Healthy Lifestyle – Page 7 – Reclaiming My Health

Pete’s Lemon Basil Chicken with Gnocchi

My grandmother Catherine married very young and by the age of 17 had two children. When her parents passed away, she took in her younger brother George who became more like a brother to my dad than an uncle. When Uncle George married my Aunt Rose, they moved into the apartment directly across the hall from my Nanny. Literally, their doors faced each other and you could walk across the hall in two steps. Aunt Rose and Uncle George had two daughters, my cousins Kathleen and Rosemarie. Kathleen and I were the same age and graduated from the same high school.

315729_1871665482457_1791853346_n — Aunt Rose, Uncle George, Kathleen & Rosemarie

I have so many fond memories of family life on Seneca Avenue in Ridgewood, NY. My family was all in the same building, with other family members living in the next building over. It was so cool to be able to roam the apartment building and visit different homes during our many visits. I liked the sense of freedom we had there as a kid that I just didn’t have living in our one family home. With all apartments in the same building, there was no need for us kids to go outside to visit each other. This made our parents feel secure and we were allowed to go across the hall and downstairs to my Aunt Catherine’s apartment.

Kathleen married her husband Pete and for many years they lived in the neighborhood. When Pete retired, they returned to his homeland of Italy and have lived there ever since.

24251_1345310483210_6352042_n — Kathleen & Pete, Italy

Kathy and Pete live in Lucca, Italy these days and have quite a beautiful place with a huge parcel of land. Pete has an extensive garden which is quite impressive and grows most of his own produce.

10985107_10206964202533927_1901630094300368198_n — Pete in his garden

Most recipes Pete cooks use ingredients fresh from his garden, including tomatoes when making Sunday sauce. This chicken recipe calls for dried basil and lemon and is quite simple to make. The result is a light, refreshing lemon chicken sauce that will leave you wanting more. Pete’s recipe called for bowties and broccoli, which I substituted for his homemade gnocchi recipe and peas. This substitution fit what I had in the house and personally, I thought the peas would add a nice sweetness to the dish. It was delicious and light, leaving us feeling full but not bloated. I can’t wait to see how this tastes tomorrow when I eat the leftover for lunch.

This recipe is simple enough for a weeknight meal, taking about 30 minutes from start to finish. The gnocchi obviously adds more time, but is so worth it! I hope you give this one a try.

Pete’s Lemon Basil Chicken with Gnocchi

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
¾ tsp dried basil
¼ cup olive oil
½ lb bow tie pasta or homemade gnocchi
1 head broccoli, cut into florets or fresh peas
2 cloves garlic
zest of 1 lemon
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (I used 1/8 c and 1/8 c chicken broth to soften the lemon taste)
½ cup Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Pour a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and turn on Alexa for dancing in the kitchen.

2.Fill a large pot half full of water then bring to a boil over high heat. While you wait for the water to boil, season chicken breasts on both sides with salt, pepper and dried basil then set aside.

3.When the water reaches a rolling boil, add a large pinch of salt then cook pasta, or gnocchi, according to directions—until it is tender but still firm. Roughly 2 minutes before the pasta is finished cooking, add broccoli florets, or peas to the pot, allowing them to boil with the pasta for the remaining cook time and before draining everything in a colander. After draining, return the pasta and broccoli to the pot to keep it warm.

3.Place a skillet over medium heat then add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add chicken breasts then allow to cook until golden brown on both sides and cooked all the way through—about 8–10 minutes depending on thickness. When the chicken breasts are cooked through, transfer them to a plate and set aside to cool slightly.

4.Reduce the heat to medium-low then add garlic to the oil that remains in the skillet. Cook for about 1 minute to soften the garlic slightly. Remove the skillet from heat then add lemon zest and juice. Using a wooden scraper, scrape any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan then pour the sauce over the pasta and broccoli.

5.Chop the slightly cooled chicken breasts into bite-sized chunks then add them to the pot—stirring gently to combine. Sprinkle the entire mixture with Parmesan cheese then stir gently once more to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper then serve immediately. Enjoy!

This dish has a strong lemon flavor. If lemon’s not your thing and you would like to tone it down a notch, leave the zest in but replace the lemon juice with chicken broth. This will give it just a slight hint of lemon. I did 1/8 c lemon juice and 1/8 c chicken broth and found it to be just perfect.

PETE’S GNOCCHI

Ingredients:

2 cups of FLOUR
8 medium POTATOES
2 EGGS
SALT

Directions:

BOIL POTATOES TILL COOKED COMPLETELY.
MASH THEM WITH A HAND POTATO MASHER (NOT AN ELECTRIC MIXER) OR PUT THEM THROUGH A RICER.
PUT THE MASHED POTATOES ON A BOARD. ADD FLOUR, EGGS AND SALT.
MIX EVERYTHING TOGETHER AND CONTINUE TO MIX BY HAND UNTIL EVERYTHING IS INCORPORATED AND SMOOTH AND YOU ARE ABLE TO ROLL THE DOUGH INTO DOWEL STRIPS. ADD FLOUR UNTIL YOU REACH THAT CONSISTENCY .
BREAK OFF PIECES AND ROLL INTO DOWEL STRIPS THAT ARE APPROXIMATELY AS WIDE AS YOUR THUMB.
CUT APPROXIMATELY 1 INCH PIECES OFF THE STRIPS. (I didn’t get fancy with the cutting as they taste just as good shaped like soft pillows. You can press them, or shape them any way you’d like.)
COOK IN SALTED BOILING WATER FOR APPROXIMATELY 10 MINUTES.
DRAIN WELL.

Serve chicken and pea sauce over gnocchi and top with fresh parmesan cheese to taste.

Diana’s Veal & Peppers

Losing a parent is one of the hardest things a person goes through in their life. Losing two parents and an only sister within three years is unimaginable to me. When one suffers such a loss, memories are often where they find solace. Photographs, songs, letters, scents and recipes keep us connected to those we miss the most. An old friend of mine, Joan often cooks childhood dishes to reconnect to happier times with her family. Living in Buffalo now, Joan’s food photographs pop up on my Facebook feed, often when she can’t sleep. On those days, I feel like I can smell her cooking right through the computer and wish she still lived nearby.

I met Joan back when our boys were little. Our boys attended elementary school together and were two peas in a pod, especially when it came to leaving their books at school. My son Robert used to inform me that Gary’s mother would go and make photocopies of missing homework pages at the nearest drug store. I told my son that was way too complicated for me with three young children, besides he needed to learn responsibility, right?

Joan was one of the first ladies I met when our children started Kindergarten. She was hysterically funny and a realist when it came to raising her children. We shared many laughs and cocktails together as our children grew up. When Joan’s children went off to college in Buffalo, she and her husband decided to pack up and move up there.

A few years back, Joan lost her mom and dad within one year of each other. When her mom was dying of cancer, Joan and her sister Barbara moved back into the family home in Brooklyn to care for her. Joan’s posts were often like Seinfeld episodes, in which she described going back to the old neighborhood. Throughout this most difficult time, Joan kept her sense of humor and helped her mom Diana keep her dignity. Anyone who has gone through this knows that is not an easy thing to do. Not long after Joan’s mom died, her only sister Barbara passed away unexpectedly. This came as quite a shock to all as Barbara was a healthy woman and left Joan understandably devastated.

Yesterday, Joan commented on my sausage and peppers post. She shared how she too, cooks foods from her past to feel closer to those lost. She said she tries to make her mother’s recipes to hang on to her childhood memories. Her mother’s veal and peppers recipe was her favorite as a child. Every year for her birthday, her mom would let her request a special dinner and this is the one Joan picked. As she celebrates her birthday this weekend, Joan made her mom’s treasured recipe and kindly shared it with us.

Like most women of her time, Diana never wrote anything down. Joan said she often has the urge to pick up the phone when cooking to ask her mom how to make certain foods. I’m sure many of you know that feeling all too well. Here is Diana’s recipe as Joan makes it today.

Diana’s Veal & Peppers

Ingredients:

4-5 red peppers sliced
1 large onion sliced
3 cloves of garlic chopped
Red pepper flakes
Olive oil
1 1/2 lbs veal cubes for stew
Flour
2 small cans of DelMonte Tomato Sauce
Red wine

Directions:

I usually make the peppers in advance just to make life easier.

Slice up 4-5 red peppers and 1 onion. Place in pan with olive oil, salt, red pepper flakes. Mix it coating the peppers with oil. Cover with foil and cook at 400 hundred oven till almost soft. (15-20 minutes)
Mix flour, salt and black pepper in dish. Coat veal cubes in flour.
Brown veal in large frying pan with olive oil and minced garlic.
When brown add splash of red wine to deglaze the pot.
Then add 2 small cans of Del Monte tomato sauce and a little bit of water. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer about 1 to 1 1/2 hours till veal is fork tender.
Add peppers and onions and heat all together for 5 minutes or until hot. That’s it.
Serve on rice
Leftovers, if any, are great on Italian hero’s the next day

If you try this recipe, please leave a comment in the section below. We’d love to hear how you liked it.

If you’d like to share a special recipe from your family, please leave me a comment and I’d be happy to feature it here on the blog.

Sausage & Peppers

My husband brought home some freshly made sausage yesterday, hot and sweet. I happened to have some gorgeous organic red peppers waiting to be cooked. Today, we spent the morning in Queens visiting my dad at my mom’s nursing home. When we got home we had a light lunch and I began to think about what to make for dinner. One of my husband’s favorite quick meals is sausage and peppers and since I had all the ingredients on hand, why not.

My husband and I have been married for over 30 years. We’ve known each other since we were 18 years old. We met in Glendale, NY, at a local hangout through mutual friends. For those who grew up in Glendale, this hangout was the hot spot of the early 1980s – The Bulkhead. My husband was friends with one of the owners and my best friend and I would go there weekends to hang out and dance.

When we were married, I realized that my husband never really ate any of the Italian meals I loved. He grew up on meat and starch and not much in the way of pasta or tomato sauce. I, on the other hand, could eat pizza, baked ziti or chicken parmesan every night of the week. Thankfully, he now loves these staple meals just as much as I do. Believe me, it was no coincidence he brought these sausage home, knowing I had red peppers. This meal was so easy to prepare and the biggest decision was – bread, rice, pasta or potatoes. Tonight, pasta won out as we had rice and bread already this week.

This recipe has evolved over the years from when we were first married. I was not a huge fan of sausage meat and would never eat peppers back then. I remember making sausage and peppers for our first family gatherings. They were always a hit and super easy to make. Back then, I didn’t make my own sauce. Rather, I used something in a jar like my mother had. Back then, I didn’t know that the type of cookware you use impacts the taste of your food – think aluminum pans. Back then, I just wanted something that would taste good and could be prepared ahead so I wouldn’t be stuck in the kitchen when my company arrived.

As my cooking improved, so too did my sausage and peppers. I never really had a recipe to follow on this one. I just kind of threw things together and cooked it super long in the oven. I still experiment with the ingredients, but the version I made today is my latest favorite. Your house will smell so good when this is cooking. It’s a nice hearty meal for a Saturday night at home and tastes even better the next day.

Both of us have changed into lounging clothes and have no intention of going out tonight. He’s watching a movie and I am finishing a good book. This is not a meal we eat often as it’s not the healthiest. To lighten it up we have used turkey sausage in the past and it tastes just as good. With Super Bowl Sunday right around the corner, this may be one dish you might want to try.

Laura’s Sausage & Peppers

Ingredients:

8 links sausage – 4 hot, 4 sweet Italian
1 tbsp sweet butter
olive oil
2 medium onions sliced
3 cloves garlic chopped
3 red bell peppers sliced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 of a small can tomato paste
1/2 cup chicken broth
fresh basil chopped
1 tsp red pepper
1 tsp sugar
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Pour glass of Merlot and turn on Alexa for dancing in the kitchen.
Slice each sausage link into 3 pieces (use sharp knife)
Place 1 tbsp butter in cast iron pan and add sausage links. Cook over medium heat until they brown nicely on outside. Remove to oven pan.
In same cast iron pan, add few drops of olive oil, onions and peppers. Add red pepper and brown over medium heat (about 4 minutes).
Add chopped garlic and cook 1 minute
Remove onions and peppers to the same pan as sausage.
In same pan you cooked onions, add wine and cook down, using wooden scraper to deglaze the pan.
Once the alcohol cooks down, add the chicken broth and tomato paste.
Add spices and stir. Cook over low heat for about 5-7 minutes.
Pour over sausage in pan. Cover and cook in oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Uncover and leave in oven for 30 minutes as you prepare your pasta or rice.
Serve over rice, pasta or potatoes. (I usually cook the potatoes right in with the sausage and peppers)

Sunday Gravy

I know on this island there’s a long-standing debate going on – Is it called Sunday Sauce or Sunday Gravy? Me, I really don’t care what you call it as long as it tastes good. I tend to call the regular version I make sauce and the version I’m making today gravy. What’s the difference? For me, the heartiness of the sauce is what puts it in the gravy category. Remember, this is a German lady cooking Italian every Sunday, so I do not claim to be an expert.

Growing up we didn’t have a lot of money. My dad was a Police Officer and my mom was a stay at home mother raising three children, many times alone. Mom was left alone with the three of us as my dad worked rotating shifts. I can still remember his shift schedule. Two nights (4-12), two days (8-4), two overnight (12-8) followed by two days off if he was lucky. I never thought much back then about the fact that our mom always had a hearty meal on the table every single night. As kids, we had a hot meal (meat, vegetables and starch) every night and rarely, if ever, ate fast food. We actually only ate out once a year, for the New Year, and ordered pizza when our house flooded, which unfortunately (or fortunately) was often. How my mom managed that feat, I really can’t say as I sure didn’t when my three were little. We ate a lot of fast food and macaroni and cheese from the blue box.

8C4471E4-941E-4C08-9D7B-FCB5D371C4FE — Dad at his Seneca Avenue home, 1956

My dad always liked good quality food. I used to think this was because he grew up poor. I thought he saw it as some kind of confirmation that he “made it” and didn’t have to settle for less anymore. But, when mom was diagnosed and he started cooking, I realized that wasn’t it at all. Dad was really a foodie at heart. One day, I asked him why he didn’t cook more as he loved it and was quite good. His answer made me sad. He said my mom never let him cook because she didn’t want a big mess. Mom was quite the clean freak in her day and the thought of pots and pans all over her kitchen likely stressed her out. Now that he was doing all the cooking and cleaning, he was able to cook and experiment with many new recipes.

My Dad always knew the best places to get quality meat. He often brought home special roasts for our holiday meals and they never disappointed. Still, we weren’t often able to get expensive cuts. Thankfully, mom was great at slow cooking so we really couldn’t tell. I actually never tasted a Filet Mignon until I was in my thirties! Another cut of meat I had for the first time about a year ago was short ribs. Crazy, right? We went to lunch one day with my son and his fiancé and I ordered beer braised short ribs. I instantly fell in love with the softest, tastiest stew meat I’d ever tasted. I’ve been hooked on it ever since.

Today, we were in the mood for Sunday Gravy so I knew just the meat I’d be adding in. Short ribs cooked in tomato sauce turn it into a hearty ragu, hence why I call it gravy. I hope you’ll give this one a try over some homemade, hand cut spaghetti as I promise you won’t be sorry. You need to get an early start with this recipe though as it needs to cook long and slow.

For our pasta today, we were in the mood for some homemade ravioli. You don’t need a fancy machine to make it and like other pasta, once you eat homemade you’ll not go back to frozen. My pasta recipe was shared in this post – Sunday Sauce

For ravioli, I follow the same recipe but use “00” Flour instead of all-purpose. This helps keep the dough thin and light, which is exactly how ravioli dough should be.

I use this ravioli cutter and it’s super easy to make. Just do not overfill them as they will explode if you do.
Bellemain Large Ravioli Maker

Sunday Short Rib Gravy

Ingredients (For 2 with leftovers)

1 medium onion, chopped
1 pounds short ribs
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
dash of wine or broth to deglaze the pot
Sat and pepper to taste
pinch of sugar
tsp red pepper flakes
olive oil and 1 tbsp sweet butter

Directions:

Pour cup of coffee as it will be way too early for wine. You can still turn Alexa on low and dance in the kitchen.
Your pot choice matters a lot when cooking. Please, use cast iron for this recipe. I used to be a Le Creuset snob, but was not happy with the customer service I didn’t receive when my expensive pot’s white inside lost its luster. I recently purchased a new cast iron pot from Anolon and am loving it! If you’re looking to try cast iron cooking, you may want to check this pot out for far less money. The insides are black and the lines of the pot and handle are sleek and modern.

Brown the short ribs in tbsp of olive oil. Remove from pot.
Mine left very little oil in the pot, so I added tbsp of sweet butter to brown my chopped onions. Cook gently on low heat for about 4 minutes. Do not allow them to burn.
Add chopped garlic and red pepper and cook for 1 minute.
Add splash of wine to deglaze the pot. I had white on hand. Use flat wooden scraper and get all those wonderful bits off the pot.
Add the tomato paste and stir. Cook for a minute
Add the crushed tomatoes and pinch of sugar.
Add sat and pepper to taste.
Cook for at least 5 hours until meat falls off the bone.
Remove bones and carrot and discard.
Shred meat if needed, but mine usually just falls apart.
Serve over spaghetti with a nice glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.

If you make this gravy, drop me a note. I’d love to hear how you liked it and what tweaks you made. It comes out so thick and delicious. Enjoy!

Lazy Saturday

Week one of my 80 day recovery work out plan is in the books. I finished my sixth day this morning and tomorrow is rolling and easy stretching. My husband is feeling under the weather today, so we decided to have a lazy Saturday in the house. Neither one of us felt like doing anything more than hanging around the house catching up on our shows. I finally finished the latest episode of This is Us today. When planning our dinner, we decided on a nice, easy comfort meal. I did tweak the recipe because I wanted to experiment with a family tradition – German Potato Balls.

Growing up, my grandmother, mother and aunt always served potato balls with our holiday meals. They never made them other times of the year, so it was a real treat for us all when the holidays rolled around. There’s nothing quite as good as a true, homemade German Potato Ball drenched in brown gravy. Thinking of them always brings back so many wonderful memories of those holiday dinners, when I never had to wash a dish or pot. Literally, just eat and run is what we kids did. These three ladies all made this potato dish easily, but when I was newly married and tried to create it the potato balls just turned to mush. No matter what I did, or how much flour I added, those darn potatoes turned into a big pile of mush. Both of my cousins perfected the recipe and I wondered what in the world I was doing wrong. My mother kept telling me I was using the wrong type of potato. She swore they had to be Idaho potatoes and nothing else. Tried that. Make them the night before, use less flour, more flour, don’t over cook…. I finally decided Potato Balls were not worth the effort and perfected the art of making spaetzle.

My mom has been in the nursing home for about three years now and hasn’t cooked a holiday meal in many more years. We don’t get together with the cousins anymore for the holidays as we live too far apart. The only time I ever get German Potato Balls anymore is in a restaurant and honestly they never taste like our family’s recipe. This year, for our Christmas dinner, I decided I was going to try again. I looked up a few recipes online to see if there was anything I was doing wrong. I texted my cousin to check the recipe. I could see nothing I was doing wrong. When I posted on Facebook that I was making the meal, my mother’s cousin asked if I needed the recipe. Then she said, remember to cook them as soon as you roll them, or they will turn to mush. I looked at my daughter and said, no wonder I’ve had trouble all these years. I was rolling them the night before and cooking them the next day.

This Christmas, we had Roast Pork and Potato Balls and they came out perfect. I was so happy to have solved the 35 year mystery of this darn recipe. Today, I decided to experiment with the recipe and see how it would come out if I used sweet potatoes. Using the same recipe, I substituted sweet potatoes for the Idaho potatoes. They were delicious and hopefully somewhat healthier.

Laura’s Chicken Scarpiello & Sweet Potato Balls

5 links of Sweet Italian sausage
1 pound boneless Chicken breast
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup white wine (NOT cooking wine)
1 cup chicken broth
1/8 cup white wine vinegar
1 tsp Rosemary
Sweet butter
Olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Pour a glass of Malbec and turn on Alexa for dancing in the kitchen.
Slice sausage into smaller pieces and brown in pot in tbsp olive oil until browned on outside. Do not cook through.
Remove from pot
Put chicken in food storage bag with flour and shake to coat.
Place chicken into pot with tbsp of olive oil and turn to brown. Do not cook through.
Remove from pot
In same pot, put tbsp of sweet butter and olive oil.
Cook chopped onions until soft, about 4 minutes.
Add chopped garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Add the wine and begin to deglaze the pot.
Add the broth and continue to stir until the pot is deglazed.
Add the vinegar, salt, pepper and rosemary and stir.
Arrange the chicken and sausage in an oven safe dish.
Pour the sauce over and cover.
Cook in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.
Thicken sauce if needed when serving.

Sweet Potato Balls

2 large sweet potatoes
1 cup flour
1 egg
1/2 cup farina
1 tsp nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste
1 piece of toast cut into small cubes (normally we cook these in a pan with butter, but I just toasted today in toaster)

Directions:

Roast the sweet potatoes in oven. (Mine were left over roasted potatoes, but you can boil or roast them for this recipe.)
When potatoes are cool, mash or put through a ricer.
Add flour, farina, nutmeg, salt & pepper to bowl
Mix with hands until they no longer stick to your hand
Roll into balls placing one cube of toast in the middle of each.
Drop potato balls into boiling pot of water and cook until they rise to the top (about 7-8 minutes)
Serve immediately

Meatless Monday

Today, I put on a pair of workout pants for the first time since the beginning of November when a stress fracture squashed my marathon dream temporarily. Today, I started my road back to running. Today, I started a new workout routine to build back my strength and prepare my muscles for this return. I’ve been working out lightly the last two weeks to prepare for this day, but oh it felt so good to be in real workout clothes again. I will admit that I needed the mental and physical break from my routine following marathon training. It felt so good to have an extra hour or two in the morning to sip coffee, write, plan or just surf the internet. If felt good not to rush, or worry about being late to work if I ran an extra mile because I was feeling good. The extra pounds do not feel quite as good and will likely not come off as easily as they went on, but who cares. Life is way to short to worry about it and every day is a new day to start again.

Keeping with my meatless meals journey, today we are having a meatless Monday. I am roasting two chicken breasts and some sweet potatoes for quick meals during the week, but today we are eating Butternut Squash and Farro. If you haven’t tried farro, I highly recommend you check it out. It is a grain, that has the consistency of pasta which is probably what appeals to me the most about it. It can be added to any stew, soup or side dish that calls for rice, or pasta. It reheats beautifully and can also be eaten cold. The possibilities for this grain are endless.

My mom has Alzheimer’s disease and has for almost ten years now. When she first started showing symptoms, she stopped cooking. We thought it might be the fact that it was just her and my dad at home and easier to eat out. We thought perhaps she was slightly depressed and had no desire to cook anymore. We thought anything other than the reality of Alzheimer’s disease. As she got progressively worse, I tried cooking extra food to bring over every weekend. With my work schedule, this became harder and harder for me to keep up with so I knew I had to teach my dad how to cook. He actually found that he loved cooking and was quite good at it! He whipped up a beautiful meal for dinner each night, and like me found it very therapeutic. Cooking can be a beautiful distraction from the ugliness that life often serves up.

One year, at Christmas, my dad called me and told me one of his friends from the morning crew at Dunkin had given him a gift – a cookbook. He was excited to have the cookbook and said he would show it to me the next time I saw him. The following weekend, when I got to their house, my dad showed me the cookbook gift he received. It was an Ina Garten book called – Make Ahead Recipes. It’s no secret Ina is one of my favorite chefs. Her recipes are relatively easy to follow and always turn out beautifully. When I opened the book I noticed a card with a beautiful message to my dad. It read,

Enjoy this book as you cook meals for your beautiful wife. Your love and devotion to her is truly admirable. The care you take of her really demonstrates your commitment and love. There are not many who could walk this walk so selflessly and I am honored and humbled to know you. I hope you find many recipes to enjoy for years to come.

Anyone who knows my dad and has watched him as a caretaker knows these words capture him perfectly. He has set the bar pretty darn high for us to follow.

My favorite side dish in this book is Butternut Squash with Farro. I’ve made it every Thanksgiving for the past few years and we all enjoy it. The recipe calls for bacon, but for today’s meal we are leaving that out. One important tip I’ve learned since making this recipe is how to peel the butternut squash. I struggled with this many times in the past, including pounding on my knife with a mallet, banging it on the cutting board and just plain cursing. My husband kept telling me to buy the already chopped squash, but I wanted fresh. When I figured out how to easily peel the squash, I laughed at myself for how difficult I made it. Here are the simple directions to peel butternut squash:

Poke the squash with a fork all around. Cut the end off the bottom and top of the squash. Place it in the microwave oven on high for 3-4 minutes. Let it cool off. Cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut into cubes and peel as you go. Super easy!

I will share the recipe as written by Ina and include within the tweaks I made to make this a meatless meal. If you are vegan, you’ll have to substitute out the cheese, broth and butter.

Butternut Squash with Farro by Ina Garten

Photo courtesy of Food Network magazine (This is what the bacon version looks like)

Ingredients

6 thick-cut slices applewood-smoked bacon (I left this out for meatless Monday)
2 tablespoons good olive oil (I only use the butter)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large chopped yellow onion
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups pearled farro
3 cups good chicken stock, preferably homemade (Use vegetable stock if you don’t want meat based stock)
3 cups (3/4-to-1-inch-diced) peeled butternut squash
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the bacon on a baking rack set on a sheet pan and bake it for 20 to 30 minutes, until browned (it won’t be crisp). Cut the bacon in very large dice. (Skip this step if going meatless)

Meanwhile, in a small (9-inch) Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until tender and starting to brown. Add the thyme, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add the farro and chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Place the squash on top of the farro mixture, cover, and bake in the same oven with the bacon for 30 minutes, until the squash and farro are tender. Check once during cooking and add a little chicken stock if it’s dry.

Sprinkle the bacon and parmesan on the squash and farro and bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates, the farro and butternut squash are tender, and the cheese has melted. Serve hot directly from the pot. (For this step I just sprinkled with cheese and left out the bacon)

This is such a hearty side dish that tonight we are eating it as our meal. I’m hoping to have some left over to pick on during the week. It is really delicious with and without the bacon. If you make it, leave me a message to tell me how you like it. I know you won’t be disappointed as I’ve cooked many of Ina’s recipes for my holiday parties.

My review, it’s WAY better with the bacon! So, unless you’re vegetarian keep it in. If you are, find a spice that will give it a smokier taste. Let me know what you figure out and I’ll try again.

Compromises

Sunday dinner is taking a different twist today. We have been eating a lot of comfort meals lately and many have been meat based. Today, we are enjoying one of our favorite meatless Sunday sauce recipes. My husband brought home a nice large eggplant today with hopes I’d make eggplant parmesan again. Since we just had that last week, I decided to turn this beautiful eggplant into a meatless meatball for our sauce. We’ve had this meal before and it is a nice change of pace from the traditional meatball, and surprisingly quite tasty.

My brother and my niece are both vegetarians. George grew up on the same meals as I did and has commented on my recent blog posts. I knew he wouldn’t be eating them though and began to wonder how to offer meatless versions of these family traditions. I will be experimenting with that concept over the coming months and hope my brother will join me.

George on left, Michael on right, yours truly in middle.

During the recent snowstorm, I made a Chicken Schnitzel and George commented how the meatless gravy on spaetzle is often not quite as good as the version we grew up on. We spoke that day about the mushroom gravy that goes on my Schnitzel. This mushroom based gravy is only used to top the chicken. That recipe just needs one tweak to be meatless – change the chicken broth to vegetable broth in the recipe. For Sunday sauce it’s easy to whip up marinara, but for us meatballs are a huge part of this favorite meal. If I decided to never eat a meatball again, I’d surely be looking for ways to replace them in my sauce. This eggplant “meatball” is one way to start thinking about alternatives to meat in Sunday sauce. Today’s menu will include – Sunday Sauce with Eggplant Meatballs served over homemade, hand cut pasta. Both will be accompanied with a nice robust glass of Merlot and football playoff games.

Meatless Meatballs – Eggplant

Ingredients:

1 large Eggplant
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup Pecorino Romano Cheese
1 egg
Flour
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Pour glass of Merlot and turn on Alexa for dancing in the kitchen.
Cut eggplants in half lengthwise and trim off ends. Make a few slits on the cut side and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
Place the eggplant on a baking sheet, skin side down.
Cook at 400 degrees 30 – 40 minutes, depending on size of eggplant.
Remove eggplant and allow it to cool before handling.
Scoop out the soft insides of the eggplant into your Kitchen Aid mixer with paddle attachment.
Add cheese, egg, salt, pepper and breadcrumbs to the bowl and mix on low until combined. You may need to add more breadcrumbs if mixture is very soft.
Roll the mixture into balls and dredge in flour. Fry the balls in olive oil until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes.
Add to sauce and serve immediately. There is no reason for these meatballs to cook in the sauce. They are cooked and ready. For less saucy eggplant balls, just serve plain with sauce on side.

Last week I shared my sauce recipe, along with the recipe to make easy homemade pasta. Both recipes can be found by clicking on this link –

Sunday Sauce

Since the eggplant was large, I was also able to make Eggplant Lasagna. Super easy and great for a gluten free lasagna. This meal is made and assembled exactly like the traditional version. The substitution was eggplant for lasagna noodles. Slice the peeled eggplant lengthwise. Place on lightly oiled baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Let cool, then assemble as usual.

How have you tweaked your meals to include meatless versions? Please share some of your recipes with me. I am always looking to try something new. If you make this recipe, please leave me a note to tell me how it was, including any tweaks you made to improve it.

Comfort Food

What do you do when you come home from a visit to the nursing home sad, your house is an empty nest and you’re in need of some comfort? Of course you start menu planning and cooking. When I get in these funks, I love to find comfort in food. I’m not talking chips and cake, though those would be just fine. I’m talking good, hearty meals that bring back memories of days gone by. Using what I have in the house, today I decided to make one of my childrens’ favorite meals. Whenever I had chicken and would ask them what they wanted for dinner, inevitably they’d all say – chicken in broth.

I have three children, two boys and one girl. They are off being busy adulting these days, but I can still remember when they were all here. The madness, the noise, the mess, be careful about wishing them away for you will miss it all someday. My house is way too quiet for me on these dreary winter days, so today I will conjure up images of the past and eat some beautiful chicken with broth. Maybe, just maybe, if there’s any left I’ll pack some up for them.

When I was a young working mother of three, I really had little time to prepare any fancy meals. I looked for easy meals that would be finished in a short amount of time and didn’t require a lot of ingredients or preparation. My dad always loved chicken pot pies, but who really had the time back then to make pie crusts and fill them. My kids all preferred the insides of the pie anyway, so I just made up a simple version that did not require baking, or a crust. I loved the simplicity of the meal, but it packs a good punch of comfort and warmth. If you decide to try it, please let me know how it worked out for you. If you tweaked it, I don’t get offended, let me know as well.

Laura’s Chicken in Broth

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken tenders cubed
1 onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic chopped
2 cups of chicken broth (If you like it thicker use one cup)
2 stalks celery chopped
4 carrots chopped
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Bay leaf
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp rosemary
flour
salt & pepper to taste
unsalted butter or olive oil

Directions:

Pour a glass of Pinot Grigio and turn on Alexa for dancing in the kitchen
In Dutch oven over medium heat, brown chopped onion, red pepper flakes, celery and carrots in unsalted butter or olive oil. (4 minutes)
Add chopped garlic and sautee for an additional minute.
Place chicken cubes into a food storage bag with flour. Shake to coat.
Move onion mix to outside edges of pot to make room in center for chicken. Add some oil and place chicken in.
Cook to brown, stirring as needed.
Add some broth to deglaze the pot, then add remaining broth.
Add spices
Stir, reduce heat and cover
Cook on stovetop, covered, over low heat for 60 minutes.

We have added pasta, potatoes, rice, spaetzle and many other items to this recipe. Today, I added small red potatoes. They were peeled and put in right from the beginning. If adding pasta, only add it during the last 30 minutes. Do the same for rice.

Today, since I am seeking comfort in food, but avoiding the Ruffles, I decided to make homemade biscuits. They are wonderful for soaking up the broth. These are NOT biscuits that will rise and be buttered These are biscuits that you put right in the broth in your bowl. Break them into pieces and put them right in.

Laura’s Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 stick cold unsalted butter, diced
3/4 cup heavy cream or half-and-half

Directions:

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in your Kitchen Aid mixer, using paddle attachment.
Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas.
Add the heavy cream and combine on low speed.
Place the dough on a well-floured board and, with a rolling pin, roll out to 3/8-inch thick.
Cut out six circles with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter. (Makes 12 so I freeze half for another meal)
Bake 20 minutes in 375 degree oven. You can put egg wash on if preferred, we like ours plain.

We are eating in the kitchen tonight so we can watch and listen to the playoff game.

Memory Lane

3BF88176-BDB4-4474-8CBD-137E20BB90EC — Maria & Ludwig

My grandmother Maria was one tough lady. She had very strong opinions and made them known. She came to this country with my grandfather Ludwig. They raised their twins, my mother Else and her brother Walter, in Ridgewood, NY. My mother and her brother were staying with Maria in Germany at the start of WWII. Thankfully, they got out in time and returned to life in America. At that time in New York, Germans were not always made to feel welcome in this country and my mother told stories of being treated unkindly at school.

One piece of Maria’s culture that was passed on to my cousins and I was the art of traditional German cooking. All of us learned, from watching and helping, how to cook these treasured family recipes. All of us still produce the holiday meals of our past, though not together anymore sadly.

This past week has found me stuck inside the house, but there are no complaints here. Whenever I’m home, I love to stay in my pajamas all day, read and cook – and maybe have a glass or two of wine. Nothing soothes the soul like the foods from our childhood. Food stirs up so many memories of my past through smell, taste and the process of creating these meals feels like being wrapped in love. Today, I’m making goulash using my updated version of Maria’s recipe. You see, like most of her generation, Maria never wrote down any recipes. Else, my mother, tried to replicate the recipes and added her touch to them. My Aunt Agnes added her input to the recipes along the way. Now, my cousins and I have taken over and added our own tweaks.

Aunt Agnes, Uncle Walter, Eileen & Linda

Else with my daughter Cathy

320DA4C0-6F8C-4A8E-830F-02190D403845 — The cousins 2017

Here’s the most recent version of Maria’s Goulash. If you make it, let me know how you liked it.

Ingredients:

3 – 4 slices of bacon chopped
1 medium yellow onion chopped fine
1 celery stalk chopped fine
2 tbsp sweet paprika

Szeged Sweet Paprika Seasoning Spice

2 teaspoons whole caraway seeds
2 pounds grass-fed bottom round beef, cubed
1 1/2 cup bone broth (I use chicken as I prefer the taste)
1 bottle beer (nice German lager)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1-2 cups chopped carrots
2 tbsp unsalted butter

Directions:

Pour a glass of wine for the chef, turn on Alexa for dancing in the kitchen
Heat the oven to 275 F.
Brown the bacon in a Dutch oven on the stove over medium heat. Once brown remove with slotted spoon and set aside.
Put meat in storage bag with 1 cup of flour. Shake to coat the meat evenly. Place the meat in the cast iron pan with bacon drippings over medium heat. Stir to brown the meat evenly. If you need to, add a bit of olive oil to prevent the meat from sticking, but don’t worry it just makes the gravy taste better. Once brown, remove the meat and set aside.
Put 2 tbs unsalted butter in the same pan (no need to clean in between steps) and toss in the chopped onion and celery. Simmer for about 4 minutes. Turn down the heat to medium-low and continue cooking the onion, stirring from time to time, until the onion browns and begins to caramelize at its edges – about 20 minutes further.
Stir the paprika and caraway seeds into the onion, and then stir in the bottle of beer to deglaze the pot. Use your wooden spoon to remove any drippings and release back into the sauce. Reduce heat.
Add the cubed beef, broth and vinegar to the pot and continue to stir. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you want some spice add a dash of red pepper flakes.
Cover the pot and place in the oven.
Cook 2 1/2 hours, then add the carrots and stir. Cook another hour, or until meat is tender. The longer the better! Add additional broth as needed if it thickens too much, but remember it is not soup.

Spaetzle:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup of flour

2 eggs

1/4 cup of milk

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt – optional

Consistency if dough is softer than pasta dough. It should be pliable.

Though I have an old metal spaetzle press, I rarely use it anymore. It was hard to press and clean. This very inexpensive machine has been a lifesaver. Super easy to use and clean. Highly recommended. Click on the picture to see the details. Fits perfectly on top of my stock pot.

Directions:

Mix flour, salt and nutmeg in a bowl.
Beat the two eggs and add to the flour mix.
Using a fork mix together until thoroughly mixed, and fine bubbles begin to appear.
Heat a stock pot full of water to a boil. Transfer the spaetzle batter into the spaetzle press over the pot.
Press the batter through into the boiling water.
Remover the spaetzle with a large slotted spoor, or drain in colander when it begins to float. Only takes a few minutes.

Plate the spaetzle in a large pasta bowl. Top with goulash. Enjoy this meal with an ice cold German beer, or a nice glass of red wine.

What recipes do you make that are family treasures? Please leave a message below and I’ll give the a try.

Resolutions are not Realistic

We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives…not looking for flaws, but for potential. – Ellen Goodman

Every January, I hear people talking about their resolutions for living a healthy lifestyle in the new year. They will exercise more, eat better, stop drinking and the list goes on and on. But, resolutions are not always realistic. They are a promise you make to do things differently, but most times they are never fully carried out.

Every January, gyms are overcrowded with people who have made these resolutions. They vow to come every day and start off strong, but inevitably they can’t maintain this pace because it’s not realistic. You can’t go from not working out to working out every single day without some soreness, or loss of motivation. I don’t set resolutions, I make plans. They often say goals (insert resolutions) are dreams without plans. I can’t agree more. So, this year, instead of making a resolution to do a list of things, spend time planning for your success. Buy a calendar and plan your weeks for healthier living – when will you workout, what will you eat. This simple change could put you on the road to success. Now that I’m close to being cleared to return to full activity, that is exactly my plan for this weekend.

Happy Holidays and New Year to all my readers. I’d love to hear what your plans are for 2018. Leave me a message below.

Click this link – New Year, New You! to enjoy my New Year’s column to help you get started on your plans for 2018!

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We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives…not looking for flaws, but for potential. – Ellen Goodman

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