Tastes Great, Less Filling Bread Pudding

Ok, ok, I know I said I had had enough of this and was done. But it's like having been drinking all night, knowing you've reached your limit, but ordering one at last call. So here it is: 

A friend of mine many months ago professed her love of bread pudding to me and asked if I would make it. I said I would, but didn't and not just because I had never eaten bread pudding let alone made it, but merely because I found nothing funny about it. Fast forward to present day, me free from the bonds of blogging and standing in a bakery with said friend, who once again craved her fave. This time, I soberly declared my intention to make it, Googled a recipe (Williams-Sonoma), saw that list of ingredients was quite simple (baguette, eggs, milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg) and we set ourselves to baking. The only issue was our baguette was fresh, and it turns out using day old bread works better as it absorbs more of the liquid - so we ended up using more bread and increasing the baking time. In order to achieve a custard-like consistency. Otherwise, it was the best tasting bread pudding I'd ever had. And, it reminded me of kugel (exact same flavor profile) except the bread gave it a lighter feeling versus the very fine kugel noodles (see Aunt Martha's Old Fashioned Kugel). At the end of the day, the lessons learned were as follows:  when three people tell you you are drunk, go lie down and when someone  asks you to make bread pudding, just do it.

Miller Beer's iconic "Tastes Great, Less Filing" ad campaign launched in 1974, made a beer loving calorie laden nation stand up (literally) and take notice. I'm sure none of of mad ad men could of in their wildest dreams imagined thousands of drunk stadium goers getting on their feet and daring the next section over to counter the "tastes great" declarative chant, with a no less robust "less filling" reply. The only real problem is the actual product does not taste great, and while it may be less filling, I personally like to feel sated. Lite Beer, it invented you.

The Recipe:

12 slices day-old baguette, cut into 3/4-inch   cubes

4 eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar (like your 6-pack abs after drinking Lite Beer)

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of salt

4 cups milk

1/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins ( I used Golden Raisins as that's what I had)

Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Lightly butter an 8-inch square baking dish. Spread the bread cubes in it.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until well blended. Pour in the milk and whisk until combined. Pour the mixture over the bread cubes. Let stand, pressing down on the bread occasionally, until it is evenly soaked, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat an oven to 350°F.

Scatter the cranberries (or raisins or even cranraisins) evenly over the surface of the soaked bread and press to submerge the fruit. Set the baking dish in a large, shallow roasting pan. Add very hot tap water to the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the baking dish.

Bake the pudding until a knife inserted near the center comes out almost clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Generously dust the top of each slice with confectioners' sugar. Serves 8.

Galloping Gourmet Lasagne Bolanese

"Refined and gorgeous, this elegant lasagne is simply the best we've ever had. The pasta is whisper thin; the ragu is rich and understated; and a silky layer of besciamella (Italian for "white sauce") melds the two for an ethereal eating experience." 

Truer words have never been spoken, about food at least. My seminal moment as a home cook occurred with the April 2006 issue of Gourmet Magazine . Pictured on the cover, a simple white plate and a piece of heaven: Lasagne Bolanese. The accompanying article, by Mario Batali, chronicled his recent trip to Italy and the discovery of the world's most perfect lasagne. A far cry from what Americans call lasagna, the cheesy, tomato sauce laden dish we are all too familiar with. Captivated, but definitely intimidated, I set my sights on some day making it. First. I had to learn to make pasta. The key to this whole dish is the paper thin pasta sheets, and they cannot be bought, you must make them yourself.  That was accomplished via a cooking class I found being taught by an Italian woman who was temporarily living in Detroit while her husband was on assignment with one of the auto companies. Then, I stared lovingly at the cover photo for two more years until I finally got the pasta attachment for my mixer for Christmas and more importantly, the gumption to give it a whirl. Hugely labor intense, I usually split the process into two days, ragu and besciamella  the first day, and the pasta making and cooking the second. I have done it all in one, but it's so exhausting that it's hard to really savor the fruits of my labor, and what's the point if that? Also, the pasta dough makes enough for two lasagnes, so I freeze the extra to make another time. One thing about making the dough, it is greatly impacted by the level of humidity, so I rarely do it in the summer. You have to be ready to add a little water sometimes or extra flour. It takes practice to get the feel for it, but once you do, you'll never go back to the dried box crap. Like I said, it's a lot of work, but the satisfaction in every bite makes it worthwhile. That's what makes me a foodie.

Before Julia Child (and certainly before the Julia child) for me there was Graham Kerr and his one man drinking/cooking show The Galloping Gourmet. 1969-71 on the CBC (because living in Detroit we had a fourth channel from Canada), London born Kerr romped through his TV kitchen in Ottawa, joking, imbibing and cooking with large amounts of clarified butter along the way in front of a live studio audience. It was irreverent, conversational and engaging and probably way ahead of its time. Why as a child this so enthralled me, I do not know, but I loved every minute of it. Maybe that's what makes me a foodie...

The Recipe:

INGREDIENTS: Recipe courtesy of Mario Batali for Gourmet, April 2006
For the Ragu Bolognese:
5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 pound ground veal
1 pound ground pork (I use a 2 pound beef/veal/pork grind that my Sam the Butcher makes for meatloaf)
1/4 pound sliced pancetta, cut into quarters1/4 cup tomato paste
1 cup whole milk
1 cup dry white wine
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

For the Pasta Dough:

1tsp salt
4 extra-large eggs

3 1/2 to 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus 1/2 cup for dusting the work surface
1/2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

For the Besciamella:
5 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 

For Assembling Lasagne:
2 tblsp salt
2 tblsp olive oil
9 tblsp finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Special Equipment: a pastry or bench scraper; a pasta machine; a 13 by 9 inch lasagne pan at least 2 inches deep

DIRECTIONS

Make the Ragu: In a 6 to 8-quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, and garlic and cook over medium heat until the vegetables are soft but not browned, about 10 to 15 minutes. While vegetables cook, pulse the pancetta in food processor until finely chopped. Increase the heat to high and add the veal, pork, and pancetta, stirring to break up lumps until browned, 10-15 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, milk, and wine and gently simmer uncovered over low heat, stirring occasionally, until almost all of the liquid has evaporated but ragu is still moist, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Stir in salt and pepper and remove from the heat.

Make Pasta Dough while Ragu cooks: Stir together eggs and 1/2 tsp oil in a small bowl. Mound 3 1/2 cups of the flour in the center of a large wooden cutting board. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the egg mixture and the olive oil. Using a fork, beat eggs mixture,  incorporating the flour a little at a time starting with the inner rim of the well, keeping wall intact by supporting outside with the other hand. When you have a thick paste that you can't beat anymore, and about half of the flour is incorporated, start kneading dough with both hands, using palms (not fingers) and kneading in some of remaining flour (from board), Once you have a cohesive mass (you will have 1/2 to 1 cup flour unincorporated), remove dough from board and scrape board clean with scraper, discarding any leftover bits of dough and flour. Lightly dust board with clean flour and continue kneading until dough is elastic, about 8 minutes. (Dough will be firm). If you have a good mixer, like a Kitchen-Aid, you can make the the dough in there and skip the above, but that's not nearly as fun. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temp 30 to 45 minutes.

Make the Besciamella while the pasta stands: In a medium saucepan, heat butter until melted.Whisk in flour until smooth, then cook, whisking frequently, until pale golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat milk in separate 1 to 1 1/2 qt pan until just about to boil. Add milk 1 cup at a time to butter mixture, whisking constantly until very smooth. Bring sauce to a boil, whisking, then cook, whisking, 30 seconds. Remove from heat and whisk in  salt and nutmeg. Cover with a buttered round of wax paper buttered side down) and cool to room temp, stirring occasionally.

Roll out Pasta while Besciamella Cools: Cut pasta dough into 8 equal pieces. Cover 7 pieces with plastic wrap and pat out remaining piece of dough into a flat rectangle. Lightly dust with flour. Set rollers of pasta machine at widest setting. Feed rectangle, a short end first, through rollers. Fold rectangle in half crosswise and feed it, folded end first, through rollers 7 or 8 more times, folding half crosswise each time, feeding folded end in first, and dusting with flour to prevent sticking. Turn dial to next narrower setting and feed dough through rollers without folding, a short end first. Continue rolling once at each narrower setting, until narrowest setting is reached. Lay pasta sheet on a lightly floured surface to dry until slightly leathery but still flexible, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, roll out remaining pieces of dough in the same manner. Trim ends and cut pasta sheets crosswise into 5 inch lengths, then cover with a barely damp dampened kitchen towel. 

For assembly: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Bring about 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Have ready a bowl of ice and cold water next to the stovetop and add oil to ice bath. Drop 6 pieces of pasta into the boiling water and cook until tender, about 1 minute. Transfer with slotted spoon to ice bath to chill, then transfer to clean kitchen towels, laying pasta flat, and pat dry. Keep water at a boil. 

Spread 1 cup ragu over the bottom of lasagne pan (ragu will barely cover bottom) and sprinkle with 1 1/2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano, then cover with cooked pasta (pieces can overlap slightly). Spread 1/2 cup besciamella over pasta (layer will be thin). Cook, chill. and dry remaining pasta, 6 pieces at a time, and layer with remaining ingredients in same sequence as above 4 more times (ragu, then cheese, pasta, and besciamella; final layer of besciamella will be 1 cup). Sprinkle top of lasagne with remaining 3 tablespoons cheese.

Bake lasagne, uncovered, until top is pale golden in spots and sauces are bubbling, about 45 minutes, until the edges are browned and the sauces are bubbling. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serves 8 generously.

Cooks Notes: Ragu and besciamella can be made 2 days ahead and cooled completely, then chilled, covered. Warm ragu over low heat until just stirrable before using. Any leftover dry uncooked pasta can be lightly dusted with flour and frozen in a sealed plastic bag. Do not thaw before cooking.

Blogger Note: Anyone who has read this far is truly a devoted fan. Thank you. This will be the last regular post of In My Kitsch-en, as I feel it has run it's course. 

Speak and Spell Potato Salad

You say potato, I say potahto. We know that Dan Quayle can't spell potato(e). Should we call the whole thing off? I say not. Tasked with bringing summer salad to a BBQ recently, it occurred to me that I had never made anything so esoteric or ubiquitous as potato salad. I find it interesting that cooked potatoes and mayonnaise are so quintessentially American, yet French fries and mayo (a Belgian mainstay) is just not done. Anyway, I went straight to the book of knowledge (aka Gourmet Cookbook) and found the right answer. The recipe spoke to me and they're seemed to be no learning curve: boiled potatoes, hard boiled eggs, mayo, celery and onion. Now the Julia child balked at the notion of eggs - even though she likes egg salad.  Luckily, hers is not the only voice heard, and cooler taste buds (the question Mark and I) prevailed. I did tweak it a bit, reducing the mayo to 3/4 c instead of 1 and added a heaping tablespoon of Dijon mustard to give it a little kick of flavor. Oh, and I omitted the celery because the child h-a-t-e-esses it with a passion. The taste  you ask - it's spelled D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S.

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than the technology used to put a man on the moon, Speak and Spell by Texas Instruments, was a marvel when introduced at the Consumers Electronics Show in 1978. Before there were PCs, PDAs, cell and ultimately smart phones (and certainly spell check) there were really powerful calculators, digital watches and speech synthesis modules. Speak and Spell was the first educational toy to use speech, and not recorded sounds (the cow says moo) and launched the digital age of learning to spell. Originally programmed to help kids learn 200 of the most commonly misspelled (not mispelled) words, a digitized "voice" would pronounce the word and say each letter as it was input on the keyboard. Correct responses earned verbal and visual praise; wrong  answers received patient encouragement to try again, unlike traditional teacher/student or parent/child interaction. Speak and Spell was your friend (but not in a creepy way like Teddy Ruxpin). And, quite possibly, you could use it to communicate with Extra Terrestrials a la E.T. Of course, kids being kids, just spelling out the pre-programmed words wasn't enough. Making the module say alternative phrases was much more fun, and U-R-A-P-P  if you don't think that's humorous.

The Recipe:

2 pounds boiling potatoes (like Yukon Gold)
3 tblsp cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise (now, I spelled it out differently: 3/4 cup mayo and 1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard)
fresh ground pepper, to taste

Combine potatoes with well-salted cold water to cover by 2 inches in a 3 qt pot. and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered until potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes. Drain and cool slightly. Meanwhile, whisk together vinegar and salt in a large bowl until salt is dissolved. When potatoes are just cool enough to handle. peel and cut into 1 inch pieces. adding to vinegar mixture as they are cut, tossing gently with a rubber spatula to coat. Cool to room temperature.Add eggs, mayo, mustard and salt and pepper to potatoes and stir gently to combine. Serves 6 chilled.

Soup

In the summertime, it turns out I like my soup served like my revenge: cold. This delightful cold cucumber crab soup comes courtesy of my friend Susanne. The taste is almost identical to Greek tzaziki sauce (but that's understandable with the plain yogurt/garlic/cucumber base). The crab adds just the right texture and gives it a little more substance. Now, I should explain that this was served at a book club lunch. And this is no ordinary group. It's a book club that consists of art museum docents (of which I am one) yet, I am neither a reader nor an art lover.  And we only read books related to art. Confused? You won't be...for what I do savor is good food and robust intellectual discourse, both of which are equally and adequately satiated at each meeting.  We are like sisters from a lot of different misters and share a bond thicker than water, stranger than fiction.

I don't think they had parental guidance is suggested in the 70s. Oh, wait, no Soap (ABC, 1977-81) was the first TV show in history to be preempted by a "viewer discretion" warning. And it aired at 930pm. I was 12 years old and watched every episode. Confused? You won't be if you are a regular reader of this blog (or know my mother). The story of a modern family which consisted of two sisters and their dysfunctional blended broods delved into marriage, infidelity, murder, homosexuality (in fact, Billy Crystal played the first openly gay character on TV), mental illness, demonic possession, well the list goes on and on. Purportedly a comedic spoof on daytime drama, Soap repeatedly purposefully jumped the shark all with tongue firmly in cheek. Each episode ended with the cliffhanger questions:  "Will this blog survive?" "Will anyone make this delicious soup recipe?" "Will anyone care if I quit?"  These questions - and many others - will be answered in the next episode of In My Kitsch-en.

The Recipe:

4 cucumbers (about 2 1/4 lb. total), peeled, seeded, and chopped 

2 cups plain yogurt

3/4 cup sour cream 

1/2 cup chopped green onions (white and pale green parts only) 

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper

6 ounces shelled cooked crab

In a blender or food processor, in batches if necessary, whirl cucumbers, yogurt, sour cream, green onions, dill, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and mustard until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and chill until cold, at least 2 hours and up to 6 hours.

Ladle chilled soup evenly into bowls. Top each serving with about 1/4 cup crab. 

My Cherry Chicken Salad Days Are Over

I am very lucky to live in a region where my two favorite seasons collide. Of course I am referring to Michigan cherry season and Christmas in July (see Do Ahead Holiday Casserole). We take a yearly pilgrimage to the Northern Lake Michigan shore to eat our weight in sweet cherries - abundantly available from local grower's roadside stands. But my real guilty pleasure is cherry chicken salad sandwiches. My first stop is always Riverside Deli in picturesque Glen Arbor (indeed, Good Morning America voted it "Most Beautiful Place in America" so you know it has to be good). At this little carry out place on the bank if the Crystal River, you wouldn't expect to find such a carefully crafted (and wrapped - they tie it up with a pretty ribbon) sandwich. Homemade seven grain bread, sliced thick, to house what can only be described as heaven. They distinguish themselves by using fresh cherries, along with pecans, celery (which is usually the bane of my existence but here provides the perfect crunch), fresh greens, and chicken, of course. A close runner up, and usually my second vacation day lunch is the cherry chicken salad wrap at The Cove in Leland, a few miles to the north. The twist here - besides it being a wrap - is that they use dried cherries. Still sweet and savory with cherry/mayo one-two punch, it adds a slightly different dimension to the texture. A fleeting season, it comes but once a year, gone before you know it.

"That's when I knew my salad days were over" is one of my all-time favorite movie movie lines from the Cohen brothers tour de force Raising Arizona.Turns out the phrase has it's origins in Shakespeare, but it was a crazed Nicholas Cage that introduced it to me.The 1987 screwball comedy about a "reformed" ex-con, his infertile police woman wife (who thought havin a critter was the next logical step), quintuplets, and escaped criminals who emerge from the primordial ooze to wreak havoc. Hi and Ed, unable to conceive and unfit to adopt, decide to kidnap a baby that is one of a set of quints, reasoning that those parents 'have more than they can handle'. Ed, directing Hi to "get me one of them babies" sets off a string of events that includes diaper theft, bank robbery, high speed chases, pursuit by a Harley riding bounty hunter, bizarre dream sequences, and a seemingly happy ending once the ill-gotten infant is returned to his birth parents. My salad days, when I was green in judgement, and cold in blood....

The Recipe:

4 cups cooked, cubed chicken

1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1 rib celery, finely diced
2 medium shallots, minced
3/4 cup dried or fresh sweet Michigan Cherries
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
1/3 cup fat free Greek yogurt
3 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Some really good bread, sliced thick

Combine all ingredients and adjust any seasonings as needed. You can eat it immediately, but I like to let the flavors develop a little while before eating. So I suggest letting it sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes or so before eating! Makes 4 sandwiches.

Aunt Martha's Old Fashioned Kugel

Everybody gets by with a little help from their friends, and I am no exception. Regular readers know that I rely heavily on a few trusty sidekicks to give me a hand (and often a kick in the pants) when I need a great recipe. Today's installment comes from a familiar source - Julie (see My Big Fat Greek Spinach Pie, among others). And the subject is kugel - a traditional Jewish noodle dish. I first had kugel too many years ago in New York crafted expertly by my brother-law's mother, Marcella Klein. Despite not being particularly known for her culinary acumen, the woman made a mean kugel. Fast forward to modern times, and to Julie's Aunt Martha's kugel that has now become a 4th of July brunch tradition in our little neck if the Woods. A sweet, creamy noodle dish that satisfies both as an entree and dessert - what more could you ask for? One note: when Julie sent me the ingredient list it just said "8oz fine noodles". Not sure, I asked her what she meant because that is not how I would've described the noodles she used. After a bit if back and forth (her saying, you know Passover noodles, and me saying no, I don't know) she finally sent me a picture of noodle bag (see below). Turns out, you don't have to be Jewish to make a delicious kugel, but it couldn't hurt.

I Love Lucy, The Million Dollar Idea.Season 3, Episode 12, originally aired January 11, 1954. Yes, the candy factory and grapes in Italy and William Holden's footprints are all iconic episodes. But this one will equally have you laughing so hard you'll cry.  Lucy once again finds herself in financial hot water with Ricky, when he informs her that she's overdrawn on her allowance until June 12, 1978. Leave it to Lucy to conger up a get rich quick scheme selling her Aunt Martha's salad dressing (for 40 cents a quart, no less). They use the morning talk show of Lucy's frenemy Caroline Appleby to go on TV to hawk the product, Lucy posing as average housewife Isabella Klump and Ethel is the Ron Popiel of her day as the home economist extolling the virtues of such a delicious addition to any woman's dinner table. The orders pour in, and of course our dynamic duo can't fill them all, begin to lose money, and are forced to go back on TV to "unsell" the dressing as liquid swill.  As always, Lucy had a lot of splaining to do. Enjoy the classic clip:

The Recipe:

1lb. cottage cheese (can use 2%)

1C sour cream (can use light)

3oz. cream cheese (can use 1/3 less fat)

1C sugar

5 eggs

1tsp vanilla

8 oz. fine noodles, cooked & drained

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted

3/4C ground Corn Flake crumbs (to fine consistency)

Special Equipment:

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a small bowl, take 2 tablespoons of melted butter and mix with Corn Flake crumbs.

In large bowl, mix cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, eggs, and vanilla and remaining buttah. Stir in noodles and pour into greased 9 X 13 pan.

Sprinkle Corn Flake & butter mixture over the top and bake for 50 minutes, uncovered.
Julie's Notes (and Julie Knows Best):

Can make ahead: reheat at 250° for 30 minutes. Can make it ahead and freeze: bake at 350° for 40 minutes – cool – freeze – thaw – bake again for 10 minutes at 350°. 

This dish is great cold the next day too! :Makes 12 Serving

The Deep Fried Ravioli

Even though it is fried and true, this famous appetizer from St Louis is well known as "toasted" ravioli. But it's fried, trust me. I first had them many moons ago on a business trip to St. Louis and more specifically, a to an Italian neighborhood there known as "The Hill". Intrigued, and urged on by all of the natives, I was game. And every restaurant has it on the menu - it is as ubiquitous as Busch Beer. But, I guess once you have a hit, it's easier to go with what works than risk something new. The recipes I found all used whole milk or buttermilk as the liquid, along with the requisite egg and breadcrumbs. Being the rebel that I am, I used what I had on hand, 2% milk - ignoring the potential need for a higher fat content, I mean isn't frying instead of toasting fatty enough?!  Again, being the deviant that I am, in place of the traditional marinara sauce for dipping, I used some delicious leftover pomodoro sauce (see Big Night Pomodoro Sauce) from the previous night's dinner.I have to say, they came out great.  The only thing I would do differently, if I were to to repeat my success, is to use a larger ravioli. I only had small round ones leftover in the freezer and you didn't quite get enough of the ricotta flavor with each bite. One last thing, these are definitely a make at home treat for anyone outside the Greater St Louis area, as here in Detroit, toasted ravioli is an unknown delicacy - although I've heard tales (suburban myths likely) that one of the chain "Italian" restaurants has them on their menu. I'm the wrong person to ask of such things, as those who know me know I only patronize small local establishments, of which there are many. I was so lucky to be born in my favorite city.

On the heels of Jaws summer blockbuster success, moviegoers were ready to go back into the water with another Peter Benchley tome, The Deep. 1977's underwater thriller starring Nick Notle, Jacqueline Bisset, Louis Gossett Jr and Robert Shaw (this time his fate is to be fried, not eaten). The plot thickens as Notle and Bisset innocently uncover a cache of morphine and Spanish treasure from a shipwreck while scuba diving off the coast of Bermuda. Let's stop here for a moment so I can tell you that 12year old me was so enthralled with the gorgeous Bermuda backdrop of this fine film that it became my life's ambition to travel there. 25 year old me made it, so did 30 year old me and 45 year old me. Dare to dream people, dare to dream. Now back to our story....enter Haitian drug lords who use black magic on our young heroes in order to unearth the morphine, a double-crossing treasure hunter, and the lone survivor of said shipwreck with questionable motives. All willing to kill for a prize worth, you guessed it, one million dollars. Talk about jumping the shark....

The Recipe:

• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 large egg 
• 2 tablespoons milk 
• 2/3 cup bread crumbs
• 24 refrigerated cheese ravioli or frozen, thawed
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 cups  marinara sauce
• 
  

Special Equipment: Heavy bottomed pot, candy thermometer, wax paper (which really isn't special)

1. Pour enough vegetable oil into a large, deep pot so that it reaches a depth of 2 inches. Heat oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 325°F.
2. While vegetable oil is heating, whisk together egg and milk in a shallow bowl. Place bread crumbs in a separate shallow bowl. Working in batches, dip ravioli into egg mixture, allowing excess to drip back into bowl, then coat with bread crumbs. Place coated ravioli on wax paper. 
3. Line a plate with paper towels. Fry ravioli in batches, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes total. Be careful not to crowd ravioli in pan, and make sure oil comes back to 325°F before adding another batch of ravioli. Transfer fried ravioli to lined plate to drain. Sprinkle fried ravioli with grated Parmesan. Warm marinara sauce. Serve fried ravioli with warmed marinara on the side.

Sunday Night Mystery Meat

My question Mark asked me recently why I can't make crispy chicken on the grill like I do in the oven (see A Few of My Favorite Wings). You see, not only is it too hot to have the oven blazing for 50 minutes, it's also a pain to clean up (resulting in running the oven's clean cycle for another 3 hours. I should mention that it was also a Sunday, and his philosophy is that Sunday is a great day for experimenting with new recipes, because ostensibly you have all day to shop, cook and clean up - yay! Anyway, it was a good question although I hadn't a clue to the exact answer, it was a mystery I was sure I could solve as I knew I had motive, means and opportunity. Afterall, it was a matter of investigating the right meat (dark likely so it would dry out), the right oil (I had used the usual suspect in the past - vegetable thinking it must be able to hold up under the scrutiny of high heat) and time and temp (the perfect accomplices). All it took was a bit of leg work. Chicken legs, rubbed with olive oil and salt, on a very hot grill, for 30 minutes. The photo is all the proof you need.

NBCs Sunday Night Mystery series was the trifecta of crime drama from 1971-77.

A wheel or umbrella series (that's fancy TV talk), episodes rotated between three of the finest investigative crime drama entertainment ever aired. Of course I am referring to McMillan and Wife, Columbo and McCloud. As a kid, I fell in love with the hunky San Francisco Police Commissioner and his young kooky bride and their acerbic maid, the rumpled raincoat cigar chewing LAPD homicide detective, and the fish out of water cowboy lawman fighting crime in New York City. The diagnosis was almost always murder and the guilty party was brought to justice in a just an hour and a half without the use of forensics or DNA.  There's just one more thing, don't do the crime if you can't do the time.  Don't do it.

The Recipe:

4 pounds chicken legs or drumsticks (which could be used as a murder weapon)

4 tsp. kosher salt

2 tsp. ground black pepper

6 tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp. lemon juice

Vegetable oil or spray for the grill

Mix the salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon in a large bowl. Dip the chicken legs in your olive oil mixture and rub the mixture into the chicken, getting under the skin as much as possible. Grease your grill with vegetable oil using a cloth to spread it. Turn the grill to the highest temperature, allowing it at least 10 minutes to preheat. Put the chicken on the hot grill. Cook on high for about five minutes then turn the chicken over and cook for another five minutes.

Turn the grill to low, place the cover on and cook the chicken for another 25 to 30 minutes or until browned and crispy (but not burned beyond recognition) turning once or twice as needed. 

Place on a rack to drain juices before serving to keep crispy. 

No Toum For You

Here's the deal: I like toum. And when I say I like toum, I mean I like like toum.  Toum, you say? Tis garlic sauce, by any other name. And, my favorite condiment when eating Lebanese cuisine, especially shawarma. Not that there's anything wrong with that but here's my dilemma: sometimes I crave garlic sauce at home. And that involves going to my local shawarma restaurant to get a take out of said sauce. And that process can be a bit awkward, merely ordering a $1 of toum to go. And, they don't give you the free bread line when you order your toum at a table. So, I decided to try making it myself.  A quick trip to the internet turned up numerous recipes - the big difference seemed to be a controversy regarding the use of eggs - some were are for it, while others find the addition abhorrent. I chose an eggless recipe, as I had not eggs in the house. Otherwise, it seemed a straightforward oil, garlic, lemon juice process. What followed was a recipe for disaster - and most definitely not food processor worthy. The whole runny mess (instead of tasty fluffy sauce) left a bad taste in my mouth (literally). Don't ever trust a recipe from the internet. Who do these people think they are? 

The ideal result

 Mine

Seinfeld, a little show about nothing that featured a co-dependent group of losers that bumbled through life (and New York) on NBC from 1989-98. Yadda yadda, yadda...maybe you've heard of it? Well then no soup for you!

The Recipe: Don't try this at home. Swallow your pride and get take out

¼ cup lemon juice

2 cups Sunflower or any other neutral oil Do not use olive oil

½ cup peeled whole garlic cloves

½ teaspoon salt

Put salt and garlic cloves in food processor and pulse. Scrape the sides until all the garlic is the same in size.

Turn on the food processor once again and do not stop it until done. In a very thin stream, add ¼ cup oil very gradually. Please do add it very slowly, don’t rush it or the sauce will split. Once you have added ¼ cup oil, add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice also very slowly, drop by drop. Add another thin stream of ¼ cup oil then 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Keep doing this until you have used up your lemon and oil. The process will take 10 minutes. Be patient. If your sauce has split by the end of it and isn’t a fluffy dip, you can try to add 2 teaspoons of cold water or add 1 ice cube and whack on the processor again for a few minutes. If that hasn’t worked, abort mission or *gulp* add a raw egg white and process for another 3 minutes.

Apples Way Pasta Salad

Summertime is definitely pasta salad time (if you don't believe me, ask my blog: see In The Summertime Pasta Salad). Anyway, as I was saying, not only do we love it, but I'm always looking for that next great recipe. This one came to me via Ann (see I'm on a Mexican Toma-to). She made it and brought it over and it was an instant hit: rotini pasta, Parmesan cheese, ginger sesame dressing, Granny Smith apples (which are really the key to the whole thing as they not only a tart sweetness but also a necessary crunch) and cubed ham. Yeah, the ham seemed to be the wild card with me too. So when I recreated it (and you'll see below the recipe leaves room for interpretation, I omitted the meat. And used a slightly different dressing. And only had fussili on hand. Nonetheless, it was well received, yet I found something else was needed - something to add both color and flavor to this tried and true formula. I'm thinking salami and maybe a different cheese, a soft cubed variety instead of grated. Most definitely a work in progress - you know, the same only completely different.

Apple's Way, the 1974 short-lived show from Earl Hamner Jr. Yes, that's right, on the heels of his hit show The Walton's - a wholesome multi-generational family running a saw mill in Virginia, he decided to mix it up a bit with a wholesome multi-generational family from L.A. who decide to take it down a notch by relocating back to the patriarch's hometown (Appleton, WI) and run a grist mill. Ronny Cox (instead of Ralph Waite), hunky Vince Van Patten (instead of Richard Thomas) and a very young pre-Family Kristy McNichol (instead of six random other children). Needless to say, although imitation is the highest form of flattery, and even with guest stars such as Farrah Fawcett pre-Majors, the show didn't hold up and lost it's crisp after only one season.

Enjoy the cheesy opening credits:

The Recipe: (according to Ann)

Half a box of rotini (cooked)
Handful of grated Parmesan
2 green onions (presumably chopped, but she doesn't say)
half a cup of diced ham
2 small peeled and diced apples
1/4 cup ("tops") of Marzettis Simply Dressed Ginger Sesame salad dressing (I used Trader Joe's Sesame Soy Ginger Vinagrette)

Toss and enjoy.

Cast Iron Side Pizza

Just when you think you have run out of ideas/recipes and are ready to quit blogging altogether somebody gives you a iron clad reason to continue. More specifically, a cast iron skillet. What to do with this cooking relic? Could it still be useful in today's hard anodized society? Deciding to just roll with it, first things first, I had to rid it of its rust (steel wool) and season it (vegetable oil). Then I set out to find a recipe - with one catch: it had to be something for which I had all the ingredients on hand. I mean some days you just want to make do with what you have. I came across a lot of meat based dishes, but became intrigued when I hit upon pizza - especially since I had dough, sauce (pasta sauce, I never use pizza sauce), mozzarella cheese and some smoky ham at the ready. The hard part was transferring the prepared dough into the heated pan without losing too many toppings. Otherwise, it was pretty good, a little like a deep dish pizza appetizer and better than anything made at home in a conventional oven. I guess I'm going to sit back, relax, stop worrying and learn to love the blog.

Cut down by a sniper's bullet and condemned to life in a wheelchair, all the while fighting crime by the seat of his pants, retired San Francisco PD Chief, Robert Ironside (Raymond Burr of Perry Mason fame). lives up to his name. The series, Ironside, aired on NBC from 1967-75 featured a not-so mod  squad band of crime fighters. Burr, along side a straight-laced cop, a pretty blond socialite turned police woman and a reformed ex-con as his wheel man do their best to clean up the streets of San Francisco in a customized Econline van all set to groovy theme music by Quincy Jones. Proving that you can't keep a good man down, Ironside always cracked the case (with a guest star roster that included the likes of Harrison Ford, Robert Reed, Bill Bixby, Jack Lord, Norman Fell, Jodie Foster, Ricardo Montalbán,Gavin MacLeod, Burgess Meredith,Bruce Lee, and Ellen Corby) and rolled along for eight seasons as quite possibly the first major TV character with a disability.

The Recipe:

16 ounce pizza dough
cheese (mozzarella, fontina, gouda, whatever you have)
veg or meat toppings (or both)
sauce

Special Equipment: well-seasoned 10 in cast iron skillet

Pre-heat broiler on high. Heat the skillet on high for ten minutes. Meanwhile, on a well-floured surface, stretch out the dough, add sauce, cheese and toppings. When pan is hot (turn heat down a bit if pan begins to smoke) slide pizza in, being very careful as the handle will be HOT! Cook for one minute, then transfer pan to oven and broil 30 seconds. Turn 180 degrees and broil another 30 seconds. Remove from oven and transfer to a cutting board. I think you can do the rest.

Pecan Pie

So I have this friend who has a sister who makes pie. And not just any pie, but simply some of the best pies I've ever eaten (in fact that's the name of the company, find them at simplypiesllc.com). Apparently, the secret is in their grandmother's crust - and the quality of the crust can make or break the pie. These pies are imported, as well (at least from suburban Chicago to Detroit), that too might add to their cache. Anyway, having been happy to partake of the pumpkin at Thanksgiving,  I recently served up some pecan at a family gathering. Sweet, but not overpowering in sugar, and perfectly crunchy/nutty as it was chock full of huge pecans. Among the expected list of ingredients (pecans, corn syrup, etc) was a bit of a surprise: maple syrup. Served warm ala mode with a scoop of vanilla ice cream - desert so good it even got my family to shut their pie holes. It's a sign.

I know, I know, you'll have what she's having....In 1989's When Harry Met Sally, the question is not 'can a man and a woman be just friends?' but how many different ways can you pronounce Pe-can Piiee? Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal took romantic comedy (with the help of the brilliant Nora Ephron) and funny accents to a whole new level. In addition, we learned about the all important but doomed from the start "transition" relationship, and the definition of high maintenance. But most of all, that when there is too much pepper in the paprikash, we are happy to partake of the pecan pie (but with the ice cream on the side, and strawberry instead of pecans).

The Recipe: 
(Not simplypiesllc recipe, since that is double top secret. This one is courtesy of the Pioneer Woman.)

1 whole Unbaked Pie Crust (I Use "Sylvia's Perfect Pie Crust" Recipe
1 cup White Sugar
3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Corn Syrup
3/4 teaspoons Vanilla
1/3 cup Melted Butter (salted)
3 whole Eggs, Beaten
1 cup (heaping) Chopped Pecans

Preparation Instructions

First, whip up your pie crust using "Sylvia's Perfect Pie Crust" found on Tasty Kitchen.

Next, mix sugar, brown sugar, salt, corn syrup, butter, eggs, and vanilla together in a bowl.

Pour chopped pecans in the bottom of the unbaked pie shell.

Pour syrup mixture over the top. Cover top and crust lightly/gently with foil. Bake pie at 350º for 30 minutes. Remove foil, then continue baking for 20 minutes, being careful not to burn the crust or pecans.

NOTE: PIE SHOULD NOT BE OVERLY JIGGLY WHEN YOU REMOVE IT FROM THE OVEN. If it shakes a lot, cover with foil and bake for an additional 20 minute or until set. Required baking time seems to vary widely with this recipe. Sometimes it takes 50 minutes; sometimes it takes 75!

Allow to cool for several hours or overnight. Serve in thin slivers.

Dole Whip It Good

600,000 Disneyland visitors can be wrong. That's how many Dole sponsored pineapple whipped confections they sell every year in the Enchanted Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room (you know, where all the birds sing and the flowers croon). So delightful are these that folks have developed at home recipes, this one comes from the blog Chocolate Covered Katie. Of course everything is easier with an ice cream maker (especially when making ice cream) but even without one you too can have frozen refreshing whipped dessert when not in Anaheim. Traditionally, it is made with pineapple only - I dare say it might be tasty with with banana, or perhaps even strawberry...but that's no good to the Dole Whipped purists.

Freedom of Choice, Devo's transformative1980 album, chock full of good advice. For instance when a problem comes along, you must whip it. When a good time goes wrong, you must whip it. And, cooking lessons like what to do before the cream sits out too long (you must whip it). Essentially, the life lesson here is that is not too late to whip it (providing that you whip good). And finally, perhaps most importantly, that it's ok to wear a flower pot as a hat with your haz-mat suit. Mark Mothersbaugh (who went on to Rugrats fame - go figure) and fellow Ohionans de-evoled into the premiere American punk/new wave/techno band of the late 70s and early 80s, asking and answering such profound societal questions as: "Are we not men? We are Devo." Eventually, they could get no satisfaction, stepped on a crack, broke their mamas back, could not move forward or shape it up, turns out it was too late to whip it...

The Recipe:

2 cups frozen pineapple

1/4 cup milk of choice (Try canned coconut milk for piña colada soft serve - if you like pina coladas and getting caight in the rain)

1/16 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar 

scant 1 tbsp lemon juice

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Scoop out with an ice cream scoop, or squeeze through a pastry bag, or a plastic bag with an edge cut off. (If your blender is not super-powerful like a Vita-Mix, you may need to add a little more liquid and then freeze a bit before serving, or churn in an ice cream maker.) For soft-serve that holds its shape longer, freeze the swirled dole whip at least 20 minutes prior to serving. Makes enough whip it for two.

Sloppy Joe Namath's

This was originally published on August 24,2011 in my first blog Cooking With Alice, where I spent 121 "cooking" my way through Alices Brady Bunch Cookbook. The "recipes" in general are repulsive, and clearly untested. But they make for a great story, and if you Google "baked beans in a flashlight" I'm number two. Enjoy reading, use extreme caution if you are foolish enough to try this at home.

Sloppy Joes, not a normal menu item for our house. When I first met Mark he would make a scary version involving ground turkey and some type of condensed soup (possibly vegetable, but I've tried to block it out). So, needless to say, they've been tabu ever since. And, anything that includes ketchup as an ingredient makes me wary, but it's not tuna, so I am doing it. I briefly toyed with the idea of making my own ketchup, but that just makes me a freak, right? So, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, brown sugar and ground beef round out the recipe. As usual, the ingredients and the directions do not match up, keeping me on my twinkle toes.

Season 5, Episode 2: "Mail Order Hero".  Okay, so we really do  need to start to worry about Bobby. Why wasn't Mike enough of a male role model that he had to seek out the likes of Jesse James, Minnesota Fats, and now he will lie, cheat and practically steal to meet Joe Namath?  I mean, if they aren't careful he's going to grow up to be a race car driver. Just sayin. Anyway, Bobby's insecurities show when he brags to his friends that he knows Joe Namath personally. When they tell him to put up or shut he feels the squeeze. Cindy, thinking she's doing him a solid, writes Namath a letter saying her brother is dying to meet him, literally. When Broadway Joe shows up at the Brady's thinking he is meeting a terminally ill fan, Bobby plays along with Cindy's ruse and weakly feigns illness, until Mike and Carol get wind of the ploy. Insert fatherly lecture #47 here about honesty, integrity, blah, blah, blah we've heard it all before and apparently no one in that house is listening.  Namath, sensing he's been had, makes an end run for the exit and quicker than you can say 'I've got a run in my pantyhose,' he's outta there.

Use extreme caution as this may cause permanent damage or death to your taste buds.

The Recipe:

1/4 cup butter
1 large white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 3/4 tblsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp firmly packed brown sugar
1 3/4 tsp dry mustard
1 1/4 c ketchup
2 c lean ground beef, cooked (I love this - ground beef in "cups" not pounds or ounces, leave it to Alice)
8 hamburger buns
soft butter (because, you can never have enough!}

In a skillet melt the 1/4 cup of butter and saute the onion and garlic until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the Worcestershire, brown sugar, mustard, salt (which you may notice is not mentioned in the list of ingredients}, and ketchup. Reduce the heat and simmer slowly for 10 minutes. Add the meat (which you were already supposed to cook according to the above), and simmer until hot. Spread the inside of the buns with soft butter. Spoon some of the beef evenly onto each bun. Alice's Note: This is most requested when friends are brought home for lunch. Makes 8 sandwiches.

Larry Tater Tots

Inspired by a recent viewing of Napoleon Dynamite, I had a hankering for some tots. Never a big fan, I can easily recount when and where I have had them in my lifetime: my high school cafeteria (where the only two edible items were the chocolate chip cookies and tater tots) and then a few years ago I enjoyed them immensely at a place called Psycho Suzies - an old A&W turned tiki bar in Minneapolis. That's it. However, not content to satisfy my craving with the nationally advertised brand of frozen tots, I decided to see if I had skills enough to make them from scratch. You might be surprised to find, as I was, that there are quite a few DIY tot recipes out there. I chose one as seen on TV from Food Network that seemed simple enough - shredded potatoes, egg, flour, salt combined, formed and deep fried. The only glitch was my mixture was wet and sticky (instead of "dry and workable") and this made for a difficult time when trying to achieve tot shape. Also, I cooked the first batch a little too long -  when it rains it pours. Three minutes, not four to five as the recipe stated seemed to be just right. In the end, they were tasty and served with a side of Heinz ketchup, the anticipation worth the wait. When it doesn't say Ore Ida, it's still all righta.

There may have been two Dick's on Bewitched (York and Sargent), but there was only one Larry Tate. Played by David White, Larry was one half of the advertising agency McMann and Tate, although I don't ever recall there being a McMann, and type A boss of Darrin Stephens. TVs original Mad Men, Darrin and Larry were always trying to land a new account by dropping in unannounced with clients when Samantha was up to her twitchy shenanigans. But Larry never caught on no matter what spell was used on him - he took a licking and kept on ticking.  Only nosy neighbor Gladys Cravitz wondered "does she, or doesn't she?" One thing was for sure, what happens at the Stephens, stays at the Stephens.


The Recipe:

Canola oil, for frying
4 russet potatoes, peeled
1 1/2 tablespoons salt, plus more for seasoning
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1 egg, beaten 
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I needed way more and still had trouble. But, no pain, no gain)
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)

In a deep-fryer or heavy-bottomed pot, heat enough canola oil to come halfway up the sides of the pot, to 375 degrees F.Finely shred potatoes on a fine box grater. Season the potatoes with 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Put the potatoes into a kitchen towel and squeeze out the excess liquid. Put the potatoes into a medium-sized bowl along with the egg and mix well. Add the flour and stir to combine. Stir in the cayenne, smoked paprika garlic powder, salt and pepper, to taste. The mixture should be workable but dry. Form the potatoes into balls or tots and fry, in batches, until golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from fryer and drain on a paper towel lined tray. Immediately season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve. They're grrreat!

Buddy's Family Antipasto

If you are a true Detroiter, there are a few basic truths about you (at least where food is concerned): Vernors, Sanders, Better Made chips, and Buddy's pizza.  Now, I know Chicago is famous for their deep dish, but Detroit holds it's own at Buddy's. An institution at the corner of Six mile and Conant and family owned and operated since 1936. Their secret is the toppings go under the cheese - so no charring of the meats. But they are almost equally as famous for their antipasto salad (feeds a family of 6 easily) as they are for the pizza. Lettuce, salami, ham, cheese all tossed with the secret vinaigrette dressing. The first trick here is the brick, cheese that is. A soft, white that's higher in fat than other domestic (i.e., Wisconsin) white cheeses.  Although, I must admit, when I make it at home for my family, I often use shredded mozzarella, as that's generally what I have on hand. There is one element for which there is no substitute and that's the dressing - the Buddy's dressing that makes a Buddy's salad a Buddy's salad. Almost equal parts soybean oil and red wine vinegar, with "spices" and sugar added, it has a distinct flavor, you know, like Vernors only different. Luckily, Buddy's now bottles and sells their dressing locally, so your family, and more importantly mine, never has to be without.

Family, ABC's 1976-82 (3 years too many if you ask me) drama featuring an average middle class Lawrence family. At the heart of it all was Buddy, aka Letitia, aka Peaches, aka Kristy McNichol. The show created what we now term "very special episodes" featuring Pubescent angst (McNichol), infidelity, divorce and single parenthood (sister Nancy, played by Meredith Baxter Birney not Birney), wayward school dropout brother Willie, breast cancer, alcoholism and the struggles of an educated housewife and mother who put her family ahead of her own wants and needs. Melodrama at its finest, the best plot lines involved Buddy, usually faced with some decision, like whether or not to have sex with Lief Garrett - to which she always just said no, (until teaming up with bad news girl Tatum O'Neil at summer camp in Little Foxes, that is). But, like all shows, it began to wane and suffering from C.O.S. (Cousin Oliver Syndrome, an almost always fatal affliction that leads to series cancellation), a new cute kid (Quinn Cummings) was added into the mix, solidifying the break up of the Family.

The Recipe:

2 hearts of Romaine, chopped or torn apart by family dysfunction
2 thick to medium slices of a good, low fat salami, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 slices of good ham (that's redundant because all ham is good ham except Quinn Cummings), cut into bite-sized pieces
4 oz Brick or mozzarella cheese, shredded or cubed
Buddy's dressing to taste

Toss. In a bowl. Even a child could do it.

Fowl Play

Sometimes such a simple idea (and tried and true formula), with really basic yet quality elements can be a smash hit. This time, I was ready to take the chance again with comfort food. Thinking (day dreaming, really) about the noodles and gravy in Frankenmuth, Michigan at the all-you-can gorge family-style chicken dinners of my youth and childhood served as my muse. There though, they ruin them with a topping of cracker crumbs - why, I have no idea, I guess some people just like it better that way. A basic roux, turned to a luscious thick gravy, my version puts the chicken in (I hate to chicken out), since I intend this as a main event and not just a little something on the side. And store bought egg noodles, which are labeled dumplings (they need too be extra wide to handle the gravy) even though they are not, fit this bill of fare just fine. Creamy, savory, warm and inviting. The perfect combination of yum.

Foul Play, 1978 hit romantic comedy starring Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn, Dudley Moore, and of course the late great unsung hero of cinema Billy Barty. The plot is unoriginal, yet somehow manages to be both amusing and satisfying. With Hawn, as a subdued librarian who knew too much, and Chase as a serious San Francisco cop (post-SNL, pre-Fletch), who set out to solve a murder mystery involving a pack of cigarettes, an albino, a dwarf (Barty, duh) and the Catholic Church. Funny dialogue, perfect casting, romance, intrigue and lovely scenery round out this romp. A familiar formula, done right.You get what you get when you go for it....

The Recipe:

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces

4 cups chicken broth

12 oz Egg noodles, broad or dumpling style

3 tbsp butter

1/2 cup flour, plus more for dredging (up the past)
1 tbsp olive oil

Salt to taste

Heat oil in a 10-inch skillet. Dredge chicken pieces in flour, shaking off excess, and saute until cooked through. Remove from heat. Bring to boil 5 qts of water in a large pot. Meanwhile, in yet another pan, melt butter until it stops bubbling and whisk in the flour. Whisk for one one minute, then slowly add the broth, still whisking, until smooth. Bring to a boil, and stir until thickened. Add the chicken to your now gravy. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain, put in a casserole dish and add gravy chicken combination. Stir and serve 4.

SLAW & ORDER: SSU

SSU, otherwise known as Special Syndication Unit. Originally posted May 14,2013 and living in in re-runs for perpetuity...

"In the blogosphere, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the eaters who investigate food and the cooks who prosecute the recipes. These are their stories."

By any other name Asian Broccoli Slaw would still taste as sweet. This is literally my go-to party pot luck and everyday side dish. I originally got the recipe from my sister Judy (yes, Judy; not one of the usual suspects, I know) , but she used regular shredded cabbage cole slaw mix. And I did too for years, until by good fortune and happenstance, Trader Joe's starting carrying shredded broccoli slaw mix. Ah Ha! An idea was born, and as it turns out, this is the only way the Julia child will consume broccoli - so a two-fer. The variation on the them is that sometimes, depending on the occasion and availability in my fridge, I will add marinated grilled chicken as well. I actually feel as if I'm phoning it in if I do, and damned when I don't make and take this with me - everyone is so happy to see and so disappointed (as if I have committed a crime) if I bring something else. I guess some people don't mind the same show, I mean recipe, over and over and over again.

LAW & ORDER, the longest running drama in American television history - 20 years on the air (only The Simpsons and Gunsmoke come close, and that is odd but good company). Who knew that NBC's answer to ABC's NYPD Blue would become such a TV phenom? Cleverly scripting each "ripped from the headlines" plot to first show the crime and the arrest by the police (that's the law) and then shifting to the district attorneys who prosecute the offenses (that's the order) for the trial and sentencing. So popular, the series spawned many spin-offs: LAW & ORDER: SVU, LAW & ORDER: Criminal Intent, LAW & ORDER: The College Years. And who can forget the dramatic sound effects, tying the whole show together? (Play the video)

The Recipe:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (optional)
1/2 cup soy ginger marinade (only if you are opting the chicken)
14 - 16 oz pkg broccoli slaw mix (Trader's Joe's brand preferred)
1/2 cup slivered almonds
Ramen Noodle, Oriental Flavor (who says "oriental" anymore anyway? Sooo politically incorrect)
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
3 tblsp white vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil

If going for the chicken, marinate in soy ginger for 45 minutes. Grill chicken and allow to cool before chopping. In a small bowl, combine dressing ingredients (sugar, vinegar, oil, pepper and flavor packet from Ramen Noodles) until well mixed. In a large bowl, mix chicken, broccoli, almonds, and crumbled Ramen Noodles. Add dressing and toss (not throw out, mix well).