A Perfect Appetizer for a Spring Weekend!

Easter Dresses and a fun appetizer? As a girlie girl, I ask you, "Does it get better?" This week's Friday Four recipe was one of a handful of gorgeous small bites we served up at Saks for Lafayette 148 and one of my favorite people, stylist Amy Nelson.

Gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan, but packed with deliciousness, this recipe can go far beyond the appetizer table. Just cut your polenta a little larger, sauté up a few more mushrooms and double the arugula dressing and you have dinner...done.

This is actually three recipes in one. Its all about the assembly. Never fear, its also a great recipe to make ahead. Two days ahead of time, make your polenta and put it in the fridge. Day before, you can make the pesto. Slide the polenta and pesto out of the fridge, cut the polenta and place the shapes in the oven at 350F for about 10 minutes to warm. While its cooking, sauté  the mushrooms. (You can also serve this at room temp as we did in the picture above.)

Place the polenta on a plate, top with the mushrooms and pesto. Garnish with a little more arugula if you'd like. Of course, the red pop of a sliced grape tomato would be a welcome color, too.

Sundried Tomato Polenta

7 Cups Water    

1 TB Salt

1 2/3 Cup Polenta or Grits

¼ Cup Chopped Sundried Tomatoes*

Bring the water to a boil and sprinkle in the salt and polenta, whisking constantly. Stir for about 3 minutes, turn the heat down to low, cover and set your timer for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, remove the lid and stir for 2 -3 minutes. Repeat this two more times. When the polenta is cooked, stir in the sundried tomatoes and spread the polenta on a well oiled sheet pan. Place in the fridge until firm, cut into shapes with a knife or cookie cutter.

* Buy the dry - not packed in oil - sundried tomatoes for this recipe. When you feel the bag of tomatoes, they should feel soft, like a raisin. If they are hard and crumbly, pass on those and find more.

Sautéed Mushrooms

2 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil

6 – 8  OZ Baby Bella Mushrooms, sliced

2 TB Braggs Liquid Amino Acids*

Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large sauté pan. When the oil is hot, not smoking, add in the mushrooms. Cook and stir for about 3 minutes or until the mushrooms begin to give off liquid and brown. Add in the Braggs and continue to cook and stir until the mushrooms are browned on the edges. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

*Braggs are a great substitute for soy sauce or tamari. Easy to find in the condiments aisle of the grocery store, they are a liquid amino acid that is gluten-free.

Arugula Pesto

1 Garlic Clove

2 TB Tahini*

1 TB Lemon Juice

2 – 3 Cups Packed Arugula

½ Cup Chopped Toasted Walnuts

1 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sea Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Place the garlic, tahini and lemon juice in the food processor bowl and whiz until pureed. Add the walnuts and arugula and pulse to blend. With the machine running, pour the olive oil in a steady stream into the bowl, process until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

*Tahini is ground sesame seed paste. It’s easy to find in the grocery store, or just substitute almond butter instead.

Doggie Love and Treats

I’ve loved animals as long as I can remember. My mother used to tell the story of my playpen cookie sharing with our family boxer. I don’t remember him, but I’m pretty sure my love of dogs was born with his sweet face poking between the rails. We didn’t have another pet for many years.  (Unless you count the ginormous tank of tropical fish, that we breathed a huge sigh of relief when a friend adopted it.)

Then came my preteen years and Cheri. I talked the parents into a dog, and since I was a girlie girl, I had to have a poodle. A toy poodle, of course. At that time in my life, I was really impressed with anything/anyone with credentials, so her AKC registered name was, “Newtons Cheri of Westbury”. She was a tiny ball of black fur, and I loved her. The feeling was mutual, and we bonded, girlie girl and poodle, inseparable pals.

A couple of years later, my sister returned from living in Germany, bringing along the two most precious dogs I had ever seen. Heidi and Heinrich were red, long-haired dachshunds. You know the rest of the story. After the tears, pleading, begging and bargaining, (two dogs are not any more trouble than one), I was the proud recipient of a puppy. I couldn’t believe my good fortune. Liebchen joined Cheri. I was a “mommie” of two adorable furballs. Both lived to old, old age and are some of my best growing-up memories.

Fast forward to adulthood.  No pets of my own until I fell hard for two kittens, Wilma and Joan. Not named from the Flintstone’s Wilma, but Wilma Rudolf who was a famous runner of the 60s. The other kitty’s name was after Joan Benoit Sameulson, the Olympic marathon gold medal winner in 1984 who I admired greatly. I too, was jogging marathons, (five!), living alone and needed some friends. Joan and Wilma fit the bill perfectly, and although I loved dogs, cats fit my busy lifestyle better.

Then came Mike. My then-boyfriend-now-husband, who on our second date gave me a card listing why dogs were better than cats. I simply told him that we were a package deal. I loved dogs, but Joan, Wilma and I came together. Twenty-three years later, our roles have reversed. Mike Waldeck is that best and most enthusiastic cat daddy. Ever.

Today, I get my doggie fix from the sweeties that belong to my friends. Grace, Rocco, Lucy, Ozzie, Maggie and Charlie are just a few of my canine buddies. Plus, I love to walk at the river and other places where I get to love up on the pooches. Sometimes I drive my companions crazy by my insistence on talking to almost every dog on the trail.

Sweetie!

So when, one of my favorite Cancer Wellness facilitators, Dr. Jody sent me an email asking if I would be interested in helping host Canine Assistants at the center with their dogs. My answer was YES! Followed closely by, when?

Getting lots of love!

Yesterday we prepared lunch for our human guests and treats for our doggie guests. We had a blast making the cookies, and sharing them with the very smart and sweet dogs. I did a great deal of research on making dog cookies, and finally decided that the King Arthur Flour folks had already done the work! In fact, they were filled with so many delicious healthy ingredients; we even served them up topped with a little powdered peanut butter and powdered sugar for dessert. Here’s their recipe along with the pictures of our cookies.

I've got a treat for someone...

DOG TREATS!

Ready for the oven

         2 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour or Premium Whole Wheat Flour

         1 cup rolled oats, regular or quick

         1 tablespoon dried parsley or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

         1/2 cup Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk

         1/2 teaspoon salt

         2 large eggs

         1 cup peanut butter, crunchy or plain

         1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon cold water, enough to make a dough

1) Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease a couple of baking sheets, or line them with parchment.

2) Mix together the flour, oats, parsley, dried milk, and salt.

3) Add the eggs and peanut butter, stirring to combine; the mixture will be crumbly.

4) Add enough water to bring the dough together; depending on the season, you may need to add a bit more (winter), or a bit less (summer).

MY NOTE: This is a really crumbly dough! You may have to add more water if you want to roll it out

5) To make biscuits using a dog-bone cutter, roll the dough about 1/4" thick, and cut with a 3 1/2" cutter (or the size of your choice). Gather and re-roll the scraps, and continue to cut biscuits until you've used all the dough.

6) To make dog "cookies," drop the dough in walnut-sized balls onto the prepared baking sheets. Flatten them to about 1/4".

People Treats!

7) Bake the biscuits for about 40 to 60 minutes, baking the smaller cookies for a shorter amount of time. When finished, the biscuits will be dark golden brown, and will be dry and crisp all the way through.

8) Remove the biscuits from the oven, and cool right on the pans.

Yield: about 42 larger (3 1/2" dog-bone) biscuits, 60 smaller (round) biscuits.

How to Make Steel Cut Oatmeal

It's hard to get out of my warm snuggly bed this time of year. My husband, who is so wonderful in SO many ways is extremely persnickety about the cost of heating, (sigh). He likes to turn the heat wayyyyyy down at night. So, basically we sleep in a deep freeze:) This is fine when I am sleeping - covered up with a big warm human and lots of covers.

Then, the alarm goes off. Mike is always up before me, so I have to brave the cold alone. I have my slippers and robe strategically placed by the bed, so there is as little skin contact with air as possible before I am sheltered inside my fuzzy wrapper.

First stop is to the thermostat. I get satisfaction from hearing the clicking sound as I click, click, click, click my way up to daytime temps. As I listen to the heat kick in, I head to the kitchen.

All year round, steel cut oatmeal is my favorite breakfast. I love the mornings when I have little more time to make it, but most days its opening the fridge to remove my pre-cooked oats, adding a little water, a quick stir and then into the microwave for a minute. A quick sprinkle of cinnamon is all I need to make it a hearty, nutty, chewy breakfast. A cooked cup will last me until lunch time, or until a crunchy apple tempts me during the morning.

Steel Cut Oatmeal

Steel Cut Oats ROCK! I am not a fan of any other oats, other than 

their appearance in the occasional oatmeal cookie.

I ALWAYS make a double batch. It keeps really well in the fridge all week, giving me a warm welcome to the morning.

Start with 6 cups of water, and bring it to a boil.

Add in 1/2 Tsp Sea Salt and 2 Cups of Steel Cut Oats.

Stir.

Turn the heat down to medium, until a gentle simmer is all that is happening. No popping or spitting! You may have to go even lower before the oatmeal is done cooking.

 Stir about every 4 or 5 minutes for 20 - 25 minutes. You'll know its done when most of the liquid has been absorbed by the oatmeal. I like to keep mine chewy - so I leave the pot with a 

little liquid in it - this especially helps when 

reheating the oatmeal to keep it 

chewy but still moist.

DONE!

(Yum!)

Just a little sprinkle of cinnamon and its ready to eat. 

Scoop the rest of the 

oatmeal into a container and pop it in the fridge. 

You'll have yummy warm goodness to enjoy every 

cold morning for the week!

Steel Cut Oats

6 Cups Boiling Water

1/2 Tsp Sea Salt

2 Cups Steel Cut Oats

1/4 Tsp Cinnamon for each Serving

Stir the salt and oats into the boiling water. Turn the heat to medium and let simmer gently for about 20 - 25 minutes, or until desired tenderness. Remove from the stove and sprinkle each serving with cinnamon. Place the remaining oats into a container and pop it into the fridge. To eat later, scoop a portion into a bowl, add a Tsp of water and stir. Microwave for about 1 minute, top with cinnamon and enjoy.

How to Make Vegetable Stock - Ten Tips

Veg Stock ready for the freezer!

Yup, its January. Here in Atlanta we are doing two things almost every day. Complaining about the cold weather, and craving soup. I love to follow the seasons in my kitchen, and as a teaching chef - January is all about soups, stews and stock. All kinds of soups and stews, from veggie to seafood, chili to chickpea. Hearty, lean, light and indulgent I make them all. Stock? That's a different story.

Sweet Potato Chili Made with the Fab Veg Stock

For years I worked on perfecting my chicken stock for the perfect "Chicken Noodle Soup Penicillin". Got it down. My beef stock was the crucial component in my luscious, cheesy French Onion Soup. Now? I only make one kind of stock. Gorgeous, rich, full-flavored veggie stock. I use it for everything. Never had one like this? You haven't made it your own, packed with the bounty of your personel kitchen style and ingredients.

I call it EEE Veggie Stock. That's Effortless, Easy and Economical - an almost effortless, super easy and definitely economical way to make the best stock you've ever tasted.

Number One
Use a gallon zippy bag that you have labeled with a "Veg Stock" and the date.

Number Two
When you go into the kitchen tonight, wash or rinse everything you are going to chop. Yes, I mean everything - even the outside of the onions and garlic. (You should be doing this anyway before you put it on your cutting board.) It doesn't have to be an ordeal, most of the time a quick warm rinse will knock off most of the dirt.

Number Three
There is a method to my madness! As you cut or chop every veggie, take the bits and ends and pieces you would normally toss in the disposer or pitch in the compost pile, and throw them in your labeled zippy bag. Everything. The ends of the potatoes, the peeling from the carrots, the tough stems of the kale. The lettuce that has gone sadly limp. Herbs that have Etc. etc. Make sure you put in some onion skin, whether its gold or yellow, purple or red. Onion skin is the secret to a beautifully colored stock. No onion skin equals grey stock. There should be no grey food - ecck. DON'T put anything gnarly in the bag - no moldy mushrooms or unrecognizable produce. Remember, you are going to eat the stock eventually.

Number Four
Toss the bag into the freezer, and serve up dinner.

Number Five
The next time you are cooking, (I'm not judging - it could be the following week:), pull the bag out of the freezer and add your veggies into the bag, (Review Tip Number Three.) Finished cooking? Toss it back in the freezer, and pour yourself a glass of wine. Heck, pat yourself on the back! You cooked, and you have saved your veggie scraps.

Number Six
Repeat as many times as it takes to fill up your zippy bag.

Number Seven
Yippee! Your bag is full. Tip the frozen veg into a stockpot and add five cups of water. Cover. Bring it to a boil, then turn it down and let it simmer for 30 minutes.

Number Eight
Let it cool long enough to handle, and strain the veggies out - those same veggies that have given their ALL to make your glorious, splendid, brilliant stock. Do you compost? If so, guess what? Those same deflated veggies who are now sad and tired can go right into your compost pile.

Number Nine
Hold hands with everyone in your house and sing Kum-ba-yah. The farmer grew the veggies. You bought them and used them to make dinner. You saved the ends and parts and made them into stock.
You've saved yourself three dollars, made the most amazing stock, and NOW you are giving the veggies back to the earth. (This probably deserves another glass of wine.)

Number Ten
Making sure that the stock does not sit out for more than two hours on the counter, (Food sanitation counts!), pour it into individual containers and put it in the fridge for up to three days, or in the freezer for up to six months. Package it anyway you want - In zippy bags, in one-cup measures, two-cup,  in an ice cube tray - whatever makes the most sense to your cooking style. Feel good. You've cooked up an amazing start to whatever soup, stew or casserole you want to make.

The Fab Veg Stock used in a butternut squash soup!

That's it. So easy, a ten year old could do it. Hey, great idea for cooking with the kids. They can choose what they want to add it to - how about your famous chicken noodle soup? They'll love it and you will too. EEE Veggie Stock. That's what I call Effortless, Easy and Economical!

The Favorite Recipe of 2014!

I received an email from a favorite chef today - it recapped her favorite 10 recipes of the year. I liked that idea and thought, "Wonder what my 2014 Friday Four readers liked most?" After a long time of extracting data, (more like 15 minutes but still - ugh), I discovered that Chocolate Quinoa Cake was the most read recipe of the year!

What's not to like? Chocolate? Cake? Nope. Even for your most die hard finicky eaters, its impossible to identify the better-for-you quinoa in the healthy indulgence. So this result didn't surprise me at all... But as I looked down the list of the next nine, I was astonished. Where was the fabulous chicken mole? the yummy sesame lime salad and the crazy good cauliflower pizza? That same pizza that slides onto our table at home at least once every couple of weeks? I went back to the data and found that the difference between the most popular, and least popular 2014 Friday Four recipe was less than a hundred views. In a newsletter with a circulation of 5,000 - not a lot of difference! So if your all time fav, standby, my-family-loves-this-recipe isn't in the list, know that it didn't make it by just a few clicks!

Here in no particular order are the REST of the top ten Friday Fours of 2014. Did your favorite make the 2014 Friday Four top ten?

Best Ever Fall Veggie Chili
Roasted Sweet Potatoes topped with Tangy Chicken Salad
Lemonade Almond Cake
Blueberry Basil Quick Jam and Cornbread Muffins
Amazing No Cream Creamed Corn
Georgia Peach Chicken Salad
Make Ahead Cinnamon French Toast
Mac and Cheese Wearing the Green
Double Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Just for YOU - 2015 Sneak Peak Classes

Wow! I can tell its time for gifts! I am getting lots of requests for information about 2015 classes. Just for you all, here's a sneak peek at my classes at Cooks Warehouse. The 2015 catalog will be out soon, but for you special folks...for planning purposes...here's the list:

Almost Spring Mediterranean Veggie Fare 

March 11, Decatur

TASTE CLUB: Soups and Stews

January 17, Brookhaven

TASTE CLUB: Deep Dark Chocolate with Perfect Valentine Reds 

February 7, Brookhaven

TASTE CLUB: Enjoying the Flavors of Spain’s Food and Wine

March 14, Brookhaven

Date Night East Cobb Fireplace Food and Wine

January 23, East Cobb

Date Night East Cobb Red for Valentines

Feb 6, East Cobb

Date Night East Cobb: The Pinots: NOIR AND GRIS

March 20, East Cobb

More info about the wonderful classes offered at Cooks Warehouse here:

Cooks Warehouse Classes