Yep, it’s Friday again! Reblog this post with a line about what you’re reading this week to join FridayReads and be entered to win wonderful books.
Reading “The Warmth of Other Suns” by Isabel Wilkerson. It’s about the migration of southern blacks to the north and west during the period from about WWWI through the 20th century. Incredible read, history plus personal stories. Highly recommend.
When I moved to Stamford, CT. it was just beginning to change from a small, sleepy Connecticut city to an important commercial center. The place is growing in leaps and bounds, but not out of control. Downtown is a busy hub with businesses, hotels and restaurants, a terrific regional symphony orchestra (the Stamford Symphony), lovely parks and a shopping mall. It’s becoming a big city, at least as far as Connecticut standards go.
And while there’s been a lot of progress over the years, it’s still not done. The south end, which flourished at one time, long before I ever moved here, is now at last getting some attention with a huge urban redevelopment project.
Fairway, an 80,000 square foot supermarket is among the newer entries into the Harbor Point Project. It has everything you could possibly want in a grocery store and more to the point, they have employed hundreds of people from the local community. This week they started a new “Share the Love” project in an effort to reach out to the area’s homeless. They are going to donate a portion of this week’s receipts to St. Luke’s LifeWorks, the largest provider of services to the homeless in Fairfield County. So every time someone shops at Fairway, some of what they spend will be given to the shelter.
This particular program ends tomorrow — so Fairway shoppers — come on in before the deadline!
But beyond this program they’re also going to provide internships and job training for some at St. Lukes — and have already given jobs to 35 SLLW clients.
Jobs matter. Everywhere. But here in Stamford, it makes us better, makes our home a better, more livable place. SLLW helps people come out of homelessness and into the working world. They can do much more with more money, so thanks to Fairway for being so generous.
I’ve been reading Pancakes, Pancakes! Eric Carle’s lovely book about a boy who asks his mother to make him a pancake for breakfast, but she’s very busy and so asks him to get all the ingredients she needs to make it.
No, it’s not part of my #fridayreads reading (but maybe it should be!). It’s a children’s book and my grand daughter Nina happens to be fascinated with it right now so I read it to her whenever I pick her up from pre-school (where there are several shelves filled with books that parents, grandparents and assorted other caretakers can read in between school and going wherever else they’re going that day).
I like this book not only because it’s a cute story and has the kind of whimsical illustrations Carle is known for, but it also attempts to show children that it isn’t so simple to make a pancake. First you have to have flour (so Jack, the boy, must go out and use a sickle to thresh wheat and a flail to hack the seeds — so many terrific words for children to learn!!). Jack also has to coax the hen into laying an egg, milk the cow and even churn the cream to make butter.
One amazing part of this story is that Jack doesn’t have a meltdown or temper tantrum. He actually does whatever is necessary to find the ingredients needed for the pancake.
Talk about motivated!!
His last chore is to go down to the basement to find some jam, from among the jars of preserves that his mother has stored down there.
He does finally get his pancake.
I love this book. I love that Jack becomes part of his own wish come true, that he doesn’t seem to mind participating, doing some chore, to get what he wants. I am glad he is rewarded in the end.
But for the rest of us who will not have to thresh or flail the wheat, but can go down to the supermarket and find everything we want there, we fortunate ones who only have to mix ingredients, here’s a really good recipe for pancakes. Serve with jam, the way Jack likes it, or with the more standard maple syrup.
Here’s a tip: keep buttermilk in the house because it’s terrific for pancakes, biscuits and all sorts of other baked goods. It lasts a long time in the fridge (and you use almost a quart for this recipe). If you don’t want to do that though, you can buy buttermilk powder (reconstitute with water), which you can usually find in the baking aisle of a supermarket. That keeps about a year in the cupboard.
Melt the 3 tablespoons butter and set aside to cool. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl. In a second bowl mix the egg, buttermilk and melted, cooled butter. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones and mix to blend them but do not beat vigorously. Preheat a griddle or large saute pan over medium heat. Lightly butter the pan before cooking the pancakes. When the pan butter has melted and looks foamy, slowly pour about 2 tablespoons batter (for small pancakes) or more (for larger pancakes), leaving space between each pancake. Cook for about 2 minutes, or until bottom is lightly browned and bubbles form on the top. Flip the pancakes with a rigid spatula and cook for a minute or until the second side is lightly browned.
Makes 6-8 servings
Salmon is one of the best diet foods. I really don’t like the word diet and I hate thinking about foods that can help me stick to one. I know, I know, “it’s a way of life not a diet” but I do NOT find that kind of talk helpful when I’m trying to shed a few pounds. I don’t want to think about always eating fish and lean chicken and facing life without french fries forever.
But salmon is different. It’s actually delicious and it’s meaty and filling. And it looks good too. Besides it takes under 5 minutes to prepare and about 15 minutes to roast. A really quick-fix-dinner for during the week. Even my mother made salmon and she never knew a fish that she liked.
So here’s my recipe for an easy dinner dish. It doesn’t go well with french fries, so I won’t even miss them. But sauteed fennel and parsnip “fries” would work.
Roasted Pistachio Crusted Salmon
4 salmon filets, about 6-8 ounces each
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons chopped pistachios
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Place the salmon filets in a baking dish. Mix the olive oil, mustard and lemon peel together in a small bowl and spread this mixture evenly on top of the fish. Sprinkle with the nuts and season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish (the center should still be slightly under done). Makes 4 servings
Cooking with kids is a world of opportunities. Yes, yes, yes, we’ve all read about how it helps build creativity and teaches them the value of experimentation. How it helps teach basic math and measurement skills and maybe even encourages them to taste something new.
But it’s also a thrilling lesson in human dynamics for grownups.
Consider this photo of Lila and Nina, my two grand daughters, making cake batter with me. Do I need to tell anyone what’s going on here?
Who’s older? Who’s neater? Do they like what they’re tasting? Have they listened to their parents’ lesson about not eating from the same fork (spoon, spatula) as someone else?
It’s like when you read a book to a kid and not just read the words but also talk about the expressions on the characters’ faces.
As they say, a picture tells a thousand words.
They liked the cake. Yellow cake. Here’s the recipe.
Yellow Cake
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour (measure after sifting)
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 9-inch cake pans. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed, beat the butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat until thoroughly blended in. Combine the milk and vanilla extract. Using about 1/3 of the ingredients at a time, alternately add the flour mixture and milk mixture to the butter mixture, blending each addition in before adding the next batch. Spoon equal amounts of batter into the prepared pans. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cake rack to cool completely. Frost with your favorite frosting. Makes one cake, 2 layers.
If I could go anywhere today it would be to Saint Cupcake, which makes gorgeous looking cupcakes in all sorts of flavors that you just don’t see everywhere. Like the “Fat Elvis,” which is a banana-chocolate-chip poundcake bottom iced with salty-sweet peanut butter fudge and if that isn’t enough for you, they also garnish with a banana chip.
Or you can buy a Turtle cupcake with fudge and caramel and pecans on top of chocolate cake.
Of course there’s vanilla and chocolate and so on.
There’s stuff for vegans too: German chocolate cake, carrot cakes and others.
Unfortunately, the store is in Portland, Oregon, which is exactly 2992.51 miles from my house.
But I knew the owner, Jami Curl, would be the right person to contact when I needed a recipe for Red Velvet Cake, which she says is the bakery’s most popular cupcake for Valentine’s Day.
I “met” Jami on the internet, on Tumblr, and we became fast friends even though we are a continent apart and I am old enough to be her mother. Sometimes you just connect with people. You know you like them — to paraphrase a famous movie line, you know like you know a good melon. You like them based on what they say in their blogs. Besides baking all those delicious looking cupcakes, she seems like a down-to-earth person who enjoys her life and her work and reads a lot of interesting things that she posts about frequently.
Sure enough, she was generous enough to send me her recipe for Red Velvet Cake, which I am posting below.
If you’re lucky enough to live near Saint Cupcake, you can stop by to choose your favorite cupcake, icing and sprinkles (they ship stuff too). The bakery is expanding soon, so you Oregonians will be able to buy fresh baked goodies other than cupcakes. Take a look at the website to see the cupcake offerings at the moment: saintcupcake.com
But if you’re stuck on the other side of the earth and want to make some yummy Red Velvet Cupcakes (or one cake) for Valentine’s Day or any other time, here’s Jami’s recipe. She frosts Red Velvet either with a classic 7-minute frosting or cream cheese frosting:
Saint Cupcake Red Velvet Cake
2-1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder (natural or Dutch process)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 standard size muffin pans with baking cup liners
In a bowl, whisk together the cake flour, salt, cocoa and baking powder. In a pitcher, combine the buttermilk, food coloring and vanilla. In a stand mixer set to medium speed, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until fully incorporated — scraping down the sides and bottom of bowl after each addition. Add the flour mixture in portions — alternating with the buttermilk mixture — until just blended and smooth. In a cup combine the vinegar and the baking soda — allow to fizz — then fold into the batter by hand. Divide the batter among the muffin cups and place in the oven immediately. Bake for 15 minutes then check the cupcakes for doneness with a toothpick. If you have a few crumbs clinging to the toothpick, the cupcakes are done. If the toothpick is coated with batter, then the cupcakes need a few more minutes. Take care not to overbake, they will dry out very quickly. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then place them on cooling rack to cool completely before icing.
Love and pairing off doesn’t just apply to humans. There are some really good food marriages too, culinary matches made in heaven.
Who hasn’t heard of peanut butter and jelly, spaghetti and tomato sauce, ham and eggs?
As with people, sometimes the pair works well even though one of the partners is more dominant. Think cinnamon and sugar, or hot chocolate, which wouldn’t taste good at all without the gentle grace of a little vanilla. Or a robust English Stilton, tempered by a sweet, more docile pear.
But sometimes it’s better if the partners are more or less equal as they are with sausage and peppers or tomatoes and basil.
Opposites attract, as they do sometimes with people: strawberries (plump and sweet) and rhubarb (skinny and sour) or hot apple pie with cold ice cream a la mode.
But sometimes couples are more compatible if they are more alike: fish and chips (both crunchy) or prune and apricot pie, (both bold and intense).
And of course, some couples endure because they are just plain good for each other and with each other: beans and rice, lentils and bulgur, peanut butter and whole wheat bread.
One of my favorite food pairings is chocolate and orange. This quick and easy fondue recipe is so quick and easy you can make it today even if you haven’t planned ahead for Valentine’s Day.
Chocolate-Orange Fondue
10 ounces orange flavored bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons orange flavored brandy or liqueur
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
strawberries, pineapple chunks, banana pieces
doughnuts, cake, cookies, macaroons, etc.
Melt the chocolate and cream together in the top part of a double boiler set over barely simmering water. Stir until the mixture is smooth and uniform. Remove the top part of the pan from the heat. Stir in the brandy and extract. Spoon the mixture into a fireproof container set over a candle. (Or use a fondue pot). Use cut up fruit, doughnuts, cake etc. to dip into the chocolate. Makes 4-6 servings
Give me an R!
Give me an….oh, what the heck. Just tell us what you’re reading this week.
Reblog this post to join thousands of FridayReads participants worldwide and be entered to win bookish prizes.
#fridayreads I’m reading Nemesis by Philip Roth, a novel that takes place during a polio epidemic in 1944, with a world war raging at the same time. Poignant and wonderful. I remember summers in the 1950s, when I was a little girl, before the polio vaccine was widespread and available everywhere. Every time a kid got a headache our mothers would panic. I can still feel the fear. Bravo science, Salk and Sabin for saving so many millions of lives.
It finally dawned on me why my mother might have made toasted cheese sandwiches, not grilled cheese. I’m guessing it was because of rationing during World War II. There wasn’t a whole lot of butter to lavish on a sandwich, so she leaned to prepare the sandwich the way I described yesterday — slices of American cheese on top of white bread, toasted in the broiler.
To confirm my suspicions, I got out my handy 1942 antique version of The Good Housekeeping Cooking (complete with its “Wartime Supplement”) and sure enough, there are, on pages 524 and 525, recipes for “Toasted Sandwiches” and even “Toasted Cheese Sandwiches - New Style,” by which they mean a kind of Welsh Rabbit.
There are several variations on the standard Toasted Cheese, including a panfried version and also one for the broiler. Here are two. They’re from long ago but still sound good:
Toasted Cheese with Cream Cheese and Orange Marmalade
6 slices bread
cream cheese
1 tablespoon orange marmalade
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Spread the bread with the cream cheese, then the marmalade. Place on a rack and bake for 5 minutes “or until they have crusty toasty look on the underside.” Makes 6
Or this one (you can substitute soy bacon or tomato slices):
Toasted Cheese
bread slices (meaning white bread)
butter
American cheese
bacon (or use tomato slices)
Spread some butter on the bread slices. Cover with slices of American cheese. Lay 2 half slices of bacon top. Broil until cheese is melted and bacon is crisp, turning the bacon once.
I didn’t taste a real, authentic grilled cheese sandwich until I was grown up. It’s hard to believe when I think about it, but I was fully in college when a friend asked me over and said he’d make a grilled cheese sandwich for me.
I was shocked when he slathered a piece of bread with what seemed like a whole stick of soft butter, put another huge lump of butter in a frying pan and then layered some yellow American cheese between the buttered bread and a plain slice. He fried the sandwich in the pan, covered, plain side down first, until both sides were toasty and the cheese was melted and oozing out of the sides.
Well, at least he got the cheese right.
My mother had always made grilled cheese in a toaster oven. And, in the days before toaster ovens, in the broiler. She put several slices of American cheese on one slice of white bread — NO BUTTER —and toasted it (or broiled it) open-face until the cheese was hot and melty. Sometimes giant air bubbles grew on the top of the cheese and if she waited a moment or so too long, they would burn and blacken and then break so that there were crumbles of tiny ashen cheese where the bubble used to be. When she went fancy on us she’d put a slice of tomato on top of the cheese before she cooked the sandwich.
Despite the deliciousness of my friend’s recipe, I reverted to the familiar when I made grilled cheese for my kids. White bread, open-face and toasted. It took less time, less work and of course, no butter, which made it healthier and less caloric, although you really can’t brag about healthy when you are cooking with white bread and American cheese. Fact is, this is the way we liked it.
So, this is the way I make it for my grandkids. Except now I use multi-grain bread. Until recently, when my grand daughter Nina, age 3-1/2, started eating lunch at school, I would bring her a cut up grilled cheese sandwich for lunch on our weekly visit.
Last week my daughter Meredith made Nina a real grilled cheese sandwich. She buttered the bread and melted butter in the pan, put one slice of bread in, dry side down, added cheese to the center, and so on, until it came out classic grilled cheese.
Here’s the report from headquarters: “Nina was. Appalled. She kept saying in that sassy tone that I was supposed to use the toaster. Grandma uses the toaster!”
She also told her mother that Grandma was a “better cooker” and that “if you keep making grilled cheese in a pan I will have to tell grandma next time she is here.”
To everyone out there, whatever age you are — I wish you grandchildren so you can treasure comments like that one.
For everyone out there, whatever your age, try “grilled cheese” the way my mother made it. Or continue with the classic, diner-style stuff. Whatever. Grilled Cheese is one of our most beloved culinary staples.
But you might also want to go out on a limb with the simple concept of grilled cheese. There are other cheeses, other kinds of bread. The bread-cheese combo is endless. Anyone who reads this blog and who knows me also knows that I like to experiment with recipes. Even grilled cheese. Even toasted cheese. Here’s a version from my book, Hip Kosher.
Crisped Manchego Cheese Panini with Fig Jam
1 ciabatta or other crusty roll
1 tablespoon cream cheese
1-1/2 tablespoons fig jam
1 ounce Manchego (Gilboa) cheese, sliced
Slice the roll in half. Spread the bottom with the cream cheese first, then the jam. Top with the Manchego cheese slices. Cover with the other half of the roll. Preheat a non-stick saute pan or a cast iron skillet (or use a panini press if you have one) over medium heat. Place the sandwich in the pan, then place another pan on top and add a can of food or other weight to press the pan down firmly. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until the outside is crispy and the cheese has melted. Makes one sandwich