I Heart Cooking Clubs - Mark Bittman Edition: Can I have a sip?

Is that a face only a mother could love?

One sporting a "mustache."

This week's theme for I Hearts Cooking Clubs, Mark Bittman style, was "Can I have a sip?" A theme my son took literally, when he took my frozen hot chocolate from me and had a sip. Then a second, third, and finally he just walked off with my glass.

Similar to a Starbuck's Double Chocolatey Chip Frapaccino (a favorite among most of this household,) this has all of 3 ingredients in it, whips up in seconds, and is a special treat on a hot day.

Even without the whipped cream and chocolate sauce on top, which would make it over the top special.

You can find the recipe for this in Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express, a book I am taking out of the library for the second time, and maybe this time will get to make more than one recipe out of.

I Heart Cooking Clubs - Mark Bittman Edition: Potluck snack

It's Potluck time at I Heart Cooking Clubs (and thank goodness it is!) I've been busy, busy, busy, and while I've done a tonne of cooking, none of it has been for home.

Muffins are always a great thing to make and have on hand when you are pressed for time. They take minutes to come together, bake while you are showering, and are great warm right out of the oven, or at room temperature later on when you finally get a chance to eat one. Add in the flexibility of muffins, your choice of fillings and toppings, and they are the perfect choice for this week's Potluck.

I threw these together this morning, Mark Bittman's blueberry muffins, using local blueberries we picked ourselves (we like to pick here - don't forget to grab and ice cream while you are there.) Within minutes the house smelled of freshly baked goodness, always a nice smell, and there was a child standing over me, waiting, waiting....

I haven't tried one yet, but am already thinking that next time I will use buttermilk instead of regular milk in the batter. And double the recipe.

I Heart Cooking Clubs - Mark Bittman Edition: Summer Heat

This week's theme for Mark Bittman and the I Heart Cooking Clubs could not have been more appropriate. It has been sweltering around here lately, and that's before you add in the extra humidity!

So when invited to Beat the Heat, I had a great idea and the ingredients on hand to do it.

Even better, I had a little helper desperate to be involved.

My little guy has been desperate for me to make lemon sherbert for him (which he is eating, right now, up way past his bed time.) Because of this request, I had two big bag loads of lemons, and a volunteer to make some homemade lemonade.

I also had family coming for dinner, on a hot, hot day, and felt lemonade would go over very well with dinner.

My little guy was amazingly helpful - he spent a full half hour with a lemon reamer, getting the most juice he could out of those lemons. (And when he was done with juicing for lemonade, he promptly juiced for his lemon sherbert.)

I used Mark Bittman's lemonade recipe from How to Cook Everything, which was simple and makes a tart lemonade. Personally, I like mine a bit sweeter, but as I had lots of simple syrup left, I could adjust my own glass to suit me.

Two pitchers of lemonade (a double batch) did not last very long, telling me this was a keeper recipe that I need to make again.

Pretty sure I still have a few lemons left, and likely a volunteer to ream more of them.

I Heart Cooking Clubs - Mark Bittman Edition: Potluck for supper

My favorite theme for I Heart Cooking Clubs is Potluck. Where we get to do what we want, from anything.

Not that the themes are very restrictive, far from it! But just saying Potluck brings images of variety and surprise. You never know exactly what you are going to get at a Potluck (except maybe for potato salad - doesn't someone always bring potato salad?)

I went very simple for my selection this week. I started by doing a search for Mark Bittman recipes online that involved chicken thighs. Found a couple of interesting ones that I haven't tried yet, and also found one on his own site for chicken parts.

Roast chicken parts with Olive oil or butter, with a bunch of variations. I went with olive oil and butter, used the thighs I had on hand, and added a full head of garlic, from one of the suggested "ideas."

Pretty good, actually. I had 3 boys eating dinner with me that night, all under 11, and all 3 of them enjoyed it and complimented me on it. My oldest is currently obsessed with chicken caesar salad, so he was thrilled to rip his chicken apart and mix it into his salad, the more garlic the better, while my youngest ate his chicken without running to the fridge for the Ranch dressing (something that rarely happens - that child will eat almost anything if you give him Ranch dressing, but isn't picky, since he asks for sushi for breakfast.)

I have to admit - I've really enjoyed being able to be back in the kitchen, even if just to make something as simple as roast chicken thighs with oodles of garlic.

So? Did anyone bring any potato salad?

Roast chicken thighs with olive oil or butter

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or butter
1 whole chicken, 3 to 4 pounds, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 8 pieces, or any combination of parts (I used 9 chicken thighs)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Several cloves of garlic (20 wouldn't be too many) (I used an entire head)

Heat the oven to 450°F. Put the oil or butter in a roasting pan and put it in the oven for a couple of minutes, until the oil is hot or the butter melts. Add the chicken and turn it a couple of times in the fat, leaving it skin side up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper , add the garlic, and return the pan to the oven.

After the chicken has cooked for 15 minutes, and turn the pieces. Roast for another 10 minutes.

Turn the chicken over (now skin side up again), and cook until the chicken is done (you’ll see clear juices if you make a small cut in the meat near the bone), a total of 30 to 40 minutes at most. Skim excess fat from the pan juices if necessary; serve, with some of the juices spooned over it.

I Hearts Cooking Clubs - Mark Bittman Edition: Bacon and Girlfriends

I've been a bit remiss lately, not in cooking, but in remembering to take the pictures off my camera and put them onto my computer! I admit, I'm still learning iPhoto, and not figuring out how when I edit a picture there, how I can get it to save to my library of photos, the ones I would upload to here. Or figure out how to upload a photo from iPhoto to here. (And if you know how and can explain it to me, no small task, I'd welcome your advice!)

I'm making up for my I Heart Cooking Club delinquency by combining two weeks themes into one recipe, but it is a really good recipe, one good for both the bacon week and the girls night in week. I found this recipe, Spinach, Bacon and Sweet Potato Salad, doing a search for Mark Bittman recipes involving bacon. It had everything I wanted in it, and is probably the best Mark Bittman recipe I've ever had.

My children, as can be expected, gave it thumbs down. The Hubby and I both gave it thumbs up and will likely have this again sometime.

From the October 2009 issue of Runner's World

2 sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 thick slices of bacon (I used 3 slices of double smoked bacon, thick, diced)
1 red bell pepper, cored and chopped
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Juice from 1 orange
1 pound fresh spinach

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Put potatoes on a baking sheet, drizzle with two tablespoons of the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Roast, turning occasionally, until crisp and brown outside and tender inside, about 30 minutes. Remove and keep on the pan until ready to use. While potatoes cook, put bacon in a stainless steel or other nonreactive skillet and turn heat to medium. Cook, turning once or twice, until crisp. Drain on paper towels and pour off fat, leaving darkened bits in the pan. Put back on medium heat; add remaining oil to the pan. When hot, add bell pepper, onion, and ginger to the pan. Cook, stirring once or twice until just softened, about five minutes; stir in cumin and bacon (broken into pieces). Stir in orange juice and turn off heat. (The recipe can be made up to an hour or so ahead to this point. Gently warm dressing again before proceeding.) Put spinach in a bowl large enough to comfortably toss the salad. Add the potatoes and warm dressing. Toss to combine. Serves four.

I Heart Cooking Clubs: Mark Bittman Edition - Happy Father's Day

It is Father's Day today, and I've already missed my chance to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day (even though I called shortly after 8 am on a Sunday, I was still too late, he was gone!)


My boys greeted their father with breakfast, which they made with only supervision from me. My oldest has gotten more comfortable in the kitchen and made some lovely, crisp bacon, as well as scrambling eggs all on his own.

Think I will put him in charge of making breakfast for dinner next week.

Which has nothing, whatsoever, to do with I Heart Cooking Clubs and making something for Father's Day from one of Mark Bittman's recipes. I went simple, picked a recipe I know all my dad's would like (my own father, my grandfather and my father-in-law), and my husband would like as well: Peanut Brittle.


We haven't broken into this brittle yet, it was still warm when I took the picture, but I'm sure it will be great. Afterall, peanuts and sugar, with a touch of salt, how can you go wrong?

I will say, though, that this was the oddest instructions for candy I've ever made. I've made candy before, and it always involved a candy thermometer and not stirring the sugar (so as not to cause crystalization.) This recipe calls for stirring the sugar until it is melted and adding the peanuts in when you achieved the color you were looking for. Simple, yes, but if you aren't comfortable with sugar, or don't realize how quickly it can go from amber to burnt, a bit too simple.

I'll be bringing this with me this afternoon, when I see my father-in-law, to share it between him and my husband. My own father won't get any, this time, and neither with my grandfather. But we will be thinking of all the dad's out there and wishing all of them a Happy Father's Day.

You can find the recipe for Peanut Brittle on page 679 of How to Cook Everything. Other Mark Bittman recipes can be found at I Heart Cooking Clubs.

I Heart Cooking Clubs: Mark Bittman Edition - Potluck it is!

It is a beautifully sunny day outside. About 25C outside, not too hot, not too cold. Perfect for a light, summery meal.

Which is why I'm posting about pot roast and popovers for this week's I Heart Cooking Clubs, Mark Bittman Edition.

Don't laugh. It's all I had pictures of, despite the stacks of recipes made recently. This was it.


And somewhere in the world, there is a Mark Bittman fan, a reader of my blog, who is going into winter and could use some warm comfort, the kind you can only get from a good pot roast.


This pot roast was fine, but the star of the meal was the popovers, or Yorkshire Puddings. Light and fluffy on the inside, crisp on the outside, the right shape for sucking up gravy. I had not made these for quite some time, so all my boys, husband included, were quite excited when I placed the bowl on the table. And they are so simple to make, made me wonder why I don't make them more often.

Recipes for both of these can be found in How to Cook Everything. The Pot Roast on page 437, and the Popovers on page 253.

If you like Mark Bittman, or are just curious, go check out the I Heart Cooking Clubs page and see what everyone else made.

Just a quick note on the computer problems I've had lately: they aren't over yet. I bought a new computer, much needed, however my new computer was defective, so I have been waiting for my new new computer. Basically, right now, I'm stuck between two bad computer options, which makes it very difficult to do things that require a computer.

I'm told my replacement computer will be here this week, and if works when it gets here, I will be on the road to computer recovery. If it doesn't work, then I'm sending it back and going to go look at a Mac.

I Heart Cooking Clubs: Mark Bittman Edition - Garlic!

Technical computer difficulties continue (things did not go well with the new pc, still working on it), so the only way I can participate in this week's I Heart Cooking Clubs, themed GARLIC!!, is to go back to my archives and see what I have available.

Nothing, unfortunately, with the words garlic in the title, but at least one recipe with garlic in it, so that's the best I could do.

Spaghetti is a staple in this household. My hubby would be happy if we had it at least once a week. And by spaghetti, I mean spaghetti. Not fusilli, rotini, capivati, especially not fettucini and linguini, or any of the other types of pasta you can get. Spaghetti!


So for a change, I made Mark Bittman's Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe, from page 152 of How to Cook Everything.

Now this recipe only calls for 1 tsp on minced garlic in it, which I of course ignored. I think I went with something like 3 or 4 cloves instead. And I could have used alot more garlic. And chili peppers. And basil. And anything else to impart some flavor.

It was a good basic recipe, good for someone who had never made meatballs and sauce from scratch before, but as we've found with alot of Bittman's recipes, bland.

Anyways, while the computer troubles continue (and my new pc is being replaced by another new pc due to the difficulties), I'll still be a little scarce around here and in reading other blogs.

Have a good week and get cooking!

I Hearts Cooking Club: Mark Bittman Edition, Movie Night

A quickie for me today, running late for what I'd like to do this morning but did not want to miss this week's posting for I Hearts Cooking Club, where we are cooking up Mark Bittman. Theme for this week is Movie Night, which leaves a very broad interpretation.

Sure popcorn or candy is traditional (and if I'd had time, I would have made some homemade peanut brittle from HTCE, but I didn't), but who says you have to be stuck with traditional snacks for movie night?


Lately our little family has been gathering around and watching Doctor Who together, fresh from the pvr, which is as close to movie night as we can manage.

For a fun "snack" or fancy dessert, try a chocolate souffle, with creme anglaise (vanilla custard sauce.) A little prep work in advance, pop it in the oven while eating dinner, and it is good to go when you want to snuggle down on the couch for a good night of traveling through space in a tiny blue box.

Leftovers, while not as fluffy, work well in a lunch box the next day.

Or skip the souffle and just drink the custard with a straw, right out of the pot.

Both these recipes can be found in How to Cook Everything, on pages 673 for the custard, and 674 for the souffle.

Now to find my shoes and head out to the farmer's market! Ack! Where did I put my camera!?!

Happy Mother's Day, Mark Bittman Style

I'm a mom.

Meet my punks, my boys....


Yup, that's my oldest. Growing up so fast and gaining maturity. (hehehe)


And my little Sous Chef, in a very normal, typical position for him.

If asked what I've accomplished in my life so far, those two are my answer. I have two beautiful, silly boys, each confident in their own selves, polite to others, and unique in their own way.

My little one greeted me this morning with a couple of lovely Mother's Day cards he'd made at school, then jumped right in to make juice for me. But first he said, "Pancakes! I want you to make pancakes for breakfast this morning!"

I declined on the pancakes and instead jazzed up my selection for this week's entry for the I Hearts Cooking Club, where the theme was Breakfast in Bed.


I have been craving scones lately, so when my copy of How to Cook Everything just happened to be open to page 252, where Cream Scones are featured, I took it as a sign I should make my own.

What I'd really like is white chocolate blueberry scones (thanks so much Starbucks, you put the idea in my head!), but I keep forgetting to pick up dried blueberries for them. Instead I made only one change to this recipe (other than shape) - I replaced the dried currents/raisins with vanilla bean instead, to give these scones a delicate vanilla flavor.

The scones on their own, not bad, but as I've found with almost every Bittman recipe I've made so far, lacking in the flavor department.

So I added some....


Now, I don't know that I'd want to eat this in bed exactly, unless I had a very big napkin to catch any drips I might make with that lovely, bright strawberry juice. I'm a messy eater, and probably would splash something.

Happy Mother's Day to all you other Mom's out there. May your morning include breakfast in bed, and funky homemade cards from your own punks.

I Hearts Cooking Clubs: Mark Bittman Edition: Potluck

Who doesn't love a jar full of chocolate chip cookies? Not my family, that's for sure. I personally prefer oatmeal raisin, but generally don't turn down a soft, chewy chocolate chip cookie.

Looking back over the last few weeks of cooking Mark Bittman, it seems we don't really like much of his recipes at all. So since this week's theme for I Hearts Cooking Club was potluck, I wanted something that we did like. These cookies qualify.


At least I'm assuming the boys liked them since I didn't hear complaints about "those" cookies from their lunch boxes (which I did hear when I put Bittman's oatmeal raisin cookies in for the second day in a row - no one liked those.)

While these cookies don't replace any of my previous recipes, they are a nice change. I would make them again, and probably will.

I Hearts Cooking Clubs, Mark Bittman Edition: Pantry Raid

It's the second week of Mark Bittman and I'm still here and still cooking from How to Cook Everything.

On the advice of several other bloggers, I did look into borrowing the libraries copy of Kitchen Express. It is now sitting on my living room couch, waiting for me to read it.


This week's them was Pantry Staples, and what pantry does not have banana's waiting to be used?

One of the things I like to do when trying a new "chef" is to try a few basic recipes, things that we like alot and that are made regularly in my house, such as banana bread. I even made banana bread for one of my choices for Tyler Florence Fridays, the predecessor of this little group.

So this week I made Mark Bittman's banana bread, a suitable choice for the pantry staples theme as I did not need to pick up a single item to make it.


However if you look closely at my pictures, you will see this bread looks more like coconut bread than banana bread. That's because the recipe calls for coconut in the batter (and nuts, which I omitted.)

And it tastes more like coconut bread than banana bread.

Not a bad thing, if you like coconut (hubby and I do), but not a good thing if what you wanted was banana bread. And I wanted banana bread. The kids wanted banana bread. The hubby wanted to know where the butter was so he could butter his slices before adding them into his lunch box.

Not a bad recipe, not a bad result, just not what I wanted. Though it did help me use up several over ripe bananas and for that I'm happy.

I Hearts Cooking Clubs: Mark Bittman Bites

Now that the period of Nigella Lawson is over for the I Hearts Cooking Club, its on to the next chef. Chosen by vote, Mark Bittman won out over Jamie Oliver (my first choice), and Bobby Flay (my second choice).

I've owned How to Cook Everything for years, and occasionally consult it for something. It is where I went when looking for a simple flour tortilla recipe, for example. But I admit, it isn't even close to my favorite cookbook.


Still, this is the new selection, and I am going to try and contribute as often as I can (if only so I have motivation to cook from recipes when I'm rushed to get dinner on the table.)

The first theme for Mark Bittman was Bites, as in bite sized items of some kind, appetizers, whatever, just bite sized.


For the first week and theme, you actually get 3 selections from me. As you can see from above, I deep fried. Corn fritters. You can find the recipe for these on page 565.

I admit, these looked impressive, golden in color, and they cooked up very well. They didn't get an amazing reception at the dinner table though, with one child disliking them entirely, one liking them only because they came with a dip (my second choice, Garlic Aioli, found on page 761), and my husband and I both indifferent to them, thinking they were okay but not great and not what we expected.

As for the aioli - well, I've made aioli's before that I was willing to lick the bowl clean after, and this wasn't it. It did not want to thicken, as you can see by the pool of it, and was just okay. Again, we did eat it, no one outright hated it, but no one asked for the left overs in their lunch the next day.


My last choice has the worst possible picture but had the best outcome: Bruschetta with tomatoes and basil, found on page 265.

I admit, this is almost a cheat as Bruschetta really isn't a recipe so much as a technique, but I hadn't made any in forever and was in the mood. Plus I had a very good loaf of bread from Pan Chancho, a bakery in Kingston.

While the kids weren't overwhelmed by this (not liking raw tomatoes), the hubby and I loved it and both wished I had made more.

So far we aren't off to an amazing start with Mark Bittman, certainly no outright failures, which means I will try to keep up with him for a bit and contribute regularly to I Heart Cooking Club.

Why I love the "I Hearts Cooking Clubs", but not Nigella

I was a regular contributor to Tyler Florence Fridays. Loved cooking with Tyler, loved the interaction of TFF and the ladies hosting. And I was unhappy that TFF was going to be ending, sad that I would not have the extra incentive to find the time to cook outside my list of regular dishes and get back to my blog.

When the "I Hearts (I can't find the symbol for a heart) Cooking Clubs" came up, this should have been my cue to jump right in with a new chef and have some fun. I wanted to, I really, really wanted to.

But the chef of choice was Nigella Lawson, and I have problems with that.

Nothing personal against Nigella. She is a beautiful woman who is entertaining to watch. Some of her recipes look stunning, some scream out to me to be tried.

But I have never had any luck whatsoever with her recipes. None at all.

Take this one, my choice for this week's theme of "Potluck":


This is supposed to be Easy Sticky-Toffee Dessert, found on page 216 of Nigella Bites.

Looks disgusting, doesn't it?

And it is the best of the two I made.

This was my second try at this recipe, in 12 hours. I made it last night, after dinner, and realized I'd made two mistakes with it almost immediately. First, I miss-measured my flour slightly, but not by a huge amount, and second, my pan, which had the right capacity, was not a good shape for this.

Still, I persevered and put it in the oven. Forty five minutes later, I had slightly bubbling water in a baking dish with something sludgy underneath, but no "springy and spongy" dessert. Thirty minutes later, the same.

I tried again this morning, more careful with my flour, different pan to give it more surface area for the boiling water to seep through the batter and make a sauce.

After more than 1 hour in the oven, I took it out and used a spoon to try and let some of the water get under the "cake", and then let it sit on the counter to meld together some.

Spooning it up looked like this:


Not very appetizing looking, and frankly, boring to eat. No toffee flavor at all, despite all the
sugar.

I may try something else from Nigella again, something savory where if the conversions are off, it won't destroy the recipe and create something awful.

For now, this is my contribution for the potluck party at I Hearts Cooking Club.