Menu Planning: Do You Do It?

Each week, I sit down with a cup of tea and plan our house dinner menus around our activities for the upcoming week.....are we going out to dinner, do I have an evening board meeting, are we in New York with the Grands, etc.

I assign a dinner for each night we are in town and from that I prepare my grocery store list.

I also typically check the cupboards and freezer  to make sure I am not buying duplicates.

This is how I have operated for over fifty years.  It absolutely astounds me when people say they
Never make a list when they go to the store.  They say that once they arrive at the store, they purchase whatever looks good and/or what might be on special sale.

Many, many people (mostly a younger generation) also declare that they never know what they are eating for dinner because they don't know what they will be in the mood for so they decide day of or that very AFTERNOON!

This totally boggles my brain!  Leaving this important decision to the last minute is something I cannot fathom!

Have I ever been in this position?  Absolutely!  And that is why it upsets me so!  I hate not having the control and confidence that a meal will be on the table at a certain time.  I love to plan my day and

scurrying around at the last minute is not something I want to do!

Of course, there have been many, many times that I have tried a new recipe and it just didn't work.....
so that particular well-planned meal was a bust!

My husband is not fond of crockpot meals.....he likes sauteed, broiled, baked .....not a fan of gravy and sauces, so the crockpot is not my "go to" for meal planning.

With this "self isolation" and "lockdown" it seems we are all cooking/baking more and becoming so very creative.  With the store shelves depleted, who knew or thought that pasta and flour would be
worth their weight in gold right now due to inaccessibility!

Taking time to decide on menus and ingredients gives one power and control over the entire week!

I must admit I am in awe of my friends...women who have or had demanding careers, active women

who do not waste a moment.....they are so very innovative when it comes to trying new recipes, new

desserts.....they, too, know each day what they are having or preparing.

The old Girl Scout rule of  "being prepared" resonates........this is a system that truly works!

Trish Giordano: Pandemic 2020, part 2

Trish Giordano: Pandemic 2020, part 2: Geeze Louise! Whoever thought this Pandemic would last this long? This truly is like something out of a bad sci-fi movie from the 1950&#39...

Pandemic 2020, part 2

Geeze Louise!
Whoever thought this Pandemic would last this long?
This truly is like something out of a bad sci-fi movie from the 1950's!
Most people  have cleaned their homes from top to bottom, organized their closets
 and drawers and have been cooking a treasure trove of recipes.
Zoom has proved invaluable, not only for business meetings, but for gatherings of
family and friends.  I do believe my Grands will have grown many, many inches since
I last saw them March 1st.
We all learned to appreciate our beloved family and friends all the more in their absence.
Missing the daily contact, hugs and kisses has been especially difficult.
We all were settling into a new "normal" with the hopes and belief that this would soon
pass and we could all get back to the way things were.
The politicians have turned the whole Pandemic into a circus.  Their denying science and
sending mixed messages to the public has caused nothing but confusion.
Now it appears we are moving backwards, not forward, with surges in new cases and deaths.
While it initially appeared to affect the elderly the most, now we have the 30-50 year olds
hospitalized and dying.  Not to mention our children and even infants.
Most of us are using common sense and wearing masks and following social distancing but
it appears many are not.  They must feel they are invincible.  We see the news photos of crowded beaches with most not wearing masks.   Now many of us are heading back into the safety of our homes due to our being unsure of what (and who)  is safe and what is not.
The whole argument of sending our children back to school is not to be believed!  "They" say
the children need to learn, to socialize, interact.....well, if they are horribly sick or dead they
can't do anything!  When we do not know the scope of this virus, we are constantly learning day by day, how can we rush into anything?  Rushing to send our children back to school.....why can we
not take it slow and easy and see how and where this all goes?  What is the urgency???
Of course, it is all about perspective.  A young mother with three children who worked at an upscale restaurant now finds herself home with her children, struggling to pay the rent or mortgage and buy food.  I am retired and not worrying about putting foods on the table or paying the mortgage.......so,
again, it is truly all about perspective.
Even so, the bottom line (to me) is that we go slow......better safe than sorry.  With the 42 states having spikes and, basically, going backward.....the slow, steady approach would seem to be the most sane decision  at this point in time.
The people who are balking at wearing the masks need to re-think this infringement on their "freedom".....The wearing of masks will enhance and  increase their freedom when we can conquer this virus, re-open our businesses, and get back to our normal lives!

Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast aka Chicken Giordano

Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast

Many years ago I was catering a wonderfully posh event and created this chicken dish to wow the
guests, which it did!  I did find, however, over the years, that many chefs  had similar ideas and I was not the lone creator of this dish.  I used to prepare this with a white wine sauce which was
outstanding.  Last night I prepared the chicken with clarified butter, also very tasty.

Ingredients for 2 breasts:

2 cleaned chicken breasts
1/3 c. Bread crumbs
2 cups fresh baby spinach, stems removed
2 garlic cloves, minced
Zest of 1/4 fresh lemon, chopped
2 T. Chopped Sun Dried Tomatoes, in oil
2 T. Goat cheese
Clarified Butter (Melt stick of butter in 2 c. Measuring cup in microwave.  Spoon off foamy top,
Use the clear yellow center part and discard the white at bottom.)

Method of Preparation:

1.  Drizzle a bit of the oil from the Sun Dried Tomatoes jar into a saute pan, on medium heat.   When hot, add the minced garlic and stir about one minute.  Put the spinach into the garlic oil and quickly toss to coat.  Keep stirring for 1-2 minutes and spinach will wilt.  Remove from heat.  Add the lemon zest and the tomatoes, stirring to combine.  Divide the spinach into two mounds in the pan and top with the goat cheese.  Set aside.
2.  Place the chicken breasts between 2 sheets saran wrap and pound til even and thin, about 1/4".  Sprinkle with kosher salt and grindings of black pepper.
3.  Take each  mound of spinach mixture and place on top of  each chicken breast.  Then tightly roll up each breast, tucking sides and ends in.

4.  Wrap each rolled breast tightly in saran wrap and place in fridge for 15 minutes.

5.  Remove breasts from fridge and roll lightly in bread crumbs, shaking off excess.
6.  Coat bottom of saute pan with clarified butter and heat on medium.  When hot, add the chicken breasts seam side down.  As breasts turn golden, turn so they brown evenly all over.

7.  Place breasts in baking dish, drizzle with a little more clarified butter and finish cooking in a 350* oven for about 10 minutes, or til instant thermometer reads 160*.  Remove from oven.   (The residual heat will bring the breasts up to 165* while resting.)

8.  Slice each breast on the diagonal and spoon over the sauce.

Trish Giordano: Frittata

Trish Giordano: Frittata: We have all had quiche for brunch, lunch and hors d'oeuvres..... then the craze was frittatas, (a crustless quiche),  made in a sheet pa...

Frittata

We have all had quiche for brunch, lunch and hors d'oeuvres..... then the craze was frittatas, (a crustless quiche),  made in a sheet pan, muffin pan, served for brunch, snack, dinner........then they both seemed to go by  the wayside......
and now there seems to be the resurgence of both!
I recently hosted a breakfast for a family gathering and thought about a quiche but then decided
on a frittata.......a dish I have always loved and prepared many, many times (me being the low carb gal).....
I had on hand fresh spinach and a lovely jar of artichoke hearts (not marinated)......so I went
on line and started looking at various recipes which included these ingredients....
What I came up with was .....absolutely delicious!!! (even the B O B said so!)....

this was soooooo easy......

Method and Ingredients:
heat oven to 425*
drizzle  2 rounds of olive oil into 10 inch skillet
and add 1 knob of butter

then add
1/2 onion, finely diced and saute for 2 minutes,
then add
2 garlic cloves, minced
and saute 1 minute.

Next  add 4 cups fresh baby spinach, (stems removed PLEASE!), and stir til spinach leaves are
well coated with butter/olive oil mixure (spinach will start to wilt)

Have 12 eggs well beaten plus 1 cup heavy cream incorporated into eggs with 1 t. kosher salt, 1 t. freshly ground coarse black pepper, 1/4 t. cayenne pepper and  pour over spinach mixture......
Sprinkle  2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese, 1 cup grated muenster cheese, 1/4 c. parmesan cheese
over the egg mixture....
then place this wonderful mixture into the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes. 

It will puff up beautifully and become lightly browned.......

then, when you open the oven and remove it, it will deflate in front of you......but fear not,
it will be delicious!!!!

Quarantine Cooking Videos

With the Pandemic 2020, many people are now spending more time in their kitchens.  Those who love to cook but never had much time are enjoying themselves thoroughly and there are those who never paid much attention to cooking who are now discovering a new joy.
We have all been posting our menus and food porn photos on social media and, I for one, have been having a great time doing so!

Many terrific sites, such as New York Times Cooking, and Simply Recipes,  have now geared their weekly menus to “pantry” cooking, “meatless” meals, etc.
The celebrity chefs who have cooking shows can no longer go to the studios so they, like many other television hosts, are filming from their homes.  Some celebrity chefs who do not have television shows have begun filming videos as well.
And then there are the non-celebrity cooking shows!
I must admit, I have had great fun checking some of these out!
Many are very, very good!
There are wonderful cooks out there who have great ideas, do everything properly in the kitchen
and produce fabulous foods!

And then.......there are the wanna-be’s!
These videos can be so funny, unintentionally!

The cooks have good intentions but their final results and the way they accomplish those results can be downright hysterical.
Take the one gal, Antonella, who has a happy, friendly, engaging way about her.  She is Italian and the only Italian woman I ever heard of who uses cream of mushroom soup as her special ingredient!
She also does not use fresh basil, fresh garlic or fresh onions in her sauce!  (How many Italian Nonnas are turning over!)

While researching these culinary videos,  I happened upon the Mary Berry videos (Classic, Everyday and Country Home Secrets - which includes Highclere Castle, otherwise known as Downton Abbey). Mary Berry is the Martha Stewart of England.  I must confess, I had not been aware of her until the Great British Baking Shows were televised here in America.  It has been interesting and informative to learn how “the British do it”.

And, a friend recently posted a video I had discovered many years ago and just love.....Great Depression Cooking with Clara.  I just adored these videos and have had such fun watching them again.  I had been searching for a wonderful cuccidati (Sicilian fig cookie) recipe when I happened upon the videos which were made by her family.  Her cuccidati turned out to be the very, very best! Clara was 93 years old and the most basic cook.
While foods were baking or resting she would tell stories of growing up in the Depression.  She
had no fancy Williams Sonoma gadgets or equipment (even shelled her own almonds!).  She would roll her cookies out on her oilcloth table covering, no fancy marble or Boos wood blocks!
Unfortunately, Clara has died.  I was so thrilled, however, to see that her videos are still available on
Youtube.com.
If you are a cook or just enjoy watching cooking shows, do visit Clara for a wonderful experience!


 

Clara’s Cuccidati