On Learning How Not To Eat Well

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The chalkboard pretty much says it all, except Kory forgot to add:  Baked Potato Skins, which had lots of cheese and bacon on them.

It was all homemade, and all really tasty, but probably the most unhealthy meal I’ve cooked, maybe ever.  True, the kids ate their vegetables first, and I ate most of the potato skins, and Ella ate most of the fried chicken, and Finn feasted on the Pigs in Blankets, and Kory, well, he ate some of everything.  No one ate the potatoes which were there just by virtue of being what was scooped out of the skins. Dessert, they foraged for, and I honestly forget what they found in the pantry.

I’d make it all again, just not all together.  Recipes after the photo.

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Pigs in Blankets

  • Hot dogs, cut in half.  If you buy the Niman Ranch or TJ uncured “all natural” varieties, you can feel a little less guilty. If you like a good hot dog, you’ll love these brands.
  • Frozen puff pastry
  • Pizza cutter. Pastry brush.

Cut the hot dogs in half.  Let the pastry sit out until you can work with it, then flour both sides.  Cut one sheet of pastry in half, and roll out each half a little bit.  Starting at the end closest to you, roll one hot dog snugly in pastry.  Cut the pastry and using the pastry brush slightly wet the edge so it sticks when you fold it up.  Place the finished pig-in-a-blanket carefully on your baking tray.  Continue until all the dogs are wrapped. Bake at 425 degrees until the pastry is golden brown.

These qualify as cute food. Serve them with little pots of ketchup, or mustard, or honey mustard, which you can easily make by mixing a hot mustard with a good honey, to taste (but you’ll need more honey than you think).

Fried Chicken

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon salt

black pepper

cayenne pepper, to taste

1 quart buttermilk

Chicken parts. Use what you like, but I find that legs and boneless thighs and cut up boneless breasts are the best.

Peanut oil

1. Soak the chicken overnight in the buttermilk.

2.  The day of cooking, in a large paper bag, mix flour. salt, black pepper, cayenne. Give it a good shake.

3.  Place the chicken, a few pieces at a time, into the flour and give it a few good shakes so the chicken is thoroughly coated.

4. Heat the oil to 350 degrees F. It’s really, really important that the oil be neither too hot nor too cold. Get an instant read thermometer.  Technically, I pan fry my chicken, meaning the oil just barely covers the chicken.  But I do use a deep pasta pot instead of a pan to minimize splatter and clean up mess.

5. Carefully place the chicken in the pan and be very careful not to crowd the chicken.

6.   As the chicken starts to brown, turn it over so it browns evenly on both sides.  The chicken will be done when it reaches a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees, but it is also true that you will hear a change in how the oil sounds when the chicken is done.  This part is a little artful and might take some time.  I have had very, very bad luck trying to fry thighs and breasts that are not deboned, so I don’t recommend them.

7. Continue to fry in batches, placing the cooked chicken on racks or a paper bag to drain.

Comforting Soup for a Sick Day

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by Caroline

This is the time of year when we get sick. Whether it’s the weather (cold mornings and nights sandwiching hot afternoons) or our busy schedules, February always seems to be when this household is put on hold by illness. Lately, my son Ben has been suffering it all: first strep throat, then a vomiting bug, now a cold. He hasn’t been interested in eating, particularly, and he’s wistful about that; the other day, he pulled out Pretend Soup, Mollie Katzen’s classic cookbook for kids, and asked me to read him some of his favorite recipes: french toast; berry dip and roll; oatmeal surprise. I promised I’d make him whatever he wants when he’s interested in food again, and he’s taking his time to think about it.

In the meantime, I’m posting the recipe for what I want when I’m sick, my husband Tony’s hot and sour soup (followed, I have to admit, by a big piece of chocolate cake; de gustibus, right? I’ll post that recipe another day.)

Hot & Sour Soup

3-4 carrots, cut into matchsticks (or you can cut thin curls of carrot into the soup with a vegetable peeler)
1 lb. tofu, medium firm, cut into 1/2 cubes
2 quarts stock
7 Tbsp. soy sauce
7 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
fresh ground black pepper to taste (I think I use maybe a teaspoon or so)
ginger (optional, just a touch of fresh grated or slivered super thin, or ginger extract/juice, to taste)
scallions or cilantro to garnish (optional)

Drain/blot the tofu briefly.

Dump the stock, the soy sauce and vinegar into a good-sized soup pot. At this point, I cube the tofu and put it in.

Add the pepper to taste. Add ginger, if using.

Simmer for about 10 minutes or so, until the carrots soften a little but still retain some firmness.

Mix cornstarch in a cup with a few tablespoons of water. Add about a third of this mixture to the soup, and stir it in. Give it 30 seconds or so to thicken the soup a bit. Repeat as desired until you reach your desired thickness. You’ll often find this super thick in restaurants, others like it thin. One advantage of a thicker version is that it “suspends” the black pepper much more readily and you don’t simply end up with a pile of pepper at the bottom of the pot.

Garnish with super finely-chopped cilantro, scallion or chives.

Mini-Meals, or You Really Don’t Have to Go to McDonald’s

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by Lisa

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It’s no secret. Kids love little things, things that are their size, things that are cute.  If you’ve ever used a bento box for your child’s lunch, or become addicted to these accessories, you know exactly what I mean.  There was a period whenever we served Finn something miniature he would take one look at it and exclaim, “THAT JUST MY SIZE!” in his high-pitched-slightly-startled-little-boy voice.  And he would gobble it up.

Some of you readers might know from elsewhere that Finn and I have developed something of an obsession with the Big City Slider, the newest promotional venture of maniancal but oh-so-convincing adman Billy Mays. Basically, it’s a nonstick pan that allows you to make at once, 5 sliders or fried eggs or crabcakes or, as Finn claims, “Any kind of CIRCLE FOOD in JUST ONE MINUTE!” It is quite a nifty and totally unnecessary gadget.  Yeah, it’s stupid.  But I still want one.

This ad, (which I should note, Finn saw independently of me on Nick, Jr., and then made me watch because it is just “really, really cool thing on TV”), merged in my head with the ad on the side of a bus a few days prior for Mini Meals at McDonald’s (& no, I will not link that one), and got me remembering an old standby that I hadn’t made in a while for Seared Steak Tartare Burgers with Caesar Salad. The original recipe was in Food & Wine.

These are adorable little mini burgers, highly seasoned, eaten over a freshly dressed caesar salad  with croutons, or in our house, grilled slices of  Italian bread. They’re really cute, and delicious. Ella ate three. Finn ate two 1/2. Kory & I ate one each.  They have a lot of ingredients, but are not too difficult once  you get everything organized. Also, if you  don’t have time to make the full, fresh Caesar dressing, I’ve provided a quick recipe for an alternative that you can make on any busy weeknight. Also, these freeze really well, either before or after cooking, so if your kids don’t hog the pog, you might even have leftovers for lunch.

Seared Steak Tartare Burgers on Caesar Salad

4 servings

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

¼ pound baguette, crust removed, bread cut into ½ inch dice (1 cup)

1 large egg

10 anchovy fillets

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 small garlic clove

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt & freshly ground pepper

¼ red onion, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons capers, drained

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

¾ teaspoon hot sauce

1 pound ground lean top round or sirloin

2 teaspoons canola oil

½ pound romaine lettuce, torn into bite size pieces (8 cups)

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet. When the foam subsides, add the diced baguette in an even layer. Cook over moderate heat until browned on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Stir and cook until evenly browned and crisp, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer to a plate. NOTE: I very rarely make these croutons, and substitue instead slices of Italian bread, brushed with olive oil and grilled, then topped with a crunchy salt.

2. Cook the egg in boiling water for 2 ½ minutes; drain, then scoop the egg out of the shell into a blender. Add 6 of the anchovies, the lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, 1 teaspoon of mustard and 1 teaspoon of the Worcestershire sauce. Slowly add the olive oil and blend at medium-low speed until it is incorporated and the mixture is creamy. Pour the dressing into a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. (Or into a small jar that you can save it in. The recipe says you can save this for 2 days.)

3. In a food processor, finely chop the 4 remaining anchovies with the onion, capers, parsley, and horseradish. (If you don’t have a food processor, it’s possible to chop it finely on a cutting board.) Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of mustard, 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce, the hot sauce and ground beef and mix well. Form the meat into 12 patties and season them with salt and pepper. (They are much better small—plus they cook faster.)

4.Heat 1 tablespoon of the canola oil in a large heavy skillet. Add 6 of the burgers and cook over high heat for about 1 minute on each side for rare, and about 30 seconds longer on each side for medium rare. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining 1 teaspoon of canola oil and 6 burgers.  NOTE: I cook these often without oil on a non-stick stovetop grill. I’ve also done them, very carefully, on an outdoor grill.

5. In a large bowl, combine the romaine lettuce with ½ cup of the dressing and the croutons and toss to coat. Mound the salad on plates and set 3 burgers on each salad. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the salads and serve.

Quick Caesar Salad Dressing

In a mortar a pestle, grind a clove of garlic with coarse salt.

Add an anchovy or two, grind that up.

Add the juice of 1/2 a lemon, or Meyer lemon.

Keep grinding.

Slowly stir in olive oil to taste.

If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, get one.  Or if you really can’t see the need, just chop the garlic and anchovy finely.  But that’s a messier, smellier technique, and not quite so good for getting out the end-of-the-day aggression.

Roasted Red Pepper, Tomato and Lentil Soup

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by Caroline

aka, best creamless cream of tomato soup ever.

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We’re having an unusually dry winter in San Francisco, and although I love the sunny days, I worry about the deepening drought. It affects my cooking, too, since a drier, sunnier winter also means I’m doing less roasting and soup-making. But today was a good, cold, wintery day and it was time to try a new soup recipe, which I’ve adapted from Sunset magazine (an excellent source for creative recipes, by the way). The original recipe is a play on cream of tomato soup, so calls for dry milk powder. I left it out (in deference to my vegan niece), and I can’t say we missed it — the soup is incredibly creamy and delicious. Even said niece (who doesn’t care for onions or red peppers) loved the soup. We served it with a tossed green salad and some crusty bread for a perfect winter supper.

2 T olive oil
2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 t salt
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 t paprika (we have some nice smoked paprika, but any will do)
1/2 cup hulled red lentils, picked over (sometimes a pebble or two will sneak in with the lentils) and rinsed
4 large roasted red peppers
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
about 1 1/3 cups broth or water
1 T red-wine vinegar
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted (if you happen to have Marcona almonds, so much the better)

Warm olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and salt and stir to combine. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are very soft, 5 to 10 minutes; reduce heat, if necessary, to keep onions from browning.

Add garlic and cook, uncovered, until soft, about 3 minutes. Stir in paprika and cook another minute. Add lentils, peppers, tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to maintain a steady simmer, cover, and cook until lentils are extremely soft, about 30 minutes.

Puree soup in a blender in 2-3 batches. Return to the soup pot and add vinegar and salt to taste; add a little more broth if soup seems too thick.

Serve topped with a sprinkle of almonds.

My Best Roast Chicken

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by Lisa

(update 12:14 PM/PST, because I forgot about the zest….)

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Some things are born not so much of necessity but of the inspiration from what you have on hand.  I roast a lot on winter weekends: chicken,  pot roasts, braised pork butt.  I discovered a few years ago that to my very great surprise, I was  good at it, and with a little thought and prep time, one could turn out a really great meal that made the house smell terrific and also feed a small army or provide great leftovers for a rushed night later in the week.

Last weekend, I had a chicken to roast, but wanted to do something new.  One of the standards, of course, is to stuff the cavity with lemon, then rub the skin with salt and an herb butter, often thyme or rosemary.  I’ll often finish with paprika, because it adds great color, and a squeeze of lemon juice for extra browning.  Good, right?  But something was restless in my culinary subconscious, and while we have abundant lemons on our tree right now, it was our bountiful orange tree, right outside our door that called to me.   I decided, I would substitute citrus and herb and mix it up (exciting, huh?) and make an Orange Oregano Roast Chicken, because that’s what we had growing in our garden.

It was easily and by far the best chicken I’ve ever made.  Even I was surprised by the result of my experiment.  And while roast chicken is not fancy, it can be a perfect and really delicious family meal.  And if you want to do a themed, seasonal, citrus meal, you can try the blood orange tart posted over on Smitten Kitchen.

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If you do eat chicken, please make sure to buy a chicken that is organic, free range, and comes from a farm where you know exactly what the conditions are for the birds. If you’re not careful about how you source your chicken, you really do run the risk of supporting a farm that does unspeakable things to birds.

Here’s what I did for a 4.25 lb chicken:

I had Kory bring me 2 large oranges while I cut a few long sprigs of oregano from our bush.

I cut one orange into 8 pieces. I zested the other.

I cut 1/2 a red onion into 4 small pieces (the better to wedge them into the chicken cavity).

I generously salted the chicken’s cavity.

I stuffed the cavity with several pieces of orange and the red onion, and several long sprigs  of oregano.

I carefully slipped my hand under the skin of the chicken and separated the skin from the meat with my hand. This is not hard to do, and is a technique we often use with turky.  I rubbed several tablespoons of softened butter (yes, it’s a lot of butter), all over the breast, thigh, & leg meat, and then rubbed the orange zest right over that into the butter.

I sprinkled dried oregano (also from our yard) all over the outside of the chicken.

I salted, generously, the skin (on the outside).

I squeezed a generous portion of orange juice from the fresh orange over the skin.

I trussed the chicken. For me, this is essential. I’m sort of neurotic about trussing & it gives me great satisfaction.

I placed around the chicken lots of quartered red and white onions, potatoes, and carrots.  These I salted, drizzled with olive oil, and few more  squeezes of orange juice.

I roasted at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, then turned the heat down to 375 and roasted for about an hour longer, until the juice from the cavity ran clear.

The chicken was done a little before the vegetables, so I removed it and let them roast a little longer.

Then I poured off the drippings, separated off the fat, and deglazed the roasting pan with a little bit of white wine, added back the drippings, about a 1/4 cup of water, and swirled in about a tablespoon of butter and, presto, a fast, delicious pan sauce.

While you’re carving, if the kids are clamoring treat them (or yourself if there aren’t kids in your house), to the tender nugget of meat on the bottom of the chicken.  You can just pop it out of the small cavity with your thumb. The two “oysters” are the best part of the bird, and it was great when we had only one kid top treat and I got to eat the second oyster. Oh well. Motherhood is about sacrifice, right?

But everyone loved the chicken proper, and it made a great pot pie later in the week.   Which is a post for another day.

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