Oh stop it. Yes, You. I can see the look of horror and disgust on your faces after reading the title of this post.  I even hear you thinking that this sounds like something that should appear in one of my odd and/or disgusting foods posts. I, however, love those creamy little poultry-based poison filters.  Give it a shot.  Like most casseroles, it’s not much to look at, but it’s darn tasty in a retro 50’s sorta way.

Ingredients

2 10 oz packages of frozen french style grean beans
4 slices bacon, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound chicken livers, nasty connective tissue removed and cut in half
2 Tbs sherry or marsala*
1/2 tsp seasoned salt **
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup crushed barbeque potato chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.  Cook green beans according to directions. Drain well and spread out on a rack or paper towels to dry.  Once they’re dry, spread them into the bottom of a greased 8x8 baking dish.

Saute the bacon until crisp and spread over beans.  Add the garlic and sautee until golden.  Add the livers to the fat and garlic in the pan and fry/simmer until they are no longer pink (the livers will give off a fair amount of liquid). Add the next four ingredients and stir until heated through. Once heated, pour inot the pan of bacon and beans, spreading so that it makes a fairly uniform layer.  Top with crushed potato chips and bake for 15 minutes, or until bubbly.

Serves 5-6

* It goes without saying that you should spring for a bottle of sherry or marsala from the wine aisle rather than the salt-laden swill that styles itself “cooking sherry” found elsewhere in your grocery store of choice.

** I don’t like to use much salt when cooking.  In the future I’ll probably take a pinch of various herbs and grind them together instead.

2/3 cups margarine
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup whole milk
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground anise seed
1/4 tsp. salt
4 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp. cinnamon

Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and set aside.
Cream together margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Approx 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile whisk eggs in a seperate bowl and add slowly to the maragarine and sugar mixture. Beat again or another 3 minutes. Add the anise seeds.
In a seperate bowl combine all the dry ingredients.
Add the baking soda and milk into the wet ingredient mixture and stir until just incorporated.
Add the dry ingredients 1 cup at a time- mixing until incorporated between each cupful.

Dough should bind together. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into diamonds (or use cookie cutters if you prefer).

Bake at 400 for 8 minutes.

This recipe came about through a happy accident.  I think it’s the best fried fish I’ve ever had.  I had a beer batter fish fry recipe that I really like but I couldn’t find it.  I decided to wing it.  We don’t drink and I had forgotten to go to the liquor store to buy a can of beer.  I was about to run to the convenience store for a bottle of carbonated water when I thought, “Maybe a Coke would work here.” So I tried it and well, just plain yum.

INGREDIENTS:
For fish soak:
2 eggs, beaten
2-3 cups milk - enough to cover fish
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp each garlic and onion powders

Combine all ingredients, add fish and soak for an hour or so turning fish once or twice.

For batter:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper, preferably white pepper.
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning.
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup cola - Coke, Pepsi, etc.  (I use diet caffeine free because it’s what I drink)
1-2 pounds cod loins.  (You want the loins.  They’re thick and consistent in size so they all cook at once.  Haddock loins are good too but I prefer codfish.)

1/2 of one bag Dixie Fry (Or other dry seasoned flour for dredging fish.  I think Dixie Fry is the awesomest stuff ever next to G. Washington’s broth.)

Heat a deep fryer to 375°.  If using a pan on the stove, make sure you use a deep pot with at least 5-7” of oil.

Mix dry ingredients except for Dixie Fry.  Add coke.  Batter will fizz and be about the consistency of pancake batter...maybe a bit thicker. 

One piece at a time, dredge fish in Dixie Fry and place on paper plates to allow the seasoned flour to set a bit.  Using tongs, dip fish in batter one piece at a time.  Allow excess to drip off.  Place on plate while you do the other pieces. 

Fry 2 or 3 pieces at a time for approximately 15 to 20 minutes.  Fish will turn opaque and break apart relatively easy.

I like to make homemade french fries when I fry fish.  Bill loves them and they just go with the fish really well.  The cola really adds a very nice flavour to the batter, way better than beer I think.  I’m positive you will enjoy this batter recipe.

And finally, yum yum yum.

3 lbs small red potatoes, unpeeled
2 cups choped red onions
12 oz fresh green beans, trimmed and cooked al dente
3 1/2 cups roughly chopped red cabbage
1 pint grape tomatoes
3 tablespoons capers, drained
2 oz basil leaves, trimmed and roughly copped
salt and pepper to taste
dressing*

In a large pot boil whole potatoes until fork tender. Cool and cut into bite-sized peices.
In a large bowl combine all ingredients from potatoes to basil.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Drizzle dressing* over and toss to coat.
Chill and serve.

*Dressing
1 shallot, chopped
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
a few splashes of white vinegar

microwave shallot and olive oil for 30 seconds. Whisk in vinegar. Pour over salad immedietly.

This is a fast and surprisingly tasty dish that could easily transition from side dish to main course.  With so few ingredients though, make sure you spring for high quality.

Mediterranean Lentils

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups lentils
8 oz feta cheese, crumbled
5 Tbs Tomato paste

Directions
Place lentils and 2 1/2 cups water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.  Cover and simmer until lentils are tender and most of the water has been absorbed-about 20 minutes.

Stir in tomato paste and half the feta cheese. At this time you’ll be able to really tell how much water is left in the pan.  If you misjudged like I did and the mixture is too dry, you’ll probably have to add about a half cup or so of water to successfully distribute the tomato paste and feta.  Also stir in some pepper and if desired, salt and keep on the heat for another minute or two to make sure that everything’s good and warm. 

To serve, spoon the lentils and cooking liquid into bowls and garnish with remaining feta cheese.

Serves 4

This is pretty much a blank slate that you can take in any direction you want.  Swap some roughly chopped Parmagiano or Romano for the feta and add fresh or dried oregano, thyme and basil and you’ve given it a nice italian flavor. Some cumin and a cup of good salsa and you’re good for Mexican. 

Ingredients

2 pounds chicken thighs
1/2 pound egg noodles
1 cup port wine
1/2 pound sliced mushrooms
1 can chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Bake thighs, skin side up, in an 8x8 baking dish for 30 minutes.  About 10 minutes before the chicken is done, start preparing the noodles.

While the chicken is baking, simmer the port in a largish skillet for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the ‘shrooms and simmer for another 5 minutes. While this is going on, combine the cornstarch with 3 Tbs of chicken broth in a small bowl. Pour the remaining broth into the skillet of wine and ‘shrooms and bring back to a simmer. Slowly add the chicken & cornstarch slurry to the mixture and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until it reaches the consistency you prefer for sauces and gravy.

Serve the chicken over noodles and top with sauce.

Cook’s notes: 
That was the original recipe, but I adapted it to the ingredients I had on hand.  I substituted boneless skinless thighs for the bone-in, skin on variety (no doubt eliminating a buttload of fat) and popped them into a Forman grill I recently inherited. I’m not a big fan of noodles either so I substituted rice.  Needless to say, the Forman grill changed the dynamics of the recipe in that the rice and sauce have to be started before the chicken. 

Also, the sauce was a bit bland.  In the future, I’ll probably saute a bit of garlic or onion in the skillet before adding the wine and possibly toss in a couple good pinches of tarragon and rosemary to give it a bit more flavor. 

This recipe was originally a blueberry coffee cake.  It is out of this world; not too sweet, moist but with just the right bit of crunch from the streusel topping.  It really is a cake to go with coffee.

I had a bunch of apples and some of them were starting to go soft so I decided to take my awesome Blueberry Coffee Cake recipe mess around with it a little bit and substitute apples for the berries.

And it came out equally as awesome.  You have no excuse not to bake this.  It has very few ingredients that are generally always on hand.  You won’t be sorry.  The only problem with this cake is you’ll be tempted to cut just a little bite everytime you pass by.  You could end up eating the entire thing yourself one bite at a time. 

INGREDIENTS
2 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C half & Half
1/4 C butter, softened
1 egg
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries OR
2 medium apples, diced

For APPLE cake:
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest (if you don’t have it, don’t knock yourself out)
1 tsp cinnamon
1TBSP sugar

Heat oven to 350°F.

Peel and core apples.  Slice one half of an apple thinly.  Cut remaining apples into medium sized chunks.  In a small bowl, toss apples with 1 TBSP fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp lemon zest, 1 TBSP sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.  Set aside.

Combine all cake ingredients except blueberries/apples in large bowl.  Hand mix using a fork or wooden spoon, scraping bowl often, until well mixed.  Batter will be stiff and sticky. You can use a mixer but the batter is stiff and it’s hard to get off of the beaters.  Stir in blueberries or apples. Spread batter into a greased 8-inch square baking pan.  I prefer to use glass rather than metal.  If you use apples, arrange the slices on top of the batter.

Stir together all streusel ingredients (see below) except butter in small bowl; cut in butter using pastry blender or 2 butter knives until mixture resembles pea-sized coarse crumbs. Sprinkle mixture over batter. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Do not over bake.  Start checking for doneness right at the 35 minute mark.

STREUSEL TOPPING:

1/2 C sugar
1/3 C flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
1/4 C cold butter, cut into chunks

(This is NOT a paid or sponsored post.  This is solely my opinion.)

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Sometimes there are products you just have to tell other people about.  People who love to cook and/or bake have certain tools they can’t do without.  I have many such tools and today I’d like to tell you about my wooden spoons.  I have the absolute best wooden spoons ever.  Seriously.  I do.  Everyone who has ever seen these, even people who don’t cook, remarks on them.

Years ago I volunteered in the museum store at Old Sturbridge Village.  I was lucky enough to win a set of wooden spoons while attending a summer barbecue function.  I will say that was one of the luckiest $1.00 door prize tickets I’ve ever bought.

These spoons are the absolute best wooden spoons I have ever owned...or seen for that matter.

These spoons are made by a company called Whetstone Woodenware.  I can’t even begin to tell you how pretty and sturdy they are.  They’re certainly built to do the job but it’s the look of them that will surprise you.  They have some weight but are not heavy.  They’re so well made, I can’t even imagine one cracking.  The surface of the spoon is like satin.  You have to touch them to believe just how satiny they feel.  They gleam even though I rarely oil mine...maybe once a year if I think about it and despite my abuse they do not even have a dry appearance.  (You should oil your woodenware at least once a month or so with mineral oil.)

I love these spoons so much, I highly recommend you go surf that site and spend a few bucks on the last woodenware you will ever need.  I think these would make an awesome gift for anyone who loves to cook.  Trust me.  Buying these spoons is money well spent.

1/2 C flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 3-1/2 to 4 lb chicken cut into 8 pieces
8 TBSP butter, divided
1/4 C lemon juice
1/4 C orange-flavored liqueur
1/4 C honey
2 TBSP orange zest
1 TBSP soy sauce

Whole cooked baby carrots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, salt and pepper in large plastic bag. Add chicken pieces a few at a time, to bag; shake to coat completely with flour mixture. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in large baking pan. Roll chicken in butter to coat all sides; arrange skin side down in a single layer in pan. Bake 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in lemon juice, liqueur, honey, orange zest and soy sauce.  Reserve 2 tablespoons of the mixture.  Remove chicken from oven; turn pieces over. Pour remaining honey mixture over chicken. Continue baking, basting occasionally, 30 minutes or until chicken is glazed and tender. Toss reserved honey mixture with cooked carrots; serve with chicken.

Makes 4 servings - two piece of chicken per person.

After eating some surprisingly tasty vegetarian meals of late, I’ve been trying to cook vegetarian from time to time. 

Black beans and rice

<table align="right" width="240" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td align=center></i></td></tr></table>Ingredients
1 cup Basmati rice
1 Tbs olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp oregano
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
4 radishes, cut in largish chunks
1/4 cup cilantro

Directions
Cook rice according to package directions.  While rice is cooking heat the oil over med high heat in a large pan.  Add the onions, bell pepper, garlic 1/4 tsp black pepper and cook until the veggies are softened.  Stir in the ground cumin and cook for another minute or so more.

Add the beans, oregano and 1 cup water. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes before stirring in the vinegar. Mash some of the beans with a fork to thicken the cooking liquid. Serve over rice and top with radishes and cilantro.

Serves 4 as an entree, 6 as a side dish
<i>
Note:  This was tasty, but a little bland. The next time I cook this, I’ll up the amounts of garlic and cumin and add a bit of cayenne or habanero pepper sauce--or at least sprinkle some on when it’s in the bowl.  I also use dried reconstituted beans which cuts down on the salt content dramatically.  Without the rice, it also works as a kind of burrito

I asked a friend of mine, Deb, to send me her recipe for what she said was The Best Ever cream of potato soup.  I pshawed.  I’ve tried lots of “best ever” food that was far from it.  But, as I soon found out, Deb doesn’t lie.  The following is my take on the recipe she sent me.  The original recipe can be found by clicking “read more.”

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4-5 medium potatoes, cut into small cubes
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup diced onion
1 packet G Washington’s Golden
1 qt half & half
1/3 cup flour
2-3 cans chicken broth
A handful or two of shredded (or cubed) monterey jack or white cheddar cheese
1+ cup(s) cubed ham

Cook potatoes in chicken broth -enough to cover the potatoes- til just tender..do not over cook.  Saute’ onions and celery in butter.  Add flour and G Washington’s.  Cook 5 minutes.  Stirring constantly with a wire whisk, slowly add half & half.  Continue to stir until thick and smooth.  Season to taste.

Mash cooked potatoes right in the pot with the chicken broth then add to the half & half mixture.  Cook stirring frequently until soup reaches a simmer.  Reduce heat to low add ham and cheese and heat through.

Makes enough soup to feed four or 5 people as a main dish with leftovers.

<table align="left" width="200" cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td align=center><font color="red">It really is the best</font></td></tr></table>

NOTES: 
•If you like your soup smooth, you’ll want to whip them using a mixer, adding the chicken broth to make a thick potato slurry.

•My ingredients picture shows both red and white potatoes.  This would be because I had a few red potatoes left in a bag so I used them up.  You don’t need multiple types of potatoes.

•If you think the soup is going to be to runny remember that potatoes are a starch and will thicken up immediately.  If you follow this recipe, it won’t be runny at all.  You might want to add some milk if you think it’s too thick.

•Do not eat a second helping of this (or any other creamed soup) unless you want to be a big useless lump sitting in your chair going all, “Uuuggghhh.  I ate too much.”

•I use ham from a boiled ham bone.  I buy ham shanks frequently.  They’re good for dinner, leftovers, soups, ham salad and a million other things.  I always keep a lot of meat on the bone when I boil it.  I boil the bone down for several hours.  I then remove the bone, cool it, pick the meat off and bag it up in various portion sizes.  I put the cooled pot of water that it cooked in in the fridge overnight.  The next day I take off all the fat (which will have solidified) and then I put the broth in ziplock bags and keep it in the freezer.  I use the broth for pea soup.

•My SIL said this is “Restaurant quality soup.” My husband asks for it now at least once a week.  I told him we would be dead from heart attacks brought on by high cholesterol within a month.  He’s only allowed to have it once a month.

•A pot of this would definitely feed a ton of people as a soup course.  It’s very hearty and filling.

Read More »

Last summer my SIL gave me a jar of Herbs de Provence from Penzey’s spices (see note below).  I had no clue how to use it but finally got tired of it standing on top of the refrigerator, giving me disapproving looks as I reached past it one more time to get to the cayenne pepper, tarragon or whatever herb I was using. I finally opened the jar, took a sniff and got a vibe that was almost as much Italian as it was French. Still not knowing what to do with it, I decided on a marinade.  It turned out pretty well and made the all of Casa Apathy smell divine fucking wonderful.  This is good on it’s own but is also outstanding when the chicken is cut up and added to a salad

<ul>Herbes de Provence Chicken</ul>

Ingredients
2/3 cups Herbes de Provence
1 cup lemon juice (lime also works)
1 1/2 Tbs chopped garlic
5-6 boneless, skinless chicken parts of your choice

Directions
Combine lemon juice, garlic and herbs in a big-ass freezer bag and moosh it around until it’s well mixed. Add the chicken and seal the bag, leaving as little air as possible inside. Marinate in the fridge for as long as 24 hours.

Remove chicken from the bag and allow to drain (do NOT rinse).  Place the chicken in a baking pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes or until done.  My guess is that you could also grill them as long as the coals aren’t hot enough to burn the herbs that cling to the meat. 

Note: There are any number of recipes for Herbs de Provence if you’re inclined to bypass the middlemand and make your own blend.  A simple and serviceable recipe is here http://frenchfood.about.com/od/dressingpreservessauces/r/herbesdeprov.htm .  or try this one:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/herbs-de-provence-recipe/index.html

I don’t really like to bake because I like to improvise in the kitchen and we all know that improvization while baking can quickly lead to disaster.  However, these brownies (from one of Nigella’s cookbooks) are ridiculously easy and fast to make, really moist and gooey, crazy good and gluten free, for those who have allergies. Since there are so few ingredients poor quality will be noticeable, so if you must economize, do it with some other recipe.

Flourless chocolate brownies

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter (two sticks)
8 oz bittersweet chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups ground almonds (also known as almond meal)*
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans and whole pistachios work nicely)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Break up the chocolate.  Place in a largish saucepan with the butter and melt over low heat. When melted, remove from the burner.  Stir in sugar and vanilla extract and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Add the beaten eggs, ground almonds and nuts to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined in a lumpy, gooey mess of chocolatey goodness.

Pour into a 9 inch square baking pan and pop into the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is set (the insides will still be nice and gooey).  Allow to cool before slicing.

*You will probably have to do some searching for ground almonds as it’s not something that the average grocery carries. I found mine at Trader Joe’s but Wild Oats and your neighborhood health-food store would be good bets too. but it’s worth it. It adds a subtle, sweet and nutty taste and makes the brownies ridonkulously moist and gooey. Regular flour can be substituted, but they will be quite a bit drier. 

I’m the first to admit that the ingredients don’t sound appetizing at all, but damn, this is good soup!

<table align="right" width="245" cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td align=center>dandy tastin’</td></tr></table>

Ingredients

6 cups water
3 Tbs Dill
1 pound egg noodles, medium width
4 oz lean ground beef or lamb
1 pound bag California bled vegetables (broccoli, carrots and cauliflower)
1 tsp ground cayenne
1 Tbs salt
1 Tbs minced garlic
unflavored yogurt
dried mint

Directions

Bring water to a boil.  Add the dill and continue boiling for five minutes.  Add your noodles and continue boiling until noodles are tender, about 10-15 minutes.

While the noodles are boiling, brown the ground meat in a separate pan and drain off the fat. Add the ground meat to the noodles along with the vegetables, then add the cayenne, salt and garlic.  Simmer for another 15 minutes or so.

To serve, stir about 2 tablespoons of yogurt into each bowl of soup and top with a sprinkle of mint.

A good cook is not necessarily a good woman with an even temper. Some allowance should be made for artistic temperament.
~X. Marcel Boulestin

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