Sunday Strata

We sliced a French baguette last night thinking we'd use it for appetizers. Alas, we didn't. But I figured that it would make a great strata for Sunday morning. I buttered a roundish, shallow ceramic casserole (12x14) andI layered the whole bag of slices into the casserole that has a handled lid. I topped that with a cup of grated sharp cheese and 1/2 cup cooked bacon. (We had lots of bits of things in the frig from making dinner Friday night). Then I sautéed a whole sliced sweet onion with chopped parsley, sage leaves, salt and pepper, minced garlic and thyme leaves in olive oil. I topped the cheese with the onion and sprinkled 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan. I poured an egg-cream over it, pressed down to get everything creamy and put on the cover to sit overnight. The egg-cream was 8 eggs and two cups light cream with some salt and pepper. I'll bake it at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes and serve it with a spinach-egg-mushroom salad (see the recipes), a fresh greens salad with avocado and apricot-thyme goat cheese sprinkles, and chunky apple cake (see the recipes). Now I'll gave time in the morning to write!!

Homely Hominy - With Chicken, Chiles, Olives and Peppers

Just to make sure you understand, the British definition of homely is 'simple but cozy and comfortable.'  This, of course, relates to space or location but in this case it relates to my description of hominy. My idea of comfort food.

I've always loved hominy and I'm not sure why because I've never known anyone to serve it to me and it wasn't used in my household growing up. It's a comfort food, like grits (which is ground corn). Hominy is dried corn kernels.  When cooked it is chewy and flavorful and it is a staple in the Mexican diet. I had planned to pressure-can the hominy that I found in the Portugese section of our grocery store on the South Coast but I learned that the pH is unbalanced for that purpose. Because I had already soaked it overnight, I wanted to use them immediately. I filled the crock pot with 1 qt. organic and free-range chicken broth, some minced onion flakes, freshly ground pepper, some chili-salt, 2 T. cumin and 2 tsp. paprika and set the crock pot on high.  About two hours later I had a perfect pot of hominy that I will figure out how to serve to Colin and Gerry, after having a nice-sized bowl of it myself for lunch! Because I've already added the seasonings, I think I will serve it which some chicken cooked in a mole sauce with diced peppers.

Update! They loved it. I sliced some frozen chicken breasts 1/4 inch thick and sauteed them in a bit of olive oil until they were cooked. I placed them in a casserole and covered them with some Tacolicious Mole Rojo Braising Sauce that I got on sale at the Williams-Sonoma outlet, added a half a can of Trader Joe's fire-roasted diced green chiles, 1/2 jar of Trader Joe's corn and chile salsa, and 1/2 can of Trader Joe's sliced black olives and then spread it with 1/2 pint of sour cream. I baked this for 1/2 hour at 350 before we left for Norwood and brought the chicken dish and hominy home.

Once home, I sauteed some small red,yellow and orange peppers and added the rest of the cans of chiles and olives and the jar of corn salsa.  On very hot plates, I plated the warmed homily, topped it with the chicken in sauce and then with the peppers.

It was delicious.  I'd serve it another time with tiny-sliced and baked corn chips and chopped cilantro rimming the dish.

They ate every bite (with the exception of a couple cups of hominy - there were about 2 left of 7.)

A Hill of Beans

I love legumes and we use a lot of canned cannellini, kidney and garbanzo beans in soups and spreads. I decided to take my daughter Beth's advice and pressure can our own beans.  The beauty of this approach is that we know that our own jars are not lined with BPA, a chemical that can leach out into the food.  My pressure canner was unearthed a few years ago after being in storage for eleven years in its original box. I'd last used it around 23 years ago. To be honest, pressure cooking makes me a bit nervous but I'm feeling adventurous and I have the time, so here's to new renewed adventures.

I decided to can four types of beans but gave up on one of them when I realized what work went into peeling softened fava beans. I'll buy those canned, thank you, when I use them. So cannellini beans, kidney beans, and northern beans were on the agenda. I soaked them all in large bowls overnight and ended up with a hill of them.

I found my instruction manual that came with the canner in with all my appliance manuals that I take care to keep current when one appliance gets tossed and another takes its place. At the same time, I also found an updated manual on the Presto.com site that included instructions for canning beans because my manual had no mention of canning dried beans. I guess it wasn't au courant in the 80s as a DIY project. Go figure. Anyway, I inspected all the parts of the canner and it was in excellent condition - what a surprise! Even the seals on the vent and the rim were in great shape. (Hardware stores keep all these things in stock - surprising, too, that the parts are standard. I found this out because I had to make a trip to the hardware store - I needed a new canning funnel and jar lifter, having no idea where they are at the moment. I found my water bath canner, too, but it was empty of most of my equipment.)

I found two boxes of quart jars in the basement in mason jar boxes that had followed me from Lunenburg, MA to Fairview, TX and back to MA and NH and then MA again! They were a bit filthy having been used years ago and stored when empty. I found I had boxes of new lids and used, clean jar bands - we were in business!

Now, I won't say the first batch was easy. I was nervous about the steps. I have canned hundreds of jars of tomatoes and marinara sauce  - but never legumes. However, getting the canner up to pressure on an electric stove and keeping it at 11 pounds constant pressure was an eyes-on-the-job for 90 minutes. I cooked the beans for 1/2 hour on the range top before hand (as the recipe recommended) and didn't add salt but will add seasoning when I use them. Keeping the Electrolux burner at 11 pounds of pressure meant varying from 1.8 to 2.2 on my controls. The second batch was much easier because I knew what I was doing. (I will admit I called to Gerry to help me lift the canner several times - it was quite heavy.  In addition, I asked him to open it when it released all its pressure.)

I ended up with 14 quarts of BPA-less beans - 5 northern, 3 kidney, 5 cannellini and a few mixed jars. There's so much satisfaction hearing that healthy pop that proves that your jars are vacuum sealed. I think the next time I do this, I'll order some heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo after I get their recipe book: Heirloom Beans.

Chicken, Corn, Potato and Tarragon Chowder

We had a crowd over the 4th of July weekend and survived hurricane Arthur nicely.  We decided not to grill in the downpour, so we opted for rotisserie chicken and a variety of cold salads.  Today, I had leftover potatoes, raw corn off the cob and chicken and concocted this chowder while enjoying a special gin and tonic garnished with lemon, lime and pineapple sage. (See photo!)

8 cobs of raw corn (or cooked or grilled will work)
3 cups half and half
20 or more leaves fresh tarragon
Trader Joe's savory chicken stock (1 packet)
2 cups potatoes, chunked and cooked
2 cups grilled chicken or rotisserie chicken chunks
2 large leeks
3 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste
some flour or Wondra

Cut the raw kernels off of 8 cobs of corn.  (I did this in advance when I knew we would not be grilling the corn.  I stored the corn and the cobs separately in Ziplocs in the frig.)  Place the kernel-less cobs in a saucepan or crockpot and cover with 2 cups of half and half and about 20 leaves of French or Texas tarragon and some generous grinds of fresh pepper. Simmer very low on the stove or high in the crockpot.  Remove the cobs after a few hours in the crockpot or an hour in a saucepan.  Toss the cobs.

Add the kernels of raw corn to the half and half and cook for 10 minutes in a saucepan on low or 1/2 in the crockpot on high.  Add one Trader Joe's chicken stock pouch.  These are potent in flavor without adding much liquid.

Slice 2 large leeks and place in a saute pan with 1/4 c. melted butter.  Add 3 pressed cloves of garlic and some fresh sea salt and more pepper.  Cook until limp and then add 2 T Wondra flour or regular flour.  Let this bubble and cook until golden and then add 1 c. half and half to it.  Pour this into the crockpot, scraping the pan for all flavor.

Add cooked chicken pieces (I added 2 cups) and 2 cups chopped cooked potatoes.  Heat on low about another hour in the crockpot or 20 min. in a sauce or soup pan.

Delicious! Serve with bread or croissants.  Garnish the soup with fresh sprigs of tarragon.

Carrot-Ginger-Cashew Soup

Here's another easy soup.  This recipe is for four served with bread and a hearty salad.

You'll need 2 boxes of Pacific Organic Cashew-Carrot-Ginger soup and 1/2  box of Trader Joe's Carrot Ginger soup. Pour those into a saucepan and heat slowly.

In the meantime, take the kernels off of two ears of corn and mince about 1/4 cup of fresh ginger. Slice 1 large leek very thin.  Mix those with sea salt and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet lined with parchment.  Roast these for about 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Some of the ginger and leeks should be crispy and shriveled.  Check them often.

Marinade 24 large raw shrimp with shells removed in some oil, vinegar and finely-chopped flat parsley.  I used Honey-Ginger White Balsamic vinegar and Roasted Sesame Oil from LeRoux Kitchen. Grill them for about 3 minutes on each side.


Spiralize 1 large parsnip and about 6 large carrots. I found "carrots of many colors" in the grocery store. It was fun. Place these in a Ziploc bag with some salt and pepper and olive oil.  Shake and microwave for four minutes or longer until they are soft enough to eat.

Thinly slice 6 scallions.

Layer the carrots in a warmed shallow soup or pasta bowl.  Ladle in enough soup to cover the carrots.  Top with leek/ginger/corn mixture.  Sprinkle with scallions and place 6 shrimp on each bowl.  Garnish with a sprig of flat parsley.

Roast Chicken with Honey-Lemon Sauce in Clay Pot

I combined some recipes I found online to make this roasted chicken.  One was from Emeril's website.
Prepare a clay roaster by soaking in cold water for 15 minutes. Wash the chicken well inside and out under cool running water. Pat dry with paper towels. Rub chicken all over with 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice and season evenly on all sides with the salt and pepper.  Place the reserved lemon shell inside the chicken cavity and stuff with some fresh savory herbs. Cover the roaster and transfer to a cold oven. Set the oven temperature to 400 degrees F and cook for 45 minutes.

Combine 1/4 cup of lemon juice,  2/3 c. honey, and 1-1/2 T soy sauce in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until heated through. In a small bowl, make a paste from 4 tablespoons of butter and the flour. Whisk the butter-flour mixture into the melted honey-lemon-butter mixture. Continue to cook until the sauce has thickened slightly. Remove the clay cooker from the oven and pour the honey-butter mixture all over the chicken, making sure to evenly cover the breast and any exposed areas. Cover the roaster and return the chicken to the oven for 45 minutes, or until it is cooked through and very tender.

I served this with a spinach salad and butternut squash sautéed with shallots and thyme. 

Thai Sweet Potato Soup with Grilled Shrimp and Corn

Here's an easy grilled dinner for two on a cool spring night.

Grill about 8 large shrimp per person and one ear of corn. Take the corn off the cob.

Spiralize one large sweet potato and cook the spirals in a bag in the microwave.  Slice about 4 scallions. Cook a few slices of bacon and crumble. Chop 1/4 cup fresh cilantro.

Heat 1 box of Pacific Organic Thai Sweet Potato Soup in a saucepan.

Preheat soup bowls or pasta dishes.  Place the sweet potato spirals in the bowl, cover with most of the corn.  Cover with hot Sweet Potato Soup, grilled shrimp, scallions and bacon, a few corn kernels and chopped cilantro. Add salt and pepper but the soup is very well-seasoned. 

Add more slices of vegetables (peppers, etc.) and add one more box of soup for four people.

Serve with Spinach Salad and toasted bread slices.