Foodie Friday Smoothie

Good morning, my friends.  Although this quarantine is a out of the norm, it does offer you moments to reconnect to your former self or to reinvent a new self.  I vacillate between those two elements.

I've reconnected with my interest in nutrition.  I was always into the ideas imbedded in clean living and healthy environments. I was one of those teenagers who tried making her own perfume because of all the chemicals in those on the market. I smelled terrible and never mastered the art. Eventually, I gave up just wearing perfume and makeup all together.  I was a funny kid.  I'm sure my Mom got a lot of laughs out of my endeavors.

I've been starting my mornings off with smoothies.  There are plenty of internet sites that have good smoothie recipes, Yummly, Sunset, YourSuper.com, for examples. I naturally stay away from added salt and sugar, so I tend to minus out a lot of the items from the Sunset recipes.

I'm a slow mover in the morning. I have at least one cup of coffee before doing anything. Just black coffee - no cream, no sugar and definitely none of the foo-foo flavored stuff.  After that first cup I think about what's next.

I like having fruit in the mornings. I also love cucumbers, especially in salads and dips, so  I often combine them when I make a smoothie.

This morning's smoothie is basically water (I used coconut water), cucumber, orange, mint or basil from my plants and spinach.  I'm a spinach freak. I love the stuff.  It's brain food because of the folate and the B-vitamins. Cucumbers are also good for you. They help keep the body hydrated, stabilize blood pressure because of nutrients like potassium. It's better to eat them unpeeled since many nutrients are in the skin.


What I tend to do is have one glass of the smoothie without the spinach, then blend in the spinach and have the rest.  So good.       

                                                     
I'm enjoying my smoothie mornings but to me breakfast should contain protein. That being said, I usually add an hardboiled egg, oatmeal or at least whole grain toast and sometimes I use Greek yogurt instead of water in the smoothie.  No sugar on the oatmeal, please. It's better if you use homemade applesauce and/or a variety of berries. When the kids were young I didn't think about putting applesauce on their oatmeal, so they'd have to eat it without the sweetening. My son was the oldest, so he remembers. Lucky for me, he's the forgiving and kind person that he is.

Enjoy your day folks.

Ciao.

Foodie Friday - Cod Cake Heaven

Like many of you we have been on staycation for about 7 weeks and going crazy. I'm happy that I've been talking to my friends, clients and family members on Zoom, but Happy Hours via Zoom leave much to be desired.

Since I'm in the house so much, I've been doing a lot of cooking.  Being from a big family I spent most of my early life in the kitchen when I wasn't babysitting for my various nieces and nephews - I have about 20.  I fine myself thinking about those day and I've even been making some of my old recipes, like - my cod cakes. I haven't made these in years.

From about age 10 to 15, I was the only one home with my Dad during the summer.  My Mom was the director and head cook at a large Catholic high school and my sisters were all working, so it was me and Dad.  There wasn't anything like going out for lunch or going to Starbucks, so I would make lunch for us and get dinner started just before Mom would get home. One of the things my Dad really liked was my cod cakes. My Mom made good fish cakes but she used our leftover mashed potatoes when we had some - which was rare. My cod cakes were different because I used a drier potato. A few weeks ago I made a batch and they went over well. Al raved about them just like my Dad did, so I'm at it again. There's not a lot of ingredients and usually I have it all on hand as long as I have cod or haddock.

For the Cakes:
1. Potato - 10-12 ounces
2. 2 TBL butter - salted or unsalted
3. minced scallions or  onion if you don't have a scallion
4. minced garlic - to me a must
5. table salt and pepper
6. 1 tsp thyme or a little more if you like.
7. One pound of Cod - cut into pieces
8. Large egg
9. Panko or bread crumbs
10. Oil for frying.

 As I said, I like a dry potato for this.  As a kid I would just boil the potato and dice it up instead of mashing it.  This time I microwaved a russet potato and riced it.  I think that works a lot better. I never microwave potatoes, but in this case it's appropriate because the potato is really dry.  The starch from the potato will mute the fish flavor so don't over do it with the potato. Let the potato cool before you rice it.

Add the butter to the skillet and melt over medium heat.  Add the mined scallion, garlic, table salt, pepper and thyme and cook for a few minutes. Add the cod and cook for about 5 min on each side, flipping it halfway.

Combine the riced potato and cod mixture into a bowl.  Add large egg and stir to combine.  At this point you can use your hands to create the round cakes or you can use a small measuring cup sprayed with oil.  I use the 1/2 cup for the cakes if I want large one but I used the 1/3 cup for this batch.  It's best if you can do this in the morning so the cakes can sit in the fridge but if not you can wrap the plate and let it sit for at least an hour in the fridge or use the last option of placing the rounds in the freezer for about 20 minutes.

When ready spread out the panko or bread crumbs and coat each round before placing them into the hot oil in the skillet.  Cook around 4 or 5 min each side.
       

Serve with a salad on a heated plate.

Buon Appetito

If you don't have any tartar sauce you can make a substitute using about a cup of Mayo, some cornichons, a Tbl of capers minced and a shallot and scallion.  It takes at least 20 min for all this to blend so make it early and refrigerate it.

Foodie Friday - The Irish Table

My Irishness is with me all the time but for the week of St. Paddy's Day,  I emphasize it.  I read  a little from James Joyce to enjoy the genius of  his language structure, pull out my Yeats and Seamus Heaney to enjoy their lyrical tones, and  make Irish Scone to enjoy the culinary sweetness of the culture.  And today I have a special treat for all of you.
 
Last week I attended a cooking class at the Sweet Basil Gourmetware and Cooking School in Scottsdale. This shop  is a wonderful venue for the culinary arts and it also has a cafe and a wide variety of kitchen gadgets and cookery items in the shop area.  If you're in the Phoenix area and enjoy cooking in your kitchen then you should treat yourself to a class at Sweet Basil.

  The class I took was The Irish Table.  It's not the kind of class where you sit and take notes, you work and Chef Linda Martin is there to guide the way. It was fabulous. I enjoyed it immensely.  Seven items were on our menu for the night and we could choose or were assigned which item to cook.  There were at least 14 people in the class and my task along with another woman was the salad - the easiest task. The one I wanted (hand pies)was already taken. Everyone was enthusiastic and ready for the experience.  And Linda kept everything running smoothly.

Linda is a Le Cordon Blue trained chef who enjoys sharing her craft and knowledge with those who attend her classes.  As a kitchen designer I know Linda from attending events in various showrooms throughout the Valley.  Linda would often demonstrate the brilliance of cooking on the appliances such as Decora at the design industry meetings.  The menu items were always delicious.

The Irish Table Menu: Beef Pasties (Hand Pies), Purple Cabbage & Pecan Salad, Irish Lamb and Vegetable Stew, Cottage Pie, Traditional Soda Bread, Colcannon, Apple Cake with Whiskey Hard Sauce.  Yum.   We couldn't wait to get started.  One of the nice things about taking these classes is that Linda hands out recipes so you have a copy of  them to take home.

My First Helping

We all did a super job with fun conversation, a good show of humor and a great display of team work.  And Linda went from work station to work station and kept an eye on everything we were doing and kept us on schedule.  The food was all so good.
 I'll share one of the recipes with all of you.




IRISH APPLE CAKE W/WHISKEY HARD SAUCE  - serves 10.

Cake:
2 1/2 c of flour
3/4 c + 2 TBSP sugar, divided
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg
3/4 c buttermilk
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and roughly chopped
Powder sugar for dusting.

Sauce:
1/3 c sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
1 c heavy cream
1/4 c Irish whiskey
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8 inch cake pan with cooking spray
and line it with a circle of parchment.
Combine flour 3/4 c sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, cloves, and nutmeg in a bowl and whisk.  Add the butter and mix on low speed until the mixture resembles damp sand.
Stir in eggs, one at a time.  Add buttermilk and mix on medium high for 60 to 90 seconds, to aerate the batter and build the cake's structure. 
Fold in the chopped apples and transfer to the prepared pan. Top with remaining 2 TBSP sugar.
Bake for 45 - 50 min. or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let cake cool for at least 10 min before turning onto the serving platter.


Making the Sauce:

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in a small  pot and whisk.
Slowly drizzle in the cream while whisking.
Stir in the whiskey
Cook the mixture over medium-low heat, whisking occasionally, until boiling and thickened.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.


Before Serving: 

Dust the cake with powdered sugar.
Serve the sauce on the side.














 
Good food and good conversation, you can't do better than that.

Slainte (good health).

Foodie Friday - The Beet Red Devil Cake

Happy Friday everyone.

I found this great recipe in the  Movie Night Menus Cookbook and today is a perfect day to make it.  I've never made a chocolate cake using beets before so I am excited to try it.  The weather is nasty out and we probably won't be going to dinner or happy hour, but not all is lost.

This beautiful looking cake just came out of the oven.  It still needs to cool and I still need to make the icing and then  put it all together so I'll add a picture of the actual cake when we sit down to dessert tonight. It pairs well with a raspberry gin cocktail.


Below is the recipe.  I fussed over this cake more so than most cakes made from scratch but I'm sure it will taste superb.


For the Cake:

1 can of sliced beets (15oz)
3 large eggs
1 1/2 c veg oil
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c white flour
3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat Oven to 350 deg.  Butter & flour two 9" cake pans.

In a blender, puree the beets along with 1/2 c of their juice.  Add eggs and blend until frothy.  Then pour the contents into a large mixing now and add sugar, oil, vanilla and salt.

In a smaller bolw, whisk together flour, cocoa and baking soda.  Sift these dry ingredients into the egg mixture in 4 stages, mixing well between each addition.

Divide the batter between the two cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool, then run a knife around the edge of the pan, like you would for  any other layer cake,  before inverting.   Make sure it's cook before frosting.  In fact, you may want to stick it in the freezer for about 10 minutes to make sure.  That way it won't tear when you are spreading the frosting.


For the chocolate frosting:

12 OZ bittersweet chocl, if using bars then chop it,
1 3/4 c heavy cream
1/2 sour cream
1/4 tsp salt
Fresh raspberries for garnish

In a double boiler warm the choc and heavy cream over simmering water. Stir until completely melted,
Remove the pan from the burner and cool about 10 min.  Then add the sour cream and salt.
Stir until combined.
Set the frosting aside until it reaches room temperature. Then whisk it just until it thickens and turns a shade lighter in color.
With a small spatula spread the frosting on the top of  bottom layer first, then the top layer.
Garnish with raspberries if desired.




 The cake taste so good.  I had plenty of icing but I prefer lite icing on a cake.  Normally you put about an inch in the middle.

When eating this you would never know it was made with a vegetable like beets. According to the cookbook, the red devil cake was popular during the 1930s and  made extra moist with the addition of beets.


 Buon Appetito.

From The Kitchen - Cooking With Friends

      After a long hiatus due to summer vacations, our cooking club is once again  busy in the kitchen making a variety of  healthy foods.  To start the day off we made these cute little spinach 'Quiche Cups to Go'.  This is from the South Beach Diet  and  is perfect if you are in a hurry and need to take something with you to eat.  And they taste delicious.
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Vegetable Quiche Cups To Go

1 - 10oz pkg of frozen chopped spinach 
3/4 cup liquid egg substitute 
3/4 shredded reduced-fat cheese
1/4 cup each of diced green bell pepper and diced onion
3 drops of hot-pepper sauce (optional)

Defrost spinach in the microwave and drain excess liquid.
Line a 12-cup muffin pan w/ foil cups.  Spray the cups with cooking spray
Combine the egg substitute, cheese, peppers, onions, and spinach and mix well.  Divide among the muffin cups.  Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

When you spray the muffin cups the egg mixture just falls away from the foil.  If you don't use the spray then give it a little cooling time and the wrap is easy to peel off.

One thing I added to the recipe.   I just can't eat eggs without salt.

Quiche cups can be frozen and reheated.  Any combination of veggies and reduced-fat cheese can be used.
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Sangria was made the night before and was chilling in the refrigerator until  lunch was ready. In Spain they drink their Sangria with straws and I always have straws on hands for any little kids that may grace my home.  For lunch we had decided to do some chicken and to use eggplant since it is in season.  This is another  recipe from the South Beach Diet.
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Chicken and Eggplant Casserole

1 - eggplant, peeled and cut into 12 slices
2 Tbl shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder or 1 clove minced
3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast - chopped
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
3/4 tsp dried Italian seasonings
1/4 ground black pepper
1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese

(we added salt, but the recipe in the book doesn't have it listed)

Eggplant:
Arrange in slices on a nonstick baking sheet.  Mist slices with cooking oil.  Broil 4 inches from the heat for 2 min.  Turn over and mist other side. then top with garlic powder and Parmesan or Asiago cheese. Broil 1 or until golden brown. Set aside.

Chicken:
Heat nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray for 1 minute over medium heat.
Add the chicken and cook stirring often for about 5 minutes.  Add tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms,   Italian seasonings, and black pepper.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes

Preheat  oven to 375F.  Coat an 8 x 8 dish with spraying oil and arrange half the slices on dish bottom.  Top with chicken mixtures.  Arrange the remaining eggplant on top of chicken and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.  Cover with foil and bake for  30 min.

We doubled the recipe so our dish was much bigger.  We increased our bake time to 35 min since we doubled the recipe. 

If we make this again there are a few things we would do differently.  It was very good but we all thought the veggies cooked too long.  We had two solutions -  either cook the dish for about 20 minutes instead of 30 or better yet keep the eggplant separate from the chicken mixtures all together.  The eggplant  looks really wonderful when you take it from the broiler.  It is nice and crisp and slightly browned.  It may be better if you leave it alone and bake the chicken by itself.  Then at time of serving take a few slices of eggplant and layer it with the chicken mixture. That way the veggie will keep its crispness and not lose its texture.

After the eggplant/chicken combo we finished the meal with a fruit salad covered with a smidgen of
whip cream.  Whip cream is not exactly healthy but the fruit is.  And the chocolate we had afterwards was 72%  dark chocolate. 

Buon Appetito.

From the kitchen - health and happiness.

I think there may be times when you can have too many cooks in the kitchen, but that is not the case in our Cooking Club.  We have our own work zones, and we are busy talking, cooking, and by afternoon, sipping wine in the kitchen.

On our menu this week was Mediterranean Tuna Salad Wraps and Coconut  and Meatloaf.  The Meatloaf and Tuna recipes are from the Wheat Belly Cookbook which is a good cookbook for anyone interested in a gluten-free diet or would like to introduce flours into their diet other than wheat.  The tart recipe is from the January edition of First for Woman magazine.

The tuna salad was really wonderful and we used leaves of romaine lettuce from the garden which made the meal even healthier.  We like to cook healthy in our club so buying the right tuna makes a difference.

I once majored in nutrition in college and while I never got into the profession  I've always been interested in the processing of food. Years ago I researched tuna when I went to the grocery store and saw all these different cans of tuna.  At the time I couldn't say which brand was better than the other.  All I knew was that oil-packed was out and too much swishing in the can meant too little tuna to me.

I've since done some homework.  My advice on buying tuna is to buy one of two kinds: American or Wild Planet.  The tuna taste like tuna to me while with the other brands the tuna is too bland. Some advantages these products may have over their competition is that they are smaller companies and hand pack their cans.  Their method of catching fish is different and they catch smaller albacore which is not as dry meaning it has more of the omega-3 essential fatty acid. I think American Tuna is a San Diego company which would be local for some of my readers.  Local is usually always better. These brands  will cost more so if cost is the driver than Starkist Select, Bumble Bee or Chicken of the Sea  in water will work for you.  Those commercial companies capture larger albacore which is a dryer fish so you may need to use more mayo in your tuna salad.   The Whole Foods 365 tuna is from Vietnam and is kind of salty to me, plus there's a whole lot of swishing going on in the can so I tend to think there's too much water. 

Mediterranan Tuna Salad:  

2 Tbl mayo
2 Tbl olive oil
1Tbl lemon juice
1tsp Diijon mustard
2 cans of tuna
1 tomato -  chopped
2 Tbl kalamata olives - chopped
2 scallions - thinkly sliced
8 large leaves of lettuce


As much as we enjoyed the tuna, the real hit of the day was the Coconut Apricot Ganache Tart.  It was soooo good. 

Coconut-Apricot Ganache Tart:                                                  

2 c shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 c almond flour
1/4 c xylitol (we used splenda)
1/4 c coconut oil - melted

1/2 diced unsweetened apricots or more if you love them
1 can (15oz) coconut milk
12 oz dark chocolate chopped
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl combine the first 4 ingredients
Press mixture into a greased 9" tart pan
Bake at 300 degrees for 15 min.
When baked sprinkle crust with dried apricots.

Meanwhile in a pot over medium heat, bring coconut milk to a simmer
Remove from heat, stir in chocolate and vanilla.

Pour chocolate mixture into crust.  Then chill for one hour in refrigerator.

Garnish with dried apricots.


Enjoy!