Can you DO that?

Everyone got the same puzzled look on their face and asked the same question.  "Can you DO that?"  It didn't seem so impossible.

My friend, Linda, had invited the usual suspects over for a pre-Easter, Holy Saturday, dinner.  Our weather had been typically dismal and damp.  So, she thought it would be appropriate to serve a hearty-meaty stew.  And, at the time we were planning the menu, it sounded wonderful.  (More about the weather later.)

Suddenly she asked, "What will your husband eat?"  As you may recall, he's our resident vegetarian.  Without thinking, I said, "Oh, I'll make a veggie stew."  That's when I got The Look and The Question for the first time.  Since then, I've seen it (and heard it) every time the pre-Easter, Holy Saturday dinner menu was discussed.

I'm here to tell you, people, that it IS possible to make a hearty, if not so meaty, stew!  It's all about flavor and the way to start building flavor from the get-go is with our tri-colored favorite, mirepoix.

It doesn't stop there.  Each addition to the pot is more flavor and more yumminess (is that a word?  or perhaps I've spelled it wrong?).  In place of meat, I used two kinds of mushrooms - button and brown (or baby Portobellos).

Of course, it has red potatoes, carrots, and peas to round out the typical stew flavors.  It's those smaller additions to the pot that make a big difference, though.  Red onion, garlic, rosemary, thyme, diced tomatoes, etc...  

One ingredient in particular had me intrigued.  I couldn't imagine putting it in my stew.  And, I was just sure it would ruin the pot.  After wavering back and forth several times, I eventually did put it in even though I had serious doubts.  Happily, I was wrong.  Wrong, wrong, wrong.  It really did make a difference.  ...Are you curious yet?..  Oh, just keep reading, you'll figure it out.

To set the record straight, I can't take full credit for this recipe.  I adapted it from several that I found in cookbooks and online.  Ultimately, it's my own.  But, like any good recipe, it's built on ideas gathered from others.  So, to all those chefs who inspired me, thank you!  Of course, I think MY recipe is BETTER than yours.  But, seriously, I couldn't have done it without you.

Well, enough babbling.  Here it is:  My version of a vegetarian stew.  Oh!  Here's the best part...guess who ate most of it?  You got it - the carnivores.  Um. Did I mention the piping hot, fresh-from-the-oven Popovers I made to go with the stew?  What's that?  You want that recipe, too?

Veggie Stew

Ingredients

2	T olive oil
1	medium onion, minced
2	medium carrots, minced
4	stalks celery hearts, minced
1	medium red onion, chopped
1 ¼	lbs baby Portobello mushrooms, stems discarded, caps halved and then sliced ½-inch thick
10	oz button mushrooms, stems trimmed and then mushrooms quartered
3	medium garlic cloves, minced
1	t minced fresh rosemary
½	t dried thyme
½	c white wine
1	T mushroom seasoning
3	c vegetable stock
1 ½	t kosher salt
1	can petite diced tomatoes in purée
2	bay leaves (don’t forget to fish them out at the end!)
1	lb carrots (about 6-7 medium), peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 ½	lbs red potatoes (about 6-7 medium), peeled, quartered, and crosscut into 1-inch chunks
1	T cornstarch
1	T cold water
1	c frozen peas
¼	c minced fresh parsley leaves (curly or flat-leaf)
1	T balsamic vinegar (I know! weird, huh?!)

Directions

1.        Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.
2.        Add the minced onion, carrot, and celery, and sauté, stirring frequently, until the vegetables begin to brown, about 10 minutes.
3.        Add the red onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.
4.        Add the Portobello and button mushrooms, raise the heat to medium-high, and sauté until the liquid the release has been evaporated, about 10 minutes.
5.        Add the garlic, rosemary, and thyme and cook for 30 seconds.
6.        Add the wine, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the pot.*
7.        Cook until the wine is reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
8.        Add the mushroom seasoning, stock, salt, tomatoes, bay leaf, carrots, and potatoes, and bring to a boil.
9.        Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the carrots and potatoes are tender, about 35 minutes.
10.     Mix the cornstarch and with water to form a smooth paste.
11.     Stir the paste into the stew and cook until the liquid thickens, 1 to 2 minutes.
12.     Turn off the heat, stir in the peas, cover, and let stand until the peas are hot, 3 to 4 minutes.
13.     Stir in the parsley and balsamic vinegar, discard the bay leaf, and adjust the seasonings. Serve immediately.

*If you don't cook with wine, just add an equal amount of stock and skip the reduction in the next step.

NOTE:  I did all the chopping, mincing, slicing, etc... before I ever turned on a burner.  It made the actual cooking time easy.  It was a lot of prep, but totally worth it!

Oh, yes.  The weather.  It turned out to be a FABULOUS, perfect Northwest Spring Day.  Sunny and warm (but, not hot).  Stew and Popovers didn't really match the day.  But, we didn't care one little bit. 

Better than a poke in the eye

A hot summer day and an invitation to a backyard BBQ prompted a search for a refreshing dessert recipe.

My friend, Linda, is a fellow 'foodie' and often hosts large-ish groups at her home.  The fact that she lives in tiny little house doesn't even faze her.  (I use my small house as an excuse to avoid inviting people over.)  The fact that her home isn't perfectly spic-n-span doesn't bother her either.  (I use that excuse even more often than the 'small house' excuse.)  To top it all off, her kitchen is the size of match box.  Even that doesn't stop her from hosting groups of 15 or more.  We all bring a dish or two and she provides the main attraction.

On this particular day, I wanted to find an easy dessert that would keep us cool and be a little more interesting than a quart of ice cream.  Keeping in mind that I had a few limes and a white cake mix, I searched for recipes along that line.  I confess, I cheated.  I did use the cake mix AND I caved (due to the time constraints) to pre-made frosting.  That was my only mistake.  If I had it to do over again, I'd make my own frosting.  That pre-made stuff is overly sweet and had a strange consistency.

I found this recipe for Key Lime Poke Cake from the Betty Crocker® website.  Simple, easy, but with lots of POW factor!

I'm always amazed by kitchen chemistry.  The recipe has you mix lime juice into sweetened condensed milk.  Then you are to wait while it thickens.  I was like a kid at a circus side show.  Watching that dish and swishing it periodically to test its thickness (or not).  It really works!  I was almost giddy with food happiness when the magic happened.

Key Lime Pie Poke Cake

INGREDIENTS

Cake:

1	box Betty Crocker SuperMoist® white cake mix
1¼	c water
1	T vegetable oil
4	eggs

Key Lime Filling:

1	can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
¾	cup whipping cream
½	cup key lime juice or regular lime juice
1	t grated lime jest
4	drops yellow food color
1	drop green food color

Frosting:

1	Container (12 oz) Betty Crocker ®  Whipped vanilla frosting
2	t grated lime peel

Garnish, if desired:

	fresh strawberries
	key lime slices
	lemon leaves

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F (325° F for dark or nonstick pan).  Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with baking spray with flour.

2. In a large bowl, beat cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.  Pour into pan.

3. Bake 27 to 33 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes. With handle of wooden spoon (¼ to ½ inch in diameter), poke holes almost to bottom of cake every ½ inch, wiping spoon handle occasionally to reduce sticking.

4. In medium bowl, stir together filling ingredients (mixture will thicken).  Pour over cake; spread evenly over surface, working back and forth to fill holes. (Some filling should remain on top of cake.)  Refrigerate 1 hour.

5. Spread frosting over cake; sprinkle with lime peel.  Garnish as desired.  Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

T'was the Night Before Easter

It started about two or three weeks before Easter.  I found a recipe in the newspaper and cut it out to give to my friend, Linda.  It kind of grew from there.  The recipe was for Lamb Chops with Parsley-Pistachio Pesto.  Then she found a recipe for Curried Carrots.  I offered to make couscous to go with the lamb.  And, she decided to add asparagus to the menu.  A little fresh crusty bread with some olive oil and fig-balsamic vinegar to dip it in and a cousin with a great desert recipe.  We were all set for our 'the night before Easter' dinner.

Stevie is the meat master so he was in charge of the lamb.  We decided to do a leg of lamb instead of the chops ('cause we are too cheap to feed that many people lamb chops).  Stevie did the 'set it and forget it' method, which turned out great!

You probably want to know why we decided on 'the night before Easter'.  I don't know what to say about that.  We were lazy?  We needed a full day to recover before going back to work on Monday?  It's more fun to party on Saturday night than Sunday morning?  Who knows!

Inspite of our choice of day and hour, it was a huge culinary success.  More about the details for the other recipes later.  This post is dedicated to the pesto.  Which, of course, was spectacularly yummy!

So, here's the whole recipe.  But keep in mind, I only made the pesto.

Lamb Chops with Parsley Pistachio Pesto

INGREDIENTS

For the pesto:

2	c fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley leaves
1	clove garlic, peeled
⅓	c shelled pistachios
⅓	c olive oil
4	T shredded Parmesan cheese
	water as needed
	salt
	freshly ground black pepper

For the lamb:

8	lamb chops, about 1 to 1½ inches thick
	salt to taste
	black pepper to taste
1	T olive oil

Directions

1. To make the pesto:  In a food processor, combine the parsley leaves, garlic and pistachios; pulse to combine. With the motor on, add the olive oil and process until mixture is smooth. Add the cheese and pulse to combine. Add water as needed so the pesto has the consistency of thin, grainy mustard. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste. Set aside until ready to use.

2. To make the lamb:  Remove the lamb from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before cooking. Trim any excess fat from the chops. Pat the lamb chops dry with paper towel. Season the lamb on both sides with salt and pepper or favorite all-purpose seasoning.

3. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until just shimmering. Working in batches, place 4 lamb chops in the skillet and cook until nicely browned, about 4 to 5 minutes on each side for a medium-rare that is more on the rare side. Remove lamb chops from the skillet and transfer to a plate; tent with foil to keep warm. Repeat with remaining 4 chops. Serve with the pesto on the side or place a dollop on each chop.

Some people's taste

There's just no accounting for some people's taste.  Take my husband, for instance.  I just don't understand his weird attraction to cooked pineapple.  Don't get me wrong.  I love pineapple.  I grew up eating fresh pineapple almost every day.  I thought the word 'Punch' was a synonym for pineapple juice.  But, we never NEVER cooked pineapple!  Eeeew!

My husband, on the other hand, loves cooked pineapple.  He likes it on a pizza.  Ick!  He likes it baked in desserts.  Double-ick!  And, worst ick of all icks, he loves Pineapple Upside Down Cake.  (Excuse me while I gag.)  Despite this MAJOR flaw in his character, I do love him dearly.  And since this is his very very VERY favorite cake, for his birthday, I lowered myself and my cooking reputation and made him a Pineapple Upside Down Cake for the occasion.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake has more than one offending ingredient.  If cooking pineapple in a cake isn't bad enough, it also has (more gagging on my part) maraschino cherries.  They're just not natural!  I know this for a fact because my dear husband used to work for a company that made, installed, and repaired automatic doors.  One of the businesses that he visited (to work on their automatic doors) was the local maraschino cherry 'factory'.  He got the royal tour and accompanying commentary on how maraschino cherries are made.

First, they bleach the cherries (any kind of cherry, doesn't matter).  Then they soak them in a sugar syrup that has to be exactly a certain percentage of sugar.  (You're going to love this part!)  If they get the sugar syrup too sweet or not sweet enough, the stems will fall out of the cherries.  (What would we do without that stem?!)  Then they add cherry flavoring and the red dye so that all those cherries will be exactly the same color.  Anyway, he said the whole place reeked of sugar syrup and cherry flavoring AND the floor was sticky everywhere he went the whole plant.  I wasn't a maraschino cherry fan before he went there to work on their doors.  And I haven't changed my mind since.

Now we have this recipe with two things that I don't think should be in ANY recipe.  But, I love him dearly.  So, I made it anyway.  Poor thing, he had to eat practically the whole thing by himself 'cause no one else likes it.  But, he did get help from my friend Linda.  She liked it.  She even said it was 'real good'.

Here's the recipe I used.  I confess...I cheated and used a boxed cake mix.  And, I guess I can admit that even though I still don't like cooked pineapple and I still don't/won't eat a maraschino cherry, it didn't turn out too bad.  Well, it looked pretty - whether it tasted good or not.

I still love him dearly.  So, if he mentions it again, I'll probably make him another one for his next birthday.  You know, because I love him dearly!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

INGREDIENTS

1/4	cup butter or margarine
1	cup packed brown sugar
1	can (20 oz) pineapple slices in juice, drained, juice reserved
1	jar (6 oz) maraschino cherries without stems, drained
1	box yellow cake mix
	Vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box

1.    Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). In 13x9-inch pan, melt butter in oven. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter. Arrange pineapple slices on brown sugar. Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice, and arrange remaining cherries around slices; press gently into brown sugar.

2.    Add enough water to reserved pineapple juice to measure 1 1/4 cups. Make cake batter as directed on box, substituting pineapple juice mixture for the water. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.

3.    Bake 40 to 45 minutes (42 to 48 minutes for dark or nonstick pan) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately run knife around side of pan to loosen cake. Place heatproof serving plate upside down onto pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake 5 minutes so brown sugar topping can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Cool 30 minutes. Serve warm or cool. Store covered in refrigerator.