This Is What REAL Food Looks Like!

In the Washington Post this weekend there was an article about dyes in food, and how the average American doesn't know what real foods look like without dyes being added.  Real tomato juice is brown,  and nothing on earth is the color of your lime green or purple yogurt.  That is a great reason to make a home made dinner tonight! 

Since Lent started we have gone meatless on Friday, and also on Tuesday because that is the day that we designated to be "cereal night" and donate what we normally would have spent to our favorite Thai NGO.  The more meals that you go meatless the less you miss meat at the table at all (although my husband is telling me that when I am at a conference next weekend he and the kids will be eating all of their meals at The Burger Joint...I think he's kidding).

Our most delicious veg meal was Friday, I made the easiest homemade bread and we had some stuffed baked tomatoes (Pomodori al Riso) from the Apron and Sneakers blog that were gone in record time.  I got the recipe for the bread from Culinary Chronicles on Tastespotting and it's so easy and requires only 15 minutes of rising for a dense, easy to slice and very very good bread.  The only "hard" part is the eight minutes of kneading, but I'm a wimp about kneading.


Simple Bread
Slightly adapted from Marcia Passos Duffy
Ingredients:
5-6 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons Dry Yeast
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Fresh Thyme (optional)
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
Sea Salt (optional)
2 Cups Hot Water (120-130 degrees F.)
A cake pan of hot water
Mix 3 cups of the flour with the yeast, sugar, thyme and salt.  Pour in the hot water and beat 100 strokes (or 3 minutes with a mixer).
Stir in the remaining flour until the dough loses its stickiness.  Turn onto a floured surface. Knead for 8 minutes.
Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a warm damp cloth.  Let rise for 15 minutes in a warm spot (away from drafts).
Punch down and divide the dough into two pieces.  Shape into round loaves and place on a greased baking sheet.  Cut an “X” one-half inch deep in each of the loaves with a wet sharp knife. Sprinkle the tops with sea salt.

Place baking sheet with loaves in the middle of a COLD oven.   Place a pan of hot water on the lowest shelf. Heat the oven to 400 degrees and bake 40-50 minutes until golden brown.

St. Patrick's Day

I am an Irish lass married to a very Irish man, with two little Irish looking kids, and no one in the house cares for corned beef and cabbage.  What are you going to do?

Tonight we are having grilled petite filet mignon and pesto pasta.  Even when you love to cook you have days where you had to bake 20 baked potatoes for the preschool baked potato bar St. Patrick's Day party, and then lost electricity to the house and were unable to open the garage door with the electric opener, reminding you that you left the house key in the house after giving it to the babysitter a few days ago... So when your electricity comes back on and you finally get back into your house you grill up a couple of FABULOUS steaks, and use Trader Joe's organic pasta and Whole Foods pesto, and throw some raw spinach salad and cold glasses of milk (or pints of Guinness!) and call it a meal.  Whew.

Homemade Ciabatta Bread

What's the best way to make up for a potato kale gratin disaster?  The next night make homemade ciabatta bread.  It smells so good, tastes like a million bucks, and is sure to impress even the pickiest little eater.  Tonight we are having one of my family's favorite dishes, A Sweet Pea Chef's Chicken Parmesan, and a big loaf of my ciabatta bread. 

I don't remember now where I got the recipe, it's been recopied about 5 times in my book I've made it so often.  Here's the crowd pleaser:

Ciabatta Bread

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 1/4 c. flour
• 2 1/2 tsp yeast

Mix the water, sugar and yeast and proof until creamy, about 5 minutes.  Mix flour and salt, add yeast mix and oil to flour.  Mix with dough hook for 5 minutes.  Dough will be wet, DO NOT ADD FLOUR! 

Scrape into a well greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap.  Rise 1 1/2-2 hours.  Flour surface, cut in half.  BE GENTLE!  DO NOT PUSH OUT AIR!  Put dough on parchment paper, stretch into a rectangle, and create dimples with your fingers.  Cover with a damp kitchen towel and rise another 45 minutes.  Preheat oven to 425 F., and cook 25-30 minutes.  YUM!

Is Kale REALLY The New Spinach?

We love spinach in our house, we have a raw spinach salad on the table almost every night, and we toss it in with all kinds of cooked dishes.  Its full of fiber, iron, and vitamins, and my kids already eat it, so maybe I shouldn't rock the boat.

Your kids aren't the only ones eating at family meals...every time I bring up a new kale recipe my husband grimaces and moans like he's just been stabbed.  And then, while watching a "Modern Family" episode that we had DVR'd last week, Mitchell comes home from the farmer's market and says, "Did you know that spinach is out?  Spinach is out and kale is in."  We thought that was hilarious and my husband was laughing, so I took that as implicit agreement that I could start throwing kale in everything.  I'm married to a lawyer, though, so I should have gotten it in writing.

Yesterday I saw a recipe on Tastespotting for a potato kale gratin with gruyere cheese, so I decided to try it.  I should have been more worried that it advertised that the kale would be an easy eat for a new eater because it was "smothered in cheese."  We aren't really smothered in cheese kind of people but I still felt that it would be a great recipe, and chose to make some wild Alaskan salmon as our main entree.  Needless to say, at this point in the story, it wasn't pretty.  The gratin kind of curdled and the kale turned a sickly color and the smell, my god, the smell.  I hurriedly threw together some egg noodles at the last minute.  Everyone (including my husband) took a polite adventurous bite of the gratin and then devoured the rest of the meal.

If you are going to teach your kids to be adventurous eaters, it usually means that you are going to be adventurous with your cooking and baking as well.  The best quality in an adventurous chef is to know when to throw a pan of water on for a backup side dish of egg noodles.  But I'm not finished with kale!  Stay tuned for some great recipes because I still have a refrigerator full of more kale.

Here are the spinach vs. kale stats.  I can't imagine kale will ever replace spinach in our diet, but it is awfully good for you:

Kale

Serving Size 1 cup, chopped (67g)
Calories 34	Calories from Fat 4

Hide Daily Values

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 0g		0%
	Saturated Fat 0g	0%
Cholesterol 0mg		0%
Sodium 29mg		1%
Total Carbohydrates 7g		2%
	Dietary Fiber 1g
Protein 2g

Vitamin A	206%	Vitamin C	134%
Calcium	9%	Iron	6%
Thiamin	5%	Riboflavin	5%
Niacin	3%	Pantothenic Acid	1%
Vitamin B6	9%	Potassium	9%
Phosphorus	4%	Magnesium	6%
Zinc	2%	Copper	10%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Spinach

serving size 1 cup
Calories 7	Calories from Fat 1

Hide Daily Values

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 0g		0%
	Saturated Fat 0g	0%
Cholesterol 0mg		0%
Sodium 24mg		1%
Total Carbohydrates 1g		0%
	Dietary Fiber 1g
Protein 1g

Vitamin A	56%	Vitamin C	14%
Calcium	3%	Iron	5%
Thiamin	2%	Riboflavin	3%
Niacin	1%	Vitamin B6	3%
Potassium	5%	Phosphorus	1%
Magnesium	6%	Zinc	1%
Copper	2%		%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Tikka Masala--in the Slow Cooker

I'm not an expert on Indian food, but I know what my family loves to eat and this dish is great!  It isn't too spicy, but can be spiced up on demand, and can cook away making your house smell like a great family dinner while you are off at work and school.  I'm really not trying to be the poster girl for the slow cooker, but it works so well for our family and family meals.

I've seen a lot of different recipes for this dish that were not for the slow cooker, and just took them and made them my own.  It is mostly adapted from America's Test Kitchen and Merryweather Mama.

Chicken Tikka Masala
serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1.5 pounds boneless/skinless chicken breast
• 1 tbsp fresh grated or minced ginger
• 2 tbsp minced or chopped garlic
• 1-2 red chilies, finely chopped (optional if you like a little heat)
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 tsp. ground coriander 
• 2 Tbsp. garam masala
• 3/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
• 3 tbsp evoo
• 1 large diced onion
• 2 tbsp tomato paste28-32 ounces San Marzano diced tomatoes
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

Mix the garlic, ginger, (chilies), mustard seeds, paprika, cumin, coriander, and garam masala in a bowl. Put half of this mixture in a large mixing bowl and set the rest aside.

Add the yogurt to the mixing bowl and mix it in with the spices and add in the chicken.  Marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Add the chicken and all the ingredients EXCEPT the cream to the slow cooker.  Cook on low 7-9 hours.  20 minutes before eating, use stick blender to blend in the cream, and cover and cook until dinner time.  Serve with Naan and basmati rice.  YUM!

What To Do With Israeli Couscous--Part 1

Well, the real question is, what CAN'T you do with Israeli Couscous!  It is such a versatile and delicious side dish, salad, or vegan entree.  Tonight we are having a wonderful and easy Israeli Couscous with roasted peanuts that I found on the blog Veggie Belly as a side dish for a roasted chicken and green baby spinach salad.   I changed the spice a little because I have found if you make a favorite spicy dish a little on the mild side for the first time kids try it, and then turn up the heat a little each subsequent time, then before long your picky eater is gobbling up a dish they never would have considered before.

Israeli Couscous with Roasted Peanuts

Couscous:
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup israeli couscous or pearl couscous, uncooked
Everything Else:
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
a few curry leaves, optional
2 green or dried red chillies (or according to taste), chopped.
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, crushed lightly
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
salt
Heat oil in a large non stick skillet. Add couscous. Stir the couscous on low heat till it turns color and becomes light brown. Add 2 cups water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover the skillet and simmer till all the water is absorbed, 5-7 minutes. Couscous should not be mushy.
While, couscous is cooking, take a wok, heat the oil and add cumin seeds. When they start to sizzle, add the curry leaves, and green or red chillies and cook for about 15 seconds. Add the cooked israeli couscous, peanuts, lemon juice and salt. Stir well. Turn off heat. Adjust lemon juice according to taste. Add cilantro. Serve warm.

It's Only Thursday Blueberry Poundcake

It's Thursday, it feels like it should be Friday, and my daughter comes home from preschool in the mood to "cook something."  She is my daughter.

I took out my copy of A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, which is my favorite memoir/recipe book ever, and knowing that we had a big carton of fresh blueberries took out her Blueberry-Raspberry Pound Cake recipe.  We only used blueberries, which we tossed the berries in confectioners sugar instead of flour, and creme de cassis instead of kirsch, but it was a fun afternoon with my youngest child, tossing around flour and butter and eventually getting a cake in the oven that smelled fabulous, and tasted even better tonight after dinner.

The recipe calls for a bundt pan, which I have used many times to make my Mother-In-Law's recipe for Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake.  It's a family favorite.  My daughter, Julia, immediately started recalling the last ten times we ate the chocolate cake.  I kept reminding her, between fishing around for the egg shell she had thrown in, that we weren't making chocolate cake this time, but instead a very good pound cake with blueberries.  When we put it in the oven and I turned on the oven light for her to take a peek she took a big inhalation of cake fumes and exclaimed, "I can't wait to see it turn into chocolate!"

Needless to say, at dessert tonight, no one even mentioned the Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake.

Ingredients:2 cups plus 8 Tbsp. cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
1 2/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups (10 ounces) unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. kirsch
1 cup blueberries, rinsed and dried well
1 cup raspberries, rinsed and dried well


1. Set an oven rack to the middle position, and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Butter a standard-sized 9-cup bundt pan and dust it with flour, shaking out any excess. (If your pan in nonstick, you can get away with a simple coating of cooking spray, no flour needed.)
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups plus 6 tablespoons flour, the baking powder and salt.
4. In the bowl of a food processor, blend eggs and sugar until thick and pale yellow, about 1 minute. Add butter and kirsch, and blend until the mixture is fluffy, about 1 minute, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl. If the mixture looks curdled, don’t worry. Add dry ingredients and process just to combine. Do not over mix. The batter should be thick and very smooth.
5. In a large bowl, toss berries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. Pour batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly across the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the cake’s center comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.
6. Transfer cake to a rack, and cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Carefully invert the cake out of the pan onto the rack, and cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.