27 Days of Salad

I'm headed out of town unexpectedly for a few days so I'm going to have to pick up my salad series when I get back.

Hope you all are eating well!

5: Mexican Grilled Steak Salad

It's Labor Day today and to me, holidays that occur in warm weather should be celebrated with food cooked on the grill. Since I was home alone today, I bought a steak and made myself a Mexican Salad.

My fixings included:

• Leaf lettuce
• Homemade salsa (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, in lime juice)
• Jicama
• Carrots
• Slivered bell pepper
• Black beans (from a can)
• Corn (from a can)
• Cilantro
• Avocado
• Grilled steak (simply seasoned with salt and pepper)

I'm not much for cheese so I left that out, as well as the tortilla chips that are traditionally in this type of salad. I dressed with Ranch dressing, since that was what I had available.

Hope you all had your fill of yummy food this holiday!

4: Simulating Oysters (Tofu with Korean Dressing)

My favorite sushi bar makes these fantastic raw oysters. Now the oysters part is just ok; what makes the dish for me is the way they dress them. They are served on the half shell, sitting in this sweet, tangy spicy mixture ponzu, sesame oil, and gochoojang, the Korean chili paste. You pick up the shell and pour everything into your mouth and your tongue explodes with flavor.

I've made sushi at home using raw fish from the Korean market but raw oysters are a bit too intimidating for me. I don't know how to pick out a good one and am afraid to death of eating a bad one. I've been thinking for several weeks about what might make a good substitute for oysters so that I can enjoy this delectable treat at home and have finally settled on tofu.

Tofu may seem like an odd choice but the oyster's qualities I was hoping to simulate included the soft texture, mild flavor with a hint of salty fishiness, and that could be portioned into the correct serving size - a single mouthful.

I began with firm tofu, cut into bite sized pieces, and boiled it in a pot with a tight fitting lid which is essential for softening the tofu to the right consistency. To infuse it with a mild fish taste, I used dashi, a simple Japanese broth made from dried anchovies and kombu (dried seaweed), as the liquid. (If you need measurements, it is about two cups water, five large dried anchovies, and a 1" x 2" piece of kombu.)

In the serving dish, I poured in about a quarter inch of ponzu (came to about 1/4 cup). You want to have enough liquid that you can scoop it up into the spoon when you pick up the tofu. I sprinkled in a teaspoonful of sesame oil, but this is really to taste. Start with a small amount as sesame oil can quickly overpower most dishes. You can always add more.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the tofu from the broth to the dressing. Top each piece with a squirt of watered down, seasoned gochoojang. Garnish with slivered green onions and carrots and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds.

When eating, you want to simulate pouring the oyster floating in dressing so when you scoop up a piece of tofu, be sure to also get a lot of the dressing and gochoojang.

This first attempt was pretty good but it wasn't quite right. Next time I think I'll add some Thai fish sauce to my broth to give the tofu just a bit more fish flavor. My proportions weren't exactly right on the vinegar and sesame oil. I'm looking forward trying many more times to get it exactly right!

3: Savory Watermelon?

I went grocery shopping yesterday and on a whim, bought a watermelon. I have not yet figured out the secret to picking a good melon and it is often a miss rather than a hit on those rare occasions when I make the attempt. (I've seen people tapping or knocking on them but they all sound the same to me!) Fortunately yesterday's choice turned out to be fairly decent. Sweet and firm and perfectly ripe.

My parents always keep a cut-up watermelon in the kitchen refrigerator and a second one in the outside fridge. When they are in season, my mother eats a big bowl of sliced melon as her bedtime snack every night. We're purists when it comes to eating watermelon. I'm willing to try all sorts of new things with cantaloupe and honeydew but watermelons are meant to be eaten freshly sliced, cold, right out of the rind. Once in a while, if it happens not to have much flavor or sweetness, I'll sprinkle on a little salt but it has to be really inadequate before I can justify doctoring up the flavor.

Savory watermelon salads seem to be all the rage here these days. Many higher end restaurants are now featuring it on the menu. Watermelon and tomato with balsamic dressing. Watermelon and feta. Watermelon and onion. Very odd...

So rather than go with your typical fruit salad tonight, I decided to be adventurous and try out something savory. A quick search online revealed that most recipes are variations on a Mediterranean theme. Onions, tomatoes and mint are typical, kalamata olives and gourmet greens are occasionally added. Olive oil and/or balsamic vinegar are frequent accoutrements. Paula Deen uses red wine vinegar while another cook suggested marinating onions in lime juice to soften their flavor and then to use it as part of the dressing.

I decided to go with Jacques Pépin's version on foodandwine.com. I loved the cooking show that he hosted with Julia Childs (now in re-runs on PBS) and found his addition of hot sauce intriguing. Unfortunately I am out of feta and none of the other cheeses in my storehouse were pungent enough to be a substitute so I had to do without, but truthfully, I didn't miss it a bit.

The flavor was...intriguing. I was not thrilled with the olives but everything else came together to create a very interesting taste "experience." I can't think of any other way to describe it.

Yes, I did enjoy it and would definitely make this salad for guests if for no other reason than that it is so unusual.

2: A Salad by Any Other Shape... (California Handroll Inspired Salad)

I try to have rules or at least guidelines when I pick a theme for my cooking/blogging. When you google the word "salad," it's interesting the assortment of recipes that will come up. I feel like I should have some sort of definition or boundaries for what I can and cannot include in this category.  The definition I am going with is:

A mixture containing a specified ingredient served with a dressing

I think I can work with that!

But wait... does a salad have to be tossed?

A quick check of my working definition indicates that it does not!

So tonight's posting is very short and simple. I was making California Rolls (sushi made with imitation crab, avocadoes, and cucumber) for my son today and decided to work in some lettuce and call it today's salad.

VOILÀ!

I found this to be a really yummy substitute for the typical handroll that includes rice and seaweed and I think I'm going to start including this option whenever I make California Rolls.

1: Do They Really Eat This in China? (Chinese Chicken Salad)

Tonight I decided I needed to do something with chicken (since the beef roast I pulled out of the freezer earlier today was still rock solid). Plus I was starving and I didn't want to wait for something that was going to require a lot of prep time.

I pulled out all the vegetables/produce in my fridge to assess my salad options for the evening. I had:

• lettuce
• green cabbage
• celery
• carrots
• bell peppers
• onions (green and yellow)
• cilantro

When laid out on the counter, they practically yelled out "Chinese Chicken Salad!"

I did some research on the web and found that most CCSs began with the same vegetables I just happened to have on hand. Other interesting additions included:

• dry ramen noodles or chow mein noodles
• the usual Chinese canned vegetables used in stir-frys such as hearts of palm, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and baby corn
• snow pea pods
• almonds
• canned mandarin oranges

Another key component of CCS is that everything is to be shredded or julienned but I'm not sure why. Perhaps it is related to the Asian drive to have everything be uniform? Maybe to make it easier to eat with chopsticks? My food processor made quick work of the chopping.

In almost all cases, the dressing involved sesame oil and soy sauce, along with garlic and/or ginger. I found a bag full of old limes in the bottom of my fridge, ugly to look at but still juicy and flavorful. I mixed 3 TB lime juice, 1 TB soy sauce, and 1 TB sesame oil as my dressing.

I didn't have any almonds and I didn't want to put dried noodles in my salad, so I sprinkled some dry roasted, salted peanuts and toasted sesame seeds on top. That supplied the crunch.



The only thing missing from my salad was a touch of sweet, usually from canned mandarin oranges or the dressing. I was ok without it.

BTW, the chicken was fried chicken from Kentucky Fried Chicken. I had bought a bucket several weeks ago and the leftovers went into the freezer. My dog happily ate the breading and skin.

Tossed and gobbled down!

Tossing My Cookies For Greens

Fall has arrived. Of course, living in Southern California, you'd never know it.  August and September are typically the hottest months of the year, or so I've been told. We've been hitting triple digits during the day and at night it barely goes below 80F. I tend to lose all desire to cook when it's hot out and fortunately, I also don't have much of an appetite. A bowl of cold watermelon or a ripe, juicy peach seems to be about all I am in the mood for when mealtimes roll around.

I've had a lot of turmoil in my personal life the last couple of months (which is why I have not posted anything new here in about that long) and as usually happens when I am stressed, things start piling up around the house, including in the pantry. It's always interesting to take inventory once the stress levels start to go down and I am able to take back control of my life. Right now my freezer is filled with pizza (from Pizza Hut), fried chicken (from KFC), and just shy of a dozen doughnuts (they're much cheaper when you buy them by the dozen). I've had an eight-pack of canned black beans and an eight-pack of canned garbanzos from the warehouse store sitting on my counter for several weeks now because I have no room in my pantry or my garage for them. And at this moment, I cannot for the life of me, remember what I thought I would cook that would require so many beans.

So now that fall is here and the kids are back in school and I am consciously living my life again, I have decided September is a good month for reducing my food stores. I am ridding my house of junk food (hence the title, "Tossing My Cookies") and shooting for 31 days of salads ("For Greens").

NOTE: I did not use the word healthy. In doing research for this series, I found too many tantalizing recipes for salads that are loaded down with calories. (Apparently, people in the South have never made a salad that did not involve sour cream in some way and I would be remiss not to include dishes from the region that gave us Paula Deen!) I'll leave it up to you, dear reader, to figure out how to lighten it up if you feel that is necessary.

Happy Tossing!

Maangchi 2: Hwedupbap (Raw Fish Mixed with Rice and Vegetables)

I love gochoojang, a spicy Korean chili pepper paste. When I was growing up, we primarily used it as a dip for lightly steamed vegetables that were eaten with rice wrapped up in leaf lettuce (sahm). In college, if I didn't have any other bahn chan available, I would spread Sam Bok gochoojang (my favorite brand) over white rice or ramen noodles and eat it as a reminder of home.

I also love sushi and I've only ever seen raw fish served in the Japanese style: sliced tuna or salmon (or other seafood delicacy) served over a ball of seasoned rice or wrapped up in a seaweed handroll. Most places around here will use sriracha (a Thai chili sauce that is both spicy and tangy) when making spicy sushi rolls, but my favorite local sushi joint, which happens to be Korean-owned, offers a twist. When you order spicy scallops or raw oysters, the sauce they use is gochoojang. My mouth is salivating even as I write this.

Leave it to The Motherland to combine my two loves into a single dish: Hwedupbap and thank-you to maangchi.com for introducing me to it.

This dish, made from raw fish mixed with raw vegetables, is similar to another one of my favorite Korean meals, bibimbap, the mixed rice and (cooked) vegetables dish that I blogged about here. Hwedupbap is a little more feasible for home cooks because it requires very little preparation, especially when you buy the sashimi (sushi-grade raw fish) already cut-up from the Asian market (pictured on the right side of the photo below).

Maangchi's recipe calls for cucumbers, carrots, lettuce and gaen yip (often referred to in English as sesame or perilla leaves). Korean people typically eat raw gaen yip wrapped around rice with gochoojang (similar to sahm) or they will cook it in soy sauce and serve as bahn chan. It has a very strong, distinctive flavor and is one of my favorite Korean greens. Lucky for me, my father grows tons of it in the backyard all summer long (although you can buy it year round at most Korean markets).


The steps are simple:

1. Season the gochoojang.
2. Chop/prepare the vegetables.
3. Layer everything in a bowl over rice.
4. Mix and chow down!

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips

• If you are a vegetarian, Maangchi includes instructions on how to prepare tofu in place of the raw fish. We frequently ate steamed tofu with a thin, seasoned gochoojang sauce as a meal when I was growing up, so this alternative sounds very tempting to me.
• You can use any vegetables or greens that you like here. I added radish sprouts and raw vidalia onions that were very thinly sliced.

The Results
Delicious, although I'm not sure this is the best use of expensive sashimi. The gochoojang flavor really overpowers the delicate fish. I'll probably try this with tofu the next time I make it.


Ratings

• Difficulty: Easy!
• Time to prepare: 20 minutes, not counting the time to cook the rice
• Prognosis: Will definitely be making this again

My Shopping List
I spent $10 on the sashimi, which was enough for two people. I also bought the radish sprouts. I had everything else at home.

Maangchi.com 1: Teaching My Son to Cook Korean (Kalbi and Bahn Chan)

I've been debating what to cook from next - one of my all-time favorite books, Vegetarian Times Cooks Mediterranean, or my favorite Korean cooking site. The Geek cast the deciding vote: "Not vegetarian, please." so maangchi.com it is.

I stumbled across Emily Kim's Korean cooking website a few months ago and fell totally head-over-heels in love. After mulling over her recipes for several days, I couldn't decide what to make so I made ELEVEN different dishes in one afternoon. (The photo below is of the produce from that one day's shopping excursion.) Everything turned out superb, very authentic, and delicious. I've never had much luck making Korean food but maangchi makes it easy with her written instructions, photos, and videos.

On a separate note, my kids are out of school for the summer. One of the responsibilities they assume when there is no school is to cook lunch and dinner when they are home with me. My 14-year old daughter enjoys cooking and loves to try new things. The other day we enjoyed breaded mahi mahi in browned butter and a lovely mesclun salad with grapes, feta and walnuts and a homemade raspberry vinaigrette.

My son, on the other hand, is a much more reluctant cook. He'll only make something if it is quick and easy. If the recipe begins with Campbell's condensed soup, all the better. I'm supervising his menu selections and am much more involved when he cooks.

I decided to kill two birds with one stone today - I told my son we would be making a Korean meal for dinner, one I could blog about. I decided to make Kalbi, Korean grilled ribs,

and I had my son make rice (in the rice cooker) and four different bahn chan (side dishes):

• eggplant
• bean sprouts
• cooked radish
• seasoned pickles.

(The little red cubes are a type of kim chi made from radishes, called Kaktugi. That is also from maangchi.com but I made it a few weeks ago.)

I'm not posting very many photos or instructions because, as I mentioned, you can get them all from the website. Hopefully you'll still be inspired to give some of these and other Korean recipes a try.

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips

• Making four different dishes at once gave me a chance to teach my son about multi-tasking when cooking. We read over all four recipes and determined what order to work in. First we got the rice cooking and then steamed the eggplant. Next we cooked the radish and then steamed the bean sprouts. Seasoning and mixing everything was the final step.
• I'm not a fan of measuring ingredients when it comes to making bahn chan, although the measurements/amounts are provided for you. I prefer to taste and test as I go along and instructed my son to do the same. For example, he did not cook the radishes the extra 10 minutes as the recipe instructed. After a couple of minutes of stir-frying, he decided the texture was good and so we took them off the stove.
• The radish and cucumber (for the sprouts) were supposed to be cut into matchstick size. I'm wary of making the kids do too much cutting, especially when it calls for fine knife skills like julienne. I chose to use the shredder in the food processor instead. The shredded vegetables really are too small and thin for traditional Korean cooking but I'd rather have that than bloody fingers. Plus it's a lot faster, which is an important factor when you are working with a teenager who would rather be playing video games.
• I did not have the Korean pear called for in the ribs marinade so I left that out. Didn't miss it a bit.
• I buy Korean pickles at the grocery store, which saves me the trouble and time of pickling them myself. They tend to be very salty so as soon as I get them home, I dump out the brine that they come in and put the pickles in a jar of fresh water. I'll change the water once a week or so.

The Results
Everything turned out delicious. My son was pretty pleased with the results as well.

Ratings

• Difficulty: Everything was easy
• Time to prepare: The ribs had to soak for 20 minutes, the marinade took about 30 minutes, and grilling took about 45 minutes. The bahn chan took just over an hour, from start to finish for all four dishes.
• Prognosis: We'll definitely be doing this again!

My Shopping List
I had to buy the ribs and the produce (eggplant, bean sprouts, radish, pickles). I already had all the seasonings at home.

ABLR 4: Vidalia Onion Pie and Monkey Bread

I'm ready to move on to a new cookbook so I thought I'd finish with two ABSOLUTELY YUMMMMY dishes from America's Best Lost Recipes.

I love Vidalia onions. I was first introduced to them by another one of my BFFs, who I'll simply refer to as D. When our kids were babies, I lived just a few minutes up the freeway from her and we would get together every Sunday morning to walk, drink coffee (with cream and two teaspoonfuls of Ghirardelli cocoa, which might explain why we never lost any weight), and unload all our troubles on each other. A few years ago I moved about 25 miles away and now it takes much more planning to get together, but we do so whenever we can and it always involves food.

D. has family all over the United States and when relatives come to town, they always bring food native to their corner of the world, most notably salmon from the Pacific Northwest and Vidalia onions from Georgia (this was before they became available in grocery stores here in California). The first time I had a Vidalia, an aunt had brought it from back east and D. made me a sandwich on rustic bread with mayonnaise, sliced tomatoes, salt, and strips of vegetarian bacon. PURE HEAVEN!

I always buy a Vidalia when I see them at my local grocery store and savor every bite. Recently though, I was at the local Warehouse store and found 10 lb bags of Vidalias so of course, I had to buy a bag. Have you ever noticed how small a 10 lb bag looks in the warehouse and how huge it is once you get it home and into your tiny kitchen? After eating Onion/tomato/vege bacon sandwiches for three days (and having used up only two of about 20 gigantic onions), I knew it was time to look for new ways to cook them.

Now to me, onions are a condiment, a seasoning. Even in my sandwiches, they are used to enhance the tomato and bacon. It would never have occurred to me to use the onions as the main attraction, and never in a pie. Don't let the name fool you - this was incredibly delicious. Crisping the bacon gives it just the right amount of texture and saltiness. A half cup of sour cream is just the right amount of tang. And carmelizing the onions sweetens them even more.



Everyone who tried it (The Geek, my kids and me) was surprised at just how FABULOUS onions could be.

***

I love all foods that start out as yeasted dough, especially if I can eat them fresh and warm from the oven. Bread, doughnuts, pretzels, cakes, cinnamon rolls...the list goes on and on. So of course I knew I was going to make Monkey Bread as soon as I saw the recipe. In all truthfulness, it is the reason I bought this particular cookbook - Monkey Bread is featured on the cover and several people commented on how good it was in the online reviews. Once again, the Cooks Illustrated chefs do not disappoint.

Making bread from scratch can be intimidating but thanks to modern-day appliances like the Kitchen Aid stand mixer, whipping up this dough was a breeze. After the first rise, you cut the dough into tiny pieces and roll in butter and cinnamon sugar and then put it in the pan for a second rising.

What comes out of the oven are ooey-gooey bite-sized pieces of pure heaven that you then drizzle with icing. YUMMMM!!

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips

• The kids don't eat pork so I made two onion pies, one with bacon for The Geek and the other with turkey bacon for the kids.
• The recipe calls for the onions to be carmelized in the bacon fat but turkey bacon does not release that much grease so I ended up adding oil to the pan. It was taking forever to get the onions to brown so I added butter, which speeded up the carmelization considerably.
• I am without a food processor right now and am too lazy to make a pie crust manually using a pastry cutter so I bought frozen pie crusts from the store. I didn't particularly like the pre-made crust, but the kids and The Geek said it was fine.
• I love my pastry mat for rolling out dough (see photo of the Monkey Bread dough). The measurements are drawn right on the mat so it's easy to roll things like pie crusts out to exactly the right size. The silicone helps to keep the dough from sticking, and clean-up is a breeze.
• The monkey bread dough took twice as long to rise (for both risings) than the recipe's suggested times. I suspect either my yeast was a bit old or the liquid that I proofed it in was too hot. Fortunately the dough did rise eventually.

The Results
Both items were out-of-this-world delicious!

Ratings

• Difficulty: I rate both these items medium difficulty. Carmelizing onions without burning them takes practice and if you choose to follow the recipe, you would be making the crust from scratch. The monkey bread requires special appliances and kneading skills.
• Time to prepare: The onione pie took about an hour (using a store-bought crust). The monkey bread took about 4 hours because the dough took so long to rise.
• Prognosis: Both are incredibly delicious and well worth the effort.

My Shopping List
Special ingredients for the pie included bacon, turkey bacon, vidalia onions, sour cream, heavy cream, and the pre-made crust. The monkey bread is made with the usual kitchen staples.

ABLR 3: 24 Hour Salad and Joe Froggers

I'm not sure what counts as "California Cuisine," but dishes that are light and fresh and combine flavors from different cultures is what comes to mind. When it comes to Midwestern fare (not sure you can apply the word 'cuisine' to this kind of cooking without offending home cooks in that part of the country), I think of hefty roasts, hearty casseroles, baked potatoes drowning in sour cream, homemade pies with melt-in-your-mouth crusts, and freshly picked apples and warm cinnamon doughnuts in the fall. Having grown up in Michigan, I also think of chewy salt water taffy and lucious fudge thanks to occasional family trips to Mackinac Island.

There are some food items that I associate with the Midwest and more specifically my childhood, mainly because I don't ever buy or cook with them now. Potato salad and sandwiches made with Miracle Whip (instead of mayonnaise). Cottage cheese and canned fruit (in heavy syrup). Campbell's condensed cream of mushroom soup (in everything that wasn't Korean). And Cool Whip, the non-dairy frozen whipped topping. My parents LOVED Cool Whip and we had it on just about every kind of dessert that you could conceivably put it on.

One of my mother's co-workers gave her a recipe for a jello salad that we simply called "Green Stuff." It was lime jello mixed with cottage cheese, crushed pineapple, chopped nuts, and Cool Whip. After she made it the first time, we were never without it at home. It was the first thing I would reach for in the fridge when I got home from school. And of course the combination possibilities were endless. Sometimes my mom made it with raspberry jello (what we referred to as "Pink Stuff"), with different types of canned fruit, various nuts, sometimes with coconut flakes, and so on and so on.

I don't see too many jello or even Cool Whip/whipped cream salads these days, not even at church potlucks where they ruled the buffet tables in my childhood. Neither of those items seem to be too terribly popular here in health-conscious, preservative-free SoCal. All the more reason to make the 24 Hour Salad. Often referred to as Ambrosia salad, it is typically made with canned fruit, nuts, whipped cream and marshmallows. The people at Cook's Illustrated stepped it up a notch by creating a recipe that begins with a cooked custard base and uses heavy whipping cream instead of the frozen, non-dairy stuff.

***

Now it is not my intention to make just desserts from this book but it seems those are mostly what catch my eye. I'd never heard of Joe Froggers before but when I read the opening paragraph of the recipe, I was hooked:

"These wonderful flat, oversized molasses-spice cookes are moist, salty, rum flavored, and most unusual (and addictive)."

How can someone read that and NOT be compelled to make them?!!

I have to say, these cookies were a bit of a disappointment. The first problem, which was entirely my own fault, was that the molasses flavor was OVERWHELMING. The recipe warns the cook to use mild molasses and specifically warns against the robust kind. I ran out of the regular about halfway through and so I used robust since that was all I had on-hand. Big mistake. I also found the cookies to be a bit too salty and not rum-my enough. And never having made this type of cookie before, I took the first batch out of the oven too soon and so the texture was a bit gummy. That said, I am certainly willing to try this recipe again, this time using the right kind of molasses and cutting the salt in half.

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips

• The 24 Hour Salad has to sit for a day (hence the name) in order for the flavors to combine. It really makes a difference! And as I mentioned, it keeps well in the fridge for several days.
• The cookie dough has to be refrigerated for at least eight hours or else they will spread too much in the oven.

The Results

• I thought the 24 Hour Salad was delicious but my son took one look and said "I don't like that kind of salad." My daughter ate a bit and said it was good but never touched it again. I ended up eating it over several days and I'm happy to report that it kept quite well in the fridge.
• Nobody in my house liked the cookies.

Ratings:

• Difficulty: Both recipes are easy
• Time to prepare: The salad takes about 30 minutes to prepare and a day to sit. The cookies were quick - 15 minutes to make the dough but then you have to refrigerate the dough for 8+ hours.
• Prognosis: I'm on the fence about the cookies. I liked the salad but if no one will eat it but me, then I probably won't be making it too often.

My Shopping List

• The 24 Hour Salad recipe calls heavy cream, frozen sour cherries, and marshmallows (not to mention canned pineapple chunks and mandarin oranges and slivered almonds). I just happened to have all those things in my kitchen on this particular day thanks to my son's recent attempt to make homemade cherry garcia ice cream.
• The Joe Froggers required dark rum as well as the several different spices, all things I keep on hand.

ABLR 2: Poor Boy Stroganoff and Caramel Dumplings

It's been a lazy weekend, perfect for getting together with friends and cooking and eating. Yesterday a friend made Ina Garten's Fresh Pea Soup for dinner and it was the perfect dish for a nice, spring evening. I'm adding it to my binder of favorite recipes.

Today The Geek and I have been at our respective computers, working (him) and puttering (me) all day long. We took a break to have a yummy udon and sushi lunch at one of our favorite haunts and then I took a VERY LONG nap. (Lazy weekends are also perfect for long naps.)

We've also been snacking on goodies and before I knew it, it was 630 p.m. and neither of us was particularly hungry. Also, sometimes The Geek forgets to eat (HOW ON EARTH DOES ONE DO THAT?) and so I like to leave his fridge stocked up with leftovers when I am not going to see him for a few days. I've been wanting to try the "Poor Boy Stroganoff" in my America's Best Lost Recipes cookbook and so I went ahead and made it with plans to leave most of it behind.

What do the words "Beef Stroganoff" bring to mind for you? For me, it's chunks of beef in a creamy white sauce with a ton of sour cream served over egg noodles. But every recipe on the Cook's Illustrated family of sites involves tomatoes and red wine and The Geek says that is how he has always eaten it. A quick wikipedia search revealed that, while stroganoff with the tomato/red wine sauce is how the dish originated in Russia, it is the British that generally serve it with the creamy white sauce. WHEW! Nice to know I'm not crazy afterall!

Stroganoff is also apparently usually made with beef tenderloin which is a very expensive cut of meat. This recipe is made with ground beef, thus the "Poor Boy" moniker. The Test Kitchen decided to make it as a hearty casserole rather than a sauce poured over noodles, and we decided we like it this way too. 

Recently another friend introduced me to packaged salad mixes that are now available in most megamart grocery stores. These bags of salad, which run about $4 and makes about 4 small side salads, include everything you need to make a yummy salad, such as greens, dressing, dried fruit, and nuts or other crunchy toppings. Normally I wouldn't buy these packaged mixes when I'm at home - I prefer to make things from scratch, which is way more economical - but at The Geek's house, they are perfect and convenient. I picked up a bag of pear gorgonzola salad but decided we weren't going to eat it tonight since neither of us were too hungry. I'm looking forward to sharing that with the kids tomorrow evening.

A second recipe that I tried earlier this week was for Caramel Dumplings. The concept is simple: make a caramel sauce and then bake the dough in it so that you infuse the dumplings with caramel flavor and you have a lovely sauce to spoon over. A few weeks ago I made the Cook's Illustrated recipe for Burnt Sugar Ice Cream and absolutely loved it and so I was eager to try this as well.

You can see from this photo why these are considered dumplings and not biscuits. The dough is dropped into the syrup much in the same way that dumplings are dropped into chicken soup.




Sadly, I can't say I loved this. The dumplings didn't have much flavor - they certainly weren't "infused" with caramel - and the sauce ended up being a little thick so it didn't pour well. (That was my fault - I reduced the caramel syrup even though the recipe did not include instructions to do so.) The kids both loved the biscuits though and happily ate them with ice cream.

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips

• The dumplings are best eaten fresh from the oven, when the sauce is warm and runny.
• I find that pasta casserole dishes turn out best if you seriously undercook the pasta. Then when you bake the casserole, the noodles will absorb some of the sauce and take on a richer, deeper flavor. Plus they won't be so mushy after baking.
• I haven't tried this but I imagine the casserole can be assembled and frozen for baking at a later time.
• Summer will be here soon and I am always reluctant to run the oven when it's hot out. This dish is definitely worth making again but I think I'll explore the skillet and slow-cooker versions next time.

The Results

• The Geek and I both loved the Stroganoff.
• Kids loved the Caramel Dumpling but I didn't think they had much flavor.

Ratings

• Difficulty: Both are easy to make although you need an oven-safe skillet for the Caramel Dumplings
• Time to prepare:
• Poor Boy Stroganoff: 20 minutes prep time, 20 minutes baking time
• Caramel Dumplings: 5 minutes prep time, 30 minutes baking time, 10 minutes cooling time
• Prognosis: I'm willing to make both these dishes again

My Shopping List

• For the stroganoff, I just happened to have everything on hand for the sauce but some of the more unlikely ingredients included ground beef, red wine and sour cream and I had to buy the egg noodles.
• I had everything for the caramel biscuits.

America's Best Lost Recipes 1: Brooklyn Cheese Puffs and Amish Pickled Beets and Eggs

I am a huge fan of Cook's Illustrated and their brands, America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country. Recently I happened on their cookbook, "America's Best Lost Recipes: 121 Kitchen-Tested Heirloom Recipes Too Good to Forget," and I knew I had to buy it. In this day and age, when almost every cookbook seems to include the words "Just 3 ingredients" or "15 Minute Meals" in the title, the idea of cooking food from back when people actually cooked is very appealing to me. And if the the book doesn't grab you philosophically, the recipes - along with charming stories and delectable photos - inside definitely will.

Some of the recipes you'll find inside:

• Amish Pickled Beets and Eggs
• Grandpa Cooley's Angry Deviled Eggs (called this because Grandpa Cooley hated kids, including his own grandkids, so he loaded the Deviled Eggs with horseradish)
• Poor Boy Stroganoff
• Mile High Bologna Pie
• Fluffies and Bops (variations of pancakes)
• Naked Ladies with Their Legs Crossed (Spiced Crullers)
• Monkey Bread
• Caramel Biscuits (biscuits baked in a caramel sauce)
• Joe Froggers (Salty, chewy, molasses rum cookies)

An added bonus of cooking from this book is that many of the recipes came from depression-era days when pantries were stocked with the most basic staples and not much else. I found that most of the things I wanted to try called for ingredients I already keep on hand.

My daughter loves cheese and so "Brooklyn Cheese Puffs" was the first recipe I tried. I don't exactly know how to describe them... The words FANTASTICALLY DELICIOUS come to mind when you pop one of these chewy, cheesy balls into your mouth while it is still piping hot, fresh from the oven. Thanks to the ricotta and a minimal amount of flour, they are not so much 'biscuit-like' but rather just a little bit chewy. And salty. And cheesy. MMMMM...

We ate them along with our dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and crudite, but they would make a yummy hor d'oeuvre or appetizer as well.

My second choice was something I made for purely selfish reasons: "Amish Pickled Beets and Eggs." Selfish since I am the only one in the house that eats beets. This recipe starts with canned beets and couldn't be easier. You jazz up the beet juice with some sugar, cider vinegar, bay leaves and cloves and then let the eggs sit for 1-2 days. The result is a surprisingly zippy, yummy, flavorful pickled egg.

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips

• Both these dishes were super easy to make, although you have to plan some in advance. The Cheese Puffs have to sit in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before baking and the pickled eggs should sit for 24 -48 hours in order for the marinade to fully penetrate
• There is a benefit to freezing the cheese puff dough before you bake them. While it extends the cooking time if you are planning on eating them at the same time you make them, it is a blessing if you like to stock your freezer with homemade "convenience" items like I do. They are perfect for parties, unexpected guests, or a quick snack.

The Results

• The cheese puffs were delicious and both kids gobbled them down.
• I really like the pickled eggs, as does The Geek, who is also a beet-lover.

Ratings

• Difficulty: Both are easy
• Time to prepare:
  
  • About an hour for the cheese puffs, including freezer and baking time.
  • Fifteen minutes plus 1-2 days pickling time for the eggs
• Prognosis: I will be making both these dishes again

My Shopping List

• Sharp cheddar cheese and ricotta
• Canned beets

A New Experiment: Cooking from Cookbooks

My mother has been back east, visiting my sister, for the past month. In her absence my food hoarding has gone unchecked and I have taken over one of her refrigerators and one of her freezers. Time to get cooking and get the stores back down to their one-fridge/freezer quantities before she gets back.

Despite my resolve to only have one bookshelf of cookbooks, I have recently acquired several new books and my collection is now spilling over into a second bookcase. Some were gifts or recommendations from friends but most were impulse buys thanks to the myriad of cooking shows and podcasts that I now watch or listen to regularly. I've also discovered that I can have almost unlimited cookbooks via my iPad, but e-cookbooks are decidedly less satisfying than their physical counterparts. There's nothing quite like seeing the books lined up on my shelf, pulling one out, leafing through the sections, turning to where the book naturally falls open from frequent use, pages warped from splattered ingredients.

Once in a while, I'll pull a cookbook from the shelf and make only recipes from that book for a week or two. I think I'm going to go with that plan for a while. It will give me a chance to explore some of my recent acquisitions, re-visit old favorites, and hopefully introduce my friends to some gems you may not be familiar with.

Week 6: Culinary Lingerie ("Heart of the Artichoke" by David Tanis)

The Geek likes to joke that he buys me cookbooks for the same reason most other men buy women lingerie - because he knows it will eventually benefit him. Recently he gave me the equivalent of fuzzy, warm flannel PJs, my favorite kind of comfort. It's called "Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys," by chef David Tanis.

This tome (300+ gorgeously illustrated pages) not only contains recipes, but stories of Tanis' travels around the world, his philosophies on food, and tales about the dishes themselves. While this description could apply to just about every cookbook being published by celebrity chefs today, this book is special because Tanis cooks the way I like to eat (fresh, simple, light) and his writing style is what I like to read (personal, insightful, fascinating). As I flipped through its pages for the first time, I "oohed" and "ahhed" at page after page of yummy deliciousness. But one recipe caught my eye and I knew immediately that this would be the first dish I tried: Layered Tomato and Bread Salad.

I love all things Italian. The men, the movies, and of course, the food. When I first encountered a recipe for Panzanella several years ago, I was eager to try it and was utterly disappointed at the resultant soggy, mushy mess. And yet I knew I must have done something wrong because I have never eaten anything that was genuinely Italian that wasn't absolute perfection and I kept seeing recipes for bread salad in cookbook after Italian cookbook. As soon as I saw that Tanis' recipe does not require you to soak the bread in water and then squeeze it out, I knew I was ready to try this salad again.

I am sooo glad I did! The result was flavorful, savory, and really just delightful. Tanis writes in the introduction to this recipe, "What I like about this salad is that Some of the bread stays crisp and some softens." Turns out, that's what I liked about this recipe too.

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips

• I used a whole tin of anchovies plus some of the oil they were packed in (since The Geek LOVES anchovies), which resulted in a somewhat salty dressing. As a result, I did not add any salt to the dressing or to the vegetables.
• You're supposed to let the salad sit for an hour after it is assembled. Of course I can never wait that long for anything so we ate it as soon as it was made. Still very yummy!
• I didn't have shallots so I grated some onion with my box grater instead.
• Nicoise olives are hard to find so I used Kalamatas instead.
• This is a very salty, tangy kind of salad. Pairing it with cantaloupe wrapped in prosciutto added some protein and balanced out the savoriness of the overall meal.

The Results
DELICIOUS! Can't wait to try more recipes from this book!

Ratings

• Difficulty: Easy
• Time to prepare: 30 minutes by the time you toast the bread, make the dressing, and chop up all vegetables

***

Layered Tomato and Bread Salad
From Heart of the Artichoke by David Tanis

12 slices day-old country bread, such as pain au levain
1/2 c olive oil, plus more for brushing
3 garlic cloves for swiping the bread
1 shallot
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
6 anchovy fillets, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp capers, rinsed and roughly chopped
1/2 cup Nicoise olives, pitted and roughly chopped
Salt and pepper
6 ripe large tomatoes, roughly cubed
1 small cucumber, peeled and sliced
A generous handful of basil leaves, roughly chopped
A generous handful of parsley leaves, roughly chopped
Lettuce leaves

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Paint the bread generously with olive oil on both sides and place it on a baking sheet. Bake until the slices are crisp and golden, about 10 minutes, turning them halfway through. (Or toast the oil-painted bread on a grill.) Let the bread cool, and swipe each slice with a garlic clove. Break each slice into 2 or 3 pieces. Set aside.

To make the vinaigrette, macerate the shallot in the vinegar for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic paste and add the 1/2 cup olive oil. Add the anchovies, capers, and olives and stir well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Put the tomato cubes and cucumber slices in a medium bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables.

Assemble the salad on a deep platter or in a low, wide bowl. Layer half the bread slices on the platter or in the bowl and spoon over half of the tomato/cucumber mixture. Lay over the rest of the bread and top with the remaining tomatoes. Cover with a clean towel and let sit for about an hour at cool room temperature.

Just before serving, gently press down the salad with your hands to distribute the juices. Sprinkle generously with the basil and parsley. Spoon the salad onto plates lined with crisp lettuce leaves.

Week 5: Breakfast à la Daddy (Japanese Miso with a Korean Father's Twist)

Most days, breakfast consists of steelcut oatmeal (cooked up in a large batch once a week and then frozen in 1-cup containers for easy re-heating) and turkey sausages or some other kind of protein. But this morning I woke up to a house that was a chilly 63 F. Cold mornings like this require soup (which I mentioned in my Kalbi Tang post).

When I was a child, my mother, who was a registered nurse, worked the midnight shift and was usually not home in the mornings by the time we had to leave for school. My dad had done part of his military service in Korea as a cook and was more than up to the task of corraling us three girls, feeding us, and getting us out the door.

As I mentioned in my first Udon posting, my father would make giant bowls of vegetables and tofu floating in a savory broth for us in the mornings (along with noodles or rice). When I look back on those days, I'm not sure I fully appreciated his culinary skills nor his creativity. My father was (and still is) an avid gardener and had turned a large part of our backyard into a garden. Of course he didn't grow the stuff that my American friends ate (broccoli, corn, peas). There were all kinds of weird and pungent greens back there and most of them ended up in our breakfast bowls. My father is also the original pantry shopper - whatever vegetables happened to be in the refrigerator went into the pot as well.

Now that you know this little bit of my history, I suppose it is not so unusual that I scrounged around the three refrigerators and two freezers this morning for soup ideas. My search turned up some Japanese Miso (soybean paste), tofu, half an onion, a handful of spinach, and frozen mushrooms. I pulled out some dried anchovies and dried seaweed (kombu) from my pantry and I was set.

Most people are probably familiar with Japanese miso soup. It's the delicate broth that they serve in Japanese restaurants in tiny bowls, has little blocks of tofu and is usually sprinkled with tiny rings of sliced scallions. Korean people eat a similar soup, also made from a soybean paste called dwenjang, but our version of the soup is much heartier. It is served in large bowls or clay pots and is brimming over with vegetables. (I'm not a fan of dwenjang - the flavor is a bit strong for my taste - which is why I stock miso instead.)

As usual, I am happy to let other chefs/cooks write out recipes, instructions, and post pictures. If you'd like exact measurements for making this soup, check out my favorite Korean cooking blog for a recipe that is pretty darn close to how I make mine.

Here's my inexact method:

1. Put 2 cups of water into a small pot and heat.
2. Add a 2x2 inch block of dried seaweed and 4 or 5 large, dried anchovies and simmer for 5 minutes. You can start with any kind of broth or even just water. I just happened to be in the mood for a fishy flavor this morning.
3. Fish out the seaweed and anchovies and then stir in a tablespoon or so of miso paste. The amount depends on the saltiness of the paste and your taste preference.
4. Once it has dissolved and come back to a boil, drop in your vegetables, starting with those that take the longest to cook. Since I was using mostly quick cooking spinach and frozen mushrooms, I started with the onions.
5. Once the first round of vegetables are to the desired consistency (usually 5 minutes or so), add the quick cooking vegetables and tofu.
6. The soup is finished when the vegetables have reached the desired consistency and/or everything is heated through.
   

I like my soup to be spicy so I added a teaspoon of Kochoojang (Korean red pepper paste) at the end, which is why the soup in the bowl has a reddish tint to it. I also stirred in a cup of cooked rice.

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips

• You can add pretty much any kind of vegetables you like, although mushrooms, onions, Korean radish, and a green leafy vegetable are traditional.
• If you have access to a good Japanese or Asian market (or you want to order online), there are all kinds of miso out there, each with unique and distinctive flavors. It's a super easy soup base and once you've tried making this once or twice, I'm sure you'll want to experiment extensively.

The Results
So yummy and it warms you from the inside out.

Ratings

• Difficulty: Easy
• Time to prepare: 15 minutes
• Prognosis: A favorite!

My Shopping List Nothing - I made do with what I had on hand.

Week 5: An Ode to Chicago and to Sandwiches (Veggie, BBQ Chicken)

When I was a junior in college, I had the chance to live and study in Hinsdale, Illinois. It's the kind of place where the homes are stately and oak trees line both sides of the streets and meet overhead. But the best thing about it is that Hinsdale is a suburb of Chicago. I had grown up just outside of Detroit and was familiar with big cities but Chicago was different. It had the most amazing energy and it was exciting just to walk down its streets. You could catch the train and be at Union Station in 20 minutes or so. From there it wasn't too far to some of the world's best shopping - Chicago's Magnificent Mile. (Of course, I owned a car and so I never actually took the train but it makes for a picturesque introduction, don't you think?)

One of my classmates had a cousin who was just a few years older than us and lived downtown so occasionally we would meet up with him and his friend on the weekends and they would show us the sights. One of my most favorite memories is of going to Second City, the famous comedy club. There was a hefty cover charge for the evening shows - something none of us poor college students could afford - but if you went after 11 p.m., they let you in free and the actors performed improv. This was WAAAAYYYYYY better than watching the stand-up comics perform their rehearsed patter or try out new material. It was 1989 and performers that year included then-unknowns Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, and Joel Murray.

One of my favorite places to eat back then was a sandwich shop located in Water Tower Place, the iconic shopping tower on Michigan Avenue. This shop had over a hundred sandwiches, most with clever names and fantastic meat/cheese/veggie combinations. You simply told your server the number of the sandwich you wanted to order and they could recite the ingredients and help you select options or substitutions if needed. Sadly this restaurant is no longer there and a quick googling failed to turn up the name.

I can't be certain but I believe this is where I first had pastrami on rye sandwiches with stringy-melty-swiss cheese, creamy rich thousand island dressing, and large, crunchy dill pickles. I'd like to think I had worked my way through a substantial portion of that list of 101 sandwiches, but in actuality, I probably ate there only a handful of times and most likely would have ordered that same pastrami over and over again.

To this day, I love sandwiches. It can be as simple as peanut butter and jelly (Skippy chunky with Knotts Berry Boysenberry preserves on toasted potato bread) or some leftover roasted chicken with salt, pepper, and a little mayo. Or grilled cheese, as simple or as fancy as your pantry allows. If I'm well-stocked, I'll make myself a deli turkey breast, lettuce, tomato, a slice of American cheese, with mayo and mustard. And don't get me started on hot dogs... sauerkraut, chopped onions, ketchup, mustard, relish or maybe some chili with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese and onions. YUMMMMM.

Once in a while, when I want to use up fresh vegetables, I'll thinly slice whatever I have (use a mandolin, if one is handy) and layer them on a bun with mayo, Lawry's seasoned salt and pepper. You can add oil and vinegar for a boost of flavor, but I think it's just fine without.

Here are some of my favorite options:

• lettuce (combination of iceberg and leaf)
• bell pepper
• red onion
• cucumber
• tomato
• sprouts (alfalfa or bean)
• slivered carrots
• slivered red cabbage
• avocado
• black, green or kalamata olives
• pickle like jalapenos or dill

And while I'm on the subject of sandwiches...

I don't think of barbeque as being particularly healthy, especially when you heap coleslaw on it, but this BBQ Chicken Sandwhich with Creamy Buttermilk Coleslaw from cookscountry.com was soooo fantastically yummy that I knew I'd have to share it at some point. (See picture at top of this posting). It's a relatively quick and yummy substitute for much more time-consuming shredded beef and/or pulled pork BBQ sandwiches.

Week 4: No Misery Here (Salade Lyonnaise or Salad with Bacon and Poached Eggs)

This week a couple of things are going on. First The Geek is heading out of town for several days to attend the Microsoft MVP Summit in Redmond, WA. The other is that the DVD of the Les Misérable 25th Anniversary Concert arrived in the mail. This just happens to be one of The Geek's all-time favorite musicals (and mine too). I decided to take a break from healthy eating and make a fantastic French meal to share with him before he went out of town as we watched the concert.

What do they say about best-laid plans? French cooking is a very time-consuming process and the day got away from me. Having to work this morning meant no time to carmelize the onions for French Onion Soup (a three-hour process). Parent-Teacher conferences after lunch took Coq au Vin off the menu. And running errands in the afternoon meant no Créme Brulée for dessert. By the time 5 p.m. rolled around, I was down to Garlicky pasta (Yes, I know it's not French but I told The Geek that it was from the Mexican part of France and I think he bought it!) and Salade Lyonnaise, a fabulous salad made with warm bacon dressing and poached eggs. Dessert was an apple pie from the grocery store bakery.

The idea for the salad came from one of my newest cookbook acquisitions, The Best International Recipe by America's Test Kitchen. You see, you cannot go to just any website when it comes to French cooking because most dishes involve many complicated and temperamental steps. Screw up just one thing and the whole meal is potentially ruined. And since I don't own any books by Julia Child, I knew ATK was my next best bet.

Lyon, the region of France from which this salad hails, is thought by many to be the home of the world's BEST French food. And I have to agree: Every meal I enjoyed while visiting there several years ago was fantastic. This salad was no exception. I could not find the recipe online and so I am posting it below.

The salad comes together very quickly. My local grocery store did not carry frisée and so I bought a packaged mix of European and spring lettuce. First make some croutons. Then you fry up the bacon, fry the shallots in the bacon fat, add oil and mustard and a little olive oil, and then toss with the lettuce. Poach an egg or two and you're done.

The Results
The pasta and the salad complemented each other nicely. The Geek raved about the yummy garlic in the pasta and the bacony-eggy salad. I thought the runny egg yolk gave the salad a creamy richness that was absolutely decadent.

Ratings

• Difficulty: Medium difficulty due to the fact that poaching eggs takes a little practice
• Time to prepare:  The salad came together in ten minutes
• Prognosis: Will definitely be making this again!

---

Salad with Bacon and Poached Egg
From The Best International Recipe by America's Test Kitchen
Serves 6

CROUTONS
4 sl high quality white sandwich bread, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 Tbsp Olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper

SALAD
6 oz frisée
3 oz dandelion greens
3 oz maché
4 ½ oz thick cut bacon, cut into ½ inch pieces
1 medium shallot, minced
1/3 c red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/3 c olive oil

EGGS
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp distilled white vinegar
6 large eggs

For the CROUTONS: Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the bread cubes with the olive oil, ½ tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper and spread out over a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the croutons are golden brown and crisp, 8 – 10 minutes. Set aside.

For the SALAD: Toss the lettuces together in a large bowl; set aside. Cook the bacon in an 8-inch skillet over med-hi heat until golden brown and crisp, but still chewy, 4 – 6 min. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving the rendered fat in the skillet. Add the shallot to the fat in the skillet and cook over med heat until softened, 2 – 4 min. Stir in the vinegar and mustard, scraping up any browned bits and cook until slightly thickened, about 2 min. Off the heat, stir in the oil and set aside.

For the EGGS: Fill a 12-inch nonstick skillet nearly to the rim with water. Add 1 tsp salt and the vinegar to the water and bring to a boil over high heat. Crack 2 eggs each into 3 small tea cups with handles. When the water boils, turn off the heat and immediately lower the lips of the cups into the water at once and tip the ggs into the water. Cover and poach the eggs off the heat until the whites are cooked, but the yolks are still runny in the center, about 5 minutes.

To assemble the SALAD: While the eggs poach, drizzle the vinaigrette over the greens and toss thoroughly to coat. Divide the greens among 6 individual serving plates and sprinkle the bacon and croutons evenly over the top. Using a slotted spoon, quickly and carefully transfer the eggs, 1 at a time, to a large clean plate, pausing briefly to let the water drain back into the skillet. Once all the eggs have been transferred, use your fingers to gently slide 1 egg onto the top of each salad. Serve immediately.

Week 4: No Vampires Here (Garlicky Pasta with Seared Shrimp, Chipotle and Queso Anejo)

I have a friend, a true Latina Mommy, who makes the most fantastic enchiladas complete with her own roasted pepper sauce. When I saw how much work went into making those enchiladas, and pretty much most Mexican meals that are made from scratch, I thought I'd never get into it. Why roast my own peppers when I can buy a perfectly acceptable can of enchilada sauce at the grocery store?

And then I discovered Rick Bayless. Bayless is the founder, owner, and chief chef at the Frontera and Topolobampo restaurants in Chicago and hosts a PBS cooking show, "Mexico: One Plate at a Time." He has also authored several cookbooks on Mexican cooking. In most of his shows, he begins with a basic Mexican dish like tacos or quesadillas, and then steps it up a notch. Everything I have ever made from his site has turned out absolutely superb. And in the process, I have discovered that Mexican cuisine is so much more than tacos and quesadillas.

Last week, during a show titled "Liquid Gold," Bayless demonstrated a recipe for garlic that is slow roasted in olive oil with some lime juice stirred in, and then used in a variety of recipes including pasta, as a flavoring for popcorn, and fish. I LOVE GARLIC and finally made the Mojo de Ajo yesterday.

The garlic was not in the oven long before it filled the house with the most delicious, luxurious scent. And as soon as I smelled it, I began plotting how I would use it.

For my first attempt at cooking with this luscious concoction, I decided to try Bayless' Garlicky Pasta with Seared Shrimp, Chipotle and Queso Anejo, all things I happened to have in my pantry. With the mojo de ajo and chipotle peppers as the base, how could you possibly go wrong?

It turns out, you can't.

This quick dish was super easy and the results were fantastic, so incredibly flavorful. First you fry the shrimp in a little bit of the oil from the garlic. A minute is about all it takes.

Then you add some of the garlic pieces and oil and a chipotle pepper (or two, if you like it hot) to the fry pan and warm that up.





Finally toss in the cooked pasta just until combined, sprinkle on some cheese and chopped cilantro, and you are ready to eat.

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips
The only suggestion I have is to double the recipe for mojo de ajo because once you've tried it, you'll want to use it in everything. It's that good!

The Results
I made this for lunch for myself but am looking forward to sharing it with the special people in my life. I loved this lunch and I suspect they will too!

Ratings

• Difficulty: Easy
  
• Time to prepare: The mojo de ajo takes about two hours but once it is made, it keeps for up to three months in the refrigerator
  
• Prognosis: This is a new staple in my pantry!
  

My Shopping List Nothing - I made do with what I had on hand.

Week 3: Momo What? (Steamed Pork Buns à la David Chang)

Recently someone gave me a very generous gift card to Amazon and I waited several days to use it, savoring the thought of the spending spree upon which I was about to embark. Finally I couldn't stand it any longer and made my first purchase last week, Momofuku, the cookbook/restaurant autobiography by David Chang, founder of the restaurants of the same name in New York.

This is one of those books that got great reviews on Amazon but had I seen it in a bookstore and been able to inspect it a little more closely, I would not have bought it. The first problem is that most of the recipes are made with pork or lard. I don't have a problem with pork but I grew up in a family that eschewed pork products for religious reasons and to this day, I rarely choose to eat it if there are other options available and I never cook it at home. Another problem is that these are recipes as Chang makes them in his kitchens - they are large quantities and use techniques that people don't normally use at home. I rarely return things when I buy them on Amazon so I resigned myself to trying at least a few of the recipes, adapting them as needed.

A recipe that immediately caught my eye was Steamed Pork Buns. My mother makes steamed buns (which I blogged about here) that are wonderfully delicious and I have been wanting to try my own version but never found quite the right recipe. I decided to give Chang's buns a try. You can find a recipe (also from Chang) very similar to the one in the cookbook on epicurious.com.

Note: This is a "make-ahead" meal that keeps in well in the freezer. You should plan on spending a day making the pork and several hours making the buns.

The pork requires 12 - 24 hours to cure and another 5 - 6 hours to slow-roast. I chose to use the americastestkitchen.com recipe instead of the Momofuku method simply because I had never made pork before and I always have good results with America's Test Kitchen. This was no exception. I used brown sugar (ATK) instead of white (Chang's recipe) and we roasted the meat at 325F the entire time (instead of starting at 500F and then turning the heat down to 250F per Chang's method). The pork turned out superb. Tender and flavorful.

The bun recipe on Epicurious.com makes 16 but the recipe in the book makes 50 tiny rolls. At the restaurant, these buns are served as an appetizer and so they are intentionally small. Next time I will double the dough ball size because they were just too small to be satisfying as a meal. The buns were delicious but I'm not sure I will make them again. They required THREE separate risings, which means it takes almost three hours from start to finish. I am now on the hunt for an easier, less time-consuming but just as delicious replacement recipe.

These are yeast buns that are steamed rather than baked. I bought a bamboo steamer last year when it went on sale but had never used it. I LOVED IT! The two stacking baskets enabled me to steam 10 buns at a time and the results were perfect. I read somewhere that the bamboo prevents the steam/water from collecting and dripping onto your buns resulting in wrinkled skin. There may be some truth to that because my buns on both levels were perfectly smooth and delicious.

The Momofuku recipe calls for the buns to be served with Chang's Quick-pickled cucumbers and thinly-sliced green onions. I had neither so I made a green salad with slivered red cabbage and onions. The addition of bottled Hoisin sauce rounded out the dish.

The Results
This is a recipe where the sum is greater than the parts. Each individual ingredient was good but when we put them all together with the hoisin sauce, the pork buns were OUTSTANDING! The Geek declared this the best pork he had ever eaten.

Ratings

• Difficulty: The pork is easy, the buns are challenging if you have never made bread before.
• Time to prepare: Two days (several hours each day, although a lot of it is waiting around time)
• Prognosis: Will definitely make the pork again for The Geek using this method. And I'll make the buns again once I find a better recipe.