RECIPE Tip of the Day 2/23/07: Quick Broiled Salmon with Honey

A delicious and simple Lenten-friendly dish from Food & Wine Annual Cookbook 2006, p. 181:

"Bake salmon fillets at 350°F until almost cooked. Cover them with honey and place under the broiler until they are nicely caramelized."

I usually sprinkle a little sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder before baking.

Shopping Tips:

Salmon: About fish cuts: fillets are nice when they are at a good price; however, the steaks are usually more economical per pound. It's really not that hard to pick the bones out of salmon. Don't be lazy. Use a dedicated kitchen pair of needle-nose pliers to take out the bones prior to cooking.

Honey: I got the best deal from Costco, a huge 1-quart bottle for under $12 (I forget the exact price). My son's father had turned me onto raw honey while we were dating, but I'm a bit freaked out that it can contain random bits of wings and such.

RECIPE Tip of the Day 2/20/07: Wine in Cooking

DON'T WASTE IT:

Use that leftover wine corked in your cupboard or fridge in your cooking experiments. You'll be surprised by the complexity it adds to your finished dishes. I like to add a 1/4 cup of red wine to my ground beef, ground pork or bulk sausage that I'm sautéing for pasta sauce, let it simmer until almost evaporated then add the tomatoes (or jarred sauce). Also white wine can enhance, but not overpower, the delicate taste of white fish, when cooked in such techniques as poaching and francaise.

Must Reads:
The Joy of Cooking (Wine is a common component in the recipes of this cookbook classic.)
From WineShopOnline.com: Wine 101: Cooking Wines
From marthastewart.com (plus search the website's recipes):

• Cooking With Wine from Martha Stewart Living, September 2005
• Cooking With Wine from Everyday Food, May 2006
• Ask Martha: Cooking Wine (The kind you find at the grocery store, which you should not buy.)

RECIPE Tip of the Day 2/19/07: Microwaved Omelet

How I Survived My Pregnancy
Part I: Eating for Two

It wasn't always easy to get a balanced, hearty meal for myself during my pregnancy. I worked Monday through Friday full-time for 8 hours straight (no lunch break). Breakfast was (and still is) the most important meal of the day for me. I usually did not have time before work to relax and enjoy a full breakfast. So I concocted an on-the-go sandwich, cooked almost entirely in the microwave. Coupled with a piece of fruit, my baby and I would be satiated for a good few hours, until lunchtime.

LushMommy's Microwaved Omelet Sandwich for a Busy Mother-to-be

Nonstick cooking spray
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk (by eye)
Spices to taste:
Salt, ground black pepper or red pepper, paprika, garlic powder
2 cheese slices (optional)
2 slices of whole grain bread, toasted

1. Spray a microwave-proof bowl with nonstick spray. Crack the eggs into the bowl. Add milk and spices. Whisk all together.
2. Microwave on HIGH for 2 min, or until center is firm with no runniness.
3. Arrange cheese slices on one piece of bread, then turn omelet bowl upside down on top of the bread. Top with remaining slice.
   

Variations:

Sausage or Ham, etc.: Heat, on a separate plate, your desired breakfast meat. Place on top of the finished omelet, etc.

Spinach: Spray bowl as above. Add a handful of fresh well-rinsed, dry spinach or 1/3 cup frozen chopped spinach. Microwave for 30 sec; let cool for a minute. Add eggs, milk and spices, whisk. Microwave on HIGH for 3 mins, until firm with no runniness.

Part I to be continued...

RECIPE Tip of the Day 2/18/07: Baked Buffalo Wings

Buffalo wings are my favorite finger food, and are usually what I will order on a first visit to a new pub. I am very picky: the wing sections, both the wingette and drummette, have to be fat, otherwise I feel jipped; the skin has to be nice and crispy, with little or no breading (often restaurants overbread or the skin is soggy); the hot sauce cannot be wimpy or too hot, nor should the wings be drowning in sauce or have little at all. It's hard to find restaurants or pubs that meet all my criteria, plus are a good value piece for piece. When I find that diamond in the rough, it usually will become my new favorite restaurant.

That being said, I also like to make my own buffalo wings. I prefer baking over deep-frying, because it's easy to just throw the wings in the oven than hover over them in a fryer and baking creates less mess.

Serves one very hungry person or 2 as an appetizer.

12 individually quick-frozen chicken wing segments* (see Shopping Tips below)
1 tbsp butter or vegetable oil (if I have it on hand, I use macadamia nut oil)
3 tbsp, more or less to taste, cayenne pepper sauce (I believe Frank's Red Hot Original to be the best balance of heat and acidity)

1. Preheat oven to 425˚F.
2. Arrange wings on a nonstick baking sheet or one lined with greased aluminum foil (I like to use ungreased Reynolds Wrap Release Nonstick Foil for easy clean-up; it's heavy-duty weight too.) Place in oven. Bake for about 45 min to 1 hour, turning once, until skin is crispy and translucent.
3. Towards the end of the baking time, melt butter (if using) in a medium microwave-proof bowl (or just put oil, doing no heating). Whisk in the pepper sauce.
4. Once wings are ready, with tongs, place all in the bowl with the sauce mixture. Toss to evenly coat, then enjoy!

Variation: Teriyaki Wings: replace 2 tbsp teriyaki sauce (more or less to taste) for the pepper sauce.

*Shopping Tips for Chicken Wings: Most of the time I will say fresh is better and food additives are bad, but in the case for chicken wings for this recipe, opt for individually quick frozen wings, water-added. They are convenient to have on hand and taste better than fresh because they add salt and sodium nitrite/nitrate, the latter being a very unhealthy additive, but if you only eat it once in a while, it shouldn't kill you.

RECIPE Tip of the Day 2/17/07: Sundried-Tomato & Anchovy Frittata

If you sleep over at my house, I'll make this for you the next day. (I once fancied opening a bed-and-breakfast at my house.)

Serves 4 generously.

8 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp dried oregano or 1 tbsp fresh oregano
Black pepper, ground
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
All these vegetables julienned into matchstick strips:

• 1/2 of one sweet onion, smallest you can find
• 1/2 of a large orange or red bell pepper
• 10-12 sundried tomato halves (pref. moist-packed, not in oil)

1 tin of anchovies in olive oil (not soybean oil)
2 tsp capers, drained (you can substitute the two above with 1 tin of anchovies rolled with capers)
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped (plus sprigs for garnish)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Mesclun salad, washed
Balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil, for serving

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
2. In a medium bowl, crack in the eggs. Add oregano then black pepper, to taste. Beat eggs, then set aside.
3. Over a medium flame, heat olive oil and butter in a large oven proof pan (pref. nonstick) until the color is almost golden brown.
4. Add garlic and onions and saute for 2 min.
5. Add whole contents of the tin of anchovies and capers to pan. Then add bell pepper and sundried tomato. Saute another 2 min.
6. Increase heat slightly. Add eggs to the pan. Sprinkle chopped parsley and quickly and lightly distribute eggs into the vegetable mixture with a spatula. Once distributed, do not stir and allow to set. Cook the frittata until the bottom is golden and the top is slightly runny, about 3 min.
7. Put pan into the oven and bake frittata until just set, about 5 min.
8. Cut into wedges and serve warm, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, and a side of mesclun salad with the vinegar and olive oil. Garnish with parsley.

RECIPE Tip of the Day 2/16/07: Homemade Applesauce

How do ya like these apples?*

For an alternative to the same old Red Delicious apple, which can often be firm on the outside, but be soft and mealy inside:

Try a Fuji apple, as pictured to the right. Always sweet, always firm with a long storage life and a bright fragrance, they are great in baking and applesauce, or just plain snacking.

LushMommy's Beginning Eater's Homemade Applesauce
Makes enough for maybe 3 baby meals.

2 large Fuji apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1" pieces

1. Arrange apple pieces in one layer in a 1-qt microwavable casserole dish, pref. glass or ceramic, and place the dish's cover on.
2. Nuke for about 3-4 mins or until soft (the apple's high water content will provide enough steam to cook).
3. Let cool for a few minutes, then puree in a food mill, blender, food processor or by hand with a fork or potato masher.
4. Divide it into servings you think your baby can handle and either freeze (last prob. 1 month in freezer) or refrigerate (at most for 3 days).

*Please forgive me for the Good Will Hunting reference. I am the anti-Matt Damon.

Misadventures in Cooking: Part I

This is not edible.

RECIPE Tip of the Day 2/15/07: Ramen

Use your noodle:

Add 1/2 cup peeled shrimp and 1/2 cup broccoli florets to the boiling water 2 min before adding the packaged ramen noodles (if the shrimp and broccoli are frozen, add another 4 min before dropping the noodles).

(And I always add the seasoning after serving it in a bowl, because the spices will stick to the pot.)

Shopping Tips for Ramen (or other Asian noodles): Try imported brands, rather than the run-of-the-mill domestic ramen. Venture to an Asian food market, and choose from the myriad of flavors of ramen, many specific to tastes of the country of origin. Also most imported brands do not use hydrogenated oil to precook the noodle.

I like Nissin from Hong Kong, Lucky Me from the Philippines, and Shin Ramen from Korea.

RECIPE Tip of the Day 2/14/07: My legendary muffin

Happy Valentine's Day! Smootches to all!

If you are single like me, and are looking for love (or sex) in all the wrong places, try offering one of these muffins to a cute, interesting person you'd like to get to know better.

Chocolate-Chip, Cranberry, Walnut, Oat Bran Muffins
My muffin has made me famous among my mommy circles and co-workers.
*See Shopping Tips below.

Dry Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour*
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour or oat flour*
2/3 cup oat bran, plus 2 tbsp for sprinkling on top*
1 tbsp baking powder (double acting, aluminum-free)
½ tsp sea salt or kosher salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp baking soda, if using yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk; omit if using milk

Stir-ins
1 cup chocolate chips (about half of a 12-oz package)*
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Wet Ingredients
2 large eggs (left out for about 30 mins)
¼ unsalted butter, melted*
¼ coconut oil (melted if solid)*
2/3 cup organic sugar or evaporated cane juice or sucanat*
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup yogurt*, buttermilk or sour cream, pref. whole; can also use milk (not ice cold)

1. Preheat oven to 400˚ F.
2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
3. In another medium sized bowl, toss stir-ins together with 1 tbsp of dry mixture. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk wet ingredients together, fully stirring the sugar to dissolve. Coconut oil may form small lumps if the eggs and yogurt, etc. are very cold.
5. Grease a standard-size 12 count muffin tin.
6. Take dry flour ingredients and stir into the wet ingredients for about 10-12 strokes, until almost all the flour mix is moistened. Add stir-ins with another 2-3 strokes. Do not over stir. Batter will not be smooth.
7. Using an ice cream scoop or a ¼-cup measuring spoon, drop batter into the muffin tin cups evenly. Sprinkle tops with reserved oat bran.
8. Place muffin tin in oven. Reduce heat to 375˚ F—very important!
   
9. Check for doneness in about 18-20 minutes. (Use the “clean toothpick” test.)
10. For cooling, spread a hand towel on the counter and flip the muffin tin, crown side down, onto the towel. Let cool upside down.

*Shopping Tips:

Flours and Oat Bran: I insist on using organic whenever possible. Arrowhead Mills makes organic versions of all of these flours (except oat bran). Bob's Red Mill is another reputable brand for flours and brans, though not everything is organic. The most likely place to find these brands and choices under one roof is Whole Foods Market. (Beware of Whole Foods store brand all-purpose flour because it is not 100% wheat and therefore I could not guarantee the results). Some health food stores offer these ingredients in bulk containers too. They are fine too (support local business!) but give the flour a bit of an inspection before bagging.

Chocolate Chips: I have gotten into reading the ingredients of these bags, and what I have found that the brands that add milk fat in place of cocoa butter, such as Nestlé, Hershey, and generic store brands, are inferior to the ones that just have cocoa (or chocolate) liquor, sugar and vanilla. Baker's has a good chocolate chunk (though they use artificial vanilla). The best for the value is Trader Joe's at $1.79 a bag! (Compare to $2.99 and up for the name brands.)

Butter: European-style butter has less water than conventional butter, which makes it extra delicious in baking (and everything else really). (Get Plugrá coupons here!)

Coconut Oil: Coconut oil, a common cooking oil in tropical countries, has gotten a bad rep for decades in the US for its high saturated fat content and studies in the mid-20th century done with hydrogenated coconut oil. Coconut oil has since made a comeback, as virgin coconut oil (meaning unrefined), but is mostly available at health food/vitamin stores, not the supermarket. I buy mine from the Vitamin Shoppe, which has good sales on health food ingredients. I usually buy Nutiva coconut oil, which by the way, is made in the Philippines (PINOY PINAY POWER!).

If you can't find coconut oil, just use all butter, or vice versa.

Organic sugar, et. al.: Organic sugar is a vague term, because there are various levels of refinement that go into making sugar of any kind. Evaporated cane juice is a generic term for sugar that has minimal processing. Sucanat is a brand name of evaporated cane juice, and is one of the darkest brown ones on the market (meaning it will impart a delicious molasses/brown sugar taste to your foods). All three—organic sugar, evaporated cane juice, sucanat—may be in the bulk section of your local health food store.

Yogurt, etc.: If using whole fat, non-homogenized yogurt, buttermilk or sour cream, remember to stir the contents in the container before using it to evenly distribute the fat. I like Fage, a Greek yogurt, which strains most of the water out of the yogurt before packaging, therefore it is extra-rich.

(I used Fage, as well as oat flour, in my last batch of these muffins, and I think they were my best so far!)

RECIPE Tip of the Day 2/13/07: French Toast

Easy-Peasy French Toast
Good for 2-3 slices of bread, depending on loaf width. Whole grain bread tastes just as delicious as white bread in this recipe. (See Shopping Tips below.)

Mix in a bowl wide enough for dipping the bread:
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk (I only use whole; why bother with water milk?)
cinnamon (to taste)
vanilla extract (to taste)

In your preheated frying pan, put a pat of unsalted butter (or use the leftover fat from the bacon you may have just fried). Dip your bread slices well in the egg mix. Then fry 'em good and golden!

Top with maple syrup (only the real stuff, please).


Shopping Tips:

Bread: Watch out for "high fructose corn syrup" as a sweetener. Stroehmann makes a good whole grain bread for the value. As for organic, there are lots to choose from, if you are willing to pay 2 to 3 times as much than a conventional loaf. I buy Rudi's Organic at my local supermarket.

Eggs: Omega-3 added eggs, as well as organic eggs, are the "in thing" right now (I do admit to buying them regularly myself). It should be a matter of taste and budget. Just look for "cage-free" or at least the "Animal Care Certified" logo.

Milk: Whether buying conventional or organic, it should also be a matter of taste: do not buy ultra-pasteurized milk, which is extra processing for a longer shelf life, and usually results in a blander milk. Single pasteurization is good enough.

Cinnamon: Buy it from the dollar store. You get more for your buck than at the supermarket, and it's just as good, if not fresher because of higher turnover.

Vanilla Extract: I bought this huge bottle from Costco, which is lasting me forever (they don't need my free advertising, so I will not link to them).

Maple Syrup: Buy "U.S. Grade A Dark Amber" from Canada or Vermont (sorry New York — I haven't tried one of yours that I've liked).

The next guy I date:

Will prep vegetables for me while I cook dinner.

RECIPE Tip of the Day 2/12/07: Rum

"Rum and Diet Coke" is nasty. Even though I am trying to eliminate my intake of high fructose corn syrup, I will not compromise on taste in my mixed drinks. A "diet" well drink just sounds retarded.

Shopping Tips for Rum: I don't believe Bacardi to be the best brand, nor "light" rum (the clear one) to be very tasty. Less expensive brands from other Caribbean countries, many of them amber colored, referred by type as "gold" rum, can work just as well in rum and cokes, piña coladas, etc. Brugal, a Dominican Republic gold rum, is cheap but scores higher on taste tests than Bacardi (I can't find the link to the website that rates them).

I don't have an opinion on "dark" rum yet. It is probably very good in small amounts in cooking... and while cooking...

RECIPE Tip of the Day 2/11/07: Veggie Pasta Sauce

Jazz up (and fiber up) your jarred spaghetti sauce with this recipe:

LushMommy's "Get More Veggies in Your Diet" Pasta

Ingredients:
1 bag (12-16 oz) of penne pasta, rotini or your pasta shape of preference (I find long strands of spaghetti too messy with my son. *See more Shopping Tips below.)
1 24-oz jar of tomato-based pasta sauce* (A tip how to open a jar easily: use a can piercer to pry under the lid and break the vacuum.)
Olive oil* (the amount to taste, really; just keep the bottle out)
1 small onion, chopped fine
2 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped fine
3-6 slices of bacon, chopped (omit if you like; you could use ham too, even the cold cuts kind, pref. smoked)
1 cup of carrots, chopped fine*
1 cup of frozen peas*

1. Start cooking the pasta according to its directions. Put a tablespoon of salt if you wish in the boiling water. Before draining, save about 3-4 tblsp of the hot water (use it to wash out the pasta sauce jar and get out the remaining bits of goodness). Drain pasta well in a colander, but DO NOT RINSE. Coat liberally with olive oil.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat more olive oil on medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Sauté for 2-3 min, until onions are slightly translucent. Add bacon, sauté for about 5 min, until the bacon has sweated out most of its tasty fat.
3. Add carrots, sauté 2-3 min. Add peas, sauté another 5 min.
4. Open pasta sauce jar and pour into saucepan. To the jar, add the reserved pasta water, put back the top and give it a good shake. Add it to the heating sauce.
5. Cover saucepan, lower heat, and let the sauce come to a simmer. Leave it be for 5-10 min (depending on how impatient you and your family are).
6. In a large bowl, add drained pasta and sauce and gently mix. (It’s better to pre-mix so the sauce is evenly distributed.) Serve generously to you and your hungry brood.
   

Shopping Tips:

Pasta: I usually buy whole grain ones, organic if it's on sale. Barilla Plus tastes good; Rozoni Healthy Harvest has an extra-grainy texture and feels like a dead weight in your stomach. Bionaturae and Bella Terra are good organic Italian brands. When looking at price for organic, I can find them on sale for $1.99 or better. If you've paid more than $2.99, you've been jipped.

Pasta Sauce: Classico and Victoria are good brands, the latter though being very pricey. I look that the first ingredient is "chopped tomatoes," not "purred tomatoes" because the latter means water is the real first ingredient. Another ingredient to look for is olive oil, not soybean or canola oil, which usually means it tastes a little better.

Olive Oil: Extra-virgin olive oil is nice, but use whatever you have. I like to buy high-quality single-olive-type oils (Trader Joe's has them for a good value), no matter what country of origin, be it Italy, Greece, or Spain (I hear California has good ones too). Blended extra virgin oil of several different types of olives tend to not taste as fine (it can say it was produced in one country, like Italy, but the olives come from other countries). You and your family can be the judge.

Carrots and Peas: You can save yourself the trouble and just use 2 cups of frozen peas and carrots blend. Add frozen peas and/or carrots to the last 6-7 min of boiling the macaroni for boxed mac and cheese to sneak in more veggies there.

RECIPE Tip of the Day 2/10/07: French Toast

French toast tastes so good fried in bacon fat. (Even if accidentally burnt.)