Friday, August 25, 2006
Melancholy Baby -- But Chocolate Makes it Better
I'm a little blue today. One reason is tonight our family is gathering to say goodbye to a friend who is leaving for a teaching position on the West Coast. We might not ever see him again. This is a good friend I met at Franciscan University of Steubenville twelve years ago. After he finished grad school there, he went to Catholic University and just completed his Doctorate degree.
Steven became an adopted member of my family in a way. He started off as my friend in our circle at school, but when he visited my family in Virginia they welcomed him with open arms. My husband and brothers-in-law also consider him a friend. Over the years he's shared with our family holiday meals and get togethers. The meals have been fewer lately due to busy schedules, but it is sad to know that this is one of the last.
Having just celebrated the feast of St. Bartholomew yesterday, I find Jesus' description of Bartholomew (Nathaniel) "He has no guile" is perfect for Steven. He's an honest, sincere, just, and holy man. He's always a pursuer of Truth. It is a blessing to call him a friend.
His "last supper" request was a dessert I made regularly while at FUS, Kahlua Cake. My nickname for this cake should be "Ladies' Helper"--whenever I needed some help that required extra muscles, I would promise this cake as an exchange for help and I always had willing volunteers.
This recipe from a housemate in college. I know, it's not homemade, and gasp! requires a boxed cake. I was always going to work on tweaking a homemade chocolate cake recipe, but that was B.F.A. (before food allergies). This recipe hasn't been made in a while because it is definitely not allergy friendly.
While mixing and smelling the aroma during baking, a flood of memories came rushing back. How much has happened in twelve years! I'm looking forward to having a little piece of chocolate consolation tonight.
Kahlua Cake
1 package Devil's Food Cake mix (Duncan Hines my preference)
1 cup Kahlua (may substitute non-name brand of a coffee liqueur)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (mini-morsels work best)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a Bundt or tube pan.
Mix all ingredients except chips together and beat 2-3 minutes.
Add chocolate chips and beat 1 minute.
Pour into a greased and floured Bundt or tube pan and bake for 50-55 minutes. It's okay to undercook -- better moist. If toothpick inserted has a few crumbs but not liquid, cake is ready.
Before serving (after cooled) sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.
I've also drizzled melted chocolate over top and garnished with strawberries in the center hole and dipped strawberries around the side of the cake. Presentation is important -- but the taste is even better. This cake is moist, chocolately and unbelievably good.
14:55 Posted in Comfort and Healing Foods , Desserts , Family , Family , Memories | Permalink | Comments (6) | Email this | Tags: chocolate, Kahlua Cake, Friendship
Friday, July 21, 2006
I Can't Believe It!
I won a contest! A cooking contest, no less! Becki at Cooking with Whine had a Cooking for Company post seeking crock pot roast suggestions. I submitted this Stracotto al Caffe, Beef Braised in Coffee recipe that I have changed to work with the crock pot. Since I wrote this post, I've cooked this meal several times, each time it's just as delicious. It's considered a "special meal" for my husband, but it's so wonderful that I use up so little of my time to prepare it.
What I like best of all is that someone without food allergies wants to use my recipe! The reason I worked with this recipe was that I could adjust it to make it wheat, egg and dairy free--safe to serve at dinner for my son. It thrills me to think someone with an ordinary diet thinks it sounds tasty to them, too. Thanks so much, Becki!
10:55 Posted in Blog , Comfort and Healing Foods , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this | Tags: beef, roast, crock pot, slow cooker, mash potatoes
Friday, June 30, 2006
Safe Treats
My apologies for the lack of posts! Summertime and the living and cooking is easy! Too busy to post! Lots of family activities lately.
We've have quite a few family get-togethers lately. I have six siblings, and two of them are out-of-state. But the past few weeks, everyone was in town! Besides enjoying all 17 of the nieces and nephews in my house and others, I'm so thankful how my family is so supportive of my son's food allergy needs. I get calls from my mother, my sisters, to make sure everything checks off when they bring food into my house. "Is this safe?" "What kind of chips can your son eat?" "What candy is he allowed to have?" "I put apple juice in my daughter's sippy cup."
And when everyone is around my son, the parents make sure the children wash their hands after eating non-safe foods. Even the children watch what food is around my son. One sister has 5 girls, all little mothers. They saw my son eating some candy (given by me) and I had 3 girls running to me to make sure it was safe for him.
It's just so wonderful, and I'm so appreciative. We don't feel like we are an island. My concerns are shared by the family. And everything I just said for my side of the family applies to my husband's side, too. My mother-in-law, especially, is terrific about providing safe foods for our son. I am surrounded by love.
Remember Kelloggs Rice Krispie Treats? Growing up I used to make them as a quick dessert or snack. One of my sisters called and asked if my son could have these if we used a "safe" margarine. Yes! So using Fleishman's Unsalted Margarine, we had a wheat, dairy and egg and WORRY-free dessert. Quick and easy, perfect for summer, and always yummy! Happy Summer!
09:04 Posted in Comfort and Healing Foods , Desserts , Family , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (6) | Email this
Friday, May 12, 2006
All Choked Up
As I was preparing dinner last night, I again was taken with nostalgia and thinking of my maternal grandmother and also my Great, Great Aunt Peg.
I think that's the appeal of food, cooking, and meals shared in common. They have no boundaries, no time frames. Food is ever-changing, but also just the same. Food is always present to man. All of mankind requires eating to survive. All of history shares the common thread of eating, whether it be hunting, gathering, cultivation or in present-day, shopping. Meal preparation and ingredients vary according to geography, culture and history, but yet many methods and ingredients are renewed and presented again.
Christ's Paschal Mysteries are not only something that happened in history, but they are constantly Re-presented to us. The life of the Catholic Church is not in a timeline, but actually a circle or continuum. There is no time with God; everything is every-present. And in our final goal, heaven, that will be reality for us, also. So in a small way, our food gives us a glimpse of this continuum.
It finally became clear to me why it is so appealing to me to research and try traditional foods for feasts in the Liturgical Year, or to bring forward recipes from family members. I am longing for heaven. We might not actually eat in Paradise, but our meals are a small taste of the ever-present and eternal, and also of the universality of the Mystical Body.
Globe Artichokes make me think of Little Grandma and Aunt Peg. I love them any way. I can eat them just boiled and scrape off just the tender part of the leaves without dipping. I truly have not met a type of artichoke that I dislike.
And that credit goes to Grandma and her aunt, Aunt Peg. They introduced artichokes to me. How I loved coming over for a visit to hear the pressure cooker rattling away and the promise of the soon-cooked artichokes. I was only 6 or 7 when they showed me how to eat an artichoke, what parts were edible, how to remove the choke, and mostly, how to savor every bite. I wish I had more than just a mental picture of that little kitchen in Houston on Elm Street, with Aunt Peg's round table and the pressure cooker steaming away on the stove. But the memories are still vivid.
But I confess...I never cooked an artichoke...until yesterday. I was intimidated. I didn't think I knew the secrets of my great, great aunt and grandmother. To read about the sensitivity of artichokes, the chemicals that change, just made me think I'd do something wrong. So I would buy them canned, frozen, marinated but never fresh. Now you know, I'm not a true foodie!
Wouldn't you be a little intimidated when reading this from The New Complete Book of Food:
Preparing This Food
Slicing into the base of the artichoke rips cell walls and releases polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that converts phenols in the vegetable to brown compounds that darken the "heart" of the globe. To slow the reaction, paint the cut surface with a solution of lemon juice or vinegar and water.
What Happens When You Cook This Food
Chlorophyll, the green plant pigment, is sensitive to acids. When you heat a globe artichoke, the chlorophyll in it green leaves reacts with acids in the artichoke or in the cooking water, forming brown pheophytin. The pheophytin, plus yellow carotenes in the leaves, can turn a cooked artichokes leaves bronze. To prevent this reaction, cook the artichokes very quickly so there is no time fore the chlorophyll to react to the acid, or cook it in lots of water to dilute the acids, or cook it with the lid off the pot so that the volatile acids can float off into the air.
I started simply. I bought 4 artichokes and boiled them and put the hearts in the salad. I'm buoyed by my success and have lost my fear. Dh was surprised how different the taste and texture as compared to marinated. I think he wanted the more intense flavor of the marinade, but I enjoyed the true taste shining through.
The warm seasons change is when I start pulling out the cookbooks by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette. Yesterday I used Fresh from a Monastery Garden which features 29 different types of vegetables (or vegetable families) and gives several recipes for each vegetable. There are 4 recipes for artichokes. I chose Artichokes Basque Style (Artichauts a la Basquaise)
Makes 4 servings
4 artichokes, trimmed
4 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 small head of leaf lettuce
4 medium size-tomatoes, sliced in quarters lengthwise
4 hard boiled eggs, sliced in rounds (I omit)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
green olives
Vinaigrette
7 Tbsp. virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
In salted water mixed with lemon juice, cook the artichokes for 30 minutes, or until tender. Remove and rinse in cold water. Remove the leaves, take out the heart, and chill until ready to use.
Arrange whole lettuce leaves in four separate salad plates. Place 1 artichoke heart in the center, and surround alternating with tomato and egg slices. Add onion slices and green olives around artichoke.
Prepare vinaigrette and pour over each salad.
My presentation wasn't as beautiful as Brother Victor suggests. I used a bagged salad and Roma tomatoes and cut up the heart so that there was a bit in every bite. It's what I had! We enjoyed the flavor and I'll try harder for a "pretty" next time now that I have overcome my fear.
12:25 Posted in Comfort and Healing Foods , Memories , Vegetables and Salads , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Wash Day Dinner
My mother's family came from New Orleans. Since Monday was "laundry day" it was traditional to have red beans and rice cooking on the stove. This is definitely a comfort food. When I have a leftover ham bone I'm always trying to decide what to make with it. The usual choices are split pea soup or red beans and rice. I know there are other recipes and could broaden my horizon, but I usually come back to these two again and again. Today's not Monday, but it does seem to perpetually be Wash Day!
Serve over rice. Brown rice is our preferred type here. I cook mine in chicken broth, add olive oil and salt. I love the Imagine Organic Free Range Chicken Broth. It's the tastiest chicken broth on the market...homemade flavor.
Red Beans and Rice
1 meaty ham bone or ham hocks
1 pound dry red kidney beans
1 medium onion, chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
1/2-1 medium green pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
Few dashes Tabasco sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil (butter if allowed)
8 cups (2 quarts) water
Brown rice (cooked)
Rinse beans, remove all foreign particles, and soak overnight covered with water or the quick soak method (preferred). See How to Cook Beans. Drain and rinse the beans and set aside.
In large pot, sauté onion, celery, garlic and green peppers until soft. Add water, ham bone, beans, spices. Simmer for about 3 hours. The beans should become creamy, but most stay whole. Before serving, remove bone and cut meat in bite sized pieces.
Meanwhile, cook rice. Serve with green salad and bread -- French bread, Southern biscuits, but our family's bread of choice is my aunt's recipe. In parentheses are my milk, egg and wheat free adaptions... The results are a little more crumbly, but still yummy.
Cathey's Corn Bread
ETA: I updated this recipe here.
1 cup corn meal (white or yellow)
1 cup flour (I use 1/4 cup of oat flour, brown rice flour, potato starch and corn starch)
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted butter (safe margarine)
1 cup milk (I use soymilk)
1 egg, beaten (1 Tbsp. Egg Replacer with water)
(1 tsp. xanthum gum)
1/2 stick butter or margarine
Preheat oven to 425 degrees (for glass pan, 450 for others). Grease a 9x9x2 pan or 12 muffin tins. Mix all ingredients except unmelted butter until all lumps are removed. Do not overmix. Pour into greased pan or muffin tins. Bake at 425 degrees about 20-25 minutes. Melt 1/2 stick butter or margarine on top after removing from oven.
Makes 12 muffins. (When doubling only use 6 teaspoons baking powder.)
14:05 Posted in Breads and Biscuits , Comfort and Healing Foods , Family , Family , Main Meal , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (6) | Email this
Monday, April 24, 2006
Mommy's Comfort Food
This weekend I contracted a nasty bug that sent me to bed. The difficult part in my recuperation was that we were visiting my mil, so I didn't have all the comforts of home. When I could finally eat, the only food I wanted was some chicken soup. It was a welcome treat to actually have the same batch of chicken soup I made for my mil a few weeks before when she was recuperating! My gift to her came back as a gift to me!
Interesting thing about chicken soup...it's a comfort, soothing, healing food and yet with all the myriad of cookbooks I have on my shelves, I don't think I have more than 3 or 4 cookbooks that have this basic recipe. Progresso and Campbell seemed to have wiped out soup making. I myself always thought making soup was difficult or time-consuming. It's only been in recent years that I've embraced cooking my own soup. And there are so many different types of soups that fit the bill of egg, wheat and milk free meals.
Although the weather is getting warmer and soup isn't usually on the menu, I recommend a pot of chicken soup for the medicine cabinet. Freeze a batch in small amounts to have on hand for those unexpected family sicknesses--healthier and tastier than opening up a can!
This recipe is adapted from A Continual Feast by Evelyn Birge Vitz
Chicken Soup
1 3-4 pound chicken
2 1/2 quarts water (10 cups) or chicken broth
2-3 teaspoons salt
8 peppercorns
4 cloves (optional)
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 sprigs parsley or dried parsley
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
4 ribs celery, finely chopped
Vegetables such as:
4 or 5 potatoes, chopped or 1 - 1 1/2 cups raw brown rice or barley
1 cup green beans
4-6 carrots, chopped
1-2 cups of peas (optional)
2 Tablespoons butter (optional)
Cut chicken into serving pieces. Place them in a large pot with the water (or broth) and salt. Bring to a boil. Skim off scum from top.
Place spices in tea ball or cheesecloth and add to water with onion, celery and garlic.
Simmer partially covered until chicken is tender (about 1-2 hours). Remove chicken. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove bones and return meat to pot. Add desired vegetables, simmer for another 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. If adding peas, add only at the last minutes of cooking.
Remove spice bag. Taste for seasoning. Stir in butter if desired.
15:00 Posted in Comfort and Healing Foods , Soups , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (5) | Email this