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Cooking While Staying Put At Home: Some Ideas and Easy Recipes

March 26, 2020

Split Pea Soup with Vegetables
Pinched Stoneware Bowls by Emily Schroeder Willis

Now that we find ourselves hunkered down at home (sheltering in place, working from home, staying put) for who knows how long, let’s push aside anxiety and talk about what to cook. Our challenge now, beyond staying well and at home, is how to cook daily meals while doing as little grocery shopping as we can. You’ll be surprised, I think, just how far your current supplies can go. If you didn’t manage to shop before, delivery and mail order are still options. Many grocery, big box and online stores will deliver, (although it may not be immediate with the current demands), so even if you can’t get out, you can get groceries. Check with your local grocer.

A few weeks ago, I suggested some foodstuffs to have on hand and some to make ahead to put away. Sometimes the most comforting foods are the simplest to make. Rice or pasta with just butter and salt or olive oil and garlic is so delicious. Ramp it up with frozen peas or arugula, add some beans, frozen shrimp, tinned tuna, anchovies or cheese and herbs and, well, yum yum! Nourishing soups can be particularly soothing both to make and to eat.

Except for the occasional walk while trying to stay away from others, we have been holed up in our apartment for almost 2 weeks. I’ve been trying to make simple but nutritious meals in large enough quantities that we can alternate eating leftovers and freshly cooked meals. To share some ideas, this is what I’ve made in the past week:

- Lentil Soup with a green salad (The Washington Post recently had a particularly good recipe)
- Lemon garlic butter baked fish with sautéed broccoli and baked sweet potatoes
- Nachos made with a can of beans, jar of salsa, shredded pepper jack and sliced pickled jalapeños served with carrot and cucumber sticks
- Cavatappi pasta with the Bon Appetit kale pesto recipe alongside a fennel salad
- Vegetarian chili (my riff on Lucinda Scala Quinn’s much loved recipe from Mad Hungry) made with gorgeous beans from Rancho Gordo, yellow rice and kale
- Split pea soup with roasted parsnips for munching on the side
- Bean salad made with chopped raw veggies and scarlet runner beans, also from Rancho Gordo (my favorite source of beans), with a garlicky vinaigrette

Other recipes waiting to be made are wild rice salad with nuts and dried cherries, black bean soup with cornbread, vegetable nori rolls with miso soup and edamame from the freezer, stir-fried rice with leftover or frozen vegetables and dosas with a spicy potato filling. (Tejal Rao recently published a very good, easy dosa recipe in The New York Times and it only has a few ingredients if you want to give it a try). After that, my son and I have big plans to try making sourdough bread, pizza dough and crackers. In fact, we started our yet-to-be-named starter yesterday. Wish us luck!

There are some meals that require no recipes and can be pulled directly from the freezer or pantry. Frozen salmon burgers with kimchi, vegetable dumplings with dipping sauce and a shredded cabbage salad, grilled cheese sandwiches with baby carrots and mushroom ravioli with a little butter and any green left in the fridge as well as the above mentioned pasta or rice. Dried fruit will make a tasty compote as well as take the place of fresh fruit in yogurt and smoothies (soaked first to reconstitute) if need be. And although I love to cook most days, I am perfectly happy to take a break with a grilled cheese sandwich or quesadilla, yogurt with nuts and fruit, some crackers with almond butter or some hummus or guacamole and a bowl of baby carrots for an easy meal.

Friends have told me they are doing more cooking and baking while staying put. My pal Dale, in Maine, just sent photos of her delicious looking sheet pan pizza while my neighbor, Reva, told me her family was tackling pot pie. In Brooklyn, my friend Esther has been baking banana and pumpkin breads. Anne, in DC, made the above mentioned lentil soup recipe and loved it so much she sent it to me. Not only do we have more time now to cook but cooking can be very grounding and comforting. What are you eating while home bound? Share your favorites with the rest of us! It is a very strange moment we find ourselves in right now but perhaps we can use the time to try a new recipe or prepare an old favorite to nurture our families and ourselves. Please, please stay home if at all possible (if you have to go out, take isolation and distance from others seriously) and please stay well in this new unfamiliar world.

Emily Schroeder Willis is a member of the cooperative Objective Clay. Since the NCECA conference was cancelled for health safety, many potters who would have sold pots there are holding online sales. This is a good way to support artists who would have held sales at the conference. The Objective Clay online sale runs through March 27th.

Split pea soup
Pinched Stoneware bowls by Emily Schroeder Willis

Don’t Panic-Prepare! What To Do Now To Get Food Ready In Case You’re Stuck Home

March 6, 2020

Freshly made chimichurri
Earthenware bowl by Ayumi Horie

The current threat of an epidemic of coronavirus has sent consumers into a shopping frenzy. Drugstores in our neighborhood have been sold out of Zinc lozenges and Clorox wipes for days. And if you shop evenings at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, whole shelves have been depleted of rice, pasta, canned beans and soup. I’ve seen cases of water and toilet paper being delivered to apartments in volumes that indicate people are scared the supply chain is about to break. Even Amazon is sold out of Cold-Eeze and Purell!

Whole Foods on Columbus Avenue yesterday

Worrying can’t help you but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared without hoarding or panicking. Carla Lalli Music published a thoughtful post in Bon Appetit on what to stock up on in case of quarantine. Her list includes the usual suspects – rice, beans, pasta, tinned fish, soup, tomatoes, olive oil, coffee, nut butter, dried fruit and frozen vegetables – as well as others that you might not have thought of – fermented vegetables, butter, miso, yogurt, eggs, flour, coconut milk and hard cheeses. I keep a pretty well stocked pantry ordinarily but I admit I doubled up on some of these items just in case. And I am not even sure what I mean by just in case – a gap in the supply chain or stores being closed? Although it seems unlikely, it is possible we will get sick or quarantined. If so, I have staples (and our usual shelves full of various bottles of wine and liquor, for medicinal purposes, of course), and it wouldn’t hurt for you to do the same. What is the downside of stocking up? Perhaps you won’t have to shop for a few weeks.

Homemade applesauce Maiolica bowl by Stanley Mace Andersen

You don’t really need me to tell you how to handle this situation but here are a few suggestions. Ahead of any quarantine, make yourself (or buy) some pesto (without basil, use kale or arugula), chimichurri, kimchi, applesauce, sauerkraut and stock. Those can either be frozen or will last in the fridge for many weeks. If you do get stuck at home, here are some reminders/recipes of what you can prepare without a lot of fresh foods. With some cabbages, carrots, beets and fennel in your fridge, you can easily make fresh salads for quite some time. If you have onions, garlic, herbs and spices along with lentils, beans and grains, you can make lentil or bean soups, grain salads or bowls, rice and beans, lentil or bean chili, fried rice and curries of all sorts. With a bag of flour, you can make bread, pizza or pasta (you’ll have plenty of time). Store some seeds and oats in your larder and you can make hot cereal (some fruit spread and nuts will help), granola and crackers indefinitely. And with eggs and cheese in your fridge, there are omelets, frittatas and lasagna in your future. Great if there is no quarantine – you’ll have plenty of prepared foods to eat for weeks!

Curried Lentil Soup
Porcelain bowl by Andy Brayman

Most importantly, as all the news sources say, try to boost your immune system with healthy eating, exercise and supplements, wash your hands often and keep those hands away from your face. No one can tell yet whether warm weather will help diminish the virus but we’ll hope so. Of course, the best outcome would be containment. But as our very smart pediatrician told me, some contagion is inevitable but building your health and being prepared is do-able.

Rice pasta with pesto and arugula
Bowl by Silvie Granatelli

An Easy Cocktail Party or Super Bowl Snack – Baked Manouri Cheese with Herbs

January 30, 2020

Piece of baked Manouri cheese with herbs
Porcelain plate by Liz Quackenbush

We are well into the short days and long nights of winter. No, don’t pull the sheets over your head and hibernate. Now is the best time to invite people over – for drinks or soup or just to watch a movie – to share these wintry evenings. Plus, with the Super Bowl coming up, you’ll need hors d’oeuvres or snacks on hand. Besides a freezer full of little triangles of spanakopita and samosas, cheeses make an easy and well-liked party platter. This week, I offer you a different spin on the traditional baked Brie or Camembert (an old standby for a winter cocktail party snack) – baked Manouri cheese with herbs.

Manouri is a soft cheese made from the drained whey left over when making feta in Greece, Macedonia and Thessaly. Primarily from sheep or goat milk, it has some cream added, which makes it softer, creamier and less salty than feta with just a mild tang. You can crumble it in salad or spread it on a cracker. But my favorite way to serve Manouri is topped with olive oil and herbs and baked, since it gets a cheesecake-like consistency when heated.

I was introduced to Manouri at Mani Marketplace, our local grocery run by two Greek brothers (I’ve written about them before). One of the owners recommended I try it and I loved it just simply spread on seeded crackers. When I went back to get more, the young man who stocks the cheese shelves told me how to bake it with oil and herbs. And the cashier suggested making it with honey and nuts, which could be delicious, too. I had never heard of Manouri cheese before, but apparently it is fairly popular. Find it in New York at Murray’s Cheese, Zabar’s and the Bedford Cheese Shop, as well as at Mani. You can even buy it online.

Slice of Manouri cheese rolled in dry herbs before baking

This is one of the simplest hors d’oeuvres I know and a little different (and less rich) from the more commonly baked Brie. I used a blend of oregano, paprika and thyme but za’atar, Herbes de Provence, chopped rosemary, dill or even a chutney could be delicious. You could bake olives and roasted peppers alongside the cheese and serve them together. Remove the Manouri from your baking sheet with a spatula and plate it on a handmade ceramic dish. Then you have not only a tasty but beautiful snack to serve your guests.

BAKED MANOURI CHEESE

This is almost too simple to be a recipe!

Slice of Manouri cheese (mine was a little more than an inch tall)
Flavorful olive oil
Dried herbs (I used oregano and thyme)

Roll your slice of Manouri in dry herbs so the whole edge is coated.

Place the herbed slice on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Drizzle with olive oil (about 1 TB).

Sprinkle the top with more herbs.

Bake at 350F degrees for 6-8 minutes.

Remove to serving plate with a flat spatula.

Serve with crackers, crudités or apple/pear slices.

A Quick Festive Cocktail Snack: Laurie Colwin’s/Rosalea Murphy’s Rosemary Walnut Recipe And A Smoky Pecan Version

December 5, 2019

Spiced and herbed pecans
Slip-cast Porcelain dish by Hiroe Hanazono

Although it feels like it started at Halloween this year, we are now officially in the holiday season. That means you may be hosting more guests than usual. We tend to have more friends over for dinner and more parties during the cold weather. Not only are more people around during the cooler months but our apartment is too hot in summer to even consider hosting a soirée. I like to put out a cheese board, crudités and dips and serve a warm appetizer or two if not an entire buffet when having a party. But when friends drop by or we invite people spontaneously, nuts alongside cheese and olives are my fallback. This recipe is 15 minutes start to finish. Just melt the butter in oil, add the seasoning, toss with the nuts and bake.

Nuts are nutritional powerhouses that show up on many “what to eat daily” lists. A handful, that is, not a bowl, because although nutrient rich, nuts are also calorie dense so you can’t eat them like carrot sticks or popcorn. Sorry. Fortunately they are so tasty, a handful is quite satisfying. And if you think they are delicious all by themselves, the recipe I am going to share with you makes them absolutely scrumptious and perfect for a holiday table or with cocktails.

Bagged pecans are widely available and often very reasonable

This recipe originated in The Pink Adobe Cookbook by Rosalea Murphy but was made popular when Laurie Colwin published it in her Gourmet Magazine column. It is quite simple – just walnuts, butter, rosemary, cayenne and salt but easily adapted to suit individual tastes. I prefer pecans or cashews (although I think walnuts are actually more nutritious) and using chipotle chili powder over cayenne for its smoky flavor. Because they are a bit “hot”, you actually won’t go through a whole bowl yourself. I tried using olive oil in place of the butter, and you can, but it just wasn’t as delicious. My solution was to use a tablespoon of each. If you like spicier nuts, you could easily add more cayenne or add black pepper. If you hate rosemary, use thyme alone or skip the herbs and use curry powder. And if you like sweet, add a spoonful of sugar, honey or maple syrup to the melted butter and spices. Try these with your own spin and tell us which you prefer. (A word of warning – don’t just turn off the oven and leave the nuts in it – they will continue to darken or, worse, burn).

A few nuts may be the perfect accompaniment to a cocktail or beer, providing a little nutritional snack to balance out the alcohol you are downing. They are a great party food since they can sit out for hours without refrigeration and the rosemary in this recipe makes the nuts taste holiday special. Unlike many spiced nut recipes, including my all-time favorite with curry and chutney, these have no added sugar. Below is the original recipe and the one I adapted and prefer. I like to serve them with a spoon or in a bottle so people don’t dip their hands in and touch the nuts others will put in their mouths. At the Old Church Pottery Sale (which is coming up this weekend-as it does every year after Thanksgiving in Demarest, NJ), the caterers put out nuts in small individual glasses to avoid such hand dipping. However you serve them, these nuts are delicious and stay fresh in a covered container for a week or two. And if you need a homemade holiday or host gift, a bag or mason jar full of spiced nuts could be perfect.

Rosemary Walnuts
Slip-cast Porcelain Dish by Hiroe Hanazono

PINK ADOBE/LAURIE COLWIN ROSEMARY WALNUTS

2 cups shelled raw walnuts
2 1/2 TBs butter
2 tsps crumbled dried rosemary
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Melt the butter and add the seasoning.

Mix in the nuts.

Spread on a parchment paper covered pan and bake 11-12 minutes, stirring occasionally until browned.

Cool and serve or store in a covered container.

MY SMOKY PECAN VERSION

2 cups shelled raw pecans
1 TB butter plus 1 TB olive or avocado oil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp crumbled dried rosemary
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder or 1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2-1 tsp kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal because it is less salty than Morton’s)

Preheat toaster oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melt butter in a saucepan and add the seasoning.

Add in the nuts and stir to coat well.

Pour onto a parchment paper lined toaster oven pan.

Bake for 11 minutes, turning once.

Cool and serve or store in a glass jar for up to 2 weeks.

Spiced and herbed pecans
Porcelain dish by Hiroe Hanazono

Thanksgiving Sides Can Be Both Easy And Delicious: Brussels Sprouts With Chestnuts

November 19, 2019

Brussels sprouts with chestnuts
Stoneware bowl by Melissa Weiss

With Thanksgiving just over a week away, we really need to finalize what to serve or bring for the feast. One of my favorites, and one of the easiest holiday side dishes (aside from a simple baked sweet potato or steamed green beans) is Brussels sprouts with roasted chestnuts. It is so easy it really isn’t even a recipe. You won’t need instructions after you’ve made it one time. The most labor-intensive part of the process is roasting the chestnuts and that job can be done a day or two ahead.

Fresh chestnuts are widely available from now through the end of the year. To prepare your washed chestnuts for roasting, score an x through the dark outer shell on the rounded side of the nut. There are special knives just for this task but a short, sharp paring knife works fine. Place the scored nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes in a 350, until your cut x has curled back to expose some inner flesh. After removing from the oven (I actually did ours in the toaster oven since we still have no gas), wrap the hot chestnuts in a dish towel and crunch them with your hands a bit to loosen the skins. Let them steam like that for about 5 minutes and then peel – a somewhat time-consuming job but one that can be done while watching TV or talking on the phone. You can use the chestnuts immediately or store them in a glass jar in the fridge a few days until ready to use. And if all of this seems like too much work, jarred and bagged roasted and peeled chestnuts are easily purchased.

Brussels sprouts still on the stalk
from Amantai Farm

Fresh Brussels sprouts at our local farmers market from J & A Farm

Similarly, it isn’t hard to clean, steam or roast Brussels sprouts (but frozen are delicious, too). Just trim off the tough bottoms, halve if large, place in a steamer insert in a pot with a lid and add an inch or so of water. Steam 5-6 minutes or until just pierce-able with a fork or knife. Please, please, please be careful not to overcook! Drain and add a generous knob of butter (or earth balance or whatever you use instead of butter), the semi- chopped chestnuts and a generous sprinkle of plain salt, an herb salt like Herbamare or a flavored salt – perhaps truffle?

Brussels sprouts with roasted chestnuts, butter, salt and pepper

I hated Brussels sprouts as a kid, perhaps because they were always served over cooked or because the smell of overcooked cruciferous vegetables is so disgusting. But when I started cooking them for myself and adding butter and salt, I learned to enjoy eating them. The sweet, creamy flavor of the chestnuts is a perfect balance to the vegetal Brussels sprout flavor. This bright green dish, along with a salad and cranberries, will enliven a Thanksgiving table full of predominantly brown, white or pumpkin colored foods. And if it is too much effort to make or get chestnuts, (although I think you’ll find it is worth the time), just cheat and toss in a handful of toasted pumpkin seeds and currants and you’ll have made an otherwise plain vegetable seem quite festive.

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