Recently, I was looking for a way to get my sloppy joes fix without having to resort to using the canned sauce mix.  I wanted to incorporate fresh vegetables and avoid ingesting all the artificial stuff that tends to lurk in those canned products.  Here is what I came up with:

Homemade Sloppy Joes

Makes 8 sandwiches.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
1 medium red bell pepper, diced small
1 medium green bell pepper, diced small
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
2 pounds extra-lean ground beef
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup Barbecue Sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons hot sauce (I use Frank’s RedHot)
8 hamburger potato rolls

In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat.  Saute onion and peppers until tender, about 4 minutes.  Add garlic and saute 1 minute more.

Add ground beef to vegetables and cook until beef is completely browned, breaking up any large chunks.  Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce.  Stir until well combined and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Serve on toasted rolls.

As an alternative to my mom’s side dish of choice, you could serve these sloppy joes with oven-baked sweet potato fries and a side salad.

This meal is sure to please kids of all ages.  I hope you’ll give it a try… you may never go back to the canned stuff again.

Enjoy!

I started to think, “Geez, what did people do before microwaves when they wanted popcorn?”  When I was a little girl (pre-microwave ovens) my parents had a hot air popcorn popper.  Well, I don’t have one of those and I am not about to go buy one.  I tend to agree with Alton Brown regarding single-use kitchen items.  When space is at a premium, as it is in our apartment, I need my kitchen equipment to be multi-functional.

So, I did some experimenting and taught myself how to make stove-top popcorn.  It really only took 2 tries to get it right.  (The first time, I used too much oil and took the pot off the stove too soon, leaving a ton of unpopped kernels behind).  The second time, I got it right.  Here’s how I do it:

Stove-Top Popcorn

Using a large heavy-bottomed 8-quart pot over medium-high heat, heat just enough canola oil to generously coat the bottom of the pot (about 1 tablespoon).  Then add enough popcorn kernels (I used Arrowhead Mills Organic Popcorn) to form a single layer in the bottom of the pot (about 1/2 cup).  Shake the pan well to coat the kernels in the oil.

Cover the pan.  Once the kernels start to pop, occasionally shake the pot from side to side/front to back  to make sure that the unpopped kernels stay settled at the bottom of the pan and the popped corn does not burn.  When the popping has slowed significantly, remove the pot from the heat and carefully remove the lid away from you (beware of escaping steam!).

Pour popped corn into a large serving bowl, top with your favorite popcorn toppers (melted butter, fine sea salt, Parmesan cheese, chili powder, finely chopped fresh herbs, what-have-you) and toss well to evenly distribute the deliciousness.

Now, pop in a DVD of choice and enjoy some fresh, hot, all-natural homemade popcorn!

I tested these cookies on my colleagues of the New York Metro Chapter of the US Personal Chef Association last night and they were a hit so now I am ready to share the recipe with you!

These cookies are deliciously light, not too sweet, and really beautiful.  These are an “icebox” cookie so once you’ve made a batch of dough (you may even want to double the recipe) you can have freshly baked cookies any time you please.

Apricot Cornmeal Cookies

Yield:  About 3 dozen cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
5 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature (use a high-quality butter such as Plugra)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heaping 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

Whisk the flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder together.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth.  Add the sugar and continue to beat for about 2-3 minutes until the mixture is light and pale.

Add the egg and yolk and beat for another minute or 2 until the egg and yolk are incorporated.  Beat in the vanilla.

Reduce the mixer to low speed and steadily add the flour mixture, mixing only until it has been incorporated.  Turn off mixer and add chopped apricots.  Finish mixing the dough with a rubber spatula.

Turn the dough out onto the counter and divide in half.  Shape each half into a log, about 2-inches in diameter, and wrap in plastic.  The dough must be chilled for at least 2 hours before use.  (Well wrapped, the dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen up to 2 months).

When ready to bake, center the rack in the oven and preheat to 375F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

Use a sharp, thin knife to slice cookie dough into 1/4-inch thick rounds and place the rounds on the baking sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between each cookie.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the sheet at the midpoint.  The cookies should feel semi-soft/semi-firm and they should not color much, if at all.  Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies rest 1 minute before carefully lifting them onto a rack to cool to room temperature.  Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

Enjoy!

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!

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

Serves 4

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 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!

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.

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!

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!

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!