Gettin' By and Makin' Do

Some of us grew up in an era where you made do with what you had. You went without until you could afford it. You used it up and you wore it out! And it is that vein, that I am writing this blog.

In my refrigerator, I found an "empty" bottle of Dijon mustard. "Empty", meaning you can't get it all  without the addition of liquid. Enter vinegar, in this case, red wine vinegar.

I actually got the idea for using mustard in a salad dressing from the French. And you know, they got that food thing going on. The French often add mustard to salad dressings. If you to make something else with mustard, check out Serious Eats.

This is simple and it's a no recipe, recipe. Add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar to the mustard. Put the top on and shake it up. A kid will come in handy for this part. Once it's mixed, add a little olive oil, one or two tablespoons should do it. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper. You can also dress this up with parsley, chives, shallots, or not. You decide.  It's okay to store this in the refrigerator for a few days. Allow to come to room temperature before using.

I used my dressing on boiled potatoes. But don't be limited to potatoes, use green beans, green salad, asparagus. It would even be good a broiled salmon. Give it a try and you will never toss an "empty" mustard jar again.

Collard Greens and Potatoes...In One Dish!

When I first saw a recipe for collard greens and potatoes in one dish, I thought 'OMG some non-Southerner is messing up collard greens...again'.  After all, who would put this together.  Just because collard greens are one of the new 'in' vegetables doesn't give you permission to mess 'em up. 

This recipe did have a few things going for it.  It was from Deborah Madison, a chef well known for her work with vegetables.  It contained that 'b' ingredient - bacon.  If it was really bad, I could at least pick out the bacon.  And finally, I had collard greens in the garden.  I could afford to 'mess up' a few. 


Collards with Potatoes

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

2 bunches collard greens or a mixture of collards and kale
3 medium potatoes, preferably Yukon Gold
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 or 4 slices of bacon, diced 
2 Tablespoons olive oil
½ onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Hot pepper sauce or vinegar for the table

Directions:

1.  Remove the tough center stem.  Slice greens crosswise into ½-inch strips.  Wash in several changes of water.  Drain.  Set aside.  (This can be done ahead of time.  Refrigerate until ready to cook.)

2.  Wash potatoes and cut into about 1-inch cubes.  Set aside.

3.  Bring about 8 cups of water to a boil.  Add about 2 teaspoons of salt.  Add greens and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes.  (This will change depending on the toughness of your greens and how tender you like your greens.)  Add potatoes and cook for about 7 to 10 minutes. 

4.  Meanwhile, cook the bacon until crisp.  Remove bacon and set aside.  Pour out all but one tablespoon fat.  Add the olive oil.  Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and red pepper flakes.  Cook for about 1 minute. 

5.  Drain greens and potatoes.  Add to onion mixture.  Taste and season with salt and pepper, if desired.  Stir occasionally.  Cook until water evaporates. Add bacon.  Taste and re-season, if necessary. 

Final Thoughts

It was good!  I was pleasantly surprised.  As I tell my students, keep an open mind.  You won't know if you like it until you have tried it. 

A New Look at Potato Salad

If you follow this blog you know that I like potato salad. It seems that most people eat potato salad mainly in the summer months.  But in my family, it's an 'anytime' food.  We even eat it at Christmas dinner.  I asked my sister why we have potato salad for Christmas dinner.  Her reply was, "I don't know.  We just do.  We always have and we always will."  Enough said.  Our potato salad is normally laden with mayonnaise and eggs.  While it is good, sometimes change is also good. 

It's still officially summer and we have a few more opportunities for picnics, potlucks, and dinner on the ground.  I thought I would bring out my new potato salad recipe.  This one is made sans mayonnaise and eggs.  This recipe is based on one found on the blog, Olive Tomato.  I added red bell pepper, because it gives the recipe a nice bright color, a little crunch and a few antioxidants don't hurt either. For acidity, either red wine vinegar or lemon juice can be used.

Mediterranean Potato Salad

Serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients:

2 pounds potatoes, Yukon Gold or Russet
½ small red onion, chopped
½ cup chopped red bell pepper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar or lemon juice
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Wash potatoes, place in a sauce pan and cover with cold water.  Place a lid on sauce pan and cook until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork.

2.  Drain and cover with cold water.  When potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut into cubes, about ½-inch.  (Peeling is optional.)  Add onion and bell pepper to potatoes.

3.  In a small bowl, combine Italian seasoning, olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice.  Gently stir the dressing into the potatoes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Eating Potatoes in Sicily

While in Sicily, we had the pleasure of attending the Cucina del Sole Cooking School.  The school is headed up by Eleonora Consoli, a gastronomy journalist. Needless to say, we had a good time.  Put 20+ foodies in the room together (with food, of course) and they have a good time.


It was really a lot of fun learning about Sicilian cuisine.  It's always fun to expand your cooking repertoire.  I came back with a few good recipes that could easily find their way into my own cooking. 

One of the first dishes we made in Sicily was a potato and pistachio casserole.  As it turns out, Sicily grows pistachios.  So they make good use of them in their cuisine.  Most pistachios are grown around the Mount Etna and Bronte areas.  Most pistachios grown in Sicily are consumed in Sicily.  Very little is exported.  Although widely viewed as a snack food, pistachios are well-suited for many recipes requiring nuts.  The next time you have a recipe calling for pine nuts, give pistachios a try and see how you like them.

Potato and Pistachio Casserole

Serves 4.

Ingredients:
1½ pounds baking potatoes, such as Russet or Yukon Gold
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tablespoons butter, plus additonal for coating the dish
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 large eggs

½ cup pistachios, finely chopped, divided

Directions:
1.  Peel  and coarsely chop the potatoes.  Place in a medium saucepan and cover with water.  Cook until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork.  Drain.  Place on heat to dry potatoes.  There should be a film on the bottom of the pan. 

2.  Mash potatoes.  Add cheese and butter, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  Stir to combine.  Add eggs once potatoes are cool enough.

3.  Coat a casserole dish with butter.  Add pistachios and coat the dish.  Pour out extra pistachios and reserve for topping.

4.  Place potato mixture in casserole. Top with pistachios.  Bake at 350°F for about 30 to 40 minutes.

According to Ms. Consoli, one can put other ingredients in the middle of this casserole. Some of her suggestions were artichokes, spinach, asparagus, eggplant, zucchini, cheese, mushrooms, and hard boiled eggs.  For my version, I added grated zucchini in the middle of the casserole.

Bacon and Farmers Market

I have not made it to my local farmer's market this year.  Normally, I am regular by this time.  Before you feel too sorry for me, I missed several opportunities to go to the market due to a trip to Sicily.  Ok, your sympathy for me has hit a new low!

Although Sicily was a lot of fun, I really did miss my local farmer's market.  No matter how many farmer's markets I visit, nothing beats my farmer's market.  So what's so special about my farmer's market?  For everyone else, probably nothing.  For me, it's just a special place. 



Since I have not traveled to the market this year, I have been dreaming about what I could make with my first purchase at the market.    I found a recipe for Warm Bacon Vinaigrette in the April issue of Cooking Light.  I thought it would be a perfect dressing for fresh farmer's market vegetables.  I made the vinaigrette and used it on potatoes and greens beans.  They were pretty good, even if I must say so myself.

Reese's Tater Tot Casserole

For a long time, no one seemed to cook.  I knew people who even bragged about how they could not cook.  We were proud of our inability to prepare a few simple dishes.  Then along came Martha Stewart and Food Network.  And all of a sudden, cooking was back in vogue.  Thank God! 

Somewhere along the way we seem to have forgotten about the shear joy of sharing a meal with people we care about.  A lifetime of memories are made in the kitchen and at the table.  Sharing a meal is often where we learn the art of conversation and manners.  It is where we pass on values and traditions. 

Cooking may seem frivolous in a time-crunched society, but cooking stimulates creativity.  The late Julia Child believed that food is more than sustenance and children must be taught that cooking is akin to art.  Cooking is as creative as music, drawing.  Cooking helps children learn to love food - children should experience food hands on.  Research shows that hands-on cooking is a great way to improve mealtime practices and eating habits of children.  They need to taste, to touch, smell and listen to food. 

But enough with all the soft, feel good and scientific stuff, cooking and eating are just plain fun. 

Tater Tot Casserole is a favorite of a colleague's daughter.  Her favorite thing about this casserole is lining up the tater tots exactly the same.  Her mother says that even though the recipe states to dump it all together, it actually cooks better when the tater tots are "lined up". 

Tater Tot Casserole

Serves 8 to 10.

Ingredients:

1 package (32 ounce) tater tots, thawed
2 cups (8 ounces) American or Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 can (10¾ ounce) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
½ cup onion, finely chopped
¼ cup butter, melted
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup corn flakes, crushed
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
Cooking spray

Directions:

1.  Coat a 9 X 13-baking dish with cooking spray.  Place tater tots in baking dish; set aside. 
2.  In a large mixing bowl, combine cheese soup, sour cream, onion, butter, and pepper.  Pour over tater tots.  (If desired, casserole can be assembled up to this point and refrigerated.)
3.  Toss together cornflakes and one tablespoon of butter.  Sprinkle over casserole.  Bake in a 350F oven for about 1 hour or until casserole is golden brown.

To make this dish a little healthier, use reduced fat cheese and sour cream.

Your Lucky Little Easter Bunny

In a few days Easter will be arriving.  If your little Easter bunny gets lucky during the hunt and you have way too many hard boiled eggs, this post is for you. 

Scandinavian Flower Eggs with Sweet-Tart Mustard Dill Sauce - I first heard about this recipe from the public radio show, The Splendid Table.  I thought it sounded interesting and maybe I could work it into an Easter blog.  I liked the recipe because I saw it as a slightly different take on deviled eggs.  Someone else stated that it's a potato salad with lettuce.  My foodie colleague stated that this would be good with salmon. (We are a nutrition department and lately we've been hooked on salmon.) Since I agreed with her, I also added salmon.

I also decided to put mine together differently than the original recipe.  First, I grilled the salmon and brushed it with the sauce during the final few minutes of cooking.  I also cut the potatoes in quarters and coated with the sauce.

Scandinavian Flower Eggs with Sweet-Tart Mustard Dill Sauce

Serves 4 to 5.

Ingredients:

Dill Mustard Sauce:
(Makes about 1½ cups)


1 garlic clove, minced
3 Tablespoons minced onion

¼ cup white wine or apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar, or more to taste
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup coarse grain mustard
2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
⅓ to ½ cup chopped fresh dill
Salt and pepper, to taste

Salad:
1 pound salmon fillet
8 large hard-cooked eggs, peeled and cut into 4 wedges each
1 pound small red-skinned potatoes
4 to 6 cups red leaf lettuce
Directions:


Dill Mustard Sauce
In a medium bowl, blend together the garlic, onion and vinegar.  Set aside.  In a separate bowl, combine, sugar, olive oil, mustard, mayonnaise, and dill.  Slowly add in vinegar mixture.   Add salt and pepper to taste.  Sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. 


Salad
1.  Coat salmon with olive oil. Grill or broil until fish flakes with a fork.  Brush with sauce during the final minutes of cooking.  Set aside.
2.  Cook eggs, peel and quarter.
3.  Cook potatoes.  When potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut into quarters.  Coat warm potatoes with about ¼ cup of mustard sauce.  Set aside.


Assembling the Salad
1.  Place lettuce down the center of a large platter.  Place salmon and potatoes on platter.  Depending on the size of your platter, eggs may need to be placed on other ingredients.
2.  Drizzle with mustard sauce and serve.

Mashed Potatoes on the Holiday Table

Although I did not grow up eating mashed potatoes for the holiday meal, most of my midwestern friends don't think it's a holiday dinner without mashed potatoes.  And when in Rome, do as the Romans do.  Therefore, I am doing mashed potatoes as one of my holiday sides.

For your holiday mashed potatoes, start with either russet (Idaho) or Yukon Gold potatoes.  These types are better suited for making mashed potatoes.  Russets are high in starch and low in moisture.  For this reason russets cook up drier and fluffier and are better able to absorb butter and cream. Russets also lose their shape when simmered, so they are good for thickening soups and stews. Yukon Golds are a great all purpose potato.  Although they contain less starch than russets, they are good for baking and making mashed potatoes.

To make lower fat mashed potatoes, try using buttermilk or nonfat yogurt instead of sour cream. 

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

Serves 4.

Ingredients:
1 pound potatoes, Yukon Gold or Russets
½ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon salt

Directions:
1.  If desired, peel potatoes.  Cut into 1-inch pieces.  Place potatoes in a medium saucepan; cover with water.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until potato is tender. 

2.  Drain potatoes thoroughly.  To further remove water, return potatoes to the saucepan on medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes, shaking constantly so they don't burn.  Mash potatoes with a potato masher.  Stir in buttermilk, butter and salt.

Since it is the holidays, if you want to "upscale" your mashed potatoes, here are some suggestions.  But remember, add-ins like cheese and bacon also bring extra calories.

• Roasted Garlic
• Chives or green onions
• Herbs, such as parsley or pesto
• Horseradish and low fat sour cream, especially good for serving with beef

Semester Leftovers

Late last week I was in a quandary over what to write about this week. Nothing sparked my interest. It’s that time of year – you are at the end of winter produce (or you are sick of it) and spring hasn’t quite sprung.

It is also almost the end of the semester and as usual, we have too much of some stuff and are scrounging around for other stuff. This year we had potatoes left over. They are about ready to sprout. So of course I had to save them. At least this way, I would have part of my lunch taken care of.

I decided to make mashed potatoes. Since we have other odds and ends around the food lab, I decided to throw in a couple of other things. I roasted some garlic. There is also ½ of a package of cream cheese dying a slow death. I have a colleague who puts cream cheese in her mashed potatoes. So I thought I would try that too. Afterall, I do have that ‘waste not, want not’ mentality. Off to the kitchen to make my ‘End of the Semester’ Mashed Potatoes.

‘End of the Semester’ Mashed Potatoes

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1 pound Russet potatoes

5 to 6 cloves of roasted garlic

4 ounces cream cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Peel and cube potatoes. Rinse potatoes. Drain. Add to a medium sized saucepan. Cover with water and place the lid on saucepan. Cook until potatoes can be pierced with a knife.

2. Drain and leave on burner until potatoes are dry.

3. In a large bowl, combine garlic and cream cheese. Add potatoes and mashed. Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you would like to tell us what you do with your 'end of the whatever' food, please do so.  We relish the ideas of other foodies.

To all you heading off someplace fun for the summer, enjoy! And please read the blog occasionally. We will be posting over the summer.

What’s Wrong with Something Old?

A few days ago, I checked out an online video on what’s new at the grocery store. Cooking Light - http://bit.ly/d6Y8cH. And I got to thinking, “what’s wrong with the old stuff”. Before you become upset, I have nothing against new foods. I am all for advancement and improving the nutritional value of one’s diet. It’s just that I believe we sometimes undervalue foods that have been around. We always seem to be looking for the next great fix. So today, I am taking the time to talk about a few old favorites of mine.

Let’s start with the much maligned potato. The poor potato gets no respect. It’s about time we paid the potato it due. One serving (about 5.3 ounces) contains 110 calories, 620 mg of potassium, and 45% of the daily vitamin C requirements. When consumed with the skin, you get 2 g of fiber. As an added bonus, potatoes are a fat free food. For a new take on potato salad, try the recipe for lemon chive potato salad - http://bit.ly/9T3V1H. I tried it. It’s great!

Now is a great time to reach for a fresh tomato. And added bonus, tomatoes don’t require cooking. One medium tomato contains 35 calories, 100 IU of vitamin A, and 24 mg of vitamin C. Try this recipe for Caprese Salad http://bit.ly/d6Y7wy. Also give this Greek Salad a try. They both come together in a snap!

Greek Salad
Serves 4.

Ingredients:
1 cucumber
2 medium vine ripened tomatoes
½ small red onion
¼ cup Kalamata olives
Salt and pepper to taste
4 ounces feta cheese, block or crumbles
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 to 4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 to 4 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
Oregano, for garnish

Directions:
1. Peel and dice cucumber. Core tomatoes and dice tomatoes. Combine cucumbers and tomatoes. Slice onion and add to salad. Add olives, salt, pepper and oregano. Toss ingredients together.

2. Top with feta cheese. Pour a small amount of olive oil over salad. Add vinegar. Garnish with a little oregano. Fresh oregano can be used if desired.

And last, but certainly not least, try green beans. They do not need to be smothered in bacon fat, however, as a good Southerner; I would not turn them down. One serving (100g) of green beans contain only 31 calories; almost 3 g of fiber, 690 IU of vitamin A, 12 mg of vitamin C, and 33 mg of folic acid. A simple method to prepare green beans is to steam them and add a vinaigrette dressing. This makes a terrific salad. Or try this recipe for Green Beans with Bacon-Balsamic Vinaigrette. http://bit.ly/bKKzWl.

Enjoy some these old favorites. If you have a favorite oldie, we would love to hear about it.