Out of nowhere today, I got a sudden and unforeseen craving for dessert (perhaps I am hoping for a sweet New Year???) so I had to wing it with what was in the pantry, which wasn't much. I did get some lovely preserves for Christmas, and found a lone sheet of puff pastry lurking in the freezer. This took just a few minutes and was outstanding...like French pastry shop outstanding.
FRUIT FILLED TURNOVERS (serves 2)
-1 sheet of puff pastry (thawed to room temperature, if using the frozen variety)
-4 Tablespoons of fruit preserves (I prefer the all-fruit/no sugar added variety)
-scant tablespoon of canola oil or spray PAM (egg wash OK, too)
Preheat oven to 425. Cut the puff pastry sheet in half vertically so you have 2 long rectangles. Do not stretch the dough or roll it out. Brush or spray a little oil along the outside edge of each rectangle. Spoon 2 tablespoons of preserves into the center of each rectangle. With each one, fold half of the long-end of a rectangle halfway up to cover the preserves, then crimp and roll the sides inwardly toward the center. Repeat with the other end of the rectangle. Crimp those short sides as best you can...if you have a little opening on the sides, your preserves will leak out and may burn. Flip your little dough envelope over, seam side down, onto a baking sheet. Brush or spray the top with a little oil. Repeat with your other rectangle and remaining preserves. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and flaky. Allow it to cool and serve.
When serving, you can gild the lily with ice cream, whipped cream, sour cream, or heavy Greek yogurt....
Happy New Year!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
READ THIS BOOK!
When I was a kid, I was a voracious reader. I studied the back of the cereal box at breakfast. I eschewed play-dates in favor of an afternoon with Nancy Drew. I picked up our (incomplete) home copy of the World Book Encyclopedia just for grins. And when I had depleted my own resources, I'd raid my parents' bookcase for interesting titles. I clearly remember the day I stumbled upon my mother's copy of Peg Bracken's classic, "The I Hate to Cook Book". Even at my tender age, the humor in the title was not lost on me: I thought it was hilarious.
Having been banned, however, from all extracurricular kitchen activity after some bizarre curried soups and a concoction involving peanut butter and maple syrup, reading cookbooks was just not at all a practical reading pursuit for young Karen. So, Peg Bracken stayed on my mom's shelf.
But now...a dear and thoughtful friend thought I'd get a kick out of this tome at this point in my life, and set a copy, expertly wrapped, underneath my Christmas tree.
You might find this a little unlikely. I cook for a living after all...why on earth would I enjoy a copy of "The 'I Hate to Cook' Cookbook"??
Well, friends, I'm sorry to tell you that there are some evenings, after having cooked for 9 or more hours straight, that I just don't feel like starting all over again when I get home. But I really DO abhor packaged frozen foods. And I really DON'T want to lose my good health to the fast-food drive-thru. So, cook I do, whether I like it or not.
That being said, I know plenty of tricks now. I know how to cut unnecessary steps out of a recipe. I know which dishes can handle a shortcut, and which must be attended to like a feverish child. So I DO put a delicious and healthful home-cooked meal on the table most nights, though anyone from Auguste Escoffier to Michael Ruhlman would probably blanch if they saw some of my slapdash weeknight home methods.
BUT, Peg Bracken (bless her heart) did it first, and she put it all down in black and white for the edification of the rest of us.
Make no mistake, her cookbook is not a how-to-microwave-a-Swanson's-frozen-pot-pie...there IS some actual cooking. Mrs. Bracken has just compiled a collection of recipes that require minimal effort for maximal taste...and they are all reasonably healthy (my definition of the word "healthy" is any food that has not been commercially over-processed and/or destroyed by chemical additives). So, yeah, while there are some recipes calling for thinned-down cream of mushroom soup as a sauce base, I staunchly uphold my theory that it is still better for body and soul than carryout. Largely, it is a huge improvement over what some of us eat on a regular basis.
Mostly, it's just fun. It goes without saying that the book is a riot. I am so thoroughly enjoying it! I have found myself laughing out loud at sentences like, "let it cook five minutes while you light a cigarette and stare sullenly at the sink". Bracken goes on to encourage readers to hum "Gloomy Sunday" while prepping dinner. LOVE IT!
If you love a busy woman, be it your mom, sister, daughter, cousin, or friend, RUN OUT RIGHT NOW AND BUY THIS BOOK!
We CAN work a full day and get a decent dinner on the table, though we're bone-tired. We CAN return to family meals together and a better standard of nutrition, though our heads are swimming with convenience options. WE CAN COOK, though we fight it half of the time. In a way, Peg Bracken wrote a feminist manifesto of sorts whose time has really come now, in the age of busy-ness and obesity.
Please read! Laugh! Learn! And for Pete's sake...COOK!!!
Having been banned, however, from all extracurricular kitchen activity after some bizarre curried soups and a concoction involving peanut butter and maple syrup, reading cookbooks was just not at all a practical reading pursuit for young Karen. So, Peg Bracken stayed on my mom's shelf.
But now...a dear and thoughtful friend thought I'd get a kick out of this tome at this point in my life, and set a copy, expertly wrapped, underneath my Christmas tree.
You might find this a little unlikely. I cook for a living after all...why on earth would I enjoy a copy of "The 'I Hate to Cook' Cookbook"??
Well, friends, I'm sorry to tell you that there are some evenings, after having cooked for 9 or more hours straight, that I just don't feel like starting all over again when I get home. But I really DO abhor packaged frozen foods. And I really DON'T want to lose my good health to the fast-food drive-thru. So, cook I do, whether I like it or not.
That being said, I know plenty of tricks now. I know how to cut unnecessary steps out of a recipe. I know which dishes can handle a shortcut, and which must be attended to like a feverish child. So I DO put a delicious and healthful home-cooked meal on the table most nights, though anyone from Auguste Escoffier to Michael Ruhlman would probably blanch if they saw some of my slapdash weeknight home methods.
BUT, Peg Bracken (bless her heart) did it first, and she put it all down in black and white for the edification of the rest of us.
Make no mistake, her cookbook is not a how-to-microwave-a-Swanson's-frozen-pot-pie...there IS some actual cooking. Mrs. Bracken has just compiled a collection of recipes that require minimal effort for maximal taste...and they are all reasonably healthy (my definition of the word "healthy" is any food that has not been commercially over-processed and/or destroyed by chemical additives). So, yeah, while there are some recipes calling for thinned-down cream of mushroom soup as a sauce base, I staunchly uphold my theory that it is still better for body and soul than carryout. Largely, it is a huge improvement over what some of us eat on a regular basis.
Mostly, it's just fun. It goes without saying that the book is a riot. I am so thoroughly enjoying it! I have found myself laughing out loud at sentences like, "let it cook five minutes while you light a cigarette and stare sullenly at the sink". Bracken goes on to encourage readers to hum "Gloomy Sunday" while prepping dinner. LOVE IT!
If you love a busy woman, be it your mom, sister, daughter, cousin, or friend, RUN OUT RIGHT NOW AND BUY THIS BOOK!
We CAN work a full day and get a decent dinner on the table, though we're bone-tired. We CAN return to family meals together and a better standard of nutrition, though our heads are swimming with convenience options. WE CAN COOK, though we fight it half of the time. In a way, Peg Bracken wrote a feminist manifesto of sorts whose time has really come now, in the age of busy-ness and obesity.
Please read! Laugh! Learn! And for Pete's sake...COOK!!!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Stress for Success?
My mother has called a lot in the previous weeks, trying to enlist my help in planning Christmas dinner. She's curious about innovative ideas, but fears that breaking with tradition may unravel the specialness of the holiday.
I like to mix things up sometimes, so I guess I'm the wrong person to ask....
Despite my offers to help, she wants to take the helm in the kitchen. I guess I cannot begrudge a night off, but I hate to see her so worked up about the menu:
"Will it be Christmas-y enough?!?!!"
"I just want everything to be right!"
As much as I love good food and think that fabulous memories can be made over fabulous meals, I also believe that if we don't over-think what's going to be on our table, we just might look a little harder at the other elements that help to create a beautiful holiday...like the wonderful people around us.
Who cares if you burn the roast and have to order Chinese? Who cares if the turkey is dry? Who cares if Aunt Mabel always brings that sickening side dish with marshmallows and corn flakes on top? Really, in the big scheme of things,...thank God we get anything at all.
This thought brings to mind an Easter many years ago. I went to visit my sister who had been working so much that getting arrangements together for a traditional Easter supper was going to be an impossible feat. So, we hoofed it to Kentucky Fried Chicken and split a bucket of extra crispy on a blanket next to a fish pond, just laughing the day away and enjoying each other's company in the springtime sun. It was my favorite holiday meal of all time.
So, please, please, please don't worry about Christmas dinner.
The opportunity to gather at a table with anyone at all, with anything at all on that table, is enough to make it a glorious holiday, don'tcha think?
I like to mix things up sometimes, so I guess I'm the wrong person to ask....
Despite my offers to help, she wants to take the helm in the kitchen. I guess I cannot begrudge a night off, but I hate to see her so worked up about the menu:
"Will it be Christmas-y enough?!?!!"
"I just want everything to be right!"
As much as I love good food and think that fabulous memories can be made over fabulous meals, I also believe that if we don't over-think what's going to be on our table, we just might look a little harder at the other elements that help to create a beautiful holiday...like the wonderful people around us.
Who cares if you burn the roast and have to order Chinese? Who cares if the turkey is dry? Who cares if Aunt Mabel always brings that sickening side dish with marshmallows and corn flakes on top? Really, in the big scheme of things,...thank God we get anything at all.
This thought brings to mind an Easter many years ago. I went to visit my sister who had been working so much that getting arrangements together for a traditional Easter supper was going to be an impossible feat. So, we hoofed it to Kentucky Fried Chicken and split a bucket of extra crispy on a blanket next to a fish pond, just laughing the day away and enjoying each other's company in the springtime sun. It was my favorite holiday meal of all time.
So, please, please, please don't worry about Christmas dinner.
The opportunity to gather at a table with anyone at all, with anything at all on that table, is enough to make it a glorious holiday, don'tcha think?
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Meatless Mondays
Have you heard about "Meatless Mondays"? It is a movement started by Johns Hopkins University to simultaneously improve public health AND the health of the planet.
The daily procedures at factory farms and major fisheries would probably put a lot of people off of animal protein if they saw them up-close-and-personal-like. It's a lot of blood, mud, waste, and machines. It DOES ruin our appetites, so we usually don't think about it, or we try to get to the farmers market and buy locally from people who tell us they are doing everything humanely and safely.
But Meatless Mondays is compelling because it's not trying to shock us into a major life overhaul with pictures of suffering...whether it's our own (nutritionally controllable diseases and/or obesity) or others (the treatment of the fallen cow at the slaughterhouse), it's asking us to do the do-able: Just work in ONE MORE vegetarian meal a week, because your waistline and health will thank you and the planet will thank you.
Even conservative folks who think that vegetarianism is weird and cultish, don't mind a plate of spaghetti with marinara sauce. Or hearty homemade vegetable soup with crusty bread. Or creamy hummus with crispy chips and carrot sticks. Or a really rich corn chowder. Or a zesty Mexican bean burrito. The more adventurous eaters might like "dal" and "nan" (Indian split-pea porridge and crispy flatbread) or a good French ratatouille. Veg Chili can be so hearty you'll never miss the meat. The point is, there are so many plant-based meals out there to try.
The Meatless Monday movement is not asking the world to go vegan. It's not asking us to stop celebrating special occasions with a steak dinner. It's not asking farmers and fishermen to quit their jobs. It's not asking us to become rabble-rousing political activists. It's not asking us to become freakish health nuts.
It's asking us to try ONE vegetable meal a week. ONE.
Even with my passion for pot roasts and lamb shanks, I am totally on board with Meatless Mondays. Even as I find most people who mix food and politics to be tedious and pedantic, I am totally on board with Meatless Mondays. Even as I was raised in a world that embraced hunting and fishing, I am totally on board with Meatless Mondays.
I think it's good for us: it's good for our health, it's good for our figures, it's good for our food budget/pocketbook, it's good for our farmers growing veggies and grains, it's good for our over-fished oceans, it's good for our sense of discipline, it's good for reducing production waste, it's good for the ozone and the breath we take(factory farms produce a lot of air pollution, believe it or not!), and it's good for stretching our imagination and sense of adventure in the kitchen.
I hope you'll give it a try:
http://www.meatlessmonday.com/
The daily procedures at factory farms and major fisheries would probably put a lot of people off of animal protein if they saw them up-close-and-personal-like. It's a lot of blood, mud, waste, and machines. It DOES ruin our appetites, so we usually don't think about it, or we try to get to the farmers market and buy locally from people who tell us they are doing everything humanely and safely.
But Meatless Mondays is compelling because it's not trying to shock us into a major life overhaul with pictures of suffering...whether it's our own (nutritionally controllable diseases and/or obesity) or others (the treatment of the fallen cow at the slaughterhouse), it's asking us to do the do-able: Just work in ONE MORE vegetarian meal a week, because your waistline and health will thank you and the planet will thank you.
Even conservative folks who think that vegetarianism is weird and cultish, don't mind a plate of spaghetti with marinara sauce. Or hearty homemade vegetable soup with crusty bread. Or creamy hummus with crispy chips and carrot sticks. Or a really rich corn chowder. Or a zesty Mexican bean burrito. The more adventurous eaters might like "dal" and "nan" (Indian split-pea porridge and crispy flatbread) or a good French ratatouille. Veg Chili can be so hearty you'll never miss the meat. The point is, there are so many plant-based meals out there to try.
The Meatless Monday movement is not asking the world to go vegan. It's not asking us to stop celebrating special occasions with a steak dinner. It's not asking farmers and fishermen to quit their jobs. It's not asking us to become rabble-rousing political activists. It's not asking us to become freakish health nuts.
It's asking us to try ONE vegetable meal a week. ONE.
Even with my passion for pot roasts and lamb shanks, I am totally on board with Meatless Mondays. Even as I find most people who mix food and politics to be tedious and pedantic, I am totally on board with Meatless Mondays. Even as I was raised in a world that embraced hunting and fishing, I am totally on board with Meatless Mondays.
I think it's good for us: it's good for our health, it's good for our figures, it's good for our food budget/pocketbook, it's good for our farmers growing veggies and grains, it's good for our over-fished oceans, it's good for our sense of discipline, it's good for reducing production waste, it's good for the ozone and the breath we take(factory farms produce a lot of air pollution, believe it or not!), and it's good for stretching our imagination and sense of adventure in the kitchen.
I hope you'll give it a try:
http://www.meatlessmonday.com/
Monday, December 6, 2010
The Care and Feeding of Your Sick Vegetarian
'Tis the season for colds and flu. No fewer than 5 of my acquaintances have reported coming down with something or other within the last 72 hours.
We've all learned, whether through the wisdom of doting grandparents, or the empirical evidence of medical science, that taking in plenty of warm fluids is crucial to keeping the immune system fueled to get off the ropes and to keep fighting once it's taken that first, unceremonious sucker-punch from a virus.
Many people swear by chicken soup as the best immune-boosting warm fluid. It's tasty, available in a can, rehydrates cold-sufferers, and provides sustenance when someone simply is not feeling well enough for solid food.
But what about vegetarians? As soon as they are well enough to get out of bed, they'll come hunt you down if you try to pass off chicken stock as vegetable broth.
But does that pallid vegetable broth they sell at the grocery store have enough muscle to nutritionally intimidate a really rotten virus?
When I was a practicing vegetarian, I came up with a soup recipe in which every ingredient had (at least I thought) a nutritionally valid reason for being included. I always felt like this particular recipe truly helped put me on the mend. Whether this recipe is a cold and flu panacea for vegetarians is debatable, but it IS a nice change from the bland choices in the can at the grocery. It's good for omnivores, too.
"GET WELL SOON SOUP"
-2 Tablespoons of oil
-1 small onion, diced
-4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
-2 large carrots (use 3 or 4 if small) cut into dice or bite-sized half-moons
-28 oz can tomato puree (not stwed, not diced, not sauce, just plain pureed tomatoes)
-2 cups of vegetable broth (not high-sodium boullion cubes, if you can avoid it)
-1/4 cup of finely chopped parsley
-tiny pinch of turmeric
-tiny pinch of cloves
-salt to taste (may not need any at all)
In a stockpot, saute onion and carrots in oil over medium heat until onion softens and looks translucent. Add garlic and saute just a minute or so more (don't let the garlic brown). Add tomato puree and stir or whisk well to incorporate all the oil. When blended, add vegetable broth and spices and stir well again. Bring just to a boil, then immediately reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add parsley and serve.
I will reiterate that I am not a nutritionist, but I there are some generally-accepted reasons behind each ingredient:
Onions and Garlic: These ingredients are both members of the allium plant family. Test tube studies have suggested that alliums have anti-bacterial properties.
Carrots: Carrots are chock full of beta carotene, the building block for Vitamin A. It has been suggested that Vitamin A acts as an anti-oxidant and fights infection.
Oil: Beta Carotene is more easily absorbed by the body when taken with a fat (fat-soluble vitamin)
Tomato Puree: Tomatoes have lots of Vitamin C and the macrobiotic-diet folks say they are good for restoring the acid balance in your system.
Vegetable Broth: The vegetable broth takes the ragout-like tomato puree down to a thinner consistency, making it easier to eat when you're not feeling well.
Turmeric: Anti-inflammatory spice.
Cloves: Another spice that brings out something magical in the flavor of the tomatoes.
Parsley: More Vitamin C and Vitamin A...and it looks pretty in the soup.
I may make a batch of this again in the coming weeks. It will keep in the freezer and it's nice to have on hand to ward off sniffles and sneezes.
Stay well and enjoy!
We've all learned, whether through the wisdom of doting grandparents, or the empirical evidence of medical science, that taking in plenty of warm fluids is crucial to keeping the immune system fueled to get off the ropes and to keep fighting once it's taken that first, unceremonious sucker-punch from a virus.
Many people swear by chicken soup as the best immune-boosting warm fluid. It's tasty, available in a can, rehydrates cold-sufferers, and provides sustenance when someone simply is not feeling well enough for solid food.
But what about vegetarians? As soon as they are well enough to get out of bed, they'll come hunt you down if you try to pass off chicken stock as vegetable broth.
But does that pallid vegetable broth they sell at the grocery store have enough muscle to nutritionally intimidate a really rotten virus?
When I was a practicing vegetarian, I came up with a soup recipe in which every ingredient had (at least I thought) a nutritionally valid reason for being included. I always felt like this particular recipe truly helped put me on the mend. Whether this recipe is a cold and flu panacea for vegetarians is debatable, but it IS a nice change from the bland choices in the can at the grocery. It's good for omnivores, too.
"GET WELL SOON SOUP"
-2 Tablespoons of oil
-1 small onion, diced
-4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
-2 large carrots (use 3 or 4 if small) cut into dice or bite-sized half-moons
-28 oz can tomato puree (not stwed, not diced, not sauce, just plain pureed tomatoes)
-2 cups of vegetable broth (not high-sodium boullion cubes, if you can avoid it)
-1/4 cup of finely chopped parsley
-tiny pinch of turmeric
-tiny pinch of cloves
-salt to taste (may not need any at all)
In a stockpot, saute onion and carrots in oil over medium heat until onion softens and looks translucent. Add garlic and saute just a minute or so more (don't let the garlic brown). Add tomato puree and stir or whisk well to incorporate all the oil. When blended, add vegetable broth and spices and stir well again. Bring just to a boil, then immediately reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add parsley and serve.
I will reiterate that I am not a nutritionist, but I there are some generally-accepted reasons behind each ingredient:
Onions and Garlic: These ingredients are both members of the allium plant family. Test tube studies have suggested that alliums have anti-bacterial properties.
Carrots: Carrots are chock full of beta carotene, the building block for Vitamin A. It has been suggested that Vitamin A acts as an anti-oxidant and fights infection.
Oil: Beta Carotene is more easily absorbed by the body when taken with a fat (fat-soluble vitamin)
Tomato Puree: Tomatoes have lots of Vitamin C and the macrobiotic-diet folks say they are good for restoring the acid balance in your system.
Vegetable Broth: The vegetable broth takes the ragout-like tomato puree down to a thinner consistency, making it easier to eat when you're not feeling well.
Turmeric: Anti-inflammatory spice.
Cloves: Another spice that brings out something magical in the flavor of the tomatoes.
Parsley: More Vitamin C and Vitamin A...and it looks pretty in the soup.
I may make a batch of this again in the coming weeks. It will keep in the freezer and it's nice to have on hand to ward off sniffles and sneezes.
Stay well and enjoy!
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