Lettergirl

Wednesday Book Club, Nourish:Spring.

The darling Anna Dvorak has done it again:  a simply amazing cookbook devoted to the flavors of spring (second in her Nourish series).  Inspired by her world travels and years of recipe development (not to mention local cooking classes), Anna provides recipes that a) sound fabulous and b) sound like something I could actually make on a weeknight.  Vegie sushi rolls, anyone?

Try a sample recipe on Anna's blog.  Read more about the cookbook series here.

Melty Cookies (gluten free...or not).

Our favorite after school snack:  melty cookies.

I've been making these at least once a week for...oh, nine years.  And I make them in quantities of 2 or 3 at a time (not 2 or 3 dozen, I mean 2 or 3 cookies).  I'll share the full batch recipe first, then tell you how to reduce it down to a mini-batch. 

Peanut Butter Cookies (Gluten Free...or not)

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup peanut butter (I use natural)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 cups Bisquick (or Pamela's gluten free baking mix; do not use GF Bisquick -- yuck)

chocolate chips + toffee chips

Cream butter & peanut butter together.  Add sugars and stir to mix well.  Beat in the egg.  (I do all of this with a wooden spoon, not a mixer.)  Stir in Bisquick or Pamela's mix.  Then add toffee chips and chocolate chips.  (I like a combination of semi-sweet and milk chocolate.)  Spoon onto baking sheets and bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes.  (I really don't know if you need to grease the baking sheets; I use silicone liners or parchment on mine.)

To make a mini batch, the first step is to get over the need to measure.  You're not measuring, and it will be fine.  Start with about a tablespoon of softened butter.  Add a spoonful of peanut butter that looks like it's a little more than the butter.  Then add a spoonful of white sugar and a spoonful of brown sugar -- they should each look about the same volume as the butter.  Mix that all together, then pour in a little egg substitute -- again, about the same volume as the butter you started with, or a little less.  Add enough baking mix to form a nice dough, a little sticky is okay.  (I like to use a combination of Pamela's mix and Mama's pancake mix.  Both have almond meal, which is great for texture.) 

I give these to my kids on a plate with the chips separate so they can "decorate" their melty cookie.  Depending on how much butter you started with (and how big you want your cookie), you'll get two or three in the mini-batch.  Microwave at 50% power for 50-70 seconds, depending on the size of the cookie -- and how "melty" you like it. 

Eat with a spoon -- and a glass of cold milk!

Cake pops and cupcakes.

 
Juliet requested "TV Dinner Cupcakes" as her birthday dessert (from the book Hello Cupcake).  They were so much fun, I didn't even mind making 40.  

Drumstick:  I substituted crushed toffee chips for the cornflakes in the recipe.  (Does anyone really want to eat a cupcake covered in crushed cornflakes?)  There's a donut hole on top of the cupcake/under the frosting to give it the right shape.  The bone is melted white chocolate.

Mashed Potatoes:  These were the most popular.  That's caramel sauce, not gravy.  The butter pat is a softened/reshaped Starburst candy.  It was strange that they looked both authentic and yummy at the same time.

Peas & Carrots:  Green Runts candy and little cubes of orange Starburst over green frosting.  I only made six of these, and five were leftover.  As my sister-in-law said, "I guess people really don't like to eat their peas & carrots!"

Chocolate Pudding:  Chocolate icing and sprinkles.  

 
Next up:  cake pops for potluck night!

Recipe repertoire number 27.

 
Michael, you can serve these with your mac & cheese!

Parmesan Chicken Nuggets

Cut some chicken breast into smaller pieces.  (I use two large chicken breasts and usually have some lunch leftovers.)  Set out three bowls.  In the first one, put some flour and sprinkle with salt & pepper.  In the second one, beat one egg.  In the third one, mix equal parts grated parmesan, bread crumbs, and Fryin' Magic.  The key here is to use what you have on hand.  (We usually have Fryin' Magic because Pete uses it in his fried chicken.)  You can also use Panko (Japanese style bread crumbs) or crushed crackers.  A dash of dried thyme will add a little flavor.  I typically use about 1/3 cup Parmesan and 1/3 to 1/2 cup each of the other two ingredients.  Heat a couple of tablespoons olive oil in a skillet.  Put a few of the chicken breast pieces at a time in the flour to coat, then in the egg, then in the cheese/bread crumbs, then into the skillet. 

This recipe is originally from an Ina Garten cookbook, though I've streamlined it a bit here.  If you're really in a rush, you don't have to cut the chicken into pieces.  (It takes less time to prepare, but longer to cook.)  The leftovers make a great sandwich!

Recipe repertoire number 26.

A couple of years ago I started trying to compile a repertoire of 50 go-to recipes, inspired by Christopher Kimball's notion that 50 recipes is all you really need.  (Read my original post here.)  I'm still working on it, though I find the list is somewhat organic -- our tastes change, or we get tired of eating something, or it doesn't make great leftovers, or I just don't feel like making it anymore.  This week I'd like to share a few more recipes from our evolving list.

 
My favorite part of making soup is mixing up the mirepoix -- the chopped carrots, celery and onion that are sauteed together for the base.  (Or possibly I just like knowing and using the word mirepoix.)  This one is cooked in the leftover fat from frying bacon in the same pot, which makes your house smell pretty good, and contributes those luscious little brown bits to your soup.  I only have a few soup recipes that I make with any consistency (meaning they turn out every time, not that I make them regularly), so please share if you have one that works for you!

Southwestern Corn Chowder

 5-6 slices bacon, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 small poblano chile, diced

1/2 tsp. cumin

1 c. dry white wine

3 medium yukon gold potatoes, diced

5 c. chicken stock

3 c. frozen corn

1/2 to 1 c. heavy cream

1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Cook bacon in dry pot.  Drain on paper towels.  Add onions to pot and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add carrots, celery, and poblano; saute another 5 minutes.  Stir in cumin, a dash of cayenne, and a little salt.  Raise heat to high, add wine, and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated (2-3 minutes).  Add potatoes and stock; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until vegetables are tender, 30-45 minutes.  Stir in cream and corn.  Simmer 10-15 minutes without letting it boil.  Stir in cilantro and bacon before serving. 

Building a recipe repertoire.

If you're a longtime reader, you may remember my goal last year to develop a repertoire of 50 recipes.  Here's my original post on the topic:

A few months ago, I posted about Christopher Kimball's notion of every cook needing to master just 50 recipes.  I love the concept of a Recipe Repertoire. 

That said, we are a family of picky palates.  One of us has a restricted diet.  Two of us don't eat (much) meat.  Two of us have a faster metabolism than the other two and like to eat a lot.  One likes his food deconstructed.  (He'll eat all the elements of a big salad, as long as they are separated on his plate.)  One of us thinks she is a supertaster (as discussed in Lynne Rosetto Kasper's How to Eat Supper) and likes her food on the bland side.  We try to avoid processed foods, support our local economy, and be healthy.  And that's just our little family...what about yours?

The good news is every one of us is willing to try something new.  And every one of us says thank you before our evening meal.  Thank you for all the choices we have, thank you for this warm home, thank you for this family.  With all that we have going on, we try to keep the evening meal as a ritual to return to each day.

Meal planning is so much easier for me when I have a structure to work with.  It started with Friday night pizza night.  Then we added Sunday snupper (snacks + supper).  With parameters, I am a happy girl.

Fast forward to summer 2010, and I'm still working on that list.  I've taken a few things off, and added a few things on.  I enjoy trying new recipes, the seasons change, our tastes change.  But a go-to list of 50 is a great place to start when I sit down to plan the meals for a week.

Here's our latest favorite:

Sloppy Porchetta (& it really is sloppy)

1/4 lb. slab of pancetta, diced

1-1/2 lb. ground pork

2-3 rosemary sprigs, chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c. chicken broth

2 T. balsamic or white wine vinegar

8-10 crusty ciabatta rolls, toasted

2 c. coleslaw

In a large skillet, saute the pancetta cubes until crisp, about 2 minutes.  Add the pork and brown, stirring to break up the meat, about 8 minutes.  Stir in the rosemary, garlic, salt, and lots of pepper; then stir in the broth and vinegar.  Lower the heat and simmer for a couple of minutes to blend all the flavors.  To serve, pile the meat onto the rolls and top with a scoop of coleslaw.

Cupcake 17.

Peanut butter cupcake with peanut butter frosting and chocolate ganache from ming makes cupcakes.  (Personally I'd do a plain jane vanilla sour cream cupcake, but no matter, it's all good.)

From scratch.

I am the sort of person who feels content when the cupboards are full, the laundry is done & put away, and we have enough toilet paper in the house to last a month.  I also love the feeling of having the week's menu planned, something I carve out 15 minutes for, here and there.  Last night I made a loaf of bread to go with our leftovers:

and a cheesecake berry pie to use up the expired graham crackers:

 
and as long as the oven was on, I threw in a banana bread with those tasteless bananas I got last week.

I don't usually do this much baking in a day, though I seldom let 2 or 3 days pass in a row without baking something.  In the book Food Rules Michael Pollan suggests that one way to cut down on "special occasion foods" is to make them yourself, because you won't go to that much work every day.  Obviously, this man has never heard of melty cookies (the homemade single-serving gooey peanut butter chocolate chip cookies I make for my kids after school).  And before you get to thinking I'm high on my own accomplishments, take another look at yesterday's messy desk photo....

The April giveaway ends tonight!

This one's for Nancy Drew.

There's this part in the Nancy Drew movie where Nancy coerces a clerk with one of her housekeeper's blondies.  (I'm the sort of girl who remembers great-looking food in movies.)  Here's the blondie recipe I've been using for the last 15 years:

White Chocolate Chunk Blondies

3 T. prepared coffee

2 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. butter

2 eggs

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

6 oz. white chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9x13 pan.

Heat coffee, sugar and butter over medium heat; stir until melted.  Cool to room temperature.

Add eggs; whisk to combine.  Add flour, baking powder and salt; stir to blend.

Sprinkle chopped white chocolate evenly over bottom of pan.  Pour batter over chocolate.  Bake about 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out almost clean.

Notes:  You can make an 8x8 square pan by using 2/3 of a recipe and decreasing the cooking time slightly.  Buy the best white chocolate you can; some of it is too sweet.  (You could also use brown chocolate...we don't because we have a non-brown-chocolate-eating family member.)  I make the small amount of coffee by boiling 3 T. of water, tossing in a small spoonful of grounds, letting it steep a few minutes, and then strain into the pan.
 

Baked Potato Soup.

Ah, springtime.  Doesn't it just make you feel like eating a baked potato?

Okay, maybe not.  But my daughter likes to bring this in a thermos for lunch, and I love that it sneaks in some extra vegetables.

Baked Potato Soup

2 large potatoes, peeled & thinly sliced

1/2 head cauliflower, chopped

3 cups milk

1 bunch scallions, chopped

4 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled

shredded cheddar cheese & sour cream

Combine the potatoes, cauliflower and 2-1/2 cups of the milk in a saucepan with a little salt.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Lower heat to medium-low, add the white part of the scallions, cover and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup milk.  Puree the soup and season with salt and pepper.  Serve with bacon, cheese, sour cream, and scallion greens.