In the Kitchen: Heat, Humidity --- and Basil

Sometimes a girl doesn't wanna cook much, ya know? Especially this girl when she's been cranking away on her new book all day and both the temperature and the humidity begin with a nine. (Yes, we have AC --- but still . . . ) (Plus, those menopause hot flashes are waaaaaaay worse in the summer than in the winter.)

So here's what landed on our table tonight. Think of this as heat + humidity + tired +don't want to go to grocery store + it's summer:

Heated a  big pot of water for the pasta. In the frig I found some little "grape" tomatoes and quartered those. Minced a teensy bit of garlic.

Chopped a handful of fresh basil. Put all of it in a small bowl and drizzled just a bit of olive oil over it. Grated some parmesan.

Sliced a chicken breast horizontally; dressed it with some salt and pepper.

Cut up some watermelon and put it in a bowl.

While the pasta boiled (I used bucattini), I heated some olive oil in a pan and seared the chicken breasts. Moved that to our plates after it was cooked.

When the pasta was done, I saved out a bit of the water and then drained the pasta. Put it back in the pot and added the tomatoes, garlic, and basil, as well as a bit of olive oil and salt/pepper. Tossed it gently.

Dished the pasta on to our plates. Put the plates at our places, the watermelon on the table, along with a little bowl of extra parmesan.

Poured some white wine. Ate. Enjoyed. Happy.

In the Kitchen: Edible Muffins (As Opposed to Crap Airport Muffins)

In my kitchen: Muffins. They're easy to make; easy to freeze; easy to eat. These are good for late afternoon snacking and that mid-morning sugar/carb crash.

I think I got the base of this recipe from a runners' magazine (way back when, before my knees and back conked out, I ran. A lot. Now I walk. A lot. And swim. And other things.)

But I lost the original copy of the recipe, and re-created what I could remember from memory, and then added and subtracted as my tongue dictated.

These are not like those icky things you find in airports. (You know: those objects that taste like air and cost like a mortgage). Save your money.

Take a couple of these along next time you travel, and the righteous virtue will ooze from every pore.

The recipe makes about two dozen muffins. I stash 'em in the freezer, and thaw (which doesn't take long) as needed.

• 2 eggs
• 3 mashed bananas (one large or two medium)
• 2/3 canola oil (or corn or vegetable oil)
• 1/2 c. molasses
• 1/2 c. yogurt
• 1-1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour (or regular wheat flour if that’s what you have)
• 1-1/2 c. bran flakes OR wheat germ
• 1 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
• 1 c. or so of chocolate chips (optional) (but let's be honest: without them, what’s the point?)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease the muffin tin.

Mash the bananas, or, if you’re using a mixer, use the beaters to mash them. Add the egg and mix. Add the oil, molasses, and yogurt and mix well.

In another bowl, use a fork or sifter to thoroughly mix the flour, bran (or wheat germ), walnuts, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Use a big spoon to drop the batter into the muffin cups. Bake 18-20 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

In the Kitchen: Peggy's Sweet Potato-Parsnip Soup

And for this edition of  In the Kitchen, and speaking of Tony Comstock (which I just did): A week or so ago he tweeted (canNOT believe I'm using that verb...) that his wife, Peggy, was making soup with sweet potato, parsnip, and chicken.

Sounded good to me! So I emailed her to ask for the recipe. Turns out she's also a "Hmmm... what's in the frig?" cook -- and the "recipe" consisted of cooking what was on hand. I made the soup last night. Deeeeeeeeeelicious.

It's a "thin" soup --- consomme-like --- so I decided to round it out with a bit of broiled baguette: Slice a baguette horizontally, butter it, and put it under the flame for about three minutes. The salt in the butter turns ordinary into exquisite. (Assuming, of course, you started with a good baguette.)

Anyway, herewith my version of Peggy's soup, which essentially follows her lead. As always, quantities are up to you:

• one parsnip, peeled and chunked
• one sweet potato, peeled and chunked
• half an onion, minced
• a couple of cloves of garlic (smash 'em if you want to; otherwise just peel and toss into pot)
• a half pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in bite-size pieces
• a box of frozen spinach, thawed
• 2-3 c. of chicken stock/broth
• big splash of white wine
• salt, pepper

Put everything in a pot. Turn on flame. Cook slowly for an hour or so. Broil that buttered baguette. Pour the wine. Enjoy!

In the Kitchen: Fake Indian Spinach and Chicken

I have no idea where or when I originally found the basis of this recipe. It's evolved over the years and I think it's the result of cobbling together two separate recipes. You could leave out the chicken, or substitute firm tofu, or, as I sometimes do, use both chicken and tofu. (A little protein overdose never hurt anyone.) This is incredibly good as leftovers. Amazing how often I hear its voice in my refrigerator saying "Have a spoonful of me! Just one spoonful!"

• 2 T. vegetable oil
• 2. T. ghee or butter
• 4 peppercorns
• 4 whole cloves
• to taste: cayenne, fennel seeds, whole cardamom, garam masala*
• 2 onions, diced
• generous tablespoon of diced ginger
• 1 T. tomato paste
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 boneless skinless chicken breast, but in half-inch pieces
• 1 box frozen spinach, thawed (obviously use fresh if you prefer)
• 1/4 c. yogurt

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I cook this in my ancient Atlas wok (one of those 20-pound steel monsters with the wooden handle), but you can use any kind of large pan.

Heat oil until very hot. Add the ghee or butter. If you use butter, pay heed. It will start to foam and brown almost instantly. That's the point of using ghee (which I never do): it has a higher "burn" temperature than butter.

Add the spices and stir for about 30 seconds.  Add the onion and ginger. Cook these slowly over medium heat for about 15 minutes until the onion is caramelized. (It will seem like too much onion, and too long a cooking time. Trust me, it's not and it's not. The onions are what give this dish its body.)

Add the garlic and cook a minute or two. Add the tomato paste and stir and cook a few minutes.  Add the chicken and cook five or six minutes.  Add the spinach, and salt and pepper. Toss with a large fork to mix. Cook another three or four minutes.  

Add the yogurt and a bit of water. Cover and cook for 15 or 20 minutes (or whatever). Toward the end, I usually take the lid off and cook several minutes to let some of the liquid evaporate.

* I make my own garam masala. You can find a recipe anywhere. But you can also buy it ready-made.

In the Kitchen: Bacon and Cheese Muffins

I originally found this recipe in the newspaper -- it was an AP piece. I made it once, decided it had possibilities, and then fiddled with the recipe. My version is better (or so I think).

One note: I usually make this as muffins, but one of these days I'm going to try simply baking it in a dish instead. That would eliminate the hassle of washing the muffin tins. I freeze these and then thaw them on the counter or in microwave (about 30 seconds.)

With a piece of fruit, makes a great lunch or breakfast. (They're filling!)

• 3 cups flour (swap a cup of whole wheat for white if you want to)
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• cayenne pepper to taste
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/3 c. buttermilk
• 2 T. canola oil
• 4 T. butter, melted
• 1/3 c. minced scallion
• 4-5 slices bacon
• 1 c. grated cheese; use whatever you want. Maytag Cheddar is especially yummy!
• 1/2 c. diced green pepper

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Oven to 400 degrees. Grease the muffin cups or baking dish.

Fry the bacon until quite crisp (so you can crumble it into bite-size bits)  In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients  In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and oil. If the melted butter is still hot, stir in a couple of spoonfuls of this mixture to temper its heat. (Otherwise the hot butter will curdle the milk.)

Then add the butter to the rest of the wet ingredients.  Stir the scallions, cheese, bacon, and green pepper into the wet ingredients. I recommend using a large fork so you can separate and mix these bits into the liquid.

 Add wet ingredients to dry, using a spatula or wooden spoon to mix until just moistened.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tins (they will be full) or baking dish.  Bake until the tops are browned, 20-25 minutes. Let cool for 10 or 15 minutes. Loosen edges with knife and remove.

In the Kitchen: Pasta With Bok Choy and Mushrooms

This falls into the category of: "I don't feel much like cooking, but have perishables that I need to use or lose and what can I find to go with them?"

The perishables were bok choy and several mushrooms. Rummaged in freezer and found some pancetta. Rummaged further in fridge and found a couple of slices of bacon about to go off.

Proceeded from there.

Pasta with Bok Choy and Mushrooms --

• Head of bok choy, sliced coarse 
• three or four portabellos (definitely not my favorite, but there they were), chopped coarse 
• couple of garlic cloves, minced 
• half dozen or so Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped 
• can of diced tomatoes (opened) 
• a couple of chunks of pancetta, mostly the butt end 
• a couple of slices of bacon

I chopped the pancetta into several largish chunks and put them in a large pan with some olive oil and began rendering the meat. I wanted from the pancetta was the fat and flavor, not what little pork was actually in the pieces. After five or six minutes, I added the pieces of bacon. Let all of it cook. Again, what I wanted was the fat/flavor.

When sufficiently seared and rendered, I removed the meat and to that lovely pork fat, added a bit of olive oil (unlike the truly obnoxious Rachael, I use "non-virgin" olive oil when cooking. Cheaper and more flavorful).

Then I sauteed the mushrooms. I have a small pan (only ten inches in diameter), so I cooked them in two batches. Added the bok choy, tossed it around on high heat for several minutes to flavor and sear the bok.

Put the lid on the pan and cooked all of it for about five minutes (to reduce the bok to a manageable size).

Then I added the tomatoes, olives, and garlic, plus salt and pepper. Put the lid back on and cooked it on low for twenty or so minutes

. Let it sit. Put the pasta water on. While we had a drink, I added the pasta to the water (I used fussilli.) (*1)

Removed the lid from the bok-and-mushrooms and turned up the heat a bit. (I wanted to reduce the sauce.)

While that was happening, I looked at the pancetta and realized there was a bit of meat to be had. So I sliced it very thin. Paper thin. While the pasta cooked, I put the pancetta into the sauce and let it all meld.

When the pasta was ready, I added it and some of the pasta water to the sauce, and tossed and cooked all of it over medium heat.

Poured the wine. And we ate. Problem of perishables-about-to-go-bad solved.

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*1: Do yourself a favor: eat good pasta. That Barilla shit is, well, shit. I buy Rustichella. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Hell, yes!