I often hear comments around town like,
”
Why does The Dispatch print such-and-such columnist? Why do they
publish so-and-so’s letters?
”
I know there are some columnists who don’t make my reading list
and others who I love to read, but rarely agree with. I’m sure
there are people who will never read this column. And I don’t want
to know about it (just kidding).
I often hear comments around town like, “Why does The Dispatch print such-and-such columnist? Why do they publish so-and-so’s letters?” I know there are some columnists who don’t make my reading list and others who I love to read, but rarely agree with. I’m sure there are people who will never read this column. And I don’t want to know about it (just kidding).
We are all adults, right? And we can choose not to read an article or an opinion or decide to disagree with someone’s views. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to write them and to have a forum for others to read them. That’s what local newspapers are all about.
It’s just like cooking. Go to our local bookstore and check out the cooking corner. There are several hundred cookbooks on the shelves and about 20 cooking magazines in the periodical aisle. Then there’s HGTV and umpteen thousand websites with other recipes. I haven’t even mentioned your neighbors and your best friend … and who could forget Mom?
With all these recipes out there, hundreds of ways to make gumbo and thousands of ways to make chicken and rice, what’s a cook to do?
Fine tune your filter. Decide what sources are most often similar to your tastes and stick to them. My standbys include cookbook author Mark Bittman (How to Cook Everything), brilliant football commentator John Madden (I will cook just about anything he recommends), Christopher Kimball (Cook’s Illustrated Magazine) and Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa, who really knows how to put ingredients together simply and elegantly).
It’s good to have your standard successes. And then, once in a while, throw in a wild herring or try a recipe from a culture you’re not familiar with.
Use your adult mind to sift through everyone else’s recipes and ideas … and then form some of your own. Throw in your own spice. Mix it up a little. Just like on the editorial page.
Fire food
This recipe is adapted from one that appeared in the Raley’s Supermarket magazine. It’s from the San Mateo/Santa Cruz unit of CalFire, whose members take turns making soup for “Souper Tuesdays.” I added some vegetables – tomatoes and kale – and changed the sausage from chicken/apple to Santa Fe/andouille to give it a little spice. I used the Santa Fe sausage from Corralitos Market; fantastic flavor and texture. This is an absolutely beautiful and flavorful soup that comes out somewhat like a light bean stew.
If you want it to be more liquidy, add a cup or two of water to the broth.
Bonus: This is a one-pot recipe (I used a cast-iron stock pot).
Barley Sausage Soup
24 ounces andouille sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups sliced carrots
2 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 cups kale, chopped
6 cups chicken broth
2 15-ounce cans white beans, rinsed and drained
3⁄4 cup barley
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Sliced fresh basil
Brown sausage slices and onion in oil in a large pan over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until sausage is browned and onion is soft. Add carrots, fennel seeds and garlic; saute for an additional 5 minutes.
Combine sausage mixture and all other ingredients, except basil. Bring to a boil then simmer for about an hour, until barley is tender. Garnish with fresh basil and serve.
Serves: 4. Prep: About 10 minutes. Cooking: About 1 hour and 10 minutes, largely unattended.
Slow cooker method: Follow steps in first paragraph, then combine sausage mixture and all other ingredients in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 5 hours.
Quick shrimp
This shrimp dish is easy, healthy and delicious. It takes much longer to cook the rice than the shrimp, so do the rice first. I used brown rice to up the nutrition a bit. The original recipe was from Cooking Light magazine – a source of much inspiration – but I added more vegetables and more spice … is there a theme here?
Shrimp & Snow Peas with Garlic Chile Sauce
1 cup chicken broth
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons sugar
4 teaspoons dry sherry
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 pounds large shrimp (13/15 counter per pound), chopped into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced, peeled fresh ginger
3 jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup snow peas
1⁄2 cup sliced green onions
1⁄2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 cup chopped cilantro
Combine first six ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Set aside.
Heat wok or large skillet over high heat. Add canola oil to pan. When hot, add shrimp pieces; stir fry for 1 minute until shrimp starts to turn pink. Add garlic, ginger, jalapeños, mushrooms and snow peas; stir fry for 1 minute. Stir in broth mixture; stir fry for 1 minute or until shrimp are done and sauce is thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in green onions, sesame oil and chopped cilantro.
Serve over a scoop of rice.
Serves 4. Prep: About 15 minutes. Cooking: About 5 minutes (rice takes longer, so cook it first).
Totally sinful brownies
There’s no way to make these low cal, so I would suggest cutting them into 1-inch squares. I don’t believe in brownies without nuts, unless, of course, you or your buddies are allergic to them. So, I added the walnuts into these. Other than that, this recipe is from the Wine Spectator Magazine’s events department employee Susannah Nolan. She uses chocolate not easily found in the supermarket, so I substituted Nestle’s Chocolatier Bittersweet Chocolate (62 percent cacao) and Ghirardelli’s Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar (60 percent cacao) – and it worked out beautifully. They are luscious and rich, so they’d be great following a light meal.
Sooz’s Supernatural Brownies
16 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 ounces Green & Black’s Organic 70 percent Dark Chocolate
4 ounces Ghirardelli Intense Dark Chocolate
4 jumbo eggs
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup flour
1⁄2 cup Hershey semisweet mini morsels
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13×9-inch baking pan with butter. In a small bowl, mix the espresso powder with the vanilla until the powder dissolves.
In the top part of a double boiler (or a small pan – watch carefully!) melt the butter and the chocolate pieces together. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and whisk in the salt, sugars and vanilla mixture until the solids dissolve. Whisk in the chocolate mixture. Fold in the flour until just combined. Stir in the morsels. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the surface looks shiny and begins to crack. (To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center. It should come out with a few moist crumbs.) Let the brownie cool in the pan on a rack before cutting and serving. Makes about 24 2-inch brownies (or about 48 1-inch squares).
Serves: 8-10. Pre-baking: About 15 minutes. Baking: 35 minutes.
FUTURE FOOD: I have received two great winter soup recipes so far. I’ll publish that column next week – so please send yours in using the contact info below! Also, I have been promised to-die-for macaroni-and-cheese and Cincinnati chili recipes … you know who you are …
