To say that the year 2020 was a tumultuous one is a grand understatement. From politics to pandemics, I don’t think I’ve seen a time with greater divisions among the population and even between family members. But let’s leave all of that behind for a while, and enjoy some homemade chicken soup.
Here’s a recipe for winter’s ultimate comfort food: Chicken Soup. While some cooks make soup with more broth or egg noodles, I like to add lots of vegetables and some cooked pasta. This is a must for anyone feeling hammered by a cold or the flu. Feel free to adjust the proportions of ingredients to suit your family. I make about a gallon at a time, and freeze portions for later use.
Ingredients for Chicken Soup
1 package of 3 or 4 chicken breast halves, with skin and bones, rinsed (excess fat or skin removed)
salt and pepper
all-purpose unbleached flour
butter and olive oil or vegetable oil
2 to 4 stalks celery, cut into slices
1 or 2 yellow onions, sliced or chopped
3 to 5 carrots, sliced
2 large cloves fresh garlic, crushed or minced
several white buttonmushrooms
2 bay leaves
3 or 4 15-ounce cans of low sodium, no MSG chicken broth, plus 2 or 3 cans of water
herbs: a handful of fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley (chopped), 2 to 3 tsp. Italian oregano (and some sweet marjoram if you like), and 1 tsp. French thyme. Measurements can vary, depending on your preference. If using dried herbs, use half as much as the amounts specified for fresh. Start with small amounts, and add more if desired. Parsley is always much better used fresh, and is widely available.
leftovers: vegetables and/or cooked rice or barley (optional)
enriched pasta (mini farfalle, elbows, penne, broken spaghetti…), pre-cooked or cooked separately while the soup is simmering, drained
grated Romano cheese
Vegetables to saute.
Italian (flat-leaf) parsley.
The Process: Making Chicken Soup
Prepare the Chicken
Place about 1 cup of the flour in a bowl.
Add 1/2 to 3/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. black pepper. Mix well.
Rinse the chicken well and pat dry with a paper towel.
Add chicken to the bowl, coating each piece, pressing flour onto all surfaces.
Next…
Place a large stockpot, with a heavy bottom, on the stove.
Add a few T. oil and butter. Heat it up, at medium or medium high heat.
Add each piece of chicken, after flouring it, to the hot pot. Sometimes I spoon more of the flour mixture onto the chicken, and cook it some more. This helps thicken the broth just a bit. (Don’t save the leftover flour. Discard it to prevent contamination.)
Sear the outside of the chicken, both sides, until it’s golden brown, but not burned. Adjust the heat if necessary. It will not be done inside, but will cook more when added to the broth. Move the chicken around to prevent sticking or turn down the heat. The brown residue will add flavor to the soup.
Once the chicken has browned, remove it to a dish, and turn down the heat.
Now, add the chopped or sliced fresh vegetables (celery, onion, carrot, garlic, mushroom), but not the greens, stirring often. The residue will loosen up, or use a wooden spoon to help it along. Sauté until the vegetables are lightly softened, but not browned.
And Then…
Add the broth and water, and stir. Turn up the heat to a boil, then lower the heat to a low simmer.
Add the bay leaves. Other herbs will be added later.
Add the chicken and its drippings back to the pot. Keep it on a very low simmer, not a vigorous boil, for 40 (smaller chicken pieces) to 60 minutes. Very low heat keeps the chicken more tender.
10 minutes before it’s done, add the thyme.
Remove bay leaves.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Broth is often quite high in sodium, so don’t over-salt.
Remove chicken to a clean dish. You might want to use a large spoon to hold the pieces together; the meat could fall off the bones. Check the soup for tiny bones that might have fallen to the bottom of the pot.
Discard the chicken skin. Cut the meat and add back to the soup. I usually reserve some of the chicken for a stir-fry or freeze it separately for later use.
Add fresh greens and low simmer a few minutes to wilt.
Stir in cooked pasta.
Add leftover vegetables (such as cooked peas, corn, green beans), if desired.
Reheat and stir the soup, then serve. Top with grated Romano cheese and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.
Seared chicken.
Vegetables added to flavorful drippings.
Mixed vegetables cooking.
Chicken soup and biscuits.
You also might enjoy homemade collards soup. It’s more comfort food for winter or for those not feeling so well. Most of the herbs and greens I use in cooking are started from seeds. At any time of the year, there’s something to pick for soups, salads, veggie omelets, and stir-fries.
Easy Buttery Biscuits
I just started making these last month. They are so good! But, in an effort to not overindulge in carbohydrates, I won’t make them often.
Very simple:
Preheat oven to 425º F.
Melt 3 T. butter in a small pot.
Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Place 1 1/4 cups of self-rising flour into a bowl. This makes a dozen biscuits.
Add a dash of salt (optional).
Add about 3/4 cup heavy cream to the flour. Mix well with a fork. Add more flour if it’s too sticky.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for a minute.
Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough to about 1/3″ thick or slightly thicker.
Use a cookie cutter or a juice glass to shape biscuits and move them to the cookie sheet.
The last bit of dough can be shaped by hand so none is wasted. It might come out lumpy, and that’s perfectly fine. Call it “rustic”.
Spoon melted butter over the tops, dripping down the sides. The dough will absorb the butter.
Bake until the tops turn golden, about 15 minutes. Turn the sheet halfway through if your oven has a hot spot.
Serve with more butter (optional, but…). Next time I might add some shredded cheddar cheese to the dough. (***Update***: Yesterday, I made a batch of biscuits, half with cheese and half without. In the cheesy part, add thin pieces of cheddar to half the dough. Then fold the dough, roll it, and proceed with recipe. I haven’t decided which option I like better; hmm…this calls for a taste test. January 27, 2021)
Tomatoes, A Tribute to My Mother, Takotsubo, and A Tactic Called “Just One Leaf”
Open any food or garden section in print or online sites, and you’ll see articles on the benefits of eating healthy greens and colorful foods. Today, I’ll show how you can start adding leafy greens to your diet without being terribly inconvenienced. And I’ll mention how it might have saved my life.
How exciting—the first two ripe tomatoes of the season came off the vine this morning. And there’s some beautiful ‘Genovese’ basil begging to be picked. So, you can guess what’s for dinner tonight:
Tomato-Basil Salad!
It’s so easy to prepare:
ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks, including the juice
freshly picked sweet basil
cucumber, cubed or sliced
thinly sliced onion
mozzarella cheese
Italian oregano
extra virgin olive oil
red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
Mix it all together, and enjoy with some good bread for dunking (optional). This salad hits the spot when it’s hot, for one person or for a crowd.
But First, A Tribute To My Mother
My mother and I have lived together for the past 7 1/2 years. Many of the ripe tomatoes from the garden ended up in tomato-basil salad, a summertime staple for this family of Italian descent. How we loved our eggplant parmigiana, vegetarian lasagna, manicotti, and stuffed artichokes! How we loved to eat! In so many of our memories growing up and growing older—the holidays with family, sitting around the table for hours—good food always featured prominently.
Early last month, I had notified my family that there wasn’t much time left for Mother. So, my siblings prepared for a visit, and my sister sent an early Mother’s Day bouquet of white roses, purple statice, and baby’s breath—very much appreciated.
One brother came from out of town and spent the day with us, recalling some of the funnier family moments. We had ravioli and Easy Broccoli One for dinner. I’m a firm believer in the health-giving powers of broccoli, so I prepared it one way or another quite often. I’ve joked before about broccoli being Mother’s “favorite”, and she did too. “Oh, what a surprise—broccoli … … thank you…” She ate well that evening, better than any day in recent months.
But, the next morning, her time had come. She passed quickly and peacefully while I spoke to her and with 9-1-1. A friend said that the sense of hearing is the last to go, which gives some consolation, knowing she might have heard me.
“Don’t Forget To Watch Bob Ross”
My mother lived for 95 years, leaving behind a brood of 4 children, 11 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren. Photographs of family reunions, grandkids, and the great-grandchildren sat in a neat pile within reach of her favorite chair. Mother often lamented the fact that the family had scattered all over the country and couldn’t get together more often for the holidays.
She enjoyed driving her little Toyota, running errands nearby, right up until early last year. Have Rollator, will travel! When speaking with friends on the phone, her humorous references to the “joys” of growing old brought a smile to my face. Humor is the best medicine.
She was an artist, as a few relatives are and were, and I’m inclined to pick up the brush myself and give it a whirl (photo, above—a detail from one of her paintings). I don’t have to wonder very long where this stubborn streak of independence or rebelliousness came from…or my love of animals and of all nature. So, maybe some of her talents run through my veins as well. I hope so. Sure, we had occasional disagreements, but the foundation of our commitment to family was unshaken.
Stress, Nevertheless
People often speak of “a good death”, and, in all honesty, we could not have asked for a more peaceful departure. The next few days, though, taught me that the body reacts to experiences differently than the brain does. While my brain thought I was handling this major event quite calmly, my body had a different opinion.
Soon after Mother had died, the four of us siblings got together, telling stories while dividing those belongings she had gathered—and loved—for nearly a century. Whether it was the distress of a misplaced ring or the stress of her passing, I ended up in the hospital three days later.
With Covid concerns at the time, I drove myself to the emergency room, with moderate chest pain. My mother had had serious heart disease for a few decades but was able to function fairly normally with assistance from her medications and her cardiologist. But I had to wonder: is it my turn? My blood pressure had soared to a dangerous level, so I was admitted.
After several tests over the next two days, the doctors did not find any “separation of the layers” or blockages in my coronary arteries, and the valves were working as they should. But my blood pressure stayed very high. Blood tests also showed the presence of those markers when the heart has been impaired.
One consequence of blood pressure this high could be stroke, and my release from the hospital was contingent upon healthier numbers. A few medications attempted to normalize the readings, and one in particular did an astonishingly good job of lowering those numbers to 79/51. Won’t be taking that one again! (It was hydralazine.)
Takotsubo Two!
Almost 4 years previously, I woke at 4:00 in the morning with a stabbing pain in the center of my chest. Considering our family history, I thought it could have been a heart attack. The ambulance came, the EMT recorded my blood pressure at 275/135, and off to the hospital I went.
The usual tests were performed, and a cardiologist administered a catheterization to trace the blood flow in and around my heart. The score: although I was lightly sedated, his words indicating that I had “the arteries of a 20-year-old” were music to my ears. After decades of being more than careful with diet, I wondered if I had needlessly missed out on all those BLT’s, pasta, and toffee cookies.
On the day of discharge from the hospital, another cardiologist explained what happened. He said one of the lower chambers of the heart (the left ventricle) had ballooned out, giving it an odd outline. Good news—I would fully recover but would experience fatigue for a few months. He and a dietician recommended continuing with a diet heavy in healthy leafy greens and losing some weight.
What’s Takotsubo?
That’s when I first heard the term “Takotsubo”. This Japanese word means “octopus pot”, a reference to the interior shape of the affected ventricle. The syndrome was first described in Japan in 1990. More than 90% of the cases involve women, aged 58 to 75 (check, and check).
So, it happened again. This time, though, stress was very much the precipitating cause. Often called “broken heart syndrome” or “stress-induced cardiomyopathy”, a sudden life-changing event, such as the loss of a loved one, winning a lottery, being assaulted, or a car accident, can trigger Takotsubo syndrome. Most cases are due to a stressor, but around one-fourth occur for no discernible reason.
The ring, by the way, was found after my return from the hospital.
Add Just a Little More Green
Greens from the garden: green onion, mustard greens, dinosaur kale, arugula, ‘Red Russian’ kale.
I’m not a nutritionist. All I know is what I’ve read or heard over the years and observed from family members. The purpose for writing this article is simply to credit how changing my diet many years ago might have prevented a stroke or a heart attack, possibly saving my life during these two bouts with Takotsubo. (Even though the death rate from this condition is fairly low, other contributing factors and our family history concerned me.) You, too, might decide to make some improvements in your own family’s habits.
Take from it what you want—and take heart—this doesn’t have to happen overnight. I encourage you not to wait, however, until after you’ve gotten your first stent to make some changes. We did eat pretty well growing up. But, in retrospect, we consumed more carbohydrates than is currently considered healthy, and certainly fewer healthy greens.
Simply adding fresh leafy greens to soup, a smoothie, sauces, salads, a stir-fry, store-bought pizza, or rice and pasta dishes is a great step toward a healthier future. Grocery stores offer a much wider variety of greens than they did decades ago.
Growing your own plants from seed opens up so many more options. And you can’t beat the convenience of walking a few feet out the kitchen door to pick fresh healthy greens for today’s omelet or soup. Many of them can be grown in pots on the deck or the balcony if you don’t have garden space.
At the end of this article is a list of links to posts I’ve written about growing and using greens. You’ll notice the frequency with which I refer to “the brassicas” (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, etc.), the source of the most beneficial and densely packed nutrients.
Try this: a simple egg salad sandwich, on rye, made with one hard-boiled egg, mayonnaise, green olives, chopped dinosaur kale (a brassica, and super healthy), and topped with lettuce. Add chopped onion, if you like. No salt needed. I usually serve it on a bed of lettuce or mixed greens, without the bread. You can do the same with tuna or chicken salad. Adding “Just One Leaf” of kale significantly elevated the nutritional value.
Greens In Small Steps
Easing into dietary improvements by making small changes might meet with less resistance from your family. Perhaps starting a garden and letting the kids participate will get them engaged.
Children who help care for a garden are more likely to eat what they harvest. Start with easy crops, such as dinosaur or ‘Red Russian’ kale, collards, lettuce, a cherry tomato, Swiss chard, and radishes. Mustard greens are colorful and fast-growing—‘Florida Broadleaf’ has mild mustard flavor (and it self-seeds), while ‘Scarlet Frills’ offers a spark of heat and spice. These are easily grown from seed.
Nasturtium ‘Alaska’, easy from seed, needs darkness for germination.
If your garden has good, rock-free soil, sow a pack of carrot seeds, and thin them properly. You’ll find traditional orange carrots and also nearly white, yellow, red, and purple varieties. ‘Rainbow’ is a blend of colors. Watch how excited your children will be when they harvest their buried treasure! Try growing ‘Adelaide’, a miniature carrot, in 6″ pots. Delicious, and so cute.
A customer at the farmers’ market in Rockville MD added chopped ‘Alaska’ nasturtium flowers and leaves to his grilled hamburgers. Each bite revealed a different combination of colors. Every year, he came to the market for his “burger-fetti” nasturtiums. Look for ways to introduce greens and colors at mealtime to make it fun.
Just One Leaf
As the first bits of greens have been accepted, keep adding more leafy greens (Just One Leaf or two at a time) and cutting down on some of the carbohydrates and animal proteins. Get creative in the kitchen. Soon, you’ll notice a boost in energy and might reach for a cup of tea and a handful of nuts for a mid-afternoon snack, packed with vitamins and minerals, fiber, phytonutrients, and protein, instead of soda and a chocolate doughnut.
Unless it’s absolutely necessary, I never peel fruits and vegetables. The skins have more antioxidants, fiber, and vitamins than the flesh. So, I don’t peel apples, peaches, carrots, cucumbers (some are less bitter, such as ‘Diva’ and ‘Mini Me’), eggplants, sweet/white/pigmented potatoes, tomatoes, or zucchini.
But I Miss My…
Once in a while, it’s perfectly okay to indulge in an ice cream sundae or Christmas cookies. But you might find that the desire for such decadent treats decreases as your interest in healthy foods increases. Sugar is addictive!
Over time, adding healthy greens to the spaghetti sauce, a stir-fry, or the morning smoothie will become second nature. Not doing so might make you feel as though you’re missing out.
Eat Your Colors
Ripe sweet bell peppers.
You’ll discover a new appreciation for incorporating colorful greens and vegetables into your salads. Deep green, purple, red, orange, and yellow pigments are filled with healthy antioxidants and other nutrients.
These plant pigments help prevent many major illnesses, including cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, age-related macular degeneration, inflammation, premature aging, and other disorders. Understand that they will help prevent illness. Do your best to eliminate other risk factors, too, and you know what they are.
Ask your doctor if you have any dietary concerns. While it is true that spinach, Swiss Chard, and beet greens (in the Amaranthaceae family) are high in oxalates, we need to examine the relationship between oxalate content and kidney stones. Some nutritionists believe that including more meat in the diet lowers the blood pH level, while a primarily plant-based diet raises the pH and lowers the incidence of kidney stones. Kale, incidentally, has extremely low levels of oxalates.
Add these to your salad and you’ll soon say good-bye to pale iceberg wedges:
deep green and red lettuces
purplish ‘Red Russian’ or blue-gray dinosaur kale (brassica)
baby beet greens (more nutrients than the roots)
turnip greens (brassica)
arugula (brassica)
spinach
Swiss chard
radish (brassica)
shredded red cabbage (brassica)
Asian greens, such as tatsoi, mustard, mizuna, napa cabbage, ‘Tokyo Bekana’ (brassicas)
broccoli leaves, or stems, leaves, and small heads of ‘Happy Rich’ (brassicas)
purple and orange carrots (heated carrots have more available antioxidants)
ripe lunchbox sweet pepper (red, orange, yellow) and bell peppers (orange bell peppers are extremely high in zeaxanthin, an antioxidant that’s good for eyesight)
tomato, cucumber, green onion, celery, cooked button mushrooms, lightly roasted pecans, feta or bleu cheese, fresh basil, avocado, a hard-boiled egg, kalamata olives
and a simple homemade dressing: extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, water, fresh minced garlic, some herbs (small amounts of Italian oregano, and maybe thyme and sweet marjoram) and lemon if you like, some Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper
Colorful lettuces.
Headings
Page 1: Tomato-Basil Salad, But First, A Tribute To My Mother (Stress, Nevertheless, Takotsubo Two!), Add Just a Little More Green (Greens In Small Steps, Just One Leaf, But I Miss My…), Eat Your Colors, and Add these to your salad…
Page 2: The Veggie Omelet With Greens (Juice?, Or Cereal?), How It All Began (Close To Home, The Food Pyramid), But How Safe Are the Complex Carbs? (The Insulin Response, Too Many Carbs), In Conclusion, and Links
Here’s a hearty, healthy soup that will chase away that winter chill. Collards Soup, with greens and herbs freshly picked from the vegetable garden, offers balance to the delectables that we enjoyed over the holidays. Served with a chunk of warmed bread and melting butter…perfect!
Remember Paul Simon’s lyrics in “Sounds of Silence”? “I turned my collards to the cold and damp…” No? He didn’t say that?
A few leaves of collards from the garden.
Ingredients
A few strips of bacon, cooked. Save 1 or 2 tablespoons of the fat (optional).
A large bunch of fresh collard greens, washed, with largest part of rib removed. Cut into bite-size pieces and set aside.
A handful of ‘Lacinato’ (dinosaur) kale or ‘Red Russian’ kale leaves, washed, with large rib removed. Cut into ribbons and add to the collards.
2 tablespoons butter, and more for the bread
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
2 or 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
A few white button mushrooms, sliced
3 or 4 15-ounce cans of low salt chicken broth, plus 2 or 3 cans of water
1 or 2 bay leaves
2 or 3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 15-ounce cans of beans (cannellini, pinto, or others), drained and lightly rinsed
1 15-ounce can diced or stewed tomatoes
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme, or a bit more if using fresh
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons dried marjoram, or 2 teaspoons fresh. Substitute Italian oregano if preferred, or use a combination. Add more herbs if desired.
3 tablespoons or a small handful fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, coarsely chopped
2 to 3 cups cooked (al dente) enriched Barilla pasta (extra protein, Omega-3’s, fiber), such as elbows or mini farfalle
Salt and pepper
Grated Romano cheese
Bright green collards, ready for the broth.
The Process
Cook the bacon, reserving some of the fat. Set aside.
In a large stockpot, heat butter and olive oil.
Add onion and celery. Cook at medium heat, stirring, until almost tender.
Add garlic. Cook for a few minutes, stirring. (Never brown the garlic.)
Add collards, kale, mushrooms, and some bacon fat, if desired. Cook for a few minutes, stirring, until they turn bright green.
Add chicken broth, water, vinegar, bay leaf, and crumbled bacon. Raise heat to a boil, then turn down to a low simmer for 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Add beans and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add tomatoes and thyme, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
Add marjoram and parsley, and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Add cooked pasta, heat, and stir.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Done! Now, serve with grated Romano cheese and your favorite bread. This will make about 8 servings. Add more chicken stock and water if needed.
You Can Grow Them!
Collards in the garden, late December.
Collards and kale are among the easiest crops to grow in the vegetable garden. As members of the family Brassicaceae, these plants are among the most concentrated sources of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients in the plant kingdom! Just one or two leaves added to omelets, pizza, store-bought soup, and rice or pasta dishes will add significantly to the meal’s nutrient content.
A few collards and several kale plants (dinosaur and ‘Red Russian’), among other crops grown through the winter, supply us with enough greens to pick almost every day. They’re super cold-hardy, and get covered with clear plastic when the temperature plummets to the low 20’s F.
On the Subject of Bacon
Since there are few occasions in this blog when the subject of bacon comes up, let me add that December 30 is National Bacon Day. We have Hernando de Soto (c. 1500-1542, Spanish explorer, looking for gold and a passage to China), to credit, or to blame, for introducing pigs to the Americas. In 1539, he brought 13 pigs to the southeastern U.S., which multiplied to a herd of 700 within 3 years. De Soto died of fever, and his body was laid to rest in the Mississippi River, which he and his crew were the first Europeans to discover.
A few morsels: About 10,000 years ago, wild pigs were domesticated in Central Asia…just under 10% of the pig is processed into bacon…just over half of American households have bacon in the refrigerator.
An occasional indulgence in foods that are generally perceived to be not so healthy is more than compensated by increasing the proportions of greens and vegetables in our diets. So, I will enjoy that bacon and a piece of good bread, guilt-free, every now and then, or these buttery biscuits that are so easy to make from scratch. Hope you enjoy this one! Happy New Year!
The cookie from Kim’s Kitchen that is most frequently requested: Toffee Cookies! These delicious cookies were a Christmas tradition in our family.
My father worked with a photographer in Englewood, New Jersey, after returning home from serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. His employer’s wife gave the recipe to my mother, sometime in the 1940’s.
A Christmas favorite: Toffee Cookies.
Ingredients For Toffee Cookies
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 pound cold butter
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
Added After Baking the Toffee Cookies
10 (+ or -) ounces milk chocolate. I use 7 ounces Hershey’s milk chocolate plus 3 or 4 ounces Symphony milk chocolate. Use any kind of chocolate you prefer.
1 to 1 1/4 cups chopped walnuts
The Process
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cream butter and sugar in a stand mixer until well-mixed but not overdone.
Add egg yolk and vanilla. Mix, and scrape bowl.
Add flour in batches. Mix well, scraping bowl. Dough will be thick.
Spread on parchment-paper-lined cookie sheet that has a raised edge. I use an approximately 10″ x 15″ jelly roll pan, which is thicker than cookie sheets and has been in our family for decades. Use a butter knife and your fingers to spread the dough; this is the hardest part. The palms of your hands can flatten it somewhat; it will flatten more in the oven.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until the top and edges begin to show a light golden brown color. Watch it carefully. One minute too long will result in a crispy cookie, and everyone in my family, except Mother, likes it chewy. Remove from oven.
Now, the Toppings
Break up the chocolate into pieces. Before the toffee cools, place chocolate on top. It will melt on the hot toffee. If the chocolate doesn’t melt, place cookie sheet back into the warm oven, turned off, but monitor it closely. Various brands of chocolate have different melting points. Use a butter knife to smooth the chocolate over the toffee.
Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.
Allow the toffee to cool before cutting into squares. This could take a few hours at room temperature. If the chocolate is still soft, your toffee cookies will not cut neatly!
Cut with a long-bladed knife into 1 1/2″ squares. Place in a cookie tin or plastic container, lined—and layers separated—with wax paper.
Toffee cookie dough, fully mixed.
Smoothed toffee, ready for baking.
Chocolate pieces on hot toffee, beginning to melt.
Here’s another cookie recipe that’s a family tradition during the holidays, but we enjoy them at any time of the year. A tiny few in our family prefer them baked until crispy. Most of us, however, like them soft inside. Gingersnap or gingersoft—your choice. This recipe has been adjusted a bit from my mother’s original recipe.
Gingerbread tiny houses.
Ingredients For Making Gingersnaps
1½ sticks butter
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
1 large egg
2¼ cups all-purpose unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon—I use just a bit more of the ginger, cloves, and cinnamon for extra “warmth”. Mix these 6 dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Very fine sugar in a separate bowl, for coating formed cookie dough
One of Santa’s favorites.
The Process
Finished cookie dough.
Mix butter and white sugar in the large bowl of a stand mixer. Don’t over-mix it.
Add the molasses. Mix well, scraping with spatula.
Add egg, and mix.
Gradually add and mix in the flour-spice mixture. Scrape with spatula.
After it’s all mixed together, refrigerate the covered dough for at least a couple of hours.
Preheat oven to 375°F or a little lower.
Line 1 or 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Now that the dough is cool, spoon out enough dough to make a 1″ diameter ball. Roll it between the palms of your hands to form a sphere. Place balls, in batches, in the very fine sugar to coat. Roll them around and/or spoon the fine sugar over the dough.
Place on cookie sheets, about 3″ on center, and bake for about 8 minutes. They might need less time or a minute more, depending on your oven. In this electric oven, I put a pyrex dish of water over the “hot spot”, and bake one large and one small cookie sheet at a time. To avoid hot spots, perhaps baking one sheet at a time will work better.
Lay the gingersnaps out on the wax-paper-covered counter to cool somewhat. If they’re placed in cookie tins before they have fully cooled, they will stay a little softer. It takes almost no time to go from soft and luscious to crispy, so watch them carefully while baking and while cooling.
Wrap cooled cookies in foil and a plastic bag to freeze the excess.
* * * * * * * * *
When Brynn and Logan were little, I shaped some of the dough into gingerbread men, just for them. A little ginger, by the way, can settle an upset stomach and makes me feel just a bit warmer. How do you like them—crispy or soft? Either way, enjoy!
This recipe for Almond Crescents is a subtle combination of nutty, sweet, and buttery flavors. Thanks go to a family friend, Evelyn Varecka, for sharing the recipe over 50 years ago.
Ingredients For Almond Crescents
1/2 pound sweet butter (original recipe calls for unsalted butter, but either salted or unsalted can be used)
3/4 cup powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 cup almonds, grated fine in food processor
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
3 cups sifted all-purpose unbleached flour
Very fine sugar (for rolling, after baking)
The Process
Preheat oven to 375° to 400°F.
Beat egg yolks at high speed in a medium-small bowl for 1 or 2 minutes, until lightly colored. I use an electric hand mixer. Set aside.
Cream butter for 1 minute at high speed in large bowl of a stand mixer.
Lower the mixer speed, and add powdered sugar. Beat at medium speed for another minute. Scrape bowl with spatula.
Add egg yolks, and beat for 1 minute at medium speed.
Add almonds and vanilla.
Mix in small batches of flour; mix thoroughly. Scrape bowl.
The original recipe called for forming dough into 3 or 4 logs, rolled up in wax paper, and chilling them in the refrigerator for a few hours before forming the cookies. Instead, I skip the “logs” step because the dough is easier to form into crescents before it has cooled down. Shape the dough (about 1 tablespoon per cookie) into crescents, and place them about 3/4″ apart on parchment-paper-lined cookie sheets. Refrigerate for a few hours.
Bake for 7 to 10 minutes. They’re done when the bottom edges begin to turn light brown. I prefer to bake one sheet at a time, turned halfway through, to avoid the hot spot in the oven.
Let them sit at room temperature for a few minutes, until they’re cool enough to handle.
Handling gently, coat cookies with very fine sugar in a bowl.
Place in cookie tin, and cover when fully cooled.
A cookie tin full of these cookies makes a nice gift. Or bake a batch, and share with your coworkers during the holidays. Save some for Santa! Enjoy!
Freshly baked almond crescents from Kim’s kitchen.
Here’s a recipe for homemade Pumpkin Pie. Those few Thanksgiving guests who say “No thanks” might start asking for seconds once they’ve tried it. We’ve been making this pumpkin pie for generations. And, yes, it does call for home-made crust.
The Crust For Pumpkin Pie
You’ll need wax paper, a pastry cutter, a rolling pin, and counter space. This recipes makes 2 pies, and the crust and filling bake at the same time. I use clear Pyrex pie plates. Preheat oven to 375°F.
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour, plus a bit more for decoration on top of filling
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Crisco all-vegetable shortening. You can substitute 1 or 2 tablespoons butter for some of the shortening, but any more than that and the crust will be less flaky. Use the very scientific “water displacement method” (remember Home Ec?) to measure the shortening. (Fill a 2-cup measuring cup with 1 1/2 cups cold water. Using a butter knife, add the shortening to the water, and submerge it until the water comes up to the 2-cup level. Drain water.)
5 tablespoons cold water
The Process
Add flour to a medium size bowl.
Stir in the salt.
Add shortening.
Add water evenly over the flour.
Use a pastry cutter to work the dough, cutting into and distributing the ingredients evenly, but do this as quickly as possible. For a really good crust, work fast, work cool, and don’t overwork the dough. Dough will stick inside the pastry cutter; use the knife to clear it several times as you cut the dough. If it feels too dry (“floury”) and you’ve been cutting the dough for a while, add a little more water or shortening. Too much water and overworking will make the crust hard; shortening makes it flaky. It’s okay if you see tiny blobs of fat mixed in the dough.
Gather a handful of dough and squeeze it. If it stays in a clump, it’s ready to be rolled. If it’s very sticky, add more flour.
Divide the dough in half.
Cut 4 pieces of wax paper. Lay 1 piece on the counter.
Move half of the dough to the wax paper. Ball it up in the center. Cover with another piece of wax paper.
Roll It Out
Use the rolling pin to flatten the dough all the way to the edge of the wax paper. Invert a pie plate over the dough to see if it’s wide enough. Dough should extend about 1 1/2″ around the pie plate.
Now, carefully remove one sheet of wax paper. The knife will help loosen an edge.
Lift the bottom paper and lay the dough into the pie plate. Remove the paper.
Press the dough into the pie plate, in the angle and up the side.
Roll down the edge of the dough to the top of the plate.
Form the zigzag top edge of the dough using the index finger and thumb of one hand, and the other index finger.
Use a fork to pierce the dough in several places on the bottom and sides.
Repeat for the second pie.
Pie crusts.
The Filling For Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter
1½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
29 ounce can Libby’s 100% pure pumpkin (no spices added)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon. (For the spices—ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon—I like to add a bit more than the recommended amount.)
1 teaspoon salt
2¼ cups milk. We use 2%.
The Process
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Mix sugar and butter in the large bowl of mixer until evenly mixed; we like our Kitchen-Aid stand mixer.
Add eggs, pumpkin, spices, and salt.
Add milk last. Scrape bowl and attachment with spatula a few times while mixing.
Add filling to the 2 uncooked crusts.
Leftover dough, if there is any, can be shaped into a turkey or a pumpkin and placed on the filling.
Bake for 1 hour. Check the pies about 10 minutes before they’re done. If your oven has hot spots, turn the pies halfway through cooking so the crusts bake evenly.
I’ve written many articles about vegetables, but I must confess that I have a bit of a sweet tooth. Here’s an easy recipe for Cream Cheese Pound Cake that has been used for generations in our family. An Oradell NJ neighbor named Elsie Janus gave us the recipe.
My mother used to dust it with powdered sugar, but I don’t. You can really celebrate decadence by serving it with your favorite ice cream. It’s also great with an afternoon tea or coffee with friends.
This recipe calls for 2 loaf pans. The two that I use measure 8.5″ x 4.5″ and 9″ x 5″.
Ingredients For Cream Cheese Pound Cake
3/4 cup butter, or 1 1/2 sticks
8 ounces Philadelphia cream cheese, original or 1/3 less fat
2 cups sugar
5 large or 4 extra large eggs
3 cups sifted all-purpose unbleached flour
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup milk, preferably not skim
2 tsp. real vanilla extract
The Process
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar in a stand mixer. Don’t overwork it.
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl; set aside.
Add one egg at a time to mixer, mixing after each one.
Now add flour mixture alternately with milk, about one fourth of each at a time.
Add vanilla.
Mix well, scraping bowl and beater now and then.
Pour into two loaf pans. I prefer to line them with parchment paper.
Bake for 1 hour. Check for doneness with toothpicks or a skinny knife at about 50 to 55 minutes. This cake is especially good if not overcooked. The top will be a light golden brown color…melts in your mouth…I save that part for last…
Cool. Freezes well.
When I used to sell at farmers’ markets in Maryland and around Washington, D.C., a baker’s license permitted me to sell home-made cookies, muffins, and this cake in addition to the plants. Now, if you promise to eat your greens and vegetables, I’ll post more of our favorite dessert recipes. The cook gets to lick the bowl, although experts advise against it (uncooked flour and eggs).
Buttery, cheesy…delicious!
Delicious cream cheese pound cake from Kim’s kitchen.
Here’s a recipe for Brussels Sprouts Slaw—absolutely delicious and nutritious! If you like garlic and cheese and pine nuts, you’ll love this dish. And if you like this recipe, you might want to try growing your own Brussels sprouts for super-fresh flavor.
Ingredients
1 pound raw Brussels sprouts, rinsed, hard core removed, and finely shredded or sliced. Place in medium size bowl.
1/4 to 1/2 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted in dry pan, turning often. Set aside.
1/3 to 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
Dressing, below
Brussels sprouts grow on the plant’s stem.
Ingredients For The Dressing
1 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 small shallot, minced
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 small to medium clove garlic, minced
1 to 2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. salt
Dash black pepper
3 to 4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Mix together all the dressing ingredients, except the olive oil, in a bowl. Now slowly whisk in the olive oil. Adjust measurements of ingredients, if desired. Some like less mustard; some like more garlic.
And Combine
Add dressing to Brussels sprouts, mix well, and refrigerate 30 minutes or more.
Then add the toasted pine nuts.
Add Romano cheese.
Adjust salt and pepper, if necessary.
Mix well and serve. This side dish can turn Brussels sprouts haters into Brussels sprouts lovers. Take it on your next picnic or try it as a light dinner. Enjoy!
Brussels Sprouts Slaw—it’s ready!
* * * * * * * * * *
Quickly Cooked Brussels Sprouts
Here’s another simple way to serve Brussels sprouts:
Rinse the sprouts and cut them in half.
Add to a pot of boiling water, or steam them in a smaller amount of water to preserve nutrients.
Let them cook on medium heat for a few minutes, then drain. Cooking longer makes them softer, but be careful not to overcook.
Either in the empty pot or in a serving bowl, add butter, a bit of salt, and chopped fresh basil to the sprouts.
Toss and serve.
Brussels sprouts is a member of the Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae) family, sometimes called the cruciferous vegetables. This large group of plants also includes arugula, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, mustard greens, pac choi, turnip greens, and others.
“Mmm…Sulforaphanes!”
Miniature broccoli ‘Happy Rich’ my favorite vegetable.
Dinosaur (‘Lacinato’ or ‘Toscano’) kale.
Cauliflower.
Pac choi, or bok choy.
The brassicas are famous not only for their generous vitamins, minerals, and fiber, but also, significantly, for their phytonutrients. And that’s not all—the anti-inflammatory brassicas also contain some protein and Omega-3 fatty acids.
Raw brassicas contain a group of nutrients called sulforaphanes, phytonutrients that help prevent many illnesses, including cancer. They also contribute to cardiovascular health and help preserve eyesight and brain function. No other group of edible plants has nearly the level of antioxidant glucosinolates that this one can boast; I’m not sure they have any!
Cutting up and immediately cooking the brassicas, however, will not produce the beneficial sulforaphanes. But there are 2 ways to get these powerful antioxidants. One is to eat them raw, as in the recipe for Brussels Sprouts Slaw.
The second way is to chop them up and let them sit on the counter for 40 minutes. There’s an enzyme in brassica tissues, called myrosinase, that is needed to produce the sulforaphanes. This enzyme, once activated by damaging the plant cells, needs time to convert sulforaphane precursors into the sulforaphane itself. But myrosinase is destroyed by heat; that’s why we need to wait before cooking them if we want those benefits.
So, if you’re preparing cooked Broccoli One or Two, Collards Soup, or simply adding any of the brassicas to store-bought pizza, steamed greens, or Eggplant Parmigiana, consider this “chop and hold” method of bringing out the best in the brassicas.
Because of the numerous health-giving attributes of the brassicas, I include at least one in my diet every day.
The route from “farm to table” can’t be any shorter than if it starts in your own back yard. Here are two broccoli recipes that take minutes to prepare, and might convince you to grow some plants this fall. 2 or 3 servings.
Easy Broccoli One:
Use a medium size pot, with a lid. Add 2 or 3 Tbsp. water.
Broccoli: Rinse a fresh crown, about 5″ in diameter. Remove tough, thick stem. Cut head into bite-size florets; remaining tender stems should be cut smaller. Some people don’t use the stems, just under the head, but they’re perfectly edible, as are the leaves. Place florets into the pot.
Mushrooms: Wash and trim stems of a few white button mushrooms, slice, and add to pot.
Cover, heat up the pot, then lower temperature, to steam the broccoli and mushrooms. Mix once or twice. Don’t overcook; heat enough to turn broccoli to a bright dark green color, which takes only a minute or two. Overcooking this vegetable makes it soft and smelly.
Finely mince a clove of garlic, and add to a small butter pot (ours is 3″ in diameter, stainless steel) with 1 tsp. butter and 1 or 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Heat this pot over low to medium heat until garlic is a light golden color. (Burned garlic tastes terrible. If you have to start over, that’s better than using the burned garlic.) This step might take a bit longer than cooking the broccoli; I start this one first.
Drain water from the broccoli pot. Add to the broccoli the contents from the garlic pot and a dash of salt. Mix and serve.
This is a great, fast side dish by itself. Or use it over some enriched pasta, with a little more oil and grated Romano cheese. Photo, below—it’s dinner, with a few black olives on the side.
Easy Broccoli Two:
In a medium frying pan, add about 2 Tbsp. thinly sliced onion and 1 or 2 Tbsp. olive oil. On medium heat, cook and turn until onion is transparent to a light golden color.
Then add broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces, prepared as in Easy Broccoli One. Add 2 Tbsp. water and a dash of salt.
Mix well, and cover to steam over low heat. Stir once or twice, adding water if necessary. It’s done when it turns a bright green color or cook it to the desired tenderness. Drain excess water.
Serve with grated Romano cheese.
Wasn’t that easy? Delicious and super-healthy! Sometimes I add a few stems of ‘Happy Rich’ miniature broccoli (photo, below) if they’re ready to pick. This variety has small heads with great flavor. Several inches of the stem and the leaves are also edible. Like other brassicas, it tolerates freezing temperatures, and this one often forms heads until mid summer.
B and C vitamins are water soluble. Use as little water as possible so nutrients aren’t washed down the drain. Or, add the liquid to soup or freeze for later use.
After trying these recipes, you might decide to grow your own broccoli. Start seeds yourself or look for transplants at your local garden center or farmers’ market in mid summer to early fall and again in late winter to early spring. After you pick the main head, smaller side shoots (photo, below) will grow above the remaining leaves for many more weeks. You’d be right if you were thinking that broccoli is “the gift that keeps on giving”. Enjoy!
Broccoli ‘Arcadia’ side shoots.
Miniature broccoli ‘Happy Rich’ has white flowers.
Most of us are familiar with the benefits of including salmon in our diets. It’s an excellent source of protein, Vitamins B12, B3, B6, D, Omega-3 fats, and the mineral selenium. Other nutrients include phosphorus, iodine, choline, pantothenic acid, and some potassium, iron, and zinc.
Research indicates that salmon helps ease the inflammatory process (through bioactive peptides—amino acids—affecting joints, brain, and heart tissues), and plays a part in preventing macular degeneration and certain kinds of cancer. The Omega-3 fats it contains are the ones that are most helpful, namely DHA and EPA.
The Bad
Every now and then, I come across someone who recommends not consuming it. The stated cause for concern is the level of pollutants found in salmon. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s), no longer produced but still circulating in the environment, and other contaminants are thought to contribute to some types of cancer.
After reading over a dozen credible websites comparing wild-caught salmon to farm-raised salmon and their positions on PCB’s, I decided to summarize and offer this: Wild salmon is many times lower in PCB’s than farm-raised salmon. And, many studies show no correlation between salmon consumption and an increase in cancer.
Consistency among the websites is as scattered as confetti in the wind! Even the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency don’t agree on the acceptable level of PCB’s in our food sources, last time I checked.
Farmed salmon originating in Washington State and Chile have less contamination than farmed salmon coming from Europe. Wild-caught salmon from Alaska has lower levels than any other sources. Because PCB’s accumulate in fatty tissues, it is often recommended to trim off excess fat and the skin.
As consumers, we have access to both farm-raised and wild-caught salmon. So I purchase only wild-caught salmon from Alaska. When it is available, I buy a larger fillet, rinse it, place serving-size pieces into plastic bags, and freeze it. Admittedly, the texture is much better when cooked fresh, and that’s how I serve it to others.
And the Not-So-Pretty
There’s another significant difference between salmon from farmed sources and salmon that’s wild-caught. The healthier Omega-3 polyunsaturated fat is higher in wild salmon, and the less healthy Omega-6 is higher in farmed salmon. You want to consume a higher Omega-3 level compared to Omega-6, even though we do need a smaller amount of Omega-6 fat in our diets. So, wild salmon wins again.
Even though there’s some scary, and dubious, information on a few websites I visited, the consensus remains on the “we recommend a moderate consumption of wild-caught salmon” side of the argument. One site, among my favorites for science-based nutritional information, strongly supports a plant-based diet and therefore recommends against eating any salmon.
I like this fish too much to eliminate it from my diet, and we eat other kinds of fish as well. For its heart-healthy benefits, I will continue to prepare it every week or two. Most of the websites I visited recommended consuming salmon once or twice a month. Including salmon in your diet is your choice, and the information is out there for you to decide.
How to Prepare Herbed Salmon
Ingredients
This is for 2 servings.
8 to 12 ounces fresh salmon fillet, rinsed
1 quick spritz non-stick cooking spray, optional
several leaves of ‘Siam Queen’ Thai basil, coarsely chopped, or 2 tsp. dried (more or less according to taste)
1½-2 tsp. fresh dill weed, or 1 tsp. dried (or to taste)
Salt to taste
2 to 3 Tbsp. butter
The Process
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray, if you choose.
Lay the salmon, skin side down, if you choose to keep it on, on top of a small amount of butter in the dish. If fish is thick, score the thick part with a knife to cook it faster.
Press the basil and dill onto the salmon. Fresh herbs are preferred, but these two herbs retain good flavor when dried.
Place the rest of the butter, in pieces, on top of the fish.
Bake hot 8 to 15 minutes, shorter or longer depending on thickness of the fish. Baste once or twice while cooking to distribute those delicious flavors.
It’s done when the flesh flakes. Monitor closely because fish will be dry if overcooked.
Sometimes I broil it for the last minute to “caramelize” the points.
No need to turn it unless it’s very thick.
Give it a dash of salt after removing it from the oven.
Serve with the herbed butter in the pan. I don’t use lemon, which would overpower the flavors of the herbs.
If you prefer, fish can be grilled. Avoid very high temperatures or burning the fish, as this can affect nutrients and produce free radicals, which you don’t want.
It’s that easy! A little experimentation in the kitchen can result in fabulous meals for you and your family, ones you’ll go back to regularly. When I started offering Thai basil for sale at farmers’ markets, I had to figure out a way to use it in cooking. I never was fond of the licorice flavor of Thai basil. So I tried it in a couple of dishes and salads…nothing clicked.
Then, I thought, since I like salmon with dill, let’s try Thai basil with fish. Now, that’s the only way I make salmon! Over the years, I’ve tried other varieties of Thai basil and sweet basils, but prefer the richly-flavored ‘Siam Queen’ Thai basil, an All-America Selections Winner. Even though it has a powerful fragrance fresh, it mellows beautifully during cooking. This herb loves our hot summers, and, so far this year, we have been spared that dreaded basil disease, Basil Downy Mildew.
How to Dry Basil
When the plant starts to produce flowers, I cut back the flowering stems to a few inches above the soil, discard the flowers, rinse leaves and pat dry.
Remove any leaves that lack good color; pale leaves or very old ones are off-flavor or more bitter. Basil is a fast-growing leafy herb that needs to be fertilized now and then to produce high quality foliage.
Thai basil ‘Siam Queen’.
Lay the leafy stems on a dish lined with a paper towel, and keep at room temperature, out of direct sun. Turn them occasionally. When leaves are almost dry and beginning to curl, strip or snip them from the stems and place them back in the dish to dry thoroughly. Instead, you can remove all the good leaves from the stems at the start, placing them in a single thickness on the paper towel so they don’t mat together.
Another option is to hang small clusters of stems to dry. Gather the stems together with a rubber band, which will continue to hold the stems firmly as they shrink.
Microwaving or oven-drying herbs at very low heat is faster, but nutrients are destroyed, and, to me, the herbs always taste burned. I don’t recommend this practice.
Both Thai basil and dill retain very good flavor when dried. Use more, maybe twice as much, when using fresh herbs, which is my preference.
Storing Basil
Once they are crispy dry, store the whole leaves in a glass jar. The reason you don’t chop them up is that cut surfaces cause more of the flavor to dissipate. Be sure the leaves are dry; if there’s any moisture remaining, they will go moldy in storage. With one or two plants grown in the summer, I can harvest enough leaves to get us through the winter.
What’s for dinner at your place? After writing this, I think tonight we’ll have Herbed Salmon. And Tomato-Basil Salad, since I just picked 3 beautiful ‘Big Beef’ tomatoes from the garden.
One of the favorite dishes from our kitchen is Eggplant Parmigiana. First, I have to admit that I never use Parmesan. Locatelli Romano is our preferred cheese for Italian dishes. Purchased as a solid wedge, and grated in batches, it’s always on hand in the refrigerator.
As a kid, I would “borrow” a chunk of Romano from my Sicilian grandmother’s kitchen, and hide under the table where I could savor every little bite. Mmm….so good!
Over the years, I’ve tried many recipes for Eggplant Parmigiana, but it wasn’t until last year that I came up with this combination. An organized kitchen is helpful as this dish is being orchestrated. And having some potted herbs outside the kitchen door is very handy.
Have These Ready
one 13″x 9″ Pyrex baking dish, or other dish that can take low heat from the stovetop, and oven heat
2 non-stick frying pans, medium to large, for eggplant
separate bowls to hold zucchini and eggplant slices
pie plate for eggs and water
wide bowl for bread crumbs
Ingredients
1 or 2 small zucchini, yellow or green, unpeeled, cut into 1/4″ slices
2 medium (less seedy than large) fresh eggplants, unpeeled, cut lengthwise into 1/4″ slices (no need to “bleed” out moisture)
Your favorite meatless tomato sauce
2 cups or more seasoned bread crumbs; see below
2 eggs plus 1 Tbsp. water, stirred together in pie plate
Extra virgin olive oil
butter
1 lb. mozzarella cheese, sliced
About 3/4 lb. Provolone cheese, thinly sliced
1 to 1 1/2 cups Romano cheese, grated
1 or 2 cups wilted greens, such as spinach, arugula, Swiss chard, and dinosaur kale. Or use 1 or 2 bags of prepared greens. Greens are optional, but recommended. You can also use fresh greens.
Bread Crumbs—Ingredients
Mix together all these ingredients in the bowl:
Flat-leaf parsley.
Several slices dry rye, whole wheat, and/or white bread, processed to medium-fine crumbs. I collect odds and ends in an open bag in the refrigerator, letting them dry.
1/2 to 2/3 cup grated Romano cheese
2 or 3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh or 1-1 ½ tsp. dry Italian oregano
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp. pepper, or to taste
1/4 tsp. thyme, French preferred
The Process
Place baking dish on small burner of stove. Add a layer of sauce to coat the bottom of the pan.
Add zucchini slices close together in single layer, on top of sauce in baking dish. Turn on stove to very low heat, which will begin softening the zucchini as eggplant is being prepared. Move the pan around so no spots overheat. Turn over zucchini slices once for even heating. Make sure your dish will be safe to use like this. (If you prefer not to heat the pan, add some time when baking the eggplant.)
In frying pans, add olive oil and a little bit of butter. Not too much.
One slice at a time, dip eggplant in egg bath, then press into bread crumbs, coating both sides.
Add breaded eggplant slices to frying pans (I use 2 pans to speed up the process), and sauté over medium heat until medium brown. Don’t use high heat; this will brown the bread crumbs, leaving eggplant raw.
Place cooked eggplant slices close together, in a single layer on top of zucchini, into baking dish.
Continue sautéing eggplant slices, adding oil and butter as needed. While the next batch is cooking, add a layer of Romano, mozzarella, and Provolone cheeses, and more sauce, to the baking dish.
Add the greens in the middle layers.
Continue Layering
Continue layering eggplant, cheeses, and sauce until dish is filled. Usually there are 2 or 3 layers of eggplant. You can add leftover egg and bread crumbs, finishing with sauce.
Drizzle 1 or 2 Tbsp. olive oil over the top, plus a couple of pinches of oregano.
Bake at 350 degrees, loosely covered with foil. If the pan is filled to the top, place an old cookie sheet on the bottom rack to catch the spillover. If sauce is watery, lower heat, loosen foil, and cook a bit longer.
It’s done when sauce is gently bubbling all over, usually 40 to 50 minutes.
Serve with extra grated Romano cheese and sauce, if needed.
Wasn’t that easy? Maybe not the first time, but it is delicious! Serve with some good bread and a green salad or tomato-basil salad. Maybe some wine…good company…and…
Fresh artichoke.
…Stuffed Artichokes
Snip the points off the artichoke leaves, remove the smallest bottom leaves, trim the stem to an inch or so, rinse, and drain.
Use the bread crumb recipe above, adding more Romano cheese, salt, and garlic. Place the artichoke in the bowl of bread crumbs and spoon the mixture between the leaves. Use your fingers to firm more crumbs between the leaves.
Place in artichoke holders and add 2 to 3 cups of water in a heavy stock pot. Drizzle olive oil, 2 or 3 Tbsp. water, and a dash of salt over the tops of the artichokes.
Using a covered stock pot, 2 well-stuffed large artichokes will need 2 to 3 hours on a low simmer to steam. Add water as necessary. They’re done when you can easily remove a large leaf. When you pull the leaf through your teeth, the green part is tender and will scrape off. (Artichoke greens are good for gut health.) Some prefer to use a pressure cooker, which speeds things up considerably.
Stuffed artichokes can be made ahead of time and reheated in the oven, covered with foil.
This dinner was a big hit when relatives came to town earlier this month. Enjoy!
Cauliflower just picked from the garden, planted last fall.
Here’s an easy recipe I’ve adapted from something seen last year in “Southern Living”. Mother took some shrimp out of the freezer, and I had just picked this beautiful head of cauliflower. Add a few other ingredients, and — Bingo, a Winner!
About 1 or 2 cups fresh green beansor haricots verts, cut into 1 1/2″ pieces (frozen will work)
1 1/2 cups small fresh cauliflower florets
One or two ‘Lunchbox’ sweet peppers for color, diced (optional)
3 green onions, green and white parts sliced separately
Leftover vegetables (optional)
1 large or 2 medium fresh garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. tsp. dried ginger
1 large egg
1 tsp. butter
2 or 3 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh basil
2/3 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1 or 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
Bunching onions.
Lunchbox peppers.
Green beans.
The Process
First, start cooking a pot of flavored rice, or plain rice, if you prefer, according to package instructions. I use Rice Pilaf. Don’t overcook it, or it will be sticky. Set it aside when it’s done (about 15 to 20 minutes), and start the rest of the recipe after you get the rice going.
Heat a large non-stick wok or other pan. Add half the oil, half the salt, and the shrimp. Cook hot, turning occasionally, until shrimp is no longer clear. This takes only 2 minutes or so. Remove shrimp; set aside.
Add the green beans, cauliflower, and ‘Lunchbox’ pepper to the remaining liquids in the pan, along with the garlic, ginger, the rest of the oil, and the white part of the green onions. Stir frequently for about 2 minutes, at medium-high heat. This is a good opportunity to use up leftovers, such as broccoli, dinosaur kale, peas, and carrots.
Add the rest of the salt and 2 1/2 to 3 cups cooked rice. Cook and stir until rice is just a bit dried. This takes a minute or two. Lower heat if necessary.
Push the rice mixture to one side, and add butter to the open area. Add the egg to the butter, scramble, and chop in the pan while it’s cooking. When the egg is done, mix it into the rice.
Add shrimp, soy sauce, basil, and toasted sesame oil. Stir to heat evenly.
Garnish with green parts of green onion.
This recipe for Shrimp, Vegetable, and Rice Stir-Fry takes only half an hour to prepare, and serves 2 to 4. Yummy.
When there’s a bumper crop of kale, collards, spinach, Swiss Chard, or any of the other greens (which are so good for you, by the way), this is what you can do. Whether your winter greens are looking a little tired, or you just need to remove them to make space for the warm-season vegetables, many are asking that question.
Curly kale, Swiss chard, dinosaur kale, arugula.
Cook ‘n’ Freeze Those Greens
Have a few zip-lock sandwich bags handy.
Select healthy-looking greens and wash thoroughly. Inspect carefully for slugs, caterpillars, and other insects.
Cut and remove the thickest of the midribs.
Separate the varieties, or combine them.
Cut into wide ribbons, or thin, if you prefer.
Get out the Big Wok, or any other large, heavy pot.
Add 2 Tbsp. olive oil and 1 Tbsp. butter, more or less, to the pan. Heat it up.
Add a clove or two of minced fresh garlic. Saute until it begins to turn a pale golden color, but not brown (browned garlic is burned and tastes awful).
Add the greens. Lots of them.
Turn the greens continuously over low-medium heat, so they’re well-coated with the oil. You’ll see that they wilt down quickly.
Season with salt and pepper (optional).
When evenly wilted, allow to cool somewhat.
Ladle half a cup or a cupful into each sandwich bag.
Squeeze out the air, seal up the bags, and set aside to cool.
Put them into a larger freezer bag or plastic container.
Freeze. Use within a few months.
In the Kitchen
***Update*** July 11, 2019: I harvested all the remaining Swiss chard and kale from last year (photos, below) and cooked them up this morning. There was a cup of leftover chicken stock, so that, too, was added to the pot while the vegetables cooked.
Swiss chard ‘Bright Lights’.
Swiss chard.
‘Lacinato’ and ‘Red Russian’ kale.
Cooked greens ready to freeze.
Next time you make soup or an omelet, bring home a pizza, or serve rotisserie chicken over seasoned rice, add a bag of these magical greens. Add these greens to a dish of lasagna or eggplant parmigiana. Simple! Put a bag in the refrigerator in the morning to thaw for that night’s dinner. Even canned soup from the grocery store is more nutritious after adding these greens. Fresh leaves added when the soup is heating up wilt almost instantly and double the vitamin content.
When you realize how simple this is—and how good it is for you—you’ll plant a whole lot more this fall. It’s easy to sneak these greens into your cooking, and your finicky eaters might not even notice!
Veggie omelet with fresh microgreens. You could also use a bag of thawed greens in the fold.
Basil downy mildew is a devastating disease caused by the pathogen Peronospora belbahrii. This disease has been active in the United States since 2007, and for several years before that in Europe. BDM is thought to have originated nearly 90 years ago in Africa.
This water mold targets a very specific host—basil. Just basil. There are related species that attack other members of the Lamiaceae family, such as coleus, but it’s basil I’ll concentrate on today.
I’m writing about it now because some of you might have given up growing basil. If you’ve struggled with it the last few years, I’m going to offer some tips so you can once again enjoy your home-grown basil. And then I’ll share my favorite Tomato-Basil Salad recipe, a summertime staple around here.
Symptoms Of Basil Downy Mildew
Yellowing between main veins.
Let me begin by describing the symptoms of BDM. The plants might start the season looking great, all green or purple and… oh, that fragrance!… You probably harvested several clippings, using them in salads, on pizza, in tomato sauce. What’s summer without fresh basil?!
And suddenly it went downhill from there. The leaves developed blotchy yellow or pale green sections between the main veins. The discoloration then spread over most of the leaf surface. The leaf reverse (the lower surface) was covered in a fuzzy gray film early the next morning, followed by little black dots.
Those tiny black specks are the fruiting structures (sporangia) of basil downy mildew. They puffed out microscopic spores that were carried on the breeze to infect other basils. The plants became spotty overall, and never regained their strength.
In only a few days, the affected leaves turned yellow. Some of the tips of the stems remained green, but, eventually, they, too, showed symptoms. And most of the leaves dropped off.
You fertilized, you spoke kind, encouraging words. And you commiserated with friends. Yet nothing helped. How disappointing!
Center leaf beginning to grow pale.
Black sporangia on reverse.
Spores and Relative Humidity
All is not lost. With some insight into how this disease works, you might be able to stop the progression of BDM and get more mileage out of your plants. Another option is to start with healthy new transplants and take precautions so it doesn’t happen again.
You might have noticed that basil downy mildew started showing up and spreading quickly during wet or humid weather. Good observation! In fact, spores require around 85% relative humidity for a few hours in order to germinate.
Even if the weather is quite dry or only slightly humid, the basil still can become infected. How? As the nighttime temperature drops, the relative humidity climbs. After a period of high humidity, the spores begin to germinate on susceptible varieties of basil.
Let’s say the daytime temperatures are in the 80’s F, with comfortably low humidity around 40%. With no rain in the forecast, you might think you’re in the clear. The problem is thatthe period of time just before dawn is when the relative humidity is at its highest reading of the day. It could easily reach 90%! The lower the temperature drops during the night, the higher the relative humidity rises.
So…limiting humidity around basil can keep the plant just outside the reach of the disease. If you live in an area that gets extremely hot and dry in the summer, your basil might survive unscathed. That’s happened only 2 or 3 times in my gardens since BDM started showing up in the mid-Atlantic and southern states.
Reducing Humidity
Potted sweet basil.
How do you limit the humidity? Simple! That’s why I’m writing this now, before everyone gets their basil plants into the garden. Here are some suggestions for you:
Basil grown in the garden should be situated in an area with excellent air circulation. Don’t plant it in the middle of a bed, with neighboring plants all around, or next to a fence.
Planting basil near a paved surface, or surrounded by paved surfaces, has the benefit of having less square footage that’s able to absorb moisture. The goal is to reduce as many sources of moisture as possible. And that includes overhead watering! If you’ve read the posts about tomatoes, you’ve learned the importance of keeping foliage dry.
BDM can show up in one neighborhood while entirely missing the next one. It might not appear at all if the summer is very hot and dry and if the nights don’t cool down very much. Or it might not show up until rain returns after a long, dry summer.
Certain weather conditions, such as frequent rainstorms and persistently high humidity, foster the widespread and enduring presence of basil downy mildew. Once the spores are in the air, growing basil is a lost cause… Or is it?
The Ultimate Solution: Potted Basil
This pot will come inside at night, after releasing the toad.
Basil grows well in containers. An airy exposure up on the deck could be a good spot for it. Or sitting on a brick patio, or under the umbrella when it’s especially hot. Check your plants every day for those tell-tale light-colored blotches, and remove those leaves immediately.
If it looks like a losing battle, move the pot indoors for the night. That’s right! Get used to it if you want to—no, must—have fresh basil.
As long as you’re not living in the middle of a bog, the humidity indoors will never reach the levels required to grow BDM. And then place the basil back outside the next morning. On rainy days, keep the potted basil indoors, in a bright spot. Yes, it’s work, but worth the effort.
A few varieties of basil don’t get the disease, and plant breeders are working feverishly to bring more to market. Naturally, all of my favorites, including ‘Genovese’, ‘Yevani’, ‘Mrs. Burns’ Lemon’, ‘Tuscany’, and ‘Siam Queen’ DO get basil downy mildew. And, yes, I DO bring in the potted plants at night once the disease has reached the area or before rainy weather comes near.
Those that, in my experience, seem to be resistant are ‘Cardinal’, ‘Kapoor tulsi’ (holy basil), and ‘African Blue’ basil, but they’re not my favorites in the kitchen. ‘Eleonora’ is another that has been advertised as having “intermediate” resistance, but I have seen advanced cases of BDM on this variety.
(***Update***: New cultivars developed by Rutgers University will be worth trying. Look for ‘Rutgers Devotion DMR’, ‘Rutgers Obsession DMR’, ‘Rutgers Passion DMR’, and ‘Rutgers Thunderstruck DMR’. I grew ‘Rutgers’ Obsession DMR’ outdoors all summer, in 2021, and still have a cutting growing in the kitchen window. This variety did not develop any symptoms of BDM. Success! 1/22/2022)
Always remember: when you think about basil, think about how relative humidity can affect its health.
Tomato-basil salad.
Tomato-Basil Salad
Here’s a recipe for Tomato-Basil Salad, like Caprese salad, but with extra bits:
Ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks, juice included
Yellow or white onion, thinly sliced
Cucumber, alternately-peeled (no need to peel the thin-skinned ‘Diva’), halved and sliced
Mozzarella cheese, medium chunks
Sweet basil, usually ‘Genovese’ for us
Extra virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar, or white wine vinegar if you prefer
Fresh Italian oregano, chopped; dried will work
Salt and pepper to taste
Measurements aren’t that important. Tomatoes are the main ingredient, and you can use all reds or mix the colors. Not too much onion. Certainly enough basil, and don’t use so much oregano that it overpowers the rest. Mother likes hers more vinegary. Oh, and get a nice loaf of bread for dunking. Enjoy!
In a medium frying pan, add about 2 Tbsp. thinly sliced onion and 1 or 2 Tbsp. olive oil. On medium heat, cook and turn until onion is transparent to a light golden color.
