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Holly Botner AKA the Jittery Cook

Wet Behind the Ears

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to pop a pill rather than go to all the trouble of shopping for groceries, schlepping them home, storing them, using them in a timely fashion before they rot, dreaming up what to prepare, preparing, waiting for praise and finally cleaning up after yourself?  I know I have.  Three meals a day times 365 days a year...that's 1,095 meals a year. On the other hand, there are few activities more enjoyable than eating a good meal.  So, it's best to concentrate on enjoying and finding inspiration where we can.

Be that as it may, the recipe of the day is rack of lamb.  I tend to cook lamb chops the same way as steak, sprinkling on steak spice, garlic and onion flakes.  Easy as pie.  Rack of lamb is something I've ordered many times in restaurants, paying their hefty prices.  It seemed less daunting to prepare than I imagined it would be as there weren't too many ingredients to gather.  A quick google yielded the following recipe which I based on the Allrecipes.com recipe.

Roasted Rack of Lamb

                            INGREDIENTS

Breadcrumb Coating    

  Instructions:  Mix in a large flat pyrex dish.

1/2 c fresh bread crumbs

1 T minced garlic

1 T chopped fresh rosemary  

1 t salt

1/4 t black pepper

1 T olive oil

Seasoned Lamb

                                          

1 (7 bone) rack of lamb, trimmed and frenched

1 t salt

1 t black pepper                             

1 T olive oil

1 T Dijon mustard

Season the lamb with salt and pepper. 

Use less salt if you are (wisely) paying attention to all the

health news about the dangers of consuming too much salt.

Seared Lamb

Sear the lamb, on top of the stove in a heavy skillet, 

for about 2 minutes per side, 

over high heat, in a tablespoon of olive oil. 

Cool for a few moments then coat with

a tablespoon of Dijon. 

Coated Lamb with Wrapping

Lay the lamb down onto the breadcrumb mixture, coating all sides.

Wrap the exposed ends in tinfoil so they don't burn. Preheat your oven and r

oast the rack bone side down, at 450 degrees F for 16 minutes, covering and allowing the meat to rest for 5 minutes before carving.

So, it wasn't much trouble and it does make an impressive meal.  It takes some practice to get the meat to your preferred level of doneness, but as long as you don't overcook it, you can easily slip it whole or cut, back into the oven for a little more cooking.  This Jittery Cook was satisfied with the results, but relieved that she got to experiment on her hubbie for their pre-anniversary dinner for two rather than being jittery for the maiden voyage in front of guests.

So tomorrow is the big day.  Celebrating 24 years of marriage.  Really, really celebrating the joys of having a wonderful blended family.  His, mine and ours.  Thanks Jared, Erin, Adrianne and Andrew for making us pleased as punch to be in this adventure together.

My talented, art director brother-in-law, George Richardson,  supplied me with this Jittery Cook drawing.  I asked for a cook balancing on a tightrope with cooking implements in each hand.  Perfect!

Note to all new parents:  Get your hands on a book (Feeding your Baby the Healthiest Foods, 2000) written by Louise Lambert Lagace.  You will be on your way to creating a versatile foodie from the get go.  Following this brilliant nutritionist's advice will open up your child to healthy food habits that will last a lifetime.  I just had to get that off my chest.

hb

True Confessions

I work at a small rehabilitation hospital.  The work environment is astonishingly warm, friendly and tight knit.  We share an interest in food. The occasional potluck meals that we produce never cease to amaze me for their variety and deliciousness.  We have a cafeteria that produces a few fine dishes, one of which is bow-ties, or farfalle in Italian, with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and basil.  Our chef was nice enough to share the recipe - without measurements, as she is cooking in very large quantities.  I used guesswork  and added a thing or two and it wound up tasting just right.  It was ready in a jiffy for today's lunch.  It isn't cooking so much as assembling.  Hard work never killed anybody - but why take the risk?

Farfalle with Sun-dried Tomato, Spinach and Basil


8 oz farfalle or bow-tie pasta cooked for 10-12 minutes
1 c sun-dried tomatoes (Costco brand - Neri)
2-3 T oil from the sun-dried tomato jar (stir first cause     the bottom has good spices)
1 T olive oil (or less)
1   6 oz can of chunk light tuna
4 oz fresh spinach leaves
12-20 basil leaves
1/2 c finely sliced red onion
2 minced cloves of garlic
1 t red pepper chili flakes
1 T capers
2 T freshly grated parmesan cheese

Begin by very lightly chopping the sun-dried tomatoes with a little oil from the jar.  You can either use a food processor or chop by hand.

Saute the red onion in olive oil on low heat until softened.

Add the minced garlic, cooking and stirring for a few minutes.

Add the chopped sun-dried tomato.

Then add the spinach and basil, stirring and allowing them to wilt. 

The tuna is added after separating the flakes with a fork. Stir gently just long enough to heat through, then pour over the cooked pasta, tossing to coat.

The finished product.  

More Confessions:
The wet blanket in this story is the mercury level in tuna.  According to Harriet Sugar Miller, we are only supposed to eat tuna once a month due to the high levels of mercury.  I've read that the flaked, light tuna is the safest.  Pregnant women and children are advised to limit their intake.

My brother, who I'm very close to,  didn't know I could cook.  He was very surprised to discover this latent talent while reading my blog this past week.  This is particularly funny as he just spent 10 days visiting.  I tend to let my sister or my mother do the cooking for the family as they are so much more experienced and hard working.

My son poked fun at me for beginning to cook only after he left town to continue his studies out west.

I started this blog filled with trepidation and wondering how it would develop.  The encouragement I've received from readers has made me a blogging junkie and I'm feeling like a person with a new identity.

Thank you to everyone for reading, becoming Jittery Cook Followers, commenting and making my day!  The most common comment has been "Keep them coming", and so I will.

hb

In a Pickle

There is so much controversy in cooking these days.  Should I buy Atlantic farmed salmon?  Wild salmon?  Pacific?  Organic?  Irish farmed and properly fed?  Questions abound.  The truth is, it does help to know (and remember) the best type of salmon to purchase as it will make you and the world healthier vessels.  So, why not Atlantic wild or Atlantic farmed?  Because it is poorly fed and pesticide/toxin laced, as opposed to organic farmed Atlantic or Irish farm fed from certain bays in Ireland (details to follow in a few days, thanks to Harriet Sugar Miller) which both eat the healthy food and thus are healthy food.  Pacific wild from the northern waters were highly respected but may now be affected by the recent nuclear disasters in Japan.  Realistically, the cost may be exorbitant  and it takes more effort to even think about the cleaner choice but the benefits speak for themselves.  We all gotta make choices, so if you have the time, energy, inclination and surplus dough, it's a no brainer.

All that being said...there are so many great, easy ways to cook salmon at home that it is beyond me how it can be selected on a restaurant menu.  Salmon is my first choice of what to cook when I entertain because it is almost impossible to screw up.  My favorite ways include poached and served with sauce verte, cedar plank BBQed, slathered with dijon mustard and maple syrup before roasting  and pickled.  Today is the day for pickled.

My good friend Lorraine Levy, real estate agent extraordinaire, decoded the Moishe's Steakhouse taste-alike recipe.  If you want to "Eat to Beat Cancer"  as Harriet Sugar Miller would advise in her upcoming web book of said name, then you can substitute agave syrup for the sugar.  Aha - sugar - more controversy.  Don't go looking for sugary sweets amongst my entries.  I may enjoy them from time to time, even enormously, but I don't go out of my way to include them in my diet.

Pickled Salmon

4 lbs Salmon
1c sugar or 2/3 c agave syrup
1 c white vinegar
750 ml Heinz Chili Sauce
4 T Pickling spice
2 large thinly sliced Spanish onions

If you have a poacher then you can wrap the salmon in cheesecloth to make it easier to remove.

Simmer the salmon for about 8 minutes until the colour goes from bright to pale in water, salt and 1 tablespoon of pickling spice.  You can use steaks, filets, whole sides or pieces of salmon and any shaped pot, as long as you don't overcook the fish.  After 6 minutes you can lift it gently out of the water, replacing it as needed.  If it is on the brink of cookedness, you can lay it on a tray and spoon the hot liquid over the fish to complete the cooking process.

Combine the sugar, vinegar and chili sauce in a medium sized bowl.

Layer the onions and pickling spices under and over the fish in a large flat pyrex dish or a glass bowl.

Pour the sauce over the fish, cover, refrigerate at least 1 day before serving and voila!  You are done.


 Most amazing of all is that this tasty dish will last for 2 WEEKS in your fridge.

So, you can prolong the enjoyment over time, or you can prepare in advance for a holiday feast.  

Makes an excellent appetizer or light meal.

hb

On Cloud Nine

Eggplant Carpaccio

This dish, inspired by 'The Book of New Israeli Food' by Janna Gur, is dedicated to my brother-in-law Maury, whose eyes lit up with delight as it was served to us on our trip to Israel.  In the cookbook the recipe is credited to Yaron Kestenbaum, Food Art Catering, Tel Aviv.

This is the first recipe I've tried from this cookbook (that I can remember!) and it is AMAZING!!!!! OK, it's true that eggplant is one of my very favorite foods, but let's just say that the flavours sing, whistle and hum.

It took no time at all to do the following.  Your friends and family will think of you as a gourmet chef.  I practically guarantee it.  

 Ingredients:

4 medium eggplants
4 T top quality raw tahini
4 T goat milk yogurt (I used regular)
4 t honey (or silan - date syrup)
4 T freshly squeezed lemon
8 T extra virgin olive oil (I omitted this)
4 tomatoes diced into small bits
1 small bunch of fresh oregano or hissop leaves
1 t crushed garlic
1 t chopped hot green chili pepper
coarse sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

The eggplants can be roasted whole in a BBQ or over a flame, then sliced open after cooling a bit, but I broiled mine for 30 minutes, cut side down.  Flatten the eggplant flesh with the back of a fork, mushing it up a bit.

The toppings were spooned on here, there and everywhere in the order listed in the ingredient list above.  For international flare the eggplant halves were laid upon Taftoon Persian bread, purchased at a small grocer on Somerled near Cavendish. This dish is meant to be served warm.

Thank you to Jonathan Cheung from Appetite For Books for inviting Janna Gur to your bookstore/cooking school for a demonstration session and for helping to make me a slightly less jittery cook, after too many cooking lessons to count.  Treat yourself and someone you love to a gourmet cooking lesson/experience at  Appetite For Books.

The cook may be jittery, but the soup is smooth

Just using up some fridge remainders - nothing but staples.  

Very ordinary soup but tasty and light.  

Roasted Acorn Squash Soup

• Ingredients

  2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
• 4 carrots chopped
• 1 squash - peeled, seeded, and cubed 
•      after baking or roasting for 45 minutes until      softened
• 1 (32 fluid ounce) container chicken stock
•    freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 c plain yogurt 
• 2-3 T chopped dill

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large pot, and cook the onion and celery on low heat in a covered large pot for about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and carrot, cooking covered until softened.  Pour in enough of the chicken stock to cover vegetables. Season with pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.  Add the squash, cut into chunks, in the last 5 minutes

Transfer the soup to a blender, or use a hand held blender in the pot after the soup cools a bit, and blend until smooth. Return to pot, and mix in any remaining stock to attain desired consistency. Tastes perfect left at a thick consistency as it is light and creamy.  Garnish with a dollup of plain yogurt and some chopped dill.

I know it was good because my husband requested seconds.  Proof positive.

The feedback so far (mostly emails) has been very encouraging.  Comments to this blog are welcome.  Subscribers are too.  So far my lone follower is my step-daughter.  Thank you Erin!

Being kid-less, with everyone far flung, this blog makes me feel like I'm feeding my family from afar. Who knows, maybe they'll even try a recipe or two.  

hb

It's About Thyme

Some chicken breasts needed marinating and this recipe turned out to be a keeper.  T'was eaten straight off the BBQ with a side of fresh sliced peaches. 

Greek Style Garlic Chicken 

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 T virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2-3 finely minced garlic cloves
• 1 t salt
• 1 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
• 1 t paprika
• 2 t finely chopped mixture of rosemary, oregano and/or thyme
• 1/4 t cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Cut 3 slits in each chicken breast to allow marinade to soak in. Mix all ingredients then cover the chicken with the marinade, refrigerating for 12-24 hours.  into chicken. 
2. Preheat BBQ grill = medium heat.
3. Cook until meat is no longer pink and juices run clear.

There are some days when just eeking out 1 dish for dinner is enough.  Don't you think?