Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants

 

The title of this post is from Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, which I read years ago, but it's stuck in my head ever since.  My relationship with food has been somewhat complicated for most of my life.  I went on Weight Watchers for the first time as a teenager, and have gained and lost hundreds of pounds over the past 25 years.  I was at my thinnest (as an adult) when I got married in 2005, though I was still probably 15 pounds over where WW would put my goal weight.  I was at my heaviest just over a year ago, on my 40th birthday.

I felt really beautiful on my wedding day.  I loved that I could walk into stores and find clothing in my size.  I felt healthy.  I was also pretty stressed out leading up to my wedding -- I was a fairly new teacher in NYC, and my husband was in school and working.

On my 40th birthday, I did not feel beautiful, but I felt happy.  My gorgeous little girl was happy to celebrate with me.  My friends threw me a party.  It was really relaxing and fun.  I don't know that I have a point with this comparison, just sort of taking note of the extremes.

At this point, I've been stuck for the past year.  I'd like to lose weight, but I haven't really committed to anything.  Because of COVID, we've been trapped in our apartment for most of the past 7 months.  The government has been... well... pretty much a dumpster fire.  It's been stressful to say the least.  I'm also really conscious that I want to set a good, healthy example for my little girl.  So far, she has a good relationship with food and with her body, and I'd like to keep it that way.

So what do I do?  Well, I'm starting with food.  I'm going back to basics: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."  Tonight's dinner was pork chops, but most of my plate was broccoli, arugula salad, and a baked potato.  And everything on my plate was something that my grandmother would have recognized.  That's another of Pollan's tips.  I didn't do a great job before dinner today, but I'm trying to keep in mind that I am a work in progress.

I'll also mention that the arugula salad was AMAZING.  I got arugula from my CSA today, and it was so fresh and delicious!  This summer was the first time I've ever done a CSA, and I've been getting delicious produce from Garden of Eve.  I'm a big fan.

Comfort Food

As a kid, I felt like the term comfort food was frequently misapplied. I found nothing particularly comforting about mashed potatoes. Fried chicken and meatloaf weren't terrible, but the announcement that that was dinner didn't fill me with a sense of well-being or anything. I always thought comfort food should apply solely to Chocolate Cake or Apple Betty or maybe Ice Cream. Perhaps my penchant for chocolate cake and ice cream is the reason that, this New Year's, I've started out on a diet again.

Having recently read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, I am rethinking my approach to this year's gastronomical adventure. I don't want to fill up on low-fat this, and no-carb that. I would like, as he so elegantly puts it, to: "eat food, not too much, mostly plants." So, some of the things I plan to eat hardly look like diet food. They look a lot more like comfort food. I am following Weight Watchers Online, but mostly for how much to eat, not really for what to eat.

Anyhow, all of this brings me to this recipe that I simply must share with the world. Over the holidays, my step-mom gave my sister Shazam and me a stack of old cookbooks. So, I've been perusing them looking for things I'd like to try out. Well, I was paging through one called Italian Cooking Made Easy and I ran across this meatloaf recipe.

This meatloaf is comforting. It's delicious. It's not anything like the meatloaf I grew up eating. And, it's easy. So, without further ado:

Meat Loaf (Polpettone)

Italian Cooking Made Easy - Ted and Jean Kaufman

4 slices Bread, trimmed

1/2 c. Sherry wine

1 1/4 lb. Veal, chopped *

3/4 lb Beef, chopped *

2 Eggs

1 Onion, grated

1 clove Garlic, crushed *

1 Tbsp Parsley, minced

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 Tbsp Tomato Sauce

1 cup Tomato Sauce, seasoned

1. Soften the bread in wine.

2. Mix bread and everything else except for the 1 c. of tomato sauce in a big bowl. Blend well.

3. Grease a loaf pan (I used non-stick spray) and sprinkle it with bread crumbs.

4. Turn in the meat mixture.

5. Bake at 350 for about an hour and a half.

* The original recipe also called for ground pork, but I just couldn't find any. Blame the giant blizzard that hit Brooklyn last week. So I upped the amount of veal and beef. Also, they called for 1/2 a clove of garlic, but I just couldn't waste the other half of the clove! And I served it with oven fries, green beans and salad. They suggested spaghetti, but I'm just not that Italian.

September's Book

Well, it's September 1st! And without further ado, let me announce the first book I'm reading this school year. It's called The Red Squad and it's by E. M. Broner. I found it on the library's "Summer Reading" shelf, so perhaps it'll be in your local library as well. It's copyright 2009, so it should be available in local book stores as well. I'll let you know how it goes. Read along if you'd like.

Book Club

So.... I love to read. I've always loved to read. I can't remember not reading whenever I had free time. But, since I started teaching, I have trouble making time for it during the school year. So, in an effort to fit in some much needed stress relief in the upcoming school year, I am making a commitment to read some books just for pleasure. And there is nothing about books that is more fun than talking about them with other people who've read them. So, here's the plan:

I'm going to post a book title on the first of each month. Then, I'm going to get a copy of the book and read it. On the 28th of the month, I'm going to post a review / list of questions about the book. If you want to join the book club, all you need to do is

1) Log on and check out what book we're going to read

2) Read the book

3) Email your thoughts / responses to the questions to me at greteljohnson@gmail.com any time before the first of the following month.

I'll post your thoughts as I get them, so that everybody in the club can read what everybody else thinks. I'm happy to take suggestions on books or formats. Just email them to me.

Birthday Cake!

The best thing about getting another year older is, without a doubt, an excuse to make and eat birthday cake. So this year, like many others, I trawled the web for the best-looking cakes I could find. I came across this one which was made for Julia Childs's 85th birthday.

So I made it! TA - DAAAAA!!!!

The Extra-Medium Dude helped me out. He stirred and taste-tested everything. It's 4 layers of chocolate almond cake with chocolate raspberry mousse between the layers and it's covered with chocolate ganache with almonds and a milk chocolate lattice forming the finishing touches.

After taste-testing, the Extra-Medium Dude declared it the best cake he ever had or would ever have.

Happy birthday to me!

I DID Dare to Bake

So.... I know it's been forever, but I did do the Daring Baker Challenge for July. I even took pictures!

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

I was staying with my mom for a week when I made this cake, and that was kind of fun, because I had a humongous kitchen to play in and plenty of freezer space. I'm not at all sure how I would've pulled it off in my itty-bitty kitchen at home. I also had three extra willing taste testers as I finished each layer.

So, to create this ridiculously decadent dessert, I made two Swiss Rolls (for those of you who grew up with Hostess products, think giant Ding Dongs), sliced them and then made a layer of vanilla ice cream, a layer of fudge sauce and a layer of chocolate ice cream. I think if I had it to do over again, I would double the ice cream recipes. The center of my cake didn't quite even out, so the picture of the slice looks a little funny. But I can't imagine doing this one again.

Many thanks to my friend Elizabeth, who had a barbecue, where I brought this cake to be devoured. I'm sure if I did manage to make it in my tiny kitchen, I would have to eat almost the whole thing. This way, I just had a piece.

And the best thing about this challenge was a friend of mine who was at the barbecue. As soon as she tried the ice cream cake, she said, "Gretel, will you marry me???" Now that's cake.

Holiday favorites!

Ok, so technically it's not my holiday. But every year, I think of my Mom, who used to give my sister and I grape juice and Matzo to celebrate Passover. I don't like grape juice or Matzo, but it was a fun little tradition. And, when I got older, I went to a Seder meal with friends and learned that there is much yummier food involved in this holiday. And my FAVORITE traditional passover food by far, is the coconut macaroon. I love coconut, and I've been meaning to try making these cookies for years.

So, today, as I was looking around for something to bake while I'm on Spring Break, I found a bag of coconut in my cupboard. Guess what recipe was on the back? That's right: Coconut Macaroons! And they were easy and delicious and I'm definitely making them again. (But they're not kosher.)

Coconut Macaroons

(From the Baker's Angel Flake Sweetened Coconut bag)

1 bag (14 oz) sweetened Angel Flake coconut

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

6 Tbsp flour

4 egg whites

1 tsp almond extract

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix together the coconut, sugar, salt and flour. Then, mix in the egg whites and almond extract. Drop the mixture by rounded spoonfuls onto greased and floured cookie sheets. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet immediately.

One of the latest projects

So, this post should be about the January Daring Baker challenge, but.... I didn't get it done yet, so you'll just have to wait. Instead, let me share with you what has been happening in my kitchen: SAUCES!!!! That's right, I've moved into chapter 2 of the Julia Child cookbook. The rest of my group is involved in doing other things, so I'm soldiering on alone.

The thing is, sauces don't photograph well all by themselves. And they're even less fun to eat without anything else. So I've been coming up with things to put them on. Since the first sauce was a bechamel and I'd made one of those before, It wasn't too hard. I just made this terrific spinach lasagna recipe that I'd done before with the daring bakers. It's got homemade spinach noodles, thin layers of bechamel and marinara sauce, and parmesan cheese.

As much as I love this particular recipe, I had a little trouble with Julia's bechamel. It had a nice thickness, but it wasn't quite smooth. I think my burner was up a little high. I did a little better with the veloute sauce. I'd never heard of a veloute, and I'd certainly never eaten one.

Basically, it's just like a bechamel except, instead of milk, you use a white stock. I served it over poached chicken and asparagus. It was AMAZING! And it was only 2 points per half cup according to Weight Watchers. The Tummy liked it too. This week, I'll be attacking the Mornay sauce. Wheeee!!!

Back in the big city

I just got back to Brooklyn last night. The Tummy and I were in Michigan, visiting family, for 10 days. We had a wonderful time and lots of fun, but we are very happy to be home and definitely ready to start up a brand new year.

Like everybody else, New Year's fills me with hope. I always make resolutions, some of them more ambitious than others. This year, the Tummy and I discussed ways we could eat healthier and we came up with a plan: we're cutting way back on meat. Now, meat is yummy and doesn't have to be unhealthy, but it is just part of a balanced diet, and we weren't getting enough veggies last year. Besides, it's an easy way to make sure that the Tummy doesn't have to go back on cholesterol meds. So we've decided we're not going to eat meat more than twice a week. Tonight I made some roasted vegetable pitas and some of the big JC's potato leek soup. And to make the sauce for the pitas, I used this little stowaway from my luggage:

That's right. I brought back horseradish from my dad's garden. Now, I had never prepared horseradish before, but my step-mom said that I should peel it and throw it into the food processor with some vinegar and salt and then stand back, because the fumes would be powerful. I was a little bit unsure, and I was looking for more specific directions, so I consulted Joy of Cooking. It said to peel it, dice it, and throw it into the food processor with vinegar and salt. Hmmmm.... So I tried it.

Ta-Da!!!!

And then I threw it together with some other stuff to make the dressing for my roasted veggie pitas and dinner was served.

Gretel's Horseradish

5 oz peeled, diced fresh horseradish root

4-5 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 tsp salt

Roasted Veggie Pitas

Adapted from Lowfat Ways to Cook Soups & Stews

Sauce

1/2 oz feta cheese crumbled

2 Tbsp Greek yogurt

2 Tbsp skim milk

1 tsp prepared horseradish

dash of pepper

Veggies

1 cup zucchini slices

1 cup green pepper

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp olive oil

2 plum tomatos, quartered

1 medium onion, cut into 8 wedges

3 cloves garlic, minced

Mix the ingredients for the sauce together in a small bowl and set aside. Toss the filling ingredients together in a larger bowl and then spread in a single layer on a broiler tray coated with cooking spray. Broil for 10 minutes, then scoop filling into 4 pita halves. Divide sauce evenly. Serves 2.

Soupe Au Pistou

Ooops! This post is quite late. I actually made this soup a week and a half ago. I've already eaten it. It was delicious. It's like the happiest possible version of Campbell's Minestrone. (I happen to love Campbell's Minestrone.) This is comforting, happy soup. The Tummy was not so thrilled with it because of the beans, so I got it all to myself. It made me feel all warm and healthy and happy.

I thought the pistou would be tricky, but it wasn't and it added soooooo much flavor and happiness to the soup. I mean, tomatoes and cheese! It's like pizza soup! Anyway... 2 enthusiastic thumbs up!

Potage Veloute Aux Champignons

So, let me first say that I have been a fan of mushrooms my entire life. I mean, they have ALWAYS been my favorite vegetable. So, when it was my turn to again pick a soup, I felt drawn to the Cream of Mushroom, even though I grew up with casseroles that made me a little afraid of it. (Sorry, Mom.) I knew that Julia would find a way to make it wonderful. And oh... did she ever...
This was such unbelievably good soup that I really wanted to drink the whole pot of it. I made it with shallots and cremini mushrooms, and it had such a wonderful, rich flavor that I literally could not stop eating it. Ordinarily, I give the Tummy dibs on leftovers, but I'm totally hoarding this soup. Wow. All I can say is MMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Soupe A L'Oignon

Onion soup makes me think of college. The Distillery used to make some yummy onion soup and it was all cheesy and warm and perfect for those rainy or snowy afternoons. So, when Tracy chose this recipe this week, I was excited because I knew I already liked it.

Last week, some of you may have noticed, I did not post. Julia and I were having a bit of a tiff. See, I made this garlic soup with poached eggs, and I just couldn't get myself together to buy the groceries on the day that I made it. So, while I'd practiced poached eggs the day that I bought them from the farmers' market, and they were good, I didn't get the soup made until two days later and by then, my eggs weren't fresh enough to poach well. Plus, I think that my dried sage and thyme were a little old and not so flavorful. My parsley was fresh and ended up dominating the flavor, so it tasted like parsley soup with some egg in it. I ate a bowl. The Tummy ate half of one. And we threw the rest out.

But THIS week, I knew I liked onion soup, so I put on my pearls and got to work. Wow! This is a fantastic recipe. It's a cold, rainy day, and the soup tasted better than I remember the Distillery's being. I think it was the wine and the cognac. In any case, Julia and I have made up, and I'm back on board. Now, pouting about a difference of opinion over some garlic soup seems childish, and I promise I won't miss any more weeks. In an effort to make amends, here is a photo of the garlic soup, which I didn't post last week.



Check out Tracy and Mary's soups as well!

Mastering the Art of Life

You'd think that, with the start of a new school year, I have more than enough to work on right now. But, if I'm going to be working harder than I was all summer, I've decided I need to play harder too! And what better place to play than in my kitchen?

I've wanted a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck since I saw the Chefography of Ina Garten a few years ago. Ina, "the Barefoot Contessa" taught herself to cook by working her way through it. Then, I read My Life in France by Julia Child and I learned about how she (like Ina) got into cooking later in life and just worked at it like a diligent scientist. And then Julie and Julia came out, and I went to see it, and I found the story charming. (I thought it was a great idea for a movie, but Meryl really steals the show.) Combine those things with my 30th birthday this summer and wanting to get more serious about doing the things I like well, and you have all of the ingredients for my latest challenge to myself.

We are starting our own little cooking group. When I say "we," I mean my sister, Mary, over at Shazam in the Kitchen, and my friend Tracy, over at Tasty Sans Gluten, and myself. We are VERY busy women who live in different cities... er..... areas, and we are going to try one new Julia Child recipe each week.

We started with Potage Parmentier (Leek and Potato Soup). It was simple, delicious and not very difficult at all. So... without further ado:

Potage Parmentier
Mastering the Art of French Cooking
1 lb peeled potatoes, sliced
1 lb thinly slice leeks
2 quarts of water
1 Tb salt
4 - 6 Tb whipping cream
2 - 3 Tb parsley

Simmer the vegetables and salt in the water, partially covered, for 40 - 50 minutes. Then puree with an immersion blender* and correct seasoning. Set aside uncovered until ready to serve. Just before serving, reheat to a simmer, remove from heat and stir in cream by spoonfuls. Pour into bowls and decorate with parsley.

*Julia recommends using a food mill instead of a blender for textural reasons.

Dobos Torte

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonfulof Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular DobosTorte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: ExquisiteDesserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

This torte was SO yummy! And, I had the perfect occasion for it. We ate it for dessert at a picnic for my 30th birthday. We sat around all day, grilled bratwurst and burgers, played frisbee and euchre and ate cake! The only problem I had making this cake was that the buttercream was absurdly soft. But after chilling it for a while, it held up alright.

All the Daring Bakers are posting their tortes today. You should check out the rest of them.

New Year's Resolutions

I know it's not New Year's for most people, but for teachers, there's a similar vibe at the beginning of September. So, this time of year, I tend to make resolutions. I started the first one today because I've got exactly two weeks before I have to be back at work. I thought maybe implementing my resolutions one at a time would be easier than trying to do everything on the same day. So, today, I started running. I'm trying to start going to the gym 5 days a week. It's ambitious, I know, but I've got this gym membership and, darn it, I'm going to use it. So, today I ran 2.18 miles in 30 minutes.

And now, for part II. I'm going to get my apartment clean if it kills me. And, with the amount of dust I'm kicking up, it might. So... here goes nothing.

Germs!

As the youngest of a big family, I'm familiar with watching germs spread from one kid to another. And as a teacher, I know that I'm going to get a bad cold once or twice a year. And I know lots of people who stock up on hand sanitizer and Airborn as if they were magical talismans against illness. I don't put much faith in all that. Generally, during cold and flu season, I drink lots of water, get some extra sleep and eat lots of fruits and veggies. I trust my immune system, and it does ok.

But this is the off season! I don't come into contact with sneezing, coughing, drippy children in the summertime. I hang out with the Tummy and the Medium Dude. So, I let down my guard. Which explains why, when the Tummy came down with a head cold, I immediately caught it. Grumble, grumble, grumble...

Thirty!

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 30. And the best part of having a birthday, in my opinion, is the excuse to eat birthday cake! This year, I had a little barbecue in the park with some of my friends on Saturday. I wanted to make sure I had enough of everything to go around, so in addition to cake, I made birthday cupcakes.

Now, because the Tummy flies so frequently, he has a lot of miles to use up. One thing he uses them for is subscribing to magazines. So I have this subscription to Bon Appetit magazine that I almost never use. (I generally look through it and drool, but that's about it.) And that's where I found this AMAZING recipe. I could not believe they were so easy and so good. And, although the original recipe called for vanilla bean, I used vanilla extract, because it's cheaper. They were still wonderful. I'll definitely be making them again.

Vanilla Bean - Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting
Bon Appetit, April 2009

REDUCED COCONUT MILK
2 (13-14 oz) cans unsweetened coconut milk

CUPCAKES
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or seeds from a split vanilla bean)
1 cup reduced coconut milk ( see above) room temperature

FROSTING
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup reduced coconut milk (see above) room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or seeds from a split vanilla bean)
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut, lightly toasted (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS:
REDUCED COCONUT MILK - In large, deep saucepan, boil coconut milk over medium-high heat for 25-30 minutes or until reduced to 1 1/2 cups. Remove from heat. Cool completely. Chill in small, covered container. This can be made up to 2 days ahead.

CUPCAKES - Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk together dry ingredients. In separate bowl, beat butter until smooth. Then, add sugar and blend (about 2 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating and scraping sides after each addition. Add vanilla. Add half the dry ingredients. Add coconut milk and beat just until blended. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix just until blended. Divide batter among muffin cups and bake about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Then, remove from pans and cool completely.

FROSTING - Beat butter until smooth. Add everything else except the flaked coconut. beat until light and fluffy. Frost cupcakes and then sprinkle with toasted coconut.

July Cookies

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

I did this month's challenge with my sister, the fabulous Mary at Shazam in the Kitchen. She and I worked very hard on both sets of cookies. We decided that they weren't exactly difficult, but they were time-consuming.

These are the Milan cookies, which were good, but not actually as good as a bag of storebought ones and a whole lot more work.


And these are the chocolate-covered marshmallow cookies, which were a TON of work and which I might have liked more if I liked marshmallows more.

I'm glad I did the challenge. I'd never done anything like this before, and, like all the Daring Bakers' challenges, they made me unafraid of cookie recipes and ready to try some new techniques. Plus, I got to spend some time cooking with my big sister, which was awesome.

Check out the other Daring Bakers.

At LAST!

I've been meaning to post. I did the Daring Bakers' challenges for the last two months but I keep forgetting to post. So, this month, I just barely remembered. The pictures are not very good, and certainly don't do this strudel justice.





The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

This was not a terribly difficult recipe, but rolling it up was a little tricky for me. I will definitely be doing it again, though, because HOLY COW was it good! I not only couldn't stop eating it, but I gave some away to a friend and he couldn't stop eating it either. It's almost like pie, only it wasn't too sweet. And the walnuts were fantastic in it. I'm a strudel fan now. YUMMY!!! I'm so glad I tried this one.

Daring Bakers

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.



These cakes are really yummy. They're light and delicious and chocolatey. The ice cream I made wasn't so good. I couldn't get my freezer cold enough to freeze my ice cream maker's cooling thingie, so it wouldn't set up. I ended up freezing it, but it had little shards of ice in it. The flavor was good, though. I made it cinnamony.

I like the little heart-shaped pan I used, and I thought it was kinda cute doing the two hearts in chocolate and vanilla just like the Tummy and me. It made a nice Valentine's dessert.