Cornflake Chicken

On the side of the Kellogg's Cornflakes box is a recipe for chicken. You can make that, or you can make mine. Mine is easier and the kids eat it.

• 3 cups cornflakes
• 1 package onion soup mix
• 1 egg
• half cup milk
• chicken tenders (package)
• olive oil

Preheat oven to 350.
Prepare baking dish by coating with olive oil.
In a large bowl crush 3 cups of cornflakes and mix in the onion soup mix.
In a smaller bowl whisk together the egg and milk.
Dip chicken tender in egg/milk and then coat in cornflake/soup mix.
Place coated chicken tender in baking dish.
When all are coated and in the baking dish pop it in the oven.
Take it out 30 minutes later (when the juices run clear.)
Serve with coleslaw.

Tastes delicious the next day on a sandwich with avocado and said cole slaw.

PS: if you are snobby about onion soup mix then leave it out and add your own custom spices. Just don't judge.

There is Wine on the Ceiling

While at shopping at Trader Joe's yesterday I decided to buy the ingredients for meat sauce. Along with ground beef, garlic, onions, beef broth and tomatoes, I usually add red wine so I picked up some Two Buck Chuck. 

Once home I chopped up and sauteed the onion and garlic in olive oil for about 20 minutes - until the onion was translucent. I added the ground beef, breaking it up into small pieces and browning well. Dumping in one can of tomatoes and one can of beef broth I set about to open the wine.

Where was the corkscrew?  I searched everywhere without luck. My sauce was simmering but a main ingredient was missing. Desperate, I grabbed a knife and stabbed it into the cork.

Obediently, it plunged into the bottle allowing the wine to squirt out freely.

  Everywhere.

I need a corkscrew.

World's Easiest Blackberry Galette

Last week I walked into the local market to find mounds of plump ripe blackberries begging me to take them home. I'm a compassionate soul and complied.

Once home I perused the kitchen for ingredients to bring out the most flavor from the berries and found a box of pre-made pie-crust, sugar and ... yes, I had one egg left. All the makings for a galette.

Following the directions on the pie-crust box I unrolled it flat on a piece of wax paper. After gently tossing the blackberries in about a half cup of sugar, I dumped them onto the middle of my pie dough.

Folding it all up is easy - fold up one section at a time - overlapping like pleats so that all the berries are contained.

To save washing, I cracked the egg into the same bowl that was used to toss the berries. A pastry or basting brush can be used (as can the back of a soup spoon) to brush the egg (white, yolk or both - your choice) onto the dough. A final sprinkle of sugar and into a 350 degree oven for about a half hour  - or until the crust is firm and golden.

Let cool slightly before serving with ice cream and shaved chocolate.

(Be sure to save some for the next morning - berry galette is gorgeous for breakfast with a strong cup of coffee.)

Joe eats his galette happily.

Sept. 29, 2011 - UPDATE:
Last night I made two galettes  - one with peaches and strawberries and one with figs. The only thing I did differently than the blackberry galette is that I added brown sugar and butter to the top of the fruit. Raves.

Two Radicchio Recipes

Lately I've been having intense cravings for radicchio. When I have a craving for something I don't question it - I go with it - so I've been eating radicchio. A lot.

Together with some staple items I have in my kitchen, radicchio can be salad or a pasta "sauce."

This is how I've been preparing it:

Radicchio Salad
1 head radicchio chopped
half cup crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup currents
1/4 cup walnuts
1/2 apple, thinly sliced
1/2 avocado chopped small
juice of half a lemon
2-3 tbsp olive oil

Toss all ingredients, add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with crusty bread.

Radicchio Pasta
1 head radicchio chopped

2-3 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic

half cup crumbled blue cheese

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

2-3 tbsp olive oil

pasta (I used spaghetti)

Heat olive oil and garlic in a pan (careful not to burn garlic)

Add radicchio and saute until limp - about 10 minutes

Add cooked pasta to the pan with the radicchio and toss
Serve with a sprinkling of blue cheese and walnuts

Moroccan Spiced Root Vegetable Stew

When deciding on something to cook, I'll spend hours, occasionally days, perusing recipes (online and in *gasp* cookbooks), studying them, examining the spices, textures, techniques. In the end, I pick and choose what appeals to me - maybe add an ingredient or two - to create a dish that is truly my own.

Because of rainy winter weather - and plans to entertain several vegetarian friends - I decided that a root vegetable stew was in order. But not just any stew - it was Chanukah and I wanted a hint of far away lands... rich, earthy flavors ... curry, cumin ... Morocco.

So I went hunting for Moroccan Spiced Root Vegetable Stew. There are many many good recipes out there, and I took the best from each one and created something worth sharing. Here you go.

Ingredients
• Root vegetables (suggestions below, but you should choose your favorites)

1 turnip

1 rutabaga

2 sweet potatoes

4 large carrots

4 large parsnip

• 4 large shallots
• 1 large head garlic, cloves separated but not peeled
----
• 1 onion
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can chick peas (drained and rinsed)
• zest and juice of one lemon
• 2 cups vegetable broth
----
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1tbsp curry powder (plus dusting)
• 1 tbsp cumin (plus dusting)
• olive oil
• salt, pepper, chili flakes to taste

• 2 cups chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions
• preheat the oven to 375
• peel the root vegetables, dice them into uniform bite-size pieces
• peel the shallots but do not chop
• separate the garlic cloves but do not peel
• toss with olive oil salt and pepper
• spread vegetables in ONE LAYER in a baking pan or cookie sheet
• dust with curry powder and cumin (just a SMALLL dusting)
• put in oven for about an hour
• turn vegetables and rotate pan at least twice during cooking

While root vegetables roast:
• Heat some olive oil in a large pot
• Slice the onion and put it in the pot with a pinch or two of salt
• Saute the onions until transluscent - about 20 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, zest and juice of one lemon, vegetable broth, cinnamon stick, cumin and curry powder to the pot and simmer for a half hour. Add salt, pepper and chili flakes to taste.

• When the root vegetables are finished cooking (they should be brown and carmalized, fork tender but not mushy) take them out of the oven and add them to the pot with the liquid mixture.
• Cook on stovetop for another 10 minutes so flavors blend.

• Serve with couscous, crusty bread, or latkes.
• Offer cilantro to sprinkle on top (or do it yourself but not everyone likes cilantro)
• Remind guests to separate garlic from the skin and spread the creamy goodness onto bread.

Bonus Leftovers!
The stew is even better the next day, but if you'd like to do something special you can easily create individual pasti-like pastries by mounding spoonfuls of the stew into the center of squares of puff pastry dough, bringing the corners up, sealing them witha pinch at the top and throwing it all into a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Talk about satisfying. And impressive.

Let me know if there is any confusing bits or if you have any questions about the recipe.

Recreating a Tart

There is a cafe near my home that serves delicious, though overpriced, breakfasts and lunches. Because of the convenience, I find myself there about once a week. Smallish sandwiches are a hefty $8 which is more than I like to spend, but a slice of quiche or savory tart runs about $3.50 and provides me a perfect light meal. 

Their menu changes seasonally so last week I was pleased to see a tart of Acorn Squash, Walnut Pesto and Sage. The flavors are rich and satisfying. A vegetarian's dream (no, I'm not a vegetarian, but if I were, it would be in my dreams.) It was delicious. 

When I was assigned appetizers to bring to this year's Thanksgiving dinner I immediately thought about recreating the tart. There are essentially four parts: crust, walnut pesto, acorn squash and sage - and each requires it's own preparation, but putting it all together would be easy. I decided to do a test-run today (day before TG) and to make enough of everything to easily assemble another one tomorrow. 

Here you go:

SAVORY TART: ACORN SQUASH WITH WALNUT PESTO AND SAGE 

Crust: I don't bake, so I decided to use puff pastry dough. Get it in the freezer section of the store. Use one shet let it thaw per package directions. If you are an expert with tart dough, then, I say - go from scratch

Roasted Acorn Squash: Cut one acorn squash in half and scoop out and discard seeds. Place cut side UP in a shallow pan with an inch of water in the bottom. Place in 350 degree oven. Bake until tender but firm enough to slice. About an hour. After cooling, remove the skin and cut into half-moons.

Walnut Pesto: One cup EACH of walnut bits, parmesan cheese, olive oil and a quarter cup cream. Blend everything together. Consistency should be similar to natural peanut butter. Add more walnuts to make it thicker or more cream to make it thinner.

Sage Butter: Finely chop six fresh sage leaves. Put them in a pan with half a stick of butter and let them melt together. As the butter browns it will begin to smell slightly nutty. Be careful the butter doesn't burn. 

 --------------------------------------

Assemble and Bake the Tart: line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and dust with a small amount of flour. Lay the thawed PUFF PASTRY sheet on it. Spoon the WALNUT PESTO over the sheet and distribute all over in a thin layer. Place the ACORN SQUASH half-moon slices in an attractive pattern over the pesto. With a pastry brush, dab a generous amount of SAGE BUTTER over the top of the squash. Be sure that sage bits get brushed on as well. Fold the edges of the tart over and brush the top with the sage butter. Put into a 400 degree oven and bake for about 20 minutes - until the crust rises and the edges of it and the squash become golden. Serve at room temperature (with a glass of pinot).

 

Here is a (bad) picture of the test tart. You can see that I wasn't able to make nice half moons out of the squash (which kept breaking apart) so it's not as pretty as I envisioned, but it tasted surprisingly like the cafe's version.

Let me know if you make it.

Brisket or Bust

Yesterday was Rosh ha Shana (5751) and, although I don't go to services, I do like to experience my religion through its food. The Jewish New Year is celebrated with sweets (for a sweet year) -  sweet kugal, tsimmis, and apples with honey. I've had tsimmis where the meat is thrown into the pot, but it's not to my taste so I make the meat separately.

So - off I went to buy a brisket.

I called a local butcher who said, yes, they had some; when I arrived, however, I was told that it hadn't arrived yet but would be delivered in an hour. OK ... save one for me.... Off to the local high-end grocery store (the beef really does make a difference - I find that organic, grass-fed is best) ... they weren't expecting a delivery until Monday. Hm. Ok, it was early. I could wait an hour.

But brisket takes some time to braise - it's a tough cut of meat and needs to cook for a long time to become tender.

I called a third butcher - one attached to a restaurant - and they had 4 lbs. YES! Hold it! I'll come right over.

It was an end piece with a big cone of fat through the middle. Fine - I'd take it. Please cut out the lard (which they did and kindly shaved off a half pound from my bill).

I arrived back at my house at around four and immediately browned it up and started it braising.

My recipe is usually pretty straightforward, but this time I decided to add some sweet new year pizazz and alter the formula. The results were magnificent. So much so that I NEED to write them down so I can attempt to replicate it in the future. So - here you go:

BRISKET (or bust)
4lbs brisket 
one can chicken broth
one package onion soup mix
one can chopped tomatoes
one cup Boffo Cart jarred tomatoes (or something similar)
one pint marinated figs and olive (bought at the olive bar at Magnani in Berkeley)
one cup water

• season meat with salt and pepper all over
• in a large sauce pan, brown the meat on both sides (about 5 mins. each side)
• add to the pan: chicken broth, onion soup mix, can chopped tomatoes and cup home-made jarred tomatoes (or appropriate substitute.)
• bring to a boil, cover the pot and lower flame to simmer
• simmer for 1 hour, then turn the brisket over, add the figs/olives and another cup of water and recover
• simmer for another hour
• check for done-ness - should be fork tender if not - cook longer.

Let it sit for a half hour in the pan before serving.
Remove meat from pan and slice across the grain.
Left in the pan is a tomato/olive/fig "jam" - serve it along-side the brisket slices.
Heaven.

Kale Chips

Last year the kids and I were visiting a friend at her Napa abode. Along with excellent wine, fruits, almonds, cheeses and breads she served kale chips. Delacate lacy leaves of salty crunch. The children devoured them

Recently I came across kale chips at a farmers' market in Palo Alto. Big jars of them. Super expensive.

Finally, walking along the side walk right here in town, I glanced in a shop window and saw a man busily making ... something. I got in close and started asking questions through the open window. "I'm making kale chips," he said as he brushed marinade onto a leaf. "We sell them all over the country." Turns out I was smack in front of Blessings Alive and Radiant Foods. I must have walked by the shop a thousand times and never noticed it. Unlike the chips I've tried, Blessings Alive dehydrates the kale. Making it extra crunchy.

So, kale chips seem to be a trend.

Of course I had to jump on the bandwagon and try doing it myself - starting with a thick hearty bunch of just-picked kale from my local market. Here's how I did it:

Ingredients
One bunch kale (thick leaves)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove
salt

Directions
• Set oven to 250 degrees
• Pour the olive oil and the garlic clove in a large bowl. Let it sit.
• While it sits, wash and dry the kale leaves (it's important to dry them or they won't crisp)
• Remove the garlic from olive oil and discard (or use for something else)
• Put the kale leaves in the bowl and mix to coat with the olive oil
• Lay the leaves flat in a single layer on a cookie sheet
• Sprinkle with salt (and/or pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, chili flakes, etc)
• Put in the oven and let "bake" until crisp - about 20 minutes

Serve warm, or let cool and store in a sealed jar.
Also great crumbled over soup, salad or pasta!

Winter Salad

Here in Berkeley the sustainable food movement is big. That means a lot of people grow their own food and those who don't like to buy local. We can do that at the many farmers markets around town and at several local grocers known for their work with local farms such as Monterey Market and Berkeley Bowl. This means that the fruit that crosses our plates changes with the seasons. Peaches, plums, apricots and berries in the summer; apples and pears in the fall; and citrus, in the winter. But winter comes with a little twist of a treat. Persimmons. Fuyu persimmons in particular are mother nature's winter apology for its lack of stone fruit.

My favorite winter salad is a mix of Fuyu Persimmons, fennel and pomegranate seeds (another winter delight). Here you go:

Winter Salad
2 large Fuyu Persimmons
2 small fennel bulbs
1 small pomegranate
1/4 cup orange juice
1/8 cup olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp minced shallots
salt and pepper

• Remove the seeds from the pomegranate and place in a bowl
• Cut the fennel bulb into very thin slices
• Peel the persimmons and cut into thin slices
• For the dressing: whisk together the oranges juice, olive oil, vinegar, shallots salt and pepper and pour over the salad
• Toss and serve immediately

Cranberry Sauce II

And here it is!

Cranberry Sauce

Remember when you were little and cranberry sauce came out of a can? Looking nothing like a "berry" it slid from the tin with a suck, placed on a plate and cut into neat round slices, sweet and jello-like. I loved it, but didn't really understand WHY it was served with turkey. (Geez! don't let gravy touch touch the cranberries! Gross!)

In 1987 I moved to New York and began having Thanksgiving with my paternal aunt (and family) in Long Island. Aunt Renee was deep into the "new" Weight Watcher's culture (she was employed by them and led meetings, etc.) so she was always trying new recipes. One year she whipped up a home made cranberry sauce - made with real cranberries! It was delicious.

Over the years I've made it as a staple. As with all recipes that are carried around in the heart (rather than a notebook or card) this one has transformed over the years. At this point, more than 20 years in morphing, I doubt that it would qualify for anything related to Weight Watchers. Still, people like it and request it. So I thought I'd post it here. Let me know how you like it.

Cori's Cranberry Sauce

1 bag cranberries
1 cup crushed walnuts
1 oranges
1 small can crushed pineapple (optional)
pinch cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
honey to taste (I use at least a half cup.)

• pour the cranberries in a pot and cover with water
• put on burner hi until water begins to boil and cranberries begin to pop
• allow cranberries to pop for about 10 minutes
• meanwhile - prepare the oranges by cutting off the peel and cutting out the sections being careful to cut around the membranes around the sections. Squeeze out remaining juice from the orange and set the sections and juice aside in a large bowl
• drain cranberries and pour into the bowl with the oranges
• while cranberries are still hot add the walnuts, pineapple (if using), cinnamon, nutmeg and honey. Stir together. Taste. Add more honey if needed. Don't be shy with the honey. It should not make your mouth pucker.

Let cool and serve with the meal.

Make My Meatloaf

Meatloaf goes over well in this house. Both kids like it. It works with pasta, broccoli, carrots, potatoes and a million other things that children will actually eat. One loaf lasts several days and is great on sandwiches.

So, here you go - my meatloaf recipe:

1 package (1.25 lbs) ground turkey
1 package (1.25 lbs) ground beef
1 package dry onion soup mix
1 cup bread crumbs (seasoned if you like)
3 eggs
2 cups chicken broth plus 1 cup for baking
ketchup
Root vegetables (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the first six ingredients (turkey through 2 cups chicken broth)

The mixture will be very runny.
Pour the mixture into a oiled baking pan and shape it into a loaf.
Squeeze ketchup over the top -- as much or little as you like.

Pour 1 cup of chicken broth into the bottom of the baking pan.
Add root vegetables to the pan around the loaf. (if desired)

Bake for one hour or until cooked through.
If you find it is browning too much, cover loosely with foil.
Serve immediately with a glass of red wine.
(Or a glass of cranberry juice.)

Spinach Casserole

Making dinner for the kids is always a challenge. There are only the three of us but finding something that we will ALL eat (and that's more or less healthy) is almost impossible.

Here's a dish that works for us:

Spinach Casserole
1 bag chopped frozen spinach
1 container cottage cheese (lo fat - NOT non-fat)
1 package grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 eggs

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Combine cottage cheese, grated cheddar cheese and eggs in a large bowl and mix till combined
• Add the bag of frozen spinach and incorporate thoroughly.
• Pour it into a baking ban (the kind you make brownies in works best) that has been coated with olive oil.
• Cover with tinfoil. Remove tin foil about 15 minutes before done (to brown top)
• Bake for about an hour, or until the casserole is firm.

I serve this with meatloaf, but its perfectly fine all by itself as a light meal. It's even nice for breakfast/brunch.

At Passover I make this with a layer of matzo on the bottom - so it's a little like a pie. There are never any leftovers.

I know, I know, there is a lot of cheese and eggs which hardly makes this a lo-fat meal. However, there is also lots of protein, calcium and iron (from the spinach). Better than Kraft mac & cheese - right?