Hot Dish Review

Sadly, we didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Florida this year. It’s much more enjoyable having turkey, dressing, and this awesome dessert while wearing shorts and a T-shirt!

Me and the Bunny made our third visit to my parents’ place in Crystal River, Florida for Thanksgiving, feasting on roasted turkey, cornbread dressing, green beans (canned from their garden, of course), and my Mom’s homemade cranberry relish.

Then there are the sweet potatoes, frozen manufactured patties which we cut up and top with a few pecans and sugar-free maple syrup. I add marshmallows to a section for myself and my Dad. It’s the one anomaly in an otherwise healthy version of the traditional holiday meal. I top my green beans with Durkee Fried Onions to trash ‘em up a bit.

And I bought this superb bottle of red zin (2007 Liar’s Dice) from Murphy Goode, the winery where Atlanta’s very own Hardy Wallace landed that sweet job. We ate like escaped prisoners on a Carnival Cruise!

Then we did the unthinkable….we put on our bikinis (a horrific thought even for the skinniest chick) and went to the pool where I proceeded to get bitten over 100 times by no-see-ums. Yes, they do exist, and in fact, I could see ‘em. The next day I was covered with itchy bites to the extent that I thought I might have chicken pox. Happy Thanksgiving.

We rarely have room for dessert after consuming four helpings of turkey and all the fixin’s, but after a few hours we are ready for something sweet (but not cloyingly so). This recipe has become somewhat of a tradition for us. It’s a great apple cranberry crisp adapted from an Andrew Weil recipe and another similar one from a Prevention magazine.

So here’s the recipe! It’s a bit confusing because many of the ingredients are duplicated for the filling and the crumble topping so it’s best to be sober when you make it.

APPLE CRANBERRY CRISP

For the Filling

3 Cups apples, quartered and sliced thin (about 1/8″)
1 Cup fresh cranberries
1 tblsp. lemon juice
2 tblsp. Triple Sec
1 tblsp. agave nectar
1 tblsp. flour
1/4 Cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

For the Crumble Topping

3/4 Cup uncooked 1-minute oats
2 tsp. ground flaxseed
1/4 Cup light brown sugar
1/4 Cup agave nectar
1/4 Cup chopped pecans or walnuts
2 tblsp. flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 X 9 glass casserole with oil. Combine dry ingredients for topping and set aside.

Mix all ingredients in the filling and spoon evenly into casserole dish. Add the oil and agave nectar to topping, mixing until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated, then spread it over the fruit.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes covered, then 30 minutes uncovered, or until brown and bubbly.

Let cool and serve in individual bowls, topped with whipped cream. Makes about 6 servings. Now pour yourself a nice glass of that zin and enjoy!

L-tryptophan coma, round 2:

If you’re like me, you’ve got some leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. Who doesn’t? I bagged up individual servings and stashed them in the freezer to use on salads (instead of chicken) and for this yummy turkey salad, adapted from a recipe for curried egg salad that I found in one of my Mom’s Health magazines.

I’ve been buying the curried chicken salad at Whole Foods for years, so this is my homemade interpretation. It’s one of those recipes that you can add ingredients to taste, depending on what you have on hand:

4 oz. cooked turkey, shredded
3 tblsp. Greek yogurt
1 tblsp. finely chopped green pepper
1 tblsp. chopped celery
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
dash of salt
1 tsp. dried cranberries (optional)

Mix it up! You could experiment with herbs too, like parsley or cilantro. Pinenuts or almonds would also add textural interest (and calories).

The first time I served it simply on a bed of field greens. But it was even better with a spinach salad dressed with red wine vinegar, olive oil, and black pepper. I’m sure it would make a fine sandwich on toasted wheat or ciabatta too!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING HOT DISH READERS!

This recipe is my Tennessee Grandma’s, healthily adapted by my Mom. We’ve been making it this way for years and I promise it is the best dressing you will ever have! Simple and straight-forward, one could add some other elements but why? It’s perfect the way it is. Give it a try, it doesn’t have to be Thanksgiving or Christmas to have game hens and dressing, right?

But before you can make authentic cornbread dressing, you have to make the cornbread:

1/2 C. white corn meal (self-rising)
1/4 C. yellow corn meal
1 tsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. water
1/2 C. buttermilk

Spray a 6″ cast iron skillet with Pam. Preheat oven to 445 degrees and put empty skillet in oven to heat. Mix all ingredients and pour into heated skillet. Bake 22-25 minutes until lightly browned.

Cornbread Dressing

2 cakes of cornbread, cooled
2 slices of whole wheat bread
1 tbsp. dried sage
2 stalks of celery, grated
1/2 large onion, grated or finely chopped
1/2 C. Eggbeaters
1/2-3/4 C. reduced fat low sodium chicken broth
Nature’s Secret seasoning, to taste
Salt & pepper, dash each

Coursely crumble cornbread and tear bread into large bowl. Fold in other ingredients until moist but not wet. Bake at 375-425 degrees until slightly browned, about 20-30 minutes (depending on the bird that is sharing the oven!)

That’s it ya’ll….enjoy!

Is it time for soup yet? I think it is….

This recipe is courtesy of The Rachael Ray Show. I love the toothsome quality of barley, and paired with pancetta….well, I just had to give it a try! You can access the original recipe video that offers some variations via the link above or follow mine below:

MUSHROOM BARLEY SOUP

1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
1 quart low sodium chicken stock
3 cups water
1/4 C. EVOO
1/3 lb. thick cut pancetta, diced
3/4 lb. cremini mushroom caps, cleaned and sliced
1 bay leaf
2 leeks, washed, trimmed, sliced
4 cloves garlic, grated
3 tblsp. fresh sage, very thinly sliced
2 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped
1 15 oz. can diced, fire roasted tomatoes
1 cup uncooked pearl barley
1 bunch kale, leaves thinly chopped
salt & pepper

Simmer dried porcini mushrooms in the water and stock. Meanwhile crisp the pancetta in the olive oil over medium heat, about 3 minutes. Add the cremini mushrooms and bay leaf and cook 10-12 minutes. Next, add the leeks and garlic and continue cooking 5 minutes. Add sage, rosemary and tomatoes.

Remove the softened porcini mushrooms from the stock and chop. Add them along with their cooking liquids to the soup pot taking care to leave behind any grit from the mushrooms. Stir in the barley and simmer for about 45 minutes, until the barley is tender. Add the kale, allowing it to wilt.

Makes 4 servings.

LG joined me for this impromptu hearty soup dinner, perfect for a winter evening! I served it with some toasted country sourdough from Bakeshop.

Lately, I haven’t been experimenting with food. There’s no time for questionable quinoa or pathetic pastry. I do, however, continue to prepare lunches for work, like my Winter Salad (recipe here), or a big chef salad with Swiss, ham, turkey, chickpeas, mushrooms, and celery.

This morning as I made my edamame salad, I realized it had flown under my culinary radar for years. A recipe originally from my Mom, I’ve adapted it over time.

Two unusual things about this side dish….it does not contain cilantro, but it does call for red or orange peppers, which I do not love.

Here’s how I do it:

1/2 cup frozen organic non-GMO shelled soybeans
1 tbsp finely diced red or orange pepper
1 scallion
1/3 stalk celery, diced
2 tbsp chopped celery leaves, from the heart
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
Light salt
Nature’s Seasons seasoning blend

Boil the soybeans for about 4 minutes or until slightly tender, drain and rinse with cold water. Meanwhile, finely dice the pepper and celery. Remove the inner leaves from the celery and chop. Snip the green portion of the scallion into the bowl.

Add the cooled soybeans, toss with remaining ingredients and season to taste.

I serve it with salmon for a light and healthy lunch!

Now making a weekly appearance in my lunchtime repetoire:
This is one of the best salads ever! The original recipe comes from the February 2009 issue of Food & Wine Magazine. I still have it bookmarked, the pages filthy from making the dressing dozens of times, although by now, I’ve committed it to memory, and made a few changes. Here is my version:

BITTER GREENS WITH FIGS AND FOG

1/2 small head radicchio, finely shredded
1 Belgian endive, thinly sliced crosswise
1 C. baby arugula
1 1/2 oz. cooked organic chicken, cut up
7-10 whole unsalted almonds
1 dried calmyrna fig, chopped
1 oz. Humboldt Fog goat cheese, cubed

DRESSING (this is a double recipe, you’ll want extra!)

3 tblsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 tblsp. fig vinegar (or raspberry)
3 tblsp. sugar free apricot preserves
1 shallot, very thinly sliced
1 tsp. dried rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
freshly ground pepper and salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Toast the raw almonds on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes, and let cool, then coarsely chop. (I make a big batch to save time, also great served with cheeses).

Let the sliced shallots marinate in the vinegar for 10 minutes. Meanwhile add the oil, rosemary, and thyme to a small saucepan. Heat over moderate heat for 2 minutes until it sizzles. Stir in the apricot preserves and heat until melted, about 1 minute. Add the shallots and vinegar and cook an additional minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss the lettuces, warm chicken, figs, and almonds in a large bowl and drizzle the warm dressing, to taste. Top with chunks of the cheese. (Note: the original recipe calls for regular goat cheese, see photo in magazine below)

This recipe makes one huge salad or 2-4 servings as a side, in which case I add more almonds, figs, and cheese but omit the chicken. The sweetness of the preserves and figs are the perfect match to the bitterness of the greens.

While doing cardio, I often watch the Food Network. Nothing like watching sticks of butter melting as I melt away the weekend’s indulgences! Sunny Anderson is one of my favorites. She is always making something I like, from sweet potatoes to curries….creative comfort food with a Southern flair.

On a recent episode she roasted acorn squash. Since I’ve been experimenting with roasting veggies lately, I was excited to try it.

It’s hard to tell if the dark green squash is ripe so I just grabbed a pretty one. Once home with it, I determined that it made more sense to cut it in half lengthwise, along one of the creases, so the halves would sit flat in the dish.

If you plan on attempting this recipe, be warned. You will need a machete to cut the damn thing. After that, it’s easy! Here’s my method I adapted from Sunny’s original recipe:

ROASTED ACORN SQUASH (for 2)

1 acorn squash, cut in half
2 pats sweet butter
2 tblsp. dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
dash freshly ground black pepper
dash cayenne
dash cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the acorn squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Place halves in lightly oiled glass baking dish. Add 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar and 1 pat of butter inside each half, then sprinkle with the remaining spices.

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, basting with the melted sugar and butter a couple of times. Let cool for 5 minutes and serve. Awesome!

Fall is in the air and folks are excited to cook with the season’s crop of root vegetables, leafy greens, butternut squash, and maybe even pumpkin.

Yes, the pumpkin is a daunting fruit, often growing to the size of a small child. My friend BB explained there are two kinds: the carving pumpkins and the cooking pumpkins, as he was headed to find the latter for a batch of pumpkin pudding for his little girl.

I suggested buying canned pumpkin puree, but for a CIA trained chef that would be too easy. No, he would peel and steam a pumpkin, then puree its meat, mixing in sugar, eggs, and spices for the pudding.

Mere hours later he returned with pumpkin bread, spiced with nutmeg that permeated the ziplock bag. “What happened to the pudding?” I asked. Apparently the texture of the steamed pumpkin wasn’t condusive to making pudding, but was adequate for bread. Maybe it was too coarse, maybe it was stringy. I can’t say for sure. All I can say is I enjoyed the resulting bread for dessert after lunch.

Not one to easily accept defeat, BB continued to devise a workable pumpkin pudding recipe, this time with the aforementioned canned pumpkin and his daughter’s help.

Success! A small pan was delivered for my pumpkin pleasure. With a dense consistency of a custard, I cut a square for dessert after dinner, nuked it briefly and topped it with whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon.

Here is his recipe:

Ingredients
2 cups canned pumpkin
2 cups sugar
1 cup self-rising flour (sifted)
3 extra large eggs
2 1/2 cups undiluted evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
Fresh grated nutmeg, about 3/4 teaspoon
1 stick margarine, melted (not butter)

Method
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Beat the pumpkin until smooth. Fold in the sugar, mix well. Fold in the flour, mix well. Add the eggs and beat (note: if you use large rather than extra large eggs, add 1 extra egg white.) Add the spices (best results with assistance of a five year old), evaporated milk and beat. Stir in the melted margarine and mix well.

Pour mixture into a 9″ X 16″ pan (or 12″ X 12″) and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Serve it at room temperature or slightly warmed. Better than pumpkin pie, try it at your Thanksgiving celebration!

My second batch of barley has sparked new experiments as well as repeating the original ones that were so successful, like the breakfast barley with cinnamon, figs, and honey. I love barley’s toothesome quality and it keeps you full for hours!

This time I divided the one cup dry barley into five half-cup cooked servings (rather than four 3/4 cup servings), about 145 calories.

Whole foods has a curried wheatberry salad on their foodbar that I’ve always loved, so I decided to make my own version for lunch today with barley.

Here’s what I used:

1/2 cup cooked barley
1 carrot, chopped
1 scallion, chopped
1/1/2 tsp. olive oil
curry powder, to taste
cilantro
black pepper, to taste
dash of crushed red pepper

On Thursday I told my nutritionist that whenever I eat barley I pair it with vegetables or dried fruits. I automatically think of it as the main component of a meal to build around, rather than a protein.

Then on Friday, I made a total liar out of myself….I ordered grilled shrimp on a bed of greens to eat with my curried barley salad. Quite yummy! The salad was really very good, but something was missing…..

Over the weekend I was picking up some chana masala to pair with another serving of barley so I had the opportunity to look at the ingredient list on their curried wheatberry salad. Honey. That’s what was missing.

Also, my version had carrots instead of green peppers, but I did that on purpose.

Now that I’m on the barley kick, I will certainly make the curry salad again!

I’m off to Cabo folks! In honor of my trip I thought I would rerun some of my favorite Mexican inspired posts….hope you enjoy ‘em! (secretly curious to see if the guacamole there will be as good as mine)
P.S. Yes, guacamole in Cabo was awesome indeed!

OK, this is the real deal. I got this recipe from an old Mexican cleaning lady 20 years ago and have made it according to her standards ever since. Perhaps she prepares it with loving care in a traditional molcajete, a lava rock mortar and pestle. I make mine in my traditional Pillsbury Doughboy bowl!

(Note: the photo of ingredients includes a Corona Light. This ingredient is not mandatory, however, I find that it helps the culinary process. You may substitute a shot of Herradura Silver if you prefer.)

3 ripe avocadoes
1/2 white onion (I use Vidalias)
1 large tomato, peeled
1 jalapeno
bunch cilantro
salt
lime juice

Split the avocadoes and scoop them out into a medium bowl. To keep the guacamole chunky I use the spoon to coarsely cut up the avocadoes just a bit. Very small dice the onion by first cutting it in half, then making 1/8″ cuts in both directions (like a checkerboard pattern). Slice it across the pre-made cuts to make tiny diced pieces. Use the same method for the jalapeno, being careful not to touch the pepper and then your eyes (or other sensitive areas)! Chop a shitload of cilantro to taste. Rest the tomato in hot water to ease peeling, then peel, seed, dice and add to bowl. Add the juice of half a lime. Fold all the ingredients together and salt to taste. Refrigerate for up to 8 hours, completely covered in plastic to avoid oxidation.

Is that f*ckin’ delicious or what? Buy restaurant chips and salsa to serve with it….my new favorite is Uncle Julios.

Sure, there are a couple of acceptable variations but authentic quacamole contains no sour cream, no garlic, no mayonaise. Mayonaise is a French sauce like bearnaisse….not invented in a trailor park in Mississippi as you may have suspected. Mexicans do not use French sauces. There was no sour cream in Mexico in the 1700′s.

Just use the real ingredients above and you will have quacamole as good as what I had in Playa del Carmen a few years ago…..Ole’!