Simple Soup

Last week was a busy week.  There was a leftover pizza night and a soup and grilled cheese night, each preceeded by a 'what am I going to serve for dinner' moment.  It was one of those weeks.  The only bright spot was that I didn't run out of milk, but only because I'd bought way more than the sleep-over boys could drink.  (Because really, mom, why would they drink milk when you had cans of root-beer and ginger ale on hand?  sigh.  Yes, a better mother would have had only milk and sliced fruit to go with the pizza, but I was just winging it.)

There was one small, shining moment of decent eating in the middle of this work-life-unbalance.  Pasta soup.  This was winging it to the max - no recipe, no plan, just making the most of two frozen italian sausages, some slightly dehydrated carrots rattling around in the bottom of the crisper, dried pasta, boxed broth and some frozen duxelles. The sausages were sliced and browned, deglazed the pan and added the carrots and broth, brought to a boil, added duxelles and pasta and cooked for 8 minutes.  Done.

I put it on the table and, glad it wasn't pizza, dished it up.  Nothing fancy, but it was hot and satisfying.  It felt good, in the middle of all the chaos, to remember that sometimes simple is the better balance to busy.

No recipe tonight, since this was mostly about making a little bit of peace from the chaos.

Fish Packets on the Grill

We had a good time making this dinner, the kids love eating anything that comes in their very own packet, and nothing's easier than packet-clean-up!

We set up the food processor and grated carrots and parsnips using the shredding disk.  Then we switched to the slicer for the zucchini and yellow squash (since they cook faster, they needed some extra heft!).

The veggies made a colorful bed for some fish filets (we used cod, but any firm fish would work), and we wrapped them in aluminum and parchment paper packets, folded over and well sealed on the top and sides.  The only seasonings were salt, pepper, olive oil (on the parchment paper and drizzled over the fish), and some thyme.

The packets sat directly on the grill over a medium heat for about 12 minutes.

The carrots and parsnips got sweet and everything stayed really moist and flavorful.  Salmon also works well this way.  With the food processor rinsed while we waited for the fish to cook, clean up was a snap.

The only real secret is to get the veggies sized so they'll cook as quickly as the fish - julienne, grated, thinly siced etc.  From there, it's all about experimentation with flavor combinations and seasonings. 

Ca-Zukes!

Hats off to Cohn's Crew - 22 second-graders and two fearless leaders who managed to put together four dozen ca-zukes as part of their nutrition unit!

First of all, those kids were much better behaved than I remember being in the second grade!  They measured flour and wheat germ as if their lives depended on getting exactly the right number of flakes in the scoop, and they were all about mixing, mixing, mixing, mixing.  Those were some of the best-mixed muffins ever! 

If you want me to run a meeting or do something work related for you, no problem.  But figuring out how to orchestrate this event so each kid would get some of the action without creating major chaos?  Well, that was a new challenge!  I'm happy to report that there were no significant disasters or oversights.  Except one, but we'll get to that.

We set up an ingredients station in the back and the kids carried up their bowls to read, measure, scoop and crack....

I lean slightly toward the over-compusive side when it comes to planning through something new like this, so we'd tested a batch at home, I'd figured out how many measuring cups and spoons of which size to have, stashed extra bowls and spoons in my bags and had sticky notes for the morning-of, so we wouldn't forget anything.  Of course, I forgot something.  Baking soda.  Not exactly an optional ingredient when it comes to baking, right?  So, supressing panic, I hurried down to the cafeteria.  The first lady said "no, we don't have any."  But she went to look while I tried to figure out if my mom could dash back to the house and grab mine before we got to that step....  But, lucky for us, the art of cooking at school lives on - I have never been happier to see a box of baking soda before! 

The kids measured and scooped, mostly neatly, but there was bound to be a little variety in the final products....and some flour in my wheat germ, but hey, that's just like home.  I had anticipated cracking the eggs into their bowls, to limit hand washing mid-recipe.  Can you tell me, what was I thinking??  They all wanted to crack their own eggs, of course.  Duh.  And I have never seen kids wash their hands so eagerly!

And with several adults around (thanks, mom and dad, for spending some of your vacation at school!), the kids mixed and scooped and got their gloppy muffin batter into the cups for baking.  We entrusted them to those wonderful cafeteria ladies,

Enjoyed some heated debate about whether something that contained such significant quantities of vegetables and 'eewwey' things like eggs and oil could possibly be good, but my daughter reported back that they turned out better than the test batch we'd made at home.  Must have been all that extra stirring!

The last question of the day was asked by one of the girls who looked up at me very seriously and said "but what IS a ca-zuke?"

Here's how you can find out:

Ca-Zukes! (Carrot-Zucchini Muffins)


3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons wheat germ
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
2 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
4 medium carrots, grated (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup grated zucchini (about half a small zucchini)

Note: This recipe requires 12 muffin liners and a muffin tin (or 12 stand-along muffin cups)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350* degrees F. Line twelve 1/2-cup muffin cups with paper muffin liners.

Peel and grate the carrots in a food processor. The zucchini can be grated with the peel on. Set the vegetables aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the flours, the brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, lightly mix the egg with a fork, then mix in the vegetable oil and vanilla extract.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula or large spoon. Stir in the carrots and zucchini until everything is mixed. The batter will be very thick with lots of visible vegetables. Using a large tablespoon, scoop the batter into the muffin cups. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Turn muffins out of the tins and cool on a rack. Serve warm.

Makes 12 muffins.

Coconut Chicken Strips with Orange-Endive Salad

I have a terrible tendency to mess with recipes - it's a meddlesome quality that sometimes results in a good twist and sometimes....I learn why the recipe said to do such-and-such. 

With this chicken dish, we learned that there is such a thing as taking it too easy on the oil!  Lucky for us, the results were edible, just not golden.  You'll see what I mean in the photo below.

We started with some buttermilk - soaked the chicken strips (about 1 lb of chicken breasts, cut into thin strips) for about 30 minutes, then dredged them in a mix of 1 cup panko, 1 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened!) and 1 tsp of chili powder.

Now, we've already made some modifications to the original recipe I was inspired by, but here's where I went wrong: I didn't use enough oil in the pan.  The recipe said 3 TB of oil.  I thought I could get by with a large non-stick pan and some canola oil spray.   As the chicken strips cooked, the outer edges of the coconut got very cooked, nearly burning, but the panko crumbs didn't brown at all.  In an effort to lighten the dish, we ended up with some visually unappealing chicken.  When we used a little oil, they looked great.

For the next batch, I used 3 TB of oil in the pan and amazingly enough, they browned.  There are times when I get too impatient and try to cut corners.  Then there are times when I learn the hard way why certain formulas appear over and over in our cookbooks.  Putting some oil in the pan seems like a pretty basic one, hum?

At any rate, we served the chicken strips with some carrots (microwaved and seasoned with a little salt and pepper) and an orange-endive salad.  The endive was just chopped, raw, and tossed with lettuce and segments of a blood orange.  The dressing was a store-bought vinagrette and the contrast between the slightly sweet chicken and the tangy, citrus of the salad was excellent.

The kids love dredging and coating things for the stove top, and I love an experiment, so it was a successful dinner all in all.

Welcome to 2011!

Hard to believe, but yes, here we are in 2011.  When I say two-thousand-eleven it sounds very....futuristic.  And yet we're just recovering from another year's worth of holiday visits, parties and fun, housekeeping, exercise, resolutions and not-enough-sleep.

I had a quick reminder this weekend that in spite of the normalcy, time does indeed slip by.  We recovered from our holiday travels and parties (more about that later!) and on Sunday, after a morning outing, I passed the most recent issue of Cooking Light to my daughter in the back seat and let her choose a menu for dinner.  She spent about 10 minutes flipping through the pages and selected "a side dish - carrots- and a dinner."  We made glazed carrots and a linguini with soft-boiled eggs, breadcrumbs and walnuts. 

I asked her why she chose those particular dishes and she said "because I like carrots.  And this one," pointing at the pasta with a halved egg, yolks shining brightly, "because it seemed like something we would want to eat on this kind of day."  It was chilly, grey, overcast and I have to agree that a sunny egg in a pasta nest did seem...well, cozy.

We pulled into the grocery store parking lot.  She read me the ingredient list while I made the shopping list.  My daughter is not an avid "fake...I mean fiction" reader, but she handles a recipe pretty well.  We shopped, we went home, we played and eventually, we cooked.

This is when it felt like a new year to me.

She took the carrots on herself, peeling and chopping before I was done pulling other ingredients from the cupboard.  She stirred the saute pan, counting the minutes, and added spices and other ingredients without hesitation.  She peeled the soft-boiled eggs and nesteled them in the plates.  Her brother manned the pasta pot.

My son remarked on my daughter's cooking later, while we were eating "she's already way ahead of me."  And she is. 

It feels good to know that they're learning something useful, something of substance, when we make dinner.

I hope 2011 holds the promise of some more meals and adventures together.  For you too.

Chicken Noodle Soup

The weather suddenly got a little cooler here, and it feels like almost-fall.  We had one of those difficult-to-schedule-dinner evenings last night.  Our family class was at 7:00 p.m., leaving a window beteween 5:30 and 6:30 to cook, digest and change for class.  Soup seemed like a good choice.  Not too heavy, and easy to make.

Roast chicken and chicken noodle soup is one of our standard two-day menus, and it worked out well this week.

We roasted the chicken on Wednesday night, when we didn't have any place to go, and all the homework, reading, chores were done by the time the chicken was done.  After I pulled the leftover meat off the bones, I tossed the bones in a pot, covered with water, and let it simmer until I went to bed.

  

On Thursday, making the soup was a snap.  Here's all the cooking it required:

Remember that little bag of frozen onions?  There they are - pre-chopped and thrown in the pot.  We peeled and chopped some carrots and celery, tossed them with some olive oil for a few minutes while water boiled for noodles.

Good kid-chef tasks:  peeling carrots, washing and chopping celery, cutting the chicken pieces up with kitchen scissors and stirring.

I added the broth and the left-over chicken, and by the time the noodles boiled, the soup was warm. 

Mix and serve.

If I'm lucky, there's a little bit left over for my lunch the next day:

Knives!

Knives. You just can’t avoid them. In theory, you give a kid a knife and teach her or him how to use it. With a little luck, they learn, they listen and all is good. Of course, getting a mother to buy this is like convincing William Tell’s mother he just needed a little instruction before letting fly with his arrows.

I’ve had to swallow hard and accept that if they’re going to cook, my kids are going to chop. My daughter has her preferred knife, a small, sharp paring knife that’s easy for her to hold. It also fits her cutting board, a little non-slip rubber one her grandmother gave her. It’s a good combination for her. For both kids, I introduced them to cutting by putting them in charge of tofu. It’s an ideal first date with the knife. Easy to manage, simple to cut, no perfection required. From there, we gradually moved onto cheese, mushrooms and zucchini.

My son recently went through a phase of “it’s the eating I like, not the cooking.”

I didn’t fight him on it. But a few weeks later, we were making turkey soup and he was wandering around the kitchen, getting in the way, looking like him might be interested, but not sure how to join in.

I handed him the big knife and the carrots.

Carrots are my personal test-case of parental control. They’re hard. They’re round. The knife could slip. It’s hard for me to watch him chop without reaching in there and taking the knife away.

“I LOVE chopping!” he declared, and he was back in the groove.

Celery, turkey, carrots – they all went into the pot. Chopped.

Given the opportunity, I’ll chop the carrots (or at least get them to have one flat surface) but if a knife is his entry back into the kitchen, so be it.