Minestrone

I am down visiting my parents for the week, and I remembered one of Michelle's recipes that she has shared with my entire family. One week my parents happened to be up here on Sunday evening, and, being the consummate hostess, Michelle invited them to Family Dinner at her house. It (thankfully) was Michelle's turn to cook and she made us minestrone. I had eaten her minestrone many times, but my parents had yet to experience it. Needless to say, they loved it. They asked for the recipe, and since then it has found it's way to at least two of my aunts. It is a fantastic recipe, and since Michelle was kind enough to share it with my family, I would like to share it with all of you. Now I know you may have had minestrone before, but I assure you you have never had any as good as this. Make it. Make it right now. Your belly will thank you.

Michelle's Minestrone

2 Tb olive oil
4 links mild Italian sausage
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 orange or yellow bell pepper, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes with their juice (I prefer crushed tomatoes; less watery)
2 cans chicken stock (I'm assuming these are 14.5 ounce cans)
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried red chile flakes
1 can great northern beans
2 cups dried pasta (small shells, ditalini, or something else mini)
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
grated Parmesan cheese

Heat 2 Tb olive oil in large heavy pot on medium high heat. Brown sausage on all sides. Add 1/2 cup water, reduce heat, cover and cook until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove from pot and reserve. When cool, slice into 1/4 inch rounds.

Discard water from pot and return to burner. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute for 10 mintues. Add peppers and saute for another 10 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, stock, sausage slices, and seasonings. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in lots of boiling, salted water until almost done (1 minutes less than the package says for al dente). Drain and rinse.

Add beans to soup and simmer for 15 minutes. Add pasta and peas and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

Mushroom Hors D'oeuvres

Hi,I'm Kyle, and I am Michelle's son (for those of you who are reading this but might not know a lot about her). My wife, Caitlin, started this blog and I am so grateful to her for sharing my mom's wonderful gift in some way. I thought every now and then I could contribute something and tell some stories and whatnot from my past with my mom. My mom loved to share her abilities and creativity in the kitchen to anyone who wanted to learn and have fun. She would even have cooking classes right in the house and since our family room was open to the kitchen, she could cram in a lot of women! In fact, I never really realized this until now, but her kitchen was set up just like a cooking show kitchen: gas range built into an extended counter that faced the family room with a sink and double wall ovens behind her. And often my brother and I would be sent to the downstairs playroom so we wouldn't interrupt the show! But the funny thing was, she really didn't like the kids in the kitchen when she was cooking. I think when she was in her element it became HER space, her sanctuary. But that's not to say I don't have many many fond memories of the times she did cook with us (which ended up being mostly cookies and sweets but that is beside the point) and those are the stories I will mostly be sharing here. So now that I have rambled on, I thought it would be best to start with one of the few "serious" recipes I ever got to make with my mom. One thing about her was that she loved to throw dinner parties, or organize other people's dinner parties, or even cater them too. And Hors D'oeuvres were always a HUGE thing (presentation, presentation, presentation!). So with out further ado I give you my mom's Mushroom Hors D'oeuvres. I've also included a scan of her original recipe card so you can see how well loved this recipe really was, and of course, that is how you can spot the ones she made the most!



Mushroom Hors D'oeuvres

1 can crescent rolls
1 small package of cream cheese
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
butter
2 Tb. green onions, chopped
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. lemon juice
parmesan

Pat rolls into 9x13" pan. Spread with softened cream cheese. Sauté mushrooms in butter until soft. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and cook until dry. Spread on top of cream cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Avocados stuffed with curried crab

According to Kyle "Michelle loved any food you could rip apart with your hands." In this category falls lobster, oysters (she actually invested in a chainmail glove to wear while shucking oysters so that she didn't slice her hand off), and, of course, crab. I was never privy to a Michelle crab dinner, being lukewarm on crab myself, but I got the skinny from Kyle. It was frowned upon to use silverware of any kind, and if you could get to the meat without a mallet or cracker (is that even possible?) you won brownie points from Michelle. This all being said, about how I'm not a huge fan of crab, I'm dying to try this recipe. I love both avocados and curry with a vengeance, and when combined with crab I have a feeling this would make a lovely treat. I hope you feel the same way

Avocados stuffed with Curried Crab

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp+ curry powder
1 tsp+ lemon juice
cayenne pepper (no amount given, you're on your own for this one)
salt and pepper
3/4 lb flaked crab
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions
1/3 cup drained and chopped fruit chutney (at least I think that's what is says)
3 large avocados

Combine the mayonnaise with the egg yolk, 2 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp lemon juice, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Combine half of this mixture with the crab, celery, scallions and chutney. Peel, halve lengthwise, and pit the avocados. Brush with lemon juice. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Divide crab mixture among avocados, mounding up on the top. Spread with remaining mayo mixture and broil for 3 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Buttered Corn on the Cob

Last night we had barbecued burgers and corn on the cob. Barbecues were always a stable in Michelle's household, and corn was often present. Now, there are plenty of ways to get the butter on to your corn cob, but most of them have drawbacks. Using a knife just gets tedious and messy. My family always just used a half unwrapped stick of butter and held the wrapped end. This also got messy, and you were left with a half stick of partially melted butter at the end of dinner. There are special corn cob buttering devices you can buy, but who wants to spend money on something that does one job and one job only (unless you like buttering corn dogs I suppose). Michelle, of course, had a rather creative way to do it. I know that she's not the only one who butters corn this way, but I learned it from her, so here you go. Take one heel of bread (stale, fresh, whatever, just make sure it's at least semi-pliable). Butter the bread heavily. Hold the heel, butter side up, in the palm of your hand so that when you roll your hand up it makes a taco shape. Roll the corn around in this bread and butter taco until every kernel is properly buttered. You should be able to share the bread around the whole table, re-buttering as necessary. No one really likes eating the heel from a loaf of bread anyway, so there really isn't any waste with this plan. Everybody wins.

Recipe for a warm Summer day

I picked today's recipe not because it reminds me of Michelle, or even is anything special she made for her kids (not that I know of at least), but because it's warm out today. When I found this card in the recipe box I immediately wanted to make some for Athena and I to enjoy outside in the sun this afternoon. Sadly, I don't have the ingredients on hand (stupid orange juice concentrate), but rest assured I will be making some soon. I do have memories of making Orange Julius with my mom when I was little, so I figured it was still appropriate to post on this blog.

Orange Julius

3/4 cup milk
6 oz frozen orange juice concentrate
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
12-14 ice cubes
1/2 cup water

Blend ingredients at high speed and serve immediately.

Easy, right? Enjoy.

Coffee Mousse

Michelle loved coffee. A whole pot in the morning, a triple mocha on the way to Curves in the afternoon, and sometimes even some right before dinner. She even purchased a special thermal french press coffee pot for camping excursions. I'm pretty sure that at one point Kyle and I had to give up our coffee pot because Michelle's broke and she could not survive without a functioning coffee pot. The next time it broke (it got a lot of use, remember?) she broke out the old-school metal boil-on-the-stove espresso maker (you know the ones I'm talking about right?). She has four or five cork backed placemats that match her dishes, each of which is forever stained with coffee from years of use as a breakfast tray. See, I wasn't lying when I said Michelle loved coffee. I asked Kyle today for a dessert recipe that Michelle made and loved, and he decided on Coffee Mousse. Make, and enjoy, especially if you have to stay up all night because you have a French test in the morning and have failed to study at all.

Coffee Mousse
Serves 6-8

3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 envelope Knox gelatin
1/4 cup Kahlua
2/3 cup strongly brewed coffee
dash of salt
2 Tb sugar
2 cups heavy cream
2 Tb Kahlua

Beat egg yolks in a large bowl, adding sugar gradually until mixture is pale yellow. Sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup liqueur and let stand. Heat coffee with gelatin and liqueur in heavy saucepan and beat mixture into yolks. Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat just until mixture simmers. Remove to bowl and cool.

Beat egg whites with salt until foamy. Add sugar gradually and beat until stiff.

Beat cream with 2 Tb liqueur until stiff.

Fold whites into cooled coffee mixture. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon into dessert dishes and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Can be frozen and thawed in fridge.

Garnish with instant coffee or chocolate-covered espresso beans.

Super Crispy Bread

Flash back to about 6 or 7 years ago with me for a moment. We has just started family dinners at Michelle's house with Kyle (her son, my husband) and Jared (Kyle's older brother). At that point in time I was rather novice cook, but it was my turn so I put on my big girl underpants and planned a menu. As if cooking in your future mother-in-law's kitchen isn't intimidating enough, I had to cook in my future mother-in-law's kitchen, who just so happened to be a semi-professional chef. I believe I made lasagne. It was the one dish I knew I could cook and everyone would like it. I had brought a loaf of bread to go with it (not traditional garlic bread, but the kind with the whole cloves of garlic in it). About ten minutes before the lasagne was done I went to put the bread in the oven so it could heat up before serving, you know, like normal people do. Michelle asked me what I was doing, and I believe my response was "Putting the bread.....in.....the....oven?" She snatched the bread from me, and, to my horror, stuck it under running water. I resisted the urge to ask her what on earth she was doing to the bread I brought for us, but then I thought maybe she was offended that I had bought bread rather than baked it myself. I stood there dumbfounded while she threw it into the oven dripping wet. When she looked up at me I must have looked like the most confused person on earth, and, of course, she laughed at me. Nice huh? After she was finished laughing she explained to me that getting the crust of the bread wet before baking it makes the crust crunchier, which is always better than only semi-crunchy crust. I still didn't quite believe her until I started slicing the loaf. Amazingly, she was right.

I figured this would make a good first kitchen tip for everyone. Run your loaf of store-bought bread (or homemade if you're crazy like that) under water, then throw it in the oven for 5-10 minutes before serving. You'll have lovely, crunchy crust with a warm soft center to go with it. I know it feels weird to run a loaf of bread under the faucet, but, trust me, it works and you'll never go back to the old way again. And don't forget to use real butter; it's so much better than the fake stuff.

Swedish Meatballs

Holiday traditions were always important for Michelle. Actually, holidays in general were always important. There were extensive decorations for every single holiday (especially Valentine's Day and Halloween), and often a traditional meal for every one. Michelle's family's Christmas Eve tradition included a Swedish Smorgasbord. The meal evolved from traditional Smorgasbord fare, to a more potluck type event. The only requirement was that everyone was supposed to bring a dish from their family heritage. From Michelle's kitchen came lasagne (her married name was Luccio afterall) and the most fantastic Swedish Meatballs around. I only had the pleasure of eating these for Christmas Eve once, which just so happened to be last year. Sadly, this has resulted in my current lack of interest in IKEA meatballs (I'm sorry, IKEA meatballs, but our love affair was never meant to last). Happily, Michelle's original recipe exists in print, so it is with this recipe that I start this little blog. Enjoy, and if you can't wait until Christmas Eve to make them I totally understand and will not judge you at all. I may, however, show up at your house for dinner.

Swedish Meatballs

1.5 lbs ground beef
1 small onion, grated
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups half & half, divided
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 Tb flour
1 tsp instant beef broth (beef buillon, right?)

Combine beef, onion, bread crumbs, eggs, 1/2 cup of half & half, salt, and spices and mix well. Form into walnut-sized balls and place on lightly greased shallow baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until brown.

Measure 2 Tb of fat from the baking pan (if there isn't enough fat, use butter to equal 2 Tb) and place in a large saucepan. Stir in flour and instant broth. Cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes. Whisk in 1.5 cups half & half and continue cooking and stirring until sauce comes to boil. Simmer for 1 minute. Add meatballs and simmer over low heat until hot.

Serve in a chafing dish or over hot buttered noodles.