Spaghetti and Meatballs

Hello. How are you?

Have you dropped a little weight?

You're looking pretty good!

I've been dieting some. I've also been working out more.

Why?

Because there's so much going on in the world today that I can't do anything about. I can't help those people in Haiti besides write a check. I can't do anything about all the poor people (and self employed people) who have very limited access to healthcare. I can't adopt one of the hundreds of thousands of little orphaned Haitian babies. I can't find Osama Bin Laden. (Okay, I haven't looked either.) It seems to me that every time I listen to the news it's just more and more that I can't do anything about. I find it a touch depressing.

What I can do, and the reason for the dieting and working out, is ride my bike. I have a teensy little seat and I'm seriously hoping it gets MUCH more comfortable in the next 7 months. Because July 29th - August 1st I will be riding 328 miles in Pan Ohio Hope Ride. I will be riding to raise funds for the American Cancer Society and their Hope Houses. In fact, today, when I learned yet another person I love very much has been diagnosed with cancer, the only thing that made me feel the tiniest bit better was to put on my biking clothes and ride my bike. So if you'd like to support me, here's the link to my page. If you'd like to join the team I'm on (Adam's Army- named after a soldier who was a good friend of my team leader Mike) we'd love to have you! Just click on the button that says "Join My Team."

Also, expect to see updates ocassionally on how the training is going.

And yes, those noodles are made from scratch, not a box.

If it weren't for the Pan Ohio Hope Ride, I would be doing what every other chubby, emotional eater, in rural Ohio does and eating plates and plates of this delicious Spaghetti and Meatballs. Okay. I did eat plates and plates of Spaghetti and Meatballs, but in my defense, yesterday was my birthday, and I seriously think The Complete Meat Cookbook is one of the top 5 cookbooks in my library (one of the spare bedrooms, not the public library.)

Meatballs and Sauce
adapted from The Complete Meat Cookbook

meatballs:
1 pound ground chuck
1/2 pound bulk pork sausage
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup dried breadcrumbs
2 tsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp minced onion
1/3 cup finely chopped parsley (I used 1/4 cup dried because it's what I had)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 Tbsp finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

sauce:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
2 medium stalks celery, chopped
1 Tbsp chopped garlic
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup beef stock
3 cups canned tomatoes
1 tsp Italian seasoning. (Ok, it supposed to be basil, but somehow I have none in the pantry)

In a large deep bowl combine all meatball ingredients. kneading and squeezing until everything is well blended. Shape the meat into 24 meatballs (approximately 1 1/2 inch balls). Place the meatballs on a cooking sheet lined with parchment and place in a preheated 500° oven and bake for 10 minutes, ocassionally shaking the pan.

Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to a Dutch oven, add the onions, celery, and garlic and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring once in a while. Pour in the red wine and bring to a boil. Cook until the red wine is reduced to about 1/4 cup. Add the stock and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer. Add the Italian Seasoning (or basil) and a pinch of salt and pepper. Simmer for 30 minutes and then using an immersion blender puree the sauce to as smooth as you prefer.

Put the meatballs into the pan and simmer over low heat for another 30 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper and serve over the cooked pasta of your choice.

Serves 8.

Grilled Chicken, Red Onion and Mint Kebabs with Greek Salad

Every night this week, I've had to go to bed around 7 or 8pm so that I can get up ultra early and make the donuts. Yes, I fry donuts. For a living. Well, for minimum wage, but I get PAID to make donuts. And yes, it's hard work. Yesterday morning the donut girl who's training me and I made 45 dozen just for delivery and then many more dozen for the bakery case. We have to proof a whole bunch of previously frozen dough, mix up batter for cake donuts, and then fry and fry and fry and fry donuts.

The cake dough donuts are my favorite, I wish we could start from scratch, but, reality check here, it's the IGA. We use a mix. Frying them are the most fun too because I have a funnel like contraption that is attached to a mechanical arm so that it will swing over the vat of hot grease. It also has a handle and a crank on it. What I get to do is to hold the handle and guide it over the hot grease while cranking the crank so that little round blobs of raw donuts plop out and start to cook. So fun!

So for 8 hours every morning this week, I have immersed myself in donut making. It's pretty funny because I'm just so happy to be frying up donuts and working the machine that injects the donuts with fillings, and glazing, frosting and decorating the freshly made donuts. It's hard, physical work, and Wilma the Knee is really pissed off that I'm doing it, but she'll get over it. Because it's a minimum wage job and it's not really like the people in the bakery are skilled pastry chefs, the other girls in the bakery tend to grumble a little about a lot of things. But really, how can you be grumbly when at the end of your work day you have a whole tray of frosted donuts with sprinkles staring you down? It's the best of all worlds because I can make the wide variety of donuts and the glazed donuts are shining, the cream cheese frosting is melting on the cinnamon rolls, the tiger tails have puffed up so beautifully, and the cream is oozing out of the long johns, and it all looks so beautiful and tasty and I'm challenged and I don't have to eat any of them. Of course I might snack on a cinnamon sugar cake donut at about 3am.

My latest career move means that dinner time has been moved up significantly. We used to eat dinner at 7 or 8, now it's more like at 5. And if I'm asleep by 5, which has happened, the Brain is on his own to figure out dinner. So a quick, easy, and yet supremely tasty dish is really good to find. And we found it in the Bon Appetit Cookbook with these Grilled Chicken, Red Onion and Mint Kababs with Greek Salad. I was able to put these together while chatting on the phone with my best friend T. And the kebabs took very little time to cook. And they were delicious. The Brain even offered to let me do the grilling from now on.

Grilled Chicken, Red Onion and Mint Kebabs with Greek Salad
from The Bon Appetit Cookbook

kebabs:
1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp dried mint
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 bunch fresh mint
1 onion cut into 1 inch pieces
8 skewers

Mix chicken, 2 Tbsp oil. garlic, mint, oregano, salt, and pepper in medium bowl. Let marinate 30 minuets. Whisk remaining 2 Tbsp oil and lemon juice in small bowl to blend.Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Pull off large fresh mint leaves from stems. Alternate chicken, onion, and mint leaves on skeweres; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until chicken is just cooked through, turning and basting occasionally with oil-lemon mixture, about 9 minutes. Transfer skewers to platter.

salad:
2 cups cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 pitted Kalamata olives chopped
1/4 cup diced onion
3 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Mix first 9 ingredients in a medium bowl to combine. Gently mix in cheese. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

White Beans with Tomatoes, Garlic, and Sage

Yes it's time for another installment of Legume Wednesday! Hooray! Tonight's recipe is excellent. Tonight we travel to the home of some of my husband's family's roots. Italy. Apparently white beans, tomatoes and garlic are ubiquitous in Florence. And most of my cookbooks have some recipe for "Tuscan White Beans". The recipes were mostly similar and some weren't very appetizing. Also, as I've never had these beans before, I wanted to make sure I made something fairly authentic. So I turned to my giant The New Best Recipe Cookbook. According to this cookbook, the traditional way for these beans to be made is for them to be stuck in an empty Chianti bottle and stuck in the embers of the fire overnight. Fortunately for me, and for you dear readers, the cookbook modernized the process for today's cook.

Although it took a long time to make these White Beans with Tomatoes, Garlic, and Sage, the effort level was small and the rewards were tremendous. I realized at about 3:00 this morning in the middle of glazing some donuts at work that I forgot to soak the beans overnight. This was a little unnerving as I was determined to do another dried bean recipe. When I got home I immediately checked the recipe and found to my delight that there is no soaking required. Yay!

Boiling the beans with the onion, carrot, garlic, and bay leaves add tremendous flavor too. I have to admit, I tasted the beans several times while the tomatoes were cooking. The cookbook says you can use canned beans instead, but I can't imagine how you would get canned beans to taste so good. The recipe does use two pots, but I managed to do the dishes while making it so it all came out even in the end!

So yeah, this is one of the tastiest bean dishes I've ever had. It totally hit the spot tonight. I even helped myself to seconds. Fortunately it makes a lot of beans and I can have them for lunches for the rest of the week. These beans are also ridiculously good for you, low calorie, high in protein and fiber. They also are crazy cheap to make provided you have a well stocked pantry and an herb garden. And they are so very delicious.

White Beans with Tomatoes, Garlic, and Sage

courtesy of The New Best Recipe Cookbook

1 pound dried white beans (navy, great northern or cannellini) rinsed and picked over

1 medium onion, unpeeled and halved through the root end

1 medium carrot cut into 2 inch chunks

1 garlic head, top quarter cut off and loose papery skin removed

salt

2 bay leaves

6 cups water

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

4 medium garlic cloves sliced thin

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh sage leaves

2 (15oz) cans diced tomatoes, drained

2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley leaves

ground black pepper

Bring the beans, onion, carrot, garlic head, 1 tsp salt, the bay leaves, and water to a boil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, partly cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beans are almost tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours, adding more liquid if necessary. Remove the pot from the heat, completely cover, and let stand until the beans are fully tender, 30 to 60 minutes. Drain the beans, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Remove and discard the onion, carrot, and bay leaves. With a slotted spoon, transfer the head of garlic to a cutting board. Using the tongs, squeeze the cloves out of the skins and return the softened cloves to the pot with the beans; discard the skins.

Heat the olive oil, sliced garlic, and sage in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. As the oil begins to sizzle, shake the pan back and forth so that the garlic does not stick (stirring with a wooden spoon will cause the garlic to clump). Cook until the garlic turns very pale gold and the sage darkens, about 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and 1/2 tsp salt and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the tomato juices have evaporated and the tomatoes look shiny, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the beans and reserved cooking liquid. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated. 18 to 20 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, accompanied by extra virgin olive oil for drizzling.

Bulgur and Lamb Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

So my math test is over. I have no clue if I passed or not, but it would have helped if I remembered the area of a circle. The Father's Day full of barbecues are also over. And I can finally get back to posting on a regular basis. Well, working around the little Ford Focus that had to be towed today (thanks to yet another common calamity with it). And Wilma the Knee being ornery. And my new Donut Fryer job that starts at 1am tomorrow.

But enough complaining. Tonight, I bring you a healthy dinner of Bulgur and Lamb Meatballs in Tomato Sauce. The lamb just adds a hint of flavor to the bulgur flavored meatballs. There's also a pinch of cinnamon that reminds me of Lebanese cooking and growing up in Michigan. They really were tasty. They weren't quick or easy, but I felt good eating them and most of the time was spent chilling the meat/bulgur mixture and meatballs. So yeah, I'd make these again.

But now I have to go take a long nap before I can hop out of bed at midnight and say "Time to make the donuts!"

Bulgur and Lamb Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
adapted from Cooking Light

Meatballs:
2 cups water
1 cup uncooked bulgur
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground lamb
2 large egg whites
2 garlic cloves, minced

Sauce:
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup water
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

To prepare meatballs, soak bulgur in 2 cups water for 2 minutes; drain through a fine sieve Combine bulgur and next 7 ingredients (bulgur through 2 minced garlic cloves). Cover and chill 30 minutes. Shape lamb mixture into 18 meatballs; cover and chill 30 minutes.

To prepare sauce, heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1 minced garlic clove; cook 3 minutes, stirring often. Add red wine; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes. Stir 1/2 cup water, cinnamon, and diced tomatoes.Add meatballs; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

Aadrak Lasoon Masoor Ki Dal

What? Yeah that means Gingered Red Lentils. Really fantastically good Gingered Red Lentils. They were on one hand soothing comfort food and on the other hand knocked my taste buds for a loop. Kind of like if you broke up with a boyfriend they would pat you on the head and tell you everything would be okay and then go and kick said ex-boyfriend's behind. They're really good.

I received this cookbook, 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer. Yeah, he's the same guy from the Betty Crocker Indian Home Cooking cookbook, which I have and also love. And he was recently featured in Cooking Light Magazine. (Yikes, now I'm sounding like a groupie!) I have to say, this cookbook was seriously intimidating for me. First, there were hardly any pictures so I didn't really know what things were supposed to look like. This really isn't too big of a problem, it just made picking the first recipe a little difficult for me. 660 is a lot of curries and it took a long time to single one out. Secondly, there are many ingredients that are hard to find in the middle of Nowhere, Ohio.

That said, I do highly recommend this cookbook. There's something for everyone really. It has many of the familiar Indian dishes, so you could ease into the Indian cooking experience. Mr. Iyer has clear and easy to follow directions, so even though there are no pictures you are able to tell that your dish came out looking correctly. Thirdly, there is a glossary of ingredients in the back, so that if you are like me and live far from the nearest Indian family, much less Indian grocery store you can figure out exactly what you need. And finally after the glossary in back, there is a list of online sources for spices and legumes as well as this link to finding an Indian grocery near you. Oh yeah, and he even has a website to discuss his cookbook with you.

Unfortunately there isn't an Indian grocery anywhere close to me (less than 50 miles anyway). So while I was at my mom's I went to a terrific Indian/Pakistani grocery store in Troy, MI called Subzi Mandi. The people were very friendly and helpful and I stocked up on loads of spices. The only minor glitch was I ended up with this bag of Takmaria (aka Tukmaria, aka Basil seeds) when I was hoping for Nigella seeds. They didn't know what Nigella seeds were. Consulting Mr. Iyer's cookbook, I found out that Nigella seeds are also known as black cumin seeds despite not really being cumin. If anyone knows what to do with Takmaria/Tukmaria seeds besides plant them and hope for basil please let me know!

Yeah, I am not sure if red lentils are hard to find out here because I got them in Michigan too. But I can tell you that I'm on the lookout for them here. I have enough to make this only one more time and I'm going to want to make it again and again. This is also my contribution to the annual Vegetables, Beautiful Vegetables 2008 event hosted by Eat The Right Stuff. This is a fun event celebrating National Vegetarian Week in the U.K. (May 19th through 25th) and even though I'm not a vegetarian this dish was tasty enough for me to stuff myself with completely on it's own last night and I'm sure vegetarians, especially British vegetarians will love it too. Incidentally, there are loads of vegetarian and vegan recipes in 660 curries, and I noticed at least one meat curry that gave the option of substitutions to make it vegetarian.

Gingered Red Lentils (Aadrak Lasoon Masoor Ki Dal)

Copied directly from 660 Curries

1 cup skinned split brown lentils (salmon-colored in this form, masoor dal), picked over for stones

1 small red onion, coarsely chopped (I used 1/2 a medium yellow onion)

4 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

4 lengthwise slices fresh ginger (each 2 inches long, 1 inch wide, and 1/8 inch thick), coarsely chopped

2 fresh green Thai, cayenne, or Serrano chiles, stems removed

2 tablespoons Ghee or canola oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 dried red Thai or cayenne chiles, stems removed

1 medium sized tomato, cored and finely chopped

1 teaspoon coarse kosher or sea salt

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems

1. Place the lentils in a medium size saucepan. Fill the pan halfway with water, and rinse the lentils by rubbing them between your fingertips. The water will become cloudy. Drain this water. Repeat three or four times, until the water remains relatively clear; drain. Now add 3 cups water and bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium heat. Skim off and discard any foam that forms on the surface. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pan, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentil are tender, 18 to 20 minutes.

2. While the lentils are cooking, combine the onion, garlic, and fresh chiles in a food processor. Mince the ingredients, using the puling action. (Letting the blades run constantly will yield a watery blend.)

3. Heat the ghee in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cumin seeds and dried chiles, and cook until the chiles blacken and the seeds turn reddish brown, and smell nutty, 5 to 10 seconds. Immediately add the onion blend, reduce the heat to medium and stir fry until the mixture is light brown around the edges, 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Stir in the tomato, salt, and turmeric. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the tomato softens and the ghee starts to separate around the edges of the sauce, 3 to 6 minutes. Stir in the cilantro.

5. Stir the sauce into the cooked lentils. Ladle some of the lentil mixture into the skillet and stir it around to wash it out; add this to the lentils.

6. Cover the pan and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the flavors mingle, about 5 minutes. Then serve.

Please Sir, I'd Like Some More

I am a lucky girl. I have a great mother in law. I know I've let this be known several times, but really, I mean it. Back in early January, she asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I told her I wanted a bread baking book or some athletic socks. She tried to get me an artisan bread book a friend of hers had, but she could only find it used. Instead, she gave me the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook. I Love it. Really. Madly, deeply, love it.

See, I'm a fairly big dork. And I love to read cookbooks. I look at the recipes and the descriptions and I imagine how it would taste and whether the Brain would eat the recipe and whether I could get the ingredients here. Sometimes I try to imagine how fattening things are and whether my butt could really take any more expanding. But being that this is really a crazy fantastic cookbook, it has the nutrition information for almost all of the recipes.

As of right now, I've managed to get through the breakfast section. While things like quinoa pancakes look unbelievable, I'm not sure where I'd manage to get some quinoa flour out here in Nowhere, Ohio. Especially with this snow/ freezing rain blend we've gotten today. I did pick up some quinoa in Michigan this weekend, but I don't know if I can make my own flour. But I digress. In the midst of this baking book, there was a recipe for porridge.

Porridge? Porridge brings to mind cold and rainy weather and orphans and tasteless gruel and musicals about poor people. Or at least it used to for me. This was the most amazing breakfast EVER. I haven't wanted a second helping of breakfast since I was a kid and my mom once in a while bought a sugar cereal, like Graham Crackers, or Honey Nut Cheerios. Not only was it delicious, but it was packed with fiber and whole grains. The porridge, not Honey Nut Cheerios. I happened to have almost all of the ingredients on hand too. I didn't have the exact fruits the recipe called for, and I only had about 1/4 cup of heavy cream for the Maple Cream. But really I don't think the Maple Cream is necessary. Don't get me wrong, it was soooooo good. It was rich and tasty and made my eyes roll back in my head. But the porridge with the fruit would be a very good breakfast with just a sprinkle of brown sugar. Way more healthy too.

And the porridge was a great way to start a day with such miserable weather. It even kept me full through shoveling. Too bad I forgot to pack my own lunch. Such a healthy breakfast did make me feel better about going next door to the local coffeeshop for a brownie for lunch though. And oh yay! I get to have leftovers for breakfast tomorrow! The Brain didn't want any. Silly man.

Irish Oatmeal with Dried Fruit and Maple Cream

from King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking

2 servings

1/2 cup steel-cut oats

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbsp dried prunes, chopped (about 3)

1 Tbsp currants

1 Tbsp golden raisins

2 Tbsp craisins

The night before you want to serve the porridge, soak the oats in enough water to cover them plus an inch. The next morning, drain the oats and place them in a saucepan with 1 1/2 cups water and the salt. Bring the oats to a simmer over medium heat and simmer, stirring, until they're tender, about 10 to 12 minutes total cooking time. Stir in the dried fruits and let the porridge sit for 5 minutes. To serve the porridge, divide the oatmeal between 2 bowls and serve with a sprinkle of brown sugar and the maple cream (recipe follows).

Nutrition Information per serving (3/4 cup porridge): 39g whole grains, 190 cal, 3g fat, 6g protein, 37g complex carbohydrates, 5g dietary fiber, 271mg sodium, 269mg potassium, 64RE vitamin A, 2mg iron, 31mg calcium, 184mg phosphorus

Maple Cream

Yield: 1 cup, 8 servings

1 cup heavy cream

1 cinnamon stick

1 small strip orange peel

1 star anise

1/4 cup maple syrup

Combine the cream with the cinnamon stick, orange peel, and anise in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick, orange peel and star anise, and whisk in the maple syrup. Increase the heat and simmer, stirring, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes more. Serve with porridge.

According to the cookbook this cream "keeps well in the refrigerator, and a quick zap in the microwave warms it just enough to serve."

They didn't give the nutrition information for the Maple Cream.

Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Cookies

Do you remember that stupid sappy movie from the '70s "Love Story" where Ali McGraw tells Ryan O'Neal that "Love means never having to say you're sorry"? Well she was wrong. Duh. But love means constantly saying your sorry.

For example you may find yourself one evening reading a book, like We Need to Talk About Kevin, and then you suddenly find yourself saying things like "I'm so sorry my darling husband who never used up a box of bandaids before meeting me, that my streak of athletic ineptness and general accident prone-ness has rubbed off on you. I'm sorry that I pushed you to find outlets for your frustration with starting your own business, and that I encouraged you to go and play raquetball." This sort of thing will then continue as you say, "I'm sorry I can't avoid all the potholes on the 2 mile journey to the ER and I really don't mean to make this such a bumpy drive." And on into the night as you helplessly say, "I'm sorry I don't know how to make you more comfortable, I have experience with all kinds of injuries, but when it comes to shoulders I know squat."

So yes, love means having to say you're sorry. A lot. After a mostly sleepless night, the only good thing was I finished my book. I recommend it. And the Brain is finally just now starting to dose on and off. It was necessary for me to throw my lenten resolution of not eating sweets right out the window. Whoo. I made it almost one whole day. Usually I'm way better at this giving things up for lent thing.

I made these luciously rich and tasty Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Cookies. They're a decadent dark chocolate cookie with just a hint of peanut butter that are studded with semi-sweet chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. The inspiration came after reading Peabody's blog about Peanut Butter World Peace Cookies, but I wanted something chewier. The first time I made them, the next morning I had 7 for breakfast and promptly packed them up and took them over to my friends at Catholic Charities. The lovely ladies at Catholic Charities have become my dumping ground for baked goods. They don't seem to mind. Although rumor has it there was a skirmish when it came to the last cookie in the bag. Fortunately about half of these cookies will go to another friend of the Brain and I who just had his knee replaced. So we'll only have to contend with half of these oh so delicious little addictive morsels. Perhaps they should be called crack cookies...

Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Cookies

an original recipe

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cups Hershey Special Dark Cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter

1/4 cup peanut butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 bag peanut butter chips

1/2 bag chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Stir together flour, cocoa, soda and salt in medium mixing bowl. Beat butter, peanut butter, and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfull (or small cookie scoop) onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 8 to 9 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies will be sort. They puff while baking and flatten upon cooling. Cool slightly then remove from cookie sheet to cool completely on wire rack.

Brussels Sprout Yumminess

Believe it or not, when I was growing up, I hated brussels sprouts. They were that horrible green ball of yuckiness that I would force down simply because I couldn't get up from the table unless I did. After I moved out of the house, I banned them from my kitchen. Several years later, as my interest in cooking grew, I found that they were pretty tasty just split open drenched in olive oil and kosher salt and roasted in the oven until crispy. Up until tonight, this was the preferred way of eating them.

But tonight I discovered the ultimate brussels sprouts recipe. If they weren't such a pain to separate from their tiny little cores, I would eat these every single day. I'm not kidding. Because they are only cooked for 3 minutes, they don't have that overcooked cabbage yucky taste. The flavor of the pistachios shines through the whole dish and adds a wonderful nuttiness to the brussels sprouts. And that final zing of lemon amps up the fresh taste.

This is a wonderful note to leave my much loved February 2007 Bon Appetit with. The only problem was that it took longer to separate the brussels sprout leaves than to cook the whole dish!

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Lemon and Pistachios

from Bon Appetit

3 Tbsp grapeseed oil

1 Tbsp minced onion

1 1/2 pounds of brussels spouts, trimmed, leaves separated from cores (about 8 cups), cores discarded

3/4 cup shelled pistachios

2 Tbsp lemon juice

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and stir 20 seconds. Add brussels sprouts and pistachios, and saute until leaves begin to soften but are still bright green, about 3 minutes. Drizzle lemon juice over. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl and serve.

Red Cabbage Salad

So I turned to my trusty Vegetables Every Day cookbook tonight. Man, I am so easily persuaded yesterday it was my "new" cookbook, and today it's my old and trusty one. OK so I turned to my new favorite (does that sound better?) cookbook for tonight's lovely side dish. I didn't mean to pick another salad, there are tons of actual hot vegetable dishes, but this one caught my eye and just wouldn't let it go.

Although it's hard to get more American than my family which started showing up here in 1640 and wreaked all kinds of havoc including starting the Salem Witch Trial problem (bad bad girls run in the family), we somehow managed throughout the years to marry other people of mostly German descent. SO we say things like "were you snitching the bacon"? "Don't shputt!" (which means something like don't act like something bad can't happen to you.) and "Throw away your schnippels." Schnippels is a great word, I have no idea how its spelled, but it basically means your cutting scraps. The other thing that comes from being mainly of German descent is that foods like red cabbage and sauerkraut and spatzle become comfort foods. Don't worry, I will get to posting about spatzle, but right now we're concentrating on vegetables.

Red cabbages are really good for you. They are higher than green cabbage in vitamin C. They are loaded full of folate and potassium. And there's a bunch of fiber to help with... ahem... a, shall we call it, sluggish digestive system. With this final point in mind, I didn't eat all of tonight's salad in one sitting. That doesn't mean I didn't want to.

This salad is crazy good. It has the crunchy sweetness of the red cabbage mixed with the creamy tang of the goat cheese and then chewy little bursts of salty bacon. Oh how I love those chewy little salty bursts of bacon! I was crunching along thinking, Hey this is a pretty good salad. Then I got a piece of bacon and it evolved into "Holy Jesus, thank you for this delicious salad." I don't even think my salad got all the bacon it's supposed to have, as I have a nasty nasty habit of munching on available cooked bacon even if I know it goes someplace special. So it might be even better than mine tastes right now!

The only slight problem is that this is supposed to be a warm salad and frankly it is darn chilly in our house and my salad is only lukewarm. Still tastes good though. Definitely better than pie.

Warm Red Cabbage Salad with Bacon and Goat Cheese

adapted from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop

1 small head Red Cabbage

6 slices bacon, chopped

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 small onion, minced*

3 Tbsp cider vinegar**

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 oz. goat cheese crumbled

Remove outer leaves of cabbage. Quarter the cabbage through the stem end. Cut out and discard the core. Slice the cabbage into thin strips. Place the cabbage in a large bowl and set aside.

Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until very crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towl. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon bacon fat.

Add the oil to the bacon fat left in the pan and heat briefly. Add the shallots and saute over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and salt and pepper to taste***. Simmer for 30 seconds to let flavors combine.

Pour the dressing over the cabbage and toss to combine. Add the bacon and goat cheese and toss several times. Serve immediately.****

*Mr. Bishop calls for 2 medium shallots, minced, but frankly I don't keep shallots on hand.

**Sherry vinegar as the recipe requests is nowhere to be found in my little town and I wasn't driving to the next county for it. The cider vinegar compliments the cabbage nicely in my opinion.

***You can stick your finger in the bubbling pot of dressing if you want, but I just eyeballed it. Actually, I giggled when I read this one.

****Yeah, my digestive system would go into overdrive if I ate the whole thing myself, so over here we're trying to chill it in the fridge and finish eating it tomorrow.

Thank God for Pork

I don't have the words to describe how good this Pork Tenderloin with Cider Jus and Rutabaga Puree is. The picture definitely doesn't do it justice. I admit that I picked the recipe because I like apple cider and rutabaga. To be honest I was intrigued on whether rutabaga would make the transition from humble root vegetable to something fancy. I in no way expected the delicious yumminess that was this dinner.

I wish I had more friends out here in nowhere land that I could invite over for a dinner party so that I could serve this again. The smooth earthiness of the rutabaga. The silky richness of the sauce. The smokiness of the pork. I'm so glad I went outside and barbecued the pork. Each element of the dish was just right and the dish on a whole was unbelievable. The Brain, who didn't want to wait for dinner and had a turkey sandwich instead, watched speechless as I licked my plate. I honest to God licked my plate. I may not have the best table manners, but that's not something I've ever done before.

I feel like making speeches and blowing kisses after eating this. I'd like to thank the pig that died and gave me it's tenderloin. I'd like to thank the farmers for growing the rutabaga and apples for cider. I'd like to thank my mother in law, who managed to find star anise in Amish country. I'd like to have another helping.

Pork Tenderloin With Cider Jus and Rutabaga Puree

Bon Appetit

2 cups apple cider

1 cup low-salt chicken broth

3/4 cup chopped onion

6 whole allspice

3 whole star anise

3 large fresh thyme sprigs

2 cinnamon sticks

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 bay leaf

5 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Rutabaga Puree (recipe follows)

2 (12 oz) pork tenderloins, well trimmed

olive oil

Make Rutabaga Puree first.

Mix first 9 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan (apple cider through bay leaf). Boil until mixture is reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 20 minutes. Strain, pressing on solids to extract liquid. Discard solids. Return liquid to saucepan and boil until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 3 minutes. Whisk in butter a few pieces at a time. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile prepare barbecue (medium high heat)

Brush pork with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Grill until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 145°F, turning frequently, about 20 minutes. Let pork rest 5 minutes (temperature will increase to 150°F). Thinly slice pork crosswise.

Divide pork slices among 6 plates.

Spoon Rutabaga Puree alongside. Drizzle sauce over pork and serve.

Rutabaga Puree

3 pound rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

3 Tbsp butter

Cook rutabagas in large pot of boiling salted water until very tender, about 45 minutes. Drain well. Transfer to processor; puree until smooth. Return to pot. Stir over medium heat until any excess liquid evaporates. Add butter; stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand uncovered at room temperature. Rewarm over medium heat, stirring often.)

Chocolate Cranberry Cupcakes

Alright, I'm at it again. Quirky Cupcake has a monthly food event called Cupcake Hero. So every month there's a new theme. This month it's cranberry! Cranberries are actually on my list of fruit that's not too bad. How could I dislike a fruit that the way they figure out the best of the best is by bouncing it?

"At Ocean Spray we take a lot of pride in our cranberries. Only the best make it into our products. But how does one judge a cranberry? Well, we start by judging their color, size and freshness. And, surprisingly enough, by their ability to bounce. That's right. Bounce. You see, an early New Jersey grower, John "Peg-Leg" Webb, first noted this special property of the cranberry. Because of his wooden leg, he couldn't carry his berries down from the loft of his barn where he stored them. Instead, he'd pour them down the steps. He soon noticed that only the firmest and freshest berries bounced down to the bottom; the soft and bruised ones didn't make it. This led to the development of the first cranberry bounce board separator, a device we still use today, to remove damaged or sub-standard berries."

I didn't want to do your standard spice cake type cupcake, and I didn't want to just add dried cranberries to some average cupcake recipe. So I went fancy. The cupcake is chocolate Chambord cake with a cranberry puree filling and frosted with a chocolate ganache. It's rich. It's decadent. It is not the cupcake to eat at 7 o'clock in the morning. The ladies at Catholic Charities who were the happy recipients of a dozen of them gushed. The Brain was annoyed that I left with a dozen and didn't bring them into the office. These are cupcakes that are best served as dessert for dinner with a strong cup of coffee.

Chocolate Cranberry Cupcakes

Cake:
10 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter room temperature
6 large eggs, separated
2 Tbsp Chambord
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners. Stir chocolate in metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Cool slightly. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl 2 minutes. Beat in egg yolks, Chambord, and vanilla. Stir in cooled chocolate. Add flour and salt; stir to blend. Using clean dry beater, beat egg whites in another large bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold whites into chocolate mixture in 3 additions. Fill cupcakes papers 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry. The centers of the cupcakes will fall while cooling.

Cranberry puree filling

1 cup fresh cranberries
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp Chambord

Bring cranberries water and sugar to a boil in saucepan over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium; cook until cranberries burst, about 5 minutes. Transfer to blender; puree. Strain puree into bowl; discard seeds. Mix in Chambord. Cover; refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight (sauce will thicken some).

Chocolate Ganache

7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
7 Tbsp butter, cut into 1-inch cubes, room temperature
2/3 cup whipping cream

Place chocolate and butter in medium metal bowl. Bring cream to boil in small saucepan. Pour hot cream over chocolate mixture; stir until mixture is melted and smooth.

To Assemble:

Once the cupcakes are cooled, fill a squirt bottle with cranberry puree. Insert tip of squirt bottle into center of cupcake and squeeze in about a teaspoon of puree. Spoon frosting into divot in center of cupcake and let cupcakes sit for 30 minutes to let ganache set.

Dinner for a Greek Shepherd?

With both the Brain and I working together coming home to a hot dinner doesn't really work. I know crock pots are supposed to be great for that, but I don't really have much experience with them and the last thing I cooked was so bad I only ate it because I had 20 minutes before Spin Class. I came home and the Brain was eating his, but it was coated in ranch dressing and Parmesan cheese. Since then we haven't pulled the crock pot back out.

So we had to stay late at the office, working people need wills too, and we didn't get home until 7 o'clock. By this time we were both ready to chew our arms off we were so hungry. I had a string cheese and munched on the horribly hard Walmart brand gingersnaps from the flop yesterday and set about to chopping up eggplant for a Lamb and Eggplant Potpie With Feta Potato Crust. The Brain told me he couldn't wait for me to make my dinner so he made himself a couple sandwiches, by this time I was on to licking the crumbs out of the Doritos bag and waiting for the eggplant salting to do it's magic.

The Brain then decided to poke around and see if I was doing anything really interesting with this dinner and left to go to the other house we're taking care of. So I sauteed my lamb and spices and added the tomatoes. And I made the feta mashed potato crust. And I patiently waited for it to come out of the oven.

I am really happily married. I love my husband very much. But I was thrilled to get this meal all to myself. I could savor every bite and not worry that there would be some left if I wanted seconds. I could sit there and do nothing, but enjoy my dinner, warming and delicious, like Moussaka without the yucky bechamel sauce and a little more interesting than the standard Shepherd's Pie (which we love). It is the kind of meal that made me wonder why I almost had to be forced to eat my eggplant as a kid. The eggplant was still in nice little cubes, cooked but not mushy. The lamb mixture was seasoned just perfect. And I could have eaten the entire feta potato crust in one sitting.

The leftovers were pretty good too. The Brain had it for breakfast today.

Lamb And Eggplant Potpie With Feta Potato Crust
Adapted from Gourmet February 1990 (serves 4)


For the Lamb Mixture
1 pound eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (about 4 cups)
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 large onion chopped
1 pound ground lamb
1 Tbsp minced garlic
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp crumbled dried mint
3/4 tsp crumbled dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground allspice
15oz can petite diced tomatoes undrained
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

For the topping
1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes (2 big ones)
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
6oz crumbled Feta

Make the lamb mixture
In a colander sprinkle the eggplant with salt and let it drain for 30 minutes. In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over moderate heat, in it cook the eggplant, patted dry, in batches, stirring, for 15 minutes, or until it is tender but still holds its shape, and transfer it with a slotted spoon to a bowl. In the skillet heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over moderate heat and in it cook the onion, stirring, until it is softened. Add the garlic can cook the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the lamb and cook the mixture, stirring and breaking up any lumps, until the lamb is no longer pink. Pour off any excess fat from the skillet, add the cinnamon, the mint, the oregano, and the allspice, and cook the mixture, stirring for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, the tomato paste, and salt and pepper to taste and cook the mixture, stirring, for 15 minutes, or until it is thickened. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the Parmesan. The lamb mixture improves in flavor if made up to this point and kept, covered and chilled, overnight. Add the eggplant to the lamb mixture, combine the mixture well, and spread it in a shallow 8x8 casserole dish.

Make the topping
In a large saucepan combine the potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces, with enough cold water to cover them by 1-inch, bring the water to a boil, and simmer the potatoes for 10 to 15 minutes or until they are tender. Drain the potatoes, return them to the pan, and cook them over moderate heat. Mash the potatoes and add butter, Parmesan, feta and salt and pepper to taste. Stir the mixture until the mixture is well combined and butter is melted.

Spoon the topping over the lamb mixture, spreading it to cover the lamb mixture completely. Bake the potpie in the middle of a preheated 400 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until it is browned lightly.