Allow Me Just a Moment...

Is there anything more comforting than a big bowl of grits with melting butter and a generous dose of Franks Red Hot? I mean, seriously. Swoon.

Shame, shame, shame.

{Photo by Portal and Friends via Flickr}

I can't help it. I love chips and queso. I might draw the line at the kind that squirts out of a pump at concession stands. But queso, processed and gooey and salty as all get-out, holds a dear place in my heart. Many people in Birmingham just call it cheese dip. Which is actually more fitting, seeing as how this stuff is not even close to something authentically Mexican. Ay Dios mio, I can't get enough.

What is your secret (or totally public) shameful food indulgence? Mom...fried shrimp? ;)

An Old Favorite, Revisited

When I was in high school, I decided for about a year that I was a vegetarian. In fact, for a while, I was vegan. Then I realized that my 100-pounds-soaking-wet self didn't do so well without any animal protein at all. So I put the milk and eggs back in rotation. Then one day, I missed chicken, and I indulged in a PF Chang's chicken lettuce wrap. After that, I realized that food was just more delicious when you eat meat.

Anyhow, my wonderful parents, while secretly knowing this was just a phase, made my eating preferences a priority in the house. We had this cookbook and leaned heavily on the dishes listed in it, especially the Eggplant Parmesan. Unlike many Italian-American dishes, it was super light and fairly healthy save for the layers of melty, gooey mozzarella cheese. I still enjoy making this dish when I have time to let it bubble away in the oven...on weeknights, though, that's not always possible. So I did a little eggplant parm remix, and turned it into a pasta sauce. It was perfect with whole-wheat pasta, which I find a little too hearty for lighter sauces. Unfortch, not the most photogenic of dishes, but you get the idea...

Eggplant-Tomato Sauce with Whole-Wheat Pasta
serves 2 with leftovers

Olive oil nonstick cooking spray
1 medium eggplant, peeled and diced
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
Handful fresh basil, torn
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 box whole-wheat rotini, penne, or other short-cut pasta
Garnish: 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 450. Generously coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray. Place eggplant on the baking sheet in one layer, and spray again with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, tossing halfway through.

Meanwhile, cook pasta per package direction. Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, and cook, stirring often, until softened and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, dried oregano, and salt and pepper. Gently simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove eggplant from oven, and add to tomato sauce; stir to combine. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup cooking water. Add pasta to sauce, and add pasta water, 1/4 cup at a time, until the consistency of the sauce is to your liking. Stir in fresh basil and Parmesan. Serve, topped with mozzarella cheese, if desired.

I Would Do Anything for Loaf

Meatloaf is too often relegated to the throwback meal…it evokes visions of bad TV dinners, school cafeterias and beehived moms in seafoam-green kitchens. It’s a product of the Depression when meat was scarce and it went a lot farther when mixed with bread, eggs, and veggies. It is admittedly old school and not at all refined, but with the right recipe, meatloaf can be very worthy of your dinner table.

I follow two rules when making meatloaf. Number one, I think the best part is the top crust, so mini loaves make much more sense to me. That way you maximize the crust and everyone gets his own share. Number two, be creative, but don’t overdo it. Meatloaf has been around forever because it’s the most un-trendy food you could possibly think of. It’s fine to experiment with different flavors, but let’s call a spade a spade. At the end of the day, it’s still meatloaf and, in my opinion, it should be as uncomplicated as you can make it.

Ground turkey is flavorful and has less fat and saturated fat than many kinds of ground beef, so I generally go to it as my meatloaf foundation. The additions to the meat seem ho-hum traditional, but when they combine, they really are spot on. The addition of pancetta makes the crust even more delicious and adds moisture and fabulous flavor throughout. Served with roasted potatoes, it’s comfort food at its best.

Mini Meatloaves
serves 2

1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced finely
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup Italian seasoned dry breadcrumbs
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 (1.3-pound) package ground turkey
4 1/4-inch slices pancetta

Preheat oven to 450˚.

In a small skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, and cook, stirring, 4 to 5 minutes or until onions are golden and very soft. Put cooked onions and garlic in a large bowl and cool slightly. To the same bowl when the onions are cooled, add breadcrumbs, soy, Worcestershire, ketchup and egg. Mix thoroughly. Add turkey; mix lightly with hands until combined. On a small baking sheet, form mixture into two loaves and top each with 2 slices of pancetta, slightly overlapping to fit. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Visualize Whirled Peas

Pea soup often gets a bad rap—it’s a literary description of sooty fog, for goodness sake. It’s definitely not beautiful, but what it lacks in good looks it makes up for in flavor. The earthy sweetness of dried split peas is only enhanced by nearly anything you throw its way. Bacon? Sure. Pancetta? Bring it on. Onions, carrots, celery? Why not? Curry powder? If that’s your kind of thing. Lemon zest? Absolutely! Plain yogurt would be excellent, as would thyme and/or parsley.

My soup is a version of the one Heidi recently published on 101cookbooks.com. Her food always looks spectacular and so healthy. I had a few extra slices of pancetta in the fridge, so I threw them in for good measure. A dash of smoked paprika added the deeper flavor level that bacon or smoked ham hocks would provide, and the lemon zest at the end totally made the dish. I worried that not using chicken broth would be bland, but it definitely was not. A dollop of crème fraiche and I’m starting to wonder if sooty fog is all that bad.

Perfect Pea Soup
serves 4

2 thin slices pancetta
1 medium onion, diced finely
1/2 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, divided
2 cups split peas, rinsed and picked over
5 cups water
Zest of 1 lemon
Garnish: crème fraiche or sour cream

Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Chop pancetta as finely as possible, and add to pot. Cook, stirring, until some fat has rendered into the pan, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add onion and stir. If pot looks dry, add a bit of olive oil or even water to moisten. Add 1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika. Cook pancetta and onion, stirring often, until pancetta is lightly browned and lightly crisp and onions are soft and golden, about 5 minutes.

Add peas and stir to combine. Add water, cover pot, and raise heat to high. When mixture comes to a boil, turn heat down to medium-low and simmer, covered, about 35 minutes, or until peas are tender. About 15 minutes into cook time, add a generous pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Check on soup regularly and add water a bit at a time if it doesn’t look soupy enough.

When peas are tender, puree with a handheld mixer until slightly smooth, leaving some texture. Alternatively, puree about half of soup in blender and return to pot. If you find the soup too thick, add water in small increments until you like the texture. Ladle soup into 4 bowls and top each with a bit of lemon zest and a sprinkle of the remaining smoked paprika. Garnish with a dollop of crème fraiche or sour cream, if desired.

Kickin' it Old School

(fyi, we went a little out of order this week. Noodle Bowls are tonight--I promise a recipe for tomorrow!)

There are certain kinds of foods I could eat every day and probably never get tired of. Tex-Mex is one of them. I love tacos, burritos, tamales, tortilla soup…the list goes on. Recently, I saw a recipe for something called tamale pie—basically a Tex-Mex-style chili topped with cornbread and baked. It’s an old-school recipe that dates back to WWI. It doesn’t really remind me of tamales—it’s not actually authentically Mexican at all—but it's total comfort food.

I won’t claim the recipe below for tamale pie as my own since about a million different versions of this quick casserole exist. I just used a few recipes I found as a springboard and added or omitted ingredients according to our tastes. Feel free to do the same.

Since we have the same simple salad, oh, every single night, I thought it was time to switch it up a little. Since reading an article about the health benefits of cabbage (lots of vitamins C and K, a healthy dose of fiber, plus possible cancer-fighting compounds), I thought slaw would be a good, nutritious accompaniment. I threw the cabbage together with some other crunchy veggies and topped it with a spiced lime dressing. It’s tangy and light…a nice compliment to the warm pie. This is a super-easy, super-quick weeknight meal that’s pretty healthy and kid friendly, too.


Tamale Pie
serves 2 with leftovers
½ tablespoon olive oil
½ pound 85% to 90% lean ground beef or ground turkey breast
1 small or ½ medium yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
½ chipotle pepper, chopped, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
1 cup crushed tomatoes in puree
½ (14.5-ounce) can black beans, drained
½ (11-ounce) can Del Monte Summer Crisp corn
1 (8 ½-ounce) box corn muffin mix
1/3 cup milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef or turkey and cook, crumbling, until meat is browned and no pink remains. Drain most of the fat from the pan.

Add onions and salt, and stir to combine. Cook until onions are soft, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Sprinkle in water a teaspoon at a time if skillet seems dry. Add in tomatoes, beans, and corn, and stir to combine.

Combine milk and egg and slowly whisk in the corn muffin mix. Spray an 8- by 6-inch baking dish (or similar small, shallow baking dish) lightly with cooking spray. Pour beef mixture into dish and top with prepared corn muffin mix.

Bake pie in middle of preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until top is golden-brown. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Cilantro-Lime Slaw
serves 4
For the slaw:
1 (10-ounce) bag finely shredded cabbage, such as Dole Angel Hair Cole Slaw
1 green bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced into thin strips
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced into thin strips
2 green onions, white and light green parts only, sliced thinly

For the dressing:
2 to 3 heaping tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin

Combine slaw ingredients in a large bowl and toss together. Put all dressing ingredients in an airtight container or lidded jar and shake vigorously to combine. Pour dressing over slaw and toss well. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes and toss before serving.

Easy Does It

There are only a few things in life that produce complete comfort and satisfaction with truly minimal effort. A roast chicken is one of them. All I have to do is rub some olive oil on the chicken, sprinkle it with salt, put something aromatic in the inside, and stash it in the oven for a few hours, and the outcome is consistently fabulous. It never ceases to amaze me. It was a standard supper in our house when I was growing up—one of my favorite things my mom made.

Please don’t think I’ve never gotten a rotisserie chicken from the deli counter. I have, and they’re not bad. But if you’ve never made a roast chicken, you’re missing one of the fundamental kitchen pleasures. Though insanely simple, I am convinced it is the way chicken was meant to be eaten. Plus, a deli-made chicken doesn’t fill the kitchen (and the house) with a mouthwatering aroma.

I must confess I am not usually a huge fan of chicken. I eat it a lot, sure, but the actual meat isn’t usually the main attraction for me. I eat fried chicken for the skin, chicken soup for the broth, and so on. But I eat roast chicken for the meat. (And the super-crisp skin, but that’s just a bonus.) If you think I’m overdoing it, waxing poetic about a roast bird, you obviously haven’t made one yet. It’s become something of a Sunday night tradition for Jason and me. Don’t be surprised if you crave it weekly, as well!

There’s really no recipe to apply here. I’ll just give you the rough outline I follow each time I roast a chicken. Feel free to adjust according to your taste. But do try it—you’ll be so glad you did. Roast some veggies at the same time (our favorite is Brussels sprouts...) for a simple dinner.

Simple Roast Chicken
serves 2-4 depending on size
1 whole boiler-fryer chicken
A good glug of olive oil
A few hefty pinches of Kosher salt
About 10 grinds of black pepper
Dried or fresh herbs (chopped if fresh)
Stuffing options:
A lemon, cut into a few pieces
Some garlic cloves, smashed
A small onion, cut into a few pieces
Whole sprigs of fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, parsley…)
A few big pinches of dried herbs (I like herbes de Provence)
An apple, cut into pieces
An orange, cut into pieces

Heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Pat chicken dry with paper towels and set it, breast-side up, in a roasting pan. Tuck the tips of the wings underneath the bird. They’ll burn otherwise. Drizzle with olive oil and rub it all over, top and bottom. With your fingers, gently loosen the skin from the meat on the breast and rub oil under there, too. Don’t be shy about it, but don’t go too nuts with the oil either—if you use too much, it will just fill the oven with smoke. Use just enough to thoroughly coat the chicken.

Next, sprinkle the outside of the chicken with a good pinch of salt. Sprinkle on some pepper, and some herbs. Rub the salt, pepper, and herbs all over the chicken, and under the skin, as well. Sometimes I take a smashed, peeled garlic clove and rub it under the skin.

Next, take another hefty pinch of salt and sprinkle it all over the inside of the bird. Do the same with the pepper and more herbs. Then stuff the inside with whatever you think might taste good. My mom used apples when I was little. My dad loves to use citrus. (If using citrus give each piece a little squeeze before it goes in.) I use whatever I have on hand, but I always use a few cloves of smashed garlic. Make sure you put those toward the back so they can infuse the whole chicken. Most recipes suggest you tie the drumsticks together with twine. I don’t do this, and I haven’t found it to be detrimental to the outcome.

Cook in the center of the oven about 20-25 minutes per pound, or until the leg pulls effortlessly away from the body and the juices run clear. (Use a thermometer if you don’t want to rely on the leg pull. Take it out when it reaches 165 degrees.) If the skin gets too dark, tent with some foil while it finishes cooking. When you take it out, let it rest under some foil for about 10 minutes so it stays nice and juicy.

C’est magnifique!

(It took me a while to figure out the whole carving thing. I’m still working on perfecting my form, but you can watch this video for great step-by-step instructions.)

Comfort and Joy

I'm back! As many of you know, I recently made a move north (but it feels like I went south!) from Winter Park to Birmingham, Ala. No excuses here, but it's been tough to get back in the blogging routine. I wasn't cooking much when I first moved, but since I've gotten settled, my new favorite thing is cooking on a budget. New job, new financial lessons...Jason and I are trying to stick to a $60-a-week grocery budget for dinners, which isn't measly but it definitely can be a challenge if you want to make fun and interesting things. Anyway, you can be assured that the recipes I share with you are frugal as well as fabulous.

Even though we're only a few states away, the fall weather here in Alabama is very different than it is in Florida. It was extra chilly today—the perfect weather for a bowl of hot soup. Or, as the case may be, chowder. I've always been a chowder lover. Clam, corn, chicken...you name it, I like it. But I must admit I haven't ever made one that I didn't feel terribly guilty for making, let alone eating. Cream, butter, bacon...all the (good) bad stuff is what makes it delicious. Or so I thought.

Equally inspired by this recipe from Gourmet and by my new YMCA membership, I decided to lighten up a creamy chowder as best I could. The results were, I must admit, surprisingly satisfying. It's a sort of Southwest twist on a corn and chicken chowder with a hint of warm smokiness. (If you've never used smoked paprika, you're in for a treat.) It's slightly spicy and delightfully creamy. Jason even said it was one of the best soups he's ever had. I hope you'll agree.

Smoky Chicken Chowder
serves 4
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large russet potato or 2 medium yukon golds, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 heaping tablespoon smoked paprika
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 canned chipotle in adobo, minced fine (about 1 teaspoon)
1 can diced tomatoes, lightly drained
1 11-ounce can Del Monte Summer Crisp corn (or frozen, or fresh)
1 or 2 chicken breasts, in bite sized pieces
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in a few tablespoons of milk
1 cup fat free half and half
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Garnish: Chopped cilantro

In a heavy pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until softened. Season with a generous pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Add potato and garlic and cook, stirring, 2 minutes.

Stir in flour and smoked paprika, and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and bring to a boil, stirring. Add tomatoes, corn and chipotle, and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Add chicken and cornstarch mixture, and cook 5 to 10 minutes more, until chicken is cooked.

Off the heat, add half and half and cheese, and stir to combine. Top with cilantro, if desired.

Like Buttah

When I got to choose a special meal for my family birthday dinner, I thought about things I don't often make myself. I landed on the perfect celebratory, once-a-year kind of dinner: New Orleans-style Cajun barbeque shrimp. If you've never had it, trust me: you're missing out.

Shrimp (head-on, mais oui!) are slowly cooked in a bath of Cajun-spiced butter. Rumor has it, it was created at an Italian/Cajun restaurant called Pascal's Manale in New Orleans. Served with a hunk of fresh French bread and a simple green salad, it's one of the most decadent, delicious meals ever. And even though it seems rich, it's truly not too heavy.

Be ready to get messy. This isn't the meal for your finest linens. Spread some newspaper on the table and set out a roll of paper towels for napkins. Serve the shrimp in a big bowl with empty bowls for the discarded shells. Serve with a simple green salad, lots of French bread and cold beer or a crisp white wine, turn the music up, and enjoy.

Cajun Barbeque Shrimp
serves 6
4 pounds shrimp, heads* and shells on
1 pound butter
1 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
3 tablespoons black pepper (the stuff in the can is just fine here)
1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon salt
Juice from 2 lemons

Rinse and dry shrimp and set aside. Combine butter and oil in a large saucepan or stockpot over medium-low heat. When butter melts, add spices, Worcestershire and salt, and stir to combine.

Add shrimp. Toss to make sure shrimp are completely coated and cook until pink and firm. Off the heat, stir in lemon juice and serve.

*Though they're kind of hard to find, shrimp with the heads still on are crucial for the flavor of the dish. Also, whenever possible, I look for wild American shrimp. The flavor is incomparable.