What I Really Think

Last night for dinner, I wanted something quick, since we got home late from the shore (GSP traffic sucks). You know that old joke, why do they call it a parkway if you drive on it and a driveway if you park on it? Well, yesterday, you pretty much parked on the Garden State Parkway, well, at least until many of the PA locals departed onto the AC Expressway (which I bet wasn't much of an expressway).

Anyway, as always, I digress. So I wanted something quick for dinner last night and since I had been a bit off program (can you say sticky buns and Johnson's Caramel popcorn?) for almost a week, I also wanted something healthy.

Man, that being on the out of control merry-go-round sensation is not abating these days. Hopefully, next weekend, after Becky's play, our century ride, and my family reunion, things will calm down some. But in the interim, I've been inundated with produce from my local CSA. Which, by the way, adds a certain level of pressure. I mean I feel guilty when I don't use it all (so please don't ask about the load of pickling cucumbers I just threw out). Luckily though, with some help from Chris and the kids, last week I was able to make a bunch of stuff and today a bit more, so I though I'd post some recipes.

Okay - before I get dressed and hunker down with the rest of Boleskine's trip report (don't worry Jerry, it will be published soon), let me try to get the next couple of recipes up.

First one, Damn Hot Peppers (or Darn Hot, if you want to be "correct"). Actually, I think the batch I made yesterday should be called, "G-d Damn Hot Peppers," they're that hot. I got this recipe from Michael Chiarello at

It's a little different on his website than originally published in his NapaStyle cookbook. Anyway, here it is:

Okay one more before we head out to a wedding. I made this a couple of years ago and thought I'd resurrect it now. It's still in the oven, so I can't comment on this year's endeavor but if memory serves it was pretty good last time.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
From

Cake:
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (4 ounces) block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup fat-free buttermilk
2 cups shredded zucchini
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
8 teaspoons fat-free milk
2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare cake, coat a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray; dust pan with 1 tablespoon flour.

Place sugars, cream cheese, and vegetable oil in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Lightly spoon 2 1/2 cups flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine 2 1/2 cups flour and next 5 ingredients (2 1/2 cups flour through cinnamon) in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in zucchini, 2/3 cup chocolate chips, and nuts. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare glaze, combine 3/4 cup powdered sugar and 3 tablespoons cocoa in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Combine milk, 2 tablespoons chocolate chips, coffee, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract in a 1-cup glass measure. Microwave at medium 45 seconds or until chocolate melts, stirring after 20 seconds. Combine powdered sugar mixture with chocolate mixture, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle glaze over cake.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

CALORIES 281 (30% from fat); FAT 9.5g (sat 2.4g,mono 4.2g,poly 2.4g); PROTEIN 6.6g; CHOLESTEROL 27mg; CALCIUM 96mg; SODIUM 241mg; FIBER 2.6g; IRON 2.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 45.6g

Cooking Light, JUNE 2002

In addition to all the zucchini I got last week (by the way the chocolate zucchini cake was good), I received a whole bunch of cucumbers. So yesterday I decided to make a batch of Amy's Chilled Cucumber soup, original recipe found on on the SlowTravel Talk Message Board . Warning, if you're not a premium member, you won't be able to access that forum.

Now I'm not a big fan of mint, so I left that out. Plus I like a little chunk, so I pureed the soup, but then threw back in about half a cucumber in a fine dice. Lastly, I didn't have time to get to the Lebanese market or Wholefoods for some good yogurt, so I used Stoneyfield Non Fat and combined it with some fat free sour cream too. Probably not as "tangy" but still delicious. Here's my version.

Cucumber Soup

Ingredients

• 2 large cucumbers


• 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt (If you can get the Total Greek Yogurt at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, it makes all the difference)


• 1/2 cup fat free sour cream


• 1 teaspoon lime or lemon juice


• 1 teaspoon honey


• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• tablespoons skim milk (optional)

Directions

1. Peel the cucumbers, then cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and discard. Cut cucumber into slices.


2. In a blender container or food processor, puree the cucumber until almost smooth. (I leave it a little chunky). Then, add the yogurt, lime/lemon juice, honey, cumin, and salt. Cover and blend or process until almost smooth. Blend in milk, if desired to thin out.
   
3. Cover and chill 2 hours.


4. Stir before serving.

Makes 4 servings

Well, the hullabaloo around the century ride is starting to settle and lo and behold, I still need to cook dinner and the CSA is still giving me produce, so I thought it was time to use up some of (well all of) the beans I had in the refrigerator, probably two weeks worth. I found a recipe in August's Cooking Light that looked promising, and since I was craving Chinese (and meat), decided to make Ginger Beef and Green Bean Stir Fry last night. I only used two teaspoons of the chili garlic sauce to tone it down for Becky (but it was still too spicy and she only gave the dish a "so-so" rating). I liked it and when making it for Chris will probably use three teaspoons. Mom, if you're reading this, you should barely use one. I also usually complain about the lack of sauce in many CL stir-fries, but this had plenty. It used up those beans nicely, was tasty and once all the chopping was done, assembled very quickly.

The last few weeks we received several eggplants from the CSA. Not the big bulbous variety but the long slender ones. Still, they sat in my refrigerator's produce drawer until I could figure out a) what to do with them b) had time to do something with them.

So the other night, I dug out my falling apart copy of Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian (yes, that Frugal Gourmet, of someone dubious subsequent fame). He has a recipe near the front of the book for Caponata that we love, then he has subsequent recipes for what to do with the caponata once you prepare it (e.g., serve over pasta). Here's his recipes, with my changes:

Caponata
2 pounds eggplant - 1 inch dice
4 stalks celery - thin slice
1 medium onion - chopped
olive oil
1 can Italian Plum Tomatoes, crushed (I use a 28 oz. can of whole Italian tomatoes, and give them a quick whirl in the blender first)
2 T tomato paste
1/3 cup white wine vinegar (I was out this time and used red wine, no discernible difference)
1T sugar
2T capers, rinsed and drained (I through the entire drained jar in).
6 large green olives, sliced
4 - 5 anchovy fillets, he cuts them in half but I mince them

First he has you sprinkle the eggplant with 1T salt and let it sit, with a weight atop to "squeeze" out the bitterness. Then rinse and dry it. I didn't bother with this step.

Then he sautes the eggplant in batches, in olive oil, in a large skillet for about 10 minutes each batch, to soften. I didn't do this either - didn't want to use all the oil. Instead, I sprayed a large jellyroll pan with Pam. Then I put the eggplant on it (gave it a quick shot of Pam), and roasted it in a 425 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes or so, until softened and very slightly browned.

In a large dutch oven, I put 1T heated 1 T olive oil, and sauteed the celery and onion until soft, but not brown (about 15 minutes). At one point, I covered the pot, so it steamed a bit. To this I added the roasted eggplant and the rest of the above ingredients. Brought it to a boil, covered and simmered on low flame about 20 - 30 minutes. Voila!

You should know, he also adds toasted pine nuts to this after it's simmered, which I sometimes do too but I'm currently out of them. I think 1/2 cup would do nicely. And he adds raisin at this point, which I would love to do but Chris thinks raisins are the devil's food, so I don't add them (it would be about 1/4 cup).

In addition to the sauce I mentioned before (use sliced garlic, some white wine, maybe some pasta water to loosen), this is great atop bruschetta.

Enjoy!

Oh and if someone knows if I can can this in a hot water bath, please comment and let me know.

I have a Weight Watcher friend (i.e., someone I know from my meetings), who has the WW One Pot cookbook. They no longer sell this cookbook so she offered to bring it to a meeting for me, let me look through it, mark the recipes I would like and she would copy them for me. Good deal I thought.

So last night, I made the first of the copied recipes, this Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya. Now normally, I don't feel comfortable posting recipes from known sources on my blog unless they're already out there on the web (e.g., on Cooking Light or FoodTV) - not sure why, I guess just my bugaboo - guess I want the cookbook author to get to make another sale or something. But since this is from a book that's no longer in print, and therefore no one can make anymore money on it, I don't feel so bad.

Tomorrow, Chris and I will celebrate our wedding anniversary. But since more often than not, he's on the road for our actual "anniversary" we celebrate on the weekend before. So last night we cooked a wonderful anniversary dinner together, then set the dining room with our fine china, popped the cork on some bubbly (and later a Dei Montepulciano de Nobile Riserve 1997) and enjoyed.

To start, I ordered some domestic caviar from Tsar Nicoulai. It arrived Friday afternoon on schedule and we kept it on ice for last night in the fridge. I also ordered a package of blini mix which Chris cooked up during the afternoon.

Well, it's that time of year again, time to get ready for Thanksgiving. Why does it seem that every year, I think I'll have plenty of time to prepare and experiment with some new dishes, only to get jammed up the last week?

I know, it's because we usually end up going away during November, and by the time we return, I'm always hit with the realization that Thanksgiving is only a week away.

This year is no exception, but for the fact that rather than a week after our return, I'll only have two days, I find a bit daunting. You see we're heading out tomorrow for my brother's wedding in Florida and will not return until Monday afternoon; looking forward to the weekend but man, am I a bit nervous about next week.

So with that in mind, I threw together my menu and to do list last week, and rather experimenting with some new dishes, one that incorporates some old favorites, only one new dish, and some make aheads that I'm working on now. I also forfeited the idea of making the desserts from Dolce Italiano, Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen, to save some boockoo time, and decided for the next best thing, pies from Emery's.

I made this tonight for dinner after getting the original recipe from In One Pot by Weight Watchers (a book that's no longer published). We really enjoyed it, it came together pretty easily and was tasty. I've noted my changes at the end and I think the only thing I'll do different next time, is toast the flour in it's own saute pan or in the oven as Cooking Light does in their Gramercy Crawfish Gumbo. Enjoy:

* Exported from MasterCook *

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon oil
3/4 pound pork tenderloin -- trimmed of fat and 1/2" chunks
1/4 pound low fat sweet Italian sausage links -- casing removed
1 large onion -- chopped
1 large green bell pepper -- chopped
2 stalks celery -- chopped
3 cloves garlic -- minced
1/2 cup water
14 1/2 ounces canned diced tomatoes
10 ounces frozen okra -- sliced
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 bay leaf
2 cups hot cooked rice

Sprinkle the flour evenly over the bottom of a large nonstick dutch oven or heavy pot. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the flour is fragrant and begins to color, about 5 minutes. Cook, stirring constantly, until the flour is the color of peanut butter, about 10 minutes longer. Transfer the flour to a small bowl, wipe the pot clean.

Heat the oil in the Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pork and sausage and cook until very lightly browned, 6 - 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic and water to the dutch oven. Cook stirring occasionally, and scraping up the browned bits with a wooden spoon, until the vegies are softened, 3 - 5 minutes.

Return the flour to the pot and cook, stirring about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes with their juice, the okra, broth, thyme salt, pepper, cayenne and bay leaf. Return the pork and sausage to the pot; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered until the pork is tender and the liquid thickens slightly, about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaf.

Put a mound of the rice in the center of each soup bowl. Ladle the gumbo around the rice.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 372 Calories; 7g Fat (16.8% calories from fat); 30g Protein; 47g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 55mg Cholesterol; 944mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 3 Lean Meat; 2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fat.

NOTES : I sliced the okra though the recipe didn't call for it. So I defrosted the okra for a couple of minutes in the microwave first. I like it sliced because its pieces are then the same size as the others in the pot and it acts as an additional thickening agent. Also, instead of the salt, pepper, and cayenne, I subbed 2 teaspoons of Creole Seasoning. Lastly, I used Turkey sausage.

Serving is 1 1/2 cups of gumbo and 1/2 cup of rice.

I followed Palma's lead and made the infamous Cheddar, Date Biscuits, that Shannon, of Poptarticus had originally told us about, but with the changes Palma described in her blog, Palmabella's Passion, The Biscuit Experiment. While I love the taste, I'm not crazy about the "appearance." I keep thinking there should be something speckled green in the dough - like an herb or something but I can't think of anything that would go.

I froze a bunch though (unbaked) and will experiment with the reheating (i.e., do you defrost them first or bake right from the freezer, and if so, for how long) this weekend. Next, I need to figure out the WW points in each.

Pine Nut Biscotti

I'm back to cooking and baking so I thought I'd post a couple of things from yesterday, in case anyone is interested.

First, we had a bit of an ice storm yesterday, so to me, that means cookies. I tried Cooking Light's Pine Nut Biscotti from the December 2007 issue. While making it I made one change, I subbed almond extract for the vanilla because I like the taste.

Every year Chris's Grandma (and Grandpa) would make a huge batch of these very basic cookies for the holidays. This was before I knew them or Chris at all (actually, I never met Chris's grandpa as he passed away before we met). Anyway, when Chris and I first got married, his grandma gave us a big tin full of these cookies on Christmas morning. Our second Christmas together, we were living in Missouri, and she sent a tin to us there, with instructions not to open them until Christmas morning (I had to hide them from Chris). She passed away five months later.

Yet, the next year, we still received our tin, this time, from Chris's aunt, who took over the making of "Grandma's cookies." Each year we would receive our tin, and each year I would hide them until Christmas morning when we would eat them for breakfast.

When we moved back to Jersey in 95, I was indoctrinated by Chris's aunt into the making of "Grandma's cookies." The first year or two, I pretty much just watched but as Ann got a bit older, and her shoulders a bit stiffer, I began to assume more of the responsibility. We make a huge batch, and there's a lot of dough involved that has to be mixed (too much for my stand mixer), so we end up kneading it, almost like bread dough).

Now, on Thanksgiving, we pick a day to get together to make the cookies. We try for a weekend when the girls can help (they've been indoctrinated too - so much so, that this year, we even let Becky knead but mostly they crank the machine, shape and dip the cookies into the seeds, aka sprinkles). If we end up on a weekday, due to busy schedules, it takes Ann and I about three to four hours to bake about maybe 15 - 16 dozen (maybe more I've never really counted). When the girls help, we can get done in under three hours.

This year, Becky grabbed her camera and documented the event.

Last week I received a $5 off coupon to Weight Watchers new book, Mix it, Match it, so I bought it. Each page is divided into three, so you can make "x" many permutations of daily menus by selecting one from the breakfast category, one from the lunch category and one from the dinner category. The points range from two to seven for breakfast, three to seven for lunch and four to seven for dinner. Each recipe has a picture which is nice.

So yesterday, I made the Updated Bistro Salad and modified it for just me (the recipe serves 4 normally).

• 1.5 ounces Canadian bacon, diced
• 4 cups packaged mixed greens (the recipe calls for 2 cups (if broken down into individual servings but I just used an entire mixed bag for me, which I think is about four cups).
• 1 large egg
• 1 t olive oil
• 1/2 medium shallot, minced (I used 1 small shallot)
• 1T fat free chicken broth (they used reduced sodium but I only keep fat free in the house)
• 1.5t white wine vinegar (I used champagne vinegar - I'm out of white wine vinegar)
• 1/2 t Dijon mustard
• 1/4 t dried tarragon (okay I just used a bit more than 1/2 t of tarragon mustard I brought back from France rather than these two).
• pinch of salt and pepper

1. In a nonstick skillet, over medium heat, cook the bacon until brown. They want you to transfer to paper towels to drain but it was pretty lean so I didn't bother. Toss this with the greens in a large bowl.
2. In another skillet (doesn't have to be no stick), fill 1/2 way with water, bring to a simmer. Crack the egg into a small cup and then slide into simmering water. Reduce the heat and cook egg until whites are set, about 2 minutes. Remove the egg with a slotted spoon and put this on paper towels. I did this because I didn't want a lot of extra water in my salad.
3. Now back to the first skillet (the one you did the bacon in). Add the oil to that skillet and put back on a medium flame. Add the shallots and cook about 2 minutes, until soft. Add the broth and simmer until it's reduced to a glaze (roughly 20 seconds but who is counting?). Remove from the flame and add everything else, mix. Pour over the greens and top with the egg.

I liked this one - it wasn't real "quick" but really good and I'll make it again. Wish I had taken a picture though, but I ate late and was starving - sorry.

On New Year's Eve day, Chris, Becky and I went to New Hope PA in search of some gloriously spicy pretzels (unfortunately, Suzie Hot Sauce was closed) but still ended up having a great time walking around the town, visiting the little shops. In one of them I found a Scottie cookie cutter, which of course I had to buy.

So today, in honor of Fala's birthday, I baked Fala Cookies! I used the same sugar cookie recipe I use at Christmas but rolled them a bit thicker and instead of using all vanilla extract or part almond extract, used 1/2t lemon extract. It made a dozen Fala Cookies, and about 1.5 dozen little circle cookies that will be great with tea. The Fala cookies Becky iced with royal icing (one egg white, to 1 cup powdered sugar plus coloring).

Give them a try if you like. The Fala cookies, because they were so big are 4 Weight Watcher points, if you use normal size cookie cutters, they're 1 point each.

• 1 cup butter or margarine -- softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1 large egg -- beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (or lemon or more vanilla or whatever you feel like).
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.
2. Add egg and extracts.
3. Combine flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; gradually add to the creamed mixture, mix well.
3a. Chill for at least one hour.
4. On a surface lightly sprinkled w/ flour, roll out a quarter of the dough to 1/8" thickness (because the fala cookies were so large, I rolled them thicker - maybe a 1/4").
5. Place on ungreased baking sheets (I line mine with parchment paper).
6. Repeat w/ the remaining dough.
7. Bake at 350 for 7 - 8 minutes or until the edges begin to brown (Fala cookies cooked for 15 minutes)

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 59 Calories; 3g Fat (48.4% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 12mg Cholesterol; 54mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

NOTES : Cookies may be sprinkled with the colored sugar before baking or frosted after being baked and cooled.

I thought the girls and I would have a nice Friday night dinner, so I decided to make a big lasagna (also had some noodles I wanted to use up in the pantry). Anyway, as it turned out, Becky went to a friend's house to "study" and Sammi doesn't appreciate "lumps" in her lasagna (aka ground beef), so she and I had a bit of this huge tray while watching Wheel of Fortune - so much for a nice dinner - I watched as Sammi scraped the sauce off the noodles and ate noodles and cheese.

Anyway, I liked it and would make it again. It is a bit of work because you start off making the sauce. I assembled the entire thing in the afternoon, and stuck it in the oven before going to a swim meet. I called Sammi to turn the oven on at 5:00 and dinner was ready about 6:30.

I'm hoping to freeze a chunk of the leftovers. Give it a shot though; it comes in at 8 WW points per slice.

My friend, Rain, is having a baby. It's getting difficult getting to the supermarket, when she's very pregnant and already has a toddler in tow. So she decided to try one of those home delivery/pick-up services. Basically, she goes on line, orders her food and then for two different prices, she has the option of either picking up the order, or having it delivered. The problem with these services, is, as a shopper, you must be completely aware of products and sizes. Rain, not so much - as she ordered a five pound bag of baby carrots last week. Five pounds is a lot of carrots and I'd imagine most people would be hard-pressed to use them up, let alone someone who doesn't cook or bake regularly. Lucky for me though, I became the recipient of about four pounds of that bag, so I went to work finding recipes to make.

Yesterday, I did a bit of baking after finding these recipes on Cooking Light. First up, Quick Carrot Bread.

Carrot-Raisin Quick Bread
From

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup coarsely shredded carrot
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup fat-free milk
3 tablespoons stick margarine or butter, melted
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl (flour through nutmeg). Combine carrot and next 5 ingredients (carrot through egg) in a small bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring just until flour mixture is moist.

Pour batter into an 8-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

CALORIES 174 (19% from fat); FAT 3.6g (sat 0.8g,mono 1.5g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 3.1g; CHOLESTEROL 19mg; CALCIUM 42mg; SODIUM 215mg; FIBER 1.2g; IRON 1.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 32.9g

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 1998

I have a few dozen recipes I've bookmarked in Dolce Italiano but unfortunately got a bit side-tracked during the holidays. But I'm back now. Last night I went to a friend's house for dinner and I thought I'd bring a little something from the book for dessert. Angela from A Spoonful of Sugar had baked the Venetian Apple Cake back in November and had given it high marks so I thought I'd give it a go.

It comes together pretty easily once you grate the apple. Which I must say, I've never done before and I didn't get much out of it, even after scraping the grater down, but I didn't worry. I knew from reading Angela's blog that the cake had the essence of apple, not big chunks, like most of the apple cakes I've made in the past. The only other thing I noted was that after grating the apple, while assembling the other ingredients, the apple turned, not unexpected but I wondered if it would affect the coloring of the cake. It doesn't. The cake is golden and the apple fits right in - you don't really see it. Lastly, the spices used (a combination of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg) give it a real autumnal flavor - yum!

I love wheatberries. No, I really do. I loved them for years before I even knew what they were. Chris and I used to go to this restaurant, around the corner from our first apartment, Park and Orchard and they would serve this rice dish, with these little things in it that added a bit of crunch - I loved it (still do). Never knew what they were though.

Flashforward about 18 years, and I'm watching the Barefoot Contessa one day on FoodTV. She's making this Wheat Berry Salad (It was the Back for the Weekend episode. It looked good, so I thought I'd give it a go, and I loved it. I then realized, that's what those little things were in the rice at Park and Orchard.

Now, making that salad wasn't as easy as it sounds, because my local Shop Rite doesn't stock wheatberries. I'm not even sure they know what they are. So for a few years, I had that recipe tagged with no means of making it. Then into my life came, Whole Foods. In their bulk section, Whole Foods has tons of wheat berries. So I bought some for the salad and loved them. Knowing it's my only local source and knowing I don't get there near enough, the next time I went, I bought more ... and the next time .... and the next. Problem is I wasn't cooking with them. I need to find more wheat berry recipes.

So yesterday, I started with this one from, where else, Cooking Light, Wheat Berry-Black Bean Soup. Here's my portion (I topped it with some baked tortilla chips and Frank's Hot Sauce). Chris wanted a dollup of sour cream on his but couldn't find any in the refrigerator.

Chris really liked the soup. I thought it was okay. I'd make it again (to use up some wheat berries) but there are other Black Bean Soups out there that I like better. It was missing ... I don't know ... something. Perhaps if I figure that out, I'll make some adjustments. It got five stars (Outstanding) over on Cooking Light, I'd probably give it three (Good Solid Recipe). For you Weight Watchers out there, it's four points in one serving.

A while ago - probably over a year now, I bought Stir it Up, Super Skillet Cookbook at my Weight Watchers meeting. For a while, I cooked out of it but back then I was core, and so it got shoved to the back of the pile as many of the recipes in the book aren't (core that is). Anyway, as I was poking around for inspiration in making my shopping list, I saw it sitting there, wedged between a Nick Stellino and the Weight Watchers Comfort Food, so I thought I'd pull it out and give it a go.

Tonight for dinner I made the Lo Mein Pork and Peanut Noodles - the kids usually like pork and they like peanut butter, so I was hopeful. I became a bit discouraged though when I realized the amount of veggies in the recipe (1 large red bell, 1 small zucchini and scallions) and became even more concerned when I realized, these veggies aren't cooked but served in the noodles raw. I persevered however, and tossed the noodles and pork together first, then served the kids, then added the veggies which seemed to satisfy everyone.

I'll tell you, though it was quick to cook (once the water boiled for the noodles, 5 minutes), it did require about 20 - 30 minutes of prep time (slicing, dicing, you know the drill) - still pleasantly surprised with the results. Sammi gave it thumbs up and Becky said, "Okay." (she has a thing about spaghetti-like noodles - it's a consistency issue. I will make this again.

I don't know if the Polynesians actually ever made anything like this but Weight Watchers thinks they did and as I went back to the Stir It Up, Super Skillet Cookbook for inspiration again, I thought I'd give it a go. Heck, one of my kids likes chicken and pineapple anyway. Well she just picked out the chicken (but deemed it edible), while the other of the picky palette, glanced at it, and asked, "Can I have a Kids Cuisine?" She's sick, so of course I agreed. I on the other hand really enjoyed it and served it with a 1/2C brown rice. On it's own a 1 3/4C serving comes in at 7 points, with the rice 9.

Sometimes at my Weight Watcher meeting, my leader, Amy, hangs recipes on the walls. Today there were two up there that sounded interesting, oven fried chicken (still to come) and Raisin Scones. I opted to try the raisin scones first, since I was looking for something sweet to make to have with some afternoon tea (I'm trying to kick the popcorn in the afternoon habit).

It took less time to assemble these than it took for my oven to preheat. Also, I soaked the raisins first in hot water (I like to do that to plump them a bit before baking). Lastly, I ran out of raisins so I did half raisins half currants. They're not bad - light and easy - and at one point each, who can complain. Next time, I may try cranberries with a little orange zest added in. Or the currants again with some lemon zest.

I think I mentioned somewhere that my CSA is experimenting with a winter share this year. They've never done one before but for $400 we get 16 weeks worth of crops from November through March (or so). It sounded like a good experiment, so I bought in. Though the quantity of crops has not been as rich as the summer, the quality is still good.

That said, last week, I received a cabbage head, that's, well, bigger than Becky's head.

(she's not happy up there because it's right after swim practice). Anyway...

At first, I thought I'd make Roasted Cabbage Rolls but then I saw this recipe in the March Bon Appetit, Cabbage and White Bean Soup with Sausage and it stuck in my head plus the Roasted Cabbage seemed too labor intensive and I didn't feel like it. So Wednesday, when I was at the farm market, and they had chicken apple sausage I decided to make the soup instead. Only problem, when I got home I realized I didn't have everything I needed. So this is what I came up with.

A few weeks ago, Jerry, posted a recipe for Tilapia with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce that he originally got from Cooking Light. It looked so good, I knew I wanted to make it but always having the hardest time finding Red Curry Paste, I wasn't sure when. Then last weekend we popped into Dean and DeLuca and I saw the paste. I couldn't remember what I needed it for, but I knew I needed it, so I bought some. When I got home, and was planning our weekly menu, with fish for Friday because of Lent, I remembered, so ta da!

I know, I glopped on a lot more sauce than Jerry seemed to. Also, I didn't use Basmati rice but one of those Lundberg rice blends instead. All this along with some steamed sugar snap peas drizzled with a bit of sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds and that was one good dinner.

I'll post the recipe for those of you too lazy to check out Jerry's blog but you really ought to - lots of good stuff over there.

Last Friday I took a ride down to Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck). I needed to pick up Tilapia for Friday's dinner and since Matt sold the fish store I used to patron, I'm not as crazy about the quality of the goods. Anyway, while I was there, I thought I'd find something for us to have Saturday night. Of course, when I asked Chris for requests, I got the usual response, "I don't know." When I pressed him, I got a bit more information, "Something meaty." Lots of help, thanks.

So while in WF, I checked out the butcher shop (what I wouldn't give for a local butcher). Anyway, as I walked back and forth in front of the case, one of the butchers asked me, "Can I help you?" I replied, that I was just looking for inspiration and I'd let them know when I was ready. Then I spotted them, lamb shanks. I had never prepared lamb shanks but figured they couldn't be much different than veal shanks. I also had vague recollections of some sort of braised lamb shanks with Moroccan spices that I thought might be good (crossing my fingers that Chris would be able to fill in on whatever other ingredients I needed when he did our regular shopping on Saturday).

So tilapia, lamb shanks (and assorted other goodies in hand), I checked out and headed home.

Upon arrival, I logged on to Cooking Light and did a search on lamb shanks where I found this recipe. It wasn't the Moroccan preparation I had envisioned but it was easy, slow-cooking, and mighty tasty. Chris said it rivaled my rendition of Osso Bucco and I have to say it was so much easier to prepare. The lamb was tender and delicious when done, the polenta and roasted Brussel sprouts were great accompaniments. Not to mention, the Due Mile Sei wine from Castoro that we drank with it. Nice wine - good to taste it when I'm totally sober - it was smooth with flavors that reminded me of chocolate and raspberry - yum.

Anyway, I will definitely make this dish again and definitely wouldn't have qualms for serving it to company. Added bonus, the lamb shanks were so much cheaper than veal shanks. Oh, for you Weight Watchers, this came in at 9 points (not too bad for a Saturday night meal and that included the polenta).

Last week I needed a quick easy weeknight meal. My friend, Lisa, gave me the Weight Watchers Turnaround book a few months ago (she ended up with two), so having just rediscovered it I decided to give it a try.

Using the already cooked chicken (Perdue short cuts) this came together pretty easily. It was tasty too. Becky had hers as indicated (i.e., in the taco shells), but I had mine over a big bowl of mixed greens which was good too.

We had our first snow day on Friday and I promised Chris, if it snowed, I'd make him Cinnamon Biscotti. And I kept my promise. This recipe originally came from Cooking Light but I modified it with the addition of Cinnamon chips and because I don't use margarine and didn't feel like melting butter, I used canola oil.

Something about winter Sundays makes me want to eat stew. Well, at least something that's cooked slowly all afternoon while I slovenly sit on the couch, in this case, watching Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. So for yesterday's meal, I returned to the photocopies a friend made me from the Weight Watchers In One Pot cookbook.

But let me digress one moment. I have to say, there are two things that irk me about the Weight Watcher cookbooks. 1) They only offer them for a limited time and then they're gone. Unless you want to way overpay on E-bay, you snooze, you lose. 2) They repeat recipes. Well, yes, maybe they're not exactly the same but I don't call changing macaroni from regular to whole wheat and low fat cheese to fat free cheese in order to make something core, a new recipe. I guess because of these two bugaboos, I have no compunction about reprinting their recipes.

Anyway, so back to my lazy Sunday - for yesterday, I decided to make a Beef Burgundy, which while it wasn't entirely in one pot, came close enough. I assembled all the ingredients about 10:00am because the recipe said it needed 8 to 10 hours on low. It was easy peasy, and then it sat and cooked away all day, making the house smell pretty good.

There are no pictures though because I have this thing with slow cooker foods - I don't know if it's me, or if it's because the recipe cooked too long (as I said, the recipe said 8 - 10 hours, but my crockpot cooks hot and it probably was done in more like 5.5 to 6 hours) or if it's just a function of crock pot cookery, but other than the parsley sprinkled on at the end, all the colors just melt, into a sort of brown. It tasted good though and Becky and Chris both said I could make it again. There's a lot of extra gravy, so make sure you have an nice crusty loaf for mopping.

Another Weight Watcher recipe, this time from Turnaround Program Cookbook. I love Chinese food so anything that resembles that, and satisfies a craving, I'm in. This one did that and came together quick. I'm usually concerned that there's not enough sauce in these recipes but this one had enough to coat all the chicken and broccoli nicely. Becky doesn't like broccoli but picked out the chicken and gave it a thumbs up. I will make it again.

Last year, No Knead Bread swept through the Internet - there were huge discussions about it everywhere. It was based upon a column by Mark Bittman published in the New York Times (I'll dig out my recipe and post it another time). But since then, Amy let us know about a second version of this bread, or "Soon the Bread Will be Baking Itself." My fellow Slow Travelers have been doing it for months and yesterday, I thought I'd finally give it a try.

You basically mix a batch that's good for four small loaves (maybe just under 16oz each). I did my first one yesterday:

which we enjoyed with dinner last night (by the way, those are some of those almond fingers in the background). Then I put the remaining dough in the fridge, and tonight, just baked another loaf:

It's cooling now. This is so easy (especially once it's in the fridge), I can't imagine buying bread again! Shoot - Chris has a bread knife in hand - have to go!

Much updates to the blog must occur (for example, getting rid of the March Madness bloggers - bye friends and replacing them with our new group, Sunday Slow Bakers (we're really not slow, we're just all affiliated with SlowTrav in some way and like to bake). I throw the links up shortly but basically, there's a group of us, who each week will bake the same recipe from a specific source, and post our results on Sunday. For the first round, our source will be Dolce Italiano, Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen - each person selecting a recipe from there. Next go around, a different source - can't wait to see how long we can keep this going for.

Krista initiated the Sunday Slow Bakers and had the honor of choosing the first recipe, Italian Crumbly Cake. I baked it yesterday and here are some results and observations.