Thinking About…

OK, first things first. My celebrity crush is Curtis Stone. We went to San Francisco to have him sign a copy of his cookbook back in ’07, and he was utterly charming. And now he’s engaged to, and has an adorable baby with, Lindsey Price, who played Janet on Beverly Hills 90210 back in the day. It’s like two parts of my world coming together in one beautiful place, and I’ll confess…when I picture Curtis and Lindsey barbequing in the back yard, they’re in the Walsh house. So what?

Anyway, I’m a fan of Curtis on Facebook, and sometimes he puts delicious pictures up, of recipes from his new cookbook. I haven’t bought the new cookbook yet, though I did buy the digital version of one week’s worth of recipes, so I’m not a total jerk. When he posted this picture of Roasted Butterflied Chicken and Tomatillos on Facebook, what could I do but google it? It’s not my fault that Amazon will show you every darned page of a book, or that I have snagit on my computer, so I could just snap pictures of the recipe, paste them into a word document, and print it up. You know what? I’m SO glad I did. This recipe is a winner, and probably worth the price of a cookbook, all on its own. The chicken is both moist and really flavorful. We had it with tortillas, though I didn’t shred the chicken wings or drumsticks, and when Ted ate those, he said they were wonderful on their own. I highly recommend these tortillas, if you can get them. I buy the green chili corn tortilla version, and they’re kick ass.

Roasted Butterflied Chicken and Tomatillos
Ingredients

• One 4-pound chicken
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and cut in half
• 1 white onion, halved and cut into 1/2 inch thick wedges
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 lime, cut into wedges, for serving
• 8 whole wheat flour or corn tortillas, warmed, for serving

Directions

• Preheat onion to 400 degrees F.
• Using poultry shears, split the chicken open by cutting down one side of the backbone, then cut out and remove the backbone. Place the chicken skin side up on a chopping board. Put your hand on the breastbone and press hard to flatten the chicken. (J’s note: my favorite grocery store has a butcher, who will cut your chicken in half and remove the backbone for you if you’d like, so I just have them do this for me.)
• Heat a very large cast-iron or other heavy ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of the olive oil with the paprika, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Rub the mixture all over the chicken. Place the chicken skin side down in the hot skillet and cook for about 4 minutes, or just until the skin side is golden brown. Transfer the chicken to a large plate. Set the skillet aside.
• In a large bowl, toss the tomatillos, onions, garlic, and jalapenos with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange half of the tomatillo mixture in the skillet and nestle the chicken on top, skin side up. Scatter the remaining tomatillo mixture around the chicken.
• Roast for 45 minutes, or until the chicken shows no sign of pink when pierced in the thickest part with the tip of a small sharp knife and the tomatillos are falling apart into the sauce. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes.
• Season the tomatillo salsa to taste with salt. Sprinkle the cilantro over the chicken and salsa and serve with the lime wedges and tortillas.

We added sour cream and guacamole to our little chicken tacos. YUM, they were great. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Yesterday found Ted and me at the grocery store, trying to figure out what to have for dinner. I kind of wanted salmon, so we got that. We had leftover mashed potatoes at home, and ingredients for salad, so all we had to worry about was the main course. Mango salsa is very easy to put on salmon, but they were out. So we just bought the salmon and came home, and looked around in the fridge to see what we had. Oh, look, pesto! Yay! So I looked online and found this recipe, which has lovely pictures and a blog post all her own, and she gives original credit for the recipe to Mark Bittman. Super easy, and even in early April, the tomatoes can taste OK if they’re roasted a bit. Verdict? A winner! Maya doesn’t like fish as much as Ted and I do, and since she had her wisdom teeth out on Tuesday, I thought this was a good chance to have fish while she had overcooked mac & cheese. She said, “That looks good…I wish I could eat it.” So I think we’ll have this again sometime in the not too distant future.

Pesto Salmon
Ingredients
2 (6 oz) salmon fillets (for 2 people)
cooking spray
2 Tbsp prepared basil pesto
1 Roma tomatoes, sliced
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Tear two large sheets of aluminum foil and spray each with cooking spray; place salmon on top. Spread 1 tablespoon basil pesto on each piece and lay sliced tomatoes on top. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Fold over sides and double the seams and ends so it is sealed completely. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, open carefully, and serve immediately.

A few weeks ago I was driving around delivering meals to the old people, and sort of listening to a program on our local NPR station. It was a pretty interesting program, but I was getting in and out of the car every couple of minutes, so I missed a lot of it. Anyway, the host was interviewing a panel of guests, and the topic was eating for a longer life. If you’re so inclined, you can listen here. There was talk about when to eat, the recommendation being to allow at least 12 hours, 16 if you can manage it, between your last meal of the day and your first meal of the next day. Your liver has to ‘wake up’ and do its processing work after each meal, and your body does better when it has down time, when it’s not busy digesting food. So no more snacking after dinner. There was talk about how to eat, meaning sit down, have a leisurely meal, hopefully with family and friends whenever possible. This also helps in digestion, and you’re less likely mindlessly eat, as can happen when you’re in front of the TV or the computer. And then, of course, there was talk about what to eat. There’s a school of thought, articulated by Michael Pollen, which says that we shouldn’t eat anything our grandmother wouldn’t recognize. I think we’re going to have to go back a bit further, because my Grandma probably eats, and ate back in the 50s, things that came out of boxes, etc. So this guest, Rebecca Katz, recommends eating real food, not derived food. So eat almonds, certainly, but she wasn’t a big fan of almond milk. She is a fan of cow or goat milk, but said that whole is likely better for you than lower fat options, because when the cream is skimmed from the milk, the natural sugars of the milk increase, and most of us get too much sugar in our diet, even if we don’t eat dessert. Also, full fat milk is more satisfying, which tends to mean less consumed. She also talked about some foods that are especially good for us, and included things I wouldn’t have thought to, like basil and mint. Who knew? It was all very interesting, and I came home and listened to it on my computer, since you can do those things these days. After listening, I went on Amazon and bought myself her cookbook, The Longevity Kitchen, which promises delicious, “age-busting” meals. It arrived a few days later, and I looked at it, but ended up putting it away rather than making anything right away.

Fast forward to yesterday, when Ted told me that he saw a recipe on Epicurious that looked good to him. I said if he’d email it to me, I’d get the ingredients. So he did…and guess what? It was a recipe from the cookbook that I had just bought. Probably not a shock to you by this point, but it was pretty coincidental, no? So, I made the recipe, and Ted took a picture with his new phone, and here we are.

Braised Chicken with Artichokes and Olives

Ingredients

• 8 organic boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds), trimmed of excess fat*
• Sea salt**
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• Generous pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 cinnamon stick, or 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cups organic chicken broth, homemade or ?store-bought***
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup canned chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and mixed with a spritz of lemon juice and a pinch of salt****
• 8 thawed frozen or jarred artichoke hearts, quartered*****
• 1/2 cup pitted green olives, such as picholine or manzanilla
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint or cilantro

Directions
Pat the chicken dry and season salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or heavy soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, working in batches if necessary, and cook until well browned on each side, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.Decrease the heat to medium. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and sauté until soft and slightly golden, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the turmeric, cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour in 1/4 cup of the broth to deglaze the pot, stirring to loosen any bits stuck to the pot. Stir in a pinch of salt and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in the remaining 1 3/4 cups of broth, the lemon zest, and 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice. Decrease the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the chicken, chickpeas, artichoke hearts, and olives and stir gently to combine. Increase the heat to medium-high and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of lemon juice. Taste; you may want to add another squeeze of lemon juice or pinch of salt. Garnish with the mint.

The result was a mighty tasty meal! And now, we’re going to live forever with very healthy organs, right? Oh, perhaps we’ll make a few more recipes from the cookbook, what do you think?

* I bought 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. I don’t go for the skinless boneless chicken very often, because they lack flavor and dry out. I should have bought 8, because then we would have more leftovers.
** No sea salt in the house, so I used kosher.
*** Store bought, not organic, but I did go salt free.
**** 1 cup of chickpeas? I didn’t see that until I had already put the whole can in. Another reason why it’s too bad I didn’t buy more chicken. Though the veggies might be nice on their own, actually.
*****8 artichoke hearts? Maybe if I were using fresh (as if, they’re generally $2 each for artichokes, and I’m not paying $16 for the veggie component in my chicken dish). I used a box of frozen. They were halved and quartered, so who knows…maybe there were only 8. No idea.

Totally cheating here, because this is a different cake. But I like the fact that it’s in a bundt cake shape, and I think that would be a pretty presentation for this cake as well.  Ted made it in a square pan, as requested by the recipe.  Maybe the cake is too dense and moist for a bundt cake pan, I don’t know.  I found the photo here.

I mentioned the lovely Apple Cake that Ted made for Valentine’s Day, and the world sat up and took notice.   Since you’ve behaved, I’m rewarding you by posting the recipe here.  Ted found it here.  The author of the blog says she adapted the recipe from the original.  I googled ‘Hood River Fresh Apple Cake’, and found the original.  The differences are in the spices used, and the original calls for shortening instead of butter. The notes are from the page where Ted found the recipe. We halved the recipe, as she suggests. I’m planning to bring this to Thanksgiving dinner this year.

Hood River Fresh Apple Cake

Adapted from “The Four-Star American Community Cookbook,” edited by Anne Patterson Dee. (I usually halve this and bake it in a 9-inch-square pan. The original recipe calls for only cinnamon, but I’m a more-is-better spicer.)

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup soft butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 cups chopped cooking apples*
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugar, butter and egg. Whisk together flour, baking soda, spices and salt and blend in. Add apples and nuts and mix well. Scrape into buttered 9-inch-square pan and bake 40 to 45 minutes. Just before serving, combine all sauce ingredients but vanilla in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and add vanilla. Pour over individual squares of cake. Serves 10 to 12.

This was really delicious. Moist, sweet, and yummy.

* We used the 2-1-1 tart to sweet ratio that we used in the applesauce for Hanukkah. Two tart apples, and two different types of sweet apples. Don’t know if that was needed in this recipe or not, but the cake was delicious, so why not?

I went to the store the other day, in need of a new pair of jeans.  I have a certain brand and cut that I like, and alas, they are phasing that cut out.  No big pile with four washes from which to choose, which is how it was the last time I went to the store.   So I looked all over, dug through pile after pile, and the only pair I found was 7 sizes too big.  Rats.  Every other pair in the store was a stupid low rise cut, meaning I can’t bend over without people knowing what kind of underwear I have on.  I don’t like that, and I doubt anyone who would be forced to see my crack would like it, either.  I’m not a plumber.  When I came home, I tried the online store, and look, they still have them!  Plus, a coupon for 30% off!  So I get my jeans, and save money.  I hope I don’t regret only buying one pair.  Perhaps I should have bought two.  But since they’re going away, I kind of think it might be a good idea to look around and see what else is out there.

There has been a constant drip drip drip coming from our bathroom vanity, and our water bill went up this last time.  Neither Ted nor I are plumbers (as I mentioned above), nor do we play one on TV, but at the same time, a drippy faucet seems like it should be solvable without calling a plumber and paying $75.  Friday was my day off, and Ted replaced our bathroom shower head a few months ago, so I felt like, perhaps, if he can do it, I might be able to do it, too.  I looked online, and saw a video that showed how to remove the faucet, but blurred through the complicated inner workings.  Mostly it said, take it apart, take the parts with you to the hardware store to match them correctly, then come home and put them back in where you found them, and voila, problem solved.  Well, that’s a mighty optimistic telling of how it could go, isn’t it?  I was able to get it pulled partially apart, but not completely.  I wasn’t sure whether to fight it and break it, or if maybe I needed a tool.  So I took some pictures and went to the hardware store.  There, they told me that it was difficult to disassemble because of hard water deposits, and I should just yank on it.  OK.  Back home, and now Ted’s here (he was out giving Maya a driving lesson on the freeways, which I am happy enough to miss…they make me nervous), so he just gives the darned thing one yank, and off it comes.  Yay for big man strength!  Back to the hardware store I go, with the spigot or whatever it’s called, but I didn’t bring the washer.  So they sell me what they think might fit, and back home I go.  I put it back together, with Ted’s help, though again, neither of us are plumbers.  Get everything put back together, turn the water on, and out it comes…even though the spigot is turned off.  Not working at all.  Drats.  Turn it off.  Take it apart.  Look at the washer, which has a hole that is slightly bigger than the hole in the original washer.  I wonder if that matters.  I don’t know.  Back to the hardware store I go, this time with my worn out parts, where they dig around and find yet another kit, with a washer that looks much more like mine than the first one.  Back home. Put it together.  Run water.  No better.  What’s wrong?  Could it be that I have the spring/washer combination put together backwards?  Ted pulls apart the other side of the sink to see, and yes, it does indeed appear that way.  So we try it again.  YAYYY!! This time, it worked.  No more dripping faucet.  No more wondering how much it’s costing me to have it drip, and thinking about the dry January we’ve had, and thus far, dry February as well, so the guilt of wasted water.  And it only cost me $3, four hours, and 3 trips to the hardware store.

Lots of construction around here, jackhammering apart our swimming pool. That was fun. Working from home has its benefits, but listening to someone jackhammer your pool for 5 continuous hours is not one of them. After they tore it apart, thankfully, they put it back together, re-tiled, re-plastered, and filled it with water. Then, walking by the other day, there’s this new sign. WTF? The thing is, even though we live in a condo complex, which is sort of private property, it is not one person’s property. So the pool is subject to all kind of county regulations. Like when they made us add new tiles a year or two ago, to add ‘ft’ to the ’4′ and ’6′ on the sides of the pool. Homeowner money had to go to adding signs to tell us that it was feet, not meters, even though diving isn’t allowed anyway. Frustrating. Anyway, I’m assuming that the sign is a county regulation, so we have no choice but to put it up, no matter how disgusting it is to walk past every day.

Awhile ago I mentioned that I have an avocado tree that needs a bigger pot.  I had contemplated going and asking some people down the street if they’d be interested in selling me their lovely blue glazed planters, and I actually did knock on their door once, but they didn’t answer.  I’ve noticed more often lately that even when people are home, they sometimes just don’t answer the door.  That’s their right, I suppose, but I find it a bit odd.  Anyway, I considered leaving them a note with my phone number, but after knocking, I went and played a bit with the planters, and GOSH they were heavy.  I tried to imagine them with a small tree inside, and I lost my will.  So on the first of my three trips to the hardware store yesterday, I picked up a huge plastic planter and a bag of potting soil, and after we finished fixing the faucet, I re-potted the avocado.  My fantasy is that someday we’ll get fruit off of it, but I’m not getting my hopes up too high.

Valentine’s Day can be a busy, horrid day to eat in a restaurant. There are three days that I do NOT like going to restaurants in a year, and they are: 1. Valentine’s Day 2. Mother’s Day 3. New Year’s Eve. Too crowded; special, expensive menus; harried service; grumpy customers, due to the first three items, plus you probably had a reservation and still had to wait 45 minutes for a table. We don’t go out to eat on any of these days. But we do celebrate, which means some kind of yummy feast. February is mid to late winter, which is prime crab season in NorCal, so we decided to have one of our favorite meals…cracked crab roasted with garlic, butter, more garlic, and more butter, and noodles, with garlic, butter, olive oil, and a few more things. Gah, it was good. Ted had his beloved bok choy, and Maya and I had salad, as we do not belove bok choy. Then, to top it all off, Ted made an amazing apple cake that I think we’ll be having for Thanksgiving this year, because it was SO delicious. Really, really good.  If you behave, perhaps I’ll post the recipe for you.

Today I’m off to give blood.  Back in November when my grandma fell and broke herself up, she had to have some blood, and I’ve been meaning to do it since then.  Other weekend plans, holidays, and sore throats have foiled my best laid plans, but today I’m all clear.  Eat a big breakfast so I don’t pass out, go give blood, and then come home and maybe have a nap, which is usually just what I want after giving blood.  I’d like to see a movie this weekend, but I still have two more days, so no rush, right?  Nice.   OH, I forgot to tell you, my Grandma is home!  She’s healed well enough that she is now home again, no longer on the schedule of the nursing home, taking their pills and doing exercises, all of that.  I hope she keeps up some of the exercises…stronger muscles make for a less wobbly Grandma, one who is less likely to fall down and break anything.  What a relief!  Yay Grandma!

My lovely Grandma turned 90 last week, and on Sunday we celebrated with her in the care facility where she is recovering from the fall she took on Thanksgiving.  Hopefully, the x-ray she takes later this week will show that she is recovered enough so that she can go home.

For the party, I volunteered to bring the cake.  Grandma says her favorite cakes are fruit cake and chocolate cake.  I don’t know many people who like fruit cake, and I have no idea how to make it, so I opted for chocolate on chocolate love.  Then came the question, to make the cake from scratch, or use a box.  I vacillated on this one quite a bit.  The chocolate cake I made for Maya’s birthday last year turned out pretty well, but for some reason I just felt safer using a box mix.  I believe I’ve said before how much baking makes me nervous.  SO precise.  SO easy to end up with a dry, blah cake.  I didn’t want to risk that.  In the end, I decided to make a doctored up mix cake.  I remember my old roommate, Troy, used to add extra oil and an extra egg to cake mix, with moist, delicious results.  Here’s the recipe I used.

Darn Good Chocolate Cake (Cake Mix Cake)

Ingredients

• 1 box devil’s food cake mix
• 1 (4 oz) box instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• chocolate frosting

Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
Grease 2 9-inch round cake pans*. Dust with flour and tap out excess. Set pans aside.

In a large mixing bowl, blend all ingredients except the frosting on low for one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat for 2 – 3 more minutes on medium low. The batter will be very thick and should look well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans and smooth it out.

Bake for 27 to 32 minutes. Mine was ready in 29 minutes**.

Cool in pans for 20 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

*America’s Test Kitchen made a cake the other day, and they said to put some parchment paper in the bottom of your cake pan, and it comes out more cleanly. I did this, and the cake came out VERY Easily. However, I didn’t butter and flour the parchment paper, so it stuck to the cake. Oh well.

**A toothpick through the center of the cake came back with just a little gooey batter. I don’t like to wait until it’s completely clean, because the cake continues to cook a bit after you take it out of the oven, and it can turn out dry.

Aunt Flo, Grandma’s younger sister (by 16 months), Me, my cousin, Carey, and the Birthday Girl

Next came the frosting question.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to use canned frosting, doctor up some canned frosting, or make frosting from scratch.  I’ve read that adding a bit of vanilla to canned frosting can take it from blah to delicious quite easily, but I decided to go for scratch, as frosting is pretty easy to make.  Maybe.  At first I was going to make this recipe, which was the one recommended in the cake recipe.  But I don’t like to whisk in my cooking pots, as it scratches the non-stick surface of the pot, and the whole “DO NOT BOIL” warning made me nervous, and the ice bath thing seemed too worky for me.  So I abandoned that idea, and went instead for an America’s Test Kitchen frosting that you can make in the food processor.  I like that, because I don’t have a stand mixer.  I had to find the America’s Test Kitchen recipe elsewhere, because they require you to pay a subscription to access their older recipes.  The recipe says to use milk chocolate, but I had already bought semi-sweet, because that’s what the original recipe I was planning to use called for.  So I went with that.

Foolproof Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients

• 20 tablespoons (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened.
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• ¾ cup Dutch-processed cocoa
• Pinch table salt
• ¾ cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 ounces milk chocolate , melted and cooled slightly (see note)

Directions
In food processor, process butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt until smooth, about 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Add corn syrup and vanilla and process until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Scrape sides of bowl, then add chocolate and pulse until smooth and creamy, 10 to 15 seconds. Frosting can be used immediately or held (see note).

Makes 3 cups to frost one 9-inch 2-layer cake

NOTE from ATK: This frosting may be made with milk, semisweet, or bittersweet chocolate. For our Fluffy Yellow Layer Cake, we prefer a frosting made with milk chocolate. Cool the chocolate to between 85 and 100 degrees before adding it to the butter mixture. The frosting can be made 3 hours in advance. For longer storage, refrigerate the frosting, covered, and let it stand at room temperature for 1 hour before using.

I thought the frosting was perhaps too bitter, so I added a little bit more sugar. Grandma likes dark chocolate more than milk chocolate, though, so I hoped that the frosting wouldn’t taste too bitter on the cake. You know what? It didn’t. There was a lot of frosting, too, so I was able to cut the layers in half, and make four layer cake, which means more frosting. Have to remember that for Maya’s birthday, since she LOVES frosting.  One thing though, I might try a frosting recipe next time without the cocoa powder.  There’s something about that cocoa flavor that’s so distinctive, and if you don’t love it, it can really come on through.  It kind of did in the frosting.

What a yummy cake, what a lovely party, and what a wonderful Grandma. Happy Birthday Grandma, SO glad that we were able to celebrate with you. I hope you’re home in your house again, drinking the coffee YOU like, sitting in your favorite chair, smoking your favorite cigarettes, and watching your favorite TV shows, all on your own schedule, not the schedule of a facility where they tell you when to get up, when to bathe, when to eat, all of that.

(Maya looks gorgeous in this pic. That’s my handsome Uncle Forrest, my mom’s younger brother, in the background)

This is a sad, pathetic picture of a delicious, wonderful dinner. We scarfed it down too quickly for me to take a picture of the whole plate of chicken and veggies, so you get the leftovers in a cold bowl. Sorry.

One of my gifts for Christmas was the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. I was thrilled, because I’ve tried a few recipes from Deb’s blog, and I’ve enjoyed them quite a bit. Last night I decided to try my first recipe from the cookbook, and then I decided to pair it with another recipe from the cookbook. Why not, right? Because I’m nice that way, I suggest you try them. Then, when you’re finished sopping up every bite and wanting more, you might want to go buy her cookbook. Most of the recipes are not available on her blog, so don’t bother looking there.

Harvest Roast Chicken with Grapes, Olives, and Rosemary
Ingredients

• 3 lbs chicken parts (thighs, drumsticks, and/or breasts, depending on your light meat/dark meat preferences)
• Kosher salt (Deb says table, but I prefer kosher)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup seedless grapes
• 1 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 2 small shallots, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 tblsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 450.

Pat chicken and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in an ovenproof 12 inch heavy skillet (cast iron if you have it…mine is enameled cast iron, and I pink puffy heart it…truly) over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Working in two batches, brown the chicken, skin side down first and turning over once.

After you’ve browned the chicken, return to the pan, and surround with grapes, olives, and shallots. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast the chicken until it has just cooked through, about 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken, grapes, and olives to a platter, then add wine and broth o the pan. Bring to a boil, and reduce by half. Pour over chicken, garnish with rosemary, and serve.

Wow, was that good. I mean, really, really good. I was tempted to add a pat of butter when reducing the sauce, just because what’s not better with butter? I resisted the urge for the purity of the recipe, and wow, it did not need the butter. Really, really good.

I accompanied the chicken with another recipe from the cookbook, which Maya said she liked EVEN MORE than the chicken, which she loved.

Roasted Fingerling and Carrot Coins
Ingredients

• 2 lbs fingerling potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch ‘coins’
• 2 lbs large carrots (you want them about the same circumference as the potatoes if you can find them), peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch ‘coins’
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 2 tblsp minced fresh dill, or herb of your choice (I used rosemary, to match the chicken

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
(I used the same 450 oven from the chicken recipe)

Generously coat 2 large baking sheets with olive oil. (I used 1.5 lbs each potatoes and carrots, and put them on one sheet rather than two.) Spread the vegetables out on the prepared sheets and drizzle them with remaining olive oil before seasoning them with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes before using a large spatula to flip the vegetables.

Roast for another 10 to 15 minutes, until they are brown and crisp at the edges. The potatoes should be soft and tender inside, the carrots soft but not mushy.

Remove from the oven. Season with additional salt and pepper, if needed, then sprinkle with herbs and serve.

Mine didn’t get brown, probably because I roasted them in too hot of an oven. Or perhaps because I didn’t measure my oil, and used too much. Either way, they were really, really good.

Give these a try, then consider getting yourself the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.

I may have mentioned that Ted is now working for a small local company, writing, directing, and editing a show called, “Fresh From the Farmers’ Market”. The show spotlights the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market, and plays on a local station on Sundays at 4:30. They did a Hanukkah show, and one of the things they talk about is applesauce. From listening to the show over and over again (Ted edits the show at his desk, which is right next to my work desk, all in our bedroom. Bad feng shui, I know, having your office in your bedroom. Worse feng shui would be being homeless because I don’t have a job.), I learned that the proper apple ratio for making applesauce is 2-1-1. That is, 2 tart apples, and 2 different sweet apples. I know I’ve mentioned this before. Sorry. Anyway, Saturday was the first night of Hanukkah, so we decided to celebrate with a feast…Roast Chicken, latkes, applesauce, sour cream, green beans. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to just use the apples and cook them down, though of course I know that’s healthiest. I wanted a bit more for my applesauce, so I went looking online. I found an Ina Garten recipe, but it called for butter, which seemed really strange in applesauce. Butter? I pink puffy heart butter, but in its own time and place. Not sure that applesauce is the right place. So I found another recipe that looked pretty good. It didn’t say anything about a 2-1-1 ratio, but otherwise it had what I was looking for. So I went for it. Ready? Here’s the recipe.

Applesauce

Ingredients

• 3 to 4 lbs of peeled, cored, and quartered apples. (Make sure you use a good cooking apple like Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Granny Smith, Fuji, Jonathan, Mcintosh, or Gravenstein.) (J’s note…go for the mixture of tart and sweet.  It rocks.)
• 4 strips of lemon peel – use a vegetable peeler to strip 4 lengths
• Juice of one lemon, about 3-4 Tbsp
• 3 inches of cinnamon stick
• 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar
• up to 1/4 cup of white sugar (J’s note – I didn’t use any white sugar.  The 1/4 cup of brown was plenty, along with the sweetness of the apples.)
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Method

1. Put all ingredients into a large pot. Cover. Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
2. Remove from heat. Remove cinnamon sticks and lemon peels. Mash with potato masher.  (J’s note – I put the apples in the food processor.  There was a bit more liquid than I wanted, so I used a spoon to scoop the apples out and put them into the bowl of the processor.  There wasn’t a LOT too much liquid, but a bit.)

Serve, cold, warm, or room temperature.

The result? Really, really good applesauce. We don’t eat a lot of applesauce around here, but I kind of think if we always had this around, we might. Delicious.

I’m not sure where I came across this recipe…actually, it wasn’t this exact recipe, it was another, but then I found this one, and I liked it even more, because it doesn’t have sage. I’m not a huge fan of sage. I like it in small doses (like in a browned butter sauce for butternut squash ravioli, which actually might taste like this, so sage would probably be good), but not a ton. I’ve overdone the sage in the past, and regretted it.

But when I saw it, it sounded so nice and autumnal, plus pumpkin has a lot of vitamins and adds a creamy texture, so you need less cheese. Is that a good thing? Not sure. I love cheese. Anyone who doesn’t love cheese (barring medical reasons) is an idiot. But we’re big pumpkin and squash fans around here, so it seemed like it might be fun to try.

Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese
This macaroni and cheese uses canned pumpkin puree, adding an earthy flavor to the cheddar cheese sauce. We used canned pumpkin, but you could certainly uses homemade pumpkin puree. If you do decide to buy the puree, make sure you opt for the plain pumpkin puree and not the “pumpkin pie mix” can, often found next to it. The mac and cheese can be kept tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

Ingredients

• 1 16-ounce box uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Method

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook macaroni as directed on package. (Usually between 7 and 10 minutes).
3. While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour and cook while stirring, 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in milk. Place back onto heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer and stir 1 minute until thickened.
4. Stir in salt, pepper, nutmeg, mustard and pumpkin puree. Add 2 cups of cheese then cook, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted.
5. Drain macaroni. Add macaroni into cheese sauce and stir until coated.
6. You could serve the macaroni and cheese now, or bake in the oven with extra cheese. To bake in the oven, pour into a 3-quart casserole dish then top with remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.
7. Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Results? It was good, and you don’t really taste the pumpkin. If you’re looking for a way to make mac and cheese more healthy, lighten it up, add some vitamins, all of that? This is an excellent way to do it. Really really good. Trying to sneak veggies into your kids’ mouths? This is a good way to do it. Far better than the box stuff. But it was just missing something. Not as rich and delicious as Thomas Jefferson’s recipe. That’s the very very best mac and cheese, in my book. But still, this was pretty darned good.

I adore pomegranates, but truth be told, I seldom buy them. They’re expensive, $2.50 or more each, and they’re a lot of work. While I’m at the store I might think, “Sure, I’ll de-seed it, and we can snack on the seeds, or I can put them in a salad, or whatever…” But then, the expensive fruit ends up just sitting there, not getting eaten, because none of us obtain the wherewithal to deal with them. Until now.

On Saturday, Ted and I went into San Francisco in search of some specific walnuts to make a walnut pie for Thanksgiving (Franquette, which are rumored to have the best walnut flavor) at the Farmers’ Market there. Unfortunately, the walnut lady had stayed home due to rain, and we ended up getting plain old black walnuts. No worries, I’m sure they’ll be lovely in our pie. While we were looking around at the different offerings of the Market, I came across a booth with HUGE pomegranates, selling for $1 each. Even knowing my proclivity for laziness regarding extricating seeds, I couldn’t pass up that deal. So I bought 2.

Do you listen to ‘Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me!’ on NPR? If not, you really should. Really, it’s hilarious and silly good fun, and sometimes you find yourself learning something useful as well. Each week they have a guest, and this week it was Martha Stewart, who, amongst other things, told them how to get seeds out of a pomegranate. Good timing, no? When she described it, I couldn’t quite picture how it would work, so I went to my trusty internet, and found a video. Yay, thanks Martha!

I tried it, and it worked SO very well. Now I have a LOT of pomegranate seeds, and I got to smack the heck out of the pomegranates in the process. All of those seeds, from only 2 pomegranates, can you imagine? (I left the bowl of little tangerines in the picture, so you could get a sense of what a BIG bowl of seeds I have.)  Yum.

Last week, I saw an episode of America’s Test Kitchen (registration required, but it’s free) where they took on an all time favorite of mine, baked potatoes. They showed a couple of different ways that people salt bake potatoes, one with egg whites and salt, one where they entirely cover the potato in salt, and then the winning recipe, where you simply put the potato on a bed of salt, and then bake it, covered in foil. They purpose of the salt is that it makes the potato light and fluffy inside, with lots of potato flavor. I was intrigued and knew I had to try it. Happily, Ted’s brother invited us over for a dinner party on Saturday, and said he was making steak, could we bring a side dish. Kismit.

Salt-Baked Potatoes with Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Butter
Serves 4

Kosher or table salt can be used in this recipe. The salt can be strained to remove solid bits and reused for this recipe. The potatoes can be prepared without the roasted garlic butter and topped with other garnishes such as sour cream, chives, crumbled bacon, and/or shredded cheese.
Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups plus 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 russet potatoes, scrubbed and dried
• 2 sprigs plus 1/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
• 1 whole head garlic, outer papery skin removed and top quarter of head cut off and discarded
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Spread 2 1/2 cups salt in even layer in 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Gently nestle potatoes in salt, broad side down, leaving space between potatoes. Add rosemary sprigs and garlic, cut side up, to baking dish. Cover baking dish with foil and crimp edges to tightly seal. Bake 1 1/4 hours; remove pan from oven. Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees.
2. Carefully remove foil from baking dish. Remove garlic and set aside to cool. Brush exposed portion of each potato with 1 teaspoon oil. Return uncovered baking dish to oven and bake until potatoes are tender when pierced with tip of paring knife and skins are glossy, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, once garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze root end until cloves slip out of their skins. Using fork, mash garlic, butter, 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt (or pinch table salt) and minced rosemary to smooth paste. Remove any clumped salt from potatoes (holding with kitchen towel if necessary), split lengthwise, top with portion of butter, and serve immediately.

The verdict? Really, really good potatoes. They were fluffy and delicious. They didn’t shrink away from the skin, like sometimes potatoes are want to do. I made the garlic butter, but I forgot to add any rosemary or salt to the butter. It was really good and had a mellow garlic flavor. Still, my favorite way to eat potatoes is plain butter, sour cream, and a little salt and pepper, so I might skip the garlic butter next time. The one thing I was unsure about was how much sodium is absorbed into the potato through the skin. There were a few people at the dinner party who are watching their sodium levels, so I made regular baked potatoes for them. Mmmm. Potatoes.

This last week I was trying to think of a nice side dish to serve with a lovely grilled lemon chicken recipe, and for some reason, I thought, ‘rice salad’. Rice salad isn’t an idea that I come up with too often. Generally we have straight rice, or potatoes, that sort of thing. A few weeks ago I took some leftover salmon and made a lunch out of it, tossing it with a few other ingredients, and I decided to throw some leftover rice in there, and it was delicious…so I thought I’d give it a try. Did a quick internet search, and found a Lentil and Rice Salad from Giada on the FoodNetwork website. It was quite lovely, though it made quite a bit…after we finished the chicken, there was still enough left for lunch for two for two more days. Delicious, and I’m pretty sure it was healthy as well. Give it a try, if you’re so inclined.

Lentil and Rice Salad
Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/4 cups dried green lentils
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth, plus 2 cups
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan. Add the carrot, onion, and garlic and saute until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lentils. Add 2 1/2 cups of broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer gently until the lentils are just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well. Transfer the lentils to a large bowl.

Meanwhile, bring the remaining 2 cups broth and bay leaf to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the rice and return the broth to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently over low heat until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes (do not stir the rice as it cooks). Remove the saucepan from the heat. Fluff the rice with a large fork. Transfer to the bowl with the lentils. Add the olives, parsley, thyme, and lemon peel. Toss the rice mixture with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil to coat. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Way back in 2007, a friend of mine mailed me a newspaper clipping with a recipe for fresh tomato sauce, knowing (from my blog) of my love of tomatoes and pasta and cooking, via this very blog. It was fun getting a recipe in the mail, but the butter scared me, so I never tried it. Since then, I found a very similar recipe on Smitten Kitchen, and was intrigued. But again, never tried it.

On Sunday, I went to our local farmers’ market, and picked up maybe 5 lbs of slightly overripe tomatoes. My favorite thing to do with overripe tomatoes is to make tomato sauce. My only problem with tomato sauce is that so many recipes actually work better with canned tomatoes, because they have more depth of flavor. So I paged through my newly organized recipe book (SO happy to have finally gotten control of that unwieldy beast) and came across the recipe sent to me lo, those many years ago. It’s not exactly the same as the one referenced on Smitten Kitchen, but I decided to stick with it, thinking that the fresh tomatoes in this recipe might call for a few differences from the canned tomato cousin, such as salt, sugar, and more butter.

The result? A truly silky and lush tomato sauce. I LOVED it. Ted and Maya seemed happy enough, they ate, they smiled, they made appropriate num num noises, but they didn’t seem as thrilled as I was. The good thing about being the one who does most of the cooking in the house? We’ll be having this again, maybe with canned tomatoes in the winter. I loved it with the fresh, though. There’s no link to the exact recipe I have, because I couldn’t find it online anymore. Bummer. Truly, esp. if you use canned, this is the easiest tomato sauce recipe you’ve ever tried, outside of opening a jar of Ragu. And SO much better.

Fresh Tomato Sauce
Ingredients

• 2 lbs fresh tomatoes, peeled and seeded
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
• 1 medium onion, halved
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• pinch of granulated sugar

Crush tomatoes with your hands as you add them to a medium saucepan (messy), adding juice as well. Add butter, onion, salt, and sugar. Cook at a slow but steady simmer, uncovered, until fat separates from the tomatoes and forms a thin layer on top of the sauce, about 45 minutes. Discard onion. Taste and add salt, if needed. Toss with pasta, and serve.

Points…I was afraid of too much butter, seeing as how my recipe was different from the original. Not to worry. It was amazing. Also, if you have fresh plum tomatoes, maybe it takes less time. If you have canned (Italian best) tomatoes, maybe it takes less time. But if you have whatever the overripe tomatoes are available at the Farmers’ Market, they may be more watery, and may take longer to get to the point of the fat separating from the rest of the sauce. Don’t rush it. The sauce was OK before this point, but having arrived at that point, and tossed with pasta, it was delicious. Lastly, to cheese or not to cheese. I believe it was Smitten Kitchen who said she adores cheese, but it doesn’t really belong here. She loves it with cheese, but loves it MORE without. I’m not sure I agree. I loved it both ways, but somehow, like butter makes everything better? So does a little Parmigiano-Reggiano. Later this winter, I’ll try to canned tomato version, with less butter, no salt, no sugar. But for now, late summer/early autumn? YUM.

Yesterday was one of those days when I found myself thinking, “What in the heck are we going to have for dinner? I have no ideas.” So I clicked on over to Yahoo Shine Foods, which has been known in the past to give me an idea or two. They had a recipe for chicken braised in tomato which sounded pretty interesting, but the link didn’t go anywhere. So I did a little google search for chicken braised in tomato, and I found this recipe, from Food Network. I liked the idea of cumin and cinnamon in the sauce, and it looked fairly simple, so I decided we’d try it.

Braised Chicken Thighs and Legs with Tomato
Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons canola oil
• 6 chicken thighs
• 6 chicken legs
• Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoons chili flakes
• 1 large white onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 large ginger knob, peeled and grated
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and halved lengthwise
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole, peeled tomatoes
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 4 fresh or dried bay leaves
• Water, as needed

Directions
Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over high heat. Arrange the chicken thighs and legs on a tray in a single layer and season them with salt, to taste. Turn the pieces on their other side and season again. When the oil begins to smoke lightly, carefully add the chicken to the oil. Do not overcrowd the pan. Resist the temptation to move or turn the pieces. Allow them to brown on their first side, about 3 to 5 minutes. Use metal tongs to turn the chicken pieces to sear their second side, about 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a tray and set it aside.

In the same skillet, add the cumin seeds and chili flakes, stirring rapidly to give them a quick toast, about 10 to 15 seconds. Add the onions, ginger and garlic and stir to combine. Season the ingredients with salt, to taste, then add the tomatoes, cinnamon, and bay leaves. Allow the mixture to cook and all the flavors to come together, about 10 minutes. Add the chicken back to the pan, keep the heat low and continue cooking until the chicken is cooked through, 30 to 45 minutes. (Chef’s note: If the sauce becomes overly thick or begins to stick to the bottom of the skillet, feel free to add some water, about 1/2 cup at a time.)

When the chicken is cooked through, remove and discard the cinnamon sticks and bay leaves. Taste for seasoning and transfer to a serving bowl.

The results? A pretty tasty dish. The spices were similar to those in Indian food, but not really curry. No turmeric, for example. We had it with rice and peas. Maya said she’d prefer it a bit less spicy next time, while Ted liked the heat of the red pepper flakes. Perhaps next time I’ll put in 1/2 the amount, and then put more on the table for those who want more heat.  This recipe is a keeper, and made its way into my newly organized recipe binder, where I put all of these recipes that don’t come from cookbooks.  Yum.

Everyone has their preferences when it comes to meal time.  I don’t like bok choy much, Ted does.  I don’t like mangoes, Ted and Maya do.   I like raisins, Ted doesn’t, Maya’s undecided.  That sort of thing.  When it comes to meal planning, I try to take everyone’s likes and dislikes into consideration, though sometimes someone has to suck it up and eat the green beans.  Often, if either Ted or Maya isn’t home for dinner, I’ll try to make something that the absent family member doesn’t enjoy, but the others do.  When Maya was in L.A. a few weeks ago, we had linguine and clams one night, steak and green beans another.

One thing Ted’s not fond of is the whole “Breakfast for Dinner” concept.  Once in awhile he’ll go for an omelet at dinner time, but those days are rare, and usually have to do with being very hungry and not wanting to wait for something else to cook.  So the other night, when Ted had to go into the city for several hours (partly to film his online talk show, “American Liberal”…you can watch here!), Maya and I decided to have breakfast at dinner.  Maya’s sort of like her dad on this one, in that she doesn’t want sweet…no pancakes or waffles for dinner, though she loves them for breakfast.  Go figure.  So we made eggs, which for me meant scrambled eggs with a bit of Parmesan on top, and for Maya meant a ham and cheese omelet.  Delicious.

Here’s Maya’s omelet. Yummy, no?  Ignore my plates.  Those are our ‘everyday’ plates, which we registered for and received as a wedding gift almost 20 years ago.  I liked them then, and I don’t HATE them now, but I’m tired of them.  Do you think it would be tacky to register for a new set for our 20th anniversary?  Yes?  Hell yes?  Drats.  I think maybe we’ll buy ourselves a new set for our 20th anniversary, then, and save these for when Maya moves out someday.  I’m thinking something classic and crisp white.

Here’s my scrambled eggs.  I saw a recipe (more tips) on Yahoo a week or two ago, from one of the America’s Test Kitchen cooks.  I’ve been following the tips ever since, and my eggs have never been fluffier or creamier.  Delicious.  By the way, notice the wine in the picture.  It’s dinner time, so I’m having a glass of wine.  I’ve had wine with omelets before, and with quiche, so I thought it would go well with the eggs.  Blech.  Perhaps because the eggs were soft, and it was a texture thing?  I don’t know.  I quickly put the wine away for later, and had a glass of water instead.

If you’re interested in how to make luscious scrambled eggs, and in case you don’t know already, here are her tips:

Fat is Good
Forgive me scrambled egg white lovers, but this is where we part. An extra yolk or two (depending on how many eggs you’re making) and some half and half add luscious, rich texture to the eggs. More importantly, the extra fat prevents the eggs from becoming tough. So go ahead and thank an egg yolk today.*

Scramble… Just Enough
A light scrambling with a fork–just until the eggs are combined and pure yellow–is enough. Don’t take your frustrations out on the poor eggs and they will stay nice and tender for you.

Shrink the Pan
Don’t let those eggs spread out in a thin layer. Switch out the 12-inch skillet for a 10-inch one–nonstick if you want to get the eggs out of the pan. That thicker layer of egg is harder to overcook.

Get High, Then Get Low
I’m not talking about mood swings here. Starting the eggs in a medium-high skillet will create steam, which in turn makes for large, fluffy curds of scrambled eggs. After they’re just set, reduce the heat so that they don’t overcook. It’s pretty foolproof.

*I didn’t put in an extra yolk, nor half and half.  I had 1% milk, which makes them creamy.  I read somewhere that milk means creamy, and a bit of water means fluffy.  I’ll go creamy over fluffy any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Perhaps if I were scrambling more than two eggs, I’d try the extra yolk thing.

Give these tips a try, and ignore the idiots who say that eggs are as bad for you as smoking.   Clearly a flawed study.  I’ve seen contradictory studies that say that there’s no real difference in the health of egg eaters and non-egg eaters, done over more time with more participants.  So there.