Movies

Food isn't featured as often in movies as sex, but screen meals leading up to or following it are often more memorable.  One unforgettable scene centers on Albert Finney and Joyce Redman gluttonously devouring a chicken and soon each other in Tom Jones.  Another is the more decorous Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief, with white gloves and carrying her chicken n a picnic basket.  "Breast or leg?" she said sweetly.

Movies with food as a theme have been made around the globe: The  Baker's Wife from France, Babett's Feast from Denmark, Tampopo from Japan, Like Water for Chocolate from Mexico, Monsoon Wedding from India, La grande bouffe from France/Italy, Life is Sweet from Great Britain, and Eat Drink Man Woman from Taiwan.  American contributions to the field run the gamut from Diner and Big Night in which there's a lot of action, to My Dinner with Andre and The Big Chill, in which talk at the table is the main thing going on, or nearly.  And who is able to leave The Godfather without the desire to go get some pasta-perhaps because of the length.

Taken from Life Is Meals by James & Kay Salter.

Now a recipe.  This is not a book sold on Amazon, because it doesn't have and ISBN number that is required.  This is one of those books you see with the spiral plastic spine.  Favorite Recipes from the American Rose Society Members of Shreveport, LA probably printed in the 60's .  This will sell for $7.99, but if you are interested in purchasing this, please send me an email and we will see what we can do.

There are hundreds of recipes in here and the closest thing I could find to Cajun or Southern was this:

Chattanooga Cheese Grits

4 cups water

1 tsp salt

1 cup hominy grits

1 stick butter

4 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup grated cheese

Add salt to water, bring to a brisk boil.  Add grits slowly.  Cover and cook slowly for 1 hour or until grits are soft, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat, stir in butter and milk.  Cool to lukewarm, beat eggs in and our into greased 2 quart casserole.  Bake at 350F for 1 hour or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Ten minutes before dish is done, sprinkle cheese on top and bake until golden brown.

Serves 6 or more as a side dish.

And of course, I have another 1400 books available for sale on my Amazon storefront, www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks.

Happy Cooking!

Popcorn Trivia

Please note that I am getting ready for my cruise, working nonstop and my Amazon account is not"live" at this time.

By the time Europeans arrived in the New World, more than 700 varieties of popcorn were grown by Native American tribes in both Americas.  Clay or metal cooking vessels were sometimes used-the Chicago Natural History Museum has a number of pre-Incan 1,500-year-old popcorn poppers.

During expeditions in 1948, ears of popcorn up to 2 inches long were found in Bat Cave in west central New Mexico.  The tiny ears have been identified by radio-carbon tests to be about 5,600 years old. 

Popcorn comes in the common colors of yellow and white kernels, but you can also find it in purple, rusty red and black/blue, but when popped it is still only yellow or white.

Popcorn is only a skinny 27 calories per cup and endorsed by the American Cancer Society and the American Dental Association as a wholesome snack.

You can findbook on my Amazon storefront www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks for $12.99.

This recipe for Caramel Fudge Popcorn, sounded too good to be true, so I had to try it.  Mmm.

Caramel Fudge Popcorn

1 14 oz package light caramel candies

2 tbsp heavy cream

3 quarts popped corn

1 6 oz pkg semisweet chocolate chips

In a 3-quart microwave-safe casserole, combine caramel squares and heavy cream.  Cover with lid or plastic wrap.  Microwave on high for 3 minutes, stirring after every minute, until mixture comes to a boil.

Pour caramel sauce over popcorn, stirring to coat evenly.  Quickly stir in chocolate chips.  Transfer mixture to a large sheet of aluminum foil.  When cool, break into small clusters.  Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Happy Cooking!

Columbus

Eighty-eight men under Christopher Columbus set sail on August 3, 1492 from Spain aboard the Nina, the Pinta, and the flagship Santa Maria on a voyage intended to prove a radical notion, that the earth is round.  They sailed with enough food on board to last for a year.  The wooden casks that held it, however expanded and contracted in the sea air, allowing the brine that preserved the meats to leak out and dampness to invade and mold the dry supplies, including rice, beans, flour, and hard biscuits.  The spoiling meat and any fish that were caught were cooked on deck over a fire built of sand, then served in a communal bowl.  There was also salt cod, anchovies, almonds, raisins, molasses, honey, olives, and olive oil on board, along with a strong red wine.

It had been thirty-four days since they had stopped at the Canary Islands for fresh water, and the men were close to mutiny, fearing their captain was mistaken-that the world was, indeed, flat and that they were nearing the edge.  Columbus persuaded them to persevere for three more days, and on the very next October 11, they spotted land.

Taken from an excerpt from "Life is Meals" by James and Kay Salter

My cookbook featured today is "Pot on the Fire" by John Thorne with Matt Lewis Thorne.  This is the latest in the collection from John Thorne.  It celebrates a lifelong engagement with the elements of cooking, and with elemental cooking from cioppino to kedgeree.  From nineteenth century famine-struck Ireland to the India of the British Raj, from the Tuscan bean pot to the venerable American griddle.  An intrepid traveller who shares his experiences travelling, as well as the recipes of his travels. 

Reading about others' journeys, makes me long for my own travel adventures .  My next personal adventure will be a two-weeks transatlantic cruise April 13th from Ft. Lauderdale to Rome. Romance on the high seas?  Murder, Mayhem?  We'll just have to wait and see.

Tapenade
The Provencal shepherd or field hand might not have had a flask of olive oil with which to anoit hiss grilled slice, but he could rub it with olives and sprinkle it with bits of fresh herb.  To my mind (the author's), the best tapenade still has the feel of that olive-rubbed crust.  To make it prepare anchoiade (see below), but omit the vinegar, and mix into a large quantity of coarsely chopped black brine-cured olives, a much smaller amount of minced capers and garlic and a pinch of crumbled herbes de provence. It is all the better when made with two or three different types of cured olive.

Anchoiade

For each serving, you rinse and remove the the backbone from 1 or 2 salted anchovies and set these in a small skillet, pour over some olive oil and a touch of wine vinegar, and, on the lowest possible heat, allow everything to gently meld into a sauce.

This cookbook can be found on my Amazon storefront at www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks for $19.99

Happy Cooking!

Stalking the Wild Asparagus

When I first heard the name of this book "Stalking the Wild Asparagus" by Euell Gibbons, I thought how many ways can you cook asparagus, but okay, a new kind of cookbook.  When I looked at this book further, I found that it's so much more.  It is a book on recognition, gathering, preparation and use of the natural health foods that grow wild all around us. This book has detailed recipes for turning ordinary wild fruits and vegetables into tasty dishes that would grace any table.  This book sells on my Amazon storefront www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks for $19.99.

Have you heard of the tropical fruit Papaw?  The Papaw looks, tastes and smells like a tropical fruit, although it grows wild as far north as Michigan.  It ranges from New York to Florida, and west to Nebraska and all the way down to Texas.  Local names are False Banana, Michigan Banana and Custard Apple.  The papaw is a small, slender tree, usually eight to twelve feet tall, but occasionally reaching twenty-five or thirty feet.  It has large leaves, up to a foot long by five inches wide.  The flowers, which appear with the leaves in late April or May are peculiar.  They have six petals in two sets, the outer three larger and flattened out, and the inner ones standing more erect and forming a cup with three points.  The mature fruit is three to five inches long and is kidney-shaped with a smooth, yellowish-green skin.  The taste is described like mixed bananas and pears.  Usually these are eaten as fresh fruit.  However to make this as a dessert, just bake them in their skins or it can be be used as pie filling or served in parfait glasses.

Papaw Pie
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 tsp
2/3 cup milk
3 slightly beaten eggs yolks
1 full cup of strained papaw pulp
3 egg whites
1/4 sugar
9-inch graham cracker crust

In a saucepan, mix together brown sugar, unflavored gelatin and salt.  Stir the milk and 3 egg yolks into this.  Cook and stir the mixture until it comes to a boil.  Remove from the fire and stir in the papaw pulp.  Chill until it mounds slightly when spooned.  This will take 20 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator.  Shortly before the mixture is set, beat the 3 egg whites until they form soft peaks, then gradually add the sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.  Fold the partly set papaw mixture thoroughly into the egg whites.  Pour into a 9-inch graham cracker crust, or into parfait glasses and chill until firm. 

Happy Cooking!

Beauty With Food

Making your own skin and hair products is simple and inexpensive to do.  And you can be sure that the results will be totally natural and gentle to your skin.

Age spots.  Buttermilk:  Here's an old-time remedy, used back when buttermilk was readily available on the family farm.  Buttermilk contains lactic acid, an ingredient also found in some cosmetics.  Splash it on, then lightly blot it to coat your skin with a slightly acidic mantle.  A buttermilk coating may cause some gentle peeling of upper skin layers that helps fade superficial age spots.

Bad Breath.  Parsley:  This herb is packed with chlorophyll, a natural germ-fighting agent.  Chew 10 to 15 sprigs with all of your teeth, especially the back molars.  Grind slowly and methodically for a few minutes, allowing the parsley to mix with saliva until there's nothing left to swallow.

Dry or Damaged Hair.  Butter and Cream:  For a super conditioner, mix 3 ounces each of softened butter and heavy cream to 3 ounces your regular conditioner.  Work it through your hair, then cover your hair with a warm, damp towel.  Wait 15 minutes, then shampoo and rinse thoroughly.

Does it have to be the holidays for a good sweet potato recipe?  I don't think so.The following recipe is Sweet Potato Cheesecake Bars-these are good any time of the year!  This book, "Taste of Home, Best Holiday Recipes 2011" can be found on my Amazon storefront at www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks for $8.99.

Sweet Potato Cheesecake Bars
1 package (18 1/2 oz) yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter softened
1 egg
Filling:
1 can (15 oz) sweet potatoes, drained
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, cubed
1/2 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar, divided
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup (8oz) sour cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Topping:
1 1/4 cups granola without raisins
1/2 cup white baking chips
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

In a large bow, beat the cake mix, butter and egg until crumbly.  Press onto the bottom of a greased 13x9 inch baking dish.
Place the sweet potatoes, cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, egg and pie spice in a food processor; cover and process until blended.  Spread over crust.
Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until center is almost set.  Meanwhile in a small bowl combine the sour cream, vanilla and remaining sugar.  Spread over filling.  Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over top.  Bake 5-8 minutes longer or just until set.  Cool on a wire rack. 
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Cut into bars.  Refrigerate leftovers.

Happy Cooking!

Pretzels

The pretzel is said to have been invented almost fourteen hundred years ago in a monastery in southern France where a monk frugally twisted leftover scraps of dough into a shape like that of arms folded in prayer, with the three openings representing the Trinity.  They were called pretiola, meaning "little reward" in Latin, and were given to children who learned their prayers.  The name evolved into brachiola, which means "little arms" and then to bretzl or pretzel when they became popular in Germany and Austria.

Sold by street vendors as early as the 15th century, pretzels were associated with good luck and even became part of wedding ceremonies, used in "tying the knot".  Pilgrims brought them to the New World and found the Indians eager customers, and a century later the Pennsylvania Dutch created the first commercial pretzel bakery in America.

From the beginning, pretzels were made, as the best still are today, of the simplest ingredients, the same as those for bread: wheat flour, water, yeast, and salt.  At first they were baked like bread, too, to be soft.  The story is that a baker fell asleep and overcooked a batch, resulting in the perfect, crisp, golden-colored pretzel.  No sugar, no fat and no cholesterol.

An excerpt from "Life is Meals" by James & Kay Salter.

With that said, I am going to offer a recipe from "Party Foods", presented by Home Economic Teachers and includes lots of recipes for Appetizers, Dips, Salads & Desserts.  This sells for $9.99 on my Amazon storefront www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks .  This recipe is a salad dressing that I have made many times.

Apricot-Sesame Dressing

1 tbsp cornstarch

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1 (5 1/2 oz) can apricot nectar

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

In a small saucepan combine cornstarch, garlic powder, and ginger.  Stir in apricot nectar, vinegar, honey, and oil.  Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly.  Add sesame seeds.  Cook and stir 2 minutes more.  Chill covered.

Makes 2/3 cup

Apricot nectar replaces most of the oil in this low-fat dressing.

Happy Cooking!

My love affair with cheese

I love cheese!  Unfortunately, I am lactose intolerant, but that doesn't stop me.  Moderation in everything, right?

Some cheese history: 
A News-Making Camel Ride

The first legend concerns a long-ago desert tribesman who set out on a journey with a container of milk-probably mare's or camel's milk-in that day's ordinary milk container, the dried stomach of a sheep.  In the broiling desert sun he mounted his camel and took off on a ride as bumpy and lurchy in those days as a camel ride remains in this day.

When he stopped to refresh himself, he found the milk separated into a thin, watery substance (whey) and a thickened mass (curds)-a result of the warmth of day and the churning motion of the ride he had taken, helped along by the action of the rennet, an enzyme in the sheep's stomach.  he tasted the mass of curds and was delighted.  We can imagine that he could hardly wait to get home to share his great discovery with his family and friends.

Taken from The Complete Cheese Cookbook by Kraft.  This sells in my Amazon storefront for $6.99. The actual title is The Complete Cheese Cookbook (everything from legends to recipes from the cheese makers).The recipe that follows is also from this cookbook.

Double Cheddar Cornbread

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1 cup milk

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 egg beaten

1/2 tsp dry mustard

4 slices crisply cooked bacon, crumbled (for Vegetarians, this could be omitted)

1 green pepper, cut in rings

Preheat oven to 425F.  Sift together dry ingredients.  Stir in 1 cup cheese.  Combine milk, butter and eggs; add to dry ingredients.  Pour into a greased 9-inch layer pan.  Top with remaining cheese, mixed with mustard.  Sprinkle with bacon; top with green pepper rings.  Bake 25 minutes. 6-8 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Simple Home Solutions

I am back home after a week's cruise, well rested and ready to start blogging again!

This is actually the name of my book "Martha Stewart Living Simple Home Solutions" which sells on my Amazon storefront www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks for $9.99. This book is filled with hundreds of great ideas for the kitchen and your home.  Here are just a few of them.

Baking Powder Test-To ensure that baking powder is still potent, drop a half teaspoonful into a glass of warm water.  If it immediately foams and rises to the top, it's still sufficiently active.

Perfect Egg Whites-Just a speck of yolk can make egg whites impossible to whip and wear out even the most determined cook's arm.  To remove small bits of yolk, use the egg shell as a scoop.  The yolk will be attracted back into their shell, and a jagged edge will capture even the tiniest spot of yellow.

Saving Tomato Paste-Keep tomato paste from going to waste when your recipe calls for just a tablespoon or two.  Open both ends of the can; discard  one end, and keep the other in place.  Wrap the can in plastic wrap; freeze overnight.  Use the metal end to push the frozen paste out of the open end; discard can.  Tightly wrap unused portion, and store in the freezer for up to three months, slicing off what you need as you cook.

Quick-Peel Kiwi-Here's a great way to skin a kiwi.  Trim both ends of the fruit, then carefully ease a tablespoon between the flesh and the fuzzy peel.  Turn the kiwi, gently pressing the back of the spoon against the peel as you go.  The flesh should slide right out in one piece, perfect for cutting into neat, round slices.

The recipe I have chosen is from "The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook" by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins, which sells for $59.99.

I have chosen a Flank Steak recipe.  Flank steak is wonderful when cook properly.  Normally, I marinate the flank steak with a soy sauce for a couple of hours, but this recipe is a complete change from what I make and it's wonderful.  I use leftover flank steak to make steak tacos or quesadillas.

Flank Steak with Garlic-Ginger Sauce

1 flank steak (2 pounds)

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

Make the sauce (below).  Preheat the broiler.  Sprinkle both sides of the steak with the soy sauce and sesame oil and rub into the meat.  Broil 6 inches from the heat for 5 to 7 minutes per side, depending on desired doneness.  Cut the steak diagonally into thin slices.  Overlap 5 or 6 slices on each serving plate and top with several spoonfuls of the garlic-ginger sauce.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

Garlic-Ginger Sauce

3/4 cup olive oil

6 cloves garlic, finely minced

3 tbsp chopped fresh ginger root

4 large carrots, peeled and cut into small dice

5 scallions, sliced

1 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup water

1 tbsp dried oregano

Pinch red pepper flakes

1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a medium-size skillet over medium heat.  Add the garlic, ginger and carrots and saute for 10 minutes.  Stir in the scallions and saute' 2 minutes more.  Add the wine, water, oregano and red pepper flakes and simmer uncovered over low heat for 30 minutes.  Stir in the parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. 3 1/2 cups.

Happy Cooking!