Holiday Highlights from MA's Kitchen

Our Christmas Pizzas

Though I haven't posted in a week, you can bet I've been in the kitchen and enjoying so many good things to eat that my mouth is watering just thinking about them all. Holiday cooking is never a one-person thing and special thanks goes to my family who helped in so many ways to keep the good things coming from the kitchen. As I write this, the kitchen and, in fact, the whole house and probably out into the driveway, are filled with the aroma of simmering turkey stock. Later today there will be a wonderful turkey soup to enjoy (followed by a post for those interested in how to make them). Now, back to the week that was.

Tapenades: Sun-dried tomato (left) and apricot fig (in bowl)

As usual, we did not get to eat all the appetizers we'd planned for Christmas Eve. That might have something to do with the delicious duo of tapenades we started with. One was sun-dried tomato and the other apricot fig. Both were made by my daughter Keeley. She put them on slices of baguettes with goat cheese, then popped them in the oven until the cheese melted slightly and everything was warmed through. Delicious! I've asked Keeley to share these recipes with me and we'll get them blogged here as soon as possible. I know you will enjoy them.

Prepping chicken and cream cheese roll-ups

Our family turkey dinner was on Boxing Day this year, which left Christmas dinner wide open for exploration. We choose to make homemade pizzas for our Christmas dinner. However, after an hour or so of unwrapping gifts we needed a little snack. It was Keeley to the kitchen to make chicken and cream cheese tortilla roll-ups. I think this was another online recipe that she added her own special touch to and I will be sure to ask her to share it here on the blog as well. They were so good we ate them all and followed it up with a little exercise: a walk with the dogs through the deep snow.

Building individual pizzas

Then it was Christmas pizza time. I made a double batch of fresh pizza dough, enough for eight individual pizzas. For toppings, there was a choice of caramelized onions, goat cheese, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, spicy tomato sauce, two kinds of pepperoni, fresh tomato slices and fresh mushroom slices. Then  Keeley had the idea to use some of the left-over apricot fig tapenade as a pizza sauce. It went really well with the caramelized onions and goat cheese. We had a lot of fun building our individual Christmas pizzas and even more fun eating them.

On Boxing Day, we dined on a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Unfortunately, I was so involved in the preparation and totally enjoying the company of my family that I didn't take any blog-worthy photos.

Here's my recipe for a single batch of the pizza dough. It's an easy quick-rise dough and you can fit a double batch into the 4 1/2 quart bowl of a Kitchen Aid mixer for mixing and kneading, which makes it even easier. You can also change the taste by subbing one cup of whole wheat flour for one cup of all-purpose. It's Merry Pizza the whole year through!

MA’s Quick Rise Pizza Dough

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided into 1 ½ cups and 1 cup

1 tbsp quick-rise instant yeast

1 tsp salt

1 cup hot water (not boiling)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Oil, for oiling pans

Cornmeal, to sprinkle on pans

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a Kitchen Aid mixer, combine 1 ½ cups of flour with yeast and salt.

Pour hot water and oil into flour mixture and mix well.

Mix in remaining flour to make a slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a ball or leave it in the Kitchen Aid mixer if you're using one.

On a lightly floured surface – or using the dough hook on the Kitchen Aid mixer, knead the dough for about five minutes or until smooth and elastic.

Cut dough in half; cover with a dampened tea towel and let rest for 10 minutes. To make the pizzas later, refrigerate the rounds of dough at this point. Bring to room temperature before rolling or stretching.

Meanwhile, lightly oil the pizza pans and sprinkle lightly with cornmeal.

Roll dough to desired thickness and transfer to pans, or place dough directly on pan and pat and stretch to desired shape and thickness.

Let rise for 15 minutes – a little longer if you are making a thick crust.

Add your favourite toppings.

Bake in 450º F. oven for 16 to 18 minutes.

Makes 2 thin crust pies or 1 thick crust pie.

Printable Recipe for MA's Quick Rise Pizza Dough

Season's Greetings from MA in the Kitchen

I'll be busy in my kitchen over the next few days as I am sure many of you will be. I still want to make a batch or two cookies, my homemade cranberry sauce and put the marzipan icing on the fruit cake (no fruit cake groans, please. This buttery white fruit cake filled with cherries and raisins and almonds is from a family recipe and, if you're good, I'll share it with you in time for next Christmas).

Tonight we'll be enjoying all kinds of appetizers - like sweet and sour meatballs, little quiches, tapenade and baguettes, and some purchased goodies to round out the fare. Since we are doing the big turkey dinner on Boxing Day, tomorrow we'll be having a make your own pizza dinner. That will be fun. The main event on Wednesday will feature turkey and all the trimmings. It'll be great especially because it will be shared with those near and dear to my heart.

Before I head for the kitchen, here's a last minute Christmas gift for you, a recipe for Coconut Macaroons.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas.

Coconut Macaroons

MA's Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients ready for hand mixing

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1 tbsp sugar
2 ½ cups sweetened shredded or flaked desiccated coconut
2 large egg whites or use ¼ cup of prepared egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt 

Cool cookies on sheet

In a large bowl, combine sugar, coconut, egg whites, vanilla and salt. Using your hands, mix well until ingredients are completely combined.

Dampen hands with cold water. Form a heaping tablespoon of mixture (or a little less if you want smaller macaroons) into a loose haystack shape and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining mixture, space about 1 inch apart.

Bake about 18 minutes or until golden brown, rotating the baking sheet about half way through.

Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack to cool.

When cool, move macaroons to an airtight container. They can be stored here for about 3 days or in the freezer for one month.

Makes 12 large or 18-20 smaller cookies. 

Printable Recipe for MA's Coconut Macaroons

Toffee Crunch Blondies: The Confession

Toffee Crunch Blondies

This is one of those recipes that you find on the package of one of the recipe’s main ingredients. In this case, the recipe is Toffee Crunch Blondies and the ingredient is Chipits® Skor® Toffee Bits. I made these quick and easy bars as part of our Christmas goodies last year and they are back by popular demand this year.

Except this year they’re going to be a bit different. Last year, when you took one of these off the cookie plate, you bit into a soft cookie with toffee crunchies on top. This year, you may think you’re biting into a slice of a crunchy caramel butter tart bar. And this is where the confession comes in. You see the recipe calls for a ½ cup of butter. If you look closely at the photo of the ingredients below, you’ll notice a much larger chunk of butter than that. In fact, I accidentally doubled the butter to 1 cup. I discovered this trying to figure out why the dough looked noticeably undercooked after 25 minutes in the oven. Then it hit me what I’d done.

So what now? I thought it would be prudent to taste what I had made before I chucked it into the garbage. Always the optimist, I cut the cake into 36 bars as if everything was going to be okay and ate a bar. Not too bad, not too bad at all, but still a little underdone. I put the whole thing (except for the bar I ate and the second one I ate just to be sure) back into the oven for another ten minutes.

When the time was up, I sampled another bar to see if the extra time in the oven spelled success. Happily, those ten minutes were all the blondies needed to become plateworthy. While the middle remained buttery and runny, reminiscent of a butter tart, the bottom of the bar was crisp as a cookie and the top had the expected toffee crunchiness. I ate another bar in celebration.

Without further delay, here’s the recipe for Toffee Crunch Blondies - Two Ways. (I highly recommend putting this into storage as soon as they are cool enough or they may disappear before your holiday company arrives.)

MA’s Toffee Crunch Blondies - Two Ways

Ingredients

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Grease a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.

The Soft Cookie Way:

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 ½ cups toffee bits, divided into 1 cup and ½ cup

Spread evenly

Beat together the butter, sugar and eggs until well blended.

Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salts. Mix well.

Stir in 1 cup toffee bits.

Spread mixture evenly into baking pan.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Sprinkle bits on hot blondies

Remove from oven and sprinkle immediately with ½ cup of toffee bits.

Let cool, then cut into bars.

The Creamier Centre Way:

Same as above but use 1 cup of softened butter and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 3 dozen good-sized bars.

Printable Recipe for MA's Toffee Crunch Blondies - Two Ways

Secret Shortbread

Secret Shortbread Cookies

There are fancier cookies and more colourful cookies, and there are certainly cookies with many more ingredients, but this simple, unassuming, four-ingredient cookie is my hands-down Christmas cookie favourite. (My daughter’s whipped shortbread is a close second.)

When I married into the Stewart name, I thought I should learn to make shortbread. This was the first shortbread recipe I tried. The original recipe came from a Scottish import shop in Winnipeg. I am not sure why they called it “Secret Shortbread” and the shop has been gone for many years. I do know it’s the best shortbread recipe I’ve tried.

You can roll the dough and cut out shapes or you can roll the dough into small balls and press each ball down with two fingers. I prefer to roll the dough and cut into small circles. I have tried other shapes, including stars and other holiday motifs, but the circle shape cooks most evenly and stands up best in storage. I use the smallest circle cookie cutter I have. It is 1½ inches in diameter. The size gives you a perfect bite of shortbread. If you decide to use a large circle, remember to allow more baking time.

You can store shortbread cookies stacked between sheets of wax paper in a tin for two or three weeks. You can also freeze them if you intend to keep them around for a month or two.

This little Scottish treat is a great addition to any holiday cookie tray and the perfect cookie for a sherry and shortbread get-together with friends.

MA’s Secret Shortbread

Four ingredients for shortbread

Preheat oven to 325° F.

1 lb unsalted butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar
1 cup cornstarch
4 cups flour

Cream butter until fluffy.

Add icing sugar and cornstarch. (If you are mixing in a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, be sure to change from beater to dough hook before adding flour and kneading dough.)

Knead until cracks are visible

Add flour and knead until dough cracks. This happens in just a few minutes so be careful not to over process the dough.

Roll dough to ½ inch thick and cut with cookie cutter or roll into small balls and press down with two fingers. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

MA's Tip: Always use a room temperature cookie sheet to help prevent cookies from loosing their shape and browning too quickly on the bottom. If you'll be reusing a cookie sheet, be sure it's cooled before placing unbaked cookies on it. I like to wash each sheet between each of its visits into the oven.

Bake 20 to 30 minutes.

Makes 10 dozen 1½ inch cookies.

Printable Recipe for MA's Secret Shortbread

Shortbread and Sherry

My New Roti Puffer

Yes, it's a roti puffer. No, I haven't used it yet.

Mr. Gupta at India Spice House sold it to me. He saw that we were buying some frozen naan bread and he suggested the best way to warm it was on a roti puffer. I told him I usually just warmed them in the oven. He said that was okay, but never put them in the microwave because they got too soft and that's when he showed me the roti puffer. He said it works equally well on chappati, poppadums and, of course, naan bread. I look forward to trying it out. I am also looking forward to making the special dahl recipe Mr Gupta shared with us (and sharing it with you here). He is a wealth of knowledge about Indian food, spices and remedies. If you get the chance to visit his shop in The Maples, I hope you will get to meet him.

New in My Kitchen

This is the newest addition to my kitchen.

Can you guess what it is?


Here are a few clues:

It was bought at the India Spice House.

It cost $4.99.

It is used on the stove-top.


Stay tuned for the answer tomorrow.

Quick and Festive Cranberry Onion Chicken Breasts

Easy to make, delicious to eat

My Aunt Chris introduced this dish to me on a visit to her home in Michigan far too many years ago. I was really impressed with the ease of making it and how good it tasted. Since then, I’ve made it too many times to count. It's definitely one of my go-to meals. If you Google cranberry onion chicken, you will see that it’s a really popular recipe and once you try it, you’ll know why.

Because you use prepared ingredients to make this main course, it’s not exactly scratch cooking. You will need whole berry cranberry sauce, either from a can or homemade (I will share my favourite cranberry sauce recipe here soon). You will also need onion soup mix. I buy mine in bulk without MSG, but you can use an envelope of any onion soup mix you have on hand. Originally, I made this with Catalina or California salad dressing, but it works equally well with French or Russian dressing.

This recipe makes a good deal of delicious sauce so be sure to serve it with plenty of rice or mashed potatoes. To me, it’s comfort food at its best.

Here’s to you Aunty Chris!

MA's Cranberry Onion Chicken Breasts

Preheat oven to 350° F.

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups (1-16 oz can) whole berry cranberry sauce
1 ounce (1 envelope) onion soup mix
1 cup Catalina, French or Russian salad dressing

Place chicken breasts into a 13” x 9” baking pan.

Mix together cranberry sauce, onion soup mix and salad dressing. Pour over chicken breasts. (You can put this together to this point, cover and refrigerate for several hours. Be sure to add a little extra cooking time if you do this.)


Bake for 50 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Serve hot.


Printable Recipe for MA's Cranberry Onion Chicken Breasts

Make Ahead Meatballs

Baked and ready for the freezer. How will you use your meatballs?

Tis the season for another make ahead recipe! I'll be using my latest batch of meatballs over the holidays - most likely as an appetizer in a sweet and sour sauce and most certainly as part of the big family feast in a delicious mushroom gravy.

As always, buy the best ground beef you can get. I am fortunate that the local grocery grinds their own beef and does a good job of it, too. Thanks, Kevin, at Park Place. I like to keep these meatballs on the small size - about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. That way they're easy to pop into a sauce or enjoy in a meatball sub. If you decide to roll them into bigger balls, be sure to add some cooking time.

I use powdered onion and garlic instead of fresh in this recipe, because I can never mince the onion or garlic small enough to get the fine texture I want in the little meatballs. In this recipe, I've used only basic spices, but you can add what you like depending on how you plan to use the meatballs. For instance, throw in some basil and oregano, if your meatballs are going to have a mostly Italian future.

I've added instructions for freezing and using both non-cooked and pre-cooked meatballs. I prefer to pre-cook and then freeze them for future use as it speeds things up when I am ready to use them, but you can go either way.

MA's Make Ahead Meatballs

Get out the ingredients

6 lbs lean ground beef 

2 cups fine breadcrumbs
2 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
½ tsp ground pepper
1 tsp dry mustard
4 large eggs, lightly beaten

Close the door and let them cook.

In a large bowl, mix together ground beef, breadcrumbs, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, mustard and eggs. 

Form mixture into small balls, about 1 ½” in diameter. 

MA's Tip: An extra pair of hands make fast work of forming the meatballs. If your helper's meatballs don't look exactly like yours, don't panic. They'll all be delicious.

If freezing uncooked meatballs: Place meatballs on lightly oiled, foil-lined baking sheets. Cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer for 2 or more hours until meatballs are firmly frozen. Remove frozen meatballs and divide into portions for packaging. Package into plastic freezer bags or freezer containers. Label and freeze for up to six months. To use uncooked frozen meatballs, defrost and cook on lightly oiled, foil-lined baking sheet at 350° F. for 15 to 20 minutes.


If freezing cooked meatballs (my preference): Preheat oven to 350° F. Place meatballs on foil-lined baking sheets. Cook at 350° F. for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove meatballs to room temperature, foil-lined baking sheets, using a paper towel to gently wipe off any excess grease from meatballs. Place into freezer until meatballs are frozen through, about two hours. Remove frozen meatballs and divide into portions for packaging. Package into plastic freezer bags or freezer containers. Label and freeze for up to six months. To use cooked frozen meatballs, thaw in microwave or drop into warm sauce and allow to heat thoroughly. 

Makes about 8 1/2 dozen meatballs.

Printable Recipe for MA's Make Ahead Meatballs

Homey & Elegant Wild Rice Casserole

Wild Rice Casserole 

This is a casserole I've been making for many years. It brings together wild rice and mushrooms in a way that is at once homey and elegant. It's a favourite with our family and makes any meal a special occasion.

The original recipe comes from a 16-page, type-written handout from the Minnesota Paddy Wild Rice Research and Promotion Council. I don't remember how I came to get it. The introduction to the recipes explains that, in 1981, the Council brought together a small group of food editors from national magazines "for two days of seeing and learning about wild rice." This included "a comprehensive wild rice preparation workshop in the kitchen of Beatrice Ojakangas where they spent a morning cooking wild rice and sat down to what was described as 'probably the largest all-wild rice meal ever prepared in Minnesota!'"

The recipe here is my own spin on one of Beatrice Ojakangas' recipes. If you'd like to know more about this renowned chef and cookbook author and check out some of her more recent recipes, visit beatrice-ojakangas.com.

MA's Wild Rice and Mushroom Casserole

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Lining up ingredients

2/3 cup uncooked wild rice

2 cups water

½ tsp salt

½ lb fresh mushrooms, sliced

½ cup butter

¼ cup flour

1 tsp salt

½ tsp dried marjoram leaves

½ tsp dried thyme leaves

2 cups milk

3 tbsp dry sherry or port

¼ cup (about 8 crackers) crushed soda crackers

2 tbsp butter, melted

Sprinkle flour mixture over mushrooms

Wash wild rice in three changes of hot tap water. Place the wild rice, water and ½ tsp salt into saucepan. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 30 to 40 minutes or until wild rice is tender. Drain any excess water.

In a large fry pan, sauté mushrooms in butter over low heat about 5 minutes or until mushrooms are soft.

Mix together flour, salt, marjoram and thyme. Sprinkle mixture over mushrooms, then stir until mushrooms are coated.

Stir in milk. Bring mixture to boil and then reduce heat to low. Cook until thickened, stirring frequently.

Add sherry or port.

Add cooked wild rice to pan and stir well with love.

Butter a 2-quart casserole dish. Place rice/mushroom mixture into dish.

Mix together cracker crumbs and melted butter. Sprinkle over casserole.

Bake uncovered 30 minutes.

For Future Enjoyment: Let casserole cool. Cover tightly with casserole lid or plastic wrap. Label and place in freezer for up to one month. To reheat from frozen, remove from wrap/container. Place in 375° F. oven and heat until warmed through, 35-45 minutes. If thawed, warm through for about 20 minutes. Serve while warm.

Printable Recipe for MA's Wild Rice and Mushroom Casserole

Quiche Today - Tarts Tomorrow

Bacon Cheddar Quiche

I find myself in a make ahead mood as the holidays get ever closer. Here's a way to make a very tasty bacon cheddar quiche to enjoy today plus nine tarts you can slide into the freezer for a quick addition to your holiday appetizer tray. (Of course, you can always opt to eat or freeze it all today.)

To start you will need some pastry dough, enough for one nine-inch pie shell and 9 tart shells. You can buy pre-made pastry dough and roll it out, or buy ready-made uncooked pie shells and tarts. It's up to you. I like to make a batch of pastry dough to have on hand in the freezer and will share that recipe in a future post (now posted at flaky lardy piecrust).

You will also need some bacon. Choose whatever kind you like - regular, low salt, maple - but I find that pork works better here than turkey bacon or other skillet strips. I cut the bacon into small pieces before frying it. A pair of kitchen shears makes this easy. I use old cheddar cheese but you can substitute a mild cheddar. For a different flavour experience, you can use a Swiss cheese. You can use any type of milk - I use skim - and any kind of cream - I use half-and-half, which is half milk, half cream (using any less cream will work but you'll miss some richness). It all depends on how much butterfat you want to include.

This quiche is great for dinner served with a nice fresh salad and is equally at home as part of a breakfast or brunch buffet.


Bacon Cheddar Quiche and Tarts

 Preheat oven to 375° F.

pastry dough or pre-made crusts, enough for 1-9” crust for quiche and 9 tart shells

1 lb bacon, cut into small pieces

2 cups onions, finely chopped

1 ½ cups old cheddar cheese, grated, and divided in half

6 large eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup half-and-half cream

½ tsp freshly grated or ground nutmeg

½ tsp freshly ground pepper

If using pastry dough, roll out the crust and fit into 9” pie plate, trimming excess from edge. Then roll out dough for tarts. Use cookie cutter or overturned glass to cut out nine circles and fit each into tart pan.

Use kitchen shears to cut bacon

Cut bacon into small pieces using a knife and/or kitchen shears. In a large pan, fry bacon until crisp but not dry. Place bacon on paper towels to sop up any excess fat. Remove most of the bacon fat from pan, leaving a little to coat the pan.

Gently sauté onions in remaining bacon fat until softened. (Instead of bacon fat, you can use a bit of butter or olive oil.)

Ready to fill shells

In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk, cream, nutmeg and pepper. Stir well with lots of love. 

Into the prepared piecrust, place half of the cooked bacon bits and half of the cooked onions. Spoon half of the egg/milk mixture into the piecrust and top with half the cheese.

Divide the remaining bacon and onions between each of the prepared tart shells. Spoon the remaining egg/milk mixture into each of the tart shells and top each with remaining cheese.

Filled and ready for oven

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until top is lightly browned and filling is firm. (The pie will need about 5 minutes longer than the tarts.)

To Enjoy Today: Cool slightly and serve while warm.

For Future Enjoyment: Cool completely. Pie can be wrapped tightly in two layers of plastic wrap, labeled with date, and frozen for up to six months. Tarts can be placed in a freezer container lined with a layer of waxed paper or paper towels to keep them from shifting, labeled with date, and frozen for up to six months. To reheat from frozen, remove from wrap/container. Place on baking sheet in 375° F. oven and heat until warmed through, about 35-45 minutes. If thawed, warm through for about 20 minutes. Using the microwave for reheating is not recommended as the crust will not stay crisp. Serve while warm.

Printable Recipe for MA's Bacon Cheddar Quiche and Tarts

Bacon cheddar tart for future enjoyment

Cooking but not Blogging

If you've been checking the blog, you'll see I haven't posted in a few days. While I have been in the kitchen and cooking, I haven't done the blogging. This has something to do with a certain little visitor who was in my kitchen (safely await from the hot, the sharp and other dangers, of course). He's not quite ready to help with the cooking, but he sure likes to eat. With his mom's permission, here are a few of the many non-food photographs by Nana.

So this is where she keeps them.

Better check this out.

Here's your measuring cup, Nana!

That was good. Can I have some more?

Pasta with an Oniony Sauce from the Slow Cooker

Pasta with Caramelized Onion, Feta and Italian Sausage

I think I buy more onions than I do any other single vegetable. Every time I make dinner it seems I am chopping onions for something. I am sure I am part of the reason that onions are the second most important horticultural crop after tomatoes. But I don't worry about how much onion I consume. It's said to be effective against many bacteria and even the World Health Organization supports the use of onions for the treatment of poor appetite and to prevent atherosclerosis.

Last spring I cut a recipe out of the newspaper for a slow cooker caramelized onion pasta. It was stuck to the fridge, forgotten until a few days ago when I was looking for something to do with the two bags of yellow onions I bought on sale. I won't share that recipe with you because I didn't have a spare container of creme fraiche or arugula in the kitchen to make it with. But I liked the idea of the recipe, so I tried making it with what I had on hand: spaghetti, some sweet Italian turkey sausages, goat's milk feta, and a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil. I think you could safely substitute any pasta or sausage and try another type of meltable salty cheese and get a good result. You can drain some of the olive oil from the tomatoes if you like. I didn't drain all of it when I added my tomatoes and I rather liked the creaminess of the dish.

This turned out to be very tasty. In fact, my husband said it was one of the best things I've ever made and was still raving about it the day after I made it. He's such a fan. I love him.

Here's my recipe.

Use processor to make quick work of onions

MA's Pasta with Caramelized Onion, Feta and Italian Sausage

3 lbs yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb (or 6) Italian sausages, cut into 1” chunks
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
500 grams pasta
1 ½ cups feta cheese, drained, divided into 1 cup and ½ cup
fresh ground pepper

In a large slow cooker, place onions, olive oil, sausages and tomatoes. Cook on high for 5 ½ hours.

When onion mixture is cooked, prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain well.

Add pasta to onion mixture. Mix in 1 cup of the feta and season with pepper. 

Crumble remaining feta on top of each serving. 

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Printable Recipe for MA's Pasta with Caramelized Onions, Feta and Sausage

Falling for Risotto

A bowl of creamy goodness

Recently, I had my first encounter with risotto. I immediately fell for it and couldn't help but wonder "where have you been all my life?"

It began this fall when my daughter and grandson were visiting for a few days. She had started the little guy on solid foods a few months earlier and had a book about Baby-Led Weaning written by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett. Baby-Led Weaning, as I understand it, is letting your child feed him or herself from about six months of age. My daughter was going to make risotto for us all using a recipe from the book. If you are interested, there is an informative and recipe-laden blog about it at babyledweaning.com.

Since my daughter was busy with baby, I offered to do the cooking. I prepped the ingredients and then got into the risotto technique. It is not something you can rush through. The hot chicken broth is added to the pan one ladle-full at a time. You don't add the next ladle of broth until the rice has absorbed all of the previous broth. It is an exercise of staying in the moment. You need to be at the stove and stirring until the rice is cooked and has only a little "bite" to it and the risotto reaches a lovely, creamy consistency.

Well, the risotto was delicious. And it wasn't long until I wanted to make it again. Here's my version of Chicken Risotto. Be careful - you might just fall for it, too.

MA's Chicken Risotto

Have risotto ingredients ready

4 chicken breasts, cut into 1” chunks

2 tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup butter, unsalted

2 cups onions, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1 ½ cups Arborio rice

6 ½ cups chicken stock

½ cup grated Parmesan

fresh ground pepper, to taste

In a large frying pan, heat the oil and butter over medium heat.

When the butter is melted, add the onions and fry until softened but not browned.

Before adding the rice and stock

Add the chicken and fry until it is sealed and white on the outside.

Meanwhile, put the stock on to heat in a separate pot.

Add the peppers to the chicken and fry gently until they start to soften, about 4 minutes.

Add the rice and stir to make sure that all of the grains have a light coating of the butter/oil mixture. Add more butter or oil if necessary.

Stock added to rice and ready for stirring

One ladle at a time, add the hot stock to the rice mixture. Stir constantly until the stock is absorbed into the rice. Continue adding stock until the rice is cooked. (You may not need to use all the stock.) It will be plump but will still have a little “bite” to it. The overall consistency of the risotto will be creamy. This step will take about 25 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the cheese and pepper.

Serve.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Printable Recipe for MA's Chicken Risotto

Lentil Soup a la Moosewood

Lentil Soup drizzled with vinegar

If you've never read The Moosewood Cookbook, you are missing a wonderful experience. Mollie Katzen wrote the original in 1977 and the The New Moosewood Cookbook in 2000. It remains one of the top ten best-selling cookbooks of all time. And with good reason: it's a great cookbook. The recipes are vegetarian and most use ingredients you are probably familiar with. The book itself is a joy to read with each recipe handwritten and illustrated by the author. If you want to know more about Mollie Katzen, visit molliekatzen.com for the full story, her Tweets and, of course, more recipes.

If you've never tried lentil soup, you are missing another wonderful experience. I make it using the recipe in The New Moosewood Cookbook with a few minor tweaks. It's easy and relatively quick to prepare (you can use any lentils, but red lentils cook fastest), fat-free, warming and fills you up in the gentlest way.

MA's Lentil Soup a la Moosewood

Simple ingredients

3 cups dry lentils 

7 cups water
2 tsp salt
3 tsp minced garlic
2 cups chopped onion
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced or diced
1 tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp dried oregano
freshly ground pepper
red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar, to drizzle on top

Place lentils, water, and salt in large soup pot. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to the slowest possible simmer, and cook, partially covered, for 20 to 30 minutes.

Also yummy without the vinegar drizzle

Add vegetables, herbs and pepper. Partially cover and let simmer another 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Serve hot, with a drizzle of vinegar on top of each bowlful. (Mollie Katzen's recipe also includes topping each bowl with some skinned, seeded, chopped tomatoes, but I never seem to have them when I make this soup, so I can't tell you how it tastes. If you try it, let me know.)

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Printable Recipe for MA's Lentil Soup a la Moosewood

Not Le Menu Chicken Parmigiana

Oh so good!

My daughters and I seem to talk about food a lot. I was talking about chicken parmigiana with one of my girls the other day and she reminded me about Le Menu Chicken Parmigiana. Le Menu was a microwavable tv dinner back in the eighties. In those days, I worked full time outside the home (too bad blogging wasn't around then) plus having all the usual responsibilities and commitments of a husband, children, pets and community. You get the picture. I rushed around a lot to stay on top of it all. Being a true eighty's lady, I had no qualms about feeding my family from the frozen food aisle when time was short and schedules were crazy. Le Menu Chicken Parmigiana frozen dinner with its tasty chicken breast smothered in tomato sauce and cheese, fettucine alfredo and Italian green beans was popular at our house. My daughter also reminded me how great the reusable Le Menu plates with their microwave covers were, too. We had those around long after Swanson's stopped making Le Menu.

That's enough reminiscing for the moment, but now you know how this recipe got its name.

Chicken Parmigiana does take a little time to prepare. I find it is always worth the effort. There are many recipes for it out there. This one takes you step-by-step through how I do it. I like to serve it with a pasta and steamed green beans. Here's to you Le Menu!

MA's Chicken Parmigiana

Preheat oven to 350°.

Pound chicken to flatten slightly

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

¼ cup flour
1 egg
1 tsp water
1 cup dry, unseasoned bread crumbs
1 tbsp each minced fresh parsley, basil and oregano or 1 tsp each crumbled dried parsley, basil and oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup olive oil
2 ½ cups tomato sauce, homemade or your favourite from a jar or tin
6 to 8 ounces Mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese


MA's Tip: Homemade tomato sauce will always taste better than store-bought. But let's be realistic, there's not always time to make your own. I like to take the plainest store-bought sauce and add my own herbs and spices to it. It makes me feel better about using the store-bought stuff and I can customize the herbs and spices to suit the dish. In this dish, for instance, I would add parsley, basil and oregano. And, one more cooking confession ... when I don't have a chunk of Parmesan in the fridge, I use the pre-grated "sprinkle cheese" Parmesan. You know the kind. In fact, I used it to make the Chicken Parm you see here, and it tasted just great. Okay, back to the recipe.

Trim any fat from chicken breasts and, if desired, remove tendons. One at a time, place chicken breasts between sheets of waxed paper and pound gently with a mallet or a heavy, empty bottle. Pound until flattened slightly.

Line up for coating the chicken

In a shallow bowl or pie plate, place the flour. 

In a second shallow bowl or pie plate, combine egg and water.

In a third shallow bowl or pie plate, combine crumbs, herbs, salt and pepper.

In a large frying pan, heat up the oil over medium high heat.

One at a time, coat chicken breasts in flour, then dip into egg/water mix, then coat with crumb/herb mix.

Place breasts into frying pan and brown thoroughly, about 10 minutes per side.

Add Mozza and sauce (and Parm, of course)

Into a large baking dish, spoon about half the tomato sauce and spread evenly to cover the bottom of the dish. Place the chicken breasts on top of the sauce. Spoon remaining sauce over and around the chicken breasts. Top breasts with slices of Mozzarella and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan. 

Cover the baking dish with foil. Bake for 35 minutes. (If your chicken breasts are more than a half-inch thick, be sure to bake them a little longer to ensure they are cooked through.)

If you want, you can brown the top by removing the foil and putting the dish under the broiler until the cheese bubbles and browns.

Serve hot.

Makes 4 servings.

Printable Recipe for MA's Not Le Menu Chicken Parmigiana