Cooking with Emily: Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes & Carrots and Caesar-Parm Corn on the Cob

The weather has finally improved enough to feel like summer, and I spent a lovely weekend basking in the sun with my book.  The weekend, like the week before it slipped away quickly and suddenly it was Monday again.  Sunday evening I set Emily to the task of figuring out what she planned to cook, asking for something lighter, please, as we had eaten out a few times over the course of the weekend and I was feeling the need for something summery and easy.  She brought me a recipe for a potato casserole, which, while looking tasty did not look particularly light, and a recipe for corn on the cob.  I confess when it comes to corn on the cob I do love the stuff, but prefer to wait for when it is in season here.  Fresher is definitely better.  But she would not be deterred.  I pointed out that both dishes were sides, asking what about meat.  Breezily she said she'd just cook some steak or pork chops too.  What a kid.
I found a small package of bison tenderloin in the freezer Monday morning and made a foray to the store for potatoes (we were down to our last 2) and corn on the cob.
I admit she is getting better about the amount of help and supervision she needs, although she seemed surprised when I suggested at 4 o'clock she start her potatoes, since they took more than an hour and she is not yet the fastest peeler around.
The recipe she was using made enough for 12 servings, so I suggested she halve it, making notes for her in the margins of what the half amounts were.  She peeled and sliced 3 large potatoes, a couple carrots and asked me to slice the onion, since they make her cry.  I told her she'd have to do it sooner or later, but helped her out anyway.  The vegetables went into a pot to boil while she made the sauce.  I told her to measure the flour and seasonings into a small  bowl and measure out the milk first, while the butter melted, since white sauce goes rather quickly.  She stirred the flour into the melted butter, I gave it a few good turns with the whisk to ensure there were no clumps of flour.  I continued to stir while she poured in the milk, explaining that stirring and pouring at the same time can be tricky.  Then I left her to stir it until it thickened.  Once it had reached the desired consistency she stirred in shredded cheese to create a cheese sauce.  This was layered with the now cooked vegetables in a casserole dish, which we covered and put in the oven to bake.
While the potatoes were cooking I sent Emily outside to husk the corn.  The recipe described how to steam it in the microwave in the husk, which I think might be okay with absolutely fresh, picked today, corn.  That and I didn't like the idea of trying to peel the husks off hot cobs.  I set a pan of water on the stove to steam them instead while she made the dressing for the corn.  She combined Caesar salad dressing and Parmesan cheese with fresh parsley, and then said she didn't much like Caesar salad, so she wasn't going to have any.  I told her to try it anyway.  She didn't like the dressing still, but did try it on the corn.  I told her the sweetness of the corn cut back the bite of the dressing, and said if she was going to cook something she really did need to try it.  She did and she decided it was very tasty.  Personally I still like good butter, salt & pepper best, but this was quite nice.  An interesting change...and maybe better on corn that is not at its peak.
We grilled the tenderloin while the corn was cooking and sat down to a very nice meal.  It seems Emily's instincts are getting better for combining recipes to make a cohesive meal.  I am pleased she is willing to try new things more readily and following instructions a little better.  She recognized the corn only needed about 20 minutes so she allowed for that while starting the potatoes so everything was done at about the same time, which is a skill in itself.

I made a chocolate chip banana cake yesterday afternoon because I had several overripe bananas on the counter top.  We rarely have an official dessert with dinner, but Emily was delighted to have cake for no particular reason, and she declared it very good.

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes & Carrots (12 servings)

2 lbs potatoes (about 6) peeled & thinly sliced            1 teaspoon salt

4 carrots, cut diagonally into thin slices                       1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 onions, sliced, separated into rings                           1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 tablespoons butter                                                      1 1/2 cups milk

2 tablespoons flour                                                       1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 375F.  Cook the vegetables in boiling water 8-10 minutes, until tender.  Meanwhile melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add flour and seasonings; mix well.  Cook & stir about 1 minute then gradually stir in milk until well blended.  Bring to a boil and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Stir in cheese, cook over low heat until melted, about 1 minute.

Drain the vegetables, spoon half into a 9x13" greased casserole dish.  Cover with half the cheese sauce, repeat layers. Cover.

Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, until heated through, uncovering after 30 minutes.  

* Emily thought this needed more cheese, so she added extra on her plate.  Topping the casserole with more grated cheese is also an option.  Making the sauce with chicken stock instead of milk will reduce the calories somewhat.

Caesar-Parm Corn on the Cob

4 ears corn on the cob                      1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup Caesar salad dressing           1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Cook the corn as per your preferred method (I steam mine in a large, shallow pan).  Combine remaining ingredients until blended.  Spread onto hot cooked corn.

*We had leftovers, I removed the corn from the cob & tossed the kernels with the remaining dressing.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

1 1/2 cups flour                                 1 egg

2/3 cup sugar                                     1/2 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder         1/4 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt                                3/4 cup chocolate chips

3-4 ripe bananas, mashed

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder & salt.  In a second bowl combine bananas, egg, melted butter & milk.  Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until blended, stir in chocolate chips.  Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes.  Cool & frost with chocolate or cream cheese frosting.

Cooking with Emily: Perogie. Casserole

What a week it's been.  After days of grey, rainy weather (without much actual rain) the sun has returned.  Monday, which is usually Emily's day to cook was a holiday and she wasn't feeling great, battling a nasty cough. I was tired too, making something fast and easy for supper seemed like a good idea.  We opted to postpone her foray into the kitchen for a day or so.  Tuesday I spent the afternoon with a friend who has been temporarily sidelined with back troubles.  I took supper out to her and stayed on for a lengthy visit.  We got home again with just enough time for Emily to shower & get to her drama class.  There had been no school so she had joined my friend's boys out in the yard...digging in the dirt is a wonderful pastime for kids of all ages, but a shower was definitely in order before she took herself into public.
The meal Emily decided on seemed a bit heavy for a spring like day, but it is one of her favourites, and she has been asking for it for some time.  So despite my balking at the carbohydrate count she finally got her perogies
Confirming we did indeed have ham, Emily turned the oven on and took the ham out of the fridge.  She asked if the small deli ham I had purchased was the requisite 1 1/2 cups.  I told her it wasn't, she would have to measure and gave her a small bowl that would hold the necessary volume of diced meat.
She told me in no uncertain terms she could manage on her own, so I set myself at the computer, where I have a good vantage point for the kitchen but am out of the way.  She asked me if I would chop the onion for her, since she didn't want to cry.  I agreed and set to the task while she heated a little vegetable oil in a pan to cook them.  Once the onion was chopped I left her on her own again.  She set the timer to cook the onions exactly 5 minutes, as the recipe indicated, before stirring in a container of Philadelphia Cooking Creme and a little milk.
I found a baking dish for her while she took the perogies and a bag of peas out of the freezer.  The recipe calls for 16 perogies; she held up the 1 kilo bag and asked if she could just use the whole bag. I recommended she count them out and see, thinking if there were only a few left in the bag we'd toss the whole lot in.  We did add a few extras, but did not use the whole bag.  If we had had more people at the table I might have though.  She added the peas, without measuring, because, as she explained when I asked her, I don't.  She is still lacking the experience to eyeball things, so I insisted she actually measure.  Once the ham was added to the mix she poured the sauce over everything. Balancing a heavy pan with one hand so you can use a spatula is another skill she has yet to develop, but we'll get there.
She topped the casserole with shredded cheese, measured, not eyeballed, (this I would have allowed the guesstimate for, since you can never have too much cheese) and put it in the oven to cook.
While it baked I made myself a salad and poured a glass of wine, despite being told every time I wandered into the kitchen she could check on dinner.

Dinner was very good.  Rich and hearty, and probably more suited to an autumn evening than a spring one, but it was delicious.  And Emily had a plateful for breakfast, and took more for lunch.  Can't go wrong there.

Perogie Casserole

2 teaspoons oil                                         16 frozen potato & cheddar cheese perogies

1 onion, chopped                                     1 1/2 cups chopped cooked ham

1 tub (270g) Philadelphia                        1 cup frozen peas

Light Herb & Garlic cooking Creme       1/2 cup shredded cheese 

1/2 cup milk 

Heat the oil in a large skillet and cook the onions until tender, stirring frequently (about 5 minutes).  Remove from heat and stir in cooking creme and milk, mix well.
Combine the perogies, peas and ham in a 2 litre greased casserole, top with sauce and cheese.
Bake at 350F for 40 minutes, until heated through.

*We used the original flavour cooking creme, but regular cream cheese, melted over low heat and thinned with a little extra milk would also work.  We could have added garlic and other herbs (parsley, thyme, basil) as well, but since this was an Emily solo we didn't.
Being a Kraft recipe the original also calls for their Mozza-Cheddar blend shredded cheese.  We grated our own cheddar cheese.

** I have also double this & frozen half for an easy on hand dinner for the days we are really busy.

Cooking with Emily: Chicken Primavera

A happy, if belated, Mother's Day to all of you who share in the joys and the tribulations of this particular job, and its all-encompassing job description.  I was feted by my wonderful sons, who took me out for lunch and presented me with a lovely card that still brings tears to my eyes.  Emily made me a mobile at school with streamers ending with hearts, crosses and books.  Her home made card was as sweet and funny as she is.
We spent Sunday at my mom's enjoying a family dinner, so by the end of the weekend we were both done.  By the time she left for school Monday morning Emily still had not chosen her recipe since I truly did not want to have her make a casserole featuring perogies.  It is delicious, but makes a heavier meal than I wanted to deal with.  We had had several indulgent meals over the past few days, it was time to get back to something a little lighter.  She asked me to choose and headed off on her bicycle.
I picked up the notebook of recipes on my desk and began to page through it.  This recipe caught my eye.  It is easy enough for a beginner and I thought might appeal to her affection for Chinese food.  While not particularly oriental it does have ginger and soy sauce as primary flavours.

I spent the day doing my best to avoid housework (and succeeding!) reading Jodi Picoult's newest novel "Leaving Time".  It was hard to put down, so I blame her for my unwashed floor and the towels in the dryer waiting to be folded.  When Emily arrived home I sent her off to the library to return her books.  She wanted to go fundraising for the Jump Rope for Heart program with her friend, but I reminded her it was her night to cook, so her time was limited.  As it happened her friend couldn't go either, so it was okay.
I had Emily read the recipe I had chosen, thankfully it appealed to her, so we had no last minute menu changes.  She measured chicken bouillon, oil,soy sauce, garlic, red pepper flakes, ginger and corn starch into a glass bowl and added chicken breasts to marinate. Thankfully I was standing in the kitchen while she looked for the cooking oil, since the required 1/3 cup is divided, only 2 tablespoons go into the marinade.  I walked back into the kitchen and wondered why she was struggling to measure out the ginger, since the 1/2 teaspoon measure should have fit into the jar.  Turns out she hadn't read the directions carefully, or had mis-understood.  She thought (having seen the specified 2 tablespoons of oil that it was 2 tablespoons of everything.  Yikes.
 While the chicken marinated I told her to put a pot of water on to cook the pasta and set her to chopping an onion and a head of broccoli.  I was amused by her method of onion chopping, which looked a trifle ungainly to me.  She fled the kitchen for a wash cloth as the onion fumes quickly made her cry, and, unfortunately, as they started to water she instinctively rubbed her eyes with her hands.  Ooops.  I should have had her rinse the peeled onion under cold water for a minute or two.  She thinks when I do this I am washing the onion.  The truth is this is one of those weird things you read about on the internet that actually works.  Running an onion under cold water before cutting it does significantly decrease the cry factor, without spoiling the flavour, which keeping them in the fridge does. I don't know why, I just know it works.

When she returned to the kitchen I had heated a couple tablespoons of oil in a large pan for her, and she placed the chicken pieces in it and browned them on both sides.  We then reduced the heat and covered the pan to cook the chicken all the way through.  While the chicken was cooking Emily started some egg noodles in the now boiling water.  She finished chopping her vegetables while I kept an eye on the chicken, turning it every couple of minutes so it wouldn't brown too much on one side.
When the chicken was done she removed it to a plate and added a little more oil and her onions and broccoli.  Once the vegetables were cooked she stirred in the noodles and the marinade, stirring to coat everything well and reduce the sauce.  Emily was struggling with efficient tossing so I took the spoon to ensure the pasta was well coated with the marinade.  The recipe said to stir fry this for 30 seconds so she dutifully counted aloud to thirty.  I helped her spoon the pasta and vegetables onto a platter and top it with the chicken pieces.
Dinner was delicious, and made a reappearance at breakfast.  I think it would have been lunch too, but they are selling hamburgers at the school track meet today.  For a ten year old that's a no-brainer.
In retrospect I might have let the chicken marinate for at least half an hour to give it a little more depth of flavour.
We used a combination of chicken breasts and thighs, and I have made this with bone in chicken pieces I de-boned myself, and cubed so the chicken was already bite-sized and cooked a little faster.  As it was I diced the cooked leftovers and stirred the meat into the noodles for an easier to serve second meal.

Chicken Primavera

1/2 cup chicken bouillon                          4-6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/3 cup vegetable oil                                1 small head of broccoli, chopped

2 tablespoons soy sauce                            1 red pepper, chopped (optional)

2 cloves garlic, crushed                            1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon corn starch                           375 grams egg noodles

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Combine the bouillon, 2 tablespoons of oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes and cornstarch into a shallow bowl, whisking to blend.  Add the chicken, stirring to coat.

Chop the vegetables, set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan, add chicken, reserving the marinade.  Brown the chicken, reduce heat, cover and cook until done, about 10 minutes (ours took closer to 15). Turn often.  Meanwhile cook the pasta.

Remove the chicken to a platter, keep warm.

Add 2 tablespoons oil to the pan juices, turn heat to high.  Stir fry the vegetables until tender-crisp.  Pour reserved marinade over vegetables, stir fry 30 seconds, until evenly coated.  Add salt & pepper to taste.  Toss the vegetables with the noodles and arrange on a platter, top with chicken.

Cooking with Emily-Kung Pao Chicken & Shanghai Noodles

Another week has flown by.  I was working at the polls yesterday so this week's Cooking with Emily post is a day late.  Working at an election is certainly an interesting way to pass a day, especially for a people watcher like me.  I ran into a few old friends, and lots of newer ones.  I listened to parents with children in tow explain the voting process to their kids, and its inherent importance, explained to first time voters how the process works and made a few dollars for my trouble.  And for the first time in my memory we have a new party leading our fair province.  I'm not entirely sure I am going to like what the NDP will do to us, but the people have spoken.  Now we wait and see.
Anyway, before I get off on a political rant, and I am not very politically minded, and my views and opinions are all over the map, I should get to the subject at hand.

Sunday afternoon, before the arrival of extra kids (a sleepover so my friend could go to a concert with her husband) I sent Emily to choose what she wanted to make for supper come Monday.  It didn't take her long to choose a recipe for a honey sesame glazed pork tenderloin.  I admit it looked delicious.  But I did not want to go to the store and buy a pork tenderloin.  It took some arguing, but I convinced her to reconsider.  (Some day that stubbornness will serve her well.  Or it will be her downfall) It took her minutes to declare she wanted to make Chinese food.  I confess I cringed.  We both love Chinese, but it is not an easy cuisine for a beginner chef.  She went on line and found a plethora of recipes....if you ever want to vanish down the rabbit hole try googling the recipe for anything.  I glanced at her list and suggested she find my cookbook, a notebook I keep to transcribe recipes I have found, and tried, so I know they are good, and how time-consuming and difficult they are.  I showed her a couple of options; Kung Pao Chicken and Shanghai noodles.  She decided to make them both.  I thought that was a fair compromise, except for cabbage and green onions we had all the ingredients on hand.
Emily's night to cook was almost cancelled when she had a meltdown when the time came to start cooking.  She was eating an apple, a fine snack, but when I asked why so close to supper I was informed I hadn't put any "good" snacks (pudding & chips) in her lunch that morning.  These things are meant to be treats, not every day additions and I told her so.  And then came the waterworks.  Oh, 14 is going to be FUN.  I told her she needed to stop crying, you cannot cook with tears in your eyes.  It makes the food too salty and you can't see what your are doing, you might cut yourself.  Needless to say my sense of humour was not particularly appreciated.
She did calm down and I set her to cubing a couple of chicken breasts while I ran out to do a quick errand.  Once this was done she tossed the chicken pieces with cornstarch while I chopped a couple cloves of garlic and some green onions for her.  While she browned the chicken I had her start a pot of water boiling to cook the noodles.  She took the cooked chicken out of the pan and added the onion and garlic with some red pepper flakes while she stirred together rice vinegar, soy sauce, ginger and sugar.  This she added to the pan along with the chicken.
Next, in another pan, she heated a mixture of sesame and vegetable oil and sautéed chopped cabbage (I cheated and used coleslaw mix) and more green onions.  To this she added cooked angel hair pasta, which I helped her toss together as she measured in some soy sauce.  And dinner was done.

Everything was delicious.  Emily balked at using the coleslaw mixture, since she doesn't like coleslaw.  Actually she won't eat cabbage either, if I serve it as such.  But we have to almost wrestle over the chow mein when we order take out, and she loved the noodle dish.  It's all about presentation.
We still need to work on timing everything, but two fast dishes like this would take real spot on leg work.  The chicken didn't suffer for simmering while we cooked the second dish though.

Kung Pao Chicken

1lb chicken, cut into 1" pieces         1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons veg. oil                          3 tablespoons chopped green onion

2 cloves garlic, minced                     1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger         2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts *            2 teaspoons sugar

Toss chicken with cornstarch and fry in hot oil until cooked through, remove chicken from pan & set aside.  Add onion, garlic and red pepper flakes, stir fry about 15 seconds.  Combine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar & ginger.  Add to pan with chicken & peanuts. Toss to coat. Serve over rice

*I added the peanuts to my plate, but left them out of the actual recipe, because Emily doesn't like them.  They do add a nice crunch though

We didn't make rice on Monday, I thought the pasta was enough.

Shanghai Noodles

3 tablespoons oil                      1-2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 cups shredded cabbage          1/2 cup chopped green onion

8 oz angel hair pasta                2-4 tablespoons soy sauce

Optional: 4 oz sliced cooked chicken & 1 cup drained bean sprouts

Cook pasta & drain.  Heat vegetable and sesame oil, sauté cabbage & onion, about 5 minutes.  Add pasta, soy sauce, chicken & sprouts.

*Adding chicken takes this from a side dish to a meal.  Bagged coleslaw mix is a handy substitute for shredding cabbage, but we used about 3 cups of the mix because it is so finely chopped.

Wallflower

Tapping toes,

fingertips restlessly keep time on my hip,

swaying gently to the rhythm of the music,

watching dancers swirl before me

brilliant and light as butterflies

Only watching,

though I long to join the throng

alone at the dance,

waiting, hoping

yet

ever a wallflower,

There is a place in the promenade

When the hour comes

and with a gallant bow

the pleasure of a dance is asked.

But my song is not yet played.

I thought perhaps that one,

No, then this?

Waiting, impatient on the sidelines

Partners I have had;

Each out of step with me-

One who trod on my toes,

careless of my feelings,

Another didn't know the steps at all,

dragging me from the song my heart heard.

I wonder if my tremulous, valiant smile

has become more of a grimace of pain

shyly addressing the swirling crowd.

I wonder, heart aching, if I should learn

to dance

alone.

You lift my hand to your lips,

bowing in invitation;

How easily we move together,

you hum an echo of my heartsong

I am floating in your arms

The dance pulls you from my arms;

again I am sidelined,

waiting for the music to bring you back to me.