. Transfer to a fondue stand immediately and serve with cut up bread cubes.

Chip Dip

2009-12-23T14:07:00.000-08:00

Christmastime gives me so much 'Mom' material I can barely keep up. This isn't necessarily just a Christmas recipe, but one my family always had on Christmas Eve. We call it Pond Family Chip Dip. Or just Chip Dip, but I guess a more appropriate name would be Onion Dip. Not French Onion, just Onion Dip. My mom always made it in mass quantities partly because we always had a crowd, but partly because it was always everyone's favorite. It's only appropriate that I made it today in her mixer and the photo above shows it in her Chip Dip bowl. I don't know that this bowl saw any other kind of dip than Chip Dip.

It originated from my Dad's side, as his Mom, our Mimi, as we called her, would make it. My Dad's Brother carries on the tradition as well, but makes it a bit different than my Mom. My Uncle's is a bit sweeter and my Mom's is a bit more oniony.

There is of course no real recipe of how my Mom made it and adapted it. Fortunately the Christmas before my Mom died I happened to wake up early. My Mom was always the first one up and especially on Christmas Eve there was a lot of action going on in the kitchen. I think by the time I got up she had already made her potatoes and crust for her quiche and numerous other recipes I have yet to post here.

I remember sitting at the counter by the Kitchen Aid while she was making Chip Dip. As I sat down with a cup of coffee, she asked me, "Want to learn how to make Chip Dip?" So I sat and watched and took it all in. My Mom didn't measure. As I think I've written here before, she was certainly not a measurer. There was a lot of squirting from the ketchup bottle, pouring of the Worcestershire and sprinkling of my mom's favorite ingredient, Seasoned Salt. Then she would just continue to taste it. She had probably made it hundreds of times, so certainly didn't need a recipe. Then she would turn on the mixer and just let it whirl. My Mom used that Kitchen Aid Mixer for everything. She would whip this dip for probably 15-20 minutes to get in a creamy consistency. Maybe that's why her first mixer went kaput at some point. She definitely put it to good use.

It was over a year before I tried it on my own. There was a lot of tasting involved to figure out how to get it just right. I had to test the color, the consistency and of course the flavor, but I think I got pretty close. After getting the approval of my Dad I think it must be as close as any of us will ever get it. Although I think that my Mom would laugh at this recipe and that it only lists to use three packages of cream cheese, I don't think she ever made it with less than ten since we always had at least 20 people over for Christmas Eve. Try it for yourself. Maybe it'll be a Christmas tradition in your family too....

Trish's Tips: My Mom never took the time to bring the cream cheese to room temperature, but it really does help to keep the lumps out. Taste as you go and make it your own. Add more onion or more Worcestershire if you like a sharper flavor and more ketchup if you like it sweeter.

Pond Family Chip Dip

Ingredients:

3 - 8 oz. packages of cream cheese (1 1/2 lbs total)
4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 TBL plus 1 tsp Ketchup
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 cup grated onion with juice (about 1/2 of small onion)
1 TBL milk (optional)

Directions:

Grate Onion on small side of box grater. It should be just a pulp with no visible chunks of onion. Put cream cheese in mixer. Beat until soft. Turn mixer off, scrape sides of bowl and turn on low. Slowly add Worcestershire, Ketchup and seasoned salt. Mix until smooth. Add milk if needed for smoother consistency. You may need depending on how juicy your onion is.

Cocktail Nuts

2009-12-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

Cocktail nuts always remind me of my mom. She was a member of a very exclusive Yahtzee Club in my neighborhood growing up where the neighborhood ladies would get together and play Yahtzee once a month to the wee hours. My siblings and I could never sleep that night and would watch TV in my parents' room to the hoots of the Yahtzee ladies. They always had a good time. I always remember as a kid loving the one time a year that my mom hosted because that meant hors d'oeuvres for dinner. It was my favorite dinner then and is my favorite dinner now.

The Yahtzee rules entailed that each member would only host once a year, but on that day of the year the hostess did everything, all the food, drinks, etc. I remember my mom deciding what to make and getting it all prepped the day of. She would set up card tables in the living room and on each table were a bowl of M&M's and a bowl of nuts. I think she would make sure not to set those tables up too early because the M&M's were quite a draw for us as kids. As an adult, the nuts are more of a draw for me.

These aren't the cocktail nuts that my mom would have, but I think she would have liked them. They are a little bit sweet and a little bit spicy. I brought them to a Christmas Party that I went to this weekend and they were a hit. I used my favorite nuts: walnuts, pecans and almonds, although I still found myself picking out all the pecans. Use your favorites. They would also be a great homemade gift and are pretty simple to make. Enjoy!

Trish's Tips: Make sure to really let the nuts glaze and cook for the last part. If not the sugar won't fully dissolve in the water and evenly coat and you will get more of a grainy texture. Either way it will still be good, but will clump together more. I made this mistake once.

Spiced Nuts
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients:
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 C unsalted mixed nuts, such as walnuts, almonds and pecans
4 TBL unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 TBL brown sugar
1 tsp salt

Directions:
Line baking sheet with aluminum foil. Put aside. Mix spices and reserve. Heat the nuts in a dry skillet over medium-high heat and cook, stirring frequently until they begin to toast about 5 minutes. Add the butter and cook, stirring, until the butter melts and the nuts begin to darken, about 1-2 minutes. Add the spices, the sugar, 1 TBL water and the salt and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens and the nuts are glazed about 5 minutes.

Remove the nuts from the heat and transfer to the baking sheet, separating with a fork. Let the nuts stand until cooled and the sugar has hardened, about 10 minutes. Store in an airtight container.

Sugar Cookies

2009-12-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

It's definitely that time of year. My mom always had a huge list of cookies she would make, mostly to please each of us, her kids. And with five kids each with different 'favorites', that meant a lot of cookies. But we always had a crowd for Christmas so they definitely never went to waste. These are Rachel's favorite. My dad loves the peanut butter ones with the kisses, although actually he hates the kiss part and always rips that off. You would open the tupperware container to a half full bin of cookies with several abandoned kisses. La's favorite are definitely the buckeyes or peanut butter balls as we call them and often puts herself on a 'cookie quota' for fear of eating them for breakfast. I guess mine always changed, my mom would always call and ask what she wanted me to make before coming home. So we had our traditions, but also would throw in some new ones. But she always made these. Sometimes she would wait for all of us to come home before she baked them so we could all do it together, but either way they were always a staple on the cookie platter.

The original recipe is from a neighbor of my parents and it makes a ridiculous amount of cookies. Sometimes we would start making them and just leave part of the dough in the freezer. Too much to tackle. That's probably why we would often have Valentines Day Sugar Cookies as well. A way to use up all of that dough. Those pink hearts are pretty cute though. I've halved the recipe here for you. I made the whole huge batch last night and thankfully had lots of friends to help. My mom used to laugh how she had to make us do things like decorating the tree and making cookies, but somehow we all grew into loving it. I think mostly we were just hard-to-please teenagers. But even as we got older and were excited about making the cookies, at some point we would get bored of it and abandon my mom. So half of the cookies would be cutely decorated with sprinkles and the whole bit, and the other half would be just a slab of frosting. My poor mom. The whole decorating thing got old and we just left her to the rest. She would be left with probably 50 cookies to frost on her own.

Although these aren't my absolute favorite Christmas Cookie, for me they are so nostalgic. They are of course a great recipe. A little bit of citrus makes them a bit different than your standard sugar cookie. And of course they are buttery with creamy frosting, but more than anything I just can't imagine Christmas without them. And my mom would be happy to know this year that I stuck it out to the end although there was some talk about just having 'cookie dippers' rather than frosting the last few. Some things never change I guess!

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

Cookies
1 1/3 Cup Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
1 tsp Orange Peel
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
2 TBL Milk
2 tsp Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
4 1/2 Cups Flour
1 TBL Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt

Frosting
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 TBL Milk

Directions:

Cookies
Mix flour, baking powder and salt in medium sized bowl. Set aside. In mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat until fluffy. Stir in milk, vanilla, orange peel and orange juice. Slowly add dry ingredients. Mix and divide in half and chill for at least an hour.

Preheat Oven to 375. Roll and cut out dough to desired thickness. Bake for 6-10 minutes depending on size of shape and thickness of dough. Cookies are done when center no longer looks wet. Or if you like them more crispy cook until ends start to turn golden brown. Let cool before frosting and decorating.

Frosting
Mix all ingredients in mixer until smooth. Make sure to let cookies dry before packing up. Best to pack in layers in air-tight container. Put wax paper between.

Soup Season

2009-12-04T12:55:00.000-08:00

As the name of my blog would suggest, there really isn't a soup season. But I don't think anyone will argue that when the weather drops like it has in the last couple of weeks in Chicago, soup sounds pretty darn good. Especially Tomato Soup, maybe with a grilled cheese? Other than mac 'n cheese, I can't think of a better comfort food. I would say soup is definitely up there as the top things that my mom was great at making. That and bread, which probably comes as no surprise to anyone reading this as those are the only posts I have made, although I will argue stew isn't really the same as soup. All right, a bit of a stretch I know, but worth a try.

This recipe isn't one of my mom's, although I think she would have liked it. It's one of Giada De Laurentiis' and my mom had all of her cookbooks. She didn't always, okay never, cook from them verbatim but used them as inspiration. She may have said, "I'm making tomato soup" to which I would ask, "who's recipe?" to which she would answer, "a combination of Giada's, Barefoot's and Tyler Florence". That translated meant that she would used aspects of each recipe and combine them to make her own creation. And it was always good! Hoping I can pick up that talent at some point.

I also think this time of year is very fitting for this recipe because it would be perfect for a Holiday Open House. The deep red color with the rosemary garnish is particularly festive. And, of course, soup is always great for entertaining. In fact this is already on the menu for a baby shower that I am co-hosting in January.

I think the thing that I like best about it is that although it's a tomato soup, it's much more filling due to the beans than your standard tomato soup. The white beans add a creaminess factor that you would otherwise have to add cream to get. So it's also on the healthy side as you get the fiber and protein from the beans without all of the fat from the cream. My mom probably wouldn't have liked that part of it, in fact I'm pretty sure she would have still added cream to it, and you should try that too. It probably would be even better than it is here. Try it and let me know what you think!

Trish's Tips: Make sure to cut the carrot smaller than the onions or let simmer for longer than 30 minutes. If not, they don't do well in the puree stage and you will end up with chunks of carrot. You could also use a food mill to puree. If you are using a blender BE CAREFUL! The steam can literally blow the top off of your blender. I suggest filling only halfway, then removing the cap from the little whole and covering with a towel while you blend. This enables the steam to get out. This soup has a little bit of a kick. If you are a bit wimpy when it comes to spice, decrease the amount of red pepper flakes or leave them out all together. (By my use of the word 'wimpy', can you tell that I love spice?) I certainly wouldn't describe this as spicy, but it does have a bit of a kick to it.

Hearty Tomato Soup with Lemon Zest & Rosemary
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients
2 TBL olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, (about 1 cup) peeled and chopped (better to chop smaller than the onions)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1- 15 oz can cannelini or other white beans, drained and rinsed
1 - 28 oz can crushed or diced tomatoes with liquid
3 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 tsp minced fresh rosemary, separated (1 tsp for mixing in and 1 tsp for garnish)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
Slices of fresh mozzarella or goat cheese to top with
Zest of one lemon

Directions
Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots and garlic and cook until the vegetables are tender but not browned, about 5-10 minutes. Add the beans, tomatoes, broth, bay leaf, 1 tsp rosemary, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, covered.

Puree the soup in a blender in batches, being careful to remove and discard the bay leaf. Return the soup to a soup pot and keep warm over low heat. Taste and season as needed.

Serve topped with cheese and a bit of lemon zest and remaining 1 tsp rosemary.

Rye Bread

2009-11-16T19:25:00.000-08:00

I've wanted to make my mom's rye bread for about a year now, but haven't built up the courage to do it. Mainly because as you've probably read in my previous blog post, I am not exactly a pro with bread. Especially one that doesn't come with explicit instructions on how long to 'knead' with the dough hook in my Kitchen Aid Mixer. My mom thought that was ridiculous that I didn't do it by hand. You know, the ONE time that I had made bread. What finally pushed me over the edge was that we have all been craving it since the last time she made it. It's just not like any other bread. When other people think of rye bread they think of the marble kind you can buy to make sandwiches with. But this one's different. It's dense like a homemade wheat bread but with a bit of a sour taste like sourdough and the distinct flavor of rye. So I just couldn't take it. If I wanted it I just had to make it. People needed me to make it. So that was what pushed me to finally do it. That and my sister, you know the one who bakes, was visiting. So let's call this a team effort.

Thankfully, at least we had something to start with as my aunt had the original recipe. We started with a loose, and when I say loose, I mean LOOSE family recipe. I think most family recipes are like that. Passed down written in cursive from some far off relative with basically just ingredients, and no real instructions. Maybe we are just spoiled now with how recipes are written, with each exact detail step by step. Real cooks just throw it all together and it tastes good. But okay, I'll admit it; I'm not a real cook and certainly not a real baker! So I need a recipe. So, with the help of my sister, La, I decided to document it. The problem was my mom had adapted it so much herself. And we all kept saying 'if only she had written it down!' but really I don't think even my mom knew the recipe. She just poured the flour and the water and went by touch, texture, smell. Which after years of practice I hope to be able to too. But for now I'm a measurer. Who am I kidding; I will always be a measurer.

My only experienced with this bread (other than eating it) was watching my mom make it from a distance. Not the involved student I wish I would have been, but probably while lying on the couch like a lazy teenager watching "Guiding Light" or something. My mom would pull out this enormous silver bowl and then plop the dough on the counter. There was a ton of it, and she would knead it for what seemed like forever, then let it rise for forever, then put it neatly into 4 loaf pans and let it rise again... for forever! But, my mom definitely didn't follow the rules of letting the bread cool, cause as soon as it came out of the oven she would pretty much let us cut into it. It seemed like such an involved process, but what I learned in doing it myself was that it really is quite easy. Okay, okay, no bread is easy, but as bread goes, pretty easy. Definitely a lot of waiting around, but it maybe took 30 minutes of actual work before the first rise, then 10 minutes of work before the second rise. And the whole kneading thing was not nearly as intimidating as I had made it out to be. I think that I was still bruised from my bad pizza dough incident. The only real pain in the butt is cleaning your counter from that sticky dough mess. (Take a tip from my mom and scrape it with a spatula.)

Batch 1 of the bread was good. Very good. Just not my mom's bread. We added molasses as my mom did to the family recipe, but we were a bit heavy-handed. And it just didn't taste rye-y enough. I have to admit I was disappointed it didn't turn out right away. Granted it was only our first try and only my third time making bread, but at least it did turn out. And we were close. Very close. And the second batch was perfect! Well almost, I didn't have butter to smear on top so we used olive oil, but then it absorbed, so La decided to put some on after it rose. Big mistake. It smushed down and didn't re-rise. So it was good, just flat. It was the size of a loaf of banana bread. So day 3/batch 3 of being a human bread making machine I was getting a bit cocky doing it without La, and realized that I didn't quite have that kneading thing down. But it still turned out. This time perfectly. As soon as we cut into it, (right out of the oven, not because we were impatient, just 'cause you know, we gotta test the entire process), and we slathered a thick slab of butter, and ate it with smiles on our faces, we knew we had nailed it. Feel free to modify it to your liking. Less rye, more white, add some flax seeds or oatmeal, more molasses, cook on a stone instead of in a loaf pan. For my family, you better believe there will be no modifications because bread that tastes like my mom's needs no modifications. And this one does, if I do say so myself.

Trish's Tips: The only change that we did make from my mom's is to grease the pans with butter instead of Crisco. Something about shortening is just so unnatural to me, but it will yield a bit more of a crispy crust. Try adjusting this recipe to make it your own as my mom did. The original recipe did not have molasses and only had half the rye listed here. Also delicious as toast with peanut butter, which I know sounds weird, but is seriously good.

Rye Bread

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

2 C Warm Water

1 ½-Tbl yeast (2 packets)

2 TBL sugar

3 to 3 1/2 C Rye flour

3 Tbls Olive Oil plus more for bowl

1 Tbl salt

2 ½-4 ½-C white flour

1/4 C Molasses

2-3 Tbl Butter for greasing pans

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large bowl. Stir in sugar. Let stand 5 minutes or until foamy.

Add Rye Flour, 3 TBL Olive Oil, Salt and stir to mix. Mixture will be wet. Add 1-1 1/2 Cups White Flour, ½ Cup at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon until mixture is kind of dry. Add molasses. Stir until well mixed. Add an additional ½ C to 1 C flour as needed. Mixture should still be fairly wet, but will hold together.

Pour out onto floured board or countertop. Sprinkle with more flour and knead until elastic. You will probably need to add about ½ C - 1 Cup flour.

Pour a couple of tablespoons of Olive Oil in the same bowl used to mix dough. Put dough in bowl and flip dough so that both sides are coated with oil. Put clean towel over top and let rise in draft-free place until doubled in size, about 2-4 hours.

Just before starting this step prepare loaf pans by greasing pans with butter. Dump dough onto floured work surface. Knead every so gently to get the dough into the shape of 2 small loaves in order to fit in the loaf pans. The dough will deflate but be careful to not over-knead. Shape into 2 small loaves and place each in pan. Gently smear soft (but not melted) butter on the top and sides of the loaves. (Be generous.) Let rise in a warm, draft-free place with a towel draped over the top of the pans for an additional 2-4 hours or until the dough rises to the top of the loaf pan.

Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 25-35 minutes or until done. The bread should sound hollow when tapped.

Let cool on cooling rack or if you don’t have one, just turn on its side to allow optimal air circulation for cooling.

Stew in Summertime?

2009-11-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

Sounds weird right? Well it is... a little. Stew In Summertime is a tribute to my mother who made her own rules. She was known for eating pie for breakfast, feeling that potatoes were the most nutritional vegetable (potassium, people!), and making beef stew in the middle of summer. She taught me a love of cooking, the art of entertaining, and the how-to's of bread making, homemade soups and the secret to her famous chip dip. Just a few months before she died I called her maybe 15 times as I made my first attempt at homemade bread. She walked me through all of it step by step as I asked what I thought were hard questions, like what does 'warm' water mean, how long do you knead the dough and what the heck do they mean by 'elastic'? She was incredibly patient, one would have to be getting that many calls over the same thing, especially when it came so easy to her. These last few months I've thought how I'll make my next 'homemade bread', whatever that may be, without her.

'Stew in Summertime" the blog is a way for me to continue cooking and learning even though I have do it without her. She taught me a lot, but there is still much to learn. Through this blog I'll share some of the recipes and tips that I learned from her and also bravely try the recipes she didn't get a chance to teach me. And I will try to crack the code on the recipes she made frequently, but never really wrote down. She was known for saying 'we could make this', after trying a recipe at a restaurant, and although it wouldn't always taste the same, it would often taste better. That is yet another thing I wish I had learned from her.

As I was driving home to Michigan to see my family the summer before she died, I asked her what she was making for dinner and she told me, "Beef Stew". Since I had just left 75 degree weather, I joked with her and asked if it was a 'blustery cold day' that June day. Which in my defense is not that out of the question where I grew up in Marquette, Michigan. Knowing my sarcastic sense of humor, she laughed and said, "well, it is kind of cold here". It didn't really matter either way, because it was good! I can almost see her big blue Le Creuset almost bubbling over with the deliciousness. It smells like home to me. Here's my version.

Trish's Tips: Sometimes I leave the potatoes out and serve over mashed potatoes instead. I think it makes it a bit more dressed up for a dinner party. I also love the addition of mushrooms here, but feel free to leave them out if you like it more traditional. Slow cooker? I go into phases where I love mine and sometimes I think it's more work to pull it out. If you love yours first do all of the sauteing in a pan, through the deglazing part, then throw all the ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 9-10 hours.

INGREDIENTS:
Olive Oil for sauteing meat and veggies
24 oz beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 TBL all purpose flour
8 oz cremini mushrooms, quartered
5-6 carrots diagonally cut in 1-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
3 cups peeled potatoes chopped into 1-inch pieces (about 4 medium Yukon Gold)
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
3-4 stalks celery, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 cups beef broth

1 1/2 cups red wine

2 (14.5 oz) cans stewed tomatoes, undrained
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves

3 sprigs of fresh thyme

Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
3 to 4 TBL chopped fresh parsley

Put Beef in a medium sized bowl and add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Toss to coat. Dredge beef in flour. Heat 2 TBL oil in a large Dutch oven over med-high heat. Add beef and cook until browned, but not cooked through on all sides. Don't crowd the pan, cook in batches if necessary. Remove beef from pan and put aside in bowl. Add more oil if needed. Saute mushrooms until browned. Remove mushrooms and add to the beef. Saute carrots, celery, and onions until carmelized to your liking. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute or until garlic is fragrant. Deglaze plan with beef broth.

Add wine, beef, mushrooms, potatoes, bay leaves, thyme, tomatoes and 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Then uncover and cook for 30 minutes or until beef is tender and vegetables are cooked. Discard bay leaves. Serve with chopped parsley on top for an added bit of freshness.