What's Cooking with Jean
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Pantry Predicament


I think there are two responses to reading a new recipe.
you scan a recipe.
you notice it has more than 4 ingredients.
you:

#1 go buy every ingredient and end up using it once (maybe twice) and then you have 25 different vinegars, 7 different mustards in your fridge, and 9 different opened boxes of rice and flour products.
OR
#2 you throw your hands in the air and say "this is why I will continue to make my 6 favorite dishes until I die!"

If money grew on trees and I had endless pantry space, I would always be a #1. But I think we should find a balance. I have contemplated studying this further and contracting myself out to houses across the nation as a "pantry stocker expert." Until then, I'll offer from our Food Section this morning, a feature article about what to do with "the biggest pantry -clogging culprits."
In the article was a GREAT resource that I wanted to pass along about spices:

How do you know how old they are? Your nose can often be your guide, but some spice companies are also stepping in to help you analyze and decide. At www.spicecheckchallenge.com, McCormick lets you enter a code from old spice jars that can help you decipher their use-by date. (It also offers other clues: Unless it's black pepper, any McCormick spice in a tin jar or with "Baltimore, MD" on the label is at least 15 years old.) At www.spiceislands.com, Spice Islands lets you register any of that company's products and then get recipe ideas plus an email reminder when that spice is set to expire.

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Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Strawberry and Fresh Mozerrella Salad


No "recipe" but a salad suggestion...
lettuce + strawberries + fresh mozzarella with balsamic

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dried mangoes meet black beans


Having recently discovered the joy of dried mangoes has been a delightful addition to my life.

my old stand-by when unexpected friends stop by has been a simple dip since I usually have the ingredients on hand...and I tossed in a handful of dried mangoes this weekend and viola! Here you have it.

1 can black beans
1 can corn (drained)
1 can diced tomatoes (Rotel, if I have it) or fresh tomatoes, diced
1 tsp cumin
ground red pepper (a few shakes to a 1/2 tsp...it's up to your taste)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
a quick pour of Italian dressing
(I add fresh cilantro when I have it)
and toss in dried mangoes

serve with chips.

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Wednesday, April 09, 2008 WEDNESDAYS!


yes, it's Wednesday. I've never embraced the term "Hump Day" not to mention, I've never embraced living for the weekend. And just in case you didn't know, Wednesdays are quite a big day in the world of food. why you ask?

1) weekly specials...for those of you on a budget, and really who shouldn't be on a budget?...Check out the weekly specials at your favorite grocery stores on Wednesday mornings. (Either in your newspaper inserts or online.) Almost every store runs their sales Wednesday - Tuesday evening. Have you ever been grocery shopping on Tuesday night and wondered why pickings are slim? I like to check various stores' prices on Wednesday morning for meat and produce and get some ideas for what fun meals are in store. It's better than wandering around the stores letting random cravings guide your buggy.

2) the Food section! The food section is printed on Wednesdays of almost every major newspaper that I know. Recipes, restaurant reviews, food happenings in your area, the list goes on! That also means that the NY Times food section's online clips (like The Minimalist) gets posted on Wednesday mornings.

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Saturday, April 05, 2008 Grown up Mac and Cheese

Dinner with our friends, Jesse and Kristen, this week provided a delicious meal thanks to Kristen. She served this with a mixed salad and asparagus w/ baby tomatoes.
Here's a great recipe for all those men who love mac and cheese...

4 ounces thick-sliced bacon
Vegetable oil
Kosher salt
2 cups elbow macaroni or cavatappi
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
3 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated
2 ounces blue cheese, such as Roquefort, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch nutmeg
2 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil leaves

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place a baking rack on a sheet pan and arrange the bacon in 1 layer on the baking rack. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the bacon is crisp. Remove the pan carefully from the oven - there will be hot grease in the pan! Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels and crumble when it is cool enough to handle.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. Melt the butter in a medium pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or 2 more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, blue cheese, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and crumbled bacon and stir well. Pour into 2 individual size gratin dishes.

Place the bread slices in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until you have coarse crumbs. Add the basil and pulse to combine. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the top of the pasta. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

from Barefoot Contessa




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Friday, April 04, 2008 Why nothing has been cooking with Jean

My new inferiority complex has kept me from posting. Sure, I’ve been busy and out of the country for a couple of weeks, but honestly I have become slightly obsessed with everything I do not know about sausages in their casings, brining meat, wine, truffles and Gruyere. This is a force trying to wreak havoc on what I enjoy and love. No doubt about it.

As mentioned in the last post, books on food haven’t help. They’ve hindered. Remember when you walked into college orientation as a freshman? Suddenly you were a small fish in a very big sea. Maybe you were able to avoid that feeling by going to a college the size of your high school, but then came the job market. Yes, you know that feeling. Well, I’ve been getting to know food snobs and those self-acclaimed “experts” in books, France, blogs and my local market. I could blame these influences on creating an inferiority complex, but I should confess to you that I feel inadequate now to type anything from my youthful, inexperienced, and middle class fingers.

Enter my mother and Granny. Thankfully, they didn’t let this larger world hinder them from enjoying food, teaching me how to pick strawberries, cut shortening into a bowl of flour, fry okra, cut corn delicately off the cob, peel a cantaloupe, and delight in putting a meal on the table. You should see the sheer delight plastered on my mom’s face as she puts her fork in the mound of fresh field peas topped with her homemade chow-chow or the sight of her petite frame wearing grubby clothes carefully picking baskets of green beans.

So, I must press on. In most areas of my life, I tend to focus on what I do not want to be. Materialistic, complacent, unaware of the larger world’s needs, inhospitable, predictable, unfaithful…the list goes on and on. But my April’s Resolution is to think about what I know I was made to be. More like my own mother who fights against these fears by loving and serving others and embracing the simple joys of this life.

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