Betty's Healthy Recipes

well, Earl himself was a bit of a dud...few leaves down in my yard but that was it. Had lots of fun waiting for him though...what else is a self-respecting foodie to do but to hunker down....and chow down ? And what better way to welcome a hurricane...but Hurricanes ? Mark was in charge of those, opening oysters, and crab cakes (Paula Deen's recipe is great)...my contribution was my grandmother's clam fritters, and my own quickie Cajun Remoulade.

recipes follow the pictures....

Hurricanes !







mmm oysters...







crab cakes cooking away







clam fritters with Cajun Remoulade

The Recipes :

Hurricane

2 oz light rum
2 oz dark rum
2 oz passion fruit juice
1 oz orange juice
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
1 tbsp simple syrup
1 tbsp grenadine

Shake all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a hurricane glass. Garnish with a cherry and an orange slice

Mark's Basic Cocktail Sauce :
(all measurements very approximate)
 
2 T horseradish
2 T ketchup
2 t lemon juice
dash of chipotle Tabasco to taste (we like a lot :) )

Mix together and serve

Karen’s Quickie Cajun Remoulade
(this is good on all sorts of things...last night it went with the clam fritters and the crab cakes)

2 minced scallions
1 ½ cups Hellmans
¼ cup ketchup
1 T prepared mustard
1 t garlic powder
1 t celery salt
½ t chipotle powder
½ t Tabasco
2 minced white anchovies

 Mix well....good to let sit about 15 minutes or so for the flavors to meld 
 
Clam Fritters 
(I'm still trying to perfect this one to come out like Grammy's...this is pretty close though ! ) 
 
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
2 cups chopped clams (save the liquid) 
 
Mix together flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Combine with egg and milk. Mix in clams and enough of their liquid to make fritter batter....should be somewhat stiff, but you should still be able to drop it off a spoon. Fry in hot oil in a skillet, turning once, until nice and brown on both sides.
 
Paula Deen's Crab Cakes

1 pound crabmeat, picked free of shells
1/3 cup crushed Ritz crackers 
3 green onions (green and white parts), finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 egg
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
Dash cayenne pepper

Flour, for dusting

1/2 cup oil

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients, except for the flour and oil. Shape into patties and dust with flour.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, carefully place crab cakes, in batches, in pan and fry until browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully flip crab cakes and fry on other side until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Serve warm.

 
 

off to Inman Square last weekend to hit Christina's Spices (no website, but reviews and info here )...what a treasure this place is...so cool !! You walk in and your nose doesn't know what to make of it...every smell you can think of and a few you've never considered. The spices are tucked in everywhere - bags, jars, bins and boxes, you name it - not to mention unique groceries, loose teas...could get lost in there for days. It's not a fussy store, and that seems to extend to the hours...though scheduled to open at 10, no one had bothered to open the door by the time we got there.

So, what does one do at 10 AM on a sleepy Sunday in Inman Square ? Why, go to the S + S for breakfast, of course. I adore the S + S...my mother has been taking me there literally all my life, it's one of her very favorite places. An Inman Square fixture since 1919, it's a traditional deli gone wild...the menu is huge, everything is reliably fantastic, and I can satisfy my lox-and-eggs addiction day or night. "Es" means "eat" in Yiddish, and you'd best be prepared to "eat and eat" when you get there.

In a slight departure from my traditional choice, I went with Eggs Copenhagen - a truly delectable take on Eggs Benedict :

oh yeah baby !

Poached eggs, Nova Scotia lox, sauteed onions and Hollandaise sauce over really good English muffins, home fries and fresh fruit on the side. Serious culinary orgasm...so incredibly good.

My dining partner opted for another take on Eggs Benedict - Eggs Oscar :

unfortunately, Mark opted out of appearing on camera :)

This was amazing - poached eggs on potato pancakes topped with crabmeat, asparagus and Bearnaise sauce. Putting this over potato pancakes was brilliant - the perfect foil.

Spicy !

The S also does a decent take on a Bloody Mary...not super strong, but quite tasty.

Perfect start to a shopping expedition !!

Culinary Orgasm...defined

Seriously, what could possibly be better than mac and cheese...oh yeah, mac and cheese and LOBSTA. This is the kind of stuff that makes you moan and sigh while you eat it....that you eat way too much of (and yet you can't stop)....that you dream about...this, readers, is a Culinary Orgasm.

I've been making homemade mac and cheese for years...never been able to abide the powdery orange stuff, but once I figured out how to make the real deal I was hooked. The key to good mac and cheese (without embellishments) is the cheese...a mix of Cabot Extra Sharp and Seriously Sharp (or Hunter's Sharp). My basic version plus lobster is quite tasty, but I've been tweaking it a bit for the lobster version the last few times I've made it. You want it cheesy, but you also want to be able to taste all the lobstery goodness - so not as sharp as when the cheese gets star billing. I think I've now hit on the proper combination...a good Cheddar, a nice creamy Fontina, and some Gruyere. I also use a bit more of the cream sauce for the lobster version - the creaminess really sets off the lobster.

Herewith, I think, is the direct route to nirvana :

Lobster Mac & Cheese

Cooked, canned frozen lobster meat is available at Shaw's....and that's usually the only place I can find it. I think the cans are 12 oz (I've used all mine up, so can't look and tell you :) ) . Though I am a lobster snob by birth (fresh Cushing lobster is the only way to fly), I have to admit this product works perfectly in this dish.

Makes a huge amount...which will all be eaten, I promise :) Easily halved...

1 lb cellentani, cavatappi or similar pasta
6 T butter, plus 4 T for topping
6 T flour
3 cups milk
3 cups cream
6 cups grated cheese (cheddar-fontina-gruyere mix highly recommended)
2 cans lobster meat
1 cup panko crumbs

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.

For cream sauce : melt 6 T of the butter in saucepan and whisk in flour. Slowly whisk in milk, then cream. Simmer 5 minutes or so, to get rid of raw flour taste. Whisk in about 2 cups of your cheese mixture.

Melt the remaining butter, and stir in the panko.

In a really large casserole dish, layer the pasta, lobster, cheese, and sauce...then another layer of pasta, lobster,cheese, and sauce...then top with a last layer of cheese Top with the buttered crumbs, and bake in a 375 oven until bubbling and a bit golden (20 - 30 minutes, depending on your pan)

Soup is good food....

ahhh, Thanksgiving...the holiday that keeps on giving. At least the leftovers do...

How good is turkey soup ? I mean, chicken soup is great and all...but there is just something about turkey soup. So rich, so flavorful...just so good. Growing up, my aunts in Maine made the best turkey rice soup on earth - probably the most requested dinner by the various cousins staying at the house (myself included). Whatever might be wrong in your world, this soup would fix. Once old enough to make my own soups, the turkey rice was one of the first I did...and I have to say, I really got it down. (When my sister was staying at the hospital with my newborn nephew, she wouldn't eat anything except my soup). Eventually, though, we needed to alternate with something a bit different...enter barley. Barley just elevates turkey soup to the stratosphere - the richness of the turkey complements the nutty barley perfectly. And mushrooms and barley are just so good together...

For this one, rather than a recipe I'm just going to give you the general method I follow. If you'd like more specific directions, definitely email me. (The Anadama Bread I made with it - included in the photograph - will be written up as a separate entry, because that's got a pretty cool story behind it).

My method of making soup out of leftover birds - Thanksgiving birds in particular - is a bit, well, odd. This, I am sure, will surprise no one that knows me. :). Since we tend to cook ridiculously large birds around here (26 pounds, this year) I've discovered I'm better off splitting the goods into two soups - for one thing, half a giant bird is a heck of a lot easier to fit in a stockpot. We basically pick and pick until we can't look at the carcass anymore, and then I take my poultry shears and split whatever's left in two. (I have the most amazing German-made poultry shears, inherited from my grandmother...those bad boys will cut through anything). The halves go in to heavy duty freezer bags until I'm willing to say the word "turkey" again.

Once the muse strikes me (like, say, on a rainy Sunday full of Christmas shopping and a late Patriots game) , I take one of my turkey-sicles and throw it into a stockpot (still frozen), with a handful of tiny onions or a couple of small ones (skin on) and plenty of salt and pepper. I add enough water to cover, bring everything to a boil, and turn it down to a simmer. I then start my bread and get on with my afternoon.

An hour and a half to two hours later, I turn off the turkey pot and start chopping some vegetables..usually leeks, carrots and celery in equal amounts, maybe two cups of each. I start these in a clean stockpot in which I've melted about half a stick of unsalted butter, and saute them until they start to cook down a bit. (I picked up this tip from the Silver Palate - it really makes a huge difference in the flavor). I add salt and pepper again, then measure in eight cups of broth from the turkey pot and a cup of barley, bring it to a boil, and reduce it to a simmer.

Once the turkey remains in the other pot are cool enough to handle (okay, truthfully I always end up burning my fingers a bit :) ), I collect up all the usable meat from the stockpot, stripping it off the bones and chopping it up a little if needed. I also slip the onions out of the skins, and I add all the good turkey and onion parts to the simmering pot with the vegetables, stock and barley. I taste it at this point, and if I feel like the broth isn't strong enough I'll add 2 - 4 Knorr's Chicken Bouillon cubes (yes, it has to be Knorr's...everything else is just salt and yuck). The last step is to slice up about a cup of mushrooms and add them to the pot. If you feel like the soup needs more broth, add a few ladlefuls of whatever is left from your turkey stock pot, or use chicken stock - broth ratio is a personal preference, we tend to do it a little thick around here - make it however you like it, it's your soup ! In any event, once the mushrooms are cooked to your liking the soup is done.

Soup is, indeed, good food....







not the best picture - it's really saucier !!

There are probably a million variations on this dish...all (okay, most) of them delicious. I mean, even the names are confusing - most people would call this Chicken, Broccoli and Ziti, or Chicken, Broccoli and Penne...but since the variation I usually make is the cream sauce one - and since I don't always use ziti or penne - Chicken Broccoli Alfredo it is. Except...there are probably a million versions of Alfredo sauce too. Technically, mine is a cream or white sauce, since it starts with flour and butter. I have to do it that way, because Mark likes "Alfredo" sauce super thick. All I can tell you is that whatever you want to call this works for me...and that's what this dish does : works. It's been a staple here for years for a good reason - everyone loves it.







see ?

 There are actually two ways to make this at my house...method du jour depends on how much time and/or kitchen help I have. I give you the very slightly more involved version first...this is easy enough to do on your own, but very enjoyable to do with help. Tonight Mark sauteed the chicken and broccoli, Alex grated the cheese, and I made the sauce and pasta. I love family kitchen night :).

Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

1 pound pasta
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 cups cream
salt, grated nutmeg and/or cayenne pepper (optional)
2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
4 cups broccoli florets
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced into 1/4 inch thick chunks
2 tsp minced garlic
olive oil for pan
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, make sauce : melt butter in good-sized saucepan over medium heat and whisk in flour. Whisk in milk, a little at a time, then add cream all at once and whisk well. Simmer 5 - 10 minutes, whisking often, until thick. Add seasonings to taste....definitely salt, a small sprinkle of nutmeg, and a few grains of cayenne (you're not trying to make the sauce spicy - just warms up the flavors. Although if you do like spicy, you can add a good amount of chipotle and make a very different - but still tasty - dish. ).

While sauce is simmering, make chicken and broccoli : heat oil in a saute pan, saute chicken and garlic (seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper) together until done, then saute broccoli in the same pan until done.

Combine pasta, sauce, chicken and broccoli in large bowl or pot. Pass extra Parmesan at the table.

Optional Method

The other way of doing this, if you're somewhat pressed for time...make pasta and sauce as directed, but add the broccoli to the pot with the pasta for the last minute or so of cooking, then drain everything together. Leave the chicken breasts whole, and when you start the pasta start the chicken poaching in a separate pan (cover with chicken stock, bring almost to a boil, turn down to a really low simmer for 20 minutes or so until done). Drain, and cut up the chicken before mixing with the other components of the dish.



well, the menu got juggled a bit...never got around to making the brownies, everyone was way too full ! And I really need to start taking blog pictures with my real camera instead of the crackberry....but for now, this will do.  

Here's what we ended up with :

Italian Paninis
Buffalo Wings
Onion Rings
Frijoles Borrachos
Pepperjack Cornbread

Not really a recipe for the Paninis - your basic Italian :). Ciabatta roll layered with a little olive spread, prosciotto, capicola, sopresata, mortadella, provolone, hot peppers and lettuce. Should have grabbed a pic - delicious !

Wings and rings are two of Mark's specialties...

Buffalo Wings

1/4 cup margarine, melted. (You have to use margarine; otherwise it doesn't coat the wings right)
1/2 cup Texas Pete hot sauce
few generous shakes of Chipotle Tabasco
large package of chicken wings

Deep fries the wings - 12 minutes at 375 in the deep fryer - then toss with the sauce. Serve with blue cheese dressing and plenty of beer...

Onion Rings

For these, he basically slices up onions into thin rings and soaks them in buttermilk for a half hour. Drain, shake in a bag with flour, then deep fry....375 again; they take about four minutes. Sprinkle with salt as soon as you take them out of the deep fryer.

Oh, and Mark says always use canola oil in your deep fryer.

Frijoles Borrachos.

This recipe is mine...sort of evolved, from a bunch of different recipes and a lot of trial and error. Frijoles are beans, and "borracho" is drunken - and yes, these involve beer.

1 16 oz package of dry pinto beans

1 package double smoked bacon (12 oz ? )
1 medium sized onion (diced)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
12oz (1 can or bottle) beer
2 cups chicken stock
1 - 2 chipotles, toasted and diced, stems and seeds removed
1 tablespoon dried cilantro
Cumin (optional)
Salt to taste

Soak beans overnight OR use “quick soak” method on bag
Saute bacon in pan until somewhat crispy
Saute onion and garlic in bacon fat until translucent
Combine beans, bacon, onion and garlic, and rest of ingredients except salt in crockpot, and stir well. Add more liquid if needed to cover beans.
Cook on high one hour, then on low for 5 – 6 hours or until tender. Check occasionally and add more liquid if it goes below top of beans.
Salt to taste

Pepperjack Cornbread

Yes, Southern folks, I know "real" cornbread doesn't involve sugar....but I'm a Yankee, and I need a little in there. This one definitely is not as sweet as most - really hardly at all - and the pepperjack cheese is just awesome in it, though this bread is good without it too. Light, moist, and delicious. The buttermilk is really key, as the slight acidity reacts with the baking powder to create the lightness. If you don't have any but really want cornbread (though not quite as spectacular), put two tablespoons white vinegar in a one cup measuring cup, fill the rest of the cup with milk, and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Or you can sub half sour cream/plain yogurt and half milk.

1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable/canola oil
1 egg, beaten
about a half pound block of pepperjack cheese, cut into largeish cubes

Heat oven to 400, and grease a 9 inch square pan. Mix dry ingredients, then stir in wet ones and combine just until moist. Add cheese last..spread in pan. Bake 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick stuck in the non-cheesy parts comes out clean. Serve warm.

Oh, and most important....Pats won. GO PATS !!

way better than it looks !

Today's cooking adventure/Sunday dinner was amazing, but I don't want to post all the recipes yet...the flavors were all right there, but I feel like I really need to refine the techniques a little before putting my name on them :) (Well, to be honest, if we'd cooked the lamb like I wanted to it would have been perfect....and I know exactly what I need to do with the fig sauce next time ! )

The menu : Butterflied Leg of Lamb (hey, had to use the new knife !) stuffed with a leek stuffing, served with a Port-Fig-Balsamic sauce, Roasted Rosemary Potatoes, and Italian-Style Spinach.

The problem : the lamb was cooked too low and too slow...so it literally fell apart when we sliced it. The taste was amazing - especially the stuffing, which I will give the recipe for - but I was going for more of a neat slice, with the pretty spiral of stuffing inside. The fig sauce tasted amazing as well, though a little heavy on the fig (two less next time), and I didn't take the time to defat my stock - a more serious error.  We will definitely make this one again, and I will post the final recipe. (Potatoes and spinach were delicious - both are recipes I make often).

Wine with this meal was a blackberry wine from the Russell Orchards trip - absolutely PERFECT with the flavors of this meal !!

Here's what's ready to share...

stuffing ready to go

the stuffed lamb, ready for the oven

Leek Stuffing

This came about because a) I love leeks...serious love and b) I had a loaf of stale sourdough and half a whole wheat ciabatta to use up. I hope I have that combination of extras to use up often, because this stuffing was simply sublime...it would also be fantastic with poultry...or even by itself (though I'd probably throw another egg in if I did that)

1/4 cup (half stick) butter
3 leeks, white and tender green only, cleaned and chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (stems and all)
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups stale sourdough bread, cubed
4 cups whole wheat bread, cubed
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup (approximately) white wine

Melt butter in large pan. Saute leeks, carrots, celery and garlic until tender, adding herbs for the last 5 minutes or so of cooking. Toss with remaining ingredients, adding wine last...just enough to moisten. Stuff into main course of choice, or you can bake separately if that's how you roll (325 for about 45 minutes)

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

2 pounds baby white potatoes, quartered
1/4 cup olive oil
3 - 4 fresh rosemary sprigs, roughly chopped
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Toss all ingredients in a roasting pan large enough to spread potatoes out in a single layer (I use a stoneware baking dish for best results). Roast at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or so - stir every 10-15 minutes. (test them after 45 minutes - they should be golden on the outside and done completely through - if not, back in the oven they go...timing depends on what else is cooking in the oven).

Italian-Style Spinach

1 pound spinach (baby, or regular with large stems removed)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
juice of 1/2 lemon
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

In a large heavy pan, saute garlic in olive oil until just turning golden. Throw in the spinach, cover, and turn heat to low. In a few minutes the spinach will start to wilt...stir it into the oil and garlic and cover again. Cook another 5 minutes or so, until done to your liking. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper and serve.

mmm mmm good !!!

soup is good food...

Just a quick blog entry to let you know that I am, in fact, alive :). Busy time of year for me...it's time for one of my other hobbies to take center stage for a bit, singing and concert management for the Newton Community Chorus. Our Winter Concert is this Saturday...so of course, what happens this week ? I get an absolutely brutal cold, of course...damn plague carriers I live with !! I feel like my head and lungs are full of cold, wet oatmeal and I can hardly open my eyes. Definitely not C.O. material.

I know if there's any substance in this world that has a chance of getting me in shape to sing by Saturday, it's the chicken soup from the Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook....so as exhausted as I am, I made a pot when I got home instead of giving in to the urge to snuggle with my pillows and blankie. I love chicken soups of all kinds, and I do all sorts of variations on simmering chicken frames for hours with a medley of delicious items. This soup is a little different - chock full of veggies (including lots of leeks...I have a serious leek obsession) and noodles for staying power...but it's made with boneless skinless chicken breast, and comes together in under an hour. I swear, you can feel yourself ingesting health and well being with every bite.

I am including the recipe here with my own very well tested modifications - I have made this more times than I can count, and it is nothing short of spectacular every time. Basically, I use more of the leek and more chicken than called for...change the proportions and timing a bit...and I go through less steps and use less dishes. Much as I love the SP, I usually see no need to use as many pots and pans as they call for...who has time to clean all that stuff ? I can hear my bed calling from here...

Chicken Soup, Silver Palate style

4 leeks, white and tender green parts only
water to cover leeks
2 T cider vinegar
2 sticks unsalted butter
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 t kosher salt
1 t fresh ground black pepper
2 1/2 quarts chicken stock
1 c white wine
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast (4 good sized pieces)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 cups fine egg noodles (uncooked)
4 oz fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch lengths
3 T chopped Italian parsley

Cut the leeks in half lengthwise, and rinse well (leeks trap mud like crazy). Soak for 15 minutes in a bowl with water to cover, to which you have added the cider vinegar.

Once the leeks are soaking, start the chicken poaching in the stock and wine - bring to a boil, turn way down and barely simmer for about 15 minutes, or until just done. Remove the chicken when done to let it cool.

Chop the leeks, the carrot, and the celery. Melt the butter in a large stockpot, and gently saute the veggies for about 10 minutes, then season with the salt and pepper. Add the stock in which you poached the chicken, the mushrooms, and the green beans. Let simmer for 5 minutes, then add the egg noodles. Cook for another 5 - 10 minutes, or until the noodles and the veggies are done to your liking.

Shred the chicken and add to the pot with the parsley. Heat through, add salt and pepper if needed, and serve.

Cider-Glazed Chicken with Browned Butter-Pecan Rice

Tonight's dinner was very, very simple...right from my latest issue of Cooking Light. Their recipes are also available online, but I like having the print version too...reminds me to cook light once in a while :)  Link to this recipe is here : Cider Chicken

This combination is really excellent - the brown rice, butter and pecans compliment the apple cider flavor so well. The only change I made was to the rice - I used frozen brown rice from Trader Joe's. Usually I make my own  rice, of course, but this is an awesome thing to have around for a quick meal...it's just plain brown rice, already perfectly cooked, that heats in a few minutes. Dressed up with pecans and browned butter, it's absolutely wonderful. Quick weeknight dinner - under 30 minutes - that meets both my foodie and healthy requirements. Done !

Anna, damn her !!

Yeah, that's right....I have a bread machine. And I like it :)

Now, don't get me wrong....I love making bread by hand. There's something inherently satisfying about the whole kneading and punching down process...excellent way to work out your aggressions. And I also love the dough hook option on my Kitchen Aid stand mixer...the hook is especially good for sticky doughs, as it takes a lot less time to extract than your fingers. I'm not ashamed to admit, though, that I've gotten a lot of use out of my breadmaker in the 15+ years I've owned it. I don't think it's a coincidence that many of the soups I like to make take about 2 1/2 hours...which just so happens to be the amount of time it takes for my Regal to turn out a loaf of yummy bread. And though I would dearly love to spend every minute of my day in the kitchen, the sad truth is that sometimes the rest of life (laundry, family, super-awesome football teams) get in the way.

If you use the same quality ingredients that you do for "by hand" bread - and you keep an eye on the dough for the first 20 minutes to make sure it looks right - bread from a machine will taste just as good as bread from your oven. And you won't have to worry about finding a warm spot for the bread to rise or anything - the machine takes care of that (in fact, I use the "dough" setting all the time for making dough for pizza, rolls etc). Just follow your machine's guidelines, adding ingredients in the recommended order (mine is liquid, then butter, then flour, then yeast and salt) and you'll be all set.

Today I decided to tackle Anadama Bread, as a compliment to my turkey soup . I've always wanted to try making Anadama Bread, as I love the various stories behind it - none of which are probably true, but that doesn't make them bad :). The most often heard version is that the bread was named by a husband cursing his wife for serving him nothing but cornmeal and molasses porridge, which he decided one day to add yeast and flour to, then bake - cursing "Anna, damn her !" the whole time. A less-heard version has it that Anna was such a skilled baker that her husband says "Anna, damn her" while happily eating her delicious bread. Regardless of where the name comes from, Anadama Bread has been a New England specialty since the 1800's, best known on the North Shore (Massachusetts, where your intrepid blogger is based), and it is known for a reason - it is absolutely delicious. Recipes vary, but all of them contain flour (always white, sometimes whole wheat and/or rye), cornmeal, and molasses.

When I set out to make this today, I came up with a recipe using a method that's worked pretty well for me in the past...research a few recipes, take the parts I like from each, then add my own twist. Often times, doing it this way requires a bit of tweaking...but this one was a winner from the start. Sweet, but not overly so...sturdy but tender texture, lovely crust, beautiful golden brown color all the way through...in short, a win :).

Anadama Bread

1 1/4 c water
1/3 c molasses
2 T butter
1/3 c yellow cornmeal
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
2 1/4  t yeast
1 t salt
Pinch of nutmeg


Add ingredients in order specified by your bread machine manufacturer, and use the setting for a larger loaf (as opposed to smaller). Dough tends to be heavy and sticky, so make sure it's kneading when it's supposed to...

in my article on crockpot cooking, Crockpot Conversations, I mentioned Cassoulet as one of the dishes that adapts very well to the crockpot . As I also mentioned, one of the really cool things about Cassoulet is that you can change around the ingredients to suit whatever you happen to have. Another thing I love about this dish is that you set it all up and basically forget about it...making it perfect for NFL Sundays. Today's version was so good, it gets its own entry :)

Basically, I followed my own recipe as written, with the following variations :

Used one bag of navy beans, and about a third of a bag of cannellini beans (to use them up) . Had to do the Quick Soak method, as I was too wiped out from Sprigs to do much prep last night.

Buried a smoked wild turkey wing in the soaked beans, then added about four cups of chicken stock and a cup of leftover sauce from the Sprigs chicken livers (saving the livers themselves for later in the process).

Let the beans simmer about two hours on high, then added chicken thighs that I had browned on both sides, three chorizo sausage links from Hager's (cut into quarters and browned), and the sauteed veggies as per my recipe.

After another hour on high, I stirred in the rest of the livers and turned the temperature to low .

Two hours later...the breadcrumb topping, with chopped fresh parsley mixed in, a loaf of fresh bread, and happy fed football fans.

Ah....Sundays :)

Cassoulet

Miso salmon, Asian coleslaw, rice...

So this blog is more a funny story about the foodie I've raised - though since it's me, there is actually food involved. The whole idea started because a) sockeye salmon was on sale at Stop + Shop and b) I had some tasty miso glaze in the fridge from my last trip to H Mart. Ahh...H Mart...there will be a whole blog shortly about H Mart, as I'm planning a field trip soon...but I digress.

Marinating the fish for miso glazed salmon takes about two hours, and I was stymied as to how to get this done after work (as the fish was not in residence at the time). Suddenly, light dawned...I have a teenager at home currently doing...nothing. I left him a detailed shopping list (3 items, with a guide to where in the store to find them), my Stop + Shop card, and more than enough money. Or so I thought...

My cell phone rings at work. "Mom, they're out of sockeye". I inquire as to the availability of other types of salmon..."Nope. I don't like the look of it. I'm going to Whole Foods". Mind you, this kid is on a bike, and the Whole Foods is a few miles away. "Up to you", I say.

"Ring a ding ding ding dong..." (yes, his ring is the one from the Geico ad. Don't ask). "Well", he says, "I got the salmon...the only one I liked was the king, and it was expensive but I think it was worth it:. I'll put it in the marinade in a little while". I'm actually cracking up by now, as I ask how much. "$42", he says.

Only my kid would be sent to the store for $15 worth of sockeye and come home with the most gorgeous $42 king salmon fillet you ever saw - via a 5 mile bicycle trip - simply because he wouldn't compromise for inferior fish.

I'm so proud :).

The only recipe I'm giving here isn't even much of a recipe. The miso salmon was just the purchased marinade and that gorgeous, gorgeous fish, and the rice was pretty stock (though we use chicken stock instead of water to make it). The coleslaw is really just a very quick throw-together, I'm embarassed to even give the recipe (more directions, actually) but it's really yummy and goes great with any kind of Asian cooking...so here you go :

Karen's Asian Coleslaw

1 package coleslaw veggies (regular and/or broccoli both work well )
1 bottle ginger dressing (I use Makoto)....1/2 bottle if you're using one of the small bags of coleslaw mix
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds.

That's about it...toss and enjoy :)