Not Gone and Not Forgotten - 2015 In Review

Dear food blog,
Oh, how I've missed you!  I've neglected you for a few months, but, I promise you I have been eating and referring to you for recipes and inspiration.   Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went.  Food was plentiful.  It just didn't make it to these pages.  Historically, I've created blog posts that summarized the year in recipes and pictures.  This year I'll only touch upon the highlights....  The purpose of my blog was to catalog, if you will, some family recipes that I could refer to.  It was a task to even recreate a few because I've ALWAYS been one to NOT to use a recipe, unless baking a treat.  With that said, here is a recap of Food 2015!

With all the cooking I've done over the years (a long time) I still try to have a "bucket list" in the works.  The two that came to fruition this year were a flour less chocolate cake and a wild boar sauce tagliatelle inspired by an Italian journey several years ago.

Tagliatelle with wild boar sauce

Strawberry sheet cake with Lemon cream cheese frosting....the best cake I've EVER made

Roasted tomato soup....at the Deli

Broccoli cheese soup...at the Deli, again

Coconut shrimp scampi...a new experiment!

Maple pancakes...must be on Atkins

Garlic broccolini...why haven't I made this before?

Peruvian Mung beans...gotta travel somehow!

Christmas cannolis...a huge success (from scratch)

Winter soup for all this snowy weather!

So, although the actual blog postings were sparse this year, feel free to browse past recipes.  It's surprising to me still that I wondered how I could come up with more than 75 recipes to fill these pages.  After 5 plus years, Wendys Favorite Place has surpassed well over 500 posts and more to come!

Trick Your Taste Buds - Kale Chips

If you were to tell me I'd be snacking on kale, I would have thought you were nuts!  You would have to have your head in the sand to not hear about all the healthy properties of kale these days.  But, what do you do with it?  I've used it in simple recipes ususally sauteed with raisins and pine nuts.  Delicious!  It can be thrown into salads, soups and egg dishes.

My latest snack is kale chips.  I've never been a big fan of potato chips (thank God!).  Hand me a bag of Cheetos, though, and I'll be your friend for life!  These kale chips don't taste like Cheetos, however!  I can appreciate the fact that they are good for me....and they're so easy to make.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

You can buy pre-cut kale in bags now at most stores.  Or, you can purchase stalks of the same in the organic (preferably) section of the supermarket.  To prepare the kale for roasting, cut from the stalk and remove any hard stems, cut into pieces.

Spray a cookie sheet with either butter spray or olive oil spray.  Lay out the kale evenly on the sheet and spray with a spritz of pan spray.  Sprinkle with sea salt (not too much).  Roast in the oven for 10 minutes.  Halfway through "shuffle" the kale.  Remove and eat when cool.  These are great on salads, baked potatoes, for starters  and are GUILT FREE!  The longer they sit and cool, the crispier they become....try it!

Zucchini Patties

Is your  kitchen counter overflowing with zucchini, yet?  Mine is, but I don't mind.  There's so much you can do with this vegetable!  I've been hiding it in bread, cake, assorted vegetable dishes and now the classic zucchini patties.  At least they were a classic in my home for many years.

I've pretty much thrown ingredients together over the years, sometimes getting good and some bad results.  The most important thing you can do to insure the best result would be to press all the liquid you can from the grated zucchini.  If you don't, they will ooze and run all over the place.  These zucchini patties were moist on the inside, yet crispy on the outside.  So, if you're searching for another zucchini recipe, try this one.

Ingredients:

2 cups grated zucchini, liquid drained

1/4 cup diced onion

2 Tbsp flour

1 tsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp either plain Greek yogurt, mayo or an egg  (use what you prefer.  I used Greek yogurt this time.)

salt & pepper to taste

 For the coating:

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1 small egg

For the pan:

a combination of 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp of butter

In a bowl mix the zucchini, onion, flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Stir in either the yogurt, mayo or egg.  The mixture should be stiff enough to form a patty.  It may help to moisten your hands with a bit of water first.  Yes, it is messy!  As you make each patty, gently set them onto a sheet of waxed paper.  These patties were roughly 2 1/2 inches in diameter.  The recipe makes about 6-8 patties depending on size. 

In 2 different pie plates or shallow dishes, put the bread crumbs in one and the beaten egg in another.  Heat the oil/butter combo in a large skillet.  Turn up the heat to medium and gently start to dredge the each patty in egg first, then coat with breadcrumbs.  Quick note for first timers:  You may want to coat them ALL first and lay them back onto the waxed paper if you can't work quick enough.

Cook on the first side for about 6-8 minutes, turn and continue to cook for about the same time.  The coating will get quite brown but not to worry.  They're really tasty.

Mix it up with Muesli

For a quick and easy breakfast, why not make your own muesli?  I love oatmeal but sometimes crave more crunch!  If you create your own "signature" muesli mix, you can control the amount of fat and sugar, instead of falling prey to the store bought brands with unknown amounts of whatever!

For my muesli, I picked most of my favorites, from pecans, cinnamon, honey and blueberry craisins.  For a healthier version you can substitute fresh berries or a different dried fruit.    There is no rule or recipe here.  You can even make a large batch and have it in your pantry, ready to use.

My Muesli

1 serving

1/2 cup rolled or quick oats

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup blueberry flavored craisins (or fresh)

1 Tbsp honey

dash of cinnamon

1 tsp flax meal (optional, but healthy)

1 tsp protein powder (optional, but healthy)

drizzle of skim milk or half & half

Place all into a bowl and microwave for about 40-45 seconds.  Stir and enjoy!  You can add additional milk for a more creamy consistency.  I've found this is a very satisfying and filling breakfast.

Panko Pork with Apricot Blueberry Sauce

Sometimes it's just too hot to grill.  With the temperatures reaching into the triple digits this week, why not bring the party indoors, crank on the air conditioner or fans and make this panko pork.  Or you can choose to have what we had for our anniversary dinner last evening.

Earlier in the day we went to the show to see "To Rome with Love".   If you've ever been to Roma, I highly recommend it, just keep in mind it's a Woody Allen movie which, to me, means a little quirky.   As we walked out of the theater, it was as if we were walking into an oven!  A few years ago I made a rule,  "If the temp reaches 100, we must have ice cream for dinner, no cooking, no grilling, etc.  We enforced that wise rule!  (This rule does not apply to Phoenix where you'd be eating ice cream from May thru October)

The temperature from our car read 99, but since it was our anniversary we could justify that missing degree, right?  So, we proceeded to the dinner place, 31 flavors, and packaged up 3 scoops each.   Blueberry cheesecake, Mississippi mud, and Reese's peanut butter cup!  I was in heaven where I know the streets must be paved in chocolate and ice cream!

What does this have to do with panko pork?  Absolutely nothing!  But, it's a great entree if you don't feel like having ice cream!

For the sauce:

3 Tbsp apricot preserves

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup blueberries

1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped

Bring all the above to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until it thickens and reduces.  Set aside.

For the pork: 

4 thin boneless chops

salt and pepper

drizzle of  olive oil

about 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Prepare the moistened chops sprinkling with salt and pepper, then dip into the bread crumbs.  Lay the chops on a baking sheet, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or until done.

Reheat the sauce, plate the pork and pour sauce over the pork.  Very tasty!

NOTE:  If you don't want to turn on the oven you can put the pork chops in a skillet to cook.

Holy Christmas and Holy Cannoli!

Christmas came and went as I spent the day with the people who are near and dear to me.  This was the "first" year that I had Christmas  Day dinner at my home, so I had to do it up good!  Unfortunately, (or maybe not) I had a few recipes I wanted to experiment with.  I know it's not the time to have a "science project" in the kitchen, but who better to practice on, but family.  They are the most forgiving!

So as the "chaos" began in the kitchen, many family members (my elves) stepped in to help with the finishing touches.  We had the "cannoli man"  dipping cannolis in chocolate and crushed pistachios,  my son, so expertly mashing the potatoes, and my mother did dishes as we went.  She said she loved to do them because it sooths her tired hands.  Okay, I won't argue with that.  Thanks to everyone we pulled it off.  The menu consisted of roasted prime rib (my first, although very easy), garlic green beans with bread crumb topping, slow roasted red onions basted with a honey butter balsamic glaze, cheesy mashed potatoes and sauteed mushrooms.  Whew!  For dessert we had grandma's fudge, homemade tiramisu (in a future post) and cannolis.  Hope you enjoyed your Christmas, as we did! 




The "Cannoli Man" putting the finishing touches on!

 For the cannolis I bought the shells from a local Italian restaurant.  Much easier that way.  One of these days I'll make the shells...I have the forms, already.  The filling was adapted from Emeril Lagasse, but a few changes were made...MUST experiment, you know!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 pound of ricotta cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp of Amaretto or any favorite liqueur

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, for filling

1/4 tsp orange zest or a dash of orange flavoring (optional, but recommended)

1/2 cup more for melting

1/4 cup chopped pistachios

In a medium or large mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream.  Gently fold in the ricotta with a spatula.  Fold in the sugar, liqueur, chocolate chips and orange zest.  Mix well.  I made the filling the day before so the flavors would intensify.  Stuff the cannolis using a pastry bag, if possible.  Dip the ends in melted chocolate and then crushed pistachios and serve. 

Simple Stuffed Red Peppers

I'll be digging into my archives of recipes for the next couple of weeks.  These are meals that I've made over the course of the last year, but for some reason have not been posted.  With the advent of yet another "slim down" season, what I'm currently eating is not worthy of a post,  yet.  I'm surviving on basic rabbit food at the moment.  With some massive creative energy,  I may come up with some "keepers" I can share.    For now, enjoy this stuffed red pepper recipe from a few weeks ago.  Delicious!

Ingredients:

2 red peppers, cut in half lengthwise & cleaned

Parboil these for about 10-15 minutes, remove and place in a roasting pan.

1/2 lb. ground beef

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp onion, chopped

handful of chopped basil

1 hamburger bun in small pieces (or 2 slices of french bread will do)

3 large mushrooms, thinly sliced

salt and pepper to taste

1 large tomato, chopped or 4 canned whole peeled, cut


In a large skillet brown the meat and then add the remaining ingredients while stirring well.  Cook the filling for 15 minutes.

 Fill the red peppers with this mixture, sprinkle some Parmesan or  mozzarella on top.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes. 4 servings  

Real Men Eat Quiche

I can't really remember the first time I had quiche.  So many years ago, it's beginning to be a blur.  I do remember it was in the late 70s, early 80's when it became a "trendy" menu item for most restaurants.   A group of the girls I worked with at the time went on one of our "famous Friday lunches".  Usually we chose Mexican because 1) It was cheap,  2) it was nearby and last but not least we began our weekend early with a margarita. 

But on a few occasions, we would venture downtown to the Hardy House, a beautiful old mansion with open air courtyard that had wonderful food.  One of their specials was a slice of quiche and salad and because it was Friday, a strawberry daiquiri.  To me, quiche was so very French and I thought it must be so hard to make.  Little did I know it's not difficult at all.  It's another one of those "forgiving recipes", hard to mess up.

This recipe starts with a deep dish 9 inch ready made pie shell.  Years ago I made 2 shallow 9 inch pies, giving us a whole quiche for leftovers and packed  them in our lunches.  Needless to say, my co-workers were jealous when my quiche arrived out of the microwave while they were eating frozen burritos from the vending machine!

Ingredients:

1 9 inch pie shell

3 Tbsp butter

1 cup sliced onions

1 cup sliced red pepper

2 cloves garlic minced

3/4 cup mushrooms, sliced

about 1 - 1 1/2 cups steamed broccoli

1 -2 slices of chopped panchetta or bacon

5 eggs

3/4 -1 cup half and half

1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese

dash of paprika

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Prick the pie shell with a fork and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.  Remove and set aside.  In a large skillet,  add the butter, heat on medium,  then add the onions, red pepper, panchetta, and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and then the steamed (but firm) broccoli to the mix and cook for about 10 minutes.



Onions, panchetta and peppers



Add mushrooms and broccoli

Meanwhile beat the eggs together with the half and half.  Put the broccoli mixture into the waiting pie shell.  Cover with the Swiss cheese.  Pour the egg mixture over this being careful to drizzle it evenly and around the edges.  Tamp down slightly with a wooden spoon.  Sprinkle with a dash of paprika, for color.  Reduce the oven temperature to 350  and bake for about 35 minutes.  If the edges start to burn , cover them with foil.  Remove from the oven when done and let it sit before cutting.

For a change, use different veggies or cheese.   It sounds like alot of steps to make this but after a while you can make it "in your sleep"! 

Finished!

Zucchini Oatmeal Spice Cookies

What a mouthful for a cookie name! These small cookies pack a big punch when it comes to flavor and you'll want a mouthful because they're almost "guilt free". I had a request to make more "healthy" cookies so I went to the pantry to see how I could switch it up. I found raisins and oats summoning me. I also had a small amount of hazelnuts waiting to be used. This is how I cook. My pantry has a way of dictating my meals.

I substituted a few ingredients from the chocolate zucchini cookie version I posted a few weeks ago and came up with the following equally good if not better healthy cookie. I even eliminated the butter and eggs in this recipe!

Ingredients:

1/2 c applesauce

1 c brown sugar

1 1/4 c oats

1 T oil

1 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg, ground

1 1/4 c grated zucchini

1/2 c raisins

1/2 c hazelnuts

1 tsp orange zest

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl or stand mixer cream applesauce and brown sugar. Combine flour, oats, spices, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to the sugar mixture until blended. Add zucchini, mix and add nuts, raisins, and zest. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased or parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake for around 15 minutes. These are soft, healthy and full of flavor. Makes about 3 1/2 dozen.

My next cookie extravaganza experiment will be a Zucchini chocolate chip oatmeal cookie! Yum!

Chicken ala Wendy

Another simple chicken dish is what everyone needs, right? Normally I like to use boneless chicken thighs or breasts that are organic, cage-free and the list goes on. I'm not out to save the world but I do care what my family eats these days. Several months ago I rented a movie called, Food, Inc. Very eye opening to say the least. Since then I have a hard time in the meat section of the grocery store. I usually whiz right past it. But, I don't want my hubby to suffer for my aversion to most meat so I buy the local, if possible, grass fed , organic types of meat. Just watch the movie and you will understand!

With that said, I created this recipe because it's simple and tasty. I didn't have any boneless chicken handy so I changed it a little but I would prefer to go with the boneless. (It lessens the cooking time.)

5-6 boneless thighs

2 T olive oil

1/2 c flour

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 c Marsala (optional)

asparagus spears (8) cut on the diagonal into 1-2 inch pieces

1/2 c chicken broth

1/4 - 1/2 c onion, cut up

handful of Parmesan cheese

Method:

Mix flour, garlic powder and paprika in a shallow plate. Dredge the damp chicken pieces into this mixture giving them a light coating. Place oil into a large skillet (with lid) and start to brown the chicken. Turn once and add the Marsala after browning on both sides. Cook for a few minutes, add the onions and asparagus and then the broth. If you don't want to use Marsala you can use more broth or white wine. Cover and cook on medium until chicken is done. Sprinkle on the cheese, cover until it melts.

Stuffed Italian Peppers

Traditionally I've sauteed these peppers with simply olive oil and garlic. The Italian style peppers stand alone in flavor. You can also add a few mushrooms and onions to the mix for variety. Always seeking to find a different twist on mundane meals I chose to stuff them. I know, I've been doing a lot of stuffing lately, it seems. But, this is a new creation worth a try. Thank you, dad and mom, for your contribution of peppers. They had an overload situation with the peppers this year. I'm always happy to help them out!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. I parboiled the peppers whole for about 10 minutes, gave them a cold water bath to stop the cooking and made a slit in them to clean out the seeds. Place them on a foil lined sheet pan and they're ready to stuff.

Make the orzo. I used 1/2 cup dry to yield 1 cup cooked. (I didn't use all the orzo because I wanted to save some for breakfast.) I used about 1/2 cooked orzo for this recipe. Set aside. In another saute pan cook:

1 T olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

2 T chopped onion

2 medium size portabello mushrooms, chopped

1 T tomato sauce or marinara sauce

Cook for a bit and add 1/4 c water and orzo. Mix well. Cut up small nickel size chunks of mozzarella cheese. Put some chunks in the pepper before adding orzo mixture and leave some for the top. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes or until heated through and the cheese melts.

Enjoy!

Serving size differs. I used 5 peppers for this but you can double it quite easily.

Vanilla Peachy Colada

Peaches and zucchini were plentiful this year in our area of the world. I expect to create a few more surprises in the next couple of weeks with the season's bounty. I'm thinking maybe a zucchini lasagna or more zucchini cookies with apples and spices!

When I woke to rain this morning it was a pleasant surprise. I felt as though a good Umbrian soup or clam chowder would be appropriate but I know those days are ahead. Last week we experienced another blast of summer. I had made a cocktail from some peaches and wanted to share it with you. The only thing missing is the 95 degree weather but just as it's five o'clock somewhere it is surely 100 degrees still somewhere!

2 shots of vanilla vodka

2 ripe small peaches

1 c crushed ice

1 tsp sugar

2 drops vanilla flavoring

1 drop coconut flavoring

Peel and pit peaches and place in blender along with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth and pour into a nice stemmed glass. Garnish with mint or a peach slice. Serves 2.

Road Trip Chocolate Zucchini Cookies

We took a road trip of sorts last Wednesday. A quick ride to the OC in California and back a day later. I can't tell you how many times we've driven this road since we moved from there over 35 years ago! We can probably do it in our sleep. It was actually for my aunt's funeral and you just do what you have to do and always do what's right. More on that later.

When it comes to food and snacks on our road trip it has always meant, Cheetos! Although I'm not a fan of chips and crackers I love, love Cheetos. I even had a cat that would help me eat Cheetos. He'd sneak into the cupboard, pry open the door and dump them on the ground to eat them! Pretty smart!

Anyway, this trip was different, No Cheetos. How will I survive? Chocolate is always a good substitute so I came up with these chocolate, zucchini, of course, cookies. I used a recipe from allrecipes.com but changed a few ingredients to make it even healthier! They taste much better than they look. (They resemble a cow paddy, sorry.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet or simply use parchment paper.

Ingredients:

1/2 c butter, softened

1/2 c white sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 c white flour

2 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c rolled oats

1/3 c cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 c zucchini, grated

In a bowl cream the butter, and sugars until smooth. Add the egg, vanilla and spice. Combine the flours, oats, cocoa, baking soda and salt and gradually stir into the other mixture. Fold in the zucchini and drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake for approx. 11 minutes. Allow to cool. Makes about 4 dozen soft cookies. Perfect for that road trip! Enjoy!

Stuff That Zucchini!

Forgive me for doubting the "almighty zucchini" this season. It got a slow start so I figured we had received most of the harvest. Then the warm weather returned this past week and I'm inundated with more zucchini! What to do!

I found one hiding under the gigantic leaves, avoiding the "pick". It must have been 1 foot in length and 3 inches round. That's rather large according to my standards but to some maybe not. Remember, I have all those garden helpers scampering about so this was the mother lode! It was crunch time for dinner so I challenged myself to make this meal without having to go to the store on a Sunday afternoon.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. I cut the foot long squash in half and then half again only lengthwise. I parboiled them for about 5 minutes to softened the pulp. Using a spoon, scoop out the pulp leaving a trench for the stuffing. Place zucchini on a foil lined sheet pan. In a saucepan, saute:

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T olive oil

1 T onion

about 4 mushrooms, chopped

cut up the removed pulp

add 1 T tomato sauce

salt and pepper to taste

After cooking the above, put 2 T ricotta and 1 T seasoned bread crumbs together in a bowl. Add mushroom mixture to the bowl and mix well. Start stuffing the mixture into carved out zucchini mounding as you go. Sprinkle with a small amount of Parmesan and breadcrumbs. Bake for about 15-20 minutes.

Sorry to say there will be more zucchini creations in the near future! Any ideas?

Simple Chicken Milanese

I'm sure by now you're all asking, "Where's the beef?" Well, for now beef has left the building! So in an effort to make meals more interesting for my meat deprived husband I made chicken Milanese. We used to frequent a local Italian restaurant where they served a great veal Milanese. After studying the menu for 2 seconds he would always announce he'd have the veal. At one point they removed that entree from the menu but, of course, my persuasive hubby would still have his veal specially prepared for him. Now that's service!

This chicken Milanese is super easy and has great flavor. The only twist is it's minus the brown butter sage sauce I usually drizzle onto the veal..Yum!

5-6 boneless chicken thighs (these can be pounded to tenderize and make thinner, but I didn't)

2 T olive oil

2 T butter

1/2 c seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/4 c white wine, pinot grigio

1 T dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

Wash, and slightly dry thighs, sprinkle salt, pepper and thyme and dredge in bread crumbs. Heat oil and butter in a large saucepan on medium high heat. Add the chicken and brown for about 10 minutes. Right before turning squeeze the lemon onto chicken. Turn and continue to cook 5 more minutes. Add the wine and cook maybe 3 more minutes or so. If the thighs are thick you may need to adjust the cooking time. Tip: If you happen to have leftovers they make great chicken Milanese sandwiches with a little melted provolone and roasted red peppers! Yum, Yum!

Sicilian Swordfish Skewers

I'm continuing my trek around Italy even if it's only in my mind. One area we haven't visited is Southern Italy and Sicily. I can't even say we've come close. The farthest was a town called Termoli on the Mediterranean. We sensed a definite change in architecture, grape growing techniques and foods that were served as we meandered down from Tuscany with its rolling green hills dotted with villas and castles.

Someday, hopefully soon, I will return but would love to experience a different region. Maybe start off in Rome and head south into Sorrento where I've been told the air smells like lemons! Pompei would be interesting and the Amalfi coast I'm sure is gorgeous. From there I'd travel through Campania and over to Sicily. I've heard that the Sicilian people are a boisterous bunch and I'd like to experience that firsthand. To taste the fresh fish grilled to perfection and dripping in olive oil, tomatoes and peppers would be enticing. I'll visit the small fishing villages and probably be served a rendition of this recipe I made the other day. Delicious!!

Sicilian Swordfish Skewers

1 T olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp rosemary, crushed

1 tsp lemon thyme, crushed

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 T parsley, finely chopped

1 tsp chives or shallots, minced

1/2 lb swordfish steaks, cut into 1 inch cubes

salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients into a non-metallic bowl, cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 mins or longer. These would be great barbecued but I used a stove top griddle pan. Using 4 (for 2 servings) skewers (approx 10 inches long) load them with about 5 pieces each. Cook on medium-high for 3 minutes, turn over, splash some white wine or butter for additional moisture and continue to cook for another 3 minutes.

These were sooo good I surprised myself and wondered why I had been avoiding the succulent swordfish for so long! Enjoy..

Healthy Pasta e Fagioli with Eggplant

I find myself gravitating back to the Italian way of life. Is it the food so simply prepared, the wine so fragrant and flavorful, or the people exhibiting a gusto for life? Yes, all of the above. I love to cook Italian food with just a few key ingredients. Sometimes simple is better. When traveling from region to region you find an assortment of flavors and styles of cooking. It's not just spaghetti and meatballs or pizza, contrary to tourist's beliefs. Most of what you eat is plentiful in that area and usually seasonal and simple. You may find eggplant dishes in Sicily but none in the Northern Lakes region. As you travel North you may be dining on cream based pastas (the Austrian influence) and in the South the pasta will be laced with olive oil. In the middle region, Toscana, you'll experience a peasant style of cooking. People in these regions made do with what they had and mostly it was beans, bread, wild hare and boar meat. And, of course, homemade pasta.

This pasta is made with Cannellini beans which are actually "white kidney" beans. They have an earthy flavor and accompanied with a meaty eggplant, it makes a perfect healthy pasta. Cannellini beans are loaded with protein and fiber, low on fat and filled with iron, potassium and vitamin B6. They are very versatile as they can be put into soups, salads and pastas.

In keeping with the "slim down" program I used brown rice pasta shells. I found a good brand!!

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil

1 c sliced onion

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 bay leaf

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

12 oz or 1 1/2 c whole peeled tomatoes, crushed with juice (sorry, I used canned)

1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups cubed eggplant

2 cups pasta (before cooking)

1 c pasta water

Boil about 3 quarts of water for pasta. Cook shells for approx. 15 minutes. Drain and rinse reserving the 1 cup pasta water.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet pan with olive oil cook all ingredients up to red pepper flakes on medium until onion is softened. Add tomatoes and eggplant and cook for 15 mins. Add the cannellini beans. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add pasta and pasta water. Mix and serve. Drizzle with olive oil and cheese if you wish. Makes 4 healthy servings.

Remembering My Aunt

I laid awake yesterday morning. It was too early and too cold to get up but it gave me time to reflect on the memories of my aunt. My mom's sister, Corrine, passed away this weekend. I wasn't close (separated by miles and family squabbles) the last 30 years but the first 15 or so I shared many good memories with my cousins and aunt.

They lived near an air force base in Atwater (Mayberry USA) California. It just so happened to be the gateway to Yosemite which our family frequented for many years. Sometimes before we entered the national park we'd stop by to visit. My parents also arranged to send me there a few times and my aunt would see to it that we stayed "busy". Busy could mean a variety of things whether it was going to an orchard to pick fresh ripe peaches or swimming at the base swimming pool. Of course, before we could partake in the fun we needed to polish her silver or do other designated tasks! Smart lady. That was one way to get things done and it kept us out of trouble. (most of the time)

I also remember her "special" lunches. She made a fantastic peanut butter and honey sandwich! I think my uncle was probably the cook of the family. He usually made apricot nectar pancakes that were out of this world .

Although her culinary skills were never displayed to me, she knew how to have fun. She was a beautiful graceful swimmer, water skier and she snow skied well into her 80's. Pretty impressive! All family disputes aside, she was still my mother's sister and she will be missed. So to honor her I made a special peach galette with my mother's famous pie crust.

Pie crust recipe will be in a future post. Until then you can use a store bought 9 inch crust.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

If using a store bought crust no need to roll out. Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.

2 cups peaches

1 T butterscotch schnapps (optional)

1 T raisins (optional)

1 T sugar

1/2 T sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

In a saucepan I heated the sliced peaches with the schnapps, the cinnamon and 1 T sugar. Cool slightly and place in the middle of crust. Sprinkle with raisins, if using. Begin to fold crust up over the outer area of the peaches. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. (you can also brush crust with egg white to help it brown better) Cook for approximately 30-40 minutes. Enjoy!

A Father's Harvest

I'm so fortunate to have my parents living so close by for many reasons. Although I don't see them enough I always try to visit them at least twice a week. They are an active 80+ couple who enjoy their home and garden. Just recently they put in a rock wall by themselves! What?! It's pretty hard to keep them down.

My mom tends to her flowers and still mows the back lawn. My dad enjoys feeding his flock of ducks and reaping the harvest from his garden. Growing up we always had some sort of vegetable garden. I guess that's where I get my love of gardening although it's not so easy in my neck of the woods. "Ol Rocky Sage Critterville" My parents came up yesterday with some great Italian peppers, eggplant and bell peppers from their garden so naturally dinner would evolve around this bounty.

Still keeping with the "slim down" regiment I quickly made some basmati rice and served the medley of veggies over the top. I just sauteed some cut up onion, Italian peppers, roasted red peppers, mushrooms and garlic together with herbs de Provence. And dinner was served in less than 30 minutes!

Gingered Maple Salmon with Edamame

Growing up Catholic I had my fill of fish. If it was Friday it was fish day. That was a good thing! I lived in a fishing port outside of Los Angeles. Every Friday like clockwork Tony's fish market truck would slowly roll through the neighborhood. It was similar in concept to the ice cream man. Only the back of his truck opened up to a large display of seafood. The women (most didn't work outside the home in those days) were beckoned by the horns streaming into their homes. Fish was always in great supply back in the 50's and 60's. If you wanted fresh tuna, clams, swordfish, etc, Tony would deliver. He even had octopus and other rare species for the more adventurous. How I wish that could happen in my neighbor now.

Whenever we go on vacations it is more than likely to be where we can get FRESH fish. Also, if I ever splurge on a diet I would rather choose seafood over desert! Pretty weird but that's what satisfies me. Go figure! The gingered maple salmon tasted as if I was falling off the diet wagon but I wasn't. Now if I could only figure out how to get Tony delivering fresh fish every Friday in this day and age, I'd be a happy girl!

Gingered Maple Salmon with Edamame

In a zip lock plastic bag put in the following for the marinade:

1 tsp ginger, grated

1 clove garlic, finely minced

2 T soy sauce

1/2 lime, juiced

1 T onion, diced

2 T maple syrup

2 salmon fillets, remove pin bones if you can beforehand

Marinade for at least 1 hour.

Using a stove top grill on medium-high heat, place the salmon skin side down. Turn after about 10 minutes, grilling the other side for another 10 minutes and it's done. (If fillets are thicker than 1 inch it may need a longer grilling time.) Serve on a bed of mixed greens and top with shelled and steamed edamame beans. Serves 2.