Baked pumpkin “fondue” is as easy as pie.

+

+

+ some other ingredients

=

then it’s time for

and… ta-da

So, where have I been lately?

I have been filling forms with personal information at different locations at different times. You know how it goes…

One of the questions is “Occupation” and I’ve been trying different answers like Homemaker, CEO of Remodeling, and , more recently, I’ve been using “Keeps Changing”. So, this is what I’ve been up to lately.

Yes, also, during summer–we only had 1 month of summer this year, yikes!–I’ve been focused more on home, and family, and outdoor activities. I was on the go, go , go not to waste a moment of sunshine indoors. It was quite breathtaking.

Anywhoo……….. we got to fall-soon-to-be-winter time which is, you know, the perfect time to snuggle indoors and to make baked pumpkin stuffed with somethin’.

I love Melissa Clark’s (NY Times food writer) recipe in her cookbook “In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite “ because it’s vegetarian and it has wine and cream (Although I used less bread and only 1/2 the liquid “filling”, baked at lower temperature and…). I liked Tea & Cookies idea to add something green and so i have added kale since I figured the kids are not going to eat this stuffed, sweet, savory, creamy pumpkin anyway–leafy greens included or not–and this is what I have done:

Baked Pumpkin “Fondue”
Serves 4 to 6

2 thick slices of crusty, stale bread (any that you like with sauce-soaking abilities)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup white wine (anything you like to drink ‘cause the flavor will come through)
1/8 cup milk
1 garlic clove, peeled and smashed
3 fresh sage leaves, if you have it, or thyme (if you have it)
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus additional for the outside
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (3-4 pound) sugar pumpkin, washed and cleaned from the outside
a few kale leaves, washed, dried and sliced (without the “ribs”)
5 ounces grated Gruyère cheese (1¼ cups)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400°F and toast the bread until golden brown 5 to 7 (or do this in a toaster) then tear the bread to pieces.

In a medium saucepan. bring the cream, wine, milk, garlic, and sage to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes. Take the mixture off the heat and discard
the garlic and sage. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of salt, nutmeg, and pepper.
Cut the top off the pumpkin and scoop out the pulp and seeds like you do for Halloween. Set the pumpkin inside a baking dish/sheet/pan.

In a bowl, mix the bread, kale, and gruyere. Fill the pumpkin with this bread mix. Pour the cream mixture on top. Cover with the pumpkin lid.

With your hands, rub oil all over the outside of the pumpkin (don’t forget the bottom) and sprinkle on some salt.
Bake until the pumpkin’s skin blisters and the flesh is tender (test with a small pairing knife) about 1 hour to 1 ¼ hours. Allow to cool in the pan slightly. Slice to serve.

***

It’s been…… 4-5 years since the last time I made lasagna. So why all of a sudden did I make it now?

Recently, my kid was on a mid-winter break from school and I had continuous exposure to The Garfield Show and that did it! (In case you don’t know, Garfield is a fat, lazy cat who lives to eat and his favorite foods are pizza and lasagna.) After hearing “lasagna”, “lasagna”, “lasagna”, “lasagna”, “lasagna”, “lasagna”, “lasagna”, “lasagna”, “lasagna”, “lasan-ya”, “lasagnnnnnnnya”, repeatedly, over and over for days—it was like brain wash—I’ve just had it. “Must make lasagna!” “Must make lasagna!” is all I could think of.

Oh, and what’s the lasagna lesson? Don’t ever, ever make a lasagna recipe that has no Béchamel sauce in it!

Béchamel sauce is a milk sauce that is cooked and thickened by a roux (Cooked butter and flour). I’ve made several different recipes in the past years that didn’t include the sauce in the layers. Hmm, maybe that’s why I didn’t miss lasagna so much, now that I think about it… The béchamel makes the whole thing so much smoother and silkier. It’s really fantastic! I will never, ever make lasagna without béchamel again. Never, ever.

It might look like a a lot of work but it really isn’t.

The meat cooks in 10 minutes—not much effort there.

The ricotta only gets to be mixed with the eggs—easy peasy.

The marinara is store bought. Pfff.

The pasta doesn’t have to be cooked, only soaked in hot water for a few minutes to soften.

You layer them all,

and the dishwasher does the rest.

Ta-da. Lasagna, assembled ahead, ready to get baked later before dinner.

And here’s dinner…

Classic  lasagna

My recipe is based on this recipe by Giada De Laurentiis.

For a 13 x x9 inch pan; serves 8-10 people

Béchamel Sauce:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups whole or 2% milk
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
Black pepper
__

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound ground beef
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups (store-bought) tomato/marinara sauce
1 1/2 pounds ricotta cheese
3 large eggs
1 pound lasagna sheets, soaked in boiled, salted water for 2-3 minutes*
3 cups shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Béchamel sauce: In a 2-quart pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the milk and nutmeg, whisking constantly to prevent any lumps from forming. Continue to simmer and whisk over medium heat until the sauce is thick and creamy, about 10 minutes. (The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of wooden spoon.) Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (unless you plan to bake the lasagna later that day).

In a large sauté pan, heat extra-virgin olive oil, add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Cook the meat, breaking any lumps and continue to cook until it is browned and some of the juices had evaporated. Remove from heat and mix in the marinara sauce. Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, mix the ricotta and eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Assemble the lasagna:

Into the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch baking dish, spread 1/3 of the béchamel sauce.

Arrange the pasta sheets side by side, covering the bottom of the baking dish.

Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, 1/3 of the meat-marinara blend, spoon béchamel on top, and 1/3 shredded mozzarella. (Save the parmesan for the final, top layer.)

Arrange another layer of pasta sheets and repeat the other layers.

Arrange the final layer of pasta sheets and repeat with what’s left of all the layers, plus the Parmesan cheese.

Place the lasagna dish on a large baking sheet, put it in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden and bubbling.

NOTE:

You can assemble the lasagna ahead, cover and store in the fridge. If you do that, you might need to add 10-20 minutes to the cooking time.

* To soak the lasagna sheets: 1) do this in batches, not all at once, 2) drizzle some oil on a baking sheet, lay the softened, soaked pasta sheets on the greased baking sheet to prevent it from sticking.

A glorious blue morning*.

The greyish-blue hue on the white blinds pulled me outside with camera in hand to capture this photo.

Back in the kitchen, still wearing my PJ, I poured myself a cup of coffee and then filled a pot with water, enough to cover some chicken bones, leftovers from last night’s roasted chicken dinner.

Another pot of chicken stock was simmering on the stovetop.

Are you using store-bought stock/broth? Then read this: Invest in stock.

If you’re using a store-bought stock, I really really want you to give this a try, at least once, and make your own stock—invest in the stock! After you try and taste the difference, you’ll understand why I insist. And here are a few tips, just in case…

Time

*This works with the evening’s cup of coffee too. PJ included.

Whether morning or evening, simmer the stock for 1, 2, 3 hours—as much time as you have. We’re not making stock for the Culinary Institute—taking a shortcut is OK. The result would still be far superior to any store-bought brand.

If you work full-time, you can do this during the weekend, while drinking your coffee and flipping through the newspaper. (Who reads a newspaper in the morning these days?)

Chilling

If you’re not going to use the stock right away after it’s done, (Although if you start making stock when you’re drinking your morning coffee, it might be done in time for lunch), cool it and store in the fridge, or freeze it.

To cool the stock quickly, create an ice bath. Do not let it sit for hours outside the fridge to chill! Fill a clean sink with cold water and lots of ice, soak the pot in the ice bath and stir from time to time until the stock gets cold enough to store in the fridge.

Finding Nemo bones and carcasses

Chicken bones are getting hard to find in the stores. (I bet they use them to make pet food.) So when I find some, I buy as many as I can/enough to fill one pot.

If there’s none to be found at the store, what can you do? Roast a whole chicken and/or start a savings account, a.k.a “a collection”, of bones from the roasted chickens you cooked and store in the freezer until you have enough to invest in the stock.

Fat

Roasting the chicken, versus using it raw in the stock, is an added step but in the end it makes concocting a stock easier and just as fast because it saves you the fat skimming step.

See how much fat is accumulated:

(This is after I put the cooked carcasses in the pot and poured the fat into a big jar.)

You’d want to skim the fat or else you’ll have a too fatty stock.

As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing’s wrong with some fat rings twirling at the top of a soup/stock. I remember playing with the little rings of fat floating in my grandma’s chicken soup, trying to create one large circle of fat… Fascinating, really. But, ah, that happened a zillion years ago.

This fat is delicious to use instead of (on in addition to) butter or oil for frying food, in (bacon) mashed potatoes, etc. This is what our grandmas used to do—use the chicken fat. Well, at least mine did. They did not throw away food.

The mesh skimmer

To skim the fat that rises to the surface, use one of these fine mesh skimmers. Get one with really tiny holes. I’ve got one like that with teeny tiny holes that even hold the liquid-y fat! It’s marvelous.

However, if you roast the chicken or use leftover cooked chicken bones and scraps, you won’t have a lot of fat to skim.

… and by the time I finished this post, ta-da!, the stock was done!

What tips do you have up your sleeve?

My relationship with cabbage is a turbulent one: love, desire, neglect, forgetfulness, and then… It usually ends with a reunion.

Many times I walk by cabbages at the grocery store and I mostly ignore them. Only rarely do I reach my hand out to one lucky, lovely, leafy ball to take home with me.

And when I do, I usually forget it in the fridge for weeks, left alone at the bottom drawer, waiting for some affection and attention on my part.

But cabbage is a loyal vegetable. No matter how long I forget about its existence—ignored, it is waiting for me patiently next to the cilantro and parsley, and maybe a few lemons that go in and out of the drawer—it stays crunchy and fresh. It has hopes for better days.

I’ve had one waiting for at least 4 weeks. Yeah… I bought it at the beginning of September before my sister came to visit. I planned to make a cabbage salad for her. Didn’t happen. Oh, well…

I love a sturdy, crunchy cabbage, as well as a soft one sautéed in butter. Sometimes I toss it with pasta, or even better, pasta and Bolognese sauce! (Ooh, time to make Bolognese! It’s been a while.) But I was feeling lazy yesterday—yes, I know, again (See under: gnocchi)—and wanted something quick and easy. And sweet. Roasting is my favorite quick and easy method to cook which results in what I love, love, love, naturally sweetened, caramelized food! So there you have, roasted cabbage. Simple, easy, glistening, yummy.

***

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A year ago: Lamb with chickpeas, yogurt and pan-roasted veg, Beef Goulash, Leftovers: Roasted Chicken

Two years ago: How to make Shakshuka?, Figs with yogurt and honey, Foraged wild mushrooms soup, and more…

Roasted red cabbage

1 red cabbage, cut into 8 wedges and then medium diced
1/2 red onion, medium diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
a sprinkle of salt, pepper
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tablespoons of sugar

Preheat your oven to 375 F degrees.

Place all the ingredients, besides sugar, on a baking sheet and mix with your hands. Roast for for 20 minutes.

(This is when I tasted it and realized that my grandma always sprinkled a little bit of sugar on her cabbage.) Sprinkle sugar, mix well with a wooden spoon, and continue to roast for another 15-20 minutes (I switched to convection oven at this point because for an extra browning effect).

NOTE: I liked this best served warm or at room temperature.

Chicken with cream and tarragon… I believe I was a B.A student the last time I made this dish. Pheeeww, that was a long time ago!

How can it be that I let 10-15 years slip by without cooking this divine dish? Jeez.

I was cooking a lot of French and Italian dishes back then, my early years of cooking. I sure roasted and braised a lot of chickens back at that time too. One of the first cookbooks I bought at the university’s book store was dedicated to chicken recipes (no, no chicken desserts). I did not know how to handle any other type of meat or fish and chicken was easy. It also cost less and was pretty hard to screw up, especially the thighs—you can’t go wrong with chicken thighs. (Well, unless you are really, really “talented”, you know, the type that burns water.)

Back then I was living in a rented apartment with two roommates. It was a holiday and they went home to their families but I stayed. Luckily, I had some friends who stayed too so together we planned a potluck dinner party at my place—my apartment had a huge living room. We attached a few tables together, friends brought chairs from their homes, each person/couple (I was boyfriend-less) brought a dish to share and we had a fabulous time with good food and wine. We were all students, singles or married without kids, in our early twenties. We all struggled to work for a living and study after work, but we did find time to party. I remember the feeling I had at the time, at that dinner, I felt so free, and independent, and happy about living on my own, doing whatever I wanted, being responsible for my own choices—the essence of freedom.

These friends are long gone—some are no longer friends, some live far away (I moved!)—our friendships have faded. Some couples split or got divorced. We all moved on with our lives. But the chicken… the chicken will always be on my mind and the memories of those years and those friendships too.

So why have I made this cream and wine-braised chicken now?

I’ve been speaking of inspiration, and searching for it, and my tarragon plant has started growing faster in the past month. It was right there, under my nose, so pretty and fragrant. In my mind, tarragon will always be associated with that holiday dinner shared with friends in my then-rented students’ apartment.

I know that the plant will be dormant in winter (but, hopefully, will come back in summer. I took it back inside the house last winter with other herbs in pots) so I had to use it immediately.

It’s pretty amazing the effect that food and its aromas have; this power they posses to make me travel back in time. The first perfumed scents of the French tarragon—too unique to describe—made me feel… (10-15 years younger? Naaa) It simply reminded me of good times and the feeling of freedom I owned that magical weekend, sitting around a table with friends who appreciate good food, all laughing, smiling… Purely happy.

Chicken braised with cream and tarragon

Serves 6

5 whole chicken legs, separated to legs thighs
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lb. crimini mushrooms, washed, dried, and sliced
1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup heavy cream
3-4 sprigs of tarragon

Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Set aside.

Melt butter and olive oil in a big pot over medium-high heat. Sauté the mushrooms, onion, and garlic until they are golden brown. Remove to a plate.

Add more butter and oil to the pot, if needed, and fry the chicken, skin side down, until it browns. Using tongs, turn to the other side and cook to brown the second side.

Add the wine and shake the pot to release the brown bits that got stuck to the bottom. Return the mushroom-onion mix to the pot, add cream and the tarragon, and season with more salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Braise on the stovetop, with the lid on, over low heat for 45-60 minutes, or place in a 350 F degree oven (for the same amount of time).

Serve with a side dish that will absorb and complement the creamy sauce like potatoes, rice, or noodles, and/or leafy greens, like kale.

I must tell you about this stew.

Because even if you believe that you will never ever make it, you must know of its existence!!! And so, you will make a conscious, knowledgeable decision whether you make it or not.

I don’t want the responsibility lying on my shoulders knowing that (some of) you are walking around completely unaware of this stew.

Now, close your eyes and imagine this:

A Saturday morning (OK, it can be a Sunday too). You wake up in your warm bed with the fluffy down comforter covering you from ears to toes. The minute you wake up and regain your senses, a sweet honey, amber-like aroma amuses your nose. That sweet smell had penetrated every corner of your house, got absorbed in your pillow and your pajamas, and had sweetened your dreams while you were sleeping.

You get out of bed and put on your homey old robe on (You have one of those, right?!), and slip your feet inside your slippers, and then drag yourself to the kitchen to make coffee, or tea.

While you wait for the water to boil, you yawn as you lean against the countertop. You feel so happy and proud of yourself for loading a big pot, the night before, with beans, and potatoes, and meat, and eggs, and all kinds of good food, and putting it in the oven to slowly simmer overnight, letting the 15 hours of low heat take care of the rest…

In a few hours you will be able to enjoy this stew, this Cholent, for lunch. You have invited 14 guests but you don’t have to lift a finger.

You take a deep breath. You smile.

Ding. The button of your water kettle signals your morning coffee water had boiled.

You make coffee. You smile. You’re happy.

Now open your eyes.

And go get dressed! Your guests are arriving SOON.

Have you set the table the night before as well? Go, go go.

Do you really want to open the door when your guests arrive wearing that old robe?

(On second thought, it might be time to buy a new one.)

And, actually, I’m not sure that “stew” does this dish justice. It is plain “stew” if it has been cooking for… let’s see, it was placed in the oven at 10 PM and consumed at 1 PM the following day… That makes it… 15 hours, and it can be cooked even longer. So, I think a better word than “stew” should be applied to it. Any suggestions?

So, what is “Cholent”?

A quote from an article: “Just think of concoctions as the French cassoulet, Boston baked beans, chili con carne.” And I just want to add, “It can be all those combined!” So aren’t you convinced yet that you must try it?

I rest my case.

By the way, the article is fascinating and discusses the history, the tradition, the different ingredients and techniques, and so on of Cholent. Really interesting stuff! So go to this web page to read more about so I won’t have to reinvent the wheel all over again. Thanks.

***

It’s supposedly spring but the weather here is sort of crazy, and indecisive, and cooold, and rainy. Bottom line, it resembles winter more than it does spring. And I made Cholent only once this winter, so I thought, “Hey, why not? Here’s my second chance.” And there you have it.

Due to a full-day of food writing workshop – which I will tell you about in the next post – I had to send Suburban Cowboy to the grocery store the day before the Cholent making day.

Onions, garlic, prunes, potatoes, garbanzo beans, white beans, barley, chicken, beef, and barley.

Instead of barley he came back with… oats! And this is the second time this had happened! To his defense, he claims that the store put a label “Barely” under the oats’ container. But between us, we know, girls, it’s always the guys’ fault, right?! (Wink.) So there was no barley in this Cholent. So sad. It adds sweetness and chewiness to this dish.

And he didn’t soak the beans in the water because I wasn’t home to tell him and he didn’t read the recipe… So Junior and I had to go to the store that night and buy canned beans because a Cholent with no beans at all is just unthinkable.

And it still turned out great.

The guests licked their fingers.

Nah, no they didn’t. They’re too polite.

But I did get lots of compliments.

It also makes a great leftovers lunch the next day.

I packed leftovers for Suburban Cowboy’s lunch at work. My finger unintentionally touched the food and stuck to my finger as I filled the Pyrex container with the good stuff.

I licked it.

Oh, yes, I did.

Yum yum.

***

So, back to the morning after the night that you started the process.

You wake up in the morning, and after you’ve had your coffee, you take a peek to see how’s your Cholent is doing so far.

This is what it looked like at 9 AM (I’ve got lil’ kids, early birds, so I don’t get to sleep until 20 minutes before lunch time/the guests are coming. And I don’t have an old robe either. Just in case you wondered).

3-4 more hours to go.

From a closer look you can see how the potatoes, prunes, chicken, and beef pieces turned all brown. It’s a totally brown food.

But, oh, I wish you could smell it.

You’ll just have to make it if you want to smell it.

At 9 AM I added the canned beans and hard boiled eggs (I must have been really tired. There’s no other way to explain why I put the eggs in a separate pan. They should be placed in the pan with the rest of the ingredients.)

But it turned out just fine.

Finger-licking good.

And the smell… Oh. The neighbors knocked on my door and asked for some.

Nah, they didn’t.

They’re too polite.

***

Saturday Cholent

I hear you’re supposed to put the ingredients in a big, tall pot – not in a big, wide pan like I did – and then layer the ingredients on top of one another as follows: onions and garlic go in first, then the beans, then the potatoes, next the meat and chicken, and the eggs on top. Then you cover it with boiling water only to the potatoes’ height.

As for the eggs, some people just wash ‘em well before adding to the pot. I like to bring them to a boil, drain and rinse with clean water, and only then add to the pot. (Why? I don’t know… Maybe to be sure they are clean of bacteria, salmonella, and all those words we hear that scare me.)

As for the beans. Use any variety you like, or even better, use a few different kinds. Soak them in water a day ahead or, at the latest, the same morning you will be cooking them. Change the water 2-3 times.

I used to add marrow bones as well… Pre The crazy cow disease years… So sad.

As with old recipes, all possible variations, combinations, adaptations, and compilations develop through the years. Here’s how I usually do it. You can easily cut the amount in half or multiply by as many guests as you have, or the size of your pot.

As a general rule of thumb I estimate, per person: 1 chunk beef, 1 piece chicken, 1 small potato, 1/2 cup mixed beans, 1 egg.

Oh, and don’t forget the Challa…….

Start time: The night before the day you want to eat it
End time: Lunch time
Makes 12 servings + most likely, leftovers

extra virgin olive oil
2-3 onions, chopped large
1-2 tablespoons sugar
2 heads of garlic, cloves separated, left whole and unpeeled
2 lbs. beef chuck, cut into large cubes
12 chicken thighs or 20 chicken drumsticks
12 small potatoes, peeled
1 cup garbanzo beans, that was soaked in water
1 cup white beans, that was soaked in water
1 cup barley, that was soaked in water (unless your husband brought you OATS)
about 12 prunes
12 eggs
salt, black pepper

In a pot, or tea kettle, boil about 2 quarts of water.

In a big, tall pot (or big, wide pan), fry the onions with some oil over medium heat. Sprinkle sugar on top and cook, stirring from time to time, until it starts to soften. Throw in the garlic cloves and fry another 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

If you’re in the mood/have time, brown the meat cubes. If not, just add it to the pot. Season with salt and pepper.

Next, add the chicken, potatoes, beans, barley, and prunes. Season with salt and pepper.

Scatter the eggs at the top.

Add boiling water to about 3/4 of the height. Cover with a lid or with aluminum foil (the thick kind works best).

Bring everything to a boil.

Now you have 2 options:

1) Simmer on the stovetop for 45-60 minutes, or
2) Bake in an oven that was preheated to 350 F degrees for 45-60 minutes.

Next, set the oven temperature to 225 F degrees. Place the pot/pan in there, covered, and go to bed.

The next day, in the morning, check the level of liquids. If it’s too dry (which probably won’t happen), add more boiling water. If there’s too much water, makes holes in the foil, or open a crack with the lid, or remove it altogether so some of the water will evaporate and the sauce will thicken.

That’s pretty much it.

A very special dish for a very special day.

And don’t forget the Challa…

***

Other appealing recipes on the web:

Cholent by Claudia Roden

Another recipe to try on Epicurious by Joan Nathan

More about Cholent on Wikipedia

I was behind to join Twitter, behind with setting up a “fan” page on Facebook (mostly because I dislike to use the word “fan”, but do go and visit me there for updates, OK?), and then behind with making matzo balls… Technology-wise, I wonder, is it an age “thing” that I’m so behind? But matzo ball-wise? I have no excuse. In any case, I dismiss it all with a good old-fashioned defense technique for reasoning:“I had no time”. And besides, it might officially be spring, but looking out of my window I see gray sky, gray clouds, and every now and then a drop of rain. So, it’s never too late, right?!

We were invited to a Passover Seder at friends of friends’ house. That happened…… 3 weeks ago. Little Mr. Smarty Pants devoured the soup with soft and fluffy matzo balls floating in it. In fact, I think that besides a few matzos, and dessert (of course), this was the only thing he ate the whole night. I, personally, adopted the chopped chicken liver and wouldn’t let anyone else touch it. But I really liked the matzo balls’ soup too. A lot. With memories lingering and cravings developing, I wanted to make it and eat it and soon. Since I had lousy homemade chicken stock (2nd batch! Yippie! Ruhlman approved on Twitter!) it was a short way to achieving this goal. So, believe it or not, I bought a box, yes, a box, of matzo ball mix!

I did make real, made from scratch, matzo balls once, about…. 4-5 years ago? I assume I had a beginner’s luck because they turned out perfectly (I used an Ina Garten’s recipe). Dizzy by my success – ‘cause it involves beating egg whites and I didn’t have much skills doing that 4-5 years ago – I offered to cook it for a client. That was back in those days when I had a personal chef business. The matzo balls separated to float in bits in the soup. Ha! Luckily, that client was a very sweet person, and at home that day. “It’s Ok, leave it like that”, she said. “We’ll eat it. It’s good. We won’t mind”. If she hadn’t been home and witnessed it as it happened, I would have thrown them away being too embarrassed to charge money for the mess. But she wanted them anyway. And she was right, they are delicious, even when they are falling apart.

However, recalling this episode, I’ve decided to play it safe this time and I used a boxed mix. It was easy and quick to make. I liked the texture, fluffy and tender. Some people like ‘em rock hard. Go figure… And this is another way the world is divided… Which camp do you belong to – soft matzo balls or hard matzo balls? It’s a serious choice.

Regardless of which school you belong to, using a cookie scoop makes the job a lot easier and less messy.

And while the balls were cooking in the stock (it takes 30 minutes) I had a chance to spy on my family; supposedly there were having fun outside in the sun.

I wandered what Suburban Cowboy and the kids were up to…

A-ha!

Busted!

He was…of course… attached to a laptop, so very focused

Instead of doing something more household-oriented like, let’s say, clean the grill… or fix something… change a burnt light bulb, or mow the lawn? But in any case, the kids won’t leave him alone. They want his attention and flock around him,

until they gave up and moved on to mind their on business.

And then it was time for me to yell, “Ki-eeds, lunch is reeeeeadyyyy… Come insa-aide…. Wash your ha-ands….”

I just love these sort of weekends.

Staying at home, doing domestic stuff, having an easy, comforting lunch, watching/spying on my family, running errands… I like it.

***

Matzo ball soup

So, since using a boxed mix, there really isn’t a recipe.

To make the matzo balls, simply follow the instructions on the package.

While the matzo balls paste is resting, heat up your lousy homemade chicken stock.

If you’d like, add any frozen veggies you have or leftovers from previous lunches or dinners that you’d like in a soup.

And, please, don’t wait for summer.

How’s the weather where you live? Still good for soup?

First, a short announcement.

I’ve started a new Facebook “fan” page for my blog. I feel uncomfortable saying “fan” so let’s keep it simple and informal. If you like Facebook and you’d like to get post updates there, click here to check it out and join me. Thanks!

Now, where were we? Oh, yeah, brisket.

Brisket is really not something you spontaneously make, right?! Just like with chicken stock it needs some planning ahead. In most recipes you have to marinate it for hours before cooking or sear it to brown and sauté an onion or other vegetables before you move on to the next step of cooking the brisket for hours and hours. But, as with the stock, I have found a way around it.

But first, why bother to make brisket if it takes such a long time to braise?

Brisket is a fairly cheap piece of meat. And a very large one. You cook it once and can have multiple dinners made out of it. It freezes well! So any leftovers – and you’ll probably have leftovers, unless you have lots of people around the table eating it – can be frozen for a few weeks. When cooking it, you don’t have to mess with it too much as long as your oven (preferably, but a burner on the stovetop works too), is free for 4-6 hours for this tough big mama to slowly cook and break down and become soft and tender.

In short, it’s worth the trouble.

I wanted to cook brisket the other day. It’s been a while since the last time I made it. About a year or so… But I felt lazy and procrastinated with cooking it. Then a day before our trip I had to cook it because I had no other plans for dinner, because otherwise it would have gone bad, and because I knew that if I cook it then, we will have an already-cooked meals/s when we return from the trip (and gain an extra care-free day from grocery shopping and cooking – a bonus).

I have a few favorite brisket recipes that I like, but that day, because I waited for the last moment, it was too late to make them. So, I thought I’ll just have to wing it and take a chance with something I make up as i go and see if it works.

It turned out pretty good.

Since this was something I made with a little bit of this and a little bit of that, I don’t have an exact recipe. In truth, I didn’t think my many shortcuts will work and end up as anything edible. But it id did. I guess it’s tough to screw up with a hearty brisket as long as it is cooked till tender.

Lesson learned: take a risk, improvise, it might end up being a success.

If you own a slow-cooker (I don’t), check out what Deb did with her brisket.

Spontaneous brisket

Place a 4-5 lb. brisket in a big and deep stainless steal pan (don’t use aluminum, it interacts with acidic ingredients like tomato sauce and vinegars and will taste bla. Also, your pan will discolor).

Sprinkle generously with salt and ground black pepper on both sides. Add a quick splash of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Add spices such as a steak rub, a BBQ rub, a curry mixture, some light brown sugar. I wanted to add minced garlic cloves but I forgot. A chopped onion and dried fruits around the meat will be nice too.

Pour a 28 oz. can of marinara sauce + 1/2 cup water on and around the beef and rub all this on both sides. Cover the pan loosely with foil (or a lid, if you have one that fits). Be careful that the foil does not touch the tomato sauce covered meat because this will cause the foil to blacken and even make holes in it after a while (that’s the reaction of aluminum foil to acid).

I cooked it at 400 F degrees (with the convection oven on) for 30 minutes. Lower the heat to 350-300 F and cook another 4-6 hours* until it’s soft and tender and can be cut easily.

* We cut a piece from the edge after 4 hours in the oven and had some for dinner, then put the meat back in the oven for another 2 hours.

After it’s fully cooked, slice against the grain. Store any leftovers in freezer-friendly containers and label with the name and date.

Dinner recipes from one year ago: Gourmet meatloaf, Pasta Bolognese, Roasted potato leek soup

Cake recipes: Ricotta Bundt Cheesecake, Chocolate Chocolate Stout Cake, Easy Marjolaine

This soup has been waiting to be published for a looong time. With all the holidays bustle of shopping and cookies baking, it got buried under a pile of other recipes and things to do and write about that wouldn’t wait any longer.

It’s been waiting since…. hmmm, 3 weeks ago? It was freezing cold here. The temperatures were in the lower 20’s Fahrenheit during the day and much lower at night. Each time I went outside I thought my nose was going to fall off. However, the days were beautiful and sunny with clear blue sky and the nights were gorgeous too with deep infinite dark blue color, sparkling stars, and a full moon. Then we went back to normal grey and rainy days so typical of winter in Seattle (Gosh, I’ve become quite the weather girl due to this big chill and I’m giving you the weather report…) but every day I see snowy photos from places around the world which reminded me of the big brrrr we just had and, of course, the soup!

While it was so freezing outside, our gas fireplace worked non-stop (although it is programmed to shut off when the temps reach 68 F) and the heating system worked around the clock as well, but it was still chilly in the house. The only truly warm place was in the kitchen by the stove so that’s where I went and what else was left for me to do besides to make soup?!

Now, it’s freezing again. Yesterday I left my car outside instead of parking in the garage as I always do. It had ice all over it, including the windows. I reached for my mittens but they were soooo cold too… I really don’t understand the people who keep all their stuff (I won’t say “junk”) in garage and park their cars outside. I would have put the stuff out and the car in. Luckily, soup is still “in” (better choice of word than “cool”, right?). So here you go, it’s time to take the dust of this soup and share it with you to help you warm up a bit. Lots of veggies, flavors, and textures. Slurp slurp. Life is good!

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By the way, I *love* your comments on the cookie post! It gives me a chance to get to you know a little and check out your blog, if you have one. I want you to know that I read each and every comment and e-mail that you readers send me!

To those who have no idea what I’m talking about, there’s a cookie scoop giveaway too! Click here to check it out.

Minestrone soup

The recipe is based on a recipe by Wolfgang Puck from his cookbook “Wolfgang Puck Makes It Easy”. I make it even easier.

Use as much of the canned tomato juice as you like. The whole can will make the soup more acidic and tomato-y, and less will… you know… But don’t skip the parmesan and pesto because they really tie up all the flavors together, OK?

Makes 6-8 servings

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion (about 1 cup), peeled and chopped
2-4 oz.bacon or pancetta, chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes, liquid reserved
1 14-oz. can cannellini beans, drained, rinsed in water and drained again
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1/4 cup parsley, leaves on the stems
2 potatoes, peeled and cut to cubes
1-2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and chopped
3 sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and black pepper
1 cup small shaped pasta, uncooked

Serve with:
Parmesan, grated
Pesto, store-bought or home-made

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and bacon and cook, stirring from time to time, until the onion is tender and golden, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute.

Add the tomatoes with their liquid (see note above), the beans, carrots, celery, parsley, potatoes, zucchini, thyme, salt and pepper. Add water to cover, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover and cook about 30-40 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

About 10 minutes before serving (check the pasta’s cooking instruction on the package), add the pasta to the soup. If the mixture is too thick, add water. Simmer until the pasta is cooked.

Serve and add to each bowl of soup some grated parmesan and pesto.

A quiet dinner, a glass of wine, dining al fresco by the swimming pool, watching the red and orange sunset, gazing at the ocean, listening to the waves, and looking into the eyes of your loved one…

Aha, I gotchya! Didn’t I?! You got all dreamy, haven’t you?!

But it does look like it could have been dinner in the sunset on a vacation in a tropical island, doesn’t it?! Well, if I can’t have it, I can fantasize ‘bout it, right? Oh, yes, and eating braised short ribs cooked in wine does make one feel heavenly.

Because only a few days ago I woke up and saw THIS

Yes, ah-ha, frost, on our roof

On the roofs of all our neighbors. No, it’s not snow, not yet, only an icy street

*I can hear my Southern California relatives giggling now*

This is how it’s going to look like in the next 2 months or so… But isn’t this foggy chilly looking-like-sunrise at 7 am beautiful?!

And, remember our tree? It’s still in chains and now it is cold too.

The lawn, frozen too.

I haven’t visited our little backyard veggie bed in the past 2 months! We don’t go out much… Wait, I’ll go and check and come back with an update…

We planted these 2 months ago! Maybe even longer. If it was summer now, the lettuce and arugula would have been a jungle by now. The soil is frozen stiff, the beats (on the right side) have no bulbs… Hmmm, where did they go?

So, yes, it’s pretty cold. Icy. I better be careful when I walk outside so I won’t slip on my tuches and break something. There is a fat layer for protection, but still…

The days are sunny though with clear blue sky (I sound like the weather woman, don’t I?) and at night we can see the full moon and sparkling stars (which my lens could not capture good enough to do it justice). It is beautiful.

At noon, the sun light was glowing with warm colors. And, you know what all this weather really means…

THIS

And you can have 2 pieces if you want.

Or is one enough for you?

You’ve got a small appetite or are you on a diet?

Well, if you live anywhere near here don’t worry, you’re not going to wear a swim suit anytime soon, so you better indulge.

What’s this “Bugcake” doing here?

Hmm, he made it at school. Fun!

He sure moves a lot and fast when he realizes he is being photographed…

 
Braised short ribs

I have tried a few but this is my favorite short ribs recipe, and so easy to make. Slightly adapted from Mario Batali Babbo cookbook (also one of my favs! The chef, his food, and the book).

Makes 4-6 servings (depending on your appetite)

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
10-12 beef short ribs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 cups full-bodied red wine
1 16-ounce can of whole tomatoes, crushed by hand with their juices
1 cup chicken stock
a few sprigs of thyme
a few sprigs rosemary
a few sprigs oregano
Gremolata*, for serving, optional – recipe in this link

Preheat oven to 350-375 degrees F

In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, heat the olive oil over high heat until smoking. Season the ribs with salt and pepper and cook them over high heat until deep brown all on sides, about 15 minutes total. Remove the short ribs to a plate and set aside.

Add the carrots, onion, celery and garlic to the pan and cook over medium-high heat until browned and softened, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the red wine, tomatoes and juices, chicken stock and herbs, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Bring it all to a boil and return the short ribs to the pan. Cover with the lid (or with an aluminum foil) and put in the oven. Cook for 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender and falling off the bones.

* Gremolata is made from parsley, lemon, and horseradish