June 8, 2013 · 9:37 am

Slice and Dice – Favorite Tool #11

Middle age has allowed me to hone in on more of what is essential – or at least what is essential to me. I spent the first twenty years I was a professional cook collecting hundreds of cookbooks and specialized cooking tools. For the last ten I’ve been divesting myself of both. It’s not that I stopped having kitchen lust for more, rather I’ve become aware of how much I am able to do with less.

In part it helps that I’ve always adhered to the idea of buying quality and taking care of it instead of buying cheap and needing to replace. The expensive knives I bought in my 20s are still lined up in my knife bag ready to slice and dice. Perhaps they’re a little thinner from all the sharpening, but if you don’t abuse them, a good knife should last a lifetime. My mandoline is an exception to this theory of high price as an indicator of high quality.

inexpensive mandoline

Back in the 80s I couldn’t justify the $300 price tag for the fancy French stainless steel version, even if it did come with the cool waffle cutting blade*. Instead I went for the inexpensive plastic Japanese model, which has turned out to be a real kitchen work horse. The blade is still incredibly sharp and it has sliced and julienned vegetables faithfully for years.

For those of you that don’t know a mandoline is a manual precursor to a food processor. Initially made from a slab of wood with a blade inserted in the middle and several perpendicular blades attached. One of the first reference to it was in an illustrated cookbook by Bartolomeo Scappi’s from 1570. It allowed the cook to slice vegetables into thin matchsticks. Of course y the same can be done with a knife, but the time required to get uniform slices is considerably more than dragging a few carrots, cucumbers or potatoes over the mandoline’s blades.

slivered cucumber

I find this tool especially useful when making vegetable sushi,  Vietnamese fresh spring rolls, fall vegetable strudel or vegetarian lasagna. Bowls of identically sliced matchstick cucumbers  appear in minutes. Paper thin ribbons of zucchini slide off the cutter with little effort. It may not be a tool I use everyday, but it is a joy to use when I need it.

A word of caution – be wary as you speed along and don’t forget to use the plastic finger guard. Since the plastic guard won’t allow you to slice the last 3/8″ or so of the vegetable either chomp on the scraps as you prep (cook’s prerogative) or give them to someone who owns chickens.

*The stainless steel versions are much less expensive these days, but still considerably more than the plastic japanese mandoline.

6 Comments

Filed under Favorite Tools

Tagged as , ,

April 24, 2013 · 10:40 am

Crushing a Cramp

The other morning my son Russell came hoping out of his room on one foot, grimacing with pain. He had a killer charlie horse and it wouldn’t go away. Bananas I thought. Potassium. Should I be giving him something with electrolytes? My not-quite-awake brain was trying to remember all the kitchen remedies I could come up with while making lunches, letting the dog out, and serving breakfast.

“I think you should massage it.” I yelled as he hopped back to his room. His sister peeked out of her bedroom and snickered. Watching someone who is nearly 6′ 3″ hop along a hallway with one leg curled up underneath them is somewhat comical. But there is absolutely nothing funny about charlie horses.

banana orange smoothie

When your muscles are trapped in the incessant grip of a muscle spasm it is all you can do to breathe, let alone hop. I know when I’ve had a charlie horse the thought of touching my skin while it feels like ten inch chefs knives are being thrust into my muscles is nearly impossible. Sometimes I can breathe through a charlie horse. Other times I just whimper. Russell was rather stoic, but clearly in pain.

I thrust a banana into his hand and did a quick internet search. The New York Times had a great article which I quickly skimmed. Sure enough their remedy suggestions included hydration, potassium, and calcium. If you are exercising when a charlie horse starts you’re supposed to stop, however in Russell’s case he had just been sleeping (which most 15-year-olds seem to do a lot of). Was hopping considered an exercise if he did it on his non-charlie-horse leg? I scrambled to finish the morning routine since there was a bus to catch. After the banana I handed him a glass of calcium enriched orange juice. It was the best I could do and still finish their lunches.

Banana and fruit smoothies

As Shawn drove them to the bus stop I had my light bulb moment – banana fruit smoothies. Years ago I’d written an article about fruit smoothies for a magazine and realized they didn’t need to have ice cream or frozen yogurt to give them that smooth creamy texture. The secret was frozen bananas. Bananas have a fairly neutral taste, replicate ice cream’s texture when blended from frozen chunks, and are something my freezer is full of. I can’t abide a banana with spots. Once it has spots it is only good for baking or making smoothies with. What can I say? My mother’s business partner would only eat the brownest, spottiest bananas she could find. We should have been banana roommates since we were on opposite ends of the banana spectrum. Since we don’t share a kitchen I have a freezer full of frozen bananas.

For the magazine article I came up with “recipes” but really it goes like this: a handful or two of frozen sliced bananas, fruit juice, some berries or soft fruit to jazz it up. That’s it. You can play around with combinations but it is hard to go wrong. No ice. No sorbet. No ice cream or frozen yogurt. As Jamie Oliver says, “Easy Peasy”.

Here is the main trick – peel your bananas before freezing them.

Blueberry blackberry banana smoothie

Banana Fruit Smoothies

1/2 – 3/4 frozen banana cut into chunks (more or less)

1-2 cups fruit juice

1/2 – 1 cup other fruit, chopped if large

Place the fruit and juice in a blender set on ice crush. Blend until very smooth and no big chunks are left. Normally I use all frozen fruit. You could use fresh fruit for the “other” fruit if you wanted, but remember the frozen fruit helps take the place of ice cream.

I haven’t given strict amounts since you may want your smoothie very thick, or thinner. Some fruit may require more juice to help liquefy it. The idea is to play around.

Here are a few different combinations we enjoy (though really we work with whatever is in the freezer besides bananas).

    • Banana-Pineapple-Orange
    • Raspberry-Cranberry-Orange-Banana
    • Mango-Banana-Strawberry
    • Blueberry-Blackberry-Banana
    • Banana-Orange-Peanut Butter
    • Peach-Strawberry-Banana

What are some of your favorite smoothie combinations?

 

Isabelle smoothie queen

Update 6/6/13 I’ve had several recommendations on preventing charlie horses since I wrote this post, including one from our friend Molly who is a homeopath. Magnesium supplements were a suggestion I heard several times. We tried this one and found it worked pretty well. Again I am not a doctor so this is not medical advise – just what’s worked for us.

2 Comments

Filed under 50 Recipes

Tagged as , , , , ,

March 29, 2013 · 1:19 pm

Remembering with Dumplings

Emily

Last September Isabelle and I were driving to her first college interview when we got the news that one of her friends from her old school had taken her own life. That morning. It was overwhelming, horrible, sad news. I pulled over to let the college know we weren’t coming to the interview. Then we turned around and headed home, crying most of the way. I wanted to change things, turn back the clock, erase what had happened. But I couldn’t. All I could do was take us back home.

Neither of us felt like eating. I asked Isabelle if she would like to make some of the foods she and her friend had made at our house awhile back when they had a cooking extravaganza. Pork Dumplings and Fruit Smoothies. She told me she wasn’t hungry and I understood. I wasn’t really hungry either. Then when I drove past the exit for the supermarket she turned to me and wanted to know why I wasn’t getting off to go to the store.  I got off at the next exit and headed back to the supermarket. We bought the ingredients for pork dumplings, and went home.

I am not saying that cooking was able to assuage our feelings about this girl’s death. Nothing could do that. It was a way for us to remember her. Remember her smiling and laughing self. Remember how silly she and Isabelle had been when they whizzed together fruit smoothies and steamed up heaps of dumplings. Remember her when she was in Isabelle’s life. We cooked dumplings because we missed her and were mourning her not being there.

fresh ginger from the farmer's market

This recipe is from Susanna Foo’s book Chinese Cuisine. There are many recipes in this book which I love, and these dumplings are a family favorite. We make a meal of them, which would probably have Ms. Foo raising her eyebrows, but they are so delicious we eat them until we have to roll away from the table.

pork dumpling ingredients

Part of my family doesn’t eat pork so I always make a double batch of dumplings – one pork and one tofu. Also in my grocery stores Nappa cabbages are usually the size of  footballs so by making a double batch I can use up most of the cabbage in one massive dumpling marathon. If you do make both remember you’ll need to double all the other ingredients (tamari, toasted sesame oil, ginger, cabbage & carrots). I find one package of wrappers is not enough for a single batch of dumpling filling, but two is too many. If you are doubling the batch go with 2 or 3. You can buy the extra package of wrappers and use the leftovers for something else. Or the lesser amount of wrappers and when you run out use the remaining dumpling filling for a quick stir fry. In all the years I have been making these only once have I had the perfect ratio of filling to wrappers. Don’t sweat it if things don’t come out evenly.

dumpling making

Pork or Tofu Dumplings

1  1/4 pounds ground pork or 1 pound firm tofu

1 cup minced scallions including greens

3 Tablespoons low sodium tamari or soy sauce

1  1/2 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1 generous Tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1/2 pound Napa cabbage, sliced into very fine slivers

2 carrots, peeled and finely grated (optional)

2 packages dumpling wrappers (gyoza or wonton)

dipping sauce – recipe below

In a large bowl combine the pork or drained and crumbled tofu with the scallions, tamari, sesame oil, and ginger. Mix well and let sit for a few minutes so the flavors of the different ingredients to absorb and blend with one another. Then mix in the cabbage and carrots if you are using them. Nappa cabbage is sometimes also labeled as Chinese cabbage. If you can’t find it you can use savoy cabbage but add 1-2 tablespoons of water since savoy is a bit drier than Nappa.

Set up your steamer, I use one I bought from an international market years ago. It just fits into one of my large frying pans. I line the baskets of the steamer with pieces of parchment paper or the whole outer leaves of the Nappa cabbage to prevent the dumplings from sticking to the bamboo.

In the original recipe Susanna Foo called for round dumpling wrappers. I cannot find them at my local store so I make my dumplings with the square wrappers. To form the dumplings have on hand a small dish of water. Scoop a tablespoon of filling into the center of the dumpling wrapper and then moisten the edges by dipping your finger in water and running it along the edges.  Then fold the wrapper so two sides match up. You can try to pleat the edges together, though lately I have been lazy and just sealed them shut flat, with no fancy pleats. I make the tofu dumplings into triangles and the pork dumplings into square, four-seamed packages so everyone knows which is which when they come out of the steamer. Steam for 11-13 minutes over gently boiling water. Serve while hot with dipping sauce. Don’t forget to occasionally add more water to the pan, as the water boils dry when making lots of dumplings. You can also freeze formed but uncooked dumplings. They will simply take longer to cook from their frozen state.

steaming dumplings

Dumpling Dipping Sauce

Tamari

Toasted sesame oil

Rice wine vinegar

pinch sugar  or drizzle of honey (optional)

water

I have little dipping bowls I just line up and add the ingredients to, tasting as I go. My mix is roughly 1 Tablespoon tamari to 1/2-1 teaspoon sesame oil, a small splash of rice wine vinegar, a pinch of sugar, and a splash of water. See what works for you.

pork dumplings

I have had very little experience with suicide, however there are a few people from our church St. John’s who are wise and wonderful and who sadly have had their own personal devastating contact with suicide. They supported our family by listening and offering to share some of their own observations in the days and weeks and months after this young woman’s death because it was not easy. I don’t think it ever gets “easy”. They were also ready with an endless supply of hugs and kleenex and checked in often to see how we were doing. The teachers and headmaster at Isabelle’s school were likewise incredibly caring and willing to reach out to us however and whenever we needed.

One of the best pieces of advice I was given regarding teen suicide survivors was to let them make decisions about their own life, especially in the time immediately following the event. Whether to go or not to go to the funeral. Whether or not to take the SATs. Whether to get out of bed and go to school some days. There is no right or wrong way to deal with this, but it does help to affirm their choices. Also remember to let those who are in your son’s or daughter’s life (teachers, friend’s parents, coaches, therapist) know what has happened. They may not have heard, especially if the suicide victim went to a different school.

The number for the National Teen Suicide Prevention hotline is 800-273-8255.

Isabelle’s friend really loved art. If you would like to make a donation in her memory you can send it to the Frontier Regional High School Art Department, North Main St., South Deerfield, MA, 01373 c/o Jack Purcell who was one of her art teachers.

6 Comments

Filed under 50 Recipes

Tagged as , , ,

March 22, 2013 · 4:12 pm

Breaking the Rules

I once pitched this recipe idea to an editor where I occasionally freelance and was told, “We don’t run those types of recipes. We only want recipes where everything is made from scratch.”

I knew that. I was just suggesting she make an exception.

I’ve come up with dozens of recipes for this  magazine over the years, all of which were from scratch. Heck, that’s pretty much my motto in the kitchen. From scratch. This recipe is so gloriously chocolatey  and fudgey that it makes me think it’s ok to break the rules once in a while. Full disclosure I have made these chocolate chip gooey bars both ways and I would swear on a stack of Julia Child’s cookbooks that the ones made from store-bought dough are better. Honest.

chocolate chip gooey bars

This recipe is from Sally Sampson’s The BakeSale Cookbook. Sampson recommends you make the cookie dough from scratch, but you don’t have to. The simplicity of making them with bought dough is curiously freeing. Melt, squish, layer, bake. Perfect for pot lucks or bake sales, known to cure PMS when eaten in their molten just-out-of-the-oven state, these bars can also be used for some serious bribing with teenagers or grown ups.

Rule Breaking Chocolate Chip Gooey Bars

2 packages of chocolate chip cookie dough (around 2 pounds)

1 – 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 – 12 ounce bag chocolate chips

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Dump the sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips into a small saucepan and over a low flame gently heat until the chips are melted. Stir in the vanilla extract and let cool a few minutes. This will be your “fudge” layer.

layering chocolate chip gooey bars

Flip a 9″ x 13″ pan over (if you have one that is slightly smaller all the better) and press some aluminum foil over the outside. Then gently lift the foil off and it should be in your pan’s shape. You can then press it into the inside of the pan. Be careful not to tear the foil. My pan is slightly smaller than 9″ x 13″ which is the perfect size for these bars, but slightly too small for lasagna.

Next it’s time to layer up. Take the dough and squish it into super flat tiles which you will place on the bottom of the pan. I use the flat brick of dough which is prescored into squares. I break off chunks and smoosh them flat. You may need to use one or two squares from the second package of dough to completely cover the bottom. Or you can  press the dough just a little bit thinner. Spread all of the fudge over the first dough layer and top with more pieces of flattened dough. Bake for 45 minutes or until the dough is nicely browned on top. Cool a bit and cut into squares. I tend to make these small because they are rich.

chocolate chip cookie bars ready to cutMaybe someday when I’m feeling crazy I’ll get a tattoo on my stirring arm that says from scratch. It will remind me if something is chocolatey and gooey enough it’s ok to break the rules.

2 Comments

Filed under 50 Recipes

Tagged as , ,

March 10, 2013 · 6:26 pm

Sometimes Skinny is Better

spatulas

It’s true, sometimes skinny is better. One of my favorite spatulas is a flexible metal spatula. Does it lift the heaviest slice of pie? Nope. Can it lift a whole cake? That would be a bad idea. Should I use it in my non-stick pans? Probably not. However if you get past what it cannot do you can then focus on what it can do, which is a lot. Its many uses are why I find myself reaching for this spatula more often than any other spatula in my kitchen tool jar.

rosemary roast potatoes

It’s thin blade can slide under anything – from a turkey burger which has caramelized onto the sauté pan to some rosemary oven roasted potatoes which have crisped themselves to a lovely golden brown. The spatula’s edge is so sharp it can slice through things like a piece of cheese or an apple so you can use it as a knife in a pinch, which also means you can cut yourself with the edge so be careful! It is as bendy and flexible as if it has been doing kitchen yoga all it’s life. The flexibility makes it the perfect spatula for sliding under even the most delicate cookies and transferring them to a cooling rack (yes I know these oatmeal-cherry-dark chocolate-apricot-almond-raisin cookies are not delicate but you get the idea).

cookies and flexible spatula

A while ago one of the rivets attaching the blade to the handle popped out. Shawn came to the rescue and re-riveted it for me. Now I’m good to go for many more hours (dare I hope years?) in the kitchen. Oxo and Ateco both make flexible metal spatulas and you should be able to find one for less than $10. So do yourself a favor and make sure you have one of these great spatulas in your kitchen tool jar!

flexible metal spatula

5 Comments

Filed under Favorite Tools

Tagged as ,