Tag Archives: Food

Two Chickens, Many Meals (Thanks to Barbara Kafka)

07 Wednesday Dec 2011

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You know the old saying: “Give people roasted chicken, they’ll eat for a day. Teach them how to roast a chicken, they’ll eat forever.” What? That’s not how it goes? Well, it does now. Barbara Kafka is the person who taught me how to roast a chicken, although she wasn’t aware of that when I called her this morning, at her home in Manhattan, to ask for permission to publish two of her recipes on The Midlife Second Wife. As far as I’m concerned her beautiful book, Roasting, A Simple Art, is the last word on that most fundamental kitchen skill. And her “continuous kitchen” philosophy is smart and economical, especially if you’re on a budget. I’m always amazed by the number of meals I can eke out of one or two roast chickens.

Kafka’s premise, that fish, fowl, meat—even vegetables and some fruits—are best roasted at extremely high oven temperatures (500-degrees Fahrenheit), has proved infallible in my kitchen. I have roasted chicken, standing rib roast, turkey, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, leeks, and more using this principle. The results are always wonderful: the high-heat method seals in flavor, yielding a crispy, succulent exterior and an interior that is moist and delicious. You’ll never serve a dry turkey again.

Another Kafka principle to which I adhere is the “continuous kitchen.” Let’s use chicken as an example. I typically roast two at the same time. After we’ve dined on one, I reserve all of the bones and trim the carcass of all meat, which I reserve for leftovers (another roast chicken dinner, sandwiches, chicken salad, or a casserole). I do the same with the extra bird that has not been served. All of the bones, the wing tips (which I’ve removed before roasting), and the neck and giblets (saved before roasting) get tossed into my stockpot and filled with water. Do you see where I’m going with this? Homemade chicken stock—lots of it—to keep in your freezer. You’ll be able to read Kafka’s recipe for basic chicken stock in my next cooking post—or her book, if it’s not too late to add something to your holiday wish list.

Copyright © 1995 by Barbara Kafka. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Today I’ll be sharing her famous recipe for roasted chicken. My thanks to Barbara Kafka for giving me permission to do so.

A few words of warning, though: The only aspect of her method that could rightly be called Kafkaesque—having a touch of danger—is the method itself. Roasting at 500-degrees Fahrenheit is perfectly safe to do, provided you have taken a few advance precautions:

  1. Make sure that your oven is clean, as in spotless. If you don’t have time to clean your oven before trying this, don’t do it. Self-cleaning ovens are best (so much easier on the back), but I’ve successfully used the high-heat method in an ordinary oven.
  2. Make sure the rack is placed at the lowest section of your oven. I actually remove the top rack and rest my roasting pan on the bottom rack. Kafka might disagree with this; her instructions invariably say to place the rack in the center or bottom third of the oven. But when I’ve tried that I’ve found my food browned too quickly, so I’d lower the temperature slightly (or cover the top with foil) to avoid burning. (Every oven varies in temperature; mine have always seemed to be on the high end.) I’m also a worrier when it comes to high heat, and prefer the extra cushion of space at the top, especially if grease is popping energetically.
  3. Don’t leave the kitchen unattended while you’re doing this. That shouldn’t be an imposition; it’s a quick method, and you’re sure to have other related tasks to perform. Just stay nearby.
  4. Keep your oven fan on, and open a door or window if it gets too smoky. (Didn’t clean the oven first, did you?)
  5. Take care when opening your oven door to remove or check on what you’re roasting. Avert your head (especially if you wear glasses…trust me) and wait a few seconds before proceeding.
  6. Practice safe kitchen. Have a fire extinguisher nearby, and keep pets and children away from the oven area while you’re cooking.

Now, let’s begin.

Simplest Roast Chicken

Serves 2 to 4
Total roasting time: 50 to 60 minutes

 

5- to 6-pound chicken, wing tips removed (the chickens shown in the photograph were about 3 pounds each)

1 lemon, halved (I used two, for two chickens)
4 whole garlic cloves (again, doubled for two birds)
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup Basic Chicken Stock (page 42 of her book) or canned, water, fruit juice, or wine, for deglazing

Place rack on second level from bottom of oven. (See my note above.) Heat oven to 500 o F.

Remove the fat from the tail and crop end of the chicken. Freeze the neck and giblets for Basic Chicken Stock. [Or refrigerate them in a sealed plastic bag if making stock the same day or the next.] Reserve chicken livers for another use.

Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the lemon, garlic, and butter, if using. Season the cavity and skin with salt and pepper. [I also added some sprigs of fresh rosemary.]

The stuffed chickens after 10 minutes of roasting

Place the chicken in a 12x8x1½-inch roasting pan [slightly larger if adding vegetables] breast side up. Put in the oven legs first and roast 50 to 60 minutes, or until the juices run clear. After the first 10 minutes, move the chicken with a wooden spatula to keep it from sticking.**

**At this stage, I incorporate elements from Kafka’s recipe for Roast Chicken with Crispy Potatoes:

2 pounds small red new potatoes, peeled or not and quartered (I did not quarter them when I made this, and rather wish I had done.)
1-2 medium onions, peeled, left whole, optional, or 6 cloves garlic, unpeeled, optional (I only used onions)
My addition: a package of baby carrots

Sprinkle vegetables with salt and pepper and add to the roasting pan after the first 10 minutes of roasting. At 15-minute intervals, until the end of roasting time, stir the vegetables around with a wooden spoon so that they don’t stick to the pan.
Back to the standard recipe:

Remove the chicken to a platter by placing a large wooden spoon into the tail end and balancing the chicken with a kitchen spoon pressed against the crop end. As you lift the chicken, tilt it over the roasting pan so that all the juices run out and into the pan.

Pour off or spoon out excess fat from the roasting pan and put the roasting pan on top of the stove. Add the stock or other liquid and bring the contents of the pan to a boil, while scraping the bottom vigorously with a wooden spoon. Let reduce by half. Serve the sauce over the chicken, or, for crisp skin, in a sauceboat.

If you’ve added potatoes, onion, carrots, etc., remove them to a serving platter as well. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and then deglaze the pan.

Next week, I’ll share Barbara Kafka’s method for making Basic Chicken Stock. And, for the holiday week, my food gift to you will be the Casserole Queens’ recipe for Chicken Pot Pie—just the thing to have on hand when company begins to fill your home!

Mimi’s Marinara Sauce With Meatballs and Sausage

29 Tuesday Nov 2011

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This recipe for marinara sauce with meatballs and sausage, a family favorite, has been in my cooking repertoire since the Carter Administration, which is to say a very long time. I’ve made a number of adjustments and refinements to the original recipe over the years, chief among them the addition of dry red wine. I love cooking with wine—it’s such a generous thing to do for your dinner guests! The Clemenza cooking scene in The Godfather provided the inspiration for this enhancement—after the movie was released on video I had a chance to study his method—so I suppose we ought to thank Francis Ford Coppola. (He produces his own wine, too.) You’ll notice, however, that I don’t precook the meatballs or the sausage before adding them to the pot; they get cooked along with everything else, since the sauce simmers at least four hours on the stove. I tried precooking the meat only once, and found that the sauce took on an entirely different flavor. I prefer my method, since it retains the tenderness of the meat and prevents it from drying out, but by all means, adjust this recipe to your own tastes. You might also wish to substitute turkey sausage and turkey meatballs for the red meats shown here. As my Grandma Monia used to say: Mangia!

MIMI’S MARINARA SAUCE WITH MEATBALLS AND SAUSAGE*

1 large (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes (I prefer San Marzano Italian plum tomatoes)
3 12-ounce cans tomato paste
water
salt, freshly-ground pepper, and garlic salt to taste
one-quarter cup sugar
one-half to 1 cup dry red wine, such as Chianti or Cabernet Sauvignon
one-half cup grated Parmesan cheese, or to taste**
1 and one-half pounds hot Italian sausage, cut into 4-inch sections
1 and one-half pounds sweet Italian sausage, cut into 4-inch sections
2 pounds ground chuck
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup chopped Italian parsley
6 eggs
4 cups (approximate) seasoned Italian bread crumbs
1 cup (approximate) grated Parmesan cheese**
salt and freshly-ground pepper

I begin by making the meatballs so that they’re ready to add to the simmering sauce.

In increments, so that everything is blended well, combine ground chuck, garlic, chopped parsley, eggs, breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper. (If you prefer, substitute garlic salt for the garlic in the meatballs.) Keeping a small bowl of water nearby, wet your hands and break off the meat into about 2-inch pieces, rolling into meatballs. Continue the process, wetting your hands as you go. (Take a look at the picture above; the meatball simmering in the pot is the size you’re going for. And take care not to overdo it with the breadcrumbs; you want the meatballs to adhere, but you don’t want them to be dry.) When all of the meatballs have been made, set aside in the refrigerator in a covered bowl.

Chop the canned tomatoes and put them in a large pot, adding one can of water and three cans of tomato paste. Stir well to combine, then add water to the pot until you’ve filled the pot slightly halfway. (Too much water and your sauce will be thin and, well, watery. Plus, when you add your meat and the sauce begins to boil and then simmer, too much water will make the sauce boil over. Trust me: you don’t want that.)

Over medium heat, begin bringing this mixture to the boil, adding salt, pepper, garlic salt to taste along with the sugar before it gets to the boiling point. (Let your taste preferences be your guide in terms of how much seasoning to use. I sprinkle everything fairly liberally to begin with, stir and simmer, and then check my seasonings a couple of times throughout the cooking process.) Add the wine and the Parmesan cheese to the sauce, and stir well, bringing to a boil.

Add the sausage to the sauce.

Add the meatballs to the sauce.

Return everything to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer slowly for four hours. Continue to stir the pot, using a wooden spoon, and scrape up from the bottom in case you’ve let the heat get too high and the sauce starts to burn. The secret here is a SLOW, STEADY SIMMER. If your dinner is delayed for some reason, one of the beautiful aspects of this recipe is that you can keep this pot of sauce simmering for an extra hour. Make sure that you cook it for the full four hours, though, because you want to make sure that your meat is done. Check the sausage before serving; if it’s pink inside, keep simmering it, and the sauce, until done.

This is a hearty sauce, so serve it over a substantial pasta like rigatoni, rather than a delicate angel hair pasta. Toss together a green salad, add a loaf of crusty Italian bread, and mangia!

*Mimi is John’s nickname for me.

** A word about the Parmesan cheese. If I’m economizing (and aren’t nearly all of us economizing?) I’ll use Kraft grated Parm. But on the rare occasions when we’re splurging, I’ll grate fresh Parmigiano-Reggianno cheese for this recipe; I firmly believe in using the freshest, best ingredients that one can afford, and there’s nothing like the real thing.

P.S. Your entire house will smell amazing while you’re cooking this sauce!

Marinated Flank Steak

17 Thursday Nov 2011

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Mise en place for this recipe

Be honest. Are you growing just a bit weary of the holiday recipes that are flooding your inbox? Are you tired of seeing glossy, garnished turkeys gleaming out at you from the covers of the food magazines in the grocery check-out line? Or is your Thanksgiving menu all set, but you’re at a loss for what to cook tomorrow night?

I thought so.

Grilling season might be over in many parts of the U.S., but for those of us who like some char with our meat, there’s no time like the present.

This recipe is so easy that I almost hesitate to share it, lest you think I’m coasting. It yields such a delicious meal, however, that it seems a shame to keep it from you. You can serve this with any number of sides; I like to kick it old-school, with baked potatoes and a salad or green vegetable. My thanks to an old friend, Anne Morse of Hudson, Ohio, for giving me this recipe back in the 1970s.

For great tips on grilling the perfect flank steak, I’ve included a link. And meat should be at room temperature before throwing it on the flames, so remember to take your marinated steak out of the refrigerator at least an hour before you’re ready to grill.

Enjoy!

Marinade for Flank Steak

—From the kitchen of Anne Morse

One-half cup soy sauce
One-half cup sesame oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Freshly-ground pepper
2 medium cloves garlic, crushed

Mix together the first four ingredients. Add the garlic. Pour over flank steak and marinate for 24 hours, turning occasionally.

Holiday Candied Pecans

09 Wednesday Nov 2011

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Bah, humbug. The news isn’t good for those of us beginning to plan our holiday menus. The Associated Press reported today that due to drought in parts of the South and high demand from China, the price of pecans is going up. In 2008, the retail price for a pound of pecans was $7; last year it rose to $9, and this year experts are predicting that consumers can expect to pay around $11 per pound. It’s a good thing I still have a stash stored in the freezer, because in our house, a holiday without candied pecans is like a Yuletide without It’s a Wonderful Life.

I typically make candied pecans around Thanksgiving, and this is one of my favorite cooking traditions. They are easy to prepare, they keep beautifully throughout the season if stored in an airtight tin, and they make wonderful hostess gifts if you’ve a round of parties to attend. And while we’re talking about storage, the pecans in my freezer will be just fine. According to New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension Service (College of Agriculture and Home Economics), shelled pecan halves will keep from 12 to 24 months if stored below freezing (20- to 30-degrees Fahrenheit).

HOLIDAY CANDIED PECANS

—Makes 6 cups. You can also divide this recipe in half.

6 cups pecan halves
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar, divided*

1. Preheat oven to 250-degrees. Divide pecans in two batches and spread out evenly on two 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pans.

2. In a 4-quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. With a wooden spoon or a silicone spatula, stir in the corn syrup and one-half cup of sugar. Stirring constantly, bring to boil over medium heat. Once the candied syrup has reached the boiling point, allow it to boil—without stirring—for five minutes.

3. Pour the hot syrup over the nuts, taking care to stir the batches constantly (and quickly) in order to coat them evenly. (Be careful—the syrup will be hot.) At this point, I find that using a silicone spatula works better than a wooden spoon; the candied syrup doesn’t stick to it as much.

4. Bake in a preheated 250-degree oven for one hour, stirring several times. I stir the trays of pecans at four 15-minute intervals, using my kitchen timer as a reminder.

5. After removing the pans from the oven, sprinkle the pecans with the remaining one-half cup of sugar and toss to coat evenly.

6. Spread the pecans onto sheets of freezer paper (shiny side up) that you’ve set out on your work surface, and add additional amounts of sugar until you’ve nicely separated them into their individual halves and coated them with sugar. You can also perform this step on greased cookie sheets, but I find that the freezer paper eliminates the need for additional butter and works just as well. It also gives you a wider surface area in which to work.

7. Allow the pecan halves to cool, then store them in tightly covered containers.

* Plus additional sugar for coating

Sweet Tweets: Of Chocolate and Twitter

05 Saturday Nov 2011

Posted by in Indulgences

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MorgueFile image

I was thinking about Twitter the other day, and of course that reminded me of chocolate.

You mean it’s not that way for you?

If you’ve ever seen the classic I Love Lucy episode, the one where Lucy and Ethel get a job in a chocolate factory, you’ll know where I’m going with this. The chocolate candies come down the conveyor belt, and the intrepid duo must wrap each piece before it reaches the next stage in the packaging process. Things start out well enough, but the conveyor belt quickly speeds up, and the candies move faster and faster down the line. To Lucy and Ethel’s dismay, many unwrapped chocolates are swiftly making their way past the point of no return. Their martinet of a supervisor will be furious, the girls will lose their jobs, and the only way to avoid catastrophe is to hide the evidence —in their toques, down their uniforms, and in their mouths, as this picture illustrates.

My Twitter feed reminds me of chocolate speeding down a conveyor belt. I want to grab it all (i.e. read each tweet), but it can’t be done. I would have to either monitor my iPhone 24/7, or set other tasks aside to regularly review huge helpings of tweets at one sitting—dipping into a vast candy bowl of information. Other things clamor for my attention. One must sleep and eat. One wants to hug and kiss one’s husband, and otherwise participate in the analog world.

And of course, there’s all the writing and blogging that one must do to meet the November NaBloPoMo challenge.

🙂

So I do the best that I can, assiduously marking the tweets that I want to revisit for closer scrutiny, skimming linked articles with the alacrity of Lucy Ricardo twisting waxed paper on a chocolate, and tweeting or retweeting—lobbing little gifts out into the world that I think you might enjoy.

How do people manage all of this? I’m a late adopter, no question. I’m still learning my way around the Twitterscape. (A blogger called The Late Bloomer Bride wrote one of the best lines I’ve ever read about coming to the party late: “I knew at an early age that I was a late-bloomer.” Good stuff.)

One thing I did adopt early, however, was a love of chocolate. And it was a tweet last month, from the Huffington Post, that gave me the sweetest gift of all: the news that there are health benefits to the rich, dark, decadence that I’ve enjoyed ever since I cut my first tooth.

Huffington Post’s Healthy Living reported on a Swedish study that found a link between high chocolate consumption and a 20-percent decrease in stroke risk among women.

This is not the first report to determine that chocolate, not unlike red wine, can be good for you, and this is not to say we should all make a mad dash to the kids’ Halloween stash as if it were the prescription counter at Walgreen’s. As with all indulgences, moderation is key, especially since chocolate is not a low-calorie, low-fat, low-sugar food item. But if you are thinking of sneaking a bit from their haul, go for the dark chocolate. It’s better for you.

John and I just finished dinner, and will shortly be enjoying chocolate cupcakes for dessert. But if you’re following me on Twitter, you no doubt already know that.

Sally Field of Greens

02 Wednesday Nov 2011

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The stars are out here in Richmond, Virginia, where filming got underway last month for Lincoln, directed and co-produced by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg. The film, based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals, stars Academy Award winners Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln. And although I haven’t seen any bold-face names yet, John and I did have a bite to eat last Sunday at Lift Coffee Shop & Café, which features such charming additions to its menu as a HAM-iel Day Lewis sandwich (grilled on sourdough bread with ham, pineapple, and provolone, and topped with honey and barbecue sauce); a delicious BLT—the Joseph Gordon Lettuce—named in honor of actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who portrays Robert Todd Lincoln; and a tasty-looking salad, the Sally Field of Greens. Lift also serves up a wonderful cup of coffee.

My thanks to Stephanie Garnett, manager of Lift, for her generosity in sharing this recipe with The Midlife Second Wife!

For more information about film production in Virginia, please visit the website for the Virginia Film Office.

Sally Field of Greens
Serves 2

1 package field greens or spring mix, washed and dried
3 ounces diced ripe pear (peeled)
2 ounces Craisins
1-1/2 ounces crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
Balsamic vinaigrette
Crumbled Gorgonzola

Fill a salad bowl with the greens. Toss with pear, Craisins, and 1-1/2 ounces of crumbled Gorgonzola. Drizzle with Balsamic vinaigrette and top with additional crumbled Gorgonzola.


For Those Having Trouble With the Soup Link …

26 Wednesday Oct 2011

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Dear friends,

Some of you might be having trouble linking to the post for Chef Tom Valenti’s Ham Hock and Split Pea Soup recipe. My apologies. I’ve been having trouble with my Flickr account, which is my current repository for gallery photos.

Clicking on the embedded link should take you directly to it. And here’s a short link if you’d like to kick it old-school by pasting this into your browser:

Tom Valenti’s Ham Hock and Split Pea Soup

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Love,

The Midlife Second Wife

p.s. to Flickr: As soon as I can afford it, I’m leaving you for Aperture.

Postscript: A Perfect Cup of Coffee

25 Tuesday Oct 2011

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A photo of a cup of coffee.

Image via Wikipedia

Well, it just gets better and better. Today the Washington Post reported on new research related to my favorite beverage. According to findings of the American Association for Cancer Research, coffee-drinkers are at a reduced risk for developing basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer. The odds are better for women than for men. (Sorry, guys.) My thanks to Lucy Carson and her awesome Twitter feed for bringing this to my attention. You can read the article here, along with last week’s post and your favorite cup of joe. Bottom’s up!

A Musical Postscript to Grandma Monia’s Breaded Eggplant

22 Saturday Oct 2011

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Happy Saturday, everyone! I typically try not to work on the weekend, but I just had to share this with you. It’s a cozy day at home, and John is puttering around listening to his favorite Pandora station—Kenny Rankin. He came up to have me listen to a song by Michael Franks. “This is your song,” he said. When I heard it, I knew I had to add it to the post with Grandma Monia’s recipe for breaded eggplant. The name of the song is—say it along with me—”Eggplant.” According to JRFMRadio’s posting on YouTube, this was recorded live at La Cigale in Paris on October 7, 2010. And since I’ve been wanting to add a department for the arts, I herewith inaugurate “The Musical Life” section of the blog with this entry. Enjoy!

Serves 4, with ample leftovers. Kept in a tightly sealed plastic container or on a plate covered tightly with plastic wrap, these should keep for about a week refrigerated.

One medium-size eggplant
Salt
Four eggs
Seasoned Italian bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese
Good olive oil

A word before you begin: It’s always a good idea to read through a recipe a couple of times before you launch into things. That said, please don’t let the length of this recipe scare you away—it’s an easy dish to prepare! I tried to be as detailed as I could  because for this dish, it’s all about preparation and process. Have all of your ingredients at hand and ready before you start, and give yourself ample time for working on this, because once you begin frying the eggplant you really need to remain at the stove until you’re finished. But trust me: the reward will be delicious!

Fill a pot with cold, salted water and set aside. (I find the plastic tub from my salad spinner is perfect for this.)

With a vegetable peeler, remove the skin from the eggplant. Using a sharp knife, trim off the ends. Using the same knife or a mandoline slicer, carefully slice the eggplant into large discs, approximately ¼ -inch thick, placing each slice immediately into the waiting tub of salted water.

Let the eggplant slices soak for about ten minutes. Drain the water and rinse the eggplant slices with cold water, then refill the tub with cold salted water and repeat the soaking process.

(Why go to all of this bother? Because you’ll notice the water from the first rinse, and even the second, will be a yucky brown. The salted water is drawing the bitterness out of the eggplant. Trust me.

Drain and rinse well, then pat the slices dry with paper towels.

Whisk the eggs in a bowl large enough to hold several eggplant slices.

Now set up your preparation area:

Using a breading pan, place about two cups of breadcrumbs and one cup Parmesan cheese in one of its sections; mix well with a fork. (If you don’t have a breading pan, use two baking sheets with sides—I use two old pizza pans. Don’t do anything with the other section or the second baking sheet or pizza pan yet; you will use it to hold the breaded slices.

Line a third baking sheet with paper towels. Set aside. (You’ll use this to drain the fried eggplant.)

Place the sliced eggplant, three to four slices at a time, in the egg wash and making sure to coat each side thoroughly.

Then, one at a time, place an egg-washed slice of eggplant in the crumb-and-cheese mixture, pressing firmly enough to ensure a good, even coat of crumbs on each side. Set the breaded eggplant slice on the extra pan you have set aside. Continue this process until all of the slices have been breaded.

Over medium heat, warm a large sauté pan for about 30 seconds, then add enough good quality olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Increase the heat to medium-high. Once the oil is hot, place several eggplant slices in the pan, taking care not to crowd them. Brown for about five minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown, then turn them over and brown the other side. When the first batch is complete, remove from the pan and drain on the large, paper-towel-lined pan you had set aside. Then place a layer of paper towels on top of the fried eggplant slices, ready to receive the next fried batch. (You’ll end up with paper towels between each layer of eggplant.)

Complete this process until all of the eggplant has been fried. Note that after about two fryings, you’ll need to carefully drain the hot oil from the pan and replenish it with fresh oil, repeating this process as needed. (An empty coffee can works great for this.) You don’t want the oil to get black and smoky; this will burn the eggplant and ruin the taste. What you are looking for is nicely golden-brown slices.

Serve warm, or prepare ahead and refrigerate. These are delicious cold; I’ve never tried to reheat them. You can eat them plain. (I dare you to have enough left over to serve guests!) Although I’ve never felt the urge to reheat them, John suggests doing so and serving them with a warm marinara dipping sauce.)

Incidentally, this is also a great first-step in making Eggplant Parmesan—something that I’ve never attempted, for some inexplicable reason. As someone who is half-Sicilian and thinks her Italian cooking skills are pretty sharp, I’m embarrassed to admit this to you. Now I’ll have to hunt for a good recipe. If you have a great recipe for Eggplant Parmesan that you’d like to share, please post it in the comment section following this recipe!

A Perfect Cup of Coffee: The Best Part of Waking Up

19 Wednesday Oct 2011

Posted by in Food for Thought, Indulgences, The Healthy Life

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National Coffee Day 2011 has come and gone (it was September 29), but, as Kismet and UPS Ground would have it, I was able to celebrate the occasion with my shipment of Zabar’s coffee.

I first discovered the wonders of Zabar’s miraculous brew on a trip to New York City several years ago. I was traveling for the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where I worked, and my hotel was just down the block from the famed Upper West Side delicatessen. I dropped in to start my day with a cup of coffee and a bagel, and I was transported. The coffee I made at home didn’t taste like this: this was rich and smooth, with varying notes of flavor, and not at all bitter. I bought two pounds of the Number 7 grind to take back with me to Ohio—Zabar’s blend, the roast I had ordered—and hazelnut decaffeinated. To this day I order two pounds of each (shipping is free at these quantities), and I keep them in the freezer until my canister needs refilling.

My mornings have always seem rushed. (Of course they do! I can’t work up any traction until I’ve had my coffee!) And as much as I’d like to tell you that I grind my own beans for each pot, the process is much more streamlined. Nevertheless, the methodology I’ve devised is specific, never varies, and never fails to yield what I believe to be the perfect cup of coffee:

My canister is always filled with equal parts Zabar’s blend and Zabar’s hazelnut decaf, and I use two coffee scoops of this to ten cups of water in my automatic drip coffee maker. But before I push the filter drawer in and flip the switch on, I sprinkle cinnamon on top of the grounds.

I have served coffee this way every day for years, and every time that I have company. The results are always the same—delicious—and friends and family want to know my secret. So I go to my freezer, pull out the bags of Zabar’s, and tell them.

And now I’m telling you.

(Truth be told, I rarely make coffee anymore. Why? My husband, who is not a coffee drinker, typically wakes up before I do. He makes the coffee most mornings, and brings me a fresh cup with the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Sorry ladies. He’s taken.)

You know, now that I think about it, I have been drinking coffee for as long as I can remember. My first sense-memory is that of a comforting concoction prepared for me by my mother. I must have been around ten or so. Milk filled at least two-thirds of the mug, but the coffee taste was unmistakably there. It brought to mind chocolate that wasn’t chocolate. I was hooked, promptly began dunking my buttered toast, and never looked back.

Turns out my mother might have been on to something.

A “Healthy Living Brief” on the Huffington Post reported on a recent Harvard University study, the results of which are fascinating, and a shot of caffeine in the arm of women who might be admonished for drinking too much of the beverage:

Women who consumed two to three cups of caffeinated joe per day had a 15-percent lower risk of depression than non-coffee drinkers, while those who drank four-plus cups daily had a 20-percent lower risk. In general, women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with depression.

“Our results support a possible protective effect of caffeine, mainly from coffee consumption, on risk of depression,” the researchers wrote … in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The researchers followed more than 50,000 participants in the Nurses Health Study—one of the largest women’s health studies in the U.S.—for 10 years.

And guys, take heart. National Public Radio’s report on this study also noted earlier research, including a study among men, suggesting that caffeine could possibly have a protective effect against certain prostate cancers.

The Harvard study’s authors did caution that their results must be replicated before any firm  conclusions can be drawn about caffeine and depression risk. The Archives of Internal Medicine is a peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Medical Association.

The AMA might not think too highly of the following recipe, given its quantities of luscious half-and-half, whipping cream, and ice cream, but all (good) things in moderation, right? I discovered this delicious coffee punch at a holiday open house hosted by a wonderful cooking school in Vermilion, Ohio—Laurel Run. Owner Marcia DePalma is not only a culinary genius, she is also a wonderful teacher. I attended some of her cooking classes when I lived in Ohio. With typical generosity, she graciously allowed me to share her recipe with you. I’ve made this twice, and it was a huge hit with my guests. If you’re hosting a party this holiday season and want your guests to mingle, you might think about having several smaller bowls of this stationed throughout your house; people will cluster around it, I promise you.

Laurel Run’s Creamy Coffee Punch
Makes 60 4-ounce servings

2 ounces instant coffee
2 quarts (8 cups) hot water
2-1/4 cups sugar
2 quarts half-and-half
1 tablespoon Nielsen-Massey vanilla
1 quart ginger ale, chilled
1 pint heavy cream, whipped
1/2 gallon French vanilla ice cream
freshly grated nutmeg

Dissolve instant coffee in hot water; cool. Add sugar and half-and-half, mixing well. Chill. When ready to serve, pour coffee mixture into a punch bowl. Add chilled ginger ale, whipped cream, and ice cream. (Let some of the ice cream chunks remain.) Grate a light dusting of fresh nutmeg on top before serving.