Roasted Baby Artichokes

Growing up, my parents tended not to keep junk or snack food in the house-- they simply didn't eat it and never bought it. I learned at a very young age that if I wanted something to snack on in between meals (which was frowned upon), I'd better have an open mind (and palate).

There were only ever two things always found in the family fridge-- Dijon mustard and marinated artichoke hearts. To this day, those are two items I reliably stock in my own fridge. As a little kid, I would munch away a jar of artichoke hearts while watching Gilligan's Island reruns. And when I got older, as a poor college student, one snack I could afford was Saltine crackers smeared with Maille's Dijon mustard.

While pots of Dijon mustard are readily available, baby artichokes are seasonal, and now's the season! Look for them, packaged in better grocery stores (gourmet or natural food shops). This method of preparation is simple, if not a bit time consuming, but worth every second!

9 baby artichokes (more or less, as you like)
Lemon juice
Extra virgin olive oil (evoo)
more lemon juice
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Dill weed
Parmesan cheese

1) Preheat the oven to 375F. Have a large bowl filled with water and lemon juice (this is called acidulated water), at the ready. Snap off the outer leaves of the artichoke, about 2 layers of leaves. Cut te top 1/2 inch off and trim the bottom, as well as the stem to remove the tough, fibrous outer bit (it should look like this one to the right here) Cut the chokes into quarters and place into the acidulated water, while you trin the rest of the chokes.

2) Dry the chokes off with a tea towel then toss them with evoo, lemon juice (2 parts evoo to 1 part lemon juice), salt and plenty of black pepper and then dill weed. Bake on a non-stick pan for 20 minutes, until soft, then sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top and bake a few minutes longer, until the cheese has softened and begun to melt.

Serve hot, warm or room temp. Serve 2 chokes per person for an appetizer.

Crustless Quiche with Roast Tomatoes, Leeks and Gruyere

Crustless, so it is healthier. Roast vegetables, so that it is vegetarian. Gruyere so that it is goooooood.

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2 small leeks, trimmed and sliced into rounds up to dark green part
5 cloves garlic, pressed or chopped
extra virgin olive oil (evoo)
sea salt
1 cup thinly sliced collard leaves, spinach, Swiss chard or kale
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1/2 cup homemade breadcrumbs, or crushed garlic croutons
4 large eggs + 1 egg white
1 cup lite sour cream
1/2 cup milk (whatever you drink, skim, 2%, whole)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup shredded Gruyere, or any sharp cheese you like

1) Preheat the oven to 400F. Place the halved tomatoes into a large bowl. Separate the leek rounds into individual pieces with your hands and add them in with the tomatoes, add in the garlic, too. Drizzle bout 1-2 tablespoons evoo over the mess and toss with your hands. Sprinkl with sea salt and place into the oven. Roast until the tomatoes are soft and edges of the leeks are beginning to caramelize, between 20-40 minutes depending on your oven. When they are done, remove from the oven to cool slightly, then place all of it into a strainer above a bowl-- catching the juices that run out (save 1 tablespoon of the tomato jus-- drink the rest as a delicious soup!) This will also dry out the vegetables a bit, which is good. Allow the veggies to sit in the strainer until completely cool. While that's going on, sauté the greens over high heat in a bit of evoo until wilted, about 5 minutes. Season with salt.

2) Turn down, or preheat the oven to 325F. Butter a 9", deep-dish pie pan with 1 softened butter, then pour the breadcrumbs in and roll the pie dish around in your hands until all the butter os coated with the crumbs.







4) Whisk the sour cream, eggs, egg white, milk, 1 tablespoon tomato jus and Dijon mustard together. Lay the greens on the bottom of the pan, then scatter 1/2 of the cheese and pour the egg/sour-cream/milk mixture over top. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and place the roast tomatoes and leeks on top (it will still be soft) and scatter the rest of the cheese over the tomatoes. Place back in the oven and continue to bake for 20 minutes more.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes.

Serve warm, room temp or chilled. Makes 8 slices.

Creamy Tomato Pasta Salad

Inspired by salad caprese-- a pasta salad for tomato sauce lovers.

1 pound penne, macaroni or farfalle pasta
1 and 1/2 cups simple tomato sauce (homemade is best, or good quality store bought)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (regular or reduced fat)
1 bunch basil, chopped
4 green onions, sliced thin
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Optional additions: chopped sun dried tomatoes, sliced cherry tomatoes, cubed mozzarella, crumbled blue cheese

1) Start a huge pot of salted water on to boil. Once boiling, place the pasta in to cook and make the sauce. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large serving bowl. Set aside.

2) When the pasta is cooked just al dente, drain, rinse under cold water until completely cool, drain again very well. Toss into the bowl with the sauce and mix well. It may seem soupy at this point, but as the salad chills it will absorb much of the sauce. Stash in the fridge for at least 1 hour but up to 8 hours.

Makes 8-12 side dishes

Grilled Salad with Blue Cheese and Walnuts

  I've been hearing about grilled salads for some time now, but it wasn't until last week that I tried one at a restaurant. Grilling the Romaine transforms it-- takes it from an average salad to a WOW salad-- and it is remarkably easy to do. 
This works well inside with a grill pan, or outside on the barbecue-- gas or charcoal, doesn't matter. The important element is that the grill is very hot; you are searing the lettuce, not cooking it.


1 head Romaine lettuce, washed dried well and sliced in half, from top to bottom
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt flakes
1/4 cup creamy blue cheese dressing (homemade or best quality store bought)
Crumbled blue cheese
Handful of toasted walnut pieces

1) Heat grill until very hot. Brush cut side of the lettuce halves with olive oil and scatter a wee bit of salt. Place both halves on the grill, cut side down and grill. If you are using an grill pan that is not SUPER hot, place a baking tray on top of the lettuce and weight that with a heavy pot. Grill like this for 30-90 seconds-- until you can see grill marks, then brush the uncooked side with oil, sprinkle salt and carefully flip over. Grill the other side for the same length of time.

2) Remove from the grill and plate up. Sprinkle with crumbled blue cheese, then spoon dressing at the end of the lettuce halves and scatter about walnut pieces.

Serve at once. Serves 2

Bang Bang Chicken (Salad)

  This is a great salad if you are trying to eat healthfully in the new year; It's got TONS of flavor, and the only fat is from the tahini in the dressing. The dressing tastes sort of like peanut satay sauce. 
Use tofu rather than chicken to make this a vegan dish.
The whole recipe can be made ahead of time-- perfect for entertaining.




Bang Bang Dressing
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 and 1/2 tablespoons Vietnamese garlic.chili sauce (spicy)
1/4 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)

1) Mix the vinegar and sugar together until the sugar dissolves, then whisk in the soy sauce and chili sauce. Now whisk in the tahini until smooth. If you find it difficult to get the dressing smooth, use an immersion blender to whip it all together. Stash in the refrigerator until ready to dress the salad.
Makes 3/4 cup dressing, enough for 4 entree salads.

Salad
1 English cucumber, cut into match sticks
Big handful of shredded carrots
4 green onions, sliced thin up to the dark green part
1 head Romaine lettuce, sliced very thin
Handful chopped, fresh coriander
Equal parts fish sauce and lime juice (optional)
1/2 chicken, poached or roasted, or 3 cooked chicken breasts, meat shredded, cold

Lay the vegetables nicely on four plates, drizzle the fish sauce/lime juice over top (if using). Lay the shredded chicken on top and spoon over the dressing.

Serves 4 entree salads

Vegan Chili (and you would never know it)

Snowed in for the past few days, I was making due with what I could find stashed away in the cupboards and freezer. Chili seems appropriate, but I had no ground meat. I riffled through the freezer and, way at the bottom beneath a half used bag of petite pois, I found Morning Star Farms Ground Vegetarian Beef. 


I have used this in Shepard's Pie before and had great success with it. Luckily, it worked in this recipe, too-- after a day of sledding, the kids licked their bowls clean.


1tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
2 fat cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 pound vegan ground (minced) beef
1 bottle amber beer (I used Saranac, Sam Adams would be good, or Bass Ale in the UK)
1/2 square (1/2 ounce/15 grams) unsweetened chocolate
28 ounce/795 grams tin crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups/450 ml water
2 beef or vegetable bullion cubes
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon chili powder
dash of oregano
dash of thyme
14 ounce/400 grams tin red kidney beans, lightly drained
Crushed red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
Sea salt to taste

1) Heat the oil in a large pot, add in the onion and garlic, cook until soft then add in the vegan beef and cook for just a moment. Now add in the beer and bring to a simmer then add in the unsweetened chocolate and allow to melt. Stir, then add in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, water and bouillon cubes, and all the spices, just not the beans, red pepper flakes, or salt. Bring to a simmer, lower the heat so that it just occasionally bubbles. Cook uncovered for at least 30 minutes, but up to several hours (just watch the liquid level and add more water of needed). 30 minutes before serving, pour in the beans, continue to cook then season with red pepper flakes and sea salt, if needed.

I served with Fritos, shredded sharp cheddar cheese and plain yogurt (rather than sour cream)-- although this changed it from vegan to lacto-ovo, it was still pretty tasty.


Makes 6 bowls.

Baked Caprese

I watched Giada's cooking show for the first time this weekend. It's hard not to hate that woman; gorgeous, skinny, ultra straight, white teeth and she seems to actually EAT. I much prefer Ina. But, at least in the episode that I saw, Giada's recipes did look really delicious. 
The one dish that impressed me the most was this dish that incorporated layered ingredients of Salad Caprese topped with thick slices of bread, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and baked until the mozzarella melts and the tomatoes release their juices and the bread is golden and crisp and oh... 
It. 
Looked. 
So. 
Good. 


So I made (my version of) it and it WAS so, very tasty.

Here's my take on skinny Giada's baked Caprese
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 small red onion, sliced very thin
2 pounds (1 kilo) tomatoes, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
Handful of fresh basil leaves, or Gourmet Garden's Italian Herb (squeezable herbs in a tube)
1, 8 ounce (200grams) ball mozzarella (cow or buffalo's milk), pulled into pieces
4 thick slices par-baked bread (bake and serve, not yet baked) or more if needed
Garlic powder
Sea salt

1) Preheat oven to 400F (200C). Place the tomato slices on paper towels to draw out some of the liquid. If using buffalo mozzarella, press some of the liquid out of that, as well.

2) Smear half of the olive oil over the bottom and sides of a baking pan (I used an 8" by 8" square pan). Lay the thinly sliced onions, then the thick tomato slices, season well with sea salt. Squeeze some of the Italian herb goo over the tomatoes, or scatter fresh basil leaves. Now assemble the mozzarella chunks over the tomatoes and place the bread slices on top, the top should be covered with bread-- drizzle with remaining olive oil, sprinkle on garlic powder and more sea salt.

3) Bake uncovered for 25-45 minutes, depending upon your oven (convection or not, etc), until the bread is golden and crisp and the cheese has gone all gooey. Serve at once.

Serves 4 as a side or 2 main course vegetarian meals.

Hearty Cous Cous

I used Israeli cous cous (larger than Moroccan cous cous), but any type cous cous would work, as would quinoa or even barley. No fat and high in protein and fiber, this makes a healthy, tasty side dish.

1 and 1/2 cups dry Cous cous, or specialty grain
Beef, chicken or vegetable stock (follow package directions for quantity)
3 green onions, sliced
1 can pinto beans, drained
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts



Cook cous cous or grain according to package directions, replacing the water with stock. 2 minutes before the cous cous is done, toss in the green onions, beans and pine nuts, stir, cover and allow to finish cooking. Serve at once.

Makes 4-6 servings

Peppers and Pepitas

  As is, this recipe is vegetarian, but could easily be vegan or for meat eaters, with the addition of cooked, ground beef. Pepitas, or hulled pumpkin seeds add a slight crunch, great flavor and fiber, they are also a very good source of magnesium, iron, vitamin K and protein. 


1 cup long grain brown rice (or white, if you wish)
2 cups stock
1 ounce Pepitas
1, 4-ounce tin chopped chillies (miled or hot)
Chopped, jarred jalapeno peppers (optional) to taste
6 ounces shredded cheese, like Mexican verole queso, mozzarella or sharp cheddar
6 large Anaheim peppers, tops removed, any seeds and membrane scooped out

1) Cook the rice with stock according to package directions. When it is done, preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.

2) Now, mix the rice with the pepitas, chillies and jalapenos (of using). When it is completely cool, stir in the shredded cheese and stuff into the peppers. Place into the baking dish, cover with a lid or foil and bake for 45-60 minutes, until the peppers are soft. Serve at once.

Makes 6 peppers

Mexican-American Pizza

With three ethnicities represented in this recipe, something's got to be good about it, right? This is cool because it can so easily be vegetarian (hold the chicken) and no one would know. Heaving with beans, cheese and chillies, I was pleasantly surprised that even my 5 year old twins liked this.

1 can refried beans (fat-free, low sodium, traditional-- any style)
1 teaspoon taco seasoning mix
1 ball pizza dough (enough to make a large pizza)
Shredded Mexican cheese
1 or 2, 4oz can mild or hot chopped chillies
1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded (about 1 cup)
Salsa











1) Preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Roll out the dough to roughly fit into your greased baking tray. Dock the dough, that is, gently stab a fork into the dough all over-- this will help prevent the dough from bubblig as it bakes. Place the dough into the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until partially cooked-- this will keep the crust crisp and can be done up to 6 hours ahead and held, uncovered at room temperature.



2) When ready to bake the pizza: Pre-heat the oven to 400F. Mix the refried beans with the taco seasoning and spread most of it (I had 1/4 cup left) over the pizza base. Now, sprinkle the cheese over top, then scatter chopped chillies and shredded chicken. Bake until golden and bubbly. Spoon salsa over top before serving.

Autumn Squash Soup with Sage

Autumn is such a cool time to be a cook. Pretty much no matter where you live in the States, there are seasonal foods to be found; more obviously found than in other months, anyway. 

Pumpkins are an incredibly under-utilized vegetable here in the States. In Europe, the squash are found in endless savory dishes this time of year in restaurants and in home kitchens. In fact, it is rather unusual to find pumpkin in a sweet dish across the pond. 

Last year at Thanksgiving time, being the only Americans in our little, English village I felt it my duty to bring some pumpkin pies into my daughter's 4th grade class. Not one of the 27 children had ever heard of using pumpkin in a pie. Some had had it in entrees when they had traveled to Italy, France or Spain on holiday, but none had eaten it as a dessert; and none of the children wanted to that day, either.

Lucky for me, English school teachers are extremely strict (Pink Floyd's, Another Brick in the Wall, was really not that far off), the class teacher insisted that every child try the pumpkin pie. 20 of the children loved it, 3 felt ambivalent, and 4 spat it out. 

I took those ratios as a compliment.

So, taking a cue from the Europeans, I developed this recipe for pumpkin and acorn squash soup. It is not at all sweet, rather savory and velvety. The Pecorino croutons add so much to the final dish-- they are most definitely worth making.

Soup

1 acorn squash, halved, seeds and stringy membrane scooped out, flesh and skin cut into cubes

1 pie pumpkin (small pumpkin, about the same size as the acorn squash), processed as above

1 large yellow onion, peeled and halved

1 head garlic, top cut off to expose some of the cloves

Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

1 and 1/2 quarts (1 and 1/2 litres) chicken or vegetable stock

8 leaves fresh sage

Sea salt to taste

Heavy cream (optional)

Croutons

1/2 baguette (preferably a day old)

EVOO

Grated Pecorino cheese, or Parmesan

Cayenne pepper

Popcorn or fine salt

Pre-heat oven to 375F (190C). Scatter the squash, pumpkin, onion and head of garlic, skin side down across a baking tray and drizzle over EVOO.

Bake for about 45 minutes, until fairly soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then peel the skins off. Toss the cooked vegetables into a soup pot with the stock and bring to a simmer.

 Chuck the sage leaves into the soup (you don't need to tie them together, I just thought was a pretty shot). Simmer all-together for 20 minutes, then puree with an immersion blender (or transfer to a blender and puree).

While the soup is simmering, cut the old bread up into small squares and toss with EVOO, cheese, cayenne and a bit of salt. Bake in that hot 375F oven for about 10 minutes, then toss and continue to bake for 5 minutes more.

Just before serving, drizzle some heavy cream on top (of you like), place a few croutons strategically in a spot and serve hot.

Makes 2 quarts (2 litres), serves 6

Cheese Pennies, aka: 'the crackers I can no longer bake'

I have friends who love to bake but rarely bake the sweets the adore, because they will eat them. All. And I never really understood this. Not having much of a sweet tooth, I couldn't figure out why just one bite of a rich, fudgey brownie or a sliver-thin slice of Keylime pie wouldn't be enough to satiate them. It would be for me.
I began to realize the ignorance of that train-wreck of thought yesterday after I baked up a batch of Cheese Pennies. Pulled warm from the oven, these little devils are crisp on the edges, flakey on the top and soft in the middle. Bursting at the seems with tangy cheese flavor, these guys are tiny but mighty. 
One batch makes about 7 dozen pennies. As the moon rose high in the sky over my house last night, I was closing in on finishing my 5th dozen. 
I now have a deeper understanding of exactly why my friends who love to bake and love to eat sweets, have certain desserts that are off limits. I've found my match in a cheese penny.

I've got two recipes here: The first is for the classic cheddar cheese penny, the second is for a more unusual type of penny. I call it the Gruyere cheese penny (Gruyere being the mac daddy of all Swiss cheeses). I used aged Gruyere (pricy, but worth it) and a secret ingredient, onion soup mix. Okay, I admit this is not a cracker for food snobs, but it is a delicious cracker. It's got hint of French onion soup. Friends who tried both cheese pennies unanimously liked the Gruyere best.


Easy to make up a batch, stash the raw dough-logs in the freezer, retrieving them when friends of family come around. They bake in a jiffy (and yes, I do realize how dated the term, 'jiffy' is. It just seemed to fit.)


Cheddar Cheese Pennies
8 oz (225 grams) very sharp cheddar cheese, cut into chunks
1 cup (125 grams) flour
1 stick/half cup (113 grams) cold butter, cut into chunks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (for very slight heat, 1/4 teaspoon for serious spice)

1) Place the cheese into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it is grated up, probably 4-6 pulses. Do not over-work the cheese. Add in everything else and pulse until it pulls into large crumbles-- this happens quickly.

2) Turn the dough crumbles out onto a clean work surface and smash into 2 balls, then roll, with your hands into a rough log shapes. Place it in some wax paper (grease-proof paper, for my friends in the UK) and roll neatly into logs about 2" (4 cm) in diameter. If baking soon, place the logs into the freezer for 30 minutes. If baking within 24 hours, stash in the refrigerator. If baking in the next 3 months, stack in the fridge, but stick the logs into a freezer bag first, to avoid freezer burn. Allow frozen logs to thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes before slicing.

3) To bake: pre heat the oven to 400F (200C). Slice the logs into 1cm, slices and lay on a non-greased baking tray. they can be close together, as they will not spread much. Bake for 12 minutes, until they are just crisp on the edges, but still soft in the middle. Cool and eat. All of them. At once. If you manage to have any left over, make sure to keep them in an airtight container.

Gruyere Cheese Pennies (or, French Onion Soup Pennies)
Make these in the exact same way as above, omitting the salt and cayenne, and adding in 1/2 packet of dry onion soup mix (hey Brits! You can use 1/2 a beef bouillon cube, crumbled and 1 dessert spoon of dried onions), also depending on how dry the Gruyere is, you may need to add a tablespoon (dessert spoon) of water to bring the dough together. Carry on with the recipes as above.


Makes 7 dozen

Tomato Concasse

Sitting on a terrace in Marbella, Spain, in the Costa del Sole, looking out over the Straights of Gibraltar across to Africa, I tucked into a plate of Serrano ham and a spoonful of extremely simple, and heart-stoppingly ripe tomato concasse. No garlic, no onion, no flourish of herbs; Just this, the most beautifully cured ham and the ripest, sweetest tomato I had ever tasted. 
It was a moment in time that I will never forget. 
It was truly magic.


Tomato Concasse (con-ka-say) is a fancy way of saying 'chopped tomatoes'. It is a bit more involved than simply chopping a ripe tomato, and in most cases I like to skip steps and keep things simple, but on some occasions, it is nice to have a perfectly diced, ripe tomato without a hint of skin or seeds.

Here's how you do it:

Take a ripe tomato


















Score, (shallow slice) an X in the bottom (the end opposite the stem)

Now, get a big pot of water boiling. As soon as the water is boiling, chuck the tomato into the water and let it simmer there for just a minute or two, until the skin starts to peel off. As soon as that happens, pull the tomato out of the boiling water and plunge it into ice water

Now, peel the skin off, slice the tomato in half and scoop the seeds out. Slice what remains into strips, then cut those strips into small dice. That's tomato concasse. I like to sprinkle with the tiniest bit of sea salt and drizzle some fruity extra virgin olive oil over (this is when expensive olive oil is worth it).

Lunch today: Country ham, sauteed with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and topped with tomato concasse.

Japanese Ginger Salad Dressing

When I turned 16 years old, my parents told me that I could take my five best buddies out for dinner at a nice restaurant of my choosing. My favourite restaurant at the time (and still a fun place to go on occasion today) was the Japanese Teppanaki restaurant in our city, The Japanese Steak House. I loved the drama of sitting around the chef as he chopped, diced and tossed our dinner ingredients in the air before stir-frying them alongside a volcanic, fire-spitting onion. 
It was magical.
And delicious.

Eating in that Japanese Steakhouse was a rare treat, and one that I coveted. Although the food served there was a far cry from authentic Japanese food, (sort of what Taco Bell is to Mexican cuisine), it introduced my teenage taste-buds to Japanese flavours, (soy sauce, ginger root, miso paste, to name a few) and lead the way for my life-long interest and love of all foods Japanese.


The first Japanese food revelation I had at the Steak House was the salad dressing. It was not creamy, but it was thick. It wasn't vinegary, but had an acidic bite. It was fresh and light and I always ordered a salad when eating there. 


I still love that dressing, and today and finally got  around to figuring it out. It couldn't be easier to make at home-- if you've got a blender, you are set. A food processor or immersion blender work great, too.


1/2 vidallia onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup ginger root, peeled and chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 small clove garlic, peeled, chopped
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon good quality soy sauce (I like Kikkoman)
2 tablespoons ketchup
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup rice vinegar (or cider vinegar)
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt flakes (less if using fine salt)
1/4 teaspoon wasabi (optional)

1) Place everything in a blender and puree. Stash in the refrigerator until ready to use. Keeps for at least 4 days. Makes about 1 cup.

Summer Lemon Potato Salad

  Visiting my folks in Cape Cod, our first night my mom served up steamed lobster and this delicious lemon potato salad. 'The recipe's from a magazine,' she told me sheepishly. 'Which magazine?' I asked, as I watched her chopping, simmering, tossing and stirring-- paying no attention to quantities, not written recipe in sight. 'I don't know. An old one...' she trailed off as she diced stalk after stalk of celery. She stuck her finger into the dressing, tasted it and adjusted the salt, then she mixed it all together and let me try it. It was sublime (and that's saying something for a potato salad). The lemon is in no way over-powering, it's actually quick subtle. This is perfect to serve with summer grilled seafood or chicken.



4 pounds salad potatoes, halves, if necessary to make them a uniform size
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Zest of 1 and 1/2 lemons, chopped fine
1/4 cup chopped, fresh chives
1 cup Hellmann's mayo (lite or regular)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
5-7 stalks celery, chopped

1) Place the potatoes into a pot of cool, salted water, cover and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are just tender. Drain in a colander in the sink and immediately squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon over the potatoes. Allow them to cool completely there in the colander.

2) Make the dressing: Mix together the chives, mayo, sugar, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning, if you like. Toss the dressing with the cooled potatoes and chopped celery. Stash in the fridge until ice cold and ready to serve.

Soupe au Pistou

We are all familiar with pesto, right? Okay, well pistou is simply the French equivalent. It is fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, cheese and tomato (there's the difference) mashed together, classically in a mortar and pestle, or whizzed up in a food processor. Soupe au pistou is French vegetable soup with a dollop of pistou dropped into the soup just before serving. It is garlicky, herby and marvelous.

Pistou
1 medium clove garlic, peeled
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium tomato (slightly smaller than a tennis ball), halved, the seeds/goo squeezed out, chopped
1 big handful of fresh basil leaves
3 ounces (100 grams) hard, aged cheese, like Mimolette or Old Amsterdam, grated
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Mash the garlic with the salt in a mortar and pestle. Add in the tomato chunks and mash. Drain off any accumulated liquid, add in the basil and continue mashing. Last, add in the grated cheese and oil and combine. Can be made up to 2 days ahead and stashed in the refrigerator.



Soupe
8 cups vegetable stock
2 small leeks, using only the tender white to light green bit, chop and wash
1/2 cup chopped fennel bulb (including fronds, if you like-- pretty!)
1/2 cup chopped, peeled potato
3/4 cup fresh peas (or thawed frozen)
1 small zucchini, trimmed and chopped
1 tin cannellini or navy beans, drained

Shlamp the stock and leeks into a soup pot and bring to a simmer. Cook gently for 15 minutes, then add the fennel and potato chunks. Cook 10 minutes, then add in the peas, zucchini and beans. Bring to a simmer then cook for about 3 minutes, so that the peas are tender but still bright green. Serve up in pretty bowls with a dollop of pistou on top and some crusty bread on the side.

Makes 4 entree size servings

ANZAC Biscuits

 My littlest girls’ nursery school class is studying Australia this week. When I was in nursery school at the YWCA in New Jersey, I am sure that we did little more than sit on our carpet squares listening to stories read aloud, and play in the sand/litter box. I remember loving it, until the day that my sweetheart, Joey, threw sand in my face.

I cook with the twins’ class every Monday morning and thought about tying Australia in with our baking exercise. After a brief snoop around Google I came up with ANZAC biscuits. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and these little biscuits (or cookies, as we Americans would say) are said to have been by sent to soldiers by their wives during WWI. After reading that one of the reasons ANZAC biscuits were so treasured by army wives was that the cookies lasted months before spoiling, I wasn’t expecting much in the way of flavor.

I was totally wrong—they are delicious—like a simple, satisfying oatmeal cookie. And they are so easy to make, my ten year old made a batch by herself.

ANZAC biscuits are lovely on their own, but are also perfect with a cup of tea or coffee for dunking.

1 cup plain flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup light, soft brown sugar
½ cup shredded coconut
125 grams butter (1 stick)
2 tablespoons golden syrup (honey in the States)
3 tablespoons water
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

1) Pre-heat the oven to 160C (325F). Mix the flour, oats, sugar and coconut together.

2) Melt the butter then stir in the golden syrup (or honey), water and bicarbonate of soda (baking powder). Mix this into the dry until a stiff dough forms.

3) Grease a baking tray. Roll the dough into walnut size balls—you should come up with about 24. Place them on the baking tray and bake for exactly 12 minutes.

The Serendipitous Salad

It occurred to me in the autumn of 1984, as I spilled my third heaving ladle of Ranch dressing over my DIY fast-food salad (made up primarily of grated cheddar cheese, croutons, sunflower seeds, raw mushrooms, a wee bit of shredded lettuce and a dollop of chocolate pudding—not kidding), that maybe salads, regardless of what my mother told me, maybe sometimes salads were not the healthiest option—at least the salads my 16 year old self made.

I have had rocky relationship with salads ever since. In the ‘90s, skinny reporters spoke about the health threat of full-fat salad dressings. They said that you might as well eat a brownie a la mode, if considering a green salad topped with a creamy dressing. Blasphemy! Ranch, blue cheese or creamy Caesar dressings were the only aspect of a salad worth eating, I lamented.

So, I have struggled with how to prepare salads that are tasty, satisfying and  healthy for years... Okay, maybe ‘struggled’ is a bit dramatic; I just thought about it a lot. I tried making dressings that were low in fat and on occasion succeeded, but more often failed.

But my approach was all wrong. I was looking at what to put on the salad, rather than what to put in it. Dressings are important, for sure, but if the salad is a melange of textures and flavours, utilizing raw and cooked foods—the dressings can be used sparingly (thus adding less fat).

Then, I had an epiphany: Sweet Pea Paste. You heard me, sweet pea paste. Its nothing more than fresh peas (frozen will do, too), simmered in vegetable broth for mere moments, then whizzed up in a blender or food processor with some of the broth and a bit of extra virgin olive oil and fresh mint. Smear this on the plate, before piling the salad on, and it creates this surprise taste and texture element that catapults even the most mundane of tossed greens into the flavour stratosphere. Add in some toasted pumpkin seeds and ribbons of grilled courgette (zucchini) to the salad and you will see salads in a whole new lite (misspelling intended). 

 Sweet Pea Paste also makes a fabulous sandwich spread—just had it for lunch, spread on a crunchy roll with grilled chicken, fresh cracked black pepper and cucumber slices. Heaven.

Sweet Pea Paste

1 cup fresh peas (or frozen and thawed)
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 large mint leaves


Simmer the peas in the vegetable broth for about 2-3 minutes, until just cooked, but still bright green. Drain the peas, catching 2 tablespoons of broth-- Drink the rest like soup (yum!). Puree the cooked peas, 2 tablespoons broth, 1 tablespoon olive oil and  mint leaves. Add salt if needed. 
Makes 1/2 cup paste. Store in the fridge. Keeps up to 5 days.

Chickpea Curry with Lime Pickle

I am key-razy about lime pickle! Spicy, salty and sour- it is a great condiment served simply along side of grilled fish, but incorporated into a dish, like a curry and its affects are transformative. If you like the salty/sour/bitter taste of North African preserved lemon, you will love this. 


This dish takes mere minutes to make and is vegan.

1 tin (400 grams or 14 ounces) chickpeas, drained
1 tin (same size) chopped tomatoes
1 fat inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped fine
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon curry powder (mild or hot, as you like)
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
Crushed red pepper flakes to taste (I like heat and used about 1/2 teaspoon)
1/4 cup store bought lime pickle (in every UK supermarket, many specialty markets in the US, and all Indian markets world wide)
1/2 tin (400 gram, 14 ounces) light coconut milk
4 green onions (spring onions), chopped and/or a handful of chopped, fresh coriander (cilantro)

1) Throw everything except the coconut milk and chopped green onion into a small soup pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Allow to cook uncovered for 10-15 minutes, then add in the coconut milk and green onions (and coriander, if using), stir and allow to simmer gently for just 5 minutes. Serve over rice.

Makes enough curry as a main course for two people, or 4 as a side dish.

Italian Baked Eggs with Mozzarella and Prosciutto

I rediscovered The Talisman Italian Cookbook on my kitchen bookshelf a few days ago. It is a classic Italian cookbook; full of simple, gorgeous recipes. Many of the recipes are not obviously Italian (read: tomatoes, oregano, olive oil, etc), but all sound like something an Italian Nonna would prepare for her grandchildren. 
I have yet to get past the section on 'eggs', which inspired this recipe. This takes 'baked eggs' to new gastronomic heights and made a tasty, simple supper.

Extra virgin olive oil or butter
1 Pound cooked potatoes-- cube shape work best, but slices are fine (good for using up left-overs)
1 Ball fresh mozzarella, buffalo or cow's milk
4 Thin slices prosciutto (optional)
4 Large, fresh eggs
1-2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper

1) Preheat the oven to 200C (400F). Grease a small, shallow baking dish with olive oil or butter and layer in the potatoes- season with salt and pepper. Shred the mozzarella by hand and scatter over the potatoes. Wrap each prosciutto piece into a small nest shape and place equal distance apart in the baking dish (if not using prosciutto, make slight indents in the potatoes.) Now crack the eggs into each 'nest', season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle over the Parmesan. Bake, uncovered for 15-20 minutes (15 will have runny yolks, 20 minutes will be hard cooked). Serve with Oven Roasted Tomato and Garlic Sauce.

Serves 2-4