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

The Spring 2017 MARY’s secret ingredients box revealed!

April 7, 2017 by Mary 3 Comments

Yes! Spring is officially here (even though I was still wearing gloves today) as our Spring 2017 MARY’s secret ingredients box revealed!

As always, we have unique products you’ve probably never heard of, but we think you need to know about as they are all natural, good for you and will make your ordinary dinnertime super extraordinary, easily, with my recipes coming up. And, we have this great theme going on with honey (so good) and sesame (open wide!).

Did you know that honey helps prevent cancer and heart disease, reduces ulcers and other gastrointestinal disorders, is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, reduces cough and throat irritation and even though it’s a sweetener, it helps regulate blood sugar?

And sesame seeds are one of the most ancient foods on earth. Full of protein, rich in oils, and high in linoleic and oleic acids. All good! That’s why we created this box for you!!

Here is our terrific fun video made by our super talented team.

Recipes to come using all of these awesome products and remember to always cook with LOVE and I guarantee your food will taste better!

CATSKILL PROVISIONS WHISKEY HONEY TRUFFLES

Combine New York honey, whiskey and chocolate and what have you got? THE most delicious chocolate truffle in the whole wide world!

Located in Long Eddy, New York, in a small northwestern corner of the Catskill Mountains, Catskill Provisions specializes in creating all natural food products and craft spirits from resources close at hand, including the finest raw wildflower honey.

Whiskey Honey Truffles — NY State handcrafted bittersweet chocolate truffles infused with our NY Honey Whiskey. Vanilla, salt, local butter and cream (all organic) join in this marriage for a decadent experience.

GET DRESSED SESAME SENSATION SALAD DRESSING

You know how you always wanted to recreate the delicious cold noodle dish from the Chinese restaurant? Well here you go – dress your noodles and lots of other things with this baby and slurp away!

Feel your best with Get Dressed,™ an all natural, vegan, kosher,  gluten-free and sugar-free line of specialty salad dressings. Gourmet “dresser,” Vanessa Miller designed each delicious dressing to double as a marinade to effortlessly elevate otherwise ordinary dishes. Suggested pairings on every label remove the guesswork and ensure speedy, mouthwatering meals. In addition to delighting tastebuds, each Get Dressed bottle cap contains a secret message, reminding dressers at home to seize the day and dress it your way.

Sesame Sensation is the first spicy tahini dressing on the market. It will elevate your taste buds and instantly make your dish into a gourmet meal!

JOSEPH JOSEPH SMART BAR

Joseph Joseph has done it again, melding form and function in the most beautiful way. You’ll LOVE washing your hands again and one wash will remove the disagreeable odors too.

Founded in 2003 by twin brothers Anthony and Richard, Joseph Joseph specialises in creating design-led products for the kitchen and home with a strong emphasis on form, functionality and quality. As one of the fastest growing companies in the worldwide homewares market, the brand has earned global recognition for its multi-award-winning designs.

SmartBar takes hand washing to a whole new level with its multi-layer approach to hygiene. Its sleek stainless-steel case not only looks good but also helps remove odour from fingers and hands by attracting the sulphur molecules deposited by foods such as garlic and onions. Unlike other stainless-steel soap bars though, smart bar can also be filled with liquid hand soap meaning you can have thoroughly clean and fragranced hands in one go. Simply fill the unit with liquid soap and then press the silicone button to dispense a small amount into your hands through the non-drip valve at the back of the product. For mess-free storage, smart bar even comes with its own silicone draining mat. Hand wash only.

SOOM CHOCOLATE SESAME SPREAD

This chocolate covered enchanted sesame seed spread will have you spreading it on everything, and then some. Move over Nutella – this is way better for you! This is like a spreadable chocolate covered halva bar!

Sister Entrepreneurs “We are a Philadelphia-based women-owned business of three Soom sisters – Shelby, Jackie and Amy – passionate about showcasing the delicious, nutritious and versatile qualities of tahini. Inspired by the unique flavor of Ethiopian sesame seeds, we are dedicated to popularizing tahini in the American market.”

Chocolate Soom — Why deny your sweet tooth? Peanut-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, kosher, no added oils… and only 10 grams of sugar!  The indulgence of chocolate with the nourishment of sesame.

WILDER HONEY JALAPEÑO MUSTARD

A little sweet, a little spicy, a lot addictive. We bet you’ll be spreading this mustard on EVERYTHING!!

At Wilder Condiments, we love California. That’s why our mustards are made from here, from ingredients grown here – bringing bright and bold flavor to your favorite eats. We believe in beach cookouts, brown bag lunches, and good food tasting better.

Our mustards were a backyard project, mixed up between BBQ’s and beer brewing sessions by chef and owner, Isabel Freed. Based along the sunny surf swept coastline of Santa Cruz, our hometown inspires us – with good food in good company at the helm of everything we make.

Honey Jalapeño Mustard — The perfect blend of sweetness and spice. Made with sustainably grown California honey and jalapeños. Best enjoyed brushed over grilled chicken, with a crisp sav blanc in a picnic basket.

Delicious crab cakes

December 29, 2011 by Mary Frances Leave a Comment

A traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner is comprised of numerous courses of fish. It was a sin, way back, to eat meat on Christmas Eve and many folks fasted all day too.

However, my brother David was born on Christmas Eve so things got all catawampus at our house. David is the second oldest, was born with no name in mind. The story goes that after attending midnight mass, my father went back to the hospital and said he had to be named David, as that was the most mentioned name in the entire service.

Then I moved to New York and every Jewish person I met was totally surprised that our Catholic family had a son named David! Oy vey!

Well David and his brood (7 kids and 10 grandchildren with 2 more on the way) still live in St. Louis. So all of us on the East coast could go back to a more traditional meal, rather than his birthday request.

Here is what I served for this year.

Appetizers:
Taramusalata with red pepper and celery sticks
Greek cheese & aged Gouda with Breton crackers
Beautiful bunch of grapes

Dinner:
Crab cakes on a bed of Boston lettuce with chipotle mayonnaise and 1/2 slice of warm homemade Polish bread just out of the oven.
Steamed whole striped bass with ginger and lemon
Fennel salad
Coarse bulgar with olive oil and parsley
Oven roasted plum tomatoes with oregano

Dessert:
Christmas cookies, of course!

David’s wife, Pat, requested the crab cake recipe. This is from Preston Clark at Food and Wine magazine and it is the best crab cake recipe I have found so far. Now my husband is from Baltimore, so this is a big deal. Baltimoreans know their crab and they serve up the BEST jumbo lump crab cakes. A fine restaurant there will never use a lot or maybe any breading, but then I could never figure out how they got them to hold together because every time I would try to replicate their recipes, they would taste good, but look terrible as they always fell apart.

This recipe uses another fish as a binding – it’s genius! Fresh and full of flavor with the jalapeños and scallions, and crispy on the outside, you will love these. And they hold together nicely.

Crab cake on a Boston lettuce leaf with organic watercress and chipotle mayo

Here you go!

CRISP CRAB CAKES WITH CHIPOTLE MAYONNAISE – ADAPTED FROM PRESTON CLARK
-serves 8 as a first course or 4 as a main

Crab Cakes
1/4 – 1/2 lb. skinless flounder fillet, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
5 scallions, thinly sliced
3 jalapeños, seeded and minced
3 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tbs. chopped parsley
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 lb. lump or jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over for shells, lay out on a paper towel and pat dry on top
1 1/4 cups panko bread crumbs
Pure olive oil, for frying (I think I might try canola or peanut next time to get it at a higher temperature.)

Chipotle Mayonnaise
This makes a lot and all is not necessary for the crab cakes, but you can use leftovers for other meat sandwiches, especially turkey would be good
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 chipotle chile in adobo, seeded and minced (or leave the seeds in if you like it spicey – I did)
1 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground pepper

To make the cakes:
In a mini food processor, puree the fish. A small fillet is about 8 oz and my fishmonger wouldn’t sell any less so I used the whole 1/2 lb. and pureed it in two batches. Transfer the pureed fish to a large bowl and add the scallions, jalapeños, lemon juice, parsley, cayenne, salt, pepper and mayonnaise and mix thoroughly. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the crabmeat. Form the mixture into 8 cakes. Place the panko in a pie plate and gently coat the cakes with the panko and refrigerate for 30 minutes. It is important to refrigerate them for at least 30 minutes, so you can handle them and they hold their shape when frying.

To make the mayonnaise:
In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, chipotle, lemon juice, Old Bay and mustard and season with salt and black pepper. Cover and refrigerate.

To fry the cakes:
In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1/4 inch of oil until shimmering. Add the crab cakes and cook over moderate heat until browned and heated through, about 3 minutes per side. Use 2 skillets or do 2 batches as 4 at a time is enough.

To serve:
I served the crab cakes on a bed of one Boston lettuce leaf topped with watercress with a dab of the chipotle mayonnaise. Squeeze a tiny bit of fresh lemon juice on the outside rim of the lettuce, before placing on the crab cake, then put on your dab of mayonnaise.

So pretty. So fresh. So good!!

Covered bread

Homemade Polish bread on a white napkin.

Homemade Polish bread – the slight sweetness of this bread offset the spiciness of the crab cake with chipotle mayo – yummy!

Traveling

October 30, 2011 by Mary Frances 3 Comments

Last night we were supposed to go out to dinner but with the major snowstorm upstate, we chose not to travel, built a fire and stayed put. Instead we traveled to Greece with a French side trip!

We started with store bought hummus – Sabra brand with roasted garlic. Now what I always do, and I think this makes it just a little more special, is drizzle high quality, extra virgin (of course) olive oil on top and then sprinkle on some ground cumin. I served it with whole grain pita chips and some fresh red pepper strips. Fast, easy and delicious!

I then made Melissa Clark’s recipe for Moussaka that was in the NY Times Dining section this past week. It was called “Greece on a Speedboat” – which was supposed to mean that this was the speedy, sort of short-cut version of moussaka. Well, it still took 2 1/2 hours! And it was good but it wasn’t great. To me, when you spend that much time on something, it should be great. And I guess to make the authentic version takes even longer! We have been to Greece several times. I love Greece, even Athens, and Santorini used to be our special place but now it’s too crowded. The Greeks are lovely laid back people yet all their traditional dishes are very labor intensive. Ever make Baklava or watch someone make it? All those separate sheets of thin pastry, each one buttered, layer upon layer. Yikes!

But let me tell you about the salad I made. It was a Jacques Pepin recipe also from the Times the week before this last. He wants you to make it with frisee but my little local market doesn’t even sell that. I guess it’s too expensive and they don’t have a calling for it. So I substituted a bunch of watercress and a sliced endive. I figured these two combined could substitute the slightly bitter frisee bite he was looking for. It was delicious – I’m thinking it may have even been better! You tell me.

Here’s the recipe. I love his way of making the croutons rather than roasting in the oven. You must constantly toss them but you have more control and can achieve beautifully colored croutons with just the perfect crunch and this uses much less oil than oven roasting which equals less calories. Yay! The dressing is more mustardy – very French and very delicious.

FRISEE WITH CROUTONS AND SPICY OLIVES
Adapted from “Essential Pépin” by Jacques Pépin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011)

Serves 4

1 1/2 cups 1-inch bread cubes
1 tablespoon olive, canola or peanut oil (I used olive oil)
1 tablespoon spicy mustard
1 teaspoon crushed and finely chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large or 2 small heads frisée, cut into 2-inch pieces (5 to 6 cups) or one bunch of watercress, large stems removed and one endive sliced in rounds
1/4 cup pitted spicy green olives, cut in half
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained, each cut in half or thirds

Drop bread cubes into a skillet and sprinkle oil over them. Toss gently and cook over high heat, tossing constantly, until cubes are browned on all sides. Remove from skillet.

Mix mustard, garlic, salt, pepper and vinegar in a large serving bowl. Whisk in oil.

Add the frisée or watercress and endive, olives and sun-dried tomatoes to the bowl and toss thoroughly. Divide among 4 salad plates and sprinkle the croutons on top.

Sunday night Cornish hens

September 18, 2011 by Mary Frances 6 Comments

I love this dish because it’s quick and easy and looks fancy – fancy enough for a Sunday night dinner! The bold flavors are imparted from the mustard and teriyaki – flavorful components in of themselves, along with the onions and lemons just sliced. So no washing and chopping of fresh herbs makes it a quick fix! My mustard is a hot and sweet combo. I will post that recipe in the next few days. It’s nice to always have some on hand as it keeps well in the refrigerator. In the meantime, you can use Dijon or Nance’s.

MUSTARD TERIYAKI CORNISH HENS
2 Cornish hens
Olive oil
2 large onions – sliced in 1/4’ thick slices
1 1/2 lemons – sliced in 1/8” slices
4 rounded tsps. of Mary’s mustard – recipe to come, or use Dijon or Nance’s
1.25 tsps. dried rosemary, crumbled
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash and dry the Cornish hens. Cut off all visible fat and butt piece and then cut down the back portion to separate the 2 breasts to make 2 distinct halves. You should have 4 halves. Rub olive oil in a thin film on a rimmed baking sheet. Alternate slices of lemons and onions to form a large rectangle. Lay the Cornish hens halves on top and put a rounded teaspoon of mustard on each one and spread all over the skinned surface with a brush or knife, Sprinkle dried rosemary over all and then brush with the teriyaki sauce. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 -30 minutes. Baste at least twice, starting at 15 minutes. Your instant read thermometer should read 150 – 155. Let them rest on a platter for at least 10 minutes before serving. The lemon and the onions will give their juices along with the hens to make a wonderful mixture. You can even eat the roasted lemons with the hens, skin and all – like a fresh, preserved lemon!

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

The Spring 2017 MARY’s secret ingredients box revealed!

Delicious crab cakes

Traveling

Sunday night Cornish hens

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