Another Rant

Okay, eventually I'll get back to posting some recipes, but I do have to rant a bit about one of my pet peeves: margarine.

Before I do, though, I have to come right out and say (because if I don't, Prissy will out me anyway) that there has been Smart Balance margarine in my fridge from time to time. My two older kids were corrupted by their friends at college and begged me to buy it for them when they were home on their breaks. They're young and I'm a big softie, so I have bought it for them when they're home on occasion. I refused, however, to use it to make my son scrambled eggs when he asked me to. I won't make anything that doesn't taste good. And you can bet scrambled eggs made with artificial butter don't taste good.

Don't believe those who tell you butter is bad and margarine is better for you; how can a sub-standard substitute be better for you? Follow Julia Child's advice: use real ingredients and use them in moderation. Okay, so I'm not good at the moderation thing, but that's why God invented Lipitor.

Notice the picture of Laura embracing her container of "I Can't believe its not Butter". I take pity on her so many times and I don't publish half of the stupid kitchen choices she makes, but I told her I couldn't abide her using margarine. If she wanted to be my disciple, she was going to have to stop. Her argument? Well, I like it and it spreads so easily on my toast. Faulty reasoning if ever I heard any. The only reason a person would like it is because they have the palate of a woodchuck. Anyone who likes margarine or Miracle Whip should again go find a blog dedicated to trailer park cuisine. Let the butter sit for a moment on your toast while the heat from the bread softens the thinly sliced pats into a smooth and creamy sweetness. Then spread it to the farthest reaches of your toast, letting a small amount pool in the center to give that last, best bite a little extra richness. Even better on one of my homemade English Muffins. I'll post that recipe as soon as I can find the picture of them that is hiding somewhere on this stupid computer.

I love you Laura, you know I only want the best for you. And the rest of you, too.

I should blog

I really should, but I haven't been feeling my usual bitchy self lately. I'm sure some of you might say that is an improvement, but it just isn't as much fun. I think I need to sit in front of my hubbie's light box with him. He has SADD so he uses the light therapy to keep from killing himself in the winter. Or to keep me from killing him, one or the other.

My son left and I won't see him for almost a year, I had a blood vessel leaking in my eye, my computer is kinda on the fritz, and January is just a depressing time of year. I think I need to cook something new. I got a really cool ice cream maker as a gift and that has lifted my spirits. So far our favorite is frozen yogurt. I mixed a large carton of plain yogurt, a half cup of cream, a half cup of sugar, and some fresh raspberries together and dumped it in. Twenty minutes later we had a tasty, creamy, frozen treat. Yummy! I'm feeling better just thinking about it. I have also made vanilla ice cream in it. The next thing I want to try is chocolate. Then I will heat up some peanut butter until it is kind of melty and drizzle it on top. If you can get some really super nice person to give you an ice cream maker for no apparent reason, I would definitely recommend accepting it and making some really cool frozen treats. Gotta go, ice cream is calling my name.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, everyone!

Here are some resolutions for you for the new year. Make them because I told you to.

1. I will not serve frozen chicken nuggets without prior approval from June.

2. I will try at least one new recipe a week.

3. I will not attempt to bake anything in my microwave, because it is stupid. And also because it heats unevenly, denatures proteins, and turns baked goods into sponges.

4. I will serve dinner made from simple, fresh foods at least three times a week.

5. I will listen to all cooking advice June dispenses and not argue with her, because I wouldn't want to risk pissing her off. Or being uninvited to any of her dinner parties.

My family is going to a New Year's Eve party tonight like many of you are as well. I made this simple salmon spread earlier today. It will be fabulous by tonight and everyone will think I am a genius. Really, I'm not. I just know how to search out good recipes. Happy New Year!

Bracciole and Mannicotti

My daughter Meagan needs more recipes for Christmas, so again, you get to benefit. These are recipes passed down from at least her Great Grandmotheron her father's side, possibly older than that. (Caveat: I am not Italian at all. I married into it.) Her Great Grandmother was born in Sicily and emigrated to America. So they must be authentic, right? Well, maybe. What we have noticed is that theItalian family recipes seem to have morphed a bit to fit the poverty in which the family found itself in America as well as the lack of real Italian ingredients. Most of the recipes include lots of eggs even where seemingly unnecessary, probably to get the protein content of the food up and make use of a cheap source of protein. Breadcrumbs make lots of appearances, too. The surprising thing to me is that most of the family recipes are very bland considering that they supposedly originate from Sicily. These recipes were traditionally served on Christmas, but I can't abide Italian on Christmas, I am strictly a big-hunk-of-juicy-prime-rib sort of girl. We instead sometimes make them on Christmas Eve, which is what Meg is going to do and we're going to her house for Christmas Eve. Yay!!! Now I only have to cook two big meals for Christmas instead of three!!!

Bracciole

Butterflied top sirloin
Layer:
Breadcrumbs
Parmesan Cheese
Pepper
Parsley
thinly sliced, sauteed onions
sauteed meatball mixture
sauteed diced mushrooms
hard boiled eggs, sliced thin
roll and tie and saute the bracciole in olive oil until brown, add to red sauce and cook for two or three hours.

Manicotti

Beat 8 eggs well and add 2 cups of water and 2 cups of flour and 2 tsp salt. Cook on an ungreased griddle over low heat. Pour like small pancakes and cook on one side until rubbery.

Filling

1 1/2 lbs ricotta (Get the good kind from the deli section.)
2 egg yolks
1/4 c parmesan
salt and pepper
minced parsley, dash of sugar and cinnamon

Put 1 T filling in the center and spread it over the crepe. Roll seam side down aand layer in a baking pan with sauce. Bake 25 minutes at 350.

Traditional Italian Manicotti are crepes, not those huge pasta tubes you get at the grocery. They are very delicate and subtle, but super yummy! Although one Christmas eve when my son Ben was four (and a VERY picky eater) we made him try these and he immediately threw them right back up. We never forced him to try anything ever again. Although, that is my prefered method for raising un-picky eaters. Which the rest of my kids are not. Because I am (nearly) perfect.

Recipe for My Daughter

I know the rest of you probably won't try this recipe because it requires time and yeast. And candied fruit. But this is my daughter's favorite Christmas recipe and she needs it, so I am sharing it with the world. It is from the 1980 edition of Joy of Cooking. The Joy is the best cookbook ever written. My mother had an older edition than I do and I bought Meagan the updated version of Joy of Cooking when she had her first apartment. So we have three generations of good cooks (I mean great cooks) relying on the Joy of Cooking for basic recipes with fanstastic results. This morning I used it to make homemade English muffins and Hollandaise for Eggs Benedict. It will tell you how to make ANYTHING. The newer revised edition is not as good, though. It left out directions for skinning and cooking a squirrel and they changed the Stollen recipe. She tried the updated Stollen recipe last year and it was a disaster. Here is the 1980 version:

Stollen

Have ready: 6 to 8 cups of all purpose flour

Combine and let stand for 3- 5 minutes:
1 1/2 cups 105 to 115 degree water or milk
2 packages active dry yeast
Add 1 cup of the flour. Cover this sponge and let it rest in a warm place until light and foamy, about 1 hour. Sprinkle a little of the sifted flur over:
1/2 Lb raisins (Note from June: I hate raisins so I leave them out and add more candied fruit)
1/2 lb chopped blanched almonds
1/2 cup chopped candied fruit

Beat until soft:
1 1/2 cup butter
Add gradually and blend until light and creamy
3/4 cup sifted sugar
Beat in one at a time:
3 eggs
Add
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp grated lemon rind
Add the sponge and enough flour to knead the dough until smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk. Toss the dough onto a floured board. Knead in the fruit and nuts. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. Roll each into an 8 x 15 inch oval. Fold in half lengthwise and place loaves on greased baking sheets. Brush the top with melted butter. Let the loaves rise, covered until they almost double in bulk, about 45 minutes. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven 30 to 40 minutes or until done.

Pancakes with Hannah

Last Sunday Hannah and I decided to make pancakes for breakfast. Now this is not a rare occurrence; we make pancakes fairly frequently for Sunday breakfast. I had bought some blueberries the day before just for this purpose. I did forget to get buttermilk, though. However, this day, Hannah decided she wanted to make them because we had eggnog in the fridge and she wanted to make eggnog pancakes, and so I said she could and I would go behind her and clean and make the bacon. She started gathering her ingredients while I started the bacon. As she pulled out the baking powder, she asked me what the difference between double-acting baking powder and regular baking powder was. "Oh god", I thought to myself, "I can't quite remember why they call it double-acting, I know I used to know, and I, the goddess of food, can't let my offspring know that I don't know everything!" Or something like that. Actually that's really not true, I am fine with admitting that I don't know everything to my kids, and a few others, but I will NEVER admit that to my hubbie. Or to you. I am the final authority on all things culinary! I am the goddess of food! Don't forget it. So I mumbled something about people how in the olden days people had to make their own baking powder which consisted of a few ingridients mixed to gether in a certain proportion and when commercial baking powder became available 'double acting' connoted that it contained two active ingredients, only one of which I could remember at the time.

Hannah and I really are starting to enjoy cooking together. She is becoming enthusiastic about learning about cooking and willing to try new things. And really, isn't that about all it takes? Oh, and learning that people who like food and care about it do not serve cheese in a can. Or a jar. (have you ever eaten that stuff? Disgusting!) So I find the times when Hannah wants to cook to be times when she will let her teenagerish attitude down and just be a nice girl again. She respects my abilities in the kitchen and sincerely wants to hear what I have to say about cooking. And so I may slip in a word or two about values, or things I care about, what I want her to know about life. Cooking together gives her a way to let down her defenses. I treasure that time together.

So, as we talk and cook, and drink coffee, (yes, I am a terrible mother. I let my fourteen year old drink coffee. Sue me.) we start to cook the pancakes on the cast iron griddle. I had a banana on the counter that was too ripe to eat, but perfect to cook, so we sliced that and added it to some of the pancakes as we laid them on the griddle. We made some with blueberries, some with banana and some with both. Oh, and don't forget the eggnog. I wasn't sure how the combinations would be, but hey, I am always up for experimenting. As we started eating them, with some really great maple syrup from Vermont provided by my friend Gi-gi, we started noticing that the texture was a little waxy, and flat. Maybe it was the eggnog? No, that wouldn't have done it. Why were these so different? And then I realized: Hannah had forgotten to put in the baking powder. After our long discussions on the origins of baking powder. The pancakes had the consistncy of crepes or clafouti, and they were still quite delicious. We ate them all. We decided to call them pancrepes. It was fun.

Another Quick Pasta Recipe

Well, maybe two more quick ones, we'll see how I feel by the end of the first one. The first one is for Carbonara. Carbonara is what I make when I REALLY have nothing in the fridge for dinner. Since everyone has eggs, bacon keeps in the freezer very nicely, pasta is a can't-live-without-it staple, and, really, if don't keep some parmegianno-reggiano or other grated Italian cheese around you shouldn't be reading my blog (Deb I'll give you a pass, due to your difficulties resolving your cheese dilemmas with your hubbie) but the rest of you, PLEASE DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT WHINING TO ME THAT YOU LIKE CHEESE IN A CAN, or that you don't always have some around. Get it. Keep it. I have NEVER seen parmesan go moldy. I think it has a half life of about ten years. Anyway, you see my point: almost everyone has or should have the ingredients for a quick Carbonara right on hand.

Carbonara

1 Lb spaghetti (this is best pasta for this dish, but other long types work as well, just don't use anything tubular. You need the egg to be able to cling to the strands)
6 slices bacon, use more if your kids really like bacon, like mine do
2-3 eggs
2 T cream (optional, but it does make it nice and well, creamy.
1/2 cup Parmesan (see above note about what type of cheese I will allow you to use without ridiculing you.)

Now remember, what is the first thing you ALWAYS do when cooking pasta? That's right, put your water on to boil. While waiting for the water to boil, fry the bacon. Crumble.

In the serving bowl, crack the eggs and beat them fairly thoroughly. Add the cream and cheese and beat again.

Cook and drain the pasta. IMMEDIATELY toss it into the bowl and begin lifting and turning the pasta so that it is coated with egg. The egg will cook from the heat of the pasta. If you didn't use any cream, add 1 T of the bacon grease and toss again. Sprinkle with bacon and pass parmesan cheese. Serve Lipitor for dessert.

Well, that's it for today. I don't feel like posting another pasta recipe. Maybe tomorrow. Now, I think I'll go try to whip up one of Martha Stewart's Christmas cookie recipes. Oh joy. That usually ends with me cursing Martha and wishing she would be damned for all eternity. But it also ends msot of the time with some awesome cookies.