Cook's Illustrated Swedish Meatballs - Great meatball flavor

Note:  I had to revise this post because, well, I was wrong.  The sauce is the most magnificent thing I have tasted in a while.  Maybe it needed to sit.  Maybe it was the sitting overnight that turned it from meh to magnificent.  I was wrong, wrong, wrong.  This dish is perfect as is.  The meatballs are superb and the sauce is...well, you'll see.  Just try it.

I was a little overambitious this weekend and thawed a lot of meat thinking I'd get to all of it before the weekend ended.  That didn't happen.  Every dish took twice as long and Anthony's Pasta Sauce took much longer than that.  In any event, tonight I got around to the Swedish meatballs. I found a recipe on Cook's Illustrated website and tried it out.  The meatballs were delicious.  I prefer them to the meatballs I made yesterday, also from Cook's Illustrated, which were meant for classic spaghetti and meatballs.  Those meatballs were a bit too soft. These are slightly more dense.  Not like a hamburger, but that just right place where meatballs belong.  They were perfect in every bite.  Actually, there is no comparison.  Maybe it's because these meatballs are fried.  I don't think that's it.  Maybe it's the spices.   But these were so much better than the others, that I'm not even going to publish the recipe for the spaghetti meatballs.

However, I'm not sure sure I like this sauce.  Maybe it was because I was already full when I cooked the dish.  Maybe it didn't agree with what I just ate.  I followed the directions exactly and the gravy turned out beautifully (quite possibly the best looking gravy I've ever made), but I thought it tasted 100% better before I added the cream.  Weird, huh?  Who doesn't think heavy cream improves everything?  Anyway, I'll have some tomorrow and let you know if a day for those flavors to marry improve it much.

But don't let that put you off these meatballs.  They are keepers.

 Swedish Meatballs

Published January 1, 2009.  From Cook's Illustrated.

Why this recipe works:We wanted our Swedish meatballs recipe to produce substantial yet delicate meatballs with a sausagelike springiness and satisfying snap. To achieve the right texture, we combined beef, pork, bread, cream, and a surprise ingredient, baking powder, which kept the meatballs delicate and juicy.  For the meatball gravy recipe, we wanted a light cream sauce instead of heavy brown gravy.  To get this, we added a bit of cream to our stock to lighten it up and and a splash of lemon juice for some bright flavor.

Serves 4 to 6

The traditional accompaniments for Swedish meatballs are lingonberry preserves and Swedish Pickled Cucumbers (see related recipe). If you can’t find lingonberry preserves, cranberry preserves may be used. For a slightly less sweet dish, omit the brown sugar in the meatballs and reduce the brown sugar in the sauce to 2 teaspoons. A 12-inch slope-sided skillet can be used in place of the sauté pan—use 1 1/2 cups of oil to fry instead of 1 1/4 cups. The meatballs can be fried and then frozen for up to 2 weeks. To continue with the recipe, thaw the meatballs in the refrigerator overnight and proceed from step 3, using a clean pan. Serve the meatballs with mashed potatoes, boiled red potatoes, or egg noodles.

Ingredients:

• Meatballs  
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 large slice sandwich bread, crusts removed and bread torn into 1-inch pieces
• 8 ounces ground pork
• 1 small onion, grated on large holes of box grater (about 1/4 cup)
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon packed brown sugar (see note)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 8 ounces 85 percent lean ground beef
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• Sauce  
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar (see note)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon
• Salt and ground black pepper

Directions:

1. 1. For the Meatballs: Whisk egg and cream together in medium bowl. Stir in bread and set aside. Meanwhile, in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat pork, onion, nutmeg, allspice, pepper, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder on high speed until smooth and pale, about 2 minutes, scraping bowl as necessary. Using fork, mash bread mixture until no large dry bread chunks remain; add mixture to mixer bowl and beat on high speed until smooth and homogeneous, about 1 minute, scraping bowl as necessary. Add beef and mix on medium-low speed until just incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping bowl as necessary. Using moistened hands, form generous tablespoon of meat mixture into 1-inch round meatball; repeat with remaining mixture to form 25 to 30 meatballs.
2. 2. Heat oil in 10-inch straight-sided sauté pan over medium-high heat until edge of meatball dipped in oil sizzles (oil should register 350 degrees on instant-read thermometer), 3 to 5 minutes. Add meatballs in single layer and fry, flipping once halfway through cooking, until lightly browned all over and cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes. (Adjust heat as needed to keep oil sizzling but not smoking.) Using slotted spoon, transfer browned meatballs to paper towel-lined plate.
3. 3. For the Sauce: Pour off and discard oil in pan, leaving any fond (browned bits) behind. Return pan to medium-high heat and add butter. When foaming subsides, add flour and cook, whisking constantly, until flour is light brown, about 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in broth, scraping pan bottom to loosen browned bits. Add brown sugar and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium and cook until sauce is reduced to about 1 cup, about 5 minutes. Stir in cream and return to simmer.
4. 4. Add meatballs to sauce and simmer, turning occasionally, until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, and serve. 

Red Sauce like your Italian Grandma Made

I used to have time to monkey around on the internet.  And on one of those forays into the Interwebs, I found one of the best recipes of all time.  Anthony's Pasta Sauce, Meatball & Braciole.  This recipe is great for a number of reasons, not the least of which is taste.  But if you want to understand why I love this recipe, you really have to go take a look at Anthony's recipe.  It is, perhaps, the longest recipe you've ever read.  But you don't get bored.  He's entertaining.  And honestly, this is the real deal.

Just like your Italian grandma would have made if you had an Italian grandma.  

Israeli Couscous Salad: The Only Picnic Salad I Ever Liked

When I go to potlucks, I normally pass on every sort of salad.  Potato salad?  No.  Macaroni salad?  No.  Three bean salad?  Oh hell no.  If it didn't have lettuce in it, I wasn't biting.  Literally.

So imagine my surprise at finding a salad I not only liked, but was wild over.  I was introduced to this sweet little dish by Julie Schmale during the Sixth Annual Camping Event Not To Be Named.  Since this weekend was the Eighth Annual Camping Event Not To Be Named, and since Julie just sent me this link, I thought I'd share this delicious dish with you.  I love this dish.  Love it.

From Cooking with Trader Joes.

Beckie's Israeli Couscous Salad

The Dressing:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp chopped garlic (or use 1 cube frozen Crushed Garlic )
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp kosher salt or to taste
black pepper to taste
1/4 cup sugar

1 box Trader Joe's Israeli Couscous (found in the pasta/rice aisle)
1/3 cup unsalted dry toasted sliced almonds
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup  thinly sliced fresh basil
2 oz Lite Feta cheese, crumbled or 2 oz Crumbled Feta (regular or fat free)

1.) Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, and sugar in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2.) Follow cooking instructions on the Israeli Couscous box.  Add cooked couscous to the bowl containing the dressing. Toss with the dressing and let it cool (about 20-30 minutes), stirring occasionally.  The couscous will absorb the dressing as it cools.
3.) Add the almonds, cranberries, and basil. Toss the feta cheese in lightly. Add more salt and pepper if needed.

Serves 4

Variations:
If you don't have Israeli couscous, substitute 1 1/2 cups of dried orzo or TJ's Harvest Grains. Cook until al dente, drain and then add to the dressing.
If you don't have fresh basil, substitute fresh parsley (or a combination of both) . If you don't like almonds, substitute toasted pignoli nuts.



********

And because the Camping Event was this weekend, here's some pics from my short visit with the friends.  Make sure you get out this year!

Pico de gallo

Pico is quick and easy and tasty as hell.

Ingredients:

6 roma tomatoes, cored and diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
juice of one lime
salt to taste

Mix all ingredients and allow to chill for about an hour.

Serve with your favorite corn chips.

Yum.

Chocolate Espresso Pot de Creme

Pot de creme.  It is just fun to say.  For those non-francophones, you pronounce it po-duh-krem.  But you have to say that last part like you are making fun of the French.  Which you are.  Don't worry.  Every one does.  Say it out loud a few times.  Pot de creme.  Pot de creme.  Pot de creme.  Sounds all wordly and stuff.  This dessert is amazingly simple and you are apt to impress the in-laws with this one.

It contains precious few ingredients and is ready for the fridge in a flash.

Now a few words of advice.  I didn't want an overly sweet dessert so I doubled this recipe and only used 1/3 cup of sugar. This really allowed the bittersweet nature of the chocolate to shine. But I get that a lot of people don't enjoy bitter desserts as much as I do, so feel free to add a little more sugar to taste.










What you'll need:

4 oz. dark chocolate (bittersweet)
1/3  to 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
espresso powder or instant coffee crystals
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract




Use good chocolate.  I used Giardelli's 70% cacao.  Whoops, make that 60%.


Directions:
















Use your kitchen knife to shave the chocolate thin.  Put heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract in a small saucepan and heat over low to medium heat until just below the boiling point.  I actually used a double-boiler system.  Do not walk away from this pan.  If you don't stir the cream constantly, it will begin to form curds in the bottom and that is definitely what you don't want in this smooth, rich dessert.  Once you get it to temperature, remove from heat and pour over the shaved chocolate.  Wait one minute.  Sing Yankee Doodle.  Practice your yodeling.  Lick the chocolate shavings off the cutting board like I did.  After one minute, whisk the chocolate and cream until you get the smoothest, richest liquid imaginable.  Pour into small cups or mugs.  I used cordial glasses, but you could also use espresso cups.  If you get air bubbles in your dessert cups, raise the cup up a few centimeters and drop it back gently to the counter.  The air bubbles will be forced to the top and pop leaving you with a perfectly smooth, dessert that looks (and tastes!) spectacular.

Makes four 2-3 ounce servings.  Refrigerate 3-5 hours.  (Mine took about 2 hours to chill.)

The consistency when finished is like a soft fudge.  If you only have a slightly thickened pudding texture, put it back in the fridge for another few hours.  You can top this with whipped cream, but it is excellent as is.  I warn you.  This is 90 kinds of delicious.  It is pure chocolate decadence.

Chance's Oatmeal Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

Chance the Magnificent!

Post script:  I am sorry to say that Chance passed away on September 29, 2012.  My sister got him when he was about 3 years old at a shelter in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  Chance suffered from Grand Mal seizures.  It was not uncommon for his seizures to last up to 20 minutes.  No doubt, this is the reason he ended up in the shelter.  But my sister rescued Chance and turned him into the most spoiled lap dog you would have ever met.  Despite this failing, he was an awesome dog.  He was loved by all and will be missed.  I'm glad for all the great memories and we will always remember him when making *his* dog biscuits for our pets.   

This is a recipe given to me by my sister.  Her cocker spaniel Chance just loves them, so I've named them after him.  Apparently, he thinks he owns them.  The best thing about this recipe is that it is quick and easy.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup peanut butter (I use creamy, natural peanut butter)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (invariably I add up to another tablespoon)
1 cup water
2.25 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup old-fashion oatmeal

Directions:

Mix.  Roll to 1/4" and cut into squares or shapes.  Bake at 375F for 35 minutes.

I usually don't measure the peanut butter.  I just use a very large scoop of it.  I sometimes have to add more water to get the dough to tighten up.  I use a bench knife to cut them into bit-sized squares, although my sister uses a dog-bone cookie cutter.  I prefer giving the dog smaller treats.  But whatever you do, keep an eye on these in the oven, because if your dough is thin, they can burn around the edges if you don't watch them.

Dogs love them.  Scout can't wait for them to cool before he's begging for a few.

Homemade granola

**A postscript (which is really a pre-script if you are reading this for the first time :p)  This is delicious as a cereal in the morning for breakfast.  It's got legs, so stick with about 1/2 cup or less.  I also added dried cherries as an afterthought.  They are really good in this.

I bought a giant package of oats for the topping on my apple crisp.  The topping reminded me of granola, which got me to poking around the internet to find a granola recipe.  I found this one.  I'd never made granola before and quite honestly, I'm not much of a granola eater.  But I do like granola or grape nuts mixed into my yogurt now and again, and I figured, What the heck?

The ingredients for this recipe are expensive.  I didn't have wheat germ or oat bran on hand, so I had to buy them especially for this.  If I don't like this recipe enough to make again, I'm going to struggle to find something to use those ingredients in.  It contains both nuts and seeds and those aren't cheap. I substituted coconut oil for the vegetable oil.  I used cranberries, not raisins.

I made half a recipe.  It made a full cookie sheet of granola, and not some thin little cookie sheet full.  It was layered at least 1/2" thick on that sheet.  I'd guess it made about 8 cups of granola.  Maybe closer to 10 cups.  It really did need to be stirred in the middle of cooking. In any event, that is way more than enough to keep one or two people happy for a week or two of dedicated granola eating.  The full-recipe would need to be frozen in my household.  I plan on keeping this in the fridge.  I'll let you know how long it lasts in there.

OK, for the important part.  How does it taste?

Awesome.  It is a bit sweet, but the tartness of the cranberries is a nice contrast.  It is nutty.  I used pecans, walnuts, almonds and sunflower seeds.  The only nuts you can taste are the walnuts and pecans.  Next time, I'll leave out the sunflower seeds for sure.  They are just not making their presence known.  But, it is really good.  I don't think I'll have to worry about what to do with the wheat germ and oat bran.  Maybe when I make it again, I'll even throw in some ground flax.  Fiber is good for you, you know.

So if you and yours are granola-eating tree-hugger types, this would make for good camp food.

This recipe halved

Ingredients

• 8 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups wheat germ
• 1 1/2 cups oat bran
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup finely chopped almonds
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups raisins or sweetened dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment or aluminum foil.
2. Combine the oats, wheat germ, oat bran, sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, and walnuts in a large bowl. Stir together the salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to coat. Spread the mixture out evenly on the baking sheets.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until crispy and toasted, about 20 minutes. Stir once halfway through. Cool, then stir in the raisins or cranberries before storing in an airtight container.

Madge Bullington's Famous Apple Cake

YUM!

Can you tell it's apple season?  My tree produced a bumper crop this year, despite our exceptional drought. The late, late, late summer rains were just enough to put the apple crop over the top.  The apple tree was planted the year I moved to this house (8 years ago) and this is my first harvest.  I've enjoyed it so much.  It has been a challenge, however, to find ways to use up all these apples.  Thankfully, I've had enough to share with friends and family AND squirrels AND birds AND rabbits.

In any event, my mother has talked about this apple cake made by a woman who used to go to our church when I was a kid.  Madge Bullington.  I'm sure at one time I knew her by sight, but I'm having a hard time putting a face to that name these days.  In any event, her reputation for apple cake lives on.  And anyone who knows me knows that I never pass up "church food".  Whatever my beliefs or lack thereof, I hold no prejudice against Christian cooks.

Without further ado, here we go.....

Apple Cake

2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.25 cups Crisco oil  (oops, I used Crisco shortening!)

2.5 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder

3 cups apples (use Macintosh or Granny Smith, not Red Delicious or Rome)
add lemon juice if not tart enough
1.5 cups nuts

Cream first four ingredients.  Combine and sift the next four ingredients and add to the creamed mix.  Add the apples, lemon juice, and nuts and fold into the mix.  Bake at 350 for one hour.  The dough will be like cookie dough until you add the apples.

It does not appear that using shortening as the fat instead of oil causes any problems at all.  Come to think of it, how would you "cream" together something that contained oil and not shortening? I think maybe they intended shortening and maybe my mother wrote the recipe down wrong.  I also used five apples and that ended up making a short 4 cups of sliced apples.  I threw them all in anyway.  No harm, no foul.  The cake is moist and delicious.  I cooked it for exactly one hour, which was just how long it took for a toothpick to come out clean.  I have one thing to say:  this is going in the freezer ASAP before I eat it all!

Apple crisp

 I have an apple tree in my yard, and despite the drought this year, I managed to get a healthy crop of apples.  I've eaten plenty raw.  I've given plenty away.  I've made applesauce, stewed apples, and even tried freezing a few.  But this was the real treat.  Apple crisp.  Heaven in a bowl.

I peeled about 7 or 8 of these apples, sliced them thin and placed them in a pie pan.  Wasn't necessary to grease the pan.  They didn't stick.

The topping is just a few simple ingredients:  oats, butter, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.  What could be easier?  Pop it in the oven for about 30 minutes and voila!  A comfort food dessert.

This is what is looks like going in.......

And this is what it looks like after my big fat fork got into it.

Enjoy.  But don't say I didn't warn you.  I ate 1/3 of this before it even had time to cool off.







Apple crisp

7-8 medium apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
2 cups old fashioned (not quick cook) oats
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Place the sliced apples in the pie plate.  Mix the remaining ingredients (hands are the best utensil) and top the apples with it.  Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes or until the top is browned.

Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Soup

Blame Charles Barkley. I'm back on Weight Watchers.  They have revamped their program.  I've decided to give this new, revamped program a try instead of going back to the program two changes ago.  Does that make sense?

In any event, I remembered some of my favorite WW recipes and since I'm leaving Illinois in the morning, I decided to use up some of the stuff in the house.  Try it.  Quick, light and refreshing.


1 butternut squash
1/2 sweet potato
1/2 cup carrots, peeled (optional)
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and quartered (optional)
32 oz. Organic vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste

If you have an immersion blender, this recipe is so simple you'll feel guilty.  Peel and quarter the squash, potato, carrot, and apple if you used them.  Boil in the vegetable broth until soft about 20 minutes.  Use your immersion blender to puree the vegetables and salt and pepper to taste.  If you don't have an immersion blender, blend it in a regular blender.

Makes about 6 servings.
Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 1 per serving (2 if you include the apple)

Southern-Fried Skillet Cornbread

Cornbread.  It's so simple really.  Just cornmeal, flour, eggs, fat and a splash of buttermilk.  But the secret to great cornbread is lard.  There.  I said it.  Lard.  Just like the stuff on my behind after an indulgent December.  And when it comes to cornbread and lard, pork fat rules.  Normally, I'm no fan of pork.  I will eat the occasional piece of sausage, but I'm no bacon lover and I could live without sliced ham for the rest of my life and never bat an eye.  But when it comes to certain facets of southern cooking, there is absolutely no substitute for pork fat.  So if you are like me (which I genuinely hope you aren't!), you can cook the bacon and feed it to the dog.  The fat is what you are after anyway.

The second key to great cornbread is buttermilk.  Now buttermilk is a funny thing. It makes your baking legendary, but no one really wants to drink that stuff.  And to make cornbread, you don't need much.  Although commercially available buttermilk tastes better in my book, you can make your own by adding a tablespoon of white vinegar per cup of whole milk.  You must use whole milk.  Low or no fat milk will not react properly with the vinegar.  The beauty of the at-home method is you have no leftover buttermilk on your hands.

Now, for the cornmeal.  I use Martha White cornbread mix.  You can use any quality commercial mix you like, or you can mix your own cornmeal-flour mix.  I've done that before, too.  But the commercial mixes already have the flour and cornmeal mixed together in their proper proportions.  Cornmeal is cornmeal.  Flour is flour.  It's not the cornmeal, it's what you do with it.

Now to make skillet cornbread like a true southerner, you start by preheating your oven. I believe 400 degrees is a reasonable cornbread temperature.  Take about 5 slices of bacon and fry them over medium low heat in a 8"-10" cast iron skillet.  You want all the fat to render out of the bacon, but you don't want the heat so high that you lose volume through evaporation.  Now, if you don't have a reserve of bacon grease in a canister on your stove top, first of all, what the hell is wrong with you?  Don't you know you should never throw away flavor?  Bacon grease should always be put in a grease can and kept in your fridge or on the stove top.  But let's just say you are a northerner or westerner and you don't have a grease canister.  You have a couple of options.  The first is to simply use vegetable oil in the mix.  It won't be quite as good (OK, it won't be nearly as good) but it will be quicker.  The other is to cook bacon until you have enough fat available for the mix.  Of course, you'll have to wait for that fat to cool somewhat before you can add it to the mix, but that's okay because you still need about 5 slices to render fat for the pan.  In any event, mix the wet and dry cornbread ingredients and set aside until those 5 slices of bacon have rendered their liquid goodness.

When the bacon is crisp, remove it from the pan and turn the burner up to medium high.  You want the oil very hot, but not smoking...say a minute to a minute and a half.  Remove the pan from the heat and immediately dump the prepared cornbread mixture into the pan.  It should sizzle and pop.  Spread it out roughly with a spatula and place in the preheated oven.  Cook until peaks on the bread top just start to turn golden brown.  Remove from oven, slice and eat with butter.  Lots and lots of butter.

Now, there are nearly endless varieties of cornbread that are great.  You can add jalapenos.  Or New Mexico chilis.  Or cheese.  All are very good.  But the thing about skillet cornbread is the fat-rendered crust you get on the bottom.  It will be dark.  Almost black.  And you will savor every bite.

Because of the fat, skillet cornbread should be kept in the fridge so it doesn't go rancid.

I hope you enjoy your pork-powered goodness.

New Year's Resolutions

My new year’s resolutions are a little different this year.  Before, I was focused on graduation or losing weight, but I feel like I’ve got a handle on those things.  This year, it’s all about making my life balanced in ways that graduate school seemed to strip me of, but that I miss terribly. So without further explanation, here we go.

1.  Hike with dogs.

2.  Sleep in tents.  In all four seasons.

3.  Downhill ski.

4.  Exercise until it becomes a habit.

5.  Track food until it becomes a habit.

6.  Identify and focus on what’s important to me.  I suppose this demands I get serious about identifying my goals, figuring out what it will take to achieve them, planning and scheduling steps to get from point A to B, and not just depending on the universe to bring success to my doorstep.  In other words, live purposefully!

7.  Reconnect with friends.

8.  Date.  If anyone would like to volunteer to date me, I’m wide open here.

9.  Travel.  My ultimate travel goal this year would be a trip to South America in December to climb a mountain.  We’ll see.  I imagine money will be more of the issue rather than lack of interest or ability to make time.  See #6.

10. Read for pleasure.  At this point, I’d settle on a comic book.

Now, because this is supposed to be a food blog, I thought I'd give at least 10 cooking goals I have for the year.

1.  Popovers

2.  Corn tortillas.

3.  Home-brewed beer.

4.  Southeast asian foods.

5.  Home.  Made.  Pizza. 

6.  Curry!

7.  Gourmet/specialty desserts.  I have found a couple of really interesting sweets shops and bakeries in my travels and I'd like to try making some interesting things I have found in them. Think fig and walnut "fruit cake" or curry cashew brittle.

8.  vanilla extract and infused oils.  I want to make my own from ingredients out of my own garden.  With any hope, I WILL have a garden this year.

9.  Speaking of which, a kitchen garden that includes some exotic spice plants.  Fresh curry leaves, anyone?

10.  Overcome the obstacle that my sister's kitchen presents and actually cook.

Easy Weeknight Moussaka

I love moussaka and when eggplant is as cheap as it's been the past few weeks at the farmer's market (50 cents each for very large eggplants!), I'm going to dive in and make this comfort food dish.  It isn't that hard and it lasts quite a while.

2-3 large eggplant, peeled and sliced in thick slices
sea salt
1 lb. ground beef, very low fat content is best
2 large onions, diced
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
16 oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup dark red wine
8 oz. tomato sauce
Parmesan cheese, grated

Slice the eggplant and coat both sides of each slice in sea salt.  Place in a dish and allow to rest until a good amount of water has accumulated in the bottom of your dish (about a half hour).  Rinse the salt off the eggplant well and towel dry.

In a non-stick skillet add a small amount of olive oil and fry the eggplant slices about 3-4 minutes on each side.  Set aside in a 9 x 13 baking pan.

Brown the hamburger and onion in a skillet.  Drain if necessary.  Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, wine, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Allow to simmer for at least 15 minutes.

In a 9 x 13 baking dish (I prefer glass), arrange a layer of eggplant along the bottom.  Cover with 1/2 the beef ragu.  Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese all over the top of that layer.  Add another layer of eggplant, ragu, and cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-50 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

Mexican-Inspired Vegetable Soup

This is adapted from a Weight Watchers recipe.  Believe it or not, if you scour their recipe site, you can find some winners.  This is one I will keep in my arsenal a long time.  I grew up on vegetable soup.  I never liked it.  I think it was the cabbage.  You know, a little cabbage goes a long way.  And when you buy a head of cabbage, unless you are going to make cole slaw with half of it, there isn't much else you can do except put it all in the soup.  Therein, I think, lies the problem I had with vegetable soup as a kid.

Thank goodness, I'm not a kid anymore.

So without further ado, my Mexican-inspired vegetable soup (sans cabbage).  Weight Watchers PointsPlus, 1 per serving.  Serving size about 1 cup.

3-4 bell peppers, pick your color, diced
2 jalapeno peppers, fine diced
28 oz. diced tomatoes, canned
8 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth, low sodium
2 onions, diced
1 medium to large zucchini, diced
1 medium to large yellow squash, diced
3 whole carrots, peeled and sliced in medallions (or about 1 cup baby carrots)
1 cup whole wheat pasta (I prefer elbow macaroni)
3-4 clove garlic, minced
1 T cumin
1/4 t chili powder
3/4 t salt

You can add green beans if you'd like, but I'd avoid the cabbage.

Put it all in a stock pot and bring to a boil.  Turn down the heat and cover and simmer until the macaroni is cooked through.  Serve.  Makes a boat load.  Hope you're hungry.  :)

Italian Vegetable Soup

Here is a recipe I had been dying to try for weeks. It turned out so good!! I will post the recipe in its original form, but I made several changes/substitutions and will note those. Hope you enjoy it!

• 
  Another note-I made the soup ahead of time and it sat for a while before we ate it. The noodles REALLY soaked up alot of the liquid in the meantime. I had to add an entire box of chicken broth to make it soupy again (double batch, remember). I will definitely use half the noodles called for next time. Also, I did not care for the flavor the parmesan gave after sprinkled on top, so I will forego that myself next time.
  
  
  My changes/substitutions:
  
  -Any brand of ingredients will do.
  -I doubled the recipe, it made a TON of soup.
  -I added two garlic cloves, minced (one for single batch).
  -I used slightly less onion.
  -The store I went to didn't have italian style stewed tomatoes, so I used regular stewed and added some ground italian seasoning. I also used diced tomatoes w/basil, garlic and oregano. (So for double recipe I used two cans regular stewed and 2 cans diced w/ basil, garlic and oregano.)
  -I used half veg. broth and half chicken broth.
  -Store didn't have canellini beans, so I used Great Northern.
  -Didn't have my basil EVOO, so used regular and it tasted fine. I also didn't use the parmesan on my serving.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  6 ounces COLAVITA Fusilli Pasta
  2 tablespoons COLAVITA Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  1 cup green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
  1 cup chopped onion
  1 red bell pepper, diced
  2 (14.5 - ounce) cans Italian style stewed tomatoes, chopped or lightly
  blended
  2 cups vegetable broth
  1 cup water
  2 medium zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
  4 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach
  6 fresh basil leaves, chopped or torn
  1 (16 - ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  Salt and freshly ground pepper
  Pinch red pepper flakes, optional
  2 tablespoons COLAVITA Basilolio, or more to taste
  2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or to taste
  
  Preparation:
  
  1. In a large pot of
  salted water, cook the fusilli for 6 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold  water to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
  
  
  2. In a large pot, heat the oil over low heat, add the green beans,
  onion and bell pepper, sprinkle with salt; cover and allow them to sweat for 10 minutes, do not brown.
  
  Add the stewed tomatoes, vegetable broth and water;
  bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
  
  Add the zucchini, spinach and basil; simmer another 10 minutes.
  
  Add the cannellini beans, pasta and red pepper flakes (if using) along with some additional broth or water if the soup seems too thick; simmer 5 minutes more. Taste and adjust seasoning.
  
  Ladle into warmed bowls, drizzle with Basilolio and a good sprinkle of
  Parmesan cheese. Pass additional cheese if desired.
  
  Serves 6 - 8
  Per Serving: 278 Calories (28.1% from fat); 9g Fat (1g Sat, 5g Mono, 1g
  Poly); 9g Protein; 42g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 2mg Cholesterol; 725mg
  Sodium. Food Exchanges: 2 Grain (Starch); 2 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fat.

Spoonbread

Ahem.  I know.  I have neglected this blog in the worst way.  But really, I have an excuse.  I moved.  I got a new job.  I moved.  If I survive this year, it will be a miracle.

But now back to the point of this post.  Spoonbread.  What the heck is spoonbread.  Before I sallied up to the booth and had a sample this evening, I didn't know either.  It's not quite a sweet bread.  It's not savory either.  It's rather a bit like Yorkshire pudding.  Interesting, a bit weird.  Worth a try anyway.

3 cups whole milk
1 cup plain cornmeal
1 T baking powder
3 large eggs
4 T butter
1 t salt

Scald the milk, stir in cornmeal, and bring JUST to a boil, making mush.  Remove from heat; stir in butter until melted.  Allow to cool.

Beat eggs to a froth with salt and baking powder.  Add to cornmeal mixture.  Beat with a hand mixer for 2-4 minutes.  Pour into a pre-heated, buttered baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until nicely browned.

"Best when served immediately with butter, honey or sorghum on top."

For those of you who have never had sorghum, it's like molasses on steroids.  I can't imagine eating it drizzled on top of anything.  Wow. Bittersweet sticky stuff.

The Mystery Garden

I planted a garden this year.  It looks like this.  This is the tame side anyway where the rambling squash vines are hidden.  But this is my garden.  It's awesome.  The only bad part is that I'm not going to be here to harvest most of it.

But today, I'd like to tell you about my "other" garden.  It contains my first ever cantaloupe.  About the size of a softball. 

And that is also what I presume these are.

And this, I can only guess, is a spaghetti squash.

Below that is an old shriveled lemon.  Confused?  Well, if you don't recognize it, these aren't in my garden and I don't know what these are because they're volunteers growing in my compost bin.  It's true.  My most productive plants are growing in the fertile soil of my compost.  I didn't plant the seeds.  But in a way, I did.

The garden proper is also starting to produce.  I give you the peppers.  This is a red bell variety.

And what garden would be complete without jalapenos?

Can't forget the green bells.

The tomatoes are doing fine.  Just still a bit green.

The squash, on the other hand, are taking off.  This first one is a cushaw.  I'm very excited about this.  They are often used to make pie.  They taste like pumpkin but are sweeter even than pie pumpkins.  Each fruit will get between 10-20 lbs. and grow about 2 feet in length.  I've never grown them before.  I bought the seed and planted it as a mother's day gift to my mom.  This is what she wanted.  She drools over the thought of a cushaw pie for Thanksgiving.  She may get more than she bargained for.  I planted 14 plants in 7 hills and each one appears to be a prolific fruiter.  I may be selling these at the Farmer's Market this fall.

Here's a cushaw with the very large flower still attached.  Ooops.  Make that TWO cushaw.

Can't forget the butternut squash.

Crookneck squash?  Yellow, I think.

It's going to be a great garden year.  Damn shame I'm moving before things really get interesting.  This is probably my best garden yet.  And I was so looking forward to it after not getting to have a garden at all last year....what with all of my research travel.  C'est la vie.

Healthy Kettle Corn? You bet!

This one is so easy and delicious, it's sinful.

Ingredients
1/4 to 1/2 cup yellow popcorn
Butter flavored non-stick spray
1 T Splenda
2 t salt

Air-pop the popcorn.  Spray withe the butter spray.  Sprinkle liberally with salt and splenda.  Toss to coat.

Enjoy.  Try to avoid making a second batch.

This Week's Meal Plan: New Recipe

I spent the major part of my weekend going through boxes of mementos from my school days and books and culling and clearing out
crap
stuff as part of my "I'm not moving all this stuff" project.  Great progress.  Very happy.  Two large garbage bags  thrown out, and the remaining stuff condensed into two small containers.  I also had a visit from my brother Don, who was fishing over at Rend Lake.  So the only cooking that I got done this weekend was to make Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls for my brother and his 10 closest fishing buddies.

As I look to begin the work week, I'm also looking forward to cooking some new recipes. I have some quinoa I'd like to use in a salad.  One choice I have is to make a savory salad, in particular a quinoa salad with pine nuts, green onion, and cilantro recipe I found.  The alternative is a sweet salad of quinoa with dried fruit and nuts with a lemon vinagrette.  I haven't decided which to make yet, but since I've had to piece together the sweet recipe from sources scattered around the net, I'm going to post it here if for nothing else so I don't have to piece that together again from scratch.

Quinoa salad with dried fruit and nuts

1 cup quinoa

1.5 cups water

pinch of salt

1/2 cup dried apricots, diced

3 mission figs, dried, and diced

1/4 cup dried dates, diced

1/2 cup raisins, golden and dark

1/2 cup nuts (possibilities include pecans, slivered onions, or walnuts)

Salad greens

Lemon vinagrette

Rinse quinoa to remove the glycoside.  Rinse until no more foam appears.  In a medium saucepan, bring quinoa, water, and salt to a rolling boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes with the lid on.  Remove lid and fluff with fork.  Add dried fruit and nuts.  

Place greens on a plate and drizzle with lemon vinagrette.  Top with quinoa and dried fruit.

Lemon vinagrette

2 tablespoons neutral oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice
sprig of mint
pinch of salt


Mix together and allow flavors to meld in the refrigerator for several hours before eating.