Creating a legacy

I would like to think that because I cook and bake a lot (assuming of course that the results of those efforts are tasty), I am instilling in my offspring a love of food, a justifiable wonder for all food's many flavors, a joy of food preparation perhaps, a desire to appreciate the many flavor combinations that can excite our palates... You are probably thinking that I am aiming a little too high. But, no, there are signs that it is bearing fruit. I know I have mentioned my eldest son's appreciation for baked goods before:

Yes, he could have mentioned overwhelming generosity, strength of character and beauty, but it was the muffins that won the day.

And this is not an isolated indication of the impact my cooking is having on my family. Witness, for example, youngest son's post-school, pre-homework snack this afternoon:

In case you're wondering, it is a lemon curd and pretzel sandwich. Undeterred by the fact that this combination does not appear anywhere else in our culinary heritage (or indeed, I would hasten to guess, anyone else's), but spurred on by quality ingredients like stale dutch crunch bread, honey wheat pretzels and Trader Joe's lemon curd, and a desire to eat all three, not in succession, but simultaneously, my son invented this new dish (then ate most of it... and didn't clear up). Yes, I can tell my culinary efforts are making an impact!

Spurred on myself by the incontrovertible evidence that I am successfully raising a brood of food lovers and fearless food adventurers, I can but continue confidently in my endeavor. Tonight's combination may not have the sheer creative audacity of the lemon curd/pretzel marriage, but it is a classic, nonetheless - ginger, orange and soy. May your kitchen smell like mine does (and your counters be free of sticky lemon curd fingerprints).

Gingered Beef and Mixed Vegetables
From Cooking Light's Slow Cooker Cookbook
Serves 6-8

3 lbs lean stewing beef, cut into 1/4" strips
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup soy sauce, divided
3 TBSP peeled and shredded fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 TBSP brown sugar
3 TBSP cornstarch/cornflour
4 TBSP hoisin sauce
2 16oz packages of frozen mixed Asian-style vegetables (I used a pack with broccoli, carrot, water chestnuts and bell pepper)
hot cooked jasmine rice to serve

1. Place beef, orange juice, 6 TBSP soy sauce, ginger and garlic in a large slow cooker and stir well. Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour and then on LOW for a further 2 1/2 hours.
2. Combine 2 TBSP soy sauce, brown sugar and cornstarch/cornflour in a small bowl. Add cornstarch mixture to slow cooker. Stir in hoisin sauce and vegetables. Cover again and cook on low for a further 40 minutes-1 hour, until vegetables are tender enough for your liking. Serve in bowls over rice.

The pan that can, did it again

It's amazing what you can throw together in a 9x13" pan, and to prove the point, I dipped into my book 9x13: The Pan That Can again. You know me well enough by now to know that there is nothing I like better than a one-dish meal, where all you need to do is put together a salad, and dinner is sorted. This dish therefore fit the bill admirably, and, fanfare please, was gobbled up (noisily and rudely, obviously) by all three children. Honestly, cheese, ham and potatoes - what's not to like. I do realize that I risk the wrath of any Brits reading, because I'm not sure you can get shredded hash brown potatoes there - but you could easily substitute with some par-boiled potatoes which you then shred in the food processor and leave to drain a little (so that they are not too wet). More time-consuming yes, for which I apologize profusely! It isn't my fault that I live in the land of complete and utter convenience food!

Ham and Potatoes Au Gratin
Serves 6+

3 TBSP butter
3 TBSP AP/plain flour
1 3/4 cups milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups shredded/grated cheddar cheese
1 TBSP Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 TBSP olive oil
2 small onions, sliced
1 10oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
12 oz cooked ham, cut  into bite-size strips
1 20oz package of frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed.
1/4 cup shredded/grated parmesan

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C).
2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, then stir in flour. Add milk, and cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Let it bubble over a low heat for one minute more.
3. Remove from heat, and stir 1 cup of the sauce into the beaten eggs. Return the egg mixture to the pan and stir in cheddar cheese, mustard and pepper until cheese melts. Set aside.
4. In a large skillet, heat olive oil and cook onions over medium heat until tender. Stir in spinach, then set aside.
5. Spread half of the ham in an ungreased 9x13" pan or baking dish. Sprinkle half of hash browns over ham. Spoon half of the cheese sauce over the hash browns and gently spread it evenly over dish. Spoon half of the spinach mixture over this. Then repeat the layers with the remaining ham, potatoes, sauce and vegetables. Finally sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
6. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until heated through. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

The summer shape of comfort food

Food has the power to comfort. It doesn't cure your ills, per se, but it does have the magic touch to make you feel a tad better sometimes. However, most foods that are associated with smoothing your harried brow are those which are more suited to a cold winter's evening, rather than a hot summer day. There are no doubt a few summery stews and soups (see my entries for Southwestern Pork Stew or Lemongrass and Coconut Chicken, for example), but a steaming bowl does not always hit the spot when the evening is warm and sticky. So I was thinking about what summer comfort food might look like.... yes, I did consider a cold amber brew or chilled Sauvignon blanc, which undoubtedly serve to improve my mood in times of strife, but we are talking food here. I would like to propose therefore that the summer shape of comfort food is as follows:

Summer comfort food is muffin-shaped, people! And I do believe that, as the photo suggests, the level of comfort provided by a fresh-baked muffin is approximately doubled if you have two:-)

This week, I have proven the power of the muffin in our house in a couple of ways. Firstly, my husband was away on business this week, leaving me once again to marvel at the infinite supply of energy, patience and sheer dogged determination required to be a single parent. I needed comfort, and it came in the form of the above mocha muffins (courtesy of that goddess of muffindom, Camilla Saulsbury, and tweaked by me only in the addition of some cocoa and extra chocolate chips - if you are going for comfort, how much chocolate is enough?). My husband returns tonight, and I don't know that I would have made it to this point without a cup of tea and a muffin to see me through afternoon homework, at least!

Secondly, I found out that a friend's dog sadly passed away recently. He was a beautiful, faithful, gentle black laborador, who brought many years of joy to their family, and will be remembered in time with equal joy. For now though, I can only imagine that the gap left by his passing must seem tremendous. Comfort needed in spades. I am not naïve enough to suggest that a muffin can assuage that kind of pain, but it's a start, a comforting start. I am told that the rhubarb and strawberry muffins were delicious, and even won around a stubborn pre-teen who had previously sworn off all but blueberry muffins. Again, I have Camilla Saulsbury's excellent 750 Best Muffin Recipes to thank.

Mocha Muffins
Makes 21 regular sized muffins

2 3/4 cups AP/plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 TBSP instant espresso powder, or strong instant coffee powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
3. In medium bowl, whisk together butter, eggs, sugar, espresso powder, vanilla and buttermilk.
4. Pour liquid ingredients into flour mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
5. Divide mixture between paper muffins cups in muffin pans, and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in tin for 5 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.


Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins
makes 16 regular sized muffins

2 1/2 cups AP/plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup finely diced rhubarb
1 cup finely chopped strawberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2.  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking soda.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, egg, buttermilk, butter and vanilla.
4. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold in strawberries and rhubarb.
5. Divide evenly among paper muffin cases in a muffin tin and bake for 18-23 minutes, or until tops are golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 3 minutes and then remove from tin and cool on a rack.

The new superfood

Now, let's be honest here. The term 'superfood' is a marketing ploy. There is no real legal or medical definition, and the purpose of using the term is often to get us to buy things we might not otherwise consider purchasing. Don't get me wrong, I am the biggest sucker around ("Sure, I need three 5lbs packets of stone-ground, shrimp-and-maple-syrup marinated buckwheat, seeing as you are offering me a 3 for 2 on those! And while you're at it, yes, I do need a box of 10 new efficient light-bulbs that last 50 years each, given that I am almost certain to live to the ripe old age of 200")

If you look it up, then the definition of 'superfood' is 'a food that is considered to be beneficial to your health and that may even help some medical conditions' (Macmillan Dictionary).  Ach, that's just way too narrow, people! Nowadays, all the buzz is about how linked our emotional and physical wellbeing are. If we are to take this kind of more holistic view of health, then, it's about time we placed a greater value on the mental health benefits of food, and added a few items to the growing superfood list. Forget acai berries and walnuts, how about ketchup? When my kids have ketchup available, they will eat things they otherwise wouldn't touch, with smiles on their faces, and a lower whine-quotient. This leads to immeasurable health benefits for their mother. It might not cure my medical ills, but hey, I can get through dinner with a smile on my face! Hence, ketchup is a superfood in my book. And do you know what benefits are reaped by my precarious mental health, when I am blessed with a bar of Milka Swiss Chocolate? Why, I feel those benefits even before I've completely unwrapped it. And if I don't have to share it? Why then, I am within reach of peak mental fitness!

Another candidate for the list is surely pesto. What child does NOT like pasta with pesto (I am deliberately excluding my youngest son from this scientific survey. It's the pasta he doesn't like, the pesto is fine. If that doesn't count as a technicality, I don't know what does)? And add a smear of pesto to the bread when making a grilled cheese sandwich and this humble dish soars to new heights, which surely make it fully deserving of the superfood designation.

This recipe is a great celebration of the basiley wonderousness that is pesto. It's a lovely side dish for some grilled meat, perfect take-along for a potluck, and a great lunchbox entrée for children yet to embrace the joy of the sandwich.

Italian Pesto Pasta Salad
From Better Homes and Gardens
Serves 6

8 oz elbow macaroni
1 7oz jar of purchased pesto
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 15 oz cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups washed arugula
2 oz grated/shaved parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

1. Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain and rinse well under cold water. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pesto, vinegar and salt.
3. Add beans, cooked macaroni, arugula, half of cheese and half of pine nuts. Toss together gently to combine.
4. Serve sprinkled with remaining cheese and pine nuts.

Slurp slurp

There is nothing I like more than a one-bowl meal. No knife and fork required, just a spoon as big as possible (but just small enough to get into a wide receptive hungry mouth). Last night's dinner was just the ticket therefore, and was slurped up on large spoons by all three Farrar children. I've given up on trying to teach them table manners, since it seemed like a fruitless exercise in self-flagellatory energy-expending futility. I believe that my children are beyond help. I have warned them that this may mean a lonely existence as adults unable to chew with their mouths closed, but they seem determined to experience that for themselves. The upside of this decision is that I can now listen to the slurps and see them merely as a sign of enjoyment and gustatory appreciation, and am learning to tamp down the realization that I may end up with grown children who are social pariahs, thus leaving me without grandchildren to dote on. Oh well, at least they are well fed!

The recipe comes from Cooking Light Magazine, and I doubled the quantities, making enough to 8-10 servings. Just halve everything if you don't want to cook in bulk.

Southwestern Pork Stew
Serves 8-10

canola oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 lbs pork tenderloin, trimmed and chopped into bite-size pieces
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
4 tsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 15oz cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 14oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
4 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro
2 ripe avocados, diced
grated cheddar and sour cream to serve

1. Heat a large stockpot over medium heat with a few TBSP of canola oil.
2. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic and jalapeno to pot and sauté for 2 minutes. Add pork and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring to brown pork on all sides.
3. Add broth, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper, pinto beans and canned tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Partially cover and cook on low for a further 10 minutes until pork is cooked through.
4. Stir in cilantro. Serve in bowls with shredded cheddar, sour cream and avocado on top.

Delicious in so many ways

I am an omnivore, let me get that out of the way immediately. I do eat a lot of vegetarian food, indeed we try to do a meatless dinner in this house, at least twice a week. But I have never taken the plunge and gone veggie for two reasons: bacon and filet mignon. I'm sure many of you can understand my reasoning here. Whilst the meal we devoured last night chez Farrar wasn't filet mignon, it did give us our steak fix, but in a more healthy way than with your classic French fries accompaniment. Apologies to all the vegetarians and white meat aficionados out there, but occasionally, a spot of steak is quite delicious.

I have recently tried to introduce more entree salads into our diet, rather than just adding a side salad to a meal. Interestingly I am getting the most encouragement in this endeavor from my oldest son, who is going through that mad puberty growth spurt and growing like a weed at the moment. Given the fuel his body needs for such a speedy increase in size  (you can practically SEE his feet growing), you would think he would be a bigger fan of more classically filling, carbohydrate-laced offerings. But no, he loves nothing more than a big plate of salad. In order to satisfy all palates at the table (well, in order to attempt to do so, anyway), I always make sure there is a bowl of bread on offer too. I find this leads to less plaintive claims of impending starvation.

This particular recipe comes from Tyler Florence, and featured in a recent edition of Food Network Magazine. And here is the other way in which this recipe is delicious - quite frankly, Tyler Florence is delicious enough that if he asked me to enter the Temple of Doom and chow down on monkey brains, then I would probably do so.

"Why thank you Tyler, I WOULD like a second-helping of those monkey brains!"

As much as I worship Mr. Florence, I did not stay completely faithful to his original recipe, substituting nectarines for peaches. There is something about the fuzziness of peaches that is just not quite right. I also increased the quantities of pretty much everything, because otherwise, my entire family would quite feasibly starve, or at least complain so vehemently about the possibility thereof, that life with them would become most unpleasant.

Grilled Steak and Nectarine Salad
Serves 5

Steak:
1 1/2 cups olive oil
5 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 New York strip steaks (any kind of steak will do)
salt and pepper

Dressing:
1/2 lb blue cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup sour cream
1 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1 TBSP red wine vinegar
2 tsp chopped fresh chives

Salad:
2 nectarines, pitted and cut into segments
6 cups mixed lettuce
2 TBSP chopped fresh chives
3 TBSP sliced fresh basil
1 TBSP chopped fresh tarragon
black pepper

1. Prepare the steak: heat oil and rosemary in a small pan over a low heat for 8 minutes. Then remove from the heat and allow to cool completely to room temperature.
2. Season steak with salt and pepper then place in a large Ziploc bag. Pour over 1 1/4 cups of the infused oil. Refrigerate for 3 hours, turning occasionally. Remove from fridge and allow to come to room temperature, at least 45 minutes before you plan to grill.
3. Grill steak to your liking, then remove and allow to rest for 10 minutes, before slicing thinly across the grain.
4. Make the dressing: Whisk together 1/2 of the blue cheese with the sour cream, lemon juice and vinegar in a bowl until smooth. Fold in chives, cover and chill until ready to serve.
5. Make the salad: brush the nectarines with the remaining infused oil, and grill, turning until marked on all sides. Toss lettuce and herbs in a large bowl, and divide amongst plates. Top with steak and nectarines, drizzle with dressing, and top with remaining blue cheese crumbles. Season with black pepper.

Indulging the senses

Wish they'd invent scratch-and-sniff for computers...

 

"It's amazing how just a teaspoon of curry powder can make a dish so aromatic." Faced with a statement like that (and a keen sense of smell that hasn't returned to normal since pregnancy), I had to muster my courage and try another recipe from Fine Cooking, didn't I? After all, we all want our food to smell good, something supermarkets know only too well, which is why they pump the smell of fresh-baked bread out of vents above the front door, even if they don't actually have a bakery on site. Sneaky, but effective.

And this dish is particularly aromatic. The other selling point was "Just 30 minutes to dinner, start to finish". Well, let's just say that they weren't basing this assumption on the Farrar kitchen. It took a tad longer than that, but not so long that it isn't a suitable dinner for a weeknight. Truth be told, the longer prep time was at least in part due to my inability to drag my work-addicted husband away from his precious laptop, so that he could fire up the grill. He then sat next to the grill, working on his cellphone. Sigh! He did at least put it away to savor the results of his and my labors though, so I guess that's something!

The only amendment I made is to change the nuts - for some reason (let's call it a combination of a breakdown in effective shopping list-writing and Trader Joe's propensity for putting delicious-looking bags of goodies at the checkout), I ended up with several bags of dry-roasted pistachio nuts in the cupboard, so I added some of them to the cous-cous, where the original recipe called for slivered almonds. I also pretty much doubled the quantities of all the ingredients, because this kind of recipe seems to be based on the appetites of normal people, and not Farrars. If you are fortunate enough to live with a family of the former, then feel free to halve things - according to Fine Cooking, you should be able to feed 4 (small birds) with that. Other than those two modifications, I have been faithful to the original, and based on the success of the resulting dish, probably will be again... unless of course Trader Joe's tempts me in a different direction!


Grilled Chicken with Curried Cous-Cous, Spinach and Mango
Serves 5 as an entrée

9 TBSP olive oil, divided
2 TBSP finely chopped shallot
2 tsp curry powder
6 TBSP white balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
4 large chicken breasts
2 cups whole-wheat cous-cous
2 cups mango, chopped into 1/2" dice
1/2 cup roughly chopped dry-roasted, shelled pistachios
2 TBSP finely chopped parsley
4 lightly packed cups of fresh baby spinach

1. Prepare and preheat a gas or charcoal grill (or ask husband to do it, and motivate sufficiently to get him away from a screen long enough to do so. "Your wine is downstairs" is usually sufficient, I find!)
2. Heat 1 TBSP of olive oil in a skillet, add shallot and cook, stirring, until translucent (about 2 minutes). Add curry powder, and cook, stirring, until fragrant (about 15 seconds). Stir in vinegar and 6 TBSP of olive oil. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Coat chicken with 2 TBSP of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Grill, flipping once, until well marked and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and let rest.
4. Meanwhile, bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour cous-cous into a large bowl, and when water has boiled, pour over cous-cous and cover bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes, and then fluff with a fork.
5. Pour in 6 TBSP of the curry vinaigrette, and add the mango, pistachios and parsley to the bowl. Toss to combine.
6. In another bowl, toss the spinach with enough of the remaining vinaigrette to just coat the leaves lightly.
7. Divide the cous-cous between the plates, then top with a share of the spinach leaves. Slice the chicken and place on top of spinach. Finally top with a drizzle of the remaining vinaigrette.