#calmdownandcook

[youdoyoucooking]

Cornbread (and the some)

There is a cornbread mix out there on the market that we all know and love but making it from scratch is almost as easy and you are 100% in control of what goes into it. You can increase or decrease the sugar, swap out the milk with a variety of dairy products, and stir in what you want to and create the cornbread of your dreams. The cornbread of my children’s dreams is one with actual corn and grated cheddar cheese in it. Once I made it this way it is the only way they will have it now. How are you going to do it that will become the mandatory creation with your loved ones?

Cornbread

Makes about 9 servings

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

¾  teaspoon salt (½ teaspoon plus ¼ teaspoon)

1 cup milk or buttermilk

1/3 cup cooled melted butter or vegetable oil 

1 large egg

Preheat the oven: Set your oven to 400°F. Generously grease an 8-inch square baking dish or a 9 inch cast iron skillet.

Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients and mix the milk, vegetable oil (or melted butter), and egg. Should be well combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Don't overmix, it's okay if there are a few lumps. Over-stirring will make it tough.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish or skillet. Bake for about 25-28 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Allow the cornbread to cool slightly before slicing and serving.

Simple things to try-

Add corn. This works for a sweet or savory product. ½ to 1 cup of frozen corn that has been defrosted can be added to the batter right before putting it into the baking dish. You may have to cook another 5 minutes because of the added bulk.

Swap out the milk for sour cream or plain yogurt. This will make your cornbread more moist and tender but the batter will be a bit dry to mix (don’t worry).

Sweet additions

Sprinkle a coating of sugar on top before baking. Demerara sugar works nicely here if you have it in your pantry.

Swap out honey or maple syrup for the sugar. This makes the batter a little looser so you may have to bake another 2-3 minutes.

Add a teaspoon of cinnamon to your batter. It can go in with the dry ingredients.

½  cup of almost any fruit works. Be sure to chop it fairly small. I like a peeled apple or sliced bananas.

½ cup of cooked, mashed sweet potato

Any kind of chopped nuts sprinkled on top before baking

Savory Additions

½ to 1 cup of grated cheese. This is a no-brainer as a side dish for chili. Almost any cheese will work.

4 ounces of canned diced green chilis.

½ to 1 cup of diced fresh poblano peppers.

Arrange sliced jalapenos on top of the cornbread before baking

½ cup of sliced green onions or ¼ cup of chopped chives

1 cup of shredded zucchini, squeezed dry of excess liquid (there are a lot of sweet choices to incorporate with this too)

Cooked Chorizo. Almost enough said? 1 cup of cooked crumbled chorizo stir in before baking.

Are you inspired? A cornmeal batter is sturdy and can hold up to any addition you want to add to it. Remember, the more you add, the more baking time you may have to the total.

What’s your crazy idea and when are you going to add it to an 8x8 pan of cornbread?

[youdoyoucooking]

Adaptable Quiche

There is no such thing as the “Quiche Police”

Quiche was one of the first things I learned to make when I was 12 years old. My mother had just returned to the workforce and I was learning to cook to help her out. She said a quiche was easy, mostly assembling things rather than actual “cooking”. Over the years this is what I have learned.

The basics of a quiche are pretty simple. As long as your egg-to-dairy-to-filling proportions are consistent, you can do anything you want. Our family’s “norm” was Spinach and Cheese Quiche but I soon realized that you could turn anything you found into quiche filling by peeking into your fridge and cleaning it out.  There is no such thing as the “Quiche Police”. For a 9-inch pie crust, you just mix 5 or 6 eggs and ¾ cup of some kind of dairy liquid or dairy substitute for a base. Then you can go wild with 2 to 2 ½ cups of solid ingredients for flavor and texture. About 1 cup of this is usually cheese but relax, that’s not written in stone. Now all that’s left is the seasoning. You can increase or decrease according to your taste. It can be as simple as salt and pepper. Want to switch onion salt for regular salt? Perfectly acceptable. A couple of dashes of Tabasco? Sure. Now you get it. Go with what flavors you love.

So let’s begin. First, we need some ingredients. You look in the fridge and find some leftover ham from last night's dinner, a bag of shredded cheese you had planned to use for taco night but went out for pizza instead, and some scallions left over from the salad you made for lunch. Now, make a quiche.

Quiche

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

The Base:

1 refrigerated 9-inch pie crust (or homemade if doing that brings you joy)

6 large eggs

¾ cup any kind of milk (or dairy substitute)

The Flavor and Texture: 

1 cup cooked ham chopped 

1 cup shredded cheese (any kind you like best)

¼  cup of sliced green onions (or finely diced onions, any kind)

The Seasoning:

½  teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Let's start with the crust.  We always had a store-bought pie crust in our freezer, ready to go. I still keep them in my freezer, there is no shame in that. Store-bought pie crust has vastly improved over the years and you save more in stress and clean-up than you gain in saying it’s a homemade crust. If you are using the dough that comes in sheets and unfolds, unfold it and press it into a 9" pie plate, crimping the top edges if desired. This can be done by simply pushing the tines of a fork around the edge or the internet will offer many other ways if you want to get more fancy. If you have the kind that comes already crimped in its pie dish, you are set and ready to go.  

The one cheffy thing I do is blind-bake the crust. It will make a world of difference and is a good skill to have in your back pocket for dessert pies.

While the oven is preheating, cut a square of parchment paper or aluminum foil 2 inches wider than the pie pan you are using and place it on top of your crust. If you are using parchment paper, it can help to crinkle it up into a tight ball, and then open it up again. This will help it fit better into the pan. Gently pour pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice on top of the parchment paper or foil to fill the pan. This will hold down the crust and prevent the dough from puffing up during baking. I like to use dried beans, they are cheap, easy to pour, and spill less than rice. I keep them in a ziplock bag and use them all year. Bake the pie crust, with the weights for 10 minutes then lift out the parchment or foil along with the weights, and put the crust back in the oven for another 10 minutes. This whole process will give the crust a jump on the baking and keep the egg mixture from giving it the dreaded soggy bottom.

In a large bowl, whisk together your eggs, dairy liquid, and salt and pepper. A traditional or immersion blender will also get this done efficiently and leaves no trace of the unbeaten egg.

Evenly sprinkle the chopped ham, cheese, and green onions into the blind-baked pie crust. Pour the egg mixture over the top. You may find it easier to put your pan in the oven, on a cookie sheet, it will be pretty full.. Makes the transfer to the oven a lot easier.

With the pan on a cookie sheet, bake for 45-50 minutes until the center is completely set. A toothpick inserted into the center of the quiche should come out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. A quiche can be made the day before you need it and will keep for 2 to 3 days in your refrigerator. It’s delicious served cold. 

Now here is the fun part. 

Be brave, go crazy. 

Remember, for a 9-inch pie crust, you want 5 to 6 eggs and ¾ cup of some kind of milk or dairy substitute for the base and 2 to 2 ½ cups of flavor and filling. About 1 cup of this should (or could) be cheese. If you are leaning towards the full 2 ½ cups of filling, go with 5 eggs so you don’t run over the sides.

Here are some other filling variations to try

A 10-ounce bag of chopped frozen (but defrosted) spinach, squeezed dry of all the water, this leaves 1 cup of spinach. 1 cup of shredded cheese. Total solid filling: 2 cups 

6-ounce can (¾ cup) of drained crab meat, ¼ cup of thinly sliced scallions, and 1 cup of shredded cheese. Total solid filling: 2 cups

1 cup of sliced sauteed mushrooms. Saute in butter or olive oil. Be wild and add some crushed garlic, plus 1 cup of shredded cheese. Cook the mushrooms on high enough heat to dry them out and there’s no excess liquid. Total solid filling: 2 cups

4 ounces (½ cup) of Goat Cheese, a bunch of chopped chives, and 2 medium onions caramelized. Two onions slow-cooked in butter until golden brown, when properly caramelized will equal about ½ cup. Finally 1 cup of shredded cheese. Total solid filling: 2 ½ cups 

2 medium sliced zucchini chopped and sauteed in butter or olive oil until some of the moisture is cooked away. 2 sliced zucchini will cook down to about 1 cup when sauteed.1 cup of shredded cheese.Total solid filling: 2 cups

1 cup of frozen chopped broccoli (defrosted and at room temperature) plus 1 cup of shredded cheese. Total solid filling: 2 cups

8 ounces of sliced and cooked breakfast sausage, with cubes of boiled potato plus 1 cup of shredded cheese.

Sliced Poblano Chili, a few sliced jalapenos (as many as the mood strikes you), frozen corn (defrosted and at room temperature) any combination can be used, as long as you stick to the ration.

Random Add-ins to be used at your heart's content as long as you stick to the ratio

½ cup chopped Artichoke Hearts

¼ cup Slice Green Olives

¼ cup Sliced Black Olives

2 tablespoons of Chopped Chives

2 to 3 tablespoons of Pesto

¼ cup Salsa (red or green)

Sprinkle of Old Bay Seasoning

Lemon Pepper (instead of salt and pepper)

When surveyed, people on the interweb like this in their quiche.

Purple Onion, Spinach, Goat Cheese

Basil, Smoked Gouda, New Potatoes 

Caramelized Onions, Ham, Asparagus

Roasted Red Peppers, Mushrooms, Spinach

Artichoke Hearts, Feta, Greek Olives

[youdoyoucooking]

High Fashion Coleslaw 

Coleslaw is something people ask you to bring to neighborhood picnics or it randomly shows up in a tiny bowl next to a sandwich you just ordered.  It can be a topping for a pulled pork sandwich, a hotdog or you can just eat a big bowl of it standing in front of the refrigerator for dinner when no one is looking. Coleslaw can be delicious, it can also be horrible.

The “authentic” recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken Coleslaw has ⅓ cup sugar in it. That’s unnecessary and kinda gross. But that’s just me.  I have never put sugar in my coleslaw, but you can if you want to, you do you. You can actually put anything you want in coleslaw, but it usually starts with cabbage. 

Let’s make your “slaw”. I follow no official recipe which really lets me go with what I’m craving. Green cabbage is where I start. Any green cabbage works. Cabbage in coleslaw should be chopped or very finely shredded. Sometimes, I can find a bag of pre-shredded cabbage in the produce section at the grocery store and I celebrate that step was done for me (a 14 ounce bag serves about 4 people). Red cabbage can also be used, just don’t let it break your heart when it tints everything pink. Just call the pink “festive” and move forward as if you did it on purpose. 

How much should you make? This is where you get comfortable with “eyeballing” the amount. Does it look right, does it look like enough? Can you imagine the bowl you make it in serving 4,6, or 8 people? Are they big eaters or do you want leftovers? I know you know what this looks like. Start with an appropriate bowl.

Once you have your cabbage ready, look to embellishments. The cabbage is going to be 50 to 75% of your dish, you get to choose what else goes in there. The remainder will be made up of Cabbage Friends and Cabbage Sparklers. These are just my words, friends and sparklers, you can name your ingredients whatever you want.

 A Cabbage Friend is what will make up the rest of your slaw. This can be almost anything, fruit or vegetable. A classic slaw usually has carrots and some red cabbage but I encourage you to think outside of the box and use what you have or what appeals to you. Just try to cut in a size that’s similar to the cabbage. A Cabbage Sparkler is that random accessory that makes people ask “what’s in here”? A light sprinkle of something that will dress up your Coleslaw. Something like a dried cranberry adds a little sweetness or sunflower seed adds a surprise crunch. Cabbage Friends and Cabbage Sparklers are the things that make your Coleslaw expressly yours. Don’t let your cabbage be lonely. See the inspiration list below and then take it from there.

Finally, don’t drown it in the dressing, use just enough to lightly coat everything. The dressing can be any favorite one you already have in the fridge or you can be inspired by the flavor profile of your main dish and create one from scratch. A vinaigrette (​​3 parts oil, 1 part vinegar with the herbs and spices of your choice) is one way to keep the coleslaw light. A creamy ranch (a salad dressing that features buttermilk and mayonnaise combined with herbs and spices) is also a classic. Both these choices can be premade.

The recipe is this. You’ll just slice or chop the amount of cabbage you need. Picture this has 50% to 75% of the whole dish. Friends and sparklers make-up the rest. Choose some dressing and you’re ready to go. 

Cabbage Friends 

(Things to shred, combine, and add to the cabbage)

Carrot

Jicama

Radish

Red onion

Scallions

Roasted Golden Beets

Apples (spritz with lemon juice to keep from browning)

Pears (spritz with lemon juice to keep from browning)

Fresh Fennel

Your favorite vegetable you are currently obsessed with

Cabbage Sparklers -  

(Things to sprinkle on judiciously, with good judgment or sense)

Peanuts

Sunflower Seeds

Sesame Seeds

Grapes

Raisins

Dried Cranberries

Parsley

Chopped Pickled anything

Crunchy Chow Mein noodles

Chopped Kimchi

Fun things to throw together in a dressing.

Miso

Sriracha

Buttermilk

Mayo

Yogurt

Sour Cream

Whatever you want

The key to coleslaw lies in using a variety of crunchy ingredients and avoiding soaking in a dressing. Be daring and proceed with confidence. It can be a side dish but I see no reason it couldn’t be a main dish. Toss in some tuna, leftover chicken, or Salmon (look at you! Putting salmon in your coleslaw, so fancy). Letting coleslaw rest for 3 to 4 hours lets it soak up the flavors and tenderizes the cabbage but that's not mandatory. Served right away it highlights the crispness and each ingredient shines separately as you chew. Again, you do you. Embrace the process and make a new one every time. Make good coleslaw. Soon it’s your signature dish.

[youdoyoucooking]

Chowder/Chowda

Chowder is a thick, hearty soup often made with a milk or cream base. It's known for its chunky texture and is usually filled with potatoes, onions, and some type of seafood or corn.

I grew up on the beach in Connecticut so chowder was a “given” in my Mom’s repertoire. My parents had famous clambakes on the beach and any leftovers were turned into Clam Chowder the next day. In all honesty, I am not a fan of a whole squishy clam in my chowder, which is what Mom would do (she’d say something about their integrity). I like a chopped clam so I don’t have to acknowledge what they were. 

Typically chowder is a rich, creamy soup that often includes seafood or vegetables, and is commonly thickened with milk or cream. Did I just mention tomatoes? Do you know where this is going? Manhattan Chowder is not a chowder. It is a seafood stew. It’s not even from Manhattan, its history can be traced back to Portuguese immigrants from Rhode Island. Let’s move on.

You can use almost any kind of fish and still call it a chowder. Frozen, but defrosted fish also works wonderfully. Another traditional flavoring is salt pork. Mom used salt pork. It is a type of cured meat made from pork belly or pork sides that have been heavily salted to preserve them. Unlike bacon, salt pork is not smoked, which gives it a different flavor profile but it is very hard to find so I make do with bacon. I think it works fine.

If you want to make this soup ahead of time, do it up to the point of adding dairy and seafood. This can hold for several days or even be frozen (call it chowder base, look how organized you are!) The dairy and seafood can be added at the last minute right before you heat it to serve. Read through this clam chowder recipe and then decide on the spin you are gonna put on it. Are you going to play with herbs and spices? Will you use full-fat milk instead of ½ and ½? Be bold and increase the seafood amounts if that’s what you want. Pretend you are from New England and call it “ChowdA”, you’ll fit right in.

Let's start with a very simple recipe for a Chowder and then I'll show you how to create some variations and make it your own. 

Clam Chowder

Serves 6

(remember, you are the captain)

5 slices bacon, sliced into ½ inch pieces

1 cup diced onion ( or the equivalent in diced leeks)

2 stalks of celery, diced

3 cups peeled and diced russet potatoes, about 2 large or 3 medium sized potatoes, 

1/2 teaspoon salt (you may need to add more in the end, depending on your bacon)

3 tablespoons of flour

3 cans (6.5 ounces each) chopped clams with juice

8 ounce bottle of clam juice

1 cup chicken broth

2 cups of ½ and ½ (or whole milk)

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)

Fresh black pepper to taste, but traditionally lots!

Chopped Parsley for garnish 

Cook the bacon in a large soup pot until crisp. Remove the bacon but leave the fat behind. Add the onions, and celery to the pot, stirring with the bacon fat. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper to taste, and add the thyme. Cook for 5 minutes until the vegetables have softened a bit and then add the bacon back in.

Sprinkle the flour into the pot and stir to combine. Cook for 30 seconds to make sure the flour is absorbed and coating everything in the pot. You should see no traces of dry flour at this point.

Slowly pour the chicken broth and clam juice into the pot, stirring while you are pouring to smooth out any lumps and scraping up the bottom of the pot as you stir. Add your potatoes now. Bring to a simmer for 10 minutes to thicken. If you want to freeze, freeze now (Add ½ and ½ and seafood after defrosting and you’re ready to serve).

Stir in the ½ and ½, canned clams (with their juice). Bring the chowder to a very low simmer, do not let this boil. Cook partially covered for 30 minutes. Stir the chowder often so that the potatoes don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. The broth will thicken as it cooks. If it feels too thick add a splash of milk (or white wine).

Pierce a couple of the potatoes with a fork to ensure they are tender. If they need a bit more time, cover and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Serve with fresh chopped parsley for garnish and crackers on the side. To be very traditional you can float a thin slice of butter on top of each bowl of soup. It will melt into the chowder. To really elevate this soup place a tablespoon of sherry on top with the butter (look at you! You’re using sherry!).

Now you’re all about chowder and you get the basic concept. There are many flavorful things to cook in broth and some dairy. Where are you going to go from here? Where do you want to go from here?

Salmon Chowder- This is easy. Swap your clams out for 1 ½ pound of salmon filets. You could use up to 2 pounds of salmon if you feel luxurious. Lay the salmon in step 4 and at the end of step 5 they should be cooked. Take the cooked salmon from the pot, remove and toss the skin, and flake into big chunks, then return to the pot. Increase the clam juice to 2 cups (or seafood stock if you have found some) because you will not have the juice from the canned clams. Swap the thyme out for some dill. Dill is always a friend of salmon. What if you garnished this with smoked salmon? You do you.

Seafood Chowder- Seafood chowder can be just like the salmon chowder but with any assortment of seafood. A total of 2 pounds of shrimp, some cod, and maybe you have tilapia. It’s your choice. Increase the clam juice to 2 cups (or seafood stock). This would be a good time to add a generous sprinkle of Old Bay Seasoning if you have it.

Corn Chowder- This is another “leftover surprise” (anything I make with leftovers, my children call “leftover surprise”). If you have too much corn on the cob, simple strip the kernels from the cob with a sharp knife and make this. Of course, you can do this with frozen corn too. Skip the canned clams. Toss in 2-3 cups of corn. The amount depends on your taste at the moment. Swap out clam juice for chicken broth and increase that measurement to 2 cups.

Street Corn Chowder- Make the corn chowder recommendation and add a diced poblano chili when sauteeing the onion and celery. Replace the salt with Tajin (or any chili lime seasoning). When you serve it garnish with more Tajin, some chopped cilantro, and a healthy sprinkle of cotija cheese (or feta if you can’t find it cotija)

Potato Chowder- Instead of 3 cups of potatoes, increase to 5 cups and swap out clam juice for 2 cups of chicken broth. When the potatoes are soft and cooked, mash some of them with a fork against the side of your pot. Awesome in the dead of Winter. Garnish with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese.

Potato and Sausage Chowder- Make the potato chowder and add 1 pound of cooked crumbled sausage, any kind.

Sweet Potato Chowder- Make the potato chowder but swap out the potatoes with sweet potatoes. That simple.

There are no rules for Chowder. You can create what you want. Is there a broccoli or cauliflower chowder in your future?

[youdoyoucooking]

Do the Mashed Potatoes

Growing up, mashed potatoes were something that was served with a roast. Roast chicken, roast pork, or anything that came with gravy, usually came with mashed potatoes. It was important to make a pool in the middle of your serving so the gravy had somewhere to go. Because the whole meal was usually very elegant, mashed potatoes were very classic, streamlined, and not embellished. Butter, milk, salt, pepper, and potatoes. 

But now mashed potatoes are really a blank canvas waiting to be filled up. Look in your fridge or your pantry for some enhancements. Skip out to the herb garden and find some beautiful flavor to add. If it appeals to you then the flavor is perfect. Play your cards right and the potatoes can be your whole meal. Look beyond bacon and cheddar cheese, you are so much more creative than that.

Classic Mashed Potatoes

Serves 6

3 pounds Yukon gold, Russet potatoes, or red potatoes

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 4 pieces,

1 teaspoon salt,

½  cup (or more if needed) of whole warm milk (or the milk product of your choice)

More salt and some to taste

Scrub the potatoes under water. You can peel the potatoes or leave the skins on, I usually peel russet and leave skins on red and yellow potatoes, your choice.

Cut the potatoes into 1½ -inch pieces (approximately, don’t go crazy with a ruler). Place them in a pot of cold water. Add 1 teaspoon salt to the water.

Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil potatoes for 10-12 minutes, until tender when pierced with a fork, but not falling apart. Drain the potatoes in a strainer, making sure you get as much water out as possible.

Immediately return the drained potatoes to the empty hot pot. Let the potatoes hang out in the hot pot, tossing now and then, for 2-3 minutes over low heat to evaporate any extra moisture. This will help them absorb the warm milk. (this is something I learned from Julia Child and it makes a big difference).

Add the butter pieces to the potatoes in the pot. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes. Hard-core French restaurants will put them through a sieve but is that a “you” thing? 

Taste potatoes and add salt, pepper, warm milk, and any other additional flavoring you want to add. At this point, you can decide if you want to add additional warm milk to loosen up the consistency to your liking.

Stand over the bowl you are preparing the potatoes in and eat with a spoon (kidding, or maybe not). Time to serve.

Is some cheddar cheese and bacon your vision of a dialed-up mashed potato? There’s so much more you can play with. Look at this list to get some inspiration and then you’re ready to create your masterpiece. Amounts are up to you but generally anywhere between a ½ to ¾ of a cup per add-in.

Add any chopped herbs, is there something in the main dish that you want to repeat in the potatoes? Try 1 or 2 tablespoons.

Roasted Garlic (see recipe on page #) A whole head seems like a lot but is probably perfect.

Cream Cheese, 4 to 8 ounces, cut into 1-inch cubes.

Sun-dried tomatoes, cut into slivers

Caramelized Onions (see recipe on page #)

Sauteed diced Shallots

Cubes of Ham

Flaked Smoked Salmon (or any smoked fish)

Prepared Horseradish

Goat Cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes.

Boursin Cheese crumbled.

Feta Cheese crumbled

Bleu Cheese crumbled (scallions would be good with bleu cheese)

Steamed chopped kale or spinach

Chopped Roasted Brussels Sprouts (for real)

Fun facts about Mashed Potatoes.

Start the potatoes in cold water and then bring it to a boil. Using a cold start promotes even cooking, so the outsides of the potatoes won’t overcook by the time the insides are done. Even cooking is also why you want to cut potatoes into equal sizes before boiling, instead of boiling them whole. 

Adding salt to the cooking water flavors the potatoes from the beginning. Your first opportunity for flavor.

To avoid lumps, cook the potatoes until they are very soft and tender when pierced with a fork or knife. Lumpy mashed potatoes are usually caused by mashing undercooked potatoes (but you also don’t want them overcooked so they become watery).

Use a hand-held potato masher. They are not that expensive and they can be used to mash refried beans or break up ground beef while you are cooking it. Using an electric mixer is easy, but it can result in a gummy or gluey texture because it's too easy to overwork the potatoes. Always be careful not to overwork the potatoes.

Be sure to use softened butter and warm milk (or cream). You can always add more milk if you aren’t satisfied with the texture.

Your challenge now is to figure out how to make a bowl of mashed potatoes your entire meal. You got this.

[youdoyoucooking]

Your Famous Chocolate Tart

My family has a complicated history with Chocolate. My Dad could sniff it out in a stranger's kitchen. When we lost my Grandmother he slipped some miniature chocolate bars into her casket. It seemed only appropriate that we did it for him when we lost him too. Chocolate was a way to celebrate or a way to lament. A chocolate bar was an inexpensive way to show love or affection. A chocolate box with a map of the flavors in the box was the ultimate gift. Shout out to the ancient Olmecs of southern Mexico for introducing this gift to my family and the rest of the world. This Chocolate Tart is dedicated to all members of my family.

I wanted to present an exceptionally simple chocolate tart. One that didn’t judge you on your preference of milk chocolate or dark bittersweet. One that asked for the addition of one or two extra ingredients to make it your own. You could even make this tart replicate your favorite candy bar or just eat it as is. It’s quick to throw together and keeps well in the fridge for 3 or 4 days. Bring it to a friend for no reason and they will weep with joy.

Chocolate Tart

1 9” inch tart pan

8 servings

22 classic Oreo cookies (don’t use the “thins” or the “double stuffed”)

5 tablespoons of melted butter (any kind)

12 ounces of chocolate chips or chopped chocolate pieces, any percentage you like best.

1 cup of heavy cream

5 tablespoons of butter.

Preheat oven to 350. 

Pulse whole Oreo cookies in a food processor until finely ground (Pulse =  turning food processor on and off in short bursts). Transfer the crumbs to a bowl, add the 6 tablespoons of melted butter, and mix until combined and moistened. Will resemble wet sand.

Spray the tart pan with a light coating of a non-stick spray. Press the crumb mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan. Try to have the sides of the tart pan a little thicker than the bottom. 

Bake the crust in a 350F preheated oven for 8 minutes and let cool.

Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set aside. 

In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the heavy cream and butter to a low boil. Remove from the heat as soon as it boils and pour the mixture over the chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute. 

Stir the mixture until melted and smooth. If not completely melted, heat in the microwave for several seconds and stir, until melted. (Don’t microwave for more than 5-10 second bursts at a time, be wary of really strong microwaves, you don’t want the chocolate to burn). Initially, it will look like the filling will never come together. Be patient, and keep stirring, soon it will be one glorious liquid.

Pour mixture into chilled Oreo crust and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours or overnight is best. If there is any leftover filling, put it in a jar and warm up later for an ice cream topping.

Make the Olmecs, Mayans, and Aztecs proud. What can you do with this tart?

 The easiest thing to do with this tart is to switch up the Oreo flavor. Zero extra work. They have vanilla, mint, peanut butter, and often a seasonal one. These could all be fun. Try a crust with one of these flavors.

Grown-up tart. Try 2 tablespoons of a flavored liquor, although I think Bourbon or Dark Rum would be good too. Sprinkle over the chocolate right before you pour the hot cream over it. I’m imagining a Hazelnut liquor and then decorating the top of the tart with whole roasted hazelnuts.

Jam this tart. Right before you pour the filling into the crust, spread a thin layer of jam all over the bottom. I have seedless raspberry jam in my mind but, you do you.

Caramel and chocolate. Right before you pour the filling into the crust, spread a thin layer of store-bought caramel sauce all over the bottom. If it is too thick to spread evenly, warm it briefly. It will thicken up as soon as it cools down and then even more once in the refrigerator.

Nuts to you. Sprinkle chopped or whole nuts on top. Stick just to the edge of the tart in a circle if you want it to look fancy.

A healthy pinch of instant espresso into the chocolate filling will make a mocha. Use as much caffeine as you can tolerate.

If there is some glorious fruit in season, decorate the top with it. Maybe get in touch with your inner artist and combine this move with any of the above ideas.

A pinch of chili powder and red pepper is a surprise and lovely when you serve it with whipped cream. Call it “El Diablo”. Impress your friends.

This chocolate tart recipe is really a blank canvas waiting for you to make it your own. The Aztecs considered chocolate a gift from the Gods and treated it like currency. What are you going to do to live up to their expectations?

[youdoyoucooking]

Big Old Pot Pie

When I was growing up, pot pies for dinner meant my parents were going out for the night. They were quick and easy. Mom always bought 4 individual ones, one for each of the 4 kids. They were all the same but we fought over which of the four we claimed for our own and wrote our initials in the dough with a knife (we were fairly sophisticated). There is a debate amongst individual pot pie enthusiasts, do you eat it out of the mini aluminum pie pan or do you turn it out onto the plate? It is agreed upon, however, that they are always too hot to eat right out of the oven. I never realized when I was younger that it could be one full-sized pie. It never occurred to younger me. A full-size pot pie was calling.

 Pot pies are versatile because they are almost anything savory between two crusts. You can even eliminate the bottom crust or use mashed potatoes for the top crust. You can do whatever you dream of. They look complicated but they are just a matter of assembly.

Pot Pie                                                                                                                                               

Serves 6-8

 2 9-inch pie crusts, store-bought or homemade

⅓ cup butter

1 small onion chopped

¼ dried sage leaves

¼   teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1 large carrot peeled and sliced

½  cup celery diced

1 medium potato peeled and diced into ½-inch cubes (or not peeled)

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2  cups cooked cubed chicken (can be rotisserie chicken)

1¼ cups chicken broth

½ cup half and half (or whole milk)

½ cup frozen green peas thawed

½ cup corn kernels thawed if frozen

½ teaspoon of salt

¼ teaspoon of pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 egg + 1 tablespoon of water (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350°. Line a 9-inch pie pan (8-inch would work too) with one of the pie crusts. Smooth into all of the corners, but try to not stretch the dough.

Melt the butter in the bottom of a medium-sized saucepan. Add the onions to the butter and saute over medium heat for 2-4 minutes or until the onions start to soften. 

Add the carrots, potato, celery, and dried herbs and cook for another 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables in the pan and stir well until everything is lightly coated. Stir until you no longer see any white, dry flour.

Add the chicken broth while stirring (or whisking) vigorously to prevent lumps. Let this mixture gently bubble away for 5 minutes or until the potatoes and carrots are partially soft. They don’t have to be completely cooked because they will continue to cook in the oven. The sauce will also be thickened more in the oven.

Add peas, corn, half and half, parsley, salt, and pepper to your filling. Stir well, and check the seasoning. Do you want more salt or pepper (I tend to like a lot of pepper)? At this point, the filling can be made 3-4 days ahead and refrigerated.

Let this filling cool completely before putting the filling in the crust. Try not to stand over the filling and eat with a spoon, but, you do you.

Lay the top crust over it and crimp the edges with the tines of a fork or any decorative way you desire (there are hundreds of ways to crimp a pie crust, check the internet). Crimping just seals the top and bottom crusts together so the filling doesn’t bubble out. Take a small sharp knife and poke 3 to 4 slashes in the middle of the top crust to let steam escape.

If, and only if, you are fancy you can beat an egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush it over the top of the crust right before backing. This will give it a nice brown color and a bit of a shine.

Place the pie on a baking sheet in case there is some spillage and bake, in the lower third of your oven,  at 350° degrees for 60 minutes. It is important to bake in the lower third of the oven so the bottom crust will cook. This is a long bake time but it is a big pie. If the pie gets to dark brown towards the end you can lightly drape a piece of foil over the top. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

What to do now? What if you don’t like chicken? What if you’re having a vegetarian over for dinner? Some many “what ifs”. There’s some basic math here. 3 cups of a vegetable and approximately 2 cups of protein. The flour, broth, and ½ and ½ can stay the same but everything else is up for variation. 

The potato can be butternut squash or sweet potato

 The carrots can be Green Beans

Have a problem with celery? Add something you do like or skip.

Sage and thyme can be rosemary or skipped

How about a little cayenne pepper along the way? Maybe a sprinkle of curry powder?

Use a bag of mixed vegetables, just measure out 3 cups.

I’m sure lima beans have a place in here somewhere.

Stir in ¾ cup of grated cheddar cheese before filling the pie crust.

Protein! Cubes of any leftover cooked meat. Steak, pork, or lamb.

1 pound of cooked ground meat instead of chicken. Again steak, pork, or lamb.

Make it for a vegetarian. Double your potatoes and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

You can skip the top crust and gently spoon mashed potatoes across the top of the pie. Seal every cranny of the pie. If you try this you will only need 45 minutes of cooking time. A pot pie is something people have forgotten about. Bring one back out and amaze everyone.

[youdoyoucooking]

The Goodness of Shredded Pork

When my children were growing and hungry all the time, I tried to make this pork dish in large quantities and keep it portioned in my freezer. The cooking method has evolved over time and now I believe it is perfect (and I never say that about any recipe). I slowly roast a pork shoulder in a Dutch oven (or large casserole that has a lid) and then shred it. I noticed that the crispy bits around the edges were the most desired among my family. In this part of my life, I had raised 2 children with refined culinary tastes. They didn’t fool around, it was all my fault. My son called the crispy brown parts “the goodness”. Now my main goal became developing more goodness. So my next step was to brown all the edges and sides in a non-stick pan first before I roasted it. I started cooking larger cuts of meat because I had moved from Seattle to Kansas City and I had become bolder about cooking large cuts of meat. Kansas City will do that to you.

 My final genius move was to throw it back into the non-stick pan after it was cooked and shredded and really develop the browning. These parts were kept moist with a splash of the drippings at the end of the cooking process. 

This pulled pork’s adaptability shines in the variety of dishes and nationalities it can embrace when you pull it out of the refrigerator or freezer. You’ve cooked it with only salt and pepper so the spices and flavoring can be swayed by the end product you are going for. This whole process starts with a Pork Shoulder. It is often large and cumbersome but worth the time put into it with the massive amounts of time you save making future meals. This is a cheaper cut of meat that is often on sale and the size you use is completely adaptable. 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

 3-5 pork shoulder (bone-in or boneless)

2-3 teaspoons of coarse salt (enough to sprinkle on the entire piece of meat)

1-1½  teaspoon of ground pepper

1 cup of broth (beef, or chicken)

Preheat oven to 400°. 

Heat vegetable oil in a large non-stick skillet. Brown all sides of the pork until a rich dark brown appears on the sides. You may need a wooden spoon or two to balance it while it browns. Be careful, it may spit (don’t worry, it’s not mad at you). When you are happy with the browning on all sides, put pork in a large Dutch oven or casserole dish with a lid (If you simply do not have something large enough to hold the pork shoulder, you can cut it in half to fit or make your own lid with foil) and put in the oven and turn down to 300 for 4 hours. 

After the 4 hours, take out of the oven and let cool for 1 hour (or more) and then put in refrigerator until the fat congeals around the liquid that has accumulated. You are letting it cool initially to you don’t put something hot in your fridge. The time in the fridge can be 2-3 hours or you can leave it overnight.

Spoon out all the fat and put 3 tablespoons of it in the non-stick frying pan. Don’t throw away any liquid that has accumulated around the meat. You’re going to use it later. Use 2 forks (or your hands, I use my hands) to pull the pork apart into large chunks. Heat the 3 tablespoons of fat and place the shredded meat in the pan. Try not to stir it until you see some browning. You will know this has started to happen because the fat will get very loud and then very quiet. (Cooking is with your ears too!) It will shred and fall apart more during this process. Toss the meat around to get another layer browned. You may want to do this 2 or 3 times. Each layer produces more goodness.

When you are happy with the balance of crunchy and tender meat, throw in the liquid that accumulated around the pork while cooking. Let that liquid boil on high until it has reduced by half. Use right away or let cool completely, divide into portions, and freeze in baggies. 

Organize your cooking!

30 minutes for browning

4 hours for slow roasting

(at least) 1 hour to cool

A couple of hours or overnight for the fat to congeal

30 minutes for extra browning

Now you have 3 to 4 portions of crispy but tender shredded pork that will serve about 4 each. What to do? What to do?

The easiest thing to do is toss the meat with your favorite premade BBQ sauce (or homemade, you do you). As much or as little as you want (Some people like it very saucy). Serve this warmed-up on a bun or a roll.

Take this shredded meat and make taco filling. You can heat it with some chili powder and cumin. Make tacos with shredded cheese, lettuce, and salsa. Of course, you can use your favorite taco fillings. Almost any classic Mexican dish will work here.

Make a classic fried rice with onion, peas, and carrots. Right before you serve it throw in some of the pork and give it a stir. Look, you just made pork fried rice!

Stir fry some broccoli florets until tender. Season with soy sauce and sesame oil. This is a good time to use any random hot sauce you have in your refrigerator. Something like a chili crisp or sriracha sauce would be tasty here. Add the pork, sprinkle with some sesame seeds or scallions before serving.

Nachos! Mound on top a pile of tortilla chips and make nachos. If you add protein and you can call it dinner. All you practically need to do is melt cheese on top.

Use this meat in a tomato pasta sauce. It will become softer and fall apart more as you simmer it.

Make a classic grill cheese but sprinkle some of the pork in it with a light layer of sauerkraut in it. Make up a name for this. Have it be your famous sandwich that everyone talks about.

This dish takes a little preplanning but is worth it in the end. You can pretend you are at a pig roast and you are given all the choice bits. Try to develop some “goodness” of your own.