Amy's Food Adventures

TV Dinner

One of the things that has stumped me entirely since I've been alone (my husband died more than two years ago), is entertaining.  My family comes over all the time, but that doesn't seem like the same thing.

But a few weeks ago, a good friend mentioned that they had missed seeing Frost/Nixon and I had, too.  I was planning on watching it via On-Demand on my Cable network, but they don't have that premium service.  So I realized that I could invite them over for dinner and a movie -- brilliant!

I got a little way out there with the dinner -- not having done this for a while I think I wanted to prove that I hadn't forgotten how.  So I made homemade chopped chicken livers for the hors d'ouerves (and a block of very good sharp cheddar to replace the wrapped Brie that I immolated in the oven), followed by a Straccoto (an Italian beef roast cooked in red wine and seasoned with almonds, pine nuts, and raisins), Julia's Carrots, Pommes Dauphinoise, a Cucumber Dill Salad, and a Fruit Tarte (the bakery's -- I don't do that kind of baking, but my guests like that sort of thing).

The dinner was a great success and we all enjoyed the movie -- it took us right back to a time we passionately remembered.  Now that I know I can entertain friends on my own I think I should be making a habit of it.  Just not every night -- it's a lot of work.

Chopped Liver

Cut a large onion into half rings and saute it in vegetable oil until it is golden brown.  Hard-boil four eggs and peel them.  Spread one pound of rinsed and cleaned chicken livers on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until brown on the outside but still pink inside.  Turn once during the process.

Put all of the ingredients through the food processor, adding salt and pepper as you put them in, to taste.  I also grate in a teaspoon or so of raw onion.  Pulse to a not-too-smooth consistency.  Refrigerate until needed -- take out of refrigerator 30 minutes or so before serving.

Easily made in multiples -- I made three pounds of livers and gave two-thirds of it as gifts.  Big success.

Straccato

I first tasted this in a restaurant in Tuscny and fell in love.  This recipe is the result of putting several recipes I found in my cookbook library and on-line together.

Brown a 4-pound rump roast in olive oil in a large stove-top covered pan (I use an 8-quart chef's pot).  Remove it temporarily to a bowl and add one chopped carrot, one chopped onion, and one-half teaspoon of crushed red pepper (more or less to taste).  Saute until the vegetables are softened.  Add one-half cup sliced almonds, one-half cup pine nuts, one-half cup white raisins, a handful of chopped flat parsley, and two cloves of garlic, minced.  Give it all a good stir and pour in a bottle of robust red wine (ideally a drinkable Chianti) and a quart of beef or chicken stock (boxed, low-salt is fine).  Return the meat to the pot, bring to a simmer, and cook covered, turning the meat from time to time, until very tender (about 2.5 to 3 hours).   Remove the meat and let it rest while you reduce the sauce by cooking it uncovered at high heat to about one-half of its quantity.  Serve the sliced meat with the sauce with potatoes or pasta. 

Julia's Carrots

This is one of our favorite recipes from the original first Julia Child cookbook.  The only one we use more often, I think, is her French Potato Salad.  It's very easy.

Cut up carrots on the diagonal into 1/4" slices.  Put into a heavy saucepan with a half cup of water, a tablespoon of sugar, a tablespoon of butter and lots of freshly ground pepper.  (Quantities for one pound of carrots; I never make less than two pounds since everyone loves then and they are great as a leftover.)

Cook covered at a simmer until the carrots are nearly tender.  Then uncover pot and cook at high heat, watching carefully, until all the water is cooked off and the carrots are covered in a syrup (the butter and sugar).  These can be made ahead and reheated in the microwave.

Pommes Dauphinoise

There are dozens of ways to make these and even more variations (with and without garlic, cheese, sauteed onions, etc.).  I have finally found a foolproof method that I always use.  The only tricky part is making sure that the milk doesn't boil over -- it makes a mess if it does.

Cut peeled potatoes into thin (1/8"-1/4") half-slices and keep in cold water while you work (I throw in a few ice cubes).  Drain into a deep pot (I use a stock pot) and half-cover with milk or half-and-half.  Cook until just tender, being careful not to let the milk boil over.  (I do this by leaving the pot open and watching.)

NOTES:  Figure on one Russet potato per potato unless you have big eaters or want leftovers.  I uade one quart of milk for six potatoes.  Whole milk works fine but this will work with 2% milk.  Cream is a little over the top, but luxurious.

Butter or spray a shallow large gratin dish (4-5 potatoes) or a baking dish (8x10-11x13 for 6 or more potatoes) .  If I'm making a really large amount for a buffet -- more than 12 potatoes -- I use two casseroles, stagger when they go into the over -- and serve one at a time.

Drain the potatoes into the casserole (save the milk).  I just dip them out with a big Chinese spider. Arrange them (but you don't have to be too fussy).  Pour in enough of the cooking milk to come half way up in the pan.  Dot the top with butter.  Salt and pepper to taste.

You can hold the casserole at this point (the potatoes are cooked) for up to a day, refrigerated.  You can just leave it out in a not-too-hot kitchen for an hour or two (I just leave the air conditioning on high when I have food out). 

One hour before you're ready to serve, place the potatoes in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and bake until gold brown on top. 

Cucumber Dill Salad

An easy salad that gets served all over Mittel-Europa (Germany, Austria, Hungary, etc.).  Refreshing with heavy food -- so we always serve it with pot roast.  You can also whiz it in the blender, perhaps with a bit of garlic, and make a refreshing soup for a hot night.

Peel, quarter, de-seed, and slice (1/4") two or three cucumbers.  Mix a dressing of 1/2 cup of cider vinegar, 2-3 tablespoons of sugar, 4-5 splashes of Tabasco, 1/4 cup of water, 1/2 teaspoon of sweet paprika, and a handful of chopped dill.  Whisk together.  You can add more sugar or water if the dressing is too tart for your taste.  Add the cucumbers, mix, and let marinate for an hour or two. 

Super Bowl Food Adventures

Everyone is having a Super Bowl party this weekend and it seems like nearly everyone serves chili.  I hope not too many people are getting served some of the recipes I saw on line, complete with pineapple, too many peppers (there is such a thing) or weird kinds of beans.

Here's our menu (including chili, of course), and my chili recipe, a proven favorite.

Super Bowl 2009

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Guacamole with Salsa and Chips

Vegetable Pancakes with Sour Cream and Caviar

Wings with Blue Cheese Dip and Celery  Sticks

Baked Brie with Crackers

,,,

Chili with

Sour Cream / Shredded Cheddar / Chopped Onions

Guacamole / Pickled Jalapenos

Rice

Hot Dogs with Buns

,,,

Sweet Bites

Fruit

Drinks and Coffee

Amy's Chili

This is one of those lots of things into the pot recipes -- once everything is combined, there's nothing to do but cook it for a while, stirring occasionally, and deciding how many little dishes of garnishes you're going to serve alongside.

As you can see from the menu, we favor offering rice and lots of side dishes so everyone can pick and choose.

Chop a large onion, 2 sticks of celery, 4 cloves of garlic (adjust to your taste), and a green pepper.  Saute in vegetable oil until softened (about five minutes).  If you like, you can add a seeded Jalapeno or two for a spicier finish.

Then add two pounds of lean ground beef (substituting ground turkey is fine) and one pound of Italian sausage (out of the casings), turning it in the pan until it turns brown.  You may choose mild or hot sausage -- of course, we choose hot.

Now mix in a 16 oz. can of Tomato Sauce and a 28 oz. can of tomatoes in their juice (or puree).  Next add the spices -- we use two packages of chili mix -- again you may pick a mild or spicy version.  We also add some additional salt and a few teaspoons of New Mexico Red Chili Pepper (ground).  Again, spicing is a personal issue.  We also add a tablespoon of brown sugar -- the secret ingredient.

Give it a good stir, bring to a simmer, turn down, cover, and cook for about 45 minutes.  If you like to add yellow corn meal to thicken the chili, now is the time to stir a few tablespoons in.  We then check the seasoning, and add a large (40 ounce) can of light red kidney beans, rinsed.  Whether you put beans in your chili is a religious issue, so that will need to be up to you.  Cook for another 15 minutes to heat the beans and give everything a chance to mellow.

Ideally, you will then let the chili cool and refrigerate it overnight (or even for a few days).  Remove the fat that congeals on top before you reheat it and serve it.  However, if it's going right to the table, I'd try to skim off some of the fat before I'd serve it.

It will be delicious in any case.

In case you haven't guessed, we added hot dogs to our menu because someone always said it was too bad he couldn't eat the chili on a hot dog so it became another choice!

Holiday Leftovers

I'm not a big fan of doing "things" with leftovers.  I like to make things that are eitiher eaten on the spot or are good a second time in their unaltered state -- turkey as turkey sandwiches, a roast beef as sandwiches or as cold roast beef with appropriate accompaniments. 

But there are always exceptions -- especially when last minute cancelled guests mean there are lots of leftovers.  Here are a few of my never fail tricks for using things up.

Turkey Tetrazinni

This is so old I'm not sure where it comes from.  I've even made it from scratch, using deli turkey breast, for a buffet.  It's easy. 

Make a batch of white sauce (you need to make enough based on how much turkey you're using, but let's guess that you have enough for a 9x13" casserole).  For that amount, I'd make 3 cups, so 6 tablespoons butter, melted in a large saucepan, then melded with 6 tablespoons of flour and heated, stirring, over medium heat, for a few minutes.  You don't want raw flour.  Stir in 3 cups of milk (2% is fine), gradually, and then season with salt, pepper, and freshly ground nutmeg (1/2 tsp).  Mix in 2 cups of shredded white cheddar cheese. 

While that's going on you can cook one pound of noodles.  Long thin noodles (even angel hair) are traditional, but I often use shorter varieties; cook to just short of fully done and drain, then mix into the white sauce. 

Cut the turkey (3 cups is ideal but 2-4 cups will work) into nice sized chunks and mix it in.  As a variation, you can also add a head of broccoli, cut into pieces, and cooked to nearly done. 

Put it all into the buttered (or sprayed) pan, sprinkle some more cheddar and/or grated Parmesan cheese on top (I like a mixture of both) and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes until bubbly and browned.

Kashmiri Curry

This works with many different kinds of protein leftovers -- turkey, chicken, pork, shrimp (does anyone ever have leftover shrimp?), and even beef.  Just cut it into neat 1" chunks.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter (or use vegetable oil) and cook one large onion, chopped, until translucent. Add one peeled green apple and one peeled pear (or two apples), thinly sliced, and cook for a few minutes to soften. Add 2 tablespoons minced garlic and 2 tablespoons minced ginger (from the jars -- use less if this will be too spicy for your family, but it really isn't).  Mix.  Add 1-2 tablespoons curry powder (use your favorite brand and level of spiciness) and 2 tablespoons of flour.  Stir everything well and cook for a minute.  Then mix in 2 cups of chicken broth (a 14-oz can will do), the juice of one lemon, and its grated rind.  Stir everything gently but well and cook on a low flame for ten minutes until the fruit is soft and everything is thoroughly combined.

Now, add the cubed meat and stir in.  Cook until the meat is heated through and serve over rice with chutney or other condiments (a mango salsa works well). 

Cold Platter

My favorite way to eat leftovers is to create a platter of cold (but not ice-cold) protein, served with something hot, a spicy relish, and a salad.  It's easy, it presents the leftover at its best, and it provides a real meal.  For instance:

Cold roast beef, a hot (fresh) baked potato, chutney, and a tossed green salad

Cold turkey breat, a hot baked sweet potato, cranberry sauce, and an argula, tomato, and avocado salad 

Cold roast pork, sliced potatoes baked with cream and gruyere, fig jam, and an orange and fennel salad

You can make up your own.

Tradition

Jewish holidays demand traditional menus.  Every time I see a fancy and non-traditional menu for a holiday in a gourmet magazine, I laugh.  I don't know about their other readers families, but mine would institute a rebellion.

Tonight is the second night of Channukah.  This meal was actually planned for the first night, but the weather outsmarted us.  The menu is super traditional:  Brisket in an onion gravy (okay, the wine in the gravy might be a little untraditional), potato latkes (the whole point of the meal, glazed carrots (known as Julia's carrots in our house because we use a recipe from Julia Child's first cookbook), a salad/relish of chopped cucumbers, halved cherry tomatoes, chopped red onion, and dill, followed by a dessert.  Normally that would be an apple or pear crisp, but it's someone's birthday tonight, so it will be a birthday cake instead.

In our house where multiple traditions merrily mingle, this will be followed by Christmas Dinner (Christmas Eve will be at my daughter's house and I hear rumors about what will be served, replacing the oyster stew tradition of years past, but it's still in flux.).

Here, I have a bit more leeway.  The main course is pre-ordained.  It must be beef and lots of it.  I usually serve a Delmonico Roast (that's what it's called in Pennsylvania -- if you live elsewhere, it's a boneless rib roast), although I have sometimes served a filet mignon roast with a sauce, usually chasseur (a tomato and wine based sauce with mushrooms).  I am allowed to pick the vegetables.  This year that will be a big pan of roasted root vegetables -- fingerling potatoes, carrots, parsnips, quartered red onions, and whole cloves of garlic, all annointed with olive oil and salt and pepper with sprigs of rosemary and thyme.  We'll also have asparagus.  All this will be preceded by a salad, serving as an appetizer.  I'm still deciding between Caesar and baby greens and herbs with goat cheese and fruit (probably Granny Smith apples and dried cranberries).  Then the pear crisp we didn't have for Channukah for dessert.

I love tradition.   It makes things easy.  And I have lots of time to be creative. 

Planning Thanksgiving

I like most of America am busily planning for Thanksgiving and the Christmas holidays just beyond.  I've read the newspaper articles that argue for abundance but being thrifty and the recipes that throw all caution to the winds.  (Who wants stuffing with foie gras and chestnuts, anyway?)

I don't know about your family but mine are definitely stick-in-the-muds.  I can ADD anything I want to the menu, but subtractions are definitely frowned on.

Over the years, this can lead to a very long menu, just as your family size shrinks.  I threaten rebellion, but no one takes me seriously.

So once again we are having roast turkey with herbed bread stuffing and giblet gravy, three kinds of cranberry sauce (we have four one year), mashed and sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts with bacon and pine nuts, white corn, yeast rolls, and no doubt something else.  And then at least three kinds of pie.  I still haven't figured out whether to have a first course (why?) and what to have for hors d'ouerves.

I know the solution.  Invite more guests!  We have plenty of dishes and silver and everyone offers to serve and clean up so we're only limited by the size of turkey I can lift and the size of our oven (fortunately, the new stove has a big one).  

Now all I have to do is avert my eyes and not read any wonderful recipes between now and the 28th. 

Traditional Food for Rosh Hashonah

Whenever I propose a gourmet feast for a holiday -- Jewish or other -- my family rebels.  They want the food they associate with the holiday.  So for many Jewish holiday dinners that means gefite fish, chicken soup with matzoh balls, brisket in a sweet and spicy onion gravy, a starch and a vegetable (some variability permitted here), my German-style cucumber salad, and a desert that includes both some fruit salad and a cake. 

It's a lot of work!  So I admit I do someo judicious cheating.  You should consider that, too.   Make the things that you do uniquely well and buy high quality repliques for the rest.

So I buy gefilte fish (from a deli that makes that own), but make my own chicken soup and matzoh bals, make the main course, and buy the cake.  I've discovered a new line of side dishes (starches and veggies) in my super market and after I've had a chance to try them I might consider using them, too.

Make sure you decorate everything as if you cooked it yourself.

Whether you confess your little deception is entirely up to you.

Burnt Offerings

I had a plan, formulated after reading several food magazines.  I would roast a chicken and have a hot dinner from it the first night and then use the remains for several other meals.

This was the plan:

Dinner One

Roasted chicken (simpll done, stuffed with lemons, parsley, and garlic, with olive oil and lemon juice squeezed over it, and some salt and pepper).  Cooked at 350 until the skin is crisp and the meat is just cooked through.

A baked sweet potato, cooked beside the chicken

Arugula salad dressed with lemon juice and olive oil

Dinner Two

Sliced cold chicken breast with Mango Chutney and Raita (Yogurt, Shredded Cucumber, and a bit of Cayenne and Cumin)

A Baked Russet Potato to share the Raita

Lightly Cooked String Beans

Dinner Three

A Play on Salad Nicoise

Slices of Chicken with Quarters of Hard-Boiled Egg, Tomato, String Beans, Thin Slices of Red Onion, Slices of Potato (a second baked potato, made with the one for Dinner Two), all drizzled with a dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar, chopped shallots, and a bit of Dijon Mustard.

Crusty Bread

Dinner Four

Everything that's left of the chicken (including the bones), cut into two-inch pieces and tossed into a soup pot in which a chopped onion, two chopped carrots, and 2 chopped stalks of celery are sauteeing in a few tablespoons of butter.  Toss them with the vegetables and add a quart of chuicken stock (from the grocery store is fine).  Season with bay leaf and thyme and perhaps some fresh parsley and dill.  Go easy on the salt and pepper -- the chicken has some already.  Cook it all for 90 minutes.   Strain the soup and discard the solids.  Serve the soup with your favorite pasta -- I particularly like the fresh filled pastas you can buy at the supermarket in the dairy case.  Offer grated Parmesan and crunchy bread -- and salt and pepper to taste.

That was the plan.  The reality was that I fell asleep after I put the chicken up to roast and awakened after it had been in the oven for nearly three hours.  Fortunately, I didn't burn down the house, but my ideas of a string of meals all made easy by previous efforts went from the roasting pan into the garbage can and I had a cheese sandwich for dinner!

It's Too Hot to Cook

It's been over 90 degrees for six days in Philadelphia and it will stay that way for at least a few more.  I'm melting.  Outdoor activities seem impossible.   Even sitting on my flower-filled terrace (usually breezy) under the umbrella, isn't inviting.

What to have for dinner?  It must be cold and require little or no cooking.

I'm thinking of my favorite Middle Eastern Cucumber Soup -- just blend a quart of non-fat yogurt (Greek if you have it) with 2 peeled and seeded cucumbers cut in chunks, a clove or two of peeled garlic, a few tablespoons of red wine vinegar, and lots of fresh dill (I get carried away and use a whole bunch, but not the stems).  Chill in the refrigerator and stir before serving.  If you want a very light meal, just serve it with some delicious bread or float a few medium size shrimp on top of each glass bowl of pale green coolness.

If you (and your guests) will need more, I suggest saving the shrimp.  Make a salad, laying a bed of mixed small lettuces (Mesclun) and fresh herbs into a big shallow bowl.  Top it with chunks or thin slices of ripe tomato or halved cherry tomatoes, sprinkle with thin slivers of sweet onion (red or white), and then top with lots of cold shrimp (buy them cooked and cleaned from a good fish market -- let them do the work).  If you want you can add other goodies -- halved artichoke hearts in olive oil, guardineria, and ribbons of very fresh zuchini would all taste good.  I usually mix a bowl of lemon or lime vinaigrette dressing and toss it at the table for the freshest taste.  And I'd provide some interesting bread, butter, and a slab of cheese for the really hungry.

Dessert is obviously fruit, fresh berries gently washed and placed in a large bowl with my berry spoon and a pitch of cream -- it's too hot to even whip it!

The Myth of American Regional Cooking -- and an Antidote

There is a myth that the best (perhaps the only) real American cooking is regional cooking, cooking specific to the settlers and migrants to a particular region and the things that grow there.  Once that might have been true and occasionally -- particularly at the very high end -- you may find something wonderful.  (I am thinking wistfully of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA, Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Westchester County, New York, and any lobster roll eaten at the end of a pier in New England on a sunny day.)

The reality is that in most places authentic regional food has been overtaken by bevies of chain restaurants, not just at the Macdonalds and Wendys level, but also at the $50 and up dining experience.  Everywhere we are offered the same homogenized foods and experiences at places I would never eat at in my own home town, where I know where to find great food at every level from a juicy hamburger to Fine French Cuisine.

In the great cities there are still authentic experiences (and new restaurants experimenting with nearly anything, some of which may be very pleasant).  But when you go to a tourist area (and there are lots of reasons to do that -- children to entertain and educate, historic sites or relatives to visit, foreign guests to expose to Americana), one falls into a deep culinary abyss -- except for the traditional American breakfast, which is available everywhere.

To the extent that any native cuisine still exists, it is likely to be bastardized, combined with gift shops and petting zoos, railroad museums and golf courses.  You are likely to be sent away from the Pennsylvania Dutch country surrounding Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for example, convinced that the settlers existed entirely on protein and carbohydrates.  We went to a polite but entirely formulaic (and expensive) steak house for dinner, just to be guaranteed that we could get a salad. 

Since we're on the east coast, summer means frequent forays to the New Jersey, New England, or Maryland sea shore.  There are still some authentic Italian restaurants and  seafood houses tucked  away here and there, but even then one must be careful to avoid  pompous places that pretend to be seafood houses but are really Continental Restaurants in disguise (complete with truly dreadful wine lists and waitresses who  know nothing about either wine or fish). 

We have worked out a returning home strategy from weekend trips, however.  Dinner is always Chinese (takeout or not) or Philadelphia Cheese Steaks and Hoagies.  At least we can vouch for their authenticity.

Something Quick

Sometimes you thought the weekend would be over by Sunday brunch, but it wasn't.  Guests lingered and it became clear that dinner would be required. 

What to do?  Sometimes we just go out to dinner -- Chinese being the preferred solution. 

But sometimes it's just so pleasant sitting in the garden or watching the ballgame that going out isn't going to be the right solution.  In that case, something quick and easy is called for.

In the summer time, for me that always means a cold soup or a big salad plus something grilled or quickly sauteed and a little something on the side.  Ice cream usually suffices for dessert, with perhaps some berries drizzled over the top.

Here are some menus we've served recently:

• Gazpacho with Garlic Croutons
• Thin Pork Chops in Mustard Cream Sauce
• Steamed Rice
• Steamed Green Beans
• Vanilla Ice Cream with Blue Berries

• Caesar Salad
• Grilled Porterhouse Steak, Thinly Sliced
• Oven Fried Sweet Potoatoes with Cumin and Cayenne
• Coffee Ice Cream with Raspberries

• Cold Cucumber Yogurt Soup with Dill
• Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Olive Oil, Oregano and Garlic
• Pilaf
• Greek Salad with Mint/Oregano/Garlic Vinaigrette
• Mixed Berries with Greek Yogurt and Honey