Chicken & Dumplings

In the pot.

In the bowl.

Maybe I'm obsessed with chicken. Maybe it's the cold weather that makes me want to make something cozy. Maybe I feel like it's time to grow up and know how to concoct a wide variety of chicken dishes. Isn't that what being a grownup is all about?!

Tonight I made Chicken & Dumplings. I just saw the recipe on Cookie Magazine's website and it sounded good. I bought onions and carrots from the Greenmarket, celery and chicken from the local grocer and threw it together in about an hour and a half. (That includes all the distractions and holding the baby.)

I thought it tasted fantastic. It made a lot more than we will be able to eat, so next time I will half it.

Here's the recipe:

Chicken and Dumplings

serves 6 | 30 minutes active time | 45 minutes total time

This old-fashioned winter dish is the soup equivalent of a hot toddy. Use a wide pot so the dumplings don't stick together.

• for the soup
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 3-pound chicken, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup flour, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 2 stalks celery, cut into large chunks
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• Fresh parsley


• for the dumplings
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup coarsely ground cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 3/4 cups heavy cream

1. In a wide, heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid, heat the olive oil.
2. Dredge the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour, then brown them in the oil over medium heat, about 2 minutes a side. Remove and set aside.
3. Add the onion to the pot and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Add the carrots, celery, bay leaf, thyme, turmeric, salt, and pepper and cook for 1 minute more.
5. Stir in the broth.
6. Return the chicken to the pot, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the first five dumpling ingredients.
8. Add the cream and mix until just combined.
9. Drop about 12 heaping tablespoons of the dumpling mixture into the pot.
10. Cover and simmer for 12 minutes more.
11. To serve, scoop the dumplings and chicken into bowls, then cover with broth.
12. Garnish with the parsley.

The Whole Chicken

For years I've been wanting to try and bake a whole chicken, but it seemed so daunting, so big, so grown-up. I never had any tutorials in my kitchen growing up so I searched the internet on how to tackle this project on my own. My source of direction and complete bird roasting enlightenment came from my ultimate homemaking guide Martha Stewart (okay, actually Martha Stewart Living). I liked their simple, easy to follow directions on how to roast a chicken. And then some of their recipes.

Afterward I thought, "Wow! That was easy." And, "Why have I been so intimidated by cooking a whole bird all this time?"

The meat was superb! Brian thinks it needed a bit more salt, but the meat was excellent all around; tender, juicy, and flavorful. I stuffed the bird with a coarsly chopped onion, lemon wedges, rosemary, and thyme. And then I roasted it on a bed of sliced onions.

Right now I'm working on what to do with the stock. Two days ago I made the stock with the carcass, onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, and peppercorn. And now I have a whole lot of stock in the fridge. It is super dark, and I haven't tasted it yet, so I'm hoping it is okay. I think the dark color came from the drippings in the roast pan. I think I'll make a chicken soup and/or freeze the stock. I like some of the tips/ideas on what to do with a chicken carcass that I found on chowhound.

Dear Little Rolls

Growing up I would always go to my Grandparents' home for Thanksgiving dinner. Relatives from as far as Colorado would come every year to "The Hill" (aka Grandma & Grandpa's house) which was situated in the foothills of Northern California. All the cousins would chase each other around the acreage all morning long and then warm up near Grandpa's warm fire. Some years we has as many as 30 family members there for the feast. I remember it as a special time full of delicious fun.

It has been probably over 10 years since my last Thanksgiving feast at my Grandparents' home on The Hill and, with my own little family, traditions have changed for me.

The first Thanksgiving Brian and I were married I had just been hired on at a new job working at a hospital and they would only let me have Thanksgiving Day off; which meant we couldn't drive 10 hours each way to the Carini's home in Connecticut. Brian and I had a relaxing Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh. Our feast was at Boston Market and we went to the dollar theater in town for a double showing. I don't remember the movies we saw but it was fun to see two in a row. (What a splurge!!!)

The last four years have been Brian's traditional Thanksgiving. We have been able to go to the Carini's for Thanksgiving dinner. But it is, obviously, quite different from my traditional Thanksgiving. One of the many things I love about the Carini's (Marilyn in particular) is that they have wonderful dinners almost every night. Meats, grains, vegetables, etc. fill their table for a nightly feast. I absolutely love it and I enjoy listening to their varied discussions and banters. But with wonderful feasting occurring on a regular basis Thanksgiving then becomes (at least for me) just another delicious night at the Carini's with crystal glasses filled with grape juice. On one hand, the magic is gone; but on the other I'm so grateful for such a wonderful, loving family that I married into.

A couple of times I've tried to contribute a bit to the feast by making rolls. My sister found this recipe a while ago on epicurious.com now I make it for Thanksgiving. Although I cooked them a little long this year and so they weren't such a hit, as usual; blackened bottoms left all over the table.

I cut 8 rolls per circle but I think it should be 12-16. I don't brush with butter the last time but it would probably make them shiny. And the raising time can be quite long (more than an hour, for sure!) so allow plenty of time for these rolls.

Here's the recipe:

Combine and cool:
1 cup milk, scalded
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Add:
1 package dry yeast
3 beaten eggs

Add the above ingredients to 4 1/2 cups flour. Mix until ingredients form a smooth, soft dough. Knead lightly on floured surface for several minutes. Place dough in greased bowl. Cover. Let rise until at least double in bulk.

Divide dough in thirds; roll each third out on floured surface to 9-inch circle. Brush with melted butter. Cut each circle in 12 to 16 wedges. Roll each wedge starting with wide end. Arrange on greased baking sheet and brush with melted butter. Cover and let rise until almost double in size.

Bake at 400°F for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove rolls from pan and brush with butter and cool on racks.

My Famous Lasagna

The first time I made lasagna was when Brian and I were first dating. He loves pasta and good food, so I thought I would make him some delicious lasagna. I must have already won his heart because the lasagna was horrible and bland! He kept salting it and salting it. I was so embarrassed and haven't attempted lasagna again until recently; over 5 years later.

I found the recipe in Blueprint magazine and made a few changes to make it simple and easy. The article says, "...As far as we are concerned, this is Your Famous Lasagna...Secret's safe with us." So, yes, this is My Famous Lasagna. It turned out so wonderful and delicious I won't shy away from it.

I make a small batch for our little family and use a glass bread dish to cook it in.

My Famous Lasagna

4 "no boil" lasagna noodles (I use Trader Joe's brand which seem to be larger than other brands.)
Good pasta sauce (I use Trader Joe's Basil Marinara sauce, but plan to use our homemade sauce when we make it again.)
Ricotta Filling (see below)
1/2 pound part-skim mozzarella, coarsely grated (2 cups)
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, finely grated (1/2 cup)

1--Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2--Lightly coat a bread pan with olive oil. Begin layering: Place a noodle in dish. Top with half the pasta sauce and another noodle. Top with half the ricotta filling, then half the mozzarella. Repeat the layering process, ending with the mozzarella. Sprinkle the top with Parmesan.
3--Cover with lightly oiled foil. Place on rimmed baking sheet; bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, and bake until bubbling and browned, 30-40 minutes more. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Ricotta Filling

1 container (15 ounces) part-skim ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper

In a medium bowl combine all ingredients.

Granola, Granola

(The photo kept rotating back when I posted it.)

I have tried a few different recipes and variations on recipes of granola but I finally made a batch that I LOVE. I've never been a big granola fan but Brian often has a parfait for breakfast so I've been buying a lot of granola. I figure granola can't be that hard it's oats, nuts, and dried fruit. So, I'm not sure why I couldn't get the combination just right until two days ago. This is what I did and I'm sticking to it!

5 cups oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup honey
1/3 cup canola oil
1 Tablespoon molasses
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 325 degree. Combine oats, nuts and seeds in a large mixing bowl. Over medium heat stir the oil, honey, molasses and salt until combined. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix until everything is moist. Put in a rimmed cookie sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Once the granola is out of the oven mix in the dried fruit and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

Simple Food Revolutionary

A good NY Times article about food:

Lunch with Alice Waters

Scarborough Special

Tonight Brian tried to make the risotto style pasta again. It was delicious but not quite as good. I think it was a bit rich. We didn't have all the same ingredients so it was, obviously, different. The herbs were different, Brian called it the Scarborough Special (sans sage).

Tonight's ingredients:

linguine
chicken broth (we tried Wolfgang Pucks and it was pretty good)
butter
olive oil
leeks
garlic
lemon
parsley
rosemary
thyme

Brian also sauteed a mix of mushrooms. He tried breading them first but we learned that doesn't work very well. The flour became sticky instead of crunchy, but the flavor was excellent.

Pasta--risotto style

Last night Brian made a fantastic pasta dinner sans recipe and it was fantastic! We used what we had and the dish was packed full of rich flavor. He wanted to try to cook the capellini similar to one of the first recipes we posted on here. Where you cook the pasta by gradually adding chicken broth as you would with risotto.

He sauteed some leeks and garlic in butter and olive oil then he added a bit of sage and tarragon. I know he also threw some lemon juice in...but I'm not sure when...I think it was a bit later.

He broke 1/2 lb. of capellini in half and threw it in the pan, got the noodles covered in oil and such and then began to add the warm chicken broth in by the ladle fulls. Since we used capellini it didn't take very long at all and it was so full of delicious flavor.

It was served with grated parmesan cheese.

He also made a good ceasar salad. He's been trying to get the recipe right. I think we have had ceasar salad three times this week. The first time was fantastic, the second wasn't so good and last night's was good. He's using his dad's recipe and trying to perfect it.

These are the ingredients, but I'm not sure the ratios:

lemon juice
pasteurized egg stuff...what's it called?
mustard
anchovie paste
wurstchester sauce
parmesan cheese
red wine vinegar
garlic

Kidfresh

Today I heard about Kidfresh and I'm a little intrigued. I want to see, taste and read their product labels. I guess I'm mostly interested because getting Isabella to eat is a chore lately. She's already refusing to eat anything green--at only 13 months! Luckily she'll eat whole wheat fusilli and brown rice. I'm on a search to find foods that she will eat that are healthy.

www.kidfresh.com

Big Apple Party

Brian and I have been craving my delicious homemade caramel apples but we didn't want to cook up a whole batch of sweet, delicious, tempting caramel just for the two of us so we invited a few friends over for a Big Apple Party. The name seemed fitting since we live in the core of Manhattan.

Each year since we have been married I have made caramel apples in the fall. (Well, except last year when new motherhood was all-encompassing.) This indulgent treat once a year is so fantastic with the fresh local granny smith apples.

I got the recipe from epicurious.com. They are called Caramel-dipped Apples.

The caramel is absolutely fantastic. This was the first time I tried it while having people over. I think the distractions of company and a one year old who hadn't napped resulted in a not-as-fantastic-as-usual caramel.

Our friends said it was great and seemed to enjoy themselves, but Brian and I both agreed that the caramel wasn't as great as past years. Another problem we had was the candy thermometer I bought a few days previous didn't seem to be working properly.

After it was all over we had a great time and definitely had sugar headaches! They were tastey even if they weren't perfect!

Catching up

I can't believe it has been over two months since I blogged about our kitchen creations. Not much has happened but some of the day-to-day stuff has been fun.

Since my last entry we had a pizza party. Once the weather was cooler and I could fire up the over to 500 degrees we had people over and made some of our favorite pizzas.

1--Southwest chicken pizza is always a hit. The pizza has caramilized onions, lime chicken and shredded mozzarella on it. It is then served with fresh pico di gallo salsa, guacamole, and sour cream on top. Delicious.

2--Heirloom tomato pizza. Fresh, thinly sliced heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil and fresh mozz.

3--Our traditional pizza. This pizza has a bit of everything delicious: caramelized onions, oven roasted tomatoes, kalamata olives, sauteed mushrooms, roasted red pepper, fontina cheese and fresh mozz. It's a party in your mouth!

Roasting summer tomatoes is a lot of fun. I slice the tomatoes pretty small and let them soak out some of their juices on a few paper towels for at least 1/2 hour. Then I put them in a rimmed baking sheet, salt them well and add some seasonings: slices of garlic, a few sprigs of thyme, fresh basil leaves and about two bay leaves torn in a couple of pieces and placed throughout. I then cover the tomatoes in extra virgin olive oil. They go into the 250 degree oven for about 4 hours.

Caramelizing onions is a tad tricky...or so Brian says since he puts me in charge of them anymore. The key to great caramelized onions is PATIENCE! We like to use sweet or Vidalia onions sliced thin. In a large skillet over high heat add a little olive oil and then the onions and add a bit of salt. At first a lot of liquid will come out of the onions. I usually leave the burner on high until that liquid is gone, but the onions are still moist (if they dry they will burn). Then I turn the burner to low and stir the onions often. After about an hour and a half (sometimes longer if the onions are really moist) the onions will begin to look a rich caramel color. I always taste as I go and know the onions are done when they are sweet. They are perfect when I want to keep eating them. Yum!

greenmarket blog

I don't know Lucy but she keeps close tabs on what's going on at the Union Square Greenmarket. I usually check her blog before heading down there each week.

Lucy's Greenmarket Report

Enjoy!

August Tomatoes

Wow! It has been way too long. The hot humid days finally kept me from the kitchen in late July. Then we were out in California traveling for my brother's wedding.

Brian just e-mailed me this article from the NY Times and I totally LOVE it!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/22/dining/22appe.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Each week I head down to Union Square for their luscious fruits and vegetables at the Greenmarket. My favorites this year have been the peaches and tomatoes. Isabella can eat almost a whole peach on her own and devours the chunks of tomatoes I place on her tray. Last week I asked one of the farmers about heirloom tomatoes. She gave me a brief lesson about the various colors and how that will tell you a bit about their flavor. The yellow have a very mild flavor, the reddish brown was can be very acid and strong in flavor the the rest are somewhere between the two in flavor. She then picked out a few for me to try within the few following days. I really liked all of them. She also told me to not salt them, at least until I have tried it first. The yellow one had a very delicate tomato flavor and the reddish brown was very robust and I thought it was great without salt (Brian salted his serving). The green was good, but a little mealy. As the author in the above article states, that probably means it was a little past its time.

At another stand I bought some fresh San Marzano tomatoes. I've tried many brands of canned San Marzanos but never the fresh ones. I, unfortunately, picked mealy ones and they weren't very good.

Just yesterday while I was at the market I picked up a pound and a half of Roma tomatoes and I plan to make a batch of oven roasted tomatoes. So delicious! I think tomorrow will be the day. Although I have been so spoiled by the unseasonably cool August weather (highs have been in the 60's). I fear tomorrow will start to heat up again.

I've been dreaming of pizza lately.

Pastas Aplenty

It has been a while since I posted. Last week wasn't an ideal cooking week. Some days were gorgeous and we were out and about all day. Other days had 100% humidity and we were in the bedroom all day with the window a/c running.

With all the hot humid weather last week the basil on our fire escape was growing like crazy. I found some pine nuts in the freezer and I made my first batch of pesto for the season. It was tasty. I didn't use a recipe, just my taste buds. A small clove of garlic, a few handfuls of basil, a handful of toasted pine nuts, olive oil, parmesan cheese (actually we currently have grana padano), and salt. We dipped baguette (from Pozzo's) slices in the pesto. Delicious!

Last week's pesto (blended in the food processor):

small clove of garlic
few handfuls of basil
handful of toasted pine nuts
olive oil
Grana Padano
salt

Another evening we got home late from enjoying the beautiful weather and I just threw together a quick lemon herb sauce. As far as the herbs go I used mostly thyme, some rosemary, and a touch of basil. I tossed that together with some capellini.

Here's what was in our lemon herb sauce:

Olive oil
garlic
lemon juice
fresh herbs
red pepper flakes (just a touch)
chicken broth

Yesterday we made Grandma's Spaghetti Sauce. The last time I made it all by myself and it wasn't as good as when Brian is in charge. Brian made an excellent sauce yesterday. I helped with the prep work and juggled the baby at the same time. It was one of the best batches, I think!

Here's what we put in it:

4 large Spanish onions, finely chopped
several garlic cloves, chopped (about 1/2 head)
1lb lean ground beef
1lb hot Italian sausage
many cans of tomatoes (I think we use 8-10 28oz cans), some diced, pureed, etc.
Italian seasoning, oregano, salt, pepper

For the cans of tomatoes I bought a variety of brands. Our favorite, San Marzano Brand, are fairly expensive and weren't at Fairway (www.fairwaymarket.com) where I was purchasing all the ingredients. We really liked Scalafani's tomatoes (www.scalafanifoods.com) and Colavita's were pretty good too (www.colavita.com).

Right now our large pot of sauce is in the fridge. When Brian gets home from work we will ladle the sauce into ziploc bags and freeze the rest for future Sunday meals.

Pesto Rating: 6

Lemon Herb Sauce Rating: 7

Grandma's Pasta Sauce Rating: 8

Recipe from the Heart

Artichoke Linguine, according to Brian, is a family favorite and a traditional dish made to express one's love for the person it is being made for. Since it calls for artichoke hearts Brian will often make it for me on Valentine's Day or our anniversary. He's the head chef when Artichoke Linguine is on the menu and I'm the prep cook, so I've never made it myself.

On Monday evening Brian called from work announcing he wanted a pasta dinner. I looked through our pantry and saw we had all the ingredients for Artichoke Linguine. I made up a batch and it turned out excellent. Brian felt the love.

One little mix up I had was it was the first time I used Campbell's brand chicken broth. I didn't realize it was condensed until after I added it. I just didn't have to add much salt.

Rating: 9

Source: Marylin Carini

Dinner a la Trader Joe's

About every other week I head down to Union Square to Trader Joe's to buy all of our favorite things and a few new items we haven't tried before. For $9.95 I have them deliver all of the groceries (gallons of antibiotic free milk and all) to our 4th floor walk-up apartment. It is about the same cost as a cab ride but I don't have to carry all the bags up the stairs with the baby attached too. I figure it is a pretty good deal--good groceries at a good price, delivered right into my kitchen. And since Trader Joe's is near Union Square Park I always make sure I go on a day when the Greenmarket is there and pick up tons of wonderful, fresh, local produce. Yesterday was one of those fun, shopping days.

For dinner I got a bunch of stuff at TJ's. I hadn't tried their premade pizza dough; so I picked that up, some fresh mozzarella and some fresh pesto. Then at the Greenmarket I picked up a couple of beautiful heirloom tomatoes. (I picked up a lot more stuff at each stop, but I'm just talking about dinner here.)

The directions on the dough said to let it sit out of the fridge for 20 minutes before rolling out. I should have let it sit out longer. Even with it being so hot yesterday the dough was still chilly and difficult to roll out after a half hour of sitting out. But I didn't want to wait much longer since the oven was already preheated to 500 degrees. (We had a HOT house!) After rolling out the dough and placing it on the pizza peel I put olive oil on the edges and sprinkled the dough with salt and pepper. For toppings I put a layer of thinly sliced heirloom tomatoes, shredded fresh basil and sliced fresh mozzarella. Originally, I was going to put dollops of pesto instead of basil, but the pesto tasted a little stronger than I wanted with the more subtle flavors of the fresh mozz and tomatoes. (I'm growing a large pot of basil on our fire escape outside our bedroom window. We also have rosemary, parsley, and thyme on the fire escape. It is very fun.)

The pizza was good! Okay, the toppings were excellent! The dough was comparable to Domino's; in other words, it was awful ("hurt your jaw" chewy and flavorless)! I can make much better pizza dough, but it takes time and effort. The toppings of the heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil and fresh mozz were wonderful. I cut up little squares of pizza for Isabella. When I cleaned her up after dinner there were all the little squares of pizza crust hidden in her chair--toppings removed and eaten. So I think she agrees.

We had a side salad of mixed baby greens with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and some goat cheese. I really liked it, but Brian isn't a fan of balsamic vinegar.

Then for dessert I served up some fresh peaches (that I had picked up at the Greenmarket) and cream. It was so good!

Pizza Rating: 10 (toppings); 3 (dough)
Salad Rating: 7
Dessert Rating: 9

Supper Chilled

We had the sister missionaries over for dinner, so I used the opportunity to try some more new recipes; knowing they would eat just about anything I made. I usually don't like to try new recipes on guests, but missionaries are always grateful no matter how bad it is.

Since it is extremely hot today I wanted to make a cool meal. I had never made a cold soup so I searched in The Silver Spoon, hoping they might have one. Are chilled soups very Italian? I made Cold Cucumber Cream Soup. It was quite good. I started it a bit late so I had to make room for the pot in the freezer to make sure it chilled in time. Brian really liked it and Isabella enjoyed a few spoonfuls. The soup ended up being a little thinner/runnier than I had expected/hoped. I did add the last 1/4 cup or so left of chicken broth, so I will be more accurate on that next time. One funny thing about the recipe is that it called for lettuce! I've never cooked lettuce before. I'm wondering if spinach would be a good substitute or any other leafy greens. I was also surprised that I couldn't taste the mint; which was good, I was afraid it might have a strong minty flavor which isn't my favorite (except in ice cream!). It tasted great.

After the soup I served Mediterranean-Style Orzo Salad with Corn from the Stonewall Kitchen Harvest cookbook. It was the first recipe I have tried from that particular book and it was so-so. I liked it, the salad was full of flavor, but they flavors didn't seem to mix right. I couldn't figure it out but Brian thinks it might be the sweet corn with the briny Kalamata olives. I think he's on the right track. It was more of a pasta salad than I had hoped. But it was cool and worked well on this hot, humid evening. We probably won't make this recipe again.

For dessert I made Old Fashioned Lime Pie, a recipe Anika introduced me to years ago when I was living with her in a tiny studio in Seattle. The recipe is from www.epicurious.com; here's the link: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/4322. After following the directions I topped the pie with fresh whipped cream and a garnish of left over lime peel. It was so refreshing.

Cold Cucumber Cream Soup Rating: 8
The Silver Spoon, p. 222

Mediterranean Orzo Rating: 5 (good but not quite right)
Stonewall Kitchen Harvest, p. 31

Lime Pie Rating: 10
www.epicurious.com

Oh! I'm so bummed! I meant to take photos of everything to post!

Basic Saffron Risotto

After enjoying a indoor 4th of July hamburger and hotdog fest at some friends apartment (because it was raining) we all ventured out and saw Ratatouille at the Ziegfeld Theater. The film was wonderful. We left the theater with the desire to cook a delicious feast--sans rats.

Brian wanted to make a simple, basic batch of risotto so we search our cookbooks but couldn't find one that he wanted. We had some left over saffron from a previous recipe and wanted to use that, but no such recipe was in any of our many cookbooks. After searching for a while I finally found one that was close enough to work from; or at least get the measurements from. The recipe came from The Olives Table and worked well.

Here's how Brian made it:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small Spanish onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tablespoon of saffron threads (that's all we had, but it was perfect)
1/3 cup white wine
1/2 cups arborio rice
about 6 cups of chicken broth (Swanson's is the best we can find around here...but I hear there are better brands)
A lot of Parmesan cheese (although we used Grana Padano)

It was very tasty! Brian did a great job. He served it with a side of spring lettuce in a lemon dressing.

Rating: 9

Adapted from The Olives Table, p. 190

Eggs Benedict w/ Smoked Salmon

Today was my first time ever trying to poach an egg. I used the directions in The Silver Spoon on how to poach an egg. We didn't have white wine vinegar so I used rice vinegar. I thought red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar might make the egg white a funny color. The first time I poured the egg into the boiling water the egg white went everywhere and became really frothy in the water. I reread the directions and it says to "plunge" each egg into the water. Brian worked on plunging and his poached eggs looked more like the real deal. It was fun.

For the hollandaise sauce I also used the recipe from The Silver Spoon. I think I can improve on the hollandaise, but I'm not sure how. Maybe it needed a little salt or more lemon juice.

It was great making a wonderful breakfast from stuff we had on hand. (Okay, Brian did have to go get some smoked salmon. But it was only a short block a way. Oh the joy of New York City!)

Assembling the Benedict:

toasted english muffin
smoked salmon
poached egg
salt & pepper
hollandaise sauce

I served it with a side of fresh tomato slices and orange juice.

Delicious!

Rating: 6
(Good, but the hollandaise sauce needs improvement.)

The Silver Spoon, p. 354 (directions on poaching eggs)
The Silver Spoon, p. 59 (hollandaise sauce)

Tacos de Salpicon de Pescado (aka Fish Tacos)

Yesterday I really wanted fish tacos. Good fish tacos are so hard to find in Manhattan. The only place we have found that we like is all the way in SoHo. We have traveled there just for the tacos at times. Since I love a good fish taco and I can't find a decent one in my neighborhood I have been experimenting some.

I made homemade pico de gallo salsa (I learned how from Marilyn). Red snapper fillets. (The new fish guy at Fairway had never skinned a fish and was a little embarrassed by the pieces of fish when he had finished. I assured him it was for tacos and that's why I asked him to do it--I hate skinning a fish.) I lightly floured (salt and pepper too) the fish and fried it in rippling (not smoking) grapeseed oil. Brian lightly fried the corn tortillas in some canola oil which made them a little more pliable and tasty.

Assembling the taco:

tortilla
spread a little cilantro sour cream
fish
pico de gallo
shredded cabbage

It was so good! I think I needed to add a touch more salt in the end, but excellent overall!

Rating: 9

The basic fish part of the recipe came from Williams-Sonoma: Savoring Mexico. p. 46

Fast Favorites

To continue the celebration of the gas being finally turned back on I made a batch of my wonderful oatmeal chocolate chip cookies yesterday afternoon. The original recipe came from the Quaker Oatmeal box a long time ago (when I was a kid) and is no longer printed on the box. The recipe is the one my mom use to always use but I have since made some modifications to hopefully make it a tad bit more healthy. I reduced the butter and sugars a bit and use whole wheat flour, extra oats, and nuts. They are delicious cookies and Brian claims they are healthy enough to eat for breakfast. No doubt they are an improvement on Cocoa Puffs! Here's my recipe; it makes about 2 dozen.

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (I use Ghiradelli's 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate)
1/2 cups walnuts or pecans

Bake at 375 for about 12 minutes.

The one problem with baking yesterday was it was so hot and humid (92 degrees, 65% humidity) that the oven made our little apartment so hot the rest of the day and the humidity made the cookies really chewy. (I like chewy, Brian likes crunchy.)

Another reason for oatmeal cookies yesterday is we have TONS of oatmeal in the house. A few months ago for some of my science classes we made pinhole cameras. I had asked each kid to bring their own oatmeal box, but they didn't follow directions and brought coffee cans, food boxes, etc. In order to make sure the cameras worked I went out and bought 20 small round boxes of Quaker Oatmeal, emptied them out and turned them all into cameras. Now I'm stuck with a whole lot of oatmeal. Here's a link on how to turn your oatmeal box into a pinhole camera (and some cool photographs): users.rcn.com/stewoody/

For a quick snack we made our favorite hummus. We found the recipe in The Figs Table (one of our favorite cookbooks) a couple years ago. We love the hummus, it is easy and we can usually make it with what we have on hand. Although last night we didn't have our usual whole wheat tortillas (Trader Joe's handmade are the best and the only whole wheat tortillas I like.) for dipping so we used blue corn tortilla chips which weren't as good. Brian just used the chips as a spoon to eat the hummus. The recipe is Quick White Bean Hummus and we usually throw in a can of white beans and a can of chick peas (Goya brand). Although just using the white beans is delicious and makes the hummus lighter than the traditional chick pea hummus.

Rating 10
(Both on the cookies and hummus; recipes we make this often have to have a 10!)

The Figs Table, p. 68

Penne with Saffron

Tonight we made our first recipe from our new cookbook, The Silver Spoon. Penne Gialle or Penne with Saffron. It was excellent. Tonight was a semi special occasion--our cooking gas was finally turned back on after being off for almost three months. Cooking on one little electric burner is not the Carini way.

Back to the penne. We set the pasta water on the stove to boil and realized that the pasta didn't need to be cooked ahead of time, but rather cooked in broth like risotto. It was fun, easy, and tasty. We used saffron threads instead of powder, and we could have put in a little less than we did. The butter sauce was rich and creamy. Isabella loved it with a side of peas.

Rating: 8 (1-10 scale)

The Silver Spoon p. 295