Old-fashioned Homemade Bread

The weather is still a little chilly here.  We had a week in the low 60’s and then the rain, which brought back the chilly weather.  It’s a good day to bake bread.  We have company coming next week and then Easter brunch here so I will begin to bake the breads I will serve.  I usually bake it and freeze it until I need it; then simply put it in a warm oven just before serving.

This recipe comes to us via my partner, Chef Teresa.  It is a wonderful addition to any meal and is great for those leftover sandwiches.  Give it a try but be fore-warned; you ‘d better make two loaves as the first one will disappear while it is still warm from the baking.

Clams. Mussels and Shrimp

Come over and bring an appetizer.  To some that sends terror, some it means a stop at the local market for one of those “shrimp rings” but to me it opens the door to bring a great dish.  I like this dish because it sends wonderful garlicy smells throughout the kitchen.  It is perfect because most people will find something they like in the dish.  Whether you like shrimp, or mussels or clams they are all in there soaking up all the garlic and white wine.

I serve this in a large bowl surrounded by crunchy bread to sop up the juices.  This is a great appetizer or serve it over pasta and call it a meal.

Pour the wine, please.

Greek Mussels, Shrimp and Clams

Clean and rinse mussels and clams. Add oil to hot pan, sauté carrots, onions and celery (diced) until soft, add thyme, garlic, sauté for 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, wine, clams, shrimp and mussels, cover pan, cook until mussels and clams open, discard unopened mussels and clams. Place on serving platter, sprinkle with zest, lemon juice and cilantro.

I was reading an article in the New York Times today that was announcing a new app that allows I-phone users to look up recipes and then save recipes; as they called it a breakthrough.  No offense here but we have been doing that for over a year with our website: www.emealsforyou.com.  So it got me thinking about how most people are unorganized and are constantly looking for recipes that they and their families liked.

This is one of the core requirements that our focus group told us was important 5 years ago.  Not only do we have hundreds and hundreds of recipes and meal plans, all automatically scaled to the number of people you are feeding, but you may simply “park” any recipe or meal plan in your Favorites Box.  No more looking for the folder with all the recipes falling out to get to the one you wish to make.  No more searching through all those index cards for the right one.  Simply go to our site, sign in, go to your Favorites Box and pull down the recipe or meal plan.  If surprise guests are coming for dinner; just update the recipe to that number by clicking on the drop down menu.  That’s it.

Maybe the Times needs to look beyond the I-phone only apps.

Beef Vegetable Soup

I will try not to jinx it but hopefully we are in the last days of this cold, snowy winter.  For this post I will get back to my soup making recipes, although my wife reminds me that soups are good all year long.  A hot bowl of soup on a cold day really hits the spot.  My father used to make a huge pot of this soup on Saturdays in the winter when we were growing up.  He would use up all the small portions of vegetables in those plastic bags in the back of the freezer.  It’s a good excuse to clean out the frozen vegetables that have been taking up space.

If your grocery doesn’t have any beef soup bones in the case just ask the meat cutters for some, they always have some in the freezer and should charge you a small amount per pound.  As for the soup meat, you can usually find this in the case but any beef will do; I usually look for the least expensive cut as it will cook for a long time and will be tender.  Don’t add the salt until you are just about done cooking it as it will reduce and any salt added early will become more pronounced when done.

Give this soup a try, your family will like it and the house will smell great as you watch the last of the ice melt outside.

Calzone

I like the crust on pizza so it is a natural transition to calzone.  These are, excuse me Tony at Aponte’s Pizza, folded pizzas.  Just like pizza they are very good with any ingredients you wish to put inside.  On this recipe I call for cheese and roasted red peppers.  I used the ones in a jar from the grocery, but you can put cooked sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions whatever you would put on top of a pizza tucked inside.  Use pizza sauce or any good store-bought tomato sauce that you like.

Served golden brown and steamy, right from the oven, they will give you an alternative to the pizza you usually serve.  Your family will love them and you will appreciate the ease of preparation and clean up.

Aunt Joanie's Blueberry Muffins

Still snowing in Cincy, for those of you keeping score this is the snowiest (is that a word?) February in history; and we are only at the 16th of the month.  Over the weekend my phone beeped, my neighbor and friend was calling to see if he could stop by with some homemade blueberry muffins.  Now this is a guy who prides himself a grill master but claims no skills at all in the kitchen.  Long story short, he shows up with a basket full of steaming hot blueberry muffins.

Just looking at the muffins you could immediately tell they were not the  standard mix the ingredients from a box muffins.  Moist, full of berries, these breakfast treats will warm your bellies and your spirits on a cold, snowy morning.  They wouldn’t be bad mid-summer either.  Mark suggests using wild blueberries, he is from Vermont, and coarse sugar on top, but they are really great no matter where you got your berries.  Mark claims they are his aunt Joanie’s recipe; wonder if he is holding back on any other of his aunt’s recipes?

Bean Soup

So the snow continues here in the Ohio Valley; must be that beaver and shadow thing.  I don’t know if I can take it for 5 more weeks.  I am back on the soup kick.  Nothing beats a hot bowl of soup on a cold and snowy day for warming your body as well as your soul.

This recipe comes by way of my father who would save any ham bones he had and then make a pot of this filling and wonderful soup.  As there are just the two of us, I substituted a ham steak for the ham bones he used.  This is probably the heartiest soup I make.  I usually have a couple of containers frozen for days just like this.  Just get a pot started and let the magic happen.  Use any beans you have in the pantry; well almost any bean.  No baked beans please.

It’s Super Bowl time again and you are thinking about what you will serve for munching during the game.  Tired of the usual, chili and wings, chips and dips?  Here is a very easy recipe, easy to make and easy on the budget.  Make this beef a day or two in advance and then sit back and relax and watch the game.

We have included the shopping list for this to make your life easier.  All our recipes at www.emealsforyou.com have shopping lists and are completely scalable for the number of people you are serving.

Flame-roasted asparagus

For those of you who have been readers of this post for a while this may sound like deja vu; but I am a really big fan of asparagus, especially peeled asparagus.  I feel vindicated, as most people think I am insane when I suggest peeling the asparagus.  That is until they try it.  My wife was watching a program on PBS on Saturday about Thomas Jefferson and his garden.  A chef was presenting the ways Jefferson had his food prepared and said he always had his asparagus peeled and then roasted; sometimes serving it as an appetizer on toast with butter.

Asparagus is one of those veggies that even kids seem to like.  For some reason they don’t “fight” eating it like most vegetables.  Besides finding a veggie that the kids eat, think about the positive side of peeling, no more looking through all the asparagus in the grocery  for the really thin ones.  Just walk up and grab the big stuff, trust me on this, you will be amazed at the taste and how tender it is once you have peeled it.  Roasting, either on the grill, in the oven or even in a pan will enhance the taste.

I have one more suggestion when preparing asparagus.  Instead of breaking it to take off the white part, try cutting it just where the green begins.  Peel it, the green part and then cut about (3) 1/2 inch pieces off the bottom.  Put these in a baggie and freeze them.  Sometime in the future when you can’t figure out what to have for a Saturday lunch, pull out the pieces of asparagus, add them to 2 cans of chicken broth, some fresh cracked black pepper and some cream, half and half or even a 1/3 cup of instant potatoes for a great quick soap.

For the first 10 readers who sign up for www.emealsforyou.com using the Sponsoring Identifier PEELER-37 not only will you get $5 off the membership price but I will send you an asparagus peeler for free.

asparagus peeler

Flame Roasted Asparagus

Cut bottom 1 -1 1/2 inch off of stem. Peel, yes I said peel the asparagus. Place in bowl, add oil and salt and pepper. Toss, retain bowl.
On a very hot grill, place asparagus crosswise to grill. Grill for 3 minutes. Remove and place back in bowl, toss with oil remaining in bowl. With a vegetable peeler shave the Romano cheese over the top and serve.

Can be made in grill pan on stove top, cook for 4 minutes.

Look, I have been telling everyone for over a year that they need to start preparing meals at home.  The more you make at home the less you are at the mercy of the 16 year old working the fry machine.  The second easy thing you can do is to stop using all of those pre-prepared foods.  Again, the companies load these up to make them taste good, taste good but very bad for us. Make meals using fresh ingredients, check out any canned goods you use in cooking.  There are low sodium versions of almost everything on the market these days.

So finally let me hit home…do it for the kids.  Make their meals and besides healthier meals , you may just have the opportunity to spend some quality time with them.  And as an added bonus, eating healthier yourself may just keep you around to see their kids.