Eating from our plenty

OK, I can’t go grocery shopping anymore, because I have no where to put the food. Now, that doesn’t stop my boys (15, 13, 9, and 42;-) from saying, “There's nothing to eat in this house!” (Of course, 42 also says, “You went grocery shopping again?!” every time I walk into the house with food, so I can’t win that one anyway.)

Since I can’t go shopping anymore or fit food in my fridge, freezer, or pantry, we’re going to get creative (and by “we’re” I mean “I’m”). Now, my challenge will be two-fold, to make things exclusively out of what we have in, and to make them palatable enough that the boys aren't complaining. (And when I say I can't go shopping anymore, I’m not being unrealistic; of course I’ll have to replace the essentials, after all, we went through 7 gallons of milk last week when the boys were home from school!)

Day 1: We’re cleaning out the fridge for dinner. Everyone will likely have something different, the only rule will be they must have 1 protein and 1 vegetable, the rest will be a free-for-all. There’s 1/2 serving of Indian chicken, a nice salad, 2 servings of lubee (Lebanese beef stew with green beans over rice pilaf), 2 servings of pulled pork, a couple of grilled Italian sausages (I can already predict the squabble those will cause, maybe I’ll serve them as dessert for anyone who eats their dinner without complaining :-D)

Once I have all that food out of the fridge, I’ll be able to pull other things out of the freezer and start to get creative. Stay tuned.

The little black dress of sides

I look for certain specific things in my side dishes:

1. They need to be easy and hands-off (for the most part).
2. They need to be kid-friendly. I have 4 of my own, I feed nieces, nephews, clients' kids, neighbors' kids, friends' kids and kids' friends. They need to be kid-friendly.
3. They need to be versatile. Dress them up; dress them down. Serve them with with burgers or chicken fingers, serve them with scallops or NY sirloin.
4. Bonus points if they fit foods with different flavors: Mexican, Italian, Indian.

In short, I want a go-to side for every occasion, just like the little black dress. So, I was thrilled when I came across a recipe for Crispy No-Fry Fries in The Sneaky Chef cookbook. I've adapted it in so many ways I can't count. Steak fries, below, is my norm. New potatoes (great at this time of year!) cut into quarters so they're nice roasted potatoes that dressed up our lamb on Easter Sunday (please note, my sister who was hosting Easter doesn't like cornmeal, so we tried some without. Don't. They add the texture that's so important to the finished product.) Sweet potatoes (peel these first), and add a 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin and a touch of curry with the olive oil, egg white, and salt. And as far as flavors go, the possibilities are limitless: Add 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning or 1/2 teaspoon each chili and cumin to the oil, egg white, and salt; or sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese on with the cornmeal. What's your favorite? Work it in!

Bear in mind that the recipes call for you to keep the skin on when you cook these potatoes -- which is great, because that's where all the vitamins are (according to potatoes.com, 1 potato has 45% of the daily value for vitamin C and 620 mg potassium (comparable to bananas, spinach, and broccoli)). However, potatoes, when eaten with the skin on, are one of the "dirty dozen," fruits and vegetables that the US Department of Agriculture has found that, even after scrubbing, consistently contain higher levels of pesticides. So, it's a good idea to buy organic potatoes for this recipe.

Steak fries
serves 4

1 lb russet potatoes (for steak fries), new potatoes (for roasted potatoes), or sweet potatoes, peeled
1 large egg white
1 T olive oil
1 t kosher salt
1 T cornmeal

Preheat oven to 400°. For steak fries, cut each potato into halves, and then into thick slices; for roasted potatoes, cut into quarters.

Whisk together egg white, oil, salt (and any seasonings you might be using). Toss potatoes in a mixing bowl with egg white mixture.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Place potatoes in a single layer on the cookie sheet. Dust with cornmeal (and Parmesan cheese, if using).

Bake 50 minutes, or until golden brown.

Sweet memories

I just grabbed the Boston Globe from the front porch and there is a huge picture of fruit slices on the front page of the Food section. Boy, does that strike a sentimental chord. My Grandma Morrow loved those fruit slices. Truth be told, Grandma loved anything that was sweet: jelly beans were a big favorite, Pepperidge Farm loaf cake was always in her "Frigidaire". I didn't get my love of cooking from her (to be fair, by the time I came along, she had raised 8 children, and I was 14 of 33 grandchildren, she was probably just tired of cooking, and was happy there was someone else to do it), but I do love Grandma's fruit slices, and I can bet I'll be stopping to buy some today.

The gift that keeps giving

I receive the iVillage Stuff We Love e-newsletter, and today they had a really amazing find! Plates With Purpose™ are beautiful, handcrafted, recycled glass plates and platters made by Riverside Design Group. These plates come in various designs of natural beauty: Forget-me-not, heart, ladybug, wheat, stars, and trees. 15% of the proceeds of these plates go to local (Pennsylvania) chapters of various non-profit organizations: Alzheimer’s Association, Habitat for Humanity, United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation, Community Food Bank, and the AIDS Task Force, for example. What a great gift idea! It's not even like giving twice, it's like giving over and over again!

I can just picture this great appetizer on the red ladybug plate. Bring it to a party, leave the plate as a gift, and feel good all over.Marinated goat cheese with peppercorns

8 oz. goat cheese, formed into 4 rounds
1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
3 T multi-colored peppercorns
1 T pink peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1 t thyme, crushed

Combine oil, peppercorns, bay leaf, garlic, and thyme in saucepan and heat over low heat, just until oil "pops", but do not let garlic brown. Let oil cool some, then pour over goat cheese rounds . Let sit at room temperature for several hours, or refrigerate over night.

Before serving, bring to room temperature. Plate on a decorative plate with upturned sides (to keep the oil in place). Serve with crostini.

If there are any leftovers, this goat cheese is perfect on fresh bagels the next morning!

Leftovers by any other name …

During a large family dinner my sister-in-law announced, “My husband doesn’t like leftovers.” To which my mother responded, “Oh, I don’t believe that.” (Mom meant, my brother pretty much eats anything that doesn’t move and we always ate leftovers growing up.)

My brother sat in the middle of the two women looking sheepish. How else can you look when your mother & wife are disagreeing on your dining preferences over your dinner plate? In my mother’s defense, my brother was devouring Turkey Pot Pie, made with the leftover turkey and any and all fixings from the previous day's dinner, clearly leftovers. In my sister-in-law’s defense, we always ate leftovers growing up. My house was really like that joke about no one actually remembering the original meal. And when there was an original meal, it was already dry and overcooked, so you can imagine how much we all looked forward to those leftovers, even my brother who was fairly indiscriminate about his food.

Anyway, we took pity on my brother and hijacked the conversation to discuss how we each deal with leftovers in our own homes — truly a great strategy for getting a quick meal on the table. One of my sisters said her family actually looked forward to “Make Your Own Plate Night.” She puts out whatever’s in the fridge, and — this is the important part — her only rule is you must choose one protein and one vegetable, other than that, you can choose whatever you like. I do the same thing, but I call it “Leftover Night.” When I tested out “Make Your Own Plate Night” tonight, it was met with much better results. Go figure.

The other thing I try to do is make a new meal out of an old meal, thus the turkey pot pie that was being eaten during the conversation in question. It's easy and healthy and my family always eats it with gusto.

Turkey pot pie
Tender turkey with vegetables in a creamy sauce and a flaky crust—ultimate comfort food!

1 puff pastry sheet
6 T butter
6 T flour
½ t pepper
1 14½ oz can chicken broth
½ c milk
1 thyme sprig
salt and pepper to taste
4 c turkey, cooked and diced
2 c carrots*
1 10 oz. package frozen peas and onions*

Preheat oven to 425°.

Melt butter over medium heat. Add flour, stir until combined and cooked into a roux, about 5 minutes. Slowly add chicken broth and milk and continue stirring. (If you’re making it from a leftover turkey dinner, add any leftover gravy at this point too.)

Once all the milk and broth have been incorporated, add thyme sprig. Simmer until sauce has thickened. Place turkey and all veggies into 2-qt casserole dish. Season sauce with salt and pepper. Pour over turkey and veggies. Top with puff pastry. (Can be wrapped in foil and plastic at this point, and frozen to cook at a later date. To cook after freezing, defrost in the refrigerator the day before you plan to eat, and continue with baking.)

Bake at 425° for 30-35 minutes.

Cover with aluminum foil if crust starts to get too brown.

Serve with mashed potatoes and green salad.

*Whenever possible, I use leftover veggies of any kind. That’s what makes it a true pot pie. When prepare it for clients, I have to use fresh or frozen veggies because I have no leftovers.

Variations: Chicken Pot Pie: Use leftover roasted chicken from your own oven, or from your grocer’s rotisserrie.
Crustless Pot Pie: Rather than using puff pastry as a top crust, use mashed sweet potatoes. It’s a yummy, low-carb alternative.
Dairy-free: Omit the milk, and increase the chicken broth by ½ cup.

Getting dinner on the table, Part 1

We always need a quick dinner, but Quickies cannot always be last-minute. It takes some planning to come up with healthy meals, and some variety too. You can only serve a salad with grilled chicken so many days in a row before someone — likely everyone — whines.

In that vein, take advantage of a slow, lazy day to get a jumpstart on some Quickies. Make a big batch of sauce with meatballs and Italian sausages (OK not the epitome of a healthy meal, but it’s got protein and the family will eat it and be happy — to increase the healthy factor, use ground turkey for the meatballs, and Wild Harvest Italian Chicken Sausage which tastes just like the real thing). With some Italian bread in the freezer, we have some options for Quickies: Meatball Subs, Sausage & Pepper Subs (peppers & onions can be sautéed in the time it takes to cut the bread and heat the sausages in the microwave, plus, they’re your veggie! Add olive oil and paprika to the peppers and onions), and extra sauce for a quick pasta dinner is always great to have on hand.

To get dinner on the table, you do have to plan ahead a little, but come Wednesday night, you'll be glad you've got dinner in the freezer.

Day-after deviled eggs

OK, we went to my sister's in Poughkeepsie, NY, for Easter weekend, and I left the Easter eggs (for 10 kids!) in our fridge in Newburyport. Now I have 2½ dozen hard-boiled eggs.

What do I do with all those hard-boiled eggs? Deviled eggs! When I make deviled eggs, I don’t follow a recipe, and they’re probably never exactly the same twice, I just throw in mayo (Miracle Whip, usually), mustard (Dijon, usually), horseradish sauce, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and relish, and whatever else I'm in the mood for (curry, dill, parsley, or cilantro?). But, a couple of years ago, I stumbled across a recipe for deviled eggs on epicurious.com. There were pages and pages of feedback from people who had tried the recipe. Who knew deviled eggs could inspire such prose – and opinions? If you can use a laugh, you might want to check it out – it was hysterical!