Kids Dish

Woo-hoo! It’s National Something on a Stick Day. Straying from our usual frozen vegetarian corn dogs, I’ll leave you instead with a recipe for something only slightly healthier, Thai Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

Thai Chicken Satay
1 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breast

Marinade:
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp nam pla (fish sauce)

Combine the peanut butter, soy sauce, red chili paste, brown sugar, and lime juice in a food processor or blender. Puree to combine. While the motor is running, drizzle in the hot water to thin out the sauce, you may not need all of it. Pour the sauce into a nice serving bowl and garnish with the chopped peanuts.

Some day I imagine I’ll bake and decorate rolled sugar cookies with my kids. It just seems that since I enjoy cooking, it’s the proper thing to do. Unfortunately I don’t particularly like eating them. I much prefer Ricotta cookies, another Easter cookie treat served at my in-laws’ house at their annual Easter extravaganza. These little cookies are soft, fluffy and sweet and kids love them because of their pastel-colored frosting.

ITALIAN RICOTTA COOKIES

1/2 lb. butter
2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 lb. Ricotta
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
4 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda

Cream butter; add sugar and continue creaming until butter is fluffy and light in color. Add egg and Ricotta and vanilla; beat well. Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda, salt; add to batter. Mix well until all ingredients are combined.

Drop about a teaspoon of dough on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 10 minutes until edges are lightly browned. Cool. Frost with icing of your choice or the recipe below.

FROSTING:

2 c. confectionery sugar
1/4 c. butter
3 tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix well. Color with food coloring if desired. Or top with sprinkles, colored sugar, or other Easter confections.

To make the cookie a little more grown up, add the zest of one orange to the batter. A teaspoon of Almond extract is another good addition. A teaspoon of lemon extract in place of the vanilla gives the icing a little zing. Almond extract can also be usied in the frosting.

Italian Easter Pie is something that I’d never heard of, let alone eaten, before I met my husband eight years ago. It’s basically a quiche, filled with hard-boiled eggs, meats and cheeses. I’m not a huge fan of the dish, but each year it grows on me just a little bit more. There’s something about the way his family prepares it that makes it unlike most of the recipes I’ve seen for it. I think it’s the hint of anise in the crust. Someday perhaps I’ll get the recipe, just to pass on the tradition to our kids. But until then, here’s a version I’ve put together from several I found online.

This recipe is for one 12″x16″ (30×40 cm) pie, which is big. It’s enough to feed your extended family for days. But Bob’s family ends up making more than half a dozen 9″x 12″ pies each year so maybe it’s not so big after all.

Italian Easter Pie

Serve hot, cold, or room temperature.

I’m not Irish and I’m not a huge fan of typical St. Paddy’s day fare. Corned Beef and cabbage doesn’t really appeal to me, soda bread isn’t particularly exciting, and as I mentioned yesterday dyed green foods aren’t my cup of tea.

Irish potatoes may be the only St. Patrick’s day food I really love and I’m not sure why. They’re sort of sickly sweet and if you want to get technical they’re pretty much cream cheese frosting with coconut rolled in some cinnamon. I’m not generally a huge fan of cinnamon either, but for this candy the cinnamon really helps cut the sweet. Made with cream cheese, butter and sugar, they’re fattening and addictive and I’m sad to say that since no one offered my pregnant self any this year I may have to make my own. Luckily, aside from the time it takes to chill the ingredients, it’s a very simple recipe

Irish Potato Candy
· 1/4 cup butter, softened
· 1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
· 2 1/2 cups flaked coconut
· 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners’ sugar; beat until smooth. Using your hands if necessary, mix in the coconut. Chill for about half an hour. Roll into balls or potato shapes and chill for another 15 to 30 minutes until firm. Roll in the cinnamon. Place onto a cookie sheet and chill to set. If desired, roll potatoes in cinnamon again for darker color.

I’m not fond of artificial colorings so celebrating St. Patty’s Day is more about eating foods that are naturally green than dropping food coloring into my recipes. Luckily I’ve got a freezer full of zucchini to make some delicious chocolate chip zucchini bread. This bread is moist and rich, more cake than bread. It can be made into mini loaves, muffins, or even cupcakes if you want to whip up a batch of cream cheese frosting (colored green, if you must.)

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bread

* 3 eggs
* 2 cups white sugar (I always cut the sugar to one cup white and 1/2 cup packed brown sugar)
* 1 cup vegetable oil (I use half oil and half applesauce)
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups grated, well drained zucchini
* 1 cup toasted, chopped walnuts
* 1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
* 3 cups all-purpose flour (I use half whole wheat)
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Check after 25 minutes if you’re baking muffins (use liners- the tops break off easily if you just grease muffin pans) and 40 minutes if you use mini loaf pans. Depending on how well you drain the zucchini the bread could take longer to bake so don’t be alarmed if it takes an hour or more. If your kids don’t like nuts, finely chop them for a few pulses in the food processor. You’ll get the nutty flavor without the tell-tale chunks.

I am not usually a fan of pork roasts. I’ve only ever had them with my in-laws, and honestly the majority of the roasts I’ve had their have been cooked for an hour or two too long, making excessive quantities of gravy a necessity. But for some reason I bought a pork roast from my pastured meats buying club on a whim. I think I imagined that I’d make pulled pork for sandwiches from it, but after the roast sat in my freezer for a few months and I looked up some recipes I realized that the boneless pork butt roast was too small, I don’t have a smoker, and it’s not the perfect cut of meat anyway. So it was back to Mr. Google for some recipe ideas.

An Epicurious recipe for Garlic-Roasted Pork Shoulder looked sublime, but it called for a bone-in pork shoulder which I just didn’t have. A recipe from Tyler Florence at the Food Network for Roasted Pork Shoulder seemed to be similar, but for some reason it just didn’t look quite right. So I split the difference. I prepared the roast using the method from the Epicurious recipe and cooked it according to the Tyler Florence recipe. It was superb.

The recipe calls for several hours of marination so I let it sit overnight, but popped it in the oven a bit too late the next day. We ended up eating a quick dinner of pasta and veggies while the roast cooked. When I removed it from the oven, the skin was brown and crisp. I was sorry we’d eaten. The following day I sliced the meat and reheated it in a gravy made from pan juices. My in-laws joined us for dinner and the meat was so tender, so flavorful, they assumed they were eating beef, not pork, until I told them otherwise. My father-in-law who claims to hate garlic ate several servings, not even noticing the garlic paste clinging to the meat.

If I get my hands on a bone-in pork roast I’ll be sure to follow the New York Times recipe exactly (and eat the meat immediately), but for boneless, the compromise worked well. This cheap cut of meat makes an incredible meal.

Garlic Roasted Boneless Pork Shoulder
adapted from the two recipes linked above

1 head garlic, cloves peeled
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 3-4 pound boneless pork shoulder with skin

Mash garlic to a paste with 2 tablespoons kosher salt using a mortar and pestle or side of a large heavy knife, then stir in oregano, vinegar, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon pepper.

Pat pork dry. Using a small sharp knife, cut a wide pocket at large end of roast to separate skin from fat, leaving skin attached at sides and stopping before roast narrows to bone.

Make 1-inch-deep slits in pork under skin and on all meaty sides, twisting knife slightly to widen openings, then push some of garlic mixture into slits with your fingers. Rub any remaining garlic mixture over roast (not skin). Wipe skin clean, then rub with remaining teaspoon kosher salt (to help it crisp). Transfer pork to a glass or ceramic shallow dish and marinate, covered and chilled, at least 8 hours.

Put pork, skin side up, on a rack in a flameproof roasting pan, discarding marinade, and bring to room temperature, about 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Roast the pork for 3 hours, uncovered, until the skin is crispy-brown. Let the meat rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes before slicing. Meanwhile, pour pan juices through a sieve into a fat separator or bowl and discard fat. Add 3/4 cup water to roasting pan and deglaze by boiling over medium-high heat (straddle 2 burners if necessary), scraping up brown bits, 1 minute, then add to pan juices along with enough water to bring total to 1 1/2 cups. Serve meat with pan juices.

When I was young and idealistic I swore I’d never fall into the consumerist, commercial trap of licensed character toys for my child. I still have not succumbed to the temptation, and though I’ve bought him a few Curious George books, all other licensed character items have come from others. I won’t buy them, but we borrow videos and books from the library feeding his licensed character addiction. Worse, I’ve actually suggested exactly which licensed character toys, namely Thomas the Tank Engine, to purchase for my little train-a-holic.

For his birthday I went to the next level. Rather than serving a regular birthday cake I borrowed a Thomas the Tank Engine cake pan from a friend. It was an arduous, painful process, but I colored two batches of frosting, and even made a practice cake in case I screwed up. I will never have a career in cake decorating, but considering my only tools were a small icing spatula, a butter knife, toothpicks, ziploc bags and my fingers, it didn’t come out too badly. The recipe, straight from the pages of Cooks Illustrated, was superb.

Yellow Layer Cake
from Cook’s Illustrated

* Move oven rack to the middle of the oven, and preheat to 350°.
* Grease two 9â€? round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. Dust pans with flour. (I was using one Thomas shaped pan so I did not line it with parchment fearing I’d lose the details necessary for proper frosting.
* Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 1 ½ cups sugar in a large bowl.
* In a separate bowl, mix together melted butter, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and egg yolks.
* Beat egg white in a stand mixer small bowl until foamy, about 30 seconds. Then slowly add the remaining ¼ cup sugar to the egg white while beating. Continue to beat until whites hold peaks, but mixture still looks moist.
* Add butter mixture to flour mixture and beat until just incorporated. Gently fold in 1/3 of the egg white mixture, then add the remaining egg white mixture and gently fold in until fully incorporated.
* Divide batter between two pans, tapping filled pans gently on counter to dislodge air bubbles. (I just used the one pan. A sheet pan works too.)
* Bake 20-22 minutes or until done. (Using the oddly shaped pan this took a lot longer- maybe 34 minutes? If you don’t use a standard sized pan check often to avoid over- or under-cooking the cake)
* Cool 10 minutes before removing cakes from pan. Remove cakes from pan, and cool on a cooling rack for 1 ½ hours before frosting.

I just made a standard white frosting so it would dye well. Cooks Illustrated recommends serving this cake with chocolate frosting. Next time I will.

I love macaroni and cheese, especially the real kind. I like the stuff in a box too, especially Annie’s brand, but the real stuff, baked in the oven is superior. I’ve fiddled with a number of recipes over the years and found two that have stuck out. The first is Patti Labelle’s insanely decadent Over the Rainbow Macaroni and Cheese. This stuff is the real deal, the mac and cheese of legend. The recipe calls for a stick of butter, five kinds of cheese, eggs and some seasoning. There’s no milk, no flour, no breadcrumbs. It’s insanely good, but since I’ve become more aware of what I eat, it’s hard to justify buying processed cheese food like Velveeta when other recipes exist. If you don’t have similar qualms, run out for the ingredients right now and bake this mac and cheese. It’s worth every calorie.

If you do have similar issues about strange orange cheeselike substances, skip Patti Labelle’s heart attack in a greased casserole dish, and give this recipe from the New York Times a go. This is also the real deal, pasta and cheese mixed to perfection using a ratio of 2:1 cheese to pasta. I love the recipe because you don’t have to precook the pasta- it cooks perfectly in the oven. I’ve made it several times now and each time people have raved about it. Yesterday I made a double batch for Sam’s birthday party. I got distracted and left it in the oven for 20 minutes too long, alerted to my mistake only by the heavenly smell of cheese wafting through the house. It wasn’t as creamy as it is ordinarily, but the extra 20 minutes produced a nice brown crust all over. Overdone or not, it was still fantastic.

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

3. Uncover pan, stir gently, sprinkle with reserved cheese and dot with remaining tablespoon butter. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes more, until browned. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Sam’s second birthday is tomorrow and we’re throwing him a small party on Sunday to celebrate. I’m not an indulgent parent. Sure, I’ll let him eat pretzels for breakfast, but when it comes to an event he’s not going to remember I’m not the type of person rent out an establishment or provide pony rides, clowns, Elmo or an ice sculpture. We went all out for his first birthday and invited all of our family and friends, but that was more of a milestone for us. We made it through a year. At this point, a year later, we’re glad to celebrate Sam’s second year of life outside the womb and look forward to his third, but at seven months pregnant I don’t feel like feeding fifty people again. So a small party it is.

Of course Bob’s family is big and close so small is relative. His generous aunts send cards and call when Sam’s sick so it would feel wrong not to invite them. And if we’re inviting his aunts and uncles it would be weird not to invite his cousins, who may or may not come anyway. Right now small looks like it’s going to be about twenty people. Maybe a few more, maybe a few less. We scheduled the party for four o’clock in the afternoon which is kind of an odd time for a party on a Sunday afternoon, but any earlier, say a normal two o’clock in the afternoon party, would probably interfere with naptime. At four we sort of have to provide dinner, yet it’s not a dinner party so the question of what to eat is a big one.

Rather than have a specific dinner time, we’ll have cold foods out when the party begins and put the warm foods out later. I’ve decided against serving a ton of hot food for twenty people who will be milling about, not seated, but there will be a few hot items. My mother-in-law, at our request, is making roast beef and gravy for sandwiches, Bob’s aunt is making a few strombolis, and I’m going to make a big tray of macaroni and cheese. I considered serving another hot entree, but decided to order a hoagie tray instead.

I feel like I’m slacking, but I’m hoping all of the cold food makes up for the lack of hot. It is a late afternoon party, not a dinner party after all.

Here’s the recipe for the Leek and Swiss Chard Tart I wrote about on Monday. It was excellent. I mentioned that I don’t love egg dishes. This one was similar to a quiche, but airier and fluffier. Without using too many ingredients it was rich and flavorful.

You can substitute frozen piecrust for the puff pastry or make your own, but using a frozen puff pastry sheet makes the crust light and crisp. I used spinach in place of the chard because chard was unavailable.

I have one complaint. The tart took forever to cook. Forever. I don’t think it was a problem with my oven since I’ve been baking cookies all week without a problem, but nowhere in the recipe reviews does anyone mention that the cooking time is off. The puff pastry browned and puffed in the time suggested, but the eggs took forty-five minutes, not the suggested fifteen to cook through. I don’t know if I was being overly cautious in not wanting to eat runny eggs because I’m pregnant, or if the runny eggs would have set in the resting time, but at one point I ran everything under the broiler hoping to firm things up quickly. It seemed to work, but when I cut all the way through liquid filling rose to meet me. I stuck the whole mess back in the oven for another ten minutes and it was finally cooked when I took it out. It was surprisingly not overdone.

Assuming your tart behaves better than mine did, this is an easy kid-friendly egg dish. If your kids like scrambled eggs they’ll like this. Call it egg pie if they’re suspicious. It would be great for brunch, but it was a nice dinner too. Serve with a salad or a side of veggies and you’ve got a healthy, complete meal.

Leek and Swiss Chard Tart
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 17.3-ounce package), thawed
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
3 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 bunch Swiss chard, ribs removed, leaves chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 1/4 cups whipping cream
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 425°F. Whisk cream and next 5 ingredients in large bowl. Mix in cooled leek mixture. Pour filling into crust.

I’m still obsessed with other people’s bento boxes. Yesterday I spent close to an hour admiring pictures of other people’s lunches and comparing them to the sad little lunches I pack Bob every day. I wonder if, when the time comes, I’ll step up or if little preschooler Sam will have variations on the same lunch every day: a sandwich on either some sort of whole grain bread, rye or pumpernickel, a baggie of reduced fat or reduced sodium potato chips, two pieces of fruit, and some dessert when available all made the night before.

Part of the challenge for me is that I’m not a morning person. I hate having to do anything in the morning to the extent that pouring a bowl of cereal and milk is often more effort than I’d like to exert. The idea of cooking something in the morning, even warming something overwhelms me. It’s a wonder I ever taught first period classes. Most of my teaching days I couldn’t even bring myself to eat breakfast or drink coffee before my first prep period.

But the bento lunches are just so appealing. Even when made with boxed macaroni and cheese and little sausage “octodogs� they’re still creative and interesting and usually have enough extras on the side for some nutritional content. Based on my reading of bento lunch blogs it seems like all I’d really need is an extra 10-20 minutes in the morning to reheat, shape and properly pack any foods that can’t stay cold or room temperature during the day. Maybe I’ll pick up a bento set for my birthday to start practicing now.

On a whim I picked up a bunch of leeks from the produce stand last week and now I don’t know what to do with them. I planned on making a nice, hearty, wintery leek and potato soup but then I used all of my potatoes to make a last minute Shepherd’s Pie. Ordinarily I’d just use the leeks in recipes that call for onions, but I’ve still got half of a five pound bag of organic onions in the pantry that look like they’re getting ready to sprout so I’ve been erring on the side of using them first.

Last week my mom came to visit and we took Sam to the bookstore to play with the trains. My mom went to the cafe to get some coffees for us and returned with a few stratas as well. Ordinarily I’m not a fan of most egg dishes, especially when I’m pregnant, but the strata, made with spinach, artichoke hearts and roasted peppers was delicious. Sam liked it too.

Back to the leeks. I’ve also got half a dozen eggs from local, pastured chickens in the fridge. I’ve been using them for cooking and baking as needed, but I keep reading that high quality eggs should be showcased in dishes that are egg focused. Again, I don’t love eggs, but perhaps this recipe for a Leek and Swiss Chard Tart that uses frozen puff pastry could help change my mind. I’m a sucker for anything in puff pastry. If I finely chopped the handful of baby carrots I have remaining from the five pound bag I bought (please someone remind me that I need to stay far, far away from five pound bags of anything perishable) I could add some color and texture and save some more veggies from the compost bin.