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

Tangy Sorrel & Potato Soup with Bacon, topped with MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds

October 16, 2016 by Mary 16 Comments

When I first heard about MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds, somehow I didn’t think they could possibly be popped seeds from the lotus flower, but that’s exactly what they are!

The seeds are underneath the lotus flower and one has to remove a brown casing, then pop them like popcorn while seasoning them at the same time. These MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds are flavored with butter and sea salt and they are DELICIOUS!!! Better yet, they’re low in calories and high in protein. It’s a snack that’s actually ok for you! I’m taking these to the movies – way better than that chemical laden popcorn they sell.

Lotus seeds are commonly used in Chinese medications for their healing benefits. They also contain an enzyme with powerful anti-aging properties so I’m going to eat them by the handful!

The company making MOM’S Popped Lotus Seeds is a small family owned business based in Boulder, Colorado. Their founder was first introduced to the deliciousness of popped lotus seeds as a child when his mother gave them to him as an afternoon snack. In his late 20’s, he found himself fed up with foods that were either chock full of calories or healthy but barely edible. He was determined to find a balance between good-for-you snacks and addicting junk food. That journey led him right back to his childhood.

Lotus seeds are known to be effective in alleviating restlessness, due to the natural sedative and calming effects of the seeds. Having raised two boys myself, I think the founder’s mother was one smart cookie, serving these as snack to a young energetic boy, right?

Besides being a delicious snack, I found them great to replace croutons – and better for you with all of these benefits!! My garden was loaded with sorrel last weekend so I made this quick and easy Tangy Sorrel & Potato Soup with Bacon, topped with MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds and it was soooo good!! And, the popped lotus seeds are gluten free as an added bonus.

Try this, if you haven’t already eaten them all.
TANGY SORREL & POTATO SOUP WITH BACON, TOPPED WITH MOM’s POPPED LOTUS SEEDS – serves 4 – 5

1Tbs. unsalted butter
2 oz. nitrate-free smoky bacon, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 quarts chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
1/2 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
3 Tbs. heavy cream
1/2 lb. sorrel, stems discarded, leaves coarsely chopped.
1 cup of MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds, Sea Salt flavor

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the bacon and cook over moderately low heat until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until almost evaporated, about 4 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the potatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sorrel. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve topped with Mom’s Popped Lotus Seeds Sea Salt flavor.
Pass a bowl of more MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds at the table.

The soup can be made without the sorrel and refrigerated overnight. Bring to a simmer and add the coarsely chopped sorrel just before serving.
MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds can also be ground in a mini grinder, combined with a little freshly grated Parmigiano cheese and used to coat zucchini slices for a great gluten free “breading”. Saute in olive oil, drain on paper toweling. Serve with LOVE and some Roquefort cheese during your next cocktail hour.

There are just a few fall boxes left where you can
get your own bag of gluten free MOM’s Popped Lotus Seeds!

And your purchase helps us support Feed The Children.

Easter 2015, New Beginnings and Bacon Wrapped Walnut Dates

April 16, 2015 by Mary 8 Comments

Isn’t this what Easter is all about – new beginnings?

So I‘ve been slightly slammed lately, trying to get MSI off the ground, keeping PM+CO going, (cause that’s where we make money to pay the mortgage, rent and salaries) and just trying to balance it all to be able to sleep at night – which hasn’t been easy. So this past weekend, we got to go up to the country for the first time in four weeks! I cannot tell you how blessed we are to have this very simple place that is so very different from the city. I have my little painting studio there and I was working on a very abstracted landscape and got to go back to its simplicity and wow – that felt SO good! Even when we could drive up there, I had been away from the studio for so long because the snow was so deep, I wouldn’t have been able to open the doors. So I walked in last Saturday and really had to take a step back to try to remember what it was I was trying to achieve in my work.

I put it together and happily continued on for hours – and it felt SO good!! New beginnings – springtime – eh?!

Here is a snippet of our Peaster celebration! (Passover and Easter). We started with my husband’s delicious matzo bowl soup with one son’s homemade sourdough bread, followed by Barbecued Fresh Ham with an Ancho Fig Compote – both recipes from an April, 2001 issue of Food and Wine magazine – served with Parsley Buttered Egg Noodles, and Sesame Soy Sauteed Asparagus. Dessert was two gorgeous pies with whipped cream and of course, some chocolate eggs and jelly beans too!

We were privileged to have one girlfriend with her Mom and stepdad, one nephew, and one close friend of one son with his mom visiting from Turkey and the four of us. We made ten in total. It was wonderful and really, my boys take over. One makes drinks and one dotes on me to not get too stressed. They both help serve (because they just think I’m not capable?) One made the fantastic loaf of sourdough bread that we served with the matzo ball soup and the other acted as my sous chef earlier in the day. Honestly, I AM amazed. They know so much. I only wish my own mother was still alive to see this. My mother loved to bake breads. She unfortunately rarely had enough time when we were all home (6 kids) and then when she did have time, no one was home to eat it all! And here I have a son who has a sourdough starter (my Mom’s dream) and makes bread all the time!! He was making another loaf just yesterday morning. And this is a time consuming thing, particularly if you don’t have a big six hour dedicated time block. But he makes it work with his schedule. He’s figured out how to do it in stages, interrupted by all of his activities and it works!

Here is the sourdough with an amazing crust!!

To you younger moms out there, this is proof that it really does pay off to cook and serve healthy meals at home. The one girlfriend said at Easter, “Oh well god forbid, if I even TRY to throw out the chicken bones, I get yelled at – gotta make broth!”

And I’m sitting there thinking, I don’t make broth with every chicken….

I hope you all had a great holiday celebration – whatever you celebrate – it’s just important you get together and CELEBRATE!! EVERYTHING!!

Take a look at this fantastic, simple appetizer that everyone loved. I’m sorry that this photograph is not great but here I am holding a plate of these Bacon Wrapped Walnut Stuffed Dates, and talking to one of our guests, while licking my fingers!j

My big beautiful barbecued fresh ham!

Big bowl of parsley buttered egg noodles.

A big bowl of comforting, parsley buttered egg noodles. Who doesn’t love that?

Beautiful pecan and blueberry pies for Easter dessert.

Kate’s beautiful pecan and blueberry pies.

These are amazing – make them and you’ll see!

BACON WRAPPED WALNUT DATES – serves 10

20 large Medjool dates, slit the long way but not cut all the way through, and pitted
20 walnut halves
10 slices of thin sliced bacon, cut in half

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Stuff a walnut in the middle of each date, close and wrap with 1/2 of a slice of bacon, having the ends meet underneath the date. Arrange on a small broiler pan with a rack so grease can drip down.

Roast for 12 – 17 minutes, until the bacon is done. Let cool 5 – 10 minutes as they are much too hot straight out of the oven. Serve with LOVE and a toothpick inserted in each one, plus plenty of napkins. Delish!!

MARY’s secret ingredients crowdfunding – help bring home the bacon!

March 22, 2015 by Mary 17 Comments

My best blogger friend, dear Maureen, over at Orgasmic Chef just contributed to our crowdfunding effort for MARY’s secret ingredients (MSI) all the way from Australia!!! THANK YOU MAUREEN!!! Your show of support means so very much to me and our whole MSI team.

So we are heading into the last week of the crowdfunding campaign and this has been quite an experience. (If you like to sweat, run one!) Please check out this video we made.

Meanwhile we’ve been reaching out for funding in all different ways – meeting with VC firms, people who know people, connections activated everywhere. I’ve decided that sleep is overrated – I’ve had to – as I get very little of it lately but amazingly, I am not tired. I am exhilarated by this mission – our big hairy audacious goal of eradicating hunger. Did you know that over 16 million children go to bed hungry every night, in this country alone? There are about 870 million hungry people worldwide. They are of all ages, from babies whose mothers cannot make enough milk to the elderly with no relatives to care for them. And many poverty-stricken overweight people are actually starving and malnourished because they’re eating all the wrong food – processed, fatty, addictive junk!

So with MSI, we hope to work on both ends of the spectrum – with the products in the surprise subscription box and the recipes I create using them, providing inspiration and encouragement for healthy cooking at home, and then donating a large portion of the profits to Feed The Children.

So we’d love to have you join our initiative and be a part of this big hairy audacious goal to eradicate hunger. There’s unique and lovely rewards to be had. Visit the SmallKnot site to find out more.

And now I’d like to share with you the BEST way to cook bacon.

Nothing says Sunday morning breakfast to me more than bacon and eggs, which is what I grew up with. Only my mother would fry the bacon in a skillet (she got a thin sliced pound that would feed all eight of us at least 2 slices each!) and when it was all finished, she’d make the eggs in the same skillet and baste them with the bacon grease! With all the bacon craze now, my boys are asking me for this, but I just won’t do it. Cholesterol heaven! So these are over easy with just a tiny bit of butter in a non-stick pan.

My husband and I were walking around the city yesterday, on the east side of town, and happened upon this great Spanish butcher shop. Not much English was spoken here (and my Spanish is nonexistent), so my bacon was sliced a little thicker than expected. This actually took about 27 minutes to cook. Typically 18 minutes is ideal.

THE BEST WAY TO COOK BACON
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Use a rimmed baking sheet and line with parchment paper. Lay out the strips of 1 lb. nitrate-free thick sliced bacon. Position your oven rack at the very top and roast for 15 – 20 minutes. Mine usually takes about 18 minutes. Carefully remove cooked bacon with tongs and drain on paper towel lined plates to absorb the grease. This is so much better and easier than frying and clean up is a breeze because of the parchment paper lining. Enjoy!

Help us bring home the bacon and visit our crowdfunding site for exclusive merchandise and deals! (I couldn’t resist!) Spread the word to your community. And thank you so very much – with all my LOVE.

Here is the link: http://smallknot.com/marys-secret-ingredients-1 – The campaign runs until March 27th – this Friday!

Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches

August 24, 2013 by Mary Frances 22 Comments

Now is the time!! The tomatoes are magnificent! Go and visit your nearest farmer’s market and buy those amazing heirloom tomatoes. Get some nitrate-free bacon and whip up bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches! We had just that for lunch today with an ear of corn, leftover from last night’s dinner, and it was just so delicious. So flavorful, like eating sunshine. Can you eat sunshine? Well it felt like it because this was just so fresh and yummy. So simple, yet full of flavor but light at the same time.

Once again, it’s all about the ingredients. Our bacon, from a local farm, was delicious and crisp. Our bread was toasted and also crisp. It was whole wheat sourdough artisanal bread. The orange tomatoes were vine ripened and just picked this morning. The two red cherry tomatoes I grew and picked this morning. The lettuce was iceberg for the cold crunch and the mayo was Hellman’s, not even homemade. I sprinkled a little fine grind sea salt and fresh ground black pepper on the tomatoes, before closing the sandwich.

Don’t let summer come to a close without making this. You won’t be sorry.

BACON, LETTUCE AND TOMATO SANDWICHES – serves 2

4 slices of whole wheat sourdough bread, toasted and cooled
2 – 3 heirloom tomatoes, sliced 1/4” thick
6 slices of nitrate-free bacon, fried crisp, drained on paper towels and patted dry of top grease
3 – 4 leaves of iceberg lettuce, torn in half, folded to fit
Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper
Hellmann’s real mayonnaise

Spread a thin film of mayonnaise on each slice of bread, Top one slice with a double thickness of tomatoes. Salt and pepper the tomatoes, top with 3 slices of bacon, the lettuce and then close with the other slice of bread. Cut in half and serve.

Eat with gusto and enjoy the summer sunshine!! You will LOVE it!

Another great beef tenderloin dinner

February 12, 2012 by Mary Frances 19 Comments

Beef tenderloin is actually the perfect weeknight entertaining choice. For a special dinner, it’s big, it’s fancy and it’s quick and easy. My Mother used to always say, “Make a roast, Mary. It’s easy!” And you know, she was right.

So, remember, it’s always about the ingredients and their quality. So as long as you’re spending money on a tenderloin, get the best that you can. My butcher, Bob, at Esposito’s, has the best! His man, Solomon, did a spectacular job trimming and tying this piece of meat. See how even it is all the way through. These butchers take enormous pride in their job and it certainly shows. (They’re located at 38th Street and 9th Avenue.)

Now I don’t think I’ve told you, but we’re moving our offices (I do have another day job running a brand design and marketing communications firm) down to TriBeCa so I’ve been a little off this week and I will be until the end of the month. We’ve been in our current space for 10 years and accumulated way too much stuff. I promise I’ll get back on track when this is all over. But we’re very excited about our new space!

Back to the dinner party I had this past Thursday night. I made up this recipe as a combination of what I made on Christmas day and what I used to make years and years ago from, believe it or not, Joy of Cooking! I received this cookbook from my sewing teacher, the wonderful Mrs. Mellor, at a bridal shower 30 years ago!! (OMG) My Mom was so afraid that I would be a tomboy and useless wife, and because I went to Catholic school, we were not taught home economics, so she coerced the woman who taught sewing at the public high school to give me private lessons one summer, in order for me to learn how to sew. Mrs. Mellor was a wonderful woman with an infectious laugh, twinkling eyes and everything was always okay with her, even if you really screwed up – she would fix it. She ended up making all of my bridesmaids dresses from this beautiful silk I had bought – 4 of them – all as a gift!! Sweet, sweet woman! Her son, Jimmy, was a good friend of my two brothers and we recently reconnected through Facebook! Good ol’ Facebook. He’s an airline pilot for American Airlines flying the St. Louis to LaGuardia route. I always look for him when I fly back home. He said I should just knock on the cockpit door next time, that they get lonely in there. Well, these days I think I’d get shot!

Here’s what I made.

Bacon wrapped beef tenderloin on a metal platter.

So good!!

BACON-WRAPPED BEEF TENDERLOIN
– serves 10 – 12

1 (5.5 lbs.) beef tenderloin, trimmed and tied
1 rounded tbs. kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
6 garlic cloves, minced
15 slices of bacon
1/2 cup creme fraiche
2 tbs.white horseradish
Several dashes of Tabasco

Season the tenderloin all over with the salt, pepper, and garlic. Cover the meat and refrigerate overnight. Let it come to room temperature for 2 hours before roasting.

Heat oven to 500 degrees. Wipe off as much garlic and seasonings as possible with a paper towel. The flavors have penetrated the meat overnight. Place the meat on a rack in a large roasting pan and wrap the bacon around it.

Place the roasting pan on the middle rack of the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 400 degrees and roast for 30 – 40 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer reaches 120 degrees (for rare). Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before carving.

In a small bowl, whisk the crème fraîche and horseradish plus a few dashes of Tabasco. Serve alongside the tenderloin.

A very special day.

November 27, 2011 by Mary Frances Leave a Comment

Yesterday was my birthday and as has become a tradition from my husband and sons, I am to stay out of the kitchen the whole day and only do what I want. Pretty special! So I slept late, went for long bike ride, chatted with an old friend (actually my second employee who never forgets my birthday after all these years) from San Francisco and then some of us went to the movies to see J. Edgar.

Zach and his Polish girlfriend, Agata, made breakfast and lunch, while my husband and my eldest son made dinner. Breakfast and lunch were surprises to me while the dinner menu was my request. All were amazing!!

Homemade Polish bread on a wooden cutting board.

Polish homemade bread

We have a bread recipe in our family from my grandmother that I usually make on each holiday. Since we were all spending Thanksgiving at my brother, Steve’s house in CT, Agata volunteered to make the bread. Yipee!! This is a yeast number with 2 risings and takes about 6 hours. So it was a treat to have someone else offer to make it! The most interesting thing is that her family has a really similar recipe to ours and she made a few modifications to match ours exactly, as she had tasted my bread last Christmas. Nowhere else have we ever run into this! Most people think of babka or some form of that when you say Polish bread but this is a slightly cakey, eggy version and she said we do it a little sweeter than her family.

Polish vegetable and cheese salad in a blue and white bowl.

Polish vegetable/cheese salad

She did a beautiful job!! See the photo – light, airy and just the right texture. So for breakfast she made us all a breakfast her grandmother used to make for her! Egg salad (with Tom and Ethel’s delicious farm fresh eggs) and another dish that is a mixture of fresh peeled cucumbers, Farmer’s cheese, creme fraiche, tomatoes, garlic and chives. For each bite, we put a spoonful of either one on a piece of toasted homemade bread, and it was yummy! Creamy, light, refreshing and different! All things I LOVE!

Creamy egg salad

Right after breakfast, Agata got to work on lunch. From scratch, she made nearly 70 pierogis! They were delicious. They were stuffed with a mixture of sautéed onion, mashed potatoes and Farmers cheese and then topped with a light sauce of onions and bacon. Served with a chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc and we were all happy campers!! Just delicious!

A pierogi lunch!

So for dinner, our oldest son made me a terrific Rob Roy straight up. It is one of my favorite cocktails, right up there with a Tanqueray 10 straight up martini. A Rob Roy is essentially a slightly sweet Manhattan made with either Scotch or better yet, choose a single malt, like Oban. Add a lemon twist and I am set!

This drink, besides being delicious, always brings back fond memories of the first time I had it. It was at the Windows on the World restaurant at a special event for World Trade Club Members. This was the storied restaurant on top of the World Trade Center. We were doing marketing work for the private club, dealing with the legendary Joe Baum, and they were holding this single malt scotch tasting for club members and we were invited. It was like an accelerated wine tasting. You can get pretty loopy pretty fast and our host was from Scotland, enjoying every moment and Jules, our client, insisted I try this Rob Roy. It was a match for me! You should try it.

Zach, Agata and I played Bananagrams in front of the fire while dinner was being prepared. Because it was my birthday, they let me get away with “luvv” (I kept on getting those darn v’s) and “eazy”. It’s good to be the birthday girl!

I still didn’t win!

But I digress – on to dinner. We started with fresh shrimp sautéed in hot pepper, parsley, garlic, and olive oil, served with warm crusty French bread for dipping in and scooping up every last drop of the delicious olive oil, served with a ’97 San Marco from Tuscany – a beautiful Tuscan red.

Dinner was Chicken Scarpariello served with sides of spaghetti squash with a fresh tomato garlic sauce and oven roasted Brussels sprouts tossed with blue cheese. It was fantastic!! Wine was a Portuguese 2007 red from this wine store we recently found on the Upper East side. Check out Park East Wines and Spirits on York Avenue at 87^th St. Tom Anderer is the Manager and very helpful. He is a certified sommelier.

Dessert was a lovely cheese plate complete with Medjool dates, Golden Delicious apple wedges and toasted walnuts.

Quite a feast! All so wonderful!

Tonight we’re having homemade tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches – a break from the richness of the past 3 days. I hope your holiday weekend was also filled with wonderful family times and scrumptious food!