Cheddar Potato Strips

The part Greg would've wanted 

Not much to say about these potatoes except they're easy, they taste good, and they are a great way to use up the last few potatoes in the pantry, before you forget they're there and they wind up rotting in a corner, discoloring the wood floor. Not that this would ever happen to anyone I know.

As I was cleaning up after dinner, I could hardly stop picking at the little dab of leftovers. This brought one of those sudden, compelling memories of Greg. He LOVED the crunchy parts of casseroles - crisped edges that others might consider overcooked were his favorite. I looked at my pan of potatoes and could see Greg's long, bony fingers picking away at those crispy bits of cooked cheese and potatoes. If only....

Ingredients:
3 large potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1/2 cup milk
1 Tablespoon butter
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp minced fresh parsley

Directions:
In a greased 9x13 baking dish arrange potatoes in a single layer. Pour milk over the potatoes. Dot with butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cover and bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley. Bake, uncovered, 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Strawberry Ricotta Graham Tartlets

I've had my eye on these tarts for awhile but wasn't planning on making them this week. In fact, I wasn't planning on doing any extra baking while I'm busy trying to get ready for our upcoming trip to Europe. But then I happened to see graham flour at Price Chopper. I figured a specialty flour like that would be hard to find and probably necessitate a trip out of this local area so finding exactly what the recipe called for right at my neighborhood super market sealed the deal. These grahams had to get made and into my belly as soon as possible. 

Deb calls these tartlets but, after making them, I'm thinking they're more cookie than tart. Or round graham crackers. Name confusion aside, you have to make these because they are so good. Mine didn't turn out as beautifully uniform as what is shown on the Smitten Kitchen site but who cares when you're getting those beautiful bites of graham combined with the richness of ricotta and the sweetness of berries. Even when they're baking they smell all grahamy and good.

As with so many Deb recipes, these aren't particularly sweet; mine perhaps less so because strawberries are still a bit out of season and not yet at their juicy best.

Strawberry-Ricotta Graham Tartlets
From Smitten Kitchen
Adapted — barely, as the recipe was just about perfect — from Food & Wine

Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 cup whole wheat flour, or graham flour if you can get it
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of ground cloves
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons molasses (you can swap this with additional honey, if desired. I used the molasses)
3/4 pound strawberries, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/4 cups ricotta (10 ounces), fresh if you can find it, a full-fat store bought if you cannot
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (don't leave this out! That tiny burst of lemon really makes the taste profile.)

Directions:
Make grahams: In a bowl, whisk both flours with the cinnamon, salt and cloves. Beat the butter, light brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar at medium speed on an electric mixer until fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the honey and molasses, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the side of the bowl and beat in the flour mixture at low speed, just until incorporated. Pat the dough into a disk, cover with plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.  (MY NOTE: I need to go back and read all the comments on Deb's site to see if anyone else noted how crumbly this dough was. It came out kind of like slightly damp sand but did clump into a ball when molded.)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick. Using a 3 1/2-inch oval cookie cutter (recommendation of original recipe), a 3 1/2-inch round cutter (what I had, and used) or a smaller cutter of your choice (I might go with 3 inches next time, as I like petite desserts), stamp out your bases. (About 16 with a 3 1/2-inch oval, 10 with a 3 1/2-inch round or more with a smaller cutter.) Reroll the dough scraps if necessary. Transfer the grahams to the baking sheets and bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until lightly golden around the edges. Let cool on the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer the grahams to racks to cool completely.

Make toppings: In a bowl, toss the strawberries with the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar and the lemon juice. Let stand until syrupy, 20 minutes. In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, confectioners’ sugar and lemon zest.

Assemble tartlets: Spread about 1 tablespoon of the ricotta mixture on each graham. Arrange the strawberries over the ricotta, drizzle with the syrup and serve.

Do ahead: Grahams will keep in an airtight container for up to two weeks. They will keep longer, unbaked, in the freezer. Ricotta mixture, if your ricotta is fresh, will keep for a day or two and up to a week if from packaged ricotta. Strawberry mixture should, in theory, keep for a few days but will not because it is delicious enough to spoon over every yogurt, oatmeal or ice cream scoop you can find.

Extra Cheesy Pizza

One of the very many surprises I had when moving to this area was how few pizza delivery places there are. This came as a shock after years of being spoiled with more choices for home delivery pizza than I could possibly use in my lifetime. Fortunately, Parkville makes up for their lack of one of Martin's favorite food groups by having a Papa Murphys right down the street. Turns out I actually much prefer having Papa prepare my pizza fresh but leave the baking for me. Much better than frozen but ever so much easier and faster than starting from scratch and making my own dough. In my book, there's no shame to having Papa Murphy help me with an easy weeknight dinner.

Even so, I like this easy recipe for a basic pizza pie because when all is said and done, Martin appreciates the idea of me making his dinner, without outside help and I like making him happy. Does that sound too Donna Reedish? I promise I'm not barefoot, pregnant, or dressed in pearls when I head into the kitchen to cook this fun and fairly simple dinner.

Oh, and one other reason to favor making my own pizza at home - I get to use the pizza plate bought as a souvenir in Germany. For many years, I went through that phase of buying trinkets and t-shirts to commemorate travels and then coming home and wondering where I was going to put this more stuff. I mean, we aren't talking Faberge eggs or other priceless relics because money was limited. In many cases, I was barely aware of what existed outside of the tourist trap type stores that were more than happy to sell me Pope On A Rope Soap (not making that one up - I resisted the urge to buy during my 1980 trip to the Vatican), or shirts proudly and loudly proclaiming the name of whatever city I was passing through. Back then it was often quantity over quality when I was looking for things to bring home as a reminder of where I'd been. I've changed a bit as I got older and traveled more because, really, how many salt and pepper shakers or thimbles can one person buy and display when they get home???? Now, I'm more likely to select something I hope to use or something that has a bit more value than a knick-knack probably made in China and sent to souvenir shops all over the world. Emily and I both bought a pizza dish during the time when she was living in Heidelberg - while not an expensive treasure, I do love using my dish and knowing it has an "exotic" provenance.


EXTRA CHEESY PIZZA
from sallysbakingaddiction.com

Ingredients:
1/2 recipe homemade pizza crust
1/2 - 3/4 cup (127-190g) pizza sauce, depending how much you like (homemade or store-bought)
8 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese
1 and 1/2 cups (6oz or 168g) shredded mozzarella cheese
2-3 Tablespoons (10-15g) grated Parmesan cheese
ground basil, to taste

Directions:
Prepare the pizza dough through step 11, including preheating the oven to 475F as described in step 8.
Top the crust with the pizza sauce, then the sliced mozzarella, then the shredded mozzarella, grated Parmesan, then sprinkle with basil.
Bake for 12-15 minutes. For the last minute, I move the oven rack to the top rack to really brown the edges. That's optional.
Slice hot pizza and serve immediately. Store leftover pizza covered tightly in the refrigerator and reheat as you prefer. Baked pizza slices may be frozen up to 1 month.

HOMEMADE PIZZA DOUGH
also from sallysbakingaddiction.com
(she has great pictures and notes on her page)

Ingredients:
2 and 1/4 teaspoons Red Star Platinum yeast (1 standard packet)*
1 and 1/3 cups (320ml) warm water (105-115F degrees)
3 and 1/2 cups (440g) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
2 Tablespoons (30ml) olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon (13g) granulated sugar
cornmeal, for dusting pan

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment, combine the yeast and warm water. Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes of until the yeast is foamy and dissolved. This is called "proofing" the yeast. If the yeast doesn't dissolve, your yeast is dead. Start again with active yeast. Add flour, olive oil, salt, and sugar. Mix by hand or with the dough hook on low speed for 1 minute.
Once all of the ingredients are mixed, knead for 7 minutes by hand or with your dough hook on low-medium speed. If your dough is too wet, add up to 1/4 cup more flour. After kneading, your dough should be smooth and elastic. Poke it with your finger - if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading.
Shape the dough into a ball and place in a large mixing bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Turn it over to coat all sides. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm environment (about 75F-80F).
For the warm environment, I heat up my oven to 200F. Then, I turn the oven off and keep the door slightly ajar (I opened it wide for this picture). This will be a warm environment for your dough to rise. After about 30 minutes, I close the oven door to trap warmish air inside with the rising dough.
Depending on your type of yeast, your dough will have doubled in size in about 1 - 2 hours. I use Red Star Platinum and my dough took 1 hour, 20 minutes.
Punch the dough down to release the air.
Divide the dough into two. Roll each half into a ball and let rest in two separate bowls lightly covered for 15 minutes. You may freeze one of the dough balls at this point to use at a later time.
Preheat oven to 475F degrees. Allow to heat for at least 30 full minutes. Every inch of your oven needs to be very, very hot. Grease and dust 2 baking sheets with nonstick spray or with olive oil. Sprinkle with cornmeal (preferred for flavor and texture) or flour (not preferred).
Prepare your favorite toppings.
After 15 minutes, flatten each ball of dough 1 at a time on a lightly floured surface or on a silicone baking mat. You could also do this directly on your cornmeal lined pizza pan. Flatten into a 12-inch round circle, flattening and stretching the dough. If using a pizza stone, place the dough directly on baker's peels dusted with cornmeal.
Lift the edge of the dough up to create a lip around the edges. I simply pinched the edges up to create the rim. To prevent the filling from making your pizza crust soggy, brush the top lightly with olive oil. Using your fingers, push dents into the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Let rest for 15 minutes before topping.
Top with your favorite toppings and bake for 12-15 minutes. For the last minute, I move the oven rack to the top rack to really brown the edges. That's optional.
Slice hot pizza and serve immediately. Store leftover pizza covered tightly in the refrigerator and reheat as you prefer. Baked pizza slices may be frozen up to 1 month.

Jordan Pond Popovers

This isn't the clearest picture but I thought it was the funniest. 

In the early years of our marriage, I made popovers fairly often because they were something Martin liked. If my mother-in-law could whip up some for her son, well, so could I; even though I'd never even heard of popovers before I got involved with the Stoops family. The Becketts were more of a biscuits and cornbread with meals kind of family. After all, how could you possibly crumble up a popover to mix into a big bowl of pinto beans??? See what I mean?

As often happens, time went on and popovers fell by the wayside. Maybe the kids didn't like them or, more likely, it was easier to make some other kind of bread with dinner. And the kids didn't like them. Even so, I've kept a recipe for Jordan Pond popovers in my Paprika app and, every once in awhile, I get the urge to go back to my old ways and whip up a batch. This week, as I we get ready to travel out of town, I'm in a mood to use up what I have here rather than go out and buy more groceries. This means planning meals around ingredients on hand and, tonight, it meant deciding it was time to make some popovers.

Truth is, the process of making popovers is a little more time consuming than I usually go through for easy weeknight dinners that will be just for Martin and I. What makes the effort worth it is seeing a happy husband. Oh, and watching the mixture rise up so high in those little popover wells is definitely fun.

One thing that struck me as I watched Martin buttering his popover and then slathering jam on the inside, is how much that treatment is just like what I would do with a scone. So, here's my manly man husband who wouldn't dream of stepping inside a tea room and eating all that silly girl food, yet, he absolutely loves his slightly eggier and more hollow scone substitute!


JORDAN POND POPOVERS
From: throughherlookingglass.com


INGREDIENTS:
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
1 cup sifted all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Speck of baking soda (I have no idea what a speck is but assume it's something smaller than a pinch.)


INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425°.
Sift and measure flour, salt and soda. Set aside.
Beat the eggs at high speed until lemon colored (2-3 minutes).
On slowest speed, very slowly 1/2 cup of the milk. Beat until well mixed.
Add slowly (with mixer going on slow speed) the dry ingredients.
When mixed, stop beating.
Scrape sides of the bowl with a spatula.
Beat at medium speed and slowly add the remaining milk.
Beat 2 minutes.
Place well-greased muffin tin or popover pan into oven to warm up for a minute or two.
Turn mixer to high speed and beat 5-7 minutes.
Batter should be smooth and about the thickness of heavy cream.
Pour batter through a strainer, and into well-greased, preheated muffin tins or popover pan.
Bake on the middle shelf of the preheated oven at 425° for the first 15 minutes.
Without opening the oven, reduce the temperature to 350° and bake 15 - 20 minutes longer.
Popovers are best served at once, but may be kept in the warm oven for up to five minutes.
Serve immediately with butter and strawberry jam.

Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese

Turns out I LOVE prepping foods 

I have kind of a love/hate relationship with macaroni and cheese, with an emphasis on the hate part. Or, at the very least, not like much. Martin, on the other hand, loves his pasta. In fact, one of his go-to meals during bachelorhood was...you guessed it, a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese. I'm sure I opened my share of those boxes to feed to the kids and/or Martin back in the day and I'm equally sure I probably ate portions of the unnaturally orange pasta end product that came out of those boxes, but we'll call that convenience eating, rather than anything approaching appreciation for Kraft's version of macaroni and "cheese".  Frugal Martin has often bragged about waiting until a sale came, buying ten boxes for a dollar, and then having at least ten nights of dinner just waiting to be easily cooked up. I say he overpaid for what he got.

As I've mentioned here, I'm always looking for a good macaroni and have, for years, used a particular recipe that came from an old Southern Living magazine. Since we are usually just the two of us and since the one of us doesn't really much care for macaroni and cheese, I usually wind up with lots left over. This means macaroni and cheese for a few nights in a row. And a few lunches. Martin isn't wild about leftovers unless they're artfully disguised and, as a rule, not served up the following day, and, herein, lies a problem since I don't think macaroni freezes well. And you thought retirement couple living was easy!

Last night, I decided to try Smitten Kitchen's stovetop macaroni and cheese as a nod to Martin's Krafty past AND as a means of cooking something he likes without having to make a giant batch of it. Substituting that weird orange powder for an actual cheese represents a bit of a gamble for my not so gourmet husband but I decided to take the risk anyway. Living on the edge.

The beauty of this recipe is that you really only make about one large or two smaller portions worth. I ate a couple spoonfuls just to see how it tasted. This is one of those wierdly paradoxical things about me and macaroni and cheese. While I will tell you with great conviction that it's not a food I care for, there is something of the comfort food element about hot cheesy pasta. Perhaps more so with something fresh out of the oven as opposed to prepared on a cookstove but, either way, macaroni and cheese can meet some kind of nostalgic need to recreate childhood or a simpler past.

This version of the dish is less nostalgic but definitely slightly elevated in the choice of a cheese other than mystery powder. Martin took a second helping, I got my taste, and there were no leftovers to store. Best of all, the process for making this macaroni and cheese is almost as simple as dumping a box of Kraft in a pot of boiling water so it could (and will be) whipped up many a night when there's a need for something quick to feed the hungry man living here.

QUICK ESSENTIAL STOVETOP MACARONI AND CHEESE
from Smitten Kitchen

INGREDIENTS
Kosher salt
4 ounces (115 grams) dried pasta, such as macaroni or another small twisty shape
2 teaspoons (10 grams) salted or unsalted butter (Note that this is teaspoons versus Tablespoons so you're not going to get the handy marker on your butter cube. According to Deb, there's no need to go crazy trying to measure two teaspoons from a stick. Just shy of the tablespoon mark will be about right. Or, if you don't read that note until typing up this recipe, you can get all fussy and weigh out the 10 grams. You choose)
2 teaspoons (6 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (125 ml) low-fat or whole milk
Many grinds of black pepper
1/2 cup (1 ounce or 30 grams) finely grated parmesan or pecorino cheese. (I used the pecorino but, in the future, I might take another suggestion from Deb and use a very sharp aged cheddar.)

DIRECTIONS
Bring a small-to-medium pot of very well-salted water to a boil and add your dried pasta. Cook it until firm tender, then drain. Return pot to stove and melt butter in the bottom. Using a spoon or whisk, add flour and mix until it disappears. Add milk, a tiny splash at a time, stirring constantly so no lumps form. Season with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and many grinds of black pepper. Bring sauce to a simmer. Cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in grated cheese until combined. Add drained pasta, stir to evenly coat. Scoop into a bowl and finish it with more black pepper, if you wish. Repeat as needed.