Feeding Mr. Fritz

Recipe Roundup: Blizzard of 2010 Edition

2010-02-11T21:23:00.013-05:00

Mr. Fritz and I have more or less been trapped in our condo since just before the thrilling and unbelievable Blizzard of 2010/Snowmageddon/Snowpocalypse series of storms started last Friday. I was one of the many who hit the grocery store in advance of the storm to secure enough food for the two of us to "shelter in place" for as long as necessary. Thankfully, I was able to go last Thursday morning, which meant that the shelves were still full and I didn't have to compromise on what I wanted to purchase. I even used some coupons! Anyway, among the meals I've made so far for my hot husband during this snowbound week:

Friday night: Beef Stew. For this, we had the pleasure of having the lovely Ms. Haley join us. She trudged through the snow in full snowproof regalia (ski jacket, snowboarding pants, boots) and even brought a hostess gift (barbecue sauce from Foster's Market!!), true friend that she is.

Saturday night: Okay, I cannot tell a lie; we ate out! On Saturday, we decided to take a walk through the snow-bombed streets of Arlington and wound up sidling up to the bar at Hard Times for some chili. I am not typically such a heavy meat eater - and Hard Times chili really is pretty much just a big bowl of ground beef with minimal but tasty sauce. This did hit the spot on a snowy day and it was pretty great to not cook. Plus, Hard Times is one of Mr. Fritz's favorite spots, so I was glad to be there with him.

Sunday night: My week of cooking truly commenced at this point. I have been having fun these past few weeks cooking in packets. For several weeks I was stuck on a set of Pam Anderson recipes for Foil Packet Shrimp, Foil Packet Chicken and Foil Packet Salmon (I'll post these recipes at some point in the next few weeks, since they are no longer on USA WEEKEND's web site). There really is nothing easier than making an simple sauce or marinade, tossing it with a protein and a vegetable, sealing the whole mixture into a couple of individual foil packets and roasting on a cookie sheet. But in the past couple of weeks, I've been lured into cooking in parchment paper packages, thanks to, once again, the January-February 2010 issue of Everyday Food.

This recipe for Salmon with Green Beans and Lemon Zest is great. For each person, you settle a 6-ounce piece of salmon on a long stretch of parchment paper, top with trimmed green beans, strips of lemon zest, some capers and a bit of olive oil and some salt and pepper, seal up the parchment paper and roast on a baking sheet at 400 degrees for around 15 minutes. It's fun to see the parchment paper swell up as hot air expands it. And the result, taste-wise, cannot be beat. Yum!

Monday night: For this meal, I returned to a recipe I had made before and really liked: Sausage, Mozzarella and Broccoli Rabe with Shells. I didn't see broccoli rabe at the store (and I wasn't about to try to hit another one in that pre-blizzard panic in order to see if I could find it someplace else) so I used plain broccoli instead and increased the boiling time for the broccoli to one minute. The really exciting part of this recipe, for me, was that I used mozzarella that I had made myself a week prior. That's right, I am officially a cheesemaker! I used this kit from cheese guru Ricki Carroll and followed her recipe for 30-Minute Mozzarella to whip up a pound of mozzarella using nothing but a gallon of whole milk, some rennet, some citric acid and a dairy thermometer. I don't have any photos of it, but it's really pretty tasty. The kit can be used to make 30 batches, so I'll see about photographing the next one.

Tuesday night: Another oldie but goodie. Both Mrs. Robertson and Mrs. Glade reminded me recently, and separately, about the awesomeness of Italian Pot Pies, so I decided to use some ground beef that I had earmarked for tacos to instead whip up these beauties. I had to use Vodka Sauce instead of regular tomato sauce and dried dill instead of dried rosemary for the biscuit topping, because that's what I had on hand, but they were still completely delicious. Highly recommended!

Wednesday night: Another parchment package recipe from this month's Everyday food. This time, it was for Chicken with Mango and Ginger. I once told one of my editors that my motto in life was "Give me a mango and I'll make you a meal." I was serious then - I had/have a full slate of both savory and sweet recipes that involve mango - and this recipe will definitely be a great addition to my collection. Same general technique as with the salmon, but this recipe is a mix of chicken, mango, ginger, jalapeno and cilantro with a dash of olive oil. I served both of these parchment recipes over rice.

Odds and Ends: In addition to all of this cooking, I also did a bit of blizzard-related baking. I made The Original Mrs. Glade's Easy Chocolate Cake so that Mr. Fritz would have something to nosh on for breakfast along with his daily banana, and tried my hand at these Lemon Ice Box Cookies as a sweet. (Once again, awful baker that I am, these didn't turn out very well... But I fault myself and not the recipe. I fared better a couple of weeks ago with these Dorie Greenspan Peanut Butter Cookies from a recent issue of Parade.) And I have pretty much stopped buying bread. Now I bake off a loaf of 5-minutes a Day Artisan Bread every few days and use that for Mr. Fritz's lunch. This came in especially handy this week, as it was really nice to have fresh bread in unlimited quantities, instead of watching and worrying as a store-bought loaf slowly diminished with no trip to the store in sight. Good times!

So there you have it, my get-us-through-the-blizzard menu. I was really pleased that my planning pre-grocery trip last Thursday morning paid off. And I still have more meals to make with the stuff I purchased, since it doesn't look like we'll be moving our car from its dedicated spot in the frozen tundra any time soon.

Dinner Tonight: Stir-Fried Honey-Ginger Chicken with Peppers

2010-02-11T20:57:00.004-05:00

Hello! I'm sorry I've been lax in posting. Especially since I have not been at all lax in cooking for Mr. Fritz. So, without further ado, let me tell you about what I made tonight: Stir-Fried Honey-Ginger Chicken with Peppers from the January-February 2010 issue of Everyday Food. To be honest, I probably haven't made a true stir-fry since sometime in the 90s. But this issue has a whole set of stir-fry recipes that looked good enough that I couldn't pass them up.

The trick to stir-frying, as the article reminded me, is two-fold. First, make sure that you have all of your ingredients prepped and at hand before you get near your skillet or wok. For that, I employed the set of graduated glass bowls that the lovelies, Mrs. Fleming and Mrs. Pantuck, gave me as a gift long ago and for which I continue to be super thankful. Second, make sure the skillet/wok is superhot before you drizzle in that first bit of oil.

After that, everything happens very fast and is very, very simple to execute. You start with that drizzle of oil, then add the chicken and stir fry for three minutes, then set it aside and fill the pan with a mixture of oil, minced ginger and minced garlic. Fry that for 30 seconds before adding the peppers and stirring for another two minutes. Next, add a mixture of soy sauce, honey and rice vinegar and bring to a boil. Then the chicken goes back into the pan and you stir the whole mess for the final three minutes. Serve over hot rice (lately I've been very pleased with the HT Trader's brand of Jasmine Rice from the Teeter - great stuff and comes out perfectly every time) and top with chopped cilantro. Easy and delicious!

This dish also reminds me that I wanted to mention that I have officially fallen back in love with my garlic mincer. I have, for the past few years, been using minced garlic out of a jar. I just thought it was more convenient and always kept a jar in my refrigerator. A couple of months ago, I purchased some real garlic on a whim and pulled out my super handy garlic mincer (a white metal doodad that pushes raw garlic through some tiny holes with the flick of the wrist) and honestly, I have not looked back. Fresh garlic is far superior to the jarred stuff. I also use this funky tan plastic tube to get the skins off of fresh garlic cloves. Pop a clove into the tube, press/roll the tube around and out pops your clove, miraculously unwrapped from its papery skin. Cleanup for both the garlic press and the tubey thingy is a snap. Very satisfying all around!

Love is...

2009-12-15T23:11:00.003-05:00

...wonderful.

Mr. Fritz proposed to me two years ago today, in the middle of the national mall after a day filled with wintry delight. When I think back to that afternoon, happy memories abound. More significantly, though, I can say without reservation that I feel blessed every single day to be able to share my life with him. So, no recipes tonight (although for the record, I did feed him a lovely dinner of tomato and sausage risotto). Instead, just a little note of appreciation to God for bringing Mr. Fritz into my life. And to Mr. Fritz for marrying me. I couldn't be more grateful.

Dinner Tonight: Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork With Sweet Potatoes and Pears

2009-12-07T22:12:00.004-05:00

This recipe for Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork with Sweet Potatoes and Pears, from the December issue of Real Simple magazine, is my kind of meal: roasted in the oven on an aluminum-foil covered sheet pan. Almost zero clean-up and very little prep time. Plus, super-delicious! To make, you cut sweet potatoes and red Bartlett pears into slices, toss them with olive oil and thyme, salt and pepper, and roast on a baking sheet at 425 for 15 minutes. While that's roasting, you wrap a pork tenderloin in prosciutto and, when the 15 minutes are up, push the vegetables to the side of the pan and add the pork, drizzling the pork with a bit of honey. Then you proceed to roast everything (the pork and the vegetables) for another 20-25 minutes. You end up with a company-worthy pork roast and some super tender vegetables and caramelized fruit.

My only problem, and it is one I seem to have a lot these days when I am roasting vegetables, is that the vegetables burned a bit before the pork was finished cooking. I think if I make it again, I'll put the vegetables and the pork into the oven at the same time, instead of adding the pork after the vegetables have already been roasting for 10-15 minutes. Also, since I was just cooking for me and Mr. Fritz, I used a half pound pork loin instead of one and a quarter pounds of pork tenderloin, so I wasn't totally sure how long to roast the pork for. I settled on 20 minutes and I think it probably would have been fine at 15-18 minutes.

Regardless, the pork with the prosciutto wrapped around it was really pretty wonderful, and the slightly burnt vegetables were salvageable, if a little too crispy in parts. The roasted pears, in particular, were a great treat. I don't roast fruit as often as I should...

Treats: Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-12-07T21:58:00.003-05:00

I told Mr. Fritz that I'd made him some incredible cookies to take in his lunch this week and he took one look at them and said, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Fritz!" Then he took this glamour shot of them to show off their irresistibility:

The recipe is from the October issue of Everyday Food and it is the recipe that finally put this issue over the top for me as an all-time favorite. It's turned out so many great meals, I think it alone was worth the entire year's subscription price...

In any case, as I've noted many times, I am NOT a baker. I'm incredibly bad a baking. But these cookies. Oh my word. They are so delicious I almost don't know what to say. The magazine called them "Crave worthy" and that is no understatement. In fact, I gave one to Ms. Hays today as a parting gift when she stopped by to see me and when she tried the cookie a few hours later, liked it enough to send me the following text message: "I just had a bite of your cookie. Holy crap that's a good cookie!" See what I mean? Definitely worthy of Mr. Fritz's glamour shot treatment. And definitely worthy of your time if you decide to make them. I know I'll definitely turn out another batch before too long.

My one note/tip: the recipe calls for 8 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate, chopped. I hate chopping chocolate, so I just used my big heavy meat tenderizer and banged on the two 4-ounce chocolate bars while they were still in their wrappers. Worked like a charm!

Recipe Roundup: Incredible, Easy Beef Stew

2009-12-07T21:40:00.005-05:00

My mom always made beef stew when I was growing up and it was one of my favorite meals. This, despite the fact that I'm not much of a meat eater. I guess the thing about stew is that it is impossible to resist such a great dish - warm, fragrant, chock full of vegetables, awesome gravy. Yum!

A few weeks ago, Jamie Oliver appeared on Good Morning America and shared his recipe for stew. He structured it so that you could adapt it for chicken, pork, lamb or beef and it looked so easy that I made a note of it to try it when the weather seemed cold enough to warrant a big pot of it. Then, while reading through the December issue of Cooking Light, I saw another recipe for beef stew. I decided to merge the two recipes and come up with my own hybrid, mainly based on Jamie's.

Here's his original recipe:

Jamie Oliver's Basic Stew

Ingredients

2 stalks celery

2 medium onions

2 carrots

Olive oil

1 heaped tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 x 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 fresh or dried bay leaves

1 pound diced stewing beef (I kept my pieces pretty big, actually)

2 cups brown ale, Guinness or stout

If using the oven to cook your stew, preheat it to 350°F. Trim the ends off your celery and roughly chop the stalks. Peel and roughly chop the onions. Peel the carrots, slice lengthways, and roughly chop. Put a Dutch oven on a medium heat. Put all the vegetables and your chosen herb into the pan with 2 lugs of olive oil and fry for 10 minutes. Add you meat and flour. Pour in the booze and canned tomatoes. Give it a good stir, then season with a teaspoon of sea salt (less if using table salt) and a few grinds of pepper. Bring to a boil, put the lid on, and either simmer slowly on your cooktop or cook in an oven for the times shown above. Remove the lid for the final half hour of simmering or cooking and add a splash of water if it looks a bit dry. When done, your meat should be tender and delicious. Remove any bay leaves or herb stalks before serving, and taste it to see if it needs a bit more salt and pepper.

I added:
1 4-ounce package of baby portabello mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
half a pound (maybe more), baby gold potatoes, cut into quarters
1 more cup of beer (in my case, oatmeal stout)

And I simmered the stew in a big heavy pot for four hours instead of the three hours Jamie called for. The finished dish, which we shared with Mr. and Mrs. Meyer, was divine. I can't wait to make it again.

Recipe Roundup: Sausage, Mozzarella, and Brocolli Rabe with Shells

2009-12-07T21:07:00.004-05:00

We had Sausage, Mozzarella and Broccoli Rabe with Shells, from the November issue of Everyday Food, for dinner on Friday night. And boy was it delicious. I used Italian sausage with basil and garlic instead of regular Italian sausage and really liked the flavors. This was also my first time cooking with broccoli rabe. It's sort of an unwieldy vegetable, but it was a great alternative to spinach, which is what usually ends up going into baked pasta dishes.

The recipe had a few steps to it, since you start off by boiling the pasta and the broccoli rabe in one pot while cooking up the sausage, garlic and tomatoes in another before combining everything and pouring it into a baking dish, topping with fresh mozzarella and Parmesan, and baking for 15 minutes. In other words, don't make this on a night when you're in a hurry. Do make it when you want something warm, gooey, savory and satisfying. It is great!! And even cutting the recipe in half (well, everything but the amount of pasta), we still had enough leftover for lunch on Sunday.

Sausage, Mozzarella, and Broccoli Rabe with Shells
Source: Everyday Food Magazine, November 2009
Serves 4. Prep time: 35 minutes. Total time: 50 minutes

2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 sprigs thyme
coarse salt and ground pepper
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 links spicy Italian sausage (3/4 pounds total), casings removed
1 Tb. all purpose flour
1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes
1 bunch (about one pound) broccoli rabe, trimmed and coarsely chopped
6 ounces freshly mozzarella, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high. Add onion and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden brown, 15 minutes (reduce heat if browning too quickly).

Add garlic and sausage, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, breaking them up with a spoon. Cook sauce until slightly thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Discard thyme.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook pasta 4 minutes less than package instructions. Add broccoli rabe to pot and cook 15 seconds. Drain pasta and broccoli rabe and return to pot. Stir in sausage mixture. Transfer to a 3 quart baking dish or divide among 4 16-ounce gratin dishes. Top with mozzarella and parmesan. Bake until cheese has melted and liquid is bubbling, about 15 minutes.

Recipe Roundup: Chicken and Chickpea Soup

2009-12-07T20:29:00.008-05:00

I've been so busy the past few days that I haven't had a chance to post. But I have been cooking away. I'll be posting the things we liked. First up:

Chicken and Chickpea Soup. This is a recipe from the December issue of Everyday Food. It's scaled to serve six, so I cut the recipe in half, sort of, and made a few other tweaks.

First, I used boneless chicken breasts instead of the bone-in thighs suggested. This cut the prep time by a lot, since instead of cooking the chicken in a complicated way, I simply added chunks of raw chicken into the pot after I'd sauteed the onions for awhile. I added the spices when I added the chicken, so the chicken ended up being nicely flavorful.

I cut the amount of chicken down to half a pound, cut the amount of broth in half as well, but kept the full amounts of spices, carrots, onions, chickpeas and lemon juice. As a result, the soup was really chock full of vegetables and smelled and tasted delicious. I also really appeciated the garnish of cilantro, garlic and lemon zest - it added a nice finishing touch to the soup and was worth the five minutes it took to mix it up. I'll definitely make this soup again.

Chicken and Chickpea Soup
Source: Everyday Food Magazine, December 2009
Serves: 6. Prep time 15 minutes. Total time 1 hour 15 minutes (I think I made it in about 30 min)

2 tsps. olive oil

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (I used 1/2 pound of boneless chicken breasts)

coarse salt and ground pepper

1 large yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced

3 tsps. minced garlic

3/4 tsp. ground cumin

3/4 tsp. ground coriander

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 medium carrots, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices

6 cups chicken broth (I used three cups)

1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, rinsed and drained

zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 tbs finely chopped fresh cilantro (corriander)

(I skipped this first step, opting to add boneless cut up chicken to the pot along with the garlic and spices in step two) 1. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook, skin side down, until skin is browned and crisp, about 6 minutes. Flip chicken and cook until browned, 6 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate.

2. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from pot. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 4 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons of garlic and spices; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in carrots and return chicken to pot. Stir in broth.

3. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a medium simmer, partially cover and cook until chicken is falling off the bone, about 50 minutes. (Again, this took a lot less time - I cooked the chicken fully in step two, so then I just let the soup simmer until the carrots were soft, around 10 minutes)

4. Remove chicken from soup. When cool enough to handle, tear chicken into large pieces, discarding skin and bones. Return meat to pot. Add chickpeas and season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. In a small bowl, stir together 1 teaspoon garlic, lemon zest, and cilantro; sprinkle over each soup serving before serving.

Treats: Snickerdoodles

2009-12-03T15:02:00.006-05:00

The Original Mrs. Fritz sent us home from Thanksgiving with a container filled with some of Mr. Fritz's favorite cookies: Snickerdoodles. He's been enjoying them ever since. I asked her to share her recipe, and here's what she sent along. Thank you, Original Mrs. Fritz!

Snickerdoodles
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar, plus 3 Tbs.
2 eggs
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsps. cream of tartar
2 3/4 cups flour
3 tsps. cinnamon

Mix butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar and eggs. Sift together and add the flour, soda, cream of tartar and salt. Roll into size of walnuts. Roll in mixture of 3 Tbs sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 400 degrees 8 to 10 min. Makes about 4 dozen 2" cookies.

Love is...

2009-12-02T21:50:00.004-05:00

...picking through the cooked carrots to make sure that Mr. Fritz only gets the non-burnt ones.

Tonight I was looking forward to trying this recipe for carrots with thyme from the October issue of Everyday Food. It's super simple: put sliced carrots, a tablespoon of butter, half a cup of water and four sprigs of thyme in a skillet, bring to a boil and let it cook for 7 to 9 minutes, or until the water has evaporated and the carrots are cooked. Everything was going along swimmingly at seven minutes. Then I got a little distracted preparing the chicken that I served it with, and after a couple of more minutes I started smelling and acrid burning. Oops. I guess on my stove, nine minutes is too long. In the end, they weren't all burnt, so I served them anyway. But I made sure that Mr. Fritz got most of the good ones. And actually, even the burnt ones were pretty good, so I will definitely give the recipe another try - albeit while keeping a closer eye on them.

Dinner Tonight: Sweet Potato and Chipotle Soup, plus a bonus recipe

2009-12-01T22:33:00.008-05:00

Tonight, Mr. Fritz went out with the guys for dinner, so I had a lovely vegetarian-ish meal of Sweet Potato and Chipotle Soup. (The "ish" comes from the chicken stock; everything else about it is vegetarian.) This soup, from the December issue of Everyday Food, has quite a kick to it. I'd never cooked with chilies in adobo sauce before, so I was surprised by how incredibly potent they are. The recipe calls for one-half to one chili. I used one half and made sure to discard the seeds before I added it to the pot.

The recipe also calls for the soup to be blended, and for that I turned to one of my most trusted tools: my immersion blender. I truly think that every kitchen should have one of these; they're small and they are so incredibly handy for blending hot soups, smoothies, even making fresh whipped cream. I think I'm on my third one (they don't last forever, unfortunately, and my first two used rechargeable batteries, which I think just stopped charging. Now I have a plug-in model) and I can't rave about it enough.

I made this soup on Sunday afternoon and have been eating it all week for lunch (and, well, dinner tonight). It turned out velvety smooth and wonderful. It's garnished with a bit of sour cream, which helps to cut the heat from the chilies. I highly recommend it and plan to make it again!

Sweet Potato and Chipotle Soup
Source: Everyday Food Magazine, December 2009
Serves: 8. Prep time: 15 minutes. Total time: 50 minutes
2 Tbs olive oil 1 medium white onion, chopped coarse salt and ground pepper 2 tsps. ground cumin 4 medium sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds total), peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 to 1 whole chipotle chili in adobo, chopped 7 cups of low sodium chicken broth sour cream, for serving
toasted flour tortilla wedges, for serving (optional)

1. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook until beginning to brown around the edges, about 7 minutes. Add cumin and garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in sweet potatoes, chile, and broth. Bring to a boil; reduce to a rapid simmer, partially cover, and cook until sweet potatoes can be mashed easily with a spoon, 20 to 25 minutes. (I let mine cook for probably 30 minutes longer than that, because I was busy with other things when the initial simmering window was up.)

2. Let soup cool slightly. Working in batches, transfer soup to a blender and puree until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids) (Of course, I just used my aforementioned immersion blender for this and pureed the soup in the pot. Less mess!) Return pureed soup to pot over low heat and season with salt and pepper. Top with sour cream or serve with tortilla wedges if desired.

Bonus recipe: Last night I broiled some salmon topped with dill and lemon, and served it alongside Spinach with Nutmeg and Lemon. The spinach recipe is from the October issue of Everyday Food and it was, as far as spinach goes, sublime. I was able to make dinner in all of nine minutes. And it was the best "fast food" that we've probably ever had! Definitely give it a try!

Dinner Tonight: Individual Chicken Potpies

2009-11-29T22:25:00.004-05:00

You may recall that I already have a killer chicken pot pie recipe, one that has been a hit again and again. The only drawback to that recipe is scaled to feed at least six, sometimes twelve - which makes it great for feeding a crowd and overkill for feeding Mr. Fritz and me. So when I saw this recipe for Individual Chicken Potpies on the cover of the October issue of Everyday Food, it seemed worth attempting. I also liked that the recipes differ a bit - my original recipe uses pie crust and frozen vegetables, plus evaporated skim milk. This new recipe uses puff pastry dough, fresh vegetables (well, except for the peas, but I'll get to that in a moment), and is dairy free.

The recipe is scaled to feed four. I cut the flour, broth and chicken in half, doubled the vegetables (actually, I think I may have quadrupled the peas, since I used a whole ten-ounce box. Poor Mr. Fritz said something like, "I think mine is 'Pea Pot Pie...'" I was hoping he might not notice the influx of peas...), and used 16-ounce ramekins because I didn't have 12-ounce ramekins (plus, I needed extra room for all of those peas!). The resulting pot pies were lovely, but honestly, for amount of time involved in making them (there's sauteing and chilling and prepping and chilling and then finally baking...), I probably will not make them again until I have a long lazy afternoon in my sights. Still, I am glad I tried them tonight; they were comfort food for sure!

Holiday Treat: Pilgrim Hats and Turkeys

2009-11-26T19:36:00.005-05:00

The Eldest Miss Bowers is back for her second annual Thanksgiving blog post. Tonight, she's going to write about the fun Rice Krispie treat pilgrim hats and turkeys that she made with her mom, Mrs. Bowers, and her littlest sister, The Youngest Miss Bowers. Eldest Miss Bowers, take it away!

"To follow up on last year's Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Pilgrim Hats, we decided to move into Rice Krispie Treat Pilgrim Hats and Turkeys, too. We made the Pilgrim Hats first. My mom made chocolate rice krispie treats and we cut them into pilgrim hat shapes. Then we added a frosting buckle and hat band. That was pretty much it. It was pretty easy!

"The Turkeys were a big project. They took awhile, but they were fun. We used regular Rice Krispie treats and cut them into circles. Then we used chocolate frosting and put it near the top edge of each circle. Next we added as many candy corns as we needed, and put them upside down, side by side on top of the frosting, to form the feathers. Finally, we added a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup on top of each one. And we made frosting eyes with white and then black frosting on top of each peanut butter cup and we added a beak made out of frosting. That's it!

"One of the things I'm thankful for is getting to bake with my family. Happy Thanksgiving!"

Thank you Eldest Miss Bowers!!

Dinner Tonight: Risotto Cakes with Roasted Tomatoes and Arugula

2009-11-23T21:11:00.004-05:00

So tonight I used last night's leftover risotto as the basis for this meal. Unfortunately, took longer and was messier to create than I thought it would be. Nevertheless, the end result tasted really good, so I think it's worth posting here. One note: there's at least 15 minutes worth of chilling time needed between when you form the risotto cakes to when you can fry them, so if I were to do this again, I might form the cakes earlier in the day so that when I was ready to get dinner out, I could speed up the whole process.

Risotto Cakes with Roasted Tomatoes and Arugula
Source: Everyday Food, October 2009
Serves 4. Prep time: 30 minutes. Total time: 30 minutes plus chilling

4 cups leftover Leek, Bacon and Pea Risotto, cold
2 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 8 cubes all-purpose flour for dredging
2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes
4 sprigs thyme
1 Tb extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 bunches arugula, thick stems trimmed

Preheat oven to 450. Form risotto into 8 balls. Press a cube of cheese into each ball and flatten risotto into 1/2 inch patties (make sure cheese is covered). Dredge patties in flour and place on a baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm, 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, on a large rimmed baking sheet, toss tomatoes with olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Roast until tomatoes begin to collapse, about 20 minutes.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat vegetable oil until it sizzles when a pinch of flour is added. Dredge patties in flour again, shaking off excess. In two batches, fry patties until golden and warmed through, about 10 minutes per batch. Drain on paper towels. Serve risotto cakes with arugula and tomatoes.

Dinner Tonight: Leek, Bacon and Pea Risotto plus 2 bonus recipes

2009-11-22T21:42:00.006-05:00

I think that the first time I made risotto was back in 1999. At the time, it was pretty intimidating. All that stirring! It was the first time I'd made anything on top of the stove that needed so much attention for such a sustained time. But over the past decade I've lost my fear of this creamy rice dish and have made it in many different iterations. Tonight's version, Leek, Bacon and Pea Risotto, comes from the October issue of Everyday Food. It's scaled to make more than you'd need for a single meal, since leftovers go towards a second recipe (which I plan to make tomorrow night).

Tonight, I cut the amount of broth, arborio rice and parmesan cheese in half, left the full recipe amounts of bacon, wine and lemon juice, and increased the amount of peas from 3/4 cup to a full 10 ounce package (because who needs a partial package of frozen peas hanging out in their freezer?). And I definitely have enough left for tomorrow's secondary meal. Mr. Fritz commented a couple of times that he really liked the finished dish, much to my delight.

The key to making risotto without losing your mind is to heat up the broth on a separate burner. That way when you mix it into the risotto a cup at a time, it won't take as long to be absorbed. This cuts down the amount of time you'll find yourself standing at the stove stirring and stirring, which is a very good thing. (And that's a tip I don't think I learned until 2001...) In any case. this was good and I expect I will make it again!

Bonus recipes: Today was a bacon kind of day. For lunch I made Tomato Soup with Cheese and Bacon Toasties. The soup was pretty quick to pull together and the "toasties" were pretty much grilled cheese mini sandwiches with bacon amidst the cheese. Delish!

And I didn't get a chance to post this previously, but Thursday night I made Almond Chicken, adapted from an Everyday Food recipe for Cashew Chicken. It was particularly tasty - they labeled it "Eat Out At Home" and it definitely qualified as a really nice at-home version of Chinese take out. Mr. Fritz loved this - it will definitely make a repeat appearance. I served it with rice and green beans. I forgot about the green beans till I was done with the chicken and so I ended up throwing them into the same skillet and stir frying them with a little bit of soy sauce and rice vinegar. They were great!

Appetizer: Bleu Cheese Pinecone

2009-11-21T20:33:00.009-05:00

Mrs. Glade asked me to cater a dinner party for 20+ guests at her home tonight.We planned a very fall-like meal, comprised of some of the dishes that I've made in the past that she and her husband particularly enjoyed. I mixed in a couple of new items, as well. On the menu:

Pistachio-Covered Cheese Log
Blue Cheese Pinecone
Green Salad
Braised Brisket with Cranberries
Rice Pilaf with Vermicelli
My Mom's Apple Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream

The Bleu Cheese Pinecone was one of the items that was new for me. I wanted to do something to complement the pistachio-covered cheese log, which is made with cheddar. I found this recipe on a women's ministry web site and it is super easy. They suggest shaping the cheese mixture into a pinecone. I went the classic route and just shaped it into a ball. The almond-covered ball and the pistachio-covered log looked very nice together!

The Rice Pilaf with Vermicelli was another new-to-me recipe. I thought it would pair nicely with the brisket, since the brisket is very flavorful and a bit tart. My mom always adds vermicelli or another similar pasta to her rice, so I am used to making rice with pasta. But unlike my mom's recipe, this one adds onions and cooks in chicken broth instead of water. It, too, was very easy. It serves four, so I used three pots and did a double batch in each one. I'll definitely make it again some time for me and Mr. Fritz.

Love is...

2009-11-20T16:47:00.007-05:00

...when a Wolverine makes chocolate and peanut butter buckeyes with which to surprise her Buckeye husband the night before the Big Game.

This was my first time making buckeyes. (And to be honest, they look really sad compared to the gorgeous ones The Original Mrs. Fritz regularly turns out. Sigh.) I would like to think that I may have gone momentarily insane, causing me to set aside the Maize and Blue running through my veins in order to be able to make these symbolically loaded confections. But the truth is, I just love Mr. Fritz. And I know these will make him ridiculously happy. And that's enough of a reason for me to do just about anything.

That being said... Go Blue!

Dinner Tonight: Baked Chicken with Onions, Potatoes, Garlic and Thyme

2009-11-18T20:35:00.004-05:00

Wow. I wish that you could have been in my kitchen tonight. The meal that I made, Baked Chicken with Onions, Potatoes, Garlic and Thyme from the October issue of Everyday Food, smelled positively sublime while it was roasting. The whole house filled with the scent of lemons and thyme.

And happily, when it came out of the oven, it tasted just as wonderful as I'd hoped - luscious, perfectly tender chicken, lemons that roasted so thoroughly the practically melted, fragrant roasted garlic, caramelized chunks of red onion, and well-cooked hunks of new potatoes. The dish had very little added fat - I used 2 Tb. of olive oil total, since I halved the recipe - and required very little prep or cleanup. I think in total, I used a baking dish, a cutting board, a knife, a measuring spoon, and a little tupperware container to mix the balsamic vinegar with the olive oil before drizzling it over the chicken and vegetables. It's the ideal one-dish meal and it is one I plan to make again and again from here on out. Delish!

Baked Chicken with Onions, Potatoes, Garlic and Thyme
Source: Everyday Food Magazine, October 2009
Serves 4 - Prep time 10 minutes - Total time 1 hour

1 whole chicken (3 to 3 1/2 pounds), cut into 8 pieces and breasts halved crosswise*
1 pound new potatoes, halved (quartered if large)
1 large red onion, cut into eighths
1 head garlic cloves, separated and left unpeeled**
6 sprigs thyme
1 lemon, quartered
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tb balsamic vinegar
coarse salt and ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange chicken, potatoes, onion, garlic, thyme and lemon in a 12-by-16 inch roasting pan. Whisk together olive oil and vinegar and drizzle over chicken and vegetables. Toss to combine and season with salt and pepper. Turn chicken skin side up. Roast until chicken is browned and cooked through, about 50 minutes.***

A few notes from my kitchen:

* Since it was me and Mr. Fritz, I subbed boneless/skinless chicken breast, about 1/2 pound total. I'd probably use boneless/skinless again even if I were doing it for more people, because it came out so well without the mess of having to hack up a chicken.

** I peeled my garlic. I didn't want to deal with the skins in the finished dish.

*** My version was done in 40 minutes, probably because it was boneless and skinless. Also, instead of using a roasting pan, I used a small but heavy ceramic baking dish.

Dinner Tonight: Marinated Salmon with Couscous

2009-11-17T21:21:00.004-05:00

Tonight I was reminded what a blessing it is to be able to cook. Knowing how to read and execute recipes means that anything is possible in the kitchen. It means that you never have to eat the same thing twice if you choose not to - and it means you can eat the same well-executed dish over and over again if you find a recipe you really love. As I sat down to dinner tonight, I thought about how much we'd probably pay for a similar meal at a restaurant and concluded that it'd cost at least three times as much. So not only do I gain satisfaction from cooking for myself and Mr. Fritz, we also save money without sacrificing quality or taste. I realize that this revelation is nothing new, but it is good to remember why I spend time in the kitchen as well as reflect on what we gain from it.

All that to say, tonight's meal was really good! And super easy. I adapted this recipe from the October 2009 issue of Everyday Food for Marinated Salmon Steaks with Couscous. I chose to use 6 oz salmon filets instead of salmon steaks, and I cut the rest of the recipe in half. Also, I didn't bother to marinate the salmon for 30 minutes as the recipe calls for, because ever since I read this story in the Washington Post about why there's no good reason to let something sit in a marinade, I've pretty much eliminated that resting time from every recipe I use that calls for marinating something. I slathered the salmon on both sides with the marinade, set it in a baking dish and baked it for 13 minutes at 375. And it came out perfectly. The couscous is infused with olive oil and lemon zest, and it's pretty essential for the meal, because the marinade has such a crazy kick to it thanks to the jalapeno pepper included in it. Mr. Fritz and I both liked this a lot, despite the fact that it was spicier than what we usually eat. I also appreciated that it was a new way to serve salmon (since I am always in search of new ways to serve salmon!) and really liked that it had sort of a Middle Eastern flavor to it. I will definitely make this again!

Dinner Last Night: Cubano Sandwiches

2009-11-16T10:27:00.004-05:00

I spent the weekend in all-day classes, so I was excited to be able to make a super easy meal last night. Using the pork tenderloin leftover from Thursday night's Spice-Rubbed Pork Loin with Acorn Squash, plus another loaf of freshly baked bread from the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book (dough that I had pre-made last Sunday but baked off last night!), along with Swiss cheese, dill pickles, mustard and some thinly-sliced deli ham, these Cubano Sandwiches (also featured in the November issue of Everyday Food) came together in a flash.

My tweaks: I used a regular heavy sauce pan instead of a grill pan, since I don't own a grill pan. And I used my bread instead of hoagie rolls, but the timing for grilling and baking stayed the same. Also, I subbed Vermont cheddar for Swiss on my sandwich, since I prefer cheddar, but put Swiss on Mr. Fritz's. And, I learned last night that Mr. Fritz cannot stand pickles. I appreciate that after 3+ years together, there are still things I don't know about my hot husband. It keeps things interesting!

Cubano Sandwiches
Source: Everyday Food Magazine, November 2009
Serves 4 - Prep Time: 20 Minutes - Total Time: 30 Minutes

3 Tb butter, room temperature, plus more for the pan
4 Portuguese rolls, split
yellow mustard, to taste
1/2 pound thinly sliced deli ham
1 pound Spice-Rubbed Pork Loin, thinly sliced
1/2 pound Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
sliced dill pickles, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425. Butter inside of each roll; spread with mustard. Divide ham, pork and cheese among bottom halves of rolls. Top with pickles, more mustard to taste, and top halves of rolls. Press down firmly on sandwiches.

2. Heat a grill pan and another heavy pan over medium. With a paper towel, lightly coat grill pan with butter. In batches, place sandwiches on grill pan and weight with second pan. Cook until bread is crisp on the outside, about 3 minutes per side; transfer grill pan to over and bake sandwiches until cheese has melted, about 5 minutes. To serve, cut sandwiches in half.

Dinner Tonight: Arugula Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Feta, Spice-Rubbed Pork Loin with Acorn Squash and Homemade Bread

2009-11-12T22:34:00.007-05:00

Tonight, we had the great pleasure of having our fun friends Ms. DiNardo and Mr. Fielder over for dinner. Since they are both great cooks, I wanted to make something seasonal and special for our meal. The November issue of Everyday Food had a couple of things that I thought would go well together.

First, a salad of arugula, feta and roasted sweet potatoes with an orange and white wine vinegar vinaigrette. This was incredibly easy to put together: roast one and a half pounds of sweet potatoes tossed with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes, then toss with arugula and feta and dress with a mixture of 1/2 tsp. orange zest, 1 Tb. fresh-squeezed orange juice, 1 tsp. white wine vinegar and 2 Tb. olive oil. And, for a salad with only three main ingredients, was really tasty.

The main course was also very simple: pour a marinade of olive oil, brown sugar, cinnamon, chili poweder and cumin over slices of acorn squash. Sear a 3 pound pork loin, then baste it with that same marinade. Then roast the squash and the pork loin on the same pan in a 425 degree oven for 45 minutes, turning the squash and re-basting the pork every 15 minutes. The squash becomes tender and caramelized and the pork gets a most luscious, flavorful crust.

But the part of the meal I was most proud of was actually the bread. I made bread from scratch! And it was ridiculously simple. I used a cookbook called "Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day" and was able to make the bread with just flour, yeast, water and salt using just a bowl, a wooden spoon, and a pizza stone. The authors of the book have created a method that yields a really wet dough that you can pull together in literally just a couple of minutes, that needs no kneading or proofing and that is truly idiot-proof. And the bread! Mr. Fritz cannot get over how great it tasted. It was hearty, salty, airy-yet-substantial and had a great crust. I am so thrilled with the result, I can't wait to try the rest of the recipes in the book! (This time, I used the "boule" recipe) Better yet, the dough (which I made on Sunday) made enough for two loaves. So I'll probably make another loaf on Saturday to use for that evening's meal. Woo hoo!

Dinner Tonight: Cheddar-Dill Omelet and Hash Browns

2009-11-11T21:05:00.003-05:00

It's been raining all day and so when it came to making dinner, I wasn't really in the mood to make anything too complicated. I also had limited supplies on hand. That's why I was particularly proud of how well tonight's meal came off - it was simple, yummy and satisfying. Oh, and inexpensive. I used stuff that I had on hand: 5 eggs, a potato purchased a couple of grocery-shopping trips ago, dill leftover from the bunch I'd used for Monday night's pasta recipe, and a handful of shredded cheddar.

To prepare this riff on breakfast-for-dinner, I chopped up the potato into tiny pieces (it always amazes me how far a single, medium-sized potato can be stretched) and fried it on medium-high heat in a little bit of butter. While that was cooking, I cracked the eggs, added dill, salt and pepper, then poured the egg mixture into my widest saute pan to make a mega-sized omelet. I sprinkled the cheese on top and let it cook away over medium heat until it was no longer wet. (Mr. Fritz is not a fan of wet eggs...). Then I cut it into two pieces, and plated each one alongside the hash browns. Easy as can be, with quick clean-up. Perfect for a mid-week meal!

Dinner Tonight: Spaghetti and Meatballs

2009-11-10T20:33:00.002-05:00

Every now and then I ask Mr. Fritz what he would like to have for dinner. Usually, he has no preference, which is why I rarely ask. But sometimes I am desperate for inspiration, so I put him on the hot spot and beg him for a suggestion. This week, when I was searching for an idea, he suggested spaghetti. We have pasta all the time, but rarely the long skinny stuff that actually qualifies as honest-to-goodness spaghetti. So tonight, I tried a meatball recipe from the October issue of Everyday Food. But, as usual, I tweaked it a bit.

The original recipe is for meatballs in a tomato sauce, served alongside garlic bread. I subbed the spaghetti for the garlic bread because I didn't want to have two starches. And instead of giving a hoagie roll a whirl through the food processor to use as filler with the meatballs, I subbed in a half a cup of panko. The meal came together pretty quickly - the whole thing was done in around 25 minutes. I enjoyed it - it'd been a long time since I made meatballs and the last time they were turkey meatballs. This was a nice variation.

Dinner Tonight: Chicken, Lemon and Dill with Orzo

2009-11-09T20:45:00.003-05:00

Wow. Just when I think I've been bored to death by chicken, a recipe like this one comes along and wins me over yet again. This beauty, featured in a story called "Beyond Lasagna" in the November 09 issue of Everyday Food, is sublime. It's also ridiculously easy. Which means it's definitely a keeper. It combines lots of my favorite things: lemon, dill, feta, and orzo to create a baked pasta dish that is equal parts comfort food and savory delight. Spectacular!

I played with the ratio of ingredients a bit, because the recipe is written to serve six. I more or less cut it in half, but went with ample amounts of lemon juice and dill, in particular, and less feta and parmesan. The end result is sort of risotto-ish, actually, without the fuss and attention needed for real risotto.

Chicken, Lemon and Dill with Orzo
Source: Everyday Food Magazine, November 2009
Serves 6. Prep time: 10 minutes. Total time: 50 minutes

4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 Tb unsalted butter
1 1/4 tsp coarse salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pound chicken tenderloins, cut into 1-in pieces
1 pound orzo
2 cups crumbled feta (about 4 ounces)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill
2 tsps finely grated lemon zest plus 1 Tb fresh lemon juice
1 c grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a sauce pan, bring broth, 3/4 cup water, butter, salt and pepper to a boil. In a 3-quart baking dish, combine chicken, orzo, feta, dill, lemon zest and lemon juice. Pour broth mixture over chicken mixture and stir once to incorporate. Bake until orzo is tender and cooking liquid is creamy, about 40 minutes. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and let stand about 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Treats: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-11-08T22:02:00.004-05:00

These are the cookies my mom made for my family when I was growing up. One bite takes me immediately back to my childhood, hanging out in the kitchen while she whipped up a quick batch. I thought they were the best cookies ever. In fact, when I was in high school and college, I used to give these to my friends for Christmas. The first year of my cookie gifting, I gave each of them a full-to-the-brim, personalized glass cookie jar, and then each year afterwards, I collected the jars, refilled them and redistributed them. When Mr. Fritz was deployed to Iraq a couple of years ago, these cookies made it into one of the many care packages I sent his way. And tonight, I made them just because. (They'll find their way into Mr. Fritz's lunch this week and possibly next...) So, if you're looking for a sweet treat to share with someone you love, give these beauties a try. I promise, you won't be disappointed!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from the Quaker Oats canister recipe

1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
1 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups flour (scooped - NOT spooned - into a measuring cup)
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3 cups old fashioned oatmeal
1 whole bag of chocolate chips or chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 375. Beat the butter until it's light. Add sugars. Beat until fluffy. Add the eggs and the vanilla and beat that well. Add the flour, baking soda and the salt. Mix well. Stir in the oatmeal and the chocolate chip until thoroughly combined. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are just set. Let cool for one minute then transfer to a wire rack. Do not overbake.

Dinner Tonight: Mrs. Taylor's Pasta Sauce over Sweet Italian Sausage Tortellini

2009-11-07T18:43:00.006-05:00

While my pound cake was in the oven, I decided it might be nice to pull together a little something to simmer on the stove. So I pulled out one of my most beloved cookbooks - one put together and given to me by my old friend Mrs. Taylor of her favorite tried-and-true recipes - and made a pot of from-scratch pasta sauce. I must admit that more often than not, I cheat and use bottled sauce. (I'm partial to Vodka Sauce from the Teeter) even though I was raised by a mother who always always made a fabulous meat sauce from scratch. So tonight, I vowed, I'd return to my from-scratch roots, and, since I wanted to make a meatless sauce tonight, I went with Mrs. Taylor's version. I'm going to serve it over tortellini stuffed with sweet Italian sausage as a concession to my meat-loving husband. It's still simmering away as I type this, and it smells great. Here's to hoping Mr. Fritz likes it! (I think he will... It's seriously awesome...)

Mrs. Taylor's Pasta Sauce

2 cups chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
2-3 Tbs olive oil
3 30-oz cans diced tomatoes
2 6-oz cans tomato paste
2 Tbs. brown sugar
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp ground thyme
2 tsp. salt
2 bay leaves

1 pound fresh mushrooms
olive oil

In a large stock pot, cook onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until tender, but not brown. Add remaining ingredients (except mushrooms) and simmer on low heat for about 2 hours until sauce is thick, stirring occasionally. Saute mushrooms in olive oil; add to sauce. Remove bay leaves before serving.

Treats: Sour Cream Pound Cake

2009-11-07T18:32:00.005-05:00

My sister is a genius. As you know, I am a hapless baker. As such, I have been having a hard time getting cakes to turn out without splitting in half in the pan, and so tonight, as I prepared to separate a sour cream pound cake from its pan, I decided to do what I should have done three cakes ago: call Mrs. Plourde for an assist. I asked her how long to leave it in the pan before flipping it out and she gave me this sage advice: "About 10 minutes. If you leave it in less than that, it won't come out and if you leave it in longer than that it won't come out." So I set a timer and, like magic, this gorgeous specimen emerged in all its glory. I actually yelled "hooray" out loud when it appeared on the cooling rack in one piece. (Mr. Fritz had yelled something similar to that a few minutes prior when his beloved Buckeyes scored a touchdown. I told him after my "hooray" that I could totally identify with his joy...)

This particular pound cake, "Grandmother Paula's Sour Cream Pound Cake" is a Paula Deen recipe. I am not typically a Paula Deen fan. Her stuff seems heavy and her accent and folksy manner drives me bananas. But this recipe looked super simple when I came across it on the Food Network's web site, so I decided to give it a try in this week's quest for a good breakfast treat for Mr. Fritz. The batter tasted great (yes, I tried a little bit off of the beater) and so I'm expecting the cake will as well. If nothing else, did I mention that it looks spectacular? Go Mrs. Fritz!

Dinner Tonight: Chicken with Easy Peanut Sauce

2009-11-05T21:44:00.003-05:00

Another night, another oooold recipe that I've finally gotten around to trying. This time, it's Jean Carper's recipe for Chicken with Easy Peanut Sauce. Mr. Fritz and I both liked this a lot, and since it lived up to it's "easy" title, I definitely plan to make it again.

Jean calls for grilling chicken breasts for 7 minutes. We don't have a grill, so I threaded bite-sized pieces of chicken onto four metal skewers and broiled them for around 8 minutes, turning each skewer once mid-way through cooking them. While they were broiling, I made the peanut sauce - you just put peanut butter, garlic, a bit of soy sauce, and some chicken broth into a bowl and nuke it for three minutes.

I plated the chicken with steamed pea pods and basmati rice and served the peanut sauce in a ramekin on the side. It made for a nice looking plate and each element was really good both individually and collectively. And considering there were four components to the meal, cleanup was still pretty quick.

Dinner Tonight: In-a-Hurry Chicken Curry

2009-11-04T19:59:00.003-05:00

I clipped this chicken curry recipe years ago from USA WEEKEND and just now got around to making it. Looking for something easy to prepare tonight, I finally got around to making it. With just a few ingredients, it was super simple to make but it was a little too spicy for my tastes. If I make it again, I'll use less curry. I liked the addition of golden raisins and pineapple - the sweetness cut the heat a bit. But not enough...

Dinner Tonight: Calzones with Italian Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

2009-11-03T18:29:00.002-05:00

Last night, Mr. Fritz and I watched the Seinfeld rerun in which George gets the Yankee's owner hooked on calzones from a local pizza place. In true George fashion, he ticks off the one of the workers at the restaurant, finds himself banned for life, and has to turn to Newman to procure Steinbrenner's daily calzone fix. The episode made me laugh. It also made me think about making calzones after a long calzone hiatus.

So, tonight, I used refrigerated pizza dough, Italian sausage that I precooked on the stove, a shredded mix of Italian cheeses and the final bit of the roasted red pepper sauce I made previously to cook up a couple of calzones. They took a quick 13-minute trip through a 400 degree oven and were good to go. Verdict: pretty good and fast meal for a Tuesday night!

Dinner Tonight: Shrimp, Feta and Orzo Salad

2009-11-02T19:45:00.004-05:00

During the year after our wedding, I found myself on the receiving end of a magazine called The Nest. I think it came to me automatically because I had used The Knot to help me stay organized as I planned our big day. In any case, the magazine came around once every few months and then, once we hit our one year anniversary, it stopped. I guess once we were past being newlyweds they assumed we were fully "nested". In any case, I actually sort of enjoyed the magazine and got a few good recipes out of it. Among them was this one for Shrimp, Feta and Orzo Salad. It's a hybrid of a hot and cold salad - warm shrimp over a cold orzo pasta salad, served on a bed of lettuce. I definitely picked the wrong season to make this - eating a cold salad in front of a roaring fire is just sort of ridiculous, and needless to say, Mr. Fritz wasn't really a fan of the dish, mainly because of the temperature.

Regardless, I think it's worth posting here because it has a good mix of flavors and textures. And in the right season (for the record, the recipe ran in the Spring 08 issue), would probably make for a great meal.

Shrimp, Feta and Orzo Salad
Source: The Nest magazine
Serves 2

1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 Tb. fresh lemon juice
2 Tb. olive oil
1 1/2 tsp minced fresh oregano leaves (I used dried)
salt and pepper
1/2 lb medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
3/4 cup orzo, uncooked
1/3 c crumbled feta (about 2 oz.)
1 medium tomato, chopped
3 scallions, sliced
1/2 c packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 avocado, chopped (this is my addition)
1 c baby greens, washed and rinsed

DRESSING
1/2 garlic clove, chopped
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1/4 c fresh, flat-leaf parsley
2 tsp. minced fresh oregano leaves
pepper
1/4 c olive oil

Directions
In a bowl, whisk together garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Add shrimp to marinade, stirring to coat well. Marinate shrimp, covered and chilled, 1 hour. Prepare grill pan. (Note, I let it marinade for awhile, but not a whole hour, and it was fine. Also, I didn't used a grill, I just sauted the shrimp when I was ready to cook it.)

Meanwhile, cook orzo according to package directions. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool.

For the dressing, combine all six ingredients in a blender until emulsified.

When orzo is cool, stir in feta, tomato, scallions, and parsley leaves. (Note: I added a chopped up avocado as well because I had one on hand - I thought it made the dish better). Add dressing to taste and toss well. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove shrimp from marinade, discard marinade. Grill shrimp until just cooked through about 2 minutes on each side. Using tongs, remove shrimp from grill pan and toss gently with orzo mixture. (I just put all the shrimp on the top of each dish of salad. But I probably should have tossed it all together...)

Line salad bowls with baby greens and fill with orzo salad. Serve.

Treats: Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

2009-11-01T22:43:00.004-05:00

This afternoon I made these excellent cookies for Mr. Fritz. The recipe is from Real Simple and it's easy enough that even I couldn't screw it up. The hardest part (or rather, the part that takes the longest) is unwrapping all of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. But honestly, the result is worth the effort. My only issue with the recipe: it claims to make 48 cookies. I was able to get 24 out of the first batch of batter I made a few weeks ago and just 18 (albeit pretty big) cookies out of today's batch. Regardless, if you have a bag of mini Reese's leftover from last night's festivities, I definitely recommend giving this recipe a try!

A Perfect Fall Dinner

2009-11-01T21:57:00.006-05:00

Welcome, November! The weather had a bit of a chill to it today, which put me in the mood for comfort food. Which was perfect, since we were expecting our spectacular friends Mr. Leamon and Ms. Kuhn over for dinner. I spent the afternoon preparing the meal so that I could fully enjoy spending time with our guests. On the menu: my favorite salad from Foster's Market in Durham, North Carolina, chicken pot pie, and my mom's apple crisp. I made the chicken pot pie and the apple crisp all the way up to the baking stage during the day, then put the pot pie into the oven about 30 minutes before our guests arrived and put the apple crisp into the oven as soon as I pulled the pot pie out. And I presliced all the ingredients for the salad, dousing the avocado and apple slices in lemon juice so that they wouldn't brown, and made the dressing, then assembled the salad just before we were ready to eat it. The meal was delicious - exactly what I had hoped for!

While I'd made the salad (which I first encountered while visiting Mr. and Mrs. Stevens in Raleigh a few years ago) and the pot pie (a Pam Anderson recipe for USA WEEKEND) many times before, this was the first time I'd ever made my mom's apple crisp. Her recipe was a little vague - she didn't specify how many apples to use or how long to leave it in the oven, and when I called to ask her, she said what all great cooks would say: "bake it till it's done." Translated: for a 9x13" pan, use 7-8 apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks and bake it for around 30-40 minutes, or until the apples are nice and tender and the "crisp" is golden brown. Taking a bite of the finished product immediately transported me to my childhood, a very happy time indeed! Thanks, Mom, for the apple crisp and for always being so good to me!!

Avocado, Cucumber, Green Apple, Feta Salad
Source: Foster's Market, by way of Mrs. Stevens

Grated zest and juice of one lime
1 Tbs. white wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tart apple, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded and sliced 1/4 inch thick
4 cups watercress, washed and trimmed of tough stems
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 onces feta, thinly sliced

1. stir the lime zest and juice and vinegar together in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until all in incorporated. Stir in the mint.

2. In separate medium bowl combine the apple, avocado, cucumber and watercress. Drizzle with the vinaigrette, season with salt and pepper, and toss gently. Arrange the salad on a platter or individual plates, top with the feta slices, and serve immediately.

Apple Crisp
Source: my sweet, amazing, talented mother

7-8 apples, cored, peeled and roughly chopped into good sized chunks
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup oatmeal (the old fashioned kind, not the quick cooking)
1 stick of butter, melted
1/4 tsp. cinnamon*
1/4 tsp. nutmeg*
1/4 tsp. salt
vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill a 9x13" baking dish with the apples. Mix remaining ingredients together and pour mixture over the apples. Bake for 2o-30 minutes or until the apples are nice and soft and cooked through. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

*says Mom: "if you wish, you can use more or less cinnamon and nutmeg."

Enjoy!!

Dinner Tonight: Chicken and Tortellini with Green Beans and RRP sauce

2009-10-28T20:53:00.005-04:00

This weekend I made another batch of the aforementioned Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and decided to use some of it for dinner tonight. It was a very simple affair and gave a nice result. I put a pot of water on to boil and when it was ready, I dropped in a package of cheese-filled spinach tortellini. While it was cooking, I cut up boneless chicken and sauteed it, along with green beans until the chicken was cooked through and the green beans still had a little bite to them. Then I deglazed the pan with a little white wine. When the tortellini was ready, I divided it between two bowls and dressed each bowl with a few tablespoons of sauce. Then I topped each bowl with the chicken and green bean mixture and more sauce. And then finally I dusted each bowl with a bit of Parmesan. It was a nice meal and was very colorful. The combination of pasta, protein, vegetables and sauce is a pretty regular meal solution for us on busy weeknights. But this is the first time I've put these four specific elements together. I'll definitely make it again!

Dinner Tonight: Wayne's Inheritance

2009-10-27T20:59:00.006-04:00

There are many great restaurants in Ann Arbor, Mich., but my favorite is Zingerman's Deli. It's quite possibly the greatest place on earth for someone who likes to eat really good food. It's also home to what is probably my favorite sandwich ever, Wayne's Inheritance. Comprised of roasted chicken, cucumber slices, white cheddar and Ranch dressing, it's a pretty simple sandwich to replicate at home, although it never really occurred to me to try until I started cooking for Mr. Fritz. Now I serve it every few weeks. Zingerman's is all about the ingredients - the best of everything. My version comes reasonably close to the original, though.

I use organic chicken breasts which I cut into strips and saute over medium high heat until they're cooked through. I heat up two demi-baguettes (I think I've written about these before - this great crusty bread that's sold frozen and then finished off at home with 10 minutes in the oven), split them open and spread ranch dressing on one side each one and lay out a slice of Vermont white cheddar on the other side of each baguette. I top the cheese with chicken and the chicken with slices of cucumber, then close each sandwich up, cut them in half and serve them warm. The contrast of the hot bread and warm chicken, the melted cheese and the cold dressing and cucumber is sublime. It's the sort of thing I'd never come up with on my own, but in this context, all of the ingredients are perfectly wedded to each other. Yum!

Treats: The Original Mrs. Glade's Easy Chocolate Cake

2009-10-27T16:02:00.003-04:00

Mr. Fritz likes to eat something sweet in the morning. For the first year of our marriage, that took the form of two doughnuts with a banana chaser. But he's gotten a little tired of the doughnuts, so I've begun to explore other sweet treat options, including homemade bundt cakes.

The one I made this week is pretty incredible and it is ridiculously easy. The recipe came from Mrs. Glade, who got it from her mother-in-law, The Original Mrs. Glade. It's a chocolately delight and it starts with a cake mix, reducing the chance for error by people like me who regularly fail in their baking endeavors. If you are looking for a quick, wonderful cake, I can't recommend this one highly enough!

The Original Mrs. Glade’s Easy Chocolate Cake

1 box Devil’s Food Cake Mix

4 eggs

1 instant chocolate pudding packet

½ cup water

8 oz. sour cream

¼ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup strong coffee

Package of Chocolate Chips

Mix all ingredients together and stir until well incorporated. Pour into greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan before turning it over onto a rack. Enjoy!

Dinner Last Night: Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup

2009-10-23T16:24:00.004-04:00

For better or for worse, Mr. Fritz rarely asks for anything specific for dinner. As I was making my grocery list earlier this week, I was in search of inspiration, so I asked Mr. Fritz for ideas. His response: Chicken Noodle Soup.

Well, dear reader, I am embarrassed to say that I've never made chicken noodle soup in my life. It seems like the most basic of dishes, yet it's just never been on my menu. But that was no reason to disappoint my hot husband. So, I went off in search of a good recipe. I found one from a 1998 issue of Bon Appetit that was pretty good. A very basic recipe, I tweaked it a bit to suit Mr. Fritz's tastes (specifically, I cut out the mushrooms but kept in the lemon juice) and my timeline (I traded a whole bone-in, skin-on chicken for three boneless breasts) and preferences (I upped the amount of vegetables and decreased the amount of broth by half). In the end, I had a pretty good soup, but one that I think could have used a bit more seasoning. I think if I make it again I'll add some dill to the broth or possibly some ginger. I had it again for lunch today and I actually think it tasted a little better on Day 2. Do you have a can't miss recipe for chicken soup? If so, please share it in the comments!

A Tale of Three Peppers

2009-09-01T21:50:00.005-04:00

Recently I picked up a pack (not a peck) of peppers at Trader Joe's. It was a three-pack, consisting of one red, one orange and one yellow pepper. I wasn't sure what I was going to use the peppers for, and so they languished for a bit in the crisper. Then I had a revelation: Roasted Red Pepper Sauce. The recipe is an old, long-forgotten favorite of mine. Back in college, I worked for a restaurant called Pastabilities. The restaurant is, sadly, long gone, but I managed to sweet talk one of the cooks into giving me the recipe for both this sauce and a killer pesto as my time there was coming to an end. The thing about it is that it really could not be more simple to make, yet it tastes spectacular. And, so, without further ado, the tale of how my three lowly peppers turned into the best sauce ever:

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
adapted from Pastabilities*
Yield: about 2 cups

Ingredients:
3 red peppers (or a mix of red, yellow and orange)
1/2 of a 10.5 oz can of crushed tomatoes
2-3 Tb heavy cream

Cut the peppers in half, discard stems and seeds, and broil cut side down on a baking sheet until the skins are totally black. Remove peppers from oven and place in either a ziplock bag or a bowl with a tight-fitting lid. Let peppers rest until they are cool enough to handle, then remove blackened skins from each pepper and discard the char.

Place peppers in a blender, add tomatoes and cream, and puree until smooth. From here the sauce can either be saved for another day or heated and served over your favorite pasta. I served it to Mr. Fritz over gnocchi and mixed in some bite-sized pieces of sauteed chicken breast, then dusted the dish with grated Parm. Seriously delish!

* The original recipe called for a 48 oz can of roasted red peppers, a 10.5 oz can of 6-in-1 tomatoes and 8 oz of half-and-half. This would have made enough sauce to feed and army and wouldn't have helped me use up my fresh peppers, so I scaled it down to the recipe you see above. If you need a LOT of RRP sauce, definitely give the larger proportions a try!

Dinner tonight: Pan-Fried Shrimp with Green Curry Cashew Sauce and Sesame Carrot Salad

2009-03-08T23:21:00.003-04:00

I cooked a lot this weekend for Mr. Fritz (and will try to post the additional recipes as the week goes along), capping off my time in the kitchen with this excellent meal: Pan-Fried Shrimp with Green Curry Cashew Sauce from the Everyday Food Cookbook. It came together quickly -- the toughest part, really, was cleaning the food processor after the curry prep was finished.

To prepare the curry, you blend roasted, salted cashews with ginger in a food processor until smooth, then add some plain low-fat yogurt (I used Greek yogurt, which may have led to a thicker end result than would have been otherwise), cilantro, curry powder and salt and process some more. Once it's nicely pureed, divide between serving cups and set aside.

The preparation for the shrimp is super easy: heat some olive oil over medium high heat, add shrimp, salt and pepper and pan fry 2-3 minutes per side. Serve with the curry sauce and enjoy! Mr. Fritz and I really liked the the taste of the curry sauce. I was a little wary of it because as a general rule I don't like cashews, but I found that when they were blended with the rest of the ingredients, I couldn't even pick out the flavor of the nuts -- or at least it didn't impact the taste negatively.

I also made a sesame carrot salad to go along with the shrimp and curry. For this, I shredded a few carrots with a peeler, then mixed them with a dressing of rice vinegar, ginger, sesame seeds and toasted sesame oil. The carrot salad (which is paired with the curried shrimp in the cookbook) added a nice light, crispy element to the meal.

I will definitely make this meal again -- I was reminded yet again that it is often so much more satisfying to try a new dish at home than it is to go out to eat and spend tons of cash on something that likely will not be as tasty as what I can whip up in my tiny kitchen. Yay!

Mrs. Fritz resurfaces with lots of recipes

2009-03-01T14:04:00.015-05:00

Several friends have emailed me, concerned that Mr. Fritz may be starving. I want to put those fears to rest: he continues to be well-fed despite my lack of posting here. That said, he and I have been trading colds and other various ailments for most of 2009 and thus I have slacked off on blogging. But I have tried some pretty good recipes in the past month and I don't want to keep them from everyone, so, below, you'll find six of the best:

Orecchiette with Sausage and Roasted Peppers

This recipe from Everyday Food took some effort -- roasting bell peppers in the oven under the broiler until blackened, then letting them sweat in a plastic bag before rubbing the skins off and chopping them up, but it was worth it in the end: a company-worthy dish that won raves from both me and Mr. Fritz in terms of flavor and overall lusciousness.

My only variation to the recipe as written is this: After the sausage was cooked, I added the peppers and the cooked pasta to the pan, mixed it all together, then added the reserved pasta water and the cheese and butter and mixed it all together. That way, I didn't have to dirty another mixing bowl and everything stayed nice and warm. I'll definitely make this again.

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Mexican Shrimp and Rice

Ms. Haley came over for dinner a few weeks ago and I served this dish from Real Simple. Unfortunately, I can't find it on their web site, but I've typed it in below. The most notable thing about this meal is that I should have followed the directions more closely and added the dash of heat the recipe calls for instead of going with a milder, heat-free preparation. As a result, the meal was a little bit bland -- good for Mr. Fritz's palate, not so good for mine and Ms. Haley's. I'm confident that following the recipe would make this good dish great. One variation that I made that I would recommend: instead of transfering the shrimp and rice to a casserole, I baked the whole thing in a dutch oven -- makes for less cleanup and works just as well. Not sure why they even included the transfer as part of the recipe, actually.

Mexican Shrimp and Rice
source: Real Simple Food, page 101

Hands on time 25 minutes, total time: 1 hour
Serves 4

2 Tb. olive oil
1 small white onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
1 cup Arborio rice
3 Tbs. chipotles in adobo sauce, mashed (or substitute a splash of hot pepper sauce)
1 14.5 oz can low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 lbs large shrimp, peeled and deveined
juice of one lime
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped (optional)
1 lime, cut into wedges

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Heat the oil in a dutch oven or oven-proof sauce pan over medium-low heat. Add the onions, carrots and rice and cook for five minutes. Meanwhile, in a separate pan over medium heat, heat the chipotles, broth, oregano and salt until warm. Add the broth mixture to the rice and vegetables and transfer to a casserole. Cover and bake for 15 minutes. Add the shrimp and lime juice. Recover and bake until the rice is tender, 10-12 minutes more. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in cilantro if using and lime juice. Serve with lime wedges.

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Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-Fry

I made this one night for me and Mr. Fritz and we ate it while watching Gosford Park, the Robert Altman movie from a few years ago about a weekend party at a manor house in England. The film follows the wealthy attendees of the the party as well as the goings-on down "below house" where the servants live and work. Great movie! And an equally good meal. (Although there's nothing "English" about it. Note to self: work on themed dinners to eat while watching future films...). Anyway, this came together quickly and offered all of the yumminess of Chinese food without the uncertainties of chemicals (MSG) or hidden fat from lots of oil. Will definitely make the next time we are craving Asian food. Oh, and my variation (because I always seem to have one): I substituted sugar snap peas for the called-for broccoli, since Mr. Fritz won't eat broccoli.

Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-fry
Source: Everday Food, March 2008
Prep time: 35 minutes. Total time: 40 minutes. Serves 8

1/3 cup cornstarch
2 cups orange juice
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup honey
4 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 tsps. red pepper flakes
coarse salt
1 Tb. vegetable oil
3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips
1 head broccoli, cut into florets, stalks peeled and thinly sliced
1 lb carrots (about 5), peeled and thinly sliced on the diagonal
cooked rice, for serving

Place cornstarch in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in cornstarch until smooth. Whisk in soy sauce, vinegar, honey, garlic, red pepper flakes and salt. Set aside.

In a 5 quart, non-stick Dutch oven or pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook chicken on one side until slightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes; transfer to a plate and set aside (chicken will cook more later.)

Add broccoli, carrots, and 1/2 cup water to the pot. Cook, partially covered, until water has evaporated and broccoli is bright green, 3 minutes. Add reserved chicken and cornstarch mixture; bring to a boil. Cook until chicken is opaque throughout and sauce has thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve stir-fry over rice.

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Grilled Peanut-Butter and Banana Sandwiches

Mr. Fritz loves bananas. Mr. Fritz loves peanut butter. And Mr. Fritz loves French Toast. So imagine my delight when I came across this recipe for what is essentially a peanut butter sandwich filled with bananas and then dipped in an eggwash and fried in a pan on the stove like french toast. Perfection on a plate! This will definitely make another appearance in the future here at Chez Fritz...

Grilled Peanut-Butter and Banana Sandwiches
Source: Everyday Food Magazine, March 2008
Serves 4. Prep time: 15 minutes. Total time: 15 minutes

1 large egg
1/4 cup whole milk
1 Tb. light brown sugar
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
coarse salt
4 slices white sandwich bread
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 bananas, peeled and cut in half crosswise and then lengthwise
1 Tb. butter
confectioners sugar for dusting

In a shallow bowl, whisk together egg, milk, brown sugar, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.

Spread each slice of bread with 1 Tb. peanut butter. Dividing evenly, sandwich banana pieces between slices of bread.

In a medium, non-stick skillet, heat butter over medium. One at a time, dip both sides of sandwiches into egg mixture and place in skillet. Cook until golden brown, 1-3 minutes per side.

Transfer sandwiches to a work surface. Using a serrated knife, cut sandwiches into quarters. Dust with confectioners sugar and serve immediately.

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Creamy Carrot Soup

I made this Cooking Light soup last week and had it for lunch every day. And it was absolutely fabulous. The recipe made plenty of soup and the hardest part was chopping all of the carrots (it calls for 2 pounds of carrots chopped into 1/2-inch pieces). If you are in need of a filling, warming, inexpensive, incredibly tasty meal option, I can't recommend this soup highly enough!

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New-Fashioned Pot Roast with Fresh Rosemary

Today, Mr. Fritz and I delivered dinner to Mr. and Mrs. Robertson to celebrate the birth of their first child. I wanted to make them something special, so I turned to a recipe from one of my favorite slow-cooker cookbooks: Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker: Recipes for Entertaining. This recipe is super simple -- it mainly requires a bunch of chopping (carrots, onions, and potatoes), plus mixing up a quick marinade of red wine vinegar, ketchup, fresh rosemary, Worchester sauce and some boiling water. I was planning to make it in the slow cooker, but then I looked at the weather forecast and realized that it would be smarter to take the cooking down from 8-10 hours to more like 4. So instead of employing my crock pot, I pulled out an enormous Dutch oven, filled it first with the beef (a 4-lb boneless chuck roast) then added the vegetables, then poured the sauce over the whole thing, covered the pot and put it on the lowest rack of a 350 degree oven. I put it in at 9:30 a.m. and by 2:15 p.m. it was done -- it smelled heavenly and, if previous outings with this recipe are any indication, should taste heavenly as well. We can also report that Baby Robertson is absolutely gorgeous! Cheers to the new parents!

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So there you have it -- a recap of most of my adventures in cooking over the past month. I will try to post more regularly from here on out. Thanks for reading the blog!

Dinner tonight: Mexican-Style Eggs

2009-01-26T22:13:00.003-05:00

Tonight I had to make dinner in a hurry -- Mr. Fritz picked me up from work at 6 p.m. and spirited me home, where I quickly whipped up Real Simple's "Fake It, Don't Make It" version of Mexican-Style Eggs before I had to leave again to make it to a 7 p.m. class at the community center. I think I walked into the kitchen at 6:07 and we finished eating at 6:39, giving me just enough time to clean up the dishes before heading out the door again. Given the speed with which it all unfolded, I must say this was a really tasty (if unusual for us) meal. I also appreciated that it was only 7 ingredients: 6" corn tortillas, refried beans, enchilada sauce, eggs, shredded cheddar and chopped scallions.

To prepare, you wrap the tortillas in foil and put them in a 250 degree oven to warm. Then you put the beans in a small sauce pan to heat up. The enchilada sauce simmers in a saute pan on the stove and when it's nice and hot, you break the eggs into it, spoon a little sauce over each one, then cover and simmer for 5-7 minutes. When the eggs are done cooking, it's assembly time: put a couple of tortillas on each plate and cover with a layer of beans, a layer of eggs/sauce, a layer of cheddar and some scallions. That's it. I am not usually a fan of fried eggs (I prefer scrambled) but in this case the egg was sort of obscured by the sauce, so I didn't mind them. I think I'll make this again, although possibly for brunch rather than dinner.

48 Hour Recipe Roundup: Chili Pie, Foil Packet Shrimp and Asparagus, Greek Frittata, Fettucini with Proscuitto and Peas

2009-01-25T21:53:00.009-05:00

So... I've been lax in posting this past week because the cold that I had that I thought was going away flared up again and basically kept me out of the kitchen for several more days. But this weekend I made up for lost time with four great meals.

Lunch yesterday: Chili Pie
This is a Real Simple "Fake It, Don't Make It" recipe and it is both super simple and really tasty. You pull it together in two parts. First, you make the chili, by sauteing sweet Italian sausage in a skillet until it's cooked through. Then, add some chili powder and saute for another minutes before adding a can of kidney beans (drained), some salsa and a can of diced tomatoes and heat the whole mixture through. Pour that into a casserole dish and top it with the second part of the recipe: a box of corn muffin mix combined with an egg, some milk and shredded cheddar. Drop the cornbread mixture in dollops over the pie and gently spread it evenly so it covers all of the chili. Bake for 15-20 minutes and serve. Delish! I will definitely make this again.

Dinner yesterday: Foil Packet Shrimp with Asparagus and Jasmine Rice
Pam Anderson has a great system in her cookbook, "The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great" for pulling together fast, easy meals: she has you whip up a marinade (I chose one with soy sauce, sesame oil, vegetable oil, ginger and garlic), combine it with the protein and vegetable of your choice (I chose shrimp and asparagus, with the latter cut into one-inch pieces), then package into portion-sized packets fashioned out of aluminum foil. From here, you can either grill or bake the packets. Obviously, I went for the baking option. Set a rack at the lowest possible spot in the oven, set the temperature to 500 degrees, put the packets on a baking sheet, put the whole thing in the oven and roast for 15 minutes of so. When the cooking time is up and you open the packets, you'll find a flavorful dinner, with very little clean-up needed. Can't beat that.

Lunch today: Greek Frittata
This is another Real Simple recipe. This recipe is impressive because it seems easily adaptable to other fillings and looks elegant enough that you could serve it for a nice brunch and no one would need know that it is so easy to make. To wit: you start by pouring a bit of olive into a casserole dish and putting it into a 350 degree oven. As it heats, you pull the frittata together: whisk together eggs (the recipe calls for 10, I used 5 since I was cutting the recipe in half) with some salt and pepper, then mix in some fresh spinach, halved grape tomatoes and some chopped scallions, then add some crumbled feta. Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the frittata puffs up nicely. Mr. Fritz, our dear friend Ms. Hays and I all agreed that it was way tasty. The hardest part was waiting for it to cook. I'm not used to having patience when it comes to cooking eggs!

Dinner tonight: Pasta with Proscuitto and Peas
This recipe capped off the weekend and it was a nice way to end a really restorative weekend. As I was making my grocery list today I was at a loss for what to make tonight and this recipe from Everyday Food looked just right. Martha Stewart demos how to make it in this video (written recipe attached, too). I added a couple of shortcuts: first, I added the frozen peas to the water when I threw the pasta in instead of waiting for them to thaw on their own. I also made the sauce in the same pan I'd used for the pasta instead of dirtying another one (the pasta and peas rested safely in a colander in the sink while the quick sauce came together) and finally, I added the pasta and peas back into the pot instead of pouring the sauce over them in yet another bowl/pot. In the end, then, this was a one pot/one colander meal. But more importantly, it was absolutely delicious. Wow. I will definitely make this again, possibly the next time we have someone over for dinner -- it's that good.

In any case, it's nice to be off the couch and back in the kitchen again.

Dinner tonight: Sauteed Chicken in Mustard-Cream Sauce

2009-01-18T20:27:00.007-05:00

Mr. Fritz and I went on a journey this afternoon to see the festivities happening on the Mall. We walked down to Constitution from our place and joined the huddled masses yearning to be warm, or at least close enough to the action to make it worth standing in the cold. In the end, we didn't last very long -- it turned out that we couldn't even stand along the security barrier to watch the very-far-away Jumbotron of Bono and company doing their thing, so we walked back before too long. When we got home, we watched the concert on our lovely television (thank you, TiVo!) next to a roaring fire, much better than our attempt at in-person viewing! And once it was over, I turned my attention to dinner, which tonight was Sauteed Chicken in Mustard-Cream Sauce, paired with jasmine rice and steamed asparagus tossed in butter and salt and pepper.

This was as simple as could be to prepare. First, I set the rice to cook in one pot, then I got the asparagus steaming in a second pot. In a saute pan, I heated some olive oil over medium heat, then added the chicken and let it cook for several minutes, turning it once it started to brown. Once the chicken was done, I set it aside and deglazed the pan with some white wine, then added a little cream, dijon mustard and chopped fresh tarragon to the pan. As soon as that was heated through, I plated the whole meal and served it. Simple to make and really tasty.

Lunch today: Minestrone

2009-01-18T12:46:00.003-05:00

In my continuing efforts to feel better, I thought soup would be another good choice for lunch. I went with a Real Simple recipe for Minestrone soup, from their "fake it, don't make it" collection. The ingredients are, well, simple: a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, a 14 oz can of white beans, a 14 oz can of kidney beans (I substituted chick peas), a 16 oz bag of frozen cut green beans, a quart of chicken broth, and 5 or so ounces of fresh spinach. You start by bringing the tomatoes to a simmer, then add the beans and broth and return to a simmer, then the green beans and simmer for 3 or so minutes, then add the spinach at the end, mixing until it wilts. A little salt and pepper, plus some Parmesan on top of each bowl and some crusty bread on the side and you're done. Easy, fast, and good for you. My only comment: the recipe says it serves 4, but I think it's at least a 6-serving pot.

Dinner tonight: Sauteed Chicken with Herbed Soba

2009-01-17T19:22:00.004-05:00

This was a meal that I had planned to make earlier this week but didn't due to my cold. I'm kind of glad that I waited until tonight, since it involved my food processor, which is not a tool I pull out very often on weeknights because it's annoying to have to clean it. In any case, this recipe for Sauteed Chicken with Herbed Soba was quite easy to prepare and was another nice light dish with bright flavors.

You begin by making an herbed pesto-like sauce out of fresh parsley, cilantro, ginger, minced garlic, chopped scallions plus a little vegetable oil and rice vinegar. After giving that a whirl in a food processor, you set it aside and turn your attention to the other two components of the dish: soba (Japanese buckwheat noodles), which just need about four minutes in a pot of boiling water before being drained and tossed with the herbed "pesto" and chicken cutlets, which you saute in vegetable oil and season with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper for 4-5 minutes. When the chicken is done, let it rest on a cutting board for a few minutes before slicing it thinly, then plate the dish by putting some of the herbed noodles in a bowl and placing the sliced chicken either on top or alongside the noodles.

Mr. Fritz and I both liked this (we're two for two today!) and I really appreciated that it was a different twist on a typical chicken and pasta dish. Cilantro and parsley are inexpensive and easy to come by at the grocery store even in winter (unlike basil) and very little chopping is needed to pull the whole thing together. I will definitely make this again -- it would be nice for a summer picnic, too, as I think you could easily serve it cold.

Lunch today: Creamy Chickpea Soup with Garam Masala and Cilantro

2009-01-17T15:08:00.004-05:00

I have been sick with an awful sore throat since some time late Tuesday night. Despite my best efforts to send it on its way, the darn thing continues to linger, making me grumpy, tired, more or less without appetite and definitely not in any shape to cook. Which has meant that Mr. Fritz has sort of had to fend for himself (and at times both of us) for the past few days. He has done a more than admirable job, even going out into the cold dark night on Wednesday and bringing home wood for the fireplace and a chocolatey mint milkshake to soothe his mopey wife's whims.

But I am at the point now where I am trying to rally, and I thought I might get back on track with this ridiculously simple yet wonderfully tasty offering: Creamy Chickpea Soup with Garam Masala and Cilantro. It's a recipe from Pam Anderson and it appears in her latest cookbook, The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great. I first tried this recipe when she published it in USA WEEKEND Magazine a few years ago (I made it for Ms. Hays, actually), and was glad to see that it made the cut for the cookbook, because I always thought it was quite ingenious.

To make it, you toss a can of light coconut milk, two cans of drained chickpeas, half a cup of salsa, a cup of chicken broth, two tablespoons of apple juice concentrate, a teaspoon of ground ginger, a tablespoon and a half of garam masala and a quarter cup of cilantro leaves into a blender and puree until smooth. Then you transfer the puree to a dutch oven, bring to a simmer, partially cover and simmer away for 4 to 5 minutes. Ladle into bowls, top with a dollop of plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt) and some chopped scallions (I skipped them this time) and you're done. The whole thing takes about 10-15 minutes from start to finish and even the cleanup is simple. I served it along with a crusty French bread roll, perfect for dipping into the soup.

What you end up with is something that tastes like a cream soup but actually contains no cream whatsoever, a boon for those who are trying to eat a little lighter this time of year. In fact, a one-cup serving has only about 275 calories, but lots of protein, thanks to the beans. Also nice: since you puree the soup at the beginning and not the end of the process, you don't have to worry about transferring hot liquids from the soup pot to the blender. I wish it were this easy to make all my favorited pureed soups! And to my delight, Mr. Fritz really liked it. I was worried that it would be too spicy for him or that he would be disappointed that it didn't have chunks of chicken or some other meat in it. But that wasn't the case at all. As a result, I will definitely make this again for us both.

Cooking Companion: The Splendid Table

2009-01-13T22:33:00.010-05:00

Mr. Fritz, if you have not already figured, does not enjoy cooking. As much as he enjoys eating what I create, he isn't ever going to putter around in the kitchen with me or discuss culinary techniques. So at times, the kitchen can feel like a lonely place. When I need a cooking companion, I often plug my iPod into a set of speakers that Mr. Fritz has helpfully set up on our kitchen counter and listen to the podcast version of Lynne Rossetto Kasper's weekly radio show, The Splendid Table.

I learned about Lynne's show ages ago thanks to my sister, Mrs. Capaldi. She and her husband, Mr. Capaldi, along with my nephew, young Mr. Capaldi, listen to The Splendid Table all the time and insisted that I check it out, which I did, and was delighted by it, but it wasn't always easy or possible for me to tune in when it was live on the air. Then, a couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Lynne at the annual Food Writers Symposium at The Greenbrier in West Virginia, and she was just as warm in person as she is on her show. I was thrilled, then, when she started making the show available as a downloadable podcast, because that meant that I would never have to miss an episode and would be able to listen whenever was convenient for me. Gotta love the information age!

The show is great because it is a mix of field reports from foodies about must-visit restaurants, interviews with chefs, food writers and culinary experts, and a segment of Lynne answering readers' questions -- in other words, a great melange of culinary goodness and inspiration, perfect to take in as I go merrily along, cooking in my own kitchen. Plus, the podcasts are both free of cost and free of commercials. Can't ask for more than that! If you haven't listened to The Splendid Table, I recommend checking out the podcast or tuning in to the public radio station in your area to see if they carry her show on their airwaves.

Are you already a fan of Lynne's? Or are there other cooking podcasts you'd recommend? If so, leave a note in the comments!

Dinner tonight... Chicken Parmigiana

2009-01-12T21:08:00.002-05:00

Tonight's meal had a false start. As in, I prepared it and we started eating it only to realize that it wasn't cooked all the way through, so I tossed it back in the oven for awhile before we tried eating a second time. At that point it was successful, thankfully. I should have realized from reading the recipe that there was no way it was going to work as written. Perhaps if I'd pounded my chicken cutlets until they were much thinner, it would have worked perfectly. In any case, here's how it all unfolded:

To make this version of Chicken Parmigiana, you dip chicken cutlets in egg and then in a mixture of bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese, then saute them for 1-2 minutes per side in olive oil before transferring to a baking dish, setting them on a bed of tomato sauce. Top each cutlet with some fresh mozzarella and slide the baking dish under the broiler for 4-5 minutes. It's that last step that failed me. There was no chance that broiling the chicken was going to cook it through in 4-5 minutes, but I played along anyway. In the end, I returned the chicken and the sauce to the oven and baked it at 375 for an additional 20 minutes and then it was perfect. In any case, despite this fairly radical change in preparation, I do plan to make this again because it was very simple to prepare and it tasted great. Next time, however, I plan to skip the broiler step and instead just bake it at 375 for a nice, safe 25 minutes. The sauce will ensure it doesn't dry out and I won't have to worry about whether or not I'm about to poison poor Mr. Fritz. Eek!

Dinner tonight... Salmon with Dill and Lemon en Papillote

2009-01-11T20:16:00.007-05:00

Welcome to another installment of "Feeding Mr. Fritz salmon." One might think that by now I would have run out of new ways to cook salmon. Happily, that is not the case! Tonight I tried cooking it en papillote, which is a fancy (er, French) way of saying "in a paper wrapper." Taking my cue from an article by Lucinda Scala-Quinn in the January/February issue of Everyday Food, I took each piece of salmon and set it on a piece or parchment paper. Then I covered the salmon with dill and lemon slices before wrapping it up first in the parchment paper and then in foil. Then I put each packet onto a baking sheet and roasted them at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. When I unwrapped the packets, I found wonderfully tender, nicely fragrant, fully cooked filets, with no mess whatsoever. I served the salmon along with jasmine rice and snow peas that I'd sauteed in olive oil and lemon juice. The whole meal was ready in about 20 minutes. Yay!

Dinner tonight... Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Onions

2009-01-10T21:49:00.004-05:00

On cold, rainy nights like tonight, I am ever more grateful that Mr. Fritz and I adopted this mission to eat in as the rule rather than the exception. Because tonight, instead of having nothing in the house to cook and having to venture out into the world to forage for food, I was able to just walk into my nice warm kitchen and quickly whip up an easy yet comforting meal of roasted chicken with carrots, onions, garlic and (the secret ingredient) prunes served over couscous. It took no time at all to prepare (other than chopping the vegetables) and was inexpensive yet tasted wonderful. Even the clean-up was a snap -- wash the couscous pot, toss out the aluminum foil on which everything roasted. So easy!

To prepare, you chop the onions and carrots into 1/2 inch pieces and quarter the garlic cloves. You mix those together on a baking sheet with some salt and pepper and roast in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes. Then you toss the vegetables with the prunes (quarter them first), add the chicken to the baking sheet as well, and roast for another 20 minutes. Towards the last ten minutes of roasting, make the couscous. Serve the vegetables and chicken over the couscous and, voila, dinner.

I used small prunes instead of large ones and I think that if I use that size again, I'll skip the step of quartering them, as they got a little too tough. Also, I might add the chicken to the vegetable mixture at the 5 minute mark and thus cutting the total time the vegetables are in the oven to 25 minutes instead of 30 minutes -- they got a little burnt towards the end. If you use bone-in chicken, you should start the chicken and the vegetables at the same time, only adding the prunes at the midway mark. Finally, I tossed everything in a little olive oil when it was all done roasting because it looked a little dry. In any case, the vegetables were tender and the chicken was perfectly roasted. I think I'll definitely make this again, maybe on a weeknight when I want maximum results for minimum effort.

Appetizer: Pistachio-Covered Cheese Log

2009-01-09T23:17:00.003-05:00

Mr. Fritz and I had the pleasure of having dinner with some of our good friends tonight, and I volunteered to bring an appetizer. I was motivated, in part, because I had seen this recipe for a Pistachio-Covered Cheese Log in the December issue of Everyday Food when it first arrived back in November and had been thinking ever since that it looked like something I'd want to try.

This will probably sound strange, but I've never made a cheese log before. In fact, I can't even recall ever digging into one at a party. They never seem to appeal to me, probably because I had no idea what they were made of and they're usually bright orange which I guess I find off putting. Who knows? But when I saw this one and noted that it's made out of cream cheese, white cheddar, a little bit of Worchester sauce and some Dijon mustard (all ingredients I can abide by) and then covered in roasted pistachios (my favorite nuts), I thought it might be the cheese ball (or in this case cheese log) for me.

It really is simple to make. You grate 4 ounces of white cheddar, then mix the cheddar, 8 ounces of room-temperature cream cheese, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard and a teaspoon of Worchester sauce and salt and pepper together in a stand mixer until well combined. Transfer the mixture to waxed paper and roll it into a log shape. Then roll the log in chopped pistachio nuts that you've roasted on the stove for about seven minutes over medium heat. I cheated on the chopping -- I put the nuts in a Ziploc bag and pounded them with a meat tenderizer. Wrap the finished log in fresh waxed paper and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to a day. I'm pleased to say that it was a hit among our friends. I served it with sesame cracker rounds that I'd picked up at the Teeter, which I think enhanced the whole thing.

Dinner tonight... Chicken with Prosciutto and Sage; Sauteed Spinach with Golden Raisins

2009-01-08T22:05:00.008-05:00

Although tonight was not really intended to be a "date night," I made a "date night"-worthy dinner for Mr. Fritz: Chicken with Prosciutto and Sage. A riff on saltimbocca, it's made by pounding out chicken breasts until they are nice and thin, then placing a few sage leaves on each one and wrapping the chicken in prosciutto (which I described to Mr. Fritz as "fancy bacon").

From there, you dip the chicken into a mixture of flour, salt and pepper, dust off the excess flour, and pan fry in olive oil for 3-5 minutes per side. Once the chicken is cooked, you remove it from the pan and deglaze the browned bits that remain with chicken broth and white wine. Then, after that mixture has reduced by half, you take it off the heat and finish it with butter and sage. To plate, you put some of the sauce down first, then place the chicken on top. Beautiful!

I served it with Sauteed Spinach with Golden Raisins, which is wilted spinach sauteed in a little bit of olive oil, tossed with salt and pepper and a handful of golden raisins. It takes about three minutes to make, literally, and could not be easier. Simple but good. The only change I made to the recipe is that instead of cooking it in a saute pan, I used a stock pot and tossed all the spinach in at once.

I'll definitely keep this entire meal in mind for the next time we have a real date night. It is dinner party worthy as well, come to think of it. Definitely a "must make again" dish!

Dinner tonight... Tandoori Chicken with Yogurt Sauce and Jasmine Rice

2009-01-07T22:36:00.005-05:00

Who knew you could cook tandoori chicken in a regular oven? Not me. (Or is it not I? I can't remember. Eek.) In any case, it turns out that you can make a pretty close approximation with very little effort. Yay! The recipe I used was from the Everyday Food: Good Food Fast cookbook. It was crazy simple: mix up some plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt), tumeric, ginger and garlic and coat the chicken with it, then roast the chicken in on a foil-lined baking sheet at a very high temperature (475 degrees) until it's cooked through. While it's roasting, you mix up a dipping sauce that consists of grated Granny Smith apples, chopped cilantro and more yogurt. Again, simple. Serve it over some basmati or jasmine rice and you have an excellent Indian-inspired meal. I loved it and Mr. Fritz liked it (although it was a little spicy for his tastes), so I will definitely make this again!

Dinner tonight... Beef Stew

2009-01-04T21:15:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite meals when I was growing up was my mom's beef stew. Stew seemed like good comfort food for a January Sunday, so I gave this recipe a try. Unfortunately, I forgot to get a potato at the grocery store (possibly because I was so overwhelmed by what a zoo the store was -- I had to actually stake out a cart to shop with, and while I was in there, heard the store manager repeatedly come over the loud speaker begging people to move their cars from in front of the loading dock. Apparently there wasn't anywhere else to park, so people were getting creative. Eek.). Anyway, despite being potato-free, this stew was really quite tasty and incredibly simple to make -- just put everything in a pot, bring to a boil, cover and put it in the oven for 2-2.5 hours. Easy peasy. I'm not going to post a photo because honestly, it doesn't look as appetizing in the photo as it did in person. But rest assured that if you're looking for a good beef stew recipe, this one will do the trick. It was almost as good as my mom's!

Lunch today... Tortilla Soup with Black Beans

2009-01-03T12:55:00.005-05:00

I love white corn tortilla chips. I pretty much never buy them so my only interaction with them is typically at Mexican restaurants. When I come upon them, however, I could probably consume an endless supply. Today's ready-in-15-minutes lunch of Tortilla Soup with Black Beans uses white corn tortilla chips and so I was forced (okay, so not exactly forced) to buy a bag. I used a handful for the recipe, now the trick will be to not eat the rest of the enormous bag in one sitting!

In any case, this recipe is ridiculously simple and relies on pantry staples: garlic, chili powder, frozen corn kernels, canned diced tomatoes, canned black beans, chicken broth and the aforementioned tortilla chips. Oh and a fresh lime, but I consider that to be a pantry staple in my kitchen because a squeeze of fresh lime juice is such a great finisher on so many dishes.

In any case, to make this soup, you saute the chili powder and garlic in olive for a couple of minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients save for the tortilla chips, bring the soup to a boil, reduce to a simmer and simmer for a couple of minutes before stirring in the crushed chips and the fresh lime juice. And you're done. Easy as can be and super fast. Plus, it tastes great and makes for a hearty lunch on a cold day like today. The only caution: make it just before you want to eat it, because the tortilla chips will absorb the broth and after a little while it thickens quite a bit. I think it also might be nice to top the soup with some cheddar and chopped avocado, but today we ate it as is. Okay, with a couple of extra tortilla chips on top. Couldn't help myself!

Dinner tonight... Parmesan-Carrot Risotto and Peach-Pecan Chicken

2009-01-02T23:40:00.004-05:00

When I saw the recipe for Parmesan-Carrot Risotto in the January/February issue of Everyday Food, I was surprised to see that they'd substituted regular rice for arborio rice and thought to myself, well, I'll just make it with arborio rice anyway. I had to laugh, then, when I opened my pantry tonight and realized that I am somehow out of arborio rice altogether and as a result, had to go with plain rice after all. In any case, this recipe was more flavorful than I thought it would be, in the best way possible. The toughest part about making it is grating the carrots (I used a box grater. Next time, I might be tempted to just go all out and grate them in my food processor. There's nothing fun about grating carrots on a box grater. Nothing.). The second toughest part is hanging around the stove long enough to keep stirring and stirring and stirring until the rice absorbs all of the chicken broth. But in the end it was worth it, as it yielded a really hearty, tasty dish. I think I still prefer using real arborio rice for risotto, but it's nice to know that I can approximate it with regular rice if the need arises.

I paired it with roasted chicken breast that I braised in Paula Deen-brand Peach Pecan Dressing that I received in my Christmas stocking at Mr. Fritz's house this year. I put the chicken in a heavy baking dish (which, coincidentally, was given to me by The Original Mrs. Fritz for Christmas last year), spread a few tablespoons of the dressing on top, and put it in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. It came out nice and moist and the dressing made for a great glaze as it cooked down. Super easy! And I still have lots of the dressing left over, so I'll be able to experiment with using it in other ways.

Happy New Year! (And a Recipe Roundup from the Past 24 Hours)

2009-01-01T21:02:00.006-05:00

I can't believe that it's 2009! Despite the fact that the economy is imploding and there is doom and gloom everywhere, I was actually a little bit sad to say goodbye to 2008, because I'll always remember it as one of the best years of my life -- mainly because it included marrying Mr. Fritz and lots of merrymaking with friends and family surrounding that event, but also because I am so freakishly happy actually BEING married to Mr. Fritz is just so much fun. Anyway... back to cooking...

In the past 24 hours, I've spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen. For dinner last night, I riffed off of Everyday Food's Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps, swapping boneless chicken for flank steak. The result was a really wonderful, fresh, bright-tasting meal that was anything but heavy. The dish is basically Boston lettuce leaves filled with roasted chicken, green onions and mango, drizzled with a lime-cilantro-garlic-oil vinaigrette. It's served with a side of cellophane noodles tossed with scallions and oil. Delish.

In honor of Mr. Bigger's birthday last night, I made one of my signature appetizers: Phyllo-Wrapped Brie with Apricot and Rosemary Chutney. This is a recipe I've been making since 1996 and it was introduced to me by Mrs. Durham. It was in a current issue of Gourmet back then and her mother actually faxed the recipe to us so we could attempt to make it. We were 22 at the time and Mrs. Durham was already a rock star in the kitchen. The end result was so delicious and elegant that I've been making it ever since, typically for our annual Christmas party. Since this year was the first in many years that we didn't have the party, it seemed fitting to make it especially for Mr. Biggers instead. I won't get into the technique, because the recipe is written very clearly, but I will say this: I'm totally embarrassed about how brown the phyllo rosettes on the top got in last night's version -- I should have covered them in foil and forgot and so they are just way too dark. I'll also note that working with phyllo can be tricky, but it's certainly not impossible. Just move quickly and make sure you have all of the ingredients ready to go so that you can work through the assembly process as fast as possible.

Today, Mr. Fritz and I spent the day just getting caught up on life stuff. But I also squeezed some cooking into the mix. For lunch, I made Light Italian Wedding Soup, which features turkey meatballs and escarole (yes, Mr. Fritz, the "seaweed" made a return appearance to the Fritz Kitchen!). It's a very simple recipe and made for a hearty lunch, despite being low in calories. You start by making the meatballs (the recipe called for ground dark-meat turkey, I used ground white meat), then they cook in a broth that consists of sauteed onion, chicken broth and a can of diced tomatoes (undrained). Once the meatballs are about halfway cooked, you add chopped escarole and cook for another five minutes. Then you're done. Easy! I really liked the flavor profile of the meatballs and the broth. I'll definitely make this again.

And for dinner, I went the comfort food route and made Everyday Food's Lighter Blue Plate Special, which consisted of meatloaf, buttermilk mashed potatoes and steamed green beans. I was a little worried about the consistency of the meatloaf, because when I mixed it together, it seemed a little too wet (it's made of ground beef mixed with pureed carrots, celery, onion, panko and an egg white). But after spending 30 minutes in the oven it seemed to be just fine and it kept its shape. You baste it in barbecue sauce and in my opinion, that was the best part. I love barbecue sauce... Mmm...

And after I post this, I'm off to pop some popcorn on the stove and make some hot chocolate so that we can have one last toast to the new year. But before I do that, I just wanted to say thanks to those of you who have stopped by to visit my blog -- it's been really fun to receive feedback about the recipes I've posted and encouragement as I continue on this cooking odyssey. Here's to many more great meals in the year to come. Cheers!

(Of course, I can't find any of the Everyday Food recipes to link to them. Sigh. I'll keep looking for them and link to them as soon as possible.)

Treat: Homemade Marshmallows

2008-12-30T22:28:00.006-05:00

Mr. Fritz loves marshmallows. He's loved them ever since he was a child, when he'd go over to his grandmother's house and pour himself a big bowl of mini marshmallows and down them, three by three. So when we came upon an empty afternoon in his hometown, I didn't think twice about asking our niece, the eldest Miss Bowers, if she might like to make a batch from scratch. I figured that she and I could have some fun in the kitchen and Mr. Fritz (along with the rest of his family) could enjoy the outcome.

I've made marshmallows before. The first few times I made them, Mrs. Robertson was my partner in crime. A couple of years ago my sister, Mrs. Plourde, churned some out with me. Some time has passed since then, however, so I was a little rusty in my technique. Luckily Miss Bowers was a terrific helper and together we turned out a whole lot of marshmallowy goodness with very little effort.

Although there are a bunch of recipes floating around for homemade marshmallows, I have only used one, clipped from a Washington Post story from several years ago. It isn't available online, so I'll post it below. Suffice it to say, you need patience (Miss Bowers noted that it took a long, long time for the sugar and water and corn syrup to reach 240 degrees on the stove), a couple of different mixing bowls, and more patience (the marshmallows need to set for a few hours before you can cut them up). Fun cookie cutters are also a plus. We cut ours into stars, trees, hearts, bells, snow people, gingerbread men, even a big teddy bear.

HONEST-TO-GOODNESS MARSHMALLOWS

Source: The Washington Post, Jan. 19, 2000

(Makes 45 to 50 marshmallows)

It takes only about 20 minutes to whip up your own batch of marshmallows, a relatively simple process that is greatly aided by the use of a candy thermometer.

Purists prefer the honesty of vanilla flavoring; substituting lemon extract cuts the sweetness of the confection. A bit of food coloring lends a festive touch, but we prefer a marshmallow that is snowy white.

Vegetable shortening for the pan

Confectioners' sugar for dusting, plus additional for the pan

2 1/2 packages (2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup hot water

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

2 egg whites*

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (may substitute lemon, almond, orange, peppermint or other extracts)

Food coloring, if desired

Lightly grease a 13-by-9-by-2-inch metal pan and sprinkle with the confectioners' sugar; tap out any excess sugar.

Place the gelatin in a large bowl and add the cold water. Let the gelatin sit for about 5 minutes.

In a saucepan over low heat, stir together the hot water, sugar and corn syrup and cook, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Raise the heat to medium and cook, without stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil and threads; it should register 240 degrees on a candy thermometer (the soft-ball stage).

Stir the gelatin mixture into the sugar mixture. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the mixture until it triples in volume, about 8 minutes. Set aside.

In a medium bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites and vanilla or other flavoring (and optional food coloring) into the gelatin mixture just until incorporated.

Transfer the marshmallow mixture to the prepared pan, dust the surface with confectioners' sugar until it is lightly coated and refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 3 hours or overnight.

To serve, use a sharp knife to cut around the edges of the pan. The bottom of the confection will be sticky. Cut the marshmallow slab into 1- or 1 1/2-inch squares (or whatever shape you prefer), then gently ease the pieces from the pan and toss them in a bowl of confectioner's sugar. This may be done in several batches. Transfer to a colander and toss again, to remove excess sugar.

To store: Cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

* Note: Uncooked eggs may be contaminated with salmonella and should be avoided by young children, the elderly and anyone with immune system deficiencies.

Per marshmallow (based on 50): 38 calories, 1 gm protein, 9 gm carbohydrates, trace fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 0 gm saturated fat, 7 mg sodium, 0 gm dietary fiber

Dinner tonight... Salmon with Escarole and Lemon

2008-12-29T22:13:00.003-05:00

Hooray, the newest issue of Everyday Food arrived while Mr. Fritz and I were visiting our families for Christmas! It was a treat to come back to it, especially since it looks to be filled with a whole spate of great new recipes. As I made my grocery list for the week, I included a bunch of them, so expect to see them in this space as the week rolls along.

First up: Salmon with Escarole and Lemon. I've never cooked with escarole, as far as I can recall. A leafy green, it cooks down to have a buttery taste. For this recipe, I used a whole head of it, and I found it to be a nice change from spinach. Mr. Fritz thought it looked like seaweed (specifically, those tangled green messes that wash up on shore), but he agreed that it was edible (I thought it tasted great, personally). We both thought the salmon itself was wonderful -- essentially you top the salmon with slices of lemon, then steam it for 12-15 minutes on a bed of wilted escarole and caramelized onions and garlic. It really couldn't be simpler. My only quibble: I ended up with a burned mess on the bottom of my pot, as some of the onions and escarole apparently cooked too much during the steaming process. Not sure how I'll remedy that in the future, but I'll have to figure it out, because I definitely want to make this again. Yum!

The recipe does not appear to be posted yet on Everyday Food's site; when it is, I'll link to it...

Dinner tonight... Orange Glazed Salmon

2008-12-21T20:56:00.004-05:00

If it's Sunday, it must be salmon, right? Not really, but that has been the case for the past couple of weeks. Tonight, I tried a recipe from grilling company Fire & Flavor called Orange Glazed Salmon. Unfortunately, I can't find the recipe on the site, so I'll just explain it below. Mr. Fritz and I both really liked it. I must admit that I didn't believe that such a small amount of orange zest would make any sort of difference whatsoever, but lo and behold, the orange flavor came through clearly once the salmon was cooked.

In any case, this was very easy and I was able to pull it together with ingredients I already had in my pantry and refrigerator (except for the salmon, of course). I'll definitely make this again, possibly on a cedar plank (tonight, I just roasted it in the oven on a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil). I served it with jasmine rice and snow peas that I'd sauteed with a little olive oil and lemon juice. The whole meal was ready to go in 15 minutes.

ORANGE GLAZED SALMON
Source: Fire & Flavor
Prep time: 5 minutes + soak
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4

3 Tbs. Dijon mustard
3 Tbs. maple syrup
1 Tb. balsamic vinegar
2 tsps. fresh orange zest
4 6-oz salmon filets, skin removed
1 cedar grilling plank, soaked

Preheat grill (or oven) to medium-low heat, about 350 degrees.

Combine mustard, maple syrup, vinegar and orange zest in a small bowl in set aside. Season salmon with salt and pepper and brush with desired amount of glaze.

Place smoked plank on grill, close lid, and heat for 3 minutes. Using tongs, flip plank and place salmon on heated side of plank. Close lid and grill for 12-15 minutes until done to your liking. Remove plank and salmon from grill and serve.

Lunch today... Ginger-Sesame Chicken with Peanutty Noodles

2008-12-20T18:04:00.003-05:00

Last night, Mr. Fritz and I completed all of our Christmas shopping. Yay! As a result, we were able to relax a little bit today, and I was able to make a decent lunch. So I decided to riff off of another recipe in the January issue of Real Simple: Chicken with Peanut Dipping Sauce. Their recipe calls for frozen breaded chicken breasts, which didn't appeal to me. I appreciated the peanut sauce recipe, however, and used it to launch my take: Ginger-Sesame Chicken with Peanutty Noodles. I started by boiling some Japanese udon noodles, which is sort of interesting, because to do so, you bring the water to a boil, add the noodles, then when the noodles start to rise to the top of the water, you turn the water down and simmer them for 10-15 minutes. Very odd way to cook what I think of as pasta!

While the noodles were simmering, I sauteed a couple of chicken cutlets in sesame oil, sprinkling them with ground ginger once they were in the pan. When they were cooked through, I removed them from the pan and threw in some Chinese pea pods and shredded carrot, let that saute for a couple of minutes, then added the ingredients for the peanut sauce: peanut butter, soy sauce, crushed ginger, fresh lime juice and brown sugar. After mixing that all together and sauteing everything for a few minutes, I added in the noodles (which I'd drained) and made sure it the noodles and vegetables were all nicely coated with the sauce and that it was all heated through. To serve, I put the noodle mixture in the bottom of a shallow bowl, then topped it with strips of the chicken. Good stuff, and very easy!

Dinner tonight... Lemon Chicken with Olives and Jasmine Rice

2008-12-17T20:19:00.004-05:00

Tonight's meal was a winner. I once again turned to a recipe from Real Simple's "All-Time Reader Favorites" story in the January issue (Sunday's Cedar-Plank Salmon and last night's Last-Minute Lasagna were also featured in this article): Lemon Chicken with Olives. And it was great! So flavorful and tasty, with a nice presentation -- definitely dinner-party worthy.

To prepare, you dip thin-sliced chicken cutlets in a mixture of flour, lemon rind and cumin, dusting off the excess, and fry in about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat for about 2-3 minutes, just long enough for the chicken to brown. Then you set the chicken aside, lower the heat to medium and saute a sliced shallot for a few minutes, until it softens and caramelizes. Then you add halved green olives, chopped parsley, white wine and fresh lemon juice to the skillet, bring that to a boil, put the chicken back in with the rest of the mix, lower the heat to a simmer, and let it all simmer for 4-6 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. So simple!

I wasn't sure how I would feel about such a strong presence of olives, but I think that they were tempered nicely by the lemon and white wine sauce. I used chicken breasts that had been air-chilled and had no water added to them and I wonder if that made a difference, because they were so tender! I used half of a sweet onion because my grocery store was out of shallots. (Who would have expected a run on shallots at the Teeter?) And I paired it with jasmine rice, which always makes my kitchen smell lovely. Mr. Fritz said that the dish was a little tangy for him, but that he could handle it. This is good, because I will definitely want to make this again. Yum!

Dinner tonight... Last-Minute Lasagna

2008-12-16T22:51:00.006-05:00

On Sunday, I made a pan of Real Simple's Last-Minute Lasagna and divided it into six portions. I'm eating it for lunch each day this week (which is good, because work has been so busy that I can barely step away from my desk for the minute-and-a-half it takes to warm it up), and Mr. Fritz had it for dinner tonight (I had dinner out with a friend). This was another one of Real Simple's all-time favorite recipes and I must admit that it was in fact both easy to prepare as well as really tasty.

The recipe has only a few ingredients: refrigerated ravioli (I used tortelloni, because the grocery store was out of rav), frozen chopped spinach (thawed, with the water squeezed out), shredded mozzarella, marinara sauce (I used Trader Joe's Organic Vodka Sauce because I had a jar in the pantry), and shredded Parmesan. What makes it extra easy is that the filled pasta stands in for ricotta cheese and you don't need to pre-boil the pasta, since it's fresh, unlike regular lasagna sheets. You layer sauce, pasta, spinach, cheese, then repeat twice, finishing with sauce. It then bakes for 30 minutes, covered, in a 375 degree oven, followed by 5-10 minutes uncovered. Simple, tasty, good, and lends itself to lots of variations.

Some notes: The recipe calls for one 24-26 ounce jar of marinara sauce, but I think it would have been better with more sauce, maybe even double that amount. Also, OCD girl that I am, I carefully placed the tortelloni in rows. I think that it would probably be fine to be a little less precise, but what can I say? I'm kind of all about the presentation. At least I didn't force myself to alternate between the plain pasta and the spinach pasta -- even I can admit that doing that would have been over the top!

Dinner tonight... Pasta with Tomatoes, Sausage and White Wine

2008-12-15T19:38:00.007-05:00

I'm continuing my quest to feed Mr. Fritz anything but Asian food this week, since he had his fill for awhile while on his business trip. So, tonight, I turned to another Real Simple recipe: Pasta with Tomatoes, Sausage and White Wine. It's from a story in their January issue called "18 Easy Upgrades for Your Favorite Convenience Foods." In this case, the convenience food is jarred marinara sauce. I picked up a 24 ounce jar of Mezzetta Roasted Garlic marinara sauce because I wanted to start with a decent base and thought the product could do the work for me of layering in a roasted garlic taste. (I used half of it tonight for this dish.)

To make this for two people, boil an appropriate amount of pasta (I used angel hair) and as that's cooking, follow these directions: "Heat 1 Tb olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1/2 a pound of sweet Italian sausage (removed from casings) and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Add 1/2 cup dry white wine and cook for 3 minutes. Add the sauce and cook until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve over the pasta." To make it for six people, follow the same directions, just use the whole jar of sauce.

Mr. Fritz and I both really liked this: it was flavorful and filling, and it took only about 10-15 minutes to pull together, which is perfect for a weeknight. In addition to using nice jarred sauce, I also picked up some good quality, house-made Italian sausage from the grocery store instead of going with a mass-produced variety. And it was another chance to use a mini-bottle of white wine, which I happily cracked open in lieu of using a full-sized bottle and having tons left over. I'll definitely make this again. It reminded me a little bit of the seriously tasty Italian-sausage laden risotto I made a few weeks ago, but with much less effort required.

Dinner tonight... Cedar-Plank Salmon

2008-12-14T23:13:00.005-05:00

Our dear friend Mr. Corbin is visiting from Austin, Texas, and we had the pleasure of hosting him for dinner this evening. Since it's a rare treat to see him, I wanted to be sure to make a special meal. So I decided to try something new (to me, anyway): roasted salmon atop a cedar plank that had been soaked in water. I was inspired by the January issue of Real Simple, where the editors published some of the magazine's all-time favorite recipes, including this one for Cedar-Plank Salmon.

It's super easy: You soak a special cedar board (I picked mine up at the grocery store) in water for at least an hour. (This is essential, so that the wood doesn't catch on fire in your oven) Then set the salmon on the plank (I used 6 oz salmon filets and as usual asked the fishmonger to remove the skin for me), then topped each piece with a mixture of brown sugar, dried thyme, cayenne pepper and vegetable oil. Then I set the plank on top of a rimmed baking sheet and put the whole thing into a 350 degree oven. Twenty minutes later, the salmon was perfectly roasted and wonderfully fragrant, as the scent of cedar had essentially smoked the fish. The brown sugar mixture had kind of hardened on top of the fish, sort of like the top layer of creme brulee.

I served the salmon alongside couscous studded with dried cherries and a salad of greens, feta, cucumber, cilantro and a lemon-white wine vinaigrette. Mr. Corbin seemed to like the meal, noting that the sweetness to the salmon rub was especially pleasing. For my part, I will definitely be experimenting with roasting on a cedar plank again in the future. Oh, and Mr. Fritz, who made it home safely from the tropical place, enjoyed the meal, too!

Drink: Pomegranate Soda

2008-12-14T22:55:00.005-05:00

Friday night, the ever-stylish Ms. Yee joined me for dinner. As we caught up over our meal, we sipped specially made Pomegranate Sodas, concocted by drizzling 2 Tbs pomegranate syrup over a tall glass filled with ice, then topped with soda water.

The pomegranate syrup is created by dissolving 1 cup of sugar into 1/2 cup of pomegranate juice -- bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, without stirring, until it's syrupy, about 2 minutes. Let it cool and you can store it in the refrigerator for up to one week, then just use it to make individual drinks as needed.

I served the drinks with an iced-tea spoon so that we could stir the syrup up to better mix with the soda water. It makes for a very pretty presentation as the entire drink slowly gains a pink tinge -- and might make for a nice signature drink at a party. The recipe suggests topping each drink with a marachino cherry. I didn't have any, so I skipped that, but I think I might invest in a jar for the next time I have the chance to serve this tasty drink.

Mr. Fritz forages for food in tropical place, reports back with findings

2008-12-11T23:28:00.007-05:00

Since I didn't do any cooking this evening (I attended a benefit dinner for this amazing organization with the spectacular Ms. Hays as my date), I thought it might be fun to post a field report from Mr. Fritz, offering a glimpse of what he's been eating while he's been away on his business trip. It's short, because he was typing on his iPhone. Plus I don't think he gets as excited about waxing poetic over food as I do. And dutiful and wonderful husband that he is, he was kind enough to send a photo. His report:

"Tonight, we went to an all you can eat sushi bar. It didn't look expensive... kind of had a fast food look. Ended up costing $30. Couldn't believe it. One draft beer was $12.50. But 50% off tonight. I think one bottle of cheap white wine ($5 in a store) cost $30.

"On my big plate is a breaded shrimp on a stick, some teriyaki, and a couple pieces of pork. The little plate had an assortment of sushi I picked out. I had no idea what I was picking. It was all colorful though."

Apparently, Mr. Fritz has eaten teriyaki every day this week. I think that means I should probably refrain from making Asian food for awhile upon his return!

Thanks, Mr. Fritz, for being tonight's guest blogger!

Dinner tonight... Spring Rolls with Ginger Sesame Shrimp

2008-12-10T21:51:00.004-05:00

A few years ago, my friend (and my entertaining role model) Mrs. Durham served me a truly fun meal: make-them-yourself spring rolls. She put the ingredients on a platter and we all sat around the table and assembled them to our tastes. I have thought about trying my hand at them ever since, but always thought that it was too complicated to pull off. But since I've been doing all this cooking of late, suddenly chopping up a few things seemed pretty simple, all things considered.

So tonight, when the very sweet Mrs. Gage joined me for dinner, I decided it was time to give them a go. Following Mrs. Durham's directions, I set out a carefully composed platter that included shredded carrots, thinly sliced cucumbers, fresh mint, basil and cilantro, cellophane noodles, mung bean sprouts, peanut sauce, fresh limes, and shrimp that I had sauteed in a little sesame oil with ginger and sesame seeds. I also boiled some water in my tea kettle and set that out in a large bowl. As the meal went along, we dipped dry rice paper wrappers into the hot water to soften them, then filled them with shrimp and the rest of the items on the platter, rolled the wrappers around the filling like you might roll a burrito, and ate them. It was a really fun, creative, relaxed way to share the meal and the flavors were all so fresh and bright -- a true treat.

Notes: you can find cellophane noodles and rice paper wrappers in the Asian section of the supermarket. I looked for the wrappers in the refrigerated section at first, not realizing that they would be sold in a manner similar to dry pasta. For the carrots, I just used my vegetable peeler to create long thin strips. And I sliced the cucumbers very thin as well. Pulling the elements together onto the platter took just a few minutes. Definitely worth the effort!

Dinner tonight... Pasta with Mixed Mushrooms and Thyme

2008-12-09T22:25:00.007-05:00

This week, Mr. Fritz is on a business trip to a tropical place. So I'm taking the opportunity to cook for friends, and tonight the very fun Ms. Rowings joined me for dinner. Since she's a vegetarian, I made a simple, tasty meatless meal for us: Pasta with Mixed Mushrooms and Thyme.

To prepare it, you saute a minced shallot in a little bit of butter, then add some white wine and let that reduce. From there, you add thinly sliced shitake and button mushrooms to the pan along with some fresh thyme. Once the mushrooms have softened, you add them to freshly cooked (and drained) pasta, and mix in some Parmesan cheese and a little more butter. Yum. Oh, and we balanced the decadence of the pasta with a salad of greens dressed in olive oil and lemon juice.

Notes: I skipped the step that involved dried porcini mushrooms, because I couldn't find them at the grocery store. I also minced a couple of shallots instead of just one, and I think that added to the flavor in a positive way. And finally, I can't remember if I've mentioned this or not yet, but my new favorite thing is individual mini-bottles of wine -- they are each about a cup and you can buy them in four-packs. They're perfect, in my opinion, for cooking, since you'll rarely need more than a cup of wine for any recipe. Plus, they have screw caps (how gauche, I know...) if you only need a small amount, so reclosing isn't difficult.

PS: Mr. Fritz took the camera to the tropical place (I insisted), so no photos this week. Sorry!

Lunch this week: Enchilada Casserole

2008-12-08T20:14:00.004-05:00

Every now and then I use my slow cooker on the weekend to make lunch for the week. So yesterday, I turned to one of my favorite vegetarian recipes: Enchilada Casserole from Cooking Light. It's a simple recipe that takes just a couple of minutes to mix together before it spends about 5 hours in the Crock Pot.

The base of the casserole consists of black beans, corn, chopped green chiles, enchilada sauce, salsa, cilantro and chopped scallions. You mix all of that together, set the slow cooker on low and let it go for four hours. Then you mix up a package of Jiffy corn mix along with some more green chiles, chopped roasted red peppers and an egg, and drop that in dollops over the top of the casserole base. Put the lid back on and let it cook for another hour. Finally, drop some shredded cheese over the whole thing, let it melt and you're done.

When I do big batch recipes like this, I try to immediately separate the finished dish into individual portions. Then all the containers go into the fridge and I can just grab one each day before I head to work. It streamlines my morning lunch packing routine and stops me from eating too much in any one sitting.

Dinner tonight... Shrimp Pad Thai

2008-12-07T20:33:00.006-05:00

One of the things I am most enjoying about feeding Mr. Fritz: at this point, I really feel like I can replicate a restaurant in my kitchen. One night, it's an American steak house, another night, an Italian trattoria, another night, a French bistro, etc. If we're craving it, I can (more or less) make it, and make it to order. So today, as I was planning this week's menu, I decided I'd give Pad Thai a try. I'd never made it before, but really like it. To my great delight, this recipe for Shrimp Pad Thai offered a very close approximation of what we'd get if we ordered it out.

Notable things: rice stick noodles, which look like my hair, were my hair translucent and white, can be hard to untangle. I only wanted to use half of the 8 oz package and ended up having to use scissors to cut off a slab of these dry, stiff, yet strangely pliable noodles in order to get the amount I needed. Also, this was my first time using fish sauce. I was hesitant, but figured that after all these years of avoiding it, it was probably time to just give in a buy a bottle. 2 Tbs of fish sauce is the equivalent to 2 Tbs of soy sauce and 1 Tb of anchovy paste. And, if you ever need to chop peanuts, try this method: put whole peanuts into a small ziplock bag, remove any excess air from the bag and seal it, then bang on it with a meat tenderizer. It works like a charm and is a lot easier (and safer) than triying to chop them with a knife. Finally, this recipe has a longer ingredient list than most of the ones I've used of late, but it really is worth it to gather everything, including the cilantro, fresh limes, scallions, and mung bean sprouts. Each ingredient really adds to the layered flavors and textures in the overall dish. Good stuff.

Dinner tonight... Chicken Fried Rice with Bok Choy

2008-12-06T21:50:00.006-05:00

For as long as I can remember, my mom has told me that when life gives you lemons, you need to make lemonade. Towards the end of making Thursday night's meal, I set aside some chicken and a couple of cups of jasmine rice. And so, Thursday night's less than spectacular meal (i.e. the proverbial lemons) turned into tonight's Chicken Fried Rice with Bok Choy (i.e. some pretty tasty proverbial lemonade), the second part to another two-parter Everyday Food recipe set.

In any case, it was very easy. First you beat an egg and pour it into a large frying pan over medium heat and let it cook until it sets, then remove it from the pan, roll it up and slice it, it'll make long strips that you'll eventually add back into the rice. Next, chop some bok choy, dice an onion, mince some garlic and saute it all in a little vegetable oil over medium-high. When the bok choy has softened (after 5 or so minutes), you add in the leftover rice and the leftover cooked chicken (shred it first), some rice vinegar, soy sauce and bottled ginger, stir everything together until it's all heated through (again, about 5 minutes), then add in the egg, give the whole thing another stir, and serve. Super easy!

A couple of notes: this was my first time cooking with bok choy. I was a little nervous about it -- I knew I'd eaten it in Chinese food in the past, but couldn't really recall if or how much I liked it. (Turns out that in this dish, anyway, it was great.) The recipe said to core and then chop it. As far as I can tell, "coring" it means to avoid using the stuff in the very center and make sure to cut the botton off of each stalk, the way you would with celery. Also, cooking the egg according to the directions yielded a really cool superthin omelet, almost crepe-like in its thinness. It made me thing that it might be fun to experiment with making eggs like that in the future and rolling stuff inside, such as proscuitto, blanched asparagus, etc. So many possibilities!

Dinner tonight... Braised Chicken with White Wine, Tomatoes and Peas

2008-12-04T20:23:00.005-05:00

This will be a short post, unfortunately. Tonight I made Braised Chicken with White Wine, Tomatoes and Peas from the December issue of Everyday Food and even though it sounded good when I read the recipe and the end result presented well:

...It just didn't taste very good. So I'm not going to go into how I made it or any of that, because I just don't think I'd recommend anyone else give it a shot. Sigh. I guess it could have been worse: we could have ordered it in a restaurant, paid lots of money for it and then been disappointed. But still, kind of a bummer.

Dinner tonight... Steak Tostadas with Cilantro Sour Cream

2008-12-03T21:29:00.005-05:00

Here it is: part two of Monday's cliffhanger! As promised, I made Steak Tostadas with Cilantro Sour Cream using ingredients intentionally left over from Monday's dinner. Because I'd prepped everything in advance, this meal came together in about 10 minutes, which is just about as good as it gets for a home-cooked meal.

On Monday, I sliced the remaining flank steak into thin slices, chopped up a couple of scallions and put those ingredients plus the leftover roasted mushrooms and a small can of well-drained corn into a big tupperware container, each ingredient in its own little pile. I also mixed up the sour cream/lime juice/cilantro topping and put that into a smaller container alongside the rest of the ingredients. So tonight, all I had to do was mix everything together, put it on top of two tortillas topped with cheese, and heat the tostadas in a 475 degree oven for a few minutes.

A couple of notes: they say to put the cheese-topped tortillas in the oven for 4-6 minutes first, then top with steak mixture and put them back in the oven for another 6-8 minutes. I found this led to a really hard tortilla in the end. I think it would be better to just put the cheese and the steak mixture on the tortilla from the start and let the entire thing spend only 6-8 minutes in the oven. I also thought the flank steak was overly chewy, but that might just be because I don't like meat that much. Amusingly, at the end of the meal, I'd left a lot of the meat on my plate and Mr. Fritz had left a lot of vegetables on his. Together we'd make one really good eater (or one really bad one, I guess!).

Lunch today... Easiest Indian Stew

2008-12-02T23:11:00.003-05:00

Just a quick post tonight. I generally pack Mr. Fritz a lunch everyday that consists of a couple of sandwiches, cookies, chips, a piece of fruit, some carrots, etc. But my lunch is usually a lot more random. Could be just instant oatmeal some weeks or just vegetables other weeks. But occasionally I go all out and make something -- usually a vegetarian something -- divide it immediately into portions in tupperware and then eat it all week for lunch. This week I did that with this recipe from Everyday Food called Easiest Indian Stew. It really is simple and it features chick peas, which I love. So there you go, a mini post about feeding Mrs. Fritz. Cheers!

Dinner tonight... Seared Steak with Roasted Mushrooms and Spinach Salad

2008-12-01T22:02:00.005-05:00

You know how sometimes your favorite TV show will do a two-part episode, leaving a cliffhanger at the end of the first hour? Well, that happened tonight in my kitchen. I decided to tackle a two-part Everyday Food recipe series, where you make extra of a couple of things on Night One (in this case, flank steak and roasted mushrooms) and then re-purpose the extra in a second meal on Night Two.

So tonight, Mr. Fritz and I dined on Seared Steak with Roasted Mushrooms and Spinach Salad, and on Wednesday, we'll reconvene to enjoy Steak Tostadas with Cilantro Sour Cream. It's like planned leftovers. Or leftovers with a purpose. Or something. In any case, I'm already looking forward to dinner on Wednesday!

As far as tonight's effort went, it was very easy to create. First, I quarted the mushrooms, tossed them with a little olive oil and chopped garlic, salt and pepper, and put them on a baking sheet and into a 475 degree oven for 20 minutes.

As soon as they went into the oven, I prepared a rub for the flank steak by mixing together crushed oregano, sweet paprika, red pepper and salt and pepper. I rubbed a little olive oil all over the 1.5 lb piece of meat, then covered it on both sides with the rub. The recipe calls for searing the meat on top of the stove, but I decided to toss it into the oven as well, for 15 minutes.

Once both the mushrooms and the steak were roasting, I turned to the salad, which was really just spinach dressed with a vinaigrette made of equal parts olive oil and balsamic vinegar. When the mushrooms were done roasted and the flank steak was cooked to our desired internal temp, I sliced the steak thinly and plated everything together. Done and done!

Mr. Fritz really liked this meal and so did I, despite not being a huge meat eater. The rub enhanced the flavor of the meat and the high-temperature oven roasting went surprisingly quickly and resulted in a nice juicy steak. The roasted mushrooms were particular tasty -- they had a nice firm texture and a great woodsy flavor. Plus the garlic added a little extra punch. And the salad was nice and simple. After we were done eating, I pulled together the ingredients for the tostadas a made a little meal kit for Wednesday. I feel ahead already!

Dinner tonight... Italian Pot Pies

2008-11-30T22:31:00.006-05:00

Yum. That's the word to describe tonight's meal. Quick to pull together and ridiculously tasty, this recipe for individual Italian Pot Pies is absolutely fantastic. It comes together in two parts: first, you saute chopped onions and carrots for about 5 minutes, then add ground beef and saute for about 5 more minutes, until it's no longer pink. Next, you add some marinara sauce (I used refrigerated sauce from the grocery store), bring the sauce to a boil, then let the mixture simmer for 8-10 minutes.

Once that's simmering, turn your attention to the biscuit-like topping: mix together baking powder, flour, salt, rosemary (it called for dried crushed rosemary, but I used chopped fresh rosemary because it is my favorite herb), and grated Parmesan. Then make a little well in the dry ingredients and add melted butter and milk (it called for whole milk, I used skim because that's what I had on hand). Mix together until the batter is just wet, then divide ground beef and vegetables between 8 ounce ramekins and top with biscuit batter. Then place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake the pot pies at 450 on the lowest rack of the oven for 10-12 minutes.

The finished pot pies are great for a few reasons. First, who doesn't love being served an individual ramekin filled with great stuff? It makes for such an elegant presentation. The biscuit batter browns nicely and is wonderfully cheesy with melted Parmesan throughout, and the rosemary makes the biscuits flavorful. And they make for a great contrast to the tomato-y ground beef mixture that makes up the heart of the dish. Honestly, I couldn't get over how great these turned out, especially since they really didn't take much effort at all. Great comfort food on a rainy November evening, that's for sure. I'll definitely make this again!

Holiday Treat: Chocolatey Pilgrim Hats

2008-11-27T19:22:00.007-05:00

For tonight's special Thanksgiving edition of Feeding Mr. Fritz, my niece, Miss Bowers, is taking over the keyboard. She and her family made a very fun and festive holiday treat to bring to The Original Mr. and Mrs. Fritz's house for Thanksgiving: pilgrim hats made out of edible goodies. Here's Miss Bowers, 7, with more:

"It's really easy! All you have to do is take a Fudge Stripe Cookie and then you put chocolate frosting around the hole in the center and then you take a Reeses' Peanut Butter Cup and put it onto the frosting upside down. Then, you have to take a candy corn and cut off the white part on the top and you push it into the Reese's Cup so that it looks like a buckle. And that's pretty much all you have to do. It's very chocolatey and very peanut butterish.

"If you want to make a lot, my family and I did an assembly line, so I would do the frosting and my sister would put on the Reese's Cup and my other sister would have the candy corn, so it went pretty fast. If you only want a few and you don't have an assembly line, it doesn't take very long either. I would recommend that anyone try making this Thanksgiving treat!"

Thanks, Miss Bowers!

Dinner tonight... Pistachio-Crusted Chicken, Glazed Carrots, Pan-Roasted Potatoes

2008-11-24T20:35:00.007-05:00

Mr. Fritz ate well tonight. In an effort to use up the fresh ingredients I had on hand before we head home to Ohio and Michigan, I ended up making a bigger meal than usual: glazed carrots, pan-roasted potatoes, and a salad of romaine lettuce with a lemon-white wine vinaigrette. And for the main course I adapted an Everyday Food recipe, Pistachio-Crusted Cod, to work with chicken (again, because I wanted to use it while it was fresh).

I really liked the chicken -- the pistachio/parsley/olive oil/garlic coating was a nice change from the standard variations I've made recently. But I see why they suggested using the coating for fish rather than chicken; since chicken takes longer to roast (I think I left it in the oven at 400 for about 20 minutes), the coating got fairly brown. Using it to top fish, it would probably stay a vibrant green all the way through the much shorter cooking process. Regardless, I definitely recommend checking it out if you are a fan of the pistachio.

The carrots were a little sweeter than I expected, but it was a good experiment. The recipe calls for sauteing the carrots in olive oil for a couple of minutes, then sort of steaming them on low in some chicken broth, red wine vinegar and honey for several minutes, then uncovering them, raising the heat and letting the liquids cook off before swirling in a little butter at the end. Good stuff but a little labor intensive for something as simple as carrots.

As for the potatoes, I pretty much just sauteed them in olive oil with a little dill on medium high heat for 12 or so minutes, them lowered the heat to low for an additional 8 or so minutes (can you tell that I wasn't really dedicated to following any sort of cooking standards tonight?). And for the salad, I just tore up the romaine and splashed a vinaigrette that consisted of some fresh lemon juice, plus equal parts white wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Done and done!

The only bummer about tonight's meal? Lots of dishes to do. Sigh.

Dinner tonight... Braised Brisket with Cranberries and Roasted-Garlic Mashed Potatoes

2008-11-23T21:26:00.007-05:00

Tonight, Mr. Fritz and I took a meal over to the Rev. and Mrs. Glade, my final meal-after-a-new-baby-delivery for this baby season. I'm not expecting to cook for another new mom until February or so when Mr. and Mrs. Robertson have their little girl. This particular delivery was extra fun because we ended up getting to share the meal with the Glades, and during the ensuing hour we had quite a few good laughs, especially when Mrs. Glade recounted her days in her high school marching band and one particularly unfortunate showing during a band performance in Toronto. There are few things as priceless in this life as dear friends. (Especially funny ones!)

In any case, I wanted to make something really special, so I decided on Braised Brisket with Cranberries as the main dish and Roasted-Garlic Mashed Potatoes for the side dish. The brisket takes four hours to roast in the oven at 350, so it's a meal to make when you know you'll be around for the afternoon. It requires very little babysitting.

You begin by searing the brisket for 8-10 minutes in a heavy pot, then set it aside and make a bath for it to braise in -- saute a little flour, then add red wine, chicken broth, water, blackstrap molasses, a bay leaf and half a bag of cranberries to the pot. Once that's mixed together, you place the brisket back in the pot and set it in a 350 degree oven with the rack placed at the lowest possible point. Then you leave it alone for three hours. At the three hour mark, you add a one-pound bag of frozen pearl onions, and then at the 3:30 mark you add the rest of the cranberries. At the four hour mark, the brisket is done. But along the way, your kitchen will fill with the wonderful scent of the cranberries cooking and the beef roasting; perfect for a cold fall day! Even better: the end result was excellent. The brisket was incredibly tender and the cranberries and onions were lovely accompaniments. The liquids turned into a great gravy-like sauce and the whole dish together was fragrant and well-balanced. Definitely a keeper.

For the mashed potatoes, you also need to plan ahead just a bit because it takes an hour to roast the garlic (recipe below). I really need to pick up a potato masher; I ended up once again using my pastry cutter to mash them, which is not optimal. My mom uses her stand mixer to mash potatoes, but it's too much of a hassle for me to pull mine out for this. (My mother's potatoes, I should add, are legendary in how amazing they are.) Anyway, the roasted garlic definitely added a nice edge to the standard potatoes I typically make. (Roasting the garlic also made me recall the time I went to a restaurant in San Francisco called The Stinking Rose - an entire restaurant dedicated to garlic!). In any case, the potatoes turned out very nicely and I'm glad I went to the trouble of roasting the garlic.

ROASTED-GARLIC MASHED POTATOES
Everyday Food Magazine, November 2008
Serves 8. Prep time: 15 minutes. Total time: 1+1/4 hour

2 heads garlic
1 tsp olive oil
3 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch cubes
Coarse ground salt and pepper
1 cup half and half
4 Tbs butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut off and discard top quarter of garlic heads. Drizzle garlic with oil; wrap in foil. Bake until tender, 1 hour. Squeeze out garlic cloves; discard skins.

Place potatoes in a large sauce pan and cover with cold water by 1 inch; season with salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are easily pierced with a paring knife, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and return to pan. Heat over medium, stirring, until a thin starchy film covers bottom of pan. Remove from heat; add half and half, butter and garlic. Mash until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Lunch today... Chicken, Feta and Pistachio Salad

2008-11-23T17:59:00.004-05:00

Mr. Fritz and I have had a lovely day at home. The cold I came down with on Thursday seems to have passed (yay!) and so I've been able to get some things accomplished. Among them was making a real lunch, something that often gets short shrift on the weekend.

The December issue of Everyday Food has a great article on pistachio nuts -- their origin, what they can do for your health, and most importantly, recipes that incorporate them. There's a cool cheese log that I hope to make for a future event (no event in mind at the moment, but surely something will come up!), a chocolate pistachio cake (unlikely to be made by me, because I dislike nuts in baked goods, but seriously beautiful to gaze upon), a pistachio-coated fish recipe that I plan to adapt for chicken for dinner tomorrow night, and this really smart dish: Chicken, Feta and Pistachio Salad.

It has all sorts of tasty elements in it: chicken that's sauteed with a little ground coriander, crumbled feta (I used a light version), orange slices, toasted pistachio nuts (toasted on the stove, so easy!), parsley, crisp romaine lettuce, and a white wine vinaigrette comprised of equal parts white wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil plus salt and pepper. I really liked the way the flavors of the various ingredients worked together. The oranges brightened the dish, the feta gave it a salty bite, and the pistachios a warmth. The chicken made it feel substantial and the lettuce offered the perfect crispness. All in all a really successful salad and one to which I plan to return.

Dessert: Cranberry Trifle

2008-11-22T20:20:00.007-05:00

The very gracious Mr. and Mrs. Fleming invited us over for dinner last night and when I asked what I could bring, Mrs. Fleming suggested dessert. Since I'm not a baker (as previously noted), I was at a loss for what to make. Luckily, the December issue of Everyday Food arrived this week (I know, I seriously am obsessed) and on the cover was a luscious looking Cranberry Trifle.

The trifle, a layered dessert with three elements (cranberry compote, store-bought pound cake and a creamy cream cheese whipped cream) comes together quickly and easily. First, you simmer cranberries, water, sugar and ginger for about 8 minutes, until the cranberries start to burst. Let that cool completely while you prepare a mixture of cream cheese, brown sugar, regular sugar, vanilla and heavy cream using a stand mixer. Then cut up the pound cake and begin the assembly process: first a layer of pound cake, then a layer of cranberry compote, then a layer of whipped topping, repeating the layering process two more times.

A couple of notes: I used gingerbread pound cake instead of vanilla pound cake and the tasters all agreed that it was an upgrade. Other substitutions: light cream cheese for regular cream cheese and jarred pureed ginger for chopped fresh ginger. Also, I made only half the called for amount of cranberry compote and used only 12 ounces of cake, but made the full portion of whipped topping and it still made enough dessert to serve at least 8 people if not more. Using a trifle dish is a nice because you can see all of the layers through the glass. I have a really pretty trifle dish (thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Meyer!) but if you don't have one, any reasonably high-sided baking dish will do. Finally, I think it would work nicely with chocolate pound cake and cherries as well. Maybe I'll try that combination next!

CRANBERRY TRIFLE
Everyday Food Magazine, December 2008
Serves 12, Prep Time 35 Minutes, Total Time: 35 Minutes + Chilling

2 bags (12 oz each) cranberries, fresh or frozen
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 Tbs finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 bar (8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream
2 homemade or store-bought all butter pound cakes (12 oz each), cut into 3/4-inch thick slices
Candied Orange Zest (below) for garnish (optional)

In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, 2 cups granulated sugar and 2 cups water. Bring to a simmer over medium, cook until cranberries begin to burst, about 8 to 10 minutes. Let compote cool completely.

Make cream filling. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, brown sugar, and vanilla on high until well combined. With mixer on medium, gradually add heavy cream; continue to beat until soft peaks form.

Arrange 1/3 of cake in a 3-quart serving dish. Spoon 1/3 of compote over cake; spread to sides of dish. Dollop 1/3 of cream filling over compote; spread to sides of dish. Repeat twice, ending with cream filling. Refrigerate at least 2 hours (or up to 1 day). Garnish with Candied Orange Zest if desired.

CANDIED ORANGE ZEST
In a medium sauce pan, bring 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar, Add zest of 1 orange (peeled into long strips with a vegetable peeler), simmer, swirling occasionally, until zest is tender, 8-10 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a plate. Dredge zest in sugar and thinly slice.

The Big Game is rapidly approaching!

2008-11-20T19:41:00.010-05:00

Mr. Fritz and I attended rival colleges: he went to Ohio State and I to the University of Michigan. For those of you who are unfamiliar, this rivalry is large and intense enough that ESPN has made a series of commercials (including this one) that underscore how unlikely (and possibly just plain flat out wrong) it is for a Michigan grad and an Ohio State grad to fall for one another, much less marry.

Mr. Fritz's parents, The Original Mr. Fritz and The Original Mrs. Fritz, are huge Ohio State fans. In fact, just about everyone in my Mr. Fritz's extended family, save for one black sheep who actually (gasp!) went to Michigan, considers scarlet and gray to be their signature colors.

Luckily for me, however, The Original Mr. and Mrs. Fritz have always been very nice to me, despite my having gone to "the school up north." And with the Big Game coming up on Saturday (at noon ET, for those of you who don't want to miss it!), the entire Fritz family is celebrating what those crazy Buckeyes apparently call "Michigan Week" (a whole week dedicated to gleefully thinking about how great it will be if/when they beat us on the gridiron, something that is looking more and more in their favor this year, given the rough season Michigan is having under the new coach. Sigh.).

In that spirit, The Original Mrs. Fritz sent us a truly fantastic package through the mail, which we received tonight when we got home from work: two bags of gourmet popcorn. One bag contains scarlet and gray popcorn; the other bag, to my delight, contains maize and blue popcorn. And she even included tags that said "Go Bucks!" and "Go Blue!" What a fun surprise and a great reminder that despite my, ahem, questionable background, I have been welcomed wholeheartedly into their family. Yay! So, to The Original Mr. and Mrs. Fritz, I just wanted to send a virtual thank you. We will enjoy munching on our (separate!) treats as we watch the game unfold on Saturday. May the best team win!

Dinner tonight... Made-to-Order Pizza

2008-11-19T19:43:00.004-05:00

Tonight I continued my mission to use up the supplies I'd gotten for our weekend in the country, so it was pizza night for the Fritzes. And I'm glad I did: with the right materials (in this case, Trader Joe's fresh pizza dough, pizza sauce, plus pepperoni, shredded mozzarella and pre-sliced baby portabella mushrooms), homemade pizza can make it from pan to table in about 10 minutes. Cannot beat that!

So that's our pizza above. Can you guess which half was mine versus which half was made especially for Mr. Fritz?* Pulling it together was super easy. First, I preheated the oven to 425. Then I did that Italian thing where you stretch the dough with your hands, twirling it in the air. (Okay, so I didn't toss it into the air, but I did stretch it out nicely before laying it down on the pan.). Next, I laid down a healthy coat of pizza sauce. Onto that went a light layer of mozzarella, followed by pepperoni, followed by more cheese, followed by mushrooms on half. I sprinkled powdered oregano over the whole thing, then slid it into the oven for 8 minutes. When the time was up, out came a luscious looking and tasting homemade pizza. Delish!

When I made this for our friends this past weekend, I let everyone choose which ingredients they wanted, and among the options was sliced artichoke hearts. Other items that would work well, I think: pesto, different cheeses, chicken, barbecue sauce, you name it. (Obviously having lots of different and unusual pizza toppings is neither new nor innovative, but just thought I'd throw those out there...) Tonight, I was mainly grateful that I was able to make a tasty meal with minimal effort and in very little time. Not to mention that the cost of the ingredients was far less than what we'd pay for a pie from Papa John's or Domino's. I'll definitely return to made-to-order pizza night in the future!

*If you guessed that Mr. Fritz went with the mushroom-free variety, you'd be correct!

Dinner tonight... French Toast, Apple Cider Donuts, Orange Slices and Free Trade Hot Cocoa

2008-11-17T19:39:00.004-05:00

Mr. Fritz loves french toast. He loves it so much that he had it every day during our honeymoon back in June. (I didn't try it until the last day of our trip and boy was I mad at myself - that was some amazing french toast!) Luckily for me (and Mr. Fritz, come to think of it), my sweet mother is a pro at making french toast. She taught me how to make it when I was just a kid, so whipping it up is second nature to me at this point and tonight I went a little wild and served it for dinner.

The secret to really good french toast, in my opinion, is adding a dash of vanilla, a splash of cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar to the eggs before dipping the bread into them. Those additions elevate the flavor profile from bland to bodacious (sorry, couldn't think of another good "b" word. Also, I'm a little punchy tonight). In terms of preparation, I usually melt a little butter in a skillet, then dip the bread piece by piece into the egg bath before transferring to the pan. Then I cook the french toast on medium high for a few minutes per side -- basically to the desired level of golden brown. And I serve it with more cinnamon sugar, butter and maple syrup.

Tonight Mr. Fritz also noshed on couple of apple cider donuts from The Apple House in Linden, Virginia. These donuts make me think of the ones we used to eat when we visited the cider mill during field trips when I was in grade school. Michigan is known for its apples and where there are apples, you can be sure to find apple cider donuts. Apple House donuts are rolled in cinnamon sugar and are wonderfully dense and moist all at once. My donut connoisseur of a husband looks forward to getting his annual fix each fall.

And to finish off the breakfast-as-dinner theme, I cut up a navel orange into slices and served up a cup of Fair Trade Organic Hot Cocoa from Trader Joe's. This hot cocoa, along with Nestle's Double Chocolate Meltdown (available at most grocery stores) wins my pick for best instant hot cocoa mix. Both are rich, smooth, and call to me with their chocolately goodness when the temperature drops the way it has in the past few days.

What is your favorite breakfast-for-dinner meal? Share your picks in the comments!

Dinner tonight... Calzones Stuffed with Pepperoni and Mushrooms

2008-11-16T20:34:00.003-05:00

This weekend we went away to the country with friends and I was responsible for making dinner Friday night. Since I wasn't sure exactly how many people would arrive in time for the meal, I overbought on pizza ingredients from Trader Joe's. That meant that tonight, when it was time to make dinner for me and Mr. Fritz, I had leftover dough, pepperoni, mushrooms, cheese and sauce to play with. Instead of making yet another pizza, I decided to try making individual calzones -- basically big pockets of dough filled with pizza fixings.

The process was simple. I divided the dough in half and stretched each piece into a big oval. Then I layered the following over half of each oval, leaving about a half-inch bare around the edge: sauce, cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms (on mine only, since I know Mr. Fritz avoids them when possible), more cheese and a couple more dollops of sauce. Then I folded the non-toppings-laden half of each oval over the fillings, pinched the edges all the way around to seal the toppings inside, pricked our initials in the top of each one so that air could escape as they baked (and so that I could remember which was which when I went to serve them), and put them into the oven at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Pretty soon they were lightly browned and steaming hot. A complete meal which took all of 5 minutes to prepare. Simple, hearty, and perfect for a cold evening at the end of a busy, fun weekend!

PS: If you've never tried Trader Joe's fresh pizza dough, I must insist that you seek it out the next time you are thinking of making homemade pizza. It has a sweetness to it that makes it truly spectacular.

Dinner tonight...Spicy Apricot-Glazed Chicken, Jasmine Rice and Steamed Green Beans

2008-11-13T20:40:00.004-05:00

Tonight's meal came together in about 20 minutes -- can't beat that. I started by getting a pot of jasmine rice cooking on the stove. The kitchen almost immediately began smelling wonderfully fragrant, which put me in a happy mood as I continued to prepare the various parts.

Next, I set a steamer over an inch or so of water in a saute pan and steamed the green beans for five or so minutes. As soon as the green beans were on the stove, I put the chicken in the oven.

By the time the rice was finished (it takes about 15 minutes to simmer to completion), the chicken was nearly there (I roasted it for 10 minutes at 350), and the green beans were finished steaming, just waiting to be plated (and once they were plated, I sprinkled them with powdered ginger and spritzed fresh lime juice over them, along with salt and pepper). Easy peasy. An all around tasty meal and one I would definitely make again.

A couple of notes: the recipe for Spicy Apricot-Glazed Chicken is pretty simple, but I simplified it even more by roasting instead of broiling, and by spreading the apricot jam onto the chicken before sliding it into the oven, versus midway through the cooking process.

Dinner tonight... Braised Chicken with Dried Figs plus Parmesan and Pepper Polenta

2008-11-12T20:37:00.010-05:00

Tonight's meal was good but not spectacular, possibly because my salt grinder (which arrived full with Mr. Fritz in May) is just about empty. Plus, I made a couple of changes to both recipes, some for better, some for worse. For instance, the polenta recipe, from the September issue of Everyday Food, is actually called Pecorino and Pepper Polenta, but since I was lacking Pecorino, I subbed in Parmesan instead. Pecorino is possibly a little nuttier than parm, so perhaps if I'd followed the recipe more closely, the end result would have yielded a fuller taste. It was also, to be fair, my first attempt ever at making polenta from scratch (corn meal, water, butter, salt, pepper and cheese) and perhaps with practice I could bring out the flavor. In any case, it really is easy to make and I will probably give it another try at a later date.

I also altered the recipe for the chicken, but in this case, for the better I think. The recipe, Braised Chicken with Dried Plums, calls for bone-in, skinless chicken thighs. I used boneless breasts instead. And I subbed in dried figs for the dried plums because the idea of prunes wasn't as appealing as figs to my palate. I followed the recipe just the same, which calls for browning the chicken first, then removing it from the pan and sauteing some onions, a little flour and then deglazing with white wine before returning the chicken to the pot, covering it and letting it simmer for 15-18 minutes before tossing in the dried fruit. The technique of braising left the chicken nice and tender, and the gravy that it cooked in made for a lovely sauce over the chicken and the polenta. I'd definitely make it again.

Also, a tip: miniature bottles of wine come in very handy when you generally only use wine to cook with. (Wow. Poor sentence structure there!) I picked up a four pack of pinot griegio at the Teeter a couple of weeks or so ago and have since used a couple of the 2-cup bottles in recipes such as this one as well as a reprise of the Tomato and Sausage Risotto that I made for Mr. Fritz for dinner Sunday night. Very handy and a relief not to have to open a whole bottle of wine when only a small portion is needed for a dish.

Dinner tonight... Grilled Salmon with Ginger-Orange Mustard Glaze

2008-11-11T20:16:00.004-05:00

Another Tuesday, another new-to-us salmon recipe. This time, I tried a recipe from the Complete Cooking Light Cookbook, Grilled Salmon with Ginger-Orange Mustard Glaze. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it in the CookingLight.com database, so I've included it below, adding in my own notes. If you happen to have this cookbook (the one with the purple cover), you can find it on page 225. It was worth typing in because it was really tasty - enough that Mr. Fritz remarked about its tastiness without provocation. (Always a good sign!) I paired it with sugar snap peas sauteed in a little olive oil, sesame oil and sesame seeds. And I rounded out the meal with dilled orzo. The whole thing came together in around 25 minutes, and clean up was pretty snappy, too, since I broiled the salmon on a baking sheet covered with foil.

GRILLED SALMON WITH GINGER-ORANGE MUSTARD GLAZE
Source: The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook
Prep: 5 minutes
Marinate: 30 minutes (I skipped this step and just brushed it on before broiling)
Cook: 10 minutes

1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
1/4 cup cream sherry (I skipped this because I didn't have any)
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 Tbs grated peeled fresh ginger (I used the bottled kind)
2 Tbs honey
4 (6-ounce) salmon filets (about 1 inch thick), silver skin removed
Cooking spray
Green onions and lemon slices (optional)

Combine first six ingredients in a large ziptop plastic bag. Add fish to bag, seal and marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Remove fish from bag, reserve marinade.

Prepare grill or broiler.

Place fish on grill rack or broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Cook 5 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork, basting frequently with reserved marinade (note, I didn't turn the fish over -- just let it broil the whole time on the same side and it worked just fine. I also didn't bother to baste while cooking. Instead, I spooned the marinade over the fish after I'd set the fish on the baking sheet and moved on.)

Place reserved marinade ino a saucepan; bring to a boil. (I skipped this step as well, because I didn't allow the rest of the marinade to come in contact with the raw fish. Since no contact means no worries about bacteria contamination, I was able to just pour the reserved marinade into a couple of sake cups and serve it as it was.) Serve with fish; garnish with green onions and lemon slices if desired. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 fillet and 3 Tb of glaze)

Dinner tonight... Orange-and-Thyme Grilled Shrimp, Couscous with Carrots and Cilantro, Shitake Mushrooms

2008-11-10T22:02:00.006-05:00

We were delighted to have the newly-married Mrs. Palmer join us for dinner this evening. She's visiting from New York City and this is the first time we've seen each other for a non-wedding-related event (hers or ours) since sometime in 2007. Mrs. Palmer and I have been friends for more than a decade and although it was wonderfully fun to share our engagement seasons together after all these years, we both agreed that it was thrilling to just relax and catch up, relieved to have all manner of wedding festivities behind us. It was also fun to have the chance to cook for her. When she arrived, the first thing she said to Mr. Fritz was: "Tonight, Mr. Fritz, she's feeding me!"

And feed them I did. Tonight's meal consisted of two Everyday Food recipes plus a repeat of the shitake mushrooms first attempted a few days ago:

Orange-and-Thyme Grilled Shrimp is a very simple and flavorful preparation. Marinate shrimp in a little orange juice, orange zest, olive oil, garlic and fresh thyme, skewer (I used metal skewers) and grill or broil for 3 minutes per side. Couldn't be easier.

Couscous with Carrot and Cilantro is great in that it takes about 10 minutes to make, yet tastes fresh and bright. To make, bring one cup of water to a boil, add 2/3 cup couscous, cover and remove from heat. Let it sit for 7 minutes, then fluff and mix in grated carrot and chopped cilantro, plus a little olive oil. The hardest part is grating the carrot, but a box grater does the trick nicely.

Shitake mushrooms with lemon and parsley rounded out the meal. I stir-fried the mushrooms in olive oil, then once they were softened, added a pat of butter, some chopped parsley and fresh lemon juice. Mrs. Palmer remarked with surprise that the mushrooms and the shrimp tasted better together than she expected. To which Mr. Fritz noted that shrimp and mushrooms are two of my favorite foods. To which I thought silently to myself: he's starting to actually pay attention to what I like to eat. Sweet! In all seriousness, the next time I make the mushrooms, I think I'll add a sprinkle of sesame seeds to finish them off.

This was, in all, a great meal to make on a night when I wanted things to come together quickly while also being able to enjoy time with our guest.

Baking for Mr. Fritz: Cranberry Bread

2008-11-09T22:40:00.005-05:00

The title of this blog post will be amusing to those who know me, because the truth is, I don't really bake. Unlike my sisters -- who can bake cookies, cakes, fudge and more at what is basically a professional level -- I did not inherit my mom's baking gene. I don't have the patience for measuring things carefully and, well, I guess that's my main problem: I don't have the patience to measure things carefully, which is the key to baking success. Nevertheless, I feel like I ought to at least try to satisfy Mr. Fritz's active sweet tooth with something more than just his daily ration of two Entenmann's donuts. So, I decided to give this Everyday Food recipe for Cranberry Bread a try.

It's a fairly simple recipe: mix up the dry ingredients (flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt) in one bowl and the wet ingredients (melted butter, one large egg, and some whole milk) in another. Add the wet to the dry, fold in a bag of fresh cranberries, pour into a buttered and floured loaf pan and bake for 350 for an hour and 15 minutes.

I will admit, the freewheeling cook in me surfaced briefly while I was pulling it together and I ended up modifying the recipe just a bit: I had some leftover light coconut milk from another recipe, so I subbed that for the whole milk. I thought it might cut some of the tartness of the cranberries, plus I just didn't want to waste it. Hopefully it will work similarly to regular milk. I guess when it comes down to it, you can take the cook out of the kitchen but you can't take the kitchen out of the cook. Or something like that. Verdict on my Frankenloaf? Very tasty! Maybe I should try this baking thing more often. Or perhaps I shouldn't push my luck...

Starter: Pumpkin Stuffed with Bread and Cheese

2008-11-09T12:25:00.006-05:00

Mr. & Mrs. Meyer joined us for dinner last night, and their visit seemed like the perfect opportunity to try something I'd read about a week or so ago on food writer Dorie Greenspan's blog: a stuffed pumpkin.

The concept is pretty simple: take a 2-3 lb pumpkin, cut a lid out the way you might with a jack-o-lantern and scoop out the seeds and strings. But then instead of carving a face in the little guy, stuff it with a mixture of bread, cheese and chopped garlic, then pour some heavy cream laced with nutmeg over the bread mixture, put the lid back on the pumpkin and roast the whole thing at 350 for 2 hours. What you end up with is an eggless bread-and-cheese strata surrounded by tender, fragrant roasted pumpkin. In a word: sublime.

Greenspan notes that you can use just about any combination of bread and cheese. I used Italian bread and Parmesan cheese because that's what I had on hand. But I think gruyere or brie and french bread or even pumpernickel and white cheddar would be equally scrumptious. I also think my pumpkin may have been smaller than what was called for -- I used a pie pumpkin that was probably closer to one and a half pounds than three pounds. Regardless, it came out really well.

To serve, I used a sharp knife to cut the pumpkin into four parts and we each dove into our personal hunk of pumpkiny goodness, leaving only the pumpkin's skin on our plates by the end. A wonderful treat for a fall evening and one I plan to return to again and again in years to come. Yum!

Starter: Jeanne's Famous Artichoke Spinach Dip

2008-11-07T18:40:00.006-05:00

I should preface this by saying that I have no idea who Jeanne is. But she submitted a great recipe to Gourmet back in 1995 which subsequently made it onto the epicurious.com web site (though it disappeared off the site a couple of years later, strangely) and, ever since, it has been my favorite recipe for this ubiquitous party appetizer.

This version is perfect in that it's simple, quick to prepare, and most importantly, crazy tasty. We've served it at many a Mingleside Christmas Party and it's always been a big hit. If you have any servewear that stays hot long after it's been out of the oven (such as Wilton Armetale), I'd recommend baking it in that, as the dip becomes much less appetizing when it gets cold. I like to serve it with tortilla chips, but I suppose any sort of crackers would be lovely. And to Jeanne, wherever you are, thanks so much for sharing this great recipe with the world oh so long ago. You are definitely famous in my eyes!

JEANNE'S FAMOUS ARTICHOKE SPINACH DIP
1 13 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped finely
1 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry and chopped finely
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 4 ounces)
2 1/4 cups coarsely grated Monterey Jack cheese (about 9 ounces)
1 Tb freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Tortilla chips or crackers for dipping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine artichoke hearts, spinach, mayo, Parmesan, 1 3/4 cups Monterey Jack cheese and Pecorino Romano, stirring until combined well. Transfer artichoke mixture to 1 quart baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of Monterey Jack cheese. Dip may be made up to this point, covered, and chilled for one day.

Bake dip in middle of oven until cheese is melted, about 15 minutes. Serve with chips or crackers. Makes about 3 cups.

Source: Gourmet, May 1995, Jeanne Manzi of Dix Hills, N.Y.

Dinner tonight... Sauteed Chicken with Mushrooms and Green Beans

2008-11-06T20:32:00.005-05:00

If I had more time, I think I could probably write a pretty good ode to the shitake mushroom. Shitakes are, by far, my favorite fungi. I discovered them in the mid-nineties, around the time that I decided to give mushrooms a chance in general. Unlike your everyday button variety, shitakes have a stronger flavor and a better, springier texture. They're sort of woodsy, if that makes sense. Regardless of the adjective, I can say without hesitation that I just love them and could probably eat them every day. Mr. Fritz, I learned tonight, doesn't quite share my passion for the mighty shitake. Although he enjoyed their flavor more than previous shrooms I've slipped onto his plate, the texture sort of stopped him cold. ("It's like chewing a snail," he noted.) Sigh.

Mr. Fritz does enjoy a good green bean, however, so tonight's meal, Sauteed Chicken with Mushrooms and Green Beans from (where else?) the November issue of Everyday Food actually worked well for us both. I served him a few of the mushrooms along with a lot of green beans (that's his plate below) and then in turn did the opposite on my plate. End result? One happy mushroom eater (me) and one happy green bean eater (Mr. Fritz) with a touch of balance for us both as well. Good times.

This meal came together in just a few minutes. To prepare it, you set some green beans in a steamer basket over an inch or so of boiling water. Once the beans are in the pot, cover and reduce heat to low. Let the beans steam for 4-6 minutes. Meanwhile, saute chicken cutlets in a little olive oil over medium high heat for 3 minutes per side. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Toss the mushrooms into the now chicken-less skillet along with a tablespoon of butter, saute for a couple of minutes until they soften, add chopped parsley, fresh lemon juice and a little more butter and you're done. To plate, set the green beans alongside the chicken, then top the chicken with the mushroom mixture. The result? Crisp green beans, good (if standard) chicken, and truly fabulous mushrooms (the lemon, butter and parsley really enhanced them!). Yum! And all in around 10-12 minutes. I'll definitely make this again.

Dinner tonight... Asian Noodle Bowls with Chicken and Snow Peas

2008-11-04T20:20:00.006-05:00

Happy Election Night! I'm spending the evening with Mr. Fritz, while monitoring my work email for potential meltdowns. Thus, dinner needed to be superfast. I went with another one of Everyday Food's November "On the Short List" recipes -- Asian Noodle Bowls with Steak and Snow Peas. The one big exception? I subbed chicken for steak and seasoned the chicken with a little bit of powdered ginger to add a little zing, but otherwise followed the recipe as written. Mr. Fritz really liked this one, especially the dry-roasted peanuts tossed on top as a garnish. It's going to be a late night. Hopefully by this time tomorrow this crazy election season will be over.

Dinner tonight... Shrimp with Scallions and Crispy Potatoes

2008-11-03T19:59:00.009-05:00

The newest issue of Everyday Food magazine arrived last week, so I availed myself of it as I planned this week's menu. They have a section this month called "On the Short List," which is comprised of five complete, fast, diverse five-ingredient meals. I added a few of the selections to my plan for the week, starting with Shrimp with Scallions and Crispy Potatoes.

Suffice it to say, I was a little perplexed about the combination of potatoes and shrimp. Shrimp and grits, shrimp and couscous, shrimp and rice, shrimp and noodles -- all of those combinations sounded better to me than shrimp and potatoes. But I figured that they would not have featured it were it not worth making.

Since today was a fairly trying day for me at work, it helped that the method is super simple: chop a potato into 1 inch cubes, saute it in a little olive oil for about 14 minutes. Then add a little bit of chopped scallion and saute for another couple of minutes. Set that aside, add peeled and deveined shrimp to the skillet and saute for 2-3 minutes along with some curry powder and salt and pepper. Once the shrimp have cooked through, add the potato mixture back to the skillet, give it all a good mix, and serve.

The verdict? Surprisingly tasty! The shrimp and potatoes really complemented each other to a good end. And the curry really pulled everything together. One note: I halved the recipe (it's written to serve four) and after I plated it, it seemed sort of paltry, so I quickly sauteed some mushrooms to go along with the dish. Regardless, when we were finished eating, I told Mr. Fritz that I would be adding this one to my "must make again list." He approved. Yum!

PS: Mr. Fritz noticed the other day that if you click on any of the photos I've posted, you can see them in a bigger size. Just thought I should note that in case you are interested in getting a closer look at any of the finished dishes.

Dinner tonight... Curried Coconut Chicken Over Noodles

2008-11-02T21:13:00.003-05:00

I first started making this dish in 1999 but it's been a few years since the last time I attempted it. Happily, it was just as simple to make as I remembered it to be.

Curried Coconut Chicken Over Noodles, a Cooking Light recipe, is comprised of just a few ingredients: garlic, chicken, light coconut milk, thinly sliced onion, boneless chicken breasts, curry powder and fresh basil. I like to add a 4 or 5 oz of sliced mushrooms to it to give the dish a little more oomph. But other than that, it's great as is -- and it smells incredible as it's cooking. I used Somen noodles tonight (Japanese wheat noodles), but Soba or Udon noodles or even plain old vermicelli would work just as well. This recipe serves 2 but is easily doubled if you are cooking for a crowd. Really nice for a crisp fall day.

Lunch today... Quick Chicken Chili

2008-11-01T15:59:00.005-04:00

Behold, my go-to chili recipe. I've been making Quick Chicken Chili for years and it literally could not be easier. If you can cut up and saute chicken, and if you know how to use a can opener, you can make this recipe. I generally serve it with shredded cheddar, avocado, fresh limes, sour cream and tortilla chips. Today, all I had on hand was the cheddar, but I mixed things up a little bit by serving it over spaghetti, which (strangely to me) is how Mr. Fritz usually eats chili. I think it's officially called "Chili Mac" when it's served this way, but I could be wrong. Also, I think that's an Ohio thing. Whatever works!

Also, a bit of trivia: in the months leading up to our wedding, we bartered with the debonair Mr. Vogt for dancing lessons. The deal was, Mr. Vogt taught us to dance, and I taught Mr. Vogt to cook. (Mr. Fritz' role? Dancing and eating. Not a bad deal!) This was one of the recipes featured during "Cooking and Dancing with Mr. Vogt and Soon-To-Be-Mrs. Fritz." Enjoy!

Featured Eater: Mr. Biggers

2008-10-29T23:08:00.004-04:00

Tonight, Mr. Fritz and I were delighted to have the incomparable Mr. Biggers join us for dinner. I made the Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs featured in last Friday's post and this time doubled the sauce. (Which still wasn't quite saucy enough for Mr. Fritz.) I also added a salad of spinach, pine nuts and Parmesan with a lemon-white wine vinaigrette and an Italian bread roll because, well, we were having company. And for dessert, we had homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and Moose Tracks ice cream (about which Mr. Biggers said, "Is this in honor of Sarah Palin?" Nope. Just really good stuff that was on sale awhile ago.).

Mr. Biggers is a delightful dinner guest. He's witty, has excellent manners and is just an all around great friend to us both. We also should note that he's available to star in his own Feeding Mr. Biggers blog should some lucky lady out there be in need of some inspiration!