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 →