Banana Oatmeal Cookies

I have never been big on desserts, generally I would rather have cheese or bread then a piece of cake. Since I am not used to having a sweet tooth it confuses me when I find myself eating snickers bars from the vending machine several afternoons in a row. After my second week of such behavior I decided I had better face up the fact that I have a problem with sugar and indeed do have a sweet tooth, even if it is stress induced.

In the hopes of avoiding the 3pm call of Hershey's or Nestle I made these oatmeal cookies. They are the first cookie I have ever made that I put bananas in but it turned out really well. The cookies were crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside and the bottoms were covered in crystallized sugar. So very good. Hopefully tomorrow I will remember to take these with me to work and they will do the trick. I adapted these out of an oatmeal cookie recipe from Bonnie Stern's Heartsmart: The Best of Heartsmart Cooking. I think a few handfuls of walnuts would add a really nice crunch for next time.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies
(makes 28-36)

¾ cup margarine, at room temp
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 over ripe banana, mushed
¾ cup whole wheat flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
¾ cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cream together margarine and sugars. Add egg, vanilla and water and mix. Mix in banana.
3. In a second bowl stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the oats.
4. Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture, avoid over mixing. Stir in the raisins.
5. Mound 1.5T sized balls on a cookie sheet. Flatten each cookie.
6. Bake for 15-18 minutes and cool on a cookie sheet.

Technorati Tags: Cook, Bake, Baking, Food Porn, Cookies

Creamy Linguine with Ham, Mushrooms and Peas

Continuing my current Italian food love affair I made a version of the classic con Panna, Prosciutto e Piselli. I didn't exactly make anyone's version but read a few recipes online and remembered the version my Mum used to make as a kid. This version uses mushrooms and not red pepper as some do. I also substituted old fashioned ham for the traditional proscuitto.

I actually really don't like cooked peas unless they are fresh. At least I have been operating under that assumption for years now. However I refuse to be like my Dad with his suspicious spinach "allergy" that only seems to arise if he knows there is spinach in the dish - so one of my goals is to give a fair shot to all the foods I think I don't like. First, soon after meeting my boyfriend I gave curry a chance and now I absolutely adore it and regret all those years I didn't eat it. Trying to be adventurous I thought I would make this pasta since it is a classic. I made sure I didn't overcook the peas which really helped I think. I was really happy with it in fact. I still like raw peas a thousand times better, but I would choose fresh peas over chocolate 9 times out of 10 anyway so thats not really fair.

I guess next, I will need to tackle canned tuna. If I can get past the smell. Yuckers. But maybe.. . some really nice european packed-in-olive-oil tuna? I wonder what is the most disguised and yet simplest to eat tuna? Any opinions?

Creamy Linguine with Ham, Peas and Mushrooms
(4 servings)

2 tablespoons butter
250 grams mushrooms, white or brown, large diced
150 grams old fashioned ham or proscuitto, cut thick and diced
1 cup whipping cream
¾ cup frozen or fresh peas
pepper
1 cup Parmesan, grated
pasta, 4 servings worth

1. In a large, heavy bottom, saucepan which is big enough to hold the pasta later, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the mushrooms and a few grinds of pepper and give it a stir. Continue cooking for a few minutes, until the mushrooms start releasing their liquid. Turn up the heat to medium and continue cooking for another 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
2. Add the ham to the mushrooms and continue cooking for another 5 minutes, stirring as necessary. Add the cream and reduce the heat back to medium low. This will thicken up pretty fast so stir regularly and when it starts to thicken put the pasta on to cook.
3. A few minutes before the pasta is done the sauce should've thickened, add the peas to the sauce and stir to cook\heat through. Taste for seasonings - you will probably want more pepper.
4. Drain the pasta but reserve a cup of the pasta water just in case. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss along with the grated cheese until it is well combined, if the sauce is too thick at this point stir in some of the pasta water a few tablespoons at a time.
5. Serve with extra cheese.

Technorati Tags: Cook, Pasta, Cooking, Food Porn, Food, Italian Food

Zuchine Gratine

I am currently reading Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously a true tale of a woman who blogged her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking. When I bought it I actually expected to be so inspired that I also bought a copy of Julia Child's masterpiece at the same time. It is a cookbook I have been meaning to add to my collection anyways. Funny thing about it though - I am enjoying the book but it is more of a humorous tale of failures then an inspiring tale of success - I have yet to be inspired to cook a Julia Child dish at all. However I have noticed that the way Julie feels about Julia is the way I feel about Marcella. All weekend at the cabin I kept picking up Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, reading a bit and then putting it down. I don't have any witty play on words about my name and hers but reading her book makes me giggle, sigh and lust after food. Plus since Marcella references Julia in her writing I must be getting some of the influence right?

It was this experience that led me to Zucchine Gratinate. This is extremely similar to the French dish ratatouille, at least certainly the version my Mum used to make since my Dad was far too picky to eat eggplant, and even left out the peppers too. In fact the flavours are so similar that I am sure that one must have been inspired from the other many years ago, not that I want to dive into that debate.

I really liked this dish. The way the zucchini is cooked it really retains a lot of texture unlike ratatouille which is more goulash like. I made it with cheapo canned tomatoes rather then the fancy San Marzano as this is all I had, but it was really good. In the middle stage where the tomatoes are done but not yet mixed with the zucchini it has a flavor very similar to that of the fabulous Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onion.

If this dish wasn't good enough it gave me a chance to use some of the fresh herbs I had just planted. Fresh Parsley and Italian Oregano. I have never been entirely sure of the difference between oregano and marjoram. In fact the seedling I bought was named Italian Oregano and had in fine print sometimes called Hardy Marjoram. Certainly that clears it all up. According to Marcella they are cousins but marjoram loses it's flavour when dried. So I did a little more reading and it turns out what I bought is actually a cross between marjoram and oregano. Also that oregano is a wild form of marjoram. Hmm. Well, it certainly was nice in this - much nicer then I think the dried would have been - it gave a very subtle flavor. And hey, have you ever seen such huge Italian parsley leaves? This is also my entry into this week's Weekend Herb Blogging which is hosted by Glenna of A Fridge Full of Food. Lucky her, I always seem to have a fridge full of molding things.

I have modified the recipe slightly, I increased the amount of tomatoes and decreased that of the zucchini. Also if you do use the cheap tomatoes, reserve but don't use unless necessary, at least half of their liquid. I find it just gets to liquidy otherwise.

Zucchine Gratinate
(serves 4-6)

3 small zucchini, scrubbed clean
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 large canned tomatoes, cut up in their juice
1/4 teaspoon marjoram, chopped
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
salt
pepper
2 tablespoons Parmesan, freshly grated

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Cut the zucchini into very thin rounds about 2mm thick.
3. Put the 2T olive oil and the all the garlic into a saute pan and turn on to medium heat. Add all the zucchini slices as soon as the olive oil is hot - don't let the garlic brown. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally until all the zucchini are limp. Turn off the heat and set pan aside.
4. In a small saucepan put in the remaining oil and the onion on medium heat. Cook until the onion becomes transparent. Add the tomatoes and marjoram. Cook uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes or until the tomatoes and the oil separate. Off the heat stir in the parsley and adjust for seasoning you will likely need at least a few pinches of salt. Remember the zucchini isn't salted and you will soon be adding them together so you don't want to under salt it.
5. In a bake and serve dish add a little bit of the tomato sauce to the bottom of the pan about a 1T. Spread half the zucchini in an even layer and cover with half of the tomato sauce and half of the Parmesan. Repeat the layering again ending with the cheese.
6. Place the dish in the top of the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Allow to settle for 10 minutes before serving.

Technorati Tags: Cook, Vegetarian, Cooking, Food Porn, Food, Italian Food, Marcella Hazan

Whole Wheat Sesame Noodles with Rainbow Vegetables

There has been a real lag in cooking and posting lately. I have been away the last two weekends without internet and my last large meal I cooked didn't exactly turn out as I had hoped so it didn't earn itself a post.

Last night I was really craving something healthy - so I decided to make a veggies heavy stir fry with whole wheat noodles. Once that was decided I did some googling and came across this Rachael Ray recipe for Ginger Chicken Stir Fry with Sesame Noodles which served as the inspiration. I had some leftover chicken from a roast the other night so I simply tossed that in at the end. However if you had raw chicken or pork you could cut it into bite sized pieces and stir fry it before the vegetables like Rachael did. You could also easily make this vegetarian by omitting the chicken or substituting tofu. I have been trying to save some money and so I made a huge amount of this so I could bring it for lunch the next few days.

Whole Wheat Sesame Noodles with Rainbow Vegetables
(serves 4-6)

1 pkg whole wheat noodles
2T peanut or vegetable oil
1 3" pieces of ginger, minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped on a diagonal in 1 cm pieces
4-6 white mushrooms, sliced
2 small or 1 large zucchini, cut in half lengthwise then into thin half moons
3 medium carrots, grated
1/2 a cabbage, sliced (you can use red, green, vietnamese or napa would all be good)
1 red pepper, sliced thinly
1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1 handful of bean sprouts
salt
2t sesame oil
1/3C soy sauce
2T roasted sesame seeds

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and generously salt it. Add the pasta and set the timer per the manufacturers directions.
2. While the pasta is cooking heat the peanut or vegetable oil over medium high heat in a large wok or skillet. Add the garlic and ginger and stir for 30 seconds, add the scallions, mushrooms and zucchini and turn a few times. Add a healthy pinch of salt. Add the red pepper, cabbaged and chicken and continue stirring for another minute. Add the chicken, carrots and bean sprouts and stir until heated through. Remove vegetables from the heat and keep warm.
3. When pasta is cooked drain well and toss with sesame oil and soy sauce. Sprinkle on most of the sesame seeds and toss.
4. On each plate serve a helping of pasta topped with vegetables and chicken and then a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Technorati Tags: Cook, Stir Fry, Cooking, Food Porn, Food, Rachael Ray

Barbecued Chicken

Only I could so quickly screw up something on a first attempt. The attempt? Barbecuing. Finally we bought a bbq this past weekend and I was so excited about trying it out. J had already made burgers and steaks and so it was my turn. I decided to make barbecued chicken from Ina Garten's The Barefoot Contessa. I carefully prepared the sauce the night before and marinated the chicken. The next day we decided that the chicken would make a good late lunch. so I pre-heated the barbecue, wiped the grill down with oil to avoid sticking, put the chicken on the grill skin side down, closed the lid and turned down the temperature. I checked on the chicken 4 minutes later and it was burned to a crisp. The skin had turned into a black papery cover similar to the outside of a marshmallow after it has been deliberately lit on fire. Very discouraged I moved the chicken up to the top rack, removed the skin, re-basted and continued.

I really should've taken a picture of it then, because this is proof that cooking disasters can be overcome. The chicken actually turned out really good, super juicy and tasty - it would've been perfect with a crispy skin but at least I have a challenge for next time. So what did I learn? Well, I learned that I should make sure the temperature is actually low before closing the lid. I also learned that maybe I shouldn't start out with the skin side down - and if I do I should give it a quick sear and then move it up top. Plus the lid doesn't have to be closed at all. I also learned that I like BBQ sauce - I figured if anyone could help me appreciate the flavour Ina could. I find most prepared sauces to be far too sweet. I have had amazing bbq once, outside of Seattle in a little dive operated by a couple from Lousiana where the bbq was so spicy you hurt for days. Ina's isn't that but it is very tasty and you can easily adjust the spice level since you make it yourself. I made a half recipe and froze half - you really don't need that much. Plus we tried it on steak last night and it also stood up to the challenge well.

(You can find the recipe here on the Food Network's website.)

Technorati Tags: Cook, BBQ, Cooking, Food Porn, Food, Grill

Google Reader a new Tool

I discovered a new beta of google's last night and I was very pleased. It is called Google Reader and it is for reading rss feeds. The thing that makes it superior to other readers is that no matter which computer you are on your history is retained. For awhile I was using NetNewsWire which was good but I was frustrated when I was at work or on my laptop because I was constantly having to mark things as read. This tool is great if you read a lot of blogs because you can easily see what is new without hitting all the websites. (To find mine just enter dailyunadventures.com in the Add Subscription dialog.)

I made another Marcella recipe last night, the mushroom pasta sauce available here, which was good but not spectacular so I haven't posted about it. It tasted like pizza in a good way.

We get possession of our new place tomorrow so we are heading out for the Easter long weekend and I will be without internet for awhile. I am very excited and am going to work on putting together a garden bed and if all goes well buy myself a BBQ!