Holiday Traditions

I’m too impatient to enjoy piping and flooding sugar cookies alone. In fact, I find it tedious and virtually impossible. I know some of you feel differently and look at the art of cookie decorating as therapeutic. But for those of us with a shaky hand (especially after a few too many cups of coffee) and a lack of artistic ability, it’s not therapy. In fact it may be the trigger that gets me to a shrink.

But look at the picture. I am so proud. I feel like I can brag a bit since I’ve really worked hard over the years to get to the point of being able to create such pretty cookies. Don’t look too closely though, since they are far from perfect--- no straight lines or smooth edges. My decorated masterpieces are more like impressionistic paintings; viewed best from a distance.

This year my friend Jenn wasn’t able to join me in my annual cookie making tradition. She’s now a professional baker after opening The Little Daisy Bakeshop in Montclair NJ, an amazing little dream come true for her. I have Jenn to thank for teaching me most of what I’ve learned (as I’ve written about through the years). I missed her tremendously this year but my friend Christina proved to be a darn good substitute.

For starters, Christina was kind enough to host our cookie decorating in her spacious kitchen, allowing my sloppy self to spread out comfortably among stacks of cooling racks, baking sheets, sprinkles and icing. She mixed and colored the icing, as Jenn used to do, getting the perfect consistency for the edges and filling and also helped me roll and cut some last minute chocolate cookie dough. But most importantly, Christina was there for the encouragement I always need for the project, my gentle nudge to get it done and ultimately, my way to enjoy an otherwise challenging project. I bounced my decorating ideas off of her as she willingly shared unique ways to design whimsical cookies. More often than not, she left her own cookies to make more icing or demonstrate a design idea. We spent five enjoyable hours together, baking and decorating while talking endlessly about who knows what.

This year I used Martha Stewart’s basic roll out sugar cookie recipe, which yields a flatter cookie. I really like the way the chocolate cookies turned out, especially the mittens, and have Wilton to thank for that recipe. Royal Icing is royal icing and as Christina says, you just mix the confection sugar, water and Just Whites slowly until you get the fluffy and tasty consistency you’re looking for.

Holiday traditions, baking, cooking or entertaining, don’t just enrich our lives. Sometimes they make something possible that otherwise could not have happened. Once again I will proudly present these cookies as hostess gifts and to teachers, relishing every bit of their ooh’s and aah’s. I worked hard for those!

Slow and Steady Wins the Race (the latke making race) -- GIVEAWAY

Suzy showed up for our latke cooking date yesterday in her old t-shirt and jeans, leaving her nice fleece zip up in the car so the distinct scent of canola oil wouldn’t have a comfy place to settle in. I also wore an old t-shirt and sweatpants, sure that I would need a change of clothes before I left the house. (I never did get to change and ran my kids around all afternoon looking like a slob. Oh the price we pay to create golden potato pancakes.) From our scruffy attire, it was clear that over the years we’ve both learned a lot about making latkes, especially in bulk. Fashion statements are the first thing to go!

Suzy’s new kitchen is just about done and she’s cooking mostly everything in it now. But we decided to cook these little suckers in my shabby kitchen since Suzy’s marble tiled backsplash isn’t treated yet. We didn’t want our grease splattering project to do any real damage. The truth is, we may just continue to make greasy foods at my house and I’m just fine with that. I wouldn’t want to be the gal to christen her new kitchen with a permanent stain. Next week we hope to bake something sweet and easy in Suzy’s new kitchen and I can’t wait! I’ll let her choose.

With the complimentary OXO egg beater I was given to test and review, I gave the eggs a quick beating. Suzy scoffed a bit since she thought a fork would do the trick just fine. But I like this new egg beater, a simple and modern version of the one I grew up with. The coolest thing about the egg beater? With the press of two buttons it separates for easy cleaning. It’s the perfect little tool when you don’t want to deal with the electric mixer but want a good beating and something that works better and faster than a fork. And I have one for one of my lucky readers! Just leave a comment on the Cooking With Friends website by the end of the day on Sunday and I’ll draw a winner. You may just win this clever stocking stuffer for yourself!*


Suzy started peeling while I worked the Cuisinart, shredding 10 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes and four onions. After leaving 5 pounds of potatoes bare naked, Suzy’s hand needed a rest so she started the process of frying, draining and freezing. I worked on the other 5 pounds myself. It’s a big production but we’ve got it down pat. Suzy uses two small spoons to form her latkes and I just grab some with my hands. When Suzy was in charge of the frying, the heat was turned down to medium instead of the usual medium high when I’m at the helm. With 160 golden latkes flipped in a two hour time period, it was clear that slow and steady wins the race.

Since we’ve learned so much about making latkes, I’ll share our best secrets to success:

1) Yukon Gold’s are the best potatoes to use and result in a crispy, creamy and flavorful pancake.
2) Let the potatoes rule. Latkes (as the name suggests) are supposed to be potato pancakes. So often people let the flour and onions take over. Follow our proportions for the perfect potatoes.
3) Drain some of the starch before mixing. Suzy always soaks her shredded potatoes in water and then rings them out before mixing in the flour and egg. If you do this to at least half the mixture, you’ll be thrilled with a less starchy result.
4) You must work quickly getting the latkes from skillet, to paper towel-lined plates to freezer. The faster they go from skillet to freezer, the better they’ll taste later.
5) Freezing is best. Never attempt to make fresh latkes for a Hanukah party. The freshly made ones have a chance to sit around and get soggy. You’ll be happier pulling them fresh from the freezer and reheating them even crispier than they came out the first time around. Plus, you will actually enjoy the party rather than being in a grease-drenched kitchen.
6) Always make latkes with a friend. Who wants to hang out alone and deal with so much frying?
7) Olive oil is the best oil to use for frying the latkes. But olive oil can get costly so if you don’t want to use 100% olive, mix canola with olive oil. Your latkes will be even more delicious!
8) Don’t let your latkes sit for too long on the paper towel lined plates. Get them into the freezer as soon as you can after a quick cool or they’ll get soggy!

Here’s our recipe for BIG BATCH POTATO LATKES. Enjoy!

Big Batch Potato Latkes
Makes 160

This is a lot of potato pancakes and a two hour job. If you aren’t up for such a big job, scale the recipe down by half. You and a friend will still get a good amount of latkes! It took us two hours of working pretty non-stop. Not so bad for 180 of these delicious little bites of glory!

10 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and shredded
4 onions, shredded
2 cups white flour
6 eggs, lightly beaten
Kosher salt
A generous mixture of canola and olive oil for frying

Soak the shredded potatoes in water and then drain well with your hands.

Divide all of the ingredients into two large bowls. Place 5 pounds of shredded potatoes, two onions, 1 cup flour and 3 eggs in one bowl and the same in another. You may need to mix the mixture in batches by taking some out and placing it another bowl so that the flour and egg get mixed into the potatoes.

Get two non-stick skillets working on the stovetop and heat 1/8 inch of olive and canola oil until hot (but not too hot). Place potato mixture by the spoonful into the skillets, making as many little latkes you can. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt on each and cook for about five minutes until golden. Flip using a small spatula and cook until the other side is golden. Drain on paper towel lined plate for a minute or so and then transfer to a foil lined baking sheet. Place uncovered in the freezer and freeze until hardened. Continue making latkes until all of the potato mixture is used, continuing to cook on a medium heat (not too high!). You may need to replenish your oil several times. Make sure to quickly drain the latkes and add them to the others resting in the freezer.

If space is an issue, you can lay sheets of aluminum foil between the layers of latkes in the freezer. (Suzy taught me this trick!)

Swedish Meatballs for the Holidays

If you can believe it, my friend Debbie and I started cooking and freezing hors d’oeuvres for the holidays and the clock hadn’t yet struck December. We usually make crab cakes, caramelized onion squares and lamb meatballs but this year we wanted to change things up a bit. So we consulted Cooks Illustrated for their Swedish Meatball recipe and gave it a go!

My poor Kitchen Aid mixer, which had never before worked its charms on anything non-sweet, gave a good beating to a pork and beef mixture. Using a paddle to mix meatballs was a first, but we trust Cooks Illustrated which suggested it as an ingenious way to distribute the fat in the pork and beef mixture. So, we introduced my mixer to raw meat and made a classic Swedish meatball filling. I have to confess I was a bit skeeved when I used it for chocolate chip batter the next day. It was hard to erase the raw meat image from my memory.

With well moistened hands and a bowl of water close by, we sat across from one another and chatted away at my saran wrap covered kitchen table rolling cocktail sized balls. I took note that Debbie’s meatballs weren’t quite as uniform as mine which caused my art teacher friend to get a bit defensive suggesting that it’s the imperfections which add character to our work. I forgot who she was quoting but I got the gist. It’s just that mine are never as pretty as hers and I felt a little satisfaction in my perfect little meatballs. And she just laughed so all was ok.

I left her at the kitchen table to begin the frying process, which took some attention so as not to splatter grease all about my kitchen. She continued to roll while I fried and we talked about our respective holiday plans. Once we were done, she created the rich sauce using the pan drippings, chicken stock and cream. We evenly split the bounty and ended up with 80 or so meatballs each. When my 8th grader came home from school, he scarfed 8 down before I had a chance to hide them in the freezer. From the look on his face, I think we have a darn good appetizer for our holiday.
What’s next? Today we’re making crab cakes, maybe a southwestern one this year instead of our usual Asian flavors. The two-bite empanadas are also on our list. If you have any suggestions, send them our way.

I found a link for the recipe online. It’s not mine, but it’s a good one, so make sure you take a look:

Cooking With My Dad (and the rest of the gang)

Thanks to a communal effort, our Thanksgiving feast was a resounding success. It took a bit of time to get into our groove this year, as my Dad needed to adjust himself to having me in his compact NYC city kitchen. Plus, I started things off on the wrong track when I removed a loaf of his rising bread from the cutting board to chop celery and onions for the stuffing. But once it was clear that his loaf of bread suffered no injuries and was safe and sound in the hot oven, we were side by side again preparing the meal.
This year, my oldest son volunteered to help me make the stuffing, probably because he wanted to snatch a few tastes of his favorite part of the meal. And I’ll take any help I can get in the kitchen, especially when it’s someone from the next generation, as we need to pass the torch of tradition.
There’s no real need to go into detail of our preparations, since I’m pretty sure I’ve written loads on the topic already in past Thanksgiving blogs and history did repeat. But I can assure you it was great fun with a plentitude of memorable moments. Like when I seasoned my Dad’s hands with an ever too generous amount of olive oil, salt and herbs and watched him give his turkey a better full body, deep tissue massage than I’ve ever received. And of course there were the nut versus no nut jokes in our stuffing like there always are.
All in all, it was another delightful Thanksgiving; a bustling day cooking, eating and feeling full, from the meal and satisfying moments together. Of course, I am sad to report that we didn’t have a whole lot of leftovers this years since we traveled by public transport. But I’m looking forward to Thursday, when my parents will tote several quarts of turkey stock over for our Thanksgiving soup, which will allow us to savor the last bit of Thanksgiving 2011.

Turkey Vegetable Soup w/ Alphabets

3 quarts turkey stock
1 medium onion, diced
1 large zucchini (diced)
1 large yellow squash (diced)
4 peeled and chopped carrots in rounds
3 celery stocks diced
2 cups cubed turkey
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. Fresh chopped parsley
1 ½ cups cooked & drained alphabet noodles
Kosher salt to taste

Sauté the vegetables in olive oil. Add stock, let come to a boil and turn down heat to a simmer until carrots are slightly tender. Add pre-cooked alphabets, turkey & parsley. Let cool and transfer to containers and freeze.

Like an Old Married Couple

Cooking with Kathe for Thanksgiving was fun as always. With pots, pans, baking dishes and countless ingredients strewn about the countertops, we were Tazmanian Devils spinning feverishly around the kitchen moving from one prep station to the next, we were making cranberry bread, carrot muffins, stuffing and biscotti. Although we hoped to make pecan pies, we ran out of time. Thankfully though, we did manage to hit pause for a minute to wolf down the salad Kathe made for lunch.

I felt like a professional dishwasher at times, standing over the sink scrubbing and rinsing a never ending tide of dirty items. But somehow I didn’t dread this mundane task as I would have alone in my kitchen. In a bizarre way I actually enjoyed the chore with company. I wasn’t focused on the humdrum of the routine, but rather on the conversation I was having with my friend. We chatted about our kid’s progress in school, gymnastics (we both have gymnasts), what cookie to make for her Holiday Cookie swap and our upcoming family vacation plans.

As usual, when Kathe and I cook, we get started right away with our agendas but with no particular order in mind. At times we’re like an old married couple, bickering and complaining to one another. (Don’t be mad I said that Kathe!) If I snag the baking soda or a measuring spoon from her she’ll pester me when I forget to return it to her neatly arranged display of supplies. (By the way, she’s a professional organizer and a good one if you have the need!) And I know I’ll get on her nerves with my gazillions of questions. But it’s all in good fun. We love each other and have a mature cooking relationship.

Cooking with Kathe reminds me of cooking with my Dad, especially when we discuss nuts versus no nuts in our baked goods. Kathe’s family loves nuts and almost everything she bakes will have them. I on the other hand, do not like nuts in my food and as a result, neither does my family. My Dad and I go through this rigmarole with our stuffing every year, arguing about nuts versus no nuts, always ending up with two batches to please our stubborn selves.

Kathe had a hard fought nut victory this past Wednesday when my healthy carrot muffins seemed to be missing something. Although I’m sure an extra stick of butter would have made a difference I needed to keep them low-fat. Suddenly, I blurted out that my muffins needed nuts! I’m not sure how that happened, perhaps it wasmy alter ego taking over for the moment. But Kathe was elated with my suggestion and after high-fiving one another, I began chopping walnuts. With a handful of cranberries and a cupful of nuts, our second batch of carrot muffins was just perfect. We talked about adding cream cheese frosting to jazz them up but that’s up to you!

Carrot Muffins with Cranberries and Walnuts
Makes 70 mini muffins

1 stick butter, softened
1/4 cup canola oil
1 ½ apple sauce
2 eggs
¾ cups white sugar
¾ cups light brown sugar
2 cups white flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
3 cups shredded carrots
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Using a stand or hand held mixer, cream together the butter, oil and apple sauce with the sugars. Add the shredded carrots and mix slightly. In a separate bowl, mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet. Mix in the cranberries and walnuts. Spoon the batter into well-greased mini muffin tins and bake until firm to the touch, approximately 12 minutes. Serve with a dollop of cream cheese frosting if you desire.

Lobster Empanadas with a Smokey Lime Dip and an Amazing Giveaway Opportunity

I’ve been asked by Macy’s to help them with their Mblog recipe showcase. Check out their Facebook page for details:, where Macy’s fans can submit their favorite holiday recipes for a chance to win a dinner with a renowned Macy’s Culinary Council chef, including Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Cat Cora or Todd English. Although I am not being compensated, my recipe and story have a chance to be featured in Macy’s new Mblog . Since I love the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade and always get to see it in person, I wanted to show some support.

There’s also something in it for you if you are the lucky winner! Tell me what your favorite holiday dish is by commenting on my blog on the CWFC website and you will have the chance to win this beautiful 15" Stainless Steel Martha Stewart Collection Roaster, with Roasting Rack: http://tinyurl.com/6onqzgf

It’s Christmas Day at my friend Debbie’s house, an extravagant food-filled event with family and friends. The hors d’oeuvres start early in the day, with delectable nibbles served one after the other, preceding an elegant sit down feast. My friend is dressed to the nines and unruffled as she proudly heats and presents an assortment of lovely homemade appetizers to her guests. You may wonder how she does it! The answer is simple: “With a little help from her friends.”

It’s been years that we’ve been cooking together for our holidays and often our friend Jackie will join our fun tradition as well. We’ve made Asian crab cakes, spiced lamb meatballs, lobster and corn empanadas, pork and bok choy dumplings, cheese crackers, caramelized blue cheese squares, blue cheese stuffed dates, Swedish butter cookies, chocolate truffles – you name it! We carve out several dates in December to start cooking, baking and freezing together.

There’s a lot of laughter in our kitchens as we splatter, sizzle and mix in large quantities together all while sharing stories and keeping in touch with each other’s lives. While the outside world bustles about in shopping malls and traffic jams, it may be messy, but all’s calm and quiet in our kitchens together. Last year, Debbie was so dreamy talking to us that she accidentally put an extra three cups of flour in her cookies. We were hysterical, adding more eggs, sugar and vanilla to get the consistency right! Alas, we did and the cookies -- many of them -- tasted as good as usual. We ended up having more fun as a result of our merry little mishap. There’s no holiday stress in our time together; just the simple enjoyment preparing for our respective gatherings.

As we serve our food to guests, each and every course we present is infused with meaning and the fond thoughts of cooking together.

Lobster Empanadas
Makes 24

These two-bite empanadas make an extraordinary appetizer for a holiday cocktail party. Puff pastry dough is a fine substitute for flaky empanada dough. They can be made ahead of time and frozen.

2 dozen mini empanada dough rounds (or 3 inch circles cut out of puff pastry)
2 tablespoons butter
2 shallots, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 2 ½ pound steamed lobster, meat removed and cut into small chunks
1 cup sweet corn kernels, blanched slightly
1 cup béchamel sauce (see recipe below)
1/8 cup cilantro, chopped finely (If you don’t like cilantro, use can parsley.)
1 egg, plus a bit of water for egg wash

In a medium sized skillet, melt the butter on a medium-low heat. Add the shallots and cook for five minutes until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add the corn, lobster, béchamel sauce and cilantro. Stir well and set aside to cool.

To assemble the empanadas, spoon a small amount (1 teaspoon) of filling into the center of each empanada wrapper. Fold the dough in half over the filling and crimp the edges together by using a fork or your fingers and twisting like a rope. Repeat until all the filling is used.

To cook, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush the tops of each with egg wash. Bake on a cookie sheet until golden for approximately 20 minutes.

Béchamel Sauce
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup hot milk
Pinch of nutmeg (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a saucepan and stir in flour. Whisk together and stir for several minutes. Gradually add the hot milk. Stir constantly until the sauce thickens. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg if desired.

Smokey Lime Dip

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl and serve with the empanadas.

1/8 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chives, chopped
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
Juice from ½ of a lime

Wonton Fun

I never knew it could be so fun to stuff and fold Chinese wontons until Christina, Suzy and I had our wonton making date.

Suzy came a few hours early to make a batch of homemade chicken stock, which she planned on serving with the wontons. She arrived ready to go, a huge stock pot in one hand and an overstuffed grocery bag in the other. She marched right into my kitchen, unloading not just her stuff but some guilt as well, apologizing for taking over my kitchen every week. She even threatened to stop our regular Tuesday gig. I quickly interrupted her purge, reminding her that we’d be cooking every week regardless of her kitchen renovation like we’ve done for years. Plus, I reminded her, these cooking dates benefit me as much as her. What better way in my busy life to get dinner on the table than to spend a blast of a time with a friend?
So, she settled comfortably in and started her chicken soup, throwing veggies, herbs and chicken into her pot to boil and simmer. Her original intention was to leave and let the soup slow cook while I worked. But as she settled in, a magazine in hand, she decided to hang out and wait while I worked. It was fantastic for me since she soon dropped her magazine and began helping me make pizza and soup for our pre-wonton making lunch. Plus, I really like when people make themselves at home in my kitchen.

Christina arrived a tad late but we greeted her with a cup of a hearty squash soup, which Kathe and I made the day before and a delicious flatbread Zucchini and parmesan cheese pizza. This was designed to provide energy to twist and seal her 60 wontons and some of mine too. Since there’s no room in my small kitchen for three bowls, trays and grown-ups, we spread out into my dining room.

I got teased a bit for my wonton folding ability (or lack there-of), requesting that Christina demonstrate several times in slow motion. As Christina’s wontons remained upright neatly lined on her baking tray, mine just lay down, relaxed and ready to take a nap. Suzy, who laughed that she usually isn’t that coordinated with crimping other foods like empanadas, proudly got the hang of it, cranking out a good bunch herself. As usual, I set out to make double everyone else since it’s not that much more work and I’ve got a wonton loving bunch in my house. I made two fillings, a pork and chicken. The only difference: scallions were added to the chicken.

Here’s the recipe, guided by an expert Chinese cook, my pal Christina.

Enjoy!

Wontons
Makes 60

1 pound ground chicken (or pork)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
A few pinches of salt
Several splashes of soy sauce
Several splashes of sesame oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
Corn starch
Handful of chopped scallions
Package of wonton wrappers (60)

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together. Stuff, twist and fold the wontons: place a teaspoon of filling into the wrapper, facing point side down. Moisten the edges and fold over the filling into a triangle. Twist on corner under the other and seal. Repeat. Lay on parchment paper lined baking sheet until hardened, freeze until hard and then transfer to freezer bags. Boil in water (or chicken stock) for about 7 minutes. Serve in homemade chicken soup with chopped chives and steamed spinach.

My First White Halloween

My first white Halloween came with strange and eerie consequences. Heavy snow settled on leaf-filled branches, the weight of which caused many downed limbs and uprooted trees. People lost power and still haven’t gotten it back even six days later. For the lucky few (like my family) who lost power for a mere 13 hours, our homes have become makeshift support centers where friends and neighbors can eat a good meal, take a shower, do laundry and let their kids spend a night with the luxury of heat and a TV show. It’s a bizarre reality that is affecting people’s moods during an otherwise glorious fall season.

When my power first when out, I was terrified that I would lose the food I’d been cooking and freezing for several upcoming events. (I even began questioning the purpose of cooking and freezing food at all!) I immediately had to find a house with a generator to transfer the 18 quarts of turkey chili Liz and I had made for the upcoming Election Day bake sale and the dozens of pumpkin and banana breads I baked for an impending healthy breakfast at school. Once I had successfully found a freezer for my donated food, I worked on saving my own family’s food by transferring wontons, dumplings, and tomato sauce from my freezer to Christina’s down the street.

Cooking With Friends soon came to the rescue as I fed my powerless hungry neighbors. Banana muffins and breads became a quick breakfast and pesto was a delicious vegetarian dinner. And the big beef burritos stashed in my freezer (that I had made with Suzy) came in handy as a quick meal for my friend CJ, a fireman who had no time between emergencies to eat. For many days and still continuing, friends and neighbors are coming and going, using my house as theirs. My friend Kathe settled in on Halloween with her family, helping me make huge batches of meatballs, sauce, corn bread and chili to feed neighbors after trick-or-treating. Thankful to have a kitchen to cook in, Kathe even made a delicious apple crisp for dessert.

My friends keep saying they “owe” me for my hospitality, which is kind but completely ridiculous. Here on the bright side of the street looking over at my neighbors’ dark homes I feel bad and want to help in any way I can. I am thankful to have power and can’t think of a better way to use it than to help my friends. The only thing my friends owe me is continued friendship. And when the power goes out on my side of the street I’m sure there will be a place for my family!

Big Beef Burrito
Makes 8 Big Burritos

Kids and adults all love the Big Beef Burrito. And it’s Homemade Take-out at its easiest. The burritos are simple to make in large batches and take only minutes to warm up for lunches, snacks, or dinners. This is definitely a dish to experiment with-try pulled chicken, ground beef, all veggie, or rice and bean. The recipe below is our favorite Big Burrito basic. Make sure you offer a toppings bar of sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, and include your own guacamole and salsa.

1 pound lean ground beef
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed and minced
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup cooked rice
8 Flour Tortillas (10’’ large size)
2 1/2 cups shredded cheese (cheddar, Monterey Jack, or a blend)
½ cup cilantro, chopped

In a large saucepan, begin to brown the beef for a few minutes while seasoning with chili powder, salt, cumin, onion powder and chili powder. Add the onions, garlic and jalapeno peppers and cook for 7 minutes. Add black beans and heat through. Add rice and mix well.

Warm the tortillas slightly so that they do not break apart when folding. (The microwave works well. Simply place the tortillas on a plate, cover with a damp paper towel and heat for one minute.) Keeping the tortillas covered so that they don’t dry out, remove one at a time and begin filling. Spoon about ¾ cup of filling into each tortilla and follow with ¼ cup of cheese on top of each, followed by a sprinkling of cilantro.

Fold in two edges and roll burritos carefully making sure to enclose all filling. To freeze, wrap each individually in plastic wrap after you fold each one so they don’t dry out. Then, place in freezer bags and lay flat in the freezer. To reheat the burritos, unwrap, place burrito on a plate and microwave on high for 1 ½ to 2 minutes on each side, checking to make sure edges do not become hardened.

Cooking Ahead with an Expecting Friend

I am so thrilled that one of my closest friends in the whole world is expecting her fifth child in just a few weeks. I am truly elated to have a new baby to hold, hug and love. Having been through this before, my dear friend knows it’s going to be a busy summer and she’s smart enough to be thinking ahead. You see, she’s determined to feed her family healthy and homemade foods, but knows that it may be tough to accomplish this with a new baby. That’s why we’ve decided to cook and freeze meals ahead of time; delicious dinners she’ll be able to simply re-heat at the end of a long hot day. Last week, we got together an in just two hours made several pounds of chicken tenders and five lasagnas, kid tested dishes guaranteed to please her family. We figure she’ll be able to build a dozen or so dinners around these basics.

While time ticks away, two challenges await us in the next few weeks:
Will she resist the temptation to use those dinners before the baby comes? (No biggy if she doesn’t since they are helpful no matter what and we can make a big batch to replenish.) And will we be able to carve out more time in the next few crazy busy weeks to make more meals together? (If not, it’s ok since my friend Christina and I are planning to make more meals for her. Shhh. . .don’t tell!)

It’s all good: cooking with my wonderful friend for an exciting time ahead. Food is a fulfilling gift, and making it with a friend adds a meaningful dimension.

Golden Chicken Tenders
Makes 48 chicken tenders

It’s the simplicity of this recipe that makes it so enticing. Well, that plus knowing that our families will do everything short of licking their plates clean after a meal of these crispy, succulent tenders! They freeze and reheat well, making them a sure bet for kids’ weekday meals and a healthy alternative to fast food. To shake things up and introduce new flavors to otherwise picky eaters, pair them with fun dipping sauces, or add a bit of your favorite spice to the flour, such as a curry powder or Cajun seasoning. Other options are to use the chicken tenders as a topping on a pesto pizza, as the base for Chicken Parmesan or on top of a salad.
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (more if needed)
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup olive oil (or enough to generously coat the bottom of a large skillet)
Kosher salt

Prepare your workspace: place plastic wrap over the counters near the stove (this helps make cleanup easier), and line a plate with paper towels. Place a chicken breast on your work surface. Hold your hand flat on top of the breast and, using a sharp knife, slice horizontally through the middle of the breast to make two thin cutlets. Slice the cutlets crosswise into thirds. (You should get 6 strips per chicken breast.)
Set two shallow bowls next to the stovetop. In the one closest to the stove, add the flour and in the other, whisk together the eggs.
Heat the oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Coat a few pieces of chicken with flour, tapping off the excess, then dip in the egg to coat, and then dredge through the flour, tapping off the extra. When the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces (enough to comfortably fit in the pan without overcrowding and cooling the oil) and cook until browned and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and turn the chicken pieces over, cooking the other side until browned and crisp, another 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to paper towels and repeat with the remaining chicken tenders. (Add more paper towels if the first layer gets too soaked with oil.) To freeze, lay chicken tenders on a baking sheet and place uncovered in the freezer until tenders harden, from 30-60 minutes. Transfer to gallon sized freezer bags.

Chronicles of a Postage Stamp Gardener -- Peas are coming!

Many of you have been asking, “So how’s your garden growing?” Well, thanks for asking! Since I’ve set aside my normal blog for the USA Dry Pea and Lentil contest, I haven’t been updating you as frequently. (If you haven’t done so already, you can still vote by posting a comment on my recipe on the previous blog entry through June 5th.)

We’ve been eating a ton of salads, chock full of Bibb lettuce and mesculin, with a handful of crunchy radishes. My husband commented that we must be saving a ton of money on lettuce! The more I cut, the more my lettuces regenerate, which is exactly what’s supposed to happen. There’s one potential problem in the garden though—my beet leaves are yellowing. I’m not sure if that’s from the excess rain or the intense heat we’ve just experienced --maybe both! Would love to know!

Aside from the gutter cleaners dumping a few mounds of soggy pollen in my garden and making the washing process more involved, I’ve been having a great time harvesting. I even made a delicious filo appetizer using my baby spinach.

What’s next? That delicate white flower in the photo above is my first sign of peas. My pea vines are climbing so high that I had to add a few feet to their climbing trellises. I’ve also got petit yellow flowers sprouting on the cucumber and tomato plants. So I guess you could say that things are growing quite well in my garden. How about yours?

If you’d like to make the spinach filo cups, I’ve just added them to the recipe section (with photo):

http://www.cookingwithfriendsclub.com/index.php?/recipes/detail/spinach-filo-cups/

Another Soup for Another Rainy Day

This rainy weather is really putting me in the mood for soup. The colorful bags of dried peas and lentils sitting on my kitchen counter (courtesy of the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council) are begging to be made into soup. This rainy weather is just plain miserable and who doesn’t crave a bowl of soup to brighten the mood? Today’s Sweet & Spicy Lentil Soup is completely different than yesterday’s yellow pea soup and embraces the whole lentil bean instead of a puree. It resembles a mulligatawny soup, with the lentils and shitake mushrooms creating a hearty meatless soup. My 13-year old son gives it a high approval rating and wants it to be my pick at the end of the month for the contest. It’s a really easy soup to throw together, especially if you have the lentils cooked ahead of time. It goes really well with a piece of garlic Naan, which I happened to have in the freezer from Trader Joe’s. You should have seen my son sopping up every last drop of his soup with it! I hope you enjoy my second recipe.

Sweet & Spicy Lentil Soup
Makes almost 2 quarts

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 pieces celery, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced into rounds
3.5 ounces shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
32 ounces chicken broth
5.46 ounces coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste
3-4 teaspoons madras curry powder (or another kind)
2 cups cooked brown lentils
2 cups baby spinach, washed

In a soup pot, sauté the onions, celery, carrots and mushrooms until tender for approximately 10 minutes. Season with curry powder, salt and pepper. Add the chicken stock and coconut milk. Bring to a slow boil and add the spinach leaves until just wilted. Add the cooked lentils. Turn the heat off and serve immediately with Naan bread.

Recipe Development Contest

I love lentils and peas. Healthy, tasty, protein rich and satisfying, my friends and I often include them in our salad and soup making dates. Lately, we’ve been savoring various soups such as the coconut curried red lentil soup. So when I was contacted on behalf of the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council to participate in a recipe development contest involving dry peas and lentils, I accepted the challenge.

I liked their targeted approach to finding a voice for their contest and I appreciated that there was something in it for you, my loyal readers – free giveaways! You see, there are many blog entries and recipes on my website that include lentils or peas, so it must have been obvious to the organizers that I’m a genuine fan. I agreed to be a contestant (if you should call it that) in an effort to raise awareness of the health benefits of dry peas and lentils. Honestly, prior to this, I didn’t know there was an entire non-profit council devoted to “promote and protect the interests of growers, processors, warehousemen and sellers of dry peas, lentils and chickpeas in the United States.” And it’s been around for more than forty years. That’s awesome!

I often get opportunities to help promote products or gadgets, but I usually turn them down simply because I won’t promote what I don’t love. But dried peas and lentils? You got me! That’s like asking a steak lover to review a dry-aged porterhouse. I’m in.

I developed some yummy, gluten free recipes for this contest and expect to have few nifty giveaways, thanks to our contest organizer. I hope this endeavor will be fun and useful for you too. So tune in over the next two weeks. Tomorrow, I’ll post a new family favorite soup recipe, and after that, a spicy dip perfect for your summer entertaining and then, a delicious heart healthy salad. You’ll have the chance to “vote” at the end of the contest (on May 31st) by commenting on my blog and just for doing so, the US Dry Pea and Lentil Council will send you (the first 500 people) a generous assortment of dried peas and lentils. They tell me that one lucky winner will even receive a cool new baking product (which I won’t disclose until later but I can assure you is awesome).

So thanks for reading and make sure to check out the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council website. There’s a lot of useful information. Did you know that legumes are otherwise known as “pulses?” Well I didn’t either and found out when I visited their informational website: http://www.pea-lentil.com/.

Carrot Muffins, Biscotti and a Good Old Fashioned Lunch

Sometimes it’s hard to see friends. Busy lives and lots of work often interfere with good intentions. That’s why I set aside several hours last Wednesday morning for my friend Jackie. We started with a jog around the park, exercising together while planning what we’d bake later. Jackie had a delicious salad and soup planned for lunch, so maybe something sweet for dessert. Since I just received several pounds of early carrots from my CSA, we decided it would have to be something carroty. And because I also needed to test the chocolate biscotti recipe I had created, I decided to get some “work” done as well.

Jackie peeled the carrots, saving all the scraps for my compost, while I got the biscotti ready to bake. I joked about how happy I was that she performed the carrot peeling job, and she reminded me that’s why we cook with friends. And it sure is! I was dreading peeling those darn carrots, testimony to why they’d been sitting in my refrigerator for a few weeks. Even though they are quite tasty, they weren’t the big easy-to-peel ones, but rather small and thin ones, probably why I had gotten so many for “free” from my CSA farmer. But that’s what friends (or at least cooking with friends) are for!

And, payment for carrot peeling would be half of my biscotti. Not a bad deal! I grated the carrots and we created some delicious muffins together. The only question left? What to top them with! Jackie suggested a cream cheese frosting, which I snuck some cardamom into.

In the midst of baking, our friend Debbie stopped by to say hello. As we were chatting with her, we put her to work on the frosting. As you can see, our cupcakes benefited from the art teacher in her with squiggles and swirls. Voila! A delicious and festive carrot cake muffin with cardamom frosting was created by three friends. And then we sat down to a delicious al fresco lunch in Jackie’s backyard on a beautiful spring day.

Here’s our recipe.

Carrot Muffins with Cardamom Frosting
Makes 12

¼ cup canola oil
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup unbleached white flour
¾ cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 cups shredded carrots
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a 12 muffin tin, spraying well with baking spray. Set aside.

Beat together the oil and butter. Add the sugar, vanilla and eggs, one at a time. Mix in the flour, baking powder and baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Fold in the carrots. Divide the mixture evenly among the tin, filling ¾ of the way. Bake in the oven for approximately 20-22 minutes until firm to the touch. Cool and frost if desired.

Frosting:
1 cup cream cheese
½ cup powdered sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground cardamom
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip all ingredients together until creamy. Place in a sandwich bag, cut a small hole in one corner and frost as you wish!

Cooking Caponata (with friends)

“You know Alison, this took us only one hour to make. It usually takes me three!” Lou Palma

Lou’s words were music to my ears as we concluded a very efficient caponata making date couple Thursdays ago. (Caponata is a Sicilian cooked vegetable salad, kind of like ratatouille. You can find it ready made in jars near the olives and tapenade in most grocery stores.) Our unsurpassable success making five quarts in an hour surprised even Lou, a communal cooking maven who relishes preparing and savoring meals with family and friends. As I was helping Lou crimp empanadas with my friend Christina last Wednesday, I caught wind of his plans to make the traditional eggplant, caper and olive crostini appetizer he serves to his vegetarian relatives on Easter.

He kindly delayed his cooking intentions for that afternoon, and agreed to make the dish with me (and our friend Debbie) the following day. Like me, Lou gets pleasure out of teaching eager cooks how to make something for the first time. He’ll also rarely turn down an offer of help. I think my wide eyed enthusiasm guaranteed it would be worth the delay for him.

Lou did all the shopping ahead of time (what a champ!) and had everything laid out and ready to go when Debbie and I got there. All I had to do was remember to bring the onions. And with a reminder e-mail from him just before I had to leave, I couldn’t fail! Lou ran our caponata making like a 5 star chef runs a restaurant kitchen. He had us dicing, slicing and sautéing while he directed us around his kitchen from drawers to cabinets. In no time, caponata was simmering and we had time to show Debbie Lou’s garden, his “pride and joy.”

We left Lou with clean dishes, sparkling counters, a pot simmering on the stove and a promise to come back to help pack up. As I left, we counted all the foods we’ve made together – tortellini, ravioli, mozzarella, empanadas and now caponata – and we wondered what would be next. I know whatever it will be is sure to be delicious and full of fun making it together.

PS
I happened to taste test Whole Foods caponata yesterday in their prepared food section. Two things to note: it’s not nearly as good as ours and it’s a whole lot more expensive! Since it sells for $7.99 a pound, it would cost $80.00 to buy the amount we made. Lou and I spent $13.00 each (about $26.00 total) on our ingredients.

Caponata
Makes 5 quarts
Lou’s Recipe By: Leslie Ficaro

Olive oil
4 pounds eggplant, cubed
3 large onions, thinly sliced
8 ribs celery, thinly sliced
1 quart large green olives, pitted (we used olives marinated in garlic)
1 cup small capers, rinsed
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 large can whole tomatoes, chopped
1 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup golden raisins, whole
Slivered almonds, toasted for serving

Sautee eggplant in batches until browned. Drain in a colander. Sautee onions and celery until tender do not brown. Add tomatoes olives, capers, tomato paste vinegar, sugar and raisin. Stir in eggplant and cook for one half hour. Cool and refrigerate.
When serving top with toasted almonds

"You can't ever mess up."

My cooking date with Suzy started with those reassuring words as we set out to make Matzo Toffee. Even though I’m a confident cook and play with recipes all the time, always changing them to make them my own, there’s something about Matzo Crunch. Sure, it’s easy to make, with a few simple ingredients, yet I have this vague memory that I messed up once and in a big way. So, I insisted on using a recipe for my batch of the very addictive Matzo Candy (otherwise known as Matzo crack) while Suzy confidently worked from memory on hers. “You don’t need a recipe!” she chided, reminding me how easy this chewy, chocolaty toffee crunch really is. “You can’t mess this one up!” she teased.

My cooking date with Suzy started with those reassuring words as we set out to make Matzo Toffee. Even though I’m a confident cook and play with recipes all the time, always changing them to make them my own, there’s something about Matzo Crunch. Sure, it’s easy to make, with a few simple ingredients, yet I have this vague memory that I messed up once and in a big way. So, I insisted on using a recipe for my batch of the very addictive Matzo Candy (otherwise known as Matzo crack) while Suzy confidently worked from memory on hers.

It was ironic, me with a recipe in hand, while Suzy was free, melting and mixing. It’s usually the other way around as I encourage Suzy to drop the recipe and cook by instinct. But I methodically followed this recipe, step by slow step, to get it just right. And Suzy, stirring the pot next to mine, continued to wing it. But as she whisked, she began to question if her sugar and butter were coming together as mine just did. She began to worry, wondering if everything was going as it should.

At one point, I took Suzy’s advice and deviated slightly from the recipe, which instructed me to let the chips sit on the hot toffee for five minutes, and instead put it back in the oven for a minute. Suzy says that this just speeds the melting process along. The chocolate spread beautifully—smooth, creamy and really perfectly. But when it was Suzy’s turn to melt her chips, they didn’t melt as they had so perfectly done on mine. Instead, they began to congeal in that dreadful way that can happen when you melt chocolate for dipping and it just doesn’t work as it should. Her Matzo Toffee, so easy to make, wasn’t working.

So what did we do? We started to laugh. “You can’t ever mess up.” And as she did the best she could, spreading her chocolate into a thicker, less glossy finish, we decided that chocolate tastes like chocolate no matter what. Was it the mini chips instead of big ones? Or that she had waited a tad too long to begin sprinkling her chips? Did she wait too long to put them back in the oven? We questioned and wondered as I realized this very thing had happened to me once. But we sprinkled an extra handful of nuts on it and by the end you could hardly tell that her batch was different than mine.

So, it turned out she was right. And later that evening as she texted me while eating her Matzo candy:

“Everything turned out great despite rocky start! Matzo crunch tastes amazing despite chip disaster. Told ya u can’t screw it up.”

And the night ended with a smiley face emoticon.

Cookies and cream

Actually, it was macaroons and banana cream pie! Egg Beaters were whirring, coconut was everywhere and the baking sheets lined up and ready to cook last Wednesday in my petit, well-used kitchen. It was the fourth year in a row that Jackie and I made macaroons together and since our friend Debbie was off from work that day, she decided she’d join us as well. My kitchen was hopping, a bit crowded actually, so we worked in stages. Instead of making all three batches at once, we took turns using the bowls, beater and of course, the oven. It was a less messy and more efficient strategy for three bodies to work together in one small space.

As we waited for our decadent treats to bake to a golden finish, we sat down in my dining room to enjoy a simple lunch of potato leek soup and freshly made bread. The timer went off every twelve minutes, interrupting our serene meal, as we took turns running in and out of the kitchen to place some macaroons to cool and others to bake. We chatted away, catching up on our busy lives.

The leftover egg yolks spurred a last minute idea to make banana cream pie. My Joy of Cooking cookbook came out as Debbie ran home to get her pre-made graham cracker crusts. It was a true team effort as we worked together to whisk the sugar, milk and corn starch into a creamy custard, thinly slice the bananas and then layer both into a decadent pie. We laughed as Debbie realized she hadn’t “scolded” the milk prior to the whisking, as I told her it’s never nice to yell at your milk.

Our friend Lou said the macaroons were the best he and his wife had ever had and the kids couldn’t believe they had banana cream pie for dessert on an ordinary Wednesday.

It was a winning Wednesday – good food, good fun and good friends!

The banana cream pie recipe is from the Joy of Cooking cookbook but here is my recipe for chocolate chip macaroons.

Coconut Macaroons with mini Chocolate Chips
Makes two dozen

8 ounces sweetened angel flake coconut
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 stiffly beaten egg white
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix coconut, vanilla extract, salt and condensed milk together in a mixing bowl. Beat egg white until stiff. Fold the egg white into the coconut. Add the mini chips and mix carefully. Form the coconut mixture into mounds and place one inch a part onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the oven until golden for approximately 12- 14 minutes. Remove the macaroons carefully using a small spatula and cool on a rack.

Power Cooking

That’s how Suzy summed up our intense taquito-making date last Wednesday. We had two 15-inch skillets going and three different fillings to work with, so it was a pretty crazy hour and a half. And for Suzy who likes to keep things simple, I could see how she’d call it “power cooking.”
Since we each had been away for the weekend, our conversation was also intense as we chit chatted between seasoning, filling and frying corn tortillas. We worked efficiently from stovetop to freezer to sink, creating 60 taquitos we knew our families would love.

A text from my thirteen-year old son on his way home from school caused me to pack things up early. As I hurriedly opened the freezer door, two baking sheets lined with taquitos began to topple over, a few onto the floor. Suzy, who had been on the phone with her husband, actually hung up on him as we avoided a bigger disaster! (Knowing they’d be re-heated, we used the three second rule to save the five that dropped to the floor.)

With only one minor near debacle at the end, I’d say it was a flawless cooking date – efficient, productive and fun! Hopefully her husband forgave Suzy for hanging up as he at our delicious dinner.

RECIPE

If you want to make your own, you’ll need a friend, some filling, tortilla, a large skillet (or two) and canola oil.

Filling -- To make the filling, you can really use whatever protein you’d like (beans, leftover chicken, shredded pork or beef), cheese (cheddar, Monterey jack, queso fresco, cream cheese) and of course some veggies (sautéed onions, peppers, jalapenos or corn) and cilantro.

Assmebling the Corn Tortillas – First you’ll want to warm the tortillas by microwaving them on a plate covered with a damp paper towel. Do this in batches of 10 and heat for 1 minute. Next, place a tablespoon of filling on the lower third of the tortilla and roll gently but tightly upward until the tortilla is closed. Place seam side down in the skillet and fry until golden flipping once.

Tips – While one friend rolls the tortillas, the other one should tend to the skillet, making sure they do not overcook.

Leaving Burritoville

It’s spring cleaning time in my kitchen. I’m trying to use up every last item in my freezer and pantry, making way for fresh new foods. Just as some people get excited to buy a few new outfits each season, I’m eager to refresh my pantry and freezer. (Don’t get me wrong, I’ll also welcome a shopping spree once in a while for some new clothes.)

This morning, while shopping for dinner in my freezer, I stumbled upon the last three chicken burritos. The sight of them made me chuckle, as I was reminded of the time Suzy and I made them two months ago in pretty massive quantities. Cutting boards, skillets and ingredients took over my smallish kitchen as we cooked and filled dozens of them together. At the time, we were quite pleased with our accomplishment, but wondered if we’d ever actually be able to eat them all. After tonight, I’m proud to say we will!

As you may know, after the resounding success of the Big Beef Burrito, I am a big fan of these hearty tortilla packages. They are an ideal on-the-go or quick meal. Filled with chicken, cheese, beans and rice, they are delicious, nutritious and filling. My kids eat them as after-school snacks and as light dinners before sports. All three of my kids love them: one likes them plain, one prefers them with sour cream and the last likes them with homemade guacamole.

As we eat the last of our burrito bounty tonight, I’ll share the simple recipe for you to make for your family.

Chicken Burritos
Makes 24

2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 onions, diced
6 cups cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
2 teaspoons cumin
3 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
Juice from one lime
1 can diced tomatoes, with some liquid
2 cans of 14 ounce black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups cooked rice (preferably basmati)
½ cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1 jalapeno, diced finely (optional)
¼ cup Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
24 large burrito wrappers
3 cups shredded cheese (cheddar, Monterey jack or a mixture)


In a large skillet, sauté the garlic and onions (and jalapeno peppers if using) in olive oil for about 7 minutes. Season the onions with salt, pepper and cumin. Add the chicken, chili powders, lime juice and tomatoes. Mix well and stir in the beans, rice and chicken broth. If using cilantro, add at the end. Cool the mixture slightly until ready to handle.

To assemble the burritos, you may want to warm the tortillas slightly by microwaving several at a time on a plate covered with a moist towel. You’ll want to place a generous mixture on the lower third of the tortilla and then sprinkle a few tablespoons of shredded cheese. To wrap, fold the bottom up over the mixture and then fold each side in and roll tightly. Place the burrito seam side down and wrap well in saran wrap. Repeat until all of the filling is used. Freeze until ready to eat.

To re-heat unwrap the burrito and place on a microwave safe plate. Cover with a moistened paper towel. Microwave on high for 90 seconds and the flip the burrito over and cook for another 30-60 seconds until cooked through. Serve with sour cream, salsa or guacamole.

"B" is for bake with me

I received an e-mail recently as I often do, with a request for some baking help for my daughter’s school. This time it was a specific request for a few hundred butter cookies in the shape of a letter B, decorated in school spirit colors, blue and yellow. I noticed that my friend Christina was also on the e-mail so before responding I sent her a note suggesting we bake and then decorate together. It’s just so much easier and enjoyable to volunteer with a friend. Christina agreed and we accepted the job.

Although I will occasionally bake something simple like a batch of chocolate chip cookies or banana bread alone for a school event, giving many hours of time to create hundreds of decorated cookies is a whole different story, one I’d much rather do with a friend. The cooking with friends’ way of life offers a simple way to give back to the community in a fun and rewarding way. In this case, Christina and I had both been busy and hadn’t really gotten together to cook or bake in a while anyway. This opportunity offered up some necessary catch up time.

And, for those of you interested in the logistics of our baking date, here they are:

Last Tuesday was the second day of spring and I awoke to a front yard covered with snow and no heat. Needless to say, I was a bit down (not the best way to start the day) and had to wait around for the heating guy while Christina got things started. She had the dough nicely chilled and some letters already cut and ready-to-bake when I arrived. We cut, baked and made icing together and then before we started with the decorating, I suggested we make banana bread as well – a bonus for our time together. She readily agreed and pulled 8 overripe bananas from her freezer. I ran home to get more bananas and some other ingredients. I hurriedly mixed a few batches of banana bread while she got things ready for the decorating phase of our cookie making.

Later, while we sat on stools facing one another methodically outlining cookies with icing and dipping them in sugar, our banana breads baked while we chatted away about life and our kids. Christina even whipped up a quick falafel pita sandwich lunch for us to eat. With a whopping 220 sparkling blue and yellow cookies, several loaves of banana bread, our three hours together, was a huge success.
It was a modern and efficient way to spend time and lunch with a friend. And although my day started out gloomy, it ended with a smile and a sense of accomplishment: girl time + volunteer time = an excellent day.

Big Batch Bonus Banana Bread
Makes 2 large loaves, 8 mini loaves or 48 mini muffins

1 stick of butter, softened
4 eggs
7 very ripe bananas
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup apple sauce
1 cup white sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup white whole wheat flour
½ cup wheat germ
2 ½ cups white flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
½ cup milk
2 cups mini chocolate chips (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat together the butter, sugars, apple sauce and bananas. Add the eggs and vanilla extract. Beat well. Gradually add the flour, baking soda, powder and wheat germ and blend well. Mix in the milk, fold in the chips and transfer to loaf or muffin pans sprayed with baking spray. If baking mini loaves, you’ll need approximately 40 minutes. If making mini muffins, bake for less time and of course large loaves will take longer – approximately and hour.

A Little Bit Irish and a lot of Tradition

Amidst our busy schedules, my friend Jackie and I snuck in a little Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. It was our third year in a row baking Irish soda bread together, officially coining a tradition. I had a corned beef simmering on the stove and a hunk of cabbage ready for a quick sauté for dinner (ok, so the non-Irish in me took some liberties here and rejected boiling cabbage) and was all set and pre-measured when she arrived. All I needed to complete the meal was the soda bread. With the gorgeous spring weather peeking through on a late winter day, I pre-measured the dry ingredients so our kitchen time would be brief and we could enjoy a bit of sunshine on my front porch while our muffins baked.

Jackie measured the wet ingredients while I whisked the dry ones. And as I measured the currants into my batter she stopped me before I threw some in hers. She announced that she’d be making hers with mini chocolate chips instead. She knew her kids would like them better, even though her husband would chide her for not using the dried fruit. (Jackie is known to enhance many foods with chocolate -- banana bread, pear and bran muffins! Who wouldn’t?) After I promised not to disclose her secret to her husband, she agreed to trade some of hers with mine. It was a nice arrangement since I knew my kids would prefer her chocolate ones and her husband would be pleased with the more traditional Irish taste.

Below is our recipe, which turned out more like petit scones than muffins. I am sure the chocolate chips didn’t hurt! Neither one of us likes caraway seeds, so our recipe isn’t faithful to the original Irish. Forgive us for taking liberties to create a delicious St. Patrick’s Day treat which can be enjoyed any day of the year as a plain old breakfast muffin.

A Tad Irish Muffins
Makes 12 large or 30 mini muffins

Hold the caraway seeds and substitute chocolate chips for the currants and you’ve got a scone like breakfast muffin. Although it hardly resembles Irish soda bread, it’s delicious none-the-less.

2 ¼ cups unbleached white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup sugar
1 ½ cups mini chocolate chips (or currants)
1 egg
1 cup sour cream
6 tablespoons melted butter
Course sugar for sprinkling on the tops (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and chocolate chips. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, sour cream and butter. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry.

Grease the muffin tins with butter or baking spray and fill halfway with batter. Sprinkle the tops with sugar and bake for approximately 18 minutes.

Inspiration Comes Full Circle

While Suzy and I were making pot pies together last week, the “what’s for dinner” conversation happened, as it often will. I suggested she try the simple apricot curry pork I made the night before and showed her our leftovers. She asked for the recipe, remarking how delicious it looked. As I took her through the simple steps – a quick sear and seasoning, a deglazing of the pan and a 30 or so minute bake in the oven – I remembered that it was in fact her curry pork dish that first inspired me. We were in her kitchen quite a ways back, baking a batch of biscotti together, when she raved about her grilled curry pork tenderloin served with apricot chutney and its popularity with the family. I couldn’t resist the sweet and savory flavor combination of curry and apricot and proceeded to create my own recipe, which was entirely new and different. (So dissimilar that Suzy didn’t even recognize her own pork dish as the influence.) I’m always motivated by friends and marvel at how sneaky inspiration can be sometimes.
Here’s my simple curried apricot pork recipe. It’s an easy yet impressive weekday dinner that can be whipped up in no time.
Curried Apricot Pork Tenderloin
Serves 4

Simple yet delicious, this pork dish is a perfect weekday dinner when you’re short on time and want something easy.

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 2-pound tenderloin of pork
¾ teaspoon Madras (or other) curry powder
½ teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
1 medium onion, diced
4 ounces apricot preserves
¾ cup chicken stock

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the pork loin and season with half the curry powder, salt and pepper. After a few minutes, flip and season the other side. Cook for another few minutes. Add the onions to the skillet and cook for a few more minutes. Meanwhile, coat the pork with the apricot preserves and transfer to a baking dish. Next you’ll want to deglaze the pan, mixing in the stock and scraping up the pan drippings. Pour the stock from the skillet over the pork and bake for approximately 45 minutes until tender and cooked all the way through. Spoon the sauce and onions over the pork and serve with a steamed vegetable and rice.

Cooking With Friends: Chronicles of a Postage Stamp Gardener

Cooking With Friends: Chronicles of a Postage Stamp Gardener: "I’m excited to let you know that I’m starting a new section to my blog which will appear frequently. I’ve thought a lot about where my new ..."

Cooking With Friends: Chronicles of a Postage Stamp Gardener

Cooking With Friends: Chronicles of a Postage Stamp Gardener: "I’m excited to let you know that I’m starting a new section to my blog which will appear frequently. I’ve thought a lot about where my new ..."

Chronicles of a Postage Stamp Gardener

I’m excited to let you know that I’m starting a new section to my blog which will appear frequently. I’ve thought a lot about where my new blog should go, whether or not I should find it a home somewhere out in the blogosphere or keep it right here in the comfy home of CWF. Well, as Dorothy famously exclaimed, there’s no place like home. After all, my garden will be planned with the help of friends, my vegetables will be tended in the company of friends (and sometimes, like when I’m away, by my friends) and of course, there should Hopefully (with a capital H) be many vegetables to cook endless meals with friends from my very own garden.

I’ve never had a green thumb. In fact, it’s kind of on the brown side. Although I grow my own herbs and a handful of vegetables, I’ll admit that I’ve never been great at it and am perpetually envious of other people’s thriving and productive gardens. Let’s just say, in the gardening department, the grass has always been greener on the other side.

Granted, I’ve had some gardening obstacles over the years. My biggest issues involve sun and soil, which from what I understand, are two fairly critical success factors to gardening. The front of my house faces the sunny south, which is great for hanging out on the front porch and lawn, but leaves the backyard lacking in direct sun. Therefore, the more traditional garden carved out of a large patch of sun drenched land has always been out of the question for me. So, I am a skill-challenged gardener with some less than ideal conditions but with the heart and soul to do it.

The title of my new blog, “Chronicles of a Postage Stamp Gardener” will record my escapades (which I can assure you will be plenty!) while attempting to grow a hearty and healthy garden. I’ve chosen Duane Newcomb as my gardening prophet and his book, The Postage Stamp Gardening Book, as my bible. If you’ve never heard of it, don’t panic, you haven’t missed the latest and greatest book in gardening. (Or maybe you have but give me a few months to give it a go!) The book was published in 1975 and I’m in possession of a very worn and tattered copy; a birthday gift from my Mom and Dad, both of whom are well aware of my determination to succeed at gardening.

Apparently, my childhood garden, which graced the front lawn of my cookie cutter suburban split level home, was designed and sustained with the guidance of this very book. Although the neighbors weren’t happy with the taboo front yard garden, my parents were proud growers and credit The Postage Stamp Gardening book for much of their success.

So, if you’ve ever had an interest in growing your own food, tune in to my new blog and if you’re adventurous, grab a spade and rake and join in – we can garden virtually together! I’d love some company.

Manic Meatloaf

I awoke on Valentine’s Day morning, my birthday, to a gorgeous crimson sunrise. I was excited to be spending the day with friends and family on my favorite day of the year; a day to pamper and to be pampered.
It was a stellar day that began with waffles and ended with meatloaf, both in the shape of hearts. (The meatloaves were a brilliant suggestion from my husband as I pondered what to make for a cozy dinner.)

I ran around non-stop from coffee to a pedicure to breakfast to lunch – all with friends -- and then sprinted to my kids’ school for a Valentine’s Day party. I was on cruise control, enjoying my day but in the back of my mind I was wondering how or if I’d manage to make the heart shaped meatloaves.

When a conversation with my friend Kathe turned to the topic of dinner, she loved the meatloaf idea and said she had some chopped meat to make some too. Yay! I’d be able to squeeze some cooking with friends into my favorite day of the year. So I rushed home, grabbed the chopped meat, bread crumbs and heart shaped ramekins, drove to Kathe’s house for a fifteen minute interlude where we squished, mixed and molded our love infused dinners.

Although our crazy schedule didn’t allow for a sit down family dinner, each of my children (and later my husband) got a kick out of the ketchup drizzled x’s and o’s atop their meatloaf hearts. It may have only been meatloaf, but it ended the day with smiles and a little love. Every Valentine’s Day should be as good as it was this year.

My Meatloaf
1 pound ground turkey meat
1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, diced finely
1 cup bread crumbs
2 garlic cloves
2 eggs
Chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
A bit of ketchup

Mix all of the meat together in a large bowl. Fill the heart shaped ramekins (or pancake molds) with mixture and draw x’s and o’s with ketchup. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Cooking With Friends: Peach Pie Anyone?

Cooking With Friends: Peach Pie Anyone?: "There’s nothing like a piece of homemade peach pie in the middle of February to brighten the spirits. Yes, it’s true! -- Especially if it’s..."

Peach Pie Anyone?

There’s nothing like a piece of homemade peach pie in the middle of February to brighten the spirits. Yes, it’s true! -- Especially if it’s made with farm fresh Jersey peaches and a homemade crust. But how you might ask did I possibly make a peach pie in the dead of winter? There are no peaches in the grocery stores, or at least any local or sweet ones, so you may be wondering how I pulled this one off.

Well, I’ll give you my little secret. Back in July, I had a surplus of peaches from my CSA. I decided to make a few batches of peach pie filling with a friend who also had too many. This week, when I stumbled upon my very last container hiding snugly beneath a bag of edamame beans in the freezer, I decided that there’s no better time than now! My 13-year old pie-loving son was more than thrilled when I greeted him with a fresh-out-of-the oven slice of pie. If you can imagine, he asked if it was made with canned peaches! I think I even impressed him.

If you’re wondering why you didn’t think to do the same over the summer with your excess fruit, don’t! There’s always next summer. Food freezes exceptionally well – just look at the enormous frozen food departments in grocery store across America. Farm fresh foods are no exception, which brings me to my next point. Cooking with friends to preserve the harvest reaps long term benefits. We may not be shopping at farmer’s markets or snipping herbs from our garden in February, but at least we’re enjoying the delightfully fresh flavors from seasons past.

As my frozen supply of farm fresh tomato sauce, pesto, corn stocks and pie fillings dwindles, I am encouraged. The ground hog may not have seen his shadow, but I’ve got my sign that spring is near. With every bite I savor from seasons past I am inspired by what’s soon to come and the foods I will surely preserve next time.

Simple Peach Pie Filling
10 fresh sweet yellow peaches, skins removed and cut into thick slices
1/2 cup white sugar
1 -2 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
dash of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium sized pot and heat slowly, stirring until the mixture becomes thick. Cool and transfer the mixture to a freezer safe container until ready to fill a pie.

Cooking With Friends: Rice Balls and a Simple Chain of Events

Cooking With Friends: Rice Balls and a Simple Chain of Events: "Today’s blog recounts a simple chain of events that says a remarkable amount about cooking, friends, knowledge and inspiration. One rece..."

Rice Balls and a Simple Chain of Events

Today’s blog recounts a simple chain of events that says a remarkable amount about cooking, friends, knowledge and inspiration.

One recent afternoon, my friend Debbie and her Japanese friend made onigiri, a sticky Japanese rice triangle topped with a strip of dried seaweed. These sticky rice creations, a staple in Debbie’s friend’s house, are a quick and easy meal to pack in bento boxes for lunch or dinner. Debbie was so inspired by her friend, that as soon as her cooking date was over, Debbie got the itch to demonstrate her newly acquired skill to me. After schlepping all three of her kids to a Japanese market for the ingredients (short grain rice, seaweed strips, seasoning flakes and dried salmon) she was ready to teach. We just needed to find the time, which we squeezed in later the next week.

Debbie moistened her hands with water, placed a mound of warm rice in the palm of her left hand, and began to mold and turn. With her thumbs tucked above her other fingers, I watched as she shaped the rice into tidy triangles, making a hole to hide dried flakes of salmon and then topping it with a neat strip of seaweed. With a few simple squeezes and turns, she recreated the simple steps her friend taught her the week before. As she worked, I asked why the triangle shapes were called rice balls, but she chuckled, said she didn’t know and had just taken her friend’s word.

My curiosity led me to delve into the history of onigri, which I learned had been a Japanese staple since the 7th century, before the use of chopsticks. White rice is formed and filled with fish, roe and even pickled fruits, fillings which are sold today in jars in Japanese markets.

These tasty treats are no different than our own modern solutions for a quick, satisfying meal that comes in small packages. For my family, it’s a quesadilla, empanada, burrito or dumpling and other quick and easy food. Interestingly, we modern moms aren’t so different from our Japanese ancestors! I did find out that rice balls can be round, rectangular or triangular, but not why the various shapes are called balls.

When it was my turn to take a stab at, I struggled at first with the simple task of shaping my rice into a triangle. I’m not that coordinated (or artistic) and tasks that require crimping, folding or decorating take me a bit of practice sometimes. But once I realized that I didn’t have to use my left hand (as my left-handed friend did moments before) I switched to the right and got into a groove.

It didn’t take long for us to make a platter of these rice treats, which my kids would later enjoy as an afterschool snack. But I left Debbie’s house with more than a plate of food. I left with a new bit of culinary knowledge, a new skill and a connection to an unfamiliar heritage. I also had a simple story of how inspiration moves from one friend to another, as we teach, share and enjoy foods from our own unique cultures -- another example of what cooking with friends is about.

To learn how to make Japanese Rice Balls, I found this useful instructional article on Serious Eats: http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/01/how-to-make-onigiri-japanese-sushi-rice-balls.html


PS – I am sure the rice balls can be made into heart shapes! Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.

Cooking With Friends: Cooking with friends for a weekend away!

Cooking With Friends: Cooking with friends for a weekend away!: "Cooking with friends for a weekend away! What an amazing reason to get together and cook with a friend. That’s just what Suzy and I di..."

Cooking with friends for a weekend away!

Cooking with friends for a weekend away!

What an amazing reason to get together and cook with a friend. That’s just what Suzy and I did before our two-family ski trip to the Catskills this past weekend. Since a full day skiing with the kids can be exhausting, the delightful après ski restaurant experience often doesn’t happen as it should. Melt downs, tantrums and pleas for television tend to replace the breezy relaxation that the adults crave. So to avoid any last minute desperate dining experiences, Suzy and I made and froze several dozen meatballs in anticipation of a Saturday night pasta dinner after a fulfilling day on the slopes. With tired feet and aching backs, we knew we'd have no desire to cook, never mind from scratch. This way, we could chill on the couch in front of the fire and our growling stomachs would be satisfied nonetheless.

Along with the meatballs, the gang was privileged to enjoy the last of my coveted farm fresh Jersey tomato sauce (Boo hoo! I need summer now to restock!). For the rest of our weekend nibbles, Suzy and I raided our fridges and freezers for salad fixings, breakfast breads, muffins and cookies. We divided and conquered and when not on the slopes, we ate our weekend away. Not only did we eat well, but we saved a ton of money by avoiding a pricy dinner.

And one more thing! While a weekend away can be brief and fleeting, cooking ahead of time with a friend enhances and prolongs the experience. Isn’t it the journey and not the reward that fulfills us most in life?

If you’re planning a trip away with a friend, make sure you think about cooking with a friend.

"Souper" Soup with the Barista's

Thanks to Baristakid’s “Ask Holly”, I recently participated in a lovely soup making event for the CWFC “Souper Bowl” and even have a “Hot from the Kettle” video to prove it. (Thanks Melody!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbsDlSQeBJc
embed:

It was snowing lightly when I arrived at Holly’s house Saturday evening, making the walkways and roads a bit slick. As I walked carefully up to her doorstep overloaded with my trusty red soup pot and a variety of ingredients, I was thankful for the lantern-lit pathway to her beautiful home. I was greeted by Holly’s husband Reggie, who showed me the way to the kitchen, which was already bustling with friends and warmed by a crackling fire. Holly welcomed me sincerely, as she prepared a delicious assortment of nibbles and bites, while Melody Kettle, always a vibrant soul, chit chatted away. I met the effervescent Debbie Galant, Baristanet’s creator, and immediately felt at home in the kitchen of someone I had just met.

Debbie and I were the soup makers that evening, since Holly and Melody made theirs earlier in the week. We were both well prepared -- she had pre-roasted carrots and apples for her soup and I had pre-washed and chopped leeks for my potato leek soup. We stood side by side, tending two pots in a new kitchen, as conversation flowed around us. I lent Debbie my immersion blender, to which she took an instant liking, and jested that it would make the perfect Valentine’s gift for her sous-chef husband, who was busy chopping garlic across the room. As our soups simmered, we chatted and taste tested, offering up suggestions on what the soups needed. Holly graciously opened her cupboards, offering us cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne pepper.

With a little of this and a lot of that, we each made several quarts of soup while growing acquainted with new and generous friends. We were brought together for a single and simple cause: to make soup for those less fortunate. Our experience cooking together for people other than ourselves created a relaxed atmosphere that would beat any cocktail party, where small talking strangers try to find a commonality. We didn’t have to look far.

Thank you to Holly and her husband Reggie for hosting a wonderful evening and my sincere thanks to the Baristanet community for supporting the Fifth Annual CWFC Souper Bowl event.