There’s a song about a girl who thought she was unique. Until
she learned there were 100 other girls just like her.
There’s a song about a girl who thought she was unique. Until she learned there were 100 other girls just like her. Well, there aren’t 100 other Jenny’s Kitchens, but there are a few. There’s Jenny Groom, a famous British cooking teacher who appears sometimes on the BBC. Two Jenny’s Kitchen catering services thrive in England, serving homey meals to groups of two to 2,000. And Jenny’s Country Kitchen is an internet mailing service, specializing in teacher gifts and special drink mixes.
I also ran into Jenny Poon-ng, a young woman in China whose “Jenny’s Kitchen” web site features new and interesting recipes that she makes up for her family. Her address is cute: je***********@he********.com. I never knew you could have a Hello Kitty e-mail address but yes, it’s possible. I’m going to share one of her recipes in a few weeks with you, but we are working on a correct translation, first.
In the meantime, I thought you’d enjoy a few treats from the other Jenny’s Kitchens.
• Jenny from Horton: Jenny Groom lives in Horton, near Devizes, in Wiltshire, UK. In her famous “Come Into The Kitchen” classes, she teaches everyone from children to adults to shed their fright of the kitchen and dig in. She’s even got some good advice about cleaning up. Her philosophy is simple: “Washing-up is the downside of cooking; it’s much more important to concentrate on the preparation because too much emphasis on the tidying-up can put someone off cooking for life!” Sounds like good advice. Here’s Jenny’s recipe for Cannellini with Chorizo. It feeds two to three.
Cannellini with Chorizo
1 lb. chorizo (in one piece)
2 (14 oz.) cans cannellini beans
1 1/2 small onion
1 T. olive oil
6 sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
1 package of ready-to-cook young spinach
Skin the chorizo and chop it up into small pieces. Peel and chop the onion. Snip the sun-dried tomatoes into strips. Open and drain the tins of cannellini beans.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the chopped onion and sweet paprika. Cook until softened but not browned, about 3-4 minutes. Add the chopped chorizo, sun-dried tomatoes and cannellini beans and stir well together for a few minutes until well-heated through.
Put handfuls of the spinach into a bowl, top with the chorizo mixture and toss together (the heat of the pan mixture will soften and almost cook the spinach). Serve with a dollop of good yogurt if you have some and a little extra sweet paprika.
Jenny Groom’s note: This is a perfect store-cupboard meal. If you don’t have any spinach, don’t worry, it’s delicious without and can be served with a salad instead.
• Catering to go: In York, England, Jenny’s Kitchen offers “take-aways,” premade food, ready for the dinner table. I thought you’d enjoy this recipe for an interesting pasta salad. This makes only enough for two, so double the recipe for a family dinner.
Warm Pasta Salad with Mushrooms and Radicchio
1/3 pound orecchiette (ear-shaped pasta) or farfalle (bow-tie pasta)
2 T. olive oil
1/2 lb. fresh white mushrooms, sliced
1/2 lb. fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced
1 large garlic clove, minced
3 T. red-wine vinegar
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
3/4 cup frozen baby peas, thawed
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 lb. radicchio, shredded (about 2 cups)
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
In a kettle of boiling salted water cook pasta until al dente. While pasta is cooking, in a large non-stick skillet heat 1 tablespoon oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté all mushrooms with salt and pepper to taste, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Add garlic and 1 tablespoon vinegar and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add broth and peas and simmer 3 minutes.
Drain pasta in a colander and stir into mushroom mixture. Toss mixture and remove skillet from heat. In a large bowl whisk together mustard, remaining tablespoon oil, and remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar until blended. Add radicchio and toss to coat with dressing. Add pasta mixture and Parmesan and toss well. Serves 2.
• Jenny from the block: Jenny Roussell runs Jenny’s Kitchen, a catering business in England. Her logo is a strawberry, surrounded by the words: “May you savour each mouthful as you would a strawberry.” I love the sound of her catering menus: “Budget, Cheap & Cheerful, Cheerful, or Hearty Buffet.” The hearty menu includes “baguettes or seeded baps, granary and white sandwiches, goblin purses, bacon and stilton flan, luxury battered prawns, pork pies, vegetable goujons, pinwheels and pringles,” all for about $10 per person. Where do we sign up?
I wish I had a recipe from Jenny but she says she’s awfully busy this month and doesn’t have all of them written down. In her honor, here’s a recipe from Gourmet magazine in 1991 for pinwheels. They’re a lot of work, but so impressive and delicious, they’re worth the effort. Great for a wine and cheese party, or hors d’oeuvres before a bigger meal. If you don’t have a food processor, don’t worry about it. Just let everything get soft and knead it together with your hands.
Parsley Walnut Pinwheels
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 lb. extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (about 3 3/4 cups)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into bits
5 to 6 T. ice water
1 garlic clove
2 cups loosely packed fresh parsley leaves
1/2 cup walnut pieces
In a food processor blend the flour, the salt, the Cheddar, and the butter until the mixture resembles meal. With the motor running, add 5 tablespoons of the water and blend the mixture, adding more water if necessary, until it just forms a dough. (Do not overblend the dough.)
Transfer the dough to a sheet of wax paper and halve it.
With the motor running drop the garlic into the food processor and mince it. Turn off the motor, add the parsley and the walnuts, and blend them until they are chopped coarse. Add half the dough, reserving the other half, chilled, and blend the mixture, scraping down sides, until the parsley mixture is distributed evenly throughout the dough. Pat half the parsley dough into a 7- by 5-inch rectangle on a sheet of wax paper, reserving the other half, top it with another sheet of wax paper, and roll it into a 12- by 7-inch rectangle. Transfer the dough in the wax paper to a baking sheet and chill it for 10 minutes, or until it is firm but flexible. Repeat the rolling and chilling procedure with half of the reserved plain cheese dough.
Discard the top sheet of wax paper from the plain cheese dough and arrange the parsley dough, unwrapped, on top, pressing the 2 layers together lightly with the rolling pin. Using the bottom sheet of wax paper as a guide and beginning with a long side, roll the dough tightly together jelly-roll fashion (if the doughs are too firm to roll easily, let them stand at room temperature until they are pliable) and chill the roll, wrapped well, for at least 1 hour or overnight. Repeat the entire procedure with the remaining reserved parsley and plain cheese doughs. The dough rolls may be made 1 week in advance and kept covered tightly and chilled. (They can also be frozen. Just defrost slightly before slicing and baking.)
Unwrap the rolls and cut them crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Bake the pinwheels in batches on greased baking sheets in the middle of a preheated 400-degree oven for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they are golden. Transfer them as they are baked to racks, and let them cool. Makes about 100 pinwheels.
• On Saturday, April 26, the South Valley Fleurs will be having its fundraising plant sale at Belle Vie Gardens. Come to the event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to meet fellow gardening enthusiasts and pick up some new plants. Belle Vie Gardens is located at 14035 Columbet Ave. in San Martin. Details: www.BelleVieGardens.com.
Notes from Jenny’s Kitchen
• The words “low in saturated fat” means each serving contains 1 gram or less in saturated fat.
• A new type of garlic press has been developed by NexTrend Products in Sacramento. The “Garlic Twist” is a two-piece, hockey puck-shaped tool made of hard plastic. Connected together, the two pieces make a solid “hammer,” to whack the garlic and get the skin off easier. Put the peeled garlic inside the press and twist a few times for chopped garlic, several times for minced. Teeth inside the simple gadget chop the garlic in seconds. I think the best part is that it’s easy to wash. It’s available at Dorothy McNett’s in Hollister or at www.happycookers.com for $12.95.
Tip of the Week:
• Know a beginning cook? Here’s a suggestion. Mark Bittman’s new cookbook, “How to Cook Everything: The Basics,” takes his famous cookbook back to beginner’s school. It’s pared down and simple, perfect for new or tentative cooks. It’s $20, from Wiley publishing, available just about anywhere.
• End note: “You only live once. But if you work it right, once is enough.” ~ Fred Allen
