But I Like Crescent Rolls!

On Saturday mornings, my Dad would make crescent rolls. He'd break open the cardboard tube by whacking it on the edge of the Formica counter, then carefully spread out the triangles of dough on a buttered cookie sheet. Then he'd spread crunchy peanut butter on each piece of dough followed by just a dab of strawberry jam before rolling them up. The resulting crescents were flaky and crisp, salty and sweet, and my brother and I loved them.

Another favorite was the no-bake chocolate-peanut butter cookie. And after-school peanut-butter, banana and mayonnaise (or marshmallow fluff) sandwiches. Celery? Sure, if it's filled with peanut butter.

It was no accident that all our favorite treats included peanut butter. Both of us kids were allergic to peanuts; not the sort of catastrophic emergency room allergic that sends parents and day care providers into panics these days, but a runny-nose nuisance sort of allergy.  So of course we dove into the Peter Pan jar at every opportunity.

Tell anyone not to eat something, and they instantly crave it. That's why diets don't work and junk food abounds. Add a tinge of naughtiness to rich, sweet and salty, and we'll climb over each other to get at it.

When a doctor I deeply respect warned me away from all "white" foods, I went into shock. No more white bread, white rice, white sugar, white potatoes or anything containing white flour. Also, no partially hydrogenated oils (a.k.a. trans fats,) no high fructose corn syrup, and no ingredients my grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.  

I'm not about to be an ascetic, subsisting on a "healthful" regime of steamed vegetables and brown rice. So I've learned to adapt.

> Raw cane and beet sugar, both coarse and fine, substitute quite nicely for the highly processed white stuff. Honey can be used in some recipes, but requires some careful adjustment.

> Whole wheat flour changes the texture of baked goods and imparts a subtle bitterness. Oat flour has a much sweeter, nutty flavor, but results in heavy breads. A good option is Spelt flour, and I have decided that whole grain bread made with a portion of unbleached white bread flour is an honorable compromise.

 
> Olive Oil and Butter are good gifts of a great and loving God. For non-vegetarians who cannot digest dairy products, rendered animal fat, i.e., Lard, is a fine thing and far more healthful than the partially-hydrogenated stuff that comes in big blue or yellow cans.

> Brown rice and whole-grain pastas both come in many varieties and have more body and flavor than their pale counterparts.

> Anything you can do with white potatoes I can do better with sweets.

It's gotta taste good, or I'm not eating it. I'm willing to do the research and experimentation, and I'm willing to throw out any results that don't make my husband ask for more. That's what cooking joyfully and thoughtfully is all about.

copyright Starr Luteri 2009

The Essentials: Knives

On Saturdays we share some of our favorite things – websites, kitchen gadgets & tools, cookbooks & books about food, and anything else that we think is cool.

When it comes to kitchen essentials, knives are right there at the top.

If you've ever lived with a serious chef, you know they can be very touchy where their knives are concerned, and for good reason. Careless handling can dull or ding a fine cutting edge. Careless storage can bend or damage precision blades. And improper cleaning can leave rust spots and loose handles. Rust isn't a serious problem, just a nuisance requiring steel wool and elbow grease. Loose handles and dull blades, however, can lead to blood spilled, and blood is much harder to clean from chopping blocks and counters.

Expensive knives are usually good knives, but good knives are not necessarily expensive. The carbon steel chef's knife that is my favorite was found in a tourist trap in Brown County, Indiana. I've found others at thrift shops, and my two bread knives came from a starving college student who was selling gadgets door-to-door, bless her heart.

Things to look for in a good knife are weight and balance. It shouldn't be so light that you don't notice where the blade is; definitely a disadvantage. The handle should be just about as heavy as the blade, so it rests easily in your hand without tipping. And you should be able to see the metal blade extending all the way down through the handle. Impress your neighbors at the next BBQ by tossing out the word "tang" for this part of the blade. You don't want a knife with a short tang that might get loose and wobble in the handle.

Never toss your knives willy nilly into a drawer or utensil holder. Your blades will get nicked and dull, and you risk spilling blood by grabbing the wrong end. You can buy drawer inserts specially designed to keep knives safe and tidy, or you can get a knife block to sit on the counter. Go ahead, support the retailers; both seem a waste of space to me.

I prefer the magnetic wall strips that say, "Here works a serious cook." They might be lying, but at least my knives are safe.

Oh, by the way, I do not have a lispth. The bargain video camera hath a thilly little microphone that pickth up every thound in the room and maketh an awful hithing noithe when I thpeak. I promith to make my audio video technithian go out right away and buy a dethent mike.

copyright Starr Luteri, 2009

Nutty Slaw

Lots of us enjoy main-dish salads when we eat out, but we rarely go to the trouble of chopping and assembling colorful crunchy salads at home. This is a shame because it’s all so easy.

Just to prove that I CAN prepare something without resorting to my food processor, I’ll whip out my trusty knives and prepare this baby completely by hand. The processor would do a fast and nifty job, and would shred up the vegetables more finely that I can do on my own. But the last two recipes involved the food processor, and one does have one’s reputation to uphold.

Besides, I’m cooking for one this evening and who wants to clean another machine?

If we were writing this recipe for one of those Local Church Women Mission Fund Cookbooks, undoubtedly it would be called “Calico Coleslaw,” with its pretty blending of Red Cabbage (which is really purple,) white Fennel and green Napa Cabbage. But that’s just too predictable, and besides, this slaw would never qualify for a church cookbook, as it sadly lacks any mayonnaise, whipped topping or miniature marshmallows. But we will soldier on the best we can, and name it Nutty Slaw on account of the Goober Peas.

If you like, you may think of this as a hearty snack to keep the cook from starving while waiting to share a late supper of Boeuf Bourguignon with her beloved. You go right on thinking that, because the truth is he’s having pizza and beer with the, um, men’s prayer group and the cook will be having another glass of wine while curled in bed with a steamy paperback.

Recipe: Nutty Slaw

1 cup shredded Red Cabbage

1 cup shredded Napa or Chinese Cabbage

1 cup shredded Fennel Bulb

1 handful Peanuts (Goober Peas, y'all)

1 Tbs. grated fresh (frozen) Ginger

½ c. Cider Vinegar

1 Tbs. Sugar

¼ c. Olive Oil

2 oz. julienne sliced cold ham

Instructions: toss all the veggies together.

The only other directions needed for this recipe involve dissolving the sugar (I prefer raw cane sugar) in the cider vinegar. Stir together then heat in a glass bowl in the microwave; boil about 25 – 30 seconds. Stir again and whisk in the Olive Oil. As a nice touch, you could keep this dressing warm and pour it over the salad as it is served.

To slice the Red Cabbage, I used a stainless steel chef's knife rather than my favorite carbon steel knife, because carbon steel will turn red cabbage blue. Generally speaking, that's not an attractive color in a salad.

If you haven’t used Fennel before, there’s no mystery to it. It is a vegetable with a mild licorice fragrance, more noticeable when prepared raw than when cooked. Fennel tops are bright green and feathery, and make very pretty garnishes.

The Peanuts could go into the salad without chopping, according to preference. Don’t use Spanish Peanuts in this dish. The skins would not improve the overall texture.

The ham in this slaw truly was a last minute thought, when I realized I didn’t want anything else for supper and ought to have a bit more protein besides the Goobers. You could serve the ham fried or grilled as a separate dish, of course, but I wanted the salty meat tossed with the sweet/sour dressing and crunchy veggies.

Ginger Root keeps nicely in the freezer, and is easy to use. Buy the largest, smoothest Ginger Root you can find. Break it up and keep it in plastic bags in the freezer. To use, peel a piece of frozen root with a vegetable peeler; it's easier than it sounds. Then shred the still-frozen root on a fine cheese grater, directly into the dish. Put the remaining piece of root back in the freezer; it's as easy as that.

Looking over this salad one last time, it wouldn’t make a bad dish to carry to a church supper, with or without the meat included. Just don’t let anyone top it with Mayo, okay?

copyright Starr Luteri, 2009

The Essentials: Iron Pans

On Saturdays we share some of our favorite things – websites, kitchen gadgets & tools, cookbooks & books about food, and anything else that we think is cool.

No one should try to function in a kitchen without a good iron skillet. My mom called it “the black skillet,” but there are too many light-weight, non-stick pieces of junk that could be called “black,” so let’s be perfectly clear. I’m talking about that old heavy-as-a-rock cast iron skillet. If your mother or granny won’t give you one of hers, you really need to work on your begging technique. As a last resort, there are plenty available at the nearest antique shop.

When looking for a good old skillet, don’t be put off by a little rust. A bit of orange around the edge or a few rich brown puddles can be removed easily with steel wool. Pitting is different; if the inner surface of the pan isn’t smooth, leave it for a collector. Turn every pan over and check for the name on the bottom. You want a Griswold or a Weber, and a raised “fire ring” around the bottom of the pan is an extra bonus.

I've hauled out my favorites here so you can see what to look for.

Once your iron skillet is well-seasoned, you’ll have no need for artificially coated cookware, and seasoning is literally as simple as putting butter on toast. Only you put oil (any kind) on a warmed skillet, let it set a few minutes, then wipe it with a paper towel. Now, how difficult was that?

The more you fry and cook rich foods in the pan, the deeper the oil will soak into the metal, and the more you’ll fall in love with iron pots. That’s the secret of good seasoning: heating opens pores in the iron allowing the oil to sink into the surface, creating your own non-stick skillet. But don’t let food sit overnight or put your iron pans in the dishwasher, okay? Wash iron with regular dish soap in the sink and dry it thoroughly; that’s crucial. Don’t be afraid to use a metal scraper to pry off burned stuff – it’s tough as iron, remember? And don’t worry if a spot of rust appears. Just clean it off with steel wool and season again by warming and oiling. Pretty soon you’ll notice that your well-seasoned pan is deep black and shiny. If it gets dull, it’s time to season again.

How many iron pans do you really need? As many as possible, of course! But reality sets limits on our cupboard space, so here’s a list of must-haves:

10” chicken fryer with lid. You can cook anything in it and celebrate life. Even professional food writers agree. It needs to be a chicken fryer because of the 3” sides, which makes this practical for making pasta and stew as well as frying chicken, eggs or pancakes.

9” skillet, needing no explanations. Mine is 2” deep, and I use an orphan glass lid from some long-forgotten Crockpot.

5” or 6” skillet, 1” deep. I rarely use a lid with this one, since it is mainly for melting butter, sautéing a half cup of onions with garlic and other small jobs.

11” Dutch oven with lid. Griswold calls this “self-basting” because the lid has rings or bumps that collect the steam and drip it back onto the food. Mine is 4” deep, and it cooks pot roast for 2 just as well as stews for the whole clan.

With these 4 iron pans plus lids, you can cook, fry, boil, steam, grill, broil or bake just about anything. I think it’s illegal in some states to bake biscuits or cornbread in anything else, and lacking a cake pan or cookie sheet, that skillet will do just fine.

If you aren't convinced yet, here's yet another bonus: iron pans are actually good for your health. Minuscule amounts of metal are absorbed from the cookware into the food. If you're cooking with artificial non-stick pans or aluminum, that's rather scary and you don't want to ingest any of it. But if you're cooking with iron, you're getting a healthful boost of a mineral you actually need.

Just be warned: there are a lot of specialty iron pans in those antique shops, from tiny little doll house skillets to giant soup kettles, waffle irons, corn stick molds and popover pans. Even if you never cook with a piece, it will look terrific hanging on the wall.

If you get addicted, well, not all addictions are bad.

copyright Starr Luteri, 2009

ABC Salad / Dip: Avocado, Bacon and Cucumber!

In Tuesday's recipe I filled the Chapatis with a simple Avocado / Cucumber Salad, so it seems only fair to give you that recipe today. Right away I want to give credit to Mark Bittman whose NYTimes article "101 Simple Salads for the Season" includes the inspiration for this dish. Since I think the Avocado and Cucumber combine beautifully with Bacon, it's now ABC Salad.


Recipe: ABC Salad or Dip

1 or 2 Avocados
1 Cucumber, peeled and seeded if desired
1 Tbs. Honey
1 - 2 Tbs. Rice Vinegar
1 Tbs. Soy Sauce
Juice from 1/2 Lime
Fresh Cilantro
Bacon, crisply cooked

Peel and cut up Avocados and Cucumbers into 1/2" cubes.
Gently stir in the Honey, Rice Vinegar, Soy Sauce and Lime Juice.
Chop or crumble the Bacon and stir in along with torn up Cilantro.

Now the possibilities are endless.

The second time I made this salad, my Avocado was too ripe and turned into mush. Why fight fate? I scraped the mess into the food processor with all the other ingredients (except the bacon) and Taa Daa! A beautiful green dip, perfect for corn chips. Note: do not over-process. This dip should have small chunks of Avocado and flecks of dark cucumber peel as well as crisp bacon pieces stirred in after processing.



While making today's video, I left the Bacon in strips, which made a nice presentation for the photo. Whole strips would also be good folded in the Chapatis or stuffed into Pita Pockets.

Sweet Red Onions would be pretty in the chopped salad version, or mild Green Onions could work in either the salad or the dip.

This is a nice way to prepare Avocados for a party, because the acidic vinegar and lime juice preserve the pretty green color.

Scroll down to Tuesday's blog to see a photo of the chopped salad in Chapati.

copyright Starr Luteri 2009


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COMFORT FOOD

We all know what comfort food is. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, gravy and biscuits . . .

For me, a heaping plate of spaghetti, baked in marinara, with three fragrant meatballs covered with a snowdrift of Parmesan, that's comfort! Not that this is entirely different from fresh pasta with the sauce merely ladled over the top. My culinary consolation requires vats of noodles and sauce, enjoyed once then lovingly refrigerated in expectation of the yet more glorious resurrection later in the week. Only leftover spaghetti and meatballs that have been combined in a single casserole dish with generously spiced tomato sauce then slowly re-warmed in the oven can truly absorb and express the essential comfort of an Italian home.

Hold the garlic toast just one minute! Comfort foods produce good feelings. But what about feeling good? At the very least, to qualify as comfort food, the stuff should not make anyone sick. I shouldn't have to wonder if my mashed potatoes were laced with neurotoxins or whether the meatloaf harbored mad-cow disease. Then there are all the issues about sustainable agriculture and global warming and fair trade, etc., etc. It's enough to make anyone lose their appetite.


Is it possible to really enjoy eating food we love while also being responsible about our health AND the planet?

Truthfully, I don't know. I've been creating and adapting recipes for my family since my kids were the age my grandkids are now. Some of those efforts were complete and utter failures. (Don't let anyone tell you that bean paste sandwiches are delicious.) Others were shining successes that are now family traditions. My cookbook collection has been pared down, expanded and pared again until the remaining volumes are really dependable - with lots of Julia Child. And I'm not sure I've ever followed a recipe without adaptations. Even Julia's recipes.

So as far as I'm concerned, the question is still open. Every day I try to make food that is both delicious and healthy, both satisfying and mostly responsible. Sometimes I succeed. As this blog gets underway, I'll try to steer readers away from a few of my worst mistakes, and hope to learn a few tips from you in the process.

copyright Starr Luteri 2009

Universal Flat Bread: Chapatis

Simple, quick and delicious - that pretty much describes this chapati-style flatbread. You can make chapatis without fat of any kind, but I think a splash of olive oil improves these little breads. (You can easily cut this recipe in half.) The photos shows chapati folded over a Cucumber / Avocado / Bacon salad.


Recipe: Grilled Chapatis

makes 8 - 10 flatbreads

2 1/4 c. spelt or whole wheat flour
1 c. unbleached flour, more for dusting
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. olive oil
1 c. warm water

1. Place flours, salt and oil in food processor; pulse to combine. With machine running, pour in water from a spouted measuring cup. Process for about 30 seconds, then remove cover. The dough should still be slightly sticky but easy to lift and shape into a loose ball. You may add a tablespoon or two of flour if it is too sticky to handle.








2. Remove the dough ball from the processor and cover with plastic for a 20 - 30 minute rest. At this point you may also divide it into 6 - 8 pieces, then wrap those and refrigerate for a day or two, using pieces as needed.

3. When ready to grill, dust board with a handful of flour. I like to toss some coarse salt or seeds on the board as well to add interest to the flatbread. Pinch off a piece of dough and roll about 1/4" thick.



Turn the dough over and roll the other side. Brush both sides with olive oil and set aside while rolling the rest.


4.Grill chapatis at high heat till they begin to puff up and get a bit of char from the grill. Flip and repeat on the other side. They're ready to eat as soon as they're cool enough to handle.


Options:

> Experiment with rolling chapatis very thin and grilling a bit longer for a very crisp bread, or not quite so thin and grilling only a minute on each side for a softer bread.

> Add a tablespoon of sesame, poppy or flax seeds to the dough, or toss seeds or coarse salt on the board as the bread is rolled.



> Before grilling, place cheese, cooked meat, beans, etc., on one rolled chapati, moisten edges and top with another chapati, pinching edges to seal well.
> Brush both sides with oil and grill about a minute on each side.
> Bake in an oven or toaster oven at 425 degrees.

copyright Starr Luteri 2009