This is so easy that you just won’t believe it!

Vegetable broth can be made with anything that you have–mushroom peels, carrot peels, broccoli stems, ends of onions. Let me give you something to start.

1-something ‘oniony’ rough cut (chopped up so the juice gets out but not diced)
….1 onion or
….a bunch of scallions or
….2 or 3 leeks

2- something stalky rough cut
….a couple pieces of celery or
….1/2 head of fennel or
….1/2 head of bok choy

3- something green and leafy, torn
…. celery leaves or
…. kale or
…. collards or
…. swiss chard or
…. spinach

4- garlic, peeled and whole or smashed
…. a little or
…. a lot

5- herbs, fresh is best
…. parsley and tarragon
…. rosemary and lemongrass
…. dill

6- a bay leaf and some peppercorns

7- water to cover (about 8 cups)

Put all except herbs and peppercorns in a pot and bring to a boil. Skim off any foam. Add herbs. Turn down to simmer,cover and cook for 20 mins to 45 mins. The longer you cook, the stronger the broth. Greens will make an especially strong broth with lots of water soluble B vitamins (yeah!). Strain. If you have a colander with big holes you may want to line it with cheesecloth. If there are bits they will settle to the bottom when you store it. No big.

In mason jars with rubber lined lids? this will store for a week easily.

So what do you do with it next? This is just a stock. You can drink it as is. It’s more fun to make it into a hearty soup.

How about a nice bean soup.

Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a pot. Add thinly sliced onion, crushed garlic and chopped celery. Stir fry for a minute or two. Add one can chopped tomato, 3 cups stock, 1 can of navy beans. Simmer 5 minutes. Add some chopped greens (spinach is good). Bring to a boil and cover 2 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoons of tomato paste, a little parmesan cheese and cracked pepper.

This is a great time of year for mature potatoes and winter squashes. Use the same base (onion, garlic). Add stock and chopped butternut or acorn squash. Cook until the squash is soft. Remove the squash with a slotted spoon and run through a food mill or press through a colander or even smash with the back of a spoon. Stir this paste back into the broth.

For potato soups you do the same with sweet potatoes or mature white potatoes (russets, baking potatoes). Use a broth made with dill and garnish with fresh dill and grated cheddar cheese. Potato soup is good with mustard (not prepared, ground mustard).

Helen likes winter soups with lots of different beans (navy, light kidneys, pinto, black eyed peas) in combination. She also like pasta, noodles, tiny bowties, even macaroni. It’s a bit starchy for me; I take my soup out before putting the pasta in for her.

The really nice thing about soups is that they only take a few minutes, are great with whatever you have fresh and you can put in whatever you have a taste for at the moment. Feel like something on the sweet side? Add a handful of frozen peas or grated carrot. Feel a little tired? Use bunches of good greens and if it’s bitter, stir in a wee bit of honey. Want something creamy? Add a little butter or milk or even half and half just before serving.

Serve soup with a great bread (artisan or a complementary bread like tomato soup with rolls with bits of pepper and sun-dried tomato). Another option is to have a salad with field greens drizzled with olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar. If you need to have meat, have a couple of strips of grilled chicken breast or well grilled canadian bacon on top of the salad.

Secret number 39 to well received meals.

I love cooking for appreciative people, you know, the ones that the fact that they didn’t have to cook it means it automatically tastes great.  Sometimes though, there are more critical palates that need to be pleased.  These are the ones that  say,  ‘meh,  the chef at  The Four Seasons  does this dish better.’   There’s a well-duh moment.

So here’s the secret.  You’re making a pretty well known traditional dish.  Everyone knows what it’s supposed to taste like.  When that one person comes into the kitchen to oversee the process you say, ‘I was going to make something or other but saw that there was fresh something or other on hand so I changed the recipe.  It won’t taste like you expect.’ If you’re really bold you say ‘hope you like it better.’

Last weekend there was a family gathering at my parents house.  I was going to make Chicken Marsala but made a point of letting someone know it was Chicken Mar-sorta instead.

We had 6 meat eaters, two teenage boys, four seniors.  Mom had four largish chicken breasts.  With a nice salad (Chris calls it the ‘leaf course’) and  risotto I thought that would be sufficient.

I use a marble pounder to thin meat.  This makes it more tender then slicing lengthwise.  Here’s a variation  Once the meat is evenly thinned and cut into similar size pieces, squeeze fresh lemon juice over.  Then finely grate the rind directly on them.  While those sit, heat butter and olive oil in a pan.  This is another variation.  Saute very finely diced garlic and shallots (note: I love cooking at moms.  Shallots, fresh parsley in pots year round, what elegance!).  Pat the chicken dry using absorbent towels.  Leave specks of the lemon zest.  Dip the meat in flour seasoned with salt and pepper.  Pop them in the hot oil/butter and cook almost through.  As the pieces are done, put them in a heated casserole in a warm (not hot-you want them to finish cooking but not dry out) oven.

There will be a crusty residue on the bottom of the pan.  Mix 1/2 cup of Marsala with a spoonful of tomato paste.  Use this to deglaze the pan (pour in hot pan and scrape the bottom until all that crusty stuff comes up).  Keep stirring so it’s smooth.  The flour from the chicken pieces and the paste will thicken the sauce.  Some people pour the sauce over the meat.  I prefer to dip the meat into the sauce.  The flour coating makes the meat absorbent.  It sponges up the flavor and improves the texture.  If there is any sauce left over, pour it over.  Layer the meat in half the casserole and return the dish to the warm oven.

Mom had these great baby fist sized mushroom.  I melted more butter in the hot pan and sauted sliced mushrooms.  When they were done I put them in the casserole next to the meat.  Then I splashed more marsala in the pan to deglaze again and poured that sauce over the mushroom.  Fresh chopped parsley adds a great flavor and nice color.

That day Helen was sous chef.  She stirred the risotto adding broth as the aborio rice absorbed a bit at a time.  Mom made the salad.  Start to finish, dinner was done in under an hour.

There were no complaints.  Aunt Carol particularly liked the mushrooms.  I told her secret number 28.  Everything tastes great cooked in a 1/2 pound of butter.

One of the marvelous things about ‘trattoria’ dining is that the name of the dish is the recipe. It’s a method of cooking that relies on combining just a few ingredients well. Helen has become a fan of these simple and elegant dishes after spending six weeks with mom and dad this summer.

It’s midweek, work is hectic, school is busy. We need a simple, nourishing, easy and healthful dinner. Here it is. Put on water for boiling penne. Dice a vidalia onion. Pick through and rinse 1/2 head of escarole and tear into small pieces. Just before the water boils heat a touch of olive oil in saute pan. Put pasta in boiling water and stir until it comes back to a boil. Put escarole in a steamer and cover. Add chopped onion to the oil in the saute pan and stir until it is softened. Add a dab of butter and let melt. Stir in a tablespoon of flour (don’t let it burn). Pour in some vegetable broth and stir with a wire whisk until smooth and slightly thickened. Turn off heat under escarole. Drain pasta and set aside. Turn down heat on sauce and stir in fat free half and half. Don’t let this boil as it will separate, it just needs to heat through. Pour into a gravy boat and set aside. Rinse out saute pan and put back on the burner on medium high. Put in a dab of olive oil and when it is heated add a hand full of pine nuts. Stir as they toast and remove from heat.

Put pasta on individual plates. Pour over light sauce and stir so the pasta is coated. Fork over steamed escarole and top with toasted pine nuts. If you wish, serve with grated cheese.

This is so good, you just won’t believe it.

The friendliness I find at the grocery checkouts never fails to put a smile on my face. Yesterday a ‘lofty’ gentleman (about 6′4″) commented on the smoked gouda cheese I was holding.

“Tasty snack,” he said.

I missed a beat. OK.

“Actually I’m making a zucchini, portabella and spinach lasagne with an orange zest tinted white sauce,” I told him.

He looked down at his feet then back at me, the look around his eyes like he was in some small pain.

“I’m havin’ a ham and cheese sammich,” he said.

Buon Appeitit

Vegetarian Lasagne (loaf pan size)

Parboil 6 sheets of pasta. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a saute pan. Add 1 tablespoon flour and stir with wire wisk. Pour in 1 to 1 1/2 cups milk and continue stirring until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in fresh grated orange zest. Steam 1/2 pound baby spinach. Slice very very thin about 4 baby portabello mushrooms and 1/2 small zucchini. Mix 1 egg into 1 cup of ricotta. Stir in 1/8 tsp nutmeg. Grate 4 oz smoked gouda cheese.

Cover the bottom of a loaf pan with a little sauce. Put two sheets of pasta and some more sauce. Spoon over 1/2 ricotta cheese mixture. Put layer of mushrooms then layer of zucchini. Put some more sauce and close with a layer of pasta. Repeat sauce and ricotta then spinach. Put on sauce and close with last two sheets of pasta. Pour on sauce, layer with grated cheese then the last of the sauce.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or so. The cheese should be slightly browned.

Want a ten minute prep, 30 minute bake chicken recipe that could enhance any continental restaurant menu? Sure you do.

What you need:

pie plate or quiche pan

cooking spray
bread crumbs
cream cheese (I use tofu based – low fat, adds protein)
sliced green olives
three boneless chicken breasts
egg

Coat the pan with cooking spray. Cover with breadcrumbs. Mash the cream cheese with sliced olives. Pound chicken breasts really thin. Layer bottom of the pan with one chicken breast. Smear half the cream cheese mixture. Layer another chicken breast then cream cheese and top with the last chicken breast. Separate the egg. Beat the white until stiff. Beat the yolk until light yellow. Smear the top of the chicken with the yolk and coat with bread crumbs. Spread the white around the edges. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

This is a great recipe because it’s flexible. The cream cheese adds richness and moisture and it is a medium to hold whatever flavors you want to add. My kids like green olives. You could use chopped onions or shallots. You could go fruity and put in chopped dehydrated raspberries or cherries. If you are into herbs you could put in dill or rosemary. Rosemary is really great with chopped oil cured olives. You could use fresh basil and sun-dried tomatoes.

Choose a cream cheese or substitute to suit your health needs. I use tofu based nonfat (tofutti brand) cream cheese substitute. This may not be something to put on a bagel but it cooks really well. It serves to make a higher protein, low fat dish. Of course regular cream cheese is going to make the dish richer if that’s what you like. Neufchatel works just as well.

Lining the pan with breadcrumbs makes clean up really easy.

The egg whites help seal leaks so the chicken doesn’t dry out. It also makes a crunchy crust around the edges.

Bon apetit!

Chris never loses his sense of humor. On the way to the doctor’s office before his diagnosis we were talking about what could be going on with his insides. He had had no fever, no interruption of his digestive functions, no sharp or extended pain. The cramping had not been localized until the day before. I thought hernia? Kidney stone?

“Appendicitis,” Chris insisted.

“Pulled muscle?” I countered.

“Mom, I bet you a milkshake it’s appendicitis.”

Eleven hours later as he was coming out of surgery after quite convincingly proving his point, Chris had one comment.

“Mom, you owe me a milkshake.”

“Chris, when you feel better I will give you a barrel of milkshakes.”

Anybody have an idea of how many milkshakes in a barrel? Forty-eight? Sixty?

One hundred and twenty-eight.

Given that milkshakes are going to be part of our daily menu for quite some time, I decided to teach Chris how to make his own.

1. Make sure the rubber ring on the blender is between the metal blade and the glass.
2. For every three scoops of ice cream put in about 1 cup of milk.
3. Squirt in as much syrup as you want.
4. Turn the blender on liquefy.

Of course, this doesn’t work. The blender squeals like an indignant pig. The ice cream floats like a lump.

“Shake the blender.”

“What?” he asks.

“Turn it off and shake it.”

“This is not going to work.” He gives it a delicate little wiggle and turns it back on. It squeals some more.

“Like this, sweetie.” I grab the blender with both hands and give it a vigorous shake. The air bubble around the blades rises with a satisfying ‘glurp.’ Chris’ eyebrows raise.

“See, it’s just like burping a baby,” I say as I turn the blender back on.

“Mom, if I have kids remind me to never hand them to you after they eat.”

It is about six months now that Helen has moved toward a vegetarian diet. She no longer eats mammals. We don’t generally have fish and it’s been awhile since she has had tuna. She on occasion will eat chicken, maybe once a month. She does drink milk and eats cheese.

She and I talk about nutrition. I want to be sure that her diet is balanced because she is still growing. One of the foods that I have introduced to her is texturized soy protein (TSP). Although I have a sensitivity to soy, her system does well with it. The other night we made a really easy dinner for her with it.

Vegetarian Pad Thai

• Handful TSP
• Vegetable Broth
• Rice Noodles
• Olive Oil
• Onion
• Pad Thai Sauce
• Peanuts
• Bean Sprouts

Soak TSP in vegetable broth to soften. Pour boiling water over rice noodles, also to soften. Heat oil in pan. Dice onions and saute. Mix in softened TSP and stir while heating through. Turn off heat but leave pan on burner. Drain noodles and stir into mixture in pan. Pour over and stir in pad thai sauce until well mixed. Stir in small handful of crushed peanuts and generous handful of bean sprouts.

OK. We buy TSP in bulk at Deep Roots Food Co-op on Spring Garden Street (between Holden Road and Wendover). The rice noodles and pad thai sauce are from Dynasty International Foods, one block away. When I don’t make my own, I prefer Imagine broth. The vidalia onions are really sweet right now. Normally we would use mung bean sprouts from Dynasty. This time we used home sprouted pea, azuki bean and lentil sprouts. They are not as moist as the mung bean sprouts. They are a little sweet and crunchy and add a good punch of whole live food, good energy.

Note to mom–I will send you some TSP and pad thai sauce so you can try this.

Last year in setting up a summer kitchen one of my concerns was to have the equipment to satisfy variant tastes and dietary needs. I have (finally) found a compatriot on the light side, a fellow vegetarian in Helen. On the other hand, there are two boys in the midst of their growth spurts who crave more, more, more. How can I season a grill to adapt to both the light and the (ahem) dark side?

Today we put together a light and easy outdoor meal that served both omnivores and vegetarians, Quesadillas with choice of fresh fillings and toasted cheese points. Filling choices were avacado, grilled chicken breast, roasted red pepper, grilled onion, salsa and cheese. Very simple stuff. The cheese toast points were made with a basic french bread covered in a mix of olive oil based mayo, parmesan and grated colby jack cheese.

We have an indoor, outdoor rule. Indoor chores require no heat. Let’s see. How did I do it? I took a chicken breast and sliced it thin. Mixed olive oil with some chili powder and a bit of cinnamon and coated the chicken. Sliced the avocado. Grated some cheese. Mixed a dollop of olive oil based mayo with a big palmful of parmesan cheese and some grated colby jack. Sliced a sweet onion and poured some olive oil over.

Outdoor. The left side of the grill is for stuff that doesn’t drip or flare. First thing was to toss a red pepper and the onions directly on the grill. While that was cooking I sliced the bread and spread some mayo/cheese mix on the slices.

It actually takes longer to roast a pepper than it does to grill the chicken thus the cook must take a liberal spritzing of wine at this point. My mother used to roast pepper directly over the flame of her ancient gas stove when I was growing up. The skin needs to blacken and blister. So barbaric! The onions fare better with a coat of oil but peppers just have to take the punishment. Don’t ask me why. Call my mother.

When the onions were done I removed them and put the cheese toast points on the upper rack.

This is the time to fire up the other side for the chicken which only takes a few minutes on each side.

When the red pepper is all blistered and patched with black it goes in a paper bag. The paper bag is crucial. Why? I don’t know! Because my mother always did it this way. A moment later, the chicken is flipped, cooked and cut into strips. Once the chicken is prepared, take the pepper out of the bag.

Skim off the skin, cut it in quarters and take out the seeds then slice it into strips.

The last part is pretty easy. Everyone can build their own quesadillas. I used 10 inch flour tortillas and a standard sized stainless steel pan on the sideburner. This is the ultimate ‘you choose’ meal because each person can take whatever they want and build as small or as large as they want. Helen and I built ours with cheese, avocado, roasted peppers and onion. The boys had the same plus chicken.

You can use cooking spray or lard or butter in the pan. Some people prefer to use butter or margarine spread on the tortilla. I can’t be bothered. I just toss some olive oil in the pan, dip both sides of the tortilla in it than start filling.

Fold it over, brown both sides.

You can keep each warm as the next goes in the pan by sticking them on the covered grill. (Just be sure it’s turned off. It’s just like a cooling oven). When they’re done it looks something like this.

There was a time when better homes boasted a summer kitchen. Here in the South these were detached from the house, tucked behind with a covered walkway connecting. Where I grew up in New York, the farmhouse I called home had one in the back wing, the north side of the house that was always coolest. My parents moved the heavy gas stove down into the cellar. They used the room for years as a catch-all, a washroom with its huge deep ceramic sinks. We had a babysitter though, an older lady who in her youth had been a maid to the family who farmed the land in the early part of the last century. She told us stories of picking berries early mornings in July and August and putting up jam for “Mrs.’ toast. Or standing over steaming pots, pickling and canning (why isn’t it called jarring?). It doesn’t make sense to heat up the house in the hot, hot summer by turning on the stove. Better to keep lights off, sheer curtains pulled to soften the light but let stray breezes through. Better to tuck the cooking away from the living area or to leave it to someone else to suffer through.

I was thinking of the summer kitchen yesterday afternoon as I pushed and pulled the grill out of its winter storage and into the half atrium. I thought about the many, many meals I made on it last year with lowering sunshine glaring off the rough concrete of the patio. I remembered the heron that took twice daily flights over the house, early morning while I had my coffee in the shadow of the east wall and then in the early evening when I fired up the grill for dinner.

There will be chores for the kids to do inside with the lights down low. There is peeling and chopping. Marinades need to be measured and shaken. There is washing and tossing. The kids will do this with an eye to the tv and their heads nodding to whatever music echoes in an adolescent skull. They will not come outside in the heat, they will not have the sky for the ceiling, they will hear rock and roll and not the trilling birds sheltering in the arms of the camellias.

Have you seen the commercial where a woman goes to a single’s bar with a bacon fast food sandwich in her pocketbook and is soon surrounded by good looking men?

The side effects from the antibiotic I’m taking for chronic sinusitis prevented me from doing the usual weekend chores. I took yesterday off and since I started to feel better in the afternoon I did the grocery shopping then started cooking for the week. (For those that know me, that would be a double batch of tomato sauce with sausage and meatballs, a simmering pot of beef stew, two french loaves and a chicken fricassee in the oven.) It was a great treat to be home when the boys got off the bus. Chris was the first to burst through the front door. He stood in the kitchen with his arms wide.

“Hey mom. The house smells like love.”