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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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Posted in Cookies, on April 8th, 2011.

choc CC cookies

Our freezer has been bare of cookies for awhile. And I was craving a little something chocolate. So I decided to make these cookies, based on the original recipe for them – called One Bowl Thin Chocolate Chip Cookies. But I wanted to give them an extra chocolate kick, so I substituted some cocoa powder for some of the flour and made these, Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies.

They are mixed all in one bowl (I used my Kitchen Aid with the beater blade) and I made a couple of alterations – I reduced the amount of white sugar and salt. And because of the cocoa addition, I reduced the amount of chocolate chips too. Anna’s original recipe, from over at Cookie Madness, didn’t use walnuts, but I like CC cookies with nuts, so I’ve always added them. If you’re not so crazy about them, just don’t put them in.

These are relatively fragile cookies. They’re almost under-baked – so I have to leave them on the hot baking sheet to cool before I even remove them to a rack. The cookie kind of slumps – that’s about the only way to describe them. If you eat them when they’re freshly baked they are almost molten inside. I always freeze my cookies, so I don’t notice that if eaten from a frozen state. But the taste is just great. These are richer (because of the cocoa) than the original version. Both versions are good. Just different.

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One Bowl Thin & Buttery Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe By: Adapted from Anna from Cookie Madness blog
Serving Size: 72

16 tablespoons unsalted butter — 2 cubes, room temp
1 cup light brown sugar — packed
10 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cocoa
1 3/4 cups flour
2 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/3 cups chopped walnuts — optional (my addition)

1. Preheat oven to 375° (190 C) and have ready an ungreased cookie sheet – preferably one that is not insulated.
2. Beat the butter, both types sugars, and vanilla together in a medium bowl, using an electric mixer. When creamy, beat in the egg. When egg is well blended, add salt and baking soda and beat well, scraping sides of bowl once or twice and making sure baking soda is well distributed throughout batter. Add cornstarch and cocoa and stir until blended. Add flour and stir (do not beat) until it is almost blended in. Add the chocolate chips and stir until all flour disappears.
3. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the ungreased cookie sheets. Bake on sheet at a time on center rack for 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. The cookies should get very brown around the edges, but do take care not to burn the bottoms.
Per Serving: 103 Calories; 6g Fat (52.3% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 13mg Cholesterol; 51mg Sodium.

A year ago: Our visit to Taliesen West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s home in Arizona
Two years ago: Margaritas
Three years ago: Chocolate Chunk, Dried Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

Posted in Chicken, easy, on April 6th, 2011.

Sometimes I DO go back into my own archives and make things that are favorites, as we all do, right? I’ve said it before – when you write a food blog there is always a need to keep trying new recipes, not revisit old ones. I do that, but sometimes I just crave an oldie but goodie. I’ve been working on a project for the blog – I’m creating a new (and hopefully, better) index, so when you need to find a recipe here at Tasting Spoons, you’ll have an easier time of it. It’s a big project, though, since I have over 800-900 recipes at this point in time, and I’m only a few hours into creating this new index. It requires me to type in each and every recipe title I’ve ever posted here and then create the link so you can just click to go to the post. I’ll let you know when it’s available. Anyway, as I typed in the title of this recipe, I knew I needed to make this again soon.

Many years ago I used to make honest-to-goodness stuffed cabbage. But I found it so tedious to partly cook the cabbage leaves, make the filling, roll up and carefully layer the stuffed rolls into a baking pan. Then make a sauce. It was a couple of years ago that I read a recipe for this – made with pork and beef, no pre-cooking of the cabbage needed. No rolled up cabbage rolls to make. But, this has all the components of sweet and sour cabbage, in a delicious soup-bowl kind of presentation. A year or so later I made it using ground turkey and thought it tasted just as good as the beef/pork version. I used 3 pots – one to make the meat mixture – the turkey, tomato, dried cranberry mixture, one to make the mashed potatoes and my pressure cooker to cook the cabbage for exactly 6 minutes (the cabbage can be made the traditional way without the pressure cooker – just steam the cabbage in chicken broth in a separate pan, that’s all).

The dinner was cooked and on the table in about half an hour. Now, I did take one shortcut. My friend Joan told me recently that she was amazed to find Costco’s instant mashed potatoes are a real winner. To say that I was skeptical, is an understatement. I made instant mashed potatoes once, back in the 1970’s or so, and have never revisited them. Until now. I bought the big box of Costco’s “Honest Earth” brand (not Kirkland), called “Creamy Mash.” It’s made with 100% real potatoes (from Idaho), butter and sea salt, it says. The big box contains 14 packets, each one enough to serve about 4 –  6 people (I’d say it serves about 4-5 at the most. It takes no more than 5 minutes or so to heat the water (and butter), then you add a cup of cold milk (yes, really), stir in the dry packet, let it sit for 10 seconds and it’s done. It’s already salted. Extremely simple. And they’re really quite delicious. I’m impressed. They’ve finally figured out how to make this stuff. Next time I make them I’ll add about another tablespoon of milk or water to the mixture – once it sits it firms up quite quickly.

Anyway, the mashed potatoes aren’t the star of the dish anyway – they’re just a quick and easy side and it was extra delicious with some of the sauce.

unstuffed_sweet_sour_cabbage

The mashed potatoes are on the left and the cabbage is peeking out on the right. The meat mixture I used was ground turkey, onions, garlic, canned tomatoes, a little bit of brown sugar, a bit of red wine vinegar (that gives it the sweet/sour flavor) and dried cranberries. It has a little bit of oregano, caraway and fennel in it too. A wonderful combination. Comfort food with a capital C. And it’s even pretty enough you could serve it to guests, which I’m going to do in a few days. But, on this particular cold spring evening, this was a perfect dish to warm our tummies.

Link to the healthier ground turkey version.
Link to the original beef and pork version.

A year ago: Goat Cheese Pesto Appetizer
Two years ago: Andouille Sausage and Shrimp

Posted in Chicken, on April 4th, 2011.

chicken_breast_spinach_blue_cheese

The other night I made this stuffed chicken breast for a weeknight dinner. It was very easy to do and my DH just raved about it. It had lots and lots of flavor (from the spinach, the little hint of blue cheese, the shallots, garlic). The cheese is very subtle – you can add more if you want, but I didn’t want the cheese to overwhelm the delicate chicken. It made a very pretty presentation – and would even be nice for a company meal. The chicken does need to be cooked at the last minute, however.

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are gently cut to open a small pocket in the thickest part of the breast meat. Meanwhile you’ve made the filling (shallot, garlic, spinach, blue cheese) and it gets stuffed into the pockets. The chicken breasts are gently browned in a skillet, then removed to a hot plate while you make the quick pan sauce (white wine, mustard, thyme, chicken broth and a bit of butter added in at the end). The preparation of this entire dish took less than 30 minutes.

Since I had a whole bag of baby spinach I used the remainder to make a spinach side dish. It did make for a whole LOT of spinach with that meal, but it was delicious anyway. Once all the chicken and sauce was removed from the pan I just pan sautéed the spinach with more garlic and olive oil and put it on the side of the plate.

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Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Spinach and Blue Cheese

Recipe By: Loosely adapted from a recipe in Fast & Fabulous Chicken Breasts
Serving Size: 4
Serving Ideas: If you have purchased a big bag of baby spinach, you can serve additional spinach as a side vegetable. Cook the spinach in olive oil with lots of fresh garlic. It will cook in no time, so you can remove the chicken and sauce and cook the spinach in the same pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

SPINACH FILLING:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons shallot — chopped
2 cloves garlic — minced
3 cups fresh spinach — baby spinach if possible
3 tablespoons blue cheese — crumbled
CHICKEN:
4 pieces boneless skinless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup vermouth — or dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons unsalted butter — cut into 4 small pieces

1. Heat 1 T. olive oil in a medium-sized skillet (large enough to hold all the chicken pieces). Add shallots and saute for 2-3 minutes until they’ve turned translucent. Add garlic and stir while it cooks slightly. Add fresh spinach and cook for 2-3 minutes until spinach has completely wilted. Add crumbled blue cheese and stir gently. Remove spinach to a small bowl and set aside. Do not leave any small spinach pieces in the pan.
2. Trim the chicken pieces of any fat and using a sharp knife cut a pocket in the chicken breast – make the opening about 2 inches long, then use the long blade of the knife to cut the pocket slightly longer at each end, inside the breast meat. Do not puncture the outside of the chicken breast or the filling will leak out. Gently scoop the spinach mixture into the pockets and pinch the edge as best you can to seal in the filling.
3. To the same pan add the additional olive oil and heat to medium. Place flour in a flat plate or pie plate and season with salt and pepper. Dip the chicken breasts into the mixture and add to the pan. Cook the chicken pieces for 2-3 minutes per side until they are well browned. Use a small spatula to gently turn the breasts over. Remove chicken pieces to a heated plate and cover with foil.
4. To the skillet add the wine, stirring to scrape up any browned bits. Add the thyme, mustard and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2-3 minutes to allow the mixture to reduce slightly. Return the chicken pieces to the pan, spooning the juices over the top of each breast. Cook for 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through, turning the breasts once. Remove chicken to serve, then add the butter to the pan. Do not boil this mixture or it will separate – just allow the butter to melt. Spoon sauce on the top as you serve the chicken breasts.
Per Serving: 402 Calories; 20g Fat (47.8% calories from fat); 32g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 88mg Cholesterol; 461mg Sodium.

A year ago: Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce
Two years ago: Spanish Pork Braised Soup
Three years ago: Pork Tenderloin with Lemon Herb Pesto and Sherry

Posted in Uncategorized, on April 2nd, 2011.

fruit_salad_chamber_vacuum

A week or so ago we spent the weekend up in San Luis Obispo (we stayed at our favorite B&B, the Bridge Creek Inn outside of town) and met up with friends of ours, Russ & Stacey, who live in the Bay Area. San Luis Obispo (SLO for short) is about half way for us and for them. It was a rainy weekend – perfect for sitting inside the Inn’s big living room with a fire going in the fireplace nearly every waking moment. We all had ample time to visit and catch up. The last time we saw them was over three years ago and Russ made a delicious Thai soup for us at their home. This trip we attended a special event wine cave dinner at Eberle Winery. That was fun and tasty.

staceyrussRuss got interested in cooking some years ago – he credits me with it because I got him hooked on reading Cook’s Illustrated. Russ is an engineer by education, so the magazine was a sure fit for his kind of interest in the chemistry of cooking. Back then he was a single guy and was game for anything I set him to in our kitchen. We laugh now, but risotto was kind of the in thing back then and I was so happy to set Russ up at the kitchen stove – stirring! Meanwhile, in the ensuing years, he married Stacey and then moved away. We’re still sad about the last part because we don’t get to see them very often! Now, Stacey does most of the day to day cooking for their family, but Russ has very eclectic tastes when it comes to kitchen equipment.  When Russ does cook, he goes all out. He was regaling me with stories about his new set of copper core All-Clad (oh, am I envious about that!), and his complete set of Shun knives.  And the 2nd green egg (a Japanese hibachi) he bought recently – that’s bigger than the original sized barbecue.

But his passion at the moment is about sous-vide cooking. That’s pronounced sooo-veed. In case you haven’t heard about it – this from wikipedia: it’s a method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath for a long time—72 hours is not unusual—at an accurately determined temperature much lower than normally used for cooking, typically around 60 °C or 140 °F. The intention is to maintain the integrity of ingredients. (And therefore it has better, fresher flavor.)

all_fruit

Russ didn’t bring the unit itself, but brought one of the cookbooks which had a lengthy explanation about how sous-vide works and why the food you eat is so extra tasty. To do the cooking you can start with a Food Saver (the food sealing home machine), which is what he did. But then he really got into it and decided to do it right and bought a VacMaster VP210C Dry Piston Pump Chamber Machine, Metallic’ target=_blank>chamber vacuum sealing machine. The Food Saver is great for dry-type foods, even fish or meat, but it doesn’t work well for foods in sauces, for instance. In the chamber vacuum, though, the pouched food sits upright and allows the pouch to be sealed without sucking out any of the sauces or fluid. And it removes all of the air from the food itself and from the pouch.

Picnik collageThat now gets us to the focus of the pictures you see here. Several days earlier Russ bought some lovely summer fruit (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon and another honeydew-type melon).

And he bought some limes. What you see in the packages and on the fruit is an ample sprinkling of lime zest. He didn’t use any of the juice – just the zest. And he chamber vacuumed all of the different fruits.

The top photo shows the cantaloupe still sealed up in the plastic. Once opened, he used his fancy Shun knives to cut the fruit into a variety of shapes.

Then there’s the honeydew. Cut up in different shapes too.

The watermelon, though. Oh my goodness, the watermelon was so delicious.

It’s hard to imagine eating watermelon (or any of this fruit) where some of the air has been sucked out of it. You don’t realize how much air there is in fresh fruit, but you can perhaps imagine the watermelon. Each piece of fruit lost about 25% or so of its size once the chamber vacuum had pulled out most of the air. That’s what gives the fruit a kind of translucence. So pretty!

There you can see the lovely compressed fruit being sliced.

Oh, was it ever delicious!

Russ made a salad for us of all the fruits (see picture at top) which came from the Thomas Keller sous-vide cookbook he brought along. He made a dressing of olive oil macerated with hot paprika. He added some lovely tiny onions (the recipe called for cippoline, but he wasn’t able to find any, so used boiling onions). Those were prepared sous-vide and added to the salad. We had fresh arugula around the edges, and some little slivers of nicoise olives. Oh my. Fabulous flavor.

I don’t know that I’m going to buy sous-vide equipment! It’s ferociously expensive. Russ promises me that next time we go to visit them he’ll fix us a complete sous-vide dinner. That should be interesting.

A year ago: French Hamburgers

Posted in Breads, on March 31st, 2011.

smoke_house_garlic_bread

So, this is how the story goes. My friend Cherrie and I were having lunch in Solana Beach with my friend Linda a few weeks ago, and since all three of us like to cook, often our conversations steer into food directions. And Cherrie was telling us a story . . .

Cherrie’s sister lives about 50 miles north of us, and over the years of visiting, Laurie’s family would often go out (or bring food in) from a restaurant nearby called the Smoke House. Everyone in the family loves the food. But mostly, they love-love the garlic cheese bread from this place. I suppose they’ve asked the restaurant how they make it, to no avail. So, a couple of years ago somebody gave Laurie a recipe and said “try this – it’s almost like the restaurant’s.”

Laurie made it for her family. Until she served it, everyone pooh-poohed it, saying no, this wasn’t going to be the recipe. Couldn’t be the recipe. That crispy cheesy stuff couldn’t start from a package of the dry “cheese sauce” from inside a box of Kraft Mac & Cheese. Nah. And then they ate it, and decided it was pretty-darned close to the recipe. And Laurie’s been making it ever since. And so has Cherrie.

With that kind of fun background story, I had to try it. We were up north visiting family and I figured our two grandchildren would enjoy this bread. So, on the mission, I bought a box of Kraft Mac & Cheese. Not the upbeat type with extra cheese. Just the plain old one. That’s about a dollar a box. You don’t need the macaroni – but you need the little packet of cheesy stuff that’s inside the box. Use the macaroni for something else.

So, first you marinate garlic in melted butter, and that must sit overnight, to develop all that great garlic flavor. Just before dinner, re-melt the butter and spread it on cut loaves of French bread. Then you mix the mystery dry cheese sauce mix and some of the old-fashioned green-can dried Parmesan cheese. That gets sprinkled all over the bread. Into a hot oven it goes for about 6-8 minutes to warm the bread all the way through, then you change the oven to broil for about 30-45 seconds (well, it depends on how close the bread is to the broiler element, so it might take longer) until the cheese gets crusty brown. Serve.

smoke_house_garlic_bread_to_bakeI do have a condition, though, and it’s about the BREAD. I’m NOT a fan of regular grocery-store type loaves of French bread. I think it’s like Weber bread, just made into French loaves. Has no taste and definitely no texture. So, do seek out a better loaf of French bread. I don’t recommend an artisanal baguette though – it’s too crusty, narrow and crispy. You want a wide, flattish type loaf. But an artisan one is fine. Linda tried this on something similar to a ciabatta (holey, wide and flat) but it was thicker. She discovered that the baking (heating) time was not sufficient, so I upped it some based on a similar loaf I used. If you make it with a very thin bread, then stick with less baking time.

So, this bread isn’t gourmet. And who knows what’s really in that dry cheese sauce mix – probably food additives, etc. And who eats the old green-can Parmesan anymore? Normally not me! But, is it good? A resounding yes.

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Smoke House Garlic Cheese Bread

Recipe By: From my friend Cherrie’s sister Laurie
Serving Size: 6
NOTES: Do use a better brand of French bread. Regular grocery-store French bread is flavorless and has no texture. Baguettes are too small and crusty. Use an antisanal bread, if you can find it, that is a wider, flatter type. You can also use ciabatta bread.

1/2 cup unsalted butter — melted
2 tablespoons fresh garlic — minced
1/3 cup Kraft Mac & Cheese “cheese sauce” packet
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese — dry type, green can
1 loaf French bread — sliced in half

1. The night before you’re going to make this melt the butter and add the garlic. Allow to cool, then refrigerate overnight.
2. Re-melt the butter and preheat the oven to 350°.
3. Brush the butter mixture on the cut halves of the bread.
4. In a small bowl combine the cheese sauce packet and the green-can Parmesan. Sprinkle it (use it all) on the buttered bread.
5. Bake for 5-8 minutes (depending on the thickness of the bread), then turn oven to broil, and broil for 30 seconds or more, until the bread is toasty brown.
Per Serving: 362 Calories; 19g Fat (46.3% calories from fat); 8g Protein; 40g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 44mg Cholesterol; 525mg Sodium.

Two years ago: all about the Beater Blade for your stand mixer

Posted in Pork, Soups, on March 29th, 2011.

posole_pork_hominy_stew

The first time I had posole – when I was visiting Santa Fe, New Mexico for the very first time, I was blown away with the intense flavors. I attended a cooking class in Santa Fe and learned some of the nuances, and about the important New Mexico chiles and/or powder that must be in it. Whenever I see posole on a menu I usually order it. But really, it’s not hard to make, and I think this recipe is as good, if not better, than any I’ve ever had at a restaurant. It freezes well, too, although the toppings must be made within an hour or so of serving.

I made this a couple of weeks ago when we were visiting our Northern California family, and the grandkids could pick and choose which toppings they wanted on their soup. Our 17-year old grandson doesn’t like vegetables, he says. Pushes them around his plate to avoid eating them, and he picked all around the veggies in this soup. Our granddaughter, though, is game for tasting almost anything (thank you, Taylor! – she reads my blog) and she liked this soup and ate it all.

The soup is pork based – this one uses country style ribs. They are slow cooked for a couple of hours, then the mixture (including the broth) gets refrigerated overnight. Now, you don’t have to do that step, but it makes for a healthier soup since you can remove the fat from the meat and the broth before proceeding. The dried New Mexico chiles are an essential ingredient – I hope you can buy them at your local market like I can. Anyway, the chiles are soaked in water for half an hour, then made into a thin puree in the blender (with some added onion, garlic, salt and waterpork_cooked).

The actual soup preparation is easy. I actually add some vegetables to my posole. It’s likely not traditional, but this soup isn’t billed as an authentic posole anyway. You can add what types of veggies you like – I used carrots, more onion, and because I had one, I charred a pasilla chile and added that chopped up as well. The hominy, though, is a necessity. Mostly this stew is all about the hominy. You can find hominy in the canned vegetable aisle. You could substitute other beans, but it definitely wouldn’t be a New Mexican style posole that way. If you don’t like hominy, use canned pinto beans instead. Pictured here you can see the big bag of shredded, chilled pork, all ready to be poured into the soup.

The garnishes, though, are what make this dish. Truly they do. You simply must have some corn tortillas chips. You can use packaged chips – or visit your local Mexican restaurant and buy a small bag of their homemade chips if you don’t want to make your own. Do add the finely shredded Romaine lettuce, some diced avocado, radishes (very finely sliced or diced), some freshly chopped cilantro and if you really want to cap it off, serve with a couple of lime wedges on the side of each bowl.

posole_stewThis would make a very fun company meal – especially if you make oodles of toppings to put out. Cheese isn’t traditional, but maybe some of the Mexican crumbly white cheese (queso fresco) would be good too. The finished soup flavor is spicy, but not overwhelmingly hot. The dried chiles add a really delicious depth to the soup, and a gorgeous red/orange color. This soup is really flavorful!

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Pork and Hominy Stew with Red Chiles and Avocado

Recipe By: Adapted from a recipe by Susan Vollmer, A Store for Cooks, Feb. 2011
Serving Size: 8
NOTES: DO make the pork the day before – so you can refrigerate the broth mixture and remove all the fat before you proceed with the soup portion.

PORK:
1 head garlic — (save 2 cloves and set aside)
12 cups water
4 cups chicken broth
4 pounds country style pork ribs
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
RED CHILES:
2 ounces dried New Mexico red chiles
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/4 whole onion
2 teaspoons salt
SOUP:
1 teaspoon salt
60 ounces hominy (canned)
2 large carrots — peeled, chopped
3/4 whole onion — chopped
1 whole poblano chile — also called pasilla
GARNISHES:
1 whole avocado — diced
2 cups Romaine lettuce — shredded
1/2 cup radishes — minced
1 cup cilantro — minced
2 whole limes — cut in wedges
8 whole corn tortillas
1 cup vegetable oil, for frying the tortillas

1. Peel garlic cloves and reserve two for the chile sauce. Slice remaining garlic. In a large heavy pot bring water and broth to a boil. Add sliced garlic and pork. Skim the surface of any scum, then add dried oregano. Gently simmer, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours, until pork is tender. Ideally, make this part one day ahead so you can chill the cooking liquid and remove congealed fat the next day.
2. Meanwhile, place dried red chiles in a flat bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak for 30 minutes. Remove stems and seeds, then place chiles in blender with the onion, soaking liquid, the reserved garlic and 2 tsp. of salt.
3. Transfer pork to a cutting board and reserve broth mixture. Shred pork and discard all the bones. Rinse and drain the canned hominy.
4. Roast the pasilla (poblano) chile: if using gas, hold it over the flame until the skin has blistered and turns black. Or, broil on all sides until the skin blisters. Remove chile and place in plastic bag. Set aside for about 15 minutes to cool. Remove from bag and remove black, blistered skin, cut into pieces (removing stem and seeds).
5. Strain pork liquid and return to pot. Bring to a simmer and add carrots and onion. Simmer for about 10 minutes, then add the pasilla chile, reserved shredded pork and canned hominy. Simmer for about 10-30 minutes and serve.
6. Fry the tortillas, cut into strips, in hot vegetable oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
6. GARNISHES: Place all the garnishes out for your diners to select whichever ones they wish to eat. Place about 1 1/2 cups of the posole/hominy stew in a wide bowl and hand each one to your guests.
Per Serving: 302 Calories; 7g Fat (21.5% calories from fat); 9g Protein; 52g Carbohydrate; 9g Dietary Fiber; trace Cholesterol; 1701mg Sodium.

A year ago: Plum Compote (oooh, that was delicious – try it during plum season)
Three years ago: Iceberg Wedge with Blue Cheese

Posted in Breads, on March 27th, 2011.

sams_cloud_biscuits

You can’t really see these biscuits very well. Sorry. I cut large squares, rather than smaller round biscuits since these were going on a casserole – actually they went in the bottom of the casserole, and more on top. I’d picked up a used book – a cookbook, of course – called Biscuit Bliss: 101 Foolproof Recipes for Fresh and Fluffy Biscuits in Just Minutes. Every time we visit Placerville, where one of our daughters and her family live, I stop by a cute used book store in town. And invariably I come out of there with a new (but used) cookbook in hand. This time I bought three (a memoir about Julia Child, written by one of her associates for about 20 years, and Maya Angelou’s cookbook, which is almost more story than it is recipes, although each short chapter does contain one recipe relating, somehow, to the story she tells about her growing up. Or her family.

Finding several recipes in this biscuit book to try, I finally settled on this one. I liked the idea of light and fluffy, and my daughter did have some Crisco on hand. When I use shortening these days I buy the non-hydrogenated kind, but this was just one meal, so I used Crisco that was on the cupboard shelf. It’s a long drive to the local grocery store, besides, and not all stores carry that other type.

Picnik collageThese took no time to mix up – there’s a dry mixture and a wet mixture. The dry mixture includes butter, which needs to be cut into the flour part (I used my fingers) since my daughter didn’t have a pastry blender. The dough is rolled out to a thin layer and you just cut. I used a square cutter because it was easier to use for a squarish-shaped casserole. At left you can see the bottom biscuits (with cutter), then I scooped in the casserole and added more biscuits on top.

The recipe suggests baking this at 475°. I didn’t bake it that high because it had a casserole underneath it, and if I had it to do over I’d have baked the casserole for about 20 minutes first, to get the mixture hot, THEN I’d have added the biscuits. But biscuits had to go on the bottom too, so I just winged it and baked the casserole at 400° for a longer period. The biscuits were supremely light and crispy-crunchy. Delicious texture. Everybody ate their fill, me included!

So, who’s Sam, you ask? The cookbook author, James Villas, says Sam is a Texas friend of his, who has a far and wide reputation for making the lightest and fluffiest biscuits around. Villas says it’s from the cake flour, the shortening and the egg in it. Whatever, or however, they were really very good.

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Sam’s Cloud Biscuits

Recipe By: From Biscuit Bliss by James Villas, 2004
Serving Size: 24

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening — CHILLED
2/3 cup whole milk
1 large egg — beaten

1. Preheat oven to 475°.
2. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the two flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the chilled shortening and cut it in with a pastry cutter or rub with your fingertips until the mixture is very mealy.
3. In a glass measuring cup, whisk together the milk and egg, then add to the dry mixture, and stir with a fork just until the dough follows the fork around the bowl.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead gently 4-5 times. Roll out the dough about 1/4 inch thick and cut out rounds or squares with a 2-inch cutter. Roll the scraps together and cut out more biscuits.
5. Arrange the biscuits fairly close together on two baking sheets. Bake in the center of the oven just until golden, 10-12 minutes.
Per Serving: 84 Calories; 5g Fat (51.3% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 10mg Cholesterol; 132mg Sodium.

A year ago: Chicken with a Garlic Lemon Crust
Two years ago: Meat – about buying good quality
Three years ago: Vermont Cheddar Bread

Posted in Books, on March 25th, 2011.

 

immortal-life200_customIt’s not very often that I do a blog post about a book I’ve read. I’m an avid reader, mostly books I download onto my Kindle. I’m in two book groups. And this book is one I read for one of these groups. I do update my left sidebar regularly which contains a section all about what I’m reading, in case you rarely go look at my actual blog site, but read my posts through a blog reader.

I’d read about this book in a magazine sometime last year, and thought it sounded interesting, so I was glad when one of my groups decided to read it.

Have you ever heard of HeLa cells? You’re about to learn. From the moment I ticked my Kindle to the first page, I could hardly put it down. This is NOT a book of fiction. It’s a true story. About Henrietta Lacks, a very poor black woman who found out in 1950 that she had cervical cancer. She was treated at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, a hospital that was founded on the principles of providing health care to the needy and poor. She was treated in the “colored” section of the hospital. The treatment for such cancer at that time was limited. Radium rods were inserted in her cervix for a day or two, then removed, and it was hoped that the cancer would recede. In Henrietta’s case, it did not work, and she died some months later in 1951, her body consumed by malignant tumors. She was married with five children, one an infant. She was 28 years old.

helaBut, during the treatment her doctor removed a dime-sized piece of tissue from her cervix – cancerous tissue – and gave it to a colleague to test it. At the time, no lab researchers had been able to grow cancer cells in a petri dish or test tube, and the research lab within Johns Hopkins was attempting to grow cancerous tissue. They needed it in order to test possible treatments – the goal of trying to find a cure for cancer. After dividing the tiny piece of tissue into many even tinier pieces, the lab assistant put it aside to grow. A couple of days later the tiny pieces of tissue (cells) had not only grown, but they’d grown hugely. Henrietta’s doctor and the research colleague were thrilled. It was a huge breakthrough in medical science. The doctor gave samples of her cells to other researchers (at no charge). There was not a thought about marketing it – these were research physicians who were on a mission to cure cancer. And in the years since, many drugs have been developed to treat some diseases (like HIV and leukemia). All thanks to Henrietta Lacks.

Henrietta was not consulted about the small piece of tissue removed from her cancerous cervix. If she’d been asked, she might have agreed. But at the time, doctors (particularly those running clinics for the poor) simply took samples as a routine – from most patients. And most patients weren’t consulted. At the time such tissue samples were identified with a unique code – the first two letters of the patient’s first and last name. Hence we have HeLa. And HeLa cells are now, to this day, continuing to grow and thrive and provide fodder to cancer testing around the world. What’s unique about Henrietta’s cells is that they grow at an astounding rate – far faster than any other tissue ever grown from another tissue sample. So cancer testing can be done in a shorter period of time, speeding up the process. Laboratories and pharmaceutical companies and individual researchers buy HeLa cells now, and pay enormous sums for it. None of the profits ever went to Henrietta’s family. I do want to clarify here: according to the author, Johns Hopkins never profited from the growing of HeLa cells. They gave it away. It was other companies, laboratories, hospitals that decided to become profiteers of her cells.

Rebecca Skloot, the author, took 10 years writing this book. She’s a young woman – if you’re interested, check out her website.  She began researching HeLa when she was a graduate student, but it took years for the Lacks family to trust her. Part of the story involves several road trips Rebecca took with Henrietta’s daughter Deborah trying to find some further family history, with the push-pull of Deborah’s untrusting temperament. So many people had strung them along, promising, promising. There’s no question the research community as a whole mistreated the Lacks family. But court cases (regarding who owns tissue samples) that have taken place in the ensuing years clearly state that once something is removed from our bodies (like a malignant tumor, or a cyst) it is no longer owned by the patient. This brings up a lot of questions for people who have an interest in medical ethics. The author devotes 40+ pages as an afterword about the subject.

The author established a foundation from the proceeds of this book, to benefit the heirs of Henrietta Lacks – hopefully it will be used to send some of her great-grandchildren to college.

Writing more here about this book would be easy, but maybe too tedious for you to read. You owe it to yourself to read it. If you have a smidgen of interest in the medical field, you simply must read this book. Again, it’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Posted in Salad Dressings, on March 23rd, 2011.

spinach_fennel_celery_orange_salad

A couple of weeks ago I received a very nice email from a marketing person at Freida’s produce folks. They wanted to know if I’d like to receive some blood oranges since they’re in season right now. Sure, I said. A few days later a lovely package of Moro blood oranges arrived at my front door. We were away for about a week and then again went away for a weekend, so I decided the best thing to do was to juice the blood oranges. The gorgeous red juice resided in the freezer until yesterday when I decided to make something.

blood orangesRecently I’d listened to a KCRW podcast in which an L.A. chef from Sauce on Hampton talked about a salad he likes to make with blood orange juice. The original recipe is online. I did make a couple of alterations (my avocados weren’t ripe, and I didn’t have Cara Cara oranges on hand – so I substituted regular oranges and added some freshly grated Parmesan cheese) and I totally forgot to add the slivered almonds!

The oranges are just so bright red – and the juice is so lovely! I made a salad with the oranges one day – they needed nothing on them – I merely peeled them and sliced them up. This salad that I made for dinner, though, required just a bit more work. It has baby spinach as the main green, along with some thinly shaved fresh fennel bulb and some thinly sliced celery. Ideally I’d have had some avocado to add too. And the almonds . . .

blood_orange_vinaigretteThe dressing is simple – the blood orange juice, apple cider vinegar, some Dijon mustard, garlic, salt, pepper and some extra virgin olive oil. Whizzed up in the blender it made a nice pink-ish emulsion. Lovely for this salad. And delicious too.

Blood oranges may not be available everywhere – the Moro variety can be found at our local Southern California Ralph’s stores, though, in case you want to seek them out. Look for the Freida’s label.

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Blood Orange Vinaigrette

Recipe By: From Sassan Rostamian at Sauce on Hampton (restaurant)
Serving Size: 6
NOTES: The salad contains: baby spinach, thinly sliced fennel, thinly sliced celery, avocado slices, almonds, and Cara Cara pink navel suprémes.

3/8 cup orange juice — from blood oranges
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh garlic — minced
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. Place all ingredients except olive oil in a blender, mix for roughly ten seconds.
2. SLOWLY add first drops of olive oil to create emulsion. Slowly continue adding oil until complete.
Per Serving: 327 Calories; 36g Fat (97.4% calories from fat); trace Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 162mg Sodium.

Two years ago: Cardamom Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted in Desserts, on March 21st, 2011.

cajun_apple_cake

Can you see the little morsels of Granny Smith apple nestled in the middle of this cake? And the toasted pecans? And the stick-your-spoon-in-it-and-lick-it-clean brandy sauce (drizzle) all around it? Oh my. This is another one of those – if you trust me – you need to make this cake. It’s SO moist. So delicious. It makes a very tender cake (well, it should, since it does have 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil in it!). The title may be a tad misleading. You’d think it must have some kind of Cajun spices in it with a Cajun name to it. No, it really doesn’t. It’s the sauce that makes it Cajun, using brandy, or praline liqueur if you have that, or bourbon.

There’s nothing difficult about this cake – it makes a thick batter and your pour it into a 9×13 pan. Once baked, it’s cooled, then you pour part of the brandy sauce over it and serve a bit more on each plate. The sauce is very easy to make – you merely bring the ingredients to a boil, cool. Pour. You could make this in a bundt pan. You can halve the recipe and make one 9-inch round cake pan of it. You can double it to serve a whole lot more people. And it’s better the next day, actually.

The recipe came from Katherine Emmenegger, the executive chef at Great News, the cooking school in San Diego that my friend Cherrie and I visit with regularity. Katherine prepared a New Orleans style meal from beginning to end. I’m starting with the end since this was my favorite recipe of the bunch. Make this one, okay?

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Cajun Apple Cake with Brandy Drizzle

Recipe By: Katherine Emmenegger, chef at Great News, San Diego (March 2011)
Serving Size: 12
NOTES: The cake can be made in a bundt cake pan also (might require slightly longer baking time). You can also halve the recipe and bake it in a 9-inch round cake pan. The recipe also can be doubled if you’re serving a crowd; just divide the doubled batter into two pans. Katherine Emmenegger says this cake is even better the second day.

CAKE:
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 large eggs — beaten
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons brandy — or praline liqueur or bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups Granny Smith apples — small diced (dropped into lightly salted water and drain on paper towels when ready to use them)
1 cup pecans — toasted
BRANDY DRIZZLE:
4 ounces unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons brandy — or praline liqueur or bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. CAKE: Preheat oven to 325°. Prepare a 9×13 cake pan with a light coating of Baker’s Joy (or butter and flour the pan).
2. In a large bowl sift the salt, baking soda and flour together.
3. In another bowl combine the eggs, oil, sugar, liqueur and vanilla; add to the flour mixture and combine.
4. Add the apples and pecans. Stir to combine. This makes a very thick batter.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Lightly bang the cake pan on your countertop twice, to burst any air bubbles in the batter. If using a glass or ceramic cake pan, do this carefully!
6. Bake for 45 minutes, but start checking the cake at 30 minutes and every 5 minutes thereafter, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake.
7. Set on a rack and allow to cool to room temperature, then top with brandy drizzle and serve.
8. BRANDY DRIZZLE: In a saucepan over medium heat combine the butter, sugar and milk. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the brandy and vanilla extract and allow to cool to room temperature. DO NOT refrigerate the cake.
Per Serving: 729 Calories; 43g Fat (52.7% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 80g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 74mg Cholesterol; 312mg Sodium.

Two years ago: Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Cherry Merlot Sauce

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