Kitchen Comforts

Dining al fresco

After a day of hard labor in the yard (chronicled at Blossoms and Bees), we celebrated the glorious weather and the birth of our gardens with a meal outside.  Of dining al fresco, Charlotte Mason writes:

Besides, the gain of an hour or two in the open air, there is this to be considered: meals taken al fresco are usually joyous, and there is nothing like gladness for converting meat and drink into healthy blood and tissue. All the time, too, the children are storing up memories of a happy childhood. Fifty years hence they will see the shadows of the boughs making patterns on the white tablecloth; and sunshine, children's laughter, hum of bees, and scent of flowers are being bottled up for after refreshment.

Our meal was simple, since my mind was really on the work still to be finished.  We made sandwiches of buffalo chicken and baby spinach on Kaiser rolls.  Christian made melon balls of the season's first watermelon (which was quite good if a bit expensive).  And we layered fresh tomatoes, fresh mozarella and fresh basil--all drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar--for a salad that we hope will be a prequel to many homegrown tomato salads. To drink, there was limeade over lots of ice. Such satisfaction in a springtime day!

Aprons

There is a certain sense of contentment I get when I catch a glimpse of our apron collection hanging from a hook inside the mudroom pantry.  I love aprons!  A recent convert to the world of aprons (having formerly been a wipe- your- hands- on- the- back- of- your- jeans kind of girl), I discovered aprons when I discovered skirts. And I was further inspired by a lively discussion of aprons and the 4Reallearning forum.

My children, on the other hand, have always been faithful apron-wearers.  We've used apples and fabric paint to print canvas aprons and little toys and fabric paint to personalize colorful aprons. It's hard to believe that the three-year-old who climbed up in a chair to cook wearing that red apron pictured above is now nearly six feet tall!  And he's quite the competent cook and a great grocery shopper.

I've learned I don't like oilcloth aprons and I rue the day I spent a fortune on one.  They're hot and sticky to the point of suffocation.  I did learn a valuable lesson with one though;  I will never wrap a baby's bottom in a plastic coated diaper cover again.  Looking for something breathable this time around...

It's always the denim apron I reach for to cover my own clothes and I've noticed that my daughter dons the miniature for herself.  I guess the girls in this family are destined to forever wipe our hands on denim after all.

Pasta Bolognese

1 large sweet onion, diced

1 1/2 cups carrots, peeled and diced

1 1/2 cups celery, peeled and diced

10 sweet Italian sausages or 10 beef or pork ribs

1 pound of ground beef

4 large cans whole tomatoes (My aunts use Italian imported tomatoes.  I use Muir Glen.  And somtimes I use two cans whole tomatoes and two cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes.)

lots of fresh basil, cut or torn into ribbons

In a large, heavy saucepan, saute the onions and the vegetables in olive oil until the onions are soft and golden.  In a separate pan, brown the meat and drain off the grease.  Add the meat to the vegetables.  Puree the whole tomatoes in the blender and add to the meat and vegetables in the heavy pan.  Add the diced tomatoes if desired.  Cook at least an hour and half over low heat, then remove the sausages or ribs.  Cut the sausages into bite-sized pieces. Take the rib meat off the bones.  Return the meat to the pot.  This is enough sauce for two pounds of hearty pasta.  We like rotelle. Garnish with freshly grated parmesan.  Serve with crusty bread and a big, green salad.

Breakfast in Bed

As a child, I detested breakfast.  I could not choke down eggs if my life depended on it.  I was known to pour orange juice down the drain when no one was looking.  When I was first pregnant, I learned what it was to need breakfast.  So I developed quite a repertoire of smoothies, the only thing I could bring myself to eat (drink?) in the morning (food for another day's blog).  After my last baby was born, several of my friends introduced me to hearty breakfasts with plenty of protein. They were all under the influence of Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions and they all had remarkably healthy large families.  I began to see breakfast in a whole new light.

Now, every morning that my husband is home, he gets breakfast in bed. Yep, it's a well-established routine.

Lest you think this a purely altruistic act, let me share some of my motives. He's not a morning person.  Waking up is hard to do.  I'm totally a morning person (but don't try to talk to me after 9:30 at night).  When I began to cook hearty breakfasts, I also began to make great messes in the kitchen first thing in the morning.  Seven children and their morning chaos, great messes in the kitchen, and morning in general:  not a good combination for someone who is not a morning person.  Better to bring Daddy a pretty tray in his bed.  That way, he must sit up (no snooze alarm when you can smell breakfast beside you) and he can re-enter the world in relative peace. 

Breakfast is usually some kind of eggs, hashed browns or a whole grain bread, juice and tea (Irish Breakfast is his preference) or coffee.  On this morning, I timed the endeavor.  I made my sweetheart a ham and egg omelette, with some leftover Baklava that our friend Barbara had delivered especially for him, whipped orange juice, and a cinnamon coffee latte.  The whole process took nine minutes from the first crack of the egg to the climb upstairs with a steaming tray.  Not a bad investment in morning harmony!

Sunday Afternoon Tea

Dawn has outdone herself, inspiring us to tea.  She has some lovely ideas and she has lots of links and tips for planning and planting for future herbal teas.  Be sure not to miss Alice's latest liturgical tea.  She's celebrating the season with a a Joyous Easter Tea! I'm sort of hoping the fields are still wet enough to cancel afternoon soccer.  Teatime sounds so lovely!

Rainy Day Breakfast

It's a cold, rainy Saturday morning and I know a seven-year-old boy who will be so sorry to learn that the beginning of the soccer season has been delayed yet again.  Stephen's favorite breakfast is a comforting pumpkin pudding that fills the house with a heavenly aroma.  Hopefully, it will take the chill off a dreary morning for my sad little boy.

Pumpkin Pudding

makes 12 servings

2 16 oz. cans organic pumpkin
scant tsp. salt
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. powdered ginger
6 free range organic eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups milk or 3 cups coconut milk
2 tsp. vanilla

Fresh whipped cream for topping and freshly grated nutmeg.

Half-fill a 11"x14" pan with water and place it on a rack in the center of the oven. You'll probably need two pans, depending on your ramekins.  I've doubled this recipe to feed my crowd. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly coat ramekins with coconut oil or spray with nonstick spray. I don't have ramekins so I use oven-proof stoneware mugs.

Combine pumpkin, salt, sugar, and spices and blend until well mixed. Slowly pour in the eggs and blend. Pour in the milk and vanilla and mix well.

Spoon the pudding into the prepared ramekins. Gently place the ramekins in the pan of hot water in the oven.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the pudding comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven and place the ramekins on a rack to cool. This pudding is really best at room temperature.

Top with freshly whipped cream and freshly grated nutmeg.

--adapted from Sunlight Cafe

Casual Fridays

Many years ago, when I was a new mother, my aunt made a priceless heirloom for me.  She hand-lettered and painted this rendition of all our family's pasta sauce recipes.

While I know these recipes by heart, I still consult the painting when it's time to cook.  It's so beautiful and it so inspires me. The same painting hangs in my aunt's house, in my sister's house, and in my mother's house.  (Not sure which one of us has the original.)

My daughter is endeavoring to learn all the recipes this year, working her way through them with a joy that warms my heart.

Fridays are casual meal days here.  My husband frequently travels on Fridays, so it's just mom and the kids.  Often, Friday's dinner precedes a full slate of weekend athletic competitions and I try to carbo-load my growing athletes.  And, Fridays are meatless--they are perfect days for hearty peasant pasta meals. 

Tonight's dinner is Pasta with a very simple Agli Olio sauce.  That's just pasta with garlic and olive oil. Lots of garlic--another good reason to make it when Daddy's not here. According to my Aunt Lisette, boil enough water for two pounds of pasta and finely chop 15 to 20 cloves of garlic.  Saute the garlic in 3/4 cup to 1 cup olive oil until just golden.  Be careful not to burn it. Burned garlic is bitter! Let the garlic sit in the oil while you chop a bunch of parsley and grate about a cup or so of Pecorino Romano cheese.  When the pasta is al dente (or firm to the tooth), reserve about 2 cups of the pasta water.  Add about a cup of the water to the garlic oil. Drain the rest of the water and then sauce the pasta with the garlic oil.  Sprinkle generously with cheese and parsley and toss. If it seems to dry, add more pasta water.

Variations:  I often stir some arugula or spinach just briefly into the garlic oil and toss that, too, omitting the parsley.  Slivered sun dried   tomatoes are another great addition.  And, you can make this recipe into pasta with white clam sauce by adding chopped fresh clams in juice or canned clams with all the juice and cutting back on the pasta water.

Wheat free note:  Ever since I discovered Tinkyada Rice Pasta, I haven't been deprived of favorite pasta dishes.  It's almost as good as dried semolina pasta.

A Budding Chef

I spent most of the day in a dark room, fighting a migraine (the migraine was winning).  So, Patrick (11) planned and cooked dinner tonight. He made baked chicken tenders and baked sweet potatoes.  Nothing green, but certainly a step above frozen pizza!

 

He dipped organic chicken breast tenders in free-range eggs and then in a mixture of crushed corn flakes and freshly grated romano cheese.  He put them in a baking pan and drizzled them with organic butter. Before he left for soccer, he put the organic sweet potatoes in the oven at 400*.  About an hour later, I turned the oven down to 350* and popped the chicken in alongside the potatoes.  We ate 15 or 20 minutes later and it was really very good! Patrick likes to watch the Food Network and he's a pretty health-conscious grocery shopper. Bless his heart; he was certain to make it wheat free so that I could eat it too.  He's learned so much and he's a fairly competent sous-chef who just might give me a little competition for the big job one day!

Like I need another cookbook...

I have four and a half linear feet of cookbooks.  I don't need another one.  At least that's what my dear husband reminds me.  But Jenn has posted the preface the Cooking for Christ on her new blog Family Food for Feast and Feria and it is so inspiring that I am now on the hunt for this book!  Jenn's point and the author's point is that we've really lost the art of cooking as a way to minister and to mother.  It's not just the food; it's the entire demeanor towards the kitchen.  Now, there is a spring flowering of new food blogs, written from the perspective of Catholic moms ministering to their families from the hearts of their homes: the kitchens.  Join us there! I've linked those warm, welcoming kitchens on the sidebar.

Easter Dinner

The Menu

• Herbed Lamb
• Roasted Rosemary Sweet Potatoes and Red-skinned potatoes
• Spring salad with roasted beets, pinenuts, goat cheese and avocado
• Asparagus drizzled with olive oil and roasted garlic
• Strawberries and pineapple dipped in chocolate
• Zeppole
• Hazelnut lamb cake with ice cream

Zeppole

Vegetable oil Coconut oil 1 pound prepared pizza dough 1 cup of heavy whipping cream 1 cup Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips Pour equal parts of vegetable oil and coconut oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F. Open the dough tube but don't roll out the dough.  Cut the dough into rounds about a half inch thick or so. When the oil is hot, working in batches, fry the doughnuts until they puff but are still pale, about 45 seconds per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Cool slightly. Cool the fried doughnuts to room temperature. Stir milk chocolate and  whipping cream in a heavy small saucepan over medium-low heat until the chocolate melts. Set aside until the chocolate sauce comes to room temperature but does not set. Dip 1 side of each doughnut into the chocolate mixture. Spring mix salad with Beets and Goat Cheese 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 3 cloves garlic, finely minced 1 tablespoon honey 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper 6 medium beets, cooked and quartered 9-12 cups fresh Spring mix, depending on how large your family is 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted,  1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and cubed 3 ounces soft fresh goat cheese, coarsely crumbled Line a baking sheet with foil. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Whisk the vinegar, garlic, and honey in a medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in the oil. Season the vinaigrette, to taste, with salt and pepper. Toss the beets in a small bowl with enough dressing to coat. Place the beets on the prepared baking sheet and roast until the beets are slightly caramelized, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Set aside and cool. Toss the spring mix and pine nuts in a large bowl with enough vinaigrette to coat. Season the salad, to taste, with salt and pepper. Arrange the beets around the salad. Sprinkle with the avocado and goat cheese, and serve.

These two recipes are variations of recipes found in Giada's Family Dinners.  Recipes for the Roasted Lamb and the Hazelnut Lamb Cake are at the 4Reallearning Forum.