Book Club! Book Lovers Never Go To Bed Alone.

Ah, Book Club night! I love book club night. Tonight's book was The Art Forger by Barbara A. Shapiro. We did not seem to stay on the topic of the book that much. But it was fun to get together with friends. And I love the fact that Kelly made one of my favorite things for dinner. Panna Cote. Oh, this was so delicious. And I got a container to bring home!!!

And one soup was not enough. Kelly also made a Thai Chicken Soup. Wow. This is something I have never made. It was perfect. But the Panna Cote was my favorite! Thank you Kelly for dinner and for sending the recipes typed out!!!

Panna Cote/ Escarole and Bean Soup

2 heads of escarole chopped and soak in a big pan to get the grit off

2 boxes of good chicken stock

2 - 4 garlic cloves sauteed in olive oil, stay with it, you want it soft not browned

½ pepperoni cut into little pieces

2 cans of small white beans or white beans, I drain and rinse one can, the other I dump the whole can helps to thicken it

Salt and pepper

Cook for about½ hour

You can serve it as a soup with parmesan cheese on top OR

Scoop into a baking dish, top with crusty bread, parmesan cheese and bake at 375 till hot .

Easy Thai Chicken Soup

2 cloves of garlic/ smash

2 boxes of good chicken stock

1 or two boiled chicken breasts cut into cubes

1 cans of coconut milk

1 tbs. fish sauce

2 tsp. red curry paste (Traders Joe's)

2 red bell peppers sauteed till very soft do not brown ( you can use green, I used one green) didn't have 2 red.

Squeeze of lime

Fresh ginger or powdered, I used powered about a tsp.

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

A few mushrooms

I put in about¾ cup of cooked jasmine rice/ you can use rice noodles.

The rice thickens the soup if you like it thicker make a cornstarch rue

I used a combo of two recipes, google Thai chicken soup, most call for Lemongrass, I do not care for the taste and leave it out.

My contribution was cookies! I tried a new recipe. Authentic Italian Butter Cookies. A new favorite recipe I might add! Also made Nutella Biscotti as a backup in case the Butter Cookies were not up to par. For the butter cookies, I added some Chocolate Sprinkles just for variety.

Ingredients-
230 g butter at room temperature
1 tbsp. of vanilla extract
320 g flour
1 tbsp. of fine salt
100 g granulated sugar
Powdered sugar (for decorating)

Method-
Cut the butter into cubes and place them in a mixer, with the salt, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract.

Mix them until they blend, forming a cream.

Sift the flour, add it to the mixture and continue to mix until it has a crumbly texture.

Place the dough on a lightly floured pastry board. The dough will be very soft and easily workable. Compact it, to make it smooth, then use your hands to flatten it.

Cover it with a plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator, to harden for at least half an hour.

Afterward, take the mixture from the fridge and cut it with a knife in 4 cylinder shapes of 3 cm diameter, then cover the rolls using plastic wrap and place them in the fridge again for 3 hours, so that the dough is compact enough.

After the three hours have passed, place each cylinder in granulated sugar, making sure that the surface is even.

Using a knife, divide the cylinders in discs of 2 cm thickness, then place the cookies on baking paper over a tray.

Bake them in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius (392 F) for about 15 minutes, until they get lightly browned.

Remove them from the oven, then immediately place them on a rack, so that they keep their sandy texture.

In the Kitchen And Thinking About Mom and Dad

 

I was at Bishop's the other day and they had red peppers on sale. Whenever I see red peppers on sale I think of my Dad. He would go to Shop Rite and then I would get a call asking if I could stop by on my way home. He just could not pass up buying red peppers if they were on sale. Sometimes I would just pick up the peppers and other times he would have already roasted them. I do miss making those stops on my way home from work.

So I had to buy the peppers. I made a variation of  a recipe from Cooking with Chef Silvio book.

Roasted Peppers

Ingredients-
3 large red pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
salt and pepper
4 tbsp bread crumbs

Method-
Cook the peppers on a sheet pan at 450˚, turning frequently, until charred all around. Place them in a closed brown paper bag and let rest for 1/2 hour. You should put the bag in a bowl, there may be leakage. After a 1/2 hour take the peppers out, remove stems and seeds, and peel. Cut into 1 inch strips and place in a bowl. Add olive oil, 2 tbsp of parsley, salt, and pepper to taste. Give it a good mix.

 

Place peppers in shallow baking dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and bake at 400˚ for 10 minutes, or until the tops turns light brown and a bit crusty. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tbsp. of parsley and serve. These are perfect served cold in a sandwich made with Italian Bread, of course.

Tonight was book club.  I brought over dessert. I had not made my Mom's Apple Squares in a very long time.  I had a large jar of Apple Sauce from the Bishop's.

I love this recipe. The house smelled so good. Chris came upstairs and asked what I was making. Mom's baking always made the house smell so comfortable. I think I achieved that with these Apple Squares.

Eleanor Lombardi's Apple Squares

Ingredients-
Flour Mixture-
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 sticks of butter, chilled
3 egg yolks, beaten
Apple Sauce Mixture -
1 3/4 cup apple sauce
grated lemon rind
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Method-
Mix the flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Crumble in the butter. Add the egg yolks. The dough will be crumbly. 

Place 1/2 of the flour mixture in the bottom of a greased pan. I use the 8 inch Pyrex Square dish, that was the dish my Mom used. 

Mix the apple sauce, lemon, cinnamon, and cloves in a bowl and spread this mixture over the flour mixture in the pan. Top with remaining flour mixture. Bake 350˚ for 45 to 60 minutes. You want a little browning along the sides of the pan and the bottom to look slightly browned. Let cool and cut into bars.

Lasagna Cupcakes

Time for Book Club! Our first book gathering was held at my house. We had read Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave. In the book the Mother makes a Lasagna that has a secret ingredient. The secret ingredient is Chocolate. Chocolate is added to the sauce. Really? I had never heard of this. A pinch of sugar, yes, but not Chocolate. Then I thought of a Mole Sauce and did some online investigating. I found a video of the book's author making sauce and adding Chocolate. Then I found a recipe from Sicily that added Chocolate to a Meat Sauce. So I did it. I added about a 1/2 teaspoon to about 3 cups of my Mom's Meat Sauce recipe. It was quite good. It added a little depth to the sauce.

I did not want to make a tray of Lasagna so I lined cupcake trays with parchment paper and layered the noodles (yes I cut the Lasagna noodles with a round cookie cutter), Ricotta, the sauce and Mozzarella cheese. I topped the cupcakes with sauce and cheese. A hit!

The Book Club - All the Light We Cannot See

It's September so that means our book club starts up again! I love Book Club. The women are so interesting and fun to be with and the book selections have all been good. Tonight we met at Karen's house. We were picking our books for this year and discussing the book we read over the summer, All the Light We Can Not See, by Anthony Doerr. Everyone enjoyed the book. It was truly an amazing story. Every time I read a book about the sacrifices people made during World War II, actually during any war, it makes me realize I should not complain about a few inconveniences that might pop up every now and then.

Karen went with a French theme, as the story was set in Paris and Saint-Malo. We started with cheese and bread and an amazing jam. For cocktails Karen served Lillet and Soda with lime. I have never had Lillet before. We will be adding it to our bar.

Karen made Zucchini Vichyssoise. Delicious! She got the recipe from The Barefoot Contessa. I will be making this for dinner next week. Perfect for a warm summer night.

Doreen wowed us with her dessert. Julia Child's Cherry Clafouti from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. We loved this.

The consistency was so light and not too sweet. Clafouti is French country dessert that puffs up impressively before it collapses into a soft, custardy pancake. It was a beautiful presentation. And délicieuse!

I brought a new cookie recipe that I wanted to try. Coconut Lime Balls. Not bad! But not French....

I have submitted this post to the Novel Food. That is where people read a book and are inspired to cook something based on the book. Looking forward to see what others have read and cooked!

Arthur Avenue AKA Disneyland

I have been so beside myself with excitement about today's road trip to Arthur Avenue.
I had never been to Arthur Avenue before. All my life I have heard how if it's from Arthur Avenue it's the BEST! Well they were right. Let me back up a bit. At our last book club meeting we decided to take a road trip to Arthur Avenue. Have I told you that I am in the best book club ever! Kate drove us there in her van. We found the "perfect" parking spot. We visited the Church of the Lady of Mount Carmel and then we started shopping.

First stop was the pasta store, Borgatti’s Ravioli & Egg Noodles.  As this was the first stop I had to make sure I did not overspend, which was not easy. I purchased a 1/2 pound of dried basil pasta and a pound of hand cut pappardelle noodles. I was in love at this point. I should add that I did not take a lot of photos or instagram or facebook posts though out the day. I tried to take the day in first hand, not through the lens of my phone/camera. I actually turned off and put my phone away for most of the day. I tried to go old school...

Last night I did a little research on the area and saw that one of the stores, Tino's Delicatessen, sold something called 'Nduja. It is a spreadable pork sausage from Italy.
It is typically made with parts of the pig such as the shoulder, belly and jowl, roasted peppers and a mixture of spices. I found it and will be trying it very soon. Stay tuned!

 Bread. Yes bread. I was so good at the bakery. Madonia Brothers Bakery. Remember that name. Only purchased one loaf of bread, now kicking myself for not buying more. And
I purchased a 1/2 pound of biscotti. I can not believe I had such restraint!

All this shopping and we have not eaten yet! Karen made reservations at Gerbasi. What a fantastic lunch. They were playing Jerry Vale, which brought me back to my Dad's house. The waiter was so accommodating. We all had wine and for lunch three of us had the Salmon Piccata, and Kelly had Lasagna and Kate had Fettuccine Alfredo, which looked so good.

It was a wonderfully relaxing and delicious lunch.

Now back to shopping. The Cheese Store... Calandra AKA the happiest place on earth!
I wanted to move in there. The Prosciutto... just typing the word brings tears to my eyes.
I have said it often - when I die I want to be buried with a nice piece of Prosciutto, preferably from Arthur Avenue. Then I know I will get into heaven! So at Calandra
I purchased Smoked Gouda, Pecorina Locatelli, Prima Donna, which is a mild cheese from Holland. I also bought some Soppresetta and of course, Prosciutto.

 

And lastly we hit the meat market. Inside the Arthur Avenue Retail Market, you will find Peter's Meat Market. And that is where I found Broccoli Rabe Sausage and a Pinwheel Steak with Prosciutto and Mozzarella. Stay tuned for more on both of those.

Some Hazelnut Gelato from Tino's Delicatessen put the finishing touch on a perfect day.

Book Club, Delicious!

 

This month's book was Delicious!, by Ruth Reichl.  I enjoyed this book. A nice and light read after last month's selection. Instead of soldiers marching through the forests we had a young girl walking through the streets of Little Italy and Chinatown. The story was a bit predictable at times but I loved the subject matter and I looked forward to reading it after a crazy day sitting in traffic. I have read Ruth Reichl's other books and heard her speak at Foodstock a couple of years ago. I am looking forward to her next novel.

And of course Book Club always means good food.
We had some "book inspired" dishes tonight.
We should have been counting how many times the word "Delicious" was used.

In the book there was discussion of Cow's Milk Mozzarella and Buffalo Milk.
Personally, I liked the Buffalo!

 

But then we also had Burrata Cheese. Sorry Buffalo, Burrata steals my heart every time!

Stuffed Grape Leaves! Homemade! Amazing! 

The recipe is at the end of this post.

 Crunchy Oven Fried Chicken. Loved this!
The recipe for this is at the end of this post.

Beet and Berry and Arugula Salad.

Almost too pretty to eat! But it was delicious!

Ham Sandwiches on Southern Biscuits with Fresh Blackberry Mustard. 

1/2 cup fresh blackberries mashed into 2 Tbs. of grain mustard. 

I love blackberries and would never had thought to use them like this. Now I know!

Macarons in honor of the James Beard letters in the book.

And Billie's Gingerbread.

I made Billie's Gingerbread. The recipe calls for whole cinnamon sticks, whole black pepper and whole cardamom . There is a note on the recipe saying you can use ground spices but the flavor will not be the same. I am glad I used the whole spices.

Want the recipe?  Click here. I would strongly recommend trying this recipe. Was it a difficult recipe? No. The hardest part was grating the ginger. Not that it was hard it was just time consuming. But the aroma in the kitchen from the grinding of the spices and the oranges and ginger was intoxicating. 

Before I sat down to write this post I found a recipe on Bon Appetit for a Lemon Ginger Brew recipe. In it they chop the ginger and then pulse ginger in a food processor to a coarse paste. I wonder if this paste could replace the grated ginger?

And here are the recipes for the Stuffed Grape Leave and the Crunchy Oven Fried Chicken -

Stuffed Grape Leaves

Try to pick leaves before July 4 for freshest. Pick the largest but youngest, tender light green leaves.
They should be about 6" across for best rolling. Now, to make the dolma:

1) Snip off each stem near the leaf, trying not to tear the leaf.

2) Blanch leaves 2-3 at a time in shallow pan with 1-2" very hot water, turn them over once (the whole group of 3). Wait until they go from bright green to olive-colored and soften a bit.

3) Set aside and make your filling. You can use anything leftover, and it always helps to have some cooked rice on hand.

4) Mince 1/4 cup onions and saute to soften. Cook some ground lamb or hamburger--you don't need much for a dozen dolma, about 1/2 cup.

5) Mix the meat and onions with1/2 cup of rice. Adjust amounts to preference. Season with salt and pepper. You can also add some breadcrumbs to the mixture.

6) Lay a leaf flat, with smooth side down. Place a tablespoon or so of filling crosswise near the bottom of the leaf.

7) Fold the sides of the leaf in, then roll from bottom to point. (Kate's Gypsy friend from Upstate New York says the measure of a Gypsy's worth is how tightly her dolma are rolled!)

8) Place point side down in dish. Squeeze lemon juice over top and drizzle each with a little olive oil. Chill.

Serve with Dilled Yogurt!


Crunchy Oven Fried Chicken  (serves 4)

Ingredients-
2 cups corn flake cereal
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, divided
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp skim milk
1 tsp garlic salt
4 chicken drumsticks (about 1⅓ lbs)
cooking spray

Method-
Preheat oven to 425ºF. Spray an oven-safe 13x9x2 inch pan with cooking oil spray.
Place the cereal in a resealable bag and crush with a rolling pin. Add 2 tbsp parsley and the paprika to the bag and shake to incorporate. Set aside.
Melt the butter in a small skillet. Remove from burner and let cool for a few minutes. Then, whisk in the milk, 1 tbsp parsley and garlic salt. Wash and pat dry the chicken. Then, roll it in the butter mixture. Transfer chicken pieces to the resealable bag and shake until well-coated (do then all at once -- it's easiest). Place the chicken into the prepared pan. Spray lightly with cooking oil spray.
Slide the pan into the preheated oven and bake for 40-50 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

This was our last Book Club meeting until September. There is talk about a Book Club road trip to Arthur Avenue this summer. Could you imagine us wandering in and out of those shops. Sweet dreams! Have a Happy Summer and read a book!

Book Club

 

This month's book selection was The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan. It was an incredible story. It was about Australians in a Japanese POW camp on the Thai-Burma death railway. It was brutal and moving. There were times I had to shut the book and walk away. But it kept me wanting to read more.

We had our get together at Christine's house. A beautiful yard (with chickens!). The dinner was amazing. All things I have never had before. Keeping with the setting of the book she started off with Sushi. There were a few different kinds. My favorite was a roll that had cooked lobster in the center. Nice and spicy!

 

We thought that was dinner but then she brought out the main course! Chicken Meatballs in a spicy Teriyaki Sauce. Real spicy! Cucumbers in Rice Wine Vinegar and Sesame Seeds. And stir-fried mixed vegetables. Oh and there was rice! And Sake too! 
  
For dessert, oh I did not take a photo, grrrrr, Christine served a type of strawberry shortcake. It was so light and not overly sweet.

 

I brought over Anzac Biscuits. I wanted to make an Australian cookie so I went to Google and found this recipe - Anzac Biscuits. The story of the cookies is best described from the site where I found the recipe, Toriavery.com.  

On 25 April 1915 the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula. It was the start of a campaign that lasted eight months and resulted in some 25,000 Australian casualties, including 8,700 who were killed or died of wounds or disease. The men who served on the Gallipoli Peninsula created a legend, adding the word ‘Anzac’ to the vocabulary and creating the notion of the Anzac spirit. In 1916, the first anniversary of the landing was observed in Australia, New Zealand and England and by troops in Egypt. That year, 25 April was officially named ‘Anzac Day’ by the Acting Prime Minister, George Pearce.

The history behind the biscuits is really interesting. In the early 1900’s during World War I, these biscuits were sent to the front lines of battle to nourish Australian soldiers. They are made of simple ingredients that don’t spoil easily, which made them a practical choice for shipping to battle zones. They are also eggless, which was helpful because of war rationing– eggs were more difficult to come by than other ingredients. Most importantly they were yummy, and provided soldiers with a taste of home on the front lines.

The recipe called for Golden Syrup. As it was 10pm the night before the book club meeting I was stuck. I went to the Food 52 Hotline and asked if anyone knew of a substitute. I got an answer that said to use 1/2 honey and 1/2 corn syrup. These cookies were really, really good. So good that they may be part of this year's Christmas tray.

I have submitted this post to the Novel Food Event. The Novel Food Event are literary-inspired bog posts. Click Here or on the image above to learn more about this delicious event.

The Book Club

This month's book club selection was The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. I think this was my favorite book since joining the book club. I like history based books. I like books that I can google people's name and find photos of them.

Tonight the book club met at Kate's house. The invitation said to be prepared for a Charleston Dinner. I was not sure what to expect. What was served was a delicious meal.

We started with some apps. A Hot Crab Dip.

Red Pepper and Artichoke Heart Bruschetta. I need this recipe!

Cream Cheese with Orange Sage Marmalade. Oh my God, the Marmalade was so good!

For dinner we had a lot of things I have never had before. Collard Greens with bacon and onion cooked in chicken stock.  I think my  mom made something with Collard Greens but at that time greens were not at the top of my food favorites list. Oh but I loved these! And Pickled Watermelon! My friend, Heidi, always says how good they are and I had never tasted them. I now love Pickled Watermelon!

I loved this dish that the sides were served in!

Charleston Red Rice which was served with the Gumbo. Yeah Gumbo.

Charleston Gumbo. I have been afraid of Gumbo because of the okra. I made a soup with okra once. It did not turn out good at all. I have never had okra since then. Tonight's okra was cooked perfectly. (Note to self, ask Kate how to cook okra). The shrimp, the meat, the sauce was such a wonderful blend of flavors. There was talk of gumbo file powder which is the powdered leaves of the sassafras tree. Kate could not find this so she used powdered sassafras bark. Honestly I was so amazed by the textured of the okra that the other flavors were in perfect harmony.

Then there were the desserts. 

Macaroons!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes!

And Doreen's Amazing Lemon Pound Cake!

What an amazing meal. The book discussion was good and we were started to talk about the quilt that was in the book. Kate then showed us a couple of quilts which were handed down in her family. There was a beautiful log cabin quilt but then she brought out a quilt with women in flowing gowns holding bouquets of flowers.

The bouquets were done in French Knots. The quilt was breath-taking to say the least. The patterns in the dresses were timeless but not anything you could hope to find today. What an amazing piece of history.

Wow! Thank you Kate for a dinner that I will not forget.