I’ve been cooking a lot from Lucinda Scala Quinn’s book Mad Hungry Cravings. In general, I love her food. However, I made two recipes together from this book on a recent night that I just could not get to work. I haven’t posted about a cooking disaster in a while, so I thought it was time to share my failings:)

The first was a grilled romaine salad. I’ve had this in restaurants and have been wanting to try it at home. Basically you cut a head of romaine in half and rub with olive oil and season with salt. You put it on a very hot grill and just char it a bit around the edges. Then drizzle lemon juice and place some shaved Parmesan on it and serve (anchovies optional). Sounds so easy, but mine was a mess. My lettuce fell apart and it sort of shriveled on the grill instead of charring in some places. I just couldn’t get it to work very well. I do like the charred flavor and the simple dressing, so I may try this one again.

The second one was Flautas. I’ve never had or heard of flautas, but Lucinda says they are a Mexican takeout specialty. They’re supposed to be thinly rolled little tortillas that are brown and crispy, as if deep fried. This sounded really good to me.

Lucinda says to use:
12 corn tortillas

6 oz Monterey Jack, grated

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 tsp coarse salt

Juice of 1/2 lime

1 tbsp oil

She says to preheat the oven to 425 and lay the tortillas on baking sheets, sprinkling the cheese on top. No problem. Bake them until the cheese melts – just a few minutes. Mix tomato, beans, lime juice and salt in a bowl. Spread this mix on the tortillas after the cheese is melted, and tightly roll them and place seam side down on a baking sheet. Brush with oil and bake 8 minutes until they are golden and crispy.

Nothing about this recipe worked for me. I couldn’t get them to roll – the tortillas kept cracking and ripping. They wouldn’t roll tightly at all. I couldn’t get them to sit on the baking sheet without unrolling. I baked for 8 minutes and they didn’t get crispy. I even went several minutes longer and they in no way resembled fried food. By the time I took this out of the oven I was so frustrated I was ready to pitch it out the window.

The family liked the way this tasted even if it didn’t look or behave like it was supposed to. I don’t think I’ll try this one again. It’s tortillas, beans, cheese, and tomato – not a lot going on here. I’m sure it is all my own ineptitude that made this a mess, so if it appeals to you, give it a try!

I’ve been cooking a lot from Lucinda Scala Quinn’s book Mad Hungry Cravings. In general, I love her food. However, I made two recipes together from this book on a recent night that I just could not get to work. I haven’t posted about a cooking disaster in a while, so I thought it was … Read more →

Thanks to Martha Stewart, I discovered Lucinda Scala Quinn. My blog began years ago as a one year experiment in which I unofficially apprenticed myself to Martha Stewart. I read her books, magazines, and watched her shows. Every single day I did a recipe or project from the land of Martha. It was insane, but I learned a lot (you can read about it here). Along the way, I became familiar with Martha’s peeps. She has a cast of experts that made frequent appearances on her shows and in her magazines. Lucinda Scala Quinn is an editor for MSLo (Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia) and regularly appeared on the Martha Stewart Show. She also has regular features in Martha Stewart Living Magazine. I’ve always appreciated her recipes and her approach to food. Lucinda is all about making really good food, but doing it without tons of fussing.

I bought her previous book, Mad Hungry, in which she offers the recipes used to feed her

crew of boys (3 sons and a husband). Although I have just one son, I really loved the book and a couple of the recipes from it have become part of my standard repertoire. Obviously I could not resist buying Mad Hungry Cravings, in which Lucinda offers recipes for making the foods you crave from take out at home. I sat down with the book and some post-its and marked plenty of pages.

I think the book is fantastic and it’s funny to see that she makes a lot of the same things at home that I make to avoid take out – fried rice, fried chicken, potato skins. What you must keep in mind when reading this though is that she lives in NYC. Every type of cuisine in the world is available for take out within blocks of her apartment. What she considers takeout, most of us would consider interesting and exotic food. So while there are lots of recipes that allow you to make your favorites at home, there are also recipes for things you’ve probably never had before also.

I tried out two recipes recently: Chicken and Chive Burgers and Italian Fries. The chicken and chive burgers were pretty basic chicken burgers (I don’t know ANYONE who gets chicken burgers as takeout, but whatever). They were good – I think the lemon juice is the secret – it did give it a very nice flavor. They were really gloppy though, so I stuck them in the freezer to give them some shape before I grilled them. I also dumped some chopped fresh parsley in them for a little more color.

The Italian Fries did not wow me. Lucinda talks about how this is a family favorite at her house and everyone goes nuts when they smell them. I’m confused by them. They’re like fries, but they aren’t really. And are you supposed to eat them plain or dip in ketchup? They have Italian herbs and cheese on them so it was hard to figure it out. I ended up dipping and the husband didn’t. They were crunchy, but not in a French fry way, more in an oven baked cheesy potato way. They were good, but they just weren’t fries to me.

That being said, there are lots of other recipes I will try from this book, like spinach zucchini lasagna, flautas, and chicken tikka masala.

Italian Fries

6-7 Idaho potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch thick French fry style strips, soaked in cold slated water

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon Italian herbs

2 cups grated Romano cheese

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

4 tablespoons butter cut into 6 cubes

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400.

Drain the potatoes and pat dry. Spread 1 tbsp olive oil on each of 2 baking sheets. Spread the potatoes on it.

Sprinkle the herbs and cheese over the potatoes. Drizzle remaining oil on top. Scatter the cubes of butter around the potatoes.

Bake 45-50 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, until the potatoes are brown.

 

Thanks to Martha Stewart, I discovered Lucinda Scala Quinn. My blog began years ago as a one year experiment in which I unofficially apprenticed myself to Martha Stewart. I read her books, magazines, and watched her shows. Every single day I did a recipe or project from the land of Martha. It was insane, but … Read more →

I was inspired by Lucinda Scala Quinn’s stuffed shells on Mad Hungry recently and wanted to try a version of her recipe. She uses prosciutto in hers, which intrigued me. I could only find large shells, not XL which was a bummer, but I made do. I also did not use radicchio since I don’t care for it. Instead I substituted spinach. I used jarred tomato sauce and cottage cheese instead of ricotta (what a cheat I am). I like some sauce on top of my shells so I poured some over the top before baking.

This was good, but I don’t think I would use the prosciutto again. It was interesting, but was kind of a smoky taste that I didn’t feel really went with the dish. I do like stuffed shells and I wish I could find the XL ones because stuffing all those little shells took me FOREVER!

I was inspired by Lucinda Scala Quinn’s stuffed shells on Mad Hungry recently and wanted to try a version of her recipe. She uses prosciutto in hers, which intrigued me. I could only find large shells, not XL which was a bummer, but I made do. I also did not use radicchio since I don’t … Read more →

I just had to put up a quick little post to say I watch Martha’s season opener today on Hallmark and I also watched Everyday Food (for the first time) and Lucinda (Mad Hungry). I hope you’ll share your thoughts on these with me – I would love to hear what you think.

As for Martha, first of all, I thought she looked fantastic. “Rested,” perhaps? That segment with the MTV guys was weird. It has nothing to do with Martha and it was awkward due to the time delay. Just awful. The interview with Jennifer and Alexis was awkward. Very stilted and strange. I haven’t watched their show yet (tonight maybe I will get to it) but it looks kind of odd. Jennifer has lost a ton a weight and looks fantastic. The questions from the audience were strange and the answers worse. They couldn’t name any of their upcoming guests? What did Martha think they did to prepare for the show? They seemingly had nothing to talk about. It was all just uncomfortable to watch. Jennifer tries to please Martha. Alexis remains aloof and snotty. Very weird TV.

I skipped the pet segment. The cookie segment with Sarah Carey and John Baricelli was also a little odd. All they did was dunk cookies in sugar – not a lot of baking there! The cookies sound good though and I may have to print out the recipe. I love Lucinda, but a quesadilla with bacon, cheese and peppers? Not exciting.

Onto Lucinda’s show, Mad Hungry. I’ve GOT to make those pork chops. And the potato wedges. And the cabbage. Sigh. I’ve got her cookbook and really liked it but haven’t tried these items. I was surprised her show was an hour – it seemed like a long time. Loved her set – it was very her. I may have to allow Teen Martha a peek at her son Calder who is quite cute! This is a show I will definitely tune into, although I do have a tendency to fast forward through the boring parts.

Everyday Food. This was my first time catching this. I was surprised that each segment was a different host. I kind of liked it for quick ideas but I don’t know if it is something I would sit down and watch on a regular basis. And when did Sarah Carey have long hair? It’s been short every time I’ve ever seen her.

So those are my impressions. What were yours?

Update: I watched Whatever. Not quite sure what to think. Jennifer seemed VERY nervous, but looked fantastic. The opener was a little awkward, but as always I enjoy hearing Alexis complain about Martha. The guest segments seemed really long. Are there fewer commercials on Hallmark? Paula Abdul was fun. Partially incoherent as usual. I would have liked to know more about what her new show really is about. The dance lesson was lame.  I fast forwarded through most of the guy who has had over 100 Internet dates. I just didn’t care! I liked the third guest, about the beauty products and am going to get her book. I will continue to tape this and watch it at least for now. I don’t quite ‘get’ how this is different from other talk shows yet, but maybe it will evolve.

I just had to put up a quick little post to say I watch Martha’s season opener today on Hallmark and I also watched Everyday Food (for the first time) and Lucinda (Mad Hungry). I hope you’ll share your thoughts on these with me – I would love to hear what you think. As for … Read more →

I’ve had a whole organic chicken in the freezer for a while and I finally decided to use it up for Sunday dinner. I came up a hybrid Martha/Lucinda Scala Quinn method for cooking it. I have Lucinda’s book, MadHungry (which is great) and have seen both her and Martha spatchcock (I know it sounds obscene!) a chicken on the Martha show (spatchcocking means you cut out the backbone and flatten the chicken to cook it – it cooks much faster this way). I combined this method with the idea in November Everyday Food to cook carrots and potatoes in the pan with chicken parts and with Lucinda’s pan sauce for her spatchcocked chicken in her book.

So, first I cut out the backbone and flattened the chicken. I put it insides down in a roasting pan and surrounded it with carrots and baby red potatoes. I seasoned the chicken with rosemary, salt and pepper and some roast chicken seasoning I got from my mom. I put the salt and pepper and rosemary on the veggies, as well as some olive oil and roasted it all in a 400 degree oven for about 45  minutes (until the chicken was 165). I removed the chicken and carrots and stuck the roasting pan on a burner with the potatoes still in it – I wanted them a little crispier. When they were done, I removed them and added a few tablespoons of olive oil, 2 chopped cloves of garlic and 2 tbsp lemon juice to the pan. I cooked it long enough to soften the garlic then served it.

This was AMAZING. First of all, it’s so much faster than a regular roast chicken and feels less fussy. The pan sauce was fabulous and so incredibly simple -something about the lemon and garlic is just to die for. We ate the sauce on both the chicken and on the potatoes. It was perfect. I highly recommend this dinner!!!

I’ve had a whole organic chicken in the freezer for a while and I finally decided to use it up for Sunday dinner. I came up a hybrid Martha/Lucinda Scala Quinn method for cooking it. I have Lucinda’s book, MadHungry (which is great) and have seen both her and Martha spatchcock (I know it sounds … Read more →

On a recent episode, Lucinda Scala Quinn demonstrated some of the fish recipes from April Martha Stewart Living. Now, I have professed my love for Lucinda before and I must say she has not disappointed me this time.

I decided to make Slow-Roasted Salmon.  Salmon is one of my go-to meals and I prefer to use wild salmon, but it’s out of season, so I had to settle for farmed salmon. When I make salmon I often grill it and serve it with lemon and dill. Sometimes I will oven roast it. Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, has a fab recipe for asian salmon that is to die for.

Lucinda’s recipe is super simple. You mix up some chopped tomato, chopped orange and chili paste (the only chili paste I could find was a sweet and sour Thai version – but that worked for me since I don’t like hot spicy things too much). You slit your salmon filets and sort of stuff them with the mixture, then the directions say to roast at 250 for 25 minutes.  At 25 min mine was still raw, so I cranked on convection and put it up to 400 and finished it off quickly.

This tasted terrific. I loved the citrus flavor and the chili paste gave it a little zing, but not too much for me. It was simply beautiful looking. I’ll definitely make this again. Points for Lucinda.

On a recent episode, Lucinda Scala Quinn demonstrated some of the fish recipes from April Martha Stewart Living. Now, I have professed my love for Lucinda before and I must say she has not disappointed me this time. I decided to make Slow-Roasted Salmon.  Salmon is one of my go-to meals and I prefer to … Read more →