Christmas Activities- Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

Hi everyone! Here is an article I recently wrote for the BoweryBabes newsletter and thought my non-NYC friends might have a little fun with it as well.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have fond memories of making chocolate dipped pretzel rods with my mother at Christmastime.  I was always so amazed at how gorgeous and impressive they looked. So when I was asked to share a festive cooking activity, I immediately thought of the rods.   They are easy! They are delicious! They are so incredibly beautiful!  It’s going to look like a real cooking magazine! I was very pleased with myself. 

This morning I tested out the recipe with my girls, age 2 and 4.  They donned their aprons and carefully dipped and sprinkled, all the while licking “Christmas sticks” (aka candy canes).  They had a wonderful time doing it, and the rods tasted really good. Perhaps the visual results were not identical to a real cooking magazine…..but we can pretend, right? Originally I was going to suggest making some extras for your friends, but after witnessing some of the unsanitary production conditions with my small workers (No! You can’t lick it, then dip it!), I think maybe it’s best to keep these all in the family. So here we go:

Ingredients:

½ cup of white chocolate melts, or white chocolate chips (or regular chocolate, although it isn’t as pretty)

10 pretzel rods

Green and red sprinkles

3 candy canes

And for the preparation:

A plastic bag and a rolling pin or other object for crushing the candy canes

A double boiler or a microwave

A plate that is bigger than the rods, but that has a bit of a lip so that the sprinkles and crushed candy canes don’t get everywhere.

A pyrex cup or small container to hold the melted chocolate. You want it to be deep and skinny, so that you don’t have to melt a ton of chocolate.

A mug filled with rice or one of those snack cups for babies with the flaps in the lid. This will be your pretzel cooling station.

A spoon for catching drips, and generally managing the melted chocolate

I find that to make this an activity a true success, its best to have the children help you with the preparations, and also to have everything ready to go before you melt the chocolate. The children can help you open the bag of pretzels, and select which pretzel rods to use. They can help you set up the work area with plates, and pour the sprinkles onto the plates. They can pour the rice into the container (which will be where you cool the pretzels).

Now the real fun begins. Put the candy canes in the plastic bag. Crush the candy canes with the rolling pin. (My 4 year old was drunk with power during this activity, while my 2 year old stared on in a mix of alarm and envy).  Put the crushed candy canes on a plate.

Melt the chocolate. If you are using a microwave, it takes about 2 minutes on high. I suggest that you only microwave it for about 30 seconds at a time and stir. Then do another 30 seconds, and stir, repeating until it is melted.  It turns out the warning on the formula can is right- microwaves do heat a bit unevenly and you can end up with burned parts.  If you are using a double boiler, fill the bottom with water and bring it to a simmer. Put the chocolate in the top part, and stir it while it melts.  Quickly bring the melted chocolate to your working surface. Have the children dip and twirl the rods into the chocolate.  CAUTION: You must watch the children very carefully at this stage, so they don’t lick or touch the hot chocolate!!!! Please be careful. Once some chocolate is adhered to the end of a rod, they can stick the rods into the sprinkles or crushed candy canes.  Place them in the cup filled with rice, making sure they don’t touch, and put in the fridge to harden. Voila!  You are the proud owner of several beautiful chocolate pretzel rods. Don’t eat too many at once.

Catastrophes in the kitchen

Today I thought I’d review some of my unsuccessful forays in the kitchen for your edification and entertainment.

1. One day, after reading about how my children were most certainly vitamin D and DHA deficient in an annoying parenting magazine at the doctor’s office, I decided I needed to make salmon for dinner that very night. I had to head off this nutritional crisis immediately!  I went to the grocery store with two screaming, feverish kids, bought the salmon, carefully prepared it, and felt triumphant. Then my three year-old cried after she tasted it. The one year old just spit it out. They did not seem affected by parenting magazine hysteria and still refuse to eat salmon.

2. After toiling away for hours, making the marinara sauce from scratch, boiling noodles, and whisking away at a complicated béchamel sauce, all the while with a 5 week old in a baby Bjorn strapped to my chest, I presented this glorious lasagna to my then-husband. He said, “It looks great!” with enthusiasm, got up out of the table, got a bottle of ketchup, and squirted it all over the lasagna. This time I was the one who cried.

3. One night I decided that butternut squash soup would be the solution to augmenting my children’s vegetable intake. Did I mention that I was in a sleep deprived haze when I made this decision? At any rate, I made the soup. I am still amazed I did not lose a finger “peeling” the squash (as an aside, it is much easier to roast a squash, THEN peel it, but I didn’t know that then).  I discovered that my immersion blender didn’t work at all, right at the very same moment that the Wonder Pets had wrapped up rescuing the baby bird. I found myself trying to transfer the hot soup to my food processor and simultaneously fending off curious toddlers to prevent them from getting burned, and burning my own hand in the process. Post food processor, the soup still didn’t have the perfect texture. By then it was 6.30pm, and my (then) husband was home from work. I told him that we were having soup for dinner, and in my sleep deprived haze I suddenly realized that vegetable soup was not nearly enough food for a 6 foot tall person who runs 50 miles a week. But he looked at me, saw I was not to be messed with, and ate the soup. The kids refused to touch it, because they are never afraid to mess with me.

Anyhow, I think the moral of these stories just could be

·        Don’t read parenting magazines

·        Don’t make anything too complicated

·        Go to bed early whenever you can.

Hope you have a happy cooking week!

XOXO Christina

Chicken Soup for Sanity

Why does no one mention the fact that Britney Spears had two toddlers at the time of her nervous breakdown? Doesn’t anyone think that perhaps having two very small children, going through a divorce and being a world famous pop star at the same time might just be a tad too much pressure for anyone? Maybe she shaved her head so at least she didn’t have to deal with washing her hair on top of everything else.  That’s my theory. And she probably didn’t know how to make chicken soup, either. I think I might have gone at least partially insane by now if it were not for chicken soup.

Chicken soup solves a lot of my problems. It doesn’t require a lot of hands-on time, it is nutritious, it can be used for lunch or dinner, you can freeze it, and incredibly, my kids seem to really like it.  Finally, it is a good way to use a leftover roast chicken. You can make chicken soup in the slow cooker if you want to leave it to simmer all day while you are out and about, or you can make it in a pot if you have less time.  There are a lot of themes and variations on chicken soup. I’m going to share my version. I will say part of the process is a little messy. I hope you can tolerate that because I think it's worth the result.

As usual, I will present alternative ways of approaching this classic. The first area you need to think about is the broth. I’m actually a bit of a purist about this but I will still totally respect you if you decide making the broth is just a bit too overachiever for your taste. That’s cool. You can always used canned broth (but I would recommend watering it down just a little) if you like.  Also, I don't like garlic or parsnips in my broth.  I normally LOVE garlic, but, in this case but I think it adds a funny taste, and parsnips make it too sweet. Just my opinion, of course, but this is my blog and I get to do whatever I want.

You will need:
a big soup pot
some sort of skimmer

2 carrots

2 pieces of celery

1.5 small yellow onions

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon of dried thyme or about 4 sprigs of fresh

8 sprigs of fresh flat parsley (sometimes called Italian parsley)

2-3 cups egg noodles

1 tablespoon salt (I really like sea salt)

1/2 tsp black peppercorns

Pinch of red pepper if you are making this for adults (it really perks it up, but probably best to skip with sensitive kids)

Here’s how to make the broth:

Take a chicken carcass leftover from Roast Chicken Night, or a whole raw chicken (or pieces of chicken, whatever you want, but the broth turns out way better if there are bones and skin involved) and put it in a big ole soup pot. 

Add water until it is pretty much covered. Or if you are nervous about what is the right amount of water, measure out 10 cups of water and add it. 

Add one unpeeled carrot, cut up into a few big pieces.

Add two pieces of celery, cut up into a few big pieces

Add one small yellow onion, quartered. Just throw it in there, skin and all

Add one bay leaf

Add 1 tablespoon of dried thyme or about 4 sprigs of fresh
4 sprigs of the parsley

1 tablespoon salt (I really like sea salt)

1/2 tsp black peppercorns

Pinch of red pepper if you are making this for adults

Bring to a boil. Then turn the burner down to low, cover it and simmer for 2 hours or so on low. You should be seeing one bubble come up at time, not much more than that. It’s going to smell amazing and drive you wild with desire. The longer it simmers, the richer the broth, so it is up to you. But you should aim for 2 hours at least. 


Once you have determined that your broth is ready, or more realistically when you have a few minutes, you are going to take out all the ingredients. Most cookbooks start talking about cheesecloth and pressing and stuff, but I just use this big skimmer thing, and take everything out. Put the chicken carcass on a plate. You can throw out the veggies/herbs/peppercorns. WHAT?!!! You may say. That is SO WASTEFUL. I guess it is, but sometimes it is exciting to be a rebel. It is possible to make the soup all at once by just peeling and chopping the veggies and simply fishing out the herbs and peppercorn, but they get a little mushy. Can you trust me on this one? Thanks. 


Now, let the chicken pieces/carcass/whatever cool off a little bit. 

Take this time to peel and dice a carrot, and dice stalk of celery, and half an onion (Some notes: This may be too much onion for you, so use your discretion. You can add more carrots, celery, a parsnip other veggies if you wish. Peas work well. I find broccoli changes the flavor of the soup though. ) Throw the pieces into the remaining broth.

Take the chicken carcass and cut off the remaining meat. Cut the meat into bite size pieces and put it back into the pot.  Put the veggies in the pot. 


Bring to a boil again. Add 2-3 cups egg noodles and boil according to the package directions (usually about 10 min.) I add 3 cups and it is very noodle dense. Taste to see if there is enough salt. I usually add more at this point. Chop up the remaining parsley, and add it at the end for a flash of green and flavor. 

Serve it up with some bread and salad. I hope you enjoy it!
Christina

Three For One (Blog entry) Special

Here is a guest blog from my sister Claire, super-hero mom of two boys, attorney extraordinaire, and one of the best cooks I know!

As a mom with two hungry munchkins, a really hungry husband, and a busy work schedule, I have found that the roasting pan is my best ally.  I truly believe that the ability to prep dinner earlier and throw it in the oven later makes dinner possible in my house.  I find that the last thing any of us can handle at the end of the day is a fussy recipe competing for my ever fragmented attention, even if it just takes 20 minutes. I am much saner when I just some toss some items into a baggie, preheat the oven, and topple dinner into a pan.  I feel like my roasting pan turns me into the Platonic Form of 1950s housewife without the apron, (it is currently in use as a superhero cape by my 3 year old) and without the Valium. Plus, as a bonus, these recipes only require one pan to clean up!

Chicken In a Pan- Sassy Version

(based on a dish I found on the Mad Hungry Blog called “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner”)

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup olive oil or if you only have ¼ of a cup due to a sorely misguided attempt at making ‘healthy’ muffins, that is fine too.
• some minced garlic; however much you like and are willing to risk oozing from every pore tomorrow at hot yoga
• 2 tablespoons paprika: I like Hungarian paprika for this.
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 tablespoons salt which seems like a lot but works
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• Boneless chicken breasts (however many come in a package at your grocery store) or a whole chicken cut up into pieces
• 1 big can of garbanzo beans drained
• 2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes

Directions

1. Mix the marinade: olive oil, garlic, paprika, cumin, red pepper, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Using a zip-lock bag combine marinade with the chicken, beans, and tomatoes, this requires some massaging to make sure that the chicken is evenly coated with the marinade. Let marinate a few hours, all day, or overnight.
2. Go to bed. Get up three times to prove to preschooler that dinosaurs do not in fact live in their closet.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove toddler from oven door. Forcibly.
4. When ready to cook, dump contents into large roasting pan. Roast 20 minutes for chicken breasts or 30 minutes for whole chicken pieces,  or until chicken is cooked through and browned, and tomatoes have burst and caramelized. Feel smug.
5. Wipe brow and remove toddler from top of refrigerator. Let dog out. Let dog in.

Chicken in a Pan- Spanish(y) version

Ingredients

• 2 tbsps. olive oil
• package of chicken thighs and package of drumsticks
• package of andouille chicken sausage, cut into pieces
• 3 sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
• 1 large spanish onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• grated zest 1 orange

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425.  Put the oil in the bottom of roasting pan. Rub the skin of the chicken in the oil, then turn skin-side up, salt and pepper the chicken. I think salt, pepper, and the roasting pan are the holy trinity of the kitchen.
2. Nestle the sweet potatoes among the chicken pieces. Tuck in the sausage pieces.  Sprinkle the onion and the oregano over, then grate the orange zest over everything. Don’t skip the orange zest, like passing the bar exam, it makes the whole adventure worthwhile.
3. Cook for 1 hour.

Chicken in Pan- London School of Economics version

(supply and demand- only supply one thing and don’t listen to demands)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large Spanish onion or 2 small onions or however many you have
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried sage
• Ground pepper
• 1 whole chicken cut into pieces
• 1 package of chicken and apple sausages
• 2 tablespoons chopped sage leaves
• whatever random root vegetables you have lying around, peel and chop them. I like carrots, parsnips, potatoes, butternut squash in this dish. Be sure to feel virtuous because you not only cooked dinner but it also includes vegetables.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425.
2. Arrange the chicken pieces in a roasting pan, skin-side up, salt and pepper them.  
3. Tuck the sausages around the chicken pieces. Sprinkle the fresh sage leaves over the chicken and sausages and then put the roasting pan into the oven to cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn the sausages over halfway through to colour them evenly.
4. Arrange the chicken and sausages on a large platter. Sigh contentedly. You managed to cook dinner 3 times this week, month, year! Hooray!

Marinated Flank Steak

You may think it's odd that I am introducing a grilling recipe as we move into the cold weather. This is because I myself do not have a grill. It really doesn't matter to me how cold it is outside since I am stuck with my ventilation-free broiler. This does not stop me from using it though, as I've discussed previously. It's just too nice to have a main course that is ready in about 12 minutes to resist.  Now here is one of my easy pleasers. My girls call it "yummy meat" and this in itself is a freaking miracle. Adults love it as well. You can serve it with just about anything - potatoes, warm bread, salad or steamed vegetables. It is amazing on the grill but darn tasty in the broiler.  I adapted this from Mark Bittman.

Makes 4-8 servings depending on the size of the steak and the size of the diners

You will need:
4 tablespoons lime juice
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon (or more if you love it) minced garlic
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (see my tip from the post Ingredients sold in large quantities, but used in ... )
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
1 flank steak, somewhere between 2 and 2.5 lbs

• Put the lime juice, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and sugar into a glass or ceramic container big enough to hold your steak.  Stir it a bit to mix everything above together.
• Put a little salt and pepper on the raw steak.
• Put the steak in the marinade, and spoon some over the top so you get the whole steak covered with marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge to marinate. You need to marinate it for at least 30 minutes- but it's best to leave it all day, which works out very well if you do it in the morning. 
• Grill or broil the steak on high about 4 inches from the flame. You can do 3-6 minutes on each side, depending on how rare you like it. 6 minutes usually results in well done meat. 
• Let it rest for a few minutes. This prevents all the juices from flowing out. 
• Slice it across the grain. 

And that's it! Hope you like it.
XOXO Christina

How do I cook dinner for the kids when I am not there? It's tricky, I tell you...

Recently someone asked me how I manage to cook for my kids since they eat dinner at 5pm and I don’t get home from work until 5.45pm. Well actually no one asked me this, but I wish someone would because I am very proud of this week’s results. I am so lucky in that I have a great babysitter who is happy to put things in the oven for me.  In theory, I leave something nice and healthy that she can just heat up.  Some days, when the theoretical has become fantasy and I leave nothing for her, she will make them something simple, like scrambled eggs or brown rice and edamame and doesn’t even complain about it. (No, you cannot have her phone number.)  

But as I mentioned, this week was a particularly good week, which inspired me to share it with you. I prepped a bunch of veggies on Sunday, like they say to do in all the magazines. Don't believe me? Fine. It's true. I actually bought them all cut up already. I DID broil an extra marinated flank steak on Sunday night. We reheated it on Monday night and for sides, we just steamed up some veggies and baked one of those par-baked frozen French breads. It was great. On Tuesday I left a marinated pork loin which roasts in about thirty minutes, and served it with some rice and steamed veggies. Yesterday morning while I was making my daughter’s lunch, I prepped a roast chicken and threw in some potatoes and carrots. The babysitter put it in the oven for me, and we had that with some vegetable soup I bought from a gourmet shop.  In the past, I’ve done soups and stews in the slow cooker which also works. I’ve got to run, but I will provide the marinated flank steak recipe soon as it’s one of my top hits as a cook.

And I have to admit that one of my main motivations for this post was to find out what everyone else does on busy weekdays. Tell me!
Ciao! Christina

Classic sausage lasagna with only some cheating

Sorry for the long break. I was busy reading Game of Thrones, which is totally exasperating me, because it is roughly 1,000,000 pages long, I really need to know what happens with all 500,000 characters, I don't seem to be making a dent in it and yet I cannot put it down. But I digress.
Before the move I promised to give you a classic lasagna recipe. It still involves a little cheating. Sorry. If you want a recipe for great marinara you can look at Giada DeLaurentiis' recipe, which is not complicated and very tasty. If you want a recipe using fresh tomatoes, you are on the wrong site and I wish you well with your copious free time.  I use jarred for the most part. Yes, jarred is a little too salty sometimes, but life isn't perfect and the lasagna still tastes great.  The other cheating aspect is that I use so much sauce and cover the pan for a while in the oven, so you don't need to pre-boil the noodles.

You'll need:
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 lb of Italian sweet sausage, casing removed (I LOVE hot in this recipe, but for kids I recommend sweet.)
5 cups marinara sauce (This is about 1 cup more than an average jar. Sorry.)
1 15 oz container ricotta (You can use either part-skim or full fat. I don't know about fat free.)
10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed out
1 egg
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
9 uncooked lasagna noodles
3 cups pre-shredded mozzarella or provolone, or a mix (again, part skim mozzarella works fine)
1 cup parmesan cheese

Heat the olive oil in a very large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and mash up with a fork to break up the meat, sautéing it until browning, which takes about 7 minutes.  (This can be tricky. Sometimes I brown it a bit and then chop it up fine on a cutting board and then put it back in the pan.) Add the sauce, and simmer a few minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a small bowl, break the egg and whisk it a bit (kids love to do this). Then add the ricotta, spinach, basil and oregano, and 1/2 cup parmesan in the egg and mix well. Now you are going to make 3 levels of lasagna. Layer 1: Take the sauce and put 1 cup over the bottom of a 13x9 glass baking dish. Make a single layer of lasagna noodles over the sauce (should be 3 noodles).
Layer 2: Take another cup of sauce, and spoon it over the noodles. Make sure they are covered with sauce. Now spread 1 cup of the ricotta mixture, and sprinkle one cup mozzarella and about 1/4 cup parmesan over the top. (This will be messy. It's okay if the sauce and cheese gets mixed up a little bit.
Layer 3: Repeat Layer 2.
Top of the lasagna: For the top,  first add one cup of the sauce over the noodles. I always seem to have a little ricotta left, so I just dollop the remaining ricotta on top. It looks like little ricotta islands.  and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and parmesan. Use remaining sauce to cover all remaining exposed noodles. Cover the whole dish with foil, and put into the hot oven. Bake for about 50 minutes, then take cover off and bake for about 20 more.
You can make this a day before and reheat in a 350 if you cover with foil,but it takes about 40 minutes. You can also just microwave it.
And now as I finish up this post, it is suddenly snowing. WHAT? It's October 29!!!
Enjoy your hot lasagna..... Christina
P.S. If this was all just a little too complicated for you, check out my post called "Lasagna for Cheaters"

Blog move

Thanks for coming to my new home. I selected a new name that I felt better matched the content of the blog. I'm so happy you came to visit!
Christina

Lasagna for Cheaters

It's 8am on a Sunday morning, and your 4 year old is bored, because she's been up since 5.55am. Naturally, the 2 year old is still asleep, because that will guarantee that she will not nap, and that you will be on duty for a full 15 hour day, as contractually required by the Children's Union. On such a day, I decided that maybe we should prep dinner and stick it in the fridge to just pop in the oven later. To my delight, my four year old was able to actually make this very uncomplicated recipe herself, and then ate it for dinner with enthusiasm, even though it had red sauce. (She only eats plain pasta). I can prove this with the photos of her little hands demonstrating the "techniques". VICTORY! VICTORY! VICTORY!

This is adapted from a Real Simple recipe.

Ingredients:

24 fresh extra large cheese and spinach ravioli (my local store makes delicious ones- if yours doesn't, just use a 30 oz bag of frozen, and you don't even have to thaw it)
1 26 oz jar of marinara sauce- or knock yourself out and make some
1 8 oz bag shredded mozzarella cheese
10 oz bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed and the water squeezed out (this is messy. You can skip but then it's sort of blah).
1/2 cup grated parmesan
a few leaves of fresh basil, chopped (if you have some)

Variations - You can use a meat sauce, or meat ravioli, or spinach ravioli. But not pumpkin ravioli.

Directions
Pre-heat oven at 350° F. Mix the fresh basil into the jarred sauce.Spray a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Add about 1/3 the sauce to the bottom of the pan. Arrange half of the ravioli over the sauce and sprinkle the spinach over them. Sprinkle 4 oz mozzarella and 1/4 cup parmesan on top. Add another layer of ravioli and the remaining sauce and cheese. Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes. Uncover and bake 5 to 10 minutes more or until bubbly.


(note about the photos- we were making a half recipe. And we didn't put the sauce in the bottom the time I took the photos. That was a refinement developed later. Also, the fresh parsley is merely there for looks. We didn't use it.)

Hooray! 

Sorry-I'm behind

So this week I had a 2 distraught preschoolers with a horrible flu that included fever for 3 days, alarming rasping breathing, complete refusal to eat, and general, pathetic misery. The worst part was the insistence on keeping me up ALL NIGHT (how did I cope with newborns? Can't remember, must have been awful), with the final blow being the 4 year old who at midnight Thursday (her third night of fever), woke up and nonsensically refused to sleep anywhere but the couch. Since I was afraid she would fall out, I had to sleep on the ground next to her. Luckily she woke up every 30 minutes crying, so I didn't get a backache. While my other daughter slept in my bed, without me in it.  Of course I have a fairly new full time job with no vacation or sick days earned yet and was dodging in and out of work to the pediatrician's office, hoping no one noticed.  And compulsively calling my heroic nanny, who had her hands full without me pestering her all day. All the while their daddy is in the hospital recovering from back surgery, and wondering when we are going to come visit. Luckily my taxes had to be filed, since everyone needs a leisure time activity involving the federal government.
Therefore, I have not been blogging, and tonight I will be going to bed at an unreasonably early hour. I'll be back later, once I can string a few thoughts together, with the final apple recipe. I also have an idea for a post about lasagna, both a super easy cheating recipe, and a classic can't be beat recipe that takes a little longer.  Enjoy your Saturday night!

More apple delights- applesauce

This is a very quick entry. My sister Claire swears on the Holy Bible and her 1 year old's curls that the Ina Garten applesauce recipe cannot be topped. She claims that this is nothing like the jarred stuff. Plus, if you have a baby you can feed it to them. Not to mention you really should get to know Ina. Her recipes are failproof. So I'm just going to post a link.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/homemade-applesauce-recipe/index.html
XOXO Christina

So you went apple picking, did you?

And now you have 25 lbs of apples. Granted, they are the most delicious apples available, being that you and your offspring have just ripped them off the branch yesterday and drove them straight home. (The apples that made it out of the orchard, that is.) So here’s the deal. The easiest thing to do with apples is to just bake them and serve with (vanilla Ben and Jerry’s) ice cream and you will have a simple and surprisingly decadent dessert. So that’s the one I’m going to talk about first, because it is Monday and Mondays are not the appropriate day to tackle complicated things. Over the next few days (or weeks, depending on how disorganized I am), I am going to get progressively more ambitious on you and reveal various other apple treats. This will cumulate in my much lusted after apple pie recipe. So plan ahead, because you need to put some time aside to make that pie. I assure you that you will not regret it. But let’s charge ahead and do the baked apples as a warm-up.

Baked Apples

(A few tedious notes. Skip if you are not of an academic bent.

• Many people like to have a big long discussion about which sorts of apples is best for this. I say, use whatever variety you like. I don’t like McIntosh apples (I find them mealy). So I don’t use them. Many people suggest Granny Smith, but I think that any variety will probably be okay. But if you are nervous, Martha Stewart has written tomes on the subjects and Mark Bittman also likes to talk about this.
• Some people like to bake in a water bath but I don’t think this is necessary, and makes them mushy, actually.)

4 firm apples

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

¼ cup raisins, or raisins and walnuts (optional, but I think they add a lot)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Scoop out the core from top of the apple, but don’t core it all the way through. You will be making a sort of basin. Stuff each apple with 1 teaspoon raisins or raisin/nuts, and 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 1 tablespoon butter. Place in a shallow baking dish (they can leak a bit) and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 15 minutes. You will know they are done when the sugar begins to caramelize and apples are tender. Serve with a scoop of rich vanilla ice cream. If you have little kids, they will delight in scooping it out of the skin, but might need a little help.

Another note: I am currently researching a variation on this. By the end of the 25 lb bag I might have it  right and if so, I’ll let you know.

Guest post- Kid's Cuisine. I really mean cuisine.

Here's a contribution by my friend Jayn, blogger (Luckier, see link below), owner of the twitter feed @marisandvera, former co-worker whose hilarious emails made diet coke come out of my nose more than once and mother of two. Jayn claims that your children will eat high brow food if you follow her instructions. Thanks Jayn!!!
_______________________________________________________________________________________

This is the story of how my go-to kids’ dinner is a French dish that many cooks better than me are afraid to undertake.

I used to love to cook.  I used to spend late afternoon work meetings dreaming about what I would make for dinner and jotting down ingredient lists (shhh…. don’t tell, ok?). On my way home from work I would stop at the supermarket and then spend the rest of the evening preparing and consuming my gourmet meal.

And then I had kids.  While the boring late afternoon meetings continued (alas), I no longer had the time to stop on my way home or to cook anything more than pasta. And those rare times that I did have the time, and the inclination, my older daughter would not even deign to taste my creations.  My younger daughter was always game, but she would often bestow the ultimate backhanded compliment, “Mmmm, Mama, it’s just too good!” Pass the pasta, please.

Enter the vegetable soufflé.  Somewhere along the line I happened upon a recipe and somehow got it in my head that my kids might like it and – voila! – we have the perfect food, one that delivers protein and vegetables in a tasty, and adult, package.

Bechamel

Just a white sauce.  Don’t be scared.  Do stir frequently and keep an eye on it.  If the butter browns, start again.

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1/3 cup milk

2/3 cup broth (I use a vegetable broth)

Salt and pepper

In a small saucepan melt the butter.  Whisk in the flour until the mixture does not taste like flour.  Add the liquids and stir until the mixture thickens.  Season to taste.  Set aside and let it cool somewhat.

Soufflé

4 eggs, separated

1 cup of vegetables cut up in small pieces (drained if very liquidy)

¼ cup grated cheese (we don’t do this, as per my older daughter’s demands)

Beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside.  Beat the egg yolks with a fork and combine with the cheese.  Mix in the béchamel mixture.  Add vegetables and  stir until thoroughly mixed.  Fold in the egg whites gently.  Pour into a greased and floured soufflé pan (What?! You don’t have one? You can use a loaf pan.  And even bake in a toaster oven.  Not that I did that when my oven was broken.  For a year.) Bake at 350 F  for about 45 minutes, or until the soufflé  has risen and the top is golden.

Important note: While the soufflé  bakes, you cannot make any loud noises.  This is the secret benefit of making a soufflé – your kids must be quiet for 45 minutes! That’s like a day and a half in single people years.  Hmmm, why did I not claim that pasta needs the same treatment?!  Dammit - too late.

Are you brave? Cooking WITH little kids

Kids are more likely to eat food that they made themselves. We all know that, but the fact of the matter is that toddlers and preschoolers are unpredictable, still developing their manual dexterity, occasionally volatile and enjoy making unnecessary messes on purpose. Add to that the witching hour. You know, the demons that possess children around 5pm?  It's hard enough to watch little children, but try cooking dinner with children possessed by the afternoon demons, and it's all just a bit overwhelming. I actually may have made a call one very bad evening to the poison control hotline, since someone may or may not have drunk some dishwashing detergent. The poison staff told me that their call volumes skyrocket around dinnertime. Now, normally my solution to this problem would be to mesmerize them with the magic of TV, but the other night I had a very successful experiment with making pizza. I ordered the frozen pizza dough from Fresh Direct (sadly only available to New Yorkers, but I believe you can also gets some at Whole Foods, or make some if you are really ambitious). We just rolled it out together, spread jarred sauce on it, and sprinkled cheese. We even put VEGETABLES on it. It only took 15 minutes to cook, and they ate every bite. It was fun, very quick, had almost no cleanup, and was amazingly delicious. AND we skipped TV that night, and they ate their veggies. A modern miracle, no?

Fish Kids Love (with a fish tip that takes the stink out)

Everyone knows that you should be eating lots of fish. Three big issues with this for moms- 

1) Cooking fish can lead to a smelly cleanup, a problem that is exacerbated by apartment living.

2) A lot of kids are fish-adverse.

3) Why spend a lot time cooking something smelly that the kids won't eat? 

My friend Dana mentioned that her kids actually love a super easy fish recipe that our mutual friend Abby introduced her too. How fabulous is that? Easy fish that the kids love. If only it were easy to cleanup! Luckily I have the missing link to cooking fish - reduced stink. Just line your pan with tin foil, and THROW IT OUT after you cook the fish. Hooray! What’s gonna work? Teamwork!

On another note, The Pioneer Woman (www.thepioneerwoman.com) introduced me to seasoned salts, something I had never dabbled in. She’s a big fan of Lawry’s salt and often includes it in her recipes. I found I liked using it as well. The recipe leverages another brand of seasoned salt. Give it a try!

For 4 servings, you will need: 

4 tilapia fillets, about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds

Olive oil

Jane’s crazy mixed up salt

Heat oven to 400°. Line a shallow baking dish or cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange the fillets so they aren’t touching on the sheet. Brush them with olive oil, and shake the salt mixture all over it. Bake the fish fillets for 15 to 18 minutes or until cooked through. The time depends on thickness of the fillets. Fish will flake easily with a fork when done. That's it. Seriously. 

Enjoy. 

XOXO Christina