Lidia Bastianich in Stamford

I hear it’s gonna snow in Connecticut tomorrow. Maybe 7 inches or more. So of course the stores will be crazy today with people buying milk and rock salt and batteries.

But we here in the Northeast are used to ice and snow and hurricanes and what have you. We are sturdy people, people!

So, for you sturdy Nutmeggers: tomorrow, I think snow or no, Lidia Bastianich will be in Stamford, at Fairway from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. She’ll be signing copies of her new book, Lidia’s Commonsense Italian Cooking. You can also taste some of her pastas and sauces while you’re there.

Fairway’s at 699 Canal Street

Beef Pot Pie

Just because I’m a food writer it doesn’t mean everything I cook is either fancy or comes out tasting delicious. The other night, for example, I made a chuck roast and it was terrible. It was tough and I didn’t particularly like the seasonings I had tried.

But there I was stuck with it. I wasn’t about to throw out 3 pounds of meat.

So I cut some of it up and cooked it into a beef pot pie. Easy and simple enough. I made a fairly standard recipe but I included a small amount of beef bacon which really amplified the flavor.

Ed declared it “great” and had thirds. 

BEEF POT PIE

3 carrots, sliced about 1/2-inch thick

2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into bite size pieces

2 ounces beef bacon

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups beef, chicken or vegetable stock

3 cups cooked, cut up beef

1 cup frozen peas

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

frozen puff pastry

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the carrots and potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Drain and set the vegetables aside. Cook the bacon in a large saute pan over medium heat for about 2 minutes or until the pieces are beginning to crisp. Pour in the olive oil. Add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes or until tender and beginning to brown. Add the flour, mix it in and cook for 1-2 minutes. Gradually pour in the stock, stirring constantly until the liquid is smooth and the sauce has thickened. Stir in the carrots and potatoes, the beef, peas and parsley and mix to distribute the ingredients evenly. Spoon the contents of the pan into a baking dish. Cover with puff pastry. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Makes 4-6 servings

Stuffed Mushrooms

Take a look through magazines and on-line recipe sites and, if it’s hors d’oeuvre recipes you’re looking for, I think you’ll find a lot of fancy stuff that may have names like “kale toasts with scallop sushi and sea urchin foam.” And recipes for beautiful hors d’oeuvre that you admire but will probably never make and even if you do it won’t look like the photo.

Mine don’t anyway.

Besides, after years and years of observing folks at parties, I’ve realized that a majority of people seem to like the classics. The oldies but goodies. The easy stuff. The comforting kind of hors d’oeuvre. The ones that aren’t so gorgeous you’re afraid to eat them.

That taste terrific.

Like Franks-in-blankets and Spanakopitas.

And Stuffed Mushrooms.

Try these for your next party. They’re easy, they’re good, they won’t intimidate your guests and you can make them a day or so in advance.

Stuffed Mushrooms

14-16 large white mushrooms

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 ounces sweet Italian-style sausage meat, finely chopped

2 scallions, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs

1 teaspoon thyme leaves

1/4 cup vegetable stock

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Rinse and dry the mushrooms. Remove the stems, chop them, and set them aside. Brush the outside of the caps with one tablespoon of the olive oil. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the scallions, garlic and chopped mushroom stems. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the meat is well browned. Add the bread crumbs and thyme and mix the ingredients thoroughly. Pour in the stock and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon equal amounts of the mixture inside the mushroom caps. Mix ingredients well and use the mixture to stuff each mushroom cap. Place the filled caps on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until hot and crispy.

Makes 14-16 

Baked Stuffed Pears

We finished all the baked apples I made the other day. And not only did I miss having one for dessert last night, I missed the sugary floral fragrance of baking fruit.

Unfortunately I didn’t have an apple left.

But — pears do just as well.

Like these:

BAKED STUFFED PEARS

6 firm pears

1/2 lemon

2/3 cup chopped almonds

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons softened butter, maragrine or coconut oil

2 tablespoons raisins or currants

1-1/2 tablespoons dark rum

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup water

ice cream, sorbet or sweetened mascarpone cheese, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel, halve and core the pears. Rub the surfaces with the cut side of the lemon. Place the halves in a baking dish, cut side up. In a small bowl, combine the almonds, sugar, butter, raisins, rum, vanilla and almond extracts and mix ingredients until they are evenly distributed. Place equal amounts of the stuffing into the core of each pear. Add the water to the dish. Cover and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove the cover, baste 2-3 times and continue to bake for another 10 minutes, or until tender, basting occasionally. Serve plain or with ice cream or sweetened mascarpone cheese. 

Makes 6 servings. 

Brown Sugar and Tangerine Baked Apples

On the first day of Hanukkah:

16 yellow bananas

10 golden pears

9 assorted apples

8 oranges and tangerines

6 ripe mangoes

4 quarts of strawberries

4 jewel-green kiwi

2 bunches of grapes

2 pecks of apples

1 large pineapple

is what I had in my house when the family came for the Thanksgiving-Hanukkah long weekend.

No partridge in a pear tree. But there was also a carton of kumquats for cooking not for eating out of hand.

Here’s what was left: 4 Cortland apples.

Here’s what I did with them: Brown Sugar and Tangerine Baked Apples.

Okay, I confess there was also one banana and a few grapes left.

Brown Sugar and Tangerine Baked Apples

4 large baking apples

half a lemon

3 tablespoons raisins

3 tablespoons dried cranberries

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 cup tangerine juice

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash the apples and remove the core with an apple corer or small knife, leaving about 1/2” of the core on the bottom. Peel the apples halfway down from the top and rub the peeled surfaces with the cut side of the lemon. Put the apples in a baking dish.  Mix the raisins, cranberries, brown sugar and cinnamon. Stuff this mixture into the apple hollows. Dot the tops of the apples with the coconut oil. Pour the juice in the pan around the apples. Bake for about 45 minutes, basting occasionally with the pan juices, or until the apples are tender. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 4 servings

Three Ingredient Sweet Potato Casserole

Need a last minute Thanksgiving or Thanksgivvukah dish? Try this sweet potato recipe. It has three ingredients (plus salt if you wish). Its other virtue is that it is barely sweetened, because I think sweet potatoes are so naturally sugary they don’t need much more.

You can make this ahead and reheat it. Even put marshmallows on top (a few minutes before serving, and after the casserole is already hot).

I use Sarabeth’s Orange-Apricot Marmalade. But you can use either plain orange marmalade or apricot jam (or mix the two).

Three Ingredient Sweet Potato Casserole

• 4 medium sweet potatoes

• 3 tablespoons orange-apricot marmalade

• 2 tablespoons Earth Balance Buttery Spread, margarine or butter

• salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Scrub the sweet potatoes, prick them with the tip of a sharp knife and roast them for about one hour or until tender. When cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh into a bowl (discard the skin or eat separately). Add the marmalade and Earth Balance and mash until smooth. Season to taste with salt.

Makes 4-6 servings 

Dairy-free Pumpkin Pie

Every family has its own particular cast of characters. You know, the people comedians joke about when they say “wow, can you imagine what it’s like at their Thanksgiving dinner?” 

Well, we have ours too, although not along the lines the jokes are about. Our family loves getting together, we enjoy each other’s company, mostly think along the same lines socially and politically, think its okay for a few of us to go into a different room to watch football and generally consider it a very good, festive day.

Our cast of characters has to do with the food. There are kosher, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarians and nut-free among us.

That could make planning dinner a challenge for some, but I love figuring out solutions to all of these culinary matters.

Here’s my answer to the dairy-free thing: Coconut Milk Pumpkin Pie. The crust is not gluten free, but if you need one, try this. 

Dairy-free Pumpkin Pie

1-3/4 cups mashed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix) (one 15 ounce can)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

1-1/2 cups coconut milk

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 9-inch unbaked dairy-free pie crust

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Beat the pumpkin, sugar and brown sugar with a whisk or electric beater set at medium for a minute or until well blended. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the coconut milk until well blended. Add the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt and beat ingredients for a minute or until well blended. Pour into the pie crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 45 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Makes one pie serving 8 people

Dairy-free Pie Crust

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

8 tablespoons cold Earth Balance Buttery Spread

4 tablespoons cold shortening

4-5 tablespoons water or juice, approximately          

Combine the flour, salt and lemon peel, if used, in a large bowl. Cut the Spread and shortening into chunks and add to the flour mixture. Work the fat into the flour mixture using your fingers or a pastry blender until the ingredients resemble crumbs. (If using a food processor, give the ingredients several quick, short pulses, until the mixture resembles coarse meal.) Add the liquid, using only enough to gather pastry into a ball of dough. Cut the dough in half and flatten each half to make a disk shape. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it stand at least 30 minutes. Makes enough for a one crust pie or two bottom crust only pies

Gluten Free Cranberry-Orange Noodle Kugel

I’ve been experimenting with gluten-free pasta recently, with mixed results. Some of these pasta products get gummy, some never become tender. If you go gluten-free, I suppose, it’s like anything else — you get used to it NOT being exactly like the product that isn’t gluten-free. Wheat-based pasta doesn’t taste or cook like corn or rice pasta, that’s all there is to it.

But if you’re on a gluten-free diet or you’re cooking for someone who is, you go with the flow, as they say. 

And so, here’s a recipe for gluten-free corn noodle kugel for Hanukkah, a holiday when kugels are on the menu (actually is there ever a time when a kugel would not be welcome?).

I used Sam Mills Pasta D’Oro Gluten Free Lasagne Corte*, which, by the way, is on the relatively inexpensive side for a gluten-free product.

*I did not get paid by this manufacturer nor did I receive a free sample. It’s just a great product, so I am recommending it to you.

Gluten Free Cranberry-Orange Noodle Kugel

1 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup orange juice

8 ounces cream cheese

4 ounces butter

1/3 cup sugar

1-1/2 cups sour cream

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons grated orange rind

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 pound Sam Mills Pasta D’Oro Gluten Free Lasagne Corte

Place cranberries in a bowl, pour the orange juice on top and let soak for at least 30 minutes. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9”x13” baking dish. In an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until thoroughly blended and softened. Beat in the sugar until well blended. Add the sour cream and blend thoroughly. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in the cinnamon, orange rind and salt. Set the mixture aside. Cook the pasta, drain the noodles and place them in a large bowl. Spoon the cheese mixture over the noodles. Add the cranberries and any remaining juice. Gently mix the ingredients. Place the mixture in the prepared baking dish. Bake for about 50-60 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. Makes 12 servings

Grilled Cheese and Cranberry Sauce Panini

Every year, on Thanksgiving, I make a roasted turkey. 

Every year, on Hanukkah, I make a roasted goose.

This year, Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah are on the same day.

So, what to do? Turkey or goose?

I thought about turducken but that’s a chicken stuffed into a duck stuffed into a turkey. No goose. Even if it included goose, turducken isn’t my thing. Too much work and the chicken and duck inside is steamed, not roasted.

Not for me.

I could make goose the night before, on the first night of Hanukkah, but that’s always the latke fest and to eat potato latkes without sour cream is unthinkable.

So, I’m in a quandary.

If anyone would like to voice an opinion, I’m all ears.

Actually, Hanukkah lasts for 8 days. AND, it’s a holiday featuring food with dairy, especially cheese. AND everyone loves grilled cheese. AND there are always leftovers of everything.

So, during the long holiday weekend when the entire clan is here, we are sure to be eating one of these Grilled Cheese and Cranberry Paninis.

Grilled Cheese and Cranberry Sauce Panini 

2 slices rye bread

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon orange marmalade

1 ounce slices Muenster, cheddar, Manchego or fontina cheese

1/4 cup cranberry sauce

Spread one slice of the bread with a half tablespoon of the butter. Spread the other slice of bread with the marmalade. Place the cheese and cranberry sauce on top of one of the bread slices, then cover the sandwich with the other slice. Melt half the remaining butter in a saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, place the sandwich in the pan. Place another, heavier pan on top. Cook for about 2 minutes. Remove the heavier pan, lift the sandwich with a spatula and add the remaining butter to the pan. When the butter has melted, turn the sandwich on the uncooked side, weight down with the heavier pan and cook for another minute or so or until second side is golden brown. Makes 1 serving

Turkey Breast, Southwest Style

Some things never change. I’m thinking petty political squabbles over nonsense.

Like the one I wrote about last week, about when President Franklin Roosevelt, at the behest of business leaders who wanted more Christmas holiday shopping days to pump up business during the Depression, changed the date Thanksgiving was celebrated from the last Thursday in November, to the 4th Thursday in November. That was in 1939.

What I didn’t mention last week, was that this caused such a squall in Republican circles that for years, in several states, Republican governors refused to comply with a Democratic president’s plan and celebrated Thanksgiving, as had been usual, on the last Thursday.

For years there were two Thanksgivings: Republican and Democrat.

Even after a joint resolution in Congress (in December 1941, the country now at war) setting the official date of Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday in November, some states refused to comply. For years.

It wasn’t until 1957 that every state celebrated Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday.

The last holdout was Texas.

Somehow I wasn’t surprised to read that.

Here’s to you America. I am thankful and happy to celebrate Thanksgiving with everyone else on November 28th, the fourth Thursday.

Here’s to you Texas: United we stand! In your honor, here’s a recipe for Southwest style turkey breast for those who don’t want to roast a whole turkey on Thanksgiving or any other time. If you do, double the seasonings and juice.

Turkey Breast, Southwest Style

1 half turkey breast about 3 pounds

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, mashed

2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup apricot or orange juice

salt if desired

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rinse and dry the turkey and place it skin side up in a roasting pan. Combine the olive oil, garlic, oregano, chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper and brush the turkey with this mixture. Sprinkle with salt if desired. Place the turkey in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350 degrees. Roast for 20 minutes. Pour the juice over the turkey. Roast for another 40-65 minutes, basting occasionally, or until a meat thermometer stuck into the thickest part of the breast reads 160 degrees. Remove the turkey from the oven and let rest for about 15 minutes before carving. Makes 4 servings.