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Here are the tastingspoons players. I’m in the middle (Carolyn). Daughter Sara on the right, and daughter-in-law Karen on the left. I started the blog in 2007, as a way to share recipes with my family. I’m still doing 99% of the blogging and holding out hope that these two lovely and excellent cooks will participate. They both lead very busy lives, so we’ll see.

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BOOK READING (from Carolyn):

Music of Bees, Eileen Garvin. Absolutely charming book about a woman in midlife, lonely, who raises bees, also makes unlikely friends. Heart-warming and very interesting about beekeeping.

A Postcard from Paris, Alex Brown. Really cute story. Dual time line, 1940s and present day about renovating an old apartment in Paris, things discovered.

Time of the Child, Niall Williams. Oh such a good book. Very small village in Ireland, 1960s. A baby is left on the doorstep. The town all whispers and helps. I listened to an interview of the author, which made me like him and his books even more.

Sipsworth, Simon Van Booy. If you like animals you’ll swoon. An old woman who really wants to die finds a tiny mouse in her house and befriends it and finds a reason to live. Utterly charming book.

The Forger’s Spell, Edward Dolnick. True story. For seven years a no-account painter named Han van Meegeren managed to pass off his paintings as those of Johannes Vermeer.

If You Lived Here, You’d be Home by Now, Christopher Ingraham. Could hardly put it down – about a journalist who takes on a challenge to move to small town in Minnesota and write about it. He expects to hate it and the people and place, but he doesn’t. Absolutely wonderful true story.

The River We Remember, William Kent Kreuger. 1950s, Minnesota. A murder and the aftermath. Could hardly put it down. Kreuger has such a vivid imagination and writing style.

How the Lights Gets In, Joyce Maynard. An older woman returns to New Hampshire to help care for her brain-injured son. Siblings and family, lots of angst and resentments.

The Filling Station, Vanessa Miller. Every American should read this book. A novelized retelling of the Tulsa massacre in 1921. Absolutely riveting.

The Story She Left Behind, Patti Callahan Henry. Love this author. Based on a true story. A famous author simply vanishes, leaving her husband and daughter behind. She had invented a mystical language no one could translate. Present day, someone thinks he’s solved the riddle, contacts the family. Really interesting read.

The Girl from Berlin, Ronald Balson. Love anything about Tuscany. An elderly woman is being evicted from a villa there, with odd deed provenance. Two young folks go there to help unravel the mystery. Loved it.

The Island of the Colorblind, Oliver Sacks, M.D. Nonfiction. The dr is intrigued by a remote Pacific island where most of the inhabitants are colorblind. He also unravels a mystery on Guam of people born with a strange neurological problem. Medical mysteries unveiled. Very interesting.

The Bookbinder, Pip Williams. Post 1914 London. Two sisters work at a bookbindery. They’re told to not read the books. One does and one doesn’t. One has visions beyond her narrow world; the other does not. Eventually the one gets into Oxford. Lovely story.

The Paris Express, Emma Donoghue. 1895 on a train to Paris, a disaster happens. You’ll delve into the lives of many people who survived and died in the crash.

A Race to the Bottom of Crazy, Richard Grant. This is about Arizona. Author, wife and child move back to Arizona where they once lived. Part memoir, research, and reporting in a quest to understand what makes Arizona such a confounding and irresistible place.

The Scarlet Thread, Francine Rivers. A woman’s life turned upside down when she discovers the handcrafted quilt and journal of her ancestor Mary Kathryn McMurray, a young woman who was uprooted from her home only to endure harsh frontier conditions on the Oregon Trail.

A Place to Hide, Ronald Balson. 1939 Amsterdam, an ambassador has the ability to save the lives of many Jewish children. Heartwarming.

Homeseeking, Karissa Chen. Two young Chinese teens are deeply in love, but in China. Then their families are separated. Jump to current day and the two meet again in Los Angeles.

North River, Pete Hammill. He always writes such a good story. A doctor works diligently healing people from all walks of life. His wife and daughter left him years before. One day his 3-yr old grandson arrives on his doorstep.

A Very Typical Family, Sierra Godfrey. A very messed-up family. Three adult children are given a home in Santa Cruz, Calif, but only if the siblings meet up and live in the house together. A very untypical scenario but makes for lots of messes.

Three Days in June, Anne Tyler. The usual Anne Tyler grit. Family angst. This wasn’t one of my favorites, but it was entertaining and very short.

Saved, Benjamin Hall. Author is a veteran war reporter. Ukraine, 2022, he nearly loses his life to a Russian strike. Riveting story – he survives, barely.

Grey Wolf, Louise Penny. Another Inspector Gamache mystery in Quebec. She is such an incredible mystery writer.

All the Colors of the Dark, Chris Whitaker. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each. Could hardly put it down.

Orbital, Samantha Harvey. Winner of 2024 Booker Prize. I don’t usually like those, but I heard the author interviewed and she hooked me. This is not a normal book with a beginning, a story and an end. It’s several chapters of the day in the life of various astronauts at the ISS (Int’l Space Station). All fictional. She’s been praised by several real astronauts for “getting it” about space station everyday life.

The Blue Hour, Paula Hawkins. An island off Scotland. Inaccessible except when the tide is out. Weird goings on. An artist. A present day mystery too.

Iron Lake, William Kent Krueger. A judge is murdered and a boy is missing. Riveting mystery.

Tell the Wolves I’m Home, Carol Ricks Brunt. 1980s. A 14-yr old girl loses her beloved uncle. Yet a new friendship arises, someone she never knew about.

Four Treasures of the Sky, Jenny Zhang. 1880s, a young girl is kidnapped in China and brought to the United States. She survives with many hurdles in the path.

The Boy Who Fell out of the Sky, Ken Dornstein. Memoir, 1988. The author’s brother died in the PanAm flight that went down in Lockerbie, Scotland. A decade later he tries to solve “the riddle of his older brother’s life.”

Worse Care Scenario, T.J. Newman. Oh my. Interesting analysis of what could/might happen if a jet crashed into a nuclear plant. Un-put-downable.

Song of the Lark, Willa Cather. Complicated weave of a story about a young woman in about 1900, who has a gifted voice (singing) and about her journey to success, not without its ups and downs.

Crow Talk, Eileen Garvin. Charming story which takes place at a remote lake in Washington State, about a few people who inhabit it, the friendships made, but also revolving around the rescue of a baby crow.

The Story Collector, Evie Woods. Sweet story about some dark secrets from an area in Ireland, a bit magical, faerie life, but solving a mystery too.

A Sea of Unspoken Things, Adrienne Young. A woman investigates her twin brother’s mysterious death. She goes to a small town in California to figure it out, to figure HIM out.

The King’s Messenger, Susanna Kearsley. 1600s England, King James. About one of his trusted “messengers,” and his relationship with a young woman also of “the court.” Lots of intrigue.

In the Shadow of the Greenbrier, Emily Matchar. Interesting mystery in/around the area of the famous resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Isola, Allegra Goodman. Hard to describe, survival story on an island in the 1600s.

Save the Date, Allison Raskin. Rom-com, witty, LOL funny. Clever.

The Sirens, Emilia Hart. Numerous time-lines, Australia. Mysteries abound, nightmares, abandoned baby, weird allergies.

Red Clay, Charles Fancher. LOVED this book. Mostly post-Civil War story about the lives of slaves in Alabama during Reconstruction.

Stars in an Italian Sky, Jill Santopolo. Dual time line, 1946 and recent time. Love stories and a mystery.

Battle Mountain, C.J. Box. Another one of Box’s riveting mysteries. Love his descriptions of the land.

Something Beautiful Happened, Yvette Corporon. A memoir of sorts in Greece, tiny island of Erikousa, where the locals hid Jews during WWII. All elusive stories told by the author’s grandmother.

The Jackal’s Mistress, Chris Bohjalian. 1860s Virginia, about a woman who saves the life of a Union soldier. Really good story.

Song of the Magpie, Louise Mayberry. Really interesting story about Australia back in the days when it was mostly a penal colony. Gritty strength of a woman trying to thrive with her farm.

The Boomerang, Robert Bailey. A thriller that will have you gripping the book. About a lot of secrets surrounding the president (fictional novel, remember) and his chief of staff and about cancer. A cure. Such a good story.

Care and Feeding, Laurie Woolever. Really interesting memoir of a woman driven to succeed in the restaurant business. She worked for Mario Batali and then Anthony Bourdain. Gritty stories.

Everything is Tuberculosis, John Green. Maybe not a book for everyone. A real deep dive into the deadly tuberculosis infection, its history. I heard the author interviewed and found the book very interesting.

The Book Lovers Library, Madeline Martin. Fascinating read about Boots’ drug stores’ lending library. And the people who worked in them.

The Arrivals, Meg Mitchell Moore. LOL funny, about a middle-aged couple whose children (and their various family members) return to the family home and the chaos that ensues.

My Life as a Silent Movie, Jesse Lee Kercheval. About grief. A big move to Paris, finding herself a new life with a new set of real blood family.

Escape, Carolyn Jessop. Another memoir about a woman really in bondage in Utah, Mormon plural marriage.

 

Tasting Spoons

My blog's namesake - small, old and some very dented engraved silver plated tea spoons that belonged to my mother-in-law, and I use them to taste my food as I'm cooking.

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Twice Baked Cauliflower Take 2

Posted in Veggies/sides, on October 21st, 2007.

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Improvise. That’s the word of the day. I had a head of cauliflower and hadn’t decided what I’d do with it. Remembering how wonderful the twice-baked cauliflower is that I posted a few months ago, I looked at the list of ingredients and didn’t have everything. When I made it months ago I’d adapted it from the recipe over at Kalyn’s Kitchen. This time I had about 1/3 cup of sour cream, but no Parmesan. I had about 2 ounces of cream cheese, but no green onions. So, I improvized. The mother of invention, so they say.

This is the dish that is kind of like mashed potatoes, but it’s made with cauliflower. You mash it up, kind of like you would with mashed potatoes, but it’s not as smooth. Then you add in the fixins, like bacon, sour cream, etc. What I did have was: bacon, a tad of cream cheese, a bit of butter, and buttermilk (I often add buttermilk to my mashed potatoes, so my thinking went along that this would be a good addition to cauliflower too). So, here’s an adjunct recipe for twice-baked cauliflower. You can use whatever cheese you have – I happened to have a nutty, but mild white cheese with truffles in it. I hadn’t planned on cooking with this cheese, but it was beginning to grow some mold on the outside, so figured I’d best use it pronto. It was delicious. We had seconds it was so good.
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Twice-Baked Cauliflower Take 2

1 whole cauliflower, cut into large florets
3 slices bacon, thick-cut, minced
4 ounces cheese, your choice, shredded, divided use
1/3 cup sour cream
2 ounces cream cheese
3 tablespoons buttermilk

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the cauliflower. Cook until the cauliflower is just tender when you poke the stem with a knife. Drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, fry the bacon until brown. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
3. Mash the cauliflower until it’s relatively smooth, but will still have small pieces visible. Save some cheese to put on the top. Add all the other ingredients and stir until combined. Pour into a small casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. (This can be eaten at this point, but it’s best if you bake it for just a few minutes, or pop it in the microwave to heat it up completely.)
Per Serving (yikes): 515 Calories; 46g Fat (78.5% calories from fat); 16g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 114mg Cholesterol; 590mg Sodium.

Crusted Chicken with Lemon & Garlic

Posted in Chicken, on October 20th, 2007.

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When a cooking instructor says something like “this is one of my favorite recipes,” I listen up. Make notes. And prepare the dish soon for my family. That’s this recipe today. Phillis Carey, whom I’ve mentioned many times before, is a wizard with chicken (she’s even published a cookbook about chicken). I’ve made any number of the recipes in her cookbook, and this is a relatively easy one. Dinner, with a fresh vegetable and salad, took an hour. (Sorry Rachel, I can’t seem to manage 30 minute meals no matter how I try, unless I’m reheating leftovers.)

What sets this recipe apart from lots of other baked chicken breasts are the following things:

the lemon zest and lemon juice

the fresh bread crumb topping

the extremely hot oven it’s baked in

Lemons are a regular on my menus, all times of the year. We found a stray Meyer lemon on one of our dwarf trees a week or so ago, which made me very happy. I used part of it the other day and had a half leftover. Just barely enough to add juice to the sour cream mix and zest to add to the bread crumbs. I can’t say that it was very easy zesting a cut/half lemon, but I managed.

The bread crumbs must be fresh. Do not, under any circumstances, use canned bread crumbs for this. They’ll make it way too dry. You need crumbs that have some moisture. I do keep some crumbs in the freezer, but I must say they don’t keep overly well once the icy particles cling to them. I’ve even used wheat bread for this, although I do think white bread makes a prettier crust.

First you pound the chicken breasts to make them approximately uniform in thickness. Prepare the sour cream mixture and have the bread crumbs at the ready. I use a large silpat in a pan.


I remove the chicken tenders and make them separate, small servings. Try to mush them up thicker, so they don’t overbake. Then you cover the chicken with the sour cream, garlic, lemon juice and mustard mixture. That takes about 2 minutes max. Then you sprinkle the fresh bread crumbs on top and kind of pat it onto the sour cream so it sticks. Cover as much of the sour cream as you can.
Meanwhile you will have heated the oven to 475 (hot!). Pop these babies in that hot oven and watch them carefully so they don’t dry out. Mine take exactly 12 minutes. Serve immediately.

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Chicken with Garlicky Lemon Crust

Recipe: Phillis Carey, cooking instructor and author
Servings: 6
NOTES: If you don’t have sour cream, use yogurt or mayonnaise instead. The breadcrumbs make this dish – it’s absolutely necessary to use fresh crumbs, not canned, dried ones. You can whiz up some sliced white bread in the processor. The instructor said this was one of her favorite recipes.

6 pieces chicken breast half without skin salt and pepper — to taste
3 whole garlic cloves — minced
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese — freshly grated
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 cups fresh bread crumbs
2 teaspoons lemon zest

1. Preheat oven to 450° – on convection bake, if available. Line a baking pan with parchment or with a Silpat. Trim chicken and pound it to an even 1/2 inch thickness. Lay chicken shiny side up on the baking sheet and season with salt and pepper.
2. In a small bowl combine the garlic, Parmesan, sour cream, lemon juice and mustard. Spread this mixture over the top of the chicken breasts, covering completely. You can chill the chicken at this point if necessary. Combine breadcrumbs and lemon zest and press them lightly to mold them on top of the breasts. Cup your hand gently to press them into place.
3. Bake 12-15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and bread crumbs are well browned.
Per Serving: 298 Calories; 12g Fat (36.3% calories from fat); 32g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 89mg Cholesterol; 333mg Sodium.

Almond-Cranberry Cookies

Posted in Cookies, on October 19th, 2007.

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Well, the Heavenly Cream Cheese Brownies disappeared in a flash around here, what with DH’s Bible Study Group yesterday and our son-in-law having a snack now and then. So, back to the drawing boards to make some more cookies.

I’d earmarked this recipe for Almond-Cranberry Cookies nearly a year ago, from the blog The Wednesday Chef. She’d taken a Regina Schrambling recipe and made it her own (pistachios to almonds). Regina Schrambling is a food writer for the New York Times. And if you haven’t ever read The Wednesday Chef, it’s a blog about food recipes from both the N.Y. Times and the Los Angeles Times (both papers having had a long-time rivalry, everything from editorial to recipes).

Written by Luisa Weiss, The Wednesday Chef is somewhat of a face-off between the food sections of both papers. Luisa chooses recipes from both papers and prepares them with commentary. I thoroughly enjoy reading Luisa’s blog and have done so for about 18 months. She does like Regina Schrambling, and features her recipes with some regularity. She also likes Russ Parsons, from the L.A. Times.

Cranberries in cookies are a favorite for me. The dried kind that go into everything from trail mix to salads to cookies. The recipe is very easy. I did use my Kitchen Aid mixer, but Luisa’s recipe just mixes it up in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Very easy. The cookies have a crisp bottom, but they’re tender and soft everywhere else. They’re made with all brown sugar, which gives them a caramel-y taste too. Delish.

Todd, our son-in-law, who said he’d sure like to have a cookie now and then (hint, hint, he was implying) while he’s staying with us, likes SOFT cookies. If you read my about 3 weeks ago about chocolate-chocolate chip cookies, you will know that I like crisp cookies. But I’m making these for him. Todd, they’re in the plastic bag in the freezer door, bottom shelf.
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Almond-Cranberry Cookies

Recipe: From The Wednesday Chef (blog)
Servings: 36

1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter — (1 1/2 sticks) softened
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup blanched almonds — toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries

1. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
2. Cream the butter and brown sugar together with a wooden spoon until smooth. Blend in the egg, almond extract and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients until well mixed. Stir in the nuts and cranberries.
3. Drop the dough by tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each. Bake the cookies in a 375-degree oven until light golden brown (centers should be soft), about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 2 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Per Serving: 111 Calories; 6g Fat (48.7% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 16mg Cholesterol; 72mg Sodium.

Heavenly Cream Cheese Brownies

Posted in Cookies, on October 17th, 2007.

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It all started when I was sifting through my file for cookies to bake. Our son-in-law, Todd, asked about the chocolate-chocolate chip cookies I blogged about 2 weeks ago. I don’t suppose Todd reads my blog normally. But my laptop that lives here in the kitchen is the one he uses in the evenings to catch up on his email. My blog was up, front and center last night, so he started glancing through it, spying things he’s eaten in the last couple of weeks. He spotted the picture of the cookies. There’s just one measly cookie left in the freezer, I was sad to tell him.

So I wanted to make something for him to snack on while he’s here. Nothing jumped out at me amongst my stand-bys, so I went to my file. The 100+ clippings I have from over 40 years of saving recipes. I used to be in an annual Christmas cookie exchange, so I have all those recipes. And little slips of paper from friends and acquaintances. Plus the bulk of magazine and newspaper clips, and a few taken from the internet. I had so many that some years ago I had to divide them up by cookie type (chocolate, bars, brownie type, holiday, spice, candy-type, etc.).

(this is my old recipe notebook circa 1965)

But, in looking through the very large stacks, I spied a photo of a cream cheese brownie which brought back a flood of memories. I went to my old binder where I used to hand-write all my favorite recipes. Went right to the page where I had my recipe for “Heavenly Cream Cheese Brownies.” The recipe is not there. The yellowed scotch tape is still there, but the recipe, a magazine clipping, is missing.

I knew the name was exactly “Heavenly Cream Cheese Brownies”. Figuring I’d find hundreds of listings on the internet, I put exactly that phrase into my google search box. Nothing. Huh? How can that be? There’s a site that tries to recreate or house archives of “lost” recipes. It’s called astray. I was certain it would be there. No, not by that name. After spending far too much time looking at various “cream cheese brownie” recipes I went to my cookbooks and figured some of those home-spun cookbooks I have would list this. Nada.

I don’t remember what type of chocolate the recipe used, but it seems to me that it was German’s sweet chocolate. The method: you poured some of the brownie mixture in the bottom of an 8×8 pan, then poured on the cream cheese batter that had a tad of flour in it (there wasn’t enough to cover the chocolate layer), then you blobbed on the last of the chocolate batter, which also didn’t cover completely. Then you ran a knife through it to swirl it around. Bake, slice and eat. I always loved that recipe.

I dug out my box of chocolate ingredients. Actually I have more than one, but this one contains the myriad of bar chocolates I use for baking. Thankfully, there was a bar of German’s sweet chocolate amidst this pile. I do eat chocolate too. But I diligently limit myself to about 1 ounce when I do. My preference for eating is the low-effective carb bars from Trader Joe’s. The dark chocolate type. I wanted to stock up on them (to take on our upcoming trip), but TJ’s is currently out of them. Hope that’s not permanent.My guess is that the cream cheese brownies recipe was first published (in a magazine ad) in the 1970’s. My recollection is that it was an ad for Knudsen Philadelphia style cream cheese. I remember reading it and thinking, what a novel idea. I tried it right away, and was very pleased with it. Over the years I probably made it more than 20 times. Now, of course, that I don’t have the original recipe, I was feeling bereft.

I finally found a recipe on allrecipes for a cream cheese brownie. It does use the German’s chocolate, and looks much like the one I remember. And the directions seem to ring a bell. Many of the recipes I found used a brownie mix. I didn’t want to do that, since I was sure the chocolate wasn’t cocoa, or Hershey’s liquid. So I wanted the real thing. So this one, submitted by a gal named Rosina, fit the bill. I also found a couple of recipes on the astray website that called them German’s sweet chocolate cream cheese brownies. They’re identical to this one, so I think I found the recipe. I’ll hope so. Here’s the batter all ready for the oven. I did use about 7 ounces of cream cheese. The original recipe calls for just a 3-ounce package. So mine have more of that light cheese swirl.

The report: excellent. They were exactly what I remembered. Bereft no longer, am I.
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Cream Cheese Brownies

Recipe: allrecipes.com
Servings: 16

4 ounces chocolate — German sweet bar
5 tablespoons butter
8 ounces cream cheese — softened
1/4 cup sugar
3 whole eggs
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Melt chocolate with 3 tablespoons of the butter over very low heat. Stir constantly until smooth. Set aside to cool.
2. Cream remaining 2 tablespoons butter with cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar. Cream until light and fluffy. Blend into this 1 of the eggs, 1 tablespoon flour and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Set aside.
3. Now beat the remaining 2 eggs until light and fluffy. Gradually beat into them 3/4 cup sugar. Continue beating until thickened. Stir in the baking powder, salt and 1/2 cup flour. Add to this the cooled chocolate mixture. Blend well. Stir in the nuts and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
4. Spread half of the chocolate batter into an 8×8 inch greased baking pan. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the top. Then drop the remaining chocolate batter by tablespoons over the top of the cream cheese mixture. Swirl through batter layers with a spatula for a marbled effect.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in the pan. Cut into squares or bars.
Per Serving: 221 Calories; 14g Fat (56.9% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 21g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 65mg Cholesterol; 142mg Sodium.

Leek, Kielbasa & Sausage Soup

Posted in Soups, on October 16th, 2007.

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Soup season lasts about 8 months around our house. I’ve even been known to make soup in the heat of the summer, although not very often. So now that the weather has really turned cooler (we’ve even had some rain) I was anxious to make some soup this week. My recipe started out with a small package of Italian sausage (bulk grind type) that I found in the freezer, and I just built the recipe from there. I looked on Epicurious and found a leek and sausage soup to start from, then I embellished it with other things from the pantry and the refrigerator. Having made a trip to Costco yesterday, I had a package of pre-cut butternut squash. Some of that went in the soup too as well as a package of fresh chanterelle mushrooms. Once put it front of us, we all just tucked into it with relish. Delicious.

There was only one thing I did differently here, that I’ve never done before: once I chopped up the Kielbasa, I browned the cubes in a hot frying pan with a little olive oil. The sausage rendered out some of its fat, a good thing, and it got browned edges all over them, so not only did the soup have the smoky flavor of the sausage, but the chunks were crispy. I did not cook the Kielbasa in the soup very long. Whenever I do that, it seems like all the flavor is leeched out of the sausage and it doesn’t taste like much. This way, the sausage is still full of flavor. If you like the smoky taste to penetrate all through the soup, add part of the sausage to the soup while it cooks, then add the browned cubes at the last.
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Leek, Kielbasa and Sausage Chowder


Recipe: A Carolyn T, TastingSpoons original
Servings: 10

3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 whole leeks — trimmed and sliced
4 whole shallots — minced
4 whole carrots — chopped
4 stalks celery — chopped
8 cups chicken broth
10 ounces chanterelle mushroom — chopped, or regular white mushrooms
1 pound Kielbasa — cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 pound Italian sausage
1 tablespoon Italian herbs — or mixture of thyme, rosemary, oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 cups butternut squash — cubed (optional)
2 cups potatoes — peeled, cubed
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup whipping cream

1. Prepare all the vegetables. Heat a large, heavy soup pot, add olive oil and butter, then add leeks, celery and shallots. After 5 minutes add the carrots.
2. When the leeks have partially caramelized (browned), add the Italian sausage and continue to cook about 5 minutes. Then add mushrooms and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
3. Meanwhile, cut up the potatoes and squash and set aside. Add them to the soup pot with the herbs.
4. When the potatoes and squash are nearly cooked, heat up a second flat skillet, add a bit of olive oil, then fry the Kielbasa until the edges are starting to brown all over. Drain fat and add to the soup pot.
5. In a jar combine the milk and flour and shake until no lumps appear. Add to the soup pot and continue to cook for about 5-10 minutes. Add the whipping cream, heat briefly, taste for seasonings. Add ground black pepper. Add salt if desired, but it probably isn’t necessary.
Per Serving: 548 Calories; 32g Fat (51.7% calories from fat); 20g Protein; 49g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 77mg Cholesterol; 1362mg Sodium.

Italian Grilled Mozzarella Skewers with Pesto

Posted in Appetizers, on October 15th, 2007.

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I went to a cooking class a few weeks ago. The subject was tapas, which is always fun. These, however, were all grilled tapas; perfect for the end of summer. The instructor, Tarla Fallgatter, had just returned from a trip to Japan, so she decided to create one Asian style tapas, which she said she ate in several places there. I guess the tapas idea is spreading ’round the world. Somehow, Asian style small plates just doesn’t quite fit in my definition of tapas. I didn’t care for her version of yakitori chicken skewers. Or the grilled potatoes either. But these Italian skewers were very nice. Different. Kind of fun. Fairly easy.

Serving this as a sit-down appetizer (first course) might be better than trying to eat it out of hand. The skewer required a bit of manipulation to get the food off of it and onto the plate. There was a bed of halved cherry tomatoes, tossed with a little dressing (not included in the recipe) and mixed with a bit of pesto too. The skewers are lightly toasted bread cubes, fresh basil leaves, bocconcini (small mozzarella balls, fresh only), drizzled with a bit of olive oil, grilled briefly and placed atop the tomato salad. A very refreshing grilled starter.
Pictured at right are the skewers prior to grilling.
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Grilled Mozzie Skewers with Pesto

Recipe By: Tarla Fallgatter class
Servings: 6

1 whole Italian bread loaf
Olive oil for bread
8 ounces mozzarella cheese — fresh bocconcini (small balls)
24 whole basil leaves
1 pint mini plum tomatoes — halved
4 tablespoons pesto sauce
12 wooden skewers, soaked in water 30 minutes

1. Preheat outdoor grill. Slice bread into 1 1/2″ cubes. Coat the cubes with olive oil and set aside. Or, if the bread is fresh, put it in a 350 oven for 2-4 minutes until just barely toasted on the outside. Do not dry them out as you want the bread to be soft in the middle after you’ve grilled the skewers.
2. Meanwhile, cut up tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and drizzle them with a little olive oil and some pesto. Toss to coat.
2. Thread 2 bocconcini alternately with bread (3 bread, 2 cheese) and basil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place on the grill. Cover and cook for 3-6 minutes, turning halfway through to toast both sides of the bread and warm the cheese. Remove skewers from the grill. Put a portion of the tomatoes on each plate and lay the skewer on top. Drizzle additional pesto on top of the bread and cheese. Serve while they’re hot.
Per Serving: 193 Calories; 14g Fat (65.6% calories from fat); 11g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 37mg Cholesterol; 251mg Sodium.

Pizza with Chicken, Red Onion, Pesto & Olives

Posted in Chicken, on October 14th, 2007.

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How many possible pizza combinations are there, out there? Way too many for me to guesstimate. When California Pizza Kitchen opened up, probably 20 years ago, I was amazed at the variety. It surely swept in with the “California” style of cooking. Lightening up, fresh ingredients, etc. Lots of chicken.

So, when our daughter, Sara, was still living at home with us (probably she was in college then), she had a hankering for pizza one evening, and looked through a cookbook I had. She settled on this one, using a whole wheat dough that was easily mixed up in the bread machine. By the time DH and I got home from work, she was in the middle of this and we all just raved about how good it was. I’ve made this umpteen times since then, always to good reviews. I don’t make pizza often. In fact I don’t think we’ve even eaten pizza in over a year, but it just sounded good.

Our son-in-law, Todd, is still staying with us (he’s an electrician, and is wiring the new house for our son and his wife), and he’s a pizza fan, so I thought this would be a good choice.

First you make the whole wheat bread dough in your bread machine. You don’t have to use whole wheat dough. We just liked it that way from the get-go. It’s a mixture of 2/3 white and 1/3 wheat flours. It still has the resiliency and easy rising ability of white, though. The joy of the bread machine is that it makes pizza dough so very easy. You use the machine for mixing the dough and rising it once. Then you remove it and continue by hand. Sara used the recipe from my bread machine’s book and we’ve stuck with it ever since. I used Trader Joe’s pre-made pizza dough: I bought one white and one whole wheat and mixed them together.

Meanwhile, you marinate the chicken pieces in some lemon juice, olive oil and oregano. But, having made this plenty of times, if you forget this step, just briefly saute the chicken pieces IN the lemon juice marinade, then you’ll get at least some of the wonderful lemony flavor. Thank you, Sara, for finding this gem of a recipe.
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Pizza with Grilled Chicken, Red Onion, Black Olives & Pesto

Recipe: From “Pizza, California Style” by Norman Kolpas.
Servings: 4
NOTES: This recipe uses a whole wheat crust that I make in the bread machine. It uses the standard bread machine pizza dough recipe that calls for about 3 cups of flour. It yields 1& 1 /2 lbs of dough, which can be divided into 4 individual pizzas, or divided in half to make two mid-sized pizzas. When I’m in a hurry I just pour the chicken and the marinade into a nonstick pan and cook gently until about half done, then proceed with slicing, etc. And I think I prefer the Feta cheese to the Parmesan.

1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon oregano
1/2 pound boned and skinned chicken breast halves — trimmed, cut in half
3/4 cup pesto sauce
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese — or Feta
24 whole black olives — Mediterranean pitted
1/2 pound mozzarella cheese — shredded
1 medium red onion — thinly sliced
24 ounces pizza dough

1. In a small plastic bag combine the olive oil, lemon juice and oregano, add chicken and turn to coat evenly. Seal and refrigerate for several hours, or leave at room temperature if it’s only for 30-60 minutes. Turn the bag several times.
2. Preheat the oven (and pizza brick, baking tiles or baking sheet) to 550°. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and grill or broil about 1 minute per side, until they are seared but not cooked through. With a sharp knife, slice the chicken into 1/4 inch thick pieces. Place a ball of dough on your work surface that’s been sprinkled with semolina. Press down with heels of your hands and flatten the dough. Lift and gently pull the dough to stretch it into a circle about 8 inches in diameter. Press a slight rim around the outside edge. Repeat with remaining dough. Spread 1/4 cup of the pesto on each pizza, right up to the rim. Using about a third of the mozzarella, sprinkle that on the pizza, then add chicken pieces and red onion slices. Top with additional mozzarella, then sprinkle the Parmesan (or Feta) over each and dot with black olive halves.
3. If possible, slide a pizza paddle under the dough and transfer to the hot oven and slide onto the pizza bricks. Bake for 8-10 minutes in a traditional oven, or 6-8 minutes in a convection oven or until the dough is browned and crisp and the cheese is golden and bubbly. Remove from oven and allow to sit just a minute or so before cutting into wedges with a big knife or pizza cutter.
Per Serving: 1044 Calories; 59g Fat (50.4% calories from fat); 47g Protein; 83g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 102mg Cholesterol; 943mg Sodium.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Posted in Breads, on October 14th, 2007.

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This is the tried and true recipe I’ve used for years in my bread machine. I’m posting it here to accompany the pizza recipe I posted today, my favorite home made pizza recipe. Look at your own bread machine cookbook to verify amounts of yeast and water. They may vary according to the manufacturer’s directions. In my machine it takes about 55 minutes to mix, knead and rise once.
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Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Recipe: from “Pizza, California Style”
Servings: 4

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons honey
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon yeast

In bread machine: place all dry ingredients in pan, then add water last. Set for dough. Watch during the initial kneading to make sure the dough has the right consistency – too wet or too dry.
Per Serving: 409 Calories; 8g Fat (17.6% calories from fat); 12g Protein; 74g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 540mg Sodium.

Company Cabbage & a little bit about Paprika

Posted in Veggies/sides, on October 13th, 2007.

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Until 15 years or so ago I didn’t know much of anything about paprika, really, except that I had a can of it on my shelf. Then I read somewhere about how paprika gets bugs if the can is left on your spice shelf. I opened my can, and oh my. Yuck. And I learned that paprika is supposed to be stored in the refrigerator all the time. Hmmmpf. My frig is already so full, I hated to add to its abundance of jars and bottles that tell me to “Refrigerate after opening.” Sigh. Oh well. I bought a good can of “Hungarian Paprika” at the gourmet supermarket (see larger can in photo below). I’ve had it for some years; it lives in the refrigerator, and has been just fine. But the can is getting low.

As luck would have it, we’re going on a trip in a few weeks, and I’ll be in Hungary, so I’ll definitely stock up on paprika while I’m there. Only problem with buying it there is that the labels are in Hungarian, naturally. I don’t speak that language, sorry to say. I bought a couple of small containers the last time I was in Budapest and when I opened them up at home, I found it was something else altogether. Paprika based, a paprika seasoning for making paprikash, but not pure paprika. Hopefully when we’re in Budapest, I’ll find a store and they’ll speak enough English that I can buy replacements. There is a very large spice market in Budapest, right on the river, so I hope to stop there and will find what I need.

Here’s the paprika I currently have living in my refrigerator. I use them a lot, actually. A few years ago I attended a cooking class at Sur la Table and the chef used Spanish Smoked Paprika (the smaller can). It was an eye-opening wake up of my taste buds. Loved it. It definitely has a smoky taste. I also have a jar of half-sharp paprika too (oops, I forgot to photograph that one) which I use sometimes. Hungarians use lots of paprika in their cuisine, and they like it in all guises and strengths of mild to hot. But they tend toward the hot. So, the half-sharp (half-hot) is about my speed.

When I was making cooked cabbage, and the recipe called for paprika, I gathered my myriad paprikas and “had at it.” This was a recipe from my friend, Karen B, from her archives. It just sounded good, and it is. We like cabbage, but I tend to make it the same-old-way, with bacon, onions, vinegar or maybe apple in it.

This is a bit different – with green onions, carrot and beef broth. Since I had some diced pancetta in the refrigerator, I decided to add that to the mixture too. Grating it was too much trouble, so I just diced them. I used young carrots anyway, so that wasn’t difficult. This dish comes together quickly, once you have all the ingredients ready to go. It made a great accompaniment to grilled Italian sausages for our dinner. Here’s a photo of the onions and pancetta cooking away.
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Company Cabbage

Recipe: adapted from my friend, Karen B
Servings: 8

1/3 cup pancetta — minced
5 cups cabbage — shredded
1 cup carrots — shredded or chopped
1 cup green onions — chopped or 1 whole onion, halved, sliced
3 T butter
1/4 cup beef broth — or water
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
1/2 teaspoon smoky paprika
1/2 tsp prepared mustard

1. Have all ingredients chopped and sliced at the start.
2. Melt butter over high heat in large skillet. Add pancetta and saute briefly. (If using a yellow onion instead of green ones, add them with the pancetta and saute both until the onion has started to become translucent, then continue.) Then add cabbage, carrots, and green onions; pour in beef broth or water. Stir to blend, then immediately cover and cook at high heat, stirring several times, until tender and liquid is evaporated, about 3-5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, paprikas and mustard. Stir in thoroughly until blended. Serve immediately.
Per Serving: 350 Calories; 35g Fat (88.6% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 100mg Cholesterol; 801mg Sodium.

A Pumpkin Cake for a birthday

Posted in Desserts, on October 12th, 2007.

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Yesterday was the birthday of one of my DH’s friends, Wayne. The “boys” came to our house for Bible study, so DH had asked me to make something special for Wayne. Not a coffee cake, like usual, since they meet at 7:00 am every Thursday. He wanted something that would stand in for a traditional birthday cake.It just so happened that I used a gift certificate I had from Williams-Sonoma a week or so ago and ordered a pumpkin cake mold. It’s just so darned CUTE! The mold comes with a recipe. Good thing, since I wasn’t sure what volume of cake would fill the mold to the correct height.

If you haven’t already noticed, I don’t go in for the frou-frou desserts. I rarely make a layer cake or frosting, etc. 9×13 pans are usually just fine for me. I’m more into the taste rather than the appearance. Some bakers prefer the latter. Go for it, I say. So it’s a bit unusual for me to do something like this cake mold. But it wasn’t all that hard. The cake recipe was wonderful, I must say. Lots of fragrant fall spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, etc. And very moist, which I like. The standout in this recipe is the crystallized ginger. I’m a fan of ginger, period. But chrystallized just adds a wonderful zing to baked goods. There was a chunk of it left on the cake plate this morning. It went immediately into my mouth. Yum.

Certainly this mold will be a seasonal item for William-Sonoma, so if you’re interested you might want to check it out soon. It’s only available for internet ordering here. $32.00 plus shipping, of course. Here’s what the mold looks like (right). It’s hard metal, in case you thought it was silicone.

Once the cakes are baked, they sit in the molds for 15 minutes, then you remove them to cool for awhile. Here’s a photo of the two halves. What’s interesting is you slice off the tops (because they’re rounded) so the two halves both have a flat side. Then you flop them together and voila, you have a standing pumpkin. I made a frosting (cream cheese type) and mounded it on the top half, and put some in the middle (between the two halves) also to hold the two halves together.
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Pumpkin Cake

Recipe: Willliams-Sonoma
Servings: 14

CAKE:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg — freshly ground
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar — packed
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree
2/3 cup walnuts — toasted, chopped
1/2 cup crystallized ginger — diced
FROSTING:
8 ounces cream cheese — room temperature
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon pumpkin puree — (optional)
Food coloring, if desired

1. Have all ingredients at room temperature.
2. Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 325. Generously grease and flour the Williams-Sonoma pumpkin pan (or two bread pans). Tap out any excess flour.
3. Over a sheet of waxed paper sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add the brown and granulated sugars and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, stopping the mixer 2-3 times to scrape down the sides. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour. Beat each addition until just incorporated, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides. Add the pumpkin puree and beat until incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the walnuts and candied ginger until incorporated.
6. Divide the batter between the wells of the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted near the center of one cake comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. (If using bread pans, test the pans at about 45-50 minutes.) Transfer the pan(s) to a wire rack and let the cake halves cool upright in the pan for 15 minutes.
7. Gently tap the pan on a work surface to loosen the cake halves. Invert the pans onto a wire rack and lift off the pan. Let the cake halves cool completely before decorating.
8. Frosting: in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth, 2-3 minutes. Add the butter and beat until combined, 1-2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Divide the frosting into two bowls and add the pumpkin puree to one of them.
9. Using a sharp, serrated bread knife, gently slice off the rounded tops (about 1/4 inch) of each cake half, so you have a completely flat side. Spread the pumpkin frosting on one half and gently place the top on the bottom cake, lining up the ribs as best you can. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Frost the top of the pumpkin with the cream cheese frosting (or use it with food coloring to make fancy cut-outs. pumpkin faces or leaves and tendrils). Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Per Serving: 510 Calories; 26g Fat (44.2% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 66g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 105mg Cholesterol; 386mg Sodium.

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