Hiding Vegetables in Plain Sight

When I used to read about moms hiding vegetables in their food to get their kids to eat them, I used to think to myself, “Haha, that’s silly!”  Now I’m doing it.

It was easy to chop up a couple extra tomatoes and add them to the spaghetti sauce.  Then I thought, let’s see if they’ll eat the vegetables if I hide them in plain sight.  They actually loved it!  Now they ask for Alfredo with spinach!

These girls only ever want noodles.  Ramen, yakisoba, spaghetti, pasta, and of course, Alfredo.  I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten these for 69 cents in the past, on this day they were on sale for 89 cents.  Still not a bad deal for a side dish that everyone can share.

SPINACH WITH ALFREDO SAUCE PASTA

1 package Alfredo pasta

4 cups fresh spinach, lightly chopped

Make the Alfredo pasta according to the directions on the package.  This one, you have to add water, milk, and butter.  (I guess you can make your own Alfredo sauce from scratch, if you know how to).

Boil the spinach for a few minutes in a little bit of water till it’s completely cooked.  Drain and rinse the spinach in cold water, then squeeze all the water out of them.  You should end up with a nice handful of cooked spinach.

Add the cooked spinach to the prepared Alfredo pasta.   Mix it in pretty good.  Enjoy!

The Best Cup of Coffee

Dispense with the cream and sugar; add a heaping spoonful of sweetened condensed milk instead, it will make your coffee SOOO YUMMY!!!!!

Zwetschgendatschi... a German style plum tart

I was driving home a few days ago and I heard this food story on NPR about a plum cake with a ridiculously long and complicated German name, "zwetchgendatschi".  I was intrigued and tried to google it but I had no clue how to spell it, and my phonetic spelling of it was WAY off.  I eventually found it by adding "NPR" to my google search....

So yesterday I went to Fresh and Easy to get my $3.99 salad for lunch, and I saw a 2 lb. bag of plums for 89 cents!  I love fruit and I love bargains, so I bought the plums.  Then I remembered the NPR plum cake story and looked up the recipe.  It's all stuff I already have in my kitchen -- flour, sugar, butter, corn starch.  So the baking adventure was on!  It turned out pretty good!  It has LOTS of fruit and the pie shell is really yummy and sweet.

Recipe: Zwetschgendatschi

Courtesy of Gesine Bullock-Prado

 

Makes one 8-inch tart

Crust
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, very cold, cut into small pieces
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling
3 pounds Damson/Italian prune plums (I used the 2-lb. bag of regular plums from Fresh & Easy and I could barely stuff all of them in)

To Finish:
1 tablespoon raw sugar (I had brown sugar)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. For the crust, using the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, pulse together the flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Slowly add the egg yolk mixture to the flour mixture while pulsing; continue until the dough just begins to come together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead it until the dry ingredients are fully integrated and the dough holds together, being careful not to overwork it. Press the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Spray an 8-inch fluted tart pan with nonstick cooking spray. Crumble the majority of the dough into the tart pan and gently press onto the bottom and up the sides so that you have at least 1/8 inch of crust all around. If you have extra dough left over once you've completely covered the tart pan, set it aside.

For the filling, split each plum along the natural seam and remove the stone, leaving the plum still hinged on the backside like a little book. (This was the hardest part of the recipe, getting the seed out)

Arrange the plums upright on the uncooked dough, flesh side facing in. If you have any leftover tart dough, crumble it evenly on top of the plums. Sprinkle the raw sugar over the plums as well.

Bake the tart until the sides of the dough are golden brown and the plums are tender, about 45 minutes. If the plums begin to brown before they are tender, carefully cover them with aluminum foil and continue baking until the juices of the plums start running.

Making Gluten Free Cookies With Vicky!!!

I feel like every time I leave Phoenix I always go to Miami, like whenever I head to the airport, I'm on my way to see my family in Miami.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I decided to switch things up a little, since there ARE other people that I love and care about that I don't get to see often enough.

So a couple days ago, I packed my bags and got on Southwest Flight 797 bound for Indianapolis.  That's right, Indianapolis!  You see, there are 4 very special ladies that used to live in Phoenix that now live in Indianapolis, Bloomington, Champaign, and Chicago, and I decided to come visit all of them!

First stop was strolling all over downtown Indianapolis with Jennifer!!!  The whole town is totally geared up for the Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat.  We stopped by the Fieldhouse and got our tickets for Game 4 on Tuesday night, SO EXCITED!!!!!  At the Farmer's Market, almost all the booths had Beat the Heat posters, and Pacers legend Rik Smits was at a table signing posters  :-)

 

Actually, we didn't know who he was at first, but since he signed it with #45, we easily figured out who he was by googling "Pacers legends #45".   It would be like seeing Tom Chambers in downtown Phoenix.  Any of us long-time Suns fans would be like "Hi, Tom!", while anyone else might just be thinking, "That guy's really tall."

Next stop was a short 1-hour drive to Bloomington, home to Indiana University and former VOTS players Vicky and Shawn, and their family.  Bloomington is really tiny so there's not much to say except they have a grocery store and a few bars where they serve alcoholic beverages.

When I fly, I usually check out the in-flight magazine to pass the boring hours in the air, some light reading and maybe a crossword puzzle or Sudoku.  In this month's Southwest Spirit magazine I found a recipe for Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread cookies that looked completely buttery and yummy!  So I stashed the magazine in my bag for possible future baking adventures.  When Vicky mentioned that she had to make some cookies, I remembered my magazine!

CRANBERRY PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD

1/2 cup pistachios
2 sticks unsalted (or salted) butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 blood orange (zest and juice) (I used a naval orange)
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (see gluten-free alternative below)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped

1.  Toast pistachios in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes (I used a pan on top of the stove instead).  Cool, chop, and set aside.  Beat butter, sugar, and zest on high speed until fluffy.  Mix in juice.  Beat in flour and salt on low speed until dough forms.  Fold in cranberries and pistachios.

2.  In wax paper (I used plastic wrap), roll dough into a 2-inch thick log.  Freeze for 30 minutes.  (my dough was super soft, so it didn't hold a round log shape at first.  So every 10 minutes or so, I took it out of the freezer and rolled my log into a more rounder shape.)

3.  Roll log in granulated sugar (oops, I forgot this step).  Slice into 1/2 inch pieces.  Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees until sides are lightly brown (12 to 18 minutes), rotating pan once.  Keep cookies on tray for 10 minutes, then place on cooling rack.

Wow, these cookies are way delicious, buttery and orangey and addicting!!!  For the flour, we used a gluten-free alternative mixture of rice flour, tapioca flour, and potato starch.  Here is the recipe:

GLUTEN-FREE ALL PURPOSE FLOUR:

1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
1/4 cup cornstarch or potato starch

Mix these together in a bowl.  Since I needed 2 and 1/4 cups of flour, I mixed 2 cups of rice flour, and 1 cup each of the other two ingredients.  There's some left over for another gluten-free baking session.

Vicky also added 1 teaspoon of Xanthan Gum to the dough, which is "a polysaccharide secreted by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris," according to Wikipedia.  Vicky explained that since this flour substitute has no gluten, it won't behave the same in your recipe, so the xanthan gum acts like a substitute for the gluten.

* * * * * * *

So what's next???  I'll be heading up to Chicago in a couple days to partake in a Craft Beer Festival with the lovely Kaetlynn!  Maybe I'll pick up Betsy on the way!  Then, it's back to Indianapolis for the aforementioned Game 4 on Tuesday with Jennifer, Vicky, Shawn, and a few other people.  That's going to be amazing!!!!  You may be wondering where my loyalties lie, well I'll just have to deal with that internally while surrounded on all sides with screaming fans dressed in yellow.....  :-)

Life IS beautiful, after all.  And so is basketball and food.

A Perfect Night

Last night was a perfect night!  I had a date to the Suns v. Houston Rockets game, so we met at Wong's Place for some Deep Fried Tofu ("little pillows of happiness") and Crystal Shrimp with Walnuts ("creamy nuggets of pure joy") before the game.  Wong's Place never disappoints, it was amazing!!!!!  And then the Suns won!!!!  107-105, it was very exciting!  After the game, we stopped by Boulders on Broadway to have some beer.  I tried a Cascara Quad which I never heard of before, and it was pretty good.  The bartender described it as "figs and coffee cherries".  I'm not sure I actually tasted those flavors (or even what a coffee cherry is), but it was tasty.  I decided to move on to water, but later on, shortly before last call, we decided to try the Smoked & Oaked Belgium Style Ale.  The big bottle was just enough for each of us to have a full glass of Smoked & Oaked.  This beer was DELICIOUS!!!  And at 10.4% alcohol.....  I didn't realize beforehand the effect that one little glass was going to have on my brain!  I was in no condition to drive home!  Luckily, my date, who is much bigger and stronger than me, was ok to drive, and he even knew how to drive a stick shift, so he got me home safe.  That's what I call a perfect night!!!

Beer and A Really Good Steak

There is no substitute for a really good steak.  I cook steak, but I'm not even going to pretend that it's one of my specialties.  Cooking a great steak is a true art, and experts spend years perfecting their craft.  Thankfully there are many steakhouses out there where you can enjoy the steak of your dreams.

I recently had a really good steak in Palm Springs at the Renaissance Hotel there.  On the menu, it's called "Steak Salad", and it's a grilled sirloin steak with an old-fashioned lettuce salad and onion rings.  I have to say it took quite a while for me to get my steak, but when it finally arrived, it was delicious.  I had suspected my order didn't go into the kitchen right away, because when I asked about it, it seemed like the staff started scrambling a little.  Let's just say that when I finally got my steak, it was freshly cooked.  You know, you can't fake steak.  I can't exactly say it was worth the wait because there really was someplace else that I wanted to be while I was waiting for it, but it was still a really good steak and I enjoyed it.

I also love beer.  I love going to a bar where they have hundreds of different beers, both on tap and in bottles.  The best place around here is called Boulders on Broadway.  They have dozens of beers on tap, that they change up every week, plus several more dozens of bottled beers.  Every time I go, I try something new that I never heard of before!  It's usually pretty good!  Top's Liquor and Sprouts (f.k.a. Sunflower Market) also have an awesome variety of bottled beers to choose from.

Last fall, my friend Katherine told me about a pumpkin ale that tastes just like pumpkin pie.  I still haven't found it, but I just know it's going to be awesome when I do!  I bought some Pumpkin Ale last week by Buffalo Bills Brewery, and let me tell you, it doesn't taste anything like pumpkin pie!  I was so disappointed!  One of these days I will find that beer that tastes like pumpkin pie, and I'll be drinking it with a big smile on my face!

It's always a good day for a steak and a beer, my friend!

Yummy Easy Chili!

Ranch beans are the best!  It's the best side dish ever next to a steak and even delicious on their own.  If you are not familiar with Ranch Style Beans, they are pinto beans (a Southwestern staple) in a yummy chili gravy.  The thick sauce the beans are soaking in is made out of tomatoes, chilies, and spices, so it's not really a stretch to imagine you can make a nice chunky chili out of a can of ranch beans.

In the past, I have used ground meat to make ranch bean chili, but this week I happened to have 1/2 pound of breakfast sausage in my refrigerator.  And a can of ranch beans with jalapeno in my pantry.  I also had a green pepper, an onion, and some tomatoes on hand, so it was a no-brainer.

EASY RANCH BEAN CHILI:

1 green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 lb. sausage or ground meat
1 can Ranch Style Beans with Jalapeno (or without jalapeno if you can't take the heat)
Seasonings: salt, pepper, granulated garlic, red chili powder, chile with lime (chile con limon), cumin, etc.

Roughly chop the peppers, onions, and tomatoes.  Saute the peppers and onions in a little oil, seasoning the veggies with your faves.  I recommend the above.  Go light on the granulated garlic and cumin.  I get Chile Con Limon at Food City, it's basically red chili powder with lemon added, perfect on everything!

When the peppers and onions are about 1/2 way cooked, add the meat and continue to saute it, cooking the meat thoroughly.  Add the tomatoes last, after the meat is cooked.  Now add the ranch beans and enough water to reach the top of the ingredients.  Stir and let this mixture simmer for 20-30 minutes (stirring occasionally) so the ingredients can become one.  Chefs like to say "Let the flavors get married!"  That's a good way to put it!  They are no longer pepper, onion, meat, and beans; they have become the delicious little family of Yummy Chunky Chili!  Now go enjoy your creation!