Foody Friday: FINALLY a tasty homemade king cake!

I have spent years trying my hand at king cakes, only to be continually disappointed in the results. Usually the cake part is too dry or too bread-like. Finally this year I made one that is really delicious! So here's the recipe, just in time for lent.
Ooops.
Sorry about that. I guess you can make it next year.

Ingredients:
For cake:

2 packages active dry yeast (or 2 Tbs bulk)
2/3 cup warm water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/8 cup butter
1/8 cup sour cream

1 cup skim milk

2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
5  to 6 cups flour

For filling:

1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom
zest of one lemon or orange
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup melted butter
1 or 2 Tbs milk or juice from orange or lemon used for zest

For frosting:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 - 2 teaspoons water, milk, or juice from orange or lemon used for zest
If you like more frosting, double this recipe. 


For decorations:
Colored sugar or sprinkles
For baby:
One plastic baby

I decorated my cakes with mauve, green, and gold - the traditional Mardi Gras colors. Sort of. So sue me, it's hard to make purple using liquid food coloring. 

Directions:
Dissolve yeast, butter, and sugar in hot water. When foamed, add remaining ingredients except flour and mix well. Add flour in increments until dough forms. It should be thick, hard-to-stir dough but a little too moist and sticky to knead. Stir 100 times. Let rise in bowl (covered with damp towel, in a warm place) until doubled in bulk, about an hour.
Meanwhile, prepare filling: mix dry ingredients; add melted butter and mix. Should be crumbly. Add milk until it's thick but slightly spreadable.
Divide dough in half and flatten each half into a rectangle. Spread each piece of dough with filling, roll it up, then flatten it a little. Twist a few times and form into an oval, sealing ends.
Allow to rise for 45 minutes, then bake in 375 F oven for 35 minutes.
While still warm, drizzle with glaze and decorate if desired. Hide the baby. The person who gets the baby in their piece has to buy (or make!) the next king cake. Or they just choke to death.

Note: If using colored sugar, it will adhere better and the color will be richer if it becomes slightly damp. The best way to do this is decorate while still warm, then transfer to an airtight container like a cake carrier. The heat will create just enough steam and condensation to do the trick - you can, and should, uncover the cake after just a minute or two. In the pictures above I skipped this step, which is why the colors are a little on the pastel side. 

Foody Friday: freakin' nasty King Cake

Carnival is here, and king cakes are begging to be eaten!
The first day of carnival is Twelfth Night, or Epiphany, or Armenian Christmas (as we celebrate in our house). Anyway, it's January 6th, and that particular morning I really wanted some king cake!
So much so that after my nine mile run I grabbed my credit card and made a cycle to THREE bakeries in our neighborhood (ugh, the constant temptation) in search for the first Kind Cake of the season.
No one had any. I was distraught.

In case you don't know what king cake is, it is a rather repulsive yeast coffee cake in a ring, decorated in the Mardi Gras colors of purple, green, and gold. There is a plastic baby hidden in the cake, and whoever gets the baby in their slice has to buy the next cake. It creates a purposeful vicious cycle of cake consumptions on Friday in the workplace. Kiss your resolutions good-bye, New Orleanians!

I refused to give up on my king cake, so I bought one from Robert's Supermarket on the way home. Robert's has the best French bread in town, so their cakes should be good, right? So wrong! The cake was undercooked and filled with gobs of oozing red stuff (some cakes are filled, but that usually just means an innocuous strip of strawberry jam, not freaking jelly donut style!). It was overpoweringly sweet and their was about a cup of colored sugar on top.

David got the baby. And if this isn't the grossest picture you've ever seen you must be reading a med school text book. 

I ate it anyway. I went into a sugar coma. I am still in said coma. I am typing this in a coma.
Louisiana people: You know you have a favorite. Who makes the best King Cake?
I actually like the ones they sell at Pj's!

Foody Friday: Three-ingredient soup

Sometimes I'm feeling really lazy and don't want to get all gourmet after a long day of work. A perfect recipe for this kind of night is Sausage and Leek soup - just three ingredients and almost no work creates a cozy winter meal. All it needs is a salad!

Six hot Italian sausages, uncooked, sliced or removed from casing
2 stems leeks, washed and coarsely chopped
6 - 8 ounces of wide egg noodles

In a large stock pot, brown sausage. When nearly done, drain off any fat and add leeks. Cook for a minute or two to wilt. Add egg noodles and cover by one or two inches with water. Cook on high, uncovered, until pasta is tender; adjust water volume as needed to make an appropriate amount of broth. Add salt and pepper if needed.
Serves 8.

Foody Friday: Christmas Gift Boxes

This Christmas I decided to rely on edible gifts for several family members in an attempt to prevent the "stuff" build-up that Christmas brings. I have a large family (there are 11 of us), so if everyone gives everyone else a gift, we are looking at a whole lot of presents (I remember Christmases growing up which involved 4-hour gift opening marathons. We always sedately and maturely took turns, politely thanking the giver, and it could take forever!)

My table covered in food for packing! 

Food gifts are usually welcome and are gone before you have to store them, so they work well for my family.

Packing up boxes in Priority Mail flat rate boxes

This year's boxes included:

Festive! 

- Brandied fruitcake, which should be nicely aged by the time the packages arrive. Tip: Soak the dried fruit (not the candied fruit) in your alcohol of choice for 12 hours prior to cooking; make sure you add all the alcohol to the batter, too, since it carried a lot of flavor. The cakes will seem dry when first done, but grow moister with age - do not serve for at least one week.
- Cranberry chutney. Tip: Although delicious on turkey or pork, chutney is also a fantastic appetizer spread over goat cheese and served with crackers.
- Peach preserves
- Grapefruit marmalade. Tip: Cook it when fruit is in season and store for Christmas!
- Flourless chocolate walnut cookies. Tip: If you are mailing cookies, choose a recipe that produces a crisp outside (for sturdiness) and soft inside (for freshness). FYI this is the best cookie ever invented. It is extremely easy to make and has just a few inexpensive ingredients, and the finished product is heaven in your mouth.
- Caramel candy corn as packing material - it's like a beanbag!

Festive dollar store ziplocs. The zips on the red bags did not work - the two sides were identical instead of locking together -  so I tied with ribbon. 

And in these festive Christmas ziplocs, we have:
- Maple-walnut brittle. Tip: To keep brittle brittle (especially when humid), make a pouch of dry white rice in a square of tissue paper and toss it in the bag. It acts as a desiccant to prevent the candy from softening.
- Christmas Spice coffee. Tip: When flavoring coffee, you can rub flavoring oils in, but alcohol-based flavorings like extracts will just evaporate. If you add cloves, be careful; clove oil is potent and can actually eat away at plastics, like storage containers.

Foodie Friday: Rosemary shortbread

It's kind of illegal to call this shortbread, since it contains more than the key four ingredients, but I am breaking the rules here, mostly because these are cut in wedges. Kind of makes you automatically think shortbread, right? Serves these lovely cookies with plain chocolate and fresh fruit for an elegant dessert.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed and soaked in 1 teaspoon boiling water.
• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Combine dry ingredients; work in butter, honey, and rosemary. A soft dough will form. Divide dough in half and press each half into an 8" pie pan. Score with a sharp knife to allow you to cut wedges easily when baked.

Bake at 300 for 25 minutes. Cut apart while still warm. 

Foody Friday: Sweet Potato Toppings

Just like I love a good loaded baked potato, I like my sweet potatoes with toppings, too.

What a colorful dinner!

Here I sauteed shrimp with mango, scallions, red bell peppers, and cilantro and made a sauce with yogurt, lime juice with pulp, and sriracha sauce. It was delicious on a baked sweet potato with extra yogurt on top!


How do you like your sweet potatoes?
If I'm eating them "plain" I love lots of salt and butter!

Foody Friday: A nice Malbec

I adore Malbec, especially alone: just a nice glass of wine for dessert (or in addition to dessert. Or as pre-dessert. Whatever).

Crios Malbec with the cool smiling hand

You should try this one, it's lovely.

Foody Friday: Flourless chocolate walnut cookies

Prepare to swoon. A rich, fudgey cookie with just 6 ingredients and almost no work at all.

Ingredients:
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups walnut halves (throw them on a cookie sheet and toast them for a few minutes, then break them up a little before adding them to dough)
1 tablespoon (not teaspoon) vanilla extract
4 egg whites, lightly whisked in a little bowl or cup

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Mix dry ingredients. Add walnuts. At this point I add my secret ingredient - a dash of black pepper. It brings out the chocolate taste.
Add vanilla then add about half the egg whites and start mixing. As you mix the walnuts will start breaking up some more, which is fine. Continue to add egg white, a little at a time, until you have a cookie dough consistency. You may need all the egg whites; you may not. It depends on the size of the eggs you use and the humidity that day.
Prepare cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil and grease well. Drop mounds of cookie dough onto sheets. You should get 24 - 32 cookies.
Bake at 350 F for about 15 minutes. Let cool a little before trying to remove - they are very soft and moist at first.
Delicious!

Foody Friday: Peaches for $0.87 a pound!

That kind of price can only mean one thing...time to make preserves!
Luckily, peach preserves are easy and the whole process only takes about half an hour! You just need peaches, sugar, and pectin. You can buy pectin at most grocery stores.

This brand has a pectin activator that allows you to use less sugar.

First, you need 24 peaches. Or you can cut this recipe in half and use 12.

Get the hubby to sort out the softest ones so you don't waste any fruit.
Peeled peaches work best, but peeling is arduous. Luckily there's an easy way to do that. Just throw the peaches in a pot of boiling water for a few seconds, then remove them with a slotted spoon.

The peels slide right off!

Next, pull peaches apart into a large pot, removing pits. They should come apart easily thanks to the boiling water bath.

The best part: squish them up with your hands!

They don't need to be completely crushed; some bits and pieces of peach are tasty in preserves.
Now turn the pot on high. Add 4 cups of sugar (you can use 3 cups if you have the pectin shown above since it requires less sugar to gel) and stir well. Stir to prevent sticking as you bring to a boil (note - to keep color fresh, you can add 1/4 lemon juice at this point). If foam collects at the top of the pot, you can skim it off and discard it.

Meanwhile, prepare a box of pectin (1 ounce) by placing it in a measuring cup and mixing with enough sugar to make 1 cup. When the preserves come to a boil, stir pectin in and boil for one minute, stirring constantly to dissolve all the pectin.
Turn the pot off and let it cool for a few minutes before ladling into sterilized jars.

I got 14 half-pint jars from my batch. At this point, the preserves probably seem very runny, but fear not - they will set up as they cool.

Process the jars of preserves by boiling in a hot water bath, as seem in this post.

Then enjoy what's left in the pan by spreading on fresh French bread!

Next morning? Preserves are all nice and gelled! 

Foody Friday: after-dinner pizza

When people say "dessert pizza" they usually mean a cookie crust with frosting and fruit (or some atrocious topping like Oreos). So I've renamed this after-dinner pizza.It's a perfect little snack for a late night after a play or concert.
Need:
- Unbaked pizza crust, thin crust, your favorite recipe.  A tip for getting a thinner, less bread-like crust: Make dough, then freeze it. Defrost in the fridge for 24 hours before you need it. This allows the yeast to rise and fall a little so you get a thinner crust. I use whole wheat crust.
- Goat cheese and neufchatel cheese
- dried figs or dates
- toasted walnuts
- kosher salt
- brown sugar

Before popping it back in the oven...

Roll out (or toss, your choice, my tossed pizzas are never round, though!) the crust on a pizza stone. Bake at 425 for 8 minutes. Remove and spread with a thin layer of neufchatel and goat cheese. Top with toasted nuts and dried fruit. Sprinkle with a little kosher salt and a little brown sugar. Put in the oven under the broiler and let the sugar JUST start to melt and caramelize. Remove and allow to cool for a minute or two before cutting into tiny slices (it's rich!).

These slices are far too large. Piggy me.

Serve with espresso, dessert wine, or port.

Foody Friday: bulk cooking

I cook a lot of beans. It comes from growing up poor, I think (I like to say dramatic stuff like that). Plus I like beans, what can I say? I have simple tastes. We have them once or twice a week, or until my husband complains.

This is basically what I do: Throw beans in the crock pot and cook them like this. Come home from work and start rice - make a double pot and save half for later in the week. Prep sausage and veggies and flavoring; add some to beans and freeze the rest in small batches.

I use turkey sausage to decrease grease

Here's what I made last night: I chopped 2 pounds of hot smoked turkey sausage, 4 celery stalks with leaves, 2 green peppers, an onion, and 4 clove of garlic. I stirred it up and microwaved it for ten minutes, then added seasoning: bay leaf, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, Tabasco, and some Tony's. I stirred it and microwaved it for another 6 minutes. I divided it up into 5 batches, so I can get 4 more meals out of this. Yet I only had to do the work once. The next time I make beans, I just defrost the sausage mix in the refrigerator and add it to the beans as soon as I come home. This gives the flavors time to blend.
I always make sausage, rice, beans, biscuits, bread dough, pizza dough, and roasted vegetables in bulk. Are there any foods you always cook in bulk?

Foody Friday: easy artichokes

Last night I stayed up late waiting for the hubby to come home from a Hornets game (his friend took him) and decided to make a little midnight snack for when he returned. I steamed some artichokes and had artichokes with dipping sauce ready for him when he got home, paired with a Grenache (perhaps a sweeter wine would have been a better choice, to balance the lemon in the sauce).
Steaming artichokes:
Wash the artichokes and cut the stems off (leave about an inch). You can snip off the tips of each leaf but it's not required. Put in pot of cold water with several cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed (to smash, put un-peeled garlic on cutting board and lay the flat of a wide knife blade over it. Slam your fist onto it. The peel will easily fall away and the garlic will be sufficiently smashed), a large slice of lemon, a teaspoon of salt, and two bay leaves. Bring to a boil, covered; let cook until outer leaves begin to separate and fall of the chokes (anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes). Drain. Serve warm or cold.

Cooked artichoke: the outer leaves are starting to fall off.

Sauce options are myriad, but an easy one consists of equal parts lemon juice and water with a bit of melted butter or olive oil plus salt, pepper, and garlic. I like to pick out the boiled garlic and mash it in a bowl, then add lemon, water, and butter before heating in the microwave.

Foody Friday: Easy home canning

Down here at the tip of the USA we grow a lot of citrus, and even in a bad crop year the winter prices are phenomenal. I decided to save some of the delicious, dirt-cheap grapefruit by making marmalade. I based this recipe off a combination of my favorite orange marmalade and several other recipes, and I must say it is not only quite good but the easiest canning recipe ever. So if you have never made preserves before, this is an excellent way to learn.
This is a dark, rich marmalade, a little on the bitter side. If you like sweeter preserves, reduce the amount of lemon juice by half and add an additional 1/4 C brown sugar

Dark grapefruit marmalade
Ingredients:
4 grapefruit. I used pink but I imagine ruby red would be incredibly delicious! Do not prick or break skins.

3 C white sugar
2 C packed dark brown sugar
1/4 C lemon juice


Equipment needed:
Six half pint jars. You can buy them here. Run them through the dishwasher before you use them.

Large pot to make the preserves - I used a pasta pot.
Large pot to process the preserves - it has to be big enough to cover the jars with water. I used my big dutch oven. If your pot is smaller just process small batches (1 or 2 jars) at a time.
Candy thermometer is completely optional

Spoon, ladle, sharp knife; immersion ("stick") blender optional.


1. Wash the grapefruit and put them in the pot, peel on. Cover with water, bring to a boil, and boil for an hour and 15 minutes. You may have to add more boiling water as the water level goes down. Every so often you can turn the fruit with a spoon. PS - while you are boiling the grapefruit your house will smell amazing.

2. Drain the water out and let the grapefruit cool. I left mine in the pot overnight because I ran out of time to finish the project.
3. Chop the grapefruit up. It's best to do this in the pot so you don't lose any juices; an easy way to do this is with a short bladed knife or with an immersion blender after slicing the fruit. Just chop it up until the peel pieces are as small as you'd like them. Pick out seeds as you encounter them.
4. Add the sugar and lemon to the pot; stir as you bring the jelly to a boil. Boil for about 15 minutes or until it starts to jell. You can tell: it gets thick, darker, and the consistency of jelly. If you dip the spoon in, the liquid will cool into jelly on the spoon. If you have a candy thermometer, boil until temp reaches 220; I tried this but I got sick of the thermometer being in the way and got rid of it. You don't need it.

Seconds after this picture was taken I dropped the thermometer into the pot...then the sink. Not worth the trouble.

5. Ladle preserves into clean pint jars, filling almost completely up (if you have extra marmalade put it in your fridge; if the marmalade doesn't totally fill the jar you can't get a seal and the preserves will go bad in a few months. I got about another 1/2 jar which I stuck in my fridge and am eating on toast!).If you drip on the outside of the jar, it's no biggie - it will get clean in the hot water bath.

6. Screw lids on and prepare hot water bath by placing a towel in the bottom of a pot and putting the jars on it. Fill with water. Note to new canners: You may hear a "pop" as the jars seal at this point. You still have to process them in hot water to get a true seal.

What's for dinner, dear? Oh, a couple of jars.

7. Put pot on the stove, bring to a boil, and boil jars for ten minutes. You will hear each lid pop as it seals. When you are done each lid should be tightly sealed and flat.

There. You're done. Delicious marmalade for almost no work at all!

Foody Firday: Aged Habenero Cheddar

I never would have dreamed I could buy cheese this good at my grocery store. It beats out Cork and the St James Cheese Company any day (those are two cheese stores near me).

I bought this habenero cheddar by Cabbot and I am addicted! It has an amazing aged, smoky cheddar taste and real, spicy habenero. This isn't some wimpy pepper jack kind of pepper. It has a kick to it.

It is divine:

- On salad
- In eggs
- On a slightly sweet cracker, like Ritz
- In a quesadilla
- Paired with a fruity red wine like Malbec or a sweet white like riesling.
- Served as part of a dessert cheese plate with berries and grapes and dark chocolate. And port or sherry of course.

Go buy some. You will swoon.

Foody Friday: Savory Pies

I love making savory pies for an easy entree when entertaining. They're easy to make, so the pies simply bake while you chat with your guests or obsessively fold your napkins into fancy shapes. This Christmas I made four pies for a Christmas party, but these warm comfort foods would also be a perfect last minute dinner for New Year's Eve!
For my pies, I used pre-prepared refrigerated pie crusts. It's not my first choice, but I compromised since I had to make so many pies. I always keep some prepared crusts in my fridge or a ball of pie crust dough in the freezer that I can thaw when needed. It's a good idea when baking pies to cover the rims with foil or a pie shield so they don't get too dark - especially as well-stuffed savory pies take awhile to bake.
 I decided to share just two pie recipes here because my other two pies from our Christmas party, spinach-tofu and pork-apple pot pie, are so recipe-less that I just can't trust my memory to recreate the same dish. This is what comes of never using recipes! But the two pies features here are not only extremely easy but were a big hit.

1. Portobello- bacon pie
This pie takes almost no effort at all and makes a lovely light lunch or dinner. Mushrooms are excellent foils for alcohol, as they soak up the flavor like little sponges. You can prepare the filling ahead to develop flavors more fully; to prevent the mushrooms from overcooking, make sure they are barely wilting when you remove the pan from the heat. Put in the refrigerator as soon as possible.

1 shallot, chopped
1 package bacon, chopped
3 boxes portobellos or any mushroom, cleaned and coarsely sliced.
1 shot sweet sherry
1/3 C brandy
salt and pepper
rosemary
1 Tbs whole wheat flour
Brown the bacon and shallot in a large heavy saucepan; when nearly brown drain fat completely and continue to cook so bacon starts to stick. Deglaze pan by quickly adding alcohol and stirring vigorously, scraping all the stuck bits off the bottom. Turn heat down; stir in mushrooms and season to taste; when mushrooms start to shrink (only a minute or so) turn off heat and stir in flour. Place in a pie crust; top; seal edges and cut vents in the top. Bake at 375 until crust is nicely brown.
When done, allow to sit for a few minutes before cutting. 

Because all the pie got eaten before I got a photo, I had to steal a similar picture from here.

2. Savory Pumpkin Pie
I made this up as I went along, but it turned into an outstanding dish. The pie had a wonderful flavor, and the crispy-browned sausage contrasted nicely with the creamy pumpkin. I'll definitely be repeating this one - especially since I only got a sliver as my piggy brothers wolfed the rest down right under my nose! 

1 lb bulk sausage (or sausage removed from its casing) - I use Rouse's store-made green onion sausage, buit this would also be good with hot Italian sausage.
2 eggs
15 ounce can of packed pumpkin
12 ounce can of evaporated milk
1 tsp salt (use less if your sausage is salty)
1/4 tsp black pepper (adjust based on how spicy your sausage is)
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp sage
Brown sausage, chopping up as you cook to make sure the pieces are small. When well-browned, drain completely.
Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl beat eggs and add remaining ingredients. Stir well to combine and pour into prepared crust. Sprinkle sausage evenly over the top (it will sink slightly but should stay near the top). Bake at 350 for 45 - 50 minutes. When cooked, you can touch the center and it will be firm. Note that the color of this pie will be lighter than sweet pumpkin pie although it is fully cooked.

Foody Friday: Have your own heart attack

In honor of the dude having a heart attack in my parking lot, I decided to give all of you the option to have your own heart attack (in my parking lot please, I don't do house calls) with some butter-rich jam thumbprint cookies.
This is the easiest and best recipe for thumbprints. For super-christmas-ness, you can use cherry and green apple jam (I used blueberry and peach Allfruit). You can also fill the thumbprints with Nutella if you prefer to die sooner.

Jam Thumbprints
Cut 1 cup butter (2 sticks) with 2/3 a cup sugar using a pastry cutter. When crumbly, add 2 cups of flour and 1 teeaspoon of almond extract (you may use vanilla or orange instead) and mix with a wooden spoon until homogeneous.
Form 1" balls and place on a greased cookie sheet, leaving room for cookies to spread. Make thumbprints by pushing thumb in dough from one direction, then turning the sheet and pressing from the other direction as well (to make an even well in the middle). Fill with jam of your choice. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Don't eat until cooled and set.
If you want to entertain yourself while the cookies bake, you can consider the appalling ratio of butter to flour in this recipe. Kind of makes you sick, doesn't it?

Foody Friday: What foods do you miss?

Yesterday I got a very heavy box in the mail from an old friend. I opened it (which judging by its appearance, so did the post office) and found it full of my favorite things:

A big bag of apples and a McIntosh scented candle!
You see, I adore McIntosh apples but since apples don't grow anywhere near Louisiana, we only get them for a few months each autumn. When they're available, I eat three or four a day. I'm eating one now actually.Of all the things, it turns out that I miss McIntoshes more than anything else (except maybe fall leaves) since I moved from New England. I must have mentioned that to my friend because she found me the perfect Christmas gift!
Are there foods that you "miss"? Either because you moved...they aren't made anymore...or your adult sensibilities won't allow you to eat large quantities of concentrated sugar? There was a beloved New Orleans bakery called McKennzie's that was famed for its "blackout cake" before it went out of business. David obsesses about blackout cake at least once a week and nearly every birthday his family attempts (and fails) to recreate it!

Foody Friday: Pumpkin Cookies

Make these super easy cookies to bring to a Halloween party this weekend! They're slightly healthier than most cookies..if you ignore the honkin' whole cup of white sugar in there.

Ingredients:
1&1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil or sour cream for a lower-fat version
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour - I always use a blend of whole wheat and white; about 1.5 cups wheat with 0.5 cups white
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Whisk egg, pumpkin, sugar, vanilla and oil together. Add dry ingredients; mix. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes at 350 F. Because of the moist, cake-like texture, these pretty much never go bad. I made them over a week ago and they still taste fine to me!

Foody Friday: You have ten minutes

During my recent visit to my grandparents my grandpa, who turns 80 today, informed me that he is now the designated family chef. After 79 years he discovered a talent for creating quick, healthy meals that have pleased my aunt and grandma to death (grandma is relieved to finally be off cooking duty, but my aunt still makes Sunday dinner). "I don't let it stress me out," he told me. "I spend ten to thirty minutes max." He shared his recipe for pilaf, but with all due respect, grandpa, my pilaf is pretty special, too.
I like the idea of ten minute meals, though. Sometimes when I work until 6, then go for a run when I get home, I don't want to wait an hour for dinner. I usually have it on the table in 30 minutes, but if I only have ten here are a few stand-bys:

1. Thai Curry: As long as you have rice ready that you can microwave, this is a ten-minute meal. When I make rice, I make a huge pot and eat leftovers all week.
- Minced garlic
- 1 chicken breast or a few pork chops. Or omit for a vegetarian dish
- 1 bag frozen green beans, whole, or stirfry - allowed to defrost in the fridge all day OR 1 lb fresh green beans, rinse (I don't trim them).
- 2 TBS Thai red or green curry in a jar
- Juice of 1/2 a lime
- 1/2 a bunch of scallions
- 1 can light coconut milk
- salt and sugar to taste
Throw garlic in a pan and start heating while you roughly chop chicken or pork. Add to pan; stir. When half-cooked add curry and stir-fry or green beans. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes. Meanwhile, chop scallions. Add scallions, lime, and coconut milk and heat thoroughly. The vegetables should remain slightly crisp. Add salt and /or sugar if needed. Serve in a bowl with a scoop of heated rice.

2. Ham and cheese baked potatoes
- Baking potatoes
- good quality ham
- provolone or gruyere cheese
- Fresh spinach
- Thyme, sage, pepper
Scrub potatoes, prick, and begin to cook in the microwave (6 to 10 minutes depending on size of potato). Meanwhile, roughly dice ham and heat in a cast iron skillet with some water. The best way to cook ham is to allow it to get completely dry and start sticking to the pan, then add small amounts of water to deglaze the pan. I repeat this several times. Turn off pan. Throw in several handfuls of fresh spinach and allow to wilt. Season. You can stir the cheese in here, but I usually layer it separately on the potatoes to prevent messy cheesy dishes. Slit and fluff potatoes and top.

3. Fish tacos / bean burritos
- white fish fillets or canned or leftover pintos (I despise canned).
- tortillas
- lettuce, tomato, scallions, cheese, sour cream or yogurt, salsa
- If it's fish tacos I add cilantro, a squirt of lime, and avocado
This is simple. Throw fish in a pan to cook - or re-heat beans - as you chop veggies. Heat tortillas; roll; enjoy.
To roll tortillas so they don't fall apart, fold two ends in about 1", then fold over one side to cover the filling. Roll tightly. Traditional burritos leave one end open instead of tucking both ends.

4. Pizza - this requires some planning. Like rice,when I make pizza dough, I make a lot. It is very easy to make pizza dough from scratch, and I make mine 75 - 100% whole wheat. I also add some chopped herbs to the dough. YUM. After kneading a big batch, I'll make my pizza, but the rest of the dough I divide into pizza-sized portions and freeze in ziploc bags (don't vacuum seal: you will need extra room so the dough can rise later).
The night before you want pizza, just throw a bag of dough into the refrigerator. When you get home for dinner, stretch and shape the dough, then top as usual. I usually put cornmeal under the crust.
- Tomato sauce
- Minced garlic
- Mozzeralla, feta, parmesan
- Thinly, thinly, thinly sliced peppers, tomatoes, onions, olives, mushrooms, spinach, whatever.
Top dough with garlic and tomato sauce. If you are using fresh tomatoes, add them here. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning before you add cheese and toppings. Bake at 450 F for ten minutes. Tip: If surface of pizza looks wet, it's from the veggies- blot with a towel and cook for another minute or two. Let pizza sit for a few minutes before slicing.


5. The obvious. If I find myself staring into a nearly empty refrigerator, I usually saute whatever vegetables I have on hand, add some leftover beans for protein, season well, and top with feta cheese. I particularly like to add a little red wine vinegar during cooking; it adds a little tang and some sweetness as it caramelizes.

Now. I would love if you would share any of your fast dinners with me! I'd love to change my menu up! If you have ten minutes, what do you make for dinner?