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

Leftover Turkey or Chicken with Butternut Squash, Asparagus & Persimmons

November 28, 2015 by Mary 15 Comments

I made up this dish one recent Friday night with what I had on hand, when I was trying to convince my husband to eat a somewhat meatless meal, and I was just too tired to go shopping for something specific. It’s an odd combination. As I said, it was with what I had on hand. While I was making it, my husband was making all kinds of remarks about how weird this was gonna be and just guess who had seconds on this Leftover Turkey or Chicken with Butternut Squash, Asparagus and Persimmons dish?

So I wanted to share this with you today, because although I made this with chicken, surely this will be just as great, if not even better, with your leftover turkey. The key is to season your butternut squash. I actually used a curry spice mix from one of our previous MARY’s secret ingredients boxes, – Mz. Curri – but you can use a combination of curry powder, salt, pepper and some garam masala if you don’t have Mz. Curri around.

So while you’re roasting the squash and onions, tear up the poultry meat from the carcass (I also had a lone leg and used that meat too), give it a shot of heat in the microwave – not too much because the heat from the squash and asparagus will also warm the meat. And then steam your asparagus while you chop the persimmon and voila, fold and combine everything together and you are done – with deliciousness in your bowls – super quick and easy!! Serve it with some whole grain crackers, curl up in front of a fire or movie and you are DONE for the night!! So very simple but such a weird and great combo of flavors, textures and tastes.

I must admit, I have been on a persimmon kick for the past few weeks. They are in season now and last year, I was asked to give a speech at a benefit dinner for a non-profit that feeds the homeless that I have been involved with for many years. And the caterer (who incidentally catered one of our sons high school graduation parties when we lived in NJ – it was great to see her again) had served sliced persimmons on the cheese board and they were so delicious! Firm with an ever so slight crunch, super sweet and a beautiful orange color, I was sold!!

So here I am now, using them in everything, from main courses, to salads (coming up!) and in pasta dishes. They’re so versatile, different and delicious!! Go get some and use in my recipes and experiment on your own, with LOVE, and enjoy!!!

LEFTOVER TURKEY OR CHICKEN WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH, ASPARAGUS & PERSIMMONS – serves 4

Chicken or turkey meat pulled off of a carcass, plus the meat from one leg or whatever pieces you have leftover
½ of a large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut in ½” chunks
1 medium onion, cut into ½” pieces
3 Tbs. olive oil – divided into 2 + 1
1 bunch of thin asparagus
Salt
Pepper
1 Tbs. Mz. Curri seasoning or 1 tsp. curry powder and 1 tsp. garam masala
2 persimmons, cored, sliced and cut into ¼” chunks
Whole grain crackers

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare the squash and combine with the onion. Season with 2 Tbs. olive oil, salt, pepper, Mz Curri seasoning or the curry powder and garam masala. Toss to combine everything. Roast for 25 minutes or until fork tender.

Meanwhile, rip the poultry meat off of the carcass and leg or additional piece into small strips.

Wash and prepare asparagus by bending and breaking them at the point of tenderness. Place them in a large skillet with a ½ “ of water. Cook on high heat until crisp tender, about 5 minutes total. Remove and drain water. Put the asparagus back in the hot skillet to dry off the water. Remove the skillet from the heat and drizzle about 1 Tbs. of olive oil all over and season with salt and pepper.

Warm the chicken or turkey in the microwave for about 1 minute on high heat. Cover and keep warm.

Chop the persimmons and have ready.

When squash and onions are ready, scrape all vegetables and juices into a large warm bowl. Add in the warmed poultry. Place the asparagus on a cutting board and cut into 1.5” lengths and add to the bowl along with the chopped persimmons and all juices.

Fold everything together and portion out into 4 warmed bowls. Serve with LOVE and enjoy!! I served this with a Cava – sparkling Spanish wine and it was delish!!

Candied Yams for Thanksgiving

November 25, 2015 by Mary 10 Comments

Sorry I had to rant in my previous post. It’s been something I’ve been wanting to talk about for a long time now. You know, kinda brewing… but Thanksgiving is tomorrow…and so is my birthday this year!! We are super blessed with all good things – our children and their mates are happy and healthy and we are too! My brother and his wife in CT are hosting Thanksgiving this year, so I can be a real queen for the day, on my birthday. How cool is that?

I’m so excited for tomorrow. After all, this is my favorite holiday and usually I love cooking for it but I have to tell you, this year, with all that’s going on business-wise, I’m DELIGHTED to take a step back. And I know there’ll be great wines. You all should check out my connoisseur brother’s wine blog – he’s amazing!!

So I wanted to share with you the one recipe for Thanksgiving that has been in my repertoire forever. It is a riff on the original Candied Yams recipe from — drum roll please — Joy of Cooking!! Yes! I received that cookbook from my sewing teacher, Mrs. Mellor, as a wedding shower gift. Julia Mellor was also the mother of one of my brother’s best friends and she taught Home Economics at the public high school. Of course, I went to the Catholic all-girls private school, where they didn’t even teach home ec. (go figure) My mother wanted to insure I knew how to sew… don’t ask. And this original recipe is from that “bible” of American cooking back then. It has withstood the test of time. Of course, I’ve changed it…

The great thing about his recipe is that you can make it ahead of time and then just slip it in the oven to glaze while your turkey is resting, right before you serve your meal. Easy peasy and nice!

Enjoy!!

May you and yours have a very blessed Thanksgiving holiday!! Cook, eat and serve with LOVE!

CANDIED YAMS RECIPE – serves 4 – adapted from Joy of Cooking

3 yams
Kosher salt
1 Tbs. butter for yams
Extra butter for greasing
Fresh ground pepper
Sweet paprika
Powdered ginger
1/4 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook the yams in boiling salted water for 25 minutes or until fork tender. Drain and let cool, peel and slice lengthwise.

Butter the baking dish and place the yams in it in a single layer. Salt and pepper the yams. Lightly sprinkle on sweet paprika and powdered ginger to taste. Cut butter into small pieces and place on top. Drizzle a quarter cup of maple syrup on the yams.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Remove and spoon the glaze on top of the yams. Serve with LOVE and don’t eat too much! 🙂

Our Fat America and a Festive Balsamic Chicory Salad with Pomegranate Seeds, Parmesan and Toasted Walnuts

November 24, 2015 by Mary 7 Comments

Okay so here goes. Let’s talk about the elephant in the room, since after all, this is a food and recipe blog. And, we are entering the heavy eating holiday season now. Two thirds of Americans are either obese or overweight. Two-thirds!!! That’s a very scary statistic.

And then we have the current mantra running through society to be confident of who you are and celebrate your body no matter what shape it’s in. (think Dove commercials)

Well I think the pendulum has swung a bit too far. While certainly girls should not be starving themselves, trying to emulate high fashion models, many of whom are just naturally thin. Body shapes are what we are born with. For instance, no matter how much weight I would lose, I would still have big hips. But when people think it’s ok to be unhealthily overweight, we’ve got a problem.

And I was raised with five older brothers who told me that I was fat, ugly and would never have a date for the senior prom if I ate that Ding Dong Mom put in my lunch bag. They also told me that pregnant women had no doubt swallowed a watermelon seed so I had better be careful eating that stuff.

I think it’s amazing that our creator made us to be expandable, don’t you?

I mean, there’s no limit as to how much your cells will expand. The creator did not make us so that at some point of fatness, we’d just pop. Oh no, we can keep on eating. We have the choice, he left it up to us.

And another thing I find interesting is the way people dress today. It’s all visible with the stretch work-out clothes everyone wears at all hours of the day. I remember when I was growing up, really overweight people dressed to try to hide the excess. Remember mumu’s for women? Usually in a medium sized floral print. Sweet.

So with the interest in all food and the foodie/eating craze happening all over the country, we have the rise in popularity of food and cooking shows. This is great in terms of making it easily accessible to everyone as to “how to” cook and make various dishes. However, the most popular shows are featuring super fatty foods – dishes that have sausage meat with no draining of the fat, the popularity of pork belly, fried foods, heavy, rich desserts. This is what we’re telling people to eat!

I have had conversations with a Food Network producer and she said that putting healthy foods on shows or as recipes in their magazine just doesn’t sell.

But they are telling people the wrong thing!

This is one reason why I started this blog. To inspire people to cook at home and spread the word on how to make great tasting, clean and lean dishes that you and your family will love – and then you’ll feel great!!

A friend of mine from college days at Parsons, sent me this article on The Future of Medicine is Food. Hooray that the Tulane University School of Medicine is teaching their medical students the importance of your diet with regards to your health in disease prevention and cures. Finally!!

They said, “They expect to see a sea change to take place in the way doctors treat chronic illness—and the way insurance charges for it describing a future where doctors write recipes as prescriptions and insurance companies treat food as a reimbursable expense. (There is, of course, a strong economic argument in favor of a prevention-based approach to health.) They predict that care plans will eventually include menu planning, recipes and maybe even programming to get the ingredients delivered to patients.”

Wouldn’t that be awesome?

This is what we are trying to do with MARY’s secret ingredients, by providing new products to inspire your home cooking along with recipes on how to use them.

How many overweight or obese individuals suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels depression and lack of energy? If they would only lose weight, most likely all of it would go away. The lack of energy and depression creates a big vicious cycle.

Currently, many of them are eating fast food and/or heavily processed food, which makes you feel awful afterwards and tired. So then they eat more, thinking it will give them energy but the opposite continues to happen and they just continue on and on and then those subway steps get harder and harder to climb so you may as well eat some more and forget it, right?

Even eating out in better or fine restaurants all the time can take its toll. The restaurant’s job is to make you love the food. Adding in butter to finish a sauce is typical. And yes, it sure tastes great! The extra bread, butter and olive oil are surely all delicious but it all adds up. I really don’t like to eat out a lot. I want to know what I’m eating!

And then don’t get me started about the huge plates and portion sizes at restaurants like Chili’s or TGI Fridays. How did that happen? We had to go to one of those once, when no other restaurant was open after a funeral in Baltimore and honestly my meal was 3 meals! Their customers eat that whole plate plus start with a huge appetizer, most likely containing fried foods, bacon and/or chips.

Here’s a funny sidebar. At our home in the country, our kitchen appliances are very old, yet they all work great so I am not getting rid of them. Our fancy new ones in the city have all needed several repairs or had to be replaced within a span of just 8 years. Don’t buy Jenn-Air.

I digress but because our dishwasher is old, it would only hold plates that were 12” in diameter of less. Do you have any idea how long we searched stores to find smaller dinner plates that would fit in our dishwasher? A long time.

We are killing ourselves, not to mention ruining our environment with the demands of eating way too much meat. That’s a whole other article, discussing the impact our diets place on the environment and how we are creating the whole greenhouse effect with the number of cows we have on this earth.

So on that note, thank you for listening if you’ve read this far.

Now let me turn you on to a delicious chicory salad. I’ve added pomegranate seeds to the original recipe adding beautiful color. I love the jewel-like quality these little seeds add and they make the salad appropriately festive for the holiday season!

TIP: The best way to remove pomegranate seeds is to cut the fruit in quarters or eighths if it is particularly large and then submerge it in a bowl of water. Then underwater, bend back the two points of your wedge and pull the seeds out. The membrane pieces will float to the top, making it easy for you to discard before straining the entire bowl. Doing this underwater prevents the luscious red juice from splashing all over you and staining your clothes.

BALSAMIC CHICORY SALAD WITH POMEGRANITE SEEDS, PARMESAN AND TAOSTED WALNUTS – serves 3 – 4

1/8 cup honey
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup of toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 medium or ½ large head of chicory, washed, spun dry and cut into 1½” pieces
1 shallot, very thinly sliced
½ tbs. grainy mustard
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese shavings, for garnish
¾ cup pomegranate seeds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place walnuts in a baking dish and toast for 7 – 8 minutes. When you can just begin to smell them, remove from the oven and let cool on a cutting board. Coarsely chop and set aside.

Combine honey and balsamic vinegar together over medium-high heat in a small sauce pan, about 5 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Do not let it boil. Pile chopped chicory and sliced shallots in a large salad bowl. Whisk the grainy mustard into the balsamic-honey mixture, then whisk in the extra-virgin olive oil. Season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste and pour over greens and shallots. Toss. Toss in toasted chopped walnuts, garnish with shavings of Parmesan and pomegranate seeds. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Quick Weeknight Pasta and Tuna Dinner

November 10, 2015 by Mary 15 Comments

I’m sure you all have yours. You know, the favorite pasta dinner that’s quick, easy, delicious and can be made with ingredients you most likely have on hand? (Of course you always have LOVE on hand, right?) Well this is mine. It’s my go-to dinner when I am out of ideas and out of a fresh protein and tired and starving and want something quick and easy. Seriously, you can get this Quick Weeknight Pasta and Tuna Dinner on the table in 35 minutes – promise.

This original recipe came from a cookbook, called Tasty – Get Great Food on the Table Everyday by Roy Finamore. One of my sons gave it to me a few Christmas’s ago. Of course, as always, I’ve changed the recipe quite a bit.

You can use spaghetti, bucatini No. 6 is very nice, or even fusilli as the pasta in this dish. You can cook the pasta to your liking and toss it together with the sauce in a bowl, off heat, or cook it 2 minutes less than al dente and finish cooking the pasta in the sauce on the heat. Either way, do add a little of the pasta water as that starchy water addition helps the sauce cling better to the pasta. Combining it in the skillet to cook a little longer does make the sauce penetrate the pasta more, providing a better taste profile, but that takes some careful watching and tasting on your part because you still want to serve it al dente. So be diligent and don’t overcook it.

Do make sure to use a high quality tuna, in a jar, packed in olive oil. No tins here. Always keep a jar in your cabinet. It may cost about $7.00 but the extra cost is well worth it for the taste and besides, this $7.00 as your protein to feed 5 – 6 people is very inexpensive compared to meat.

And this dish does very well with grated Pecorino cheese on top. I know, this would be a serious no-no to Italians who have a strict rule of no cheese on pasta with fish, but here, it really works. Pecorino for the saltiness works better than Parmigiano.

I make this dish about once every 7 – 8 weeks. It is one of the few recipes I regularly repeat and a true favorite of my husband’s. I’ve honestly been meaning to share it with you for some time and never got around to it until now. I hope you’ll fall in LOVE with it too. Quick, easy and delicious with ingredients you have on hand – all good!!

QUICK WEEKNIGHT PASTA AND TUNA DINNER – serves 5 – 6 – adapted from Roy Finamore

2 Tbs. olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 pinches of crushed red pepper flakes or one small jalepeno minced with seeds
1 cup Italian parsley, chopped
1 28 oz. can of whole plum tomatoes, preferable from San Marzano
1 (6.7 oz.) jar of Italian tuna, packed in olive oil
Coarse salt
Fresh ground pepper
1 lb. spaghetti, bucatini No.6 or fusilli
Pecorino cheese, grated, for serving

Put a large pot of water on to boil.

Warm the oil in a large skillet, big enough to hold all of the pasta once it’s cooked. Add the garlic and hot pepper and turn the heat to medium. Cook until the garlic is very lightly colored, about a minute or two while stirring constantly. Then add the parsley and let it sizzle for 1 minute. Add in the tomatoes, crushing them with your hands as you take them out of the can. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat so that the sauce cooks at a steady, active simmer.

Meanwhile, once the pasta water boils, salt it well with coarse sea salt and add the pasta. Stir right away and stir it once in a while as it boils. Cook it for 4 minutes less than the package directions.

Drain the tuna and stir into the sauce, breaking it up into chunks.

When the pasta is cooked shy of al dente, ladle out a cup of the pasta water and set to the side. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce, tossing and adding a little of the pasta water to loosen the sauce and finish cooking the pasta. After a minute, taste and test for doneness. Don’t add too much pasta water – you’re not making soup.

Serve immediately with LOVE. Pass the grated Pecorino. Enjoy!!

Please share with me your favorite, quick, go-to pasta dish in the comments below! 🙂

Garlicky Chicken With Lemon-Anchovy Sauce

October 30, 2015 by Mary 22 Comments

I very rarely do this, but I knew I must have done something wrong. This Garlicky Chicken with Lemon-Anchovy Sauce recipe from Melissa Clark at the New York Times is a favorite of one of my sons and his girlfriend and even several of their friends as I’ve been told. They’ve made it at their homes and at our home in the country, often.

I made the recipe about a month ago and I was like, “This isn’t very good. Why do they keep making it?”

But yet, it didn’t make sense. I like Melissa Clark’s recipes. I LOVE anchovies, garlic, lemon and chicken thighs, so what’s wrong with this picture?

So last week, one of my brothers was going to be in town from Boston on business and staying with us. I decided to give it a go again.

Ok, ok, so I (as usual) altered the recipe a bit – added more garlic and cooked the whole thing on the stovetop – no oven – and this was fantastic!! Bursting with flavor and freshness with the spark of lemon, the hit of anchovies and of course, the dreamy, creamy garlic.

Even as a leftover, it still held up all that sprightly flavor! I doubled Melissa’s original recipe to make sure we’d have some extra lunches and dinners after the three of us ate.

So give this a go. This does take a little longer than my usual weeknight dinners, particularly because I like to trim ALL the fat from the thighs. Cook with LOVE. You’ll be happy!
Garlicky Chicken with Lemon-Anchovy Sauce – serves 8 – adapted from Melissa Clark

3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8 thighs)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
12 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1/2 cup (scant) extra-virgin olive oil
11 anchovy fillets
4 Tbs. drained capers, patted dry
2 large pinches of chile flakes
11/2 lemons, cut in halves
Fresh chopped chives, for serving

Trim all fat from the thighs, wash and pat dry with a paper towel. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and let rest while you prepare the anchovy-garlic oil.

Mince two of the garlic cloves and set aside for later. In a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the 10 smashed whole garlic cloves, the anchovies, capers and chile flakes. Let cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up the anchovies, until the anchovies dissolve, about 3 minutes.

Raise heat to medium-high. Add the chicken thighs and cook until nicely browned on one side, 5 to 7 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, flip the thighs, cover and cook another 7 to 12 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

When chicken is done, transfer thighs to a plate. Place skillet back on the heat and add minced garlic and the juice of one whole lemon. Cook for about 30 seconds, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Return chicken to the pan and cook it in the sauce for another 30 seconds.

Transfer everything to a serving platter. Squeeze the remaining lemon half over the chicken and garnish with chopped chives. Serve with crusty bread or rice, your favorite vegetable and of course, LOVE!

Ultragrain All Purpose Flour in Biscuits & Chocolate Cake

October 20, 2015 by Mary 27 Comments

The flour in our fall MARY’s secret ingredients box seemed to be a surprise for some. But then again, this isn’t just any flour. It is Ultragrain All Purpose flour from Ardent Mills that replaces white flour, cup for cup. In the past, I’ve baked with straight whole wheat flour and some other partial combinations. Sadly, all did not have a good success rate. Not so with this flour!! I put it to the test on biscuits and cake and this Ultragrain multigrain flour performed in a terrific way!!

It is unique in that it’s whole wheat flour that offers whole grain nutrition but with the taste, texture and appearance of white flour. It’s made with specially selected white wheat that’s grown on family farms in Colorado and surrounding states. Naturally milder, sweeter and lighter in color than red wheat, it’s milled using a unique method that retains all of the whole grain nutrition while achieving the consistency of white flour.

Ultragrain All Purpose Flour contains 9 grams of whole grain per serving and twice the fiber of other all-purpose flours.

But this is what most interests me, this flour is unenriched, unbleached, has no bromate, and the wheat is a non-GMO grain. This is a BIG thing! Who needs all that added crap or bleach!

I would even go so far as to say that I would bet that if you have a gluten sensitivity, (not intolerance or celiac) you may find this flour to be ok. Wouldn’t that be awesome?

Check out these biscuit and cake recipes. Notice the lovely texture of both in the photos. The taste and light texture are wonderful, yet this is so much better for you all around without the additives, bleach, or genetically modified base, plus you get the added fiber with 30% of the flour being whole grain. You can have your cake and eat it too!!

SKILLET BUTTERMILK BISCUITS – adapted from Food & Wine Magazine – contributed by Coleen Cruze Bhatti

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cubed, plus more for greasing
2 cups Ultragrain multigrain all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 cups cold buttermilk (I used Kate’s Buttermilk – the real thing)

Preheat the oven to 450° and butter a 12-inch cast-iron skillet. In a large bowl, whisk the 2 cups of flour with the baking powder, salt and baking soda. Add the cubed butter and using a pastry cutter or your fingers, pinch the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles very coarse crumbs, with some of the butter the size of small peas. Gently stir in the buttermilk, just until a soft dough forms.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat it into a 3/4-inch-thick round. Using a 2-inch round biscuit cutter, stamp out biscuits as close together as possible. Gently press the scraps together and stamp out more biscuits. Arrange the  biscuits in the prepared skillet and bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm.

So good, you don’t even need butter!

CHOCOLATE CAKE!

This made in the pan chocolate cake is super easy and quick to make. The recipe is from Mollie Katzan. I add a little more cocoa for a super chocolaty taste. Just be sure you’ve thoroughly mixed your dry ingredients and then the wet as well, lifting up the pan periodically so you can check.

You can literally make this in 15 – 20 to mix and then 30+ minutes to bake. Now there’s no excuse not to make a dessert, and it’s even vegan!!

MADE-IN-THE-PAN CHOCOLATE CAKE – serves 9 – adapted from Mollie Katzan

1 1/4 cups Ultragrain multigrain all purpose flour
1/3 heaping cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 cup water
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cider vinegar or white vinegar

Preheat oven to 325°F. Have ready an 8-inch-square glass baking pan. Put flour, cocoa, sugar, salt and baking soda into the pan. Mix it together thoroughly with a whisk and spatula making sure all is blended together and no white flour clumps are visible. Lift up the pan and check to make sure all is blended on the bottom and especially in the corners.

Add water, oil, vanilla extract and vinegar. Stir slowly with a whisk in small circles to blend. As it becomes a batter, mash, scrape, and stir with whisk and spatula until smooth, particularly scraping and blending from the corners of the pan.

Scrape the sides with a rubber spatula and spread it evenly. Clean the edges, then bake for 30 minutes until top bounces back on your finger impression and a toothpick come out clean.

Cool completely in the pan, on a rack. Dust with some powdered sugar (there is no need for frosting) and cut into squares.

I served it with LOVE, a dollop of ice cream and some strawberries for a really pretty and super easy dessert.

Ardent Mills Ultragrain All Purpose flour was one of the products in our MARY’s secret ingredients fall box. You can get your SURPRISE winter box here! Make a great gift and helps us in our support of Feed The Children.

POURfect Measuring Spoons & Curry Pho with Veal & Veggies

October 16, 2015 by Mary 7 Comments

My mother used to say, “You must have the right tool to do the best job.” How true that is – for anything! Well for cooking, there are measuring spoons and then there are these POURfect measuring spoons. Completely accurate – perfect for bakers where that accuracy really matters – a dream to use in that each spoon easily snaps on and off of the holding ring so you don’t have all of these dangling spoons all around while you’re trying to measure something, and all the sizes!!

First, there’s the 2 tablespoon size! Simple, but genius, because how often do you use 2 tablespoons? All the time!! Then, there’s the 11/2 teaspoon size and ¾ teaspoon – again genius. And I haven’t even gotten to the dash, pinch, smidgen, or drop measurements. Who knew there were real standard measurements for these? All these years, I just guessed!

And then there’s the leveling tool and the shiny surface area of the interior bowl of the spoon so ingredients slip out easily yet the rest of the spoon is matte so you have a better grip on it. The depression in the middle of the spoon is also so clever – a pourfect thumb grip! (couldn’t resist.)

Do I like these spoons?

You bet!

These spoons were designed when owner, Randy Kaas,unfortunately lost his sight in 2001. He had been in the kitchen utensil business since 1978 and was inspired by the TV show, The French Chef starring Julia Child. The need for a mixing bowl that wouldn’t spill when you couldn’t see what you were doing was recognized. POURfect Products solve common cooking problems making your life easier, less messy and more enjoyable.

POURfect measuring spoons are the only, Made in USA, 100% accurate spoons that snap off one at a time, have markings in English, Metric and Braille and are comfortable to hold. There isn’t another set of 12 measuring spoons that include all of these hard to find sizes.

Take a look at this luscious recipe I made recently featuring these spoons upfront as this has a lot of different ingredients, yet this soup comes together very quickly. I made this on a weeknight and it was perfect!

CURRY PHO WITH VEAL AND VEGGIES – serves 5 – 6

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into quarters and then 1/4” slices
1 lb. ground veal
2 Tbs. curry powder
Salt to taste
10 cups vegetable broth or vegetable pho
5.5 oz. brown rice udon noodles
4 kale stalks – main artery removed, rolled and cut in a chiffonade
1/3 of a bunch of beet greens, stalks separated from greens, greens sliced thin
¾ of an orange pepper, cut in 1/3” squares
¼ cup chopped oil-cured black olives
1 tomatilla chopped
Handful of sorrel leaves, leaves sliced, stems chopped for garnish, or use sliced scallions

Warm the olive oil with the onions in a large skillet. Cover and sweat the onions for 5 minutes on low heat. Add the ground veal and brown partially, until just pink and broken up into small chunks. Add the curry powder and salt to taste. Stir well to combine.

Meanwhile pour the broth into a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Add the udon and cook 2 minutes less than the package directions.

Turn heat to low and add the meat and all the rest of the vegetables, except for the sorrel stems. Stir for a minute or two. Add the chopped olives and the very end.

Serve immediately in bowls with chopsticks and LOVE. Garnish with the chopped sorrel stems, or you could use thinly sliced scallions. Enjoy!!

POURfect 13-piece measuring spoon set was one of the products in our MARY’s secret ingredients fall box. You can get your winter box here! Make a great gift and helps us in our support of Feed The Children.

Tuscan Pork Tenderloin using Sarah’s Sea Salt – Tuscan Salt

October 15, 2015 by Mary 8 Comments

I discovered Sarah’s Sea Salt – Tuscan Salt a few months ago and it literally can be used on anything and everything from a myriad of vegetables, to beef, chicken, or fish – you name it!

Truth be told, I am not usually a fan of flavored salts. Yes, that’s true! Typically you get some old herbs and big hunks of salt and the thing that sounds like a good idea never quite functions properly. You either get too many dried herbs and not enough salt or vice versa. Not so with this!

Sarah’s Sea Salt – Tuscan Salt is a medium grain Mediterranean sea salt blended with a classic mix of dried Italian herbs, tomato flecks, lemon peel, and rosemary oil. Stir this baby up first and then take out a teaspoonful and sprinkle away – on anything – and it will taste better. Promise.

Nigel Dyche and his wife, Sarah Chase of Coastal Goods, own and operate this small, family-run company. They travel the world to capture the flavors of the country. And they find the freshest, most aromatic herbs to blend with fine sea salt to make their utterly delicious combinations.

Try this pork tenderloin using Coastal Goods Sarah’s Sea Salt – Tuscan Salt. It’s a perfect fall dish, truly delicious, quick and easy, and you can use any fruits, dried or fresh, you have on hand, as well as any nuts. Just be sure to stir your salt first, so you get a good mixture of all the wonderful herbs and spices along with the fine grain Mediterranean sea salt.

TUSCAN PORK TENDERLOIN with FIGS, APRICOTS AND WALNUTS – serves 4

1 pork tenderloin – preferably out of the refrigerator for 1 hour
Sarah’s Sea Salt – Tuscan Salt – stir first, then spoon it out and sprinkle on from the spoon
Fresh ground pepper
1 Tbs. grapeseed oil
1 large handful of dried apricots, roughly chopped
3 – 4 fresh figs, cut in half or quartered, depending on their size
1 handful of walnut halves, roughly chopped
½ cup dry Vermouth
½ Tbs. butter
1 handful of chopped Italian parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat grapeseed oil in an ovenproof skillet on high heat until almost smoking.

Season both sides of the pork tenderloin with Sarah’s Sea Salt – Tuscan Salt and pat down the herbs on the meat.

Brown the pork in the skillet on all sides, for a total of about 5 minutes. Pour in the vermouth and scatter the figs, apricots and nuts on the meat and in the skillet.

Put the skillet in the oven to roast for 15 – 20 minutes, depending on your poundage and how long it’s been out of the refrigerator. Let the pork reach a temperature of 135 degrees with an instant read thermometer. It will gain more heat as it rests and you don’t want to overcook it or it will be dry. It is fine to be pink inside. My pork tenderloin was perfect at 17 minutes.

Remove the pork from the skillet and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Keep the fruit and nuts warm in the skillet on your stovetop. Add the butter to melt in the pan drippings to make a nice little sauce. Pour fruit, nuts and sauce over your meat.

Garnish with parsley and serve with LOVE.

Again, because all the herbs and spices are included in the salt, this helps you make super simple and easy recipes that taste like so much more work. Here I used Sarah’s Sea Salt – Tuscan Salt on oven-roasted broccoli.

SARAH’S SEA SALT – TUSCAN SALT ON ROASTED BROCCOLI – serves 4

1 head of broccoli, washed, stems peeled and cut into smallish spears
3 – 4 Tbs. olive oil
1¼ tsp. Sarah’s Sea Salt – Tuscan Salt
Fresh ground pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Toss the broccoli with the olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle on Sarah’s Sea Salt – Tuscan Salt and grind your pepper overall. Toss again to distribute all the wonderful herbs evenly.

Roast the broccoli for 25 – 30 minutes until tender and browned in spots. Toss the broccoli on the pan at about the 20 minute mark.

Serve with LOVE immediately.

This Sarah’s Sea Salt – Tuscan Salt is also great on oven-roasted zucchini halves or on sautéed yellow squash with onions and red peppers or on a rib steak with garlic powder and pepper, or in turkey burgers. I could go on and on. You will LOVE this product. Versatile, makes your cooking easy peasy and it’s delicious!!

Sarah’s Sea Salt – Tuscan Salt was one of the products in our MARY’s secret ingredients fall box. You can get your winter box here!

Jenkins Jellies Guava Brava & Hell Fire Jellies

October 13, 2015 by Mary Frances 14 Comments

When actress Hillary Danner had an overabundance of peppers in her organic garden in LA, what did she do? Make jellies silly!! Made in small batches, with no preservatives, artificial flavorings or colorings, these Jenkins Jellies Guava Brava and Hell Fires Jellies are sweet, hot and delicious!! Hillary teamed with longtime friend Maria Newman and concocted these spicy gems.

Loved by many famous chefs, Mario Batali described it perfectly when he said, “… it dances right on the edge of spicy and sweet in a delicious tango of provocation and pleasure.”

He likes them with cheeses and warm bread. I used both of them as a glaze on roasted fish to make a super special, easy and quick weeknight dinner. This will taste more time consuming than it is as both jellies add a ton of flavor in a jiffy!!

As I write this post, I am flying home on a plane from Florida and this quote from Mario made me laugh! “One warning…. it is highly addictive and I would like to suggest 3 ounce packages so that we may improve the airline meals we suffer as we flit about “

Take a look at this video of me turning this gorgeous piece of salmon into pure deliciousness with the Guava Brava.

JENKINS JELLIES GAUVA BRAVA ROASTED SALMON – serves 3 – 4

1 Tbs. grapeseed oil
1.5 lbs center cut salmon fillet
French Grey or Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1.5 Tbs. Jenkins Jellies Guava Brava

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Wash and dry the salmon and season with salt and pepper. Spread the mustard on top. Spread the Guava Brava on top of the mustard.

Heat oil in skillet until nearly smoking. Sear salmon in skillet skin side down for 3 minutes.

Place skillet in oven for fish to roast for 8 -10 minutes.

Carefully remove fish from the skillet – use a hot pad on the handle – (too many times I have grabbed that) – and remove the fish, cut into serving pieces, serve with LOVE and enjoy!!

I served this with some blanched sugar snap peas tossed with some toasted pecans, orange pepper, one chopped tomatillo and a champagne vinaigrette.

This next recipe used the Hell Fire jelly. Again, this was easy peasy and so totally delicious. I made this with Basa and Tilapia, and really, I imagine any fish will work, so you get to choose.

Combining the jelly with butter was a splendid way to make a glaze which then got me thinking that this glaze would also work on butternut or acorn squash for a kick!

And then with the holidays coming, I see cheddar cheese coins with a dab of either jelly in my future. It would be amazing!

Experiment, have fun and have a party – invite your friends over and share the goodness!!

JENKINS JELLIES HOT BASA – NOVA! – serves 3

3 fillets of Basa
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1.5 Tbs. Jenkins Jellies Hell Fire jelly
French Grey or Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Olive oil to slick the pan
Fresh lemon wedges

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Wash and dry your fish fillets.

Oil slick a small rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the baking sheet with some salt and pepper. This will season the underside of the fish – clever eh? Place the fish on the pan.

Melt the butter in a butter-warming saucepan. Add the jelly and use a small whisk to combine.

Brush this glaze on the fish fillets being sure to spread out the wonderful bits of pepper.

Sprinkle the top of the fish with a little crushed French Grey salt.

Roast for approximately 12 minutes until done.

Serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon. You will LOVE this!!

MARY’s secret ingredients 2015 fall box

October 9, 2015 by Mary 4 Comments

I love to reveal the contents of our boxes and this one is super special. The MARY’s secret ingredients 2015 fall box is filled with true ingredients and targeted more for the home chef, just like my friend Margaret, who thought it was the BEST BOX EVER!

To present it on video, my good friend Alison Korman, stopped by to help me introduce all of the products. Alison’s an actress and a sweetie and was in town from LA. Check out the video here:

To all of our box buyers, I know these products will spice up and make your cooking healthier, tastier and just more fun! And each box purchase helps us with our partnership with Feed The Children. No one should go hungry.

Read about all of the great products here:

Coastal Goods

Coastal Goods is a small, family-run company dedicated to bringing many of the world’s finest flavors into your kitchen through their carefully curated and crafted seasoning blends. Nigel Dyche and Sarah Chase are the husband-wife team, founders, and creative impetus behind Coastal Goods. The couple travel to ports hither and yonder with both a keen appetite and culinary eye in a quest to turn gastronomic idiosyncrasies that define their destinations into an exclusive and accessible array of seasonings.

Sarah’s Sea Salt – Tuscan Salt: Tuscan salt is a medium grain Mediterranean Sea Salt blended with a classic mix of dried Italian herbs, tomato flecks, lemon peel, and rosemary oil. Stir before using and sprinkle on pizza, pasta or grilled vegetables to amplify the flavors of the dish.

Jenkins Jellies

Jenkins Jellies produces an exquisite line of pepper jellies with a REAL KICK! Actress Hillary Danner started making jellies with the overflow of fruits and vegetables from her bountiful organic garden in the middle of Los Angeles. Encouraged by friends and family, Danner teamed up with longtime friend Maria Newman to launch their artisanal line of gourmet goodies. Their original and bestselling HELL FIRE PEPPER JELLY is a delectable concoction made from an intricate blend of seven fresh hot and sweet peppers. As the company continues to grow, Jenkins Jellies remains committed to producing their products in small batches, with the freshest available ingredients, preservative-free and no artificial ingredients. This two jar set comes with a sweet tasting spoon so you can stir before using.

Hell Fire Pepper Jelly: Their Hell Fire Pepper Jelly delivers a real kick! Its delectable balance provides a splendid sweet-n-savory condiment. Currently used in home kitchens, market delis and restaurants across the country, it livens up everything from cocktails, to charcuterie to entrees.

Guava Brava Pepper Jelly: Guava Brava Pepper Jelly continues to explore the versatility of pepper jelly with the taste of the tropics. They blended the smooth, sweet flavor of guava with their beautifully balanced Hell Fire base. The result is a party for your taste buds! Pairs great with a variety of cheeses, smother atop pancakes or jazz up your salad dressing.

POURfect

POURfect products were invented and designed when owner Randy Kaas lost his sight in 2001. He has been in the kitchen utensil business since 1978, and was inspired by the TV show, The French Chef starring Julia Child. The need for a mixing bowl that wouldn’t spill when you couldn’t see what you were doing was recognized. POURfect Products solve common cooking problems making your life easier, less messy and more enjoyable.

Ultimate Measuring Spoons with Leveler Tool: Having grown tired of inaccurate measuring spoons that were hard to use and impossible to take off or reattach to their ring, Randy decided to design the ULTIMATE set of measuring spoons. Accuracy was the primary goal, not having to solve a math problem to half or double a measurement, and easy to use, one at a time encompassed all of the goals. POURfect measuring spoons are the only, Made in USA, 100% accurate spoons that snap off one at a time, have markings in English, Metric and Braille and are comfortable to hold. There isn’t another set of 12 measuring spoons that include hard to find sizes plus these: a drop, smidgen, pinch and dash.

Ultragrain

Ultragrain is the unique whole wheat flour that offers whole grain nutrition with the taste, texture and appearance of white flour. It’s made with specially selected white wheat that’s grown on family farms in Colorado and surrounding states. Naturally milder, sweeter and lighter in color than red wheat, it’s milled using a unique method that retains all of the whole grain nutrition while achieving the consistency of white flour.

Ultragrain All-Purpose Flour: Ultragrain All Purpose Flour blend is 30% Ultragrain whole wheat flour and 70% traditional white flour – the cup-for-cup replacement for all-purpose white flour that delivers whole grain nutrition without having to adjust your recipes or sacrifice taste. Ultragrain All Purpose Flour contains 9 grams of whole grain per serving and twice the fiber of other all-purpose flours. **Ultragrain All Purpose Flour is unenriched, unbleached and has no bromate. Wheat is non-GMO grain.

Mary’s Pastel: Mary created this original pastel drawing in her upstate art studio in Ancram, NY. There she also has a little garden of tomatoes, peppers and herbs and this is her summer bounty. Spread the word about MARY’s secret ingredients and use as a postcard or frame it for your kitchen! Two of her paintings are in a show in Hudson, NY this week!

Happy cooking and eating!! And remember to always add LOVE to your cooking!