Category Archives: Chow

Strawberry Salsa

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I have a gazillion more strawberry recipes I’ll share with you in the next few days, because my refrigerator and freezer still runneth over from those beautiful red gems.

Today though, I’ll share a mango salsa recipe that I’ve re-jiggered with strawberries.

If I had to choose a final meal, rather than pizza, fried chicken, lasagna, or something “normal,” I’d probably choose grilled tilapia with warm mango salsa from Bonefish Grill.  I love this meal in an abnormal way.  I crave it.  In fact, after my first marathon, my husband took me to Bonefish, and it was all I could do to wait for it to arrive at the table – my appetite was waaaayy off the charts!  It’s full of protein, super tasty, and not a heavy meal at all.  Perfect for having just run 26 miles.  Or, for that matter, perfect for a day sitting around watching Sandra Dee movies too.

I’ve found the recipe for the Bonefish Grill warm mango salsa online, so I merely switched strawberries for the mango.  I imagine it would be delicious on chicken or fish, but this night I used it over a jerk pork tenderloin.  It was pretty wonderful.

The recipe at Bonefish doesn’t use fresh jalapenos, but I like them, so I substituted those for the red chili flakes.  It also provides a little extra color.  This salsa can be served either warm or cold – it was great lightly warmed in the microwave over the pork loin, but it’s fabulous cold over fish tacos!

Strawberry Salsa

2 C diced strawberries, washed and tops cut off
1/2 C diced yellow or orange pepper
1/2 C diced red onion
1 T fresh garlic, chopped
1 small to medium diced jalapeno, depending on your heat likability
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
2 T scallions, chopped
3 T olive oil
3 T light corn syrup
1 T lime zest
juice of 1 small lime
salt and pepper to taste*

Chop the first 7 ingredients and mix together.  Mix olive oil, lime zest, and lime juice together; pour over salsa.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and then mix thoroughly.  Let the salsa sit in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours for the flavors to meld.  Serve with chips, on tacos, over fish or poultry.

*I am a big fan of Jane’s Krazy Mixed-Up Salt and use it for most things calling for salt and pepper.  It not only has salt and pepper in it, but herbs and spices too.

For printable version, click on the recipe name

What to do with Strawberries, Strawberries, and More Strawberries

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Yesterday, I shared with you my story of real romance, or How My Husband Lovingly Bought Me 5 Flats of Strawberries.  Back then, I made and canned many, many jars of strawberry jam. But even eating as many PB & J’s as we do, I still have several jars of jam sitting on shelves.

So this time, when I got just two flats of strawberries, I needed to find some creative things to do with them.  I did freeze some, but I also wanted something beyond the normal strawberry fare.  And my husband is on Weight Watchers, so I needed to find food that didn’t put him over the edge.  So here are two things that I made, and the recipes to go along…. (I made a LOT more than this; I foresee several days of strawberry recipes to post!)

My husband’s favorite fruit flavor of ice cream is strawberry.  Go figure!  But all the cream and eggs might be a little much for someone aiming to lose some weight.  I found a recipe instead for Strawberry Sherbet.  Even though there’s still sugar in it, and the recipe called for cream, I adapted the Cooks Illustrated recipe using milk rather than the cream.  It tastes pretty darn wonderful still.

Strawberry Sherbert

2 cups strawberries, hulled
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C water
pinch salt
3 T lemon juice
2 Tbsp. vodka*
1/2 C low-fat milk + 2 T heavy cream

Place the berries, sugar, water, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a soft boil over medium-high heat. Cook just until the blackberries start to pop and release their juice.

Transfer the berries and liquid to a blender. Gently pulse the berries to break them up and then puree until smooth. (Be careful here–hot liquid and tight blender lids can lead to burns and splatters!)

Strain the puree through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Press and scrape the solids along the bottom of the sieve to get as much puree as possible; leaving only seeds behind.

Add the lemon juice and vodka. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator about 2 hours.

In a separate bowl, mix together the milk plus the heavy cream.  Slowly pour into the fruit puree.

Turn on your ice cream maker and while it’s running, pour the cream/fruit mixture through the feed hole. Churn according to manufacturer directions. Transfer finished sherbet to a plastic bowl with a tight-fitting lid. Freeze for a few hours until firm before serving.  Makes about 1 quart.

*Vodka helps keep the sherbet softer and easier to scoop.

On Sunday mornings we’re normally out of bed,  and in the car on our way to church before it’s even 8.  So I like to have something ready to go that we can nibble on while we’re getting ready, or take in the car with us.  I’ve discovered that I can make muffin batter, put it the little cupcake papers in the actual muffin tin, and freeze them in the tins.  When they’re frozen, I just pop the frozen muffins into a plastic bag and keep frozen until I’m ready to use them again.  When I’m ready, I place each muffin (in the paper) back into the tin and thaw them.  I can place them in the oven overnight, set the timer for sometime that morning, and Voilà!  They’re fresh and hot out of the oven as we walk out the door…

Strawberry Muffins

1 stick butter, softened
3/4 C sugar
1 egg
2 C flour
2 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 C milk
1/2 t vanilla
2 C hulled and chopped fresh strawberries
3 T sugar
1/2 t cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and mix well.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to butter mixture. Add vanilla. Gently stir in strawberries.

Spoon batter into muffin pans.

Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over muffins.

Bake at 400º for 20-25 minutes.

Makes 1 1/2 dozen muffins.

If you’d like a printable recipe, please click on the recipe name!

See you soon with more strawberry delights…

Beyond Strawberry Shortcake and a Tale of True Romance

Posted on by under Chow, When I Forget to Post in a Category

Once upon a time, my husband, in a wonderful display of romance, bought me 5 flats of Plant City strawberries. I grew up not too awfully far from Plant City, Florida, and more than once, my mom and I drove over to eat our way through the strawberry fields whilst picking some for later.

So it was with much joy in our little town near the Smoky Mountains that a few years ago, a man would bring a van full of Plant City, Florida strawberry flats, and sell them on the side of the road.

My husband, who often has to listen to some of the many things I miss about living in Florida (shuttle launches and landings, the beach, fresh seafood at the grocery store, the beach, Sea World, picking strawberries in the “winter,” the beach, wearing shorts year-round, fresh-squeezed orange juice on Christmas morning, Disney, and the beach to name a few) has done his absolute best to satisfy some of those longings when he can.

For instance, every year for Christmas he buys me a bag of oranges. You may think I’m crazy, but I think it’s one of the most romantic things he’s ever done for me. Especially that first year…

Having grown up mainly in Florida, I equate the Christmas breakfast feast with fresh-squeezed orange juice. Oranges are always in season around Christmas time. And if we didn’t have an orange tree, somebody we knew did… until we moved to the mountains of Tennessee.  Practically despondent that first Christmas here, my husband surprised me with a bag of oranges. Say what you will, but I remember that gift and have absolutely no recollection of any others I may have received that year…. That’s what I call real romance.

So a few years ago, when my husband saw a van parked on the side of the road advertising Plant City strawberries, he just knew he had to buy some.  And not just some, a lot of them.  5 flats of them.  If you don’t know how many 5 flats are, remember those little green baskets of strawberries you can buy at the grocery?  There are 12 of those baskets in a flat.

That’s a LOT of strawberries.

To put it mildly.

Even more so, when you don’t have enough refrigerator/freezer space to store them.

Especially when you didn’t have your day planned around 5 flats of strawberries.

He thought he was being romantic – and he was.  He just didn’t know how much work 5 flats of strawberries was going to be.  He thought he would make me happy – and he did.

After the fact.

Because I spent 3 days in a strawberry coma.

Besides freezing a LOT of them, and eating a LOT of them (who needs Benefiber when you’re eating your way through 5 flats of strawberries???), I also made 12 pint jars and 6 qts. of strawberry jam, strawberry cake, strawberry shortcake, strawberry jello, and strawberry smoothies out the wazoo (literally).

Alas, the strawberry man went missing a couple years ago.

But this year, he was back.

My husband called to see how many flats I wanted.

Two.

He helped me clean them this time.  He helped me cut the tops off this time.  He helped me cook this time. He helped me freeze them this time.  He helped me clean all the red juice off the floor this time.

And he apologized for ever bringing me 5 flats of strawberries once upon a time.  He learned his lesson.

That’s true romance for ya.

Tomorrow:  The recipes for my 2 flats of strawberries

Non Chili Chili

Posted on by under Chow, Delights

Both my parents were raised in Cincinnati, and I get to go there (and eat) this weekend. And if you’re not from the Midwest, it’s doubtful that you think of Cincinnati with the same degree of respect as, oh, say, Chicago. Cincinnati is a big city, but not that big. Still, it deserves your respect. If for no other reason than the food that is indigenous to that fine city.

Chicago may have its hot dogs and pizzas, but Cincinnati has its “not quite chili” chili.    Unlike the kind of chili you probably think of when you think of chili, Cincinnati chili is more like a spaghetti meat sauce than the chunky, tomato, bean, meat concoction that’s ideal on a cold, wintry evening.  In fact, Cincinnati chili is almost always served on spaghetti, usually topped with onions, sometimes beans, and oodles of shredded cheddar cheese on top.  Often, it’s served on a hot dog, with mustard, and oodles of shredded cheddar cheese on top.  Either way it’s served, I love it.  And I. CANNOT. Stand. Hot dogs!

Something to do with my high school biology teacher working… oh… never mind!

Yep, for some of you that sounds absolutely disgusting.  But it’s not.  I promise.  In fact,  I’ve probably introduced at least 10 – 20 people to it, who are now addicted like me.

But, to shed some light on what makes Cincinnati chili, Cincinnati chili, it has secret ingredients in it that give it a definitive taste.  Things like… cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and… chocolate.  Obviously, since the recipe is secret, one can never really know, but most copycat recipes call for those ingredients.

By the way, when I say Cincinnati chili, I mean Skyline Chili.  It’s the best.  There are other brands out there, but, I’m a food snob when it comes to my Cincinnati chili.  Actually, I’m also food snob about lots of other foods (Chicago pizza, for one) but this post is about the chili.

All about the chili…

Did I mention that I get to go to Cincinnati (and eat) this weekend?

Because I’m a food snob about this stock up on Skyline when I go to Cincinnati (I get to go there and eat this weekend!). Even though I’ve tried (and been greatly disappointed by) those copycat recipes, I realize you may not have Skyline available where at your grocers.

If you’re adventurous, and you’d like to try non-chili chili I’ve scouted various websites to find a recipe that has good reviews.

But if that’s not quite good enough, I’ll be in Cincinnati this weekend, and I’ll eat some on your behalf… And mine.

Cookbooks

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When I’m not training for some athletic event, I am wont to cook myself into a frenzy.  Lately, I’ve been baking like there is no tomorrow.  In the summer, I’m sure I’ll be grilling like winter is at hand, but for now, baking is what it’s all about in my kitchen.

Some of the cookbooks I’ve been experimenting with lately are:

Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

I first heard about their Brooklyn bakery on the Food Network show The Best Thing I Ever Ate.  Claire Robinson espoused the virtues of their sweet and salty brownie.  I’m a huge fan of all things sweet and salty, which began many, many years ago with my love of Snickers.  While this cookbook doesn’t have that recipe, there are all sorts of other delicious treats like Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins, Chipotle Cheddar Biscuits, and Butterscotch Pudding Tarts, and their granola recipe.  Mmmm… scrumptious!

They have a new cookbook out, Baked Explorations…

With recipes like Nutella Scones, Orange Creamsicle Tart, a pistachio cake AND FINALLY the recipe for the reknowned sweet and salty brownie, I’m chompin’ at the bit to get it in to my hot little hands!

Martha Stewart.  Many have their opinion of her, but I must say that no matter what your opinion, her recipes are always perfected to the n th degree!  I have several of her cookbooks, but her Cookies and Cupcakes are filled with so many fabulous recipes, it’s hard to know where to begin.

I am a lover of sending care packages to my son at college.  Tired of the same old chocolate chip cookie recipe, this livens it up a bit.  And, of course, it’s hard to send all 3 dozen; so we must keep some to eat ourselves! The recipes are as varied as Pfeffernussen (pepper cookies) to Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies to Homemade Graham crackers.  After looking through this book, you’ll be like the Cookie Monster and say, “Must have coooooookie!”

When I saw that Martha came out with a cupcake cookbook, I didn’t hesitate to put it in my Amazon cart pronto.  I tend to looooooooooove to eat things, but since I began exercising in earnest several years ago, I’ve learned how to limit my portion sizes.  Cupcakes allow me to indulge in something decadent, but not overwhelm myself with calories.  Not only are the cupcakes beautifully decorated, but the flavors – oh! Boston Cream, Pumpkin Brown Butter, Snickerdoodle,  Dark Chocolate salty caramel just to name a few.

Before Martha came out with her cupcake book, I picked up Hello Cupcake by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson at the store one day.  When my kids were little a friend and I took a cake decorating class together, figuring that it would serve us well when it came time to bake birthday cakes for our kids.  It did and continues to do so.  So when I saw this book of how to make delicious and cute cupcakes, it seemed like a match made in heaven.

My kids have got me figured out.  Give mom a cupcake cookbook for her birthday, and she will make delicious treats for all to enjoy.  That’s why, when What’s New Cupcake came out a while ago, son #2 bought it for my birthday.  What a win/win situation for him!  By the same people that wrote Hello Cupcake, it has even more charming decorations and recipes … like the gingerbread and chocolate banana, each delicious with a ginger spice buttercream.  But it’s their decorating that really sets them apart as a cookbook.

Fortune cookies, mums, whales, Chinese takeout – these are not just cupcakes, they’re an art form!

You’ll be amazed…

Finally, even though it hasn’t been published yet, I’m itching to get my hands on Macarons, by Annie Rigg.  I’m entranced by the beautiful colors, the variety of flavors, and the lightness of macarons.  Macaroons, macarons.  Heeeyyyyyyyy Macarena!

Made of egg whites, sugar, and ground almonds, these are delicate little cookies, and apparently difficult to master.  Master them I will, hopefully, with this cookbook.  I even bought a bag of almond meal when I was at Trader Joe’s a few weeks ago.  I’m good to go now!

If there is a cookbook – or several – that you’ve been quite attached to lately, let me know!  I’m always eager for new recipes!

Herbs in a Tube

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In the summer, I have plenty of herbs growing in the garden, in various pots, and even in some places that I have no idea how they got there.  I try to grow extra so I can freeze them to use throughout the long winter months when fresh just can’t be found.

But invariably, I always run out.

So sue me, but I use herbs in a tube when there’s no fresh alternative.

I justify it because I also use anchovies from a tube when I make caesar salad dressing.

Tubes of food…. sounds so… astronaut-ish.

While they obviously aren’t nearly as good as the “real” stuff, they’ll do in a pinch.  I love cilantro, and in the winter I make soups like there’s no tomorrow, many of them Asian inspired.  There’s always a lot of cilantro involved, and I never seem to have enough.   So I use cilantro in a tube.

If I want to make homemade salsa in the middle of winter, I’ll buy a bunch of the real stuff in the produce section.  But, for adding a little bit of flavor for soups, casseroles, etc…, it works.

While I have bought a few of the different kinds of flavors, ginger, garlic, and lemongrass are my favorites.

The flavors aren’t nearly as pronounced as the real stuff, but sometimes that’s a good thing.  I love this thing called 1905 Salad, and it has a nice garlic based dressing.  All great and good, but if you have to go out in public after eating it, people give you a very wide berth.  I find that by using the garlic in a tube in the 1905 dressing, it’s a little milder and people don’t run screaming from the room when you walk in.

You can find herbs in a tube in your produce section.

So next time you’re strapped for some basil for your Nonna Rosa’s homemade lasagna recipe from the old country, try some from a tube. Save some time.  Make it semi-homemade.

Sandra Lee would be proud.

Better than Blue Orange Rolls

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If I had my druthers, every Sunday breakfast would start with that certain Doughboy’s orange rolls “fresh” from a can. A can that is so pressurized, you hit it on the edge of a counter until it pops. Those orange rolls…. I don’t know what it is, but I love them. Love them!!! I would choose them over waffles, cinnamon rolls, sticky buns, quiche, muffins, coffeecake, scones (and I love, love, love scones), and even Eggs Benedict. Well, maybe not Eggs Benedict, but then again, maybe so…

The point is: they are scrumptious.

But – and this is a big but (wholly unrelated to what the actual rolls do to my gluteous maximus muscles) – they come in a can.

They are highly processed.

They are highly pressurized.

They are exactly what food guru Michael Pollan warns against in Food Rules #1 through Food Rules #11.

Example:  Food Rule #7 – Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.

Of course, this completely applies to Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, Snickers, Peanut M & M’s,  and even Kellogg’s Raisin Bran.  I like those too; I just can’t easily replicate them myself.  Orange rolls, though… I can make those.

And I can make them better.  Stronger.  Faster.  No, no, I can can just make them better; I’m not actually Steve Austin.  But I digress…

I can make orange rolls, and I can make them better than Pillsbury.  And now, so can you.

I do have to let you know, though, that I cheat when I make these.  And by cheat, I just mean that I make the dough in my bread machine.  I have made them by hand (well, KitchenAid mixer) before, but I find it frees an hour and a half by making it in the machine.  So if/when you make this, instructions are written as if it’s made in a bread machine.  If you want to make it by hand, unfortunately, you’ll have to wing it.  This recipe makes approximately 16 decent sized rolls, or about 30 mini ones.

Better Than Blue Orange Rolls

Rolls:

2 T yeast

1/2 C warm water

1 1/2 orange zest

1/2 C freshly squeezed orange juice

2 T butter

1 egg

1/4 C sugar

3 1/2 C flour

Dissolve yeast in water for 5 minutes.

Place in bread machine and add remaining ingredients.

This is a really important step: Take your discarded orange pieces.  Throw them in your disposal.  Run the disposal.  Make your kitchen smell really wonderful.

Run machine on dough cycle.

On floured surface roll out into a 14″ circle a 1/2″ thick.

Filling:

4 T butter, melted

1/4 C sugar

2 t cinnamon

Spread with melted butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Roll up.

Slice into 1″ thick rolls with a bench scraper.

Squeeze the pinched side together as you pick up the rolls and place them on the baking sheet.  I’m using a clay pizza stone.  I like to use them because they clean up really well.  But also because it was easier to get to than my cookie sheets.  Hey – whatever makes the cooking go easier; I’m all for it!

Bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Icing:

1 C XXX sugar

1 T butter, melted

1 T freshly squeezed orange juice

1 T orange zest

1 t vanilla

Put sugar into a bowl.  Add the orange zest and liquid ingredients.

Stir until thoroughly mixed.  If needed, add more orange juice if it’s too thick, or more sugar if it’s not thick enough.  It should be of a consistency that it will be firm enough to stay on the offset spatula when it’s picked up, but soft enough that it will spread and melt easily over the warm rolls.

Spread the icing over the soft, warm, wonderfully orange-y smelling rolls with an offset spatula! An offset spatula has a slight bend in it.

Eat immediately.  Feel good that you can make these delicious rolls any and all times without causing a minor combustible reaction from opening said blue can.  Lick the extra icing off your fingers.

And have a very fabulous day.  Because you deserve to have a fabulous day.  Amen.

*For a printable version, click on the recipe name at the beginning of the recipe!

Awww…. Nuts! (And a little salad too)

Posted on by under Chow, Delights

I like to eat healthy. But I also like to not eat healthy.

I find that instead of munching away on carrot sticks or Snickers bars and whatnot, nuts help to keep hunger at bay.

Despite their high fat content, they’re packed with protein and fiber, both of which give you that full feeling.  I could probably eat a whole bunch of celery and not feel full.  And if I ate a bag of Doritos, I’d feel nasty, and then want another bag in 20 or so minutes. Thus, I eat almonds, pecans, walnuts, cashews and pistachios.

Sure, nuts have plenty of fat.  But it’s the good kind of fat.

They have Omega-3 acids, vitamin E, and a whole host of other impossibly weird sounding scientific names that basically spell out how healthy they are for you.

They’re known to lower cholesterol and stop development of plaque in your arteries.

But you know what I like about ‘em?

They taste good.  They’re crunchy, which tends to fool my brain into thinking I’m eating something like biscotti or Tostitos.  And it works out my jaw muscles, so I get pretty tired of eating them fairly quickly.

But besides eating them plain, I’ll eat them smoked, salted, and even chocolatized.  Yeah, I just made that word up.

Eating the chocolatized ones are sort of like eating a candy bar.  Sort of.  Not really, but… sort of.  The chocolate ones are slightly sweet, so I pretend that instead of eating chocolate almonds, I’m eating a chocolate candy bar with almonds in it.  Weird, I know, but it’s the way I roll…

But I’m also a huge fan of pistachios.  They take time to eat.  And after I’ve shelled a handful, I’m over it.  But by then, my stomach feels full too.  I like how that happens.

I’m a big fan of using them in all sorts of food too.  Even the not-so-healthy kind.  It makes me feel like I’m getting a modicum of healthiness in my not so healthy food.

And just to prove it to you, here’s my recipe for Crunchy Romaine Toss…

Crunchy Romaine Toss
Topping:
1 C pecans, chopped
1 pkg. Ramen noodles, crushed (discard flavoring packet)
1/4 C butter
Melt butter, and add in pecans and noodles; cook until toasted.  Set aside to cool.

Dressing:
1/2 C olive oil
1/4 C sugar
1/3 C red wine vinegar
5 T soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Mix together. Set aside, but shake or stir before tossing into salad.

Greens:
1 lg. head romaine lettuce
1 bunch of broccoli, coarsely chopped
4 green onions, sliced

Set aside a few green onions, and a small handful of the pecan mix.  Toss all other ingredients together.  Garnish with the remaining onions and pecan mixture.
Serves 8

See?  Not so very healthy, but oh-so-very good!  You’d be nuts not to try it!

What to make for Norwegian Guests? Norwegian Pancakes, of Course!

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For some reason we know several families of Norwegian descent.  Several year ago, we were visiting one of those families in Seattle and we happened to be there during the birthday of one of their little boys.  For breakfast he requested Norwegian Pancakes.  I’d never heard of them before, but when I tasted that first bite, I was hooked.  I’m more of a waffle person than a pancake person, because my stomach tends to feel like I ate a lead balloon after I’ve eaten American pancakes.  Norwegian pancakes, while filling, are thin and delicate, and not so dense and heavy.  I’ve become a fan of these, and make them a lot when we have company.

Which brings me to today…

Another family of Norwegian heritage has been staying with us to celebrate the New Year, and they brought along a real Norwegian!  She’s an exchange student that’s living with them for this school year.  Being that there is a true Norwegian in the house, I thought it only appropriate to serve these for breakfast.

We wondered whether this recipe is just an Americanized version, so we asked her if this was what she was used to at home.  Her response?

“Yes.  It’s so nice to have a normal pancake for a change.”

So I’m fairly certain this recipe is authentic.  And it’s pretty delicious too!  Enjoy it!

Norwegian Pancakes

3 eggs
1 1/2 C milk
3/4 C flour
1 T sugar
2 T butter, melted
1 t vanilla

*2 T butter, melted to brush over finished pancakes

In a large bowl whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, and 2 T butter. In a separate bowl , mix together flour, salt, and sugar. Slowly pour liquid ingredients into the dry, blending until completely mixed, and there are no lumps.  It helps if one of your bowls has a pour spout, so you can pour the mixture – which will be thin and liquid-y – directly into a hot skillet, but I have this handy-dandy Hershey’s Syrup Chocolate Milk Mixer that I use.  I sent in some box tops once upon a time when my children were little and it was a special treat for them to make their own chocolate milk with the “plunger.”

These are basically crepes (although Norwegian Pancakes sound so much more exotic) so you will need to have some sort of omelet pan to make them in.  You could use a griddle, but because they are so thin, it helps to have that graduated side to slide them off enough to flip.

To begin, heat your omelet pan to medium high heat.  If you don’t have a non-stick pan, spray a little bit of cooking spray to coat the bottom and sides.  Even if you do have a non-stick pan, I spray a bit on regardless so that the pancake will slide a bit easier.

Pour a scant amount of the batter into the pan.

I’m guessing it’s somewhere between 1/4 C to 1/2 C of liquid, but it will depend upon the size of your skillet.  I’m using a 10″ pan.  You just need to lightly coat the bottom with the batter.  The amount you pour in is very similar to making an omelet.

Let the pancake sit a moment or two.  When it begins to bubble, you will want to check around the edges to see if it’s beginning to brown on the bottom.  If it is, wait another few seconds so that the middle will be done enough to slide to one edge.

If it’s not done, because these are so thin and delicate, you’ll likely tear the pancake in the middle like I did here!

If it is brown, and cooked enough in the center, gently slide the pancake to one edge of the pan, and use your spatula to flip it over.  By the way, I LOVE these Matfer spatulas.  They’re safe for non-stick pans and are angled in order to easily get anything flipped or even just get cookies off the cookie sheet.

The 2nd side of the pancake only needs a short time to brown.  At this point, I will lightly brush some of the 2 T of remaining melted butter on top.  After the butter is brushed on, use your spatula and begin rolling the pancake into a tube shape, and slide it directly onto your serving plate.

Now, I will say that you can fill the pancake before it’s rolled (traditionally with Ligonberry jam), but it’s excellent as is, with maybe a hint of powdered sugar or maple syrup.

This recipe makes about 8 or so pancakes; I normally double it for my family of five.  But two was the perfect number for our Norwegian guest…

What a sweet, beautiful Nordic girl!

A Big Birthday Night Feast

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Timpano... a la " Big Night"

I was looking on YouTube for the scene from the Stanley Tucci and Tony Shaloub movie  Big Night the other day. When I finally did come across it, there was a comment that this scene was basically food porn. I had to laugh at that, because yes, the scene makes you ooh and aah, drool and pant, like few other movie food scenes I’ve ever watched.  Everything just looks so fabulous.  You want to be there.  In the movie.  Eating all of that food….  But mostly, you want to eat the piece de resistance - the timpano.

Say it like a real Italian now… tim- PAH – no.  Because, if you make and eat this one-dish feast, you will feel like a real Italian.

Like lots of families I know, we have a tradition at our house that the celebrant gets to choose what meal they want for their birthday dinner.  My daughter will usually let me know the day after her birthday what she wants me to make for her dinner next year.  So I thought I’d be making pizza once again for her this year.  But then we watched  Big Night a few weeks before her birthday, and she want CRAZY wanting the timpano from the movie.

After scouting around on the internet, I discovered that there are several recipes out there.  But there is, in fact, a timpano recipe that’s actually from Stanley Tucci’s family.  So the timpano they made in the movie was probably made from his family’s recipe.   The Tucci family has even published a cookbook with their timpano recipe in it.  But you can just surf the web and find the recipe too.  While it’s just too long to publish in this post, here it is:

THE TIMPANO RECIPE (from the movie Big Night)

Long story short, and with many pictures to follow, we made it for my daughter’s birthday.  While it seems time-consuming and complicated, it wasn’t too bad.  I did a lot of the prep work the day before, and put it all together the day of her birthday.

Bags of pre-cooked and pre-cut eggs, meatballs, sausage, provolone, salami, & shredded parmesan

And I didn’t follow the recipe exactly either.  The Tucci family recipe involves making a ragu (tomato meat sauce) but I had an overabundance of tomatoes in my garden a few weeks ago, and made a simple homemade tomato sauce that I had set aside.   I combined my sauce with some from a jar and some ground beef.  I love the idea of using short ribs, but I was running short on time.  We also halved the recipe.  While the original says it serves 16,  I’m pretty sure the one I made would serve 16 too!  Truly – there’s just that much food.

In fact, I used a stainless steel bowl that was 14″ in diameter.

Greased with butter and olive oil

From what I’ve seen on the internet, it’s best to use an enamel baking pan/bowl for cooking the timpano.  I have an enamel bowl, but it’s twice the size of what I made.  It would be perfect for making the full recipe.   But honestly?  Unless you were planning on having a large party, or half the neighborhood over for dinner, I’d plan on cutting the recipe in half.

Rolling out the dough

I’ve made homemade pasta before, and this is pretty much a pasta dough.  It’s delightfully crispy when baked though.  A little trick I learned when making pizza, and moving the dough onto a pizza stone, is to fold the dough in half, then in half again.  This helps you move the dough in one piece and not cause any tears while you pick it up.

Lightly form the dough into the bowl so that when you start adding all the pasta, etc..., you don't tear it!

Lightly form the dough into the bowl so that when you start adding all the pasta, etc..., you don't tear it!

Ready to fill!

By now, all your ingredients should be ready to be layered into the timpano dough.

a little over a pound of cooked ziti

I don’t know how many pounds of everything else there was in this though…  I’m sure I added a few pounds to me!

mixing the meat sauce with the ziti

Now… it’s time to start to add all the fixins’ in to the bowl of timpano dough!  First you add a little bit of the sauced up pasta.  Then, provolone, salami, hard-boiled eggs (I have to say this seemed like a bit of an oddity to me.  I’m not a huge hard-boiled eggs kind of girl, and I thought they would take away from the dish.  I was wrong; they definitely added taste and texture.), sausage, and meatballs.  Sprinkle on a generous helping of parmesan, and drizzle some lightly beaten eggs over to bind the ingredients together.

putting the 1st layer in

almost finished

Continue layering ingredients in the same way. My bowl had about 3 layers.

After all the ingredients are in, drizzle the remaining beaten eggs over the top.  Fold the dough on top, cutting off any extra pieces.  Birthday girl and I just tore them off and ate them instead!  We mixed a teeny bit of water with what was left of the eggs and brushed it over the folded top.

into the oven

The full recipe calls for the timpano to cook at 350 for 1 hour uncovered, 1/2 hr. covered with foil, then another 1/2 hr. in the oven with the door open.  Then you let it cool out of the oven for 20 minutes or so, flip it, and let it cool another 20 minutes.  Since I halved the recipe, I reduced the oven times by about 10 – 15 minutes, and let it cool just slightly less time.

perfectly and beautifully browned

The birthday girl can hardly wait!  But she still has to wait another 30 minutes, so sweetheart that she is – on her birthday – she helped clean up the kitchen.  And this is mild compared to the mess it was just a few hours earlier!

She’s sooooooooooo anxious to eat it!!

Buon appetit Birthday Girl!

The Boy Scout in the house, who above all, likes to eat, wanted to get in on the fun part – upending the timpano from the baking dish.  The hard part was finding something big enough (and mind you – I halved the recipe!) to flip it onto.  I do have some large serving pieces but nothing that big!  We finally settled on a pizza peel.

...1...

...2...

...3! Viola!

It came out perfectly!  Birthday Girl makes the first cut into it…

We even brought out the china for THIS!

Does this not look divine?  Boy Scout said it was his best meal ever!  And despite giving away about 1/3 of it, and freezing another 3rd, we still have plenty of leftovers.

I saw it.  I smelled it.  I tasted it.  I savored it.  Food porn indeed…