Thanks Pru at Perfecting Pru for next week’s pick: Roasted Fall Vegetable Soup. It should be a great choice as fall moves in.

Thanks Pru at Perfecting Pru for next week’s pick: Roasted Fall Vegetable Soup. It should be a great choice as fall moves in.

Thanks to Sara at Sassy Suppers for today’s pick, marinated steak from Sept Living. This is a Lucinda recipe (I heart Lucinda – her new show on Hallmark starts today; I will be tuning in!). The article offered two marinades – Mediterranean or Latin. I made the Mediterranean. The idea behind this is to buy an inexpensive cut of meat (I bought flank) and marinate it to tenderize it. I love the idea of this, but have to tell you I have a bad memory of this! We had dinner with some people once years ago and the wife told me she did just this – however she marinated her steak in a wooden bowl. She showed me the bowl and it was old and worn – not even sealed with anything. Eeek. I had a few nibbles, but was terrified of food poisoning, so I didn’t eat much and whenever I think of marinating flank steak, I think of her and wonder that she is still alive.

I got past that bad memory and trusted Lucinda (and used a glass dish for mine). The marinade was very easy – 4 smashed garlic cloves, olive oil, rosemary, vinegar and salt and pepper and a tsp of sugar. That’s it. I marinated my steak for about 10 hours. Then I grilled it.It grilled quickly too since it was so thin. Lucinda said about 4 minutes a side and that was exactly right (I appreciated that direction because I am usually at the grill with a knife, trying to peek inside meat to see if it’s cooked).

This turned out perfectly. The steak was not tough and the marinade gave it a great flavor. I had leftovers, so I used them to make little philly steak sandwiches with some onions and cheese the next day. Yummy. I still love filet, but Lucinda has convinced me flank steak is doable.

Thanks to Sara at Sassy Suppers for today’s pick, marinated steak from Sept Living. This is a Lucinda recipe (I heart Lucinda – her new show on Hallmark starts today; I will be tuning in!). The article offered two marinades – Mediterranean or Latin. I made the Mediterranean. The idea behind this is to buy … Read more →

Martha's Salad

There used to be a restaurant on Canandaigua Lake that we went to every summer, called the Pan-Tree Inn. They had the best sweet rolls, chicken pot pie, and an amazing three bean salad. It closed though, and I was forced to try to replicate the bean salad and did so pretty successfully. I was willing to put Martha’s to the test (from Sept Everyday Food)to see if hers was better. I thought the addition of fresh green beans might improve it.
Martha’s recipe:
1/2 lb green beans, cut in half and blanched
1 can kidney beans
1 can garbanzo beans
2 tbsp cider vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh oregano
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 tsp grainy mustard

Fail. Sorry. This was ok, but I did not like the texture of crunchy green beans with canned kidney and garbanzo. Here’s the recipe I came up with that replicated the restaurant one I loved:

Pan-Tree Inn Three Bean Salad

1  16 oz can green beans, drained

1 16 oz can yellow beans, drained

1 16 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup thinly sliced onion rings

1 red bell pepper, chopped

2 tbsp parsley, chopped

1/3 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Mix beans, onion, red pepper and parsley. Mix vinegar, sugar, oil, salt and pepper in a saucepan and heat to a boil. Pour over bean mix. Store in the refrigerator.

There used to be a restaurant on Canandaigua Lake that we went to every summer, called the Pan-Tree Inn. They had the best sweet rolls, chicken pot pie, and an amazing three bean salad. It closed though, and I was forced to try to replicate the bean salad and did so pretty successfully. I was … Read more →

My parents had a friend named Gary with whom they had many food adventures. Gary spent a lot of time at our house after the death of his partner and then he eventually moved to New Orleans where he opened a small cafe on Royal St. We visited him there twice and one of his house specials was Cornish pasties, which he filled with meat, vegetables, and small pieces of potato. They were delicious and I can still remember the tender, flaky outer dough, combined with the warm, moist filling. Stupendous. Gary passed away from HIV/AIDS many years ago, but I still think of him and his little cafe.

With that in mind, I was ready to try Chicken and Sweet Potato Hand Pies. You can find this one in Sept Everyday Food. This was an easy recipe.  But I didn’t like it ! Use one sheet of puff pastry and roll out to 12×12. Cut into 4 square. Mix 2 cups mashed sweet potato with 2 cups cooked chicken and add1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/4 tsp cumin and 1/4 tsp coriander. Fill the pockets and fold into triangles. Brush with egg wash. Bake at 400 30 minutes.

They looked nice, but I did not like them at all. I even added in some leftover broccoli to give some color. In general I am not a fan of potato surrounded by breading and this was just all potato. I don’t like potato knishes or potato pierogi, so I guess I should have known better. This would be good with another filling, so it is just my peculiar tastes that give this one a thumbs down. It turned out nicely and if you don’t mind lots of potato in puff pastry, you would like this.

My parents had a friend named Gary with whom they had many food adventures. Gary spent a lot of time at our house after the death of his partner and then he eventually moved to New Orleans where he opened a small cafe on Royal St. We visited him there twice and one of his … Read more →

Thanks to Sara at Sassy Suppers for our next project – the steak marinades on page 76 and 78 of Sept Living. There are two to pick from – Mediterranean and Latin so you can choose which you’d like to try. And if you need the recipe, let me know (leave a comment or email me).

Thanks to Sara at Sassy Suppers for our next project – the steak marinades on page 76 and 78 of Sept Living. There are two to pick from – Mediterranean and Latin so you can choose which you’d like to try. And if you need the recipe, let me know (leave a comment or email … Read more →

I’ve never made panna cotta before, so thanks Megan at Megan’s Cookin’ for picking this week’s choice!

This was surprisingly easy to make. Essentially you’re just heating up milk and cream and softening the gelatin, then mixing together. It really was amazingly easy. The sauce was simple too. The only tricky part was getting them to come out of the molds, which took a lot of dunking in hot water. But they all did eventually come out and they looked cute.

It tastes kind of like a pudding. I wasn’t a big fan, but I’m not big on plain vanilla things. Mr. MarthaAndMe and Teen Martha really liked this a lot. Dude Martha did not care for it – he doesn’t like gelatin-y things. I would call this a success. Simple, tasty and pretty. Very nice! I can’t wait to hear how others made out with this one.

I’ve never made panna cotta before, so thanks Megan at Megan’s Cookin’ for picking this week’s choice! This was surprisingly easy to make. Essentially you’re just heating up milk and cream and softening the gelatin, then mixing together. It really was amazingly easy. The sauce was simple too. The only tricky part was getting them … Read more →

I love Pepperidge Farm Mint Milano cookies. They are soft and sandy, with a lovely chocolate mint center. They are heaven if kept in the freezer. I had to try Martha’s version, which is called Mint-Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, in the Sept issue of Everyday Food.

I’m still heartbroken over this one. The trouble started with the dough (1 1/4 c flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 stick butter, 2/3 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 egg). You’re supposed to use a pastry bag to get it on the sheets. I actually got mine out this time and loaded it (usually I am a pastry bag-phobe). It didn’t work. The dough was so crumbly and dense, that it just sat in there like cement. I tried a baggie (the alternate method) and this blew a hole out the side of the bag. I gave up and rolled this into balls and flattened it on the sheets. I knew then I was in trouble – there was no chance it would have the right texture. Chill the dough, check. Bake for 15 min. Not quite! Mine took much longer.

Then make the filling. Melt 4 oz semisweet chocolate in one bowl. In another mix 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp peppermint extract, and 4 tsp water. Cool the cookies and put one filling on one half and the other on the other half and stick it together. Mine proceeded to slide apart. So I let the two halves sit a while until the fillings firmed up, then stuck them together. It worked.

These, however, were horrible. Hockey puck tough. The mint was so minty and strong it gave me heartburn. Into the trash they went. Total, unmitigated disaster. And now I’ll have to buy a bag of Mint Milanos to console myself. Well, things could be worse I suppose:)

I love Pepperidge Farm Mint Milano cookies. They are soft and sandy, with a lovely chocolate mint center. They are heaven if kept in the freezer. I had to try Martha’s version, which is called Mint-Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, in the Sept issue of Everyday Food. I’m still heartbroken over this one. The trouble started with … Read more →

Oh, Martha. I should know better. The word “simple” is rarely used appropriately in your magazines. I was sucked in at the idea of “simple” gnocchi. I made gnocchi once a few years ago, for a family party. It took forever, and I wasn’t happy with it. Why did I think this would be different?

It was a crummy day here in Marthaland to begin with. The rider mower was broken again, so Mr. MarthaAndMe was push mowing the lawn, something that makes him (and thus everyone else) cranky. I was coming down with a cold. Teen Martha was in that icky weekend before school starts place. There wasn’t a good vibe to be found in the house. That didn’t stop me though. Gnocchi, why everyone loves gnocchi, I thought. Someone has got to stop me in the future.

It started out simply enough – cook 2 1/2 lb potatoes then peel the skins off and put through a ricer. I don’t have a ricer, so I googled what to do and it just said to mash with a masher then whisk. The whisking part did not work (it all got stuck in the whisk). Cool, then add salt, 1 and 3/4 cup flour and 1 egg. Knead until smooth but not elastic. This actually worked pretty well. Then you’re supposed to cut into 8 pieces and roll each out to a 24 inch long rope. I did this. Then cut it into 1/2 inch pieces. This was harder since the dough was kind of sticky when cut. Then roll it down the back of a fork. Ha! This didn’t work. It would stick to the fork, become odd-shaped, or get no indent at all. Flouring the fork helped, but did not solve it. Drop in boiling water and cook until they float. I did that too.

Making all of them took quite a while and the next morning I had weird muscle soreness in the backs of my arms from this.

I made a sauce of bacon, drippings, salt, pepper, 6 scallions, some Italian herbs and lots of parmesan cheese.

There was just one problem. The gnocchi were really soft. Mushy really. I tried browning them a bit and that made no difference. I usually buy my gnocchi frozen and boil them and they are slightly chewy, which is a texture I really like. I couldn’t get past the mushiness of these. And they didn’t taste any better or different than the ones I buy frozen. So, I vow never to make my own again. It took all afternoon and just made me cranky.

Oh, Martha. I should know better. The word “simple” is rarely used appropriately in your magazines. I was sucked in at the idea of “simple” gnocchi. I made gnocchi once a few years ago, for a family party. It took forever, and I wasn’t happy with it. Why did I think this would be different? … Read more →

Emeril has a recipe for turkey meatloaf in Sept Everyday Food. I haven’t had a lot of success with other people’s meatloaf recipes. I tend to like it the way I make it, but I have to say, Emeril won me over with this one!

1 tsp veg oil
4 oz turkey bacon, chopped
1/2 yellow onion
1 small green pepper,chopped
salt and pepper
1 garlic clove, minced,
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 lb ground turkey
1 1/4 cups chili sauce (sweet) or ketchup

As usual, I cheated a little since I didn’t have evaporated milk, so I just used milk. I also don’t like chili sauce so I used sweet and sour sauce.
You cook the onion and pepper then add garlic. Mix with all other ingredients, using only 2 tbsp of the chili sauce in the mix, placing the rest on top. Bake at 350 for an hour and 10 minutes.

I really liked the oats in it and the sweet and sour sauce was fantastic. The meatloaf was dense and moist and very flavorful. This is definitely a winner. It is falling apart in the photo, but it tastes terrific. It’s even better the next day.

Emeril has a recipe for turkey meatloaf in Sept Everyday Food. I haven’t had a lot of success with other people’s meatloaf recipes. I tend to like it the way I make it, but I have to say, Emeril won me over with this one! 1 tsp veg oil 4 oz turkey bacon, chopped 1/2 … Read more →

The project for next Monday is panna cotta chosen by Megan at Megan’s Cookin’.  Thanks, Megan.

The project for next Monday is panna cotta chosen by Megan at Megan’s Cookin’.  Thanks, Megan.