SImply Scrumptious Skewers

Published in The Sanford Herald on December 19. 2012

When I was a child, I had the adorable habit of asking what was for breakfast while I was still munching on dinner.  I suppose I never really outgrew this stomach-driven idiosyncrasy, because I recently awoke craving apricot-glazed chicken on rosemary skewers.  Even before my first cup of coffee, when all rational thought seems nearly impossible, I was thinking of how to make my hungry imagination come to life in time for supper.  I’ve used rosemary sprigs as skewers for years – they make the most delicious grilled shrimp kabobs you’ll ever taste.  It seemed that the combination of that wee distant cousin of my Christmas tree (rosemary) and tangy-sweet apricot glazed chicken would be divine.  Oh, y’all, it was.  I realize that these are not exactly the glory days of the shish kabob, but those playful and scrumptious skewers are due for a comeback.  This recipe is the equivalent of Cher donning her beloved bodysuit, teasing out that hair and announcing her next concert tour to the world (again).  The shish kebab is back!  We’ll wonder why we don’t eat everything in stick form and perhaps see a resurgence of many forgotten culinary wonders, though gelatinous aspic can just stay “archived” as far as I’m concerned, with my apologies to the late great Julia.

If you by chance awoke this morning and tried to decide what dinner might magically appear on your table come evening, give these healthy Asian sweet and spicy skewers a try.  Served with rice and zucchini, these skewers provide a wholesome counterpoint to all of those holiday cookies.  They would also make an interesting appetizer if you just can’t face another cheese ball.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Skewers

Serves two, but can be easily doubled.

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

8 sturdy sprigs of rosemary

¾ cup apricot preserves

4-5 tbs soy sauce (to taste)

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat a saucepan over medium-low and simmer preserves, soy sauce and crushed red pepper flakes until smooth and warm, about 5 minutes.  Reserve ½ cup of the apricot glaze to serve with skewers.  Meanwhile, prepare your scrumptious skewers.  Thread chicken pieces, one at a time, onto the sprigs of rosemary, gently going from the base to the tip in the direction the leaves grow.  Place skewers on a foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet, about 1 inch apart, and season very lightly with salt and pepper.  Baste chicken with remaining glaze, completely coating all sides.  Bake for 4 minutes, turn skewers, and repeat twice for a total of 12 minutes cooking, or until juices of chicken run clear.  Serve atop white or brown rice with remaining glaze and a side vegetable of your choice. I tossed fresh zucchini slices with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes and baked alongside the skewers.  The rosemary permeates the chicken, giving it a deep earthly flavor, while the sweet apricot and fiery red pepper complement each other perfectly.  There are many potential variations on this recipe: you can skewer shrimp or pork instead, alternate meat and vegetables on your rosemary sprigs or cook on a grill pan over high heat rather than baking.  The possibilities are endless…and the results are simply delicious!

Date Night

Published in The Sanford Herald on December 5, 2012

Confidence is not inspired by a surgeon who has to ask you to read the “fuzzy small words” in your chart.  Nor does one wish for an English teacher who writes everything in texting shorthand.  (LOL)  Along the same lines, you may not wish for a food columnist who willingly admits having set her oven on fire, but I am afraid that is your lot today, friends.  I cannot share this beloved recipe of mine without sharing the story of the Christmas it went horribly wrong.  The recipe is for bacon-wrapped, ricotta-stuffed dates.  The word you are searching for here is swoon.  These can only be described as little bites of bacon-y heaven (which I realize is a redundant statement for some). 

Our flammable tale begins with two fateful mistakes: one, using a baking sheet that was not rimmed around all of the edges and two, thinking a silicone baking sheet would work as well for bacon as it does for cookies.  I was making these in a hurry for a holiday party and decided that it would save time to use a silicone mat, because perhaps it would help the bacon to crisp completely without having to be turned.  So, into the oven these little drops of delight went, sitting atop that slippery silicone, sitting atop that un-rimmed baking sheet.  If you’ve spent any time at all with bacon (and I dearly hope that you have), you know that grease is just part of it.  The silicone, rather than helping cook the bacon evenly, provided a nonstick surface for that grease to rapidly drip right off the edge of the sheet…and onto the hot element of the oven.  You guessed it, fire!  One might think that a silicone baking mat would be impervious to fire.  One would be wrong, y’all.  After putting out said fire with a huge amount of baking soda and a fair amount of flailing around, I finished those flambéed dates in a hot skillet.  People at the party raved about them anyway!  I tasted a particular smokiness I knew was not just from the bacon, but they were none the wiser.  Each time I’ve served these sweet, chewy dates, stuffed with creamy ricotta and enclosed in a crispy bacon crust, people go wild for them.  Go ahead, trust your friendly fire-starting food columnist, and make these little gems for holiday parties or as an appetizer for your Christmas dinner.  You won’t regret it.  Do keep a fire extinguisher nearby, just in case.

Bacon-Wrapped Ricotta-Stuffed Dates

Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients:

1/3 cup ricotta cheese

24 dates, pitted by pushing a toothpick through center lengthwise and removing pit

6 strips of bacon, cut into fourths widthwise

freshly cracked black pepper

toothpicks, to serve

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix ricotta with black pepper, adjusting seasoning as desired.  There’s no need to add salt because of the saltiness of the bacon.  Place ricotta in a food storage bag and snip off a very small portion of a corner to make a piping bag.  Fill dates with ricotta, then wrap in bacon, placing seam-side down 1 inch apart on a rimmed baking sheet.  Bake for 8 minutes, then turn and bake for an additional 6 minutes, until bacon is crisp.  Drain on paper towels.  Serve immediately.

Keep Calm and Bake Cookies

Published in The Sanford Herald on November 28, 2012

You’ve just come home from a full day’s work.  It’s drizzly outside, the moon is trying to creep out at a mere 5:15 in the evening, and the very late autumn leaves in your yard mock you through the window, knowing that they have you far outnumbered.  You have two options: embark upon the soggy, deflating disaster that is raking up hundreds of leaves in the rain, feeling a bit of the Grinch creep into your fledgling early-December Christmas spirit.  Or, you can throw on some Nat King Cole and bake these perfect chocolate chip cookies and pluck them straight from the oven and into your mouth, along with a Santa-worthy, frosty glass of milk.  It’s a no brainer, y’all.  Relinquish the rake.  Cherish the chocolate.  Bake yourself some cookies on a regular old Wednesday, because life is short.  No one will ever say, at the end of their days, “I just wish I’d finish raking those leaves.”  But after a taste of these decadently dark chocolate-laced cookies, with a crisp exterior giving way to a comforting, chewy center, punctuated by fragrant nuts, you just might regret less time spent enjoying cookies.  The busy chaos of the holiday season is nearly upon us.  I urge you, overworked citizenry, frazzled families and tired teenagers: Keep Calm.  And Bake Cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes: about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1¼  c all-purpose flour

½ t baking soda

½ t salt

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1¼ cup dark chocolate chips

1 cup toasted* hazelnuts or pecans, chopped

*spread in even layer on a baking sheet, roast for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda.

In another bowl, combine the butter and sugars and beat (with an electric mixer, or by hand as your raking-alternative exercise!) until light and fluffy, about five minutes.  Add the vanilla and egg and stir well to combine.  Add in half the flour mixture, stir to combine, then the other half of mixture.  Mix just until combined, then add chocolate chips (those you haven’t already snacked on, that is) and nuts.  Stir together.  Using a ¼ c ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, scoop out portions of the dough, roll into a ball (if using tablespoon) and place about 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheet.  Bake 15 minutes, or until the cookies are beginning to become golden brown at the edges.  Cool on a wire rack if you have the patience.  If not, get that cold milk ready.

The Favorite

Published in The Sanford Herald November 14, 2012

I have a bizarre favorite food.  While the conventional contenders of chocolate, macaroni and cheese, and a good medium-rare steak are all appealing to me, there is one thing that I crave in all its delicious forms: eggs.  I don’t call them the “incredible, edible egg” because I am confounded that anyone would find an egg to not be incredible, or edible, for that matter.  My egg obsession leads to many a supper of scrambled eggs with peppers, onions and cheese rolled into charred corn tortillas (we Texans call those “taquitos”).  A frittata of eggs, potatoes and thyme is fit to share with royalty.  To be honest, eggs are part of the reason I adore my weekly breakfast meeting with fellow clergy at Cracker Barrel in Sanford.   (Not to diminish the joy of a bunch of clergyfolk lovingly poking fun at each other on a regular basis.)

Though I adore all forms of eggs, my mother’s breakfast casserole outshines them all to become My Favorite Food of All Time.  I’ve had this casserole at countless family gatherings, such as the morning after Thanksgiving when you suddenly realize that you are somehow hungry again.  When I was moving to Northern Ireland to be a mission worker, my brunch send-off included this dish of perfection.  It conjures up memories of flannel pajamas and fragrant coffee, laughing nieces and animated storytelling.  Plus, there is the seemingly magical event that happens when you make it, as four measly eggs feed at least ten people.  It’s nearly akin to the loaves and fishes story in the Bible.  

In essence, this breakfast casserole is “family” in a soul-filling, hearty dish.  That is why it wins the honor of being my absolute favorite.  I’m hoping it becomes a favorite of your family and friends as well.

Favorite Breakfast Casserole

Serves 10-12, unless I’m dining with you.  In that case, it will serve far less.

Ingredients:

2 ¼ c. seasoned croutons

1 ½ lb spicy pork sausage, removed from casing

4 eggs

2 ¼ c. milk (preferably whole milk)

1 (10.75 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup

1 (4 oz.) can sliced mushrooms, drained

¾ t. dry mustard

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

¼ c. fresh chopped parsley, for garnish (if desired)

Spread croutons in a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish; set aside.  Cook sausage on medium high heat in a large skillet, stirring to crumble, until crisp and cooked through.  Drain well on paper towels. Prepare thyself for the glorious smell of sausage wafting through the house.  Stave off hungry hoards.  Sprinkle sausage over croutons.   In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and milk until well blended.  Stir in soup, mushrooms, and mustard.  Pour egg mixture over sausage and croutons and cover.  Refrigerate at least 5 hours or overnight.  Remove from refrigerator; let stand for 30 minutes.  Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Bake, uncovered, an additional 5 minutes, until cheese melts.  Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.  If possible, show enough restraint to place it on a plate before devouring.

Thanksgiving Sideshow

Published in The Sanford Herald on November 7, 2012.

Prepare thyself: potential heresy ahead.  The Thanksgiving dinner, for me, is about much more than just turkey.  In fact, I find that when incredible sides are present, turkey just becomes the official Wearer of the Gravy, the Companion of the Stuffing.  But the star, it is not.  At least not when you make sides that steal the show like these: rosemary and garlic mashed sweet potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts with a pancetta red wine sauce.  I do realize that, upon uttering that dreaded b-word (brussels), I may have lost several of you.  But I promise you, as a woman of the cloth, that one word will forever change how you feel about this oft-loathed vegetable: bacon.  When those wee cabbage cousins are roasted to crispy delight and tossed with an Italian bacon sauce, rich with red wine, you may just find yourself converted.  You might even begin embracing all those things you were predisposed to despise (spinach, lima beans and daytime talk shows, to name a few).  As for those glorious mashed sweet potatoes: their incredible texture, vibrant color and earthy sweetness will leave that old bird in the dust.  They have the elegance of a fine meal and the ease of a quick preparation, which is a blessing when you have a hungry hoard to feed.  Happy Thanksgiving, y’all.  Let the sideshow begin.

Rosemary and Garlic Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Serves 6 (Can be made a day ahead and re-heated.)

Ingredients:

4-5 large sweet potatoes (preferably North Carolina potatoes), peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces

1 sprig fresh rosemary, de-stemmed and roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½ cup mascarpone cheese (a soft, slightly sweet Italian cheese)

¼ cup ( ½ a stick) butter, diced

salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.  Add rosemary, garlic and sweet potatoes and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.  If you’ve never added whole garlic cloves to boil with your potatoes when making mashed potatoes, you’ll be amazed at the deep flavor it adds.  Drain, return to pot and place back on the heat for a couple of minutes.  This allows excess moisture to steam off of the potatoes, ensuring a creamy and not soggy texture.  Mash potatoes, add the butter and mascarpone and season with salt and pepper to taste.  When making any mashed potatoes, I always find the need to be generous with seasoning.  Top with a fresh sprig of rosemary when serving and a pat of butter, if desired.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta Red Wine Sauce

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 ½ pound of fresh brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and outer layer removed.  Larger sprouts should be halved.

1 medium onion, finely chopped

½ lb pancetta (unsmoked Italian bacon) or regular bacon, diced

1 cup dry red wine

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Toss brussels sprouts with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of freshly grated pepper.   Roast until tender inside and caramelized outside, tossing twice during cooking, about 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, prepare the pancetta sauce.  Heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan on medium-high heat.  Add onion and pancetta and cook until onion is translucent and pancetta is crisp, about 10 minutes.  Drain off all but about 1 tablespoon of bacon grease.  Return pan to heat, sprinkle the flour over the bacon and onion mixture and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.  Add wine, scraping up bottom of the pan to deglaze it.  Season with pepper.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes until the wine has reduced and the sauce has thickened.  Adjust seasoning as needed, only adding salt at this stage (as the sauce reduces and the flavor concentrates, the saltiness of the bacon intensifies as well).  Finish the sauce with the tablespoon of butter.  This will add a luxurious sheen to your sauce.  Add roasted brussels sprouts to the sauce and stir to combine.  Serve immediately.