Put a bow on it :-)

Temperatures are dipping and its time for comfort food. It's time for the kind of meal that just might involve undoing a top button and having to beach oneself post-prandially on a nearby sofa for a spell. This dish involves one of my favorite comfort foods, polenta. I can feel myself relaxing when I even say 'polenta'. Say 'polenta and a glass of red wine' and I'm pretty much comatose.

This dish is originally called 'polenta in chains', because the veggies in there are in strands and thus appear entwined throughout the final dish. I have to say, that description didn't make sense to me, so, at risk of offending multiple generations of Italians than me, I'm renaming it Polenta with Ribbons, since the veggies are cut into thin strips or shredded, so that in the final dish, they look kind of like ribbons stirred into the cheesy polenta-y goodness.

I had never before cooked polenta in a slow cooker, and to be honest, it isn't the best use of the machine, since it doesn't take too long to cook - for me, the slow cooker is about being able to load it up 8 hours in advance before the day really begins, and then have dinner pretty much sorted when the day is ending. However, it does work well, so if you happen to be available to do a minimal amount of prep 3 hours before dinner time, have at it, but if you have a more normal schedule and are driving kids from pillar to post all afternoon, I cannot see why it wouldn't be perfectly possible to cook this in a more traditional way on the stove-top. I would then saute the veggies just a touch though, so that they are not too crunchy in the final dish, and maybe mix them in about 5 minutes before the polenta is ready. Then all you need is a nice salad to accompany it, and that glass of red wine.



Polenta with Ribbons
adapted from The Italian Slow Cooker by Michele Scicolone
Serves 6+

7 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups polenta (not instant polenta)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups shredded carrot
3 cups finely shredded kale
2 cans white beans (e.g. Cannellini beans), drained and rinsed
ground black pepper
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
3 TBSP olive oil

1. In the slow cooker, stir together the polenta, water, garlic and salt.
2. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours.
3. Stir in the veggies, beans and pepper to taste (1/2-1 tsp should do it).
4. Cover and cook for a further 60-75 minutes until the polenta has thickened and the veggies are tender.
5. Stir in the olive oil and cheese and serve immediately, sprinkled with more parmesan if desired.

Long may logic reign!

I want you to join in my celebration of the fact that my son did something logical. This is youngest son, who for years, refused to eat pasta, unless it was Mac 'n' cheese. No logic in that. However, over the past year, he seems to have come around to the joy of pasta and now readily sits down over a steaming plate of penne and chows down,. This is a relief, if for no other reason than because it seemed to be the only thing that sustained his older brother during the massive and continued growth spurt he experienced in the early teen years. Without pasta, the poor lad would have starved. However, youngest son was clearly not ready to wholly embrace logic, as he still refused to touch couscous, despite being confronted with the proof on the packet that it really is only pasta, just in tiny bits. Neither was it the tininess of the bits that was the problem, as he will happily chow down on other similar textural delights, such as bulgur wheat and quinoa. Sometimes it really does feel like dinner time is just an opportunity to mess with Mum's last remaining threads of sanity. There aren't that many left, people. Play nice with those!

Anyway, I think we have finally turned a corner, as a cous cous recipe was eagerly consumed by not one, not two, but all three children just last night. Some people wait their entire lives to achieve olympic gold to prove their worth. I think I may have just peaked last night. The rest could all be downhill. Nevertheless for now, I will just wallow in my relative success :-) And may you get the same result (not the downhill bit, the success bit!)

Lime Cous Cous with Summer Veggies
Adapted from Family Choice
Serves 4 as a main dish

10 oz wholewheat cous cous
1lb carrots, peeled and cut into 3/4" chunks
2 TBSP olive oil
1 zucchini, cut into 3/4" chunks
1 yellow summer squash, cut into 3/4" chunks
6 green onions, sliced into 1/2" slices
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
zest of one lime
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 TBSP honey
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
3 oz shaved parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2.  Mix carrots, zucchini, squash, green onions and all but 2 TBSP of parsley on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle over 2 TBSP olive oil, and toss to coat. Place in preheated oven, and roast for 40 minutes, until vegetables are tinged brown at the edges.
3. Meanwhile, prepare cous cous, but putting into a pan with 1 2/3 cups cold water. Bring to the boil, turn heat off, put lid on and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
4. Toast walnuts in a dry skillet until tinged brown and fragrant (don't leave them unattended, as they burn really quickly).
5. Mix vegetables with cous cous in a large bowl and leave to cool slightly.
6. While they cool, make the dressing by whisking together lime zest and juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, honey, salt and pepper. Taste, and if a sweeter dressing is required, then add a little more honey.
7. Toss dressing with cous cous mixture, which should have cooled to warm/room temp. Sprinkle toasted walnuts, remaining parsley and parmesan shavings over the top to serve.

Salad Days are here again

It's been a while... yes, I have been busier than ever in Cupcake world, growing my business BiteSize Baking. Fear not, my family have not been starved of all other forms of nourishment during this time, but it has been difficult to find the time to try out new recipes. Recently though, the advent of consistently hot and sunny weather has been motivation to try out some main-dish salad recipes to fuel our summer adventures. Two such recipes were on the menu this week and are definitely worth sharing. Both are a meal in themselves, particularly if, like me, you put an overflowing bowl of bread in the middle of the table to satisfy growing teenage boys, ravenous preteens who refuse to eat lunch, and (somewhat less fortunately), bread-addicted adults trying to cut down on carb consumption.

Apart from some prep work (which can be seriously cut down if, like me, you buy ready cooked bacon, edamame and hard-boiled eggs. Without Trader Joe's, my life would be so much harder!), they are also the kind of salads you can just throw together in a big bowl, toss and serve, which is, quite frankly, all most people want to do on a warm summer evening, when there is a nice wine chilling, and a comfy sofa waiting under an umbrella while the sun goes down.

For those of you planning on a season of main-dish salads, I'm adapting the recipe index on this site (see page listed on the right hand side of the page, or click here), so that there is a section of Main-dish salads, each linking to the relevant blog entry. Live long and salad lots :-)




Chicken and Edamame Couscous Salad
Serves 4 as a main dish
Adapted from Cooking Light

2/3 cup uncooked wholewheat couscous
3/4 cup cooked shelled edamame (if you can't find these fresh (Trader Joes!), then buy frozen and cook, then cool)
3 TBSP fresh squeezed orange juice
2 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP cider vinegar
2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 cups coarsely chopped baby spinach
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 cups shredded skinless chicken breast
1/4 cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries
3 TBSP dry roasted sunflower seeds

1) Cook couscous in water according to directions
2) Fluff couscous with a fork, and transfer to a large bowl to cool
3) Combine orange juice, olive oil, cider vinegar, honey, salt and pepper with a whisk.
4) Stir edamame, chicken, spinach, parsley, green onions and cranberries into couscous. Add dressing and toss to combine.
5) Sprinkle with toasted sunflower seeds to serve.





Kale and Smoked Turkey Cobb Salad
Serves 4 as main dish
Adapted from Rachel Ray Magazine

8 slices cooked crispy bacon, sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped shallot
2 TBSO white wine vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 bunches Lacinato (Dino) kale, stemmed and thinly sliced
4 hard-boiled eggs, roughly chopped
1/4 pound deli smoked turkey, chopped
2 avocados, diced
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
ground black pepper

1) In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, shallot, vinegar and mustard. Add sliced kale and mix thoroughly together so that the kale is coated. Leave for at least 30 minutes for the kale to become tender.
2) Add turkey, bacon, eggs and avocado to the bowl and toss together.
3) Sprinkle with cheese and ground black pepper to serve.

Lush green pastures

When it comes to food, going green is easy. And the easiest way of all is pesto. The great thing about pesto is that you can put pretty much anything in there. If you are the kind of evil parent that likes to hide vegetables, for example, children seem to be completely in denial about the contents of pesto, and long may that continue (we are all in this together - you do NOT want to be the one who lets the cat out of the bag...). More importantly, if you are a busy (or dare I say, lazy) person of a green persuasion, pesto is one of the quickest things around to prepare, provided you have a food processor ready and waiting. Green, quick, easy and vegetably, what more could you possibly want?

I owe this particular foray into the wonderful world of pesto to Jamie Oliver Magazine, which I often pick up when I pass through England. Jamie Oliver is now an institution in the UK, and pretty well known in the US too, thanks to his efforts to improve healthy eating. He isn't always my favorite British chef - too many vague instructions in the recipes for a rule-follower like myself (how much is a 'glug' of olive oil, for heavens' sake!), but that kind of vagueness is never a problem when it comes to pesto.


Rotini with Kale and Almond Pesto
Serves 6

6 oz roughly chopped curly kale (I used a bag of pre-chopped kale, stems and all)
2 oz almonds
1 garlic clove
juice of half a lemon
1/2 cup basil leaves
olive oil
2 oz grated parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve
1 lb wholewheat rotini

1. Blanch the kale in a large pot of boiling salted water for 3 minutes, and then drain in a colander.
2. Cook the pasta according to directions. When draining the pasta, reserve some of the cooking liquid and set aside.
3. Once it is cool enough to handle, squeeze the remaining liquid out of the kale, and put into the bowl of a food processor.
4. Add the almonds, garlic, lemon juice, basil and parmesan, and pulse to combine. Start slowly pouring olive oil into the food processor while it spins, until the pesto is smooth and the desired consistency is reached. NB you don't need the pesto to be too runny/oily, as you can use some of the pasta water to thin it out. See below.
5. Mix the pesto with the cooked pasta and enough of the reserved pasta cooking liquid to allow the pesto to coat the pasta nicely.
6. Sprinkle with additional parmesan to serve.

Comfort food taken to the next level

Just imagine if comfort food were an armchair. Now, not all armchairs are equal. There are those in posh hotel foyers which, when you sit in them, feel as if they are stuffed with some form of concrete, and are clearly there, not for comfort (as the armchair was designed to provide, dammit), but rather to go with the decor and look expensive. But in contrast, there are those armchairs into which one's rear end sinks gently, armchairs which seem to cradle your aching limbs. Why, there might even be a footrest, which at the slightest tug of a lever, emerges to prop up your tired feet. Oh yes, that is the nth degree of comfort. If armchairs aren't your thing, then how about beds, the place where if nothing else, we should feel enveloped in comfort. But there is a gulf of difference between a friend's second hand futon which has seen better days, and a new pillow-top mattress.

Lest you think I have finally gone off my rocker, and am now blogging about furniture, fear not! I raise these comparisons merely to permit myself some adequate means of describing just how comforting today's featured dish truly is. This, my friends, is the La-Z-Boy of comfort food. It is like a Sleep Number bed that just instinctively knows your ideal setting. It does not get more comforting than this, trust me.


Hash Brown Casserole
Serves 8

2 tsp olive oil
3/4 lb sliced ham, chopped
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 32oz packet of shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed and squeezed dry
1 large onion, diced
10 oz baby spinach, coarsely chopped
8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
8 oz shredded swiss cheese
8 eggs, beaten lightly
1 1/2 cups low fat cottage cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. Place the cottage cheese in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Set aside.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet and saute onion until soft and translucent. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Season with pepper and garlic powder.
4. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, onion mixture, chopped ham, cottage cheese, and all but a 1/4 cup each of the cheddar and swiss.
5. Stir in the lightly beaten eggs.
6. Spray a 9"x13" baking dish with oil spray and spread the prepared mixture into the dish. Top with the remaining cheese.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, by which time the casserole should be set in the middle and the cheese melted and turning golden. Serve with a green salad.

The Richest of Ragus

I know - another huge claim but honestly, this one is beautifully rich, and served over a bed of ooey gooey polenta there is nothing more comforting. You know I'm a bit chicken fan (just look at the breakdown of recipes by meat-type here). I make no apologies - whilst I like red meat, and will defend the right of all to eat it, and remain healthy, I do prefer to eat white meat more often than red meat. I am not a fan of dry chicken though, so I'm always on the lookout for recipes which allow chicken to remain succulent and moist and saucy. This is often difficult where chicken breasts are concerned, supposedly the healthiest cut, but often the driest and least tasty if cooked badly. However, when using a slow cooker, and burying morsels of chicken breast in a delicious Italian-style sauce, no one need fear, and this recipe is a good demonstration of that. It also makes good use of a great vegetable currently in season, namely fennel. If you're a fan of this feathered bulb, then save the fronds from the top to garnish the final dish. If, like my kids, you are deeply suspicious of anything that looks like dill (the work of the devil, if you listen to my opinionated daughter), then skip the fennel fronds, and stick with extra basil (about which she has no such unfounded suspicions).



Chicken and Fennel Ragu
Serves 6

olive oil
8 oz cubed pancetta
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 large chicken breasts (about 1 3/4 lbs) cut into 1" cubes
10 oz sliced brown mushrooms
1 large onion, chopped
4 large roma tomatoes, cored and chopped
4 TBSP tomato paste/puree
3 TBSP sun-dried tomato pesto
1 tsp dried oregano
3 TBSP chopped fresh basil
1 TBSP chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
grated parmesan cheese
additional chopped fresh basil to serve

1. Heat some olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the cubed pancetta and cook, stirring often, until browned and crispy. Use a slotted spoon to put the pancetta into the slow cooker stoneware.
2. In the oil and bacon fat remaining in the skillet, brown the chicken pieces in two batches so as not to overcrowd the pan (if you overload the pan, they won't brown as well). Move the chicken to the slow cooker stoneware.
3. Pour the wine into the skillet and deglaze the pan - using a spatula to scrape the chicken and bacon goodness from the bottom of the pan. Once the pan is clear of anything still sticking to it, tip the wine into the slow cooker with the meats.
4. Add the mushrooms, onion, fennel, tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, basil, thyme, fennel seeds and pepper to the slow cooker and mix well so that the meat is coated in the tomato paste.
5. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.
6. Serve over polenta or pasta, sprinkled with parmesan and more basil (or chopped fennel fronds).

Scoops and scoops of soups

All modesty aside, I knocked it OUT of the park twice this last week, with two knock-out soups (yes, mixed sport metaphors, but who cares!). And you know that British people are shy, retiring souls when compared to their brasher American cousins, meek individuals who rarely blow their own trumpets (or indeed toot their own horns, if you must), so suffice to say, these two recipes (yes, a 'two for the price of one deal' today) must be pretty brilliant (or awesome, if you must).

I am still on my soup-kick, as the weather has been vacillating between mild but wet, and cold but dry, both of which leave me with frosty toes and a stomach that needs a spoonful or twenty of something warm and comforting, preferably with some crusty bread to mop up every last drop of the soupy goodness. And this week we are definitely in Mediterranean mood, as the first soup owes its flavor profile to Morocco, and the second is more Spanish in character. Both also highlight spices which don't often get to play center stage. In the first case, turmeric gets a starring role, a spice which in my kitchen is usually simply the poor man's version of saffron, and added solely to give a yellow tint, rather than allowed to shine. In the second, smoked paprika gives the soup its delicious earthy flavor. And in both cases, there are plenty of pulses to fill nice warm bellies and prevent any threat of family starvation. Like I said, these two are corkers and definitely to be repeated in my kitchen.



Harira
Serves 8 very comfortably
Adapted from The Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Judith Finlayson

2 15oz cans chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
canola/sunflower oil
2 large onions, chopped
6 stalks celery diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 TBSP ground turmeric
1 1/2 TBSP grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
3 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
6 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups dried red lentils
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

1. In a skillet, heat some canola oil, and fry the chopped onions and celery until softened and translucent.
2. Add garlic, turmeric, lemon zest and black pepper and cook, stirring constantly, for a further minute.
3. Add tomatoes and their juice and bring to a boil.
4. Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker. Add chickpeas and lentils and stir it all together.
5. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 3-4 hours, by which point the lentils should be tender. Stir in the parsley and serve.



Smoky Lentil, Bacon and Spinach Soup
Serves 6 comfortably
Adapted from The Great American Slow Cooker Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough

12 oz diced pancetta
olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3/4 cup chopped carrots
6 cups chicken broth
1 1/4 cups dried brown lentils
2/3 cup (about half a 14oz can) diced tomatoes
1 1/2 TBSP tomato paste/puree
1 1/2 TBSP mild smoked paprika
3/4 tsp ground black pepper
4 cups chopped fresh spinach

1. Fry the pancetta in some olive oil until brown and crisp (about 5 minutes). Transfer to the slow cooker using a slotted spoon.
2. In the fat remaining in the skillet, fry the onions and carrots until the onions are softened and translucent (about 5 minutes). Scrape the contents of the skillet into the slow cooker.
3. Stir in the broth, lentils, tomatoes, tomato paste, smoked paprika and pepper.
4. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours, or high for 3 hours, by which point the lentils should be tender.
5. Add the chopped spinach and continue to cook on high for 15 minutes.