If you read my post yesterday, about steeping chicken, then you already know I made a chicken & greens salad. I had a recipe in my repertoire that I hadn’t tried before, from Michael Chiarello (Food Network), from 2006, according to my notes. His recipe was an arugula salad, with a citrus vinaigrette, with grilled chicken and a toasted spice rub. Well, I didn’t have time to go through all of that. Didn’t feel like doing the grill thing for just two chicken breasts. So I turned to an old stand-by chicken cooking method I haven’t used in a long time – submerging boneless, skinless chicken breasts in hot, just below boiling water and letting it sit. It’s like steeping tea – where tea takes 5 minutes to come to full flavor – chicken takes about 20-30 minutes to cook all the way through.

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Maybe this is old hat for you – if so just delete and move on. But I’m going to talk about a cooking method that I use infrequently, but when I need it, I really need it. This was the case last night. We got home late from our house in the desert. I had nothing on hand to fix for dinner. We were all feeling full and like fat cats. We ate lunch out – really good Mexican food in Riverside – and wanted a light dinner. Salad was just the ticket. Read the rest of this entry »

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Lots of other bloggers do a year in review, and I thought it would be a good idea. Just in case you didn’t happen to be in the mood for some of the recipes I blogged about when you read them. But now might be different. So here are my favorite recipes I posted in ‘09:

Butterscotch Pudding – made with real Scotch in it. Heavy-duty on flavor. Not difficult to make, either.

Caesar Salad Dressing – an easy, really easy dressing made with mayo. It’s my go-to Caesar dressing now.

Garbanzo, Feta & Cilantro Salad – a wonderful summer dish, but really could be served any time of year. The flavors are just bursting within that little bowl above.

Mahogany Onions (appetizer) – the onions, cooked until they’re almost black (but not, or they’d be burned) and served on little toasts.

Bing Cherry Compote – never thought fresh cherries could taste so good – cooked, that is, into a compote that is sensational over ice cream. Has red wine in it, but the cherries aren’t cooked much so they hold their shape.

Cook’s Illustrated’s Tiramisu – I learned so much about the definitive method of making tiramisu when I watched this on America’s Test Kitchen. Best tiramisu I’ve ever had.

Savory Tomato Pie – never knew good, summer tomatoes in season could taste so good in a pie. Just the right combo of cheese. Nice crust. Wonderful stuff.

Woodford Pudding – similar (if not the same as) an English Jam Pudding. I think it was the quantity of jam that had discouraged me from making this, but I was totally bowled over with the taste. A keeper.

Bombay Cheese Ball – not like the cheese balls of yore – this one is full of flavor, with a hint of curry, and then topped with all kinds of wonderful things like shredded coconut, dried cranberries and a bunch of chutney.

Italian Sausage, Tomato and Cannellini Bean Soup – an exceedingly EASY soup to make. Can be done in less than an hour, maybe even less than 30 minutes – but it’s ever so much better if allowed to cool, chill, then reheat.

Cranberry-Pecan & Apple Salad – brilliant flavors, ideal for the holidays since it’s fresh cranberries. The chopped cranberries mixed with the apples and pecans just make a wonderful combination – kind of like the old waldorf salad, but better.

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It’s not often – in fact, very rare – that I use this forum/blog for talking about something . . . perhaps . . . controversial. But having just watched this movie, I’m wanting to join my voice with those of many, many others who abhor what’s happening with the quality of the food we buy. There are perhaps lots of different segments of the food biz that could use some overhaul, but in this case, I’m just devoting these words to the subject of this movie.

This isn’t just about Monsanto Corp., the public behemoth of an agribusiness. It’s also about very normal, hard-working farmers from around the globe who got themselves into the crosshairs of that big-bad-business with loads of bucks. Monsanto has tried, and is still trying to destroy them. Their farms. Their livelihoods. And in the process they [Monsanto, IMHO] decided to go down a road that is, in my opinion, on the “wrong side of the tracks.” They became the bully. But it’s a lot more powerful than that, actually. There are other companies who have also patented seed too, but Monsanto may have been the first. And the bully with the biggest fist.  And the movie is about more than just this one farmer. But the specific case is interesting enough to focus on . . .

Now I’m the first one to proclaim I’m all for business. For capitalism. For competition. Having invested money over the course of the last 30 years in a variety of public companies (stocks) I’m happy as heck when said companies make money. But I want no part of companies that use their strongarm tactics to control. To dictate. To destroy. Or ones who lie, cheat, steal, or otherwise misconstrue the facts. Or hide the real reasons.

So, here’s what happened. Back a long time ago Monsanto began doing research with canola seed. Undoubtedly Monsanto invested millions of dollars into this endeavor. They decided to push the envelope – they created a genetically modified version that would resist treatment with “Round-Up,” that ubiquitous herbicide that kills anything that grows. And makes the ground it’s been treated with unusable for a very long time – except for canola seed. So when Monsanto developed this Round-Up resistant canola seed, it meant that farmers could spray Round-Up all over their fields and it would not kill the canola plants, but it would kill everything else. Farmers thought this was the most wonderful thing since tractors. But, before Monsanto put this product out for sale, they decided, in their infinite big-business mentality, to get a patent on the genetically-modified canola seed. They were refused at the Patent Office because as we all know, it’s declared in our U.S. Constitution that you can’t patent food. Food is for everybody. But Monsanto didn’t take “no” for an answer. They took it to court. The court ruled in Monsanto’s favor. That yes, indeed, GM (genetically modified) or GE (genetically-engineered) canola seeds were, in fact, patentable. Which of and by itself allows the patent holder (Monsanto) to sue anybody who uses the patented product (the GM canola seed) without paying for it. On the surface that doesn’t sound so bad. . . Keep reading.

Cut to a few years later. The GM canola seed is being bought up in millions of tons. Farmers love it. Well, most farmers love it and pay the price to buy it. You see, you can’t hold over seed from this Monsanto-engineered canola. Not permitted. Buyers have to sign a contract to that effect. So, farmers do have to buy new seed each year. That seemed not to bother most of the farmers.

But some farmers didn’t buy Monsanto’s seed – they used their own seed – harvested from their own plants. The way it’s been done since man figured out how to save seed and plant it the next season. One such couple, the Schmeisers, of Saskatchewan, Canada, used their own seed, which they’d carefully bred and fine-tuned over their 40 years running their farm. They were extremely proud of their canola seed breeding, actually. Anyway, I’ll cut to the chase here. The couple was sued by Monsanto for growing some of Monsanto’s GM seed in their fields. (According to Schmeiser’s website: Canola fields were contaminated with Monsanto’s Round-Up Ready Canola. Monsanto’s position was that it didn’t matter whether Schmeiser knew or not that his canola field was contaminated with the Roundup Ready gene, or whether or not he took advantage of the technology [he didn’t]; that he must pay Monsanto their Technology Fee of $15./acre.) Schmeiser didn’t buy any of Monsanto’s seed, yet there were some plants found on his property. They guess that the wind, and perhaps the truck that delivered Monsanto seed to the neighboring farm, blew some seed into the Schmeiser’s property.

But Monsanto lied about their testing techniques. And did everything in their power to destroy this couple and their farm. But the Schmeisers decided to fight it. Unfortunately, in the courts, then, Schmeiser lost. Schmeiser has no idea, really, how the Monsanto seed got onto his property. He didn’t/doesn’t WANT it on his property. But Monsanto decided to make a point about Schmeiser’s plants (perhaps because he was very vocal in his dislike of Monsanto’s tactics). Monsanto wanted nothing better than to shut Schmeiser down. Well, the case went to appeal and the court determined that Monsanto’s patent is valid, but Schmeiser was not forced to pay Monsanto anything as he did not profit from the presence of Roundup Ready canola in his fields. After that, Schmeiser sued Monsanto (wanting Monsanto to clean up his fields, remove the Round-Up ready seed/plants). The court upheld the part about Monsanto’s patent on the canola seed, but told Schmeiser he was not responsible for paying any of the fees or fines to Monsanto. (From Schmeiser’s website: Monsanto has agreed to pay all the clean-up costs of the Roundup Ready canola that contaminated Schmeiser’s fields. Also part of the agreement was that there was no gag-order on the settlement and that Monsanto could be sued again if further contamination occurred. Schmeiser believes this precedent setting agreement ensures that farmers will be entitled to reimbursement when their fields become contaminated with unwanted Roundup Ready canola or any other unwanted GMO plants.)

Just to be fair, I did look around the internet for any differing opinions regarding this case and the film/documentary. I found almost none. It appears that no one can refute the facts of the case. Bottom line: it’s scary. What a behemoth company like Monsanto will do to control the selling of its seed in the world. The problem is that right now we’re only talking about canola seed and corn. It has far-reaching tentacles into the future. The EU decided that they would not permit Monsanto to sell GM seed within the EU. (Good for them, I say.) Undoubtedly Monsanto is working diligently on developing other GM seed types. The movie also dealt with a group of farmers in Central America who are growing Monsanto GM corn. Monsanto sells the seed at a very reduced price there – an inducement to get them to start the GM seed machine. Because once it’s started, it’s very hard to turn back the clock or shut the door – the movie questioned whether Monsanto would also strongarm nearby poor farmers, forcing them to pay fees when GM corn happens to pop up on their lands. Who knows. And you also need to know that other companies are working on GM seed too, it’s not just Monsanto. They just chose the lawsuit scenario and became the spokescompany for the bullying techniques that could be utilized.

The other really frightening thing is that here in the U.S. the government has not whispered a word to food distributors about labeling. I’d like to avoid eating GM corn. Or GM canola. But I can’t, because nobody makes the producers/farmers/packagers label products as GM. And it’s not likely to happen anytime soon, either. The documentary also detailed the extremely high number of high U.S. government officials who used to work for Monsanto. We’re not talking USDA underlings, here, but very top officials in many areas of the government sector (including John Ashcroft, among others). I don’t know whether buying organic will assure me of eating non-GM foods. I’ll need to look into that.

The documentary is available in a variety of places. Online you can watch it for free. I got mine through my Netflix membership. The movie production company’s site also contains good info. Schmeiser’s website contains a ton of data, including a “what if” essay about the possible implications of the use of any GM seed. It’s worth reading. But whatever you do, do see the movie/documentary.

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A year ago: My cousin Gary’s Turkey Chili

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I would have told you all about this cheese BEFORE Christmas if I’d known I could find it. I’d have told you to do your best to BUY this cheese and serve it sometime over the holidays. I had it a couple of months ago at a wine/cheese/dinner event and asked about it. A kind wait staff person found the label back in the kitchen and brought it to me. Then a day or two before Christmas I found it at Costco. Happy camper was I. EVERY one of our guests who tried this went nuts over it. It’s an English cheese from the Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes (Yorkshire Dales). It’s called “Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese with Cranberries.” It’s a semi-dry cheddar, but not sharp at all. It’s almost crumbly if you try to slice it too thin or too quickly. But oh, the flavor. And with the cranberries. Wonderful. Our Costco doesn’t have it anymore – we even made a 2nd trip to find more. All gone. Now I’ll have to try to find it through another source. Wonder if it’s a seasonal variety – – with the cranberries? According to the creamery’s website, they also make similar cheeses with apricots, one with pineapple and yet another with onions/chives. I read a recipe on the site, using this cheese, for a Wensleydale Cranberry Cheese dip. I’m smitten.

A year ago: Chocolate Citrus Almond Torte GF

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With my cousin Gary visiting us for the holidays, I have to re-engineer my cooking since he can’t eat wheat. So this recipe, that I read over at Kalyn’s Kitchen blog, was just the ticket. Healthy and tasty, but using almond flour instead of wheat flour. Kalyn had a glut of sage from her home garden and tried to concoct some new uses for sage. I also had a sage bush this year (now nearly dormant), but the leaves left on the bush are way too tiny for much culinary use. So I did end up buying some fresh sage to make this.

It’s easy to make – an untypical pesto with sage and pecans (instead of basil and pine nuts). It also contained some garlic, freshly grated Parmesan, and the filling also contained some Feta cheese too. I enlisted my cousin’s help with the chicken – the pounded chicken breast halves are filled, then secured with toothpicks and lightly dipped in an egg batter, then in the almond flour (available at some specialty markets or health food stores). Don’t confuse almond meal with almond flour. The meal is more like finely ground nuts. The almond flour is milled (well, maybe not actually milled since this isn’t a grain) is a much finer mixture – it actually looks more like a flour.

The chicken was roasted in the oven just until cooked through. I should have used a meat thermometer in a thicker part of the chicken; I didn’t, so at the 35 minute mark, they were definitely already done. Kalyn’s recipe indicated 40 minutes, and maybe checking on it earlier. I should have looked at 30 minutes. Of course, it does depend on how thin you pound the chicken, too. The flavor was good. It’s very low carb, and delicious. This would make a nice company dinner, although I might serve it with a side or a drizzle of chicken gravy (if making gluten-free, just thicken with cornstarch instead of flour) – just in case it’s not juicy-tender when removed from the oven. Just do watch it carefully during baking (maybe cut one open to make sure it’s not pink) and remove from the oven immediately!
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A year ago: Yams, Carrots & Ginger (veggie side dish)

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This year I was asked to bring dessert to the large family Christmas Eve celebration. And since there would be over 20 people in attendance, I needed something that served a lot of people. I found this recipe in my to-try file. I’ve had it around since 2005. But the recipe’s credentials are very blue-ribbon worthy as it won a Sunset Magazine contest that year, for the dessert category.

Roasted sweet potatoes (the orange-flesh yam type ones) are combined with typical cheesecake ingredients, but with some added fall spices, and baked in a nut crust. The original recipe, submitted by Kari Bowers of Bellevue, Washington, had a pecan and flour crumbly crust. I changed that in order to make this eat-friendly for my cousin Gary, who is wheat intolerant. If you’d prefer to make the prize-winning crust, just go to the Sunset site. This version is made with a ground pecan-cinnamon-butter crust. Very simple. In any case, my version here, is gluten-free. Generally, cheesecake is already GF, but I merely changed the crust to a nut crust.

Don’t attempt to make this if you’ve got 5 other things you’re making for a special dinner. It takes time and a whole lot of bowls and dishes. It’s not difficult to make, just time consuming. But probably no more than any cheesecake, if that’s any better explanation. It is recommended that you make this a day or two ahead. I slightly increased the recipe, since I wanted to serve more people, so mine is certainly taller than the original recipe. I also had to bake it longer too, in order to get it to the just-barely-jiggling-in-the-center done-ness.

People who submitted comments to the Sunset site talked about how good it was, but many mentioned the texture – super smooth. Like silk, one person wrote. It definitely served 20, and it definitely was fine 3 days later, even. Velvety smooth texture. We liked the nut crust, actually. The maple whipped cream was very nice, although I couldn’t really pick out the maple syrup added – I guess there were so many flavors going on in the cheesecake, I couldn’t really taste the maple in the whipped cream. We needed and wanted more whipped cream than the recipe indicated, so plan on whipping up about double the quantity. I’d make this again, with no changes to the recipe except the whipped cream topping. Delicious. Particularly lovely for Fall. Or Thanksgiving.
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A year ago: Cranberry Porter Trifle (the dessert I made for last year’s Christmas Eve dinner – it was delicious too)

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Yellow crookneck is one of my favorite squash varieties. With friends coming over for dinner the other night, I needed a new version of this, so decided to combine a carb and veggies at the same time. I found a similar recipe to this on the internet, but I changed it some. You may even have this recipe – it’s not anything innovative or new. Just good and tasty.

The squash, onion and chicken broth are cooked together, then that’s combined with rice, a small can of chopped green chiles and a bunch of cheese, some sour cream and seasonings. And a bit of cheese is sprinkled on top. You can also broil the top just at the end if you prefer a more browned look. I didn’t bother with that step. This is delicious. Not over the top, but a good comfort-food kind of side veggie. I’d make this again.
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A year ago: Schnecken Rolls (a sweet-ish dinner roll)

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I won’t have any time to blog today. Actually, I’ve been sick as a dog for about 14 days or so, bronchitis, laryngitis and a very bad cough. My DH and I came down with “it” the same day. What a drag having both of us sick at the same time, and gosh does this bug ever hang on! I’m surely tired of feeling puny. Plus, there’s hardly any cooking going on in the Tasting Spoons’ kitchen, either. So here’s a little Christmas humor:

Dear Santa:

I finally figured it out. I’ve been doing really good in school and I learned about how the earth is round. I wondered how you could give gifts to the whole earth the same night. But maybe, if you start over there on the other side of the world when it’s getting dark, and then come to us when we get dark, it makes sense. I was wondering if our town could be like a rest stop for you – where we could give you things other than cookies, things like Gatorade and new ropes for the sleigh, and reindeer food so they don’t get tired. Anyway, think about it. And my teddy bear has holes, if you wouldn’t mind replacing it. . . . Terry, age 11

. . . from Dear Santa: Kids’ Letters to Ol’ St. Nick

I do wish for all of you a happy, healthy and fun-filled Christmas. And if you’re amongst the millions of Christians around the world, do remember that it’s Christ’s birth we’re celebrating.

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This dish is really yummy. Can you tell by looking at the photo? Cauliflower florets just dripping with cheese and cream. Not much in that NOT to like. I don’t want to know the calorie and fat count. Just eat it and enjoy. The recipe came from Bobby Flay (Food Network). I was watching it the other day and it looked really easy. And tasty. I took this to our son’s and daughter-in-law’s home the other night. Everybody loved it. And the creamy, saucy stuff down in the cauliflower was wonderful with the beef roast Karen served. The sauce spread around the plate (too much actually), but we enjoyed mopping up the sauce with a bit of the roast. And with the potatoes that went alongside.

The cheeses are a bit different – Monterey Jack, Parmigiano-Reggiano AND goat cheese. It’s the goat cheese that makes it unusual, I suspect. Then you pour heavy cream all over it. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and into the oven it goes. The recipe indicated it would be tender in 30 minutes. Uhm. No. Not. But then, I doubled the recipe. However, it was perfect after about an hour and 15 minutes. I doubled the recipe, so perhaps the cauliflower that was submerged in cream was cooked in 30 minutes, but the rest of it wasn’t. It also depends on how large you cut the florets, too. So keep that in mind if you make it. I’ve altered the recipe some to account for the few things I’d do differently. On the Food Network site many people weighed in (uhm, no, not that kind of weighing) with their opinions – lots of people didn’t like the soupy thin-ness of the cream. I agree. There was too much cream altogether. And if I made this again I would add about a tablespoon of all-purpose flour – and toss that around with the grated cheeses. That would provide some thickener to the sauce.  But if you’re asking me did we like it? Absolutely, and yes, I’d make it again with those changes.
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A year ago: Baked Rice with Poblano Chiles & Corn

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