July 2006 Archives

This was a stew of eggplant, onions, chickpeas, tomatoes and spinach, and it's the second recipe I've made from Six O'Clock Scramble that I'd make again, although I think I'd add more seasoning to it. I was amazed to see August go to town on it, not discriminating at all between the eggplant and the ingredients in it that he actually likes. My dad tasted the eggplant and didn't say a thing, which means he didn't like it. But I do like the taste of this eggplant.

First you saute a chopped onion in 1/4 cup olive oil until it's softened, then you add a medium eggplant that's you've cut in 1-inch cubes. Cook that for 5 minutes, then add a drained can of chickpeas, a 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, a teaspoon (or much more) cumin, 15 chopped mint leaves and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Simmer until the eggplant is soft (the recipe said 15 minutes, but mine took more like 30), then add some spinach (the recipe called for 2 to 3 cups fresh baby spinach, but I had frozen chopped spinach that I didn't use in the lasagne so I used that instead - wouldn't it be nice if a menu-based cookbook took that kind of thing into consideration?). Eat over couscous. I think it'd be good with plain yogurt on top, but we didn't have any so I can't be sure.

Overall, this is the kind of recipe the Scrambler in me loves: lots of veggies, a good bit of unattended cooking time to prep other things, lots of flavor and flexibility. Cooked tomatoes, which is almost a guaranteed hit with the boy. I just have to convince his father to try eggplant.

I skipped a couple of recipes from the week I chose and decided to make the Zesty Pasta Salad for dinner last night. It was good, but there was far to much pasta compared to the other ingredients (even the vinaigrette seemed skimpy). I'd make this again with twice as much kielbasa and cheese.

The recipe included a pound of spiral pasta (we used Barilla's pasta Plus, which had fiber, protein and omega-3s, because my dad's diabetic; it's pretty tasty), 8 ounces browned smoked turkey sausage, 4 ounces cubed Cheddar cheese, 2 diced seeded tomatoes and a vinaigrette of 2 1/2 tablespoons each balsamic vinegar and olive oil, salt, pepper, dried thyme, dried basil and garlic powder.

One of the other problems with this recipe was the tomatoes, which my brother doesn't like. My mom was hovering and insisted I pull out a bowl of pasta for him before I added the tomatoes. Easy enough to do, but I it just shows how difficult it can be to please everyone with menus planned by someone else. Maybe these work for Aviva Goldfarb's family, but they're full of ingredients mine won't eat. (Not Aviva's fault, of course. I think my family needs to get less picky. I'll eat just about anything, but I'm surrounded by people who have what borders on food phobias of certain things.)

I selected a week of menus to try from The Six O'Clock Scramble, and the second recipe from the week was a Honey-Glazed Salmon. Not so great. I don't know if I crowded the pan too much or what, but the fish ended up pink and watery-looking, not nice and browned.

You mix butter and honey, brush it on fillets arranged in a baking pan, then bake for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

I also think that salmon is such a fatty fish that it needs some spice or acid to cut through it. I like a mustard coating, or a dry rub of Indian spices.

When I worked at Woman's Day we had a feature called month of menus: a calendar that had a menu suggestion and sometimes a bried recipe for every day in the month. We squeezed all this information into those little boxes, and it was a bear to copy edit. So we weren't too unhappy when it was phased out.

Unfortunately, the readers were. There was such an outcry that the menus were brought back. Because, as I now realize, sometimes the biggest burden with dinner involves coming up with what to make. So I was excited to receive the Six O'Clock Scramble in the mail. It's organized by season, with five recipes for each week (one for each weeknight). There's tons of great, down-to-earth advice, like incorporating fish into your kids' diets without exposing them to too much mercury or what types of fresh fruits and veggies are lowest in pesticides.

Last night we had the Chinese Lasagne, which was really regular lasagna that uses egg roll wrappers instead of pasta. They don't need to be precooked and you end up with a lasagne that's heavy on the meat, cheese and vegetables and a bit lighter on the pasta. The layers: 1 cup pasta sauce, 4 egg roll wrappers, 1 pound browned ground turkey, 1 cup pasta sauce, about 2/3 cup shredded mozzarella, 4 egg roll wrappers, 1 cup pasta sauce, a ricotta-spinach mixture (16 ounces ricotta, 1 egg, 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan), 2/3 cup shredded mozzarella, 4 egg roll wrappers, 1 cup pasta sauce and, finally, 2/3 cup shredded mozzarella.

I guess some additional info is needed: 9 x 13-inch pan, 30 minutes, 375 degree oven.

It was amazingly good, although I felt the ricotta layer was a bit thick. August loved it (so did my folks), so I got some spinach and tomatoes into them. There were plenty for leftovers the next day, too.

I have a very specific technique for pancake-making, with my tried-and-true recipe (from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook) and specific tools. I do vary the ingredients occasionally though, substituting whole wheat flour for half of the flour and using yogurt in a buttermilk variation (which uses less baking powder and adds baking soda). This time I used my orange-infused olive oil for the 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in the recipe, and it was a really nice, subtle change. I always end up snacking on one of the leftover pancakes later in the day, just out of hand, and this change made it even better.

First you whisk 1 cup flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a big bowl, then measure 1 cup milk into a 2-cup measure and add 1 egg and 2 tablespoons of the orange-infused olive oil. Whisk, then pour into the flour and, using a spoon, mix until combined but still lumpy. I have a favorite spoon that I use for this and also for spooning the batter onto the griddle. It's just a white plastic cooking spoon with a medium-size bowl; I think it came in a carousel spice rack I got as a wedding present.

I served the pancakes with a peach-nectarine compote: just cut up a peach and a couple white nectarines (whatever sized pieces you like), tossed them with some sugar and cooked them down until they were soft. It was a good match with the orange pancakes.