I've got so much to tell.....

So here's where i've been and here's what I've been doing....stories to follow. Stay tuned.

What is the origin of Easter ham?

Well! Some pretty interesting responses to the "sermon" on Easter, pigs, and ham that I originally had posted here. If you need to read more here's the site: ( www.allaboutjesuschrist.org) I think from now on I'll just stick to things I know...like food.

Easter Dinner Menu

Spinach Salad with toasted almonds, blueberries, and Maytag bleu.
Baby Lamb Chops w/roasted shallot gravy
Crispy Polenta with wild mushroom ragout
Pan roasted Zucchini

Lemon Pound Cake, mixed berries, fresh whipped cream

CRISPY POLENTA w/ WILD MUSHROOM RAGOUT
Serves 8

Ragout
½ pound each Shitake, crimini, white button, oyster
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 Leek, minced
Flat leaf parsley, chopped

In a skillet sauté, all the mushrooms, garlic, and leeks in olive oil over medium/low heat until soft. Toss in parsley, salt & pepper to taste. Keep pan to deglaze for gravy.

Crispy Polenta
Fine Cornmeal
3/4 lb. Asiago Cheese, grated
3 cups water
1 cup milk
½ stick butter
2 cups veg or chicken stock, heated
Salt to taste
Blended oil for frying

Polenta is a funny thing. I never have an exact measure for cornmeal to liquid. I just wing it and stop adding cornmeal when it becomes the desired consistency. The key to perfect polenta with no lumps is to add the cornmeal at an even pace. Don’t stop and start. Keep whisking and let it thicken to a creamy, slightly stiff, batter. It sets up quickly so watch the heat. Lower it if it’s thickening too fast. And have a cookie sheet close and a rubber spatula handy. Avoid getting on your skin! It’s like hot, hot, glue!

Heat stock. In a separate deep saucepan, bring water, milk, and butter to a boil. Add warm stock. Slowly add cornmeal while quickly whisking. Reduce heat as it starts to thicken. While still whisking, add cheese until completely blended and creamy, salt to taste.

Pour polenta onto cookie sheet, spreading evenly, filling tray, (½” deep). Pop into fridge or freezer to stop cooking. When it is completely cooled, cut into desired shape with cookie cutter or knife.

Heat oil in skillet. Take piece of polenta, dust lightly in cornmeal. Fry in oil. 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Top with ragout, drizzle with gravy.

Roasted Shallot and Chive Gravy
¾ cup olive oil
4-5 shallots peeled
2 Tbsp. chives, diced
3 bsp.Balsamic vinegar
Pan drippings
3 Tbsp Flour mixed in ½ cup water
Salt & pepper

Place shallots in a glass baking dish with oil. Bake at 400◦ until shallots are soft. Cool.
Remove from oil, but keep oil, dice shallots. In mushroom pan, place over medium heat and deglaze with balsamic vinegar, whisking constantly. Add drippings from lamb if any. Add 1 Tbsp of shallot oil. Add shallots and chives. Still whisking, mix in flour water until it makes a thin gravy. Salt & pepper to taste.

A Cooking by Mistake Moment!

I recently ran into a friend of mine who is a great chef here in Cleveland. He used to own his own restaurant but sold it to go to culinary school so he could travel. He took a job after school with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel chain. He moved to the Cayman Islands to work as a chef in one of their top resorts.

After a couple of years he returned to Cleveland with a lot more experience and several additional pounds! Deciding he needed to cut back on drinking and work off some weight he went on a total Vegan diet. When I saw him last week he pretty much looked the same. I asked how the Vegan diet was going. He said he never lost any weight, but by doing it he inadvertently became a better cook. I love that!

Thanks Kev!

POTATOES ALA CAPE CORAL

I know. I know. I haven’t written for awhile, but hey! I’ve been busy!! Had a short little trip to Cape Coral to visit friends and escape the frigid Cleveland weather. It wasn’t long enough but it was truly quite lovely. It’s amazing what a little sun and vodka will do for the spirit!

My friend Alice has a sweet place right on the canal, sprinkled with hibiscus and orange trees, crazy jumping fish, and a really fast boat. (Mama likes speed!) The trip was perfectly timed to be there when our other friends D & K, were there with their adorable one year old son, S. We spent the days on the beach and the nights cooking together like we used to when everyone lived in Cleveland. We grilled steaks, crab legs, potatoes, veggies, and just hung around like we do so well.

Since being home I’ve been trying some new recipes and tweaking some old. Here’s a fun one!

These potatoes can be made in a 400◦ oven but I think they are best cooked on the grill. I suggest Yukon Gold potatoes for the best flavor. You can use redskin potatoes, but keep an eye on them. They cook much faster and burn easily. I suggest against Russets, they are just too dry and flavorless for this recipe. These potatoes are also awesome the next day with a poached or fried egg.

Serves 8-10
3-5lb Yukon Gold potatoes rough cut chopped
1 bunch asparagus cut into 1” pieces
1 red pepper diced
2 leeks cut in half and sliced
4 cloves garlic slivered
3 ears of corn cut off the cob
¼ cup fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
½ stick butter

In a large bowl toss all the ingredients in enough olive oil to coat. Salt and pepper.
Dump the entire bowl of ingredients onto doubled tin foil. Cut butter into small pieces and sprinkle over potato mixture. Fold up all the edges and seal shut. Make certain the seals are strong enough so it doesn’t open when you pull it off the grill. Cook on the grill about 30 to 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Using a cookie sheet or platter, carefully remove the foil package from the grill.

I usually just open the foil like Jiffy Pop and let guests serve themselves, but if you want to get fancy, flip the potatoes over onto a platter and pull away foil. The bottom potatoes will be crispy and yummy.

SEE I TOLD YOU!

Last week the AMA released a statement stating that dieting doesn’t work. They said that staying on a regime, any regime, does work. Now duh, this is no major news flash, but they state that diets are a temporary fix and your weight will return as soon as you stop the diet. Their point was that changing your eating habits/lifestyle permanently will result in natural weight loss, and you will keep weight off. Your body will adjust itself in time, level out, you won’t keep losing weight, (except of course you’re on the crazy “ONLY PEAS” diet), but you won’t gain weight either. How you eat is just as important as what you eat, and if you’re looking to lose weight, that is what you should consider first.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200010


"YOU STUPID SKINNY BITCH…!"

So this week I’m going on vacation and have to buy a new bathing suit. I’m out with the girls last night having a spot of dinner and wine, and I say, “Ugh! I have to stop eating, I have to get into a bathing suit this weekend.” Oh my God, you would have thought I said I was having a baby, (which is a very funny if you know me)!

Anyways, I know I’m thin. But I’m also small. Small frame (5’3”), small boobs (##@@**&!), small feet (size 6). Five February pounds on my body may not seem alot to someone taller, but none the less, it’s there! Because I’m small 5lbs.on me are like 10lbs. on someone else. Just because I like being thin, doesn’t qualify me for Dr. Phil. We all have our weight comfort zone. Ok, you'll never be 106 lbs, but I’m never going to have double D's...maybe.

Now here's the stinker, I know exactly where it came from. The bags of potato chips, the beer I’ve learned to love this winter, the 20 degree weather that has kept me inside, and oh yeah, did I mention I adore ice cream? With potato chips?

So I gained a few pounds that I’m not comfortable with. And there's no one to blame. It’s my own fault. I went outside my “normal” eating habits. My winter lifestyle needed different food. At different times, with different sauces. So time to switch up! Get back to my eating lifestyle. Several meals a day, smaller portions, martini instead of beer, and ok, I’ll go outside. And the fat won’t come back. Until next February.

In the meantime, stop calling me a stupid! (Skinny bitch works just fine)

MOROCCAN HARIRA SOUP

Our signature soup at KeKA was an earthy, vegetarian, Moroccan soup called Harira. It is a layered soup that takes a little while to make but it so well worth every minute. It is not by nature a spicy soup, although you could easily add red pepper flakes or cayenne, and the balance of the many spices are complicated and delicate at the same time.

I prefer to make my own veg stock, (see recipe at side of page) but store bought will work fine, too. Make sure when buying veg stock you get a low sodium product. This soup is so savory you don’t want to mess it up with salt. Because it is a peasant soup, the vegetables can be rough chopped and don’t really need to be uniform. I also make my rice ahead of time and add it to the soup at service. Layer the chic peas and lentils over the rice then pour the broth over it.

As a special treat, I make an airy semolina bread, with a soft crust and cumin seeds to dunk and absorb all the yummy broth. Don’t hurry this soup. It gets better the longer it stews.

HARIRA
Makes 1 gal.

Basmati Rice (cook and set aside)
2 cups rice, 3 cups water, tsp. celery seed, pinch of salt

Saute in deep saucepan, over medium heat, 4-5 minutes;
1 med red onion small dice
3-4 tomatoes medium dice
3-20oz cans chick peas with juice
Add:
2 cups domestic lentils
Big pinch of saffron threads
2-bay leaves
12 cups veg stock
Bring to boil then simmer about 30 minutes or until lentils are just al dente.

Add:
2 teaspoons each: Spanish paprika, Hungarian paprika, tumeric, & ground ginger
3 teaspoons: Cinnamon
¼ cup honey
Simmer until all dried spices have completely incorporated, at least another 30 minutes

Add:
½ cup each: fine chopped fresh parsley & fine chopped cilantro
Juice from 2 lemons
Salt & pepper to taste

Serve with Basmati rice, lemon wedges and fresh mint leaves

The Organic Myth

Organic foods are popping up everywhere, not just farmers markets and road side stands. Whole Foods Market and Trader Joes are great sources for shopping organic, and most grocery stores have aisles and cases designated for organic herbs, veggies and juices. The philosophy behind growing organic, sustainability, recycling, etc., is not only responsible, but is one that is hard to dispute. Ultimately, we want to live better and contribute more. But to what degree are we willing to give up the creature comforts we have learned to live with? How far out of our way will we travel to “save the world”? How much time will we take out of our already exhausting days to cook better for ourselves and our kids?

I’m all about growing organic and supporting local farmers. But I get crazed about the contradiction and hypocrisy of the fashion of eating and buying organic. I’ve never been a hippy, or a “down with the establishment” kind of girl, but the big business and profitability behind production, not to mention the marketing of organic foods, is hard to ignore. How does eating better translate to living better?

I recently worked for a restaurant that promoted themselves as the sustainability gurus. I spent every morning, picking thru fresh organic herbs and squeezing a case of very expensive, locally grown, organic lemons. We then stored the juice in Styrofoam containers. I easily discarded 40 containers a week. Huh?!

Along with growing better foods, I think it is equally important to treat the earth with respect. As I pay, **$3.00 for a roll of pre-made "organic" polenta, (wrapped in plastic) from the health food store, and leave the farmers market with my melons in a crinkly white ”THANK YOU” bag, I have to ask... as a consumer, how do I keep true to the mission?

I recently read this article published in Business Week about the Organic Myth
www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_42/b4005001.htm

Here's some links for local farmers and markets: www.northunionfarmersmarket.org www.OEFFA.org www.earthwatchohio.org www.morganfarmsstudio.com

(** actual cost/ .35cents of corn meal and 15 minutes to make fresh at home)