Pinot & Pineapple

My mother makes this recipe in the winter although I think it is great all year round.  I guess she makes these muffins in winter time because they are so hearty and soul-warming.  They are a yummy grab-and-go breakfast, perfect for eating at your office desk while checking your overflowing email inbox.

One of my favorite food bloggers, Diva at Beach Eats, once asked me why these muffins are called “6-Week” Raisin Bran Muffins.  A very good question, Diva.  Here is the answer: this recipe makes such a large amount of batter and the batter stays fresh for up to 6 weeks in the refrigerator.  Of course, I’ve never managed to keep the batter around that long as I bake a small batch of muffins every night so that my and my husband’s breakfast is fresh and ready to go to work with us every day.

6-Week Raisin Bran Muffins

1 (15oz.) box Raisin Bran cereal
3 cups granulated sugar
5 cups all-purpose flour
5 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. Kosher salt
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs, beaten
1 quart buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix cereal, sugar, flour, baking soda and salt in an extra large bowl.  In a separate large bowl, combine oil, eggs and buttermilk; mix well.  Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix well.  Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 25 minutes.  Remove muffins from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Store unused muffin batter in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator until ready to use.  Batter will last up to 6 weeks in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

One of my favorite dishes to make for a potluck supper is a rice casserole that my Grandmother Alexander used to make for large get-togethers.  I don’t really know the name of it, I just always refer to it as “my rice casserole”.  The name (or lack thereof) does not really do it justice, though…

This delicious side dish is a real crowd pleaser.  I’m always especially amazed at how much the men-folk enjoy it.  This recipe is extraordinarily easy to make and can be doubled, tripled, quadrupled as necessary.  The recipe may seem to require a lot of butter but keep this in mind — I’ve actually reduced the amount of butter by half; my grandmother used to use a whole stick!  If you make sure to always have the ingredients in your pantry, you can whip up this dish anytime you please.

Rice Casserole

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 cup long grain white rice
1 10.5 oz can condensed French Onion soup
1 10.5 oz can condensed beef consomme (not broth)
1 4 oz can sliced mushrooms, drained

Preheat oven to 350F.  Combine all ingredients in a 2 quart casserole dish.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Enjoy.

Happy Holidays!

I was not able to enjoy my favorite cranberry sauce this Thanksgiving as my in-laws were in town and they took my husband and I on a Chinese food bender for the entire weekend.  So, this MSG-free weekend, I made my favorite condiment of all time:

Tracy’s Homemade Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce

1 (12 oz.) bag of cranberries, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
Zest of 1 medium navel orange, finely grated

Put all ingredients in a large saucepan; stir to combine and loosely cover.  Cook over medium-high heat until the liquid starts to boil and the skins of the cranberries start to pop.  Stir, loosely cover and lower heat to medium and allow mixture to bubble for about 10 minutes.  Stir yet again, and turn heat to low.  Simmer 10 more minutes or until mixture has thickened.

Cool, cover and store in the refrigerator.

Note: I make this sauce the day before I want to start using it as it seems to be one of those dishes that tastes better the next day.

This sauce is delicious with pork, poultry, brunch and dessert.  I even sneak a spoonful of it and enjoy it all by itself.  I love the ruby-red color, the chunky texture and the way it smells and tastes like the holidays.

Enjoy!

Well, this week’s farm share ended better than it started. As you may recall, my red tomatoes were smooshed beyond use and had to be sacrificed to the compost gods. Very sad. It took me a couple of days to get over the loss. But, I moved on to give the surviving vegetables the attention they deserved…

The yellow plum tomatoes were used to make yellow gazpacho. Of course, I had to go to the market to get a yellow bell pepper, a cucumber, cilantro and literally everything else necessary to make gazpacho, but the soup was really delicious. The mixed baby greens became a really yummy salad with sliced apples, walnuts, red onion and homemade honey-mustard dressing. The beets were thinly sliced and deep-fried to make chips and were served with a goat cheese/chive dip. Oh my, I am still dreaming about that dip. The Swiss chard was used in an impromptu dinner of shrimp and orzo all cooked separately then tossed together in a large saute pan with garlic butter. I don’t know what to call it, but it was super tasty. Last, but not least, the carrots and green bell peppers were used to make my Great-Grandma Hollingsworth’s carrot relish. Grandma used to always make this relish for big family meals and I always looked forward to it. It has a sweet and tangy dressing and is a great way to get kids to eat their vegetables. Here is the recipe (as well as a photo). I hope you’ll give it a try.

Carrot Relish

2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped

Boil the carrots in salted water until they are tender-crisp. Drain and cool.

In a medium saucepan, combine the tomato soup, oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and keep hot.

In a large bowl, combine carrots, peppers and onions. Pour hot sauce all over, cover and marinate for 24 hours in the refrigerator.

Serve cold.

This relish will keep for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Happy Labor Day!  As today is the unofficial end of summer, tomorrow is (unofficially) the beginning of Fall!  Fall makes me think of apples and apples make me think of applesauce and applesauce makes me think of my Great-Grandma Hollingsworth who used to make homemade applesauce for me and my brother when we were little.  My brother liked his applesauce to be red, so Grandma would add some red food coloring to it.

I never got Grandma’s applesauce recipe before she passed away so I spent last Fall tinkering in the kitchen, trying to replicate her applesauce so that I can, one day, make it for my children and grandchildren.  Luckily, I came up with a more natural way to make my applesauce red.  I love the texture, flavor, aroma and color of this applesauce and hope you will enjoy it too.

Homemade Applesauce

6 pounds apples (use a mix of sweet varieties such as Gala, Fuji and Empire)
Good quality cranberry juice (no sugar added)
Ground cinnamon, to taste
Turbinado sugar (optional)

Wash, peel, core and dice apples; place in large saucepot.  Add just enough cranberry juice to keep apples from sticking (start with 1/2 cup).  Add cinnamon to taste (1 teaspoon is a good place to start).  Add sugar to taste, if you are using it.  Stir to combine, cover and slowly cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.  Cook until apples are soft and cranberry juice is completely absorbed.  If the cranberry juice is completely absorbed before the apples are fully soft, add a little more juice and continue cooking until apples are soft.  Run cooked apples through a food mill or potato ricer (I use a potato ricer).  Chill before serving.

Enjoy!

My husband and I enjoyed an early dinner with our good friends, Alyson and Lamar, tonight at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Harlem. After having our fill of ribs, chicken, brisket, sausage and an array of sides, we somehow had room for dessert. My husband’s choice reminded me of a pie that I make for him on occasion. He loves peanut butter and chocolate paired together and this dessert fits the bill for him quite nicely. It tastes like a big, frozen Reese’s peanut butter cup!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

1 (14oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 (8 oz.) container frozen non-dairy whipped topping, thawed
1 (6oz.) Oreo pie crust

In a large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk and cocoa powder; mix well.
Add peanut butter and mix well.
Fold in whipped topping.
Spoon into crust.
Cover pie and freeze 6 hours.
Garnish as desired and serve.
Freeze leftovers.

Good Morning Provence! Actually, I’m still in NYC but I feel as though I’ve been in Provence this week with my awesome farm share! This has been my favorite box since we’ve started receiving our weekly deliveries.

This week I made a deliciously cheesy potato and fennel gratin. I LOVE gratins and my husband and I absolutely flipped over this tasty dish. Luckily, I made enough so that we have leftovers for lunch! I served this gratin with some roasted chicken and the green beans that I pre-blanched then sauteed in olive oil with lots of garlic. This meal was a perfect Sunday family meal!

The eggplants and zucchini became a wonderful ratatouille (see recipe below). This ratatouille is super versatile and can be eaten hot, cold or room temperature. I’ve used it in everything from omelettes to a side dish for pan-seared sea scallops.

I used one of the cucumbers in a salad with the mixed baby greens and I used the rest of the cucumbers in a great raita. Okay, so I left Provence for India. It was a very flavorful journey! I served the raita with curried lamb burgers in flatbread. This dish was super easy, really yummy and a great summer night dinner.

Last, but not least, the fava beans are going to be used in tonight’s dinner. I will most likely saute them with some butter and garlic and enjoy them with a pan roasted salmon filet. Wow, I’m hungry for dinner already!

Here is the recipe for ratatouille:

Ratatouille

1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 large cloves garlic, minced
3 large zucchini, chopped
3 medium Japanese eggplants, chopped
1 large yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 14.5 oz can good quality diced tomatoes (I used Muir Glen No Salt Added)
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 Tbsp. anchovy paste (optional)
Assorted fresh herbs (e.g. parsley, oregano, thyme, basil), roughly chopped
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until nearly tender. Add garlic and saute 1 minute. Add zucchini, eggplant and pepper and saute until tender-crisp. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste and anchovy paste and stir to combine well. Cover, lower heat and let simmer until vegetables are nearly tender. Remove from heat and add fresh herbs, stirring to combine well. Let sit for 1 hour to let flavors meld. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bon appetit!

My Farm Share Week 3 came and went like a blur. We were barely home this week thanks to the long July 4th weekend so we had to really be diligent in getting our veggies eaten. Here’s how we did it:

The Napa cabbage became a delicious slaw of thinly sliced Napa cabbage, shredded carrots, thinly sliced scallions, fresh sweet peas, julienned red bell pepper, mayonnaise, a touch of Dijon mustard, salt and black pepper. This was a great side dish for some juicy lamb burgers - Yum! The 2 heads of romaine lettuce were used in mountains of blackened chicken Caesar salad (my husband’s favorite way to eat salad); the 2 Middle Eastern cucumbers were used in a refreshing but filling Panzanella salad (recipe follows); the red Swiss chard was sauteed in olive oil with onions, golden raisins, toasted slivered almonds, salt and black pepper. This sweet and savory side was served with pan-roasted pork chops and was really tasty. The garlic scapes became a gorgeous, bright green pesto and was tossed with orzo pasta for an easy weeknight dinner; the mixed baby greens served as a salad and the baby red onions were roasted to caramelized perfection with olive oil, salt and black pepper - served along side a brunch of steak and eggs.

What a delicious, if not busy, week we had! Here is the recipe for the Panzanella salad…

Panzanella

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 loaf Italian bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 6 cups)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

2 large tomatoes, chopped
2 small Middle Eastern cucumbers, chopped
2 yellow bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup basil leaves, coarsely torn

Heat the oil and butter in a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the bread, sprinkle with salt & pepper and cook until golden brown, stirring frequently to ensure even coloring. Allow to cool before adding to the vegetables.

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil salt & pepper.

In a large bowl, mix all of the vegetables and basil. Add the cooled bread cubes and vinaigrette and toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Enjoy!

Another week of fresh, local organic vegetables has flown by. Here’s what was cooking (or not) in the Chin household…

The Napa cabbage became pork pot stickers served with my favorite dumpling sauce (soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil); the scallions were in everything from the afore mentioned pot stickers to tangy buttermilk-scallion mashed potatoes; the red Russian kale went into a hearty and colorful Tuscan white bean soup (feel free to email me for the recipe); the green leaf lettuce - salad with Maytag blue cheese dressing; the basil went into homemade marinara sauce and onto Margherita pizza; the mixed baby greens - salad with a sweet port wine vinaigrette; last, but not least, the Italian parsley was in everything, adding fresh herbal notes to everything it graced.

It was a fun, delicious week and we are looking forward to tomorrow morning’s delivery… Stay tuned!

The other night my husband and I got together with our friend Sophie to make some sweet treats for a friend who has been under the weather. This friend of ours is such a wonderful person who is always volunteering to help others and is well known for baking cookies to send to the troops overseas that we felt it was only appropriate to make some sweets for the lady who is always making treats for others.

To that end, Sophie made beautiful strawberry jam, I made a blueberry crumble pie and my husband served as the best sous chef we could have ever hoped for. For all the love that went into making these antioxidant rich, vitamin-packed fruity treats, I’m sure our good friend will be on the mend in no time!

Here are some shots of the pie: