A Star Is Born

Don’t quote me on it, but, as you might have guessed from my previous American Idol posting, I can kind of, sort of, maybe be a fan of the reality TV shows.  So much so that I secretly tape a few programs on my DVR and watch them after everyone is sound asleep.  One of my favorites has been The Next Food Network Star.

In the Food Network contest, I like how these individuals have to cook against ridiculous time constraints and ingredient challenges and yet are judged by the three picky judges and, half the time, by world famous chefs.  Then, they have to remain perky and present their ‘culinary point of view’ in front of a camera without a real chance to prepare a script.  Upon reading my pretty accurate description above of the show, I suddenly worry that I’m a bit of a sadist.  Hmm.

Well, you can imagine my excitement this year to cheer on a stay at home mom (and non chef) while fellow contestants sneered at her since she never worked at a real restaurant or cooked for the masses.  But, she turned out to be a great cook with consistently delicious food and teachablety in front of a camera.   All of the other hopefuls can sneer at themselves now since she won!  Her name is Melissa D’Arabian and she is pictured below:

On the season finale that won her a cooking show of her own, one of Melissa’s side dishes really had me (along with the judges) very interested.  See, my family loves both cheese and potatoes and I’ve been looking for a very simple way to make au gratin potatoes.   We like the boxed variety, but the ingredient list horrifies me and includes MSG.  Crazy where that shows up, isn’t it?  Her dish was named ‘5-Minute Individual Potato Gratins’ and they were cooked in muffin tins, so the bake time was cut down a lot, in addition to being very cute on the plate.  I tried them a couple of weeks ago and Jack loved them.  Curt ate them but did not enjoy the Swiss cheese flavor.  I already knew that my husband wouldn’t love the cheese, but I wanted to make her recipe exactly the first time around.  I decided to try them Monday with cheddar and substituting evaporated whole milk for the cream she used.  Curt enjoyed them more and Jack and I approved.  I think I’ve found a new spectacular side dish to put ‘in the rotation’ as my husband likes to say! 

A little browner than they should be because I forgot the foil the second time around.  But still great!

Lisa’s Mini Potato Gratins adapted from Melissa D’Arabian’s recipe

Vegetable Spray

2-3 large russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

3 green onions, finely chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup evaporated or fresh whole milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 

Spray 12 muffin tins well with vegetable spray.  Layer potato slices, cheese, onions, and a bit of salt and pepper into each muffin cup.  Top each gratin with 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk. 

Cover with foil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, removing the foil halfway through cooking time.  Remove from oven, let sit for 5 minutes, invert gratins onto plate and serve.

Makes 12 gratins.

simple ingredients

layering the dish

Cooking Outside The Box

Okay, I’ll admit it. I wasn’t exposed to the “finer things” in life at an early age. I remember the first time I saw bleu cheese as a teenager, I worried that it was “bad.” I only knew American, Swiss and cheddar cheese. As far as corn bread went, I thought you only could buy a mix in a box (think Jiffy brand) and cook it in a 8 x 8 inch square pan. It certainly never had an appeal to me as a specialty side dish: I thought of it as a poor man’s bread.

1986, with an asymmetrical haircut

 

As a much more sophisticated college graduate who wore shoulder pads in her shirts and once sported an asymmetrical haircut in the yuppie days of the 80’s, I dined out with my friends often. Corn bread was sometimes served and what do you know? It was quite tasty and interesting. My first try was a Marie Callender’s canister of corn bread mix. At first it tasted sooo good but by the end of the too-big-to-be-a-trial container, I realized it was much too sweet and the texture was more like cake. Then, after I had my KitchenAid Mixer and began making bread, my friend Steve bought me a great book on bread making. It’s quite d0g-eared by now, but I found two recipes that I make all the time in the quick breads section.

 

One of these is for corn bread! It is my favorite. It is rich but not too sweet and not like a cake at all. It’s very similar to the one served at Z Tejas, except without the whole corn. (Adding 1 cup of frozen or drained canned corn to the recipe is a variation listed below the recipe in my book.) As a bonus for me, from the first time I’ve made this recipe I’ve enjoyed that it is baked in a pie plate. So, it is round and served in wedges. Now, how trendy is that???

Buttermilk Corn Bread from Bread by Beth Hensperger

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk*
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1. Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
2. In another bowl, mix eggs, buttermilk, and butter. Add to dry ingredients and stir until all ingredients are just blended. Take care not to over mix.
3. Pour batter into a greased 9 inch springform pan or pie plate.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven about 25 minutes until golden brown around the edges and a cake tester comes out clean. Let stand 10 –15 minutes before cutting in wedges to serve.
*When I don’t have buttermilk on hand, I substitute sour milk. To make 1 cup of sour milk, put 1 tbsp vinegar into empty measuring cup. Fill cup up to 1 cup line with milk, stir.

Better Than A Banquet

me at age 13 with my mom

We always ate dinner together as a family back then. We hardly ever ate out, perhaps once in a while on the weekend. Now, our family was far from perfect and my mother was often dismayed with our lack of table manners and refined conversation. But it was comforting to be there, eating our night’s meal with one another.

 

My mom, as I have mentioned before, was a simple meat and potatoes cook. When I was a teenager, she worked full-time and often would leave me notes for when I returned from school instructing me to peel potatoes to cook and mash. One of my favorite entrees that she would buy for an easy meal was the Banquet brand of Salisbury steaks. The frozen foil tray contained six meat patties along with plenty of gravy for the potatoes. Two trays of Salisbury steaks, potatoes, and some cooked-from-frozen vegetables were always a big hit at our house. I just checked, they still make them:

I’m not sure I could eat them anymore, except in a very real pinch. And then I would probably realize they weren’t nearly as good my memories claim. Besides, I get frightened by ingredient lists longer than three lines. I came across a homemade Salisbury steak recipe using Campbell’s French Onion soup. Since the soup is difficult to find (and has its own extensive ingredient list,) I revised it to use a product that I highly endorse. I also use it when I make beef stew. It’s called “Better Than Bouillon.”

My husband and son really enjoy my Salisbury steaks, too. The dish exemplifies comfort food. And it’s still comforting to be eating a family dinner together every night.

 

Lisa’s Salisbury Steaks
1 and 1/4 cups water, boiling
2 tsp Better Than Bouillon
1/4 cup dried onions
1 and 1/4 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tbsp flour
1/4 cup catsup
1/4 cup water
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp prepared mustard

Stir bouillon into boiling water. Add onions. Measure out 1/3 cup of broth and onions, set aside the rest.

Mix beef, 1/3 cup of broth, bread crumbs, egg, salt and pepper well. Form into 6 patties. Brown both sides in non-stick deep sauté pan.

Whisk flour well with remaining broth. Add catsup, 1/4 cup water, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Pour over browned patties and turn over patties to well coat. Turn burner to low, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes until done.

the broth with onions
browning patties

served with mashed potatoes, of course

Do You Believe in Magic?

There was a woman from my church (and book club) in the Sacramento area who made the best bar cookies I ever tasted.  Ursula called them ‘Post Office Bars’ because, I think, they are ideal cookies to send in the mail in the cooler months.  After receiving a lot of praise for the Post Office Bars, she wrote the recipe up for the women’s newsletter with the following caveat:

“If you can only eat one piece of these bars, I will eat a broom.”

Seriously!  I wrote that quote on the recipe card I keep.  If you scroll down below to the recipe, you’ll probably recognize them as ‘Magic Cookie Bars.’   However, she painstakingly outlined a couple of techniques that truly do make a difference in the quality of the bars.  So I like to keep Ursula’s title as I follow her recipe with a smile at the care she put into her signature dessert.

I made them today for my husband’s birthday tomorrow since they are one of his favorites.   I’ll pack them up for our excursion tomorrow to the Mariners game.  (By the way, it’s Ken Griffey, Jr. bobble head night along with Curt’s big day!)  He’s a big baseball fan, big enough to really be called a fanatic.  People can’t understand my support of his addiction, so I thought I would set the record straight about why we’re a baseball family.

It all started with a little magic of our own in the 90’s.  When I lived in San Jose I caught up with an old friend Shawna, who at the time was doing travelling rotations as a respiratory therapist as a way to see the world.  In the late 80’s she worked in Stamford, Connecticut and I met her at church.  She was a great person to hang out with and was (and is) also quite pretty and knew how to flirt with guys, which was something I needed to model.  (I never quite learned enough…but that’s not her fault.)  From San Jose, I invited her along with a couple of my guy friends to one or two San Francisco Giants baseball games at the old Candlestick Park.   From those outings, I think Shawna registered that I was a baseball fan tracing back from childhood trips with my dad to see the New York Mets.

By 1997, Shawna was living in Salt Lake and I was in Sacramento.  She had just broken up with her boyfriend and was set up on a blind date with Curt.  After a couple of dates, she was back with her boyfriend (now husband) and had to tell Curt goodbye.  But, as she got to know Curt and his love for baseball, she thought of me and couldn’t shake the urge to do some matchmaking of her own.  So, she gave him my number and made him promise to call me in California right as she was breaking his heart.  Then, she left me a loaded voicemail to tell me to expect the call.   Realizing Shawna’s appeal, I certainly didn’t expect much, but then he called.  I was up late preparing to watch Princess Di’s funeral and we talked for two whole hours.  And we haven’t stopped since.

To sum up a dreadfully long and convoluted story, then,  I love our baseball vacations because I am always grateful that baseball, along with a little magic, brought me love. 

Happy Birthday, Curt!
 

                                                      July 2008
Post Office Bars from Ursula
1 1/4 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
1 stick of melted butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup pecans, broken into pieces by hand

1.  Pour melted butter into 9x13 or 8x8 pyrex, add cracker crumbs, press into butter.
2.  Pour chocolate chips over top, then butterscotch chips, then coconut.
3.  Pour condensed milk over and press pecan pieces into that.
4.  Bake at a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes, then check every 5 minutes until browned, especially around edges, but not burned.  Remove, cool completely, cut.

butter, then crumbs, then choc. chips after butterscotch chips and coconut pressing pecan pieces into condensed milkafter cooked and browned a cut piece (cuts better when completely cooled)

Back in the Real World

Jack and I are back from our twelve day, four state, two thousand mile road trip as of yesterday!  We had a very good time, visited with dear friends and family and played.  Curt was left at home to work and care for our cat, Simon, and dog, Jewels.

Here is an overview of how we all survived, food-wise:

Jack and Lisa

While I would have loved to have searched out local haunts, a la the Food Network Show, “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives,” being on the road with Jack, age 8, left us making our dining out choices based solely on the latest kids meal toy promotions. 
However, we were lucky (or cunning, perhaps) enough to have lodged with good cooks.  Among my favorites were Les and Sharon’s duo of salads, a three bean mixture and an avocado and bacon green salad with a savory home made dressing.  Carlin made a fantastic potato salad along with yummy hamburgers.   Clara made me the first of two birthday cakes and a crock pot meal of chicken and funeral potatoes.  (Questions about ‘funeral potatoes’?  I’ll answer them in a future posting.)  Amanda made me the second birthday cake with her homemade white peaked frosting.  She also treated us to the largest pancakes I have ever seen.  Janeen made Amanda’s chicken cordon bleu.  Wendy took me out for a birthday dinner at my favorite restaurant in Salt Lake City, 'Z Tejas'.  Finally, Rick and Stephanie had a great barbeque for us on our first night out in Boise.  And I also have promises of recipes for Amanda’s mom’s blueberry muffins and Brooke’s pizza crust, which Amanda claims top the food charts.

Curt

I must warn you, this next report is not nearly as favorable.  When I returned home, the fridge looked quite bleak.  All the sliced turkey was gone, apparently finished up as bribes for the lonely pets.  The two dozen eggs I bought were left untouched.  There was no milk, it was discarded once the expiration date was reached.  Thus, the cereal was not eaten.  All but one of the frozen Hawaiian rice bowls I bought in a large pack from Costco was used up, and I don’t think Curt will ever want me to purchase them again.   Bottom line, before my trip would have proven to be an ideal time to purchase stock for both McDonald’s and Coca-Cola as a single consumer here in Central Washington may have very well raised the stock prices of each.

Simon and Jewels

The cat ate the new dog food voraciously.  Somewhere at the beginning of the second week, Curt ran out of our essential reward (more accurately, payola for going outside to do your business and/or stop picking on the cat) for Jewels, Pup-Peroni.  Both animals reportedly were quite irritable with Curt, presumably because his unwillingness to cook left them with no table scraps.

I’m not tooting my own horn here, but I feel very safe in saying that the above picture is a welcome site for my family.  A kitchen being used is a beautiful thing.  Even Jewels seems quite content to laze about, waiting for me to drop something by mistake.
Tonight I made a quick chicken parmesian (this cook suddenly realizes all the Italian dishes she presents are of the ‘quick’ variety) and spaghetti.  And my family’s favorite Italian comfort food, garlic bread.  I’ve tried many versions of it, including using fresh garlic, but found that this is the best tasting and easiest.  Jack likes it with mozzarella cheese melted on top, but since the chicken had the cheese, we kept it simple.
The chicken is dipped in egg beaten with a bit of water, then into Progresso Italian bread crumbs.  Then brown in olive oil in a hot non-stick pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.  Top with a small slice of mozzarella or provolone cheese, then return to the oven for 2-3 minutes until melted.  Top with sauce.

Lisa’s Garlic Bread
1 loaf of Italian bread
6 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 to 3/4 tsp of garlic powder, to taste
1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes
Mix butter, garlic powder and parsley flakes well.   Cut bread in half lengthwise.  Spread butter on each half.  Broil for 2-3 minutes, watching to prevent burning.
   

After tonight’s meal, everyone seems happier and more relaxed.  It’s good to be home.