I Love Chips...Oven-Baked!

As seen on The Fruit Guys website.

We love chips.

As I've mentioned before, I don't deep-fry foods very often. My fear is that I'll end up deep-frying everything, including candy bars at all hours of the day and night. Because of this homemade chips were seemingly out of my repertoire of dishes.

At about age two, my daughter Isabella was ready to eat all sorts of foods. I knew I had one shot at getting her to love all manner of root veggies. I chose oven-frying as my cooking method. As one of my sisters said "sure, you can get a kid to eat cardboard if you put some olive oil and salt on it and roast it until it's crispy."

She was right.

Isabella eats all manner of root veggies, prepared in any number of ways. She loves a good roasted veggie, especially brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes.

Oven-Baked Potato  Chips

This recipe will work for any root veggie: potatoes, brussels sprouts, sunchokes or carrots. 

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 to 6 potatoes
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Thoroughly scrub the potatoes to remove any grit.
• Slice the potatoes into thin even slices.
• Pour the olive oil onto a baking sheet.
• Place the potato slices on the oiled sheet. Mix them around to coat all of the slices evenly with the oil.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Cook in the oven for 15 minutes.
• They are done when the chips turn a nice golden brown.

Cook’s note:  To slice the potatoes you can use either a mandolin slicer or the slicer blade on your food processor. And, cutting them by hand is perfectly fine, just make them as thin as possible and make sure the chips are about the same thickness to avoid burning.

French Toast for All

My daughter loves french toast. When she was about 6 years old, she got a kids cookbook for her birthday. I had never successfully made french toast when she asked me if we could give the recipe in her book a try.

I was worried that it wouldn't work out, but she was very encouraging. So I persevered, and we made the recipe. Imagine my delight (and hers, too) when three perfect slices emerged from the pan on the stove. I still remember my feeling of relief (and pride) tha I have managed to master french toast.  Although I do cook a lot, I have certain things that always give me trouble: baking, frozen veggies and, until that day, french toast.

7 years later, I'm an old pro, even breaking out french toast for an early morning school day treat. I've even made it for myself using almond or rice milk and gluten-free bread. Take that difficult recipe....I have triumphed!

French Toast for One

Ingredients:

• 1 Egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup Milk (you can use Rice or Almond Milk instead)
• 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 4 slices Bread (regular wheat bread, or gluten-free rice bread like Udi's)
• Butter for cooking

Method:

• In a shallow pie pan, mix all of the ingredients.
• Heat a flat griddle or pan on high heat.
• Soak each individual piece of bread until coated in the mixture.
• Lower the heat to medium, and add a pat of butter to the pan.
• Once the butter has melted, take one of your soaked pieces of bread to the pan.
• Cook on each side for about 2 minutes, turning the toast over only once you see the edges of the egg coating beginning to brown.
• Serve with maple syrup or powdered sugar.

*only the regular bread version is pictured, no gluten-free picture available!

Chili-Mac: Gluten-Free

I love chili. When my daughter was home sick with a stomach bug, I took the opportunity to break out the chili fixin's for myself.

Weird thinking, I know, but when there is a bonus day off from work (not saying her being sick was a bonus, mind you), I feel inclined to go big with my cooking. She doesn't eat chili and said the cooking smells wouldn't bother her, so I figured since I had to make really bland stuff for her to eat, I'd make myself something extra spicy. I also made oven-roasted jalapeno peppers (recipe will be appearing shortly, needs some adjustments...). Clearly, I was not having any of the bland food myself.

For years now, I've been using a mix for the spices, from Carroll Shelby's Original Texas Chili Kit, which I highly recommend. There are no chemicals or weird fake-foods in the box, just cayenne pepper, corn masa flour, cumin, garlic, ground chili peppers, onion, oregano, paprika, salt. It's just easier to have everything put together for me, especially since I may not have all the ingredients on hand, most importantly, the corn masa which you use towards the end of cooking to thicken the chili.

I'd like to talk about chili-mac now. It's not a dish I grew up with. Maybe it did exist in NY, but it never made its way to me. The first time I encountered it, I was in southern Illinois with my then in-laws at Steak 'n Shake. It seemed to me like an ingenious combination. Why not use pasta as your vehicle of choice for chili? It's a pretty good combination of textures, and the cheese just sinks into the pasta every so nicely.

While I cooked the chili, I looked around for some corn tortillas to serve it with, only to come up empty. Instead, I chose a rice pasta as my base for the chili, making this the first time I've made chili-mac in my own kitchen. There is no cheese in this version, as I'm primarily dairy-free (except for butter, can't leave that behind), but you should feel free to add some nice sharp cheddar and maybe even some sour cream to finish off this great dish.

Gluten-free Chili-Mac

Ingredients:

• 1 box  Carroll Shelby's Original Texas Chili Kit (or the chili spices of your choice)
• 4 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 Shallots, finely minced
• 1 pound Ground Beef (or Ground Turkey)
• 1 8 ounce can Tomato Sauce
• 1 cup Water
• 1 can Black Beans, drained
• 1/2 pound cooked Rice Pasta (I use Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta)

Method:

1. Heat a large non-reactive pot over high heat.
2. Add the olive oil and half of the minced shallots.
3. Cook for 1 minutes. Add the ground meat.
4. Brown on all sides, about 15 minutes of cooking time.
5. Drain the fat from the pan.
6. Add the tomato sauce, water and spices.
7. Cook for ten minutes. Add the drained black beans.
8. Slightly cover the pot. Cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
9. While the chili is cooking, take the masa flour and mix with 1/3 cup warm water.
10. Add to the chili to thicken it. Make sure the corn masa flour is not clumping in the chili, break it up with a fork as you stir it into the mix.
11. Cook for five more minutes.
12. Place the prepared pasta into individual serving bowls.
13. Top with chili (and cheese, if you're into that).
14. Serve and enjoy!

Spring = Salad....Salad Dressings Galore

As  featured on The Fruit Guys website

Salad dressing has been on my mind lately. I think it's a sure sign of Spring, what with all the nice greens beginning to show up in the farmer's markets.

In my head, I keep hearing my brother singing a song he made up "All My Dressings", but I can't remember the rest of it. I think this was something he started singing to one of his many nieces and nephews or his kids as pre-dinner entertainment. Salad dressing and I were never best friends. The reappearance of my brother Chris' song, has, however, prompted me to think some more about dressings. I generally like an undressed (naked, if you will) salad. I'm not sure why I have this aversion to dressing, it certainly has nothing to do with calories. There was a time when I did like dressing. I do remember a good vinaigrette that Gran Fran and Joe would make which I ate when we were kids. That said, I'm beginning to wonder if all of the packaged dressings that people offer me are the turn off. There are too many flavors mixed in that take over the taste of the lovely greens.

I set myself a mission: to find not one, not two, but three dressings that I could rotate through my salads. This coincided perfectly with my recent thinking about how to increase the flavor in my salads. In combination with adding fruits, nuts and sometimes rice noodles to my salads, dressing seems the next logical step to bring up the flavor.

A mustard vinaigrette dressing always plays a part in my Salade Nicoise. I know that I can use that same dressing on any number of salads, or even over some warm boiled potatoes. One down, two to go.

Cole Slaw is a big favorite of mine, especially my homemade version. The dressing doesn't have to be exclusively for cabbage, even though it goes so well with it. I figured I could try it with a heartier green, like spinach, add some cucumbers, nuts and shredded carrots and have myself a great salad. I was right.

Dressing number three came to me in my half-sleep the other day, just waking up after a long night of dreaming about food. Those dreams paid off because I came up with an Asian-style dressing that includes orange juice, ginger and sesame oil. A winner when put over romaine lettuce with rice noodles, almonds and orange slices.

I think the vinaigrette and the Asian-style dressing can double as a good marinade for meats, too. So looking forward to trying them out on a variety of salads and reporting back!

My friends came to dinner the night after I made these dressings. It was really great to be able to say, for once, that I did have not one, but three dressings to offer them. They were all a big hit. I'm going to think up a few more dressings before too long. I think I actually *do* like dressing.

Mustard Vinaigrette

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 1 clove garlic minced finely
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• Whisk together all of the ingredients in a small bowl, using either a small wire whisk or a fork to fully incorporate all the ingredients

Use this vinaigrette on everything from a side dinner salad to a salade nicoise.

Creamy Salad Dressing

serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• ¼ teaspoon celery salt
• Black pepper to taste

Method:

1. Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Refrigerate for 20 minutes, or up to overnight.
3. Add your favorite salad and enjoy.

You can make a traditional cole slaw just by adding two cups of shredded cabbage and some julienned carrots. Or, simply pour some dressing over well-washed spinach, cucumbers, carrots and sunflower seeds.

Asian-Style Dressing

serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 teaspoons sesame oil
• ½ teaspoon honey
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl.

This dressing is fantastic for a mixed green salad featuring hardy vegetables like red bell peppers and green beans.

You can also add rice noodles to showcase the dressing’s flavor and some cilantro as garnish.

Featured: Dailybuzz Healthy Living, Granola

Hey, Dailybuzz Healthy Living! Thanks for the post today.I enjoyed making this granola so much that it's becoming a weekly event around here.

Check out everyone's granola-goodness as featured here.

What a way to start the day :)

Featured: Hot and Sour Soup: America's Test Kitchen Feed

Check it out!

I sent in a photo of the my version of American's Test Kitchen's Hot and Sour Soup and it's featured today! So cool.

And, please, please, please won't you make this soup? I know there are lots of steps, bit it's so worth it. Here's the recipe.

Thanks for the feature, I think it'll be a pretty good week.

Woo-hoo!

It's Almost Easter....Time to Boil Eggs

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you'll know that I've written about boiled eggs a few times already. I feel the need to get this post out there at Easter time, when the boiled egg is the centerpiece of any good Easter egg hunt.

So, it's a lot of the same, as my method for egg boiling does not change, but I tried to give you some new pictures to ponder this time. I'll post the dyed eggs as soon as they are ready!

Perfect Boiled Eggs

from Julia Child's How To Cook Everything

makes 12 eggs

Ingredients:

• 1 dozen eggs
• 3 and 1/2 quarts of water
• 1 Large Stockpot

Method:

• Lay the eggs in the pan and dd the cold water.
• Set over high heat and bring just to a boil.
• Remove from heat, cover pan, and let sit exactly 17 minutes.
• After the 17 minutes, transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice cubes and water.
• Chill for 2 minutes.
• (This next step, I do not do, but Julia does, so I am including it here: Transfer the eggs to the boiling water again and let boil for 10 minutes. Return the eggs to the ice water, craking the shells in several places.)
• Chill the eggs in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Kale. Who Knew It Could Be This Easy?

Spring is here. At least in SF. It's got to be close to 70 degrees here with lovely clear, blue skies. A perfect day for a walk over to our local farmer's market.

There was a nice kale salad in our lunch this past week, so I decided to try my hand at cooking some. I've used kale in soups before, but never any other way.

Many varieties of kale showed up this week at the farmer's market. I got some and then stared it in on my kitchen counter for a good long time. I realized that I had no idea what to do with it. Since it seems very fibrous, braising seemed like a good idea. Then I remembered how we always cooked sausages in boiling red wine before putting them into the tomato sauce when I was growing up. Maybe red wine was the way to go.

It most certainly is the way to go with kale. I don't know if there are purists out there who have a particular right way to cook these hearty leaves, but I recommend that you give the red wine a try.

Once I had the kale cooked down, I thought I'd try two different final dishes with it. I served it alongside boiled potatoes straight from the pan with some of the braising liquid and garlic.

And, I made a pesto-style preparation, by pureeing the cooked kale, garlic and braising liquid in the food processor. Both were good, but I preferred the pesto-style, since I'd never tasted kale this way before.

Red Wine-Braised Kale with Boiled Potatoes

• 1 bunch Kale (or Hearty Greens)
• 1 cup Red Wine
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, whole, skin removed
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 3 cups Potatoes, cubed and boiled

1. Wash Kale thoroughly in cool running water.
2. Set a large skillet over a burner turned to high-heat.
3. Add the oil and water.
4. Turn off the heat and add the wine.
5. Turn the heat back to high.
6. Add the Kale and garlic. It will run over the side of the pan at first. It shrinks to less than half it's original volume once it is cooked down.
7. Cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, until leaves are tender.
8. Serve over the boiled potatoes, being sure to scoop up some of the cooking liquid to pour over the potatoes.

Red Wine-Braised Kale Pesto with Boiled Potatoes

• 1 bunch Kale (or Hearty Greens)
• 1 cup Red Wine
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, whole, skin removed
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 3 cups Potatoes, cubed and boiled

1. Wash Kale thoroughly in cool running water.
2. Set a large skillet over a burner turned to high-heat.
3. Add the oil and water.
4. Turn off the heat and add the wine.
5. Turn the heat back to high.
6. Add the Kale and garlic. It will run over the side of the pan at first. It shrinks to less than half it's original volume once it is cooked down.
7. Cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, until leaves are tender.
8. Put the cooked Kale and its cooking liquid into a food processor.
9. Process until all leaves and stems have been chopped up and incorporated into a mixture.
10. Serve over the boiled potatoes.

A version of this recipe is featured on The Fruit Guys website.

My Love Affair with Anchovies (and Pasta)

I take it from the low traffic on my Anchovy Butter post day that most people aren't as enamored of anchovies as I am. If I could, I think I'd eat them everyday. I love the saltiness and the texture. The little bones kind of freak me out a bit, but if you get those salt-packed Italian ones, there are fewer of those to worry about.

Well, we grew up eating this Pasta with Anchovy dish. It makes a yearly appearance at Christmas during the Feast of the Seven Fishes. My friends just moved back to SF from NJ and their first request was a bowl of Pasta with Anchovy. It was my duty to oblige, especially because I can count on one hand (less than one hand, actually) those around me who would enjoy this dish with me.

As I was preparing to cook the anchovy filets, I recalled when my sister first made this dish for our family, probably when she was about 15 years old. She made the dish and set it on the table. She was pretty proud of herself. It was (and still is) a feat to serve Gran Fran one of her dishes made by yourself. Though there was a tough moment when some of the tiny bones in the 'chovies made themselves known, overall she did a great job. She lives here in SF, too, and I do believe her version always turns out just a little bit better than mine.

Actually, I think I've tasted this dish made by all of my sisters (3) and my brother (1), as well as Gran Fran. Each dish is excellent, but a bit different. Just like taking a photograph, each person interprets things in their own way and no two images or dishes are ever exactly alike. I know there is the joke about the Italian grandmas who don't share quite everything in their recipe or method with anyone so that their version of the dish is always the best. This theme was even used on the Dick Van Dyke show when Laura didn't tell Millie everything she had included in her dip recipe. I don't think Gran Fran is keeping anything from us, it's just that we each have our own style and it comes through in our versions of this dish (and many other old favorites).

I won't try to convert anyone to become an anchovy lover, but I will ask you to give this recipe a try since it is delicious!

Pasta with Anchovies

Serves 8

You will need a heavy-bottomed non-reactive saucepan and a 5 to 8qt stock pot.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans best anchovy fillets wrapped around capers
• 3 cloves of garlic quartered
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Red pepper flakes to taste
• 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs ground from good quality white bread (I use crumbs made of rice bread like Udi's)
• 2 tablespoons chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
• 1 1/2 pounds spaghettini (I use rice pasta like Tinkyada)

Method:

• Put salted water on to boil for pasta.
• While pasta is boiling, in a skillet heat olive oil until it shimmers.
• Add garlic and cook until it is golden.
• Add red pepper flakes and anchovies with their oil.
• Stir rapidly to break up anchovies. Reduce heat.
• Add bread crumbs and toss until crumbs are golden.
• Remove skillet from heat. Drain pasta. Stir in sauce.

Note: The recipe above specifies salt only in the pasta water because the recipe contains salty anchovies.

What to Bring to Dinner: Apple and Pear Crisp

What were the odds that I would happen to have a piece of fabric with apples and pears on it to present this lovely crisp? Slim to none, I'd say.

I hadn't pre-planned including the pears in the crisp, but as luck would have it, I ran out of apples and had to combine the two fruits. The mix of the flavors turned out well: one bit might be all apple, the next all pear, or you may get two-for-one!

I've never made a crisp before. We were invited upstairs to dinner with our fabulous neighbors. When they came down to invite us over, I asked what I could bring. Somehow, the topic of a crisp came up and knowing that they liked my granola, I offered to make one.

Pastry dough and I aren't generally friends, but I am good at cutting and mixing things, so this was the perfect project for me. And, I found a funny little knife that made the fruit into crinkle cuts. I think it's meant to be used for potatoes, but it worked just fine on my pears and apples. You can't go wrong with the combination of flavors here: butter, vanilla, lemon, cinnamon, fruit and oats. And it's the easiest thing I've made for a dessert in a long time.

The neighbors loved it. I think this will go into my regular rotation of easy, take-along desserts. Hope you like it.

Apple and Pear Crisp

adapted from Simply Recipes

serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 medium Pears, cut into chunks
• 2 medium Apples, cut into chunks
• 3 tsps Lemon Juice
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
• 1 cup Rolled Oats
• 1/2 cup Butter, room temperature
• 5 to 10 almonds, crushed
• 5 to 10 Walnuts, crushed

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine fruit, lemon juice, and vanilla. Toss to combine.
3. Put the pear and apple pieces into a baking dish. I don't really layer, just put them in there, and any baking dish will do here, I used a souffle dish.
4. Mix together the dry ingredients (oats, cinnamon and brown sugar) with the butter.
5. Using a pastry blender or a fork, chop up the butter until it is in small pea-sized pieces.
6. Cover the fruit with the oat mixture.
7. Place the nuts on top of the oat mixture.
8. Set in the oven for 45 minutes.
9. Bake until the topping looks crunchy, being careful not to burn the nut topping.
10. Serve with ice cream on the side.