Recipes for a Ski Weekend and Bootstraps’ Best Chef Competition!

I have a lot of friends who love to ski, and although I tried it for a number of years while my kids were growing up, I’m not one of them… I don’t really like doing things that I’m really bad at. For me, the eating part is really the best part of a ski weekend. Here are some quotes I found on the subject of skiing ( I tried to cover all perspectives) …..

I do not participate in any sport with ambulances at the bottom of the hill.~Erma Bombeck

Skiing combines outdoor fun with knocking down trees with your face.  ~Dave Barry

Turn right, turn left, repeat as necessary.  ~Author Unknown

Snowboarding is an activity that is very popular with people who do not feel that regular skiing is lethal enough…. I now realize that the small hills you see on ski slopes are formed around the bodies of forty-seven-year-olds who tried to learn snowboarding.  ~Dave Barry

The sun is bright and the powder bitchin’.  ~Author Unknown

I love skiing. – Lauren Swayze

Anyway, if you are going skiing or just want something warm to eat,  here are two of Elizabeth’s ideas for portable and delicious winter fare.

Vegetarian Lasagna

Serves 8

10 lasagna noodles                                         1 1/2 t dried oregano

1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce                                    1 c. grated carrots

2 pkg. frozen chopped spinach                            2 c. cream style cottage cheese

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste                                      1/2 c. sliced mushrooms

1/2 c. chopped onion                                             1 lb. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

1/2 c. chopped black olives                                    1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1 T. olive oil

Preheat oven to 375°
Lightly oil a 13x9x2 – inch pan. One hour before preparing lasagna, thaw frozen spinach, drain. Place noodles in a pot of boiling, salted water and cook al dente for approx. 8 min. Drain. You may also use uncooked noodles if you’re going to cook this meal later. Meanwhile, heat olive oil and saute onion until soft.  Add carrots and mushrooms; cook until crisp-tender.

Stir in tomato sauce, paste, olives and oregano. Layer one-half of noodles, cottage cheese, spinach, sauce mixture and 1/3 of the Monterey Jack cheese. Repeat, placing remaining 1/3 of Monterey Jack on top along with parmesan cheese.
Bake approx. 30 -45 minutes. I cover with foil (spray oil on underside of foil) for the first 20 minutes; remove foil the last 20+ minutes. It should be done when it is bubbling on the sides. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes: I usually make my own tomato sauce and often add a handful of chopped walnuts to the tomato sauce mixture. Also, I serve extra heated tomato sauce for those who prefer more sauce. I often prepared this in the morning (anything to procrastinate going out in the cold) and baked it after skiing.  It can also be prepared the day before.

Escarole and Orzo Soup with Turkey-Parmesan Meatballs

4+ main course servings

1 large egg                                                                           ¾ t  kosher salt
2 T water                                                                             ¼ t black pepper
¼ C plain dried breadcrumbs (I use Progresso)        8 C (or more) low-salt chicken broth
12 oz lean ground turkey                                                  2 C chopped peeled carrots
¼ C freshly grated Parmesan cheese                             1 C orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
2 T chopped fresh Italian parsley                                   4 C coarsely chopped escarole (1 head)
2 garlic cloves, minced

Whisk egg and 2 T water in a medium bowl to blend. Mix in breadcrumbs; let stand 5 minutes. Add turkey, Parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper; gently stir to blend. Using wet hands, shape turkey mixture into 1 ¼ -inch diameter meatballs.  Place on baking sheet; cover and chill 30 minutes.
Bring 8 cups chicken broth to boil in large pot. Add carrots and orzo; reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered 8 minutes. Add turkey meatballs and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in chopped escarole and simmer until turkey meatballs, orzo* and escarole are tender, about 5 minutes longer. Season soup to taste with s/p. (Can be made 2 hours or so ahead. Rewarm over medium heat, thinning with more broth, if desired).

Notes: This is a great soup to take on a ski weekend and is easily doubled! To make the preparation easy, I chop carrots, parsley, escarole ahead of time and make the meatballs in advance. I freeze the meatballs and put them in containers.  When it’s time to make the soup, I just drop them into the chicken broth as described above. *Also, unless a soup with noodles/orzo/rice is going to be eaten within an hour or so, I recommend adding them to each serving one at a time rather than incorporating them into the pot of soup. Noodles, orzo and rice expand while sitting in broth and lose their al dente bite!  Lastly, I usually serve this as a meal with a salad and crusty bread and/or corn bread.

__________________________________________

Many thanks to Elizabeth for sharing her recipes with all of us. We are having a lot of fun cooking together and my family is enjoying some delicious meals!

It’s a gorgeous day in New England- perfect for snow shoeing or cross-country skiing! Hope you get a chance to enjoy it before the rainy weather comes.

Just a reminder that Beverly Bootstraps’ Best Chef Competition is coming up on February 7th! This is a really fun event for a great cause.

In the vein of the Iron Chef Television series, this event will feature four local chefs battling it out for the esteemed title of Bootstraps’ Best Chef. What makes this competition unique is that the chefs must use 75 percent of their ingredients from the Bootstraps food pantry. The chefs will prepare the food live at the event, with the cameras rolling and the winner named on the spot. Prior to the chef competition, six local bartenders will test their skills in the cocktail realm. They will use their creativity to design a new cocktail and the judges will crown the winner.   Judges for the evening will include Andre Robert of Maison Robert, Bridget Lancaster of America’s Test Kitchen/Cook’s Illustrated, as well as the winning chef from 2010; Brenden Crocker of Brenden Crocker’s Wild Horse Cafe.

Last year’s competition was a huge success for Beverly Bootstraps Community Services,  raising more than $28,000 that directly benefited families in need. Fundraisers like this one allow Bootstraps to stock the shelves of the food pantry, provide heating and rental assistance to families in transition, and offer education and counseling to adults and teens seeking greater self-sufficiency.

The event will be held at Bass River Tennis Club with TV Diner’s Billy Costa serving as the Master of Ceremonies. Entertainment will be provided and heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served by an array of local restaurants and caterers. Cash bar.

Let me know if you would like a ticket. General admission is $40 to $6o. “Food Critic” tickets are $100 each and there is an opportunity to sit at the judges table for $300. Hope you can join us!

Bon Appetit!

Robin

Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Torte

Finally, the Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Toret! Didn’t mean to leave you hanging!

Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Torte

Serves  8 – 10

The crust:

1 package of graham crackers
¾ c almonds
3 T granulated sugar
6 T unsalted butter, melted

The filling:

1 lb semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c light cream
2 c whipping cream, whipped into soft peaks
2 c fresh or frozen raspberries

Place graham crackers, almonds and sugar in bowl of food processor and process until crackers and almonds are finely ground.  With machine running pour in melted butter and mix well. Press into a 9-11 inch tart pan with removable bottom.  Bake in a 300˚F oven for 10-15 minutes, or until golden and set.  Cool completely.

Place chocolate in large bowl. Place light cream in a medium saucepan and bring to boil. Pour hot cream over chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Spread one-third of chocolate mixture into bottom of cooled crust. Chill. Let remaining chocolate cool to room temperature and fold it into whipped cream. When chocolate in the crust has set,  sprinkle it with the raspberries (I prefer using fresh because frozen often create too much juice) and top this with the chocolate mousse.  Allow tart to set in refrigerator a few hours before serving. Garnish with finely chopped chocolate and place extra raspberries around edge of tart.

Special Notes:

This is an easy, delicious and pretty dessert that can easily be made a day ahead of time!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Bon Appetit,

Robin, Lauren and Elizabeth

Sweet and Spicy Nuts!

Here’s the last installment of this weeks Cookin’ it up with Elizabeth! These nuts are incredible and simple to make! Here’s Elizabeth’s recipe:

Sweet and Spicy Nuts

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

6 T (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 c golden brown sugar
1/4 c water
1 T chili powder
1 1/2 t salt
1 t ground cumin
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t black pepper
1/4 t cayenne pepper
2 c walnut halves
2 c pecan halves
2 c whole almonds

Preheat oven to 300˚F. Spray large, rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add next 8 ingredients; stir until sugar dissolves, about 1 minute.  Slowly add nuts and stir until butter mixture thoroughly coats nuts thickly, about 2-3 minutes. There should be very little of the mixture left in the pan.

Spread nut mixture in single layer on prepared sheet. Bake until nuts are glazed and deep brown, stirring often, about 25 minutes.  I stir and separate the nuts with a wooden spoon every 10 or so minutes 2 or 3 times. Remove from oven and cool nuts completely on sheet, stirring occasionally. Once cooled, I use a metal spatula to lift them from the pan into a container. Makes approximately 6 cups.

Special Notes:

I have about 4 or 5 different spicy nut recipes and this recipe is by far my favorite! These nuts can be made 1 week ahead and should be stored at room temperature in an airtight container. Friends and family love receiving a bag full of these nuts around the holidays

___________________________________________

Hope you enjoy these recipes; they are all great to share with friends and family. Thanks so much Elizabeth for sharing them with all of us.

Next week, Elizabeth is planning on doing a holiday meal (time permitting – no pressure Elizabeth!), so stay tuned!

Happy Holidays!

Bon Appetit

Robin

Cookin’ it up with Elizabeth: Popovers, Red and Green Christmas Salad, and Sweet and Spicy Nuts!

Popovers, Red and Green Christmas Salad (with pomegranate seeds)  and Sweet and Spicy Nuts! Elizabeth showed me how to make all three of these simple and excruciatingly delicious treats. You can do them all together or add one to a meal you are making. I am going to do them as three posts over the next couple of days.

First, the popovers. Elizabeth gave me this recipe a whole bunch of years ago and I have been making them every year with tenderloin for Christmas dinner. They are so easy and so great; a real crowd-pleaser. Have you ever felt the sensation of walking through a Giant Redwood forest? That’s the feeling you get when you pull these popovers out of the oven!

Here’s Elizabeth’s recipe….

Giant Popovers

6 eggs                    2 c sifted all-purpose flour
2 c milk*                    1 t salt
6 T melted butter

Preheat oven to 375˚F. Butter well 8 4-6 oz custard cups (I use 4 oz pyrex cups).  Arrange the custard cups on a rimmed cookie sheet.

With a mixer at low-speed, beat eggs slightly; add milk and melted butter; beat until blended, then gradually beat in flour and salt. Pour batter into custard cups to within ¼ inch of top.

Bake popovers 45 min; (they will have risen quite a bit and will be golden) then remove from oven. Quickly cut slit in side of each to let out steam; then return them to the oven for 10 minutes or until their tops are firm, and crisp. Remove from oven and quickly lift popovers out of custard cups and place on a wire rack. A small metal spatula or butter knife usually aids in lifting popover out of cup.

Serve hot and immediately!

Special note:  The batter can be made in advance, poured into the cups, covered and placed in the refrigerator until one hour before the desired time to bake popovers. This makes serving popovers with a meal rather seamless!

 

Note from Robin: If I can make these, anyone can! Enjoy! I feel so lucky that Elizabeth is sharing her recipes with all of us. Thank you Elizabeth!  I’ll be back with the Red and Green Christmas Salad and fabulous Sweet and Spicy Nuts!

Hope your holiday season is going well.

Bon Appetit!

Robin and Elizabeth

Cookin’ it up with Elizabeth- Sweet Potatoes and Yams!

Scalloped Yams with Chestnuts and Lime

10 Servings

2 ¾ to 3 lbs long slender yams (about 5 or 6)

2/3 c light brown sugar

6 T (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

1/3 c fresh lime juice

1/4 t salt

3 T dark rum

1/2 c chestnuts in heavy syrup (about 8), drained and halved (or quartered, depending on size)

2 T freshly grated lime peel

Combine yams in large saucepan with just enough water to cover. Partially cover pan, place over medium-high heat and cook until yams are barely tender when pierced with knife, about 20-25 minutes. Drain well; let cool. Trim ends at point where yams are 1½ inches in diameter. Peel yams. Cut crosswise into ½-inch slices.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Generously butter shallow 9×13-inch baking or gratin dish. Arrange yams in dish in rows, overlapping slightly. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Bring to room temperature before using.)

Combine sugar, butter, lime juice and salt in medium saucepan over low heat and stir until butter is melted. Increase heat to medium and bring to simmer. Let simmer 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Arrange chestnuts evenly over yams. Pour butter mixture over top. Bake 15 minutes, basting twice. Sprinkle lime peel over top and continue baking until yams are tender, about 10 minutes.

Preheat broiler. Broil until chestnuts are toasted and tops of yams are browned, 1 to 2  minutes. Serve hot.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Bananas with Pecan Streusel

12 Servings

10 medium-size tan-skinned sweet potatoes (approx 6 lbs), scrubbed

4 bananas, unpeeled

1/2 c butter, room temperature

1/3 c honey

1 1/2 c pecan pieces

3/4 c packed brown sugar

1/2 c all purpose flour

1/2 c butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 400°F. Pierce sweet potatoes with fork. Place on rimmed baking sheet or in roasting pan and bake until almost soft, about 40 minutes. Add bananas to roasting pan next to sweet potatoes and bake until banana skins brown, about 10 minutes. Let sweet potatoes and bananas stand at room temperature until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes (maintain oven temperature). Cut sweet potatoes in half. Scoop flesh from sweet potatoes into large bowl. Peel bananas; add to bowl. Add ½ c butter and honey; beat with wooden spoon until blended and fluffy. Season to taste with salt. Transfer to 8-10 cup ovenproof baking dish.

Mix nuts, sugar and flour in bowl. Add ½ cup butter; mix with fingertips until coarse crumbs form. (Potatoes and streusel can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately; chill. Before continuing, preheat oven to 400°F.) Sprinkle streusel over potatoes. Bake until top is golden brown and potatoes are hot, about 25 minutes.

Special Notes:

This recipe travels well and is loved by kids and adults (just don’t mention the bananas!)

Both of these recipes are simple and delicious!

The Yams with Chestnuts is the lighter version and the lime and rum give this dish pizzazz.

The Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Bananas and Pecan Streusel is fantastic. I was thoroughly prepared not to like the banana in combination with the sweet potatoes, but I was WRONG! This is a definite crowd pleaser!

What I learned….

1. There is a difference between strudel and streusel-

Wikipedia:

A strudel is a type of pastry that originated in Central Europe and is most often associated with Austrian and German cuisine. The best known kinds are Apfelstrudel (with apple) and Topfenstrudel (with Topfen, also called Quark)

Dufflet.com: (via Google searching for “define:streusel“)

STREUSEL: A crunchy topping used to cover pies, fruit crisps and coffeecakes. It has a high proportion of butter and sugar to flour and can contain any kind of chopped nut, oats and spices.

2. There is a difference between yams and sweet potatoes, but it’s complicated…in general, sweet potatoes ends taper off to a point and yams have rough, scaly skin. Did you know that wild yams can grow to be up to 130 pounds? I did not know that. For more about the differences between sweet potatoes and yams…http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_a_sweet_potato_and_a_yam

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! We will be traveling down to my brother’s house in Connecticut. My sister-in-law Pam is a fantastic cook, so we will be having a feast. We will miss Charlie, but only a month until we see him in Spain!!!!!

Safe Travels and Bon Appetit,

Robin

Gingered Carrots with Candied Pecans, Baked Apples Stuffed with Sausage and Cranberries and Broccoli with Rye Croutons

This is exciting… our first installment of “Cookin’ it up with Elizabeth”! Last Tuesday I went over to Elizabeth’s fantastic kitchen and watched while she created this delicious and visually appealing masterpiece. Isn’t this gorgeous? One of the best things about this meal is that parts of it can be done up to a day ahead which is especially great as we head into the holidays. Next week we will be cooking it up again, but we can’t decide what to do…breads, pies, roast pork, fabulous muffins, soup, salads, cookies or sides dishes for Thanksgiving????  If you have a thoughts about what you’d like to see Elizabeth dish up, please let us know!

Baked Apples Stuffed with Sausage and Cranberries

1 lb sweet Italian chicken sausage
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2t dried sage
1/2t dried thyme
1 cup cranberries, picked over
½ c fresh bread crumbs
3 ribs of celery, finely chopped
½ cup minced fresh parsley
8 Golden Delicious apples

In a large skillet cook sausage, crumbled, over moderate heat, breaking it up with a fork. Stir in onion, sage, thyme, cranberries and salt and pepper to taste and cook mixture, stirring occasionally, until cranberries just begin to pop.

Stir in breadcrumbs, celery and  parsley and remove the skillet from the heat. (Stuffing may be prepared 1 day in advance, covered and chilled. Preparation Time: approximately 30 minutes)

Cut off the top ½ inch of the apples, core apples with a melon-ball cutter, and scoop out the flesh, reserving it and leaving a 1/2-3/4” shell.

Chop the flesh coarse and stir it into the stuffing. Divide the stuffing among the apples, mounding it and arrange apples in a baking dish.

Pour 1/2  inch hot water into the pan and bake the apples, covered tightly with foil, in a preheated 375˚ oven for 30-40 minutes or until they are crisp-tender. Serves 8.

Gingered Carrots with Candied Pecans

3T unsalted butter
2T light corn syrup
1T plus 2 t sugar
¼ t cinnamon
½ cup pecans
White pepper (or black) to taste
1 lb carrots, cut diagonally into ¼” slices
1 t freshly grated orange rind
1 t freshly grated ginger

(The pecans can be prepared 1 day in advance. They are a bit time-consuming, but the results are worth it! Purchased glazed pecans/walnuts can be substituted. You may also want to double the first five ingredients)

In a small heavy saucepan melt 1 T butter, stir in corn syrup, 1 T sugar, the cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Simmer syrup for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. While syrup is cooking, heat pecans in a small baking pan in a preheated 250˚ oven for 5 minutes. Pour the syrup over pecans and bake the mixture, stirring every 20 minutes, for 1 hour. Scrape the pecan mixture into a buttered baking pan, let it cool for 3 minutes, and separate the pecans with 2 forks. Let the pecans cool completely.

In a large skillet melt the remaining 2 T butter with the remaining 2 t sugar, 3 T water, pepper, and salt to taste. Stir in the carrots, bring the liquid to a boil and cook the carrots, covered, over moderate heat for 5 minutes. Stir in both rinds and cook the carrots, uncovered, for 3 minutes or until they are crisp-tender. Transfer the carrots to serving dish and top with pecans. Serves 4 to 6.

Broccoli with Rye Croutons

Broccoli with Rye Croutons

3 slices of rye bread, crusts removed and the bread torn in ¼” pieces
¼ cup olive oil
1 T unsalted butter
1 ¼  lbs of broccoli, divided into ¾” wide flowerets and stems sliced
crosswise ¼”thick
Rind of 1 lemon, removed with a sharp vegetable peeler and cut into
fine julienne strips
1T caraway seeds
¼ canned chicken broth
Lemon juice to taste

In a skillet cook the bread in 2T of the oil and butter over moderate heat, stirring, until it is crisp, sprinkle the croutons with salt, and transfer them to a small dish.

In a large skillet sauté the broccoli in the remaining 2 T oil over moderately high heat, stirring, until it is bright green.

Add the rind, caraway seeds, broth, and salt to taste, bring the liquid to a boil, and cook the mixture, covered, over moderately low heat for 3 minutes, or until the broccoli is crisp-tender. Sprinkle the broccoli with the lemon juice, transfer to dish and sprinkle with croutons.  Serves 6 to 8.

This meal was not only beautiful but delicious with tons of flavor and lots of vegetables. Thanks Elizabeth! Can’t wait until next week.

I will be doing a little section at the end of each of Elizabeth’s recipe blogs entitled:

“What I learned”

(This section is meant for the cooking newbie. If you are an experienced cook/chef you probably don’t need to read on..)

Here goes….

1. Elizabeth is a really good cook and really enjoys cooking, Hmmm- this is new to me.

2. You really need to concentrate when you are cooking…Once when I tried to engage Elizabeth in a conversation about politics ( was it politics or was it popular nail polish colors? I can’t remember) anyway, the F-bomb did go off when I distracted her so much that the butter burnt. Opps – sorry  Elizabeth.

3.Cooking is slighty dangerous, but go ahead and try this at home, I think it’s okay.

4.Elizabeth’s son Traynor is a really nice young man and was really patient with the whole “photography thing” that we made him do. Congratulations Traynor for not answering the question..”Does this apron make me look fat?”

Bon Appetit,

Robin