Joanie Loves Chi-Chi Beans

A by-product of a great girl's/high school rebel reunion weekend is good food. Last year we made beignets (see Beignet There, Done That), this year we decided to do an all app (appetizer, that is) dinner. Regular readers know that our bevy included freshly hunted and picked morels (see Mary Tyler Morels). Next up is a chickpea feta salad, courtesy of my friend Ann via her friend Donna. I met Donna once at a New Year's Eve Party, but because it was a very good party I don't really remember her. That said, her salad is divine. I do love chickpeas, aka chi-chi beans. aka garbanzo beans - whatever you want to call them. I will eat them in salads, I will eat them in soup. I will eat them mashed as hummus. I will eat them on a roof. Eat them, eat them, I will. Add some olive oil, feta cheese (which makes anything better), parsley and garlic and you have a recipe simple in ingredients, complex and satisfying to taste. This would make a perfect go-to salad for any pot luck (you should be so lucky) or summer BBQ. Try it, try it you will.

Joanie Loves Chachi, the most unfortunate spin off of Happy Days (post shark jump, literally and figuratively). In fact, TV Guide named it one of TVs 25 Biggest Blunders ( also on the list, Cousin Oliver, just sayin). Anyway, the premise for the 1982 disaster was Joanie and Chachi move from Milwaukee to Chicago to make it in the music business. Apparently, they didn't go far enough. As a punishment, ABC cancelled the show and made Erin Moran and Scott Baio (BTW, this Joanie really did love Fonzie's nephew) go back for the final season of Happy Days. Lucky for us, Scott Baio bounced back to go on to Charles in Charge. Poor Erin Moran wasn't so lucky, I'm not even sure she ever made it to Battle of the Network Stars. Play this clip and you'll never wonder why they were a flop...

The Recipe:

Serves 6-8 as a side dish

• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 tbs olive oil
• Pinch red chili flakes
• 2 400g (14oz) tins of chickpeas
• 4 spring onions (scallions), green part only, chopped
• 1 cup chopped parsley
• Juice of one lemon
• 150g (5 ounces) feta
• Salt and pepper

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook the red onion till lightly golden. Add garlic and chili and cook till the garlic is fragrant. Set aside to cool so it doesn’t melt the feta when you mix it in.

Drain the chickpeas, rinse and place in the salad bowl. Add crumbled feta, spring onion, parsley and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper. Add the cooled onion and garlic mixture and remaining oil and mix well (like at a party where you don't know anyone). Serves 6 to 8 as a side.

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If You Build It, They Will Come

So an amazing event took place in Detroit last week - a grocery store opened in the city. A Whole Foods in Mid-town, to be exact. In no other place on the planet would such an opening be so anticipated (the hype has been rampant for over a year), ballyhooed and celebrated (with marching bands, no less). Lines formed blocks long, TV news crews covered it like a presidential visit, and it was, by all accounts,  truly a circus. Why so much fuss? It's the only grocery store, with fresh meat, organic produce, a cafe and a salad bar in the city. Only in Detroit. And did I mention that the people came in droves? I will admit to being a nay sayer about the whole thing since it was announced - I don't particularly care for the chain in question, and in an economically downtrodden urban area, a store better known as "Whole Paycheck" didn't seem the right fit.  I'd rather have seen a Trader Joe's (but my regular readers know about my on-going affair with Joe). And as such, I stayed away on opening day, but curiosity got the best of me and I went the following morning. The store was still packed, although the lines had abated. People seemed genuinely pleased to be grocery shopping. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe this is the start of something. Is this heaven? No, it's still Detroit.

Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner's (when he WAS Kevin Costner) 1989 baseball film par excellence. In a Iowa cornfield, a farmer down on his luck and about to lose everything, listens to a voice in his head telling him to plow his land into a ball field. Much to the chagrin of his wife and financial advisor, he listens and creates a place for dead major leaguers to reunite and play. At first only he can see the eight men out, but over time his family and friends become believers as well. Of course, it is really all about Costner's character and his unresolved feelings for the father that abandoned him, with a little Shoeless Joe Jackson thrown in for good measure. Nevertheless, a classic baseball film that I watch every time there is a rain out and Fox Sports has to show something (okay, we will get to Bull Durham another time, I promise but never The Natural, I still don't get that one). If you build it, he will come.


The Recipe:

Hope
Faith
Trust
(And, a little pixie dust)

Don't stop believing in Detroit Rock City. Serves 700,000

Mary Tyler Morels

Tis the season for morel mushrooms. Now, I had never moreled before (to the extent I thought we might need a pig to sniff them out, but that is truffles and a totally different head, totally). Anyway, cue high school reunion girl's weekend up north (Michigan, for those not in the know). Luckily, we had an expert on our team (she had harvested some fine Wisconsin specimens the weekend before) so we knew to look in the forest, near dead or dying elm or oak trees, either in the sun or in the shade. There is a reason these things sell for $35.00 a pound! If a needle in a haystack, except with swarming mosquitoes comes to mind, then it was like you were there. Oh, and here's a tip: watch for the poison ivy (and not the cool Uma Thurman kind). Yeah, my first bout with the three leaves of death. Again, luck was on our side as our intrepid hostess had a very good remedy skin scrub (albeit, expensive at $35 dollars as well. Coincidence? I think not). At the end of the day we had a very tasty appetizer and everything came out in or as a wash.

Who can turn the world on with her smile?. Mary Tyler Moore, that's who. From 1970-77, arguably the sweet spot for television,  The Mary Tyler Moore Show was the epitome of situation comedy. Plucky (or should I say spunky?) Mary Richards, a 30 something single woman, was determined to make it in the cut throat world of Minneapolis television. Armed with the best cast ever to grace a sound stage, Mary, Murray, Ted, Lou, Rhoda, Phyllis and Sue Ann graced our TV sets every Saturday night for seven glorious years. Through two apartments, many many boyfriends and even a stolen kiss with Mr Grant, Mary flung her beret much to our delight. And, in going out on top of the ratings, set the tone for every successful show that followed to quit before they jumped the shark. Even the memorable final Kleenex huddle sob scene showed that Mary could take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile.With each glance and every little move, it's MTM and you know it.



The Recipe:

Really expensive, hard to find morels; as many as you can stand to find
Butter


Special Equipment: Buji  poison ivy scrub.; Damp wooded area. Keen eye

Rinse and slice each morel lengthwise, removing any lingering slugs (yes, I said slugs). Put in a bowl and cover with a damp paper towel and refrigerate until ready to cook. Heat saute pan. Melt butter and add morels, cook over medium heat for about 6- 8 minutes. Allow them to melt in your mouth. Serves 1, unless your are overly generous.

O Say Can You See Food

So I was intrigued on a recent trip to my local mega thrifty acred grocery store at the over abundance of food (well, sugar laden desserts really) with patriotic themes. Now, I am no stranger to the Red White and Blue flag Jell-O, as I own my own mold and make it nearly every July 4tth. I think my reputation for boiling water and stirring is firmly established. I was, however, surprised to see that we can now make our summertime s'mores with colored star marshmallows. And, if you are not so inclined to boil water or roast on an open flame, you can purchase an eagle made up entirely of cupcakes. The confluence for our love of country and dessert may be why we are the biggest, I mean most powerful nation on earth. God Bless America.

Star Spangled Girl, a 1971 romantic comedy, based on a Neil Simon play, starring none other than America's sweetheart, Sandy Duncan. Set in radical 1960s San Francisco, Duncan plays Amy, a country rube all-American girl Olympic swimming champion, who arrives to train for a big meet and stumbles into the lives of two near do well underground newspaper men, Andy and Norman. Norman immediately falls for Amy, because of her smell and hilarity ensues. However, Amy doesn't love Norman. She loves Andy, because of his scent. He doesn't return her affections until she leaves to go back home and he realizes that her odor has permeated his life and apartment. The opening credits song is "Girl" by Monkee Davy Jones (which was also featured in a Brady Bunch episode to boost publicity for the song and film). Funny, no one ever smelled Oscar for this red, white and blue classic.

The Recipe: ( for flag Jell-O)

1 qt (4 cups) boiling water

2 pkg (4 serving size each) or 1 pkg (8 serving size) berry blue gelatin

2 pkg or 1 pkg any red gelatin

3 cups ice cold water

1 pkg (4 serving size) lemon gelatin

1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip, thawed

Blueberries and tiny marshmallows for garnish, if desired

Special Equipment: Jell-O Flag Mold (may need to travel to LeRoy, NY)

Add 1 1/2 cups boiling water to blue gelatin in a medium bowl; stir at least 2 minutes until gelatin is dissolved. Dissolve red in 1 1/2 cups boiling water in separate bowl. Stir 1 1/2 cups ice cold water into dissolved gelatin in each bowl. Spray 10 cup flag mold with no stick spray (this is very important, as getting the flag to neatly separate from the mold is quite tricky and often spells disaster); place on cookie sheet. Pour red into mold. refrigerate 45 minutes until set but not firm. Meanwhile, refrigerate blue in bowl for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, stir remaining 1 cup boiling water into lemon in bowl at least 2 minutes, until dissolved. Refrigerate 25 minutes or until slightly thickened (consistency of unbeaten egg whites), stirring occasionally. Stir in cool whip with wire whisk. Gently spread over red in mold. Refrigerate 10 minutes or until set but not firm. Gently spoon thickened blue over lemon mixture in mold. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight until firm. Unfurl, I mean unmold and serve.

Cheers to The Daisy Cocktail

I was thinking it was about cocktail time in my kitsch-en. Every year my very special group of friends who I trained with to be a docent at the DIA get together for a little reunion party, usually at the studio of Jerrie Sasson, who amongst many other accomplishments is a fabulous artist.This year was no exception, and Jerrie always asks Mark to be the mixologist. He revels in creating, reinventing, and or renaming a cocktail in honor of the event. This year, it was decided we would feature The Daisy (which for the evening we renamed The Jerrie in honor of our hostess with the most-ess). The Daisy, in one incarnation or another, has been around since the turn of the last, last century. Rum, Bourbon, and Brandy are all daisy varieties. We went with rum. One rule, never to be broken, is that it is always served over ice with a seasonal fruit garnish. I suggest you let the spirit move you, because it's always five o' clock somewhere.

Cheers (filmed in front of a live studio audience) was a sitcom set in Boston (but not filmed in front of a live Boston studio audience). Sam and Diane, will they or won't they? Yes, and then no and then Shelly Long leaves for "greener" pastures. Enter Rebecca, which I frankly never quite figured out (but I'm a bigger Parker Stevenson fan than a Kirstie Alley fan, no pun intended). Coach and then Woody (Dumb and Dumber foreshadowing perhaps?). Carla hates Cliff. Frasier loves Lilith then doesn't and moves to Seattle. NORM! The great cross-town rivalry with Gary's Old Town Tavern. An NBC juggernaut from 1982-1993. Wouldn't it be nice to get away? It is always nice go where people are all the same, you know, where everybody knows your name.


The Recipe:

2 oz light rum (or whatever moves you)
1/2 oz grenadine
1oz lime juice
1/2 tsp sugar (unless using pre-sweetened grenadine & lime, then forget the extra sugar)
ice
fresh fruit garnish


Special equipment: drink swords

Add rum, grenadine, lime juice and ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake and pour into an ice-filled tumbler. Garnish with fresh fruit (on little swords). Umbrellas optional. Makes one Daisy. To make a whole pitcher, repeat six times.

SLAW & ORDER

"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).

It's A Good Thing Apricot Glazed Pork Tenderloin

So here's a good little recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. I was a subscriber from the beginning, in 2003, when, if you prepaid, you got a nifty apron as a gift. Sadly, the Reader's Digest-sized mag has ceased publication, but I still wear the apron with pride.It also had a PBS companion cooking show, that before Rachel Ray, encouraged home cooks that they actually could.  I used to just follow my BFF Anne's simple pork tenderloin recipe, which is marinating the meat in Italian dressing for a few hours and throwing it on the grill. I still like that, and during the summer months it is my go-to meal. But, the rest of the time, six simple ingredients: pork tenderloin, salt and pepper, olive oil, apricot jam and brown mustard do nicely.. The only dilemma is that the broiler always sets off (which is really on) the smoke alarm. You know what they say,  where's there's smoke, there's dinner.

Why is Martha Stewart a dirty word? I personally am pleased to be likened with a domestic goddess icon and wear the comparison as a badge of honor (but only if it was handcrafted by me while baking a cake from scratch). Business mogul, publisher, life style diva who has truly proven her ability to survive whatever is thrown her way, Even selling goods at JCPenney, K Mart and going to jail can't bring her down. What doesn't destroy her only makes her stronger. As a demonstration of her fortitude, when life gave her lemons (or in her case, an unjust prison sentence), she made lemonade (or, in her case, hand knit ponchos for her fellow inmates). That's class, that's style, and that is a good thing.

The Recipe:

2 pork tenderloins (about 12 ounces each), trimmed of fat

1 tablespoon olive oil

coarse salt and ground pepper

1 jar (10 to 12 ounces) apricot jam ( about 1 cup)

1/4 cup spicy brown mustard (I use Trader Joe's Dijon - it has just the right amount of kick)

Remove smoke alarm from wall/ceiling; remove battery. Heat broiler; set rack 4 inches from heat. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Rub pork with oil; season with salt and pepper. Broil 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, whisk together jam and mustard. Cook over medium heat until jam melts, 3 to 4 minutes; remove from heat. Transfer half to a small bowl for brushing. Cover pan to keep remaining sauce warm. Remove pork from broiler; brush with reserved(yet, spicy) sauce. Continue broiling until pork is blackened in spots and registers 150 degrees on an instant-read thermometer; 5 to 10 minutes more. Cover pork loosely with foil; let rest 5 minutes before slicing. Serve drizzled with warm sauce. Serves 4.