Practically Laborless Recipe...

...for the Labor Day weekend.

This is my latest go-to cold summer salad(my other one here) . I have made it quite a bit these past few weeks. It is mild tasting(children and adults alike would like it) and quick to put together(and the ingredients can easily be doubled), so it is also perfect to make for last-minute suppers, impromptu gatherings and cook-outs. I just made it an hour ago and it is chilling in the fridge until we are ready to leave for a late afternoon "end-of-summer" cookout at a friend's house.

Orzo & Green Bean Salad

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prep time: about 15 minutes

cooking time: about 10 to 12 minutes

chilling time: half hour to overnight

makes: about 6 servings

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1/2 lb green beans, washed, trimmed and cut into approx. 3/4" pieces

1 cup orzo pasta

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill(this is optional--I usually leave it out)

1 large ripe tomato, chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans(another variation: slivered, dry toasted almonds)

1.Cook green beans in a medium size pot, in boiling water(can use a steamer basket, too). Cook or steam for about 4 minutes, or until just tender. Drain and rinse under cold water.

2.Meanwhile,bring a medium pot of lightly salted water to boil over high heat. Add the orzo. reduce heat to medium-high, and cook for 8 or 9 minutes, or until slightly tender. Drain and rinse under cold water.

3. In a large bowl, mix tomato, dill(if using), salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar.

4. Add cooked, cooled beans(cool beans!) to the tomato mixture. Add the orzo and nuts and toss well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Beer in my cupcake

I couldn't resist attempting to bake these for St. Patrick's Day.
Chocolate and Guinness? How could I go wrong?
These turned out nice and light--not too heavy and sickeningly sweet(aside from the frosting).

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup Guinness stout
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups dark brown sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
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Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
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Line cupcake pans with foil or paper liners--this recipe should make 24 cup cakes
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In a large saucepan, combine Guinness and butter.
Place over medium-low heat until butter melts, then remove from heat. Add cocoa and sugar, and whisk to blend.
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In a small bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla; mix well.
Add to Guinness mixture.
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Add flour and baking soda, and whisk again until smooth.
Fill cupcake pans, bake 20 to 25 minutes.

For the finishing touch, once the cupcakes were completely cooled, I topped each with swirls of frosting.
I used store-bought frosting--adding green food coloring right into the can and mixing it in.

However..only after I frosted these treats, did I discover a recipe for frosting made with Bailey's Irish Creme!!

I think I may need to whip up another batch(for a St. Pat's Day party on Saturday).

recipe adapted from Recipezaar.com

I say tomato...

.... you say,
........ canned tomato soup?
You'll never want to eat it again after trying this easy recipe for homemade tomato soup.
I adapted the following recipe for this evening's supper, from a recipe that I found in a back issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine(you know...those cute digest size magazines that are usually displayed near the supermarket check-out aisle?)
My small changes and additions are in purple (I say you must add the garlic!). Served with grilled cheese or BLT sandwiches, or simply with some tasty croutons or bruschetta, this makes a simple and flavorful meal.

Classic Tomato Soup
Serves 6

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (add one to two minced garlic cloves)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme) (I used a half teaspoon dried oregano instead)
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth (veggie broth okay, too)
2 cans (28 ounces each) whole peeled plum tomatoes in juice

Directions
In a 5-quart saucepan or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat; add oil and onion, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and tomato paste; cook 1 minute.
To saucepan, add thyme, broth, and tomatoes, breaking up tomatoes with your fingers. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, 30 minutes. (Remove thyme sprigs before blending.)
Using an immersion blender, puree soup in pot, leaving a fair amount of the tomatoes in chunks. Or, working in several batches, puree half (5 cups) of the soup in a conventional blender until smooth; return to pot. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately, or let cool to room temperature before dividing among airtight containers (leaving 1 inch of space at the top) and freezing.

From Everyday Food

A New Day...

...on the first day of a new year

......on the first day of a new decade

Appropriately, there was a dusting of new snow from the day before to make my world look fresh and clean. And just the fact that the new year is begining on a Friday(always a good day in my book!) is a good omen, I think.

I decided to get out with my camera this morning to capture a few(somewhat fuzzy and out of focus) shots of my yard and also the view from my car and on the beach(with the dog along for the adventure),
before it all started to melt. Scroll all the way down for a slide show.

It's pretty warm out there today(especially compared to New Year's Day weather last year) and that's a good thing for the daring and baring souls (not me!) who plunge into the ocean at noon for the annual New Year's Day "Pier Plunge".
I featured "the Plunge" in my last year's New Year's Day entry..here(complete with it's own slideshow)...but won't be going down to see it this time, since I will be busy getting a dinner ready for later today when my parents and sister are coming.

I'm making an apricot and cranberry pork loin(which, after preparing this, makes me want to become a vegetarian in 2010), mashed potatoes, green beans and for dessert--a red fruit pudding(see recipe below).

I found the recipe for this tart and juicy(I hope--haven't tried it --they are sitting in their dishes in the fridge because I made them yesterday after work) dessert in the December 2008 issue of Gourmet magazine, which as of November 2009, is no longer being published(*sigh* welcome to the new era of disappearing newspapers and periodicals)
It is made out jarred Swedish lingonberries(surprised that I was able to find it on the shelf of my local Stop n' Shop), frozen red raspberries-- which I had to puree and then smoosh through a sieve so the seeds were left out(a messy, staining, and just plain pain-in-the-ass process), pomegranate juice, gelatin and sugar. Then I realised I didn't have enough glass dessert dishes(I think that is something I'll need to invest in this coming year, especially if I am really going to host a dinner party sometime for friends), and had to put some of it in wine glasses. Luckily, it's family coming--not so much pressure, but I am sure my mother will make some kind of remark about the odd collection of dishes when the pudding comes to the table. Hopefully, the awesomeness of the pudding's taste itself will make her forget the motley and less than proper presentation.
By the way, Mr. F surprised me by making reservations for dinner out last night, and we were home by 8:30 (just try to stop our wild and crazy ways!), and asleep by 11:30--couldn't even make it one more half hour to fully see the new year in. The Prosecco and raspberry sorbet "slushies" were a hit (drinking them might have added to me not being able to stay up until midnight, though)


Red-Fruit Puddings
Serves 8 to 12
Active time:25 min
Start to finish:4 hr (includes chilling)
December 2008

Like Jell-O, but all grown up, these tart little puddings have a bracing fruitiness that is just what’s needed after a sumptuous holiday spread. The scarlet juices of pomegranates, lingonberries, and raspberries are bound into a very soft gelée.

3 (12-oz) packages unsweetened frozen raspberries, thawed
2 (1/4-oz) packages unflavored gelatin
1 cup bottled pomegranate juice
2 cups bottled wild lingonberry sauce or lingonberries (from two 14-oz jars)
1/2 cup sugar

Accompaniment:
lightly sweetened whipped cream

Purée raspberries with their juices in a food processor, then force though a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids.
Sprinkle gelatin over pomegranate juice in a medium saucepan and let stand 1 minute to soften. Cook over low heat, stirring, until gelatin has dissolved. Stir in lingonberry sauce and sugar. Cook, stirring, until sugar has dissolved and sauce has melted. Stir into berry purée.
Quick-chill in an ice bath, stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to mound, about 30 minutes. Pour into dishes or glasses and chill until set, at least 3 hours.

Cooks’ note: Puddings can be chilled up to 3 days.
Dec. 2008 Gourmet Recipe by Ruth Cousineau

That Martha!

As much as I mock her , I can't help but kinda like the lady(or the lady and her staff and "empire" of entertaining and decorating perfectionists). I have a friend who passes on her Martha Stewart Living magazine to me and I have to say I usually get some great ideas and recipes out of them.

I just try to ignore that "too-too-Martha" calendar of her month of things to do(only attainable if you live like Martha Stewart and have a staff of 30 to do it for you), and also don't ever get too excited about the room interiors and those sickly washed out shades the rooms always have--I like more punchy color, myself.

In December's issue, there was a double page of recipes for holiday cocktails--like gluhwein and glogg and mulled wine. These were all too involved and didn't appeal to me, anyway.

But the one that stuck in my mind and seemed incredibly easy and yummy was one for a Champagne Slushie.

Basically all you do is drop a tablespoonful of sorbet into a champagne flute and immediately after, pour in some sparkling wine (I usually use Prosecco). Supposedly, the bubbles mix up the sorbet and turns it into a slushy consistency. Doesn't that sound fun?

I have a container of raspberry sorbet in the freezer, all ready for tonight's "Once In A Blue Moon" New Year's celebration. Which will be just the husband and I, because the daughter is going to be sleeping over at her best friend's house.

We'll be dining on shrimp cocktails and love...... and fizzy drinks. ;-)

I just thought of another idea(next New Year's toast?) for a fun Champagne cocktail:

Kir Royales!

(and of course, the Martha Stewart website had a recipe)

Ingredients
Serves 6

3 ounces (6 tablespoons) creme de cassis
1 bottle Champagne or other sparkling white wine
6 strips tangerine or orange zest, for garnish

Directions
Just before serving, pour 1 tablespoon creme de cassis into each glass. Fill with Champagne, and garnish with zest.

From Martha Stewart Living

Hmmmm...I might have to get a bottle of creme de cassis and make it a night of bubbly cocktails.

Granola for breakfast..or anytime

Back in August, I blogged about making a really easy homemade granola, and also
a seafood in sherry cream sauce, and finally...have decided to get my act together and share them here.
First, the granola recipe: (the seafood dish recipe will appear later this week)

Easy Granola

(from Bon Appetit)

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup slivered almonds

1/3 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup dried sour cherries (my husband loves these and eats them plain as a snack)

1/2 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 30o*F. Combine oats and almonds in bowl.

Mix in juice concentrate. Add brown sugar and cinnamon and toss.

Spread on cookie sheet. Bake 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in coconut and bake until

golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven: cool.

Add cherries and raisins to granola. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

I might add that you can alter this recipe by adding other things you might like in your granola--some wheat germ, sunflower seeds and other dried fruits, for example. I just like this recipe so much because it uses ingredients I usually have in my cupboards and that it truly is very easy to make.

Weight Watchers recipe cards from 1974

"Still scary after all these years..."

I had this site in my massive Favorites list on the old computer, and always meant to share this wickedly funny site here and just thought of doing it today. It was easy enough finding it again(makes me think I shouldn't bother with a Favorites list because I save everything and then eventually forget about it, anyway).

I guarantee you that you will laugh hysterically at these unappetizing photos of "diet foods" from the 70's and the accompanying commentary from the astute Wendy McClure(who even published a book based on this collection of vintage Weight Watcher;s recipe cards). I have scrolled through these a few times now, and it still brings tears to my eyes from laughing so hard.

So, take the tour, won't you? You won't regret it(and will be thankful that these kinds of nasty food concoctions are a thing of the past)

Summer Sunday Salad

Even though, according to the calendar it isn't really summer yet (not yet June 21), the fact that last night J and I sat outside by the outdoor fire, sipping Chardonnay and listening to the crickets (and had the doors and windows wide open so we could hear Billie Holiday, Al Green and Jamie Cullum tunes from the living room stereo speakers), and the fact that I made my black bean salad for the first time this past week, it certainly is feeling a lot like summer.
I love summer meals--so light and healthy, full of fresh ingredients like tomatoes and sweet red peppers, eaten outside.
This black bean salad recipe is a favorite. It can be doubled easily, and ingredients can be added or omitted. The lime juice dressing can be altered to taste, as well(adding cilantro or cumin for a more Southwestern flavor).

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Black Bean Salad

· 1 (19 ounce) can of black beans, thoroughly rinsed, and drained (or 1 1/2 cup of freshly cooked black beans)
· 1 1/2 cups frozen corn, defrosted (or 1 15 oz. can of corn, or fresh corn, parboiled, drained and cooled)
· 1 ripe avacado peeled, pitted, and cut into chunks
· 3 fresh plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
· 1 small red pepper, seeded, and diced

* 2 cups tortilla chips, broken into medium to large size pieces

· 1/4 lime juice (about the amount of juice from one lime)
· 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
· 1 to 2 teaspoons hot red pepper sauce(Tabasco or hot sauce of your choosing)
· Salt and pepper to taste


Directions
1. Combine beans, diced tomatoes, peppers, drained corn kernels and sliced avacado in a medium sized bowl.
2. To make dressing: in a small bowl, whisk together lime juice olive oil hot sauce, salt and pepper. Toss 1/4 cup of the dressing with the bean mixture and the broken tortilla chips.
3. Reserve rest of dressing to add at table if more is needed.

Also, this salad can be arranged on some fresh lettuce leaves and greens, with some grilled chicken slices added, for a nice summery meal (the extra dressing drizzled on the chicken is delicious)

A Nice (and easy) Indian Pudding Recipe

A Nice Indian Pudding

No. 1. 3 pints scalded mild, 7 spoons fine Indian meal, stir well together while hot, let stand till cooled; add 7 eggs, half pound raisins, 4 ounces butter, spice and sugar, and bake one and half hour.

No. 2. 3 pints scalded milk to one pint meal salted; cool, add 2 eggs, 4 ounces butter, sugar or molasses and spice q.s. it will require two and half hours baking.

No. 3. Salt a pint meal, wet with one quart milk, sweeten and put into a strong cloth, brass or bell metal vessel, stone or earthern pot secure from wet and boil 12 hours.
from Amelia Simmons, American Cookery (Hartford, 1796)

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I ended up making Indian Pudding for Saturday night's dinner and came home with an empty pudding bowl and have been thinking of making it again ever since. I was *almost* going to do it today since I had the day off, but got caught up with too many other things(guests staying here Thursday through Sunday, so have to get the house straightened first)

The following recipe is the one I eventually decided to use. It is an easy recipe adapted for the modern kitchen--no hours in the oven, no scalding of milk before adding the cornmeal...and it came out delectably delicious, so I don't think I would even ever try making it any other way. (there are other ways of making it with the longer cooking times, too, but I think they must come out about the same)

I got the following recipe out of Linda Beaulieu's The Providence And Rhode Island Cookbook. Don't be put off the by the odd combination of ingredients or the rather plain brownness of it--it is quite delicious (did I already write that?). I had not had Indian Pudding in some time, and now I can't get it off my mind. I think I am in love ! (might have to make it for my guests...my brother and his family who are all picky eaters, so I may end up having to eat most of it..heh..heh..)

Narragansett Indian Pudding

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal * I happened to have a bag of stone ground white cornmeal in the fridge--used for making R.I. jonnycakes (in R.I., there is never an "h" in Jonnycake!), and the taste is the same. White corn meal is made from a different strain of corn with light colored kernels instead of yellow.

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups of milk, divided (I used whole milk)

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 egg, beaten

1/4 dark, unsulphered molasses (since I love the taste of molasses, I added a bit more..)

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

Whipped cream, Hard Sauce or Vanilla Ice Cream

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In a 2-quart saucepan, combine the cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Stir in 1 1/2 cups milk and the melted butter. Cook over medium-high heat until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a bowl, combine the beaten egg, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, and the remaining 1 1/2 cups of milk. Stir into the cornmeal mixture. Mix well. Pour into a 1 or 2 quart casserole.

Bake, uncovered, for about 1 hour ( I adjusted this because my oven gets too hot, so baked it at 275 for a little longer than an hour), or until a knife inserted into the pudding comes out clean. Serve warm with topping of choice.