Mamma's Cooking

Spaghetti Night!

Your kids have decided this week that they do not like tomatoes or you have to cut them out of your diet, can you still eat spaghetti? Of course! Here is a great recipe I adapted from the KCTS 9 (King County public television) Cooks Family Favorites cookbook (2010). [My Quinoa Butternut Squash Risotto recipe can be found on pg. 323]

Spaghetti with Chinese Sauce (Thank you Lori Lockrey, Scarborough, Ontario!)

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb lean ground pork (I used ground turkey)
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
2 cloves garlic, finely minced (I use jarred minced garlic as a timesaver)
1/2 cup cold water
salt
1/2 lb of spaghettini (I used whole grain spaghetti)
2 Tbsp dry sherry or white wine (optional) [I used white balsamic vinegar, which in general is a good substitute for sherry or white wine. You could also use white wine vinegar]
2 Tbsp cornstarch
cooked lobster or shrimp (optional) [I didn’t use, but if you have leftover, go ahead and throw it in]
1/4 cup sliced green onion [I didn’t have any, so I added about 1/4 tsp of onion powder to the ground turkey]
red pepper flakes (optional)

1 cup frozen edamame
1 tsp grated ginger

Heat oil in large frying pan. Add meat and brown. Add broth, soy sauce, sugar and garlic (and onion powder if you don’t have green onions). I also added the ginger at this point. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Bring a large pot to boil with water. Once boiling add salt and spaghettini and cook according to package directions. Drain when done.

Blend the cold water, sherry or wine or vinegar with cornstarch, stir into frying pan. Simmer until thickened. At this point if you are using shrimp or lobster or frozen edamame, add in to warm about 2 – 3 minutes.

Either stir drained pasta into frying pan or dump sauce over drained noodles, and mix and serve. to with green onion (if you are using) and sprinkle with red pepper flakes (if using).

My kids all ate this up! and my husband did too 🙂

If you are ok with tomatoes, here is a quick 15 minute meal that I made tonight (with whole wheat rotini). I conquered my fear of the microplane! This is the first time I have used it since I cut myself twice trying to assemble it and use it Christmas Eve. Granted that was after 2 glasses of champagne 🙂 I set it up and julienned 1 zucchini! So proud!

I sauteed the zucchini in some olive oil with salt, lemon pepper and a little garlic powder. Then added about 3/4 of a jar of tomato and basil spaghetti sauce with a splash of white balsamic vinegar and just heated through. Toss this with pasta + a little mozzarella cheese. Very tasty! Very easy!

Now that I have conquered my fear of the microplane, we will be having lots of thinly cut veggies over the next few weeks 🙂

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Dinner of Appetizers: Thursday night or special party

Ask Mamma question: I’m having a party for 30 adults and need some appetizer ideas. The party is at dinner time and I’ve advertised heavy appetizers.

Mamma’s answer: Appetizer “dinner” parties can be as easy or complicated as you want them to be. Stores like Costco and Trader Joes have great selections of frozen appetizers and ready-made platters. They also have great raw ingredients that make entertaining for a crowd easier. Here is a list of appetizer ideas. Pick and choose a couple, thinking 3 of each item per person. Appetizer dinners are also fun for a regular family dinner.

Cocktail meatballs (I have a super easy recipe – 1 part bbq sauce, 1 part apricot jam and heat and serve in slow cooker. Most supermarkets carry frozen meatballs if you don’t want/don’t have time to make your own. Trader Joes even carries smaller party meatballs in the frozen section).

Phyllo cups with jam + goat cheese (premade and cooked phyllo cups, 1/2 tsp of fig, apricot or strawberry jam + crumble goat cheese on top and serve)

Pigs in a blanket with mustard dip (Buy your favorite sausage or cocktail wieners, if raw sausage cook first + then cut in half. Roll sausage/wiener in crescent roll – I use Pillsbury’s – then place on cookie sheet and cook for a little longer than crescent rolls say on package. Mix 1 part Dijon mustard with ¼ part honey and serve with warm pigs.)

Pizza (buy flat bread + cook with various toppings – Caesar salad on one (spread Caesar dressing on cooked flatbread/dough, toss romaine leaves with Caesar dressing and place on top of flat bread, sprinkle with shredded parmesan and add sliced cooked chicken if you would like, then slice into 2 bite pieces for an appetizer; caramelized onion + goat cheese on another – caramelize onions –see these posts – put on top of cooked flatbread and sprinkle with goat cheese, slice and serve!; mozzarella + tomato on another – cook flatbread most of the way, add fresh tomatoes + fresh mozzarella, cook till mozzarella is melted. Top with fresh basil, salt and pepper )

Chicken satay + peanut dipping sauce (Can be too time intensive, but is tasty! Soak wooden skewers in water for at least 20 minutes. Marinate chicken in olive oil or vegetable oil, rice wine vinegar, lime, brown sugar, soy sauce, pepper and basil. Put chicken on skewers. Grill until cooked. For peanut sauce, mix peanut butter, lime juice and ginger.)

Spinach and artichoke dip, serve with pita + veggies (I have a great recipe that I have tweaked from a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon butter, 1/4 cup finely chopped onion, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 8 oz package of cream cheese/neufchatel cheese, 1/4 cup milk, 1 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach – thawed and well drained, 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, and one jar of marinated artichoke hearts – chopped. One, in a medium saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook until onion is tender. Add cream cheese and milk. Cook and stir until smooth. Two, Stir in spinach, lemon zest, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and artichokes. Three, transfer to a serving bowl or mini slow cooker to keep it warm throughout the party and serve with veggies and pita for dipping.)

Sushi platter (Costco has these)

Mini quiches (Costco has really yummy ones)

Shrimp cocktail (buy shrimp whatever way you like, frozen, fresh, cooked. Serve with cocktail sauce)

Cheese platter (Buy a selection of cheeses from Costco or Trader Joes, one cheddar, one blue, one brie or camembert, one gouda or havarti and goat cheese. Serve with crackers of your choice.)

Veggie platter (Buy from your local supermarket or Costco or Trader Joes. Super easy. Worth the cost to save you time from chopping veggies and making a dipping sauce. If you want to make a dipping sauce or your platter does not come with one, buy some hummus and/or mix sour cream with some Italian dressing mix or salt, pepper, thyme, oregano and basil.)

Meat platter (salami, prosciutto, pepperoni, etc – have bulk at Costco)

Spanikopita (Buy frozen already made or mix spinach with feta, lemon zest and Greek seasoning – good one from McCormicks or mix oregano, thyme, mint, salt and pepper, wrap in phyllo dough and bake according to phyllo dough instructions.)

Endive with blue cheese filling and bacon crumbles which are optional (clean endive leaves, mix blue cheese with a little bit of cream cheese or cottage cheese to lessen the sharpness, fill endives with cheese mixture, top with crispy bacon (or can use red pepper if you want to keep it vegetarian) and serve. Sooo good!!

Make some items and leave the rest up to the store. You deserve to enjoy the party too!! This is how I do Christmas Eve dinner. It has become a great tradition of appetizers to graze on while drinking champagne and cocktails.

Keep the questions coming!!

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Easy Entertaining and Introducing….Ask Mamma!

In another attempt to improve my blog, I would like to make it more interactive. As much as I love cooking, I love talking with people about cooking and sharing ideas. So this is the launch of Ask Mamma! If you have a question about what to cook for dinner when you have x, y, z ingredients on hand or what to make for your next playdate/dinner party/birthday party, click on my email to the right and I’ll answer.

I will post questions and answers for everyone to read (keeping you anonymous, unless you want me to include your name and/or blog)! We all have our own ways of cooking, so someone’s boring every Wednesday night meal, is someone else’s new discovery!

This past week I got a question from a reader about what to make for her son’s 4^th birthday party at their house (kids and adults present).

Mamma’s Answer

Making a dinner or lunch party for young kids…Here are three options:

(1) Mexican

Pasta salad – fun shapes for kids or the tri colored (I made one for the boys’ birthday party + added black beans, corn, tomatoes and feta and a mild honey lime vinaigrette). Cook 1 box of pasta, cool and then toss in a can of black beans (rinsed), about a cup and 1/2 of corn (use frozen, canned or fresh), about a cup and a 1/2 of diced tomatoes and about 3/4 cup of feta. To make the vinaigrette add equal parts (about a 1/3 of a cup) lime juice, white balsamic (or white wine vinegar) and olive oil. Whisk together. Then add 2-3 Tablespoons honey (or sugar if kids under 1 are going to be eating it), taste and add more sugar or honey if not sweet enough. If too sweet add a little more vinegar. Add salt and pepper to your taste, whisk all together and then toss with pasta.

Make your own taco bar – have peppers + onions at room temperature, either chicken or beef (I also did this for the boys’ party and made a beef roast in the slow cooker the day before and then just shredded it and reheated it for the day of the party), shredded cheese, salsa and tortillas. Let people build it themselves. To make the shredded beef or chicken, rub with salt, pepper, coriander, cumin and oregano. Sear meat in pan, then transfer to crock pot with 2-3 cups of beef or chicken stock flavored with coriander, cumin and oregano and keep on low until meat is cooked through (use a meat thermometer!). Once cooled, use a fork to shred meat.

Chips and salsa and guacamole for snacking.

Super simple. Make as much as you want or buy already made 🙂

(2) Greek

Meatloaf with greek seasoning (McCormicks make’s a great one) and feta (Rachel Ray has a great recipe that I wrote about here). I actually made this the other night but made meatballs instead of meatloaf. So good!

Tomato, cucumber and feta salad (onion optional). Dice a couple of vine ripe tomatoes, one cucumber and throw in a couple of handfuls of feta. Mix with a couple of splashes of red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. If you like raw onion, dice about 1/2 a medium onion and add in as well. I’m not a big raw onion fan, so I only diced 1/4 of a medium onion.

Yogurt sauce (make or buy). To make, add yogurt, minced cucumber, greek seasoning and a little lemon juice).

Serve with pita bread.
hummus, pita chips, carrots, cucumber, etc for snacking.

(3) Asian

Shrimp and pork lettuce wraps – Marinate cooked shrimp (I used frozen shrimp that had been thawed) + cooked pork or beef (grill or just cook with salt and pepper) + shredded carrots + shredded slaw (I buy pre-shredded) in a mixture of rice wine vinegar, white balsamic, sugar, lemon juice, ginger and olive oil. Marinate separately for at least an hour. (Can cook it all the day before and then just let it marinate starting in the morning of the party and serve room temp)

Serve with lettuce for lettuce wraps and I LOVE the Trader Joe’s Sweet Chili sauce for dipping. So good!

Coconut rice on the side with edamame if you like. Here is a good recipe I found on a blog I recently discovered, Weelicious.
Dried snap peas, shrimp chips, edamame for snacking.

All of these ideas can be made the day before, leaving you with less to do on the day of the party and may actually allow you to enjoy the party instead of being stuck in the kitchen!

Send me your questions!

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New look

Over the next month you will notice, I’m playing with the look of the blog. Any comments/suggestions to improve are welcome!

Thanks! Over the past 3 years, I have enjoyed writing this blog for me and for the friends who I know who read it. Hopefully there are a few others out there. Let me know what you think and what you would like to see.

Marie

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Easy comfort food

Continuing with my “choose your own adventure” meals, today I’m writing about comfort food. Comfort food is different for each person. It is whatever food is soul satisfying to you. For some its fried food, a good steak, chicken pot pie or pizza. I am a meat and potatoes girl! With veggies on the side now for the kids 🙂

Whether you are cooking pork, beef or chicken, this recipe works well.

Ingredients:

Coriander

Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Worcestershire sauce
Vinegar (Balsamic, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar – whatever you have on hand)
Soy sauce

Olive oil (when searing meat and making marinade)
Butter (optional, add to finish gravy)
Onion powder (optional, or chopped onion, caramelized onions, shallots – whatever you have)
Cornstarch/flour (optional, depending if you like a thicker sauce/gravy)
Chicken Stock/Beef stock (optional, if you want to mellow out the flavor a little. I keep bouillon cubes on hand, so I can make as many cups as a I need of stock).

I used these ingredients the other night to make an easy version of chicken pot pie.

First you start a basic rue, which I learned how to do a couple of years ago for making mac-n-cheese. Melt butter in large sauce pan and then whisk in an equal amount of flour and cook for 2-3 minutes. I think it did about a 1/3 of a cup of each here. Then add a couple of cups of chicken stock and keep adding if too thick. Continue whisking. Add in about a palm full of coriander, ½ teaspoon minced garlic, 2-3 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 3 Tablespoons vinegar, 3 Tablespoons soy sauce. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.

Toss in 2 handfuls of frozen mixed vegetables, let cook for a few minutes. Then toss in leftover chicken that has been cubed or shredded (I used the Garlic chicken I made the night before). Take a can of biscuit dough (I used Pillsbury) and peel each biscuit in half and bake in the oven (I baked it directly on top of the sauce and it didn’t cook through, so this way will work much better!). After baked, place on top of chicken, vegetable and sauce mixture and serve! I kept a couple of biscuits aside and filled them with some extra chicken + frozen veggies that I thawed separately in the microwave, and then cooked them. These were great little pockets for the boys to pick up and eat. Much less messy than the pot pie would have been!

You can also use these ingredients to make a marinade. To marinade steak, pour equal parts Worcestershire sauce, vinegar (balsamic or red wine vinegar is best here), soy sauce and olive oil into a large Ziploc bag. Add a couple of tablespoons of coriander, a teaspoon of minced garlic and a ¼ teaspoon pepper. Close bag and shake (make sure its closed!) or massage with your hand. Insert steaks and make sure covered. Marinade at least 4 hours, but can do it over night.

I used this on Father’s day with petit sirloin (seared on the indoor grill and then baked at 400 degrees for 7 minutes for rare to medium rare). I served the steak with a sweet potato salad (bake equal amounts of sweet potatoes and white or yellow potatoes, cube, mix with miracle whip, mustard, salt and pepper) and roasted corn on the cob.

These ingredients are very versatile. You can use them as I have mentioned above to make a thick gravy for chick pot pie or a marinade for steak. Most often however, I use the dry spices on pork, beef or chicken and then use the wet ingredients to make a braising liquid. I usually prep dinner while the kids are taking their afternoon nap and braising takes 2-3 hours, so it is perfect timing for getting the food on the table for dinner. Sear the meat + then pour in braising liquid (1 part Worcestershire sauce, 1 part vinegar, 1 part soy sauce and 2 parts beef or chicken broth, a couple of tablespoons of coriander, a teaspoon of minced garlic and a ¼ teaspoon pepper and ¼ teaspoon salt.) Cover and put in low oven (around 275/300) for a couple of hours. When done (use a meat thermometer) take meat out to rest and add a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch to a mug and pour in some of the braising liquid and mix together, then add back to the saucepan and rest of braising liquid and bring to a boil. Taste and add more spices as you need. Finish off with a pat of butter and take off heat for the perfect gravy!

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“Choose your own adventure” meal

One way I make it easy to come up with dinner out of my pantry is to have a couple of “choose your own adventure” type recipes. This means – versatile recipes where you can interchange proteins, vegetables and the grain or pasta. You have a sauce or cooking liquid as the base and then just cook whatever you have in the house with that sauce.

For example, I make an Asian inspired sauce/vinagrette that can be used to (a) marinate shrimp to be cooked with broccoli and steamed rice (b) toss with leftover chicken, rice noodles and edamame (c) stir fry with beef, peas and brown rice (d) marinate tofu and toss with noodles, carrots and corn, and many more.

The Sauce/Vinaigrette:

1 part rice wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
1/2 part soy sauce OR 1/2 part lemon juice (I use lemon juice instead of soy for shrimp)
grated ginger (I keep it in the freezer and just grate what I need) to your taste
olive oil to your taste
sugar to your taste (Tablespoon or 2)
salt and pepper to your taste

Recently I used this with some kielbasa, frozen broccoli and brown rice with an egg to attempt fried rice. I had left over kielbasa + brown rice so thought it would be a great way to use it up, since last time I made fried rice I made it with newly made rice and it was mushy. I researched online about keeping rice from getting mushy and most sites said to use leftover rice. Still mushy, but tasty. Anyone with tips on how to keep the rice from getting mushy?

I added some onion powder and garlic for a little more flavor while cooking the broccoli.

Next time, comfort food…

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New blogs

I’ve slowly been exploring blogs about food and life in the Boston area and here are a couple I’ve found so far:

http://www.foodiemommy.blogspot.com/ – Some good recipes, info on farmer’s markets and what to do with kids in the Boston area.

http://www.northshoredish.com/ – Giving me some insight into food/restaurants in our new area.

Other’s I’ve just started following:

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ – Made the chicken blackbean soup last week. So good! Karina even helped me make it because you just throw a bunch of cold ingredients into a crockpot and let it cook all day!

http://rollwithjen.com/ – for nostalgia for life and good food in Seattle! This is a must for a Seattle foodie.

http://tracieatsf.blogspot.com/ – Great blog on restaurants in San Fransisco!

I’ll put these on my blog roll to the right, so you can always access them. Anyone have any other suggestions?

I’m also taking suggestions on best restaurant in the Boston area for my 10th wedding anniversary in September. We are not going away anywhere so figured we would splurge on fabulous night out. Thoughts?

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Easy biscuit recipe, frittatas and braised pork

I am not much of a baker (too exact for me) but this is the easiest biscuit recipe! I needed some bread and didn’t have any in the house or any butter, so I just googled “easy biscuit recipe” and this was one of the results. Takes 20-25 minutes, including baking.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 Tablespoons sugar (2nd time I made this I used 1 and 1/2 Tbsp sugar and used onion powder and garlic powder to make the biscuits a little more savory)
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup of oil
2/3 cups of milk

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients.

Put oil in measuring cup and add milk. Do not stir.

Add to dry ingredients.

Mix lightly to moisten ingredients and knead one or two times to form ball.

Roll out between two sheets of plastic wrap to about 1/2″ thick. [I didn’t even roll them out, just kneaded the dough and flattened it with my hands to the right thickness]

Cut into 2″ biscuits.

Bake on an ungreased pan at 475F for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned.

So easy! Karina loved it with some peanut butter and jelly on it. I ate it with some leftover gravy for breakfast and tonight I made a batch to have with pasta. I think next, I may try to sweeten them up with a little more sugar + add some blueberries, almost like scones.

I have been making a lot of wheat pasta bakes and frittatas, things that are easy for the boys (who will be a year old in a couple of weeks!) to eat with their hands. Frittatas are great and so easy. You can use up any leftover meat, potatoes, veggies you have and throw it in with some eggs that you have beaten with a little milk and a handful of shredded cheese and bake it until the center is firm.

Earlier this week I made some braised pork ribs with peas and harvest blend (from Trader Joe’s).

Rub pork with coriander, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Brown pork in pan. Then pour about 2-3 cups of braising liquid. I used 2 cups of beef stock, 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar and 2 bay leaves. Cover and put in 200 degree oven for 2-3 hours (for 2lbs bone in – use meat thermometer to make sure temperature is safe). Let rest and then serve.

This is the boys (11 months old) meal, shredded up the pork into bite size pieces.

This is Karina’s (3.5 years old) plate…looking like an adult plate now 🙂

This is the adult plate, with gravy! Took the braising liquid and reduced it, added a little more of each of the spices in the pork rub + a touch of apple cider vinegar, then thickened it with a little corn starch and finished with a pat of butter. Sooo good! This is what I put over the biscuits (above) the next morning 🙂

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New city, new recipes…

Sorry for the absence but have been living in chaos for the past couple of months and I’m finally starting to even out. I moved cross the country, back to Massachusetts, where I grew up. No more fresh Pacific salmon or Dungeness crab and amazing Asian food every where you turn. But, I have traded that for “lobstah,” Hoodsies, Italian ice and amazing Italian food everywhere you turn.

Groceries are cheaper (even before you count the fact that there is no tax on food!), but my time is even more limited. I am at home with the 3 kiddos and we often have to pick up my husband at work, which cuts into the cooking time, since everyone is hungry when we get home. I have been trying to prep everything while the kids nap, but considering my bedroom is still filled with boxes, I often don’t have the energy for that 🙂

I have been making more Asian food – yummy lettuce wraps with shrimp (marinated in rice wine vinegar, white balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest, ginger and garlic) with shredded carrots and cabbage (bought pre-shredded of course) marinated in the same mixture. Easy and very yummy. I served it with brown rice, cilantro and green onions.

Last weekend I made a stir fry with some leftover beef from a pot roast I made earlier in the week, with broccoli, edamame, soy sauce, a little balsamic vinegar, ginger and some of Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy chili sauce. So good and easy.

Once we are a little more settled in, I’ll finally get back to menu planning. The boys (now almost 11 months old) are eating basically what we do, which is making things much easier, but it is still a pain to cut everything up small. Can’t wait until they can deal with bigger pieces of things! Karina keeps telling me I’m a good cooker, but all she wants to do is snack and not eat meals 🙁 I probably should just call everything a snack.

More posts hopefully coming…with pictures.

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Menu plan for the week

As I go back to being a stay at home mom (now to 3 instead of 1) I have to rework my cooking/grocery shopping habits again. I was successful for a few weeks cooking down all the food in our freezer and pantry and still working on the pantry. The twins who are now 8 months old are still eating pureed food, but starting to eat little pieces of things like cheerios, steak and brownies 🙂 Luckily for now, they eat anything I put in front of them. Let’s hope that keeps up! Karina, who is 3, is a pretty good eater. She, like all kids, goes through stages of I hate “x” and then loves “x” the next week.

We just came back from a trip to Boston, so our fridge was fairly empty. I made an easy pantry meal last night for our first night before our groceries were delivered this morning from AmazonFresh – Pasta with a tomato pumpkin sauce. For the sauce I just poured a jar of tomato basil sauce into a saucepan, added about 1/3 cup of canned pumpkin, 1/3 cup of fat free 1/2 and 1/2, 1/2 tsp ground coriander and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until heated through and pour on cooked pasta. I added some frozen peas as well for a little more veggies. However, Karina has decided this week that she doesn’t like peas (used to be her favorite!). At least she got some veggies from the pumpkin + tomato. I got the highest praise, “Mamma, I like the sauce. I’m going to eat all my pasta!”

Tonight, we are having some chicken with rice and edamame. I haven’t decided yet how I am going to cook it, but probably will bake the chicken with a soy glaze (soy sauce, molasses and ginger), make the rice in the slow cooker and microwave the edamame. Simple and quick.

Tomorrow night is frozen pizza with salad and some frozen corn heated up in the microwave, Sunday is going to be ground turkey with some curry + apricot jam on top of couscous to which I’ll add some frozen peas + diced dried apricots. Monday I’m going to go for some salmon, risotto and edamame.

Tuesday night is going to be Thanksgiving night. Whole frozen turkeys were on sale for .88 per pound so I bought a 14lb one that is in my fridge defrosting. Will make enough food for many meals, which I will post about later.

I am trying out various menu planning tools and this is the one I’m using this week: http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/meal-planner.html I’ll let you all know how it works. Hopefully more posts to come now that I am not working outside of the house!

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