Here’s another Lenten idea. Want to see an uplifting movie about improving the world while we enjoy the food we eat? Watch Fresh! It’s just 90 minutes. You can watch it with your book club or anywhere that thoughtful people gather.
Unlike Food Inc., the film Fresh focuses on a vision of how things can be different, how much power we have as consumers and how we vote with each dollar we spend.
Envision the kind of healthy food you would like to eat every day. Envision the kind of world you would like to live in. Both are possible.
Thanks to my friend L. I can recommend another excellent short film about food, “The Dark Side of Chocolate.” This film documents how much of the chocolate we eat (Nestle, Kraft, Cargill, ADM) is harvested using child slave labor. These corporations refuse to enforce the laws against child slave labor with their cocoa growers.
YOU can make a difference by resisting chocolate ingredients from these companies and buying Fair Trade chocolate like Divine Chocolate or Fair Exchange Chocolate brands. As a consumer you have power. You vote for the kind of world you want to live in with every food dollar you spend!
My younger daughter used to make delicious apple pies when she was about nine or ten years old.
Into a large bowl she sliced six apples. Then added a handful of flour, brown sugar and sprinkled a little cinnamon. Using her hands she mixed the apples, flour, sugar and cinnamon together. Then she dumped the bowl of coated apple slices into a pie plate prepared with a ready-to-bake crust. She covered the filling with a second crust. We baked it in the oven at 425 degrees for one hour and Mmmmm! Out came a great apple pie. However, she only liked to make the pies – she rarely ate a piece. It was always surprising to me that she didn’t like eating them herself.
The other night I watched the movie Waitress for the second time and enjoyed it yet again. The idea that the pies become a mirror for the interior emotional life of waitress Jenna is an interesting idea. Jenna’s creative pies become the vehicle for her own transformation and resurrection into a new life. We are already familiar with this idea of expressing our interior through art, writing, music. In this case, pies are the medium. Here are just a few of her pies –
Kick In The Pants Pie
Cinnamon spice custard
I Hate My Husband Pie
“You take bittersweet chocolate and don’t sweeten it. You make it into a pudding and drown it in caramel…”
Baby Screaming It’s Head Off In The Middle Of The Night And Ruining My Life Pie New York style cheesecake, brandy brushed, pecans and nutmeg…
The following recipes appeared on Waitress promotional cards
Marshmallow Mermaid Pie
9 graham crackers
1/2 C. sweetened, flaked coconut, toasted
5 Tbs. butter or margarine, melted
34 lg. marshmallows (8 oz.)
1/2 C. whole milk
1 1/2 C. heavy or whipping cream
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate, grated
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine coconut and graham crackers in food processor until coarse crumbs form.
2. Combine crumbs and butter with fork. Press to bottom and side of 9-inch pie plate. Bake 10 minutes and cool on wire rack.
3. Heat marshmallows and milk in 3-qt. saucepan over low heat until smooth, stirring constantly. Remove saucepan from heat. Cool completely (30 minutes.)
4. In large bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat cream until stiff peaks form. Fold marshmallow mixture into whipped cream with grated chocolate. Spoon filling into cooled crust. Refrigerate pie at least 3 hours or overnight.
5. Top with mini marshmallows, maraschino cherries and rainbow sprinkles. Serves 8.
Falling in Love Chocolate Mousse Pie
9-inch baked pastry shell
1 14-oz. can condensed milk (not evaporated)
2/3 C. water
1 (4 serving) pkg. chocolate pudding mix (not instant)
1 1-oz. square unsweetened chocolate
2 C. (1 pt.) whipping cream, stiffly whipped
In large saucepan, combine condensed milk, water and pudding mix; mix well. Add chocolate. Over medium heat, cook and stir rapidly until chocolate melts and mixture thickens. Remove from heat; beat until smooth. Cool. Chill thoroughly; stir. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into prepared pastry shell. Chill 4 hours until set. Serves 8.
Baby Screamin’ Its Head Off In The Middle of the Night & Ruinin’ My Life Pie
4 8-oz. cream cheese, softened
1 C. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 C. sour cream
1/2 C heavy whipping cream
1 3/4 C. white sugar
1/8 . cornstarch
1 fl. oz. amaretto liqueur
1 tsp. vanilla extract
5 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 C. chopped pecans
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1. Bring all ingredients to room temperature. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wrap outside of 9-inch springform pan with foil. Generously butter inside of pan.
2. In large bowl,beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in sugar and cornstarch. Blend in sour cream and whipping cream. Add amaretto and vanilla. Stir in eggs and egg yolk one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each addition.
3. Pour batter into pan. Place pan in another pan at least 1 inch wider and add water to outside pan (prevents cracks). Bake on center rack for 70 minutes.
4. Turn oven off and let cool with door open for 1 hour. Remove cake from water and chill at least 3 hours before removing cake from pan. Top with crushed pecans and dust with nutmeg. Serves 8.
If you visit Duluth, Minnesota you can always head up Hwy 61 and visit Betty’s Pies just north of Two Harbors. This restaurant will remind you of “Joe’s Pies,” converted to “Lulu’s Pies” restaurant in the movie. Many incredible, “world fabulous” pies on the menu. Five-Layer Raspberry Pie is my favorite.
Better yet, perhaps today I will bake a steaming apple pie, top it with vanilla ice cream and drizzle it with caramel in memory of my daughter’s apple pies 🙂
At our house March is soup month. It’s one of the last months where you really feel like making a large pot of soup.
Most of my soups are cooked in a Villeroy Boch enameled soup pot that I purchased many years ago, on sale at Marshall Field’s. It was at their “after Christmas sale” at the Oak Brook store near my house in Chicago. I was with my friend T. She should have been a professional personal shopper. She can find you absolutely anything you want at the price you want to pay. So of course she was at the “90% OFF After Xmas Sale.” I’m sure she also had coupons for an additional percentage off. I remember holding a bag with the Xmas ornaments she already found when I saw them; the last two Villeroy Boch soup pots high up on a shelf in “Market Place” – Marshall Field’s housewares department. Amazingly they were already on sale with an additional amount off. Expensive even on sale – but sooo worth it.
It has been a delight and pleasure to create mouth watering soups in this pot. The enamel interior resists pitting from acids in food and the heavy gauge steel heats evenly. It still looks beautiful and has served me very well over the years.
We try to make a few pots of various soups throughout the month and get single-serving containers of soup into the freezer. Then we can easily enjoy them throughout the summer.
One of my favorite soups is split pea with ham. Usually this March soup uses the heel of the Easter ham. But Easter is VERY late this year. Using one thick slice of ham or bacon you can make this same soup today. Use green or yellow split peas. Add onions, potatoes, carrots or parsnips as you like following this recipe:
In a soup pot, saute coarsely chopped onions in a bit of olive oil. Add six to eight cups of water, 1 package of split peas, diced carrots, two tablespoons of chicken soup bouillon or stock from a jar, one ham slice – cubed. If you prefer vegetarian eliminate the ham. Add freshly grated pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder and oregano (or herbs de Provence). Add one or two bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for two hours, covered. Your house will smell great. When the soup is nice and thick to your liking – serve and top with oyster crackers or a dollop of yogurt.
Photo A. Meshar
Today I am making beef barley soup with some leftover potroast. I sauteed chopped onion in olive oil until softened. Then I addd the leftover beef, cubed, along with the leftover gravy, potatoes, carrots and onions. Add 6 cups of water, 1/2 cup of barley, herbs de Provence (or oregano). For an added boost you could add a small can of tomato sauce, or 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar, or 1 good squeeze of lemon juice. Simmer about 2 hours. Serve.
Photo A. Meshar
As I am simmering the beef barley soup I decided I may as well make chicken soup with the leftover chicken. Into a pot add the leftover chicken, bones and all. Add any juices or gravy. Fill pot with 6 cups of water. Onion, celery, carrots, garlic, whole peppercorns or chopped cilantro are optional. I am leaving them out today as a plain broth is my goal. But I am adding additional chicken soup base. Simmer all afternoon. Remove bones. Cut up chicken and return to broth. If you like you could add matzo balls to simmer and cook for 1/2 additional hour at this point.
Or try Mark Bittman’s soup matrix to make creamy, brothy, earthy or hearty soups without a recipe.
As the day ends, cozy up to a glass of good wine, a piece of crusty artisan bread, a candle, a friend and enjoy.
Put the remaining soup in canning jars. Take a jar to a neighbor, a friend or anyone who would appreciate a special delivery of homemade soup. Keep chilled until heated for eating. Will keep 2-3 days in the refrigerator.
At the end of the week we had leftover chicken, fresh spinach, a tomato, green pepper and an odd assortment of vegetables from our CSA (community sponsored agriculture – the late winter delivery) consisting of red radishes and carrots. Basically an odd assortment of vegetables.
Here’s the salad my husband created with the ingredients. He warmed and sliced the chicken breast, sliced the tomato, red radish, carrots and pepper. then he added olives, sunflower seeds, tiny crackers and sprinkled some cracked pepper and tumeric. Everything rests on a bed of fresh spinach leaves. Delicious. And all in the fridge.
Think lasagna is time consuming or difficult? Think again. You can make delicious lasagna without boiling the noodles. You can assemble it in minutes this morning and eat it for dinner tonight. Here’s how:
In a large Crock Pot cover the bottom with a thin layer of spaghetti sauce. Place one layer of regular, uncooked, lasagna noodles on the sauce. Usually only 2 – 3 noodles will fit. Two of them may need to be broken to fit. Cover with one third of the remaining jar of spaghetti sauce. Add a layer of chopped broccoli, 1/3 of an 8 oz pkg of shredded mozzarella cheese and small clumps of ricotta cheese (1/4 of an 8 oz. container, or substitute with cottage cheese). Repeat with another layer of lasagna noodles, sauce, broccoli and cheeses. Finish with a top layer of lasagna, the last third of the sauce and mozzarella cheese. Cook for 8 hours on low – 4 hours on high. Yields 4 large pieces.
Substitute the broccoli with spinach. Or add browned Italian sausage or ground beef. If you’re out of spagetti sauce use a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes with a 14 oz can of tomato sauce.
How about Alfredo lasagna? You can do the same recipe substituting a creamy white Alfredo sauce and add shredded carrots along with the chopped broccoli – skip the ricotta cheese. Again cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.
Here’s another Lenten idea. Want to see an uplifting movie about improving the world while we enjoy the food we eat? Watch Fresh! It’s just 90 minutes. You can watch it with your book club or anywhere that thoughtful people gather.
Unlike Food Inc., the film Fresh focuses on a vision of how things can be different, how much power we have as consumers and how we vote with each dollar we spend.
Thanks to my friend L. I can recommend another excellent short film about food, “The Dark Side of Chocolate.” This film documents how much of the chocolate we eat (Nestle, Kraft, Cargill, ADM) is harvested using child slave labor. These corporations refuse to enforce the laws against child slave labor with their cocoa growers.
