Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

The BEST Meatballs

March 6, 2016 by Mary 32 Comments

I made 52 meatballs last Sunday. 52!!! I thought we’d be eating them forever. And I couldn’t freeze them again – I was working with meat that had been frozen, so that wouldn’t have been right.

And then both boys were home, with their girls. I served 10 as an appetizer for a special birthday dinner with 5 of us. OMG – everyone LOVED them!!

Everyone spent the night. The next morning, one boy had 6 or 8 for breakfast and one girl took some amount for lunch. And then I kept trying to sell them – take more for your dinner – you know – I have so many – we’ll never eat all of these…

So now it was Wednesday and this was our dinner for just the two of us. I opened the pot — ooops. Not many left. I have four and my husband has six for dinner and there are just 9 left!

This is a really good recipe. They really are THE BEST meatballs.

It is based on a recipe by Seamus Mullin of Tertulio, an award-winning restaurant here in NYC that has fond memories for me. Several years ago, as one of my Christmas presents, my two boys took me there for dinner and said I could ask them ANYTHING I wanted. That was their gift.

Isn’t that so cool? So cute!!!

I did not abuse it then. I didn’t ask anything untoward. Nothing outrageous. I was a bit nosey but respectful.

But then afterwards, sometimes I’d forget. I thought we were in the same mode and they’d say, “un uh – no, no – time’s up. We’re not there anymore. You can’t ask that.”

They are so cute.

Back to the meatball recipe. This was published in Food & Wine some years ago and I just recently discovered it and of course, as usual, I have changed it. And oh by the way, the recipe says it takes an hour and a half. Don’t kid yourself. Plan on more like three hours. By the time you wash and chop all the herbs and make and fry the meatballs, then make the sauce – it’s a long time.

But boy, these are really, really good.

My French bookkeeper at the office once told me that her grandmother always mixed a little veal into things to make them sing. So here Seamus calls for 2.5 lbs. of ground lamb. I made these with 2 lbs. of lamb and 1 lb. of veal, bumped up all the herbs and used heavy cream with a touch of water, instead of milk to soak the almonds in.

Try these. You will be so super satisfied when you hear the deep sighs and murmurs of delight while watching your crew devour them.

You will never feel more LOVED. Promise.

THE BEST MEATBALLS WITH RICH TOMATO SAUCE AND RICOTTA – serves 8 – adapted from a Chef Seamus Mullin recipe

FOR THE SAUCE:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
5 large garlic cloves, minced
1 cup lightly packed basil leaves, torn
2 heaping Tbs. fresh oregano leaves
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
Two 28-ounce cans whole Italian tomatoes with their juices, crushed
6 large anchovy fillets, chopped
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

FOR THE MEATBALLS: – makes 52 meatballs
1/2 cup raw almonds, finely chopped in a food processer
6 Tbs. heavy cream + 2 Tbs. water or 1/2 cup whole milk
2 lb. ground lamb
1 lb. ground veal
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup finely chopped basil leaves, packed, plus whole leaves for garnish
1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, packed
2 heaping Tbs. finely chopped mint
1 heaping Tbs. finely chopped oregano
2 tsp. finely chopped thyme
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs. dry red wine (or white wine)
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 3/4 tsp. ground coriander
3/4 tsp. ground fennel
1 Tbs. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Ricotta cheese, for serving
Extra olive oil for serving

MAKE THE SAUCE:
In a large heavy enameled pot – such as a Le Creuset – heat the oil until shimmering. Add the garlic, basil, oregano, bay leaves and red pepper and cook over moderately high heat for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and simmer over moderately low heat, stirring, until the tomatoes are saucy, 1 hour. Stir in the anchovies and season with salt and black pepper.

MAKE THE MEATBALLS:
In a bowl, cover the almonds with the heavy cream and water or whole milk and let stand until most of the milk has been absorbed, 30 minutes. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the whole basil leaves, olive oil and ricotta and mix well. Form into 1 1/2-inch meatballs and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet.

In a skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Working in batches, cook the meatballs over moderately high heat, turning, until nearly cooked through, 7 minutes per batch. Drain the meatballs on paper toweling on a platter.

Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer until cooked through, 8 minutes. Spoon into bowls, top with ricotta and a drizzle of olive oil on the ricotta. You can also add some basil leaves as garnish.

The meatballs can be refrigerated in the sauce overnight. Warm in a covered ovenproof dish at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Serve with LOVE and toasted bread, and you’ll be in heaven!!

And the MARY’s secret ingredients full year subscription winner is…

February 27, 2016 by Mary 2 Comments

Congratulations to Marilyn Scarboro! You’ve won a years subscription to MARY’s secret ingredients. That’s 4 seasonal boxes and the first box of 2016, the spring box, will begin mailing on March 25th.

I know you’re just going to LOVE the spring box. I can’t give too much away, but I will say that the next box has some of my favorite ingredients we’ve had so far plus an extra special handmade surprise!

If you didn’t win, don’t worry, there will be other chances. In fact, this coming Friday, March 4, at 1 pm EST, MARY’s secret ingredients is hosting a Twitter party! We will be giving away 3 spring boxes then. And I will be there to answer all cooking questions. We’re sure to have a lively discussion as we always do. You have to RSVP to win a box. You can enter here.

This is what all of our surprise subscription boxes looked like last year. Full of new gourmet ingredients you’ve probably never heard of but you need to know about. I test all of the products before any of them are allowed in the box. None of them have any unpronounceable ingredients – in other words, no preservatives, no chemicals, no hydrogenated oils. I create recipes using each product and email them directly to you. We have a lot more fun things planned for this year as we’re always challenging ourselves as to how we can inspire your healthy cooking even more, so stay tuned!

We provide items that can easily turn a ho-hum dinner into one fit for company. For example, take a look at this Yogurt Marinated Chicken with Nutraw Pistachio Crust recipe, a totally new way to use a raw bar and an ingenious way to provide a crispy crust on chicken for gluten-intolerant folks. It’s delicious no matter what!

And for our latest announcement, go here to become a new M Club member and buy a full year subscription (4 seasonal boxes) for only $108.00 including shipping plus, all of the other additional perks. Very soon, our MSI Community Cookbook will be available, but only for M Club members.

And remember, every purchase helps in our partnership with Feed The Children. We believe no one should go hungry. Together, let’s wipe hunger off of the face of the earth! YES!!

Weeknight Chicken Tacos

February 21, 2016 by Mary 21 Comments

My parents were traditionalists, especially my father. Dinner was always a protein, a carb and a vegetable, (unless it was a homemade soup or stew that had all of those things). We had to have the three things on the plate and dinner was a sit-down affair, around the kitchen table with no TV. But we always had music. My father played the violin, loud, to Gershwin, André Kostelanetz, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, or show tunes. I know all the lyrics to Camelot, My Fair Lady, Gigi, The Music Man and The Sound of Music songs. (oh yes) This was his way of relaxing while having a cocktail (usually a Scotch on the rocks), when he got home from work. And he always took his shoes off and put on his leather house slippers. I know because I was supposed to fetch them for him. Shoot, we missed having our kids do that for us. 🙂

But I digress. Back to food. We NEVER had takeout or deliveries. We never had pizza or Chinese food or tacos for dinner. We never went to any fast food joint, not even Steak ‘n Shake which was sort of an in-between – in between a restaurant and fast food – in those days. No, we always had a three-item dinner every night.

Our friends’ families had pizza or other fast food at times, which was all fairly new then. We would beg and whine to be able to do that, but no, my mother insisted on a healthy home cooked meal.

So that‘s the way I was raised.

And that’s the way our kids were raised.

Our oldest still proclaims that I used to always say, “It’s not a dinner unless it has a green vegetable.” I don’t remember saying that but it sounds pretty good.

So now the kids are gone and it’s just my husband and me. And I have started making chicken tacos for dinner – with a green vegetable! Yes. All totally homemade, they’re fun and delicious!!!

This dish is roughly inspired by an old Food & Wine magazine recipe and the neatest thing about it is about how to cook the chicken. You roast thighs at a high heat (425 degrees) on a rack, so all the fat drains out. The chicken actually comes out practically fried, with no breading. The original recipe has you rub vegetable oil on the skin of the thighs, before roasting but that makes for a lot of smoke and creates a very messy oven. So I roast without any oil and the chicken has turned out equally good, without the smoke and interior oven splattering.

The skin gets crispy and is very tempting to eat a bit of it while you shred the meat off the bone. Delicious! – but we all know it’s not good for you.

So what I’ve been doing is roasting my thighs on a Sunday when I have more time, shreding the meat and having it all ready for a quick weeknight meal of amazing tacos. Makes the whole thing easy-peasy on the night you’re serving. I know the toppings take a bit of time to prepare but roasting and shredding the chicken ahead of time makes this doable for a weeknight. I made this last Wednesday night with both boys home (Yes! Zach is visiting from Poland!) and it was a HUGE hit!

Try this – you will LOVE it!!

WEEKNIGHT CHICKEN TACOS – serves 4 – 6 – makes about 14 tacos

8 chicken thighs with skin and bones – about 3 lbs.
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 lb. tomatillos, husked, rinsed, cored and finely chopped
4 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 bunch of scallions, trimmed, washed and chopped
11/4 cups vegetable or chicken broth, preferably homemade
Large handful of cilantro, chop the stem portion from the leafy parts, and mince the stems
Warm corn tortillas

FOR SERVING:

Chopped white onion, soaked in ice water for 10 minutes and drained
Sliced radishes – about 3
Thinly sliced jalepeno pepper – 1/2 – 3/4 of one
Feta cheese, broken into chunks
Sour cream or crème fraiche
Diced avocado – we used 1 whole and another half
Cilantro leaves
Salsa – optional or chopped plum tomatoes
Fresh lime wedges

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and dry chicken thighs, trimming off excess skin and fat. Salt and pepper both sides of the thighs and place on a rack positioned on a rimmed baking sheet.

Roast for 40 – 45 minutes. Let cool, remove and discard skin, shred the chicken from the bone. You could make a stock from the bones and skin. This is the step that I do on a Sunday afternoon to have a quick taco meal during the week. Store shredded chicken in the fridge in a covered container and take out the night you’re having the tacos as soon as you start making the rest of the meal to take some of the chill off as soon as you can.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet, heat the 2 Tbs. olive oil. Add the finely chopped tomatillos, garlic and scallions. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until the tomatillos are softened, about 10 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes.

While sauce is cooking, prepare all your toppings in separate little bowls. A hand mandoline is best to thinly slice the radishes and jalepenos. Soak your chopped white onions in the ice water bath for 10 minutes and drain.

Additionally prepare the corn tortillas. Place stacks of 6 tortillas in aluminum foil that is lined with a damp paper towel on the bottom and the top of the corn tortillas. Seal the aluminum foil tightly around and warm in a 350 degree oven for 5 – 10 minutes.

Add the shredded chicken to the tomatillo sauce. Simmer until the chicken is heated through, about 2 minutes. Then fold in the chopped stems of the cilantro and a few whole leaves. Taste to see if it needs any salt and pepper.

Serve everything immediately. I like to assemble my taco with a smear of sour cream or crème fraiche on the corn tortilla first, then the chicken tomatillo mixture, then the cheese, followed by jalepeno, onion, avocados, radishes, a tiny bit of salsa and finished with cilantro leaves.

Total yum.

Perfect Salad of Endive, Blood Oranges & Golden Beets for your Sweetheart

February 14, 2016 by Mary 9 Comments

We are ensconced in upstate New York where the temperature is -9 degrees. No joke. And that’s not the wind chill number, which I am afraid to even know. I had a duck breast that needed to be cooked yesterday, so I made a special dinner last night and I will make one again tonight to celebrate Valentine’s Day! It is way too cold to venture out. Much better to just snuggle in at home. So last night, I made this Perfect Salad (as my husband called it) of Endive, Blood Oranges & Golden Beets. It was refreshing, delicious and different. A crisp way to start a meal so I wanted to share this with you – make it tonight for your sweetheart!

It is simple and quick to make – except for roasting the beets takes some time. I love blood oranges. They remind me of a past romantic trip to Italy many years ago. Steve remarked that although these blood oranges were good, they are better in Italy. Maybe that was the romance part?

Dinner was followed by a duck breast seasoned with Chinese Five Spice and star anise and topped with a special ingredient that may go in the next MARY’s secret ingredients box (it’s amazing!), farro and snow peas sautéed with shiitake mushrooms.

Tonight I’m making a Caesar salad, roast beef, baked potato and lemon roasted asparagus. A real traditional dinner Steve will also love.

What’s on your menu?

PERFECT SALAD OF ENDIVE, BLOOD ORANGES & GOLDEN BEETS – serves 2

1 Belgian endive, trimmed and separated into leaves
2 blood oranges
3 small to medium-sized golden beets – roasted (roast extra for another day!)
1 heaping Tbs. finely minced shallot
1 Tbs. red wine vinegar
2 Tbs. olive oil + 2 tsp. for the beets
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Scrub the beets and dry with paper toweling. Place beets on a sheet of aluminum foil, drizzle on 2 teaspoons of olive oil, season with Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Close foil up to make a neat sealed packet. Place packet in a baking dish and roast in the oven for an hour. Check for tenderness carefully as steam will blast out of the aluminum foil. A skewer should pierce each beet easily when done. Let cool and then peel and quarter each beet.

Trim, wash and pat dry each endive leave.

Wash oranges. Slice off the top and bottom so the orange will stand up flat on the cutting board. Then slice off all the peel and pith, top to bottom, following the curve of the orange with your knife. Slice each orange horizontally into 4 or 5 slices. Remove any white center part.

Combine the shallots with the vinegar in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in the olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Arrange the endive in a fan shape at the top of the plate, then fan out the blood oranges and then the quartered beets at the bottom. Drizzle the vinaigrette over all. Serve right away with LOVE.

If you forgot to get a V-day gift for your honey, go to MARY’s secret ingredients and order a full year subscription. It’s the gift that keeps on giving all year long with seasonal deliveries. Download a gift certificate at checkout to print and present today. The next box – spring – mails on March 25th and it is going to be AMAZING! Use the code VALENTINESDAY for 20% off!

My Gift to YOU in the Name of LOVE!

February 10, 2016 by Mary Leave a Comment

Our day is coming – on Sunday – St. Valentine’s Day! The day we celebrate LOVE in all ways. And as a gift to you, I’d like to offer a full year subscription to MARY’s secret ingredients to one lucky reader, as long as you live in the continental US. That’s 4 seasonal boxes of gourmet, healthy products and one handy kitchen tool, you’ve probably never heard of but you need to know about.

Each box has only “MARY-approved” products. I test every one to make sure it’s great, tasty and never has any unpronounceable ingredients. Some products have been turned down and we’ve helped the manufacturer make adjustments and then they’ve gone back in the box.

This was our winter box. Full of sweets and spices and everything nice!

The spring box mails on March 25th. The contents of each box are a surprise to you! We have so much fun searching for new, unique items that will inspire your home cooking and delight your family and friends. Remember, good cooks never lack friends!

Here’s what you need to do to enter – follow the prompts in this entry form. There are 7 ways to enter on the various social media channels and you can enter seven times! Spread the word and tell all your friends – the more the merrier!

LOVE – the secret ingredient Valentine's Day Giveaway

You may want to give this as a gift for Valentine’s Day. If that is the case, right click and save this certificate to print out.

Good luck to everyone and have a very Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

With LOVE, Mary

North African Bean Stew with Barley and Winter Squash

February 6, 2016 by Mary 24 Comments

SUPER BOWL TIME!!! Yes the Super Bowl is tomorrow!!! We have been invited to what I know will be a wonderful party held in a private room at an Irish pub in midtown. How do I know it will be great? Well first of all we love this couple and she is a professional, highly successful event planner and he is a wine expert and a Broncos fan!! So we will don our orange and be set to root for his team. Should be loads of fun!!

This is unusual for us as we typically have a few folks over for a small Super Bowl party at our apartment. If you are having friends over, may I suggest my Super Easy Nachos, delicious (and easy) Spicy Chicken Chili along with a wedge of Cornbread, with or without the cheese sticks. And if you’re feeling even more adventurous and healthy, try this new recipe out.

North African Bean stew - finished in a white bowl

Sorry this bowl is a little messy with overflow!

This is a total big bowl of soothing deliciousness. There is no better way to describe it. Complete, deep, yumminess with unique spices and flavors to perk up your palette. I don’t usually like to post time consuming recipes. I want this blog to encourage and show you how to cook healthy delicious meals that are not hard or take that much time. But here, I have to make an exception, because this recipe from Melissa Clark of The New York Times for her North African Bean Stew with Barley and Winter Squash is so wonderful, I just have to share.

A word of warning though – start this early in the morning if you want to use dried beans. Or do it in two weekends as I did. At one point, I had my doubts and swore that it had better be good!! (You’ve been there, right?)

And you know what?

This one delivered. It’s that good. Yes, it really is.

And it’s totally meatless and even my husband had two bowls and really LOVED it! No discussion about it being meatless because its flavors are so rich! (Well actually I put a little bacon in the beans when cooking them, but that is not necessary.)

The nice thing about it is the combination of spices. Melissa has you make up a Baharat, which is a Middle Eastern spice mix. This creates an intense and soothing flavor base, a little like a curry but different, and I am very excited to use this on all sorts of things such as chicken, pork, lamb, perhaps a sprinkle in steamed rice, certainly roasted delicata, acorn or butternut squash. I even think it might be good on some roasted sole or flounder. I’m looking forward to having fun with this one!

Also in this article, she definitely recommends you cook your own dried beans as opposed to using canned and she eschews soaking them overnight to encourage you to do this. Just go ahead and start cooking them right away in salted water. Usually they tell you to salt only near the end of cooking, but she claims the salt integrates better into the bean if you start in salted water and I do think she’s right! It worked out well for me. So I’ve outlined what I did for my beans below.

Make this with LOVE and EVERYONE will be so happy!! Please note, I have changed some things from her original recipe – but of course!

NORTH AFRICAN BEAN STEW WITH BARLEY AND WINTER SQUASH – adapted from Melissa Clark of The New York Times

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
2 leeks, white and green parts, diced
1 bunch cilantro, leaves and stems separated
1 cup finely diced fennel, fronds reserved (1/2 large fennel bulb)
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 ½ Tbs. baharat (see note)
1 cinnamon stick
2 Tbs. tomato paste
2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth, preferably homemade
½ cup pearled or regular barley
2 ½ tsp. kosher salt, more as needed
Large pinch of saffron, crumbled
4 cups cooked beans or chickpeas
2 cups peeled and diced butternut squash (1 small squash)
¾ cup peeled and diced turnip (1 medium)
½ cup red lentils
Plain Greek yogurt, for serving
Aleppo pepper for serving

In a large pot over medium heat, heat oil and cook leeks until they begin to brown, 10 to 12 minutes.

Cilantro stems, leaves and a cut lime on a wooden cutting board.

This is a pain to do – separating the stems and leaves of cilantro. Note that the lime was for my Lillet cocktail!

Finely chop cilantro stems. Stir into pot, along with diced fennel and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in baharat, cinnamon and tomato paste, and cook until paste begins to caramelize, about 2 minutes.

Stir in broth, 3 cups water, the barley and the salt. Bring to a gentle boil, stir in saffron, and reduce heat to medium. Simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Stir in beans, squash, turnip and lentils; cook until barley is tender, about another 20 to 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings, if desired. Remove cinnamon stick.

Ladle stew into bowls. Spoon a dollop of yogurt on top and drizzle with olive oil. Garnish with cilantro leaves, fennel fronds and Aleppo pepper.

Making the Baharat or Middle Eastern Spice Mix.

Lots of different spices go into this!

Baharat is a Middle Eastern spice mix. You can buy it at specialty markets or make your own.

To make it, combine:

2 Tbs. sweet paprika
1 Tbs. ground coriander
1 Tbs. ground cumin
1 Tbs. ground turmeric
2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. grated nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. allspice.

To cook the beans:

1 lb. of dried cannellini beans
½ of a thick slice of bacon, chopped, optional
2 tsp. coarse sea salt
25 grinds of black pepper
1 celery stalk, sliced in half lengthwise and then cut in 4 pieces
1 carrot, peeled, sliced in half lengthwise and then cut in 4 pieces
1 medium yellow onion, peeled trimmed and quartered
4 whole cloves – to stud each onion quarter
1 large or 2 small dried bay leaves

Ideally, you can soak the beans overnight before cooking. They say that soaking does have benefits. It will help beans cook faster and more evenly, and it can help leach out the intestinal-distress-causing sugars that some people are particularly sensitive to. But if you don’t have time, just carry on!

Place one pound of dried cannellini beans in a large pot. Cover with water, swish around to rinse and drain water.

Cover with fresh cold water again, at least 3 inches above the beans. Add in everything else and stir. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer, partially cover and cook for 2 – 3 hours. This depends on your beans. They should be soft and creamy inside to be done. If you take a bean between your two fingers, it should smash easily. Taste one – they need to be tender all the way through but still firm and intact.

When beans are done, do not drain the water, otherwise the skins will come off and they’ll be very messy. Let them cool in the liquid. Remove the vegetables. Lift 4 cups of beans out with a slotted spoon to use in the stew recipe. Save remaining beans in a good amount of liquid in a container. This freezes well for another time or store in the refrigerator for 5 – 7 days.

What to do with your extra beans? Warm them up with some of their liquid, add minced garlic, a good drizzle of olive oil, some grated parmigiano and fresh ground pepper, or a dash of vinegar or lemon juice. Enjoy!!

Delicious Sunday Morning Breakfast Sausage Patties

January 30, 2016 by Mary 15 Comments

We always enjoy a big breakfast on Sunday mornings. It’s nice to take the time to make a bountiful and beautiful one to linger over as a special treat. I am spoiled in that my husband always makes me breakfast during the week. As I‘m sure you probably do, we start our workdays eating breakfast in a rush, eager to get the day going. He serves me mine to eat while I’m putting on make-up and blow drying my hair. I take a bite and chew, hairbrush in hand, multi-tasking to try to save some time.

So this is all the more reason we truly enjoy our Sunday mornings! I know I’ve published my sausage recipe before but this one is a little different with the added shiitake mushroom. I LOVE mushrooms! My husband, not so much. However, I snuck this one in and he LOVED it!

One shiitake mushroom and multiple mushrooms behind it.

Use just one very large shiitake mushroom.

Chopped up shiitake mushroom on a wooden board.

One large mushroom chops up into a lot!

The mushroom did not add a deep mushroom-y flavor, but it did add a wonderful lightness that really made these Delicious Sunday Morning Breakfast Sausage Patties good enough to record, share and make again.

I hope you’ll try these – and remember it’s always better to know what is in the food you’re eating as opposed to buying store made sausage. That is why I do not mind taking the time to make these on a Sunday morning. They actually come together, very quickly and easily – takes about 20 minutes and then time to grill or sauté in a skillet.

You should also know that these reheat beautifully in the microwave for 30 seconds for that quick weekday breakfast. So leftovers are not a problem!

DELICIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BREAKFAST SAUSAGE PATTIES – serves 6, makes 14 patties

1 lb. ground pork
1 small egg
¼ cup of panko
1 Tbs. grainy mustard
¾ tsp. herbs de Provence
1 large shiitake mushroom, stem trimmed at bottom & stem and cap finely chopped
¼ cup finely chopped red onion or shallot
2 – 3 sprigs of Italian parsley finely chopped
Sprinkling of salt
Black pepper – 20 grinds

Combine everything together with your hands. Mix thoroughly, but lightly. Do not overmix.

Shape into 12 – 14 small patties.

Spray grill pan or sauté pan with a very light coating of canola or vegetable oil. Cook patties on high heat, turning once, for a total of about 7 minutes.

Serve with scrambled eggs, toast, fruit salad, coffee and LOVE!

Quick Pasta with Broccoli Rabe, Tuna, Olives & Slow Roasted Tomatoes

January 24, 2016 by Mary 16 Comments

So once again on a weeknight this past week, we got home from work late, starving, and of course wanted to eat something super quick. I had planned on a meatless dinner and yet again, my husband protested. (Does yours, all you women out there?) I acquiesced with a small can of tuna here, which is how I came to make this Quick Pasta with Broccoli Rabe, Tuna, Olives & Slow Roasted Tomatoes dish. It was delicious!!

Additionally, we were supposed to have a dinner party this week and I was going to serve this Spicy Beef Ragout but one of the guests messed up on the date and we had to reschedule, and I had already bought everything for the dinner. So I went ahead and made the stew and froze it. (It will be better! :)) But the roasted Roma tomatoes would not wait 2 weeks and I didn’t think would freeze very well. So the day before this dinner below, I slow roasted those tomatoes anyway, not really knowing how I would use them. They are so easy to make and super delicious!! You just need the time for the two hours. Slow roasting makes them super sweet and totally yummy! You’ll really want to eat them with anything so I knew it wouldn’t be a problem.

I threw this dish together in literally 30 minutes and it was terrific!! My husband even talked about it the next morning and you know it’s really great when they’re still remembering it at breakfast.

A quick minute in the microwave revives the tomatoes and rather than chopping and mixing them in, which I considered, I thought it was much more elegant to just position them on the side, so you could decide to have a bite with or without them. Much nicer.

At any rate, this whole combination is super satisfying, quick, easy and full of flavor. Using the same pot of water to blanch the broccoli rabe (which removes the bitterness) and cook the pasta in is the real time saver. I hope you’ll try it and maybe always keep some slow roasted tomatoes on hand. I’m thinking I should do that. Serve with LOVE and enjoy!!

QUICK PASTA WITH BROCCOLI RABE, TUNA, OLIVES & SLOW ROASTED TOMATOES – serves 4

½ lb. spaghetti
1 large bunch of broccoli rabe, stalk ends trimmed, chopped in 1” pieces, washed in a water bath
1 Tbs. coarse sea salt
5 large cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
3 Tbs. olive oil, plus 1 more Tbs. for finishing
1 5 oz. can white Albacore tuna, packed in water and drained
¼ cup pitted Kalamata olives, drained and chopped
2 Tbs. fresh grated Romano cheese
8 – 9 slow roasted Roma tomatoes
1 Tbs. olive oil
Thyme leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme

TO MAKE THE ROASTED ROMA TOMATOES: DO THIS THE DAY BEFORE. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Pile tomatoes on top, add 1 tablespoon of the oil, season with salt and pepper and toss. Add leaves from 4 sprigs of the thyme, toss again. Spread the tomatoes in a single layer on the foil-lined baking sheet, skin side down. Roast on the top shelf in the oven at 300 degrees for 2 hours. Let cool and store in a closed container in the refrigerator.

In a large pasta pot, place the washed broccoli rabe. Fill the pot with water to be at least 2 inches above the broccoli rabe. Add in the salt and stir to combine. Place the pot on high heat.

Meanwhile, warm the 3 Tbs. olive oil in a large skillet on low heat, (large enough to hold the broccoli rabe and pasta too), add the garlic and stir. Do not let it brown.

When small bubbles appear around the edges of the pot with the broccoli rabe, remove the rabe with a slotted spoon into a colander over a bowl and let drain. Let the water in the pot come back to a full boil. When that happens, add the pasta and cook for 3 minutes less than the lower number on the package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, (be sure to stir every once in a while), put the broccoli rabe in the skillet with the garlic. Cook a bit more, and toss. Add the tuna, flaking it as you stir.

When the pasta is near the end of cooking, take a large coffee mug and scoop out some pasta water. Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet with the tuna and broccoli rabe, stirring with tongs to combine. Add about ¼ cup of pasta water and the grated Romano cheese to make a loose sauce. Stir and taste until the pasta is done. Stir in the black olives to combine and finish with a drizzle of a tablespoon more of olive oil.

Taste to your liking with more salt or more cheese and some fresh ground black pepper.

Warm the tomatoes in the microwave for a minute or two. Serve the pasta in warmed bowls, with the tomatoes on the side as pictured above.

A complete meal in a dish and so delicious!!

We just had the leftovers for lunch today – still yummy!

Roasted Squash and Radicchio Salad With Buttermilk Dressing & Sweet Corn Arepas

January 17, 2016 by Mary 32 Comments

You know I love salads for dinner and since it is the season for squash, I wanted to share this recipe with you! It may sound a little bit time consuming, but it’s not. Perfect for a meatless weeknight meal, particularly after all the rich holiday food.

I love delicata squash because the skin is truly delicate enough so that you don’t have to go through the time consuming step of peeling it and you can eat it. It’s probably like potato skins and has more nutrients than the actual squash part. Don’t quote me on that, I’m just guessing.

This recipe is from Melissa Clark at The New York Times. I like a lot of her recipes as we seem to have the same likes. But at first when I read this recipe, I was not too keen on the buttermilk in the dressing as I’m usually just an oil and vinegar kind of gal. But, I went ahead and followed hers exactly (this is rare) and this was delicious!! Not at all creamy like a ranch dressing, which is what I was afraid of, just the right amount of creaminess to work oh so nicely with squash and greens.

Try this, this coming week. I served this with Delicias Andinas sweet corn arepas, toasted of course and gluten-free – so satisfying, different and delicious!!!

ROASTED SQUASH AND RADICCHIO SALAD WITH BUTTERMILK DRESSING – by Melissa Clark – serves 4

2 delicata squashes (10 ounces each), halved lengthwise, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch half-moons
1 Tbs. honey
1 ½ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. smoky chile powder, such as New Mexico or chipotle
6 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
⅓ cup buttermilk
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. finely chopped tarragon
1 large garlic clove, grated
1 head radicchio, cored and shredded (4 cups)
4 cups arugula
⅔ cup chopped toasted pecans (see note)
⅓ cup thinly sliced scallions

Toast pecans first by heating oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until they deepen in color and turn fragrant, 7 to 10 minutes. Cool before chopping.

Raise heat in oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, toss squash with honey, 3/4 teaspoon salt, chile powder and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast, tossing occasionally, until tender and golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, lemon juice, tarragon, remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt and the garlic. Whisk in remaining 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) oil.

In a large bowl, combine radicchio, arugula, squash, pecans and scallions. Toss in buttermilk dressing; taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

So I know I’ve told you about how our two boys cook. They actually do most of the cooking in their partnerships. Both girls are great bakers, fearless with yeast, all breads and desserts. This is such a great thing as a mom of boys because we are always in conversations about food!! They text me their dinner photos all the time. Here’s Zach from Warsaw showing me his farmer’s market roast leg of mutton, perfectly cooked, I might add!! I’ve never had mutton – have you? So cool that he can be so far away, yet we can still be a very big part of their daily lives. This is what happens when you make great home cooked food a central theme.

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Potatoes and Arugula

January 10, 2016 by Mary 34 Comments

The inspiration for this recipe of Roasted Chicken Thighs with Potatoes and Arugula came from a Melissa Clark recipe in The New York Times several weeks ago. However, I have changed it big time, making it more of roasted chicken and potatoes atop a salad of arugula as opposed to a few arugula leaves scattered on top.You probably know by now, I love warm things atop greens.

I prepared this for a dinner party Friday night in the city. Throwing a party on a Friday night is a great way to start the weekend! First of all, your guests are really excited that the week is over and they can truly relax because a Saturday sleep-in is possible. The noise level was intense. Of course that may have had something to do with the whiskey tasting that was going on. But that’s what I mean, that would have never gone on on a school night!

Tomatoes and dill air drying on a white paper towel.

Looks like Christmas all over again, right?

The beauty of this dish is that you do most of the work in the morning, marinating the chicken and potatoes in the harissa, olive oil and cumin, and the rest is easy. I even washed my arugula, tomatoes and dill in the morning, and let it get good and dry by laying it out on a clean counter before putting it in a plastic bag with a few paper towels to wick up the extra moisture that would form from being in the fridge. I had help from one guest to make the yogurt dressing, and voila, we had dinner!

Our oldest son has a friend who loves yogurt on EVERYTHING!! He would clearly LOVE this dish. He is half Austrian and half Turkish, mainly raised in Turkey. I always want to have yogurt on hand for him, and Zach says, “NO, not necessary, serve the dinner how you want … ” So he would really love this dish.

The day before New Year’s Eve, I had made a big pot of pea soup, so I froze half of that and used it to start the dinner. With light appetizers, just nuts and a smoked salmon tartare in phyllo shells, starting with a slightly heavier soup worked out just fine.

I hope you try this dish. It’s got a lot going for it. The spiciness of the harissa on the chicken and potatoes, mixed with the creamy yogurt dressing atop the cool arugula and every once in a while you get a hit of dill, it’s delicious!!

Easy, delicious and different – all that I’m after!

ROASTED CHICKEN THIGHS WITH POTATOES AND ARUGULA – serves 8

10 chicken thighs with skin and bones, fat and extra skin removed
2 ¼ pounds small Yukon Gold potatoes, (creamers), cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 ½ tsp. Kosher salt, more as needed
½ tsp. black pepper, more as needed
6 Tbs. harissa (or use another thick hot sauce, such as sriracha)
1 heaping Tbs. ground cumin
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed, divided
5 medium leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
Lemon zest (from 2 large lemons), divided
1 heaping cup plain Greek yogurt
3 garlic cloves, grated or finely minced
Juice from one large lemon
10 oz. baby arugula, washed, air dried and chilled
21 cherry tomatoes
Chopped fresh dill, as needed

Combine chicken and potatoes in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together harissa, cumin and 1/2 cup of olive oil. Pour over chicken and potatoes and toss well to combine. Let it marinate up to 12 hours in the refrigerator or in a pinch, at room temperature for 30 minutes. If you have refrigerated it, let it stand at room temperature for one hour before roasting. While it’s marinating, if you can, toss and mix it up every so often.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine leeks, lemon zest, a pinch of salt and the remaining ¼ cup of oil.
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange chicken (skin side up) and potatoes on a large rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. Roast for 15 minutes. Toss potatoes lightly. Scatter leeks over pan. Roast until chicken and potatoes are cooked through and everything is golden and slightly crisped, 25 to 30 minutes longer.

While chicken cooks, place yogurt in a small bowl. Grate garlic over yogurt and season to taste with salt and pepper. Thin with lemon juice from one large lemon. Zest another large lemon over the yogurt. Mix with a whisk to combine all.

To serve, place arugula evenly over a large platter. Distribute chicken and potatoes over all. Drizzle all pan juices on top. Spoon yogurt over chicken and vegetables. Scatter the dill and cherry tomatoes over all.

For dessert, I served a platter of Christmas cookies – date bars, pecan crisps, bourbon balls, and Hello Dolly squares – along with a touch of ice cream and strawberries.

Make this tonight! Perfect for a Sunday night dinner. Serve this magnificent colorful platter with LOVE. Your family or guests will love you back big time – guaranteed!

Funny, I don’t know about you other bloggers but I always seem to write better posts if I write them and then let them simmer a bit so I can think of other tidbits I want to add or embellish on and then have the time to do that before I actually post. How about you?

Many thanks to our friends, Sumantra and Indrani Sen for taking some of these pictures!