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

Warm Farro Salad with RayZyn’s

December 31, 2016 by Mary 22 Comments

Imagine raisins that have more antioxidants than wine!! Not that I’m giving up my wine but we could always use more antioxidants to combat all the diseases out there. These Wine RayZyn’s are a crunchy superfood in three flavors – ChardonayZyn, MerlayZyn, and CabernayZyn are really simply dried wine grapes. If you got our MARY’s secret ingredients winter box, you received two of the three flavors.

They’re delicious and super crunchy. A little different than you’d expect, the crunch comes from the seeds and the seeds have more antioxidants than the rest of the dried grape, so crunch away!!

I made this warm farro salad with the RayZyns, (any flavor will work), some sautéed onions and radishes. I’m calling this a salad because of the radishes but believe me, this was delicious and comforting, even on a cold winter night. Finishing it with the sherry vinegar adds just the right amount of acid to tie the sweet, from the RayZyns, with the savory, from the onions and radishes, together, while the lovely farro adds its own soft chewy texture. The butter at the end is a good addition as well, to tie it all together.

And don’t worry about serving this warm salad to your kids, there’s no alcohol in these RayZyn’s and they’re non GMO, all natural, and vegan!

Make this to go with any protein. You’ll be delighted.

WARM FARRO SALAD WITH RAYZYN’S – serves 4

1 cup farro
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
3 cups water
2 Tbs. olive oil, divided
1 small onion or shallot, minced
1 anchovy fillet, drained and patted dry
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
3 radishes, chopped
1/2 cup RayZyns, any flavor, finely chopped
Fine grind sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 Tbs. sherry vinegar

Warm farro salad with RayZyn's ingredients on a wooden cutting board. Combine farro, water and 1 tsp. coarse sea salt in a small pot. Being to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Test after 15 minutes. The texture of the farro should be tender and chewy, a little al dente. And the farro should always be covered with water while cooking. This will take 15 – 30 minutes of cooking time.

Meanwhile, as the farro is cooking, in a small skillet, warm 1 Tbs. olive oil on low heat and add the minced onion or shallot and the anchovy. Cover and let cook on low heat for 10 minutes to soften and sweeten the onion, and melt the anchovy, stirring occasionally.

Uncover and add the chopped radishes and cook for just 3 minutes on medium high heat. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the 1 Tbs. of butter. Swirl it around to melt the butter off heat, but keep the skillet in a warm place.

Finely chopped RayZyn's with three radishes on a cutting board. Finely chop the RayZyn’s, any flavor will be delicious.

Drain the farro when done. Shake the colander and stir the grains to remove any extra water. Lay the farro out on one-half of a clean linen or cotton towel and cover with the other half of the towel to mop up any extra water from the farro.

In a warm bowl, combine the farro, the radishes and onion mixture, the finely chopped RayZyns, plus 1 Tbs. good olive oil and sprinkle the sherry vinegar over all. Toss to combine well and taste for salt and pepper. It may not need any salt.

Serve immediately, with LOVE!

Chinese 5 Spice Duck Legs with Lingonberries

December 24, 2016 by Mary 12 Comments

I was first introduced to lingonberries at the Red Rooster restaurant in my home neighborhood. President Obama frequented it often, making getting home those nights a bit of a nightmare – no train stops near there!

Marcus Samuelsson, the chef and owner of the Red Rooster, was raised in Sweden. At his restaurant, they serve lingonberries with Swedish meatballs and that dish is super delicious!

But the thing is, lingonberries are great with SO many things!! They add the right amount of tart with just the right amount of sweet – a perfect combination.

In Sweden, I learned that most Swedes pick their own lingonberries and make their own jams. And this brand, Felix, in our MARY’s secret ingredients winter box, is a Swedish favorite so you know it has to be good! But you know it has to be good because we chose it to be in our box, as we only allow the best and purest products to go in.

Often, on Saturdays and Sundays, I buckle down and make dinners to have easily during the busy work week. I like to make duck legs as they’re easy to do, quick to warm up during the week, a little different, and we LOVE them! So make this super simple recipe of Chinese 5 Spice Duck Legs with Lingonberries – it just takes a bit of time, but then you’ll be able to serve a restaurant worthy meal, during the week! How cool is that?

And the Felix Lingonberries look so festive – perfect for this time of year!

CHINESE 5 SPICE DUCK LEGS WITH FELIX LINGONBERRIES – serves 2

2 duck legs, washed, patted dry and trimmed of excess fat (save to render if you wish)
Sea salt, fine grind
1 tsp. Chinese 5 Spice, divided into ¼ tsps.
Felix Lingonberries to sauce on top

Season duck legs on each side with salt and ¼ tsp. of Chinese 5 spice. Rub it in on the meat evenly. Ideally, let the legs sit out on the counter for 1 hour.

Place legs skin side down in a cold non-stick skillet and turn heat to medium. When the legs start to sizzle, cover the pan and turn heat to low and cook undisturbed for about 60 – 65 minutes (check once to be sure legs aren’t burning); the skin should be golden/dark brown. Turn and cook until duck is very tender, another 20 – 25 minutes.

Serve the legs on a bed of jasmine rice sauced with the Lingonberries and LOVE. Total yumminess!

If you are serving these on another night, warm them in the microwave on high for 30 seconds to get the interior meat warm and then place in a skillet on low, warming on both sides and getting the skin crispy again, until hot all the way through.

Regarding the leftover fat from the legs, you can render it in a skillet on low, while your duck legs are cooking and drain and save the fat in a container in the fridge. It will keep for several months. Using a little bit of this fat in place of olive oil for roasting or sautéing anything adds a nice rich flavor. I even used some to make my pie crust this past Thanksgiving and it was delicious and much better for you than using Crisco. I used half butter and half duck fat.

Enjoy!!

And Happy Holidays to all!!!

Tuscan Bean Soup with Sfoglini Spaccatelli Pasta

December 17, 2016 by Mary 6 Comments

Tuscan Bean Soup with Sfoglini Spaccatelli Pasta is a recipe based on one from my Tuscan cookbook. I have been wanting to make this soup since the summer when I received the book from my friend Cristina while in Arezzo on that wonderful trip. This Tuscan Bean Soup with Sfoglini Spaccatelli Pasta is so comforting and this pasta is to die for.

Really.

It is made with Organic Durum Semolina flour and water. That’s it! And it is so delicious, really like homemade. My husband could eat this pasta every night so if the good folks at Sfoglini in Brooklyn, NY want to send me a case of this stuff, bring it on!

The pasta shape is Spaccatelli and is sometimes referred to as Strozzapreti or “priest collars.” It resembles a rolled-up scroll or towel, smooth and tight. Legend has it that the name refers to how annoyed Italian men became at seeing their wives labor over cooking extravagant meals for the local clergy. Ha! This two inch strand of tubular pasta is a great substitute for ziti or macaroni in any dish and is superb with a chunky meat sauce as the shape envelops the sauce into the curved folds.

Rather than a chunky sauce that you can make on your own, I opted to highlight this pasta in this luscious bean soup. Plan ahead as you have to soak the beans overnight before cooking, but this is well worth it. This soup is so Tuscan, so comforting, and so perfect on a cold winter night.

I suppose you could use drained and rinsed canned beans but cooking the real thing is so much better. And it’s not much effort. It’s just time. So give this a go!

TUSCAN BEAN SOUP WITH SFOGLINI SPACCATELLI PASTA – serves 8

8 oz. Sfoglini Spaccatelli Pasta
1 lb. dried cannellini beans
8 oz. of ripe or canned tomatoes, crushed
8 cups of vegetable stock
3 cloves of garlic and 1 clove of chopped garlic
1 onion, chopped
3 sage leaves
Chili pepper flakes
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Rinse and cover the beans with 3 inches of cold water and soak overnight. The next day, rinse, drain and cover with 1½ inches of fresh cold water. Add 3 wholes cloves of garlic and sage leaves and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook for 1.5 – 2 hours, partially covered, until very tender, making sure the beans are always covered with water. Add salt to taste when done.

Puree the beans in a blender with some of the water until you achieve a smooth puree.

In another saucepan, sauté the finely chopped onion and garlic in a little oil. Add the tomatoes and chili pepper flakes and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the bean puree and hot broth. Add salt to taste and bring to a simmer.

Fill a separate large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add coarse sea salt and the Sfoglini Spaccatelli Pasta and cook for 4 minutes. Drain and add to the soup, stirring for 1 minute to combine and to let the pasta finish cooking. Taste the pasta to be sure it is done. It should be al dente.

Ladle the soup in bowls, drizzle with olive oil and top with fresh ground pepper and serve with LOVE.

Enjoy!!!

There are a few boxes left with this special pasta and you can buy a winter subscription box here and receive all of the great products. Remember better pantries make better meals!

Additionally your purchase helps in our partnership with Feed The Children. No one should go hungry.

The Joys of Entertaining and of Being Entertained

December 4, 2016 by Mary 11 Comments

So many people wrote to me that they were making my pecan pie recipe or my cranberry sauce or dressing for Thanksgiving! It’s so nice they let me know and it gives me such great joy to know that people are making my food all over the country and loving it! Actually, all over the world as our son, Zach and his fiancée, Agata, were in touch with me often from Warsaw, (thank goodness for Facetime!), as they made my whole Thanksgiving dinner from my book and entertained 11 people for dinner with only one guest being an American.

Zach, Agata and I chatted at length last Saturday, on my birthday, and they told me how much joy it gave them to see all their friends truly relishing every bite. Everyone just loved every part of their dinner, with even one of their guests getting up and sneaking the crumbs left in the pecan pie plate! How very happy it made them to see all of that!

That, to me, is the joy of entertaining and feeding people. That is what gives me so much pleasure.

Here are pictures of their table in Poland and their turkey.

Zach and Agata also said they didn’t know how I cooked Thanksgiving dinner every year, that it was SO much work. They remarked that the two of them were working together and that I did it pretty much by myself. Isn’t that so sweet? I do get help from my husband and honestly, I haven’t made it the last two years.

I wanted to share with you my big birthday celebration. Our oldest son, his wife, and my husband made a beautiful dinner and our friends, Anne and Frank, joined us. But before dinner, they sat me down on the sofa in front of the fire and played a video that they had made of my friends and family from all over the world, singing or wishing me a happy birthday!!! It was incredible and literally brought me to tears. Such an amazing, fun and super sweet gift!

For the dinner, they made homemade pici pasta with a parsley, sage, Parmagiano pesto, a beautiful half-leg of lamb on the grill with Julia Child’s mustard, garlic, soy marinade, and a delicious chocolate cake. That recipe was from Home Cooking with Jean-Georges cookbook, which I will share with you later.

Woman carving a medium rare half-leg of lamb.

Here I am, carving the lamb.

Awedge of chocolate cake with strawberries, a dallop of whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa powder.

A beautiful birthday cake!

I know I am so lucky!!

As you get ready for the holidays, you may want to check out and download my holiday cookbook of small plates, savory and sweet. It’s free and yours for the taking.

Enjoy!!

Our holiday winter MARY’s secret ingredients box starts shipping tomorrow – Monday! Makes a great gift that will arrive in time for the holidays. And every purchase contributes to our partnership with Feed The Children. Maybe this can be the year we eradicate hunger. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Braised Veal Chops with Honey and Red Grapes

November 26, 2016 by Mary 16 Comments

Today is my birthday. Yes. A rather big one that I’d prefer not to talk about but here we are! Better than the alternative as my Dad used to say. My oldest son and his wife are coming later today to cook a big dinner with my husband and I am very excited. We have a half of a leg of lamb marinating since last night with Julia Child’s soy, garlic, and mustard glaze, (only we use rosemary instead of thyme). So last night, I decided to treat us, just my husband and me, to veal chops! I absolutely adore this recipe of Braised Veal Chops with Honey and Red Grapes.

I first made this years ago for Harriet, my piano teacher who was really my second mother, at her home with some other friends, way back in 2004. It is based on a recipe from Food and Wine magazine from that year. And this was THE recipe that got me cooking with grapes!

Here’s my Dijon Pork Chops with Herbs and Grapes recipe as well as this New Year’s Crostini Appetizer with Roasted Grapes that is super delicious and of course, perfect for this time of year.

This veal chop recipe is also perfect for this time of year. Veal is expensive and fancy for holiday dinners. However, unlike some other holiday recipes, this one is easy, comes together very quickly, and the cooking time is perfect. You don’t want veal to be rare or even medium rare, you want it just done but not dry, barely pink, and this method of cooking does it just right.

I hope you’ll get a chance to try this. I served it with some roasted Delicata squash with a little butter and maple syrup and some sautéed escarole in olive oil and garlic. A very yummy meal!

BRAISED VEAL CHOPS WITH HONEY AND RED GRAPES – serves 2

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 anchovy fillets
Two ½ lb. veal loin chops, cut about 3/4 inch thick
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 sage leaves
3 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
3/4 cup seedless red grapes
11/2 Tbs. honey

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the anchovies and cook over moderately low heat, mashing the anchovies until pureed, about 3 minutes. Increase the heat to high.

Season the veal chops with salt and pepper. Add them to the skillet and cook until browned, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the chops to a platter.

Add the wine, sage, cloves and bay leaves to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat until the wine is reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Add the veal chops and their juices, cover and simmer over low heat until the chops are barely pink in the center, about 3 minutes per side. Return the chops to the platter.

Add the grapes and honey to the skillet, cover and cook over moderate heat until the grapes are tender, about 4 minutes. Scatter the grapes over the chops. Boil the pan juices over high heat until reduced to ½ cup, about 5 minutes. Discard the cloves and bay leaves. Pour the sauce over the chops and serve with LOVE. Preferably in front of a roaring fire. 🙂
Regarding the wine, I think maybe a Syrah would have been better.

Braised Chicken Thighs with Marinated Artichokes

November 20, 2016 by Mary 12 Comments

This Braised Chicken Thighs with Marinated Artichokes is a DELICIOUS, fun recipe. So you’re saying now, how can a recipe be fun? Well I’ll tell you. I think it’s fun when it has all of these elements – you’re trying something new, It’s easy, it comes together quickly, even while entertaining, AND the dish is DELICIOUS!!

So that is exactly what happened. You know, those times where you’re just humming in the kitchen, it’s very busy but everything is working and timed correctly?

And this is what this Braised Chicken Thighs with Marinated Artichokes recipe is all about. It is a dish very roughly based on a recipe from Food and Wine magazine, but I had to change it a lot, due to my husband having a bout with acid reflux again. And interestingly enough, our good friend Wayne has had the same problem. And Margaret and Wayne were the ones we were entertaining, so all was good!!

With Steve’s acid reflux, we cannot have any onions, garlic, citrus fruit or any peppers, which actually makes dishes easier to prepare because you don’t have all the chopping and prep of those items! Easy peasy.

This recipe produces THE most tender succulent chicken thighs with a wonderful crispy skin. The cast iron pan frying of the thighs, skin side down, with a weight on top, plus the broiling at the end produces the super crispy skin and the braising in the oven creates super tender, juicy meat.

Marinated artichokes always seem like they should be so good, and then I try them and I don’t like the taste of the oil marinade they are in, do you? But this recipe FINALLY puts these babies to good use. I mean really good use so I can no longer speak disparaging about them.

Here is the recipe:

BRAISED CHICKEN THIGHS WITH MARINATED ARTICHOKES – serves 4 – 6

8 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (3 3/4 pounds)
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
15 ounces marinated artichoke hearts, plus 1/4 cup brine from the jar
1 cup Castelvetrano olives
6 rosemary sprigs
1 cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1/2 cup semidry sherry, such as amontillado
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. In a large cast-iron skillet or black steel pan, heat the oil. Add half of the chicken skin side down and top the pieces (not the pan) with a pot lid to weigh it down and get the skin very crisp; cook over moderate heat until browned and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the thighs skin side up to a large baking dish or a Le Creuset Dutch oven. Repeat with the remaining chicken. Scatter the artichoke hearts, olives, and rosemary in the baking dish.

Pour off the fat from the skillet. Add the artichoke brine, stock, sherry and fish sauce; bring to a boil. Stir in 1 teaspoon of salt, then pour the mixture around the chicken. Cover tightly with a lid or foil and braise in the oven for 45 minutes, until the chicken is very tender.

Uncover and increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Roast the chicken for 10 – 12 minutes longer, until the skin is crisp.

Discard the rosemary stems if you can. Transfer to plates and serve with LOVE.

Thanksgiving is THURSDAY!!!! We all have much to be grateful for and we pray that we can keep our country whole, and replace all hate with love.

I’m sure you all have been collecting your recipes for the big day. I am NOT cooking – which is a little bittersweet. It is my favorite holiday and I love to cook the meal but my brother Steve and his wife, Trish, have graciously invited all of my family, including our new daughter-in-law’s parents, to their home in Greenwich for what I know will be a very delicious feast paired with amazing wines as he is a Certified Sommelier (and here is his Wine and Food Pairings blog) and they always roll out the red carpet. Like maybe even starting with Russian Beluga Caviar. Yes! I told you we have much to be grateful for!

Thanksgiving recipes and process in an e-book format, beautifully designed to give you a magnificent feast.

My complimentary Thanksgiving e-book of recipes and step-by-step process.

A few years ago I created a Thanksgiving cookbook with an entire day-by-day schedule to follow to achieve maximum results. You can download it here as an interactive PDF. No charge of course – I hope you enjoy it!! And here’s a simple recipe for Candied Yams that’s a terrific dish to grace your table.

And meanwhile, our holiday box of MARY’s secret ingredients is a doozy – valued at more than $47.00!! The cost is only $34.00, including shipping, and makes a great gift for all your foodie friends, even for yourself. So order several several and start making memorable meaIs you’ll be very proud of with the amazing recipes I have been working on using all of these new and interesting products. It will start shipping on December 5th, just in time for the holidays!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!