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Home :: Food For Thought :: Archives For March 2010
National Food Bloggers Bake Sale
This post is a challenge to each and every food blogger out there to show the children of America how much we care!
Share Our Strength, the national organization whose mission is to eradicate childhood hunger in America, is having their Great American Bake Sale once again. This year, food bloggers are answering the challenge in a big way!
Food bloggers from across the country are uniting to support the Great American Bake Sale National Challenge by hosting bake sales in their states on April 17. Efforts are being organized by Gaby Dalkin of WhatsGabyCooking.com. Gaby's website has a list of all states with food bloggers who are coordinating the bake sale for their state. If you don't see your state, or if you have questions, please e-mail Gaby @ whatsgabycooking@gmail.com.
I urge each of you to find out if there is a bake sale in your area and help any way you can. If there is no sale in your area, then please click here to donate directly to the national bake sale that benefits Share Our Strength's efforts. I know that HHM food bloggers are the best, and I thank each and every one of you for your contribution on behalf of the Great American Bake Sale!
Food Secrets: Grilled Cheese
Today I am sharing my secret recipe.
Homemade Bread is key to making the perfect grilled cheese sandwich. Two slices of swiss cheese and two slices of provolone cheese, layered. Lots of unsalted butter and a hot, to medium-hot skillet. At the finish a sprinkling of salt on either side as it grills.
You start off with a medium to hot skillet and put the butter into the pan. Move it around so it is covering the bottom of the skillet. Place your sandwich into the pan and coat one side of the bread with the butter. Remove from pan. Add more butter. Now coat the reverse side and reduce heat from high to medium-high. Take your spatula and press down on the top of the sandwich. Turn the sandwich over, but add more butter before placing the sandwich back into the skillet. Press down with spatula. Let it cook for about 1.5 minutes. Add butter as you are flipping the sandwich over. Wait and allow to cook. Lower the heat to medium-low.
Your goal here is to evenly brown the bread and the edges of the crust, plus you want the cheese to be perfectly melted. Lift, add butter, flip over. Press down. Now ... cut the sand
wich in half and return it to the pan, and this time place some butter in the middle, between the divided sandwich. Flip over while adding just a little more butter in the center. Sprinkle with salt and repeat for the other side. Make sure you are not burning your bread and that the cheese is all warm and melting. Eat immediately. You will not believe how much you want to wrap your lips around this perfect grilled cheese delight.
Variations: Tomato slices, fresh basil, crisp fried bacon as a garnish, olive oil and butter if using cibiatta bread. Consider serving it with a little apple chutney on the side.
Featured Community Member: TV Food and Drink
Half Hour Meals member Gary, a TV producer and writer who
lives in Los Angeles, authors a cool blog laced with his own special brand of sarcastic wit, and dedicated to his three favorite things: television, food, and drink. From the moment you visit Gary’s blog, you are transported to another place…a land where groovy people are drinking Harvey Wallbangers and having witty conversations while Dean Martin plays on the hi-fi in the background. Meanwhile, there’s Gary in the center of things, effortlessly cooking something amazing to serve his guests. Read on to learn more about Gary’s world:
Your blog, TV Food and Drink, is a fun mix of food, drink and television. What inspired you to start a blog that combines your favorite things? Thank you! I had been looking for an angle for a while. Then about a year ago, my doctor noticed my blood pressure had gone up quite a bit and suggested some diet changes. My days of fast food were numbered, so I started cooking for the first time in my life. I discovered I had a passion for it. But my job keeps me pretty busy, and in order to keep content coming in, I wanted to widen out the theme of the blog. I love experimenting with new cocktails, and I love television (my profession), and I’m often eating, drinking, and watching all at once. Combine that with the fact that the domain name I wanted – tvfoodanddrink.com – was available, and I had everything I needed to get my blog up and running!
How long have you been cooking? What types of food do you like to cook best? I have only been cooking for about a year. Prior to that, I could manage spaghetti and grilled cheese, and that was about it. So everything I try is a challenge. I don’t really have a preference for the type of food I like to cook, because I feel I have a lot of catching up to do. I want to be able to make anything and everything. I only have a few requirements: 1.) It should fill the halls of my complex with an aroma to make the neighbors jealous. 2.) It should be something my boyfriend will enjoy. I want him to be proud of me, after all. 3.) It should be something I can post to HalfHourMeals.com, of course!
Do you have a signature dish? What is it and how did you come up with it? I don’t think I have a signature dish yet, but I will tell you my favorite meal to make for myself… roasted cherry tomatoes with Italian sausage, goat herb cheese and garlic, cooked for about an hour and served over toasted ciabatta bread. I sleep like a baby after eating that. And I am a sucker for homemade pizza, though I’m still having issues with pizza crust from scratch. Can’t make my damn dough rise the way it should. Doesn’t stop me, though.
There is a distinct retro vibe to the posts in your blog. Where does that come from? If you could live in any era you wanted, which would you choose? I think I was born in the wrong decade. I certainly was obsessed with all things television as a kid. I’m really fascinated by production, watching a show that aired fifty years ago and observing how they did it, what’s different now, what’s the same. Any era? I would have to say the fifties and sixties so I could have gotten myself hired as a producer on What’s My Line? Actually, I would really like to have been a panelist on the show, but I think I’m always destined to be behind the camera, try as I may.
I am a huge fan of the way you weave TV, food and drink together in your posts. The Milk Chocolate Cookies and Crystal Bowersox post was both delicious and laugh-out-loud funny. Are you this funny all the time? First off, thank you very much. And secondly… yes I actually AM that funny all the time. But come on, I defy you to find someone who watches television with friends and DOESN’T come up with a ton of snarky, sarcastic things to say. I can’t be the only person who loves to scream about what he sees on television. P.S. GO CRYSTAL!
Surprise! One of the stars of All My Children (perhaps Susan Lucci?) is coming to dinner! What would you serve? But she’s so skinny. Does she even eat? I guess you have heard that All My Children just re-located from NYC to the stages right next door to ours. Well first off, obviously I would give her a large martini in case she wanted to dramatically toss it in my face. Stuffed mushrooms would follow (recipe to be found at HalfHourMeals.com). An hour or so of conversation on the balcony, and if I didn’t have to worry about serving something that would jimmy up her waistline, I’d go with some fried chickpeas and chorizo with fresh spinach and breadcrumbs, because that’s my current fave. Yes, when you come to Chez TV Food and Drink, you eat what I serve you, Emmy winner or not!
I have to ask…what TV show(s) do you work on? Ever get tongue-tied when you meet someone famous? If so, who was it? Currently, I work at GSN Live on the Game Show Network. Home viewers call or log on to be entered for free as contestants, and they can play live on the air for cash and prizes (here’s the plug… go to GSN.COM/LIVE to enter for your chance to win!). We’ve had a parade of classic game show celebrities as guests: Vanna White, Monty Hall and Wink Martindale were three personal favorites of mine. The closest I got to tongue-tied was Betty White for sure. What a sweet woman! She really is as kind and delightful as you could imagine. And when I met Bob Barker a few weeks before his retirement… that was pretty incredible. I spent my childhood re-creating the games on The Price is Right with playing cards and Legos, so it was a lifetime dream fulfilled.
If you could do your own TV show that combined your love of television, food, and drink, what would it be called and what would it be like? I think “TV Food and Drink” would be a good name, don’t you? Wait! Even better… “TV Food and Drink with your host… that inimitable personality… Gary Green!” Cut to me coming out from behind a curtain in a tuxedo and thanking my sponsor, Stopette. There’d be some cooking with a famed chef, lots of witty banter, an in-house band and an in-house bartender. Sunday nights at nine. I’d kill off those sniping Desperate Housewives for sure.
What are three things people don’t know about you?
1.) If I get to know you at all, I’ll probably create a television show in my mind where you are the star. I’ll even brain-write a couple episodes to see if it has the legs to run a minimum of five seasons.
2.) I watch reruns of Match Game for fun when there’s cleaning to be done.
3.) I hate cumin. Absolutely despise it. Ugh! You’ll find less resistance if you try stapling a beehive to my tongue.
Do you see yourself still blogging several years from now? How do you balance food blogging and life? I love to blog but to do it well takes time and thoughtfulness. I don’t want to just blabber on about myself. I want people to read and think, “YES! That’s how I feel when trying a recipe that’s more complicated that my skill set!” or “YES! I thought the same thing watching American Idol last night.” It’s tempting to just post like crazy when you’ve taken a new picture or made a dish that makes you especially proud, but I like to construct a little story around it first. I want my posts to be fun, but I also hope they’re smart. Will I be blogging several years from now? Oh, we’ll have something new by then, and I’ll be trying to grab my share of unique web hits with it, that’s for sure.
If others were to ask you about Half Hour Meals, how would you describe the site to them? I’ve done my share of website design, and HHM does a great job of visually hooking a foodie and keeping them faithful. So many great recipes I have never even heard of and would never have thought to make, always a new post or recipe to check out whenever you drop by. And it’s completely driven by average chefs just like me. HHM is doing a great job, and I’m happy to have found it. And thanks for including me!
My deepest thanks to Gary for letting us into his world for just a bit. I hope you all will stop by and visit his page at Half Hour Meals, and be sure to check out his wonderful blog as well!
Corned Beef Hash
The day after St. Patrick's Day in our home is always a hash day. Our heritage is deep with Irish roots and there wouldn't be a St. Paddy's Day without corned beef and cabbage. Even with 9 of us, we still wind up with leftovers and I look forward to it. My favorite is hash in the morning topped with an egg - and there are only a few of the others that don't like day-old corned beef. That's OK - it's just more for the rest of us.
This doesn't take much time at all, and once it's simmering, cook the eggs for the top and it will all come together at the right time. This amount is good for 4 to 6.
Corned Beef Hash
3 cups of corned beef - cubed
3 cups cooked potatoes - cubed
1 small onion - chopped
beef or other stock - as needed
1 egg per person - cooked as desired - optional
1. In a large skillet, cook onion in a small amount of oil until it begins to soften.
2. Add beef and potatoes and stir well. Cook until potatoes begin to brown and add enough stock to moisten.
3. Turn the heat to low, cover with a lid and let simmer while eggs are being cooked. If you're not making eggs, cook for about 10 minutes.
4. Remove lid and cook until liquid is evaporated. Salt and pepper to taste and serve topped with a cooked egg if desired.
Midnight MeatBall Madness
Time to go to bed? Nope. Time to try something new in the kitchen. Armed with the determination to make a healthy midnight snack, I opened the refrigerator door to find exactly what I needed. Laura's natural 92% fat free free range beef patties. There were three left. Yes! I grabbed the package and closed the fridge door. I opened the pantry and took out the pepper grinder, Kosher salt, minced onion, garlic powder, paprika, rosemary and oatmeal. Oatmeal? Yes, oatmeal. I blended the herb and spices with the meat and after I scrubbed my hands and nails, I mixed these ingredients into the meat until it was distributed. I did not add the paprika. That was for later.
Time to turn three patties into six big meatballs. Sometimes you just have to make them. I poured olive oil into my pan which I had heated and reduced the heat to medium. I added the six meatballs to the skillet and listened to them sizzle. I always listen to the sounds my food makes as it is cooking. It tells me when to turn it. I added a little more olive oil by drizzling it over top the meat. In the meantime, I took a small onion, peeled it and sliced it into thin portions. After I turned over the meatballs I then added more olive oil and the dried rosemary leaves. The smell was so intensified by these tiny aromatic leaves that I had to inhale the earthy and romantic scent. I waited until the meatballs were ready to turn on their sides, before adding the rings of raw onion. Two minutes later, I removed the meatballs and set them aside. I sprinkled more salt and then the paprika, to give the onions color and an interesting smokiness. I sauteed them and then returned the meatballs to the skillet, spooning the onions over top. I reduced the heat to low.
I washed and pulled apart iceberg lettuce and patted the leaves dry. Next I spread the lettuce onto the dinner plate and placed the meatballs on top. The onions went on next and I got the
Ricotta cheese from the refrigerator and crumbled some smooth creamy cheese all over the hot food. This was great! Jazz music played low, the kitchen was aglow with the stovetop light and I felt excited about my Midnight Meatball Madness.
No bread? Right. You eat with your fingers. Taking a nice portion of lettuce, the meatball, cheese and onion is wrapped inside. Now you might want to use a knife and fork, but where is the adventure in that I ask? Pick it up. Take a bite and let the juicy goodness permeate your mouth and brain. This is um mm good eating and it is actually healthy for you. Twenty minutes was worth it. Being that is is Saint Patrick's Day, I feel like the little people made me do it.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I have absolutely found the best ever potato chips. This is the third bag in only a week. My husband likes them too. Salt and Pepper on a chip. Fabulous!
Member Recipe Review: Pain Perdu (Lost Bread)
There are lots of reasons to love this recipe, but one of my favorite things about it is the name....Pain Perdu or "Lost Bread". It conjures up visions of romantic, Casablanca/Indiana Jones-esque movies doesn't it? Seriously... just because of the name, this recipe "had me at hello"!
Besides the great name, I was attracted to this recipe from HHM member MakeRoux because I really love the whole idea of finding ways to reclaim "lost" or stale bread, especially in these hard economic times. Can I just throw a shout out to the cook who came up with the idea of soaking stale bread in eggs and milk and frying it up? Brilliant! Whoever it was must have lived in times like these when nothing should ever, ever get wasted, and they sure knew what they were doing!
This is another recipe I made with my grandson recently, although he was mainly interested in the process of soaking the bread in the egg/milk mixture as opposed to the actual cooking part (boys....they like the messy stuff don't they?). Anyway, when the cooking was done, we feasted like kings and Brandon saw that breakfast is so much more than toaster pastries and cereal. He was crazy about this wonderful recipe and even suggested that next time we stuff the bread with "that cheese I like" (translated to mean cream cheese). Could it be that I have a budding chef on my hands? Only time will tell! In the meantime, I plan to make Pain Perdu again and again, and I hope you do too!
What Do You Really Eat?
Writing about food all the time, I'm often asked about what we eat on a daily basis in our home. Surely the kids aren't eating coconut risotto or mushroom Stroganoff. True, they can be as finicky as other kids, but they generally have some expanded tastes.
For instance, we recently had an excursion to the supermarket where I let the kids pick out something for dinner they had never tried. In our family, with all the recipe developing and food writing I do, it was harder than you'd think.
We passed by the avocados, the arugula, the artichokes and the collard greens. They'd already tried every meat known to man and the only vegetables we hit on were spaghetti squash and butternut squash. They chose cavatelli to go with it and we were on our way.
Most nights, though, if the kids aren't eating something I've whipped up for a photo or am in the process of developing, they like the same kid stuff that every kid likes, and when I mention 'beef-a-roni' to them, they squeal in delight like it's Christmas Eve.
They know that my beef-a-roni is primarily from a box and they don't care - they love it. Yes - I use boxed macaroni and cheese. I'll admit I prefer the organic boxed variety of mac 'n' cheese and organic canned tomato soup, but like every mom, I don't always have the time or money to make sure those things are in the pantry and we use the same stuff that everyone else uses.
It really doesn't get any easier - 2 boxes of mac and cheese, 1 pound of ground beef, a can of tomato soup and dinner is done in 20 minutes flat. Add a bagged salad and a bottle of Ranch dressing and my kids go to bed with very full tummies and smiles on their faces, and when it comes down to it - that's the thing that matters the most.
What To Do If You Run Out Of...
I have posted about this cook's dilemma before. No matter how carefully 
you check your ingredients before starting to cook (or bake), the day will inevitably arrive when you find yourself halfway the recipe and you realize you're missing something! Sound familiar? I know it sounds familiar to me, because it happened to me just this past weekend!
It's because this happens often enough to be aggravating that I started looking for and keeping a list of "emergency" substitutions, and they come in handy more often than I care to admit! So, if you've never seen my previous post, check it out...print it....keep it handy...and don't forget to add my updates from today's post! The next time you run out of an ingredient in the middle of a cooking session, you'll be glad you did!
Brown Sugar- 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 tbsp. molasses. Combine in a bowl using a fork or an electric mixer. Store in an airtight container and use as you would regular brown sugar.
Baking Mix- 6 cups all purpose flour, 3 tbsp. baking powder, 1 tbsp. baking soda, 3 tbsp. sugar, 1 tbsp. salt, 1 cup vegetable shortening. Combine all your dry ingredients in a large bowl. Using two forks or a pastry blender, cut the shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles fine cornmeal (no lumps!). Store in an airtight container in the fridge and use as you would your favorite "Quick" baking mix.
"Cream of xxxxxxx" Soup- 2 tbsp. butter or margarine, 2 tbsp. flour, 1 cup milk or chicken broth, 1 tsp. salt, 2 tbsp. onion, celery, or mushrooms (optional). Melt the butter over medium heat and saute the vegetables if you are using any (this is entirely optional). Whisk in the flour until smooth. Add milk or broth, whisking as you pour. Continue to stir slowly until the mixture begins to simmer and thicken. Reduce heat and simmer 1 minute. Use in place of 1 can of "cream of xxxxxxx" soup in your recipe. The real beauty of this recipe is that it has less sodium than the "cream of" soup in a can!
Onion Soup Mix- 3/4 cup dried onion, 1/3 cup powdered beef bouillon, 4 tbsp. onion powder, 1/4 tsp. sugar. In a small bowl, mix everything together using a whisk or two forks. Store in an airtight container. 5 tbsp. soup substitute = 1 envelope onion soup mix. Note: To reduce the sodium, use a low-sodium beef bouillon.
Seasoned Salt- 2 tbsp. sea salt, 2 tsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. paprika, 1/4 tsp. turmeric, 1/4 tsp. onion powder, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder. Combine ingredients together in a small bowl, using a fork to make sure there are no lumps. Store in an airtight container or shaker jar.
Member Recipe Review: Egg Fried Rice
I just love Indo-Asian food don't you? I haven't done a member recipe review of anything exotic since my post about Jurate's fantastic Indian-inspired Chorizo Pulao, so I decided it was way past time to pick another yummy Indo-Asian recipe to tell ya'll about.
It took me less than a minute to decide on the recipe I wanted to review for today's post, mostly because I have had my eye on this one for a while, and all I needed was an excuse to cook it! Anyway, the recipe I chose for today is Mythreyi's Egg Fried Rice, and boy is it a winner!
I made this over the weekend with help from my 6-year-old grandson, and we had lots of fun "making kitchen memories" together. The recipe is simple and delicious... Indo-Asian comfort food at it's best! I used brown rice because I had already cooked some for another recipe, and I also added some cooked chicken that I had leftover from the night before. You may also notice that I used peas and carrots instead of French beans and carrots, but that was only because my grandson insisted that we had to use peas (I have no idea why). After we were finished cooking, we didn't even bother with plates...we stood at the stove, Brandon on his kitchen stool with me beside him, and ate right out of the pan!
So if you're looking for an easy, fast, and delicious Indo-Asian recipe to make for dinner tonight, you've come to the right place...try this great Half Hour Meals member recipe! (and let your kids help you- it's fun!)
Fast, Frugal and Good for You - Beans
Beyond the egg, another of what I like to think of as a 'superfood' is beans. Not only are beans frugal and versatile, but they're good for you. Beans are very low in fat, cholesterol free, high in protein and full of fiber.
Although beans can take some time to cook from their dry state, canned beans are a fine alternative and one of the fastest fixes for any dish. But, what do you do with them beyond chili and soup? Here are a few ideas and some links to recipes right here at Half Hour Meals.
Bean Dip - Think outside the box (or can) here. While classic bean dip with pintos is delicious in its own right, white bean dip with a Mediterranean flair is so good (and easy) that you'll turn to it again and again. Combine a can of drained white beans such as cannellini with a clove or two of garlic, sea salt and olive oil and blend until smooth. Add fresh herbs like basil or thyme for different flavor combinations and add a bit of grated Parmesan for real depth of flavor. Serve with toasted pita wedges or a baguette for a great first course of light lunch.
Beans and Pasta - While the combinations here are endless, I really like light colored beans like garbanzos or cannellini beans with angel hair. Toss together with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, a bit of red pepper flakes and cooked shrimp. Light, refreshing and packed with protein.
Bean Patties - Black beans combined with breadcrumbs, cilantro, lime juice, cayenne pepper and a little shredded Monterey jack cheese, shaped into small patties and fried lightly are one of the best 'burgers' around.
Use your imagination - and if you're still stumped, check out the many bean recipes here at Half Hour Meals: Beans
