Elementary Chef

Pernod Ricard has released a couple of yummy-looking drink recipes to offer us all (thank God) a St. Patrick’s Day alternative to green beer. YUCK! Note that these recipes are only intended for our over 21 elementary chefs!

Malibu Pot O’ Gold
1/2 part Malibu Rum
1/2 part Malibu Pineapple Rum
1 part pineapple juice
Shake and serve up in a martini glass; garnish with a lucky shamrock
(widely available in craft stores).

Kahlua White Leprechaun
2 parts Kahlua
1 part Jameson Irish Whiskey
2 parts half & half
Shake well with ice and strain into a rocks or martini glass. Garnish with
fresh mint and vanilla bean.

Beefeater Emerald Isle-tini
2 parts Beefeater Gin
1 part simple syrup
1 large mint leaf
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish with sprig of mint.

Tezon Shamrock Shooter
1 part Tequila Tezon Blanco
1 part Jameson Irish Whiskey
1/2 part melon liqueur
1/2 part orange juice
Juice of lemon wedge
Serve either over ice in a highball glass or as a shooter. Garnish with a
single shamrock.

St. Patrick’s Day, cocktails, cooking

There are 3 blackening bananas in my kitchen right now that are calling to me…. Here is what we will be snacking on tomorrow!

EASY Banana Bread

3 or 4 very ripe bananas
1.5 sticks butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 C. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 t. baking soda
Pinch of salt
1.5 C. flour

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Mash bananas in a large mixing bowl. Stir in melted butter, then sugar, egg, vanilla, baking soda and salt.

3. Add the flour to the mix and stir together.

4. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and pour mixture into pan.

5. Bake 1 hour.

banana bread, muffins, cooking

My husband started making these after we re-watched Moonstruck a few years ago… I’ve heard them called a number of things, but in our house, they’re birds in a nest, and they’re an easy addition to your morning repertoire.

Take a slice of bread. Using a glass, cut a circle in the middle of the bread. Place the bread on a pre-heated skillet or griddle — medium-high gas flame or medium-high heat. Crack an egg, and gently place it in the “hole.” Salt and pepper the egg to taste. Fry the egg and toast together, and when the egg gets reasonably firm, flip it, being careful to keep it all together. It probably won’t surprise you too much to hear that I like to top mine with salsa…

In the mean time, throw the bread circles in the toaster oven. Serve with jam and coffee for a fast, easy, and clever breakfast!

It took me a long time to master rice — and really, it shouldn’t be a hard task! As with many things in my life, I’m always looking for the shortest route possible. I assumed that the shortest path to cooked rice was through my microwave. Not so! Now, some of you may have a rice cooker. I LOVE those. They’re wonderful! But, in my pared down kitchen, there just isn’t room for a rice cooker. Especially, since I’ve discovered that stove-top rice preparation is just as easy.

To prepare rice on the stove-top, add 1.5 cups water for each cup of rice (white or brown). Add rice and water to pot before turning on heat. Cover pot, and heat to boiling. Turn heat down to medium — hot enough that the rice won’t boil over. Now go do something else! Make your entree! The rice will prepare itself (as long as you don’t let it boil dry!)

The other note I need to add here, is that I recently discovered the glory of organic brown rice. I buy it locally at our Fresh Market, and the taste is well worth the extra price.

Let them eat rice!

We tried something new today, and I can’t resist writing about it. My 3-year-old son and I were walking through Costco, in search of REAL tomatoes, and they were sampling “FruitaBu.” Now for those of you who are uninformed — as I was — FruitaBu is this new version of fruit leather. It follows along the lines of a fruit roll-up, but it’s made of “organic smooshed fruit.”

At Costco, they were handing out 1-inch strips of this smooshed fruit, and admittedly, 1-inch of smooshed fruit is tasty.

12-inches is not tasty. Or rather, it’s still tasty, you’re just very tired of it by the end.

My son asked for a roll as soon as we got to the car. Sure! No problem! It’s organic fruit, right? He made it through about a quarter of a roll before announcing it was “yucky.”

If you’re a HUGE fan of dehydrated fruits or fruit leather, then you’ll probably love this. As for my family, we’re sticking with fruit roll-ups!

I searched high and low for the perfect blueberry muffin recipe for you, and I decided that I’d go with a favorite stand-by — Bisquick. I buy Bisquick in bulk at Costco. It’s incredible. Add cheese and ground beef for Cheeseburger Pie… Make perfect shortcakes for strawberries… Whip up super-fast pancakes… Or, add blueberries for fantastic muffins!

Let the cheapskate in me take this opportunity to point out that for baking, you’re FINE to use frozen blueberries. They’re usually cheaper, and I can’t taste the difference.

Ingredients:
2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
3/4 cup fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) blueberries

1. Heat oven to 400ºF. Place paper baking cup in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups, or grease bottoms only of muffin cups.
2. Stir all ingredients except blueberries just until moistened. Gently stir in blueberries. Divide batter evenly among cups.
3. Bake 13 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.

Happy breakfasting!

blueberries, muffins, cooking

There may be nothing more decadent than strawberries and cream. Scratch that. Add some champagne. NOW you have decadence! Thanks to a comment asking for a cream sauce recipe, I’m going to skip blueberry muffins until tomorrow, and instead answer the request!

Berries and cream… YUM! Even though cream sauce tastes terribly decadent, it’s incredibly easy to make. Remember last week when we made whipped cream for our hot chocolate? Well, same principle, only less mixing. If you want to go a little lighter, you can use half-and-half for this recipe. But the heavy cream sure is good.

First, start with a dish of washed and stemmed berries. If you’re working with strawberries, my favorite way to stem them is to spear a fork through the stem end of the strawberry and twist 180 degrees. No more stem.

Now, in a mixing bowl, combine cream and powdered sugar to the desired flavor of sweetness. Beat with an electric mixer until you reach the desired consistency for cream sauce — think very thick potato soup. Some folks like to add a little brandy or champagne at this point. If you are adding alcohol, whip the cream just a little more than you think you should, and fold in the alcohol (about a tablespoon per serving.) To fold in, do NOT use the electric mixer. Use a spoon, gently turning the cream as you pour the liquid in. The trick is to not unsettle the sauce with heavy mixing. (Now, lick the spoon. It’s WRONG to let this stuff go to waste!)

Pour the cream sauce over the berries, and to be extra fancy, garnish with a sprig of mint.

It’s berry good!

berries, cream, cooking,

brandy

I love reader requests. Today’s request has to do with blueberries. It seems that there is a lot of buzz about blueberries — and why wouldn’ there be? The newest super-food…. Tons of antioxidants…. And they’re berries. What can be wrong with that? So I said I’d share some of my favorite ways to eat blueberries.

Way 1: Wash them. Pop them in your mouth. I’m not sure there’s anything I can tell you to do with blueberries that beats that, but here’s a try…

Blueberry Smoothie
serves 2

1 ripe medium banana
1 pint fresh blueberries (you can use frozen, too)
8 oz. yogurt (plain)
1 C. orange juice (or you can use milk)
1/2 cup crushed ice

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.

If you get tired of blueberries, this also does well with stawberries, raspberries, and really, any mixture of berries. For a creamier smoothie, omit the ice.

Come back tomorrow for my favorite blueberry muffin recipe… Happy cooking!

smoothie, blueberries, cooking

I don’t know about you, but the produce section at my grocery store almost depresses me this time of year. The tomatoes are pink. Cucumbers are tasteless. Nothing is right. So what’s a girl to do? Give up on salads this time of year? On the contrary, it’s time to get more creative.

For starters, consider some variations on the base theme. Try spinach only. Or an arugula/romaine blend. Or if lettuce isn’t your bag, skip it altogether!

Now for the toppings, if you’re like me and can’t stomach those pink tomatoes, try a pack of grape tomatoes. These tiny gems somehow maintain their somewhat tart flavor — even in February! Or if the tart is too much for you, sundried tomatoes are always a great option.

Other flavor-packed favorites of mine include: any kind of olive, hearts of palm (buy these in a jar), marinated artichokes, and ANY kind of cheese. And for another unexpected twist, top your salad with a handful of cooked pasta to really bring it all together. (The pasta works best with oil-based dressings.) In fact while we’re on the topic, now is a great time to try a new salad dressing. While I’m a big fan of saving money at the grocery, salad dressing is worth the splurge. The refrigerated dressings in the produce section really are worth the extra cash. My personal fave? Marie’s Blue Cheese Vinaigrette!

Happy tossing!

salad, heart of palm, cooking

Cooking the perfect egg is something EVERY elementary chef should master. Whether you like yours poached, scrambled, or fried, eggs are nowhere near as intimidating as many rookie cooks imagine.

Frying scares many because, well, the timing seems so crucial. You have to get that yolk just runny enough — or not runny at all. While timing the egg will require some trial an error, there are a few easy steps that will at least get you to the timing part more easily.
1) Do not try to fry an egg over high heat. Eggs do best over medium heat (or a low flame on your gas stovetop.)
2) Do use a non-stick skillet and a tablespoon of olive oil or butter/margarine.
3) Use fresh eggs. If those eggs have been in your fridge for 6 months, they’re going to turn rubbery — no matter how perfectly you cook them.
When you’re frying eggs, you need to crack them extra carefully, to avoid scrambling the yolks. Then slide them into the already hot (but not too hot!) oil, and salt and pepper while cooking. Turn the eggs gently with a spatula, unless you’re going for true Sunny Side Up, which are not turned. (Over easy are.)

For your info, and in case you’re cooking eggs to order for a crowd, common ways to prepare fried eggs include:

Sunny Side Up — the egg is only cooked on one side, the yolk is 100% runny, and the top white is also runny. Because of salmonella risk, some states will not allow diners to serve eggs this way!
Over Easy — the egg is turned, but the yolk is kept runny. The white should cook all the way through (thereby destroying the salmonella risk.)
Over Medium — the egg is turned, the yolk is relatively firm but still loose, the white is fully cooked.
Over Hard — the egg is fried to a uniform, firm consistency. The yolk is completely cooked.

If you want to be extra fancy, add a little marjoram or chervil — especially if you can find some fresh!

eggs, cooking, sunny side up

Two things I love! Olives and freebies! California Olives is once again offering free recipe postcards to anyone (US residents only, sorry!) who fills out a request on their website at http://www.calolive.org/postcards/index.html?ref=HC200702COI

I requested and received this packet last go-round, and it’s darling. (It did take a long time to get to me, but, hey, that just made it a surprise when it came!)

While you’re at their website, check out the fabulous recipe links, too! There’s one with avocadoes that I just HAVE to try!

olives, cooking, free recipes

I’m not a big fan of eating dinner out on Valentine’s — for the same reason I attempt to do all my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. I don’t like crowds. So for those of you who are homebodies like me, I’m going to provide a favorite, but slightly more difficult menu for a very memorable Valentine’s dinner.

Many people — particularly elementary chefs? — seem to be intimidated by cooking fish. This recipe may contain a lot of steps, but you really can’t get it wrong.

(Remember! T=tablespoon, t=teaspoon, c=cup)

Tilapia Veracruz
1 lb. tilapia
1 lemon
4 T. olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 t. garlic (refrigerated, jarred garlic or fresh)
1 16-oz. can diced tomatoes (drain juice to cup)
3 T. chopped fresh parsley
1 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. red wine
1 T. salt
1/2 t. oregano
1/4 t. thyme
1 t. sugar
1/4 C. water
15-20 green olives
10-15 jalapeno pepper slices (I use jarred jalapenos)

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.

Squeeze lemon juice on fish pieces. In a large skillet, heat 2 T. olive oil over medium-high heat and fry fish 1 minute per side. (The fish should sizzle, but the oil shouldn’t pop.) Remove fish to baking dish.

Add onion, garlic, and tomatoes (but not juice) to oil and saute for 5 minutes. Add parsley, vinegar, wine, salt, oregano, thyme, sugar, and reserved tomato juice to skillet. Continue to simmer for 5 minutes. (You may need to turn the heat down. You don’t want the sauce to boil over.)

Pour sauce over fish in baking dish. Top with olives and jalapeno slices. Sprinkle with olive oil and bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes.

I serve this with Italian style wilted spinach. (Saute some garlic in olive oil. Add fresh spinach and allow to wilt.) It would also be good with a salad. And something chocolate of course!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

tilapia, cooking, recipe

There’s nothing that’s more romantic in my mind that sipping hot cocoa around the fireplace. Now, ideally, I’m also at a ski lodge with my beloved. But it’s been darn cold in Alabama this week. I’m pretty sure we could fake the ski lodge.

But the perfect cup of cocoa is an art. First, let’s start with the cocoa itself. I think this is the easy part, readers may disagree, but I’m a big fan of Nestle cocoa in the little pouches. If you want fancier cocoa, by all means, go there. But I’d rather focus on the “fixin’s.”

So about those fixin’s… The cooking lesson here involves making perfect whipped cream. Because let’s face it, if you add whipped cream and the right liqueur, you’re golden — even with sub-par cocoa!

To make whipped cream, start with very cold (but not frozen) heavy whipping cream and make sure it’s fresh. Pour the right amount of cream into a cold glass bowl, and begin mixing at high speed with an electric mixer. While you’re mixing, add powdered confectioner’s sugar. There is no “right” amount of sugar. Different people prefer different levels of sweetness. This is not a quick process. You will be mixing for a while — don’t stop until the cream gets firm, it makes all the difference.

Now for the other fixin’s…. My favorite is a shot of amaretto. Other possibilities include shnapps (peppermint, cinnamon, or butter), brandy, rum, or really, any sweet liquor. I find chocolate-y liqueurs to be overwhelming, but to each her own.

Recipe for a cozy night:

The perfect cup of hot cocoa
A fire
Significant other — optional!

I plan on devoting this week to exploring the curious connection between food and love, which mainly means, I’m going to provide you with romantic recipes to make someone in your life (maybe you!) feel loved and special this week.

Years ago, at some point during our almost four year courtship, my now-husband surprised me with food. We didn’t live together, and I’m still not sure how he managed this, but when I woke up to make coffee one morning, I found in the cupboard where I kept coffee and mugs a jar of several dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies. It might be the single sweetest thing he (or anyone else for that matter!) has ever done for me.

This is not his recipe for chocolate chip cookies — he uses the recipe on the Nestle’s bag (which is perfectly fine, I might add!) This is one I’ve had for ages, and it’s super easy.

Please note that in all my recipes, C=cup, t=teaspoon, and T=tablespoon.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 C butter (unsalted) or margarine
1 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 C flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 package instant vanilla (or French vanilla for extra vanilla-y flavor) pudding
6 oz. chocolate chips

Using a mixer (hand-held is fine!) at medium-high speed, cream butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Slow mixer to medium-slow, and add flour and baking soda. When fully blended, add in salt, pudding mix, and chocolate chips. Mix just until uniform. Drop the dough by tablespoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake each sheet for 8-10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

My teenage daughter and I tried something new today — a CocoaVia chocolate almond snack bar. I can’t say that I blown away, but I was happy to eat something that did taste like chocolate and was only 80 calories for a bar. While this is NOT chocolate for foodies, for health-conscious chocaholics, this is worth a try. (For foodies, is there anything in the world that surpasses Lindor Truffles???)

According to Mars, the corporation behind such American favorites as M&M’s and Snickers, CocoaVia uses flavanols to help lower cholesterol and promote heart health. Like I needed an excuse to eat chocolate..!

The CocoaVia press release claims:

It may come as a surprise to chocolate lovers that it’s not the “milk” or “dark” chocolate that influences the amount of potentially heart-healthy cocoa flavanols in chocolate, but it’s the way the chocolate is processed. A common misconception is that only dark chocolate with a higher percentage of cocoa is rich in flavanols. However, Mars, Incorporated has researched cocoa for more than 15 years and found that it is the level of flavanols in the cocoa used in the chocolate, not the percent of cocoa, that truly matters.

Through its research, Mars, Incorporated has found a way to keep both milk and dark chocolate lovers happy this Valentine’s Day by pioneering a new technology to retain much of the naturally occurring cocoa flavanols. CocoaVia milk chocolate products have the same levels of cocoa flavanols as CocoaVia Dark Chocolate products. All CocoaVia milk and dark chocolate products contain at least 100 milligrams of cocoa flavanols per serving, the natural compounds in cocoa beans that help to promote heart health.

Further, Mars conducted a study to figure out how we actually FEEL about chocolate. Are you kidding me? Here are some of their findings.

— Chocolate knows no gender - men and women might differ on many choices but chocolate preferences are not one of them. Milk chocolate is preferred by 41 percent of women and 47 percent of men, while dark chocolate is preferred by 25 percent of women and 26 percent of men.
— Chocolate preferences might have something to do with your age - Milk chocolate is preferred by 62 percent of 18-24 year olds but when people reach the age of 35 years, 45 percent of people prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate.
— There’s no need to debate over the great gift this Valentine’s Day - it turns out that chocolate is the number one gift to receive, beating out flowers and cards.

Hmm… Not sure how I feel about that last part. I love chocolate as much as the next girl, but I’d rather be given flowers. I will happily buy myself chocolate!