Red Cabbage Glazed with Maple Syrup

I adore snow.  People up here think I’m crazy.  I was convinced that everywhere but New York City would see more snow than me this winter and I assumed it was my fault.  I tend to repel snow (except the infamous blizzard of Christmas 2010 where Chesapeake/Virginia Beach got over a foot of snow, stranding Robbie and me from Christmas, Part Deux with my family – luckily my parents didn’t give my gifts away).

Last winter (my first winter here) was one of the mildest winters in New York City and this winter seemed to be heading in the same direction.  We’ve had some really cold spells but I don’t mind the cold either.  I have a jacket that looks like I’m walking around in a sleeping bag so I can cope.  I can’t hear anything and my peripheral vision becomes obsolete but that’s ok. 

There were rumblings at the beginning of this week about snow at the end of the week.  I got semi-excited.  But then, when I heard Al Roker say “Nor’easter” and “Clipper” in the same sentence, I immediately perked up.  This could be big.  We went from the 3 – 6 inches range, to the 3 – 30 inch range (quite a range), to the 12-18 inch range and ended up in the 6-12 inch range.  Enough to make everything pretty and white and not so much that my weekend is ruined.  I’d say it was a pretty perfect situation.  Side note – I have yet to step outside since yesterday afternoon so I may change my mind the first time I step out into the street into what appears to be asphalt and is actually six inches of dirty snow water . . .

Here’s something else I love that may seem strange – cabbage.  And when you bake cabbage with maple syrup and apples a wonderful thing happens.  It becomes sweet and soft with a wonderful tender texture.  Throw an egg on top and you have yourself a complete meal.  And that striking red from the cabbage looks great against the backdrop of a snowy evening.  

Red Cabbage Glazed with Maple Syrup

Adapted from the Essential New York Times Cookbook

5 slices bacon

1 onion

1 medium firm, tart apple (I used a Granny Smith)

1/2 a head of a good size-red cabbage (or as much as you want, you could use a lot more if you like)

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup maple syrup (the original called for 1/2 cup maple syrup but you don't need this much if you use just 1/2 a head of cabbage)

salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice your bacon and then saute until crisp in a cast iron skillet (or some other ovenproof casserole dish).   Mince your onion and slice your apple.  Prepare your head of cabbage by removing the outer leaves and the core.  Shred the remainder.  Add the onion and saute until translucent.  Add the remaining ingredients, cover with foil, and transfer to the oven.  Bake for 30 minutes.  

Sweet and Sour Baked Beans

Oh, was there a debate last night?  Let’s discuss something less contentious.  Let’s talk about beans.  Just kidding, let's talk about sports.

I consider myself a Big-3 Sports fan because my interest doesn’t range far from baseball, basketball and football.  I have my favorite teams in each category (Yankees (playoffs!!), Duke (obvs), and Panthers (Cam), respectively) but I love nothing more than a lazy fall weekend watching game after game of football.  It’s how I know the difference between the Fox and CBS football jingles after all.  Dunna-dun dunna-dunnnnnnn (pause) dunna-dun dunna-dunnnnn (pause) dunna-dun dunna-dun DUN DUN DUN is Fox while CBS is dooo do-do dooo do (pause) dooooo do-do do-do-do do (pause) dooooo do-do dooooo do (pause) doooooo do do do-do-do do is CBS.  And this is why I need a Podcast.

This year’s NFL season has been even more engaging because I joined my first Fantasy Football Draft. Two weeks after the season started of course, but, hey, at least I am engaged.  I, of course, picked too many players of the same team and towards the end of the draft just started going with whichever player looked the nicest -- and then somehow ended up with Michael Vick as my back-up quarterback.   Not since the movie Labyrinth has something that calls itself ‘Fantasy’ caught my attention so much.  Ok, maybe since the Twilight series.

So what does this have to do with Sweet and Sour Baked Beans?  Not much, really.  Only that the moment I hear one of the two football jingles in my Sunday afternoon vegetating state, I want a bowl of these.  If you can throw it together in the slow cooker that morning, the dish will be ready after just a couple of hours – and, unlike the Sanchez/Tebow duo, it only gets better with time (trash talk, that’s right).  I may have lost my first week’s Fantasy Football match up by over 30 points but I will win the stomachs of those in the league with me. 

Sweet and Sour Baked Beans

Adapted from my Aunt Linda’s recipe found in the Beth Eden Lutheran Church Cookbook, Volume 1 (I’m on a roll with this one.)

8 slices of bacon

2 large onions

½ cup of brown sugar

½ cup vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 can kidney beans

1 can canary beans (original called for green limas but, incredibly, my grocery store did not have them)

1 can white limas (I used butter beans and told myself they were the same thing.)

1 tsp. dry mustard

2 cans pork & beans

Fry bacon until crisp and drain.  Set on paper towels and let cool.  Crumble once cool.  In a small amount of bacon drippings (or large amount – your call), sauté onions and add brown sugar, vinegar, mustard, and garlic powder.  Stir it until mixed.  Add mixture to a crock pot.  Add crumbled bacon, drained beans and pork and beans to the same crock pot.  Stir carefully.  Turn crock pot on High and cook for two hours.  Each day you reheat these, they will get better and better. 

Note – I’m putting this recipe under both the ‘sides’ and ‘main dishes’ category because, honestly, it could go either way.  I ate it at as a main dish but did I crave a hot dog or hamburger to share the plate alongside my pile of beans?  Maybe.

Twice Baked Sweet Potato

Happy New (Detox-time-of) Year! After averaging six desserts per day between December 15th and January 2nd, I am ready to put a bit more balance in my diet. This realization is quite promising since it suggests I do have a limit on how many cookies I can consume in a set time period. Alleluia.

I arrived back in the Big Apple on a day when the high was 29 and I realized I wasn't in North Carolina anymore. I took a moment to ask my first New York winter to be gentle on me and jumped into a cab destined for our apartment where I was ignored for eight hours by Newt-the-cat (who was punishing me for boarding him over the holiday) and the sounds of the steam radiators (as they worked as hard as they could to heat the apartments on the fifth floor). But I was glad to be back. I was sad to be further from my family and hometown but I was happy to get back to my little (super-tiny) corner of New York.

And back to a routine where I'm not constantly tempted by red velvet cake and fudge made by my dad's clients, Momofuku Milk Bar goodies that Robbie had sent to Newton ahead of our arrival, and an incredible variety homemade cookies my mom had gathered through the prior week's cookie swaps and holiday parties. Having plowed through these treats quite well while at home, I now turn to simple meals like this one - stuffed baked sweet potato. A touch of sweetness and yumminess that isn't nearly as unhealthy as my third apple pie cake truffle (nuked in the microwave for six seconds as only the professional Milk Bar aficionados do). This recipe can be made to taste and I encourage you to add sweet or salty as you see fit. I imagine maple syrup would be just as delicious as brown sugar, or swap sour cream for cream cheese. Or, if you were me two weeks ago, throw in maple syrup with the brown sugar and top it off with some cream cheese frosting. And have it at 5:30 in the evening as an appetizer.

Twice Baked Sweet Potato

Adapted from my own, sweet-obsessed mind.

1 Sweet Potato

Olive Oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons walnuts

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons cream cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rub some olive oil into the potato and wrap in foil. Bake in oven for about 45 minutes or until soft (may want to check it at 35 - 40 minutes). While your potato is baking, mix vanilla, walnuts, brown sugar, butter and cream cheese. Once the baked potato is baked through, cut it in half and scoop out the meat, adding it to your bowl of other toppings. Mix thoroughly and divide it back into your empty potato skins. Place the skins back into the oven to bake for another 5 - 7 minutes or until heated through to your liking.

Barley with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms

Happy Father’s Day! My dad and I are scarily similar (check out my Ode to Dad on this post.). No surprise then that we appreciate the same things in life – playing a hand of solitaire to relieve stress, the art of attracting birds to the backyard by using an array of bird feeders, a love for animals, an appreciation of common sense and the knowledge that we have more than anyone else (j/k . . . sort of . . .) and how, if you commit to something, you commit to it 100%. Nothing less, Dad, nothing less.

Dad’s always a comfort to me because I know if I need anything, I just have to ask. That’s what makes comfort foods such a favorite of mine too. The emotional satisfaction I get from comfort foods is a guarantee – just like Dad’s support during a challenging time. Although Dad's comforting ways are year round, it is harder to have comforting foods in the summer when you are tempted with all the fresh fruits and veggies. I do love farmer’s markets though. And I do love the taste of fresh green beans as opposed to canned green beans. And I do love how I drive by about six produce stands on my way home that are brimming with goods. I should clarify that my definition of produce stand includes anything resembling a lean-to to a slab of plywood on two cinder blocks. Folks are quite resourceful on Highway 16.

That being said, I am slightly excited that the first day of summer is next week which means the days start getting shorter which means cooler weather (and Christmas!) won’t be too terribly far behind. I know, I know. This is wishing my life away. But, wow, when I see 95+ degrees on more than four days of a seven-day-weather-outlook, I start to get annoyed. That is exactly why I stay inside in the summer and don’t take the time to enjoy those cute produce stands. I can’t surround myself in a 68-degree bubble like, say, the interior of my car, while I sort through some heirloom tomatoes.

Yes, fruits make fantastic summer desserts and crisp salads are the ultimate light summer dinner but there is something about a warm bowl of something. So I give you this recipe. It uses fresh veggies (mushrooms and onions – I’m starting off easy for you) with some hearty elements. So you can have some comfort food when it is 98 degrees. Check back with me in December and I’ll see if I can make a legitimate fresh fruit pie when the ground is frozen solid. At least I know my dad will still have my back.

Barley with Caramelized Onions and Pasta

Adapted from The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
1 cup pearl barley
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup small pasta (I used Macaroni)

Heat oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté until deep brown, about 15 minutes. Add barley and stir 30 seconds. Add mushrooms; sauté until barley browns and mushrooms begin to soften. Mine took about 4 minutes. Add broth; bring mixture to boil (which was pretty immediate for me). Cover pan, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until barley is tender and broth is absorbed, about 25 minutes. While mixture is simmering, cook pasta according to the directions on the box. Drain pasta when cooked al dente. Mix pasta into barley once barley has absorbed the broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Makes 6 good-sized servings.

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

According to the Wikipedia page for the month of March, this is National Nutrition month. March 1^st also happens to be National Pancake Day. In complete abandonment of both of these festivals, I made some Creamy Macaroni and Cheese (although I was tempted to ditch my culinary plans and drive over to IHop for some free pancakes).

Instead, I went to the gym and immediately came home to negate it with this dish. As a side note, I broke another sweat (perhaps more than I did on the elliptical machine while engrossed in an arbitrary article from The New Yorker) as I was shredding the cheese for this dish. Prepare yourself. Shredding 15 ounces of cheese is a chore – an arm-tiring, back-cramping chore. If you know of a machine that will shred cheese for you, please tell me. Or, just do me a favor and buy the pre-shredded variety in the store. It is worth the extra two-bucks. I may not be able to use my right arm tomorrow . . .

So, Happy National Nutrition Month! And let’s plan on celebrating pancake day later on in March, ok? And I will leave you with this other fun fact from the Wikipedia page: “March starts on the same day of the week as November every year and February in common years only. March ends on the same day of the week as June every year.” That is a Jeopardy clue waiting to happen.

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese
Adapted From Southern Living All-Time Favorites, published in 2009 -- I could not find the link for this cookbook and all the Southern Living cookbooks on Amazon have a different cover. This cover has a slice of raspberry cheesecake and is a great cookbook so if you find it, snag one!

8 ounces elbow macaroni
¼ cup butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup milk
½ (10-ounce) block extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (or any combination of cheeses -- I threw in some Gouda as well)
1 (10-ounce) block sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded and divided

Prepare pasta according to package directions; drain and set aside.
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Gradually whisk in flour until smooth; cook, whisking constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in salt and next three ingredients. Gradually whisk in half-and-half and milk; cook, whisking constantly, 8 to 10 minutes or until thickened.
Stir in extra-sharp cheese and half of the sharp cheese until smooth. Remove from heat.
Combine pasta and cheese mixture, and pour into a lightly greased(8-inch square) baking dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. (I mixed in some leftover Gouda I had -- just to increase my shredding time -- so I think this recipe is fairly adaptable.)
Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Bake 15 more for a crusty top.

Makes 6 servings.

Tabasco & Asparagus Quinoa

Did you know Texas Pete is made in Winston-Salem, NC? It should be called Winston-Salem Pete but I guess naming it after Texas gives it a little more ‘street cred.’ Another interesting fact I learned through making this dish – quinoa is a very fun ingredient with which to work in the kitchen. These teeny, tiny discs of dullness turn into cups and cups of fluffy, light protein-packed deliciousness. And they have these little curlicues in them that pop out when they are cooked so it’s like a little surprise hidden inside an unassuming package. Oh and it is pronounced “Keen-wah.” At least I think it is.

This is one of those meals that will last you awhile. Make it on a Monday and plan on eating off it all week. You can mix it up and add a scrambled egg to it or throw some grilled chicken or shrimp on a reheated serving. And if we are still doing the ‘resolution’ thing, this dish is perfect. Hearty, good-for-you grain? Check! Heavy on the protein side? Check! Has some fresh veggies? Check! After watching the Golden Globes and Miss America this weekend, I am even more inspired to be able to wear a backless Armani Privé dress like the best of them (I’m talking to you Anne Hathaway). Or rock a tiara and sash like it’s my job. (I’m already pretty close on that one.)

And don’t let the butter scare you. It is not much for a very large batch of quinoa. The original calls for twice the amount as listed below and says you serve it on the side but I halved it and only used that amount. I figured I could add more Tabasco (or Texas Pete!) if I wanted even more flavor.

Tabasco & Asparagus Quinoa
From 101 Cookbooks, another great cooking blog and you may recognize her cookbooks!

Serves 4 - 6

1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 tsp Dijon mustard
12 drops Tabasco (or Texas Pete!) sauce
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
sprinkling of salt

1 pound asparagus, cut into 1-inch segments

2 c uncooked quinoa
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
more Tabasco (or Texas Pete!) sauce to taste

Cook Quinoa - Combine 2 cups of well-rinsed dried quinoa with 3 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until quinoa is tender and you can see the little quinoa curlicues.

Make Tabasco Butter - In a food processor, or with a hand blender, whip the butter until it is light and airy. Add the mustard, Tabasco sauce, lemon juice and salt. As I mention above, you can make it stronger if you like, adding more hot sauce to taste, or wait and add it to your individual servings.

Boil the asparagus in a large pot of well salted water, for just for a minute or so - depending on the thickness of your asparagus. Drain. Stop the cooking with cold water or a dunk in an ice bath, then drain well before using.

Take the 4 cups of hot cooked quinoa and toss with the tabasco butter. Stir in the asparagus and pine nuts.