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One of my friends asked me how I cooked every night and made it easy and different.  So I thought I’d start posting what I actually do each night so you can see how easy it really is to make a good, healthy meal every night.

So - last night we had grilled flank steak, roasted rosemary potatoes and steamed zucchini.  I rubbed the steak with a light coating of olive oil, salt and pepper and grilled it in a cast iron grill pan on the stove, 5 minutes on each side for medium rare.  (Let it rest at least 10 minutes before you slice it.)  I diced red new potatoes in about 1/2 inch dice, drizzled them with olive oil, sprinkled with chopped, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper and roasted at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.  I cut the zucchini into discs and thinly sliced red onion, put them in a steamer basket over simmering water with salt, pepper and a teaspoon of butter.  Covered and cooked for 20 minutes (I like them really tender; you can do it for less if you like them crisper).  That’s my under 30 minute meal for last night.

We went out of town over the weekend, and when we got back, 3 bananas in the fruit basket were a little over the hill.  So yesterday I decided to make banana nut bread.  I use a recipe handed down from my grandmother, and I honestly have no idea where she got it.  The bread tastes delicious, but it never really rises and has a tendency to sink in the middle.  The only leavening in this old recipe is a teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in 4 tablespoons of buttermilk.  I started thinking about it, and the buttermilk we buy today is very different from the fresh, real buttermilk of 60 or 80 years ago.  It’s made with chemicals, and is much less naturally acidic than its authentic, antique cousin.  I think I’ll start playing with the leavening beginning with adding some baking powder.  I’ll put the recipe at the bottom, and if anyone wants to try anything different, I welcome your comments.

Mamaw’s Banana Nut Bread

1 ½ cups shortening

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon salt

3 bananas, mashed

1 teaspoon soda

4 tablespoons buttermilk

1 ½ cups flour

1 cup pecans

Cream shortening and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and salt.  Add mashed bananas.  Combine soda and buttermilk and let stand until foamy.  Add alternately with flour.  Fold in pecans.  Divide into two loaf pans.  Bake at 325° for 45 minutes.  Check for doneness; may need 15 minutes more.

When seasons change, I always start thinking about dishes I will cook that I haven’t done in awhile. It’s finally what passes for winter in Texas now (4 days of increasingly moderate weather in the 60’s to 70’s followed by one or two -at most- of freezing temps with or without ice) and I’m thinking of winter foods. One that is a staple in my house is a Chicken Noodle Soup that has potatoes with the usual veggies and is creamy. I adapted it from a Cooking Light Soups and Stews book. Here goes.

Chicken Noodle Soup
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
6-8 cups fat free chicken broth
4 cups diced red potato
1/2 rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 cup evaporated skim milk
4 oz. uncooked egg noodles

In a Dutch oven, saute onions, carrots, celery, and garlic seasoned with salt and pepper in oil over medium high heat for about 5 minutes or until softened. Sprinkle with flour and poultry seasoning and stir for one minute. Add potato and enough broth to cover completely. Bring to a boil, lower heat and partially cover. Cook 20 minutes or until potato is tender. Add chicken, evaporated milk, and noodles and cook for 10 minutes or until noodles are cooked.

When I was with my family over Christmas, my Mom and I got to reminisce about the dinner parties we used to do for each other before she and my Dad moved to Kansas City. We would find wonderful recipes and really try to make the dinners elegant. We had such fun. She told me that she thought my Orange Chicken was one of the really good dishes she remembers. I hadn’t thought of it in years, so I came home and looked it up in the old New Orleans La Bonne Cuisine book from the 1970’s. The cover of my book is long since torn off so I don’t know the exact publication date, but my friend Will Crocker did all the photography in the book and that’s good enough that I’d want it even if it didn’t have some great recipes. The interesting thing about the book is that it’s a collection of recipes from local New Orleanians, as well as some from some of the famous restaurants. You have to be careful because some of the folks (on purpose?) were really vague and non-specific in their instructions, and I noticed a few seem to have missing ingredients. I’ve had to really soft shoe around some of them to make them work. But the Orange Chicken is great. I’ve done it with a whole chicken cut up and with only chicken breasts, and it works equally well with either.

Orange Chicken
Juice of 1 lemon
1 fryer chicken, cut up
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups orange juice
1/4 teaspoon oregano

Pour the lemon juice over the chicken pieces. Sprinkle with garlic salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Let stand for 30 minutes. In a large skillet, heat the butter and olive oil. Add the chicken pieces and brown them skin side down. Turn the pieces over, add the orange juce, and sprinkle with oregano. Cook over low heat for 45 minutes until chicken is cooked and sauce has thickened. Serve over rice.

I’m going to go looking for more winter soups. They are always wonderful and homey. If I find any good ones, I’ll post. Enjoy!

It’s the day after Thanksgiving and I’m sitting in the dining room in my lake house looking out at the lake as it rains like mad. It’s loud and windy and crazy wonderful! The rain is knocking all the gold and yellow leaves off the trees, and my big yard is just covered with them. I hope this goes on for hours.

Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch, and everyone was happily sated and napping by 3:00. LJ pronounced the turkey perfect and said this year’s cornbread dressing was the best ever. The pumpkin creme brulee will get asked back, too. It was a small, intimate celebration, but a very good one. And we got really great news right before dinner, too. LJ’s niece in Seattle called and they’re expecting their first baby. We’re really happy for them.

When we got to the lake today, I decided to turn on the TV to the only soap opera I’ve ever watched, The Days of Our Lives. I started watching it in college. Some girlfriends and I would have it on in our dorm room while we played bridge. Even as background noise, it was addictive. I’ve followed it ever since by reading the daily updates that run in the paper or on-line and watching it about twice a year. I’ve found I like to read about it better than watch it because it goes by faster and the acting’s better. Nothing’s changed, someone is lying about being pregnant and someone else has temporary amnesia. Miscommunication is rampant. Oh, what rainy day fun!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’m now looking forward to 2 days of complete boredom. There’s no recipe today. We all need to go on a diet.

I am obsessive/compulsive when it comes to cooking for parties or at holidays.  I have been planning Thanksgiving for 3 weeks now.  I have gone through at least 3 different menus, and read recipes galore.  I compare techniques and ingredients and try to figure what’s going to work best for my situation.  Well, it’s the day before and I’m in serious mode now.  Here’s the final menu:

Cranberry Orange Salad

Herb Roasted Turkey Breast

Cornbread Dressing with Turkey Gravy

Haricots Vert with Roasted Shallots and Cremini Mushrooms

Ciabatta Rolls

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

I did my big grocery shopping last Thursday so I wouldn’t have to fight a crowd.  I bought the things that would stay frozen or stay fresh until the Day.  This afternoon, I’ll go buy the perishables.  Then I’ll come home and make the creme brulees and the cornbread for the dressing, and then cook dinner for my mother-in-law who will be joining us.  For dinner tonight I’m having an Italian casserole with a green salad which is as far from traditional Thanksgiving as I could get.

Tomorrow morning, I’m making individual Quiche Lorraines with Stewed Fruit and Spiced Pumpkin Bread.  After breakfast I’ll put the shallots and mushrooms in to roast because they’ll only take about 20 minutes.  I’ll but the turkey in to roast after that, and while it’s cooking, I’ll mix up the cornbread dressing and par cook the haricots vert.  When the turkey comes out to rest, I’ll bake the dressing.  When it comes out, I’ll put the rolls in and toss the haricots vert, mushrooms and shallots in a skillet with melted butter just to reheat.  It should all come out at one time - with any luck at about 1:30.  After we eat that, I’ll let LJ dazzle us with his magic chef’s torch on the pumpkin creme brulee’s and then we’ll all waddle away from the table.  With any luck at all, the weather will be mild enough to let us take a walk in the afternoon.

I’m really looking forward to this.  I love Thanksgiving because it combines two of my favorite things, family and food.  I won’t have my family with me this year, but we’ll talk on the phone and moan about eating too much.  And we’ll have LJ’s mom, which is good.  I wish you and yours the best this year!

Pumpkin Crème Brulee

1 ½ cups heavy cream

1 ½ tsp. freshly grated cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground allspice

½ tsp. freshly grated ginger

¾ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

5 egg yolks

½ tsp. vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

6 Tbs. pumpkin puree

1/3 cup plus 4 tsp. granulated sugar

1 Tbs. firmly packed light brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 300°F. Have a pot of boiling water ready.

Pour the cream into a small saucepan and whisk in the cinnamon, allspice, ginger and nutmeg. Set over medium-low heat and warm the cream mixture until bubbles form around the edges of the pan and steam begins to rise from the surface, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla, salt, pumpkin puree, the 1/3 cup granulated sugar and the brown sugar until smooth and blended. Slowly pour in the cream mixture, stirring until blended. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Divide the mixture among four 8-fl.-oz. ramekins and place in a large baking pan. Add boiling water to fill the pan halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake until the custards are just set around the edges, about 30 minutes.

Transfer the ramekins to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 3 days.

Just before serving, sprinkle 1 tsp. granulated sugar evenly over the surface of each custard. Using a kitchen torch according to the manufacturer’s instructions, move the flame continuously in small circles over the surface until the sugar melts and lightly browns. Serve immediately. Serves 4.