Hippo Stew

I'd totally forgotten about this recipe. When I came across it today, I felt compelled to share it, though I've never had the opportunity to make it myself.

Since I don't have a photo of this recipe, you'll have to make do with a picture of my friend Charles' hippo...who happens to be named Martha.



Hippo Stew

Ingredients:
One small hippo
Good-quality chicken stock (if cost is prohibitive, water may be used)
Kosher salt
Fresh-ground black pepper
One rabbit (optional)

Dice the hippo into bite-sized chunks. Place in large pot or cauldron, and cover with stock or water.
Simmer outdoors over a hickory wood fire for about two weeks. Season to taste. Serves approximately 50 dozen.

If more than 600 people are expected, add the rabbit, but only if absolutely necessary. Most people complain when there is hare in their stew.

The Oatmeal Dissertation

One of the things I love about fall is that oatmeal weather is back. It was nice and cool this morning, so I busted out the can of Irish steel-cut oats. To say that I like oatmeal is, I think, an understatement.


I've always loved hot cereal, but I never really thought the depth of my knowledge about different types of it was odd until a conversation with my best friend and fellow Sesame Street fan, Andrea. She happened to mention oatmeal, and before I knew it, I was comparing and contrasting instant vs. quick vs. rolled or old-fashioned vs. steel cut oats. I went on and on about oatmeal. (This conversation is now referred to as "The Oatmeal Dissertation.")

After about five minutes of this I paused, and rather sheepishly said, "Oh dear. I sound like Bert."


Excerpted from The Many Faces of Ernie, Golden Books, ©1979.

Bert, for those of you who have less familiarity with Sesame Street than Andrea and I do, is Ernie's other half. He's stodgy and boring, loves pigeons, collects bottle caps and paper clips and - as you may have guessed - he loves oatmeal.

If your experience with oatmeal is limited to the instant variety, first let me offer my condolences. I know, it's convenient and quick, but most of it is far too sugary for my taste. I used to love the Quaker Maple-Brown Sugar variety, but it's just too sweet for me now. I did recently try Quaker Simple Harvest, an instant cereal that has oats, wheat, and barley, and it was quite lovely, as instant goes.

Before I get into the different cooked oatmeal varieties, let me first state: salt is key. I've had oatmeal that wasn't cooked in salted water, and I suddenly understood why people might dislike oatmeal. *shudder* Do yourself a favor, and add some salt to the water, before you add the oatmeal.

You can find an excellent summary on chow.com of how the different types of oatmeal are milled.

Slightly up the ladder from instant are quick oats. They take just a minute to cook after the water boils. Quick oats have slightly more substance to them than instant, but are tastier, and have no added sugar. I know you can get plain instant, but it never tastes "right" to me. Quick oats are also the basis of one of my all-time favorite cookies.

Old-fashioned oats are several orders of magnitude better, and only take 5 minutes to cook. They're chewier and have more substance to them than the quick oats. They're a great choice for those times when you don't have a half hour plus to slave over a bubbling pot of porridge.

This brings us to steel-cut (or Irish) oats. These are a completely different animal. They take a good half hour to cook from crunchy little pellets into a lovely porridge, and - I can't stress this enough - it is completely worth your time. I use McCann's. If you can't find them in the hot cereal section of your grocery store, try the natural foods section.



I mixed this morning's oatmeal with a chopped Honeycrisp apple, some Craisins (dried cranberries) that I plumped in hot water, and a bit of brown sugar. I took it out onto my porch, along with my hot cup of cinnamon tea, and enjoyed them along with the crisp fall air. So, sooo good.


P.S. For anyone who's interested in reading The Many Faces of Ernie, you can find it here: Tough Pigs Book Club, January '05

Moo Shu Pockets

My friend Jen gave me this recipe, and my husband and I both love it. I tweaked the original, which I think was from a Rachael Ray cookbook. The original called for ground pork (I use ground turkey), and bean sprouts, which I replaced tonight with thinly sliced cabbage.



Moo Shu Pockets

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey (I think the package I bought was 1.3 lbs. - worked fine)
1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts, chopped (the yield of one can of sliced water chestnuts, about 7 oz., drained)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
12 gingersnap cookies, processed or smashed into crumbs - about 3/4 cup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 egg

1 jar hoisin sauce
1 head cabbage, shredded (or 1 package fresh bean sprouts)
1 bunch scallions, sliced thinly on a diagonal
2 carrots, grated
chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

8 12-inch flour tortillas or wraps

Combine the turkey and next 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well, and form into 8 patties.

Heat broiler, or grill pan or nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Broil 4 minutes per side, or cook 4 at a time stovetop, 4 minutes per side.

Heat tortillas in a second skillet for about 30 seconds per side, or according to package directions.

To assemble, brush a tortilla with hoisin sauce. Add cabbage or bean sprouts, scallions, and carrots in the center of each tortilla. Sprinkle with a little cilantro, if desired. Top with turkey patty. Wrap the tortilla up and over on all sides, forming a square. Flip the stuffed tortilla over, and cut from corner to corner, forming two pockets.

Serves 4-6.

Pinwheel, Pinwheel, spinning around...

Anyone who grew up on early Nickelodeon Channel probably just sang the title of this post. :-)



We went to a birthday party this afternoon, and I was asked to bring an appetizer. I wanted to go with something that didn't require heating once we got there, and something that wasn't a dip. I skimmed through http://www.allrecipes.com, and was inspired by a recipe there. I hope the following might inspire you similarly. Use your favorite combination of ingredients to make these little pinwheels for your next party - mine were a huge hit!

Party Pinwheels

Yield: approx. 36 pinwheels

Light Alouette garlic & herb cheese spread, 1 tub
16 ounces light cream cheese (Neufchatel), softened
2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives
1-2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, sliced into thin strips
1 large red bell pepper, seeded, sliced into thin strips
1 package dried cranberries (Craisins)
1 package sundried tomato wraps
1 package plain wraps
1/2 pound thinly sliced deli turkey
1/2 pound thinly sliced deli roast beef

Roast Beef Pinwheels:
Mix Alouette with 8 ounces light cream cheese.
Warm wraps for 15 seconds, to aid rolling process.
Spread 1 plain wrap with some of cheese mixture. Add a layer of alternating strips of pepper and cucumber.
Cover vegetables with a layer of roast beef.
Roll tightly; wrap with aluminum foil, and refrigerate for at least two hours, or overnight.
Repeat process with remaining ingredients; some of cheese mixture will be left over, as will some cucumber strips. Reserve for turkey wraps.

Turkey Pinwheels:
Mix leftover cheese mixture with remaining 8 ounces cream cheese and fresh chives.
Warm wraps for 15 seconds, to aid rolling process.
Spread 1 sundried tomato wrap with some of cheese mixture. Add a layer of dried cranberries.

Add veggies (cucumber and red pepper) if desired.
Cover with a layer of turkey.
Roll tightly; wrap with aluminum foil, and refrigerate for at least two hours, or overnight.

Just before serving, unwrap and slice into approx. 3/4" slices, discarding ends.

Veggie Chili II

This one is my go-to chili. I don't remember how I happened to find this one - it's a Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals recipe - but I love it. Incredibly easy to make, and really tasty.

Veg-Head Three-Bean Chili
Recipe by Rachael Ray

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped
1 large red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 cup pale beer or vegetable stock/broth
1 (32- ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (14-ounce) can black beans
1 (14-ounce) can dark red kidney beans
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cayenne hot pepper sauce, or to taste
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup spicy vegetarian refried beans (I generally add the whole can of beans - makes for thicker chili, and I don't have extra refried beans kicking around)

Toppings:
8 ounces (2 cups shredded) spicy Monterey jack or smoked cheddar
Chopped scallions, whites and greens
Diced fresh seeded plum tomato

Tortilla chips, for dipping

Over moderate heat, add oil to a deep pot and combine onion, peppers, and garlic. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes to soften vegetables. Deglaze pan with beer or broth, add tomatoes, black beans, and red kidney beans, stirring to combine.
Season chili with cumin, chili powder, hot sauce, and salt. Thicken chili by stirring in refried beans. Simmer over low heat about 5 to 10 minutes longer, then serve up bowls of chili and top with shredded cheese, scallions, and tomatoes. Place bowls on charger plates piled with assorted tortilla chips.

Veggie Chili I

Those of you who insist that chili must contain beef, avert your eyes.

I don't make chili with beef, nor any other kind of meat. I have two veggie chili recipes, and I like both. This first one is a little more labor intensive than my go-to chili recipe, but it's tasty. I could easily cut the batch in half, but I never do, because the longer it sits, the better it gets. My cousin Wendy made this one summer, when we were up in Maine, and we ate it almost all week. It improved each night as the flavors mellowed.

If it helps you to call it "Summer Vegetable Stew" instead of chili, so be it. Give it a shot.



Vegetable Chili
Adapted from The Silver Palate New Basics

3/4 cup olive oil
2 zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 onions, cut into 1/2 inch dice
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 large red bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch dice

1 can tomatoes in juice (35 oz.)
1 1/2 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut into 1 inch dice
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon oregano,
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, chopped

1 cup canned dark red kidney beans, drained
1 cup canned garbanzo beans, drained
1/2 cup fresh dill, chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup sour cream
2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated
2 scallions, thinly sliced for garnish

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet and sauté the zucchini over medium-low heat until soft (about 5 minutes). Transfer to Dutch oven. Heat the remaining tablespoon oil in the skillet and sauté the onions, garlic, and bell peppers over low heat until soft (about 10 minutes). Transfer to the Dutch oven..

Add the canned tomatoes with their juice, the fresh tomatoes, the parsley and spices, and cook, uncovered, over a low heat for 30 minutes, stirring often.

Stir in the kidney beans, garbanzo beans, dill and lemon juice; cook for another 15 minutes. Stir well and adjust the seasonings to taste. Serve with sour cream, grated cheese, and scallions on the side.

Apples: computers vs. cooking

It's that time of year. Labor Day has passed us by: bring on the apple, pumpkin, and cranberry recipes!

Now when it comes to computers, I'm a Mac girl all the way. Our very first home computer was an Apple IIe, which I thought was pretty spiffy...until I discovered the Macintosh at my friend's house, a couple of years later. Yeah, it was black and white, but it was the coolest thing ever. I bought my first Mac in 1988, and have never looked back.

However, when it comes to cooking, I don't use Macs unless I'm making applesauce (and Macs do make a mighty good applesauce). Because Macintosh apples turn into mush when cooked, hence making wonderful applesauce, they're not the greatest for pies (where Granny Smiths are my apple of choice) or other apple desserts.

There are two camps when it comest to apple crisp: oats vs. no oats. I am on the "no oats, please" side. Don't get me wrong, I'll never refuse apple crisp, but I find that when oats are added, the topping is less...well, crisp. The following recipe is straight out of my dog-eared Fanny Farmer cookbook, circa 1984; it's the first "serious" cookbook I ever bought. They messed with the recipe for baked rice pudding that's in my mom's edition, but the apple crisp is the same, and it's my favorite, bar none.

I think I'm going to try throwing some Craisins (dried cranberries) into this, one of these days. I'll let you know how it comes out.

Apple Crisp
from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Twelfth Edition

5 cups peeled, cored, sliced apples - I prefer Cortlands
1/2 cup water (if necessary - see instructions)
3/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar (white or brown, or a combination thereof; I like light brown)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut in small pieces

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Butter a 1 1/2 quart baking dish, and spread the apples in it. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup water. (If apples are extremely juicy, omit water.)

Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl or in a food processor. Add butter.
Bowl: With a pastry blender or your fingers, rub butter into other ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Food processor: Pulse ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Spread mixture evenly over apples. (I generally don't use all of the topping.)

Bake 30 minutes or until the crust is browned. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.