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I am finishing Faithful Place and will start Roll Over Hitler.
The Snow Covered the Grill: Grilled Skirt Steak Sandwich
Last summer when we put up the big lights for the backyard I thought we’d be able to use our grill during the winter, when it gets dark at dinner.
I forgot that there might be 12 inches of snow followed by another 9 inches of snow followed by another 12 inches of snow. My grill looks like some kind of prehistoric animal preserved for eternity in a chunk of white. Besides, I can’t even get to it. I can’t open the door to the terrace.
Yes I love winter’s warming foods. Yesterday we had beef stew and I’ve also made thick soups and put away osso buco and chicken fricassees and pot roast to unfreeze and have for dinner on busy days.
But sometimes I want something simple and grilled. Like a boneless chicken breast. Or grilled Italian bread sandwich with grilled, marinated skirt steak, tomatoes and mayonnaise.
Guess it’s the broiler or the grill pan. Good seconds, but not the real thing.
Grilled Skirt Steak Sandwich
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cloves garlic, mashed
chopped fresh thyme (or dried) or chopped fresh oregano, to taste
12-16 ounces skirt steak
2 club rolls or hunks of Italian bread, sliced for sandwiches
1/4 cup mayonnaise
tomato slices
red onion slices
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Put the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic and thyme or oregano in a dish and mix to combine them using a fork. Put the meat on the dish and dredge it in the marinade to coat both sides. Let the meat marinate for at least one hour. Preheat the broiler or grill pan (or an outdoor grill). Cook the meat 2-3 minutes per side, then cut into 2 equal pieces. Grill the cut side of the bread for a minute to toast the surface lightly. Slather the bread with the mayonnaise. Top with the meat, onion and tomato slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper if needed. Makes 2 sandwiches
Pasta Fagiole
More snow! Will I ever be able to get out of the house? I mean, it’s blown up to the middle of the door!
I remember days like this when I was in high school. They didn’t call school off in those days. We had to walk to the bus stop, knee deep in white fluff.
We were strong and courageous, full of the pioneer spirit that made America great! No coddling for us!
Okay I remember it happened once. So much snow, it seemed so bizarre that school might be open, which is why I remember it so vividly. And actually, the bus never came because the roads hadn’t been plowed yet, so I walked back home, as did all my friends on the block. We hadn’t listened to the radio before venturing out to prove our pioneering spirits.
Not many people are going out today because it’s ferocious here in Connecticut. It snowed all night. We got at least one foot of new snow and it’s still going on. I see my neighbor’s driveway has been plowed. They’re both doctors, so I guess it’s essential they get out.
My job? Not so essential! This is one of those times I can really enjoy not being too important.
It’s a perfect day for homemade soup. Here’s one of my favorite recipes, it’s from my book Hip Kosher. Serve it with a hunk of crusty bread and you don’t need anything else for dinner.
Pasta Fagiole
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, chopped
2 carrots, sliced 1/2-inch thick
2 stalks celery, sliced 1/2-inch thick
28-ounce can tomatoes, with liquid
1 quart vegetable stock
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup ditalini or other small tubular pasta
2 15-ounce cans red kidney beans, with liquid
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrots and celery and cook for 2 minutes or until softened slightly. Add the tomatoes, stock, basil, parsley and some salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Add the pasta and cook for 5 minutes. Add the beans and cook for another 8-10 minutes or until the pasta is tender. Serve the soup sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Makes 6 servings
Oatmeal Buttermilk Bread
I always get into a rut for breakfast. When I was a kid I would eat Cheerios every morning until I got sick of them and switched bagel with American cheese until I got sick of that. It’s been yogurt for several weeks now — I go in and out of my yogurt phases. I love Chobani plain 0% yogurt which I mix with exactly 4 cut up dried apricot halves. But I need a break. I feel an oatmealy period coming on. But I am not in the mood for oatmeal in a dish because I hear this little satanic voice calling for me to have sugar and half and half cream on top (oh YUMMMMMM).
But I won’t because that’s just too indulgent for January, when I need to shed the 3 pounds gained over the holiday season.
I’m going to have some oatmeal bread. Just a slice (with a little butter or cream cheese) and a pear, for breakfast.
That’s healthy isn’t it?
Anyway, it is really delicious. Here’s the recipe:
Oatmeal Buttermilk Bread
1/4 cup butter
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey or molasses
1 large egg
1 cup plain yogurt (or use buttermilk)
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup chopped pecans or raisins
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-1/2-inch x 4-1/2-inch loaf pan. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside. Mix the brown sugar and honey together. Stir in the melted butter and egg, blending them in thoroughly. Stir in the flour mixture and blend in thoroughly. Stir in the yogurt, alternating with the oats until all has been incorporated. Stir in the nuts or raisins. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert the bread on a cake rack to cool completely. Or serve warm.
Makes one loaf
Scottish Lemon Currant Scones
I just got a call to be “the entertainment” at a bridal shower cooking demonstration in a couple of months. That got me to thinking about suggesting a Tea. And that got me to thinking about spring.
Not that tea has anything to do with spring. In fact, one of the best “teas” I remember was when I was in London during the winter, on business there with my husband, and we went for tea at The Ritz. So glamorous. Everyone was cold, the weather was brisk. The tea was hot and comfy.
Still, the food at tea is light. More springlike. Cucumber sandwiches, smoked salmon sandwiches. Little cakes. And scones (I am sure I asked for extra clotted cream). And that got me to thinking about this recipe:
Scottish Lemon Currant Scones
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2-1/2 tablespoons sugar
2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh lemon peel
1/2 cup currants
6 tablespoons butter
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon peel. Stir in the currants. Add the butter in chunks and work into the dry ingredients with your fingers or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix the egg and buttermilk together. Pour into the dry ingredients. Mix until a soft dough has formed. Cut the dough in half and roll each half on a floured surface into a circle 1/2-inch thick. Cut each circle into 6 wedges. Place the wedges on the cookie sheet. Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Makes 12
Serve with butter, clotted cream or strawberry jam
Has anyone else read the article on Why Chinese Mothers are Superior?
Please, please, can someone weigh in on this one?
Snow and Peanut Butter Cookies
Snow is falling in big flat flakes here. I should make that beef stew right now because all my appointments have been cancelled. I’ll do that as soon as I finish the peanut butter cookies I want to bake “just to have.”
My Mom always had a freezer full of stuff “just to have.” In case the grandchildren came over. Or she got unexpected company. Or she just wanted a little nibble. So, I guess I have become my mother. I need to have some peanut butter cookies in the bin.
If you do too, here’s my Mom’s terrific recipe. I use lots of organic products but for these, I stick to good old Skippy, which still tastes the best in cookies. I give a large range of cooking time — if you like soft, light cookies, use the minimum time. I like them dark and crispy, so I bake them a little longer. Up to you.
Peanut Butter Cookies
- 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup shortening
- 2 large eggs
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix at low-medium speed until the ingredients are well combined. Add the peanut butter, shortening and eggs and beat until the mixture forms a soft, uniform dough. Shape small clumps of dough into rounds, then flatten them to create 1-1/2 inch circles. Place the circles on a cookie sheet, leaving some space between each circle, and press the tops with a fork, making a criss-cross design. Bake for about 16-20 minutes or until browned and crispy.
Makes about 60
Banana Bread with Chips and Raisins
It’s going to snow here again which means the supermarkets will be like the Mall on black Friday. Yep, I’m going shopping too, although I usually try to avoid the place when I know people will be stocking up on groceries to last until next New Years because, you know, the snow is coming and we’re never going to get out of the house. But I haven’t been to the store since before year end and I am clean out of stuff.
Except for bananas. I always buy too many and then wind up making banana bread which I usually freeze and then give away every other Tuesday when our local Hadassah hosts a Tea Party — NOT a political one I can assure you — for cancer patients and their caregivers at our local hospital.
So after I use up the browning bananas for the bread I will have to put new bananas on the list along with milk, fruit, sweet potatoes and everything else I’ll need until next New Years.
Here’s a good recipe for a large Banana Bread that will make at least 12 servings. You can freeze it (or freeze half). Sometimes I add chocolate chips, sometimes raisins.
Banana Bread
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup vegetable shortening
1-3/4 cups sugar
4 large very ripe bananas, mashed
4 large eggs
1 cup chocolate chips or raisins, optional
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8-cup bundt pan. Mix the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the vegetable shortening and sugar at medium speed until well blended. Beat in the bananas. Beat in the eggs. Add the flour mixture and beat the ingredients until smooth and well blended. Fold in the chocolate chips, raisins and/or nuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the bread from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Invert onto a cake rack to cool completely.
Makes one bread serving 12-18
Pear and Cranberry Crisp
My Dad once dumped a bowl of oatmeal on top of my head. I don’t actually remember the event but heard the story so many times that I can imagine it clearly. I was about 1-1/2 years old and sitting in a high chair, my Dad trying to feed me. My parents said I was a fussy eater — little did they know I would grow up to be a food writer, enthusiastic about all sorts of things to eat!
Apparently my Dad became frustrated because I wouldn’t open my mouth for the oatmeal. He tried the usual methods of persuasion they used in those days: “here comes the airplane into the hangar.” “Here comes a spoon for Uncle Dick.” And all that, but nothing worked so he dumped the stuff on my head.
Unfortunately then he had to wash my hair and so on, so it was only a moment of glory for him. He was a terrific father so I forgave him this folly every time he talked about it.
I’m not sure how I came to love oatmeal. But long before it became the “healthy breakfast that lowers cholesterol and may prevent heart disease,” oatmeal became a regular part of my life because I like how it tastes.
I am fussy about the kind. I prefer Bob’s Red Mill for eating as cereal, McCann’s for cookies, crisps and other kinds of baked goods. I love fruit desserts with an oatmeal-based crust because oats are naturally sweet and mild, but not cloyingly sweet with sugar and they don’t leave an aftertaste in your mouth.
January is National Oatmeal Month. Apparently more people eat oats in January than at any other time of year. Try some yourself. A good place to start is my recipe for Pear Crisp.
Pear and Cranberry Crisp
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter
5 ripe but firm pears
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the one cup flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, lemon peel and salt in a bowl. Cut the butter into chunks and work it into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside. Peel and core the pears, cut them into chunks and place the chunks in a bowl. Add the cranberries, sugar, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons flour and toss ingredients. Place the fruit mixture into a baking dish. Cover with the oat mixture. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Makes 8 servings